Abstract: Microwave energy is a superior alternative to several other thermal treatments. Extraction techniques are widely employed for the isolation of bioactive compounds and vegetable oils from oil seeds. Among the different and new available techniques, microwave pretreatment of seeds is a simple and desirable method for production of high quality vegetable oils. Microwave pretreatment for oil extraction has many advantages as follow: improving oil extraction yield and quality, direct extraction capability, lower energy consumption, faster processing time and reduced solvent levels compared with conventional methods. It allows also for better retention and availability of desirable nutraceuticals, such as phytosterols and tocopherols, canolol and phenolic compounds in the extracted oil such as rapeseed oil. This can be a new step to produce nutritional vegetable oils with improved shelf life because of high antioxidant content.
Abstract: Support Vector Machine (SVM) is a recent class of statistical classification and regression techniques playing an increasing role in applications to detection problems in various engineering problems, notably in statistical signal processing, pattern recognition, image analysis, and communication systems. In this paper, SVM is applied to an infrared (IR) binary communication system with different types of channel models including Ricean multipath fading and partially developed scattering channel with additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) at the receiver. The structure and performance of SVM in terms of the bit error rate (BER) metric is derived and simulated for these channel stochastic models and the computational complexity of the implementation, in terms of average computational time per bit, is also presented. The performance of SVM is then compared to classical binary signal maximum likelihood detection using a matched filter driven by On-Off keying (OOK) modulation. We found that the performance of SVM is superior to that of the traditional optimal detection schemes used in statistical communication, especially for very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) ranges. For large SNR, the performance of the SVM is similar to that of the classical detectors. The implication of these results is that SVM can prove very beneficial to IR communication systems that notoriously suffer from low SNR at the cost of increased computational complexity.
Abstract: Residues are produced in all stages of human activities
in terms of composition and volume which vary according to
consumption practices and to production methods. Forms of
significant harm to the environment are associated to volume of
generated material as well as to improper disposal of solid wastes,
whose negative effects are noticed more frequently in the long term.
The solution to this problem constitutes a challenge to the
government, industry and society, because they involve economic,
social, environmental and, especially, awareness of the population in
general. The main concerns are focused on the impact it can have on
human health and on the environment (soil, water, air and sights).
The hazardous waste produced mainly by industry, are particularly
worrisome because, when improperly managed, they become a
serious threat to the environment. In view of this issue, this study
aimed to evaluate the management system of solid waste of a coprocessing
industrial waste company, to propose improvements to the
rejects generation management in a specific step of the Blending
production process.
Abstract: In the context of sensor networks, where every few
dB saving counts, the novel node cooperation schemes are reviewed
where MIMO techniques play a leading role. These methods could be
treated as joint approach for designing physical layer of their
communication scenarios. Then we analyzed the BER performance
of transmission diversity schemes under a general fading channel
model and proposed a power allocation strategy to the transmitting
sensor nodes. This approach is then compared to an equal-power
assignment method and its performance enhancement is verified by
the simulation. Another key point of the contribution lies in the
combination of optimal power allocation and sensor nodes-
cooperation in a transmission diversity regime (MISO). Numerical
results are given through figures to demonstrate the optimality and
efficiency of proposed combined approach.
Abstract: SoftBoost is a recently presented boosting algorithm,
which trades off the size of achieved classification margin and
generalization performance. This paper presents a performance
evaluation of SoftBoost algorithm on the generic object recognition
problem. An appearance-based generic object recognition
model is used. The evaluation experiments are performed using
a difficult object recognition benchmark. An assessment with respect
to different degrees of label noise as well as a comparison to
the well known AdaBoost algorithm is performed. The obtained
results reveal that SoftBoost is encouraged to be used in cases
when the training data is known to have a high degree of noise.
Otherwise, using Adaboost can achieve better performance.
Abstract: Speed estimation is one of the important and practical tasks in machine vision, Robotic and Mechatronic. the availability of high quality and inexpensive video cameras, and the increasing need for automated video analysis has generated a great deal of interest in machine vision algorithms. Numerous approaches for speed estimation have been proposed. So classification and survey of the proposed methods can be very useful. The goal of this paper is first to review and verify these methods. Then we will propose a novel algorithm to estimate the speed of moving object by using fuzzy concept. There is a direct relation between motion blur parameters and object speed. In our new approach we will use Radon transform to find direction of blurred image, and Fuzzy sets to estimate motion blur length. The most benefit of this algorithm is its robustness and precision in noisy images. Our method was tested on many images with different range of SNR and is satisfiable.
