Abstract: Coal fly ash (CFA) generated by coal-based thermal
power plants is mainly composed of quartz, mullite, and unburned
carbon. In this study, the effect of unburned carbon on CFA toward
its adsorption capacity was investigated. CFA with various carbon
content was obtained by refluxing it with sulfuric acid having various
concentration at various temperature and reflux time, by heating at
400-800°C, and by sieving into 100-mesh in particle size. To
evaluate the effect of unburned carbon on CFA toward its adsorption
capacity, adsorption of methyl violet solution with treated CFA was
carried out. The research shows that unburned carbon leads to
adsorption capacity decrease. The highest adsorption capacity of
treated CFA was found 5.73 x 10-4mol.g-1.
Abstract: In many industries, control charts is one of the most
frequently used tools for quality management. Hotelling-s T2 is used
widely in multivariate control chart. However, it has little defect when
detecting small or medium process shifts. The use of supplementary
sensitizing rules can improve the performance of detection. This study
applied sensitizing rules for Hotelling-s T2 control chart to improve the
performance of detection. Support vector machines (SVM) classifier
to identify the characteristic or group of characteristics that are
responsible for the signal and to classify the magnitude of the mean
shifts. The experimental results demonstrate that the support vector
machines (SVM) classifier can effectively identify the characteristic
or group of characteristics that caused the process mean shifts and the
magnitude of the shifts.
Abstract: Process-oriented software development is a new
software development paradigm in which software design is modeled
by a business process which is in turn translated into a process
execution language for execution. The building blocks of this
paradigm are software units that are composed together to work
according to the flow of the business process. This new paradigm
still exhibits the characteristic of the applications built with the
traditional software component technology. This paper discusses an
approach to apply a traditional technique for software component
fabrication to the design of process-oriented software units, called
process components. These process components result from
decomposing a business process of a particular application domain
into subprocesses, and these process components can be reused to
design the business processes of other application domains. The
decomposition considers five managerial goals, namely cost
effectiveness, ease of assembly, customization, reusability, and
maintainability. The paper presents how to design or decompose
process components from a business process model and measure
some technical features of the design that would affect the
managerial goals. A comparison between the measurement values
from different designs can tell which process component design is
more appropriate for the managerial goals that have been set. The
proposed approach can be applied in Web Services environment
which accommodates process-oriented software development.
Abstract: High Speed PM Generators driven by micro-turbines
are widely used in Smart Grid System. So, this paper proposes
comparative study among six classical, optimized and genetic
analytical design cases for 400 kW output power at tip speed 200
m/s. These six design trials of High Speed Permanent Magnet
Synchronous Generators (HSPMSGs) are: Classical Sizing;
Unconstrained optimization for total losses and its minimization;
Constrained optimized total mass with bounded constraints are
introduced in the problem formulation. Then a genetic algorithm is
formulated for obtaining maximum efficiency and minimizing
machine size. In the second genetic problem formulation, we attempt
to obtain minimum mass, the machine sizing that is constrained by
the non-linear constraint function of machine losses. Finally, an
optimum torque per ampere genetic sizing is predicted. All results are
simulated with MATLAB, Optimization Toolbox and its Genetic
Algorithm. Finally, six analytical design examples comparisons are
introduced with study of machines waveforms, THD and rotor losses.
Abstract: This paper presents preliminary results of a
technology assessment analysis for the use of high pressure treatment
(HPT) on Halloumi cheese. In particular, it presents the importance
of this traditional Cyprus cheese to the island-s economy, explains its
production process, and gives a brief introduction to HPT and its
application on cheese. More importantly, it offers preliminary results
of HPT of Halloumi samples and a preliminary economic feasibility
study on the financial implications of the introduction of such
technology.
Abstract: One of the main environmental problems which affect extensive areas in the world is soil salinity. Traditional data collection methods are neither enough for considering this important environmental problem nor accurate for soil studies. Remote sensing data could overcome most of these problems. Although satellite images are commonly used for these studies, however there are still needs to find the best calibration between the data and real situations in each specified area. Neyshaboor area, North East of Iran was selected as a field study of this research. Landsat satellite images for this area were used in order to prepare suitable learning samples for processing and classifying the images. 300 locations were selected randomly in the area to collect soil samples and finally 273 locations were reselected for further laboratory works and image processing analysis. Electrical conductivity of all samples was measured. Six reflective bands of ETM+ satellite images taken from the study area in 2002 were used for soil salinity classification. The classification was carried out using common algorithms based on the best composition bands. The results showed that the reflective bands 7, 3, 4 and 1 are the best band composition for preparing the color composite images. We also found out, that hybrid classification is a suitable method for identifying and delineation of different salinity classes in the area.
