Search results for: Usage performance of information systems
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 12022

Search results for: Usage performance of information systems

8542 The Emotions in Consumers’ Decision Making: Review of Empirical Studies

Authors: Mikel Alonso López

Abstract:

This paper explores, in depth, the idea that emotions are present in all consumer decision making processes, meaning that purchase decisions have never been purely cognitive or as they traditionally have been defined, rational. Human beings, in all kinds of decisions, has "always" used neural systems related to emotions along with neural systems related to cognition, regardless of the type of purchase or the product or service in question. Therefore, all purchase decisions are, at the same time, cognitive and emotional. This paper presents an analysis of the main contributions of researchers in this regard.

Keywords: Emotions, decision making, consumer behavior.

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8541 Innovation Culture – Determinant of Firms´ Sustainability

Authors: Loreta Losane

Abstract:

Changes in global economy require changes in firms. They need to adapt to speed producing faster and creating new products, structures and processes. The purpose of the paper is to explore literature about organizational culture and its impact on innovation.

In the paper the method of literature review is used to examine influence of organizational culture on innovation and performance of enterprise.

Organizational culture is crucial for innovation. Literature reveals that research of organizational culture mostly confirm already existing conceptions and models, but those help to make profile of innovation culture.

Research summarize previous research of organizational culture as culture which foster innovation and provide profile of innovation culture, which may be used by managers to improve cultural environment to increase performance of their companies. Research also leads to hypothesis for further research.

Keywords: Innovation, Innovation Culture, Organizational Culture.

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8540 A Methodology for Quality Problems Diagnosis in SMEs

Authors: Humberto N. Teixeira, Isabel S. Lopes, Sérgio D. Sousa

Abstract:

This article proposes a new methodology to be used by SMEs (Small and Medium enterprises) to characterize their performance in quality, highlighting weaknesses and area for improvement. The methodology aims to identify the principal causes of quality problems and help to prioritize improvement initiatives. This is a self-assessment methodology that intends to be easy to implement by companies with low maturity level in quality. The methodology is organized in six different steps which includes gathering information about predetermined processes and subprocesses of quality management, defined based on the well-known Juran-s trilogy for quality management (Quality planning, quality control and quality improvement) and, predetermined results categories, defined based on quality concept. A set of tools for data collecting and analysis, such as interviews, flowcharts, process analysis diagrams and Failure Mode and effects Analysis (FMEA) are used. The article also presents the conclusions obtained in the application of the methodology in two cases studies.

Keywords: Continuous improvement, Diagnosis, Quality Management, Self-assessment, SMEs

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8539 Performance Augmentation of a Combined Cycle Power Plant with Waste Heat Recovery and Solar Energy

Authors: Mohammed A. Elhaj, Jamal S. Yassin

Abstract:

In the present time, energy crises is considered a severe problem across the world. For the protection of global environment and maintain ecological balance, energy saving is considered one of the most vital issues from the view point of fuel consumption. As the industrial sectors everywhere continue efforts to improve their energy efficiency, recovering waste heat losses provides an attractive opportunity for an emission free and less costly energy resource. In the other hand the using of solar energy has become more insistent particularly after the high gross of prices and running off the conventional energy sources. Therefore, it is essential that we should endeavor for waste heat recovery as well as solar energy by making significant and concrete efforts. For these reasons this investigation is carried out to study and analyze the performance of a power plant working by a combined cycle in which heat recovery system generator (HRSG) gets its energy from the waste heat of a gas turbine unit. Evaluation of the performance of the plant is based on different thermal efficiencies of the main components in addition to the second law analysis considering the exergy destructions for the whole components. The contribution factors including the solar as well as the wasted energy are considered in the calculations. The final results have shown that there is significant exergy destruction in solar concentrator and the combustion chamber of the gas turbine unit. Other components such as compressor, gas turbine, steam turbine and heat exchangers having insignificant exergy destruction. Also, solar energy can contribute by about 27% of the input energy to the plant while the energy lost with exhaust gases can contribute by about 64% at maximum cases.

