Search results for: component; case based reasoning (CBR)
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 14000

Search results for: component; case based reasoning (CBR)

2270 Solver for a Magnetic Equivalent Circuit and Modeling the Inrush Current of a 3-Phase Transformer

Authors: Markus G. Ortner, Christian Magele, Klaus Krischan

Abstract:

Knowledge about the magnetic quantities in a magnetic circuit is always of great interest. On the one hand, this information is needed for the simulation of a transformer. On the other hand, parameter studies are more reliable, if the magnetic quantities are derived from a well established model. One possibility to model the 3-phase transformer is by using a magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC). Though this is a well known system, it is often not an easy task to set up such a model for a large number of lumped elements which additionally includes the nonlinear characteristic of the magnetic material. Here we show the setup of a solver for a MEC and the results of the calculation in comparison to measurements taken. The equations of the MEC are based on a rearranged system of the nodal analysis. Thus it is possible to achieve a minimum number of equations, and a clear and simple structure. Hence, it is uncomplicated in its handling and it supports the iteration process. Additional helpful tasks are implemented within the solver to enhance the performance. The electric circuit is described by an electric equivalent circuit (EEC). Our results for the 3-phase transformer demonstrate the computational efficiency of the solver, and show the benefit of the application of a MEC.

Keywords: Inrush current, magnetic equivalent circuit, nonlinear behavior, transformer.

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2269 Evaluation of Rheological Properties of Apple Mass Based Desserts

Authors: Sigita Boca, Ruta Galoburda, Inta Krasnova, Dalija Seglina, Aivars Aboltins, Imants Skrupskis

Abstract:

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of texturizers on the rheological properties of the apple mass and desserts made from various raw materials. The apple varieties - ‘Antonovka’, ‘Baltais Dzidrais’, and ‘Zarja Alatau’ harvested in Latvia, were used for the experiment. The apples were processed in a blender unpeeled for obtaining a homogenous mass. The apple mass was analyzed fresh and after storage at –18ºC. Both fresh and thawed apple mass samples with added gelatin, xantan gum, and sodium carboxymethylcellulose were whisked obtaining dessert. Pectin, pH and soluble dry matter of the product were determined. Apparent viscosity was measured using a rotational viscometer DV–III Ultra. Pectin content in frozen apple mass decreased significantly (p<0.05) compared to the fresh sample. The viscosity of apple desserts immediately after their preparation depends on the physico-chemical properties of apples and the texturizers used in the production.

Keywords: Apple variety, apparent viscosity, hydrocolloids, pectin, texturizers.

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2268 Socio-Economic Determinants of Physical Activity of Non-Manual Workers, Including the Early Senior Group, from the City of Wroclaw in Poland

Authors: Daniel Puciato, Piotr Oleśniewicz, Julita Markiewicz-Patkowska, Krzysztof Widawski, Michał Rozpara, Władysław Mynarski, Agnieszka Gawlik, Małgorzata Dębska, Soňa Jandová

Abstract:

Physical activity as a part of people’s everyday life reduces the risk of many diseases, including those induced by lifestyle, e.g. obesity, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, coronary heart disease, degenerative arthritis, and certain types of cancer. That refers particularly to professionally active people, including the early senior group working on non-manual positions. The aim of the study is to evaluate the relationship between physical activity and the socio-economic status of non-manual workers from Wroclaw—one of the biggest cities in Poland, a model setting for such investigations in this part of Europe. The crucial problem in the research is to find out the percentage of respondents who meet the health-related recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) concerning the volume, frequency, and intensity of physical activity, as well as to establish if the most important socio-economic factors, such as gender, age, education, marital status, per capita income, savings and debt, determine the compliance with the WHO physical activity recommendations. During the research, conducted in 2013, 1,170 people (611 women and 559 men) aged 21–60 years were examined. A diagnostic poll method was applied to collect the data. Physical activity was measured with the use of the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire with extended socio-demographic questions, i.e. concerning gender, age, education, marital status, income, savings or debts. To evaluate the relationship between physical activity and selected socio-economic factors, logistic regression was used (odds ratio statistics). Statistical inference was conducted on the adopted ex ante probability level of p<0.05. The majority of respondents met the volume of physical effort recommended for health benefits. It was particularly noticeable in the case of the examined men. The probability of compliance with the WHO physical activity recommendations was highest for workers aged 21–30 years with secondary or higher education who were single, received highest incomes and had savings. The results indicate the relations between physical activity and socio-economic status in the examined women and men. People with lower socio-economic status (e.g. manual workers) are physically active primarily at work, whereas those better educated and wealthier implement physical effort primarily in their leisure time. Among the investigated subjects, the youngest group of non-manual workers have the best chances to meet the WHO standards of physical activity. The study also confirms that secondary education has a positive effect on the public awareness on the role of physical activity in human life. In general, the analysis of the research indicates that there is a relationship between physical activity and some socio-economic factors of the respondents, such as gender, age, education, marital status, income per capita, and the possession of savings. Although the obtained results cannot be applied for the general population, they show some important trends that will be verified in subsequent studies conducted by the authors of the paper.

