Search results for: local government
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1991

Search results for: local government

1511 Mapping Crime against Women in India: Spatio-Temporal Analysis, 2001-2012

Authors: Ritvik Chauhan, Vijay Kumar Baraik

Abstract:

Women are most vulnerable to crime despite occupying central position in shaping a society as the first teacher of children. In India too, having equal rights and constitutional safeguards, the incidences of crime against them are large and grave. In this context of crime against women, especially rape has been increasing over time. This paper explores the spatial and temporal aspects of crime against women in India with special reference to rape. It also examines the crime against women with its spatial, socio-economic and demographic associates using related data obtained from the National Crime Records Bureau India, Indian Census and other government sources of the Government of India. The simple statistical, choropleth mapping and other cartographic representation methods have been used to see the crime rates, spatio-temporal patterns of crime, and association of crime with its correlates.  The major findings are visible spatial variations across the country and are also in the rising trends in terms of incidence and rates over the reference period. The study also indicates that the geographical associations are somewhat observed. However, selected indicators of socio-economic factors seem to have no significant bearing on crime against women at this level.

Keywords: Crime against women, crime mapping, trend analysis.

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1510 Assessing the Corporate Identity of Malaysia Universities in the East Coast Region with the Market Conditions in Ensuring Self-Sustainability: A Study on Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

Authors: Suffian H. Ayub, Mohammed R. Hamzah, Nor H. Abdullah, Sharipah N. Syed Azmy, Hishammudin S.

Abstract:

The liberalisation of the education industry has exposed the institute of higher learning (IHL) in Malaysia to the financial challenges. Without good financial standing, public institution will rely on the government funding. Ostensibly, this contradicts with the government’s aspiration to make universities self-sufficient. With stiff competition from private institutes of higher learning, IHL need to be prepared at the forefront level. The corporate identity itself is the entrance to the world of higher learning and it is in this uniqueness, it will be able to distinguish itself from competitors. This paper examined the perception of the stakeholders at one of the public universities in the east coast region in Malaysia on the perceived reputation and how the university communicate its preparedness for self-sustainability through corporate identity. The findings indicated while the stakeholders embraced the challenges in facing the stiff competition and struggling market conditions, most of them felt the university should put more efforts in mobilising the corporate identity to its constituencies.

Keywords: Communication, corporate identity, market conditions, universities.

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1509 A New Hybrid Model with Passive Congregation for Stock Market Indices Prediction

Authors: Tarek Aboueldahab

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a new hybrid learning model for stock market indices prediction by adding a passive congregation term to the standard hybrid model comprising Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) with Genetic Algorithm (GA) operators in training Neural Networks (NN). This new passive congregation term is based on the cooperation between different particles in determining new positions rather than depending on the particles selfish thinking without considering other particles positions, thus it enables PSO to perform both the local and global search instead of only doing the local search. Experiment study carried out on the most famous European stock market indices in both long term and short term prediction shows significantly the influence of the passive congregation term in improving the prediction accuracy compared to standard hybrid model.

Keywords: Global Search, Hybrid Model, Passive Congregation, Stock Market Prediction.

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1508 Distributional Effects of Tax and Benefit Reforms in the Czech Republic

Authors: L. Vítek

Abstract:

The Czech Republic has over the past decade carried out two waves of tax and benefit reforms. The first one took place in 2005–2006 during the left-wing government and the second one has been carried out in 2008 by the right-wing government. Using EUSILC data for selected types of households, the paper assesses changes in the distribution of gross incomes and effects of the changes in taxes and benefits on the distribution of incomes after taxes and a provision of social benefits. The analysis is carried out on four types of households with and without children. The analysis is performed using Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients. The results show that the tax system changes the distribution of incomes less significantly than benefits. The 2006 reform reduced the differential between the Gini coefficient for the gross income and the Gini coefficient after taxes and benefits for households with active parents and one child. Reform in 2008 supported families with children and an reduced the differential between the gross income and income after taxes and benefits for different types of families.

Keywords: Czech Republic, redistribution, tax reforms.

