Search results for: Lighting Control System
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 10641

Search results for: Lighting Control System

1221 The Adoption of Process Management for Accounting Information Systems in Thailand

Authors: Manirath Wongsim, Pawornprat Hongsakon

Abstract:

Information Quality (IQ) has become a critical, strategic issue in Accounting Information Systems (AIS) adoption. In order to implement AIS adoption successfully, it is important to consider the quality of information use throughout the adoption process, which seriously impacts the effectiveness of AIS adoption practice and the optimisation of AIS adoption decisions. There is a growing need for research to provide insights into issues and solutions related to IQ in AIS adoption. The need for an integrated approach to improve IQ in AIS adoption, as well as the unique characteristics of accounting data, demands an AIS adoption specific IQ framework. This research aims to explore ways of managing information quality and AIS adoption to investigate the relationship between the IQ issues and AIS adoption process. This study has led to the development of a framework for understanding IQ management in AIS adoption. This research was done on 44 respondents as ten organisations from manufacturing firms in Thailand. The findings of the research’s empirical evidence suggest that IQ dimensions in AIS adoption to provide assistance in all process of decision making. This research provides empirical evidence that information quality of AIS adoption affect decision making and suggests that these variables should be considered in adopting AIS in order to improve the effectiveness of AIS.

Keywords: Information quality, information quality dimensions, accounting information systems, accounting Information system adoption.

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1220 Knowledge Reactor: A Contextual Computing Work in Progress for Eldercare

Authors: Scott N. Gerard, Aliza Heching, Susann M. Keohane, Samuel S. Adams

Abstract:

The world-wide population of people over 60 years of age is growing rapidly. The explosion is placing increasingly onerous demands on individual families, multiple industries and entire countries. Current, human-intensive approaches to eldercare are not sustainable, but IoT and AI technologies can help. The Knowledge Reactor (KR) is a contextual, data fusion engine built to address this and other similar problems. It fuses and centralizes IoT and System of Record/Engagement data into a reactive knowledge graph. Cognitive applications and services are constructed with its multiagent architecture. The KR can scale-up and scaledown, because it exploits container-based, horizontally scalable services for graph store (JanusGraph) and pub-sub (Kafka) technologies. While the KR can be applied to many domains that require IoT and AI technologies, this paper describes how the KR specifically supports the challenging domain of cognitive eldercare. Rule- and machine learning-based analytics infer activities of daily living from IoT sensor readings. KR scalability, adaptability, flexibility and usability are demonstrated.

Keywords: Ambient sensing, AI, artificial intelligence, eldercare, IoT, internet of things, knowledge graph.

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1219 Using Genetic Algorithm for Distributed Generation Allocation to Reduce Losses and Improve Voltage Profile

Authors: M. Sedighizadeh, A. Rezazadeh

Abstract:

This paper presents a method for the optimal allocation of Distributed generation in distribution systems. In this paper, our aim would be optimal distributed generation allocation for voltage profile improvement and loss reduction in distribution network. Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used as the solving tool, which referring two determined aim; the problem is defined and objective function is introduced. Considering to fitness values sensitivity in genetic algorithm process, there is needed to apply load flow for decision-making. Load flow algorithm is combined appropriately with GA, till access to acceptable results of this operation. We used MATPOWER package for load flow algorithm and composed it with our Genetic Algorithm. The suggested method is programmed under MATLAB software and applied ETAP software for evaluating of results correctness. It was implemented on part of Tehran electricity distributing grid. The resulting operation of this method on some testing system is illuminated improvement of voltage profile and loss reduction indexes.

Keywords: Distributed Generation, Allocation, Voltage Profile, losses, Genetic Algorithm.

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1218 Study of the Energy Efficiency of Buildings under Tropical Climate with a View to Sustainable Development: Choice of Material Adapted to the Protection of the Environment

Authors: Guarry Montrose, Ted Soubdhan

Abstract:

In the context of sustainable development and climate change, the adaptation of buildings to the climatic context in hot climates is a necessity if we want to improve living conditions in housing and reduce the risks to the health and productivity of occupants due to thermal discomfort in buildings. One can find a wide variety of efficient solutions but with high costs. In developing countries, especially tropical countries, we need to appreciate a technology with a very limited cost that is affordable for everyone, energy efficient and protects the environment. Biosourced insulation is a product based on plant fibers, animal products or products from recyclable paper or clothing. Their development meets the objectives of maintaining biodiversity, reducing waste and protecting the environment. In tropical or hot countries, the aim is to protect the building from solar thermal radiation, a source of discomfort. The aim of this work is in line with the logic of energy control and environmental protection, the approach is to make the occupants of buildings comfortable, reduce their carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) and decrease their energy consumption (energy efficiency). We have chosen to study the thermo-physical properties of banana leaves and sawdust, especially their thermal conductivities, direct measurements were made using the flash method and the hot plate method. We also measured the heat flow on both sides of each sample by the hot box method. The results from these different experiences show that these materials are very efficient used as insulation. We have also conducted a building thermal simulation using banana leaves as one of the materials under Design Builder software. Air-conditioning load as well as CO2 release was used as performance indicator. When the air-conditioned building cell is protected on the roof by banana leaves and integrated into the walls with solar protection of the glazing, it saves up to 64.3% of energy and avoids 57% of CO2 emissions.

Keywords: Plant fibers, tropical climates, sustainable development, waste reduction.

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1217 Applying Participatory Design for the Reuse of Deserted Community Spaces

Authors: Wei-Chieh Yeh, Yung-Tang Shen

Abstract:

The concept of community building started in 1994 in Taiwan. After years of development, it fostered the notion of active local resident participation in community issues as co-operators, instead of minions. Participatory design gives participants more control in the decision-making process, helps to reduce the friction caused by arguments and assists in bringing different parties to consensus. This results in an increase in the efficiency of projects run in the community. Therefore, the participation of local residents is key to the success of community building. This study applied participatory design to develop plans for the reuse of deserted spaces in the community from the first stage of brainstorming for design ideas, making creative models to be employed later, through to the final stage of construction. After conducting a series of participatory designed activities, it aimed to integrate the different opinions of residents, develop a sense of belonging and reach a consensus. Besides this, it also aimed at building the residents’ awareness of their responsibilities for the environment and related issues of sustainable development. By reviewing relevant literature and understanding the history of related studies, the study formulated a theory. It took the “2012-2014 Changhua County Community Planner Counseling Program” as a case study to investigate the implementation process of participatory design. Research data are collected by document analysis, participants’ observation and in-depth interviews. After examining the three elements of “Design Participation”, “Construction Participation”, and” Follow–up Maintenance Participation” in the case, the study emerged with a promising conclusion: Maintenance works were carried out better compared to common public works. Besides this, maintenance costs were lower. Moreover, the works that residents were involved in were more creative. Most importantly, the community characteristics could be easy be recognized.

Keywords: Participatory design, Deserted spaces, Community building, Reuse.

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1216 Empirical Modeling of Air Dried Rubberwood Drying System

Authors: S. Khamtree, T. Ratanawilai, C. Nuntadusit

Abstract:

Rubberwood is a crucial commercial timber in Southern Thailand. All processes in a rubberwood production depend on the knowledge and expertise of the technicians, especially the drying process. This research aims to develop an empirical model for drying kinetics in rubberwood. During the experiment, the temperature of the hot air and the average air flow velocity were kept at 80-100 °C and 1.75 m/s, respectively. The moisture content in the samples was determined less than 12% in the achievement of drying basis. The drying kinetic was simulated using an empirical solver. The experimental results illustrated that the moisture content was reduced whereas the drying temperature and time were increased. The coefficient of the moisture ratio between the empirical and the experimental model was tested with three statistical parameters, R-square (), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Chi-square (χ²) to predict the accuracy of the parameters. The experimental moisture ratio had a good fit with the empirical model. Additionally, the results indicated that the drying of rubberwood using the Henderson and Pabis model revealed the suitable level of agreement. The result presented an excellent estimation (= 0.9963) for the moisture movement compared to the other models. Therefore, the empirical results were valid and can be implemented in the future experiments.

Keywords: Empirical models, hot air, moisture ratio, rubberwood.

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1215 Enhancement of Stereo Video Pairs Using SDNs To Aid In 3D Reconstruction

Authors: Lewis E. Hibell, Honghai Liu, David J. Brown

Abstract:

This paper presents the results of enhancing images from a left and right stereo pair in order to increase the resolution of a 3D representation of a scene generated from that same pair. A new neural network structure known as a Self Delaying Dynamic Network (SDN) has been used to perform the enhancement. The advantage of SDNs over existing techniques such as bicubic interpolation is their ability to cope with motion and noise effects. SDNs are used to generate two high resolution images, one based on frames taken from the left view of the subject, and one based on the frames from the right. This new high resolution stereo pair is then processed by a disparity map generator. The disparity map generated is compared to two other disparity maps generated from the same scene. The first is a map generated from an original high resolution stereo pair and the second is a map generated using a stereo pair which has been enhanced using bicubic interpolation. The maps generated using the SDN enhanced pairs match more closely the target maps. The addition of extra noise into the input images is less problematic for the SDN system which is still able to out perform bicubic interpolation.

