Abstract: Each year many people are reported missing in most of the countries in the world owing to various reasons. Arrangements have to be made to find these people after some time. So the investigating agencies are compelled to make out these people by using manpower. But in many cases, the investigations carried out to find out an absconding for a long time may not be successful. At a time like that it may be difficult to identify these people by examining their old photographs, because their facial appearance might have changed mainly due to the natural aging process. On some occasions in forensic medicine if a dead body is found, investigations should be held to make sure that this corpse belongs to the same person disappeared some time ago. With the passage of time the face of the person might have changed and there should be a mechanism to reveal the person-s identity. In order to make this process easy, we must guess and decide as to how he will look like by now. To address this problem this paper presents a way of synthesizing a facial image with the aging effects.
Abstract: Whilst there is growing evidence that activity across
the lifespan is beneficial for improved health, there are also many
changes involved with the aging process and subsequently the
potential for reduced indices of health. The nexus between all forms
of health, physical activity and aging is complex and has raised much
interest in recent times due to the realization that a multifaceted
approached is necessary in order to counteract a growing obesity
epidemic. By investigating age based trends within a population
adherring to competitive sport at older ages, further insight might be
gleaned to assist in understanding one of many factors influencing
this relationship. This study evaluated those sport psychological
constructs of health, physical fitness, mental health states, and social
dimension factors in sport that were associated with factors to
participate in sport and physical activity based on responses from the
2009 World Masters Games in Sydney. The sample consisted of
7846 athletes who competed at the games and who completed a 56
item sports participation survey using a 7-point Likert response (1 -
not important to 7 - very important). Questions focuses on factors
thought to promote participation, such as weight control, living
longer, improving mental health (self-esteem, mood states),
improving physical health and factors related to the athlete-s
competitive perspective. The most significant factors related to
participation with this cohort of masters athletes were the socializing
environment of sport, getting physically fit and improving
competitive personal best performances. Strategies to increase
participation in masters sport should focus on these factors as other
factors such as weight loss, improving mental health and living
longer were not identified as important determinates of sports
participation at the World Masters level.
Abstract: Tip vortex cavitation is one of well known patterns of
cavitation phenomenon which occurs in axial pumps. This pattern of
cavitation occurs due to pressure difference between the pressure and
suction sides of blades of an axial pump. Since the pressure in the
pressure side of the blade is higher than the pressure in its suction
side, thus a very small portion of liquid flow flows back from
pressure side to the suction side. This fact is cause of tip vortex
cavitation and gap cavitation that may occur in axial pumps. In this
paper the results of our experimental investigation about movement
of tip vortex cavitation along blade edge due to reduction of pump
flow rate in an axial pump is reported. Results show that reduction of
pump flow rate in conjunction with increasing of outlet pressure
causes movement of tip vortex cavitation along blade edge towards
the blade tip. Results also show that by approaching tip vortex
cavitation to the blade tip, vortex tip pattern of cavitation replaces
with a cavitation phenomenon on the blade tip. Furthermore by
further reduction of pump flow rate and increasing of outlet pressure,
an unstable cavitation phenomenon occurs between each blade
leading edge and the next blade trailing edge.
Abstract: Selective oxidation of H2S to elemental sulfur in a
fixed bed reactor over newly synthesized alumina nanocatalysts was
physio-chemically investigated and results compared with a
commercial Claus catalyst. Amongst these new materials, Al2O3-
supported sodium oxide prepared with wet chemical technique and
Al2O3 nanocatalyst prepared with spray pyrolysis method were the
most active catalysts for selective oxidation of H2S to elemental
sulfur. Other prepared nanocatalysts were quickly deactivated,
mainly due to the interaction with H2S and conversion into sulfides.
Abstract: Contractor selection in Saudi Arabia is very important due to the large construction boom and the contractor role to get over construction risks. The need for investigating contractor selection is due to the following reasons; large number of defaulted or failed projects (18%), large number of disputes attributed to contractor during the project execution stage (almost twofold), the extension of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) into construction industry, and finally the few number of researches. The selection strategy is not perfect and considered as the reason behind irresponsible contractors. As a response, this research was conducted to review the contractor selection strategies as an integral part of a long advanced research to develop a good selection model. Many techniques can be used to form a selection strategy; multi criteria for optimizing decision, prequalification to discover contractor-s responsibility, bidding process for competition, third party guarantee to enhance the selection, and fuzzy techniques for ambiguities and incomplete information.
