Design of low power reversible compressors using single electron transistor

Amirthalakshmi T. M. and S. Selvakumarraja

Most of the multiplier circuits used adders in order to reduce the vertical critical path of the partial products. But adders will create many problems like glitches, uneven signal transition; and it will take more number of steps to reduce the partial product reduction. To solve these problems, a special kind of adders that are capable to add four/six bits per decade. These adders are called compressors. The advantage of using compressors is to provide regular structure in reduction of partial product stage. The 4:2 and 6:2 compressors as processing elements (PEs) are the fundamental basic blocks for accumulating partial products during the multiplication process. In this paper, 4:2 and 6:2 compressors are designed on reversible logic using DKGP gate, one of the reversible gates and implemented in transistor level using Single electron transistor (SET). SET is considered to be popular in the field of nanoelectronics. It offers low power consumption and high operating speed. The developed compressors are simulated using SPICE software and the obtained results are compared with single electron transistor (SET) and the conventional CMOS. It is observed that the compressors using SET has considerable low power dissipation with conventional CMOS.

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Exploring performance of TCP variants in wired and wireless networks

Sagarika Pattnaik and Ajit Kumar Nayak

In the current Internet with a high traffic load Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is the key transport layer protocol. In spite of resource bottlenecks and largely unpredictable user access pattern, the TCP congestion control algorithm plays an important role to make the internet usable with successful transactions. There major implementations of TCP in use are Tahoe, Reno, New Reno and SACK. In this work, extensive simulations are performed to evaluate these TCP congestion control algorithms on different deployments to study various network parameters such as effective bandwidth utilization, fair resource allocation between different delay links. Analyses of the simulations are done and they go in the favor of TCP Sack in both wired and wireless environment. The variants show some amount of difference in their performance when they are compared in wired and wireless environment. The implementations suggest mechanism for determining when a segment should re-transmit and how should the sender behave when it encounters congestion and what pattern of transmission it should follow to avoid congestion.

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Dual nozzle cross flow turbine as an electrical power generation

Corvis L. Rantererung, Sudjito Soeparman, Rudy Soenoko and Slamet Wahyudi

Rapid technological advances require electrical energy for its operations and human needs fulfillment. Water energy is abundant in nature and could be used as an electrical energy source. The cross flow is most widely applied as micro-hydro power plants because it can operate at low head, a small water discharge, simple in construction, easy and inexpensive maintenance. But the cross flow performance is still low, since it is only uses one turbine nozzle, so that the turbine blade effectiveness in absorbing water energy is still low. This aim of this study is to test the cross flow turbine performance with a dual nozzle as electricity generation. The results showed that the Cross Flow turbine performance with dual nozzle produces a larger power output and higher efficiency even increase significantly the electric power output as big as 4,038 Watt, with a system efficiency of 52.72%. While the cross flow turbine with a single horizontal nozzle has a lower performance which is 3,468 Watt, with system efficiency of 45.97% and on a single vertical nozzle which is 2,925 Watt with a system efficiency of 38.78%.

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Fast algorithm for solving the flat problem of computed tomography by direct Fourier method for the functions F(x, y) = F(y, x) using interlination of functions

Vitaliy Mezhuyev, Oleg M. Lytvyn and Kristina Babenko

The paper proposes fast algorithm for solving the flat problem of computed tomography by direct Fourier method for the symmetric functions using method of spline-interlination. The algorithm reduces the number of operations needed to compute the Fourier sum asymptotically twice.

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Railway EC software based on expert system and its application in planning repair and maintenance service of railway lines (case study: a range of Tehran railway- white hill)

Fereydoun Moghadasnejhad and Saeid Mohamadkhah

The success in Repair and maintenance depends on scientific understanding of the geometrical and physical imperfections of rail that in this context in order to maintain proper planning of railway components and fix their disadvantages and design and fabrication of new materials consistent with the natural conditions is necessary and need for it, increasingly is felt. Nowadays new system has been established to improve the operation and maintenance of the rail system that most notably of them is expert system. The system is able to removing defects and fixes basic geometric forms and lines and also increases the safety factor to train and provide favorable conditions for the movement and speed of the trains. In this paper we try to plan Repair and maintenance service of railway lines by using expert system and then with providing Railway EC software in this system, we will try to analyzes the defects of railway system. Therefore, after explaining some concept of Repair and maintenance service and expert system and examine the failures and shortcomings of the rail line we try to pay for calculating the index number. Finally with a case study within a Tehran-Hill Railway white by Software, its failures investigated and strategies provided to repair them.

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A secure image encryption algorithm based on ANN and Rubik's cube principle

T. Gomathi and B. L. Shivakumar

Steganography is the science of concealing the information. The text data or an image in one format is being hidden by another image or text data of the same or of the different format. Nowadays data transmitted are being hacked by meddler; in order to avoid hacking the data is transmitted in several ways of techniques such as encryption, scrambling, watermarking and steganography. Although steganography is used to protect information from unwanted parties; the strength of steganography can be amplified by combining it with cryptography. In this paper a new method called ANN based multistage image encryption using Rubik’s cube method is proposed for secured data transmission.

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Using discontinuous transformation in numerical simulation of vehicle aerodynamic interaction

Dmitry Aleksandrovich Maslennikov, Anton Vladimirovich Tumasov, Nataly Alekseevna Loshchilova, Liliya Yurievna Kataeva, Iliya Evgenievich Anuchin and Nataly Nikolaevna Kisleleva

Vehicle aerodynamic interaction results in short-term but significantly large forces, which can affect steerability and therefore safety, so the numerical study of these processes is a relevant problem. This article presents a mathematical formulation of the discontinuous coordinate transformation for the aerodynamic simulation of multiband vehicle traffic and demonstrates the results of a numerical simulation using this model.

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Fast and efficient segmentation approach for log search behaviour

Mistica Dhas Y, Veeramuthu A, Paduchuri Sudeshna and Pentiyala Yashila H.

In this paper, shows "errand trail" to grasp customer look hones. We depict a task to be a component of the customer information need, while an errand trail identifies with all customer activities inside of the particular task, for instance, different form of request, URL clicks. In advance, Web interest logs have been focused on in a broad sense at session or request level where customers may present a couple of inquiries inside one errand and handle a couple of assignments inside one session. But past studies have kept an eye on the issue of undertaking recognizing verification; little is considered the inclination of using errand over session or request for chase applications. In this paper, we coordinate expansive examinations and an examination to evaluate the sufficiency of task trails in a couple of interest applications: choosing customer satisfaction, predicting customer request speculations, and proposing related request. Trials on broad scale datasets of a business web crawler exhibit that: (1) The task of choosing customer get satisfied using task trails then session and request trails; (2) The task trail fabricates page utilities of end customers standing out from session and inquiry trails; (3) In measuring different situating limits the task trails are like inquiry trails however high sensitive than session trails; (4) The query terms belongs to the same task are more topically unsurprising to each other than inquiry terms of unique errands; (5) The query proposal in perspective of task trail is a good supplement of inquiry proposition in light of session trail and explore bipartite. The disclosures of this paper, affirm the need of dividing undertaking trails from web request logs and applications are enhanced based on interest and proposition systems.

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This article suggests a new approach to handling voice communications, based on the joint application of wavelet analysis and neural networks. One of the most effective methods of speech signals currently performing wavelet analysis. The use of large-scale analysis allows estimating the speech signal as from the point of view of the spectrum and temporal variation. The advantages of wavelet neural network for the multi-layer network.

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Article reveals a number of characteristics of modern onboard radio-electronic systems important from the point of view of modern information technologies which negatively influence quality of the made design decisions. The specified features lead to irrational use of all types of design resources and reduce quality of the developed product. For optimization of process of design it is offered to use systems of support of decision-making.

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A novel optimized approach of fic using codebooks for remote sensing images

D. Sophin Seeli and M. K. Jeyakumar

Image compression has become a great concernin the storage and the transmission of the remote sensing image information. A new approach was used for compressing natural and satellite images by using Fractal Image Compression (FIC). The application presented in this paper is based on a novel image structure, spiral architecture which has hexagonal instead of square pixels as the basic element. The best blocks are searched by use of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique for the compression of remotely sensed imageries. The codebook approach of fractal spiral for remote sensing image compression has been used to speedup searching for similarity blocks. Compression is considered for encoding speed, quality of the image after decoding and for compression rate. PSO algorithm increases the speed of convergence for reaching the best block and then reduces the time for producing the compressed images. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed improved fractal spiral compression approach using optimal technique for remote sensing imageries outperforms two-dimensional oriented wavelet scheme. Furthermore it is suitable for real time remote sensing images for its low computational cost.

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Decontamination of chlorella sp. culture using antibiotics and antifungal cocktail treatment

Mokhzanni Mustapa, Nor Jannah Sallehudin, Mohd Shamzi Mohamed, Normawaty Mohammad Noor and Raha Ahmad Raus

Direct sampling of microalgae from nature inevitably brings together the problem of massive growth of bacteria and fungi. In this study, bacterial and fungal contamination level was evaluated from the Chlorella sp. isolated from two different locations of local freshwater area. Attempts to obtain axenic Chlorella sp. culture by combinations of antibiotic and antifungal at different range of concentration treatment were investigated. It is evident that there were three different bacteria and two different fungi present in the culture, but apparently sterility can be achieved when ampicillin, cefotaxime and carbendazim cocktail were employed at concentrations of 700 µg/mL, 200 µg/mL and 0.1µg/mL, respectively. These concentrations are also proven harmless toward Chlorella sp. as higher concentrations inhibit the growth of microalgae. It was found that by streaking the contaminated microalgae twice onto the TAP agar containing the previously described cocktail, completely removed the contaminating fungi and bacteria from the culture. In conclusion, this study suggested that axenic Chlorella sp. can be attained with this method and cocktail recipe.

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Piezoelectric energy harvesting in varying simulated rain conditions

Voon-Kean Wong, Jee-Hou Ho and Ai-Bao Chai

The development of smart materials have promoted a rapid increase of interest in ambient energy harvesting. Piezoelectric material is one of the common smart materials utilized for harvesting vibration energy. This paper presents an experimental study of a rain energy harvester using a piezoelectric beam tested under different rain conditions. A spray-type rain simulator is developed to simulate actual rain by using three nozzles. The rain simulator is able to generate rain with different rain intensities and drop size distributions (DSD) to simulate different raining conditions. Experiment results show that a total energy of 38.89 µJ, 52.05 µJ, and 114.68 µJ are harvested when tested under light, moderate, and heavy rain respectively for a period of five minutes.

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A dual mode EMG-controlled robotic orthosis

Ser Lii Chong, Charles Theam-Chun Wong, Chi Hong Lo, Alhasan Osamah Mohammed Alabd, Soon Yuen Loo, Jee-Hou Ho and Lee Peng Teo

This paper presents the design and development of an EMG-controlled robotic orthosis aimed to assist stroke patients in rehabilitation process, and possibly to mitigate the adverse effects caused by stroke. The robot could operate in dual control modes, (i) by using EMG signals to control the joint direction and (ii) by using a reference gait trajectory as a control signal. Mathematical model of the robot is derived via Lagrange equations. The dual mode control system is implemented successfully and tested in both simulation and experiments.

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Synthesization of graphene and its incorporation into natural fiber reinforced thermosetting nanocomposite

Kim Yeow Tshai, Pooria Khalili, Ing Kong, Chin Hooi Yeoh and Kim Hoe Tshai

Palm EFB epoxy composites were loaded with two variants of graphene of concentration ranging from 0.01-0.05wt% and the thermal, mechanical and combustibility properties of the nanocomposites were investigated. The graphene considered in this work were a purified graphene derived from exfoliation of expandable graphite and commercially available water-based graphene nanoplatelets UG PRO 680. The results demonstrated that inclusion of a low concentration of graphene capable to yield a composition with improved thermal-mechanical properties and reduces tendency of combustion. However, increasing graphene loading from 0.01 to 0.05wt% does not explicitly lead to a more superior performance owing to the greater agglomeration of nanoparticles at high concentration which reduces the effectiveness of homogenous dispersion within the resin matrix.

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The effect of oil palm fiber/eggshell powder loading on the mechanical properties of natural rubber composites

Chai Ai Bao, Shamsul Kamaruddin, Tshai Kim Yeow, Kong Ing, Benjamin Tay Jay Han and Ch’ng Shiau Ying

Oil palm fibre (OPF) and eggshell powder (ESP) reinforced natural rubber was developed in this project. The effects of OPF/ ESP loading on the curing characteristics, mechanical properties and morphological properties of OPF/ ESP reinforced rubber were investigated. For these purposes, five different natural rubber compounds were produced. Three of the rubber compounds were OPF/ ESP natural rubber composites with various loadings of OPF and ESP. The other two rubber compounds were unfilled natural rubber and carbon black reinforced rubber used to benchmark the hybrid bio-filled natural rubber composites. The ESP was prepared from eggshell waste and underwent heat treatment to enhance its properties. For OPF, alkali treatment was conducted to reduce the lignin content on the surface of the fiber and to improve the adhesion between the rubber matrix and OPF. From the experimental results, it was found that as the ESP loading increases and OPF loading decreases, tensile strength and elongation-to-break increases. Hysteresis loss and hardness value decreases as ESP loading increases and OPF loading decreases. Curing time was independent of the OPF/ ESP loading. Scanning electron microscope results revealed that the distribution and adhesion interaction between the hybrid fillers and rubber matrix was good. The experiments had shown promising results that OPF/ ESP reinforced rubber compounds can be used to replace carbon black reinforced rubber in the future.

