Search results for: Constraint Satisfaction Problems

Authors: Said C. Fares, Mary A. Fares

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It is well documented that introductory computer programming courses are difficult and that failure rates are high. The aim of this project was to reduce the high failure and withdrawal rates in learning to program. This paper presents a number of changes in module organization and instructional delivery system in teaching CS1. Daily out of class help sessions and tutoring services were applied, interactive lectures and laboratories, online resources, and timely feedback were introduced. Five years of data of 563 students in 21 sections was collected and analyzed. The primary results show that the failure and withdrawal rates were cut by more than half. Student surveys indicate a positive evaluation of the modified instructional approach, overall satisfaction with the course and consequently, higher success and retention rates.

Keywords: Failure Rate, Interactive Learning, Student engagement, CS1.

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Authors: Chalermwut Wijit

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This research is conducted in order to 1) study the result of applying “Active Learning” in general education subject to develop creativity 2) explore problems and obstacles in applying Active Learning in general education subject to improve the creativity in 1780 undergraduate students who registered this subject in the first semester 2013. The research is implemented by allocating the students into several groups of 10 -15 students and assigning them to design the activities for society under the four main conditions including 1) require no financial resources 2) practical 3) can be attended by every student 4) must be accomplished within 2 weeks. The researcher evaluated the creativity prior and after the study. Ultimately, the problems and obstacles from creating activity are evaluated from the open-ended questions in the questionnaires. The study result states that overall average scores on students’ ability increased significantly in terms of creativity, analytical ability and the synthesis, the complexity of working plan and team working. It can be inferred from the outcome that active learning is one of the most efficient methods in developing creativity in general education.

Keywords: Creative Thinking, Active Learning, General Education.

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Authors: Daniel Badulescu

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Under the difficult access to finance of SMEs, they expect that its relationship with the banks shall constitute a real help to access appropriate financing, at reasonable costs and requirements, given the possibility of mutually beneficial and long lasting relation. The literature, but also the research we have carried on, is centered on such determinants as concentration and the length of the relationship, but at the same time, there is little certainty that banks are responding positively to them. Furthermore, although the trust is considered as being a fundamental element of bank relationship – see the case house bank – SMEs find that the banks finance them looking rather on collaterals and covenants than to trust. Moreover, a positive behavior, such as prompt or advance repayments of loans, doesn-t generate any positive feedback from the banks side. All these show a deep un-satisfaction of the SMEs concerning their relationship banking.

Keywords: Banks' behavior, relationship banking, SMEs.

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Authors: Mian Tahir Aftab, Muhammad Umer, Riaz Ahmad

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This article proposes an Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) metaheuristic to minimize total makespan for scheduling a set of jobs and assign workers for uniformly related parallel machines. An algorithm based on ACO has been developed and coded on a computer program Matlab®, to solve this problem. The paper explains various steps to apply Ant Colony approach to the problem of minimizing makespan for the worker assignment & jobs scheduling problem in a parallel machine model and is aimed at evaluating the strength of ACO as compared to other conventional approaches. One data set containing 100 problems (12 Jobs, 03 machines and 10 workers) which is available on internet, has been taken and solved through this ACO algorithm. The results of our ACO based algorithm has shown drastically improved results, especially, in terms of negligible computational effort of CPU, to reach the optimal solution. In our case, the time taken to solve all 100 problems is even lesser than the average time taken to solve one problem in the data set by other conventional approaches like GA algorithm and SPT-A/LMC heuristics.

Keywords: Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Genetic algorithms (GA), Makespan, SPT-A/LMC heuristic.

