Abstract: Addition of an oily waste to a co-composting process of dairy cow manure with food waste, and the influence in the final product was evaluated. Three static composting piles with different substrates concentrations were assessed. Sawdust was also added to all composting piles to attain 60%, humidity at the beginning of the process. In pile 1, the co-substrates were the solid-phase of dairy cow manure, food waste and sawdust as bulking agent. In piles 2 and 3 there was an extra input of oily waste of 7 and 11% of the total volume, respectively, corresponding to 18 and 28% in dry weight. The results showed that the co-composting process was feasible even at the highest fat content. Another positive effect due to the oily waste addition was the requirement of extra humidity, due to the hydrophobic properties of this specific waste, which may imply reduced need of a bulking agent. Moreover, this study shows that composting can be a feasible way of adding value to fatty wastes. The three final composts presented very similar and suitable properties for land application.
Abstract: In this work, new experimental data for slugging
frequency in inclined gas-liquid flow are reported, and a new
correlation is proposed. Scale experiments were carried out using a
mixture of air and water in a 6 m long pipe. Two different pipe
diameters were used, namely, 38 and 67 mm. The data were taken
with capacitance type sensors at a data acquisition frequency of 200
Hz over an interval of 60 seconds. For the range of flow conditions
studied, the liquid superficial velocity is observed to influence the
frequency strongly. A comparison of the present data with
correlations available in the literature reveals a lack of agreement. A
new correlation for slug frequency has been proposed for the inclined
flow, which represents the main contribution of this work.
Abstract: Cattle manure and mineral fertilizers are two source
of Nitrogen, which can affect the growth and quantity of potato. In
this research the effects of the use of cattle manure (5, 10, 15 and 20
ton ha-1), Nitrogen fertilizer (50, 100 and 150 kg N ha-1) and their
interaction on potato growth were evaluated during field
experiments in 2008 with the help of Randomized Complete Block
(RCB) with the factorial arrangement of three experimental
replications in Iran. At the 75 th day after emergence, dry weight of
Shoots, leaf area index (LAI) and plant height were recorded. Results
showed that, dry weight of Shoots, LAI and plant height increased
linearly and very significantly in response to the application of
manure and Nitrogen fertilizer. While the interaction between
manure and Nitrogen fertilizer just on the LAI and plant height was
significant, somehow the maximum amount of plant height( 73 cm)
was obtained by using 150 kg Nitrogen + 15 tons of manure per
hectare, and maximum LAI ( 5.36) was obtained by using 150 kg
Nitrogen + 20 tons of manure per hectare. Also in this experiment
maximum tuber yield (36.8 tons ha-1) was obtained by the utilization
of 150 kg Nitrogen per hectare + 20 tons manure.
Abstract: The international society focuses on the environment
protection and natural energy sources control for the global
cooperation against weather change and sustainable growth. The study
presents the overview of the water shortage status and the necessity of wastewater reuse facility in military facilities and for the possibility of
the introduction, compares the economics by means of cost-benefit
analysis. The military features such as the number of users of military barracks and the water use were surveyed by the design principles by
facility types, the application method of wastewater reuse facility was selected, the feed water, its application and the volume of reuse volume were defined and the expectation was estimated, confirming
the possibility of introducing a wastewater reuse possibility by means of cost-benefit analysis.
Abstract: The prediction of meteorological parameters at a
meteorological station is an interesting and open problem. A firstorder
linear dynamic model GM(1,1) is the main component of the
grey system theory. The grey model requires only a few previous data
points in order to make a real-time forecast. In this paper, we
consider the daily average ambient temperature as a time series and
the grey model GM(1,1) applied to local prediction (short-term
prediction) of the temperature. In the same case study we use a fuzzy
predictive model for global prediction. We conclude the paper with a
comparison between local and global prediction schemes.
