Search results for: photogrammetry approach.
3793 Rapid Method for Low Level 90Sr Determination in Seawater by Liquid Extraction Technique
Authors: S. Visetpotjanakit, N. Nakkaew
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Determination of low level 90Sr in seawater has been widely developed for the purpose of environmental monitoring and radiological research because 90Sr is one of the most hazardous radionuclides released from atmospheric during the testing of nuclear weapons, waste discharge from the generation nuclear energy and nuclear accident occurring at power plants. A liquid extraction technique using bis-2-etylhexyl-phosphoric acid to separate and purify yttrium followed by Cherenkov counting using a liquid scintillation counter to determine 90Y in secular equilibrium to 90Sr was developed to monitor 90Sr in the Asia Pacific Ocean. The analytical performance was validated for the accuracy, precision, and trueness criteria. Sr-90 determination in seawater using various low concentrations in a range of 0.01 – 1 Bq/L of 30 liters spiked seawater samples and 0.5 liters of IAEA-RML-2015-01 proficiency test sample was performed for statistical evaluation. The results had a relative bias in the range from 3.41% to 12.28%, which is below accepted relative bias of ± 25% and passed the criteria confirming that our analytical approach for determination of low levels of 90Sr in seawater was acceptable. Moreover, the approach is economical, non-laborious and fast.
Keywords: Proficiency test, radiation monitoring, seawater, strontium determination.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8743792 General Purpose Graphic Processing Units Based Real Time Video Tracking System
Authors: Mallikarjuna Rao Gundavarapu, Ch. Mallikarjuna Rao, K. Anuradha Bai
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Real Time Video Tracking is a challenging task for computing professionals. The performance of video tracking techniques is greatly affected by background detection and elimination process. Local regions of the image frame contain vital information of background and foreground. However, pixel-level processing of local regions consumes a good amount of computational time and memory space by traditional approaches. In our approach we have explored the concurrent computational ability of General Purpose Graphic Processing Units (GPGPU) to address this problem. The Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) with adaptive weighted kernels is used for detecting the background. The weights of the kernel are influenced by local regions and are updated by inter-frame variations of these corresponding regions. The proposed system has been tested with GPU devices such as GeForce GTX 280, GeForce GTX 280 and Quadro K2000. The results are encouraging with maximum speed up 10X compared to sequential approach.
Keywords: Connected components, Embrace threads, Local weighted kernel, Structuring element.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11763791 A Bi-Objective Stochastic Mathematical Model for Agricultural Supply Chain Network
Authors: Mohammad Mahdi Paydar, Armin Cheraghalipour, Mostafa Hajiaghaei-Keshteli
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Nowadays, in advanced countries, agriculture as one of the most significant sectors of the economy, plays an important role in its political and economic independence. Due to farmers' lack of information about products' demand and lack of proper planning for harvest time, annually the considerable amount of products is corrupted. Besides, in this paper, we attempt to improve these unfavorable conditions via designing an effective supply chain network that tries to minimize total costs of agricultural products along with minimizing shortage in demand points. To validate the proposed model, a stochastic optimization approach by using a branch and bound solver of the LINGO software is utilized. Furthermore, to accumulate the data of parameters, a case study in Mazandaran province placed in the north of Iran has been applied. Finally, using ɛ-constraint approach, a Pareto front is obtained and one of its Pareto solutions as best solution is selected. Then, related results of this solution are explained. Finally, conclusions and suggestions for the future research are presented.Keywords: Perishable products, stochastic optimization, agricultural supply chain, ɛ-constraint.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10093790 Power System Security Constrained Economic Dispatch Using Real Coded Quantum Inspired Evolution Algorithm
Authors: A. K. Al-Othman, F. S. Al-Fares, K. M. EL-Nagger
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This paper presents a new optimization technique based on quantum computing principles to solve a security constrained power system economic dispatch problem (SCED). The proposed technique is a population-based algorithm, which uses some quantum computing elements in coding and evolving groups of potential solutions to reach the optimum following a partially directed random approach. The SCED problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem in a way that insures a secure-economic system operation. Real Coded Quantum-Inspired Evolution Algorithm (RQIEA) is then applied to solve the constrained optimization formulation. Simulation results of the proposed approach are compared with those reported in literature. The outcome is very encouraging and proves that RQIEA is very applicable for solving security constrained power system economic dispatch problem (SCED).Keywords: State Estimation, Fuzzy Linear Regression, FuzzyLinear State Estimator (FLSE) and Measurements Uncertainty.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17193789 Multi-Modal Visualization of Working Instructions for Assembly Operations
