Search results for: multi-loop control systems
2298 Determination of Temperature and Velocity Fields in a Corridor at a Central Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility Using Numerical Simulation
Authors: V. Salajka, J. Kala, P. Hradil
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The presented article deals with the description of a numerical model of a corridor at a Central Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility (hereinafter CISFSF). The model takes into account the effect of air flows on the temperature of stored waste. The computational model was implemented in the ANSYS/CFX programming environment in the form of a CFD task solution, which was compared with an approximate analytical calculation. The article includes a categorization of the individual alternatives for the ventilation of such underground systems. The aim was to evaluate a ventilation system for a CISFSF with regard to its stability and capacity to provide sufficient ventilation for the removal of heat produced by stored casks with spent nuclear fuel.Keywords: Temperature fields, Spent Fuel, Interim storage facility, CFD.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14012297 Virtual Mechanical Engineering Education – A Case Study
Authors: S. H. R. Lo
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Virtual engineering technology has undergone rapid progress in recent years and is being adopted increasingly by manufacturing companies of many engineering disciplines. There is an increasing demand from industry for qualified virtual engineers. The qualified virtual engineers should have the ability of applying engineering principles and mechanical design methods within the commercial software package environment. It is a challenge to the engineering education in universities which traditionally tends to lack the integration of knowledge and skills required for solving real world problems. In this paper, a case study shows some recent development of a MSc Mechanical Engineering course at Department of Engineering and Technology in MMU, and in particular, two units Simulation of Mechanical Systems(SMS) and Computer Aided Fatigue Analysis(CAFA) that emphasize virtual engineering education and promote integration of knowledge acquisition, skill training and industrial application.
Keywords: Computational modelling and simulation, mechanical engineering education.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24432296 Computer-aided Sequence Planning of Shearing Operations in Progressive Dies
Authors: Alan C. Lin, Dean K. Sheu
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This paper aims to study the methodology of building the knowledge of planning adequate punches in order to complete the task of strip layout for shearing processes, using progressive dies. The proposed methodology uses die design rules and characteristics of different types of punches to classify them into five groups: prior use (the punches must be used first), posterior use (must be used last), compatible use (may be used together), sequential use (certain punches must precede some others) and simultaneous use (must be used together). With these five groups of punches, the searching space of feasible designs will be greatly reduced, and superimposition becomes a more effective method of punch layout. The superimposition scheme will generate many feasible solutions, an evaluation function based on number of stages, moment balancing and strip stability is developed for helping designers to find better solutions.
Keywords: Manufacturing systems, advances in metal forming, computer-aided design, progressive die.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21862295 A New Framework to Model a Secure E-Commerce System
Authors: A. Youseef, F. Liu
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The existing information system (IS) developments methods are not met the requirements to resolve the security related IS problems and they fail to provide a successful integration of security and systems engineering during all development process stages. Hence, the security should be considered during the whole software development process and identified with the requirements specification. This paper aims to propose an integrated security and IS engineering approach in all software development process stages by using i* language. This proposed framework categorizes into three separate parts: modelling business environment part, modelling information technology system part and modelling IS security part. The results show that considering security IS goals in the whole system development process can have a positive influence on system implementation and better meet business expectations.Keywords: Business Process Modelling (BPM), Information System Security, Software Development Process, Requirement Engineering.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20392294 Design of Personal Job Recommendation Framework on Smartphone Platform
Authors: Chayaporn Kaensar
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Recently, Job Recommender Systems have gained much attention in industries since they solve the problem of information overload on the recruiting website. Therefore, we proposed Extended Personalized Job System that has the capability of providing the appropriate jobs for job seeker and recommending some suitable information for them using Data Mining Techniques and Dynamic User Profile. On the other hands, company can also interact to the system for publishing and updating job information. This system have emerged and supported various platforms such as web application and android mobile application. In this paper, User profiles, Implicit User Action, User Feedback, and Clustering Techniques in WEKA libraries were applied and implemented. In additions, open source tools like Yii Web Application Framework, Bootstrap Front End Framework and Android Mobile Technology were also applied.Keywords: Recommendation, user profile, data mining, web technology, mobile technology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21512293 Exchanges of Knowledge about Product Configurations using XML Topic Map
Authors: Namchul Do, Jihun Cho
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Modeling product configurations needs large amounts of knowledge about technical and marketing restrictions on the product. Previous attempts to automate product configurations concentrate on representations and management of the knowledge for specific domains in fixed and isolated computing environments. Since the knowledge about product configurations is subject to continuous change and hard to express, these attempts often failed to efficiently manage and exchange the knowledge in collaborative product development. In this paper, XML Topic Map (XTM) is introduced to represent and exchange the knowledge about product configurations in collaborative product development. A product configuration model based on XTM along with its merger and inference facilities enables configuration engineers in collaborative product development to manage and exchange their knowledge efficiently. A prototype implementation is also presented to demonstrate the proposed model can be applied to engineering information systems to exchange the product configuration knowledge.