Keywords: Solar energy, environment, efficiency, waste heat, steam generator, performance, exergy destruction.

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8538 An Approach for Integration of Industrial Robot with Vision System and Simulation Software

Authors: Ahmed Sh. Khusheef, Ganesh Kothapalli, Majid Tolouei-Rad

Abstract:

Utilization of various sensors has made it possible to extend capabilities of industrial robots. Among these are vision sensors that are used for providing visual information to assist robot controllers. This paper presents a method of integrating a vision system and a simulation program with an industrial robot. The vision system is employed to detect a target object and compute its location in the robot environment. Then, the target object-s information is sent to the robot controller via parallel communication port. The robot controller uses the extracted object information and the simulation program to control the robot arm for approaching, grasping and relocating the object. This paper presents technical details of system components and describes the methodology used for this integration. It also provides a case study to prove the validity of the methodology developed.

Keywords: industrial robot, integration, simulation, vision system

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8537 The Fit Effect Model among Facilitating Factors on Service Innovation Performance

Authors: Yue-Yang Chen, Hui-Ling Huang, Wan-Yu Yu, Chung-Lun Wei

Abstract:

In recent years, though, the concept of fit has been now in widespread used in strategic management research, it is in its infancy for applying fit concept to service innovation issue. Therefore, drawing on the concept of fit, this present research proposed an innovation service fit model within service innovation, market orientation, marketing strategy, and IT adoption are coexisted. The perspective of fit as covariation will be employed to test the hypothesis and identify the effects of fit. We contend that the fit among these four factors will contribution to business performance. Finally, according to the empirical data collected from manufacturing, service, and financial industry in Taiwan, meaningful findings and conclusions will be proposed and discussed.

Keywords: Service innovation, market orientation, IT adoption, marketing strategy, fit

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8536 Collaborative Planning and Forecasting

Authors: Neha Asthana, Vishal Krishna Prasad

Abstract:

Collaborative Planning and Forecasting is an innovative and systematic approach towards productive integration and assimilation of data synergized into information. The changing and variable market dynamics have persuaded global business chains to incorporate Collaborative Planning and Forecasting as an imperative tool. Thus, it is essential for the supply chains to constantly improvise, update its nature, and mould as per changing global environment.

Keywords: Information transfer, Forecasting, Optimization.

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8535 Nanotechnology in Military Development

Authors: Andrus Pedai, Igor Astrov

Abstract:

Nanotechnology is the new cyber, according to several major leaders in this field. Just as cyber is entrenched across global society now, nano is poised to be major capabilities enabler of the next decades. Expert members from the National Nanotechnology Initiative (in U.S.) representing government and science disciplines say nano has great significance for the military and the general public. It is predicted that after next 15 years nanotechnology will replace information technology as the most economic technology platform. Nanotechnology has even wider applications than information technology.

Keywords: Nanomaterials, nanowires, nanotechnology, sensors.

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8534 Distributed Coverage Control by Robot Networks in Unknown Environments Using a Modified EM Algorithm

Authors: Mohammadhosein Hasanbeig, Lacra Pavel

Abstract:

In this paper, we study a distributed control algorithm for the problem of unknown area coverage by a network of robots. The coverage objective is to locate a set of targets in the area and to minimize the robots’ energy consumption. The robots have no prior knowledge about the location and also about the number of the targets in the area. One efficient approach that can be used to relax the robots’ lack of knowledge is to incorporate an auxiliary learning algorithm into the control scheme. A learning algorithm actually allows the robots to explore and study the unknown environment and to eventually overcome their lack of knowledge. The control algorithm itself is modeled based on game theory where the network of the robots use their collective information to play a non-cooperative potential game. The algorithm is tested via simulations to verify its performance and adaptability.

