Search results for: system thinking

Authors: Wallyson Thomas, Zsombor Fulop, Attila Szilagyi

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Impact dampers are mainly used in the metal-mechanical industry in operations that generate too much vibration in the machining system. Internal turning processes become unstable during the machining of deep holes, in which the tool holder is used with long overhangs (high length-to-diameter ratios). The devices coupled with active dampers, are expensive and require the use of advanced electronics. On the other hand, passive impact dampers (PID – Particle Impact Dampers) are cheaper alternatives that are easier to adapt to the machine’s fixation system, once that, in this last case, a cavity filled with particles is simply added to the structure of the tool holder. The cavity dimensions and the diameter of the spheres are pre-determined. Thus, when passive dampers are employed during the machining process, the vibration is transferred from the tip of the tool to the structure of the boring bar, where it is absorbed by the fixation system. This work proposes to compare the behaviors of a conventional solid boring bar and a boring bar with a passive impact damper in turning while using the highest possible L/D (length-to-diameter ratio) of the tool and an Easy Fix fixation system (also called: Split Bushing Holding System). It is also intended to optimize the impact absorption parameters, as the filling percentage of the cavity and the diameter of the spheres. The test specimens were made of hardened material and machined in a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) lathe. The laboratory tests showed that when the cavity of the boring bar is totally filled with minimally spaced spheres of the largest diameter, the gain in absorption allowed of obtaining, with an L/D equal to 6, the same surface roughness obtained when using the solid boring bar with an L/D equal to 3.4. The use of the passive particle impact damper resulted in, therefore, increased static stiffness and reduced deflexion of the tool.

Keywords: active damper, fixation system, hardened material, passive damper

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Authors: Eduardo P. Wiechmann, Jorge A. Henríquez, Pablo E. Aqueveque, Luis G. Muñoz

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PV energy prices are declining rapidly. To take advantage of the benefits of those prices and lower the carbon footprint, operational practices must be modified. Undoubtedly, it challenges the electrowinning practice to operate at constant current throughout the day. This work presents a technology that contributes in providing modulation capacity to the electrode current distribution system. This is to raise the day time dc current and lower it at night. The system is a triple intercell bar that operates in current-source mode. The design is a capping board free dogbone type of bar that ensures an operation free of short circuits, hot swapability repairs and improved current balance. This current-source system eliminates the resetting currents circulating in equipotential bars. Twin auxiliary connectors are added to the main connectors providing secure current paths to bypass faulty or impaired contacts. All system conductive elements are positioned over a baseboard offering a large heat sink area to the ventilation of a facility. The system works with lower temperature than a conventional busbar. Of these attributes, the cathode current balance property stands out and is paramount for day/night modulation and the use of photovoltaic energy. A design based on a 3D finite element method model predicting electric and thermal performance under various industrial scenarios is presented. Preliminary results obtained in an electrowinning facility with industrial prototypes are included.

Keywords: electrowinning, intercell bars, PV energy, current modulation

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Authors: Prakash, Vikash Kumar, Vinay Bansal, L. N. Das

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Dual biometrics is a subpart of multimodal biometrics, which refers to the use of a variety of modalities to identify and authenticate persons rather than just one. We limit the risks of mistakes by mixing several modals, and hackers have a tiny possibility of collecting information. Our goal is to collect the precise characteristics of iris and palmprint, produce a fusion of both methodologies, and ensure that authentication is only successful when the biometrics match a particular user. After combining different modalities, we created an effective strategy with a mean DI and EER of 2.41 and 5.21, respectively. A biometric system has been proposed.

Keywords: multimodal, fusion, palmprint, Iris, EER, DI

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Authors: Mohammad Nazififard, Reihane Faghihi

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This paper is aimed at understanding convective heat transfer of enclosed phase change material (PCM) in the solar and low-temperature hot water radiant floor heating geometry. In order to obtain the best performance of PCM, a radiant heating structure of the energy storage floor is designed which places heat pipes in the enclosed phase change material (PCM) layer, without concrete in it. The governing equations are numerically solved. The PCM thermal storage time is considered in relation to the floor surface temperature under different hot water temperatures. Moreover the PCM thermal storage time is numerically estimated under different supply water temperatures and flow rate. Results show the PCM floor heating system has a potential of making use of the daytime solar energy for heating at night efficiently.

