Search results for: control of development

Authors: Düzgün Akmaz, Hüseyin Erişti

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In the last few years, harmonics have been occurred with the increasing use of nonlinear loads, and these harmonics have been an ever increasing problem for the line systems. This situation importantly affects the quality of power and gives large losses to the network. An efficient way to solve these problems is providing harmonic compensation through parallel active power filters. Many methods can be used in the control systems of the parallel active power filters which provide the compensation. These methods efficiently affect the performance of the active power filters. For this reason, the chosen control method is significant. In this study, Fourier analysis (FA) control method and synchronous reference frame (SRF) control method are discussed. These control methods are designed for both eliminate harmonics and perform reactive power compensation in MATLAB/Simulink pack program and are tested. The results have been compared for each two methods.

Keywords: parallel active power filters, harmonic compensation, power quality, harmonics

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Authors: Balamuralithara Balakrishnan

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This paper reports the findings of the perception and attitude towards Sustainable Development among Malaysian undergraduates. The study was carried out involving 86 engineering undergraduates from three universities in Malaysia. This research was conducted based on a survey whereby the respondents were given a questionnaire to gauge their attitude towards sustainable development. The output of the analyses showed that the respondents have an appropriate attitude towards the sustainability issues expect for economic and social equality aspects. These findings suggest that the engineering educators involved in sustainable development education need to educate undergraduate students on this important issue. This investigation serves as a cornerstone to which the current paradigm of sustainable development education can be examined for further improvement by related stakeholders.

Keywords: sustainable development, engineering education, Malaysia, attitude

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Authors: Fernando L. P. Santos, Luiz G. Lyra, Helenice O. Florentino, Daniela R. Cantane

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Dengue is a febrile infectious disease caused by a virus of the family Flaviridae. It is transmitted by the bite of mosquitoes, usually of the genus Aedes aegypti. It occurs in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. This disease has been a major public health problem worldwide, especially in tropical countries such as Brazil, and its incidence has increased in recent years. Dengue is a subject of intense research. Efficient forms of mosquito control must be considered. In this work, the mono-objective optimal control problem was solved for analysing the dengue disease problem. Chemical and biological controls were considered in the mathematical aspect. This model describes the dynamics of mosquitoes in water and winged phases. We applied the genetic algorithms (GA) to obtain optimal strategies for the control of dengue. Numerical simulations have been performed to verify the versatility and the applicability of this algorithm. On the basis of the present results we may recommend the GA to solve optimal control problem with a large region of feasibility.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, dengue, Aedes aegypti, biological control, chemical control

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Authors: Tobias Bader, Joerg Rickert

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One key factor in achieving net zero emissions along the cement and concrete value chain in Europe by 2050 is the use of distinct constituents to produce improved and advanced cements. These cements will contain e.g. calcined clays, recycled concrete fines that are chemically similar as well as X-ray amorphous and therefore difficult to distinguish. This leads to enhanced requirements on the analytical methods for quality control regarding accuracy as well as reproducibility due to the more complex cement composition. With the methods currently provided for in the European standards, it will be a challenge to ensure reliable analyses of the composition of the cements. In an ongoing research project, infrared (IR) spectroscopy in combination with mathematical tools (chemometrics) is going to be evaluated as an additional analytical method with fast and low preparation effort for the characterization of silicate-based cement constituents. The resulting comprehensive database should facilitate determination of the composition of new cements. First results confirmed the applicability of near-infrared IR for the characterization of traditional silicate-based cement constituents (e.g. clinker, granulated blast furnace slag) and modern X-ray amorphous constituents (e.g. calcined clay, recycled concrete fines) as well as different sulfate species (e.g. gypsum, hemihydrate, anhydrite). A multivariant calibration model based on numerous calibration mixtures is in preparation. The final analytical concept to be developed will form the basis for establishing IR spectroscopy as a rapid analytical method for characterizing material flows of known and unknown inorganic substances according to their material properties online and offline. The underlying project was funded by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building with funds from the ‘Zukunft Bau’ research programme.