Keywords: Knowledge exchange, product configurations, XML topic map.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13522292 Weed Classification using Histogram Maxima with Threshold for Selective Herbicide Applications
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.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21642291 Comparative Analysis of SVPWM and the Standard PWM Technique for Three Level Diode Clamped Inverter fed Induction Motor
Authors: L. Lakhdari, B. Bouchiba, M. Bechar
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The multi-level inverters present an important novelty in the field of energy control with high voltage and power. The major advantage of all multi-level inverters is the improvement and spectral quality of its generated output signals. In recent years, various pulse width modulation techniques have been developed. From these technics we have: Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) and Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM). This work presents a detailed analysis of the comparative advantage of space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) and the standard SPWM technique for Three Level Diode Clamped Inverter fed Induction Motor. The comparison is based on the evaluation of harmonic distortion THD.
Keywords: Induction motor, multi-level inverters, NPC inverter, sinusoidal pulse width modulation, space vector pulse width modulation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9802290 Air Pollution Control from Rice Shellers - A Case Study
Authors: S. M. Ahuja
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A Rice Sheller is used for obtaining polished white rice from paddy. There are about 3000 Rice Shellers in Punjab and 50000 in India. During the process of shelling lot of dust is emitted from different unit operations like paddy silo, paddy shaker, bucket elevators, huskers, paddy separator etc. These dust emissions have adverse effect on the health of the workers and the wear and tear of the shelling machinery is fast. All the dust emissions spewing out of these unit operations of a rice Sheller were contained by providing suitable hoods and enclosures while ensuring their workability. These were sucked by providing an induced draft fan followed by a high efficiency cyclone separator that has got an overall dust collection efficiency of more than 90%. This cyclone separator replaced two cyclone separators and a filter bag house, which the Rice Sheller was already having. The dust concentration in the stack after the installation of cyclone separator is well within the stipulated standards. Besides controlling pollution, there is improvement in the quality of products like bran and the life of shelling machinery has enhanced. The payback period of this technology is less than four shelling months.Keywords: Air Pollution, Cyclone Separator, Pneumatic Conveying, Rice Sheller.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 33742289 Role of Leaders in Managing Employees’ Dysfunctional Behavior at Workplace
Authors: Aya Maher, Pakinam Youssef
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The objective of this theoretical study is to explore in depth the role of leaders in managing employees’ dysfunctional behavior at workplace in an effort to recommend strategies and solutions for these destructive behaviors that affect employees’ performance. The significance of the study lies in the fact that dysfunctional behavior has been widely spread in almost all organizations, public and private, with its very destructive manifestations. Dysfunctional behavior may be classified into thefts, sabotage, sexual harassment, jealousy, envy, revenge, vulgarity all of which affect employees’ moral, self-esteem and satisfaction level drastically which will be reflected negatively on their performance and productivity. The main research question will focus on the role of leaders in managing employees’ dysfunctional behavior effectively at the workplace through the different strategies and control measures. In this study, the data will be collected from different academic literature and through some primary data by conducting interviews with some public and private employees from different managerial levels and fields.
