Abstract: The estimation of overall on-site and off-site greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by wastewater treatment plants revealed that in anaerobic and hybrid treatment systems greater emissions result from off-site processes compared to on-site processes. However, in aerobic treatment systems, onsite processes make a higher contribution to the overall GHG emissions. The total GHG emissions were estimated to be 1.6, 3.3 and 3.8 kg CO2-e/kg BOD in the aerobic, anaerobic and hybrid treatment systems, respectively. In the aerobic treatment system without the recovery and use of the generated biogas, the off-site GHG emissions were 0.65 kg CO2-e/kg BOD, accounting for 40.2% of the overall GHG emissions. This value changed to 2.3 and 2.6 kg CO2-e/kg BOD, and accounted for 69.9% and 68.1% of the overall GHG emissions in the anaerobic and hybrid treatment systems, respectively. The increased off-site GHG emissions in the anaerobic and hybrid treatment systems are mainly due to material usage and energy demand in these systems. The anaerobic digester can contribute up to 100%, 55% and 60% of the overall energy needs of plants in the aerobic, anaerobic and hybrid treatment systems, respectively.
Abstract: Accurate timing alignment and stability is important
to maximize the true counts and minimize the random counts in
positron emission tomography So signals output from detectors must
be centering with the two isotopes to pre-operation and fed signals
into four units of pulse-processing units, each unit can accept up to
eight inputs. The dual source computed tomography consist two units
on the left for 15 detector signals of Cs-137 isotope and two units on
the right are for 15 detectors signals of Co-60 isotope. The gamma
spectrum consisting of either single or multiple photo peaks. This
allows for the use of energy discrimination electronic hardware
associated with the data acquisition system to acquire photon counts
data with a specific energy, even if poor energy resolution detectors
are used. This also helps to avoid counting of the Compton scatter
counts especially if a single discrete gamma photo peak is emitted by
the source as in the case of Cs-137. In this study the polyenergetic
version of the alternating minimization algorithm is applied to the
dual energy gamma computed tomography problem.
Abstract: In the context of channel coding, the Generalized Belief Propagation (GBP) is an iterative algorithm used to recover the transmission bits sent through a noisy channel. To ensure a reliable transmission, we apply a map on the bits, that is called a code. This code induces artificial correlations between the bits to send, and it can be modeled by a graph whose nodes are the bits and the edges are the correlations. This graph, called Tanner graph, is used for most of the decoding algorithms like Belief Propagation or Gallager-B. The GBP is based on a non unic transformation of the Tanner graph into a so called region-graph. A clear advantage of the GBP over the other algorithms is the freedom in the construction of this graph. In this article, we explain a particular construction for specific graph topologies that involves relevant performance of the GBP. Moreover, we investigate the behavior of the GBP considered as a dynamic system in order to understand the way it evolves in terms of the time and in terms of the noise power of the channel. To this end we make use of classical measures and we introduce a new measure called the hyperspheres method that enables to know the size of the attractors.
Abstract: Lossless compression schemes with secure
transmission play a key role in telemedicine applications that helps in
accurate diagnosis and research. Traditional cryptographic algorithms
for data security are not fast enough to process vast amount of data.
Hence a novel Secured lossless compression approach proposed in
this paper is based on reversible integer wavelet transform, EZW
algorithm, new modified runlength coding for character
representation and selective bit scrambling. The use of the lifting
scheme allows generating truly lossless integer-to-integer wavelet
transforms. Images are compressed/decompressed by well-known
EZW algorithm. The proposed modified runlength coding greatly
improves the compression performance and also increases the
security level. This work employs scrambling method which is fast,
simple to implement and it provides security. Lossless compression
ratios and distortion performance of this proposed method are found
to be better than other lossless techniques.
