Search results for: class testing
639 Palmprint based Cancelable Biometric Authentication System
Authors: Ying-Han Pang, Andrew Teoh Beng Jin, David Ngo Chek Ling
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A cancelable palmprint authentication system proposed in this paper is specifically designed to overcome the limitations of the contemporary biometric authentication system. In this proposed system, Geometric and pseudo Zernike moments are employed as feature extractors to transform palmprint image into a lower dimensional compact feature representation. Before moment computation, wavelet transform is adopted to decompose palmprint image into lower resolution and dimensional frequency subbands. This reduces the computational load of moment calculation drastically. The generated wavelet-moment based feature representation is used to generate cancelable verification key with a set of random data. This private binary key can be canceled and replaced. Besides that, this key also possesses high data capture offset tolerance, with highly correlated bit strings for intra-class population. This property allows a clear separation of the genuine and imposter populations, as well as zero Equal Error Rate achievement, which is hardly gained in the conventional biometric based authentication system.Keywords: Cancelable biometric authenticator, Discrete- Hashing, Moments, Palmprint.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1564638 Usage of Military Spending, Debt Servicing and Growth for Dealing with Emergency Plan of Indian External Debt
Authors: Sahbi Farhani
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This study investigates the relationship between external debt and military spending in case of India over the period of 1970–2012. In doing so, we have applied the structural break unit root tests to examine stationarity properties of the variables. The Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach is used to test whether cointegration exists in presence of structural breaks stemming in the series. Our results indicate the cointegration among external debt, military spending, debt servicing, and economic growth. Moreover, military spending and debt servicing add in external debt. Economic growth helps in lowering external debt. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) analysis and Granger causality test reveal that military spending and economic growth cause external debt. The feedback effect also exists between external debt and debt servicing in case of India.
Keywords: External debt, military spending, ARDL approach, structural breaks, India.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1444637 Remedying Students’ Misconceptions in Learning of Chemical Bonding and Spontaneity through Intervention Discussion Learning Model (IDLM)
Authors: Ihuarulam Ambrose Ikenna
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In the past few decades, the field of chemistry education has grown tremendously and researches indicated that after traditional chemistry instruction students often lacked deep conceptual understanding and failed to integrate their ideas into coherent conceptual framework. For several concepts in chemistry, students at all levels have demonstrated difficulty in changing their initial perceptions. Their perceptions are most often wrong and don't agree with correct scientific concepts. This study explored the effectiveness of intervention discussion sections for a college general chemistry course designed to apply research on students preconceptions, knowledge integration and student explanation. Three interventions discussions lasting three hours on bond energy and spontaneity were done tested and intervention (treatment) students’ performances were compared with that of control group which did not use the experimental pedagogy. Results indicated that this instruction which was capable of identifying students' misconceptions, initial conceptions and integrating those ideas into class discussion led to enhanced conceptual understanding and better achievement for the experimental group.
Keywords: Intervention Discussion Learning Model, Learning, Remedying, Students’ misconceptions.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2538636 Optimising Data Transmission in Heterogeneous Sensor Networks
Authors: M. Hammerton, J. Trevathan, T. Myers, W. Read
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The transfer rate of messages in distributed sensor network applications is a critical factor in a system's performance. The Sensor Abstraction Layer (SAL) is one such system. SAL is a middleware integration platform for abstracting sensor specific technology in order to integrate heterogeneous types of sensors in a network. SAL uses Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) as its connection method, which has unsatisfying transfer rates, especially for streaming data. This paper analyses different connection methods to optimize data transmission in SAL by replacing RMI. Our results show that the most promising Java-based connections were frameworks for Java New Input/Output (NIO) including Apache MINA, JBoss Netty, and xSocket. A test environment was implemented to evaluate each respective framework based on transfer rate, resource usage, and scalability. Test results showed the most suitable connection method to improve data transmission in SAL JBoss Netty as it provides a performance enhancement of 68%.
