Search results for: object oriented
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2315

Search results for: object oriented

1895 Formal Asymptotic Stability Guarantees, Analysis, and Evaluation of Nonlinear Controlled Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Trajectory Tracking

Authors: Soheib Fergani

Abstract:

This paper concerns with the formal asymptotic stability guarantees, analysis and evaluation of a nonlinear controlled unmanned aerial vehicles (uav) for trajectory tracking purpose. As the system has been recognised as an under-actuated non linear system, the control strategy has been oriented towards a hierarchical control. The dynamics of the system and the mission purpose make it mandatory to provide an absolute proof of the vehicle stability during the maneuvers. For this sake, this work establishes the complete theoretical proof for an implementable control oriented strategy that asymptotically stabilizes (GAS and LISS) the system and has never been provided in previous works. The considered model is reorganized into two partly decoupled sub-systems. The concidered control strategy is presented into two stages: the first sub-system is controlled by a nonlinear backstepping controller that generates the desired control inputs to stabilize the second sub-system. This methodology is then applied to a harware in the loop uav simulator (SiMoDrones) that reproduces the realistic behaviour of the uav in an indoor environment has been performed to show the efficiency of the proposed strategy.

Keywords: UAV application, trajectory tracking, backstepping, sliding mode control, input to state stability, stability evaluation

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1894 Research on the Evolution of Public Space in Tourism-Oriented Traditional Rural Settlements

Authors: Yu Zhang, Mingxue Lang, Li Dong

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The hundreds of years of slow succession of living environment in rural area is a crucial carrier of China’s long history of culture and national wisdom. In recent years, the space evolution of traditional rural settlements has been promoted by the intervention of tourism development, among which the public architecture and outdoor activity areas together served as the major places for villagers, and tourists’ social activities are an important characterization for settlement spatial evolution. Traditional public space upgrade and layout study of new public space can effectively promote the tourism industry development of traditional rural settlements. This article takes Qi County, one China Traditional Culture Village as the exemplification and uses the technology of Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Space Syntax, studies the evolution features of public space of tourism-oriented traditional rural settlements in four steps. First, acquire the 2003 and 2016 image data of Qi County, using the remote sensing application EDRAS8.6. Second, vectorize the basic maps of Qi County including its land use map with the application of ArcGIS 9.3 meanwhile, associating with architectural and site information concluded from field research. Third, analyze the accessibility and connectivity of the inner space of settlements using space syntax; run cross-correlation with the public space data of 2003 and 2016. Finally, summarize the evolution law of the public space of settlements; study the upgrade pattern of traditional public space and location plan for new public space. Major findings of this paper including: first, location layout of traditional public space has a larger association with the calculation results of space syntax and further confirmed the objective value of space syntax in expressing the space and social relations. Second, the intervention of tourism development generates remarkable impact on public space location of tradition rural settlements. Third, traditional public space produces the symbols of both strengthening and decline and forms a diversified upgrade pattern for the purpose of meeting the different tourism functional needs. Finally, space syntax provides an objective basis for location plan of new public space that meets the needs of tourism service. Tourism development has a significant impact on the evolution of public space of traditional rural settlements. Two types of public space, architecture, and site are both with changes seen from the perspective of quantity, location, dimension and function after the intervention of tourism development. Function upgrade of traditional public space and scientific layout of new public space are two important ways in achieving the goal of sustainable development of tourism-oriented traditional rural settlements.

Keywords: public space evolution, Qi county, space syntax, tourism oriented, traditional rural settlements

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1893 Automating 2D CAD to 3D Model Generation Process: Wall pop-ups

Authors: Mohit Gupta, Chialing Wei, Thomas Czerniawski

Abstract:

In this paper, we have built a neural network that can detect walls on 2D sheets and subsequently create a 3D model in Revit using Dynamo. The training set includes 3500 labeled images, and the detection algorithm used is YOLO. Typically, engineers/designers make concentrated efforts to convert 2D cad drawings to 3D models. This costs a considerable amount of time and human effort. This paper makes a contribution in automating the task of 3D walls modeling. 1. Detecting Walls in 2D cad and generating 3D pop-ups in Revit. 2. Saving designer his/her modeling time in drafting elements like walls from 2D cad to 3D representation. An object detection algorithm YOLO is used for wall detection and localization. The neural network is trained over 3500 labeled images of size 256x256x3. Then, Dynamo is interfaced with the output of the neural network to pop-up 3D walls in Revit. The research uses modern technological tools like deep learning and artificial intelligence to automate the process of generating 3D walls without needing humans to manually model them. Thus, contributes to saving time, human effort, and money.

Keywords: neural networks, Yolo, 2D to 3D transformation, CAD object detection

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1892 Toward Indoor and Outdoor Surveillance using an Improved Fast Background Subtraction Algorithm

Authors: El Harraj Abdeslam, Raissouni Naoufal

Abstract:

The detection of moving objects from a video image sequences is very important for object tracking, activity recognition, and behavior understanding in video surveillance. The most used approach for moving objects detection / tracking is background subtraction algorithms. Many approaches have been suggested for background subtraction. But, these are illumination change sensitive and the solutions proposed to bypass this problem are time consuming. In this paper, we propose a robust yet computationally efficient background subtraction approach and, mainly, focus on the ability to detect moving objects on dynamic scenes, for possible applications in complex and restricted access areas monitoring, where moving and motionless persons must be reliably detected. It consists of three main phases, establishing illumination changes in variance, background/foreground modeling and morphological analysis for noise removing. We handle illumination changes using Contrast Limited Histogram Equalization (CLAHE), which limits the intensity of each pixel to user determined maximum. Thus, it mitigates the degradation due to scene illumination changes and improves the visibility of the video signal. Initially, the background and foreground images are extracted from the video sequence. Then, the background and foreground images are separately enhanced by applying CLAHE. In order to form multi-modal backgrounds we model each channel of a pixel as a mixture of K Gaussians (K=5) using Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Finally, we post process the resulting binary foreground mask using morphological erosion and dilation transformations to remove possible noise. For experimental test, we used a standard dataset to challenge the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method on a diverse set of dynamic scenes.