Keywords: Dysfunctional behavior, employees’ deviant behavior, employees moral, leaders’ role.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 37942288 Data Mining Determination of Sunlight Average Input for Solar Power Plant
Authors: Fl. Loury, P. Sablonière, C. Lamoureux, G. Magnier, Th. Gutierrez
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A method is proposed to extract faithful representative patterns from data set of observations when they are suffering from non-negligible fluctuations. Supposing time interval between measurements to be extremely small compared to observation time, it consists in defining first a subset of intermediate time intervals characterizing coherent behavior. Data projection on these intervals gives a set of curves out of which an ideally “perfect” one is constructed by taking the sup limit of them. Then comparison with average real curve in corresponding interval gives an efficiency parameter expressing the degradation consecutive to fluctuation effect. The method is applied to sunlight data collected in a specific place, where ideal sunlight is the one resulting from direct exposure at location latitude over the year, and efficiency is resulting from action of meteorological parameters, mainly cloudiness, at different periods of the year. The extracted information already gives interesting element of decision, before being used for analysis of plant control.
Keywords: Base Input Reconstruction, Data Mining, Efficiency Factor, Information Pattern Operator.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15282287 Discrimination of Alcoholic Subjects using Second Order Autoregressive Modelling of Brain Signals Evoked during Visual Stimulus Perception
Authors: Ramaswamy Palaniappan
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In this paper, a second order autoregressive (AR) model is proposed to discriminate alcoholics using single trial gamma band Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) signals using 3 different classifiers: Simplified Fuzzy ARTMAP (SFA) neural network (NN), Multilayer-perceptron-backpropagation (MLP-BP) NN and Linear Discriminant (LD). Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were recorded from alcoholic and control subjects during the presentation of visuals from Snodgrass and Vanderwart picture set. Single trial VEP signals were extracted from EEG signals using Elliptic filtering in the gamma band spectral range. A second order AR model was used as gamma band VEP exhibits pseudo-periodic behaviour and second order AR is optimal to represent this behaviour. This circumvents the requirement of having to use some criteria to choose the correct order. The averaged discrimination errors of 2.6%, 2.8% and 11.9% were given by LD, MLP-BP and SFA classifiers. The high LD discrimination results show the validity of the proposed method to discriminate between alcoholic subjects.Keywords: Linear Discriminant, Neural Network, VisualEvoked Potential.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16122286 Using Metacognitive Strategies in Reading Comprehension by EFL Students
Authors: Simin Sadeghi-Saeb
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Metacognitive strategies consistently play important roles in reading comprehension. The metacognitive strategies involve the active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of the cognitive processes in relation to the cognitive objects or data on which they bear. In this paper, the effect of instruction in using metacognitive strategies on reading academic materials, type of metacognitive strategies were mostly used by college university students before and after the instruction and the level they use those strategies before and after the instruction were studied. For these aims, 50 female college students were chosen. Then, they were divided randomly into two groups, experimental and control groups. At first session, students in both groups took the standard TOFEL exam. After the pre-test had been administered, the instruction began. After treatment, a post-test was taken. It is useful to state that after pre-test and post-test the same questionnaire was handed to the students of experimental group. The results of this research show that the instruction of metacognitive strategies has positive effect on the students' scores in reading comprehension tests. Furthermore, it showed that before and after the instruction, the students' usage of metacognitive strategies changed. Also, it demonstrated that the instruction affected the students' level of metacognitive strategies' usage.
Keywords: EFL students, English reading comprehension, instruction, metacognitive strategies.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15842285 Using Divergent Nozzle with Aerodynamic Lens to Focus Nanoparticles
Authors: Hasan Jumaah Mrayeh, Fue-Sang Lien
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ANSYS Fluent will be used to simulate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for an efficient lens and nozzle design which will be explained in this paper. We have designed and characterized an aerodynamic lens and a divergent nozzle for focusing flow that transmits sub 25 nm particles through the aerodynamic lens. The design of the lens and nozzle has been improved using CFD for particle trajectories. We obtained a case for calculating nanoparticles (25 nm) flowing through the aerodynamic lens and divergent nozzle. Nanoparticles are transported by air, which is pumped into the aerodynamic lens through the nozzle at 1 atmospheric pressure. We have also developed a computational methodology that can determine the exact focus characteristics of aerodynamic lens systems. Particle trajectories were traced using the Lagrange approach. The simulation shows the ability of the aerodynamic lens to focus on 25 nm particles after using a divergent nozzle.
