Abstract: Green supply chain management is an increasingly recognized practice among companies that are seeking to improve environmental performance. Of particular concern is how to arouse organizational awareness and put green activities into practice in
order to enhance manufacturing performances. This paper investigates the correlation of green supply chain practices and
manufacturing performances in Malaysian certified MS ISO 14000 manufacturing firms. The findings shows that green supply chain
practices which that can be denominated product recycling, environmental compliance and optimization have significant influence to some of the manufacturing performances.
Abstract: Using the finite element analyses, this paper discusses the effects of temperature-dependent material properties on the stress and temperature fields in a cracked metal plate under the electric current load. The practical and complicated results are obtained when the temperature-dependent material properties are adopted in the analysis. If the simplified (temperature-independent) material properties are used, incorrect results will be obtained.
Abstract: The advances in multimedia and networking technologies
have created opportunities for Internet pirates, who can easily
copy multimedia contents and illegally distribute them on the Internet,
thus violating the legal rights of content owners. This paper describes
how a simple and well-known watermarking procedure based on a
spread spectrum method and a watermark recovery by correlation can
be improved to effectively and adaptively protect MPEG-2 videos
distributed on the Internet. In fact, the procedure, in its simplest
form, is vulnerable to a variety of attacks. However, its security
and robustness have been increased, and its behavior has been
made adaptive with respect to the video terminals used to open
the videos and the network transactions carried out to deliver them
to buyers. In fact, such an adaptive behavior enables the proposed
procedure to efficiently embed watermarks, and this characteristic
makes the procedure well suited to be exploited in web contexts,
where watermarks usually generated from fingerprinting codes have
to be inserted into the distributed videos “on the fly", i.e. during the
purchase web transactions.
Abstract: The objective of the present work is to conduct
investigations leading to a more complete explanation of single phase
natural convective heat transfer in an enclosure with fin utilizing
nano fluids. The nano fluid used, which is composed of Aluminum
oxide nano particles in suspension of Ethylene glycol, is provided at
various volume fractions. The study is carried out numerically for a
range of Rayleigh numbers, fin heights and aspect ratio. The flow and
temperature distributions are taken to be two-dimensional. Regions
with the same velocity and temperature distributions are identified as
symmetry of sections. One half of such a rectangular region is chosen
as the computational domain taking into account the symmetry about
the fin. Transport equations are modeled by a stream functionvorticity
formulation and are solved numerically by finite-difference
schemes. Comparisons with previously published works on the basis
of special cases are done. Results are presented in the form of
streamline, vector and isotherm plots as well as the variation of local
Nusselt number along the fin under different conditions.
Abstract: An active suspension system has been proposed to
improve the ride comfort. A quarter-car 2 degree-of-freedom (DOF)
system is designed and constructed on the basis of the concept of a
four-wheel independent suspension to simulate the actions of an
active vehicle suspension system. The purpose of a suspension
system is to support the vehicle body and increase ride comfort. The
aim of the work described in the paper was to illustrate the
application of fuzzy logic technique to the control of a continuously
damping automotive suspension system. The ride comfort is
improved by means of the reduction of the body acceleration caused
by the car body when road disturbances from smooth road and real
road roughness.
The paper describes also the model and controller used in the
study and discusses the vehicle response results obtained from a
range of road input simulations. In the conclusion, a comparison of
active suspension fuzzy control and Proportional Integration
derivative (PID) control is shown using MATLAB simulations.
Abstract: This paper describes an enhanced cookie-based
method for counting the visitors of web sites by using a web log
processing system that aims to cope with the ambitious goal of
creating countrywide statistics about the browsing practices of real
human individuals. The focus is put on describing a new more
efficient way of detecting human beings behind web users by placing
different identifiers on the client computers. We briefly introduce our
processing system designed to handle the massive amount of data
records continuously gathered from the most important content
providers of the Hungary. We conclude by showing statistics of
different time spans comparing the efficiency of multiple visitor
counting methods to the one presented here, and some interesting
charts about content providers and web usage based on real data
recorded in 2007 will also be presented.
Abstract: The abundance and availability of rice husk, an agricultural waste, make them as a good source for precursor of activated carbon. In this work, rice husk-based activated carbons were prepared via base treated chemical activation process prior the carbonization process. The effect of carbonization temperatures (400, 600 and 800oC) on their pore structure was evaluated through morphology analysis using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Sample carbonized at 800oC showed better evolution and development of pores as compared to those carbonized at 400 and 600oC. The potential of rice husk-based activated carbon as an alternative adsorbent was investigated for the removal of Ni(II), Zn(II) and Pb(II) from single metal aqueous solution. The adsorption studies using rice husk-based activated carbon as an adsorbent were carried out as a function of contact time at room temperature and the metal ions were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The ability to remove metal ion from single metal aqueous solution was found to be improved with the increasing of carbonization temperature. Among the three metal ions tested, Pb(II) ion gave the highest adsorption on rice husk-based activated carbon. The results obtained indicate the potential to utilize rice husk as a promising precursor for the preparation of activated carbon for removal of heavy metals.