Abstract: Commercially available lipases (Candida antarctica lipase B, Novozyme 435, Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase, and Lipozyme TL IM), as well as sol-gel immobilized lipases, have been screened for their ability to acylate regioselectively xylitol, sorbitol, and mannitol with a phenolic ester in a binary mixture of t-butanol and dimethylsulfoxide. HPLC and MALDI-TOF MS analysis revealed the exclusive formation of monoesters for all studied sugar alcohols. The lipases immobilized by the sol-gel entrapment method proved to be efficient catalysts, leading to high conversions (up to 60%) in the investigated acylation reactions. From a sequence of silane precursors with different nonhydrolyzable groups in their structure, the presence of octyl and i-butyl group was most beneficial for the catalytic activity of sol-gel entrapped lipases in the studied process.
Abstract: Korea Train eXpress (KTX) is now being operated,
which allows Korea being one of the countries that operates the
high-speed rail system. The high-speed rail has its advantage of short
time transportation of population and materials, which lead to many
researches performed in this matter. In the case of high speed classical
trackbed system, the maintenance and usability of gravel ballast
system is costly. Recently, the concrete trackbed structure has been
introduced as a replacement of classical trackbed system. In this case,
the sleeper plays a critical role. Current study investigated to develop
the track sleepers readily applicable to the top of the asphalt trackbed,
as part of the trcakbed study utilizing the asphalt material. Among
many possible shapes and design of sleepers, current study proposed
two types of wide-sleepers according to the shear-key installation
method. The structural behavior analysis and safety evaluation on each
case was conducted using Korean design standard.
Abstract: This paper describes an efficient and practical method
for economic dispatch problem in one and two area electrical power
systems with considering the constraint of the tie transmission line
capacity constraint. Direct search method (DSM) is used with some
equality and inequality constraints of the production units with any
kind of fuel cost function. By this method, it is possible to use several
inequality constraints without having difficulty for complex cost
functions or in the case of unavailability of the cost function
derivative. To minimize the number of total iterations in searching,
process multi-level convergence is incorporated in the DSM.
Enhanced direct search method (EDSM) for two area power system
will be investigated. The initial calculation step size that causes less
iterations and then less calculation time is presented. Effect of the
transmission tie line capacity, between areas, on economic dispatch
problem and on total generation cost will be studied; line
compensation and active power with reactive power dispatch are
proposed to overcome the high generation costs for this multi-area
system.
Abstract: Interior brick-infill partitions are usually considered as
non-structural components, and only their weight is accounted for in
practical structural design. In this study, the brick-infill panels are
simulated by compression struts to clarify their effect on the
progressive collapse potential of an earthquake-resistant RC building.
Three-dimensional finite element models are constructed for the RC
building subjected to sudden column loss. Linear static analyses are
conducted to investigate the variation of demand-to-capacity ratio
(DCR) of beam-end moment and the axial force variation of the beams
adjacent to the removed column. Study results indicate that the
brick-infill effect depends on their location with respect to the
removed column. As they are filled in a structural bay with a shorter
span adjacent to the column-removed line, more significant reduction
of DCR may be achieved. However, under certain conditions, the
brick infill may increase the axial tension of the two-span beam
bridging the removed column.
Abstract: Metal matrix composites (MMC) are generating
extensive interest in diverse fields like defense, aerospace, electronics
and automotive industries. In this present investigation, material
removal rate (MRR) modeling has been carried out using an
axisymmetric model of Al-SiC composite during electrical discharge
machining (EDM). A FEA model of single spark EDM was
developed to calculate the temperature distribution.Further, single
spark model was extended to simulate the second discharge. For
multi-discharge machining material removal was calculated by
calculating the number of pulses. Validation of model has been done
by comparing the experimental results obtained under the same
process parameters with the analytical results. A good agreement was
found between the experimental results and the theoretical value.
