Search results for: Sustainable Urban Energy Systems

Authors: B. Frączek

Abstract:

The paper analyses the usage of the Internet by university students in Visegrad Countries (4V Countries) who study economic fields in their formal and informal financial education and captures the areas of untapped potential of Internet in educational processes. Higher education and training, technological readiness, and the financial market development are in the group of pillars, that are key for efficiency driven economies. These three pillars have become an inspiration to the research on using the Internet in the financial education among economic university students as the group of the best educated people in finance. The financial education is a process that allows for improving the level of financial literacy. In turn, the financial literacy it is the set of financial knowledge, skills, awareness and patterns influencing the financial decisions. The level of financial literacy influences the level of financial well-being of individuals, determines the scale of saving of households and at the same time gives the greater chance for sustainable and more predictable development of the financial market with the positive impact on economy. The financial literacy is necessary for each group of society but its appropriate level is desirable especially in respect of economics students as future participants of financial markets as well as the experts and advisors in financial decision making. The low level of financial literacy is the great problem of many target groups in both developing and developed countries and the financial education is seen as the best way of improving this situation. Also the financial inclusion plays the special role in enhancing the level of financial literacy in the aspect of education by practice as well as due to interrelation between level of financial literacy and degree of financial inclusion. Despite many initiatives under financial education, the level of financial literacy is still very low. Scientists still search for new ways of solving this problem. One of the proposal is more effective usage of the new technology in financial education, especially the Internet, because of the growing popularity of e-learning and the increasing number of Internet users, especially among young people who are called the Generation Net. Due to special role of the university students studying the economics fields for the future financial markets, students of four universities from Visegrad Countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) were invited to participate in the survey. The aim of the article is to present the level and ways of using the Internet technology in financial education and indicating the so far unused or underused opportunities.

Keywords: Financial education, financial inclusion, financial literacy, usage of Internet in education.

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Authors: H. Ghanbarpour Asl, S. H. Pourtakdoust

Abstract:

Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is probably the most widely used estimation algorithm for nonlinear systems. However, not only it has difficulties arising from linearization but also many times it becomes numerically unstable because of computer round off errors that occur in the process of its implementation. To overcome linearization limitations, the unscented transformation (UT) was developed as a method to propagate mean and covariance information through nonlinear transformations. Kalman filter that uses UT for calculation of the first two statistical moments is called Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF). Square-root form of UKF (SRUKF) developed by Rudolph van der Merwe and Eric Wan to achieve numerical stability and guarantee positive semi-definiteness of the Kalman filter covariances. This paper develops another implementation of SR-UKF for sequential update measurement equation, and also derives a new UD covariance factorization filter for the implementation of UKF. This filter is equivalent to UKF but is computationally more efficient.

Keywords: Unscented Kalman filter, Square-root unscentedKalman filter, UD covariance factorization, Target tracking.

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Authors: Felix Che Shu

Abstract:

We give an explicit formula for the general solution of a one dimensional linear delay differential equation with multiple delays, which are integer multiples of the smallest delay. For an equation of this class with two delays, we derive two equations with single delays, whose stability is sufficient for the stability of the equation with two delays. This presents a new approach to the study of the stability of such systems. This approach avoids requirement of the knowledge of the location of the characteristic roots of the equation with multiple delays which are generally more difficult to determine, compared to the location of the characteristic roots of equations with a single delay.

Keywords: Delay Differential Equation, Explicit Solution, Exponential Stability, Lyapunov Exponents, Multiple Delays.

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Authors: Jaswinder Kaur, Satwinder Singh, Karanjeet Singh Kahlon

Abstract:

Accurate software cost estimates are critical to both developers and customers. They can be used for generating request for proposals, contract negotiations, scheduling, monitoring and control. The exact relationship between the attributes of the effort estimation is difficult to establish. A neural network is good at discovering relationships and pattern in the data. So, in this paper a comparative analysis among existing Halstead Model, Walston-Felix Model, Bailey-Basili Model, Doty Model and Neural Network Based Model is performed. Neural Network has outperformed the other considered models. Hence, we proposed Neural Network system as a soft computing approach to model the effort estimation of the software systems.