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1507 Determining of Stage-Discharge Relationship for Meandering Compound Channels Using M5 Decision Tree Model

Authors: Mehdi Kheradmand, Mehdi Azhdary Moghaddam, Abdolreza Zahiri, Khalil Ghorbani

Abstract:

In modeling phenomena, the presence of local conditions may cause the use of a general relation not to produce good results and thus fail to demonstrate local changes. If possible, identifying homogenous limits and providing simple linear relations for each of these limits will increase the accuracy of models. Accordingly, the models are divided into simpler and smaller problems to solve complicated problems, and the obtained answers will be combined. This simple idea can be applied to decision tree models. For this aim, the input data values are divided into several sub-intervals or sub-regions, and an appropriate model is extracted for an appropriate model or equation. This research proposes the M5 decision tree method as a solution to accurately compute the flow discharge in meandering compound channels.

Keywords: Stage-discharge relationship, decision tree, M5 decision tree model, meandering compound channels.

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1506 An In-Depth Analysis of Open Data Portals as an Emerging Public E-Service

Authors: Martin Lnenicka

Abstract:

Governments collect and produce large amounts of data. Increasingly, governments worldwide have started to implement open data initiatives and also launch open data portals to enable the release of these data in open and reusable formats. Therefore, a large number of open data repositories, catalogues and portals have been emerging in the world. The greater availability of interoperable and linkable open government data catalyzes secondary use of such data, so they can be used for building useful applications which leverage their value, allow insight, provide access to government services, and support transparency. The efficient development of successful open data portals makes it necessary to evaluate them systematic, in order to understand them better and assess the various types of value they generate, and identify the required improvements for increasing this value. Thus, the attention of this paper is directed particularly to the field of open data portals. The main aim of this paper is to compare the selected open data portals on the national level using content analysis and propose a new evaluation framework, which further improves the quality of these portals. It also establishes a set of considerations for involving businesses and citizens to create eservices and applications that leverage on the datasets available from these portals.

Keywords: Big data, content analysis, criteria comparison, data quality, open data, open data portals, public sector.

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1505 Development of Storm Water Quality Improvement Strategy Plan for Local City Councils in Western Australia

Authors: Ranjan Sarukkalige, Dinushi Gamage

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to develop a storm water quality improvement strategy plan (WQISP) which assists managers and decision makers of local city councils in enhancing their activities to improve regional water quality. City of Gosnells in Western Australia has been considered as a case study. The procedure on developing the WQISP consists of reviewing existing water quality data, identifying water quality issues in the study areas and developing a decision making tool for the officers, managers and decision makers. It was found that land use type is the main factor affecting the water quality. Therefore, activities, sources and pollutants related to different land use types including residential, industrial, agricultural and commercial are given high importance during the study. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with coordinators of different management sections of the regional councils in order to understand the associated management framework and issues. The issues identified from these interviews were used in preparing the decision making tool. Variables associated with the defined “value versus threat" decision making tool are obtained from the intensive literature review. The main recommendations provided for improvement of water quality in local city councils, include non-structural, structural and management controls and potential impacts of climate change.

Keywords: Storm water quality, Storm water Management, Land use, Strategy plan

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1504 Groin Configurations: An Approach towards Stable Lowland Rivers with Improved Environmental Functions

Authors: M. Alauddin, T. Tsujimoto

Abstract:

Dynamicity of stream channels along with environmental concern is the key issue to address in lowland rivers like Jamuna in Bangladesh. The groins are important structures in attaining the improved river environment, but their effective functioning is not evident yet with the present design. Considering the present demands, an approach through modification of groin configurations is planned to function more natural way in dynamic lowland rivers. Four different configurations including the conventional one are considered in the study, and the changes in hydro- and morpho-dynamics affected by various structures are investigated in the laboratory. Results show that the modified combined groin favors gradual deceleration of flow towards the channel side and minimizes local scour noticeably. This favors stable regular channel and improve environmental functions.

Keywords: Lowland river, dynamicity, river environment, groin configuration, local scour.

