Abstract: A novel and versatile numerical technique to solve a self-stress equilibrium state is adopted herein as a form-finding procedure for an irregular tensegrity structure. The numerical form-finding scheme of a tensegrity structure uses only the connectivity matrix and prototype tension coefficient vector as the initial guess solution. Any information on the symmetrical geometry or other predefined initial structural conditions is not necessary to get the solution in the form-finding process. An eight-node initial condition example is presented to demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed method in the form-finding of an irregular tensegrity structure. Based on the conception from the form-finding of an eight-node irregular tensegrity structure, a monumental object is designed by considering the real world situation such as self-weight, wind and earthquake loadings.
Abstract: Bacterial molecular chaperone DnaK plays an essential role in protein folding, stress response and transmembrane targeting of proteins. DnaKs from many bacterial species, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Haemophilus infleunzae are the molecular targets for the insect-derived antimicrobial peptide pyrrhocoricin. Pyrrhocoricin-like peptides bind in the substrate recognition tunnel. Despite the high degree of crossspecies sequence conservation in the substrate-binding tunnel, some bacteria are not sensitive to pyrrhocoricin. This work addresses the molecular mechanism of resistance of Helicobacter pylori DnaK to pyrrhocoricin. Homology modelling, structural and sequence analysis identify a single aminoacid substitution at the interface between the lid and the β-sandwich subdomains of the DnaK substrate-binding domain as the major determinant for its resistance.
Abstract: Buoyancy driven heat transfer of nanofluids in a
cylindrical enclosure used as a control unit in the subsea hydrocarbon
injection wells is investigated in this study. The governing equations
obtained with the Boussinesq approximation are solved using Comsol
Multiphysics finite element analysis and simulation software. The
base fluid is water and CuO is used as nanoparticles. Solution is
obtained for nanoparticle solid volume fraction of 8% and for
Rayleigh number in the range of 105-107. The results show that
nanoparticle usage in the cylindrical electronic control unit has a
significant effect on the flow and heat transfer.
Abstract: In this paper we use the property of co-occurrence
matrix in finding parallel lines in binary pictures for fingerprint
identification. In our proposed algorithm, we reduce the noise by
filtering the fingerprint images and then transfer the fingerprint
images to binary images using a proper threshold. Next, we divide
the binary images into some regions having parallel lines in the same
direction. The lines in each region have a specific angle that can be
used for comparison. This method is simple, performs the
comparison step quickly and has a good resistance in the presence of
the noise.
Abstract: The paper suggests for the first time the use of dynamic programming techniques for optimal risk reduction in the railway industry. It is shown that by using the concept ‘amount of removed risk by a risk reduction option’, the problem related to optimal allocation of a fixed budget to achieve a maximum risk reduction in the railway industry can be reduced to an optimisation problem from dynamic programming. For n risk reduction options and size of the available risk reduction budget B (expressed as integer number), the worst-case running time of the proposed algorithm is O (n x (B+1)), which makes the proposed method a very efficient tool
for solving the optimal risk reduction problem in the railway industry.
Abstract: Intrusion detection is a mechanism used to protect a
system and analyse and predict the behaviours of system users. An
ideal intrusion detection system is hard to achieve due to
nonlinearity, and irrelevant or redundant features. This study
introduces a new anomaly-based intrusion detection model. The
suggested model is based on particle swarm optimisation and
nonlinear, multi-class and multi-kernel support vector machines.
Particle swarm optimisation is used for feature selection by applying
a new formula to update the position and the velocity of a particle;
the support vector machine is used as a classifier. The proposed
model is tested and compared with the other methods using the KDD
CUP 1999 dataset. The results indicate that this new method achieves
better accuracy rates than previous methods.
Abstract: Calcium [Ca2+] is an important second messenger
which plays an important role in signal transduction. There are
several parameters that affect its concentration profile like buffer
source etc. The effect of stationary immobile buffer on Ca2+
concentration has been incorporated which is a very important
parameter needed to be taken into account in order to make the
model more realistic. Interdependence of all the important parameters
like diffusion coefficient and influx over [Ca2+] profile has been
studied. Model is developed in the form of advection diffusion
equation together with buffer concentration. A program has been
developed using finite volume method for the entire problem and
simulated on an AMD-Turion 32-bit machine to compute the
numerical results.
Abstract: Saturated hydraulic conductivity is one of the soil
hydraulic properties which is widely used in environmental studies
especially subsurface ground water. Since, its direct measurement is
time consuming and therefore costly, indirect methods such as
pedotransfer functions have been developed based on multiple linear
regression equations and neural networks model in order to estimate
saturated hydraulic conductivity from readily available soil
properties e.g. sand, silt, and clay contents, bulk density, and organic
matter. The objective of this study was to develop neural networks
(NNs) model to estimate saturated hydraulic conductivity from
available parameters such as sand and clay contents, bulk density,
van Genuchten retention model parameters (i.e. r
θ , α , and n) as well
as effective porosity. We used two methods to calculate effective
porosity: : (1) eff s FC φ =θ -θ , and (2) inf φ =θ -θ eff s , in which s
θ is
saturated water content, FC θ is water content retained at -33 kPa
matric potential, and inf θ is water content at the inflection point.
