Abstract: The objective of this paper is to characterize the spontaneous Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals of four different motor imagery tasks and to show hereby a possible solution for the present binary communication between the brain and a machine ora Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). The processing technique used in this paper was the fractal analysis evaluated by the Critical Exponent Method (CEM). The EEG signal was registered in 5 healthy subjects,sampling 15 measuring channels at 1024 Hz.Each channel was preprocessed by the Laplacian space ltering so as to reduce the space blur and therefore increase the spaceresolution. The EEG of each channel was segmented and its Fractaldimension (FD) calculated. The FD was evaluated in the time interval corresponding to the motor imagery and averaged out for all the subjects (each channel). In order to characterize the FD distribution,the linear regression curves of FD over the electrodes position were applied. The differences FD between the proposed mental tasks are quantied and evaluated for each experimental subject. The obtained results of the proposed method are a substantial fractal dimension in the EEG signal of motor imagery tasks and can be considerably utilized as the multiple-states BCI applications.
Abstract: In the time of globalisation, growing uncertainty, ambiguity and change, traditional way of doing business are no longer sufficient and it is important to consider non-conventional methods and approaches to release creativity and facilitate innovation and growth. Thus, creative industries, as a natural source of creativity and innovation, draw particular attention. This paper explores feasibility of building creative partnerships between creative industries and business and brings attention to mutual benefits derived from such partnerships. Design/approach - This paper is a theoretical exploration of projects, practices and research findings addressing collaboration between creative industries and business. Thus, it concerns creative industries, arts, business and its representatives in order to define requirements for creative partnerships to work and succeed. Findings – Current practices in engaging into arts-business partnerships are still very few, although most of creative partnerships proved to be highly valuable and mutually beneficial. Certain conditions shall be provided in order to benefit from arts-business creative synergy. Originality/value- By integrating different sources of literature, this article provides a base for conducting empirical research in several dimensions within arts-business partnerships.
Abstract: At very high speeds, bubbles form in the underwater vehicles because of sharp trailing edges or of places where the local pressure is lower than the vapor pressure. These bubbles are called cavities and the size of the cavities grows as the velocity increases. A properly designed cavitator can induce the formation of a single big cavity all over the vehicle. Such a vehicle travelling in the vaporous cavity is called a supercavitating vehicle and the present research work mainly focuses on the dynamic modeling of such vehicles. Cavitation of the fins is also accounted and the effect of the same on trajectory is well explained. The entire dynamics has been developed using the state space approach and emphasis is given on the effect of size and angle of attack of the cavitator. Control law has been established for the motion of the vehicle using Non-linear Dynamic Inverse (NDI) with cavitator as the control surface.
Abstract: Six parameters, the effective diffusivity (De),
activation energy of De, pre-exponential factor of De, amount
(ASOW) of self-organized water species, and amplitude (α) of the
forced oscillation of the molecular mobility (1/tC) derived from the
forced cyclic temperature change operation, were characterized by
using six typical foods, squid, sardines, scallops, salmon, beef, and
pork, as a function of the correlation time (tC) of the water molecule-s
proton retained in the foods. Each of the six parameters was clearly
divided into the water species A1 and A2 at a specified value of tC
=10-8s (=CtC), indicating an anomalous change in the physicochemical
nature of the water species at the CtC. The forced oscillation of 1/tC
clearly demonstrated a characteristic mode depending on the food
shown as a three dimensional map associated with 1/tC, the amount of
self-organized water, and tC.
Abstract: The calculation of buckling length factor (K) for steel
frames columns is a major and governing processes to determine the
dimensions steel frame columns cross sections during design. The
buckling length of steel frames columns has a direct effect on the cost
(weight) of using cross section. A new formula is required to
determine buckling length factor (K) by simplified way. In this
research a new formula for buckling length factor (K) was established
to determine by accurate method for a limited interval of columns
ends rigidity (GA, GB). The new formula can be used ease to
evaluate the buckling length factor without needing to complicated
equations or difficult charts.
