Search results for: Boolean functions
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1101

Search results for: Boolean functions

501 A Modified Spiral Search Algorithm and Its Embedded System Architecture Design

Authors: Nikolaos Kroupis, Minas Dasygenis, Dimitrios Soudris, Antonios Thanailakis

Abstract:

One of the most growing areas in the embedded community is multimedia devices. Multimedia devices incorporate a number of complicated functions for their operation, like motion estimation. A multitude of different implementations have been proposed to reduce motion estimation complexity, such as spiral search. We have studied the implementations of spiral search and identified areas of improvement. We propose a modified spiral search algorithm, with lower computational complexity compared to the original spiral search. We have implemented our algorithm on an embedded ARM based architecture, with custom memory hierarchy. The resulting system yields energy consumption reduction up to 64% and performance increase up to 77%, with a small penalty of 2.3 dB, in average, of video quality compared with the original spiral search algorithm.

Keywords: Spiral Search, Motion Estimation, Embedded Systems, Low Power

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500 On Formalizing Predefined OCL Properties

Authors: Meryem Lamrani, Younès El Amrani, Aziz Ettouhami

Abstract:

The ability of UML to handle the modeling process of complex industrial software applications has increased its popularity to the extent of becoming the de-facto language in serving the design purpose. Although, its rich graphical notation naturally oriented towards the object-oriented concept, facilitates the understandability, it hardly successes to report all domainspecific aspects in a satisfactory way. OCL, as the standard language for expressing additional constraints on UML models, has great potential to help improve expressiveness. Unfortunately, it suffers from a weak formalism due to its poor semantic resulting in many obstacles towards the build of tools support and thus its application in the industry field. For this reason, many researches were established to formalize OCL expressions using a more rigorous approach. Our contribution join this work in a complementary way since it focuses specifically on OCL predefined properties which constitute an important part in the construction of OCL expressions. Using formal methods, we mainly succeed in expressing rigorously OCL predefined functions.

Keywords: Formal methods, Z, OCL, predefined properties, metamodel types.

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499 A Robust Software for Advanced Analysis of Space Steel Frames

Authors: Viet-Hung Truong, Seung-Eock Kim

Abstract:

This paper presents a robust software package for practical advanced analysis of space steel framed structures. The pre- and post-processors of the presented software package are coded in the C++ programming language while the solver is written by using the FORTRAN programming language. A user-friendly graphical interface of the presented software is developed to facilitate the modeling process and result interpretation of the problem. The solver employs the stability functions for capturing the second-order effects to minimize modeling and computational time. Both the plastic-hinge and fiber-hinge beam-column elements are available in the presented software. The generalized displacement control method is adopted to solve the nonlinear equilibrium equations.

Keywords: Advanced analysis, beam-column, fiber-hinge, plastic hinge, steel frame.

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498 Environmental Analysis of Springs in Urban Areas–A Methodological Proposal

Authors: Milton Pavezzi Netto, Gustavo D'Almeida Scarpinella, Ricardo Siloto da Silva

Abstract:

The springs located in urban areas are the outpouring of surface water, which can serve as water supply, effluent receptors and important local macro-drainage elements. With unplanned occupation, non-compliance with environmental legislation and the importance of these water bodies, it is vital to analyze the springs within urban areas, considering the Brazilian forest code. This paper submits an analysis and discussion methodology proposal of environmental compliance functions of urban springs, by means of G.I.S. - Geographic Information System analysis - and in situ analysis. The case study included two springs which exhibit a history of occupation along its length, with different degrees of impact. The proposed method is effective and easy to apply, representing a powerful tool for analyzing the environmental conditions of springs in urban areas.

Keywords: Springs, urban area, Brazilian forest code.

