Abstract: Because of the easy applying and not costing too much, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) is one of the most used non-destructive techniques to determine concrete characteristics along with impact-echo, Schmidt rebound hammer (SRH) and pulse-echo. This article investigates the relationship between UPV and compressive strength of hybrid fiber reinforced concretes. Water/cement ratio (w/c) was kept at 0.4 for all concrete mixes. Compressive strength of concrete was targeted at 35 MPa. UPV testing and compressive strength tests were carried out at the curing age of 28 days. The UPV of concrete containing steel fibers has been found to be higher than plain concrete for all the testing groups. It is decided that there is not a certain relationship between fiber addition and strength.
Abstract: The paper briefly outlines the nature of contemporary Architecture Education in India and its present challenges with theoretically feasible solutions. It explores in detail the arduous position of architecture education owing to, privatization of higher education institutes in India, every changing demand of the technology driven industry and discipline, along with regional and cultural resources that should be explored academically for the enrichment of graduates. With the government's education policy of supporting privatization, a comprehensive role for the regulating body of Architecture Education becomes imperative. The paper provides key insights through empirical research into the nature of these roles and the areas which need attention in light of the problems. With the aid of critically acclaimed education model like Design Build, contextual retrofits for Indian institutes can be stressed for inclusion in the curriculum. The pairing of a private institute and public industry/research body and vice versa can lead to pro-economic and pro-social research environment. These reforms if stressed by an autonomous nationwide regulating body rather than the state will lead to uniformity and flexibility of curriculum which promotes the creation of fresh graduates who are adaptable to the changing needs.
Abstract: When the Manning equation is used, a unique value of normal depth in the uniform flow exists for a given channel geometry, discharge, roughness, and slope. Depending on the value of normal depth relative to the critical depth, the flow type (supercritical or subcritical) for a given characteristic of channel conditions is determined whether or not flow is uniform. There is no general solution of Manning's equation for determining the flow depth for a given flow rate, because the area of cross section and the hydraulic radius produce a complicated function of depth. The familiar solution of normal depth for a rectangular channel involves 1) a trial-and-error solution; 2) constructing a non-dimensional graph; 3) preparing tables involving non-dimensional parameters. Author in this paper has derived semi-analytical solution to Manning's equation for determining the flow depth given the flow rate in rectangular open channel. The solution was derived by expressing Manning's equation in non-dimensional form, then expanding this form using Maclaurin's series. In order to simplify the solution, terms containing power up to 4 have been considered. The resulted equation is a quartic equation with a standard form, where its solution was obtained by resolving this into two quadratic factors. The proposed solution for Manning's equation is valid over a large range of parameters, and its maximum error is within -1.586%.
Abstract: Without taking account of the attribute richness of POI (point of interest) data and spatial distribution limited by roads, a POI generalization method considering both attribute information and spatial distribution has been proposed against the existing point generalization algorithm merely focusing on overall information of point groups. Hierarchical characteristic of urban POI information expression has been firstly analyzed to point out the measurement feature of the corresponding hierarchy. On this basis, an urban POI generalizing strategy has been put forward: POIs urban road network have been divided into three distribution pattern; corresponding generalization methods have been proposed according to the characteristic of POI data in different distribution patterns. Experimental results showed that the method taking into account both attribute information and spatial distribution characteristics of POI can better implement urban POI generalization in the mapping presentation.
Abstract: In the continuous interaction between the past and the present that historiography is, each time when history gets re/written, a new representation emerges. This new representation is a reflection of the earlier archives and their interpretations, fragmented remembrances of the past, as well as the reactions to the present. Memory, or lack thereof, and stereotyping generally play a major role in this representation. William Dalrymple’s Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India (2009) is one such written account that sets out to narrate the representations of religion and culture of India and contemporary reactions to it. Dalrymple’s nine saints belong to different castes, sects, religions, and regions. By dealing with their religions and expressions of those religions, and through the lived mysticism of these nine individuals, the book engages with some important issues like class, caste and gender in the contexts provided by historical as well as present India. The paper studies the development of religion and accompanied feeling of religiosity in modern as well as historical contexts through a study of these elements in the book. Since, the language used in creation of texts and the literary texts thus produced create a new reality that questions the stereotypes of the past, and in turn often end up creating new stereotypes or stereotypical representations at times, the paper seeks to actively engage with the text in order to identify and study such stereotypes, along with their changing representations. Through a detailed examination of the book, the paper seeks to unravel whether some socio-cultural stereotypes existed earlier, and whether there is development of new stereotypes from Dalrymple’s point of view as an outsider writing on issues that are deeply rooted in the cultural milieu of the country. For this analysis, the paper takes help from the psycho-literary theories of stereotyping and representation.
