Abstract: In the planning point of view, it is essential to have
mode choice, due to the massive amount of incurred in transportation
systems. The intercity travellers in Libya have distinct features, as
against travellers from other countries, which includes cultural and
socioeconomic factors. Consequently, the goal of this study is to
recognize the behavior of intercity travel using disaggregate models,
for projecting the demand of nation-level intercity travel in Libya.
Multinomial Logit Model for all the intercity trips has been
formulated to examine the national-level intercity transportation in
Libya. The Multinomial logit model was calibrated using nationwide
revealed preferences (RP) and stated preferences (SP) survey. The
model was developed for deference purpose of intercity trips (work,
social and recreational). The variables of the model have been
predicted based on maximum likelihood method. The data needed for
model development were obtained from all major intercity corridors
in Libya. The final sample size consisted of 1300 interviews. About
two-thirds of these data were used for model calibration, and the
remaining parts were used for model validation. This study, which is
the first of its kind in Libya, investigates the intercity traveler’s
mode-choice behavior. The intercity travel mode-choice model was
successfully calibrated and validated. The outcomes indicate that, the
overall model is effective and yields higher precision of estimation.
The proposed model is beneficial, due to the fact that, it is receptive
to a lot of variables, and can be employed to determine the impact of
modifications in the numerous characteristics on the need for various
travel modes. Estimations of the model might also be of valuable to
planners, who can estimate possibilities for various modes and
determine the impact of unique policy modifications on the need for
intercity travel.
Abstract: Exploding concentrated underwater charges to
damage underwater structures such as ship hulls is a part of naval
warfare strategies. Adding small amounts of foreign particles (like
clay or silica) of nanosize significantly improves the engineering
properties of the polymers. In the present work the clay in terms 1, 2
and 3 percent by weight was surface treated with a suitable silane
agent. The hybrid nanocomposite was prepared by the hand lay-up
technique. Mathematical regression models have been employed for
theoretical prediction. This will result in considerable savings in terms of project time, effort and cost.
Abstract: Tackling emergency situations is performed based on emergency scenarios. These scenarios do not have a uniform form in the Czech Republic. They are unstructured and developed primarily in the text form. This does not allow solving emergency situations efficiently. For this reason, the paper aims at defining a Process Oriented Architecture to support and thus to improve tackling emergency situations in the Czech Republic. The innovative Process Oriented Architecture is based on the Workflow Reference Model while taking into account the options of Business Process Management Suites for the implementation of process oriented emergency scenarios. To verify the proposed architecture the Proof of Concept has been used which covers the reception of an emergency event at the district emergency operations centre. Within the particular implementation of the proposed architecture the Bonita Open Solution has been used. The architecture created in this way is suitable not only for emergency management, but also for educational purposes.
Abstract: Sediment formation and its transport along the river course is considered as important hydraulic consideration in river engineering. Their impact on the morphology of rivers on one hand and important considerations of which in the design and construction of the hydraulic structures on the other has attracted the attention of experts in arid and semi-arid regions. Under certain conditions where the momentum energy of the flow stream reaches a specific rate, the sediment materials start to be transported with the flow. This can usually be analyzed in two different categories of suspended and bed load materials. Sedimentation phenomenon along the waterways and the conveyance of vast volume of materials into the canal networks can potentially influence water abstraction in the intake structures. This can pose a serious threat to operational sustainability and water delivery performance in the canal networks. The situation is serious where ineffective watershed management (poor vegetation cover in the water basin) is the underlying cause of soil erosion which feeds the materials into the waterways that intern would necessitate comprehensive study. The present paper aims to present an analytical investigation of the sediment process in the waterways on one hand and estimation of the sediment load transport into the lined canals using the SHARC software on the other. For this reason, the paper focuses on the comparative analysis of the hydraulic behaviors of the Sabilli main canal that feeds the pumping station with that of the Western canal in the Greater Dezful region to identify effective factors in sedimentation and ways of mitigating their impact on water abstraction in the canal systems. The method involved use of observational data available in the Dezful Dastmashoon hydrometric station along a 6 km waterway of the Sabilli main canal using the SHARC software to estimate the suspended load concentration and bed load materials. Results showed the transport of a significant volume of sediment loads from the waterways into the canal system which is assumed to have arisen from the absence of stilling basin on one hand and the gravity flow on the other has caused serious challenges. This is contrary to what occurs in the Sabilli canal, where the design feature which incorporates a settling basin just before the pumping station is the major cause of reduced sediment load transport into the canal system.Results showed that modification of the present design features by constructing a settling basin just upstream of the western intake structure can considerably reduce the entry of sediment materials into the canal system. Not only this can result in the sustainability of the hydraulic structures but can also improve operational performance of water conveyance and distribution system, all of which are the pre-requisite to secure reliable and equitable water delivery regime for the command area.
