Search results for: expert assessments are used. In the proposed methodology

Authors: L. Hassaine, A. Mraoui, M. R. Bengourina

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In photovoltaic system, connected to the grid, the main goal is to control the power that the inverter injects into the grid from the energy provided by the photovoltaic generator. This paper proposes a control technique for a photovoltaic system connected to the grid based on the digital pulse-width modulation (DSPWM) which can synchronise a sinusoidal current output with a grid voltage and generate power at unity power factor. This control is based on H-Bridge inverter controlled by bipolar PWM Switching. The electrical scheme of the system is presented. Simulations results of output voltage and current validate the impact of this method to determinate the appropriate control of the system. A digital design of a generator PWM using VHDL is proposed and implemented on a Xilinx FPGA.

Keywords: grid connected photovoltaic system, H-Bridge inverter, control, bipolar PWM

Procedia PDF Downloads 321

Authors: Fadzel Wong Chee Ping, Chee Keong Chen, Foong Kiew Ooi, Mahaneem Mohamed

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Introduction: To date, information on the effects of bee bread supplementation on isokinetic muscular performance are lacking. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the effects of 8-week bee bread supplementation on isokinetic muscular strength and power in young athletes. Methodology: Twelve male athletes (age: 24.0±1.8 years; BMI: 22.3 ± 1.3 kg.m-2; VO2max: 52.0 ± 2.8 mL.kg-1.min-1) were recruited in this randomised double blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. Participants consumed either bee bread at a dosage of 20 g.d-1 or placebo for 8 weeks. An isokinetic dynamometer was used to measure participants’ lower limb muscular strength and power prior (pre-test) and post (post-test) 8 weeks of experimental period. Testing angular velocities were set at 180o.s-1 and 300o.s-1 to determine knee flexion and extension muscular peak torque (an indicator of muscular strength) and average power of the participants. Statistical analyses were performed using ANOVA with repeated measures. Results: Isokinetic knee extension peak torque and average power at 180o.s-1, and isokinetic knee flexion peak torque and average power at 180o.s-1 were significantly (p<0.05) higher at post-test compared to pre-test with bee bread supplementation. However, significant differences were not observed in the measured parameters between pre- and post-test with placebo supplementation. Conclusion: Supplementation of bee bread for 8 weeks at a dosage of 20 g daily increased some of the measured isokinetic muscular strength and power parameters in young athletes.

Keywords: bee bread, isokinetic, power, strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 260

Authors: Marine Kobalava

Abstract:

Modern forms of public relations function in an integrated manner together with marketing communication in business companies. This ensures continuity of communication, elimination of duplication in activities, reduction of costs, and strengthening and efficient use of communication means. There exist a number of challenges in implementing integrated forms of public relations in Georgia, especially in terms of marketing communications and strategies. Objectives: The goal of the study is to reveal public relations challenges in Georgian business companies and to develop recommendations along with perfecting marketing communications and strategies. Methodologies: Bibliographic and empirical research has been conducted. Analysis, induction, synthesis, and other methods have been used. Contributions: The challenges of Public relations in Georgia are identified; the perception of different population groups on integrated forms of PR is determined; effective forms of marketing communication are defined; mechanisms for developing marketing strategies are proposed.

Keywords: public relations, challenges, marketing communication, strategy

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Osama Terra, Hatem Hussein

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Calibration of Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) is crucial for the accurate determination of loss budget for long optical fiber links. In this paper, the calibration of the attenuation scale of an OTDR using two different techniques is discussed and implemented. The first technique is the external modulation method (EM). A setup is proposed to calibrate an OTDR over a dynamic range of around 15 dB based on the EM method. Afterwards, the OTDR is calibrated using two standard reference fibers (SRF). Both SRF are calibrated using cut-back technique; one of them is calibrated at our home institute (the National Institute of Standards – NIS) while the other at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) of the United Kingdom to confirm our results. In addition, the parameters contributing the calibration uncertainty are thoroughly investigated. Although the EM method has several advantages over the SRF method, the uncertainties in the SRF method is found to surpass that of the EM method.

