Search results for: natural language processing
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3657

Search results for: natural language processing

2427 EFL Teachers’ Metacognitive Awareness as a Predictor of Their Professional Success

Authors: Saeedeh Shafiee Nahrkhalaji

Abstract:

Metacognitive knowledge increases EFL students’ ability to be successful learners. Although this relationship has been investigated by a number of scholars, EFL teachers’ explicit awareness of their cognitive knowledge has not been sufficiently explored. The aim of this study was to examine the role of EFL teachers’ metacognitive knowledge in their pedagogical performance. Furthermore, the role played by years of their academic education and teaching experience was also studied. Fifty female EFL teachers were selected. They completed Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) that assessed six components of metacognition including procedural knowledge, declarative knowledge, conditional knowledge, planning, evaluating, and management strategies. Near the end of the academic semester, the students of each class filled in ‘the Language Teacher Characteristics Questionnaire’ to evaluate their teachers’ pedagogical performance. Four elements of MAI, declarative knowledge, planning, evaluating, and management strategies were found to be significantly correlated with EFL teachers’ pedagogical success. Significant correlation was also established between metacognitive knowledge and EFL teachers’ years of academic education and teaching experience. The findings obtained from this research have contributing implication for EFL teacher educators. The discussion concludes by setting out directions for future research.

Keywords: Metacognotive Knowledge, Pedagogical Performance, Language Teacher Characteristics Questionnaire, Metacognitive Awareness Inventory.

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2426 Automatic Motion Trajectory Analysis for Dual Human Interaction Using Video Sequences

Authors: Yuan-Hsiang Chang, Pin-Chi Lin, Li-Der Jeng

Abstract:

Advance in techniques of image and video processing has enabled the development of intelligent video surveillance systems. This study was aimed to automatically detect moving human objects and to analyze events of dual human interaction in a surveillance scene. Our system was developed in four major steps: image preprocessing, human object detection, human object tracking, and motion trajectory analysis. The adaptive background subtraction and image processing techniques were used to detect and track moving human objects. To solve the occlusion problem during the interaction, the Kalman filter was used to retain a complete trajectory for each human object. Finally, the motion trajectory analysis was developed to distinguish between the interaction and non-interaction events based on derivatives of trajectories related to the speed of the moving objects. Using a database of 60 video sequences, our system could achieve the classification accuracy of 80% in interaction events and 95% in non-interaction events, respectively. In summary, we have explored the idea to investigate a system for the automatic classification of events for interaction and non-interaction events using surveillance cameras. Ultimately, this system could be incorporated in an intelligent surveillance system for the detection and/or classification of abnormal or criminal events (e.g., theft, snatch, fighting, etc.). 

Keywords: Motion detection, motion tracking, trajectory analysis, video surveillance.

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2425 Processing the Medical Sensors Signals Using Fuzzy Inference System

Authors: S. Bouharati, I. Bouharati, C. Benzidane, F. Alleg, M. Belmahdi

Abstract:

Sensors possess several properties of physical measures. Whether devices that convert a sensed signal into an electrical signal, chemical sensors and biosensors, thus all these sensors can be considered as an interface between the physical and electrical equipment. The problem is the analysis of the multitudes of saved settings as input variables. However, they do not all have the same level of influence on the outputs. In order to identify the most sensitive parameters, those that can guide users in gathering information on the ground and in the process of model calibration and sensitivity analysis for the effect of each change made. Mathematical models used for processing become very complex. In this paper a fuzzy rule-based system is proposed as a solution for this problem. The system collects the available signals information from sensors. Moreover, the system allows the study of the influence of the various factors that take part in the decision system. Since its inception fuzzy set theory has been regarded as a formalism suitable to deal with the imprecision intrinsic to many problems. At the same time, fuzzy sets allow to use symbolic models. In this study an example was applied for resolving variety of physiological parameters that define human health state. The application system was done for medical diagnosis help. The inputs are the signals expressed the cardiovascular system parameters, blood pressure, Respiratory system paramsystem was done, it will be able to predict the state of patient according any input values.

Keywords: Sensors, Sensivity, fuzzy logic, analysis, physiological parameters, medical diagnosis.

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2424 A System for Analyzing and Eliciting Public Grievances Using Cache Enabled Big Data

Authors: P. Kaladevi, N. Giridharan

Abstract:

The system for analyzing and eliciting public grievances serves its main purpose to receive and process all sorts of complaints from the public and respond to users. Due to the more number of complaint data becomes big data which is difficult to store and process. The proposed system uses HDFS to store the big data and uses MapReduce to process the big data. The concept of cache was applied in the system to provide immediate response and timely action using big data analytics. Cache enabled big data increases the response time of the system. The unstructured data provided by the users are efficiently handled through map reduce algorithm. The processing of complaints takes place in the order of the hierarchy of the authority. The drawbacks of the traditional database system used in the existing system are set forth by our system by using Cache enabled Hadoop Distributed File System. MapReduce framework codes have the possible to leak the sensitive data through computation process. We propose a system that add noise to the output of the reduce phase to avoid signaling the presence of sensitive data. If the complaints are not processed in the ample time, then automatically it is forwarded to the higher authority. Hence it ensures assurance in processing. A copy of the filed complaint is sent as a digitally signed PDF document to the user mail id which serves as a proof. The system report serves to be an essential data while making important decisions based on legislation.

