Search results for: Geographical information systems (GIS)

Authors: Mohammed A. Gharawi, Majed M. Khoja

Abstract:

This paper is a report on the findings of a study conducted at the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in Saudi Arabia. The paper applied both qualitative and quantitative approaches to assess the levels of basic computer applications’ skills among students enrolled in the preparatory programs of the institution. Qualitative data have been collected from semi-structured interviews with the instructors who have previously been assigned to teach Introduction to information technology courses. Quantitative data were collected by executing a self-report questionnaire and a written statistical test. Three hundred eighty enrolled students responded to the questionnaire and one hundred forty two accomplished the statistical test. The results indicate the lack of necessary skills to deal with computer applications among most of the students who are enrolled in the IPA’s preparatory programs.

Keywords: Assessment, Computer Applications, Computer Literacy, Institute of Public Administration, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors: Ali Ghaffari, A. Hosein Shamekhi, Akbar Saki, Ehsan Kamrani

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In order to meet the limits imposed on automotive emissions, engine control systems are required to constrain air/fuel ratio (AFR) in a narrow band around the stoichiometric value, due to the strong decay of catalyst efficiency in case of rich or lean mixture. This paper presents a model of a sample spark ignition engine and demonstrates Simulink-s capabilities to model an internal combustion engine from the throttle to the crankshaft output. We used welldefined physical principles supplemented, where appropriate, with empirical relationships that describe the system-s dynamic behavior without introducing unnecessary complexity. We also presents a PID tuning method that uses an adaptive fuzzy system to model the relationship between the controller gains and the target output response, with the response specification set by desired percent overshoot and settling time. The adaptive fuzzy based input-output model is then used to tune on-line the PID gains for different response specifications. Experimental results demonstrate that better performance can be achieved with adaptive fuzzy tuning relative to similar alternative control strategies. The actual response specifications with adaptive fuzzy matched the desired response specifications.

Keywords: Modelling, Air–fuel ratio control, SI engine, Adaptive fuzzy Control.

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Authors: Jiri Sebesta

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Phase locked loops (PLL) and delay locked loops (DLL) play an important role in establishing coherent references (phase of carrier and symbol timing) in digital communication systems. Fully digital receiver including digital carrier synchronizer and symbol timing synchronizer fulfils the conditions for universal multi-mode communication receiver with option of symbol rate setting over several digit places and long-term stability of requirement parameters. Afterwards it is necessary to realize PLL and DLL in synchronizer in digital form and to approach to these subsystems as a discrete representation of analog template. Analysis of discrete phase locked loop (DPLL) or discrete delay locked loop (DDLL) and technique to determine their characteristics based on analog (continuous-time) template is performed in this posed paper. There are derived transmission response and error function for 1st order discrete locked loop and resulting equations and graphical representations for 2nd order one. It is shown that the spectrum translation due to sampling takes effect at frequency characteristics computing for specific values of loop parameters.

Keywords: Carrier synchronization, coherent demodulation, software defined receiver, symbol timing.

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Authors: Mesfer Al Duhayyim, Paul Newbury

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This paper proposes an effective adaptive e-learning system that uses a coloured concept map to show the learner's knowledge level for each concept in the chosen subject area. A Fuzzy logic system is used to evaluate the learner's knowledge level for each concept in the domain, and produce a ranked concept list of learning materials to address weaknesses in the learner’s understanding. This system obtains information on the learner's understanding of concepts by an initial pre-test before the system is used for learning and a post-test after using the learning system. A Fuzzy logic system is used to produce a weighted concept map during the learning process. The aim of this research is to prove that such a proposed novel adapted e-learning system will enhance learner's performance and understanding. In addition, this research aims to increase participants' overall understanding of their learning level by providing a coloured concept map of understanding followed by a ranked concepts list of learning materials.

Keywords: Adaptive e-learning system, coloured concept map, fuzzy logic, ranked concept list.

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Authors: Irshad Ahmad, Abdul Muhamin Naeem, Muhammad Islam, Shahid Nawaz

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Information on weed distribution within the field is necessary to implement spatially variable herbicide application. Since hand labor is costly, an automated weed control system could be feasible. This paper deals with the development of an algorithm for real time specific weed recognition system based on Histogram Maxima with threshold of an image that is used for the weed classification. This algorithm is specifically developed to classify images into broad and narrow class for real-time selective herbicide application. The developed system has been tested on weeds in the lab, which have shown that the system to be very effectiveness in weed identification. Further the results show a very reliable performance on images of weeds taken under varying field conditions. The analysis of the results shows over 95 percent classification accuracy over 140 sample images (broad and narrow) with 70 samples from each category of weeds.