Keywords: Genetic Evolution, Image Enhancement, Neuron Networks, Stereo Vision

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1214 Constructal Enhancement of Fins Design Integrated to Phase Change Materials

Authors: Varun Joshi, Manish K. Rathod

Abstract:

The latent heat thermal energy storage system is a thrust area of research due to exuberant thermal energy storage potential. The thermal performance of PCM is significantly augmented by installation of the high thermal conductivity fins. The objective of the present study is to obtain optimum size and location of the fins to enhance diffusion heat transfer without altering overall melting time. Hence, the constructal theory is employed to eliminate, resize, and re-position the fins. A numerical code based on conjugate heat transfer coupled enthalpy porosity approached is developed to solve Navier-Stoke and energy equation.The numerical results show that the constructal fin design has enhanced the thermal performance along with the increase in the overall volume of PCM when compared to conventional. The overall volume of PCM is found to be increased by half of total of volume of fins. The elimination and repositioning the fins at high temperature gradient from low temperature gradient is found to be vital.

Keywords: Constructal theory, enthalpy porosity approach, phase change materials, fins.

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1213 Using Different Aspects of the Signings for Appearance-based Sign Language Recognition

Authors: Morteza Zahedi, Philippe Dreuw, Thomas Deselaers, Hermann Ney

Abstract:

Sign language is used by the deaf and hard of hearing people for communication. Automatic sign language recognition is a challenging research area since sign language often is the only way of communication for the deaf people. Sign language includes different components of visual actions made by the signer using the hands, the face, and the torso, to convey his/her meaning. To use different aspects of signs, we combine the different groups of features which have been extracted from the image frames recorded directly by a stationary camera. We combine the features in two levels by employing three techniques. At the feature level, an early feature combination can be performed by concatenating and weighting different feature groups, or by concatenating feature groups over time and using LDA to choose the most discriminant elements. At the model level, a late fusion of differently trained models can be carried out by a log-linear model combination. In this paper, we investigate these three combination techniques in an automatic sign language recognition system and show that the recognition rate can be significantly improved.

Keywords: American sign language, appearance-based features, Feature combination, Sign language recognition

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1212 Combined Automatic Speech Recognition and Machine Translation in Business Correspondence Domain for English-Croatian

Authors: Sanja Seljan, Ivan Dunđer

Abstract:

The paper presents combined automatic speech recognition (ASR) of English and machine translation (MT) for English and Croatian and Croatian-English language pairs in the domain of business correspondence. The first part presents results of training the ASR commercial system on English data sets, enriched by error analysis. The second part presents results of machine translation performed by free online tool for English and Croatian and Croatian-English language pairs. Human evaluation in terms of usability is conducted and internal consistency calculated by Cronbach's alpha coefficient, enriched by error analysis. Automatic evaluation is performed by WER (Word Error Rate) and PER (Position-independent word Error Rate) metrics, followed by investigation of Pearson’s correlation with human evaluation.

Keywords: Automatic machine translation, integrated language technologies, quality evaluation, speech recognition.

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1211 Development of One-Axis Didactic Solar Tracker for Photovoltaic Panels

Authors: L. J. de Bessa Neto, M. R. B. Guerra Vale, F. K. O. M. Varella Guerra

Abstract:

In recent years, solar energy has established itself as one of the main sources of renewable energy, gaining a large space in electricity generation around the world. However, due to the low performance of photovoltaic panels, technologies need to be sought to maximize the production of electricity. In this regard, the present study aims to develop a prototype of solar tracker for didactics applications, controlled with the Arduino® platform, that enables the movement of photovoltaic plates in relation to the sun positions throughout the day through an electromechanical system, optimizing, thus, the efficiency of solar photovoltaic generation and improvements for the photovoltaic effect. The solar tracking technology developed in this work was presented of the shape oral and practical in two middle schools in the municipality of Mossoró/RN, being one of the public network and other of the private network, always keeping the average age of the students, in the case, around 16 years, contemplating an average of 60 students in each of the visits. Thus, it is concluded that the present study contributed substantially to the dissemination of knowledge concerning the photovoltaic solar generation, as well as the study of solar trackers, thus arousing the interest and curiosity of the students regarding the thematic approached.

