Search results for: dispersed region growing algorithm (DRGA)

Authors: Uyanga Sukhbaatar, Ahmed Lbath, Mendamar Majig

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The Orienteering Problem is the most known example to start modeling tourist trip design problem. In order to meet tourist’s interest and constraint the OP is becoming more and more complicate to solve. The Multi Constraint Team Orienteering Problem with Time Windows is the last extension of the OP which differentiates from other extensions by including more extra associated constraints. The goal of the MCTOPTW is maximizing tourist’s satisfaction score in same time not to violate any of these constraints. This paper presents a genetic algorithmic approach to tackle the MCTOPTW. The benchmark data from literature is tested by our algorithm and the performance results are compared.

Keywords: multi constraint team orienteering problem with time windows, genetic algorithm, tour planning system

Procedia PDF Downloads 626

Authors: A. Brener, B. Ismailov, G. Berdalieva

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In the paper we submit the modification of kinetic Smoluchowski equation for binary aggregation applying to systems with chemical reactions of first and second orders in which the main product is insoluble. The goal of this work is to create theoretical foundation and engineering procedures for calculating the chemical apparatuses in the conditions of joint course of chemical reactions and processes of aggregation of insoluble dispersed phases which are formed in working zones of the reactor.

Keywords: binary aggregation, clusters, chemical reactions, insoluble phases

Procedia PDF Downloads 307

Authors: Beldjilali Bilal, Benadda Belkacem, Kahlouche Salem

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Due to the Doppler effect caused by the high velocity of satellite and in some case receivers, the frequency of the Global Positioning System (GPS) signals are transformed into a new ones. Several acquisition algorithms frequency of the Global Positioning System (GPS) signals are transformed can be used to estimate the new frequency and phase shifts values. Numerous algorithms are based on the frequencies domain calculation. Our developed algorithm is a new approach dedicated to the Global Positioning System signal acquisition based on the fast Fourier transform. Our proposed new algorithm is easier to implement and has fast execution time compared with elder ones.

Keywords: global positioning system, acquisition, FFT, GPS/L1, software receiver, weak signal

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Dimpi A. Patel, Pankaj Raina, Ramesh Chinnasamy, Sunetro Ghosal

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The herpetological fauna of Ladakh has been surveyed few times till 1999. In 2019, a rapid survey to document current herpetofaunal composition was undertaken in which a total of 6 species belonging to 2 orders and five families along with their altitudinal ranges were recorded. We present a revised checklist of reptiles found in Ladakh trans Himalayas based on historical records and recent field surveys. Records for erroneously reported species in literature are discussed and recommended for removal from the list from this region. For several species, new elevation range records have been recorded. This paper contributes to the present status of the richness of reptiles and amphibians in the region by documenting the composition and ecological distribution of the herpetofauna of unstudied sites. Species-specific temperature and humidity regimes were also recorded during the survey periods. Our study creates baseline information for future ecological and behavioral studies on the herpetofauna of the region by providing habitat preferences and distribution in detail.

Keywords: amphibians, distribution, diversity, reptiles, trans-Himalaya

Procedia PDF Downloads 169

Authors: Y. T. van Popta

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This paper focuses on the never thoroughly examined yet in native relevant late medieval maritime cultural landscape of the former Zuiderzee (A.D. 1170-1932) in the center part of the Netherlands. Especially the northeastern part of the region, nowadays known as the Noordoostpolder, testifies of the dynamic battle of the Dutch against the water. This highly dynamic maritime region developed from a lake district into a sea and eventually into a polder. By linking physical and cognitive datasets from the Noordoostpol-der region in a spatial environment, new information on a late medieval maritime culture is brought to light, giving the opportunity to: (i) create a modern day perception on the late medieval maritime cultural landscape of the region and (ii) to underline the value of interdisciplinary and spatial research in maritime archaeology in general. Since the large scale reclamations of the region (A.D. 1932-1968), many remains have been discovered of a drowned and eroded late medieval maritime culture, represented by lost islands, drowned settlements, cultivated lands, shipwrecks and socio-economic networks. Recent archaeological research has proved the existence of this late medieval maritime culture by the discovery of the remains of the drowned settlement Fenehuysen (Veenhuizen) and its surroundings. The fact that this settlement and its cultivated surroundings remained hidden for so long proves that a large part of the maritime cultural landscape is ‘invisible’ and can only be found by extensive interdisciplinary research.