Keywords: International physical activity questionnaire, non-manual workers, physical activity, socio-economic factors, WHO.

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2267 Myths and Strategies for Teaching Calculus in English for Taiwanese Students: A Report Based on Three-Years of Practice

Authors: Shin-Shin Kao

Abstract:

This paper reviews the crucial situation in higher education in Taiwan due to the rapid decline of the birth rate in the past three decades, and how the government and local colleges/universities work to face the challenge. Recruiting international students is one of the possible ways to resolve the problem, but offering enough courses in English is one of the main obstacles when the majority of learners are still Taiwanese students. In the academic year of 2012, Chung Yuan Christian University determined to make its campus international and began to enforce two required courses for freshmen taught in English. It failed in the beginning, but succeeded in the following academic year of 2013. Using the teaching evaluations accumulated in the past three years, this paper aims to clarify the myths which had been bothering most faculties. It also offers some suggestions for college/university teachers interested in giving lectures in English to English as Second Language (ESL) learners. A conclusion is presented at the end of the paper, in which the author explained why Taiwanese students could learn their profession in English.

Keywords: Calculus, English, teaching evaluation, teaching strategy, vocabulary.

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2266 Consumer Market of Agricultural Products and Agricultural Policy in Georgia

Authors: G. Erkomaishvili, M. Kobalava, T. Lazariashvili, M. Saghareishvili

Abstract:

The article discusses the consumer market of agricultural products and agricultural policy in Georgia. It is noted that development of the strategic areas of the agricultural sector needs a special support. These strategic areas should create the country's major export potential. It is important to develop strategies to access to the international markets, form extensive marketing network etc., which will become the basis for the promotion and revenue growth of the country. The Georgian agricultural sector, with the right state policy and support, can achieve success and gain access to the world market with competitive agricultural products. The paper discusses the current condition of agriculture, export and import of agricultural products and agricultural policy in Georgia. The conducted research concludes the information that there is an increasing demand on the green goods in the world market. Natural and climatic conditions of Georgia give a serious possibility of implementing it. The research presents an agricultural development strategy in Georgia and the findings and based on them recommendations are proposed.

Keywords: Agriculture, agricultural cooperative society agricultural insurance, agricultural policy, export-import of agricultural products.

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2265 Enhance the Power of Sentiment Analysis

Authors: Yu Zhang, Pedro Desouza

Abstract:

Since big data has become substantially more accessible and manageable due to the development of powerful tools for dealing with unstructured data, people are eager to mine information from social media resources that could not be handled in the past. Sentiment analysis, as a novel branch of text mining, has in the last decade become increasingly important in marketing analysis, customer risk prediction and other fields. Scientists and researchers have undertaken significant work in creating and improving their sentiment models. In this paper, we present a concept of selecting appropriate classifiers based on the features and qualities of data sources by comparing the performances of five classifiers with three popular social media data sources: Twitter, Amazon Customer Reviews, and Movie Reviews. We introduced a couple of innovative models that outperform traditional sentiment classifiers for these data sources, and provide insights on how to further improve the predictive power of sentiment analysis. The modeling and testing work was done in R and Greenplum in-database analytic tools.

Keywords: Sentiment Analysis, Social Media, Twitter, Amazon, Data Mining, Machine Learning, Text Mining.

