Abstract: Both the minimum energy consumption and
smoothness, which is quantified as a function of jerk, are generally
needed in many dynamic systems such as the automobile and the
pick-and-place robot manipulator that handles fragile equipments.
Nevertheless, many researchers come up with either solely
concerning on the minimum energy consumption or minimum jerk
trajectory. This research paper proposes a simple yet very interesting
relationship between the minimum direct and indirect jerks
approaches in designing the time-dependent system yielding an
alternative optimal solution. Extremal solutions for the cost functions
of direct and indirect jerks are found using the dynamic optimization
methods together with the numerical approximation. This is to allow
us to simulate and compare visually and statistically the time history
of control inputs employed by minimum direct and indirect jerk
designs. By considering minimum indirect jerk problem, the
numerical solution becomes much easier and yields to the similar
results as minimum direct jerk problem.
Abstract: One of the robust fault detection filter (RFDF)
designing method is based on sliding-mode theory. The main purpose
of our study is to introduce an innovative simplified reference
residual model generator to formulate the RFDF as a sliding-mode
observer without any manipulation package or transformation matrix,
through which the generated residual signals can be evaluated. So the
proposed design is more explicit and requires less design parameters
in comparison with approaches requiring changing coordinates. To
the best author's knowledge, this is the first time that the sliding
mode technique is applied to detect actuator and sensor faults in a
real boiler. The designing procedure is proposed in a drum boiler in
Synvendska Kraft AB Plant in Malmo, Sweden as a multivariable
and strongly coupled system. It is demonstrated that both sensor and
actuator faults can robustly be detected. Also sensor faults can be
diagnosed and isolated through this method.
Abstract: In this paper, we present a maintenance model of a
two-unit series system with economic dependence. Unit#1 which is
considered to be more expensive and more important, is subject to
condition monitoring (CM) at equidistant, discrete time epochs and
unit#2, which is not subject to CM has a general lifetime distribution.
The multivariate observation vectors obtained through condition
monitoring carry partial information about the hidden state of unit#1,
which can be in a healthy or a warning state while operating. Only the
failure state is assumed to be observable for both units. The objective
is to find an optimal opportunistic maintenance policy minimizing
the long-run expected average cost per unit time. The problem
is formulated and solved in the partially observable semi-Markov
decision process framework. An effective computational algorithm
for finding the optimal policy and the minimum average cost is
developed, illustrated by a numerical example.
Abstract: Cry j 1 is a causative substance of Japanese cedar
pollinosis, and it may deteriorate by Cry j 1 invasion to a lower
respiratory tract. We observed airborne particles containing Cry j 1 by
an immunofluorescence technique using a fluorescence microscope,
and we clarified that Cry j 1 exist as aggregates of airborne fine
particles (< 1.1 μm) in the urban atmosphere. Airborne Cry j 1 may
react with air pollutants and be denature to a substance deteriorated
Japanese cedar pollinosis. Therefore, we applied a sodium dodecyl
sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to evaluate a
Cry j 1 reacted with various air pollutants by liquid phase reaction,
and calculated kinetics constants of Cry j 1 extracted from pollens
collected in various sites and airborne fine particles containing Cry j
1 by using a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) method. As a result, it
is suggested that Cry j 1 may be denatured by air pollutants during
the transportation to the urban atmosphere.
Abstract: Currently is characterized production engineering
together with the integration of industrial automation and robotics
such very quick view of to manufacture the products. The production
range is continuously changing, expanding and producers have to be
flexible in this regard. It means that need to offer production
possibilities, which can respond to the quick change. Engineering
product development is focused on supporting CAD software, such
systems are mainly used for product design. That manufacturers are
competitive, it should be kept procured machines made available
capable of responding to output flexibility. In response to that
problem is the development of flexible manufacturing systems,
consisting of various automated systems. The integration of flexible
manufacturing systems and subunits together with product design and
of engineering is a possible solution for this issue. Integration is
possible through the implementation of CIM systems. Such a solution
and finding a hyphen between CAD and procurement system ICIM
3000 from Festo Co. is engaged in the research project and this
contribution. This can be designed the products in CAD systems and
watch the manufacturing process from order to shipping by the
development of methods and processes of integration, This can be
modeled in CAD systems products and watch the manufacturing
process from order to shipping to develop methods and processes of
integration, which will improve support for product design
parameters by monitoring of the production process, by creating of
programs for production using the CAD and therefore accelerates the
a total of process from design to implementation.
Abstract: To understand working features of a micro combustor,
a computer code has been developed to study combustion of
hydrogen–air mixture in a series of chambers with same shape aspect
ratio but various dimensions from millimeter to micrometer level.