Abstract: Truss spars are used for oil exploitation in deep and ultra-deep water if storage crude oil is not needed. The linear hydrodynamic analysis of truss spar in random sea wave load is necessary for determining the behaviour of truss spar. This understanding is not only important for design of the mooring lines, but also for optimising the truss spar design. In this paper linear hydrodynamic analysis of truss spar is carried out in frequency domain. The hydrodynamic forces are calculated using the modified Morison equation and diffraction theory. Added mass and drag coefficients of truss section computed by transmission matrix and normal acceleration and velocity component acting on each element and for hull section computed by strip theory. The stiffness properties of the truss spar can be separated into two components; hydrostatic stiffness and mooring line stiffness. Then, platform response amplitudes obtained by solved the equation of motion. This equation is non-linear due to viscous damping term therefore linearised by iteration method [1]. Finally computed RAOs and significant response amplitude and results are compared with experimental data.
Abstract: A biophysically based multilayer continuum model of the facial soft tissue composite has been developed for simulating wrinkle formation. The deformed state of the soft tissue block was determined by solving large deformation mechanics equations using the Galerkin finite element method. The proposed soft tissue model is composed of four layers with distinct mechanical properties. These include stratum corneum, epidermal-dermal layer (living epidermis and dermis), subcutaneous tissue and the underlying muscle. All the layers were treated as non-linear, isotropic Mooney Rivlin materials. Contraction of muscle fibres was approximated using a steady-state relationship between the fibre extension ratio, intracellular calcium concentration and active stress in the fibre direction. Several variations of the model parameters (stiffness and thickness of epidermal-dermal layer, thickness of subcutaneous tissue layer) have been considered.
Abstract: Cutting fluids, usually in the form of a liquid, are
applied to the chip formation zone in order to improve the cutting
conditions. Cutting fluid can be expensive and represents a biological
and environmental hazard that requires proper recycling and
disposal, thus adding to the cost of the machining operation. For
these reasons dry cutting or dry machining has become an
increasingly important approach; in dry machining no coolant or
lubricant is used. This paper discussed the effect of the dry cutting on
cutting force and tool life when machining aerospace materials
(Haynes 242) with using two different coated carbide cutting tools
(TiAlN and TiN/MT-TiCN/TiN). Response surface method (RSM)
was used to minimize the number of experiments. ParTiAlN Swarm
Optimisation (PSO) models were developed to optimize the
machining parameters (cutting speed, federate and axial depth) and
obtain the optimum cutting force and tool life. It observed that
carbide cutting tool coated with TiAlN performed better in dry
cutting compared with TiN/MT-TiCN/TiN. On other hand, TiAlN
performed more superior with using of 100 % water soluble coolant.
Due to the high temperature produced by aerospace materials, the
cutting tool still required lubricant to sustain the heat transfer from
the workpiece.
Abstract: Bandung city center can be deemed as economic, social and cultural center. However the city center suffers from deterioration. The retail activities tend to shift outward the city center. Numerous idyllic residences changed into business premises in two villages situated in the north part of the city during 1990s, especially after a new highway and flyover opened. According to space syntax theory, the pattern of spatial integration in the urban grid is a prime determinant of movement patterns in the system. The syntactic analysis results show the flyover has insignificant influence on street network in the city center. However the flyover has been generating a major difference in the new commercial area since it has become relatively as strategic as the city center. Besides street network, local government policy, rapid private motorization and particular condition of each site also played important roles in encouraging the current commercial areas to flourish.
Abstract: This paper proposes, for the first time, how the
challenges facing the guard-band designs including the margin
assist-circuits scheme for the screening-test in the coming process
generations should be addressed. The increased screening error
impacts are discussed based on the proposed statistical analysis
models. It has been shown that the yield-loss caused by the
misjudgment on the screening test would become 5-orders of
magnitude larger than that for the conventional one when the
amplitude of random telegraph noise (RTN) caused variations
approaches to that of random dopant fluctuation. Three fitting methods
to approximate the RTN caused complex Gamma mixtures
distributions by the simple Gaussian mixtures model (GMM) are
proposed and compared. It has been verified that the proposed
methods can reduce the error of the fail-bit predictions by 4-orders of
magnitude.
