Search results for: information technology.

Authors: Aleksandar Chonevski

Abstract:

The free-market economy provides many opportunities for entrepreneurship or starting one’s own business, attracting many students to study business at for-profit colleges in the United States. This is also true for international students, many of whom are filled with the hope of making a better life for themselves and their families through entrepreneurial endeavors. This qualitative research showed that not all graduates business students start their own business. In investigating this phenomenon, the effectiveness of entrepreneurship curricula at international colleges needs to be examined in order to adjust, improve and reform entrepreneurship curricula. This qualitative study will explore how business skills learned in college for-profit play a role in the entrepreneurial readiness of undergraduate business students in the south Florida. Business curricula helps international students achieve goals and transform their actions to understand challenges in a corporate society. Students will be interviewed to gain information about the students’ experience with entrepreneurship curricula in a for-profit college in south Florida.

Keywords: Business skills, college curriculum, entrepreneurial readiness, international students.

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Authors: Ahmad Abbas Al-Ameen Salih, Nur Liyana Afiqah Che Ahmad Zaini, Amzari Zhahir

Abstract:

Navigation is the processes of monitoring and controlling the movement of an object from one place to another. Currently, Global Positioning System (GPS) is the main navigation system used all over the world for navigation applications. GPS receiver receives signals from at least three satellites to locate and display itself. Displayed positioning information is updated continuously. Update rate is the number of times per second that a display is illuminated. The speed of update is governed by receiver update rate. A higher update rate decreases display lag time and improves distance measurements and tracking especially when moving on a curvy route. The majority of GPS receivers used nowadays are updated every second continuously. This period is considered reasonable for some applications while it is long relatively for high speed applications. In this paper, the suitability and feasibility of GPS receiver with different update rates will be evaluated for various applications according to the level of speed and update rate needed for particular applications.

Keywords: Navigation, Global Positioning System (GPS), GPS receiver, Update rate, Refresh rate, Satellite navigation, High speed GPS receiver.

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Authors: Nadeem Ehsan, Ebtisam Mirza, Muhammad Ahmad

Abstract:

In a complex project environment, project teams face multi-dimensional communication problems that can ultimately lead to project breakdown. Team Performance varies in Face-to-Face (FTF) environment versus groups working remotely in a computermediated communication (CMC) environment. A brief review of the Input_Process_Output model suggested by James E. Driskell, Paul H. Radtke and Eduardo Salas in “Virtual Teams: Effects of Technological Mediation on Team Performance (2003)", has been done to develop the basis of this research. This model theoretically analyzes the effects of technological mediation on team processes, such as, cohesiveness, status and authority relations, counternormative behavior and communication. An empirical study described in this paper has been undertaken to test the “cohesiveness" of diverse project teams in a multi-national organization. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative techniques for data gathering and analysis. These techniques include interviews, questionnaires for data collection and graphical data representation for analyzing the collected data. Computer-mediated technology may impact team performance because of difference in cohesiveness among teams and this difference may be moderated by factors, such as, the type of communication environment, the type of task and the temporal context of the team. Based on the reviewed model, sets of hypotheses are devised and tested. This research, reports on a study that compared team cohesiveness among virtual teams using CMC and non-CMC communication mediums. The findings suggest that CMC can help virtual teams increase team cohesiveness among their members, making CMC an effective medium for increasing productivity and team performance.

Keywords: Computer-mediated Communication, Virtual Teams, Team Performance, Team Cohesiveness.

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Authors: Bo Wan, Xiu Wen, Lingling An, Xiaoling Ding

Abstract:

The paper describes a Chinese shadow play animation system based on Kinect. Users, without any professional training, can personally manipulate the shadow characters to finish a shadow play performance by their body actions and get a shadow play video through giving the record command to our system if they want. In our system, Kinect is responsible for capturing human movement and voice commands data. Gesture recognition module is used to control the change of the shadow play scenes. After packaging the data from Kinect and the recognition result from gesture recognition module, VRPN transmits them to the server-side. At last, the server-side uses the information to control the motion of shadow characters and video recording. This system not only achieves human-computer interaction, but also realizes the interaction between people. It brings an entertaining experience to users and easy to operate for all ages. Even more important is that the application background of Chinese shadow play embodies the protection of the art of shadow play animation.