Keywords: video surveillance, background subtraction, contrast limited histogram equalization, illumination invariance, object tracking, object detection, behavior understanding, dynamic scenes

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1891 Implementation of the Science Curriculum of the Colleges of Education: Successes and Challenges

Authors: Cecilia Boakye, Joseph Ghartey Ampiah

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In this study, we present a case study in which we explored how the 2007 science curriculum of the colleges of education in Ghana was implemented at W College of Education. Purposive sampling was used to select 13 participants, comprising 2 tutors and 6 teacher trainees from W College of Education and, 5 newly qualified Junior High School (JHS) science teachers who were products of W College. Interviews, observations and content analysis were used to collect data. Using the deductive and inductive analytic approaches, the findings showed that although upgraded laboratories have provided for teaching authentic science at W College of Education, they are rather used to accommodate large classes at the expense of practical activities. The teaching and learning methods used by the tutors do not mirror effectively the objectives of the 2007 science curriculum of the colleges of education. There are challenges such as: (a) lack/inadequate equipment and materials, (b) time constraint, and (c) an examination- oriented curriculum that influence the implementation of the curriculum. Some of the suggestions that were made are that: (a) equipment and materials should be supplied to the colleges to facilitate the proper implementation of the curriculum, and (b) class sizes should be reduced to provide enough room for practical activities.

Keywords: class size, teaching, curriculum implementation, examination-oriented curriculum, teaching and time-constraint

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1890 A Case Study on Theme-Based Approach in Health Technology Engineering Education: Customer Oriented Software Applications

Authors: Mikael Soini, Kari Björn

Abstract:

Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (MUAS) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Degree Programme provides full-time Bachelor-level undergraduate studies. ICT Degree Programme has seven different major options; this paper focuses on Health Technology. In Health Technology, a significant curriculum change in 2014 enabled transition from fragmented curriculum including dozens of courses to a new integrated curriculum built around three 30 ECTS themes. This paper focuses especially on the second theme called Customer Oriented Software Applications. From students’ point of view, the goal of this theme is to get familiar with existing health related ICT solutions and systems, understand business around health technology, recognize social and healthcare operating principles and services, and identify customers and users and their special needs and perspectives. This also acts as a background for health related web application development. Built web application is tested, developed and evaluated with real users utilizing versatile user centred development methods. This paper presents experiences obtained from the first implementation of Customer Oriented Software Applications theme. Student feedback was gathered with two questionnaires, one in the middle of the theme and other at the end of the theme. Questionnaires had qualitative and quantitative parts. Similar questionnaire was implemented in the first theme; this paper evaluates how the theme-based integrated curriculum has progressed in Health Technology major by comparing results between theme 1 and 2. In general, students were satisfied for the implementation, timing and synchronization of the courses, and the amount of work. However there is still room for development. Student feedback and teachers’ observations have been and will be used to develop the content and operating principles of the themes and whole curriculum.

Keywords: engineering education, integrated curriculum, learning and teaching methods, learning experience

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1889 Mechanically Strong and Highly Thermal Conductive Polymer Composites Enabled by Three-Dimensional Interconnected Graphite Network

Authors: Jian Zheng

Abstract:

Three-dimensional (3D) network structure has been recognized as an effective approach to enhance the mechanical and thermal conductive properties of polymeric composites. However, it has not been applied in energetic materials. In this work, a fluoropolymer based composite with vertically oriented and interconnected 3D graphite network was fabricated for polymer bonded explosives (PBXs). Here, the graphite and graphene oxide platelets were mixed, and self-assembled via rapid freezing and using crystallized ice as the template. The 3D structure was finally obtained by freezing-dry and infiltrating with the polymer. With the increasing of filler fraction and cooling rate, the thermal conductivity of the polymer composite was significantly improved to 2.15 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ by 1094% than that of pure polymer. Moreover, the mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and elastic modulus, were enhanced by 82% and 310%, respectively, when the highly ordered structure was embedded in the polymer. We attribute the increased thermal and mechanical properties to this 3D network, which is beneficial to the effective heat conduction and force transfer. This study supports a desirable way to fabricate the strong and thermal conductive fluoropolymer composites used for the high-performance polymer bonded explosives (PBXs).

Keywords: mechanical properties, oriented network, graphite polymer composite, thermal conductivity

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1888 The Application of Dynamic Network Process to Environment Planning Support Systems

Authors: Wann-Ming Wey

Abstract:

In recent years, in addition to face the external threats such as energy shortages and climate change, traffic congestion and environmental pollution have become anxious problems for many cities. Considering private automobile-oriented urban development had produced many negative environmental and social impacts, the transit-oriented development (TOD) has been considered as a sustainable urban model. TOD encourages public transport combined with friendly walking and cycling environment designs, however, non-motorized modes help improving human health, energy saving, and reducing carbon emissions. Due to environmental changes often affect the planners’ decision-making; this research applies dynamic network process (DNP) which includes the time dependent concept to promoting friendly walking and cycling environmental designs as an advanced planning support system for environment improvements. This research aims to discuss what kinds of design strategies can improve a friendly walking and cycling environment under TOD. First of all, we collate and analyze environment designing factors by reviewing the relevant literatures as well as divide into three aspects of “safety”, “convenience”, and “amenity” from fifteen environment designing factors. Furthermore, we utilize fuzzy Delphi Technique (FDT) expert questionnaire to filter out the more important designing criteria for the study case. Finally, we utilized DNP expert questionnaire to obtain the weights changes at different time points for each design criterion. Based on the changing trends of each criterion weight, we are able to develop appropriate designing strategies as the reference for planners to allocate resources in a dynamic environment. In order to illustrate the approach we propose in this research, Taipei city as one example has been used as an empirical study, and the results are in depth analyzed to explain the application of our proposed approach.