Total of 311 soil samples from the UNSODA database was divided
into three groups as 187 for the training, 62 for the validation (to
avoid over training), and 62 for the test of NNs model. A commercial
neural network toolbox of MATLAB software with a multi-layer
perceptron model and back propagation algorithm were used for the
training procedure. The statistical parameters such as correlation
coefficient (R2), and mean square error (MSE) were also used to
evaluate the developed NNs model. The best number of neurons in
the middle layer of NNs model for methods (1) and (2) were
calculated 44 and 6, respectively. The R2 and MSE values of the test
phase were determined for method (1), 0.94 and 0.0016, and for
method (2), 0.98 and 0.00065, respectively, which shows that method
(2) estimates saturated hydraulic conductivity better than method (1).
Abstract: Application of Expert System in the area of agriculture would take the form of Integrated Crop Management decision aids and would encompass water management, fertilizer management, crop protection systems and identification of implements. In order to remain competitive, the modern farmer often relies on agricultural specialists and advisors to provide information for decision-making. An expert system normally composed of a knowledge base (information, heuristics, etc.), inference engine (analyzes knowledge base), and end user interface (accepting inputs, generating outputs). Software named 'CROP-9-DSS' incorporating all modern features like, graphics, photos, video clippings etc. has been developed. This package will aid as a decision support system for identification of pest and diseases with control measures, fertilizer recommendation system, water management system and identification of farm implements for leading crops of Kerala (India) namely Coconut, Rice, Cashew, Pepper, Banana, four vegetables like Amaranthus, Bhindi, Brinjal and Cucurbits. 'CROP-9-DSS' will act as an expert system to agricultural officers, scientists in the field of agriculture and extension workers for decision-making and help them in suggesting suitable recommendations.
Abstract: This study presents a simulation model for converting coal to methanol, based on gasification technology with the commercial chemical process simulator, Pro/II® V8.1.1. The methanol plant consists of air separation unit (ASU), gasification unit, gas clean-up unit, and methanol synthetic unit. The clean syngas is produced with the first three operating units, and the model has been verified with the reference data from United States Environment Protection Agency. The liquid phase methanol (LPMEOHTM) process is adopted in the methanol synthetic unit. Clean syngas goes through gas handing section to reach the reaction requirement, reactor loop/catalyst to generate methanol, and methanol distillation to get desired purity over 99.9 wt%. The ratio of the total energy combined with methanol and dimethyl ether to that of feed coal is 78.5% (gross efficiency). The net efficiency is 64.2% with the internal power consumption taken into account, based on the assumption that the efficiency of electricity generation is 40%.
Abstract: In this study, we sought to investigate the mercury
removal efficiency of manganese oxides from natural gas. The
fundamental studies on mercury removal with manganese oxides
sorbents were carried out in a laboratory scale fixed bed reactor at 30
°C with a mixture of methane (20%) and nitrogen gas laden with 4.8
ppb of elemental mercury. Manganese oxides with varying surface
area and crystalline phase were prepared by conventional precipitation
method in this study. The effects of surface area, crystallinity and
other metal oxides on mercury removal efficiency were investigated.
Effect of Ag impregnation on mercury removal efficiency was also
investigated. Ag supported on metal oxide such titania and zirconia as
reference materials were also used in this study for comparison. The
characteristics of mercury removal reaction with manganese oxide
was investigated using a temperature programmed desorption (TPD)
technique.
Manganese oxides showed very high Hg removal activity (about
73-93% Hg removal) for first time use. Surface area of the manganese
oxide samples decreased after heat-treatment and resulted in complete
loss of Hg removal ability for repeated use after Hg desorption in the
case of amorphous MnO2, and 75% loss of the initial Hg removal
activity for the crystalline MnO2. Mercury desorption efficiency of
crystalline MnO2 was very low (37%) for first time use and high (98%)
after second time use. Residual potassium content in MnO2 may have
some effect on the thermal stability of the adsorbed Hg species.
Desorption of Hg from manganese oxides occurs at much higher
temperatures (with a peak at 400 °C) than Ag/TiO2 or Ag/ZrO2.
Mercury may be captured on manganese oxides in the form of mercury
manganese oxide.
Abstract: Visual attention allows user to select the most relevant
information to ongoing behaviour. This paper presents a study on; i)
the performance of people measurements, ii) accurateness of people
measurement of the peaks that correspond to chemical quantities
from the Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) graphs and iii)
affects of people measurements to the algorithm-based diagnosis.
Participant-s eye-movement was recorded using eye-tracker tool
(Eyelink II). This experiment involves three participants for
examining 20 MRS graphs to estimate the peaks of chemical
quantities which indicate the abnormalities associated with
Cerebellar Tumours (CT). The status of each MRS is verified by
using decision algorithm. Analysis involves determination of
humans-s eye movement pattern in measuring the peak of
spectrograms, scan path and determining the relationship of
distributions of fixation durations with the accuracy of measurement.