Keywords: Gesture recognition, Kinect, shadow play animation, VRPN.

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Authors: Redouane Tlemsani, Abdelkader Benyettou

Abstract:

Work is in on line Arabic character recognition and the principal motivation is to study the Arab manuscript with on line technology.

This system is a Markovian system, which one can see as like a Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN). One of the major interests of these systems resides in the complete models training (topology and parameters) starting from training data.

Our approach is based on the dynamic Bayesian Networks formalism. The DBNs theory is a Bayesians networks generalization to the dynamic processes. Among our objective, amounts finding better parameters, which represent the links (dependences) between dynamic network variables.

In applications in pattern recognition, one will carry out the fixing of the structure, which obliges us to admit some strong assumptions (for example independence between some variables). Our application will relate to the Arabic isolated characters on line recognition using our laboratory database: NOUN. A neural tester proposed for DBN external optimization.

The DBN scores and DBN mixed are respectively 70.24% and 62.50%, which lets predict their further development; other approaches taking account time were considered and implemented until obtaining a significant recognition rate 94.79%.

Keywords: Arabic on line character recognition, dynamic Bayesian network, pattern recognition.

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Authors: Mesfer Al Duhayyim, Paul Newbury

Abstract:

This paper proposes an effective adaptive e-learning system that uses a coloured concept map to show the learner's knowledge level for each concept in the chosen subject area. A Fuzzy logic system is used to evaluate the learner's knowledge level for each concept in the domain, and produce a ranked concept list of learning materials to address weaknesses in the learner’s understanding. This system obtains information on the learner's understanding of concepts by an initial pre-test before the system is used for learning and a post-test after using the learning system. A Fuzzy logic system is used to produce a weighted concept map during the learning process. The aim of this research is to prove that such a proposed novel adapted e-learning system will enhance learner's performance and understanding. In addition, this research aims to increase participants' overall understanding of their learning level by providing a coloured concept map of understanding followed by a ranked concepts list of learning materials.

Keywords: Adaptive e-learning system, coloured concept map, fuzzy logic, ranked concept list.

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Authors: Irshad Ahmad, Abdul Muhamin Naeem, Muhammad Islam, Shahid Nawaz

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Information on weed distribution within the field is necessary to implement spatially variable herbicide application. Since hand labor is costly, an automated weed control system could be feasible. This paper deals with the development of an algorithm for real time specific weed recognition system based on Histogram Maxima with threshold of an image that is used for the weed classification. This algorithm is specifically developed to classify images into broad and narrow class for real-time selective herbicide application. The developed system has been tested on weeds in the lab, which have shown that the system to be very effectiveness in weed identification. Further the results show a very reliable performance on images of weeds taken under varying field conditions. The analysis of the results shows over 95 percent classification accuracy over 140 sample images (broad and narrow) with 70 samples from each category of weeds.

Keywords: Image processing, real-time recognition, weeddetection.

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Authors: Petar Sarajcev, Josip Vasilj, Damir Jakus

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This paper presents a novel statistical description of the counterpoise effective length due to lightning surges, where the (impulse) effective length had been obtained by means of regressive formulas applied to the transient simulation results. The effective length is described in terms of a statistical distribution function, from which median, mean, variance, and other parameters of interest could be readily obtained. The influence of lightning current amplitude, lightning front duration, and soil resistivity on the effective length has been accounted for, assuming statistical nature of these parameters. A method for determining the optimal counterpoise length, in terms of the statistical impulse effective length, is also presented. It is based on estimating the number of dangerous events associated with lightning strikes. Proposed statistical description and the associated method provide valuable information which could aid the design engineer in optimising physical lengths of counterpoises in different grounding arrangements and soil resistivity situations.

Keywords: Counterpoise, Grounding conductor, Effective length, Lightning, Monte Carlo method, Statistical distribution.