Abstract: Protection system hidden failures have been identified as one of the main causes of system cascading collapse resulting to power system instability. In this paper, a systematic approach is presented in order to identify the probability of a system cascading collapse by taking into consideration the effect of protection system hidden failure. This includes the accurate calculation of the probability of hidden failure as it will provide significant impinge on the findings of the probability of system cascading collapse. The probability of a system cascading collapse is then used to identify the initial tripping of sensitive transmission lines which will contribute to a critical system cascading collapse. Based on the results obtained from this study, it is important to decide on the accurate value of the hidden failure probability as it will affect the probability of a system cascading collapse.
Abstract: Composite nanostructures of metal
core/semiconductor shell (Au/CdS) configuration were prepared
using organometalic method. UV-Vis spectra for the Au/CdS colloids
show initially two well separated bands, corresponding to surface
plasmon of the Au core, and the exciton of CdS shell. The absorption
of CdS shell is enhanced, while the Au plasmon band is suppressed
as the shell thickness increases. The shell sizes were estimated from
the optical spectra using the effective mass approximation model
(EMA), and compared to the sizes of the Au core and CdS shell
measured by high resolution transmission electron microscope
(HRTEM). The changes in the absorption features are discussed in
terms of gradual increase in the coupling strength of the Au core
surface plasmon and the exciton in the CdS. leading to charge
transfer and modification of electron oscillation in Au core.
Abstract: The modern world is experiencing fundamental and dynamic changes. The transformation of international relations; the end of confrontation and successive overcoming of the Cold War consequences have expanded possible international cooperation. The global nuclear conflict threat has been minimized, while a tendency to establish a unipolar world structure with the U.S. economic and power domination is growing. The current world system of international relations, apparently is secular. However, the religious beliefs of one or another nations play a certain (sometimes a key) role, both in the domestic affairs of the individual countries and in the development of bilateral ties. Political situation in Central Asia has been characterized by new factors such as international terrorism; religious extremism and radicalism; narcotrafficking and illicit arms trade of a global character immediately threaten to peace and political stability in Central Asia. The role and influence of Islamic fundamentalism is increasing; political ethnocentrism and the associated aggravation of inter-ethnic relations, the ambiguity of national interests and objectives of major geo-political groups in the Central Asian region regarding the division the political influence, emerge. This article approaches the following issues: the role of Islam in Central Asia; destabilizing factors in Central Asia; Islamic movements in Central Asia, Western Europe and the United States; the United States, Western Europe and Central Asia: religion, politics, ideology, and the US-Central Asia antiterrorism and religious extremism cooperation.
Abstract: The present paper deals with problems related to the
possibilities to use fractal systems to solve some important scientific
and practical problems connected with filtering and separation of
aqueous phases from organic ones. For this purpose a special
separator have been designed. The reactor was filled with a porous
material with fractal dimension, which is an integral part of the set
for filtration and separation of emulsions. As a model emulsion
hexadecan mixture with water in equal quantities (1:1) was used. We
examined the hydrodynamics of the separation of the emulsion at
different rates of submission of the entrance of the reactor.
Abstract: The wireless mesh networks (WMNs) are emerging technology in wireless networking as they can serve large scale high speed internet access. Due to its wireless multi-hop feature, wireless mesh network is prone to suffer from many attacks, such as denial of service attack (DoS). We consider a special case of DoS attack which is selective forwarding attack (a.k.a. gray hole attack). In such attack, a misbehaving mesh router selectively drops the packets it receives rom its predecessor mesh router. It is very hard to detect that packet loss is due to medium access collision, bad channel quality or because of selective forwarding attack. In this paper, we present a review of detection algorithms of selective forwarding attack and discuss their advantage & disadvantage. Finally we conclude this paper with open research issues and challenges.
Abstract: Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) is one of the most important communication techniques that allow wireless systems to achieve higher data rate. To overcome the practical difficulties in implementing Dirty Paper Coding (DPC), various suboptimal MIMO Broadcast (MIMO-BC) scheduling algorithms are employed which choose the best set of users among all the users. In this paper we discuss such a sub-optimal MIMO-BC scheduling algorithm which employs antenna selection at the receiver side. The channels for the users considered here are not Identical and Independent Distributed (IID) so that users at the receiver side do not get equal opportunity for communication. So we introduce a method of applying weights to channels of the users which are not IID in such a way that each of the users gets equal opportunity for communication. The effect of weights on overall sum-rate achieved by the system has been investigated and presented.
