Abstract: As a part of an evaluation system for R&D programs,
the Korean Government has applied the preliminary feasibility study
to new government R&D program plans. Basically, the fundamental purpose of the preliminary feasibility study is to decide that the
government will either do or do not invest in a new R&D Program. Additionally, the preliminary feasibility study can contribute to the
improvement of R&D program plans. For example, 2 cases of new
R&D program plans applied to the study are explained in this paper and there are expectations that these R&D programs would yield better
performance than without the study. It is thought that the important point of the preliminary feasibility study is not only the effective
decision making process of R&D program but also the opportunity to improve R&D program plan actually.
Abstract: A method based on the power series solution is proposed to solve the natural frequency of flapping vibration for the rotating inclined Euler beam with constant angular velocity. The vibration of the rotating beam is measured from the position of the corresponding steady state axial deformation. In this paper the governing equations for linear vibration of a rotating Euler beam are derived by the d'Alembert principle, the virtual work principle and the consistent linearization of the fully geometrically nonlinear beam theory in a rotating coordinate system. The governing equation for flapping vibration of the rotating inclined Euler beam is linear ordinary differential equation with variable coefficients and is solved by a power series with four independent coefficients. Substituting the power series solution into the corresponding boundary conditions at two end nodes of the rotating beam, a set of homogeneous equations can be obtained. The natural frequencies may be determined by solving the homogeneous equations using the bisection method. Numerical examples are studied to investigate the effect of inclination angle on the natural frequency of flapping vibration for rotating inclined Euler beams with different angular velocity and slenderness ratio.
Abstract: In this paper, the 1-D conduction-radiation problem is solved by the lattice Boltzmann method. The effects of various parameters such as the scattering albedo, the conduction–radiation parameter and the wall emissivity are studied. In order to check on the accuracy of the numerical technique employed for the solution of the considered problem, the present numerical code was validated with the published study. The found results are in good agreement with those published
Abstract: The influences of pulsed electric fields on early
physiological development in Arabidopsis thaliana were studied.
Inside a 4-mm electroporation cuvette, pre-germination seeds were
subjected to high-intensity, nanosecond electrical pulses generated
using laboratory-assembled pulsed electric field system. The field
strength was varied from 5 to 20 kV.cm-1 and the pulse width and the
pulse number were maintained at 10 ns and 100, respectively,
corresponding to the specific treatment energy from 300 J.kg-1 to 4.5
kJ.kg-1. Statistical analyses on the average leaf area 5 and 15 days
following pulsed electric field treatment showed that the effects
appear significant the second week after treatments with a maximum
increase of 80% compared to the control (P < 0.01).
Abstract: A Matlab based software for logistic regression is developed to enhance the process of teaching quantitative topics and assist researchers with analyzing wide area of applications where categorical data is involved. The software offers an option of performing stepwise logistic regression to select the most significant predictors. The software includes a feature to detect influential observations in data, and investigates the effect of dropping or misclassifying an observation on a predictor variable. The input data may consist either as a set of individual responses (yes/no) with the predictor variables or as grouped records summarizing various categories for each unique set of predictor variables' values. Graphical displays are used to output various statistical results and to assess the goodness of fit of the logistic regression model. The software recognizes possible convergence constraints when present in data, and the user is notified accordingly.
Abstract: This paper studies the application of a variety of
sawdust materials in the production of lightweight insulating bricks.
First, the mineralogical and chemical composition of clays was determined. Next, ceramic bricks were fabricated with different
quantities of materials (3–6 and 9 wt. % for sawdust, 65 wt. % for grey clay, 24–27 and 30 wt. % for yellow clay and 2 wt% of tuff).
