Abstract: An experiment was conducted to determine the effect
of the rearing system on growth performance, carcass yield,
hematological parameters, and feather pecking damage of Thai
indigenous chickens. Three hundred and sixty 1-d-old chicks were
randomly assigned to 2 treatments: indoor treatment and outdoor
access treatment. In the indoor treatment, the chickens were housed
in floor pens (5 birds/m2). In the outdoor access treatment, the
chickens were housed in a similar indoor house; in addition, they also
had an outdoor grass paddock (1 bird/m2). All birds were provided
with same diet and were raised for 16 wk of age. The results showed
that growth performance and carcass yield were not different among
treatment (P>0.05). Outdoor access had no effect on hematological
parameters (P>0.05). However, the feather pecking damage of the
chickens in the outdoor access treatment was lower than that of the
chickens in the indoor treatment (P
Abstract: In this article, a high vacuum system for the evaporation of organic semiconductors is introduced and a mathematical model is given. Based on the exact input output linearization a deposition rate controller is designed and tested with different evaporation materials.
Abstract: This paper deals with a delayed single population model on time scales. With the assistance of coincidence degree theory, sufficient conditions for existence of periodic solutions are obtained. Furthermore, the better estimations for bounds of periodic solutions are established.
Abstract: The paper presents the results of research on trends in shaping of multifamily buildings in Poland on the example of Wrocław, after Polish accession to the European Union. The study is conducted within the research project: “Trends in creating of multifamily housing development since 2004, on the Wrocław study case" supported by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education and will be completed in November 2011. The research involves multifamily buildings completed in the last decade, in term of fundamental urbanization factors such as: building-s coefficient area, useable area, green area (biologically active surface), intensity of building development, amount of dwellings, dwelling area, amount of parking places, numbers of floors, etc. The analysis of these indicators was conducted based on the date obtained in the study of approximately one hundred new housing units, completed in Wroclaw. The analysis attempts to formulate the main trends in creating of housing policy in Poland during the last 10 years in reference to local urban policy.
Abstract: In this paper, a novel system
recognition of human faces without using face
different color photographs is proposed. It mainly in
face detection, normalization and recognition. Foot
method of combination of Haar-like face determined
segmentation and region-based histogram stretchi
(RHST) is proposed to achieve more accurate perf
using Haar. Apart from an effective angle norm
side-face (pose) normalization, which is almost a might be important and beneficial for the prepr
introduced. Then histogram-based and photom
normalization methods are investigated and ada
retinex (ASR) is selected for its satisfactory illumin
Finally, weighted multi-block local binary pattern
with 3 distance measures is applied for pair-mat
Experimental results show its advantageous perfo
with PCA and multi-block LBP, based on a principle.
Abstract: We analyze the effectivity of different pseudo noise (PN) and orthogonal sequences for encrypting speech signals in terms of perceptual intelligence. Speech signal can be viewed as sequence of correlated samples and each sample as sequence of bits. The residual intelligibility of the speech signal can be reduced by removing the correlation among the speech samples. PN sequences have random like properties that help in reducing the correlation among speech samples. The mean square aperiodic auto-correlation (MSAAC) and the mean square aperiodic cross-correlation (MSACC) measures are used to test the randomness of the PN sequences. Results of the investigation show the effectivity of large Kasami sequences for this purpose among many PN sequences.
Abstract: Current mode circuits like current conveyors are
getting significant attention in current analog ICs design due to their
higher band-width, greater linearity, larger dynamic range, simpler
circuitry, lower power consumption and less chip area. The second
generation current controlled conveyor (CCCII) has the advantage of
electronic adjustability over the CCII i.e. in CCCII; adjustment of the
X-terminal intrinsic resistance via a bias current is possible. The
presented approach is based on the CMOS implementation of second
generation positive (CCCII+), negative (CCCII-) and dual Output
Current Controlled Conveyor (DOCCCII) and its application as
Universal filter. All the circuits have been designed and simulated
using 65nm CMOS technology model parameters on Cadence
Virtuoso / Spectre using 1V supply voltage. Various simulations have
been carried out to verify the linearity between output and input
ports, range of operation frequency, etc. The outcomes show good
agreement between expected and experimental results.
