Search results for: Web based System
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 16166

Search results for: Web based System

6686 Transient Analysis of a Single-Server Queue with Batch Arrivals Using Modeling and Functions Akin to the Modified Bessel Functions

Authors: Vitalice K. Oduol

Abstract:

The paper considers a single-server queue with fixedsize batch Poisson arrivals and exponential service times, a model that is useful for a buffer that accepts messages arriving as fixed size batches of packets and releases them one packet at time. Transient performance measures for queues have long been recognized as being complementary to the steady-state analysis. The focus of the paper is on the use of the functions that arise in the analysis of the transient behaviour of the queuing system. The paper exploits practical modelling to obtain a solution to the integral equation encountered in the analysis. Results obtained indicate that under heavy load conditions, there is significant disparity in the statistics between the transient and steady state values.

Keywords: batch arrivals, modelling, single-server queue, time-varying probabilities, transient analysis.

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6685 A Family of Zero Stable Block Integrator for the Solutions of Ordinary Differential Equations

Authors: A. M. Sagir

Abstract:

In this paper, linear multistep technique using power series as the basis function is used to develop the block methods which are suitable for generating direct solution of the special second order ordinary differential equations with associated initial or boundary conditions. The continuous hybrid formulations enable us to differentiate and evaluate at some grids and off – grid points to obtain two different four discrete schemes, each of order (5,5,5,5)T, which were used in block form for parallel or sequential solutions of the problems. The computational burden and computer time wastage involved in the usual reduction of second order problem into system of first order equations are avoided by this approach. Furthermore, a stability analysis and efficiency of the block methods are tested on linear and non-linear ordinary differential equations and the results obtained compared favorably with the exact solution.

Keywords: Block Method, Hybrid, Linear Multistep Method, Self – starting, Special Second Order.

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6684 Influence of Gas-Liquid Separator Design on Performance of Airlift Bioreactors

Authors: Mateus N. Esperança, Marcel O. Cerri, Alberto C. Badino

Abstract:

The performance of airlift bioreactors are closely related with their geometry, especially the gas-liquid separator design. In this study, the influence of the gas-liquid separator geometry on oxygen transfer and gas hold-up was evaluated in 10-L concentric-tube airlift bioreactor operating with distilled water and xanthan gum solution. The specific airflow rate (ɸAIR) exhibited the higher effect on the oxygen transfer coefficient (kLa) for both fluids. While the gas-liquid separator openness angle (α) and liquid volume fraction on the gas-liquid separator (VGLS) have presented opposite effects on oxygen mass transfer, they affected negatively the global gas hold-up of distilled water system. The best degassing zone geometry corresponded to a 90° openness angle with 10% of the liquid on it.

Keywords: Airlift bioreactor, gas holdup, gas-liquid separator, oxygen transfer.

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6683 Mobile Medical Operation Route Planning

Authors: K. Somprasonk, R. Boondiskulchok

Abstract:

Medical services are usually provided in hospitals; however, in developing country, some rural residences have fewer opportunities to access in healthcare services due to the limitation of transportation communication. Therefore, in Thailand, there are charitable organizations operating to provide medical treatments to these people by shifting the medical services to operation sites; this is commonly known as mobile medical service. Operation routing is important for the organization to reduce its transportation cost in order to focus more on other important activities; for instance, the development of medical apparatus. VRP is applied to solve the problem of high transportation cost of the studied organization with the searching techniques of saving algorithm to find the minimum total distance of operation route and satisfy available time constraints of voluntary medical staffs.

Keywords: Decision Support System, Mobile Medical Service Planning, Saving Algorithm, Vehicle Routing Problem

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6682 Parameter Estimation for Viewing Rank Distribution of Video-on-Demand

Authors: Hyoup-Sang Yoon

Abstract:

Video-on-demand (VOD) is designed by using content delivery networks (CDN) to minimize the overall operational cost and to maximize scalability. Estimation of the viewing pattern (i.e., the relationship between the number of viewings and the ranking of VOD contents) plays an important role in minimizing the total operational cost and maximizing the performance of the VOD systems. In this paper, we have analyzed a large body of commercial VOD viewing data and found that the viewing rank distribution fits well with the parabolic fractal distribution. The weighted linear model fitting function is used to estimate the parameters (coefficients) of the parabolic fractal distribution. This paper presents an analytical basis for designing an optimal hierarchical VOD contents distribution system in terms of its cost and performance.

