Search results for: virtual learning environment

Authors: N. AlShaya, R. Alhomidan, S. Alromizan, W. Labib

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Plant-based natural fibers are used more increasingly in construction materials. It is done to reduce the pressure on the built environment, which has been increased dramatically due to the increases world population and their needs. Plant-based natural fibers are abundant in many countries. Despite the low-cost of such environmental friendly renewable material, it has the ability to enhance the mechanical properties of construction materials. This paper presents an extensive discussion on the use of plant-based natural fibers as reinforcement for cement-based composites, with a particular emphasis upon fiber types; fiber characteristics, and fiber-cement composites performance. It also covers a thorough overview on the main factors, affecting the properties of plant-based natural fiber cement composite in it fresh and hardened state. The feasibility of using plant-based natural fibers in producing various construction materials; such as, mud bricks and blocks is investigated. In addition, other applications of using such fibers as internal curing agents as well as durability enhancer are also discussed. Finally, recommendation for possible future work in this area is presented.

Keywords: Cement composites, plant fibers, strength, mechanical properties.

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Authors: Seung Woo Lee, So Jeong Nam, Jai-Kyung Lee

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It can be said that the business sector is faced with a range of challenges–a rapidly changing business environment, an increase and diversification of customers- demands and the consequent need for quick response–for having in place flexible management and production info systems. As a matter of fact, many manufacturers have adopted production info management systems such as MES and ERP. Nevertheless, managers are having difficulties obtaining ever-changing production process information in real time, or responding quickly to any change in production related needs on the basis of such information. This is because they rely on poor production info systems which are not capable of providing real-time factory settings. If the manufacturer doesn-t have a capacity for collecting or digitalizing the 4 Ms (Man, Machine, Material, Method), which are resources for production, on a real time basis, it might to difficult to effectively maintain the information on production process. In this regard, this paper will introduce some new alternatives to the existing methods of collecting the 4 Ms in real time, which are currently comprise the production field.

Keywords: 4M, Acquisition of Data on shop-floor, Real-time machine interface

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Authors: Paul Christodoulides, Georgios Florides, Panayiotis Pouloupatis, Vassilios Messaritis, Lazaros Lazari

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Ground-source heat pumps achieve higher efficiencies than conventional air-source heat pumps because they exchange heat with the ground that is cooler in summer and hotter in winter than the air environment. Earth heat exchangers are essential parts of the ground-source heat pumps and the accurate prediction of their performance is of fundamental importance. This paper presents the development and validation of a numerical model through an incompressible fluid flow, for the simulation of energy and temperature changes in and around a U-tube borehole heat exchanger. The FlexPDE software is used to solve the resulting simultaneous equations that model the heat exchanger. The validated model (through a comparison with experimental data) is then used to extract conclusions on how various parameters like the U-tube diameter, the variation of the ground thermal conductivity and specific heat and the borehole filling material affect the temperature of the fluid.

Keywords: U-tube borehole, energy flow, incompressible fluid, numerical model

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Authors: K. Reza-Yazdi, M. Fallah, M. Khodaparast, F. Kateb, M. Hosseini-Ghaffari

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The objective of this study was to determine effect of dietary essential oil (EO) compounds, which contained cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, peppermint, coriander, cumin, lemongrass, and an organic carrier on feed intake, milk composition, and rumen fermentation of dairy cows during heat exposure. Thirty-two Holstein cows (days in milk= 60 ± 5) were assigned to one of two treatment groups: a Control and EO fed. The experiment lasted 28 days. Dry matter intake (DMI) was measured daily while and milk production was measured weekly. Our result showed that DMI and milk yield was decreased (P < 0.01) in control cows relative to EO cows. Furthermore, supplementation with EO was associated with a decrease in the molar proportion of propionate (P < 0.05) and increase (P < 0.05) in acetate to propionate ratio. In conclusion, EO supplementations in diets can be useful nutritional modification to alleviate for the decrease DMI and milk production during heat exposure in lactating dairy cows.

Keywords: Dairy cow, feed additive, plant extract.

