Electricity generation from rice husk in Indian rice mills: Potential and financial viability

Rice husk generated as a by-product of rice processing is an important energy resource. The availability of this resource in India has been assessed and the technologies for exploitation of its energy potential in rice processing industry discussed. Nomographs have been developed for estimation of the husk required to meet the energy demand of parboiling, drying and milling operations. The unit cost of electricity using rice husk gasifier-based power generation systems has been calculated and its financial feasibility assessed in comparison with utility-supplied and diesel-generated electricity. With the cost and efficiency data assumed here, the unit cost of electricity produced by rice husk gasifier-dual fuel engine-generator system varies between Rs 2/kWh and Rs 7/kWh. (Note: 35 Rs approximates to $US 1.)     

Optimizing Thermal Process for Canned White Beans in Water Cascading Retorts

Based on thermal degradation kinetics and heat transfer expressed as the Ball formula method, a simplified approach was used to optimize sterilization processes for thermal softening of white beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, subsp. nanus Metz., variety Manteca de Leon) Constant retort profiles in a still and end-over-end rotary water cascading retort (Barriquand Steriflow) were used. Quality attributes of beans processed at the optimum were evaluated by a trained taste panel and by a tenderometer. Both approaches could distinguish (P<0.01) between attributes of products from optimal rotary and still processes. End-over-end rotation resulted in faster heat penetration and better quality retention of beans. Texture of white beans processed at 4° or 8°C from the optimal temperature could be distinguished (P<0.01) by the sensory panel and by the tenderometer.     

On the monotonicity of (LDL) logic programs with set

LDL is one of the recently proposed logical query languages, which incorporate set, for data and knowledge base systems. Since LDL programs can simulate negation, they are not monotonic in general. On the other hand, there are monotonic LDL programs. This paper addresses the natural question of “When are the generally nonmonotonic LDL programs monotonic?” and investigates related topics such as useful applications for monotonicity. We discuss four kinds of monotonicity, and examine two of them in depth. The first of the two, called “ω-monotonicity”, is shown to be undecidable even when limited to single-stratum programs. The second, called “uniform monotonicity”, is shown to implyω-monotonicity. We characterize the uniform monotonicity of a program (i) by a relationship between its Bancilhon-Khoshafian semantics and its LDL semantics, and (ii) with a useful property called subset completion independence. Characterization (ii) implies that uniformly monotonie programs can be evaluated more efficiently by discarding dominated facts. Finally, we provide some necessary and/or sufficient, syntactic conditions for uniform monotonicity. The conditions pinpoint (a) enumerated set terms, (b) negations of membership and inclusion, and (c) sharing of set terms as the main source for nonuniform monotonicity.     

Cross-Layering Approaches in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Wireless ad hoc networks are temporary formed, infrastructureless networks. Due to the unstable channel conditions and network connectivity, their characteristics impose serious challenges in front of network designers. The layering approach to network design does not fit the ad hoc environment well. Therefore, various cross-layering approaches, where protocol layers actively interact, exchange inherent layer information and fine tune their parameters according to the network status are becoming increasingly popular. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the latest cross-layering approaches for wireless ad hoc networks supported by several examples. A special emphasis is put on the link and network layer related cross-layer designs. Several link adaptation and efficient service discovery schemes are elaborated through analytical and simulation studies. Their performance shows the potentials of the cross-layering for boosting system characteristics in wireless ad hoc networks. Liljana Gavrilovska currently holds a position of full professor at Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University “St. Cyril and Metodij” – Skopje, Macedonia. She is chief of Telecommunications Laboratory and teaches undergraduate courses in telecommunication networks, data transmission and switching and traffic theory, and graduate courses in wireless, mobile and personal networks, teletraffic engineering and planning, and broadband multiservices networks. In 2000 she joined the Center for PersonKommunikation, Aalborg University, Denmark, as a visiting professor and during 2001--2002 she held a position of associate research professor at the same university. Currently she holds a part-time position of associated research professor with Center for Teleinfrastructur (CTIF). Prof. Gavrilovska was involved in several EU (ACTS ASAP, IST PACWOMAN, MAGNET, TEMPUS) and national/international projects. She published numerous conference and journal papers and participated in several workshops. At the moment she is working on the book “Ad Hoc Networking Towards Seamless Communications” together with prof. R. Prasad. Her research interests include wireless and personal area networks, ad hoc networking, networking protocols, traffic analysis, QoS, and optimization techniques. She is a senior member of IEEE and serves as a Chair of Macedonian Communication Chapter.     

全面实施工程量清单计价之我见

随着国家《建设工程工程量清单计价规范》及各省计价依据的颁布,工程量清单计价工作已在全国开始实行,但实施的深度和广度不够。作者从管理角度,就如何全面实施工程量清单,对造价管理部门和招投标管理机构相关工作的完善阐述了几点建议和意见。     

高效离心风机的设计研究

该文在总结国内外高效离心风机的设计经验基础上,掌握和利用已有的经验,遵循一系列离心风机优化准则,成功的完成了高效机车用牵引电机通风机的设计.性能样机经台架试验,比原风机的性能有较大幅度的提高,效率达到86%,在国内同样风机中效率是较高的.     

多孔粒状铵油炸药在边坡预裂爆破中的应用

通过工程实践，介绍了利用多孔粒状铵油炸药进行边坡预裂爆破的设计原理及施工工艺。该技术能确保预裂爆破质量。简化施工工序，大幅度降低爆破成本。技术经济指标优越。     

Forming the optimal union of multiple databases

Many organizations, best illustrated by libraries, have access to hundreds of databases possessing varying degrees of complimentary and overlapping records. While users may receive positive marginal benefits from data duplications, all databases and their services cannot be supported because of resource limitations. This paper attempts to conceptualize the problem of database collection in an environment of multiple databases, with differential content and performance characteristics, diverse users, and limited resources. It defines the database collection problem as a constrained zero-one integer programming problem and solves for the optimal combination or union of databases. Several extensions are shown, where special conditions are imposed on the relationships between databases and/or their availability.     

多目标决策问题非支配解集的一种序列逼近方法

在多目标优化中,对非支配解集的估计是一项非常重要的工作.本文给出一种序列逼近非支配解集的方法.     

基于混合遗传算法的树状注水管网拓扑优化

以投资最小为目标函数,以井间隶属关系的惟一性、连接注水井数量等限制为约束条件,建立了树状注水管网拓扑优化数学模型.根据模型特点,将优化问题分为分配层和几何层,分别采用遗传算法和非线性优化方法进行求解.并对遗传算法的操作过程进行了改进,调整了适应函数,采用随机多父辈适应函数值加权交叉和多种变异操作,结合了模拟退火算法,并给出了初温的确定方法,改进了选择复制操作,从而形成了混合遗传算法.该算法能够有效地提高收敛速度,避免早熟收敛.利用算例说明了该方法的有效性.