Abstract: A physically based, spatially-distributed water quality model is being developed to simulate spatial and temporal distributions of material transport in the Great Lakes Watersheds of the U.S. Multiple databases of meteorology, land use, topography, hydrography, soils, agricultural statistics, and water quality were used to estimate nonpoint source loading potential in the study watersheds. Animal manure production was computed from tabulations of animals by zip code area for the census years of 1987, 1992, 1997, and 2002. Relative chemical loadings for agricultural land use were calculated from fertilizer and pesticide estimates by crop for the same periods. Comparison of these estimates to the monitored total phosphorous load indicates that both point and nonpoint sources are major contributors to the total nutrient loads in the study watersheds, with nonpoint sources being the largest contributor, particularly in the rural watersheds. These estimates are used as the input to the distributed water quality model for simulating pollutant transport through surface and subsurface processes to Great Lakes waters. Visualization and GIS interfaces are developed to visualize the spatial and temporal distribution of the pollutant transport in support of water management programs.
Abstract: In this article, we present a web server based solution
for implementing a system for intelligent navigation. In this solution
we use real time collected data and traffic history to establish the best
route for navigation. This is a low cost solution that is easily to
implement and extend. There is no need any infrastructure at road
network level except only a device that collect data about traffic in
key road crossing. The presented solution creates a strong base for
traffic pursuit and offers an infrastructure for navigation applications.
Abstract: Unsatisfactory effectiveness of software systems
development and enhancement projects is one of the main reasons
why in software engineering there are attempts being made to use
experiences coming from other engineering disciplines. In spite of
specificity of software product and process a belief had come out that
the execution of software could be more effective if these objects
were subject to measurement – as it is true in other engineering
disciplines for which measurement is an immanent feature. Thus
objective and reliable approaches to the measurement of software
processes and products have been sought in software engineering for
several dozens of years already. This may be proved, among others,
by the current version of CMMI for Development model. This paper
is aimed at analyzing the approach to the software processes and
products measurement proposed in the latest version of this very
model, indicating growing acceptance for this issue in software
engineering.
Abstract: In this paper we propose a new knowledge model using
the Dempster-Shafer-s evidence theory for image segmentation and
fusion. The proposed method is composed essentially of two steps.
First, mass distributions in Dempster-Shafer theory are obtained from
the membership degrees of each pixel covering the three image
components (R, G and B). Each membership-s degree is determined by
applying Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) clustering to the gray levels of the
three images. Second, the fusion process consists in defining three
discernment frames which are associated with the three images to be
fused, and then combining them to form a new frame of discernment.
The strategy used to define mass distributions in the combined
framework is discussed in detail. The proposed fusion method is
illustrated in the context of image segmentation. Experimental
investigations and comparative studies with the other previous methods
are carried out showing thus the robustness and superiority of the
proposed method in terms of image segmentation.
Abstract: In this work, I present a review on Sparse Distributed
Memory for Small Cues (SDMSCue), a variant of Sparse Distributed
Memory (SDM) that is capable of handling small cues. I then conduct
and show some cognitive experiments on SDMSCue to test its
cognitive soundness compared to SDM. Small cues refer to input
cues that are presented to memory for reading associations; but have
many missing parts or fields from them. The original SDM failed to
handle such a problem. SDMSCue handles and overcomes this
pitfall. The main idea in SDMSCue; is the repeated projection of the
semantic space on smaller subspaces; that are selected based on the
input cue length and pattern. This process allows for Read/Write
operations using an input cue that is missing a large portion.
SDMSCue is augmented with the use of genetic algorithms for
memory allocation and initialization. I claim that SDM functionality
is a subset of SDMSCue functionality.