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Ing Kong, Jack Ting Bick Shang and Kim Yeow Tshai

Coconut fibre can be potentially used as one of the most crucial resources in the development of biodegradable polymer composites due to its excellent renewability and environmental friendliness. In this study, the coconut fibre was modified through alkali treatment (mercerization), and was integrated with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) via solution casting method. The modified composites film produced was compared with the non-modified composites film in the aspect of tensile properties, hardness, thermal properties, morphology, as well as the moisture sensitivity. Besides, the effect of the composition of the treated and untreated fibre on the composites was investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs suggested that, the treated fibre which had better adhesion with the polymer matrix produced stronger composites. Tensile test results proved that the Young’s modulus of the composites could be improved with the increase of fibre loading, and the enhancing effect was greater with the treated fibre. Hardness test showed that the increase of fibre increased the hardness, but high degree of alkalinity of the composites reduced its hardness. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) verified that the degradation temperature of the composites could be improved by increasing the filler content, but its thermal properties could be degraded with the presence of voids and pores in the matrix. Moisture experiment suggested that, the increment of treated fibre reduced the moisture sensitivity of the composites. Thus treated coconut fibre reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) exhibited better properties than untreated fibre.

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S. Ridha, M. Akmalludin and S. S. Salehudin

Utilizing industrial by-products such as fly ash as raw materials for geopolymer cement has been highlighted as a better alternative to widely used comparing to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). Manufacturing process of OPC are proven emitting large amount of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the main greenhouse effect. While, in terms of performance, OPC creates high permeability between cement particles when exposes to High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) conditions inside the wellbore. Despite proven to have superior mechanical properties, basic geopolymer cement still encountered problems when applied in the same condition. This paper investigates the strength development of geopolymer cement admixed with nano-silica, SiO2 cured under temperature of 120oC and pressure of 4000 psi. It encompasses the microstructure change of the cement in terms of pore structures. The compressive strength development is tested using compressive strength tester, while the microstructural analysis are studied using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Results indicated that substantial increase in compressive strength on nano-silica is admixed. Pore distribution is improved due to nano-silica in geopolymer cement. This nanomaterial in geoploymer cement has better performance under HPHT condition than standard OPC and base geopolymer cement.

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Shahryar Mushtaq and M. B. Baharom

The objective of this paper is to analyze the superior electromagnet placement to apply strong forces on the corresponding magnets used as automotive windshield wipers with different configuration as a replacement to conventional motors. The electromagnetics are engaged to observe the solenoids attraction and repulsive forces of the whole system with changing polarities. Main focus as pre-analysis is either side by side electromagnets or face to face electromagnets provides higher output force for this design. The observation is made based on flux along the moment arm and strength between the magnets. It was observed that face to face magnetic arrangement provides higher torque output on both of these parameters.

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Imed Miraoui and Mouldi Chrigui

Many practical engineering and industrial applications involve droplet evaporation, turbulent flow, and spray combustion. In this work the droplet behaviour within a lean premix prevaporised (LPP) burner and the air velocity of turbulent flow in coaxial jet burner are studied numerically by using the method of Eulerian-Lagrangian approach and RANS-modeling approach, respectively. Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code has been used and the gas phase equations are solved using the finite volume method. The droplet evaporation rate has been checked by the distribution of the droplet diameters. The numerical results of droplet mean axial velocity, droplet diameters, and mean swirl air velocity have been compared to the experimental measurements. Results showed good agreement between predicted and experimental data.

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Anbia Adam, YusriYusof and Asia Yahya

Natural fiber especially pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) has so much to offer in the uprising world of industry. Hence tests have been carried out on two most common types of pineapple planted in Malaysia, which are Josapine and Moris. Josapine shows a better quality in terms of taste, leaf size and even easier to be extracted whilst maintaining good quality of fiber. Hence, more tests should be done to improve the quality of pineapple leaf fiber.

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This paper studies the effects of pressurized underfill process during chip encapsulation process on a 10 by 10 ball-grid-array (BGA) orientation. Underfill encapsulation play an important role to improve the reliability of flip chip package, yet the conventional capillary underfill (CUF) encapsulation process is subjected to several drawbacks such as extended filling time, incomplete filling and voids formation. To avert this problems relating to fluid flow, pressurized underfill (PUF) is introduced. The filling time, pressure, velocity and flow front propagation are observed during the pressurized filling process. The findings show velocity and pressure buildup at the start of the filling. Moreover, racing effect can observed during the whole filling process due to forced flow.

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The request to use hydrodynamic journal bearings in different industries consisting high speed and high load are commonly demanded. The necessary of improving its performance is a significant objective. In this paper, the effect of partially textured surface of hydrodynamic long journal bearing on the pressure distribution and load carrying capacity was studied. Based on governing Reynolds equation, the equations of pressure distribution and load carrying capacity were derived and their trends were represented. The results show that, applying partial surface texture had a positive and remarkable effect on functional characteristics of hydrodynamic journal bearings, i.e. load carrying capacity and lubricant film pressure.

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The manufacturing method of an orthopaedic implant using computed tomography image of the bone, current enhanced designs and rapid prototyping technologyis studied to produce the mould of casting. This method can decrease the complexity of process and production time which as a great impact on medical metal implants manufacturing as compared to the usual approaches. The aim of this study is to integrate the function of 2D imaging, numerical solution, and rapid prototyping method for reducing many of the initial processes cost and time that is based on orthopedic implants production. The integrated method of using 2D images to 3D part model is applied, and final part produced applying rapid prototyping machine. The comparative results illustrate a significant time reduction in some production steps which is almost near quarter of the current manufacturing process by employing the presented integrated system and rapid prototyping process.

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During laser cutting of stainless steel-304 sheet, temporal variation takes place, while stresses are developed. In addition grain refinement and carbide formation is taken place, which initiates heat affected zone (HAZ) that need to identify. Meanwhile, comprehensive simulation of CO2 laser cutting process of stainless steel-304 sheet is complex as it involves thermo-mechanical problem. Thus, in this study a coupled thermo-mechanical finite element model is developed using ANSYS to predict the temporal variation together with thermal stress and width of (HAZ). Stainless steel-304 sheet of 1mm thickness is used as workpiece and the effects of laser power and speed on HAZ and thermal stress are investigated. In total seven configurations involving four different laser powers and speeds are used and the results of the simulation model have been validated by experiments. The metallurgical changes along the cut surfaces are examined by optical microscope and SEM. The current study shows that maximum temperature is developed close to the heat source and the width of HAZ increases with increase of laser power and decrease with increase of cutting speed. Cracks and dross are observed along the cutting edge, which are more pronounced at the middle of the workpiece due to maximum stress concentration as shown by FE analysis.

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The effects of the valve opening and opening height are very crucial in internal combustion engine. The optimum setup for the opening cam high and timing of camshafts in engines will improve fuel economy and exhaust gas emission. This improvement can be obtained from intake (inlet) valve timing and also from exhaust (outlet) valve timing. The challenging technique is to set up the engine to the optimum valve opening and closing for inlet and outlet in the combustion engine and to synchronize the timing of valves under range of speeds of the engine. The objective of this paper is to determine the optimum setup of engine cams to increase the efficiency. A small engine with one piston has been used to find the best valve opening and closing by replacing cams and then drawing graphs of loads for five different camshafts. The best points that give the highest load for the engine in a rage of speeds will be indicated after drawing the graphs. At the low engine speed, it was found the engine requires high breathing to give high efficiency and then required low breathing to get the best load among the designed camshafts and then earlier breathing. It was found also the improvement reached to 15% increase in load from the original setup after decreasing the inlet cam height by 3 mm at certain point of speed. The result highlights the importance of designing a flexible camshaft that can change its cam size and angle at the same time during engine operation to give more efficiency to engines.

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Boron alloyed steel is usually used in manufacturing of automotive part by hot stamping. Due to its unique properties, this material is comparatively expensive. Therefore an optimized size and shape of the blank is important in order to avoid material wastage after stamping operation. In this study, a blank for an automotive part called Front Impact Beam (FIB) was used as a case study. The objective was to minimize the material wastage after trimming to within +2mm. The effect of different blank sizes on the final stamped part is investigated by using commercial CAE software. The constraints considered in this study include minimum wrinkles and springback or distortion. Finally an improved blank optimization algorithm is developed.

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Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is a metrics to evaluate how successfully a manufacturing operation is managed. The affirmative of implementing OEE is most important in managing organization sustainability. The actual implementation (managerial perspective) must register on the perceptual radar of people (social perspective) for them to act, think and behave as expected. It affected the views and attitudes of managers in the organization on managing OEE. This process is aimed at creating a culture of excellence in the organization. Hence, managing OEE can be seen as a process of culture transformation through which the existing elements of the culture are modified, replaced or strengthened with better elements. These elements encompass values and attitudes, systems and procedures, operational practices organization structure and so forth. At this stage, OEE will be reflected in many ways in the organization such as effectiveness of management, ability of the employees, efficiency of the operational systems and the authority responsible for implementing it. Due to global competition, companies have to integrate effectiveness into all aspects of their products and services. This research focuses on employees' implementation on OEE in Hicom Diecastings Sdn Bhd. OEE has become increasingly popular as one of the managerial approaches across the world. The implementation of OEE in Hicom Diecastings Sdn Bhd is intended to be a cornerstone of competitiveness in order to fulfill customers’ satisfaction as well as to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Importantly, employees are regarded as the most important entity in ensuring that OEE can be carried out successfully in an organization. Since this research involves the staff (executive and non-executive employees) of Hicom Diecastings, the unit of analysis is the individual. Respondents were identified through convenient sampling. 300 questionnaires will be administered, examined and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 12.0. Variables were adopted from works [1]. Prior to the survey, this paper is to provide a critical review with graphical or visualize information and understanding of the OEE implementation in the past, present and future undertaking. The design of this paper includes a brief introduction of OEE and its approaches, methods, survey, discussion and conclusion.

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Factors of technology selection affecting the configuration of supply chains in innovative industries: A survey of UK companies in the composites industry

Adrian E. Coronado Mondragon, Ernesto Mastrocinque and Paul J. Hogg

The configuration of the supply chain is one of the main challenges faced by organizations operating in young, dynamic industries characterized for the use of new materials and technological innovations. In composites materials, a young developing industry, there is not a neither standard manufacturing process, nor are there standardized materials with defined or proscribed properties for companies to select. Using a survey of companies in the UK’s composites material industry this research investigates 19 factors related to technology selection in manufacturing and supply chain configuration. The analysis performed includes descriptive statistics and correlation tests. The results for factors influencing manufacturing technology selection shows that improvement of quality and reduction of inventory levels received the highest and lowest average rates respectively. Regarding supply chain configuration, selection of the right manufacturing technology showed the highest average rate followed by on time deliveries/service level to customers. The responses are not conclusive yet indicative of some trends the composites materials industry in the UK needs to address as some important factors affect the configuration of their supply chain.

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An improved algorithm of finite element mesh generation for fracture mechanics analysis

K. H. Leong and F. Yusof

The purpose of this paper is to propose a set of algorithms that can be used to develop an automated crack-tip finite element mesh for numerical fracture mechanics analysis. The algorithms were developed in MATLAB based on a two-dimensional boundary layer formulation. It was further shown that the nodes and elements of the models can be numbered in a consistent pattern by controlling the order of generating the nodes and the elements in the models. It was also demonstrated that the nodes can be connected in a systematic order to form second order quadrilateral element using the proposed algorithms.

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Strength of composites hybrid joint

M. Majid, M. Afendi, W.W. Lieh and K. Hafizan

The strength of composites hybrid adhesive joint consisting of mechanical fastening with similar and dissimilar materials (aluminium/composites) of adherends was investigated. This paper is concerned with a static study to identify the mechanical property of GFRP composites and determine the optimum overlap length. The adhesive used was high performance Araldite Epoxy type. The results are presented in the form of volume fraction test and also in the form of stress versus strain to predict the strength performance. It is found that the aluminium hybrid joint shows the greatest in failure load when compared to others.