The prepared algorithm and the computer code are capable of
modeling mixture effects in different fluid flows including chemical
reactions, viscous and mass diffusion effects. The effect of various
heat transfer conditions at chamber wall, e.g. adiabatic wall, with
heat loss and heat conduction within the wall, on the combustion is
analyzed. These thermal conditions have strong effects on the
combustion especially when the chamber dimension goes smaller and
the ratio of surface area to volume becomes larger.
Both factors, such as larger heat loss through the chamber wall
and smaller chamber dimension size, may lead to the thermal
quenching of micro-scale combustion. Through such systematic
numerical analysis, a proper operation space for the micro-combustor
is suggested, which may be used as the guideline for microcombustor
design. In addition, the results reported in this paper
illustrate that the numerical simulation can be one of the most
powerful and beneficial tools for the micro-combustor design,
optimization and performance analysis.
Abstract: We demonstrate the synthesis of intermediary views
within a sequence of color encoded, materials discriminating, X-ray
images that exhibit animated depth in a visual display. During the
image acquisition process, the requirement for a linear X-ray detector
array is replaced by synthetic image. Scale Invariant Feature
Transform, SIFT, in combination with material segmented morphing
is employed to produce synthetic imagery. A quantitative analysis of
the feature matching performance of the SIFT is presented along with
a comparative study of the synthetic imagery. We show that the total
number of matches produced by SIFT reduces as the angular
separation between the generating views increases. This effect is
accompanied by an increase in the total number of synthetic pixel
errors. The trends observed are obtained from 15 different luggage
items. This programme of research is in collaboration with the UK
Home Office and the US Dept. of Homeland Security.
Abstract: In the present study, the incorporation of graphene
into blends of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer with
polypropylene (ABS/PP) was investigated focusing on the
improvement of their thermomechanical characteristics and the effect
on their rheological behavior. The blends were prepared by melt
mixing in a twin-screw extruder and were characterized by measuring
the MFI as well as by performing DSC, TGA and mechanical tests.
The addition of graphene to ABS/PP blends tends to increase their
melt viscosity, due to the confinement of polymer chains motion.
Also, graphene causes an increment of the crystallization temperature
(Tc), especially in blends with higher PP content, because of the
reduction of surface energy of PP nucleation, which is a consequence
of the attachment of PP chains to the surface of graphene through the
intermolecular CH-π interaction. Moreover, the above nanofiller
improves the thermal stability of PP and increases the residue of
thermal degradation at all the investigated compositions of blends,
due to the thermal isolation effect and the mass transport barrier
effect. Regarding the mechanical properties, the addition of graphene
improves the elastic modulus, because of its intrinsic mechanical
characteristics and its rigidity, and this effect is particularly strong in
the case of pure PP.
Abstract: Atherosclerosis was identified as a chronic inflammatory process resulting from interactions between plasma lipoproteins, cellular components (monocyte, macrophages, T lymphocytes, endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells) and the extracellular matrix of the arterial wall. Several types of genes were known to express during formation of atherosclerosis. This study is carried out to identify unknown differentially expressed gene (DEG) in atherogenesis. Rabbit’s aorta tissues were stained by H&E for histomorphology. GeneFishing™ PCR analysis was performed from total RNA extracted from the aorta tissues. The DNA fragment from DEG was cloned, sequenced and validated by Real-time PCR. Histomorphology showed intimal thickening in the aorta. DEG detected from ACP-41 was identified as cathepsin B gene and showed upregulation at week-8 and week-12 of atherogenesis. Therefore, ACP-based GeneFishing™ PCR facilitated identification of cathepsin B gene which was differentially expressed during development of atherosclerosis.
Abstract: The interaction of tunneling or mining with
groundwater has become a very relevant problem not only due to the
need to guarantee the safety of workers and to assure the efficiency of
the tunnel drainage systems, but also to safeguard water resources
from impoverishment and pollution risk. Therefore it is very
important to forecast the drainage processes (i.e., the evaluation of
drained discharge and drawdown caused by the excavation). The aim
of this study was to know better the system and to quantify the flow
drained from the Fontane mines, located in Val Germanasca (Turin,
Italy). This allowed to understand the hydrogeological local changes
in time. The work has therefore been structured as follows: the
reconstruction of the conceptual model with the geological,
hydrogeological and geological-structural study; the calculation of
the tunnel inflows (through the use of structural methods) and the
comparison with the measured flow rates; the water balance at the
basin scale. In this way it was possible to understand what are the
relationships between rainfall, groundwater level variations and the
effect of the presence of tunnels as a means of draining water.