Keywords: Image processing, real-time recognition, weeddetection.

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Authors: Petar Sarajcev, Josip Vasilj, Damir Jakus

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This paper presents a novel statistical description of the counterpoise effective length due to lightning surges, where the (impulse) effective length had been obtained by means of regressive formulas applied to the transient simulation results. The effective length is described in terms of a statistical distribution function, from which median, mean, variance, and other parameters of interest could be readily obtained. The influence of lightning current amplitude, lightning front duration, and soil resistivity on the effective length has been accounted for, assuming statistical nature of these parameters. A method for determining the optimal counterpoise length, in terms of the statistical impulse effective length, is also presented. It is based on estimating the number of dangerous events associated with lightning strikes. Proposed statistical description and the associated method provide valuable information which could aid the design engineer in optimising physical lengths of counterpoises in different grounding arrangements and soil resistivity situations.

Keywords: Counterpoise, Grounding conductor, Effective length, Lightning, Monte Carlo method, Statistical distribution.

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Authors: Suraka Bhattacharjee, Ranjan Chaudhury

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The interaction between the charge degrees of freedom for itinerant antiferromagnets is investigated in terms of generalized charge stiffness constant corresponding to nearest neighbour t-J model and t1-t2-t3-J model. The low dimensional hole doped antiferromagnets are the well known systems that can be described by the t-J-like models. Accordingly, we have used these models to investigate the fermionic pairing possibilities and the coupling between the itinerant charge degrees of freedom. A detailed comparison between spin and charge couplings highlights that the charge and spin couplings show very similar behaviour in the over-doped region, whereas, they show completely different trends in the lower doping regimes. Moreover, a qualitative equivalence between generalized charge stiffness and effective Coulomb interaction is also established based on the comparisons with other theoretical and experimental results. Thus it is obvious that the enhanced possibility of fermionic pairing is inherent in the reduction of Coulomb repulsion with increase in doping concentration. However, the increased possibility can not give rise to pairing without the presence of any other pair producing mechanism outside the t-J model. Therefore, one can conclude that the t-J-like models themselves solely are not capable of producing conventional momentum-based superconducting pairing on their own.

Keywords: Generalized charge stiffness constant, charge coupling, effective Coulomb interaction, t-J-like models, momentum-space pairing.

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Authors: Abdullah A Wardak

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This paper describes how the correct endian mode of the TMS320C6713 DSK board can be identified. It also explains how the TMS320C6713 DSK board can be used in the little endian and in the big endian modes for assembly language programming in particular and for signal processing in general. Similarly, it discusses how crucially important it is for a user of the TMS320C6713 DSK board to identify the mode of operation and then use it correctly during the development stages of the assembly language programming; otherwise, it will cause unnecessary confusion and erroneous results as far as storing data into the memory and loading data from the memory is concerned. Furthermore, it highlights and strongly recommends to the users of the TMS320C6713 DSK board to be aware of the availability and importance of various display options in the Code Composer Studio (CCS) for correctly interpreting and displaying the desired data in the memory. The information presented in this paper will be of great importance and interest to those practitioners and developers who wants to use the TMS320C6713 DSK board for assembly language programming as well as input-output signal processing manipulations. Finally, examples that clearly illustrate the concept are presented.

Keywords: Assembly language programming, big endian mode, little endian mode, signal processing.

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Authors: A. Ouanane, A. Serir

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In this paper, a novel algorithm based on Ridgelet Transform and support vector machine is proposed for human action recognition. The Ridgelet transform is a directional multi-resolution transform and it is more suitable for describing the human action by performing its directional information to form spatial features vectors. The dynamic transition between the spatial features is carried out using both the Principal Component Analysis and clustering algorithm K-means. First, the Principal Component Analysis is used to reduce the dimensionality of the obtained vectors. Then, the kmeans algorithm is then used to perform the obtained vectors to form the spatio-temporal pattern, called set-of-labels, according to given periodicity of human action. Finally, a Support Machine classifier is used to discriminate between the different human actions. Different tests are conducted on popular Datasets, such as Weizmann and KTH. The obtained results show that the proposed method provides more significant accuracy rate and it drives more robustness in very challenging situations such as lighting changes, scaling and dynamic environment

Keywords: Human action, Ridgelet Transform, PCA, K-means, SVM.