Keywords: Wireless sensor networks, remote method invocation, transmission time.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2036635 Study of Debonding of Composite Material from a Deforming Concrete Beam Using Infrared Thermography
Authors: Igor Shardakov, Anton Bykov, Alexey Shestakov, Irina Glot
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This article focuses on the cycle of experimental studies of the formation of cracks and debondings in the concrete reinforced with carbon fiber. This research was carried out in Perm National Research Polytechnic University. A series of CFRP-strengthened RC beams was tested to investigate the influence of preload and crack repairing factors on CFRP debonding. IRT was applied to detect the early stage of IC debonding during the laboratory bending tests. It was found that for the beams strengthened under load after crack injecting, СFRP debonding strain is 4-65% lower than for the preliminary strengthened beams. The beams strengthened under the load had a relative area of debonding of 2 times higher than preliminary strengthened beams. The СFRP debonding strain is weakly dependent on the strength of the concrete substrate. For beams with a transverse wrapping anchorage in support sections FRP debonding is not a failure mode.
Keywords: FRP, RC beams, strengthening, IC debonding, infrared thermography, quality control, non-destructive testing methods.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1328634 Planning a Supply Chain with Risk and Environmental Objectives
Authors: Ghanima Al-Sharrah, Haitham M. Lababidi, Yusuf I. Ali
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The main objective of the current work is to introduce sustainability factors in optimizing the supply chain model for process industries. The supply chain models are normally based on purely economic considerations related to costs and profits. To account for sustainability, two additional factors have been introduced; environment and risk. A supply chain for an entire petroleum organization has been considered for implementing and testing the proposed optimization models. The environmental and risk factors were introduced as indicators reflecting the anticipated impact of the optimal production scenarios on sustainability. The aggregation method used in extending the single objective function to multi-objective function is proven to be quite effective in balancing the contribution of each objective term. The results indicate that introducing sustainability factor would slightly reduce the economic benefit while improving the environmental and risk reduction performances of the process industries.Keywords: Supply chain, optimization, LP models, risk, environmental indicators, multi-objective.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1499633 Chemical Degradation of Dieldrin using Ferric Sulfide and Iron Powder
Authors: Junko Hara, Yoshishige Kawabe, Takeshi Komai, Chihiro Inoue
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The chemical degradation of dieldrin in ferric sulfide and iron powder aqueous suspension was investigated in laboratory batch type experiments. To identify the reaction mechanism, reduced copper was used as reductant. More than 90% of dieldrin was degraded using both reaction systems after 29 days. Initial degradation rate of the pesticide using ferric sulfide was superior to that using iron powder. The reaction schemes were completely dissimilar even though the ferric ion plays an important role in both reaction systems. In the case of metallic iron powder, dieldrin undergoes partial dechlorination. This reaction proceeded by reductive hydrodechlorination with the generation of H+, which arise by oxidation of ferric iron. This reductive reaction was accelerated by reductant but mono-dechlorination intermediates were accumulated. On the other hand, oxidative degradation was observed in the reaction with ferric sulfide, and the stable chemical structure of dieldrin was decomposed into water-soluble intermediates. These reaction intermediates have no chemical structure of drin class. This dehalogenation reaction assumes to occur via the adsorbed hydroxyl radial generated on the surface of ferric sulfide.Keywords: Dieldrin, kinetics, pesticide residue, soil remediation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2489632 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Dynamics Modeling and Performance Evaluation
Authors: K. M. Tan, A. Anvar, T.F. Lu
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A sophisticated simulator provides a cost-effective measure to carry out preliminary mission testing and diagnostic while reducing potential failures for real life at sea trials. The presented simulation framework covers three key areas: AUV modeling, sensor modeling, and environment modeling. AUV modeling mainly covers the area of AUV dynamics. Sensor modeling deals with physics and mathematical models that govern each sensor installed onto the AUV. Environment model incorporates the hydrostatic, hydrodynamics, and ocean currents that will affect the AUV in a real-time mission. Based on this designed simulation framework, custom scenarios provided by the user can be modeled and its corresponding behaviors can be observed. This paper focuses on the accuracy of the simulated data from AUV model and environmental model derived from a developed AUV test-bed which was jointly upgraded by DSTO and the University of Adelaide. The main contribution of this paper is to experimentally verify the accuracy of the proposed simulation framework.
