Abstract: Scouring around a bridge pier is a complex
phenomenon. More laboratory experiments are required to
understand the scour mechanism. This paper focused on time
development of local scour around piers and piles in semi integral
bridges. Laboratory data collected at Hydraulics Laboratory,
University of Malaya was analyzed for this purpose. Tests were
performed with two different uniform sediment sizes and five ranges
of flow velocities. Fine and coarse sediments were tested in the
flume. Results showed that scour depths for both pier and piles
increased with time up to certain levels and after that they became
almost constant. It had been found that scour depths increased when
discharges increased. Coarser sediment also produced lesser scouring
at the piers and combined piles.
Abstract: This work proposes a recursive weighted ELS
algorithm for system identification by applying numerically robust
orthogonal Householder transformations. The properties of the
proposed algorithm show it obtains acceptable results in a noisy
environment: fast convergence and asymptotically unbiased
estimates. Comparative analysis with others robust methods well
known from literature are also presented.
Abstract: In this work we study analytically and numerically the
performance of the mean heave motion of an OWC coupled with the
governing equation of the spreading ocean waves due to the wide
variation in an open parabolic channel with constant depth. This
paper considers that the ocean wave propagation is under the
assumption of a shallow flow condition. In order to verify the effect
of the waves in the OWC firstly we establish the analytical model in
a non-dimensional form based on the energy equation. The proposed
wave-power system has to aims: one is to perturb the ocean waves as
a consequence of the channel shape in order to concentrate the
maximum ocean wave amplitude in the neighborhood of the OWC
and the second is to determine the pressure and volume oscillation of
air inside the compression chamber.
Abstract: This paper considers the exclusion of consumer rights by the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 in eauctions. The paper asserts that the absence of an individual auctioneer conducting each e-auction means that e-auctions may not be auctions at all. The paper also questions the justification for excluding consumer rights in e-auctions because the rationale for excluding consumer rights in traditional auctions does not fit with e-auctions due to the significant differences in the sale processes. The paper recommends reform by way of statutory amendment.
Abstract: Swarm principles are increasingly being used to design controllers for the coordination of multi-robot systems or, in general, multi-agent systems. This paper proposes a two-dimensional Lagrangian swarm model that enables the planar agents, modeled as point masses, to swarm whilst effectively avoiding each other and obstacles in the environment. A novel method, based on an extended Lyapunov approach, is used to construct the model. Importantly, the Lyapunov method ensures a form of practical stability that guarantees an emergent behavior, namely, a cohesive and wellspaced swarm with a constant arrangement of individuals about the swarm centroid. Computer simulations illustrate this basic feature of collective behavior. As an application, we show how multiple planar mobile unicycle-like robots swarm to eventually form patterns in which their velocities and orientations stabilize.
Abstract: Female breast cancer is the second in frequency after cervical cancer. Surgery is the most common treatment for breast cancer, followed by chemotherapy as a treatment of choice. Although effective, it causes serious side effects. Controlled-release drug delivery is an alternative method to improve the efficacy and safety of the treatment. It can release the dosage of drug between the minimum effect concentration (MEC) and minimum toxic concentration (MTC) within tumor tissue and reduce the damage of normal tissue and the side effect. Because an in vivo experiment of this system can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, a mathematical model is desired to study the effects of important parameters before the experiments are performed. Here, we describe a 3D mathematical model to predict the release of doxorubicin from pluronic gel to treat human breast cancer. This model can, ultimately, be used to effectively design the in vivo experiments.
Abstract: The task of face recognition has been actively
researched in recent years. This paper provides an up-to-date review of major human face recognition research. We first present an
overview of face recognition and its applications. Then, a literature review of the most recent face recognition techniques is presented.
Description and limitations of face databases which are used to test
the performance of these face recognition algorithms are given. A
brief summary of the face recognition vendor test (FRVT) 2002, a
large scale evaluation of automatic face recognition technology, and
its conclusions are also given. Finally, we give a summary of the research results.
Abstract: A generalized unified power quality conditioner
(GUPQC) by using three single-phase three-level voltage source
converters (VSCs) connected back-to-back through a common dc
link is proposed in this paper as a new custom power device for a
three-feeder distribution system. One of the converters is connected
in shunt with one feeder for mitigation of current harmonics and
reactive power compensation, while the other two VSCs are
connected in series with the other two feeders to maintain the load
voltage sinusoidal and at constant level. A new control scheme based
on synchronous reference frame is proposed for series converters.
The simulation analysis on compensation performance of GUPQC
based on PSCAD/EMTDC is reported.