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Authors: Syuichi Kubota, Kayoko Yamamoto

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This study aims to identify the current situation and problems of environmental statement for major four home appliances (refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and television receivers) sold at online stores in Japan, and then to suggest how to improve the situation, through a questionnaire survey conducted among businesses that operate online stores and online malls with multiple online stores. Results of the study boil down to: (1) It is found out that environmental statement for the home appliances at online stores have four problems; (i) less information on “three Rs" and “chemical substances" than the one on “energy conservation", (ii) cost for providing environmental statement, (iii) issues associated with a label and mark placement, and (iv) issues associated with energy conservation statement. (2) Improvements are suggested for each of the four problems listed above, and shown are (i) the effectiveness of, and need to promote, a label and mark placement, (ii) cost burden on buyers, and (iii) need of active efforts made by businesses and of dissemination of legal regulations to businesses.

Keywords: Home Appliances, Environmentally-FriendlyProduct, Environmental Statement, Online Store, Japan.

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Authors: P I Jagad, B P Puranik, A W Date

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Flow through micro and mini channels requires relatively high driving pressure due to the large fluid pressure drop through these channels. Consequently the forces acting on the walls of the channel due to the fluid pressure are also large. Due to these forces there are displacement fields set up in the solid substrate containing the channels. If the movement of the substrate is constrained at some points, then stress fields are established in the substrate. On the other hand, if the deformation of the channel shape is sufficiently large then its effect on the fluid flow is important to be calculated. Such coupled fluid-solid systems form a class of problems known as fluidstructure interactions. In the present work a co-located finite volume discretization procedure on unstructured meshes is described for solving fluid-structure interaction type of problems. A linear elastic solid is assumed for which the effect of the channel deformation on the flow is neglected. Thus the governing equations for the fluid and the solid are decoupled and are solved separately. The procedure is validated by solving two benchmark problems, one from fluid mechanics and another from solid mechanics. A fluid-structure interaction problem of flow through a U-shaped channel embedded in a plate is solved.

Keywords: Finite volume method, flow induced stresses, fluidstructureinteraction, unstructured meshes.

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Authors: Randa Ibrahim Elanwar, Mohsen Rashwan, Samia Mashali

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In this paper we propose a segmentation system for unconstrained Arabic online handwriting. An essential problem addressed by analytical-based word recognition system. The system is composed of two-stages the first is a newly special designed hidden Markov model (HMM) and the second is a rules based stage. In our system, handwritten words are broken up into characters by simultaneous segmentation-recognition using HMMs of unique design trained using online features most of which are novel. The HMM output characters boundaries represent the proposed segmentation points (PSP) which are then validated by rules-based post stage without any contextual information help to solve different segmentation errors. The HMM has been designed and tested using a self collected dataset (OHASD) [1]. Most errors cases are cured and remarkable segmentation enhancement is achieved. Very promising word and character segmentation rates are obtained regarding the unconstrained Arabic handwriting difficulty and not using context help.

Keywords: Arabic, Hidden Markov Models, online handwriting, word segmentation

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Authors: Mamta Juneja, Parvinder S. Sandhu, Ekta Walia

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Steganography is the process of hiding one file inside another such that others can neither identify the meaning of the embedded object, nor even recognize its existence. Current trends favor using digital image files as the cover file to hide another digital file that contains the secret message or information. One of the most common methods of implementation is Least Significant Bit Insertion, in which the least significant bit of every byte is altered to form the bit-string representing the embedded file. Altering the LSB will only cause minor changes in color, and thus is usually not noticeable to the human eye. While this technique works well for 24-bit color image files, steganography has not been as successful when using an 8-bit color image file, due to limitations in color variations and the use of a colormap. This paper presents the results of research investigating the combination of image compression and steganography. The technique developed starts with a 24-bit color bitmap file, then compresses the file by organizing and optimizing an 8-bit colormap. After the process of compression, a text message is hidden in the final, compressed image. Results indicate that the final technique has potential of being useful in the steganographic world.

Keywords: Compression, Colormap, Encryption, Steganographyand LSB Insertion.

