Abstract: The early-stage damage detection in offshore
structures requires continuous structural health monitoring and for the
large area the position of sensors will also plays an important role in
the efficient damage detection. Determining the dynamic behavior of
offshore structures requires dense deployment of sensors. The wired
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems are highly expensive
and always needs larger installation space to deploy. Wireless sensor
networks can enhance the SHM system by deployment of scalable
sensor network, which consumes lesser space. This paper presents the
results of wireless sensor network based Structural Health Monitoring
method applied to a scaled experimental model of offshore structure
that underwent wave loading. This method determines the
serviceability of the offshore structure which is subjected to various
environment loads. Wired and wireless sensors were installed in the
model and the response of the scaled BLSRP model under wave
loading was recorded. The wireless system discussed in this study is
the Raspberry pi board with Arm V6 processor which is programmed
to transmit the data acquired by the sensor to the server using Wi-Fi
adapter, the data is then hosted in the webpage. The data acquired
from the wireless and wired SHM systems were compared and the
design of the wireless system is verified.
Abstract: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease which affects the
central nervous system and causes balance problem. In clinical, this
disorder is usually evaluated using static posturography. Some linear
or nonlinear measures, extracted from the posturographic data (i.e.
center of pressure, COP) recorded during a balance test, has been
used to analyze postural control of MS patients. In this study, the
trend (TREND) and the sample entropy (SampEn), two nonlinear
parameters were chosen to investigate their relationships with the
expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score. 40 volunteers with
different EDSS scores participated in our experiments with eyes open
(EO) and closed (EC). TREND and 2 types of SampEn (SampEn1
and SampEn2) were calculated for each combined COP’s position
signal. The results have shown that TREND had a weak negative
correlation to EDSS while SampEn2 had a strong positive correlation
to EDSS. Compared to TREND and SampEn1, SampEn2 showed a
better significant correlation to EDSS and an ability to discriminate
the MS patients in the EC case. In addition, the outcome of the study
suggests that the multi-dimensional nonlinear analysis could provide
some information about the impact of disability progression in MS on
dynamics of the COP data.
Abstract: The paper focuses on the distance laboratory
organisation for training the electrical engineering staff and students
in the fields of electrical drive and power electronics. To support
online knowledge acquisition and professional enhancement, new
challenges in remote education based on an active learning approach
with self-assessment have been emerged by the authors. Following
the literature review and explanation of the improved assessment
methodology, the concept and technological basis of the labs
arrangement are presented. To decrease the gap between the distance
study of the up-to-date equipment and other educational activities in
electrical engineering, the improvements in the following-up the
learners’ progress and feedback composition are introduced. An
authoring methodology that helps to personalise knowledge
acquisition and enlarge Web-based possibilities is described.
Educational management based on self-assessment is discussed.
Abstract: This paper presents the experimental results of 11 kV
and 33 kV silicon composite insulators under artificial salt and urea
polluted conditions. The tests were carried out under different
seasons like summer, winter, and monsoon. The artificial pollution is
prepared by properly dissolving the salt and urea in the water. The
prepared salt and urea pollutions are sprayed on the insulators and
dried up for sufficiently large time. The process is continued until a
uniform layer is formed on the surface of insulator. For each insulator
rating, four samples were tested. The maximum leakage current and
breakdown voltage were measured. From experimental data,
performance of test specimen is evaluated by comparing breakdown
voltage and leakage current during different seasons when exposed to
salt and urea polluted conditions. From these results the performance
of the insulators can be predicted when they are installed in
industrial, agricultural, and coastal areas. The experimental tests were
carried out in the High Voltage laboratory using two stage cascade
transformer having the rating of 1000 kVA, 500 kV.
Abstract: Fermentation is well known as an essential process to
develop chocolate flavor in dried cocoa beans. Besides developing
the precursor of cocoa flavor, it also induces the color changes in the
beans. The fermentation process is influenced by various factors such
as planting material, preconditioning of cocoa pod and fermentation
technique. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate color of
Malaysian cocoa beans and how the duration of pods storage and
fermentation technique using shallow box will effect on its color
characteristics. There are two factors being studied i.e. duration of
cocoa pod storage (0, 2, 4 and 6 days) and duration of cocoa
fermentation (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 days). The experiment is arranged in
4 x 6 factorial designs with 24 treatments and arrangement is in a
Completely Randomised Design (CRD). The produced beans are
inspected for color changes under artificial light during cut test and
divided into four groups of color namely fully brown, purple brown,
fully purple and slaty. Cut tests indicated that cocoa beans which are
directly dried without undergone fermentation has the highest slaty
percentage. However, application of pods storage before fermentation
process is found to decrease the slaty percentage. In contrast, the
percentages of fully brown beans start to dominate after two days of
fermentation, especially from four and six days of pods storage batch.
