Search results for: empirical orthogonal functions
Commenced in January 2007
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Edition: International
Paper Count: 5272

Search results for: empirical orthogonal functions

4162 Fruits and Vegetable Consumers' Behaviour towards Organised Retailers: Evidence from India

Authors: K. B. Ramappa, A. V. Manjunatha

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Consumerism in India is witnessing unprecedented growth driven by favourable demographics, rising young and working population, rising income levels, urbanization and growing brand orientation. In addition, the increasing level of awareness on health, hygiene and quality has made the consumers to think on the fairly traded goods and brands. This has made retailing extremely important to everyone because without retailers’ consumers would not have access to day-to-day products. The increased competition among different retailers has contributed significantly towards rising consumer awareness on quality products and brand loyalty. Many existing empirical studies have mainly focused on net saving of consumers at organised retail via-a-vis unorganised retail shops. In this article, authors have analysed the Bangalore consumers' attitudes towards buying of fruits and vegetables and their choice of retail outlets. The primary data was collected from 100 consumers belonging to the Bangalore City during October 2014. Sample consumers buying at supermarkets, convenience stores and hypermarkets were purposively selected. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and multinomial logit model. It was found that among all variables, quality and prices were major accountable factors for buying fruits and vegetables at organized retail shops. The empirical result of multinomial logit model reveals that annual net income was positively associated with the Big Bazar and Food World consumers and negatively associated with the Reliance Fresh, More and Niligiris consumers, as compared with the HOPCOMS consumers. Per month expenditure on fruits and vegetables was positively and age of the consumer was negatively related to the consumers’ choice of buying at modern retail markets. Consumers were willing to buy at modern retail outlets irrespective of the distance.

Keywords: organized retailers, consumers' attitude, consumers' preference, fruits, vegetables, multinomial logit, Bangalore

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4161 The Decision-Making Mechanisms of Tax Regulations

Authors: Nino Pailodze, Malkhaz Sulashvili, Vladimer Kekenadze, Tea Khutsishvili, Irma Makharashvili, Aleksandre Kekenadze

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In the nearest future among the important problems which Georgia has solve the most important is economic stability, that bases on fiscal policy and the proper definition of the its directions. The main source of the Budget revenue is the national income. The State uses taxes, loans and emission in order to create national income, were the principal weapon are taxes. As well as fiscal function of the fulfillment of the budget, tax systems successfully implement economic and social development and the regulatory functions of foreign economic relations. A tax is a mandatory, unconditional monetary payment to the budget made by a taxpayer in accordance with this Code, based on the necessary, nonequivalent and gratuitous character of the payment. Taxes shall be national and local. National taxes shall be the taxes provided for under this Code, the payment of which is mandatory across the whole territory of Georgia. Local taxes shall be the taxes provided for under this Code, introduced by normative acts of local self-government representative authorities (within marginal rates), the payment of which is mandatory within the territory of the relevant self-governing unit. National taxes have the leading role in tax systems, but also the local taxes have an importance role in tax systems. Exactly in the means of local taxes, the most part of the budget is formatted. National taxes shall be: income tax, profit tax, value added tax (VAT), excise tax, import duty, property tax shall be a local tax The property tax is one of the significant taxes in Georgia. The paper deals with the taxation mechanism that has been operated in Georgia. The above mention has the great influence in financial accounting. While comparing foreign legislation towards Georgian legislation we discuss the opportunity of using their experience. Also, we suggested recommendations in order to improve the tax system in financial accounting. In addition to accounting, which is regulated according the International Accounting Standards we have tax accounting, which is regulated by the Tax Code, various legal orders / regulations of the Minister of Finance. The rules are controlled by the tax authority, Revenue Service. The tax burden from the tax values are directly related to expenditures of the state from the emergence of the first day. Fiscal policy of the state is as well as expenditure of the state and decisions of taxation. In order to get the best and the most effective mobilization of funds, Government’s primary task is to decide the kind of taxation rules. Tax function is to reveal the substance of the act. Taxes have the following functions: distribution or the fiscal function; Control and regulatory functions. Foreign tax systems evolved in the different economic, political and social conditions influence. The tax systems differ greatly from each other: taxes, their structure, typing means, rates, the different levels of fiscal authority, the tax base, the tax sphere of action, the tax breaks.

Keywords: international accounting standards, financial accounting, tax systems, financial obligations

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4160 Evaluation of the Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion Thermal Effects in Hassi R'Mel Gas Processing Plant Using Fire Dynamics Simulator

Authors: Brady Manescau, Ilyas Sellami, Khaled Chetehouna, Charles De Izarra, Rachid Nait-Said, Fati Zidani

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During a fire in an oil and gas refinery, several thermal accidents can occur and cause serious damage to people and environment. Among these accidents, the BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) is most observed and remains a major concern for risk decision-makers. It corresponds to a violent vaporization of explosive nature following the rupture of a vessel containing a liquid at a temperature significantly higher than its normal boiling point at atmospheric pressure. Their effects on the environment generally appear in three ways: blast overpressure, radiation from the fireball if the liquid involved is flammable and fragment hazards. In order to estimate the potential damage that would be caused by such an explosion, risk decision-makers often use quantitative risk analysis (QRA). This analysis is a rigorous and advanced approach that requires a reliable data in order to obtain a good estimate and control of risks. However, in most cases, the data used in QRA are obtained from the empirical correlations. These empirical correlations generally overestimate BLEVE effects because they are based on simplifications and do not take into account real parameters like the geometry effect. Considering that these risk analyses are based on an assessment of BLEVE effects on human life and plant equipment, more precise and reliable data should be provided. From this point of view, the CFD modeling of BLEVE effects appears as a solution to the empirical law limitations. In this context, the main objective is to develop a numerical tool in order to predict BLEVE thermal effects using the CFD code FDS version 6. Simulations are carried out with a mesh size of 1 m. The fireball source is modeled as a vertical release of hot fuel in a short time. The modeling of fireball dynamics is based on a single step combustion using an EDC model coupled with the default LES turbulence model. Fireball characteristics (diameter, height, heat flux and lifetime) issued from the large scale BAM experiment are used to demonstrate the ability of FDS to simulate the various steps of the BLEVE phenomenon from ignition up to total burnout. The influence of release parameters such as the injection rate and the radiative fraction on the fireball heat flux is also presented. Predictions are very encouraging and show good agreement in comparison with BAM experiment data. In addition, a numerical study is carried out on an operational propane accumulator in an Algerian gas processing plant of SONATRACH company located in the Hassi R’Mel Gas Field (the largest gas field in Algeria).