Keywords: Alternative energy, solar tracker, energy efficiency.

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1210 Multi-Objective Planning and Operation of Water Supply Systems Subject to Climate Change

Authors: B. J. C. Perera, D. A. Sachindra, W. Godoy., A.F. Barton, F. Huang

Abstract:

Many water supply systems in Australia are currently undergoing significant reconfiguration due to reductions in long term average rainfall and resulting low inflows to water supply reservoirs since the second half of the 20th century. When water supply systems undergo change, it is necessary to develop new operating rules, which should consider climate, because the climate change is likely to further reduce inflows. In addition, water resource systems are increasingly intended to be operated to meet complex and multiple objectives representing social, economic, environmental and sustainability criteria. This is further complicated by conflicting preferences on these objectives from diverse stakeholders. This paper describes a methodology to develop optimum operating rules for complex multi-reservoir systems undergoing significant change, considering all of the above issues. The methodology is demonstrated using the Grampians water supply system in northwest Victoria, Australia. Initial work conducted on the project is also presented in this paper.

Keywords: Climate change, Multi-objective planning, Pareto optimal; Stakeholder preference, Statistical downscaling, Water supply systems.

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1209 Assessment of Obesity Parameters in Terms of Metabolic Age above and below Chronological Age in Adults

Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

Abstract:

Chronologic age (CA) of individuals is closely related to obesity and generally affects the magnitude of obesity parameters. On the other hand, close association between basal metabolic rate (BMR) and metabolic age (MA) is also a matter of concern. It is suggested that MA higher than CA is the indicator of the need to improve the metabolic rate. In this study, the aim was to assess some commonly used obesity parameters, such as obesity degree, visceral adiposity, BMR, BMR-to-weight ratio, in several groups with varying differences between MA and CA values. The study comprises adults, whose ages vary between 18 and 79 years. Four groups were constituted. Group 1, 2, 3 and 4 were composed of 55, 33, 76 and 47 adults, respectively. The individuals exhibiting -1, 0 and +1 for their MA-CA values were involved in Group 1, which was considered as the control group. Those, whose MA-CA values varying between -5 and -10 participated in Group 2. Those, whose MAs above their real ages were divided into two groups [Group 3 (MA-CA; from +5 to + 10) and Group 4 (MA-CA; from +11 to + 12)]. Body mass index (BMI) values were calculated. TANITA body composition monitor using bioelectrical impedance analysis technology was used to obtain values for obesity degree, visceral adiposity, BMR and BMR-to-weight ratio. The compiled data were evaluated statistically using a statistical package program; SPSS. Mean ± SD values were determined. Correlation analyses were performed. The statistical significance degree was accepted as p < 0.05. The increase in BMR was positively correlated with obesity degree. MAs and CAs of the groups were 39.9 ± 16.8 vs 39.9 ± 16.7 years for Group 1, 45.0 ± 15.3 vs 51.4 ± 15.7 years for Group 2, 47.2 ± 12.7 vs 40.0 ± 12.7 years for Group 3, and 53.6 ± 14.8 vs 42 ± 14.8 years for Group 4. BMI values of the groups were 24.3 ± 3.6 kg/m2, 23.2 ± 1.7 kg/m2, 30.3 ± 3.8 kg/m2, and 40.1 ± 5.1 kg/m2 for Group 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Values obtained for BMR were 1599 ± 328 kcal in Group 1, 1463 ± 198 kcal in Group 2, 1652 ± 350 kcal in Group 3, and 1890 ± 360 kcal in Group 4. A correlation was observed between BMR and MA-CA values in Group 1. No correlation was detected in other groups. On the other hand, statistically significant correlations between MA-CA values and obesity degree, BMI as well as BMR/weight were found in Group 3 and in Group 4. It was concluded that upon consideration of these findings in terms of MA-CA values, BMR-to-weight ratio was found to be much more useful indicator of the severe increase in obesity development than BMR. Also, the lack of associations between MA and BMR as well as BMR-to-weight ratio emphasize the importance of consideration of MA-CA values rather than MA.

Keywords: Basal metabolic rate, chronologic age, metabolic age, obesity degree.

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1208 Reduction of Linear Time-Invariant Systems Using Routh-Approximation and PSO

Authors: S. Panda, S. K. Tomar, R. Prasad, C. Ardil

Abstract:

Order reduction of linear-time invariant systems employing two methods; one using the advantages of Routh approximation and other by an evolutionary technique is presented in this paper. In Routh approximation method the denominator of the reduced order model is obtained using Routh approximation while the numerator of the reduced order model is determined using the indirect approach of retaining the time moments and/or Markov parameters of original system. By this method the reduced order model guarantees stability if the original high order model is stable. In the second method Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is employed to reduce the higher order model. PSO method is based on the minimization of the Integral Squared Error (ISE) between the transient responses of original higher order model and the reduced order model pertaining to a unit step input. Both the methods are illustrated through numerical examples.