Keywords: optical time domain reflectometer, fiber attenuation measurement, OTDR calibration, external source method

Procedia PDF Downloads 467

Authors: Eli Maria Forti-Pazzianotto, Carolina Moraes Da Costa, Daniela Faleiros Berteli Merino, Maura Rigoldi Simões Da Rocha, Irineu Rasera-Junior

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There is no conclusive evidence to support the use of one type or brand of incentive espirometry over others. The decision as to which equipment is best, have being based on empirical assessment of patient acceptance, ease of use, and cost. The aim was to evaluate the effects of use of two methodologies of breathing exercises, performed by flow-oriented incentive spirometry, in the reversal of diaphragmatic dysfunction in postoperative bariatric surgery. 38 morbid obese women were selected. Respiratory muscle strength was evaluated through the nasal inspiratory pressure (NIP), and the respiratory muscles endurance, through incremental test by measurement of sustained maximal inspiratory pressure (SMIP). They were randomized in 2 groups: 1- Respiron® Classic (RC) the inspirations were slow, deep and sustained for as long as possible (5 sec). 2- Respiron® Athletic1 (RA1) - the inspirations were explosive, quick and intense, raising balls by the explosive way. 6 sets of 15 repetitions with intervals of 30 to 60 seconds were performed in groups. At the end of the intervention program (second PO), the volunteers were reevaluated. The groups were homogeneous with regard to initial assessment. However on reevaluating there was a significant decline of the variable PIN (p= < 0.0001) and SMIP (p=0.0004) in RC. In the RA1 group there was a maintenance of SMIP (p=0.5076) after surgery. The use of the Respiron Athletic 1, as well as the methodology of application used, can contribute positively to preserve the inspiratory muscle endurance and improve the diaphragmatic dysfunction in postoperative period.

Keywords: bariatric surgery, incentive spirometry, respiratory muscle, physiotherapy

Procedia PDF Downloads 374

Authors: Abdollah Kavousi Fard

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This paper addresses the optimal scheduling of hybrid reconfigurable microgrids considering hybrid electric vehicle charging demands. A stochastic framework based on unscented transform to model the high uncertainties of renewable energy sources including wind turbine and photovoltaic panels, as well as the hybrid electric vehicles’ charging demand. In order to get to the optimal scheduling, the network reconfiguration is employed as an effective tool for changing the power supply path and avoiding possible congestions. The simulation results are analyzed and discussed in three different scenarios including coordinated, uncoordinated and smart charging demand of hybrid electric vehicles. A typical grid-connected microgrid is employed to show the satisfying performance of the proposed method.

Keywords: microgrid, renewable energy sources, reconfiguration, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: Yaseri Dahlia Apritasari

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Visual comfort is important for the building occupants to need. Visual comfort can be fulfilled through natural lighting (daylighting) and artificial lighting. One strategy to optimize natural lighting can be achieved through the facade second skin design. This strategy can reduce glare, and fulfill visual comfort need. However, the design strategy cannot achieve light intensity for visual comfort. Because the materials, design and opening percentage of the facade of second skin blocked sunlight. This paper discusses aluminum material for the facade second skin design that can fulfill the optimal visual comfort with the case studies Multi Media Tower building. The methodology of the research is combination quantitative and qualitative through field study observed, lighting measurement and visual comfort questionnaire. Then it used too simulation modeling (DIALUX 4.13, 2016) for three facades second skin design model. Through following steps; (1) Measuring visual comfort factor: light intensity indoor and outdoor; (2) Taking visual comfort data from building occupants; (3) Making models with different facade second skin design; (3) Simulating and analyzing the light intensity value for each models that meet occupants visual comfort standard: 350 lux (Indonesia National Standard, 2010). The result shows that optimization of aluminum material for the facade second skin design can meet optimal visual comfort for building occupants. The result can give recommendation aluminum opening percentage of the facade second skin can meet optimal visual comfort for building occupants.

