Search results for: video source.
794 Fuzzy Sliding Mode Speed Controller for a Vector Controlled Induction Motor
Authors: S. Massoum, A. Bentaallah, A. Massoum, F. Benaimeche, P. Wira, A. Meroufel
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This paper presents a speed fuzzy sliding mode controller for a vector controlled induction machine (IM) fed by a voltage source inverter (PWM). The sliding mode based fuzzy control method is developed to achieve fast response, a best disturbance rejection and to maintain a good decoupling. The problem with sliding mode control is that there is high frequency switching around the sliding mode surface. The FSMC is the combination of the robustness of Sliding Mode Control (SMC) and the smoothness of Fuzzy Logic (FL). To reduce the torque fluctuations (chattering), the sign function used in the conventional SMC is substituted with a fuzzy logic algorithm. The proposed algorithm was simulated by Matlab/Simulink software and simulation results show that the performance of the control scheme is robust and the chattering problem is solved.Keywords: IM, FOC, FLC, SMC, and FSMC.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2814793 Solutions of Fuzzy Transportation Problem Using Best Candidates Method and Different Ranking Techniques
Authors: M. S. Annie Christi
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Transportation Problem (TP) is based on supply and demand of commodities transported from one source to the different destinations. Usual methods for finding solution of TPs are North-West Corner Rule, Least Cost Method Vogel’s Approximation Method etc. The transportation costs tend to vary at each time. We can use fuzzy numbers which would give solution according to this situation. In this study the Best Candidate Method (BCM) is applied. For ranking Centroid Ranking Technique (CRT) and Robust Ranking Technique have been adopted to transform the fuzzy TP and the above methods are applied to EDWARDS Vacuum Company, Crawley, in West Sussex in the United Kingdom. A Comparative study is also given. We see that the transportation cost can be minimized by the application of CRT under BCM.
Keywords: Best candidates method, centroid ranking technique, robust ranking technique, transportation problem, fuzzy transportation problem.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1574792 Synchrotron X-Ray Based Investigation of As and Fe Bonding Environment in Collard Green Tissue Samples at Different Growth Stages
Authors: Sunil Dehipawala, Aregama Sirisumana, P. Schneider, G. Tremberger Jr, D. Lieberman, Todd Holden T. Cheung
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The arsenic and iron environments in different growth stages have been studied with EXAFS and XANES using Brookhaven Synchrotron Light Source. Collard Greens plants were grown and tissue samples were harvested. The project studied the EXAFS and XANES of tissue samples using As and Fe K-edges. The Fe absorption and the Fourier transform bond length information were used as a control comparison. The Fourier transform of the XAFS data revealed the coexistence of As (III) and As (V) in the As bonding environment inside the studied plant tissue samples, although the soil only had As (III). The data suggests that Collard Greens has a novel pathway to handle arsenic absorption in soil.Keywords: EXAFS, Fourier Transform, metalloproteins, XANES.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1938791 Entropy Generation Analysis of Heat Recovery Vapor Generator for Ammonia-Water Mixture
Authors: Chul Ho Han, Kyoung Hoon Kim
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This paper carries out a performance analysis based on the first and second laws of thermodynamics for heat recovery vapor generator (HRVG) of ammonia-water mixture when the heat source is low-temperature energy in the form of sensible heat. In the analysis, effects of the ammonia mass concentration and mass flow ratio of the binary mixture are investigated on the system performance including the effectiveness of heat transfer, entropy generation, and exergy efficiency. The results show that the ammonia concentration and the mass flow ratio of the mixture have significant effects on the system performance of HRVG.
Keywords: Entropy, exergy, ammonia-water mixture, heat exchanger.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2080790 Iron Doped Biomaterial Calcium Borate: Synthesis and Characterization
Authors: G. Çelik Gül, F. Kurtuluş
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Colemanite is the most common borate mineral, and the main source of the boron required by plants, human, and earth. Transition metals exhibit optical and physical properties such as; non-linear optical character, structural diversity, thermal stability, long cycle life and luminescent radiation. The doping of colemanite with a transition metal, bring it very interesting and attractive properties which make them applicable in industry. Iron doped calcium borate was synthesized by conventional solid state method at 1200 °C for 12 h with a systematic pathway. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive analyze (SEM/EDS) were used to characterize structural and morphological properties. Also, thermal properties were recorded by thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA).