Subsequently, it the effects produced by the excavation of the mining
tunnels was quantified, through numerical modeling. In particular,
the modeling made it possible to observe the drawdown variation as a
function of number, excavation depth and different mines linings.
Abstract: This paper presents an experimental investigation on
the machinability of laser-sintered material using small ball end mill focusing on wear mechanisms. Laser-sintered material was produced
by irradiating a laser beam on a layer of loose fine SCM-Ni-Cu powder. Bulk carbon steel JIS S55C was selected as a reference steel.
The effects of powder consolidation mechanisms and unsintered
powder on the tool life and wear mechanisms were carried out. Results indicated that tool life in cutting laser-sintered material is
lower than that in cutting JIS S55C. Adhesion of the work material and chipping were the main wear mechanisms of the ball end mill in
cutting laser-sintered material. Cutting with the unsintered powder
surrounding the tool and laser-sintered material had caused major fracture on the cutting edge.
Abstract: This research aimed to modify pineapple leaf paper
(PALP) for using as wet media in the evaporation cooling system by
improving wet mechanical property (tensile strength) without
compromising water absorption property. Polyamideamineepichorohydrin
resin (PAE) and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)
were used to strengthen the paper, and the PAE and CMC ratio of
80:20 showed the optimum wet and dry tensile index values, which
were higher than those of the commercial cooling pad (CCP).
Compared with CCP, PALP itself and all the PAE/CMC modified
PALP possessed better water absorption. The PAE/CMC modified
PALP had potential to become a new type of wet media.
Abstract: Human genome is not only the evolutionary
summation of all advantageous events, but also houses lesions of
deleterious foot prints. A single gene mutation sometimes may
express multiple consequences in numerous tissues and a linear
relationship of the genotype and the phenotype may often be obscure.
ß Thalassemia minor, a transfusion independent mild anaemia,
coupled with environment among other factors may articulate into
phenotypic pleotropy with Hypocholesterolemia, Vitamin D
deficiency, Tissue hypoxia, Hyper-parathyroidism and Psychological
alterations. Occurrence of Pancreatic insufficiency, resultant
steatorrhoea, Vitamin-D (25-OH) deficiency (13.86 ngm/ml) with
Hypocholesterolemia (85mg/dl) in a 30 years old male ß Thal-minor
patient (Hemoglobin 11mg/dl with Fetal Hemoglobin 2.10%, Hb A2
4.60% and Hb Adult 84.80% and altered Hemogram) with increased
Para thyroid hormone (62 pg/ml) & moderate Serum Ca+2
(9.5mg/ml) indicate towards a cascade of phenotypic pleotropy
where the ß Thalassemia mutation ,be it in the 5’ cap site of the
mRNA , differential splicing etc in heterozygous state is effecting
several metabolic pathways. Compensatory extramedulary
hematopoiesis may not coped up well with the stressful life style of
the young individual and increased erythropoietic stress with high
demand for cholesterol for RBC membrane synthesis may have
resulted in Hypocholesterolemia.Oxidative stress and tissue hypoxia
may have caused the pancreatic insufficiency, leading to Vitamin D
deficiency. This may in turn have caused the secondary
hyperparathyroidism to sustain serum Calcium level. Irritability and
stress intolerance of the patient was a cumulative effect of the vicious
cycle of metabolic compromises. From these findings we propose
that the metabolic deficiencies in the ß Thalassemia mutations may
be considered as the phenotypic display of the pleotropy to explain
the genetic epidemiology.
According to the recommendations from the NIH Workshop on
Gene-Environment Interplay in Common Complex Diseases: Forging
an Integrative Model, study design of observations should be
informed by gene-environment hypotheses and results of a study
(genetic diseases) should be published to inform future hypotheses.
Variety of approaches is needed to capture data on all possible
aspects, each of which is likely to contribute to the etiology of
disease. Speakers also agreed that there is a need for development of
new statistical methods and measurement tools to appraise
information that may be missed out by conventional method where
large sample size is needed to segregate considerable effect.
A meta analytic cohort study in future may bring about significant
insight on to the title comment.
Abstract: Since the beginning of human history, human
activities have caused many changes in the environment. Today, a
particular attention should be paid to gaining knowledge about water
quality of wetlands which are pristine natural environments rich in
genetic reserves. If qualitative conditions of industrial areas (in terms
of both physicochemical and biological conditions) are not addressed
properly, they could cause disruption in natural ecosystems,
especially in rivers. With regards to the quality of water resources,
determination of pollutant sources plays a pivotal role in engineering
projects as well as designing water quality control systems. Thus,
using different methods such as flow duration curves, dischargepollution
load model and frequency analysis by HYFA software
package, risk of various industrial pollutants in international and
ecologically important Gavkhoni wetland is analyzed. In this study, a
station located at Varzaneh City is used as the last station on
Zayanderud River, from where the river water is discharged into the
wetland. Results showed that elements- concentrations often
exceeded the allowed level and river water can endanger regional
ecosystem. In addition, if the river discharge is managed on Q25
basis, this basis can lower concentrations of elements, keeping them
within the normal level.
