Search results for: index of refraction
373 A New Image Encryption Approach using Combinational Permutation Techniques
Authors: A. Mitra, Y. V. Subba Rao, S. R. M. Prasanna
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This paper proposes a new approach for image encryption using a combination of different permutation techniques. The main idea behind the present work is that an image can be viewed as an arrangement of bits, pixels and blocks. The intelligible information present in an image is due to the correlations among the bits, pixels and blocks in a given arrangement. This perceivable information can be reduced by decreasing the correlation among the bits, pixels and blocks using certain permutation techniques. This paper presents an approach for a random combination of the aforementioned permutations for image encryption. From the results, it is observed that the permutation of bits is effective in significantly reducing the correlation thereby decreasing the perceptual information, whereas the permutation of pixels and blocks are good at producing higher level security compared to bit permutation. A random combination method employing all the three techniques thus is observed to be useful for tactical security applications, where protection is needed only against a casual observer.Keywords: Encryption, Permutation, Good key, Combinationalpermutation, Pseudo random index generator.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2231372 Optimal Compensation of Reactive Power in the Restructured Distribution Network
Authors: Atefeh Pourshafie, Mohsen. Saniei, S. S. Mortazavi, A. Saeedian
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In this paper optimal capacitor placement problem has been formulated in a restructured distribution network. In this scenario the distribution network operator can consider reactive energy also as a service that can be sold to transmission system. Thus search for optimal location, size and number of capacitor banks with the objective of loss reduction, maximum income from selling reactive energy to transmission system and return on investment for capacitors, has been performed. Results is influenced with economic value of reactive energy, therefore problem has been solved for various amounts of it. The implemented optimization technique is genetic algorithm. For any value of reactive power economic value, when reverse of investment index increase and change from zero or negative values to positive values, the threshold value of selling reactive power has been obtained. This increasing price of economic parameter is reasonable until the network losses is less than loss before compensation.Keywords: capacitor placement, deregulated electric market, distribution network optimization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2123371 An Application-Based Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Calculator for Residential Buildings
Authors: Kwok W. Mui, Ling T. Wong, Chin T. Cheung, Ho C. Yu
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Based on an indoor environmental quality (IEQ) index established by previous work that indicates the overall IEQ acceptance from the prospect of an occupant in residential buildings in terms of four IEQ factors - thermal comfort, indoor air quality, visual and aural comforts, this study develops a user-friendly IEQ calculator for iOS and Android users to calculate the occupant acceptance and compare the relative performance of IEQ in apartments. “IEQ calculator” is easy to use and it preliminarily illustrates the overall indoor environmental quality on the spot. Users simply input indoor parameters such as temperature, number of people and windows are opened or closed for the mobile application to calculate the scores in four areas: the comforts of temperature, brightness, noise and indoor air quality. The calculator allows the prediction of the best IEQ scenario on a quantitative scale. Any indoor environments under the specific IEQ conditions can be benchmarked against the predicted IEQ acceptance range. This calculator can also suggest how to achieve the best IEQ acceptance among a group of residents.
Keywords: Calculator, indoor environmental quality (IEQ), residential buildings, 5-star benchmarks.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2413370 An Application of Extreme Value Theory as a Risk Measurement Approach in Frontier Markets
Authors: Dany Ng Cheong Vee, Preethee Nunkoo Gonpot, Noor-Ul-Hacq Sookia
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In this paper, we consider the application of Extreme Value Theory as a risk measurement tool. The Value at Risk, for a set of indices, from six Stock Exchanges of Frontier markets is calculated using the Peaks over Threshold method and the performance of the model index-wise is evaluated using coverage tests and loss functions. Our results show that “fattailedness” alone of the data is not enough to justify the use of EVT as a VaR approach. The structure of the returns dynamics is also a determining factor. This approach works fine in markets which have had extremes occurring in the past thus making the model capable of coping with extremes coming up (Colombo, Tunisia and Zagreb Stock Exchanges). On the other hand, we find that indices with lower past than present volatility fail to adequately deal with future extremes (Mauritius and Kazakhstan). We also conclude that using EVT alone produces quite static VaR figures not reflecting the actual dynamics of the data.
Keywords: Extreme Value theory, Financial Crisis 2008, Frontier Markets, Value at Risk.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2386369 OCIRS: An Ontology-based Chinese Idioms Retrieval System
Authors: Hu Haibo, Tu Chunmei, Fu Chunlei, Fu Li, Mao Fan, Ma Yuan
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Chinese Idioms are a type of traditional Chinese idiomatic expressions with specific meanings and stereotypes structure which are widely used in classical Chinese and are still common in vernacular written and spoken Chinese today. Currently, Chinese Idioms are retrieved in glossary with key character or key word in morphology or pronunciation index that can not meet the need of searching semantically. OCIRS is proposed to search the desired idiom in the case of users only knowing its meaning without any key character or key word. The user-s request in a sentence or phrase will be grammatically analyzed in advance by word segmentation, key word extraction and semantic similarity computation, thus can be mapped to the idiom domain ontology which is constructed to provide ample semantic relations and to facilitate description logics-based reasoning for idiom retrieval. The experimental evaluation shows that OCIRS realizes the function of searching idioms via semantics, obtaining preliminary achievement as requested by the users.Keywords: Chinese idiom, idiom retrieval, semantic searching, ontology, semantics similarity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1719368 Effect of Modified Layered Silicate Nanoclay on the Dynamic Viscoelastic Properties of Thermoplastic Polymers Nanocomposites
Authors: Benalia Kouini, Aicha Serier
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This work aims to investigate the structure–property relationship in ternary nanocomposites consisting of polypropylene as the matrix, polyamide 66 as the minor phase and treated nanoclay DELLITE 67G as the reinforcement. All PP/PA66/Nanoclay systems with polypropylene grafted maleic anhydride PP-g-MAH as a compatibilizer were prepared via melt compounding and characterized in terms of nanoclay content. Morphological structure was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The rheological behavior of the nanocomposites was determined by various methods, viz melt flow index (MFI) and parallel plate rheological measurements. The PP/PP-g-MAH/PA66 nanocomposites showed a homogeneous morphology supporting the compatibility improvement between PP, PA66, and nanoclay. SEM results revealed the formation of nanocomposites as the nanoclay was intercalated and exfoliated. In the ternary nanocomposites, the rheological behavior showed that, the complex viscosity is increased with increasing the nanoclay. The results showed that the use of nanoclay affects the variations of storage modulus (G′), loss modulus (G″) and the melt elasticity.Keywords: Nanocomposites, polypropylene, polyamide66, modified nanoclay, rheology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1727367 Congestion Management in a Deregulated Power System with Micro Grid
Authors: Guguloth Ramesh, T. K. Sunil Kumar
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This paper presents congestion management in deregulated power systems. In a deregulated environment, every buyer wants to buy power from the cheapest generator available, irrespective of relative geographical location of buyer and seller. As a consequence of this, the transmission corridors evacuating the power of cheaper generators would get overloaded if all such transactions are approved. Congestion management is a mechanism to prioritize the transactions and commit to such a schedule which would not overload the network. The congestions in the transmission lines are determined by Optimal Power Flow (OPF) solution, which is carried by primal liner programming method. Congestion in the transmission lines are alleviated by connected Distributed Generation (DG) of micro grid at load bus. A method to determine the optimal location of DG unit has been suggested based on transmission line relief sensitivity based approach. The effectiveness of proposed method has been demonstrated on modified IEEE-14 and 30 bus test systems.
Keywords: Congestion management, Distribution Generation (DG), Transmission Line Relief (TLR) sensitivity index, OPF.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3893366 Leaf Chlorophyll of Corn, Sweet basil and Borage under Intercropping System in Weed Interference
Authors: F. Zaefarian, M. Bagheri, B. Bicharanlou, G.A. Asadi, V. Akbarpour
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Intercropping is one of the sustainable agricultural factors. The SPAD meter can be used to predict nitrogen index reliably, it may also be a useful tool for assessing the relative impact of weeds on crops. In order to study the effect of weeds on SPAD in corn (Zea mays L.), sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and borage (Borago officinalis L.) in intercropping system, a factorial experiment was conducted in three replications in 2011. Experimental factors were included intercropping of corn with sweet basil and borage in different ratios (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75 and 0:100 corn: borage or sweet basil) and weed infestation (weed control and weed interference). The results showed that intercropping of corn with sweet basil and borage increased the SPAD value of corn compare to monoculture in weed interference condition. Sweet basil SPAD value in weed control treatments (43.66) was more than weed interference treatments (40.17). Corn could increase the borage SPAD value compare to monoculture in weed interference treatments.Keywords: Borage, Sweet basil, SPAD, Weed Infestation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2107365 A Parametric Assessment of Friction Damper in Eccentric Braced Frame
Authors: J. Vaseghi, S.Navaei, B. Navayinia, F. Roshantabari
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In This paper, the behavior of eccentric braced frame (EBF) is studied with replacing friction damper (FD) in confluence of these braces, in 5 and 10-storey steel frames. For FD system, the main step is to determine the slip load. For this reason, the performance indexes include roof displacement, base shear, dissipated energy and relative performance should be investigated. In nonlinear dynamic analysis, the response of structure to three earthquake records has been obtained and the values of roof displacement, base shear and column axial force for FD and EBF frames have been compared. The results demonstrate that use of the FD in frames, in comparison with the EBF, substantially reduces the roof displacement, column axial force and base shear. The obtained results show suitable performance of FD in higher storey structure in comparison with the EBF.Keywords: Friction Damper (FD), Slip Load, Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis, Performance Index.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2743364 Cost Efficient Receiver Tube Technology for Eco-Friendly Concentrated Solar Thermal Applications
Authors: M. Shiva Prasad, S. R. Atchuta, T. Vijayaraghavan, S. Sakthivel
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The world is in need of efficient energy conversion technologies which are affordable, accessible, and sustainable with eco-friendly nature. Solar energy is one of the cornerstones for the world’s economic growth because of its abundancy with zero carbon pollution. Among the various solar energy conversion technologies, solar thermal technology has attracted a substantial renewed interest due to its diversity and compatibility in various applications. Solar thermal systems employ concentrators, tracking systems and heat engines for electricity generation which lead to high cost and complexity in comparison with photovoltaics; however, it is compatible with distinct thermal energy storage capability and dispatchable electricity which creates a tremendous attraction. Apart from that, employing cost-effective solar selective receiver tube in a concentrating solar thermal (CST) system improves the energy conversion efficiency and directly reduces the cost of technology. In addition, the development of solar receiver tubes by low cost methods which can offer high optical properties and corrosion resistance in an open-air atmosphere would be beneficial for low and medium temperature applications. In this regard, our work opens up an approach which has the potential to achieve cost-effective energy conversion. We have developed a highly selective tandem absorber coating through a facile wet chemical route by a combination of chemical oxidation, sol-gel, and nanoparticle coating methods. The developed tandem absorber coating has gradient refractive index nature on stainless steel (SS 304) and exhibited high optical properties (α ≤ 0.95 & ε ≤ 0.14). The first absorber layer (Cr-Mn-Fe oxides) developed by controlled oxidation of SS 304 in a chemical bath reactor. A second composite layer of ZrO2-SiO2 has been applied on the chemically oxidized substrate by So-gel dip coating method to serve as optical enhancing and corrosion resistant layer. Finally, an antireflective layer (MgF2) has been deposited on the second layer, to achieve > 95% of absorption. The developed tandem layer exhibited good thermal stability up to 250 °C in open air atmospheric condition and superior corrosion resistance (withstands for > 200h in salt spray test (ASTM B117)). After the successful development of a coating with targeted properties at a laboratory scale, a prototype of the 1 m tube has been demonstrated with excellent uniformity and reproducibility. Moreover, it has been validated under standard laboratory test condition as well as in field condition with a comparison of the commercial receiver tube. The presented strategy can be widely adapted to develop highly selective coatings for a variety of CST applications ranging from hot water, solar desalination, and industrial process heat and power generation. The high-performance, cost-effective medium temperature receiver tube technology has attracted many industries, and recently the technology has been transferred to Indian industry.
Keywords: Concentrated solar thermal system, solar selective coating, tandem absorber, ultralow refractive index.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 740363 Prediction of in situ Permeability for Limestone Rock Using Rock Quality Designation Index
Authors: Ahmed T. Farid, Muhammed Rizwan
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Geotechnical study for evaluating soil or rock permeability is a highly important parameter. Permeability values for rock formations are more difficult for determination than soil formation as it is an effect of the rock quality and its fracture values. In this research, the prediction of in situ permeability of limestone rock formations was predicted. The limestone rock permeability was evaluated using Lugeon tests (in-situ packer permeability). Different sites which spread all over the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia were chosen to conduct our study of predicting the in-situ permeability of limestone rock. Correlations were deducted between the values of in-situ permeability of the limestone rock with the value of the rock quality designation (RQD) calculated during the execution of the boreholes of the study areas. The study was performed for different ranges of RQD values measured during drilling of the sites boreholes. The developed correlations are recommended for the onsite determination of the in-situ permeability of limestone rock only. For the other sedimentary formations of rock, more studies are needed for predicting the actual correlations related to each type.
Keywords: Packer, permeability, rock, quality.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1552362 Social Business Process Management and Business Process Management Maturity
Authors: Dalia Suša Vugec, Vesna Bosilj Vukšić, Ljubica Milanović Glavan
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Business process management (BPM) is a well-known holistic discipline focused on managing business processes with the intention of achieving higher level of BPM maturity and better organizational performance. In recent period, traditional BPM faced some of its limitations like model-reality divide and lost innovation. Following latest trends, as an attempt to overcome the issues of traditional BPM, there has been an introduction of applying the principles of social software in managing business processes which led to the development of social BPM. However, there are not many authors or studies dealing with this topic so this study aims to contribute to that literature gap and to examine the link between the level of BPM maturity and the usage of social BPM. To meet these objectives, a survey within the companies with more than 50 employees has been conducted. The results reveal that the usage of social BPM is higher within the companies which achieved higher level of BPM maturity. This paper provides an overview, analysis and discussion of collected data regarding BPM maturity and social BPM within the observed companies and identifies the main social BPM principles.
Keywords: Business process management, BPM maturity, process performance index, social BPM.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1628361 Development of an ArcGIS Toolbar for Trend Analysis of Climatic Data
Authors: Arnab Bandyopadhyay, Anubhab Pal, Subhajit Debnath
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Climate change is a cumulative change in weather patterns over a period of time. Trend analysis using non-parametric Mann-Kendall test may help to determine the existence and magnitude of any statistically significant trend in the climatic data. Another index called Sen slope may be used to quantify the magnitude of such trends. A toolbar extension to ESRI ArcGIS named Arc Trends has been developed in this study for performing the above mentioned tasks. To study the temporal trend of meteorological parameters, 32 years (1971-2002) monthly meteorological data were collected for 133 selected stations over different agro-ecological regions of India. Both the maximum and minimum temperatures were found to be rising. A significant increasing trend in the relative humidity and a consistent significant decreasing trend in the wind speed all over the country were found. However, a general increase in rainfall was not found in recent years.Keywords: Temporal trend, climate change, ArcGIS, Mann- Kendall test, Sen slope
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3086360 Radar Charts Analysis to Compare the Level of Innovation in Mexico with Most Innovative Countries in Triple Helix Schema Economic and Human Factor Dimension
Authors: Peña Aguilar Juan M., Valencia Luis, Pastrana Alberto, Nava Estefany, Martinez A., Vivanco M., Castañeda A.
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This paper seeks to compare the innovation of Mexico from an economic and human perspective, with the seven most innovative countries according to the Global Innovation Index 2013, done by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The above analysis suggests nine dimensions: Expenditure on R & D, intellectual property, appropriate environment to conduct business, economic stability, triple helix for R & D, ICT Infrastructure, education, human resources and quality of life. Each dimension is represented by an indicator which is later used to construct a radial graph that compares the innovative capacity of the countries analyzed. As a result, it is proposed a new indicator of innovation called The Area of Innovation. Observations are made from the results, and finally as a conclusion, those items or dimensions in which Mexico suffers lag in innovation are identify.
Keywords: Dimension, measure, innovation level, economy, radar chart.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3754359 Effective Density for the Classification of Transport Activity Centers
Authors: Dubbale Daniel A., Tsutsumi J.
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This research work takes a different approach in the discussion of urban form impacts on transport planning and auto dependency. Concentrated density represented by effective density explains auto dependency better than the conventional density and it is proved to be a realistic density representative for the urban transportation analysis. Model analysis reveals that effective density is influenced by the shopping accessibility index as well as job density factor. It is also combined with the job access variable to classify four levels of Transport Activity Centers (TACs) in Okinawa, Japan. Trip attraction capacity and levels of the newly classified TACs was found agreeable with the amount of daily trips attracted to each center. The trip attraction data set was drawn from a 2007 Okinawa personal trip survey. This research suggests a planning methodology which guides logical transport supply routes and concentrated local development schemes.Keywords: Effective density, urban form, auto-dependency, transport activity centers
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1515358 Spatial Data Mining by Decision Trees
Authors: S. Oujdi, H. Belbachir
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Existing methods of data mining cannot be applied on spatial data because they require spatial specificity consideration, as spatial relationships. This paper focuses on the classification with decision trees, which are one of the data mining techniques. We propose an extension of the C4.5 algorithm for spatial data, based on two different approaches Join materialization and Querying on the fly the different tables. Similar works have been done on these two main approaches, the first - Join materialization - favors the processing time in spite of memory space, whereas the second - Querying on the fly different tables- promotes memory space despite of the processing time. The modified C4.5 algorithm requires three entries tables: a target table, a neighbor table, and a spatial index join that contains the possible spatial relationship among the objects in the target table and those in the neighbor table. Thus, the proposed algorithms are applied to a spatial data pattern in the accidentology domain. A comparative study of our approach with other works of classification by spatial decision trees will be detailed.
Keywords: C4.5 Algorithm, Decision trees, S-CART, Spatial data mining.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2986357 Spreading Dynamics of a Viral Infection in a Complex Network
Authors: Khemanand Moheeput, Smita S. D. Goorah, Satish K. Ramchurn
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We report a computational study of the spreading dynamics of a viral infection in a complex (scale-free) network. The final epidemic size distribution (FESD) was found to be unimodal or bimodal depending on the value of the basic reproductive number R0 . The FESDs occurred on time-scales long enough for intermediate-time epidemic size distributions (IESDs) to be important for control measures. The usefulness of R0 for deciding on the timeliness and intensity of control measures was found to be limited by the multimodal nature of the IESDs and by its inability to inform on the speed at which the infection spreads through the population. A reduction of the transmission probability at the hubs of the scale-free network decreased the occurrence of the larger-sized epidemic events of the multimodal distributions. For effective epidemic control, an early reduction in transmission at the index cell and its neighbors was essential.
Keywords: Basic reproductive number, epidemic control, scalefree network, viral infection.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1720356 Free Vibration Analysis of Smart FGM Plates
Authors: F.Ebrahimi, A.Rastgo
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Analytical investigation of the free vibration behavior of circular functionally graded (FG) plates integrated with two uniformly distributed actuator layers made of piezoelectric (PZT4) material on the top and bottom surfaces of the circular FG plate based on the classical plate theory (CPT) is presented in this paper. The material properties of the functionally graded substrate plate are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction according to the power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents and the distribution of electric potential field along the thickness direction of piezoelectric layers is simulated by a quadratic function. The differential equations of motion are solved analytically for clamped edge boundary condition of the plate. The detailed mathematical derivations are presented and Numerical investigations are performed for FG plates with two surface-bonded piezoelectric layers. Emphasis is placed on investigating the effect of varying the gradient index of FG plate on the free vibration characteristics of the structure. The results are verified by those obtained from threedimensional finite element analyses.Keywords: Circular plate, CPT, Functionally graded, Piezoelectric.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2299355 The Implicit Methods for the Study of Tolerance
Authors: M. Bambulyakа
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Tolerance is a tool for achieving a social cohesion, particularly, among individuals and groups with different values. The aim is to study the characteristics of the ethnic tolerance, the inhabitants of Latvia. The ethnic tolerance is taught as a set of conscious and unconscious orientations of the individual in social interaction and inter-ethnic communication. It uses the tools of empirical studies of the ethnic tolerance which allows to identify the explicitly and implicitly levels of the emotional component of Latvia's residents. Explicit measurements were made using the techniques of self-report which revealed the index of the ethnic tolerance and the ethnic identity of the participants. The implicit component was studied using methods based on the effect of the emotional priming. During the processing of the results, there were calculated indicators of the positive and negative implicit attitudes towards members of their own and other ethnicity as well as the explicit parameters of the ethnic tolerance and the ethnic identity of Latvia-s residents. The implicit measurements of the ratio of neighboring ethnic groups against each other showed a mutual negative attitude whereas the explicit measurements indicate a neutral attitude. The data obtained contribute to a further study of the ethnic tolerance of Latvia's residents.
Keywords: ethnic tolerance, implicit measure, priming, ethnic attitudes
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1591354 Thermal and Mechanical Buckling of Short and Long Functionally Graded Cylindrical Shells Using First Order Shear Deformation Theory
Authors: O. Miraliyari, M.M. Najafizadeh, A.R. Rahmani, A. Momeni Hezaveh
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This paper presents the buckling analysis of short and long functionally graded cylindrical shells under thermal and mechanical loads. The shell properties are assumed to vary continuously from the inner surface to the outer surface of the shell. The equilibrium and stability equations are derived using the total potential energy equations, Euler equations and first order shear deformation theory assumptions. The resulting equations are solved for simply supported boundary conditions. The critical temperature and pressure loads are calculated for both short and long cylindrical shells. Comparison studies show the effects of functionally graded index, loading type and shell geometry on critical buckling loads of short and long functionally graded cylindrical shells.Keywords: Buckling, Functionally graded materials, Short and long cylindrical shell, Thermal and mechanical loads.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2155353 A Novel NIRS Index to Evaluate Brain Activity in Prefrontal Regions While Listening to First and Second Languages for Long Time Periods
Authors: Kensho Takahashi, Ko Watanabe, Takashi Kaburagi, Hiroshi Tanaka, Kajiro Watanabe, Yosuke Kurihara
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Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been widely used as a non-invasive method to measure brain activity, but it is corrupted by baseline drift noise. Here we present a method to measure regional cerebral blood flow as a derivative of NIRS output. We investigate whether, when listening to languages, blood flow can reasonably localize and represent regional brain activity or not. The prefrontal blood flow distribution pattern when advanced second-language listeners listened to a second language (L2) was most similar to that when listening to their first language (L1) among the patterns of mean and standard deviation. In experiments with 25 healthy subjects, the maximum blood flow was localized to the left BA46 of advanced listeners. The blood flow presented is robust to baseline drift and stably localizes regional brain activity.
Keywords: NIRS, oxy-hemoglobin, baseline drift, blood flow, working memory, BA46, first language, second language.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2277352 Semantic Indexing Approach of a Corpora Based On Ontology
Authors: Mohammed Erritali
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The growth in the volume of text data such as books and articles in libraries for centuries has imposed to establish effective mechanisms to locate them. Early techniques such as abstraction, indexing and the use of classification categories have marked the birth of a new field of research called "Information Retrieval". Information Retrieval (IR) can be defined as the task of defining models and systems whose purpose is to facilitate access to a set of documents in electronic form (corpus) to allow a user to find the relevant ones for him, that is to say, the contents which matches with the information needs of the user. This paper presents a new semantic indexing approach of a documentary corpus. The indexing process starts first by a term weighting phase to determine the importance of these terms in the documents. Then the use of a thesaurus like Wordnet allows moving to the conceptual level. Each candidate concept is evaluated by determining its level of representation of the document, that is to say, the importance of the concept in relation to other concepts of the document. Finally, the semantic index is constructed by attaching to each concept of the ontology, the documents of the corpus in which these concepts are found.Keywords: Semantic, indexing, corpora, WordNet, ontology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1368351 A New Method in Short-Term Heart Rate Variability — Five-Class Density Histogram
Authors: Liping Li, Ke Li, Changchun Liu, Chengyu Liu, Yuanyang Li
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A five-class density histogram with an index named cumulative density was proposed to analyze the short-term HRV. 150 subjects participated in the test, falling into three groups with equal numbers -- the healthy young group (Young), the healthy old group (Old), and the group of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). Results of multiple comparisons showed a significant differences of the cumulative density in the three groups, with values 0.0238 for Young, 0.0406 for Old and 0.0732 for CHF (p<0.001). After 7 days and 14 days, 46 subjects from the Young and Old groups were retested twice following the same test protocol. Results showed good-to-excellent interclass correlations (ICC=0.783, 95% confidence interval 0.676-0.864). The Bland-Altman plots were used to reexamine the test-retest reliability. In conclusion, the method proposed could be a valid and reliable method to the short-term HRV assessment.
Keywords: Autonomic nervous system, congestive heart failure, heart rate variability, histogram.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2010350 Constructivism Learning Management in Mathematical Analysis Courses
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.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1867349 Characterization and Degradation Analysis of Tapioca Starch Based Biofilms
Authors: R. R. Ali, W. A. W. A. Rahman, R. M. Kasmani, H. Hasbullah, N. Ibrahim, A. N. Sadikin, U. A. Asli
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In this study, tapioca starch, which acts as natural polymer, was added in the blend in order to produce biodegradable product. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and tapioca starch blends were prepared by extrusion and the test sample by injection moulding process. Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) acts as compatibilizer while glycerol as processing aid was added in the blend. The blends were characterized by using melt flow index (MFI), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and the effects of water absorption to the sample. As the starch content increased, MFI of the blend was decreased. Tensile testing were conducted shows the tensile strength and elongation at break decreased while the modulus increased as the starch increased. For the biodegradation, soil burial test was conducted and the loss in weight was studied as the starch content increased. Morphology studies were conducted in order to show the distribution between LDPE and starch.
Keywords: Biofilms, degradable polymers, starch based polyethylene, injection moulding.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3138348 Stability of Stochastic Model Predictive Control for Schrödinger Equation with Finite Approximation
Authors: Tomoaki Hashimoto
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Recent technological advance has prompted significant interest in developing the control theory of quantum systems. Following the increasing interest in the control of quantum dynamics, this paper examines the control problem of Schrödinger equation because quantum dynamics is basically governed by Schrödinger equation. From the practical point of view, stochastic disturbances cannot be avoided in the implementation of control method for quantum systems. Thus, we consider here the robust stabilization problem of Schrödinger equation against stochastic disturbances. In this paper, we adopt model predictive control method in which control performance over a finite future is optimized with a performance index that has a moving initial and terminal time. The objective of this study is to derive the stability criterion for model predictive control of Schrödinger equation under stochastic disturbances.Keywords: Optimal control, stochastic systems, quantum systems, stabilization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2355347 Comprehensive Evaluation on Land Supply System Performance: In Terms of System Transformation
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This evaluation of land supply system performance in China shall examine the combination of government functions and national goals in order to perform a cost-benefit analysis of system results. From the author's point of view, it is most productive to evaluate land supply system performance at moments of system transformation for the following reasons. The behavior and input-output change of beneficial results at different times can be observed when the system or policy changes and system performance can be evaluated through a cost-benefit analysis during the process of system transformation. Moreover, this evaluation method can avoid the influence of land resource endowment. Different land resource endowment methods and different economy development periods result in different systems. This essay studies the contents, principles and methods of land supply system performance evaluation. Taking Beijing as an example, this essay optimizes and classifies the land supply index, makes a quantitative evaluation of land supply system performance through principal component analysis (PCA), and finally analyzes the factors that influence land supply system performance at times of system transformation.Keywords: Land supply, System performance, System transformation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1309346 Virtual Reality for PostCOVID-19 Stroke: A Case Report
Authors: Kasra Afsahi, Maryam Soheilifar, Noureddin Nakhostin Ansari
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COVID-19 has been associated with stroke and neurological complications. The patient was a 59-year-old male presented with sudden left hemiparesis and diplopia due to cavernous sinus thrombosis (CST) on 28/03/2020. The COVID-19 test was positive. Multislice computerized tomography (MSCT) showed ischemic infarction. He underwent surgical sinectomy 9 days after admission. Physiotherapy began for him on August 2020. Our game-based virtual reality (VR) technology developed for stroke patients was based on upper extremity exercises and function for stroke. After 6 weeks of VR therapy plus conventional physiotherapy exercises (18 sessions, three times per week, 60 minutes each session), there were significant improvements in Brunnstrom Motor Recovery Stage (from “4” to “5”), Fugl-Meyer Scale score of upper extremity section (from 49 to 54), and Modified Barthel Index (from 15 to 18). There were no adverse effects. This case with stroke post COVID-19 due to the CST showed the usefulness of VR therapy used as an adjunct to conventional physiotherapy in improving affected upper extremity.
Keywords: COVID-19, stroke, virtual reality, rehabilitation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 539345 The Study of the Mutual Effect of Genotype in Environment by Percent of Oil Criterion in Sunflower
Authors: Seyed Mohammad Nasir Mousavi, Pasha Hejazi, Maryam Ebrahimian Dehkordi
Abstract:
In order to study the Mutual effect of genotype × environment for the percent of oil index in sunflower items, an experiment was accomplished form complete random block designs in four iteration and was four diverse researching station comprising Esfahan, Birjand, Sari, and Karaj. Complex variance analysis showed that there is an important diversity between the items under investigation. The results relevant the coefficient variation of items Azargol and Vidoc has respectively allocated the minimum coefficient of variations. According to the results extrapolated from Shokla stability variance, the Items Brocar, Allison and Fabiola, are among the stable genotypes for oil percent respectively. In the biplot GGE, the location under investigations divided in two superenvironments, first one comprised of locations naming Esfahan, Karaj, and Birjand, and second one were such a location as Sari. By this point of view, in the first super-environment, the Item Fabiola and in the second Almanzor item was among the best items and crops.
Keywords: Sunflower, Stability, GGE biplot, Super- Environment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1843344 The Determinants of Voluntary Disclosure in Croatia
Authors: Zeljana Aljinovic Barac, Marina Granic, Tina Vuko
Abstract:
Study investigates the level and extent of voluntary disclosure practice in Croatia. The research was conducted on the sample of 130 medium and large companies. Findings indicate that two thirds of the companies analyzed disclose below-average number of additional information. The explanatory analyses has shown that firm size, listing status and industrial sector significantly and positively affect the level and extent of voluntary disclosure in the annual report of Croatian companies. On the other hand, profitability and ownership structure were found statistically insignificant. Unlike previous studies, this paper deals with level of voluntary disclosure of medium and large companies, as well as companies whose shares are not listed on the organized capital market, which can be found as our contribution. Also, the research makes contribution by providing the insights into voluntary disclosure practices in Croatia, as a case of macro-oriented accounting system economy, i.e. bank oriented economy with an emerging capital market.
Keywords: Annual report, Croatian companies, Disclosure index, Voluntary disclosure.
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