Search results for: Approach Tendency

Authors: Hsiu-Hua Cheng, Chi-Wei Chen

Abstract:

Lurking behavior is common in information-seeking oriented communities. Transferring users with lurking behavior to be contributors can assist virtual communities to obtain competitive advantages. Based on the ecological cognition framework, this study proposes a model to examine the antecedents of lurking behavior in information-seeking oriented virtual communities. This study argues desire for emotional support, desire for information support, desire for performance-approach, desire for performance -avoidance, desire for mastery-approach, desire for mastery-avoidance, desire for ability trust, desire for benevolence trust, and desire for integrity trust effect on lurking behavior. This study offers an approach to understanding the determinants of lurking behavior in online contexts.

Keywords: Lurking behavior, the ecological cognition framework, Information-seeking oriented virtual communities, Desire.

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Authors: A. Kebbeb, M. Mostefai, F. Benmerzoug, Y. Chahir

Abstract:

The multimodal biometric identification is the combination of several biometric systems; the challenge of this combination is to reduce some limitations of systems based on a single modality while significantly improving performance. In this paper, we propose a new approach to the construction and the protection of a multimodal biometric database dedicated to an identification system. We use a topological watermarking to hide the relation between face image and the registered descriptors extracted from other modalities of the same person for more secure user identification.

Keywords: Biometric databases, Multimodal biometrics, security authentication, Digital watermarking.

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Authors: Carol B.Collins, M. H. N Tabrizi

Abstract:

The purposes of this paper are to (1) promote excellence in computer science by suggesting a cohesive innovative approach to fill well documented deficiencies in current computer science education, (2) justify (using the authors- and others anecdotal evidence from both the classroom and the real world) why this approach holds great potential to successfully eliminate the deficiencies, (3) invite other professionals to join the authors in proof of concept research. The authors- experiences, though anecdotal, strongly suggest that a new approach involving visual modeling technologies should allow computer science programs to retain a greater percentage of prospective and declared majors as students become more engaged learners, more successful problem-solvers, and better prepared as programmers. In addition, the graduates of such computer science programs will make greater contributions to the profession as skilled problem-solvers. Instead of wearily rememorizing code as they move to the next course, students will have the problem-solving skills to think and work in more sophisticated and creative ways.

Keywords: Algorithms, CASE, Problem-solving, UML.

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Authors: M. Boukhrouk, R. Ed-Dali

Abstract:

Outbound tourism in Morocco, as in the majority of developing countries, reveals some of the aspects of inequality between the north and the south. Considered by some researchers as one of the facets of the development crisis, access to tourism and especially international tourism is a chance for a small minority with financial means, while the vast portions of the population dream rather of immigrating to a developed country for the sake of improving their standard of living. The right to travel is also limited by visa requirements, procedures in host countries, security and technical measures and creates discrimination in the practice of tourism. These conditions do not seem to be favorable to the democratization of the practice of international tourism for the populations of the southern countries. This paper is a contribution to the reading of the trends of outbound tourism in developing countries through the example of Morocco. It highlights the different aspects of Moroccan outbound tourism, destinations and the behavior of tourists through an analysis of the offer of a sample of 50 travel agencies. In the same vein, it offers a reading grid of the possibilities offered for the development of outbound tourism and the various existing obstacles to the democratization of international outbound tourism in the southern countries. This reading reveals the transformation in the behavior of Moroccan international tourists as well as the profound changes in Moroccan society, through a model of statistical analysis.

Keywords: Demand, Hajj, Morocco, outbound tourism, tendency, Umrah.

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Authors: M. Raseen, A.Assi, P.W. C. Prasad, A. Harb

Abstract:

Binary Decision Diagrams (BDDs) are useful data structures for symbolic Boolean manipulations. BDDs are used in many tasks in VLSI/CAD, such as equivalence checking, property checking, logic synthesis, and false paths. In this paper we describe a new approach for the realization of a BDD package. To perform manipulations of Boolean functions, the proposed approach does not depend on the recursive synthesis operation of the IF-Then-Else (ITE). Instead of using the ITE operation, the basic synthesis algorithm is done using Boolean NOR operation.