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Authors: S. Sarumathi, N. Shanthi, S. Vidhya, M. Sharmila

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An extensive amount of work has been done in data clustering research under the unsupervised learning technique in Data Mining during the past two decades. Moreover, several approaches and methods have been emerged focusing on clustering diverse data types, features of cluster models and similarity rates of clusters. However, none of the single clustering algorithm exemplifies its best nature in extracting efficient clusters. Consequently, in order to rectify this issue, a new challenging technique called Cluster Ensemble method was bloomed. This new approach tends to be the alternative method for the cluster analysis problem. The main objective of the Cluster Ensemble is to aggregate the diverse clustering solutions in such a way to attain accuracy and also to improve the eminence the individual clustering algorithms. Due to the massive and rapid development of new methods in the globe of data mining, it is highly mandatory to scrutinize a vital analysis of existing techniques and the future novelty. This paper shows the comparative analysis of different cluster ensemble methods along with their methodologies and salient features. Henceforth this unambiguous analysis will be very useful for the society of clustering experts and also helps in deciding the most appropriate one to resolve the problem in hand.

Keywords: Clustering, Cluster Ensemble Methods, Coassociation matrix, Consensus Function, Median Partition.

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Authors: Hamed.Vezvaei, Sepideh.Ordibeheshti, Mehdi.Ardjmand

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Gasoline Octane Number is the standard measure of the anti-knock properties of a motor in platforming processes, that is one of the important unit operations for oil refineries and can be determined with online measurement or use CFR (Cooperative Fuel Research) engines. Online measurements of the Octane number can be done using direct octane number analyzers, that it is too expensive, so we have to find feasible analyzer, like ANFIS estimators. ANFIS is the systems that neural network incorporated in fuzzy systems, using data automatically by learning algorithms of NNs. ANFIS constructs an input-output mapping based both on human knowledge and on generated input-output data pairs. In this research, 31 industrial data sets are used (21 data for training and the rest of the data used for generalization). Results show that, according to this simulation, hybrid method training algorithm in ANFIS has good agreements between industrial data and simulated results.

Keywords: Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference Systems, GasolineOctane Number, Soft-sensor, Catalytic Naphtha Reforming

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Authors: Perpetua O. Ezeji, Kelechi E. Ezeji

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There has been considerable anxiety in society that social media distracts from education and reduces the social skills of young people. Following this, educators have sought ways to mitigate its negative effects on educational attainment while incorporating its positive aspects into the learning process. This study sought to examine the impact of social media on the study habits of students of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri. The research design involved survey technique where questionnaires were used to collect data from a sample of the student population. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data. Spearman’s Rho was the specific tool used for analysis. It was presented in frequency tables and bar charts. Findings from variables investigated showed that at p<0.5, social media usage had a significant impact on the study habits of students of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri. This indicated the need for stakeholders in the community to employ counselling and other proactive measures to ensure that students maintained proper focus on their primary assignment for schooling.

Keywords: Education, social media, study habits, technology.

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Authors: S. Srinivasa Moorthy, K. Manonmani

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The new, polymer composites consisting of e-glass fiber reinforcement with titanium oxide filler in the double bonded unsaturated polyester resin matrix were made. The glass fiber and titanium oxide reinforcement composites were made in three different fiber lengths (3cm, 5cm, and 7cm), filler content (2 wt%, 4 wt%, and 6 wt%) and fiber content (20 wt%, 40 wt%, and 60 wt%). 27 different compositions were fabricated and a sequence of experiments were carried out to determine tensile strength and impact strength. The vital influencing factors fiber length, fiber content and filler content were chosen as 3 factors in 3 levels of Taguchi’s L₉ orthogonal array. The influences of parameters were determined for tensile strength and impact strength by Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and S/N ratio. Using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) an expert system was devised to predict the properties of hybrid reinforcement GFRP composites. The predict models were experimentally proved with the maximum coincidence.

Keywords: Analysis of variance (ANOVA), Artificial neural network (ANN), Polymer composites, Taguchi’s orthogonal array.

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Authors: Constantia Achilleos, Diofantos G. Hadjimitsis

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Road industry has challenged the prospect of ecoconstruction. Pavements may fit within the framework of sustainable development. Hence, research implements assessments of conventional pavements impacts on environment in use of life cycle approach. To meet global, and often national, targets on pollution control, newly introduced pavement designs are under study. This is the case of Cyprus demonstration, which occurred within EcoLanes project work. This alternative pavement differs on concrete layer reinforced with tire recycling product. Processing of post-consumer tires produces steel fibers improving strength capacity against cracking. Thus maintenance works are relevantly limited in comparison to flexible pavement. This enables to be more ecofriendly, referenced to current study outputs. More specific, proposed concrete pavement life cycle processes emits 15 % less air pollutants and consumes 28 % less embodied energy than those of the asphalt pavement. In addition there is also a reduction on costs by 0.06 %.