Keywords: cement, infrared spectroscopy, quality control, X-ray amorphous

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Authors: Jochen Edmund Kerschenbauer, Roman Salinger, Daniel Strametz

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Insufficient informal communication systems can lead to the first crisis (‘Crisis of Leadership’) for start-ups. Management Control Systems (MCS) are one way for high-technology start-ups to successfully overcome these problems. So far the literature has investigated the incubation of a start-up, but focused less on the post-incubation stage. This paper focuses on the use of MCS in post-incubation and, if failed start-ups agree, on how MCS are used. We conducted 14 semi-structured interviews for this purpose, to obtain our results. The overall conclusion is that the majority of the companies were closed down due to a combination of strategic, operative and financial reasons.

Keywords: closed down, high-technology, incubation, levers of control, management control systems, post-incubation, start-ups

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Authors: Jonqlan Lin, C. Y. Tasi, K. H. Lin

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This paper addresses the issue of the autonomous mobile robot (AMR) navigation task based on the hybrid control modes. The novel hybrid control mode, based on multi-sensors information by using the fuzzy approach, has been presented in this research. The system operates in real time, is robust, enables the robot to operate with imprecise knowledge, and takes into account the physical limitations of the environment in which the robot moves, obtaining satisfactory responses for a large number of different situations. An experiment is simulated and carried out with a pioneer mobile robot. From the experimental results, the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed AMR obstacle avoidance and navigation scheme are confirmed. The experimental results show the feasibility, and the control system has improved the navigation accuracy. The implementation of the controller is robust, has a low execution time, and allows an easy design and tuning of the fuzzy knowledge base.

Keywords: autonomous mobile robot, obstacle avoidance, MEMS, hybrid control mode, navigation control

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Authors: Hamish Love, Navjot Bhullar, Nicola Schutte

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Self-control and related psychological constructs have been shown to have a large role in the improvement and maintenance of healthful dietary behaviour. However, self-control for diet, and related constructs such as motivation, level of conflict between tempting desires and dietary goals, and attentional bias for tempting food, have not been studied together to establish their relationships, to the author’s best knowledge. Therefore the aim of this paper was to conduct model testing on these constructs and evaluate how they relate to affect dietary outcomes. 400 Australian adult participants will be recruited via the Qualtrics platform and will be representative across age and gender. They will complete survey and reaction timing surveys to gather data on the five target constructs: Trait Self-control, Attentional Bias for Food, Dietary Goal-Desire Incongruence, Motivation for Dietary Self-control, and Satisfaction with Dietary Behaviour. A model of moderated mediation is predicted, whereby the initial predictor (Dietary Goal-Desire Incongruence) predicts the level of the outcome variable, Satisfaction with Dietary Behaviour. We hypothesise that the relationship between these two variables will be mediated by Trait Self-Control and that the extent that Trait Self-control is allowed to mediate dietary outcome is moderated by both Attentional Bias for Food and Motivation for Dietary Self-control. The analysis will be conducted using the PROCESS module in SPSS 23. The results of model testing in this current study will be valuable to direct future research and inform which constructs could be important targets for intervention to improve dietary outcomes.

Keywords: self-control, diet, model testing, attentional bias, motivation

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Authors: Alma Orucevic-Alagic, Martin Höst

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Open source communities have demonstrated that complex and enterprise grade software can be produced, supported, and maintained by self-organizing groups of developers using primarily electronic form of communication. Due to the inherent nature of open source development, a specific set of open source software development practices has evolved. While there is an ongoing research on the topic of applicability of open source development practices within a company setting, still little is known about their benefits and challenges. The objective of this research is to understand if and to what degree open source development practices observed within a mature open source community are aligned with development practices within a large software and hardware company setting. For the purpose of this case study a set of open source development practices that are present in a mature open source community has been identified. Then, development practices of a large, international, hardware and software company based in Sweden were assessed and compared to the identified open source community practices. It is shown that there are many similarities between a mature open source community and a large company setting in regard to software development practices. We also identify practices that exist in open source communities and that are not standard within a company setting, but whose implementation can result in an improved software development efficiency within the company setting.