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An improved method to model semi-elliptical surface cracks using element mismatch in Abaqus

R. H. A. Latiff and F. Yusof

The purpose of this paper is to propose and investigate the feasibility of using multiple element types in a single model, termed element mismatch, for a three-dimensional semi-elliptical crack problem. The purpose behind the exploration of this method is to ease the meshing process in complex models. Multiple semi-elliptical surface crack in tension models were created with single element mesh and multi-element meshes with different mesh densities. It was found that the element mismatch models developed a consistent stress intensity factor for all the applied loading and geometries. When compared to the single element type models, the computation times were found to be significantly lower for the element mismatch models and the results were largely independent of mesh density.

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Mechanical characterization of red mud reinforced Al-8011 matrix composite

K. V. Sreenivasrao, Anil K. C., Girish K. G. and Akash

In the present investigation Red Mud Particle (RMp) of average 90µm size was used as reinforcement and aluminum 8011 alloy was used as matrix material. Conventional stir casting method was employed to reinforce the RMp with the matrix. Metallographic studies carried out using optical microscope, reveal fair distribution of reinforcement in the matrix material. Hardness of the matrix was found to increase by 52% with the addition of RMp with loss of ductility. Ultimate tensile strength of the composites was found to be the high with the addition of 14 wt. % of RMp (117.28 MPa) which follows gradual decrease with further addition of reinforcement. Compression strength was found to have maximum value of (76.001 KN) at 20% of RMp. From the study, it is suggested to use 14 wt.% of red mud particles to obtain better performance level of MMC.

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Dry sand abrasive wear behavior of chill cast aluminum boron carbide composites

K. V. Sreenivas Rao, Sanman S., Sanjeevamurthy and T. P. Bharathesh

Aluminum metal matrix composite (Pure Aluminum / Boron Carbide) was cast through stir casting technique. The processing of the casting was achieved with the influence of different metallic chill materials (Stainless Steel 304, Cast iron and Copper). Three body sand abrasive wear tests were performed at the chill side of the casting to analyze the chilling effect on the abrasive wear behavior of the composites. The experiments were conducted at room temperature using sand abrasive wear testing machine as per ASTM G 65-81 standards using silica sand of 312 microns as an abrasive medium. Speed of 200 rpm was kept constant for all the tests and the parameters such as load (10, 20, 30 N) and time (15, 30, 45 min) were varied for three levels. From the obtained results, it is observed that the wear rate is mainly affected by the use of end chills and also by the applied load and time. Copper chilled composites show lower wear rate than the stainless steel and cast iron chilled composites. The optical microscope was used to analyze the worn surfaces and wear mechanism.

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Manufacturing technology selection in the supply chain context by means of fuzzy-ahp: A case in the high performance textile industry

Ernesto Mastrocinque, Adrian E. Coronado Mondragon and Paul J. Hogg

The selection of a manufacturing technology may have major implication on the business performance and the whole supply chain. In particular for innovative sector dealing with no standardized materials and technologies, technology selection is a main issue. Moreover, selecting a manufacturing technology may not depend only on its technical merit, but on supply chain-related factors such as availability of raw materials, capacity, suppliers, workers among others. This paper explores the factors affecting manufacturing technology selection with respect to the supply chain using the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process, which has proven to be a powerful tool when dealing with problems affected by uncertainty. This work uses a case study involving a leading enterprise in the high performance textile industry to select between two different lamination technologies taking into account 12 factors. Results show the validity of the used procedure in understanding which factors are the most important when it comes to selecting a manufacturing technology with respect to the supply chain. Factors such as service level/on time deliveries and supply chain performance proven to be the most import factors for the company studied, followed by return on investment, hire/train staff with new skills and environmental impact.

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Investigation of hvof thermal sprayed micro b4c, micro-1%, 2%, 3% nano b4c coatings on dry sliding wear performance of 410 grade steel

Girisha K. G., Anil K. C., Akash and K. V. Sreenivas Rao

Coating Technology is the material Technology of the 21st century, because, thermal spraying as an important tool for study the Surface Engineering Technology. In the present research work, the conventional Boron carbide(B4C) powder particles of grain size 105 micrometer, and Micrometer sized Boron Carbide were blends with 1%, 2%, 3% of nano sized (44-55x10-9) boron carbide powder particles were sprayed on commercially available, Grit blasted 410 grade steel using High Velocity oxy Fuel Technique. Vickers micro hardness tester was used to measure the Hardness values on surface of the coated and Un-coated substrates. Worn surface morphologies were observed in SEM. The presence of elements boron and carbide particles are confirmed in EDX spectrum analysis. As per ASTM G99, Pin-On-Disc tribometer was used to study the Tribological behavior of these Coatings. It was confirmed from the results, increasing the blending of % of nano powders, enhance the good hardness and Wear resistance compared to Micro B4C coated and Un-coated Steel substrates.

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Mechanical properties of natural fibers reinforced hybrid composites

K. V. Sreenivas Rao, N. S. Venkatesha Gupta, Akash and Sanjeevamurthy

Cellulosic (sisal, bamboo, coir, etc.) fiber reinforced polymer composites have played a dominant role for long time in a variety of applications (automobile, structural, etc.). Cellulosic fibers are bio-degradable, are of low cost and have high strength to weight ratio. In the present work, mechanical properties (tensile, flexural, compression and hardness) are tested for sisal/coir; sisal/hemp and sisal/flax fibers reinforced epoxy hybrid composites according to ASTM standard. Traditional hand-lay-up method was used to prepare the hybrid composite. Lignin, pectin and dirt were removed by NaOH treatment of fibers. The experimental results reveal that the sisal/hemp fiber reinforced hybrid composites exhibit more tensile and flexural strength and sisal/coir fiber reinforced hybrid composites exhibit more compression strength and hardness.

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Study of the effect of flow modifiers on the operation of Heglig-PortSudan pipeline

Mysara Eissa Mohyaldinn, Rasheed Hamid, M. Adil and O. Musa

In this paper, the effect of a flow improver (i.e. Pour Point Depressant) on the operation of Heglig-PortSudan Pipeline has been studied. Two types of PPD, namely PPD 25J1 and PPD 25J2, have been used with different doses and different operation scenarios were presumed. For every scenario, the pressure required to transport the flowing fluid through the pipeline has been calculated and pressure transverse between pump stations has been established. The optimum scenario has been selected based on critical analysis of the operation cost at different operation scenarios and PPD concentrations. It has been found that the optimum operation scenario is obtained by adding the PPD type 25J1 to the flowing fluid at 500 PPM.

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Prediction for corrosion under insulation subject to carbon steel pipes using ANFIS

Muhammad Mohsin Khan, AinulAkmar Mokhtar and HilmiHussin

Failures due to corrosion under insulation (CUI) are one of the most common external corrosion failures in petroleum and power industry. A small and inadequate amount of CUI corrosion rate data is available from literature and original plants. American Petroleum Institute (API) in its version API 581 has also given confined data for CUI which limits the use of the data for quantitative risk based inspection (RBI) analysis for both stainless steels and carbon steels. The aim of this paper is to construct and then checking the accuracy of an adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model along with predicting CUI corrosion rate of carbon steel based on, API data. The simulation shows that the model effectively predict the corrosion rates against the CUI corrosion rates given by API 581 with a mean absolute deviation (MAD) of 0.0006. The model is also giving CUI corrosion rates where API 581 is showing no value for it. The results from this model would provide the inspection engineers a satisfactory amount of CUI corrosion rate data which will be good enough for the quantitative approach of RBI.

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The characteristic of temperature curves for friction stir welding of aluminium alloy 6063-T6 pipe during tool plunging stage

Azman Ismail, Mokhtar Awang, Mohd Afendi Rojan and Shaifu Hisham Samsudin

Friction stir welding (FSW) is originally designed to cater to metals which are difficult to weld such as aluminium. This solid state joining process utilizes frictional heat produced by the high rotating tool to soften and stir (joint) these adjoining sections together without utilizing filler metal or shielding gas. The present study analyzes the characteristic temperature curves during the plunging stage of this high rotating tool. About four (4) points of selected location on both advancing and retreating side were measured by K-type thermocouples and recorded using a NI Signal Express on a laptop. It was found that the advancing side gave higher temperature curves compared to the retreating side.

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An evaluation of heat loss on top of solar collector with multilayered absorber in solar water heating system

M. Norhafana, A. F. Ismail and Z. A. A. Majid

Solar water heating system is one of the applications of solar energy. One of the components of solar water heating system is solar collector that consists of an absorber. The heat loss to the surroundings is in important factor in the determination of performance of the solar collector. The smaller value of heat losses to the surrounding will result the higher performance of the solar collector. Thus, this study is conducted to evaluate the heat loss of top of solar collector with multilayered absorber in solar water heating system. Methods used in this paper include solar collector with multilayered absorber is tested and evaluated by examining the heat loss at top of solar collector in solar water heating system. The results show the impact to the solar water heating system is indeed predictable where multilayered absorber in solar collector is proven to play its main role when it able to keep the hot water temperature longer at minimum amount of 176.4 W/unit area as for heat loss.

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Establishing the analytical relationships for mass and volumetric mass fractions for hybrid buoyant aircraft

Anwar Ul Haque, Waqar Asrar, Ashraf Ali Omar, Erwin Sulaeman and JS Mohamed Ali

The current data bank of operational empty mass fraction of airships is based on available data obtained from existing and historical airships. For any design related activity, regression analysis on existing data bank of airships will not be able to provide the true picture of mass fractions of hybrid airships. This situation becomes more critical when a wing is attached to the hull of airship and there is no proven algebraic formulation that is able to distinguish between electric and fuel powered propulsion. In the present work, by using theoretical approach; new analytical relationships for mass and volume fraction are derived to estimate the mass and volume fractions of fuel-powered-hybrid buoyant aircraft. Existing formulas for the determination of volumetric weight fractions of fuel powered airship are also discussed. Established relationship of mass and volume fractions will be useful to estimate the masses and dimensions of individual sub-assemblies of hybrid buoyant aircraft.

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A comparative evaluation on prevailing models for measuring sustainable performance

Amjad Khalili, Md. Yusof Ismail and A. N. M. Karim

In the twenty first century the term ‘sustainability’ is recognized unanimously as an inherent and important strategy for an organization to operate and achieve long- term competitive edge. Accordingly sustainable key performance indicators (KPI) are identified by manufacturers and introduced for adoption and application in different operational activities. However, the dimensions of the sustainability models adopted by different enterprises are quite diverse as revealed through this investigation. The organizations are found to focus on varieties of strategic aspects rather than adopting identical or uniform strategies when dealing with sustainability issues. This paper aims at reviewing the various models prevailing in the contemporary research papers along with presentation of an in-depth analysis exposing the similar and dissimilar aspects. The contribution of this review is twofold: various models for sustainable performance (SP) are critically analyzed followed by a comparative evaluation with a view to proposing a general model suitable for adoption by manufacturing enterprises. The unified model as proposed in this paper comprises of three major components related to the social, financial and environmental domains.

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Effect of geometrical parameters on boiling heat transfer and pressure drop in micro finned micro gap

Shugata Ahmed, Muhammad Hasibul Hasan, Ahmad Faris Ismail and Erwin Sulaeman

Micro gap heat sinks are potential candidates of evaporative cooling. Additional fins in micro gap enhance heat transfer rate by increasing surface area and generating turbulence. The scope of this paper is to numerically investigate the influence of various geometrical parameters on thermal and hydraulic performance of a micro finned micro gap during flow boiling. For this purpose, flow boiling of water in a micro finned micro gap heat sink has been simulated using FLUENT 14.5 release. Thermal resistance and pressure drop have been calculated for various fin width-to-fin spacing ratio and ratio of base thickness-to-micro gap height. The results demonstrate that thermal resistance decreases for increasing both ratios. However, the descending rate is inconsistent. For higher ratios, decrement rate of thermal resistance is very slow, while pressure drop is very high. Hence, it is suggested that the dimensions should be optimized for extensive cooling performance.

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Performance improvement through scalable design of mutli-link 2-dof automated pedestrian crowd control barriers

Shady S. Shorrab., Shafie A. A. and NK Alang-Rashid

This paper describes the performance improvement through scalable design of a two degree of freedom (DOF) automated pedestrian crowd control barrier based on a closed-loop feedback control system. Since most of the barriers existing and used is immobile, static and not adaptable to changing crowd condition. In the proposed experiment, a scalable design of an adaptive system that can assume strictly the role of the security man by sensing the crowd and move away to provide a safe area between crowd people and events area without collision. Kinematic and dynamic analysis to build the system is proposed, while planning trajectory is provided by suggesting some cases to control a specific current crowd situation using Computed Torque Controller (CTC), which identifies the difference between the input desired trajectory with the newly collected data of the equation of motion and dynamic equation analysis of the actual system to achieve a good and accuracy results by reducing the error and minimize the disturbances. Simulation studies for a straightforward range of motion exercise were carried out, and experimental validation for the automated barrier with two DOF is performed to move the system forward and backward and avoid any obstacle on its path. The results obtained shows that the controller can track the desired position and trajectories for the barriers system motion, and adequately adapt the control parameters to the crowd conditions and the sensor and motor control performance.

