Abstract: Stiffness of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) in flexible pavement is largely dependent of temperature, mode of testing and age of pavement. Accurate measurement of HMA stiffness is thus quite challenging. This study determines HMA stiffness based on Finite Element Model (FEM) and validates the results using field data. As a first step, stiffnesses of different layers of a pavement section on Interstate 40 (I-40) in New Mexico were determined by Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) test. Pavement temperature was not measured at that time due to lack of temperature probe. Secondly, a FE model is developed in ABAQUS. Stiffness of the base, subbase and subgrade were taken from the FWD test output obtained from the first step. As HMA stiffness largely varies with temperature it was assigned trial and error approach. Thirdly, horizontal strain and vertical stress at the bottom of the HMA and temperature at different depths of the pavement were measured with installed sensors on the whole day on December 25th, 2012. Fourthly, outputs of FEM were correlated with measured stress-strain responses. After a number of trials a relationship was developed between the trial stiffness of HMA and measured mid-depth HMA temperature. At last, the obtained relationship between stiffness and temperature is verified by further FWD test when pavement temperature was recorded. A promising agreement between them is observed. Therefore, conclusion can be drawn that linear elastic FEM can accurately predict the stiffness and the structural response of flexible pavement.
Abstract: Existence of plastic equation of state has been investigated by performing a series of load relaxation tests at various temperatures using an Al-Li alloy. A plastic equation of state is first developed from a simple kinetics consideration for a mechanical activation process of a leading dislocation piled up against grain boundaries. A series of load relaxation test has been conducted at temperatures ranging from 200 to 530oC to obtain the stress-strain rate curves. A plastic equation of state has been derived from a simple consideration of dislocation kinetics and confirmed by experimental results.
Abstract: This study explores the clinical features of neurodegenerative disease patients with tremor. We study the motor impairments in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET). Since uncertainty exists on whether Parkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET) patients have similar degree of impairment during motor tasks, this study based on the self-developed computerized handwriting movement analysis to characterize motor functions of these two impairments. The recruited subjects were diagnosed and confirmed one of neurodegenerative diseases. They were undergone general clinical evaluations by physicians in the first year. We recruited 8 participants with PD and 10 with ET. Additional 12 participants without any neuromuscular dysfunction were recruited as control group. This study used fine motor control of penmanship on digital tablet for sensorimotor function tests. The movement speed in PD/ET group is found significant slower than subjects in normal control group. In movement intensity and speed, the result found subject with ET has similar clinical feature with PD subjects. The ET group shows smaller and slower movements than control group but not to the same extent as PD group. The results of this study contribute to the early screening and detection of diseases and the evaluation of disease progression.
Abstract: The Choquet integral is a tool for the information fusion that is very effective in the case where fuzzy measures associated with it are well chosen. In this paper, we propose a new approach for calculating fuzzy measures associated with the Choquet integral in a context of data fusion in multimodal biometrics. The proposed approach is based on genetic algorithms. It has been validated in two databases: the first base is relative to synthetic scores and the second one is biometrically relating to the face, fingerprint and palmprint. The results achieved attest the robustness of the proposed approach.
Abstract: A new circuit topology realizing a first-order currentmode all-pass filter is proposed using two dual-output second generation
current conveyor and two passive components. The circuit possesses low-input and high-output impedance, which makes it ideal
for current-mode systems. The proposed circuit is verified through PSPICE simulation results.
Abstract: A theoretical investigation on the effects of both
steady-state and dynamic deformations of the foils on the dynamic
performance characteristics of a self-acting air foil journal bearing
operating under small harmonic vibrations is proposed. To take into
account the dynamic deformations of foils, the perturbation method is
used for determining the gas-film stiffness and damping coefficients
for given values of excitation frequency, compressibility number, and
compliance factor of the bump foil. The nonlinear stationary
Reynolds’ equation is solved by means of the Galerkins’ finite
element formulation while the finite differences method are used to
solve the first order complex dynamic equations resulting from the
perturbation of the nonlinear transient compressible Reynolds’
equation. The stiffness of a bump is uniformly distributed throughout
the bearing surface (generation I bearing). It was found that the
dynamic properties of the compliant finite length journal bearing are
significantly affected by the compliance of foils especially whenthe
dynamic deformation of foils is considered in addition to the static
one by applying the principle of superposition.
