Search results for: PSP Design Framework (Public Social Private)

Authors: M. J. Xavier, J. Raja, S. Usha Nandhini

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For scores of years now, several microfinance organizations, non governmental organizations and other welfare organizations have, with a view to aiding the progress of communities rooted in poverty have been focusing on creating microentrepreneurs, besides taking several other measures. In recent times, business corporations have joined forces to combat poverty by taking up microenterprise development. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), the Indian subsidiary of Unilever Limited exemplifies this through its Project Shakti. The company through the Project creates rural women entrepreneurs by making them direct to home sales distributors of its products in villages that have thus far been ignored by multinational corporations. The members participating in Project Shakti are largely self help group members. The paper focuses on assessing the impact made by the company on the members engaged in Project Shakti. The analysis involves use of quantitative methods to study the effect of Project Shakti on those self help group members engaged in Project Shakti and those not engaged with Project Shakti. Path analysis has been used to study the impact made on those members engaged in Project Shakti. Significant differences were observed on fronts of entrepreneurial development, economic empowerment and social empowerment between members associated with Project Shakti and those not associated with Project Shakti. Path analysis demonstrated that involvement in Project Shakti led to entrepreneurial development resulting in economic empowerment that in turn led to social empowerment and that these three elements independently induced a feeling of privilege in the women for being associated with the Project.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship development, economicempowerment, impact assessment, microentrepreneurs, pathanalysis, social empowerment.

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Authors: Hanmin Jung, Mikyoung Lee, Won-kyung Sung

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Academic research information service is a must for surveying previous studies in research and development process. OntoFrame is an academic research information service under Semantic Web framework different from simple keyword-based services such as CiteSeer and Google Scholar. The first purpose of this study is for revealing user behavior in their surveys, the objects of using academic research information services, and their needs. The second is for applying lessons learned from the results to OntoFrame.

Keywords: User Behavior, Usability Evaluation, OntoFrame, CiteSeer, Google Scholar, Academic Research Information Service.

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Authors: Mohsen Zand, Ahmadreza Naghsh Nilchi, S. Amirhassan Monadjemi

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Optical character recognition of cursive scripts presents a number of challenging problems in both segmentation and recognition processes in different languages, including Persian. In order to overcome these problems, we use a newly developed Persian word segmentation method and a recognition-based segmentation technique to overcome its segmentation problems. This method is robust as well as flexible. It also increases the system-s tolerances to font variations. The implementation results of this method on a comprehensive database show a high degree of accuracy which meets the requirements for commercial use. Extended with a suitable pre and post-processing, the method offers a simple and fast framework to develop a full OCR system.

Keywords: OCR, Persian, Recognition, Segmentation.

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Authors: Wei Yi Lim, M. Annamalai Arasu, M. Kumarasamy Raja, Minkyu Je

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In this paper, the design of wide-swing constant transconductance (g_m) bias circuit that generates bias voltage for low-noise amplifier (LNA) circuit design by using an off-chip resistor is demonstrated. The overall transconductance (G_m) generated by the constant g_m bias circuit is important to maintain the overall gain and noise figure of the LNA circuit. Therefore, investigation is performed to study the variation in G_m with process, temperature and supply voltage (PVT).  Temperature and supply voltage are swept from -10 °C to 85 °C and 1.425 V to 1.575 V respectively, while the process conditions are also varied to the extreme and the g_m variation is eventually concluded at between -3 % to 7 %. With the slight variation in the g_m value, through simulation, at worst condition of state SS, we are able to attain a conversion gain (S₂₁) variation of -3.10 % and a noise figure (NF) variation of 18.71 %. The whole constant g_m circuit draws approximately 100 µA from a 1.5V supply and is designed based on 0.13 µm CMOS process. 

Keywords: Transconductance, LNA, temperature, process.

