In this paper, results of a project aimed at modelling the compressive strength of cement mortar under standard curing conditions are reported. Plant data were collected for 6 months for the chemical and physical properties of the cement that were used in model construction and testing. The training and testing data were separated from the complete original data set by the use of genetic algorithms (GAs). A GAartificial neural network (ANN) model based on the training data of the cement strength was created. Testing of the model was also done within low average error levels (2.24%). The model was subjected to sensitivity analysis to predict the response of the system to different values of the factors affecting the strength. The plots obtained after sensitivity analysis indicated that increasing the amount of C 3 S, SO 3 and surface area led to increased strength within the limits of the model. C 2 S decreased the strength whereas C 3 A decreased or increased the strength depending on the SO 3 level. Because of the limited data range used for training, the prediction results were good only within the same range. The utility of the model is in the potential ability to control processing parameters to yield the desired strength levels and in providing information regarding the most favourable experimental conditions to obtain maximum compressive strength. D

Utilizing the rainfall intensity, and slope data, a fuzzy logic algorithm was developed to estimate sediment loads from bare soil surfaces. Considering slope and rainfall as input variables, the variables were fuzzified into fuzzy subsets. The fuzzy subsets of the variables were considered to have triangular membership functions. The relations among rainfall intensity, slope, and sediment transport were represented by a set of fuzzy rules. The fuzzy rules relating input variables to the output variable of sediment discharge were laid out in the IF-THEN format. The commonly used weighted average method was employed for the defuzzification procedure.The sediment load predicted by the fuzzy model was in satisfactory agreement with the measured sediment load data. Predicting the mean sediment loads from experimental runs, the performance of the fuzzy model was compared with that of the artificial neural networks (ANNs) and the physics-based models. The results of showed revealed that the fuzzy model performed better under very high rainfall intensities over different slopes and over very steep slopes under different rainfall intensities. This is closely related to the selection of the shape and frequency of the fuzzy membership functions in the fuzzy model.

A new quantitative analysis method for mixtures of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ), calcium sulphite hemihydrate (CaSO 3 Á1/2H 2 O) and gypsum (CaSO 4 Á2H 2 O) by FTIR spectroscopy is developed. The method involves the FTIR analysis of powder mixtures of several compositions on KBr disc specimens. Intensities of the resulting absorbance peaks for CaCO 3 , CaSO 3 Á1/2H 2 O and CaSO 4 Á2H 2 O at 1453, 980, 1146 cm À 1 were used as input data for an artificial neural network (ANN) model, the output being the weight percent compositions of the mixtures. The training and testing data were randomly separated from the complete original data set. Testing of the model was done with successfully low-average error levels. The utility of the model is in the potential ability to use FTIR spectrum to predict the proportions of the three substances in unknown mixtures. D

In the analysis of vehicular traffic flow, a myriad of techniques have been implemented. In this study, superstatistics is used in modeling the traffic flow on a highway segment. Traffic variables such as vehicular speeds, volume, and headway were collected for three days. For the superstatistical approach, at least two distinct time scales must exist, so that a superposition of nonequilibrium systems assumption could hold. When the slow dynamics of the vehicle speeds exhibit a Gaussian distribution in between the fluctuations of the system at large, one speaks of a relaxation to a local equilibrium. These Gaussian distributions are found with corresponding standard deviations 1/β. This translates into a series of fluctuating beta values, hence the statistics of statistics, superstatistics. The traffic flow model has generated an inverse temperature parameter (beta) distribution as well as the speed distribution. This beta distribution has shown that the fluctuations in beta are distributed with respect to a chi-square distribution. It must be mentioned that two distinct Tsallis q values are specified: one is time-dependent and the other is independent. A ramification of these q values is that the highway segment and the traffic flow generate separate characteristics. This highway segment in question is not only nonadditive in nature, but a nonequilibrium driven system, with frequent relaxations to a Gaussian

SUMMARYPredictions of wind energy potential in a given region are based on on-location observations. The time series of these observations would later be analysed and modelled either by a probability density function (pdf) such as a Weibull curve to represent the data or recently by soft computing techniques, such as neural networks (NNs). In this paper, discrete Hilbert transform has been applied to characterize the wind sample data measured on I Á zmir Institute of Technology campus area which is located in Urla, I Á zmir, Turkey, inMarch 2001 and 2002. By applying discrete Hilbert transform filter, the instantaneous amplitude, phase and frequency are found, and characterization of wind speed is accomplished. Authors have also tried to estimate the hourly wind data using daily sequence by Hilbert transform technique. Results are varying.