Abstract: Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas
(GHG) after carbon dioxide. Amount of methane emission from
energy sector is increasing day by day with various activities. In
present work, various sources of methane emission from upstream,
middle stream and downstream of oil & gas sectors are identified and
categorised as per IPCC-2006 guidelines. Data were collected from
various oil & gas sector like (i) exploration & production of oil & gas
(ii) supply through pipelines (iii) refinery throughput & production
(iv) storage & transportation (v) usage. Methane emission factors for
various categories were determined applying Tier-II and Tier-I
approach using the collected data. Total methane emission from
Indian Oil & Gas sectors was thus estimated for the year 1990 to
2007.
Abstract: This study used positivist quantitative approach to examine the mathematical concepts acquisition of- KS4 (14-16) Special Education Needs (SENs) students within the school sector education in England. The research is based on a pilot study and the design is completely holistic in its approach with mixing methodologies. The study combines the qualitative and quantitative methods of approach in gathering formative data for the design process. Although, the approach could best be described as a mix method, fundamentally with a strong positivist paradigm, hence my earlier understanding of the differentiation of the students, student – teacher body and the various elements of indicators that is being measured which will require an attenuated description of individual research subjects. The design process involves four phases with five key stages which are; literature review and document analysis, the survey, interview, and observation; then finally the analysis of data set. The research identified the need for triangulation with Reid-s phases of data management providing scaffold for the study. The study clearly identified the ideological and philosophical aspects of educational research design for the study of mathematics by the special education needs (SENs) students in England using the virtual learning environment (VLE) platform.
Abstract: The paper deals with the comparison study of
harmonic detection methods for a shunt active power filter. The
%THD and the power factor value at the PCC point after
compensation are considered for the comparison. There are three
harmonic detection methods used in the paper that are synchronous
reference frame method, synchronous detection method, and DQ axis
with Fourier method. In addition, the ideal current source is used to
represent the active power filter by assuming an infinitely fast
controller action of the active power filter. The simulation results
show that the DQ axis with Fourier method provides the minimum
%THD after compensation compared with other methods. However,
the power factor value at the PCC point after compensation is slightly
lower than that of synchronous detection method.
Abstract: Contemporary science and technologies largely widen
the gap between the spiritual and rational of the society. Industrial
and technological breakthroughs might radically affect most
processes in the society, thus losing the cultural heritage. The
thinkers recognized the dangers of the decadence in the first place. In
the present article the ways of preserving cultural heritage have been
investigated. Memory has always been a necessary condition for selfidentification,
- continuity is based on this. The authors have
supported the hypothesis that continuity and ethnic memory are the
very mechanisms that preserve cultural heritage. Such problemformulating
will facilitate another, new look at the material, spiritual
and arts spheres of the cultural heritage of numerous ethnic groups.
The fundamental works by major European and Kazakh scientists
have been taken as a basis for the research done.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a method of alter duration in
frequency domain that control prosody in real time after pitch
alteration. If there has a method to alteration duration freely among
prosody information, that may used in several fields such as speech
impediment person's pronunciation proof reading or language study.
The pitch alteration method used control prosody altered by PSOLA
synthesis method which is in time domain processing method.
However, the duration of pitch alteration speech is changed by the
frequency domain. In this paper, we altered the duration with the
method of duration alteration by Fast Fourier Transformation in
frequency domain. Consequently, the intelligibility of the pitch and
duration are controlled has a slight decrease than the case when only
pitch is changed, but the proposed algorithm obtained the higher MOS
score about naturalness.
Abstract: Iris localization is a very important approach in
biometric identification systems. Identification process usually is
implemented in three levels: iris localization, feature extraction, and
pattern matching finally. Accuracy of iris localization as the first step
affects all other levels and this shows the importance of iris
localization in an iris based biometric system. In this paper, we
consider Daugman iris localization method as a standard method,
propose a new method in this field and then analyze and compare the
results of them on a standard set of iris images. The proposed method
is based on the detection of circular edge of iris, and improved by
fuzzy circles and surface energy difference contexts. Implementation
of this method is so easy and compared to the other methods, have a
rather high accuracy and speed. Test results show that the accuracy of
our proposed method is about Daugman method and computation
speed of it is 10 times faster.
