Search results for: Local binary pattern

Authors: A. Jamekhorshid, G. Karimi, I. Noshadi, A. Jahangiri

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Non-uniform current distribution in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells results in local over-heating, accelerated ageing, and lower power output than expected. This issue is very critical when fuel cell experiences water flooding. In this work, the performance of a PEM fuel cell is investigated under cathode flooding conditions. Two-dimensional partially flooded GDL models based on the conservation laws and electrochemical relations are proposed to study local current density distributions along flow fields over a wide range of cell operating conditions. The model results show a direct association between cathode inlet humidity increases and that of average current density but the system becomes more sensitive to flooding. The anode inlet relative humidity shows a similar effect. Operating the cell at higher temperatures would lead to higher average current densities and the chance of system being flooded is reduced. In addition, higher cathode stoichiometries prevent system flooding but the average current density remains almost constant. The higher anode stoichiometry leads to higher average current density and higher sensitivity to cathode flooding.

Keywords: Current distribution, Flooding, Hydrogen energysystem, PEM fuel cell.

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Authors: M. Ravindra, R. Srinivasa Rao

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This paper presents a Generalized Binary Integer Linear Programming (GBILP) method for optimal allocation of Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) and to generate Dynamic State Estimation (DSE) solution with complete observability. The GBILP method is formulated with Zero Injection Bus (ZIB) constraints to reduce the number of locations for placement of PMUs in the case of normal and single line contingency. The integration of PMU and conventional measurements is modeled in DSE process to estimate accurate states of the system. To estimate the dynamic behavior of the power system with proposed method, load change up to 40% considered at a bus in the power system network. The proposed DSE method is compared with traditional Weighted Least Squares (WLS) state estimation method in presence of load changes to show the impact of PMU measurements. MATLAB simulations are carried out on IEEE 14, 30, 57, and 118 bus systems to prove the validity of the proposed approach.

Keywords: Observability, phasor measurement units, PMU, state estimation, dynamic state estimation, SCADA measurements, zero injection bus.

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Authors: Thinh Ngo, Paul Rad, Brian Kelley

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Noise estimation is essential in today wireless systems for power control, adaptive modulation, interference suppression and quality of service. Deep learning (DL) has already been applied in the physical layer for modulation and signal classifications. Unacceptably low accuracy of less than 50% is found to undermine traditional application of DL classification for SNR prediction. In this paper, we use divide-and-conquer algorithm and classifier fusion method to simplify SNR classification and therefore enhances DL learning and prediction. Specifically, multiple CNNs are used for classification rather than a single CNN. Each CNN performs a binary classification of a single SNR with two labels: less than, greater than or equal. Together, multiple CNNs are combined to effectively classify over a range of SNR values from −20 ≤ SNR ≤ 32 dB.We use pre-trained CNNs to predict SNR over a wide range of joint channel parameters including multiple Doppler shifts (0, 60, 120 Hz), power-delay profiles, and signal-modulation types (QPSK,16QAM,64-QAM). The approach achieves individual SNR prediction accuracy of 92%, composite accuracy of 70% and prediction convergence one order of magnitude faster than that of traditional estimation.

Keywords: Classification, classifier fusion, CNN, Deep Learning, prediction, SNR.

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Authors: Daniele Contini, Antonio Donateo, Andrea Gambaro, Athanasios Argiriou, Dimitrios Melas, Daniela Cesari, Anastasia Poupkou, Athanasios Karagiannidis, Apostolos Tsakis, Eva Merico, Rita Cesari, Adelaide Dinoi

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Emissions of atmospheric pollutants from ships and harbour activities are a growing concern at international level given their potential impacts on air quality and climate. These close-to-land emissions have potential impact on local communities in terms of air quality and health. Recent studies show that the impact of maritime traffic to atmospheric particulate matter concentrations in several coastal urban areas is comparable with the impact of road traffic of a medium size town. However, several different approaches have been used for these estimates making difficult a direct comparison of results. In this work, an integrated approach based on emission inventories and dedicated measurement campaigns has been applied to give a comparable estimate of the impact of maritime traffic to PM2.5 and particle number concentrations in three major harbours of the Adriatic/Ionian Seas. The influences of local meteorology and of the logistic layout of the harbours are discussed.

Keywords: Ship emissions, PM2.5, particle number concentrations, impact of shipping to atmospheric aerosol.