In particular, the eye-tracking data revealed which aspects of the
spectrogram received more visual attention and in what order they
were viewed. This preliminary investigation provides a proof of
concept for use of the eye tracking technology as the basis for
expanded CT diagnosis.
Abstract: Electro Discharge Sawing is a hybrid process
combining the features of SEDM and ECM. Its major characteristic is
extremely fast erosion rate compare to either of the above processes.
This paper brings out its relative feature of SEDM and EDS about
their erosion rates, surface roughness, and morphology of machined
surfaces.
Abstract: Waste problem is becoming a future problem all over the world. Magnesium wastes which can be used in recycling processes are produced by many industrial activities. Magnesium borates which have useful properties such as; high heat resistance, corrosion resistance, supermechanical strength, superinsulation, light weight, high coefficient of elasticity and so on. Addition, magnesium borates have great potential in the development of ceramic and detergents industry, whisker-reinforced composites, antiwear, and reducing friction additives.
In this study, using the starting materials of waste magnesium and H3BO3 the hydrothermal method was applied at a moderate temperature of 70oC with different reaction times. Several reaction times of waste magnesium to H3BO3 were selected as; 30, 60, 120, 240 minutes. After the synthesis, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques were applied to products. As a result, the forms of Admontite [MgO(B2O3)3.7(H2O)] and Mcallisterite [Mg2(B6O7(OH)6)2.9(H2O)] were synthesized.
Abstract: Tea is a widely consumed beverage that contains many components. Caffeine belongs to this group of components called alkaloids contain nitrogen. In this study caffeine contents of three types of Turkish teas are determined by using extraction method. After condensation process, residue of caffeine and oil are obtained with evaporation. The oil which is in the residue is removed by hot water. Extraction process performed by using chloroform and the crude caffeine is obtained. From the results of experiments, caffeine contents are found in black tea, green tea and earl grey tea as 3.57±0.43%, 3.11±0.02%, 4.29±0.27%, respectively. Caffeine contents which are found in 1, 5 and 10 cups of tea are calculated. Furthermore, the daily intake of caffeine from black teas that affects human health is investigated.
Abstract: Variational methods for optical flow estimation are
known for their excellent performance. The method proposed by Brox
et al. [5] exemplifies the strength of that framework. It combines
several concepts into single energy functional that is then minimized
according to clear numerical procedure. In this paper we propose
a modification of that algorithm starting from the spatiotemporal
gradient constancy assumption. The numerical scheme allows to
establish the connection between our model and the CLG(H) method
introduced in [18]. Experimental evaluation carried out on synthetic
sequences shows the significant superiority of the spatial variant of
the proposed method. The comparison between methods for the realworld
sequence is also enclosed.
Abstract: The objectives of the study are to examine the
determinants of ERP implementation success factors of ERP
implementation. The result indicates that large scale ERP
implementation success consist of eight factors: project management
competence, knowledge sharing, ERP system quality , understanding,
user involvement, business process re-engineering, top management
support, organization readiness.
Abstract: A parametric study of a mixed-compression
supersonic inlet is performed and reported. The effects of inlet Mach
Numbers, varying from 4 to 10, and angle of attack, varying from 0
to 10, are reported for a constant inlet dynamic pressure. The paper
looked at the variations of mass flow rates through the inlet, gain in
entropy through the inlet, and the angles of the external oblique
shocks. The mass flow rates were found to decrease monotonically
with Mach numbers and increase with angle of attacks. On the other
hand the entropy gain through the inlet increased with increasing
Mach number and angle of attack. The variation in static pressure
was found to be identical from the inlet throat to the exit for Mach
number values higher than 6.
Abstract: This work presents a methodology for the design and
manufacture of propellers oriented to the experimental verification of
theoretical results based on the combined model. The design process
begins by using algorithms in Matlab which output data contain the
coordinates of the points that define the blade airfoils, in this case the
NACA 6512 airfoil was used. The modeling for the propeller blade
was made in NX7, through the imported files in Matlab and with the
help of surfaces. Later, the hub and the clamps were also modeled.
Finally, NX 7 also made possible to create post-processed files to the
required machine. It is possible to find the block of numbers with G
& M codes about the type of driver on the machine. The file
extension is .ptp. These files made possible to manufacture the blade,
and the hub of the propeller.
Abstract: A strategy is implemented to find the improved configuration design of an existing aircraft structure by executing topology and shape optimizations. Structural analysis of the Initial Design Space is performed in ANSYS under the loads pertinent to operating and ground conditions. By using the FEA results and data, an initial optimized layout configuration is attained by exploiting nonparametric topology optimization in TOSCA software. Topological optimized surfaces are then smoothened and imported in ANSYS to develop the geometrical features. Nodes at the critical locations of resulting voids are selected for sketching rough profiles. Rough profiles are further refined and CAD feasible geometric features are generated. The modified model is then analyzed under the same loadings and constraints as defined for topology optimization. Shape at the peak stress concentration areas are further optimized by exploiting the shape optimization in TOSCA.shape module. The harmonized stressed model with the modified surfaces is then imported in CATIA to develop the final design.