Abstract: In the planning point of view, it is essential to have
mode choice, due to the massive amount of incurred in transportation
systems. The intercity travellers in Libya have distinct features, as
against travellers from other countries, which includes cultural and
socioeconomic factors. Consequently, the goal of this study is to
recognize the behavior of intercity travel using disaggregate models,
for projecting the demand of nation-level intercity travel in Libya.
Multinomial Logit Model for all the intercity trips has been
formulated to examine the national-level intercity transportation in
Libya. The Multinomial logit model was calibrated using nationwide
revealed preferences (RP) and stated preferences (SP) survey. The
model was developed for deference purpose of intercity trips (work,
social and recreational). The variables of the model have been
predicted based on maximum likelihood method. The data needed for
model development were obtained from all major intercity corridors
in Libya. The final sample size consisted of 1300 interviews. About
two-thirds of these data were used for model calibration, and the
remaining parts were used for model validation. This study, which is
the first of its kind in Libya, investigates the intercity traveler’s
mode-choice behavior. The intercity travel mode-choice model was
successfully calibrated and validated. The outcomes indicate that, the
overall model is effective and yields higher precision of estimation.
The proposed model is beneficial, due to the fact that, it is receptive
to a lot of variables, and can be employed to determine the impact of
modifications in the numerous characteristics on the need for various
travel modes. Estimations of the model might also be of valuable to
planners, who can estimate possibilities for various modes and
determine the impact of unique policy modifications on the need for
intercity travel.
Abstract: Sediment formation and its transport along the river course is considered as important hydraulic consideration in river engineering. Their impact on the morphology of rivers on one hand and important considerations of which in the design and construction of the hydraulic structures on the other has attracted the attention of experts in arid and semi-arid regions. Under certain conditions where the momentum energy of the flow stream reaches a specific rate, the sediment materials start to be transported with the flow. This can usually be analyzed in two different categories of suspended and bed load materials. Sedimentation phenomenon along the waterways and the conveyance of vast volume of materials into the canal networks can potentially influence water abstraction in the intake structures. This can pose a serious threat to operational sustainability and water delivery performance in the canal networks. The situation is serious where ineffective watershed management (poor vegetation cover in the water basin) is the underlying cause of soil erosion which feeds the materials into the waterways that intern would necessitate comprehensive study. The present paper aims to present an analytical investigation of the sediment process in the waterways on one hand and estimation of the sediment load transport into the lined canals using the SHARC software on the other. For this reason, the paper focuses on the comparative analysis of the hydraulic behaviors of the Sabilli main canal that feeds the pumping station with that of the Western canal in the Greater Dezful region to identify effective factors in sedimentation and ways of mitigating their impact on water abstraction in the canal systems. The method involved use of observational data available in the Dezful Dastmashoon hydrometric station along a 6 km waterway of the Sabilli main canal using the SHARC software to estimate the suspended load concentration and bed load materials. Results showed the transport of a significant volume of sediment loads from the waterways into the canal system which is assumed to have arisen from the absence of stilling basin on one hand and the gravity flow on the other has caused serious challenges. This is contrary to what occurs in the Sabilli canal, where the design feature which incorporates a settling basin just before the pumping station is the major cause of reduced sediment load transport into the canal system.Results showed that modification of the present design features by constructing a settling basin just upstream of the western intake structure can considerably reduce the entry of sediment materials into the canal system. Not only this can result in the sustainability of the hydraulic structures but can also improve operational performance of water conveyance and distribution system, all of which are the pre-requisite to secure reliable and equitable water delivery regime for the command area.
Abstract: In recent years, rapid advances in software and hardware in the field of information technology along with a digital imaging revolution in the medical domain facilitate the generation and storage of large collections of images by hospitals and clinics. To search these large image collections effectively and efficiently poses significant technical challenges, and it raises the necessity of constructing intelligent retrieval systems. Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) consists of retrieving the most visually similar images to a given query image from a database of images[5]. Medical CBIR (content-based image retrieval) applications pose unique challenges but at the same time offer many new opportunities. On one hand, while one can easily understand news or sports videos, a medical image is often completely incomprehensible to untrained eyes.
