An efficient method for impulse noise reduction from images using fuzzy cellular automata

Impulse noise reduction from corrupted images plays an important role in image processing. This problem will also affect on image segmentation, object detection, edge detection, compression, etc. Generally, median filters or nonlinear filters have been used for noise reduction but these methods will destroy the natural texture and important information in the image like the edges. In this paper, to eliminate impulse noises from noisy images, we used a hybrid method based on cellular automata (CA) and fuzzy logic called Fuzzy Cellular Automata (FCA) in two steps. In the first step, based on statistical information, noisy pixels are detected by CA; then using this information, the noisy pixel will change by FCA. Regularly, CA is used for systems with simple components where the behavior of each component will be defined and updated based on its neighbors. The proposed hybrid method is characterized as simple, robust and parallel which keeps the important details of the image effectively. The proposed approach has been performed on well-known gray scale test images and compared with other conventional and famous algorithms, is more effective.     

Near- and Far-Field Characterization of Planar mm-Wave Antenna Arrays with Waveguide-to-Microstrip Transition

We present the design and characterization of planar mm-wave patch antenna arrays with waveguide-to-microstrip transition using both near- and far-field methods. The arrays were designed for metrological assessment of error sources in antenna measurement. One antenna was designed for the automotive radar frequency range at 77 GHz, while another was designed for the frequency of 94 GHz, which is used, e.g., for imaging radar applications. In addition to the antennas, a simple transition from rectangular waveguide WR-10 to planar microstrip line on Rogers 3003? substrate has been designed based on probe coupling. For determination of the far-field radiation pattern of the antennas, we compare results from two different measurement methods to simulations. Both a far-field antenna measurement system and a planar near-field scanner with near-to-far-field transformation were used to determine the antenna diagrams. The fabricated antennas achieve a good matching and a good agreement between measured and simulated antenna diagrams. The results also show that the far-field scanner achieves more accurate measurement results with regard to simulations than the near-field scanner. The far-field antenna scanning system is built for metrological assessment and antenna calibration. The antennas are the first which were designed to be tested with the measurement system.     

Composite Living Fibers for Creating Tissue Constructs Using Textile Techniques

The fabrication of cell‐laden structures with anisotropic mechanical properties while having a precise control over the distribution of different cell types within the constructs is important for many tissue engineering applications. Automated textile technologies for making fabrics allow simultaneous control over the color pattern and directional mechanical properties. The use of textile techniques in tissue engineering, however, demands the presence of cell‐laden fibers that can withstand the mechanical stresses during the assembly process. Here, the concept of composite living fibers (CLFs) in which a core of load bearing synthetic polymer is coated by a hydrogel layer containing cells or microparticles is introduced. The core thread is drawn sequentially through reservoirs containing a cell‐laden prepolymer and a crosslinking reagent. The thickness of the hydrogel layer increases linearly with to the drawing speed and the prepolymer viscosity. CLFs are fabricated and assembled using regular textile processes including weaving, knitting, braiding, winding, and embroidering, to form cell‐laden structures. Cellular viability and metabolic activity are preserved during CLF fabrication and assembly, demonstrating the feasibility of using these processes for engineering functional 3D tissue constructs.     

Motion Perception Using Analog VLSI

Motion perception is arguably a fundamental mechanism used by natural species to accomplish a number of tasks, such as navigating freely in an unknown environment. Traditional motion perception methods tend to be computationally intensive, requiring powerful computers and large memories. However, by copying biological mechanisms, such as elementary motion discrimination at the early stages of the visual processing paths, it should be possible to build small and efficient motion perception systems. This paper describes the manner in which a simple motion perception model based on the insect visual system has been implemented using mixed analog/digital VLSI. The device has been fabricated in a 2 micron double metal, double polysilicon process, and comprises 61 photo-detectors, and associated analog and digital circuitry. While not entirely successful in that component mismatches hamper the detection of dark-to-bright changes in contrast, the results clearly show the feasibility of using such a device in autonomous control systems.     

