Search results for: direct problem

Authors: Hussain Sajid, Jung-Hun Shin, Kum-Won Cho

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Image super-resolution is the most common computer vision problem with many important applications. Generative adversarial networks (GANs) have promoted remarkable advances in single-image super-resolution (SR) by recovering photo-realistic images. However, high memory requirements of GAN-based SR (mainly generators) lead to performance degradation and increased energy consumption, making it difficult to implement it onto resource-constricted devices. To relieve such a problem, In this paper, we introduce an optimized and highly efficient architecture for SR-GAN (generator) model by utilizing model compression techniques such as Knowledge Distillation and pruning, which work together to reduce the storage requirement of the model also increase in their performance. Our method begins with distilling the knowledge from a large pre-trained model to a lightweight model using different loss functions. Then, iterative weight pruning is applied to the distilled model to remove less significant weights based on their magnitude, resulting in a sparser network. Knowledge Distillation reduces the model size by 40%; pruning then reduces it further by 18%. To accelerate the learning process, we employ the Horovod framework for distributed training on a cluster of 2 nodes, each with 8 GPUs, resulting in improved training performance and faster convergence. Experimental results on various benchmarks demonstrate that the proposed compressed model significantly outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity index measure (SSIM), and image quality for x4 super-resolution tasks.

Keywords: single-image super-resolution, generative adversarial networks, knowledge distillation, pruning

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Authors: Huseyin A. Yavasoglu, Yusuf Ziya Tengiz, Ali Göksenli

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In this study, an automatic feeding machine for different type and class of bovine animals is designed. Daily nutrition of a bovine consists of grass, corn, straw, silage, oat, wheat and different vitamins and minerals. The amount and mixture amount of each of the nutrition depends on different parameters of the bovine. These parameters are; age, sex, weight and maternity of the bovine, also outside temperature. The problem in a farm is to constitute the correct mixture and amount of nutrition for each animal. Faulty nutrition will cause an insufficient feeding of the animal concluding in an unhealthy bovine. To solve this problem, a new automatic feeding machine is designed. Travelling of the machine is performed by four tires, which is pulled by a tractor. The carrier consists of eight bins, which each of them carries a nutrition type. Capacity of each unit is 250 kg. At the bottom of each chamber is a sensor measuring the weight of the food inside. A funnel is at the bottom of each chamber by which open/close function is controlled by a valve. Each animal will carry a RFID tag including ID on its ear. A receiver on the feeding machine will read this ID and by given previous information by the operator (veterinarian), the system will detect the amount of each nutrition unit which will be given to the selected animal for feeding. In the system, each bin will open its exit gate by the help of the valve under the control of PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). The amount of each nutrition type will be controlled by measuring the open/close time. The exit canals of the bins are collected in a reservoir. To achieve a homogenous nitration, the collected feed will be mixed by a worm gear. Further the mixture will be transported by a help of a funnel to the feeding unit of the animal. The feeding process can be performed in 100 seconds. After feeding of the animal, the tractor pulls the travelling machine to the next animal. By the help of this system animals can be feeded by right amount and mixture of nutrition

Keywords: bovine, feeding, nutrition, transportation, automatic

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Authors: Ramana Reddy, Vijay Kothari

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Aircraft provide a fast, reliable mode of transport with no comparable alternative for long distance travel. Throughout the years, technology improvements have been made to aircraft and engines to make them more fuel efficient. Air traffic continues to grow around the world and needs more aircrafts to accommodate such rapid growth. This has direct consequences on two of the most important environmental factors i.e. emissions and noise. Aviation contributes about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Aviation emits a number of pollutants that alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere, changing its radiative balance and hence influencing the climate. In order to reduce or if possible eliminate potential harm to the environment and also make air travel efficient and economical, an environmentally beneficial concept called “Green Aviation System” is required. This is a structured frame work with elements like innovative technologies/tools in engineering design, manufacturing, airport and fleet operations.

Keywords: air traffic, environment, emissions, noise, green aviation system

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Authors: Abas Mohsenzadeh, Mina Arya, Kim Bolton

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Catalytic combustion of hydrocarbons is an important technology developed to produce energy with minimum pollutant formation. The catalyst plays a key role in this process which operates at lower temperatures compared to conventional flame combustion. The energetics of the direct combustion of hydrocarbons (CH → C + H) on a series of metal surfaces including Ag, Au, Al, Cu, Rh, Pt, Pd, Ni, Fe and Co were investigated using density functional theory (DFT). Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi (BEP) and transition state scaling (TSS) correlations were proposed based on DFT calculations on the Ag, Au, Al, Cu, Rh, Pt and Pd surfaces. These correlations were then used to estimate the energetics on Fe, Ni and Co surfaces. Results showed that the estimated reaction and activation energies by BEP and TSS correlations on Fe, Ni and Co surfaces are in an excellent agreement with those obtained by DFT calculations. Therefore these correlations can be efficiently used to predict energetics of similar reactions on these surfaces without doing computationally costly transition state calculations. It was found that the activation barrier for CH dissociation follows the order Ag ˃ Au ˃ Al ˃ Cu ˃ Pt ˃ Pd ˃ Ni > Co > Rh > Fe. Also, BEP (with R2 value of 0.96) and TSS correlations (with R2 value of 0.99) support the results.

