Search results for: Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM)

Authors: Meriem Bahij, Ahmed Nafidi, Boujemâa Achchab, Sílvio M. A. Gama, José A. O. Matos

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Stochastic modeling concerns the use of probability to model real-world situations in which uncertainty is present. Therefore, the purpose of stochastic modeling is to estimate the probability of outcomes within a forecast, i.e. to be able to predict what conditions or decisions might happen under different situations. In the present study, we present a model of a stochastic diffusion process based on the bi-Weibull distribution function (its trend is proportional to the bi-Weibull probability density function). In general, the Weibull distribution has the ability to assume the characteristics of many different types of distributions. This has made it very popular among engineers and quality practitioners, who have considered it the most commonly used distribution for studying problems such as modeling reliability data, accelerated life testing, and maintainability modeling and analysis. In this work, we start by obtaining the probabilistic characteristics of this model, as the explicit expression of the process, its trends, and its distribution by transforming the diffusion process in a Wiener process as shown in the Ricciaardi theorem. Then, we develop the statistical inference of this model using the maximum likelihood methodology. Finally, we analyse with simulated data the computational problems associated with the parameters, an issue of great importance in its application to real data with the use of the convergence analysis methods. Overall, the use of a stochastic model reflects only a pragmatic decision on the part of the modeler. According to the data that is available and the universe of models known to the modeler, this model represents the best currently available description of the phenomenon under consideration.

Keywords: Diffusion process, discrete sampling, likelihood estimation method, simulation, stochastic diffusion equation, trends functions, bi-parameters Weibull density function.

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Authors: Kung-Jen Tu

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Many public housing properties developed by local governments in Taiwan in the 1980s have deteriorated severely as these rental apartment buildings aged. The lack of building maintainability considerations during project design phase as well as insufficient maintenance funds have made it difficult and costly for local governments to maintain and keep public housing properties in good shape. In order to assist the local governments in achieving and delivering sustainable public housing, this paper intends to present a developed design evaluation method to be used to evaluate the presented design schemes from property management and financial feasibility perspectives during project design phase of public housing projects. The design evaluation results, i.e. the property management and financial implications of presented design schemes that could occur later during the building operation and maintenance phase, will be reported to the client (the government) and design schemes revised consequently. It is proposed that the design evaluation be performed from two main perspectives: (1) Operation and property management perspective: Three criteria such as spatial appropriateness, people and vehicle circulation and control, property management working spaces are used to evaluate the ‘operation and PM effectiveness’ of a design scheme. (2) Financial feasibility perspective: Four types of financial analyses are performed to assess the long term financial feasibility of a presented design scheme, such as operational and rental income analysis, management fund analysis, regular operational and property management service expense analysis, capital expense analysis. The ongoing Chung-Li Public Housing Project developed by the Taoyuan City Government will be used as a case to demonstrate how the presented design evaluation method is implemented. The results of property management assessment as well as the annual operational and capital expenses of a proposed design scheme are presented.

Keywords: Design evaluation method, management fund, operational and capital expenses, rental apartment buildings.

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Authors: Kambiz Tahvildari, Shakila ila Motamedi

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Presently and in line with the United Nations (EPA), human thinking system has shifted towards clean fuels so as to maintain a cleaner environment and to save our planet earth. One of the most successful studies in order to achieve new energies includes the use of animal wastes and their organic residues, and the result of these researches has been represented in the form of very simple and cheap methods called biogas technology. Biogas technology has developed a lot in the recent decades; its reason is the high cost of fossil fuels and the greater attention of countries to the environmental pollutions due to the consumption of this kind of fuels. IRAN is ready for the optimized application of renewable energies, having much enriched resources of this kind of energies; so a special place could be considered for it when making programs. The purpose of biogas technology is the recovery of energy and finally the protection of the environment, which is much appropriate for the third world farmers with respect to their technical abilities and economic potentials. Studies show that the production and consumption of biogas is appropriate and economic in IRAN, because of the high amount of waste in the agriculture sector, the significant amount of animal and human excrement production, the great volume of garbage produced and the most important the specific social, climatic and agricultural conditions in IRAN, in order to proceed towards the reduction of pollution due to the use of fossil fuels.

Keywords: Agriculture, Biogas, Energy, Environment.

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Authors: Dimitrios Ntardas, Alexandros Tzanetos, Georgios Dounias

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High Voltage Substations (HVS) are the intermediate step between production of power and successfully transmitting it to clients, making them one of the most important checkpoints in power grids. Nowadays - renewable resources and consequently distributed generation are growing fast, the construction of HVS is of high importance both in terms of quality and time completion so that new energy producers can quickly and safely intergrade in power grids. The resources needed, such as machines and workers, should be carefully allocated so that the construction of a HVS is completed on time, with the lowest possible cost (e.g. not spending additional cost that were not taken into consideration, because of project delays), but in the highest quality. In addition, there are milestones and several checkpoints to be precisely achieved during construction to ensure the cost and timeline control and to ensure that the percentage of governmental funding will be granted. The management of such a demanding project is a NP-hard problem that consists of prerequisite constraints and resource limits for each task of the project. In this work, a hybrid meta-heuristic method is implemented to solve this problem. Meta-heuristics have been proven to be quite useful when dealing with high-dimensional constraint optimization problems. Hybridization of them results in boost of their performance.