Abstract: An area-integrating method that uses the technique of total integrated light scatter for evaluating the root mean square height of the surface Sq has been presented in the paper. It is based on the measurement of the scatter power using a flat photodiode integrator rather than an optical sphere or a hemisphere. By this means, one can obtain much less expensive and smaller instruments than traditional ones. Thanks to this, they could find their application for surface control purposes, particularly in small and medium size enterprises. A description of the functioning of the measuring unit as well as the impact caused by different factors on its properties is presented first. Next, results of measurements of the Sq values performed for optical, silicon and metal samples have been shown. It has been also proven that they are in a good agreement with the results obtained using the Ulbricht sphere instrument.
Abstract: Rapid prototyping (RP) techniques are a group of
advanced manufacturing processes that can produce custom made
objects directly from computer data such as Computer Aided Design
(CAD), Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (MRI) data. Using RP fabrication techniques, constructs
with controllable and complex internal architecture with appropriate
mechanical properties can be achieved. One of the attractive and
promising utilization of RP techniques is related to tissue engineering
(TE) scaffold fabrication. Tissue engineering scaffold is a 3D
construction that acts as a template for tissue regeneration. Although
several conventional techniques such as solvent casting and gas
forming are utilized in scaffold fabrication; these processes show
poor interconnectivity and uncontrollable porosity of the produced
scaffolds. So, RP techniques become the best alternative fabrication
methods of TE scaffolds. This paper reviews the current state of the
art in the area of tissue engineering scaffolds fabrication using
advanced RP processes, as well as the current limitations and future
trends in scaffold fabrication RP techniques.
Abstract: The use of High Order Statistics (HOS) analysis is
expected to provide so many candidates of features that can be selected for pattern recognition. More candidates of the feature can
be extracted using simple manipulation through a specific mathematical function prior to the HOS analysis. Feature extraction
method using HOS analysis combined with Difference to the Nth-Power manipulation has been examined in application for Automatic
Modulation Recognition (AMR) to perform scheme recognition of three digital modulation signal, i.e. QPSK-16QAM-64QAM in the
AWGN transmission channel. The simulation results is reported
when the analysis of HOS up to order-12 and the manipulation of Difference to the Nth-Power up to N = 4. The obtained accuracy rate
of AMR using the method of Simple Decision obtained 90% in SNR > 10 dB in its classifier, while using the method of Voted Decision is
96% in SNR > 2 dB.
Abstract: Today, biogenic magnetite nanoparticles among
magnetic nanoparticles have unique attracted attention because of
their magnetic characteristics and potential applications in various
fields such as therapeutic and diagnostic. A well known example of
these biogenic nanoparticles is magnetosomes of magnetotactic
bacteria. In this research, we used two different types of technique for
the isolation and purification of magnetosome nanoparticles from the
isolated magnetotactic bacterial cells, heat-alkaline treatment and
sonication. Also we evaluated pyrogen content and sterility of
synthesized the isolated individual magnetosome by the Limulus
Amoebocyte Lysate test and direct impedimetric method
respectively.
Abstract: This paper addresses the problems encountered by conventional distance relays when protecting double-circuit transmission lines. The problems arise principally as a result of the mutual coupling between the two circuits under different fault conditions; this mutual coupling is highly nonlinear in nature. An adaptive protection scheme is proposed for such lines based on application of artificial neural network (ANN). ANN has the ability to classify the nonlinear relationship between measured signals by identifying different patterns of the associated signals. One of the key points of the present work is that only current signals measured at local end have been used to detect and classify the faults in the double circuit transmission line with double end infeed. The adaptive protection scheme is tested under a specific fault type, but varying fault location, fault resistance, fault inception angle and with remote end infeed. An improved performance is experienced once the neural network is trained adequately, which performs precisely when faced with different system parameters and conditions. The entire test results clearly show that the fault is detected and classified within a quarter cycle; thus the proposed adaptive protection technique is well suited for double circuit transmission line fault detection & classification. Results of performance studies show that the proposed neural network-based module can improve the performance of conventional fault selection algorithms.
