Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology

8

Authors: Memon S., Bhatti S., Abro F.R.

This paper investigates the task of SR (Speaker Recognition) for the state-of-the-art techniques. The paper initially presents the technical description of automatic SR, followed by the comparative analysis of a number of methods available for feature extraction and modeling. Based on this analysis the NIST 2001, NIST 2002, NIST 2004 and NIST 2006 Speaker recognition corpora are used to investigate the state of the art feature extraction and modeling techniques. The state of the art technique for feature extraction is delta MFCC ( Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients) and for modeling is GMM (Gaussian Mixture Models) based on EM (Expectation Maximization). Further in this paper the details about the enrollment/training and recognition/testing is also presented. For different stages of SR systems the conventional methods are summarized

8

Authors: Shah A.K., Syed F.A.S., Memon H.R.

The study aimed to improve the effectiveness of dyes and pigments wastewater treatment. Hybrid system of adsorption and coagulation was applied for the reduction of COD, color, turbidity and TSS. Activated carbon adsorbent was prepared from a waste of sugar industry boiler. It was processed through physicochemical treatment with sulfuric acid following grinding, sieving, washing and drying unit operations. Combined wastewater of dyes and pigments manufacturing plant was treated with a hybrid process of coagulation and adsorption. FeCl 3, FeSO 4and Alum coagulants were tested individually and found them less effective. It was revealed that FeCl 3 coagulation, adsorption and hybrid process reduced COD (41, 51 and 54%), Color (67, 70 and 89%), turbidity (69, 71 and 90%) and TSS (82, 93 and 97%) respectively. Combination of FeCl3 -SBFA (Sugarcane Bagasse Fly Ash) proved 90% efficient in removal than coagulation as an individual process. 4g adsorbent dose was optimized for this hybrid process

8

Authors: Ghani U., Ali S.,Arif S.

The turbulence models play an important role in all types of computational fluid dynamics based numerical modelling. There is no universal turbulence model which can be applied in all the scenarios. Therefore, if a suitable closure model is used in a simulation work, only then the successful numerical modelling will be achieved. This paper presents the evaluation of three turbulence models in numerical modelling of open channel flows having beds comprising of two parallel strips, one being smooth and the other one being rough. The roughness on the rough side of the channel was created with the help of gravels. The turbulence models tested for their suitability in this case were Reynolds stress model, k-?model and RNG based k-?model. A structured mesh was used in this simulation work. Grid independence test was also conducted in the simulation. The evaluation of the turbulence models was made through the primary velocity contours and secondary velocity vectors over the cross section of the channel. It was revealed that Reynolds stress model simulated the flow behaviour successfully and results obtained through this model matched very closely to that of the experimental data whereas k-?model and RNG based k-? model failed to reproduce the flow field successfully. These results will be helpful for CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) modellers in correct selection of the turbulence model in these types of channels

10

Authors: Memon I.A., Kalhoro M.S., Channa N.

Cross-bicoherence analysis is one of the important nonlinear signal processing tools which is used to measure quadratic phase coupling between frequencies of two different time series. It is frequently used in the diagnosis of various cognitive and neurological disorders in EEG (Electroencephalography) analysis. Volume conduction effects of various uncorrelated sources present in the brain can produce biased estimates into the estimated values of cross-bicoherence function. Previous studies have discussed volume conduction effects on coherence function which is used to measure linear relationship between EEG signals in terms of their phase and amplitude. However, volume conduction effect on crossbicoherence analysis which is quite a different technique has not been investigated up to now to the best of our knowledge. This study is divided into two major parts, the first part deals with the investigation of VCUS (Volume Conduction effects due to Uncorrelated Sources) characteristics on EEG-cross-bicoherence analysis. The simulated EEG data due to uncorrelated sources present in the brain was used in this part of study. The next part of study is based upon investigating the effects of VCUS on the statistical analysis of results of EEG-based cross-bicoherence analysis. The study provides an important clinical application because most of studies based on EEG cross-bicoherence analysis have avoided the issue of VCUS. The cross-bicoherence analysis was performed by detecting the change in MSCB (Magnitude Square CrossBicoherence Function) between EEG activities of change detection and no-change detection trials. The real EEG signals were used

10

Authors: Channa S., Memon T.D., Halepoto I.A.