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2264 Design and Analysis of Universal Multifunctional Leaf Spring Main Landing Gear for Light Aircraft

Authors: Meiyuan Zheng, Jingwu He, Yuexi Xiong

Abstract:

A universal multi-function leaf spring main landing gear was designed for light aircraft. The main landing gear combined with the leaf spring, skidding, and wheels enables it to have a good takeoff and landing performance on various grounds such as the hard, snow, grass and sand grounds. Firstly, the characteristics of different landing sites were studied in this paper in order to analyze the load of the main landing gear on different types of grounds. Based on this analysis, the structural design optimization along with the strength and stiffness characteristics of the main landing gear has been done, which enables it to have good takeoff and landing performance on different types of grounds given the relevant regulations and standards. Additionally, the impact of the skidding on the aircraft during the flight was also taken into consideration. Finally, a universal multi-function leaf spring type of the main landing gear suitable for light aircraft has been developed.

Keywords: Landing gear, multi-function, leaf spring, skidding.

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2263 A Study of Analyzing the Selection of Promotion Activities and Destination Attributes in Tourism Industry in Vietnam - From the Perspective of Tourism Industrial Service Network (TISN)

Authors: Wen-Hsiang Lai, Nguyen Quang Vinh

Abstract:

In order to explore the relationship of promotion activities, destination attribute and destination image of Vietnam and find possible solutions, this study uses decision system analysis (DSA) method to develop flowcharts based on three rounds of expert interviews. The interviews were conducted with the experts who were confirmed to directly participate or influence on the decision making that drives the promotion of Vietnam tourism process. This study identifies three models and describes specific decisions on promotion activities, destination attributes and destination images. This study finally derives a general model for promoting the Tourism Industrial Service Network (TISN) in Vietnam. This study finds that the coordination with all sectors and industries of tourism to facilitate favorable condition and improving destination attributes in linking with the efficient promotion activities is highly recommended in order to make visitors satisfied and improve the destination image.

Keywords: Destination attributes, Destination image, Decision system analysis, Tourism promotion

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2262 Hydrogen Production from Dehydrogenation of Ethanol over Ag-Based Catalysts

Authors: S. Totong, K. Faungnawakij, N. Laosiripojana

Abstract:

The development of alternative energy is interesting in the present especially, hydrogen production because it is an important energy resource in the future. This paper studied the hydrogen production from catalytic dehydrogenation of ethanol through via low temperature (<500°C) reaction. Copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) supported on fumed silica (SiO2) were selected in the present work; in addition, bimetallic material; Ag-Cu supported on SiO2 was also investigated. The catalysts were prepared by the incipient wetness impregnation method and characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR)and nitrogen adsorption measurements. The catalytic dehydrogenation of ethanol was carried out in a fixed bed continuous flow reactor at atmospheric pressure. The effect of reaction temperature between 300-375°C was studied in order to maximize the hydrogen yield. It was found that Ag-Cu/SiO2 exhibited the highest hydrogen yield compared to Ag/SiO2 and Cu/SiO2 at low reaction temperature (300°C) with full ethanol conversion. The highest hydrogen yield observed was 40% and will be further used as a reactant in fuel cells to generate electricity or feedstock of chemical production. 

Keywords: Catalyst, dehydrogenation, ethanol, hydrogen production.

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2261 Investigation of Water Vapour Transport Properties of Gypsum Using Genetic Algorithm

Authors: Z. Pavlík, J. Žumár, M. Pavlíková, J. Kočí, R. Černý

Abstract:

Water vapour transport properties of gypsum block are studied in dependence on relative humidity using inverse analysis based on genetic algorithm. The computational inverse analysis is performed for the relative humidity profiles measured along the longitudinal axis of a rod sample. Within the performed transient experiment, the studied sample is exposed to two environments with different relative humidity, whereas the temperature is kept constant. For the basic gypsum characterisation and for the assessment of input material parameters necessary for computational application of genetic algorithm, the basic material properties of gypsum are measured as well as its thermal and water vapour storage parameters. On the basis of application of genetic algorithm, the relative humidity dependent water vapour diffusion coefficient and water vapour diffusion resistance factor are calculated.

Keywords: Water vapour transport, gypsum block, transient experiment, genetic algorithm.

