Abstract: Elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem(ECDLP) is
one of problems on which the security of pairing-based cryptography
is based. This paper considers Pollard’s rho method to evaluate
the security of ECDLP on Barreto-Naehrig(BN) curve that is an
efficient pairing-friendly curve. Some techniques are proposed to
make the rho method efficient. Especially, the group structure on
BN curve, distinguished point method, and Montgomery trick are
well-known techniques. This paper applies these techniques and
shows its optimization. According to the experimental results for
which a large-scale parallel system with MySQL is applied, 94-bit
ECDLP was solved about 28 hours by parallelizing 71 computers.
Abstract: When high strength reinforced concrete is exposed to
high temperature due to a fire, deteriorations occur such as loss in
strength and elastic modulus, cracking and spalling of the concrete.
Therefore, it is important to understand risk of structural safety in
building structures by studying structural behaviors and rehabilitation
of fire damaged high strength concrete structures. This paper aims at
investigating rehabilitation effect on fire damaged high strength
concrete beams using experimental and analytical methods. In the
experiments, flexural specimens with high strength concrete are
exposed to high temperatures according to ISO 834 standard time
temperature curve. From four-point loading test, results show that
maximum loads of the rehabilitated beams are similar to or higher than
those of the non-fire damaged RC beam. In addition, structural
analyses are performed using ABAQUS 6.10-3 with same conditions
as experiments to provide accurate predictions on structural and
mechanical behaviors of rehabilitated RC beams. The parameters are
the fire cover thickness and strengths of repairing mortar. Analytical
results show good rehabilitation effects, when the results predicted
from the rehabilitated models are compared to structural behaviors of
the non-damaged RC beams. In this study, fire damaged high strength concrete beams are
rehabilitated using polymeric cement mortar. The predictions from the
finite element (FE) models show good agreements with the
experimental results and the modeling approaches can be used to
investigate applicability of various rehabilitation methods for further
study.
Abstract: This paper is aimed to study combustion characteristics
of low NOx burner using petroleum cokes as fuel. The petroleum coke,
which is produced through the oil refining process, is an attractive fuel
in terms of its high heating value and low price. But petroleum coke is
a challenging fuel because of its low volatile content, high sulfur and
nitrogen content, which give rise to undesirable emission
characteristics and low ignitability. Therefore, the research and
development regarding the petroleum coke burner is needed for
applying this industrial system. In this study, combustion and emission
characteristics of petroleum cokes burner are experimentally
investigated in an industrial steam boiler. The low NOx burner is
designed to control fuel and air mixing to achieve staged combustion,
which, in turn reduces both flame temperature and oxygen. Air
distribution ratio of triple staged air is optimized experimentally. The
result showed that NOx concentration is lowest when overfire air is
used, and the burner function at a fuel rich condition. That is, the
burner is operated at the equivalence ratio of 1.67 and overall
equivalence ratio including overfire air is kept 0.87.
Abstract: Recently attention has been focused on incomplete
spinal cord injuries (SCI) to the central spine caused by pressure on
parts of the white matter conduction pathway, such as the pyramidal
tract. In this paper, we focus on a training robot designed to assist with
primary walking-pattern training. The target patient for this training
robot is relearning the basic functions of the usual walking pattern; it is
meant especially for those with incomplete-type SCI to the central
spine, who are capable of standing by themselves but not of
performing walking motions. From the perspective of human
engineering, we monitored the operator’s actions to the robot and
investigated the movement of joints of the lower extremities, the
circumference of the lower extremities, and exercise intensity with the
machine. The concept of the device was to provide mild training
without any sudden changes in heart rate or blood pressure, which will
be particularly useful for the elderly and disabled. The mechanism of
the robot is modified to be simple and lightweight with the expectation
that it will be used at home.
Abstract: Two normal populations with different means and same
variance are considered, where the variance is known. The population
with the smaller sample mean is selected. Various estimators are
constructed for the mean of the selected normal population. Finally,
they are compared with respect to the bias and MSE risks by
the mehod of Monte-Carlo simulation and their performances are
analysed with the help of graphs.