Abstract: Most of researches for conventional simulations were
studied focusing on flocks with a single species. While there exist the
flocking behaviors with a single species in nature, the flocking
behaviors are frequently observed with multi-species. This paper
studies on the flocking simulation for heterogeneous agents. In order
to simulate the flocks for heterogeneous agents, the conventional
method uses the identifier of flock, while the proposed method defines
the feature vector of agent and uses the similarity between agents by
comparing with those feature vectors. Based on the similarity, the
paper proposed the attractive force and repulsive force and then
executed the simulation by applying two forces. The results of
simulation showed that flock formation with heterogeneous agents is
very natural in both cases. In addition, it showed that unlike the
existing method, the proposed method can not only control the density
of the flocks, but also be possible for two different groups of agents to
flock close to each other if they have a high similarity.
Abstract: In this paper the authors present the framework of a
system for assisting users through counseling on personal health, the
Personal Health Assistance Service Expert System (PHASES).
Personal health assistance systems need Personal Health Records
(PHR), which support wellness activities, improve the understanding
of personal health issues, enable access to data from providers of
health services, strengthen health promotion, and in the end improve
the health of the population. This is especially important in societies
where the health costs increase at a higher rate than the overall
economy. The most important elements of a healthy lifestyle are
related to food (such as balanced nutrition and diets), activities for
body fitness (such as walking, sports, fitness programs), and other
medical treatments (such as massage, prescriptions of drugs). The
PHASES framework uses an ontology of food, which includes
nutritional facts, an expert system keeping track of personal health
data that are matched with medical treatments, and a comprehensive
data transfer between patients and the system.
Abstract: The persistent nature of perfluorochemicals (PFCs) has attracted global concern in recent years. Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) are the most commonly found PFC compounds, and thus their fate and transport play key roles in PFC distribution in the natural environment. The kinetic behavior of PFOS or PFOA on boehmite consists of a fast adsorption process followed by a slow adsorption process which may be attributed to the slow transport of PFOS or PFOA into the boehmite pore surface. The adsorption isotherms estimated the maximum adsorption capacities of PFOS and PFOA on boehmite as 0.877 μg/m2 and 0.633 μg/m2, with the difference primarily due to their different functional groups. The increase of solution pH led to a moderate decrease of PFOS and PFOA adsorption, owing to the increase of ligand exchange reactions and the decrease of electrostatic interactions. The presence of NaCl in solution demonstrated negative effects for PFOS and PFOA adsorption on boehmite surfaces, with potential mechanisms being electrical double layer compression, competitive adsorption of chloride.
Abstract: Computational techniques derived from digital image processing are playing a significant role in the security and digital copyrights of multimedia and visual arts. This technology has the effect within the domain of computers. This research presents discrete M-band wavelet transform (MWT) and cosine transform (DCT) based watermarking algorithm by incorporating the principal component analysis (PCA). The proposed algorithm is expected to achieve higher perceptual transparency. Specifically, the developed watermarking scheme can successfully resist common signal processing, such as geometric distortions, and Gaussian noise. In addition, the proposed algorithm can be parameterized, thus resulting in more security. To meet these requirements, the image is transformed by a combination of MWT & DCT. In order to improve the security further, we randomize the watermark image to create three code books. During the watermark embedding, PCA is applied to the coefficients in approximation sub-band. Finally, first few component bands represent an excellent domain for inserting the watermark.
Abstract: The purpose of this work was to inspect the potential
of vincristine-dextran complex loaded solid lipid nanoparticles for
drug delivery to the brain.
The nanoparticles were stained with a fluorescence dye and their
plasma pharmacokinetic and brain concentrations were investigated
following injection to rats.
The result revealed a significant improvement in the plasma
concentration profile of the SLN injected animals as well as a sharp
increased concentration in the brains.