Keywords: Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), simulator, framework, robotics, maritime robot, modeling.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4730631 Interaction of Building Stones with Inorganic Water-Soluble Salts
Authors: Z. Pavlík, J. Žumár, M. Pavlíková, R. Černý
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Interaction of inorganic water-soluble salts and building stones is studied in the paper. Two types of sandstone and one type of spongillite as representatives of materials used in historical masonry are subjected to experimental testing. Within the performed experiments, measurement of moisture and chloride concentration profiles is done in order to get input data for computational inverse analysis. Using the inverse analysis, moisture diffusivity and chloride diffusion coefficient of investigated materials are accessed. Additionally, the effect of salt presence on water vapor storage is investigated using dynamic vapor sorption device. The obtained data represents valuable information for restoration of historical masonry and give evidence on the performance of studied stones in contact with water soluble salts.
Keywords: Moisture and chloride transport, sandstone, spongillite, moisture diffusivity, chloride diffusion coefficient.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1829630 Effect of Different Moisture States of Surface-Treated Recycled Concrete Aggregate on Properties of Fresh and Hardened Concrete
Authors: Sallehan Ismail, Mahyuddin Ramli
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This study examined the properties of fresh and hardened concretes as influenced by the moisture state of the coarse recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) after surface treatment. Surface treatment was performed by immersing the coarse RCA in a calcium metasilicate (CM) solution. The treated coarse RCA was maintained in three controlled moisture states, namely, air-dried, oven-dried, and saturated surface-dried (SSD), prior to its use in a concrete mix. The physical properties of coarse RCA were evaluated after surface treatment during the first phase of the experiment to determine the density and the water absorption characteristics of the RCA. The second phase involved the evaluation of the slump, slump loss, density, and compressive strength of the concretes that were prepared with different proportions of natural and treated coarse RCA. Controlling the moisture state of the coarse RCA after surface treatment was found to significantly influence the properties of the fresh and hardened concretes.
Keywords: Moisture state, recycled concrete aggregate, surface treatment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3243629 Segmenting Ultrasound B-Mode Images Using RiIG Distributions and Stochastic Optimization
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In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm for delineating the endocardial wall from a human heart ultrasound scan. We assume that the gray levels in the ultrasound images are independent and identically distributed random variables with different Rician Inverse Gaussian (RiIG) distributions. Both synthetic and real clinical data will be used for testing the algorithm. Algorithm performance will be evaluated using the expert radiologist evaluation of a soft copy of an ultrasound scan during the scanning process and secondly, doctor’s conclusion after going through a printed copy of the same scan. Successful implementation of this algorithm should make it possible to differentiate normal from abnormal soft tissue and help disease identification, what stage the disease is in and how best to treat the patient. We hope that an automated system that uses this algorithm will be useful in public hospitals especially in Third World countries where problems such as shortage of skilled radiologists and shortage of ultrasound machines are common. These public hospitals are usually the first and last stop for most patients in these countries.
Keywords: Endorcardial Wall, Rician Inverse Distributions, Segmentation, Ultrasound Images.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1572628 Methods for Distinction of Cattle Using Supervised Learning
Authors: Radoslav Židek, Veronika Šidlová, Radovan Kasarda, Birgit Fuerst-Waltl
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Machine learning represents a set of topics dealing with the creation and evaluation of algorithms that facilitate pattern recognition, classification, and prediction, based on models derived from existing data. The data can present identification patterns which are used to classify into groups. The result of the analysis is the pattern which can be used for identification of data set without the need to obtain input data used for creation of this pattern. An important requirement in this process is careful data preparation validation of model used and its suitable interpretation. For breeders, it is important to know the origin of animals from the point of the genetic diversity. In case of missing pedigree information, other methods can be used for traceability of animal´s origin. Genetic diversity written in genetic data is holding relatively useful information to identify animals originated from individual countries. We can conclude that the application of data mining for molecular genetic data using supervised learning is an appropriate tool for hypothesis testing and identifying an individual.