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Authors: Mecheri Zeid Belmecheri, Maamar Ahfir, Izzet Kale

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Automatic cardiac auscultation is still a subject of research in order to establish an objective diagnosis. Recorded heart sounds as Phonocardiogram (PCG) signals can be used for automatic segmentation into components that have clinical meanings. These are the first sound, S1, the second sound, S2, and the systolic and diastolic components, respectively. In this paper, an automatic method is proposed for the robust segmentation of heart sounds. This method is based on calculating an intermediate sawtooth-shaped signal from the length variation of the recorded PCG signal in the time domain and, using its positive derivative function that is a binary signal in training a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). Results obtained in the context of a large database of recorded PCGs with their simultaneously recorded Electrocardiograms (ECGs) from different patients in clinical settings, including normal and abnormal subjects, show on average a segmentation testing performance average of 76% sensitivity and 94% specificity.

Keywords: Heart sounds, PCG segmentation, event detection, Recurrent Neural Networks, PCG curve length.

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Authors: Sh. Gofurov, O. Ismailova, U. Makhmanov, A. Kokhkharov

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The refractometric method has been used to determine optical properties of concentration features of aqueous solutions of ethanol, tetrahydrofuran and dimethylformamide at the room temperature. Changes in dielectric permittivity of aqueous solutions of ethanol, tetrahydrofuran and dimethylformamide in a wide range of concentrations (0÷1.0 molar fraction) have been studied using molecular dynamics method. The curves depending on the concentration of experimental data on excess refractive indices and excess dielectric permittivity were compared. It has been shown that stable heteromolecular complexes in binary solutions are formed in the concentration range of 0.3÷0.4 mole fractions. The real and complex part of dielectric permittivity was obtained from dipole-dipole autocorrelation functions of molecules. At the concentrations of C = 0.3 / 0.4 m.f. the heteromolecular structures with hydrogen bonds are formed. This is confirmed by the extremum values of excessive dielectric permittivity and excessive refractive index of aqueous solutions.

Keywords: Refractometric method, dielectric constant, molecular dynamics, aqueous solution.

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Authors: O. Afshar

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A solar receiver is designed for operation under extremely uneven heat flux distribution, cyclic weather, and cloud transient cycle conditions, which can include large thermal stress and even receiver failure. In this study, the effect of different oil velocity on convection coefficient factor and impact of wind velocity on local Nusselt number by Finite Volume Method will be analyzed. This study is organized to give an overview of the numerical modeling using a MATLAB software, as an accurate, time efficient and economical way of analyzing the heat transfer trends over stationary receiver tube for different Reynolds number. The results reveal when oil velocity is below 0.33m/s, the value of convection coefficient is negligible at low temperature. The numerical graphs indicate that when oil velocity increases up to 1.2 m/s, heat convection coefficient increases significantly. In fact, a reduction in oil velocity causes a reduction in heat conduction through the glass envelope. In addition, the different local Nusselt number is reduced when the wind blows toward the concave side of the collector and it has a significant effect on heat losses reduction through the glass envelope.

Keywords: Receiver tube, heat convection, heat conduction, Nusselt number.

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Authors: Andreea Muntean, Cornelia Măgureanu

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This article presents the analysis of experimental values regarding cracking pattern, specific strains and deformability for reinforced high strength concrete beams. The beams have the concrete class C80/95 and a longitudinal reinforcement ratio of 2.01%, respectively 3.39%. The elements were subjected to flexure under static short-term and long-term loading. The experimental values are compared with calculation values using the design relationships according to Eurocode 2.

Keywords: High strength concrete, beams, flexure.

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Authors: Ebregbe David, Deng Weibo

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The traditional second order statistics approach of using only the hermitian covariance for non circular signals, does not take advantage of the information contained in the complementary covariance of these signals. Radar systems often use non circular signals such as Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) signals. Their noncicular property can be exploited together with the dual centrosymmetry of the bistatic MIMO radar system to improve angle estimation performance. We construct an augmented matrix from the received data vectors using both the positive definite hermitian covariance matrix and the complementary covariance matrix. The Unitary ESPRIT technique is then applied to the signal subspace of the augmented covariance matrix for automatically paired Direction-of-arrival (DOA) and Direction-of-Departure (DOD) angle estimates. The number of targets that can be detected is twice that obtainable with the conventional ESPRIT approach. Simulation results show the effectiveness of this method in terms of increase in resolution and the number of targets that can be detected.

Keywords: Bistatic MIMO Radar, Unitary Esprit, Non circular signals.