Abstract: Genetic Algorithms (GAs) are direct searching
methods which require little information from design space. This
characteristic beside robustness of these algorithms makes them to be
very popular in recent decades. On the other hand, while this method
is employed, there is no guarantee to achieve optimum results. This
obliged designer to run such algorithms more than one time to
achieve more reliable results. There are many attempts to modify the
algorithms to make them more efficient. In this paper, by application
of fractal dimension (particularly, Box Counting Method), the
complexity of design space are established for determination of
mutation and crossover probabilities (Pm and Pc). This methodology
is followed by a numerical example for more clarification. It is
concluded that this modification will improve efficiency of GAs and
make them to bring about more reliable results especially for design
space with higher fractal dimensions.
Abstract: Plastics occupy wide place in the applications of
automotive, electronics and house goods. Especially reinforced
plastics become popular because of their high strength besides their
advantages of low weight and easy manufacturability. In this study,
mechanical and morphological properties of polypropylene (PP) and
high density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix composites reinforced with
surface modified nano titan dioxide (TiO2) particles were
investigated. Surface modification was made by coating the nano
powders with maleic anhydride grafted styrene ethylene butylene
styrene (SEBS-g-MA) and silane, respectively. After surface
modification, PP/TiO2 and HDPE/TiO2 composites were obtained by
using twin screw extruder at titan dioxide loading of 1 wt.%, 3 wt.%
and 5 wt.%. Effects of surface modification were determined by
thermal and morphological analysis. SEBS-g-MA provided bridging
effect between TiO2 particles and polymer matrix while silane was
effective as a dispersant. Depending on that, homogenous structures
without agglomeration were obtained. Mechanical tests were
performed on the injection moldings of the composites for obtaining
the impact strength, tensile strength, stress at break, elongation and
elastic modulus. Reinforced HDPE and PP moldings gave higher
tensile strength and elastic modulus due to the rigid structure of TiO2.
Slight increment was seen in stress at break. Elongation and impact
strength decreased due to the stiffness of the nano titan dioxide.
Abstract: Children and adolescents developing in the worlds of today are facing a getting array of new and old challenges. School counselling is improving rapidly in contemporary education systems around the world. It can be said that counselling system in Turkey was newly borning. In this study, “Family of the Blood" activity is improved with respect to compherensive guidance school program. The sample included 22 adolescents who were high school students. The activity was carried out in 4 sessions, each of which lasted 45 minutes. In the first session, students- personal-social needs were determined. In the second session, in order to warm up, the students were asked three questions consisting of the constructional aspect. In the third session, the counselor and the teacher shared the results of students- responses obtained in the previous session. In the fourth session, the tables formed by students were presented in the classroom. In order to evaluate the activity, three questions were asked of the teacher and counselor. According to the results, the lesson aims of curriculum and counselling aims of curriculum were attained. In the light of literature, the results were discussed and some suggestions were made. It is taken into consideration that the activitiy was beneficial in many respects, similar studies should be carried out in the near future.
Abstract: The steam cracking reactions are always accompanied with the formation of coke which deposits on the walls of the tubular reactors. The investigation has attempted to control catalytic coking by the applying aluminum, zinc and ceramic coating like aluminum-magnesium by thermal spray and pack cementation method. Rate of coke formation during steam cracking of naphtha has been investigated both for uncoated stainless steel (with different alloys) and metal coating constructed with thermal Spray and pack cementation method with metal powders of Aluminum, Aluminum-Magnesium, zinc, silicon, nickel and chromium. The results of the study show that passivating the surface of SS321 with a coating of Aluminum and Aluminum-Magnesium can significantly reduce the rate of coke deposition during naphtha pyrolysis. SEM and EDAX techniques (Philips XL Series) were used to examine the coke deposits formed by the metal-hydrocarbon reactions. Our objective was to separate the different stages by identifying the characteristic morphologies.
