Abstract: The work presented in this study is related to an
energy system analysis based on passive cooling system for
dwellings. It consists to solar chimney energy performances
determination versus geometrical and environmental considerations
as the size and inlet width conditions of the chimney. Adrar site
located in the southern region of Algeria is chosen for this study
according to ambient temperature and solar irradiance technical data
availability. Obtained results are related to the glazing temperature
distributions, the chimney air flow and internal wall temperatures.
The air room change per hour (ACH) parameter, the outlet air
velocity and mass air flow rate are also determined. It is shown that
the chimney width has a significant effect on energy performances
compared to its entry size. A good agreement is observed between
these results and those obtained by others from the literature.
Abstract: The enzyme alkaline protease production was determined under
solid state fermentation using the soil bacteria Serratia marcescens
sp7. The maximum production was obtained from wheat bran
medium than ground nut shell and chemically defined medium. The
physiological fermentation factors such as pH of the medium (pH 8),
Temperature (40oC) and incubation time (48 hrs) played a vital role
in alkaline protease production in all the above. 100Mm NaCl has
given better resolution during elution of the enzymes. The enzyme
production was found to be associated with growth of the bacterial
culture.
Abstract: Impaired fertility may be the result of indirect
consumption of anti-fertility agents through food. Monosodium
glutamate (MSG) has been widely used as food additive, flavour
enhancer and included in vaccines. This study focuses in determining
the gonadotoxic and cytotoxic effect of MSG on selected sperm
parameters such as sperm viability, sperm membrane integrity and
testes cytoarchitecture of male mice via histological examination to
determine its effect on spermatogenesis. Twenty-four Mus musculus
were randomly divided into 4 groups and given intraperitoneal
injections (IP) daily for 14 days of different MSG concentrations at
250, 500 and 1000mg/kg MSG to body weight to induce obesity.
Saline was given to control group. Mice were sacrificed and analysis
revealed abnormalities in values for sperm parameters and damages
to testes cytoarchitecture of male mice. The results recorded
decreased viability (p0.05) with degenerative structures in seminiferous tubule of
testes. The results indicated various implications of MSG on male
mice reproductive system which has consequences in fertility
potential.
Abstract: The paper describes the carbonate microfacies identified in the Sinjar Formation (Late Paleocene–Early Eocene) cropping out in Qara Dagh Mountain, near Sulekan Village approximately 20km south–west of Sulaimani (Iraq). One section (62m thick) has been measured in the field and closely sampled to undertake detailed microfaciesal and micropalaeontological studies to determine the formation-s age and environment of deposition. A samples were collected illustrating all the lithological changes along the section. The limestone in the studied area is hard and extremely rich in large foraminifers (soritids, rotaliids, nummulites, miliolids) and green algae (dasycladales). The investigation of the thin sections allowed us to identify the carbonate microfacies (18 types and subtypes) and the micropaleontological association (foraminifers and green algae), to determine the age of formation and to reconstruct the paleoenvironment of deposition (fore-reef, reef, back-reef). Based on the field observations and the studied thin sections, we determined three Units of a carbonate platform (I, II and III) from the base to the top of the section: Unit I with coralgal associations, Unit II is dominated by larger foraminifers and haracterized by the absence of coralgal associations, while Unit III is dominated by small foraminifers (mostly miliolids), peloids and green algae. It is partially dolomitized.
Abstract: This paper presents three new methodologies for the
basic operations, which aim at finding new ways of computing union
(maximum) and intersection (minimum) membership values by
taking into effect the entire membership values in a fuzzy set. The
new methodologies are conceptually simple and easy from the
application point of view and are illustrated with a variety of
problems such as Cartesian product of two fuzzy sets, max –min
composition of two fuzzy sets in different product spaces and an
application of an inverted pendulum to determine the impact of the
new methodologies. The results clearly indicate a difference based on
the nature of the fuzzy sets under consideration and hence will be
highly useful in quite a few applications where different values have
significant impact on the behavior of the system.
Abstract: Delivering streaming video over wireless is an
important component of many interactive multimedia applications
running on personal wireless handset devices. Such personal devices
have to be inexpensive, compact, and lightweight. But wireless
channels have a high channel bit error rate and limited bandwidth.