Abstract: Liners are made to protect the groundwater table from
the infiltration of leachate which normally carries different kinds of
toxic materials from landfills. Although these liners are engineered to
last for long period of time; unfortunately these liners fail; therefore,
toxic materials pass to groundwater. This paper focuses on the
changes of the hydraulic conductivity of a sand-bentonite liner due to
the infiltration of biofuel and ethanol fuel. Series of laboratory tests
were conducted in 20-cm-high PVC columns. Several compositions
of sand-bentonite liners were tested: 95% sand: 5% bentonite; 90%
sand: 10% bentonite; and 100% sand (passed mesh #40). The
columns were subjected to extreme pressures of 40 kPa, and 100 kPa
to evaluate the transport of alternative fuels (biofuel and ethanol
fuel). For comparative studies, similar tests were carried out using
water. Results showed that hydraulic conductivity increased due to
the infiltration of alternative fuels through the liners. Accordingly,
the increase in the hydraulic conductivity showed significant
dependency on the type of liner mixture and the characteristics of the
liquid. The hydraulic conductivity of a liner (subjected to biofuel
infiltration) consisting of 5% bentonite: 95% sand under pressure of
40 kPa and 100 kPa had increased by one fold. In addition, the
hydraulic conductivity of a liner consisting of 10% bentonite: 90%
sand under pressure of 40 kPa and 100 kPa and infiltrated by biofuel
had increased by three folds. On the other hand, the results obtained
by water infiltration under 40 kPa showed lower hydraulic
conductivities of 1.50×10-5 and 1.37×10-9 cm/s for 5% bentonite:
95% sand, and 10% bentonite: 90% sand, respectively. Similarly,
under 100 kPa, the hydraulic conductivities were 2.30×10-5 and
1.90×10-9 cm/s for 5% bentonite: 95% sand, and 10% bentonite: 90%
sand, respectively.
Abstract: Metrics is the process by which numbers or symbols
are assigned to attributes of entities in the real world in such a way as
to describe them according to clearly defined rules. Software metrics
are instruments or ways to measuring all the aspect of software
product. These metrics are used throughout a software project to
assist in estimation, quality control, productivity assessment, and
project control. Object oriented software metrics focus on
measurements that are applied to the class and other characteristics.
These measurements convey the software engineer to the behavior of
the software and how changes can be made that will reduce
complexity and improve the continuing capability of the software.
Object oriented software metric can be classified in two types static
and dynamic. Static metrics are concerned with all the aspects of
measuring by static analysis of software and dynamic metrics are
concerned with all the measuring aspect of the software at run time.
Major work done before, was focusing on static metric. Also some
work has been done in the field of dynamic nature of the software
measurements. But research in this area is demanding for more work.
In this paper we give a set of dynamic metrics specifically for
polymorphism in object oriented system.
Abstract: In the present work the internal sulfate attack on
pastes made from pure clinker phases was studied. Two binders were
produced: (a) a binder with 2% C3A and 18% C4AF content; (b) a
binder with 10% C3A and C4AF content each. Gypsum was used as
the sulfate bearing compound, while calcium carbonate added to
differentiate the binders produced. The phases formed were identified
by XRD analysis. The results showed that ettringite was the
deterioration phase detected in the case of the low C3A content
binder. Carbonation occurred in the specimen without calcium
carbonate addition, while portlandite was observed in the one
containing calcium carbonate. In the case of the high C3A content
binder, traces of thaumasite were detected when calcium carbonate
was not incorporated in the binder. A solid solution of thaumasite and
ettringite was found when calcium carbonate was added. The amount
of C3A had not fully reacted with sulfates, since its corresponding
peaks were detected.
Abstract: German electricity European options on futures using
Lévy processes for the underlying asset are examined. Implied
volatility evolution, under each of the considered models, is
discussed after calibrating for the Merton jump diffusion (MJD),
variance gamma (VG), normal inverse Gaussian (NIG), Carr, Geman,
Madan and Yor (CGMY) and the Black and Scholes (B&S) model.