These bricks were fired at 800 and 950 °C. The effect of adding this sawdust on the technological behaviour of the brick was assessed by
drying and firing shrinkage, water absorption, porosity, bulk density
and compressive strength. The results have shown that the optimum
sintering temperature is 950 °C. Below this temperature, at 950 °C,
increased open porosity was observed, which decreased the compressive strength of the bricks. Based on the results obtained, the
optimum amounts of waste were 9 wt. % sawdust of eucalyptus, 24 wt. % shaping moisture and 1.6 particle size diameter. These percentages produced bricks whose mechanical properties were
suitable for use as secondary raw materials in ceramic brick
production.
Abstract: Safety Health and Environment Code of Practice (SHE
COP) was developed to help road transportation operators to manage
its operation in a systematic and safe manner. A study was conducted
to determine the effectiveness of SHE COP implementation during
non-OPS period. The objective of the study is to evaluate the
implementations of SHE COP among bus operators during wee hour
operations. The data was collected by completing a set of checklist
after observing the activities during pre departure, during the trip, and
upon arrival. The results show that there are seven widely practiced
SHE COP elements. 22% of the buses have average speed exceeding
the maximum permissible speed on the highways (90 km/h), with
13% of the buses were travelling at the speed of more than 100 km/h.
The statistical analysis shows that there is only one significant
association which relates speeding with prior presence of
enforcement officers.
Abstract: Turbulent forced convection flow in a 2-dimensional channel over periodic grooves is numerically investigated. Finite volume method is used to study the effect of turbulence model. The range of Reynolds number varied from 10000 to 30000 for the ribheight to channel-height ratio (B/H) of 2. The downstream wall is heated by a uniform heat flux while the upstream wall is insulated. The investigation is analyzed with different types of nanoparticles such as SiO2, Al2O3, and ZnO, with water as a base fluid are used. The volume fraction is varied from 1% to 4% and the nanoparticle diameter is utilized between 20nm to 50nm. The results revealed 114% heat transfer enhancement compared to the water in a grooved channel by using SiO2 nanoparticle with volume fraction and nanoparticle diameter of 4% and 20nm respectively.
Abstract: Deep cold rolling (DCR) is a cold working process, which easily produces a smooth and work-hardened surface by plastic deformation of surface irregularities. In the present study, the influence of main deep cold rolling process parameters on the surface roughness and the hardness of AISI 4140 steel were studied by using fractional factorial design of experiments. The assessment of the surface integrity aspects on work material was done, in terms of identifying the predominant factor amongst the selected parameters, their order of significance and setting the levels of the factors for minimizing surface roughness and/or maximizing surface hardness. It was found that the ball diameter, rolling force, initial surface roughness and number of tool passes are the most pronounced parameters, which have great effects on the work piece-s surface during the deep cold rolling process. A simple, inexpensive and newly developed DCR tool, with interchangeable collet for using different ball diameters, was used throughout the experimental work presented in this paper.
Abstract: Numerical calculations of flow around a square cylinder are presented using the multi-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method at Reynolds number 150. The effects of upstream locations, downstream locations and blockage are investigated systematically. A detail analysis are given in terms of time-trace analysis of drag and lift coefficients, power spectra analysis of lift coefficient, vorticity contours visualizations and phase diagrams. A number of physical quantities mean drag coefficient, drag coefficient, Strouhal number and root-mean-square values of drag and lift coefficients are calculated and compared with the well resolved experimental data and numerical results available in open literature. The results had shown that the upstream, downstream and height of the computational domain are at least 7.5, 37.5 and 12 diameters of the cylinder, respectively.
Abstract: Global environmental changes lead to increased frequency and scale of natural disaster, Taiwan is under the influence of global warming and extreme weather. Therefore, the vulnerability was increased and variability and complexity of disasters is relatively enhanced. The purpose of this study is to consider the source and magnitude of hazard characteristics on the tourism industry. Using modern risk management concepts, integration of related domestic and international basic research, this goes beyond the Taiwan typhoon disaster risk assessment model and evaluation of loss. This loss evaluation index system considers the impact of extreme weather, in particular heavy rain on the tourism industry in Taiwan. Consider the extreme climate of the compound impact of disaster for the tourism industry; we try to make multi-hazard risk assessment model, strategies and suggestions. Related risk analysis results are expected to provide government department, the tourism industry asset owners, insurance companies and banking include tourist disaster risk necessary information to help its tourism industry for effective natural disaster risk management.