Keywords: Aerodynamic lens AL, divergent nozzle DN, ANSYS Fluent, Lagrange approach.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10002284 Secure Resource Selection in Computational Grid Based on Quantitative Execution Trust
Authors: G.Kavitha, V.Sankaranarayanan
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Grid computing provides a virtual framework for controlled sharing of resources across institutional boundaries. Recently, trust has been recognised as an important factor for selection of optimal resources in a grid. We introduce a new method that provides a quantitative trust value, based on the past interactions and present environment characteristics. This quantitative trust value is used to select a suitable resource for a job and eliminates run time failures arising from incompatible user-resource pairs. The proposed work will act as a tool to calculate the trust values of the various components of the grid and there by improves the success rate of the jobs submitted to the resource on the grid. The access to a resource not only depend on the identity and behaviour of the resource but also upon its context of transaction, time of transaction, connectivity bandwidth, availability of the resource and load on the resource. The quality of the recommender is also evaluated based on the accuracy of the feedback provided about a resource. The jobs are submitted for execution to the selected resource after finding the overall trust value of the resource. The overall trust value is computed with respect to the subjective and objective parameters.Keywords: access control, feedback, grid computing, reputation, security, trust, trust parameter.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14882283 An Ontology for Smart Learning Environments in Music Education
Authors: Konstantinos Sofianos, Michail Stefanidakis
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Nowadays, despite the great advances in technology, most educational frameworks lack a strong educational design basis. E-learning has become prevalent, but it faces various challenges such as student isolation and lack of quality in the learning process. An intelligent learning system provides a student with educational material according to their learning background and learning preferences. It records full information about the student, such as demographic information, learning styles, and academic performance. This information allows the system to be fully adapted to the student’s needs. In this paper, we propose a framework and an ontology for music education, consisting of the learner model and all elements of the learning process (learning objects, teaching methods, learning activities, assessment). This framework can be integrated into an intelligent learning system and used for music education in schools for the development of professional skills and beyond.
Keywords: Intelligent learning systems, e-learning, music education, ontology, semantic web.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4662282 Alternative Approach toward Waste Treatment: Biodrying for Solid Waste in Malaysia
Authors: Nurul' Ain Ab Jalil, Hassan Basri
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This paper reviews the objectives, methods and results of previous studies on biodrying of solid waste in several countries. Biodrying of solid waste is a novel technology in developing countries such as in Malaysia where high moisture content in organic waste makes the segregation process for recycling purposes complicated and diminishes the calorific value for the use of fuel source. In addition, the high moisture content also encourages the breeding of vectors and disease-bearing animals. From the laboratory results, the average moisture content of organic waste, paper, plastics and metals are 58.17%, 37.93%, 29.79% and 1.03% respectively for UKM campus. Biodrying of solid waste is a simple method of waste treatment as well as a cost-efficient technology to dry the solid waste. The process depends on temperature monitoring and air flow control along with the natural biodegradable process of organic waste. This review shows that the biodrying of solid waste method has high potential in treatment and recycling of solid waste, be useful for biodrying study and implementation in Malaysia.
Keywords: Biodrying of solid waste, Organic waste, Fuel source.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19782281 Intervention of Sambucus Nigra Polyphenolic Extract in Experimental Arterial Hypertension
Authors: Manuela Ciocoiu, Laur Badescu, Oana Badulescu, Magda Badescu
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The research focuses on the effects of polyphenols extracted from Sambucus nigra fruit, using an experimental arterial hypertension pattern, as well as their influence on the oxidative stress. The results reveal the normalization of the reduced glutathion concentration, as well as a considerable reduction in the malondialdehide serum concentration by the polyphenolic protection. The rat blood pressure values were recorded using a CODATM system, which uses a non-invasive blood pressure measuring method. All the measured blood pressure components revealed a biostatistically significant (p<0.05) blood pressure drop between the AHT and the AHT+P groups. The results prove that oxidative stress is considerably lower, statistically speaking, in rats with hypertension but also provided with natural polyphenolic protection from Sambucus nigra fruits than in the rats belonging to the control group. In addition to the demonstrated antioxidant effects, natural polyphenols also have other biological properties that might contribute to the cardioprotective effects.Keywords: Arterial hypertension, Oxidative stress, Sambucus nigra
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 33432280 Content-based Retrieval of Medical Images
Authors: Lilac A. E. Al-Safadi
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With the advance of multimedia and diagnostic images technologies, the number of radiographic images is increasing constantly. The medical field demands sophisticated systems for search and retrieval of the produced multimedia document. This paper presents an ongoing research that focuses on the semantic content of radiographic image documents to facilitate semantic-based radiographic image indexing and a retrieval system. The proposed model would divide a radiographic image document, based on its semantic content, and would be converted into a logical structure or a semantic structure. The logical structure represents the overall organization of information. The semantic structure, which is bound to logical structure, is composed of semantic objects with interrelationships in the various spaces in the radiographic image.Keywords: Semantic Indexing, Content-Based Retrieval, Radiographic Images, Data Model