Keywords: environment planning support systems, walking and cycling, transit-oriented development (TOD), dynamic network process (DNP)

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1887 Layers of Identities in Nahdliyyin Mosque Architecture and Some Related Socio-Political Context Within

Authors: Yulia Eka Putrie, Widjaja Martokusumo

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The development of architecture today indicates that an architectural object often does not represent one single identity only. One architectural object could represents layers of multiple identities of an increasingly complex society. Mosque architecture for example, is mainly associated with one religious identity; that mosque architecture serves as the representation of Islamic identity. However, on many occasions, mosque architecture also serves as the representation of other motives, such as political, social, even individual identity. In normal circumstances, these layers of identities are not always seen or realized by common people outside the community. They are only represented implicitly in some symbolic forms, activities, and events. On the other hand, in specific circumstances, these kinds of identities were represented explicitly in mosque architecture. This paper is a part of an initial research on the representation of socio-political identities in Nahdliyyin mosques in East Java, Indonesia. Nahdliyyin mosques were chosen as the object of research because of its significance in Indonesian socio-political context, because majority of Indonesian muslims are culturally associated with Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) with its aswaja doctrine. Some frictions in mosque ownership and management between Nahdliyyin and other islamic school of thoughts, has resulted in preventive efforts, where some of the efforts are related to the representation of their identity in their mosque architecture. The research is a field research that took place in Malang, East Java. Malang is one of main cities in East Java; a cultural and regional basis of NU and Nahdliyyin people. Formal analysis were conducted in ten large Nahdliyyin mosques in Malang. Some structured and in-depth interviews were also held to explore the motives of identity representation in some architectural aspects of the mosques. The result of this initial study indicates that there are layers of identities which were manifested in the studied mosques. These layers of identities in Nahdliyyin mosques were based on the same main values, but represented through various formal expressions. Furthermore, the study also brings the deeper understanding on socio-political context of mosques in Nahdliyyin culture.

Keywords: Nahdliyyin mosque architecture, layers of identities, representation, Nahdlatul Ulama

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1886 The Principle of a Thought Formation: The Biological Base for a Thought

Authors: Ludmila Vucolova

Abstract:

The thought is a process that underlies consciousness and cognition and understanding its origin and processes is a longstanding goal of many academic disciplines. By integrating over twenty novel ideas and hypotheses of this theoretical proposal, we can speculate that thought is an emergent property of coded neural events, translating the electro-chemical interactions of the body with its environment—the objects of sensory stimulation, X, and Y. The latter is a self- generated feedback entity, resulting from the arbitrary pattern of the motion of a body’s motor repertory (M). A culmination of these neural events gives rise to a thought: a state of identity between an observed object X and a symbol Y. It manifests as a “state of awareness” or “state of knowing” and forms our perception of the physical world. The values of the variables of a construct—X (object), S1 (sense for the perception of X), Y (object), S2 (sense for perception of Y), and M (motor repertory that produces Y)—will specify the particular conscious percept at any given time. The proposed principle of interaction between the elements of a construct (X, Y, S1, S2, M) is universal and applies for all modes of communication (normal, deaf, blind, deaf and blind people) and for various language systems (Chinese, Italian, English, etc.). The particular arrangement of modalities of each of the three modules S1 (5 of 5), S2 (1 of 3), and M (3 of 3) defines a specific mode of communication. This multifaceted paradigm demonstrates a predetermined pattern of relationships between X, Y, and M that passes from generation to generation. The presented analysis of a cognitive experience encompasses the key elements of embodied cognition theories and unequivocally accords with the scientific interpretation of cognition as the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses, and cognition means thinking and awareness. By assembling the novel ideas presented in twelve sections, we can reveal that in the invisible “chaos”, there is an order, a structure with landmarks and principles of operations and mental processes (thoughts) are physical and have a biological basis. This innovative proposal explains the phenomenon of mental imagery; give the first insight into the relationship between mental states and brain states, and support the notion that mind and body are inseparably connected. The findings of this theoretical proposal are supported by the current scientific data and are substantiated by the records of the evolution of language and human intelligence.

Keywords: agent, awareness, cognitive, element, experience, feedback, first person, imagery, language, mental, motor, object, sensory, symbol, thought

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1885 Negativization: A Focus Strategy in Basà Language

Authors: Imoh Philip

Abstract:

Basà language is classified as belonging to Kainji family, under the sub-phylum Western-Kainji known as Rubasa (Basa Benue) (Croizier & Blench, 1992:32). Basà is an under-described language spoken in the North-Central Nigeria. The language is characterized by subject-verb-object (henceforth SVO) as its canonical word order. Data for this work is sourced from the researcher’s native intuition of the language corroborated with a careful observation of native speakers. This paper investigates the syntactic derivational strategy of information-structure encoding in Basà language. It emphasizes on a negative operator, as a strategy for focusing a constituent or clause that follows it and negativizes a whole proposition. For items that are not nouns, they have to undergo an obligatory nominalization process, either by affixation, modification or conversion before they are moved to the pre verbal position for these operations. The study discovers and provides evidence of the fact showing that deferent constituents in the sentence such as the subject, direct, indirect object, genitive, verb phrase, prepositional phrase, clause and idiophone, etc. can be focused with the same negativizing operator. The process is characterized by focusing the pre verbal NP constituent alone, whereas the whole proposition is negated. The study can stimulate similar study or be replicated in other languages.