Abstract: A sophisticated simulator provides a cost-effective measure to carry out preliminary mission testing and diagnostic while reducing potential failures for real life at sea trials. The presented simulation framework covers three key areas: AUV modeling, sensor modeling, and environment modeling. AUV modeling mainly covers the area of AUV dynamics. Sensor modeling deals with physics and mathematical models that govern each sensor installed onto the AUV. Environment model incorporates the hydrostatic, hydrodynamics, and ocean currents that will affect the AUV in a real-time mission. Based on this designed simulation framework, custom scenarios provided by the user can be modeled and its corresponding behaviors can be observed. This paper focuses on the accuracy of the simulated data from AUV model and environmental model derived from a developed AUV test-bed which was jointly upgraded by DSTO and the University of Adelaide. The main contribution of this paper is to experimentally verify the accuracy of the proposed simulation framework.
Abstract: Two completely different approaches for a Gigabit
Ethernet compliant stream transmission over 50m of 1mm PMMA SI-POF have been experimentally demonstrated and are compared in this paper. The first solution is based on a commercial RC-LED
transmission and a careful optimization of the physical layer architecture, realized during the POF-PLUS EU Project. The second solution exploits the performance of an edge-emitting laser at the
transmitter side in order to avoid any sort of electrical equalization at the receiver side.
Abstract: The use of solar control film on windows as one of
solar passive strategies for building have becoming important and is
gaining recognition. Malaysia located close to equator is having
warm humid climate with long sunshine hours and abundant solar
radiation throughout the year. Hence, befitting solar control on
windows is absolutely necessary to capture the daylight whilst
moderating thermal impact and eliminating glare problems. This is
one of the energy efficient strategies to achieve thermal and visual
comfort in buildings. Therefore, this study was carried out to
investigate the effect of window solar controls on thermal and visual
performance of naturally ventilated buildings. This was conducted via
field data monitoring using a test building facility. Four types of
window glazing systems were used with three types of solar control
films. Data were analysed for thermal and visual impact with
reference to thermal and optical characteristics of the films. Results
show that for each glazing system, the surface temperature of
windows are influenced by the Solar Energy Absorption property, the
indoor air temperature are influenced by the Solar Energy
Transmittance and Solar Energy Reflectance, and the daylighting by
Visible Light Transmission and Shading Coefficient. Further
investigations are underway to determine the mathematical relation
between thermal energy and visual performance with the thermal and
optical characteristics of solar control films.
Abstract: The combustion chamber dimensions have important
effects on pollutant emission in furnaces as a direct result of
temperature distribution and maximum temperature value. In this
paper the pollutant emission and the temperature distribution in two
cylindrical furnaces with different dimensions (with similar length to
diameter ratio) in similar condition have been investigated
experimentally. The furnace fuel is gas oil that is used with three
different flow rates. The results show that in these two cases the
temperature increases to its maximum value quickly, and then
decreases slowly. The results also show that increase in fuel flow rate
cause to increase in NOx emission in each case, but this increase is
greater in small furnace. With increase in fuel flow rate, CO emission
decreases firstly, and then it increases. Combustion efficiency
reduces with increase in fuel flow rate but the rate of reduction in
small furnace is greater than large furnace. The results of axial
temperature distribution have been compared with those have been
obtained numerically and experimentally by Moghiman.
Abstract: Radiolabeled cyclic RGD peptides targeting integrin αvβ3 are reported as promising agents for the early diagnosis of metastatic tumors. With an aim to improve tumor uptake and retention of the peptide, cyclic RGD peptide dimer E[c (RGDfK)] 2 (E = Glutamic acid, f = phenyl alanine, K = lysine) coupled to the bifunctional chelator DOTA was custom synthesized and radiolabelled with 68Ga. Radiolabelling of cyclic RGD peptide dimer with 68Ga was carried out using HEPES buffer and biological evaluation of the complex was done in nude mice bearing HT29 tumors.