Whereas, almost all batches of cocoa beans have a percentage of fully
purple less than 20%. Interestingly, the percentage of purple brown
beans are scattered in the entire beans batch regardless any specific
trend. Meanwhile, statistical analysis using General Linear Model
showed that the pods storage has a significant effect on the color
characteristic of the Malaysian dried beans compared to fermentation
duration.
Abstract: Energy consumption of a hotel can be a hot topic in
smart city; it is difficult to evaluate the contribution of impact factors
to energy consumption of a hotel. Therefore, grasping the key impact
factors has great effect on the energy saving management of a hotel.
Based on the SPIRTPAT model, we establish the identity with the
impact factors of occupancy rate, unit area of revenue, temperature
factor, unit revenue of energy consumption. In this paper, we use the
LMDI (Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index) to decompose the impact
factors of energy consumption of hotel from Jan. to Dec. in 2001. The
results indicate that the occupancy rate and unit area of revenue are the
main factors that can increase unit area of energy consumption, and the
unit revenue of energy consumption is the main factor to restrain the
growth of unit area of energy consumption. When the energy
consumption of hotel can appear abnormal, the hotel manager can
carry out energy saving management and control according to the
contribution value of impact factors.
Abstract: In this research, we propose to conduct diagnostic and
predictive analysis about the key factors and consequences of urban
population relocation. To achieve this goal, urban simulation models
extract the urban development trends as land use change patterns from
a variety of data sources. The results are treated as part of urban big
data with other information such as population change and economic
conditions. Multiple data mining methods are deployed on this data to
analyze nonlinear relationships between parameters. The result
determines the driving force of population relocation with respect to
urban sprawl and urban sustainability and their related parameters.
This work sets the stage for developing a comprehensive urban
simulation model for catering to specific questions by targeted users. It
contributes towards achieving sustainability as a whole.
Abstract: In this paper, an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filter
has been designed and simulated on an Field Programmable Gate
Arrays (FPGA). The implementation is based on Multiply Add and
Accumulate (MAC) algorithm which uses multiply operations for
design implementation. Parallel Pipelined structure is used to
implement the proposed IIR Filter taking optimal advantage of the
look up table of target device. The designed filter has been
synthesized on Digital Signal Processor (DSP) slice based FPGA to
perform multiplier function of MAC unit. The DSP slices are useful
to enhance the speed performance. The proposed design is simulated
with Matlab, synthesized with Xilinx Synthesis Tool, and
implemented on FPGA devices. The Virtex 5 FPGA based design can
operate at an estimated frequency of 81.5 MHz as compared to 40.5
MHz in case of Spartan 3 ADSP based design. The Virtex 5 based
implementation also consumes less slices and slice flip flops of target
FPGA in comparison to Spartan 3 ADSP based implementation to
provide cost effective solution for signal processing applications.
Abstract: Objective: Acute coronary syndrome is a clinical
condition encompassing ST segments elevation myocardial
infraction, Non ST segment is elevation myocardial infraction and un
stable angina is characterized by ruptured coronary plaque, stress and
myocardial injury. Angina pectoris is a pressure like pain in the chest
that is induced by exertion or stress and relived with in the minute
after cessation of effort or using sublingual nitroglycerin. The present
research was undertaken to study the drug utilization pattern of
antiplatelet drugs for the ischemic heart disease in a tertiary care
hospital. Method: The present study is retrospective drug utilization
study and study period is 6months. The data is collected from the
discharge case sheet of general medicine department from medical
department Rajiv Gandhi institute of medical sciences, Kadapa. The
tentative sample size fixed was 250 patients. Out of 250 cases 19
cases was excluded because of unrelated data. Results: A total of 250
prescriptions were collected for the study according to the inclusion
criteria 233 prescriptions were diagnosed with ischemic heart disease
17 prescriptions were excluded due to unrelated information. out of
233 prescriptions 128 are male (54.9%) and 105 patients are were
female (45%). According to the gender distribution, the prevalence of
ischemic heart disease in males are 90 (70.31%) and females are 39
(37.1%). In the same way the prevalence of ischemic heart disease
along with cerebrovascular disease in males are 39 (29.6%) and
females are 66 (62.6%). Conclusion: We found that 94.8% of drug
utilization of antiplatelet drugs was achieved in the Rajiv Gandhi
institute of medical sciences, Kadapa from 2011-2012.