Keywords: Colemanite, conventional synthesis, powder x-ray diffraction, borates.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1008789 Quantitative Analysis of Weld Defect Images in Industrial Radiography Based Invariant Attributes
Authors: N. Nacereddine, M. Tridi, S. S. Belaïfa, M. Zelmat
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For the characterization of the weld defect region in the radiographic image, looking for features which are invariant regarding the geometrical transformations (rotation, translation and scaling) proves to be necessary because the same defect can be seen from several angles according to the orientation and the distance from the welded framework to the radiation source. Thus, panoply of geometrical attributes satisfying the above conditions is proposed and which result from the calculation of the geometrical parameters (surface, perimeter, etc.) on the one hand and the calculation of the different order moments, on the other hand. Because the large range in values of the raw features and taking into account other considerations imposed by some classifiers, the scaling of these values to lie between 0 and 1 is indispensable. The principal component analysis technique is used in order to reduce the number of the attribute variables in the aim to give better performance to the further defect classification.
Keywords: Geometric parameters, invariant attributes, principal component analysis, weld defect image.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2181788 On the Interactive Search with Web Documents
Authors: Mario Kubek, Herwig Unger
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Due to the large amount of information in the World Wide Web (WWW, web) and the lengthy and usually linearly ordered result lists of web search engines that do not indicate semantic relationships between their entries, the search for topically similar and related documents can become a tedious task. Especially, the process of formulating queries with proper terms representing specific information needs requires much effort from the user. This problem gets even bigger when the user's knowledge on a subject and its technical terms is not sufficient enough to do so. This article presents the new and interactive search application DocAnalyser that addresses this problem by enabling users to find similar and related web documents based on automatic query formulation and state-ofthe- art search word extraction. Additionally, this tool can be used to track topics across semantically connected web documents.
Keywords: DocAnalyser, interactive web search, search word extraction, query formulation, source topic detection, topic tracking.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1648787 Simulation and Analytical Investigation of Different Combination of Single Phase Power Transformers
Authors: M. Salih Taci, N. Tayebi, I. Bozkır
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In this paper, the equivalent circuit of the ideal single-phase power transformer with its appropriate voltage current measurement was presented. The calculated values of the voltages and currents of the different connections single phase normal transformer and the results of the simulation process are compared. As it can be seen, the calculated results are the same as the simulated results. This paper includes eight possible different transformer connections. Depending on the desired voltage level, step-down and step-up application transformer is considered. Modelling and analysis of a system consisting of an equivalent source, transformer (primary and secondary), and loads are performed to investigate the combinations. The obtained values are simulated in PSpice environment and then how the currents, voltages and phase angle are distributed between them is explained based on calculation.
Keywords: Transformer, simulation, equivalent model, parallel series combinations.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1115786 Digital Image Encryption Scheme using Chaotic Sequences with a Nonlinear Function
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In this study, a system of encryption based on chaotic sequences is described. The system is used for encrypting digital image data for the purpose of secure image transmission. An image secure communication scheme based on Logistic map chaotic sequences with a nonlinear function is proposed in this paper. Encryption and decryption keys are obtained by one-dimensional Logistic map that generates secret key for the input of the nonlinear function. Receiver can recover the information using the received signal and identical key sequences through the inverse system technique. The results of computer simulations indicate that the transmitted source image can be correctly and reliably recovered by using proposed scheme even under the noisy channel. The performance of the system will be discussed through evaluating the quality of recovered image with and without channel noise.Keywords: Digital image, Image encryption, Secure communication
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2238785 Circuit Models for Conducted Susceptibility Analyses of Multiconductor Shielded Cables
Authors: Saih Mohamed, Rouijaa Hicham, Ghammaz Abdelilah
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This paper presents circuit models to analyze the conducted susceptibility of multiconductor shielded cables in frequency domains using Branin’s method, which is referred to as the method of characteristics. These models, which can be used directly in the time and frequency domains, take into account the presence of both the transfer impedance and admittance. The conducted susceptibility is studied by using an injection current on the cable shield as the source. Two examples are studied; a coaxial shielded cable and shielded cables with two parallel wires (i.e., twinax cables). This shield has an asymmetry (one slot on the side). Results obtained by these models are in good agreement with those obtained by other methods.