Keywords: solar floor, heating system, phase change material, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Kamran Baksh Soomro, Amin Talei, Sina Alaghmand

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Water scarcity has exacerbated in the last couple of decades; it is incumbent on agriculture to maximize the use of water of all qualities. The drip irrigation system practice has shown a vast increase in profit and research interests in the last two decades. However, the application of this system is still limited. The two years field experiment was conducted with three replications at Malir, Karachi (a semi-arid region) in Pakistan. The aim was to evaluate the effects of two qualities of irrigation water IT1 (EC 0.56 dS.m⁻¹) and IT2 (EC 2.89 dS.m⁻¹) on water use efficiency. To achieve the aim, bitter gourd was grown under the drip irrigation system in 2016-17. The uniformity co-efficient (UC) ranged from 93 to 96%. Water use efficiency, of 1.60 and 1.21 kg.m⁻³ under IT1 was recorded higher in season 1 and 2. Using t-test at 5% significance level, the crop yield was higher in both seasons under IT1 compared to IT2. Using pairwise t-test at 5% significance level, the parameters related with the quality of fruit, like length, weight, and diameter, were higher in IT1 than IT2 in all plants; and in both seasons. A correlational study was also conducted to observe the trends in the variables associated with both irrigation treatments for the two seasons. Results showed that most of the parameters exhibited a similar linear trend in both the seasons. The study concluded that bitter gourd crop could be grown successfully in sandy loam using drip irrigation system, supplying saline ground-water. The sustainable use of saline irrigation water should be utilized for vegetable cultivation to meet the food demand in the rural areas of Pakistan.

Keywords: uniformity co-efficient, water use efficiency, drip irrigation, ground-water, t-test, correlation

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Authors: Furry A. Wilis, Dewi Larasati, Suhendri

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Around 96% of architecture firms in Indonesia are classified as small-medium enterprises (SME). This number shows that the SME firms have an important role in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry in Indonesia. Some of them are still using conventional system (2D based) in arranging construction project documents. This system is fragmented and not fully well-coordinated, so causes many changes in the whole project cycle. Building information modeling (BIM), as a new developed system in Indonesian construction industry, has been assumed can decrease changes in the project. But BIM has not fully implemented in Indonesian AEC industry, especially in SME architecture firms. This article identifies the challenges of implementing BIM in SME architecture firms in Indonesia. Quantitative-explorative research with questionnaire was chosen to achieve the goal of this article. The scarcity of skilled BIM user, low demand from client, high investment cost, and the unwillingness of the firm to switch into BIM were found as the result of this paper.

Keywords: architecture consultants, BIM, SME, Indonesia

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Authors: Walid Louhichi, Mouhebeddine Berrima, Narjes Ben Rajed

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Elasticity is the essential property of cloud computing. As the name suggests, it constitutes the ability of a cloud system to adjust resource provisioning in relation to fluctuating workload. There are two types of elasticity operations, vertical and horizontal. In this work, we are interested in horizontal scaling, which is ensured by two mechanisms; scaling in and scaling out. Following the sizing of the system, we can adopt scaling in in the event of over-supply and scaling out in the event of under-supply. In this paper, we propose a formal model, based on colored and temporized Petri nets, for the modeling of the duplication and the removal of a virtual machine from a server. This model is based on formal Petri Nets modeling language. The proposed models are edited, verified, and simulated with two examples implemented in CPNtools, which is a modeling tool for colored and timed Petri nets.

Keywords: cloud computing, elasticity, elasticity controller, petri nets, scaling in, scaling out

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Authors: Matthew Yeager, Christopher Willy, John Bischoff

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The conceptualization and design phases of a system lifecycle consume a significant amount of the lifecycle budget in the form of direct tasking and capital, as well as the implicit costs associated with unforeseeable design errors that are only realized during downstream phases. Ad hoc or iterative approaches to generating system requirements oftentimes fail to consider the full array of feasible systems or product designs for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to: initial conceptualization that oftentimes incorporates a priori or legacy features; the inability to capture, communicate and accommodate stakeholder preferences; inadequate technical designs and/or feasibility studies; and locally-, but not globally-, optimized subsystems and components. These design pitfalls can beget unanticipated developmental or system alterations with added costs, risks and support activities, heightening the risk for suboptimal system performance, premature obsolescence or forgone development. Supported by rapid advances in learning algorithms and hardware technology, sensors and sensor systems have become commonplace in both commercial and industrial products. The evolving array of hardware components (i.e. sensors, CPUs, modular / auxiliary access, etc…) as well as recognition, data fusion and communication protocols have all become increasingly complex and critical for design engineers during both concpetualization and implementation. This work seeks to develop and utilize a non-deterministic approach for sensor system design within the multi-attribute tradespace exploration (MATE) paradigm, a technique that incorporates decision theory into model-based techniques in order to explore complex design environments and discover better system designs. Developed to address the inherent design constraints in complex aerospace systems, MATE techniques enable project engineers to examine all viable system designs, assess attribute utility and system performance, and better align with stakeholder requirements. Whereas such previous work has been focused on aerospace systems and conducted in a deterministic fashion, this study addresses a wider array of system design elements by incorporating both traditional tradespace elements (e.g. hardware components) as well as popular multi-sensor data fusion models and techniques. Furthermore, statistical performance features to this model-based MATE approach will enable non-deterministic techniques for various commercial systems that range in application, complexity and system behavior, demonstrating a significant utility within the realm of formal systems decision-making.