Abstract: This paper investigates the thermal issue of permanent
magnet synchronous generator which is frequently used in direct
drive gearless small-scale wind turbine applications. Permanent
Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG) is designed with 2.5 kW
continuous and 6 kW peak power. Then considering generator
geometry, mechanical design of wind turbine is performed. Thermal
analysis and optimization is carried out considering all wind turbine
components to reach realistic results. This issue is extremely
important in research and development (R&D) process for wind
turbine applications.
Abstract: Main purpose of this study is to identify the impact of
government expenditure on economic growth in Asian Countries.
Consequently, main objective is to analyze whether government
expenditure causes economic growth in Asian countries vice versa
and then scrutinizing long-run equilibrium relationship exists
between them. The study completely based on secondary data. The
methodology being quantitative that includes econometrical
techniques of cointegration, panel fixed effects model and granger
causality in the context of panel data of Asian countries; Singapore,
Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, China, Sri Lanka, India and
Bhutan with 44 observations in each country, totaling to 396
observations from 1970 to 2013. The model used is the random
effects panel OLS model. As with the above methodology, the study
found the fascinating outcome. At first, empirical findings exhibit a
momentous positive impact of government expenditure on Gross
Domestic Production in Asian region. Secondly, government
expenditure and economic growth indicate a long-run relationship in
Asian countries. In conclusion, there is a unidirectional causality
from economic growth to government expenditure and government
expenditure to economic growth in Asian countries. Hence the study
is validated that it is in line with the Keynesian theory and Wagner’s
law as well. Consequently, it can be concluded that role of
government would play a vital role in economic growth of Asian
Countries. However; if government expenditure did not figure out
with the economy’s needs it might be considerably inspiration the
economy in a negative way so that society bears the costs.
Abstract: Although there has been a growing interest in the
hybrid free-space optical link and radio frequency FSO/RF
communication system, the current literature is limited to results
obtained in moderate or cold environment. In this paper, using a soft
switching approach, we investigate the effect of weather
inhomogeneities on the strength of turbulence hence the channel
refractive index under Qatar harsh environment and their influence
on the hybrid FSO/RF availability. In this approach, either FSO/RF
or simultaneous or none of them can be active. Based on soft
switching approach and a finite state Markov Chain (FSMC) process,
we model the channel fading for the two links and derive a
mathematical expression for the outage probability of the hybrid
system. Then, we evaluate the behavior of the hybrid FSO/RF under
hazy and harsh weather. Results show that the FSO/RF soft switching
renders the system outage probability less than that of each link
individually. A soft switching algorithm is being implemented on
FPGAs using Raptor code interfaced to the two terminals of a
1Gbps/100 Mbps FSO/RF hybrid system, the first being implemented
in the region. Experimental results are compared to the above
simulation results.
Abstract: The aims of study were investigation on chemical
composition essential oil and the effect of extract of Coronilla varia
on antimicrobial and cytotoxicity activity. The essential oils of
Coronilla varia is obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by
(GC/MS) for determining their chemical composition and
identification of their components. Antibacterial activity of plant
extract was determined by disc diffusion method and anticancer
activity measured by MTT assay. The major components in essential
oil were Caryophyllene Oxide (60.19%), Alphacadinol (4.13%) and
Homoadantaneca Robexylic Acid (3.31%). The extracts from
Coronilla varia had interesting activity against Proteus mirabilis in
the concentration of 700 μg/disc and did not show any activity
against Staphylococus aureus, Bacillus subtillis, Klebsiella
pneumonia and Entrobacter cloacae. The positive control,
Ampicillin, Chloramphenicol and Cenphalothin had shown zone of
inhibition resistant all bacteria. The ethanol extract of Corohilla varia
inhibited on MCF7 cell lines. IC50 0.6(mg/ml) was the optimum
concentration of extract from Coronilla varia inhibition of cell line
growth. The MCF7 cancer cell line and Proteus mirabilis were more
sensitive to Coronilla varia ethanol extract.
