Real-time occlusion tolerant detection of illegally parked vehicles

Illegally parked vehicle detection systems are considered crucial elements in the development of any video-surveillance based traffic-management system. The major challenges in this task lie in making the end solution real time, illumination invariant and occlusion tolerant. A two-stage application framework is presented which efficiently identifies vehicles parked illegally in restricted parking-zones. A real-time approach has been followed and an improved foreground segmentation method based on Segmentation History Images (SHI) is developed to identify stationary objects. A three step pixel based classification method is applied on the background segmentation output to segment adjacent moving pixels that become stationary for certain periods of time. The process then locks on to all identified stationary pixel patches, parts of which overlap with the regions of interest marked interactively a priori. The second stage of the process is applied subsequently to track all the stationary pixel patches detected during the first stage using an adaptive edge orientation based tracking method. Experimental results show that the tracking technique gives more than a 90% detection success rate, even if objects are partially occluded. The technique has been tested on the UK Home Office i-LIDS Parked Vehicle video sequences along with the University of Sussex Traffic Dataset and results are compared with other available state of the art methods.     

Simulation analysis of emissions trading impact on a non-utility power plant

Non-utility power plants can competitively participate in open electricity market to reduce operational costs but in the absence of pollution charges or emissions trading such generators are tempted to cause greater pollution for profit maximization. This paper presents a solution that incorporates pollution charges for nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide emissions in line with existing national environmental quality standards and a new carbon dioxide emissions trading mechanism. A novel approach has been used for allocation of allowable emissions that favors efficiently fuelled and environmentally friendly operation for maximizing profit. Impact of proposed carbon trading on economical utilization of enormous indigenous coal reserves has been analyzed and determined to be acceptable. Software developed in this paper, harnessing Sequential Quadratic Programming capabilities of Matlab, is shown to be adequate simulation tool for various emissions trading schemes and an useful operational decision making tool for constrained non-linear optimization problem of a non-utility power plant.     

6-phosphofructokinase from Pichia pastoris: purification,kinetic and molecular characterization of the enzyme

6-Phosphofructokinase from Pichia pastoris was purified for the first time to homogeneity applying seven steps, including pseudo-affinity dye-ligand chromatography on Procion Blue H-5R-Sepharose. The specific activity of the purified enzyme was about 80 U/mg. It behaves as a typically allosteric 6-phosphofructokinase exhibiting activation by AMP and fructose 2,6-bis(phosphate), inhibition by ATP and cooperativity to fructose 6-phosphate. However, in comparison with the enzymes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Kluyveromyces lactis, the activation ratio of 6-phosphofructokinase from Pichia pastoris by AMP is several times higher, the ATP inhibition is stronger and the apparent affinity to fructose 6-phosphate is significantly lower. Aqueous two-phase affinity partitioning with Cibacron Blue F3G-A did not reflect remarkable structural differences of the nucleotide binding sites of the Pfks from Pichia pastoris and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The structural organisation of the active enzyme seems to be different in comparison with hetero-octameric 6-phosphofructokinases from other yeast species. The enzyme was found to be a hetero-oligomer with an molecular mass of 975 kDa (sedimentation equilibrium measurements) consisting of two distinct types of subunits in an equimolar ratio with molecular masses of 113 kDa and 98 kDa (SDS-PAGE), respectively, and a third non-covalently complexed protein component (34 kDa, SDS-PAGE). The latter seems to be necessary for the catalytic activity of the enzyme. Sequencing of the N-terminus (VTKDSIXRDLEXENXGXXFF) and of peptide fragments by applying MALDI-TOF PSD, m/z 1517.3 (DAMNVVNH) and m/z 2177.2 [AQNCNVC(L/I)SVHEAHTM] gave no relevant information about the identity of this protein.     