Keywords: multi-attribute tradespace exploration, data fusion, sensors, systems engineering, system design

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Authors: Mehmet Savsar, Majid Aldaihani

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Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) are used to produce a variety of parts on the same equipment. Therefore, their utilization is higher than traditional machining systems. Higher utilization, on the other hand, results in more frequent equipment failures and additional need for maintenance. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully analyze operational characteristics and productivity of FMS or Flexible Manufacturing Cells (FMC), which are smaller configuration of FMS, before installation or during their operation. Appropriate models should be developed to determine production rates based on operational conditions, including equipment reliability, availability, and repair capacity. In this paper, a stochastic model is developed for an automated FMC system, which consists of two machines served by two robots and a single repairman. The model is used to determine system productivity and equipment utilization under different operational conditions, including random machine failures, random repairs, and limited repair capacity. The results are compared to previous study results for FMC system with sufficient repair capacity assigned to each machine. The results show that the model will be useful for design engineers and operational managers to analyze performance of manufacturing systems at the design or operational stages.

Keywords: flexible manufacturing, FMS, FMC, stochastic modeling, production rate, reliability, availability

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Authors: Esra Ece Var

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Beekeeping plays essential role both in terms of agricultural yields and agricultural economy; they produce honey, wax, royal jelly, apitoxin, pollen, and propolis. Nowadays, these natural products become more importantly suitable and preferable for nutrition, food supplement, medicine, and industry. However, to produce organic honey, majority of the apiaries are located in remote or distant rural areas where utilities such as electricity and Internet network are not available. Additionally, due to colony failures, world honey production decreases year by year despite the increase in the number of beehives. The objective of this paper is to develop a smart beehive monitoring system for apiaries including those that do not have access to Internet network. In this context, temperature and humidity inside the beehive, and ambient temperature were measured with RFID sensors. Control center, where all sensor data was sent and stored at, has a GSM module used to warn the beekeeper via SMS when an anomaly is detected. Simultaneously, using the collected data, an unsupervised machine learning algorithm is used for detecting anomalies and calibrating the warning system. The results show that the smart beehive monitoring system can detect fatal anomalies up to 4 weeks prior to colony loss.

Keywords: beekeeping, smart systems, machine learning, anomaly detection, apiculture

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Authors: Eric Neidhardt

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A well-functioning public transport system that is accepted and used by the general population contributes a lot to a sustainable city. Especially young and elderly people rely on public transport to get to work, go shopping, visit a doctor, and take advantage of entertainment options. The sustainability of a public transport system can be considered from different points of view. In urban areas, acceptance is particularly important. As many people as possible should use public transport and not their private vehicle. This reduces traffic jams and increases air quality. In rural areas, the cost efficiency of public transport is especially important. Longer distances and a low population density mean that these modes of transportation can rarely be used cost-effectively. It is crucial to avoid a low utilization, because empty rides are neither sustainable nor cost-effective. With a demand-oriented approach, we try to both improve flexibility and therefore attractiveness for the user and improve cost- efficiency. The vehicles only operate when they are needed and only where they are needed. Empty rides are avoided to improve sustainability. In the subproject "Autonomous public driving" of the project RealLabHH, such a system was implemented and tested in Hamburg-Bergedorf, a suburb of Hamburg. In this paper, some of the steps necessary for this are considered from a technical point of view, and problems that arose in real-life use are addressed.

Keywords: public transport, demand-oriented, autonomous driving, RealLabHH

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Authors: Rozita Borhan, Hanif Che Lah, Wee Leong Son

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This paper is about method to produce a stable and accurate constant output pulse width regardless of the amplitude, period and pulse width variation of the input signal source. The pulse generated is usually being used in numerous applications as the reference input source to other circuits in the system. Therefore, it is crucial to produce a clean and constant pulse width to make sure the system is working accurately as expected.

