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: Worldwide many electrical equipment insulation
failures have been reported caused by switching operations, while
those equipments had previously passed all the standard tests and
complied with all quality requirements. The problem is mostly
associated with high-frequency overvoltages generated during
opening or closing of a switching device. The transients generated
during switching operations in a Gas Insulated Substation (GIS) are
associated with high frequency components in the order of few tens
of MHz.
The frequency spectrum of the VFTO generated in the 220/66 kV
Wadi-Hoff GIS is analyzed using Fast Fourier Transform technique.
The main frequency with high voltage amplitude due to the operation
of disconnector (DS5) is 5 to 10 MHz, with the highest amplitude at 9
MHz. The main frequency with high voltage amplitude due to the
operation of circuit breaker (CB5) is 1 to 25 MHz, with the highest
amplitude at 2 MHz.
Mitigating techniques damped the oscillating frequencies
effectively. The using of cable terminal reduced the frequency
oscillation effectively than that of OHTL terminal. The using of a
shunt capacitance results in vanishing the high frequency
components. Ferrite rings reduces the high frequency components
effectively especially in the range 2 to 7 MHz. The using of RC and
RL filters results in vanishing the high frequency components.
Abstract: In spite of all advancement in software testing,
debugging remains a labor-intensive, manual, time consuming, and
error prone process. A candidate solution to enhance debugging
process is to fuse it with testing process. To achieve this integration,
a possible solution may be categorizing common software tests and
errors followed by the effort on fixing the errors through general
solutions for each test/error pair. Our approach to address this issue is
based on Christopher Alexander-s pattern and pattern language
concepts. The patterns in this language are grouped into three major
sections and connect the three concepts of test, error, and debug.
These patterns and their hierarchical relationship shape a pattern
language that introduces a solution to solve software errors in a
known testing context.
Finally, we will introduce our developed framework ADE as a
sample implementation to support a pattern of proposed language,
which aims to automate the whole process of evolving software
design via evolutionary methods.
Abstract: With the proliferation of World Wide Web,
development of web-based technologies and the growth in web
content, the structure of a website becomes more complex and web
navigation becomes a critical issue to both web designers and users.
In this paper we define the content and web pages as two important
and influential factors in website navigation and paraphrase the
enhancement in the website navigation as making some useful
changes in the link structure of the website based on the
aforementioned factors. Then we suggest a new method for
proposing the changes using fuzzy approach to optimize the website
architecture. Applying the proposed method to a real case of Iranian
Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) website, we discuss the results of
the novel approach at the final section.
Abstract: Individually Network reconfiguration or Capacitor control
perform well in minimizing power loss and improving voltage
profile of the distribution system. But for heavy reactive power loads
network reconfiguration and for heavy active power loads capacitor
placement can not effectively reduce power loss and enhance
voltage profiles in the system. In this paper, an hybrid approach
that combine network reconfiguration and capacitor placement using
Harmony Search Algorithm (HSA) is proposed to minimize power
loss reduction and improve voltage profile. The proposed approach
is tested on standard IEEE 33 and 16 bus systems. Computational
results show that the proposed hybrid approach can minimize losses
more efficiently than Network reconfiguration or Capacitor control.
The results of proposed method are also compared with results
obtained by Simulated Annealing (SA). The proposed method has
outperformed in terms of the quality of solution compared to SA.
Abstract: Proxy signature helps the proxy signer to sign
messages on behalf of the original signer. It is very useful when
the original signer (e.g. the president of a company) is not
available to sign a specific document. If the original signer can
not forge valid proxy signatures through impersonating the proxy
signer, it will be robust in a virtual environment; thus the original
signer can not shift any illegal action initiated by herself to the
proxy signer. In this paper, we propose a new proxy signature
scheme. The new scheme can prevent the original signer from
impersonating the proxy signer to sign messages. The proposed
scheme is based on the regular ElGamal signature. In addition,
the fair privacy of the proxy signer is maintained. That means,
the privacy of the proxy signer is preserved; and the privacy can
be revealed when it is necessary.
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel system for monitoring the
health of underground pipelines. Some of these pipelines transport
dangerous contents and any damage incurred might have catastrophic
consequences. However, most of these damage are unintentional and
usually a result of surrounding construction activities. In order to
prevent these potential damages, monitoring systems are
indispensable. This paper focuses on acoustically recognizing road
cutters since they prelude most construction activities in modern
cities. Acoustic recognition can be easily achieved by installing a
distributed computing sensor network along the pipelines and using
smart sensors to “listen" for potential threat; if there is a real threat,
raise some form of alarm. For efficient pipeline monitoring, a novel
monitoring approach is proposed. Principal Component Analysis
(PCA) was studied and applied. Eigenvalues were regarded as the
special signature that could characterize a sound sample, and were
thus used for the feature vector for sound recognition. The denoising
ability of PCA could make it robust to noise interference. One class
SVM was used for classifier. On-site experiment results show that the
proposed PCA and SVM based acoustic recognition system will be
very effective with a low tendency for raising false alarms.