In this paper, we present a thorough research to analyze the performance of the soft switches of PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited) in south region by taking real values from the operational systems and ratio of fault occurrence in soft switches. The major issues and shortcomings related to hardware of soft switches, network build up and protocols of SS (Soft Switch) are discussed. Performance characteristics of two soft switches (Pak Capital SS Vendor-A and Marston Rd SS Vendor-B) on the basis of key parameters including, System over view, System architecture, Hardware, Network built-up are analyzed. All parameters are compared with PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) standards and suggestions are provided to remove single point of failure to achieve 24x7 services available for the customers of PTCL. The conclusion drawn out of the research works, and suggestions provided will pave a path to increase the efficiency of soft switches, enrich the operation of the system, reduces the fault occurrence and complete isolation of the MGs/MSAN/MSAGs, improve the availability of the PTCL services to its customers and will enhance the image of the company for its valuable customers

12

Authors: Memon A.P., Uqaili M.A., Memon Z.A.

The transients in power system cause serious disturbances in the reliability, safety and economy of the system. The transient signals possess the nonstationary characteristics in which the frequency as well as varying time information is compulsory for the analysis. Hence, it is vital, first to detect and classify the type of transient fault and then to mitigate them. This article proposes time-frequency and FFNN (Feedforward Neural Network) approach for the classification of power system transients problems. In this work it is suggested that all the major categories of transients are simulated, de-noised, and decomposed with DWT (Discrete Wavelet) and MRA (Multiresolution Analysis) algorithm and then distinctive features are extracted to get optimal vector as input for training of PNN (Probabilistic Neural Network) classifier. The simulation results of proposed approach prove their simplicity, accurateness and effectiveness for the automatic detection and classification of PST (Power System Transient) types

16

Authors: Janjua A.B., Khalil M.S., Saeed M.

Utilization of hydro-power as renewable energy source is of prime importance in the world now. Hydropower energy is available in abundant in form of falls, canals rivers, dams etc. It means, there are various types of sites with different parameters like flow rate, heads, etc. Depending upon the sites, water turbines are designed and manufactured to avail hydro-power energy. Low head turbines on runof-river are widely used for the purpose. Low head turbines are classified as reaction turbines. For runof river, depending upon the variety of site data, low head Kaplan turbines are selected, designed and manufactured. For any given site requirement, it becomes very essential to design the turbine runner blades through optimization of the CAD model of blades profile. This paper presents the optimization technique carried out on a complex geometry of blade profile through static and dynamic computational analysis. It is used through change of the blade profile geometry at five different angles in the 3D (Three Dimensional) CAD model. Blade complex geometry and design have been developed by using the coordinates point system on the blade in PRO-E /CREO software. Five different blade models are developed for analysis purpose. Based on the flow rate and heads, blade profiles are analyzed using ANSYS software to check and compare the output results for optimization of the blades for improved results which show that by changing blade profile angle and its geometry, different blade sizes and geometry can be optimized using the computational techniques with changes in CAD models.

4

Authors: Abbasi S.A., Syed U., Jhatial R.A.

This study was to analyze the mechanism of shear deformation and yarn slippage in the 3D (Three Dimensional) carbon woven fabric. For this study three weaves orthogonal, layer to layer and angle interlock were tested in Kawabata shearing instrument and all the results were analyzed. The relationship between the shear load and shear angle was measured in both warp and weft directions. It is shown that the fabric having highly compact structure exhibits high shear rigidity and it can withstand high shearing load. The orthogonal weave has shown much higher shear rigidity as compared to other weave structures

6

Authors: Khatri A., Arslan F., Jhatial R.A.