Keywords: VOD, CDN, parabolic fractal distribution, viewing rank, weighted linear model fitting

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6681 A Preliminary Analysis of Sustainable Development in the Belgrade Metropolitan Area

Authors: S. Zeković, M. Vujošević, T. Maričić

Abstract:

The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the sustainable development in the Belgrade Metropolitan Region - BMA (level NUTS 2) preliminary evaluating the three chosen components: 1) economic growth and developmental changes; 2) competitiveness; and 3) territorial concentration and industrial specialization. First, we identified the main results of development changes and economic growth by applying Shift-share analysis on the metropolitan level. Second, the empirical evaluation of competitiveness in the BMA is based on the analysis of absolute and relative values of eight indicators by Spider method. Paper shows that the consideration of the national share, industrial mix and metropolitan/regional share in total Shift share of the BMA, as well as economic/functional specialization of the BMA indicate very strong process of deindustrialization. Allocative component of the BMA economic growth has positive value, reflecting the above-average sector productivity compared to the national average. Third, the important positive role of metropolitan/regional component in decomposition of the BMA economic growth is highlighted as one of the key results. Finally, comparative analysis of the industrial territorial concentration in the BMA in relation to Serbia is based on location quotient (LQ) or Balassa index as a valid measure. The results indicate absolute and relative differences in decrease of industry territorial concentration as well as inefficiency of utilizing territorial capital in the BMA. Results are important for the increase of regional competitiveness and territorial distribution in this area as well as for improvement of sustainable metropolitan and sector policies, planning and governance on this level.

Keywords: Belgrade Metropolitan Area (BMA), Comprehensive analysis/evaluation, economic growth and competitiveness, sustainable development.

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6680 Numerical Investigation on the Effects of Deep Excavation on Adjacent Pile Groups Subjected to Inclined Loading

Authors: Ashkan Shafee, Ahmad Fahimifar

Abstract:

There is a growing demand for construction of high-rise buildings and infrastructures in large cities, which sometimes require deep excavations in the vicinity of pile foundations. In this study, a two-dimensional finite element analysis is used to gain insight into the response of pile groups adjacent to deep excavations in sand. The numerical code was verified by available experimental works, and a parametric study was performed on different working load combinations, excavation depth and supporting system. The results show that the simple two-dimensional plane strain model can accurately simulate the excavation induced changes on adjacent pile groups. It was found that further excavation than pile toe level and also inclined loading on adjacent pile group can severely affect the serviceability of the foundation.

Keywords: Deep excavation, pile group, inclined loading, lateral deformation.

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6679 Liquid Fuel Production via Catalytic Pyrolysis of Waste Oil

Authors: Malee Santikunaporn, Neera Wongtyanuwat, Channarong Asavatesanupap

Abstract:

Pyrolysis of waste oil is an effective process to produce high quality liquid fuels. In this work, pyrolysis experiments of waste oil over Y zeolite were carried out in a semi-batch reactor under a flow of nitrogen at atmospheric pressure and at different reaction temperatures (350-450 oC). The products were gas, liquid fuel, and residue. Only liquid fuel was further characterized for its composition and properties by using gas chromatography, thermogravimetric analyzer, and bomb calorimeter. Experimental results indicated that the pyrolysis reaction temperature significantly affected both yield and composition distribution of pyrolysis oil. An increase in reaction temperature resulted in increased fuel yield, especially gasoline fraction. To obtain high amount of fuel, the optimal reaction temperature should be higher than 350 oC. A presence of Y zeolite in the system enhanced the cracking activity. In addition, the pyrolysis oil yield is proportional to the catalyst quantity.