Abstract: The major goal in defining and examining game
scenarios is to find good strategies as solutions to the game. A
plausible solution is a recommendation to the players on how to play
the game, which is represented as strategies guided by the various
choices available to the players. These choices invariably compel the
players (decision makers) to execute an action following some
conscious tactics. In this paper, we proposed a refinement-based
heuristic as a machine learning technique for human-like decision
making in playing Ayo game. The result showed that our machine
learning technique is more adaptable and more responsive in making
decision than human intelligence. The technique has the advantage
that a search is astutely conducted in a shallow horizon game tree.
Our simulation was tested against Awale shareware and an appealing
result was obtained.
Abstract: This paper presents the development of analysis tools
for Home Agriculture project. The tools are required for monitoring
the condition of greenhouse which involves two components:
measurement hardware and data analysis engine. Measurement
hardware is functioned to measure environment parameters such as
temperature, humidity, air quality, dust and etc while analysis tool is
used to analyse and interpret the integrated data against the condition
of weather, quality of health, irradiance, quality of soil and etc. The
current development of the tools is completed for off-line data
recorded technique. The data is saved in MMC and transferred via
ZigBee to Environment Data Manager (EDM) for data analysis.
EDM converts the raw data and plot three combination graphs. It has
been applied in monitoring three months data measurement for
irradiance, temperature and humidity of the greenhouse..
Abstract: This paper describes the development of a control
system model using a graphical software tool. This control system is
part of an operator training simulator developed for the National
Training Center for Operators of Ixtapantongo (CNCAOI, acronym
according to its name in Spanish language) of the Mexico-s Federal
Commission of Electricity, CFE). The Department of Simulation of
the Electrical Research Institute (IIE) developed this simulator using
as reference the Unit I of the Combined Cycle Power Plant El Sauz,
located at the centre of Mexico. The first step in the project was the
developing of the Gas Turbine System and its control system
simulator. The Turbo Gas simulator was finished and delivered to
CNCAOI in March 2007 for commercial operation. This simulator is
a high-fidelity real time dynamic simulator built and tested for
accurate operation over the entire load range. The simulator was used
primarily for operator training although it has been used for
procedure development and evaluation of plant transients.
Abstract: Previously, harmonic parameters (HPs) have been
selected as features extracted from EEG signals for automatic sleep
scoring. However, in previous studies, only one HP parameter was
used, which were directly extracted from the whole epoch of EEG
signal.
In this study, two different transformations were applied to extract
HPs from EEG signals: Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) and wavelet
transform (WT). EEG signals are decomposed by the two
transformations; and features were extracted from different
components. Twelve parameters (four sets of HPs) were extracted.
Some of the parameters are highly diverse among different stages.
Afterward, HPs from two transformations were used to building a
rough sleep stages scoring model using the classifier SVM. The
performance of this model is about 78% using the features obtained by
our proposed extractions. Our results suggest that these features may
be useful for automatic sleep stages scoring.
Abstract: Three-dimensional simulation of harmonic up
generation in free electron laser amplifier operating simultaneously
with a cold and relativistic electron beam is presented in steady-state
regime where the slippage of the electromagnetic wave with respect
to the electron beam is ignored. By using slowly varying envelope
approximation and applying the source-dependent expansion to wave
equations, electromagnetic fields are represented in terms of the
Hermit Gaussian modes which are well suited for the planar wiggler
configuration. The electron dynamics is described by the fully threedimensional
Lorentz force equation in presence of the realistic planar
magnetostatic wiggler and electromagnetic fields. A set of coupled
nonlinear first-order differential equations is derived and solved
numerically. The fundamental and third harmonic radiation of the
beam is considered. In addition to uniform beam, prebunched
electron beam has also been studied. For this effect of sinusoidal
distribution of entry times for the electron beam on the evolution of
radiation is compared with uniform distribution. It is shown that
prebunching reduces the saturation length substantially. For
efficiency enhancement the wiggler is set to decrease linearly when
the radiation of the third harmonic saturates. The optimum starting
point of tapering and the slope of radiation in the amplitude of
wiggler are found by successive run of the code.
Abstract: Ligula intestinalis is a three-host life-cycle
Pseudophyllidean Cestode which in its plerocercoid stage infests a
range of fresh water species. The objective of the present study was
the worm occurrence within planctonic copepods, fishes and
piscivorous birds and examine of parasite-hosts samples in the Lake
of Sattarkhan Dam (near the city of Ahar, East Azerbaijan, Iran).
Fish sample were collected with fyke and gill nets and the abdominal
cavity was examined for the presence of ligula. Zooplanktons were
captured using a planktonic net and occurrence of parasitic larval
form in the body cavity was determined. Piscivorous birds were
selected by telescope, they hunted and dissected for presence of
parasite eggs in their gut. Results indicated that prevalence of
infection was 16% for cyclopid copepoda and majority of infected
cyclopid were female Cyclops. Investigation of 310 fishes specimens
were indicated to infection of five species of cyprinid fishes. In
addition, results indicated to manipulation of six species of migratory
aquatic and semi aquatic birds by ligula. Obtained results are in
agreement by previous studies. Its definite in this study that all of
fishes in Sattarkhan Lake capable to infection, its important for
health because they capture by native people and it is documented
that ligula can be introduce as a zoonose. It's seemed that to prevent
from disperses of parasite and restricted of infection, biological
elimination can be effective and it's necessary to inform native
people about sanitation.
