Abstract: With the development of HyperSpectral Imagery
(HSI) technology, the spectral resolution of HSI became denser,
which resulted in large number of spectral bands, high correlation
between neighboring, and high data redundancy. However, the
semantic interpretation is a challenging task for HSI analysis
due to the high dimensionality and the high correlation of the
different spectral bands. In fact, this work presents a dimensionality
reduction approach that allows to overcome the different issues
improving the semantic interpretation of HSI. Therefore, in order
to preserve the spatial information, the Tensor Locality Preserving
Projection (TLPP) has been applied to transform the original HSI.
In the second step, knowledge has been extracted based on the
adjacency graph to describe the different pixels. Based on the
transformation matrix using TLPP, a weighted matrix has been
constructed to rank the different spectral bands based on their
contribution score. Thus, the relevant bands have been adaptively
selected based on the weighted matrix. The performance of the
presented approach has been validated by implementing several
experiments, and the obtained results demonstrate the efficiency
of this approach compared to various existing dimensionality
reduction techniques. Also, according to the experimental results,
we can conclude that this approach can adaptively select the
relevant spectral improving the semantic interpretation of HSI.
Abstract: This study investigated the influence of Cloisite-15A nanoclay on the physical, performance, and mechanical properties of bitumen binder. Cloisite-15A was blended in the bitumen in variegated percentages from 1% to 9% with increment of 2%. The blended bitumen was characterized using penetration, softening point, and dynamic viscosity using rotational viscometer, and compared with unmodified bitumen equally penetration grade 60/70. The rheological parameters were investigated using Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR), and mechanical properties were investigated by using Marshall Stability test. The results indicated an increase in softening point, dynamic viscosity and decrease in binder penetration. Rheological properties of bitumen increase complex modulus, decrease phase angle and improve rutting resistances as well. There was significant improvement in Marshall Stability, rather marginal improvement in flow value. The best improvement in the modified binder was obtained with 5% Cloisite-15A nanoclay.
Abstract: This paper presents an image analysis algorithm to detect and count yellow tomato flowers in a greenhouse with uneven illumination conditions, complex growth conditions and different flower sizes. The algorithm is designed to be employed on a drone that flies in greenhouses to accomplish several tasks such as pollination and yield estimation. Detecting the flowers can provide useful information for the farmer, such as the number of flowers in a row, and the number of flowers that were pollinated since the last visit to the row. The developed algorithm is designed to handle the real world difficulties in a greenhouse which include varying lighting conditions, shadowing, and occlusion, while considering the computational limitations of the simple processor in the drone. The algorithm identifies flowers using an adaptive global threshold, segmentation over the HSV color space, and morphological cues. The adaptive threshold divides the images into darker and lighter images. Then, segmentation on the hue, saturation and volume is performed accordingly, and classification is done according to size and location of the flowers. 1069 images of greenhouse tomato flowers were acquired in a commercial greenhouse in Israel, using two different RGB Cameras – an LG G4 smartphone and a Canon PowerShot A590. The images were acquired from multiple angles and distances and were sampled manually at various periods along the day to obtain varying lighting conditions. Ground truth was created by manually tagging approximately 25,000 individual flowers in the images. Sensitivity analyses on the acquisition angle of the images, periods throughout the day, different cameras and thresholding types were performed. Precision, recall and their derived F1 score were calculated. Results indicate better performance for the view angle facing the flowers than any other angle. Acquiring images in the afternoon resulted with the best precision and recall results. Applying a global adaptive threshold improved the median F1 score by 3%. Results showed no difference between the two cameras used. Using hue values of 0.12-0.18 in the segmentation process provided the best results in precision and recall, and the best F1 score. The precision and recall average for all the images when using these values was 74% and 75% respectively with an F1 score of 0.73. Further analysis showed a 5% increase in precision and recall when analyzing images acquired in the afternoon and from the front viewpoint.