Abstract: Water resource systems modeling has constantly been
a challenge through history for human beings. As the innovative
methodological development is evolving alongside computer sciences
on one hand, researches are likely to confront more complex and
larger water resources systems due to new challenges regarding
increased water demands, climate change and human interventions,
socio-economic concerns, and environment protection and
sustainability. In this research, an automatic calibration scheme has
been applied on the Gilan’s large-scale water resource model using
mathematical programming. The water resource model’s calibration
is developed in order to attune unknown water return flows from
demand sites in the complex Sefidroud irrigation network and other
related areas. The calibration procedure is validated by comparing
several gauged river outflows from the system in the past with model
results. The calibration results are pleasantly reasonable presenting a
rational insight of the system. Subsequently, the unknown optimized
parameters were used in a basin-scale linear optimization model with
the ability to evaluate the system’s performance against a reduced
inflow scenario in future. Results showed an acceptable match
between predicted and observed outflows from the system at selected
hydrometric stations. Moreover, an efficient operating policy was
determined for Sefidroud dam leading to a minimum water shortage
in the reduced inflow scenario.
Abstract: Groundwater is vital to the livelihoods and health of the majority of the people, since it provides almost the entire water resource for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses. Groundwater quality comprises the physical, chemical and bacteriological qualities. The present investigation was carried out to determine the physicochemical and bacteriological quality of the ground water sources in the residential areas of Karakulam Grama Panchayath in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala state in India. Karakulam is located in the eastern suburbs of Thiruvananthapuram city. The major drinking water source of the residents in the study area is wells. The present study aims to assess the portability and irrigational suitability of groundwater in the study area. The water samples were collected from randomly selected dug wells and bore wells in the study area during post monsoon and pre monsoon seasons of the year 2014 after a preliminary field survey. The physical, chemical and bacteriological parameters of the water samples were analyzed following standard procedures. The concentration of heavy metals (Cd, Pb and Mn) in the acid digested water samples were determined by using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The results showed that the pH of well water samples ranged from acidic to alkaline level. In majority of well water samples (>54 %) the iron and magnesium content were found high in both the seasons studied, and the values were above the permissible limits of WHO drinking water quality standards. Bacteriological analyses showed that 63% of the wells were contaminated with total coliforms in both the seasons studied. Irrigational suitability of groundwater was assessed by determining the chemical indices like Sodium Percentage (%Na), Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC), Permeability Index (PI), and the results indicate that the well water in the study area are good for irrigation purposes. Therefore, the study reveals the degradation of drinking water quality groundwater sources in Karakulam Grama Panchayath in Thiruvananthapuram District, Keralain terms of its chemical and bacteriological characteristics, and is not potable without proper treatment. In the study, more than 1/3rdof the well water samples tested were positive for total coliforms, and the bacterial contamination may pose threat to public health. The study recommends the need for periodic well water quality monitoring in the study area and to conduct awareness programs among the residents.
Abstract: In this paper we studied sono catalytic oxidative desulfurization of oil and diesel fraction from “Zhanazhol” oil deposits. We have established that the combined effect of the ultrasonic field and oxidant (ozone-air mixture) in the presence of the catalyst on the oil is potentially very effective method of desulfurization of oil and oil products. This method allows increasing the degree of desulfurization of oil by 62%.
Abstract: The influence of cultivation factors such as content of ammonium sulfate, glucose and water in the culture medium and particle size of dry orange waste, on their bioconversion for pectinase production was studied using complete factorial design. A polygalacturonase (PG) was isolated using ion exchange chromatography under gradient elution 0-0,5 m/l NaCl (column equilibrate with acetate buffer pH 4,5), subsequently by sephadex G75 column chromatography was applied and the molecular weight was obtained about 51,28 KDa. Purified PG enzyme exhibits a pH and temperature optima of activity at 5 and 35°C respectively. Treatment of apple juice by purified enzyme extract yielded a clear juice, which was competitive with juice yielded by pure Sigma Aldrich Aspergillus niger enzyme.