Keywords: BLEVE effects, CFD, FDS, fireball, LES, QRA

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4159 A New Perspective in Cervical Dystonia: Neurocognitive Impairment

Authors: Yesim Sucullu Karadag, Pinar Kurt, Sule Bilen, Nese Subutay Oztekin, Fikri Ak

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Background: Primary cervical dystonia is thought to be a purely motor disorder. But recent studies revealed that patients with dystonia had additional non-motor features. Sensory and psychiatric disturbances could be included into the non-motor spectrum of dystonia. The Basal Ganglia receive inputs from all cortical areas and throughout the thalamus project to several cortical areas, thus participating to circuits that have been linked to motor as well as sensory, emotional and cognitive functions. However, there are limited studies indicating cognitive impairment in patients with cervical dystonia. More evidence is required regarding neurocognitive functioning in these patients. Objective: This study is aimed to investigate neurocognitive profile of cervical dystonia patients in comparison to healthy controls (HC) by employing a detailed set of neuropsychological tests in addition to self-reported instruments. Methods: Totally 29 (M/F: 7/22) cervical dystonia patients and 30 HC (M/F: 10/20) were included into the study. Exclusion criteria were depression and not given informed consent. Standard demographic, educational data and clinical reports (disease duration, disability index) were recorded for all patients. After a careful neurological evaluation, all subjects were given a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests: Self report of neuropsychological condition (by visual analogue scale-VAS, 0-100), RAVLT, STROOP, PASAT, TMT, SDMT, JLOT, DST, COWAT, ACTT, and FST. Patients and HC were compared regarding demographic, clinical features and neurocognitive tests. Also correlation between disease duration, disability index and self report -VAS were assessed. Results: There was no difference between patients and HCs regarding socio-demographic variables such as age, gender and years of education (p levels were 0.36, 0.436, 0.869; respectively). All of the patients were assessed at the peak of botulinum toxine effect and they were not taking an anticholinergic agent or benzodiazepine. Dystonia patients had significantly impaired verbal learning and memory (RAVLT, p<0.001), divided attention and working memory (ACTT, p<0.001), attention speed (TMT-A and B, p=0.008, 0.050), executive functions (PASAT, p<0.001; SDMT, p= 0.001; FST, p<0.001), verbal attention (DST, p=0.001), verbal fluency (COWAT, p<0.001), visio-spatial processing (JLOT, p<0.001) in comparison to healthy controls. But focused attention (STROOP-spontaneous correction) was not different between two groups (p>0.05). No relationship was found regarding disease duration and disability index with any neurocognitive tests. Conclusions: Our study showed that neurocognitive functions of dystonia patients were worse than control group with the similar age, sex, and education independently clinical expression like disease duration and disability index. This situation may be the result of possible cortical and subcortical changes in dystonia patients. Advanced neuroimaging techniques might be helpful to explain these changes in cervical dystonia patients.

Keywords: cervical dystonia, neurocognitive impairment, neuropsychological test, dystonia disability index

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4158 dynr.mi: An R Program for Multiple Imputation in Dynamic Modeling

Authors: Yanling Li, Linying Ji, Zita Oravecz, Timothy R. Brick, Michael D. Hunter, Sy-Miin Chow

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Assessing several individuals intensively over time yields intensive longitudinal data (ILD). Even though ILD provide rich information, they also bring other data analytic challenges. One of these is the increased occurrence of missingness with increased study length, possibly under non-ignorable missingness scenarios. Multiple imputation (MI) handles missing data by creating several imputed data sets, and pooling the estimation results across imputed data sets to yield final estimates for inferential purposes. In this article, we introduce dynr.mi(), a function in the R package, Dynamic Modeling in R (dynr). The package dynr provides a suite of fast and accessible functions for estimating and visualizing the results from fitting linear and nonlinear dynamic systems models in discrete as well as continuous time. By integrating the estimation functions in dynr and the MI procedures available from the R package, Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations (MICE), the dynr.mi() routine is designed to handle possibly non-ignorable missingness in the dependent variables and/or covariates in a user-specified dynamic systems model via MI, with convergence diagnostic check. We utilized dynr.mi() to examine, in the context of a vector autoregressive model, the relationships among individuals’ ambulatory physiological measures, and self-report affect valence and arousal. The results from MI were compared to those from listwise deletion of entries with missingness in the covariates. When we determined the number of iterations based on the convergence diagnostics available from dynr.mi(), differences in the statistical significance of the covariate parameters were observed between the listwise deletion and MI approaches. These results underscore the importance of considering diagnostic information in the implementation of MI procedures.

Keywords: dynamic modeling, missing data, mobility, multiple imputation

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4157 Modeling of Surface Roughness in Hard Turning of DIN 1.2210 Cold Work Tool Steel with Ceramic Tools

Authors: Mehmet Erdi Korkmaz, Mustafa Günay

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Nowadays, grinding is frequently replaced with hard turning for reducing set up time and higher accuracy. This paper focused on mathematical modeling of average surface roughness (Ra) in hard turning of AISI L2 grade (DIN 1.2210) cold work tool steel with ceramic tools. The steel was hardened to 60±1 HRC after the heat treatment process. Cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut and tool nose radius was chosen as the cutting conditions. The uncoated ceramic cutting tools were used in the machining experiments. The machining experiments were performed according to Taguchi L27 orthogonal array on CNC lathe. Ra values were calculated by averaging three roughness values obtained from three different points of machined surface. The influences of cutting conditions on surface roughness were evaluated as statistical and experimental. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) with 95% confidence level was applied for statistical analysis of experimental results. Finally, mathematical models were developed using the artificial neural networks (ANN). ANOVA results show that feed rate is the dominant factor affecting surface roughness, followed by tool nose radius and cutting speed.

Keywords: ANN, hard turning, DIN 1.2210, surface roughness, Taguchi method

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4156 Dilemmas of HRM in a Project-Oriented Organisation

Authors: Katarzyna Piwowar-Sulej

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The functioning of a project-oriented organisation creates new and different, from the traditional ones, conditions for human resources management. In the analysed case HRM is primarily characterized by a double-track nature – on the one hand within the framework of permanent structures (departments) and, on the other, within the area of particular projects. The purpose of the article is to present the dilemmas associated with the development of selected HRM areas in project-oriented organisations. Theoretical discussion was supplemented by the results of empirical research.