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2260 Cost Sensitive Analysis of Production Logistics Measures A Decision Making Support System for Evaluating Measures in the Production

Authors: Michael Grigutsch, Peter Nyhuis

Abstract:

Due to the volatile global economy, enterprises are increasingly focusing on logistics. By investing in suitable measures a company can increase their logistic performance and assert themselves over the competition. However, enterprises are also faced with the challenge of investing available capital for maximum profits. In order to be able to create an informed and quantifiably comprehensible basis for a decision, enterprises need a suitable model for logistically and monetarily evaluating measures in production. Previously, within the frame of Collaborate Research Centre 489 (SFB 489) at the Institute for Production Systems and Logistics, (IFA) a Logistic Information System was developed specifically for providing enterprises in the forging industry with support when making decisions. Based on this research, a new initiative referred to as ‘Transfer Project T7’, aims to develop a universal approach for logistically and monetarily evaluating production measures. This paper focuses on the structural measure echelon storage and their impact on the entire production system.

Keywords: Logistic Operating Curves, Transfer Functions, Production Logistics, Storages Echelon.

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2259 Optimization of Breast Tumor Cells Isolation Efficiency and Purity by Membrane Filtration

Authors: Bhuvanendran Nair Gourikutty Sajay, Liu Yuxin, Chang Chia-Pin, Poenar Daniel Puiu, Abdur Rub Abdur Rahman

Abstract:

Size based filtration is one of the common methods employed to isolate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from whole blood. It is well known that this method suffers from isolation efficiency to purity tradeoff. However, this tradeoff is poorly understood. In this paper, we present the design and manufacturing of a special rectangular slit filter. The filter was designed to retain maximal amounts of nucleated cells, while minimizing the pressure on cells, thereby preserving their morphology. The key parameter, namely, input pressure, was optimized to retain the maximal number of tumor cells, whilst maximizing the depletion of normal blood cells (red and white blood cells and platelets). Our results indicate that for a slit geometry of 5 × 40 μm on a 13 mm circular membrane with a fill factor of 21%, a pressure of 6.9 mBar yields the optimum for maximizing isolation of MCF-7 and depletion of normal blood cells.

Keywords: Circulating tumor cells, Parylene slit membrane, Retention, White Blood Cell depletion.

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2258 Providing Medical Information in Braille: Research and Development of Automatic Braille Translation Program for Japanese “eBraille“

Authors: Aki Sugano, Mika Ohta, Mineko Ikegami, Kenji Miura, Sayo Tsukamoto, Akihiro Ichinose, Toshiko Ohshima, Eiichi Maeda, Masako Matsuura, Yutaka Takao

Abstract:

Along with the advances in medicine, providing medical information to individual patient is becoming more important. In Japan such information via Braille is hardly provided to blind and partially sighted people. Thus we are researching and developing a Web-based automatic translation program “eBraille" to translate Japanese text into Japanese Braille. First we analyzed the Japanese transcription rules to implement them on our program. We then added medical words to the dictionary of the program to improve its translation accuracy for medical text. Finally we examined the efficacy of statistical learning models (SLMs) for further increase of word segmentation accuracy in braille translation. As a result, eBraille had the highest translation accuracy in the comparison with other translation programs, improved the accuracy for medical text and is utilized to make hospital brochures in braille for outpatients and inpatients.

Keywords: Automatic Braille translation, Medical text, Partially sighted people.

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2257 Developmental Social Work: A Derailed Post-Apartheid Development Approach in South Africa

Authors: P. Mbecke

Abstract:

Developmental social welfare implemented through developmental social work is being applauded internationally as an approach that facilitates social development theory and practice. However, twenty-two years into democracy, there are no tangible evidences that the much-desired developmental social welfare approach has assisted the post-apartheid macroeconomic policy frameworks in addressing poverty and inequality, thus, the derailment of the post-apartheid development approach in South Africa. Based on the implementation research theory, and the literature review technique, this paper recognizes social work as a principal role-player in social development. It recommends the redesign and implementation of an effective developmental social welfare approach with specific strategies, programs, activities and sufficient resources aligned to and appropriate in delivering on the promises of the government’s macroeconomic policy frameworks. Such approach should be implemented by skilled and dedicated developmental social workers in order to achieve transformation in South Africa.

Keywords: Apartheid, developmental social welfare, developmental social work, inequality, poverty alleviation, social development, South Africa.

