Abstract: In this study, production possibilities of hydrogen and/or methane via SCWG from black grape residues have been investigated. For this aim, grape residues which remain as a byproduct of the wine making process have been used. Since utilization from grape residues is limited due to the high moisture content, supercritical water gasification is the most convenient method. The effect of the gasification temperature and type of catalyst on supercritical water gasification have been investigated. Gasification experiments were performed in a batch autoclave at four different temperatures 300, 400, 500 and 600°C. K2CO3 and Trona (NaHCO3.Na2CO3·2H2O) were used as catalyst. Real biomass types of black grape residues have been successfully gasified and the product gas (hydrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and a small amount of ethane and ethylene) were identified by using gas chromatography. A TOC analyzer was used to determine total organic carbon (TOC) content of aqueous phase. The amounts of carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ketones, furfurals and phenols present in the aqueous solutions were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. When the temperature increased from 300°C to 600°C, mol% of H2 in gas products increased. The presence of catalysts improves the hydrogen yield. Trona showed gasification activity to be similar to that of K2CO3. It may be concluded that the use of Trona instead of commercially produced catalysts, can be preferably used in the gasification of biomass in supercritical water.
Abstract: This paper presents design features of a rescue robot, named CEO Mission II. Its body is designed to be the track wheel type with double front flippers for climbing over the collapse and the rough terrain. With 125 cm. long, 5-joint mechanical arm installed on the robot body, it is deployed not only for surveillance from the top view but also easier and faster access to the victims to get their vital signs. Two cameras and sensors for searching vital signs are set up at the tip of the multi-joint mechanical arm. The third camera is at the back of the robot for driving control. Hardware and software of the system, which controls and monitors the rescue robot, are explained. The control system is used for controlling the robot locomotion, the 5-joint mechanical arm, and for turning on/off devices. The monitoring system gathers all information from 7 distance sensors, IR temperature sensors, 3 CCD cameras, voice sensor, robot wheels encoders, yawn/pitch/roll angle sensors, laser range finder and 8 spare A/D inputs. All sensors and controlling data are communicated with a remote control station via IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi. The audio and video data are compressed and sent via another IEEE 802.11g Wi-Fi transmitter for getting real-time response. At remote control station site, the robot locomotion and the mechanical arm are controlled by joystick. Moreover, the user-friendly GUI control program is developed based on the clicking and dragging method to easily control the movement of the arm. Robot traveling map is plotted from computing the information of wheel encoders and the yawn/pitch data. 2D Obstacle map is plotted from data of the laser range finder. The concept and design of this robot can be adapted to suit many other applications. As the Best Technique awardee from Thailand Rescue Robot Championship 2006, all testing results are satisfied.
Abstract: The fortified of soft wheat flour with cowpea flour in
bread making was investigated. The Soft wheat flour (SWF) was
substituted by cowpea flour at levels of 5, 15 and 20%. The protein content of composite breads ranged from 6.1 – 9.9%. Significant
difference was observed in moisture, protein and crude fibre contents of control (wheat bread) and composite bread at 5% addition of
cowpea. Water absorption capacities of composite flours increased with increasing levels of cowpea flour in the blend. The specific loaf
volume decreased significantly with increased cowpea content of
blends. The overall acceptability of the 5% cowpea flour content of
composite bread was not significantly different from the control (Soft Wheat-bread) but there is significantly different with increasing the
levels of cowpea flour in the blend more than 5%.
Abstract: Burnishing is a method of finishing and hardening
machined parts by plastic deformation of the surface. Experimental
work based on central composite second order rotatable design has
been carried out on a lathe machine to establish the effects of ball
burnishing parameters on the surface roughness of brass material.
Analysis of the results by the analysis of variance technique and the
F-test show that the parameters considered, have significant effects
on the surface roughness.
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: 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: In this paper, we proposed a method for detecting consistency violation between state machine diagrams and a sequence diagram defined in UML 2.0 using SMV. We extended a method expressing these diagrams defined in UML 1.0 with boolean formulas so that it can express a sequence diagram with combined fragments introduced in UML 2.0. This extension made it possible to represent three types of combined fragment: alternative, option and parallel. As a result of experiment, we confirmed that the proposed method could detect consistency violation correctly with SMV.
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: 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: A mathematical model for the hydrodynamic
lubrication of parabolic slider bearings with couple stress lubricants
is presented. A numerical solution for the mathematical model using
finite element scheme is obtained using three nodes isoparametric
quadratic elements. Stiffness integrals obtained from the weak form
of the governing equations were solved using Gauss Quadrature to
obtain a finite number of stiffness matrices. The global system of
equations was obtained for the bearing and solved using Gauss Seidel
iterative scheme. The converged pressure solution was used to obtain
the load capacity of the bearing. Parametric studies were carried out
and it was shown that the effect of couple stresses and profile
parameter are to increase the load carrying capacity of the parabolic
slider bearing. Numerical experiments reveal that the magnitude of
the profile parameter at which maximum load is obtained increases
with decrease in couple stress parameter. The results are presented in
graphical form.
Abstract: The beneficial effects of Si are mainly associated with
its high deposition in plant tissue and enhancing their strength and
rigidity. We investigated the role of Si against cadmium stress in
(Echium C) in house green condition. When the seventh leaves was
be appeared, plants were pretreated with five levels of Si: 0, 0.2, 0.5,
0.7and 1.5 mM Si (as sodium trisilicate, Na2(SiO2)3) and after that
plants were treated with two levels of Cd (30 and 90 mM). The
effects of Silicon and Cd were investigated on some physiological
and biochemical parameters such as: lipid peroxidation
(malondialdehyde (MDA) and other aldehydes, antocyanin and
flavonoid content. Our results showed that Cd significantly increased
MDA, other aldehydes, antocyanin and flavonoids content in
Echium and silicon offset the negative effect and increased tolerance
of Echium against Cd stress. From this results we concluded that Si
increase membrane integrity and antioxidative ability in this plant
against cd stress.