Keywords: BEP, DFT, hydrocarbon combustion, metal surfaces, TSS

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Authors: Amine Ben Slama, Aymen Mouelhi, Sondes Manoubi, Chiraz Mbarek, Hedi Trabelsi, Mounir Sayadi, Farhat Fnaiech

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Vertigo is a sensation of feeling off balance; the cause of this symptom is very difficult to interpret and needs a complementary exam. Generally, vertigo is caused by an ear problem. Some of the most common causes include: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), Meniere's disease and vestibular neuritis (VN). In clinical practice, different tests of videonystagmographic (VNG) technique are used to detect the presence of vestibular neuritis (VN). The topographical diagnosis of this disease presents a large diversity in its characteristics that confirm a mixture of problems for usual etiological analysis methods. In this study, a vestibular neuritis analysis method is proposed with videonystagmography (VNG) applications using an estimation of pupil movements in the case of an uncontrolled motion to obtain an efficient and reliable diagnosis results. First, an estimation of the pupil displacement vectors using with Hough Transform (HT) is performed to approximate the location of pupil region. Then, temporal and frequency features are computed from the rotation angle variation of the pupil motion. Finally, optimized features are selected using Fisher criterion evaluation for discrimination and classification of the VN disease.Experimental results are analyzed using two categories: normal and pathologic. By classifying the reduced features using the Support Vector Machine (SVM), 94% is achieved as classification accuracy. Compared to recent studies, the proposed expert system is extremely helpful and highly effective to resolve the problem of VNG analysis and provide an accurate diagnostic for medical devices.

Keywords: nystagmus, vestibular neuritis, videonystagmographic system, VNG, Fisher criterion, support vector machine, SVM

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Authors: Selen Demirtas Zorbaz, Ozlem Ulas

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Examining the reasons of child behaviour problems has been one of the focus of psychology and related disciplines for so long. It can be said there is a lot of reasons of child behaviour problems and familial factors might be the leading ones. When taking into account the prevalence of the children having behaviour problems in Turkey, it can be said that it is important to carry out studies putting forward the reasons of behaviour problems. From this point of view, the aim of this study is to examine dissertations and thesis putting forward the relationship between problem behaviour of the children (12-year-old and younger) and teenagers (12-18 years old), and familial factors. For that purpose, 46 dissertations that were chosen according to the study criteria out of 141 dissertations scanned by using the keywords of ‘behaviour problems’ and ‘behaviour disorder’ at Higher Education Thesis Centre between the years of 1989 and 2016 have been taken into the scope of the study. ‘Thesis Examination Draft Form’ has been prepared for the purpose of being used for data collecting tool. For the analysis of the data, percentage, and frequency analysis methods have been used. When the results of these studies are evaluated on the whole, it is seen that all the dissertations and thesis done are descriptive study, and it was not encountered any studies designed as experimental. When looked at the distribution of dissertations by years, it is seen that the first thesis was done in 1989 and the most number of dissertations were done in the years of 2014 and 2016. When looked at the department in which the dissertations were done, it can be said that dissertations and thesis were done in many different fields of disciplines ranging from psychology and special education. In addition to this, when investigated the group taken into the scope of dissertations and thesis research, it is seen that the children mostly worked with are below the age of 12 and types of studies are master’s thesis. When the dissertations and thesis are examined by means of topics, it is seen that mostly-studied topics are demographic variables such as gender, whether the family is fragmented or not, education level of the family and the parents’ attitude. Obtained findings have been examined in the light of literature.

Keywords: family, child behaviour problem, dissertations, thesis

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Authors: Zuk Nechemia Turbovich

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This paper introduces DoD, a contextual spiral model that describes the lifecycle of products intended for manufacturing using Personal 3D Printers (P3DP). The study is based on a review of the desktop P3DPs market that shows that the combination of digital connectivity, coupled with the potential ownership of P3DP by home users, is radically changing the form of the product lifecycle, comparatively to familiar lifecycle paradigms. The paper presents the change in the design process, considering the characterization of product types in the P3DP market and the possibility of having a direct dialogue between end-user and product designers. The model, as an updated paradigm, provides a strategic perspective on product design and tools for success, understanding that design is subject to rapid and continuous improvement and that products are subject to repair, update, and customization. The paper will include a review of real cases.