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2256 An Investigation on Material Removal Rate of EDM Process: A Response Surface Methodology Approach

Authors: Azhar Equbal, Anoop Kumar Sood, M. Asif Equbal, M. Israr Equbal

Abstract:

In the present work response surface methodology (RSM) based central composite design (CCD) is used for analyzing the electrical discharge machining (EDM) process. For experimentation, mild steel is selected as work piece and copper is used as electrode. Three machining parameters namely current (I), spark on time (Ton) and spark off time (Toff) are selected as the input variables. The output or response chosen is material removal rate (MRR) which is to be maximized. To reduce the number of runs face centered central composite design (FCCCD) was used. ANOVA was used to determine the significance of parameter and interactions. The suitability of model is tested using Anderson darling (AD) plot. The results conclude that different parameters considered i.e. current, pulse on and pulse off time; all have dominant effect on the MRR. At last, the optimized parameter setting for maximizing MRR is found through main effect plot analysis.

Keywords: Electrical discharge machining, electrode, MRR, RSM, ANOVA.

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2255 Design and Microfabrication of a High Throughput Thermal Cycling Platform with Various Annealing Temperatures

Authors: Sin J. Chen, Jyh J. Chen

Abstract:

This study describes a micro device integrated with multi-chamber for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with different annealing temperatures. The device consists of the reaction polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chip, a cover glass chip, and is equipped with cartridge heaters, fans, and thermocouples for temperature control. In this prototype, commercial software is utilized to determine the geometric and operational parameters those are responsible for creating the denaturation, annealing, and extension temperatures within the chip. Two cartridge heaters are placed at two sides of the chip and maintained at two different temperatures to achieve a thermal gradient on the chip during the annealing step. The temperatures on the chip surface are measured via an infrared imager. Some thermocouples inserted into the reaction chambers are used to obtain the transient temperature profiles of the reaction chambers during several thermal cycles. The experimental temperatures compared to the simulated results show a similar trend. This work should be interesting to persons involved in the high-temperature based reactions and genomics or cell analysis.

Keywords: Polymerase chain reaction, thermal cycles, temperature gradient, micro-fabrication.

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2254 The Extension of Monomeric Computational Results to Polymeric Measurable Properties: An Introductory Computational Chemistry Experiment

Authors: Zhao Jing, Bai Yongqing, Shi Qiaofang, Zang Yang, Zhang Huaihao

Abstract:

Advances in software technology enable the computational chemistry to be commonly applied in various research fields, especially in pedagogy. Thus, in order to expand and improve experimental instructions of computational chemistry for undergraduates, we designed an introductory experiment—research on acrylamide molecular structure and physicochemical properties. Initially, students construct molecular models of acrylamide and polyacrylamide in Gaussian and Materials Studio software respectively. Then, the infrared spectral data, atomic charge and molecular orbitals of acrylamide as well as solvation effect of polyacrylamide are calculated to predict their physicochemical performance. At last, rheological experiments are used to validate these predictions. Through the combination of molecular simulation (performed on Gaussian, Materials Studio) with experimental verification (rheology experiment), learners have deeply comprehended the chemical nature of acrylamide and polyacrylamide, achieving good learning outcomes.

Keywords: Upper-division undergraduate, computer-based learning, laboratory instruction, amides, molecular modeling, spectroscopy.

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2253 Biosecurity Control Systems in Two Phases for Poultry Farms

Authors: M. Peña Aguilar Juan, E. Nava Galván Claudia, Pastrana Palma Alberto

Abstract:

In this work was developed and implemented a thermal fogging disinfection system to counteract pathogens from poultry feces in agribusiness farms, to reduce mortality rates and increase biosafety in them. The control system consists of two phases for the conditioning of the farm during the sanitary break. In the first phase, viral and bacterial inactivation was performed by treating the stool dry cleaning, along with the development of a specialized product that foster the generation of temperatures above 55 °C in less than 24 hr, for virus inactivation. In the second phase, a process for disinfection by fogging was implemented, along with the development of a specialized disinfectant that guarantee no risk for the operators’ health or birds. As a result of this process, it was possible to minimize the level of mortality of chickens on farms from 12% to 5.49%, representing a reduction of 6.51% in the death rate, through the formula applied to the treatment of poultry litter based on oxidising agents used as antiseptics, hydrogen peroxide solutions, glacial acetic acid and EDTA in order to act on bacteria, viruses, micro bacteria and spores.

Keywords: Innovation, triple-helix, innovation, poultry farms.