Keywords: human resources management, tracks of HRM, project, project-oriented organisation

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4155 Multiple Version of Roman Domination in Graphs

Authors: J. C. Valenzuela-Tripodoro, P. Álvarez-Ruíz, M. A. Mateos-Camacho, M. Cera

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In 2004, it was introduced the concept of Roman domination in graphs. This concept was initially inspired and related to the defensive strategy of the Roman Empire. An undefended place is a city so that no legions are established on it, whereas a strong place is a city in which two legions are deployed. This situation may be modeled by labeling the vertices of a finite simple graph with labels {0, 1, 2}, satisfying the condition that any 0-vertex must be adjacent to, at least, a 2-vertex. Roman domination in graphs is a variant of classic domination. Clearly, the main aim is to obtain such labeling of the vertices of the graph with minimum cost, that is to say, having minimum weight (sum of all vertex labels). Formally, a function f: V (G) → {0, 1, 2} is a Roman dominating function (RDF) in the graph G = (V, E) if f(u) = 0 implies that f(v) = 2 for, at least, a vertex v which is adjacent to u. The weight of an RDF is the positive integer w(f)= ∑_(v∈V)▒〖f(v)〗. The Roman domination number, γ_R (G), is the minimum weight among all the Roman dominating functions? Obviously, the set of vertices with a positive label under an RDF f is a dominating set in the graph, and hence γ(G)≤γ_R (G). In this work, we start the study of a generalization of RDF in which we consider that any undefended place should be defended from a sudden attack by, at least, k legions. These legions can be deployed in the city or in any of its neighbours. A function f: V → {0, 1, . . . , k + 1} such that f(N[u]) ≥ k + |AN(u)| for all vertex u with f(u) < k, where AN(u) represents the set of active neighbours (i.e., with a positive label) of vertex u, is called a [k]-multiple Roman dominating functions and it is denoted by [k]-MRDF. The minimum weight of a [k]-MRDF in the graph G is the [k]-multiple Roman domination number ([k]-MRDN) of G, denoted by γ_[kR] (G). First, we prove that the [k]-multiple Roman domination decision problem is NP-complete even when restricted to bipartite and chordal graphs. A problem that had been resolved for other variants and wanted to be generalized. We know the difficulty of calculating the exact value of the [k]-MRD number, even for families of particular graphs. Here, we present several upper and lower bounds for the [k]-MRD number that permits us to estimate it with as much precision as possible. Finally, some graphs with the exact value of this parameter are characterized.

Keywords: multiple roman domination function, decision problem np-complete, bounds, exact values

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4154 Taguchi-Based Six Sigma Approach to Optimize Surface Roughness for Milling Processes

Authors: Sky Chou, Joseph C. Chen

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This paper focuses on using Six Sigma methodologies to improve the surface roughness of a manufactured part produced by the CNC milling machine. It presents a case study where the surface roughness of milled aluminum is required to reduce or eliminate defects and to improve the process capability index Cp and Cpk for a CNC milling process. The six sigma methodology, DMAIC (design, measure, analyze, improve, and control) approach, was applied in this study to improve the process, reduce defects, and ultimately reduce costs. The Taguchi-based six sigma approach was applied to identify the optimized processing parameters that led to the targeted surface roughness specified by our customer. A L9 orthogonal array was applied in the Taguchi experimental design, with four controllable factors and one non-controllable/noise factor. The four controllable factors identified consist of feed rate, depth of cut, spindle speed, and surface roughness. The noise factor is the difference between the old cutting tool and the new cutting tool. The confirmation run with the optimal parameters confirmed that the new parameter settings are correct. The new settings also improved the process capability index. The purpose of this study is that the Taguchi–based six sigma approach can be efficiently used to phase out defects and improve the process capability index of the CNC milling process.

Keywords: CNC machining, six sigma, surface roughness, Taguchi methodology

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4153 Exploratory Study on Mediating Role of Commitment-to-Change in Relations between Employee Voice, Employee Involvement and Organizational Change Readiness

Authors: Rohini Sharma, Chandan Kumar Sahoo, Rama Krishna Gupta Potnuru

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Strong competitive forces and requirements to achieve efficiency are forcing the organizations to realize the necessity and inevitability of change. What's more, the trend does not appear to be abating. Researchers have estimated that about two thirds of change project fails. Empirical evidences further shows that organizations invest significantly in the planned change but people side is accounted for in a token or instrumental way, which is identified as one of the important reason, why change endeavours fail. However, whatever be the reason for change, organizational change readiness must be gauged prior to the institutionalization of organizational change. Hence, in this study the influence of employee voice and employee involvement on organizational change readiness via commitment-to-change is examined, as it is an area yet to be extensively studied. Also, though a recent study has investigated the interrelationship between leadership, organizational change readiness and commitment to change, our study further examined these constructs in relation with employee voice and employee involvement that plays a consequential role for organizational change readiness. Further, integrated conceptual model weaving varied concepts relating to organizational readiness with focus on commitment to change as mediator was found to be an area, which required more theorizing and empirical validation, and this study rooted in an Indian public sector organization is a step in this direction. Data for the study were collected through a survey among employees of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), a unit of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL); the first integrated Steel Plant in the public sector in India, for which stratified random sampling method was adopted. The schedule was distributed to around 700 employees, out of which 516 complete responses were obtained. The pre-validated scales were used for the study. All the variables in the study were measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree (1)” to “strongly agree (5)”. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 22 was used to examine the hypothesized model, which offers a simultaneous test of an entire system of variables in a model. The study results shows that inter-relationship between employee voice and commitment-to-change, employee involvement and commitment-to-change and commitment-to-change and organizational change readiness were significant. To test the mediation hypotheses, Baron and Kenny’s technique was used. Examination of direct and mediated effect of mediators confirmed that commitment-to-change partially mediated the relation between employee involvement and organizational change readiness. Furthermore, study results also affirmed that commitment-to-change does not mediate the relation between employee involvement and organizational change readiness. The empirical exploration therefore establishes that it is important to harness employee’s valuable suggestions regarding change for building organizational change readiness. Regarding employee involvement, it was found that sharing information and involving people in decision-making, leads to a creation of participative climate, which educes employee commitment during change and commitment-to-change further, fosters organizational change readiness.