Keywords: Distributed control, game theory, multi-agent learning, reinforcement learning.

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8533 Numerical Simulations of Flood and Inundation in Jobaru River Basin Using Laser Profiler Data

Authors: Hiroto Nakashima, Toshihiro Morita, Koichiro Ohgushi

Abstract:

Laser Profiler (LP) data from aerial laser surveys have been increasingly used as topographical inputs to numerical simulations of flooding and inundation in river basins. LP data has great potential for reproducing topography, but its effective usage has not yet been fully established. In this study, flooding and inundation are simulated numerically using LP data for the Jobaru River basin of Japan’s Saga Plain. The analysis shows that the topography is reproduced satisfactorily in the computational domain with urban and agricultural areas requiring different grid sizes. A 2-D numerical simulation shows that flood flow behavior changes as grid size is varied.

Keywords: LP data, numerical simulation, topological analysis, mesh size.

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8532 Traffic Density Estimation for Multiple Segment Freeways

Authors: Karandeep Singh, Baibing Li

Abstract:

Traffic density, an indicator of traffic conditions, is one of the most critical characteristics to Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). This paper investigates recursive traffic density estimation using the information provided from inductive loop detectors. On the basis of the phenomenological relationship between speed and density, the existing studies incorporate a state space model and update the density estimate using vehicular speed observations via the extended Kalman filter, where an approximation is made because of the linearization of the nonlinear observation equation. In practice, this may lead to substantial estimation errors. This paper incorporates a suitable transformation to deal with the nonlinear observation equation so that the approximation is avoided when using Kalman filter to estimate the traffic density. A numerical study is conducted. It is shown that the developed method outperforms the existing methods for traffic density estimation.

Keywords: Density estimation, Kalman filter, speed-densityrelationship, Traffic surveillance.

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8531 A Real Time Expert System for Decision Support in Nuclear Power Plants

Authors: Andressa dos Santos Nicolau, João P. da S.C Algusto, Claudio Márcio do N. A. Pereira, Roberto Schirru

Abstract:

In case of abnormal situations, the nuclear power plant (NPP) operators must follow written procedures to check the condition of the plant and to classify the type of emergency. In this paper, we proposed a Real Time Expert System in order to improve operator’s performance in case of transient or accident with reactor shutdown. The expert system’s knowledge is based on the sequence of events (SoE) of known accident and two emergency procedures of the Brazilian Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) NPP and uses two kinds of knowledge representation: rule and logic trees. The results show that the system was able to classify the response of the automatic protection systems, as well as to evaluate the conditions of the plant, diagnosing the type of occurrence, recovery procedure to be followed, indicating the shutdown root cause, and classifying the emergency level.

Keywords: Emergence procedure, expert system, operator support, PWR nuclear power plant.

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8530 UD Covariance Factorization for Unscented Kalman Filter using Sequential Measurements Update

Authors: H. Ghanbarpour Asl, S. H. Pourtakdoust

Abstract:

Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is probably the most widely used estimation algorithm for nonlinear systems. However, not only it has difficulties arising from linearization but also many times it becomes numerically unstable because of computer round off errors that occur in the process of its implementation. To overcome linearization limitations, the unscented transformation (UT) was developed as a method to propagate mean and covariance information through nonlinear transformations. Kalman filter that uses UT for calculation of the first two statistical moments is called Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF). Square-root form of UKF (SRUKF) developed by Rudolph van der Merwe and Eric Wan to achieve numerical stability and guarantee positive semi-definiteness of the Kalman filter covariances. This paper develops another implementation of SR-UKF for sequential update measurement equation, and also derives a new UD covariance factorization filter for the implementation of UKF. This filter is equivalent to UKF but is computationally more efficient.

Keywords: Unscented Kalman filter, Square-root unscentedKalman filter, UD covariance factorization, Target tracking.