Abstract: The paper presents an analysis of linkages and
structures of co-operation and their intensity like the potential for the
establishment of clusters in the Central and Eastern (Pannonian)
Croatian. Starting from the theoretical elaboration of the need for
entrepreneurs to organize through the cluster model and the terms of
their self-actualization, related to the importance of traditional values
in terms of benefits, social capital and assess where the company now
is, in order to prove the need to create their own identity in terms of
clustering. The institutional dimensions of social capital where the
public sector has the best role in creating the social structure of
clusters, and social dimensions of social capital in terms of trust,
cooperation and networking will be analyzed to what extent the trust
and coherency are present between companies in the Brod posavina
and Pozega slavonia County, expressed through the readiness of
inclusion in clusters in the NUTS II region - Central and Eastern
(Pannonian) Croatia, as a homogeneous economic entity, with
emphasis on limiting factors that stand in the way of greater
competitiveness.
Abstract: The state of the art in instructional design for
computer-assisted learning has been strongly influenced by advances
in information technology, Internet and Web-based systems. The
emphasis of educational systems has shifted from training to
learning. The course delivered has also been changed from large
inflexible content to sequential small chunks of learning objects. The
concepts of learning objects together with the advanced technologies
of Web and communications support the reusability, interoperability,
and accessibility design criteria currently exploited by most learning
systems. These concepts enable just-in-time learning. We propose to
extend theses design criteria further to include the learnability
concept that will help adapting content to the needs of learners. The
learnability concept offers a better personalization leading to the
creation and delivery of course content more appropriate to
performance and interest of each learner. In this paper we present a
new framework of learning environments containing knowledge
discovery as a tool to automatically learn patterns of learning
behavior from learners' profiles and history.
Abstract: Laser soldering is based on applying some soldering material (albumin) onto the approximated edges of the cut and heating the solder (and the underlying tissues) by a laser beam. Endogenous and exogenous materials such as indocyanine green (ICG) are often added to solders to enhance light absorption. Gold nanoshells are new materials which have an optical response dictated by the plasmon resonance. The wavelength at which the resonance occurs depends on the core and shell sizes, allowing nanoshells to be tailored for particular applications. The purposes of this study was use combination of ICG and different concentration of gold nanoshells for skin tissue soldering and also to examine the effect of laser soldering parameters on the properties of repaired skin. Two mixtures of albumin solder and different combinations of ICG and gold nanoshells were prepared. A full thickness incision of 2×20 mm2 was made on the surface and after addition of mixtures it was irradiated by an 810nm diode laser at different power densities. The changes of tensile strength σt due to temperature rise, number of scan (Ns), and scan velocity (Vs) were investigated. The results showed at constant laser power density (I), σt of repaired incisions increases by increasing the concentration of gold nanoshells in solder, Ns and decreasing Vs. It is therefore important to consider the tradeoff between the scan velocity and the surface temperature for achieving an optimum operating condition. In our case this corresponds to σt =1800 gr/cm2 at I~ 47 Wcm-2, T ~ 85ºC, Ns =10 and Vs=0.3mms-1.
Abstract: A clustering based technique has been developed and implemented for Short Term Load Forecasting, in this article. Formulation has been done using Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) as an objective function. Data Matrix and cluster size are optimization variables. Model designed, uses two temperature variables. This is compared with six input Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN) and Fuzzy Inference Neural Network (FINN) for the data of the same system, for same time period. The fuzzy inference system has the network structure and the training procedure of a neural network which initially creates a rule base from existing historical load data. It is observed that the proposed clustering based model is giving better forecasting accuracy as compared to the other two methods. Test results also indicate that the RBFNN can forecast future loads with accuracy comparable to that of proposed method, where as the training time required in the case of FINN is much less.
