Search results for: Community Based Disaster Risk Management
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 13836

Search results for: Community Based Disaster Risk Management

1836 Seasonal Based Pollution Performance of 11kV and 33kV Silicon Composite Insulators

Authors: N. Sumathi, R. Srinivasa Rao

Abstract:

This paper presents the experimental results of 11 kV and 33 kV silicon composite insulators under artificial salt and urea polluted conditions. The tests were carried out under different seasons like summer, winter, and monsoon. The artificial pollution is prepared by properly dissolving the salt and urea in the water. The prepared salt and urea pollutions are sprayed on the insulators and dried up for sufficiently large time. The process is continued until a uniform layer is formed on the surface of insulator. For each insulator rating, four samples were tested. The maximum leakage current and breakdown voltage were measured. From experimental data, performance of test specimen is evaluated by comparing breakdown voltage and leakage current during different seasons when exposed to salt and urea polluted conditions. From these results the performance of the insulators can be predicted when they are installed in industrial, agricultural, and coastal areas. The experimental tests were carried out in the High Voltage laboratory using two stage cascade transformer having the rating of 1000 kVA, 500 kV.

Keywords: Silicon composite insulators, Urea pollution, Leakage current, Breakdown voltage, salt pollution, artificial pollution.

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1835 A Multi-Objective Methodology for Selecting Lean Initiatives in Modular Construction Companies

Authors: Saba Shams Bidhendi, Steven Goh, Andrew Wandel

Abstract:

The implementation of lean manufacturing initiatives has produced significant impacts in improving operational performance and reducing manufacturing wastes in the production process. However, selecting an appropriate set of lean strategies is critical to avoid misapplication of the lean manufacturing techniques and consequential increase in non-value-adding activities. To the author’s best knowledge, there is currently no methodology to select lean strategies that considers their impacts on manufacturing wastes and performance metrics simultaneously. In this research, a multi-objective methodology is proposed that suggests an appropriate set of lean initiatives based on their impacts on performance metrics and manufacturing wastes and within manufacturers’ resource limitation. The proposed methodology in this research suggests the best set of lean initiatives for implementation that have highest impacts on identified critical performance metrics and manufacturing wastes. Therefore, manufacturers can assure that implementing suggested lean tools improves their production performance and reduces manufacturing wastes at the same time. A case study was conducted to show the effectiveness and validate the proposed model and methodologies.

Keywords: Lean manufacturing, Lean strategies, manufacturing wastes, manufacturing performance metrics, decision making, optimisation.

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1834 Exploration of Least Significant Bit Based Watermarking and Its Robustness against Salt and Pepper Noise

Authors: Kamaldeep Joshi, Rajkumar Yadav, Sachin Allwadhi

Abstract:

Image steganography is the best aspect of information hiding. In this, the information is hidden within an image and the image travels openly on the Internet. The Least Significant Bit (LSB) is one of the most popular methods of image steganography. In this method, the information bit is hidden at the LSB of the image pixel. In one bit LSB steganography method, the total numbers of the pixels and the total number of message bits are equal to each other. In this paper, the LSB method of image steganography is used for watermarking. The watermarking is an application of the steganography. The watermark contains 80*88 pixels and each pixel requirs 8 bits for its binary equivalent form so, the total number of bits required to hide the watermark are 80*88*8(56320). The experiment was performed on standard 256*256 and 512*512 size images. After the watermark insertion, histogram analysis was performed. A noise factor (salt and pepper) of 0.02 was added to the stego image in order to evaluate the robustness of the method. The watermark was successfully retrieved after insertion of noise. An experiment was performed in order to know the imperceptibility of stego and the retrieved watermark. It is clear that the LSB watermarking scheme is robust to the salt and pepper noise.

Keywords: LSB, watermarking, salt and pepper, PSNR.

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1833 Data and Spatial Analysis for Economy and Education of 28 E.U. Member-States for 2014

Authors: Alexiou Dimitra, Fragkaki Maria

Abstract:

The objective of the paper is the study of geographic, economic and educational variables and their contribution to determine the position of each member-state among the EU-28 countries based on the values of seven variables as given by Eurostat. The Data Analysis methods of Multiple Factorial Correspondence Analysis (MFCA) Principal Component Analysis and Factor Analysis have been used. The cross tabulation tables of data consist of the values of seven variables for the 28 countries for 2014. The data are manipulated using the CHIC Analysis V 1.1 software package. The results of this program using MFCA and Ascending Hierarchical Classification are given in arithmetic and graphical form. For comparison reasons with the same data the Factor procedure of Statistical package IBM SPSS 20 has been used. The numerical and graphical results presented with tables and graphs, demonstrate the agreement between the two methods. The most important result is the study of the relation between the 28 countries and the position of each country in groups or clouds, which are formed according to the values of the corresponding variables.