Abstract: This paper describes a feasibility study that is
included with the research, development and testing of a micro
communications sonobuoy deployable by Maritime Fixed wing
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (M-UAV) and rotor wing Quad Copters
which are both currently being developed by the University of
Adelaide. The micro communications sonobuoy is developed to act
as a seamless communication relay between an Autonomous
Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and an above water human operator
some distance away. Development of such a device would eliminate
the requirement of physical communication tethers attached to
submersible vehicles for control and data retrieval.
Abstract: This preliminary study attempts to see if a learning
environment influences instructor’s teaching strategies and learners’
in-class activities in a foreign language class at a university in Japan.
The class under study was conducted in a computer room, while the
majority of classes of the same course were offered in traditional
classrooms without computers. The study also sees if the unplanned
blended learning environment, enhanced, or worked against, in
achieving course goals, by paying close attention to in-class artefacts,
such as computers. In the macro-level analysis, the course syllabus
and weekly itinerary of the course were looked at; and in the microlevel
analysis, nonhuman actors in their environments were named
and analyzed to see how they influenced the learners’ task processes.
The result indicated that students were heavily influenced by the
presence of computers, which lead them to disregard some aspects of
intended learning objectives.
Abstract: In this paper by using the port-controlled Hamiltonian
(PCH) systems theory, a full-order nonlinear controlled model is first
developed. Then a nonlinear passivity-based robust adaptive control
(PBRAC) of switched reluctance motor in the presence of external
disturbances for the purpose of torque ripple reduction and
characteristic improvement is presented. The proposed controller
design is separated into the inner loop and the outer loop controller.
In the inner loop, passivity-based control is employed by using
energy shaping techniques to produce the proper switching function.
The outer loop control is employed by robust adaptive controller to
determine the appropriate Torque command. It can also overcome the
inherent nonlinear characteristics of the system and make the whole
system robust to uncertainties and bounded disturbances. A 4KW 8/6
SRM with experimental characteristics that takes magnetic saturation
into account is modeled, simulation results show that the proposed
scheme has good performance and practical application prospects.
Abstract: As product life cycle becomes less and less every day,
having flexible manufacturing processes for any companies seems more demanding. In the assembling of closures, i.e. opening parts in
car body, hemming process is the one which needs more attention. This paper focused on the robot roller hemming process and how to
reduce its cycle time by introducing a fast roller hemming process. A
robot roller hemming process of a tailgate of Saab 93 SportCombi
model is investigated as a case study in this paper. By applying task
separation, robot coordination, and robot cell configuration principles in the roller hemming process, three alternatives are
proposed, developed, and remarkable reduction in cycle times achieved [1].
Abstract: Indigenous Knowledge (IK) has many social and
economic benefits. However, IK is at the risk of extinction due to the
difficulties to preserve it as most of the IK largely remains
undocumented. This study aims to design a model of the factors
affecting the adoption of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) for the preservation of IK. The proposed model
is based on theoretical frameworks on ICT adoption. It was designed
following a literature review of ICT adoption theories for households,
and of the factors affecting ICT adoption for IK. The theory that
fitted to the best all factors was then chosen as the basis for the
proposed model. This study found that the Model of Adoption of
Technology in Households (MATH) is the most suitable theoretical
framework for modeling ICT adoption factors for the preservation of
IK.
Abstract: Misalignment and unbalance are the major concerns
in rotating machinery. When the power supply to any rotating system
is cutoff, the system begins to lose the momentum gained during
sustained operation and finally comes to rest. The exact time period
from when the power is cutoff until the rotor comes to rest is called
Coast Down Time. The CDTs for different shaft cutoff speeds were
recorded at various misalignment and unbalance conditions. The
CDT reduction percentages were calculated for each fault and there
is a specific correlation between the CDT reduction percentage and
the severity of the fault. In this paper, radial basis network, a new
generation of artificial neural networks, has been successfully
incorporated for the prediction of CDT for misalignment and
unbalance conditions. Radial basis network has been found to be
successful in the prediction of CDT for mechanical faults in rotating
machinery.
Abstract: This paper presents an improvement method of
the multiple pitch estimation algorithm using comb filters.
Conventionally the pitch was estimated by using parallel
-connected comb filters method (PCF). However, PCF has
problems which often fail in the pitch estimation when there is
the fundamental frequency of higher tone near harmonics of
lower tone. Therefore the estimation is assigned to a wrong
note when shared frequencies happen. This issue often occurs
in estimating octave 3 or more. Proposed method, for solving
the problem, estimates the pitch with every harmonic instead of
every octave. As a result, our method reaches the accuracy of
more than 80%.