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Bacterial composition of Algerian raw camel milks after commercial-like storage, as revealed by TTGE and DGGE

Habiba Drici, Françoise Berthier, Marina Aigle, Claire Darrigo and Agnès Delacroix-Buchet

This study describes the physico-chemical parameters and the bacterial dominant communities in three (03) Algerian raw camel’s milks during their six (06) days’ storage in conditions prevailing in the region of Tamanrasset. The storage included namely a first stage (milking then transportation to the local store) without cooling for less than 24h and then successive phases at 4°C and at ambient temperature during their commercialization. Spontaneous fermentation of the milks occurred during the first four days of storage, as shown by their acidification over time and their high microbial load at day 5 (? 8 log). Two molecular methods, Denaturating Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) and Temporal Temperature gradient Gel Electrophoresis (TTGE), that do not require microorganism cultivation, were used to fingerprint the bacterial communities at the end of storage. The TTGE fingerprints allowed to detect, presumably identify and semi-quantify five (05) low GC taxa. The DGGE fingerprints revealed the presence of subdominant populations belonging to at least eight (08) high GC taxa.

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Effect of the corner angle on spring-back deformation for unidirectional l-shaped laminate composites manufactured through autoclave processing

Mohd Nazreen bin Mohd Nasir, Mh Adam Seman, Laurent Mezeix, Yulfian Aminanda, Ahmad Rivai and Karim M. Ali

The residual stresses that develop within fibre-reinforced laminate composites during autoclave processing lead to dimensional warpage known as spring-back deformation. A number of experiments have been conducted on flat laminate composites with unidirectional fibre orientation to examine the effects of both the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters on the warpage. This paper extends the study on to the corner angle effect on spring-back for L-shaped laminate composites. Tools with corner angles of 30^o, 45^o and 90^o were fabricated and its influence on the magnitude and final deformation shape of unidirectional L-shaped laminates were observed. Essentially, the experimental results proved that the corner angle parameter has a significant impact on spring-back deformation.

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Characterization of low-cost lipase by solid-state fermentation of palm kernel cake using Candida cylindracea

Amal A Elgharbawy, Md. Zahangir Alam and Hamzah Mohd Salleh

This study aimed to identify the properties as well as the application of Candida cylindracea lipase produced from palm kernel cake (PKC) by solid-state fermentation (SSF). Characteristics of PKC-lipase have been investigated which include: thermal stability, pH stability, stability in organic solvents and metal ions solutions. The enzyme assays were conducted using colorimetric method and the activity was expressed as residual activity. It was revealed that the optimal temperature and pH were 37°C and 8.0, respectively. The enzyme was stable at temperature ranges of 25-45°C and pH 7.0-8.0 respectively. Zn2+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ stimulated the enzyme while Fe3+ inhibited its activity. The results showed that 1.0% of EDTA enhanced the lipase activity while incubation in SDS and Tween-80 resulted in the reduction of its activity. Moreover, the produced lipase exhibited some levels of stability at low concentrations of organic solvents (methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, acetone, hexane and toluene). The application of the PKC-lipase showed promising results in hydrolysis whereas 50.48% and 45.98% of canola oil and olive oil were converted to free fatty acids (FFA), respectively. The knowledge obtained from this study can give an insight on understanding the PKC-lipase properties in order to be used in industrial and biotechnological applications, particularly in biodiesel production.

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Low value capacitance measurement system for the application of monitoring human body

Atika Arshad, Ruman Tasnim, A.H.M Zahirul Alam and Sheroz Khan

The core focus of this work is to design and develop a reliable capacitance sensing system for measuring very small capacitive changes at low frequencies. The sensing system is applicable in monitoring and characterizing human body movement. The interface circuit measures very small capacitive variation. Some capacitive values have been fixed and the produced capacitive changes have been measured for validating the possibility to monitor and detect the presence of human bodies. A variation in capacitance causes a variation in the output voltage. Due to the variation of output voltages, the presence or absence of the human body can be detected. Primary simulation results show that the measurement of little capacitance variation using an interface circuit is precise and linear. With the presence of a human body in the area right above the sensor, a capacitance variation as well as output voltage can be observed.

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A critical assessment on evaporative cooling performance of micro finned micro gap for high heat flux applications

Shugata Ahmed, Ahmad Faris Ismail, Erwin Sulaeman and Muhammad Hasibul Hasan

Micro gap heat sinks reduce flow boiling instabilities and generate more uniform surface temperature than typical microchannels. Heat transfer rate in micro gaps can be increased by providing micro fins. Micro fins increase surface area as well as generate turbulence, which disturbs the laminar sub-layer. Hence, heat transfer rate enhances due to rapid fluid mixing. In this paper, effectiveness of flow boiling in a micro finned micro gap for cooling purpose has been investigated numerically. Flow boiling of pure water in the heat sink has been simulated using FLUENT 14.5 release. From results, it has been observed that upper and lower solid-fluid interfaces show different thermal behaviors with heat flux increment. Area-weighted average heat transfer coefficient of upper surface increases with increasing heat flux, while decreases for lower surface. In a net effect, thermal resistance of the heat sink increases with heat flux increment after onset of boiling for low Reynolds number. However, for high Reynolds number, thermal resistance changes slowly with heat flux variation. Pressure drop penalty has been found high for high heat fluxes during boiling. Interestingly, increment of pumping power is not always cost effective as thermal resistance does not decrease sharply all over the range. Hence, it is suggested that optimized pumping power should be used for highest efficiency.

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The effect of tool path strategies on cutting temperature and cutting force during pocket milling of AISI H13

Erry Yulian Triblas Adesta1, Muhammad Riza, M. Yuhan Suprianto and R. Hamidon

Cutting temperature and cutting force generated during high speed machining operations has been recognized as major factors influence tool performance and workpiece geometry. This paper aims to investigate cutting temperature and cutting force behaviours when contour-in and zigzag tool path strategies applied in high speed end milling process. The experiments were carried out on CNC vertical machining center by involving PVD coated carbide inserts. Cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut were set to vary. Results obtained indicate that cutting temperatures and cutting forces are high in the initial stage of milling and at the corners region or turning points region. Portion of radial depth of cut with workpiece in combination with the abrupt change of the milling path direction occur particularly in acute internal corners of a pocket leads to rise of cutting temperature and cutting force.

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Emotion detection from thermal facial imprint based on GLCM features

Latif M. H., Md. Yusof H., Sidek S. N., Rusli N. and Sado Fatai

Social intelligence in robots has been demonstrated and recognized in numerous contemporary studies especially for Human Robot Interaction (HRI). However, it has become increasingly apparent that social and interactive skills are prerequisites in any application areas and contexts where robots need to interact and collaborate with other robots or humans. The main focus now shifted on how the robots should perceive human affective states and manifest it through action. Recognition of human affective states could be achieved through affective computing by using numerous modalities such as speech, facial expression, body language, physiological signals etc. There are two approaches to access the affective states; invasive and noninvasive. Decades of researches and findings were mostly focused on the invasive approach; Electroencephalogram (EEG), heart rate, blood flow, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) etc. When it comes to affect recognition using noninvasive approach, very few numbers of publications have been done to date. In this paper, we presented an efficient method for thermal image feature extraction using the Gray Level Co- occurrence Matrix (GLCM) technique. By analyzing the heat pattern on the facial skin, this work attempts to investigate the suitability of the thermal imaging technique for affect detection. The findings of this study indicate thermal imaging as a contactless and noninvasive method for appraising human emotional states.

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Development of piezoelectric micro-energy harvesting system using voltage doubler

Mohammad G. Mostafa, Sheikh M. A. Motakabber, Muhammad I. Ibrahimy and Tawfiqur Rahman

Nowadays renewable energy and its harvesting are attractive, because this energy is free which leads to reduce energy cost. One of the common energy harvesting techniques is a piezoelectric based system. But the output of a piezoelectric transducer which is an AC signal and its obtained voltage from the transducers is usually very small quantity. Therefore, conversion of this low voltage by rectifier is not suitable because rectifier offers a nonlinear load for energy harvesting system. A micro-energy harvesting interface circuit has been developed to improve the performance. This design is a modified model of buck boost converter which at first doubles the input voltage and then operates as a buck boost converter. A diode and a single capacitor have been used in this design instead of bridge rectifier which overcomes the diode conduction losses. It rated output voltage of 3.4V DC across a load 1kO while the input voltage of the circuit from the piezoelectric transducer is 0.54V AC in amplitude. The circuit has been simulated using PSpice (V16.5) electronic circuit simulation software. It is resulting that the maximum output power across the load is 57mW which is better compared to other designs.

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Simulation and evaluation of a phase synchronous inverter for micro-grid system

Tawfikur Rahman, Muhammad I. Ibrahimy, Sheikh M. A. Motakabber and Mohammad G. Mostafa

The phase synchronous inverter is an electrical inverter device which is synchronizing inverter phase with the micro-grid phase. Generally, DC voltage supply is considered as the input of the DC to AC inverter which is a renewable energy source such as solar panel, wind turbine and battery storage, etc. The three phase three layer phase synchronous inverters are normally utilized in the high power transmission and distribution systems to supply AC voltage to the three phase micro-grid loads. It has a phase synchronous controller, which includes voltage controllers that contain current regulator and DC voltage regulator to get the reference output power for creating the inverter gate pulses. An inverter utilizing a three leg IGBT has been designed and simulated by using MATLAB2014a/Simulink with the Simscape/SimPower- Systems Block Set. The inverter is connected to an input DC source, an output filter and a controller circuit. It has been observed that the output phase of the inverter is synchronized with the micro-grid phase.

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Resonant-boost LC converter base charge balancing system for electric vehicle

Mizanur Rahman, M. M. Rashid, A. Rahman and Sheroz Khan

Cell voltage equalization is essential in a battery pack to guarantee high performance, safety and extend the lifetime by eliminating the charge unbalancing problem. Many conventional charge balancing systems have been designed and developed to solve this problem. Besides this, there are some problems still exist: switching power loss and longer charge balancing time that lead to a less efficient charge balancing system. In this paper, resonant-boost LC converter base charge balancing system has been proposed. The switching power loss in the switching components is reduced by achieving zero current switching and the speed of balancing is substantially accelerated using a resonant boost converter. In the simulation, the result of charge balancing with current and voltage characteristics of a series connected cells has been shown. The result shows that the balancing process is substantially improved.

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New technology for biochar production from oil palm empty fruit bunch

Alya Naili Rozhan, Hamzah Mohd. Salleh and Hadi Purwanto

This paper presents a process to utilize oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) by thermochemical conversion to produce carbon-infiltrated biochar, which can be used as an efficient alternative energy source. An integrated process of pyrolysis and decomposition of pyrolysis vapor was employed by chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process. For preparation, raw EFB was made into highly porous biochar by slow pyrolysis process at 500-800°C to provide active sites for decomposition of pyrolysis vapor. In the general fast pyrolysis process of EFB, the main pyrolysis vapor product will undergo a secondary decomposition to produce secondary char and gases. In this study, this secondary decomposition is of interest. Fast pyrolysis of EFB was carried out at 400, 450 and 500°C to produce pyrolysis vapor to be infiltrated within the pores of biochar substrate and decomposed on its active sites. Secondary decomposition of pyrolysis vapor produced secondary char, where solid carbon was deposited within the porous biochar substrate, increasing the total carbon content of the resultant carbon-infiltrated biochar. This process was developed to produce a value-added EFB-derived biochar. One special application of this product is in steel industry, mainly in their sintering plants; as an efficient alternative energy source to partially substitute coke breeze.

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Effective sludge dewatering using Moringa oleifera seeds extract combined with aluminum sulphate

Qabas Marwan Abdulazeez, Mohammed Saedi Jami and Md. Zahangir Alam

This research aims to find an optimum mixture dosage of natural and chemical coagulant for sludge dewatering. Moringa oleifera seeds extract by NaCl solution (1 M) was used as a natural coagulant due to its characteristics such as: availability, low cost, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly. This natural coagulant was combined with aluminum sulphate Al2(SO4)3.18H2O (Alum) as chemical coagulant. Sludge sample was prepared from kaolin suspension 5% (w/v). The purpose of combining the two is to produce mixture with low chemical concentration and to utilize the natural coagulant in sludge dewatering process, thus, less hazardous impact to human health and environment. Optimization was done for M. oleifera to determine the total dosage and optimum conditions for the mixture. The specific resistance to filtration (SRF) value for M. oleifera optimization is 1.058E+11 m/kg with R2 = 0.9729 for the optimum process conditions: 235.6 mg/L dosage, pH 6.6, and 21.2 minutes for mixing time. The optimum ratio for the mixture is 10:90 (w/w) for M. oleifera and alum with SRF = 0.77E+11 m/kg at R2 = 0.9626. At mixture ratio of 50:50 (w/w), SRF value was 0.833E+11 m/kg, which is good enough to decrease the usage of alum up to 50% with efficiency decreased only by 9.24% compared with alum alone.