Abstract: The plastic flow of metal in the extrusion process is
an important factor in controlling the mechanical properties of the
extruded products. It is, however, difficult to predict the metal flow
in three dimensional extrusions of sections due to the involvement of
re-entrant corners. The present study is to find an upper bound
solution for the extrusion of triangular sectioned through taper dies
from round sectioned billet. A discontinuous kinematically
admissible velocity field (KAVF) is proposed. From the proposed
KAVF, the upper bound solution on non-dimensional extrusion
pressure is determined with respect to the chosen process parameters.
The theoretical results are compared with experimental results to
check the validity of the proposed velocity field. An extrusion setup
is designed and fabricated for the said purpose, and all extrusions are
carried out using circular billets. Experiments are carried out with
commercially available lead at room temperature.
Abstract: The Integrated Management of Child illnesses (IMCI) and the surveillance Health Information Systems (HIS) are related strategies that are designed to manage child illnesses and community practices of diseases. However, both strategies do not function well together because of classification incompatibilities and, as such, are difficult to use by health care personnel in rural areas where a majority of people lack the basic knowledge of interpreting disease classification from these methods. This paper discusses a single approach on how a stand-alone expert system can be used as a prompt diagnostic tool for all cases of illnesses presented. The system combines the action-oriented IMCI and the disease-oriented HIS approaches to diagnose malaria and typhoid fever in the rural areas of the Niger-delta region.
Abstract: In this paper, a pipelined version of genetic algorithm,
called PLGA, and a corresponding hardware platform are described.
The basic operations of conventional GA (CGA) are made pipelined
using an appropriate selection scheme. The selection operator, used
here, is stochastic in nature and is called SA-selection. This helps
maintaining the basic generational nature of the proposed pipelined
GA (PLGA). A number of benchmark problems are used to compare
the performances of conventional roulette-wheel selection and the
SA-selection. These include unimodal and multimodal functions with
dimensionality varying from very small to very large. It is seen that
the SA-selection scheme is giving comparable performances with
respect to the classical roulette-wheel selection scheme, for all the
instances, when quality of solutions and rate of convergence are considered.
The speedups obtained by PLGA for different benchmarks
are found to be significant. It is shown that a complete hardware
pipeline can be developed using the proposed scheme, if parallel
evaluation of the fitness expression is possible. In this connection
a low-cost but very fast hardware evaluation unit is described.
Results of simulation experiments show that in a pipelined hardware
environment, PLGA will be much faster than CGA. In terms of
efficiency, PLGA is found to outperform parallel GA (PGA) also.
Abstract: This paper proposes new hybrid approaches for face
recognition. Gabor wavelets representation of face images is an
effective approach for both facial action recognition and face
identification. Perform dimensionality reduction and linear
discriminate analysis on the down sampled Gabor wavelet faces can
increase the discriminate ability. Nearest feature space is extended to
various similarity measures. In our experiments, proposed Gabor
wavelet faces combined with extended neural net feature space
classifier shows very good performance, which can achieve 93 %
maximum correct recognition rate on ORL data set without any preprocessing
step.
Abstract: The paper deals with calculation of the parameters of
ceramic material from a set of destruction tests of ceramic heads of
total hip joint endoprosthesis. The standard way of calculation of the
material parameters consists in carrying out a set of 3 or 4 point
bending tests of specimens cut out from parts of the ceramic material
to be analysed. In case of ceramic heads, it is not possible to cut out
specimens of required dimensions because the heads are too small (if
the cut out specimens were smaller than the normalised ones, the
material parameters derived from them would exhibit higher strength
values than those which the given ceramic material really has). On
that score, a special testing jig was made, in which 40 heads were
destructed. From the measured values of circumferential strains of the
head-s external spherical surface under destruction, the state of stress
in the head under destruction was established using the final elements
method (FEM). From the values obtained, the sought for parameters
of the ceramic material were calculated using Weibull-s weakest-link
theory.
Abstract: Environment both endowed and built are essential for
tourism. However tourism and environment maintains a complex
relationship, where in most cases environment is at the receiving end.
Many tourism development activities have adverse environmental
effects, mainly emanating from construction of general infrastructure
and tourism facilities. These negative impacts of tourism can lead to
the destruction of precious natural resources on which it depends.