Keywords: Binary Decision Diagram (BDD), ITE Operation, Boolean Function, NOR operation.

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Authors: P. Moeinzadeh, A. Hajfathaliha

Abstract:

Many firms implemented various initiatives such as outsourced manufacturing which could make a supply chain (SC) more vulnerable to various types of disruptions. So managing risk has become a critical component of SC management. Different types of SC vulnerability management methodologies have been proposed for managing SC risk, most offer only point-based solutions that deal with a limited set of risks. This research aims to reinforce SC risk management by proposing an integrated approach. SC risks are identified and a risk index classification structure is created. Then we develop a SC risk assessment approach based on the analytic network process (ANP) and the VIKOR methods under the fuzzy environment where the vagueness and subjectivity are handled with linguistic terms parameterized by triangular fuzzy numbers. By using FANP, risks weights are calculated and then inserted to the FVIKOR to rank the SC members and find the most risky partner.

Keywords: Analytic network process (ANP), Fuzzy sets, Supply chain risk management (SCRM), VIšekriterijumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranje (VIKOR)

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Authors: Khalid Abd, Kazem Abhary, Romeo Marian

Abstract:

Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) is an approach to ranking the solutions and finding the best one when two or more solutions are provided. In this study, MCDM approach is proposed to select the most suitable scheduling rule of robotic flexible assembly cells (RFACs). Two MCDM approaches, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) are proposed for solving the scheduling rule selection problem. The AHP method is employed to determine the weights of the evaluation criteria, while the TOPSIS method is employed to obtain final ranking order of scheduling rules. Four criteria are used to evaluate the scheduling rules. Also, four scheduling policies of RFAC are examined to choose the most appropriate one for this purpose. A numerical example illustrates applications of the suggested methodology. The results show that the methodology is practical and works in RFAC settings.

Keywords: AHP, TOPSIS, Scheduling rules selection

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Authors: Yao-Hong Tsai

Abstract:

This paper presents a weighted approach to unconstrained iris recognition. In nowadays, commercial systems are usually characterized by strong acquisition constraints based on the subject’s cooperation. However, it is not always achievable for real scenarios in our daily life. Researchers have been focused on reducing these constraints and maintaining the performance of the system by new techniques at the same time. With large variation in the environment, there are two main improvements to develop the proposed iris recognition system. For solving extremely uneven lighting condition, statistic based illumination normalization is first used on eye region to increase the accuracy of iris feature. The detection of the iris image is based on Adaboost algorithm. Secondly, the weighted approach is designed by Gaussian functions according to the distance to the center of the iris. Furthermore, local binary pattern (LBP) histogram is then applied to texture classification with the weight. Experiment showed that the proposed system provided users a more flexible and feasible way to interact with the verification system through iris recognition.

Keywords: Authentication, iris recognition, Adaboost, local binary pattern.

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Authors: Jakub Kraus, Vladimír Plos, Peter Vittek

Abstract:

This article deals with a new approach to the airport emergency plans, which are the basic documents and manuals for dealing with events with impact on safety or security. The article describes the identified parts in which the current airport emergency plans do not fulfill their role and which should therefore be considered in the creation of corrective measures. All these issues have been identified at airports in the Czech Republic and confirmed at airports in neighboring countries.

Keywords: Airport emergency plan, aviation safety, aviation security, comprehensive management system.