Keywords: lifecycle, mass-customization, personal 3d-printing, user involvement

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Authors: Angelica Gonzalez O, Leonardo Rivera Cadavid, Diego Fernando Manotas

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Energy poverty considers a population that does not have access to modern energy service. In particular, an area of a country that is not connected to the national electricity grid is known as a Non-Interconnected Zone (NIZ). Access to electricity has a significant impact on the welfare and development opportunities of the population. Different studies have shown that most health problems have an empirical cause and effect relationship with multidimensional energy poverty. Likewise, research has been carried out to review the consequences of not having access to electricity, and its results have concluded a statistically significant relationship between energy poverty and sources of drinking water, access to clean water, risks of mosquito bites, obesity, sterilization, marital status, occupation, and residence. Therefore, extensive research has been conducted in the construction of an energy poverty measure based on an index. Some of these studies introduce a Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI), Compose Energy Poverty Index (CEPI), Low Income High Costs indicator (LIHC), among others. For this purpose, this study analyzes the energy poverty index using a multicriteria analysis determining the set of feasible alternatives - for which Colombia's ZNI will be used as a case study - to be considered in the problem and the set of relevant criteria in the characterization of the ZNI, from which the prioritization is obtained to determine the level of adjustment of each alternative with respect to the performance in each criterion. Additionally, this study considers the installation of Micro-Grids (MG). This is considered a straightforward solution to this problem because an MG is a local electrical grid, able to operate in grid-connected and island mode. Drawing on those insights, this study compares an energy poverty index considering an MG installation and calculates the impacts of different criterias in an energy poverty index in NIZ.

Keywords: multicirteria, energy poverty, rural, microgrids, non-interconnect zones

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Authors: Michael Mertel, Lars Friedrich, Kai-Ingo Voigt

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Based on principle-agent theory, an information asymmetry exists in the traditional donation process. Consumers cannot comprehend whether nonprofit organizations (NPOs) use raised funds according to the designated cause after the transaction took place (hidden action). Therefore, charity organizations have tried to appear transparent and gain trust by using the same marketing instruments for decades (e.g., releasing project success reports). However, none of these measures can guarantee consumers that charities will use their donations for the purpose. With awareness of misuse of donations rising due to the Ukraine conflict (e.g., funding crime), consumers are increasingly concerned about the destination of their charitable purposes. Therefore, innovative charities like the Human Rights Foundation have started to offer donations via blockchain. Blockchain technology has the potential to establish profound trust and transparency in the donation process: Consumers can publicly track the progress of their donation at any time after deciding to donate. This ensures that the charity is not using donations against its original intent. Hence, the aim is to investigate the effect of blockchain-enabled transactions on the willingness to donate. Sample and Design: To investigate consumers' behavior, we use a scenario-based experiment. After removing participants (e.g., due to failed attention checks), 3192 potential donors participated (47.9% female, 62.4% bachelor or above). Procedure: We randomly assigned the participants to one of two scenarios. In all conditions, the participants read a scenario about a fictive charity organization called "Helper NPO." Afterward, the participants answered questions regarding their perception of the charity. Manipulation: The first scenario (n = 1405) represents a typical donation process, where consumers donate money without any option to track and trace. The second scenario (n = 1787) represents a donation process via blockchain, where consumers can track and trace their donations respectively. Using t-statistics, the findings demonstrate a positive effect of donating via blockchain on participants’ willingness to donate (mean difference = 0.667, p < .001, Cohen’s d effect size = 0.482). A mediation analysis shows significant effects for the mediation of transparency (Estimate = 0.199, p < .001), trust (Estimate = 0.144, p < .001), and transparency and trust (Estimate = 0.158, p < .001). The total effect of blockchain usage on participants’ willingness to donate (Estimate = 0.690, p < .001) consists of the direct effect (Estimate = 0.189, p < .001) and the indirect effects of transparency and trust (Estimate = 0.501, p < .001). Furthermore, consumers' affinity for technology moderates the direct effect of blockchain usage on participants' willingness to donate (Estimate = 0.150, p < .001). Donating via blockchain is a promising way for charities to engage consumers for several reasons: (1) Charities can emphasize trust and transparency in their advertising campaigns. (2) Established charities can target new customer segments by specifically engaging technology-affine consumers in the future. (3) Charities can raise international funds without previous barriers (e.g., setting up bank accounts). Nevertheless, increased transparency can also backfire (e.g., disclosure of costs). Such cases require further research.

Keywords: blockchain, social sector, transparency, trust

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Authors: Bassem Nassar, Wessam Hussein, Medhat Mokhtar

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The crucial concern of satellite operations is to ensure the health and safety of satellites. The worst case in this perspective is probably the loss of a mission but the more common interruption of satellite functionality can result in compromised mission objectives. All the data acquiring from the spacecraft are known as Telemetry (TM), which contains the wealth information related to the health of all its subsystems. Each single item of information is contained in a telemetry parameter, which represents a time-variant property (i.e. a status or a measurement) to be checked. As a consequence, there is a continuous improvement of TM monitoring systems in order to reduce the time required to respond to changes in a satellite's state of health. A fast conception of the current state of the satellite is thus very important in order to respond to occurring failures. Statistical multivariate latent techniques are one of the vital learning tools that are used to tackle the aforementioned problem coherently. Information extraction from such rich data sources using advanced statistical methodologies is a challenging task due to the massive volume of data. To solve this problem, in this paper, we present a proposed unsupervised learning algorithm based on Principle Component Analysis (PCA) technique. The algorithm is particularly applied on an actual remote sensing spacecraft. Data from the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) was acquired under two operation conditions: normal and faulty states. The models were built and tested under these conditions and the results shows that the algorithm could successfully differentiate between these operations conditions. Furthermore, the algorithm provides competent information in prediction as well as adding more insight and physical interpretation to the ADCS operation.