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Authors: Janice Haworth, Karamoko Camara, Marie-Therèse Dramou, Kokoly Haba, Daniel Léno, Augustin Mara, Adama Noël Oulari, Silafa Tolno, Noël Zoumanigui

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The traditional rhythms of the West African country of Guinea have played a centuries-long role in defining the different people groups that make up the country. Throughout their history, before and since colonization by the French, the different ethnicities have used their traditional music as a distinct part of their historical identities. That is starting to change. Guinea is an impoverished nation created in the early twentieth-century with little regard for the history and cultures of the people who were included. The traditional rhythms of the different people groups and their heritages have remained. Fifteen individual traditional Guinean rhythms were chosen to represent popular rhythms from the four geographical regions of Guinea. Each rhythm was traced back to its native village and video recorded on-site by as many different local performing groups as could be located. The cyclical patterns rhythms were transcribed via a circular, spatial design and then copied into a box notation system where sounds happening at the same time could be studied. These rhythms were analyzed for their consistency-overperformance in a Fundamental Rhythm Pattern analysis so rhythms could be compared for how they are changing through different performances. The analysis showed that the traditional rhythm performances of the Middle and Forest Guinea regions were the most cohesive and showed the least evidence of change between performances. The role of music in each of these regions is both limited and focused. The Coastal and High Guinea regions have much in common historically through their ethnic history and modern-day trade connections, but the rhythm performances seem to be less consistent and demonstrate more changes in how they are performed today. In each of these regions the role and usage of music is much freer and wide-spread. In spite of advances being made as a country, different ethnic groups still frequently only respond and participate (dance and sing) to the music of their native ethnicity. There is some evidence that this self-imposed musical barrier is beginning to change and evolve, partially through the development of better roads, more access to electricity and technology, the nationwide Ebola health crisis, and a growing self-identification as a unified nation.

Keywords: Cultural identity, Guinea, traditional rhythms, West Africa.

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Authors: Hikari Ryu, Yuki Fukuda, Kento Oishi, Chiharu Igarashi, Shogo Kiryu

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Recently, wireless power transfer has been developed in various fields. Magnetic coupling is popular for feeding power at a relatively short distance and at a lower frequency. Electro-magnetic wave coupling at a high frequency is used for long-distance power transfer. The wireless power transfer has attracted attention in e-textile fields. Rigid batteries are required for many body-worn electric systems at the present time. The technology enables such batteries to be removed from the systems. Coils with a high Q factor are required in the magnetic-coupling power transfer. Antennas with low return loss are needed for the electro-magnetic coupling. Litz wire is so flexible to fabricate coils and antennas sewn on fabric and has low resistivity. In this study, the electric characteristics of some coils and antennas fabricated with the Litz wire by using two sewing techniques are investigated. As examples, a coil and an antenna are described. Both were fabricated with 330/0.04 mm Litz wire. The coil was a planar coil with a square shape. The outer side was 150 mm, the number of turns was 15, and the pitch interval between each turn was 5 mm. The Litz wire of the coil was overstitched with a sewing machine. The coil was fabricated as a receiver coil for a magnetic coupled wireless power transfer. The Q factor was 200 at a frequency of 800 kHz. A wireless power system was constructed by using the coil. A power oscillator was used in the system. The resonant frequency of the circuit was set to 123 kHz, where the switching loss of power Field Effect Transistor (FET) was was small. The power efficiencies were 0.44-0.99, depending on the distance between the transmitter and receiver coils. As an example of an antenna with a sewing technique, a fractal pattern antenna was stitched on a 500 mm x 500 mm fabric by using a needle punch method. The pattern was the 2nd-oder Vicsec fractal. The return loss of the antenna was -28 dB at a frequency of 144 MHz.

Keywords: E-textile, flexible coils, flexible antennas, Litz wire, wireless power transfer.

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Authors: Eakarat Boonreang

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The past two decades, Thailand faced the natural disasters, for instance, Gay typhoon in 1989, tsunami in 2004, and huge flood in 2011. The disaster management in Thailand was improved both structure and mechanism for cope with the natural disaster since 2007. However, the natural disaster management in Thailand has various problems, for examples, cooperation between related an organizations have not unity, inadequate resources, the natural disaster management of public sectors not proactive, people has not awareness the risk of the natural disaster, and communities did not participate in the natural disaster management. Objective of this study is to find the methods for capacity building in the natural disaster management of Thailand. The concept and information about the capacity building and the natural disaster management of Thailand were reviewed and analyzed by classifying and organizing data. The result found that the methods for capacity building in the natural disaster management of Thailand should be consist of 1) link operation and information in the natural disaster management between nation, province, local and community levels, 2) enhance competency and resources of public sectors which relate to the natural disaster management, 3) establish proactive natural disaster management both planning and implementation, 4) decentralize the natural disaster management to local government organizations, 5) construct public awareness in the natural disaster management to community, 6) support Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) seriously, and 7) emphasis on participation in the natural disaster management of all stakeholders.