Keywords: commitment-to-change, change management, employee voice, employee involvement, organizational change readiness

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4152 New Biobased(Furanic-Sulfonated) Poly(esteramide)s

Authors: Souhir Abid

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The growing interest in vegetal biomass as an alternative for fossil resources has stimulated the development of numerous classes of monomers. Polymers from renewable resources have attracted an increasing amount of attention over the last two decades, predominantly due to two major reasons (i) firstly environmental concerns, and (ii) secondly the use of monomers from renewable feedstock is a steadily growing field of interest in order to reduce the amount of petroleum consumed in the chemical industry and to open new high-value-added markets to agriculture. Furanic polymers have been considered as alternative environmentally friendly polymers. In our earlier work, modifying furanic polyesters by incorporation of amide functions along their backbone, lead to a particular class of polymer ‘poly(ester-amide)s’, was investigated to combine the excellent mechanical properties of polyamides and the biodegradability of polyesters. As a continuation of our studies on this family of polymer, a series of furanic poly(ester-amide)s bearing sulfonate groups in the main chain were synthesized from 5,5’-Isopropylidene-bis(ethyl 2-furoate), dimethyl 5-sodiosulfoisophthalate, ethylene glycol and hexamethylene diamine by melt polycondensation using zinc acetate as a catalyst. In view of the complexity of the NMR spectrum analysis of the resulting sulfonated poly(ester-amide)s, we found that it is useful to prepare initially the corresponding homopolymers: sulfonated polyesters and polyamides. Structural data of these polymers will be used as a basic element in 1H NMR characterization. The hydrolytic degradation in acidic aqueous conditions (pH = 4,35 ) at 37 °C over the period of four weeks show that the mechanism of the hydrolysis of poly(ester amide)s was elucidated in relation with the microstructure. The strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions between amide functions and water molecules increases the hydrophilicity of the macromolecular chains and consequently their hydrolytic degradation.

Keywords: furan, hydrolytic degradation, polycondensation, poly(ester amide)

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4151 A Comparison of Biosorption of Radionuclides Tl-201 on Different Biosorbents and Their Empirical Modelling

Authors: Sinan Yapici, Hayrettin Eroglu

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The discharge of the aqueous radionuclides wastes used for the diagnoses of diseases and treatments of patients in nuclear medicine can cause fatal health problems when the radionuclides and its stable daughter component mix with underground water. Tl-201, which is one of the radionuclides commonly used in the nuclear medicine, is a toxic substance and is converted to its stable daughter component Hg-201, which is also a poisonous heavy metal: Tl201 → Hg201 + Gamma Ray [135-167 Kev (12%)] + X Ray [69-83 Kev (88%)]; t1/2 = 73,1 h. The purpose of the present work was to remove Tl-201 radionuclides from aqueous solution by biosorption on the solid bio wastes of food and cosmetic industry as bio sorbents of prina from an olive oil plant, rose residue from a rose oil plant and tea residue from a tea plant, and to make a comparison of the biosorption efficiencies. The effects of the biosorption temperature, initial pH of the aqueous solution, bio sorbent dose, particle size and stirring speed on the biosorption yield were investigated in a batch process. It was observed that the biosorption is a rapid process with an equilibrium time less than 10 minutes for all the bio sorbents. The efficiencies were found to be close to each other and measured maximum efficiencies were 93,30 percent for rose residue, 94,1 for prina and 98,4 for tea residue. In a temperature range of 283 and 313 K, the adsorption decreased with increasing temperature almost in a similar way. In a pH range of 2-10, increasing pH enhanced biosorption efficiency up to pH=7 and then the efficiency remained constant in a similar path for all the biosorbents. Increasing stirring speed from 360 to 720 rpm enhanced slightly the biosorption efficiency almost at the same ratio for all bio sorbents. Increasing particle size decreased the efficiency for all biosorbent; however the most negatively effected biosorbent was prina with a decrease in biosorption efficiency from about 84 percent to 40 with an increase in the nominal particle size 0,181 mm to 1,05 while the least effected one, tea residue, went down from about 97 percent to 87,5. The biosorption efficiencies of all the bio sorbents increased with increasing biosorbent dose in the range of 1,5 to 15,0 g/L in a similar manner. The fit of the experimental results to the adsorption isotherms proved that the biosorption process for all the bio sorbents can be represented best by Freundlich model. The kinetic analysis showed that all the processes fit very well to pseudo second order rate model. The thermodynamics calculations gave ∆G values between -8636 J mol-1 and -5378 for tea residue, -5313 and -3343 for rose residue, and -5701 and -3642 for prina with a ∆H values of -39516 J mol-1, -23660 and -26190, and ∆S values of -108.8 J mol-1 K-1, -64,0, -72,0 respectively, showing spontaneous and exothermic character of the processes. An empirical biosorption model in the following form was derived for each biosorbent as function of the parameters and time, taking into account the form of kinetic model, with regression coefficients over 0.9990 where At is biosorbtion efficiency at any time and Ae is the equilibrium efficiency, t is adsorption period as s, ko a constant, pH the initial acidity of biosorption medium, w the stirring speed as s-1, S the biosorbent dose as g L-1, D the particle size as m, and a, b, c, and e are the powers of the parameters, respectively, E a constant containing activation energy and T the temperature as K.

Keywords: radiation, diosorption, thallium, empirical modelling

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4150 Additive Manufacturing Optimization Via Integrated Taguchi-Gray Relation Methodology for Oil and Gas Component Fabrication

Authors: Meshal Alsaiari

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Fused Deposition Modeling is one of the additive manufacturing technologies the industry is shifting to nowadays due to its simplicity and low affordable cost. The fabrication processing parameters predominantly influence FDM part strength and mechanical properties. This presentation will demonstrate the influences of the two manufacturing parameters on the tensile testing evaluation indexes, infill density, and Printing Orientation, which were analyzed to create a piping spacer suitable for oil and gas applications. The tensile specimens are made of two polymers, Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate (ASA) and High high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), to characterize the mechanical properties performance for creating the final product. The mechanical testing was carried out per the ASTM D638 testing standard, following Type IV requirements. Taguchi's experiment design using an L-9 orthogonal array was used to evaluate the performance output and identify the optimal manufacturing factors. The experimental results demonstrate that the tensile test is more pronounced with 100% infill for ASA and HIPS samples. However, the printing orientations varied in reactions; ASA is maximum at 0 degrees while HIPS shows almost similar percentages between 45 and 90 degrees. Taguchi-Gray integrated methodology was adopted to minimize the response and recognize optimal fabrication factors combinations.