Keywords: space telemetry monitoring, multivariate analysis, PCA algorithm, space operations

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Authors: Flávia M. Oliveira, Marcos V. Rodrigues, Mônica L. Aguiar

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Synthetic fibers are widely used in gas filtration. Previous attempts to optimize the filtration process have employed mixed fibers as the filter medium in gas-solid separation. Some of the materials most frequently used this purpose are composed of polyester, polypropylene, and glass fibers. In order to improve the retention of cement particles in bag filters, the present study investigates the use of synthetic glass fiber filters and polypropylene fiber for particle filtration, with electrostatic discharge of 0 to -2 kV in cement particles. The filtration curves obtained showed that charging increased the particle collection efficiency and lowered the pressure drop. Particle diameter had a direct influence on the formation of the dust cake, and the application of electrostatic discharge to the particles resulted in the retention of more particles, hence increasing the lifetime of fabric filters.

Keywords: glass fiber filter, particle, electrostatic discharge, cement

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Authors: Shewit Kidane, Abebe Getahun, Wassie Anteneh, Admassu Demeke, Peter Goethals

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We have reviewed major findings of scientific studies on Lake Tana fish resources and their threats. The aim was to provide summarized information for all concerned bodies and international readers to get full and comprehensive picture about the lake’s fish resource and conservation problems. The Lake Tana watershed comprise 28 fish species, of which 21 are endemic. Moreover, Lake Tana is the one among the top 250 lake regions of global importance for biodiversity and it is world recognized migratory birds wintering site. Lake Tana together with its adjacent wetlands provide directly and indirectly a livelihood for more than 500,000 people. However, owing to anthropogenic activities, the lake ecosystem as well as fish and attributes of the fisheries sector are severely degraded. Fish species in Lake Tana are suffering due to illegal fishing, damming, habitat/breeding ground degradation, wastewater disposal, introduction of exotic species, and lack of implementing fisheries regulations. Currently, more than 98% of fishers in Lake Tana are using the most destructive monofilament. Indeed, dams, irrigation schemes and hydropower are constructed in response to the emerging development need only. Mitigation techniques such as construction of fish ladders for the migratory fishes are the most forgotten. In addition, water resource developers are likely unaware of both the importance of the fisheries and the impact of dam construction on fish. As a result, the biodiversity issue is often missed. Besides, Lake Tana wetlands, which play vital role to sustain biodiversity, are not wisely utilised in the sense of the Ramsar Convention’s definition. Wetlands are considered as unhealthy and hence wetland conversion for the purpose of recession agriculture is still seen as advanced mode of development. As a result, many wetlands in the lake watershed are shrinking drastically over time and Cyprus papyrus, one of the characteristic features of Lake Tana, has dramatically declined in its distribution with some local extinction. Furthermore, the recently introduced water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is creating immense problems on the lake ecosystem. Moreover, currently, 1.56 million tons of sediment have deposited into the lake each year and wastes from the industries and residents are directly discharged into the lake without treatment. Recently, sign of eutrophication is revealed in Lake Tana and most coarsely, the incidence of cyanobacteria genus Microcystis was reported from the Bahir Dar Gulf of Lake Tana. Thus, the direct dependency of the communities on the lake water for drinking as well as to wash their body and clothes and its fisheries make the problem worst. Indeed, since it is home to many endemic migratory fish, such kind of unregulated developmental activities could be detrimental to their stocks. This can be best illustrated by the drastic stock reduction (>75% in biomass) of the world unique Labeobarbus species. So, unless proper management is put in place, the anthropogenic impacts can jeopardize the aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, in order to sustainably use the aquatic resources and fulfil the needs of the local people, every developmental activity and resource utilization should be carried out adhering to the available policies.

Keywords: anthropogenic impacts, dams, endemic fish, wetland degradation

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Authors: Magdalena Biela, Marta Weber-Siwirska, Edyta Sierka