Textiles made of bamboo regenerated fibre are reported to have lower tensile strength than the other cellulosic fibres, due to high porosity of the fibre. This paper was aimed to modify the bamboo knitted fabric by the sol-gel coating to improve the tensile strength with minimum effect on its inherent morphology and ultimate relevant properties such as good absorbency and air permeability. The paddry- bake process was employed for the coating where tetraethyl-orthosilicate and nano-titanium-dioxide were used as the active ingredients. The treated fabrics were tested for the tensile behaviour in terms of breaking strength and elongation and the sol-gel process recipe and parameters were optimised. The absorbency, air-permeability and washing durability of the coating were also tested for the optimised process. Results showed the increase in tensile strength of the fabric by sol-gel coating, whereas absorbency and air-permeability were almost unaffected. The coating results were unaffected even after a washing treatment (equivalent to 5 industrial washings). Additionally, the wrinkle recovery angle of the coated fabric was also tested and found improved.

8

Authors: Shaikh S.A., Shaikh G.Y., Husssain T.

The study was undertaken to investigate the effects of pacing on aspects of performance at an assembly task and on the operators' responses related to work behaviour, perceived workload and perceived stress. A particular objective of the study was to investigate whether physical and cognitive demands may interact in their influences on these effects. An assembly task was simulated in the laboratory and the level of pacing imposed, work height and memory load within the task were all varied. The results showed that the type of pacing commonly imposed (as is common with a lean manufacturing Takt time system in industry) can significantly affect both performance and perceived workload and stress. Physical demands (through work height affecting posture) and mental demand (through memory load) were also found to have significant effects, as would be expected from the many studies of these in the literature. More importantly, some interactions were found between pacing and work height in their effects on quality of assembly and the operator's own rating of performance, and between work height and memory load in their effects on errors. These findings will need to be taken into account by companies when implementing Takt time systems.

8

Authors: Memon T.D., Halepoto I.A., Al-Otabi A.

Recently SWL (Short Word Length) DSP (Digital Signal Processing) applications has been proposed to overcome multiplier complexity that is evident in most of the digital applications. These SWL applications have been processed through sigma-delta modulation as a key element. For such applications, adder design plays vital role and can impact upon the chip area and its performance. In this paper, a ternary approach for adder tree has been proposed instead of binary that can accommodate more data with less chip-area at the cost of extra pin. The proposed ternary adder tree has been designed and developed in Quartus-II using three different design strategies namely T-gate (Ternary gate), LUT (Look Up Table) and algebraic equations. Through rigorous simulation it was found that T-gate technique results in superior performance, an average of 23.5 and 33% improvement compared to the same adder structure based on Boolean Algebraic Equation and LUT, respectively. The proposed adder design would benefit the efficient implementation of SWL applications.

8

Authors: Kumar W., Kumar P., Halepoto I.A.

The energy expenditure of cellular networks is increasing rapidly due to high demand of data services by the subscribers. This subsequently gives rise to the CO2 emission which is a critical issue nowadays. A hybrid cellular network comprised of macrocell and several femtocells is required to achieve reliability, continuous connectivity, and energy efficiency. To address the issue of energy efficiency, in this paper we present a queuing model of an energy efficient femtocell network. The transmission of data traffic in this type of network is modeled using M/M/1 queue where server FAP (Femtocell Access Point) takes vacation to save energy during inactivity period. The network model is solved using a MGM (Matrix Geometric Method). The performance of the system is evaluated in terms of average system delay and power savings for different sleep cycle durations. Results reveal that the maximum energy can be saved with higher sleep cycle duration at a cost of increased system delay

10

Authors: Mangrio W.B., Bhutto A., Naqvi I.B.

Several countries have adopted different strategies, models and policies to assist companies to develop their technological capabilities. These include high tech cluster development, creation of venture capital fund, establishment of technology incubation center, and Science & Technology parks. In turn, the creation of knowledge base industries, regional development, improves the technological infrastructure and life standard of the people. This paper discusses the contribution of science and technology parks in firms' performance in particularly employment, sales and profitability and also in creation of new businesses in information technology sector in Pakistan. This study is based on the case study of STPs (Software Technology Parks) of Islamabad. The results revealed that the establishment of STPs could be helpful in the creation of new companies as half of firms located at the STPs were startup enterprises. It helps firms to enhance its growth performance in the first five years after starting their business at these STPs. By developing software parks in three major cities, Pakistan Software Export Board have achieved partially its objectives.

10

Authors: Sahito A.R., Mahar R.B., Brohi K.M.