Abstract: Biocomposites is a field that has gained much scientific attention due to the current substantial consumption of non-renewable resources and the environmentally harmful disposal methods required for traditional polymer composites. Research on natural fiber reinforced polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) has gained considerable momentum over the past decade. There is little work on PHAs reinforced with unidirectional (UD) natural fibers and little work on using epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) as a toughening agent for PHA-based biocomposites. In this work, we prepared polyhydroxybutyrate-co-valerate (PHBV) biocomposites reinforced with UD 30 wt.% flax fibers and evaluated the use of ENR with 50% epoxidation (ENR50) as a toughening agent for PHBV biocomposites. Quasi-unidirectional flax/PHBV composites were prepared by hand layup, powder impregnation followed by compression molding. Toughening agents – polybutylene adiphate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) and ENR50 – were cryogenically ground into powder and mechanically mixed with main matrix PHBV to maintain the powder impregnation process. The tensile, flexural and impact properties of the biocomposites were measured and morphology of the composites examined using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The UD biocomposites showed exceptionally high mechanical properties as compared to the results obtained previously where only short fibers have been used. The improved tensile and flexural properties were attributed to the continuous nature of the fiber reinforcement and the increased proportion of fibers in the loading direction. The improved impact properties were attributed to a larger surface area for fiber-matrix debonding and for subsequent sliding and fiber pull-out mechanisms to act on, allowing more energy to be absorbed. Coating cryogenically ground ENR50 particles with PHBV powder successfully inhibits the self-healing nature of ENR-50, preventing particles from coalescing and overcoming problems in mechanical mixing, compounding and molding. Cryogenic grinding, followed by powder impregnation and subsequent compression molding is an effective route to the production of high-mechanical-property biocomposites based on renewable resources for high-obsolescence applications such as plastic casings for consumer electronics.
Abstract: Recognizing and controlling vocal registers during
singing is a difficult task for beginner vocalist. It requires among
others identifying which part of natural resonators is being used
when a sound propagates through the body. Thus, an application
has been designed allowing for sound recording, automatic vocal
register recognition (VRR), and a graphical user interface providing
real-time visualization of the signal and recognition results. Six
spectral features are determined for each time frame and passed to the
support vector machine classifier yielding a binary decision on the
head or chest register assignment of the segment. The classification
training and testing data have been recorded by ten professional
female singers (soprano, aged 19-29) performing sounds for both
chest and head register. The classification accuracy exceeded 93%
in each of various validation schemes. Apart from a hard two-class
clustering, the support vector classifier returns also information on
the distance between particular feature vector and the discrimination
hyperplane in a feature space. Such an information reflects the level
of certainty of the vocal register classification in a fuzzy way. Thus,
the designed recognition and training application is able to assess and
visualize the continuous trend in singing in a user-friendly graphical
mode providing an easy way to control the vocal emission.
Abstract: Aiming at optimizing the weight and deflection of cantilever beam subjected to maximum stress and maximum deflection, Multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO) with Utopia Point based local search is implemented. Utopia point is used to govern the search towards the Pareto Optimal set. The elite candidates obtained during the iterations are stored in an archive according to non-dominated sorting and also the archive is truncated based on least crowding distance. Local search is also performed on elite candidates and the most diverse particle is selected as the global best. This method is implemented on standard test functions and it is observed that the improved algorithm gives better convergence and diversity as compared to NSGA-II in fewer iterations. Implementation on practical structural problem shows that in 5 to 6 iterations, the improved algorithm converges with better diversity as evident by the improvement of cantilever beam on an average of 0.78% and 9.28% in the weight and deflection respectively compared to NSGA-II.
Abstract: Many public housing properties developed by local governments in Taiwan in the 1980s have deteriorated severely as these rental apartment buildings aged. The lack of building maintainability considerations during project design phase as well as insufficient maintenance funds have made it difficult and costly for local governments to maintain and keep public housing properties in good shape. In order to assist the local governments in achieving and delivering sustainable public housing, this paper intends to present a developed design evaluation method to be used to evaluate the presented design schemes from property management and financial feasibility perspectives during project design phase of public housing projects. The design evaluation results, i.e. the property management and financial implications of presented design schemes that could occur later during the building operation and maintenance phase, will be reported to the client (the government) and design schemes revised consequently. It is proposed that the design evaluation be performed from two main perspectives: (1) Operation and property management perspective: Three criteria such as spatial appropriateness, people and vehicle circulation and control, property management working spaces are used to evaluate the ‘operation and PM effectiveness’ of a design scheme. (2) Financial feasibility perspective: Four types of financial analyses are performed to assess the long term financial feasibility of a presented design scheme, such as operational and rental income analysis, management fund analysis, regular operational and property management service expense analysis, capital expense analysis. The ongoing Chung-Li Public Housing Project developed by the Taoyuan City Government will be used as a case to demonstrate how the presented design evaluation method is implemented. The results of property management assessment as well as the annual operational and capital expenses of a proposed design scheme are presented.