Keywords: drowned settlements, late middle ages, lost islands, maritime cultural landscape, the Netherlands

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Authors: Pimploi Tirastittam, Phutthiwat Waiyawuththanapoom

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Nowadays the promotion of the public transportation system in the Bangkok Metropolitan Area is increased such as the “Free Bus for Thai Citizen” Campaign and the prospect of the several MRT routes to increase the convenient and comfortable to the Bangkok Metropolitan area citizens. But citizens do not make full use of them it because the citizens are lack of the data and information and also the confident to the public transportation system of Thailand especially in the time and safety aspects. This research is the Public Transport Planning System by Dijkstra Algorithm: Case Study Bangkok Metropolitan Area by focusing on buses, BTS and MRT schedules/routes to give the most information to passengers. They can choose the way and the routes easily by using Dijkstra STAR Algorithm of Graph Theory which also shows the fare of the trip. This Application was evaluated by 30 normal users to find the mean and standard deviation of the developed system. Results of the evaluation showed that system is at a good level of satisfaction (4.20 and 0.40). From these results we can conclude that the system can be used properly and effectively according to the objective.

Keywords: Dijkstra algorithm, graph theory, public transport, Bangkok metropolitan area

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: M. Pushparani, A. Sagaya

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Embedded systems have emerged as important elements in various domains with extensive applications in automotive, commercial, consumer, healthcare and transportation markets, as there is emphasis on intelligent devices. On the other hand, Business Intelligence (BI) has also been extensively used in a range of applications, especially in the agriculture domain which is the area of this research. The aim of this research is to create a framework for Embedded Weight Comparison Algorithm with Business Intelligence (EWCA-BI). The weight comparison algorithm will be embedded within the plantation management system and the weighbridge system. This algorithm will be used to estimate the weight at the site and will be compared with the actual weight at the plantation. The algorithm will be used to build the necessary alerts when there is a discrepancy in the weight, thus enabling better decision making. In the current practice, data are collected from various locations in various forms. It is a challenge to consolidate data to obtain timely and accurate information for effective decision making. Adding to this, the unstable network connection leads to difficulty in getting timely accurate information. To overcome the challenges embedding is done on a portable device that will have the embedded weight comparison algorithm to also assist in data capture and synchronize data at various locations overcoming the network short comings at collection points. The EWCA-BI will provide real-time information at any given point of time, thus enabling non-latent BI reports that will provide crucial information to enable efficient operational decision making. This research has a high potential in bringing embedded system into the agriculture industry. EWCA-BI will provide BI reports with accurate information with uncompromised data using an embedded system and provide alerts, therefore, enabling effective operation management decision-making at the site.

Keywords: embedded business intelligence, weight comparison algorithm, oil palm plantation, embedded systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Leah Ning

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This paper discusses the development of a machine learning algorithm that accurately detects metastatic breast cancer (cancer has spread elsewhere from its origin part) in selected images that come from pathology scans of lymph node sections. Being able to develop an accurate artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm would help significantly in breast cancer diagnosis since manual examination of lymph node scans is both tedious and oftentimes highly subjective. The usage of AI in the diagnosis process provides a much more straightforward, reliable, and efficient method for medical professionals and would enable faster diagnosis and, therefore, more immediate treatment. The overall approach used was to train a convolution neural network (CNN) based on a set of pathology scan data and use the trained model to binarily classify if a new scan were benign or malignant, outputting a 0 or a 1, respectively. The final model’s prediction accuracy is very high, with 100% for the train set and over 70% for the test set. Being able to have such high accuracy using an AI model is monumental in regard to medical pathology and cancer detection. Having AI as a new tool capable of quick detection will significantly help medical professionals and patients suffering from cancer.