Keywords: negation, focus, Basà, nominalization

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1884 Thermo-Mechanical Analysis of Dissimilar Al/Cu Foil Single Lap Joints Made by Composite Metal Foil Manufacturing

Authors: Javaid Butt, Habtom Mebrahtu, Hassan Shirvani

Abstract:

The paper presents a new additive manufacturing process for the production of metal and composite parts. It is termed as composite metal foil manufacturing and is a combination of laminated object manufacturing and brazing techniques. The process has been described in detail and is being used to produce dissimilar aluminum to copper foil single lap joints. A three dimensional finite element model has been developed to study the thermo-mechanical characteristics of the dissimilar Al/Cu single lap joint. The effects of thermal stress and strain have been analyzed by carrying out transient thermal analysis on the heated plates used to join the two 0.1mm thin metal foils. Tensile test has been carried out on the foils before joining and after the single Al/Cu lap joints are made, they are subjected to tensile lap-shear test to analyze the effect of heat on the foils. The analyses are designed to assess the mechanical integrity of the foils after the brazing process and understand whether or not the heat treatment has an effect on the fracture modes of the produced specimens.

Keywords: brazing, laminated object manufacturing, tensile lap-shear test, thermo-mechanical analysis

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1883 An Approach to Autonomous Drones Using Deep Reinforcement Learning and Object Detection

Authors: K. R. Roopesh Bharatwaj, Avinash Maharana, Favour Tobi Aborisade, Roger Young

Abstract:

Presently, there are few cases of complete automation of drones and its allied intelligence capabilities. In essence, the potential of the drone has not yet been fully utilized. This paper presents feasible methods to build an intelligent drone with smart capabilities such as self-driving, and obstacle avoidance. It does this through advanced Reinforcement Learning Techniques and performs object detection using latest advanced algorithms, which are capable of processing light weight models with fast training in real time instances. For the scope of this paper, after researching on the various algorithms and comparing them, we finally implemented the Deep-Q-Networks (DQN) algorithm in the AirSim Simulator. In future works, we plan to implement further advanced self-driving and object detection algorithms, we also plan to implement voice-based speech recognition for the entire drone operation which would provide an option of speech communication between users (People) and the drone in the time of unavoidable circumstances. Thus, making drones an interactive intelligent Robotic Voice Enabled Service Assistant. This proposed drone has a wide scope of usability and is applicable in scenarios such as Disaster management, Air Transport of essentials, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Monitoring people movements in public area, and Defense. Also discussed, is the entire drone communication based on the satellite broadband Internet technology for faster computation and seamless communication service for uninterrupted network during disasters and remote location operations. This paper will explain the feasible algorithms required to go about achieving this goal and is more of a reference paper for future researchers going down this path.

Keywords: convolution neural network, natural language processing, obstacle avoidance, satellite broadband technology, self-driving

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1882 An Analysis of Uncoupled Designs in Chicken Egg

Authors: Pratap Sriram Sundar, Chandan Chowdhury, Sagar Kamarthi

Abstract:

Nature has perfected her designs over 3.5 billion years of evolution. Research fields such as biomimicry, biomimetics, bionics, bio-inspired computing, and nature-inspired designs have explored nature-made artifacts and systems to understand nature’s mechanisms and intelligence. Learning from nature, the researchers have generated sustainable designs and innovation in a variety of fields such as energy, architecture, agriculture, transportation, communication, and medicine. Axiomatic design offers a method to judge if a design is good. This paper analyzes design aspects of one of the nature’s amazing object: chicken egg. The functional requirements (FRs) of components of the object are tabulated and mapped on to nature-chosen design parameters (DPs). The ‘independence axiom’ of the axiomatic design methodology is applied to analyze couplings and to evaluate if eggs’ design is good (i.e., uncoupled design) or bad (i.e., coupled design). The analysis revealed that eggs design is a good design, i.e., uncoupled design. This approach can be applied to any nature’s artifacts to judge whether their design is a good or a bad. This methodology is valuable for biomimicry studies. This approach can also be a very useful teaching design consideration of biology and bio-inspired innovation.

Keywords: uncoupled design, axiomatic design, nature design, design evaluation

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1881 Exploring the Mechanisms of Quality Assurance in the Chinese Translation Industry

Authors: Youru Zhou

Abstract:

This paper seeks to unveil the quality assurance practices in the Chinese translation industry. Since China’s reform and opening up, the Chinese language service industry has enjoyed impressively rapid growth. However, while still in its early stage of professionalization, the Chinese translation industry is also facing many challenges, such as the lack of clear admission requirements, a powerful regulation authority and a great number of qualified professionals. ‘How quality is assured’ means a great deal to translation in China at this stage. In order to examine the mechanisms in which quality is assured, this paper studied four international and national standards that have gained widespread adoption by Chinese translation companies and examined the content that is relevant to translation quality assurance. Case studies with six selected Chinese translation companies of different sizes were conducted to confirm and exemplify the descriptions on the standards. It has been found that quality in the industry is a relative concept which is mainly determined by the demand of clients. Furthermore, the procedures of translation can vary from task to task dependent on the agreement made between the service provider and clients. Finally, there are companies relying on expert-oriented mechanisms to assure the quality of translation, while other companies and standards insist on process-oriented ones.