Keywords: Big Data, Hadoop, HDFS, Caching, MapReduce, web personalization, e-governance.

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2423 Comparison between Higher-Order SVD and Third-order Orthogonal Tensor Product Expansion

Authors: Chiharu Okuma, Jun Murakami, Naoki Yamamoto

Abstract:

In digital signal processing it is important to approximate multi-dimensional data by the method called rank reduction, in which we reduce the rank of multi-dimensional data from higher to lower. For 2-dimennsional data, singular value decomposition (SVD) is one of the most known rank reduction techniques. Additional, outer product expansion expanded from SVD was proposed and implemented for multi-dimensional data, which has been widely applied to image processing and pattern recognition. However, the multi-dimensional outer product expansion has behavior of great computation complex and has not orthogonally between the expansion terms. Therefore we have proposed an alterative method, Third-order Orthogonal Tensor Product Expansion short for 3-OTPE. 3-OTPE uses the power method instead of nonlinear optimization method for decreasing at computing time. At the same time the group of B. D. Lathauwer proposed Higher-Order SVD (HOSVD) that is also developed with SVD extensions for multi-dimensional data. 3-OTPE and HOSVD are similarly on the rank reduction of multi-dimensional data. Using these two methods we can obtain computation results respectively, some ones are the same while some ones are slight different. In this paper, we compare 3-OTPE to HOSVD in accuracy of calculation and computing time of resolution, and clarify the difference between these two methods.

Keywords: Singular value decomposition (SVD), higher-order SVD (HOSVD), higher-order tensor, outer product expansion, power method.

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2422 Matrix Based Synthesis of EXOR dominated Combinational Logic for Low Power

Authors: Padmanabhan Balasubramanian, C. Hari Narayanan

Abstract:

This paper discusses a new, systematic approach to the synthesis of a NP-hard class of non-regenerative Boolean networks, described by FON[FOFF]={mi}[{Mi}], where for every mj[Mj]∈{mi}[{Mi}], there exists another mk[Mk]∈{mi}[{Mi}], such that their Hamming distance HD(mj, mk)=HD(Mj, Mk)=O(n), (where 'n' represents the number of distinct primary inputs). The method automatically ensures exact minimization for certain important selfdual functions with 2n-1 points in its one-set. The elements meant for grouping are determined from a newly proposed weighted incidence matrix. Then the binary value corresponding to the candidate pair is correlated with the proposed binary value matrix to enable direct synthesis. We recommend algebraic factorization operations as a post processing step to enable reduction in literal count. The algorithm can be implemented in any high level language and achieves best cost optimization for the problem dealt with, irrespective of the number of inputs. For other cases, the method is iterated to subsequently reduce it to a problem of O(n-1), O(n-2),.... and then solved. In addition, it leads to optimal results for problems exhibiting higher degree of adjacency, with a different interpretation of the heuristic, and the results are comparable with other methods. In terms of literal cost, at the technology independent stage, the circuits synthesized using our algorithm enabled net savings over AOI (AND-OR-Invert) logic, AND-EXOR logic (EXOR Sum-of- Products or ESOP forms) and AND-OR-EXOR logic by 45.57%, 41.78% and 41.78% respectively for the various problems. Circuit level simulations were performed for a wide variety of case studies at 3.3V and 2.5V supply to validate the performance of the proposed method and the quality of the resulting synthesized circuits at two different voltage corners. Power estimation was carried out for a 0.35micron TSMC CMOS process technology. In comparison with AOI logic, the proposed method enabled mean savings in power by 42.46%. With respect to AND-EXOR logic, the proposed method yielded power savings to the tune of 31.88%, while in comparison with AND-OR-EXOR level networks; average power savings of 33.23% was obtained.

Keywords: AOI logic, ESOP, AND-OR-EXOR, Incidencematrix, Hamming distance.

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2421 Objects Extraction by Cooperating Optical Flow, Edge Detection and Region Growing Procedures

Authors: C. Lodato, S. Lopes

Abstract:

The image segmentation method described in this paper has been developed as a pre-processing stage to be used in methodologies and tools for video/image indexing and retrieval by content. This method solves the problem of whole objects extraction from background and it produces images of single complete objects from videos or photos. The extracted images are used for calculating the object visual features necessary for both indexing and retrieval processes. The segmentation algorithm is based on the cooperation among an optical flow evaluation method, edge detection and region growing procedures. The optical flow estimator belongs to the class of differential methods. It permits to detect motions ranging from a fraction of a pixel to a few pixels per frame, achieving good results in presence of noise without the need of a filtering pre-processing stage and includes a specialised model for moving object detection. The first task of the presented method exploits the cues from motion analysis for moving areas detection. Objects and background are then refined using respectively edge detection and seeded region growing procedures. All the tasks are iteratively performed until objects and background are completely resolved. The method has been applied to a variety of indoor and outdoor scenes where objects of different type and shape are represented on variously textured background.