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Authors: Ahmed Alqaoud

Abstract:

There is wide range of scientific workflow systems today, each one designed to resolve problems at a specific level. In large collaborative projects, it is often necessary to recognize the heterogeneous workflow systems already in use by various partners and any potential collaboration between these systems requires workflow interoperability. Publish/Subscribe Scientific Workflow Interoperability Framework (PS-SWIF) approach was proposed to achieve workflow interoperability among workflow systems. This paper evaluates the PS-SWIF approach and its system to achieve workflow interoperability using Web Services with asynchronous notification messages represented by WS-Eventing standard. This experiment covers different types of communication models provided by Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC). These models are: Chained processes, Nested synchronous sub-processes, Event synchronous sub-processes, and Nested sub-processes (Polling/Deferred Synchronous). Also, this experiment shows the flexibility and simplicity of the PS-SWIF approach when applied to a variety of workflow systems (Triana, Taverna, Kepler) in local and remote environments.

Keywords: Publish/subscribe, scientific workflow, web services, workflow interoperability.

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Authors: Ryad Zemouri, Paul Ciprian Patic

Abstract:

An adaptive software reliability prediction model using evolutionary connectionist approach based on Recurrent Radial Basis Function architecture is proposed. Based on the currently available software failure time data, Fuzzy Min-Max algorithm is used to globally optimize the number of the k Gaussian nodes. The corresponding optimized neural network architecture is iteratively and dynamically reconfigured in real-time as new actual failure time data arrives. The performance of our proposed approach has been tested using sixteen real-time software failure data. Numerical results show that our proposed approach is robust across different software projects, and has a better performance with respect to next-steppredictability compared to existing neural network model for failure time prediction.

Keywords: Neural network, Prediction error, Recurrent RadialBasis Function Network, Reliability prediction.

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Authors: Azhar Hussain, Kashif Shahzad, Chunming Tang

Abstract:

this paper gives a novel approach towards real-time speed estimation of multiple traffic vehicles using fuzzy logic and image processing techniques with proper arrangement of camera parameters. The described algorithm consists of several important steps. First, the background is estimated by computing median over time window of specific frames. Second, the foreground is extracted using fuzzy similarity approach (FSA) between estimated background pixels and the current frame pixels containing foreground and background. Third, the traffic lanes are divided into two parts for both direction vehicles for parallel processing. Finally, the speeds of vehicles are estimated by Maximum a Posterior Probability (MAP) estimator. True ground speed is determined by utilizing infrared sensors for three different vehicles and the results are compared to the proposed algorithm with an accuracy of ± 0.74 kmph.

Keywords: Defuzzification, Fuzzy similarity approach, lane cropping, Maximum a Posterior Probability (MAP) estimator, Speed estimation

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Authors: C. E. Nugraheni, L. Abednego

Abstract:

This paper is concerned with minimization of mean tardiness and flow time in a real single machine production scheduling problem. Two variants of genetic algorithm as metaheuristic are combined with hyper-heuristic approach are proposed to solve this problem. These methods are used to solve instances generated with real world data from a company. Encouraging results are reported.

Keywords: Hyper-heuristics, evolutionary algorithms, production scheduling.

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Authors: Allan Tubaileh, Ibrahim Hammad, Loay Al Kafafi

Abstract:

A new approach to determine the machine layout in flexible manufacturing cell, and to find the feasible robot configuration of the robot to achieve minimum cycle time is presented in this paper. The location of the input/output location and the optimal robot configuration is obtained for all sequences of work tasks of the robot within a specified period of time. A more realistic approach has been presented to model the problem using the robot joint space. The problem is formulated as a nonlinear optimization problem and solved using Sequential Quadratic Programming algorithm.

Keywords: Robotics, Layout.

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Authors: K.M. Faraoun, A. Boukelif

Abstract:

This paper describes a new approach of classification using genetic programming. The proposed technique consists of genetically coevolving a population of non-linear transformations on the input data to be classified, and map them to a new space with a reduced dimension, in order to get a maximum inter-classes discrimination. The classification of new samples is then performed on the transformed data, and so become much easier. Contrary to the existing GP-classification techniques, the proposed one use a dynamic repartition of the transformed data in separated intervals, the efficacy of a given intervals repartition is handled by the fitness criterion, with a maximum classes discrimination. Experiments were first performed using the Fisher-s Iris dataset, and then, the KDD-99 Cup dataset was used to study the intrusion detection and classification problem. Obtained results demonstrate that the proposed genetic approach outperform the existing GP-classification methods [1],[2] and [3], and give a very accepted results compared to other existing techniques proposed in [4],[5],[6],[7] and [8].