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Authors: M. A. Omoloye, M. I. Yusuff, O. K. S. Emiola

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The use of mathematical models for solving biological problems varies from simple to complex analyses, depending on the nature of the research problems and applicability of the models. The method is more common nowadays. Many complex models become impractical when transmitted analytically. However, alternative approach such as numerical method can be employed. It appropriateness in solving linear and non-linear model equation in Differential Transformation Method (DTM) which depends on Taylor series make it applicable. Hence this study investigates the application of DTM to solve dynamic transmission of Lassa fever model in a population. The mathematical model was formulated using first order differential equation. Firstly, existence and uniqueness of the solution was determined to establish that the model is mathematically well posed for the application of DTM. Numerically, simulations were conducted to compare the results obtained by DTM and that of fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. As shown, DTM is very effective in predicting the solution of epidemics of Lassa fever model.

Keywords: Differential Transform Method, Existence and uniqueness, Lassa fever, Runge-Kutta Method.

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Authors: Ahaskar Pandey, Gaurav Mukherjee, Sushil Kumar

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The ever growing sentiment of environmentalism across the globe has made many people think on the green lines. But most of such ideas halt short of implementation because of the short term economic viability issues with the concept of going green. In this paper we have tried to amalgamate the green concept with social entrepreneurship for solving a variety of issues faced by the society today. In addition the paper also tries to ensure that the short term economic viability does not act as a deterrent. The paper comes up three sustainable models of social entrepreneurship which tackle a wide assortment of issues such as nutrition problem, land problems, pollution problems and employment problems. The models described fall under the following heads: - Spirulina cultivation: The model addresses nutrition, land and employment issues. It deals with cultivation of a blue green alga called Spirulina which can be used as a very nutritious food. Also, the implementation of this model would bring forth employment to the poor people of the area. - Biocomposites: The model comes up with various avenues in which biocomposites can be used in an economically sustainable manner. This model deals with the environmental concerns and addresses the depletion of natural resources. - Packaging material from empty fruit bunches (EFB) of oil palm: This one deals with air and land pollution. It is intended to be a substitute for packaging materials made from Styrofoam and plastics which are non-biodegradable. It takes care of the biodegradability and land pollution issues. It also reduces air pollution as the empty fruit bunches are not incinerated. All the three models are sustainable and do not deplete the natural resources any further. This paper explains each of the models in detail and deals with the operational/manufacturing procedures and cost analysis while also throwing light on the benefits derived and sustainability aspects.

Keywords: Biodegradable, Pollution, Social entrepreneurship, Sustainability.

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Authors: P. N. Hrisheekesha, Jaydev Sharma

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In this paper, a method based on Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA) has been presented for the Volt / Var control in power distribution systems with dispersed generation (DG). Genetic algorithm approach is used due to its broad applicability, ease of use and high accuracy. The proposed method is better suited for volt/var control problems. A multi-objective optimization problem has been formulated for the volt/var control of the distribution system. The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm based method proposed in this paper, alleviates the problem of tuning the weighting factors required in solving the multi-objective volt/var control optimization problems. Based on the simulation studies carried out on the distribution system, the proposed scheme has been found to be simple, accurate and easy to apply to solve the multiobjective volt/var control optimization problem of the distribution system with dispersed generation.

Keywords: Dispersed Generation, Distribution System, Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm, Voltage / Reactive powercontrol.

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Authors: Aytekin A.O., Morimura S.

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Chitosan is a biopolymer composed of glucosamine and N-acetyl glucosamine. Solubility and viscosity pose problems in some applications. These problems can be overcome with unique modifications. In this study, firstly, chitosan was modified by caffeic acid and thioglycolic acid, separately. Then, growing effects of these modified polymers was observed in U937 cell line. Caffeic acid is a phenolic compound and its modifications act carcinogenic inhibitors in drugs. Thiolated chitosans are commonly being used for drugdelivery systems in various routes, because of enhancing mucoadhesiveness property. U937 cell line was used model cell for leukaemia. Modifications were achieved by 1 – 15 % binding range. Increasing binding ratios showed higher radical-scavenging activity and reducing cell growth, in compared to native chitosan. Caffeic acid modifications showed higher radical-scavenging activity than thiolated chitosans at the same concentrations. Caffeic acid and thioglycolic acid modifications inhibited growth of U937, effectively.