Keywords: High voltage substations, nature-inspired algorithms, project management, meta-heuristics.

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Authors: Mannal Tariq

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Construction industry is making progress at a high pace. The trend of the world is getting more biased towards the high rise buildings. Deep beams are one of the most common elements in modern construction having small span to depth ratio. Deep beams are mostly used as transfer girders. This experimental study consists of 16 reinforced concrete (RC) deep beams. These beams were divided into two groups; A and B. Groups A and B consist of eight beams each, having 381 mm (15 in) and 457 mm (18 in) depth respectively. Each group was further subdivided into four sub groups each consisting of two identical beams. Each subgroup was comprised of solid/control beam (without opening), opening above neutral axis (NA), at NA and below NA. Except for control beams, all beams with openings were strengthened with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) vertical strips. These eight groups differ from each other based on depth and location of openings. For testing sake, all beams have been loaded with two symmetrical point loads. All beams have been designed based on strut and tie model concept. The outcome of experimental investigation elaborates the difference in the shear behaviour of deep beams based on depth and location of circular openings variation. 457 mm (18 in) deep beam with openings above NA show the highest strength and 381 mm (15 in) deep beam with openings below NA show the least strength. CFRP sheets played a vital role in increasing the shear capacity of beams.

Keywords: CFRP, deep beams, openings in deep beams, strut and tie model, shear behaviour.

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Authors: Intan Maisarah Abd Rahim, Herlina Abdul Rahim, Rashidah Ghazali

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Diabetes is a medical condition that can lead to various diseases such as stroke, heart disease, blindness and obesity. In clinical practice, the concern of the diabetic patients towards the blood glucose examination is rather alarming as some of the individual describing it as something painful with pinprick and pinch. As for some patient with high level of glucose level, pricking the fingers multiple times a day with the conventional glucose meter for close monitoring can be tiresome, time consuming and painful. With these concerns, several non-invasive techniques were used by researchers in measuring the glucose level in blood, including ultrasonic sensor implementation, multisensory systems, absorbance of transmittance, bio-impedance, voltage intensity, and thermography. This paper is discussing the application of the near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as a non-invasive method in measuring the glucose level and the implementation of the linear system identification model in predicting the output data for the NIR measurement. In this study, the wavelengths considered are at the 1450 nm and 1950 nm. Both of these wavelengths showed the most reliable information on the glucose presence in blood. Then, the linear Autoregressive Moving Average Exogenous model (ARMAX) model with both un-regularized and regularized methods was implemented in predicting the output result for the NIR measurement in order to investigate the practicality of the linear system in this study. However, the result showed only 50.11% accuracy obtained from the system which is far from the satisfying results that should be obtained.

Keywords: Diabetes, glucose level, linear, near-infrared (NIR), non-invasive, prediction system.

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Authors: Oyugi Ngure Robert, Tabitha A. Amollo, Kallen Mulilo Nalyanya

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Nanomaterials have attracted significant attention in research because of their exemplary properties, making them suitable for diverse applications. This paper reports the successful synthesis as well as the structural and optical properties of silver sulfide-reduced graphene oxide (Ag2S-rGO) nanocomposite. The nanocomposite was synthesized by the chemical reduction method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets were intercalated within the Ag2S nanoparticles during the chemical reduction process. The SEM images also showed that Ag2S had the shape of nanowires. Further, SEM energy dispersive X-ray (SEM EDX) showed that Ag2S-rGO is mainly composed of C, Ag, O, and S. X-ray diffraction analysis manifested a high crystallinity for the nanowire-shaped Ag2S nanoparticles with a d-spacing ranging between 1.0 Å and 5.2 Å. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that rGO enhances the thermal stability of the nanocomposite. Ag2S-rGO nanocomposite exhibited strong optical absorption in the UV region. The formed nanocomposite is dispersible in polar and non-polar solvents, qualifying it for solution-based device processing. Thus, the surface plasmon resonance effect associated with metallic nanoparticles, strong optical absorption, thermal stability crystallinity and hydrophilicity of the nanocomposite suits it for solar energy conversion applications.

Keywords: Silver sulfide, reduced graphene oxide, nanocomposite, structural properties, optical properties.