Abstract: This study investigated the impact of inflectional and derivational morphemic analysis awareness on ESL secondary school students’ vocabulary learning strategy. The quasi-experimental study was conducted with 106 low proficiency secondary school students in two experimental groups (inflectional and derivational) and one control group. The students’ vocabulary acquisition was assessed through two measures: Morphemic Analysis Test and Vocabulary- Morphemic Test in the pretest and posttest before and after an intervention programme. Results of ANCOVA revealed that both the experimental groups achieved a significant score in Morphemic Analysis Test and Vocabulary-Morphemic Test. However, the inflectional group obtained a fairly higher score than the derivational group. Thus, the results indicated that ESL low proficiency secondary school students performed better on inflectional morphemic awareness as compared to derivatives. The results also showed that the awareness of inflectional morphology contributed more on the vocabulary acquisition. Importantly, learning inflectional morphology can help ESL low proficiency secondary school students to develop both morphemic awareness and vocabulary gain. Theoretically, these findings show that not all morphemes are equally useful to students for their language development. Practically, these findings indicate that morphological instruction should at least be included in remediation and instructional efforts with struggling learners across all grade levels, allowing them to focus on meaning within the word before they attempt the text in large for better comprehension. Also, by methodologically, by conducting individualized intervention and assessment this study provided fresh empirical evidence to support the existing literature on morphemic analysis awareness and vocabulary learning strategy. Thus, a major pedagogical implication of the study is that morphemic analysis awareness strategy is a definite boon for ESL secondary school students in learning English vocabulary.
Abstract: This paper seeks to assess the implications of bank
consolidation on the performance of small and medium scale
enterprises in the Nigerian economy. Multiple linear regression
technique and correlation matrix test were employed to measure the
extent to which small and medium scale enterprises asset size,
survival and access to credit were influenced. The result showed that
bank deposit (BD) and bank credit (L or BC) impacted on asset size
and survival of small and medium scale enterprises. None of the
variables had significant impact on SMEs access to credit. There is a
shift of focus by commercial banks away from small and medium
scale enterprises (small customers), which is evidenced by the
significant negative influence of bank credit to both the survival and
asset size of small and medium enterprises. While micro finance
banks work hard at providing funds to small and medium scale
entrepreneurs, their capacity to meet the needs of these entrepreneurs
is constrained. CBN should make policies that will boost micro
finance bank’s capital and also monitor closely the management of
the banks to ensure prudent financing of small and medium scale
investments.
Abstract: As per the statistical data, the Doubly-fed Induction
Generator (DFIG) based wind turbine with variable speed and
variable pitch control is the most common wind turbine in the
growing wind market. This machine is usually used on the grid
connected wind energy conversion system to satisfy grid code
requirements such as grid stability, Fault Ride Through (FRT), power
quality improvement, grid synchronization and power control etc.
Though the requirements are not fulfilled directly by the machine, the
control strategy is used in both the stator as well as rotor side along
with power electronic converters to fulfil the requirements stated
above. To satisfy the grid code requirements of wind turbine, usually
grid side converter is playing a major role. So in order to improve the
operation capacity of wind turbine under critical situation, the
intensive study of both machine side converter control and grid side
converter control is necessary In this paper DFIG is modeled using
power components as variables and the performance of the DFIG
system is analysed under grid voltage fluctuations. The voltage
fluctuations are made by lowering and raising the voltage values in
the utility grid intentionally for the purpose of simulation keeping in
view of different grid disturbances.
Abstract: It is an indispensible strategy to adopt greenery
approach on architectural bases so as to improve ecological habitats,
decrease heat-island effect, purify air quality, and relieve surface
runoff as well as noise pollution, all of which are done in an attempt to
achieve sustainable environment. How we can do with plant design to
attain the best visual quality and ideal carbon dioxide fixation depends
on whether or not we can appropriately make use of greenery
according to the nature of architectural bases. To achieve the goal, it is
a need that architects and landscape architects should be provided with
sufficient local references. Current greenery studies focus mainly on
the heat-island effect of urban with large scale. Most of the architects
still rely on people with years of expertise regarding the adoption and
disposition of plantation in connection with microclimate scale.