Keywords: Genetic data, Pinzgau cattle, supervised learning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2317627 The Cooperative Learning Management in the Course of Principles of Mathematics for Graduate Level
Authors: Komon Paisal
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The aim of this research was to create collaborative learning activities in the course of Principles of Mathematics for graduate level by investigating the students’ ability in proving the mathematics principles as well as their attitudes towards the activities. The samples composed of 2 main group; lecturers and students. The lecturers consisted of 3 teachers who taught the course of Principles of Mathematics at Rajabhat Suan Sunandha Unicersity in the academic year 2012. The students consisted of 32 students joining the cooperative learning activities in the subject of Principles of Mathematics in the academic year 2012. The research tools included activity plan for cooperative learning, testing on mathematics with the reliability of 0.8067 and the attitude questionnaires reported by the students. The results showed that: 1) the efficiency of the developed cooperative learning activities was 69.76/ 68.57 which was lower than the set criteria at 70/70. 2) The students joining the cooperative learning activities were able to prove the principles of mathematics at the average of 70%. 3) The students joining the cooperative learning activities reported moderate attitude towards the activities.
Keywords: Instructional Design, Pedagogical, Teaching/ Learning Strategies.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1685626 Asymptotic Stabilization of an Active Magnetic Bearing System using LMI-based Sliding Mode Control
Authors: Abdul Rashid Husain, Mohamad Noh Ahmad, Abdul Halim Mohd. Yatim
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In this paper, stabilization of an Active Magnetic Bearing (AMB) system with varying rotor speed using Sliding Mode Control (SMC) technique is considered. The gyroscopic effect inherited in the system is proportional to rotor speed in which this nonlinearity effect causes high system instability as the rotor speed increases. Also, transformation of the AMB dynamic model into a new class of uncertain system shows that this gyroscopic effect lies in the mismatched part of the system matrix. Moreover, the current gain parameter is allowed to be varied in a known bound as an uncertainty in the input matrix. SMC design method is proposed in which the sufficient condition that guarantees the global exponential stability of the reduced-order system is represented in Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI). Then, a new chattering-free control law is established such that the system states are driven to reach the switching surface and stay on it thereafter. The performance of the controller applied to the AMB model is demonstrated through simulation works under various system conditions.
Keywords: Active Magnetic Bearing (AMB), Sliding ModeControl (SMC), Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI), mismatcheduncertainty.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1521625 Website Evaluation of Travel Agencies Class A in Saudi Arabia and Egypt Using Extended Version of Internet Commerce Adoption Model: A Comparative Study
Authors: Tarek Abdel Azim Ahmed, Eman Sarhan Shaker
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This research aims to explore how well the extended model of internet commerce adoption (eMICA) model is often used to determine the extent of internet commerce adoption in the travel agencies sector in both Egypt and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The web content analysis method was used to analyze the level of adoption of Egyptian travel agencies and Saudi travel agencies according to data immensely available on their websites. Therefore, each site was categorized according to the phases and levels proposed. In order to achieve this, 120 websites were evaluated by the two authors over a three-month period, from August to October 2020, and then categorized according to the phases and levels of (eMICA). The results show that there are deficiencies in the application of the eMICA model by both KSA and Egyptian travel agencies, generally, updating their websites, the absence of quality certification, offering secure online payment, virtual tours, and videos using Flash animation. In general, the Egyptian companies slightly outperformed the KSA ones in applying eMICA model.
