Free piston Stirling engines: A review

This paper presents a detailed review on free piston Stirling engines (FPSEs) technology. Generally, the Stirling engines can be categorized into two broad classes comprising kinematic and dynamic converters among which FPSEs are known as the dynamic type. Other well-known dynamic Stirling converters are Fluidyne and thermosacoustic engines among which the thermosacoustic ones are the most advanced Stirling converters recently presented. In this research, the dynamic Stirling engines are first introduced and reviewed. Then, the review work is directed toward the FPSEs, one of the most reliable dynamic Stirling converters utilized in different applications such as combined heat and power systems (CHPs). Subsequently, the working principles of different types of FPSEs and their performance are summarized. Next, several manufactured FPSEs, as well as their corresponding features and applications, are discussed. Finally, the article is conducted to analysis and modeling approaches of FPSEs. Accordingly, linear and nonlinear analytical techniques of FPSEs are introduced, and some comparative data are provided to verify the modeling schemes. Then, various design parameters affecting the engine performance are introduced and studied. The outcomes of this review work demonstrate the potential of FPSEs for different applications and reveal that the perturbation-based model is likely the most comprehensive nonlinear method for modeling and design of the FPSEs.     

Comparison of culture, PCR and immunoassays for detecting Escherichia coli O157 following enrichment culture and immunomagnetic separation performed on naturally contaminated raw meat products.

The aims of this study were (i) to evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of three previously described PCR assays for the detection of Escherichia coli O157 and, (ii) to compare PCR, culture, and two visual immunoassays (VIAs), BioSign and Path-Stik, for detecting E. coli O157 after enrichment culture and immunomagnetic separation (IMS) performed on various naturally contaminated raw beef, lamb and mixed meat products. Twelve sorbitol nonfermenting (SNF) verocytotoxin-producing (VT +) E. coli O157, 6 SNF VT - E. coli O157, 4 sorbitol fermenting (SF) VT + E. coli O157, 3 SF VT - E. coli O157, 23 E. coli belonging to 17 other serogroups and 12 organisms of other species were used to check the specificity of PCR reactions. Only one primer pair generated amplimers only with E. coli O157 and was used for all subsequent work. After enrichment culture and on inoculated minced beef samples, PCR was as sensitive as culture for detecting 9 of the 12 strains of E. coli O157, but up to 4 log10 more sensitive than culture for detecting three strains. Of the 120 samples of naturally contaminated meat products examined, 80 (67%) were positive by PCR, 70 (58%) were positive by BioSign, 69 (58%) were positive by culture and 67 (56%) were positive by Path-Stik. Although both VIAs lacked sensitivity when compared to PCR, both compared favourably with culture and both were extremely rapid and easy to perform, giving a result in less than 15 min. Eleven samples were positive by PCR and both VIAs, but negative by culture because culture plates were heavily overgrown with SF organisms, making detection of any E. coli O157 present impossible.     

Issues in Client/Server Security

Abstract

One of the most common concerns voiced at the various security conferences and security associations around the country is: “How do we get our management to understand the importance of information security?” Individuals who have been unable to secure the attention or financial commitment from the senior leadership of their respective organizations typically voice these concerns. The question is usually accompanied by frustration as a result of multiple attempts to obtain budget, only to be faced with flat budgets, cuts to the current expenditure levels, or the elimination of separate information security budgets. Each organization has different values, principles, and strategies to move the business forward. This article explores some techniques for building management commitment through the implementation of a successful information security council. Security councils provide an excellent mechanism for establishing buy-in across middle management, and subsequently senior management and the end users of the organization.     

A Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis Approach for Locating Suitable Sites for Construction of Subsurface Dams in Northern Pakistan

Pakistan is an agricultural country with an increasing interest for hydropower. Water management problems such as sedimentation and evaporation have been of high concern for surface water reservoirs for many years. Therefore, groundwater storage through subsurface dams could be promising, especially considering the monsoon rainfall and seasonal river flows in Pakistan. The paper aims to develop and test a methodology to locate suitable sites for construction of subsurface dams using spatial multi-criteria analysis (SMCA) in the northern parts of Pakistan. For the study, spatial data on geology, slope, land cover, soil depth and topographic wetness index (TWI) was used. Two weighting techniques, i.e. the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the factor interaction method (FIM), were employed and compared. The sensitivity of the two methods as well as of the model parameters was analysed. The suitability map derived from AHP yielded about 3 % (16 km²) of the total area as most suitable, about 4 % (22 km²) as moderately suitable and about 0.8 % (5 km²) as least suitable. The suitability map derived from FIM identified about 2.7 % (14 km²) of the total area as most suitable, about 4 % (22 km²) as moderately suitable and about 1 % (7 km²) as least suitable. The sensitivity analyses suggested that AHP was a more robust weighting technique than FIM and that land cover was the most sensitive factor. The methodology presented here shows promising results and could be used in early planning to locate suitable sites for construction of subsurface dams.     