Delay variation of packets due to network congestion and the high bit
error rate greatly degrades the quality of video at the handheld
device. Therefore, mobile access to multimedia contents requires
video transcoding functionality at the edge of the mobile network for
interworking with heterogeneous networks and services. Therefore,
to guarantee quality of service (QoS) delivered to the mobile user, a
robust and efficient transcoding scheme should be deployed in
mobile multimedia transporting network. Hence, this paper
examines the challenges and limitations that the video transcoding
schemes in mobile multimedia transporting network face. Then
handheld resources, network conditions and content based mobile
and wireless video transcoding is proposed to provide high QoS
applications. Exceptional performance is demonstrated in the
experiment results. These experiments were designed to verify and
prove the robustness of the proposed approach. Extensive
experiments have been conducted, and the results of various video
clips with different bit rate and frame rate have been provided.
Abstract: The objective of this research was to determine the
potency of indigenous acid-aluminium tolerant Bradyrhizobium
japonicum as producer of indole acetic acid (IAA) and applied it as
nitrogen fixation on local soybeans viz Anjasmoro, Tanggamus
(yellow soybean seeds), and Detam (black soybean seed). Three
isolates of acid-aluminium tolerant Bradyrhizobium japonicum (BJ)
were used in this research, i.e. BJ 11 (wt), BJ 11 (19) - BJ 11(wt)
mutant, and USDA 110 as a reference isolate. All of isolates tested to
produce the IAA by using Salkowsky method. Effect of IAA
production by each of B. japonicum was tested on growth pouch and
greenhouse using three varieties of soybean. All isolates could grow
well and produce IAA on yeast mannitol broth (YMB) medium in
the presence of 0.5 mM L-tryptophan. BJ 11 (19) produced the
highest of IAA at 4 days incubation compared to BJ 11 (wt) and
USDA 110. All tested isolates of Bradyrhizobium japonicum have
showed effect on stimulating the formation of root nodules in
soybean varieties grown on Leonard bottle. The concentration of
IAA on root nodules of soybean symbiotic with B. japonicum was
significantly different with control, except on the treatment using
Tanggamus soybean.
Abstract: The use of buffer thresholds, blocking and adequate
service strategies are well-known techniques for computer networks
traffic congestion control. This motivates the study of series queues
with blocking, feedback (service under Head of Line (HoL) priority
discipline) and finite capacity buffers with thresholds. In this paper,
the external traffic is modelled using the Poisson process and the
service times have been modelled using the exponential distribution.
We consider a three-station network with two finite buffers, for
which a set of thresholds (tm1 and tm2) is defined. This computer
network behaves as follows. A task, which finishes its service at
station B, gets sent back to station A for re-processing with
probability o. When the number of tasks in the second buffer exceeds
a threshold tm2 and the number of task in the first buffer is less than
tm1, the fed back task is served under HoL priority discipline. In
opposite case, for fed backed tasks, “no two priority services in
succession" procedure (preventing a possible overflow in the first
buffer) is applied. Using an open Markovian queuing schema with
blocking, priority feedback service and thresholds, a closed form
cost-effective analytical solution is obtained. The model of servers
linked in series is very accurate. It is derived directly from a twodimensional
state graph and a set of steady-state equations, followed
by calculations of main measures of effectiveness. Consequently,
efficient expressions of the low computational cost are determined.
Based on numerical experiments and collected results we conclude
that the proposed model with blocking, feedback and thresholds can
provide accurate performance estimates of linked in series networks.
Abstract: Existing proceeding-models for the development of mechatronic systems provide a largely parallel action in the detailed development. This parallel approach is to take place also largely independent of one another in the various disciplines involved. An approach for a new proceeding-model provides a further development of existing models to use for the development of Adaptronic Systems. This approach is based on an intermediate integration and an abstract modeling of the adaptronic system. Based on this system-model a simulation of the global system behavior, due to external and internal factors or Forces is developed. For the intermediate integration a special data management system is used. According to the presented approach this data management system has a number of functions that are not part of the "normal" PDM functionality. Therefore a concept for a new data management system for the development of Adaptive system is presented in this paper. This concept divides the functions into six layers. In the first layer a system model is created, which divides the adaptronic system based on its components and the various technical disciplines. Moreover, the parameters and properties of the system are modeled and linked together with the requirements and the system model. The modeled parameters and properties result in a network which is analyzed in the second layer. From this analysis necessary adjustments to individual components for specific manipulation of the system behavior can be determined. The third layer contains an automatic abstract simulation of the system behavior. This simulation is a precursor for network analysis and serves as a filter. By the network analysis and simulation changes to system components are examined and necessary adjustments to other components are calculated. The other layers of the concept treat the automatic calculation of system reliability, the "normal" PDM-functionality and the integration of discipline-specific data into the system model. A prototypical implementation of an appropriate data management with the addition of an automatic system development is being implemented using the data management system ENOVIA SmarTeam V5 and the simulation system MATLAB.