Keywords: Effort Estimation, Neural Network, Halstead Model, Walston-Felix Model, Bailey-Basili Model, Doty Model.

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Authors: Aditi Shukla, Ambarish S. Vidyarthi, Subir Samanta

Abstract:

The worldwide prevalence of H3N2 influenza virus and its increasing resistance to the existing drugs necessitates for the development of an improved/better targeting anti-influenza drug. H3N2 influenza neuraminidase is one of the two membrane-bound proteins belonging to group-2 neuraminidases. It acts as key player involved in viral pathogenicity and hence, is an important target of anti-influenza drugs. Oseltamivir is one of the potent drugs targeting this neuraminidase. In the present work, we have taken subtype N2 neuraminidase as the receptor and probable analogs of oseltamivir as drug molecules to study the protein-drug interaction in anticipation of finding efficient modified candidate compound. Oseltamivir analogs were made by modifying the functional groups using Marvin Sketch software and were docked using Schrodinger-s Glide. Oseltamivir analog 10 was detected to have significant energy value (16% less compared to Oseltamivir) and could be the probable lead molecule. It infers that some of the modified compounds can interact in a novel manner with increased hydrogen bonding at the active site of neuraminidase and it might be better than the original drug. Further work can be carried out such as enzymatic inhibition studies; synthesis and crystallizing the drug-target complex to analyze the interactions biologically.

Keywords: H3N2 Influenza, Neuraminidase, Oseltamiviranalogs, structure based drug designing

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Authors: Mohamed K. Metwally, Sherif H. El-Gohary, Kyung Min Byun, Seung Moo Han, Soo Yeol Lee, Min Hyoung Cho, Gon Khang, Jinsung Cho, Tae-Seong Kim

Abstract:

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a non-invasive and non-ionizing imaging modality that combines the absorption contrast of light with ultrasound resolution. Laser is used to deposit optical energy into a target (i.e., optical fluence). Consequently, the target temperature rises, and then thermal expansion occurs that leads to generating a PA signal. In general, most image reconstruction algorithms for PAI assume uniform fluence within an imaging object. However, it is known that optical fluence distribution within the object is non-uniform. This could affect the reconstruction of PA images. In this study, we have investigated the influence of optical fluence distribution on PA back-propagation imaging using finite element method. The uniform fluence was simulated as a triangular waveform within the object of interest. The non-uniform fluence distribution was estimated by solving light propagation within a tissue model via Monte Carlo method. The results show that the PA signal in the case of non-uniform fluence is wider than the uniform case by 23%. The frequency spectrum of the PA signal due to the non-uniform fluence has missed some high frequency components in comparison to the uniform case. Consequently, the reconstructed image with the non-uniform fluence exhibits a strong smoothing effect.

Keywords: Finite Element Method, Fluence Distribution, Monte Carlo Method, Photoacoustic Imaging.

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Authors: Nilson Barbieri, Bruno Matos Martins, Gabriel de Sant'Anna Vitor Barbieri

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In more complex systems, such as automotive gearbox, a rigorous treatment of the data is necessary because there are several moving parts (gears, bearings, shafts, etc.), and in this way, there are several possible sources of errors and also noise. The basic objective of this work is the detection of damage in automotive gearbox. The detection methods used are the wavelet method, the bispectrum; advanced filtering techniques (selective filtering) of vibrational signals and mathematical morphology. Gearbox vibration tests were performed (gearboxes in good condition and with defects) of a production line of a large vehicle assembler. The vibration signals are obtained using five accelerometers in different positions of the sample. The results obtained using the kurtosis, bispectrum, wavelet and mathematical morphology showed that it is possible to identify the existence of defects in automotive gearboxes.

Keywords: Automotive gearbox, mathematical morphology, wavelet, bispectrum.

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Authors: Mohammad Ghavami, Reza S. Dilmaghani

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This paper presents an adaptive framework for modelling financial markets using equity risk premiums, risk free rates and volatilities. The recorded economic factors are initially used to train four adaptive filters for a certain limited period of time in the past. Once the systems are trained, the adjusted coefficients are used for modelling and prediction of an important financial market index. Two different approaches based on least mean squares (LMS) and recursive least squares (RLS) algorithms are investigated. Performance analysis of each method in terms of the mean squared error (MSE) is presented and the results are discussed. Computer simulations carried out using recorded data show MSEs of 4% and 3.4% for the next month prediction using LMS and RLS adaptive algorithms, respectively. In terms of twelve months prediction, RLS method shows a better tendency estimation compared to the LMS algorithm.