Abstract: Upgrading the thermal performance of building
envelope of existing residential buildings is an effective way to reduce
heat gain or heat loss. Overhang device is a common solution for
building envelope improvement as it can cut down solar heat gain and
thereby can reduce the energy used for space cooling in summer time.
Despite that, overhang can increase the demand for indoor heating in
winter due to its function of lowering the solar heat gain. Obviously,
overhang has different impacts on energy use in different climatic
zones which have different energy demand. To evaluate the impact of
overhang device on building energy performance under different
climates of China, an energy analysis model is built up in a
computer-based simulation program known as DesignBuilder based
on the data of a typical high-rise residential building. The energy
simulation results show that single overhang is able to cut down
around 5% of the energy consumption of the case building in the
stand-alone situation or about 2% when the building is surrounded by
other buildings in regions which predominantly rely on space cooling
though it has no contribution to energy reduction in cold region. In
regions with cold summer and cold winter, adding overhang over
windows can cut down around 4% and 1.8% energy use with and
without adjoining buildings, respectively. The results indicate that
overhang might not an effective shading device to reduce the energy
consumption in the mixed climate or cold regions.
Abstract: Treatment for the non-matching interface is an important computational issue. To handle this problem, the method of Lagrange multipliers including classical and localized versions are the most popular technique. It essentially imposes the interface compatibility conditions by introducing Lagrange multipliers. However, the numerical system becomes unstable and inefficient due to the Lagrange multipliers. The interface element-independent formulation that does not include the Lagrange multipliers can be obtained by modifying the independent variables mathematically. Through this modification, more efficient and stable system can be achieved while involving equivalent accuracy comparing with the conventional method. A numerical example is conducted to verify the validity of the presented method.
Abstract: Packed columns of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consists of separating the liquid mixture of propane and butane to pure gas components by the distillation phenomenon. The flow of the gas and liquid inside the columns is operated by two ways: The co-current and the counter current operation. Heat, mass and species transfer between phases represent the most important factors that influence the choice between those two operations. In this paper, both processes are discussed using computational CFD simulation through ANSYS-Fluent software. Only 3D half section of the packed column was considered with one packed bed. The packed bed was characterized in our case as a porous media. The simulations were carried out at transient state conditions. A multi-component gas and liquid mixture were used out in the two processes. We utilized the Euler-Lagrange approach in which the gas was treated as a continuum phase and the liquid as a group of dispersed particles. The heat and the mass transfer process was modeled using multi-component droplet evaporation approach. The results show that the counter-current process performs better than the co-current, although such limitations of our approach are noted. This comparison gives accurate results for computations times higher than 2 s, at different gas velocity and at packed bed porosity of 0.9.
Abstract: The harmonic distortion of voltage is important in relation to power quality due to the interaction between the large diffusion of non-linear and time-varying single-phase and three-phase loads with power supply systems. However, harmonic distortion levels can be reduced by improving the design of polluting loads or by applying arrangements and adding filters. The application of passive filters is an effective solution that can be used to achieve harmonic mitigation mainly because filters offer high efficiency, simplicity, and are economical. Additionally, possible different frequency response characteristics can work to achieve certain required harmonic filtering targets. With these ideas in mind, the objective of this paper is to determine what size single tuned passive filters work in distribution networks best, in order to economically limit violations caused at a given point of common coupling (PCC). This article suggests that a single tuned passive filter could be employed in typical industrial power systems. Furthermore, constrained optimization can be used to find the optimal sizing of the passive filter in order to reduce both harmonic voltage and harmonic currents in the power system to an acceptable level, and, thus, improve the load power factor. The optimization technique works to minimize voltage total harmonic distortions (VTHD) and current total harmonic distortions (ITHD), where maintaining a given power factor at a specified range is desired. According to the IEEE Standard 519, both indices are viewed as constraints for the optimal passive filter design problem. The performance of this technique will be discussed using numerical examples taken from previous publications.