Keywords: Capacity Building, Community Based Disaster Risk Management, Natural Disaster Management, Thailand.

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Authors: Mahsa Tavakoli, Seyed Mohammad Hojjati, Yahya Kooch

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In this study, the effect of coal mining activities on lead and cadmium concentrations and distribution in soil was investigated in Hyrcanian forest, North Iran. 16 plots (20×20 m²) were established by systematic-randomly (60×60 m²) in an area of 4 ha (200×200 m²-mine entrance placed at center). An area adjacent to the mine was not affected by the mining activity; considered as the controlled area. In order to investigate soil lead and cadmium concentration, one sample was taken from the 0-10 cm in each plot. To study the spatial pattern of soil properties and lead and cadmium concentrations in the mining area, an area of 80×80m² (the mine as the center) was considered and 80 soil samples were systematic-randomly taken (10 m intervals). Geostatistical analysis was performed via Kriging method and GS⁺ software (version 5.1). In order to estimate the impact of coal mining activities on soil quality, pollution index was measured. Lead and cadmium concentrations were significantly higher in mine area (Pb: 10.97±0.30, Cd: 184.47±6.26 mg.kg^-1) in comparison to control area (Pb: 9.42±0.17, Cd: 131.71±15.77 mg.kg^-1). The mean values of the PI index indicate that Pb (1.16) and Cd (1.77) presented slightly polluted. Results of the NIPI index showed that Pb (1.44) and Cd (2.52) presented slight pollution and moderate pollution respectively. Results of variography and kriging method showed that it is possible to prepare interpolation maps of lead and cadmium around the mining areas in Hyrcanian forest. According to results of pollution and risk assessments, forest soil was contaminated by heavy metals (lead and cadmium); therefore, using reclamation and remediation techniques in these areas is necessary.

Keywords: Traditional coal mining, heavy metals, pollution indicators, geostatistics, caspian forest.

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Authors: Saowapa Phaithayawat

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The objectives of study are the following: To study the way of life in terms of one hundred years co-existence of the Muslim and local community in this area 2) To analyze factors affect to this community with happy co-existence. The study requires quantitative research to study a history together with the study of humanity. The result of this study showed that the area of Petchburi 7 community is an ancient area which has owned by the Muslim for almost 100 years. There is a sanctuary as & center of unity. Later Bangkok becomes developed and provides more infrastructures like motorway and other transportation: however, the owners of lands in this community still keep their lands and build many buildings to run business. With this purpose, there are many non-Muslim people come to live here with co-existence. Not only are they convenient to work but also easy to transport by sky train. There are factors that make them live harmonious as following: 1) All Muslims in this area are strict to follow their rules and allocate their community for business. 2) All people, who come and live here, are middle-aged and working men and women. They, rent rooms closed to their work. 3) There are Muslim food and desserts, especially Roti, the popular fried flour, and local Chachak, tea originated from the south of Thailand. All these food and desserts are famous for working men and women to home and join after work 4) All Muslim in this area are independent to lead their own lives although a society changes rapidly.

Keywords: Co-existence, Muslim and other group of people, the ancient community.

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Authors: Tania Elena González Alvarado, Ma. Antonieta Martín Granados

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The aim of this paper is to explain what a multienterprise tie is, what evidence its analysis provides and how does the cooperation mechanism influence the establishment of a multienterprise tie. The study focuses on businesses of smaller dimension, geographically dispersed and whose businessmen are learning to cooperate in an international environment. The empirical evidence obtained at this moment permits to conclude the following: The tie is not long-lasting, it has an end; opportunism is an opportunity to learn; the multi-enterprise tie is a space to learn about the cooperation mechanism; the local tie permits a businessman to alternate between competition and cooperation strategies; the disappearance of a tie is an experience of learning for a businessman, diminishing the possibility of failure in the next tie; the cooperation mechanism tends to eliminate hierarchical relations; the multienterprise tie diminishes the asymmetries and permits SME-s to have a better position when they negotiate with large companies; the multi-enterprise tie impacts positively on the local system. The collection of empirical evidence was done trough the following instruments: direct observation in a business encounter to which the businesses attended in 2003 (202 Mexican agro industry SME-s), a survey applied in 2004 (129), a questionnaire applied in 2005 (86 businesses), field visits to the businesses during the period 2006-2008 and; a survey applied by telephone in 2008 (55 Mexican agro industry SME-s).

Keywords: Cooperation, multi-enterprise tie, links, networks.