Keywords: FDM, ASTM D638, tensile testing, acrylonitrile styrene acrylate

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4149 Dynamic Fault Diagnosis for Semi-Batch Reactor Under Closed-Loop Control via Independent RBFNN

Authors: Abdelkarim M. Ertiame, D. W. Yu, D. L. Yu, J. B. Gomm

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In this paper, a new robust fault detection and isolation (FDI) scheme is developed to monitor a multivariable nonlinear chemical process called the Chylla-Haase polymerization reactor when it is under the cascade PI control. The scheme employs a radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) in an independent mode to model the process dynamics and using the weighted sum-squared prediction error as the residual. The recursive orthogonal Least Squares algorithm (ROLS) is employed to train the model to overcome the training difficulty of the independent mode of the network. Then, another RBFNN is used as a fault classifier to isolate faults from different features involved in the residual vector. The several actuator and sensor faults are simulated in a nonlinear simulation of the reactor in Simulink. The scheme is used to detect and isolate the faults on-line. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the scheme even the process is subjected to disturbances and uncertainties including significant changes in the monomer feed rate, fouling factor, impurity factor, ambient temperature and measurement noise. The simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method.

Keywords: Robust fault detection, cascade control, independent RBF model, RBF neural networks, Chylla-Haase reactor, FDI under closed-loop control

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4148 Virtual Reality as a Tool in Modern Education

Authors: Łukasz Bis

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The author is going to discuss virtual reality and its importance for new didactic methods. It has been known for years that experience-based education gives much better results in terms of long-term memory than theoretical study. However, practice is expensive - virtual reality allows the use of an empirical approach to learning, with minimized production costs. The author defines what makes a given VR experience appropriate (adequate) for the didactic and cognitive process. The article is a kind of a list of guidelines and their importance for the VR experience under development.

Keywords: virtual reality, education, universal design, guideline

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4147 Integrating Multiple Types of Value in Natural Capital Accounting Systems: Environmental Value Functions

Authors: Pirta Palola, Richard Bailey, Lisa Wedding

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Societies and economies worldwide fundamentally depend on natural capital. Alarmingly, natural capital assets are quickly depreciating, posing an existential challenge for humanity. The development of robust natural capital accounting systems is essential for transitioning towards sustainable economic systems and ensuring sound management of capital assets. However, the accurate, equitable and comprehensive estimation of natural capital asset stocks and their accounting values still faces multiple challenges. In particular, the representation of socio-cultural values held by groups or communities has arguably been limited, as to date, the valuation of natural capital assets has primarily been based on monetary valuation methods and assumptions of individual rationality. People relate to and value the natural environment in multiple ways, and no single valuation method can provide a sufficiently comprehensive image of the range of values associated with the environment. Indeed, calls have been made to improve the representation of multiple types of value (instrumental, intrinsic, and relational) and diverse ontological and epistemological perspectives in environmental valuation. This study addresses this need by establishing a novel valuation framework, Environmental Value Functions (EVF), that allows for the integration of multiple types of value in natural capital accounting systems. The EVF framework is based on the estimation and application of value functions, each of which describes the relationship between the value and quantity (or quality) of an ecosystem component of interest. In this framework, values are estimated in terms of change relative to the current level instead of calculating absolute values. Furthermore, EVF was developed to also support non-marginalist conceptualizations of value: it is likely that some environmental values cannot be conceptualized in terms of marginal changes. For example, ecological resilience value may, in some cases, be best understood as a binary: it either exists (1) or is lost (0). In such cases, a logistic value function may be used as the discriminator. Uncertainty in the value function parameterization can be considered through, for example, Monte Carlo sampling analysis. The use of EVF is illustrated with two conceptual examples. For the first time, EVF offers a clear framework and concrete methodology for the representation of multiple types of value in natural capital accounting systems, simultaneously enabling 1) the complementary use and integration of multiple valuation methods (monetary and non-monetary); 2) the synthesis of information from diverse knowledge systems; 3) the recognition of value incommensurability; 4) marginalist and non-marginalist value analysis. Furthermore, with this advancement, the coupling of EVF and ecosystem modeling can offer novel insights to the study of spatial-temporal dynamics in natural capital asset values. For example, value time series can be produced, allowing for the prediction and analysis of volatility, long-term trends, and temporal trade-offs. This approach can provide essential information to help guide the transition to a sustainable economy.

Keywords: economics of biodiversity, environmental valuation, natural capital, value function

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4146 Relevance of Dosing Time for Everolimus Toxicity on Thyroid Gland and Hormones in Mice

Authors: Dilek Ozturk, Narin Ozturk, Zeliha Pala Kara, Engin Kaptan, Serap Sancar Bas, Nurten Ozsoy, Alper Okyar

Abstract:

Most physiological processes oscillate in a rhythmic manner in mammals including metabolism and energy homeostasis, locomotor activity, hormone secretion, immune and endocrine system functions. Endocrine body rhythms are tightly regulated by the circadian timing system. The hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis is under circadian control at multiple levels from hypothalamus to thyroid gland. Since circadian timing system controls a variety of biological functions in mammals, circadian rhythms of biological functions may modify the drug tolerability/toxicity depending on the dosing time. Selective mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) inhibitor everolimus is an immunosuppressant and anticancer agent that is active against many cancers. It was also found to be active in medullary thyroid cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the dosing time-dependent toxicity of everolimus on the thyroid gland and hormones in mice. Healthy C57BL/6J mice were synchronized with 12h:12h Light-Dark cycle (LD12:12, with Zeitgeber Time 0 – ZT0 – corresponding to Light onset). Everolimus was administered to male (5 mg/kg/day) and female mice (15 mg/kg/day) orally at ZT1-rest period- and ZT13-activity period- for 4 weeks; body weight loss, clinical signs and possible changes in serum thyroid hormone levels (TSH and free T4) were examined. Histological alterations in the thyroid gland were evaluated according to the following criteria: follicular size, colloid density and viscidity, height of the follicular epithelium and the presence of necrotic cells. The statistical significance between differences was analyzed with ANOVA. Study findings included everolimus-related diarrhea, decreased activity, decreased body weight gains, alterations in serum TSH levels, and histopathological changes in thyroid gland. Decreases in mean body weight gains were more evident in mice treated at ZT1 as compared to ZT13 (p < 0.001, for both sexes). Control tissue sections of thyroid glands exhibited well-organized histoarchitecture when compared to everolimus-treated groups. Everolimus caused histopathological alterations in thyroid glands in male (5 mg/kg, slightly) and female mice (15 mg/kg; p < 0.01 for both ZT as compared to their controls) irrespective of dosing-time. TSH levels were slightly decreased upon everolimus treatment at ZT13 in both males and females. Conversely, increases in TSH levels were observed when everolimus treated at ZT1 in both males (5 mg/kg; p < 0.05) and females (15 mg/kg; slightly). No statistically significant alterations in serum free T4 levels were observed. TSH and free T4 is clinically important thyroid hormones since a number of disease states have been linked to alterations in these hormones. Serum free T4 levels within the normal ranges in the presence of abnormal serum TSH levels in everolimus treated mice may suggest subclinical thyroid disease which may have repercussions on the cardiovascular system, as well as on other organs and systems. Our study has revealed the histological damage on thyroid gland induced by subacute everolimus administration, this effect was irrespective of dosing time. However, based on the body weight changes and clinical signs upon everolimus treatment, tolerability for the drug was best following dosing at ZT13 in both male and females. Yet, effects of everolimus on thyroid functions may deserve further studies regarding their clinical importance and chronotoxicity.