Keywords: Image Segmentation, Motion Detection, Object Extraction, Optical Flow

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2420 An Experimentally Validated Thermo- Mechanical Finite Element Model for Friction Stir Welding in Carbon Steels

Authors: A. H. Kheireddine, A. A. Khalil, A. H. Ammouri, G. T. Kridli, R. F. Hamade

Abstract:

Solidification cracking and hydrogen cracking are some defects generated in the fusion welding of ultrahigh carbon steels. However, friction stir welding (FSW) of such steels, being a solid-state technique, has been demonstrated to alleviate such problems encountered in traditional welding. FSW include different process parameters that must be carefully defined prior processing. These parameters included but not restricted to: tool feed, tool RPM, tool geometry, tool tilt angle. These parameters form a key factor behind avoiding warm holes and voids behind the tool and in achieving a defect-free weld. More importantly, these parameters directly affect the microstructure of the weld and hence the final mechanical properties of weld. For that, 3D finite element (FE) thermo-mechanical model was developed using DEFORM 3D to simulate FSW of carbon steel. At points of interest in the joint, tracking is done for history of critical state variables such as temperature, stresses, and strain rates. Typical results found include the ability to simulate different weld zones. Simulations predictions were successfully compared to experimental FSW tests. It is believed that such a numerical model can be used to optimize FSW processing parameters to favor desirable defect free weld with better mechanical properties.

Keywords: Carbon Steels, DEFORM 3D, FEM, Friction stir welding.

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2419 Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment and Management in Tourism Industry- A Case Study from the Island of Taiwan

Authors: Chung-Hung Tsai

Abstract:

Global environmental changes lead to increased frequency and scale of natural disaster, Taiwan is under the influence of global warming and extreme weather. Therefore, the vulnerability was increased and variability and complexity of disasters is relatively enhanced. The purpose of this study is to consider the source and magnitude of hazard characteristics on the tourism industry. Using modern risk management concepts, integration of related domestic and international basic research, this goes beyond the Taiwan typhoon disaster risk assessment model and evaluation of loss. This loss evaluation index system considers the impact of extreme weather, in particular heavy rain on the tourism industry in Taiwan. Consider the extreme climate of the compound impact of disaster for the tourism industry; we try to make multi-hazard risk assessment model, strategies and suggestions. Related risk analysis results are expected to provide government department, the tourism industry asset owners, insurance companies and banking include tourist disaster risk necessary information to help its tourism industry for effective natural disaster risk management.

Keywords: Tourism industry, extreme weather, multi-hazard, vulnerability analysis, loss exceeding probability, risk management.

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2418 A Two-Stage Adaptation towards Automatic Speech Recognition System for Malay-Speaking Children

Authors: Mumtaz Begum Mustafa, Siti Salwah Salim, Feizal Dani Rahman

Abstract:

Recently, Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems were used to assist children in language acquisition as it has the ability to detect human speech signal. Despite the benefits offered by the ASR system, there is a lack of ASR systems for Malay-speaking children. One of the contributing factors for this is the lack of continuous speech database for the target users. Though cross-lingual adaptation is a common solution for developing ASR systems for under-resourced language, it is not viable for children as there are very limited speech databases as a source model. In this research, we propose a two-stage adaptation for the development of ASR system for Malay-speaking children using a very limited database. The two stage adaptation comprises the cross-lingual adaptation (first stage) and cross-age adaptation. For the first stage, a well-known speech database that is phonetically rich and balanced, is adapted to the medium-sized Malay adults using supervised MLLR. The second stage adaptation uses the speech acoustic model generated from the first adaptation, and the target database is a small-sized database of the target users. We have measured the performance of the proposed technique using word error rate, and then compare them with the conventional benchmark adaptation. The two stage adaptation proposed in this research has better recognition accuracy as compared to the benchmark adaptation in recognizing children’s speech.

Keywords: Automatic speech recognition system, children speech, adaptation, Malay.

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2417 Study of the Green Composite Jute/Epoxy

Authors: A. Mir, C. Aribi, B. Bezzazi

Abstract:

Work presented is interested in the characterization of the quasistatic mechanical properties and in fatigue of a composite laminated in jute/epoxy. The natural fibers offer promising prospects thanks to their interesting specific properties, because of their low density, but also with their bio-deterioration. Several scientific studies highlighted the good mechanical resistance of the vegetable fiber composites reinforced, even after several recycling. Because of the environmental standards that become increasingly severe, one attends the emergence of eco-materials at the base of natural fibers such as flax, bamboo, hemp, sisal, jute. The fatigue tests on elementary vegetable fibers show an increase of about 60% of the rigidity of elementary fibers of hemp subjected to cyclic loadings. In this study, the test-tubes manufactured by the method infusion have sequences of stacking of 0/90° and ± 45° for the shearing and tensile tests. The quasistatic tests reveal a variability of the mechanical properties of about 8%. The tensile fatigue tests were carried out for levels of constraints equivalent to half of the ultimate values of the composite. Once the fatigue tests carried out for well-defined values of cycles, a series of static tests of traction type highlights the influence of the number of cycles on the quasi-static mechanical behavior of the laminate jute/epoxy.

Keywords: Jute, epoxy resin, mechanical, static, dynamic behavior.