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Authors: Nurcihan Hacioglu, Cigdem Gul, Murat Tosunoglu

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In this article, the antibiogram and heavy metal resistance profile of the bacteria isolated from total 34 studied animals (Pelophylax ridibundus = 12; Mauremys rivulata = 14; Natrix natrix = 8) captured around the Biga Stream, are described. There was no database information on antibiogram and heavy metal resistance profile of bacteria from these area’s amphibians and reptiles. A total of 200 bacteria were successfully isolated from cloaca and oral samples of the aquatic amphibians and reptiles as well as from the water sample. According to Jaccard’s similarity index, the degree of similarity in the bacterial flora was quite high among the amphibian and reptile species under examination, whereas it was different from the bacterial diversity in the water sample. The most frequent isolates were A. hydrophila (31.5%), B. pseudomallei (8.5%), and C. freundii (7%). The total numbers of bacteria obtained were as follows: 45 in P. ridibundus, 45 in N. natrix 30 in M. rivulata, and 80 in the water sample. The result showed that cefmetazole was the most effective antibiotic to control the bacteria isolated in this study and that approximately 93.33% of the bacterial isolates were sensitive to this antibiotic. The multiple antibiotic resistances (MAR) index indicated that P. ridibundus (0.95) > N. natrix (0.89) > M. rivulata (0.39). Furthermore, all the tested heavy metals (Pb+2, Cu+2, Cr+3, and Mn+2) inhibit the growth of the bacterial isolates at different rates. Therefore, it indicated that the water source of the animals was contaminated with both antibiotic residues and heavy metals.

Keywords: Amphibian, Bacteriological Quality, Reptile, Antibiotic & Heavy Metal Resistance.

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Authors: Seksan Chunothaisawat, Pongchanun Luangpaiboon

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There are two common types of operational research techniques, optimisation and metaheuristic methods. The latter may be defined as a sequential process that intelligently performs the exploration and exploitation adopted by natural intelligence and strong inspiration to form several iterative searches. An aim is to effectively determine near optimal solutions in a solution space. In this work, a type of metaheuristics called Ant Colonies Optimisation, ACO, inspired by a foraging behaviour of ants was adapted to find optimal solutions of eight non-linear continuous mathematical models. Under a consideration of a solution space in a specified region on each model, sub-solutions may contain global or multiple local optimum. Moreover, the algorithm has several common parameters; number of ants, moves, and iterations, which act as the algorithm-s driver. A series of computational experiments for initialising parameters were conducted through methods of Rigid Simplex, RS, and Modified Simplex, MSM. Experimental results were analysed in terms of the best so far solutions, mean and standard deviation. Finally, they stated a recommendation of proper level settings of ACO parameters for all eight functions. These parameter settings can be applied as a guideline for future uses of ACO. This is to promote an ease of use of ACO in real industrial processes. It was found that the results obtained from MSM were pretty similar to those gained from RS. However, if these results with noise standard deviations of 1 and 3 are compared, MSM will reach optimal solutions more efficiently than RS, in terms of speed of convergence.

Keywords: Ant colony optimisation, metaheuristics, modified simplex, non-linear, rigid simplex.

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Authors: P. Kaladevi, N. Giridharan

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The system for analyzing and eliciting public grievances serves its main purpose to receive and process all sorts of complaints from the public and respond to users. Due to the more number of complaint data becomes big data which is difficult to store and process. The proposed system uses HDFS to store the big data and uses MapReduce to process the big data. The concept of cache was applied in the system to provide immediate response and timely action using big data analytics. Cache enabled big data increases the response time of the system. The unstructured data provided by the users are efficiently handled through map reduce algorithm. The processing of complaints takes place in the order of the hierarchy of the authority. The drawbacks of the traditional database system used in the existing system are set forth by our system by using Cache enabled Hadoop Distributed File System. MapReduce framework codes have the possible to leak the sensitive data through computation process. We propose a system that add noise to the output of the reduce phase to avoid signaling the presence of sensitive data. If the complaints are not processed in the ample time, then automatically it is forwarded to the higher authority. Hence it ensures assurance in processing. A copy of the filed complaint is sent as a digitally signed PDF document to the user mail id which serves as a proof. The system report serves to be an essential data while making important decisions based on legislation.

Keywords: Big Data, Hadoop, HDFS, Caching, MapReduce, web personalization, e-governance.

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Authors: Lae-Jeong Park

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The paper presents a method that utilizes figure-ground color segmentation to extract effective global feature in terms of false positive reduction in the head-shoulder detection. Conventional detectors that rely on local features such as HOG due to real-time operation suffer from false positives. Color cue in an input image provides salient information on a global characteristic which is necessary to alleviate the false positives of the local feature based detectors. An effective approach that uses figure-ground color segmentation has been presented in an effort to reduce the false positives in object detection. In this paper, an extended version of the approach is presented that adopts separate multipart foregrounds instead of a single prior foreground and performs the figure-ground color segmentation with each of the foregrounds. The multipart foregrounds include the parts of the head-shoulder shape and additional auxiliary foregrounds being optimized by a search algorithm. A classifier is constructed with the feature that consists of a set of the multiple resulting segmentations. Experimental results show that the presented method can discriminate more false positive than the single prior shape-based classifier as well as detectors with the local features. The improvement is possible because the presented approach can reduce the false positives that have the same colors in the head and shoulder foregrounds.