Abstract: This paper presents the novel deterministic dynamic programming approach for solving optimization problem with quadratic objective function with linear equality and inequality constraints. The proposed method employs backward recursion in which computations proceeds from last stage to first stage in a multi-stage decision problem. A generalized recursive equation which gives the exact solution of an optimization problem is derived in this paper. The method is purely analytical and avoids the usage of initial solution. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated with a practical example. The numerical results show that the proposed method provides global optimum solution with negligible computation time.
Abstract: We consider n individuals described by p standardized variables, represented by points of the surface of the unit hypersphere Sn-1. For a previous choice of n individuals we suppose that the set of observables variables comes from a mixture of bipolar Watson distribution defined on the hypersphere. EM and Dynamic Clusters algorithms are used for identification of such mixture. We obtain estimates of parameters for each Watson component and then a partition of the set of variables into homogeneous groups of variables. Additionally we will present a factor analysis model where unobservable factors are just the maximum likelihood estimators of Watson directional parameters, exactly the first principal component of data matrix associated to each group previously identified. Such alternative model it will yield us to directly interpretable solutions (simple structure), avoiding factors rotations.
Abstract: The paper is the first output of a larger research project conducted at the Faculty of Education of the University of Hradec Králové, which deals with an improved understanding of teachers' work in the subject of National History and Geography. Partial findings focusing on the use of didactic material resources in teaching are presented in this phase. With the regard to promotion of independent activity of students within learner based education, material equipment of schools with didactic aids is becoming increasingly important. This paper is based on qualitative research, where the possibilities and mainly the reasons for use of material didactic resources in teaching were investigated through semi-structured interviews. Attention was focused on ways of working with different teaching aids and their implementation in the educational process. It turns out that teachers accept current constructivist and humanistic approaches to education associated with the requirement to prepare students for life in an information society, and accordingly they adjust their teaching.
Abstract: Most empirical studies have analyzed how liquidity risks faced by individual institutions turn into systemic risk. Recent banking crisis has highlighted the importance of grasping and controlling the systemic risk, and the acceptance by Central Banks to ease their monetary policies for saving default or illiquid banks. This last point shows that banks would pay less attention to liquidity risk which, in turn, can become a new important channel of loss. The financial regulation focuses on the most important and “systemic” banks in the global network. However, to quantify the expected loss associated with liquidity risk, it is worth to analyze sensitivity to this channel for the various elements of the global bank network. A small bank is not considered as potentially systemic; however the interaction of small banks all together can become a systemic element. This paper analyzes the impact of medium and small banks interaction on a set of banks which is considered as the core of the network. The proposed method uses the structure of agent-based model in a two-class environment. In first class, the data from actual balance sheets of 22 large and systemic banks (such as BNP Paribas or Barclays) are collected. In second one, to model a network as closely as possible to actual interbank market, 578 fictitious banks smaller than the ones belonging to first class have been split into two groups of small and medium ones. All banks are active on the European interbank network and have deposit and market activity. A simulation of 12 three month periods representing a midterm time interval three years is projected. In each period, there is a set of behavioral descriptions: repayment of matured loans, liquidation of deposits, income from securities, collection of new deposits, new demands of credit, and securities sale. The last two actions are part of refunding process developed in this paper. To strengthen reliability of proposed model, random parameters dynamics are managed with stochastic equations as rates the variations of which are generated by Vasicek model. The Central Bank is considered as the lender of last resort which allows banks to borrow at REPO rate and some ejection conditions of banks from the system are introduced.
Liquidity crunch due to exogenous crisis is simulated in the first class and the loss impact on other bank classes is analyzed though aggregate values representing the aggregate of loans and/or the aggregate of borrowing between classes. It is mainly shown that the three groups of European interbank network do not have the same response, and that intermediate banks are the most sensitive to liquidity risk.