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Authors: Abdulwahab Alalyani, Mahbub Rashid

Abstract:

Public green space promotes community health including daily activities, but these resources may not be available enough or may not equitably be distributed. This paper measures and compares the availability of public green spaces (PGS) among low, middle, and high-income neighborhoods in the Riyadh city. Additionally, it compares the total availability of PGS to WHO standard and Dubai availability of PGS per person. All PGS were mapped using geographical information systems, and total area availability of PGS compared to WHO and Dubai standards. To evaluate the significant differences in PGS availability across low, medium, and high-income Riyadh neighborhoods, we used a One-way ANOVA analysis of covariance to test the differences. As a result, by comparing PGS of Riyadh neighborhoods to WHO and Dubai-availability, it was found that Riyadh PGS were lower than the minimum standard of WHO and as well as Dubai. Riyadh has only 1.13 m² per capita of PGS. The second finding, the availability of PGS, was significantly different among Riyadh neighborhoods based on socioeconomic status. The future development of PGS should be focused on increasing PGS availability and should be given priority to those low-income and unhealthy communities.

Keywords: Spatial equity, green space, healthy city, quality of life, income, built environment.

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Authors: Abdullah A Wardak

Abstract:

This paper describes how the correct endian mode of the TMS320C6713 DSK board can be identified. It also explains how the TMS320C6713 DSK board can be used in the little endian and in the big endian modes for assembly language programming in particular and for signal processing in general. Similarly, it discusses how crucially important it is for a user of the TMS320C6713 DSK board to identify the mode of operation and then use it correctly during the development stages of the assembly language programming; otherwise, it will cause unnecessary confusion and erroneous results as far as storing data into the memory and loading data from the memory is concerned. Furthermore, it highlights and strongly recommends to the users of the TMS320C6713 DSK board to be aware of the availability and importance of various display options in the Code Composer Studio (CCS) for correctly interpreting and displaying the desired data in the memory. The information presented in this paper will be of great importance and interest to those practitioners and developers who wants to use the TMS320C6713 DSK board for assembly language programming as well as input-output signal processing manipulations. Finally, examples that clearly illustrate the concept are presented.

Keywords: Assembly language programming, big endian mode, little endian mode, signal processing.

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Authors: Sung Kyu Kim, Yong Soo Kim

Abstract:

Safety instrumented systems (SISs) are becoming increasingly complex and the proportion of programmable electronic parts is growing. The IEC 61508 global standard was established to ensure the functional safety of SISs, but it was expressed in highly macroscopic terms. This study introduces an evaluation process for hardware safety integrity levels through failure modes, effects, and diagnostic analysis (FMEDA).FMEDA is widely used to evaluate safety levels, and it provides the information on failure rates and failure mode distributions necessary to calculate a diagnostic coverage factor for a given component. In our evaluation process, the components of the SIS subsystem are first defined in terms of failure modes and effects. Then, the failure rate and failure mechanism distribution are assigned to each component. The safety mode and detectability of each failure mode are determined for each component. Finally, the hardware safety integrity level is evaluated based on the calculated results.

Keywords: Safety instrumented system; Safety integrity level; Failure modes, effects, and diagnostic analysis; IEC 61508.

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Authors: A. Ouanane, A. Serir

Abstract:

In this paper, a novel algorithm based on Ridgelet Transform and support vector machine is proposed for human action recognition. The Ridgelet transform is a directional multi-resolution transform and it is more suitable for describing the human action by performing its directional information to form spatial features vectors. The dynamic transition between the spatial features is carried out using both the Principal Component Analysis and clustering algorithm K-means. First, the Principal Component Analysis is used to reduce the dimensionality of the obtained vectors. Then, the kmeans algorithm is then used to perform the obtained vectors to form the spatio-temporal pattern, called set-of-labels, according to given periodicity of human action. Finally, a Support Machine classifier is used to discriminate between the different human actions. Different tests are conducted on popular Datasets, such as Weizmann and KTH. The obtained results show that the proposed method provides more significant accuracy rate and it drives more robustness in very challenging situations such as lighting changes, scaling and dynamic environment

Keywords: Human action, Ridgelet Transform, PCA, K-means, SVM.