Keywords: Pedestrian detection, color segmentation, false positives, feature extraction.

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Authors: Mefleh S. Hamideen

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In this investigation, activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K, of some ceramic tile materials used in the local market of Jordan for interior decoration were determined by making use of High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. Twenty samples of different country of origin and sizes used in Jordan were analyzed. The concentration values of the last-mentioned radionuclides ranged from 30 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from Jordan) to 98 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from China) for 226Ra, 31 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from Italy) to 98 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from China) for 232Th, and 129 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from Spain) to 679 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from Italy) for 40K. Based on the calculated activity concentrations, some radiological parameters have been calculated to test the radiation hazards in the ceramic tiles. In this work, the following parameters: Total absorbed dose rate (DR), Annual effective dose rate (HR), Radium equivalent activity (Raeq), Radon emanation coefficient F (%) and Radon mass exhalation rate (Em) were calculated for all ceramic tiles and listed in the body of the work. Fortunately, the average calculated values of all parameters are less than the recommended values for each parameter. Consequently, almost all the examined ceramic materials appear to have low radon emanation coefficients. As a result of that investigation, no problems on people can appear by using those ceramic tiles in Jordan.

Keywords: radon emanation coefficient, radon mass exhalation rate, total annual effective dose, radon level

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Authors: Dali Zhang, Baoqun Yin, Hongsheng Xi

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In this paper, we propose a single sample path based algorithm with state aggregation to optimize the average rewards of singularly perturbed Markov reward processes (SPMRPs) with a large scale state spaces. It is assumed that such a reward process depend on a set of parameters. Differing from the other kinds of Markov chain, SPMRPs have their own hierarchical structure. Based on this special structure, our algorithm can alleviate the load in the optimization for performance. Moreover, our method can be applied on line because of its evolution with the sample path simulated. Compared with the original algorithm applied on these problems of general MRPs, a new gradient formula for average reward performance metric in SPMRPs is brought in, which will be proved in Appendix, and then based on these gradients, the schedule of the iteration algorithm is presented, which is based on a single sample path, and eventually a special case in which parameters only dominate the disturbance matrices will be analyzed, and a precise comparison with be displayed between our algorithm with the old ones which is aim to solve these problems in general Markov reward processes. When applied in SPMRPs, our method will approach a fast pace in these cases. Furthermore, to illustrate the practical value of SPMRPs, a simple example in multiple programming in computer systems will be listed and simulated. Corresponding to some practical model, physical meanings of SPMRPs in networks of queues will be clarified.

Keywords: Singularly perturbed Markov processes, Gradient of average reward, Differential reward, State aggregation, Perturbed close network.

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Authors: Marin Mandić, Elis Sutlović, Tonći Modrić, Luka Stanić

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With the restructuring and deregulation of the power system, storage owners, generation companies or private producers can offer their multiple services on various power markets and earn income in different types of markets, such as the day-ahead, real-time, ancillary services market, etc. During the COVID-19 pandemic, electricity prices, as well as ancillary services prices, increased significantly. The optimization of the energy storage operation was performed using a suitable model for simulating the operation of a pumped storage hydropower plant under market conditions. The objective function maximizes the income earned through energy arbitration, regulation-up, regulation-down and spinning reserve services. The optimization technique used for solving the objective function is mixed integer linear programming (MILP). In numerical examples, the pumped storage hydropower plant operation has been optimized considering the already achieved hourly electricity market prices from Nord Pool for the pre-pandemic (2019) and the pandemic (2020 and 2021) years. The impact of the electricity market prices during the COVID-19 pandemic on energy storage operation is shown through the analysis of income, operating hours, reserved capacity and consumed energy for each service. The results indicate the role of energy storage during a significant fluctuation in electricity and services prices.

Keywords: Electrical market prices, electricity market, energy storage optimization, mixed integer linear programming, MILP, optimization.

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Authors: Sunitha Ramanujam, Hany El Yamany, Miriam A. M. Capretz

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Software reliability, defined as the probability of a software system or application functioning without failure or errors over a defined period of time, has been an important area of research for over three decades. Several research efforts aimed at developing models to improve reliability are currently underway. One of the most popular approaches to software reliability adopted by some of these research efforts involves the use of operational profiles to predict how software applications will be used. Operational profiles are a quantification of usage patterns for a software application. The research presented in this paper investigates an innovative multiagent framework for automatic creation and management of operational profiles for generic distributed systems after their release into the market. The architecture of the proposed Operational Profile MAS (Multi-Agent System) is presented along with detailed descriptions of the various models arrived at following the analysis and design phases of the proposed system. The operational profile in this paper is extended to comprise seven different profiles. Further, the criticality of operations is defined using a new composed metrics in order to organize the testing process as well as to decrease the time and cost involved in this process. A prototype implementation of the proposed MAS is included as proof-of-concept and the framework is considered as a step towards making distributed systems intelligent and self-managing.