Keywords: development practices, open source software, innersource, closed open source

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Authors: W. Schellong

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Industry accounts for one-third of global final energy demand. Crossover technologies (e.g. motors, pumps, process heat, and air conditioning) play an important role in improving energy efficiency. These technologies are used in many applications independent of the production branch. Especially electrical power is used by drives, pumps, compressors, and lightning. The paper demonstrates the algorithm of the energy analysis by some selected case studies for typical industrial processes. The energy analysis represents an essential part of energy management systems (EMS). Generally, process control system (PCS) can support EMS. They provide information about the production process, and they organize the maintenance actions. Combining these tools into an integrated process allows the development of an energy critical equipment strategy. Thus, asset and energy management can use the same common data to improve the energy efficiency.

Keywords: crossover technologies, data management, energy analysis, energy efficiency, process control

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Authors: Seulki Lee, Seoung Bum Kim

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Statistical process control (SPC) is a practical and effective method for quality control. The most important and widely used technique in SPC is a control chart. The main goal of a control chart is to detect any assignable changes that affect the quality output. Most conventional control charts, such as Hotelling’s T2 charts, are commonly based on the assumption that the quality characteristics follow a multivariate normal distribution. However, in modern complicated manufacturing systems, appropriate control chart techniques that can efficiently handle the nonnormal processes are required. To overcome the shortcomings of conventional control charts for nonnormal processes, several methods have been proposed to combine statistical learning algorithms and multivariate control charts. Statistical learning-based control charts, such as support vector data description (SVDD)-based charts, k-nearest neighbors-based charts, have proven their improved performance in nonnormal situations compared to that of the T2 chart. Beside the nonnormal property, time-varying operations are also quite common in real manufacturing fields because of various factors such as product and set-point changes, seasonal variations, catalyst degradation, and sensor drifting. However, traditional control charts cannot accommodate future condition changes of the process because they are formulated based on the data information recorded in the early stage of the process. In the present paper, we propose a SVDD algorithm-based control chart, which is capable of adaptively monitoring time-varying and nonnormal processes. We reformulated the SVDD algorithm into a time-adaptive SVDD algorithm by adding a weighting factor that reflects time-varying situations. Moreover, we defined the updating region for the efficient model-updating structure of the control chart. The proposed control chart simultaneously allows efficient model updates and timely detection of out-of-control signals. The effectiveness and applicability of the proposed chart were demonstrated through experiments with the simulated data and the real data from the metal frame process in mobile device manufacturing.

Keywords: multivariate control chart, nonparametric method, support vector data description, time-varying process

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Authors: Yaowaluck Ruampol, Suthakorn Wasupokin

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The research on the development of speaking using folk tales based on performance activities aimed to (1) study the development of speaking skill for early- childhood students, and (2) evaluate the development of speaking skill before and after speaking activities. Ten students of Kindergarten level 2, who have enrolled in the subject of the research for speaking development of semester 2 in 2013 were purposively selected as the research cohort. The research tools were lesson plans for speaking activities and pre-post test for speaking development that were approved as content validity and reliability (IOC=.66-1.00,α=0.967). The research found that the development of speaking skill of the research samples before using performance activities on folk tales in developing speaking skill was in the normal high level. Additionally, the results appeared that the preschoolers after applying speaking skill on performance activities also imaginatively created their speaking skill.

Keywords: speaking development, folk tales, performance activities, early-childhood students

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Authors: Fares Mahdi

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Background: Infection control is an important concern for all health care professionals, especially nurses. Nurses have a higher risk for both self-acquiring and transmitting infections to other patients. Aim of this study: to assess nurses' knowledge regarding infection control for wound care. Methodology: a descriptive research design was used in the study. The total number studied sample was 200 nurses, were conducting in Amran Public Hospitals in Amran City- Yemen. The study covered sample nurses in the hospital according to the study population; a standard closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect the data. Results: The results showed less than half (37.5 %) of nurses were from 22 May Hospital, also followed by (62.5%) of them were from Maternal and Child Hospital. Also according to the department name. Most (22.5%) of nurses worked in an intensive care unit, followed by (20%) of them were working in the pediatric world, also about (19%) of them were working in the surgical department. While in finally, only about (8.5%) of them worked from another department. According to course training, The results showed about (21%) of nurses had course training in wound care management. At the same time, others (79%) of them have not had course training in wound care management. According to the total nurse's knowledge of infection control for wound care, that find more than two-thirds (68%) of nurses had fair knowledge according to total all of nurse's knowledge of infection control wound care. Conclusion:The results showed that more than two-thirds (68%) of nurses had fair knowledge according to total all of the nurse's knowledge of infection control for wound care. Recommendations: There should be providing training program about infection control masseurs and it's important for new employees of nurses. Providing continuing refreshment training courses about infection control programs and about evidence-based practice in infection control for all health care teams.