Abstract: The main aim of this study was to examine whether
people understand indicative conditionals on the basis of syntactic
factors or on the basis of subjective conditional probability. The
second aim was to investigate whether the conditional probability of
q given p depends on the antecedent and consequent sizes or derives
from inductive processes leading to establish a link of plausible cooccurrence
between events semantically or experientially associated.
These competing hypotheses have been tested through a 3 x 2 x 2 x 2
mixed design involving the manipulation of four variables: type of
instructions (“Consider the following statement to be true", “Read the
following statement" and condition with no conditional statement);
antecedent size (high/low); consequent size (high/low); statement
probability (high/low). The first variable was between-subjects, the
others were within-subjects. The inferences investigated were Modus
Ponens and Modus Tollens. Ninety undergraduates of the Second
University of Naples, without any prior knowledge of logic or
conditional reasoning, participated in this study.
Results suggest that people understand conditionals in a syntactic
way rather than in a probabilistic way, even though the perception of
the conditional probability of q given p is at least partially involved in
the conditionals- comprehension. They also showed that, in presence
of a conditional syllogism, inferences are not affected by the
antecedent or consequent sizes. From a theoretical point of view these
findings suggest that it would be inappropriate to abandon the idea
that conditionals are naturally understood in a syntactic way for the
idea that they are understood in a probabilistic way.
Abstract: This paper presents a low-voltage low-power differential linear transconductor with near rail-to-rail input swing. Based on the current-mirror OTA topology, the proposed transconductor combines the Flipped Voltage Follower (FVF) technique to linearize the transconductor behavior that leads to class- AB linear operation and the virtual transistor technique to lower the effective threshold voltages of the transistors which offers an advantage in terms of low supply requirement. Design of the OTA has been discussed. It operates at supply voltages of about ±0.8V. Simulation results for 0.18μm TSMC CMOS technology show a good input range of 1Vpp with a high DC gain of 81.53dB and a total harmonic distortion of -40dB at 1MHz for an input of 1Vpp. The main aim of this paper is to present and compare new OTA design with high transconductance, which has a potential to be used in low voltage applications.
Abstract: The aim of this work is to analyze a viscous flow in
the axisymmetric nozzle taken into account the mesh size both in the
free stream and into the boundary layer. The resolution of the Navier-
Stokes equations is realized by using the finite volume method to
determine the supersonic flow parameters at the exit of convergingdiverging
nozzle. The numerical technique uses the Flux Vector
Splitting method of Van Leer. Here, adequate time stepping
parameter, along with CFL coefficient and mesh size level is selected
to ensure numerical convergence. The effect of the boundary layer
thickness is significant at the exit of the nozzle. The best solution is
obtained with using a very fine grid, especially near the wall, where
we have a strong variation of velocity, temperature and shear stress.
This study enabled us to confirm that the determination of boundary
layer thickness can be obtained only if the size of the mesh is lower
than a certain value limits given by our calculations.
Abstract: Human always tried to create a suitable situation for their life according to environmental conditions. In fact, geography has an important role in the shape of our living area. Iran also as a four-season country has different climate type: hot and humid, hot and dry, mid and humid, and cold; therefore, we can find different architecture styles in Iran. Gilan-s traditional architecture is a suitable sample of sustainable construction in Iran. Because the main factors of every dwelling are the climatic, social, economic and cultural effects which demonstrate the interaction between environment and people settlement. This paper was determined the interaction between environmental factors and the rural dwellings in the Gilan province. Also, traditional village (city) of Masouleh as a rare sample of rural and sustainable architecture was introduced.