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497 Simulation and Optimization of Mechanisms made of Micro-molded Components

Authors: Albert Albers, Pablo Enrique Leslabay

Abstract:

The Institute of Product Development is dealing with the development, design and dimensioning of micro components and systems as a member of the Collaborative Research Centre 499 “Design, Production and Quality Assurance of Molded micro components made of Metallic and Ceramic Materials". Because of technological restrictions in the miniaturization of conventional manufacturing techniques, shape and material deviations cannot be scaled down in the same proportion as the micro parts, rendering components with relatively wide tolerance fields. Systems that include such components should be designed with this particularity in mind, often requiring large clearance. On the end, the output of such systems results variable and prone to dynamical instability. To save production time and resources, every study of these effects should happen early in the product development process and base on computer simulation to avoid costly prototypes. A suitable method is proposed here and exemplary applied to a micro technology demonstrator developed by the CRC499. It consists of a one stage planetary gear train in a sun-planet-ring configuration, with input through the sun gear and output through the carrier. The simulation procedure relies on ordinary Multi Body Simulation methods and subsequently adds other techniques to further investigate details of the system-s behavior and to predict its response. The selection of the relevant parameters and output functions followed the engineering standards for regular sized gear trains. The first step is to quantify the variability and to reveal the most critical points of the system, performed through a whole-mechanism Sensitivity Analysis. Due to the lack of previous knowledge about the system-s behavior, different DOE methods involving small and large amount of experiments were selected to perform the SA. In this particular case the parameter space can be divided into two well defined groups, one of them containing the gear-s profile information and the other the components- spatial location. This has been exploited to explore the different DOE techniques more promptly. A reduced set of parameters is derived for further investigation and to feed the final optimization process, whether as optimization parameters or as external perturbation collective. The 10 most relevant perturbation factors and 4 to 6 prospective variable parameters are considered in a new, simplified model. All of the parameters are affected by the mentioned production variability. The objective functions of interest are based on scalar output-s variability measures, so the problem becomes an optimization under robustness and reliability constrains. The study shows an initial step on the development path of a method to design and optimize complex micro mechanisms composed of wide tolerated elements accounting for the robustness and reliability of the systems- output.

Keywords: Micro molded components, Optimization, Robustness und Reliability, Simulation

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496 Accelerating the Uptake of Smart City Applications through Cloud Computing

Authors: Panagiotis Tsarchopoulos, Nicos Komninos, Christina Kakderi

Abstract:

Smart cities are high on the political agenda around the globe. However, planning smart cities and deploying applications dealing with the complex problems of the urban environment is a very challenging task that is difficult to be undertaken solely by the cities. We argue that the uptake of smart city strategies is facilitated, first, through the development of smart city application repositories allowing re-use of already developed and tested software, and, second, through cloud computing which disengages city authorities from any resource constraints, technical or financial, and has a higher impact and greater effect at the city level The combination of these two solutions allows city governments and municipalities to select and deploy a large number of applications dedicated to different city functions, which collectively could create a multiplier effect with a greater impact on the urban environment.

Keywords: Smart cities, applications, cloud computing, migration to the cloud, application repositories.

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495 Evaluation of Risk Attributes Driven by Periodically Changing System Functionality

Authors: Dariusz Dymek, Leszek Kotulski

Abstract:

Modeling of the distributed systems allows us to represent the whole its functionality. The working system instance rarely fulfils the whole functionality represented by model; usually some parts of this functionality should be accessible periodically. The reporting system based on the Data Warehouse concept seams to be an intuitive example of the system that some of its functionality is required only from time to time. Analyzing an enterprise risk associated with the periodical change of the system functionality, we should consider not only the inaccessibility of the components (object) but also their functions (methods), and the impact of such a situation on the system functionality from the business point of view. In the paper we suggest that the risk attributes should be estimated from risk attributes specified at the requirements level (Use Case in the UML model) on the base of the information about the structure of the model (presented at other levels of the UML model). We argue that it is desirable to consider the influence of periodical changes in requirements on the enterprise risk estimation. Finally, the proposition of such a solution basing on the UML system model is presented.

Keywords: Risk assessing, software maintenance, UML, graph grammars.