Keywords: Waste oil, pyrolysis oil, Y zeolite, gasoline, diesel.

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6678 Scatterer Density in Edge and Coherence Enhancing Nonlinear Anisotropic Diffusion for Medical Ultrasound Speckle Reduction

Authors: Ahmed Badawi, J. Michael Johnson, Mohamed Mahfouz

Abstract:

This paper proposes new enhancement models to the methods of nonlinear anisotropic diffusion to greatly reduce speckle and preserve image features in medical ultrasound images. By incorporating local physical characteristics of the image, in this case scatterer density, in addition to the gradient, into existing tensorbased image diffusion methods, we were able to greatly improve the performance of the existing filtering methods, namely edge enhancing (EE) and coherence enhancing (CE) diffusion. The new enhancement methods were tested using various ultrasound images, including phantom and some clinical images, to determine the amount of speckle reduction, edge, and coherence enhancements. Scatterer density weighted nonlinear anisotropic diffusion (SDWNAD) for ultrasound images consistently outperformed its traditional tensor-based counterparts that use gradient only to weight the diffusivity function. SDWNAD is shown to greatly reduce speckle noise while preserving image features as edges, orientation coherence, and scatterer density. SDWNAD superior performances over nonlinear coherent diffusion (NCD), speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion (SRAD), adaptive weighted median filter (AWMF), wavelet shrinkage (WS), and wavelet shrinkage with contrast enhancement (WSCE), make these methods ideal preprocessing steps for automatic segmentation in ultrasound imaging.

Keywords: Nonlinear anisotropic diffusion, ultrasound imaging, speckle reduction, scatterer density estimation, edge based enhancement, coherence enhancement.

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6677 Coupled Galerkin-DQ Approach for the Transient Analysis of Dam-Reservoir Interaction

Authors: S. A. Eftekhari

Abstract:

In this paper, a numerical algorithm using a coupled Galerkin-Differential Quadrature (DQ) method is proposed for the solution of dam-reservoir interaction problem. The governing differential equation of motion of the dam structure is discretized by the Galerkin method and the DQM is used to discretize the fluid domain. The resulting systems of ordinary differential equations are then solved by the Newmark time integration scheme. The mixed scheme combines the simplicity of the Galerkin method and high accuracy and efficiency of the DQ method. Its accuracy and efficiency are demonstrated by comparing the calculated results with those of the existing literature. It is shown that highly accurate results can be obtained using a small number of Galerkin terms and DQM sampling points. The technique presented in this investigation is general and can be used to solve various fluid-structure interaction problems.

Keywords: Dam-reservoir system, Differential quadrature method, Fluid-structure interaction, Galerkin method, Integral quadrature method.

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6676 Grading and Sequencing Tasks in Task-Based Syllabus: A Critical Look at Criterion Selection

Authors: Hossein Ahmadi, Ogholgol Nazari

Abstract:

The necessity of grading and sequencing tasks has led to the development of different criteria in this regard. However, appropriateness of these criteria in different situations is less discussed. This paper attempts to shed more light on the priority of different criteria in relation with different factors including learners, teachers, educational, and cultural factors.

Keywords: Criteria, Grading, Sequencing, Language learning tasks.

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6675 1G2A IMU\GPS Integration Algorithm for Land Vehicle Navigation

Authors: O. Maklouf, Ahmed Abdulla

Abstract:

A general decline in the cost, size, and power requirements of electronics is accelerating the adoption of integrated GPS/INS technologies in consumer applications such Land Vehicle Navigation. Researchers have looking for ways to eliminate additional components from product designs. One possibility is to drop one or more of the relatively expensive gyroscopes from microelectromechanical system (MEMS) versions of inertial measurement units (IMUs). For land vehicular use, the most important gyroscope is the vertical gyro that senses the heading of the vehicle and two horizontal accelerometers for determining the velocity of the vehicle. This paper presents a simplified integration algorithm for strap down (ParIMU)\GPS combination, with data post processing for the determination of 2-D components of position (trajectory), velocity and heading. In the present approach we have neglected earth rotation and gravity variations, because of the poor gyroscope sensitivities of the low-cost IMU and because of the relatively small area of the trajectory.

