Search results for: sensorimotor program
661 Implemented 5-bit 125-MS/s Successive Approximation Register ADC on FPGA
Authors: S. Heydarzadeh, A. Kadivarian, P. Torkzadeh
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Implemented 5-bit 125-MS/s successive approximation register (SAR) analog to digital converter (ADC) on FPGA is presented in this paper.The design and modeling of a high performance SAR analog to digital converter are based on monotonic capacitor switching procedure algorithm .Spartan 3 FPGA is chosen for implementing SAR analog to digital converter algorithm. SAR VHDL program writes in Xilinx and modelsim uses for showing results.Keywords: Analog to digital converter, Successive approximation, Capacitor switching algorithm, FPGA
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4348660 Pattern Recognition of Biological Signals
Authors: Paulo S. Caparelli, Eduardo Costa, Alexsandro S. Soares, Hipolito Barbosa
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This paper presents an evolutionary method for designing electronic circuits and numerical methods associated with monitoring systems. The instruments described here have been used in studies of weather and climate changes due to global warming, and also in medical patient supervision. Genetic Programming systems have been used both for designing circuits and sensors, and also for determining sensor parameters. The authors advance the thesis that the software side of such a system should be written in computer languages with a strong mathematical and logic background in order to prevent software obsolescence, and achieve program correctness.Keywords: Pattern recognition, evolutionary computation, biological signal, functional programming.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1732659 Investigating the Performance of Minimax Search and Aggregate Mahalanobis Distance Function in Evolving an Ayo/Awale Player
Authors: Randle O. A., Olugbara, O. O., Lall M.
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In this paper we describe a hybrid technique of Minimax search and aggregate Mahalanobis distance function synthesis to evolve Awale game player. The hybrid technique helps to suggest a move in a short amount of time without looking into endgame database. However, the effectiveness of the technique is heavily dependent on the training dataset of the Awale strategies utilized. The evolved player was tested against Awale shareware program and the result is appealing.
Keywords: Minimax Search, Mahalanobis Distance, Strategic Game, Awale
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1647658 The Study on Service-oriented Encapsulating Methods of Legacy Systems
Authors: Chao Qi, Xiaoyan Su, Zhan Mao, Xuan Qi
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At present, web Service is the first choice to reuse the legacy system for the implementation of SOA. According to the status of the implementation of SOA and the status of the legacy systems, we propose four encapsulating strategies. Base on the strategies, we proposal the service-oriented encapsulating framework, the legacy system can be encapsulated by the service-oriented encapsulating layer in three aspects, communication protocols, data and program. The reuse rate of the legacy systems can be increased by using this frameworkKeywords: Legacy system, service-oriented encapsulating, SOA.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1548657 Simulating a Single-Server Queue using the Q – Simulator
Authors: Irene K. Amponsah, Bennony K. Gordor, Francis Dogbey
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This paper introduces a technique for simulating a single-server exponential queuing system. The technique called the Q-Simulator is a computer program which can simulate the effect of traffic intensity on all system average quantities given the arrival and/or service rates. The Q-Simulator has three phases namely: the formula based method, the uncontrolled simulation, and the controlled simulation. The Q-Simulator generates graphs (crystal solutions) for all results of the simulation or calculation and can be used to estimate desirable average quantities such as waiting times, queue lengths, etc.Keywords: Automation system-Simulator, Simulation, Singleserver exponential system
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2286656 Fuzzy Voting in Internal Elections of Educational and Party Organizations
Authors: R. Hosseingholizadeh
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This article presents a method for elections between the members of a group that is founded by fuzzy logic. Linguistic variables are objects for decision on election cards and deduction is based on t-norms and s-norms. In this election-s method election cards are questionnaire. The questionnaires are comprised of some questions with some choices. The choices are words from natural language. Presented method is accompanied by center of gravity (COG) defuzzification added up to a computer program by MATLAB. Finally the method is illustrated by solving two examples; choose a head for a research group-s members and a representative for students.
Keywords: fuzzy election, fuzzy electoral card, fuzzy inference, questionnaire.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1410655 Voltage Stability Assessment and Enhancement Using STATCOM - A Case Study
Authors: Puneet Chawla, Balwinder Singh
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Recently, increased attention has been devoted to the voltage instability phenomenon in power systems. Many techniques have been proposed in the literature for evaluating and predicting voltage stability using steady state analysis methods. In this paper P-V and Q-V curves have been generated for a 57 bus Patiala Rajpura circle of India. The power-flow program is developed in MATLAB using Newton Raphson method. Using Q-V curves the weakest bus of the power system and the maximum reactive power change permissible on that bus is calculated. STATCOMs are placed on the weakest bus to improve the voltage and hence voltage stability and also the power transmission capability of the line.