Authors: Josef Wolfartsberger, Michael Heiml, Georg Schwarz, Sabrina Egger
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Growing individualization and higher numbers of variants in industrial assembly products raise the complexity of manufacturing processes. Technical assistance systems considering both procedural and human factors allow for an increase in product quality and a decrease in required learning times by supporting workers with precise working instructions. Due to varying needs of workers, the presentation of working instructions leads to several challenges. This paper presents an approach for a multi-modal visualization application to support assembly work of complex parts. Our approach is integrated within an interconnected assistance system network and supports the presentation of cloud-streamed textual instructions, images, videos, 3D animations and audio files along with multi-modal user interaction, customizable UI, multi-platform support (e.g. tablet-PC, TV screen, smartphone or Augmented Reality devices), automated text translation and speech synthesis. The worker benefits from more accessible and up-to-date instructions presented in an easy-to-read way.Keywords: Assembly, assistive technologies, augmented reality, manufacturing, visualization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9233788 A Hybrid Differential Transform Approach for Laser Heating of a Double-Layered Thin Film
Authors: Cheng-Ying Lo
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This paper adopted the hybrid differential transform approach for studying heat transfer problems in a gold/chromium thin film with an ultra-short-pulsed laser beam projecting on the gold side. The physical system, formulated based on the hyperbolic two-step heat transfer model, covers three characteristics: (i) coupling effects between the electron/lattice systems, (ii) thermal wave propagation in metals, and (iii) radiation effects along the interface. The differential transform method is used to transfer the governing equations in the time domain into the spectrum equations, which is further discretized in the space domain by the finite difference method. The results, obtained through a recursive process, show that the electron temperature in the gold film can rise up to several thousand degrees before its electron/lattice systems reach equilibrium at only several hundred degrees. The electron and lattice temperatures in the chromium film are much lower than those in the gold film.
Keywords: Differential transform, hyperbolic heat transfer, thin film, ultrashort-pulsed laser.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15963787 Optimal Design of a PV/Diesel Hybrid System for Decentralized Areas through Economic Criteria
Authors: D. Tsuanyo, D. Aussel, Y. Azoumah, P. Neveu
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An innovative concept called “Flexy-Energy” is developing at 2iE. This concept aims to produce electricity at lower cost by smartly mix different available energy sources in accordance to the load profile of the region. With a higher solar irradiation and due to the fact that Diesel generator are massively used in sub-Saharan rural areas, PV/Diesel hybrid systems could be a good application of this concept and a good solution to electrify this region, provided they are reliable, cost effective and economically attractive to investors. Presentation of the developed approach is the aims of this paper. The PV/Diesel hybrid system designed consists to produce electricity and/or heat from a coupling between Diesel Diesel generators and PV panels without batteries storage, while ensuring the substitution of gasoil by bio-fuels available in the area where the system will be installed. The optimal design of this system is based on his technical performances; the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and Levelized Cost of Energy are developed and use as economic criteria. The Net Present Value (NPV), the internal rate of return (IRR) and the discounted payback (DPB) are also evaluated according to dual electricity pricing (in sunny and unsunny hours). The PV/Diesel hybrid system obtained is compared to the standalone Diesel Diesel generators. The approach carried out in this paper has been applied to Siby village in Mali (Latitude 12 ° 23'N 8 ° 20'W) with 295 kWh as daily demand.This approach provides optimal physical characteristics (size of the components, number of component) and dynamical characteristics in real time (number of Diesel generator on, their load rate, fuel specific consumptions, and PV penetration rate) of the system. The system obtained is slightly cost effective; but could be improved with optimized tariffing strategies.