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1503 Public Participation in Sustainable Urban Planning

Authors: M. P. Amado, C. V. Santos, E. B. Moura, V.G. Silva

Abstract:

Urban planning, in particular on protected landscape areas, demands an increasing role of public participation within the frame of the efficiency of sustainable planning process. The development of urban planning actions in Protected Landscape areas, as Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, should perform a methodological process that is structured over distinct sequential stages, providing the development of a continuous, interactive, integrated and participative planning. From the start of Malveira da Serra and Janes Plan process, several public participation actions were promoted, in order to involve the local agents, stakeholders and the population in the decision of specific local key issues and define the appropriate priorities within the goals and strategies previously settled. As a result, public participation encouraged an innovative process that guarantees the efficiency of sustainable urban planning and promotes a sustainable new way of living in community.

Keywords: Protected landscape areas, Public participation, Sustainable development, Sustainable planning, Urban planning.

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1502 Road Safety in Great Britain: An Exploratory Data Analysis

Authors: Jatin Kumar Choudhary, Naren Rayala, Abbas Eslami Kiasari, Fahimeh Jafari

Abstract:

Great Britain has one of the safest road networks in the world. However, the consequences of any death or serious injury are devastating for loved ones, as well as for those who help the severely injured. This paper aims to analyse Great Britain's road safety situation and show the response measures for areas where the total damage caused by accidents can be significantly and quickly reduced. For the past 30 years, the UK has had a good record in reducing fatalities over the past 30 years, there is still a considerable number of road deaths. The government continues to scale back road deaths empowering responsible road users by identifying and prosecuting the parameters that make the roads less safe. This study represents an exploratory analysis with deep insights which could provide policy makers with invaluable insights into how accidents happen and how they can be mitigated. We use STATS19 data published by the UK government. Since we need more information about locations which is not provided in STATA19, we first expand the features of the dataset using OpenStreetMap and Visual Crossing. This paper also provides a discussion regarding new road safety methods.

Keywords: Road safety, data analysis, OpenStreetMap, feature expanding.

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1501 Operative Public Space for Rural Brazil Strategies for Starting Up Economic, Social and Environmental Development of Rural Communities in Emerging Countries: The Goiabeira Case

Authors: Alessandra Battisti, Silvia Cimini

Abstract:

This article stands in the context of rural communities in Brazil, where, like many others emerging countries, the overwhelming increasing markets and the overcrowded cities are leaving behind informal settlements based on obsolete agricultural economies and techniques. The pilot project for the community of Goiabeira reflects the attempt to imagine a development model that privileges the actual improvement of living conditions, the education and training, the social inclusion and participation of the dwellers of rural communities. Through the inclusion of operative public space, the aim is for them to become self-sustaining, encouraging the use of local resources for appropriate architectural, ecological and energy technologies and devices, that are efficient, affordable and foster community participation, in the respect of the surrounding environment.

Keywords: Economical development, environment conservation, local resources, participation and social inclusion.

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1500 International Comparative Study of International Financial Reporting Standards Adoption and Earnings Quality: Effects of Differences in Accounting Standards, Industry Category, and Country Characteristics

Authors: Ichiro Mukai

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether firms applying International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), provide high-quality and comparable earnings information that is useful for decision making of information users relative to firms applying local Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Focus is placed on the earnings quality of listed firms in several developed countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Except for Japan and the US, the adoption of IFRS is mandatory for listed firms in these countries. In Japan, the application of IFRS is allowed for specific listed firms. In the US, the foreign firms listed on the US securities market are permitted to apply IFRS but the listed domestic firms are prohibited from doing so. In this paper, the differences in earnings quality are compared between firms applying local GAAP and those applying IFRS in each country and industry category, and the reasons of differences in earnings quality are analyzed using various factors. The results show that, although the earnings quality of firms applying IFRS is higher than that of firms applying local GAAP, this varies with country and industry category. Thus, even if a single set of global accounting standards is used for all listed firms worldwide, it is difficult to establish comparability of financial information among global firms. These findings imply that various circumstances surrounding firms, industries, and countries etc. influence business operations and affect the differences in earnings quality.