Keywords: Voltage stability, Reactive power, power flow, weakest bus, STATCOM.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3009654 Project Management Success for Contractors
Authors: Hamimah Adnan, Norfashiha Hashim, Mohd Arif Marhani, Mohd Asri Yeop Johari
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The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the implementation of Project Management practices by UiTM contractors to ensure project success. A questionnaire survey was administered to 120 UiTM contractors in Malaysia. The purpose of this method was to gather information on the contractors- project background and project management skills. It was found that all of the contractors had basic knowledge and understanding of project management skills. It is suggested that a reasonable project plan and an appropriate organizational structure are influential factors for project success. It is recommended that the contractors need to have an effective program of work and up to date information system are emphasized.Keywords: Project management, success, contractors.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3170653 Developing a Research Framework for Investigating the Transparency of ePortfolios
Authors: Elizabeth Downs, Judith Repman, Kenneth Clark
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This paper describes the evolution of strategies to evaluate ePortfolios in an online Master-s of Education (M.Ed.) degree in Instructional Technology. The ePortfolios are required as a culminating activity for students in the program. By using Web 2.0 tools to develop the ePortfolios, students are able to showcase their technical skills, integrate national standards, demonstrate their professional understandings, and reflect on their individual learning. Faculty have created assessment strategies to evaluate student achievement of these skills. To further develop ePortfolios as a tool promoting authentic learning, faculty are moving toward integrating transparency as part of the evaluation process.Keywords: e-learning evaluation, ePortfolios, transparency, Web 2.0
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1547652 A Concept Study to Assist Non-Profit Organizations to Better Target Developing Countries
Authors: Malek Makki
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The main purpose of this research study is to assist non-profit organizations (NPOs) to better segment a group of least developing countries and to optimally target the most needier areas, so that the provided aids make positive and lasting differences. We applied international marketing and strategy approaches to segment a sub-group of candidates among a group of 151 countries identified by the UN-G77 list, and furthermore, we point out the areas of priorities. We use reliable and well known criteria on the basis of economics, geography, demography and behavioral. These criteria can be objectively estimated and updated so that a follow-up can be performed to measure the outcomes of any program. We selected 12 socio-economic criteria that complement each other: GDP per capita, GDP growth, industry value added, export per capita, fragile state index, corruption perceived index, environment protection index, ease of doing business index, global competitiveness index, Internet use, public spending on education, and employment rate. A weight was attributed to each variable to highlight the relative importance of each criterion within the country. Care was taken to collect the most recent available data from trusted well-known international organizations (IMF, WB, WEF, and WTO). Construct of equivalence was carried out to compare the same variables across countries. The combination of all these weighted estimated criteria provides us with a global index that represents the level of development per country. An absolute index that combines wars and risks was introduced to exclude or include a country on the basis of conflicts and a collapsing state. The final step applied to the included countries consists of a benchmarking method to select the segment of countries and the percentile of each criterion. The results of this study allowed us to exclude 16 countries for risks and security. We also excluded four countries because they lack reliable and complete data. The other countries were classified per percentile thru their global index, and we identified the needier and the areas where aids are highly required to help any NPO to prioritize the area of implementation. This new concept is based on defined, actionable, accessible and accurate variables by which NPO can implement their program and it can be extended to profit companies to perform their corporate social responsibility acts.