Keywords: assessment, knowledge, infection control, wound care, nurses, amran hospitals

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Authors: Xinhuang Wu, Yousef Sardahi

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A hybrid and optimal multi-loop control structure combining linear and nonlinear control algorithms are introduced in this paper to regulate the position of a quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) driven by four brushless DC motors. To this end, a nonlinear mathematical model of the UAV is derived and then linearized around one of its operating points. Using the nonlinear version of the model, a sliding mode control is used to derive the control laws of the motor thrust forces required to drive the UAV to a certain position. The linear model is used to design two controllers, XG-controller and YG-controller, responsible for calculating the required roll and pitch to maneuver the vehicle to the desired X and Y position. Three attitude controllers are designed to calculate the desired angular rates of rotors, assuming that the Euler angles are minimal. After that, a many-objective optimization problem involving 20 design parameters and ten objective functions is formulated and solved by HypE (Hypervolume estimation algorithm), one of the widely used many-objective optimization algorithms approaches. Both stability and performance constraints are imposed on the optimization problem. The optimization results in terms of Pareto sets and fronts are obtained and show that some of the design objectives are competing. That is, when one objective goes down, the other goes up. Also, Numerical simulations conducted on the nonlinear UAV model show that the proposed optimization method is quite effective.

Keywords: optimal control, many-objective optimization, sliding mode control, linear control, cascade controllers, UAV, drones

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Authors: Mei-Feng, Yude-Fan, Min-Zhu

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Based on PLC and kingview, this paper proposed a method that designed a set of the automatic control system according to the craft flow and demands for granulation product line. There were the main station and subordinate stations in PLC which were communicated by PROFIBUS network. PLC and computer were communicated by Ethernet network. The conversation function between human and machine was realized by kingview software, including actual time craft flows, historic report curves and product report forms. The construction of the control system, hardware collocation and software design were introduced. Besides these, PROFIBUS network frequency conversion control, the difficult points and configuration software design were elaborated. The running results showed that there were several advantages in the control system. They were high automatic degree, perfect function, perfect steady and convenient operation.

Keywords: PLC, PROFIBUS, configuration, frequency

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Authors: Mariam Kamal Sawares Gerges

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The interface between development and human rights has long been Although there has been an improvement in the protection of human rights in the region, human rights violations continue to occur. Although the government has adopted human rights laws, labor laws, and international agreements ratified by the United States, human rights violations are rare. The number of companies in debt is increasing in Bekasi, and human rights violations are increasing because the government is not obliged to protect them. The United States government and business leaders must respect, protect and defend the human rights of workers. This article discusses the human rights violations that garment workers face under the law, as well as ideas to improve workers' rights. Many theories have been developed to understand the impact between these two concepts, from rights to development to the development of human rights. Despite efforts, the relationship between development and human rights is not fully understood. But the connection between these two ideas is the idea that development efforts must respect human rights guarantees that have increased in recent years. It is then examined whether the right to sustainable development is acceptable or not.

Keywords: sustainable development, human rights, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development, environmental rights, economic development, social sustainability human rights protection, human rights violations, workers’ rights, justice, security

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Authors: Lina Sinevičienė

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Arising problems of countries’ public finances, social and demographic changes motivate scientific and policy debates on public spending size, structure and efficiency in order to meet the changing needs of society and business. The concept of sustainable development poses new challenges for scientists and policy-makers in the field of public finance. This paper focuses on the investigation of the relationship between government expenditure and country’s economic development in the context of sustainable development. Empirical analysis focuses on the data of the European Union (except Croatia and Luxemburg) countries. The study covers 2003 – 2012 years, using annual cross-sectional data. Summarizing the research results, it can be stated that governments should pay more attention to the needs that ensure sustainable development in the long-run when formulating public expenditure policy, particularly in the field of environment protection.