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494 Empirical Mode Decomposition with Wavelet Transform Based Analytic Signal for Power Quality Assessment

Authors: Sudipta Majumdar, Amarendra Kumar Mishra

Abstract:

This paper proposes empirical mode decomposition (EMD) together with wavelet transform (WT) based analytic signal for power quality (PQ) events assessment. EMD decomposes the complex signals into several intrinsic mode functions (IMF). As the PQ events are non stationary, instantaneous parameters have been calculated from these IMFs using analytic signal obtained form WT. We obtained three parameters from IMFs and then used KNN classifier for classification of PQ disturbance. We compared the classification of proposed method for PQ events by obtaining the features using Hilbert transform (HT) method. The classification efficiency using WT based analytic method is 97.5% and using HT based analytic signal is 95.5%.

Keywords: Empirical mode decomposition, Hilbert transform, wavelet transform.

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493 Comparing Spontaneous Hydrolysis Rates of Activated Models of DNA and RNA

Authors: Mohamed S. Sasi, Adel M. Mlitan, Abdulfattah M. Alkherraz

Abstract:

This research project aims to investigate difference in relative rates concerning phosphoryl transfer relevant to biological catalysis of DNA and RNA in the pH-independent reactions. Activated Models of DNA and RNA for alkyl-aryl phosphate diesters (with 4-nitrophenyl as a good leaving group) have successfully been prepared to gather kinetic parameters. Eyring plots for the pH– independent hydrolysis of 1 and 2 were established at different temperatures in the range 100–160 °C. These measurements have been used to provide a better estimate for the difference in relative rates between the reactivity of DNA and RNA cleavage. Eyring plot gave an extrapolated rate of kH2O = 1 × 10-10 s -1 for 1 (RNA model) and 2 (DNA model) at 25°C. Comparing the reactivity of RNA model and DNA model shows that the difference in relative rates in the pH-independent reactions is surprisingly very similar at 25°. This allows us to obtain chemical insights into how biological catalysts such as enzymes may have evolved to perform their current functions.

Keywords: DNA & RNA Models, Relative Rates, Reactivity.

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492 Performance Analysis of Flooding Attack Prevention Algorithm in MANETs

Authors: Revathi Venkataraman, M. Pushpalatha, T. Rama Rao

Abstract:

The lack of any centralized infrastructure in mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) is one of the greatest security concerns in the deployment of wireless networks. Thus communication in MANET functions properly only if the participating nodes cooperate in routing without any malicious intention. However, some of the nodes may be malicious in their behavior, by indulging in flooding attacks on their neighbors. Some others may act malicious by launching active security attacks like denial of service. This paper addresses few related works done on trust evaluation and establishment in ad hoc networks. Related works on flooding attack prevention are reviewed. A new trust approach based on the extent of friendship between the nodes is proposed which makes the nodes to co-operate and prevent flooding attacks in an ad hoc environment. The performance of the trust algorithm is tested in an ad hoc network implementing the Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV) protocol.

Keywords: AODV, Flooding, MANETs, trust estimation

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491 Fault Detection and Identification of COSMED K4b2 Based On PCA and Neural Network

Authors: Jing Zhou, Steven Su, Aihuang Guo

Abstract:

COSMED K4b2 is a portable electrical device designed to test pulmonary functions. It is ideal for many applications that need the measurement of the cardio-respiratory response either in the field or in the lab is capable with the capability to delivery real time data to a sink node or a PC base station with storing data in the memory at the same time. But the actual sensor outputs and data received may contain some errors, such as impulsive noise which can be related to sensors, low batteries, environment or disturbance in data acquisition process. These abnormal outputs might cause misinterpretations of exercise or living activities to persons being monitored. In our paper we propose an effective and feasible method to detect and identify errors in applications by principal component analysis (PCA) and a back propagation (BP) neural network.

Keywords: BP Neural Network, Exercising Testing, Fault Detection and Identification, Principal Component Analysis.

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490 Task Modeling for User Interface Design: A Layered Approach

Authors: Costin Pribeanu

Abstract:

The model-based approach to user interface design relies on developing separate models that are capturing various aspects about users, tasks, application domain, presentation and dialog representations. This paper presents a task modeling approach for user interface design and aims at exploring the mappings between task, domain and presentation models. The basic idea of our approach is to identify typical configurations in task and domain models and to investigate how they relate each other. A special emphasis is put on application-specific functions and mappings between domain objects and operational task structures. In this respect, we will distinguish between three layers in the task decomposition: a functional layer, a planning layer, and an operational layer.