Keywords: Circuit models, multiconductor shielded cables, Branin’s method, coaxial shielded cable, twinax cables.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2515784 Jitter Transfer in High Speed Data Links
Authors: Tsunwai Gary Yip
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Phase locked loops for data links operating at 10 Gb/s or faster are low phase noise devices designed to operate with a low jitter reference clock. Characterization of their jitter transfer function is difficult because the intrinsic noise of the device is comparable to the random noise level in the reference clock signal. A linear model is proposed to account for the intrinsic noise of a PLL. The intrinsic noise data of a PLL for 10 Gb/s links is presented. The jitter transfer function of a PLL in a test chip for 12.8 Gb/s data links was determined in experiments using the 400 MHz reference clock as the source of simultaneous excitations over a wide range of frequency. The result shows that the PLL jitter transfer function can be approximated by a second order linear model.Keywords: Intrinsic phase noise, jitter in data link, PLL jitter transfer function, high speed clocking in electronic circuit
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1946783 Growth, Population, Exports and Wagner's Law: A Case Study of Pakistan (1972-2007)
Authors: T. Hussain, A. Iqbal, M. W. Siddiqi
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The objective of this study is to examine the validity of Wagner-s law and relationship between economic growth, population and export for Pakistan. The ARDL Bounds cointegration and ECM are utilized for long and short run equilibrium for the period of 1972-2007. Population has considerable role in an economy and exports are the main source to raise the GDP. With the increase in GDP, the government expenditures may or may not increase. The empirical results indicate that the Wagner-s Law does hold, as economic growth is significantly and positively correlated with government expenditures. However, population and exports have also significant and positive impact on government expenditures both in short and long run. The significant and negative coefficient of error correction term in ECM indicates that after a shock, the long rum equilibrium will again converge towards equilibrium about 70.82 percent within a year.
Keywords: ARDL Cointegration, Growth, Pakistan, Wagner's law.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1471782 A Variable Incremental Conductance MPPT Algorithm Applied to Photovoltaic Water Pumping System
Authors: S. Abdourraziq, R. El Bachtiri
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The use of solar energy as a source for pumping water is one of the promising areas in the photovoltaic (PV) application. The energy of photovoltaic pumping systems (PVPS) can be widely improved by employing an MPPT algorithm. This will lead consequently to maximize the electrical motor speed of the system. This paper presents a modified incremental conductance (IncCond) MPPT algorithm with direct control method applied to a standalone PV pumping system. The influence of the algorithm parameters on system behavior is investigated and compared with the traditional (INC) method. The studied system consists of a PV panel, a DC-DC boost converter, and a PMDC motor-pump. The simulation of the system by MATLAB-SIMULINK is carried out. Simulation results found are satisfactory.Keywords: Photovoltaic pumping system (PVPS), incremental conductance (INC), MPPT algorithm, boost converter.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2253781 Simulation of Lightning Surge Propagation in Transmission Lines Using the FDTD Method
Authors: Kokiat Aodsup, Thanatchai Kulworawanichpong
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This paper describes a finite-difference time-domainFDTD) method to analyze lightning surge propagation in electric transmission lines. Numerical computation of solving the Telegraphist-s equations is determined and investigated its effectiveness. A source of lightning surge wave on power transmission lines is modeled by using Heidler-s surge model. The proposed method was tested against medium-voltage power transmission lines in comparison with the solution obtained by using lattice diagram. As a result, the calculation showed that the method is one of accurate methods to analyze transient lightning wave in power transmission lines.Keywords: Traveling wave, Lightning surge, Bewley lattice diagram, Telegraphist's equations, Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method,
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5330780 Influence of Synthetic Antioxidant in the Iodine Value and Acid Number of Jatropha Curcas Biodiesel
Authors: Supriyono, Sumardiyono