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Authors: Waralak Vongdoiwang Siricharoen, Nattanun Siricharoen

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The objectives of this study are to determine the role of media that influence the values, attitudes and behaviors of Thai youths. Analytical qualitative research techniques were used for this purpose. Data collection based techniques was used which were individual interviews and focus group discussions with journalists, sample of high school and university students, and parents. The results show that “Social Media" is still the most popular media for Thai youths. It is also still in the hands of the marketing business and it can motivate Thai youths to do so many things. The main reasons of media exposure are to find quality information that they want quickly, get satisfaction and can use social media to get more exciting and to build communities. They believe that the need for media and information literacy skills is defined as making judgments, personal integrity, training of family and the behavior of close friends.

Keywords: Media and Information Literacy, Making Judgments, Personal integrity, Behavior of close friends

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Authors: Mohamed K. Watfa, Khaled Abdel Naby, Chetan Govind Bhatia

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With the exponential rise in the number of multimedia applications available, the best-effort service provided by the Internet today is insufficient. Researchers have been working on new architectures like the Next Generation Network (NGN) which, by definition, will ensure Quality of Service (QoS) in an all-IP based network [1]. For this approach to become a reality, reservation of bandwidth is required per application per user. WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a wireless communication technology which has predefined levels of QoS which can be provided to the user [4]. IPv6 has been created as the successor for IPv4 and resolves issues like the availability of IP addresses and QoS. This paper provides a design to use the power of WiMAX as an NSP (Network Service Provider) for NGN using IPv6. The use of the Traffic Class (TC) field and the Flow Label (FL) field of IPv6 has been explained for making QoS requests and grants [6], [7]. Using these fields, the processing time is reduced and routing is simplified. Also, we define the functioning of the ASN gateway and the NGN gateway (NGNG) which are edge node interfaces in the NGNWiMAX design. These gateways ensure QoS management through built in functions and by certain physical resources and networking capabilities.

Keywords: WiMAX, NGN, QoS, IPv6, Flow Label, ASNGateway

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Authors: Guneet Mander, Gurinder Pal Singh

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Moisture is an important consideration in many aspects ranging from irrigation, soil chemistry, golf course, corrosion and erosion, road conditions, weather predictions, livestock feed moisture levels, water seepage etc. Vegetation and crops always depend more on the moisture available at the root level than on precipitation occurrence. In this paper, design of an instrument is discussed which tells about the variation in the moisture contents of soil. This is done by measuring the amount of water content in soil by finding the variation in capacitance of soil with the help of a capacitive sensor. The greatest advantage of soil moisture sensor is reduced water consumption. The sensor is also be used to set lower and upper threshold to maintain optimum soil moisture saturation and minimize water wilting, contributes to deeper plant root growth ,reduced soil run off /leaching and less favorable condition for insects and fungal diseases. Capacitance method is preferred because, it provides absolute amount of water content and also measures water content at any depth.

Keywords: Capacitive Sensors, aluminum, Water, Irrigation.

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Authors: Yali Zheng, Peipei Luo, Shinan Chen, Jiasheng Hao, Hong Cheng

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Most of traditional visual indoor navigation algorithms and methods only consider the localization in ordinary daytime, while we focus on the indoor re-localization in low light in the paper. As RGB images are degraded in low light, less discriminative infrared and depth image pairs are taken, as the input, by RGB-D cameras, the most similar candidates, as the output, are searched from databases which is built in the bag-of-word framework. Epipolar constraints can be used to relocalize the query infrared and depth image sequence. We evaluate our method in two datasets captured by Kinect2. The results demonstrate very promising re-localization results for indoor navigation system in low light environments.

Keywords: Indoor navigation, low light, RGB-D camera, vision based.

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Authors: Farnaz Nazem

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The aim of sustainable architecture is to design buildings with the least adverse effects on the environment and provide better conditions for people. What building forms make the best use of land? This question was addressed in the late 1960s at the center of Land Use and Built Form Studies in Cambridge. This led to a number of influential papers which had a great influence on the practice of urban design. This paper concentrates on the results of sustainability caused by climatic conditions in Iranian traditional architecture in hot-arid regions. As people spent a significant amount of their time in houses, it was very important to have such houses to fulfill their needs physically and spiritually as well as satisfying their cultural and religious aspects of their lifestyles. In a vast country such as Iran with different climatic zones, traditional builders have presented series of logical solutions for human comfort. These solutions have been able to response to the environmental problems for a long period of time. As a result, by considering the experience in traditional architecture of hot–arid climate in Iran, it is possible to attain sustainable architecture.