Keywords: task modeling, user interface design, unit tasks, basic tasks, operational task model

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489 Comparative Study of Ecological City Criteria in Traditional Iranian Cities

Authors: Zahra Yazdani Paraii, Zohreh Yazdani Paraei

Abstract:

Many urban designers and planners have been involved in the design of environmentally friendly or nature adaptable urban development models due to increase in urban populations in the recent century, limitation on natural resources, climate change, and lack of enough water and food. Ecological city is one of the latest models proposed to accomplish the latter goal. In this work, the existing establishing indicators of the ecological city are used regarding energy, water, land use and transportation issues. The model is used to compare the function of traditional settlements of Iran. The result of investigation shows that the specifications and functions of the traditional settlements of Iran fit well into the ecological city model. It is found that the inhabitants of the old cities and villages in Iran had founded ecological cities based on their knowledge of the environment and its natural opportunities and limitations.

Keywords: Ecological city, traditional city, urban design, environment.

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488 An Optimization of Orbital Transfer for Spacecrafts with Finite-thrust Based on Legendre Pseudospectral Method

Authors: Yanan Yang, Zhigang Wang, Xiang Chen

Abstract:

This paper presents the use of Legendre pseudospectral method for the optimization of finite-thrust orbital transfer for spacecrafts. In order to get an accurate solution, the System-s dynamics equations were normalized through a dimensionless method. The Legendre pseudospectral method is based on interpolating functions on Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto (LGL) quadrature nodes. This is used to transform the optimal control problem into a constrained parameter optimization problem. The developed novel optimization algorithm can be used to solve similar optimization problems of spacecraft finite-thrust orbital transfer. The results of a numerical simulation verified the validity of the proposed optimization method. The simulation results reveal that pseudospectral optimization method is a promising method for real-time trajectory optimization and provides good accuracy and fast convergence.

Keywords: Finite-thrust, Orbital transfer, Legendre pseudospectral method

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487 A Comparison among Wolf Pack Search and Four other Optimization Algorithms

Authors: Shahla Shoghian, Maryam Kouzehgar

Abstract:

The main objective of this paper is applying a comparison between the Wolf Pack Search (WPS) as a newly introduced intelligent algorithm with several other known algorithms including Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Shuffled Frog Leaping (SFL), Binary and Continues Genetic algorithms. All algorithms are applied on two benchmark cost functions. The aim is to identify the best algorithm in terms of more speed and accuracy in finding the solution, where speed is measured in terms of function evaluations. The simulation results show that the SFL algorithm with less function evaluations becomes first if the simulation time is important, while if accuracy is the significant issue, WPS and PSO would have a better performance.

Keywords: Wolf Pack Search, Particle Swarm Optimization, Continues Genetic Algorithm, Binary Genetic Algorithm, Shuffled Frog Leaping, Optimization.

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486 Interactive Compromise Approach with Particle Swarm Optimization for Environmental/Economic Power Dispatch

Authors: Ming-Tang Tsai, Chih-Wei Yen

Abstract:

In this paper, an Interactive Compromise Approach with Particle Swarm Optimization(ICA-PSO) is presented to solve the Economic Emission Dispatch(EED) problem. The cost function and emission function are modeled as the nonsmooth functions, respectively. The bi-objective including both the minimization of cost and emission is formulated in this paper. ICA-PSO is proposed to solve EED problem for finding a better compromise solution. The solution methodology can offer a global or near-global solution for decision-making requirements. The effectiveness and efficiency of ICA-PSO are demonstrated by a sample test system. Test results can be shown that the proposed method provide a practical and flexible framework for power dispatch.

Keywords: Interactive Compromise Approach, Emission Control, Economic Dispatch, Particle Swarm Optimization.

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485 Modelling for Temperature Non-Isothermal Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor Using Fuzzy Logic

Authors: Nasser Mohamed Ramli, Mohamad Syafiq Mohamad

Abstract:

Many types of controllers were applied on the continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) unit to control the temperature. In this research paper, Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller are compared with Fuzzy Logic controller for temperature control of CSTR. The control system for temperature non-isothermal of a CSTR will produce a stable response curve to its set point temperature. A mathematical model of a CSTR using the most general operating condition was developed through a set of differential equations into S-function using MATLAB. The reactor model and S-function are developed using m.file. After developing the S-function of CSTR model, User-Defined functions are used to link to SIMULINK file. Results that are obtained from simulation and temperature control were better when using Fuzzy logic control compared to PID control.