Keywords: Model Order Reduction, Markov Parameters, Routh Approximation, Particle Swarm Optimization, Integral Squared Error, Steady State Stability.

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1207 Collaborative Web Platform for Rich Media Educational Material Creation

Authors: I. Alberdi, H. Iribas, A. Martin, N. Aginako

Abstract:

This paper describes a platform that faces the main research areas for e-learning educational contents. Reusability tackles the possibility to use contents in different courses reducing costs and exploiting available data from repositories. In our approach the production of educational material is based on templates to reuse learning objects. In terms of interoperability the main challenge lays on reaching the audience through different platforms. E-learning solution must track social consumption evolution where nowadays lots of multimedia contents are accessed through the social networks. Our work faces it by implementing a platform for generation of multimedia presentations focused on the new paradigm related to social media. The system produces videos-courses on top of web standard SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) ready to be published and shared. Regarding interfaces it is mandatory to satisfy user needs and ease communication. To overcome it the platform deploys virtual teachers that provide natural interfaces while multimodal features remove barriers to pupils with disabilities.

Keywords: Collaborative, multimedia e-learning, reusability, SMIL, virtual teacher

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1206 Destination of the Solid Waste Generated at the Agricultural Products Wholesale Market in Brazil

Authors: C de Almeida, I. M. Dal Fabbro

Abstract:

The Brazilian Agricultural Products Wholesale Market fits well as example of residues generating system, reaching 750 metric tons per month of total residues, from which 600 metric tons are organic material and 150 metric tons are recyclable materials. Organic material is basically composed of fruit, vegetables and flowers leftovers from the products commercialization. The recyclable compounds are generate from packing material employed in the commercialization process. This research work devoted efforts in carrying quantitative analysis of the residues generated in the agricultural enterprise at its final destination. Data survey followed the directions implemented by the Residues Management Program issued by the agricultural enterprise. It was noticed from that analysis the necessity of changing the logistics applied to the recyclable material collecting process. However, composting process was elected as the organic compounds destination which is considered adequate for a material composed of significant percentage of organic matter far higher than wood, cardboard and plastics contents.

Keywords: Composting, environment, recycling, solid waste.

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1205 Does the Adoption of IFRS Influence Earnings Management towards Small Positive Profits? Evidence from Emerging Markets

Authors: Sawcen Chebaane, Hakim Ben Othman

Abstract:

This paper investigates the effect of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on the frequency of earnings managements towards small positive profits. We focus on two emerging markets IFRS adopters: South Africa and Turkey. We tested our logistic regression using appropriate panelestimation techniques over a sample of 330 South African and 210 Turkish firm-year observations over the period 2002-2008. Our results document that mandatory adoption of IFRS is not associated with a reduction in earnings management towards small positive profits in emerging markets. These results contradict most of the previous findings of the studies conducted in developed countries. Based on the legal system factor, we compare the intensity of earnings management between a code law country (Turkey) and a common law country (South Africa) over the pre and post-adoption periods. Our findings show that the frequency of such earnings management practice increases significantly for the code law country.

Keywords: Civil law, common law, emerging markets, Mandatory IFRS adoption, small positive profits.

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1204 Analysis of the Root Causes of Transformer Bushing Failures

Authors: E. A. Feilat, I. A. Metwally, S. Al-Matri, A. S. Al-Abri

Abstract:

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive investigation of five blackouts that occurred on 28 August to 8 September 2011 due to bushing failures of the 132/33 kV, 125 MVA transformers at JBB Ali Grid station. The investigation aims to explore the root causes of the bushing failures and come up with recommendations that help in rectifying the problem and avoiding the reoccurrence of similar type of incidents. The incident reports about the failed bushings and the SCADA reports at this grid station were examined and analyzed. Moreover, comprehensive power quality field measurements at ten 33/11 kV substations (S/Ss) in JBB Ali area were conducted, and frequency scans were performed to verify any harmonic resonance frequencies due to power factor correction capacitors. Furthermore, the daily operations of the on-load tap changers (OLTCs) of both the 125 MVA and 20 MVA transformers at JBB Ali Grid station have been analyzed. The investigation showed that the five bushing failures were due to a local problem, i.e. internal degradation of the bushing insulation. This has been confirmed by analyzing the time interval between successive OLTC operations of the faulty grid transformers. It was also found that monitoring the number of OLTC operations can help in predicting bushing failure.