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Authors: Syuichi Kubota, Kayoko Yamamoto

Abstract:

This study aims to identify the current situation and problems of environmental statement for major four home appliances (refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and television receivers) sold at online stores in Japan, and then to suggest how to improve the situation, through a questionnaire survey conducted among businesses that operate online stores and online malls with multiple online stores. Results of the study boil down to: (1) It is found out that environmental statement for the home appliances at online stores have four problems; (i) less information on “three Rs" and “chemical substances" than the one on “energy conservation", (ii) cost for providing environmental statement, (iii) issues associated with a label and mark placement, and (iv) issues associated with energy conservation statement. (2) Improvements are suggested for each of the four problems listed above, and shown are (i) the effectiveness of, and need to promote, a label and mark placement, (ii) cost burden on buyers, and (iii) need of active efforts made by businesses and of dissemination of legal regulations to businesses.

Keywords: Home Appliances, Environmentally-FriendlyProduct, Environmental Statement, Online Store, Japan.

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Authors: Randa Ibrahim Elanwar, Mohsen Rashwan, Samia Mashali

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In this paper we propose a segmentation system for unconstrained Arabic online handwriting. An essential problem addressed by analytical-based word recognition system. The system is composed of two-stages the first is a newly special designed hidden Markov model (HMM) and the second is a rules based stage. In our system, handwritten words are broken up into characters by simultaneous segmentation-recognition using HMMs of unique design trained using online features most of which are novel. The HMM output characters boundaries represent the proposed segmentation points (PSP) which are then validated by rules-based post stage without any contextual information help to solve different segmentation errors. The HMM has been designed and tested using a self collected dataset (OHASD) [1]. Most errors cases are cured and remarkable segmentation enhancement is achieved. Very promising word and character segmentation rates are obtained regarding the unconstrained Arabic handwriting difficulty and not using context help.

Keywords: Arabic, Hidden Markov Models, online handwriting, word segmentation

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Authors: Mamta Juneja, Parvinder S. Sandhu, Ekta Walia

Abstract:

Steganography is the process of hiding one file inside another such that others can neither identify the meaning of the embedded object, nor even recognize its existence. Current trends favor using digital image files as the cover file to hide another digital file that contains the secret message or information. One of the most common methods of implementation is Least Significant Bit Insertion, in which the least significant bit of every byte is altered to form the bit-string representing the embedded file. Altering the LSB will only cause minor changes in color, and thus is usually not noticeable to the human eye. While this technique works well for 24-bit color image files, steganography has not been as successful when using an 8-bit color image file, due to limitations in color variations and the use of a colormap. This paper presents the results of research investigating the combination of image compression and steganography. The technique developed starts with a 24-bit color bitmap file, then compresses the file by organizing and optimizing an 8-bit colormap. After the process of compression, a text message is hidden in the final, compressed image. Results indicate that the final technique has potential of being useful in the steganographic world.

Keywords: Compression, Colormap, Encryption, Steganographyand LSB Insertion.

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Authors: Ali Beydoun, Hamzé H. Alaeddine

Abstract:

MIMO-OFDM communication system presents a key solution for the next generation of mobile communication due to its high spectral efficiency, high data rate and robustness against multi-path fading channels. However, MIMO-OFDM system requires a perfect knowledge of the channel state information and a good synchronization between the transmitter and the receiver to achieve the expected performances. Recently, we have proposed two algorithms for channel estimation and timing synchronization with good performances and very low implementation complexity compared to those proposed in the literature. In order to validate and evaluate the efficiency of these algorithms in real environments, this paper presents in detail the implementation of 2 × 2 MIMO-OFDM system based on LabVIEW and USRP 2920. Implementation results show a good agreement with the simulation results under different configuration parameters.

Keywords: MIMO-OFDM system, timing synchronization, channel estimation, STBC, USRP 2920.