Abstract: The threshold voltage and capacitance voltage characteristics of ultra-thin Silicon-on-Insulator MOSFET are greatly influenced by the thickness and doping concentration of the silicon film. In this work, the capacitance voltage characteristics and threshold voltage of the device have been analyzed with quantum mechanical effects using the Self-Consistent model. Reduction of channel thickness and adding doping impurities cause an increase in the threshold voltage. Moreover, the temperature effects cause a significant amount of threshold voltage shift. The temperature dependence of threshold voltage has also been observed with Self- Consistent approach which are well supported from experimental performance of practical devices.
Abstract: The analytical solution of functionally graded
piezoelectric hollow cylinder which is under radial electric potential
and non-axisymmetric thermo-mechanical loads, are presented in this
paper. Using complex Fourier series and estimation of power law for
variations of material characterizations through the thickness, the
electro thermo mechanical behavior of the FGPM cylinder is
obtained. The stress and displacement distributions and the effect of
electric potential field on the cylinder behavior are also presented and
some applicable results are offered at the end of the paper.
Abstract: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be defined as the management of social, environmental, economical and ethical concepts and firms sensivities to the expectations of the social stakeholders. CSR is seen as an important competitive advantage in the textile sector because this sector has an important impact on the environment and it is labor extensive. Textile sector has a strong advantage when compared with other sectors in Turkey due to its low labor costs and abundancy of raw materials. Turkey was a producer and an exporter of cotton, and an importer of fiber, clothes and dresses until 1950s. After 1950s, Turkey has begun to export fiber, ready-made clothes and become one of the most important textile producers in the world recently. CSR practices of the textile firms that are quoted in Istanbul Stock Exchange and these firms sensivities to their internal and external stakeholders and environment will be presented in this study.
Abstract: Microwave energy is a superior alternative to several other thermal treatments. Extraction techniques are widely employed for the isolation of bioactive compounds and vegetable oils from oil seeds. Among the different and new available techniques, microwave pretreatment of seeds is a simple and desirable method for production of high quality vegetable oils. Microwave pretreatment for oil extraction has many advantages as follow: improving oil extraction yield and quality, direct extraction capability, lower energy consumption, faster processing time and reduced solvent levels compared with conventional methods. It allows also for better retention and availability of desirable nutraceuticals, such as phytosterols and tocopherols, canolol and phenolic compounds in the extracted oil such as rapeseed oil. This can be a new step to produce nutritional vegetable oils with improved shelf life because of high antioxidant content.
Abstract: Support Vector Machine (SVM) is a recent class of statistical classification and regression techniques playing an increasing role in applications to detection problems in various engineering problems, notably in statistical signal processing, pattern recognition, image analysis, and communication systems. In this paper, SVM is applied to an infrared (IR) binary communication system with different types of channel models including Ricean multipath fading and partially developed scattering channel with additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) at the receiver. The structure and performance of SVM in terms of the bit error rate (BER) metric is derived and simulated for these channel stochastic models and the computational complexity of the implementation, in terms of average computational time per bit, is also presented. The performance of SVM is then compared to classical binary signal maximum likelihood detection using a matched filter driven by On-Off keying (OOK) modulation. We found that the performance of SVM is superior to that of the traditional optimal detection schemes used in statistical communication, especially for very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) ranges. For large SNR, the performance of the SVM is similar to that of the classical detectors. The implication of these results is that SVM can prove very beneficial to IR communication systems that notoriously suffer from low SNR at the cost of increased computational complexity.
Abstract: Residues are produced in all stages of human activities
in terms of composition and volume which vary according to
consumption practices and to production methods. Forms of
significant harm to the environment are associated to volume of
generated material as well as to improper disposal of solid wastes,
whose negative effects are noticed more frequently in the long term.
The solution to this problem constitutes a challenge to the
government, industry and society, because they involve economic,
social, environmental and, especially, awareness of the population in
general. The main concerns are focused on the impact it can have on
human health and on the environment (soil, water, air and sights).
The hazardous waste produced mainly by industry, are particularly
worrisome because, when improperly managed, they become a
serious threat to the environment. In view of this issue, this study
aimed to evaluate the management system of solid waste of a coprocessing
industrial waste company, to propose improvements to the
rejects generation management in a specific step of the Blending
production process.