Therefore, environmental design, which integrates science and
aesthetics, requires fundamental research on landscape environment
technology divided from building environment technology. By doing
so, we can create mutual benefits between green building and the
environment. This issue is extremely important for the greening design
of the bases of green buildings in cities and various open spaces. The
purpose of this study is to establish plant selection and allocation
strategies under different building sunshade levels. Initially, with the
shading of sunshine on the greening bases as the starting point, the
effects of the shades produced by different building types on the
greening strategies were analyzed. Then, by measuring the PAR
(photosynthetic active radiation), the relative DLI (daily light integral)
was calculated, while the DLI Map was established in order to
evaluate the effects of the building shading on the established
environmental greening, thereby serving as a reference for plant
selection and allocation. The discussion results were to be applied in
the evaluation of environment greening of greening buildings and
establish the “right plant, right place” design strategy of multi-level
ecological greening for application in urban design and landscape
design development, as well as the greening criteria to feedback to the
eco-city greening buildings.
Abstract: The paper identifies the features of Polish sports clubs
in the particular organizational forms: profit and nonprofit.
Identification and description of these features is carried out in terms
of financial efficiency of the given organizational form. Under the
terms of the efficiency the research allows you to specify the
advantages of particular organizational sports club form and the
following limitations. Paper considers features of sports clubs in
range of Polish conditions as legal regulations. The sources of the
functioning efficiency of sports clubs may lie in the organizational
forms in which they operate. Each of the available forms can be
considered either a for-profit or nonprofit enterprise. Depending on
this classification there are different capabilities of increasing
organizational and financial efficiency of a given sports club. Authors
start with general classification and difference between for-profit and
non-profit sport clubs. Next identifies specific financial and
organizational conditions of both organizational form and then show
examples of mixed activity forms and their efficiency effect.
Abstract: As a by-product of the biodiesel industries, glycerol
has been vastly generated which surpasses the market demand. It is
imperative to develop an efficient glycerol valorization processes in
minimizing the net energy requirement and intensifying the biodiesel
production. In this study, base-catalyzed transesterification of
glycerol with dimethyl carbonate using microwave irradiation as
heating method to produce glycerol carbonate was conducted by
varying grades of glycerol, i.e. 70%, 86% and 99% purity, that is
obtained from biodiesel plant. Metal oxide catalysts were used with
varying operating parameters including reaction time, DMC/glycerol
molar ratio, catalyst weight %, temperature and stirring speed. From
the study on the effect of different operating parameters it was found
that the type of catalyst used has the most significant effect on the
transesterification reaction. Amidst the metal oxide catalysts
examined, CaO gave the best performance. This study indicates the
feasibility of producing glycerol carbonate using different grade of
glycerol in both conventional thermal activation and microwave
irradiation with CaO as catalyst. Microwave assisted
transesterification (MAT) of glycerol into glycerol carbonate has
demonstrated itself as an energy efficient route by achieving 94.2%
yield of GC at 65°C, 5 minutes reaction time, 1 wt% CaO and
DMC/glycerol molar ratio of 2. The advantages of MAT
transesterification route has made the direct utilization of bioglycerol
from biodiesel production without the need of purification. This has
marked a more economical and less-energy intensive glycerol
carbonate synthesis route.
Abstract: The application of cold Radio-Frequency (RF) plasma
in the conservation of cultural heritage became important in the last
decades due to the positive results obtained in decontamination
treatments. This paper presents an equipment especially designed for cold RF
plasma application on paper documents, developed within a research
project. The equipment consists in two modules: the first one is
designed for decontamination and cleaning treatments of any type of
paper supports, while the second one can be used for coating friable
papers with adequate polymers, for protection purposes. All these
operations are carried out in cold radio-frequency plasma, working in
gaseous nitrogen, at low pressure. In order to optimize the equipment parameters ancient paper
samples infested with microorganisms have been treated in nitrogen
plasma and the decontamination effects, as well as changes in surface
properties (color, pH) were assessed. The microbiological analysis
revealed complete decontamination at 6 minutes treatment duration;
only minor modifications of the surface pH were found and the
colorimetric analysis showed a slight yellowing of the support.