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The current noticed trend in Central European countries, as in other regions of the world, is for people to migrate to cities. As a result, the urban population is to have reached 70% of the total by 2050. Due to this tendency, as well as taking high real estate prices and limited reserves of city green areas into consideration, the greenery and agricultural soil adjacent to cities is are to be devoted to housing projects, while city centres are expected to undergo partial depopulation. Urban heat islands and phenomena such as torrential rains may cause serious damage. They may even endanger the very life and health of the inhabitants. Due to these tangible effects of climate change, residents expect that local government takes action to develop green infrastructure (GI). The main purpose of our research has been to assess the degree of readiness on the part of the local government in Poland to develop BGI. A questionnaire using the CAWI method was prepared, and a survey was carried out. The target group were town hall employees in all 380 powiat cities and towns (380 county centres) in Poland. The form contained 14 questions covering, among others, actions taken to support the development of GI and ways of motivating residents to take such actions. 224 respondents replied to the questions. The results of the research show that 52% of the cities/towns have taken or intend to take measures to favour the development of green spaces. Currently, the installation of green roofs and living walls is are only carried out by 6 Polish cities, and a few more are at the stage of preparing appropriate regulations. The problem of rainwater retention is much more widespread. Among the municipalities declaring any activities for the benefit of GI, approximately 42% have decided to work on this problem. Over 19% of the respondents are planning an increase in the surface occupied by green areas, 14% - the installation of green roofs, and 12% - redevelopment of city greenery. It is optimistic that 67% of the respondents are willing to acquire knowledge about BGI by means of taking part in educational activities both at the national and international levels. There are many ways to help GI development. The most common type of support in the cities and towns surveyed is co-financing (35%), followed by full financing of projects (11%). About 15% of the cities declare only advisory support. Thus, the problem of GI in Central European cities is at the stage of initial development and requires advanced measures and implementation of both proven solutions applied in other European and world countries using the concept of Nature-based Solutions.

Keywords: city/town, blue-green infrastructure, green roofs, climate change adaptation

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Authors: Bangwon Seo

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In this paper, we consider multicast device-to-device (D2D) direct communication systems in cellular networks. In multicast D2D communications, nearby mobile devices exchanges, their data directly without going through a base station and a D2D transmitter send its data to multiple D2D receivers that compose of D2D multicast group. We consider wiretap channel where there is an eavesdropper that attempts to overhear the transmitted data of the D2D transmitter. In this paper, we propose a secure transmission scheme in D2D multicast communications in cellular networks. In order to prevent the eavesdropper from overhearing the transmitted data of the D2D transmitter, a precoding vector is employed at the D2D transmitter in the proposed scheme. We perform computer simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme. Through the simulation, we show that the secrecy rate performance can be improved by selecting an appropriate precoding vector.

Keywords: device-to-device communications, wiretap channel, secure transmission, precoding

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Authors: B. Bouadjemia, M. Houaria, S. Haida, Y. B. Idriss, A, Akham, M. Matouguia, A. Gasmia, T. Lantria, S. Bentataa

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It have investigated the structural, optoelectronic, elastic and thermodynamic properties of KGeX₃ (X = F, Cl and Br) using the density functional theory (DFT) with generalized gradient approximation (GGA) for potential exchange correlation. The modified Becke-Johnson (mBJ-GGA) potential approximation is also used for calculating the optoelectronic properties of the material.The results show that the band structure of the metalloid halide perovskites KGeX₃ (X = F, Cl and Br) have a semiconductor behavior with direct band gap at R-R direction, the gap energy values for each compound as following: 2.83, 1.27 and 0.79eV respectively. The optical properties, such as real and imaginary parts of the dielectric functions, refractive index, reflectivity and absorption coefficient, are investigated. As results, these compounds are competent candidates for optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices in this range of the energy spectrum.

Keywords: density functional theory (DFT), semiconductor behavior, metalloid halide perovskites, optical propertie and photovoltaic devices

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Authors: Prabir Mukhopadhyay, Atul Kohale

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Going to school for Indian kids is a panic situation. Many of them are unable to adjust themselves to the confinement of the school building and this problem is compounded by other factors like unknown people in the vicinity, absence of either parents etc. This project aims at addressing these issues by exposing the kids at home to the learning environment. The purpose is to design a physical model with interfaces at each surface. The model would be like a cube with interactive surfaces where the child would be able to draw, paint, complete a picture and do such fun activities.

Keywords: interface, kids, play, computer systems engineering

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Authors: Elina Asriyan, Lusine Stepanyan

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This article is devoted to the study of connection between empathy and decentration. We have discovered a positive connection between these two indicators. Empathy is a variety of emotional decentration, and due to the decentration development process. To understand the investigated phenomenon it was applied a complex approach. The recorded results state that empathy and decentralization are interconnected with each other; empathy being a type of emotional decentralization is conditioned by the formation process of decentration.