Keywords: case study, Chinese translation industry, professional practice, translation quality assurance, translation standards

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1880 A Single Feature Probability-Object Based Image Analysis for Assessing Urban Landcover Change: A Case Study of Muscat Governorate in Oman

Authors: Salim H. Al Salmani, Kevin Tansey, Mohammed S. Ozigis

Abstract:

The study of the growth of built-up areas and settlement expansion is a major exercise that city managers seek to undertake to establish previous and current developmental trends. This is to ensure that there is an equal match of settlement expansion needs to the appropriate levels of services and infrastructure required. This research aims at demonstrating the potential of satellite image processing technique, harnessing the utility of single feature probability-object based image analysis technique in assessing the urban growth dynamics of the Muscat Governorate in Oman for the period 1990, 2002 and 2013. This need is fueled by the continuous expansion of the Muscat Governorate beyond predicted levels of infrastructural provision. Landsat Images of the years 1990, 2002 and 2013 were downloaded and preprocessed to forestall appropriate radiometric and geometric standards. A novel approach of probability filtering of the target feature segment was implemented to derive the spatial extent of the final Built-Up Area of the Muscat governorate for the three years period. This however proved to be a useful technique as high accuracy assessment results of 55%, 70%, and 71% were recorded for the Urban Landcover of 1990, 2002 and 2013 respectively. Furthermore, the Normalized Differential Built – Up Index for the various images were derived and used to consolidate the results of the SFP-OBIA through a linear regression model and visual comparison. The result obtained showed various hotspots where urbanization have sporadically taken place. Specifically, settlement in the districts (Wilayat) of AL-Amarat, Muscat, and Qurayyat experienced tremendous change between 1990 and 2002, while the districts (Wilayat) of AL-Seeb, Bawshar, and Muttrah experienced more sporadic changes between 2002 and 2013.

Keywords: urban growth, single feature probability, object based image analysis, landcover change

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1879 Family Relationships and Coping with the Stress of Young People from Migrant Families with Cerebral Palsy

Authors: A. Gagat-Matuła

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The aim of this article is to present a relation between family relationships and styles of approach to coping with stress among young people from migrant families with cerebral palsy. The study involved 70 persons (with cerebral palsy in the standard intellectual capacity) from families, in which at least one of parents is a migrant. To measure the level of communication in the family, the Family Relationships Questionnaire (FRQ) was employed, while the styles of coping with stress was investigated with the CISS Questionnaire. The relation between family relationships and styles of coping with stressful situations of the respondents was investigated. It was shown that there is an affiliation between the emotion-oriented style of coping with the stress and the variable of “communication in my family”. Moreover, it was demonstrated that there is a linkage between the task-oriented style of coping with the stress and the variable of “maternal control in mother-child relationship”. Young people with CP subjected to overprotection and control from their mothers in problem situations tend to focus on their own emotions instead of trying to undertake constructive actions. Excessive control in daily life by mothers results in passivity and a lack of motivation to cope with difficult situations.

Keywords: young people with cerebral palsy, family relationships, styles of coping with stress, migration

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1878 Surface and Bulk Magnetization Behavior of Isolated Ferromagnetic NiFe Nanowires

Authors: Musaab Salman Sultan

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The surface and bulk magnetization behavior of template released isolated ferromagnetic Ni60Fe40 nanowires of relatively thick diameters (~200 nm), deposited from a dilute suspension onto pre-patterned insulating chips have been investigated experimentally, using a highly sensitive Magneto-Optical Ker Effect (MOKE) magnetometry and Magneto-Resistance (MR) measurements, respectively. The MR data were consistent with the theoretical predictions of the anisotropic magneto-resistance (AMR) effect. The MR measurements, in all the angles of investigations, showed large features and a series of nonmonotonic "continuous small features" in the resistance profiles. The extracted switching fields from these features and from MOKE loops were compared with each other and with the switching fields reported in the literature that adopted the same analytical techniques on the similar compositions and dimensions of nanowires. A large difference between MOKE and MR measurments was noticed. The disparate between MOKE and MR results is attributed to the variance in the micro-magnetic structure of the surface and the bulk of such ferromagnetic nanowires. This result was ascertained using micro-magnetic simulations on an individual: cylindrical and rectangular cross sections NiFe nanowires, with the same diameter/thickness of the experimental wires, using the Object Oriented Micro-magnetic Framework (OOMMF) package where the simulated loops showed different switching events, indicating that such wires have different magnetic states in the reversal process and the micro-magnetic spin structures during switching behavior was complicated. These results further supported the difference between surface and bulk magnetization behavior in these nanowires. This work suggests that a combination of MOKE and MR measurements is required to fully understand the magnetization behavior of such relatively thick isolated cylindrical ferromagnetic nanowires.

Keywords: MOKE magnetometry, MR measurements, OOMMF package, micromagnetic simulations, ferromagnetic nanowires, surface magnetic properties

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1877 Customer Relationship Management: An Essential Tool for Librarians