Abstract: With the growth of electricity generation from gas
energy gas pipeline reliability can substantially impact the electric
generation. A physical disruption to pipeline or to a compressor
station can interrupt the flow of gas or reduce the pressure and lead
to loss of multiple gas-fired electric generators, which could
dramatically reduce the supplied power and threaten the power
system security. Gas pressure drops during peak loading time on
pipeline system, is a common problem in network with no enough
transportation capacity which limits gas transportation and causes
many problem for thermal domain power systems in supplying their
demand. For a feasible generation scheduling planning in networks
with no sufficient gas transportation capacity, it is required to
consider gas pipeline constraints in solving the optimization problem
and evaluate the impacts of gas consumption in power plants on gas
pipelines operating condition. This paper studies about operating of
gas fired power plants in critical conditions when the demand of gas
and electricity peak together. An integrated model of gas and electric
model is used to consider the gas pipeline constraints in the economic
dispatch problem of gas-fueled thermal generator units.
Abstract: This paper presents a real time force sensing
instrument that is designed for human gait analysis purposes. It is
capable of recording and monitoring ground reaction forces exerted
by human foot during various activities such as walking, running and
jumping in real time. In overall, force sensing mat mainly consists of
three elements: the force sensing mat, signal conditioning circuit and
data acquisition device. Force sensing mat is the mat that contains an
array of force sensing elements. To control and process the incoming
signal from the force sensing mat, Force-Logger and Force-Reloader
are developed using National Instrument Labview. This paper
describes the architecture of the force sensing mat, signal
conditioning circuit and the real time streaming of the incoming data
from the force sensing mat. Additionally, a preliminary experiment
dataset is presented in this paper.
Abstract: A numerical study on the influence of electroosmotic flow on analyte preconcentration by isotachophoresis ( ITP) is made. We consider that the double layer induced electroosmotic flow ( EOF) counterbalance the electrophoretic velocity and a stationary ITP stacked zones results. We solve the Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the Nernst-Planck equations to determine the local convective velocity and the preconcentration dynamics of ions. Our numerical algorithm is based on a finite volume method along with a secondorder upwind scheme. The present numerical algorithm can capture the the sharp boundaries of step-changes ( plateau mode) or zones of steep gradients ( peak mode) accurately. The convection of ions due to EOF reduces the resolution of the ITP transition zones and produces a dispersion in analyte zones. The role of the electrokinetic parameters which induces dispersion is analyzed. A one-dimensional model for the area-averaged concentrations based on the Taylor-Aristype effective diffusivity is found to be in good agreement with the computed solutions.
Abstract: The PAX6, a transcription factor, is essential for the morphogenesis of the eyes, brain, pituitary and pancreatic islets. In rodents, the loss of Pax6 function leads to central nervous system defects, anophthalmia, and nasal hypoplasia. The haplo-insufficiency of Pax6 causes microphthalmia, aggression and other behavioral abnormalities. It is also required in brain patterning and neuronal plasticity. In human, heterozygous mutation of Pax6 causes loss of iris [aniridia], mental retardation and glucose intolerance. The 3- deletion in Pax6 leads to autism and aniridia. The phenotypes are variable in peneterance and expressivity. However, mechanism of function and interaction of PAX6 with other proteins during development and associated disease are not clear. It is intended to explore interactors of PAX6 to elucidated biology of PAX6 function in the tissues where it is expressed and also in the central regulatory pathway. This report describes In-silico approaches to explore interacting proteins of PAX6. The models show several possible proteins interacting with PAX6 like MITF, SIX3, SOX2, SOX3, IPO13, TRIM, and OGT. Since the Pax6 is a critical transcriptional regulator and master control gene of eye and brain development it might be interacting with other protein involved in morphogenesis [TGIF, TGF, Ras etc]. It is also presumed that matricelluar proteins [SPARC, thrombospondin-1 and osteonectin etc] are likely to interact during transport and processing of PAX6 and are somewhere its cascade. The proteins involved in cell survival and cell proliferation can also not be ignored.