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Authors: K. Paisal

Abstract:

The purposes of this research were (1) to create a learning activity for constructivism, (2) study the Mathematical Analysis courses learning achievement, and (3) study students’ attitude toward the learning activity for constructivism. The samples in this study were divided into 2 parts including 3 Mathematical Analysis courses instructors of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University who provided basic information and attended the seminar and 17 Mathematical Analysis courses students who were studying in the academic and engaging in the learning activity for constructivism. The research instruments were lesson plans constructivism, subjective Mathematical Analysis courses achievement test with reliability index of 0.8119, and an attitude test concerning the students’ attitude toward the Mathematical Analysis courses learning activity for constructivism. The result of the research show that the efficiency of the Mathematical Analysis courses learning activity for constructivism is 73.05/72.16, which is more than expected criteria of 70/70. The research additionally find that the average score of learning achievement of students who engaged in the learning activities for constructivism are equal to 70% and the students’ attitude toward the learning activity for constructivism are at the medium level.

Keywords: Constructivism, learning management, Mathematical Analysis courses.

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Authors: Ying Pan, Li Wu, Jing Zhou, Lan Li

Abstract:

The coordination and development of ecological-living-industrial land uses are the premise foundations for the formulation and implementation of the current land space planning, and more attention should be paid to plateau mountainous areas. This research is based on spatial analysis technology and landscape pattern index method taking Yuxi city, a typical mountainous plateau as the research area. By using relevant software such as ArcGIS10.5, Fragstats 4.2 and the four remote sensing images of Yuxi city in 1980, 1995, 2005 and 2015, the temporal-spatial evolution and differentiation pattern of ecological-living-industrial land applications have been discussed. The research results show that: (1) From the perspective of land use type change, ecological land of Yuxi city has been the main source of land from 1980 to 2015, which totally occupies more than 78%. During this period, the spatial structure of the ecological-living-industrial land changed significantly, namely, the living land. Its land area increased significantly from 0.83% of the total area in 1980 to 1.25% in 2015, the change range of ecological land and industrial land is relatively small. (2) In terms of land use landscape pattern transfer matrix, from 1980 to 2015, the industrial land and ecological land in Yuxi city have been gradually transferred to living land. (3) In the aspect of landscape pattern changes, various landscape pattern indexes of Yuxi city indicate that the fragmentation degree of landscape pattern of the ecological-living-industrial land in this region is increasing. The degree of agglomeration goes down, and the landscape types have changed from being relatively simple to relatively rich. The landscape is more diverse, but the patch size is uneven, meanwhile, the integrity of the ecological space is destroyed.

Keywords: Ecological-living-industrial land, spatio-temporal evolution, landscape pattern, plateau mountainous area.

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Authors: Mouataz Zreika, Maria Estela Varua

Abstract:

Stock investment decisions are often made based on current events of the global economy and the analysis of historical data. Conversely, visual representation could assist investors’ gain deeper understanding and better insight on stock market trends more efficiently. The trend analysis is based on long-term data collection. The study adopts a hybrid method that combines the Clustering algorithm and Force-directed algorithm to overcome the scalability problem when visualizing large data. This method exemplifies the potential relationships between each stock, as well as determining the degree of strength and connectivity, which will provide investors another understanding of the stock relationship for reference. Information derived from visualization will also help them make an informed decision. The results of the experiments show that the proposed method is able to produced visualized data aesthetically by providing clearer views for connectivity and edge weights.

Keywords: Clustering, force-directed, graph drawing, stock investment analysis.