Keywords: empathy, decentration, emotional decentration, egocentricity

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Authors: Hanee Ryu

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The former president Lee Myung-bak's administration of Korea presented “green growth” as a catchphrase from 2008. He declared “low-carbon, green growth” the nation's vision for the next decade according to United Nation Framework on Climate Change. The government designed omnidirectional policy for low-carbon and green growth with concentrating all effort of departments. The structural change was expected because this slogan is the identity of the government, which is strongly driven with the whole department. After his administration ends, the purpose of this paper is to quantify the policy effect and to compare with the value of the other OECD countries. The major target values under direct policy objectives were suggested, but it could not capture the entire landscape on which the policy makes changes. This paper figures out the policy impacts through comparing the value of ex-ante between the one of ex-post. Furthermore, each index level of Korea’s low-carbon and green growth comparing with the value of the other OECD countries. To measure the policy effect, indicators international organizations have developed are considered. Environmental Sustainable Index (ESI) and Environmental Performance Index (EPI) have been developed by Yale University’s Center for Environmental Law and Policy and Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and Joint Research Center of European Commission. It has been widely used to assess the level of natural resource endowments, pollution level, environmental management efforts and society’s capacity to improve its environmental performance over time. Recently OCED publish the Green Growth Indicator for monitoring progress towards green growth based on internationally comparable data. They build up the conceptual framework and select indicators according to well specified criteria: economic activities, natural asset base, environmental dimension of quality of life and economic opportunities and policy response. It considers the socio-economic context and reflects the characteristic of growth. Some selected indicators are used for measuring the level of changes the green growth policies have induced in this paper. As results, the CO2 productivity and energy productivity show trends of declination. It means that policy intended industry structure shift for achieving carbon emission target affects weakly in the short-term. Increasing green technologies patents might result from the investment of previous period. The increasing of official development aids which can be immediately embarked by political decision with no time lag present only in 2008-2009. It means international collaboration and investment to developing countries via ODA has not succeeded since the initial stage of his administration. The green growth framework makes the public expect structural change, but it shows sporadic effect. It needs organization to manage it in terms of the long-range perspectives. Energy, climate change and green growth are not the issue to be handled in the one period of the administration. The policy mechanism to transfer cost problem to value creation should be developed consistently.

Keywords: comparing ex-ante between ex-post indicator, green growth indicator, implication for green growth policy, measuring policy effect

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Authors: Shantanu Majumder

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This paper attempts to explain the factors contribute in attracting and engaging rural women in Bangladesh toward political Islam that in many cases manifests itself in the form of violent extremism (VE). Bangladesh, the fourth largest Muslim majority country in the world, has been confronting the problem of VE in the name of Islam since a long. The political Islamists, explaining the events like military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, anti-Muslim politics in neighboring India and Myanmar, Islamophobia in the West, and several other issues in their own way, have become to a vast extent successful in creating a high level of emotion, anger and a feeling of being oppressed worldwide among the ordinary Muslims masses. Half-hearted role of public intellectuals and political expediency of liberal political forces in explaining these events in a secular democratic way also facilitate the extremists to earn political dividend. VE was perceived as an all-male activism of the political Islamists’ in the past in Bangladesh. However, evidence in the recent times shows that there are sympathizers, recruiters, and perpetrators as well among the womenfolk in favor of VE-based political Islam. The first section in this paper sheds light on the way the political Islamists build rapport with and win over the heart of target women in countryside under the camouflage of preaching authentic Islam. This section also describes the role of family in involvement of women in VE. The second section discusses wide-ranging use of websites, facebook, laptop, mobile phones and several other means in the way to motivate and radicalize women. How the involvement with political Islamists brings changes in thinking process, lifestyle and family life of motivated women has been focused in the third section. The final section deals briefly with the way out relying on the argument that law and order forces alone cannot tackle this problem.

Keywords: Bangladesh, political Islam, violent extremism, women

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Authors: Ahmed Amine Hachicha

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Temperature effect on the performance of a photovoltaic module is one of the main concern that face this renewable energy, especially in the hot arid region, e.g United Arab Emirates. Overheating of the PV modules reduces the open circuit voltage and the efficiency of the modules dramatically. In this work, water cooling is developed to enhance the performance of PV modules. Different scenarios are tested under UAE weather conditions: front, back and double cooling. A spraying system is used for the front cooling whether a direct contact water system is used for the back cooling. The experimental results are compared to a non-cooling module and the performance of the PV module is determined for different situations. A mathematical model is presented to estimate the theoretical performance and validate the experimental results with and without cooling. The experimental results show that the front cooling is more effective than the back cooling and may decrease the temperature of the PV module significantly.

Keywords: PV cooling, solar energy, cooling methods, electrical efficiency, temperature effect

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Authors: Vakhtang Charaia

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The article focuses on the role of FDI in Georgia’s economic development for the last decade. To attract as much FDI as possible a proper investment climate should be on the place-institutional, policy and regulatory environment. Well-developed investment climate is the chance and motivation for both, local economy and foreign companies, to generate maximum income, create new work places and improve the quality of life. FDI trend is one of the best indicators of country’s economic sustainability and its attractiveness. Especially for small and developing countries, the amount of FDI matters, therefore, most of such countries are trying to compete with each other through improving their investment climate according to different world famous indexes. As a result of impressive reforms since 2003, Georgian economy was benefited with large invasion of FDI. However, the level of per capita GDP is still law in comparison to Eastern European countries and it should be improved. The main idea of the paper is to show a real linkage between FDI and employment ration, on the case of Georgian economy.