Keywords: Multiple factorial correspondence analysis, principal component analysis, factor analysis, E.U.-28 countries, statistical package IBM SPSS 20, CHIC Analysis V 1.1 Software, Eurostat.eu statistics.

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1832 A Secure Semi-Fragile Watermarking Scheme for Authentication and Recovery of Images Based On Wavelet Transform

Authors: Rafiullah Chamlawi, Asifullah Khan, Adnan Idris, Zahid Munir

Abstract:

Authentication of multimedia contents has gained much attention in recent times. In this paper, we propose a secure semi-fragile watermarking, with a choice of two watermarks to be embedded. This technique operates in integer wavelet domain and makes use of semi fragile watermarks for achieving better robustness. A self-recovering algorithm is employed, that hides the image digest into some Wavelet subbands to detect possible malevolent object manipulation undergone by the image (object replacing and/or deletion). The Semi-fragility makes the scheme tolerant for JPEG lossy compression as low as quality of 70%, and locate the tempered area accurately. In addition, the system ensures more security because the embedded watermarks are protected with private keys. The computational complexity is reduced using parameterized integer wavelet transform. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme guarantees the safety of watermark, image recovery and location of the tempered area accurately.

Keywords: Integer Wavelet Transform (IWT), Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), JPEG Compression, Authentication and Self- Recovery.

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1831 Dynamics and Driving Forces of the Alpine Wetlands in the Yarlung Zangbo River Basin of Tibet, China

Authors: Weishou Shen, Dong Liu, Di Ji, Haoyun Shen, Naifeng Lin

Abstract:

Based on the field investigation and long term remote sensing data, the dynamics of the alpine wetland in the river basin and their response to climate change were studied. Results showed the alpine wetlands accounted for 3.73% of total basin in 2010. Lake and river appeared an increasing trend in the past 30 years, with an increase of 34.36 % and 24.57%. However, swamp exhibited a tendency of decreasing with 233.74 km2. Annual average temperature, maximum temperature, minimum temperature and precipitation in the river basin all exhibited an increasing trend, whereas relative humidity exhibited a decreasing trend. Ice and snow melting are main reasons of lake and river area enhancement and swamp area descend. There existed 91.78%-97.86% of reduced swamp converted into lakes on the basis of remote sensing image interpretation. China-s government policy of implementing development in the river basin is the major driving force of artificial wetland growth.

Keywords: alpine wetland dynamics, climate change, Yarlung Zangbo River basin

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1830 Optimum Design of Tall Tube-Type Building: An Approach to Structural Height Premium

Authors: Ali Kheyroddin, Niloufar Mashhadiali, Frazaneh Kheyroddin

Abstract:

In last decades, tubular systems employed for tall buildings were efficient structural systems. However, increasing the height of a building leads to an increase in structural material corresponding to the loads imposed by lateral loads. Based on this approach, new structural systems are emerging to provide strength and stiffness with the minimum premium for height. In this research, selected tube-type structural systems such as framed tubes, braced tubes, diagrids and hexagrid systems were applied as a single tube, tubular structures combined with braced core and outrigger trusses on a set of 48, 72, and 96-story, respectively, to improve integrated structural systems. This paper investigated structural material consumption by model structures focusing on the premium for height. Compared analytical results indicated that as the height of the building increased, combination of the structural systems caused the framed tube, hexagrid and braced tube system to pay fewer premiums to material tonnage while in diagrid system, combining the structural system reduced insignificantly the steel material consumption.

Keywords: Braced tube, diagrid, framed tube, hexagrid.

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1829 Meta-Learning for Hierarchical Classification and Applications in Bioinformatics

Authors: Fabio Fabris, Alex A. Freitas

Abstract:

Hierarchical classification is a special type of classification task where the class labels are organised into a hierarchy, with more generic class labels being ancestors of more specific ones. Meta-learning for classification-algorithm recommendation consists of recommending to the user a classification algorithm, from a pool of candidate algorithms, for a dataset, based on the past performance of the candidate algorithms in other datasets. Meta-learning is normally used in conventional, non-hierarchical classification. By contrast, this paper proposes a meta-learning approach for more challenging task of hierarchical classification, and evaluates it in a large number of bioinformatics datasets. Hierarchical classification is especially relevant for bioinformatics problems, as protein and gene functions tend to be organised into a hierarchy of class labels. This work proposes meta-learning approach for recommending the best hierarchical classification algorithm to a hierarchical classification dataset. This work’s contributions are: 1) proposing an algorithm for splitting hierarchical datasets into new datasets to increase the number of meta-instances, 2) proposing meta-features for hierarchical classification, and 3) interpreting decision-tree meta-models for hierarchical classification algorithm recommendation.