Keywords: Genetic programming, patterns classification, intrusion detection

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Authors: Nayeon, Lee, Won-Young, Cho, Hyun Joo, Jang, Chi-Ho, Lee

Abstract:

This study investigated the effects of the dietary supplementation of the Allium hookeri root, and processed sulfur, on the growth performance of guinea pigs. The guinea pigs were fed a control diet (CON), as well as the control diet including 1% freeze-dried Allium hookeri root (AH), or 0.1% processed sulfur (S), or including both the freeze-dried Allium hookeri root and the processed sulfur (AHS). The weight of perirenal adipose tissue (PAT) and the epididymal adipose tissue (EAT) in the AH were significantly lower than CON (p < 0.05). The serum cholesterols levels of the AH and the AHS were significantly lower than the S (p < 0.05). While the total saturated fatty acid content in the serum of the AH and AHS groups showed a tendency to decrease, the total monounsaturated fatty acid increased. The results of this study suggested that dietary consumption of Allium hookeri root may help to decrease fat accumulation, lower serum cholesterol levels, and control serum free fatty acid contents in the guinea pigs.

Keywords: Allium hookeri, processed sulfur, dietary supplementation, growth performance, guinea pig.

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Authors: Yina F. Muñoz, Alexander Paz, Hanns De La Fuente-Mella, Joaquin V. Fariña, Guilherme M. Sales

Abstract:

The primary approach for estimating bridge deterioration uses Markov-chain models and regression analysis. Traditional Markov models have problems in estimating the required transition probabilities when a small sample size is used. Often, reliable bridge data have not been taken over large periods, thus large data sets may not be available. This study presents an important change to the traditional approach by using the Small Data Method to estimate transition probabilities. The results illustrate that the Small Data Method and traditional approach both provide similar estimates; however, the former method provides results that are more conservative. That is, Small Data Method provided slightly lower than expected bridge condition ratings compared with the traditional approach. Considering that bridges are critical infrastructures, the Small Data Method, which uses more information and provides more conservative estimates, may be more appropriate when the available sample size is small. In addition, regression analysis was used to calculate bridge deterioration. Condition ratings were determined for bridge groups, and the best regression model was selected for each group. The results obtained were very similar to those obtained when using Markov chains; however, it is desirable to use more data for better results.

Keywords: Concrete bridges, deterioration, Markov chains, probability matrix.

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Authors: Sana Testouri, Karim Saadaoui, Mohamed Benrejeb

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This paper presents a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method for determining the optimal parameters of a first-order controller for TCP/AQM system. The model TCP/AQM is described by a second-order system with time delay. First, the analytical approach, based on the D-decomposition method and Lemma of Kharitonov, is used to determine the stabilizing regions of a firstorder controller. Second, the optimal parameters of the controller are obtained by the PSO algorithm. Finally, the proposed method is implemented in the Network Simulator NS-2 and compared with the PI controller.

Keywords: AQM, first-order controller, time delay, stability, PSO.

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Authors: A. H. Azni, Madihah Mohd Saudi, Azreen Azman, Ariff Syah Johari

Abstract:

Sensor Network are emerging as a new tool for important application in diverse fields like military surveillance, habitat monitoring, weather, home electrical appliances and others. Technically, sensor network nodes are limited in respect to energy supply, computational capacity and communication bandwidth. In order to prolong the lifetime of the sensor nodes, designing efficient routing protocol is very critical. In this paper, we illustrate the existing routing protocol for wireless sensor network using data centric approach and present performance analysis of these protocols. The paper focuses in the performance analysis of specific protocol namely Directed Diffusion and SPIN. This analysis reveals that the energy usage is important features which need to be taken into consideration while designing routing protocol for wireless sensor network.