Implied volatility is examined for the entire sample period, revealing
some curious features about market evolution, where data fitting
performances of the five models are compared. It is shown that
variance gamma processes provide relatively better results and that
implied volatility shows significant differences through time, having
increasingly evolved. Volatility changes for changed uncertainty, or
else, increasing futures prices and there is evidence for the need to
account for seasonality when modelling both electricity spot/futures
prices and volatility.
Abstract: The pseudorandom number generators based on linear
feedback shift registers (LFSRs), are very quick, easy and secure in
the implementation of hardware and software. Thus they are very
popular and widely used. But LFSRs lead to fairly easy
cryptanalysis due to their completely linearity properties. In this
paper, we propose a stochastic generator, which is called Random
Feedback Shift Register (RFSR), using stochastic transformation
(Random block) with one-way and non-linearity properties.
Abstract: The error monitoring and processing system, EMPS is
the system located in the substantia nigra of the midbrain, basal
ganglia and cortex of the forebrain, and plays a leading role in error
detection and correction. The main components of EMPS are the
dopaminergic system and anterior cingulate cortex. Although, recent
studies show that alcohol disrupts the EMPS, the ways in which
alcohol affects this system are poorly understood. Based on current
literature data, here we suggest a hypothesis of alcohol-related
glucose-dependent system of error monitoring and processing, which
holds that the disruption of the EMPS is related to the competency of
glucose homeostasis regulation, which in turn may determine the
dopamine level as a major component of EMPS. Alcohol may
indirectly disrupt the EMPS by affecting dopamine level through
disorders in blood glucose homeostasis regulation.
Abstract: Intrusion detection systems (IDS)are crucial components
of the security mechanisms of today-s computer systems.
Existing research on intrusion detection has focused on sequential
intrusions. However, intrusions can also be formed by concurrent
interactions of multiple processes. Some of the intrusions caused
by these interactions cannot be detected using sequential intrusion
detection methods. Therefore, there is a need for a mechanism that
views the distributed system as a whole. L-BIDS (Lattice-Based
Intrusion Detection System) is proposed to address this problem. In
the L-BIDS framework, a library of intrusions and distributed traces
are represented as lattices. Then these lattices are compared in order
to detect intrusions in the distributed traces.
Abstract: The fluid flow and the properties of the hydraulic
fluid inside a torque converter are the main topics of interest in this
research. The primary goal is to investigate the applicability of
various viscous fluids inside the torque converter. The Taguchi
optimization method is adopted to analyse the fluid flow in a torque
converter from a design perspective. Calculations are conducted in
maximizing the pressure since greater the pressure, greater the torque
developed. Using the values of the S/N ratios obtained, graphs are
plotted. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis is also
conducted.
Abstract: The fast growth in complexity coupled with requests for shorter development periods for embedded systems are bringing demands towards a more effective, i.e. higher-abstract, design process for hardaware/software integrated design. In Software Engineering area, Model Driven Architecture (MDA) and Executable UML (xUML) has been accepted to bring further improvement in software design. This paper constructs MDA and xUML stepwise transformations from an abstract specification model to a more concrete implementation model using the refactoring technique for hardaware/software integrated design. This approach provides clear and structured models which enables quick exploration and synthesis, and early stage verification.
Abstract: Mobile learning (M-learning) integrates mobile
devices and wireless computing technology to enhance the current
conventional learning system. However, there are constraints which
are affecting the implementation of platform and device independent
M-learning. The main aim of this research is to fulfill the following
main objectives: to develop platform independent mobile learning
tool (M-LT) for structured programming course, and evaluate its
effectiveness and usability using ADDIE instructional design model
(ISD) as M-LT life cycle. J2ME (Java 2 micro edition) and XML
(Extensible Markup Language) were used to develop platform
independent M-LT. It has two modules lecture materials and quizzes.
This study used Quasi experimental design to measure effectiveness
of the tool. Meanwhile, questionnaire is used to evaluate the usability
of the tool. Finally, the results show that the system was effective and
also usability evaluation was positive.