Abstract: This paper proposes a methodology for mitigating the occurrence of cascading failure in stressed power systems. The methodology is essentially based on predicting voltage instability in the power system using a voltage stability index and then devising a corrective action in order to increase the voltage stability margin. The paper starts with a brief description of the cascading failure mechanism which is probable root cause of severe blackouts. Then, the voltage instability indices are introduced in order to evaluate stability limit. The aim of the analysis is to assure that the coordination of protection, by adopting load shedding scheme, capable of enhancing performance of the system after the major location of instability is determined. Finally, the proposed method to generate instability prediction is introduced.
Abstract: Flight management system (FMS) is a specialized
computer system that automates a wide variety of in-flight tasks,
reducing the workload on the flight crew to the point that modern
aircraft no longer carry flight engineers or navigators. The primary
function of FMS is to perform the in-flight management of the flight
plan using various sensors (such as GPS and INS often backed up by
radio navigation) to determine the aircraft's position. From the
cockpit FMS is normally controlled through a Control Display Unit
(CDU) which incorporates a small screen and keyboard or touch
screen. This paper investigates the performance of GPS/ INS
integration techniques in which the data fusion process is done using
Kalman filtering. This will include the importance of sensors
calibration as well as the alignment of the strap down inertial
navigation system. The limitations of the inertial navigation systems
are investigated in order to understand why INS sometimes is
integrated with other navigation aids and not just operating in standalone
mode. Finally, both the loosely coupled and tightly coupled
configurations are analyzed for several types of situations and
operational conditions.
Abstract: The increasing industrialization and motorization of the world has led to a steep rise for the demand of petroleum-based fuels. Petroleum-based fuels are obtained from limited reserves. These finite reserves are highly concentrated in certain regions of the world. Therefore, those countries not having these resources are facing energy/foreign exchange crisis, mainly due to the import of crude petroleum. Hence, it is necessary to look for alternative fuels which can be produced from resources available locally within the country such as alcohol, biodiesel, vegetable oils etc. Biodiesel is a renewable, domestically produced fuel that has been shown to reduce particulate, hydrocarbon, and carbon monoxide emissions from combustion. In the present study an experimental investigation on emission characteristic of a liquid burner system operating on several percentage of biodiesel and gas oil is carried out. Samples of exhaust gas are analysed with Testo 350 Xl. The results show that biodiesel can lower some pollutant such as CO, CO2 and particulate matter emissions while NOx emission would increase in comparison with gas oil. The results indicate there may be benefits to using biodiesel in industrial processes.
Abstract: An artificial neural network (ANN) model is
presented for the prediction of kinematic viscosity of binary mixtures
of poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) in water as a function of temperature,
number-average molecular weight and mass fraction. Kinematic
viscosities data of aqueous solutions for PEG (0.55419×10-6 –
9.875×10-6 m2/s) were obtained from the literature for a wide range
of temperatures (277.15 - 338.15 K), number-average molecular
weight (200 -10000), and mass fraction (0.0 – 1.0). A three layer
feed-forward artificial neural network was employed. This model
predicts the kinematic viscosity with a mean square error (MSE) of
0.281 and the coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.983. The results
show that the kinematic viscosity of binary mixture of PEG in water
could be successfully predicted using an artificial neural network
model.
Abstract: The motivation of this work was to find a suitable 3D
scanner for human body parts digitalization in the field of prosthetics
and orthotics. The main project objective is to compare the three
hand-held portable scanners (two optical and one laser) and two
optical tripod scanners. The comparison was made with respect of
scanning detail, simplicity of operation and ability to scan directly on
the human body. Testing was carried out on a plaster cast of the
upper limb and directly on a few volunteers. The objective monitored
parameters were time of digitizing and post-processing of 3D data
and resulting visual data quality. Subjectively, it was considered level
of usage and handling of the scanner. The new tripod was developed
to improve the face scanning conditions. The results provide an
overview of the suitability of different types of scanners.
Abstract: Power consumption is rapidly increased in data centers
because the number of data center is increased and more the scale of
data center become larger. Therefore, it is one of key research items to
reduce power consumption in data center. The peak power of a typical
server is around 250 watts. When a server is idle, it continues to use
around 60% of the power consumed when in use, though vendors are
putting effort into reducing this “idle" power load. Servers tend to
work at only around a 5% to 20% utilization rate, partly because of
response time concerns. An average of 10% of servers in their data
centers was unused. In those reason, we propose dynamic power
management system to reduce power consumption in green data
center. Experiment result shows that about 55% power consumption is
reduced at idle time.