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Authors: Haithem Elderrat, Huw Davies, Emmanuel Brousseau

Abstract:

Elastomeric polymer foam has been used widely in the automotive industry, especially for isolating unwanted vibrations. Such material is able to absorb unwanted vibration due to its combination of elastic and viscous properties. However, the ‘creep effect’, poor stress distribution and susceptibility to high temperatures are the main disadvantages of such a system. In this study, improvements in the performance of elastomeric foam as a vibration isolator were investigated using the concept of Foam Filled Fluid (FFFluid). In FFFluid devices, the foam takes the form of capsule shapes, and is mixed with viscous fluid, while the mixture is contained in a closed vessel. When the FFFluid isolator is affected by vibrations, energy is absorbed, due to the elastic strain of the foam. As the foam is compressed, there is also movement of the fluid, which contributes to further energy absorption as the fluid shears. Also, and dependent on the design adopted, the packaging could also attenuate vibration through energy absorption via friction and/or elastic strain. The present study focuses on the advantages of the FFFluid concept over the dry polymeric foam in the role of vibration isolation. This comparative study between the performance of dry foam and the FFFluid was made according to experimental procedures. The paper concludes by evaluating the performance of the FFFluid isolator in the suspension system of a light vehicle. One outcome of this research is that the FFFluid may preferable over elastomer isolators in certain applications, as it enables a reduction in the effects of high temperatures and of ‘creep effects’, thereby increasing the reliability and load distribution. The stiffness coefficient of the system has increased about 60% by using an FFFluid sample. The technology represented by the FFFluid is therefore considered by this research suitable for application in the suspension system of a light vehicle.

Keywords: Anti-vibration devices, dry foam, FFFluid.

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Authors: Paisarn Larpsomboonchai

Abstract:

Agro-industry is one of major industries that have strong impacts on national economic incomes, growth, stability, and sustainable development. Moreover, this industry also has strong influences on social, cultural and political issues. Furthermore, this industry, as producing primary and secondary products, is facing challenges from such diverse factors such as demand inconsistency, intense international competition, technological advancements and new competitors. In order to maintain and to improve industry’s competitiveness in both domestics and international markets, science and technology are key factors. Besides hard sciences and technologies, modern industrial engineering concepts such as Just in Time (JIT) Total Quality Management (TQM), Quick Response (QR), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Lean can be very effective to support to increase efficiency and effectiveness of these agricultural products on world stage. Onion is one of Thailand’s major export products which bring back national incomes. But, it is also facing challenges in many ways. This paper focused its interests in onion packing process and its related activities such as storage and shipment from one of major packing plant and storage in Mae Wang District, Chiang Mai, Thailand, by applying Toyota Production System (TPS) or Lean concepts, to improve process capability throughout the entire packing and distribution process which will be profitable for the whole onion supply chain. And it will be beneficial to other related agricultural products in Thailand and other ASEAN countries.

Keywords: Lean Concepts, Lean in Agro-industries Activities, Packing Process, Toyota Production System (TPS), Waste Reduction.

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Authors: Pei-Chun Lee, Sheng-Shih Wang, Pei-Hsuan Ku

Abstract:

Many existing amusement parks have been operated with assistance of a variety of information and communications technologies to design friendly and efficient service systems for tourists. However, these systems leave various levels of decisions to tourists to make by themselves. This incurs pressure on tourists and thereby bringing negative experience in their tour. This paper proposes a smart amusement park system to offer each tourist the GPS-based customized plan without tourists making decisions by themselves. The proposed system consists of the mobile app subsystem, the central subsystem, and the detecting/counting subsystem. The mobile app subsystem interacts with the central subsystem. The central subsystem performs the necessary computing and database management of the proposed system. The detecting/counting subsystem aims to detect and compute the number of visitors to an attraction. Experimental results show that the proposed system can not only work well, but also provide an innovative business operating model for owners of amusement parks.

Keywords: Amusement park, location-based service (LBS), mobile app, tourist service.

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Authors: Nour Charara, Iman Jarkass, Maria Sokhn, Elena Mugellini, Omar Abou Khaled

Abstract:

Intelligent Video-Surveillance (IVS) systems are being more and more popular in security applications. The analysis and recognition of abnormal behaviours in a video sequence has gradually drawn the attention in the field of IVS, since it allows filtering out a large number of useless information, which guarantees the high efficiency in the security protection, and save a lot of human and material resources. We present in this paper ADABeV, an intelligent video-surveillance framework for event recognition in crowded scene to detect the abnormal human behaviour. This framework is attended to be able to achieve real-time alarming, reducing the lags in traditional monitoring systems. This architecture proposal addresses four main challenges: behaviour understanding in crowded scenes, hard lighting conditions, multiple input kinds of sensors and contextual-based adaptability to recognize the active context of the scene.