Keywords: aluminium material, Facade, second skin, visual comfort

Procedia PDF Downloads 356

Authors: Adedayo Johnson Ogungbile, Ayodeji Emmanuel Oke, Oluwaseyi Alabi Awodele

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This study examines the role of emotional intelligence (EI) as a predictor of job satisfaction within the Nigerian construction industry. Utilizing a methodology that combines mean comparison and correlation analysis, the research explores how EI influences job satisfaction across diverse demographic and professional categories. The construction industry, known for its dynamic and often challenging work environment, provides a unique context to investigate how EI contributes to employee satisfaction. The findings reveal a significant positive correlation between EI and job satisfaction across the industry. Gender-based analysis shows that male employees typically report higher EI and job satisfaction levels compared to their female counterparts, although the impact of EI on job satisfaction is more substantial among women. The study further explores the relationship between trait EI and specific job satisfaction categories, identifying a general positive association with overall job satisfaction but not with supervisor-related satisfaction. Employees are categorized into four EI classes, consistently showing that higher EI levels correspond to greater job satisfaction. These findings align with existing literature, underscoring EI's pivotal role in enhancing job satisfaction in the construction sector. The study concludes that fostering EI among construction industry professionals can lead to improved job satisfaction and performance. Consequently, organizations are encouraged to integrate EI development into their professional growth programs to cultivate a more satisfied and effective workforce. In essence, this research highlights the importance of EI as a key predictor of job satisfaction in the Nigerian construction industry, providing valuable insights for both industry stakeholders and researchers into the benefits of prioritizing emotional intelligence in this high-stakes environment.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, job satisfaction, construction industry, workforce productivity, demographics

Procedia PDF Downloads 26

Authors: Faiza Hussain, Usman Qamar

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Synonym-based searching is recognized to be a complicated problem as text mining from unstructured data of web is challenging. Finding useful information which matches user need from bulk of web pages is a cumbersome task. In this paper, a novel and practical synonym retrieval technique is proposed for addressing this problem. For replacement of semantics, user intent is taken into consideration to realize the technique. Parts-of-Speech tagging is applied for pattern generation of the query and a thesaurus for this experiment was formed and used. Comparison with Non-Context Based Searching, Context Based searching proved to be a more efficient approach while dealing with linguistic semantics. This approach is very beneficial in doing intent based searching. Finally, results and future dimensions are presented.

Keywords: natural language processing, text mining, information retrieval, parts-of-speech tagging, grammar, semantics

Procedia PDF Downloads 312

Authors: Gregory E. Ofili

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Introduction and Objective: Climate change and a global economy mean farmers must adapt and gain access to affordable and reliable automation technologies. Key barriers include a lack of transportation, electricity, and internet service, coupled with costly enabling technologies and limited local subject matter expertise. Methodology/Approach: Resourcefulness is essential to mechanization on a farm. This runs contrary to the tech industry practice of planned obsolescence and disposal. One solution is plug-and-play hardware that allows farmer to assemble, repair, program, and service their own fleet of industrial machines. To that end, we developed a method of manufacturing low-cost utility robots, transport vehicles, and solar/wind energy harvesting systems, all running on an open-source Robot Operating System (ROS). We demonstrate this technology by fabricating a utility robot and an all-terrain (4X4) utility vehicle. Constructed of aluminum trusses and weighing just 40 pounds, yet capable of transporting 200 pounds of cargo, on sale for less than $2,000. Conclusions & Policy Implications: Electricity, internet, and automation are essential for productivity and competitiveness. With planned obsolescence, the priorities of technology suppliers are not aligned with the farmer’s realities. This patent-pending method of manufacturing low-cost industrial robots and electric vehicles has met its objective. To create low-cost machines, the farmer can assemble, program, and repair with basic hand tools.

Keywords: automation, robotics, utility robot, small-hold farm, robot operating system

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Seongsoo Lee

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Motion estimation occupies the heaviest computation in HEVC (high efficiency video coding). Many fast algorithms such as TZS (test zone search) have been proposed to reduce the computation. Still the huge computation of the motion estimation is a critical issue in the implementation of HEVC video codec. In this paper, motion estimator architecture with optimized number of PEs (processing element) is presented by exploiting early termination. It also reduces hardware size by exploiting parallel processing. The presented motion estimator architecture has 8 PEs, and it can efficiently perform TZS with very high utilization of PEs.