Abstract: In this paper, the wear of high speed steel hobs during
hobbing has been studied. The wear mechanisms are strongly
influenced by the choice of cutting speed. At moderate and high
cutting speeds three major wear mechanisms were identified:
abrasion, mild adhesive and severe adhesive. The microstructure and
wear behavior of two high speed steel grades (M2 and ASP30) has
been compared. In contrast, a variation in chemical composition or
microstructure of HSS tool material generally did not change the
dominant wear mechanism. However, the tool material properties
determine the resistance against the operating wear mechanism and
consequently the tool life. The metallographic analysis and wear
measurement at the tip of hob teeth included scanning electron
microscopy and stereoscope microscopy. Roughness profilometery is
used for measuring the gear surface roughness.
Abstract: This paper uses p-tolerance with the lowest posterior
loss, quadratic loss function, average length criteria, average
coverage criteria, and worst outcome criterion for computing of
sample size to estimate proportion in Binomial probability function
with Beta prior distribution. The proposed methodology is examined,
and its effectiveness is shown.
Abstract: Firstly, research and development on RFID focuses on
manufacturing and retail sectors, because it can improve supply chain
efficiency. But, now a variety of field is considered the next research
area for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Although RFID is
infancy, RFID technology has great potential in power industry to
significantly reduce cost, and improve quality of power supply. To
complement the limitation of RFID, we adopt the WSN (Wireless
Sensor Network) technology. However, relevant experience is limited,
the challenge will be to derive requirement from business practice and
to determine whether it is possible or not. To explore this issue, we
conduct a case study on implementing power facility management
system using RFID/WSN in Korea Electric Power Corporation
(KEPCO). In this paper we describe requirement from power industry.
And we introduce design and implementation of the test bed.
Abstract: The present study examines the adsorption of phenol, 3-nitrophenol and dyes (methylene blue, alizarine yellow), from aqueous solutions onto a commercial activated carbon. Two different operations, semi-batch and continuous with reflux, were applied. The commercial activated carbon exhibits high adsorption abilities for phenol, 3-nitrophenol and dyes (methylene blue and alizarin yellow) from their aqueous solutions. The adsorption of all adsorbates after 1 h is higher by the continuous operation with reflux than by the semibatch operation. The adsorption of phenol is higher than that of 3-nitrophenol for both operations. Similarly, the adsorption of alizarin yellow is higher than that of methylene blue for both operations. The regenerated commercial activated carbon regains its adsorption ability due to the removal of the adsorbate from its pores during the regeneration.
Abstract: Today due to rising levels of housing- necessities,
several problems have been raised regarding to urban quality of life.
The aim of the research is to study social and spatial aspects of
housing environment and to find out their interaction with the urban
quality of life. As a case of study two pilot areas of Famagusta city in
North Cyprus, were selected: Baykal, considered as an established
urban district and Tuzla, a newly developed peri-urban district. In
order to determine urban quality of life in planning and developing of
housing areas, social and spatial aspects of selected areas have been
examined, differences between them according to the planning policy
have been pointed out, advantages and disadvantages of housing
planning have been found. As a practical implementation of the
research a number of households in each selected area have been
interviewed in order to draw a conclusion.
Abstract: Optimal cultural site selection is one of the ways that
can lead to the promotion of citizenship culture in addition to
ensuring the health and leisure of city residents. This study examines
the social and cultural needs of the community and optimal cultural
site allocation and after identifying the problems and shortcomings,
provides a suitable model for finding the best location for these
centers where there is the greatest impact on the promotion of
citizenship culture. On the other hand, non-scientific methods cause
irreversible impacts to the urban environment and citizens. But
modern efficient methods can reduce these impacts. One of these
methods is using geographical information systems (GIS). In this
study, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used to
locate the optimal cultural site. In AHP, three principles
(decomposition), (comparative analysis), and (combining
preferences) are used. The objectives of this research include
providing optimal contexts for passing time and performing cultural
activities by Shiraz residents and also proposing construction of some
cultural sites in different areas of the city. The results of this study
show the correct positioning of cultural sites based on social needs of
citizens. Thus, considering the population parameters and radii
access, GIS and AHP model for locating cultural centers can meet
social needs of citizens.