Keywords: GPS, ParIMU, INS, Kalman Filter.

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6674 Software Product Quality Evaluation Model with Multiple Criteria Decision Making Analysis

Authors: C. Ardil

Abstract:

This paper presents a software product quality evaluation model based on the ISO/IEC 25010 quality model. The evaluation characteristics and sub characteristics were identified from the ISO/IEC 25010 quality model. The multidimensional structure of the quality model is based on characteristics such as functional suitability, performance efficiency, compatibility, usability, reliability, security, maintainability, and portability, and associated sub characteristics. Random numbers are generated to establish the decision maker’s importance weights for each sub characteristics. Also, random numbers are generated to establish the decision matrix of the decision maker’s final scores for each software product against each sub characteristics. Thus, objective criteria importance weights and index scores for datasets were obtained from the random numbers. In the proposed model, five different software product quality evaluation datasets under three different weight vectors were applied to multiple criteria decision analysis method, preference analysis for reference ideal solution (PARIS) for comparison, and sensitivity analysis procedure. This study contributes to provide a better understanding of the application of MCDMA methods and ISO/IEC 25010 quality model guidelines in software product quality evaluation process.

Keywords: ISO/IEC 25010 quality model, multiple criteria decisions making, multiple criteria decision making analysis, MCDMA, PARIS, Software Product Quality Evaluation Model, Software Product Quality Evaluation, Software Evaluation, Software Selection, Software

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6673 Generalized Measures of Fuzzy Entropy and their Properties

Authors: K.C. Deshmukh, P.G. Khot, Nikhil

Abstract:

In the present communication, we have proposed some new generalized measure of fuzzy entropy based upon real parameters, discussed their and desirable properties, and presented these measures graphically. An important property, that is, monotonicity of the proposed measures has also been studied.

Keywords: Fuzzy numbers, Fuzzy entropy, Characteristicfunction, Crisp set, Monotonicity.

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6672 Probabilistic Damage Tolerance Methodology for Solid Fan Blades and Discs

Authors: Andrej Golowin, Viktor Denk, Axel Riepe

Abstract:

Solid fan blades and discs in aero engines are subjected to high combined low and high cycle fatigue loads especially around the contact areas between blade and disc. Therefore, special coatings (e.g. dry film lubricant) and surface treatments (e.g. shot peening or laser shock peening) are applied to increase the strength with respect to combined cyclic fatigue and fretting fatigue, but also to improve damage tolerance capability. The traditional deterministic damage tolerance assessment based on fracture mechanics analysis, which treats service damage as an initial crack, often gives overly conservative results especially in the presence of vibratory stresses. A probabilistic damage tolerance methodology using crack initiation data has been developed for fan discs exposed to relatively high vibratory stresses in cross- and tail-wind conditions at certain resonance speeds for limited time periods. This Monte-Carlo based method uses a damage databank from similar designs, measured vibration levels at typical aircraft operations and wind conditions and experimental crack initiation data derived from testing of artificially damaged specimens with representative surface treatment under combined fatigue conditions. The proposed methodology leads to a more realistic prediction of the minimum damage tolerance life for the most critical locations applicable to modern fan disc designs.

Keywords: Damage tolerance, Monte-Carlo method, fan blade and disc, laser shock peening.

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6671 Tuberculosis Modelling Using Bio-PEPA Approach

Authors: Dalila Hamami, Baghdad Atmani

Abstract:

Modelling is a widely used tool to facilitate the evaluation of disease management. The interest of epidemiological models lies in their ability to explore hypothetical scenarios and provide decision makers with evidence to anticipate the consequences of disease incursion and impact of intervention strategies.