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2416 Cold-pressed Kenaf and Fibreglass Hybrid Composites Laminates: Effect of Fibre Types

Authors: Z. Salleh, M. N. Berhan, Koay Mei Hyie, D. H. Isaac

Abstract:

Natural fibres have emerged as the potential reinforcement material for composites and thus gain attraction by many researchers. This is mainly due to their applicable benefits as they offer low density, low cost, renewable, biodegradability and environmentally harmless and also comparable mechanical properties with synthetic fibre composites. The properties of hybrid composites highly depends on several factors, including the interaction of fillers with the polymeric matrix, shape and size (aspect ratio), and orientation of fillers [1]. In this study, natural fibre kenaf composites and kenaf/fibreglass hybrid composites were fabricated by a combination of hand lay-up method and cold-press method. The effect of different fibre types (powder, short and long) on the tensile properties of composites is investigated. The kenaf composites with and without the addition of fibreglass were then characterized by tensile testing and scanning electron microscopy. A significant improvement in tensile strength and modulus were indicated by the introduction of long kenaf/woven fibreglass hybrid composite. However, the opposite trends are observed in kenaf powder composite. Fractographic observation shows that fibre/matrix debonding causes the fibres pull out. This phenomenon results in the fibre and matrix fracture.

Keywords: Kenaf, Fibreglass, Hybrid Composite, Tensile Strength, Tensile Modulus.

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2415 Fast Painting with Different Colors Using Cross Correlation in the Frequency Domain

Authors: Hazem M. El-Bakry

Abstract:

In this paper, a new technique for fast painting with different colors is presented. The idea of painting relies on applying masks with different colors to the background. Fast painting is achieved by applying these masks in the frequency domain instead of spatial (time) domain. New colors can be generated automatically as a result from the cross correlation operation. This idea was applied successfully for faster specific data (face, object, pattern, and code) detection using neural algorithms. Here, instead of performing cross correlation between the input input data (e.g., image, or a stream of sequential data) and the weights of neural networks, the cross correlation is performed between the colored masks and the background. Furthermore, this approach is developed to reduce the computation steps required by the painting operation. The principle of divide and conquer strategy is applied through background decomposition. Each background is divided into small in size subbackgrounds and then each sub-background is processed separately by using a single faster painting algorithm. Moreover, the fastest painting is achieved by using parallel processing techniques to paint the resulting sub-backgrounds using the same number of faster painting algorithms. In contrast to using only faster painting algorithm, the speed up ratio is increased with the size of the background when using faster painting algorithm and background decomposition. Simulation results show that painting in the frequency domain is faster than that in the spatial domain.

Keywords: Fast Painting, Cross Correlation, Frequency Domain, Parallel Processing

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2414 Device for 3D Analysis of Basic Movements of the Lower Extremity

Authors: Jiménez Villanueva Mayra Alejandra, Ortíz Casallas Diana Carolina, Luengas Contreras Lely Adriana

Abstract:

This document details the process of developing a wireless device that captures the basic movements of the foot (plantar flexion, dorsal flexion, abduction, adduction.), and the knee movement (flexion). It implements a motion capture system by using a hardware based on optical fiber sensors, due to the advantages in terms of scope, noise immunity and speed of data transmission and reception. The operating principle used by this system is the detection and transmission of joint movement by mechanical elements and their respective measurement by optical ones (in this case infrared). Likewise, Visual Basic software is used for reception, analysis and signal processing of data acquired by the device, generating a 3D graphical representation in real time of each movement. The result is a boot in charge of capturing the movement, a transmission module (Implementing Xbee Technology) and a receiver module for receiving information and sending it to the PC for their respective processing. The main idea with this device is to help on topics such as bioengineering and medicine, by helping to improve the quality of life and movement analysis.

Keywords: abduction, adduction, A / D converter, Autodesk 3DMax, Infrared Diode, Driver, extension, flexion, Infrared LEDs, Interface, Modeling OPENGL, Optical Fiber, USB CDC(Communications Device Class), Virtual Reality.

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2413 Fault Detection and Diagnosis of Broken Bar Problem in Induction Motors Base Wavelet Analysis and EMD Method: Case Study of Mobarakeh Steel Company in Iran

Authors: M. Ahmadi, M. Kafil, H. Ebrahimi

Abstract:

Nowadays, induction motors have a significant role in industries. Condition monitoring (CM) of this equipment has gained a remarkable importance during recent years due to huge production losses, substantial imposed costs and increases in vulnerability, risk, and uncertainty levels. Motor current signature analysis (MCSA) is one of the most important techniques in CM. This method can be used for rotor broken bars detection. Signal processing methods such as Fast Fourier transformation (FFT), Wavelet transformation and Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) are used for analyzing MCSA output data. In this study, these signal processing methods are used for broken bar problem detection of Mobarakeh steel company induction motors. Based on wavelet transformation method, an index for fault detection, CF, is introduced which is the variation of maximum to the mean of wavelet transformation coefficients. We find that, in the broken bar condition, the amount of CF factor is greater than the healthy condition. Based on EMD method, the energy of intrinsic mode functions (IMF) is calculated and finds that when motor bars become broken the energy of IMFs increases.

Keywords: Broken bar, condition monitoring, diagnostics, empirical mode decomposition, Fourier transform, wavelet transform.