Abstract: Aluminum salt that is generally presents as a solid
phase in the water purification sludge (WPS) can be dissolved,
recovering a liquid phase, by adding strong acid to the sludge solution.
According to the reaction kinetics, when reactant is in the form of
small particles with a large specific surface area, or when the reaction
temperature is high, the quantity of dissolved aluminum salt or
reaction rate, respectively are high. Therefore, in this investigation,
water purification sludge (WPS) solution was treated with ultrasonic
waves to break down the sludge, and different acids (1 N HCl and 1 N
H2SO4) were used to acidify it. Acid dosages that yielded the solution
pH of less than two were used. The results thus obtained indicate that
the quantity of dissolved aluminum in H2SO4-acidified solution
exceeded that in HCl-acidified solution. Additionally, ultrasonic
treatment increased the rate of dissolution of aluminum and the
amount dissolved. The quantity of aluminum dissolved at 60℃ was 1.5
to 2.0 times higher than that at 25℃.
Abstract: In the study the influence of the physical-chemical properties of a liquid, the width of a channel gap and the superficial liquid and gas velocities on the patterns formed during two phase flows in vertical, narrow mini-channels was investigated. The research was performed in the channels of rectangular cross-section and of dimensions: 15 x 0.65 mm and 7.5 x 0.73 mm. The experimental data were compared with the published criteria of the transitions between the patterns of two-phase flows.
Abstract: Packet switched data network like Internet, which has
traditionally supported throughput sensitive applications such as email
and file transfer, is increasingly supporting delay-sensitive
multimedia applications such as interactive video. These delaysensitive
applications would often rather sacrifice some throughput
for better delay. Unfortunately, the current packet switched network
does not offer choices, but instead provides monolithic best-effort
service to all applications. This paper evaluates Class Based Queuing
(CBQ), Coordinated Earliest Deadline First (CEDF), Weighted
Switch Deficit Round Robin (WSDRR) and RED-Boston scheduling
schemes that is sensitive to delay bound expectations for variety of
real time applications and an enhancement of WSDRR is proposed.
Abstract: In this experimental study, performance of a counter
flow Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube (RHVT) with threads cut on its inner
surface was investigated experimentally (pitch is 1 and 2 mm). The
inner diameter of the vortex tube used was D=9 mm and the ratio of
the tube’s length to diameter was L/D=12. The experimental system
was a thermodynamic open system. Flow was controlled by a valve
on the hot outlet side, where the valve was changed from a nearly
closed position to its nearly open position. Fraction of cold flow (ξ) =
0.1-0.9, was determined under 300 and 350 kPa pressurized air. All
experimental data were compared with each other, the maximum
heating performance of the RHVT system was found to be 38.2 oC
and the maximum cooling performance of the RHVT in this study
was found to be -30.9 oC at pitch 1 mm.
Abstract: Advances in information technology, recent changes in business environment, globalization, deregulation, privatization have made running a successful business more difficult than ever before. To remain successful and to be competitive have forced companies to react to the new changes in order to survive and succeed. The implementation of an Enterprise Resource planning (ERP) system improves information flow, reduce costs, establish linkage with suppliers and reduce response time to customer needs. This paper focuses on a sample of Greek companies, investigates the ERP market in Greece, the reasons why the Greek companies are investing in ERP systems, the benefits that users have achieved and the influence of ERP systems on the use of new accounting practices. The results indicate a greater level on information integration, flexibility in information access and greater functionality provided by ERP systems but little influence on the use of new accounting practices.
Abstract: A numerical analysis of a reinforced concrete (RC) wall under missile impact loading is presented in this study. The model created by Technical Research Center of Finland was used. The commercial finite element code, LS-DYNA was used to analyze. The structural components of the reinforced concrete wall, missile and their contacts are fully modeled. The material nonlinearity with strain rate effects considering damage and failure is included in the analysis. The results of analysis were verified with other research results. The case-studies with different reinforcement ratios were conducted to investigate the influence of reinforcement on the punching behavior of walls under missile impact.