Keywords: Environmental impact assessment, life cycle, tirerecycling, transportation pavement.

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Authors: S. Aziz, B. Alexander, C. Gengnagel, S. Weinzierl

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This paper explores a generative design, simulation, and optimization workflow for the integration of acoustical diffuser and/or absorber geometry with embedded coupled Helmholtz-resonators for full scale 3D printed building components. Large-scale additive manufacturing in conjunction with algorithmic CAD design tools enables a vast amount of control when creating geometry. This is advantageous regarding the increasing demands of comfort standards for indoor spaces and the use of more resourceful and sustainable construction methods and materials. The presented methodology highlights these new technological advancements and offers a multimodal and integrative design solution with the potential for an immediate application in the AEC-Industry. In principle, the methodology can be applied to a wide range of structural elements that can be manufactured by additive manufacturing processes. The current paper focuses on a case study of an application for a biaxial load-bearing beam grillage made of reinforced concrete, which allows for a variety of applications through the combination of additive prefabricated semi-finished parts and in-situ concrete supplementation. The semi-prefabricated parts or formwork bodies form the basic framework of the supporting structure and at the same time have acoustic absorption and diffusion properties that are precisely acoustically programmed for the space underneath the structure. To this end, a hybrid validation strategy is being explored using a digital and cross-platform simulation environment, verified with physical prototyping. The iterative workflow starts with the generation of a parametric design model for the acoustical geometry using the algorithmic visual scripting editor Grasshopper3D inside the Building Information Modeling (BIM) software Revit. Various geometric attributes (i.e., bottleneck and cavity dimensions) of the resonator are parameterized and fed to a numerical optimization algorithm which can modify the geometry with the goal of increasing absorption at resonance and increasing the bandwidth of the effective absorption range. Using Rhino.Inside and LiveLink for Revit the generative model was imported directly into the Multiphysics simulation environment COMSOL. The geometry was further modified and prepared for simulation in a semi-automated process. The incident and scattered pressure fields were simulated from which the surface normal absorption coefficients were calculated. This reciprocal process was repeated to further optimize the geometric parameters. Subsequently the numerical models were compared to a set of 3D concrete printed physical twin models which were tested in a .25 m x .25 m impedance tube. The empirical results served to improve the starting parameter settings of the initial numerical model. The geometry resulting from the numerical optimization was finally returned to grasshopper for further implementation in an interdisciplinary study.

Keywords: Acoustical design, additive manufacturing, computational design, multimodal optimization.

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Authors: Abdallah S. Abdallah, Mohamad A bou El-Nasr, A. Lynn Abbott

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This paper presents a new color face image database for benchmarking of automatic face detection algorithms and human skin segmentation techniques. It is named the VT-AAST image database, and is divided into four parts. Part one is a set of 286 color photographs that include a total of 1027 faces in the original format given by our digital cameras, offering a wide range of difference in orientation, pose, environment, illumination, facial expression and race. Part two contains the same set in a different file format. The third part is a set of corresponding image files that contain human colored skin regions resulting from a manual segmentation procedure. The fourth part of the database has the same regions converted into grayscale. The database is available on-line for noncommercial use. In this paper, descriptions of the database development, organization, format as well as information needed for benchmarking of algorithms are depicted in detail.

Keywords: Image database, color image analysis, facedetection, skin segmentation.

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Authors: Robson C. Santos, Christian N. Barreto, Gerson G. Cunha, Severino J. C. Neto

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This paper aims to project the construction of a prototype azimuthal thruster, mounted with materials of low cost and easy access, testing in a controlled environment to measure their performance, characteristics and feasibility of future projects. The construction of the simulation of dynamic positioning software, responsible for simulating a vessel and reposition it when necessary. Validation tests were performed in the form of partial or complete system. These tests validate the system manually or automatically. The system provides an interface to the user and simulates the conditions unfavorable positioning of a vessel, accurately calculates the azimuth angle, the direction of rotation of the helix and the time that this should be turned on so that the vessel back to position original. A serial communication connects the Simulation Dynamic Positioning System with Embedded System causing the usergenerated data to simulate the DP system arrives in the form of control signals to the motors of the propellant. This article addresses issues in the marine industry employees.