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2412 In Cognitive Radio the Analysis of Bit-Error- Rate (BER) by using PSO Algorithm

Authors: Shrikrishan Yadav, Akhilesh Saini, Krishna Chandra Roy

Abstract:

The electromagnetic spectrum is a natural resource and hence well-organized usage of the limited natural resources is the necessities for better communication. The present static frequency allocation schemes cannot accommodate demands of the rapidly increasing number of higher data rate services. Therefore, dynamic usage of the spectrum must be distinguished from the static usage to increase the availability of frequency spectrum. Cognitive radio is not a single piece of apparatus but it is a technology that can incorporate components spread across a network. It offers great promise for improving system efficiency, spectrum utilization, more effective applications, reduction in interference and reduced complexity of usage for users. Cognitive radio is aware of its environmental, internal state, and location, and autonomously adjusts its operations to achieve designed objectives. It first senses its spectral environment over a wide frequency band, and then adapts the parameters to maximize spectrum efficiency with high performance. This paper only focuses on the analysis of Bit-Error-Rate in cognitive radio by using Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm. It is theoretically as well as practically analyzed and interpreted in the sense of advantages and drawbacks and how BER affects the efficiency and performance of the communication system.

Keywords: BER, Cognitive Radio, Environmental Parameters, PSO, Radio spectrum, Transmission Parameters

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2411 Experimental Investigation of Indirect Field Oriented Control of Field Programmable Gate Array Based Five-Phase Induction Motor Drive

Authors: G. Renuka Devi

Abstract:

This paper analyzes the experimental investigation of indirect field oriented control of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based five-phase induction motor drive. A detailed d-q modeling and Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM) technique of 5-phase drive is elaborated in this paper. In the proposed work, the prototype model of 1 hp 5-phase Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) fed drive is implemented in hardware. SVPWM pulses are generated in FPGA platform through Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) coding. The experimental results are observed under different loading conditions and compared with simulation results to validate the simulation model.

Keywords: Five-phase induction motor drive, field programmable gate array, indirect field oriented control, multi-phase, space vector pulse width modulation, voltage source inverter, very high speed integrated circuit hardware description language.

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2410 Implementing a Visual Servoing System for Robot Controlling

Authors: Maryam Vafadar, Alireza Behrad, Saeed Akbari

Abstract:

Nowadays, with the emerging of the new applications like robot control in image processing, artificial vision for visual servoing is a rapidly growing discipline and Human-machine interaction plays a significant role for controlling the robot. This paper presents a new algorithm based on spatio-temporal volumes for visual servoing aims to control robots. In this algorithm, after applying necessary pre-processing on video frames, a spatio-temporal volume is constructed for each gesture and feature vector is extracted. These volumes are then analyzed for matching in two consecutive stages. For hand gesture recognition and classification we tested different classifiers including k-Nearest neighbor, learning vector quantization and back propagation neural networks. We tested the proposed algorithm with the collected data set and results showed the correct gesture recognition rate of 99.58 percent. We also tested the algorithm with noisy images and algorithm showed the correct recognition rate of 97.92 percent in noisy images.

Keywords: Back propagation neural network, Feature vector, Hand gesture recognition, k-Nearest Neighbor, Learning vector quantization neural network, Robot control, Spatio-temporal volume, Visual servoing

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2409 Static Analysis of Security Issues of the Python Packages Ecosystem

Authors: Adam Gorine, Faten Spondon

Abstract:

Python is considered the most popular programming language and offers its own ecosystem for archiving and maintaining open-source software packages. This system is called the Python Package Index (PyPI), the repository of this programming language. Unfortunately, one-third of these software packages have vulnerabilities that allow attackers to execute code automatically when a vulnerable or malicious package is installed. This paper contributes to large-scale empirical studies investigating security issues in the Python ecosystem by evaluating package vulnerabilities. These provide a series of implications that can help the security of software ecosystems by improving the process of discovering, fixing, and managing package vulnerabilities. The vulnerable dataset is generated using the NVD, the National Vulnerability Database, and the Snyk vulnerability dataset. In addition, we evaluated 807 vulnerability reports in the NVD and 3900 publicly known security vulnerabilities in Python Package Manager (Pip) from the Snyk database from 2002 to 2022. As a result, many Python vulnerabilities appear in high severity, followed by medium severity. The most problematic areas have been improper input validation and denial of service attacks. A hybrid scanning tool that combines the three scanners, Bandit, Snyk and Dlint, which provide a clear report of the code vulnerability, is also described.

Keywords: Python vulnerabilities, Bandit, Snyk, Dlint, Python Package Index, ecosystem, static analysis, malicious attacks.

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2408 Evaluating Complexity – Ethical Challenges in Computational Design Processes

Authors: J.Partanen

Abstract:

Complexity, as a theoretical background has made it easier to understand and explain the features and dynamic behavior of various complex systems. As the common theoretical background has confirmed, borrowing the terminology for design from the natural sciences has helped to control and understand urban complexity. Phenomena like self-organization, evolution and adaptation are appropriate to describe the formerly inaccessible characteristics of the complex environment in unpredictable bottomup systems. Increased computing capacity has been a key element in capturing the chaotic nature of these systems. A paradigm shift in urban planning and architectural design has forced us to give up the illusion of total control in urban environment, and consequently to seek for novel methods for steering the development. New methods using dynamic modeling have offered a real option for more thorough understanding of complexity and urban processes. At best new approaches may renew the design processes so that we get a better grip on the complex world via more flexible processes, support urban environmental diversity and respond to our needs beyond basic welfare by liberating ourselves from the standardized minimalism. A complex system and its features are as such beyond human ethics. Self-organization or evolution is either good or bad. Their mechanisms are by nature devoid of reason. They are common in urban dynamics in both natural processes and gas. They are features of a complex system, and they cannot be prevented. Yet their dynamics can be studied and supported. The paradigm of complexity and new design approaches has been criticized for a lack of humanity and morality, but the ethical implications of scientific or computational design processes have not been much discussed. It is important to distinguish the (unexciting) ethics of the theory and tools from the ethics of computer aided processes based on ethical decisions. Urban planning and architecture cannot be based on the survival of the fittest; however, the natural dynamics of the system cannot be impeded on grounds of being “non-human". In this paper the ethical challenges of using the dynamic models are contemplated in light of a few examples of new architecture and dynamic urban models and literature. It is suggested that ethical challenges in computational design processes could be reframed under the concepts of responsibility and transparency.

Keywords: urban planning, architecture, dynamic modeling, ethics, complexity theory.

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2407 Microwave-Assisted Alginate Extraction from Portuguese Saccorhiza polyschides – Influence of Acid Pretreatment

Authors: Mário Silva, Filipa Gomes, Filipa Oliveira, Simone Morais, Cristina Delerue-Matos

Abstract:

Brown seaweeds are abundant in Portuguese coastline and represent an almost unexploited marine economic resource. One of the most common species, easily available for harvesting in the northwest coast, is Saccorhiza polyschides grows in the lowest shore and costal rocky reefs. It is almost exclusively used by local farmers as natural fertilizer, but contains a substantial amount of valuable compounds, particularly alginates, natural biopolymers of high interest for many industrial applications. Alginates are natural polysaccharides present in cell walls of brown seaweed, highly biocompatible, with particular properties that make them of high interest for the food, biotechnology, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Conventional extraction processes are based on thermal treatment. They are lengthy and consume high amounts of energy and solvents. In recent years, microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) has shown enormous potential to overcome major drawbacks that outcome from conventional plant material extraction (thermal and/or solvent based) techniques, being also successfully applied to the extraction of agar, fucoidans and alginates. In the present study, acid pretreatment of brown seaweed Saccorhiza polyschides for subsequent microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of alginate was optimized. Seaweeds were collected in Northwest Portuguese coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean between May and August, 2014. Experimental design was used to assess the effect of temperature and acid pretreatment time in alginate extraction. Response surface methodology allowed the determination of the optimum MAE conditions: 40 mL of HCl 0.1 M per g of dried seaweed with constant stirring at 20ºC during 14h. Optimal acid pretreatment conditions have enhanced significantly MAE of alginates from Saccorhiza polyschides, thus contributing for the development of a viable, more environmental friendly alternative to conventional processes.

Keywords: Acid pretreatment, Alginate, Brown seaweed, Microwave-assisted extraction, Response surface methodology.

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2406 From Electroencephalogram to Epileptic Seizures Detection by Using Artificial Neural Networks

Authors: Gaetano Zazzaro, Angelo Martone, Roberto V. Montaquila, Luigi Pavone

Abstract:

Seizure is the main factor that affects the quality of life of epileptic patients. The diagnosis of epilepsy, and hence the identification of epileptogenic zone, is commonly made by using continuous Electroencephalogram (EEG) signal monitoring. Seizure identification on EEG signals is made manually by epileptologists and this process is usually very long and error prone. The aim of this paper is to describe an automated method able to detect seizures in EEG signals, using knowledge discovery in database process and data mining methods and algorithms, which can support physicians during the seizure detection process. Our detection method is based on Artificial Neural Network classifier, trained by applying the multilayer perceptron algorithm, and by using a software application, called Training Builder that has been developed for the massive extraction of features from EEG signals. This tool is able to cover all the data preparation steps ranging from signal processing to data analysis techniques, including the sliding window paradigm, the dimensionality reduction algorithms, information theory, and feature selection measures. The final model shows excellent performances, reaching an accuracy of over 99% during tests on data of a single patient retrieved from a publicly available EEG dataset.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Network, Data Mining, Electroencephalogram, Epilepsy, Feature Extraction, Seizure Detection, Signal Processing.

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2405 Enhancement of Recycled Concrete Aggregate Properties by Mechanical Treatment and Verification in Concrete Mixes with Replacement up to 100%

Authors: Iveta Nováková, Martin-Andrè S. Husby, Boy-Arne Buyle

Abstract:

The building industry has one of the most significant contributions to global warming due to the production of building materials, transportation, building activities, and demolition of structures when they reach the end of their life. Implementation of circular material flow and circular economy can significantly reduce greenhouse gasses and simultaneously reduce the need for natural resources. The use of recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) is one of the possibilities for reducing the depletion of raw materials for concrete production. Concrete is the most used building material worldwide, and aggregates constitute large part of its volume. RCA can replace a certain amount of natural aggregates (NA), and concrete will still perform as required. The aim of this scientific paper is to evaluate RCA properties with and without mechanical treatment. Analysis of RCA itself will be followed by compressive strength of concrete containing various amounts of treated and non-treated RCA. Results showed improvement in compressive strength of the mix with mechanically treated RCA compared to standard RCA, and even the strength of concrete with mechanically treated RCA in dose 50% of coarse aggregates was higher than the reference mix by 4%. Based on obtained results, it can be concluded that integration of RCA in industrial concrete production is feasible, at a replacement ratio of 50% for mechanically treated RCA and 30% if untreated RCA is used, without affecting the compressive strength negatively.