Keywords: circadian rhythm, chronotoxicity, everolimus, thyroid gland, thyroid hormones

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4145 Generation of Roof Design Spectra Directly from Uniform Hazard Spectra

Authors: Amin Asgarian, Ghyslaine McClure

Abstract:

Proper seismic evaluation of Non-Structural Components (NSCs) mandates an accurate estimation of floor seismic demands (i.e. acceleration and displacement demands). Most of the current international codes incorporate empirical equations to calculate equivalent static seismic force for which NSCs and their anchorage system must be designed. These equations, in general, are functions of component mass and peak seismic acceleration to which NSCs are subjected to during the earthquake. However, recent studies have shown that these recommendations are suffered from several shortcomings such as neglecting the higher mode effect, tuning effect, NSCs damping effect, etc. which cause underestimation of the component seismic acceleration demand. This work is aimed to circumvent the aforementioned shortcomings of code provisions as well as improving them by proposing a simplified, practical, and yet accurate approach to generate acceleration Floor Design Spectra (FDS) directly from corresponding Uniform Hazard Spectra (UHS) (i.e. design spectra for structural components). A database of 27 Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings in which Ambient Vibration Measurements (AVM) have been conducted. The database comprises 12 low-rise, 10 medium-rise, and 5 high-rise buildings all located in Montréal, Canada and designated as post-disaster buildings or emergency shelters. The buildings are subjected to a set of 20 compatible seismic records and Floor Response Spectra (FRS) in terms of pseudo acceleration are derived using the proposed approach for every floor of the building in both horizontal directions considering 4 different damping ratios of NSCs (i.e. 2, 5, 10, and 20% viscous damping). Several effective parameters on NSCs response are evaluated statistically. These parameters comprise NSCs damping ratios, tuning of NSCs natural period with one of the natural periods of supporting structure, higher modes of supporting structures, and location of NSCs. The entire spectral region is divided into three distinct segments namely short-period, fundamental period, and long period region. The derived roof floor response spectra for NSCs with 5% damping are compared with the 5% damping UHS and procedure are proposed to generate roof FDS for NSCs with 5% damping directly from 5% damped UHS in each spectral region. The generated FDS is a powerful, practical, and accurate tool for seismic design and assessment of acceleration-sensitive NSCs particularly in existing post-critical buildings which have to remain functional even after the earthquake and cannot tolerate any damage to NSCs.

Keywords: earthquake engineering, operational and functional components (OFCs), operational modal analysis (OMA), seismic assessment and design

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4144 Semi-Automatic Segmentation of Mitochondria on Transmission Electron Microscopy Images Using Live-Wire and Surface Dragging Methods

Authors: Mahdieh Farzin Asanjan, Erkan Unal Mumcuoglu

Abstract:

Mitochondria are cytoplasmic organelles of the cell, which have a significant role in the variety of cellular metabolic functions. Mitochondria act as the power plants of the cell and are surrounded by two membranes. Significant morphological alterations are often due to changes in mitochondrial functions. A powerful technique in order to study the three-dimensional (3D) structure of mitochondria and its alterations in disease states is Electron microscope tomography. Detection of mitochondria in electron microscopy images due to the presence of various subcellular structures and imaging artifacts is a challenging problem. Another challenge is that each image typically contains more than one mitochondrion. Hand segmentation of mitochondria is tedious and time-consuming and also special knowledge about the mitochondria is needed. Fully automatic segmentation methods lead to over-segmentation and mitochondria are not segmented properly. Therefore, semi-automatic segmentation methods with minimum manual effort are required to edit the results of fully automatic segmentation methods. Here two editing tools were implemented by applying spline surface dragging and interactive live-wire segmentation tools. These editing tools were applied separately to the results of fully automatic segmentation. 3D extension of these tools was also studied and tested. Dice coefficients of 2D and 3D for surface dragging using splines were 0.93 and 0.92. This metric for 2D and 3D for live-wire method were 0.94 and 0.91 respectively. The root mean square symmetric surface distance values of 2D and 3D for surface dragging was measured as 0.69, 0.93. The same metrics for live-wire tool were 0.60 and 2.11. Comparing the results of these editing tools with the results of automatic segmentation method, it shows that these editing tools, led to better results and these results were more similar to ground truth image but the required time was higher than hand-segmentation time

Keywords: medical image segmentation, semi-automatic methods, transmission electron microscopy, surface dragging using splines, live-wire

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4143 Six Sigma-Based Optimization of Shrinkage Accuracy in Injection Molding Processes

Authors: Sky Chou, Joseph C. Chen

Abstract:

This paper focuses on using six sigma methodologies to reach the desired shrinkage of a manufactured high-density polyurethane (HDPE) part produced by the injection molding machine. It presents a case study where the correct shrinkage is required to reduce or eliminate defects and to improve the process capability index Cp and Cpk for an injection molding process. To improve this process and keep the product within specifications, the six sigma methodology, design, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) approach, was implemented in this study. The six sigma approach was paired with the Taguchi methodology to identify the optimized processing parameters that keep the shrinkage rate within the specifications by our customer. An L9 orthogonal array was applied in the Taguchi experimental design, with four controllable factors and one non-controllable/noise factor. The four controllable factors identified consist of the cooling time, melt temperature, holding time, and metering stroke. The noise factor is the difference between material brand 1 and material brand 2. After the confirmation run was completed, measurements verify that the new parameter settings are optimal. With the new settings, the process capability index has improved dramatically. The purpose of this study is to show that the six sigma and Taguchi methodology can be efficiently used to determine important factors that will improve the process capability index of the injection molding process.