Keywords: Software reliability, Software testing, Metrics, Distributed systems, Multi-agent systems

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Authors: O. Miraliyari

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This article attempts to analyze functionally graded beam thermal buckling along with piezoelectric layers applying based on the third order shearing deformation theory considering various boundary conditions. The beam properties are assumed to vary continuously from the lower surface to the upper surface of the beam. The equilibrium equations are derived using the total potential energy equations, Euler equations, piezoelectric material constitutive equations and third order shear deformation theory assumptions. In order to fulfill such an aim, at first functionally graded beam with piezoelectric layers applying the third order shearing deformation theory along with clamped -clamped boundary conditions are thoroughly analyzed, and then following making sure of the correctness of all the equations, the very same beam is analyzed with piezoelectric layers through simply-simply and simply-clamped boundary conditions. In this article buckling critical temperature for functionally graded beam is derived in two different ways, without piezoelectric layer and with piezoelectric layer and the results are compared together. Finally, all the conclusions obtained will be compared and contrasted with the same samples in the same and distinguished conditions through tables and charts. It would be noteworthy that in this article, the software MAPLE has been applied in order to do the numeral calculations.

Keywords: Thermal buckling, functionally graded beam, piezoelectric layer, various boundary conditions.

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Authors: Sunthari Tharapan, Chockpisit Thepsithar, Kullanart Obsuwan

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This study was aimed to investigate the effect of various organic supplements on growth and development of Dendrobium discolor’s protocorms and seedlings growth of Dendrobium Judy Rutz. Protocorms of Dendrobium discolor with 2.0 cm. in diameter and seedlings of Dendrobium Judy Rutz at the same size (0.5 cm. height) were sub-cultured on Hyponex medium supplemented with cow milk (CM), soy milk (SM), potato extract (PE) and peptone (P) for 2 months. The protocorms were developed to seedlings in all treatments after cultured for 2 months. However, the best results were found on Hyponex medium supplemented with P was the best in which the maximum fresh and dry weight and maximum shoot height were obtained in this treatment statistically different (p ≤ 0.05) to other treatments. Moreover, Hyponex medium supplemented with P also stimulated the maximum mean number of 5.7 shoots per explant which also showed statistically different (p ≤ 0.05) when compared to other treatments. The results of growth of Dendrobium Judy Rutz seedlings indicated the medium supplemented with 100 mL/L PE enhanced the maximum fresh and dry weigh per explants with significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) in fresh weight from other treatments including the control medium without any organic supplementation. However, the dry weight was not significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) from medium supplemented with SM and P. There was multiple shoots induction in all media with or without organic supplementation ranging from 2.6 to 3 shoots per explants. The maximum shoot height was also obtained in the seedlings cultured on medium supplemented with PE while the longest root length was found in medium supplemented with SM.

Keywords: Fresh weight, in vitro propagation, orchid, plant height.

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Kangavari, Samira Ghandchi, Manak Golpour

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Question answering (QA) aims at retrieving precise information from a large collection of documents. Most of the Question Answering systems composed of three main modules: question processing, document processing and answer processing. Question processing module plays an important role in QA systems to reformulate questions. Moreover answer processing module is an emerging topic in QA systems, where these systems are often required to rank and validate candidate answers. These techniques aiming at finding short and precise answers are often based on the semantic relations and co-occurrence keywords. This paper discussed about a new model for question answering which improved two main modules, question processing and answer processing which both affect on the evaluation of the system operations. There are two important components which are the bases of the question processing. First component is question classification that specifies types of question and answer. Second one is reformulation which converts the user's question into an understandable question by QA system in a specific domain. The objective of an Answer Validation task is thus to judge the correctness of an answer returned by a QA system, according to the text snippet given to support it. For validating answers we apply candidate answer filtering, candidate answer ranking and also it has a final validation section by user voting. Also this paper described new architecture of question and answer processing modules with modeling, implementing and evaluating the system. The system differs from most question answering systems in its answer validation model. This module makes it more suitable to find exact answer. Results show that, from total 50 asked questions, evaluation of the model, show 92% improving the decision of the system.

Keywords: Answer processing, answer validation, classification, question answering, query reformulation.

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Authors: Chia-Min Lai, Wan-Ching Lin, Hahn-Ming Lee, Ching-Hao Mao

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As world wild internet has non-stop developments, making profit by lending registered domain names emerges as a new business in recent years. Unfortunately, the larger the market scale of domain lending service becomes, the riskier that there exist malicious behaviors or malwares hiding behind parked domains will be. Also, previous work for differentiating parked domain suffers two main defects: 1) too much data-collecting effort and CPU latency needed for features engineering and 2) ineffectiveness when detecting parked domains containing external links that are usually abused by hackers, e.g., drive-by download attack. Aiming for alleviating above defects without sacrificing practical usability, this paper proposes ParkedGuard as an efficient and accurate parked domain detector. Several scripting behavioral features were analyzed, while those with special statistical significance are adopted in ParkedGuard to make feature engineering much more cost-efficient. On the other hand, finding memberships between external links and parked domains was modeled as a graph mining problem, and a coarse-to-fine strategy was elaborately designed by leverage the graphical locality such that ParkedGuard outperforms the state-of-the-art in terms of both recall and precision rates.