Keywords: e-commerce, eMICA, Internet marketing, travel agencies, websites.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 654624 The Use of Rice Husk Ash as a Stabilizing Agent in Lateritic Clay Soil
Authors: J. O. Akinyele, R. W. Salim, K. O. Oikelome, O. T. Olateju
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Rice Husk (RH) is the major byproduct in the processing of paddy rice. The management of this waste has become a big challenge to some of the rice producers, some of these wastes are left in open dumps while some are burn in the open space, and these two actions have been contributing to environmental pollution. This study evaluates an alternative waste management of this agricultural product for use as a civil engineering material. The RH was burn in a controlled environment to form Rice Husk Ash (RHA). The RHA was mix with lateritic clay at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% proportion by weight. Chemical test was conducted on the open burn and controlled burn RHA with the lateritic clay. Physical test such as particle size distribution, Atterberg limits test, and density test were carried out on the mix material. The chemical composition obtained for the RHA showed that the total percentage compositions of Fe2O3, SiO2 and Al2O3 were found to be above 70% (class “F” pozzolan) which qualifies it as a very good pozzolan. The coefficient of uniformity (Cu) was 8 and coefficient of curvature (Cc) was 2 for the soil sample. The Plasticity Index (PI) for the 0, 2, 4, 6, 8. 10% was 21.0, 18.8, 16.7, 14.4, 12.4 and 10.7 respectively. The work concluded that RHA can be effectively used in hydraulic barriers and as a stabilizing agent in soil stabilization.Keywords: Rice husk ash, pozzolans, paddy rice, lateritic clay.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2833623 Implementation of a Low-Cost Instrumentation for an Open Cycle Wind Tunnel to Evaluate Pressure Coefficient
Authors: Cristian P. Topa, Esteban A. Valencia, Victor H. Hidalgo, Marco A. Martinez
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Wind tunnel experiments for aerodynamic profiles display numerous advantages, such as: clean steady laminar flow, controlled environmental conditions, streamlines visualization, and real data acquisition. However, the experiment instrumentation usually is expensive, and hence, each test implies a incremented in design cost. The aim of this work is to select and implement a low-cost static pressure data acquisition system for a NACA 2412 airfoil in an open cycle wind tunnel. This work compares wind tunnel experiment with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation and parametric analysis. The experiment was evaluated at Reynolds of 1.65 e5, with increasing angles from -5° to 15°. The comparison between the approaches show good enough accuracy, between the experiment and CFD, additional parametric analysis results differ widely from the other methods, which complies with the lack of accuracy of the lateral approach due its simplicity.Keywords: Wind tunnel, low cost instrumentation, experimental testing, CFD simulation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 813622 A High Accuracy Measurement Circuit for Soil Moisture Detection
Authors: Sheroz Khan, A. H. M. Zahirul Alam, Othman O. Khalifa, Mohd Rafiqul Islam, Zuraidah Zainudin, Muzna S. Khan, Nurul Iman Muhamad Pauzi
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The study of soil for agriculture purposes has remained the main focus of research since the beginning of civilization as humans- food related requirements remained closely linked with the soil. The study of soil has generated an interest among the researchers for very similar other reasons including transmission, reflection and refraction of signals for deploying wireless underground sensor networks or for the monitoring of objects on (or in ) soil in the form of better understanding of soil electromagnetic characteristics properties. The moisture content has been very instrumental in such studies as it decides on the resistance of the soil, and hence the attenuation on signals traveling through soil or the attenuation the signals may suffer upon their impact on soil. This work is related testing and characterizing a measurement circuit meant for the detection of moisture level content in soil.Keywords: Analog–digital Conversion, Bridge Circuits, Intelligent sensors, Pulse Time Modulation, Relaxation Oscillator
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4022621 HaskellFL: A Tool for Detecting Logical Errors in Haskell
Authors: Vanessa Vasconcelos, Mariza A. S. Bigonha
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Understanding and using the functional paradigm is a challenge for many programmers. Looking for logical errors in code may take a lot of a developer’s time when a program grows in size. In order to facilitate both processes, this paper presents HaskellFL, a tool that uses fault localization techniques to locate a logical error in Haskell code. The Haskell subset used in this work is sufficiently expressive for those studying Functional Programming to get immediate help debugging their code and to answer questions about key concepts associated with the functional paradigm. HaskellFL was tested against Functional Programming assignments submitted by students enrolled at the Functional Programming class at the Federal University of Minas Gerais and against exercises from the Exercism Haskell track that are publicly available in GitHub. This work also evaluated the effectiveness of two fault localization techniques, Tarantula and Ochiai, in the Haskell context. Furthermore, the EXAM score was chosen to evaluate the tool’s effectiveness, and results showed that HaskellFL reduced the effort needed to locate an error for all tested scenarios. The results also showed that the Ochiai method was more effective than Tarantula.