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Biodiesel is one of the alternative fuels that promising for substituting petro diesel as energy source which is advantage on sustainability and ecofriendly. Due to the raw material that tend to decompose during storage, biodiesel also have the same characteristic that tend to decompose and formed higher acid value which is the result of oxidation to double bond on a chain of ester. Decomposition of biodiesel due to oxidation reaction could prevent by introduce a small amount of antioxidant. The origin of raw materials and the process for producing biodiesel will determine the effectiveness of antioxidant. The quality degradation on biodiesel could evaluate by measuring iodine value and acid number of biodiesel. Biodiesel made from high fatty acid Jatropha curcas oil by using esterification and transesterification process will stand on the quality by introduce 90 ppm pyrogallol powder on the biodiesel, which could increase Induction period time from 2 hours to more than 6 hours in rancimat test evaluation.Keywords: Acid value, antioxidant, biodiesel, iodine value.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2291779 Hybrid Neural Network Methods for Lithology Identification in the Algerian Sahara
Authors: S. Chikhi, M. Batouche, H. Shout
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In this paper, we combine a probabilistic neural method with radial-bias functions in order to construct the lithofacies of the wells DF01, DF02 and DF03 situated in the Triassic province of Algeria (Sahara). Lithofacies is a crucial problem in reservoir characterization. Our objective is to facilitate the experts' work in geological domain and to allow them to obtain quickly the structure and the nature of lands around the drilling. This study intends to design a tool that helps automatic deduction from numerical data. We used a probabilistic formalism to enhance the classification process initiated by a Self-Organized Map procedure. Our system gives lithofacies, from well-log data, of the concerned reservoir wells in an aspect easy to read by a geology expert who identifies the potential for oil production at a given source and so forms the basis for estimating the financial returns and economic benefits.
Keywords: Classification, Lithofacies, Probabilistic formalism, Reservoir characterization, Well-log data.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1897778 Denitrification of Wastewater Containing High Nitrate Using a Bioreactor System Packed by Microbial Cellulose
Authors: H. Godini, A. Rezaee, A. Jafari, S. H. Mirhousaini
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A Laboratory-scale packed bed reactor with microbial cellulose as the biofilm carrier was used to investigate the denitrification of high-strength nitrate wastewater with specific emphasis on the effect the nitrogen loading rate and hydraulic retention time. Ethanol was added as a carbon source for denitrification. As a result of this investigation, it was found that up to 500 mg/l feed nitrate concentration the present system is able to produce an effluent with nitrate content below 10 ppm at 3 h hydraulic retention time. The highest observed denitrification rate was 4.57 kg NO3-N/ (m3 .d) at a nitrate load of 5.64 kg NO3- N/(m3 .d), and removal efficiencies higher than 90% were obtained for loads up to 4.2 kg NO3-N/(m3 .d). A mass relation between COD consumed and NO3-N removed around 2.82 was observed. This continuous-flow bioreactor proved an efficient denitrification system with a relatively low retention time.Keywords: Biological nitrate removal, Denitrification, Microbial cellulose, Packed-bed reactor.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2567777 A New Cut–Through Mechanism in IEEE 802.16 Mesh Networks
Authors: Yi-Ting Mai, Chun-Chuan Yang, Cheng-Jung Wen
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IEEE 802.16 is a new wireless technology standard, it has some advantages, including wider coverage, higher bandwidth, and QoS support. As the new wireless technology for last mile solution, there are designed two models in IEEE 802.16 standard. One is PMP (point to multipoint) and the other is Mesh. In this paper we only focus on IEEE 802.16 Mesh model. According to the IEEE 802.16 standard description, Mesh model has two scheduling modes, centralized and distributed. Considering the pros and cons of the two scheduling, we present the combined scheduling QoS framework that the BS (Base Station) controls time frame scheduling and selects the shortest path from source to destination directly. On the other hand, we propose the Expedited Queue mechanism to cut down the transmission time. The EQ mechanism can reduce a lot of end-to-end delay in our QoS framework. Simulation study has shown that the average delay is smaller than contrasts. Furthermore, our proposed scheme can also achieve higher performance.Keywords: IEEE 802.16 Mesh, Scheduling, Expedited Queue, QoS.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1846776 Cut Flower Production: A Source of Incremental Income for the Marginal Farmers of the State of West Bengal in India
Authors: Ruma Bhattacharyya