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Authors: Ali Beydoun, Hamzé H. Alaeddine

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MIMO-OFDM communication system presents a key solution for the next generation of mobile communication due to its high spectral efficiency, high data rate and robustness against multi-path fading channels. However, MIMO-OFDM system requires a perfect knowledge of the channel state information and a good synchronization between the transmitter and the receiver to achieve the expected performances. Recently, we have proposed two algorithms for channel estimation and timing synchronization with good performances and very low implementation complexity compared to those proposed in the literature. In order to validate and evaluate the efficiency of these algorithms in real environments, this paper presents in detail the implementation of 2 × 2 MIMO-OFDM system based on LabVIEW and USRP 2920. Implementation results show a good agreement with the simulation results under different configuration parameters.

Keywords: MIMO-OFDM system, timing synchronization, channel estimation, STBC, USRP 2920.

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Authors: K. Paisal

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The purposes of this research were (1) to create a learning activity for constructivism, (2) study the Mathematical Analysis courses learning achievement, and (3) study students’ attitude toward the learning activity for constructivism. The samples in this study were divided into 2 parts including 3 Mathematical Analysis courses instructors of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University who provided basic information and attended the seminar and 17 Mathematical Analysis courses students who were studying in the academic and engaging in the learning activity for constructivism. The research instruments were lesson plans constructivism, subjective Mathematical Analysis courses achievement test with reliability index of 0.8119, and an attitude test concerning the students’ attitude toward the Mathematical Analysis courses learning activity for constructivism. The result of the research show that the efficiency of the Mathematical Analysis courses learning activity for constructivism is 73.05/72.16, which is more than expected criteria of 70/70. The research additionally find that the average score of learning achievement of students who engaged in the learning activities for constructivism are equal to 70% and the students’ attitude toward the learning activity for constructivism are at the medium level.

Keywords: Constructivism, learning management, Mathematical Analysis courses.

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Authors: Tshaudi Motsima

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Class attendance is key at all levels of education. At tertiary level many students develop a tendency of not attending all classes without being aware of the repercussions of not attending all classes. It is important for all students to attend all classes as they can receive first-hand information and they can benefit more. The student who attends classes is likely to perform better academically than the student who does not. The aim of this paper is to assess the relationship between class attendance and academic performance of industrial engineering students. The data for this study were collected through the attendance register of students and the other data were accessed from the Integrated Tertiary Software and the Higher Education Data Analyzer Portal. Data analysis was conducted on a sample of 93 students. The results revealed that students with medium predicate scores (OR = 3.8; p = 0.027) and students with low predicate scores (OR = 21.4, p < 0.001) were significantly likely to attend less than 80% of the classes as compared to students with high predicate scores. Students with examination performance of less than 50% were likely to attend less than 80% of classes than students with examination performance of 50% and above, but the differences were not statistically significant (OR = 1.3; p = 0.750).

Keywords: Class attendance, examination performance, final outcome, logistic regression.

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Authors: Safaa Mahmoud Issa

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Architecture, as an art and science of designing, has always been the medium to create environments that fulfill their users’ needs. It could create an inclusive environment that would not isolate any individual regardless of his /her disabilities. It could help, hopefully, in setting the strategies that provide a supportive, educational environment that would allow the inclusion of students with autism. Architects could help in the battle against this neuro-developmental disorder by providing the accommodating environment, at home and at school, in order to prevent institutionalizing these children. Through a theoretical approach and a review of literature, this study will explore and analyze best practices in autism-friendly, supportive, teaching environments. Additionally, it would provide the range of measures, and set the strategies to deal with the students with autism sensory peculiarities, and that, in order to allow them to concentrate in the school environment, and be able to succeed, and to be integrated as an important addition to society and the social mainstream. Architects should take into consideration the general guidelines for an autism-friendly built environment, and apply them to specific buildings systems. And that, as certain design elements have great effect on children’s behavior, by appropriating architecture to provide inclusive accommodating environments, the basis for equalization of opportunities is set allowing these individuals a better, normal, non-institutional life, as the discussion presented in this study would reveal.

Keywords: Architecture, inclusion, students with autism, mainstream society.

