Enhanced decision making in multi-scenarios for autonomous vehicles using alternative bidirectional Q network

Neural Computing and Applications - To further enhance decision making in autonomous vehicles field, grant more safety, comfort, reduce traffic, and accidents, learning approaches were adopted,...     

An improved cluster-based snake model for automatic agricultural field boundary extraction from high spatial resolution imagery

Agricultural field boundary information is important and often required for the geosciences and the agricultural sector. In this paper, a novel method is developed to extract sub-boundaries within the permanent boundaries of agricultural land parcels from high-resolution optical satellite imagery using an improved cluster-based snake model. The method takes the advantage of the results of an automatic fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering and edge detection to compute external forces for an improved gradient vector flow (GVF) snake model. The GVF snake algorithm is improved by using an automatic seeding model based on clustering results and image moment functions. To seed the improved GVF algorithm, an ellipse is automatically delineated for each cluster within agricultural parcel by utilizing image moment functions (in particular silhouette moments). The GVF snake model is then implemented for each seed, one seed at a time. Active contours tend to have curve shapes rather than straight lines due to their structure that consists of several connected nodes within each contour. Therefore, the final accurate results are obtained after performing a three-stage line simplification operation.

The experiments of the method were conducted on 20 test fields in a study area located near to the town of Karacabey, Turkey, using the 4-m resolution IKONOS multispectral (xs) image, the 2.44-m resolution QuickBird xs image, and the 0.61-m resolution QuickBird pan-sharpened (PS) image. Experimental results demonstrate that using both the clustering and edge detection results as external forces for the improved GVF snake model increases the accuracy of the results. In addition, the developed method showed a fairly good performance in extracting sub-boundaries for the fields comprising crops with an inherent high inner heterogeneity, such as rice and corn. The method can potentially be applied in the extraction of within-field sub-boundaries from high-resolution satellite imagery in agricultural areas.     

Application of Nanoscale Zero-Valent Iron-Loaded Natural Zeolite for Tetracycline Removal Process

Immobilized nanoscale zero-valent iron on natural zeolite (NI-NZ) was synthesized for remediation of antibiotics-contaminated wastewater. A series of characterization methods confirmed the success of preventing the agglomeration of nanoscale zero-valent iron particles, using natural zeolite as supporting media. The equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir and Temkin models, whereas the pseudo-second-order and Elovich kinetic models were suitable to describe the kinetic data. The versatility of NI-NZ was also tested in a coagulation-flocculation process which increased the removal of tetracycline from 10 to 75 %.     

Maximizing Network Lifetime in Many-to-One Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)

Wireless Personal Communications - In many-to-one patterns of wireless sensor networks, the energy hole problem is a crucial issue that ultimately causes to reduce the network lifetime...     

The effect of the change in the amount of Sb doping in ZnO nanorods for hydrogen gas sensors

In this study, pure and variable content Sb doped ZnO nanorods (NRs) were grown by a simple spray pyrolysis method successfully. Structural analysis has showed that all the films are indicating preferential dominant c-axis (002) plane from x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. It is observed that Sb doping does not result in changes in lattice parameter indicating no lattice distortion. Raman measurements has indicated Sb doping related modes in ZnO NRs especially defect related. SEM images has shown uniform hexagonal close packing NR structures uniformly distributed throughout the film. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has displayed lower incorporation of the Sb from the precursor to the Sb doped NRs. Hydrogen gas sensor performances of these NRs has investigated. 5.0 wt% Sb doped ZnO NR sample has showed outstanding response with 23-fold response to 10 ppm hydrogen gas level at 250 °C.     

Evaluating the durability,microstructure and mechanical properties of a clayey-sandy soil stabilized with copper slag-based geopolymer against wetting-drying cycles

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - This study was conducted on durability of the clayey-sand stabilized using the copper slag (CS)-based geopolymer against wetting-drying (W-D)...     

Non-destructive Evaluation of Bread Staling Using Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrices

The potential application of image texture processing for non-destructive evaluation of bread staling was investigated by monitoring the changes in gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) features (energy, contrast, homogeneity, correlation, and entropy) of baguette bread over a 5-day storage period. Energy experienced a significant reduction after 2 days of storage and increased significantly afterwards. However, contrast tended to increase dramatically over the entire storage time. While homogeneity and correlation showed a decreasing trend during the storage period, no meaningful trend was observed for changes of entropy. The GLCM texture features contrast, homogeneity, and correlation showed high correlations with the instrumental texture parameters and physicochemical properties of the bread during storage; in fact, the breads with firmer and less springy crumbs and higher crust moisture contents (the stale breads) had noticeably higher contrast and lower homogeneity and correlation values compared to the freshly baked samples. The results suggested that the GLCM texture features are promising indices for non-destructively assessing bread staling progress.     

Effect of iron on Ni–Mo–Fe composite as a low-cost bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

By increasing demand for hydrogen and oxygen gas for energy and industrial applications, designing a cheap, high-efficiency, and bifunctional electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) seems necessary. For this purpose Ni–Mo–Fe as a bifunctional electrocatalyst was synthesized by one-step electrodeposition. From this electrocatalyst with optimal composition and current density, a small overpotential of 65, 161 mV for delivering 10, 100 mA/cm² on HER in alkaline media was achieved. As-fabricated electrode exhibited 344,408 mV for delivering 10, 100 mA/cm² in OER. Furthermore, this electrocatalyst shows high stability and negligible degradation in overpotential for HER and OER under long term stability tests in alkaline media. The notable function of As-fabricated Ni–Mo–Fe is due to the synergism effect between Ni, Mo, and Fe element and binder-free structure. Owing to the high-performance and high-stability of Ni–Mo–Fe electrocatalyst under Hydrogen and Oxygen evolution reactions is a candidate for industrial uses in the alkaline electrolyzer.     

Pipe damper,Part II: Application to bridges

Theoretical and experimental verification of the pipe damper was investigated in Part I of the two companion papers. In this paper, the application of the pipe damper to structures is examined. In particular, single span slab–girder bridges are considered for analytical investigations. A practical detail for the installation of the pipe damper is introduced. Nonlinear dynamic time history analyses are conducted on bridges equipped with the pipe damper and the results are compared with ordinary bridges. Bridge span, ground motion and the pipe length are varied in the analyses. Results show that the pipe damper is a reliable and economical metallic-yielding device that can easily be installed and replaced. A step-by-step method using inelastic response spectra is also introduced for optimum selection of such devices.