Abstract: In order to improve the effect of isolation structure, the
principles and behaviours of the base-isolation system are studied, and
the types and characteristics of the base-isolation are also discussed.
Compared to the traditional aseismatic structures, the base isolation
structures decrease the seismic response obviously: the total structural
aseismatic value decreases to 1/4-1/32 and the seismic shear stress in
the upper structure decreases to 1/14-1/23. In the huge seism, the
structure can have an obvious aseismatic effect.
Abstract: Socioeconomic stability and development of a
country, can be describe by housing affordability. It is aimed to
ensure the housing provided as one of the key factors that is
affordable by every income earner group whether low-income,
middle income and high income group. This research carried out is to
find out affordability of home ownership level for first medium cost
landed-house by the middle-income group in Selangor, Malaysia. It is
also hope that it could be seen as able to contribute to the knowledge
and understanding on housing affordability level for the middleincome
group and variables that influenced the medium income
group-s ability to own first medium-cost houses.
Abstract: ELS is an important ground based hardware in the
loop simulator used for aerodynamics torque loading experiments
of the actuators under test. This work focuses on improvement of the
transient response of torque controller with parameters uncertainty
of Electrical Load Simulator (ELS).The parameters of load simulator
are estimated online and the model is updated, eliminating the model
error and improving the steady state torque tracking response of
torque controller. To improve the Transient control performance the
gain of robust term of SMC is updated online using fuzzy logic
system based on the amount of uncertainty in parameters of load
simulator. The states of load simulator which cannot be measured
directly are estimated using luenberger observer with update of new
estimated parameters. The stability of the control scheme is verified
using Lyapunov theorem. The validity of proposed control scheme is
verified using simulations.
Abstract: According to FDA (Food and Drug Administration of the United States), vinegar is definedas a sour liquid containing at least 4 grams acetic acid in 100 cubic centimeter (4% solution of acetic acid) of solution that is produced from sugary materials by alcoholic fermentation. In the base of microbial starters, vinegars could be contained of more than 50 types of volatile and aromatic substances that responsible for their sweet taste and smelling. Recently the vinegar industry has a great proportion in agriculture, food and microbial biotechnology. The acetic acid bacteria are from the family Acetobacteraceae. Regarding to the latest version of Bergy-s Mannual of Systematic Bacteriology that has categorized bacteria in the base of their 16s RNA differences, the most important acetic acid genera are included Acetobacter (genus I), Gluconacetobacter (genus VIII) and Gluconobacter (genus IX). The genus Acetobacter that is primarily used in vinegar manufacturing plants is a gram negative, obligate aerobe coccus or rod shaped bacterium with the size 0.6 - 0.8 X 1.0 - 4.0 μm, nonmotile or motile with peritrichous flagella and catalase positive – oxidase negative biochemically. Some strains are overoxidizer that could convert acetic acid to carbon dioxide and water.In this research one Acetobacter native strain with high acetic acid productivity was isolated from Iranian white – red cherry. We used two specific culture media include Carr medium [yeast extract, 3%; ethanol, 2% (v/v); bromocresol green, 0.002%; agar, 2% and distilled water, 1000 ml], Frateur medium [yeast extract, 10 g/l; CaCO3, 20 g/l; ethanol, 20 g/l; agar, 20 g/l and distilled water, 1000 ml] and an industrial culture medium. In addition to high acetic acid production and high growth rate, this strain had a good tolerance against ethanol concentration that was examined using modified Carr media with 5%, 7% and 9% ethanol concentrations. While the industrial strains of acetic acid bacteria grow in the thermal range of 28 – 30 °C, this strain was adapted for growth in 34 – 36 °C after 96 hours incubation period. These dramatic characteristics suggest a potential biotechnological strain in production of cherry vinegar with a sweet smell and different nutritional properties in comparison to recent vinegar types. The lack of growth after 24, 48 and 72 hours incubation at 34 – 36 °C and the growth after 96 hours indicates a good and fast thermal flexibility of this strain as a significant characteristic of biotechnological and industrial strains.
Abstract: Fluid flow and heat transfer of vertical full cone
embedded in porous media is studied in this paper. Nonlinear
differential equation arising from similarity solution of inverted cone
(subjected to wall temperature boundary conditions) embedded in
porous medium is solved using a hybrid neural network- particle
swarm optimization method.