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8529 Computational Approaches for Ballistic Impact Response of Stainless Steel 304

Authors: A. Mostafa

Abstract:

This paper presents a numerical study on determination of ballistic limit velocity (V50) of stainless steel 304 (SS 304) used in manufacturing security screens. The simulated ballistic impact tests were conducted on clamped sheets with different thicknesses using ABAQUS/Explicit nonlinear finite element (FE) package. The ballistic limit velocity was determined using three approaches, namely: numerical tests based on material properties, FE calculated residual velocities and FE calculated residual energies. Johnson-Cook plasticity and failure criterion were utilized to simulate the dynamic behaviour of the SS 304 under various strain rates, while the well-known Lambert-Jonas equation was used for the data regression for the residual velocity and energy model. Good agreement between the investigated numerical methods was achieved. Additionally, the dependence of the ballistic limit velocity on the sheet thickness was observed. The proposed approaches present viable and cost-effective assessment methods of the ballistic performance of SS 304, which will support the development of robust security screen systems.

Keywords: Ballistic velocity, stainless steel, numerical approaches, security screen.

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8528 CFD Analysis of Natural Ventilation Behaviour in Four Sided Wind Catcher

Authors: M. Hossein Ghadiri, Mohd Farid Mohamed, N. Lukman N. Ibrahim

Abstract:

Wind catchers are traditional natural ventilation systems attached to buildings in order to ventilate the indoor air. The most common type of wind catcher is four sided one which is capable to catch wind in all directions. CFD simulation is the perfect way to evaluate the wind catcher performance. The accuracy of CFD results is the issue of concern, so sensitivity analyses is crucial to find out the effect of different settings of CFD on results. This paper presents a series of 3D steady RANS simulations for a generic isolated four-sided wind catcher attached to a room subjected to wind direction ranging from 0º to 180º with an interval of 45º. The CFD simulations are validated with detailed wind tunnel experiments. The influence of an extensive range of computational parameters is explored in this paper, including the resolution of the computational grid, the size of the computational domain and the turbulence model. This study found that CFD simulation is a reliable method for wind catcher study, but it is less accurate in prediction of models with non perpendicular wind directions.

Keywords: Wind catcher, CFD, natural ventilation, sensitivity study.

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8527 Compliance Modelling and Optimization of Kerf during WEDM of Al7075/SiCP Metal Matrix Composite

Authors: Thella Babu Rao, A. Gopala Krishna

Abstract:

This investigation presents the formulation of kerf (width of slit) and optimal control parameter settings of wire electrochemical discharge machining which results minimum possible kerf while machining Al7075/SiCp MMCs. WEDM is proved its efficiency and effectiveness to cut the hard ceramic reinforced MMCs within the permissible budget. Among the distinct performance measures of WEDM process, kerf is an important performance characteristic which determines the dimensional accuracy of the machined component while producing high precision components. The lack of available of the machinability information such advanced MMCs result the more experimentation in the manufacturing industries. Therefore, extensive experimental investigations are essential to provide the database of effect of various control parameters on the kerf while machining such advanced MMCs in WEDM. Literature reviled the significance some of the electrical parameters which are prominent on kerf for machining distinct conventional materials. However, the significance of reinforced particulate size and volume fraction on kerf is highlighted in this work while machining MMCs along with the machining parameters of pulse-on time, pulse-off time and wire tension. Usually, the dimensional tolerances of machined components are decided at the design stage and a machinist pay attention to produce the required dimensional tolerances by setting appropriate machining control variables. However, it is highly difficult to determine the optimal machining settings for such advanced materials on the shop floor. Therefore, in the view of precision of cut, kerf (cutting width) is considered as the measure of performance for the model. It was found from the literature that, the machining conditions of higher fractions of large size SiCp resulting less kerf where as high values of pulse-on time result in a high kerf. A response surface model is used to predict the relative significance of various control variables on kerf. Consequently, a powerful artificial intelligence called genetic algorithms (GA) is used to determine the best combination of the control variable settings. In the next step the conformation test was conducted for the optimal parameter settings and found good agreement between the GA kerf and measured kerf. Hence, it is clearly reveal that the effectiveness and accuracy of the developed model and program to analyze the kerf and to determine its optimal process parameters. The results obtained in this work states that, the resulted optimized parameters are capable of machining the Al7075/SiCp MMCs more efficiently and with better dimensional accuracy.