Abstract: The objective of this research seeks to transmit a distance training model to the community in the upper northeastern region. The group sampling consists of 60 community leaders in the municipality of sub-district Kumphawapi, Kumphawapi Disrict, Udonthani Province. The research tools rely on the following instruments, they are : 1) the achievement test of community leaders- training and 2) the satisfaction questionnaires of community leaders. The statistics used in data analysis takes the statistical mean, percentage, standard deviation, and statistical T-test. The resulted findings reveal : 1) the efficiency of the distance training developed by the researcher for the community leaders joining in the training received the average score between in-training and post-training period higher than the setup criterion, 2) the two groups of participants in the training achieved higher knowledge than their pre-training state, 3) the comparison of the achievements between the two group presented no different results, 4) the community leaders obtained the high-to-highest satisfaction.
Abstract: In this paper, we present a method named Signal Level
Matrix (SLM) which can improve the accuracy and stability of active
RFID indoor positioning system. Considering the accuracy and cost,
we use uniform distribution mode to set up and separate the
overlapped signal covering areas, in order to achieve preliminary
location setting. Then, based on the proposed SLM concept and the
characteristic of the signal strength value that attenuates as the
distance increases, this system cross-examines the distribution of
adjacent signals to locate the users more accurately. The experimental
results indicate that the adaptive positioning method proposed in this
paper could improve the accuracy and stability of the positioning
system effectively and satisfyingly.
Abstract: The vibrations produced by a single point defect on
various parts of the bearing under constant radial load are predicted
by using a theoretical model. The model includes variation in the
response due to the effect of bearing dimensions, rotating frequency
distribution of load. The excitation forces are generated when the
defects on the races strike to rolling elements. In case of the outer
ring defect, the pulses generated are with periodicity of outer ring
defect frequency where as for inner ring defect, the pulses are with
periodicity of inner ring defect frequency. The effort has been carried
out in preparing the physical model of the system. Different defect
frequencies are obtained and are used to find out the amplitudes of
the vibration due to excitation of the bearing parts. Increase in the
radial load or severity of the defect produces a significant change in
bearing signature characteristics.
Abstract: 16-Mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHDA) and tripeptide glutathione conjugated with gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) are characterized by Fourier Transform InfaRared (FTIR) spectroscopy combined with Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technique based on FTIR spectroscopy has become an important tool in biophysics, which is perspective for the study of organic compounds. FTIR-spectra of MHDA shows the line at 2500 cm-1 attributed to thiol group which is modified by presence of Au-NPs, suggesting the formation of bond between thiol group and gold. We also can observe the peaks originate from characteristic chemical group. A Raman spectrum of the same sample is also promising. Our preliminary experiments confirm that SERS-effect takes place for MHDA connected with Au-NPs and enable us to detected small number (less than 106 cm-2) of MHDA molecules. Combination of spectroscopy methods: FTIR and SERS – enable to study optical properties of Au- NPs and immobilized bio-molecules in context of a bio-nano-sensors.
Abstract: The objectives of this study are to determine the
effects of soil cover type on characteristics of leachates generated
from landfill lysimeters. Four lysimeters with diameter and height
of 0.15 and 3.00 m, respectively, were prepared. Three lysimeters
were filled with municipal waste and three different cover soil types
i.e. sandy loam soil, silty loam soil and clay soil while another
lysimeter was filled solely with municipal waste. The study was
conducted in the rainy season. Leachate quantities were measured
every day and leachate characteristics were determined once a week.
The cumulative leachate quantity from the lysimeter filled solely
with municipal waste was found to be around 27% higher than the
lysimeters using cover soils. There were no any differences of the
cumulative leachate amounts generated from the lysimeters using
three types of soils. The comparison of the total mass of pollutants
generated from all lysimeters showed that the lysimeter filled solely
with municipal waste generated the maximum quantities of
pollutants. Among the lysimeters using different types of soils, the
lysimeter using sandy loam soil generated the lowest amount of most
of pollutants, compared with the lysimeters using silty loam and clay
soils. It can be concluded that in term of pollutant attenuation in the
leachate, a sandy loam is the most suitable soil to be used as a cover
soil in the landfill.
Abstract: To support user mobility for a wireless network new mechanisms are needed and are fundamental, such as paging, location updating, routing, and handover. Also an important key feature is mobile QoS offered by the WATM. Several ATM network protocols should be updated to implement mobility management and to maintain the already ATM QoS over wireless ATM networks. A survey of the various schemes and types of handover is provided. Handover procedure allows guarantee the terminal connection reestablishment when it moves between areas covered by different base stations. It is useful to satisfy user radio link transfer without interrupting a connection. However, failure to offer efficient solutions will result in handover important packet loss, severe delays and degradation of QoS offered to the applications. This paper reviews the requirements, characteristics and open issues of wireless ATM, particularly with regard to handover. It introduces key aspects of WATM and mobility extensions, which are added in the fixed ATM network. We propose a flexible approach for handover management that will minimize the QoS deterioration. Functional entities of this flexible approach are discussed in order to achieve minimum impact on the connection quality when a MT crosses the BS.