Keywords: amplitude, Constant Pulse Width, frequency divider, pulse generator

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Authors: Arfanara Najnin, Michael W. Roach, Jr., Dr. Jianhong Cecilia Xia

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The SkyCar Rapid Transit System (SRT) is an innovative intelligent transport system for the sustainable urban transport system. This system will increase the urban area network connectivity and decrease urban area traffic congestion. The SRT system is designed as a suspended Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system that travels under a guideway 5m above the ground. A driver-less passenger is via pod-cars that hang from slender beams supported by columns that replace existing lamp posts. The beams are setup in a series of interconnecting loops providing non-stop travel from beginning to end to assure journey time. The SRT forward movement is effected by magnetic motors built into the guideway. Passenger stops are at either at line level 5m above the ground or ground level via a spur guideway that curves off the main thoroughfare. The main objective of this paper is to propose an integrated Automated Transit Network (ATN) technology for the future intelligent transport system in the urban built environment. To fulfil the objective a 4D simulated model in the urban built environment has been proposed by using the concept of SRT-ATN system. The methodology for the design, construction and testing parameters of a Technology Demonstrator (TD) for proof of concept and a Simulator (S) has been demonstrated. The completed TD and S will provide an excellent proving ground for the next development stage, the SRT Prototype (PT) and Pilot System (PS). This paper covered by a 4D simulated model in the virtual built environment is to effectively show how the SRT-ATN system works. OpenSim software has been used to develop the model in a virtual environment, and the scenario has been simulated to understand and visualize the proposed SkyCar Rapid Transit Network model. The SkyCar system will be fabricated in a modular form which is easily transported. The system would be installed in increasingly congested city centers throughout the world, as well as in airports, tourist resorts, race tracks and other special purpose for the urban community. This paper shares the lessons learnt from the proposed innovation and provides recommendations on how to improve the future transport system in urban built environment. Safety and security of passengers are prime factors to be considered for this transit system. Design requirements to meet the safety needs to be part of the research and development phase of the project. Operational safety aspects would also be developed during this period. The vehicles, the track and beam systems and stations are the main components that need to be examined in detail for safety and security of patrons. Measures will also be required to protect columns adjoining intersections from errant vehicles in vehicular traffic collisions. The SkyCar Rapid Transit takes advantage of all current disruptive technologies; batteries, sensors and 4G/5G communication and solar energy technologies which will continue to reduce the costs and make the systems more profitable. SkyCar's energy consumption is extremely low compared to other transport systems.

Keywords: SkyCar, rapid transit, Intelligent Transport System (ITS), Automated Transit Network (ATN), urban built environment, 4D Visualization, smart city

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Authors: Ching-Sung Wang, Teng-Wei Wang, Zhen-Ting Zheng

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This study mainly concerns a safety device designed for child care. When children are out of sight or the caregivers cannot always pay attention to the situation, through the functions of this device, caregivers can immediately be informed to make sure that the children do not get lost or hurt, and thus, ensure their safety. Starting from this concept, a device is produced based on the relatively low-cost Bluetooth piconet system and a three-axis gyroscope sensor. This device can transmit data to a mobile phone app through Bluetooth, in order that the user can learn the situation at any time. By simply clipping the device in a pocket or on the waist, after switching on/starting the device, it will send data to the phone to detect the child’s fall and distance. Once the child is beyond the angle or distance set by the app, it will issue a warning to inform the phone owner.

Keywords: children care, piconet system, three-axis gyroscope, distance detection, falls detection

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Authors: Mariana Lima, Rodrigo Silva, Victor Stange, Teodiano Bastos

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Due to the high reliability reached by DNA tests, since the 1980s this kind of test has allowed the identification of a growing number of criminal cases, including old cases that were unsolved, now having a chance to be solved with this technology. Currently, the use of genetic profiling databases is a typical method to increase the scope of genetic comparison. Forensic laboratories must process, analyze, and generate genetic profiles of a growing number of samples, which require time and great storage capacity. Therefore, it is essential to develop methodologies capable to organize and minimize the spent time for both biological sample processing and analysis of genetic profiles, using software tools. Thus, the present work aims the development of a software system solution for laboratories of forensics genetics, which allows sample, criminal case and local database management, minimizing the time spent in the workflow and helps to compare genetic profiles. For the development of this software system, all data related to the storage and processing of samples, workflows and requirements that incorporate the system have been considered. The system uses the following software languages: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in Web technology, with NodeJS platform as server, which has great efficiency in the input and output of data. In addition, the data are stored in a relational database (MySQL), which is free, allowing a better acceptance for users. The software system here developed allows more agility to the workflow and analysis of samples, contributing to the rapid insertion of the genetic profiles in the national database and to increase resolution of crimes. The next step of this research is its validation, in order to operate in accordance with current Brazilian national legislation.