Abstract: This paper argues that increased uncertainty, in certain
situations, may actually encourage investment. Since earlier studies
mostly base their arguments on the assumption of geometric Brownian
motion, the study extends the assumption to alternative stochastic
processes, such as mixed diffusion-jump, mean-reverting process, and
jump amplitude process. A general approach of Monte Carlo
simulation is developed to derive optimal investment trigger for the
situation that the closed-form solution could not be readily obtained
under the assumption of alternative process. The main finding is that
the overall effect of uncertainty on investment is interpreted by the
probability of investing, and the relationship appears to be an invested
U-shaped curve between uncertainty and investment. The implication
is that uncertainty does not always discourage investment even under
several sources of uncertainty. Furthermore, high-risk projects are not
always dominated by low-risk projects because the high-risk projects
may have a positive realization effect on encouraging investment.
Abstract: Silver nanoparticles were prepared by chemical reduction method. Silver nitrate was taken as the metal precursor and hydrazine hydrate as a reducing agent. The formation of the silver nanoparticles was monitored using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed the formation of silver nanopart├¡cles by exhibing the typical surface plasmon absorption maxima at 418-420 nm from the UV–Vis spectrum. Comparison of theoretical (Mie light scattering theory) and experimental results showed that diameter of silver nanoparticles in colloidal solution is about 60 nm. We have used energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and, UV–Vis spectroscopy to characterize the nanoparticles obtained. The energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) of the nanoparticles dispersion confirmed the presence of elemental silver signal no peaks of other impurity were detected. The average size and morphology of silver nanoparticles were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM photographs indicate that the nanopowders consist of well dispersed agglomerates of grains with a narrow size distribution (40 and 60 nm), whereas the radius of the individual particles are between 10 and 20 nm. The synthesized nanoparticles have been structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission high-energy electron diffraction (HEED). The peaks in the XRD pattern are in good agreement with the standard values of the face-centered-cubic form of metallic silver (ICCD-JCPDS card no. 4-0787) and no peaks of other impurity crystalline phases were detected. Additionally, the antibacterial activity of the nanopart├¡culas dispersion was measured by Kirby-Bauer method. The nanoparticles of silver showed high antimicrobial and bactericidal activity against gram positive bacteria such as Escherichia Coli, Pseudimonas aureginosa and staphylococcus aureus which is a highly methicillin resistant strain.
Abstract: This paper introduces a high-gain observer based state of charge(SOC) estimator for lithium-Ion batteries. The proposed SOC estimator has a high-gain observer(HGO) structure. The HGO scheme enhances the transient response speed and diminishes the effect of uncertainties. Furthermore, it guarantees that the output feedback controller recovers the performance of the state feedback controller when the observer gain is sufficiently high. In order to show the effectiveness of the proposed method, the linear RC battery model in ADVISOR is used. The performance of the proposed method is compared with that of the conventional linear observer(CLO) and some simulation result is given.
Abstract: This study aims to examine the factors affecting
knowledge sharing behavior in knowledge-based electronic communities (e-communities) because quantity and quality of
knowledge shared among the members play a critical role in the community-s sustainability. Past research has suggested three
perspectives that may affect the quantity and quality of knowledge
shared: economics, social psychology, and social ecology. In this
study, we strongly believe that an economic perspective may be suitable to validate factors influencing newly registered members-
knowledge contribution at the beginning of relationship development.
Accordingly, this study proposes a model to validate the factors influencing members- knowledge sharing based on Transaction Cost
Theory. By doing so, we may empirically test our hypotheses in various types of e-communities to determine the generalizability of our research models.