Keywords: CSTR, temperature, PID, fuzzy logic.

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484 Fuzzy Rules Emulated Network Adaptive Controller with Unfixed Learning Rate for a Class of Unknown Discrete-time Nonlinear Systems

Authors: Chidentree Treesatayapun

Abstract:

A direct adaptive controller for a class of unknown nonlinear discrete-time systems is presented in this article. The proposed controller is constructed by fuzzy rules emulated network (FREN). With its simple structure, the human knowledge about the plant is transferred to be if-then rules for setting the network. These adjustable parameters inside FREN are tuned by the learning mechanism with time varying step size or learning rate. The variation of learning rate is introduced by main theorem to improve the system performance and stabilization. Furthermore, the boundary of adjustable parameters is guaranteed through the on-line learning and membership functions properties. The validation of the theoretical findings is represented by some illustrated examples.

Keywords: Neuro-Fuzzy, learning algorithm, nonlinear discrete time.

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483 Cryptography Over Elliptic Curve Of The Ring Fq[e], e4 = 0

Authors: Chillali Abdelhakim

Abstract:

Groups where the discrete logarithm problem (DLP) is believed to be intractable have proved to be inestimable building blocks for cryptographic applications. They are at the heart of numerous protocols such as key agreements, public-key cryptosystems, digital signatures, identification schemes, publicly verifiable secret sharings, hash functions and bit commitments. The search for new groups with intractable DLP is therefore of great importance.The goal of this article is to study elliptic curves over the ring Fq[], with Fq a finite field of order q and with the relation n = 0, n ≥ 3. The motivation for this work came from the observation that several practical discrete logarithm-based cryptosystems, such as ElGamal, the Elliptic Curve Cryptosystems . In a first time, we describe these curves defined over a ring. Then, we study the algorithmic properties by proposing effective implementations for representing the elements and the group law. In anther article we study their cryptographic properties, an attack of the elliptic discrete logarithm problem, a new cryptosystem over these curves.

Keywords: Elliptic Curve Over Ring, Discrete Logarithm Problem.

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482 2-Dimensional Finger Gesture Based Mobile Robot Control Using Touch Screen

Authors: O. Ejale, N.B. Siddique, R. Seals

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to present a reliable mean for human-computer interfacing based on finger gestures made in two dimensions, which could be interpreted and adequately used in controlling a remote robot's movement. The gestures were captured and interpreted using an algorithm based on trigonometric functions, in calculating the angular displacement from one point of touch to another as the user-s finger moved within a time interval; thereby allowing for pattern spotting of the captured gesture. In this paper the design and implementation of such a gesture based user interface was presented, utilizing the aforementioned algorithm. These techniques were then used to control a remote mobile robot's movement. A resistive touch screen was selected as the gesture sensor, then utilizing a programmed microcontroller to interpret them respectively.

Keywords: 2-Dimensional interface, finger gesture, mobile robot control, touch screen.

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481 Multimachine Power System Stabilizers Design Using PSO Algorithm

Authors: H. Shayeghi, A. Safari, H. A. Shayanfar

Abstract:

In this paper, multiobjective design of multi-machine Power System Stabilizers (PSSs) using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is presented. The stabilizers are tuned to simultaneously shift the lightly damped and undamped electro-mechanical modes of all machines to a prescribed zone in the s-plane. A multiobjective problem is formulated to optimize a composite set of objective functions comprising the damping factor, and the damping ratio of the lightly damped electromechanical modes. The PSSs parameters tuning problem is converted to an optimization problem which is solved by PSO with the eigenvalue-based multiobjective function. The proposed PSO based PSSs is tested on a multimachine power system under different operating conditions and disturbances through eigenvalue analysis and some performance indices to illustrate its robust performance.