Keywords: Algorithm recommendation, meta-learning, bioinformatics, hierarchical classification.

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1828 Stress and Strain Analysis of Notched Bodies Subject to Non-Proportional Loadings

Authors: A. Ince

Abstract:

In this paper, an analytical simplified method for calculating elasto-plastic stresses strains of notched bodies subject to non-proportional loading paths is discussed. The method was based on the Neuber notch correction, which relates the incremental elastic and elastic-plastic strain energy densities at the notch root and the material constitutive relationship. The validity of the method was presented by comparing computed results of the proposed model against finite element numerical data of notched shaft. The comparison showed that the model estimated notch-root elasto-plastic stresses strains with good accuracy using linear-elastic stresses. The prosed model provides more efficient and simple analysis method preferable to expensive experimental component tests and more complex and time consuming incremental non-linear FE analysis. The model is particularly suitable to perform fatigue life and fatigue damage estimates of notched components subjected to nonproportional loading paths.

Keywords: Elasto-plastic, stress-strain, notch analysis, nonprortional loadings, cyclic plasticity, fatigue.

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1827 Young’s Modulus Variability: Influence on Masonry Vault Behavior

Authors: A. Zanaz, S. Yotte, F. Fouchal, A. Chateauneuf

Abstract:

This paper presents a methodology for probabilistic assessment of bearing capacity and prediction of failure mechanism of masonry vaults at the ultimate state with consideration of the natural variability of Young’s modulus of stones. First, the computation model is explained. The failure mode corresponds to the four-hinge mechanism. Based on this consideration, the study of a vault composed of 16 segments is presented. The Young’s modulus of the segments is considered as random variable defined by a mean value and a coefficient of variation. A relationship linking the vault bearing capacity to the voussoirs modulus variation is proposed. The most probable failure mechanisms, in addition to that observed in the deterministic case, are identified for each variability level as well as their probability of occurrence. The results show that the mechanism observed in the deterministic case has decreasing probability of occurrence in terms of variability, while the number of other mechanisms and their probability of occurrence increases with the coefficient of variation of Young’s modulus. This means that if a significant change in the Young’s modulus of the segments is proven, taking it into account in computations becomes mandatory, both for determining the vault bearing capacity and for predicting its failure mechanism.

Keywords: Masonry, mechanism, probability, variability, vault.

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1826 Publishing Curriculum Vitae using Weblog: An Investigation on its Usefulness, Ease of Use, and Behavioral Intention to Use

Authors: Chng Pei Eng, Boon Yih Mah, Chng Pei Cheng

Abstract:

In this cyber age, the job market has been rapidly transforming and being digitalized. Submitting a paper-based curriculum vitae (CV) nowadays does not grant a job seeker a high employability rate. This paper calls for attention on the creation of mobile Curriculum Vitae or m-CV (http://mcurriculumvitae. blogspot.com), a sample of an individual CV developed using weblog, which can enhance the job hunter especially fresh graduate-s higher marketability rate. This study is designed to identify the perceptions held by Malaysian university students regarding m-CV grounded on a modified Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). It measures the strength and the direction of relationships among three major variables – Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Behavioral Intention (BI) to use. The finding shows that university students generally accepted adopting m-CV since they perceived m-CV to be more useful rather than easy to use. Additionally, this study has confirmed TAM to be a useful theoretical model in helping to understand and explain the behavioral intention to use Web 2.0 application-weblog publishing their CV. The result of the study has underlined another significant positive value of using weblog to create personal CV. Further research of m-CV has been highlighted in this paper.