Keywords: economic development, economic growth, government expenditure, sustainable development

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Authors: Xiaoqing Wang, Jianjian Zong, Li Li, Yanxing Zheng, Jinrong Tong, Mao Zhan

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With the rapid development of network and communication technology, a great deal of data has been generated in different domains of a network. These data show a trend of increasing scale and more complex structure. Therefore, an effective and flexible cross-domain data-sharing system is needed. The Cross-domain Data Sharing System(CDSS) in a net-centric environment is composed of three sub-systems. The data distribution sub-system provides data exchange service through publish-subscribe technology that supports asynchronism and multi-to-multi communication, which adapts to the needs of the dynamic and large-scale distributed computing environment. The access control sub-system adopts Attribute-Based Access Control(ABAC) technology to uniformly model various data attributes such as subject, object, permission and environment, which effectively monitors the activities of users accessing resources and ensures that legitimate users get effective access control rights within a legal time. The cross-domain access security negotiation subsystem automatically determines the access rights between different security domains in the process of interactive disclosure of digital certificates and access control policies through trust policy management and negotiation algorithms, which provides an effective means for cross-domain trust relationship establishment and access control in a distributed environment. The CDSS’s asynchronous,multi-to-multi and loosely-coupled communication features can adapt well to data exchange and sharing in dynamic, distributed and large-scale network environments. Next, we will give CDSS new features to support the mobile computing environment.

Keywords: data sharing, cross-domain, data exchange, publish-subscribe

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Authors: Fauzanah Fauzan El Muhammady

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In the recent years, the Indonesian government has made tremendous efforts to improve the quality of Indonesia’s Islamic Higher Education Institutions (IHEIs) through the implementation of the institutional transformation policy. This policy has encouraged some IHEIs, such as Islamic Collages and Islamic Institutes to shift their institution from college to Institute or from Institute to university. As one of the requirements, the IHEIs should provide non-religious curriculum and integrate it with the religious curriculum (as the core curriculum of IHEIs). As results, since the 2000s, some Islamic Collages and Islamic Institutes have successfully developed the non-religious curriculum and achieved institutional transformation. However, after 15 years, the impact of the institutional transformation to the IHEIs is still debatable. The institutional transformation policy can be questioned as to whether the goal of status transformation has truly brought significant improvement to the quality of IHEIs. Therefore, based on the situation above, this study aims to explore how far the institutional transformation has effectively brought significant impact to the quality improvement of IHEIs. This study has used literature review method to investigate the current development of the institutional transformation in Indonesia’s IHEIs context. This is a part of literature review development to support the process of doctoral research. Based on the literature review, some studies found that the institutional transformation has led pro and cons to the academic community, society, and local government. Some agreed the institutional transformation has effectively facilitated non-religious curriculum development and it has significantly improved the number of prospective students and the student admitted at Islamic Universities. Meanwhile, others argue the development of non-religious curriculum will gradually eliminate the existence of the religious curriculum itself. On the other hand, the government suggests that the institutional transformation should be based on the quality standards. As a result, recently, the government has taken an initiative to restrict the institutional transformation (moratorium) in order to ensure the quality control of the institutional transformation application and to control the increasing number of the institutional transformation demands. This study provided the current issues that related to the contemporary of the institutional transformation in IHEIs context to disclosure how far both IHEIs and government overcome the quality issues of the institutional transformation development. The study results are expected can be used to advocate government, policymakers, and academic leaders in 1) reviewing the sustainability impact of the institutional transformation to the quality improvement of higher education institutions; 2) and finding effective solutions for the continuity of the institutional transformation in the future, particularly in the IHEIs context.