Keywords: breast cancer detection, AI, machine learning, algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 91

Authors: Te-Jen Chang, I-Hui Pan, Ping-Sheng Huang, Shan-Jen Cheng

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In this paper, a fast multiplication computing method utilizing the complement representation method and canonical recoding technique is proposed. By performing complements and canonical recoding technique, the number of partial products can be reduced. Based on these techniques, we propose an algorithm that provides an efficient multiplication method. On average, our proposed algorithm is to reduce the number of k-bit additions from (0.25k+logk/k+2.5) to (k/6 +logk/k+2.5), where k is the bit-length of the multiplicand A and multiplier B. We can therefore efficiently speed up the overall performance of the multiplication. Moreover, if we use the new proposes to compute common-multiplicand multiplication, the computational complexity can be reduced from (0.5 k+2 logk/k+5) to (k/3+2 logk/k+5) k-bit additions.

Keywords: algorithm design, complexity analysis, canonical recoding, public key cryptography, common-multiplicand multiplication

Procedia PDF Downloads 435

Authors: Zhen Peng, Baifeng Wu

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Modern computing technology enters the era of parallel computing with the trend of sustainable and scalable parallelism. Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) is an important way to go along with the trend. It is able to gather more and more computing ability by increasing the number of processor cores without the need of modifying the program. Meanwhile, in the field of scientific computing and engineering design, many computation intensive applications are facing the challenge of increasingly large amount of data. Data parallel computing will be an important way to further improve the performance of these applications. In this paper, we take the accurate collision detection in building information modeling as an example. We demonstrate a model for constructing a data parallel algorithm. According to the model, a complex object is decomposed into the sets of simple objects; collision detection among complex objects is converted into those among simple objects. The resulting algorithm is a typical SIMD algorithm, and its advantages in parallelism and scalability is unparalleled in respect to the traditional algorithms.

Keywords: data parallelism, collision detection, single instruction multiple data, building information modeling, continuous scalability

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: Emely J. Escala, Lolito C. Bestil

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An experiment was conducted to assess the potential of jackfruit by-product concentrate (JBC) in combination with two types of protein sources, soybean meal (SBM) and liquid acid whey (LAW), given at two different ratios as supplement for growing kids fed a basal diet of 70:30 napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and kakawate (Gliricidia sepium) soilage ratio. The experiment was set-up in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with sex-age combination as basis for blocking, with the following dietary treatments: T1 = 0.50:0.50% BW, DM basis, JBC:SBM, T2 = 0.75:0.25% BW JBC:SBM, T3 = 0.50:0.50% BW, DM basis, JBC:LAW, and T4 = 0.75:0.25% BW JBC:LAW. Analysis of JBC showed high contents of crude fiber with medium levels of crude protein and nitrogen-free extract, appearing to be fitting for ruminants and a potential energy source. Results showed significantly higher voluntary dry matter intake (VDMI), cumulative weight gain (CWG), and average daily gain (ADG) of growing goats supplemented with JBC in combination with SBM than with LAW. The amount of JBC can range from 0.50% to 0.75% BW with SBM making up the difference, but a JBC:SBM ratio of 0.75:0.25% BW, DM basis, is best in promoting highest voluntary dry matter intake and is, therefore, highly recommended in the light of savings in feed cost. A long-term study on the effects of JBC supplementation on meat qualities of growing kids (aroma, marbling characteristics and taste) is also recommended.

Keywords: jackfruit by-product concentrate, liquid acid whey, soybean meal, grower kids

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Sangeeta Yadav, Mantosh Biswas

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In this paper, we proposed an improved color based K-mean algorithm for clustering of satellite Image (SAR). Our method comprises of two stages. The first step is an interactive selection process where users are required to input the number of colors (ncolor), number of clusters, and then they are prompted to select the points in each color cluster. In the second step these points are given as input to K-mean clustering algorithm that clusters the image based on color and Minimum Square Euclidean distance. The proposed method reduces the mixed pixel problem to a great extent.

Keywords: cluster, ncolor method, K-mean method, interactive selection process

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Masoumeh Tadayoni, Saeed Kamyabi, Alireza Entezari

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Background and goal of the research: In planning and management system, the tourism carrying capacity is used as a holistic approach and supportive instrument. Evaluating the carrying capacity is used in quantitative the resource exploitation in line with sustainable development and as a foundation for identifying the changes in natural ecosystem and for the final evaluation and monitoring the tensions and decays in regressed ecosystem. Therefore, the present research tries to determine the carrying capacity of effective, physical and real range of Siahsard tourism region. Method: In the present research, the quantitative analysis of tourism carrying capacity is studied by used of effective or permissible carrying capacity (EPCC), real carrying capacity (PCC) and physical carrying capacity (RCC) in Siahsard fountain. It is analyzed based on the field survey and various resources were used for collecting information. Findings: The results of the analysis shows that, 3700 people use the Siahsard tourism region every day and 1350500 people use it annually. However, the evaluation of carrying capacity can be annually 1390650 people in this place. It can be an important tourism place along with other places in the region. Results: Siahsard’s tourism region has a little way to reach to its carrying capacity that needs to be analyzed. However, based on the results, some suggestions were offered for sustainable development of this region and as the most logical alternations for tourism management.