ABD (Anaerobic Biodegradability) and BMP (Biochemical Methane Potential) of banana plant waste, canola straw, cotton stalks, rice straw, sugarcane trash and wheat straw co-digested with buffalo dung was evaluated through AMPTS (Automatic Methane Potential Test System). The substrates were analyzed for moisture, TS (Total Solids) and VS (Volatile Solids), ultimate analysis (CHONS), pH and TA (Total Alkalinity). The BMPobserved during incubation of 30 days at the temperature of 37±0.2°C was 322 Nml CH4/g VSadd for wheat straw followed by 260, 170, 149, 142 and 138 Nml CH4/gVSadd for canola straw, rice straw, cotton stalks, banana plant waste and sugarcane trash respectively, whereas the maximum theoretical BMP was 481 Nml CH4/gVSadd for cotton stalks, followed by 473, 473, 446, 432 and 385 Nml CH4/gVSadd for wheat straw, banana plant waste, canola straw, rice straw and sugarcane trash respectively. The percentage ABD values were in the range of 68-30%. In addition to this, the effect of lignin content in the crop residue was evaluated on the ABD. The results of this study indicate that, the co-digestion of the crop residues with buffalo dung is feasible for production of renewable methane

12

Authors: Memon Mujeebuddin, Abbasi A.F., Daudpoto J.

Accurate prediction of fluid flow in the rotating cavity system is of practical interest as it is most commonly used in the gas turbine engines and compressors. This paper presents the numerical predictions of a rotating cavity flow system for Reynolds numbers of the range 1x105 < Re? < 4x105 and two different mass flow rates Cw=1092 and 2184. A finite-difference technique is employed for a Steady-state solution in the axisymmetric cylindrical polar coordinate frame of reference. The two low Reynolds number turbulence models, the low Reynolds number k-? model and the low Reynolds number second moment closure have been used to compute the basic characteristics of the flow inside the rotating cavity flow system. Different flow regions have been identified by computing flow structures and dimensions of those regions have also been studied under different flow rates. A comparison of the computed variation of moment coefficient of both the turbulence models are presented for the above mentioned parameters and the parametric effects on the moment coefficients have been discussed

12

Authors: Channa N., Lashar I.A.

The need of data and information is crucial to the human users. WWW (World Wide Web) plays a major role for fulfilling their needs, but sometimes all the purposes of human users are not achieved from the limited structure of the data available on the internet. However, the requirements of the accessibility of the data by users have also been changed and the same data is required in machine understandable form. IT (Information Technology) has become mandatory to convert the existing web from people-centric to software application-centric. The WS (Web Services) provide the suitable solution for application-to-application interoperability and integration over the Internet. WS is a promising technology that make available extensible and logical infrastructure for application to application communication constructed based on the current Web standards. The most accepted charm of the WS architecture is SOA (Service Oriented Architecture). The major roles involved in the WS infrastructure are service broker, service consumer/client and service provider. The technical pillars of WSs involve SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), WSDL (Web Service Description Language) and UDDI (Universal Description and Directory Service). By looking at the core pillars of the SOA triangle, we have investigated and explored all implementation aspects of the WSDL, SOAP and UDDI. We have further explored what UDDI is, structure of UDDI. How to create and publish WSDL into UDDI via SOAP, Operations of UDDI, how to access UDDI using java and SOAP clients. The extensive exploration of the work on UDDI implementation, help

12

Authors: Ali S., Ghani U., Arif S.

Flow resistance is a key factor in predicting the river conveyance capacity and associated water levels. In addition to bed resistance, the obstacles (embankments, spur dikes etc.) in the flood plain of a river contribute to the flow resistance. In particular the elevated parts are expected to play an important role. The objective of this study is to develop and parameterize an analytical model for the form drag due to such obstacles. An experimental study was carried out for validation purposes of the developed analytical model. The prototype weir-like structure (in the form of an embankment) was modeled as a weir with various leeside slopes. Measurements for energy head losses were carried out for a range of discharges and downstream water levels covering submerged flow conditions. The energy head loss due to submerged dikes was modeled as an expansion loss form drag. The analytical form drag model was estimated using a one-dimensional momentum conservation equation which accounts for the energy loss associated with a deceleration of the flow in the leeside region of the sudden expansion. The predicted losses from the analytical model agreed well with the experimental results. The minor deviations observed could be attributed to downstream slope effects and non- uniform velocity distribution in expansion zone (recirculation region) of an embankment.