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2252 Quantifying Mobility of Urban Inhabitant Based on Social Media Data

Authors: Yuyun, Fritz Akhmad Nuzir, Bart Julien Dewancker

Abstract:

Check-in locations on social media provide information about an individual’s location. The millions of units of data generated from these sites provide knowledge for human activity. In this research, we used a geolocation service and users’ texts posted on Twitter social media to analyze human mobility. Our research will answer the questions; what are the movement patterns of a citizen? And, how far do people travel in the city? We explore the people trajectory of 201,118 check-ins and 22,318 users over a period of one month in Makassar city, Indonesia. To accommodate individual mobility, the authors only analyze the users with check-in activity greater than 30 times. We used sampling method with a systematic sampling approach to assign the research sample. The study found that the individual movement shows a high degree of regularity and intensity in certain places. The other finding found that the average distance an urban inhabitant can travel per day is as far as 9.6 km.

Keywords: Mobility, check-in, distance, Twitter.

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2251 Reading Literacy and Methods of Improving Reading

Authors: Iva Košek Bartošová, Andrea Jokešová, Eva Kozlová, Helena Matějová

Abstract:

The paper presents results of a research team from Faculty of Education, University of Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic. It introduces with the most reading methods used in the 1st classes of a primary school and presents results of a pilot research focused on mastering reading techniques and the quality of reading comprehension of pupils in the first half of a school year during training in teaching reading by an analytic-synthetic method and by a genetic method. These methods of practicing reading skills are the most used ones in the Czech Republic. During the school year 2015/16 there has been a measurement made of two groups of pupils of the 1st year and monitoring of quantitative and qualitative parameters of reading pupils’ outputs by several methods. Both of these methods are based on different theoretical basis and each of them has a specific educational and methodical procedure. This contribution represents results during a piloting project and draws pilot conclusions which will be verified in the subsequent broader research at the end of the school year of the first class of primary school.

Keywords: Analytic-synthetic method of reading, genetic method of reading, reading comprehension, reading literacy, reading methods, reading speed.

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2250 Project Complexity Indices based on Topology Features

Authors: Amer A. Boushaala

Abstract:

The heuristic decision rules used for project scheduling will vary depending upon the project-s size, complexity, duration, personnel, and owner requirements. The concept of project complexity has received little detailed attention. The need to differentiate between easy and hard problem instances and the interest in isolating the fundamental factors that determine the computing effort required by these procedures inspired a number of researchers to develop various complexity measures. In this study, the most common measures of project complexity are presented. A new measure of project complexity is developed. The main privilege of the proposed measure is that, it considers size, shape and logic characteristics, time characteristics, resource demands and availability characteristics as well as number of critical activities and critical paths. The degree of sensitivity of the proposed measure for complexity of project networks has been tested and evaluated against the other measures of complexity of the considered fifty project networks under consideration in the current study. The developed measure showed more sensitivity to the changes in the network data and gives accurate quantified results when comparing the complexities of networks.

Keywords: Activity networks, Complexity index, Networkcomplexity measure, Network topology, Project Network.

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2249 Attack Detection through Image Adaptive Self Embedding Watermarking

Authors: S. Shefali, S. M. Deshpande, S. G. Tamhankar

Abstract:

Now a days, a significant part of commercial and governmental organisations like museums, cultural organizations, libraries, commercial enterprises, etc. invest intensively in new technologies for image digitization, digital libraries, image archiving and retrieval. Hence image authorization, authentication and security has become prime need. In this paper, we present a semi-fragile watermarking scheme for color images. The method converts the host image into YIQ color space followed by application of orthogonal dual domains of DCT and DWT transforms. The DCT helps to separate relevant from irrelevant image content to generate silent image features. DWT has excellent spatial localisation to help aid in spatial tamper characterisation. Thus image adaptive watermark is generated based of image features which allows the sharp detection of microscopic changes to locate modifications in the image. Further, the scheme utilises the multipurpose watermark consisting of soft authenticator watermark and chrominance watermark. Which has been proved fragile to some predefined processing like intentinal fabrication of the image or forgery and robust to other incidental attacks caused in the communication channel.

Keywords: Cryptography, Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Watermarking.