Keywords: Developing countries, International marketing, non-profit organization, segmentation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 979651 Lung Nodule Detection in CT Scans
Authors: M. Antonelli, G. Frosini, B. Lazzerini, F. Marcelloni
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In this paper we describe a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system for automated detection of pulmonary nodules in computed-tomography (CT) images. After extracting the pulmonary parenchyma using a combination of image processing techniques, a region growing method is applied to detect nodules based on 3D geometric features. We applied the CAD system to CT scans collected in a screening program for lung cancer detection. Each scan consists of a sequence of about 300 slices stored in DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) format. All malignant nodules were detected and a low false-positive detection rate was achieved.Keywords: computer assisted diagnosis, medical imagesegmentation, shape recognition.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1810650 Performance Comparison of Prim’s and Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm to Select Shortest Path in Case of Link Failure
Authors: Rimmy Yadav, Avtar Singh
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Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a promising modern approach to the unused combinatorial optimization. Here ACO is applied to finding the shortest during communication link failure. In this paper, the performances of the prim’s and ACO algorithm are made. By comparing the time complexity and program execution time as set of parameters, we demonstrate the pleasant performance of ACO in finding excellent solution to finding shortest path during communication link failure.Keywords: Ant colony optimization, link failure, prim’s algorithm.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2168649 Vulnerability Assessment of Blida City
Authors: K. Tadjer, M. Bensaibi, A. Chaid
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The seismic vulnerability of an urban area is of a great deal for local authorities especially those facing earthquakes. So, it is important to have an efficient tool to assess the vulnerability of existing buildings. The use of the VIP (Vulnerability Index Program) and the GIS (Geographic Information System) let us to identify the most vulnerable districts of an urban area. The use of the vulnerability index method lets us to assess the vulnerability of the center town of Blida (Algeria) which is a historical town and which has grown enormously during the last decades. In this method, three levels of vulnerability are defined. The GIS has been used to build a data base in order to perform different thematic analyses. These analyses show the seismic vulnerability of Blida.Keywords: Blida, Earthquake, GIS, Seismic vulnerability, Urban area.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1829648 EU, US and Tax Incentives: An Application
Authors: Carlos F. Liard-Muriente
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The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the controversial subject of tax incentives to promote regional development. Although extensive research has been conducted, a review of the literature gives an inconclusive answer to whether economic incentives are effective. One reason is the fact that for some researchers “effective" means the significant location of new firms in targeted areas, while for others the creation of jobs regardless if new firms are arriving in a significant fashion. We present this dichotomy by analyzing a tax incentive program via both alternatives: location and job creation. The contribution of the paper is to inform policymakers about the potential opportunities and pitfalls when designing incentive strategies. This is particularly relevant, given that both the US and Europe have been promoting incentives as a tool for regional economic development.Keywords: Employment, Foreign Investment, Tax Incentives.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1393647 Landowers' Participation Behavior on the Payment for Environmental Service (PES): Evidences from Taiwan
Authors: Wan-Yu Liu
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To respond to the Kyoto Protocol, the policy of Payment for Environmental Service (PES), which was entitled “Plain Landscape Afforestation Program (PLAP)", was certified by Executive Yuan in Taiwan on 31 August 2001 and has been implementing for six years since 1 January 2002. Although the PLAP has received a lot of positive comments, there are still many difficulties during the process of implementation, such as insufficient technology for afforestation, private landowners- low interests in participating in PLAP, insufficient subsidies, and so on, which are potential threats that hinder the PLAP from moving forward in future. In this paper, selecting Ping-Tung County in Taiwan as a sample region and targeting those private landowners with and without intention to participate in the PLAP, respectively, we conduct an empirical analysis based on the Logit model to investigate the factors that determine whether those private landowners join the PLAP, so as to realize the incentive effects of the PLAP upon the personal decision on afforestation. The possible factors that might determine private landowner-s participation in the PLAP include landowner-s characteristics, cropland characteristics, as well as policy factors. Among them, the policy factors include afforestation subsidy amount (+), duration of afforestation subsidy (+), the rules on adjoining and adjacent areas (+), and so on, which do not reach the remarkable level in statistics though, but the directions of variable signs are consistent with the intuition behind the policy. As for the landowners- characteristics, each of age (+), education level (–), and annual household income (+) variables reaches 10% of the remarkable level in statistics; as for the cropland characteristics, each of cropland area (+), cropland price (–), and the number of cropland parcels (–) reaches 1% of the remarkable level in statistics. In light of the above, the cropland characteristics are the dominate factor that determines the probability of landowner-s participation in the PLAP. In the Logit model established by this paper, the probability of correctly estimating nonparticipants is 98%, the probability of correctly estimating the participants is 71.8%, and the probability for the overall estimation is 95%. In addition, Hosmer-Lemeshow test and omnibus test also revealed that the Logit model in this paper may provide fine goodness of fit and good predictive power in forecasting private landowners- participation in this program. The empirical result of this paper expects to help the implementation of the afforestation programs in Taiwan.