All models are, by nature, simplification of more complex systems. Models that involve diseases can be classified into different categories depending on how they treat the variability, time, space, and structure of the population. Approaches may be different from simple deterministic mathematical models, to complex stochastic simulations spatially explicit.

Thus, epidemiological modelling is now a necessity for epidemiological investigations, surveillance, testing hypotheses and generating follow-up activities necessary to perform complete and appropriate analysis.

The state of the art presented in the following, allows us to position itself to the most appropriate approaches in the epidemiological study.

Keywords: Bio-PEPA, Cellular automata, Epidemiological modelling, multi agent system, ordinary differential equations, PEPA, Process Algebra, Tuberculosis.

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6670 Support Vector Machine Approach for Classification of Cancerous Prostate Regions

Authors: Metehan Makinacı

Abstract:

The objective of this paper, is to apply support vector machine (SVM) approach for the classification of cancerous and normal regions of prostate images. Three kinds of textural features are extracted and used for the analysis: parameters of the Gauss- Markov random field (GMRF), correlation function and relative entropy. Prostate images are acquired by the system consisting of a microscope, video camera and a digitizing board. Cross-validated classification over a database of 46 images is implemented to evaluate the performance. In SVM classification, sensitivity and specificity of 96.2% and 97.0% are achieved for the 32x32 pixel block sized data, respectively, with an overall accuracy of 96.6%. Classification performance is compared with artificial neural network and k-nearest neighbor classifiers. Experimental results demonstrate that the SVM approach gives the best performance.

Keywords: Computer-aided diagnosis, support vector machines, Gauss-Markov random fields, texture classification.

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6669 Integrating Security Indifference Curve to Formal Decision Evaluation

Authors: Anon Yantarasri, Yachai Limpiyakorn

Abstract:

Decisions are regularly made during a project or daily life. Some decisions are critical and have a direct impact on project or human success. Formal evaluation is thus required, especially for crucial decisions, to arrive at the optimal solution among alternatives to address issues. According to microeconomic theory, all people-s decisions can be modeled as indifference curves. The proposed approach supports formal analysis and decision by constructing indifference curve model from the previous experts- decision criteria. These knowledge embedded in the system can be reused or help naïve users select alternative solution of the similar problem. Moreover, the method is flexible to cope with unlimited number of factors influencing the decision-making. The preliminary experimental results of the alternative selection are accurately matched with the expert-s decisions.

Keywords: Decision Analysis and Resolution, Indifference Curve, Multi-criteria Decision Making.

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6668 Robust Stabilization of Rotational Motion of Underwater Robots against Parameter Uncertainties

Authors: Riku Hayashida, Tomoaki Hashimoto

Abstract:

This paper provides a robust stabilization method for rotational motion of underwater robots against parameter uncertainties. Underwater robots are expected to be used for various work assignments. The large variety of applications of underwater robots motivates researchers to develop control systems and technologies for underwater robots. Several control methods have been proposed so far for the stabilization of nominal system model of underwater robots with no parameter uncertainty. Parameter uncertainties are considered to be obstacles in implementation of the such nominal control methods for underwater robots. The objective of this study is to establish a robust stabilization method for rotational motion of underwater robots against parameter uncertainties. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by numerical simulations.

Keywords: Robust control, stabilization method, underwater robot, parameter uncertainty.

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6667 Modeling and Simulations of Complex Low- Dimensional systems: Testing the Efficiency of Parallelization

Authors: Ryszard Matysiak, Grzegorz Kamieniarz

Abstract:

The deterministic quantum transfer-matrix (QTM) technique and its mathematical background are presented. This important tool in computational physics can be applied to a class of the real physical low-dimensional magnetic systems described by the Heisenberg hamiltonian which includes the macroscopic molecularbased spin chains, small size magnetic clusters embedded in some supramolecules and other interesting compounds. Using QTM, the spin degrees of freedom are accurately taken into account, yielding the thermodynamical functions at finite temperatures. In order to test the application for the susceptibility calculations to run in the parallel environment, the speed-up and efficiency of parallelization are analyzed on our platform SGI Origin 3800 with p = 128 processor units. Using Message Parallel Interface (MPI) system libraries we find the efficiency of the code of 94% for p = 128 that makes our application highly scalable.