Keywords: Coarse-to-fine strategy, domain parking service, graphical locality analysis, parked domain.

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Authors: Bashir Ahmad Amiri, Nsenda Lukumwena

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The global trend indicates that more and more people live and will continue to live in urban areas. Today cities are expanding both in physical size and number due to the rapid population growth along with sprawl development, which caused the cities to expand beyond the growth boundary and exerting intense pressure on environmental resources specially farmlands to accommodate new housing and urban facilities. Also noticeable is the increase in urban decay along with the increase of slum dwellers present another challenge that most cities in developed and developing countries have to deal with. Today urban practitioners, researchers, planners, and decision-makers are seeking for alternative development and growth management policies to house the rising urban population and also cure the urban decay and slum issues turn to Smart Growth to achieve their goals. Many cities across the globe have adopted smart growth as an alternative growth management tool to deal with patterns and forms of development and to cure the rising urban and environmental problems. The method used in this study is a literature analysis method through reviewing various resources to highlight the potential benefits of Smart Growth in both developed and developing countries and analyze, to what extent it can be a strategic alternative for Afghanistan’s cities, especially the capital city. Hence a comparative analysis is carried on three countries, namely the USA, China, and India to identify the potential benefits of smart growth likely to serve as an achievable broad base for recommendations in different urban contexts.

Keywords: Growth management, housing, Kabul city, smart growth, urban-expansion.

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Authors: Brahmjit Singh

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Mobile IP has been developed to provide the continuous information network access to mobile users. In IP-based mobile networks, location management is an important component of mobility management. This management enables the system to track the location of mobile node between consecutive communications. It includes two important tasks- location update and call delivery. Location update is associated with signaling load. Frequent updates lead to degradation in the overall performance of the network and the underutilization of the resources. It is, therefore, required to devise the mechanism to minimize the update rate. Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6) and Hierarchical MIPv6 (HMIPv6) have been the potential candidates for deployments in mobile IP networks for mobility management. HMIPv6 through studies has been shown with better performance as compared to MIPv6. It reduces the signaling overhead traffic by making registration process local. In this paper, we present performance analysis of MIPv6 and HMIPv6 using an analytical model. Location update cost function is formulated based on fluid flow mobility model. The impact of cell residence time, cell residence probability and user-s mobility is investigated. Numerical results are obtained and presented in graphical form. It is shown that HMIPv6 outperforms MIPv6 for high mobility users only and for low mobility users; performance of both the schemes is almost equivalent to each other.

Keywords: Wireless networks, Mobile IP networks, Mobility management, performance analysis, Handover.

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Authors: S. El-Gamal, P. Hossam, A. Abd El Aziz, R. Mahmoud, A. Hassan, D. Hilal, E. Ayman, H. Haytham, O. Khamis

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Several concerns fall upon the supply chain especially in cold supply chains. These concerns are mainly in the distribution and storage phases. This research focuses on the storage area, which contains several activities such as the picking activity that faces a lot of obstacles and challenges. The implementation of IoT solutions enables businesses to monitor the temperature of food items, which is perhaps the most critical parameter in cold chains. Therefore, the research at hand proposes a practical solution that would help in eliminating the problems related to ineffective picking for products especially fish and seafood products by using IoT technology, most notably LiFi technology; thus, guaranteeing sufficient picking, reducing waste, and consequently lowering costs. A prototype was specially designed and examined. This research is a single case study research. Two methods of data collection were used; observation and semi-structured interviews. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers and a decision maker at one of the biggest retail stores Carrefour, Alexandria, Egypt to validate the problem and the proposed practical solution using IoT and LiFi technology. A total of three interviews were conducted. As a result, a SWOT analysis was achieved in order to highlight all the strengths and weaknesses of using the recommended LiFi solution in the picking process. According to the investigations, it was found that, the use of IoT and LiFi technology is cost effective, efficient, and reduces human errors, minimizes the percentage of product waste and thus saves money and cost. Therefore, increasing customer satisfaction and profits could be achieved.

Keywords: Cold supply chain, IoT, LiFi, warehousing operation, picking process.

