Abstract: This study is concerned with pH solution detection
using 2 × 4 flexible sensor array based on a plastic polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) substrate that is coated a conductive layer and a
ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) sensitive membrane with the technologies
of screen-printing and RF sputtering. For data analysis, we also
prepared a dynamic measurement system for acquiring the response
voltage and analyzing the characteristics of the working electrodes
(WEs), such as sensitivity and linearity. In this condition, an array
measurement system was designed to acquire the original signal from
sensor array, and it is based on the method of digital signal processing
(DSP). The DSP modifies the unstable acquisition data to a direct
current (DC) output using the technique of digital filter. Hence, this
sensor array can obtain a satisfactory yield, 62.5%, through the design
measurement and analysis system in our laboratory.
Abstract: How to maintain the service speeds for the business
to make the biggest profit is a problem worthy of study, which is
discussed in this paper with the use of queuing theory. An M/M/1/N
queuing model with variable input rates, variable service rates and
impatient customers is established, and the following conclusions
are drawn: the stationary distribution of the model, the relationship
between the stationary distribution and the probability that there are n
customers left in the system when a customer leaves (not including
the customer who leaves himself), the busy period of the system,
the average operating cycle, the loss probability for the customers
not entering the system while they arriving at the system, the mean
of the customers who leaves the system being for impatient, the
loss probability for the customers not joining the queue due to the
limited capacity of the system and many other indicators. This paper
also indicates that the following conclusion is not correct: the more
customers the business serve, the more profit they will get. At last,
this paper points out the appropriate service speeds the business
should keep to make the biggest profit.
Abstract: In this paper, we consider a discrete Gompertz model with time delay. Firstly, the stability of the equilibrium of the system is investigated by analyzing the characteristic equation. By choosing the time delay as a bifurcation parameter, we prove that Neimark- Sacker bifurcations occur when the delay passes a sequence of critical values. The direction and stability of the Neimark-Sacker are determined by using normal forms and centre manifold theory. Finally, some numerical simulations are given to verify the theoretical analysis.
Abstract: Let A and B be two linear algebras. A linear map ϕ : A → B is called an n-homomorphism if ϕ(a1...an) = ϕ(a1)...ϕ(an) for all a1, ..., an ∈ A. In this note we have a verification on the behavior of almost n-multiplicative linear maps with n > 2 in the fuzzy normed spaces
Abstract: Strain M was isolated from the latex of Hevea brasiliensis that grow in the rubber farm area of Malaysia Rubber Board. Strain M was tentatively identified as Bacillus sp. Strain M demonstrated high protease production at pH 9, and this was suitable to be applied in rubber processing that was in alkaline conditions. The right and suitable proportion to be used in applying supernatant into the latex was two parts of latex and one part of enzyme. In this proportion, the latex was stable throughout the 72 hours of treatment. The potential of strain M to degrade protein in the natural rubber latex was proven with the reduction of 79.3% nitrogen in 24 hours treatment. Centrifugation process of the latex before undergoing the treatment had increased the protein degradation in latex. Although the centrifugation process did not achieve zero nitrogen content, it had improved the performance of protein denaturing in the natural rubber.
Abstract: Load balancing in distributed computer systems is the
process of redistributing the work load among processors in the
system to improve system performance. Most of previous research in
using fuzzy logic for the purpose of load balancing has only
concentrated in utilizing fuzzy logic concepts in describing
processors load and tasks execution length. The responsibility of the
fuzzy-based load balancing process itself, however, has not been
discussed and in most reported work is assumed to be performed in a
distributed fashion by all nodes in the network. This paper proposes a
new fuzzy dynamic load balancing algorithm for homogenous
distributed systems. The proposed algorithm utilizes fuzzy logic in
dealing with inaccurate load information, making load distribution
decisions, and maintaining overall system stability. In terms of
control, we propose a new approach that specifies how, when, and by
which node the load balancing is implemented. Our approach is
called Centralized-But-Distributed (CBD).
Abstract: The concept of sacred and nature have long been
interlinked. Various cultural aspects such as religion, faith, traditions
bring people closer to nature and the natural environment. Memorial
Parks and Sacred Groves are examples of two such cultural
landscapes that exist today. The project mainly deals with the
significance of such sites to the environment and the deep rooted
significance it has to the people. These parks and groves play an
important role in biodiversity conservation and environmental
protection. There are many differences between the establishment of
memorial parks and sacred groves, but the underlying significance is
the same. Sentiments, emotions play an important role in landscape
planning and management. Hence the people and communities living
at these sites need to be involved in any planning activity or
decisions. The conservation of the environment should appeal to the
sentiments of the people; the need to be 'with nature' should be used
in the setting up of memorial forests and in the preservation of sacred
groves.