Keywords: Data Centric Approach, Directed Diffusion, SPIN WSN Routing Protocol.

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Authors: Taweechai Nuntawisuttiwong, Natasha Dejdumrong

Abstract:

Geometric modeling plays an important role in the constructions and manufacturing of curve, surface and solid modeling. Their algorithms are critically important not only in the automobile, ship and aircraft manufacturing business, but are also absolutely necessary in a wide variety of modern applications, e.g., robotics, optimization, computer vision, data analytics and visualization. The calculation and display of geometric objects can be accomplished by these six techniques: Polynomial basis, Recursive, Iterative, Coefficient matrix, Polar form approach and Pyramidal algorithms. In this research, the coefficient matrix (simply called monomial form approach) will be used to model polynomial rectangular patches, i.e., Said-Ball, Wang-Ball, DP, Dejdumrong and NB1 surfaces. Some examples of the monomial forms for these surface modeling are illustrated in many aspects, e.g., construction, derivatives, model transformation, degree elevation and degress reduction.

Keywords: Monomial form, rectangular surfaces, CAGD curves, monomial matrix applications.

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Authors: Samad Nejatian, Vahideh Rezaie, Vahid Asadpour

Abstract:

This paper presents a novel approach for the design of microwave circuits using Adaptive Network Fuzzy Inference Optimizer (ANFIO). The method takes advantage of direct synthesis of subsections of the amplifier using very fast and accurate ANFIO models based on exact simulations using ADS. A mapping from course space to fine space known as space mapping is also used. The proposed synthesis approach takes into account the noise and scattering parameters due to parasitic elements to achieve optimal results. The overall ANFIO system is capable of designing different LNAs at different noise and scattering criteria. This approach offers significantly reduced time in the design of microwave amplifiers within the validity range of the ANFIO system. The method has been proven to work efficiently for a 2.4GHz LNA example. The S21 of 10.1 dB and noise figure (NF) of 2.7 dB achieved for ANFIO while S21 of 9.05 dB and NF of 2.6 dB achieved for ANN.

Keywords: fuzzy system, low noise amplifier, microwaveamplifier, space mapping

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Authors: Juergen Rossmann, Andre Kupetz, Roland Wischnewski

Abstract:

Mobile robots are used in a large field of scenarios, like exploring contaminated areas, repairing oil rigs under water, finding survivors in collapsed buildings, etc. Currently, there is no unified intuitive user interface (UI) to control such complex mobile robots. As a consequence, some scenarios are done without the exploitation of experience and intuition of human teleoperators. A novel framework has been developed to embed a flexible and modular UI into a complete 3-D virtual reality simulation system. This new approach wants to access maximum benefits of human operators. Sensor information received from the robot is prepared for an intuitive visualization. Virtual reality metaphors support the operator in his decisions. These metaphors are integrated into a real time stereo video stream. This approach is not restricted to any specific type of mobile robot and allows for the operation of different robot types with a consistent concept and user interface.

Keywords: 3-D simulation system, augmented reality, teleoperation of mobile robots, user interface.

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Authors: Methawee Yuttapongtada

Abstract:

Intensifier is the linguistic term and device that is generally found in different languages in order to enhance and give additional quantity, quality or emotion to the words of each language. In fact, each language in the world has both of the similar and dissimilar intensifying device. More specially, the wide variety of intensifying device is used for Thai language and one of those is usage of the impolite word or the word that used to mean something negative as intensifier. The data collection in this study was done throughout the spoken language style by collecting from intensifiers regarded as impolite words because these words as employed in the other contexts will be held as the rude, swear words or the words with negative meaning. Then, backward study to the past was done in order to consider the historical change. Explanation of the original meaning and the contexts of words use from the past till the present time were done by use of both textual documents and dictionaries available in different periods. It was found that regarding the semantics and pragmatic aspects, subjectification also is the significant motivation that changed the impolite words to intensifiers. At last, it can explain pathway of the semantic change of these very words undoubtedly. Moreover, it is found that use tendency in the impolite word or the word that used to mean something negative will more be increased and this phenomenon is commonly found in many languages in the world and results of this research may support to the belief that human language in the world is universal and the same still reflected that human has the fundamental thought as the same to each other basically.