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Authors: Kung-Jen Tu

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Many public housing properties developed by local governments in Taiwan in the 1980s have deteriorated severely as these rental apartment buildings aged. The lack of building maintainability considerations during project design phase as well as insufficient maintenance funds have made it difficult and costly for local governments to maintain and keep public housing properties in good shape. In order to assist the local governments in achieving and delivering sustainable public housing, this paper intends to present a developed design evaluation method to be used to evaluate the presented design schemes from property management and financial feasibility perspectives during project design phase of public housing projects. The design evaluation results, i.e. the property management and financial implications of presented design schemes that could occur later during the building operation and maintenance phase, will be reported to the client (the government) and design schemes revised consequently. It is proposed that the design evaluation be performed from two main perspectives: (1) Operation and property management perspective: Three criteria such as spatial appropriateness, people and vehicle circulation and control, property management working spaces are used to evaluate the ‘operation and PM effectiveness’ of a design scheme. (2) Financial feasibility perspective: Four types of financial analyses are performed to assess the long term financial feasibility of a presented design scheme, such as operational and rental income analysis, management fund analysis, regular operational and property management service expense analysis, capital expense analysis. The ongoing Chung-Li Public Housing Project developed by the Taoyuan City Government will be used as a case to demonstrate how the presented design evaluation method is implemented. The results of property management assessment as well as the annual operational and capital expenses of a proposed design scheme are presented.

Keywords: Design evaluation method, management fund, operational and capital expenses, rental apartment buildings.

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Authors: Houman Tamaddon, Mehrdad Behnia, Masud Behnia

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An accurate study of blood flow is associated with an accurate vascular pattern and geometrical properties of the organ of interest. Due to the complexity of vascular networks and poor accessibility in vivo, it is challenging to reconstruct the entire vasculature of any organ experimentally. The objective of this study is to introduce an innovative approach for the reconstruction of a full vascular tree from available morphometric data. Our method consists of implementing morphometric data on those parts of the vascular tree that are smaller than the resolution of medical imaging methods. This technique reconstructs the entire arterial tree down to the capillaries. Vessels greater than 2 mm are obtained from direct volume and surface analysis using contrast enhanced computed tomography (CT). Vessels smaller than 2mm are reconstructed from available morphometric and distensibility data and rearranged by applying Murray’s Laws. Implementation of morphometric data to reconstruct the branching pattern and applying Murray’s Laws to every vessel bifurcation simultaneously, lead to an accurate vascular tree reconstruction. The reconstruction algorithm generates full arterial tree topography down to the first capillary bifurcation. Geometry of each order of the vascular tree is generated separately to minimize the construction and simulation time. The node-to-node connectivity along with the diameter and length of every vessel segment is established and order numbers, according to the diameter-defined Strahler system, are assigned. During the simulation, we used the averaged flow rate for each order to predict the pressure drop and once the pressure drop is predicted, the flow rate is corrected to match the computed pressure drop for each vessel. The final results for 3 cardiac cycles is presented and compared to the clinical data.

Keywords: Blood flow, Morphometric data, Vascular tree, Strahler ordering system.

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Authors: Yuyun Wabula, B. J. Dewancker

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In the past decade, the social networking app has been growing very rapidly. Geolocation data is one of the important features of social media that can attach the user's location coordinate in the real world. This paper proposes the use of geolocation data from the Twitter social media application to gain knowledge about urban dynamics, especially on human mobility behavior. This paper aims to explore the relation between geolocation Twitter with the existence of people in the urban area. Firstly, the study will analyze the spread of people in the particular area, within the city using Twitter social media data. Secondly, we then match and categorize the existing place based on the same individuals visiting. Then, we combine the Twitter data from the tracking result and the questionnaire data to catch the Twitter user profile. To do that, we used the distribution frequency analysis to learn the visitors’ percentage. To validate the hypothesis, we compare it with the local population statistic data and land use mapping released by the city planning department of Makassar local government. The results show that there is the correlation between Twitter geolocation and questionnaire data. Thus, integration the Twitter data and survey data can reveal the profile of the social media users.

Keywords: Geolocation, Twitter, distribution analysis, human mobility.

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Authors: Amna Batool

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Agile methodology is the current most popular technique in software development projects. Agile methods in software development bring optimistic impact on software performances, quality and customer satisfaction. There are some organizations and small-medium enterprises adopting agile into their local software development projects as well as in distributed software development projects. Adopting agile methods in local software development projects is valuable. However, agile global software deployment needs an attention. There are different key challenges in agile global software development that need to resolve and enhance the global software development cycles. The proposed systematic literature review investigates all key challenges of agile in global software development. Moreover, a quantitative methodology (an actual survey) targeted to present a real case scenario of these particular key challenges faced by one of the software houses that is BestWeb Malaysia. The outcomes of systematic literature and the results of quantitative methodology are compared with each other to evaluate if the key challenges pointed out in systematic review still exist. The proposed research and its exploratory results can assist small medium enterprises to avoid these challenges by adopting the best practices in their global software development projects. Moreover, it is helpful for novice researchers to get valuable information altogether.

