Abstract: The model-based approach to user interface design
relies on developing separate models capturing various aspects about
users, tasks, application domain, presentation and dialog structures.
This paper presents a task modeling approach for user interface
design and aims at exploring mappings between task, domain and
presentation models. The basic idea of our approach is to identify
typical configurations in task and domain models and to investigate
how they relate each other. A special emphasis is put on applicationspecific
functions and mappings between domain objects and
operational task structures. In this respect, we will address two
layers in task decomposition: a functional (planning) layer and an
operational layer.
Abstract: Analysis of the elastic scattering of protons on 6,7Li
nuclei has been done in the framework of the optical model at the
beam energies up to 50 MeV. Differential cross sections for the 6,7Li +
p scattering were measured over the proton laboratory–energy range
from 400 to 1050 keV. The elastic scattering of 6,7Li+p data at
different proton incident energies have been analyzed using singlefolding
model. In each case the real potential obtained from the
folding model was supplemented by a phenomenological imaginary
potential, and during the fitting process the real potential was
normalized and the imaginary potential optimized. Normalization
factor NR is calculated in the range between 0.70 and 0.84.
Abstract: Perth will run out of available sustainable natural
water resources by 2015 if nothing is done to slow usage rates,
according to a Western Australian study [1]. Alternative water
technology options need to be considered for the long-term
guaranteed supply of water for agricultural, commercial, domestic
and industrial purposes. Seawater is an alternative source of water for
human consumption, because seawater can be desalinated and
supplied in large quantities to a very high quality.
While seawater desalination is a promising option, the technology
requires a large amount of energy which is typically generated from
fossil fuels. The combustion of fossil fuels emits greenhouse gases
(GHG) and, is implicated in climate change. In addition to
environmental emissions from electricity generation for desalination,
greenhouse gases are emitted in the production of chemicals and
membranes for water treatment. Since Australia is a signatory to the
Kyoto Protocol, it is important to quantify greenhouse gas emissions
from desalinated water production.
A life cycle assessment (LCA) has been carried out to determine
the greenhouse gas emissions from the production of 1 gigalitre (GL)
of water from the new plant. In this LCA analysis, a new desalination
plant that will be installed in Bunbury, Western Australia, and known
as Southern Seawater Desalinization Plant (SSDP), was taken as a
case study. The system boundary of the LCA mainly consists of three
stages: seawater extraction, treatment and delivery. The analysis
found that the equivalent of 3,890 tonnes of CO2 could be emitted
from the production of 1 GL of desalinated water. This LCA analysis
has also identified that the reverse osmosis process would cause the
most significant greenhouse emissions as a result of the electricity
used if this is generated from fossil fuels
Abstract: The resistive-inductive-capacitive behavior of long
interconnects which are driven by CMOS gates are presented in this
paper. The analysis is based on the ¤Ç-model of a RLC load and is
developed for submicron devices. Accurate and analytical
expressions for the output load voltage, the propagation delay and the
short circuit power dissipation have been proposed after solving a
system of differential equations which accurately describe the
behavior of the circuit. The effect of coupling capacitance between
input and output and the short circuit current on these performance
parameters are also incorporated in the proposed model. The
estimated proposed delay and short circuit power dissipation are in
very good agreement with the SPICE simulation with average
relative error less than 6%.
Abstract: This paper deals with the development of a Jacobean model for a 4-axes indigenously developed scara robot arm in the laboratory. This model is used to study the relation between the velocities and the forces in the robot while it is doing the pick and place operation.