Hydrogen evolution in microbial electrolysis cells treating landfill leachate: Dynamics of anodic biofilm

This study investigates the potential opportunities of hydrogen evolution treating landfill leachate in a set of two microbial electrolysis cells (MEC-1 and 2) under 30 °C and 17 ± 3 °C temperatures, respectively. The system achieved a projected current density of 1000–1200 mA m^?2 (MEC-1) and 530–755 mA m^?2 (MEC-2) coupled with low cost hydrogen production rate of 0.148 L La^?1 d^?1 (MEC-1) and 0.04 L La^?1 d^?1 (MEC-2) at an applied voltage of 1.0 V. Current generation led to a maximum COD oxidation of 73 ± 8% (MEC-1) and 65 ± 7% (MEC-2) with ≥100% energy recovery. The system also exhibited a high hydrogen recovery (66–95%), pure hydrogen yield (98%) and tremendous working stability during two months of operation. Electroactive microbes such as Pseudomonadaceae, Geobacteraceae and Comamonadaceae were found in anodophilic biofim, along with Rhodospirillaceae and Rhodocyclaceae, which could be involved in hydrogen production. These results demonstrated an energy-efficient approach for hydrogen production coupled with pollutants removal.     

Synergistic effects and optimization of photo-fermentative hydrogen production of Rhodobacter sphaeroides DSM 158

The synergistic effects and optimization of pH, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N), and light intensity (I) on the photo-fermentative hydrogen production of Rhodobacter sphaeroides 158 DSM and light conversion efficiency have been investigated under different conditions of pH (6.5–8); C/N (15–35); and light intensity (35–185 W m^?2). Response surface methodology (RSM) and Box-Behnken experimental design (BBD) were used to identify the optimum values of the three key parameters of pH, C/N, and I, based on the impact on hydrogen production potential (HPP), hydrogen production rate (HPR), and light conversion efficiency $\eta$. With desirability value of 0.91, the optimum values of 7.4, 27.5, and 126 W m^?2 were identified for pH, C/N, and I respectively, with HPP, HPR and $\eta$ reaching 960 mL L^?1, 41.74 mL L^?1 h^?1, and 0.31 respectively. Regression analysis indicated a good fit between experimental and model data. The study showed that both C/N ratio and I have crucial and significant effect on the HPP, HPR and $\eta$, followed by pH, the synergistic effect of pH–I and C/NI on the light conversion efficiency ($\eta$) was significant while pH C/N was insignificant. The results and analysis obtained could be very useful for better optimizing the photo-fermentative hydrogen production.     

Constrained Optimal Control for a Class of Semilinear Infinite Dimensional Systems

The aim of this paper is to investigate a constrained optimal control problem governed by a class of semilinear infinite dimensional systems. For a state-quadratic cost functional and a closed convex set of admissible controls, the existence of an optimal control is proven, then this control is characterized for several cases of constraints. An algorithm is developed in order to compute the optimal control. The results are illustrated through simulations of a transport equation and a wave equation.     

Effect of CuO-, SiO2-, and Al2O3-based nanofluids on automotive cooling systems from laminar to turbulent flow regime—A CFD study

In recent studies, much attention has been given to nanofluids suggesting that adding nanoparticles in base fluids offers a higher heat transfer rate compared with conventional fluids. This study is based on the numerical investigation of different types of nanofluids, consisting of CuO (50 nm), SiO₂ (40 nm), and Al₂O₃ (15 nm) nanoparticles at different volume concentrations. Several simulations were performed from low to high Reynolds numbers, corresponding to laminar and turbulent flow regimes using ANSYS-Fluent CFD solver. Results suggest that under a laminar flow regime with the same Reynolds number of 2000, CuO-based nanofluids perform better as compared with SiO₂ and Al₂O₃-based nanofluids with Nusselt number (Nu) having percentage increase of 90% and 60% comparing with SiO₂- and Al₂O₃-based nanofluids, respectively. However, at higher Reynolds numbers when the flow is turbulent, Al₂O₃-based nanofluids demonstrate better performance having a percentage increase in Nusselt numbers equal to 40% and 23% as compared with CuO and SiO₂-based nanofluids respectively under the same Reynolds number of 15,000. This implies that turbulence has a significant effect on heat transfer rate, and is not only related to thermal conductivity. This study will help in designing more compact cooling systems for engines and the internal environment of motor vehicles.