Abstract: Nowadays, people are going more and more mobile, both in terms of devices and associated applications. Moreover, services that these devices are offering are getting wider and much more complex. Even though actual handheld devices have considerable computing power, their contexts of utilization are different. These contexts are affected by the availability of connection, high latency of wireless networks, battery life, size of the screen, on-screen or hard keyboard, etc. Consequently, development of mobile applications and their associated mobile Web services, if any, should follow a concise methodology so they will provide a high Quality of Service. The aim of this paper is to highlight and discuss main issues to consider when developing mobile applications and mobile Web services and then propose a framework that leads developers through different steps and modules toward development of efficient and secure mobile applications. First, different challenges in developing such applications are elicited and deeply discussed. Second, a development framework is presented with different modules addressing each of these challenges. Third, the paper presents an example of a mobile application, Eivom Cinema Guide, which benefits from following our development framework.
Abstract: The need to evaluate and understand the natural
drainage pattern in a flood prone, and fast developing environment is
of paramount importance. This information will go a long way to
help the town planners to determine the drainage pattern, road
networks and areas where prominent structures are to be located. This
research work was carried out with the aim of studying the Bayelsa
landscape topography using digitized topographic information, and to
model the natural drainage flow pattern that will aid the
understanding and constructions of workable drainages. To achieve
this, digitize information of elevation and coordinate points were
extracted from a global imagery map. The extracted information was
modeled into 3D surfaces. The result revealed that the average
elevation for Bayelsa State is 12 m above sea level. The highest
elevation is 28 m, and the lowest elevation 0 m, along the coastline.
In Yenagoa the capital city of Bayelsa were a detail survey was
carried out showed that average elevation is 15 m, the highest
elevation is 25 m and lowest is 3 m above the mean sea level. The
regional elevation in Bayelsa, showed a gradation decrease from the
North Eastern zone to the South Western Zone. Yenagoa showed an
observed elevation lineament, were low depression is flanked by high
elevation that runs from the North East to the South west. Hence,
future drainages in Yenagoa should be directed from the high
elevation, from South East toward the North West and from the
North West toward South East, to the point of convergence which is
at the center that flows from South East toward the North West.
Bayelsa when considered on a regional Scale, the flow pattern is from
the North East to the South West, and also North South. It is
recommended that in the event of any large drainage construction at
municipal scale, it should be directed from North East to the South
West or from North to South. Secondly, detail survey should be
carried out to ascertain the local topography and the drainage pattern
before the design and construction of any drainage system in any part
of Bayelsa.
Abstract: Plastic waste is a big issue in Thailand, but the amount of recycled plastic in Thailand is still low due to the high investment and operating cost. Hence, the rest of plastic waste are burnt to destroy or sent to the landfills. In order to be financial viable, an effective reverse logistics infrastructure is required to support the product recovery activities. However, there is a conflict between reducing the cost and raising environmental protection level. The purpose of this study is to build a goal programming (GP) so that it can be used to help analyze the proper planning of the Thailand-s plastic recycling system that involves multiple objectives. This study considers three objectives; reducing total cost, increasing the amount of plastic recovery, and raising the desired plastic materials in recycling process. The results from two priority structures show that it is necessary to raise the total cost budget in order to achieve targets on amount of recycled plastic and desired plastic materials.
Abstract: In this paper, the decomposition-aggregation method
is used to carry out connective stability criteria for general linear
composite system via aggregation. The large scale system is
decomposed into a number of subsystems. By associating directed
graphs with dynamic systems in an essential way, we define the
relation between system structure and stability in the sense of
Lyapunov. The stability criteria is then associated with the stability
and system matrices of subsystems as well as those interconnected
terms among subsystems using the concepts of vector differential
inequalities and vector Lyapunov functions. Then, we show that the
stability of each subsystem and stability of the aggregate model
imply connective stability of the overall system. An example is
reported, showing the efficiency of the proposed technique.