Keywords: Investments criteria, Optimization, PV hybrid, Sizing, Rural electrification.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20553786 Multimedia Data Fusion for Event Detection in Twitter by Using Dempster-Shafer Evidence Theory
Authors: Samar M. Alqhtani, Suhuai Luo, Brian Regan
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Data fusion technology can be the best way to extract useful information from multiple sources of data. It has been widely applied in various applications. This paper presents a data fusion approach in multimedia data for event detection in twitter by using Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. The methodology applies a mining algorithm to detect the event. There are two types of data in the fusion. The first is features extracted from text by using the bag-ofwords method which is calculated using the term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF). The second is the visual features extracted by applying scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT). The Dempster - Shafer theory of evidence is applied in order to fuse the information from these two sources. Our experiments have indicated that comparing to the approaches using individual data source, the proposed data fusion approach can increase the prediction accuracy for event detection. The experimental result showed that the proposed method achieved a high accuracy of 0.97, comparing with 0.93 with texts only, and 0.86 with images only.Keywords: Data fusion, Dempster-Shafer theory, data mining, event detection.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18043785 Reliability-Based Ductility Seismic Spectra of Structures with Tilting
Authors: Federico Valenzuela-Beltran, Sonia E. Ruiz, Alfredo Reyes-Salazar, Juan Bojorquez
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A reliability-based methodology which uses structural demand hazard curves to consider the increment of the ductility demands of structures with tilting is proposed. The approach considers the effect of two orthogonal components of the ground motions as well as the influence of soil-structure interaction. The approach involves the calculation of ductility demand hazard curves for symmetric systems and, alternatively, for systems with different degrees of asymmetry. To get this objective, demand hazard curves corresponding to different global ductility demands of the systems are calculated. Next, Uniform Exceedance Rate Spectra (UERS) are developed for a specific mean annual rate of exceedance value. Ratios between UERS corresponding to asymmetric and to symmetric systems located in soft soil of the valley of Mexico are obtained. Results indicate that the ductility demands corresponding to tilted structures may be several times higher than those corresponding to symmetric structures, depending on several factors such as tilting angle and vibration period of structure and soil.
Keywords: Asymmetric yielding, tilted structures, seismic performance, structural reliability
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18113784 Parameter Tuning of Complex Systems Modeled in Agent Based Modeling and Simulation
Authors: Rabia Korkmaz Tan, Şebnem Bora
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The major problem encountered when modeling complex systems with agent-based modeling and simulation techniques is the existence of large parameter spaces. A complex system model cannot be expected to reflect the whole of the real system, but by specifying the most appropriate parameters, the actual system can be represented by the model under certain conditions. When the studies conducted in recent years were reviewed, it has been observed that there are few studies for parameter tuning problem in agent based simulations, and these studies have focused on tuning parameters of a single model. In this study, an approach of parameter tuning is proposed by using metaheuristic algorithms such as Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Artificial Bee Colonies (ABC), Firefly (FA) algorithms. With this hybrid structured study, the parameter tuning problems of the models in the different fields were solved. The new approach offered was tested in two different models, and its achievements in different problems were compared. The simulations and the results reveal that this proposed study is better than the existing parameter tuning studies.
Keywords: Parameter tuning, agent based modeling and simulation, metaheuristic algorithms, complex systems.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12513783 Automatic Reusability Appraisal of Software Components using Neuro-fuzzy Approach
Authors: Parvinder S. Sandhu, Hardeep Singh
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Automatic reusability appraisal could be helpful in evaluating the quality of developed or developing reusable software components and in identification of reusable components from existing legacy systems; that can save cost of developing the software from scratch. But the issue of how to identify reusable components from existing systems has remained relatively unexplored. In this paper, we have mentioned two-tier approach by studying the structural attributes as well as usability or relevancy of the component to a particular domain. Latent semantic analysis is used for the feature vector representation of various software domains. It exploits the fact that FeatureVector codes can be seen as documents containing terms -the idenifiers present in the components- and so text modeling methods that capture co-occurrence information in low-dimensional spaces can be used. Further, we devised Neuro- Fuzzy hybrid Inference System, which takes structural metric values as input and calculates the reusability of the software component. Decision tree algorithm is used to decide initial set of fuzzy rules for the Neuro-fuzzy system. The results obtained are convincing enough to propose the system for economical identification and retrieval of reusable software components.Keywords: Clustering, ID3, LSA, Neuro-fuzzy System, SVD
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16673782 Cooperative Sensing for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Julien Romieux, Fabio Verdicchio