Keywords: Azimuthal Thruster, Dynamic Positioning, Embedded System.

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Authors: M. H. Lai, D. S. Gunawardena, K. S. Lim, H. Ahmad

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In this paper, we have reported birefringence manipulation in regenerated high birefringent fiber Bragg grating (RPMG) by using CO2 laser annealing method. The results indicate that the birefringence of RPMG remains unchanged after CO2 laser annealing followed by slow cooling process, but reduced after fast cooling process (~5.6×10-5). After a series of annealing procedures with different cooling rates, the obtained results show that slower the cooling rate, higher the birefringence of RPMG. The volume, thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) and glass transition temperature (Tg) change of stress applying part in RPMG during cooling process are responsible for the birefringence change. Therefore, these findings are important to the RPMG sensor in high and dynamic temperature environment. The measuring accuracy, range and sensitivity of RPMG sensor is greatly affected by its birefringence value. This work also opens up a new application of CO2 laser for fiber annealing and birefringence modification.

Keywords: Birefringence, CO2 laser annealing, regenerated gratings, thermal stress.

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Authors: F. Gökgöz, M. E. Atmaca

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Electricity plays an indispensable role in human life and the economy. It is a unique product or service that must be balanced instantaneously, as electricity is not stored, generation and consumption should be proportional. Effective and efficient use of electricity is very important not only for society, but also for the environment. A competitive electricity market is one of the best ways to provide a suitable platform for effective and efficient use of electricity. On the other hand, it carries some risks that should be carefully managed by the market players. Risk management is an essential part in market players’ decision making. In this paper, risk management through diversification is applied with the help of Markowitz’s Mean-variance, Down-side and Semi-variance methods for a case study. Performance of optimal electricity sale solutions are measured and evaluated via Sharpe-Ratio, and the optimal portfolio solutions are improved. Two years of historical weekdays’ price data of the Turkish Day Ahead Market are used to demonstrate the approach.

Keywords: Electricity market, portfolio optimization, risk management in electricity market, Sharpe ratio.

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Authors: Solehuddin Shuib, Koay Boon Aik, Zainul Ahmad Rajion

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There are many types of mechanical failure on the dental implant. In this project, the failure that needs to take into consideration is the bone resorption on the dental implant. Human bone has its ability to remodel after the implantation. As the dental implant is installed into the bone, the bone will detect and change the bone structure to achieve new biomechanical environment. This phenomenon is known as bone remodeling. The objective of the project is to improve the performance of dental implant by using different types of design. These designs are used to analyze and predict the failure of the dental implant by using finite element analysis (FEA) namely ANSYS. The bone is assumed to be fully attached to the implant or cement. Hence, results are then compared with other researchers. The results were presented in the form of Von Mises stress, normal stress, shear stress analysis, and displacement. The selected design will be analyzed further based on a theoretical calculation of bone remodeling on the dental implant. The results have shown that the design constructed passed the failure analysis. Therefore, the selected design is proven to have a stable performance at the recovery stage.

Keywords: Dental implant, FEA, bone remodeling, osseointegration.

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Authors: Samee Ullah Khan, Ishfaq Ahmad

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This paper proposes a novel game theoretical technique to address the problem of data object replication in largescale distributed computing systems. The proposed technique draws inspiration from computational economic theory and employs the extended Vickrey auction. Specifically, players in a non-cooperative environment compete for server-side scarce memory space to replicate data objects so as to minimize the total network object transfer cost, while maintaining object concurrency. Optimization of such a cost in turn leads to load balancing, fault-tolerance and reduced user access time. The method is experimentally evaluated against four well-known techniques from the literature: branch and bound, greedy, bin-packing and genetic algorithms. The experimental results reveal that the proposed approach outperforms the four techniques in both the execution time and solution quality.

Keywords: Auctions, data replication, pricing, static allocation.

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Authors: J. Alamelu Mangai, Satej Wagle, V. Santhosh Kumar

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The exponential increase in the volume of medical image database has imposed new challenges to clinical routine in maintaining patient history, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. With the advent of data mining and machine learning techniques it is possible to automate and/or assist physicians in clinical diagnosis. In this research a medical image classification framework using data mining techniques is proposed. It involves feature extraction, feature selection, feature discretization and classification. In the classification phase, the performance of the traditional kNN k nearest neighbor classifier is improved using a feature weighting scheme and a distance weighted voting instead of simple majority voting. Feature weights are calculated using the interestingness measures used in association rule mining. Experiments on the retinal fundus images show that the proposed framework improves the classification accuracy of traditional kNN from 78.57 % to 92.85 %.