Keywords: motion estimation, test zone search, high efficiency video coding, processing element, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: Wafa’ Alma'Aitah, Khaled Almakadmeh

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this study presents an information retrieval system of using genetic algorithm to increase information retrieval efficiency. Using vector space model, information retrieval is based on the similarity measurement between query and documents. Documents with high similarity to query are judge more relevant to the query and should be retrieved first. Using genetic algorithms, each query is represented by a chromosome; these chromosomes are fed into genetic operator process: selection, crossover, and mutation until an optimized query chromosome is obtained for document retrieval. Results show that information retrieval with adaptive crossover probability and single point type crossover and roulette wheel as selection type give the highest recall. The proposed approach is verified using (242) proceedings abstracts collected from the Saudi Arabian national conference.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, information retrieval, optimal queries, crossover

Procedia PDF Downloads 298

Authors: Saeedeh Barzegar Khalilsaraei, Manoocheher Kelarestaghi, Farshad Eshghi

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The vehicle color, as a prominent and stable feature, helps to identify a vehicle more accurately. As a result, vehicle color recognition is of great importance in intelligent transportation systems. Unlike conventional methods which use only a single Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for feature extraction or classification, in this paper, four CNNs, with different architectures well-performing in different classes, are trained to extract various features from the input image. To take advantage of the distinct capability of each network, the multiple outputs are combined using a stack generalization algorithm as an ensemble technique. As a result, the final model performs better than each CNN individually in vehicle color identification. The evaluation results in terms of overall average accuracy and accuracy variance show the proposed method’s outperformance compared to the state-of-the-art rivals.

Keywords: Vehicle Color Recognition, Ensemble Algorithm, Stack Generalization, Convolutional Neural Network

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Huai-Cong Liu, Tae Chul Jeong, Ju Lee

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The aim of this study was to develop an electric circuit method (ECM) to ascertain the core loss influence on a Synchronous Reluctance Motor (SynRM) in the condition of the maximum torque per ampere (MTPA). SynRM for fan usually operates on the constant torque region, at synchronous speed the MTPA control is adopted due to current vector. However, finite element analysis (FEA) program is not sufficient exactly to reflect how the core loss influenced on the current vector. This paper proposed a method to calculate the current vector with consideration of core loss. The precision of current vector by ECM is useful for MTPA control. The result shows that ECM analysis is closer to the actual motor’s characteristics by testing with a 7.5kW SynRM drive System.

Keywords: core loss, SynRM, current vector, magnetic saturation, maximum torque per ampere (MTPA)

Procedia PDF Downloads 535

Authors: Asma’a Mahfoud, Abu Bakar Md. Sultan, Abdul Azim Abd, Norhayati Mohd Ali, Novia Admodisastro

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Obfuscation is a practice to make something difficult and complicated. Programming code is ordinarily obfuscated to protect the intellectual property (IP) and prevent the attacker from reverse engineering (RE) a copyrighted software program. Obfuscation may involve encrypting some or all the code, transforming out potentially revealing data, renaming useful classes and variables (identifiers) names to meaningless labels, or adding unused or meaningless code to an application binary. Obfuscation techniques were not performing effectively recently as the reversing tools are able to break the obfuscated code. We propose in this paper a hybrid obfuscation technique that contains three approaches of renaming. Experimentation was conducted to test the effectiveness of the proposed technique. The experimentation has presented a promising result, where the reversing tools were not able to read the code.

Keywords: intellectual property, obfuscation, software security, reverse engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Osama Mohamed Elrajubi, Idris El-Feghi, Mohamed Abu Baker Saghayer

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This paper describes an identification of specific shapes within binary images using the morphological Hit-or-Miss Transform (HMT). Hit-or-Miss transform is a general binary morphological operation that can be used in searching of particular patterns of foreground and background pixels in an image. It is actually a basic operation of binary morphology since almost all other binary morphological operators are derived from it. The input of this method is a binary image and a structuring element (a template which will be searched in a binary image) while the output is another binary image. In this paper a modification of Hit-or-Miss transform has been proposed. The accuracy of algorithm is adjusted according to the similarity of the template and the sought template. The implementation of this method has been done by C language. The algorithm has been tested on several images and the results have shown that this new method can be used for similar shape detection.