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14932279 Efficient Feature-Based Registration for CT-M R Images Based on NSCT and PSO
Authors: Nemir Al-Azzawi, Harsa A. Mat Sakim, Wan Ahmed K. Wan Abdullah, Yasmin Mohd Yacob
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Feature-based registration is an effective technique for clinical use, because it can greatly reduce computational costs. However, this technique, which estimates the transformation by using feature points extracted from two images, may cause misalignments. To handle with this limitation, we propose to extract the salient edges and extracted control points (CP) of medical images by using efficiency of multiresolution representation of data nonsubsampled contourlet transform (NSCT) that finds the best feature points. The MR images were first decomposed using the NSCT, and then Edge and CP were extracted from bandpass directional subband of NSCT coefficients and some proposed rules. After edge and CP extraction, mutual information was adopted for the registration of feature points and translation parameters are calculated by using particle swarm optimization (PSO). The experimental results showed that the proposed method produces totally accurate performance for registration medical CT-MR images.
Keywords: Feature-based registration, mutual information, nonsubsampled contourlet transform, particle swarm optimization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19702278 Complexity in Managing Higher Education Institutions in Mexico: A System Dynamics Approach
Authors: José Carlos Rodríguez, Mario Gómez, Medardo Serna
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This paper analyses managing higher education institutions in emerging economies. The paper investigates the case of postgraduate studies development at public universities. In so doing, it adopts the complex theory approach to evaluate how postgraduate studies have evolved in these countries. The investigation suggests that the postgraduate studies sector at public universities can be seen as a complex adaptive system (CAS). Therefore, the paper adopts system dynamics (SD) methods to develop this analysis. The case of postgraduate studies at Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo in Mexico is investigated in this paper.
Keywords: Higher education institutions, complex adaptive systems, system dynamics, Mexico.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17552277 Outage Capacity Analysis for Next Generation Wireless Communication Using Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access
Authors: Md. Sohidul Islam, Ahmad Fartheen Khan
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In recent times, Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) has received significant attention as an upcoming candidate in the world of 5G systems. The main reason for getting NOMA in 5G is because of its capacity to provide services to many users who have the same time and frequency resources. It is best used as "multiple-input, multiple-output" (MIMO) technology. In this paper, we are going to investigate outage probability as a function of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and target rate user. These methods will be implemented using cooperative communication and fair power allocation, respectively.
Keywords: Non-orthogonal Multiple Access, Fair Power Allocation, Outage Probability, Target Rate User, Cooperative Communication, massive multiple input multiple output, MIMO, Successive Interference Cancellation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3542276 Spray Combustion Dynamics under Thermoacoustic Oscillations
Authors: Wajid A. Chishty, Stephen D. Lepera, Uri Vandsburger
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Thermoacoustic instabilities in combustors have remained a topic of investigation for over a few decades due to the challenges it posses to the operation of low emission gas turbines. For combustors burning liquid fuel, understanding the cause-andeffect relationship between spray combustion dynamics and thermoacoustic oscillations is imperative for the successful development of any control methodology for its mitigation. The paper presents some very unique operating characteristics of a kerosene-fueled diffusion type combustor undergoing limit-cycle oscillations. Combustor stability limits were mapped using three different-sized injectors. The results show that combustor instability depends on the characteristics of the fuel spray. A simple analytic analysis is also reported in support of a plausible explanation for the unique combustor behavior. The study indicates that high amplitude acoustic pressure in the combustor may cause secondary breakdown of fuel droplets resulting in premixed pre-vaporized type burning of the diffusion type combustor.Keywords: Secondary droplet breakup, Spray dynamics, Taylor Analogy Breakup Model, Thermoacoustic instabilities.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18562275 Robotic Hands: Design Review and Proposal of New Design Process
Authors: Jimmy W. Soto Martell, Giuseppina Gini
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In this paper we intend to ascertain the state of the art on multifingered end-effectors, also known as robotic hands or dexterous robot hands, and propose an experimental setup for an innovative task based design approach, involving cutting edge technologies in motion capture. After an initial description of the capabilities and complexity of a human hand when grasping objects, in order to point out the importance of replicating it, we analyze the mechanical and kinematical structure of some important works carried out all around the world in the last three decades and also review the actuators and sensing technologies used. Finally we describe a new design philosophy proposing an experimental setup for the first stage using recent developments in human body motion capture systems that might lead to lighter and always more dexterous robotic hands.