Abstract: Although water only takes a little percentage in the total mass of soil, it indeed plays an important role to the strength of structure. Moisture transfer can be carried out by many different mechanisms which may involve heat and mass transfer, thermodynamic phase change, and the interplay of various forces such as viscous, buoyancy, and capillary forces. The continuum models are not well suited for describing those phenomena in which the connectivity of the pore space or the fracture network, or that of a fluid phase, plays a major role. However, Lattice Boltzmann methods (LBMs) are especially well suited to simulate flows around complex geometries. Lattice Boltzmann methods were initially invented for solving fluid flows. Recently, fluid with multicomponent and phase change is also included in the equations. By comparing the numerical result with experimental result, the Lattice Boltzmann methods with phase change will be optimized.
Abstract: The aim of the work presented here was to either use
existing forest dynamic simulation models or calibrate a new one
both within the SYMFOR framework with the purpose of examining
changes in stand level basal area and functional composition in
response to selective logging considering trees > 10 cm d.b.h for two
areas of undisturbed Amazonian non flooded tropical forest in Brazil
and one in Peru. Model biological realism was evaluated for forest in
the undisturbed and selectively logged state and it was concluded that
forest dynamics were realistically represented. Results of the logging
simulation experiments showed that in relation to undisturbed forest
simulation subject to no form of harvesting intervention there was a
significant amount of change over a 90 year simulation period that
was positively proportional to the intensity of logging. Areas which
had in the dynamic equilibrium of undisturbed forest a greater
proportion of a specific ecological guild of trees known as the light
hardwoods (LHW’s) seemed to respond more favorably in terms of
less deviation but only within a specific range of baseline forest
composition beyond which compositional diversity became more
important. These finds are in line partially with practical management
experience and partiality basic systematics theory respectively.
Abstract: Software maintenance, which involves making enhancements, modifications and corrections to existing software systems, consumes more than half of developer time. Specification comprehensibility plays an important role in software maintenance as it permits the understanding of the system properties more easily and quickly. The use of formal notation such as B increases a specification-s precision and consistency. However, the notation is regarded as being difficult to comprehend. Semi-formal notation such as the Unified Modelling Language (UML) is perceived as more accessible but it lacks formality. Perhaps by combining both notations could produce a specification that is not only accurate and consistent but also accessible to users. This paper presents an experiment conducted on a model that integrates the use of both UML and B notations, namely UML-B, versus a B model alone. The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the comprehensibility of a UML-B model compared to a traditional B model. The measurement used in the experiment focused on the efficiency in performing the comprehension tasks. The experiment employed a cross-over design and was conducted on forty-one subjects, including undergraduate and masters students. The results show that the notation used in the UML-B model is more comprehensible than the B model.
Abstract: Full - Scale Accelerated Loading System, one part of
“the Eleventh - Five - Year National Grand Technology Infrastructure
Program" is a facility to evaluate the performance and service life of
different kinds of pavements subjected to traffic loading under full -
controlled environment. While simulating the environments of frigid
zone and permafrost zone, the accurate control of air temperature, road
temperature and roadbed temperature are the key points and also
aporias for the designment. In this paper, numerical simulations are
used to determine the design parameters of the frozen soil simulation
system. At first, a brief introduction of the Full - Scale Accelerate
Loading System was given. Then, the temperature control method of
frozen soil simulation system was proposed. Finally, by using finite
element simulations, the optimal design of frozen soil simulation
system was obtained. This proposed design, which was obtained by
finite element simulations, provided significant referents to the
ultimate design of the environment simulation system.
Abstract: Data hiding into text documents itself involves pretty
complexities due to the nature of text documents. A robust text
watermarking scheme targeting an object based environment is
presented in this research. The heart of the proposed solution
describes the concept of watermarking an object based text document
where each and every text string is entertained as a separate object
having its own set of properties. Taking advantage of the z-ordering
of objects watermark is applied with the z-axis letting zero fidelity
disturbances to the text. Watermark sequence of bits generated
against user key is hashed with selected properties of given
document, to determine the bit sequence to embed. Bits are
embedded along z-axis and the document has no fidelity issues when
printed, scanned or photocopied.