Keywords: Forestry policy, logit, afforestation subsidy, afforestation policy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1592646 An Ontology for Knowledge Representation and Applications
Authors: Nhon Do
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Ontology is a terminology which is used in artificial intelligence with different meanings. Ontology researching has an important role in computer science and practical applications, especially distributed knowledge systems. In this paper we present an ontology which is called Computational Object Knowledge Base Ontology. It has been used in designing some knowledge base systems for solving problems such as the system that supports studying knowledge and solving analytic geometry problems, the program for studying and solving problems in Plane Geometry, the knowledge system in linear algebra.Keywords: Artificial intelligence, knowledge representation, knowledge base system, ontology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2149645 Concurrent Approach to Data Parallel Model using Java
Authors: Bala Dhandayuthapani Veerasamy
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Parallel programming models exist as an abstraction of hardware and memory architectures. There are several parallel programming models in commonly use; they are shared memory model, thread model, message passing model, data parallel model, hybrid model, Flynn-s models, embarrassingly parallel computations model, pipelined computations model. These models are not specific to a particular type of machine or memory architecture. This paper expresses the model program for concurrent approach to data parallel model through java programming.Keywords: Concurrent, Data Parallel, JDK, Parallel, Thread
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2076644 Comparative Performance Analysis of Nonlinearity Cancellation Techniques for MOS-C Realization in Integrator Circuits
Authors: Hasan Çiçekli, Ahmet Gökçen, Uğur Çam
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In this paper, a comparative performance analysis of mostly used four nonlinearity cancellation techniques used to realize the passive resistor by MOS transistors, is presented. The comparison is done by using an integrator circuit which is employing sequentially Op-amp, OTRA and ICCII as active element. All of the circuits are implemented by MOS-C realization and simulated by PSPICE program using 0.35μm process TSMC MOSIS model parameters. With MOS-C realization, the circuits became electronically tunable and fully integrable which is very important in IC design. The output waveforms, frequency responses, THD analysis results and features of the nonlinearity cancellation techniques are also given.Keywords: Integrator circuits, MOS-C realization, nonlinearity cancellation, tunable resistors.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2101643 OCR/ICR Text Recognition Using ABBYY FineReader as an Example Text
Authors: A. R. Bagirzade, A. Sh. Najafova, S. M. Yessirkepova, E. S. Albert
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This article describes a text recognition method based on Optical Character Recognition (OCR). The features of the OCR method were examined using the ABBYY FineReader program. It describes automatic text recognition in images. OCR is necessary because optical input devices can only transmit raster graphics as a result. Text recognition describes the task of recognizing letters shown as such, to identify and assign them an assigned numerical value in accordance with the usual text encoding (ASCII, Unicode). The peculiarity of this study conducted by the authors using the example of the ABBYY FineReader, was confirmed and shown in practice, the improvement of digital text recognition platforms developed by Electronic Publication.
Keywords: ABBYY FineReader system, algorithm symbol recognition, OCR/ICR techniques, recognition technologies.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 750642 Influence of Hydraulic Hysteresis on Effective Stress in Unsaturated Clay
Authors: Anuchit Uchaipichat
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A comprehensive program of laboratory testing on a compacted kaolin in a modified triaxial cell was perform to investigate the influence of hydraulic hysteresis on effective stress in unsaturated soils. The test data are presented on a range of constant suction shear tests along wetting and drying paths. The values of effective stress parameter χ at different matric suction were determined using the test results. The effect of hydraulic hysteresis phenomenon on the effective stress was observed. The values of effective stress parameter χ obtained from the experiments were compared with those obtained from the expressions proposed in literature.Keywords: Unsaturated soils, Hydraulic hysteresis, Effectivestress
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1643641 Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of Threephase Small Power Induction Motor
Authors: Nyein Nyein Soe, Thet Thet Han Yee, Soe Sandar Aung
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This paper is proposed the dynamic simulation of small power induction motor based on Mathematical modeling. The dynamic simulation is one of the key steps in the validation of the design process of the motor drive systems and it is needed for eliminating inadvertent design mistakes and the resulting error in the prototype construction and testing. This paper demonstrates the simulation of steady-state performance of induction motor by MATLAB Program Three phase 3 hp induction motor is modeled and simulated with SIMULINK model.Keywords: Squirrel cage induction motor, modeling andsimulation, MATLAB software, torque, speed.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4510640 Estimating Cost of R&D Activities for Feasibility Study of Public R&D Investment
Authors: Ie-jung Choi
