Search results for: Evaluation pattern

Authors: Brittany E. Coff, Tommy K. K. Ngai, Laura A. S. MacDonald

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Many organizations in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector provide education and training in order to increase the effectiveness of their WASH interventions. A key challenge for these organizations is measuring how well their education and training activities contribute to WASH improvements. It is crucial for implementers to understand the returns of their education and training activities so that they can improve and make better progress toward the desired outcomes. This paper presents information on CAWST’s development and piloting of the evaluation methodology. The Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST) has developed a methodology for evaluating education and training activities, so that organizations can understand the effectiveness of their WASH activities and improve accordingly. CAWST developed this methodology through a series of research partnerships, followed by staged field pilots in Nepal, Peru, Ethiopia and Haiti. During the research partnerships, CAWST collaborated with universities in the UK and Canada to: review a range of available evaluation frameworks, investigate existing practices for evaluating education activities, and develop a draft methodology for evaluating education programs. The draft methodology was then piloted in three separate studies to evaluate CAWST’s, and CAWST’s partner’s, WASH education programs. Each of the pilot studies evaluated education programs in different locations, with different objectives, and at different times within the project cycles. The evaluations in Nepal and Peru were conducted in 2013 and investigated the outcomes and impacts of CAWST’s WASH education services in those countries over the past 5-10 years. In 2014, the methodology was applied to complete a rigorous evaluation of a 3-day WASH Awareness training program in Ethiopia, one year after the training had occurred. In 2015, the methodology was applied in Haiti to complete a rapid assessment of a Community Health Promotion program, which informed the development of an improved training program. After each pilot evaluation, the methodology was reviewed and improvements were made. A key concept within the methodology is that in order for training activities to lead to improved WASH practices at the community level, it is not enough for participants to acquire new knowledge and skills; they must also apply the new skills and influence the behavior of others following the training. The steps of the methodology include: development of a Theory of Change for the education program, application of the Kirkpatrick model to develop indicators, development of data collection tools, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, and use of the findings for improvement. The methodology was applied in different ways for each pilot and was found to be practical to apply and adapt to meet the needs of each case. It was useful in gathering specific information on the outcomes of the education and training activities, and in developing recommendations for program improvement. Based on the results of the pilot studies, CAWST is developing a set of support materials to enable other WASH implementers to apply the methodology. By using this methodology, more WASH organizations will be able to understand the outcomes and impacts of their training activities, leading to higher quality education programs and improved WASH outcomes.

Keywords: Education and training, capacity building, evaluation, water and sanitation.

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Authors: Ramon Santana

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The use of biometric identifiers in the field of information security, access control to resources, authentication in ATMs and banking among others, are of great concern because of the safety of biometric data. In the general architecture of a biometric system have been detected eight vulnerabilities, six of them allow obtaining minutiae template in plain text. The main consequence of obtaining minutia templates is the loss of biometric identifier for life. To mitigate these vulnerabilities several models to protect minutiae templates have been proposed. Several vulnerabilities in the cryptographic security of these models allow to obtain biometric data in plain text. In order to increase the cryptographic security and ease of reversibility, a minutiae templates protection model is proposed. The model aims to make the cryptographic protection and facilitate the reversibility of data using two levels of security. The first level of security is the data transformation level. In this level generates invariant data to rotation and translation, further transformation is irreversible. The second level of security is the evaluation level, where the encryption key is generated and data is evaluated using a defined evaluation function. The model is aimed at mitigating known vulnerabilities of the proposed models, basing its security on the impossibility of the polynomial reconstruction.

Keywords: Fingerprint, template protection, bio-cryptography, minutiae protection.

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Authors: B. Kabane, G. G. Redhi

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An ammonium based ionic liquid (methyltrioctylammonium chloride) [N_{8 8 8 1}] [Cl] was investigated as an extraction potential solvent for volatile organic solvents (in this regard, solutes), which includes alkenes, alkanes, ketones, alkynes, aromatic hydrocarbons, tetrahydrofuran (THF), alcohols, thiophene, water and acetonitrile based on the experimental activity coefficients at infinite THF measurements were conducted by the use of gas-liquid chromatography at four different temperatures (313.15 to 343.15) K. Experimental data of activity coefficients obtained across the examined temperatures were used in order to calculate the physicochemical properties at infinite dilution such as partial molar excess enthalpy, Gibbs free energy and entropy term. Capacity and selectivity data for selected petrochemical extraction problems (heptane/thiophene, heptane/benzene, cyclohaxane/cyclohexene, hexane/toluene, hexane/hexene) were computed from activity coefficients data and compared to the literature values with other ionic liquids. Evaluation of activity coefficients at infinite dilution expands the knowledge and provides a good understanding related to the interactions between the ionic liquid and the investigated compounds.

Keywords: Separation, activity coefficients, ionic liquid, methyltrioctylammonium chloride, capacity.

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Authors: Srisuwan Kasemsawat

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This is a survey research using quantitative and qualitative methodology. There were three objectives: 1) To study participatory level of community in water and waste environment management. 2) To study the affecting factors for community participation in water and waste environment management in Ampawa District, Samut Songkram Province. 3) To search for the participatory patterns in water and waste management. The population sample for the quantitative research was 1,364 people living in Ampawa District. The methodology was simple random sampling. Research instrument was a questionnaire and the qualitative research used purposive sampling in 6 Sub Districts which are Ta Ka, Suanluang, Bangkae, Muangmai, Kwae-om, and Bangnanglee Sub District Administration Organization. Total population is 63. For data analysis, the study used content analysis from quantitative research to synthesize and build question frame from the content for interview and conducting focus group interview. The study found that the community participatory in the issue of level in water and waste management are moderate of planning, operation, and evaluation. The issue of being beneficial is at low level. Therefore, the overall participatory level of community in water and waste environment management is at a medium level. The factors affecting the participatory of community in water and waste management are age, the period dwelling in the community and membership in which the mean difference is statistic significant at 0.05 in area of operation, being beneficial, and evaluation. For patterns of community participation, there is the correlation with water and waste management in 4 concerns which are 1) Participation in planning 2) Participation in operation 3) Participation in being beneficial both directly and indirectly benefited 4) Participation in evaluation and monitoring. The recommendation from this study is the need to create conscious awareness in order to increase participation level of people by organizing activities that promote participation with volunteer spirit. Government should open opportunities for people to participate in sharing ideas and create the culture of living together with equality which would build more concrete participation.

Keywords: Participation, Participatory Patterns, Water and Waste Management, Environmental Management.

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Authors: Shannon Steinmetz, Ellen Gethner

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In this paper a theoretical foundation is developed to segment, analyze and associate patterns within audio. We explore this on imagery via sonified audio applied to our segmentation framework. The approach involves a geodesic estimator within the statistical manifold, parameterized by musical centricity. We demonstrate viability by processing a database of random imagery to produce statistically significant clusters of similar imagery content.

Keywords: Sonification, musical information geometry, image content extraction, automated quantification, audio segmentation, pattern recognition.

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Authors: András Barta, István Vajk

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In pattern recognition applications the low level segmentation and the high level object recognition are generally considered as two separate steps. The paper presents a method that bridges the gap between the low and the high level object recognition. It is based on a Bayesian network representation and network propagation algorithm. At the low level it uses hierarchical structure of quadratic spline wavelet image bases. The method is demonstrated for a simple circuit diagram component identification problem.

Keywords: Object recognition, Bayesian network, Wavelets, Document processing.

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Authors: Y. Harold Robinson, M. Rajaram, E. Golden Julie, S. Balaji

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This paper describes the proficient way of choosing the cluster head based on dominating set algorithm in a wireless sensor network (WSN). The algorithm overcomes the energy deterioration problems by this selection process of cluster heads. Clustering algorithms such as LEACH, EEHC and HEED enhance scalability in WSNs. Dominating set algorithm keeps the first node alive longer than the other protocols previously used. As the dominating set of cluster heads are directly connected to each node, the energy of the network is saved by eliminating the intermediate nodes in WSN. Security and trust is pivotal in network messaging. Cluster head is secured with a unique key. The member can only connect with the cluster head if and only if they are secured too. The secured trust model provides security for data transmission in the dominated set network with the group key. The concept can be extended to add a mobile sink for each or for no of clusters to transmit data or messages between cluster heads and to base station. Data security id preferably high and data loss can be prevented. The simulation demonstrates the concept of choosing cluster heads by dominating set algorithm and trust evaluation using DSTE. The research done is rationalized.

Keywords: Wireless Sensor Networks, LEECH, EEHC, HEED, DSTE.

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Authors: Saemee Jun, Dong-Hyeon Shin, Tae-Sang Ahn, Hyung-Joon Kim

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Building loss estimation methodologies which have been advanced considerably in recent decades are usually used to estimate socio and economic impacts resulting from seismic structural damage. In accordance with these methods, this paper presents the evaluation of an annual loss probability of a reinforced concrete moment resisting frame designed according to Korean Building Code. The annual loss probability is defined by (1) a fragility curve obtained from a capacity spectrum method which is similar to a method adopted from HAZUS, and (2) a seismic hazard curve derived from annual frequencies of exceedance per peak ground acceleration. Seismic fragilities are computed to calculate the annual loss probability of a certain structure using functions depending on structural capacity, seismic demand, structural response and the probability of exceeding damage state thresholds. This study carried out a nonlinear static analysis to obtain the capacity of a RC moment resisting frame selected as a prototype building. The analysis results show that the probability of being extensive structural damage in the prototype building is expected to 0.01% in a year.

Keywords: Expected annual loss, Loss estimation, RC structure, Fragility analysis.

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Authors: C. Ardil

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The Turkish Air Force needs to acquire a sixth- generation fighter aircraft in order to maintain its air superiority and dominance against its rivals under the risks posed by global geopolitical opportunities and threats. Accordingly, five evaluation criteria were determined to evaluate the sixth-generation fighter aircraft alternatives and to select the best one. Systematically, a new fuzzy preference optimization programming (POP) method is proposed to select the best sixth generation fighter aircraft in an uncertain environment. The POP technique considers both quantitative and qualitative evaluation criteria. To demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed approach, it is applied to a multiple criteria decision-making problem to evaluate and select sixth-generation fighter aircraft. The results of the fuzzy POP method are compared with the results of the fuzzy TOPSIS approach to validate it. According to the comparative analysis, fuzzy POP and fuzzy TOPSIS methods get the same results. This demonstrates the applicability of the fuzzy POP technique to address the sixth-generation fighter selection problem.

Keywords: Fighter aircraft selection, sixth-generation fighter aircraft, fuzzy decision process, multiple criteria decision making, preference optimization programming, POP, TOPSIS, Kizilelma, MIUS, fuzzy set theory

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Authors: I. Kočvarová, E. Machů, N. Bártlová

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The issue of inclusion - segregation in the current Czech educational system is highly actual due to changes in legislation. It applies primarily to pupils with special educational needs, but it should also apply to pupils with giftedness. The paper presents chosen results of an exploratory survey that was carried out on a convenience sample of 1101 Czech teachers working in lower secondary education (ISCED2). The rate of teachers´ agreement with segregation of gifted pupils in the education system was monitored during this investigation. A validated questionnaire of our own design was used for the purpose of this investigation. The results were compared across groups of teachers in terms of selected variables. Results show that 36,3 % of teachers incline to segregation (rather than inclusion) of gifted pupils. Teachers who are not educated in this field and have no experience in teaching gifted pupils tend to support their segregation more in comparison with other teachers. Teachers of specialized schools for gifted pupils paradoxically agree with segregation to a slightly lesser extent than teachers from traditional schools, but they also manifest the most hesitant attitude in this issue. Preferences for segregation of gifted pupils are not related to attitudes toward gifted pupils or teachers' self-evaluation in terms of care for the gifted. Investigation indicates that the issue of education of gifted children and their inclusion in the educational system needs more space within the further education of teachers.

Keywords: Educational system, evaluation, gifted pupil, inclusion, segregation, teacher.

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Authors: Surya Prakash, Sunil Kumar Sinha

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This paper deals with the application of artificial neural network (ANN) and fuzzy based Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System(ANFIS) approach to Load Frequency Control (LFC) of multi unequal area hydro-thermal interconnected power system. The proposed ANFIS controller combines the advantages of fuzzy controller as well as quick response and adaptability nature of ANN. Area-1 and area-2 consists of thermal reheat power plant whereas area-3 and area-4 consists of hydro power plant with electric governor. Performance evaluation is carried out by using intelligent controller like ANFIS, ANN and Fuzzy controllers and conventional PI and PID control approaches. To enhance the performance of intelligent and conventional controller sliding surface is included. The performances of the controllers are simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK package. A comparison of ANFIS, ANN, Fuzzy, PI and PID based approaches shows the superiority of proposed ANFIS over ANN & fuzzy, PI and PID controller for 1% step load variation.

Keywords: Load Frequency Control (LFC), ANFIS, ANN & Fuzzy, PI, PID Controllers, Area Control Error (ACE), Tie-line, MATLAB / SIMULINK.

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Authors: S. B. Kotsiantis, P. E. Pintelas

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Bagging and boosting are among the most popular resampling ensemble methods that generate and combine a diversity of classifiers using the same learning algorithm for the base-classifiers. Boosting algorithms are considered stronger than bagging on noisefree data. However, there are strong empirical indications that bagging is much more robust than boosting in noisy settings. For this reason, in this work we built an ensemble using a voting methodology of bagging and boosting ensembles with 10 subclassifiers in each one. We performed a comparison with simple bagging and boosting ensembles with 25 sub-classifiers, as well as other well known combining methods, on standard benchmark datasets and the proposed technique was the most accurate.

Keywords: data mining, machine learning, pattern recognition.

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Authors: Yuri Boiko, Iluju Kiringa, Tet Yeap

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Current drainage attack suggested previously is further studied in regular settings of closed-loop controlled Brushless DC (BLDC) motor with Kalman filter in the feedback loop. Modeling and simulation experiments are conducted in a MATLAB environment, implementing the closed-loop control model of BLDC motor operation in position sensorless mode under Kalman filter drive. The current increase in the motor windings is caused by the controller (p-controller in our case) affected by false data injection of substitution of the angular velocity estimates with distorted values. Operation of multiplication to distortion coefficient, values of which are taken from the distortion function synchronized in its periodicity with the rotor’s position change. A saw function with a triangular tooth shape is studied herewith for the purpose of carrying out the bias injection with current drainage consequences. The specific focus here is on how the asymmetry of the tooth in the saw function affects the flow of current drainage. The purpose is two-fold: (i) to produce and collect the signature of an asymmetric saw in the attack for further pattern recognition process, and (ii) to determine conditions of improving stealthiness of such attack via regulating asymmetry in saw function used. It is found that modification of the symmetry in the saw tooth affects the periodicity of current drainage modulation. Specifically, the modulation frequency of the drained current for a fully asymmetric tooth shape coincides with the saw function modulation frequency itself. Increasing the symmetry parameter for the triangle tooth shape leads to an increase in the modulation frequency for the drained current. Moreover, such frequency reaches the switching frequency of the motor windings for fully symmetric triangular shapes, thus becoming undetectable and improving the stealthiness of the attack. Therefore, the collected signatures of the attack can serve for attack parameter identification via the pattern recognition route.

Keywords: Bias injection attack, Kalman filter, BLDC motor, control system, closed loop, P-controller, PID-controller, current drainage, saw-function, asymmetry.

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Authors: Chung-Hung Tsai

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Global environmental changes lead to increased frequency and scale of natural disaster, Taiwan is under the influence of global warming and extreme weather. Therefore, the vulnerability was increased and variability and complexity of disasters is relatively enhanced. The purpose of this study is to consider the source and magnitude of hazard characteristics on the tourism industry. Using modern risk management concepts, integration of related domestic and international basic research, this goes beyond the Taiwan typhoon disaster risk assessment model and evaluation of loss. This loss evaluation index system considers the impact of extreme weather, in particular heavy rain on the tourism industry in Taiwan. Consider the extreme climate of the compound impact of disaster for the tourism industry; we try to make multi-hazard risk assessment model, strategies and suggestions. Related risk analysis results are expected to provide government department, the tourism industry asset owners, insurance companies and banking include tourist disaster risk necessary information to help its tourism industry for effective natural disaster risk management.

Keywords: Tourism industry, extreme weather, multi-hazard, vulnerability analysis, loss exceeding probability, risk management.

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Authors: Serkawt Khola

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A feature weighting and selection method is proposed which uses the structure of a weightless neuron and exploits the principles that govern the operation of Genetic Algorithms and Evolution. Features are coded onto chromosomes in a novel way which allows weighting information regarding the features to be directly inferred from the gene values. The proposed method is significant in that it addresses several problems concerned with algorithms for feature selection and weighting as well as providing significant advantages such as speed, simplicity and suitability for real-time systems.

Keywords: Feature weighting, genetic algorithm, pattern recognition, weightless neuron.

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Authors: P. Slepicka, N. Slepickova Kasalkova, I. Michaljanicova, O. Nedela, Z. Kolska, V. Svorcik

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Polymers exposed to laser or plasma treatment or modified with different wet methods which enable the introduction of nanoparticles or biologically active species, such as amino-acids, may find many applications both as biocompatible or anti-bacterial materials or on the contrary, can be applied for a decrease in the number of cells on the treated surface which opens application in single cell units. For the experiments, two types of materials were chosen, a representative of non-biodegradable polymers, polyethersulphone (PES) and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) as biodegradable material. Exposure of solid substrate to laser well below the ablation threshold can lead to formation of various surface structures. The ripples have a period roughly comparable to the wavelength of the incident laser radiation, and their dimensions depend on many factors, such as chemical composition of the polymer substrate, laser wavelength and the angle of incidence. On the contrary, biopolymers may significantly change their surface roughness and thus influence cell compatibility. The focus was on the surface treatment of PES and PHB by pulse excimer KrF laser with wavelength of 248 nm. The changes of physicochemical properties, surface morphology, surface chemistry and ablation of exposed polymers were studied both for PES and PHB. Several analytical methods involving atomic force microscopy, gravimetry, scanning electron microscopy and others were used for the analysis of the treated surface. It was found that the combination of certain input parameters leads not only to the formation of optimal narrow pattern, but to the combination of a ripple and a wrinkle-like structure, which could be an optimal candidate for cell attachment. The interaction of different types of cells and their interactions with the laser exposed surface were studied. It was found that laser treatment contributes as a major factor for wettability/contact angle change. The combination of optimal laser energy and pulse number was used for the construction of a surface with an anti-cellular response. Due to the simple laser treatment, we were able to prepare a biopolymer surface with higher roughness and thus significantly influence the area of growth of different types of cells (U-2 OS cells).

Keywords: Polymer treatment, laser, periodic pattern, cell response.

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Authors: J. Hassan

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Water 2H NMR signal on the surface of nano-silica material, MCM-41, consists of two overlapping resonances. The 2H water spectrum shows a superposition of a Lorentzian line shape and the familiar NMR powder pattern line shape, indicating the existence of two spin components. Chemical exchange occurs between these two groups. Decomposition of the two signals is a crucial starting point for study the exchange process. In this article we have determined these spin component populations along with other important parameters for the 2H water NMR signal over a temperature range between 223 K and 343 K.

Keywords: Nano-Silica, surface water, NMR

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Authors: Abdunaser Abduelmula, Maria Luisa M. Bastos, José A. Gonçalves

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Modelling of the earth's surface and evaluation of urban environment, with 3D models, is an important research topic. New stereo capabilities of high resolution optical satellites images, such as the tri-stereo mode of Pleiades, combined with new image matching algorithms, are now available and can be applied in urban area analysis. In addition, photogrammetry software packages gained new, more efficient matching algorithms, such as SGM, as well as improved filters to deal with shadow areas, can achieve more dense and more precise results. This paper describes a comparison between 3D data extracted from tri-stereo and dual stereo satellite images, combined with pixel based matching and Wallis filter. The aim was to improve the accuracy of 3D models especially in urban areas, in order to assess if satellite images are appropriate for a rapid evaluation of urban environments. The results showed that 3D models achieved by Pleiades tri-stereo outperformed, both in terms of accuracy and detail, the result obtained from a Geo-eye pair. The assessment was made with reference digital surface models derived from high resolution aerial photography. This could mean that tri-stereo images can be successfully used for the proposed urban change analyses.

Keywords: 3D Models, Environment, Matching, Pleiades.

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Authors: W. I. Wan Rosli, M. A. Solihah., N. A. Nik Fakurudin, M. S. Aishah, S. S. J. Mohsin

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The nutrient composition and sensory properties of poultry-based patties (PBPs) incorporated with various levels of grey oyster mushroom (Pleurotus sajor-caju, PSC) were studied. The PBPs were formulated with either 0%, 25% or 50% of fresh ground PSC. Results show poultry patty formulated with 25% PSC had protein content of 17.46% lower than the control patty which had 18.13% but it was not significant. Meanwhile, both cooked poultry patties containing 25% and 50% PSC significantly recorded lower concentration of fat at 10.67% and 7.15%, respectively. On the other hand, poultry patty added with 50% ground PSC shows the highest concentration of total dietary fibre (TDF) of 4.90 g/100g compared to poultry patty containing 25% of mushroom (3.40 g/100g) and to the control (1.90g/100g). In addition, patty incorporated with 25% PSC had moisture content of 57.91% which is significantly lower than patty formulated with 50% which had moisture of 61.80%. In the sensory evaluation, there were no differences recorded in all sensory attributes of PSC-based patties judged by untrained panelists. In conclusion, the addition of PSC to replace poultry meat can be recommended for the purpose of lowering production cost, enhancing nutritional composition and maintaining the acceptability of poultry patties.

Keywords: oyster mushroom (PSC), poultry patty, nutrient composition, sensory evaluation

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Authors: Aaidha Hammad

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The age a child to be exposed to a second language is a controversial issue in communities such as the Maldives where English is taught as a second language. It has been observed that different stakeholders have different viewpoints towards the issue. Some believe that the earlier children are exposed to a second language, the better they learn, while others disagree with the notion. Hence, this case study investigates whether children learn a second language better when they are exposed at an earlier age or not. The spoken and written data collected confirm that earlier exposure helps in mastering the sound pattern and speaking fluency with more native-like accent, while a later age is better for learning more abstract and concrete aspects such as grammar and syntactic rules.

Keywords: Age, development of language skills, fluency, second language acquisition.

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Authors: R.K.Tuli

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In the present communication, we have studied different variations in the entropy measures in the different states of queueing processes. In case of steady state queuing process, it has been shown that as the arrival rate increases, the uncertainty increases whereas in the case of non-steady birth-death process, it is shown that the uncertainty varies differently. In this pattern, it first increases and attains its maximum value and then with the passage of time, it decreases and attains its minimum value.

Keywords: Entropy, Birth-death process, M/G/1 system, G/M/1system, Steady state, Non-steady state

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Authors: Alyaa M. Younes, Nermine Harraz, Mohammad H. Elwany

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Lithium ion batteries are currently used for many applications including satellites, electric vehicles and mobile electronics. Their ability to store relatively large amount of energy in a limited space make them most appropriate for critical applications. Evaluation of the life of these batteries and their reliability becomes crucial to the systems they support. Reliability of Li-Ion batteries has been mainly considered based on its lifetime. However, another important factor that can be considered critical in many applications such as in electric vehicles is the cycle duration. The present work presents the results of an experimental investigation on the degradation behavior of a Laptop Li-ion battery (type TKV2V) and the effect of applied load on the battery cycle time. The reliability was evaluated using an accelerated life test. Least squares linear regression with median rank estimation was used to estimate the Weibull distribution parameters needed for the reliability functions estimation. The probability density function, failure rate and reliability function under each of the applied loads were evaluated and compared. An inverse power model is introduced that can predict cycle time at any stress level given.

Keywords: Accelerated life test, inverse power law, lithium ion battery, reliability evaluation, Weibull distribution.

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Authors: Ramin Halavati, Mansour Jamzad, Mahdieh Soleymani

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Persian (Farsi) script is totally cursive and each character is written in several different forms depending on its former and later characters in the word. These complexities make automatic handwriting recognition of Persian a very hard problem and there are few contributions trying to work it out. This paper presents a novel practical approach to online recognition of Persian handwriting which is based on representation of inputs and patterns with very simple visual features and comparison of these simple terms. This recognition approach is tested over a set of Persian words and the results have been quite acceptable when the possible words where unknown and they were almost all correct in cases that the words where chosen from a prespecified list.

Keywords: Image Processing, Pattern Recognition.

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Authors: Shuen-Tai Wang, Fang-An Kuo, Chau-Yi Chou, Yu-Bin Fang

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2016 has become the year of the Artificial Intelligence explosion. AI technologies are getting more and more matured that most world well-known tech giants are making large investment to increase the capabilities in AI. Machine learning is the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed, and deep learning is a subset of machine learning that uses deep neural network to train a machine to learn  features directly from data. Deep learning realizes many machine learning applications which expand the field of AI. At the present time, deep learning frameworks have been widely deployed on servers for deep learning applications in both academia and industry. In training deep neural networks, there are many standard processes or algorithms, but the performance of different frameworks might be different. In this paper we evaluate the running performance of two state-of-the-art distributed deep learning frameworks that are running training calculation in parallel over multi GPU and multi nodes in our cloud environment. We evaluate the training performance of the frameworks with ResNet-50 convolutional neural network, and we analyze what factors that result in the performance among both distributed frameworks as well. Through the experimental analysis, we identify the overheads which could be further optimized. The main contribution is that the evaluation results provide further optimization directions in both performance tuning and algorithmic design.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, convolutional neural networks.

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Authors: Daniel Y. Abebe, Jaehyouk Choi

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The idea of adding metallic energy dissipaters to a structure to absorb a large part of the seismic energy began four decades ago. There are several types of metal-based devices conceived as dampers for the seismic energy absorber whereby damages to the major structural components could be minimized for both new and existing structures. This paper aimed to develop and evaluate structural performance of both stiffened and non stiffened circular shear panel damper for passive seismic energy protection by inelastic deformation. Structural evaluation was done using commercially available nonlinear FE simulation program. Diameter-to-thickness ratio is employed as main parameter to investigate the hysteresis performance of stiffened and unstiffened circular shear panel. Depending on these parameters three different buckling mode and hysteretic behavior was found: yielding prior to buckling without strength degradation, yielding prior to buckling with strength degradation and yielding with buckling and strength degradation which forms pinching at initial displacement. Hence, the hysteresis behavior is identified, specimens which deform without strength degradation so it will be used as passive energy dissipating device in civil engineering structures.

Keywords: Circular shear panel damper, FE analysis, Hysteretic behavior, Large deformation.

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Authors: Vijay Shankar

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Evapotranspiration (ET) is a major component of the hydrologic cycle and its accurate estimation is essential for hydrological studies. In past, various estimation methods have been developed for different climatological data, and the accuracy of these methods varies with climatic conditions. Reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0) is a key variable in procedures established for estimating evapotranspiration rates of agricultural crops. Values of ET0 are used with crop coefficients for many aspects of irrigation and water resources planning and management. Numerous methods are used for estimating ET0. As per internationally accepted procedures outlined in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization-s Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56(FAO-56), use of Penman-Monteith equation is recommended for computing ET0 from ground based climatological observations. In the present study, seven methods have been selected for performance evaluation. User friendly software has been developed using programming language visual basic. The visual basic has ability to create graphical environment using less coding. For given data availability the developed software estimates reference evapotranspiration for any given area and period for which data is available. The accuracy of the software has been checked by the examples given in FAO-56.The developed software is a user friendly tool for estimating ET0 under different data availability and climatic conditions.

Keywords: Crop coefficient, Crop evapotranspiration, Field moisture, Irrigation Scheduling.

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Authors: Mohd Fikri Azli bin Abdullah, Khairul Anwar bin Kamarul Hatta, Esther Jeganathan

Abstract:

WiFi has become an essential technology that is widely used nowadays. It is famous due to its convenience to be used with mobile devices. This is especially true for Internet users worldwide that use WiFi connections. There are many location based services that are available nowadays which uses Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) signal fingerprinting. A common example that is gaining popularity in this era would be Foursquare. In this work, the WiFi signal would be used to estimate the user or client’s location. Similar to GPS, fingerprinting method needs a floor plan to increase the accuracy of location estimation. Still, the factor of inconsistent WiFi signal makes the estimation defer at different time intervals. Given so, an adaptive method is needed to obtain the most accurate signal at all times. WiFi signals are heavily distorted by external factors such as physical objects, radio frequency interference, electrical interference, and environmental factors to name a few. Due to these factors, this work uses a method of reducing the signal noise and estimation using the Nearest Neighbour based on past activities of the signal to increase the signal accuracy up to more than 80%. The repository yet increases the accuracy by using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) pattern matching. The repository acts as the server cum support of the client side application decision. Numerous previous works has adapted the methods of collecting signal strengths in the repository over the years, but mostly were just static. In this work, proposed solutions on how the adaptive method is done to match the signal received to the data in the repository are highlighted. With the said approach, location estimation can be done more accurately. Adaptive update allows the latest location fingerprint to be stored in the repository. Furthermore, any redundant location fingerprints are removed and only the updated version of the fingerprint is stored in the repository. How the location estimation of the user can be predicted would be highlighted more in the proposed solution section. After some studies on previous works, it is found that the Artificial Neural Network is the most feasible method to deploy in updating the repository and making it adaptive. The Artificial Neural Network functions are to do the pattern matching of the WiFi signal to the existing data available in the repository.

Keywords: Adaptive Repository, Artificial Neural Network, Location Estimation, Nearest Neighbour Euclidean Distance, WiFi RSSI Fingerprinting.

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Authors: Fatima Muhammad Shitu

Abstract:

In language learning, second language learners as well as Native speakers commit errors in their attempt to achieve competence in the target language. The realm of collocation has to do with meaning relation between lexical items. In all human language, there is a kind of ‘natural order’ in which words are arranged or relate to one another in sentences so much so that when a word occurs in a given context, the related or naturally co-occurring word will automatically come to the mind. It becomes an error, therefore, if students inappropriately pair or arrange such ‘naturally’ co–occurring lexical items in a text. It has been observed that most of the second language learners in this research group commit collocation errors. A study of this kind is very significant as it gives insight into the kinds of errors committed by learners. This will help the language teacher to be able to identify the sources and causes of such errors as well as correct them thereby guiding, helping and leading the learners towards achieving some level of competence in the language. The aim of the study is to understand the nature of these errors as stumbling blocks to effective essay writing. The objective of the study is to identify the errors, analyze their structural compositions so as to determine whether there are similarities between students in this regard and to find out whether there are patterns to these kinds of errors which will enable the researcher to understand their sources and causes. As a descriptive research, the researcher samples some nine hundred essays collected from three hundred undergraduate learners of English as a second language in the Federal College of Education, Kano, North- West Nigeria, i.e. three essays per each student. The essays which were given on three different lecture times were of similar thematic preoccupations (i.e. same topics) and length (i.e. same number of words). The essays were written during the lecture hour at three different lecture occasions. The errors were identified in a systematic manner whereby errors so identified were recorded only once even if they occur severally in students’ essays. The data was collated using percentages in which the identified numbers of occurrences were converted accordingly in percentages. The findings from the study indicate that there are similarities as well as regular and repeated errors which provided a pattern. Based on the pattern identified, the conclusion is that students’ collocation errors are attributable to poor teaching and learning which resulted in wrong generalization of rules.

Keywords: Collocations, errors, collocation errors, second language learning.

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Authors: Mojtaba Heydarizad

Abstract:

Andarokh basin is one of the main karstic regions in Khorasan Razavi province NE Iran. This basin is part of Kopeh-Dagh mega zone extending from Caspian Sea in the east to northern Afghanistan in the west. This basin is covered by Mozdooran Formation, Ngr evaporative formation and quaternary alluvium deposits in descending order of age. Mozdooran carbonate formation is notably karstified. The main surface karstic features in Mozdooran formation are Groove karren, Cleft karren, Rain pit, Rill karren, Tritt karren, Kamintza, Domes, and Table karren. In addition to surface features, deep karstic feature Andarokh Cave also exists in the region. Studying Ca, Mg, Mn, Sr, Fe concentration and Sr/Mn ratio in Mozdooran formation samples with distance to main faults and joints system using PCA analyses demonstrates intense meteoric digenesis role in controlling carbonate rock geochemistry. The karst evaluation in Andarokh basin varies from early stages 'deep seated karst' in Mesozoic to mature karstic system 'Exhumed karst' in quaternary period. Andarokh cave (the main cave in Andarokh basin) is rudimentary branch work consists of three passages of A, B and C and two entrances Andarokh and Sky.

Keywords: Andarokh basin, Andarokh cave, geochemical analyses and karst evaluation.

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Authors: O. Abiodun Adeyinka, B. Adeyemo Adesesan

Abstract:

The forensic use of handwriting depends on the analysis, comparison, and evaluation decisions made by forensic document examiners. When using biometric technology in forensic applications, it is necessary to compute Likelihood Ratio (LR) for quantifying strength of evidence under two competing hypotheses, namely the prosecution and the defense hypotheses wherein a set of assumptions and methods for a given data set will be made. It is therefore important to know how repeatable and reproducible our estimated LR is. This paper evaluated the accuracy and reproducibility of examiners' decisions. Confidence interval for the estimated LR were presented so as not get an incorrect estimate that will be used to deliver wrong judgment in the court of Law. The estimate of LR is fundamentally a Bayesian concept and we used two LR estimators, namely Logistic Regression (LoR) and Kernel Density Estimator (KDE) for this paper. The repeatability evaluation was carried out by retesting the initial experiment after an interval of six months to observe whether examiners would repeat their decisions for the estimated LR. The experimental results, which are based on handwriting dataset, show that LR has different confidence intervals which therefore implies that LR cannot be estimated with the same certainty everywhere. Though the LoR performed better than the KDE when tested using the same dataset, the two LR estimators investigated showed a consistent region in which LR value can be estimated confidently. These two findings advance our understanding of LR when used in computing the strength of evidence in handwriting using forensics.

Keywords: Logistic Regression LoR, Kernel Density Estimator KDE, Handwriting, Confidence Interval, Repeatability, Reproducibility.

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