To aim this purpose, a trial solution of the differential equation is
defined as sum of two parts. The first part satisfies the initial/
boundary conditions and does contain an adjustable parameter and
the second part which is constructed so as not to affect the
initial/boundary conditions and involves adjustable parameters (the
weights and biases) for a multi-layer perceptron neural network.
Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is applied to find adjustable
parameters of trial solution (in first and second part). The obtained
solution in comparison with the numerical ones represents a
remarkable accuracy.
Abstract: The results of the two-phase gas-solid jet in pneumatic
powder injection process analysis were presented in the paper. The
researches were conducted on model set-up with high speed camera
jet movement recording. Then the recorded material was analyzed to
estimate main particles movement parameters. The values obtained
from this direct measurement were compared to those calculated with
the use of the well-known formulas for the two-phase flows
(pneumatic conveying). Moreover, they were compared to
experimental results previously achieved by authors. The analysis led
to conclusions which to some extent changed the assumptions used
even by authors, regarding the two-phase jet in pneumatic powder
injection process. Additionally, the visual analysis of the recorded
clips supplied data to make a more complete evaluation of the jet
behavior in the lance outlet than before.
Abstract: We study the spatial design of experiment and we want to select a most informative subset, having prespecified size, from a set of correlated random variables. The problem arises in many applied domains, such as meteorology, environmental statistics, and statistical geology. In these applications, observations can be collected at different locations and possibly at different times. In spatial design, when the design region and the set of interest are discrete then the covariance matrix completely describe any objective function and our goal is to choose a feasible design that minimizes the resulting uncertainty. The problem is recast as that of maximizing the determinant of the covariance matrix of the chosen subset. This problem is NP-hard. For using these designs in computer experiments, in many cases, the design space is very large and it's not possible to calculate the exact optimal solution. Heuristic optimization methods can discover efficient experiment designs in situations where traditional designs cannot be applied, exchange methods are ineffective and exact solution not possible. We developed a GA algorithm to take advantage of the exploratory power of this algorithm. The successful application of this method is demonstrated in large design space. We consider a real case of design of experiment. In our problem, design space is very large and for solving the problem, we used proposed GA algorithm.
Abstract: Metaphor has recently gained extensive interest most probably due to developments in cognitive sciences and the study of language as the reflection of humans- world perception. Metaphor is no longer reckoned as solely literary expressive means. Nowadays it is studied in a whole number of discourses, such as politics, law, medicine, sports, etc. with the purpose of the analysis and determining its role. The scientific language is not an exception. It might seem that metaphor cannot suit it; we would dare to draw a hypothesis that metaphor has indeed found its stable place in terminology. In comprehension of metaphorically represented terms the stage of visualization plays a significant role. We proceeded on the assumption that this stage is the main in provision of better term comprehension and would try to exemplify it with metaphoricallyoriented terms.
Abstract: In this paper we present the information life cycle and analyze the importance of managing the corporate application portfolio across this life cycle. The approach presented here corresponds not just to the extension of the traditional information system development life cycle. This approach is based in the generic life cycle. In this paper it is proposed a model of an information system life cycle, supported in the assumption that a system has a limited life. But, this limited life may be extended. This model is also applied in several cases; being reported here two examples of the framework application in a construction enterprise and in a manufacturing enterprise.
Abstract: Levenberg-Marquardt method (LM) was proposed to
be applied as a non-linear least-square fitting in the analysis of a
natural gamma-ray spectrum that was taken by the Hp (Ge) detector.
The Gaussian function that composed of three components, main
Gaussian, a step background function and tailing function in the lowenergy
side, has been suggested to describe each of the y-ray lines
mathematically in the spectrum. The whole spectrum has been
analyzed by determining the energy and relative intensity for the
strong y-ray lines.
Abstract: The mechanism of microwave heating is essentially
that of dielectric heating. After exposing the emulsion to the
microwave Electromagnetic (EM) field, molecular rotation and ionic
conduction due to the penetration of (EM) into the emulsion are
responsible for the internal heating. To determine the capability of
microwave technology in demulsification of crude oil emulsions,
microwave demulsification method was applied in a 50-50 % and 20-
80 % water-in-oil emulsions with microwave exposure time varied
from 20-180 sec. Transient temperature profiles of water-in-oil
emulsions inside a cylindrical container were measured. The
temperature rise at a given location was almost horizontal (linear).