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Since the feasibility study of R&D programs have been initiated for efficient public R&D investments, year 2008, feasibility studies have improved in terms of precision. Although experience related to these studies of R&D programs have increased to a certain point, still methodological improvement is required. The feasibility studies of R&D programs are consisted of various viewpoints, such as technology, policy, and economics. This research is to provide improvement methods to the economic perspective; especially the cost estimation process of R&D activities. First of all, the fundamental concept of cost estimation is reviewed. After the review, a statistical and econometric analysis method is applied as empirical analysis. Conclusively, limitations and further research directions are provided.Keywords: Cost Estimation, R&D Program, Feasibility AnalysisStudy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1619639 Integrated Method for Detection of Unknown Steganographic Content
Authors: Magdalena Pejas
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This article concerns the presentation of an integrated method for detection of steganographic content embedded by new unknown programs. The method is based on data mining and aggregated hypothesis testing. The article contains the theoretical basics used to deploy the proposed detection system and the description of improvement proposed for the basic system idea. Further main results of experiments and implementation details are collected and described. Finally example results of the tests are presented.Keywords: Steganography, steganalysis, data embedding, data mining, feature extraction, knowledge base, system learning, hypothesis testing, error estimation, black box program, file structure.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1555638 Industrial Waste Monitoring
Authors: Khairuddin Bin Osman, Ngo Boon Kiat, A. Hamid Bin hamidon, Khairul Azha Bin A. Aziz, Hazli Rafis Bin Abdul Rahman, Mazran Bin Esro
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Conventional industrial monitoring systems are tedious, inefficient and the at times integrity of the data is unreliable. The objective of this system is to monitor industrial processes specifically the fluid level which will measure the instantaneous fluid level parameter and respond by text messaging the exact value of the parameter to the user when being enquired by a privileged access user. The development of the embedded program code and the circuit for fluid level measuring are discussed as well. Suggestions for future implementations and efficient remote monitoring works are included.Keywords: Industrial monitoring system, text messaging, embedded programming.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1665637 Improving Taint Analysis of Android Applications Using Finite State Machines
Authors: Assad Maalouf, Lunjin Lu, James Lynott
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We present a taint analysis that can automatically detect when string operations result in a string that is free of taints, where all the tainted patterns have been removed. This is an improvement on the conservative behavior of previous taint analyzers, where a string operation on a tainted string always leads to a tainted string unless the operation is manually marked as a sanitizer. The taint analysis is built on top of a string analysis that uses finite state automata to approximate the sets of values that string variables can take during the execution of a program. The proposed approach has been implemented as an extension of FlowDroid and experimental results show that the resulting taint analyzer is much more precise than the original FlowDroid.Keywords: Android, static analysis, string analysis, taint analysis.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 632636 Loss Analysis by Loading Conditions of Distribution Transformers
Authors: A. Bozkurt, C. Kocatepe, R. Yumurtaci, İ. C. Tastan, G. Tulun
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Efficient use of energy, the increase in demand of energy and also with the reduction of natural energy sources, has improved its importance in recent years. Most of the losses in the system from electricity produced until the point of consumption is mostly composed by the energy distribution system. In this study, analysis of the resulting loss in power distribution transformer and distribution power cable is realized which are most of the losses in the distribution system. Transformer losses in the real distribution system are analyzed by CYME Power Engineering Software program. These losses are disclosed for different voltage levels and different loading conditions.Keywords: Distribution system, distribution transformer, power cable, technical losses.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2692635 Work-Related Shoulder Lesions and Labor Lawsuits in Brazil: Cross-Sectional Study on Worker Health Actions Developed by Employers
Authors: Reinaldo Biscaro, Luciano R. Ferreira, Leonardo C. Biscaro, Raphael C. Biscaro, Isabela S. Vasconcelos, Laura C. R. Ferreira, Cristiano M. Galhardi, Erica P. Baciuk
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Introduction: The present study had the objective to present the profile of workers with shoulder disorders related to labor lawsuits in Brazil. The study analyzed the association between the worker’s health and the actions performed by the companies related to injured professional. The research method performed a retrospective, cross-sectional and quantitative database analysis. The documents of labor lawsuits with shoulder injury registered at the Regional Labor Court in the 15th region (Campinas - São Paulo) were submitted to the medical examination and evaluated during the period from 2012 until 2015. The data collected were age, gender, onset of symptoms, length of service, current occupation, type of shoulder injury, referred complaints, type of acromion, associated or related diseases, company actions as CAT (workplace accident communication), compliance of NR7 by the organization (Environmental Risk Prevention Program - PPRA and Medical Coordination Program in Occupational Health - PCMSO). Results: From the 93 workers evaluated, there was a prevalence of men (58.1%), with a mean age of 42.6 y-o, and 54.8% were included in the age group 35-49 years. Regarding the length of work time in the company, 66.7% have worked for more than 5 years. There was an association between gender and current occupational status (p < 0.005), with predominance of women in household occupation (13 vs. 2) and predominance of unemployed men in job search situation (24 vs. 10) and reintegrated to work by judicial decision (8 vs. 2). There was also a correlation between pain and functional limitation (p < 0.01). There was a positive association of PPRA with the complaint of functional limitation and negative association with pain (p < 0.04). There was also a correlation between the sedentary lifestyle and the presence of PCMSO and PPRA (p < 0.04), and the absence of CAT in the companies (p < 0.001). It was concluded that the appearance or aggravation of osseous and articular shoulder pathologies in workers who have undertaken labor law suits seem to be associated with individual habits or inadequate labor practices. These data can help preventing the occurrence of these lesions by implementing local health promotion policies at work.Keywords: Work-related accidents, cross-sectional study, shoulder lesions, labor lawsuits.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 882634 E-learning: An Effective Approach for Enhancing Social and Behavior Change Communication Capacity in Bangladesh
Authors: Mohammad K. Abedin, Mohammad Shahjahan, Zeenat Sultana, Tawfique Jahan, Jesmin Akter
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To strengthen social and behavior change communication (SBCC) capacity of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) of the Government of Bangladesh, BCCP/BKMI developed two eLearning courses providing opportunities for professional development of SBCC Program Managers who have no access to training or refreshers training. The two eLearning courses – Message and Material Development (MMD) and Monitoring and Evaluation (MandE) of SBCC programs – went online in September 2015, where all users could register their participation so results could be monitored. Methodology: To assess the uses of these courses a randomly selected sample was collected to run a pre and post-test analyses and a phone survey were conducted. Systematic random sampling was used to select a sample of 75 MandE and 25 MMD course participants from a sampling frame of 179 and 51 respectively. Results: As of September 2016, more than 179 learners have completed the MandE course, and 49 learners have completed the MMD course. The users of these courses are program managers, university faculty members, and students. Encouraging results were revealed from the analysis of pre and post-test scores and a phone survey three months after course completion. Test scores suggested a substantial increase in knowledge. The pre-test scores findings suggested that about 19% learners scored high on the MandE. The post-test scores finding indicated a high score (92%) of the sample across 4 modules of MandE. For MMD course in pre-test scoring, 30% of the learners scored high, and 100% scored high at the post-test. It was found that all the learners in the phone survey have discussed the courses. Most of the sharing occurred with colleagues and friends, usually through face to face (70%) interaction. The learners reported that they did recommend the two courses to concerned people. About 67% MandE and 76% MMD learners stated that the concepts that they had to learn during the course were put into practice in their work settings. The respondents for both MandE and MMD courses have provided a valuable set of suggestions that would further strengthen the courses. Conclusions: The study showed that the initiative offered ample opportunities to build capacity in various ways in which the eLearning courses were used. It also highlighted the importance of scaling up these efforts to further strengthen the outcomes.
Keywords: E-learning course, message and material development, monitoring and evaluation, social and behavior change communication.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 860633 Problem Based Learning in B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences
Authors: Gurung S., Yadav B. N., Budhathoki SS.
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Problem based learning is one of the highly acclaimed learning methods in medical education since its first introduction at Mc-Master University in Canada in the 1960s. It has now been adopted as a teaching learning method in many medical colleges of Nepal. B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), a health science deemed university is the second institute in Nepal to establish problem-based learning academic program and need-based teaching approach hence minimizing teaching through lectures since its inception. During the first two years of MBBS course, the curriculum is divided into various organ-systems incorporated with problem-based learning exercise each of one week duration.
Keywords: PBL, medical education.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2323632 Density Functional Calculations of 27Al, 11B,and 14N and NQR Parameters in the (6, 0) BN_AlN Nanotube Junction
Authors: Morteza Farahani, Ahmad Seif, Asadallah Boshra, Hossein Aghaie
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Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to calculate aluminum-27, boron-11, and nitrogen-14 quadrupole coupling constant (CQ) in the representative considered model of (6, 0) boron nitride-aluminum nitride nanotube junction (BN-AlNNT) for the first time. To this aim, 1.3 nm length of BNAlN consisting of 18 Al, 18 B, and 36 N atoms was selected where the end atoms capped by hydrogen atoms. The calculated CQ values for optimized BN-AlNNT system reveal different electrostatic environment in the mentioned system. The calculations were performed using the Gaussian 98 package of program.
Keywords: Nanotube Junction, Density functional, Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance.
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