Keywords: Chitosan, U937 cell, caffeic acid, thioglycolic acid

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Authors: S. Chahba, R. Sehab, A. Akrad, C. Morel

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Nowadays, the electric machines used in urban electric vehicles are, in most cases, three-phase electric machines with or without a magnet in the rotor. Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine (PMSM) and Induction Machine (IM) are the main components of drive trains of electric and hybrid vehicles. These machines have very good performance in healthy operation mode, but they are not redundant to ensure safety in faulty operation mode. Faced with the continued growth in the demand for electric vehicles in the automotive market, improving the reliability of electric vehicles is necessary over the lifecycle of the electric vehicle. Multiphase electric machines respond well to this constraint because, on the one hand, they have better robustness in the event of a breakdown (opening of a phase, opening of an arm of the power stage, intern-turn short circuit) and, on the other hand, better power density. In this work, a diagnosis approach using a neural network for an open circuit fault or more of a five-phase induction machine is developed. Validation on the simulator of the vehicle drivetrain, at reduced power, is carried out, creating one and more open circuit stator phases showing the efficiency and the reliability of the new approach to detect and to locate on-line one or more open phases of a five-induction machine.

Keywords: Electric vehicle drivetrain, multiphase drives, induction machine, control, open circuit fault diagnosis, artificial neural network.

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Authors: Paiboon Chuwatthanakij

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Each of the countries around the world has different ways of management and many of them depend on people to administrate their country. Thailand, for example, empowers the sovereignty of Thai people under constitution; however, our Thai voting system is not able to flow fast enough under the current Political management system. The sovereignty of Thai people is addressing this problem through representatives during current elections, in order to set a new policy for the countries ideology to change in the House and the Cabinet. This is particularly important in a democracy to be developed under our current political institution. The Organic Act on Political Parties 2007 is the establishment we have today that is causing confrontations within the establishment. There are many political parties that will soon be abolished. Many political parties have already been subsidized. This research study is to analyze the legal problems with the political party establishment under the Organic Act on Political Parties 2007. This will focus on the freedom of each political establishment compared to an effective political operation. Textbooks and academic papers will be referenced from studies home and abroad. The study revealed that Organic Act on Political Parties 2007 has strict provisions on the political structure over the number of members and the number of branches involved within political parties system. Such operations shall be completed within one year; but under the existing laws the small parties are not able to participate with the bigger parties. The cities are capable of fulfilling small political party requirements but fail to become coalesced because the current laws won't allow them to be united as one. It is important to allow all independent political parties to join our current political structure. Board members can’t help the smaller parties to become a large organization under the existing Thai laws. Creating a new establishment that functions efficiently throughout all branches would be one solution to these legal problems between all political parties. With this new operation, individual political parties can participate with the bigger parties during elections. Until current political institutions change their system to accommodate public opinion, these current Thai laws will continue to be a problem with all political parties in Thailand.

Keywords: Coalesced, Political Party, Sovereignty.

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Authors: Zuzana Crhová, Marie Paseková

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This contribution aims to compare legislation adjusting the course of insolvency proceedings in France, Germany and Slovakia. On the basis of an investigation of the legislative adjustment of this problem, an attempt is made to ascertain in the given countries the extent to which the outcome of the entire proceedings is influenced by legislation and to determine the fundamental moments that influence costs, recovery rate and the duration of proceedings. A comparative analysis was utilized in order to achieve the set goal. The results of the survey could be used to improve legislation so as to lead in the best and most expedient way to a departure from the market of those subjects that are for economic reasons unable to continue with their activities whilst burdening the entire process with the lowest possible costs, which would lead to a high level of satisfaction for creditors. 

Keywords: Costs, Insolvency Proceeding, Recovery Rate, Time.