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Effects of switching frequency to series loaded series resonant circuit

Atikah Balqis Basri, Nur Atif Zaidi and Nor Bazilah Bopi, Ezzidin Hassan Aboadla, Sheroz Khan and Mohammad Hadi Habaebi

This paper analyses the effect of switching frequency on series loaded series resonant (SLSR) converter. SLSR converter is a well-known topology typically used for applications in kilowatt-range power supplies and can operate in either continuous or discontinuous conduction modes. The modes are determined according to the relationship between the switching frequency and resonant frequency. The analysis results in a set of equations with solutions presented graphically. The development of a SLSR converter is described along with the results of computer simulation. The output waveforms obtained for each switching frequency are compared.

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Blood vessels segmentation based on three retinal images datasets

Sara Bilal, Fatin Munir and Mostafa Karbasi

Retinal images are routinely acquired and retinal blood vessels are segmented to provide diagnostic evidence of diabetic retinopathy. Due to the acquisition process, usually these images are non-uniformly illuminated and demonstrate local luminosity and contrast variability. Based on four image processing techniques, namely, Matched filter, Hough transform, Morphological operations and Watershed, the retinal blood vessels have been segmented. Then, their strengths and weaknesses are mathematically compared in terms of retinal images segmentation. Each algorithm performance was tested on DRIVE, DRIONS and High-Resolution Fundus images database. The results show that measuring the automatic segmentation algorithm performance is based mainly on how the retinal images are acquired as well as the image processing technique used for segmentation. Neural Network has been used to recognize the retinal images. The obtained results could help the eye specialists to visually examine the retinal images.

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Portable anti forgery recognition for attendance system using fingerprint based biometric

Nur Izzati Zainal, Khairul Azami Sidek and Teddy Surya Gunawan

In this paper, a portable anti forgery recognition for attendance system using fingerprint based biometric is presented. Portability and security are the main purpose of applying biometric characteristics in a portable attendance system. An independent energy source and its miniature design make the system more efficient in terms of the portability criterion. This study introduces a system which overcomes the limitations of existing paper based attendance method and queuing delays due to fixed fingerprint reader installed in front of class entrances. Furthermore, in terms of security, encryption has been implemented to preserve data integrity. Results of the study include several analysis which among others involved student perceptions, average time taken and classification accuracy of biometric recognition. Moreover, a comparison study was done using the proposed and paper based methods.

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Control of particulate matter (PM) emissions from industrial plant using ANFIS based controller

Sambo A. Umar, Adamu Y. Babawuro, Momoh Jimoh E. Salami and Md. Raisuddin Khan

In recent times, the negative effect of air pollution such as particulate matter (PM) emitted from industrial plants has compelled researchers in finding efficient control system to control such pollutants in order to keep the environment safe. The aim of this study is to develop a reliable method of controlling the emissions of PM using wet scrubber system as a control device. The process of a wet scrubber is nonlinear in nature. Due to difficulty in selecting optimum scrubbing liquid droplet size in wet scrubbing process, the system becomes complex. Thus, Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) based control technique is employed in this paper to handle the nonlinearities. ANFIS control technique has the advantage to integrate fuzzy logic systems and learning ability of neural network, thus able to handle nonlinear systems better. The controller is developed using data of PM emission from cement kiln. The system is simulated using triangular and trapezoidal membership function (MF) with 2 and 3 input MF in each case. The performance of the controller is evaluated based on settling time. The results indicated that the developed controller was able to maintain the PM emission below a set point of 20µg/m3 which is the maximum allowable PM emission limit recommended by world health organization (WHO). The controller with 2 input triangular membership functions indicated a better performance with a settling time of 5.2 seconds.

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Study on turbulent characteristics of flow boiling in a micro gap under the influence of surface roughness and micro fins

Shugata Ahmed, Ahmad Faris Ismail, Erwin Sulaeman and Muhammad Hasibul Hasan

Micro gap heat sinks with internal micro fins are potential candidates for evaporative cooling of miniature electronic devices. Generation of turbulence during flow boiling in a micro gap is an important issue in two-phase heat transfer analysis. Surface roughness and fins play important role in turbulence generation. In this paper, effects of micro gap height, surface roughness and fin spacing on turbulence generation during flow boiling of pure water in this particular heat sink have been investigated by numerical simulation. Commercial software FLUENT 14.5 release has been used for simulation purpose. Volume of Fluid (VOF) model along with Renormalization Group Theory (RNG) based k-e turbulence model has been used for fluid flow and heat transfer modeling. Simulation results demonstrate that turbulent kinetic energy increases in the flow direction due to large pressure drop inside micro gap. As pressure drop decreases with the increment of gap height, turbulent kinetic energy also declines. For the same reason, it has been found that generation of turbulent kinetic energy is lower for larger fin spacing. On the other hand, effect of surface roughness on turbulent kinetic energy is dominated by flow scale. For same Reynolds number, turbulence in larger fluid domains is more sensitive to surface roughness than smaller flow fields.

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A modified LTE simulator for 3D femtocell networks

Alhareth Zyoud, Mohamed Hadi Habaebi, MD Rafiqul Islam, Jalel Chebil, Mohammed Abuljawad M. Al-Shibly, Ali K. Lwas and Mohammed I. M. Alfaqawi

Using simulation tools save the construction cost of the wireless system. It is not necessary to establish the system and test whether it is working properly or not. Therefore, simulation tools are required to be accurate, simple and with the minimum time. From the accuracy perspective, the stacked femtocells built in most available simulators in the literature are widely deployed horizontally. However, this is not the case in the indoor environment where femtocells have to be arranged vertically; such as, in residential towers where apartments are on the top of each other. In this paper, the state of the art of link and system level simulators is introduced. In addition, a three-dimensional (3D) system level simulator is developed in order to help the researcher in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) femtocell field to analyze and investigate more real scenarios of femtocell deployment. The developed simulator allows the researcher to locate a multi-story building in the region of interest, choose the number of floors, determine the ceiling height, and allocate the position of the femtocell inside the house.

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Survey on relational database watermarking techniques

Abd. S. Alfagi, A. Abd. Manaf, B. A. Hamida, S. Khan and Ali A. Elrowayati

Digital watermarking has been in multimedia data use over the past years. Recently it has become applicable in relational database system not only to secure copyright ownership but also to ensure data contents integrity. Further, it is used in locating tampered and modified places. However, the watermarking relational database has its own requirements, challenges, attacks and limitations. This paper, surveys recent database watermarking techniques focusing on the importance of watermarking relational database, the difference between watermarking relational database and multimedia objects, the issues in watermarking relational database, type of attacks on watermarked database, classifications, distortion introduced and the embedded information. The comparative study shows that watermarking relational database can be an effective tool for copyright protection, tampered detection, and hacker tracing while maintaining the integrity of data contents. In addition, this study explores the current issues in watermarking relational database as well as the significant differences between watermarking multimedia data and relational database contents. Finally, it provides a classification of database watermarking techniques according to the way of selecting the candidate key attributes and tuples, distortion introduced and decoding methods used.

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Experimental analysis of human lumbar vertebrae during prolonged distance driving

M. A. Amir, S. F. Toha, I. B. Aris and H. Md. Yusof

Back pain is commonly associated with a heavy driving or a person driving for a very long period. Inexpensive vehicles have a low system of absorbers such that the person behind the wheel and the passenger will experience pain in their back. This is mainly caused by several factors, such as the condition of the road, the performance of the absorber system of the vehicle and also the condition of the person inside the vehicle itself. This paper will discuss the factor that can be prevented and optimized to reduce whole-body vibration that might lead to fatigue.

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Overview of catalysts in biodiesel production

Nur Syakirah Talha and Sarina Sulaiman

Transesterification is one of the methods for biodiesel production in which oil or fat is reacted with alcohol, such as methanol or ethanol, in the presence of a catalyst to form alkyl ester and glycerol. The cost of biodiesel production is mainly affected by the system used and cost of feedstock. Currently, waste oil or fat is used in the production of biodiesel as 70 to 90% of the production cost is attributed to raw materials. Alternatively, overall cost of production can also be reduced by optimizing the efficiency of catalyst used. Therefore, this review paper is aimed to give an overview on the recent trends of catalyzed transesterification and the advantages and disadvantages of heterogeneous acid/base, homogeneous acid/base, and enzymatic transesterification. Heterogeneous base catalyst is commonly used because of its reusability, easier to separate from product, higher reaction rate, lower cost, and require less energy as compared to acid-catalyzed transesterification. However, heterogeneous base catalyst still suffers with the limitations of diffusion, possibility of saponification to occur, sensitive to FFA content and produce more wastewater. With intense research focus and development, an ideal catalyst can indeed be develop for optimum production of biodiesel that economically feasible and environmentally benign for a better future.

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Optimizing tapered microfiber sensor design and simulation

S. Al-Askari, B. A. Hamida, S. Khan and S. W. Harun

Refractive index sensors measure the evanescent field energy to sense various environmental parameters. Evanescent field-based sensors depend on the tapered area geometry which is one of the important factors for optimising the sensor performance as well as achieving better sensitivity and higher resolution. Tapering fabrication process needs to be controlled properly in order to achieve the optimal design. A two-dimensional model of the tapered sensor is proposed and simulated using Finite Element Analysis software, COMSOL Multiphysics. The light scattering phenomenon is visualized for taper and waist areas. The effects of the taper length, the waist length and the waist diameter have been explored in order to find the optimal geometries design. The model provides initial data to the designer to program and control the taper ration and the taper length the fabrication process in order to obtain the highest penetration depth at the highest resolution. The results show that the evanescent field is significantly high when the core diameter is close or below the wavelength. The output graph illustrates that when the tapering ratio decreases, more light propagate into the surrounding making the sensor more sensitive to the ambient changes. The simulation shows that the profile of the sensor can be fine-tuned by changing the tapering ratio of the waist and the length of the taper in order to obtain high performance, ultra-high-resolution evanescent field sensor.

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Influence of cutting parameters on cutting force and cutting temperature during pocketing operations

R. Hamidon, Adesta E. Y. T, Muhammad Riza and M. Yuhan Suprianto

Determining of the effect of cutting parameters on cutting force and cutting temperature is particularly important during machining operation. This is because these machining conditions influence the surface quality of machined parts as well as tool life of the cutter. Numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of cutting parameters on machining output. However, most of the studies focused on straight cutting only. In mould and die making process, end milling process is required to form an empty volume of the part. This is known as pocketing operation. Different from normal cutting, the tool needs to travel in various straight and corner cutting following a particular tool path strategy depending on the shape of the pocket. The situation causes variation in the cutting force as well as cutting temperature due to variation of tool engagement during the process. Hence, this study concentrates on investigating the effects of cutting parameters on cutting forces and cutting temperatures when employing contour tool path strategy for pocket operation. Two different shapes of pocket was employed in this study. The result indicates that Taguchi method is suitable to determine the significant factor in pocketing operation of contour tool path strategy.

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Review on hybrid extreme learning machine and genetic algorithm to work as intrusion detection system in cloud computing

Mohammed Hasan Ali and Mohamad Fadli Zolkipli

Today security is a major challenge, many tools provided in this issue of instant firewall and IDS intrusion. Because IDS works depend on the fastest to detect and accuracy of detection and IDS addition to facing big problem with high false alarm rate, Extreme Learning Machine has set of properties that make it attractive to be adopted for intrusion detection system in cloud environment. our work approach and integrate GA ELM work as IDS with high hopes detection rate and accuracy to the second problem and suggest dividing the training mode for virtual training and virtual testing to ensure selecting a best classifier.

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A comparative techno-economic analysis on furnace oil and retrofitted briquette boilers

P. V. Rao and Chaitanya P.

Furnace oil is atomized with air in the burner and fired, which produces hot flue gases that pass into the boiler tubes to generate steam. The furnace oil fired boilers contribute to green house gas emissions and secondary pollutants. Briquette as a fuel to address these problems is a better alternative. This work deals with the fuel system conversion of an existing fire tube boiler running with furnace oil to saw dust briquettes. Further the boiler capacity is increased by mounting a water wall assembly. The efficiency of this combined fire tube and water tube boiler is determined by using indirect method approach also called as heat-loss method as per Indian Standard for boiler efficiency testing IS - 8753 as well as by American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Power Test Code ASME PTC 4.1. The emission measurements are carried out by portable flue gas analyzer. The efficiency of boiler when fired with briquettes is found lower than that when fired with furnace oil. A significant reduction in the operating cost of boiler is achieved by fuel conversion technology. The emissions of furnace oil boiler are compared with that of briquette boiler. The sulphur oxides (SOx) nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels are low while firing briquettes. Carbon monoxide (CO) emission level due to incomplete combustion of fuel is more when firing briquettes. This conversion of fuel system utilizing briquettes in boilers offers many economical, social and environmental benefits.