Keywords: carrying capacity, evaluation, Siahsard, tourism

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Andrea Catorci, Federico Maria Tardella, Alessandro Brica, Muhammad Umair

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Climate change models predict for the Mediterranean region a strong increase of intensity and frequency of drought events, with an expected effect on grassland biodiversity and functioning. The research aim was to understand how the grassland species modulate their resource acquisition and conservation strategies to short-term variation of the pattern of summer water supply. The study area is mountain meadows located in the ‘‘Montagna di Torricchio’’ (1130 m a.s.l.) a Nature Reserve in central Italy. In 2017 we started a manipulative experiment for 2 year (2017-2018), and we defined two treatments, one with increasing water (watering condition) and the other with less water (drought condition). Then, we investigated how species change their resource strategies at different amount of water availability by measuring the specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf area (LA). We used ANOVAs to test the effect of treatment over time on leaf area and specific leaf area, considering all the species together and also separately according to their growth form (forb, grass, legume). Our results showed that species may respond differently depending on their growth form and that using all the species together may cover more detailed variation. Overall, resource retaining strategies (lower SLA, LA) are resulted by increase of drought condition, while increase in water amount and number of watering events fosters acquisitive strategies (higher SLA, LA). However, this pattern is not constant for all growth form. Grass species are able to maintain their strategies to variation of the pattern of water availability. Forb and legume species on the other side have shown decreasing trend of SLA, LA values with increasing drought condition, a pattern more marked for the latter growth form. These variations suggest not only an increase of slow-growing strategies for both growth form, but also a decrease of their nutrient pastoral values since their leaves are supposed to become harder. Local farmers should consider the effect of climate change on grassland and adapt their management practices to guarantee the cattle welfare.

Keywords: function strategies, grasslands, climate change, sub Mediterranean region

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Authors: Jinsiang Shaw, Jeng-Jie Huang

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Active vibration control is good for low frequency excitation, with advantages of light weight and adaptability. This paper employs a macro-fiber composite (MFC) actuator for vibration suppression in a cantilevered beam due to its higher output force to reject the disturbance. A notch filter with an adaptive tuning algorithm, the leaky filtered-X least mean square algorithm (leaky FXLMS algorithm), is developed and applied to the system. Experimental results show that the controller and MFC actuator was very effective in attenuating the structural vibration. Furthermore, this notch filter controller was compared with the traditional skyhook controller. It was found that its performance was better, with over 88% vibration suppression near the first resonant frequency of the structure.

Keywords: macro-fiber composite, notch filter, skyhook controller, vibration suppression

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Authors: Refilwe Moeletsi

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Dimension stone quarrying around Brits and Belfast areas started in the early 1930s and has been growing rapidly since then. Environmental impacts associated with these quarries have not been documented, and hence this study aims at detecting any change in the environment that might have been caused by these activities. Landsat images that were used to assess land use/land cover changes in Brits quarries from 1998 - 2015. A supervised classification using maximum likelihood classifier was applied to classify each image into different land use/land cover types. Classification accuracy was assessed using Google Earth™ as a source of reference data. Post-classification change detection method was used to determine changes. The results revealed significant increase in granite quarries and corresponding decrease in vegetation cover within the study region.