The average rates of temperature increase of 50-50 % and 20-80 %
water-in-oil emulsions are 0.351 and 0.437 oC/sec, respectively. The
rate of temperature increase of emulsions decreased at higher
temperature due to decreasing dielectric loss of water. These results
indicate that microwave demulsification of water-in-oil emulsions
does not require chemical additions. Microwave has the potential to
be used as an alternative way in the demulsification process.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) for the effective implementation of Six Sigma in non-formal service Sectors.
Based on the survey of literature, the critical success factors (CSFs) for Six Sigma have been identified and are assessed for their importance in Non-formal service sector using Delphi Technique. These selected CSFs were put forth to the panel of expert to cluster them and prepare cognitive map to establish their relationship.
All the critical success factors examined and obtained from the review of literature have been assessed for their importance with respect to their contribution to Six Sigma effectiveness in non formal service sector.
The study is limited to the non-formal service sectors involved in the organization of religious festival only. However, the similar exercise can be conducted for broader sample of other non-formal service sectors like temple/ashram management, religious tours management etc.
The research suggests an approach to identify CSFs of Six Sigma for Non-formal service sector. All the CSFs of the formal service sector will not be applicable to Non-formal services, hence opinion of experts was sought to add or delete the CSFs. In the first round of Delphi, the panel of experts has suggested, two new CSFs-“competitive benchmarking (F19) and resident’s involvement (F28)”, which were added for assessment in the next round of Delphi. One of the CSFs-“fulltime six sigma personnel (F15)” has been omitted in proposed clusters of CSFs for non-formal organization, as it is practically impossible to deploy full time trained Six Sigma recruits.
Abstract: The computer modeling is carried out for parameter of
sensitivity of optoelectronic chemical and biosensors, using
phenomena of surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The physical model
of SPR-sensor-s is described with (or without) of modifications of
sensitive gold film surface by a dielectric layer. The variants of
increasing of sensitivity for SPR-biosensors, constructed on the
principle gold – dielectric – biomolecular layer are considered. Two
methods of mathematical treatment of SPR-curve are compared –
traditional, with estimation of sensor-s response as shift of the SPRcurve
minimum and proposed, for system with dielectric layer, using
calculating of the derivative in the point of SPR-curve half-width.
Abstract: This work focuses on analysis of classical heat transfer equation regularized with Maxwell-Cattaneo transfer law. Computer simulations are performed in MATLAB environment. Numerical experiments are first developed on classical Fourier equation, then Maxwell-Cattaneo law is considered. Corresponding equation is regularized with a balancing diffusion term to stabilize discretizing scheme with adjusted time and space numerical steps. Several cases including a convective term in model equations are discussed, and results are given. It is shown that limiting conditions on regularizing parameters have to be satisfied in convective case for Maxwell-Cattaneo regularization to give physically acceptable solutions. In all valid cases, uniform convergence to solution of initial heat equation with Fourier law is observed, even in nonlinear case.
Abstract: In this study the regional stability of a rotor system which is supported on rolling bearings with radial clearance is studied. The rotor is assumed to be rigid. Due to radial clearance of bearings and dynamic configuration of system, each rolling elements of bearings has the possibility to be in contact with both of the races (under compression) or lose its contact. As a result, this change in dynamic of the system makes it to be known as switching system which is a type of Hybrid systems. In this investigation by adopting Multiple Lyapunov Function theorem and using Hamiltonian function as a candidate Lyapunov function, the stability of the system is studied. The purpose of this study is to inspect the regional stability of rotor-roller bearing and rotor-ball bearing systems.
Abstract: The aim of present study was to assess the effect of
glucogenic (G) and lipogenic (L) diets on blood metabolites in
Baloochi lambs. Three rumen cannulated Baloochi sheep were used
as a 3×3 Latin square design with 3 periods (28 days). Experimental
diets were a glucogenic, a lipogenic and a mixture of G and L diets
(50:50). The animals were fed diets consisted of 50% chopped alfalfa
hay and 50% concentrate. Diets were fed once daily ad libitum.
