• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.99-105
• /
• 2006

A digital ultrasonic image construction system was developed for the nondestructive detection of cracks in water distribution pipes. The system consists of PC based ultrasonic testing system and a scanning device. The PC based ultrasonic system has an ultrasonic pulse/receive board for the generation and reception of ultrasonic signals, an analogue to digital conversion board for the digitization of the received ultrasonic signals, and transducers for the ultrasonic sensors. Using this system, the digitized ultrasonic signals were properly constructed in accordance with the position information obtained by scanning device that moves an ultrasonic transducer along the outer surface of pipes. In the construction of the ultrasonic signals, signal processing concepts, such as spatial average and array concept, were considered to enhance the resolution of ultrasonic images of pipe wall. Using the developed system, crack detection experiments were performed in both laboratory and field, which shows promise for crack detection in the water distribution system.

• International Journal of Contents
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.17-24
• /
• 2006

The work presented in this paper is divided into two parts. The first part presents finite urn problems which generate truncated negative binomial random variables. Some combinatorial identities that arose from the negative binomial sampling and truncated negative binomial sampling are established. These identities are constructed and serve important roles when we deal with these distributions and their characteristics. Other important results including cumulants and moments of the distributions are given in somewhat simple forms. Second, the distributions of the maximum of two chi-square variables and the distributions of the maximum correlated F-variables are then derived within the negative binomial sampling scheme. Although multinomial theory applied to order statistics and standard transformation techniques can be used to derive these distributions, the negative binomial sampling approach provides more information and deeper insight regarding the nature of the relationship between the sampling vehicle and the probability distributions of these functions of chi-square variables. We also provide an algorithm to compute the percentage points of these distributions. We supplement our findings with exact simple computational methods where no interpolations are involved.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.10 no.10
• /
• pp.11-16
• /
• 2012

Purpose - This study focused on consumer perceptions of service quality in organic food shops, the innovativeness of organic products, and which SERVQUAL sub-dimensions increase purchase intentions. Another purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between consumer perceptions of organic food shops, their direct interest in organic food, and their purchase intentions. Research design, data, and methodology - We tested our hypothesized model within a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework, utilizing path-analysis implementation. The AMOS 18.0 software was used, and we found that it fit very well with the observed data. Results - The results of the full model (structural and measurement models) indicated the following fit indices: χ²=39.492, degree of freedom=25, provability level=0.033, RMR=0.047, GFI=0.948, AGFI=0.906, NNFI=0.958, CFI=0.984, and RMSEA=0.060. The effects of service quality on purchase intention, service quality on innovativeness, and innovativeness on purchase intention we resignificant. We also examined the statistical significance of the mediation effects using the Sobeltest and found further evidence to support service quality and purchase intention through innovation. Conclusions - These results suggest that, if organic food shops want to achieve a greater level of competitiveness, they must try to raise the quality of their service and actively promote the innovativeness of organic food.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.203-221
• /
• 2015

Wind speed is the most important parameter in the design and study of wind energy conversion systems. The weibull distribution is commonly used for wind energy analysis as it can represent the wind variations with an acceptable level of accuracy. In this study, the wind data for 11 cities in Iran have been analysed over a period of one year. The Goodness of fit test is used for testing data fit to weibull distribution. The results show that this data fit to weibull function very well. The scale and shape factors are two parameters of the weibull distribution that depend on the area under study. The kinds of numerical methods commonly used for estimating weibull parameters are reviewed. Their performance for the cities under study was compared according to root mean square and wind energy errors. The result of the study reveals the empirical, modified maximum likelihood estimate of wind speed with minimum error. Also, that the moment and modified maximum likelihood are the best methods for estimating the energy production of wind turbines.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.49-53
• /
• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the plantar pressure distribution between the affected and unaffected side in adult hemiplegia during gait with the use of a quad-cane. Methods: Thirty-four stroke patients from 34 to 83 years of age were enrolled in this study, and in random order, all patients were asked to walk at their most comfortable speed three times along a walkway with the use of quad-cane over a period of three days. Plantar pressure distribution was measured with regard to foot contact pattern and center of pressure (CoP) trajectories during the stance phase, progressing from heel-strike to toe-off. The F-scan system was used to compare the foot pressure of the affected and unaffected sides. Results: A significant reduction in the total contact area, the width of fore foot (FF) and hind foot (HF), and anterior/posterior (AP) CoP trajectory of the affected side was found. However, contact pressure of the hind foot on the affected side during walking increased when compared to that on the unaffected side. Conclusion: We demonstrated that plantar pressure distribution on the affected side of adult hemiplegia patients was generally poorer than that on the unaffected side when these patients walked with cane assistance. However, the use of a quad-cane was shown to increase contact pressure of the hind foot on the affected side because weight can be borne on the affected side during heel-strike with use of the cane.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.58 no.1
• /
• pp.21-38
• /
• 2016

Many studies have been carried out to investigate the important factors in calculating the realistic entropy amount of water distribution networks, but none of them have considered both mechanical and hydraulic characteristics of the networks. Also, the entropy difference in various networks has not been calculated exactly. Therefore, this study suggested a modified entropy function to calculate the informational entropy of water distribution networks so that the order of demand nodes and entropy difference among various networks could be calculated by taking into account both mechanical and hydraulic characteristics of the network. This modification was performed through defining a coefficient in the entropy function as the amount of outflow at each node to all dissipated power in the network. Hence, a more realistic method for calculating entropy was presented by considering both mechanical and hydraulic characteristics of network while keeping simplicity. The efficiency of the suggested method was evaluated by calculating the entropy of some sample water networks using the modified function.