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Authors: Izian Abd. Karim, Kachalla Mohammed, Nora Farah A. A. Aziz, Law Teik Hua

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The economic use and ease of construction of profiled deck composite slab is marred with the complex and un-economic strength verification required for the serviceability and general safety considerations. Beside these, albeit factors such as shear span length, deck geometries and mechanical frictions greatly influence the longitudinal shear strength, that determines the ultimate strength of profiled deck composite slab, and number of methods available for its determination; partial shear and slope-intercept are the two methods according to Euro-code 4 provision. However, the complexity associated with shear behavior of profiled deck composite slab, the use of these methods in determining the load carrying capacities of such slab yields different and conflicting values. This couple with the time and cost constraint associated with the strength verification is a source of concern that draws more attentions nowadays, the issue is critical. Treating some of these known shear strength influencing factors as random variables, the load carrying capacity violation of profiled deck composite slab from the use of the two-methods defined according to Euro-code 4 are determined using reliability approach, and comparatively studied. The study reveals safety values from the use of m-k method shows good standing compared with that from the partial shear method.

Keywords: Composite slab, first order reliability method, longitudinal shear, partial shear connection, slope-intercept.

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Authors: Júlia Szőke

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Negotiating across cultures needs consideration as different cultures have different norms, habits and behavioral patterns. The significance of cross-cultural negotiations lies in the fact that many business relationships have already failed due to the lack of cultural knowledge. Therefore, the paper deals with cross-cultural negotiations in case of Hungarian business negotiators. The aim of the paper is to introduce the findings of a two-phase research conducted among Hungarian business negotiators. In the first phase a qualitative research was conducted to reveal the importance of cultural differences in case of cross-cultural business negotiations from the viewpoint of Hungarian negotiators, whereas in the second phase a quantitative one was conducted to figure out whether cultural stereotypes affect the way how the respondents negotiate with people coming from different cultures. The research found out that in case of Hungarian negotiators it is mostly the lack of cultural knowledge that lurks behind the problems and miscommunication occurring during the negotiations. The research also revealed that stereotypes have an influence on the negotiation styles of Hungarian negotiators. The paper concludes that culture and cultural differences must be taken into consideration in case of cross-cultural negotiations so that problems and misunderstandings could be avoided.

Keywords: Business, culture, negotiations, stereotypes.

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Authors: Touba Amirazodi

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Rapid process of urbanism development has increased the demand for some infrastructures such as supplying potable water, electricity network and transportation facilities and etc. Nonefficiency of the existing system with parallel managements of urban traffic management has increased the gap between supply and demand of traffic facilities. A sustainable transport system requires some activities more important than air pollution control, traffic or fuel consumption reduction and the studies show that there is no unique solution for solving complicated transportation problems and solving such a problem needs a comprehensive, dynamic and reliable mechanism. Sustainable transport management considers the effects of transportation development on economic efficiency, environmental issues, resources consumption, land use and social justice and helps reduction of environmental effects, increase of transportation system efficiency as well as improvement of social life and aims to enhance efficiency, goods transportation, provide services with minimum access problems that cannot be realized without reorganization of strategies, policies and plans.

Keywords: Sustainable Urban Transport, Environment, Social Justice, Air Pollution

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Authors: Feras Al-Obeidat, Nabil Belacel, Juan A. Carretero, Prabhat Mahanti,

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In this paper, a new learning algorithm based on a hybrid metaheuristic integrating Differential Evolution (DE) and Reduced Variable Neighborhood Search (RVNS) is introduced to train the classification method PROAFTN. To apply PROAFTN, values of several parameters need to be determined prior to classification. These parameters include boundaries of intervals and relative weights for each attribute. Based on these requirements, the hybrid approach, named DEPRO-RVNS, is presented in this study. In some cases, the major problem when applying DE to some classification problems was the premature convergence of some individuals to local optima. To eliminate this shortcoming and to improve the exploration and exploitation capabilities of DE, such individuals were set to iteratively re-explored using RVNS. Based on the generated results on both training and testing data, it is shown that the performance of PROAFTN is significantly improved. Furthermore, the experimental study shows that DEPRO-RVNS outperforms well-known machine learning classifiers in a variety of problems.