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Authors: Muhibul H. Bhuyan, Mafujul Hasan

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If a person can monitor his/her heart rate regularly then he/she can detect heart disease early and thus he/she can enjoy longer life span. Therefore, this disease should be taken seriously. Hence, many health care devices and monitoring systems are being designed to keep track of the heart disease. This work reports a design and simulation processes of an Arduino microcontroller based heart rate measurement and monitoring system in Proteus environment. Clipping sensors were utilized to sense the heart rate of an individual from the finger tips. It is a digital device and uses mainly infrared (IR) transmitter (mainly IR LED) and receiver (mainly IR photo-transistor or IR photo-detector). When the heart pumps the blood and circulates it among the blood vessels of the body, the changed blood pressure is detected by the transmitter and then reflected back to the receiver accordingly. The reflected signals are then processed inside the microcontroller through a software written assembly language and appropriate heart rate (HR) is determined by it in beats per minute (bpm) from the detected signal for a duration of 10 seconds and display the same in bpm on the LCD screen in digital format. The designed system was simulated on several persons with varying ages, for example, infants, adult persons and active athletes. Simulation results were found very satisfactory.

Keywords: Heart rate measurement, design, simulation, Proteus, Arduino Uno microcontroller.

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Authors: Mouataz Zreika, Maria Estela Varua

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Stock investment decisions are often made based on current events of the global economy and the analysis of historical data. Conversely, visual representation could assist investors’ gain deeper understanding and better insight on stock market trends more efficiently. The trend analysis is based on long-term data collection. The study adopts a hybrid method that combines the Clustering algorithm and Force-directed algorithm to overcome the scalability problem when visualizing large data. This method exemplifies the potential relationships between each stock, as well as determining the degree of strength and connectivity, which will provide investors another understanding of the stock relationship for reference. Information derived from visualization will also help them make an informed decision. The results of the experiments show that the proposed method is able to produced visualized data aesthetically by providing clearer views for connectivity and edge weights.

Keywords: Clustering, force-directed, graph drawing, stock investment analysis.

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Authors: Badiossadat Hassanpour, Nangkula Utaberta, Azami Zaharim, Nurakmal Goh Abdullah

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Architecture education was based on apprenticeship models and its nature has not changed much during long period but the Source of changes was its evaluation process and system. It is undeniable that art and architecture education is completely based on transmitting knowledge from instructor to students. In contrast to other majors this transmitting is by iteration and practice and studio masters try to control the design process and improving skills in the form of supervision and criticizing. Also the evaluation will end by giving marks to students- achievements. Therefore the importance of the evaluation and assessment role is obvious and it is not irrelevant to say that if we want to know about the architecture education system, we must first study its assessment procedures. The evolution of these changes in western countries has literate and documented well. However it seems that this procedure has unregarded in Malaysia and there is a severe lack of research and documentation in this area. Malaysia as an under developing and multicultural country which is involved different races and cultures is a proper origin for scrutinizing and understanding the evaluation systems and acceptability amount of current implemented models to keep the evaluation and assessment procedure abreast with needs of different generations, cultures and even genders. This paper attempts to answer the questions of how evaluation and assessments are performed and how students perceive this evaluation system in the context Malaysia. The main advantage of this work is that it contributes in international debate on evaluation model.

Keywords: Architecture, assessment, design studio, learning

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Authors: Muntanavadee Maytapattana

Abstract:

The purposes of the study were to evaluate the effectiveness of the Parent Training Program for Obesity Reduction (PTPOR) on health behaviors of school-age children. An Ecological Systems Theory (EST) was approached the study and a randomized control trial was used in this study. Participants were school-age overweight or obese children and their parents. One hundred and one parent-child dyads were recruited and random assigned into the PTPOR (N=30), Educational Intervention or EI (N=32), and control group (N=39). The parents in the PTPOR group participated in five sessions including an educational session, a cooking session, aerobic exercise training, 2-time group discussion sessions, and 4-time telephoned counseling sessions. Repeated Measure ANCOVA was used to analyze data. The results presented that the outcomes of the PTPOR group were better than the EI and the control groups at 1^st, 8^th, and 32^nd weeks after finishing the program such as child exercise behavior (F_(2,97) = 3.98, p = .02) and child dietary behavior (F_(2,97) = 9.42, p = .00). The results suggest that nurses and health care providers should utilize the PTPOR for child weight reduction and for the health promotion of a lifestyle among overweight and obese children.

Keywords: Parent training program for obesity reduction, child health behaviors, school-age children.