Abstract: Noise has adverse effect on human health and
comfort. Noise not only cause hearing impairment, but it also acts as
a causal factor for stress and raising systolic pressure. Additionally it
can be a causal factor in work accidents, both by marking hazards
and warning signals and by impeding concentration. Industry
workers also suffer psychological and physical stress as well as
hearing loss due to industrial noise. This paper proposes an approach
to enable engineers to point out quantitatively the noisiest source for
modification, while multiple machines are operating simultaneously.
The model with the point source and spherical radiation in a free field
was adopted to formulate the problem. The procedure works very
well in ideal cases (point source and free field). However, most of the
industrial noise problems are complicated by the fact that the noise is
confined in a room. Reflections from the walls, floor, ceiling, and
equipment in a room create a reverberant sound field that alters the
sound wave characteristics from those for the free field. So the model
was validated for relatively low absorption room at NIT Kurukshetra
Central Workshop. The results of validation pointed out that the
estimated sound power of noise sources under simultaneous
conditions were on lower side, within the error limits 3.56 - 6.35 %.
Thus suggesting the use of this methodology for practical
implementation in industry. To demonstrate the application of the
above analytical procedure for estimating the sound power of noise
sources under simultaneous operating conditions, a manufacturing
facility (Railway Workshop at Yamunanagar, India) having five
sound sources (machines) on its workshop floor is considered in this
study. The findings of the case study had identified the two most
effective candidates (noise sources) for noise control in the Railway
Workshop Yamunanagar, India. The study suggests that the
modification in the design and/or replacement of these two identified
noisiest sources (machine) would be necessary so as to achieve an
effective reduction in noise levels. Further, the estimated data allows
engineers to better understand the noise situations of the workplace
and to revise the map when changes occur in noise level due to a
workplace re-layout.
Abstract: Wavelet transform has been extensively used in
machine fault diagnosis and prognosis owing to its strength to deal
with non-stationary signals. The existing Wavelet transform based
schemes for fault diagnosis employ wavelet decomposition of the
entire vibration frequency which not only involve huge
computational overhead in extracting the features but also increases
the dimensionality of the feature vector. This increase in the
dimensionality has the tendency to 'over-fit' the training data and
could mislead the fault diagnostic model. In this paper a novel
technique, envelope wavelet packet transform (EWPT) is proposed in
which features are extracted based on wavelet packet transform of the
filtered envelope signal rather than the overall vibration signal. It not
only reduces the computational overhead in terms of reduced number
of wavelet decomposition levels and features but also improves the
fault detection accuracy. Analytical expressions are provided for the
optimal frequency resolution and decomposition level selection in
EWPT. Experimental results with both actual and simulated machine
fault data demonstrate significant gain in fault detection ability by
EWPT at reduced complexity compared to existing techniques.
Abstract: Can biometrics do what everyone is expecting it will?
And more importantly, should it be doing it? Biometrics is the
buzzword “on the mouth" of everyone, who are trying to use this
technology in a variety of applications. But all this “hype" about
biometrics can be dangerous without a careful evaluation of the real
needs of each application. In this paper I-ll try to focus on the
dangers of using the right technology at the right time in the wrong
place.
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: The data is available in abundance in any business
organization. It includes the records for finance, maintenance,
inventory, progress reports etc. As the time progresses, the data keep
on accumulating and the challenge is to extract the information from
this data bank. Knowledge discovery from these large and complex
databases is the key problem of this era. Data mining and machine
learning techniques are needed which can scale to the size of the
problems and can be customized to the application of business. For
the development of accurate and required information for particular
problem, business analyst needs to develop multidimensional models
which give the reliable information so that they can take right
decision for particular problem. If the multidimensional model does
not possess the advance features, the accuracy cannot be expected.
The present work involves the development of a Multidimensional
data model incorporating advance features. The criterion of
computation is based on the data precision and to include slowly
change time dimension. The final results are displayed in graphical
form.
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: A sequential treatment of ozonation followed by a
Fenton or photo-Fenton process, using black light lamps (365 nm) in
this latter case, has been applied to remove a mixture of
pharmaceutical compounds and the generated by-products both in
ultrapure and secondary treated wastewater. The scientifictechnological
innovation of this study stems from the in situ
generation of hydrogen peroxide from the direct ozonation of
pharmaceuticals, and can later be used in the application of Fenton
and photo-Fenton processes. The compounds selected as models
were sulfamethoxazol and acetaminophen. It should be remarked that
the use of a second process is necessary as a result of the low
mineralization yield reached by the exclusive application of ozone.
Therefore, the influence of the water matrix has been studied in terms
of hydrogen peroxide concentration, individual compound
concentration and total organic carbon removed. Moreover, the
concentration of different iron species in solution has been measured.
Abstract: Interactive push VOD system is a new kind of system
that incorporates push technology and interactive technique. It can
push movies to users at high speeds at off-peak hours for optimal
network usage so as to save bandwidth. This paper presents effective
software-based solution for processing mass downstream data at
terminals of interactive push VOD system, where the service can
download movie according to a viewer-s selection. The downstream
data is divided into two catalogs: (1) the carousel data delivered
according to DSM-CC protocol; (2) IP data delivered according to
Euro-DOCSIS protocol. In order to accelerate download speed and
reduce data loss rate at terminals, this software strategy introduces
caching, multi-thread and resuming mechanisms. The experiments
demonstrate advantages of the software-based solution.