Keywords: Deterministic simulations, low-dimensional magnets, modeling of complex systems, parallelization.

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6666 Experimental Study on Dehumidification Performance of Supersonic Nozzle

Authors: Esam Jassim

Abstract:

Supersonic nozzles are commonly used to purify natural gas in gas processing technology. As an innovated technology, it is employed to overcome the deficit of the traditional method, related to gas dynamics, thermodynamics and fluid dynamics theory. An indoor test rig is built to study the dehumidification process of moisture fluid. Humid air was chosen for the study. The working fluid was circulating in an open loop, which had provision for filtering, metering, and humidifying. A stainless steel supersonic separator is constructed together with the C-D nozzle system. The result shows that dehumidification enhances as NPR increases. This is due to the high intensity in the turbulence caused by the shock formation in the divergent section. Such disturbance strengthens the centrifugal force, pushing more particles toward the near-wall region. In return return, the pressure recovery factor, defined as the ratio of the outlet static pressure of the fluid to its inlet value, decreases with NPR.

Keywords: Supersonic nozzle, dehumidification, particle separation, geometry.

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6665 Participation in Co-Curricular Activities of Undergraduate Nursing Students Attending the Leadership Promoting Program Based on Self-Directed Learning Approach

Authors: Porntipa Taksin, Jutamas Wongchan, Amornrat Karamee

Abstract:

The researchers’ experience of student affairs in 2011-2013, we found that few undergraduate nursing students become student association members who participated in co-curricular activities, they have limited skill of self-directed-learning and leadership. We developed “A Leadership Promoting Program” using Self-Directed Learning concept. The program included six activities: 1) Breaking the ice, Decoding time, Creative SMO, Know me-Understand you, Positive thinking, and Creative dialogue, which include four aspects of these activities: decision-making, implementation, benefits, and evaluation. The one-group, pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research was designed to examine the effects of the program on participation in co-curricular activities. Thirty five students participated in the program. All were members of the board of undergraduate nursing student association of Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Chonburi. All subjects completed the questionnaire about participation in the activities at beginning and at the end of the program. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and dependent t-test. The results showed that the posttest scores of all four aspects mean were significantly higher than the pretest scores (t=3.30, p<.01). Three aspects had high mean scores, Benefits (Mean = 3.24, S.D. = 0.83), Decision-making (Mean = 3.21, S.D. = 0.59), and Implementation (Mean=3.06, S.D.=0.52). However, scores on evaluation falls in moderate scale (Mean = 2.68, S.D. = 1.13). Therefore, the Leadership Promoting Program based on Self-Directed Learning Approach could be a method to improve students’ participation in co-curricular activities and leadership.

Keywords: Participation in co-curricular activities, undergraduate nursing students, leadership promoting program, self-directed learning.

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6664 The Impact of NICTBB in Facilitating the E-Services and M-Services in Tanzania

Authors: S. Pazi, C. Chatwin

Abstract:

ICT services are a key element of communications and important for socio-economic development. In recognition of the importance of this, the Tanzanian Government started to implement a National ICT Broadband Infrastructure Fibre Optic Backbone (NICTBB) in 2009; this development was planned to be implemented in four phases using an optical dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) network technology in collaboration with the Chinese Government through the Chinese International Telecommunications Construction Corporation (CITCC) under a bilateral agreement. This paper briefly explores the NICTBB network technologies implementation, operations and Internet bandwidth costs. It also provides an in depth assessment of the delivery of ICT services such as e-services and m-services in both urban and rural areas following commissioning of the NICTBB system. Following quantitative and qualitative approaches, the study shows that there have been significant improvements in utilization efficiency, effectiveness and the reliability of the ICT service such as e-services and m-services the NICTCBB was commissioned.

Keywords: NICTBB, DWDM, Optic Fibre, Internet, ICT services, e-services, m-services.