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Regional atrophy analysis of Alzheimer brain magnetic resonance images using local texture patterns

A. Sakthi Bharathi and D. Manimegalai

Alzheimer Disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia among elderly people. It is a severe neurodegenerative disorder which is highly characterized by progressive loss of brain tissues. It interferes with normal activity of daily living due to loss of cognitive ability. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been proven to be very useful in early diagnosis and progression analysis of AD. This paper investigates the regional atrophy due to Alzheimer disease progression in four common brain tissues such as Cerebro Spinal fluid (CSF), Ventricle Segment (VS), White Matter (WM) and Gray Matter (GM) using their corresponding local texture patterns. The extracted information is used to classify Normal, Mild Cognitive Impaired (MCI) and AD subjects. OBJECTIVE: An attempt is made to automatically segment the common brain tissues like WM, GM, CSF and VS. Features are extracted from their local texture patterns. Classification of Normal, MCI and AD is performed in order to investigate the efficiency of these extracted features as biomarkers in automated analysis of Alzheimer diagnosis. Anisotropic Diffusion filter based Level Set Method (ADLSM) is adapted to segment GM, WM, CSF and VS regions of brain. Fuzzy C means Clustering (FCM) technique is used to draw the initial contour which is later evolved using level set contour towards the desired boundaries. Local texture patterns such as Local Binary Patterns (LBP), Local Tetra Patterns (LTrP), Local Ternary Patterns (LTP) and Local Maximum Edge Binary Patterns (LMEBP) of segmented images are calculated. Histogram based features are extracted from these local patterns in order to classify NC, MCI and AD. It shows that the proposed FCM based ADLSM could able to segment the various brain tissues accurately. All local patterns are able to bring out the structural variations in terms of edge details. A maximum accuracy of 100 % is observed using LTP features and SVM classifier in differentiating AD and normal in GM, WM and whole brain regions. LMEBP features show an average performance measure of greater than 75% accuracy in differentiating MCI and normal subjects using SVM classifier. Similarly, LTP features show a good performance measure of 100% classification accuracy in differentiating AD and MCI in whole brain region. Histogram features derived from local ternary patterns could be an efficient biomarker for classification of AD, MCI and normal subjects. Textural variations in gray matter and whole brain regions contribute more in differentiating the disease progression using local patterns. Hence, the proposed flow of segmentation algorithm, LTP feature extraction of various brain tissues along with SVM classifier may help to improve the automated diagnosis of Alzheimer disease progression.

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Application of different pan-sharpening methods on Worldview-3 images

Oscar Rosario Belfiore, Claudio Meneghini, Claudio Parente and Raffaele Santamaria

In the field of the remote sensing, the introduction of high resolution satellite sensors has required the development of several data fusion approaches. Two kinds of images are usually acquired: multispectral and panchromatic. The first group has a lower spatial resolution but accurate spectral information while the second presents a higher spatial resolution with a longer band acquisition range. Pan-sharpening permits to combine panchromatic and multispectral data to create new multispectral images with higher geometric resolution. In this paper nine different pan-sharpening methods are tested on WorldView-3 images: Brovey, Weighted Brovey, Gram Schmidt, IHS, Fast IHS, Multiplicative, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Simple Mean and Zhang. With the aim of rank the techniques efficiency, a visual inspection combined with a quantitative evaluation are performed to test spectral qualities of the fused images. This is a difficult task because the quality of the fused image depends on the considered datasets: RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) and ERGAS (Relative Dimensionless Global Error) are the accuracy indices used for this scope.

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Human tracking system for victims trapped from collapsed building

Karthikeyan S., Shibu Prasath S. V. and Karthick C.

In this paper, a new technique used for monitoring and deducting human beings from natural and human-made disasters. Each and every year we seeing various collapses of Natural and Artificial (Made by Humans) like buildings, bridges and by naturals like earth quakes held in various parts of world. In those cases, humans are being trapped from the cavities after three or four days either in conscious or in unconscious state. Recently human made building collapsed at Moulivakkam in July-2014, nearly 60 lives were saved from the cavities as per BBC News. And also huge natural disasters happened at Nepal in April-2015 more than 8,500 peoples were died. In previous we used well trained Dogs and peoples were used to deduct the victims. If we deduct the victims earlier means we gave medicines and save the victims lifes. Lot of humans died because of these natural and human made disasters when they hit the region. Another one of the major Natural disaster held at Gujarat in January- 2001, Gujarat losses large number peoples and properties from that accident. The Urban search and Rescue (USAR) tells the rescue operations completed within 48 hours, we save victims is high probability and then the probability becomes zero. Alive human detection system proposed here in this paper is highly reliable. Here this system moves one disaster area and give information and data to the rescue team and which mainly helpful to save the humans under the debris.

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Sidelobe reduction using wavelet neural network for binary coded pulse compression

Musatafa Sami Ahmed, Nor Shahida Mohd Shah and Salihu Ibrahim Anka

Pulse compression technique is a popular technique used for improving waveform in radar systems. Series of undesirable sidelobes usually accompany the technique that may mask small targets or create false targets. This paper proposed a new approach for pulse compression using Feed-forward Wavelet Neural Network (WNN) with one input layer, one output layer and one hidden layer that consists of three neurons. Networks of 13-bit Barker code and 69-bit Barker code were used for the implementation. WNN-based back-propagation (BP) learning algorithm was used in training the networks. These networks used Morlet and sigmoid activation functions in hidden and output layer respectively. The simulation results from the proposed method shows better performance in sidelobe reduction where more than 100 dB output peak sidelobe level (PSL) is achieved, compared to autocorrelation function (ACF). Furthermore, the results show that WNN approach has significant improvement in noise reduction performance and Doppler shift performance compared to Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) and Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP).

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Analysis of the energy efficiency of logging and logistical operations

Vladimir A. Gryazin, Aleksandr I. Pavlov, Aleksey V. Egorov, Konstantin E. Kozlov and Vladimir N. Belogusev

Logging operations aimed at obtaining tree biomass include the sequential processing of a tree to produce stem wood and forest residues (stumps, tree roots etc.). Depending on the specialization of a production company, the processing depth of tree biomass may vary considerably. The purpose of this research is to analyze the energy efficiency of the technological process of the tree biomass production at different depth of the tree processing. To ensure the comparability of the results received, the basic hardware was used. The model experiment was based on the production-and-training forestry under the Volga State University of Technology. In this research the generic mathematical model for determining the energy efficiency of the tree biomass production at different processing depth of tree was developed. Evaluation of the energy efficiency of the tree biomass production at different depths of the whole tree processing made it possible to identify the most energy- consuming technological operations. These values depended on the parameters of machines allow us to estimate the level of energy perfection of each certain process. Introduced approach can further analyze the possible alternatives for the application of machine and equipment within the overall tree biomass production process.

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Determination of phase transitions in hydrogen bonded complexes (noba: pfoa) using textural image processing techniques

M. Rambabu, K. R. S. Prasad, B. T. P. Madhav, M. Venu Gopalarao, P. Pardhasaradhi and V. G. K. M. Pisipati

Synthesis and characterization of a novel series of inter molecular hydrogen bonded liquid crystals are done. Eleven hydrogen bonded complexes are characterized by the polarizing microscope (POM) attached with a hot stage, Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (IR). The effect of chain length on the phase transitions is discussed by POM and DSC, respectively. The complexes having chain number n=7-12 exhibits nematic, smectic-B and smectic-G. In this case both smectic-B and smectic-G phases are induced by the quenching of smectic-C phase. Along with DSC results, we have done textural analysis using image processing techniques and found that transition temperatures in both the cases are almost identical. We reported corresponding simulated statistical analysis data in comparison with DSC measurements available.

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Redesign for environment of wooden packaging for bulk recycling and recovery

Alberto Vergnano, Cristina Renzi and Francesco Leali

Society increasingly demands for effective waste management policies to make industries more environmentally sustainable. Organizations are even issuing directives to drive choices about these policies. In particular, modern industries produce a lot of packaging, which soon become waste, even before product usage. Research can face the problem with improvements in recycling and recovery processes. However, even if recycling and recovery would enable waste to have still a value, most costs and benefits are determined at the design stage. Therefore, Design for Environment criteria must be adopted in the design tasks, from the early conceptual design when the main design solutions are defined. The design criteria to assess possible design choices must consider all the environmental impacts of packaging over its lifecycle. The present work focuses on Redesign for Environment of packaging solutions. Following a systematic design process, we use different criteria to evaluate the effects of design solutions on packaging, since waste can be seen just as one of the main phases of packaging life. To this purpose, we adopt the stages of the waste hierarchy set by the EU Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC as design evaluation criteria. The waste hierarchy sets a priority order for five life cycle stages that a packaging can go through. The stages of the hierarchy can be differently weighted according to the costs and benefits they involve. The proposed Design for Environment method based on the waste hierarchy criteria is finally applied in the redesign of an industrial case study. The packaging solution as foldable wooden crates were chosen for their capability to already comply with the first stages of the hierarchy, that is reducing waste with high customization to customer requirements and crate reuse. Hence, the case study improved the next stages with easing the wood recycle and recovery processes.

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A contemporary survey and analysis of delay and power based routing protocols in MANET

Mamata Rath, Binod Kumar Pattanayak and Umesh Prasad Rout

Basic characteristics of a Mobile Adhoc Network (MANET) includes formation of a network without any kind of infrastructure. A MANET frequently faces the challenges of dynamic topology change and inadequate resources. To communicate between source to destination during data transmission it applies the multi-hop routing method. So the amount of delay a packet experiences during transmission from source to destination is always a challenging issue in MANET. To reduce delay at different levels such as routing delay which is time required to search a path from source to destination, a processing delay that occurs when a node executes the processing for the packet for next transmission, a compression and decompression delay which is associated with audio files many innovative proposals have been developed by networking experts but still it lies as a major challenging issue. Again the proper power management of nodes in MANET plays a vital role in efficient routing. In this paper a systematic study has been carried out about different challenging issues associated with delay and power during routing in MANET and analysis has been done about important protocols of MANET dealing with delay and power.

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Numerical analysis on the cooling passages optimization of turbo blowers

H. C. Lee and Y. L. Lee

Turbo blowers are used for various industrial facilities and equipment such as agricultural machines, gas supply machines, etc. Recently, with the growing capacity and reduced size of turbo blowers, the thermal management of various packaged electric components has emerged as a challenging issue. Based on this recognition, this study aimed to estimate the required cooling flow and temperature distribution in the initial design phase of 200 HP turbo blowers. The results of this study show that it is possible to achieve cooling performance for the 200 HP turbo blowers by using an adequate partition wall, fan, and filter.

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An experiment of single phase induction motor as generator: Motor and crossflow turbine as prime mover

Efrita Arfah Zuliari and Ali Khomsah

One of the ways to backwardness alleviation is doing with improve all fields, electrical infra structure is important thing to be developed, especially remote community in rural area. To reach the need of electricity, the community on rural area must bring to independent electrical energy. The hope, power generator can be made by people from rural community, and finally “swa-electrification” for remote community will be reached. Hydropower is electricity generated using the energy of moving water, with water as energy, will be need turbine and generator. So in this research will be design picohydro power generation, with water as kinetic energy to rotate the blade of turbine, who made from bamboo, induction motor use as generator so called Induction Motor as Generator (IMAG). How far bamboo can be use and hold the load, and rotate the generator. The experiment has been done have results about power and efficiency; experiment simulation was done with turbine as prime mover to rotate generator, produce voltage and electric current. The results of the IMAG showed that the generator could work up to 360 watt lamp load at 1672 rpm. The actual load generator was 200 Watts at 1580.4 rpm, with total efficiency ?T, 23%.

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Characteristics of lime-stabilized Depok residual soil

Damrizal Damoerin, Sigit P. Hadiwardoyo and Teodore I. Minaroy

Depok residual soil has generally been used as sub grade layer for road pavement. By applying lime stabilization, the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of sub grade Depok residual soil is expected to improve. In the present work, the lime stabilization was applied by adding 10 percent of dry weight of soil and furthermore the soil lime samples were compacted by Modified Standard Proctor around the optimum water content of 31.10 %. The soil lime samples were prepared in two conditions. The first condition, the soil lime samples were cured for 0, 6, 24, 72 and 168 hours and then compacted, while in the second condition, the soil lime sample were compacted first and then cured for similar time. After this stage, the laboratory testing such as CBR and Unconfined Compression Test (UCT) were conducted on the samples. The result from this test indicated that the soil samples that were compacted first and then cured are better than the soil lime samples were cured first and then compacted. Using lime stabilization, the unsoaked CBR values increase from 50.72 % to 54.55 % and the soaked CBR values relatively did not change but decreased from 11.35 % to 10.57 %. Based on the results of laboratory tests carried out in this study, it was found that soil lime stabilization on Depok residual soil did not significantly alter both the soaked and unsoaked CBR values of the soil in the long term. However, it increases the strength of the soil provided it is not soaked or saturated.