4

Authors: Memon R.A., Solangi M.A., Baloch A.

The impacts of rotational velocity and inertia on velocity gradients and stresses are addressed under present study. The non-Newtonian behaviour of inelastic rotating flows is predicted by employing Power law model. A numerical model has been developed for mixing flow within a cylindrical vessel along a couple of stirrers. A time marching FEM (Finite Element Method) is employed to predict the required solution. Predicted solutions are presented for minimum to maximum values in terms of contour plots of velocity gradients and shear stresses, over the range. The long term application of this research will be used to improve the design of mixers and processing products. The predicted results are used to generate the capability and are in good agreement with numerical results to the mixer design that will ultimately effect the processing of dough products

8

Authors: Bhatti S.M., Abro Z.H., Abro F.R.

Object persistency is the hot issue in the form of ORM (Object Relational Mapping) tools in industry as developers use these tools during software development. This paper presents the performance evaluation of Java based ORM tools. For this purpose, Hibernate, Ebean and TopLinkhave been selected as the ORM tools which are popular and open source. Their performance has been measured from execution point of view. The results show that ORM tools are the good option for the developers considering the system throughput in shorter setbacks and they can be used efficiently and effectively for performing mapping of the objects into the relational dominated world of database, thus creating a hope for a better and well dominated future of this technology.

8

Authors: Memon N.A., Ansari K., Almani Z.A.

The enhancement in the properties of the modified blends largely depends on the proper understanding of the interaction between CR (Crumb Rubber) and bitumen, where the CR particles swell after absorbing lighter fraction from the bitumen phase. However, the properties of CRMB (Crumb Rubber Modified Bitumen) blends at a wide range of temperatures are considered to be somewhat unclear due to the various interaction effects of CR and base bitumen. This largely depends on the interaction conditions such as blending time, temperature, speed and device, which may alter the properties of the blend to great extent. In this study, influence of the interaction condition was investigated by looking at the viscosity with a Brookfield viscometer. For this, CR and bitumen proportions along with other material characteristics were kept constant to understand the effect of interaction parameters of the properties of the CRMB blend. A total of 12 CRMB blends were produced with unvarying combinations of material constituents. However, selected variation in the blending parameters were; blending device, duration, speed and temperature. Observations from this laboratory study indicated: (1) blending performed with the high shear mixer resulted in higher viscosity values compared to the blends produced with the low shear mixer; (2) reduced blending time was required to achieve peak and ultimate stable viscosities, when blends were produced with the high shear mixer; (3) blending temperature of 180°C has resulted in the blends with consistent properties for longer blending durations compared to the blends produced at higher temperature. As a result, results with high shear mixer were always promising, which required comparatively lower interaction temperature, time and speed.

10

Authors: Syed U., Samad A., Ahmed F.

In this research dyeing behavior of organic cotton woven fabric using ultrasonic technique and conventional dyeing method has been compared. The fabric samples were dyed with reactive dyes Drimarene Red Cl-5B and Drimarene Blue Cl-BR (0.5% owf) using exhaust dyeing method. The samples were ultrasonically dyed at varied temperature (60, 50 and 40oC) for 60, 50, 40 and 30 minutes and for conventional method at varied temperature but at recommended time, 60 minutes. For optimizing the dyeing behavior, the samples were causticized by pad-batch method and then dyed with ultrasonic technique at varied temperature and time. It has been observed organic cotton fabric dyed using ultrasonic exhaust method at 60oC for 50 minutes gives highest (K/S)?max value, excellent fastness property, deeper dye diffusion and less surface deterioration compared to the conventional dyeing method. Moreover, causticized and dyed sample with ultrasonic technique at 60oC for 30 minutes gives colour strength value almost equal to the conventional recommended dyeing method. Hence, dyeing of organic material using ultrasonic exhaust method saves energy and time

12

Authors: Almani Z.A., Pathan A.F.H., Memon A.A.