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6663 A Fuzzy MCDM Approach for Health-Care Waste Management

Authors: Mehtap Dursun, E. Ertugrul Karsak, Melis Almula Karadayi

Abstract:

The management of the health-care wastes is one of the most important problems in Istanbul, a city with more than 12 million inhabitants, as it is in most of the developing countries. Negligence in appropriate treatment and final disposal of the healthcare wastes can lead to adverse impacts to public health and to the environment. This paper employs a fuzzy multi-criteria group decision making approach, which is based on the principles of fusion of fuzzy information, 2-tuple linguistic representation model, and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), to evaluate health-care waste (HCW) treatment alternatives for Istanbul. The evaluation criteria are determined employing nominal group technique (NGT), which is a method of systematically developing a consensus of group opinion. The employed method is apt to manage information assessed using multigranularity linguistic information in a decision making problem with multiple information sources. The decision making framework employs ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator that encompasses several operators as the aggregation operator since it can implement different aggregation rules by changing the order weights. The aggregation process is based on the unification of information by means of fuzzy sets on a basic linguistic term set (BLTS). Then, the unified information is transformed into linguistic 2-tuples in a way to rectify the problem of loss information of other fuzzy linguistic approaches.

Keywords: Group decision making, health care waste management, multi-criteria decision making, OWA, TOPSIS, 2-tuple linguistic representation

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6662 Simulation of Complex-Shaped Particle Breakage Using the Discrete Element Method

Authors: Felix Platzer, Eric Fimbinger

Abstract:

In Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations, the breakage behavior of particles can be simulated based on different principles. In the case of large, complex-shaped particles that show various breakage patterns depending on the scenario leading to the failure and often only break locally instead of fracturing completely, some of these principles do not lead to realistic results. The reason for this is that in said cases, the methods in question, such as the Particle Replacement Method (PRM) or Voronoi Fracture, replace the initial particle (that is intended to break) into several sub-particles when certain breakage criteria are reached, such as exceeding the fracture energy. That is why those methods are commonly used for the simulation of materials that fracture completely instead of breaking locally. That being the case, when simulating local failure, it is advisable to pre-build the initial particle from sub-particles that are bonded together. The dimensions of these sub-particles  consequently define the minimum size of the fracture results. This structure of bonded sub-particles enables the initial particle to break at the location of the highest local loads – due to the failure of the bonds in those areas – with several sub-particle clusters being the result of the fracture, which can again also break locally. In this project, different methods for the generation and calibration of complex-shaped particle conglomerates using bonded particle modeling (BPM) to enable the ability to depict more realistic fracture behavior were evaluated based on the example of filter cake. The method that proved suitable for this purpose and which furthermore  allows efficient and realistic simulation of breakage behavior of complex-shaped particles applicable to industrial-sized simulations is presented in this paper.

Keywords: Bonded particle model (BPM), DEM, filter cake, particle breakage, particle fracture.

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6661 The Application of an Ensemble of Boosted Elman Networks to Time Series Prediction: A Benchmark Study

Authors: Chee Peng Lim, Wei Yee Goh

Abstract:

In this paper, the application of multiple Elman neural networks to time series data regression problems is studied. An ensemble of Elman networks is formed by boosting to enhance the performance of the individual networks. A modified version of the AdaBoost algorithm is employed to integrate the predictions from multiple networks. Two benchmark time series data sets, i.e., the Sunspot and Box-Jenkins gas furnace problems, are used to assess the effectiveness of the proposed system. The simulation results reveal that an ensemble of boosted Elman networks can achieve a higher degree of generalization as well as performance than that of the individual networks. The results are compared with those from other learning systems, and implications of the performance are discussed.

Keywords: AdaBoost, Elman network, neural network ensemble, time series regression.