Keywords: Modeling and simulation, power system, transformer, bushing, OLTC, power quality, partial discharge.

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1203 Distributional Effects of Tax and Benefit Reforms in the Czech Republic

Authors: L. Vítek

Abstract:

The Czech Republic has over the past decade carried out two waves of tax and benefit reforms. The first one took place in 2005–2006 during the left-wing government and the second one has been carried out in 2008 by the right-wing government. Using EUSILC data for selected types of households, the paper assesses changes in the distribution of gross incomes and effects of the changes in taxes and benefits on the distribution of incomes after taxes and a provision of social benefits. The analysis is carried out on four types of households with and without children. The analysis is performed using Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients. The results show that the tax system changes the distribution of incomes less significantly than benefits. The 2006 reform reduced the differential between the Gini coefficient for the gross income and the Gini coefficient after taxes and benefits for households with active parents and one child. Reform in 2008 supported families with children and an reduced the differential between the gross income and income after taxes and benefits for different types of families.

Keywords: Czech Republic, redistribution, tax reforms.

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1202 Automatic Thresholding for Data Gap Detection for a Set of Sensors in Instrumented Buildings

Authors: Houda Najeh, Stéphane Ploix, Mahendra Pratap Singh, Karim Chabir, Mohamed Naceur Abdelkrim

Abstract:

Building systems are highly vulnerable to different kinds of faults and failures. In fact, various faults, failures and human behaviors could affect the building performance. This paper tackles the detection of unreliable sensors in buildings. Different literature surveys on diagnosis techniques for sensor grids in buildings have been published but all of them treat only bias and outliers. Occurences of data gaps have also not been given an adequate span of attention in the academia. The proposed methodology comprises the automatic thresholding for data gap detection for a set of heterogeneous sensors in instrumented buildings. Sensor measurements are considered to be regular time series. However, in reality, sensor values are not uniformly sampled. So, the issue to solve is from which delay each sensor become faulty? The use of time series is required for detection of abnormalities on the delays. The efficiency of the method is evaluated on measurements obtained from a real power plant: an office at Grenoble Institute of technology equipped by 30 sensors.

Keywords: Building system, time series, diagnosis, outliers, delay, data gap.

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1201 Just-In-Time for Reducing Inventory Costs throughout a Supply Chain: A Case Study

Authors: Faraj Farhat El Dabee, Rajab Abdullah Hokoma

Abstract:

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the integration between manufacturer, transporter and customer in order to form one seamless chain that allows smooth flow of raw materials, information and products throughout the entire network that help in minimizing all related efforts and costs. The main objective of this paper is to develop a model that can accept a specified number of spare-parts within the supply chain, simulating its inventory operations throughout all stages in order to minimize the inventory holding costs, base-stock, safety-stock, and to find the optimum quantity of inventory levels, thereby suggesting a way forward to adapt some factors of Just-In-Time to minimizing the inventory costs throughout the entire supply chain. The model has been developed using Micro- Soft Excel & Visual Basic in order to study inventory allocations in any network of the supply chain. The application and reproducibility of this model were tested by comparing the actual system that was implemented in the case study with the results of the developed model. The findings showed that the total inventory costs of the developed model are about 50% less than the actual costs of the inventory items within the case study.

Keywords: Holding Costs, Inventory, JIT, Modeling, SCM

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1200 Segmentation Problems and Solutions in Printed Degraded Gurmukhi Script

Authors: M. K. Jindal, G. S. Lehal, R. K. Sharma

Abstract:

Character segmentation is an important preprocessing step for text recognition. In degraded documents, existence of touching characters decreases recognition rate drastically, for any optical character recognition (OCR) system. In this paper we have proposed a complete solution for segmenting touching characters in all the three zones of printed Gurmukhi script. A study of touching Gurmukhi characters is carried out and these characters have been divided into various categories after a careful analysis. Structural properties of the Gurmukhi characters are used for defining the categories. New algorithms have been proposed to segment the touching characters in middle zone, upper zone and lower zone. These algorithms have shown a reasonable improvement in segmenting the touching characters in degraded printed Gurmukhi script. The algorithms proposed in this paper are applicable only to machine printed text. We have also discussed a new and useful technique to segment the horizontally overlapping lines.