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Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), which sense environmental data with battery-powered nodes, require multi-hop communication. This power-demanding task adds an extra workload that is unfairly distributed across the network. As a result, nodes run out of battery at different times: this requires an impractical individual node maintenance scheme. Therefore we investigate a new Cooperative Sensing approach that extends the WSN operational life and allows a more practical network maintenance scheme (where all nodes deplete their batteries almost at the same time). We propose a novel cooperative algorithm that derives a piecewise representation of the sensed signal while controlling approximation accuracy. Simulations show that our algorithm increases WSN operational life and spreads communication workload evenly. Results convey a counterintuitive conclusion: distributing workload fairly amongst nodes may not decrease the network power consumption and yet extend the WSN operational life. This is achieved as our cooperative approach decreases the workload of the most burdened cluster in the network.Keywords: Cooperative signal processing, power management, signal representation, signal approximation, wireless sensor networks.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17883781 An Analysis of Institutional Environments on Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in Nigerian Renewable Energy Firms
Authors: Bolanle Deborah Motilewa, E. K. Rowland Worlu, Gbenga Mayowa Agboola, Ayodele Maxwell Olokundun
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Several studies have proposed a one-size fit all approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, such that CSR as it applies to developed countries is adapted to developing countries, ignoring the differing institutional environments (such as the regulative, economic, social and political environments), which affects the profitability and practices of businesses operating in them. CSR as it applies to filling institutional gaps in developing countries, was categorized into four themes: environmental protection, product and service innovation, social innovation and local cluster development. Based on the four themes, the study employed a qualitative research approach through the use of interviews and review of available publications to study the influence of institutional environments on CSR practices engaged in by three renewable energy firms operating in Nigeria. Over the course of three 60-minutes sessions with the top management and selected workers of the firms, four propositions were made: regulatory environment influences environmental protection practice of Nigerian renewable firms, economic environment influences product and service innovation practice of Nigerian renewable energy firms, the social environment impacts on social innovation in Nigerian renewable energy firms, and political environment affects local cluster development practice of Nigerian renewable energy firms. It was also observed that beyond institutional environments, the international exposure of an organization’s managers reflected in their approach to CSR. This finding on the influence of international exposure on CSR practices creates an area for further study. Insights from this paper are set to help policy makers in developing countries, CSR managers, and future researchers.Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, institutional environment, renewable energy firms, developing countries, international exposure.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14353780 Efficient Variants of Square Contour Algorithm for Blind Equalization of QAM Signals
Authors: Ahmad Tariq Sheikh, Shahzad Amin Sheikh
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A new distance-adjusted approach is proposed in which static square contours are defined around an estimated symbol in a QAM constellation, which create regions that correspond to fixed step sizes and weighting factors. As a result, the equalizer tap adjustment consists of a linearly weighted sum of adaptation criteria that is scaled by a variable step size. This approach is the basis of two new algorithms: the Variable step size Square Contour Algorithm (VSCA) and the Variable step size Square Contour Decision-Directed Algorithm (VSDA). The proposed schemes are compared with existing blind equalization algorithms in the SCA family in terms of convergence speed, constellation eye opening and residual ISI suppression. Simulation results for 64-QAM signaling over empirically derived microwave radio channels confirm the efficacy of the proposed algorithms. An RTL implementation of the blind adaptive equalizer based on the proposed schemes is presented and the system is configured to operate in VSCA error signal mode, for square QAM signals up to 64-QAM.Keywords: Adaptive filtering, Blind Equalization, Square Contour Algorithm.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18583779 Analysis of the Diffusion Behavior of an Information and Communication Technology Platform for City Logistics
Authors: Giulio Mangano, Alberto De Marco, Giovanni Zenezini
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The concept of City Logistics (CL) has emerged to improve the impacts of last mile freight distribution in urban areas. In this paper, a System Dynamics (SD) model exploring the dynamics of the diffusion of a ICT platform for CL management across different populations is proposed. For the development of the model two sources have been used. On the one hand, the major diffusion variables and feedback loops are derived from a literature review of existing diffusion models. On the other hand, the parameters are represented by the value propositions delivered by the platform as a response to some of the users’ needs. To extract the most important value propositions the Business Model Canvas approach has been used. Such approach in fact focuses on understanding how a company can create value for her target customers. These variables and parameters are thus translated into a SD diffusion model with three different populations namely municipalities, logistics service providers, and own account carriers. Results show that, the three populations under analysis fully adopt the platform within the simulation time frame, highlighting a strong demand by different stakeholders for CL projects aiming at carrying out more efficient urban logistics operations.