Keywords: Dexterous manipulation, grasp, multifingered endeffector, robotic hand.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 39432274 Software Development Processes Maturity versus Software Processes and Products Measurement
Authors: Beata Czarnacka-Chrobot
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Unsatisfactory effectiveness of software systems development and enhancement projects is one of the main reasons why in software engineering there are attempts being made to use experiences coming from other engineering disciplines. In spite of specificity of software product and process a belief had come out that the execution of software could be more effective if these objects were subject to measurement – as it is true in other engineering disciplines for which measurement is an immanent feature. Thus objective and reliable approaches to the measurement of software processes and products have been sought in software engineering for several dozens of years already. This may be proved, among others, by the current version of CMMI for Development model. This paper is aimed at analyzing the approach to the software processes and products measurement proposed in the latest version of this very model, indicating growing acceptance for this issue in software engineering.Keywords: CMMI for Development (1.3), ISO/IEC standards, measurement and analysis process area, software process measurement, software product measurement.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17902273 Impact of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles on Terrestrial Flora and Microorganisms
Authors: L. Steponavičiūtė, L. Steponavičienė
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Despite the rapid nanotechnology progress and recognition, its potential impact in ecosystems and health of humans is still not fully known. In this paper, the study of ecotoxicological dangers of nanomaterials is presented. By chemical reduction method, silver (AgNPs) and gold (AuNPs) nanoparticles were synthesized, characterized and used in experiments to examine their impact on microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans) and terrestrial flora (Phaseolus vulgaris and Lepidium sativum). The results collected during experiments with terrestrial flora show tendentious growth stimulations caused by gold nanoparticles. In contrast to these results, silver nanoparticle solutions inhibited growth of beans and garden cress, compared to control samples. The results obtained from experiments with microorganisms show similarities with ones collected from experiments with terrestrial plants. Samples treated with AuNPs of size 13 nm showed stimulation in the growth of the colonies compared with 3,5 nm size nanoparticles.
Keywords: Ecosystems, ecotoxicology, nanomaterials, nanoparticles.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15582272 An Analytical Solution for Vibration of Elevator Cables with Small Bending Stiffness
Authors: R. Mirabdollah Yani, E. Darabi
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Responses of the dynamical systems are highly affected by the natural frequencies and it has a huge impact on design and operation of high-rise and high-speed elevators. In the present paper, the variational iteration method (VIM) is employed to investigate better understanding the dynamics of elevator cable as a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) swing system. Comparisons made among the results of the proposed closed-form analytical solution, the traditional numerical iterative time integration solution, and the linearized governing equations confirm the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed approach. Furthermore, based on the results of the proposed closed-form solution, the linearization errors in calculating the natural frequencies in different cases are discussed.