Abstract: Collapsible soils are weak soils that appear to be stable in their natural state, normally dry condition, but rapidly deform under saturation (wetting), thus generating large and unexpected settlements which often yield disastrous consequences for structures unwittingly built on such deposits. In this study, a prediction model for the relative subsidence of stressed collapsible soils based on dielectric permittivity measurement is presented. Unlike most existing methods for soil subsidence prediction, this model does not require moisture content as an input parameter, thus providing the opportunity to obtain accurate estimation of the relative subsidence of collapsible soils using dielectric measurement only. The prediction model is developed based on an existing relative subsidence prediction model (which is dependent on soil moisture condition) and an advanced theoretical frequency and temperature-dependent electromagnetic mixing equation (which effectively removes the moisture content dependence of the original relative subsidence prediction model). For large scale sub-surface soil exploration purposes, the spatial sub-surface soil dielectric data over wide areas and high depths of weak (collapsible) soil deposits can be obtained using non-destructive high frequency electromagnetic (HF-EM) measurement techniques such as ground penetrating radar (GPR). For laboratory or small scale in-situ measurements, techniques such as an open-ended coaxial line with widely applicable time domain reflectometry (TDR) or vector network analysers (VNAs) are usually employed to obtain the soil dielectric data. By using soil dielectric data obtained from small or large scale non-destructive HF-EM investigations, the new model can effectively predict the relative subsidence of weak soils without the need to extract samples for moisture content measurement. Some of the resulting benefits are the preservation of the undisturbed nature of the soil as well as a reduction in the investigation costs and analysis time in the identification of weak (problematic) soils. The accuracy of prediction of the presented model is assessed by conducting relative subsidence tests on a collapsible soil at various initial soil conditions and a good match between the model prediction and experimental results is obtained.
Abstract: The proximal spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a group of neuromuscular disorders characterized by progressive muscle weakness due to the degeneration and loss of anterior motor neurons of the spinal cord. Depending on the age of onset of symptoms and their evolution, four types of SMA, varying in severity, result in a mutations of the SMN gene (survival of Motor neuron). We have analyzed the DNA of 295 patients referred to our genetic counseling; since January 1996 until October 2014; for suspected SMA. The homozygous deletion of exon 7 of the SMN gene was found in 133 patients; of which, 40.6% were born to consanguineous parents. In countries like Morocco, where the frequency of heterozygotes for SMA is high, genetic testing should be offered as first-line and, after careful clinical assessment, especially in newborns and infants with congenital hypotonia unexplained and prognosis compromise. The molecular diagnosis of SMA allows a quick and certainly diagnosis, provide adequate genetic counseling for families at risk and suggest, for couples who want prenatal diagnosis. The analysis of the SMN gene is a perfect example of genetic testing with an excellent cost/benefit ratio that can be of great interest in public health, especially in low-income countries. We emphasize in this work for the benefit of the generalization of molecular diagnosis of SMA by the technique of PCR-enzymatic digestion in other centers in Morocco.
Abstract: The noise requirements for naval and research vessels
have seen an increasing demand for quieter ships in order to fulfil
current regulations and to reduce the effects on marine life. Hence,
new methods dedicated to the characterization of propeller noise,
which is the main source of noise in the far-field, are needed. The
study of cavitating propellers in closed-section is interesting for
analyzing hydrodynamic performance but could involve significant
difficulties for hydroacoustic study, especially due to reverberation
and boundary layer noise in the tunnel. The aim of this paper
is to present a numerical methodology for the identification of
hydroacoustic sources on marine propellers using hydrophone arrays
in a large hydrodynamic tunnel. The main difficulties are linked to the
reverberation of the tunnel and the boundary layer noise that strongly
reduce the signal-to-noise ratio. In this paper it is proposed to estimate
the reflection coefficients using an inverse method and some reference
transfer functions measured in the tunnel. This approach allows to
reduce the uncertainties of the propagation model used in the inverse
problem. In order to reduce the boundary layer noise, a cleaning
algorithm taking advantage of the low rank and sparse structure of the
cross-spectrum matrices of the acoustic and the boundary layer noise
is presented. This approach allows to recover the acoustic signal even
well under the boundary layer noise. The improvement brought by
this method is visible on acoustic maps resulting from beamforming
and DAMAS algorithms.