Keywords: Behavior recognition, Crowded scene, Data fusion, Pattern recognition, Video-surveillance

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Authors: C. Malça, P. Gonçalves, N. Alves, A. Mateus

Abstract:

Regardless of the manufacturing process used, subtractive or additive, material, purpose and application, produced components are conventionally solid mass with more or less complex shape depending on the production technology selected. Aspects such as reducing the weight of components, associated with the low volume of material required and the almost non-existent material waste, speed and flexibility of production and, primarily, a high mechanical strength combined with high structural performance, are competitive advantages in any industrial sector, from automotive, molds, aviation, aerospace, construction, pharmaceuticals, medicine and more recently in human tissue engineering. Such features, properties and functionalities are attained in metal components produced using the additive technique of Rapid Prototyping from metal powders commonly known as Selective Laser Melting (SLM), with optimized internal topologies and varying densities. In order to produce components with high strength and high structural and functional performance, regardless of the type of application, three different internal topologies were developed and analyzed using numerical computational tools. The developed topologies were numerically submitted to mechanical compression and four point bending testing. Finite Element Analysis results demonstrate how different internal topologies can contribute to improve mechanical properties, even with a high degree of porosity relatively to fully dense components. Results are very promising not only from the point of view of mechanical resistance, but especially through the achievement of considerable variation in density without loss of structural and functional high performance.

Keywords: Additive Manufacturing, Internal topologies, Porosity, Rapid Prototyping, Selective Laser Melting.

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Authors: Cândida M. Pereira, Amílcar L. Ramalho, Jorge A. Ambrósio

Abstract:

In the numerical solution of the forward dynamics of a multibody system, the positions and velocities of the bodies in the system are obtained first. With the information of the system state variables at each time step, the internal and external forces acting on the system are obtained by appropriate contact force models if the continuous contact method is used instead of a discrete contact method. The local deformation of the bodies in contact, represented by penetration, is used to compute the contact force. The ability and suitability with current cylindrical contact force models to describe the contact between bodies with cylindrical geometries with particular focus on internal contacting geometries involving low clearances and high loads simultaneously is discussed in this paper. A comparative assessment of the performance of each model under analysis for different contact conditions, in particular for very different penetration and clearance values, is presented. It is demonstrated that some models represent a rough approximation to describe the conformal contact between cylindrical geometries because contact forces are underestimated.

Keywords: Clearance joints, Contact mechanics, Contact dynamics, Internal cylindrical contact, Multibody dynamics.

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Authors: Chinwendu R. Nnabalu, Gioia Falcone, Imma Bortone

Abstract:

Petroleum refining is a chemical process in which the raw material (crude oil) is converted to finished commercial products for end users. The fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit is a key asset in refineries, requiring optimised processes in the context of engineering design. Following the first stage of separation of crude oil in a distillation tower, an additional 40 per cent quantity is attainable in the gasoline pool with further conversion of the downgraded product of crude oil (residue from the distillation tower) using a catalyst in the FCC process. Effective removal of sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon and heavy metals from FCC gasoline requires greater separation efficiency and involves an enormous environmental significance. The FCC unit is primarily a reactor and regeneration system which employs cyclone systems for separation.  Catalyst losses in FCC cyclones lead to high particulate matter emission on the regenerator side and fines carryover into the product on the reactor side. This paper aims at demonstrating the importance of FCC unit design criteria in terms of technical performance and compliance with environmental legislation. A systematic review of state-of-the-art FCC technology was carried out, identifying its key technical challenges and sources of emissions.  Case studies of petroleum refineries in Nigeria were assessed against selected global case studies. The review highlights the need for further modelling investigations to help improve FCC design to more effectively meet product specification requirements while complying with stricter environmental legislation.

Keywords: Design, emissions, fluid catalytic cracking, petroleum refineries.