Keywords: Al7075SiCP MMC, kerf, WEDM, optimization.

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8526 Information Filtering using Index Word Selection based on the Topics

Authors: Takeru YOKOI, Hidekazu YANAGIMOTO, Sigeru OMATU

Abstract:

We have proposed an information filtering system using index word selection from a document set based on the topics included in a set of documents. This method narrows down the particularly characteristic words in a document set and the topics are obtained by Sparse Non-negative Matrix Factorization. In information filtering, a document is often represented with the vector in which the elements correspond to the weight of the index words, and the dimension of the vector becomes larger as the number of documents is increased. Therefore, it is possible that useless words as index words for the information filtering are included. In order to address the problem, the dimension needs to be reduced. Our proposal reduces the dimension by selecting index words based on the topics included in a document set. We have applied the Sparse Non-negative Matrix Factorization to the document set to obtain these topics. The filtering is carried out based on a centroid of the learning document set. The centroid is regarded as the user-s interest. In addition, the centroid is represented with a document vector whose elements consist of the weight of the selected index words. Using the English test collection MEDLINE, thus, we confirm the effectiveness of our proposal. Hence, our proposed selection can confirm the improvement of the recommendation accuracy from the other previous methods when selecting the appropriate number of index words. In addition, we discussed the selected index words by our proposal and we found our proposal was able to select the index words covered some minor topics included in the document set.

Keywords: Information Filtering, Sparse NMF, Index wordSelection, User Profile, Chi-squared Measure

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8525 Performance Comparison for AODV, DSR and DSDV W.R.T. CBR and TCP in Large Networks

Authors: Ibrahim M. Buamod, Muattaz Elaneizi

Abstract:

Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a wireless ad hoc self-configuring network of mobile routers (and associated hosts) connected by wireless links, the union of which forms an arbitrary topology, cause of the random mobility of the nodes. In this paper, an attempt has been made to compare these three protocols DSDV, AODV and DSR on the performance basis under different traffic protocols namely CBR and TCP in a large network. The simulation tool is NS2, the scenarios are made to see the effect of pause times. The results presented in this paper clearly indicate that the different protocols behave differently under different pause times. Also, the results show the main characteristics of different traffic protocols operating on MANETs and thus select the best protocol on each scenario.

Keywords: Awk, CBR, Random waypoint model, TCP.

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8524 Advancement of Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Technologies through Integrated Applications and Alternative Systems

Authors: S. Doyle, G. A. Aggidis

Abstract:

Wave energy converter technologies continue to show good progress in worldwide research. One of the most researched technologies, the Oscillating Water Column (OWC), is arguably one of the most popular categories within the converter technologies due to its robustness, simplicity and versatility. However, the versatility of the OWC is still largely untapped with most deployments following similar trends with respect to applications and operating systems. As the competitiveness of the energy market continues to increase, the demand for wave energy technologies to be innovative also increases. For existing wave energy technologies, this requires identifying areas to diversify for lower costs of energy with respect to applications and synergies or integrated systems. This paper provides a review of all OWCs systems integrated into alternative applications in the past and present. The aspects and variation in their design, deployment and system operation are discussed. Particular focus is given to the Multi-OWCs (M-OWCs) and their great potential to increase capture on a larger scale, especially in synergy applications. It is made clear that these steps need to be taken in order to make wave energy a competitive and viable option in the renewable energy mix as progression to date shows that stand alone single function devices are not economical. Findings reveal that the trend of development is moving toward these integrated applications in order to reduce the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) and will ultimately continue in this direction in efforts to make wave energy a competitive option in the renewable energy mix.