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Prediction of body mass index (BMI) using speech signals with wavelet packet based features

Chawki Berkai, M. Hariharan, Sazali Yaacob and Mohd Iqbal Omar

Adiposity nowadays is one of the most important causes which are responsible for the chronic maladies such as hypertension and diabetes and in the coming years, it is predestined to be responsible for many deaths. The body mass index (BMI) is a useful tool which is common in the field of medicine and experts of the wellbeing to determine whether the individual is underweight, normal, overweight or obese. BMI has some drawbacks in the assessment in the degree of obesity as it does not take into account the distribution of body fat, making it a skewed metric. In the recent years, researchers have started to pay attention on investigating the relationship between speech signals and BMI status. Thus, the paper reports the prediction/estimation of BMI status (normal, overweight, and obese) via speech signals using Wavelet Packet Transform (WPT) and Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) with the omission of weight and height values. For this study, Daubechies orders of "db4", "db6", "db10" and "db20" are selected randomly. The speech signals (/ah/ sounds) are decomposed into five levels by WPT. Energy and Entropy features are calculated at various sub- bands. 10-fold cross validation technique has been implemented to examine the consistence of the classifier results. The experimental results reveal that the suggested features and classification algorithm give classification accuracy of > 87%.

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Software reliability analysis using lifetime distributions

V. Vallinayagam, S. Parthasarathy and P. Venkatesan

In this paper, an empirical comparison made between three parametric models namely Exponential, Log-logistic and Gompertz distributions in the analysis of software reliability data. Processor failure data was used to compare the models in terms of deviance. Gompertz distribution gave the better fit than the other models in terms of deviance.

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A laboratory study involving use of brick aggregate along with plastic modified bitumen in preparation of bituminous concrete for the roads of Tripura

Dipankar Sarkar and Manish Pal

The present study is to carry out the use of over burnt brick aggregate along with waste plastic modified bitumen in order to minimize the aggregate shortage problem in North-Eastern region of India for the construction of roads. Marshall Method of mix design is considered for deciding the optimum bitumen content to prepare the bituminous mix with such aggregate. 1%, 3%, 6%, 8% and 10% waste plastic by weight of bitumen is added with hot bitumen. The optimum bitumen content is considered before mixing the plastic with bitumen. The stability, Indirect Tensile Strength, Tensile strength ratio, Stripping value of the mix is evaluated. The mix with 8% plastic shows higher stability (increased by 32%) and higher indirect tensile strength (increased by 65%). Tensile strength ratio also increases and it is more than 75%. There is very less stripping observed for the mix modified by 8% waste plastic.

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Electric power quality events detection and classification using Hilbert transform and MLP network

Kalyana Sundaram

This paper shows a new technique for the detection and classification of various power quality events using Hilbert transform. The Hilbert transform has been introduced as a powerful tool for input features exaction such as mean, peak value and standard deviation from the distorted voltage waveforms using Matlab simulation for disturbance of various classes in the test system. The MLP based neural network has been chosen as the classifier of several types of power quality events and the neural network has been trained using 1000 number of test data at the rate of 100 samples for each class of disturbance. The algorithm has been tested with 1000 number of test data and the outcomes are recorded.

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Development of automated fire fighting system for using in the road tunnels

Andrey Ostroukh, Anton Soloviev, Peter Yurchik, Dmitry Gusenitsa

The article suggests a conceptual design solution of hardware-technical equipment for virtual interaction with automated control system to counter fire in a road tunnel. The algorithm of the system of detection and localization of fire, including the direct control of the operator performing devices, with the possibility of revision in the direction of non-person as a member of the system to improve the efficiency of the complex as a whole. The concept of automated control system for robotic machines to ensure effective response to emergency situations in confined spaces, as well as the layout made it a software implementation using the language C # and XAML.

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Optimal learning system to empower the future generations: A study with reference to Coimbatore, India

A. Senthil Karthick Kumar, A. M. J. Md. Zubair Rahman and R. Moses Daniel

In this modern era educational institutions have come up with lots of up gradation and modifications in learning system. Hence, the Researcher planned to conduct a statistical analysis among the student’s community, with Coimbatore as a specific region in India. This entire research paper deals with weather; a) The institutions are supporting the students with effective electronic learning atmosphere; b) Students have the attitude towards electronic learning system; c) What kind of changes needs to be accompanied by the management to produce employable students’ community for the society? Finally suggestion provided to them how to make environment better customized by taking support from technological development. Since there are lot of research papers deals with topic of our research work, unique identification has made by researcher to adopt facilities which they have in progress along with slight modification and the tailor made construct system will enhance educational system with better endurance.

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Cattle marks recognition by Hu and Legendre invariant moments

G. Sanchez and M. Rodriguez

Animal identification and traceability are important aspects for proper application of measures aimed at prevention and control of the agro-food crisis. Some Latin American countries use the hot branding system for animal identification. This paper proposes a digital image processing method to automate the registration and control process of cattle marks. It allows automating the search and comparison process required for cattle mark uniqueness assurance on a computer assisted system. The proposed method combines Hu invariants moments and Legendre moments to produce a feature vector that permits to reach an adequate recognition process. The proposed method has been tested on a dataset of 100 images. Results show that the method allows discriminating between images reducing ambiguity and ensuring the uniqueness of registered marks. We show the results and make an analysis of system applications.

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Shear strength behaviour of fly ash mixed coal mine overburden dump material and stability assessment using numerical modeling

Dewangan P. K., Pradhan M and Ramtekkar G. D.

In this study, a series of small and large scale direct shear tests were conducted to evaluate the effect of mixing fly ash in two ratios i.e. 20 and 25% by volume on the shear strength behaviour of coal mine overburden dump rock and these results are compared with direct shear tests conducted on overburden dump material without fly ash. The effect of mixing fly ash on stability of both internal and external overburden dumps were assessed with FDM based slope stability software using determined shear strength parameters and dump slope angle were optimized for safe disposal of the fly ash by mixing it with overburden dumps in the coal mines. The investigation carried out as above revealed that fly ash mixed internal and external overburden dumps having an overall slope angle ranging between 24 to 280 in two benches of 30 m height is stable and disposal of fly ash can be carried out safely by mixing it with the coal mine overburden rock material.

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Novel hybrid photonic crystal fiber with defected core for dispersion compensation over E to U band telecommunication

Ouadah Mohammed Chamse Eddine and Chikh Bled Mohammed El Kébir

A Hybrid photonic crystal fiber with defected core is proposed for dispersion compensation over E to U band telecommunication and simulated by finite element method with perfectly matched layers (PML). The numerical results shows a high negative chromatic dispersion of about -406 ps/nm/km and the relative dispersion slope the same as the single mode fiber SMF-28 of about 0.0036nm-1 at wavelength =1.55 µm. these properties make our proposed design usable for several applications such as compensation dispersion and so.

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In situ transesterification of sterculia seeds for biodiesel production

Yoel Pasae and Lydia Melawaty

Sterculia Seeds is one of potential sources of vegetable oil. Oil from the sterculia seeds not classified as a food oil even though it contains highly unsaturated fatty acids. The main constituent fatty acids in the sterculia oil are sterculic acid. The existence of very large sterculic acids in the sterculia oil affect characteristics that are sensitive to heat. Therefore, to take advantage of this sterculia oil as raw material for biodiesel production, it is necessary to study the conversion of oil into biodiesel directly from the seeds. In this study the oil extraction process has been carried out simultaneously with the transesterification process in one unit in-situ transesterification, in order to shorten the stages of biodiesel production while maintaining the characteristics of the unsaturated fatty acids in the sterculia oil which then become the raw material transesterification reaction. Base on this research we can conclude that in-situ transesterification can be performed to convert the oil in sterculai seeds into biodiesel without oil extraction in advance, with product properties acid number in the range 1.064 -1.283, mg KOH / g sample, saponification numbers in the range 149.95-157.13 mg KOH / g sample, iodine numbers in the range 1275-6298, g I2 / 100 g sample and the viscosity in the range of 0.036 to 0.026.

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Clustering of outsiders in high dimensional data with self-organizing mapping

S. Gayathri, M. Mary Metilda and Sanjaibabu srinivasan

Many real-world problems compact with clustering of high-dimensional data, such as images, videos, text and web documents, DNA microarray data, and etc., frequently, such outside elements are clustered in the high dimensional data not addressed. In this paper, we propose an algorithm, called Local Adaptive Receptive Field Dimension Selective Self-Organizing Map of outsider in high dimensional data (LARFDSSOMOH), to cluster the data points that are in a high-dimensional subspaces and also cluster the outsiders (outside elements) that are available in the high dimensional data. The proposed mapping scheme enhances the system efficiency, by providing better quality of clustering when compared to its conventional counterpart. Finally, we explain the capability of the proposed algorithm through experiments on unnatural data as well as the natural data.

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Electrophysical and physical-mechanical properties of the composite SnO2-Ag (semiconductor-metal) ceramic material

Kirko Vladimir I., Dobrosmyslov Sergey S., Nagibin Gennadij E, Koptseva Natalia P.

We investigated the physical and electrical properties of ceramics based on SnO2-Sb2O3-AgO. Electrical properties were investigated in the temperature range 20-1000 0K. It is shown that in the temperature range 200-450 0K dependence of the electrical resistivity ceramics with temperature shifts from an exponential curve to another, characterized by a high electrical resistivity. This is explained by the closure of the mesh silver percolation channels formed in the synthesis of ceramics.

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Calculation of heat transfer in case of Freon condensation in plate condenser channels

Rinat Nyavmyanovich Taktashev, Tatyana Sergeyevna Ivanova and Fedor Andreyevich Yerokhin

The article deals with the process of R407C refrigerant vapor condensation in brazed plate condensers of vapor compression refrigerating machines, operating as part of small-scale generation objects performing centralized autonomous refrigeration supply of the group of consumers. The research is conducted with respect to different types of corrugated plates with V-shaped profile, the angle of expansion f of which equals to 60° and 120° on the assumption that condensation occurs on the entire surface of the plate. As a result of the undertaken studies semi-empirical calculation characteristics for the calculation of heat transfer in the process of R407C refrigerant vapor condensation were received.

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Effect of sintering temperature on compression strength and microhardness of recycling aluminium alloy AA6061 through ball mill process

Ahmed Sahib Mahdi, Mohd Sukri Mustapa, and Mohd Amri lajis

AA 6061 is used in the automotive, aircraft, marine and construction industries due to it is excellent properties such as noncorrosive, strength to weight ratio and rewards over than steel in ductility. Four groups of particle size were chosen (25, 63, 100, mix) µm. Each group has compacted by three specimens for various of Sintering temperature (487, 552, 617) OC, the compaction pressure and holding time were constant (9) tons, (20) min, respectively. The mechanical properties of the four groups depend on the variations of sintering temperature. So, it is useful first to present and discuss the results of microstructure to understand the strengthening mechanism. In this study, compression strength value was increased with the increasing of sintering temperature value to (552) OC of all types of suggested groups due to the bonding between particles was stronger, in addition, the pores amount was decreased. After that, it was decreased due to the particles become big size lead to the barriers were decreased. The maximum value of compression strength was detected by mix group which was (160) MPa while the particle size (100) µm was the minimum value which was (115)MPa. Where as the groups (25) µm and (63) µm were (150) and (134)MPa respectively.

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Productivity improvement using time study analysis in a small scale solar appliances industry- A case study

A. Sai Nishanth Reddy, P. Srinath Rao and Rajyalakshmi G.

The pattern of economic competitiveness has changed globally now days. Many countries have joined the global economic competition to capture global market in order to remain profitable and competitive by increasing its productivity. There are many factors that influence the productivity of a manufacturing organization. The most widely tackled issue is how to improve efficiency and productivity. Motion and time study technique is one of the productivity improvement techniques used in many manufacturing companies. Motion and time study is defined as a scientific analysis method designed to determine the best way to execute the repetitive task and to measure the time spent by an average worker to complete a given task in a fixed workplace. In manufacturing industries, assembly line is also another major area to be taken into consideration for increasing productivity. Throughout the study, the aim is to propose a new system to the related company to increase their productivity. The purpose of this paper is to discuss related issues of motion and time study implementation and assembly line balancing and its influence toward productivity improvement. Data from a study carried out on a sample of manufacturing industry small scale solar appliances shows that motion and time study implementation and assembly line balancing contributes positively towards achieving productivity.

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Priority based distributed storage and scheduling (PBDS) for mobile data gathering in WSNs

Palani. U, Alamelu mangai and Alamelu Nachiappan

Recent years there have been a lot of applications in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), ranging from monitoring to event detection and target tracking. For all these applications, data gathering is one of the primary operations carried out in WSNs. In this paper, the priority based distributed scheduling (PBDS) for mobile data gathering in WSN is proposed. This proposed method involves of Three Modules such as Priority based data Storage, Data exchange Policy to avoid dropping and then distributed scheduling algorithm for data gathering is processed. At first priority based data storage module is processed where the data is classified as high and low priority based on the deadline and urgency. The high priority data is buffered near the polling points. When there is overload of data at the mobile data collector, the lower priority of data will be dropped. At the second module, data exchange policy is processed and it is used in order to avoid dropping of higher priority data, data can be exchanged between two mobile data collectors. Finally in the last module distributed scheduling algorithm is to schedule the time slots according to which the data collector could gather the maximal amount of data within a limited period.