Abstract: The clinical laboratory has received considerable recognition globally due to the rapid development of advanced technology, economic demands and its role in a patient’s treatment cycle. Although various cross-domain experiments and practices with respect to clinical laboratory projects are ready for the full swing, the customer needs are still ambiguous and debatable. The purpose of this study is to apply Kano’s model and customer satisfaction matrix to categorize service quality attributes in order to see how well these attributes are able to satisfy customer needs. The result reveals that ten of the 26 service quality attributes have greater impacts on highly increasing customer’s satisfaction and should be taken in consideration firstly.
Abstract: An important aspect of planning for shallow tunneling under urban areas is the determination of likely surface movements and interaction with existing structures. Back analysis of built tunnels that their settlements magnitude is available, could aid the designers to have a more accuracy in future projects.
In this paper, one single Tehran Metro Tunnel (at west of Hor square, Jang University Street) was selected. At first, surface settlements of this tunnel were measured in situ. Then this tunnel was modeled using the commercial finite deference software FLAC-3D. Finally, Results of modeling and in situ measurements compared for verification.
Abstract: Proper maintenance and preservation of significant cultural heritages or historic buildings is necessary. It can not only enhance environmental benefits and a sense of community, but also preserve a city's history and people’s memory. It allows the next generation to be able to get a glimpse of our past, and achieve the goal of sustainable preserved cultural assets. However, the management of maintenance work has not been appropriate for many designated heritages or historic buildings so far. The planning and implementation of the reuse has yet to have a breakthrough specification. It leads the heritages to a mere formality of being “reserved”, instead of the real meaning of “conservation”. For the restoration and preservation of cultural heritages study issues, it is very important due to the consideration of historical significance, symbolism, and economic benefits effects. However, the decision makers such as the officials from public sector they often encounter which heritage should be prioritized to be restored first under the available limited budgets. Only very few techniques are available today to determine the appropriately restoration priorities for the diverse historical heritages, perhaps because of a lack of systematized decision-making aids been proposed before. In the past, the discussions of management and maintenance towards cultural assets were limited to the selection of reuse alternatives instead of the allocation of resources. In view of this, this research will adopt some integrated research methods to solve the existing problems that decision-makers might encounter when allocating resources in the management and maintenance of heritages and historic buildings.
The purpose of this study is to develop a sustainable decision making model for local governments to resolve these problems. We propose an alternative decision support model to prioritize restoration needs within the limited budgets. The model is constructed based on fuzzy Delphi, fuzzy analysis network process (FANP) and goal programming (GP) methods. In order to avoid misallocate resources; this research proposes a precise procedure that can take multi-stakeholders views, limited costs and resources into consideration. Also, the combination of many factors and goals has been taken into account to find the highest priority and feasible solution results. To illustrate the approach we propose in this research, seven cultural heritages in Taipei city as one example has been used as an empirical study, and the results are in depth analyzed to explain the application of our proposed approach.
Abstract: By means of Sidi-Israeli’s quadrature rules, mechanical quadrature methods (MQMs) for solving the first kind boundary integral equations (BIEs) of steady state Stokes problem are presented. The convergence of numerical solutions by MQMs is proved based on Anselone’s collective compact and asymptotical compact theory, and the asymptotic expansions with the odd powers of the errors are provided, which implies that the accuracy of the approximations by MQMs possesses high accuracy order O (h3). Finally, the numerical examples show the efficiency of our methods.
Abstract: Protein hydrolysates prepared from a number of medicinal plants are promising sources of various bioactive peptides. In this work, proteins from dried whole plant of Euphorbia hirta Linn. were extracted and digested with pepsin for 12h. The hydrolysates of lesser than 3 KDa were fractionated by a cut-off membrane. The peptide hydrolysate was then purified by an anion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel™ column and reverse-phase chromatography on Sep-pak C18 column, respectively. The cytotoxic effect of each peptide fraction against a gastric carcinoma cell line (KATO-III, ATCC No. HTB103) was investigated using colorimetric MTT viability assay. A human liver cell line (Chang Liver, CLS No. 300139) was used as a control normal cell line. Two purified peptide peaks, peak l and peak ll at 100µg peptides mL-1 affected cell viability of the gastric cancer cell lines to 63.85±4.94 and 66.92±6.46%, respectively. Our result showed for the first time that the peptide fractions derived from protein hydrolysate of Euphorbia hirta Linn. have anti-gastric cancer activity, which offers a potential novel and natural anti-gastric cancer remedy.