Keywords: database, forensic genetics, genetic analysis, sample management, software solution

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Authors: Dinesh Kumar Yadav

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Short stories for language development are deeply rooted elsewhere in any language syllabus. Its relevance is manifold. The short stories have the power to take the students to the target culture directly from the classroom. It works as a crucial factor in enhancing language skills in different ways. This article is an outcome of an experimental study conducted for a month on the 12th graders where they were engaged in different creative and critical-thinking activities along with various tasks that ranged from knowledge level to application level. The sole purpose was to build up their confidence in speaking in the classroom as well as develop all their language skills simultaneously. With the start of the class in August 2021, the students' speaking skill and their confidence in speaking in the class was tested. The test was abruptly followed by a presentation of a short story from their culture. The students were engaged in different tasks related to the story. The PowerPoint slides, handouts with the story, and tasks on photocopy were used as tools whenever needed. A one-month class exclusively on speaking skills through sharing stories was found to be very helpful in developing confidence in the learners. The result was very satisfactory. A large number of students became responsive in the class. The proficiency level was not satisfactory; however, their effort to speak in class showed a very positive sign in language development.

Keywords: short stories, relevance, language enhancement, language proficiency

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Authors: Ionel Zagan, Vasile Gheorghita Gaitan, Adrian Brezulianu

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This paper presents the contributions in designing a mobile system named Tele-ECG implemented for remote monitoring of cardiac patients. For a better flexibility of this application, the authors chose to implement a local memory and multiple communication interfaces. The project described in this presentation is based on the ARM Cortex M0+ microcontroller and the ADAS1000 dedicated chip necessary for the collection and transmission of Electrocardiogram signals (ECG) from the patient to the microcontroller, without altering the performances and the stability of the system. The novelty brought by this paper is the implementation of a remote monitoring system for cardiac patients, having a real-time behavior and multiple interfaces. The microcontroller is responsible for processing digital signals corresponding to ECG and also for the implementation of communication interface with the main server, using GSM/Bluetooth SIMCOM SIM800C module. This paper translates all the characteristics of the Tele-ECG project representing a feasible implementation in the biomedical field. Acknowledgment: This paper was supported by the project 'Development and integration of a mobile tele-electrocardiograph in the GreenCARDIO© system for patients monitoring and diagnosis - m-GreenCARDIO', Contract no. BG58/30.09.2016, PNCDI III, Bridge Grant 2016, using the infrastructure from the project 'Integrated Center for research, development and innovation in Advanced Materials, Nanotechnologies, and Distributed Systems for fabrication and control', Contract No. 671/09.04.2015, Sectoral Operational Program for Increase of the Economic Competitiveness co-funded from the European Regional Development Fund.

Keywords: Tele-ECG, real-time cardiac monitoring, electrocardiogram, microcontroller

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

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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: Emine Akar

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The majority of privacy-related regulation has traditionally focused on concepts that are perceived to be well-understood or easily describable, such as certain categories of data and personal information or images. In the past century, such regulation appeared reasonably suitable for its purposes. However, technologies such as AI, combined with ever-increasing capabilities to collect, process, and store “big data”, not only require calibration of these traditional understandings but may require re-thinking of entire categories of privacy law. In the presentation, it will be explained, against the background of various emerging technologies under the umbrella term “emotional artificial intelligence”, why modern privacy law will need to embrace human emotions as potentially private subject matter. This argument can be made on a jurisprudential level, given that human emotions can plausibly be accommodated within the various concepts that are traditionally regarded as the underlying foundation of privacy protection, such as, for example, dignity, autonomy, and liberal values. However, the practical reasons for regarding human emotions as potentially private subject matter are perhaps more important (and very likely more convincing from the perspective of regulators). In that respect, it should be regarded as alarming that, according to most projections, the usefulness of emotional data to governments and, particularly, private companies will not only lead to radically increased processing and analysing of such data but, concerningly, to an exponential growth in the collection of such data. In light of this, it is also necessity to discuss options for how regulators could address this emerging threat.