Keywords: Agile software development, ASD challenges, agile global software development. challenges in agile global software development.

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Authors: A. K. M. De Paula, R. Tenorio

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The 20th century has brought much development to the practice of Architecture worldwide, and technology has bridged inhabitation limits in many regions of the world with high levels of comfort and conveniences, most times at high costs to the environment. Throughout the globe, the tropical countries are being urbanized at an unprecedented rate and housing has become a major issue worldwide, in light of increased demand and lack of appropriate infra-structure and planning. Buildings and urban spaces designed in tropical cities have mainly adopted external concepts that in most cases do not fit the needs of the inhabitants living in such harsh climatic environment, and when they do, do so at high financial, environmental and cultural costs. Traditional architectural practices can provide valuable understanding on how self-reliance and autonomy of construction can be reinforced in rural-urban tropical environments. From traditional housing knowledge, it is possible to derive lessons for the development of new construction materials that are affordable, environmentally friendly, culturally acceptable and accesible to all.Specifically to the urban context, such solutions are of outmost importance, given the needs to a more democratic society, where access to housing is considered high in the agenda for development. Traditional or rural constructions are also ongoing through extensive changes eventhough they have mostly adopted climate-responsive building practices relying on local resources (with minimum embodied energy) and energy (for comfort and quality of life). It is important to note that many of these buildings can actually be called zero-energy, and hold potential answers to enable transition from high energy, high cost, low comfort urban habitations to zero/low energy habitations with high quality urban livelihood. Increasing access to modern urban lifestyels have also an effect on the aspirations from people in terms of performance, comfort and convenience in terms of their housing and the way it is produced and used. These aspirations are resulting in transitions from localresource dependent habitations- to non-local resource based highenergy urban style habitations. And such transitions are resulting in the habitations becoming increasingly unsuited to the local climatic conditions with increasing discomfort, ill-health, and increased CO2 emissions and local environmental disruption. This research studies one specific transition group in the context of 'water communities' in tropical-equatorial regions: Ribeirinhos housing typology (Amazonas, Brazil). The paper presents the results of a qualitative sustainability assessment of the housing typologies under transition, found at the Ribeirinhos communities.

Keywords: Vernacuilar and Tropical Architecture, SustainableHousing Design, Urban-rural Housing, Living Transitions

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Authors: Amit Kumar, Himanshu Singal, Arnav Bhavsar

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In this modern era of automation, most of the academic exams and competitive exams are Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ). The responses of these MCQ based exams are recorded in the Optical Mark Reader (OMR) sheet. Evaluation of the OMR sheet requires separate specialized machines for scanning and marking. The sheets used by these machines are special and costs more than a normal sheet. Available process is non-economical and dependent on paper thickness, scanning quality, paper orientation, special hardware and customized software. This study tries to tackle the problem of evaluating the OMR sheet without any special hardware and making the whole process economical. We propose an image processing based algorithm which can be used to read and evaluate the scanned OMR sheets with no special hardware required. It will eliminate the use of special OMR sheet. Responses recorded in normal sheet is enough for evaluation. The proposed system takes care of color, brightness, rotation, little imperfections in the OMR sheet images.

Keywords: OMR, image processing, hough circle transform, interpolation, detection, Binary Thresholding.

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Authors: V. Masilamani, C. Vanniarajan, Kamala Krithivasan

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As the Computed Tomography(CT) requires normally hundreds of projections to reconstruct the image, patients are exposed to more X-ray energy, which may cause side effects such as cancer. Even when the variability of the particles in the object is very less, Computed Tomography requires many projections for good quality reconstruction. In this paper, less variability of the particles in an object has been exploited to obtain good quality reconstruction. Though the reconstructed image and the original image have same projections, in general, they need not be the same. In addition to projections, if a priori information about the image is known, it is possible to obtain good quality reconstructed image. In this paper, it has been shown by experimental results why conventional algorithms fail to reconstruct from a few projections, and an efficient polynomial time algorithm has been given to reconstruct a bi-level image from its projections along row and column, and a known sub image of unknown image with smoothness constraints by reducing the reconstruction problem to integral max flow problem. This paper also discusses the necessary and sufficient conditions for uniqueness and extension of 2D-bi-level image reconstruction to 3D-bi-level image reconstruction.