Abstract: Test data compression is an efficient method for reducing the test application cost. The problem of reducing test data has been addressed by researchers in three different aspects: Test Data Compression, Built-in-Self-Test (BIST) and Test set compaction. The latter two methods are capable of enhancing fault coverage with cost of hardware overhead. The drawback of the conventional methods is that they are capable of reducing the test storage and test power but when test data have redundant length of runs, no additional compression method is followed. This paper presents a modified Run Length Coding (RLC) technique with Multilevel Selective Huffman Coding (MLSHC) technique to reduce test data volume, test pattern delivery time and power dissipation in scan test applications where redundant length of runs is encountered then the preceding run symbol is replaced with tiny codeword. Experimental results show that the presented method not only improves the test data compression but also reduces the overall test data volume compared to recent schemes. Experiments for the six largest ISCAS-98 benchmarks show that our method outperforms most known techniques.
Abstract: Climate change projections based on the emission of greenhouse effect gases suggest an increase in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, in up to 750 ppm. In this scenario, we have significant changes in plant development, and consequently, in agricultural systems. This study aims to evaluate the interaction between culture (Glycine max) and weed (Amaranthus viridis and Euphorbia heterophylla) in two conditions of CO2, 400 and 800 ppm. The results showed that the coexistence of culture with both weed species resulted in a mutual loss, with decrease in dry mass productivity of culture + weeds, in both conditions of CO2. However, when the culture is grown in association with E. heterophylla, total dry mass of culture + weed was smaller at 800 ppm. Soybean was more aggressive in comparison to the A. viridis in both the concentrations of CO2, but not in relation to the E. heterophylla.
Abstract: Classically, an energy detector is implemented in time domain (TD). However, frequency domain (FD) based energy detector has demonstrated an improved performance. This paper presents a comparison between the two approaches as to analyze their pros and cons. A detailed performance analysis of the classical TD energy-detector and the periodogram based detector is performed. Exact and approximate mathematical expressions for probability of false alarm (Pf) and probability of detection (Pd) are derived for both approaches. The derived expressions naturally lead to an analytical as well as intuitive reasoning for the improved performance of (Pf) and (Pd) in different scenarios. Our analysis suggests the dependence improvement on buffer sizes. Pf is improved in FD, whereas Pd is enhanced in TD based energy detectors. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations results demonstrate the analysis reached by the derived expressions.
Abstract: IEEE 802.15.4 is a Low Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks (LR-WPAN) standard combined with ZigBee, which is going to enable new applications in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and Internet of Things (IoT) domain. In recent years, it has become a popular standard for WSNs. Wireless communication among sensor motes, enabled by IEEE 802.15.4 standard, is extensively replacing the existing wired technology in a wide range of monitoring and control applications. Researchers have proposed a routing framework and mechanism that interacts with the IEEE 802.15.4 standard using software platform. In this paper, we have designed and implemented MAC based routing (MBR) based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard using a hardware platform “SENSEnuts”. The experimental results include data through light and temperature sensors obtained from communication between PAN coordinator and source node through coordinator, MAC address of some modules used in the experimental setup, topology of the network created for simulation and the remaining battery power of the source node. Our experimental effort on a WSN Testbed has helped us in bridging the gap between theoretical and practical aspect of implementing IEEE 802.15.4 for WSNs applications.
Abstract: The method selected for the design of structures not only can affect their seismic vulnerability but also can affect their construction cost. For the design of steel structures, two distinct methods have been introduced by existing codes, namely allowable stress design (ASD) and load resistant factor design (LRFD). This study investigates the effect of using the aforementioned design methods on the seismic vulnerability and construction cost of steel structures. Specifically, a 20-story building equipped with special moment resisting frame and an eccentrically braced system was selected for this study. The building was designed for three different intensities of peak ground acceleration including 0.2 g, 0.25 g, and 0.3 g using the ASD and LRFD methods. The required sizes of beams, columns, and braces were obtained using response spectrum analysis. Then, the designed frames were subjected to nine natural earthquake records which were scaled to the designed response spectrum. For each frame, the base shear, story shears, and inter-story drifts were calculated and then were compared. Results indicated that the LRFD method led to a more economical design for the frames. In addition, the LRFD method resulted in lower base shears and larger inter-story drifts when compared with the ASD method. It was concluded that the application of the LRFD method not only reduced the weights of structural elements but also provided a higher safety margin against seismic actions when compared with the ASD method.