Keywords: PSS Design, Particle Swarm Optimization, Dynamic Stability, Multiobjective Optimization.

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480 Optimal Dynamic Economic Load Dispatch Using Artificial Immune System

Authors: I. A. Farhat

Abstract:

The The dynamic economic dispatch (DED) problem is one of the complex constrained optimization problems that have nonlinear, con-convex and non-smooth objective functions. The purpose of the DED is to determine the optimal economic operation of the committed units while meeting the load demand. Associated to this constrained problem there exist highly nonlinear and non-convex practical constraints to be satisfied. Therefore, classical and derivative-based methods are likely not to converge to an optimal or near optimal solution to such a dynamic and large-scale problem. In this paper, an Artificial Immune System technique (AIS) is implemented and applied to solve the DED problem considering the transmission power losses and the valve-point effects in addition to the other operational constraints. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique, two case studies are considered. The results obtained using the AIS are compared to those obtained by other methods reported in the literature and found better.

Keywords: Artificial Immune System (AIS), Dynamic Economic Dispatch (DED).

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479 Seismic Response Reduction of Structures using Smart Base Isolation System

Authors: H.S. Kim

Abstract:

In this study, control performance of a smart base isolation system consisting of a friction pendulum system (FPS) and a magnetorheological (MR) damper has been investigated. A fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is used to modulate the MR damper so as to minimize structural acceleration while maintaining acceptable base displacement levels. To this end, a multi-objective optimization scheme is used to optimize parameters of membership functions and find appropriate fuzzy rules. To demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed multi-objective genetic algorithm for FLC, a numerical study of a smart base isolation system is conducted using several historical earthquakes. It is shown that the proposed method can find optimal fuzzy rules and that the optimized FLC outperforms not only a passive control strategy but also a human-designed FLC and a conventional semi-active control algorithm.

Keywords: Fuzzy logic controller, genetic algorithm, MR damper, smart base isolation system

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478 Health Post A Sustainable Prototype for the Third World

Authors: Chizzoniti Domenico, Beggiora Klizia, Cattani Letizia, Moscatelli Monica

Abstract:

This paper concerns the study of sustainable construction materials applied on the "Health Post", a prototype for the primary health care situated in alienated areas of the world. It's suitable for social and climatic Sub-Saharan context; however, it could be moved in other countries of the world with similar urgent needs. The idea is to create a Health Post with local construction materials that have a low environmental impact and promote the local workforce allowing reuse of traditional building techniques lowering production costs and transport. The aim of Primary Health Care Centre is to be a flexible and expandable structure identifying a modular form that can be repeated several times to expand its existing functions. In this way it could be not only a health care centre but also a socio-cultural facility.

Keywords: Low costs building, sustainable construction materials, green construction system, prototype, health care, emergency.

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477 Quality Factor Variation with Transform Order in Fractional Fourier Domain

Authors: Sukrit Shankar, Chetana Shanta Patsa, K. Pardha Saradhi, Jaydev Sharma

Abstract:

Fractional Fourier Transform is a powerful tool, which is a generalization of the classical Fourier Transform. This paper provides a mathematical relation relating the span in Fractional Fourier domain with the amplitude and phase functions of the signal, which is further used to study the variation of quality factor with different values of the transform order. It is seen that with the increase in the number of transients in the signal, the deviation of average Fractional Fourier span from the frequency bandwidth increases. Also, with the increase in the transient nature of the signal, the optimum value of transform order can be estimated based on the quality factor variation, and this value is found to be very close to that for which one can obtain the most compact representation. With the entire mathematical analysis and experimentation, we consolidate the fact that Fractional Fourier Transform gives more optimal representations for a number of transform orders than Fourier transform.

Keywords: Fractional Fourier Transform, Quality Factor, Fractional Fourier span, transient signals.

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476 Optimal Dynamic Economic Load Dispatch Using Artificial Immune System

Authors: I. A. Farhat

Abstract:

The dynamic economic dispatch (DED) problem is one of the complex constrained optimization problems that have nonlinear, con-convex and non-smooth objective functions. The purpose of the DED is to determine the optimal economic operation of the committed units while meeting the load demand.  Associated to this constrained problem there exist highly nonlinear and non-convex practical constraints to be satisfied. Therefore, classical and derivative-based methods are likely not to converge to an optimal or near optimal solution to such a dynamic and large-scale problem. In this paper, an Artificial Immune System technique (AIS) is implemented and applied to solve the DED problem considering the transmission power losses and the valve-point effects in addition to the other operational constraints. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique, two case studies are considered. The results obtained using the AIS are compared to those obtained by other methods reported in the literature and found better.

Keywords: Artificial Immune System (AIS), Dynamic Economic Dispatch (DED).

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475 Neuromarketing: Discovering the Somathyc Marker in the Consumer´s Brain

Authors: Mikel Alonso López, María Francisca Blasco López, Víctor Molero Ayala

Abstract:

The present study explains the somatic marker theory of Antonio Damasio, which indicates that when making a decision, the stored or possible future scenarios (future memory) images allow people to feel for a moment what would happen when they make a choice, and how this is emotionally marked. This process can be conscious or unconscious. The development of new Neuromarketing techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), carries a greater understanding of how the brain functions and consumer behavior. In the results observed in different studies using fMRI, the evidence suggests that the somatic marker and future memories influence the decision-making process, adding a positive or negative emotional component to the options. This would mean that all decisions would involve a present emotional component, with a rational cost-benefit analysis that can be performed later.

Keywords: Emotions, decision making, somatic marker, consumer´s brain.

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474 Complex-Valued Neural Networks for Blind Equalization of Time-Varying Channels

Authors: Rajoo Pandey

Abstract:

Most of the commonly used blind equalization algorithms are based on the minimization of a nonconvex and nonlinear cost function and a neural network gives smaller residual error as compared to a linear structure. The efficacy of complex valued feedforward neural networks for blind equalization of linear and nonlinear communication channels has been confirmed by many studies. In this paper we present two neural network models for blind equalization of time-varying channels, for M-ary QAM and PSK signals. The complex valued activation functions, suitable for these signal constellations in time-varying environment, are introduced and the learning algorithms based on the CMA cost function are derived. The improved performance of the proposed models is confirmed through computer simulations.

Keywords: Blind Equalization, Neural Networks, Constant Modulus Algorithm, Time-varying channels.

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473 Noise Removal from Surface Respiratory EMG Signal

Authors: Slim Yacoub, Kosai Raoof

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to remove the two principal noises which disturb the surface electromyography signal (Diaphragm). These signals are the electrocardiogram ECG artefact and the power line interference artefact. The algorithm proposed focuses on a new Lean Mean Square (LMS) Widrow adaptive structure. These structures require a reference signal that is correlated with the noise contaminating the signal. The noise references are then extracted : first with a noise reference mathematically constructed using two different cosine functions; 50Hz (the fundamental) function and 150Hz (the first harmonic) function for the power line interference and second with a matching pursuit technique combined to an LMS structure for the ECG artefact estimation. The two removal procedures are attained without the use of supplementary electrodes. These techniques of filtering are validated on real records of surface diaphragm electromyography signal. The performance of the proposed methods was compared with already conducted research results.

Keywords: Surface EMG, Adaptive, Matching Pursuit, Powerline interference.

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472 E-Learning Experiences of Hong Kong Students

Authors: J. Lam, R. Chan

Abstract:

The adoption of e-learning in Hong Kong has been increasing rapidly in the past decade. To understand the e-learning experiences of the students, the School of Professional and Continuing Education of The University of Hong Kong conducted a survey. The survey aimed to collect students- experiences in using learning management system, their perceived e-learning advantages, barriers in e-learning and preferences in new e-learning development. A questionnaire with 84 questions was distributed in mid 2012 and 608 valid responds were received. The analysis results showed that the students found e-learning helpful to their study. They preferred interactive functions and mobile features. Blended learning mode, both face-to-face learning mode integrated with online learning and face-to-face learning mode supplemented with online resources, were preferred by the students. The results of experiences of Hong Kong students in e-learning provided a contemporary reference to the e-learning practitioners to understand the e-learning situation in Asia.

Keywords: E-learning, blended learning, learning experience, learning management system.

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