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Authors: J. C. Cabanillas-Noris, M. I. Martínez-Hernández, I. León-Monzón

Abstract:

The selection of diffractive events in the ALICE experiment during the first data taking period (RUN-I) of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was limited by the range over which rapidity gaps occur. It would be possible to achieve better measurements by expanding the range in which the production of particles can be detected. For this purpose, the ALICE Diffractive (AD0) detector has been installed and commissioned for the second phase (RUN-II). Any new detector should be able to take the data synchronously with all other detectors and be operated through the ALICE central systems. One of the key elements that must be developed for the AD0 detector is the Detector Control System (DCS). The DCS must be designed to operate safely and correctly this detector. Furthermore, the DCS must also provide optimum operating conditions for the acquisition and storage of physics data and ensure these are of the highest quality. The operation of AD0 implies the configuration of about 200 parameters, from electronics settings and power supply levels to the archiving of operating conditions data and the generation of safety alerts. It also includes the automation of procedures to get the AD0 detector ready for taking data in the appropriate conditions for the different run types in ALICE. The performance of AD0 detector depends on a certain number of parameters such as the nominal voltages for each photomultiplier tube (PMT), their threshold levels to accept or reject the incoming pulses, the definition of triggers, etc. All these parameters define the efficiency of AD0 and they have to be monitored and controlled through AD0 DCS. Finally, AD0 DCS provides the operator with multiple interfaces to execute these tasks. They are realized as operating panels and scripts running in the background. These features are implemented on a SCADA software platform as a distributed control system which integrates to the global control system of the ALICE experiment.

Keywords: AD0, ALICE, DCS, LHC.

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Authors: Maria Toader, Gheorghe Valentin Roman

Abstract:

The importance of fruit trees and bushes growing for Romania is due the concordance that exists between the different ecological conditions in natural basins, and the requirements of different species and varieties. There are, in Romania, natural areas dedicated to the main trees species: plum, apple, pear, cherry, sour cherry, finding optimal conditions for harnessing the potential of fruitfulness, making fruit quality both in terms of ratio commercial, and content in active principles. The share of fruits crops in the world economy of agricultural production is due primarily to the role of fruits in nourishment for human, and in the prevention and combating of diseases, in increasing the national income of cultivator countries and to improve comfort for human life. For Romania, the perspectives of the sector are positive, and are due to European funding opportunities, which provide farmers a specialized program that meets the needs of development and modernization of fruit growing industry, cultivation technology and equipment, organization and grouping of producers, creating storage facilities, conditioning, marketing and the joint use of fresh fruit. This paper shows the evolution of fruit growing, in Romania compared to other states. The document presents the current situation of the main tree species both in terms of surface but also of the productions and the role that this activity may have for the development of rural communities.

Keywords: Fruit growing, fruits trees, productivity, rural development.

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Authors: Sadaf Khalid, Fahim Arif

Abstract:

Wide applicability of concurrent programming practices in developing various software applications leads to different concurrency errors amongst which data race is the most important. Java provides greatest support for concurrent programming by introducing various concurrency packages. Aspect oriented programming (AOP) is modern programming paradigm facilitating the runtime interception of events of interest and can be effectively used to handle the concurrency problems. AspectJ being an aspect oriented extension to java facilitates the application of concepts of AOP for data race detection. Volatile variables are usually considered thread safe, but they can become the possible candidates of data races if non-atomic operations are performed concurrently upon them. Various data race detection algorithms have been proposed in the past but this issue of volatility and atomicity is still unaddressed. The aim of this research is to propose some suggestions for incorporating certain conditions for data race detection in java programs at the volatile fields by taking into account support for atomicity in java concurrency packages and making use of pointcuts. Two simple test programs will demonstrate the results of research. The results are verified on two different Java Development Kits (JDKs) for the purpose of comparison.

Keywords: Aspect Bench Compiler (abc), Aspect OrientedProgramming (AOP), AspectJ, Aspects, Concurrency packages, Concurrent programming, Cross-cutting Concerns, Data race, Eclipse, Java, Java Development Kits (JDKs), Pointcuts

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Authors: Miguel Angel Garcia-Ruiz, Pedro Cesar Santana-Mancilla, Laura Sanely Gaytan-Lugo

Abstract:

This paper describes the design and application of a short in-class project conducted in Algoma University’s Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) course taught at the Bachelor of Computer Science. The project was based on the Maker Movement (people using and reusing electronic components and everyday materials to tinker with technology and make interactive applications), where students applied low-cost and easy-to-use electronic components, the Arduino Uno microcontroller board, software tools, and everyday objects. Students collaborated in small teams by completing hands-on activities with them, making an interactive walking cane for blind people. At the end of the course, students filled out a Technology Acceptance Model version 2 (TAM2) questionnaire where they evaluated microcontroller boards’ applications in HCI classes. We also asked them about applying the Maker Movement in HCI classes. Results showed overall students’ positive opinions and response about using microcontroller boards in HCI classes. We strongly suggest that every HCI course should include practical activities related to tinkering with technology such as applying microcontroller boards, where students actively and constructively participate in teams for achieving learning objectives.

Keywords: Maker movement, microcontrollers, learning, projects, course, technology acceptance.