Keywords: remote sensing, GIS, change detection, granite quarries

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Naydelis Brito Suárez, Deni Librado Torres Román, Fernando Hermosillo Reynoso

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Automatic detection and generation of a dynamic ROI (Region of Interest) in vehicle traffic surveillance videos based on a static camera in Intelligent Transportation Systems is challenging for computer vision-based systems. The dynamic ROI, being a changing ROI, should capture any other moving object located outside of a static ROI. In this work, the video is represented by a Tensor model composed of a Background and a Foreground Tensor, which contains all moving vehicles or objects. The values of each pixel over a time interval are represented by time series, and some pixel rows were selected. This paper proposes a pixel entropy-based algorithm for automatic detection and generation of a dynamic ROI in traffic videos under the assumption of two types of theoretical pixel entropy behaviors: (1) a pixel located at the road shows a high entropy value due to disturbances in this zone by vehicle traffic, (2) a pixel located outside the road shows a relatively low entropy value. To study the statistical behavior of the selected pixels, detecting the entropy changes and consequently moving objects, Shannon, Tsallis, and Approximate entropies were employed. Although Tsallis entropy achieved very high results in real-time, Approximate entropy showed results slightly better but in greater time.

Keywords: convex hull, dynamic ROI detection, pixel entropy, time series, moving objects

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Venkataramana Sovenahalli Badigar, B. M. Suryakanth, Akshar Prasanna, Karthik Veeramalai, Vishwak Ram Vishwak Ram

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Technological advances have led to widespread autonomy in vehicles. Empowering these autonomous with the intelligence to cooperate amongst themselves leads to a more efficient use of the resources available to them. This paper proposes a demonstration of a swarm algorithm implemented on a group of autonomous vehicles. The demonstration involves two ground bots and an aerial drone which cooperate amongst them to locate an object of interest. The object of interest is modelled using a high-intensity light source which acts as a beacon. The ground bots are light sensitive and move towards the beacon. The ground bots and the drone traverse in random paths and jointly locate the beacon. This finds application in various scenarios in where human interference is difficult such as search and rescue during natural disasters, delivering crucial packages in perilous situations, etc. Experimental results show that the modified swarm algorithm implemented in this system has better performance compared to fully random based moving algorithm for object localization and tracking.

Keywords: swarm algorithm, object localization, ground bots, drone, beacon

Procedia PDF Downloads 257

Authors: Hong Lu, Xiong Xiao

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Shaft parts are widely used in machinery industry, however, bending deformation often occurred when this kind of parts is being heat treated. This parts needs to be straightened to meet the requirement of straightness. As for the pressure straightening process, a good straightening stroke algorithm is related to the precision and efficiency of straightening process. In this paper, the relationship between straightening load and deflection during the straightening process is analyzed, and the mathematical model of the straightening process has been established. By the mathematical model, the iterative method is used to solve the straightening stroke. Compared to the traditional straightening stroke algorithm, straightening stroke calculated by this method is much more precise; because it can adapt to the change of material performance parameters. Considering that the straightening method is widely used in the mass production of the shaft parts, knowledge base is used to store the data of the straightening process, and a straightening stroke algorithm based on empirical data is set up. In this paper, the straightening process control model which combine the straightening stroke method based on iteration and straightening stroke algorithm based on empirical data has been set up. Finally, an experiment has been designed to verify the straightening process control model.

Keywords: straightness, straightening stroke, deflection, shaft parts

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Authors: O. Ualibek, C. Spitas, V. Inglezakis, G. Itskos

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This study presents simulations of an aluminium melt containing an initially non-dispersed fly ash nanoparticle phase. Mixing is affected predominantly by means of forced extensional flow via either straight or slanted orifices. The sensitivity to various process parameters is determined. The simulated process is used for the production of cast fly ash-aluminium nanocomposites. The possibilities for rod and plate stock grading in the context of a continuous casting process implementation are discussed.

Keywords: metal matrix composites, fly ash nanoparticles, aluminium 2024, agglomeration

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: Donatella Giuliani

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In this research, we propose an unsupervised grayscale image segmentation method based on a combination of the Firefly Algorithm and the Gaussian Mixture Model. Firstly, the Firefly Algorithm has been applied in a histogram-based research of cluster means. The Firefly Algorithm is a stochastic global optimization technique, centered on the flashing characteristics of fireflies. In this context it has been performed to determine the number of clusters and the related cluster means in a histogram-based segmentation approach. Successively these means are used in the initialization step for the parameter estimation of a Gaussian Mixture Model. The parametric probability density function of a Gaussian Mixture Model is represented as a weighted sum of Gaussian component densities, whose parameters are evaluated applying the iterative Expectation-Maximization technique. The coefficients of the linear super-position of Gaussians can be thought as prior probabilities of each component. Applying the Bayes rule, the posterior probabilities of the grayscale intensities have been evaluated, therefore their maxima are used to assign each pixel to the clusters, according to their gray-level values. The proposed approach appears fairly solid and reliable when applied even to complex grayscale images. The validation has been performed by using different standard measures, more precisely: the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), the Structural Content (SC), the Normalized Correlation Coefficient (NK) and the Davies-Bouldin (DB) index. The achieved results have strongly confirmed the robustness of this gray scale segmentation method based on a metaheuristic algorithm. Another noteworthy advantage of this methodology is due to the use of maxima of responsibilities for the pixel assignment that implies a consistent reduction of the computational costs.