Keywords: hit-or-miss operator transform, HMT, binary morphological operation, shape detection, binary images processing

Procedia PDF Downloads 338

Authors: Cheng-Lin Liu, Fei Liu

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For the multi-agent systems with agent's dynamics described by high-order integrator, and usual consensus algorithm composed of the state coordination control parts is proposed. Under communication delay, consensus algorithm in asynchronously-coupled form just can make the agents achieve a stationary consensus, and sufficient consensus condition is obtained based on frequency-domain analysis. To recover the original consensus state of the high-order agents without communication delay, besides, a predictor-based consensus algorithm is constructed via multiplying the delayed neighboring agents' states by a delay-related compensation part, and sufficient consensus condition is also obtained. Simulation illustrates the correctness of the results.

Keywords: high-order dynamic agents, communication delay, consensus, predictor-based algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 574

Authors: Selcuk Comlekci, Mohammed Aboajmaa

Abstract:

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is promising technique for the modern wireless communications systems due to its robustness against multipath environment. The high peak to average power ratio (PAPR) of the transmitted signal is one of the major drawbacks of OFDM system, PAPR degrade the performance of bit error rate (BER) and effect on the linear characteristics of high power amplifier (HPA). In this paper, we proposed DHT-Clipping reduction technique to reduce the high PAPR by the combination between discrete Hartley transform (DHT) and Clipping techniques. From the simulation results, we notified that DHT-Clipping technique offers better PAPR reduction than DHT and Clipping, as well as DHT-Clipping introduce improved BER performance better than clipping.

Keywords: ISI, cyclic prefix, BER, PAPR, HPA, DHT, subcarrier

Procedia PDF Downloads 441

Authors: Zine-Eddine Bouras, Abdelouaheb Talai

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During the last two decades, the software evolution community has intensively tackled the software merging issue whose main objective is to merge in a consistent way different versions of software in order to obtain a new version. Well-established approaches, mainly based on the dependence analysis techniques, have been used to bring suitable solutions. These approaches concern the source code or software architectures. However, these solutions are more expensive due to the complexity and size. In this paper, we overcome this problem by operating at a high level of abstraction. The objective of this paper is to investigate the software merging at the level of UML activity diagrams, which is a new interesting issue. Its purpose is to merge activity diagrams instead of source code. The proposed approach, based on dependence analysis techniques, is illustrated through an appropriate case study.

Keywords: activity diagram, activity diagram slicing, dependency analysis, software merging

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Nadia Akkari

Abstract:

This paper presents the analysis and simulation of the control of double star induction motor, using direct torque control (DTC) based on RST regulator. The DTC is an excellent solution for general- purpose induction drives in very wide range the short sampling time required by the TC schemes makes them suited to a very fast torque and flux controlled drives as well the simplicity of the control algorithm. DTC is inherently a motion sensorless control method. The RST regulator can improve the double star induction motor performance in terms of overshoot, rapidity, cancellation of disturbance, and capacity to maintain a high level of performance. Simulation results indicate that the proposed regulator has better performance responses. The implementation of the DTC applied to a double star induction motor based on RST regulator is validated with simulated results.

Keywords: Direct Torque Control (DTC), Double Star Induction Motor (DSIM), RST Regulator

Procedia PDF Downloads 522

Authors: E. A. Mlybari, M. S. Elbisy, A. H. Alshahri, O. M. Albarakati

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Sea level rise threatens to increase the impact of future storms and hurricanes on coastal communities. Accurate sea level change prediction and supplement is an important task in determining constructions and human activities in coastal and oceanic areas. In this study, support vector machines (SVM) is proposed to predict daily tidal levels along the Jeddah Coast, Saudi Arabia. The optimal parameter values of kernel function are determined using a genetic algorithm. The SVM results are compared with the field data and with back propagation (BP). Among the models, the SVM is superior to BPNN and has better generalization performance.