Keywords: City logistics, simulation, system dynamics, business model.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10343778 Knowledge Representation and Retrieval in Design Project Memory
Authors: Smain M. Bekhti, Nada T. Matta
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Knowledge sharing in general and the contextual access to knowledge in particular, still represent a key challenge in the knowledge management framework. Researchers on semantic web and human machine interface study techniques to enhance this access. For instance, in semantic web, the information retrieval is based on domain ontology. In human machine interface, keeping track of user's activity provides some elements of the context that can guide the access to information. We suggest an approach based on these two key guidelines, whilst avoiding some of their weaknesses. The approach permits a representation of both the context and the design rationale of a project for an efficient access to knowledge. In fact, the method consists of an information retrieval environment that, in the one hand, can infer knowledge, modeled as a semantic network, and on the other hand, is based on the context and the objectives of a specific activity (the design). The environment we defined can also be used to gather similar project elements in order to build classifications of tasks, problems, arguments, etc. produced in a company. These classifications can show the evolution of design strategies in the company.Keywords: Project Memory, Knowledge re-use, Design rationale, Knowledge representation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16323777 Object Detection in Digital Images under Non-Standardized Conditions Using Illumination and Shadow Filtering
Authors: Waqqas-ur-Rehman Butt, Martin Servin, Marion Pause
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In recent years, object detection has gained much attention and very encouraging research area in the field of computer vision. The robust object boundaries detection in an image is demanded in numerous applications of human computer interaction and automated surveillance systems. Many methods and approaches have been developed for automatic object detection in various fields, such as automotive, quality control management and environmental services. Inappropriately, to the best of our knowledge, object detection under illumination with shadow consideration has not been well solved yet. Furthermore, this problem is also one of the major hurdles to keeping an object detection method from the practical applications. This paper presents an approach to automatic object detection in images under non-standardized environmental conditions. A key challenge is how to detect the object, particularly under uneven illumination conditions. Image capturing conditions the algorithms need to consider a variety of possible environmental factors as the colour information, lightening and shadows varies from image to image. Existing methods mostly failed to produce the appropriate result due to variation in colour information, lightening effects, threshold specifications, histogram dependencies and colour ranges. To overcome these limitations we propose an object detection algorithm, with pre-processing methods, to reduce the interference caused by shadow and illumination effects without fixed parameters. We use the Y CrCb colour model without any specific colour ranges and predefined threshold values. The segmented object regions are further classified using morphological operations (Erosion and Dilation) and contours. Proposed approach applied on a large image data set acquired under various environmental conditions for wood stack detection. Experiments show the promising result of the proposed approach in comparison with existing methods.Keywords: Image processing, Illumination equalization, Shadow filtering, Object detection, Colour models, Image segmentation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10293776 Performance Management of Tangible Assets within the Balanced Scorecard and Interactive Business Decision Tools
Authors: Raymond K. Jonkers
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The present study investigated approaches and techniques to enhance strategic management governance and decision making within the framework of a performance-based balanced scorecard. The review of best practices from strategic, program, process, and systems engineering management provided for a holistic approach toward effective outcome-based capability management. One technique, based on factorial experimental design methods, was used to develop an empirical model. This model predicted the degree of capability effectiveness and is dependent on controlled system input variables and their weightings. These variables represent business performance measures, captured within a strategic balanced scorecard. The weighting of these measures enhances the ability to quantify causal relationships within balanced scorecard strategy maps. The focus in this study was on the performance of tangible assets within the scorecard rather than the traditional approach of assessing performance of intangible assets such as knowledge and technology. Tangible assets are represented in this study as physical systems, which may be thought of as being aboard a ship or within a production facility. The measures assigned to these systems include project funding for upgrades against demand, system certifications achieved against those required, preventive maintenance to corrective maintenance ratios, and material support personnel capacity against that required for supporting respective systems. The resultant scorecard is viewed as complimentary to the traditional balanced scorecard for program and performance management. The benefits from these scorecards are realized through the quantified state of operational capabilities or outcomes. These capabilities are also weighted in terms of priority for each distinct system measure and aggregated and visualized in terms of overall state of capabilities achieved. This study proposes the use of interactive controls within the scorecard as a technique to enhance development of alternative solutions in decision making. These interactive controls include those for assigning capability priorities and for adjusting system performance measures, thus providing for what-if scenarios and options in strategic decision-making. In this holistic approach to capability management, several cross functional processes were highlighted as relevant amongst the different management disciplines. In terms of assessing an organization’s ability to adopt this approach, consideration was given to the P3M3 management maturity model.
