Enhancing the prediction of type 2 diabetes mellitus using sparse balanced SVM

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The natural population-based prediction of type 2 diabetes is costly since it needs a high number of resources. Even though much research has used machine...     

Simultaneously achievement of high recoverable energy density and efficiency in sodium niobate-based ceramics

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - Single lead-free Na0.73Bi0.09(Nb1???xTax)O3 (x?=?0, 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, and 0.40) ceramic phases were processed...     

Preliminary investigation of a vapor-open envelope tailored for subtropical climate

Concerning global warming and resource depletion, the impact of buildings in subtropical regions is becoming even greater due to a high growth rate of urbanized areas. From the viewpoint of building physics, the main problem concerning subtropical climate is the high level of humidity in combination with high temperature. In this study, a flexible building envelope consisting of wood and clay components was developed so that the materials and the assemblies can be easily tailored to comply with local climatic conditions. The movement and accumulation of moisture in the wall was of prime concern. This has been investigated by means of testing full scale walls in a climate chamber and the corresponding one dimensional transient heat and transfer simulation. In order to achieve a consistency between calculation and measurement, the individual materials were tested for their hygric and thermal properties. Based on these findings attempts were made to calculate the behavior of an optimized wall assembly under real climatic conditions of central Japan. As a result, it was shown that the hygrothermal behavior of the envelope is predictable by means of the models and the simulation program used, and that no risk of interstitial condensation and mold growth was predicted under the real climatic conditions of Kyoto.     

Retrofitting of reinforced concrete beams using composite laminates

This paper presents the results of an experimental study to investigate the behaviour of structurally damaged full-scale reinforced concrete beams retrofitted with CFRP laminates in shear or in flexure. The main variables considered were the internal reinforcement ratio, position of retrofitting and the length of CFRP. The experimental results, generally, indicate that beams retrofitted in shear and flexure by using CFRP laminates are structurally efficient and are restored to stiffness and strength values nearly equal to or greater than those of the control beams. It was found that the efficiency of the strengthening technique by CFRP in flexure varied depending on the length. The main failure mode in the experimental work was plate debonding in retrofitted beams.     

Four energy group neutron flux distributions in the Syrian Miniature Neutron Source Reactor using the WIMSD4 and CITATION codes

A 3-D (R, θ, Z) neutronic model for the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) was developed earlier to conduct the reactor neutronic analysis. The group constants for all the reactor components were generated using the WIMSD4 code. The reactor excess reactivity and the four group neutron flux distributions were calculated using the CITATION code. This model is used in this paper to calculate the pointwise four energy group neutron flux distributions in the MNSR versus the radius, angle and reactor axial directions. Good agreement is noticed between the measured and the calculated thermal neutron flux in the inner and the outer irradiation sites with relative differences less than 7% and 5%, respectively.     

An investigation of channel blockage effects on hydrogen mass transfer in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with various geometries and optimization by response surface methodology

A 2D mathematical modeling was developed to analyze the mass transport in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The pin fins were inserted in the flow channel to improve reactant gas distribution in the gas diffusion layer (GDL). The effect of rectangular and triangular shape of fins and different title angles of 4, 6 and 8° on the reactant gas transport were examined. The results showed that performance of rectangular fins are better than triangular fins due to increasing reactant spread over the GDL. The effect of three independent factors including length and width of blocks and hydrogen gas velocity on the response (hydrogen gas diffusion to GDL and pressure drop in anode channel) was investigated using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that block height and hydrogen gas velocity are the most important factors affecting the responses. Also, response surface methodology (RSM) method was used to predict the optimal conditions to achieve the minimum the pressure drop and maximum the total flux magnetic H₂ to GDL in anode channel. The result of the optimization process shows that a gas velocity of 4.22 m/s and the block with height and width of 3 mm are the optimal conditions.     

An improved mechanism for capacity payment based on system dynamics modeling for investment planning in competitive electricity environment

Many countries have experienced restructuring in their electric utilities. This restructuring has presented the power industries with new challenges, the most important of which is long-term investment planning under uncertain conditions. This paper presents an improved mechanism for capacity payment. The mechanism has been investigated based on system dynamic modeling. In our proposed mechanism, generators will recover a part of their investment through capacity payment. While the payment for any plant remains constant during the operation period, it depends on the investment needed to build it. The main factors affecting long-term planning have been considered in our model. The approach can be used to investigate the effects of fixed as well as variable capacity payment in market investment. We used the probability density function of load as a new concept to calculate average market price. Delays in unit constructions, estimation of demand, and market capacity growth during construction periods have been included in the proposed algorithm as parameters, which affect the regulator's decision for changing capacity payment. The model can be used by regulators to investigate strategies that may affect the fluctuations in the market.     

Use of ion-pairing reversed-phase liquid chromatography in separation of solanidine and solasodine

A method based on ion-pairing reversed-phase liquid chromatography was developed to separate and quantify the total alkaloid content inS. ptycanthum (eastern black nightshade). The method is shown to separate satisfactorily the aglycones and some of the glycoalkaloids. The mobile phase used was aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate-acetonitrile.     

Lightning Surges in Open Wire, Coaxial, and Paired Cables

During the 1968 and 1969 lightning seasons, member companies of the Telephone Association of Canada conducted a field investigation of lightning voltages induced in outside plant toll facilities at ten selected sites across Canada. Oscillograms of longitudinal surge voltages occurring in open wire, paired, and coaxial cable were continuously photographed with an automatic camera system especially developed for the investigation during each season. On completion, approximately 10 000 useful surge photographs were obtained and analyzed. The results indicate that a standard test wave, with 1000-V peak and10 times 1000-mus waveshape, simulates 99.8 percent of the lightning surges encountered in paired and coaxial cables. For open wire circuits, a more suitable test wave with 2000-V peak amplitude and4 times 200-mus waveshape is required to simulate 99.8 percent of the lightning surges. The number of surges per storm was found to be far higher than previously assumed. The highest recorded incidence during a storm was 484 surges greater than 10 V. Surge repetition intervals were short in all three types of facility; about 15 percent were less than 2 s. The surge information presented provides fundamental data on lightning surge effects in Canadian telephone plants which were previously unavailable. The assembled data will be of value to the protection engineer when designing future protection systems, and also to the transmission engineer concerned with noise problems.