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2248 Distributed Architecture of an Autonomous Four Rotor Mini-Rotorcraft based on Multi-Agent System

Authors: H. Ifassiouen, H. Medromi, N. E. Radhy

Abstract:

In this paper, we present the recently implemented approach allowing dynamics systems to plan its actions, taking into account the environment perception changes, and to control their execution when uncertainty and incomplete knowledge are the major characteristics of the situated environment [1],[2],[3],[4]. The control distributed architecture has three modules and the approach is related to hierarchical planning: the plan produced by the planner is further refined at the control layer that in turn supervises its execution by a functional level. We propose a new intelligent distributed architecture constituted by: Multi-Agent subsystem of the sensor, of the interpretation and representation of environment [9], of the dynamic localization and of the action. We tested this distributed architecture with dynamic system in the known environment. The autonomous for Rotor Mini Rotorcraft task is described by the primitive actions. The distributed controlbased on multi-agent system is in charge of achieving each task in the best possible way taking into account the context and sensory feedback.

Keywords: Autonomous four rotors helicopter, Control system, Hierarchical planning, Intelligent Distributed Architecture.

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2247 Design, Simulation and Experimental Realization of Nonlinear Controller for GSC of DFIG System

Authors: R.K. Behera, S.Behera

Abstract:

In a wind power generator using doubly fed induction generator (DFIG), the three-phase pulse width modulation (PWM) voltage source converter (VSC) is used as grid side converter (GSC) and rotor side converter (RSC). The standard linear control laws proposed for GSC provides not only instablity against comparatively large-signal disturbances, but also the problem of stability due to uncertainty of load and variations in parameters. In this paper, a nonlinear controller is designed for grid side converter (GSC) of a DFIG for wind power application. The nonlinear controller is designed based on the input-output feedback linearization control method. The resulting closed-loop system ensures a sufficient stability region, make robust to variations in circuit parameters and also exhibits good transient response. Computer simulations and experimental results are presented to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

Keywords: Doubly fed Induction Generator, grid side converter, machine side converter, dc link, feedback linearization.

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2246 Performance Degradation for the GLR Test-Statistics for Spatial Signal Detection

Authors: Olesya Bolkhovskaya, Alexander Maltsev

Abstract:

Antenna arrays are widely used in modern radio systems in sonar and communications. The solving of the detection problems of a useful signal on the background of noise is based on the GLRT method. There is a large number of problem which depends on the known a priori information. In this work, in contrast to the majority of already solved problems, it is used only difference  spatial properties of the signal and noise for detection. We are analyzing the influence of the degree of non-coherence of signal and noise unhomogeneity on the performance characteristics of different GLRT statistics. The description of the signal and noise is carried out by means of the spatial covariance matrices C in the cases of different number of known information. The partially coherent signalis is simulated as a plane wave with a random angle of incidence of the wave concerning a normal. Background noise is simulated as random process with uniform distribution function in each element. The results of investigation of degradation of performance characteristics for different cases are represented in this work.

Keywords: GLRT, Neumann-Pearson’s criterion, test-statistics, degradation, spatial processing, multielement antenna array

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2245 Identification of Non-Lexicon Non-Slang Unigrams in Body-enhancement Medicinal UBE

Authors: Jatinderkumar R. Saini, Apurva A. Desai

Abstract:

Email has become a fast and cheap means of online communication. The main threat to email is Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE), commonly called spam email. The current work aims at identification of unigrams in more than 2700 UBE that advertise body-enhancement drugs. The identification is based on the requirement that the unigram is neither present in dictionary, nor is a slang term. The motives of the paper are many fold. This is an attempt to analyze spamming behaviour and employment of wordmutation technique. On the side-lines of the paper, we have attempted to better understand the spam, the slang and their interplay. The problem has been addressed by employing Tokenization technique and Unigram BOW model. We found that the non-lexicon words constitute nearly 66% of total number of lexis of corpus whereas non-slang words constitute nearly 2.4% of non-lexicon words. Further, non-lexicon non-slang unigrams composed of 2 lexicon words, form more than 71% of the total number of such unigrams. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to analyze usage of non-lexicon non-slang unigrams in any kind of UBE.