Keywords: AI, privacy law, data protection, big data

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Authors: Walid Moudani, Ahmad Shahin

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This research presents a study to handle the recruitment services system. It aims to enhance a business intelligence system by embedding data mining in its core engine and to facilitate the link between job searchers and recruiters companies. The purpose of this study is to present an intelligent management system for supporting recruitment services based on data mining methods. It consists to apply segmentation on the extracted job postings offered by the different recruiters. The details of the job postings are associated to a set of relevant features that are extracted from the web and which are based on critical criterion in order to define consistent clusters. Thereafter, we assign the job searchers to the best cluster while providing a ranking according to the job postings of the selected cluster. The performance of the proposed model used is analyzed, based on a real case study, with the clustered job postings dataset and classified job searchers dataset by using some metrics.

Keywords: job postings, job searchers, clustering, genetic algorithms, business intelligence

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Authors: Gayatri Kanwar

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The purpose of this research paper is to explore the power of myth in changing human lives; it establishes patterns in the human psyche, affects the way of thinking, as myths unveil various subjects, ideas, and challenges. Through mythological stories one comes to understand the images behind the emotions and feelings, they influence him as it changes his thought patterns, their therapeutic sets the individual on the path of healing and transforms human lives. Every civilization in the olden times had a vast source of myths which they lived by. They were not ordinary stories of everyday life, but exemplary cases narrated through oral traditions in a sacred manner revealed the 'way to live life'. The mythical stories have a spiritual touch which brought him to the acceptance of suffering or finding a solution to his life problems. In modern times, the significance of the age old myth has lost their touch. Each one of us bears countless stories inside ourselves of our own lives and all its happenings. Therefore, each being is a natural narrator. Everybody tells stories about their lives; hence, one tends to know oneself as well as seeks understanding of others through them. When one remembers their stories they speak in narratives. As stated by Jung, these narratives grow into a personal mythology one lives by. Nonetheless, there are times when one becomes stuck in their own stories or myths. Hence, mythology can change one’s perception and can open pathways to other ways of discovering, feeling and experiencing one’s lives.

Keywords: Power of Myths, Significance of myths in modern times, Transforming human lives, Benefits to Society

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Authors: Abdul Wahid

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Inner speech, also known as verbal thinking, self-talk or private speech, is characterized by the subjective language experience in the absence of overt or audible speech. It is a psychological form of verbal activity which is being rehearsed without the articulation of any sound wave. In Psychology, self-limiting speech means the type of speech which contains information that inhibits the development of the self. People, in most cases, experience inner speech in their first language. It is very frequent in Bangladesh where the Bangla (L1) speaking students lose track of speech during their presentations in English (L2). This paper investigates into the long pauses (more than 0.4 seconds long) in English (L2) presentations by Bangla speaking students (18-21 year old) and finds the intervention of Bangla (L1) inner speech as one of its causes. The overt speeches of the presenters are placed on Audacity Audio Editing software where the length of pauses are measured in milliseconds. Varieties of inner speech questionnaire (VISQ) have been conducted randomly amongst the participants out of whom 20 were selected who have similar phenomenology of inner speech. They have been interviewed to describe the type and content of the voices that went on in their head during the long pauses. The qualitative interview data are then codified and converted into quantitative data. It was observed that in more than 80% cases students experience self-limiting inner speech/self-talk during their unwanted pauses in L2 presentations.

Keywords: Bangla-English Bilinguals, inner speech, L1 intervention in bilingualism, motor schema, pauses, phonological loop, phonological store, working memory

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Authors: M. Magrini, D. Moroni, G. Palazzese, G. Pieri, D. Azzarelli, A. Spada, L. Fanucci, O. Salvetti

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Railway crossings are complex entities whose optimal management cannot be addressed unless with the help of an intelligent transportation system integrating information both on train and vehicular flows. In this paper, we propose an integrated system named SIMPLE (Railway Safety and Infrastructure for Mobility applied at level crossings) that, while providing unparalleled safety in railway level crossings, collects data on rail and road traffic and provides value-added services to citizens and commuters. Such services include for example alerts, via variable message signs to drivers and suggestions for alternative routes, towards a more sustainable, eco-friendly and efficient urban mobility. To achieve these goals, SIMPLE is organized as a System of Systems (SoS), with a modular architecture whose components range from specially-designed radar sensors for obstacle detection to smart ETSI M2M-compliant camera networks for urban traffic monitoring. Computational unit for performing forecast according to adaptive models of train and vehicular traffic are also included. The proposed system has been tested and validated during an extensive trial held in the mid-sized Italian town of Montecatini, a paradigmatic case where the rail network is inextricably linked with the fabric of the city. Results of the tests are reported and discussed.

