Many approaches of different complexity already exist to edge detection in
color images. Nevertheless, the question remains of how different are the results
when employing computational costly techniques instead of simple ones. This
paper presents a comparative study on two approaches to color edge detection to
reduce noise in image. The approaches are based on the Sobel operator and the
Laplace operator. Furthermore, an efficient algorithm for implementing the two
operators is presented. The operators have been applied to real images. The results
are presented in this paper. It is shown that the quality of the results increases by
using second derivative operator (Laplace operator). And noise reduced in a good

A concept of indoor solar illumination is described and simulated. The solar illumination system is composed of a tracking primary reflector, a selective secondary reflector, a visible light guide and a scattering solid glass tube fixture. Each part of the solar illumination system is optically suited and compatible with other parts to realize high efficiency. The simulation is conducted for Baghdad city for a library hall. Two major days over a year are chosen to investigate the illumination system for acceptable visible light level for reading hall. The two days are: summer solstice day and winter solstice day at 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM for each. Research results showed that the design of the solar system is achieved on the base of minimu

To decrease the dependency of producing high octane number gasoline on the catalytic processes in petroleum refineries and to increase the gasoline pool, the effect of adding a suggested formula of composite blending octane number enhancer to motor gasoline composed of a mixture of oxygenated materials (ethanol and ether) and aromatic materials (toluene and xylene) was investigated by design of experiments made by Mini Tab 15 statistical software. The original gasoline before addition of the octane number blending enhancer has a value of (79) research octane number (RON). The design of experiments which study the optimum volumetric percentages of the four variables, ethanol, toluene, and ether and xylene materials leads

A new application of a combined solvent extraction and two-phase biodegradation processes using two-liquid phase partitioning bioreactor (TLPPB) technique was proposed and developed to enhance the cleanup of high concentration of crude oil from aqueous phase using acclimated mixed culture in an anaerobic environment. Silicone oil was used as the organic extractive phase for being a water-immiscible, biocompatible and non-biodegradable. Acclimation, cell growth of mixed cultures, and biodegradation of crude oil in aqueous samples were experimentally studied at 30±2ºC. Anaerobic biodegradation of crude oil was examined at four different initial concentrations of crude oil including 500, 1000, 2000, and 5000 mg/L. Complete removal of crud

         The issue of penalized regression model has received considerable critical attention to variable selection. It plays an essential role in dealing with high dimensional data. Arctangent denoted by the Atan penalty has been used in both estimation and variable selection as an efficient method recently. However, the Atan penalty is very sensitive to outliers in response to variables or heavy-tailed error distribution. While the least absolute deviation is a good method to get robustness in regression estimation. The specific objective of this research is to propose a robust Atan estimator from combining these two ideas at once. Simulation experiments and real data applications show that the p

Training has an effect on employees’ performances. Accordingly, the person who is responsible for employees’ development must figure out the most effective way to train and develop employees. Central Michigan University (CMU) has recognized the importance of providing appropriate training for employees who have a duty in advising students. The reason is that these employees have a significant impact on students’ educational performances. Thus, special attention to this category of employees is needed to improve advising quality. This research attempted to explore the impact of training on academic advising at CMU. Face-to-face interviews and online surveys were used as data collection tools for this study. The study scope c