Abstract: The growth of open networks created the interest to
commercialise it. The establishment of an electronic business
mechanism must be accompanied by a digital – electronic payment
system to transfer the value of transactions. Financial organizations
are requested to offer a secure e-payment synthesis with equivalent
level of security served in conventional paper-based payment
transactions. PKI, which is functioning as a chain of trust in security
architecture, can enable security services of cryptography to epayments,
in order to take advantage of the wider base either of
customer or of trading partners and the reduction of cost transaction
achieved by the use of Internet channels. The paper addresses the
possibilities and the implementation suggestions of PKI in relevance
to electronic payments by suggesting a framework that should be
followed.
Abstract: Green home rating has emerged as an important
agenda to practice the principles of sustainability. In Malaysia, the
establishment of the 'Green Building Index ' Residential New
Construction- (GBI-RNC) has brought this agenda closer to the
stakeholders of the local green building industry. GBI-RNC focuses
on the evaluation of the environmental impacts posed by houses
rather than assessing the Triple-Bottom-Line (TBL) of Sustainability
which also include socio-economic factors. Therefore, as part of a
wider study, a survey was conducted to gather the backgrounds of
green building stakeholders in Malaysia and their responses to a
number of exploratory questions regarding the setting up of a
framework to rate green homes against the TBL. This paper reports
the findings from Section A and B from this survey and discusses
them accordingly with a conclusion that forms part of the basis for a
new generation green home rating framework specifically for use in
Malaysia.
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: Power system stabilizers (PSS) are now routinely used in the industry to damp out power system oscillations. In this paper, real-coded genetic algorithm (RCGA) optimization technique is applied to design robust power system stabilizer for both singlemachine infinite-bus (SMIB) and multi-machine power system. The design problem of the proposed controller is formulated as an optimization problem and RCGA is employed to search for optimal controller parameters. By minimizing the time-domain based objective function, in which the deviation in the oscillatory rotor speed of the generator is involved; stability performance of the system is improved. The non-linear simulation results are presented under wide range of operating conditions; disturbances at different locations as well as for various fault clearing sequences to show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed controller and their ability to provide efficient damping of low frequency oscillations.
Abstract: The state and stability of hemoglobin adsorbed on the
glass surface was investigated using slab optical waveguide (SOWG)
spectroscopy. The peak position of the absorption band of hemoglobin
adsorbed on the glass surface was same as that of the hemoglobin in
solution. This result suggests that no significant denaturation occurred
by adsorption. The adsorption of hemoglobin is relatively strong that
the hemoglobin molecules even remained adsorbed after rinsing the
cell with buffer solution. The peak shift caused by the reduction of
adsorbed hemoglobin was also observed.
Abstract: The objective of this study was to develop vaginal
suppository containing lactobacillus. Four kinds of vaginal
suppositories containing Lactobacillus paracasei HL32 were
formulated: 1) a conventional suppository with Witepsol H-15 as a
base, 2) a conventional suppository with mixed polyethylene glycols
(PEGs) as a base, 3) a hollow-type suppository with Witepsol H-15
as a base and 4) a hollow-type suppository with mixed PEGs as a
base. The release studies demonstrated that the hollow-type
suppository with mixed PEGs as the base gave the highest release of
L. paracasei HL32 and was microbiological stable after storage at 2-
8°C over the period of 3 months.
Abstract: Optimal supplementary damping controller design for Thyristor Controlled Series Compensator (TCSC) is presented in this paper. For the proposed controller design, a multi-objective fitness function consisting of both damping factors and real part of system electromachanical eigenvalue is used and Real- Coded Genetic Algorithm (RCGA) is employed for the optimal supplementary controller parameters. The performance of the designed supplementary TCSC-based damping controller is tested on a weakly connected power system with different disturbances and loading conditions with parameter variations. Simulation results are presented and compared with a conventional power system stabilizer and also with the TCSC-based supplementary controller when the controller parameters are not optimized to show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach over a wide range of loading conditions and disturbances.
Abstract: Numerical studies on race car aerodynamics at wing
in ground effect have been carried out using a steady 3d, double
precision, pressure-based, and standard k-epsilon turbulence model.
Through various parametric analytical studies we have observed that
at a particular speed and ground clearance of the wings a favorable
negative lift was found high at a particular angle of attack for all the
physical models considered in this paper. The fact is that if the
ground clearance height to chord length (h/c) is too small, the
developing boundary layers from either side (the ground and the
lower surface of the wing) can interact, leading to an altered variation
of the aerodynamic characteristics at wing in ground effect. Therefore
a suitable ground clearance must be predicted throughout the racing
for a better performance of the race car, which obviously depends
upon the coupled effects of the topography, wing orientation with
respect to the ground, the incoming flow features and/or the race car
speed. We have concluded that for the design of high performance
and high speed race cars the adjustable wings capable to alter the
ground clearance and the angles of attack is the best design option for
any race car for racing safely with variable speeds.