Abstract: While compressing text files is useful, compressing
still image files is almost a necessity. A typical image takes up much
more storage than a typical text message and without compression
images would be extremely clumsy to store and distribute. The
amount of information required to store pictures on modern
computers is quite large in relation to the amount of bandwidth
commonly available to transmit them over the Internet and
applications. Image compression addresses the problem of reducing
the amount of data required to represent a digital image. Performance
of any image compression method can be evaluated by measuring the
root-mean-square-error & peak signal to noise ratio. The method of
image compression that will be analyzed in this paper is based on the
lossy JPEG image compression technique, the most popular
compression technique for color images. JPEG compression is able to
greatly reduce file size with minimal image degradation by throwing
away the least “important" information. In JPEG, both color
components are downsampled simultaneously, but in this paper we
will compare the results when the compression is done by
downsampling the single chroma part. In this paper we will
demonstrate more compression ratio is achieved when the
chrominance blue is downsampled as compared to downsampling the
chrominance red in JPEG compression. But the peak signal to noise
ratio is more when the chrominance red is downsampled as compared
to downsampling the chrominance blue in JPEG compression. In
particular we will use the hats.jpg as a demonstration of JPEG
compression using low pass filter and demonstrate that the image is
compressed with barely any visual differences with both methods.
Abstract: The utilization of cheese whey as a fermentation
substrate to produce bio-ethanol is an effort to supply bio-ethanol
demand as a renewable energy. Like other process systems, modeling
is also required for fermentation process design, optimization and
plant operation. This research aims to study the fermentation process
of cheese whey by applying mathematics and fundamental concept in
chemical engineering, and to investigate the characteristic of the
cheese whey fermentation process. Steady state simulation results for
inlet substrate concentration of 50, 100 and 150 g/l, and various
values of hydraulic retention time, showed that the ethanol
productivity maximum values were 0.1091, 0.3163 and 0.5639 g/l.h
respectively. Those values were achieved at hydraulic retention time
of 20 hours, which was the minimum value used in this modeling.
This showed that operating reactor at low hydraulic retention time
was favorable. Model of bio-ethanol production from cheese whey
will enhance the understanding of what really happen in the
fermentation process.
Abstract: This paper proposes a hybrid method for eyes localization
in facial images. The novelty is in combining techniques
that utilise colour, edge and illumination cues to improve accuracy.
The method is based on the observation that eye regions have dark
colour, high density of edges and low illumination as compared
to other parts of face. The first step in the method is to extract
connected regions from facial images using colour, edge density and
illumination cues separately. Some of the regions are then removed
by applying rules that are based on the general geometry and shape
of eyes. The remaining connected regions obtained through these
three cues are then combined in a systematic way to enhance the
identification of the candidate regions for the eyes. The geometry
and shape based rules are then applied again to further remove the
false eye regions. The proposed method was tested using images from
the PICS facial images database. The proposed method has 93.7%
and 87% accuracies for initial blobs extraction and final eye detection
respectively.
Abstract: The vast rural landscape in the southern United States
is conspicuously characterized by the hedgerow trees or groves. The
patchwork landscape of fields surrounded by high hedgerows is a
traditional and familiar feature of the American countryside.
Hedgerows are in effect linear strips of trees, groves, or woodlands,
which are often critical habitats for wildlife and important for the
visual quality of the landscape. As landscape interfaces, hedgerows
define the spaces in the landscape, give the landscape life and
meaning, and enrich ecologies and cultural heritages of the American
countryside. Although hedgerows were originally intended as fences
and to mark property and townland boundaries, they are not merely
the natural or man-made additions to the landscape--they have
gradually become “naturalized" into the landscape, deeply rooted in
the rural culture, and now formed an important component of the
southern American rural environment. However, due to the ever
expanding real estate industry and high demand for new residential
development, substantial areas of authentic hedgerow landscape in
the southern United States are being urbanized. Using Hudson Farm
as an example, this study illustrated guidelines of how hedgerows can
be integrated into town planning as green infrastructure and
landscape interface to innovate and direct sustainable land use, and
suggest ways in which such vernacular landscapes can be preserved
and integrated into new development without losing their contextual
inspiration.
Abstract: Cenozoic basalts found in Jiangsu province of eastern
China include tholeiites and alkali basalts. The present paper analyzed
the major, trace elements, rare earth elements of these Cenozoic
basalts and combined with Sr-Nd isotopic compositions proposed by
Chen et al. (1990)[1] in the literatures to discuss the petrogenesis of
these basalts and the geochemical characteristics of the source mantle.