Keywords: Outcome based management, performance management, lifecycle costs, balanced scorecard.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13573775 A Novel Approach to Handle Uncertainty in Health System Variables for Hospital Admissions
Authors: Manisha Rathi, Thierry Chaussalet
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Hospital staff and managers are under pressure and concerned for effective use and management of scarce resources. The hospital admissions require many decisions that have complex and uncertain consequences for hospital resource utilization and patient flow. It is challenging to predict risk of admissions and length of stay of a patient due to their vague nature. There is no method to capture the vague definition of admission of a patient. Also, current methods and tools used to predict patients at risk of admission fail to deal with uncertainty in unplanned admission, LOS, patients- characteristics. The main objective of this paper is to deal with uncertainty in health system variables, and handles uncertain relationship among variables. An introduction of machine learning techniques along with statistical methods like Regression methods can be a proposed solution approach to handle uncertainty in health system variables. A model that adapts fuzzy methods to handle uncertain data and uncertain relationships can be an efficient solution to capture the vague definition of admission of a patient.Keywords: Admission, Fuzzy, Regression, Uncertainty
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14263774 Examination of Pre-Tender Budgeting Techniques for Mechanical and Electrical Services in Malaysia
Authors: Ganiyu Amuda Yusuf, Sarajul Fikri Mohamed
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The procurement and cost management approach adopted for mechanical and electrical (M&E) services in Malaysian construction industry have been criticized for its inefficiency. The study examined early cost estimating practices adopted for mechanical and electrical services (M&E) in Malaysia so as to understand the level of compliance of the current techniques with best practices. The methodology adopted for the study is a review of bidding documents used on both completed and on – going building projects awarded between 2008 – 2010 under 9th Malaysian Plan. The analysis revealed that, M&E services cost cannot be reliably estimated at pre-contract stage; the bidding techniques adopted for M&E services failed to provide uniform basis for contractors to submit tender; detailed measurement of items were not made which could complicate post contract cost control and financial management. The paper concluded that, there is need to follow a structured approach in determining the pre-contract cost estimate for M&E services which will serve as a virile tool for post contract cost control.
Keywords: Cost Management, Mechanical and Electrical Services, Procurement, Standard Method of Measurement
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19133773 Scaling up Detection Rates and Reducing False Positives in Intrusion Detection using NBTree
Authors: Dewan Md. Farid, Nguyen Huu Hoa, Jerome Darmont, Nouria Harbi, Mohammad Zahidur Rahman
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In this paper, we present a new learning algorithm for anomaly based network intrusion detection using improved self adaptive naïve Bayesian tree (NBTree), which induces a hybrid of decision tree and naïve Bayesian classifier. The proposed approach scales up the balance detections for different attack types and keeps the false positives at acceptable level in intrusion detection. In complex and dynamic large intrusion detection dataset, the detection accuracy of naïve Bayesian classifier does not scale up as well as decision tree. It has been successfully tested in other problem domains that naïve Bayesian tree improves the classification rates in large dataset. In naïve Bayesian tree nodes contain and split as regular decision-trees, but the leaves contain naïve Bayesian classifiers. The experimental results on KDD99 benchmark network intrusion detection dataset demonstrate that this new approach scales up the detection rates for different attack types and reduces false positives in network intrusion detection.Keywords: Detection rates, false positives, network intrusiondetection, naïve Bayesian tree.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22893772 A 3D Approach for Extraction of the Coronaryartery and Quantification of the Stenosis
Authors: Mahdi Mazinani, S. D. Qanadli, Rahil Hosseini, Tim Ellis, Jamshid Dehmeshki
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Segmentation and quantification of stenosis is an important task in assessing coronary artery disease. One of the main challenges is measuring the real diameter of curved vessels. Moreover, uncertainty in segmentation of different tissues in the narrow vessel is an important issue that affects accuracy. This paper proposes an algorithm to extract coronary arteries and measure the degree of stenosis. Markovian fuzzy clustering method is applied to model uncertainty arises from partial volume effect problem. The algorithm employs: segmentation, centreline extraction, estimation of orthogonal plane to centreline, measurement of the degree of stenosis. To evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility, the approach has been applied to a vascular phantom and the results are compared with real diameter. The results of 10 patient datasets have been visually judged by a qualified radiologist. The results reveal the superiority of the proposed method compared to the Conventional thresholding Method (CTM) on both datasets.Keywords: 3D coronary artery tree extraction, segmentation, quantification, fuzzy clustering, and Markov random field
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15863771 Adequacy of Object-Oriented Framework System-Based Testing Techniques
Authors: Jehad Al Dallal