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Authors: Juliana Barcelos Cordeiro, Khashayar Mahani, Farbod Farzan, Mohsen A. Jafari

Abstract:

Energy disaggregation has been focused by many energy companies since energy efficiency can be achieved when the breakdown of energy consumption is known. Companies have been investing in technologies to come up with software and/or hardware solutions that can provide this type of information to the consumer. On the other hand, not all people can afford to have these technologies. Therefore, in this paper, we present a methodology for breaking down the aggregate consumption and identifying the highdemanding end-uses profiles. These energy profiles will be used to build the forecast model for optimal control purpose. A facility with high cooling load is used as an illustrative case study to demonstrate the results of proposed methodology. We apply a high level energy disaggregation through a pattern recognition approach in order to extract the consumption profile of its rooftop packaged units (RTUs) and present a forecast model for the energy consumption.  

Keywords: Energy consumption forecasting, energy efficiency, load disaggregation, pattern recognition approach.

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Authors: C. Ardil

Abstract:

This article presents a new approach to uncertainty, vagueness, and imprecision analysis for ranking alternatives with fuzzy data for decision making using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). In the proposed approach, fuzzy decision information related to the aircraft selection problem is taken into account in ranking the alternatives and selecting the best one. The basic procedural step is to transform the fuzzy decision matrices into matrices of alternatives evaluated according to all decision criteria. A numerical example illustrates the proposed approach for the military combat aircraft selection problem.

Keywords: trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, multiple criteria decision making analysis, decision making, aircraft selection, MCDMA, fuzzy TOPSIS

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Authors: F. Amin Salehi, L. Sharp, M. A. Abdoli, D.E.Cotton, K.Rezapour

Abstract:

The daily increase of organic waste materials resulting from different activities in the country is one of the main factors for the pollution of environment. Today, with regard to the low level of the output of using traditional methods, the high cost of disposal waste materials and environmental pollutions, the use of modern methods such as anaerobic digestion for the production of biogas has been prevailing. The collected biogas from the process of anaerobic digestion, as a renewable energy source similar to natural gas but with a less methane and heating value is usable. Today, with the help of technologies of filtration and proper preparation, access to biogas with features fully similar to natural gas has become possible. At present biogas is one of the main sources of supplying electrical and thermal energy and also an appropriate option to be used in four stroke engine, diesel engine, sterling engine, gas turbine, gas micro turbine and fuel cell to produce electricity. The use of biogas for different reasons which returns to socio-economic and environmental advantages has been noticed in CHP for the production of energy in the world. The production of biogas from the technology of anaerobic digestion and its application in CHP power plants in Iran can not only supply part of the energy demands in the country, but it can materialize moving in line with the sustainable development. In this article, the necessity of the development of CHP plants with biogas fuels in the country will be dealt based on studies performed from the economic, environmental and social aspects. Also to prove the importance of the establishment of these kinds of power plants from the economic point of view, necessary calculations has been done as a case study for a CHP power plant with a biogas fuel.

Keywords: Anaerobic Digestion, Biogas, CHP, Organic Wastes

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Authors: Fares Innal, Yves Dutuit, Mourad Chebila

Abstract:

The object of this work is the probabilistic performance evaluation of safety instrumented systems (SIS), i.e. the average probability of dangerous failure on demand (PFD_avg) and the average frequency of failure (PFH), taking into account the uncertainties related to the different parameters that come into play: failure rate (λ), common cause failure proportion (β), diagnostic coverage (DC)... This leads to an accurate and safe assessment of the safety integrity level (SIL) inherent to the safety function performed by such systems. This aim is in keeping with the requirement of the IEC 61508 standard with respect to handling uncertainty. To do this, we propose an approach that combines (1) Monte Carlo simulation and (2) fuzzy sets. Indeed, the first method is appropriate where representative statistical data are available (using pdf of the relating parameters), while the latter applies in the case characterized by vague and subjective information (using membership function). The proposed approach is fully supported with a suitable computer code.

Keywords: Fuzzy sets, Monte Carlo simulation, Safety instrumented system, Safety integrity level.

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