Abstract: In this paper, a stochastic predator-prey system with Holling II functional response is studied. First, we show that there is a unique positive solution to the system for any given positive initial value. Then, stochastically bounded of the positive solution to the stochastic system is derived. Moreover, sufficient conditions for global asymptotic stability are also established. In the end, some simulation figures are carried out to support the analytical findings.
Abstract: The importance of logistics has changed enormously in the last few decades. While logistics was formerly one of the core functions of most companies, logistics or at least parts of their functions are nowadays outsourced to external logistic service providers in terms of contracts. As a result of this shift new business models like the fourth party logistics provider emerged, which designs, plans and monitors the resulting logistics networks. This new business model and topics such as Synchromodality or Big Data impose new requirements on the underlying IT, which cannot be met with conventional concepts and approaches.
In this paper, the challenges of logistics network monitoring are outlined by using a scenario. The most common layers in a logical multilayered architecture for an information system are used to point out the arising challenges for IT. In addition, first appropriate solution approaches are introduced.
Abstract: In this article, a new inexact alternating direction method(ADM) is proposed for solving a class of variational inequality problems. At each iteration, the new method firstly solves the resulting subproblems of ADM approximately to generate an temporal point ˜xk, and then the multiplier yk is updated to get the new iterate yk+1. In order to get xk+1, we adopt a new descent direction which is simple compared with the existing prediction-correction type ADMs. For the inexact ADM, the resulting proximal subproblem has closedform solution when the proximal parameter and inexact term are chosen appropriately. We show the efficiency of the inexact ADM numerically by some preliminary numerical experiments.
Abstract: Support vector clustering (SVC) is an important kernelbased clustering algorithm in multi applications. It has got two main bottle necks, the high computation price and labeling piece. In this paper, we presented a modified SVC method, named Grid–SVC, to improve the original algorithm computationally. First we normalized and then we parted the interval, where the SVC is processing, using a novel Grid–based clustering algorithm. The algorithm parts the intervals, based on the density function of the data set and then applying the cartesian multiply makes multi-dimensional grids. Eliminating many outliers and noise in the preprocess, we apply an improved SVC method to each parted grid in a parallel way. The experimental results show both improvement in time complexity order and the accuracy.
Abstract: A crossbreeding experiment was carried out between two Egyptian strains of chickens namely Mandarah (MM) and El-Salam (SS). The two purebred strains and their reciprocal crosses (MS and SM) were used to estimate the effect of crossing on egg laying and egg quality parameters, direct additive and maternal additive effects as well as heterosis and direct heterosis percentages for studied traits. Results revealed that SM cross recorded the highest significant averages for most of egg production traits including body weight at sexual maturity (BW1), egg numbers at first 90 days, 42 weeks and 65 weeks of age (EN1, EN2 and EN3; respectively), egg weight at 90 days, 42 weeks of age (EW1 and EW2), egg mass at 90 days, 42 weeks and 65 weeks of age (EM1, EM2 and EM3; respectively), feed conversion ratio to egg production at 90 days , 42 weeks and 65 weeks of age (FCR1, FCR2 and FCR3; respectively), fertility and commercial hatchability percentages. Moreover, SM line reached the age sexual maturity (ASM) and period to the first ten eggs (Pf10 egg) at earlier age than other lines. On the other hand, crossing did not well improve egg quality parameters. Estimates and percentages of direct additive effect (GI) were negative for most of the studied traits except for EN1, EN2, EN3, FCR3, fertility, scientific and commercial hatchability percentages that were positive. But Estimates and percentages of maternal heterosis (Gm) were positive for all the studied traits of egg production, except for BW2, BW3, ASM, Pf10, FCR1, FCR2, FCR3 and scientific hatchability that were negative. Also, positive estimates and percentages of heterosis were recorded for most of egg production and egg quality traits. It was concluded that using of SS strain as a sire line and MM strain as a dam line resulting in best new commercial egg line (SM) which is of great concern for poultry breeder in Egypt.