Abstract: Dietary cholesterol has elicited the most public
interest as it relates with coronary heart disease. Thus, humans have
been paying more attention to health, thereby reducing consumption
of cholesterol enriched food. Egg is considered as one of the major
sources of human dietary cholesterol. However, an alternative way to
reduce the potential cholesterolemic effect of eggs is to modify the
fatty acid composition of the yolk. The effect of palm oil (PO),
soybean oil (SO), sesame seed oil (SSO) and fish oil (FO)
supplementation in the diets of layers on egg yolk fatty acid,
cholesterol, egg production and egg quality parameters were
evaluated in a 42-day feeding trial. One hundred and five Isa Brown
laying hens of 34 weeks of age were randomly distributed into seven
groups of five replicates and three birds per replicate in a completely
randomized design. Seven corn-soybean basal diets (BD) were
formulated: BD+No oil (T1), BD+1.5% PO (T2), BD+1.5% SO (T3),
BD+1.5% SSO (T4), BD+1.5% FO (T5), BD+0.75% SO+0.75% FO
(T6) and BD+0.75% SSO+0.75% FO (T7). Five eggs were randomly
sampled at day 42 from each replicate to assay for the cholesterol,
fatty acid profile of egg yolk and egg quality assessment. Results
showed that there were no significant (P>0.05) differences observed
in production performance, egg cholesterol and egg quality
parameters except for yolk height, albumen height, yolk index, egg
shape index, haugh unit, and yolk colour. There were no significant
differences (P>0.05) observed in total cholesterol, high density
lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein levels of egg yolk across the
treatments. However, diets had effect (P
Abstract: In this paper, an approach for the liver tumor detection
in computed tomography (CT) images is represented. The detection
process is based on classifying the features of target liver cell to
either tumor or non-tumor. Fractional differential (FD) is applied for
enhancement of Liver CT images, with the aim of enhancing texture
and edge features. Later on, a fusion method is applied to merge
between the various enhanced images and produce a variety of
feature improvement, which will increase the accuracy of
classification. Each image is divided into NxN non-overlapping
blocks, to extract the desired features. Support vector machines
(SVM) classifier is trained later on a supplied dataset different from
the tested one. Finally, the block cells are identified whether they are
classified as tumor or not. Our approach is validated on a group of
patients’ CT liver tumor datasets. The experiment results
demonstrated the efficiency of detection in the proposed technique.
Abstract: The paper deals with possibilities of increase train
capacity by using a new type of railway wagon. In the first part is
created a mathematical model to calculate the capacity of the train.
The model is based on the main limiting parameters of the train -
maximum number of axles per train, maximum gross weight of train,
maximum length of train and number of TEUs per one wagon. In the
second part is the model applied to four different model trains with
different composition of the train set and three different average
weights of TEU and a train consisting of a new type of wagons. The
result is to identify where the carrying capacity of the original trains
is higher, respectively less than a capacity of train consisting of a new
type of wagons.
Abstract: Holistic methods covering the development process as
a whole – e.g. systems engineering – have established themselves in
product design. However, technical product optimization,
representing improvements in efficiency and/or minimization of loss,
usually applies to single components of a system. A holistic approach
is being defined based on a hierarchical point of view of systems
engineering. This is subsequently presented using the example of an
electromechanical flywheel energy storage system for automotive
applications.
Abstract: One of the main purposes of designing bucklingrestrained
braces is the fact that the entire lateral load is wasted by
the braces, the entire gravitational load is moved to the foundation
through the beams, and the columns can be moved to the foundation.
In other words, braces are designed for bearing lateral load. In the
implementation of the structure, it should be noted that the
implementation of various parts of the structure must be conducted in
such a way that the buckling-restrained braces would not bear the
gravitational load. Moreover, this type of brace has been investigated
under impact loading, and the design goals of designing method
(direct motion) are controlled under impact loading. The results of
dynamic analysis are shown as the relocation charts of the floors and
switch between the floors. Finally, the results are compared with each
other.