This study was focused on the determination of contaminant transport parameters of heavy metal Zinc moving through saturated soft Bangkok undisturbed clay under high hydraulic gradients. These parameters were compared with contaminant transport determined under concentration gradient alone (pure diffusion). In total fifteen column tests were conducted and a mathematical model was applied to determine the coefficients. Two different source concentrations conditions, constant and decreasing, were applied. Testing periods were ranged from 15-60 days while hydraulic gradients were ranged from 0-500. The curves between relative concentration and time and pore volume were developed for the constant source condition whereas curves between source reservoirs concentrations and time were developed for decreasing source condition. The effective diffusion and distribution coefficients, De and Kd, were determined by curve fitting using the computer code POLLUTE v 6.3. The results showed that diffusion coefficient increases and distribution coefficient decreases as hydraulic gradient increases from 0 to high value of 500 due to contribution of dispersion and additional molecular diffusion at high advective velocity. Thus, testing at high gradients ensures the safe performance of earthen barriers under worse conditions.

14

Authors: Jumani S., Memon Z.A., Larik J.

The need for custom-made devices, rehabilitation aids and treatments is explicit in the medical sector. Applications of rapid manufacturing techniques based on additive fabrication processes combined with medical digitising technologies can generate high quality solutions in situations where the need for custom-made devices and rehabilitation aids and low-lead times are very important factors. Foot orthoses are medical devices applied in the treatment of biomechanical foot disorders, foot injuries and foot diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. The significant challenge in the treatment of foot related diseases is progressing pathological deterioration in the affected sites of the foot which requires quick provision of the orthoses. A process model is developed using the IDEF0 modelling technique in which a rapid manufacturing approach is integrated in the design and fabrication process of custom foot orthoses. The process model will be used in the development of rapid manufacturing based design and fabrication system for mass customisation of foot orthoses. The developed system is aimed at mass scale production of custom foot orthoses with the advantages of reduced cost, reduced lead-time and improved product in terms of increased fit, consistency and accuracy in the final product.

20

Authors: Pathan A.F.H., Ansari K., Memon A.A.

This paper addresses the significance of traveller information sources including mono-modal and multimodal websites for travel decisions. The research follows a decision paradigm developed earlier, involving an information acquisition process for travel choices, and identifies the abstract characteristics of new information sources that deserve further investigation (e.g. by incorporating these in models and studying their significance in model estimation). A Stated Preference experiment is developed and the utility functions are formulated by expanding the travellers' choice set to include different combinations of sources of information. In order to study the underlying choice mechanisms, the resulting variables are examined in models based on different behavioural strategies, including utility maximisation and minimising the regret associated with the foregone alternatives. This research confirmed that RRM (Random Regret Minimisation) Theory can fruitfully be used and can provide important insights for behavioural studies. The study also analyses the properties of travel planning websites and establishes a link between travel choices and the content, provenance, design, presence of advertisements, and presentation of information. The results indicate that travellers give particular credence to governmentowned sources and put more importance on their own previous experiences than on any other single source of information. Information from multimodal websites is more influential than that on train-only websites. This in turn is more influential than information from friends, while information from coachonly websites is the least influential. A website with less search time, specific information on users' own criteria, and real time information is regarded as most attractive

4

Authors: Pathan A.G., Behan M.Y., Baloch M.H.

Performance efficiency of two inch hydrocyclone has been investigated, using the Nagar Parker china clay. Raw china clay was initially washed with tap water and -75 ?m size fraction was separated through wet sieving. Washed china clay of -75 ?m was used as feed sample in hydrocyclone tests. Solids concentration in slurry was kept as 2.5%. 45 tests were conducted with different combinations of pressure, vortex finder and spigot. Three sizes of spigot viz. 3.2, 2.2 and 1.5mm and three sizes of vortex finder viz. 7.00, 5.5 and 3.00mm were used. Hydrocyclone rig was operated at five different pressures viz. 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 psi in conjunction with various combinations of vortex finder and spigot. Laser light scattering technique was used for particle size analysis of O/F (Overflow) and U/F (Underflow) products. Separation efficiency of the hydrocyclone, for various combinations of Vortex Finder, Spigot and operating pressure, was determined for two size fractions, i.e. less than ten micron and less than twenty micron, present in O/F and U/F products. From the results it was concluded that the best separation efficiency of 2 inch hydrocyclone is achieved by using the vortex finder of 7.0mm size and spigot of 1.5mm size. It was also concluded that the separation efficiency of the hydrocyclone decreases by increasing the pressure.