Keywords: CV, mobile curriculum vitae, Technology Acceptance Model, weblog

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1825 Cereals' Products with Red Grape and Walnut Extracts as Functional Foods for Prevention of Kidney Dysfunction

Authors: Sahar Y. Al-Okbi, Doha A. Mohamed, Thanaa E. Hamed, Ahmed Ms Hussein

Abstract:

In the present research, two nutraceuticals made from red grape and walnut that showed previously to improve kidney dysfunction were incorporated separately into functional foods' bread made from barley and rice bran. The functional foods were evaluated in rats in which chronic renal failure was induced through feeding diet rich in adenine and phosphate (APD). The evaluation based on assessing kidney function, oxidative stress, inflammatory biomarkers and body weight gain. Results showed induction of chronic kidney failure reflected in significant increase in plasma urea, creatinine, malondialdehyde, tumor necrosis factor- α and low density lipoprotein cholesterol along with significant reduction of plasma albumin, and total antioxidant and creatinine clearance and body weight gain on feeding APD compared to control healthy group. Feeding the functional foods produced amelioration in the different biochemical parameters and body weight gain indicating improvement in kidney function.

Keywords: Functional food, kidney dysfunction, rats.

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1824 Effects of the Mass and Damping Matrix Model in the Nonlinear Seismic Response of Steel Frames

Authors: A. Reyes-Salazar, M. D. Llanes-Tizoc, E. Bojorquez, F. Valenzuela-Beltran, J. Bojorquez, J. R. Gaxiola-Camacho, A. Haldar

Abstract:

Seismic analysis of steel buildings is usually based on the use of the concentrated mass (ML) matrix and the Rayleigh damping matrix (C). Similarly, the initial stiffness matrix (KO) and the first two modes associated to lateral vibrations are commonly used to develop the matrix C. The evaluation of the accuracy of these practices for the particular case of steel buildings with moment-resisting steel frames constitutes the main objective of this research. For this, the nonlinear seismic responses of three models of steel frames, representing low-, medium- and high-rise steel buildings, are considered. Results indicate that if the ML matrix is used, shears and bending moments in columns are underestimated by up to 30% and 65%, respectively, when compared to the corresponding results obtained with the consistent mass matrix (MC). It is also shown that if KO is used in C instead the tangent stiffness matrix (Kt), axial loads in columns are underestimated by up to 80%. It is concluded that the consistent mass matrix should be used in the structural modelling of moment resisting steel frames and the tangent stiffness matrix should be used to develop the Rayleigh damping matrix.

Keywords: Moment-resisting steel frames, consistent and concentrated mass matrices, nonlinear seismic response, Rayleigh damping.

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1823 Statistics over Lyapunov Exponents for Feature Extraction: Electroencephalographic Changes Detection Case

Authors: Elif Derya UBEYLI, Inan GULER

Abstract:

A new approach based on the consideration that electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are chaotic signals was presented for automated diagnosis of electroencephalographic changes. This consideration was tested successfully using the nonlinear dynamics tools, like the computation of Lyapunov exponents. This paper presented the usage of statistics over the set of the Lyapunov exponents in order to reduce the dimensionality of the extracted feature vectors. Since classification is more accurate when the pattern is simplified through representation by important features, feature extraction and selection play an important role in classifying systems such as neural networks. Multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) architectures were formulated and used as basis for detection of electroencephalographic changes. Three types of EEG signals (EEG signals recorded from healthy volunteers with eyes open, epilepsy patients in the epileptogenic zone during a seizure-free interval, and epilepsy patients during epileptic seizures) were classified. The selected Lyapunov exponents of the EEG signals were used as inputs of the MLPNN trained with Levenberg- Marquardt algorithm. The classification results confirmed that the proposed MLPNN has potential in detecting the electroencephalographic changes.

Keywords: Chaotic signal, Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, Feature extraction/selection, Lyapunov exponents

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1822 Environmentally Adaptive Acoustic Echo Suppression for Barge-in Speech Recognition

Authors: Jong Han Joo, Jeong Hun Lee, Young Sun Kim, Jae Young Kang, Seung Ho Choi

Abstract:

In this study, we propose a novel technique for acoustic echo suppression (AES) during speech recognition under barge-in conditions. Conventional AES methods based on spectral subtraction apply fixed weights to the estimated echo path transfer function (EPTF) at the current signal segment and to the EPTF estimated until the previous time interval. However, the effects of echo path changes should be considered for eliminating the undesired echoes. We describe a new approach that adaptively updates weight parameters in response to abrupt changes in the acoustic environment due to background noises or double-talk. Furthermore, we devised a voice activity detector and an initial time-delay estimator for barge-in speech recognition in communication networks. The initial time delay is estimated using log-spectral distance measure, as well as cross-correlation coefficients. The experimental results show that the developed techniques can be successfully applied in barge-in speech recognition systems.

Keywords: Acoustic echo suppression, barge-in, speech recognition, echo path transfer function, initial delay estimator, voice activity detector.