Keywords: Knowledge Discovery, Differential Evolution, Reduced Variable Neighborhood Search, Multiple criteria classification, PROAFTN, Supervised Learning.

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Authors: Edward Lim

Abstract:

This paper deals principally with the socio-economic impact on the local Iban community in Mukah Division, Sarawak; with the commencement of the open-cut coal mining industry since 2003. To-date there are no actual studies being carried out by either the public or private sector to truly analyze how the Iban community is coping with the advent of a large influx of cash into their society. The Iban community has traditionally been practicing shifting cultivation and farming of domesticated animals; with a portion of the younger generation working as laborers and professional. This paper represents the views and observations of the author supported by some statistical facts extracted from published articles and non-published reports. The paper deals primarily in the following areas: • Background of the coal mining industry in Mukah Division, Sarawak; • Benefits of the coal mining industry towards the Iban community; • Issues / Problems arise in the Iban community because of the presence of the coal mining industry; and • Possible actions that need to be taken to overcome these issues/ problems.

Keywords: Coal Mining, Iban Community, Malaysia, Sub-Bituminous Coal.

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Authors: Katejarinporn Chaiya, Thawit Janbanklong

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The purposes of this study were to design and find users’ satisfaction after using the decision support system for tourism northern part of Thailand, which can provide tourists touristic information and plan their personal voyage. Such information can be retrieved systematically based on personal budget and provinces. The samples of this study were five experts and users 30 persons white collars in Bangkok. This decision support system was designed via ASP.NET. Its database was developed by using MySQL, for administrators are able to effectively manage the database. The application outcome revealed that the innovation works properly as sought in objectives. Specialists and white collars in Bangkok have evaluated the decision support system; the result was satisfactorily positive.

Keywords: Decision Support System, ASP.NET, MySQL.

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Authors: S. Hong, H. Kim, D. Cho, S. Park

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Existing underground pipe jacking methods use a reinforcing rod in a steel tube to obtain structural stiffness. However, some problems such as inconvenience of works and expensive materials resulted from limited working space and reinforcing works are existed. To resolve these problems, a new pipe jacking method, namely PST (Prestressed Segment Tunnel) method, was developed which used joint to connect the steel segment and form erection structure. For evaluating the flexural capacity of the PST method structure, a experimental test was conducted. The parameters considered in the test were span-to-depth ratio of segment, diameter of steel tube at the corner, prestressing force, and welding of joint. The flexural behaviours with the effect of load capacity in serviceability state according to different parameters were examined.. The frame with long segments could increase flexural stiffness and the specimen with large diameter of concave corner showed excellent resistance ability to the negative moment. In addition, welding of joints increased the flexural capacity.

Keywords: PST method, Pipe jacking method, Flexural behavior, Prestressed concrete.

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Authors: Rabia Korkmaz Tan, Şebnem Bora

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The major problem encountered when modeling complex systems with agent-based modeling and simulation techniques is the existence of large parameter spaces. A complex system model cannot be expected to reflect the whole of the real system, but by specifying the most appropriate parameters, the actual system can be represented by the model under certain conditions. When the studies conducted in recent years were reviewed, it has been observed that there are few studies for parameter tuning problem in agent based simulations, and these studies have focused on tuning parameters of a single model. In this study, an approach of parameter tuning is proposed by using metaheuristic algorithms such as Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Artificial Bee Colonies (ABC), Firefly (FA) algorithms. With this hybrid structured study, the parameter tuning problems of the models in the different fields were solved. The new approach offered was tested in two different models, and its achievements in different problems were compared. The simulations and the results reveal that this proposed study is better than the existing parameter tuning studies.

