Search results for: active steering

Authors: Bin Cai, Shilong Wang, Haibo Hu

Abstract:

The job shop scheduling problem (JSSP) is well known as one of the most difficult combinatorial optimization problems. This paper presents a hybrid genetic algorithm for the JSSP with the objective of minimizing makespan. The efficiency of the genetic algorithm is enhanced by integrating it with a local search method. The chromosome representation of the problem is based on operations. Schedules are constructed using a procedure that generates full active schedules. In each generation, a local search heuristic based on Nowicki and Smutnicki-s neighborhood is applied to improve the solutions. The approach is tested on a set of standard instances taken from the literature and compared with other approaches. The computation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Keywords: Genetic algorithm, Job shop scheduling problem, Local search, Meta-heuristic algorithm

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Authors: Wael M. El-Mamlouk, Metwally A. El-Sharkawy, Hossam. E. Mostafa

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In this paper, we analyze and test a scheme for the estimation of electrical fundamental frequency signals from the harmonic load current and voltage signals. The scheme was based on using two different Multi Layer Artificial Neural Networks (ML-ANN) one for the current and the other for the voltage. This study also analyzes and tests the effect of choosing the optimum artificial neural networks- sizes which determine the quality and accuracy of the estimation of electrical fundamental frequency signals. The simulink tool box of the Matlab program for the simulation of the test system and the test of the neural networks has been used.

Keywords: Harmonics, Neural Networks, Modeling, Simulation, Active filters, electric Networks.

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Authors: E. Kaygan, A. Gatto

Abstract:

A numerical study of a design concept for actively controlling wing twist is described in this paper. The concept consists of morphing elements which were designed to provide a rigid and seamless skin while maintaining structural rigidity. The wing structure is first modeled in CATIA V5 then imported into ANSYS for structural analysis. Athena Vortex Lattice method (AVL) is used to estimate aerodynamic response as well as aerodynamic loads of morphing wings, afterwards a structural optimization performed via ANSYS Static. Overall, the results presented in this paper show that the concept provides efficient wing twist while preserving an aerodynamically smooth and compliant surface. Sufficient structural rigidity in bending is also obtained. This concept is suggested as a possible alternative for morphing skin applications. 

Keywords: Aircraft, morphing, skin, twist.

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Authors: Nima Es'haghi Gorji, Hossein Movla, Foozieh Sohrabi, Alireza Mottaghizadeh, Mohammad Houshmand, Hassan Babaei, Arash Nikniazi

Abstract:

For a determined intermediate band position, the effects of electron filling factor and sunlight concentration on the active region thickness and efficiency of the quantum-dot intermediate band solar cell are calculated. For each value of electron filling factor, the maximum point of efficiency obtained and resulted in the optimum thickness of the cell under three different sunlight concentrations. We show the importance of filling factor as a parameter to be more considered. The photon recycling effect eliminated in all calculations.

Keywords: Intermediate band, Sunlight concentration, Efficiency limits, Electron filling factor

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Authors: L. Dagilienė

Abstract:

The article explores the impact of normative institutional factors on the development of sustainability reporting. The vast majority of research in the scientific literature focuses on mandatory institutional factors, i.e. how public institutions and market regulators affect sustainability reporting. Meanwhile, there is lack of empirical data for the impact of normative institutional factors. The effect of normative factors in this paper is based on the role of non-governmental organizations (NGO) and institutional theory. The case of Global Compact Local Network in the developing country was examined. The research results revealed that in the absence of regulated factors, companies were not active with regard to social disclosures; they presented non-systemized social information of a descriptive nature. Only 10% of sustainability reports were prepared using the GRI methodology. None of the reports were assured by third parties.

Keywords: Institutional theory, normative, sustainability reporting.