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1821 Stabilization of Fly Ash Slope Using Plastic Recycled Polymer and Finite Element Analysis Using Plaxis 3D

Authors: Tushar Vasant Salunkhe, Sariput M. Nawghare, Maheboobsab B. Nadaf, Sushovan Dutta, J. N. Mandal

Abstract:

The model tests were conducted in the laboratory without and with Plastic recycled polymer in fly ash steep slopes overlaying soft foundation soils like fly ash and powai soil in order to check the stability of steep slope. In this experiment, fly ash is used as a filling material and Plastic Recycled Polymers of diameter = 3mm and length = 4mm were made from waste plastic product (lower grade plastic product). The properties of fly ash and Plastic recycled polymers are determined. From the experiments, load and settlement have measured. From these data, load –settlement curves have reported. It has been observed from test results that load carrying capacity of mixture fly ash with Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is more than that of fly ash slope. The deformation of Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is slightly more than that of fly ash slope. A Finite Element Method (F.E.M.) was also evaluated using PLAXIS 3D version. The failure pattern, deformations and factor of safety are reported based on analytical programme. The results from experimental data and analytical programme are compared and reported.

Keywords: Fly ash, Plastic recycled polymer, Factor of safety, Finite element method (FEM), Bishop’s simplified method.

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1820 Artificial Neural Networks Modeling in Water Resources Engineering: Infrastructure and Applications

Authors: M. R. Mustafa, M. H. Isa, R. B. Rezaur

Abstract:

The use of artificial neural network (ANN) modeling for prediction and forecasting variables in water resources engineering are being increasing rapidly. Infrastructural applications of ANN in terms of selection of inputs, architecture of networks, training algorithms, and selection of training parameters in different types of neural networks used in water resources engineering have been reported. ANN modeling conducted for water resources engineering variables (river sediment and discharge) published in high impact journals since 2002 to 2011 have been examined and presented in this review. ANN is a vigorous technique to develop immense relationship between the input and output variables, and able to extract complex behavior between the water resources variables such as river sediment and discharge. It can produce robust prediction results for many of the water resources engineering problems by appropriate learning from a set of examples. It is important to have a good understanding of the input and output variables from a statistical analysis of the data before network modeling, which can facilitate to design an efficient network. An appropriate training based ANN model is able to adopt the physical understanding between the variables and may generate more effective results than conventional prediction techniques.

Keywords: ANN, discharge, modeling, prediction, sediment,

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1819 Superior Performances of the Neural Network on the Masses Lesions Classification through Morphological Lesion Differences

Authors: U. Bottigli, R.Chiarucci, B. Golosio, G.L. Masala, P. Oliva, S.Stumbo, D.Cascio, F. Fauci, M. Glorioso, M. Iacomi, R. Magro, G. Raso

Abstract:

Purpose of this work is to develop an automatic classification system that could be useful for radiologists in the breast cancer investigation. The software has been designed in the framework of the MAGIC-5 collaboration. In an automatic classification system the suspicious regions with high probability to include a lesion are extracted from the image as regions of interest (ROIs). Each ROI is characterized by some features based generally on morphological lesion differences. A study in the space features representation is made and some classifiers are tested to distinguish the pathological regions from the healthy ones. The results provided in terms of sensitivity and specificity will be presented through the ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curves. In particular the best performances are obtained with the Neural Networks in comparison with the K-Nearest Neighbours and the Support Vector Machine: The Radial Basis Function supply the best results with 0.89 ± 0.01 of area under ROC curve but similar results are obtained with the Probabilistic Neural Network and a Multi Layer Perceptron.

Keywords: Neural Networks, K-Nearest Neighbours, Support Vector Machine, Computer Aided Detection

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1818 A Real Time Ultra-Wideband Location System for Smart Healthcare

Authors: Mingyang Sun, Guozheng Yan, Dasheng Liu, Lei Yang

Abstract:

Driven by the demand of intelligent monitoring in rehabilitation centers or hospitals, a high accuracy real-time location system based on UWB (ultra-wideband) technology was proposed. The system measures precise location of a specific person, traces his movement and visualizes his trajectory on the screen for doctors or administrators. Therefore, doctors could view the position of the patient at any time and find them immediately and exactly when something emergent happens. In our design process, different algorithms were discussed, and their errors were analyzed. In addition, we discussed about a , simple but effective way of correcting the antenna delay error, which turned out to be effective. By choosing the best algorithm and correcting errors with corresponding methods, the system attained a good accuracy. Experiments indicated that the ranging error of the system is lower than 7 cm, the locating error is lower than 20 cm, and the refresh rate exceeds 5 times per second. In future works, by embedding the system in wearable IoT (Internet of Things) devices, it could provide not only physical parameters, but also the activity status of the patient, which would help doctors a lot in performing healthcare.