Blood samples were taken from jugular vein before the feeding, 2, 4
and 6 hour post feeding at day 27. Results indicated that β-
hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), glucose, insulin and aspartate
aminotransferase (AST) were not affected by treatments (P > 0.05).
However, lipogenic diet increased significantly activity of Alanine
aminotransferase (ALT) and concentration of non-esterified fatty acid
(NEFA) in blood plasma (P < 0.05)
Abstract: Groundwater is an essential and vital component of our life support system. The groundwater resources are being utilized for drinking, irrigation and industrial purposes. There is growing concern on deterioration of groundwater quality due to geogenic and anthropogenic activities. Groundwater, being a fragile must be carefully managed to maintain its purity within standard limits. So, quality assessment and management are to be carried out hand-in-hand to have a pollution free environment and for a sustainable use. In order to assess the quality for consumption by human beings and for use in agriculture, the groundwater from the shallow aquifers (dug well) in the Palakkad and Chittur taluks of Bharathapuzha river basin - a paddy dominated agricultural basin (order=8th; L= 209 Km; Area = 6186 Km2), Kerala, India, has been selected. The water samples (n= 120) collected for various seasons, viz., monsoon-MON (August, 2005), postmonsoon-POM (December, 2005) and premonsoon-PRM (April, 2006), were analyzed for important physico-chemical attributes. Spatial and temporal variation of attributes do exist in the study area, and based on major cations and anions, different hydrochemical facies have been identified. Using Gibbs'diagram, rock dominance has been identified as the mechanism controlling groundwater chemistry. Further, the suitability of water for irrigation was determined by analyzing salinity hazard indicated by sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC) and sodium percent (%Na). Finally, stress zones in the study area were delineated using Arc GIS spatial analysis and various management options were recommended to restore the ecosystem.
Abstract: The article deals with the relation between rainfall in selected months and subsequent weed infestation of spring barley. The field experiment was performed at Mendel University agricultural enterprise in Žabčice, Czech Republic. Weed infestation was measured in spring barley vegetation in years 2004 to 2012. Barley was grown in three tillage variants: conventional tillage technology (CT), minimization tillage technology (MT), and no tillage (NT). Precipitation was recorded in one-day intervals. Monthly precipitation was calculated from the measured values in the months of October through to April. The technique of canonical correspondence analysis was applied for further statistical processing. 41 different species of weeds were found in the course of the 9-year monitoring period. The results clearly show that precipitation affects the incidence of most weed species in the selected months, but acts differently in the monitored variants of tillage technologies.
Abstract: In this study, production possibilities of hydrogen and/or methane via SCWG from black grape residues have been investigated. For this aim, grape residues which remain as a byproduct of the wine making process have been used. Since utilization from grape residues is limited due to the high moisture content, supercritical water gasification is the most convenient method. The effect of the gasification temperature and type of catalyst on supercritical water gasification have been investigated. Gasification experiments were performed in a batch autoclave at four different temperatures 300, 400, 500 and 600°C. K2CO3 and Trona (NaHCO3.Na2CO3·2H2O) were used as catalyst. Real biomass types of black grape residues have been successfully gasified and the product gas (hydrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and a small amount of ethane and ethylene) were identified by using gas chromatography. A TOC analyzer was used to determine total organic carbon (TOC) content of aqueous phase. The amounts of carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ketones, furfurals and phenols present in the aqueous solutions were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. When the temperature increased from 300°C to 600°C, mol% of H2 in gas products increased. The presence of catalysts improves the hydrogen yield. Trona showed gasification activity to be similar to that of K2CO3. It may be concluded that the use of Trona instead of commercially produced catalysts, can be preferably used in the gasification of biomass in supercritical water.
Abstract: The case study deals with the semi-quantitative risk
assessment of water resource earmarked for the emergency supply
of population with drinking water. The risk analysis has been based
on previously identified hazards/sensitivities of the elements
of hydrogeological structure and technological equipment of ground
water resource as well as on the assessment of the levels of hazard,
sensitivity and criticality of individual resource elements in the form
of point indexes. The following potential sources of hazard have
been considered: natural disasters caused by atmospheric and
geological changes, technological hazards, and environmental
burdens. The risk analysis has proved that the assessed risks are
acceptable and the water resource may be integrated into a crisis plan
of a given region.