Keywords: injection molding, shrinkage, six sigma, Taguchi parameter design

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4142 A Study of Bilingual Development of a Mandarin and English Bilingual Preschool Child from China to Australia

Authors: Qiang Guo, Ruying Qi

Abstract:

This project aims to trace the developmental patterns of a child's Mandarin and English from China to Australia from age 3; 03 till 5; 06. In childhood bilingual studies, there is an assumption that age 3 is the dividing line between simultaneous bilinguals and sequential bilinguals. Determining similarities and differences between Bilingual First Language Acquisition, Early Second Language Acquisition, and Second Language Acquisition is of great theoretical significance. Studies on Bilingual First Language Acquisition, hereafter, BFLA in the past three decades have shown that the grammatical development of bilingual children progresses through the same developmental trajectories as their monolingual counterparts. Cross-linguistic interaction does not show changes of the basic grammatical knowledge, even in the weaker language. While BFLA studies show consistent results under the conditions of adequate input and meaningful interactional context, the research findings of Early Second Language Acquisition (ESLA) have demonstrated that this cohort proceeds their early English differently from both BFLA and SLA. The different development could be attributed to the age of migration, input pattern, and their Environmental Languages (Lε). In the meantime, the dynamic relationship between the two languages is an issue to invite further attention. The present study attempts to fill this gap. The child in this case study started acquiring L1 Mandarin from birth in China, where the environmental language (Lε) coincided with L1 Mandarin. When she migrated to Australia at 3;06, where the environmental language (Lε) was L2 English, her Mandarin exposure was reduced. On the other hand, she received limited English input starting from 1; 02 in China, where the environmental language (Lε) was L1 Mandarin, a non-English environment. When she relocated to Australia at 3; 06, where the environmental language (Lε) coincided with L2 English, her English exposure significantly increased. The child’s linguistic profile provides an opportunity to explore: (1) What does the child’s English developmental route look like? (2) What does the L1 Mandarin developmental pattern look like in different environmental languages? (3) How do input and environmental language interact in shaping the bilingual child’s linguistic repertoire? In order to answer these questions, two linguistic areas are selected as the focus of the investigation, namely, subject realization and wh-questions. The chosen areas are contrastive in structure but perform the same semantic functions in the two linguistically distant languages and can serve as an ideal testing ground for exploring the developmental path in the two languages. The longitudinal case study adopts a combined approach of qualitative and quantitative analysis. Two years’ Mandarin and English data are examined, and comparisons are made with age-matched monolinguals in each language in CHILDES. To the author’s best knowledge, this study is the first of this kind examining a Mandarin-English bilingual child's bilingual development at a critical age, in different input patterns, and in different environmental languages (Lε). It also expands the scope of the theory of Lε, adding empirical evidence on the relationship between input and Lε in bilingual acquisition.

Keywords: bilingual development, age, input, environmental language (Le)

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4141 Investigation of Fusion Reactions in ¹⁶O + ¹⁵⁶Gd System

Authors: Rahbar Ali, Nitin Sharma, Dharmendra Singh, R. P. Singh, S. Muralithar, M. Afzal Ansari

Abstract:

Heavy-ion-induced reactions on intermediate-mass targets are inherently complex, particularly at low energy levels. The study of these nuclear reactions, especially complete and incomplete fusion reactions, is of utmost importance to nuclear physicists. Researchers have demonstrated interest in exploring the mechanisms of nuclear reactions using heavy-ion beams at energies below 10 MeV/nucleon. In this study, the reaction mechanism of ¹⁶O⁷+ projectiles incident on a ¹⁵⁶Gd target at beam energies ranging from 4 to 7 MeV/nucleon was investigated. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the underlying processes, the excitation functions of evaporation residues produced via complete fusion (CF) and/or incomplete fusion (ICF) were measured. The evaporation residues were populated through xn/pxn and αxn/αpxn emission channels. The measured cross-sections of these residues were compared with the predictions of the statistical model codes PACE-4 and EMPIRE. The measured excitation functions of reaction residues populated through xn and pxn channels are in good agreement with the predictions of the statistical model code PACE4 and EMPIRE. This confirms that the production of these residues is solely due to the CF process. However, a significant enhancement was observed in the measured cross-sections of residues populated through α-emitting channels compared to theoretical predictions. This enhancement in the cross sections for α-emitting channels is ascribed to the ICF processes. The fusion cross-section data were also analyzed within the universal fusion function (UFF) and universal reaction function (URF) approach. The observed fusion suppression is primarily attributed to the breakup of the projectile. The ICF contribution in the reaction is dependent on projectile energy, mass asymmetry of the system and deformation of the target.

Keywords: nuclear reactions, above barrier reactions, evaporation residues, universal fusion function

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4140 ISIS Women Recruitment in Spain and De-Radicalization Programs in Prisons

Authors: Inmaculada Yuste Martinez

Abstract:

Since July 5, 2014, Abubaker al Bagdadi, leader of the Islamic State since 2010 climbed the pulpit of the Great Mosque of Al Nuri of Mosul and proclaimed the Caliphate, the number of fighters who have travelled to Syria to join the Caliphate has increased as never before. Although it is true that the phenomenon of foreign fighters is not a new phenomenon, as it occurred after the Spanish Civil War, Republicans from Ireland and the conflict of the Balkans among others, it is highly relevant the fact that in this case, it has reached figures unknown in Europe until now. The approval of the resolution 2178 (2014) of the Security Council, foreign terrorist fighters placed the subject a priority position on the International agenda. The available data allow us to affirm that women have increasingly assumed operative functions in jihadist terrorism and in the activities linked to it in the development of attacks in the European Union, including minors and young adults. In the case of Spain, one in four of the detainees in 2016 were women, a significant increase compared to 2015. This contrasts with the fact that until 2014 no woman had been prosecuted in Spain for terrorist activities of a jihadist nature. It is fundamental when we talk about the prevention of radicalization and counterterrorism that we do not underestimate the potential threat to the security of countries like Spain that women from the West can assume to the global jihadist movement. This work aims to deepen the radicalization processes of these women and their profiles influencing the female inmate population. It also wants to focus on the importance of creating de-radicalization programs for these inmates since women are a crucial element in radicalization processes. A special focus it is made on young radicalized female inmate population as this target group is the most recoverable and on which it would result more fruitful to intervene. De-radicalization programs must also be designed to fit their profiles and circumstances; a sensitive environment will be prisons and juvenile centers, areas that until now had been unrelated to this problem and which are already hosting the first convicted in judicial offices in Spanish territory. A qualitative research and an empirical and analytical method has been implemented in this work, focused on the cases that took place in Spain of young women and the imaginary that the Islamic State uses for the processes of radicalization for this target group and how it does not fit with their real role in the Jihad, as opposed to other movements in which women do have a real and active role in the armed conflict as YPJ do it as a part of the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party of Syria.