Keywords: Prediction of financial markets, Adaptive methods, MSE, LSE.

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Authors: M. Aminu Sanda

Abstract:

This paper examines challenges to the implementation and internalization of benchmarked management practices by research organizations in developing economies as transformative tools towards commercialization. The purpose is to understand the contributing influence of internal organizational factors from both situational and historical perspectives towards the practice implementation constraints, and also to provide theoretical understanding on how systemic formations and transformations in the organizations’ activities influenced the level to which their desired needs are attained. The results showed that the variability in the outcomes of the organizations’ transformation processes was indicative of their (in)ability to deal with the impacts of cumulated tensions in the systemic interfaces of their organizational activity systems. It is concluded that the functionalities of the systemic interfaces influence the functionality of the organizational activity system.

Keywords: Organizational activity system, practice implementation, systemic formations, systemic transformations, management re-engineering, R&D firms.

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Authors: Sallem F., Dahhou B., Kamoun A.

Abstract:

In this work, the main problem considered is the  detection and the isolation of the actuator fault. A new formulation of  the linear system is generated to obtain the conditions of the actuator  fault diagnosis. The proposed method is based on the representation  of the actuator as a subsystem connected with the process system in  cascade manner. The designed formulation is generated to obtain the  conditions of the actuator fault detection and isolation. Detectability  conditions are expressed in terms of the invertibility notions. An  example and a comparative analysis with the classic formulation  illustrate the performances of such approach for simple actuator fault  diagnosis by using the linear model of nuclear reactor.

 

Keywords: Actuator fault, Fault detection, left invertibility, nuclear reactor, observability, parameter intervals, system inversion.

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Authors: Yan Su, Jane H. Davidson, F. A. Kulacki

Abstract:

The RANS method with Saffman-s turbulence model was employed to solve the time-dependent turbulent Navier-Stokes and energy equations for oscillating pipe flows. The method of partial sums of the Fourier series is used to analyze the harmonic velocity and temperature results. The complete structures of the oscillating pipe flows and the averaged Nusselt numbers on the tube wall are provided by numerical simulation over wide ranges of ReA and ReR. Present numerical code is validated by comparing the laminar flow results to analytic solutions and turbulence flow results to published experimental data at lower and higher Reynolds numbers respectively. The effects of ReA and ReR on the velocity, temperature and Nusselt number distributions have been di scussed. The enhancement of the heat transfer due to oscillating flows has also been presented. By the way of analyzing the overall Nusselt number over wide ranges of the Reynolds number Re and Keulegan- Carpenter number KC, the optimal ratio of the tube diameter over the oscillation amplitude is obtained based on the existence of a nearly constant optimal KC number. The potential application of the present results in sea water cooling has also been discussed.

Keywords: Keulegan-Carpenter number, Nusselt number, Oscillating pipe flows, Reynolds number

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Authors: Hossein Zeinivand, Florimond De Smedt

Abstract:

Snow cover is an important phenomenon in hydrology, hence modeling the snow accumulation and melting is an important issue in places where snowmelt significantly contributes to runoff and has significant effect on water balance. The physics-based models are invariably distributed, with the basin disaggregated into zones or grid cells. Satellites images provide valuable data to verify the accuracy of spatially distributed model outputs. In this study a spatially distributed physically based model (WetSpa) was applied to predict snow cover and melting in the Latyan dam watershed in Iran. Snowmelt is simulated based on an energy balance approach. The model is applied and calibrated with one year of observed daily precipitation, air temperature, windspeed, and daily potential evaporation. The predicted snow-covered area is compared with remotely sensed images (MODIS). The results show that simulated snow cover area SCA has a good agreement with satellite image snow cover area SCA from MODIS images. The model performance is also tested by statistical and graphical comparison of simulated and measured discharges entering the Latyan dam reservoir.

Keywords: Physical based model, Satellite image, Snow covers.