Keywords: Medical Image Mining, Data Mining, Feature Weighting, Association Rule Mining, k nearest neighbor classifier.

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Authors: Bita Mashayekhi, Azadeh Maddahi, Arash Tahriri

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The purpose of this paper is developing a model for audit quality, with regard to the contextual and environmental attributes of the audit profession in Iran. For this purpose, using an exploratory approach, and because of the special attributes of the auditing profession in Iran in terms of the legal environment, regulatory and supervisory mechanisms, audit firms size, and etc., we used grounded theory approach as a qualitative research method. Therefore, we got the opinions of the experts in the auditing and capital market areas through unstructured interviews. As a result, the authors revealed the determinants of audit quality, and by using these determinants, developed an Integrated Audit Quality Model, including causal conditions, intervening conditions, context, as well as action strategies related to AQ and their consequences. In this research, audit quality is studied using a systemic approach. According to this approach, the quality of inputs, processes, and outputs of auditing determines the quality of auditing, therefore, the quality of all different parts of this system is considered.

Keywords: Audit quality, integrated audit quality model, audit supply, demand for audit service, grounded theory.

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Authors: Sang-Hun Lee, Bum-Soo Kim, Yang-Sae Moon, Jinho Kim

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In this paper we present a photo mosaic smartphone application in client-server based large-scale image databases. Photo mosaic is not a new concept, but there are very few smartphone applications especially for a huge number of images in the client-server environment. To support large-scale image databases, we first propose an overall framework working as a client-server model. We then present a concept of image-PAA features to efficiently handle a huge number of images and discuss its lower bounding property. We also present a best-match algorithm that exploits the lower bounding property of image-PAA. We finally implement an efficient Android-based application and demonstrate its feasibility.

Keywords: smartphone applications; photo mosaic; similarity search; data mining; large-scale image databases.

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Authors: Jito Vanualailai, Bibhya Sharma

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Swarm principles are increasingly being used to design controllers for the coordination of multi-robot systems or, in general, multi-agent systems. This paper proposes a two-dimensional Lagrangian swarm model that enables the planar agents, modeled as point masses, to swarm whilst effectively avoiding each other and obstacles in the environment. A novel method, based on an extended Lyapunov approach, is used to construct the model. Importantly, the Lyapunov method ensures a form of practical stability that guarantees an emergent behavior, namely, a cohesive and wellspaced swarm with a constant arrangement of individuals about the swarm centroid. Computer simulations illustrate this basic feature of collective behavior. As an application, we show how multiple planar mobile unicycle-like robots swarm to eventually form patterns in which their velocities and orientations stabilize.

Keywords: Attractive-repulsive swarm model, individual-based swarm model, Lagrangian swarm model, Lyapunov stability, Lyapunov-like function, practical stability, unicycle.

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Authors: Anjan Babu G, Sumana G, Rajasekhar M

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Many inherited diseases and non-hereditary disorders are common in the development of renal cystic diseases. Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is a disorder developed within the kidneys in which grouping of cysts filled with water like fluid. PKD is responsible for 5-10% of end-stage renal failure treated by dialysis or transplantation. New experimental models, application of molecular biology techniques have provided new insights into the pathogenesis of PKD. Researchers are showing keen interest for developing an automated system by applying computer aided techniques for the diagnosis of diseases. In this paper a multilayered feed forward neural network with one hidden layer is constructed, trained and tested by applying back propagation learning rule for the diagnosis of PKD based on physical symptoms and test results of urinalysis collected from the individual patients. The data collected from 50 patients are used to train and test the network. Among these samples, 75% of the data used for training and remaining 25% of the data are used for testing purpose. Further, this trained network is used to implement for new samples. The output results in normality and abnormality of the patient.

Keywords: Dialysis, Hereditary, Transplantation, Polycystic, Pathogenesis.