Keywords: Intelligent monitoring, IoT devices, real-time location, smart healthcare, ultra-wideband technology.

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1817 Land Suitability Analysis for Maize Production in Egbeda Local Government Area of Oyo State Using GIS Techniques

Authors: Abegunde Linda, Adedeji Oluwatola, Tope-Ajayi Opeyemi

Abstract:

Maize constitutes a major agrarian production for use by the vast population but despite its economic importance; it has not been produced to meet the economic needs of the country. Achieving optimum yield in maize can meaningfully be supported by land suitability analysis in order to guarantee self-sufficiency for future production optimization. This study examines land suitability for maize production through the analysis of the physicochemical variations in soil properties and other land attributes over space using a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework. Physicochemical parameters of importance selected include slope, landuse, physical and chemical properties of the soil, and climatic variables. Landsat imagery was used to categorize the landuse, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mapping (SRTM) generated the slope and soil samples were analyzed for its physical and chemical components. Suitability was categorized into highly, moderately and marginally suitable based on Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) classification, using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique of GIS. This result can be used by small scale farmers for efficient decision making in the allocation of land for maize production.

Keywords: AHP, GIS, MCE, Suitability, Zea mays.

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1816 Multi-Agent Simulation of Wayfinding for Rescue Operation during Building Fire

Authors: G. Sokhansefat, M. Delavar, M. Banedj-Schafii

Abstract:

Recently research on human wayfinding has focused mainly on mental representations rather than processes of wayfinding. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the rationality behind applying multi-agent simulation paradigm to the modeling of rescuer team wayfinding in order to develop computational theory of perceptual wayfinding in crisis situations using image schemata and affordances, which explains how people find a specific destination in an unfamiliar building such as a hospital. The hypothesis of this paper is that successful navigation is possible if the agents are able to make the correct decision through well-defined cues in critical cases, so the design of the building signage is evaluated through the multi-agent-based simulation. In addition, a special case of wayfinding in a building, finding one-s way through three hospitals, is used to demonstrate the model. Thereby, total rescue time for rescue operation during building fire is computed. This paper discuses the computed rescue time for various signage localization and provides experimental result for optimization of building signage design. Therefore the most appropriate signage design resulted in the shortest total rescue time in various situations.

Keywords: Multi-Agent system (MAS), Spatial Cognition, Wayfinding, Indoor Environment, Geospatial Information System (GIS).

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1815 Effects of Initial State on Opinion Formation in Complex Social Networks with Noises

Authors: Yi Yu, Vu Xuan Nguyen, Gaoxi Xiao

Abstract:

Opinion formation in complex social networks may exhibit complex system dynamics even when based on some simplest system evolution models. An interesting and important issue is the effects of the initial state on the final steady-state opinion distribution. By carrying out extensive simulations and providing necessary discussions, we show that, while different initial opinion distributions certainly make differences to opinion evolution in social systems without noises, in systems with noises, given enough time, different initial states basically do not contribute to making any significant differences in the final steady state. Instead, it is the basal distribution of the preferred opinions that contributes to deciding the final state of the systems. We briefly explain the reasons leading to the observed conclusions. Such an observation contradicts with a long-term belief on the roles of system initial state in opinion formation, demonstrating the dominating role that opinion mutation can play in opinion formation given enough time. The observation may help to better understand certain observations of opinion evolution dynamics in real-life social networks.

Keywords: Opinion formation, Deffuant model, opinion mutation, consensus making.

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1814 Alignment of a Combined Groin for Flow through a Straight Open Channel

Authors: M. Alauddin, M. A. Ullah, M. Alom, M. N. Islam

Abstract:

The rivers in Bangladesh are highly unstable having loose boundaries, mild slope of water surface and bed, irregular siltation of huge sediment coming from upstream, among others. The groins are installed in the river bank to deflect the flowing water away from the vulnerable zones. The conventional groins are found to be unstable and ineffective. The combined groin having both impermeable and permeable components in the same structure improves the flow field to function better over others. The main goal of this study is to analyze the hydraulic characteristics induced by the combined groins of different alignments by using a 2D numerical model, iRIC Nays2DH. In this numerical simulation, the K-ε model for turbulence and Cubic Interpolation Pseudo-particle (CIP) method for advective terms are utilized. A particular flow condition is applied in the channel for all sets of groins with different alignments. The simulation results reveal that the combined groins alter the flow patterns considerably, with no significant recirculation of flow in the groin field. The effect of different alignments of groins is found somewhat different. Based on hydraulic features caused by the groins, the combined groin that aligns the permeable component towards slightly downstream performs better over others.