Keywords: Parameter tuning, agent based modeling and simulation, metaheuristic algorithms, complex systems.

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Authors: R.A.Mahdavinejad

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In this paper, multi-processors job shop scheduling problems are solved by a heuristic algorithm based on the hybrid of priority dispatching rules according to an ant colony optimization algorithm. The objective function is to minimize the makespan, i.e. total completion time, in which a simultanous presence of various kinds of ferons is allowed. By using the suitable hybrid of priority dispatching rules, the process of finding the best solution will be improved. Ant colony optimization algorithm, not only promote the ability of this proposed algorithm, but also decreases the total working time because of decreasing in setup times and modifying the working production line. Thus, the similar work has the same production lines. Other advantage of this algorithm is that the similar machines (not the same) can be considered. So, these machines are able to process a job with different processing and setup times. According to this capability and from this algorithm evaluation point of view, a number of test problems are solved and the associated results are analyzed. The results show a significant decrease in throughput time. It also shows that, this algorithm is able to recognize the bottleneck machine and to schedule jobs in an efficient way.

Keywords: Job shops scheduling, Priority dispatching rules, Makespan, Hybrid heuristic algorithm.

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Authors: A. Pereira, S. Haffner, L. V. Gasperin

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This paper presents two simplified models to determine nodal voltages in power distribution networks. These models allow estimating the impact of the installation of reactive power compensations equipments like fixed or switched capacitor banks. The procedure used to develop the models is similar to the procedure used to develop linear power flow models of transmission lines, which have been widely used in optimization problems of operation planning and system expansion. The steady state non-linear load flow equations are approximated by linear equations relating the voltage amplitude and currents. The approximations of the linear equations are based on the high relationship between line resistance and line reactance (ratio R/X), which is valid for power distribution networks. The performance and accuracy of the models are evaluated through comparisons with the exact results obtained from the solution of the load flow using two test networks: a hypothetical network with 23 nodes and a real network with 217 nodes.

Keywords: Distribution network models, distribution systems, optimization, power system planning.

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Authors: Bachir Bentouati, Lakhdar Chaib, Saliha Chettih, Gai-Ge Wang

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The problem of economic dispatch (ED) is the basic problem of power framework, its main goal is to find the most favorable generation dispatch to generate each unit, reduce the whole power generation cost, and meet all system limitations. A heuristic algorithm, recently developed called Stud Krill Herd (SKH), has been employed in this paper to treat non-convex ED problems. The proposed KH has been modified using Stud selection and crossover (SSC) operator, to enhance the solution quality and avoid local optima. We are demonstrated SKH effects in two case study systems composed of 13-unit and 40-unit test systems to verify its performance and applicability in solving the ED problems. In the above systems, SKH can successfully obtain the best fuel generator and distribute the load requirements for the online generators. The results showed that the use of the proposed SKH method could reduce the total cost of generation and optimize the fulfillment of the load requirements.

Keywords: Stud Krill Herd, economic dispatch, crossover, stud selection, valve-point effect.

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Authors: Samir Abdelhamid, Noureddine Bouguechal

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We report in this paper the procedure of a system of automatic speech recognition based on techniques of the dynamic programming. The technique of temporal retiming is a technique used to synchronize between two forms to compare. We will see how this technique is adapted to the field of the automatic speech recognition. We will expose, in a first place, the theory of the function of retiming which is used to compare and to adjust an unknown form with a whole of forms of reference constituting the vocabulary of the application. Then we will give, in the second place, the various algorithms necessary to their implementation on machine. The algorithms which we will present were tested on part of the corpus of words in Arab language Arabdic-10 [4] and gave whole satisfaction. These algorithms are effective insofar as we apply them to the small ones or average vocabularies.

Keywords: Continuous speech recognition, temporal retiming, phonetic decoding, algorithms, vocal signal, dynamic programming.