Based on major, trace elements and fractional crystallization model
established by Brooks and Nielsen (1982)[2] we suggest that the
basaltic magma has experienced olivine + clinopyroxene fractionation
during its evolution. The chemical compositions of basaltic rocks from
Jiangsu province indicate that these basalts may belong to the same
magmatic system. Spidergrams reveal that Cenozoic basalts from
Jiangsu province have geochemical characteristics similar to those of
ocean island basalts(OIB). The slight positive Nb and Ti anomalies
found in basaltic rocks of this study suggest the presence of Ti-bearing
minerals in the mantle source and these Ti-bearing minerals had
contributed to basaltic magma during partial melting, indicating a
metasomatic event might have occurred before the partial melting.
Based on the Sr vs. Nd isotopic ratio plots, we suggest that Jiangsu
basalts may be derived from partial melting of mantle source which
may represent two-end members mixing of DMM and EM-I. Some
Jiangsu basaltic magma may be derived from partial melting of EM-I
heated by the upwelling asthenospheric mantle or asthenospheric
diapirism.
Abstract: Two-dimensional Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS)
of high Schmidt number mass transfer in a convective flow environment
(Rayleigh-B'enard) is carried out and results are compared to
experimental data. A fourth-order accurate WENO-scheme has been
used for scalar transport in order to aim for a high accuracy in areas
of high concentration gradients. It was found that the typical spatial
distance between downward plumes of cold high concentration water
and the eddy size are in good agreement with experiments using a
combined PIV-LIF technique for simultaneous and spatially synoptic
measurements of 2D velocity and concentration fields.
Abstract: In this work, ionic liquids (ILs) for CO2 capturing in typical absorption/stripper process are considered. The use of ionic liquids is considered to be cost-effective because it requires less energy for solvent recovery compared to other conventional processes. A mathematical model is developed for the process based on Peng-Robinson (PR) equation of state (EoS) which is validated with experimental data for various solutions involving CO2. The model is utilized to study the sorbent and energy demand for three types of ILs at specific CO2 capturing rates. The energy demand is manifested by the vapor-liquid equilibrium temperature necessary to remove the captured CO2 from the used solvent in the regeneration step. It is found that higher recovery temperature is required for solvents with higher solubility coefficient. For all ILs, the temperature requirement is less than that required by the typical monoethanolamine (MEA) solvent. The effect of the CO2 loading in the sorbent stream on the process performance is also examined.
Abstract: The principle concern of this paper is to determine the
impact of solar absorption coefficient of external wall on building
energy consumption. Simulations were carried out on a typical
residential building by using the simulation Toolkit DeST-h. Results
show that reducing solar absorption coefficient leads to a great
reduction in building energy consumption and thus light-colored
materials are suitable.
Abstract: Decision fusion is one of hot research topics in
classification area, which aims to achieve the best possible
performance for the task at hand. In this paper, we
investigate the usefulness of this concept to improve change
detection accuracy in remote sensing. Thereby, outputs of
two fuzzy change detectors based respectively on
simultaneous and comparative analysis of multitemporal
data are fused by using fuzzy integral operators. This
method fuses the objective evidences produced by the
change detectors with respect to fuzzy measures that express
the difference of performance between them. The proposed
fusion framework is evaluated in comparison with some
ordinary fuzzy aggregation operators. Experiments carried
out on two SPOT images showed that the fuzzy integral was
the best performing. It improves the change detection
accuracy while attempting to equalize the accuracy rate in
both change and no change classes.
Abstract: A numerical method is developed for simulating
the motion of particles with arbitrary shapes in an effectively
infinite or bounded viscous flow. The particle translational and
angular motions are numerically investigated using a fluid-structure
interaction (FSI) method based on the Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian
(ALE) approach and the dynamic mesh method (smoothing and
remeshing) in FLUENT ( ANSYS Inc., USA). Also, the effects of
arbitrary shapes on the dynamics are studied using the FSI method
which could be applied to the motions and deformations of a single
blood cell and multiple blood cells, and the primary thrombogenesis
caused by platelet aggregation. It is expected that, combined with a
sophisticated large-scale computational technique, the simulation
method will be useful for understanding the overall properties of blood
flow from blood cellular level (microscopic) to the resulting
rheological properties of blood as a mass (macroscopic).