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An application framework provides a reusable design and implementation for a family of software systems. If the framework contains defects, the defects will be passed on to the applications developed from the framework. Framework defects are hard to discover at the time the framework is instantiated. Therefore, it is important to remove all defects before instantiating the framework. In this paper, two measures for the adequacy of an object-oriented system-based testing technique are introduced. The measures assess the usefulness and uniqueness of the testing technique. The two measures are applied to experimentally compare the adequacy of two testing techniques introduced to test objectoriented frameworks at the system level. The two considered testing techniques are the New Framework Test Approach and Testing Frameworks Through Hooks (TFTH). The techniques are also compared analytically in terms of their coverage power of objectoriented aspects. The comparison study results show that the TFTH technique is better than the New Framework Test Approach in terms of usefulness degree, uniqueness degree, and coverage power.Keywords: Object-oriented framework, object-oriented framework testing, test case generation, testing adequacy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14353770 Complex Network Approach to International Trade of Fossil Fuel
Authors: Semanur Soyyiğit Kaya, Ercan Eren
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Energy has a prominent role for development of nations. Countries which have energy resources also have strategic power in the international trade of energy since it is essential for all stages of production in the economy. Thus, it is important for countries to analyze the weaknesses and strength of the system. On the other side, international trade is one of the fields that are analyzed as a complex network via network analysis. Complex network is one of the tools to analyze complex systems with heterogeneous agents and interaction between them. A complex network consists of nodes and the interactions between these nodes. Total properties which emerge as a result of these interactions are distinct from the sum of small parts (more or less) in complex systems. Thus, standard approaches to international trade are superficial to analyze these systems. Network analysis provides a new approach to analyze international trade as a network. In this network, countries constitute nodes and trade relations (export or import) constitute edges. It becomes possible to analyze international trade network in terms of high degree indicators which are specific to complex networks such as connectivity, clustering, assortativity/disassortativity, centrality, etc. In this analysis, international trade of crude oil and coal which are types of fossil fuel has been analyzed from 2005 to 2014 via network analysis. First, it has been analyzed in terms of some topological parameters such as density, transitivity, clustering etc. Afterwards, fitness to Pareto distribution has been analyzed via Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Finally, weighted HITS algorithm has been applied to the data as a centrality measure to determine the real prominence of countries in these trade networks. Weighted HITS algorithm is a strong tool to analyze the network by ranking countries with regards to prominence of their trade partners. We have calculated both an export centrality and an import centrality by applying w-HITS algorithm to the data. As a result, impacts of the trading countries have been presented in terms of high-degree indicators.Keywords: Complex network approach, fossil fuel, international trade, network theory.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23933769 Dependability Tools in Multi-Agent Support for Failures Analysis of Computer Networks
Authors: Myriam Noureddine
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During their activity, all systems must be operational without failures and in this context, the dependability concept is essential avoiding disruption of their function. As computer networks are systems with the same requirements of dependability, this article deals with an analysis of failures for a computer network. The proposed approach integrates specific tools of the plat-form KB3, usually applied in dependability studies of industrial systems. The methodology is supported by a multi-agent system formed by six agents grouped in three meta agents, dealing with two levels. The first level concerns a modeling step through a conceptual agent and a generating agent. The conceptual agent is dedicated to the building of the knowledge base from the system specifications written in the FIGARO language. The generating agent allows producing automatically both the structural model and a dependability model of the system. The second level, the simulation, shows the effects of the failures of the system through a simulation agent. The approach validation is obtained by its application on a specific computer network, giving an analysis of failures through their effects for the considered network.
Keywords: Computer network, dependability, KB3 plat-form, multi-agent system, failure.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6473768 A Practical Approach for Electricity Load Forecasting
Authors: T. Rashid, T. Kechadi
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This paper is a continuation of our daily energy peak load forecasting approach using our modified network which is part of the recurrent networks family and is called feed forward and feed back multi context artificial neural network (FFFB-MCANN). The inputs to the network were exogenous variables such as the previous and current change in the weather components, the previous and current status of the day and endogenous variables such as the past change in the loads. Endogenous variable such as the current change in the loads were used on the network output. Experiment shows that using endogenous and exogenous variables as inputs to the FFFBMCANN rather than either exogenous or endogenous variables as inputs to the same network produces better results. Experiments show that using the change in variables such as weather components and the change in the past load as inputs to the FFFB-MCANN rather than the absolute values for the weather components and past load as inputs to the same network has a dramatic impact and produce better accuracy.