Authors: Pushkar Lal Sharma, Sanjana Singh, Umesh Kumar Sahu

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This paper helps to understand the need of Customer Relationship Management in Libraries and why Librarians should implement the marketing concept of Customer Relationship Management in their libraries. As like any industry, libraries too face growing challenges to continuously meet customer expectations, and attract and retain users in light of overflowing competition. The ability to understand customers, build relationships and market diverse services is essential when considering ways to expand service offerings and improve Return on Investment. Since Library is service oriented Enterprise, hence the Customer/User/ Reader/Patron are the most important element of Library & Information System to whom and for whom library offers various services. How to provide better and most efficient services to its users is the main concern of every Library & Information centre in the present era. The basic difference between Business Enterprise and Library Information System is that ‘in Business System ‘the efficiency is measured in terms of ’profit’ or ‘monetary gains’; whereas in a Library & Information System, the efficiency is measured in terms of ‘services’ and therefore the goals that are set in Business Enterprise are’ profit oriented’ whereas goals set in the Library & Information Centre are ‘Service-oriented’. With the explosion of information and advancement of technology readers have so many choices to get information rather than visiting a library. Everything is available at the click of a mouse, library customers have become more knowledgeable and demanding in an era marked by abundance of information resources and services. With this explosion of information in every field of knowledge and choice in selection of service, satisfying user has become a challenge now a day for libraries. Accordingly, Libraries have to build good relationship with its users by adopting Customer relationship Management. CRM refers to the methods and tools which help an organization to manage its relationship with its customers in an organized way. The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) combines business strategy and technology to identify, acquire and retain good customer relationship. The goal of CRM is to optimize management of customer information needs & interests and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Implementing CRM in Libraries can improve customer data and process management, customer loyalty, retention and satisfaction.

Keywords: customer relationship management, CRM, CRM tools, customer satisfaction

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1876 Implementation of an Autonomous Driving, On-Demand Bus System for Public Transportation

Authors: Eric Neidhardt

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A well-functioning public transport system that is accepted and used by the general population contributes a lot to a sustainable city. Especially young and elderly people rely on public transport to get to work, go shopping, visit a doctor, and take advantage of entertainment options. The sustainability of a public transport system can be considered from different points of view. In urban areas, acceptance is particularly important. As many people as possible should use public transport and not their private vehicle. This reduces traffic jams and increases air quality. In rural areas, the cost efficiency of public transport is especially important. Longer distances and a low population density mean that these modes of transportation can rarely be used cost-effectively. It is crucial to avoid a low utilization, because empty rides are neither sustainable nor cost-effective. With a demand-oriented approach, we try to both improve flexibility and therefore attractiveness for the user and improve cost- efficiency. The vehicles only operate when they are needed and only where they are needed. Empty rides are avoided to improve sustainability. In the subproject "Autonomous public driving" of the project RealLabHH, such a system was implemented and tested in Hamburg-Bergedorf, a suburb of Hamburg. In this paper, some of the steps necessary for this are considered from a technical point of view, and problems that arose in real-life use are addressed.

Keywords: public transport, demand-oriented, autonomous driving, RealLabHH

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1875 Formulating Rough Approximations in Information Tables with Possibilistic Information

Authors: Michinori Nakata, Hiroshi Sakai

Abstract:

A rough set, which consists of lower and upper approximations, is formulated in information tables containing possibilistic information. First, lower and upper approximations on the basis of possible world semantics in the same way as Lipski did in the field of incomplete databases are shown in order to clarify fundamentals of rough sets under possibilistic information. Possibility and necessity measures are used, as is done in possibilistic databases. As a result, each object has certain and possible membership degrees to lower and upper approximations, which degrees are the lower and upper bounds. Therefore, the degree that the object belongs to lower and upper approximations is expressed by an interval value. And the complementary property linked with the lower and upper approximations holds, as is valid under complete information. Second, the approach based on indiscernibility relations, which is proposed by Dubois and Prade, are extended in three cases. The first case is that objects used to approximate a set of objects are characterized by possibilistic information. The second case is that objects used to approximate a set of objects with possibilistic information are characterized by complete information. The third case is that objects that are characterized by possibilistic information approximate a set of objects with possibilistic information. The extended approach create the same results as the approach based on possible world semantics. This justifies our extension.

Keywords: rough sets, possibilistic information, possible world semantics, indiscernibility relations, lower approximations, upper approximations

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1874 Research on University Campus Green Renovation Design Method

Authors: Abduxukur Zayit, Guo Rui Chen

Abstract:

Universities play important role for develop and distribute sustainable development ideas. This research based on the current situation of large and widely distributed university campuses in China. In view of the deterioration of campus performance, the aging of function and facilities, the large consumption of energy and resources, a logic of "problem-oriented-goal-oriented- At the level, taking the problem orientation as the focus,this paper analyzes the main influencing factors of the existing characteristics of the university campuses, establishes the digital assessment methods and clarifies the key points of the rennovation. Based on the goal orientation, this paper puts forward the existing university campus design principles, builds the green transformation-carding model and sets up the post-use evaluation model. In the end, with dual guidance as the constraint, we will formulate green design standards for campus greening, construct a greening enhancement measure for campus environment, and develop and promote a green campus after-use assessment platform. It provides useful research methods and research ideas for the reconstruction of the existing campus in China, especially the urban universities.

Keywords: design method, existing university campus, green renovation, sustainable development

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1873 Assessment of the Frontline Services of the National Museum of the Philippines: Basis for an Improved Client-Oriented Service Package

Authors: Geneva Oaferina

Abstract:

The Philippines is striving to deliver professional and improved public services. The country is committed to making more effective use of its resources to fulfill its sectoral and development goals. Within the heritage field, the museum needs to have a strong focus on seeking excellence in its services to its many publics. The National Museum of the Philippines is mandated as an educational, scientific, and cultural institution. It is important that the museum is more accessible, understandable, and relevant to the public, and at the same time, it provides a quality experience for an improved client-oriented service package. This study assessed the service delivery of the National Museum using the modified HISTOQUAL model. The HISTOQUAL dimensions (Responsiveness, Tangibles, Communications, Consumables, and Empathy) were adapted that identify the service quality features in the museum sector from the poorest to the most outstanding factor that will be subject to improvement, as well as those factors that represent strong points of the museum’s services and which are important to the museum visitors. This also identified the gaps encountered by the respondents that caused such inconvenience and default on achieving the sectoral and organizational goals of the museum. As an output of the study, the researcher formulated the service package and adapted the HISTOQUAL dimensions and statements from the assessment through documentary analysis and data analysis/interpretation.