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6660 SMCC: Self-Managing Congestion Control Algorithm

Authors: Sh. Jamali, A. Eftekhari

Abstract:

Transmission control protocol (TCP) Vegas detects network congestion in the early stage and successfully prevents periodic packet loss that usually occurs in TCP Reno. It has been demonstrated that TCP Vegas outperforms TCP Reno in many aspects. However, TCP Vegas suffers several problems that affect its congestion avoidance mechanism. One of the most important weaknesses in TCP Vegas is that alpha and beta depend on a good expected throughput estimate, which as we have seen, depends on a good minimum RTT estimate. In order to make the system more robust alpha and beta must be made responsive to network conditions (they are currently chosen statically). This paper proposes a modified Vegas algorithm, which can be adjusted to present good performance compared to other transmission control protocols (TCPs). In order to do this, we use PSO algorithm to tune alpha and beta. The simulation results validate the advantages of the proposed algorithm in term of performance.

Keywords: Self-managing, Congestion control, TCP.

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6659 Prediction of Overall Efficiency in Multistage Gear Trains

Authors: James Kuria, John Kihiu

Abstract:

A mathematical model for determining the overall efficiency of a multistage tractor gearbox including all gear, lubricant, surface finish related parameters and operating conditions is presented. Sliding friction, rolling friction and windage losses were considered as the main sources of power loss in the gearing system. A computer code in FORTRAN was developed to simulate the model. Sliding friction contributes about 98% of the total power loss for gear trains operating at relatively low speeds (less than 2000 rpm input speed). Rolling frictional losses decrease with increased load while windage losses are only significant for gears running at very high speeds (greater than 3000 rpm). The results also showed that the overall efficiency varies over the path of contact of the gear meshes ranging between 94% to 99.5%.

Keywords: Efficiency, multistage gear train, rolling friction, slidingfriction, windage losses.

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6658 Energy Efficiency Analysis of Crossover Technologies in Industrial Applications

Authors: W. Schellong

Abstract:

Industry accounts for one-third of global final energy demand. Crossover technologies (e.g. motors, pumps, process heat, and air conditioning) play an important role in improving energy efficiency. These technologies are used in many applications independent of the production branch. Especially electrical power is used by drives, pumps, compressors, and lightning. The paper demonstrates the algorithm of the energy analysis by some selected case studies for typical industrial processes. The energy analysis represents an essential part of energy management systems (EMS). Generally, process control system (PCS) can support EMS. They provide information about the production process, and they organize the maintenance actions. Combining these tools into an integrated process allows the development of an energy critical equipment strategy. Thus, asset and energy management can use the same common data to improve the energy efficiency.

Keywords: Crossover technologies, data management, energy analysis, energy efficiency, process control.

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6657 A Spatial Hypergraph Based Semi-Supervised Band Selection Method for Hyperspectral Imagery Semantic Interpretation

Authors: Akrem Sellami, Imed Riadh Farah

Abstract:

Hyperspectral imagery (HSI) typically provides a wealth of information captured in a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum for each pixel in the image. Hence, a pixel in HSI is a high-dimensional vector of intensities with a large spectral range and a high spectral resolution. Therefore, the semantic interpretation is a challenging task of HSI analysis. We focused in this paper on object classification as HSI semantic interpretation. However, HSI classification still faces some issues, among which are the following: The spatial variability of spectral signatures, the high number of spectral bands, and the high cost of true sample labeling. Therefore, the high number of spectral bands and the low number of training samples pose the problem of the curse of dimensionality. In order to resolve this problem, we propose to introduce the process of dimensionality reduction trying to improve the classification of HSI. The presented approach is a semi-supervised band selection method based on spatial hypergraph embedding model to represent higher order relationships with different weights of the spatial neighbors corresponding to the centroid of pixel. This semi-supervised band selection has been developed to select useful bands for object classification. The presented approach is evaluated on AVIRIS and ROSIS HSIs and compared to other dimensionality reduction methods. The experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of our approach compared to many existing dimensionality reduction methods for HSI classification.

Keywords: Hyperspectral image, spatial hypergraph, dimensionality reduction, semantic interpretation, band selection, feature extraction.

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