On the prediction of solubility of alkane in carbon dioxide using the LSSVM algorithm

The increasing global energy demand and declination of oil reservoir in recent years cause the researchers attention focus on the enhancement of oil recovery approaches. One of the extensive applicable methods for enhancement of oil recovery, which has great efficiency and environmental benefits, is carbon dioxide injection. The CO₂ injection has various effects on the reservoir fluid, which causes enhancement of recovery. One of these effects is extraction of lighter components of crude oil, which straightly depends on solubility of hydrocarbons in carbon dioxide. In order to better understand of this parameter, in this study, Least squares support vector machine (LSSVM) algorithm was developed as a novel predictive tool to estimate solubility of alkane in CO₂ as function of carbon number of alkane, carbon dioxide density, pressure, and temperature. The predicting model outputs were compared with the extracted experimental solubility from literature statistically and graphically. The comparison showed the great ability and high accuracy of developed model in prediction of solubility.     

Modeling and analysis of hydrogen production in steam methane reforming (SMR) process

Hydrogen is one a gas that demands continue to grow across many industries. Due to the growth for this gas the means of producing it and the ability to supply this demand is of great importance. As a result of this, steam methane reforming is a process of high significance as it is one of the most economically and popular means of producing hydrogen. The value of this process is tremendous as it is able to provide up to 48% of global demands, with this only predicted to increase. Therefore, the understanding of what occurs during this process and the steps that it experiences must be understood to ensure that an efficient system is created.

Steam methane reforming operates by converting the hydrocarbons located in methane into hydrogen and CO_x. This process will generally occur over two different stages, a reformer stage, before going into a water-gas shift reactor. After these main processes occur the product produced may undergo purification to remove any containments and ensuring that the hydrogen is at the industry standard. To help investigate this process and how various stages affect others it can be modeled through software such as Unisim which allows modifications to be made and analyzed the effect this had on the system, allowing a potential more efficient system to be designed which will help meet the growing demand.     

Correction to: Cloud-based vehicular networks: a taxonomy,survey, and conceptual hybrid architecture

Wireless Networks - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the title. The correct title has been published with this erratum.     

Analysis of capacity and coverage region for Rayleigh fading MIMO relay channel

In this paper, we consider Rayleigh fading MIMO relay channel with channel state information at the receivers. First, we extend the previously obtained results for the ergodic capacity of uncorrelated and semi‐correlated MIMO channels and derive closed‐form expressions for the capacity bounds of MIMO relay channel. Next, we study this channel from a new point of view, maximizing coverage region for a desired transmission rate, and investigate the optimal relay location in the sense of maximizing coverage region. However, in order to overcome the mathematical complexity in desired transmission rate analysis, because of the randomness of the multiple antenna channel matrices, we evaluate this rate by using an existing exact formula and also by an approximation we find in the high signal‐to‐noise ratio regime. Numerical results show a perfect match between the Monte Carlo simulations and the obtained analytical closed‐form expressions and also confirm the effectiveness of our approach in cooperative vehicular communication for determining optimal relay location at which the coverage region is maximum. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of Fuzzy c-means algorithm for the estimation of Asphaltene precipitation

One of problematic topics in petroleum engineering is Asphaltene precipitation issue which causes problems such as tubing plugging and formation damage due to temperature, pressure and composition changes so the notability of this issue increases. In the present investigation a novel Fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithm was developed to predict precipitated asphaltene as function of dilution ratio, carbon number of precipitants and temperature for solving the problem. The results showed that this novel approach has great ability to predict precipitated asphaltene in terms of aforementioned parameters. The coefficients of determination (R²) for training and testing steps are calculated as 0.9828 and 0.9387 respectively. This great degree of accuracy expresses that the predicting algorithm has potential to be utilized as software for prediction of asphaltene behavior.     

Implementation of CPA EoS for simultaneous solubility modeling of CO2 and H2S in ionic liquid [OMIM][Tf2N]

In this study, solubility of pure CO₂ and H₂S and their mixture in [OMIM][Tf₂N] modeled applying CPA EoS. CPA combines the SRK equation with an advanced association term, which is similar to that of SAFT. From a practical point of view, the target in the CPA project was to develop a thermodynamic model capable of describing complex equilibria of mixtures containing polar/associating chemicals through a simple procedure with respect to the SAFT.

The AAD% for binary systems, including H₂S+ IL and CO₂+ IL are 6.81, 5.21 respectively. Moreover, AAD% equal to 13.89 was achieved for the ternary system.