Keywords: Hot-arid climate, Iran, sustainable traditional architecture, urban planning.

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Authors: S. A. Mohamed, A. S. Zayed, O. A. Abolaeha

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A new Feed-Forward/Feedback Generalized Minimum Variance Pole-placement Controller to incorporate the robustness of classical pole-placement into the flexibility of generalized minimum variance self-tuning controller for Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) has been proposed in this paper. The design, which provides the user with an adaptive mechanism, which ensures that the closed loop poles are, located at their pre-specified positions. In addition, the controller design which has a feed-forward/feedback structure overcomes the certain limitations existing in similar poleplacement control designs whilst retaining the simplicity of adaptation mechanisms used in other designs. It tracks set-point changes with the desired speed of response, penalizes excessive control action, and can be applied to non-minimum phase systems. Besides, at steady state, the controller has the ability to regulate the constant load disturbance to zero. Example simulation results using both simulated and real plant models demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

Keywords: Pole-placement, Minimum variance control, self-tuning control and feedforward control.

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Authors: Ali Essam El Shazly

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The Haussmannization plan of Cairo in 1867 formed a regular network of roundabout spaces, though deteriorated at present. The method of identifying the spatial structure of roundabout Cairo for conservation matches the voronoi diagram with the space syntax through their geometrical property of spatial convexity. In this initiative, the primary convex hull of first-order voronoi adopts the integral and control measurements of space syntax on Cairo’s roundabout generators. The functional essence of royal palaces optimizes the roundabout structure in terms of spatial measurements and the symbolic voronoi projection of 'Tahrir Roundabout' over the Giza Nile and Pyramids. Some roundabouts of major public and commercial landmarks surround the pole of 'Ezbekia Garden' with a higher control than integral measurements, which filter the new spatial structure from the adjacent traditional town. Nevertheless, the least integral and control measures correspond to the voronoi contents of pollutant workshops and the plateau of old Cairo Citadel with the visual compensation of new royal landmarks on top. Meanwhile, the extended suburbs of infinite voronoi polygons arrange high control generators of chateaux housing in 'garden city' environs. The point pattern of roundabouts determines the geometrical characteristics of voronoi polygons. The measured lengths of voronoi edges alternate between the zoned short range at the new poles of Cairo and the distributed structure of longer range. Nevertheless, the shortest range of generator-vertex geometry concentrates at 'Ezbekia Garden' where the crossways of vast Cairo intersect, which maximizes the variety of choice at different spatial resolutions. However, the symbolic 'Hippodrome' which is the largest public landmark forms exclusive geometrical measurements, while structuring a most integrative roundabout to parallel the royal syntax. Overview of the symbolic convex hull of voronoi with space syntax interconnects Parisian Cairo with the spatial chronology of scattered monuments to conceive one universal Cairo structure. Accordingly, the approached methodology of 'voronoi-syntax' prospects the future conservation of roundabout Cairo at the inferred city-level concept.

Keywords: Roundabout Cairo, first-order Voronoi, space syntax, spatial structure.

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Authors: Azhar Abdul Rahman

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This paper examines the readability of the chairman’s narratives, as determined by the Flesch score, of a Malaysian public listed company’s corporate reports from 1962 to 2009. It partially supports earlier studies which demonstrated that corporate reports were difficult to read, and had shown very negligible decrease in difficulty over time. Net profit to sales and readability was significantly positively correlated but number of financial statements was significantly negatively correlated with readability.

Keywords: Chairman’s narratives, corporate communications, readability, longitudinal.