Keywords: tides, prediction, support vector machines, genetic algorithm, back-propagation neural network, risk, hazards

Procedia PDF Downloads 471

Authors: Charline David, Alexandre Blondin Massé, Arnaud Zinflou

Abstract:

In 2016, Clements, Hurn, and Li proposed a multiple equation time series approach for the short-term load forecasting, reporting an average mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 1.36% on an 11-years dataset for the Queensland region in Australia. We present an adaptation of their model to the electrical power load consumption for the whole Quebec province in Canada. More precisely, we take into account two additional meteorological variables — cloudiness and wind speed — on top of temperature, as well as the use of multiple meteorological measurements taken at different locations on the territory. We also consider other minor improvements. Our final model shows an average MAPE score of 1:79% over an 8-years dataset.

Keywords: short-term load forecasting, special days, time series, multiple equations, parallelization, clustering

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Vijay Kr. Yadav, Nilam Rathi

Abstract:

Accurate prediction of glucose level for diabetes mellitus is required to avoid affecting the functioning of major organs of human body. This study describes the fundamental assumptions and two different methodologies of the Blood glucose prediction. First is based on the back-propagation algorithm of Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and second is based on the Neuro-Fuzzy technique, called Fuzzy Inference System (FIS). Errors between proposed methods further discussed through various statistical methods such as mean square error (MSE), normalised mean absolute error (NMAE). The main objective of present study is to develop mathematical model for blood glucose prediction before 12 hours advanced using data set of three patients for 60 days. The comparative studies of the accuracy with other existing models are also made with same data set.

Keywords: back-propagation, diabetes mellitus, fuzzy inference system, neuro-fuzzy

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Anees K. Ahamed, Aakash Kumar R. G., Raj M. Mohan

Abstract:

The main objective is to apply lean tools to identify and eliminate waste in and among the work stations so as to improve the process speed and quality. From the top seven wastes in the lean concept, we consider the movement of materials, defects, and inventory for the improvement since these cause the major impact on the performance measures. The layout was improved to reduce the movement of materials. It also quantifies the reduction in movement among the work stations. Value stream mapping has been used for identification of waste. Cause and effect diagram and 5W analysis are used to identify the reasons for defects and to provide the counter measures. Some cycle time reduction techniques also proposed to improve the productivity. Lean Audit check sheet was also used to identify the current position of the industry and to identify the gap to make the industry Lean.

Keywords: cause and effect diagram, cycle time reduction, defects, lean, waste reduction

Procedia PDF Downloads 390

Authors: Saeid Jalilzadeh

Abstract:

PID controllers are widely used to control the industrial plants because of their robustness and simple structures. Tuning of the controller's parameters to get a desired response is difficult and time consuming. With the development of computer technology and artificial intelligence in automatic control field, all kinds of parameters tuning methods of PID controller have emerged in endlessly, which bring much energy for the study of PID controller, but many advanced tuning methods behave not so perfect as to be expected. Honey Bee algorithm (HBA) and genetic algorithm (GA) are extensively used for real parameter optimization in diverse fields of study. This paper describes an application of HBA and GA to the problem of designing a PID controller whose parameters comprise proportionality constant, integral constant and derivative constant. Presence of three parameters to optimize makes the task of designing a PID controller more challenging than conventional P, PI, and PD controllers design. The suitability of the proposed approach has been demonstrated through computer simulation using MATLAB/SIMULINK.

Keywords: controller, GA, optimization, PID, PSO

Procedia PDF Downloads 546

Authors: Suleiman Hassan Otuoze, Dexter Vernon Lloyd Hunt, Ian Jefferson

Abstract:

Urbanization has continued to widen the gap between demand and resources available to provide resilient and sustainable transport services in many fast-growing developing countries' cities. Transport demand management is a decision-based optimization concept for both benchmarking and ensuring efficient use of transport resources. This study assesses the service quality of infrastructure and mobility services in the Nigerian cities of Kano and Lagos through five dimensions of quality (i.e., Tangibility, Reliability, Responsibility, Safety Assurance and Empathy). The methodology adopts a hybrid AHP-SERVQUAL model applied on questionnaire surveys to gauge the quality of satisfaction and the views of experts in the field. The AHP results prioritize tangibility, which defines the state of transportation infrastructure and services in terms of satisfaction qualities and intervention decision weights in the two cities. The results recorded ‘unsatisfactory’ indices of quality of performance and satisfaction rating values of 48% and 49% for Kano and Lagos, respectively. The satisfaction indices are identified as indicators of low performances of transportation demand management (TDM) measures and the necessity to re-order priorities and take proactive steps towards infrastructure. The findings pilot a framework for comparative assessment of recognizable standards in transport services, best ethics of management and a necessity of quality infrastructure to guarantee both resilient and sustainable urban mobility.

Keywords: transportation demand management, multi-criteria decision support, transport infrastructure, service quality, sustainable transport

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: Soyon Kim, Edward Kim

Abstract:

In order to retrieve information from the massive stream of songs in the music industry, music search by title, lyrics, artist, mood, and genre has become more important. Despite the subjectivity and controversy over the definition of music genres across different nations and cultures, automatic genre classification systems that facilitate the process of music categorization have been developed. Manual genre selection by music producers is being provided as statistical data for designing automatic genre classification systems. In this paper, an automatic music genre classification system utilizing non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is proposed. Short-term characteristics of the music signal can be captured based on the timbre features such as mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC), decorrelated filter bank (DFB), octave-based spectral contrast (OSC), and octave band sum (OBS). Long-term time-varying characteristics of the music signal can be summarized with (1) the statistical features such as mean, variance, minimum, and maximum of the timbre features and (2) the modulation spectrum features such as spectral flatness measure, spectral crest measure, spectral peak, spectral valley, and spectral contrast of the timbre features. Not only these conventional basic long-term feature vectors, but also NMF based feature vectors are proposed to be used together for genre classification. In the training stage, NMF basis vectors were extracted for each genre class. The NMF features were calculated in the log spectral magnitude domain (NMF-LSM) as well as in the basic feature vector domain (NMF-BFV). For NMF-LSM, an entire full band spectrum was used. However, for NMF-BFV, only low band spectrum was used since high frequency modulation spectrum of the basic feature vectors did not contain important information for genre classification. In the test stage, using the set of pre-trained NMF basis vectors, the genre classification system extracted the NMF weighting values of each genre as the NMF feature vectors. A support vector machine (SVM) was used as a classifier. The GTZAN multi-genre music database was used for training and testing. It is composed of 10 genres and 100 songs for each genre. To increase the reliability of the experiments, 10-fold cross validation was used. For a given input song, an extracted NMF-LSM feature vector was composed of 10 weighting values that corresponded to the classification probabilities for 10 genres. An NMF-BFV feature vector also had a dimensionality of 10. Combined with the basic long-term features such as statistical features and modulation spectrum features, the NMF features provided the increased accuracy with a slight increase in feature dimensionality. The conventional basic features by themselves yielded 84.0% accuracy, but the basic features with NMF-LSM and NMF-BFV provided 85.1% and 84.2% accuracy, respectively. The basic features required dimensionality of 460, but NMF-LSM and NMF-BFV required dimensionalities of 10 and 10, respectively. Combining the basic features, NMF-LSM and NMF-BFV together with the SVM with a radial basis function (RBF) kernel produced the significantly higher classification accuracy of 88.3% with a feature dimensionality of 480.

Keywords: mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC), music genre classification, non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), support vector machine (SVM)

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Authors: Ayyaz Hussain, Tariq Sadad

Abstract:

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the widespread ailments among females globally. The early prognosis of BC can decrease the mortality rate. Exact findings of benign tumors can avoid unnecessary biopsies and further treatments of patients under investigation. However, due to variations in images, it is a tough job to isolate cancerous cases from normal and benign ones. The machine learning technique is widely employed in the classification of BC pattern and prognosis. In this research, a deep convolution neural network (DCNN) called AlexNet architecture is employed to get more discriminative features from breast tissues. To achieve higher accuracy, K-nearest neighbor (KNN) classifiers are employed as a substitute for the softmax layer in deep learning. The proposed model is tested on a widely used breast image database called MIAS dataset for experimental purposes and achieved 99% accuracy.