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The basic objective of this paper is to measure and compare the profitability of investments made by the small and marginal farmers of the state of West Bengal in floriculture shifting from the traditional cultivation of paddy. A comparison of IRR is made to establish the fact that cultivation of flowers yield higher returns farmers whose land size is so small that viability of paddy cultivation is raising a question mark. A detailed study of the price behavior of the flower crop has been carried out in which the factors leading to the volatility of the price and the dispersion of the range have also been discussed. Finally the incremental incomes of the farmers have been calculated with the help of imputed income from paddy cultivation and the reported income from the selected flowers. The study shows that the farmers stand gainers if they opt for flower cultivation.Keywords: Bazar Samity, Floriculture, Marginal Farmers.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3679775 Phase Jitter Transfer in High Speed Data Links
Authors: Tsunwai Gary Yip
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Phase locked loops in 10 Gb/s and faster data links are low phase noise devices. Characterization of their phase jitter transfer functions is difficult because the intrinsic noise of the PLLs is comparable to the phase noise of the reference clock signal. The problem is solved by using a linear model to account for the intrinsic noise. This study also introduces a novel technique for measuring the transfer function. It involves the use of the reference clock as a source of wideband excitation, in contrast to the commonly used sinusoidal excitations at discrete frequencies. The data reported here include the intrinsic noise of a PLL for 10 Gb/s links and the jitter transfer function of a PLL for 12.8 Gb/s links. The measured transfer function suggests that the PLL responded like a second order linear system to a low noise reference clock.Keywords: Intrinsic phase noise, jitter in data link, PLL jitter transfer function, high speed clocking in electronic circuit
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1601774 Municipal Solid Waste Management in KhoramAbad City and Experiences
Authors: Ali Jafari, Hatam Godini, Saed Hamed Mirhousaini
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This paper presents an overview of current municipal solid waste management in Khoram Abad city. According to data collected by the local authorities, the waste generation rate is estimated to be 800 g/cap.d with density of 243 kg/m3. Solid waste is stored in different types of containers at the source of generation in different areas of the city. Local Authority is responsible for waste collection, transportation. Municipality is responsible for waste collection, using private sector contracts. At present, both mechanical and manual methods are used to collect residential waste. Manual methods of collection are the most commonly used for waste collection in most parts of the city. Land filling is the main disposal method in this city. But it has some obvious problem and deficiencies The current state of solid waste management has been improved slightly in the last decade. By more actions can reduce the human and environmental risks.Keywords: Disposal, Landfill, management, solid waste.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2022773 European Union Funds at Public Universities in the Czech Republic – Example of Promoting Human Resources for New Research Infrastructure
Authors: Jan Sedlacek
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The paper focuses on the implementation phase of the strategy of the European Union and the national strategy of the Czech Republic to promote academic and research staff with the potential to produce results that provide innovation useful for economic growth. It deals with the use of financial resources of the Operational Program Education for Competitiveness at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. The author presents an example of two strategic projects in the field of human resources – Excellence in Human Resources as a Source of Competitiveness and New Excellence of Human Resources. The subject of this paper is the potential contribution of newly recruited postdoctoral within these projects for the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen and its internal environment.Keywords: EU funds, public universities, human resources, results of research, funding.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1572772 Suppressing Ambipolar Conduction Using Dual Material Gate in Tunnel-FETs Having Heavily Doped Drain
Authors: Dawit Burusie Abdi, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar
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In this paper, using 2D TCAD simulations, the application of a dual material gate (DMG) for suppressing ambipolar conduction in a tunnel field effect transistor (TFET) is demonstrated. Using the proposed DMG concept, the ambipolar conduction can be effectively suppressed even if the drain doping is as high as that of the source doping. Achieving this symmetrical doping, without the ambipolar conduction in TFETs, gives the advantage of realizing both n-type and p-type devices with the same doping sequences. Furthermore, the output characteristics of the DMG TFET exhibit a good saturation when compared to that of the gate-drain underlap approach. This improved behavior of the DMG TFET makes it a good candidate for inverter based logic circuits.