Keywords: Debug, fault localization, functional programming, Haskell.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 730620 An Algorithm for an Optimal Staffing Problem in Open Shop Environment
Authors: Daniela I. Borissova, Ivan C. Mustakerov
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The paper addresses a problem of optimal staffing in open shop environment. The problem is to determine the optimal number of operators serving a given number of machines to fulfill the number of independent operations while minimizing staff idle. Using a Gantt chart presentation of the problem it is modeled as twodimensional cutting stock problem. A mixed-integer programming model is used to get minimal job processing time (makespan) for fixed number of machines' operators. An algorithm for optimal openshop staffing is developed based on iterative solving of the formulated optimization task. The execution of the developed algorithm provides optimal number of machines' operators in the sense of minimum staff idle and optimal makespan for that number of operators. The proposed algorithm is tested numerically for a real life staffing problem. The testing results show the practical applicability for similar open shop staffing problems.Keywords: Integer programming, open shop problem, optimal staffing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3317619 Eco-Friendly Preservative Treated Bamboo Culm: Compressive Strength Analysis
Authors: Perminder JitKaur, Santosh Satya, K. K. Pant, S. N. Naik
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Bamboo is extensively used in construction industry. Low durability of bamboo due to fungus infestation and termites attack under storage puts certain constrains for it usage as modern structural material. Looking at many chemical formulations for bamboo treatment leading to severe harmful environment effects, research on eco-friendly preservatives for bamboo treatment has been initiated world-over. In the present studies, eco-friendly preservative for bamboo treatment has been developed. To validate its application for structural purposes, investigation of effect of treatment on compressive strength has been investigated. Neemoil (25%) integrated with copper naphthenate (0.3%) on dilution with kerosene oil impregnated into bamboo culm at 2 bar pressure, has shown weight loss of only 3.15% in soil block analysis method. The results from compressive strength analysis using HEICO Automatic Compression Testing Machine reveal that preservative treatment has not altered the structural properties of bamboo culms. Compressive strength of control (11.72 N/mm2) and above treated samples (11.71 N/mm2) was found to be comparable.
Keywords: Compressive strength, D. strictus bamboo, Ecofriendly treatment, neem oil.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3444618 An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Selected Macroeconomic Variables on Capital Formation in Libya (1970–2010)
Authors: Khaled Ramadan Elbeydi
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This study is carried out to provide an insight into the analysis of the impact of selected macro-economic variables on gross fixed capital formation in Libya using annual data over the period (1970-2010). The importance of this study comes from the ability to show the relative important factors that impact the Libyan gross fixed capital formation. This understanding would give indications to decision makers on which policy they must focus to stimulate the economy. An Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) modeling process is employed to investigate the impact of the Gross Domestic Product, Monetary Base and Trade Openness on Gross Fixed Capital Formation in Libya. The results of this study reveal that there is an equilibrium relationship between capital formation and its determinants. The results also indicate that GDP and trade openness largely explain the pattern of capital formation in Libya. The findings and recommendations provide vital information relevant for policy formulation and implementation aimed to improve capital formation in Libya.