Keywords: museum, frontline, inclusivity, HISTOQUAL

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1872 The Effect of Students’ Social and Scholastic Background and Environmental Impact on Shaping Their Pattern of Digital Learning in Academia: A Pre- and Post-COVID Comparative View

Authors: Nitza Davidovitch, Yael Yossel-Eisenbach

Abstract:

The purpose of the study was to inquire whether there was a change in the shaping of undergraduate students’ digitally-oriented study pattern in the pre-Covid (2016-2017) versus post-Covid period (2022-2023), as affected by three factors: social background characteristics, high school, and academic background characteristics. These two-time points were cauterized by dramatic changes in teaching and learning at institutions of higher education. The data were collected via cross-sectional surveys at two-time points, in the 2016-2017 academic school year (N=443) and in the 2022-2023 school year (N=326). The questionnaire was distributed on social media and it includes questions on demographic background characteristics, previous studies in high school and present academic studies, and questions on learning and reading habits. Method of analysis: A. Statistical descriptive analysis, B. Mean comparison tests were conducted to analyze the variations in the mean score for the digitally-oriented learning pattern variable at two-time points (pre- and post-Covid) in relation to each of the independent variables. C. Analysis of variance was performed to test the main effects and the interactions. D. Applying linear regression, the research aimed to examine the combined effect of the independent variables on shaping students' digitally-oriented learning habits. The analysis includes four models. In all four models, the dependent variable is students’ perception of digitally oriented learning. The first model included social background variables; the second model included scholastic background as well. In the third model, the academic background variables were added, and the fourth model includes all the independent variables together with the variable of period (pre- and post-COVID). E. Factor analysis confirms using the principal component method with varimax rotation; the variables were constructed by a weighted mean of all the relevant statements merged to form a single variable denoting a shared content world. The research findings indicate a significant rise in students’ perceptions of digitally-oriented learning in the post-COVID period. From a gender perspective, the impact of COVID on shaping a digital learning pattern was much more significant for female students. The socioeconomic status perspective is eliminated when controlling for the period, and the student’s job is affected - more than all other variables. It may be assumed that the student’s work pattern mediates effects related to the convenience offered by digital learning regarding distance and time. The significant effect of scholastic background on shaping students’ digital learning patterns remained stable, even when controlling for all explanatory variables. The advantage that universities had over colleges in shaping a digital learning pattern in the pre-COVID period dissipated. Therefore, it can be said that after COVID, there was a change in how colleges shape students’ digital learning patterns in such a way that no institutional differences are evident with regard to shaping the digital learning pattern. The study shows that period has a significant independent effect on shaping students’ digital learning patterns when controlling for the explanatory variables.

Keywords: learning pattern, COVID, socioeconomic status, digital learning

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1871 Impact of Positive Psychology Education and Interventions on Well-Being: A Study of Students Engaged in Pastoral Care

Authors: Inna R. Edara, Haw-Lin Wu

Abstract:

Positive psychology investigates human strengths and virtues and promotes well-being. Relying on this assumption, positive interventions have been continuously designed to build pleasure and happiness, joy and contentment, engagement and meaning, hope and optimism, satisfaction and gratitude, spirituality, and various other positive measures of well-being. In line with this model of positive psychology and interventions, this study investigated certain measures of well-being in a group of 45 students enrolled in an 18-week positive psychology course and simultaneously engaged in service-oriented interventions that they chose for themselves based on the course content and individual interests. Students’ well-being was measured at the beginning and end of the course. The well-being indicators included positive automatic thoughts, optimism and hope, satisfaction with life, and spirituality. A paired-samples t-test conducted to evaluate the impact of class content and service-oriented interventions on students’ scores of well-being indicators indicated statistically significant increase from pre-class to post-class scores. There were also significant gender differences in post-course well-being scores, with females having higher levels of well-being than males. A two-way between groups analysis of variance indicated a significant interaction effect of age by gender on the post-course well-being scores, with females in the age group of 56-65 having the highest scores of well-being in comparison to the males in the same age group. Regression analyses indicated that positive automatic thought significantly predicted hope and satisfaction with life in the pre-course analysis. In the post-course regression analysis, spiritual transcendence made a significant contribution to optimism, and positive automatic thought made a significant contribution to both hope and satisfaction with life. Finally, a significant test between pre-course and post-course regression coefficients indicated that the regression coefficients at pre-course were significantly different from post-course coefficients, suggesting that the positive psychology course and the interventions were helpful in raising the levels of well-being. The overall results suggest a substantial increase in the participants’ well-being scores after engaging in the positive-oriented interventions, implying a need for designing more positive interventions in education to promote well-being.  

Keywords: hope, optimism, positive automatic thoughts, satisfaction with life, spirituality, well-being

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1870 Field-Programmable Gate Arrays Based High-Efficiency Oriented Fast and Rotated Binary Robust Independent Elementary Feature Extraction Method Using Feature Zone Strategy

Authors: Huang Bai-Cheng

Abstract:

When deploying the Oriented Fast and Rotated Binary Robust Independent Elementary Feature (BRIEF) (ORB) extraction algorithm on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), the access of global storage for 31×31 pixel patches of the features has become the bottleneck of the system efficiency. Therefore, a feature zone strategy has been proposed. Zones are searched as features are detected. Pixels around the feature zones are extracted from global memory and distributed into patches corresponding to feature coordinates. The proposed FPGA structure is targeted on a Xilinx FPGA development board of Zynq UltraScale+ series, and multiple datasets are tested. Compared with the streaming pixel patch extraction method, the proposed architecture obtains at least two times acceleration consuming extra 3.82% Flip-Flops (FFs) and 7.78% Look-Up Tables (LUTs). Compared with the non-streaming one, the proposed architecture saves 22.3% LUT and 1.82% FF, causing a latency of only 0.2ms and a drop in frame rate for 1. Compared with the related works, the proposed strategy and hardware architecture have the superiority of keeping a balance between FPGA resources and performance.