Abstract: The evolution of current modeling specifications gives rise to the problem of generating automated test cases from a variety of application tools. Past endeavours on behavioural testing of UML statecharts have not systematically leveraged the potential of existing graph theory for testing of objects. Therefore there exists a need for a simple, tool-independent, and effective method for automatic test generation. An architecture, codenamed ACUTE-J (Automated stateChart Unit Testing Engine for Java), for automating the unit test generation process is presented. A sequential approach for converting UML statechart diagrams to JUnit test classes is described, with the application of existing graph theory. Research byproducts such as a universal XML Schema and API for statechart-driven testing are also proposed. The result from a Java implementation of ACUTE-J is discussed in brief. The Chinese Postman algorithm is utilised as an illustration for a run-through of the ACUTE-J architecture.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to provide a better
understanding of the implementation of Project Management
practices by UiTM contractors to ensure project success. A
questionnaire survey was administered to 120 UiTM contractors in
Malaysia. The purpose of this method was to gather information on
the contractors- project background and project management skills. It
was found that all of the contractors had basic knowledge and
understanding of project management skills. It is suggested that a
reasonable project plan and an appropriate organizational structure
are influential factors for project success. It is recommended that the
contractors need to have an effective program of work and up to date
information system are emphasized.
Abstract: In order to study of hydropriming and halopriming on
germination and early growth stage of wheat (Triticum aestivum) an
experiment was carried out in laboratory of the Department of
Agronomy and Plant breeding, Shahrood University of Technology.
Seed treatments consisted of T1: control (untreated seeds), T2:
soaking in distilled water for 18 h (hydropriming). T3: soaking in -
1.2 MPa solution of CaSO4 for 36 h (halopriming). Germination and
early seedling growth were studied using distilled water (control) and
under osmotic potentials of -0.4, -0.8 and -1.2 MPa for NaCl and
polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000), respectively. Results showed that
Hydroprimed seeds achieved maximum germination seedling dry
weight, especially during the higher osmotic potentials. Minimum
germination was recorded at untreated seeds (control) followed by
osmopriming. Under high osmotic potentials, hydroprimed seeds had
higher GI (germination index) as compared to haloprimed or
untreated seeds. Interaction effect of seed treatment and osmotic
potential significantly affected the seedling vigour index (SVI).
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to suggest energy efficient
routing for ad hoc networks which are composed of nodes with limited
energy. There are diverse problems including limitation of energy
supply of node, and the node energy management problem has been
presented. And a number of protocols have been proposed for energy
conservation and energy efficiency. In this study, the critical point of
the EA-MPDSR, that is the type of energy efficient routing using only
two paths, is improved and developed. The proposed TP-MESR uses
multi-path routing technique and traffic prediction function to increase
number of path more than 2. It also verifies its efficiency compared to
EA-MPDSR using network simulator (NS-2). Also, To give a
academic value and explain protocol systematically, research
guidelines which the Hevner(2004) suggests are applied. This
proposed TP-MESR solved the existing multi-path routing problem
related to overhead, radio interference, packet reassembly and it
confirmed its contribution to effective use of energy in ad hoc
networks.
Abstract: In this paper, we study FPGA implementation of a
novel supra-optimal receiver diversity combining technique,
generalized maximal ratio combining (GMRC), for wireless
transmission over fading channels in SIMO systems. Prior
published results using ML-detected GMRC diversity signal
driven by BPSK showed superior bit error rate performance to
the widely used MRC combining scheme in an imperfect
channel estimation (ICE) environment. Under perfect channel
estimation conditions, the performance of GMRC and MRC
were identical. The main drawback of the GMRC study was
that it was theoretical, thus successful FPGA implementation
of it using pipeline techniques is needed as a wireless
communication test-bed for practical real-life situations.
Simulation results showed that the hardware implementation
was efficient both in terms of speed and area. Since diversity
combining is especially effective in small femto- and picocells,
internet-associated wireless peripheral systems are to
benefit most from GMRC. As a result, many spinoff
applications can be made to the hardware of IP-based 4th
generation networks.