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Authors: Yoichi Hikino, Mutsuto Kawahara

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The purpose of this study is to derive optimal shapes of a body located in viscous flows by the finite element method using the acoustic velocity and the four-step explicit scheme. The formulation is based on an optimal control theory in which a performance function of the fluid force is introduced. The performance function should be minimized satisfying the state equation. This problem can be transformed into the minimization problem without constraint conditions by using the adjoint equation with adjoint variables corresponding to the state equation. The performance function is defined by the drag and lift forces acting on the body. The weighted gradient method is applied as a minimization technique, the Galerkin finite element method is used as a spatial discretization and the four-step explicit scheme is used as a temporal discretization to solve the state equation and the adjoint equation. As the interpolation, the orthogonal basis bubble function for velocity and the linear function for pressure are employed. In case that the orthogonal basis bubble function is used, the mass matrix can be diagonalized without any artificial centralization. The shape optimization is performed by the presented method.

Keywords: Shape Optimization, Optimal Control Theory, Finite Element Method, Weighted Gradient Method, Fluid Force, Orthogonal Basis Bubble Function, Four-step Explicit Scheme, Acoustic Velocity.

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Authors: A. G. Margaryan

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Aims and Objectives: Assessment of health status and detection disorders of external respiration functions (ERF) during preventative medical examination among physicians of Armenia. Subjects and Methods: Overall, fifty-nine physicians (17 men and 42 women) were examined and spirometry was carried out. The average age of the physicians was 50 years old. The studies were conducted on the Micromedical MicroLab 3500 Spirometer. Results: 25.4% among 59 examined physicians are overweight; 22.0% of them suffer from obesity. Two physicians are currently smokers. About half of the examined physicians (50.8%) at the time of examination were diagnosed with some diseases and had different health-related problems (excluding the problems related to vision and hearing). FVC was 2.94±0.1, FEV1 – 2.64±0.1, PEF – 329.7±19.9, and FEV₁%/FVC – 89.7±1.3. Pathological changes of ERF are identified in 23 (39.0%) cases. 28.8% of physicians had first degree of restrictive disorders, 3.4% – first degree of combined obstructive/ restrictive disorders, 6.8% – second degree of combined obstructive/ restrictive disorders. Only three physicians with disorders of the ERF were diagnosed with chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma. There were no statistically significant changes in ERF depending on the severity of obesity (P> 0.05). Conclusion: The study showed the prevalence of ERF among physicians, observing mainly mild and moderate changes in ERF parameters.

Keywords: Armenia, external respiration function, health status, physicians.

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Authors: Merve Sezer, Ismail Sahin, Ahmet Oguz Akturk

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With the use of developing technology, mostly in communication and entertainment, students spend considerable time on the Internet. In addition to the advantages provided by the Internet, social isolation brings problems such as addiction. This is one of the problems of the virtual violence. Cyber bullying is the common name of the intensities which students are exposed on the Internet. The purpose of this study designed as a qualitative research is to find out the cyber bullying varieties and its effects on elementary school students. The participants of this research are 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade students of a primary school and 24 students agreed to participate in the study. The students were asked to fill an interview with semi-structured open-ended questions. According to the results obtained in the research, the most important statements determined by the participants are breaking passwords on social networking sites, slang insult to blasphemy and taking friendship offers from unfamiliar people. According to participants from the research, the most used techniques to prevent themselves from cyber bullying are to complain to the site administrator, closing accounts on social networking sites and countercharging. Also, suggestions were presented according to the findings.

Keywords: Bullying, cyber-bullying, elementary, peer-relationship, virtual victimization.