Keywords: Body Enhancement, Lexicon, Medicinal, Slang, Unigram, Unsolicited Bulk e-mail (UBE)

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2244 Classification of Soil Aptness to Establish of Panicum virgatum in Mississippi using Sensitivity Analysis and GIS

Authors: Eduardo F. Arias, William Cooke III, Zhaofei Fan, William Kingery

Abstract:

During the last decade Panicum virgatum, known as Switchgrass, has been broadly studied because of its remarkable attributes as a substitute pasture and as a functional biofuel source. The objective of this investigation was to establish soil suitability for Switchgrass in the State of Mississippi. A linear weighted additive model was developed to forecast soil suitability. Multicriteria analysis and Sensitivity analysis were utilized to adjust and optimize the model. The model was fit using seven years of field data associated with soils characteristics collected from Natural Resources Conservation System - United States Department of Agriculture (NRCS-USDA). The best model was selected by correlating calculated biomass yield with each model's soils-based output for Switchgrass suitability. Coefficient of determination (r2) was the decisive factor used to establish the 'best' soil suitability model. Coefficients associated with the 'best' model were implemented within a Geographic Information System (GIS) to create a map of relative soil suitability for Switchgrass in Mississippi. A Geodatabase associated with soil parameters was built and is available for future Geographic Information System use.

Keywords: Aptness, GIS, sensitivity analysis, switchgrass, soil.

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2243 Effects of Pipe Curvature and Internal Pressure on Stiffness and Buckling Phenomenon of Circular Thin-Walled Pipes

Authors: V. Polenta, S. D. Garvey, D. Chronopoulos, A. C. Long, H. P. Morvan

Abstract:

A parametric study on circular thin-walled pipes subjected to pure bending is performed. Both straight and curved pipes are considered. Ratio D/t, initial pipe curvature and internal pressure are the parameters varying in the analyses. The study is mainly FEA-based. It is found that negative curvatures (opposite to bending moment) considerably increase stiffness and buckling limit of the pipe when no internal pressure is acting and, similarly, positive curvatures decrease the stiffness and buckling limit. For internal pressurised pipes the effects of initial pipe curvature are less relevant. Results show that this phenomenon is in relationship with the cross-section deformation due to bending moment, which undergoes relevant ovalisation for no pressurised pipes and little ovalisation for pressurised pipes.

Keywords: Buckling, curved pipes, internal pressure, ovalisation, pure bending, thin-walled pipes.

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2242 Techno-Economic Study on the Potential of Dimethyl Ether as a Substitute for LPG

Authors: W. A. Pamungkas, R. B. Setyawati, A. F. Rifai, C. P. Setiawan, A. W. Budiman, Inayati, J. Waluyo, S. H. Pranolo

Abstract:

The increase in LPG consumption in Indonesia is not balanced with the amount of supply. The high demand for LPG due to the success of the government's kerosene-to-LPG conversion program and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to an increase in LPG consumption in the household sector and caused Indonesia's trade balance to experience a deficit. The high consumption of LPG encourages the need for alternative fuels which aims to substitute LPG. Dimethyl Ether (DME) is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH3OCH3, has a high cetane number and has characteristics similar to LPG. DME can be produced from various sources such as coal, biomass and natural gas. Based on the economic analysis conducted at 10% Internal Rate of Return (IRR), coal has the largest Net Present Value (NPV) of Rp. 20,034,837,497,241 with a payback period of 3.86 years, then biomass with an NPV of Rp. 10,401,526,072,850 and payback period of 5.16. The latter is natural gas with an NPV of IDR 7,401,272,559,191 and a payback period of 6.17 years. Of the three sources of raw materials used, if the sensitivity is calculated using the selling price of DME equal to the selling price of LPG, it will get an NPV value that is greater than the NPV value when using the current DME price. The advantages of coal as a raw material for DME are profitableness, low price and abundant resources, but it has high greenhouse gas emission.

Keywords: LPG, DME, coal, biomass, natural gas.

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2241 Strengthening of RC Beams Containing Large Opening at Flexure with CFRP laminates

Authors: S.C. Chin, N. Shafiq, M.F. Nuruddin

Abstract:

This paper presents the study of strengthening R/C beams with large circular and square opening located at flexure zone by Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) laminates. A total of five beams were tested to failure under four point loading to investigate the structural behavior including crack patterns, failure mode, ultimate load and load deflection behaviour. Test results show that large opening at flexure reduces the beam capacity and stiffness; and increases cracking and deflection. A strengthening configuration was designed for each un-strengthened beams based on their respective crack patterns. CFRP laminates remarkably restore the beam capacity of beam with large circular opening at flexure location while 10% re-gain of beam capacity with square opening. The use of CFRP laminates with the designed strengthening configuration could significantly reduce excessive cracking and deflection and increase the ultimate capacity and stiffness of beam.

Keywords: CFRP, large opening, R/C beam, strengthening

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