Keywords: feature extraction, real-time, ORB, FPGA implementation

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1869 Telecontrolled Service Robots for Increasing the Quality of Life of Elderly and Disabled

Authors: Nayden Chivarov, Denis Chikurtev, Kaloyan Yovchev, Nedko Shivarov

Abstract:

This paper represents methods for improving the efficiency and precision of service mobile robot. This robot is used for increasing the quality of life of elderly and disabled people. The key concept of the proposed Intelligent Service Mobile Robot is its easier adaptability to achieve services for a wide range of Elderly or Disabled Person’s needs, by performing different tasks for supporting Elderly or Disabled Persons care. We developed robot autonomous navigation and computer vision systems in order to recognize different objects and bring them to the people. Web based user interface is developed to provide easy access and tele-control of the robot by any device through the internet. In this study algorithms for object recognition and localization are proposed for providing successful object recognition and accuracy in the positioning. Different methods for sending movement commands to the mobile robot system are proposed and evaluated. After executing some experiments to show the results of the research, we can summarize that these systems and algorithms provide good control of the service mobile robot and it will be more useful to help the elderly and disabled persons.

Keywords: service robot, mobile robot, autonomous navigation, computer vision, web user interface, ROS

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1868 Improving Security Features of Traditional Automated Teller Machines-Based Banking Services via Fingerprint Biometrics Scheme

Authors: Anthony I. Otuonye, Juliet N. Odii, Perpetual N. Ibe

Abstract:

The obvious challenges faced by most commercial bank customers while using the services of ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) across developing countries have triggered the need for an improved system with better security features. Current ATM systems are password-based, and research has proved the vulnerabilities of these systems to heinous attacks and manipulations. We have discovered by research that the security of current ATM-assisted banking services in most developing countries of the world is easily broken and maneuvered by fraudsters, majorly because it is quite difficult for these systems to identify an impostor with privileged access as against the authentic bank account owner. Again, PIN (Personal Identification Number) code passwords are easily guessed, just to mention a few of such obvious limitations of traditional ATM operations. In this research work also, we have developed a system of fingerprint biometrics with PIN code Authentication that seeks to improve the security features of traditional ATM installations as well as other Banking Services. The aim is to ensure better security at all ATM installations and raise the confidence of bank customers. It is hoped that our system will overcome most of the challenges of the current password-based ATM operation if properly applied. The researchers made use of the OOADM (Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methodology), a software development methodology that assures proper system design using modern design diagrams. Implementation and coding were carried out using Visual Studio 2010 together with other software tools. Results obtained show a working system that provides two levels of security at the client’s side using a fingerprint biometric scheme combined with the existing 4-digit PIN code to guarantee the confidence of bank customers across developing countries.

Keywords: fingerprint biometrics, banking operations, verification, ATMs, PIN code

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1867 Free Vibration Analysis of FG Nanocomposite Sandwich Beams Using Various Higher-Order Beam Theories

Authors: Saeed Kamarian

Abstract:

In this paper, free vibrations of Functionally Graded Sandwich (FGS) beams reinforced by randomly oriented Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNTs) are investigated. The Eshelby–Mori–Tanaka approach based on an equivalent fiber is used to investigate the material properties of the structure. The natural frequencies of the FGS nanocomposite beam are analyzed based on various Higher-order Shear Deformation Beam Theories (HSDBTs) and using an analytical method. The verification study represents the simplicity and accuracy of the method for free vibration analysis of nanocomposite beams. The effects of carbon nanotube volume fraction profiles in the face layers, length to span ratio and thicknesses of face layers on the natural frequency of structure are studied for the different HSDBTs. Results show that by utilizing the FGS type of structures, free vibration characteristics of structures can be improved. A comparison is also provided to show the difference between natural frequency responses of the FGS nanocomposite beam reinforced by aligned and randomly oriented SWCNT.

Keywords: sandwich beam, nanocomposite beam, functionally graded materials, higher-order beam theories, Mori-Tanaka approach

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1866 PointNetLK-OBB: A Point Cloud Registration Algorithm with High Accuracy

Authors: Wenhao Lan, Ning Li, Qiang Tong

Abstract:

To improve the registration accuracy of a source point cloud and template point cloud when the initial relative deflection angle is too large, a PointNetLK algorithm combined with an oriented bounding box (PointNetLK-OBB) is proposed. In this algorithm, the OBB of a 3D point cloud is used to represent the macro feature of source and template point clouds. Under the guidance of the iterative closest point algorithm, the OBB of the source and template point clouds is aligned, and a mirror symmetry effect is produced between them. According to the fitting degree of the source and template point clouds, the mirror symmetry plane is detected, and the optimal rotation and translation of the source point cloud is obtained to complete the 3D point cloud registration task. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, a comparative experiment was performed using the publicly available ModelNet40 dataset. The experimental results demonstrate that, compared with PointNetLK, PointNetLK-OBB improves the registration accuracy of the source and template point clouds when the initial relative deflection angle is too large, and the sensitivity of the initial relative position between the source point cloud and template point cloud is reduced. The primary contribution of this paper is the use of PointNetLK to avoid the non-convex problem of traditional point cloud registration and leveraging the regularity of the OBB to avoid the local optimization problem in the PointNetLK context.

Keywords: mirror symmetry, oriented bounding box, point cloud registration, PointNetLK-OBB

Procedia PDF Downloads 146