6

Authors: Memon A.A., Hussain I., Daudpoto J.

To investigate the running characteristics of a switched reluctance motor, the static characteristics and related input data tables are required. The static characteristics comprise of flux linkage, co-energy and static torque characteristics. The co-energy and static torque are calculated once data of magnetization characteristics is available. The data of co-energy is required for the calculation of static torque characteristics. The simulation model includes the data of static characteristics for prediction of the instantaneous and steady state performance of the motor. In this research a computer based procedure of experiments is carried out for measurement of the magnetization characteristics. For every set of measurements, the removal of eddy current is carefully addressed. The experiments are carried out on an existing 8/6 pole rotary switched reluctance motor. Additionally, the instantaneous phase current, instantaneous torque and flux waveforms are produced by using linear, which is by default and spline data interpolation separately. The information obtained from theses simulation results will help in an improved simulation model for predicting the performance of the machine.

6

Authors: Dayo K.,Memon T.D.

In this paper, performance and area of conventional FIR (Finite Impulse Responce) filters versus ternary sigma delta modulated FIR filter is compared in FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) using VHDL (Verilog Description Language). Two different approaches were designed and synthesized at same spectral performance by obtaining a TIR (Target Impulse Response). Both filters were synthesized on adaptive LUT (Look Up Table) FPGA device in pipelined and non-pipelined modes. It is shown that the Ternary FIR filter occupies approximately the same area as the corresponding multi-bit filter, but for a given specification, the ternary FIR filter has 32% better performance in non-pipelined and 72% in pipelined mode, compared to its equivalent Multi-Bit filter at its optimum 12-bit coefficient quantization. These promising results shows that ternary logic based (i.e. +1,0,-1) filters can be used for huge chip area savings and higher performance.

8

Authors: Folino G., Shah A.A., Krasnogor N.

MC-PSC (Multi-Criteria Protein Structure Comparison) is one of the GCAs (Grand Challenge Applications) in the field of structural proteomics. The solution of the MC-PSC grand challenge requires the use of distributed algorithms, architectures and environments. This paper is aimed at the analysis of the scalability of our newly developed distributed algorithm for MC-PSC in the grid environment. The scalability in the grid environment indicates the capacity of the distributed algorithm to effectively utilize an increasing number of processors across multiple sites. The results of the experiments conducted on the UK's NGS (National Grid Service) infrastructure are reported in terms of speedup, efficiency and cross-site communication overhead.

8

Authors: Naleer H.M.M., Lu Y., Shah F.

The face hallucination research, in past ten years, has proposed a number of human face hallucination techniques. The face hallucination method does not follow the automatic face alignment in their experimental stages. In other words, these methods are not adequate for real world setting. Mainly some factors affect the final results of such methods, such as face pose, alignment, and lighting correction. Furthermore, the experimental images are aligned manually, and it may neither be accurate, nor added to the frame work. The main consideration in this paper is, how to produce the hallucinated human face image from single input low resolution image, using two step example base learning method with consideration of face pose and alignment in automatic frame work. We propose that the novel human face hallucination automatic frame work is excellent agreement with real world input low resolution images.

8

Authors: Memon I.A., Kalhoro M.S., Payne A.

Change blindness is the incapability of the brain to detect substantial visual changes in the presence of other visual interruption. The objectives of this study are to examine the EEG (Electroencephalographic) based changes in functional connectivity of the brain due to the change blindness. The functional connectivity was estimated using the wavelet-based MSC (Magnitude Square Coherence) function of ERPs (Event Related Potentials). The ERPs of 30 subjects were used and were recorded using the visual attention experiment in which subjects were instructed to detect changes in visual stimulus presented before them through the computer monitor. The two-way ANOVA statistical test revealed significant increase in both gamma and theta band MSCs, and significant decrease in beta band MSC for change detection trials. These findings imply that change blindness might be associated to the lack of functional connectivity in gamma and theta bands and increase of functional connectivity in beta band. Since gamma, theta, and beta frequency bands reflect different functions of cognitive process such as maintenance, encoding, retrieval, and matching and work load of VSTM (Visual Short Term Memory), the change in functional connectivity might be correlated to these cognitive processes during change blindness.