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Authors: Mahmoud A. El-Banna

Abstract:

The need to increase the efficiency of health care systems is becoming an obligation, and one of area of improvement is the discharge process. The objective of this work is to minimize the patients discharge time (for insured patients) to be less than 50 minutes by using six sigma approach, this improvement will also: lead to an increase in customer satisfaction, increase the number of admissions and turnover on the rooms, increase hospital profitability.Three different departments were considered in this study: Female, Male, and Paediatrics. Six Sigma approach coupled with simulation has been applied to reduce the patients discharge time for pediatrics, female, and male departments at hospital. Upon applying these recommendations at hospital: 60%, 80%, and 22% of insured female, male, and pediatrics patients respectively will have discharge time less than the upper specification time i.e. 50 min.

Keywords: Discharge Time, Healthcare, Hospitals, Patients, Process Improvement, Six Sigma, Simulation

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Authors: Andrea Bencsik

Abstract:

Gurus of the Classical Management School (like Taylor, Fayol and Ford) had an opinion that work must be delegated to the individual and the individual has to be instructed, his work assessed and paid based on individual performance. The theories of the Human Relations School have changed this mentality regarding the concept of groups. They came to the conclusion that the influence of groups greatly affects the behaviour and performance of its members. Group theories today are characterized by problem-solving teams and self-managing groups authorized to make decisions and execute; professional communities also play an important role during the operation of knowledge management systems. In this theoretical research we try to find answers to a question: what kind of characteristics (professional competencies, personal features, etc.) a successful team needs to manage a change to operate a knowledge management system step by step.

Keywords: Knowledge management, team, team knowledge, team memory, team roles.

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Authors: R. Rishma Rodrigo, R. Radhika, M. Vanitha Lakshmi

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Numerous signal processing based speech enhancement systems have been proposed to improve intelligibility in the presence of noise. Traditionally, studies of neural vowel encoding have focused on the representation of formants (peaks in vowel spectra) in the discharge patterns of the population of auditory-nerve (AN) fibers. A method is presented for recording high-frequency speech components into a low-frequency region, to increase audibility for hearing loss listeners. The purpose of the paper is to enhance the formant of the speech based on the Kaiser window. The pitch and formant of the signal is based on the auto correlation, zero crossing and magnitude difference function. The formant enhancement stage aims to restore the representation of formants at the level of the midbrain. A MATLAB software’s are used for the implementation of the system with low complexity is developed.

Keywords: Formant estimation, formant enhancement, pitch detection, speech analysis.

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Authors: Pavel Y. Tabakov, Kevin Duffy

Abstract:

The present study presents a new approach to automatic data clustering and classification problems in large and complex databases and, at the same time, derives specific types of explicit rules describing each cluster. The method works well in both sparse and dense multidimensional data spaces. The members of the data space can be of the same nature or represent different classes. A number of N-dimensional ellipsoids are used for enclosing the data clouds. Due to the geometry of an ellipsoid and its free rotation in space the detection of clusters becomes very efficient. The method is based on genetic algorithms that are used for the optimization of location, orientation and geometric characteristics of the hyper-ellipsoids. The proposed approach can serve as a basis for the development of general knowledge systems for discovering hidden knowledge and unexpected patterns and rules in various large databases.

Keywords: Classification, clustering, data minig, genetic algorithms.

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Authors: Nayera E. El-Gharably, Khaled S. El-Kilany, Aziz E. El-Sayed

Abstract:

A key element of many distribution systems is the routing and scheduling of vehicles servicing a set of customers. A wide variety of exact and approximate algorithms have been proposed for solving the vehicle routing problems (VRP). Exact algorithms can only solve relatively small problems of VRP, which is classified as NP-Hard. Several approximate algorithms have proven successful in finding a feasible solution not necessarily optimum. Although different parts of the problem are stochastic in nature; yet, limited work relevant to the application of discrete event system simulation has addressed the problem. Presented here is optimization using simulation of VRP; where, a simplified problem has been developed in the ExtendSimTM simulation environment; where, ExtendSimTM evolutionary optimizer is used to minimize the total transportation cost of the problem. Results obtained from the model are very satisfactory. Further complexities of the problem are proposed for consideration in the future.