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Authors: Sotirios N. Raptis

Abstract:

The paper links social needs to social classes by the creation of cohorts of public services matched as causes to other ones as effects using cause-effect (CE) models. It then compares these associations using CE and typical regression methods (LR, ARMA). The paper discusses such public service groupings offered in Scotland in the long term to estimate the risk of multiple causes or effects that can ultimately reduce the healthcare cost by linking the next services to the likely causes of them. The same generic goal can be achieved using LR or ARMA and differences are discussed. The work uses Health and Social Care (H&Sc) public services data from 11 service packs offered by Public Health Services (PHS) Scotland that boil down to 110 single-attribute year series, called ’factors’. The study took place at Macmillan Cancer Support, UK and Abertay University, Dundee, from 2020 to 2023. The paper discusses CE relationships as a main method and compares sample findings with Linear Regression (LR), ARMA, to see how the services are linked. Relationships found were between smoking-related healthcare provision, mental-health-related services, and epidemiological weight in Primary-1-Education Body-Mass-Index (BMI) in children as CE models. Insurance companies and public policymakers can pack CE-linked services in plans such as those for the elderly, low-income people, in the long term. The linkage of services was confirmed allowing more accurate resource planning.

Keywords: Probability, regression, cause-effect cohorts, data frames, services, prediction.

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Authors: Rajaram Kr. Gupta, Bhupendra Kumar, T. V. K. Gupta, D. S. Ramteke

Abstract:

Machining of hard materials is a recent technology for direct production of work-pieces. The primary challenge in machining these materials is selection of cutting tool inserts which facilitates an extended tool life and high-precision machining of the component. These materials are widely for making precision parts for the aerospace industry. Nickel-based alloys are typically used in extreme environment applications where a combination of strength, corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance material characteristics are required. The present paper reports the theoretical and experimental investigations carried out to understand the influence of machining parameters on the response parameters. Considering the basic machining parameters (speed, feed and depth of cut) a study has been conducted to observe their influence on material removal rate, surface roughness, cutting forces and corresponding tool wear. Experiments are designed and conducted with the help of Central Composite Rotatable Design technique. The results reveals that for a given range of process parameters, material removal rate is favorable for higher depths of cut and low feed rate for cutting forces. Low feed rates and high values of rotational speeds are suitable for better finish and higher tool life.

Keywords: Speed, feed, depth of cut, roughness, cutting force, flank wear.

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Authors: Laila Yasir Al-Harthy, Ali H. Al-Badi

Abstract:

As an emerging business model, cloud computing has been initiated to satisfy the need of organizations and to push Information Technology as a utility. The shift to the cloud has changed the way Information Technology departments are managed traditionally and has raised many concerns for both, public and private sectors.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of cloud computing services replacing services provided traditionally by IT departments. Therefore, it aims to 1) explore whether organizations in Oman are ready to move to the cloud; 2) identify the deciding factors leading to the adoption or rejection of cloud computing services in Oman; and 3) provide two case studies, one for a successful Cloud provider and another for a successful adopter.

This paper is based on multiple research methods including conducting a set of interviews with cloud service providers and current cloud users in Oman; and collecting data using questionnaires from experts in the field and potential users of cloud services.

Despite the limitation of bandwidth capacity and Internet coverage offered in Oman that create a challenge in adopting the cloud, it was found that many information technology professionals are encouraged to move to the cloud while few are resistant to change.

The recent launch of a new Omani cloud service provider and the entrance of other international cloud service providers in the Omani market make this research extremely valuable as it aims to provide real-life experience as well as two case studies on the successful provision of cloud services and the successful adoption of these services.

Keywords: Cloud computing, cloud deployment models, cloud service models and deciding factors.

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Authors: Mohammed Gamil Montasser, Angelo Battaglia

Abstract:

Tourism is making its presence felt across the Sultanate of Oman. The story is one of the most recognized phenomena as a sustainable solid growth and is considered a remarkable outcome for any destination. The competitive situation and challenges within the tourism industry worldwide entail a better understanding of the destination position and its image to achieve Oman’s aspiration to retain its international reputation as one of the most desirable destinations in the Middle East. To access general perceptions of Oman’s attributes, their importance and their influences among U.S. tourists, an online survey was conducted with 522 American travelers who have traveled internationally, including non-visitors, virtual-visitors and visitors to Oman. This research involved a total of 36 attributes in the survey. Participants were asked to rate their agreement on how each attribute represented Oman and how important each attribute was for selecting destinations on 5- point Likert Scale. They also indicated if each attribute has a positive, neutral or negative influence on their destination selection. Descriptive statistics and importance performance analysis (IPA) were conducted. IPA illustrated U.S. tourists’ perceptions of Oman’s destination attributes and their importance in destination selection on a matrix with four quadrants, divided by actual mean value in each grid for importance (M=3.51) and performance (M=3.57). Oman tourism organizations and destination managers may use these research findings for future marketing and management efforts toward the U.S. travel market.

Keywords: Analysis of importance and performance, destination attributes, Oman’s position, U.S. tourists.

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