Keywords: clustering images, firefly algorithm, Gaussian mixture model, meta heuristic algorithm, image segmentation

Procedia PDF Downloads 217

Authors: Tabrej Khan

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Examination Scheduling System (ESS) is a scheduling system that targets as an exam committee in any academic institute to help them in managing the exams automatically. We present an algorithm for Examination Scheduling System. Nowadays, many universities have challenges with creating examination schedule fast with less confliction compared to hand works. Our aims are to develop a computerized system that can be used in examination scheduling in an academic institute versus available resources (Time, Hall, Invigilator and instructor) with no contradiction and achieve fairness among students. ESS was developed using HTML, C# language, Crystal Report and ASP.NET through Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 as developing tools with integrated SQL server database. This application can produce some benefits such as reducing the time spent in creating an exam schedule and achieving fairness among students

Keywords: examination scheduling system (ESS), algorithm, ASP.NET, crystal report

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Authors: Saad M. Darwish, Mohamed A. El-Iskandarani, Guitar M. Shawkat

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Nowadays, the amount of available multimedia data is continuously on the rise. The need to find a required image for an ordinary user is a challenging task. Content based image retrieval (CBIR) computes relevance based on the visual similarity of low-level image features such as color, textures, etc. However, there is a gap between low-level visual features and semantic meanings required by applications. The typical method of bridging the semantic gap is through the automatic image annotation (AIA) that extracts semantic features using machine learning techniques. In this paper, a multi-label image annotation system guided by Firefly and Bayesian method is proposed. Firstly, images are segmented using the maximum variance intra cluster and Firefly algorithm, which is a swarm-based approach with high convergence speed, less computation rate and search for the optimal multiple threshold. Feature extraction techniques based on color features and region properties are applied to obtain the representative features. After that, the images are annotated using translation model based on the Net Bayes system, which is efficient for multi-label learning with high precision and less complexity. Experiments are performed using Corel Database. The results show that the proposed system is better than traditional ones for automatic image annotation and retrieval.

Keywords: feature extraction, feature selection, image annotation, classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 586

Authors: Rui Lança, Elisa Silva, Fátima Farinha, Miguel José Oliveira, Manuel Duarte Pinheiro, Cátia Miguel

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Tourism has a great potential to bring up progress across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). If well managed and monitored, the tourism sector can create quality jobs, reduce poorness and offer incentives for environmental preservation, helping on the transition towards more inclusive and resilient economies. However, without proper safeguards and investments, expansion of the tourism market will increase pressure on biodiversity and the ecosystems on which the livelihoods of local communities depend. Competitivity is a key dimension in tourism, sustainable tourism challenge new dimensions to competitivity, namely environmental, social, institutional and economic achieve a medium and long-term competitivity. It is undoubtedly clear on the tourism sector, the importance of the region sustainability in the current touristic destinations offer. The basis of a tourism region prosperity will depend on /of it. The OBSERVE project intends to be an instrument for monitoring and evaluating the sustainability levels of the Algarve region. Its main objective is to provide environmental, economic, social-cultural and institutional indicators to support the decision-making process for a sustainable growth of the region. The project´s main goal is a digital portal with the most relevant indicators to allow evaluating and communicating the performance of the region in a sustainable growth perspective. This paper presents the OBSERVE project and highlights the potential contribution to a broad perspective of competitivity and its contribution for different stakeholders and the touristic value chain. Limitations and opportunities are also discussed.