Keywords: curriculum, higher education, institutional transformation, quality

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Authors: Emre Akyürek, Anthony Huynh, Tatiana Kalganova

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The Ambidextrous Robot Hand is a robotic device with the purpose to mimic either the gestures of a right or a left hand. The symmetrical behavior of its fingers allows them to bend in one way or another keeping a compliant and anthropomorphic shape. However, in addition to gestures they can reproduce on both sides, an asymmetrical mechanical design with a three tendons routing has been engineered to reduce the number of actuators. As a consequence, control algorithms must be adapted to drive efficiently the ambidextrous fingers from one position to another and to include grasping features. These movements are controlled by pneumatic muscles, which are nonlinear actuators. As their elasticity constantly varies when they are under actuation, the length of pneumatic muscles and the force they provide may differ for a same value of pressurized air. The control algorithms introduced in this paper take both the fingers asymmetrical design and the pneumatic muscles nonlinearity into account to permit an accurate control of the Ambidextrous Robot Hand. The finger motion is achieved by combining a classic PID controller with a phase plane switching control that turns the gain constants into dynamic values. The grasping ability is made possible because of a sliding mode control that makes the fingers adapt to the shape of an object before strengthening their positions.

Keywords: ambidextrous hand, intelligent algorithms, nonlinear actuators, pneumatic muscles, robotics, sliding control

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Authors: Gang Liu, Huimin Song, Can Wang, Runnan Zhang, Lu Fang

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Currently, resource sharing and system security are critical issues. This paper proposes a POL module composed of PRIV ILEGE attribute (PA), obligation and log which improves attribute based access control (ABAC) model in dynamically granting authorizations and revoking authorizations. The following describes the new model termed PABAC in terms of the POL module structure, attribute definitions, policy formulation and authorization architecture, which demonstrate the advantages of it. The POL module addresses the problems which are not predicted before and not described by access control policy. It can be one of the subject attributes or resource attributes according to the practical application, which enhances the flexibility of the model compared with ABAC. A scenario that illustrates how this model is applied to the real world is provided.

Keywords: access control, attribute based access control, granting authorizations, privilege, revoking authorizations, system security

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Authors: Ekpeti Bukola Grace, Mahmoudi Sabar Esmail, Chaer Issa

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Global energy consumption has been increasing steadily over the last half - century, and this trend is projected to continue. As energy demand rises in many countries throughout the world due to population growth, natural ventilation in buildings has been identified as a viable option for lowering these demands, saving costs, and also lowering CO2 emissions. However, natural ventilation is driven by forces that are generally unpredictable in nature thus, it is important to manage the resulting airflow in order to maintain pleasant indoor conditions, making it a complex system that necessitates specific control approaches. The effective application of fuzzy logic technique amidst other intelligent systems is one of the best ways to bridge this gap, as its control dynamics relates more to human reasoning and linguistic descriptions. This article reviewed existing literature and presented practical solutions by applying fuzzy logic control with optimized techniques, selected input parameters, and expert rules to design a more effective control system. The control monitors used indoor temperature, outdoor temperature, carbon-dioxide levels, wind velocity, and rain as input variables to the system, while the output variable remains the control of window opening. This is achieved through the use of fuzzy logic control tool box in MATLAB and running simulations on SIMULINK to validate the effectiveness of the proposed system. Comparison analysis model via simulation is carried out, and with the data obtained, an improvement in control actions and energy savings was recorded.

Keywords: fuzzy logic, intelligent control systems, natural ventilation, optimization

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Authors: Komathy Thiagarajan, Mohd. Azizuddin Mohd. Yussof, Hasnoorina Husin, Noor Azreena Abd Aziz, Faezah Shekh Abdullah, Abdul Wahaf Abdul Wahid

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Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) presents with a plethora of clinical features owing to the multifaceted underlying pathophysiology. This study was conducted to determine the clinical features unique to the sub fertile women attending the Sub fertility Clinic of the National Population and Family Development Board (NPFDB) so that a more holistic approach can be adopted to further enhance the pregnancy outcome in those women. This was a case-control study conducted over a span of three years (from January 2014 until December 2016), whereby women who fulfilled the Rotterdam Criteria 2004 were classified as PCOS (n=79) and women who did not fulfill the Rotterdam Criteria were classified as controls (n=88). The mean age of the women was 30.1 years and the mean duration of marriage was 3.93 years. The majority of women suffered from primary sub fertility (82.6%). The median age was lower among PCOS women (29.0 years) compared to the controls (30.0 years), p<0.05. The majority of PCOS women (43.0%) were obese (BMI > 30 kg/m2) compared to only 19.3% who were obese in the control group, p<0.05. Hypertension was present in 59.5% of PCOS women and only in 36.4% of the control group, p<0.05. There were significantly more women who presented with hirsutism in PCOS group (27.8%) as compared to the control group (5.7%), p<0.05. The findings of this study elucidate that the clinical features of significance among sub fertile women suffering from PCOS, if detected early, are amenable to lifestyle modifications and timely interventions can potentially improve the fertility outcomes in this group of women.