Keywords: Character Segmentation, Middle Zone, Upper Zone, Lower Zone, Touching Characters, Horizontally Overlapping Lines.

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1199 An Assessment of the Effects of Microbial Products on the Specific Oxygen Uptake in Submerged Membrane Bioreactor

Authors: M. F. R. Zuthi, H. H. Ngo, W. S. Guo, S. S. Chen, N. C. Nguyen, L. J. Deng, T. D. C. Tran

Abstract:

Sustaining a desired rate of oxygen transfer for microbial activity is a matter of major concern for biological wastewater treatment (MBR). The study reported in the paper was aimed at assessing the effects of microbial products on the specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) in a conventional membrane bioreactor (CMBR) and that in a sponge submerged MBR (SSMBR). The production and progressive accumulation of soluble microbial products (SMP) and bound-extracellular polymeric substances (bEPS) were affecting the SOUR of the microorganisms which varied at different stages of operation of the MBR systems depending on the variable concentrations of the SMP/bEPS. The effect of bEPS on the SOUR was stronger in the SSMBR compared to that of the SMP, while relative high concentrations of SMP had adverse effects on the SOUR of the CMBR system. Of the different mathematical correlations analyzed in the study, logarithmic mathematical correlations could be established between SOUR and bEPS in SSMBR, and similar correlations could also be found between SOUR and SMP concentrations in the CMBR.

Keywords: Microbial products, Microbial activity, Specific oxygen uptake rate, Membrane bioreactor.

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1198 The Role of Driving Experience in Hazard Perception and Categorization: A Traffic-Scene Paradigm

Authors: Avinoam Borowsky, Tal Oron-Gilad, Yisrael Parmet

Abstract:

This study examined the role of driving experience in hazard perception and categorization using traffic scene pictures. Specifically, young-inexperienced, moderately experienced and very experienced (taxi) drivers observed traffic scene pictures while connected to an eye tracking system and were asked to rate the level of hazardousness of each picture and to mention the three most prominent hazards in it. Target pictures included nine, nearly identical, pairs of pictures where one picture in each pair included an actual hazard as an additional element. Altogether, 22 areas of interest (AOIs) were predefined and included 13 potential hazards and 9 actual hazards. Data analysis included both verbal reports and eye scanning patterns of these AOIs. Generally, both experienced and taxi drivers noted a relatively larger number of potential hazards than young inexperienced drivers Thus, by relating to less salient potential hazards, experienced drivers have demonstrated a better situation model of the traffic environment.

Keywords: Concept Construction, Hazard Perception, EyeMovements, Driving Experience.

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1197 Designing of Multi-Agent Rescue Robot: Development and Basic Experiments of Master-Slave Type Rescue Robots

Authors: J. Lin, T. C. Kuo, C. -Y. Gau, K. C. Liu, Y. J. Huang, J. D. Yu, Y. W. Lin

Abstract:

A multi-agent type robot for disaster response in calamity scene is proposed in this paper. The proposed grouped rescue robots can perform cooperative reconnaissance and surveillance to achieve a given rescue mission. The multi-agent rescue of dual set robot consists of one master set and three slave units. The research for this rescue robot system is going to detect at harmful environment where human is unreachable, such as the building is infected with virus or the factory has hazardous liquid in effluent. As a dual set robot, with Bluetooth and communication network, the master set can connect with slave units and send information back to computer by wireless and monitor. Therefore, rescuer can be informed the real-time information in a calamity area. Furthermore, each slave robot is able to obstacle avoidance by ultrasonic sensors, and encodes distance and location by compass. The master robot can integrate every devices information to increase the efficiency of prospected and research unknown area.

Keywords: Designing of multi-agent rescue robot, development and basic experiments of master-slave type rescue robots.

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1196 State Dependent Riccati Equation Based Roll Autopilot for 122mm Artillery Rocket

Authors: Muhammad Kashif Siddiq, Fang Jian Cheng, Yu Wen Bo

Abstract:

State-dependent Riccati equation based controllers are becoming increasingly popular because of having attractive properties like optimality, stability and robustness. This paper focuses on the design of a roll autopilot for a fin stabilized and canard controlled 122mm artillery rocket using state-dependent Riccati equation technique. Initial spin is imparted to rocket during launch and it quickly decays due to straight tail fins. After the spin phase, the roll orientation of rocket is brought to zero with the canard deflection commands generated by the roll autopilot. Roll autopilot has been developed by considering uncoupled roll, pitch and yaw channels. The canard actuator is modeled as a second-order nonlinear system. Elements of the state weighing matrix for Riccati equation have been chosen to be state dependent to exploit the design flexibility offered by the Riccati equation technique. Simulation results under varying conditions of flight demonstrate the wide operating range of the proposed autopilot.