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Authors: Lobat Taghavi, Najaf Hedayat

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Renewable water resources are crucial production variables in arid and semi-arid regions where intensive agriculture is practiced to meet ever-increasing demand for food and fiber. This is crucial for the Dez and Moghan command areas where water delivery problems and adverse environmental issues are widespread. This paper aims to identify major problems areas using on-farm surveys of 200 farmers, agricultural extensionists and water suppliers which was complemented by secondary data and field observations during 2010- 2011 cultivating season. The SPSS package was used to analyze and synthesis data. Results indicated inappropriate canal operations in both schemes, though there was no unanimity about the underlying causes. Inequitable and inflexible distribution was found to be rooted in deficient hydraulic structures particularly in the main and secondary canals. The inadequacy and inflexibility of water scheduling regime was the underlying causes of recurring pest and disease spread which often led to the decline of crop yield and quality, although these were not disputed, the water suppliers were not prepared to link with the deficiencies in the operation of the main and secondary canals. They rather attributed these to the prevailing salinity; alkalinity, water table fluctuations and leaching of the valuable agro-chemical inputs from the plants- route zone with farreaching consequences. Examples of these include the pollution of ground and surface resources due to over-irrigation at the farm level which falls under the growers- own responsibility. Poor irrigation efficiency and adverse environmental problems were attributed to deficient and outdated farming practices that were in turn rooted in poor extension programs and irrational water charges.

Keywords: water delivery, inequity, inflexibility, conflicts, environmental impact, Dez and Moghan

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Authors: R. Balamurugan, A. M. Natarajan, K. Premalatha

Abstract:

Microarray gene expression data play a vital in biological processes, gene regulation and disease mechanism. Biclustering in gene expression data is a subset of the genes indicating consistent patterns under the subset of the conditions. Finding a biclustering is an optimization problem. In recent years, swarm intelligence techniques are popular due to the fact that many real-world problems are increasingly large, complex and dynamic. By reasons of the size and complexity of the problems, it is necessary to find an optimization technique whose efficiency is measured by finding the near optimal solution within a reasonable amount of time. In this paper, the algorithmic concepts of the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Shuffled Frog Leaping (SFL) and Cuckoo Search (CS) algorithms have been analyzed for the four benchmark gene expression dataset. The experiment results show that CS outperforms PSO and SFL for 3 datasets and SFL give better performance in one dataset. Also this work determines the biological relevance of the biclusters with Gene Ontology in terms of function, process and component.

Keywords: Particle swarm optimization, Shuffled frog leaping, Cuckoo search, biclustering, gene expression data.

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Authors: Takayuki Nanashima, Yoshiyuki Higuchi, Masao Ohta, Takashi Kuroda

Abstract:

As a result of traffic congestion caused by sightseeing and shuttle buses using park-and-ride parking lot near sightseeing spot, the waiting time for tourist increases. In this paper, when bus parking lot near sightseeing spot are overcrowded and full, a model for tourists getting off a bus on a congested road and transfer to the sightseeing spot by foot is proposed and verified. A model of getting off a bus on a congested road when the sightseeing parking lot is overcrowded was considered by the case analysis. As a result, effectiveness of the model of getting off a bus on a congested road could be quantitatively verified for times when parking capacity is exceeded and the bus parking lot next to the sightseeing spot is overcrowded.

Keywords: Transportation demand management, Park-and-ride, Traffic congestion, Tourist satisfaction.

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Authors: Andrew Reilly, Nancy A. Rudd

Abstract:

The appearance management behavior of tanning by gay men is examined through the lens of Impression Formation. The study proposes that body image, self-esteem, and internalized homophobia are connected and affect the motives for engaging in sun, salon, and cosmetic tanning. Motives examined were: to look masculine, to look attractive to (potential) partners, to look attractive in general, to socialize, to meet a peer standard, and for personal satisfaction. Using regression analysis to examine data of 103 gay men who engage in at least one method of tanning, results reveal that components of body image and internalized homophobia–but not self-esteem–are linked to various motives and methods of tanning. These findings support and extend the literature of Impression Formation Theory and provide practitioners in the health and healthrelated fields new avenues to pursue when dealing with diseases related to tanning.

Keywords: Body image, gay men, tanning.

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