Abstract: The last two decades witnessed some advances in the development of an Arabic character recognition (CR) system. Arabic CR faces technical problems not encountered in any other language that make Arabic CR systems achieve relatively low accuracy and retards establishing them as market products. We propose the basic stages towards a system that attacks the problem of recognizing online Arabic cursive handwriting. Rule-based methods are used to perform simultaneous segmentation and recognition of word portions in an unconstrained cursively handwritten document using dynamic programming. The output of these stages is in the form of a ranked list of the possible decisions. A new technique for text line separation is also used.
Abstract: The effect of small non-parallelism of the base flow
on the stability of slightly curved mixing layers is analyzed in the
present paper. Assuming that the instability wavelength is much
smaller than the length scale of the variation of the base flow we
derive an amplitude evolution equation using the method of multiple
scales. The proposed asymptotic model provides connection between
parallel flow approximations and takes into account slow
longitudinal variation of the base flow.
Abstract: To respond to the Kyoto Protocol, the policy of Payment for Environmental Service (PES), which was entitled “Plain Landscape Afforestation Program (PLAP)", was certified by Executive Yuan in Taiwan on 31 August 2001 and has been implementing for six years since 1 January 2002. Although the PLAP has received a lot of positive comments, there are still many difficulties during the process of implementation, such as insufficient technology for afforestation, private landowners- low interests in participating in PLAP, insufficient subsidies, and so on, which are potential threats that hinder the PLAP from moving forward in future. In this paper, selecting Ping-Tung County in Taiwan as a sample region and targeting those private landowners with and without intention to participate in the PLAP, respectively, we conduct an empirical analysis based on the Logit model to investigate the factors that determine whether those private landowners join the PLAP, so as to realize the incentive effects of the PLAP upon the personal decision on afforestation. The possible factors that might determine private landowner-s participation in the PLAP include landowner-s characteristics, cropland characteristics, as well as policy factors. Among them, the policy factors include afforestation subsidy amount (+), duration of afforestation subsidy (+), the rules on adjoining and adjacent areas (+), and so on, which do not reach the remarkable level in statistics though, but the directions of variable signs are consistent with the intuition behind the policy. As for the landowners- characteristics, each of age (+), education level (–), and annual household income (+) variables reaches 10% of the remarkable level in statistics; as for the cropland characteristics, each of cropland area (+), cropland price (–), and the number of cropland parcels (–) reaches 1% of the remarkable level in statistics. In light of the above, the cropland characteristics are the dominate factor that determines the probability of landowner-s participation in the PLAP. In the Logit model established by this paper, the probability of correctly estimating nonparticipants is 98%, the probability of correctly estimating the participants is 71.8%, and the probability for the overall estimation is 95%. In addition, Hosmer-Lemeshow test and omnibus test also revealed that the Logit model in this paper may provide fine goodness of fit and good predictive power in forecasting private landowners- participation in this program. The empirical result of this paper expects to help the implementation of the afforestation programs in Taiwan.
Abstract: The basic objective of this paper is to measure and
compare the profitability of investments made by the small and
marginal farmers of the state of West Bengal in floriculture shifting
from the traditional cultivation of paddy. A comparison of IRR is
made to establish the fact that cultivation of flowers yield higher
returns farmers whose land size is so small that viability of paddy
cultivation is raising a question mark. A detailed study of the price
behavior of the flower crop has been carried out in which the factors
leading to the volatility of the price and the dispersion of the range
have also been discussed. Finally the incremental incomes of the
farmers have been calculated with the help of imputed income from
paddy cultivation and the reported income from the selected flowers.
The study shows that the farmers stand gainers if they opt for flower
cultivation.
Abstract: This paper reported an experimental research of
steady-state heat transfer behaviour of a gas flowing through a fixed
bed under the different operating conditions. Studies had been carried
out in a fixed-bed packed methanol synthesis catalyst percolated by air
at appropriate flow rate. Both radial and axial direction temperature
distribution had been investigated under the different operating
conditions. The effects of operating conditions including the reactor
inlet air temperature, the heating pipe temperature and the air flow rate
on temperature distribution was investigated and the experimental
results showed that a higher inlet air temperature was conducive to
uniform temperature distribution in the fixed bed. A large temperature
drop existed at the radial direction, and the temperature drop increased
with the heating pipe temperature increasing under the experimental
conditions; the temperature profile of the vicinity of the heating pipe
was strongly affected by the heating pipe temperature. A higher air
flow rate can improve the heat transfer in the fixed bed. Based on the
thermal distribution, heat transfer models of the fixed bed could be
established, and the characteristics of the temperature distribution in
the fixed bed could be finely described, that had an important practical
significance.