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Authors: Thomas Canhao Xu, Bo Yang, Alexander Wei Yin, Pasi Liljeberg, Hannu Tenhunen

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With the increasing number of on-chip components and the critical requirement for processing power, Chip Multiprocessor (CMP) has gained wide acceptance in both academia and industry during the last decade. However, the conventional bus-based onchip communication schemes suffer from very high communication delay and low scalability in large scale systems. Network-on-Chip (NoC) has been proposed to solve the bottleneck of parallel onchip communications by applying different network topologies which separate the communication phase from the computation phase. Observing that the memory bandwidth of the communication between on-chip components and off-chip memory has become a critical problem even in NoC based systems, in this paper, we propose a novel 3D NoC with on-chip Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) in which different layers are dedicated to different functionalities such as processors, cache or memory. Results show that, by using our proposed architecture, average link utilization has reduced by 10.25% for SPLASH-2 workloads. Our proposed design costs 1.12% less execution cycles than the traditional design on average.

Keywords: 3D integration, network-on-chip, memory-on-chip, DRAM, chip multiprocessor.

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Authors: Tahar Ezzedine, Mohamed Miladi, Ridha Bouallegue

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Because nodes are usually battery-powered, the energy presents a very scarce resource in wireless sensor networks. For this reason, the design of medium access control had to take energy efficiency as one of its hottest concerns. Accordingly, in order to improve the energy performance of MAC schemes in wireless sensor networks, several ways can be followed. In fact, some researchers try to limit idle listening while others focus on mitigating overhearing (i.e. a node can hear a packet which is destined to another node) or reducing the number of the used control packets. We, in this paper, propose a new hybrid MAC protocol termed ELE-MAC (i.e. Energy Latency Efficient MAC). The ELE-MAC major design goals are energy and latency efficiencies. It adopts less control packets than SMAC in order to preserve energy. We carried out ns- 2 simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed protocol. Thus, our simulation-s results prove the ELE-MAC energy efficiency. Additionally, our solution performs statistically the same or better latency characteristic compared to adaptive SMAC.

Keywords: Control packet, energy efficiency, medium access control, wireless sensor networks.

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Authors: Suleyman A. Muyibi, Munirat, A. Idris, Saedi Jami, Parveen Jamal, Mohd Ismail Abdul Karim

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In this study, statistical optimization design was used to study the optimum disinfection parameters using defatted crude Moringa oleifera seed extracts against Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacterial cells. The classical one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) and response surface methodology (RSM) was used. The possible optimum range of dosage, contact time and mixing rate from the OFAT study were 25mg/l to 200mg/l, 30minutes to 240 minutes and 100rpm to 160rpm respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the statistical optimization using faced centered central composite design showed that dosage, contact time and mixing rate were highly significant. The optimum disinfection range was 125mg/l, at contact time of 30 minutes with mixing rate of 120 rpm. 

Keywords: E.coli, disinfection, Moringa oleifera, response surface methodology.

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Authors: Nitesh Pandey, Manish Kumar, Pankaj Gupta, Amit Kumar Srivastava

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The convertible table is a versatile and adaptable item designed to provide numerous solutions in one. The design incorporates numerous features that offer both ease and functionality. The description of the versatile convertible table in this overview encompasses a range of features that can be tailored to accommodate various user requirements. With its changeable functionality, this piece can easily transform into a workstation, dining table, or coffee table to suit various needs. Significantly, this multipurpose convertible laptop table includes a specific section for electronic devices such as computers and tablets, offering convenience for remote workers and online learners. In addition, providing storage space for essential equipment promotes a tidy workspace by facilitating the organization of many items. The integrated flash system offers supplementary illumination for dimly lit surroundings, while the cooling fans prevent the table's surface from overheating in hot weather or during prolonged laptop usage, making it an optimal and superior choice for laptop users. In order to cater to the needs of students, painters, and other individuals who require writing tools on a regular basis, a pencil and pen stand is included, hence enhancing the versatility of the table. The scissor lift mechanism allows for easy modifications in height, making it convenient to customize usage and providing the option of using it as a standing desk. Overall, this convertible table exemplifies its ability to adapt, its user-friendly nature, and its usefulness in a wide range of situations and settings.