Abstract: Autoregressive Moving average (ARMA) is a parametric based method of signal representation. It is suitable for problems in which the signal can be modeled by explicit known source functions with a few adjustable parameters. Various methods have been suggested for the coefficients determination among which are Prony, Pade, Autocorrelation, Covariance and most recently, the use of Artificial Neural Network technique. In this paper, the method of using Artificial Neural network (ANN) technique is compared with some known and widely acceptable techniques. The comparisons is entirely based on the value of the coefficients obtained. Result obtained shows that the use of ANN also gives accurate in computing the coefficients of an ARMA system.
Abstract: In this study, an experimental investigation was carried
out to fix CO2 into the electronic arc furnace (EAF) reducing slag from
stainless steelmaking process under wet grinding. The slag was ground
by the vibrating ball mill with the CO2 and pure water. The reaction
behavior was monitored with constant pressure method, and the
change of CO2 volume in the experimental system with grinding time
was measured. It was found that the CO2 absorption occurred as soon
as the grinding started. The CO2 absorption under wet grinding was
significantly larger than that under dry grinding. Generally, the
amount of CO2 absorption increased as the amount of water, the
amount of slag, the diameter of alumina ball and the initial pressure of
CO2 increased. However, the initial absorption rate was scarcely
influenced by the experimental conditions except for the initial CO2
pressure. According to this research, the CO2 reacted with the CaO
inside the slag to form CaCO3.
Abstract: A direct downconversion receiver implemented in 0.13 μm 1P8M process is presented. The circuit is formed by a single-end LNA, an active balun for conversion into balanced mode, a quadrature double-balanced passive switch mixer and a quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator. The receiver operates in the 2.4 GHz ISM band and complies with IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee) specifications. The circuit exhibits a very low noise figure of only 2.27 dB and dissipates only 14.6 mW with a 1.2 V supply voltage and is hence suitable for low-power applications.
Abstract: An efficient and green protocol for the synthesis of α-
aminonitriles derivatives by one-pot reaction of different aldehydes
with amines and trimethylsilyl cyanides has been developed using
natural alumina, alumina sulfuric acid (ASA), nano-γ-alumina, nanoalumina
sulfuric acid (nano-ASA) under microwave irradiation and
solvent-free conditions. The advantages of methods are short reaction
times, high yields, milder conditions and easy work up. The catalysts
can be recovered for the subsequent reactions and reused without any
appreciable loss of efficiency.
Abstract: This study aims at investigating the empirical
relationships between risk preference, internet preference, and
internet knowledge which are known as user characteristics, in
addition to perceived risk of the customers on the internet purchase
intention. In order to test the relationships between the variables of
model 174, a questionnaire was collected from the students with
previous online experience. For the purpose of data analysis,
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation model
(SEM) was used.
Test results show that the perceived risk affects the internet
purchase intention, and increase or decrease of perceived risk
influences the purchase intention when the customer does the internet
shopping. Other factors such as internet preference, knowledge of the
internet, and risk preference affect the internet purchase intention.
Abstract: Psoriasis is a widespread skin disease affecting up to 2% population with plaque psoriasis accounting to about 80%. It can be identified as a red lesion and for the higher severity the lesion is usually covered with rough scale. Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) scoring is the gold standard method for measuring psoriasis severity. Scaliness is one of PASI parameter that needs to be quantified in PASI scoring. Surface roughness of lesion can be used as a scaliness feature, since existing scale on lesion surface makes the lesion rougher. The dermatologist usually assesses the severity through their tactile sense, therefore direct contact between doctor and patient is required. The problem is the doctor may not assess the lesion objectively. In this paper, a digital image analysis technique is developed to objectively determine the scaliness of the psoriasis lesion and provide the PASI scaliness score. Psoriasis lesion is modelled by a rough surface. The rough surface is created by superimposing a smooth average (curve) surface with a triangular waveform. For roughness determination, a polynomial surface fitting is used to estimate average surface followed by a subtraction between rough and average surface to give elevation surface (surface deviations). Roughness index is calculated by using average roughness equation to the height map matrix. The roughness algorithm has been tested to 444 lesion models. From roughness validation result, only 6 models can not be accepted (percentage error is greater than 10%). These errors occur due the scanned image quality. Roughness algorithm is validated for roughness measurement on abrasive papers at flat surface. The Pearson-s correlation coefficient of grade value (G) of abrasive paper and Ra is -0.9488, its shows there is a strong relation between G and Ra. The algorithm needs to be improved by surface filtering, especially to overcome a problem with noisy data.