Keywords: Discrete Tomography, Image Reconstruction, Projection, Computed Tomography, Integral Max Flow Problem, Smooth Binary Image.

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Authors: Jia-Ming Kok, Javaan Chahl

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An optimisation method using both global and local optimisation is implemented to determine the flapping profile which will produce the most lift for an experimental wing-actuation system. The optimisation method is tested using a numerical quasi-steady analysis. Results of an optimised flapping profile show a 20% increase in lift generated as compared to flapping profiles obtained by high speed cinematography of a Sympetrum frequens dragonfly. Initial optimisation procedures showed 3166 objective function evaluations. The global optimisation parameters - initial sample size and stage one sample size, were altered to reduce the number of function evaluations. Altering the stage one sample size had no significant effect. It was found that reducing the initial sample size to 400 would allow a reduction in computational effort to approximately 1500 function evaluations without compromising the global solvers ability to locate potential minima. To further reduce the optimisation effort required, we increase the local solver’s convergence tolerance criterion. An increase in the tolerance from 0.02N to 0.05N decreased the number of function evaluations by another 20%. However, this potentially reduces the maximum obtainable lift by up to 0.025N.

Keywords: Flapping wing, Optimisation, Quasi-steady model.

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Authors: N. Mohamad, W. Samiati Andriana Wan Mohd Daud, M. Suhaimi Tohid, M. Fazli Othman, M. Rizal Salleh

Abstract:

This is a collaborative project of the mural art between The Department of Fine Art from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and Petronas Dagangan Berhad (PDB), the most leading retailer and marketer of downstream oil and gas products in Malaysia. Five different states have been identified in showcasing the National Identity of Malaysia at each Petronas gas station; the Air Keroh in Melaka, Pasir Pekan in Kelantan, Pontian in Johor, Simpang Pulai in Perak and also Wakaf Bharu in Terengganu. This project is to analyze the element of national identity that has been demonstrated at the Petronas's Mural. The ultimate aim of the mural is to let the community and local people to be aware about what Malaysians are consists and proud of and how everyone is able to connect with the idea through art. The method that is being explained in this research is by using visual data through research and also self-experience in collecting the visual data in identifying what images are considered as the national identity and idea development and visual analysis is being transferred based upon the visual data collection. In this stage elements and principle of design will be the key in highlighting what is necessary in a work of art. In conclusion, image of the National Identity of Malaysia is able to connect to the audience from local and also to the people from outside the country to learn and understand the beauty and diversity of Malaysia as a unique country with art, through the wall of five Petronas gas stations.

Keywords: Mural art, fine art, national identity, community.

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Authors: Arturo Aquino, Manuel Emilio Gegundez, Jose Manuel Bravo, Diego Marin

Abstract:

Retinal vascularity assessment plays an important role in diagnosis of ophthalmic pathologies. The employment of digital images for this purpose makes possible a computerized approach and has motivated development of many methods for automated vascular tree segmentation. Metrics based on contingency tables for binary classification have been widely used for evaluating performance of these algorithms and, concretely, the accuracy has been mostly used as measure of global performance in this topic. However, this metric shows very poor matching with human perception as well as other notable deficiencies. Here, a new similarity function for measuring quality of retinal vessel segmentations is proposed. This similarity function is based on characterizing the vascular tree as a connected structure with a measurable area and length. Tests made indicate that this new approach shows better behaviour than the current one does. Generalizing, this concept of measuring descriptive properties may be used for designing functions for measuring more successfully segmentation quality of other complex structures.

Keywords: Retinal vessel segmentation, quality assessment, performanceevaluation, similarity function.

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Authors: Robiul Islam, Monjurul Hasan, Rezaul Karim, M. F. M. Zain

Abstract:

Coal fly ash, an industrial by product of coal combustion thermal power plants is considered as a hazardous material and its improper disposal has become an environmental issue. On the other hand, manufacturing conventional clay bricks involves on consumption of large amount of clay and leads substantial depletion of topsoil. This paper unveils the possibility of using fly ash as a partial replacement of clay for brick manufacturing considering the local technology practiced in Bangladesh. The effect of fly ash with different replacing ratio (0%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% by volume) of clay on properties of bricks was studied. Bricks were made in the field parallel to ordinary bricks marked with specific number for different percentage to identify them at time of testing. No physical distortion is observed in fly ash brick after burning in the kiln. Results from laboratory test show that compressive strength of brick is decreased with the increase of fly ash and maximum compressive strength is found to be 19.6 MPa at 20% of fly ash. In addition, water absorption of fly ash brick is increased with the increase of fly ash. The abrasion value and Specific gravity of coarse aggregate prepared from brick with fly ash also studied and the results of this study suggests that 20% fly ash can be considered as the optimum fly ash content for producing good quality bricks utilizing present practiced technology.