Keywords: Accruals, earnings quality, IFRS, information comparability.

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1499 Sustainability Assessment of Municipal Wastewater Treatment

Authors: Yousra Zakaria Ahmed, Ahmed El Gendy, Salah El Haggar

Abstract:

In this paper, our methodology to assess sustainability of wastewater treatment technologies in Egypt is presented. The preliminary list of factors to be considered, as well as their ranking listed. The factors include, but are not limited to pollutants removal efficiency and energy consumption under the environmental dimension, construction cost, operation and maintenance costs and required land area cost under the economic dimension and public acceptance, noise and generating job opportunities for local residents. This methodology is intended to be a user-friendly screening tool to support the decision making process when investigating different wastewater treatment technologies in Egypt. Based on the research work results presented in this paper, it can be generally concluded that the categorization of some of the social and environmental aspects of sustainability is subjective and highly dependent on the local conditions and researchers’ background.

Keywords: Sustainability, wastewater treatment, sustainability assessment, Egypt.

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1498 Effect of Jatropha curcas Leaf Extract on Castor Oil Induced Diarrhea in Albino Rats

Authors: Fatima U. Maigari, Musa Halilu, M. Maryam Umar, Rabiu Zainab

Abstract:

Plants as therapeutic agents are used as drug in many parts of the world. Medicinal plants are mostly used in developing countries due to culture acceptability, belief or due to lack of easy access to primary health care services. Jatropha curcas is a plant from the Euphorbiaceae family which is widely used in Northern Nigeria as an anti-diarrheal agent. This study was conducted to determine the anti-diarrheal effect of the leaf extract on castor oil induced diarrhea in albino rats. The leaves of J. curcas were collected from Balanga Local government in Gombe State, north-eastern Nigeria; due to its bioavailability. The leaves were air-dried at room temperature and ground to powder. Phytochemical screening was done and different concentrations of the extract was prepared and administered to the different categories of experimental animals. From the results, aqueous leaf extract of Jatropha curcas at doses of 200mg/Kg and 400mg/Kg was found to reduce the mean stool score as compared to control rats, however, maximum reduction was achieved with the standard drug of Loperamide (5mg/Kg). Treatment of diarrhea with 200mg/Kg of the extract did not produce any significant decrease in stool fluid content but was found to be significant in those rats that were treated with 400mg/Kg of the extract at 2hours (0.05±0.02) and 4hours (0.01±0.01). A significant reduction of diarrhea in the experimental animals signifies it to possess some anti-diarrheal activity.

Keywords: Anti-diarrhea, Diarrhea, Jatropha curcas, Loperamide.

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1497 Effect of Planting Density on Yield and Yield Components of Safflower Cultivars in Spring Planting

Authors: Gholamreza Zarei, Hossein Shamsi, Farjam Fazeli

Abstract:

This study carried out to determine the effect of plant densities on some agronomic characteristics of four safflower cultivars in spring planting. The experiment was conducted at Yazd, Iran- using a factorial in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Cultivars were including Arak, IL, Asteria and Local and plant densities were 10, 13.3, 20 and 40 plant/m2. Number of seeds/head, number of heads/plant, HI, 1000-seed weight and seed yield significantly decreased as planting density increased. With increasing planting density, LAI, plant height, first branch height and biological yield increased. The highest seed yield was obtained in 13.3 plant/m2 (2167 kg/ha). There were significant differences between cultivars. Local cv. had higher seed yield than the other cultivars mainly due to higher heads/plant and seeds/head.

Keywords: safflower, plant density, cultivar

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1496 Professional Management on Ecotourism and Conservation to Ensure the Future of Komodo National Park

Authors: Daningsih Sulaeman, Achmad Sjarmidi, Djoko T. Iskandar

Abstract:

Komodo National Park can be associated with the implementation of ecotourism program. The result of Principal Components Analysis is synthesized, tested, and compared to the basic concept of ecotourism with some field adjustments. Principal aspects of professional management should involve ecotourism and wildlife welfare. The awareness should be focused on the future of the Natural Park as 7th Wonder Natural Heritage and its wildlife components, free from human wastes and beneficial to wildlife and local people. According to perceptions and expectations of visitors from various results of tourism programs, the visitor’s perceptions showed that the tourism management in Komodo National Park should pay more attention to visitor's satisfaction and expectation and gives positive impact directly to the ecosystem sustainability, local community and transparency to the conservation program.