Keywords: caliphate, de-radicalization, foreign fighter, gender perspective, ISIS, jihadism, recruitment

Procedia PDF Downloads 172
4139 Extension of Positive Linear Operator

Authors: Manal Azzidani

Abstract:

This research consideres the extension of special functions called Positive Linear Operators. the bounded linear operator which defined from normed space to Banach space will extend to the closure of the its domain, And extend identified linear functional on a vector subspace by Hana-Banach theorem which could be generalized to the positive linear operators.

Keywords: extension, positive operator, Riesz space, sublinear function

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4138 Defuzzification of Periodic Membership Function on Circular Coordinates

Authors: Takashi Mitsuishi, Koji Saigusa

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This paper presents circular polar coordinates transformation of periodic fuzzy membership function. The purpose is identification of domain of periodic membership functions in consequent part of IF-THEN rules. The proposed methods are applied to the simple color construct system.

Keywords: periodic membership function, polar coordinates transformation, defuzzification, circular coordinates

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4137 Performance Analysis of 5G for Low Latency Transmission Based on Universal Filtered Multi-Carrier Technique and Interleave Division Multiple Access

Authors: A. Asgharzadeh, M. Maroufi

Abstract:

5G mobile communication system has drawn more and more attention. The 5G system needs to provide three different types of services, including enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), massive machine-type communication (mMTC), and ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC). Universal Filtered Multi-Carrier (UFMC), Filter Bank Multicarrier (FBMC), and Filtered Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (f-OFDM) are suggested as a well-known candidate waveform for the coming 5G system. Themachine-to-machine (M2M) communications are one of the essential applications in 5G, and it involves exchanging of concise messages with a very short latency. However, in UFMC systems, the subcarriers are grouped into subbands but f-OFDM only one subband covers the entire band. Furthermore, in FBMC, a subband includes only one subcarrier, and the number of subbands is the same as the number of subcarriers. This paper mainly discusses the performance of UFMC with different parameters for the UFMC system. Also, paper shows that UFMC is the best choice outperforming OFDM in any case and FBMC in case of very short packets while performing similarly for long sequences with channel estimation techniques for Interleave Division Multiple Access (IDMA) systems.

Keywords: universal filtered multi-carrier technique, UFMC, interleave division multiple access, IDMA, fifth-generation, subband

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4136 The Governance of UK Museums and Art Galleries: Implications for Accountability

Authors: Aminah Abdullah, Iqbal Khadaroo

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This paper investigates to what ends, how and by whom museums and art galleries in the UK are governed, and to whom they provide accounts to justify their behavior and activities. A theoretical framework is developed by drawing from the governance and accountability literature and is fleshed out by using empirical data from secondary sources. The findings show that the governance model used, informed by the new public management (NPM) philosophy, and has created tensions between the managerial and social forms of accountability. Museums and art galleries have adopted a managerial culture of getting done what gets measured.

Keywords: governance, accountability, UK museums and art galleries, public sector

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4135 A Research on a Historical Architectural Heritage of the Village: Zriba El Olia

Authors: Yosra Ben Salah, Wang Li Jun, Salem Bellil

Abstract:

The village Hammem Zriba is a lost little paradise in the middle of a beautiful landscape that captures the eyes of every visitor. The village alone is a rich expression of different elements such as urban, architecture, technical and vernacular elements, as well as sociological, spiritual and religious behaviors. This heritage is in degrading conditions and is threatened by disappearing soon; thus, actions have to be taken as soon as possible to preserve this heritage, record, analyze and learn from its traditional ways of construction. The strategy of this study is to examine the architecture within the Berber society over a period of time and influenced by a certain location and its relationship to the social and cultural aspects; this research will focus on historical, environmental, social and cultural aspects influencing architecture. The contents of this paper should mainly be constructed by three successive layouts of historical view, a cultural view and an architectural view that will include the urban and domestic scale. This research relies on the integration of both theoretical and empirical investigations. On the theoretical level: A documentary analysis of secondary data is used. Documentary analysis means content analysis of the relevant documents that include books, journals, magazines, archival data, and field survey and observations. On the empirical level: analysis of these traditional ways of planning and house building will be carried out. Through the Analysis, three techniques will be employed to collect primary data. These techniques are; systematic analysis of the architectural drawings, quantitative analysis to the houses statistics, and a direct observation. Through this research, the technical, architectural and urban achievements of the Berber people who represent a part of the general history and architectural history will be emphasized. And on a second point the potential for the sustainability present in this traditional urban planning and housing to be used to formulate guidelines for modern urban and housing development.

Keywords: culture, history, traditional architecture, values

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4134 An Efficient Subcarrier Scheduling Algorithm for Downlink OFDMA-Based Wireless Broadband Networks

Authors: Hassen Hamouda, Mohamed Ouwais Kabaou, Med Salim Bouhlel

Abstract:

The growth of wireless technology made opportunistic scheduling a widespread theme in recent research. Providing high system throughput without reducing fairness allocation is becoming a very challenging task. A suitable policy for resource allocation among users is of crucial importance. This study focuses on scheduling multiple streaming flows on the downlink of a WiMAX system based on orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA). In this paper, we take the first step in formulating and analyzing this problem scrupulously. As a result, we proposed a new scheduling scheme based on Round Robin (RR) Algorithm. Because of its non-opportunistic process, RR does not take in account radio conditions and consequently it affect both system throughput and multi-users diversity. Our contribution called MORRA (Modified Round Robin Opportunistic Algorithm) consists to propose a solution to this issue. MORRA not only exploits the concept of opportunistic scheduler but also takes into account other parameters in the allocation process. The first parameter is called courtesy coefficient (CC) and the second is called Buffer Occupancy (BO). Performance evaluation shows that this well-balanced scheme outperforms both RR and MaxSNR schedulers and demonstrate that choosing between system throughput and fairness is not required.

Keywords: OFDMA, opportunistic scheduling, fairness hierarchy, courtesy coefficient, buffer occupancy

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4133 Improving the Liquid Insulation Performance with Antioxidants

Authors: Helan Gethse J., Dhanya K., Muthuselvi G., Diana Hyden N., Samuel Pakianathan P.

Abstract:

Transformer oil is mostly used to keep the transformer cool. It functions as a cooling agent. Mineral oil has long been used in transformers. Mineral oil has a high dielectric strength, which allows it to withstand high temperatures. Mineral oil's main disadvantage is that it is not environmentally friendly and can be dangerous to the environment. The features of breakdown voltage (BDV), viscosity, flash point, and fire point are measured and reported in this study, and the characteristics of olive oil are compared to the characteristics of mineral oil.

Keywords: antioxidants, transformer oil, mineral oil, olive oil

Procedia PDF Downloads 150