Keywords: ARDL, Bounds test, capital formation, Cointegration, Libya.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1727617 A Hybrid Classification Method using Artificial Neural Network Based Decision Tree for Automatic Sleep Scoring
Authors: Haoyu Ma, Bin Hu, Mike Jackson, Jingzhi Yan, Wen Zhao
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In this paper we propose a new classification method for automatic sleep scoring using an artificial neural network based decision tree. It attempts to treat sleep scoring progress as a series of two-class problems and solves them with a decision tree made up of a group of neural network classifiers, each of which uses a special feature set and is aimed at only one specific sleep stage in order to maximize the classification effect. A single electroencephalogram (EEG) signal is used for our analysis rather than depending on multiple biological signals, which makes greatly simplifies the data acquisition process. Experimental results demonstrate that the average epoch by epoch agreement between the visual and the proposed method in separating 30s wakefulness+S1, REM, S2 and SWS epochs was 88.83%. This study shows that the proposed method performed well in all the four stages, and can effectively limit error propagation at the same time. It could, therefore, be an efficient method for automatic sleep scoring. Additionally, since it requires only a small volume of data it could be suited to pervasive applications.
Keywords: Sleep, Sleep stage, Automatic sleep scoring, Electroencephalography, Decision tree, Artificial neural network
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2070616 Simulator Dynamic Positioning System with Azimuthal Thruster
Authors: Robson C. Santos, Christian N. Barreto, Gerson G. Cunha, Severino J. C. Neto
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This paper aims to project the construction of a prototype azimuthal thruster, mounted with materials of low cost and easy access, testing in a controlled environment to measure their performance, characteristics and feasibility of future projects. The construction of the simulation of dynamic positioning software, responsible for simulating a vessel and reposition it when necessary. Validation tests were performed in the form of partial or complete system. These tests validate the system manually or automatically. The system provides an interface to the user and simulates the conditions unfavorable positioning of a vessel, accurately calculates the azimuth angle, the direction of rotation of the helix and the time that this should be turned on so that the vessel back to position original. A serial communication connects the Simulation Dynamic Positioning System with Embedded System causing the usergenerated data to simulate the DP system arrives in the form of control signals to the motors of the propellant. This article addresses issues in the marine industry employees.Keywords: Azimuthal Thruster, Dynamic Positioning, Embedded System.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2777615 A study of Cancer-related MicroRNAs through Expression Data and Literature Search
Authors: Chien-Hung Huang, Chia-Wei Weng, Chang-Chih Chiang, Shih-Hua Wu, Chih-Hsien Huang, Ka-Lok Ng
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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs that hybridize to mRNAs and induce either translation repression or mRNA cleavage. Recently, it has been reported that miRNAs could possibly play an important role in human diseases. By integrating miRNA target genes, cancer genes, miRNA and mRNA expression profiles information, a database is developed to link miRNAs to cancer target genes. The database provides experimentally verified human miRNA target genes information, including oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. In addition, fragile sites information for miRNAs, and the strength of the correlation of miRNA and its target mRNA expression level for nine tissue types are computed, which serve as an indicator for suggesting miRNAs could play a role in human cancer. The database is freely accessible at http://ppi.bioinfo.asia.edu.tw/mirna_target/index.html.Keywords: MicroRNA, miRNA expression profile, mRNAexpression profile, cancer genes, oncogene, tumor suppressor gene
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1534614 A Context-Aware based Authorization System for Pervasive Grid Computing
Authors: Marilyn Lim Chien Hui, Nabil Elmarzouqi, Chan Huah Yong
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This paper describes the authorization system architecture for Pervasive Grid environment. It discusses the characteristics of classical authorization system and requirements of the authorization system in pervasive grid environment as well. Based on our analysis of current systems and taking into account the main requirements of such pervasive environment, we propose new authorization system architecture as an extension of the existing grid authorization mechanisms. This architecture not only supports user attributes but also context attributes which act as a key concept for context-awareness thought. The architecture allows authorization of users dynamically when there are changes in the pervasive grid environment. For this, we opt for hybrid authorization method that integrates push and pull mechanisms to combine the existing grid authorization attributes with dynamic context assertions. We will investigate the proposed architecture using a real testing environment that includes heterogeneous pervasive grid infrastructures mapped over multiple virtual organizations. Various scenarios are described in the last section of the article to strengthen the proposed mechanism with different facilities for the authorization procedure.Keywords: Pervasive Grid, Authorization System, Contextawareness, Ubiquity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2152613 A New Performance Characterization of Transient Analysis Method
Authors: José Peralta, Gabriela Peretti, Eduardo Romero, Carlos Marqués
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This paper proposes a new performance characterization for the test strategy intended for second order filters denominated Transient Analysis Method (TRAM). We evaluate the ability of the addressed test strategy for detecting deviation faults under simultaneous statistical fluctuation of the non-faulty parameters. For this purpose, we use Monte Carlo simulations and a fault model that considers as faulty only one component of the filter under test while the others components adopt random values (within their tolerance band) obtained from their statistical distributions. The new data reported here show (for the filters under study) the presence of hard-to-test components and relatively low fault coverage values for small deviation faults. These results suggest that the fault coverage value obtained using only nominal values for the non-faulty components (the traditional evaluation of TRAM) seem to be a poor predictor of the test performance.