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Authors: Shahana T. K., Babita R. Jose, K. Poulose Jacob, Sreela Sasi

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The demand for new telecommunication services requiring higher capacities, data rates and different operating modes have motivated the development of new generation multi-standard wireless transceivers. A multi-standard design often involves extensive system level analysis and architectural partitioning, typically requiring extensive calculations. In this research, a decimation filter design tool for wireless communication standards consisting of GSM, WCDMA, WLANa, WLANb, WLANg and WiMAX is developed in MATLAB® using GUIDE environment for visual analysis. The user can select a required wireless communication standard, and obtain the corresponding multistage decimation filter implementation using this toolbox. The toolbox helps the user or design engineer to perform a quick design and analysis of decimation filter for multiple standards without doing extensive calculation of the underlying methods.

Keywords: Decimation filter, MATLAB® toolbox, Multistandard transceivers, Sigma-delta A/D converter.

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Authors: Andrej Miklošík, Petra Horváthová, Štefan Žák

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Nowadays companies in all sectors are looking for the sources of competitive advantages. Holistic marketing approach searches for their emergence based on the integration of all components and elements across the organization. Modern marketing sees the sources of competitive advantage in implementing the latest managerial practices, motivation, intelligent project management, knowledge management, collaborative marketing, CSR and, in the recent years, also in the business process optimization. With the use of modern tools including business process management and business process modelling the company can markedly increase its internal efficiency which can lead not only to lowering the costs but to creating the environment for optimal customer care, positive corporate culture and for origination of innovations as well. In the article the authors analyze the recent trend in this area and introduce suggestions to companies to identify and optimize the key processes that have a significant impact of the company´s competitiveness.

Keywords: business process optimization, competitive advantage, corporate social responsibility, knowledge management

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Authors: Chaudhuri Manoj Kumar Swain, Susmita Das

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This paper explores a detailed procedure of predicting a path loss (PL) model and its application in estimating the coverage probability in a WiMAX network. For this a hybrid approach is followed in predicting an empirical PL model of a 2.65 GHz WiMAX network deployed in a suburban environment. Data collection, statistical analysis, and regression analysis are the phases of operations incorporated in this approach and the importance of each of these phases has been discussed properly. The procedure of collecting data such as received signal strength indicator (RSSI) through experimental set up is demonstrated. From the collected data set, empirical PL and RSSI models are predicted with regression technique. Furthermore, with the aid of the predicted PL model, essential parameters such as PL exponent as well as the coverage probability of the network are evaluated. This research work may assist in the process of deployment and optimisation of any cellular network significantly.

Keywords: WiMAX, RSSI, path loss, coverage probability, regression analysis.

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Authors: W. D. Wan Rosli, Z. Zainuddin, R. Lanouette, S. Sathasivam

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This paper reports work done to improve the modeling of complex processes when only small experimental data sets are available. Neural networks are used to capture the nonlinear underlying phenomena contained in the data set and to partly eliminate the burden of having to specify completely the structure of the model. Two different types of neural networks were used for the application of Pulping of Sugar Maple problem. A three layer feed forward neural networks, using the Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient (PCG) methods were used in this investigation. Preconditioning is a method to improve convergence by lowering the condition number and increasing the eigenvalues clustering. The idea is to solve the modified problem where M is a positive-definite preconditioner that is closely related to A. We mainly focused on Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient- based training methods which originated from optimization theory, namely Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient with Fletcher-Reeves Update (PCGF), Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient with Polak-Ribiere Update (PCGP) and Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient with Powell-Beale Restarts (PCGB). The behavior of the PCG methods in the simulations proved to be robust against phenomenon such as oscillations due to large step size.

Keywords: Convergence, Modeling, Neural Networks, Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient.

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Authors: V. Joshi Manohar, P. Sujatha, K. S. R. Anjaneyulu

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Nowadays Multilevel inverters are widely using in various applications. Modulation strategy at fundamental switching frequency like, SHEPWM is prominent technique to eliminate lower order of harmonics with less switching losses and better harmonic profile. The equations which are formed by SHE are highly nonlinear transcendental in nature, there may exist single, multiple or even no solutions for a particular MI. However, some loads such as electrical drives, it is required to operate in whole range of MI. In order to solve SHE equations for whole range of MI, intelligent techniques are well suited to solve equations so as to produce lest %THDV. Hence, this paper uses Continuous genetic algorithm for minimising harmonics. This paper also presents wavelet based analysis of harmonics. The developed algorithm is simulated and %THD from FFT analysis and Wavelet analysis are compared. MATLAB programming environment and SIMULINK models are used whenever necessary.