Keywords: Ocean energy, wave energy, oscillating water column, renewable energy, review.

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8523 Volunteers’ Preparedness for Natural Disasters and EVANDE Project

Authors: A. Kourou, A. Ioakeimidou, E. Bafa, C. Fassoulas, M. Panoutsopoulou

Abstract:

The role of volunteers in disaster management is of decisive importance and the need of their involvement is well recognized, both for prevention measures and for disaster management. During major catastrophes, whereas professional personnel are outsourced, the role of volunteers is crucial. In Greece experience has shown that various groups operating in the civil protection mechanism like local administration staff or volunteers, in many cases do not have the necessary knowledge and information on best practices to act against natural disasters. One of the major problems is the lack of volunteers’ education and training. In the above given framework, this paper presents the results of a survey aimed to identify the level of education and preparedness of civil protection volunteers in Greece. Furthermore, the implementation of earthquake protection measures at individual, family and working level, are explored. More specifically, the survey questionnaire investigates issues regarding pre-earthquake protection actions, appropriate attitudes and behaviors during an earthquake and existence of contingency plans in the workplace. The questionnaires were administered to citizens from different regions of the country and who attend the civil protection training program: “Protect Myself and Others”. A closed-form questionnaire was developed for the survey, which contained questions regarding the following: a) knowledge of self-protective actions; b) existence of emergency planning at home; c) existence of emergency planning at workplace (hazard mitigation actions, evacuation plan, and performance of drills); and, d) respondents` perception about their level of earthquake preparedness. The results revealed a serious lack of knowledge and preparedness among respondents. Taking into consideration the aforementioned gap and in order to raise awareness and improve preparedness and effective response of volunteers acting in civil protection, the EVANDE project was submitted and approved by the European Commission (EC). The aim of that project is to educate and train civil protection volunteers on the most serious natural disasters, such as forest fires, floods, and earthquakes, and thus, increase their performance.

Keywords: Civil protection, earthquake preparedness, volunteers.

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8522 Two Degree of Freedom Spherical Mechanism Design for Exact Sun Tracking

Authors: Osman Acar

Abstract:

Sun tracking systems are the systems following the sun ray by a right angle or by predetermined certain angle. In this study, we used theoretical trajectory of sun for latitude of central Anatolia in Turkey. A two degree of freedom spherical mechanism was designed to have a large workspace able to follow the sun's theoretical motion by the right angle during the whole year. An inverse kinematic analysis was generated to find the positions of mechanism links for the predicted trajectory. Force and torque analysis were shown for the first day of the year.

Keywords: Sun tracking, theoretical sun trajectory, spherical mechanism, inverse kinematic analysis.

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8521 Provision of Basic Water and Sanitation Services in South Africa through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant Programme

Authors: Elkington Sibusiso Mnguni

Abstract:

Although South Africa has made good progress in providing basic water and sanitation services to its citizens, there is still a large section of the population that has no access to these services. This paper reviews the performance of the government’s municipal infrastructure grant programme in providing basic water and sanitation services which are part of the constitutional requirements to the citizens. The method used to gather data and information was a desk top study which sought to review the progress made in rolling out the programme. The successes and challenges were highlighted and possible solutions were identified that can accelerate the elimination of the remaining backlogs and improve the level of service to the citizens. Currently, approximately 6.5 million citizens are without access to basic water services and approximately 10 million are without access to basic sanitation services.

Keywords: Grant, municipal infrastructure, sanitation, services, water.