Keywords: Discrete event system simulation, optimization using simulation, vehicle routing problem.

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Authors: Badar Muneer, Waseem Shabir, Faisal Karim Shaikh

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Substrate Integrated waveguide based 6-element array of Planar Inverted F antenna (PIFA) has been presented and analyzed parametrically in this paper. The antenna is fed with coupled transverse slots on a plate laminated waveguide cavity to ensure wide bandwidth and simplicity of feeding network. The two-layer structure has one layer dedicated for feeding network and the top layer dedicated for radiating elements. It has been demonstrated that the presented feeding technique for feeding such class of array antennas can be far simple in structure and miniaturized in size when it comes to designing large phased array antenna systems. A good return loss and standing wave ratio of 2:1 has been achieved while maintaining properties of typical PIFA.

Keywords: Feeding network, laminated waveguide, PIFA, transverse slots.

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Authors: Daniel Kade, Oğuzhan Özcan, Rikard Lindell

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Motion capturing technology has been used for quite a while and several research has been done within this area. Nevertheless, we discovered open issues within current motion capturing environments. In this paper we provide a state-of-the-art overview of the addressed research areas and show issues with current motion capturing environments. Observations, interviews and questionnaires have been used to reveal the challenges actors are currently facing in a motion capturing environment. Furthermore, the idea to create a more immersive motion capturing environment to improve the acting performances and motion capturing outcomes as a potential solution is introduced. It is hereby the goal to explain the found open issues and the developed ideas which shall serve for further research as a basis. Moreover, a methodology to address the interaction and systems design issues is proposed. A future outcome could be that motion capture actors are able to perform more naturally, especially if using a non-body-worn solution.

Keywords: Immersive acting environment, Interaction in a mediated environment, Motion capturing, MoCap.

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Authors: Weiwen Li, Hao Huang, Chengmao You, Jianji Liao, Lei Wang, Lina An

Abstract:

Zooplankton are a central issue in the ecology which makes a great contribution to maintaining the balance of an ecosystem. It is critical in promoting the material cycle and energy flow within the ecosystems. A generalized additive model (GAM) was applied to analyze the relationships between the density (individuals per m³) of zooplankton and other variables in West Daya Bay. All data used in this analysis (the survey month, survey station (longitude and latitude), the depth of the water column, the superficial concentration of chlorophyll a, the benthonic concentration of chlorophyll a, the number of zooplankton species and the number of zooplankton species) were collected through monthly scientific surveys during January to December 2016. GLM model (generalized linear model) was used to choose the significant variables’ impact on the density of zooplankton, and the GAM was employed to analyze the relationship between the density of zooplankton and the significant variables. The results showed that the density of zooplankton increased with an increase of the benthonic concentration of chlorophyll a, but decreased with a decrease in the depth of the water column. Both high numbers of zooplankton species and the overall total number of zooplankton individuals led to a higher density of zooplankton.

Keywords: Density, generalized linear model, generalized additive model, the West Daya Bay, zooplankton.

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Authors: Shankar Kambhampaty, Harish Rohan Kambhampaty

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Data in IT systems in enterprises have been growing at phenomenal pace. This has provided opportunities to run analytics to gather intelligence on key business parameters that enable them to provide better products and services to customers. While there are several Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) and Business Intelligence (BI) tools and technologies available in marketplace to run analytics, there is a need for an integrated view when developing intelligent solutions in enterprises. This paper progressively elaborates a reference model for enterprise solutions, builds an integrated view of data, information and intelligence components and presents a reference architecture for intelligent enterprise solutions. Finally, it applies the reference architecture to an insurance organization. The reference architecture is the outcome of experience and insights gathered from developing intelligent solutions for several organizations.

Keywords: Architecture, model, intelligence, artificial intelligence, business intelligence, AI, BI, ML, analytics, enterprise.

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Authors: H. Bagheri, H. Emami, M. R. Pakravan

Abstract:

Crosstalk is the major limiting issue in very high bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL) systems in terms of bit-rate or service coverage. At the central office side, joint signal processing accompanied by appropriate power allocation enables complex multiuser processors to provide near capacity rates. Unfortunately complexity grows with the square of the number of lines within a binder, so by taking into account that there are only a few dominant crosstalkers who contribute to main part of crosstalk power, the canceller structure can be simplified which resulted in a much lower run-time complexity. In this paper, a multiuser power control scheme, namely iterative waterfilling, is combined with previously proposed partial crosstalk cancellation approaches to demonstrate the best ever achieved performance which is verified by simulation results.