Keywords: Dual material gate, suppressing ambipolar current, symmetrically doped TFET, tunnel FETs, PNPN TFET.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2201771 Secure Internet Connectivity for Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) based Mobile Ad hoc Networks
Authors: Ramanarayana Kandikattu, Lillykutty Jacob
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'Secure routing in Mobile Ad hoc networks' and 'Internet connectivity to Mobile Ad hoc networks' have been dealt separately in the past research. This paper proposes a light weight solution for secure routing in integrated Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET)-Internet. The proposed framework ensures mutual authentication of Mobile Node (MN), Foreign Agent (FA) and Home Agent (HA) to avoid various attacks on global connectivity and employs light weight hop-by-hop authentication and end-to-end integrity to protect the network from most of the potential security attacks. The framework also uses dynamic security monitoring mechanism to monitor the misbehavior of internal nodes. Security and performance analysis show that our proposed framework achieves good security while keeping the overhead and latency minimal.Keywords: Internet, Mobile Ad hoc Networks, Secure routing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1428770 A Retrospective Cohort Study on an Outbreak of Gastroenteritis Linked to a Buffet Lunch Served during a Conference in Accra
Authors: Benjamin Osei Tutu, Sharon Annison
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On 21st November, 2016, an outbreak of foodborne illness occurred after a buffet lunch served during a stakeholders’ consultation meeting held in Accra. An investigation was conducted to characterise the affected people, determine the etiologic food, the source of contamination and the etiologic agent and to implement appropriate public health measures to prevent future occurrences. A retrospective cohort study was conducted via telephone interviews, using a structured questionnaire developed from the buffet menu. A case was defined as any person suffering from symptoms of foodborne illness e.g. diarrhoea and/or abdominal cramps after eating food served during the stakeholder consultation meeting in Accra on 21st November, 2016. The exposure status of all the members of the cohort was assessed by taking the food history of each respondent during the telephone interview. The data obtained was analysed using Epi Info 7. An environmental risk assessment was conducted to ascertain the source of the food contamination. Risks of foodborne infection from the foods eaten were determined using attack rates and odds ratios. Data was obtained from 54 people who consumed food served during the stakeholders’ meeting. Out of this population, 44 people reported with symptoms of food poisoning representing 81.45% (overall attack rate). The peak incubation period was seven hours with a minimum and maximum incubation periods of four and 17 hours, respectively. The commonly reported symptoms were diarrhoea (97.73%, 43/44), vomiting (84.09%, 37/44) and abdominal cramps (75.00%, 33/44). From the incubation period, duration of illness and the symptoms, toxin-mediated food poisoning was suspected. The environmental risk assessment of the implicated catering facility indicated a lack of time/temperature control, inadequate knowledge on food safety among workers and sanitation issues. Limited number of food samples was received for microbiological analysis. Multivariate analysis indicated that illness was significantly associated with the consumption of the snacks served (OR 14.78, P < 0.001). No stool and blood or samples of etiologic food were available for organism isolation; however, the suspected etiologic agent was Staphylococcus aureus or Clostridium perfringens. The outbreak could probably be due to the consumption of unwholesome snack (tuna sandwich or chicken. The contamination and/or growth of the etiologic agent in the snack may be due to the breakdown in cleanliness, time/temperature control and good food handling practices. Training of food handlers in basic food hygiene and safety is recommended.
Keywords: Accra, buffet, C. perfringens, cohort study, food poisoning, gastroenteritis, office workers, Staphylococcus aureus.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 975769 Post Mining- Discovering Valid Rules from Different Sized Data Sources
Authors: R. Nedunchezhian, K. Anbumani
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A big organization may have multiple branches spread across different locations. Processing of data from these branches becomes a huge task when innumerable transactions take place. Also, branches may be reluctant to forward their data for centralized processing but are ready to pass their association rules. Local mining may also generate a large amount of rules. Further, it is not practically possible for all local data sources to be of the same size. A model is proposed for discovering valid rules from different sized data sources where the valid rules are high weighted rules. These rules can be obtained from the high frequency rules generated from each of the data sources. A data source selection procedure is considered in order to efficiently synthesize rules. Support Equalization is another method proposed which focuses on eliminating low frequency rules at the local sites itself thus reducing the rules by a significant amount.