Keywords: clinical features, fertility, lifestyle modification, PCOS

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Authors: Fadeke Olu-Owolabi, Fayomi Oluyemi

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The political and societal orders face the awesome task of overcoming the difficulties which lead to growing tensions and conflicts in Africa. At the core of analysis is the question, how stable and adaptable are established democracies, new democracies, and political and societal actors? The idea of development-democracy as implying the strong linkage between economic development and political democracy appropriately describes the distinguishing characteristic of this new demand for democracy in Africa. The theoretical study examines the political and philosophical foundation of the idea of development-democracy and the arguments presented to support the need for its adoption in Africa today. This paper critically examines the polemic between the advocates of developmental dictatorship and developmental-democracy and argues for the adoption of the latter in Africa. The paper sets out to expose for the political and philosophical foundation of developmental democracy maintaining that only democracy can facilitate development. This argument is supported further by the claim that both democracy and development are two sides of the same coin in the sense that the two are both ethical concepts. The paper also maintained that the only way by which democracy is worthwhile is when it is developmental. Finally, the paper affirms that since the two concepts of democracy and development are like the Siamese twins then the way out of Africa’s present crisis of development is to wholeheartedly embrace democracy. It posits that when genuine democracy is adopted, genuine and sustainable development can then be attained.

Keywords: democracy, development, polemic, principles

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Authors: M. A. Fernández-Vilar, M. D. Galián, E. Ato

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The aim of this work was to analyze the relation between children´s effortful control and Maths achievement in a sample of 447 Spanish children aged between 6 and 8 years. Traditionally, the literature confirms that higher level of effortful control has been associated with higher academic achievement, but there are few studies that include the effect that children´s social competence exert to this relation. To measure children’s effortful control parents were given the TMCQ (Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire), and Maths achievement was taken from teacher´s rates. To measure social competence, we used the nominations method in the classroom context. Results confirmed that higher effortful control predicted a better maths achievement, whereas lower effortful control scores predicted lower Maths scores. Using a statistical modeling approach, we tested a mediation model that revealed the mediating role of social competence (popularity and rejection) in the relation between effortful control and Maths achievement. Concretely, higher social competence (higher popularity and lower rejection) seems to mediate the better Maths achievement showed by better self´regulated children. Therefore, an adequate social competence mediates the positive effect that self-regulatory capacity exerts to academic achievement. The clinical implications of the present findings should be considered. Specifically, rejected children must be detected and evaluated in community settings, such as school or community programs, due the relevant role of social competence in the relation between temperament and academic achievement.

Keywords: effortful control, maths achievement, social competence, mediation

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Authors: Jenn-Yih Chen, Bean-Yin Lee, Yuan-Chuan Hsu, Jui-Cheng Lin, Kuang-Chyi Lee

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In this paper, a sliding mode control method based on the passivity approach is proposed to control the position of surface-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs). Firstly, the dynamics of a PMSM was proved to be strictly passive. The position controller with an adaptive law was used to estimate the load torque to eliminate the chattering effects associated with the conventional sliding mode controller. The stability analysis of the overall position control system was carried out by adopting the passivity theorem instead of Lyapunov-type arguments. Finally, experimental results were provided to show that the good position tracking can be obtained, and exhibit robustness in the variations of the motor parameters and load torque disturbances.