Abstract: In this study, we investigated the effects of ginger and
L-carnitine on the reproductive performance of male rats with respect
to semen parameters, male sex hormones and the testicular
antioxidant system. A total of sixty mature male albino rats were
divided into four groups of fifteen rats. The control group received
saline, whereas the other three groups received ginger (100 mg kg-1 d-
1.), L-carnitine (150 mg kg-1 d-1.) or a combination of both ginger
(100 mg kg-1 d-1.) and L-carnitine (150 mg kg-1 d-1.) via a stomach
tube daily for one month. At the end of the treatment period, the rats
were sacrificed, and their sperm characteristics (count, motility and
viability), antioxidant enzyme factors levels (reduced glutathione,
catalase, superoxide dismutase and total antioxidant capacity) and sex
hormone levels (testosterone, Follicle stimulating hormone(FSH) and
luteinizing hormone (LH) were analysed. Our results showed that the
three experimental treatments improved sperm parameters,
antioxidant enzyme activity and testosterone hormone levels; the
most pronounced positive effects were observed in the group that
received a combination of both ginger and L-carnitine. Therefore, the
administration of a combination of ginger and L-carnitine may be
beneficial for improving male sexual performance.
Abstract: Named Entity Recognition (NER) aims to classify each word of a document into predefined target named entity classes and is now-a-days considered to be fundamental for many Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks such as information retrieval, machine translation, information extraction, question answering systems and others. This paper reports about the development of a NER system for Bengali and Hindi using Support Vector Machine (SVM). Though this state of the art machine learning technique has been widely applied to NER in several well-studied languages, the use of this technique to Indian languages (ILs) is very new. The system makes use of the different contextual information of the words along with the variety of features that are helpful in predicting the four different named (NE) classes, such as Person name, Location name, Organization name and Miscellaneous name. We have used the annotated corpora of 122,467 tokens of Bengali and 502,974 tokens of Hindi tagged with the twelve different NE classes 1, defined as part of the IJCNLP-08 NER Shared Task for South and South East Asian Languages (SSEAL) 2. In addition, we have manually annotated 150K wordforms of the Bengali news corpus, developed from the web-archive of a leading Bengali newspaper. We have also developed an unsupervised algorithm in order to generate the lexical context patterns from a part of the unlabeled Bengali news corpus. Lexical patterns have been used as the features of SVM in order to improve the system performance. The NER system has been tested with the gold standard test sets of 35K, and 60K tokens for Bengali, and Hindi, respectively. Evaluation results have demonstrated the recall, precision, and f-score values of 88.61%, 80.12%, and 84.15%, respectively, for Bengali and 80.23%, 74.34%, and 77.17%, respectively, for Hindi. Results show the improvement in the f-score by 5.13% with the use of context patterns. Statistical analysis, ANOVA is also performed to compare the performance of the proposed NER system with that of the existing HMM based system for both the languages.
Abstract: In this article an evolutionary technique has been used
for the solution of nonlinear Riccati differential equations of fractional order. In this method, genetic algorithm is used as a tool for
the competent global search method hybridized with active-set algorithm for efficient local search. The proposed method has been
successfully applied to solve the different forms of Riccati
differential equations. The strength of proposed method has in its
equal applicability for the integer order case, as well as, fractional
order case. Comparison of the method has been made with standard
numerical techniques as well as the analytic solutions. It is found
that the designed method can provide the solution to the equation
with better accuracy than its counterpart deterministic approaches.
Another advantage of the given approach is to provide results on
entire finite continuous domain unlike other numerical methods
which provide solutions only on discrete grid of points.
Abstract: We present on the method of inverse coherence matrix for the estimation of network connectivity from multivariate time series of a complex system. In a model system of coupled chaotic oscillators, it is shown that the inverse coherence matrix defined as the inverse of cross coherence matrix is proportional to the network connectivity. Therefore the inverse coherence matrix could be used for the distinction between the directly connected links from indirectly connected links in a complex network. We compare the result of network estimation using the method of the inverse coherence matrix with the results obtained from the coherence matrix and the partial coherence matrix.
Abstract: To satisfy the need of outfield tests of star sensors, a
method is put forward to construct the reference attitude benchmark.