Abstract: Polymer-like organic thin films were deposited on both
aluminum alloy type 6061 and glass substrates at room temperature by
Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) methodusing
benzene and hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) as precursor materials.
The surface and physical properties of plasma-polymerized organic
thin films were investigated at different r.f. powers. The effects of
benzene/argon ratio on the properties of plasma polymerized benzene
films were also investigated. It is found that using benzene alone
results in a non-coherent and non-adherent powdery deposited
material. The chemical structure and surface properties of the asgrown
plasma polymerized thin films were analyzed on glass
substrates with FTIR and contact angle measurements. FTIR spectra
of benzene deposited film indicated that the benzene rings are
preserved when increasing benzene ratio and/or decreasing r.f.
powers. FTIR spectra of HMDSO deposited films indicated an
increase of the hydrogen concentration and a decrease of the oxygen
concentration with the increase of r.f. power. The contact angle (θ) of
the films prepared from benzene was found to increase by about 43%
as benzene ratio increases from 10% to 20%. θ was then found to
decrease to the original value (51°) when the benzene ratio increases
to 100%. The contact angle, θ, for both benzene and HMDSO
deposited films were found to increase with r.f. power. This signifies
that the plasma polymerized organic films have substantially low
surface energy as the r.f power increases. The corrosion resistance of
aluminum alloy substrate both bare and covered with plasma
polymerized thin films was carried out by potentiodynamic
polarization measurements in standard 3.5 wt. % NaCl solution at
room temperature. The results indicate that the benzene and HMDSO
deposited films are suitable for protection of the aluminum substrate
against corrosion. The changes in the processing parameters seem to
have a strong influence on the film protective ability. Surface
roughness of films deposited on aluminum alloy substrate was
investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM
images indicate that the surface roughness of benzene deposited films
increase with decreasing the benzene ratio. SEM images of benzene
and HMDSO deposited films indicate that the surface roughness
decreases with increasing r.f. power. Studying the above parameters
indicate that the films produced are suitable for specific practical
applications.
Abstract: The hidden-point bar method is useful in many
surveying applications. The method involves determining the
coordinates of a hidden point as a function of horizontal and vertical
angles measured to three fixed points on the bar. Using these
measurements, the procedure involves calculating the slant angles,
the distances from the station to the fixed points, the coordinates of
the fixed points, and then the coordinates of the hidden point. The
propagation of the measurement errors in this complex process has
not been fully investigated in the literature. This paper evaluates the
effect of the bar geometry on the position accuracy of the hidden
point which depends on the measurement errors of the horizontal and
vertical angles. The results are used to establish some guidelines
regarding the inclination angle of the bar and the location of the
observed points that provide the best accuracy.
Abstract: Performing High Voltage (HV) tasks with a multi craft
work force create a special set of safety circumstances. This paper
aims to present vital information relating to when it is acceptable to
use a single or a two-layer soil structure. Also it discusses the
implication of the high voltage infrastructure on the earth grid and the
safety of this implication under a single or a two-layer soil structure.
A multiple case study is investigated to show the importance of using
the right soil resistivity structure during the earthing system design.
Abstract: The frontal area in the brain is known to be involved in
behavioral judgement. Because a Kanji character can be discriminated
visually and linguistically from other characters, in Kanji character
discrimination, we hypothesized that frontal event-related potential
(ERP) waveforms reflect two discrimination processes in separate
time periods: one based on visual analysis and the other based
on lexcical access. To examine this hypothesis, we recorded ERPs
while performing a Kanji lexical decision task. In this task, either a
known Kanji character, an unknown Kanji character or a symbol was
presented and the subject had to report if the presented character was
a known Kanji character for the subject or not. The same response
was required for unknown Kanji trials and symbol trials. As a preprocessing
of signals, we examined the performance of a method
using independent component analysis for artifact rejection and found
it was effective. Therefore we used it. In the ERP results, there
were two time periods in which the frontal ERP wavefoms were
significantly different betweeen the unknown Kanji trials and the
symbol trials: around 170ms and around 300ms after stimulus onset.
This result supported our hypothesis. In addition, the result suggests
that Kanji character lexical access may be fully completed by around
260ms after stimulus onset.