Keywords: Furniture design, laptop stand, study table, learning tool, furniture manufacturing, contemporary design.

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Authors: Anju Sharma, Seema Bawa

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Resource Discovery in Grids is critical for efficient resource allocation and management. Heterogeneous nature and dynamic availability of resources make resource discovery a challenging task. As numbers of nodes are increasing from tens to thousands, scalability is essentially desired. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) techniques, on the other hand, provide effective implementation of scalable services and applications. In this paper we propose a model for resource discovery in Condor Middleware by using the four axis framework defined in P2P approach. The proposed model enhances Condor to incorporate functionality of a P2P system, thus aim to make Condor more scalable, flexible, reliable and robust.

Keywords: Condor Middleware, Grid Computing, P2P, Resource Discovery.

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Authors: Kittaya Somsai, Thanatchai Kulworawanichpong, Nitus Voraphonpiput

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This paper presents the DC voltage control design of D-STATCOM when the D-STATCOM is used for load voltage regulation. Although, the DC voltage can be controlled by active current of the D-STATCOM, reactive current still affects the DC voltage. To eliminate this effect, the control strategy with elimination effect of the reactive current is proposed and the results of the control with and without the elimination the effect of the reactive current are compared. For obtaining the proportional and integral gains of the PI controllers, the symmetrical optimum and genetic algorithms methods are applied. The stability margin of these methods are obtained and discussed in detail. In addition, the performance of the DC voltage control based on symmetrical optimum and genetic algorithms methods are compared. Effectiveness of the controllers designed was verified through computer simulation performed by using Power System Tool Block (PSB) in SIMULINK/MATLAB. The simulation results demonstrated that the DC voltage control proposed is effective in regulating DC voltage when the DSTATCOM is used for load voltage regulation.

Keywords: D-STATCOM, DC voltage control, Symmetrical optimum, Genetic algorithms

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Authors: Arpan Dwivedi, Yogesh Pahariya

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In this paper, optimal design of hybrid standalone power supply system (SAPS) is done for off grid applications in remote areas where transmission of power is difficult. The hybrid SAPS system uses two primary energy sources, wind and solar, and in addition to these diesel generator is also connected to meet the load demand in case of failure of wind and solar system. This paper presents mathematical modeling of 1.4 MW hybrid SAPS system for rural electrification. This paper firstly focuses on mathematical modeling of PV module connected in a string, secondly focuses on modeling of permanent magnet wind turbine generator (PMWTG). The hybrid controller is also designed for selection of power from the source available as per the load demand. The power output of hybrid SAPS system is analyzed for meeting load demands at urban as well as for rural areas.

Keywords: SAPS, DG, PMWTG, rural area, off grid, PV module.

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Authors: Salina Budin, Shaira Ismail

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Students learn effectively in a learning environment with a suitable teaching approach that matches their learning preferences. The main objective of the study is to examine the learning preferences amongst the students in the Science and Technology (S&T), and Social Science (SS) fields of study at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Pulau Pinang. The measurement instrument is based on the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles which measure five elements of learning styles; environmental, sociological, emotional, physiological and psychological. Questionnaires are distributed amongst undergraduates in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Faculty of Business Management. The respondents comprise of 131 diploma students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and 111 degree students of the Faculty of Business Management. The results indicate that, both S&T and SS students share a similar learning preferences on the environmental aspect, emotional preferences, motivational level, learning responsibility, persistent level in learning and learning structure. Most of the S&T students are concluded as analytical learners and the majority of SS students are global learners. Both S&T and SS students are concluded as visual learners, preferred to be in an active mobility in a relaxing and enjoying mode with some light of refreshments during the learning process and exhibited reflective characteristics in learning. Obviously, the S&T students are considered as left brain dominant, whereas the SS students are right brain dominant. The findings highlighted that both categories of students exhibited similar learning preferences except on psychological preferences.

Keywords: Learning preferences, Dunn and Dunn learning style, teaching approach, science and technology, social science.