Abstract: Natural disasters, including earthquake, kill many people around the world every year. Society rescue actions, which start after the earthquake and are called LAST in abbreviation, include locating, access, stabilization and transportation. In the present article, we have studied the process of local accessibility to the injured and transporting them to health care centers. With regard the heavy traffic load due to earthquake, the destruction of connecting roads and bridges and the heavy debris in alleys and street, which put the lives of the injured and the people buried under the debris in danger, accelerating the rescue actions and facilitating the accessibilities are of great importance, obviously. Tehran, the capital of Iran, is among the crowded cities in the world and is the center of extensive economic, political, cultural and social activities. Tehran has a population of about 9.5 millions and because of the immigration of people from the surrounding cities. Furthermore, considering the fact that Tehran is located on two important and large faults, a 6 Richter magnitude earthquake in this city could lead to the greatest catastrophe during the entire human history. The present study is a kind of review and a major part of the required information for it, has been obtained from libraries all of the rescue vehicles around the world, including rescue helicopters, ambulances, fire fighting vehicles and rescue boats, and their applied technology, and also the robots specifically designed for the rescue system and the advantages and disadvantages of them, have been investigated. The studies show that there is a significant relationship between the rescue team-s arrival time at the incident zone and the number of saved people; so that, if the duration of burial under debris 30 minutes, the probability of survival is %99.3, after a day is %81, after 2days is %19 and after 5days is %7.4. The exiting transport systems all have some defects. If these defects are removed, more people could be saved each hour and the preparedness against natural disasters is increased. In this study, transport system has been designed for the rescue team and the injured; which could carry the rescue team to the incident zone and the injured to the health care centers. In addition, this system is able to fly in the air and move on the earth as well; so that the destruction of roads and the heavy traffic load could not prevent the rescue team from arriving early at the incident zone. The system also has the equipment required firebird for debris removing, optimum transport of the injured and first aid.
Abstract: We have developed a database for membrane protein functions, which has more than 3000 experimental data on functionally important amino acid residues in membrane proteins along with sequence, structure and literature information. Further, we have proposed different methods for identifying membrane proteins based on their functions: (i) discrimination of membrane transport proteins from other globular and membrane proteins and classifying them into channels/pores, electrochemical and active transporters, and (ii) β-signal for the insertion of mitochondrial β-barrel outer membrane proteins and potential targets. Our method showed an accuracy of 82% in discriminating transport proteins and 68% to classify them into three different transporters. In addition, we have identified a motif for targeting β-signal and potential candidates for mitochondrial β-barrel membrane proteins. Our methods can be used as effective tools for genome-wide annotations.
Abstract: This paper is to develop a fuzzy net present value (FNPV) method by taking vague cash flow and imprecise required rate of return into account for evaluating the value of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) sport facilities. In order to clearly manifest a more realistic capital budgeting model based on the classical net present value (NPV) method, some uncertain financial elements in NPV formula will be fuzzified as triangular fuzzy numbers. Through the conscientious manipulation of fuzzy set theory, we will find that the proposed FNPV model is a more explicit extension of classical (crisp) model and could be more practicable for the financial managers to capture the essence of capital budgeting of sport facilities than non-fuzzy model.
Abstract: A traffic light gives security from traffic congestion,reducing the traffic jam, and organizing the traffic flow. Furthermore,increasing congestion level in public road networks is a growingproblem in many countries. Using Intelligent Transportation Systemsto provide emergency vehicles a green light at intersections canreduce driver confusion, reduce conflicts, and improve emergencyresponse times. Nowadays, the technology of wireless sensornetworks can solve many problems and can offer a good managementof the crossroad. In this paper, we develop a new approach based onthe technique of clustering and the graphical possibilistic fusionmodeling. So, the proposed model is elaborated in three phases. Thefirst one consists to decompose the environment into clusters,following by the fusion intra and inter clusters processes. Finally, wewill show some experimental results by simulation that proves theefficiency of our proposed approach.KeywordsTraffic light, Wireless sensor network, Controller,Possibilistic network/Bayesain network.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to use the Pfaffian
technique to construct different classes of exact Pfaffian solutions and
N-soliton solutions to some of the generalized integrable nonlinear
partial differential equations in (3+1) dimensions. In this paper, I will
show that the Pfaffian solutions to the nonlinear PDEs are nothing but
Pfaffian identities. Solitons are among the most beneficial solutions
for science and technology, from ocean waves to transmission of
information through optical fibers or energy transport along protein
molecules. The existence of multi-solitons, especially three-soliton
solutions, is essential for information technology: it makes possible
undisturbed simultaneous propagation of many pulses in both directions.