Abstract: Reinforced concrete crash barriers used in road traffic
must meet a number of criteria. Crash barriers are laid lengthwise,
one behind another, and joined using specially designed steel locks.
While developing BSV reinforced concrete crash barriers (type
ŽPSV), experiments and calculations aimed to optimize the shape of
a newly designed lock and the reinforcement quantity and
distribution in a crash barrier were carried out. The tension carrying
capacity of two parallelly joined locks was solved experimentally.
Based on the performed experiments, adjustments of nonlinear
properties of steel were performed in the calculations. The obtained
results served as a basis to optimize the lock design using a
computational model that takes into account the plastic behaviour of
steel and the influence of the surrounding concrete [6]. The response
to the vehicle impact has been analyzed using a specially elaborated
complex computational model, comprising both the nonlinear model
of the damping wall or crash barrier and the detailed model of the
vehicle [7].
Abstract: A different concept for designing and detailing of
reinforced concrete precast frame structures is analyzed in this paper.
The new detailing of the joints derives from the special hybrid
moment frame joints. The special reinforcements of this alternative
detailing, named modified special hybrid joint, are bondless with
respect to both column and beams. Full scale tests were performed on
a plan model, which represents a part of 5 story structure, cropped in
the middle of the beams and columns spans. Theoretical approach
was developed, based on testing results on twice repaired model,
subjected to lateral seismic type loading. Discussion regarding the
modified special hybrid joint behavior and further on widening
research needed concludes the presentation.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is twofold: (1) discuss and
analyze the successful case studies worldwide, and (2) identify the
similarities and differences of case studies worldwide. Design
methodology/approach: The nature of this research is mainly method
qualitative (multi-case studies, literature review). This investigation
uses ten case studies, and the data was mainly collected and
organizational documents from the international countries. Finding:
The finding of this research can help incubator manager, policy
maker and government parties for successful implementation.
Originality/value: This paper contributes to the current literate review
on the best practices worldwide. Additionally, it presents future
perspective for academicians and practitioners.
Abstract: Solution to unsteady Navier-Stokes equation by Splitting method in physical orthogonal algebraic curvilinear coordinate system, also termed 'Non-linear grid system' is presented. The linear terms in Navier-Stokes equation are solved by Crank- Nicholson method while the non-linear term is solved by the second order Adams-Bashforth method. This work is meant to bring together the advantage of Splitting method as pressure-velocity solver of higher efficiency with the advantage of consuming Non-linear grid system which produce more accurate results in relatively equal number of grid points as compared to Cartesian grid. The validation of Splitting method as a solution of Navier-Stokes equation in Nonlinear grid system is done by comparison with the benchmark results for lid driven cavity flow by Ghia and some case studies including Backward Facing Step Flow Problem.
Abstract: Through a proper analysis of residual strain and stress
distributions obtained at the surface of high speed milled specimens
of AA 6082–T6 aluminium alloy, the performance of an improved
indentation method is evaluated. This method integrates a special
device of indentation to a universal measuring machine. The
mentioned device allows introducing elongated indents allowing to
diminish the absolute error of measurement. It must be noted that the
present method offers the great advantage of avoiding both the
specific equipment and highly qualified personnel, and their inherent
high costs. In this work, the cutting tool geometry and high speed
parameters are selected to introduce reduced plastic damage.
Through the variation of the depth of cut, the stability of the shapes
adopted by the residual strain and stress distributions is evaluated.
The results show that the strain and stress distributions remain
unchanged, compressive and small. Moreover, these distributions
reveal a similar asymmetry when the gradients corresponding to
conventional and climb cutting zones are compared.
Abstract: The Maximum Weighted Independent Set (MWIS)
problem is a classic graph optimization NP-hard problem. Given an
undirected graph G = (V, E) and weighting function defined on the
vertex set, the MWIS problem is to find a vertex set S V whose total
weight is maximum subject to no two vertices in S are adjacent. This
paper presents a novel approach to approximate the MWIS of a graph
using minimum weighted vertex cover of the graph. Computational
experiments are designed and conducted to study the performance
of our proposed algorithm. Extensive simulation results show that
the proposed algorithm can yield better solutions than other existing
algorithms found in the literature for solving the MWIS.