Keywords: breast cancer, DCNN, KNN, mammography

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: A. S. Ibrahim Mamane, S. Giljean, M.-J. Pac, G. L’Hostis

Abstract:

Fiber reinforced composite laminates are particularly subject to residual stresses due to their heterogeneity and the complex chemical, mechanical and thermal mechanisms that occur during their processing. Residual stresses are now well known to cause damage accumulation, shape instability, and behavior disturbance in composite parts. Many works exist in the literature on techniques for minimizing residual stresses in thermosetting and thermoplastic composites mainly. To study in-depth the influence of processing mechanisms on the formation of residual stresses and to minimize them by establishing a reliable correlation, it is essential to be able to measure very precisely the profile of residual stresses in the composite. Residual stresses are important data to consider when sizing composite parts and predicting their behavior. The incremental hole drilling is very effective in measuring the gradient of residual stresses in composite laminates. This method is semi-destructive and consists of drilling incrementally a hole through the thickness of the material and measuring relaxation strains around the hole for each increment using three strain gauges. These strains are then converted into residual stresses using a matrix of coefficients. These coefficients, called calibration coefficients, depending on the diameter of the hole and the dimensions of the gauges used. The reliability of the incremental hole drilling depends on the accuracy with which the calibration coefficients are determined. These coefficients are calculated using a finite element model. The samples’ features and the experimental conditions must be considered in the simulation. Any mismatch can lead to inadequate calibration coefficients, thus introducing errors on residual stresses. Several calibration coefficient correction methods exist for isotropic material, but there is a lack of information on this subject concerning composite laminates. In this work, a Python program was developed to automatically generate the adequate finite element model. This model allowed us to perform a parametric study to assess the influence of experimental errors on the calibration coefficients. The results highlighted the sensitivity of the calibration coefficients to the considered errors and gave an order of magnitude of the precisions required on the experimental device to have reliable measurements. On the basis of these results, improvements were proposed on the experimental device. Furthermore, a numerical method was proposed to correct the calibration coefficients for different types of materials, including thick composite parts for which the analytical approach is too complex. This method consists of taking into account the experimental errors in the simulation. Accurate measurement of the experimental errors (such as eccentricity of the hole, angular deviation of the gauges from their theoretical position, or errors on increment depth) is therefore necessary. The aim is to determine more precisely the residual stresses and to expand the validity domain of the incremental hole drilling technique.

Keywords: fiber reinforced composites, finite element simulation, incremental hole drilling method, numerical correction of the calibration coefficients, residual stresses

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Jane Larkin

Abstract:

Combining elements of philosophy, science, and creative writing, this investigation explores how a philosophically structured science-fiction novel can challenge the theory of linearity and singularity of time through the ‘many worlds’ theory. This concept is addressed through the creation of a research exegesis and accompanying creative artefact, designed to be read in conjunction with each other in an explorative, interwoven manner. Research undertaken into scientific concepts, such as the ‘many worlds’ interpretation of quantum mechanics and diverse philosophers and their ideologies on time, is embodied in an original science-fiction narrative titled, It Goes On. The five frames that make up the creative artefact are enhanced not only by five leading philosophers and their philosophies on time but by an appreciation of the research, which comes first in the paper. Research into traditional approaches to storytelling is creatively and innovatively inverted in several ways, thus challenging the singularity and linearity of time. Further nonconventional approaches to literary techniques include an abstract narrator, embodied by time, a concept, and a figure in the text, whose voice and vantage point in relation to death furthers the unreliability of the notion of time. These further challenge individuals’ understanding of complex scientific and philosophical views in a variety of ways. The science-fiction genre is essential when considering the speculative nature of It Goes On, which deals with parallel realities and is a fantastical exploration of human ingenuity in plausible futures. Therefore, this paper documents the research-led methodology used to create It Goes On, the application of the ‘many worlds’ theory within a framed narrative, and the many innovative techniques used to contribute new knowledge in a variety of fields.

Keywords: time, many-worlds theory, Heideggerian philosophy, framed narrative

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