Keywords: Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), railway, railroad crossing, smart camera networks, radar obstacle detection, real-time traffic optimization, IoT, ETSI M2M, transport safety

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Authors: Noppatee Sabpayakom, Somporn Sirisumrannukul

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Due to incentive policies to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency, high penetration levels of very small power producers (VSPP) located in distribution networks have imposed technical barriers and established new requirements for protection and control of the networks. Although VSPPs have economic and environmental benefit, they may introduce negative effects and cause several challenges on the issue of protection and control system. This paper presents comprehensive studies of possible impacts on control and protection systems based on real distribution systems located in a metropolitan area. A number of scenarios were examined primarily focusing on state of islanding, and un-disconnected VSPP during faults. It is shown that without proper measures to address the issues, the system would be unable to maintain its integrity of electricity power supply for disturbance incidents.

Keywords: control and protection systems, distributed generation, renewable energy, very small power producers

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Authors: Veronica Sorgato, Jeremy Belhassen, Philippe Chartier, Roddy Sihanath, Nicolas Docquiere, Jean-Yves Giraud

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We analyzed the image-guided radiotherapy method used by the TomoTherapy® System (Accuray Corp.) for patient repositioning in clinical routine. The TomoTherapy® System computes X, Y, Z and roll displacements to match the reference CT, on which the dosimetry has been performed, with the pre-treatment MV CT. The accuracy of the repositioning method has been studied according to the treatment localization. For this, a database of 18774 treatment sessions, performed during 2 consecutive years (2016-2017 period) has been used. The database includes the X, Y, Z and roll displacements proposed by TomoTherapy® System as well as the manual correction of these proposals applied by the radiation therapist. This manual correction aims to further improve the repositioning based on the clinical situation and depends on the structures surrounding the target tumor tissue. The statistical analysis performed on the database aims to define repositioning limits to be used as security and guiding tool for the manual adjustment implemented by the radiation therapist. This tool will participate not only to notify potential repositioning errors but also to further improve patient positioning for optimal treatment.

Keywords: accuracy, IGRT MVCT, image-guided radiotherapy megavoltage computed tomography, statistical analysis, tomotherapy, localization

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Authors: Pawitchaya Srijaiwong, Surin Khomfoi

Abstract:

There are several solutions to supply electricity to an island in Thailand such as diesel generation, submarine power cable, and renewable energy power generation. However, each alternative has its own limitation like fuel and pollution of diesel generation, submarine power cable length resulting in loss of cable and cost of investment, and potential of renewable energy in the local area. This paper shows microgrid system which is a new alternative for power supply to an island. It integrates local power plant from renewable energy, energy storage system, and microgrid controller. The suitable renewable energy power generation on an island is selected from geographic location and potential evaluation. Thus, photovoltaic system and hydro power plant are taken into account. The capacity of energy storage system is also estimated by transient stability study in order to supply electricity demand sufficiently under normal condition. Microgrid controller plays an important role in conducting, communicating and operating for both sources and loads on an island so that its functions are discussed in this study. The conceptual design of microgrid operation is investigated in order to analyze the reliability and power quality. The result of this study shows that microgrid is able to operate in parallel with the main grid and in case of islanding. It is applicable for electricity supply to an island and a remote area. The advantages of operating microgrid on an island include the technical aspect like improving reliability and quality of power system and social aspects like outage cost saving and CO₂ reduction.

Keywords: energy storage, islanding, microgrid, renewable energy

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Authors: Brianne Nichols, John A. Parkinson

Abstract:

Positive Psychology has provided a rich understanding of the beneficial effects of positive emotions in relation to optimal functioning, and research has been devoted to promote states of positive feeling and thinking. While this is a worthwhile pursuit, positive emotions are not useful in all contexts - some situations may require the individual to make use of their negative emotions to reach a desired end state. To account for the potential value of a wider range of emotional experiences that are common to the human condition, Positive Psychology needs to expand its horizons and investigate how individuals achieve positive outcomes using varied means. The current research seeks to understand the positive psychology of fear of failure (FF), which is a commonly experienced negative emotion relevant to most life domains. On the one hand, this emotion has been linked with avoidance motivation and self-handicap behaviours, on the other; FF has been shown to act as a drive to move the individual forward. To fully capture the depth of this highly subjective emotional experience and understand the circumstances under which FF may be adaptive, this study adopted a mixed methods design using SenseMaker; a web-based tool that combines the richness of narratives with the objectivity of numerical data. Two hundred participants consisting mostly of undergraduate university students shared a story of a time in the recent past when they feared failure of achieving a valued goal. To avoid researcher bias in the interpretation of narratives, participants self-signified their stories in a tagging system that was based on researchers’ aim to explore the role of past failures, the cognitive, emotional and behavioural profile of individuals high and low in FF, and the relationship between these factors. In addition, the role of perceived personal control and self-esteem were investigated in relation to FF using self-report questionnaires. Results from quantitative analyses indicated that individuals with high levels of FF, compared to low, were strongly influenced by past failures and preoccupied with their thoughts and emotions relating to the fear. This group also reported an unwillingness to accept their internal experiences, which in turn was associated with withdrawal from goal pursuit. Furthermore, self-esteem was found to mediate the relationship between perceived control and FF, suggesting that self-esteem, with or without control beliefs, may have the potential to buffer against high FF. It is hoped that the insights provided by the current study will inspire future research to explore the ways in which ‘acceptance’ may help individuals keep moving towards a goal despite the presence of FF, and whether cultivating a non-contingent self-esteem is the key to resilience in the face of failures.