Keywords: Recycled concrete aggregates, RCA, mechanical treatment, aggregate properties, compression strength.

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2404 Automatic Fluid-Structure Interaction Modeling and Analysis of Butterfly Valve Using Python Script

Authors: N. Guru Prasath, Sangjin Ma, Chang-Wan Kim

Abstract:

A butterfly valve is a quarter turn valve which is used to control the flow of a fluid through a section of pipe. Generally, butterfly valve is used in wide range of applications such as water distribution, sewage, oil and gas plants. In particular, butterfly valve with larger diameter finds its immense applications in hydro power plants to control the fluid flow. In-lieu with the constraints in cost and size to run laboratory setup, analysis of large diameter values will be mostly studied by computational method which is the best and inexpensive solution. For fluid and structural analysis, CFD and FEM software is used to perform large scale valve analyses, respectively. In order to perform above analysis in butterfly valve, the CAD model has to recreate and perform mesh in conventional software’s for various dimensions of valve. Therefore, its limitation is time consuming process. In-order to overcome that issue, python code was created to outcome complete pre-processing setup automatically in Salome software. Applying dimensions of the model clearly in the python code makes the running time comparatively lower and easier way to perform analysis of the valve. Hence, in this paper, an attempt was made to study the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) of butterfly valves by varying the valve angles and dimensions using python code in pre-processing software, and results are produced.

Keywords: Butterfly valve, fluid-structure interaction, automatic CFD analysis, flow coefficient.

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2403 Towards Bridging the Gap between the ESP Classroom and the Workplace: Content and Language Needs Analysis in English for an Administrative Studies Course

Authors: Vesna Vulić

Abstract:

Croatia has made large steps forward in the development of higher education over the past 10 years. Purposes and objectives of the tertiary education system are focused on the personal development of young people so that they obtain competences for employment on a flexible labour market. The most frequent tensions between the tertiary institutions and employers are complaints that the current tertiary education system still supplies students with an abundance of theoretical knowledge and not enough practical skills. Polytechnics and schools of professional higher education should deliver professional education and training that will satisfy the needs of their local communities. The 21st century sets demand on undergraduates as well as their lecturers to strive for the highest standards. The skills students acquire during their studies should serve the needs of their future professional careers. In this context, teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) presents an enormous challenge for teachers. They have to cope with teaching the language in classes with a large number of students, limitations of time, inadequate equipment and teaching material; most frequently, this leads to focusing on specialist vocabulary neglecting the development of skills and competences required for future employment. Globalization has transformed the labour market and set new standards a perspective employee should meet. When knowledge of languages is considered, new generic skills and competences are required. Not only skillful written and oral communication is needed, but also information, media, and technology literacy, learning skills which include critical and creative thinking, collaborating and communicating, as well as social skills. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the needs of two groups of ESP first year Undergraduate Professional Administrative Study students taking ESP as a mandatory course: 47 first-year Undergraduate Professional Administrative Study students, 21 first-year employed part-time Undergraduate Professional Administrative Study students and 30 graduates with a degree in Undergraduate Professional Administrative Study with various amounts of work experience. The survey adopted a quantitative approach with the aim to determine the differences between the groups in their perception of the four language skills and different areas of law, as well as getting the insight into students' satisfaction with the current course and their motivation for studying ESP. Their perceptions will be compared to the results of the questionnaire conducted among sector professionals in order to examine how they perceive the same elements of the ESP course content and to what extent it fits into their working environment. The results of the survey indicated that there is a strong correlation between acquiring work experience and the level of importance given to particular areas of law studied in an ESP course which is in line with our initial hypothesis. In conclusion, the results of the survey should help lecturers in re-evaluating and updating their ESP course syllabi.

Keywords: English for Specific Purposes, ESP, language skills, motivation, needs analysis.

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2402 Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity as a Function of the Genetic Diversity of Canna indica Complex

Authors: A. Rattanapittayapron, O. Vanijajiva

Abstract:

Canna indica is a prominent species complex in tropical and subtropical areas. They become indigenous in Southeast Asia where they have been introduced. At present, C. indica complex comprises over hundred hybrids, are cultivated as commercial horticulture. The species complex contains starchy rhizome having economic value in terms of food and herbal medicine. In addition, bright color of the flowers makes it a valuable ornamental plant and potential source for natural colorant. This study aims to assess genetic diversity of four varieties of C. indica complex based on SRAP (sequence-related amplified polymorphism) and iPBS (inter primer binding site) markers. We also examined phytochemical characteristics and antioxidant properties of the flower extracts from four different color varieties. Results showed that despite of the genetic variation, there were no significant differences in phytochemical characteristics and antioxidant properties of flowers. The SRAP and iPBS results agree with the more primitive traits showed by morphological information and phytochemical and antioxidant characteristics from the flowers. Since Canna flowers has long been used as natural colorants together with the antioxidant activities from the ethanol extracts in this study, there are likely to be good source for cosmetics additives.