Keywords: 7th Wonders of Nature, Ecotourism, Komodo dragon, visitor’s perceptions, wildlife management.

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1495 Healing Performances: Ethnographic Concepts and Emic Perspectives

Authors: S. Ishak, M. G. Nasuruddin

Abstract:

This paper looks at healing performances as ethnographic expressions of local knowledge and culture embedded within the Malay psyche and gemeinschaft. As society develops and progresses, these healing performances are caught within conflicting trajectories which become compounded by the contestations of tradition, religious concerns, locality and modernity. As exemplifications of the Malay ethos, these performances practice common rituals, cater to the innate needs of the practitioners and serve the targeted, closed, local community. This paper traces the ethnographic methods in documenting these practices as rituals of healing in a post-modern world. It delineates the ethnographic concepts used to analyze these rituals, and to semiotically read the varied binarial oppositions and juxtapositions. The paper concludes by highlighting the reconciliatory processes involved in maintaining these ritual performances as exemplifications of the Malay ethos playing an important role in the re-aligning, re-balancing and healing of the Malay community’s psyche.

Keywords: Angin/winds, Semangat/spirits, Traditional Theatres, Trance.

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1494 The Design of Self-evolving Artificial Immune System II for Permutation Flow-shop Problem

Authors: Meng-Hui Chen, Pei-Chann Chang, Wei-Hsiu Huang

Abstract:

Artificial Immune System is adopted as a Heuristic Algorithm to solve the combinatorial problems for decades. Nevertheless, many of these applications took advantage of the benefit for applications but seldom proposed approaches for enhancing the efficiency. In this paper, we continue the previous research to develop a Self-evolving Artificial Immune System II via coordinating the T and B cell in Immune System and built a block-based artificial chromosome for speeding up the computation time and better performance for different complexities of problems. Through the design of Plasma cell and clonal selection which are relative the function of the Immune Response. The Immune Response will help the AIS have the global and local searching ability and preventing trapped in local optima. From the experimental result, the significant performance validates the SEAIS II is effective when solving the permutation flows-hop problems.

Keywords: Artificial Immune System, Clonal Selection, Immune Response, Permutation Flow-shop Scheduling Problems

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1493 Aged Society: A Pitfall

Authors: Siti Norfazlina Yusoff, Noorlailahusna Mohd Yusof

Abstract:

The aging of the workforce is occurring globally and has significant impact on organizations. The Malaysian population is ageing. Although, not as quickly as the populations of a number of Asian nations, or of parts of Europe; the rate is sufficient to cause a concern. The life expectancy of Malaysians has increased in year 2012 with an average of 73.8 years or equal to 71.1 years for males and 76.7 years for females. The birth and death rates are 26.05 births/1,000 population and 5.29 deaths/1,000 population respectively. These figures have placed a greater liability on the government’s shoulder, and have become a push factor for the country to revise a new retirement age for the public servants. The ‘aged population’ impinged on the new challenges faced by the Malaysian government, which had to deal with an unproductive aged workforce. A new retirement age from 58 to 60 years old has been introduced and this could have a positive effect on this cohort, in maintaining financial security. However, keeping older employees might affect organizations’ performance and productivity. The organizations need to pay more attention on them, since they are less effective and might be affected by numerous health problems. An innovative culture should be introduced and this could be a good indicator for organizations that deal with these ‘expensive’ workers.

Keywords: Aged workforce, financial relief, innovative culture retirement policy.