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Authors: M. R. Martinez-Torres, S. L. Toral, M. Olmedilla

Abstract:

Typically, virtual communities exhibit the well-known phenomenon of participation inequality, which means that only a small percentage of users is responsible of the majority of contributions. However, the sustainability of the community requires that the group of active users must be continuously nurtured with new users that gain expertise through a participation process. This paper analyzes the time evolution of Open Source Software (OSS) communities, considering users that join/abandon the community over time and several topological properties of the network when modeled as a social network. More specifically, the paper analyzes the role of those users rejoining the community and their influence in the global characteristics of the network.

Keywords: Open source communities, social network analysis, time series, virtual communities.

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Authors: Nikol Žižková

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to observe the behavior of polymer-modified cement mortars with regard to the use of a pozzolanic admixture. Polymer-modified mortars (PMMs) containing various types of waste glass (waste packing glass and fluorescent tube glass) were produced always with 20% of cement substituted with a pozzolanic-active material. Ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) was used for polymeric modification. The findings confirm the possibility of using the waste glass examined herein as a partial substitute for cement in the production of PMM, which contributes to the preservation of non-renewable raw material resources and to the efficiency of waste glass material reuse.

Keywords: Recycled waste glass, polymer-modified mortars, pozzolanic admixture.

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Authors: Khin Thanda Soe

Abstract:

A model to identify the lifetime of target tracking wireless sensor network is proposed. The model is a static clusterbased architecture and aims to provide two factors. First, it is to increase the lifetime of target tracking wireless sensor network. Secondly, it is to enable good localization result with low energy consumption for each sensor in the network. The model consists of heterogeneous sensors and each sensing member node in a cluster uses two operation modes–active mode and sleep mode. The performance results illustrate that the proposed architecture consumes less energy and increases lifetime than centralized and dynamic clustering architectures, for target tracking sensor network.

Keywords: Network lifetime, Target Localization, TargetTracking, Wireless Sensor Networks.

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Authors: Mehmet Sagbas, Kemal Fidanboylu, Mehmet C. Bayram

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A new current-mode multifunction filter using minimum number of passive elements is proposed. The proposed filter has single-input and four high-impedance outputs. It uses four passive elements (two capacitors and two resistors) and four dual output second generation current conveyors. Each output provides a different filter response, namely, low-pass, high-pass, band-pass and band-reject. The sensitivity analysis is also carried out on both ideal and non-ideal filter configurations. The validity of the proposed filter is verified through PSPICE simulations.

Keywords: Active filter, Universal filter, Currentconveyors.

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Authors: Piercarlo Dondi, Luca Lombardi, Marco Porta

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In the last years numerous applications of Human- Computer Interaction have exploited the capabilities of Time-of- Flight cameras for achieving more and more comfortable and precise interactions. In particular, gesture recognition is one of the most active fields. This work presents a new method for interacting with a virtual object in a 3D space. Our approach is based on the fusion of depth data, supplied by a ToF camera, with color information, supplied by a HD webcam. The hand detection procedure does not require any learning phase and is able to concurrently manage gestures of two hands. The system is robust to the presence in the scene of other objects or people, thanks to the use of the Kalman filter for maintaining the tracking of the hands.

Keywords: Gesture recognition, human-computer interaction, Time-of-Flight camera.

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Authors: M. Tahar Bouzaher

Abstract:

This study involves numerical simulation of the flow around a NACA2415 airfoil, with a 18° angle of attack, and flow separation control using a rod, It involves putting a cylindrical rod - upstream of the leading edge- in vertical translation movement in order to accelerate the transition of the boundary layer by interaction between the rod wake and the boundary layer. The viscous, nonstationary flow is simulated using ANSYS FLUENT 13. The rod movement is reproduced using the dynamic mesh technique and an in-house developed UDF (User Define Function). The frequency varies from 75 to 450 Hz and the considered amplitudes are 2%, and 3% of the foil chord. The frequency chosen closed to the frequency of separation. Our results showed a substantial modification in the flow behavior and a maximum drag reduction of 61%.

Keywords: CFD, Flow separation, Active control, Boundary layer, rod, NACA 2415.