Keywords: Bangladesh brick, fly ash, clay brick, physical properties, compressive strength.

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Authors: H. Ait Abderrahmane, M. Fayed, H. D. Ng, G. H. Vatistas

Abstract:

The present paper expands details and confirms the transition mechanism between two subsequent polygonal patterns of the hollow-core vortex. Using power spectral analysis, we confirm in this work that the transition from any N-gon to (N+1)-gon pattern observed within a hollow-core vortex of shallow rotating flows occurs in two steps. The regime was quasi-periodic before the frequencies lock (synchronization). The ratios of locking frequencies were found to be equal to (N-1)/N.

Keywords: Patterns, quasi-periodic, swirling, synchronization, transition.

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Authors: Chiung-Hui Chen

Abstract:

Traditional service channel is losing its edge due to emerging service technology. To establish interaction with the clients, the service industry is using effective mechanism to give clients direct access to services with emerging technologies. Thus, as service science receives attention, special and unique consumption pattern evolves; henceforth, leading to new market mechanism and influencing attitudes toward life and consumption patterns. The market demand for customized services is thus valued due to the emphasis of personal value, and is gradually changing the demand and supply relationship in the traditional industry. In respect of interior design service, in the process of traditional interior design, a designer converts to a concrete form the concept generated from the ideas and needs dictated by a user (client), by using his/her professional knowledge and drawing tool. The final product is generated through iterations of communication and modification, which is a very time-consuming process. Although this process has been accelerated with the help of computer graphics software today, repeated discussions and confirmations with users are still required to complete the task. In consideration of what is addressed above a space user’s life model is analyzed with visualization technique to create an interaction system modeled after interior design knowledge. The space user document intuitively personal life experience in a model requirement chart, allowing a researcher to analyze interrelation between analysis documents, identify the logic and the substance of data conversion. The repeated data which is documented are then transformed into design information for reuse and sharing. A professional interior designer may sort out the correlation among user’s preference, life pattern and design specification, thus deciding the critical design elements in the process of service design.

Keywords: Information Design, Life Model-Based, Aesthetic Computing, Communication.

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Authors: K. Thiagarajan, K. Saranya, A. Veeraiah, B. Sudha

Abstract:

This paper presents a novel algorithm for secure, reliable and flexible transmission of big data in two hop wireless networks using cooperative jamming scheme. Two hop wireless networks consist of source, relay and destination nodes. Big data has to transmit from source to relay and from relay to destination by deploying security in physical layer. Cooperative jamming scheme determines transmission of big data in more secure manner by protecting it from eavesdroppers and malicious nodes of unknown location. The novel algorithm that ensures secure and energy balance transmission of big data, includes selection of data transmitting region, segmenting the selected region, determining probability ratio for each node (capture node, non-capture and eavesdropper node) in every segment, evaluating the probability using binary based evaluation. If it is secure transmission resume with the two- hop transmission of big data, otherwise prevent the attackers by cooperative jamming scheme and transmit the data in two-hop transmission.

Keywords: Big data, cooperative jamming, energy balance, physical layer, two-hop transmission, wireless security.

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Authors: Abdul Rahman Mohd Kasim, Mohd Ariff Admon, Sharidan Shafie

Abstract:

The present paper considers the steady free convection boundary layer flow of a viscoelastics fluid with constant temperature in the presence of heat generation. The boundary layer equations are an order higher than those for the Newtonian (viscous) fluid and the adherence boundary conditions are insufficient to determine the solution of these equations completely. The governing boundary layer equations are first transformed into non-dimensional form by using special dimensionless group. Computations are performed numerically by using Keller-box method by augmenting an extra boundary condition at infinity and the results are displayed graphically to illustrate the influence of viscoelastic K, heat generation γ , and Prandtl Number, Pr parameters on the velocity and temperature profiles. The results of the surface shear stress in terms of the local skin friction and the surface rate of heat transfer in terms of the local Nusselt number for a selection of the heat generation parameterγ (=0.0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0) are obtained and presented in both tabular and graphical formats. Without effect of the internal heat generation inside the fluid domain for which we take γ = 0.0, the present numerical results show an excellent agreement with previous publication.

Keywords: Free Convection, Boundary Layer, CircularCylinder, Viscoelastic Fluid, Heat Generation

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