Abstract: Sedimentation is a hydraulic phenomenon that is
emerging as a serious challenge in river engineering. When the flow
reaches a certain state that gather potential energy, it shifts the
sediment load along channel bed. The transport of such materials can
be in the form of suspended and bed loads. The movement of these
along the river course and channels and the ways in which this could
influence the water intakes is considered as the major challenges for
sustainable O&M of hydraulic structures. This could be very serious
in arid and semi-arid regions like Iran, where inappropriate watershed
management could lead to shifting a great deal of sediments into the
reservoirs and irrigation systems. This paper aims to investigate
sedimentation in the Western Canal of Dez Diversion Weir in Iran,
identifying factors which influence the process and provide ways in
which to mitigate its detrimental effects by using the SHARC
Software.
For the purpose of this paper, data from the Dezful water authority
and Dezful Hydrometric Station pertinent to a river course of about 6
Km were used.
Results estimated sand and silt bed loads concentrations to be 193
ppm and 827ppm respectively. Given the available data on average
annual bed loads and average suspended sediment loads of 165ppm
and 837ppm, there was a significant statistical difference (16%)
between the sand grains, whereas no significant difference (1.2%)
was find in the silt grain sizes. One explanation for such finding
being that along the 6 Km river course there was considerable
meandering effects which explains recent shift in the hydraulic
behavior along the stream course under investigation. The sand
concentration in downstream relative to present state of the canal
showed a steep descending curve. Sediment trapping on the other
hand indicated a steep ascending curve. These occurred because the
diversion weir was not considered in the simulation model.
Abstract: As originally designed for wired networks, TCP (transmission control protocol) congestion control mechanism is triggered into action when packet loss is detected. This implicit assumption for packet loss mostly due to network congestion does not work well in Mobile Ad Hoc Network, where there is a comparatively high likelihood of packet loss due to channel errors and node mobility etc. Such non-congestion packet loss, when dealt with by congestion control mechanism, causes poor TCP performance in MANET. In this study, we continue to investigate the impact of the interaction between transport protocols and on-demand routing protocols on the performance and stability of 802.11 multihop networks. We evaluate the important wireless networking events caused routing change, and propose a cross layer method to delay the unnecessary routing changes, only need to add a sensitivity parameter α , which represents the on-demand routing-s reaction to link failure of MAC layer. Our proposal is applicable to the plain 802.11 networking environment, the simulation results that this method can remarkably improve the stability and performance of TCP without any modification on TCP and MAC protocol.
Abstract: Baseball is unique among other sports in Taiwan.
Baseball has become a “symbol of the Taiwanese spirit and Taiwan-s
national sport". Taiwan-s first professional sports league, the Chinese
Professional Baseball League (CPBL), was established in 1989.
Starters pitch many more innings over the course of a season and for
a century teams have made all their best pitchers starters. In this
study, we attempt to determine the on-field performance these
pitchers and which won the most CPBL games in 2009. We utilize
the discriminate analysis approach to solve the problem, examining
winning pitchers and their statistics, to reliably find the best starting
pitcher. The data employed in this paper include innings pitched (IP),
earned runs allowed (ERA) and walks plus hits per inning pitched
(WPHIP) provided by the official website of the CPBL. The results
show that Aaron Rakers was the best starting pitcher of the CPBL.
The top 10 CPBL starting pitchers won 14 games to 8 games in the
2009 season. Though Fisher Discriminant Analysis, predicted to top
10 CPBL starting pitchers probably won 20 games to 9 games, more
1 game to 7 games in actually counts in 2009 season.
Abstract: In the past many uneconomic solutions for limitation
and interruption of short-circuit currents in low power applications
have been introduced, especially polymer switch based on the
positive temperature coefficient of resistance (PCTR) concept.
However there are many limitations in the active material, which
consists of conductive fillers. This paper presents a significantly
improved and simplified approach that replaces the existing current
limiters with faster switching elements. Its elegance lies in the
remarkable simplicity and low-cost processes of producing the device
using polyaniline (PANI) doped with methane-sulfonic acid (MSA).
Samples characterized as lying in the metallic and critical regimes of
metal insulator transition have been studied by means of electrical
performance in the voltage range from 1V to 5 V under different
environmental conditions. Moisture presence is shown to increase the
resistivity and also improved its current limiting performance.