Keywords: iterative waterfilling, partial crosstalk cancellation, run-time complexity, VDSL.

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Authors: M. Z Md Zain, M. O. Tokhi, M. S. Alam

Abstract:

This paper describes a practical approach to design and develop a hybrid learning with acceleration feedback control (HLC) scheme for input tracking and end-point vibration suppression of flexible manipulator systems. Initially, a collocated proportionalderivative (PD) control scheme using hub-angle and hub-velocity feedback is developed for control of rigid-body motion of the system. This is then extended to incorporate a further hybrid control scheme of the collocated PD control and iterative learning control with acceleration feedback using genetic algorithms (GAs) to optimize the learning parameters. Experimental results of the response of the manipulator with the control schemes are presented in the time and frequency domains. The performance of the HLC is assessed in terms of input tracking, level of vibration reduction at resonance modes and robustness with various payloads.

Keywords: Flexible manipulator, iterative learning control, vibration suppression.

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Authors: Sanga Monthatipkul, Pio Iovenitti, Igor Sbarski

Abstract:

Bicycle usage for exercise, recreation, and commuting to work in Australia shows that pedal cycling is the fourth most popular activity with 10.6% increase in participants between 2001 and 2007. As with other means of transport, accident and injury becomes common although mandatory bicycle helmet wearing has been introduced. The research aims to develop a face surrogate made of sandwich of rigid foam and rubber sheets to represent human facial bone under blunt impact. The facial surrogate will serve as an important test device for further development of facial-impact protection for cyclist. A test procedure was developed to simulate the energy of impact and record data to evaluate the effect of impact on facial bones. Drop tests were performed to establish a suitable combination of materials. It was found that the sandwich structure of rigid extruded-polystyrene foam (density of 40 kg/m3 with a pattern of 6-mm-holes), Neoprene rubber sponge, and Abrasaflex rubber backing, had impact characteristics comparable to that of human facial bone. In particular, the foam thickness of 30 mm and 25 mm was found suitable to represent human zygoma (cheekbone) and maxilla (upper-jaw bone), respectively.

Keywords: Facial impact protection, face surrogate, cyclist, accident prevention

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Authors: Omid Adibi, Nategheh Najafpour, Bijan Farhanieh, Hossein Afshin

Abstract:

Gas release from the pipelines is one of the main factors in the gas industry accidents. Released gas ejects from the pipeline as a free jet and in the growth process, the fuel gets mixed with the ambient air. Accordingly, an accidental spark will release the chemical energy of the mixture with an explosion. Gas explosion damages the equipment and endangers the life of staffs. So due to importance of safety in gas industries, prevision of accident can reduce the number of the casualties. In this paper, natural gas leakages from the low pressure pipelines are studied in two steps: 1) the simulation of mixing process and identification of flammable zones and 2) the simulation of wind effects on the mixing process. The numerical simulations were performed by using the finite volume method and the pressure-based algorithm. Also, for the grid generation the structured method was used. The results show that, in just 6.4 s after accident, released natural gas could penetrate to 40 m in vertical and 20 m in horizontal direction. Moreover, the results show that the wind speed is a key factor in dispersion process. In fact, the wind transports the flammable zones into the downstream. Hence, to improve the safety of the people and human property, it is preferable to construct gas facilities and buildings in the opposite side of prevailing wind direction.

Keywords: Flammable zones, gas pipelines, numerical simulation, wind effects.

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Authors: Dušan Kravec, Ondrej Staš, Marián Tolnay, Michal Bachratý

Abstract:

This article gives a short preview of the new software created especially for palletizing process in automated production systems. Each chapter of this article is about problem solving in development of modules in Java programming language. First part describes structure of the software, its modules and data flow between them. Second part describes all deployment methods, which are implemented in the software. Next chapter is about twodimensional editor created for manipulation with objects in each layer of the load and gives calculations for collision control. Module of virtual reality used for three-dimensional preview and creation of the load is described in the fifth chapter. The last part of this article describes communication and data flow between control system of the robot, vision system and software.