Abstract: Drought is one of the most important natural disasters which is probable to occur in all regions with completely different climates and in addition to causing death. It results in many economic losses and social consequences. For this reason. Studying the effects and losses caused by drought which include limitation or shortage of agricultural and drinking water resources. Decreased rainfall and increased evapotranspiration. Limited plant growth and decreased agricultural products. Especially those of dry-farming. Lower levels of surface and ground waters and increased immigrations. Etc. in the country is statistical period (1988-2007) for six stations in Roudbar town were used for statistical analysis and calculating humid and dry years. The dependable rainfall index (DRI) was the main method used in this research. Results showed that during the said statistical period and also during the years 1996-1998 and 2007. more than half of the stations had faced drought. With consideration of the conducted studies. Drawing diagrams and comparing the available data with those of dry and humid years it was found that drought affected agricultural products (e.g.olive) in a way that during the year 1996 1996 drought. Olive groves of Roudbar suffered the greatest damages. Whereupon about 70% of the crops were lost.
Abstract: The proper selection of the AC-side passive filter
interconnecting the voltage source converter to the power supply is
essential to obtain satisfactory performances of an active power filter
system. The use of the LCL-type filter has the advantage of
eliminating the high frequency switching harmonics in the current
injected into the power supply. This paper is mainly focused on
analyzing the influence of the interface filter parameters on the active
filtering performances. Some design aspects are pointed out. Thus,
the design of the AC interface filter starts from transfer functions by
imposing the filter performance which refers to the significant current
attenuation of the switching harmonics without affecting the
harmonics to be compensated. A Matlab/Simulink model of the entire
active filtering system including a concrete nonlinear load has been
developed to examine the system performances. It is shown that a
gamma LC filter could accomplish the attenuation requirement of the
current provided by converter. Moreover, the existence of an optimal
value of the grid-side inductance which minimizes the total harmonic
distortion factor of the power supply current is pointed out.
Nevertheless, a small converter-side inductance and a damping
resistance in series with the filter capacitance are absolutely needed
in order to keep the ripple and oscillations of the current at the
converter side within acceptable limits. The effect of change in the
LCL-filter parameters is evaluated. It is concluded that good active
filtering performances can be achieved with small values of the
capacitance and converter-side inductance.
Abstract: Many studies have been conducted for derivation of
attenuation relationships worldwide, however few relationships have
been developed to use for the seismic region of Iranian plateau and
only few of these studies have been conducted for derivation of
attenuation relationships for parameters such as uniform duration.
Uniform duration is the total time during which the acceleration is
larger than a given threshold value (default is 5% of PGA). In this
study, the database was same as that used previously by Ghodrati
Amiri et al. (2007) with same correction methods for earthquake
records in Iran. However in this study, records from earthquakes with
MS< 4.0 were excluded from this database, each record has
individually filtered afterward, and therefore the dataset has been
expanded. These new set of attenuation relationships for Iran are
derived based on tectonic conditions with soil classification into rock
and soil. Earthquake parameters were chosen to be
hypocentral distance and magnitude in order to make it easier to use
the relationships for seismic hazard analysis. Tehran is the capital
city of Iran wit ha large number of important structures. In this study,
a probabilistic approach has been utilized for seismic hazard
assessment of this city. The resulting uniform duration against return
period diagrams are suggested to be used in any projects in the area.
Abstract: Observations and long-term trends indicate that climate
change impacts would be significant and affects Taiwan directly and
severely. Taiwan engages not only in mitigation, but also in adaptation.
However, there are cognitive gaps on adaptation between government
and populace. Besides, a vision of zero-carbon and renewable energy
100% will be adopted in future. Therefore, the objectives of this
article are to 1) hold a National Forum for knowing differences
between the strategies of zero-carbon and renewable energy 100% and
cognitions of general populace, and 2) plan a clear roadmap for the
vision, strategy, and measures. In this forum, we set 5 group topics, 5
presumed themes, and issues mentioned review for concluding the
critical issues. Finally, there are 4 strategies and 14 critical issues
which correlate with the vision and strategy of government and the
cognition of the general populace.