Additionally, the device has also been studied for electrical resistivity
in the temperature range 77 K-300 K. The temperature dependence of
the electrical conductivity gives evidence for a transport mechanism
based on variable range hopping in three dimensions.
Abstract: Business rules are widely used within the services
sector. They provide consistency and allow relatively unskilled staff
to process complex transactions correctly. But there are many
examples where the rules themselves have an impact on the costs and
profits of an organisation. Financial services, transport and human
services are areas where the rules themselves can impact the bottom
line in a predictable way. If this is the case, how can we find that set
of rules that maximise profit, performance or customer service, or
any other key performance indicators? The manufacturing, energy
and process industries have embraced mathematical optimisation
techniques to improve efficiency, increase production and so on. This
paper explores several real world (but simplified) problems in the
services sector and shows how business rules can be optimised. It
also examines the similarities and differences between the service
and other sectors, and how optimisation techniques could be used to
deliver similar benefits.
Abstract: Feeder is one of the airships of the Multibody Advanced Airship for Transport (MAAT) system, under development within the EU FP7 project. MAAT is based on a modular concept composed of two different parts that have the possibility to join; respectively they are the so-called Cruiser and Feeder, designed on the lighter than air principle. Feeder, also named ATEN (Airship Transport Elevator Network), is the smaller one which joins the bigger one, Cruiser, also named PTAH (Photovoltaic modular Transport Airship for High altitude),envisaged to happen at 15km altitude. During the MAAT design phase, the aerodynamic studies of the both airships and their interactions are analyzed. The objective of these studies is to understand the aerodynamic behavior of all the preselected configurations, as an important element in the overall MAAT system design. The most of these configurations are only simulated by CFD, while the most feasible one is experimentally analyzed in order to validate and thrust the CFD predictions. This paper presents the numerical and experimental investigation of the Feeder “conical like" shape configuration. The experiments are focused on the aerodynamic force coefficients and the pressure distribution over the Feeder outer surface, while the numerical simulation cover also the analysis of the velocity and pressure distribution. Finally, the wind tunnel experiment is compared with its CFD model in order to validate such specific simulations with respective experiments and to better understand the difference between the wind tunnel and in-flight circumstances.
Abstract: The culture of riding heavy motorcycles originates
from advanced countries and mainly comes from Europe, North
America, and Japan. Heavy duty motorcycle riders are different from
people who view motorcycles as a convenient mean of transportation.
They regard riding them as a kind of enjoyment and high-level taste.
The activities of riding heavy duty motorcycles have formes a
distinctive landscape in domestic land in Taiwan. Previous studies
which explored motorcycle culture in Taiwan still focused on the
objects of motorcycle engine displacement under 50 cc.. The study
aims to study the heavy duty motorcycles of engine displacement over
550 cc. and explores where their attractiveness is. For finding the
attractiveness of heavy duty motorcycle, the study chooses Miryoku
Engineering (Preference-Based Design) approach. Two steps are
adopted to proceed the research. First, through arranging the letters
obtained from interviewing experts, EGM (The Evaluation Grid
Method) was applied to find out the structure of attractiveness. The
attractive styles are eye-dazzling, leisure, classic, and racing
competitive styles. Secondarily, Quantification Theory Type I analysis
was adopted as a tool for analyzing the importance of attractiveness.
The relationship between style and attractive parts was also discussed.
The results could contribute to the design and research development of
heavy duty motorcycle industry in Taiwan.
Abstract: Sport is one of the sectors in which the largest
technical projections regarding the functions of textiles can be found.
He is a large consumer of high performance composite materials and
new fibers. It is one of the sectors where the innovation is the most
important when the greatest numbers of spectacular developments are
aimed at increasing performance. In medicine, textile innovation is
used and contributes in the amelioration of different materials such as
dressing, orthosis, bandages, etc. The hygienic textiles in non-woven
materials record a strong growth. The objective of this study is to
show the different advances of development we obtained in the both
ways (sport and medicine). Polyamide fibers where developed
tacking into account the specification of the high level athlete’s
performance like swimming and triathlon (Olympic Games, Brazil
2016). The first textile utilization was for skiing (Olympic Games,
Sotchi 2014). The different textiles technologies where adapted for
medicine.