Keywords: Impolite word, intensifier, Thai, semantic change.

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Authors: Qiang Yang, Ping-An Du

Abstract:

Group decision making with multiple attribute has attracted intensive concern in the decision analysis area. This paper assumes that the contributions of all the decision makers (DMs) are not equal to the decision process based on different knowledge and experience in group setting. The aim of this paper is to develop a novel approach to determine weights of DMs in the group decision making problems. In this paper, the weights of DMs are determined in the group decision environment via angle cosine and projection method. First of all, the average decision of all individual decisions is defined as the ideal decision. After that, we define the weight of each decision maker (DM) by aggregating the angle cosine and projection between individual decision and ideal decision with associated direction indicator μ. By using the weights of DMs, all individual decisions are aggregated into a collective decision. Further, the preference order of alternatives is ranked in accordance with the overall row value of collective decision. Finally, an example in a chemical company is provided to illustrate the developed approach.

Keywords: Angel cosine, ideal decision, projection method, weights of decision makers.

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Authors: Abdelrahman Taha, Niloofar Malekghaini, Hamed Ebrahimian, Ramin Motamed

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This paper compares the substructure and direct approaches for soil-structure interaction (SSI) analysis in the time domain. In the substructure approach, the soil domain is replaced by a set of springs and dashpots, also referred to as the impedance function, derived through the study of the behavior of a massless rigid foundation. The impedance function is inherently frequency dependent, i.e., it varies as a function of the frequency content of the structural response. To use the frequency-dependent impedance function for time-domain SSI analysis, the impedance function is approximated at the fundamental frequency of the coupled soil-structure system. To explore the potential limitations of the substructure modeling process, a two-dimensional (2D) reinforced concrete frame structure is modeled and analyzed using the direct and substructure approaches. The results show discrepancy between the simulated responses of the direct and substructure models. It is concluded that the main source of discrepancy is likely attributed to the way the impedance functions are calculated, i.e., assuming a massless rigid foundation without considering the presence of the superstructure. Hence, a refined impedance function, considering the presence of the superstructure, shall alternatively be developed. This refined impedance function is expected to improve the simulation accuracy of the substructure approach.

Keywords: Direct approach, impedance function, massless rigid foundation, soil-structure interaction, substructure approach.

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Authors: Usha Sridhar, Sridhar Mandyam

Abstract:

We propose a multi-agent based utilitarian approach to model and understand information flows in social networks that lead to Pareto optimal informational exchanges. We model the individual expected utility function of the agents to reflect the net value of information received. We show how this model, adapted from a theorem by Karl Borch dealing with an actuarial Risk Exchange concept in the Insurance industry, can be used for social network analysis. We develop a utilitarian framework that allows us to interpret Pareto optimal exchanges of value as potential information flows, while achieving a maximization of a sum of expected utilities of information of the group of agents. We examine some interesting conditions on the utility function under which the flows are optimal. We illustrate the promise of this new approach to attach economic value to information in networks with a synthetic example.