Abstract: This paper presents a new method for the
implementation of a direct rotor flux control (DRFOC) of induction
motor (IM) drives. It is based on the rotor flux components
regulation. The d and q axis rotor flux components feed proportional
integral (PI) controllers. The outputs of which are the target stator
voltages (vdsref and vqsref). While, the synchronous speed is depicted at
the output of rotor speed controller. In order to accomplish variable
speed operation, conventional PI like controller is commonly used.
These controllers provide limited good performances over a wide
range of operations even under ideal field oriented conditions. An
alternate approach is to use the so called fuzzy logic controller. The
overall investigated system is implemented using dSpace system
based on digital signal processor (DSP). Simulation and experimental
results have been presented for a one kw IM drives to confirm the
validity of the proposed algorithms.
Abstract: The benefits of rooftop greenery systems (such as
energy savings, reduction of greenhouse gas emission for mitigating
climate change and maintaining sustainable development, indoor
temperature control etc.) in buildings are well recognized, however
there remains very little research conducted for quantifying the
benefits in subtropical climates such as in Australia. This study
mainly focuses on measuring/determining temperature profile and air
conditioning energy savings by implementing rooftop greenery
systems in subtropical Central Queensland in Australia. An
experimental set-up was installed at Rockhampton campus of Central
Queensland University, where two standard shipping containers (6m
x 2.4m x 2.4m) were converted into small offices, one with green
roof and one without. These were used for temperature, humidity and
energy consumption data collection. The study found that an energy
savings of up to 11.70% and temperature difference of up to 4°C can
be achieved in March in subtropical Central Queensland climate in
Australia. It is expected that more energy can be saved in peak
summer days (December/February) as temperature difference
between green roof and non-green roof is higher in December-
February.
Abstract: This paper covered a series of key points in terms of 2D to 3D stereoscopic conversion. A successfully applied stereoscopic conversion approach in current visual effects industry was presented. The purpose of this paper is to cover a detailed workflow and concept, which has been successfully used in 3D stereoscopic conversion for feature films in visual effects industry, and therefore to clarify the process in stereoscopic conversion production and provide a clear idea for those entry-level artists to improve an overall understanding of 3D stereoscopic in digital compositing field as well as to the higher education factor of visual effects and hopefully inspire further collaboration and participants particularly between academia and industry.
Abstract: The paper proposes a new concept in developing
collaborative design system. The concept framework involves
applying simulation of supply chain management to collaborative
design called – 'SCM–Based Design Tool'. The system is developed
particularly to support design activities and to integrate all facilities
together. The system is aimed to increase design productivity and
creativity. Therefore, designers and customers can collaborate by the
system since conceptual design. JAG: Jewelry Art Generator based
on artificial intelligence techniques is integrated into the system.
Moreover, the proposed system can support users as decision tool
and data propagation. The system covers since raw material supply
until product delivery. Data management and sharing information are
visually supported to designers and customers via user interface. The
system is developed on Web–assisted product development
environment. The prototype system is presented for Thai jewelry
industry as a system prototype demonstration, but applicable for
other industry.
Abstract: Identifying the nature of protein-nanoparticle
interactions and favored binding sites is an important issue in
functional characterization of biomolecules and their physiological
responses. Herein, interaction of silver nanoparticles with lysozyme
as a model protein has been monitored via fluorescence spectroscopy.
Formation of complex between the biomolecule and silver
nanoparticles (AgNPs) induced a steady state reduction in the
fluorescence intensity of protein at different concentrations of
nanoparticles. Tryptophan fluorescence quenching spectra suggested
that silver nanoparticles act as a foreign quencher, approaching the
protein via this residue. Analysis of the Stern-Volmer plot showed
quenching constant of 3.73 μM−1. Moreover, a single binding site in
lysozyme is suggested to play role during interaction with AgNPs,
having low affinity of binding compared to gold nanoparticles.
Unfolding studies of lysozyme showed that complex of lysozyme-
AgNPs has not undergone structural perturbations compared to the
bare protein. Results of this effort will pave the way for utilization of
sensitive spectroscopic techniques for rational design of
nanobiomaterials in biomedical applications.