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8520 The Mutated Distance between Two Mixture Trees

Authors: Wan Chian Li, Justie Su-Tzu Juan, Yi-Chun Wang, Shu-Chuan Chen

Abstract:

The evolutionary tree is an important topic in bioinformation. In 2006, Chen and Lindsay proposed a new method to build the mixture tree from DNA sequences. Mixture tree is a new type evolutionary tree, and it has two additional information besides the information of ordinary evolutionary tree. One of the information is time parameter, and the other is the set of mutated sites. In 2008, Lin and Juan proposed an algorithm to compute the distance between two mixture trees. Their algorithm computes the distance with only considering the time parameter between two mixture trees. In this paper, we proposes a method to measure the similarity of two mixture trees with considering the set of mutated sites and develops two algorithm to compute the distance between two mixture trees. The time complexity of these two proposed algorithms are O(n2 × max{h(T1), h(T2)}) and O(n2), respectively

Keywords: evolutionary tree, mixture tree, mutated site, distance.

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8519 Multimedia E-Books for Digital Mechanism and Gear Library

Authors: Rike Brecht, Heidi Krömker, Adrian Kühlewind

Abstract:

This paper presents a digital engineering library – the Digital Mechanism and Gear Library, DMG-Lib – providing a multimedia collection of e-books, pictures, videos and animations in the domain of mechanisms and machines. The specific characteristic about DMG-Lib is the enrichment and cross-linking of the different sources. DMG-Lib e-books not only present pages as pixel images but also selected figures augmented with interactive animations. The presentation of animations in e-books increases the clearness of the information. To present the multimedia e-books and make them available in the DMG-Lib internet portal a special e-book reader called StreamBook was developed for optimal presentation of digitized books and to enable reading the e-books as well as working efficiently and individually with the enriched information. The objective is to support different user tasks ranging from information retrieval to development and design of mechanisms.

Keywords: E-books, digital library, multimedia, enrichment and cross-linking

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8518 Evaluating Portfolio Performance by Highlighting Network Property and the Sharpe Ratio in the Stock Market

Authors: Zahra Hatami, Hesham Ali, David Volkman

Abstract:

Selecting a portfolio for investing is a crucial decision for individuals and legal entities. In the last two decades, with economic globalization, a stream of financial innovations has rushed to the aid of financial institutions. The importance of selecting stocks for the portfolio is always a challenging task for investors. This study aims to create a financial network to identify optimal portfolios using network centralities metrics. This research presents a community detection technique of superior stocks that can be described as an optimal stock portfolio to be used by investors. By using the advantages of a network and its property in extracted communities, a group of stocks was selected for each of the various time periods. The performance of the optimal portfolios was compared to the famous index. Their Sharpe ratio was calculated in a timely manner to evaluate their profit for making decisions. The analysis shows that the selected potential portfolio from stocks with low centrality measurement can outperform the market; however, they have a lower Sharpe ratio than stocks with high centrality scores. In other words, stocks with low centralities could outperform the S&P500 yet have a lower Sharpe ratio than high central stocks.

Keywords: Portfolio management performance, network analysis, centrality measurements, Sharpe ratio.

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8517 Data Placement in Heterogeneous Storage of Short Videos

Authors: W. Jaipahkdee, C. Srinilta

Abstract:

The overall service performance of I/O intensive system depends mainly on workload on its storage system. In heterogeneous storage environment where storage elements from different vendors with different capacity and performance are put together, workload should be distributed according to storage capability. This paper addresses data placement issue in short video sharing website. Workload contributed by a video is estimated by the number of views and life time span of existing videos in same category. Experiment was conducted on 42,000 video titles in six weeks. Result showed that the proposed algorithm distributed workload and maintained balance better than round robin and random algorithms.