Abstract: Electronics Products that achieve high levels of integrated communications, computing and entertainment, multimedia features in small, stylish and robust new form factors are winning in the market place. Due to the high costs that an industry may undergo and how a high yield is directly proportional to high profits, IC (Integrated Circuit) manufacturers struggle to maximize yield, but today-s customers demand miniaturization, low costs, high performance and excellent reliability making the yield maximization a never ending research of an enhanced assembly process. With factors such as minimum tolerances, tighter parameter variations a systematic approach is needed in order to predict the assembly process. In order to evaluate the quality of upcoming circuits, yield models are used which not only predict manufacturing costs but also provide vital information in order to ease the process of correction when the yields fall below expectations. For an IC manufacturer to obtain higher assembly yields all factors such as boards, placement, components, the material from which the components are made of and processes must be taken into consideration. Effective placement yield depends heavily on machine accuracy and the vision of the system which needs the ability to recognize the features on the board and component to place the device accurately on the pads and bumps of the PCB. There are currently two methods for accurate positioning, using the edge of the package and using solder ball locations also called footprints. The only assumption that a yield model makes is that all boards and devices are completely functional. This paper will focus on the Monte Carlo method which consists in a class of computational algorithms (information processed algorithms) which depends on repeated random samplings in order to compute the results. This method utilized in order to recreate the simulation of placement and assembly processes within a production line.
Abstract: Colored Petri Nets (CPN) are very known kind of
high level Petri nets. With sound and complete semantics, rewriting
logic is one of very powerful logics in description and verification of
non-deterministic concurrent systems. Recently, CPN semantics are
defined in terms of rewriting logic, allowing us to built models by
formal reasoning. In this paper, we propose an automatic translation
of CPN to the rewriting logic language Maude. This tool allows
graphical editing and simulating CPN. The tool allows the user
drawing a CPN graphically and automatic translating the graphical
representation of the drawn CPN to Maude specification. Then,
Maude language is used to perform the simulation of the resulted
Maude specification. It is the first rewriting logic based environment
for this category of Petri Nets.
Abstract: High-frequency (HF) communications have been used by military organizations for more than 90 years. The opportunity of very long range communications without the need for advanced equipment makes HF a convenient and inexpensive alternative of satellite communications. Besides the advantages, voice and data transmission over HF is a challenging task, because the HF channel generally suffers from Doppler shift and spread, multi-path, cochannel interference, and many other sources of noise. In constructing an HF data modem, all these effects must be taken into account. STANAG 4539 is a NATO standard for high-speed data transmission over HF. It allows data rates up to 12800 bps over an HF channel of 3 kHz. In this work, an efficient implementation of STANAG 4539 on a single Texas Instruments- TMS320C6747 DSP chip is described. The state-of-the-art algorithms used in the receiver and the efficiency of the implementation enables real-time high-speed data / digitized voice transmission over poor HF channels.
Abstract: In this paper, the main principles of text-to-speech synthesis system are presented. Associated problems which arise when developing speech synthesis system are described. Used approaches and their application in the speech synthesis systems for Azerbaijani language are shown.
Abstract: Turbulence studies were made in the wake of a rotating
circular cylinder in a uniform free stream. The interest was to
examine the turbulence properties at the suppression of periodicity in
vortex formation process. An experimental study of the turbulent near
wake of a rotating circular cylinder was made at a Reynolds number
of 9000 for velocity ratios, λ between 0 and 2.7. Hot-wire
anemometry and particle image velocimetry results indicate that the
rotation of the cylinder causes significant changes in the vortical
activities. The turbulence quantities are getting smaller as λ increases
due to suppression of coherent vortex structures.
Abstract: The mesoporous MoO3/γ-Al2O3 catalyst was prepared
by incipient wetness impregnation method aiming to investigate the
effect of drying method and molybdenum content on the catalyst
property and performance towards the oxidation of benzothiophene
(BT), dibenzothiophene (DBT) and 4,6-dimethyle dibenzothiophene
(4,6-DMDBT) with H2O2 for deep oxidative desulfurization of diesel
fuel. The catalyst was characterized by XRD, BET, BJH and SEM
method. The catalyst with 10wt.% and 15wt.% Mo content represent
same optimum performance for DBT and 4,6-DMDBT removal, but
a catalyst with 10wt.% Mo has higher efficiency than 15wt.% Mo for
BT conversion. The SEM images show that use of rotary evaporator
in drying step reaches a more homogenous impregnation. The
oxidation reactivity of different sulfur compounds was studied which
followed the order of DBT>4,6-DMDBT>>BT.