Abstract: Indices summarizing community structure are used to
evaluate fundamental community ecology, species interaction,
biogeographical factors, and environmental stress. Some of these
indices are insensitive to gross community changes induced by
contaminants of pollution. Diversity indices and similarity indices are
reviewed considering their ecological application, both theoretical
and practical. For some useful indices, empirical equations are given
to calculate the expected maximum value of the indices to which the
observed values can be related at any combination of sample sizes at
the experimental sites. This paper examines the effects of sample size
and diversity on the expected values of diversity indices and
similarity indices, using various formulae. It has been shown that all
indices are strongly affected by sample size and diversity. In some
indices, this influence is greater than the others and an attempt has
been made to deal with these influences.
Abstract: Eigenvector methods are gaining increasing acceptance in the area of spectrum estimation. This paper presents a successful attempt at testing and evaluating the performance of two of the most popular types of subspace techniques in determining the parameters of multiexponential signals with real decay constants buried in noise. In particular, MUSIC (Multiple Signal Classification) and minimum-norm techniques are examined. It is shown that these methods perform almost equally well on multiexponential signals with MUSIC displaying better defined peaks.
Abstract: A novel calibration approach that aims to reduce
ASM2d parameter subsets and decrease the model complexity is
presented. This approach does not require high computational
demand and reduces the number of modeling parameters required to
achieve the ASMs calibration by employing a sensitivity and iteration
methodology. Parameter sensitivity is a crucial factor and the
iteration methodology enables refinement of the simulation parameter
values. When completing the iteration process, parameters values are
determined in descending order of their sensitivities. The number of
iterations required is equal to the number of model parameters of the
parameter significance ranking. This approach was used for the
ASM2d model to the evaluated EBPR phosphorus removal and it was
successful. Results of the simulation provide calibration parameters.
These included YPAO, YPO4, YPHA, qPHA, qPP, μPAO, bPAO, bPP, bPHA,
KPS, YA, μAUT, bAUT, KO2 AUT, and KNH4 AUT. Those parameters were
corresponding to the experimental data available.
Abstract: Medical Decision Support Systems (MDSSs) are sophisticated, intelligent systems that can provide inference due to lack of information and uncertainty. In such systems, to model the uncertainty various soft computing methods such as Bayesian networks, rough sets, artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, inductive logic programming and genetic algorithms and hybrid methods that formed from the combination of the few mentioned methods are used. In this study, symptom-disease relationships are presented by a framework which is modeled with a formal concept analysis and theory, as diseases, objects and attributes of symptoms. After a concept lattice is formed, Bayes theorem can be used to determine the relationships between attributes and objects. A discernibility relation that forms the base of the rough sets can be applied to attribute data sets in order to reduce attributes and decrease the complexity of computation.
Abstract: Introduction: Visual performance is an important factor in sport excellence. Visual involvement in a sport varies according to environmental demands associated with that sport. These environmental demands are matched by a task specific motor response. The purpose of this study was to determine if sport specific exercises will improve the visual performance of male rugby players, in order to achieve maximal results on the sports field. Materials & Methods: Twenty six adult male rugby players, aged 16-22, were chosen as subjects. In order to evaluate the effect of sport specific exercises on visual skills, a pre-test - post-test experimental group design was adopted for the study. Results: Significant differences (p≤0.05) were seen in the focussing, tracking, vergence, sequencing, eye-hand coordination and visualisation components Discussion & Conclusions: Sport specific exercises improved visual skills in rugby players which may provide them with an advantage over their opponents. This study suggests that these training programs and participation in regular on-line EyeDrills sports vision exercises (www.eyedrills.co.za) aimed at improving the athlete-s visual coordination, concentration, focus, hand-eye co-ordination, anticipation and motor response should be incorpotated in the rugby players exercise regime.