Keywords: Combined groin, alignment, hydraulic characteristics, numerical model.

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1813 Complex Flow Simulation Using a Partially Lagging One-Equation Turbulence Model

Authors: M. Elkhoury

Abstract:

A recently developed one-equation turbulence model has been successfully applied to simulate turbulent flows with various complexities. The model, which is based on the transformation of the k-ε closure, is wall-distance free and equipped with lagging destruction/dissipation terms. Test cases included shockboundary- layer interaction flows over the NACA 0012 airfoil, an axisymmetric bump, and the ONERA M6 wing. The capability of the model to operate in a Scale Resolved Simulation (SRS) mode is demonstrated through the simulation of a massive flow separation over a circular cylinder at Re= 1.2 x106. An assessment of the results against available experiments Menter (k-ε)1Eq and the Spalart- Allmaras model that belongs to the single equation closure family is made.

Keywords: Turbulence modeling, complex flow simulation, scale adaptive simulation, one-equation turbulence model.

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1812 A Recognition Method for Spatio-Temporal Background in Korean Historical Novels

Authors: Seo-Hee Kim, Kee-Won Kim, Seung-Hoon Kim

Abstract:

The most important elements of a novel are the characters, events and background. The background represents the time, place and situation that character appears, and conveys event and atmosphere more realistically. If readers have the proper knowledge about background of novels, it may be helpful for understanding the atmosphere of a novel and choosing a novel that readers want to read. In this paper, we are targeting Korean historical novels because spatio-temporal background especially performs an important role in historical novels among the genre of Korean novels. To the best of our knowledge, we could not find previous study that was aimed at Korean novels. In this paper, we build a Korean historical national dictionary. Our dictionary has historical places and temple names of kings over many generations as well as currently existing spatial words or temporal words in Korean history. We also present a method for recognizing spatio-temporal background based on patterns of phrasal words in Korean sentences. Our rules utilize postposition for spatial background recognition and temple names for temporal background recognition. The knowledge of the recognized background can help readers to understand the flow of events and atmosphere, and can use to visualize the elements of novels.

Keywords: Data mining, Korean historical novels, Korean linguistic feature, spatio-temporal background.

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1811 Aircraft Selection Process Using Preference Analysis for Reference Ideal Solution (PARIS)

Authors: C. Ardil

Abstract:

Multiple criteria decision making analysis (MCDMA) methods are applied to many real - life problems in different fields of engineering science and technology. The "preference analysis for reference ideal solution (PARIS)" method is proposed for an efficient MCDMA evaluation of decision problems. The multiple criteria aircraft evaluation approach is based on the integrated the mean weight, entropy weight, PARIS, and TOPSIS method, which eliminates the subjective importance weight assignment process. The evaluation criteria were identified from an extensive literature review of aircraft selection process. The aim of this study is to propose an efficient methodology for handling the aircraft selection process in which the proposed method solves effectively the MCDMA problem. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the applicability and validity of the proposed MCDMA approach. 

Keywords: aircraft selection, aircraft, multiple criteria decision making, multiple criteria decision making analysis, mean weight, entropy weight, MCDMA, PARIS, TOPSIS, VIKOR, ELECTRE, PROMETHEE

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1810 Geospatial Network Analysis Using Particle Swarm Optimization

Authors: Varun Singh, Mainak Bandyopadhyay, Maharana Pratap Singh

Abstract:

The shortest path (SP) problem concerns with finding the shortest path from a specific origin to a specified destination in a given network while minimizing the total cost associated with the path. This problem has widespread applications. Important applications of the SP problem include vehicle routing in transportation systems particularly in the field of in-vehicle Route Guidance System (RGS) and traffic assignment problem (in transportation planning). Well known applications of evolutionary methods like Genetic Algorithms (GA), Ant Colony Optimization, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) have come up to solve complex optimization problems to overcome the shortcomings of existing shortest path analysis methods. It has been reported by various researchers that PSO performs better than other evolutionary optimization algorithms in terms of success rate and solution quality. Further Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have emerged as key information systems for geospatial data analysis and visualization. This research paper is focused towards the application of PSO for solving the shortest path problem between multiple points of interest (POI) based on spatial data of Allahabad City and traffic speed data collected using GPS. Geovisualization of results of analysis is carried out in GIS.