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1492 Local Investment Climate and the Role of (Sustainable) FDI: The Case of Georgia

Authors: Vakhtang Charaia

Abstract:

The article focuses on the role of FDI in Georgia’s economic development for the last decade. To attract as much FDI as possible a proper investment climate should be on the place - institutional, policy and regulatory environment. Well developed investment climate is the chance and motivation for both, local economy and foreign companies, to generate maximum income, create new work places and improve the quality of life. FDI trend is one of the best indicators of country’s economic sustainability and its attractiveness. Especially for small and developing countries, the amount of FDI matters, therefore most of such countries are trying to compete with each other through improving their investment climate according to different world famous indexes. As a result of impressive reforms since 2003, Georgian economy was benefited with large invasion of FDI, however the level of per capita GDP is still law in comparison to Eastern European countries and it should be improved. The main idea of the paper is to show a real linkage between FDI and employment ration, on the case of Georgian economy.

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment, Sustainable Development, Corruption, Employment/Unemployment.

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1491 Potentials of Raphia hookeri Wine in Livelihood Sustenance among Rural and Urban Populations in Nigeria

Authors: A. A. Aiyeloja, A.T. Oladele, O. Tumulo

Abstract:

Raphia wine is an important forest product with cultural significance besides its use as medicine and food in southern Nigeria. This work aims to evaluate the profitability of Raphia wine production and marketing in Sapele Local Government Area, Nigeria. Four communities (Sapele, Ogiede, Okuoke and Elume) were randomly selected for data collection via questionnaires among producers and marketers. A total of 50 producers and 34 marketers were randomly selected for interview. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, profit margin, multiple regression and rate of returns on investment (RORI). Annual average profit was highest in Okuoke (Producers – N90, 000.00, Marketers - N70, 000.00) and least in Sapele (Producers N50, 000.00, Marketers – N45, 000.00). Calculated RORI for marketers were Elume (40.0%), Okuoke (25.0%), Ogiede (33.3%) and Sapele (50.0%). Regression results showed that location has significant effects (0.000, ρ ≤ 0.05) on profit margins. Male (58.8%) and female (41.2%) invest in Raphia wine marketing, while males (100.0%) dominate production. Results showed that Raphia wine has potentials to generate household income, enhance food security and improve quality of life in rural, semi-urban and urban communities. Improved marketing channels, storage facilities and credit facilities via cooperative groups are recommended for producers and marketers by concerned agencies.

Keywords: Raphia wine, Profit margin, RORI, Livelihood, Nigeria.

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1490 Receding Horizon Filtering for Mobile Robot Systems with Cross-Correlated Sensor Noises

Authors: Il Young Song, Du Yong Kim, Vladimir Shin

Abstract:

This paper reports on a receding horizon filtering for mobile robot systems with cross-correlated sensor noises and uncertainties. Also, the effect of uncertain parameters in the state of the tracking error model performance is considered. A distributed fusion receding horizon filter is proposed. The distributed fusion filtering algorithm represents the optimal linear combination of the local filters under the minimum mean square error criterion. The derivation of the error cross-covariances between the local receding horizon filters is the key of this paper. Simulation results of the tracking mobile robot-s motion demonstrate high accuracy and computational efficiency of the distributed fusion receding horizon filter.

Keywords: Distributed fusion, fusion formula, Kalman filter, multisensor, receding horizon, wheeled mobile robot

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1489 Stochastic Simulation of Reaction-Diffusion Systems

Authors: Paola Lecca, Lorenzo Dematte

Abstract:

Reactiondiffusion systems are mathematical models that describe how the concentration of one or more substances distributed in space changes under the influence of local chemical reactions in which the substances are converted into each other, and diffusion which causes the substances to spread out in space. The classical representation of a reaction-diffusion system is given by semi-linear parabolic partial differential equations, whose general form is ÔêétX(x, t) = DΔX(x, t), where X(x, t) is the state vector, D is the matrix of the diffusion coefficients and Δ is the Laplace operator. If the solute move in an homogeneous system in thermal equilibrium, the diffusion coefficients are constants that do not depend on the local concentration of solvent and of solutes and on local temperature of the medium. In this paper a new stochastic reaction-diffusion model in which the diffusion coefficients are function of the local concentration, viscosity and frictional forces of solvent and solute is presented. Such a model provides a more realistic description of the molecular kinetics in non-homogenoeus and highly structured media as the intra- and inter-cellular spaces. The movement of a molecule A from a region i to a region j of the space is described as a first order reaction Ai k- → Aj , where the rate constant k depends on the diffusion coefficient. Representing the diffusional motion as a chemical reaction allows to assimilate a reaction-diffusion system to a pure reaction system and to simulate it with Gillespie-inspired stochastic simulation algorithms. The stochastic time evolution of the system is given by the occurrence of diffusion events and chemical reaction events. At each time step an event (reaction or diffusion) is selected from a probability distribution of waiting times determined by the specific speed of reaction and diffusion events. Redi is the software tool, developed to implement the model of reaction-diffusion kinetics and dynamics. It is a free software, that can be downloaded from http://www.cosbi.eu. To demonstrate the validity of the new reaction-diffusion model, the simulation results of the chaperone-assisted protein folding in cytoplasm obtained with Redi are reported. This case study is redrawing the attention of the scientific community due to current interests on protein aggregation as a potential cause for neurodegenerative diseases.

Keywords: Reaction-diffusion systems, Fick's law, stochastic simulation algorithm.

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1488 Discrete Polynomial Moments and Savitzky-Golay Smoothing

Authors: Paul O'Leary, Matthew Harker

Abstract:

This paper presents unified theory for local (Savitzky- Golay) and global polynomial smoothing. The algebraic framework can represent any polynomial approximation and is seamless from low degree local, to high degree global approximations. The representation of the smoothing operator as a projection onto orthonormal basis functions enables the computation of: the covariance matrix for noise propagation through the filter; the noise gain and; the frequency response of the polynomial filters. A virtually perfect Gram polynomial basis is synthesized, whereby polynomials of degree d = 1000 can be synthesized without significant errors. The perfect basis ensures that the filters are strictly polynomial preserving. Given n points and a support length ls = 2m + 1 then the smoothing operator is strictly linear phase for the points xi, i = m+1. . . n-m. The method is demonstrated on geometric surfaces data lying on an invariant 2D lattice.

Keywords: Gram polynomials, Savitzky-Golay Smoothing, Discrete Polynomial Moments

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1487 Quantum Statistical Mechanical Formulations of Three-Body Problems via Non-Local Potentials

Authors: A. Maghari, V. H. Maleki

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a quantum statistical mechanical formulation from our recently analytical expressions for partial-wave transition matrix of a three-particle system. We report the quantum reactive cross sections for three-body scattering processes 1+(2,3)→1+(2,3) as well as recombination 1+(2,3)→1+(3,1) between one atom and a weakly-bound dimer. The analytical expressions of three-particle transition matrices and their corresponding cross-sections were obtained from the threedimensional Faddeev equations subjected to the rank-two non-local separable potentials of the generalized Yamaguchi form. The equilibrium quantum statistical mechanical properties such partition function and equation of state as well as non-equilibrium quantum statistical properties such as transport cross-sections and their corresponding transport collision integrals were formulated analytically. This leads to obtain the transport properties, such as viscosity and diffusion coefficient of a moderate dense gas.

Keywords: Statistical mechanics, Nonlocal separable potential, three-body interaction, Faddeev equations.

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1486 Human Facial Expression Recognition using MANFIS Model

Authors: V. Gomathi, Dr. K. Ramar, A. Santhiyaku Jeevakumar

Abstract:

Facial expression analysis plays a significant role for human computer interaction. Automatic analysis of human facial expression is still a challenging problem with many applications. In this paper, we propose neuro-fuzzy based automatic facial expression recognition system to recognize the human facial expressions like happy, fear, sad, angry, disgust and surprise. Initially facial image is segmented into three regions from which the uniform Local Binary Pattern (LBP) texture features distributions are extracted and represented as a histogram descriptor. The facial expressions are recognized using Multiple Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (MANFIS). The proposed system designed and tested with JAFFE face database. The proposed model reports 94.29% of classification accuracy.