These effects vary between locations; and its effect on a hill
destination is highly critical. This study aims at developing a
Sustainable Tourism Planning Model for an environmentally
sensitive tourism destination in Kerala, India. Being part of the
Nilgiri mountain ranges, Munnar falls in the Western Ghats, one of
the biological hotspots in the world. Endowed with a unique high
altitude environment Munnar inherits highly significant ecological
wealth. Giving prime importance to the protection of this ecological
heritage, the study proposes a tourism planning model with resource
conservation and sustainability as the paramount focus. Conceiving a
novel approach towards sustainable tourism planning, the study
proposes to assess tourism attractions using Ecological Sensitivity
Index (ESI) and Tourism Attractiveness Index (TAI). Integration of
these two indices will form the Ecology – Tourism Matrix (ETM),
outlining the base for tourism planning in an environmentally
sensitive destination. The ETM Matrix leads to a classification of
tourism nodes according to its Conservation Significance and
Tourism Significance. The spatial integration of such nodes based on
the Hub & Spoke Principle constitutes sub – regions within the STZ.
Ensuing analyses lead to specific guidelines for the STZ as a whole,
specific tourism nodes, hubs and sub-regions. The study results in a
multi – dimensional output, viz., (1) Classification system for tourism
nodes in an environmentally sensitive region/ destination (2)
Conservation / Tourism Development Strategies and Guidelines for
the micro and macro regions and (3) A Sustainable Tourism Planning
Tool particularly for Ecologically Sensitive Destinations, which can
be adapted for other destinations as well.
Abstract: A great deal of research works in the field information
systems security has been based on a positivist paradigm. Applying
the reductionism concept of the positivist paradigm for information
security means missing the bigger picture and thus, the lack of holism
which could be one of the reasons why security is still overlooked,
comes as an afterthought or perceived from a purely technical
dimension. We need to reshape our thinking and attitudes towards
security especially in a complex and dynamic environment such as e-
Business to develop a holistic understanding of e-Business security in
relation to its context as well as considering all the stakeholders in
the problem area. In this paper we argue the suitability and need for
more inductive interpretive approach and qualitative research method
to investigate e-Business security. Our discussion is based on a
holistic framework of enquiry, nature of the research problem, the
underling theoretical lens and the complexity of e-Business
environment. At the end we present a research strategy for
developing a holistic framework for understanding of e-Business
security problems in the context of developing countries based on an
interdisciplinary inquiry which considers their needs and
requirements.
Abstract: Reinforced concrete has good durability and excellent structural performance. But there are cases of early deterioration due to a number of factors, one prominent factor being corrosion of steel reinforcement. The process of corrosion sets in due to ingress of moisture, oxygen and other ingredients into the body of concrete, which is unsound, permeable and absorbent. Cracks due to structural and other causes such as creep, shrinkage, etc also allow ingress of moisture and other harmful ingredients and thus accelerate the rate of corrosion. There are several interactive factors both external and internal, which lead to corrosion of reinforcement and ultimately failure of structures. Suitable addition of mineral admixture like silica fume (SF) in concrete improves the strength and durability of concrete due to considerable improvement in the microstructure of concrete composites, especially at the transition zone. Secondary reinforcement in the form of fibre is added to concrete, which provides three dimensional random reinforcement in the entire mass of concrete. Reinforced concrete beams of size 0.1 m X 0.15 m and length 1m have been cast using M 35 grade of concrete. The beams after curing process were subjected to corrosion process by impressing an external Direct Current (Galvanostatic Method) for a period of 15 days under stressed and unstressed conditions. The corroded beams were tested by applying two point loads to determine the ultimate load carrying capacity and cracking pattern and the results of specimens were compared with that of the companion specimens. Gravimetric method is used to quantify corrosion that has occurred.
Abstract: A mathematical model for the hydrodynamics of a
surface water treatment pilot plant was developed and validated by
the determination of the residence time distribution (RTD) for the
main equipments of the unit. The well known models of ideal/real
mixing, ideal displacement (plug flow) and (one-dimensional axial)
dispersion model were combined in order to identify the structure
that gives the best fitting of the experimental data for each equipment
of the pilot plant. RTD experimental results have shown that pilot
plant hydrodynamics can be quite well approximated by a
combination of simple mathematical models, structure which is
suitable for engineering applications. Validated hydrodynamic
models will be further used in the evaluation and selection of the
most suitable coagulation-flocculation reagents, optimum operating
conditions (injection point, reaction times, etc.), in order to improve
the quality of the drinking water.