Keywords: Borch's Theorem , Economic value of information, Information Exchange, Pareto Optimal Solution, Social Networks, Utility Functions

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Authors: M. Ezkurra, J. A. Esnaola, M. Martinez-Agirre, U. Etxeberria, U. Lertxundi, L. Colomo, M. Begiristain, I. Zurutuza

Abstract:

Butterfly valves are widely used industrial piping components as on-off and flow controlling devices. The main challenge in the design process of this type of valves is the correct dimensioning to ensure proper mechanical performance as well as to minimise flow losses that affect the efficiency of the system. Butterfly valves are typically dimensioned in a closed position based on mechanical approaches considering uniform hydrostatic pressure, whereas the flow losses are analysed by means of CFD simulations. The main limitation of these approaches is that they do not consider either the influence of the dynamics of the manoeuvring stage or coupled phenomena. Recent works have included the influence of the flow on the mechanical behaviour for different opening angles by means of one-way FSI approach. However, these works consider steady-state flow for the selected angles, not capturing the effect of the transient flow evolution during the manoeuvring stage. Two-way FSI modelling approach could allow overcoming such limitations providing more accurate results. Nevertheless, the use of this technique is limited due to the increase in the computational cost. In the present work, the applicability of FSI one-way and two-way approaches is evaluated for the analysis of butterfly valves, showing that not considering fluid-structure coupling involves not capturing the most critical situation for the valve disc.

Keywords: Butterfly valves, fluid-structure interaction, one-way approach, two-way approach.

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Authors: Zhe Ginnie Wang

Abstract:

With the unprecedented spread of cultural Chinese fashion design in the global fashion system, the under-identified ‘Guochao’ aesthetic that has emerged in the global market needs to be academically emphasized with a methodological approach looking at the Western-Eastern cultural hybridization present in fashion visualization. Through an in-depth and comprehensive investigation of a representative international-based Chinese designer, Angel Chen’s fashion show ‘Madam Qing’, this paper provides a methodological approach on how a form of traditional culture can be effectively extracted and applied to modern design using the most effective techniques. The central approach examined in this study involves creating aesthetic revolutions by addressing Chinese cultural identity through re-creating and modernizing traditional Chinese culture in design.

Keywords: Style modernization, design identity, fashion show, Guochao, Chinese culture, Angel Chen.

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Authors: Chia-Yu Hsu, Julaimin Goh, Pei-Chann Chang

Abstract:

Home is important for Chinese people. Because the information regarding the house attributes and surrounding environments is incomplete in most real estate agency, most house buyers are difficult to consider the overall factors effectively and only can search candidates by sorting-based approach. This study aims to develop a decision support system for housing purchasing, in which surrounding facilities of each house are quantified. Then, all considered house factors and customer preferences are incorporated into Simple Multi-Attribute Ranking Technique (SMART) to support the housing evaluation. To evaluate the validity of proposed approach, an empirical study was conducted from a real estate agency. Based on the customer requirement and preferences, the proposed approach can identify better candidate house with consider the overall house attributes and surrounding facilities.

Keywords: decision support system, real estate, decision analysis, housing evaluation, SMART

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Authors: Nikolaos Georgantzis, Efi Vasileiou

Abstract:

We present results from experimental price-setting oligopolies in which green firms undertake different levels of energy-saving investments motivated by public subsidies and demand-side advantages. We find that consumers reveal higher willingness to pay for greener sellers’ products. This observation in conjunction to the fact that greener sellers set higher prices is compatible with the use and interpretation of energy-saving behaviour as a differentiation strategy. However, sellers do not exploit the resulting advantage through sufficiently high price-cost margins, because they seem trapped into “run to stay still” competition. Regarding the use of public subsidies to energy-saving sellers we uncover an undesirable crowding-out effect of consumers’ intrinsic tendency to support green manufacturers. Namely, consumers may be less willing to support a green seller whose energy-saving strategy entails a direct financial benefit. Finally, we disentangle two alternative motivations for consumer’s attractions to pro-social firms; first, the self-interested recognition of the firm’s contribution to the public and private welfare and, second, the need to compensate a firm for the cost entailed in each pro-social action. Our results show the prevalence of the former over the latter.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, energy savings, public good, experiments, vertical differentiation, altruism.

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