Abstract: Air emissions from waste treatment plants often
consist of a combination of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
and odors. Hydrogen sulfide is one of the major odorous gases
present in the waste emissions coming from municipal wastewater
treatment facilities. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is odorous, highly toxic
and flammable. Exposure to lower concentrations can result in eye
irritation, a sore throat and cough, shortness of breath, and fluid in
the lungs. Biofiltration has become a widely accepted technology for
treating air streams containing H2S. When compared with other nonbiological
technologies, biofilter is more cost-effective for treating large
volumes of air containing low concentrations of biodegradable compounds.
Optimization of biofilter media is essential for many reasons such as:
providing a higher surface area for biofilm growth, low pressure drop,
physical stability, and good moisture retention. In this work, a novel
biofilter media is developed and tested at a pumping station of a
municipality located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The
media is found to be very effective (>99%) in removing H2S
concentrations that are expected in pumping stations under steady
state and shock loading conditions.
Abstract: This paper introduces an approach to construct a set of criteria for evaluating alternative options. Content analysis was used to collet criterion elements. Then the elements were classified and organized yielding to hierarchic structure. The reliability of the constructed criteria was evaluated in an experiment. Finally the criteria were used to evaluate alternative options indecision-making.
Abstract: The habitat where the present study has been carried
out is productive in relation to nutrient quality and they may perform
several useful functions, but are also threatened for their existence.
Hence, the proposed work, will add much new information about
biodiversity of macrophytes in drains and their embankment. All the
species were identified with their different stages of growth which
encountered on the three selected sites (I, II and III). The number of
species occurring at each site is grouped seasonally, i.e. summer,
rainy and winter season and the species were further recorded for the
study of phytosociology. Phytosociological characters such as
frequency, density and abundance were influenced by the climatic,
anthropogenic and biotic stresses prevailing at the three study sites.
All the species present at the study sites have shown maximum
values of frequency, density and abundance in rainy season in
comparison to that of summer and winter seasons.
Abstract: In this paper we analyze the core issues affecting
software architecture in enterprise projects where a large number of
people at different backgrounds are involved and complex business,
management and technical problems exist. We first give general
features of typical enterprise projects and then present foundations of
software architectures. The detailed analysis of core issues affecting
software architecture in software development phases is given. We
focus on three main areas in each development phase: people,
process, and management related issues, structural (product) issues,
and technology related issues. After we point out core issues and
problems in these main areas, we give recommendations for
designing good architecture. We observed these core issues and the
importance of following the best software development practices and
also developed some novel practices in many big enterprise
commercial and military projects in about 10 years of experience.
Abstract: This study analyzed environmental health risks and
people-s perceptions of risks related to waste management in poor
settlements of Abidjan, to develop integrated solutions for health and
well-being improvement. The trans-disciplinary approach used relied
on remote sensing, a geographic information system (GIS),
qualitative and quantitative methods such as interviews and a
household survey (n=1800). Mitigating strategies were then
developed using an integrated participatory stakeholder workshop.
Waste management deficiencies resulting in lack of drainage and
uncontrolled solid and liquid waste disposal in the poor settlements
lead to severe environmental health risks. Health problems were
caused by direct handling of waste, as well as through broader
exposure of the population. People in poor settlements had little
awareness of health risks related to waste management in their
community and a general lack of knowledge pertaining to sanitation
systems. This unfortunate combination was the key determinant
affecting the health and vulnerability. For example, an increased
prevalence of malaria (47.1%) and diarrhoea (19.2%) was observed
in the rainy season when compared to the dry season (32.3% and
14.3%). Concerted and adapted solutions that suited all the
stakeholders concerned were developed in a participatory workshop
to allow for improvement of health and well-being.
Abstract: Breast motion and discomfort has been studied in
Australia, Britain and the United States, while little information was
known about the breast motion conditions of Chinese women. The aim
of this paper was to study the breast motion and discomfort of Chinese
women in no bra condition, daily bra condition and sports bra
condition. Breast motion and discomfort of 8 participants was assessed
during walking at 5km h-1 and running at 10km h-1. Statistical methods
were used to analyze the difference and relationship between breast
displacement, perceived breast motion and breast discomfort. Three
indexes were developed to evaluate the functions of bras on reducing
objective breast motion, subjective breast motion and breast
discomfort. The result showed that breast motion of Chinese women
was smaller than previous research, which may be resulted from
smaller breast size in Asian women.