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Survey and brief history on Malware in network security case study: Viruses, worms and bots

Saif Uldun Mostfa Kamal, Esraa Saad Abdulmajed Rana Jabbar Abd Ali and Hader Kamal Alani

Networking provides the main infrastructure for different recent applications. These application are targets for different types of attack. In this paper a structured literature for different types of attacks has been proposed. It presents a survey of viruses, worms and bots. Latest network security technologies are investigated, the current situation and increasing demand for robust network security is analyzed; major portion of network attacks are launched using viruses, worm and bots. One of the most critical attacks are computer viruses. For security specialist it is vital to make difference any reproducing programs, which may not harm your system, and it closer forms. Different researches have been proposed to classify different aspects of metamorphic viruses. Worms is one of the most common propagation attacks over the internet. Two methods can be used by worm to propagate it: finding any vulnerable devices in the network and propagate using topological neighbors. Investigating the methods of worm propagation can provide a clearer vision on how worms propagate and how to defense and prevent such type of attacks. Last decade different mechanisms for detection and defensing have been proposed to deal with the bots attacks. Structures this knowledge can be very critical to better understand the bots behavior and its detection and defensive approaches.

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Strength assessment of Neer mahal palace: A historical masonry structure on Rudrasagar lake, India

Joyanta pal, Manish Pal, Pankaj Kr. Roy and Asis Mazumdar

Neer mahal palace is one of the pioneering structures built by Royal family of Tripura, India in the midst of a Lake named Rudrasagar. It is a structure which attracts lots of tourist in this north eastern remote state of India. Being a masonry structure and situated in a Earthquake prone area (Zone V), it is under threat of possible damage. This paper aims to evaluate the actual structural condition of the Neer mahal palace using some Non Destructive test, like Corrosion analyzer and concrete test hammer, along with finding potential vulnerable zone of the palace under seismic condition using numerical model. The result shows that in the majority of cases chance of corrosion occurrence in the slab of concrete is less than 10% and in some cases it is uncertain. It also shows that the quality of concrete in maximum places is in good condition and in few cases it is under fair condition. Masonry Sub structure of the palace shows significant loss of strength. Seismic analysis results reveal that the structure is not under a serious stability threat, and maximum stress occurred in ‘Durbar hall’ area. The response spectra analysis result shows that maximum displacement values is 36.40mm which occurs with maximum expected ground acceleration of 0.32g.

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Secure speech communication using improved OFDM scrambler for next generation mobile communication systems

J. Jayakumari and Dhanya G.

OFDM scrambling is one of the most popular techniques for secure communication. This paper proposes a new scrambling technique based on random permutation with the pseudo random binary generator to improve the performance of OFDM scrambler. To measure the intelligibility of speech, speech transmission index (STI) and common intelligibility scale (CIS) are used. The Bit Error Rate (BER) and Signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) are used to evaluate the performance of the speech. By the measurement of PESQ, the quality of the recovered speech was observed. The simulation result shows that the proposed OFDM scrambler is an efficient technique for achieving high data security in 4G broadband wireless communication.

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Design and prototype of microstrip power divider for analog and digital television antenna applications at the frequency of 479-799 MHz

Rudy Yuwono, Wahyu Ramadhan and Gaguk Asmungi

This research discuss about design and prototype of Wilkinson power divider with a microstrip transmission line. Power divider that is designed has one input port and two or more output ports with the input and output line characteristic impedance of 75O. Power divider is designed to be applied to the analog and digital terrestrial television antenna receiver in Indonesia at a frequency of 479 - 799 MHz using FR4 substrate material (dielectric constant er = 4.3) and a copper conductor material. Design and simulation of power divider is done using the CST Microwave Studio. The simulation results of power divider in the frequency range 479 - 799 MHz shows the value of S11, S22, and S33 = -15 dB, S21 value between -3,054 - -3,136 dB, the value S31 between -3.052 - -3.137 dB, and the value of S23 and S32 = -15 dB. Results of measurement of power divider in the frequency range 479 - 799 MHz shows that the minimum S11 value is -14.38 dB. The minimum S22 value is -14.97 dB. The minimum S33 value is -15.17 dB. The minimum S21 value is -3.68 dB and the maximum is -4.35 dB. The minimum S31 value is -3.51 dB and the maximum is -4.37 dB. The minimum S23 value is -17.12 dB.

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TBO evaluation of naval and aircraft diesel engines

Luca Piancastelli, Leonardo Frizziero, Simone Pica and Giampiero Donnici

This paper demonstrates that the experience from Formula 1 and watercraft racing can be applied directly to assess and improve the aircraft/maritime conversion of automotive commercial engines. A direct comparison of the main parameters that characterizes modern CRDID (Common Rail Direct Injection Diesel) and Formula 1 racing engine demonstrates that the similarities are hidden inside the design criteria. In fact, CRDIDs should output high torque at low rpm (1000-3000rpm) while racing engine should have top torque at 9000-11000 rpm. This fact introduces much shorter strokes in racing engines that reduce inertia loads. Since pressures are higher for CRDIDs the combustion loads are similar. The techniques used to improve the TBO of Formula 1 spark ignition engine and racing watercraft diesel can then be directly applied to naval and aircraft engines where the low-cost requirements are not so stringent as in mass-produced automotive CRDIDs (millions of items). The same technology that prolongs the Formula 1 TBO from a single race to the whole season can then be successfully used in aircraft/naval CRDIDs. A quantitative assessment of the TBO increase is included in this paper for the various systems that compose a CRDID.

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Investigating the dynamic performance of a wye-connected 18 coil section transformer model winding due to lightning voltage surges

Javid Akhtar and Mohd. Zahed Ahmed Ansari

A lightning voltage impulse is a very fast rising unidirectional transient overvoltage with magnitude of the order of several million volts and when gets in touch with the windings of a high voltage power transformer, the winding insulation will be overstressed and may get damage. This failure event incurs a heavy loss to the electric utility and is mainly responsible for transformer outages and thereby effecting the normal functioning of an electric power system. Hence a better knowledge of highly nonlinear electric stresses developed due to lightning impulses is necessary to safeguard the inner winding insulation of high voltage power transformers. In this paper, simulation analysis on a three phase wye-connected 18 coil section transformer model winding is being carried out to examine its dynamic behaviour under the influence of a standard lightning impulse and chopped impulse voltages.

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Castella composite beam testing to be used as a structural element of multistorey buildings in eastern Indonesian region

Mara Junus

The purpose of this study was to determine the flexure capacity, resistance, ductility, energy absorption and stiffness of the castella composite beam to be used as a structural element of the multy-storey building frame. This research was carried out through testing castellan composite beams in the form of a portal with cyclic loading. Solid beams steel used is profiles IWF 200 100 5.5 8 fabricated became castella beam. Test beam consists of a solid beam (NB) as a comparison and Castella beams with concrete filler between the flange namely castella composite beams (CCB). The results showed that based on flexure capacity, resistance, ductility which meets the ductility requirements of SNI -1726-2002, energy absorption, and stiffness degradation shows behavior similar to the solid steel beams, then the beam CCB can be used as a structural element in multi-storey buildings for earthquake zone IV, V and VI or Eastern Indonesia Region.

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Automated recognition system for facial expression based on the fusion of spatial and frequency domain features

R. Suresh and S. Audithan

The development of facial expression recognition system proliferates now-a-days due to its various fields of application such as Human Computer Interaction (HCI), behavioral studies, facial nerve grading in medicine, automated tutoring system, synthetic face animation, and robotics. Among the various behavioral traits such as voice and gaits, facial expression is the most and effectual communicative way of humans. It is also a natural, non-verbal and non-intrusive communicative source. In this study, multidirectional approach based robust and automated facial expression recognition system is proposed. Contourlet transform is adopted as multi resolution and multi directional approach for feature computation along with Discriminative Robust Local Ternary Pattern (DRLTP) and Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM). On account of classification K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) classifier is used based on city block distance measure. The standard Japanese Female Facial Expression (JAFFE) database is utilized to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. Experimental result shows that the proposed system achieves satisfactory performance of over 91%.

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Effects of degree of ripeness, moisture content and temperature on thermal conductivity of‘apantu variety of plantain

J.K.Afriyie, A.Bart-Plange and E.Asiedu

The effects of degree of ripeness, moisture content and temperature on the thermal conductivity of both ripe and unripe apantu variety of plantain were investigated. A transient heat transfer technique was used to determine the thermal conductivity at four levels of moisture content as ripening progressed and at four temperature levels. The effective thermal conductivity decreased as ripening progressed from day one to day seven from0.617 to 0.55 W/mK at a temperature of 500C.With decreasing moisture contents from 55% to 40%, thermal conductivity decreased from 0.755 to 0.564 W/mK for day one, 0.710 to 0.546 W/mK for day three, 0.655 to 0.537 W/mK for day five and from 0.601 to 0.527 W/mK for day seven. For a moisture content of 55%, the thermal conductivity increased from 0.637 to 0.791 W/mK for a temperature range of 400C to 550C.From the investigation it was found that thermal conductivity increased with increasing moisture and increased in temperature, however thermal conductivity decreased as the degree of ripening increased.

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A comparative study on selecting and ranking the test cases in software testing

Rajesh Kaluri, Kuruva Lakshmanna, Thippa Reddy, Sudheer Karnam and Srinivas Koppu

Software testing is usually measured by executing the ‘n’ number of test cases and those test cases has to be designed using the familiar test case design techniques. The aim of Test case design technique is to ensure the detection of typical bugs, systematic coverage and redundant testing. Executing and checking the test cases is not possible all the time in the manual testing. Therefore selecting a test case and ranking is important. The objective of the test case selection is to have a better test case from a pool of test cases and assigning the rank to each test case will leads the software as an error free and which gives a good efficiency. Ranking of test cases is especially useful if a system is a having large number of test cases. Hence selecting and ranking a test case plays an important role in the software testing. In this paper, importance of selection and ranking test cases are analyzed and its methods are discussed.

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Improved adaptive gateway discovery scheme using cab - protocols in MANET to internet connection

K. Palani and P. Ramamoorthy

Wireless Mobile Ad-hoc Networks has became vital in terms of Quality of Service (QoS) is aimed at delivering different services provided by the network to end users. Hybrid MANET is essential for wireless infrastructure networks and difficult to set up communication over enormous areas, with the evolution of the Internet. Routing packets for connecting the MANET to Internet, to optimize a path for the gateway discovery is a great challenge and vital concentration has been given to the design of routing protocols to attain better performance over existing protocols. Most of these routing protocols use information accessible during the network layer to route the packets. In this proposal, using Contention aware Adaptive Based routing Protocols, the information at the link layer in addition to the information at the network layer are manipulated. This concept is incorporated with existing protocols like OLSR and QAODV. Those new protocols are named as Contention aware Adaptive Based OLSR (CAB-OLSR) and Contention aware Adaptive Based QAODV (CAB-QAODV) protocols. The simulation results have shown that the proposed protocols improved various QoS metrics for the MANET to Internet connection.

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An analytical study on RTOS as the engine behind internet of things: choices and trade-offs

J. Umadevi, V. Kavitha and A. Srikrishnan

World is becoming increasingly data-driven and complexly connected due to the emergence of ever changing technological scenario such as cloud computing, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), etc. Internet of Things can be viewed as inter-connection of people, applications and smart devices, which transmit and receive data over already existing network. These operations are done in real-time within a deadline. In essence, IoT objects are small, networked embedded devices. Current ideology is that Android and Linux are the most suitable Operating Systems for IoT implementation. This paper introduces a viewpoint that a sophisticated, robust and efficient real-time operating system (RTOS) which is TCP/IP ready would be more suitable for IoT. The critical features of µC/OS III, Micrium’s commercial RTOS and Embedded Linux are studied and a comparative analysis is done based on the study findings.

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Wavelet based mobile location estimation using RSS measurements

N. V. K. Ramesh, Sarat K Kotamraju, D. Venkata Ratnam and N. Suresh

This paper studies the location of the position method is developed by applying factual analysis on GSM base station (RSS) down link signal strength by using wavelet transform. The GSM received signal strength is converted in terms of wavelet bases and this method estimates the positioning of the mobile and personal tracking the position based systems are used to find a person or an object related to known position or a coordinate system. NLos propagation is the major source of errors. Hence In this paper we propose a new method to solve the problem. The proposed method integrates the location estimation and Localization as a technique to solve the complex and challenging problems. Besetting line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) transmissions has recently attracted considerable attention in the wireless sensor network field an approach utilizing the factual analysis with the help of Haar wavelet transform to increase the GSM –position accuracy.
 

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