Optimal Tuning of a Fuzzy Immune PID Parameters to Control a Delayed System

This paper deals with the novel intelligent bio-inspired control strategies, it presents a novel approach based on an optimal fuzzy immune PID parameters tuning, it is a combination of a PID controller, inspired by the human immune mechanism with fuzzy logic. Such controller offers more possibilities to deal with the delayed systems control difficulties due to the delay term. Indeed, we use an optimization approach to tune the four parameters of the controller in addition to the fuzzy function; the obtained controller is implemented in a modified Smith predictor structure, which is well known that it is the most efficient to the control of delayed systems. The application of the presented approach to control a three tank delay system shows good performances and proves the efficiency of the method.

Preparation and Characterization of Newly Developed Trabecular Structures in Titanium Alloy to Optimize Osteointegration

Electron Beam Melting (EBM) process was used to prepare porous scaffolds with controlled porosity to ensure optimal levels of osteointegration for different trabeculae sizes. Morphological characterization by means of SEM analyses was carried out to assess pore dimensions; tensile, compression and adhesion tests have been carried out to determine the mechanical behavior. The results indicate that EBM process allows the creation of regular and repeatable porous scaffolds. Mechanical properties greatly depend on pore dimension and on bulk-pore ratio. Adhesion resistance meets the normative requirements, and the overall performance of the produced structures is compatible with potential orthopaedic applications.

Functionalized Nanoparticles as Sorbents for Removal of Toxic Species

Removal of various toxic species from aqueous streams is of great importance. Sorption is one of the important remediation procedures as it involves the use of cheap and easily available materials. Also the advantage of regeneration of the sorbent involves the possibility of using novel sorbents. Nanosorbents are very important as the removal is based on the surface phenomena and this is greatly affected by surface charge and area. Functionalization has been very important to bring about the removal of metal ions with greater selectivity.

Effect of Austenitization Temperature on Wear Behavior of Carbidic Austempered Ductile Iron (CADI)

Chromium bearing Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) has been recently in the news for its improved wear performance over the ADI. The work presented below was taken up to study the effect of different austenitisation temperatures on the microstructure and wear performance of the Carbidic Austempered Ductile Iron (CADI). In this investigation Cr bearing ductile iron was subjected to austempering treatment to obtain an ausferritic microstructure. Two different austenitisation temperatures were selected whereas, the austempering temperature and time was kept unchanged. Microstructure and wear performance of this alloy, austenitized at two different temperatures was studied.

Prospects for Building Mobile Micro Hydro Power Plants with Information Management Systems

This article analyzes the applicability of known renewable energy technical means as mobile power sources under the field and extreme conditions. The requirements are determined for the parameters of mobile micro HPP. The application prospectively of the mobile micro HPP with intelligent control systems is proved for this purpose. Variants of low-speed electric generators for micro HPP are given. Variants of designs for mobile micro HPP are presented with direct (gearless) transfer of torque from the hydraulic drive to the rotor of the electric generator. Variant of the hydraulic drive for micro HPP is described workable at low water flows. A general structure of the micro HPP intelligent system control is offered that implements the principle of maximum energy efficiency. The legitimacy of construction and application of mobile micro HPP is proved as electrical power sources for life safety of people under the field and extreme conditions.

Endeavor in Management Process by Executive Dashboards: The Case of the Financial Directorship in Brazilian Navy

The objective is to identify the contributions from the introduction of the computerized system deal within the Accounting Department of Brazilian Navy Financial Directorship and its possible effects on the budgetary and financial harvest of Brazilian Navy. The relevance lies in the fact that the management process is responsible for the continuous improvement of organizational performance through higher levels of quality in their activities. Improvements in organizational processes have direct effects on crops cost, quality, reliability, flexibility and speed. The method of study of this research is the case study. The choice of case study attended, among other demands, a need for greater flexibility to study processes related to a computerized system. The sources of evidence were used literature, documentary and direct observation. Direct observation was made by monitoring the implementation of the computerized system in the Division of Management Analysis. The main findings of the study point to the fact that the computerized system may contribute significantly to the standardization of information. There was improvement of internal processes in the division of management analysis, made possible the consolidation of a standard management and performance analysis that contribute to global homogeneity in the treatment of information essential to the process of decision making. This study has limitations related to the fact the search result be subject exclusively to the case studied, and it is impossible to generalize to other organs of government.