Keywords: sustainable tourism, competitivity, OBSERVE project, Algarve region

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Authors: Dorottya Guban, Irina Borbath, Istvan Bakos, Peter Nemeth, Andras Tompos

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One of the greatest challenges of the implementation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is to find active and durable electrocatalysts. The cell performance is always limited by the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on the cathode since it is at least 6 orders of magnitude slower than the hydrogen oxidation on the anode. Therefore high loading of Pt is required. Catalyst corrosion is also more significant on the cathode, especially in case of mobile applications, where rapid changes of loading have to be tolerated. Pt-Sn bulk alloys and SnO2-decorated Pt3Sn nanostructures are among the most studied bimetallic systems for fuel cell applications. Exclusive formation of supported Sn-Pt alloy phases with different Pt/Sn ratios can be achieved by using controlled surface reactions (CSRs) between hydrogen adsorbed on Pt sites and tetraethyl tin. In this contribution our results for commercial and a home-made 20 wt.% Pt/C catalysts modified by tin anchoring via CSRs are presented. The parent Pt/C catalysts were synthesized by modified NaBH4-assisted ethylene-glycol reduction method using ethanol as a solvent, which resulted either in dispersed and highly stable Pt nanoparticles or evenly distributed raspberry-like agglomerates according to the chosen synthesis parameters. The 20 wt.% Pt/C catalysts prepared that way showed improved electrocatalytic performance in the ORR and stability in comparison to the commercial 20 wt.% Pt/C catalysts. Then, in order to obtain Sn-Pt/C catalysts with Pt/Sn= 3 ratio, the Pt/C catalysts were modified with tetraethyl tin (SnEt4) using three and five consecutive tin anchoring periods. According to in situ XPS studies in case of catalysts with highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles, pre-treatment in hydrogen even at 170°C resulted in complete reduction of the ionic tin to Sn0. No evidence of the presence of SnO2 phase was found by means of the XRD and EDS analysis. These results demonstrate that the method of CSRs is a powerful tool to create Pt-Sn bimetallic nanoparticles exclusively, without tin deposition onto the carbon support. On the contrary, the XPS results revealed that the tin-modified catalysts with raspberry-like Pt agglomerates always contained a fraction of non-reducible tin oxide. At the same time, they showed increased activity and long-term stability in the ORR than Pt/C, which was assigned to the presence of SnO2 in close proximity/contact with Pt-Sn alloy phase. It has been demonstrated that the content and dispersion of the fcc Pt3Sn phase within the electrocatalysts can be controlled by tuning the reaction conditions of CSRs. The bimetallic catalysts displayed an outstanding performance in the ORR. The preparation of a highly dispersed 20Pt/C catalyst permits to decrease the Pt content without relevant decline in the electrocatalytic performance of the catalysts.

Keywords: anode catalyst, cathode catalyst, controlled surface reactions, oxygen reduction reaction, PtSn/C electrocatalyst

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Authors: Numfon Rakkhumkaew, Takeru Kawasaki, Makoto Fujie, Takashi Yamada

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Chlorella viruses or chloroviruses contain a gene that encodes a function for chitin synthesis, which is expressed early in viral infection to produce chitin polysaccharide, a polymer of β-1, 4-linked GlcNAc, on the outside of Chlorella cell wall. Interestingly, chlorovirus system is an eco-friendly system which converses CO2 and solar energy from the environment into useful materials. However, infected Chlorella cells are lysed at the final stage of viral infection, and this phenomenon is caused the breaking down of polysaccharide. To postpone the lysing period and prolong the synthesis of chitin polysaccharide on cells, the slow growing virus incorporated with aphidicolin treatment, an inhibitor of DNA synthesis, was investigated. In this study, a total of 25 virus isolates from water samples in Japan region were analyzed for CHS (the gene for CH synthase) gene by PCR (polymerase chain reaction). The accumulation and appearance of chitin polysaccharide on infected cells were detected by biotinylated chitin-binding proteins WGA (wheat germ agglutinin)-biotin for chitin in conjunction with avidin-Cy 2 or Cy 3 and investigated by fluorescence microscopy, observed as green or yellow fluorescence over the cell surface. Among all chlorovirus isolates, cells infected with CNF1 revealed the accumulation of chitin over the cell surface within 30 min p.i. and continued to accumulate on cells until 4 h p.i. before cell lyses which was 1.6 times longer accumulation period than cells infected with CVK2 (prototype virus). Furthermore, addition of aphidicolin could extend the chitin accumulation on cells infected with CNF1 until 8 h p.i. before cell lyses. Whereas, CVK2-infected cells treated with aphidicolin could prolong the chitin synthesis only for 6 h p.i. before cell lyses. Therefore, chitin synthesis by Chlorella-virus system could be prolonged by using slow-growing viral isolates and with aphidicolin.