Keywords: Canna indica, antioxidant activity, genetic diversity, SRAP, iPBS.

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2401 Investigating Polynomial Interpolation Functions for Zooming Low Resolution Digital Medical Images

Authors: Maninder Pal

Abstract:

Medical digital images usually have low resolution because of nature of their acquisition. Therefore, this paper focuses on zooming these images to obtain better level of information, required for the purpose of medical diagnosis. For this purpose, a strategy for selecting pixels in zooming operation is proposed. It is based on the principle of analog clock and utilizes a combination of point and neighborhood image processing. In this approach, the hour hand of clock covers the portion of image to be processed. For alignment, the center of clock points at middle pixel of the selected portion of image. The minute hand is longer in length, and is used to gain information about pixels of the surrounding area. This area is called neighborhood pixels region. This information is used to zoom the selected portion of the image. The proposed algorithm is implemented and its performance is evaluated for many medical images obtained from various sources such as X-ray, Computerized Tomography (CT) scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). However, for illustration and simplicity, the results obtained from a CT scanned image of head is presented. The performance of algorithm is evaluated in comparison to various traditional algorithms in terms of Peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), maximum error, SSIM index, mutual information and processing time. From the results, the proposed algorithm is found to give better performance than traditional algorithms.

Keywords: Zooming, interpolation, medical images, resolution.

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2400 The Effect of Maximum Strain on Fatigue Life Prediction for Natural Rubber Material

Authors: Chang S. Woo, Hyun S. Park, Wan D. Kim

Abstract:

Fatigue life prediction and evaluation are the key technologies to assure the safety and reliability of automotive rubber components. The objective of this study is to develop the fatigue analysis process for vulcanized rubber components, which is applicable to predict fatigue life at initial product design step. Fatigue life prediction methodology of vulcanized natural rubber was proposed by incorporating the finite element analysis and fatigue damage parameter of maximum strain appearing at the critical location determined from fatigue test. In order to develop an appropriate fatigue damage parameter of the rubber material, a series of displacement controlled fatigue test was conducted using threedimensional dumbbell specimen with different levels of mean displacement. It was shown that the maximum strain was a proper damage parameter, taking the mean displacement effects into account. Nonlinear finite element analyses of three-dimensional dumbbell specimens were performed based on a hyper-elastic material model determined from the uni-axial tension, equi-biaxial tension and planar test. Fatigue analysis procedure employed in this study could be used approximately for the fatigue design.

Keywords: Rubber, Material test, Finite element analysis, Strain, Fatigue test, Fatigue life prediction.

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2399 A Novel VLSI Architecture for Image Compression Model Using Low power Discrete Cosine Transform

Authors: Vijaya Prakash.A.M, K.S.Gurumurthy

Abstract:

In Image processing the Image compression can improve the performance of the digital systems by reducing the cost and time in image storage and transmission without significant reduction of the Image quality. This paper describes hardware architecture of low complexity Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) architecture for image compression[6]. In this DCT architecture, common computations are identified and shared to remove redundant computations in DCT matrix operation. Vector processing is a method used for implementation of DCT. This reduction in computational complexity of 2D DCT reduces power consumption. The 2D DCT is performed on 8x8 matrix using two 1-Dimensional Discrete cosine transform blocks and a transposition memory [7]. Inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT) is performed to obtain the image matrix and reconstruct the original image. The proposed image compression algorithm is comprehended using MATLAB code. The VLSI design of the architecture is implemented Using Verilog HDL. The proposed hardware architecture for image compression employing DCT was synthesized using RTL complier and it was mapped using 180nm standard cells. . The Simulation is done using Modelsim. The simulation results from MATLAB and Verilog HDL are compared. Detailed analysis for power and area was done using RTL compiler from CADENCE. Power consumption of DCT core is reduced to 1.027mW with minimum area[1].

Keywords: Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), Inverse DiscreteCosine Transform (IDCT), Joint Photographic Expert Group (JPEG), Low Power Design, Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) .

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2398 Necessity of Risk Management of Various Industry-Associated Pollutants(Case Study of Gavkhoni Wetland Ecosystem)

Authors: Hekmatpanah, M.

Abstract:

Since the beginning of human history, human activities have caused many changes in the environment. Today, a particular attention should be paid to gaining knowledge about water quality of wetlands which are pristine natural environments rich in genetic reserves. If qualitative conditions of industrial areas (in terms of both physicochemical and biological conditions) are not addressed properly, they could cause disruption in natural ecosystems, especially in rivers. With regards to the quality of water resources, determination of pollutant sources plays a pivotal role in engineering projects as well as designing water quality control systems. Thus, using different methods such as flow duration curves, dischargepollution load model and frequency analysis by HYFA software package, risk of various industrial pollutants in international and ecologically important Gavkhoni wetland is analyzed. In this study, a station located at Varzaneh City is used as the last station on Zayanderud River, from where the river water is discharged into the wetland. Results showed that elements- concentrations often exceeded the allowed level and river water can endanger regional ecosystem. In addition, if the river discharge is managed on Q25 basis, this basis can lower concentrations of elements, keeping them within the normal level.

Keywords: Pollutants Risk, Industry, Flow Discharge, Management, Gavkhoni Wetland

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