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Authors: Petri Vaattovaara, Luke Cravigan, Zoran Ristovski, Marc Mallet, Ari Laaksonen, Sarah Lawson, Nick Talbot, Gustavo Olivares, Mike Harvey, Cliff Law

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These SOAP project Pacific Ocean measurements reveal that phytoplankton blooms with sunny conditions make possible secondary organic contribution to ultrafine particles size and composition, and thus on cloud formation ability, and finally on climate. This is in agreement with other biologically active region observations about the presence of secondary organics even the exact fraction is also depending on the local marine life (e.g. plankton blooms, seaweeds, corals). An organic contribution is clearly needed to add to CLAW hypothesis.

Keywords: Climate, marine aerosols, phytoplankton, secondary organics, CLAW hypothesis.

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Authors: Brigita Altenbaher

Abstract:

In recent years there has been a continuous increase of axle loads, tonnage, train speed and train length which has increased both the productivity in the rail sector and the risk of rail breaks and derailments. On the other hand, the environmental requirements (e.g. noise reduction) for railway operations will become tighter in the future. In our research we developed a new composite material which does not change braking properties, is capable of taking extremely high pressure loads, reduces noise and is environmentally friendly. Part of our research was also the development of technology which will be able to apply this material to the rail. The result of our research was the system which reduces the wear out significantly and almost completely eliminates the squealing noise at the same time, and by using only one special material.

Keywords: Active protection, composite material, lubrication, noise reduction, reduction at source, railway.

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Authors: Xueting Liu, Daojin Song, Chuandai Dong, Hongkui Li

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From a set of shifted, blurred, and decimated image , super-resolution image reconstruction can get a high-resolution image. So it has become an active research branch in the field of image restoration. In general, super-resolution image restoration is an ill-posed problem. Prior knowledge about the image can be combined to make the problem well-posed, which contributes to some regularization methods. In the regularization methods at present, however, regularization parameter was selected by experience in some cases and other techniques have too heavy computation cost for computing the parameter. In this paper, we construct a new super-resolution algorithm by transforming the solving of the System stem Є=An into the solving of the equations X+A*X-1A=I , and propose an inverse iterative method.

Keywords: High-resolution MAP image, Reconstruction, Image interpolation, Motion Estimation, Hermitian positive definite solutions.

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Authors: K. Kamalanand, P. Mannar Jawahar

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Methods of contemporary mathematical physics such as chaos theory are useful for analyzing and understanding the behavior of complex biological and physiological systems. The three dimensional model of HIV/AIDS is the basis of active research since it provides a complete characterization of disease dynamics and the interaction of HIV-1 with the immune system. In this work, the behavior of the HIV system is analyzed using the three dimensional HIV model and a chaotic measure known as the Hurst exponent. Results demonstrate that Hurst exponents of CD4, CD8 cells and viral load vary nonlinearly with respect to variations in system parameters. Further, it was observed that the three dimensional HIV model can accommodate both persistent (H>0.5) and anti-persistent (H<0.5) dynamics of HIV states. In this paper, the objectives of the study, methodology and significant observations are presented in detail.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, mathematical model, chaos theory, Hurst exponent

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Authors: Juliana A. Knocikova, Yann Bouret, Médéric Argentina, Laurent Counillon

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Cell volume, together with membrane potential and intracellular hydrogen ion concentration, is an essential biophysical parameter for normal cellular activity. Cell volumes can be altered by osmotically active compounds and extracellular tonicity. In this study, a simple mathematical model of osmotically induced cell swelling and shrinking is presented. Emphasis is given to water diffusion across the membrane. The mathematical description of the cellular behavior consists in a system of coupled ordinary differential equations. We compare experimental data of cell volume alterations driven by differences in osmotic pressure with mathematical simulations under hypotonic and hypertonic conditions. Implications for a future model are also discussed.

Keywords: Eukaryotic cell, mathematical modeling, osmosis, volume alterations.