Abstract: E-learning is not restricted to the use of new technologies for the online content, but also induces the adoption of new approaches to improve the quality of education. This quality depends on the ability of these approaches (technical and pedagogical) to provide an adaptive learning environment. Thus, the environment should include features that convey intentions and meeting the educational needs of learners by providing a customized learning path to acquiring a competency concerned In our proposal, we believe that an individualized learning path requires knowledge of the learner. Therefore, it must pass through a personalization of diagnosis to identify precisely the competency gaps to fill, and reduce the cognitive load To personalize the diagnosis and pertinently measure the competency gap, we suggest implementing the formative assessment in the e-learning environment and we propose the introduction of a pre-regulation process in the area of formative assessment, involving its individualization and implementation in e-learning.
Abstract: Direct fermentation of 226 white rose tapioca stem to
ethanol by Fusarium oxysporum was studied in a batch reactor.
Fermentation of ethanol can be achieved by sequential pretreatment
using dilute acid and dilute alkali solutions using 100 mesh tapioca
stem particles. The quantitative effects of substrate concentration, pH
and temperature on ethanol concentration were optimized using a full
factorial central composite design experiment. The optimum process
conditions were then obtained using response surface methodology.
The quadratic model indicated that substrate concentration of 33g/l,
pH 5.52 and a temperature of 30.13oC were found to be optimum for
maximum ethanol concentration of 8.64g/l. The predicted optimum
process conditions obtained using response surface methodology was
verified through confirmatory experiments. Leudeking-piret model
was used to study the product formation kinetics for the production
of ethanol and the model parameters were evaluated using
experimental data.
Abstract: We present the results of a case study aiming to assess the reflection of the tourism community in the Web and its usability to propose new ways to communicate visually. The wealth of information contained in the Web and the clear facilities to communicate personals points of view makes of the social web a new space of exploration. In this way, social web allow the sharing of information between communities with similar interests. However, the tourism community remains unexplored as is the case of the information covered in travel stories. Along the Web, we find multiples sites allowing the users to communicate their experiences and personal points of view of a particular place of the world. This cultural heritage is found in multiple documents, usually very little supplemented with photos, so they are difficult to explore due to the lack of visual information. This paper explores the possibility of analyzing travel stories to display them visually on maps and generate new knowledge such as patterns of travel routes. This way, travel narratives published in electronic formats can be very important especially to the tourism community because of the great amount of knowledge that can be extracted. Our approach is based on the use of a Geoparsing Web Service to extract geographic coordinates from travel narratives in order to draw the geo-positions and link the documents into a map image.
Abstract: Gamboge disorder (GD) or fruit damage by the yellow sap is a major problem in mangosteen. Mangosteen plants varied in the level of GD, from very low or non GD to low, moderate and high GD. However it was difficult to differentiate between GD and non GD plants because evaluation of the disorder is strongly influenced by environment. In this study we investigated the usefulness of primer designed from bioinformatics related to cell wall strength, termed as MCWS, to predict GD. Plant materials used were 28 mangosteen plants selected based on percentage of GD categorized as high, moderate, low and very low or non GD. The result showed that the specific DNA fragments were absent in the high GD accessions. The MCWS marker suggests as a novel polymorphic marker for GD in mangosteen as well as a marker for detect variability in mangosteen as apomictic plant.
Abstract: Two novel hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalysts:
FeN4/C and FeN2/C, were prepared using an impregnation-pyrolysis
method. The two materials were investigated as catalysts for
hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and hydrodearomitization (HDA) of
model compounds. The turnover frequency of the two FeN catalysts
is comparable to (FeN4/C) or even higher (FeN2/C) than that of
MoNi/Al2O3. The FeN4/C catalyst also exhibited catalytic activity
toward HDA.