Firstly, its basic principle is introduced; Then, all the separate
conversion matrixes are deduced, which include: the conversion
matrix responsible for the transformation from the Earth Centered
Inertial frame i to the Earth-centered Earth-fixed frame w according to
the time of an atomic clock, the conversion matrix from frame w to the
geographic frame t, and the matrix from frame t to the platform frame
p, so the attitude matrix of the benchmark platform relative to the
frame i can be obtained using all the three matrixes as the
multiplicative factors; Next, the attitude matrix of the star sensor
relative to frame i is got when the mounting matrix from frame p to the
star sensor frame s is calibrated, and the reference attitude angles for
star sensor outfield tests can be calculated from the transformation
from frame i to frame s; Finally, the computer program is finished to
solve the reference attitudes, and the error curves are drawn about the
three axis attitude angles whose absolute maximum error is just 0.25ÔÇ│.
The analysis on each loop and the final simulating results manifest that
the method by precise timing to acquire the absolute reference attitude
is feasible for star sensor outfield tests.
Abstract: Planning community has been long discussing emerging paradigms within the planning theory in the face of the changing conditions of the world order. The paradigm shift concept was introduced by Thomas Kuhn, in 1960, who claimed the necessity of shifting within scientific knowledge boundaries; and following him in 1970 Imre Loktas also gave priority to the emergence of multi-paradigm societies [24]. Multi-paradigm is changing our predetermined lifeworld through uncertainties. Those uncertainties are reflected in two sides, the first one is uncertainty as a concept of possibility and creativity in public sphere and the second one is uncertainty as a risk. Therefore, it is necessary to apply a resilience planning approach to be more dynamic in controlling uncertainties which have the potential to transfigure present time and space definitions. In this way, stability of system can be achieved. Uncertainty is not only an outcome of worldwide changes but also a place-specific issue, i.e. it changes from continent to continent, a country to country; a region to region. Therefore, applying strategic spatial planning with respect to resilience principle contributes to: control, grasp and internalize uncertainties through place-specific strategies. In today-s fast changing world, planning system should follow strategic spatial projects to control multi-paradigm societies with adaptability capacities. Here, we have selected two alternatives to demonstrate; these are; 1.Tehran (Iran) from the Middle East 2.Bath (United Kingdom) from Europe. The study elaborates uncertainties and particularities in their strategic spatial planning processes in a comparative manner. Through the comparison, the study aims at assessing place-specific priorities in strategic planning. The approach is to a two-way stream, where the case cities from the extreme end of the spectrum can learn from each other. The structure of this paper is to firstly compare semi-periphery (Tehran) and coreperiphery (Bath) cities, with the focus to reveal how they equip to face with uncertainties according to their geographical locations and local particularities. Secondly, the key message to address is “Each locality requires its own strategic planning approach to be resilient.--
Abstract: With the growth of modern civilization and
industrialization in worldwide, the demand for energy is increasing
day by day. Majority of the world-s energy needs are met through
fossil fuels and natural gas. As a result the amount of fossil fuels is
on diminishing from year to year. Since the fossil fuel is nonrenewable,
so fuel price is gouging as a consequence of spiraling
demand and diminishing supply. At present the power generation of
our country is mainly depends on imported fossil fuels. To reduce the
dependency on imported fuel, the use of renewable sources has
become more popular. In Bangladesh coconut is widely growing tree.
Especially in the southern part of the country a large area will be
found where coconut tree is considered as natural asset. So, our
endeavor was to use the coconut oil as a renewable and alternative
fuel. This article shows the prospect of coconut oil as a renewable
and alternative fuel of diesel fuel. Since diesel engine has a versatile
uses including small electricity generation, an experimental set up is
then made to study the performance of a small diesel engine using
different blends of bio diesel converted from coconut oil. It is found
that bio diesel has slightly different properties than diesel. With
biodiesel the engine is capable of running without difficulty.
Different blends of bio diesel (i.e. B80, B60, and B 50 etc.) have
been used to avoid complicated modification of the engine or the fuel
supply system. Finally, a comparison of engine performance for
different blends of biodiesel has been carried out to determine the
optimum blend for different operating conditions.