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Authors: Cândida M. Pereira, Amílcar L. Ramalho, Jorge A. Ambrósio

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In the numerical solution of the forward dynamics of a multibody system, the positions and velocities of the bodies in the system are obtained first. With the information of the system state variables at each time step, the internal and external forces acting on the system are obtained by appropriate contact force models if the continuous contact method is used instead of a discrete contact method. The local deformation of the bodies in contact, represented by penetration, is used to compute the contact force. The ability and suitability with current cylindrical contact force models to describe the contact between bodies with cylindrical geometries with particular focus on internal contacting geometries involving low clearances and high loads simultaneously is discussed in this paper. A comparative assessment of the performance of each model under analysis for different contact conditions, in particular for very different penetration and clearance values, is presented. It is demonstrated that some models represent a rough approximation to describe the conformal contact between cylindrical geometries because contact forces are underestimated.

Keywords: Clearance joints, Contact mechanics, Contact dynamics, Internal cylindrical contact, Multibody dynamics.

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Authors: Tariq Aljuneidi, Akif Asil Bulgak

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An efficient remanufacturing network lead to an efficient design of sustainable manufacturing enterprise. In remanufacturing network, products are collected from the customer zone, disassembled and remanufactured at a suitable remanufacturing facility. In this respect, another issue to consider is how the returned product to be remanufactured, in other words, what is the best layout for such facility. In order to achieve a sustainable manufacturing system, Cellular Manufacturing System (CMS) designs are highly recommended, CMSs combine high throughput rates of line layouts with the flexibility offered by functional layouts (job shop). Introducing the CMS while designing a remanufacturing network will benefit the utilization of such a network. This paper presents and analyzes a comprehensive mathematical model for the design of Dynamic Cellular Remanufacturing Systems (DCRSs). In this paper, the proposed model is the first one to date that considers CMS and remanufacturing system simultaneously. The proposed DCRS model considers several manufacturing attributes such as multi period production planning, dynamic system reconfiguration, duplicate machines, machine capacity, available time for workers, worker assignments, and machine procurement, where the demand is totally satisfied from a returned product. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the proposed model.

Keywords: Cellular Manufacturing System, Remanufacturing, Mathematical Programming, Sustainability.

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Authors: Juliana Barcelos Cordeiro, Khashayar Mahani, Farbod Farzan, Mohsen A. Jafari

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Energy disaggregation has been focused by many energy companies since energy efficiency can be achieved when the breakdown of energy consumption is known. Companies have been investing in technologies to come up with software and/or hardware solutions that can provide this type of information to the consumer. On the other hand, not all people can afford to have these technologies. Therefore, in this paper, we present a methodology for breaking down the aggregate consumption and identifying the highdemanding end-uses profiles. These energy profiles will be used to build the forecast model for optimal control purpose. A facility with high cooling load is used as an illustrative case study to demonstrate the results of proposed methodology. We apply a high level energy disaggregation through a pattern recognition approach in order to extract the consumption profile of its rooftop packaged units (RTUs) and present a forecast model for the energy consumption.  

Keywords: Energy consumption forecasting, energy efficiency, load disaggregation, pattern recognition approach.

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Authors: R. Talebi, A. Abdel-Dayem, J. Johnson

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Three-dimensional reconstruction of small objects has been one of the most challenging problems over the last decade. Computer graphics researchers and photography professionals have been working on improving 3D reconstruction algorithms to fit the high demands of various real life applications. Medical sciences, animation industry, virtual reality, pattern recognition, tourism industry, and reverse engineering are common fields where 3D reconstruction of objects plays a vital role. Both lack of accuracy and high computational cost are the major challenges facing successful 3D reconstruction. Fringe projection has emerged as a promising 3D reconstruction direction that combines low computational cost to both high precision and high resolution. It employs digital projection, structured light systems and phase analysis on fringed pictures. Research studies have shown that the system has acceptable performance, and moreover it is insensitive to ambient light. This paper presents an overview of fringe projection approaches. It also presents an experimental study and implementation of a simple fringe projection system. We tested our system using two objects with different materials and levels of details. Experimental results have shown that, while our system is simple, it produces acceptable results.

Keywords: Digital fringe projection, 3D reconstruction, phase unwrapping, phase shifting.