Abstract: The importance for manipulating an incorporated
scaffold and directing cell behaviors is well appreciated for tissue
engineering. Here, we developed newly nano-topographic oxidized
silicon nanosponges capable of being various chemical modifications
to provide much insight into the fundamental biology of how cells
interact with their surrounding environment in vitro. A wet etching
technique is exerted to allow us fabricated the silicon nanosponges in a
high-throughput manner. Furthermore, various organo-silane
chemicals enabled self-assembled on the surfaces by vapor deposition.
We have found that Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells displayed
certain distinguishable morphogenesis, adherent responses, and
biochemical properties while cultured on these chemical modified
nano-topographic structures in compared with the planar oxidized
silicon counterparts, indicating that cell behaviors can be influenced
by certain physical characteristic derived from nano-topography in
addition to the hydrophobicity of contact surfaces crucial for cell
adhesion and spreading. Of particular, there were predominant
nano-actin punches and slender protrusions formed while cells were
cultured on the nano-topographic structures. This study shed potential
applications of these nano-topographic biomaterials for controlling
cell development in tissue engineering or basic cell biology research.
Abstract: Determination of wellbore problems during a
production/injection process might be evaluated thorough
temperature log analysis. Other applications of this kind of log
analysis may also include evaluation of fluid distribution analysis
along the wellbore and identification of anomalies encountered
during production/injection process. While the accuracy of such
prediction is paramount, the common method of determination of a
wellbore temperature log includes use of steady-state energy balance
equations, which hardly describe the real conditions as observed in
typical oil and gas flowing wells during production operation; and
thus increase level of uncertainties. In this study, a practical method
has been proposed through development of a simplified semianalytical
model to apply for predicting temperature profile along the
wellbore. The developed model includes an overall heat transfer
coefficient accounting all modes of heat transferring mechanism,
which has been focused on the prediction of a temperature profile as
a function of depth for the injection/production wells. The model has
been validated with the results obtained from numerical simulation.
Abstract: Electrochemical-oxidation of Reactive Black-5 (RB- 5) was conducted for degradation using DSA type Ti/RuO2-SnO2- Sb2O5 electrode. In the study, for electro-oxidation, electrode was indigenously fabricated in laboratory using titanium as substrate. This substrate was coated using different metal oxides RuO2, Sb2O5 and SnO2 by thermal decomposition method. Laboratory scale batch reactor was used for degradation and decolorization studies at pH 2, 7 and 11. Current density (50mA/cm2) and distance between electrodes (8mm) were kept constant for all experiments. Under identical conditions, removal of color, COD and TOC at initial pH 2 was 99.40%, 55% and 37% respectively for initial concentration of 100 mg/L RB-5. Surface morphology and composition of the fabricated electrode coatings were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) respectively. Coating microstructure was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results of this study further revealed that almost 90% of oxidation occurred within 5-10 minutes.
Abstract: Opportunistic network is a kind of Delay Tolerant Networks (DTN) where the nodes in this network come into contact with each other opportunistically and communicate wirelessly and, an end-to-end path between source and destination may have never existed, and disconnection and reconnection is common in the network. In such a network, because of the nature of opportunistic network, perhaps there is no a complete path from source to destination for most of the time and even if there is a path; the path can be very unstable and may change or break quickly. Therefore, routing is one of the main challenges in this environment and, in order to make communication possible in an opportunistic network, the intermediate nodes have to play important role in the opportunistic routing protocols. In this paper we proposed an Adaptive Fuzzy Routing in opportunistic network (AFRON). This protocol is using the simple parameters as input parameters to find the path to the destination node. Using Message Transmission Count, Message Size and Time To Live parameters as input fuzzy to increase delivery ratio and decrease the buffer consumption in the all nodes of network.