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Authors: Naci Kalkan, Ihsan Dagtekin

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This research presents the design and analysis of solar air-conditioning systems particularly solar chimney which is a passive strategy for natural ventilation, and demonstrates the structures of these systems’ using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) and finally compares the results with several examples, which have been studied experimentally and carried out previously. In order to improve the performance of solar chimney system, highly efficient sub-system components are considered for the design. The general purpose of the research is to understand how efficiently solar chimney systems generate cooling, and is to improve the efficient of such systems for integration with existing and future domestic buildings.

Keywords: Solar cooling system, solar chimney, active and passive solar technologies, natural ventilation, cavity depth, CFD models for solar chimney.

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Authors: Yang-Keun Ahn, Min-Wook Kim, Young-Choong Park, Kwang-Soon Choi, Woo-Chool Park, Hae-Moon Seo, Kwang-Mo Jung

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Active research is underway on virtual touch screens that complement the physical limitations of conventional touch screens. This paper discusses a virtual touch screen that uses a multi-layer perceptron to recognize and control three-dimensional (3D) depth information from a time of flight (TOF) camera. This system extracts an object-s area from the image input and compares it with the trajectory of the object, which is learned in advance, to recognize gestures. The system enables the maneuvering of content in virtual space by utilizing human actions.

Keywords: Gesture Recognition, Depth Sensor, Virtual Touch Screen

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Authors: Afonso, S. C., Fernandes, P. O., Monte, A. P.

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Modern times call organizations to have an active role in the social arena, through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The objective of this research was to test the hypothesis that there is a positive relation between social performance and economic performance, and if there is a positive correlation between social performance and financial-economic performance. To test these theories a measure of social performance, based on the Green Book of Commission of the European Community, was used in a group of nineteen Portuguese top companies, listed on the PSI 20 index, through a period of five years, since 2005 to 2009. A clusters analysis was applied to group companies by their social performance and to compare and correlate their economic performance. Results indicate that companies that had a better social performance are not the ones who had a better economic performance, and suggest that the middle path might provide a good relation CSR-Economic performance, as a basis to a sustainable development.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Performance, Win-Win relationship

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Authors: Praveen Boinee, Alessandro De Angelis, Gian Luca Foresti

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Leo Breimans Random Forests (RF) is a recent development in tree based classifiers and quickly proven to be one of the most important algorithms in the machine learning literature. It has shown robust and improved results of classifications on standard data sets. Ensemble learning algorithms such as AdaBoost and Bagging have been in active research and shown improvements in classification results for several benchmarking data sets with mainly decision trees as their base classifiers. In this paper we experiment to apply these Meta learning techniques to the random forests. We experiment the working of the ensembles of random forests on the standard data sets available in UCI data sets. We compare the original random forest algorithm with their ensemble counterparts and discuss the results.

Keywords: Random Forests [RF], ensembles, UCI.

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Authors: Y. Boutiche, N. Ramou, M. Ben Gharsallah

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This paper is devoted to present and discuss a model that allows a local segmentation by using statistical information of a given image. It is based on Chan-Vese model, curve evolution, partial differential equations and binary level sets method. The proposed model uses the piecewise constant approximation of Chan-Vese model to compute Signed Pressure Force (SPF) function, this one attracts the curve to the true object(s)-s boundaries. The implemented model is used to extract weld defects from weld radiographic images in the aim to calculate the perimeter and surfaces of those weld defects; encouraged resultants are obtained on synthetic and real radiographic images.

Keywords: Active contour, Chan-Vese Model, local segmentation, weld radiographic images.

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Authors: Birs Isabela, Muresan Cristina, Folea Silviu, Prodan Ovidiu

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The wing is one of the most important parts of an airplane because it ensures stability, sustenance and maneuverability of the airplane. Because of its shape, the airplane wing can be simplified to a smart beam. Active vibration suppression is realized using piezoelectric actuators that are mounted on the surface of the beam. This work presents a tuning procedure of fractional order controllers based on a graphical approach of the frequency domain representation. The efficacy of the method is proven by practically testing the controller on a laboratory scale experimental stand.