Keywords: Palletizing, deployment methods, palletizing software, virtual reality in palletizing.

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Authors: Glauber Cruz, Patrícia A. S. Monteiro, Carlos E. M. Braz, Paulo Seleghin Jr., Igor Polikarpov, Paula M.Crnkovic

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Enzymatic hydrolysis is one of the major steps involved in the conversion from sugarcane bagasse to yield ethanol. This process offers potential for yields and selectivity higher, lower energy costs and milder operating conditions than chemical processes. However, the presence of some factors such as lignin content, crystallinity degree of the cellulose, and particle sizes, limits the digestibility of the cellulose present in the lignocellulosic biomasses. Pretreatment aims to improve the access of the enzyme to the substrate. In this study sugarcane bagasse was submitted chemical pretreatment that consisted of two consecutive steps, the first with dilute sulfuric acid (1 % (v/v) H2SO4), and the second with alkaline solutions with different concentrations of NaOH (1, 2, 3 and 4 % (w/v)). Thermal Analysis (TG/ DTG and DTA) was used to evaluate hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin contents in the samples. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to evaluate the morphological structures of the in natura and chemically treated samples. Results showed that pretreatments were effective in chemical degradation of lignocellulosic materials of the samples, and also was possible to observe the morphological changes occurring in the biomasses after pretreatments.

Keywords: Alkaline solutions, bioethanol production, dilute acid, enzymatic hydrolysis, lignocellulosic biomass.

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Authors: Ginhsuan Li, Chiuyun Hung, Desheng Chen, Yiwen Wang

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Application-Specific Instruction (ASI ) set Processors (ASIP) have become an important design choice for embedded systems due to runtime flexibility, which cannot be provided by custom ASIC solutions. One major bottleneck in maximizing ASIP performance is the limitation on the data bandwidth between the General Purpose Register File (GPRF) and ASIs. This paper presents the Implicit Registers (IRs) to provide the desirable data bandwidth. An ASI Input/Output model is proposed to formulate the overheads of the additional data transfer between the GPRF and IRs, therefore, an IRs allocation algorithm is used to achieve the better performance by minimizing the number of extra data transfer instructions. The experiment results show an up to 3.33x speedup compared to the results without using IRs.

Keywords: Application-Specific Instruction-set Processors, data bandwidth, configurable processor, implicit register.

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Authors: Jianwei Wang, Timo Korhonen, Yuping Zhao

Abstract:

Cross layer optimization based on utility functions has been recently studied extensively, meanwhile, numerous types of utility functions have been examined in the corresponding literature. However, a major drawback is that most utility functions take a fixed mathematical form or are based on simple combining, which can not fully exploit available information. In this paper, we formulate a framework of cross layer optimization based on Adaptively Weighted Utility Functions (AWUF) for fairness balancing in OFDMA networks. Under this framework, a two-step allocation algorithm is provided as a sub-optimal solution, whose control parameters can be updated in real-time to accommodate instantaneous QoS constrains. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm achieves high throughput while balancing the fairness among multiple users.

Keywords: OFDMA, Fairness, AWUF, QoS.

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Authors: Seung You Na, Daejung Shin, Jin Young Kim, Joo Hyun Jung, Yong-Gwan Won

Abstract:

To explore pipelines is one of various bio-mimetic robot applications. The robot may work in common buildings such as between ceilings and ducts, in addition to complicated and massive pipeline systems of large industrial plants. The bio-mimetic robot finds any troubled area or malfunction and then reports its data. Importantly, it can not only prepare for but also react to any abnormal routes in the pipeline. The pipeline monitoring tasks require special types of mobile robots. For an effective movement along a pipeline, the movement of the robot will be similar to that of insects or crawling animals. During its movement along the pipelines, a pipeline monitoring robot has an important task of finding the shapes of the approaching path on the pipes. In this paper we propose an effective solution to the pipeline pattern recognition, based on the fuzzy classification rules for the measured IR distance data.

Keywords: Bio-mimetic robots, Plant pipes monitoring, Pipepattern recognition.

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