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Authors: P. Santiprapan, K-L. Areerak, K-N. Areerak

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This paper presents the mathematical model and control strategy on DQ frame of shunt active power filter. The structure of the shunt active power filter is the voltage source inverter (VSI). The pulse width modulation (PWM) with PI controller is used in the paper. The concept of DQ frame to apply with the shunt active power filter is described. Moreover, the detail of the PI controller design for two current loops and one voltage loop are fully explained. The DQ axis with Fourier (DQF) method is applied to calculate the reference currents on DQ frame. The simulation results show that the control strategy and the design method presented in the paper can provide the good performance of the shunt active power filter. Moreover, the %THD of the source currents after compensation can follow the IEEE Std.519-1992.

Keywords: shunt active power filter, mathematical model, DQ control strategy, DQ axis with Fourier, pulse width modulation control.

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Authors: S. Mohamed Rabeek, Mi Kyoung Park, M. Annamalai Arasu

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This paper presents a design of a wireless read out system for tracking the frequency shift of the polymer coated piezoelectric micro electromechanical resonator due to gas absorption. The measure of this frequency shift indicates the percentage of a particular gas the sensor is exposed to. It is measured using an oscillator and an FPGA based frequency counter by employing the resonator as a frequency determining element in the oscillator. This system consists of a Gas Sensing Wireless Readout (GSWR) and an USB Wireless Transceiver (UWT). GSWR consists of an oscillator based on a trans-impedance sustaining amplifier, an FPGA based frequency readout, a sub 1GHz wireless transceiver and a micro controller. UWT can be plugged into the computer via USB port and function as a wireless module to transfer gas sensor data from GSWR to the computer through its USB port. GUI program running on the computer periodically polls for sensor data through UWT - GSWR wireless link, the response from GSWR is logged in a file for post processing as well as displayed on screen.

Keywords: Gas sensor, GSWR, micro-mechanical system, UWT, volatile emissions.

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Authors: Alhaji M. H. Conteh, Xiangbin Yan, Alfred V. Gborie

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The goal of this study was to increase the awareness of the description and assessments of rice acreage response and to offer mechanisms for agricultural policy scrutiny. The ordinary least square (OLS) technique was utilized to determine the coefficients of acreage response models for the rice varieties. The magnitudes of the coefficients (λ) of both the ROK lagged and NERICA lagged acreages were found positive and highly significant, which indicates that farmers’ adjustment rate was very low. Regarding lagged actual price for both the ROK and NERICE rice varieties, the short-run price elasticitieswere lower than long-run, which is suggesting a long term adjustment of the acreage under the crop.

However, the apparent recommendations for policy transformation are to open farm gate prices and to decrease government’s involvement in agricultural sector especially in the acquisition of agricultural inputs. Impending research have to be centered on how this might be better realized. Necessary conditions should be made available to the private sector by means of minimizing price volatility. In accordance with structural reforms, it is necessary to convey output prices to farmers with minimum distortion. There is need to eradicate price subsidies and control, which generate distortion in the market in addition to huge financial costs.

Keywords: Acreage response, rate of adjustment, rice varieties, Sierra Leone.

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Authors: Atefeh Saljooghi Khoshkar, Jafar Hassanpour

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One of the main problems of design stage relating to many tunneling projects is the lack of an appropriate standard for the provision of engineering geological data in a predefined format. In particular, this is more reflected in highway and railroad tunnels projects in which there is a number of tunnels and different professional teams involved. In this regard, a comprehensive software needs to be designed using the accepted methods in order to help engineering geologists to prepare standard reports, which contain sufficient input data for the design stage. Regarding this necessity, an applied software has been designed using macro capabilities and Visual Basic programming language (VBA) through Microsoft Excel. In this software, all of the engineering geological input data, which are required for designing different parts of tunnels such as discontinuities properties, rock mass strength parameters, rock mass classification systems, boreability classification, the penetration rate and so forth can be calculated and reported in a standard format.

Keywords: Engineering geology, rock mass classification, rock mechanic, tunnel.