Keywords: Fractional order controller, piezoelectric actuators, smart beam, vibration suppression.

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Authors: Md. Emaj Uddin

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Family structure that is culturally constructed in every society is the basic unit of social structure. Purpose of the study was to compare family structure, including marriage, residence, family size, type, role sharing, authority, and communication patterns between Muslim and Santal communities in rural Bangladesh. For this we assumed that family structure with the elements was significantly different between the two communities in rural Bangladesh. In so doing, 288 active couples (145 for Muslim and 143 for Santal) selected by cluster random sampling were intensively interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire method. The results of Pearson Chi-Squire Test reveal that there were significant differences in the family structure followed by the two communities in the study area. Further cross-cultural study should be done on why family structure varies between the communities in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Bangladesh, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Family Structure, Muslim, Santal.

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Authors: Onuma Ruangwong, Wen-Jinn Liang, S.Y. Zhang, Chi-I Chang

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The effect of antifungal compound from Bacillus subtilis strain LB5 was tested against conidial germination of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Pestalotiopsis eugeniae, causal agent of anthracnose and fruit rot of wax apple, respectively. Observation under scanning electron microscope and light compound microscope revealed that conidial germination was completely inhibited when treated with culture broth, culture filtrate, or crude extract from strain LB5. Identification of purified antifungal compound produced by strain LB5 in cell-free supernatant by nuclear magnetic resonance and fast atom bombardment showed that the active compound was iturin A-2.

Keywords: Iturin A-2, Bacillus subtilis LB5, Colleteotrichum gloeospporioides, Pestalotiopsis eugeniae, wax apple

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Authors: Marco Ryll, Svetan Ratchev

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This paper discusses the applicability of the Data Distribution Service (DDS) for the development of automated and modular manufacturing systems which require a flexible and robust communication infrastructure. DDS is an emergent standard for datacentric publish/subscribe middleware systems that provides an infrastructure for platform-independent many-to-many communication. It particularly addresses the needs of real-time systems that require deterministic data transfer, have low memory footprints and high robustness requirements. After an overview of the standard, several aspects of DDS are related to current challenges for the development of modern manufacturing systems with distributed architectures. Finally, an example application is presented based on a modular active fixturing system to illustrate the described aspects.

Keywords: Flexible Manufacturing, Publish/Subscribe, Plug & Produce.

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Authors: Ewa M. Boryczka

Abstract:

Contemporary city is a subject to rapid economic and social changes. Therefore, it requires an active policy designed to meet the diverse needs of their residents, build competitive position and capacity to compete with other cities. Competitiveness of cities depends largely on their resources but also to a large extent, on the policies and performance of local authorities. Cooperation with social sector also plays an important role, as it affects the use of resources and builds an advantage over other cities. The subject of this article is city's contemporary problems of development with particular emphasis on central areas. This issue is a starting point for reflection on the process of urban regeneration in medium size cities in Poland, as well as cooperation between various actors and their roles in the revitalization processes of Polish cities' centers.

Keywords: City, cooperation between sectors, crisis of city centers, revitalization.

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Authors: Young-Hwan Song, Hyung-Jun Kwon, Myung-Jin Bae

Abstract:

As the remedy used music becomes active and meditation effect through the music is verified, people take a growing interest about psychological balance or remedy given by music. From traditional studies, it is verified that the music of which spectral envelop varies approximately as 1/f (f is frequency) down to a frequency of low frequency bandwidth gives psychological balance. In this paper, we researched signal properties of music which gives psychological balance. In order to find this, we derived the property from voice. Music composed by voice shows large value in NCSD. We confirmed the degree of deference between music by curvature of normalized cumulative spectral distribution. In the music that gives psychological balance, the curvature shows high value, otherwise, the curvature shows low value.