Abstract: In the context of sensor networks, where every few
dB saving counts, the novel node cooperation schemes are reviewed
where MIMO techniques play a leading role. These methods could be
treated as joint approach for designing physical layer of their
communication scenarios. Then we analyzed the BER performance
of transmission diversity schemes under a general fading channel
model and proposed a power allocation strategy to the transmitting
sensor nodes. This approach is then compared to an equal-power
assignment method and its performance enhancement is verified by
the simulation. Another key point of the contribution lies in the
combination of optimal power allocation and sensor nodes-
cooperation in a transmission diversity regime (MISO). Numerical
results are given through figures to demonstrate the optimality and
efficiency of proposed combined approach.
Abstract: The paper introduces and discusses definitions and concepts from the supplier relationship management area. This review has the goal to provide readers with the basic conditions to understand the market mechanisms and the technological developments of the SRM market. Further on, the work gives a picture of the actual business environment in which the SRM vendors are in, and the main trends in the field, based on the main SRM functionalities i.e. e-Procurement, e-Sourcing and Supplier Enablement, which indicates users and software providers the future technological developments and practises that will take place in this area in the next couple of years.
Abstract: In this paper, a generalized synchronization scheme, which is called function synchronization, for chaotic systems is studied. Based on Lyapunov method and active control method, we design the synchronization controller for the system such that the error dynamics between master and slave chaotic systems is asymptotically stable. For verification of our theory, computer and circuit simulations for a specific chaotic system is conducted.
Abstract: In this paper, the noise maps for the area encircled by
the Second Ring Road in Riyadh city are developed based on real
measured data. Sound level meters, GPS receivers to determine
measurement position, a database program to manage the measured
data, and a program to develop the maps are used. A baseline noise
level has been established at each short-term site so subsequent
monitoring may be conducted to describe changes in Riyadh-s noise
environment. Short-term sites are used to show typical daytime and
nighttime noise levels at specific locations by short duration grab
sampling.
Abstract: SoftBoost is a recently presented boosting algorithm,
which trades off the size of achieved classification margin and
generalization performance. This paper presents a performance
evaluation of SoftBoost algorithm on the generic object recognition
problem. An appearance-based generic object recognition
model is used. The evaluation experiments are performed using
a difficult object recognition benchmark. An assessment with respect
to different degrees of label noise as well as a comparison to
the well known AdaBoost algorithm is performed. The obtained
results reveal that SoftBoost is encouraged to be used in cases
when the training data is known to have a high degree of noise.
Otherwise, using Adaboost can achieve better performance.
Abstract: The presence of harmonic in power system is a major
concerned to power engineers for many years. With the increasing
usage of nonlinear loads in power systems, the harmonic pollution
becomes more serious. One of the widely used computation
algorithm for harmonic analysis is fast Fourier transform (FFT). In
this paper, a harmonic analyzer using FFT was implemented on
TMS320C6713 DSK. The supply voltage of 240 V 59 Hz is stepped
down to 5V using a voltage divider in order to match the power
rating of the DSK input. The output from the DSK was displayed on
oscilloscope and Code Composer Studio™ software. This work has
demonstrated the possibility of analyzing the 240V power supply
harmonic content using the DSK board.
Abstract: The development and extension of large cities induced
a need for shallow tunnel in soft ground of building areas. Estimation
of ground settlement caused by the tunnel excavation is important
engineering point. In this paper, prediction of surface subsidence
caused by tunneling in one section of seventh line of Tehran subway
is considered. On the basis of studied geotechnical conditions of the
region, tunnel with the length of 26.9km has been excavated applying
a mechanized method using an EPB-TBM with a diameter of 9.14m.
In this regard, settlement is estimated utilizing both analytical and
numerical finite element method. The numerical method shows that
the value of settlement in this section is 5cm. Besides, the analytical
consequences (Bobet and Loganathan-Polous) are 5.29 and 12.36cm,
respectively. According to results of this study, due tosaturation of
this section, there are good agreement between Bobet and numerical
methods. Therefore, tunneling processes in this section needs a
special consolidation measurement and support system before the
passage of tunnel boring machine.
Abstract: Speed estimation is one of the important and practical tasks in machine vision, Robotic and Mechatronic. the availability of high quality and inexpensive video cameras, and the increasing need for automated video analysis has generated a great deal of interest in machine vision algorithms. Numerous approaches for speed estimation have been proposed. So classification and survey of the proposed methods can be very useful. The goal of this paper is first to review and verify these methods. Then we will propose a novel algorithm to estimate the speed of moving object by using fuzzy concept. There is a direct relation between motion blur parameters and object speed. In our new approach we will use Radon transform to find direction of blurred image, and Fuzzy sets to estimate motion blur length. The most benefit of this algorithm is its robustness and precision in noisy images. Our method was tested on many images with different range of SNR and is satisfiable.