Keywords: Fin stabilized 122mm artillery rocket, Roll Autopilot, Six degree of freedom trajectory model, State-dependent Riccati equation.

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1195 Splitting Modified Donor-Cell Schemes for Spectral Action Balance Equation

Authors: Tanapat Brikshavana, Anirut Luadsong

Abstract:

The spectral action balance equation is an equation that used to simulate short-crested wind-generated waves in shallow water areas such as coastal regions and inland waters. This equation consists of two spatial dimensions, wave direction, and wave frequency which can be solved by finite difference method. When this equation with dominating propagation velocity terms are discretized using central differences, stability problems occur when the grid spacing is chosen too coarse. In this paper, we introduce the splitting modified donorcell scheme for avoiding stability problems and prove that it is consistent to the modified donor-cell scheme with same accuracy. The splitting modified donor-cell scheme was adopted to split the wave spectral action balance equation into four one-dimensional problems, which for each small problem obtains the independently tridiagonal linear systems. For each smaller system can be solved by direct or iterative methods at the same time which is very fast when performed by a multi-cores computer.

Keywords: donor-cell scheme, parallel algorithm, spectral action balance equation, splitting method.

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1194 Modeling and Simulation of Two-Phase Interleaved Boost Converter Using Open-Source Software Scilab/Xcos

Authors: Yin Yin Phyo, Tun Lin Naing

Abstract:

This paper investigated the simulation of two-phase interleaved boost converter (IBC) with free and open-source software Scilab/Xcos. By using interleaved method, it can reduce current stress on components, components size, input current ripple and output voltage ripple. The required mathematical model is obtained from the equivalent circuit of its different four modes of operation for simulation. The equivalent circuits are considered in continuous conduction mode (CCM). The average values of the system variables are derived from the state-space equation to find the equilibrium point. Scilab is now becoming more and more popular among students, engineers and scientists because it is open-source software and free of charge. It gives a great convenience because it has powerful computation and simulation function. The waveforms of output voltage, input current and inductors current are obtained by using Scilab/Xcos.

Keywords: Two-phase boost converter, continuous conduction mode, free and open-source, interleaved method, dynamic simulation.

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1193 Multi-Modal Visualization of Working Instructions for Assembly Operations

Authors: Josef Wolfartsberger, Michael Heiml, Georg Schwarz, Sabrina Egger

Abstract:

Growing individualization and higher numbers of variants in industrial assembly products raise the complexity of manufacturing processes. Technical assistance systems considering both procedural and human factors allow for an increase in product quality and a decrease in required learning times by supporting workers with precise working instructions. Due to varying needs of workers, the presentation of working instructions leads to several challenges. This paper presents an approach for a multi-modal visualization application to support assembly work of complex parts. Our approach is integrated within an interconnected assistance system network and supports the presentation of cloud-streamed textual instructions, images, videos, 3D animations and audio files along with multi-modal user interaction, customizable UI, multi-platform support (e.g. tablet-PC, TV screen, smartphone or Augmented Reality devices), automated text translation and speech synthesis. The worker benefits from more accessible and up-to-date instructions presented in an easy-to-read way.

Keywords: Assembly, assistive technologies, augmented reality, manufacturing, visualization.

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1192 Influence of Wall Stiffness and Embedment Depth on Excavations Supported by Cantilever Walls

Authors: Muhammad Naseem Baig, Abdul Qudoos Khan, Jamal Ali

Abstract:

Ground deformations in deep excavations are affected by wall stiffness and pile embedment ratio. This paper presents the findings of a parametric study of a 64-ft deep excavation in mixed stiff soil conditions supported by cantilever pile wall. A series of finite element analysis has been carried out in Plaxis 2D by varying the pile embedment ratio and wall stiffness. It has been observed that maximum wall deflections decrease by increasing the embedment ratio up to 1.50; however, any further increase in pile length does not improve the performance of the wall. Similarly, increasing wall stiffness reduces the wall deformations and affects the deflection patterns of the wall. The finite element analysis results are compared with the field data of 25 case studies of cantilever walls. Analysis results fall within the range of normalized wall deflections of the 25 case studies. It has been concluded that deep excavations can be supported by cantilever walls provided the system stiffness is increased significantly.

Keywords: Excavations, support systems, wall stiffness, cantilever walls.

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