Abstract: The scheduling based routing scheme is presented in this paper to avoid link failure. The main objective of this system is to introduce a cross-layer protocol framework that integrates routing with priority-based traffic management and distributed transmission scheduling. The reservation scheme is based on ID. The presented scheme guarantees that bandwidth reserved time slot is used by another packet in which end-to-end reservation is achieved. The Bandwidth and Delay Aware Routing Protocol with Scheduling Algorithm is presented to allocate channels efficiently. The experimental results show that the presented schemes performed well in various parameters compared to existing methods.
Abstract: The machinability of workpieces (AISI 1045 Steel, AA2024 aluminum alloy, A48-class30 gray cast iron) in turning operation has been carried out using different types of cutting tool (conventional, cutting tool with holes in toolholder and cutting tool filled up with composite material) under dry conditions on a turning machine at different stages of spindle speed (630-1000 rpm), feed rate (0.05-0.075 mm/rev), depth of cut (0.05-0.15 mm) and tool overhang (41-65 mm). Experimentation was performed as per Taguchi’s orthogonal array. To evaluate the relative importance of factors affecting surface roughness the single decision tree (SDT), Decision tree forest (DTF) and Group method of data handling (GMDH) were applied.
Abstract: This research presents the behavior of slope of the road along the canal stabilized by short piles. In this investigation, the centrifuge machine was used, modelling the condition of the water levels in the canal. The centrifuge tests were performed at 35 g. To observe the movement of the soil, visual analysis was performed to evaluate the failure behavior. Conclusively, the use of short piles to stabilize the canal slope proved to be an effective solution. However, the certain amount of settlement was found behind the short pile rows.
Abstract: The concept of converting the kinetic energy of quadcopter propellers into electrical energy is considered in this contribution following the feasibility study of the propeller vibrations, theoretical energy conversion, and simulation techniques. Analysis of the propeller vibration performance is presented via graphical representation of calculated and simulated parameters, in order to demonstrate the possibility of recovering the harvested energy from the propeller vibrations of the quadcopter while the quadcopter is in operation. Consideration of using piezoelectric materials in such concept, converting the mechanical energy of the propeller into the electrical energy, is given. Photographic evidence of the propeller in operation is presented and discussed together with experimental results to validate the theoretical concept.
Abstract: This study presents a framework for development of a
new generation of therapy robots that can interact with users by
monitoring their physiological and mental states. Here, we focused
on one of the controversial methods of therapy, hypnotherapy.
Hypnosis has shown to be useful in treatment of many clinical
conditions. But, even for healthy people, it can be used as an
effective technique for relaxation or enhancement of memory and
concentration. Our aim is to develop a robot that collects information
about user’s mental and physical states using electroencephalogram
(EEG) and electromyography (EMG) signals and performs costeffective
hypnosis at the comfort of user’s house. The presented
framework consists of three main steps: (1) Find the EEG-correlates
of mind state before, during, and after hypnosis and establish a
cognitive model for state changes, (2) Develop a system that can
track the changes in EEG and EMG activities in real time and
determines if the user is ready for suggestion, and (3) Implement our
system in a humanoid robot that will talk and conduct hypnosis on
users based on their mental states. This paper presents a pilot study in
regard to the first stage, detection of EEG and EMG features during
hypnosis.
Abstract: A butterfly valve is a quarter turn valve which is used to control the flow of a fluid through a section of pipe. Generally, butterfly valve is used in wide range of applications such as water distribution, sewage, oil and gas plants. In particular, butterfly valve with larger diameter finds its immense applications in hydro power plants to control the fluid flow. In-lieu with the constraints in cost and size to run laboratory setup, analysis of large diameter values will be mostly studied by computational method which is the best and inexpensive solution. For fluid and structural analysis, CFD and FEM software is used to perform large scale valve analyses, respectively. In order to perform above analysis in butterfly valve, the CAD model has to recreate and perform mesh in conventional software’s for various dimensions of valve. Therefore, its limitation is time consuming process. In-order to overcome that issue, python code was created to outcome complete pre-processing setup automatically in Salome software. Applying dimensions of the model clearly in the python code makes the running time comparatively lower and easier way to perform analysis of the valve. Hence, in this paper, an attempt was made to study the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) of butterfly valves by varying the valve angles and dimensions using python code in pre-processing software, and results are produced.