Keywords: Association rules, multiple data stores, synthesizing, valid rules.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1404768 Bioremediation of Phenanthrene by Monocultures and Mixed Culture Bacteria Isolated from Contaminated Soil
Authors: A. Fazilah, I. Darah, I. Noraznawati
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Three different bacteria capable of degrading phenanthrene were isolated from hydrocarbon contaminated site. In this study, the phenanthrene-degrading activity by defined monoculture was determined and mixed culture was identified as Acinetobacter sp. P3d, Bacillus sp. P4a and Pseudomonas sp. P6. All bacteria were able to grow in a minimal salt medium saturated with phenanthrene as the sole source of carbon and energy. Phenanthrene degradation efficiencies by different combinations (consortia) of these bacteria were investigated and their phenanthrene degradation was evaluated by gas chromatography. Among the monocultures, Pseudomonas sp. P6 exhibited 58.71% activity compared to Acinetobacter sp. P3d and Bacillus sp. P4a which were 56.97% and 53.05%, respectively after 28 days of cultivation. All consortia showed high phenanthrene elimination which were 95.64, 79.37, 87.19, 79.21% for Consortia A, B, C and D, respectively. The results indicate that all of the bacteria isolated may effectively degrade target chemical and have a promising application in bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated soil purposes.Keywords: Acinetobacter sp. P3d, Bacillus sp. P4a, consortia, phenanthrene, Pseudomonas sp. P6.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1155767 Use of Pesticides and Their Role in Environmental Pollution
Authors: Muhammad Jamil Khan, Muhammad Sharif Zia, Muhammad Qasim
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Insect pests are the major source of crop damage, yield and quality reduction in Pakistan and else where in the world. Cotton crop is the most hit crop in Pakistan followed by rice and the second most important foreign exchange earning crop. A wide variety of staple, horticultural and cash crops grown, reflect serious problems of many types of insect pests. To overcome the insect pest problem, pesticide use in Pakistan has increased substantially which has now been further intensified. Pesticides worth more than billions of rupees are imported every year. This paper reviews the over all pesticide use in Pakistan in relation to pesticide prices, support price of cotton and rice, pesticide use in different provinces of Pakistan on different crops and their impact on crop productivity. The environmental pollution caused by the use of pesticides, contamination of soil and water resources and the danger associated with the disposal of their empty containers is also discussed in detail.Keywords: Pesticide use, crop productivity, environmentalpollution
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3507766 Corporate Information System Educational Center
Authors: Alquliyev R.M., Kazimov T.H., Mahmudova Sh.C., Mahmudova R.Sh.
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The given work is devoted to the description of Information Technologies NAS of Azerbaijan created and successfully maintained in Institute. On the basis of the decision of board of the Supreme Certifying commission at the President of the Azerbaijan Republic and Presidium of National Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan Republic, the organization of training courses on Computer Sciences for all post-graduate students and dissertators of the republic, taking of examinations of candidate minima, it was on-line entrusted to Institute of Information Technologies of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. Therefore, teaching the computer sciences to post-graduate students and dissertators a scientific - methodological manual on effective application of new information technologies for research works by post-graduate students and dissertators and taking of candidate minima is carried out in the Educational Center. Information and communication technologies offer new opportunities and prospects of their application for teaching and training. The new level of literacy demands creation of essentially new technology of obtaining of scientific knowledge. Methods of training and development, social and professional requirements, globalization of the communicative economic and political projects connected with construction of a new society, depends on a level of application of information and communication technologies in the educational process. Computer technologies develop ideas of programmed training, open completely new, not investigated technological ways of training connected to unique opportunities of modern computers and telecommunications. Computer technologies of training are processes of preparation and transfer of the information to the trainee by means of computer. Scientific and technical progress as well as global spread of the technologies created in the most developed countries of the world is the main proof of the leading role of education in XXI century. Information society needs individuals having modern knowledge. In practice, all technologies, using special technical information means (computer, audio, video) are called information technologies of education.Keywords: Educational Center, post-graduate, database.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1714765 Model-Based Small Area Estimation with Application to Unemployment Estimates
Authors: Hichem Omrani, Philippe Gerber, Patrick Bousch
Abstract:
The problem of Small Area Estimation (SAE) is complex because of various information sources and insufficient data. In this paper, an approach for SAE is presented for decision-making at national, regional and local level. We propose an Empirical Best Linear Unbiased Predictor (EBLUP) as an estimator in order to combine several information sources to evaluate various indicators. First, we present the urban audit project and its environmental, social and economic indicators. Secondly, we propose an approach for decision making in order to estimate indicators. An application is used to validate the theoretical proposal. Finally, a decision support system is presented based on open-source environment.
Keywords: Small area estimation, statistical method, sampling, empirical best linear unbiased predictor (EBLUP), decision-making.
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