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Authors: M. Emmanouilidou

Abstract:

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a disruptive technological paradigm that is at the center of the digital evolution by integrating physical and virtual worlds leading to the creation of extended interconnected ecosystems that are characterized as smart environments. The concept of the IoT has a broad range of applications in different industries including the healthcare sector. The Internet of Healthcare Things (IoHT), a branch of the IoT, is expected to bring promising benefits to all involved stakeholders and accelerate the revolution of the healthcare sector through a transition towards preventive and personalized medicine. The socio-economic challenges that the healthcare sector is facing further emphasize the need for a radical transformation of healthcare systems in both developed and developing countries with the role of pervasive technological innovations, such as IoHT, recognized as key to counteract the relevant challenges. Besides the number of potential opportunities that IoHT presents, there are fundamental ethical concerns that need to be considered and addressed in relation to the application of IoHT. This paper contributes to the discussion of the emerging topic of IoHT by providing an overview of the role and potential of IoHT, highlighting the characteristics of the current and future healthcare landscape, reporting on the up-to-date status of IoHT in Europe and reflecting upon existing research in the ethics of IoHT by incorporating additional ethical dimensions that have been ignored which can provide pathways for future research in the field.

Keywords: Ethics, Europe, healthcare, internet of things.

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Authors: Philip Feig, Klaus Gschwendtner, Julian Schatz, Frank Diermeyer

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Projects of accident research analysis are mostly focused on accidents involving personal damage. Property damage only has a high frequency of occurrence combined with high economic impact. This paper describes main influencing parameters for the extent of damage and presents a repair cost model. For a prospective evaluation method of the monetary effect of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), it is necessary to be aware of and quantify all influencing parameters. Furthermore, this method allows the evaluation of vehicle concepts in combination with an ADAS at an early point in time of the product development process. In combination with a property damage database and the introduced repair cost model relevant test scenarios for specific vehicle configurations and their individual property damage risk may be determined. Currently, equipment rates of ADAS are low and a purchase incentive for customers would be beneficial. The next ADAS generation will prevent property damage to a large extent or at least reduce damage severity. Both effects may be a purchasing incentive for the customer and furthermore contribute to increased traffic safety.

Keywords: Property damage analysis, effectiveness, ADAS, damage risk, accident research, accident scenarios.

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Authors: C. Ardil

Abstract:

This article presents a new approach to uncertainty, vagueness, and imprecision analysis for ranking alternatives with fuzzy data for decision making using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). In the proposed approach, fuzzy decision information related to the aircraft selection problem is taken into account in ranking the alternatives and selecting the best one. The basic procedural step is to transform the fuzzy decision matrices into matrices of alternatives evaluated according to all decision criteria. A numerical example illustrates the proposed approach for the military combat aircraft selection problem.

Keywords: trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, multiple criteria decision making analysis, decision making, aircraft selection, MCDMA, fuzzy TOPSIS

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Authors: Alireza Shirvani, Shadi Ebrahimi Mehrabani

Abstract:

In this competitive age, one of the key tools of most successful organizations is knowledge management. Today some organizations measure their current knowledge and use it as an indicator for rating the organization on their reports. Noting that the universities and colleges of medical science have a great role in public health of societies, their access to newest scientific research and the establishment of organizational knowledge management systems is very important. In order to explore the Application of Knowledge Management Factors, a national study was undertaken. The main purpose of this study was to find the rate of the application of knowledge management factors and some ways to establish more application of knowledge management system in Esfahan University-s Medical College (EUMC). Esfahan is the second largest city after Tehran, the capital city of Iran, and the EUMC is the biggest medical college in Esfahan. To rate the application of knowledge management, this study uses a quantitative research methodology based on Probst, Raub and Romhardt model of knowledge management. A group of 267 faculty members and staff of the EUMC were asked via questionnaire. Finding showed that the rate of the application of knowledge management factors in EUMC have been lower than average. As a result, an interview with ten faculty members conducted to find the guidelines to establish more applications of knowledge management system in EUMC.

Keywords: Knowledge, knowledge management, knowledge management factors.

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Authors: Jimaima Lako, Subramaniam Sotheeswaran, Ketan Christi

Abstract:

The 15-a-side Fiji rugby team trains well in preparations for any rugby competition but rarely performs to expectations. In order to help the Fiji local based rugby players to identify some key basic areas in improving their performance, a series of workshops were conducted to assess their nutritional status and dietary habits in relation to energy demand during rugby matches. The nutrition workshop included the administration of questionnaires to 19 local based rugby players, requesting the following information: usual food intakes, training camp food intakes, carbohydrate loading, pre-game meals and post-game meals. The study revealed that poor eating habits of the players resulted in the low carbohydrate intake, which may have contributed to increase levels of fatigue leading to loss of stamina even before the second half of the game. It appears that the diet of most 15-a-side players does not provide enough energy to enable them to last the full eightyminutes of the game.

Keywords: Fiji rugby, Food habits, Physical fitness, Training meals

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