Abstract: In current common research reports, salient regions
are usually defined as those regions that could present the main
meaningful or semantic contents. However, there are no uniform
saliency metrics that could describe the saliency of implicit image
regions. Most common metrics take those regions as salient regions,
which have many abrupt changes or some unpredictable
characteristics. But, this metric will fail to detect those salient useful
regions with flat textures. In fact, according to human semantic
perceptions, color and texture distinctions are the main characteristics
that could distinct different regions. Thus, we present a novel saliency
metric coupled with color and texture features, and its corresponding
salient region extraction methods. In order to evaluate the
corresponding saliency values of implicit regions in one image, three
main colors and multi-resolution Gabor features are respectively used
for color and texture features. For each region, its saliency value is
actually to evaluate the total sum of its Euclidean distances for other
regions in the color and texture spaces. A special synthesized image
and several practical images with main salient regions are used to
evaluate the performance of the proposed saliency metric and other
several common metrics, i.e., scale saliency, wavelet transform
modulus maxima point density, and important index based metrics.
Experiment results verified that the proposed saliency metric could
achieve more robust performance than those common saliency
metrics.
Abstract: Complexity, as a theoretical background has made it
easier to understand and explain the features and dynamic behavior
of various complex systems. As the common theoretical background
has confirmed, borrowing the terminology for design from the
natural sciences has helped to control and understand urban
complexity. Phenomena like self-organization, evolution and
adaptation are appropriate to describe the formerly inaccessible
characteristics of the complex environment in unpredictable bottomup
systems. Increased computing capacity has been a key element in
capturing the chaotic nature of these systems.
A paradigm shift in urban planning and architectural design has
forced us to give up the illusion of total control in urban
environment, and consequently to seek for novel methods for
steering the development. New methods using dynamic modeling
have offered a real option for more thorough understanding of
complexity and urban processes. At best new approaches may renew
the design processes so that we get a better grip on the complex
world via more flexible processes, support urban environmental
diversity and respond to our needs beyond basic welfare by liberating
ourselves from the standardized minimalism.
A complex system and its features are as such beyond human
ethics. Self-organization or evolution is either good or bad. Their
mechanisms are by nature devoid of reason. They are common in
urban dynamics in both natural processes and gas. They are features
of a complex system, and they cannot be prevented. Yet their
dynamics can be studied and supported.
The paradigm of complexity and new design approaches has been
criticized for a lack of humanity and morality, but the ethical
implications of scientific or computational design processes have not
been much discussed. It is important to distinguish the (unexciting)
ethics of the theory and tools from the ethics of computer aided
processes based on ethical decisions. Urban planning and architecture
cannot be based on the survival of the fittest; however, the natural
dynamics of the system cannot be impeded on grounds of being
“non-human".
In this paper the ethical challenges of using the dynamic models
are contemplated in light of a few examples of new architecture and
dynamic urban models and literature. It is suggested that ethical
challenges in computational design processes could be reframed
under the concepts of responsibility and transparency.
Abstract: Applicability of tuning the controller gains for Stewart manipulator using genetic algorithm as an efficient search technique is investigated. Kinematics and dynamics models were introduced in detail for simulation purpose. A PD task space control scheme was used. For demonstrating technique feasibility, a Stewart manipulator numerical-model was built. A genetic algorithm was then employed to search for optimal controller gains. The controller was tested onsite a generic circular mission. The simulation results show that the technique is highly convergent with superior performance operating for different payloads.
Abstract: In this study we applied thermal lens (TL) technique
to study the effect of size on thermal diffusivity of cadmium sulphide
(CdS) nanofluid prepared by using γ-radiation method containing
particles with different sizes. In TL experimental set up a diode laser
of wavelength 514 nm and intensity stabilized He-Ne laser were used
as the excitation source and the probe beam respectively,
respectively. The experimental results showed that the thermal
diffusivity value of CdS nanofluid increases when the of particle size
increased.