Search results for: Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM)

Authors: Ahmad Zahran, Ahmed Herzallah, Ahmad Ahmad, Mahran Quraan

Abstract:

Generation of high DC voltages is necessary for testing the insulation material of high voltage AC transmission lines with long lengths. The harmonic and ripple contents of the output DC voltage supplied by high voltage DC circuits require the use of costly capacitors to smooth the output voltage after rectification. This paper proposes a new modular multiplier high voltage DC generator with embedded Cockcroft-Walton circuits that achieve a negligible harmonic and ripple contents of the output DC voltage without the need for costly filters to produce a nearly constant output voltage. In this new topology, Cockcroft-Walton modules are connected in series to produce a high DC output voltage. The modules are supplied by low input AC voltage sources that have the same magnitude and frequency and shifted from each other by a certain angle to eliminate the harmonics from the output voltage. The small ripple factor is provided by the smoothing column capacitors and the phase shifted input voltages of the cascaded modules. The constituent harmonics within each module are determined using Fourier analysis. The viability of the proposed DC generator for testing purposes and the effectiveness of the cascaded connection are confirmed by numerical simulations using MATLAB/Simulink.

Keywords: Cockcroft-Walton circuit, Harmonics, Ripple factor, HVDC generator.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 829

Authors: Sidhartha Panda, N. P. Padhy

Abstract:

Recently, genetic algorithms (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique have attracted considerable attention among various modern heuristic optimization techniques. Since the two approaches are supposed to find a solution to a given objective function but employ different strategies and computational effort, it is appropriate to compare their performance. This paper presents the application and performance comparison of PSO and GA optimization techniques, for Thyristor Controlled Series Compensator (TCSC)-based controller design. The design objective is to enhance the power system stability. The design problem of the FACTS-based controller is formulated as an optimization problem and both the PSO and GA optimization techniques are employed to search for optimal controller parameters. The performance of both optimization techniques in terms of computational time and convergence rate is compared. Further, the optimized controllers are tested on a weakly connected power system subjected to different disturbances, and their performance is compared with the conventional power system stabilizer (CPSS). The eigenvalue analysis and non-linear simulation results are presented and compared to show the effectiveness of both the techniques in designing a TCSC-based controller, to enhance power system stability.

Keywords: Thyristor Controlled Series Compensator, geneticalgorithm; particle swarm optimization; Phillips-Heffron model;power system stability.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3152

Authors: Brian H. Marsh

Abstract:

Nitrogen fertility is an important component for optimum potato yield and quality. Best management practices are necessary in regards to N applications to achieve these goals without applying excess N with may contribute to ground water contamination. Eight potato fields in the Southern San Joaquin Valley were sampled for nitrogen inputs and uptake, tuber and vine dry matter and residual soil nitrate-N. The fields had substantial soil nitrate-N prior to the potato crop. Nitrogen fertilizer was applied prior to planting and in irrigation water as needed based on in-season petiole sampling in accordance with published recommendations. Average total nitrogen uptake was 237 kg ha^-1 on 63.5 Mg ha^-1 tuber yield and nitrogen use efficiency was very good at 81 percent. Sixty-nine percent of the plant nitrogen was removed in tubers. Soil nitrate-N increased 14 percent from pre-plant to post-harvest averaged across all fields and was generally situated in the upper soil profile. Irrigation timing and amount applied did not move water into the lower profile except for a single location where nitrate also moved into the lower soil profile. Pre-plant soil analysis is important information to be used. Rotation crops having deeper rooting growth would be able to utilize nitrogen that remained in the soil profile.

Keywords: Potato, nitrogen fertilization, leaching potential, irrigation management

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1707

Authors: MP. Mulaudzi, MA. Petersen, J. Mukuddem-Petersen , IM. Schoeman, B. de Waal, JM. Manale

Abstract:

This conference paper discusses a risk allocation problem for subprime investing banks involving investment in subprime structured mortgage products (SMPs) and Treasuries. In order to solve this problem, we develop a L'evy process-based model of jump diffusion-type for investment choice in subprime SMPs and Treasuries. This model incorporates subprime SMP losses for which credit default insurance in the form of credit default swaps (CDSs) can be purchased. In essence, we solve a mean swap-at-risk (SaR) optimization problem for investment which determines optimal allocation between SMPs and Treasuries subject to credit risk protection via CDSs. In this regard, SaR is indicative of how much protection investors must purchase from swap protection sellers in order to cover possible losses from SMP default. Here, SaR is defined in terms of value-at-risk (VaR). Finally, we provide an analysis of the aforementioned optimization problem and its connections with the subprime mortgage crisis (SMC).

Keywords: Investors; Jump Diffusion Process, Structured Mortgage Products, Treasuries, Credit Risk, Credit Default Swaps, Tranching Risk, Counterparty Risk, Value-at-Risk, Swaps-at-Risk, Subprime Mortgage Crisis.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1730

Authors: Su Xiaohan, Jin Chicheng, Liu Yijing, Burra Venkata Durga Kumar

Abstract:

Energy-aware scheduling in real-time systems aims to minimize energy consumption, but issues related to resource reservation and timing constraints remain challenges. This study focuses on analyzing two scheduling algorithms, Fair-Share Scheduling (FFS) and Priority-Driven Preemptive Scheduling (PDPS), for solving these issues and energy-aware scheduling in real-time systems. Based on research on both algorithms and the processes of solving two problems, it can be found that FFS ensures fair allocation of resources but needs to improve with an imbalanced system load. And PDPS prioritizes tasks based on criticality to meet timing constraints through preemption but relies heavily on task prioritization and may not be energy efficient. Therefore, improvements to both algorithms with energy-aware features will be proposed. Future work should focus on developing hybrid scheduling techniques that minimize energy consumption through intelligent task prioritization, resource allocation, and meeting time constraints.

Keywords: Energy-aware scheduling, fair-share scheduling, priority-driven preemptive scheduling, real-time systems, optimization, resource reservation, timing constraints.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Amir Hossein Ghaffari Nejad, Forouhar Ferdowsi, Reza Mashhadi

Abstract:

In the interest-free banking system of Iran, the savings of society are in the form of bank deposits, and banks using the Islamic contracts, allocate the resources to applicants for obtaining facilities and credit. In the meantime, the central bank, with the aim of introducing monetary policy, determines the maximum interest rate on bank deposits in terms of macroeconomic requirements. But in recent years, the country's economic constraints with the stagflation and the consequence of the institutional weaknesses of the financial market of Iran have resulted in massive disturbances in the balance sheet of the banking system, resulting in a period of mismatch maturity in the banks' assets and liabilities and the implementation of a Ponzi game. This issue caused determination of the interest rate in long-term bank deposit contracts to be associated with non-observance of the maximum rate set by the central bank. The result of this condition was in the allocation of new sources of equipment to meet past commitments towards the old depositors and, as a result, a significant part of the supply of equipment was leaked out of the facilitating cycle and credit crunch emerged. The purpose of this study is to identify the most important factors affecting the occurrence of non-confirmatory financial banking behavior using data from 19 public and private banks of Iran. For this purpose, the causes of this non-confirmatory behavior of banks have been investigated using the panel vector autoregression method (PVAR) for the period of 2007-2015. Granger's causality test results suggest that the return of parallel markets for bank deposits, non-performing loans and the high share of the ratio of facilities to banks' deposits are all a cause of the formation of non-confirmatory behavior. Also, according to the results of impulse response functions and variance decomposition, NPL and the ratio of facilities to deposits have the highest long-term effect and also have a high contribution to explaining the changes in banks' non-confirmatory behavior in determining the interest rate on deposits.

Keywords: Non-conformity behavior, Ponzi game, panel vector autoregression, nonperforming loans.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 865

Authors: Dakshina Ranjan Kisku, Hunny Mehrotra, Jamuna Kanta Sing, Phalguni Gupta

Abstract:

Identity verification of authentic persons by their multiview faces is a real valued problem in machine vision. Multiview faces are having difficulties due to non-linear representation in the feature space. This paper illustrates the usability of the generalization of LDA in the form of canonical covariate for face recognition to multiview faces. In the proposed work, the Gabor filter bank is used to extract facial features that characterized by spatial frequency, spatial locality and orientation. Gabor face representation captures substantial amount of variations of the face instances that often occurs due to illumination, pose and facial expression changes. Convolution of Gabor filter bank to face images of rotated profile views produce Gabor faces with high dimensional features vectors. Canonical covariate is then used to Gabor faces to reduce the high dimensional feature spaces into low dimensional subspaces. Finally, support vector machines are trained with canonical sub-spaces that contain reduced set of features and perform recognition task. The proposed system is evaluated with UMIST face database. The experiment results demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed system with high recognition rates.

Keywords: Biometrics, Multiview face Recognition, Gaborwavelets, LDA, SVM.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1502

Authors: Mohamed M. Ragab, Neveen A. Abdel Raoof, Reham H. Diab

Abstract:

Background: Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is the most common symptom when ordinary individuals and athletes are exposed to unaccustomed physical activity, especially eccentric contraction which impairs athletic performance, ordinary people work ability and physical functioning. Multitudes of methods have been investigated to reduce DOMS. One of the valuable methods to control DOMS is repeated bout effect (RBE) as a prophylactic method. Purpose: To compare the repeated bout effect of submaximal eccentric with maximal isometric contraction on induced DOMS. Methods: Sixty normal male volunteers were assigned randomly into three equal groups: Group A (first study group): 20 subjects received submaximal eccentric contraction on non-dominant elbow flexors as a prophylactic exercise. Group B (second study group): 20 subjects received maximal isometric contraction on nondominant elbow flexors as a prophylactic exercise. Group C (control group): 20 subjects did not receive any prophylactic exercises. Maximal isometric peak torque of elbow flexors and patient related elbow evaluation (PREE) scale were measured for each subject 3 times before, immediately after, and 48 hours after induction of DOMS. Results: Post-hoc test for maximal isometric peak torque and PREE scale immediately and 48 hours after induction of DOMS revealed that group (A) and group (B) resulted in significant decrease in maximal isometric strength loss and elbow pain and disability rather than control group (C), but submaximal eccentric group (A) was more effective than maximal isometric group (B) as it showed more rapid recovery of functional strength and less degrees of elbow pain and disability. Conclusion: Both submaximal eccentric contraction and maximal isometric contraction were effective in prevention of DOMS but submaximal eccentric contraction produced a greater protective effect against muscle damage induced by maximal eccentric exercise performed 2 days later.

Keywords: Delayed onset muscle soreness, maximal isometric peak torque, patient related elbow evaluation scale, repeated bout effect.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2088

Authors: Z. