Search results for: fast convergence
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1205

Search results for: fast convergence

425 Segmental and Subsegmental Lung Vessel Segmentation in CTA Images

Authors: H. Özkan

Abstract:

In this paper, a novel and fast algorithm for segmental and subsegmental lung vessel segmentation is introduced using Computed Tomography Angiography images. This process is quite important especially at the detection of pulmonary embolism, lung nodule, and interstitial lung disease. The applied method has been realized at five steps. At the first step, lung segmentation is achieved. At the second one, images are threshold and differences between the images are detected. At the third one, left and right lungs are gathered with the differences which are attained in the second step and Exact Lung Image (ELI) is achieved. At the fourth one, image, which is threshold for vessel, is gathered with the ELI. Lastly, identifying and segmentation of segmental and subsegmental lung vessel have been carried out thanks to image which is obtained in the fourth step. The performance of the applied method is found quite well for radiologists and it gives enough results to the surgeries medically.

Keywords: Computed tomography angiography (CTA), Computer aided detection (CAD), Lung segmentation, Lung vessel segmentation

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424 A Comparative Study of Rigid and Modified Simplex Methods for Optimal Parameter Settings of ACO for Noisy Non-Linear Surfaces

Authors: Seksan Chunothaisawat, Pongchanun Luangpaiboon

Abstract:

There are two common types of operational research techniques, optimisation and metaheuristic methods. The latter may be defined as a sequential process that intelligently performs the exploration and exploitation adopted by natural intelligence and strong inspiration to form several iterative searches. An aim is to effectively determine near optimal solutions in a solution space. In this work, a type of metaheuristics called Ant Colonies Optimisation, ACO, inspired by a foraging behaviour of ants was adapted to find optimal solutions of eight non-linear continuous mathematical models. Under a consideration of a solution space in a specified region on each model, sub-solutions may contain global or multiple local optimum. Moreover, the algorithm has several common parameters; number of ants, moves, and iterations, which act as the algorithm-s driver. A series of computational experiments for initialising parameters were conducted through methods of Rigid Simplex, RS, and Modified Simplex, MSM. Experimental results were analysed in terms of the best so far solutions, mean and standard deviation. Finally, they stated a recommendation of proper level settings of ACO parameters for all eight functions. These parameter settings can be applied as a guideline for future uses of ACO. This is to promote an ease of use of ACO in real industrial processes. It was found that the results obtained from MSM were pretty similar to those gained from RS. However, if these results with noise standard deviations of 1 and 3 are compared, MSM will reach optimal solutions more efficiently than RS, in terms of speed of convergence.

Keywords: Ant colony optimisation, metaheuristics, modified simplex, non-linear, rigid simplex.

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423 New Kinetic Approach to the Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Proteins – A Case of Thermolysin-Catalyzed Albumin

Authors: Anna Trusek-Holownia, Andrzej Noworyta

Abstract:

Using an enzyme of known specificity the hydrolysis of protein was carried out in a controlled manner. The aim was to obtain oligopeptides being the so-called active peptides or their direct precursors. An original way of expression of the protein hydrolysis kinetics was introduced. Peptide bonds contained in the protein were recognized as a diverse-quality substrate for hydrolysis by the applied protease. This assumption was positively verified taking as an example the hydrolysis of albumin by thermolysin. Peptide linkages for this system should be divided into at least four groups. One of them is a group of bonds non-hydrolyzable by this enzyme. These that are broken are hydrolyzed at a rate that differs even by tens of thousands of times. Designated kinetic constants were k'F = 10991.4 L/g.h, k'M = 14.83L/g.h, k'S about 10-1 L/g.h for fast, medium and slow bonds, respectively. Moreover, a procedure for unfolding of the protein, conducive to the improved susceptibility to enzymatic hydrolysis (approximately three-fold increase in the rate) was proposed.

Keywords: Peptide bond hydrolysis, kinetics, enzyme specificity, biologically active peptides.

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422 Evaluation of Groundwater Trend of Arsanjan Plain

Authors: Mohammad Hosein Hojati , Fardin Boustani

Abstract:

Groundwater resources in Arsanjan plain provide water for agriculture, industry, and human consumption. Continued agricultural development in this area needs to additional groundwater resources for, particularly during of drought periods, and effects on the quantity and quality of ground water available. The purpose of this study is to evaluate water level changes in the aquifer of Arsanjan plain in the Fars province in order to determine the areas of greatest depletion and the causes of depletion. In this plain, farmers and other users are pumping groundwater faster than its natural replenishment rate, causing a continuous drop in groundwater tables and depletion of this resource. In this research variation of groundwater level, their effects and ways to help control groundwater levels in aquifer of the Arsanjan plains were evaluated .Excessive exploitation of groundwater in this aquifer caused the groundwater levels fall too fast or to unacceptable levels. The average drawdown of the groundwater level in this plain were 19.66 meters during 1996 to 2003.

Keywords: Aquifer , ground water depletion, water table

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421 Development of Intelligent Time/Frequency Based Signal Detection Algorithm for Intrusion Detection System

Authors: Waqas Ahmed, S Sajjad Haider Zaidi

Abstract:

For the past couple of decades Weak signal detection is of crucial importance in various engineering and scientific applications. It finds its application in areas like Wireless communication, Radars, Aerospace engineering, Control systems and many of those. Usually weak signal detection requires phase sensitive detector and demodulation module to detect and analyze the signal. This article gives you a preamble to intrusion detection system which can effectively detect a weak signal from a multiplexed signal. By carefully inspecting and analyzing the respective signal, this system can successfully indicate any peripheral intrusion. Intrusion detection system (IDS) is a comprehensive and easy approach towards detecting and analyzing any signal that is weakened and garbled due to low signal to noise ratio (SNR). This approach finds significant importance in applications like peripheral security systems.

Keywords: Data Acquisition, fast frequency transforms, Lab VIEW software, weak signal detection.

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420 Elastic Lateral Features of a New Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum Wall

Authors: Zhengyong Liu, Huiqing Ying

Abstract:

GFRG(Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum) wall is a green product which can erect a building fast in prefabricated method, but its application to high-rise residential buildings is limited for its poor lateral stiffness. This paper has proposed a modification to GFRG walls structure to increase its lateral stiffness, which aiming to erect small high-rise residential buildings as load-bearing walls. The elastic finite element analysis to it has shown the lateral deformation feature and the distributions of the axial force and the shear force. The analysis results show that the new GFRG reinforced concrete wall can be used for small high-rise residential buildings.

Keywords: GFRG wall, lateral features, elastic analysis, residential building.

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419 An Adaptive Memetic Algorithm With Dynamic Population Management for Designing HIV Multidrug Therapies

Authors: Hassan Zarei, Ali Vahidian Kamyad, Sohrab Effati

Abstract:

In this paper, a mathematical model of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is utilized and an optimization problem is proposed, with the final goal of implementing an optimal 900-day structured treatment interruption (STI) protocol. Two type of commonly used drugs in highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), reverse transcriptase inhibitors (RTI) and protease inhibitors (PI), are considered. In order to solving the proposed optimization problem an adaptive memetic algorithm with population management (AMAPM) is proposed. The AMAPM uses a distance measure to control the diversity of population in genotype space and thus preventing the stagnation and premature convergence. Moreover, the AMAPM uses diversity parameter in phenotype space to dynamically set the population size and the number of crossovers during the search process. Three crossover operators diversify the population, simultaneously. The progresses of crossover operators are utilized to set the number of each crossover per generation. In order to escaping the local optima and introducing the new search directions toward the global optima, two local searchers assist the evolutionary process. In contrast to traditional memetic algorithms, the activation of these local searchers is not random and depends on both the diversity parameters in genotype space and phenotype space. The capability of AMAPM in finding optimal solutions compared with three popular metaheurestics is introduced.

Keywords: HIV therapy design, memetic algorithms, adaptivealgorithms, nonlinear integer programming.

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418 Optimal Bayesian Control of the Proportion of Defectives in a Manufacturing Process

Authors: Viliam Makis, Farnoosh Naderkhani, Leila Jafari

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a model and an algorithm for the calculation of the optimal control limit, average cost, sample size, and the sampling interval for an optimal Bayesian chart to control the proportion of defective items produced using a semi-Markov decision process approach. Traditional p-chart has been widely used for controlling the proportion of defectives in various kinds of production processes for many years. It is well known that traditional non-Bayesian charts are not optimal, but very few optimal Bayesian control charts have been developed in the literature, mostly considering finite horizon. The objective of this paper is to develop a fast computational algorithm to obtain the optimal parameters of a Bayesian p-chart. The decision problem is formulated in the partially observable framework and the developed algorithm is illustrated by a numerical example.

Keywords: Bayesian control chart, semi-Markov decision process, quality control, partially observable process.

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417 GEP Considering Purchase Prices, Profits of IPPs and Reliability Criteria Using Hybrid GA and PSO

Authors: H. Shayeghi, H. Hosseini, A. Shabani, M. Mahdavi

Abstract:

In this paper, optimal generation expansion planning (GEP) is investigated considering purchase prices, profits of independent power producers (IPPs) and reliability criteria using a new method based on hybrid coded Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). In this approach, optimal purchase price of each IPP is obtained by HCGA and reliability criteria are calculated by PSO technique. It should be noted that reliability criteria and the rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission have been considered as constraints of the GEP problem. Finally, the proposed method has been tested on the case study system. The results evaluation show that the proposed method can simply obtain optimal purchase prices of IPPs and is a fast method for calculation of reliability criteria in expansion planning. Also, considering the optimal purchase prices and profits of IPPs in generation expansion planning are caused that the expansion costs are decreased and the problem is solved more exactly.

Keywords: GEP Problem, IPPs, Reliability Criteria, GA, PSO.

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416 An Efficient Hardware Implementation of Extended and Fast Physical Addressing in Microprocessor-Based Systems Using Programmable Logic

Authors: Mountassar Maamoun, Abdelhamid Meraghni, Abdelhalim Benbelkacem, Daoud Berkani

Abstract:

This paper describes an efficient hardware implementation of a new technique for interfacing the data exchange between the microprocessor-based systems and the external devices. This technique, based on the use of software/hardware system and a reduced physical address, enlarges the interfacing capacity of the microprocessor-based systems, uses the Direct Memory Access (DMA) to increases the frequency of the new bus, and improves the speed of data exchange. While using this architecture in microprocessor-based system or in computer, the input of the hardware part of our system will be connected to the bus system, and the output, which is a new bus, will be connected to an external device. The new bus is composed of a data bus, a control bus and an address bus. A Xilinx Integrated Software Environment (ISE) 7.1i has been used for the programmable logic implementation.

Keywords: Interfacing, Software/hardware System, CPLD, programmable logic, DMA.

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415 Experimental Study of Specific Cross Beam Types Appropriate for Modular Bridges

Authors: Seung-Kyung Kye, Young-Hyo Son, Jin-Woong Choi, Dooyong Cho, Sun-Kyu Park

Abstract:

Recently in the field of bridges that are newly built or repaired, fast construction is required more than ever. For these reasons, precast prefabricated bridge that enables rapid construction is actively discussed and studied today. In South Korea, it is called modular bridge. Cross beam is an integral component of modular bridge. It functions for load distribution, reduction of bending moment, resistance of horizontal strength on lateral upper structure. In this study, the structural characteristics of domestic and foreign cross beam types were compared. Based on this, alternative cross beam connection types suitable for modular bridge were selected. And bulb-T girder specimens were fabricated with each type of connection. The behavior of each specimen was analyzed under static loading, and cross beam connection type which is expected to be best suited to modular bridge proposed.

Keywords: Bulb-T girder, Cross beam, Modular bridge.

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414 3D-Vehicle Associated Research Fields for Smart City via Semantic Search Approach

Authors: Haluk Eren, Mucahit Karaduman

Abstract:

This paper presents 15-year trends for scientific studies in a scientific database considering 3D and vehicle words. Two words are selected to find their associated publications in IEEE scholar database. Both of keywords are entered individually for the years 2002, 2012, and 2016 on the database to identify the preferred subjects of researchers in same years. We have classified closer research fields after searching and listing. Three years (2002, 2012, and 2016) have been investigated to figure out progress in specified time intervals. The first one is assumed as the initial progress in between 2002-2012, and the second one is in 2012-2016 that is fast development duration. We have found very interesting and beneficial results to understand the scholars’ research field preferences for a decade. This information will be highly desirable in smart city-based research purposes consisting of 3D and vehicle-related issues.

Keywords: Vehicle, 3D, smart city, scholarly search, semantic.

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413 New Hybrid Method to Correct for Wind Tunnel Wall- and Support Interference On-line

Authors: B. J. C. Horsten, L. L. M. Veldhuis

Abstract:

Because support interference corrections are not properly understood, engineers mostly rely on expensive dummy measurements or CFD calculations. This paper presents a method based on uncorrected wind tunnel measurements and fast calculation techniques (it is a hybrid method) to calculate wall interference, support interference and residual interference (when e.g. a support member closely approaches the wind tunnel walls) for any type of wind tunnel and support configuration. The method provides with a simple formula for the calculation of the interference gradient. This gradient is based on the uncorrected measurements and a successive calculation of the slopes of the interference-free aerodynamic coefficients. For the latter purpose a new vortex-lattice routine is developed that corrects the slopes for viscous effects. A test case of a measurement on a wing proves the value of this hybrid method as trends and orders of magnitudes of the interference are correctly determined.

Keywords: Hybrid method, support interference, wall interference, wind tunnel corrections.

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412 Motion Control of a Ball Throwing Robot with a Flexible Robotic Arm

Authors: Yizhi Gai, Yukinori Kobayashi, Yohei Hoshino, Takanori Emaru

Abstract:

Motion control of flexible arms is more difficult than that of rigid arms, however utilizing its dynamics enables improved performance such as a fast motion in short operation time. This paper investigates a ball throwing robot with one rigid link and one flexible link. This robot throws a ball at a set speed with a proper control torque. A mathematical model of this ball throwing robot is derived through Hamilton’s principle. Several patterns of torque input are designed and tested through the proposed simulation models. The parameters of each torque input pattern is optimized and determined by chaos embedded vector evaluated particle swarm optimization (CEVEPSO). Then, the residual vibration of the manipulator after throwing is suppressed with input shaping technique. Finally, a real experiment is set up for the model checking.

Keywords: Motion control, flexible robotic arm, CEVEPSO, ball throwing robot.

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411 Avoiding Catastrophic Forgetting by a Dual-Network Memory Model Using a Chaotic Neural Network

Authors: Motonobu Hattori

Abstract:

In neural networks, when new patterns are learned by a network, the new information radically interferes with previously stored patterns. This drawback is called catastrophic forgetting or catastrophic interference. In this paper, we propose a biologically inspired neural network model which overcomes this problem. The proposed model consists of two distinct networks: one is a Hopfield type of chaotic associative memory and the other is a multilayer neural network. We consider that these networks correspond to the hippocampus and the neocortex of the brain, respectively. Information given is firstly stored in the hippocampal network with fast learning algorithm. Then the stored information is recalled by chaotic behavior of each neuron in the hippocampal network. Finally, it is consolidated in the neocortical network by using pseudopatterns. Computer simulation results show that the proposed model has much better ability to avoid catastrophic forgetting in comparison with conventional models.

Keywords: catastrophic forgetting, chaotic neural network, complementary learning systems, dual-network

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410 Information Support for Emergency Staff Processes and Effective Decisions

Authors: Tomáš Ludík, Josef Navrátil

Abstract:

Managing the emergency situations at the Emergency Staff requires a high co-operation between its members and their fast decision making. For these purpose it is necessary to prepare Emergency Staff members adequately. The aim of this paper is to describe the development of information support that focuses to emergency staff processes and effective decisions. The information support is based on the principles of process management, and Process Framework for Emergency Management was used during the development. The output is the information system that allows users to simulate an emergency situation, including effective decision making. The system also evaluates the progress of the emergency processes solving by quantitative and qualitative indicators. By using the simulator, a higher quality education of specialists can be achieved. Therefore, negative impacts resulting from arising emergency situations can be directly reduced.

Keywords: Information Support for Emergency Staff, Effective Decisions, Process Framework, Simulation of Emergency Processes, System Development.

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409 ANN Models for Microstrip Line Synthesis and Analysis

Authors: Dr.K.Sri Rama Krishna, J.Lakshmi Narayana, Dr.L.Pratap Reddy

Abstract:

Microstrip lines, widely used for good reason, are broadband in frequency and provide circuits that are compact and light in weight. They are generally economical to produce since they are readily adaptable to hybrid and monolithic integrated circuit (IC) fabrication technologies at RF and microwave frequencies. Although, the existing EM simulation models used for the synthesis and analysis of microstrip lines are reasonably accurate, they are computationally intensive and time consuming. Neural networks recently gained attention as fast and flexible vehicles to microwave modeling, simulation and optimization. After learning and abstracting from microwave data, through a process called training, neural network models are used during microwave design to provide instant answers to the task learned.This paper presents simple and accurate ANN models for the synthesis and analysis of Microstrip lines to more accurately compute the characteristic parameters and the physical dimensions respectively for the required design specifications.

Keywords: Neural Models, Algorithms, Microstrip Lines, Analysis, Synthesis

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408 A Sub-Pixel Image Registration Technique with Applications to Defect Detection

Authors: Zhen-Hui Hu, Jyh-Shong Ju, Ming-Hwei Perng

Abstract:

This paper presents a useful sub-pixel image registration method using line segments and a sub-pixel edge detector. In this approach, straight line segments are first extracted from gray images at the pixel level before applying the sub-pixel edge detector. Next, all sub-pixel line edges are mapped onto the orientation-distance parameter space to solve for line correspondence between images. Finally, the registration parameters with sub-pixel accuracy are analytically solved via two linear least-square problems. The present approach can be applied to various fields where fast registration with sub-pixel accuracy is required. To illustrate, the present approach is applied to the inspection of printed circuits on a flat panel. Numerical example shows that the present approach is effective and accurate when target images contain a sufficient number of line segments, which is true in many industrial problems.

Keywords: Defect detection, Image registration, Straight line segment, Sub-pixel.

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407 Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of Water Quality in Drinking Water Distribution Systems with DBPs Objectives

Authors: Mingyu Xie, Mietek Brdys

Abstract:

The paper develops a Non-Linear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) of water quality in Drinking Water Distribution Systems (DWDS) based on the advanced non-linear quality dynamics model including disinfections by-products (DBPs). A special attention is paid to the analysis of an impact of the flow trajectories prescribed by an upper control level of the recently developed two-time scale architecture of an integrated quality and quantity control in DWDS. The new quality controller is to operate within this architecture in the fast time scale as the lower level quality controller. The controller performance is validated by a comprehensive simulation study based on an example case study DWDS.

Keywords: Model predictive control, hierarchical control structure, genetic algorithm, water quality with DBPs objectives.

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406 High Speed Bitwise Search for Digital Forensic System

Authors: Hyungkeun Jee, Jooyoung Lee, Dowon Hong

Abstract:

The most common forensic activity is searching a hard disk for string of data. Nowadays, investigators and analysts are increasingly experiencing large, even terabyte sized data sets when conducting digital investigations. Therefore consecutive searching can take weeks to complete successfully. There are two primary search methods: index-based search and bitwise search. Index-based searching is very fast after the initial indexing but initial indexing takes a long time. In this paper, we discuss a high speed bitwise search model for large-scale digital forensic investigations. We used pattern matching board, which is generally used for network security, to search for string and complex regular expressions. Our results indicate that in many cases, the use of pattern matching board can substantially increase the performance of digital forensic search tools.

Keywords: Digital forensics, search, regular expression.

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405 The Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Electoral Procedures: Comments on Electronic Voting Security

Authors: Magdalena Musiał-Karg

Abstract:

The expansion of telecommunication and progress of electronic media constitute important elements of our times. The recent worldwide convergence of information and communication technologies (ICT) and dynamic development of the mass media is leading to noticeable changes in the functioning of contemporary states and societies. Currently, modern technologies play more and more important roles and filter down to almost every field of contemporary human life. It results in the growth of online interactions that can be observed by the inconceivable increase in the number of people with home PCs and Internet access. The proof of it is undoubtedly the emergence and use of concepts such as e-society, e-banking, e-services, e-government, e-government, e-participation and e-democracy. The newly coined word e-democracy evidences that modern technologies have also been widely used in politics. Without any doubt in most countries all actors of political market (politicians, political parties, servants in political/public sector, media) use modern forms of communication with the society. Most of these modern technologies progress the processes of getting and sending information to the citizens, communication with the electorate, and also – which seems to be the biggest advantage – electoral procedures. Thanks to implementation of ICT the interaction between politicians and electorate are improved. The main goal of this text is to analyze electronic voting (e-voting) as one of the important forms of electronic democracy in terms of security aspects. The author of this paper aimed at answering the questions of security of electronic voting as an additional form of participation in elections and referenda.

Keywords: Electronic democracy, electronic participation, electronic voting, security of e-voting, ICT.

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404 Determining Earthquake Performances of Existing Reinforced Concrete Buildings by Using ANN

Authors: Musa H. Arslan, Murat Ceylan, Tayfun Koyuncu

Abstract:

In this study, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) analytical method has been developed for analyzing earthquake performances of the Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings. 66 RC buildings with four to ten storeys were subjected to performance analysis according to the parameters which are the existing material, loading and geometrical characteristics of the buildings. The selected parameters have been thought to be effective on the performance of RC buildings. In the performance analyses stage of the study, level of performance possible to be shown by these buildings in case of an earthquake was determined on the basis of the 4-grade performance levels specified in Turkish Earthquake Code-2007 (TEC-2007). After obtaining the 4-grade performance level, selected 23 parameters of each building have been matched with the performance level. In this stage, ANN-based fast evaluation algorithm mentioned above made an economic and rapid evaluation of four to ten storey RC buildings. According to the study, the prediction accuracy of ANN has been found about 74%.

Keywords: Artificial neural network, earthquake, performance, reinforced concrete.

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403 Understanding and Enhancing Ecotourism Opportunities through Education

Authors: V. Iakovoglou, G. N. Zaimes, M. P. Arraiza Bermúdez-Cañete, J. L. García, M. C. Giménez, C. Calderón- Guerrero, F. Ioras, I. Abrudan

Abstract:

A new fast growing trend in tourism is ecotourism, in which tourists visit natural ecosystems under low impact, nonconsumptive and locally oriented activities. Through these activities species and habitats are maintained and typically, underdeveloped regions are emphasized. Ecotourism provides a great alternative, especially for rural and undeveloped area. At the same time, despite its many benefits, it also poses many risks for the naturally protected areas. If ecotourism is practiced improperly degradation and irreversible damages could be the unwanted result. In addition, the lack of MSc programs in the field of Ecotourism in Europe makes it a necessity to be developed. Such an MSc program is being implemented with the lead partner the Technical University of Madrid. The entire partnership has six Universities, seven SMEs and one National Park from seven different countries all over Europe. The MSc will have 10 educational modules that will be available online and will prepare professionals that will be able to implement ecotourism in a sustainable way. Only through awareness and education a sustainable ecotourism will be achieved in the protected areas of Europe.

Keywords: Sustainability, MSc program, protected areas, Erasmus.

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402 The Performance Analysis of Error Saturation Nonlinearity LMS in Impulsive Noise based on Weighted-Energy Conservation

Authors: T Panigrahi, G Panda, Mulgrew

Abstract:

This paper introduces a new approach for the performance analysis of adaptive filter with error saturation nonlinearity in the presence of impulsive noise. The performance analysis of adaptive filters includes both transient analysis which shows that how fast a filter learns and the steady-state analysis gives how well a filter learns. The recursive expressions for mean-square deviation(MSD) and excess mean-square error(EMSE) are derived based on weighted energy conservation arguments which provide the transient behavior of the adaptive algorithm. The steady-state analysis for co-related input regressor data is analyzed, so this approach leads to a new performance results without restricting the input regression data to be white.

Keywords: Error saturation nonlinearity, transient analysis, impulsive noise.

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401 Evaluation of Guaiacol and Syringol Emission upon Wood Pyrolysis for some Fast Growing Species

Authors: Sherif S. Z. Hindi

Abstract:

Wood pyrolysis for Casuarina glauca, Casuarina cunninghamiana, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eucalyptus microtheca was made at 450°C with 2.5°C/min. in a flowing N2-atmosphere. The Eucalyptus genus wood gave higher values of specific gravity, ash , total extractives, lignin, N2-liquid trap distillate (NLTD) and water trap distillate (WSP) than those for Casuarina genus. The GHC of NLTD was higher for Casuarina genus than that for Eucalyptus genus with the highest value for Casuarina cunninghamiana. Guiacol, 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol and syringol were observed in the NLTD of all the four wood species reflecting their parent hardwood lignin origin. Eucalyptus camaldulensis wood had the highest lignin content (28.89%) and was pyrolyzed to the highest values of phenolics (73.01%), guaiacol (11.2%) and syringol (32.28%) contents in methylene chloride fraction (MCF) of NLTD. Accordingly, recoveries of syringol and guaiacol may become economically attractive from Eucalyptus camaldulensis.

Keywords: Wood, Pyrolysis, Guaiacol, Syringol

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400 Public Transport Prospective of People with Reduced Mobility in Hungary

Authors: Veronika Kántor-Forgách

Abstract:

To comply with the international human right legislation concerning the freedom of movement, transport systems are required to be made accessible in order that all citizens, regardless of their physical condition, have equal possibilities to use them. In Hungary, apparently there is a considerable default in the improvement of accessible public transport. This study is aiming to overview the current Hungarian situation and to reveal the reasons of the deficiency. The result shows that in spite of the relatively favourable juridical background linked to the accessibility needs and to the rights of persons with disabilities there is a strong delay in putting all in practice in the field of public transport. Its main reason is the lack of financial resource and referring to this the lack of creating mandatory regulations. In addition to this the proprietary rights related to public transport are also variable, which also limits the improvement possibilities. Consequently, first of all an accurate and detailed regulatory procedure is expected to change the present unfavourable situation and to create the conditions of the fast realization, which is already behind time.

Keywords: accessibility, legislation, people with reducedmobility, public transport.

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399 Time-Frequency Modeling and Analysis of Faulty Rotor

Authors: B. X. Tchomeni, A. A. Alugongo, T. B. Tengen

Abstract:

In this paper, de Laval rotor system has been characterized by a hinge model and its transient response numerically treated for a dynamic solution. The effect of the ensuing non-linear disturbances namely rub and breathing crack is numerically simulated. Subsequently, three analysis methods: Orbit Analysis, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), and Wavelet Transform (WT) are employed to extract features of the vibration signal of the faulty system. An analysis of the system response orbits clearly indicates the perturbations due to the rotor-to-stator contact. The sensitivities of WT to the variation in system speed have been investigated by Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT). The analysis reveals that features of crack, rubs and unbalance in vibration response can be useful for condition monitoring. WT reveals its ability to detect nonlinear signal, and obtained results provide a useful tool method for detecting machinery faults.

Keywords: Continuous wavelet, crack, discrete wavelet, high acceleration, low acceleration, nonlinear, rotor-stator, rub.

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398 Finite Element Dynamic Analysis of Composite Structure Cracks

Authors: Omid A. Zargar

Abstract:

Material damages dynamic analysis is difficult to deal with different material geometry and mechanism. In addition, it is difficult to measure the dynamic behavior of cracks, debond and delamination inside the material. Different simulation methods are developed in recent years for different physical features of mechanical systems like vibration and acoustic. Nonlinear fractures are analyzed and identified for different locations in this paper. The main idea of this work is to perform dynamic analysis on different types of materials (from normal homogeneous material to complex composite laminates). Technical factors like cracks, voids, interfaces and the damages’ locations are evaluated. In this project the modal analysis is performed on different types of materials. The results could be helpful in finding modal frequencies, natural frequencies, Time domain and fast Fourier transform (FFT) in industrial applications.

Keywords: Finite element method, dynamic analysis, vibration and acoustic, composite, crack, delamination.

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397 Improvement in Performance and Emission Characteristics of a Single Cylinder S.I. Engine Operated on Blends of CNG and Hydrogen

Authors: Sarbjot Singh Sandhu

Abstract:

This paper presents the experimental results of a single cylinder Enfield engine using an electronically controlled fuel injection system which was developed to carry out exhaustive tests using neat CNG, and mixtures of hydrogen in compressed natural gas (HCNG) as 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% by energy. Experiments were performed at 2000 and 2400 rpm with wide open throttle and varying the equivalence ratio. Hydrogen which has fast burning rate, when added to compressed natural gas, enhances its flame propagation rate. The emissions of HC, CO, decreased with increasing percentage of hydrogen but NOx was found to increase. The results indicated a marked improvement in the brake thermal efficiency with the increase in percentage of hydrogen added. The improved thermal efficiency was clearly observed to be more in lean region as compared to rich region. This study is expected to reduce vehicular emissions along with increase in thermal efficiency and thus help in reduction of further environmental degradation.

Keywords: Hydrogen, CNG, HCNG, Emissions.

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396 Spatially Random Sampling for Retail Food Risk Factors Study

Authors: Guilan Huang

Abstract:

In 2013 and 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) collected data from selected fast food restaurants and full service restaurants for tracking changes in the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors. This paper discussed how we customized spatial random sampling method by considering financial position and availability of FDA resources, and how we enriched restaurants data with location. Location information of restaurants provides opportunity for quantitatively determining random sampling within non-government units (e.g.: 240 kilometers around each data-collector). Spatial analysis also could optimize data-collectors’ work plans and resource allocation. Spatial analytic and processing platform helped us handling the spatial random sampling challenges. Our method fits in FDA’s ability to pinpoint features of foodservice establishments, and reduced both time and expense on data collection.

Keywords: Geospatial technology, restaurant, retail food risk factors study, spatial random sampling.

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