Keywords: foreign direct investment, employment, economic growth, taxes, corruption, sustainable development

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Authors: Allan Munyao Mukuki

Abstract:

The nexus between terrorism and human rights has become a big challenge in the fight against terrorism globally. This is hinged on the fact that terrorism and human rights are interrelated to the extent that, when the former starts, the latter is violated. This direct linkage was recognised in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action as adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna on 25 June 1993 which agreed that acts of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations are aimed at the destruction of human rights. Hence, terrorism constitutes an assault on our most basic human rights. To this end, the first part of this paper will focus on the nexus between terrorism and human rights and endeavors to draw a co-relation between these two concepts. The second part thereafter will analyse the emerging concept of cyber-terrorism and how it takes place. Further, an analysis of cyber counter-terrorism balanced as against human rights will also be undertaken. This will be done through the analysis of the concept of ‘securitisation’ of human rights as well as the need to create a balance between counterterrorism efforts as against the protection of human rights at all costs. The paper will then concludes with recommendations on how to balance counter-terrorism and human rights in the modern age.

Keywords: balance, counter-terrorism, cyber-terrorism, human rights, security, violation

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Authors: Nikeshala Weerasekara, Roshan Ajward

Abstract:

Contemporary business environment, given the circumstance of stringent scrutiny toward corporate behavior, organizations are under pressure to develop and implement solid overarching Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies. In that milieu, in order to differentiate themselves from competitors and maintain stakeholder confidence banks spend millions of dollars on CSR programmes. However, knowledge on how non-western bank employees perceive such activities is inconclusive. At the same time recently only researchers have shifted their focus on positive effects of compassion at work or the organizational conditions under which it arises. Nevertheless, mediation mechanisms between CSR and compassion at work have not been adequately examined leaving a vacuum to be explored. Despite finding a purpose in work that is greater than extrinsic outcomes of the work is important to employees, meaningful work has not been examined adequately. Thus, in addition to examining the direct relationship between CSR and compassion at work, this study examined the mediating capability of meaningful work between these variables. Specifically, the researcher explored how CSR enables employees to sense work as meaningful which in turn would enhance their level of compassion at work. Hypotheses were developed to examine the direct relationship between CSR and compassion at work and the mediating effect of meaningful work on the relationship between CSR and compassion at work. Both Social Identity Theory (SIT) and Social Exchange Theory (SET) were used to theoretically support the relationships. The sample comprised of 450 respondents covering different levels of the bank. A convenience sampling strategy was used to secure responses from 13 local licensed commercial banks in Sri Lanka. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire which was developed based on a comprehensive review of literature and refined using both expert opinions and a pilot survey. Structural equation modeling using Smart Partial Least Square (PLS) was utilized for data analysis. Findings indicate a positive and significant (p < .05) relationship between CSR and compassion at work. Also, it was found that meaningful work partially mediates the relationship between CSR and compassion at work. As per the findings it is concluded that bank employees’ perception of CSR engagement not only directly influence compassion at work but also impact such through meaningful work as well. This implies that employees consider working for a socially responsible bank since it creates greater meaningfulness of work to retain with the organization, which in turn trigger higher level of compassion at work. By utilizing both SIT and SET in explaining relationships between CSR and compassion at work it amounts to theoretical significance of the study. Enhance existing literature on CSR and compassion at work. Also, adds insights on mediating capability of psychologically related variables such as meaningful work. This study is expected to have significant policy implications in terms of increasing compassion at work where managers must understand the importance of including CSR activities into their strategy in order to thrive. Finally, it provides evidence of suitability of using Smart PLS to test models with mediating relationships involving non normal data.

Keywords: compassion at work, corporate social responsibility, employee commitment, meaningful work, positive affect

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Authors: Tahir Saleem, Mohammad Usman, Nadeem Khan

Abstract:

GPS signals are used for navigation and positioning purposes by a diverse set of users. However, this project intends to utilize the reflected GPS L5 signals for location of target in a region of interest by generating an image that highlights the positions of targets in the area of interest. The principle of bi-static radar is used to detect the targets or any movement or changes. The idea is confirmed by the results obtained during MATLAB simulations. A matched filter based technique is employed in the signal processing to improve the system resolution. The simulation is carried out under different conditions with moving receiver and targets. Noise and attenuation is also induced and atmospheric conditions that affect the direct and reflected GPS signals have been simulated to generate a more practical scenario. A realistic GPS L5 signal has been simulated, the simulation results verify that the detection and imaging of targets is possible by employing reflected GPS using L5 signals and matched filter processing technique with acceptable spatial resolution.

Keywords: GPS, L5 Signal, SAR, spatial resolution

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Authors: Jason Sheng-Hong Tsai, Faezeh Ebrahimzadeh, Min-Ching Chung, Shu-Mei Guo, Leang-San Shieh, Tzong-Jiy Tsai, Li Wang

Abstract:

In this paper, we first construct a new state and disturbance estimator using discrete-time proportional plus integral observer to estimate the system state and the unknown external disturbance for the discrete-time system with an input-to-output direct-feedthrough term. Then, the generalized optimal linear quadratic digital tracker design is applied to construct a proportional plus integral observer-based tracker for the system with an unknown external disturbance to have a desired tracking performance. Finally, a numerical simulation is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new application of our proposed approach.