Abstract: Built-up columns have been widely employed by practice engineers in the design and construction of buildings and bridges. However, failures have been observed in this type of columns in previous seismic events. This study analyses the performance of built-up columns with different configurations of battens when it is subjected to seismic loads. Four columns with different size of battens were simulated and subjected to three different intensities of axial load along with a lateral cyclic load. Results indicate that the size of battens influences significantly the seismic behavior of columns. Lower shear capacity of battens results in higher ultimate strength and ductility for built-up columns. It is observed that intensity of axial load has a significant effect on the ultimate strength of columns, but it is less influential on the yield strength. For a given drift value, the stress level in the centroid of smaller size battens is significantly more than that of larger size battens signifying damage concentration in battens rather than chords. It is concluded that design of battens for shear demand lower than code specified values only slightly reduces initial stiffness of columns; however, it improves seismic performance of battened columns.
Abstract: A 900 MHz three-stage SiGe power amplifier (PA) with high power gain is presented in this paper. Volterra Series is applied to analyze nonlinearity sources of SiGe HBT device model clearly. Meanwhile, the influence of operating current to IMD3 is discussed. Then a β-helper current mirror bias circuit is applied to improve linearity, since the β-helper current mirror bias circuit can offer stable base biasing voltage. Meanwhile, it can also work as predistortion circuit when biasing voltages of three bias circuits are fine-tuned, by this way, the power gain and operating current of PA are optimized for best linearity. The three power stages which fabricated by 0.18 μm SiGe technology are bonded to the printed circuit board (PCB) to obtain impedances by Load-Pull system, then matching networks are done for best linearity with discrete passive components on PCB. The final measured three-stage PA exhibits 21.1 dBm of output power at 1 dB compression point (OP1dB) with power added efficiency (PAE) of 20.6% and 33 dB power gain under 3.3 V power supply voltage.
Abstract: Recently, the use of high-strength materials is increasing as the construction of large structures and high-rise structures increases. This paper presents an analysis of the shear behavior of prestressed concrete members with various types of materials by simulating a finite element (FE) analysis. The analytical results indicated that the shear strength and shear failure mode were strongly influenced by not only the shear reinforcement ratio but also the yield strength of shear reinforcement and the compressive strength of concrete. Though the yield strength of shear reinforcement increased the shear strength of prestressed concrete members, there was a limit to the increase in strength because of the change of shear failure modes. According to the results of FE analysis on various parameters, the maximum yield strength of the steel stirrup that can be applied to prestressed concrete members was about 860 MPa.
Abstract: The paper presents the results of a detailed assessment of several modern Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence models for prediction of C3X vane film cooling at various injection regimes. Three models are considered, namely the Shear Stress Transport (SST) model, the modification of the SST model accounting for the streamlines curvature (SST-CC), and the Explicit Algebraic Reynolds Stress Model (EARSM). It is shown that all the considered models face with a problem in prediction of the adiabatic effectiveness in the vicinity of the cooling holes; however, accounting for the Reynolds stress anisotropy within the EARSM model noticeably increases the solution accuracy. On the other hand, further downstream all the models provide a reasonable agreement with the experimental data for the adiabatic effectiveness and among the considered models the most accurate results are obtained with the use EARMS.
Abstract: Several computationally challenging issues are
encountered while classifying complex natural scenes. In this
paper, we address the problems that are encountered in rotation
invariance with multi-intensity analysis for multi-scene overlapping.
In the present literature, various algorithms proposed techniques
for multi-intensity analysis, but there are several restrictions in
these algorithms while deploying them in multi-scene overlapping
classifications. In order to resolve the problem of multi-scenery
overlapping classifications, we present a framework that is based
on macro and micro basis functions. This algorithm conquers the
minimum classification false alarm while pigeonholing multi-scene
overlapping. Furthermore, a quadrangle multi-intensity decay is
invoked. Several parameters are utilized to analyze invariance
for multi-scenery classifications such as rotation, classification,
correlation, contrast, homogeneity, and energy. Benchmark datasets
were collected for complex natural scenes and experimented for
the framework. The results depict that the framework achieves
a significant improvement on gray-level matrix of co-occurrence
features for overlapping in diverse degree of orientations while
pigeonholing multi-scene overlapping.
Abstract: Based on the acoustics cascade sound theory, the mechanism of air leak sound producing, transmitting and signal detecting has been analyzed. A formula of the sound power, leak size and air pressure in the spacecraft has been built, and the relationship between leak sound pressure and receiving direction and distance has been studied. The center frequency in millimeter diameter leak is more than 20 kHz. The situation of air leaking from spacecraft to space has been simulated and an experiment of different leak size and testing distance and direction has been done. The sound pressure is in direct proportion to the cosine of the angle of leak to sensor. The portable ultrasonic leak detector has been developed, whose minimal leak rate is 10-1 Pa·m3/s, the testing radius is longer than 20 mm, the mass is less than 1.0 kg, and the electric power is less than 2.2 W.