Keywords: GIS, Outliers, PSO, Traffic Data.

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1809 Comparison of Ageing Deterioration of Silicone Rubber Outdoor Polymer Insulator under Salt Water Dip Wheel Test

Authors: J. Grasaesom, S. Thong-om, W. Payakcho, A. Oonsivilai, B. Marungsri

Abstract:

This paper presents the experimental results on ageing deterioration of silicone rubber outdoor polymer insulator under salt water dip wheel test based on IEC 62217. In order to comparison effect of chemical contents, silicone rubber outdoor polymer insulators having same configuration and leakage distant from two manufactures were tested together continuously 30,000 test cycles. Many discharge activities were observed in during the test. After 30,000 test cycles, in spite of same configuration, differences in degree of surface aging were observed. Physical analysis such as decreasing in hydrophobicity and increasing in hardness measurement were measured on two-type tested specimen surface in order to confirm degree of surface ageing. Furthermore, chemical analysis by ATR-FTIR to diagnose the chemical change of tested specimen surface was conducted to confirm the physical analysis results.

Keywords: ageing of silicone rubber, salt water dip wheel test, silicone rubber polymer insulator

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1808 Prioritization Method in the Fuzzy Analytic Network Process by Fuzzy Preferences Programming Method

Authors: Tarifa S. Almulhim, Ludmil Mikhailov, Dong-Ling Xu

Abstract:

In this paper, a method for deriving a group priority vector in the Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) is proposed. By introducing importance weights of multiple decision makers (DMs) based on their experiences, the Fuzzy Preferences Programming Method (FPP) is extended to a fuzzy group prioritization problem in the FANP. Additionally, fuzzy pair-wise comparison judgments are presented rather than exact numerical assessments in order to model the uncertainty and imprecision in the DMs- judgments and then transform the fuzzy group prioritization problem into a fuzzy non-linear programming optimization problem which maximize the group satisfaction. Unlike the known fuzzy prioritization techniques, the new method proposed in this paper can easily derive crisp weights from incomplete and inconsistency fuzzy set of comparison judgments and does not require additional aggregation producers. Detailed numerical examples are used to illustrate the implement of our approach and compare with the latest fuzzy prioritization method.

Keywords: Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP), Fuzzy Non-linear Programming, Fuzzy Preferences Programming Method (FPP), Multiple Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM), Triangular Fuzzy Number.

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1807 Industrial Development, Environment And Occupational Problems: The Case Of Iran

Authors: Ghaffari, H., Changi Ashtiani, A., Younessi, A.

Abstract:

There are three distinct stages in the evolution of economic thought, namely: 1. in the first stage, the major concern was to accelerate economic growth with increased availability of material goods, especially in developing economies with very low living standards, because poverty eradication meant faster economic growth. 2. in the second stage, economists made distinction between growth and development. Development was seen as going beyond economic growth, and bringing certain changes in the structure of the economy with more equitable distribution of the benefits of growth, with the growth coming automatic and sustained. 3. the third stage is now reached. Our concern is now with “sustainable development", that is, development not only for the present but also of the future. Thus the focus changed from “sustained growth" to “sustained development". Sustained development brings to the fore the long term relationship between the ecology and economic development. Since the creation of UNEP in 1972 it has worked for development without destruction for environmentally sound and sustained development. It was realised that the environment cannot be viewed in a vaccum, it is not separate from development, nor is it competing. It suggested for the integration of the environment with development whereby ecological factors enter development planning, socio-economic policies, cost-benefit analysis, trade, technology transfer, waste management, educational and other specific areas. Industrialisation has contributed to the growth of economy of several countries. It has improved the standards of living of its people and provided benefits to the society. It has also created in the process great environmental problems like climate change, forest destruction and denudation, soil erosion and desertification etc. On the other hand, industry has provided jobs and improved the prospects of wealth for the industrialists. The working class communities had to simply put up with the high levels of pollution in order to keep up their jobs and also to save their income. There are many roots of the environmental problem. They may be political, economic, cultural and technological conditions of the modern society. The experts concede that industrial growth lies somewhere close to the heart of the matter. Therefore, the objective of this paper is not to document all roots of an environmental crisis but rather to discuss the effects of industrial growth and development. We have come to the conclusion that although public intervention is often unnecessary to ensure that perfectly competitive markets will function in society-s best interests, such intervention is necessary when firms or consumers pollute.

Keywords: Development, Environment, Industrial Development, Iran, Occupational problems, Pollution.

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