Keywords: Cascade H-Bridge Inverter (CHB), Continuous Genetic Algorithm (C-GA), Selective Harmonic Elimination Pulse Width Modulation (SHEPWM), Total Harmonic Distortion (%THDv), Wavelet Transform (WT).

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Authors: L. Cazacova, A. Erdelhun, A.M. Saymanlier, N. Cazacova, U. Ulbar

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Today due to rising levels of housing- necessities, several problems have been raised regarding to urban quality of life. The aim of the research is to study social and spatial aspects of housing environment and to find out their interaction with the urban quality of life. As a case of study two pilot areas of Famagusta city in North Cyprus, were selected: Baykal, considered as an established urban district and Tuzla, a newly developed peri-urban district. In order to determine urban quality of life in planning and developing of housing areas, social and spatial aspects of selected areas have been examined, differences between them according to the planning policy have been pointed out, advantages and disadvantages of housing planning have been found. As a practical implementation of the research a number of households in each selected area have been interviewed in order to draw a conclusion.

Keywords: housing development, Famagusta, quality of life, social and spatial aspects.

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Authors: Shahzad Hassan, Kamran Saeed

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People are always in search of Wi-Fi hotspots because Internet is a major demand nowadays. But like all other technologies, there is still room for improvement in the Wi-Fi technology with regards to the speed and quality of connectivity. In order to address these aspects, Harald Haas, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, proposed what we know as the Li-Fi (Light Fidelity). Li-Fi is a new technology in the field of wireless communication to provide connectivity within a network environment. It is a two-way mode of wireless communication using light. Basically, the data is transmitted through Light Emitting Diodes which can vary the intensity of light very fast, even faster than the blink of an eye. From the research and experiments conducted so far, it can be said that Li-Fi can increase the speed and reliability of the transfer of data. This paper pays particular attention on the assessment of the performance of this technology. In other words, it is a 5G technology which uses LED as the medium of data transfer. For coverage within the buildings, Wi-Fi is good but Li-Fi can be considered favorable in situations where large amounts of data are to be transferred in areas with electromagnetic interferences. It brings a lot of data related qualities such as efficiency, security as well as large throughputs to the table of wireless communication. All in all, it can be said that Li-Fi is going to be a future phenomenon where the presence of light will mean access to the Internet as well as speedy data transfer.

Keywords: Communication, LED, Li-Fi, Wi-Fi.

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Authors: Marcin Michalak

Abstract:

Due to the increasing efforts on saving our natural environment a change in the structure of energy resources can be observed - an increasing fraction of a renewable energy sources. In many countries traditional underground coal mining loses its significance but there are still countries, like Poland or Germany, in which the coal based technologies have the greatest fraction in a total energy production. This necessitates to make an effort to limit the costs and negative effects of underground coal mining. The longwall complex is as essential part of the underground coal mining. The safety and the effectiveness of the work is strongly dependent of the diagnostic state of powered roof supports. The building of a useful and reliable diagnostic system requires a lot of data. As the acquisition of a data of any possible operating conditions it is important to have a possibility to generate a demanded artificial working characteristics. In this paper a new approach of modelling a leg pressure in the single unit of powered roof support. The model is a result of the analysis of a typical working cycles.

Keywords: Machine modelling, underground mining, coal mining.

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Authors: G. Fouché, J. N. Eloff, K. Wellington

Abstract:

Acaricides are commonly used to control ticks but are toxic, harmful to the environment and too expensive to resource-limited farmers. Traditionally, many communities in South Africa rely on a wide range of indigenous practices to keep their livestock healthy. One of these health care practices includes the use of medicinal plants and this offers an alternative to conventional medicine. An investigation was conducted at the CSIR in South Africa, and selected indigenous plants used in communities were scientifically evaluated for the management of ticks in animals. 17 plants were selected from 239 plants used traditionally in South Africa. Two different organic extracts were prepared from the 17 samples, resulting in 34 plant samples. These were tested for efficacy against two tick species, namely Rhipicephalus microplus and Rhipicephalus turanicus. The plant extracts were also screened against Vero cells and most were found to have low cytotoxicity. This study has shown that there is potential for the development of botanicals as natural acaricides against ticks that are non-toxic and environmentally benign.

Keywords: Rhipicephalus microplus, Rhipicephalus turanicus, ticks, plant extracts, South Africa.

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