Keywords: fear of failure, goal-pursuit, negative emotions, optimal functioning, resilience

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Authors: Herlandson C. Moura, Jorge H. Bidinotto, Eduardo M. Belo

Abstract:

The present work proposes the development of an adaptive control system which enables the suppression of Pilot Induced Oscillations (PIO) in Digital Fly-By-Wire (DFBW) aircrafts. The proposed system consists of a Modified Model Reference Adaptive Control (M-MRAC) integrated with the Gain Scheduling technique. The PIO oscillations are detected using a Real Time Oscillation Verifier (ROVER) algorithm, which then enables the system to switch between two reference models; one in PIO condition, with low proneness to the phenomenon and another one in normal condition, with high (or medium) proneness. The reference models are defined in a closed loop condition using the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) control methodology for Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems. The implemented algorithms are simulated in software implementations with state space models and commercial flight simulators as the controlled elements and with pilot dynamics models. A sequence of pitch angles is considered as the reference signal, named as Synthetic Task (Syntask), which must be tracked by the pilot models. The initial outcomes show that the proposed system can detect and suppress (or mitigate) the PIO oscillations in real time before it reaches high amplitudes.

Keywords: adaptive control, digital Fly-By-Wire, oscillations suppression, PIO

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Authors: Tapan Upadhyay, Aqib Siddiqui, Sameer Khan

Abstract:

Railway crossing system in India is a manually operated level crossing system, either manned or unmanned. The main aim is to protect pedestrians and vehicles from colliding with trains, which pass at regular intervals, as India has the largest and busiest railway network. But because of human error and negligence, every year thousands of lives are lost due to accidents at railway crossings. To avoid this, we suggest a solution, by using Programmable Logical Controller (PLC) based automatic system, which will automatically control the barrier as well as roadblocks to stop people from crossing while security warning is given. Often people avoid security warning, and pass two-wheelers from beneath the barrier, while the train is at a distance away. This paper aims at reducing the fatality and accident rate by controlling barrier and roadblocks using sensors which sense the incoming train and vehicles and sends a signal to PLC. The PLC in return sends a signal to barrier and roadblocks. Once the train passes, the barrier and roadblocks retrieve back, and the passage is clear for vehicles and pedestrians to cross. PLC’s are used because they are very flexible, cost effective, space efficient, reduces complexity and minimises errors. Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) is used to monitor the functioning.

Keywords: level crossing, PLC, sensors, SCADA

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Authors: Usman Jilani, Ibad Khurram, Irshad Hussain

Abstract:

Environmentally sustainable waste management is a challenging task as it involves multiple and diverse economic, environmental, technical and regulatory issues. Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) is more challenging in developing countries like Pakistan due to lack of awareness, technology and human resources, insufficient funding, inefficient collection and transport mechanism resulting in the lack of a comprehensive waste management system. This work presents an overview of current MSWM practices in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan and proposes a better and sustainable integrated solid waste management system with incineration (Waste to Energy) option. The diverted waste would otherwise generate revenue; minimize land fill requirement and negative impact on the environment. The proposed optimized solution utilizing scientific techniques (like mathematical modeling, optimization algorithms and GIS) as decision support tools enhances the technical & institutional efficiency leading towards a more sustainable waste management system through incorporating: - Improved collection mechanisms through optimized transportation / routing and, - Resource recovery through incineration and selection of most feasible sites for transfer stations, landfills and incineration plant. These proposed methods shift the linear waste management system towards a cyclic system and can also be used as a decision support tool by the WSSP (Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar), agency responsible for the MSWM in Peshawar.

Keywords: municipal solid waste management, incineration, mathematical modeling, optimization, GIS, Peshawar

Procedia PDF Downloads 364