Abstract: This work aims to investigate the structure–property
relationship in ternary nanocomposites consisting of polypropylene
as the matrix, polyamide 66 as the minor phase and treated nanoclay
DELLITE 67G as the reinforcement. All PP/PA66/Nanoclay systems
with polypropylene grafted maleic anhydride PP-g-MAH as a
compatibilizer were prepared via melt compounding and
characterized in terms of nanoclay content. Morphological structure
was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The rheological
behavior of the nanocomposites was determined by various methods,
viz melt flow index (MFI) and parallel plate rheological
measurements. The PP/PP-g-MAH/PA66 nanocomposites showed a homogeneous
morphology supporting the compatibility improvement between PP,
PA66, and nanoclay. SEM results revealed the formation of
nanocomposites as the nanoclay was intercalated and exfoliated. In
the ternary nanocomposites, the rheological behavior showed that, the
complex viscosity is increased with increasing the nanoclay. The results showed that the use of nanoclay affects the variations
of storage modulus (G′), loss modulus (G″) and the melt elasticity.
Abstract: The overall goal of this paper is to examine the
suitability and potential of the policies addressing the sustainability
and affordability of housing for returnees, and to determine the impact
of this policy on housing delivery for Afghan refugees. Housing is a
central component of the settlement experience of refugees. A positive
housing situation can facilitate many aspects of integration.
Unaffordable, and unsafe housing, however, can cause disruptions in
the entire settlement process. This paper aims to identify a suite of
built forms for housing that is both affordable and environmentally
sustainable for Afghan refugees. The result was the development of a
framework that enables the assessment of the overall performance of
various types of housing development in all zones of the country.
There is very little evidence that the present approach of housing
provision to the vagaries of market forces has provided affordable
housing, especially for Afghan refugees. There is a need to incorporate
social housing into the policy to assist people who cannot afford to
have their own houses.
Abstract: This paper presents the effects of mixing procedures
on mechanical properties of flyash-based geopolymer matrices
containing nanosilica (NS) at 0.5%, 1.0%, 2.0%, and 3.0% by weight.
Comparison is made with conventional mechanical dry-mixing of NS
with flyash and wet-mixing of NS in alkaline solutions. Physical and
mechanical properties are investigated using X-Ray Diffraction
(XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Results show that
generally the addition of NS particles enhanced the microstructure
and improved flexural and compressive strengths of geopolymer
nanocomposites. However, samples, prepared using dry-mixing
approach, demonstrate better physical and mechanical properties
comparing to wet-mixing samples.
Abstract: One of prevailing modes of finance in emerging
Islamic banking system is Murabah’a. It means a financial dealing or
transaction in which seller tells cost of the goods to be sold to buyer.
Otherwise, the transaction would become invalid. In this mainstream,
import Murabah’a transaction is divergent in such a way that the cost
is not recognized and identified due to execution of import
transaction in foreign currency i.e. US Dollar and the next transaction
of Murabaha’a with the client is executed in local currency. Since this
transaction is executed in dual currency i.e. bank pays supplier in
foreign currency and executes Murabah’a with its client in local
currency and it is not allowed in according to Islamic Injunctions as
mentioned in hadith narrated by Hazrat Ibn-e-Umar (May Allah be
pleased with them) used to sell his camels with Dirhams and take
dinars instead and vice versa. Upon revealing before the Prophet
(Peace be upon him), he was advised that it must not be contingent in
the agreement and the ready rate would be applied and possession of
one of the consideration is compulsory. The solution in this regard is
that the import Murabah’a transaction should be in single currency
However, other currency can be paid in payment at the time of
payment in a very indispensable situation provided that ready rate
would be applied. Moreover, some of other solutions have also been
given in this regard.
Abstract: Low density polyethylene (LDPE) nanocomposites
with 3, 5 and 7 wt. % cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanopowder fabricated
with extrusion mixing and followed up by hot press to reach compact
samples. The transmission/reflection measurements were carried out
with a network analyzer in the frequency range of 8-12 GHz. By
increasing the percent of CoFe2O4 nanopowder, reflection loss (S11)
increases, while transferring loss (S21) decreases. Reflectivity (R)
calculations made using S11 and S21. Increase in percent of CoFe2O4
nanopowder up to 7 wt. % in composite leaded to higher reflectivity
amount, and revealed that increasing the percent of CoFe2O4
nanopowder up to 7 wt. % leads to further microwave absorption in
8-12 GHz range.
Abstract: In the last decades, psychological tests have been
gaining in popularity as a method used for evaluating personnel, and
they bring consulting companies solid profits rising by up to 10%
each year. The market is offering a growing range of tools for the
assessment of personality. Tests are used in organizations mainly in
the recruitment and selection of staff. This paper is an attempt to
initially diagnose the state of the use of psychological tests in Polish
companies on the basis of empirical research.