Abstract: Wireless LAN (WLAN) access in public hotspot areas
becomes popular in the recent years. Since more and more multimedia
information is available in the Internet, there is an increasing demand
for accessing multimedia information through WLAN hotspots.
Currently, the bandwidth offered by an IEEE 802.11 WLAN cannot
afford many simultaneous real-time video accesses. A possible way to
increase the offered bandwidth in a hotspot is the use of multiple access
points (APs). However, a mobile station is usually connected to the
WLAN AP with the strongest received signal strength indicator (RSSI).
The total consumed bandwidth cannot be fairly allocated among those
APs. In this paper, we will propose an effective load-balancing scheme
via the support of the IAPP and SNMP in APs. The proposed scheme is
an open solution and doesn-t need any changes in both wireless stations
and APs. This makes load balancing possible in WLAN hotspots,
where a variety of heterogeneous mobile devices are employed.
Abstract: The flow field in a centrifugal fan is highly complex
with flow reversal taking place on the suction side of impeller and
diffuser vanes. Generally performance of the centrifugal fan could be
enhanced by judiciously introducing splitter vanes so as to improve
the diffusion process. An extensive numerical whole field analysis on
the effect of splitter vanes placed in discrete regions of suspected
separation points is possible using CFD. This paper examines the
effect of splitter vanes corresponding to various geometrical
locations on the impeller and diffuser. The analysis shows that the
splitter vanes located near the diffuser exit improves the static
pressure recovery across the diffusing domain to a larger extent. Also
it is found that splitter vanes located at the impeller trailing edge and
diffuser leading edge at the mid-span of the circumferential distance
between the blades show a marginal improvement in the static
pressure recovery across the fan. However, splitters provided near to
the suction side of the impeller trailing edge (25% of the
circumferential gap between the impeller blades towards the suction
side), adversely affect the static pressure recovery of the fan.
Abstract: In this work Membrane Distillation is applied to
concentrate orange Juice. Clarified orange juice (11o Brix) obtained
from fresh fruits and a sugar solution was subjected to membrane
distillation. The experiments were performed on a flat sheet module
using orange juice and sucrose solution as feeds. The concentration
of a sucrose solution, used as a model fruit juice and also orange
juice, was carried out in a direct contact membrane distillation using
hydrophobic PTFE membrane of pore size 0.2 μm and porosity 70%.
Surface modification of PTFE membrane has been carried out by
treating membrane with alcohol and water solution to make it
hydrophilic and then hydrophobicity was regained by drying. The
influences of the feed temperature, feed concentration, flow rate,
operating time on the permeate flux were studied for treated and non
treated membrane. In this work treated and non treated membrane
were compared in terms of water flux, Within the tested range, MD
with surface modified membrane the water flux has been
significantly improved by treating the membrane surface.
Abstract: The dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic
saccharification of lignocellulosic substrate, cogon grass (Imperata
cylindrical, L.) was optimized prior ethanol fermentation using
simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) method. The
optimum pretreatment conditions, temperature, sulfuric acid
concentration, and reaction time were evaluated by determining the
maximum sugar yield at constant enzyme loading. Cogon grass, at
10% w/v substrate loading, has optimum pretreatment conditions of
126°C, 0.6% v/v H2SO4, and 20min reaction time. These
pretreatment conditions were used to optimize enzymatic
saccharification using different enzyme combinations. The maximum
saccharification yield of 36.68mg/mL (71.29% reducing sugar) was
obtained using 25FPU/g-cellulose cellulase complex combined with
1.1% w/w of cellobiase, ß-glucosidase, and 0.225% w/w of
hemicellulase complex, after 96 hours of saccharification. Using the
optimum pretreatment and saccharification conditions, SSF of treated
substrates was done at 37°C for 120 hours using industrial yeast
strain HBY3, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The ethanol yield for cogon
grass at 4% w/w loading was 9.11g/L with 5.74mg/mL total residual
sugar.