Keywords: adaptive law, passivity theorem, permanent magnet synchronous motor, sliding mode control

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Authors: Héctor Rivera-Gómez, Eva Selene Hernández-Gress, Oscar Montaño-Arango, Jose Ramon Corona-Armenta

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This research studies the joint production, maintenance and subcontracting control policy for an unreliable deteriorating manufacturing system. Production activities are controlled by a derivation of the Hedging Point Policy, and given that the system is subject to deterioration, it reduces progressively its capacity to satisfy product demand. Multiple deterioration effects are considered, reflected mainly in the quality of the parts produced and the reliability of the machine. Subcontracting is available as support to satisfy product demand; also overhaul maintenance can be conducted to reduce the effects of deterioration. The main objective of the research is to determine simultaneously the production, maintenance and subcontracting rate which minimize the total incurred cost. A stochastic dynamic programming model is developed and solved through a simulation-based approach composed of statistical analysis and optimization with the response surface methodology. The obtained results highlight the strong interactions between production, deterioration and quality which justify the development of an integrated model. A numerical example and a sensitivity analysis are presented to validate our results.

Keywords: subcontracting, optimal control, deterioration, simulation, production planning

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Authors: Marlene Perez Villalpando, Kelly Joel Gurubel Tun

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In this paper, we propose an optimal control strategy for a hydroelectric power plant subject to input disturbances like meteorological phenomena. The engineering characteristics of the system are described by a nonlinear model. The random availability of renewable sources is predicted by a high-order neural network trained with an extended Kalman filter, whereas the power generation is regulated by the optimal control law. The main advantage of the system is the stabilization of the amount of power generated in the plant. A control supervisor maintains stability and availability in hydropower reservoirs water levels for power generation. The proposed approach demonstrated a good performance to stabilize the reservoir level and the power generation along their desired trajectories in the presence of disturbances.

Keywords: hydropower, high order neural network, Kalman filter, optimal control

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Authors: Sherri Franklin-Guy

Abstract:

Play activities have long been utilized to support the development of expressive language in young children. More specifically, stages of symbolic play, or pretend play, have served as indicators of levels of cognitive development, the foundation of language. This presentation will examine the relationship between symbolic play and language development in toddlers and preschoolers. Implications for clinicians and educators will be discussed.

Keywords: cognition, language development, pretend play, symbolic play

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: Hawbash Jalil

Abstract:

In this study, the effects of whey protein based films on various properties of kashar cheese were examined. In the study, edible film solutions based on whey protein isolate, whey protein isolate + transglutaminase enzyme and whey protein isolate + chitosan were produced and Kashar cheese samples were coated with these films by dipping method and stored at +4 ºC for 60 days. Chemical, microbiological and textural analyzes were carried out on samples at 0, 30 and 60 days of storage. As a result of the study, the highest dry matter and total nitrogen values were obtained from uncoated control samples This is an indication that the coatings limit water vapor permeability. The highest acidity and pH values obtained from the samples as storage results were 3.33% and 5.86%, respectively, in the control group samples. Both acidity and pH rise in these groups, is a consequence of the buffering of pH changes of hydrolsis products which are as a result of proteolysis occurring in the sample. Nitrogen changes and lipolysis values, which are indicative of the degree of hydrolysis of proteins and triglycerides in kashar cheese, were generally higher in the control group This result is due to limiting the micro organism reproduction by limiting the gas passage of the coatings. Hardness and chewiness values of the textural properties of the samples were significantly reduced in uncoated control samples compared to the coated samples due to maturation. The chitosan film coatings used in the study limited the development of mold yeast until the 30th day but after that did not yield successful results in this respect.

Keywords: chitosan, edible film, transglutaminase, whey protein

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Authors: Valeriy Nebritov

Abstract:

The paper presents a generalized method for determining the service solid angle based on the assigned gripper axis orientation with a stationary grip center. Motion synthesis in this work is carried out in the vector of velocities. As an example, a solid angle of the android robot arm is determined, this angle being formed by the longitudinal axis of a gripper. The nature of the method is based on the study of sets of configuration positions, defining the end point positions of the unit radius sphere sweep, which specifies the service solid angle. From this the spherical curve specifying the shape of the desired solid angle was determined. The results of the research can be used in the development of control systems of autonomous android robots.

Keywords: android robot, control systems, motion synthesis, service angle

Procedia PDF Downloads 190