Abstract: Redundancy requirements for UAV (Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle) are hardly faced due to the generally restricted amount
of available space and allowable weight for the aircraft systems,
limiting their exploitation. Essential equipment as the Air Data,
Attitude and Heading Reference Systems (ADAHRS) require several
external probes to measure significant data as the Angle of Attack
or the Sideslip Angle. Previous research focused on the analysis
of a patented technology named Smart-ADAHRS (Smart Air Data,
Attitude and Heading Reference System) as an alternative method to
obtain reliable and accurate estimates of the aerodynamic angles.
This solution is based on an innovative sensor fusion algorithm
implementing soft computing techniques and it allows to obtain a
simplified inertial and air data system reducing external devices.
In fact, only one external source of dynamic and static pressures
is needed. This paper focuses on the benefits which would be
gained by the implementation of this system in UAV applications.
A simplification of the entire ADAHRS architecture will bring to
reduce the overall cost together with improved safety performance.
Smart-ADAHRS has currently reached Technology Readiness Level
(TRL) 6. Real flight tests took place on ultralight aircraft equipped
with a suitable Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI). The output of
the algorithm using the flight test measurements demonstrates the
capability for this fusion algorithm to embed in a single device
multiple physical and virtual sensors. Any source of dynamic and
static pressure can be integrated with this system gaining a significant
improvement in terms of versatility.
Abstract: The present paper investigates the effect of linear
thermal gradient on the steady-state creep behavior of rotating
isotropic disc using threshold stress based Sherby’s creep law.
The composite discs made of aluminum matrix reinforced with
silicon carbide particulate has been taken for analysis. The stress
and strain rate distributions have been calculated for discs rotating
at linear thermal gradation using von Mises’ yield criterion. The
material parameters have been estimated by regression fit of the
available experimental data. The results are displayed and compared
graphically in designer friendly format for the above said temperature
profile with the disc operating under uniform temperature profile. It is
observed that radial and tangential stresses show minor variation and
the strain rates vary significantly in the presence of thermal gradation
as compared to disc having uniform temperature.
Abstract: Goals and Objectives: A typical analysis of survival data involves the modeling of time-to-event data, such as the time till death. A frailty model is a random effect model for time-to-event data, where the random effect has a multiplicative influence on the baseline hazard function. This article aims to investigate the use of gamma frailty model with concomitant variable in order to individualize the prognostic factors that influence the liver cirrhosis patients’ survival times. Methods: During the one-year study period (May 2008-May 2009), data have been used from the recorded information of patients with liver cirrhosis who were scheduled for liver transplantation and were followed up for at least seven years in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Iran. In order to determine the effective factors for cirrhotic patients’ survival in the presence of latent variables, the gamma frailty distribution has been applied. In this article, it was considering the parametric model, such as Exponential and Weibull distributions for survival time. Data analysis is performed using R software, and the error level of 0.05 was considered for all tests. Results: 305 patients with liver cirrhosis including 180 (59%) men and 125 (41%) women were studied. The age average of patients was 39.8 years. At the end of the study, 82 (26%) patients died, among them 48 (58%) were men and 34 (42%) women. The main cause of liver cirrhosis was found hepatitis 'B' with 23%, followed by cryptogenic with 22.6% were identified as the second factor. Generally, 7-year’s survival was 28.44 months, for dead patients and for censoring was 19.33 and 31.79 months, respectively. Using multi-parametric survival models of progressive and regressive, Exponential and Weibull models with regard to the gamma frailty distribution were fitted to the cirrhosis data. In both models, factors including, age, bilirubin serum, albumin serum, and encephalopathy had a significant effect on survival time of cirrhotic patients. Conclusion: To investigate the effective factors for the time of patients’ death with liver cirrhosis in the presence of latent variables, gamma frailty model with parametric distributions seems desirable.
Abstract: This paper investigates and evaluates experimentally the structural behavior of high strength concrete (HSC) beams under fire and compares it with that of Normal strength concrete (NSC) beams. The main investigated parameters are: concrete compressive strength (300 or 600 kg/cm2); the concrete cover thickness (3 or 5 cm); the degree of temperature (room temperature or 600 oC); the type of cooling (air or water); and the fire exposure time (3 or 5 hours). Test results showed that the concrete compressive strength decreases significantly as the exposure time to fire increases.