The Microstructure of Aging ZnO, AZO, and GZO Films

RF magnetron sputtering is used on the ceramic targets, each of which contains zinc oxide (ZnO), zinc oxide doped with aluminum (AZO) and zinc oxide doped with gallium (GZO). The electric conduction mechanism of the AZO and GZO films came mainly from the Al and Ga, the oxygen vacancies, Zn interstitial atoms, and Al and/or Ga interstitial atoms. AZO and GZO films achieved higher conduction than did ZnO film, it being ion vacant and nonstoichiometric. The XRD analysis showed a preferred orientation along the (002) plane for ZnO, AZO, and GZO films.

Effects of Soybean Methyl Ester on the Performance Characteristics of Compression Ignition Engine

Depletion and hazardous gas emissions associated with fossil fuels have caused scientists and global attention to focus on the use of “alternative, eco-friendly substitutes for use in Compression Ignition Engines. In this work, biodiesel was produced by trans-esterification of soybean obtained from a Nigerian market using Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) as a catalyst.” After the production, the physical properties (specific gravity to kinematic viscosity and net calorific value) of the Soybean-biodiesel produced and petrol diesel obtained from a filling station in Nigeria were determined, and these properties conform to conventional standards (ASTM). A cummins-6V-92TA DDEC diesel (Compression ignition, CI) engine was run on various biodiesel-petrol diesel blends (0/100, 10/90, 20/80, 30/70 and 40/60), the B20 (blend 20/80) was found to be the most satisfactory.

Performance Analysis of Brain Tumor Detection Based On Image Fusion

Medical Image fusion plays a vital role in medical field to diagnose the brain tumors which can be classified as benign or malignant. It is the process of integrating multiple images of the same scene into a single fused image to reduce uncertainty and minimizing redundancy while extracting all the useful information from the source images. Fuzzy logic is used to fuse two brain MRI images with different vision. The fused image will be more informative than the source images. The texture and wavelet features are extracted from the fused image. The multilevel Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Classifier classifies the brain tumors based on trained and tested features. The proposed method achieved 80.48% sensitivity, 99.9% specificity and 99.69% accuracy. Experimental results obtained from fusion process prove that the use of the proposed image fusion approach shows better performance while compared with conventional fusion methodologies.

Performance Analysis of Cluster Based Dual Tired Network Model with INTK Security Scheme in a Wireless Sensor Network

A dual tiered network model is designed to overcome the problem of energy alert and fault tolerance. This model minimizes the delay time and overcome failure of links. Performance analysis of the dual tiered network model is studied in this paper where the CA and LS schemes are compared with DEO optimal. We then evaluate  the Integrated Network Topological Control and Key Management (INTK) Schemes, which was proposed to add security features of the wireless sensor networks. Clustering efficiency, level of protections, the time complexity is some of the parameters of INTK scheme that were analyzed. We then evaluate the Cluster based Energy Competent n-coverage scheme (CEC n-coverage scheme) to ensure area coverage for wireless sensor networks.

Transcriptional Evidence for the Involvement of MyD88 in Flagellin Recognition: Genomic Identification of Rock Bream MyD88 and Comparative Analysis

The MyD88 is an evolutionarily conserved host-expressed adaptor protein that is essential for proper TLR/ IL1R immune-response signaling. A previously identified complete cDNA (1626 bp) of OfMyD88 comprised an ORF of 867 bp encoding a protein of 288 amino acids (32.9 kDa). The gDNA (3761 bp) of OfMyD88 revealed a quinquepartite genome organization composed of 5 exons (with the sizes of 310, 132, 178, 92 and 155 bp) separated by 4 introns. All the introns displayed splice signals consistent with the consensus GT/AG rule. A bipartite domain structure with two domains namely death domain (24-103) coded by 1st exon, and TIR domain (151-288) coded by last 3 exons were identified through in silico analysis. Moreover, homology modeling of these two domains revealed a similar quaternary folding nature between human and rock bream homologs. A comprehensive comparison of vertebrate MyD88 genes showed that they possess a 5-exonic structure.In this structure, the last three exons were strongly conserved, and this suggests that a rigid structure has been maintained during vertebrate evolution.A cluster of TATA box-like sequences were found 0.25 kb upstream of cDNA starting position. In addition, putative 5'-flanking region of OfMyD88 was predicted to have TFBS implicated with TLR signaling, including copies of NFkB1, APRF/ STAT3, Sp1, IRF1 and 2 and Stat1/2. Using qPCR technique, a ubiquitous mRNA expression was detected in liver and blood. Furthermore, a significantly up-regulated transcriptional expression of OfMyD88 was detected in head kidney (12-24 h; >2-fold), spleen (6 h; 1.5-fold), liver (3 h; 1.9-fold) and intestine (24 h; ~2-fold) post-Fla challenge. These data suggest a crucial role for MyD88 in antibacterial immunity of teleosts.

The Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessments of Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems in Bhubaneswar, India

The power system utility has started to think about the green power technology in order to have an eco-friendly environment. The green power technology utilizes renewable energy sources for reduction of GHG emissions. Odisha state (India) is very rich in potential of renewable energy sources especially in solar energy (about 300 solar days), for installation of grid connected photovoltaic system. This paper focuses on the utilization of photovoltaic systems in an Institute building of Bhubaneswar city, Odisha. Different data like solar insolation (kW/m2/day), sunshine duration has been collected from metrological stations for Bhubaneswar city. The required electrical power and cost are calculated for daily load of 1.0 kW. The HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model of Electric Renewable) software is used to estimate system size and its performance analysis. The simulation result shows that the cost of energy (COE) is $ 0.194/kWh, the Operating cost is $63/yr and the net present cost (NPC) is $3,917. The energy produced from PV array is 1,756kWh/yr and energy purchased from grid is 410kWh/yr. The AC primary load consumption is 1314 kWh/yr and the Grid sales are 746 kWh/yr. One battery is connected in parallel with 12V DC Bus and the usable nominal capacity 2.4 kWh with 9.6 h autonomy capacity.

Investigation of Roll off Factor in Pulse Shaping Filter on Maximal Ratio Combining for CDMA 2000 System

The integration of wide variety of communication services is made possible with invention of 3G technology. Code Division Multiple Access 2000 operates on various RF channel bandwidths 1.2288 or 3.6864 Mcps (1x or 3x systems). It is a 3G system which offers high bandwidth and wireless broadband services but its efficiency is lowered due to various factors like fading, interference, scattering, absorption etc. This paper investigates the effect of diversity (MRC), roll off factor in Root Raised Cosine (RRC) filter for the BPSK and QPSK modulation schemes. It is possible to transmit data with minimum Inter symbol Interference and within limited bandwidth with proper pulse shaping technique. Bit error rate (BER) performance is analyzed by applying diversity technique by varying the roll off factor for BPSK and QPSK. Roll off factor reduces the ISI and diversity reduces the Fading.

Estimation of Seismic Ground Motion and Shaking Parameters Based On Microtremor Measurements at Palu City, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

In this study, we estimated the seismic ground motion parameters based on microtremor measurements atPalu City. Several earthquakes have struck along the Palu-Koro Fault during recent years. The USGS epicenter, magnitude Mw 6.3 event that occurred on January 23, 2005 caused several casualties. We conducted a microtremor survey to estimate the strong ground motion distribution during the earthquake. From this surveywe produced a map of the peak ground acceleration, velocity, seismic vulnerability index and ground shear strain maps in Palu City. We performed single observations of microtremor at 151 sites in Palu City. We also conducted8-site microtremors array investigation to gain a representative determination of the soil condition of subsurface structures in Palu City.From the array observations, Palu City corresponds to relatively soil condition with Vs ≤ 300m/s, the predominant periods due to horizontal vertical ratios (HVSRs) are in the range of 0.4 to 1.8 s and the frequency are in the range of 0.7 to 3.3 Hz. Strong ground motions of the Palu area were predicted based on the empirical stochastic green’s function method. Peak ground acceleration and velocity becomes more than 400 gal and 30 kine in some areas, which causes severe damage for buildings in high probability. Microtremor survey results showed that in hilly areas had low seismic vulnerability index and ground shear strain, whereas in coastal alluvium was composed of material having a high seismic vulnerability and ground shear strain indication.

Statistical Modeling for Permeabilization of a Novel Yeast Isolate for β-Galactosidase Activity Using Organic Solvents

The hydrolysis of lactose using β-galactosidase is one of the most promising biotechnological applications, which has wide range of potential applications in food processing industries. However, due to intracellular location of the yeast enzyme, and expensive extraction methods, the industrial applications of enzymatic hydrolysis processes are being hampered. The use of permeabilization technique can help to overcome the problems associated with enzyme extraction and purification of yeast cells and to develop the economically viable process for the utilization of whole cell biocatalysts in food industries. In the present investigation, standardization of permeabilization process of novel yeast isolate was carried out using a statistical model approach known as Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to achieve maximal b-galactosidase activity. The optimum operating conditions for permeabilization process for optimal β-galactosidase activity obtained by RSM were 1:1 ratio of toluene (25%, v/v) and ethanol (50%, v/v), 25.0 oC temperature and treatment time of 12 min, which displayed enzyme activity of 1.71 IU /mg DW.