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Authors: Li-Chung Su, Chia-Yu Chen, Tzu-Yuan Lai, Sheng-Jye Hwang

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Mechanical design of the thin-film solar framed module and mounting system is important to enhance module reliability and to increase areas of applications. The stress induced by different mounting positions played a main role controlling the stability of the whole mechanical structure. From the finite element method, under the pressure from the back of module, the stress at Lc (center point of the Long frame) increased and the stresses at Center, Corner and Sc (center point of the Short frame) decreased while the mounting position was away from the center of the module. In addition, not only the stress of the glass but also the stress of the frame decreased. Accordingly it was safer to mount in the position away from the center of the module. The emphasis of designing frame system of the module was on the upper support of the Short frame. Strength of the overall structure and design of the corner were also important due to the complexity of the stress in the Long frame.

Keywords: Finite element method, Framed module, Mountingposition

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Authors: Han-Mei Chen, Rongxin Zhou, Taige Wang

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Glass is widely used in everyday life, from glass bottles for beverages, to architectural glass for various forms of glazing. Although the mainstream of used glass is recycled in the UK, the single-use and then recycling procedure results in a lot of waste as it incorporates intact glass with smashing, re-melting and remanufacturing. These processes bring massive energy consumption with a huge loss of high embodied energy and economic value, compared to re-use which’s towards a ‘zero carbon’ target. As a tourism city, Liverpool has more glass bottle consumption than most less leisure focused cities. It is therefore vital for Liverpool to find an upgrading approach for the single-use glass bottles with a low carbon output. This project aims to assess the feasibility of an industrial symbiosis and upgrading framework of glass and to investigate the ways of achieving them. It is significant to Liverpool’s future industry strategy since it provides an opportunity to target on economy recovery for post-COVID by industry symbiosis and an up-grading waste management in Liverpool to respond to the climate emergency. In addition, it will influence the local government policy for glass bottle reuse and recycling in North West England, and as a good practice to be further recommended to other areas of the UK. First, critical literature review of glass waste strategies has been conducted in the UK, and world-wide industrial symbiosis practices. Second, mapping, data collection and analysis have shown the current life cycle chain and the strong links of glass reuse and upgrading potentials via site visits to 16 local waste recycling centres. The results of this research have demonstrated the understanding the influence of key factors on the development of a circular industrial symbiosis business model for beverage glass bottles. The current waste management procedures of glass bottle industry, its business model, supply chain and the material flow have been reviewed. The various potential opportunities for glass bottle up-valuing have been investigated towards an industrial symbiosis in Liverpool. Finally, an up-valuing business model has been developed for an industrial symbiosis framework of glass in Liverpool. For glass bottles, there are two possibilities: 1) focus on upgrading processes towards re-use rather than single-use and recycling, 2) focus on ‘smart’ re-use and recycling leading to optimised values in other sectors to create a wider industry symbiosis for a multi-level and circular economy.

Keywords: Glass bottles, industry symbiosis, smart reuse, waste upgrading.

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Authors: R. Clancy, M. Ahern, D. O’Sullivan, K. Bruton

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The manufacturing industry is currently undergoing a digital transformation as part of the mega-trend Industry 4.0. As part of this phase of the industrial revolution, traditional manufacturing processes are being combined with digital technologies to achieve smarter and more efficient production. To successfully digitally transform a manufacturing facility, the processes must first be digitized. This is the conversion of information from an analogue format to a digital format. The objective of this study was to explore the research area of digitizing manufacturing data as part of the worldwide paradigm, Industry 4.0. The formal methodology of a systematic mapping study was utilized to capture a representative sample of the research area and assess its current state. Specific research questions were defined to assess the key benefits and limitations associated with the digitization of manufacturing data. Research papers were classified according to the type of research and type of contribution to the research area. Upon analyzing 54 papers identified in this area, it was noted that 23 of the papers originated in Germany. This is an unsurprising finding as Industry 4.0 is originally a German strategy with supporting strong policy instruments being utilized in Germany to support its implementation. It was also found that the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronic Systems Design, in collaboration with the University of Paderborn in Germany, was the most frequent contributing Institution of the research papers with three papers published. The literature suggested future research directions and highlighted one specific gap in the area. There exists an unresolved gap between the data science experts and the manufacturing process experts in the industry. The data analytics expertise is not useful unless the manufacturing process information is utilized. A legitimate understanding of the data is crucial to perform accurate analytics and gain true, valuable insights into the manufacturing process. There lies a gap between the manufacturing operations and the information technology/data analytics departments within enterprises, which was borne out by the results of many of the case studies reviewed as part of this work. To test the concept of this gap existing, the researcher initiated an industrial case study in which they embedded themselves between the subject matter expert of the manufacturing process and the data scientist. Of the papers resulting from the systematic mapping study, 12 of the papers contributed a framework, another 12 of the papers were based on a case study, and 11 of the papers focused on theory. However, there were only three papers that contributed a methodology. This provides further evidence for the need for an industry-focused methodology for digitizing and analyzing manufacturing data, which will be developed in future research.