Keywords: non-minimum phase system, optimal linear quadratic tracker, proportional plus integral observer, state and disturbance estimator

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Authors: Carlos Oliveira Santiago Filho, Ciro Egoavil, Eduardo Oliveira, Jéferson Galdino, Moises Galileu, Tiago Oliveira Correa

Abstract:

Transfer of Electrical Energy through resonant inductive magnetic coupling is demonstrated experimentally in a system containing coil primary for transmission and secondary reception. The topology used in the prototype of the Class-E amplifier, has been identified as optimal for power transfer applications. Characteristic of the inductor and the load are defined by the requirements of the resonant inductive system. The frequency limitation the of circuit restricts unloaded “Q-Factor”, quality factor of the coils and thus the link efficiency. With a suitable circuit, copper coil unloaded Q-Factors of over 1,000 can be achieved in the low Mhz region, enabling a cost-effective high Q coil assembly. The circuit is capable system capable of transmitting energy with direct current to load efficiency above 60% at 2 Mhz.

Keywords: magnetic induction, transfer of electrical energy, magnetic coupling, Q-Factor

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Authors: Fouad. Inel, Lakhdar. Khochemane

Abstract:

This article presents a comparative response specification performance between two controllers of three and four cable based robots for various applications. The main objective of this work is: The first is to use the direct and inverse geometric model to study and simulate the end effector position of the robot with three and four cables. A graphical user interface has been implemented in order to visualizing the position of the robot. Secondly, we present the determination of static and dynamic tensions and lengths of cables required to flow different trajectories. At the end, we study the response of our systems in closed loop with a Proportional-Integrated Derivative (PID) and Proportional-Integrated (PD) controllers then this last are compared the results of the same examples using MATLAB/Simulink; we found that the PID method gives the better performance, such as rapidly speed response, settling time, compared to PD controller.

Keywords: parallel cable-based robots, geometric modeling, dynamic modeling, graphical user interface, open loop, PID/PD controllers

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Authors: G. K. Pandey, D. Ramadasu, I. Banerjee, V. Vinod, G. Padmakumar, V. Prakash, K. K. Rajan

Abstract:

Detailed thermal hydraulic investigations are very essential for safe and reliable functioning of liquid metal cooled fast breeder reactors. These investigations are further more important for components with complex profile, since there is no direct correlation available in literature to evaluate the hydraulic characteristics of such components directly. In those cases available correlations for similar profile or geometries may lead to significant uncertainty in the outcome. Hence experimental approach can be adopted to evaluate these hydraulic characteristics more precisely for better prediction in reactor core components. Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), a sodium cooled pool type reactor is under advanced stage of construction at Kalpakkam, India. Several components of this reactor core require hydraulic investigation before its usage in the reactor. These hydraulic investigations on full scale models, carried out by experimental approaches using water as simulant fluid are discussed in the paper.

Keywords: fast breeder reactor, cavitation, pressure drop, reactor components

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Authors: Baofeng Pan, Heng Liu

Abstract:

Because of the high strength and large carrying capacity, the semi-rigid base is widely used in modern road engineering. However, hydrodynamic pressure, which is one of the main factors to cause early damage of semi-rigid base, cannot be avoided in the nature environment when pavement is subjected to some loadings such as the passing vehicles. In order to investigating how moisture-induced-damage of semi-rigid base influenced by hydrodynamic pressure, a new and effective experimental research method is provided in this paper. The results show that: (a) The washing action of high hydrodynamic pressure is the direct cause of strength reducing of road semi-rigid base. (b) The damage of high hydrodynamic pressure mainly occurs at the beginning of the scoring test and with the increasing of testing time the influence reduces. (c) Under the same hydrodynamic pressure, the longer the specimen health age, the stronger ability to resist moisture induced damage.

Keywords: semi-rigid base, hydrodynamic pressure, moisture-induced-damage, experimental research

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Authors: Abolfazl Hedayatipoor, Mohammad Younesi Alamooti

Abstract:

In order to study the effect of conservative tillage on a number of physical properties of soil and the yield of rainfed wheat, an experiment in the form of a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was conducted in a field in Aliabad County, Iran. The study treatments included: T1) Conventional method, T2) Combined moldboard plow method, T3) Chisel-packer method, and T4) Direct planting method. During early October, the study soil was prepared based on these treatments in a field which was used for rainfed wheat farming in the previous year. The apparent specific gravity of soil, weighted mean diameter (WMD) of soil aggregates, soil mechanical resistance, and soil permeability were measured. Data were analyzed in MSTAT-C. Results showed that the tillage practice had no significant effect on grain yield (p < 0.05). Soil permeability was 10.9, 16.3, 15.7 and 17.9 mm/h for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively.

Keywords: rainfed agriculture, conservative tillage, energy consumption, wheat

Procedia PDF Downloads 194