8

Authors: Syed Uzma, Jhatial R.A.

Fabric properties such as pilling and abrasion resistance and tensile strength vary when greige fabric is processed further. The quality of dyed fabric depends on the quality of greige fabric. Cotton Plain and Twill weave fabrics were woven at three different warp yarn tension and then dyed using monochlorotriazine, Drimerene Red Cl-5B dye gives difference in fabric properties. The ASTM, American International Standards were used to determine the greige and dyed fabric properties. It has been observed fabric woven at proper loom setting or warp yarn tension have high strength, less pilling and abrasion tendency as compared to fabric woven at variant warp yarn tension. Moreover, fabric tenacity is decreased after dyeing whereas, slight difference in pilling and abrasion values is observed after dyeing than that of greige fabric.

10

Authors: Hussain T., Shaikh G.Y., Shaikh S.A.

It is essential that rotating engines are assembled so that they are straight (straight-build) to satisfy the vibration and functional requirements of the engine. Geometric variations in different components can have a significant impact on the straight-build of an assembly. This paper considers the use of optimization methods to take account of these geometric variations. Five assembly-optimization methods for the straight build of an assembly are investigated with the aid of a connective assembly model that calculates the variation propagation in the assembly. The optimization methods used are; (i) minimizing the distances from component centres to table axis; (ii) minimizing the distance between actual and nominal component centres; (iii) minimizing the angular errors between actual and nominal planes; (iv) target-axis build assembly optimization; (v) changing-axis-build assembly optimization. Two 2D case-studies are investigated to analyse the suitability of the different optimization procedures. Simulation results show that optimization Procedures 1 and 3 have great potential to be applied to real assemblies.

10

Authors: Lashari J.H., Bhutto A., Abro Q. M.M.

This study identifies the status of postgraduate students at the master degree level regarding their degree completion in the three public sector universities at Jamshoro Education City. The status is identified by analyzing enrolment of the postgraduate and comparing it with rate of their degree completion. In addition, the paper also discusses their characteristics which lead them towards the degree completion. For this paper, enrolment of the postgraduate students at the master level is compared with the degree completion rate of 2008 academic session only. The result shows the obvious difference between enrolment and rate of the degree completion. In total 417 postgraduate students were enrolled in 2008 session, however, only 60 (14%) of students have completed their postgraduate degrees. Those who have completed their degrees, with respect to universities 6% students belong to US (University of Sindh), 22% belong to MUET (Mehran University of Engineering & Technology) and 8% students belong to LUMHS (Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences). The demographical data of the postgraduate students has also shown some variations like gender, age, employment, and financial resources. In addition, the research requirements also vary for different postgraduate students. The research requirements include lab based, field based and library based resources. The characteristics of the postgraduate students of three public sector universities including financial resources, employment status, and working organization also show differences with each-other in terms of the degree completion.

16

Authors: Yaqub M., Bukhari I.A., Ghani U.

The experience shows that fire-damaged concrete structures both technically and economically can be reinstated after fire due to high fire resistance and high residual strength. The residual strength of fire-damaged concrete structural member depends on the peak temperature reached during fire, fire duration and the distribution of temperature within the structural member. The assessment of the residual strength of post-heated concrete structural members in a professional way is a prime factor to take a decision about the reinstatement or demolition of fire-damaged structure. This paper provides an easy and efficient approach to predict the residual strength of reinforced concrete columns based on the estimated temperature which may have occurred within the concrete cross-section during a fire. A finite element model was developed to evaluate the distribution of temperature within the cross-section of the reinforced concrete columns. Twelve reinforced concrete square columns were heated experimentally up to 500°C at 150°C/hour. A comparison of the experimental temperature values of the tested columns was made with the model results. A good agreement was found between the experimental and the finite model results. Based on the temperature distribution obtained from the finite element model, the residual strength of concrete and reinforcement could be evaluated by using the relationships for concrete, steel and temperature proposed by various researchers.