Keywords: chitin, chlorovirus, Chlorella virus, aphidicolin

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Authors: Pushpendra Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, R. Balasubramanian

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Estimation of optical flow from a sequence of images using variational methods is one of the most successful approach. Discontinuity between different motions is one of the challenging problem in flow estimation. In this paper, we design a new anisotropic diffusion operator, which is able to provide smooth flow over a region and efficiently preserve discontinuity in optical flow. This operator is designed on the basis of intensity differences of the pixels and isotropic operator using exponential function. The combination of these are used to control the propagation of flow. Experimental results on the different datasets verify the robustness and accuracy of the algorithm and also validate the effect of anisotropic operator in the discontinuity preserving.

Keywords: optical flow, variational methods, computer vision, anisotropic operator

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Authors: A. Baviskar, C. Sandeep, K. Shankar

Abstract:

Solving Multi-objective Optimization Problems requires faster convergence and better spread. Though existing Evolutionary Algorithms (EA's) are able to achieve this, the computation effort can further be reduced by hybridizing them with innovative strategies. This study is focuses on converging to the pareto front faster while adapting the advantages of Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm-II (SPEA-II) for a better spread. Two different approaches based on optimizing the objective functions independently are implemented. In the first method, the decision variables corresponding to the optima of individual objective functions are strategically used to guide the search towards the pareto front. In the second method, boundary points of the pareto front are calculated and their decision variables are seeded to the initial population. Both the methods are applied to different constrained and unconstrained multi-objective test functions. It is observed that proposed guided search based algorithm gives better convergence and diversity than several well-known existing algorithms (such as NSGA-II and SPEA-II) in considerably less number of iterations.

Keywords: boundary points, evolutionary algorithms (EA's), guided search, strength pareto evolutionary algorithm-II (SPEA-II)

Procedia PDF Downloads 277

Authors: Mabrouka Algherinai, Fatma Karkouri

Abstract:

Today, Short Message Service (SMS) is an important means of communication. SMS is not only used in informal environment for communication and transaction, but it is also used in formal environments such as institutions, organizations, companies, and business world as a tool for communication and transactions. Therefore, there is a need to secure the information that is being transmitted through this medium to ensure security of information both in transit and at rest. But, encryption has been identified as a means to provide security to SMS messages in transit and at rest. Several past researches have proposed and developed several encryption algorithms for SMS and Information Security. This research aims at comparing the performance of common Asymmetric encryption algorithms on SMS security. The research employs the use of three algorithms, namely RSA, McEliece, and RABIN. Several experiments were performed on SMS of various sizes on android mobile device. The experimental results show that each of the three techniques has different key generation, encryption, and decryption times. The efficiency of an algorithm is determined by the time that it takes for encryption, decryption, and key generation. The best algorithm can be chosen based on the least time required for encryption. The obtained results show the least time when McEliece size 4096 is used. RABIN size 4096 gives most time for encryption and so it is the least effective algorithm when considering encryption. Also, the research shows that McEliece size 2048 has the least time for key generation, and hence, it is the best algorithm as relating to key generation. The result of the algorithms also shows that RSA size 1024 is the most preferable algorithm in terms of decryption as it gives the least time for decryption.

Keywords: SMS, RSA, McEliece, RABIN

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Delowar Hossain, Genci Capi

Abstract:

This paper concerns with the problem of deep learning parameters tuning using a genetic algorithm (GA) in order to improve the performance of deep learning (DL) method. We present a GA based DL method for robot object recognition and grasping. GA is used to optimize the DL parameters in learning procedure in term of the fitness function that is good enough. After finishing the evolution process, we receive the optimal number of DL parameters. To evaluate the performance of our method, we consider the object recognition and robot grasping tasks. Experimental results show that our method is efficient for robot object recognition and grasping.

Keywords: deep learning, genetic algorithm, object recognition, robot grasping

Procedia PDF Downloads 353