Utilization of Agro-Industrial Byproducts for Bacteriocin Production Using Newly Isolated Enterococcus faecium BS13

Microbial production of antimicrobials as biopreservatives is the major area of focus nowadays due to increased interest of consumers towards natural and safe preservation of ready to eat food products. The agro-industrial byproduct based medium and optimized process conditions can contribute in economical production of bacteriocins. Keeping this in view, the present investigation was carried out on agro-industrial byproducts utilization for the production of bacteriocin using Enterococcus faecium BS13 isolated from local fermented food. Different agro-industrial byproduct based carbon sources (whey, potato starch liquor, kinnow peel, deoiledrice bran and molasses), nitrogen sources (soya okra, pea pod and corn steep liquor), metal ions and surfactants were tested for optimal bacteriocin production. The effect of various process parameters such as pH, temperature, inoculum level, agitation and time were also tested on bacteriocin production. The optimized medium containing whey, supplemented with 4%corn steep liquor and polysorbate-80 displayed maximum bacteriocin activity with 2% inoculum, at pH 6.5, temperature 40oC under shaking conditions (100 rpm).

Mechanical Characteristics on Fatigue Crack Propagation in Aluminium Plate

This paper present a mechanical characteristics on fatigue crack propagation in Aluminium Plate based on strain and stress distribution using the abaqus software. The changes in shear strain and stress distribution during the fatigue cycle with crack growth is identified. In progressive crack in the strain distribution and the stress is increase in the critical zone. Numerical Modal analysis of the model developed, prove that the Eigen frequencies of aluminium plate were decreased after cracking, and this reduce is nonlinear. These results can provide a reference for analysts and designers of aluminium alloys in aeronautical systems. Therefore, the modal analysis is an important factor for monitoring the aeronautic structures.

A Comparative Study on Seismic Provisions Made in UBC-1997 and Saudi Building Code for RC Buildings

This paper presents a comparative study of static analysis procedure for seismic performance based on UBC-1997 and SBC-301-2007(Saudi Arabia). These building codes define different ductility classes and corresponding response reduction factors based on material, configuration and detailing of reinforcements. Codes differ significantly in specifying the procedures to estimate base shear, drift and effective stiffness of structural members. One of the major improvements made in new SBC (based on IBC-2003) is ground motion parameters used for seismic design. In old SBC (based on UBC) maps have been based on seismic zones. However new SBC provide contour maps giving spectral response quantities. In this approach, a case study of RC frame building located in two different cities and with different ductility classes has been performed. Moreover, equivalent static method based on SBC-301 and UBC-1997 is used to explore the variation in results based on two codes, particularly design base shear, lateral loads and story drifts.

Investigation on the Stability of Rock Slopes Subjected to Tension Cracks via Limit Analysis

Based on the kinematic approach of limit analysis, a full set of upper bound solutions for the stability of homogeneous rock slopes subjected to tension cracks are obtained. The generalized Hoek-Brown failure criterion is employed to describe the non-linear strength envelope of rocks. In this paper, critical failure mechanisms are determined for cracks of known depth but unspecified location, cracks of known location but unknown depth, and cracks of unspecified location and depth. It is shown that there is a nearly up to 50% drop in terms of the stability factors for the rock slopes intersected by a tension crack compared with intact ones. Tables and charts of solutions in dimensionless forms are presented for ease of use by practitioners.

Spark Plasma Sintering of Aluminum-Based Composites Reinforced by Nanocrystalline Carbon-Coated Intermetallic Particles

Aluminum Matrix Composites reinforced with nanocrystalline Ni3Al carbon-coated intermetallic particles, were synthesized by powder metallurgy. Powder mixture of aluminum with 0.5-volume fraction of reinforcement particles was compacted by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique and the compared with conventional sintering process. The better results for SPS technique were obtained in 520ºC-5kN-3min.The hardness (70.5±8 HV) and the elastic modulus (95 GPa) were evaluated in function of sintering conditions for SPS technique; it was found that the incorporation of these kind of reinforcement particles in aluminum matrix improve its mechanical properties. The densities were about 94% and 97% of the theoretical density. The carbon coating avoided the interfacial reaction between matrix-particle at high temperature (520°C) without show composition change either intermetallic dissolution.