Keywords: variational iteration method (VIM), cable vibration, closed-form solution
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22992271 The Digital Microscopy in Organ Transplantation: Ergonomics of the Tele-Pathological Evaluation of Renal, Liver and Pancreatic Grafts
Authors: C. S. Mammas, A. Lazaris, A. S. Mamma-Graham, G. Kostopanagiotou, C. Lemonidou, J. Mantas, E. Patsouris
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Introduction: The process to build a better safety culture, methods of error analysis, and preventive measures, starts with an understanding of the effects when human factors engineering refer to remote microscopic diagnosis in surgery and specially in organ transplantation for the remote evaluation of the grafts. It has been estimated that even in well-organized transplant systems an average of 8% to 14% of the grafts (G) that arrive at the recipient hospitals may be considered as diseased, injured, damaged or improper for transplantation. Digital microscopy adds information on a microscopic level about the grafts in Organ Transplant (OT), and may lead to a change in their management. Such a method will reduce the possibility that a diseased G, will arrive at the recipient hospital for implantation. Aim: Ergonomics of Digital Microscopy (DM) based on virtual slides, on Telemedicine Systems (TS) for Tele-Pathological (TPE) evaluation of the grafts (G) in organ transplantation (OT). Material and Methods: By experimental simulation, the ergonomics of DM for microscopic TPE of Renal Graft (RG), Liver Graft (LG) and Pancreatic Graft (PG) tissues is analyzed. In fact, this corresponded to the ergonomics of digital microscopy for TPE in OT by applying Virtual Slide (VS) system for graft tissue image capture, for remote diagnoses of possible microscopic inflammatory and/or neoplastic lesions. Experimentation included: a. Development of an OTE-TS similar Experimental Telemedicine System (Exp.-TS), b. Simulation of the integration of TS with the VS based microscopic TPE of RG, LG and PG applying DM. Simulation of the DM based TPE was performed by 2 specialists on a total of 238 human Renal Graft (RG), 172 Liver Graft (LG) and 108 Pancreatic Graft (PG) tissues digital microscopic images for inflammatory and neoplastic lesions on four electronic spaces of the four used TS. Results: Statistical analysis of specialist‘s answers about the ability to diagnose accurately the diseased RG, LG and PG tissues on the electronic space among four TS (A,B,C,D) showed that DM on TS for TPE in OT is elaborated perfectly on the ES of a Desktop, followed by the ES of the applied Exp.-TS. Tablet and Mobile-Phone ES seem significantly risky for the application of DM in OT (p<.001). Conclusion: To make the largest reduction in errors and adverse events referring to the quality of the grafts, it will take application of human factors engineering to procurement, design, audit, and aware ness-raising activities. Consequently, it will take an investment in new training, people, and other changes to management activities for DM in OT. The simulating VS based TPE with DM of RG, LG and PG tissues after retrieval; seem feasible and reliable and dependable on the size of the electronic space of the applied TS, for remote prevention of diseased grafts from being retrieved and/or sent to the recipient hospital and for post-grafting and pre-transplant planning.Keywords: Organ Transplantation, Tele-Pathology, Digital Microscopy, Virtual Slides.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18982270 Value from Environmental and Cultural Perspectives or Two Sides of the Same Coin
Authors: Vilém Pařil, Dominika Tóthová
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This paper discusses the value theory in cultural heritage and the value theory in environmental economics. Two economic views of the value theory are compared, within the field of cultural heritage maintenance and within the field of the environment. The main aims are to find common features in these two differently structured theories under the layer of differently defined terms as well as really differing features of these two approaches; to clear the confusion which stems from different terminology as in fact these terms capture the same aspects of reality; and to show possible inspiration these two perspectives can offer one another. Another aim is to present these two value systems in one value framework. First, important moments of the value theory from the economic perspective are presented, leading to the marginal revolution of (not only) the Austrian School. Then the theory of value within cultural heritage and environmental economics are explored. Finally, individual approaches are compared and their potential mutual inspiration searched for.
Keywords: Cultural heritage, environmental economics, existence value, value theory.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18932269 Discussing Embedded versus Central Machine Learning in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Anne-Lena Kampen, Øivind Kure
Abstract:
Machine learning (ML) can be implemented in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) as a central solution or distributed solution where the ML is embedded in the nodes. Embedding improves privacy and may reduce prediction delay. In addition, the number of transmissions is reduced. However, quality factors such as prediction accuracy, fault detection efficiency and coordinated control of the overall system suffer. Here, we discuss and highlight the trade-offs that should be considered when choosing between embedding and centralized ML, especially for multihop networks. In addition, we present estimations that demonstrate the energy trade-offs between embedded and centralized ML. Although the total network energy consumption is lower with central prediction, it makes the network more prone for partitioning due to the high forwarding load on the one-hop nodes. Moreover, the continuous improvements in the number of operations per joule for embedded devices will move the energy balance toward embedded prediction.
Keywords: Central ML, embedded machine learning, energy consumption, local ML, Wireless Sensor Networks, WSN.
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