Keywords: Analytics, digitization, industry 4.0, manufacturing.

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Authors: J. Barati, A. Saeedian, S. S. Mortazavi

Abstract:

The main objective of this paper is a comparative investigate in enhancement of damping power system oscillation via coordinated design of the power system stabilizer (PSS) and static synchronous series compensator (SSSC) and static synchronous compensator (STATCOM). The design problem of FACTS-based stabilizers is formulated as a GA based optimization problem. In this paper eigenvalue analysis method is used on small signal stability of single machine infinite bus (SMIB) system installed with SSSC and STATCOM. The generator is equipped with a PSS. The proposed stabilizers are tested on a weakly connected power system with different disturbances and loading conditions. This aim is to enhance both rotor angle and power system stability. The eigenvalue analysis and non-linear simulation results are presented to show the effects of these FACTS-based stabilizers and reveal that SSSC exhibits the best effectiveness on damping power system oscillation.

Keywords: Power system stability, PSS, SSSC, STATCOM, Coordination, Optimization, Damping Oscillations.

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Authors: Mamidi Ramakrishna Rao

Abstract:

Doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) is currently the choice for many wind turbines. These generators, when connected to the grid through a converter, is subjected to varied power system conditions like voltage variation, frequency variation, short circuit fault conditions, etc. Further, many countries like Canada, Germany, UK, Scotland, etc. have distinct grid codes relating to wind turbines. Accordingly, following the network faults, wind turbines have to supply a definite reactive current. To satisfy the requirements including reactive current capability, an optimum electrical design becomes a mandate for DFIG to function. This paper intends to optimize the equivalent circuit parameters of an electrical design for satisfactory DFIG performance. Direct search method has been used for optimization of the parameters. The variables selected include electromagnetic core dimensions (diameters and stack length), slot dimensions, radial air gap between stator and rotor and winding copper cross section area. Optimization for 2 MW DFIG has been executed separately for three objective functions - maximum reactive power capability (Case I), maximum efficiency (Case II) and minimum weight (Case III). In the optimization analysis program, voltage variations (10%), power factor- leading and lagging (0.95), speeds for corresponding to slips (-0.3 to +0.3) have been considered. The optimum designs obtained for objective functions were compared. It can be concluded that direct search method of optimization helps in determining an optimum electrical design for each objective function like efficiency or reactive power capability or weight minimization.

Keywords: Direct search, DFIG, equivalent circuit parameters, optimization.

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Authors: Maciej Norberciak

Abstract:

Timetabling problems are often hard and timeconsuming to solve. Most of the methods of solving them concern only one problem instance or class. This paper describes a universal method for solving large, highly constrained timetabling problems from different domains. The solution is based on evolutionary algorithm-s framework and operates on two levels – first-level evolutionary algorithm tries to find a solution basing on given set of operating parameters, second-level algorithm is used to establish those parameters. Tabu search is employed to speed up the solution finding process on first level. The method has been used to solve three different timetabling problems with promising results.

Keywords: Evolutionary algorithms, tabu search, timetabling.

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