Keywords: Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, Facialexpression, Local binary pattern, Uniform Histogram

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1485 Solving Single Machine Total Weighted Tardiness Problem Using Gaussian Process Regression

Authors: Wanatchapong Kongkaew

Abstract:

This paper proposes an application of probabilistic technique, namely Gaussian process regression, for estimating an optimal sequence of the single machine with total weighted tardiness (SMTWT) scheduling problem. In this work, the Gaussian process regression (GPR) model is utilized to predict an optimal sequence of the SMTWT problem, and its solution is improved by using an iterated local search based on simulated annealing scheme, called GPRISA algorithm. The results show that the proposed GPRISA method achieves a very good performance and a reasonable trade-off between solution quality and time consumption. Moreover, in the comparison of deviation from the best-known solution, the proposed mechanism noticeably outperforms the recently existing approaches.

 

Keywords: Gaussian process regression, iterated local search, simulated annealing, single machine total weighted tardiness.

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1484 Signal Driven Sampling and Filtering a Promising Approach for Time Varying Signals Processing

Authors: Saeed Mian Qaisar, Laurent Fesquet, Marc Renaudin

Abstract:

The mobile systems are powered by batteries. Reducing the system power consumption is a key to increase its autonomy. It is known that mostly the systems are dealing with time varying signals. Thus, we aim to achieve power efficiency by smartly adapting the system processing activity in accordance with the input signal local characteristics. It is done by completely rethinking the processing chain, by adopting signal driven sampling and processing. In this context, a signal driven filtering technique, based on the level crossing sampling is devised. It adapts the sampling frequency and the filter order by analysing the input signal local variations. Thus, it correlates the processing activity with the signal variations. It leads towards a drastic computational gain of the proposed technique compared to the classical one.

Keywords: Level Crossing Sampling, Activity Selection, Adaptive Rate Filtering, Computational Complexity.

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1483 A BIM-Based Approach to Assess COVID-19 Risk Management Regarding Indoor Air Ventilation and Pedestrian Dynamics

Authors: T. Delval, C. Sauvage, Q. Jullien, R. Viano, T. Diallo, B. Collignan, G. Picinbono

Abstract:

In the context of the international spread of COVID-19, the Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB) has led a joint research with the French government authorities Hauts-de-Seine department, to analyse the risk in school spaces according to their configuration, ventilation system and spatial segmentation strategy. This paper describes the main results of this joint research. A multidisciplinary team involving experts in indoor air quality/ventilation, pedestrian movements and IT domains was established to develop a COVID risk analysis tool based on Building Information Model. The work started with specific analysis on two pilot schools in order to provide for the local administration specifications to minimize the spread of the virus. Different recommendations were published to optimize/validate the use of ventilation systems and the strategy of student occupancy and student flow segmentation within the building. This COVID expertise has been digitized in order to manage a quick risk analysis on the entire building that could be used by the public administration through an easy user interface implemented in a free BIM Management software. One of the most interesting results is to enable a dynamic comparison of different ventilation system scenarios and space occupation strategy inside the BIM model. This concurrent engineering approach provides users with the optimal solution according to both ventilation and pedestrian flow expertise.

Keywords: BIM, knowledge management, system expert, risk management, indoor ventilation, pedestrian movement, integrated design.

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1482 Selection of Extracurricular Education Facilities and Organizational Performance Analysis of Meg-city Spatial System

Authors: Chen Zhang, Wei Yaping

Abstract:

With the rapid expansion of city scale and the excessive concentration of population, achieving relative equality of extracurricular education resources and improving spatial service performance of relevant facilities become necessary arduous tasks. In urban space, extracurricular education facilities should offer better service to its targeted area and promote the equality and efficiency of education, which is accomplished by the allocation of facilities. Based on questionnaire and survey for local students in Hangzhou City in 2009, this study classifies extracurricular education facilities in meg-city and defines the equalization of these facilities. Then it is suggested to establish extracurricular education facilities system according to the development level of city and demands of local students, and to introduce a spatial analysis method into urban planning through the aspects of spatial distribution, travel cost and spatial service scope. Finally, the practice of nine sub-districts of Hangzhou is studied.

Keywords: extracurricular education facilities, equalization, spatial service performance, meg-city

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