Keywords: data placement, heterogeneous storage system, YouTube, short videos

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8516 Selecting Stealth Aircraft Using Determinate Fuzzy Preference Programming in Multiple Criteria Decision Making

Authors: C. Ardil

Abstract:

This paper investigates the application of the determinate fuzzy preference programming method for a more nuanced and comprehensive evaluation of stealth aircraft. Traditional methods often struggle to incorporate subjective factors and uncertainties inherent in complex systems like stealth aircraft. Determinate fuzzy preference programming addresses this limitation by leveraging the strengths of determinate fuzzy sets. The proposed novel multiple criteria decision-making algorithm integrates these concepts to consider aspects and criteria influencing aircraft performance. This approach aims to provide a more holistic assessment by enabling decision-makers to observe positive and negative outranking flows simultaneously. By demonstrating the validity and effectiveness of this approach through a practical example of selecting a stealth aircraft, this paper aims to establish the determinate fuzzy preference programming method as a valuable tool for informed decision-making in this critical domain.

Keywords: Determinate fuzzy set, stealth aircraft selection, distance function, decision making, uncertainty, preference programming. MCDM

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8515 Evaluation of The Energy Performance of Shading Devices based on Incremental Costs

Authors: Jian Yao, Chengwen Yan

Abstract:

Solar shading designs are important for reduction of building energy consumption and improvement of indoor thermal environment. This paper carried out a number of building simulations for evaluation of the energy performance of different shading devices based on incremental costs. The results show that movable shading devices lower incremental costs by up to 50% compared with fixed ones for the same building energy efficiency for residential buildings, and wing panel shadings are much more suitable in commercial buildings than baring screen ones and overhangs for commercial buildings.

Keywords: Solar shading, Incremental costs, Building energy consumption.

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8514 A Prediction Model Using the Price Cyclicality Function Optimized for Algorithmic Trading in Financial Market

Authors: Cristian Păuna

Abstract:

After the widespread release of electronic trading, automated trading systems have become a significant part of the business intelligence system of any modern financial investment company. An important part of the trades is made completely automatically today by computers using mathematical algorithms. The trading decisions are taken almost instantly by logical models and the orders are sent by low-latency automatic systems. This paper will present a real-time price prediction methodology designed especially for algorithmic trading. Based on the price cyclicality function, the methodology revealed will generate price cyclicality bands to predict the optimal levels for the entries and exits. In order to automate the trading decisions, the cyclicality bands will generate automated trading signals. We have found that the model can be used with good results to predict the changes in market behavior. Using these predictions, the model can automatically adapt the trading signals in real-time to maximize the trading results. The paper will reveal the methodology to optimize and implement this model in automated trading systems. After tests, it is proved that this methodology can be applied with good efficiency in different timeframes. Real trading results will be also displayed and analyzed in order to qualify the methodology and to compare it with other models. As a conclusion, it was found that the price prediction model using the price cyclicality function is a reliable trading methodology for algorithmic trading in the financial market.

Keywords: Algorithmic trading, automated trading systems, financial markets, high-frequency trading, price prediction.

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8513 A Decision Support System Based on Leprosy Scales

Authors: Dennys Robson Girardi, Hugo Bulegon, Claudia Maria Moro Barra

Abstract:

Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium Leprae, this disease, generally, compromises the neural fibers, leading to the development of disability. Disabilities are changes that limit daily activities or social life of a normal individual. When comes to leprosy, the study of disability considered the functional limitation (physical disabilities), the limitation of activity and social participation, which are measured respectively by the scales: EHF, SALSA and PARTICIPATION SCALE. The objective of this work is to propose an on-line monitoring of leprosy patients, which is based on information scales EHF, SALSA and PARTICIPATION SCALE. It is expected that the proposed system is applied in monitoring the patient during treatment and after healing therapy of the disease. The correlations that the system is between the scales create a variety of information, presented the state of the patient and full of changes or reductions in disability. The system provides reports with information from each of the scales and the relationships that exist between them. This way, health professionals, with access to patient information, can intervene with techniques for the Prevention of Disability. Through the automated scale, the system shows the level of the patient and allows the patient, or the responsible, to take a preventive measure. With an online system, it is possible take the assessments and monitor patients from anywhere.

Keywords: Leprosy, Medical Informatics, Decision SupportSystem, Disability.

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