Abstract: The technological concepts such as wireless hospital
and portable cardiac telemetry system require the development of
physiological signal acquisition devices to be easily integrated into
the hospital database. In this paper we present the low cost, portable
wireless ECG acquisition hardware that transmits ECG signals to a
dedicated computer.The front end of the system obtains and
processes incoming signals, which are then transmitted via a
microcontroller and wireless Bluetooth module. A monitoring
purpose Bluetooth based end user application integrated with patient
database management module is developed for the computers. The
system will act as a continuous event recorder, which can be used to
follow up patients who have been resuscitatedfrom cardiac arrest,
ventricular tachycardia but also for diagnostic purposes for patients
with arrhythmia symptoms. In addition, cardiac information can be
saved into the patient-s database of the hospital.
Abstract: We review a knowledge extractor model in
constructing 3G Killer Applications. The success of 3G is essential
for Government as it became part of Telecommunications National
Strategy. The 3G wireless technologies may reach larger area and
increase country-s ICT penetration. In order to understand future
customers needs, the operators require proper information
(knowledge) lying inside. Our work approached future customers as
complex system where the complex knowledge may expose regular
behavior. The hidden information from 3G future customers is
revealed by using fractal-based questionnaires. Afterward, further
statistical analysis is used to match the results with operator-s
strategic plan. The developments of 3G applications also consider its
saturation time and further improvement of the application.
Abstract: The standard investigational method for obstructive
sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) diagnosis is polysomnography (PSG),
which consists of a simultaneous, usually overnight recording of
multiple electro-physiological signals related to sleep and
wakefulness. This is an expensive, encumbering and not a readily
repeated protocol, and therefore there is need for simpler and easily
implemented screening and detection techniques. Identification of
apnea/hypopnea events in the screening recordings is the key factor
for the diagnosis of OSAS. The analysis of a solely single-lead
electrocardiographic (ECG) signal for OSAS diagnosis, which may
be done with portable devices, at patient-s home, is the challenge of
the last years. A novel artificial neural network (ANN) based
approach for feature extraction and automatic identification of
respiratory events in ECG signals is presented in this paper. A
nonlinear principal component analysis (NLPCA) method was
considered for feature extraction and support vector machine for
classification/recognition. An alternative representation of the
respiratory events by means of Kohonen type neural network is
discussed. Our prospective study was based on OSAS patients of the
Clinical Hospital of Pneumology from Iaşi, Romania, males and
females, as well as on non-OSAS investigated human subjects. Our
computed analysis includes a learning phase based on cross signal
PSG annotation.
Abstract: We derive simple sets of equations to describe the microwave response of a thin film of magnetized hydrogen plasma in the presence of carbon nanotubes, which were grown by ironcatalyzed high-pressure disproportionation (HiPco). By considering the interference effects due to multiple reflections between thin plasma film interfaces, we present the effects of the continuously changing external magnetic field and plasma parameters on the reflected power, absorbed power, and transmitted power in the system. The simulation results show that the interference effects play an important role in the reflectance, transmittance and absorptance of microwave radiation at the magnetized plasma slab. As a consequence, the interference effects lead to a sinusoidal variation of the reflected intensity and can greatly reduce the amount of reflection power, but the absorption power increases.
Abstract: Poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) molecules attached to surfaces have shown high potential as a protein repellent due to their flexibility and highly water solubility. A quartz crystal microbalance recording frequency and dissipation changes (QCM-D) has been used to study the adsorption from aqueous solutions, of lysozyme and α-lactalbumin proteins (the last with and without calcium) onto modified stainless steel surfaces. Surfaces were coated with poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) and silicate before grafting on PEG molecules. Protein adsorption was also performed on the bare stainless steel surface as a control. All adsorptions were conducted at 23°C and pH 7.2. The results showed that the presence of PEG molecules significantly reduced the adsorption of lysozyme and α- lactalbumin (with calcium) onto the stainless steel surface. By contrast, and unexpected, PEG molecules enhanced the adsorption of α-lactalbumin (without calcium). It is suggested that the PEG -α- lactalbumin hydrophobic interaction plays a dominant role which leads to protein aggregation at the surface for this latter observation. The findings also lead to the general conclusion that PEG molecules are not a universal protein repellent. PEG-on-PEI surfaces were better at inhibiting the adsorption of lysozyme and α-lactalbumin (with calcium) than with PEG-on-silicate surfaces.
Abstract: Discovering new biological knowledge from the highthroughput biological data is a major challenge to bioinformatics today. To address this challenge, we developed a new approach for protein classification. Proteins that are evolutionarily- and thereby functionally- related are said to belong to the same classification. Identifying protein classification is of fundamental importance to document the diversity of the known protein universe. It also provides a means to determine the functional roles of newly discovered protein sequences. Our goal is to predict the functional classification of novel protein sequences based on a set of features extracted from each protein sequence. The proposed technique used datasets extracted from the Structural Classification of Proteins (SCOP) database. A set of spectral domain features based on Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is used. The proposed classifier uses multilayer back propagation (MLBP) neural network for protein classification. The maximum classification accuracy is about 91% when applying the classifier to the full four levels of the SCOP database. However, it reaches a maximum of 96% when limiting the classification to the family level. The classification results reveal that spectral domain contains information that can be used for classification with high accuracy. In addition, the results emphasize that sequence similarity measures are of great importance especially at the family level.