Keywords: Daily peak load forecasting, feed forward and feedback multi-context neural network.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18573767 Forensic Speaker Verification in Noisy Environmental by Enhancing the Speech Signal Using ICA Approach
Authors: Ahmed Kamil Hasan Al-Ali, Bouchra Senadji, Ganesh Naik
Abstract:
We propose a system to real environmental noise and channel mismatch for forensic speaker verification systems. This method is based on suppressing various types of real environmental noise by using independent component analysis (ICA) algorithm. The enhanced speech signal is applied to mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) or MFCC feature warping to extract the essential characteristics of the speech signal. Channel effects are reduced using an intermediate vector (i-vector) and probabilistic linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) approach for classification. The proposed algorithm is evaluated by using an Australian forensic voice comparison database, combined with car, street and home noises from QUT-NOISE at a signal to noise ratio (SNR) ranging from -10 dB to 10 dB. Experimental results indicate that the MFCC feature warping-ICA achieves a reduction in equal error rate about (48.22%, 44.66%, and 50.07%) over using MFCC feature warping when the test speech signals are corrupted with random sessions of street, car, and home noises at -10 dB SNR.Keywords: Noisy forensic speaker verification, ICA algorithm, MFCC, MFCC feature warping.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9953766 Airfoils Aerodynamic Efficiency Study in Heavy Rain via Two Phase Flow Approach
Authors: M. Ismail, Cao Yihua, Zhao Ming
Abstract:
Heavy rainfall greatly affects the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. There are many accidents of aircraft caused by aerodynamic efficiency degradation by heavy rain. In this Paper we have studied the heavy rain effects on the aerodynamic efficiency of NACA 64-210 & NACA 0012 airfoils. For our analysis, CFD method and preprocessing grid generator are used as our main analytical tools, and the simulation of rain is accomplished via two phase flow approach-s Discrete Phase Model (DPM). Raindrops are assumed to be non-interacting, non-deforming, non-evaporating and non-spinning spheres. Both airfoil sections exhibited significant reduction in lift and increase in drag for a given lift condition in simulated rain. The most significant difference between these two airfoils was the sensitivity of the NACA 64-210 to liquid water content (LWC), while NACA 0012 performance losses in the rain environment is not a function of LWC . It is expected that the quantitative information gained in this paper will be useful to the operational airline industry and greater effort such as small scale and full scale flight tests should put in this direction to further improve aviation safety.
Keywords: airfoil, discrete phase modeling, heavy rain, Reynolds number
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 36553765 Optical 3D-Surface Reconstruction of Weak Textured Objects Based on an Approach of Disparity Stereo Inspection
Authors: Thomas Kerstein, Martin Laurowski, Philipp Klein, Michael Weyrich, Hubert Roth, Jürgen Wahrburg
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Optical 3D measurement of objects is meaningful in numerous industrial applications. In various cases shape acquisition of weak textured objects is essential. Examples are repetition parts made of plastic or ceramic such as housing parts or ceramic bottles as well as agricultural products like tubers. These parts are often conveyed in a wobbling way during the automated optical inspection. Thus, conventional 3D shape acquisition methods like laser scanning might fail. In this paper, a novel approach for acquiring 3D shape of weak textured and moving objects is presented. To facilitate such measurements an active stereo vision system with structured light is proposed. The system consists of multiple camera pairs and auxiliary laser pattern generators. It performs the shape acquisition within one shot and is beneficial for rapid inspection tasks. An experimental setup including hardware and software has been developed and implemented.Keywords: automated optical inspection, depth from structured light, stereo vision, surface reconstruction
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18483764 Unsupervised Outlier Detection in Streaming Data Using Weighted Clustering
Authors: Yogita, Durga Toshniwal
Abstract:
Outlier detection in streaming data is very challenging because streaming data cannot be scanned multiple times and also new concepts may keep evolving. Irrelevant attributes can be termed as noisy attributes and such attributes further magnify the challenge of working with data streams. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised outlier detection scheme for streaming data. This scheme is based on clustering as clustering is an unsupervised data mining task and it does not require labeled data, both density based and partitioning clustering are combined for outlier detection. In this scheme partitioning clustering is also used to assign weights to attributes depending upon their respective relevance and weights are adaptive. Weighted attributes are helpful to reduce or remove the effect of noisy attributes. Keeping in view the challenges of streaming data, the proposed scheme is incremental and adaptive to concept evolution. Experimental results on synthetic and real world data sets show that our proposed approach outperforms other existing approach (CORM) in terms of outlier detection rate, false alarm rate, and increasing percentages of outliers.
Keywords: Concept Evolution, Irrelevant Attributes, Streaming Data, Unsupervised Outlier Detection.
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