Optimization of Dehydration of Lactobacillus salivarius Using Radiant Energy Vacuum

Radiant energy under vacuum (REV) as a rapid dehydration method was employed to dehydrate Lactobacillus salivarius 417 along with different concentrations of skim milk powder as protective medium. Two optimization methods: response surface methodology and random centroid analysis (RCO) were applied and compared to optimize the dehydration parameters for maximum viability—microwave power, absolute pressure in the drying chamber, and protective agent concentration. The study showed that both methods were suitable for the process optimization. Microwave power, concentration of skim milk powder, and absolute pressure had a significant effect on final viability while the speed of sample rotation in vertical axis had no effect (P < 0.05). The result also indicated that a microwave power of <250 W, 10–15% concentration of skim milk powder, and <1 mmHg absolute pressure was needed to achieve viability of equal or greater than 80% in L. salivarius. The RCO-optimized REV process yielded higher viability than the reference freeze drying method and was completed in less than an hour as compared to 64 h for freeze drying.     

A model for calculating geometry factors for a mixed-mode I–II single edge notched tension specimen

In the present study, a novel approach is presented to obtain closed-form solutions for the geometry factors, which are used to determine the stress intensity factors for various configurations. A single edge notched tension specimen with an angled-crack is used as an example to demonstrate the applicability, simplicity and flexibility of the new approach. Several values for crack inclination angles, plate widths and crack lengths, including micro-cracks, are considered in the analysis. The new approach is validated through comparison with existing analytical and numerical solutions as well as experimental results.     

A noise-tolerant cryptosystem based on the decomposition of bit-planes and the analysis of chaotic gauss iterated map

Neural Computing and Applications - Secure communication has become a challenging task for researchers. In these circumstances, several encryption techniques for digital images have been proposed....     

Enhancing differential evolution with role assignment scheme

As one of the most popular evolutionary algorithms, differential evolution (DE) has been used for solving a wide range of real-world problems. The performance of DE highly depends on the chosen mutation strategy and control parameter settings. Although the conventional trial-and-error procedure can be used to elaborately select the proper strategy and to tune the parameter values, this procedure is often very time-consuming and is not suitable for practitioners without a priori experience. To tackle this problem, DE with a novel role assignment (RA) scheme is proposed in this paper. In the RA scheme, both the fitness information and positional information of individuals are utilized to dynamically divide the population into several groups. Each group is considered as a role, which has its own mutation strategy and parameter settings and is expected to play a different role in the evolution process. To verify the performance of our approach, experiments are conducted on 23 well-known benchmark functions. Results show that our approach is better than, or at least comparable to, several state-of-the-art DE variants.     

An integrated design methodology based on the use of group AHP-DEA approach for measuring lean tools efficiency with undesirable output

The selection of lean tools is one of the crucial factors for decision makers and practitioners in a competitive environment. A few efforts have been made based on problem selection. Conversely, numerical studies have been done on analytical hierarchy process (AHP)–data envelopment analysis (DEA) as well as DEA-undesirable variables separately. Thus, there is a shortage of lean practitioners as well as the methods involved. The present research aims at integrating AHP and DEA with desirable and undesirable factors to evaluate the lean tools and techniques and to rank the aspect of efficacy. We suggest a logical procedure to measure the efficacy of lean tools on leanness and to prioritize them as decision makers. In this extensive research, we apply the integrated multicriteria decision-making approach, including the hybrid groups AHP and DEA models with desirable and undesirable variables, to assess the relative efficiency of lean manufacturing tools and techniques. Case studies are used to demonstrate the lean implementation in companies while being validated by a panel of experts. The integration of these approaches has created synergy and shown to be even more powerful. Thus, the proposed integrated AHP-DEA model can evaluate and rank different alternatives while considering desirable and undesirable variables in the production processes.