• Honam Mathematical Journal
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.463-469
• /
• 2004

In this paper we establish some recurrence relations satisfied by quotient moments of upper record values from the exponential distribution. Let $\{X_n,\;n{\geq}1\}$ be a sequence of independent and identically distributed random variables with a common continuous distribution function F(x) and probability density function(pdf) f(x). Let $Y_n=max\{X_1,\;X_2,\;{\cdots},\;X_n\}$ for $n{\geq}1$. We say $X_j$ is an upper record value of $\{X_n,\;n{\geq}1\}$, if $Y_j>Y_{j-1}$, j > 1. The indices at which the upper record values occur are given by the record times {u(n)}, $n{\geq}1$, where u(n)=min\{j{\mid}j>u(n-1),\;X_j>X_{u(n-1)},\;n{\geq}2\} and u(1) = 1. Suppose $X{\in}Exp(1)$. Then $\Large{E\;\left.{\frac{X^r_{u(m)}}{X^{s+1}_{u(n)}}}\right)=\frac{1}{s}E\;\left.{\frac{X^r_{u(m)}}{X^s_{u(n-1)}}}\right)-\frac{1}{s}E\;\left.{\frac{X^r_{u(m)}}{X^s_{u(n)}}}\right)}$ and $\Large{E\;\left.{\frac{X^{r+1}_{u(m)}}{X^s_{u(n)}}}\right)=\frac{1}{(r+2)}E\;\left.{\frac{X^{r+2}_{u(m)}}{X^s_{u(n-1)}}}\right)-\frac{1}{(r+2)}E\;\left.{\frac{X^{r+2}_{u(m-1)}}{X^s_{u(n-1)}}}\right)}$.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.329-340
• /
• 2011

The probability concepts mainly used for rainfall or flood frequency analysis in water resources planning are the frequentist viewpoint that defines the probability as the limit of relative frequency, and the unknown parameters in probability model are considered as fixed constant numbers. Thus the probability is objective and the parameters have fixed values so that it is very difficult to specify probabilistically the uncertianty of these parameters. This study constructs the uncertainty evaluation model using Bayesian MCMC and Metropolis -Hastings algorithm for the uncertainty quantification of parameters of probability distribution in rainfall frequency analysis, and then from the application of Bayesian MCMC and Metropolis- Hastings algorithm, the statistical properties and uncertainty intervals of parameters of probability distribution can be quantified in the estimation of probability rainfall so that the basis for the framework configuration can be provided that can specify the uncertainty and risk in flood risk assessment and decision-making process.

• IE interfaces
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.124-132
• /
• 2006

The system under study is a single item, multi-echelon distribution system with a capacitated production facility. All the nodes at the downstream ends are demand-sites, i.e., ordered items are delivered to the customers from the node. Also any transshipment depots in the midstream can be demand-sites as well. For a given planning period, at each of demand-site, demand is forecasted and known. Our objective is to minimize the average system cost per period which is the sum of holding and backorder costs in the entire network. Due to the capacity restrictions, it is difficult to establish efficient distribution planning. To overcome such a difficulty and obtain a reasonable and better solution, we convert this problem into a single machine earliness and weighted tardiness scheduling. We propose a simple but cost-effective heuristic for this problem. The experimental results showed that the proposed heuristic obtained much better solutions compared with another approach.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.289-296
• /
• 2011

In most distribution centers, products are received from the suppliers in units of pallet, stored in a rack, moved to the picking area for replenishment, picked according to customer orders, and shipped to customers. In some distribution centers, however, replenishment is made in not a whole pallet but only a portion of a pallet load, mainly due to the limited space in the order-picking area; as a result, partially loaded pallets occupy cells in the rack. As the number of slow-moving items increases, more cells are occupied by partially loaded pallets so that fewer empty cells are available for storing full, incoming pallets. This will necessitate the construction or leasing of additional storage space, which will entail significant cost. As an alternative, we propose pallet consolidation, which involves moving a partial load to another partially-loaded pallet in order to create one empty cell in the rack. In this paper, we define three pallet consolidation problems; formulate each problem as a binary integer programming model; and present heuristic algorithms for the problems. The average performance of each of the proposed heuristics is evaluated using simulation.