Keywords: testing, fault analysis, analog filter test, parametric faults detection.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1463612 Biodegradable Cellulose-Based Materials for the Use in Food Packaging
Authors: Azza A. Al-Ghamdi, Abir S. Abdel-Naby
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Cellulose acetate (CA) is a natural biodegradable polymer. It forms transparent films by the casting technique. CA suffers from high degree of water permeability as well as the low thermal stability at high temperatures. To adjust the CA polymeric films to the manufacture of food packaging, its thermal and mechanical properties should be improved. The modification of CA by grafting it with N-Amino phenyl maleimide (N-APhM) led to the construction of hydrophobic branches throughout the polymeric matrix which reduced its wettability as compared to the parent CA. The branches built onto the polymeric chains had been characterized by UV/Vis, 13C-NMR and ESEM. The improvement of the thermal properties was investigated and compared to the parent CA using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), differential thermal analysis (DTA), contact angle and mechanical testing measurements. The results revealed that the water-uptake was reduced by increasing the graft percentage. The thermal and mechanical properties were also improved.
Keywords: Cellulose acetate, food packaging, graft copolymerization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1592611 Motivation Factors to Influence the Decision to Choose Thai Fabric
Authors: Pisit Potjanajaruwit
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The purpose of this research was to study the motivation factors to influence the decision to choose Thai Fabric. A multiple-stage sample was utilized to collect 400 samples from working women who had diverse occupations all over Thailand. This research was a quantitative analysis and questionnaire was used a tool to collect data. Descriptive statistics used in this research included percentage, average, and standard deviation and inferential statistics included hypothesis testing of one way ANOVA. The research findings revealed that demographic factors and social factors had an influence to the positive idea of wearing Thai fabric (F = 5.377, P value < 0.05). The respondents who had the age over 41 years old had a better positive idea of wearing Thai fabric than other groups. Moreover, the findings revealed that age had influenced the positive idea of wearing Thai fabric (F = 3.918, P value < 0.05). The respondents who had the age over 41 years old also had stronger believe that wearing Thai fabric to work and social gatherings are socially acceptable than other groups.
Keywords: Decision, Motivation, Influence, Thai Fabric.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2009610 Triadic Relationship of Icon Design for Semi-Literate Communities
Authors: Peng-Hui Maffee Wan, Klarissa Ting Ting Chang, Rax Suen Chun Lung
Abstract:
Icons, or pictorial and graphical objects, are commonly used in human-computer interaction (HCI) fields as the mediator in order to communicate information to users. Yet there has been little studies focusing on a majority of the world’s population – semi-literate communities – in terms of the fundamental knowhow for designing icons for such population. In this study, two sets of icons belonging in different icon taxonomy – abstract and concrete – are designed for a mobile application for semi-literate agricultural communities. In this paper, we propose a triadic relationship of an icon, namely meaning, task and mental image, which inherits the triadic relationship of a sign. User testing with the application and a post-pilot questionnaire are conducted as the experimental approach in two rural villages in India. Icons belonging to concrete taxonomy perform better than abstract icons on the premise that the design of the icon fulfills the underlying rules of the proposed triadic relationship.Keywords: Icon, GUI, mobile app, semi-literate.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1877