Keywords: Cognitive Psychology, Normalized Cumulative Spectral Distribution, Curvature.

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Authors: A. Brinda Lakshmi, J. Lakshmi Priya

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Cantaloupes (muskmelon and watermelon) contain biologically active molecules such as carotenoids which are natural pigments used as food colorants and afford health benefits. ß-carotene is the major source of carotenoids present in muskmelon and watermelon shell. Carotenoids were extracted using Microwave assisted extraction (MAE) and Ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) utilising organic lipophilic solvents such as acetone, methanol, and hexane. Extraction conditions feed-solvent ratio, microwave power, ultrasound frequency, temperature and particle size were varied and optimized. It was found that the yield of carotenoids was higher using UAE than MAE, and muskmelon had the highest yield of carotenoids when was ethanol used as a solvent for 0.5 mm particle size.

Keywords: Carotenoids, extraction, muskmelon shell, watermelon shell.

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Authors: Vishnu Pratap Singh Kirar

Abstract:

Memristor is also known as the fourth fundamental passive circuit element. When current flows in one direction through the device, the electrical resistance increases and when current flows in the opposite direction, the resistance decreases. When the current is stopped, the component retains the last resistance that it had, and when the flow of charge starts again, the resistance of the circuit will be what it was when it was last active. It behaves as a nonlinear resistor with memory. Recently memristors have generated wide research interest and have found many applications. In this paper we survey the various applications of memristors which include non volatile memory, nanoelectronic memories, computer logic, neuromorphic computer architectures low power remote sensing applications, crossbar latches as transistor replacements, analog computations and switches.

Keywords: Memristor, non-volatile memory, arithmatic operation, programmable resistor.

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Authors: Kari Björn

Abstract:

Introduction of games has expanded the application area of computer-aided learning tools to wide variety of age groups of learners. Serious games engage the learners into a real-world -type of simulation and potentially enrich the learning experience. Institutional background of a Bachelor’s level engineering program in Information and Communication Technology is introduced, with detailed focus on one of its majors, Health Technology. As part of a Customer Oriented Software Application thematic semester, one particular course of “eHealth Business and Solutions” is described and reflected in a gamified framework. Learning a consistent view into vast literature of business management, strategies, marketing and finance in a very limited time enforces selection of topics relevant to the industry. Health Technology is a novel and growing industry with a growing sector in consumer wearable devices and homecare applications. The business sector is attracting new entrepreneurs and impatient investor funds. From engineering education point of view the sector is driven by miniaturizing electronics, sensors and wireless applications. However, the market is highly consumer-driven and usability, safety and data integrity requirements are extremely high. When the same technology is used in analysis or treatment of patients, very strict regulatory measures are enforced. The paper introduces a course structure using gamification as a tool to learn the most essential in a new market: customer value proposition design, followed by a market entry game. Students analyze the existing market size and pricing structure of eHealth web-service market and enter the market as a steering group of their company, competing against the legacy players and with each other. The market is growing but has its rules of demand and supply balance. New products can be developed with an R&D-investment, and targeted to market with unique quality- and price-combinations. Product cost structure can be improved by investing to enhanced production capacity. Investments can be funded optionally by foreign capital. Students make management decisions and face the dynamics of the market competition in form of income statement and balance sheet after each decision cycle. The focus of the learning outcome is to understand customer value creation to be the source of cash flow. The benefit of gamification is to enrich the learning experience on structure and meaning of financial statements. The paper describes the gamification approach and discusses outcomes after two course implementations. Along the case description of learning challenges, some unexpected misconceptions are noted. Improvements of the game or the semi-gamified teaching pedagogy are discussed. The case description serves as an additional support to new game coordinator, as well as helps to improve the method. Overall, the gamified approach has helped to engage engineering student to business studies in an energizing way.

Keywords: Engineering education, integrated curriculum, learning experience, learning outcomes.

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