Abstract: For many chemical and biological processes, the understanding of the mixing phenomenon and flow behavior in a stirred tank is of major importance. A three-dimensional numerical study was performed using the software Fluent, to study the flow field in a stirred tank with a Rushton turbine. In this work, we first studied the flow generated in the tank with a Rushton turbine. Then, we studied the effect of the variation of turbine’s submergence on the thermodynamic quantities defining the flow field. For that, four submergences were considered, while maintaining the same rotational speed (N =250rpm). This work intends to optimize the aeration performances of a Rushton turbine in a stirred tank.
Abstract: Three dimensional simulations in tube in tube heat
exchangers are investigated numerically in this study. In these
simulations forced convective heat transfer and laminar flow of
single-phase water are considered. In order to measure heat transfer
parameters in these heat exchangers, FLUENT CFD Solver is used in
this numerical method. For the purpose of creating geometry and
exert boundary and initial conditions in the present model, finite
volume method in Computational Fluid Dynamics is used in this
study. In the present study, at each Z-location, variation of local
temperatures, heat flux and Nusselt number at the whole tube is
investigated in detail. Thereafter, averaged computational Nusselt
number in this model is calculated. In addition, conceivable pressure
drops have been obtained at each Z-location in this model. Then,
pressure drop values in the present model are explored. Finally, all
the numerical results for this kind of heat exchanger will be discussed
precisely.
Abstract: Wavelets have provided the researchers with
significant positive results, by entering the texture defect detection domain. The weak point of wavelets is that they are one-dimensional
by nature so they are not efficient enough to describe and analyze two-dimensional functions. In this paper we present a new method to
detect the defect of texture images by using curvelet transform.
Simulation results of the proposed method on a set of standard
texture images confirm its correctness. Comparing the obtained results indicates the ability of curvelet transform in describing
discontinuity in two-dimensional functions compared to wavelet
transform
Abstract: Minimization methods for training feed-forward networks with Backpropagation are compared. Feedforward network training is a special case of functional minimization, where no explicit model of the data is assumed. Therefore due to the high dimensionality of the data, linearization of the training problem through use of orthogonal basis functions is not desirable. The focus is functional minimization on any basis. A number of methods based on local gradient and Hessian matrices are discussed. Modifications of many methods of first and second order training methods are considered. Using share rates data, experimentally it is proved that Conjugate gradient and Quasi Newton?s methods outperformed the Gradient Descent methods. In case of the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm is of special interest in financial forecasting.
Abstract: An important problem in speech research is the automatic extraction of information about the shape and dimensions of the vocal tract during real-time speech production. We have previously developed Southampton dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (SDMRI) as an approach to the solution of this problem.However, the SDMRI images are very noisy so that shape extraction is a major challenge. In this paper, we address the problem of tongue shape extraction, which poses difficulties because this is a highly deforming non-parametric shape. We show that combining active shape models with the dynamic Hough transform allows the tongue shape to be reliably tracked in the image sequence.
Abstract: Although many researchers have studied the flow
hydraulics in compound channels, there are still many complicated problems in determination of their flow rating curves. Many different
methods have been presented for these channels but extending them
for all types of compound channels with different geometrical and
hydraulic conditions is certainly difficult. In this study, by aid of nearly 400 laboratory and field data sets of geometry and flow rating
curves from 30 different straight compound sections and using artificial neural networks (ANNs), flow discharge in compound channels was estimated. 13 dimensionless input variables including relative depth, relative roughness, relative width, aspect ratio, bed
slope, main channel side slopes, flood plains side slopes and berm
inclination and one output variable (flow discharge), have been used
in ANNs. Comparison of ANNs model and traditional method
(divided channel method-DCM) shows high accuracy of ANNs model results. The results of Sensitivity analysis showed that the relative depth with 47.6 percent contribution, is the most effective input parameter for flow discharge prediction. Relative width and
relative roughness have 19.3 and 12.2 percent of importance, respectively. On the other hand, shape parameter, main channel and
flood plains side slopes with 2.1, 3.8 and 3.8 percent of contribution, have the least importance.