Abstract: This research project is developed in order to study
managerial styles of modern Thai executives. The thorough
understanding will lead to continuous improvement and efficient
performance of Thai business organizations. Regarding managerial
skills, Thai executives focus heavily upon human skills. Also, the
negotiator roles are most emphasis in their management. In addition,
Thai executives pay most attention to the fundamental management
principles including Harmony and Unity of Direction of the
organizations. Moreover, the management techniques, consisting of
Team work and Career Planning are of their main concern. Finally,
Thai executives wish to enhance their firms- image and employees-
morale through conducting the ethical and socially responsible
activities. The major tactic deployed to stimulate employees- ethical
behaviors and mindset is Code of Ethics development.
Abstract: Maize and Indian mustard are significant crops in
semi-arid climate zones of India. Improved water management
requires precise scheduling of irrigation, which in turn requires an
accurate computation of daily crop evapotranspiration (ETc). Daily
crop evapotranspiration comes as a product of reference
evapotranspiration (ET0) and the growth stage specific crop
coefficients modified for daily variation. The first objective of
present study is to develop crop coefficients Kc for Maize and Indian
mustard. The estimated values of Kc for maize at the four crop
growth stages (initial, development, mid-season, and late season) are
0.55, 1.08, 1.25, and 0.75, respectively, and for Indian mustard the Kc
values at the four growth stages are 0.3, 0.6, 1.12, and 0.35,
respectively. The second objective of the study is to compute daily
crop evapotranspiration from ET0 and crop coefficients. Average
daily ETc of maize varied from about 2.5 mm/d in the early growing
period to > 6.5 mm/d at mid season. The peak ETc of maize is 8.3
mm/d and it occurred 64 days after sowing at the reproductive growth
stage when leaf area index was 4.54. In the case of Indian mustard,
average ETc is 1 mm/d at the initial stage, >1.8 mm/d at mid season
and achieves a peak value of 2.12 mm/d on 56 days after sowing.
Improved schedules of irrigation have been simulated based on daily
crop evapo-transpiration and field measured data. Simulation shows a
close match between modeled and field moisture status prevalent
during crop season.
Abstract: This is a cross-cultural study that determines South
African multinational enterprises (MNEs) entry strategies as they
invest in Africa. An integrated theoretical framework comprising the
transaction cost theory, Uppsala model, eclectic paradigm and the
distance framework was adopted. A sample of 40 South African
MNEs with 415 existing FDI entries in Africa was drawn. Using an
ordered logistic regression model, the impact of culture on the choice
of degree of control by South African MNEs in Africa was
determined. Cultural distance was one of significant factors that
influenced South African MNEs- choice of degree of control.
Furthermore, South African MNEs are risk averse in all countries in
Africa but minimize the risks differently across sectors. Service
sectors chooses to own their subsidiaries 100% and avoid dealing
with the locals while manufacturing, resources and construction
choose to have a local partner to share the risk.
Abstract: The approach proposed here is oriented in the direction of fuzzy system for the analysis and the synthesis of intelligent climate controllers, the simulation of the internal climate of the greenhouse is achieved by a linear model whose coefficients are obtained by identification. The use of fuzzy logic controllers for the regulation of climate variables represents a powerful way to minimize the energy cost. Strategies of reduction and optimization are adopted to facilitate the tuning and to reduce the complexity of the controller.
Abstract: Renewed interest in propeller propulsion on aircraft
configurations combined with higher propeller loads lead to the question how the effects of the propulsion on model support disturbances
should be accounted for. In this paper, the determination of engine power effects on support interference of sting-mounted models is
demonstrated by a measurement on a four-engine turboprop aircraft.
CFD results on a more generic model are presented in order to clarify
the possible mechanism behind engine power effects on support
interference. The engine slipstream induces a local change in angle
of sideslip at the model sting thereby influencing the sting near-field and far-field effects. Whether or not the net result of these changes
in the disturbance pattern leads to a significant engine power effect depends on the configuration of the wind tunnel model and the test
setup.
Abstract: This paper presented two new efficient algorithms
for contour approximation. The proposed algorithm is compared
with Ramer (good quality), Triangle (faster) and Trapezoid (fastest)
in this work; which are briefly described. Cartesian co-ordinates of
an input contour are processed in such a manner that finally
contours is presented by a set of selected vertices of the edge of the
contour. In the paper the main idea of the analyzed procedures for
contour compression is performed. For comparison, the mean
square error and signal-to-noise ratio criterions are used.
Computational time of analyzed methods is estimated depending on
a number of numerical operations. Experimental results are
obtained both in terms of image quality, compression ratios, and
speed. The main advantages of the analyzed algorithm is small
numbers of the arithmetic operations compared to the existing
algorithms.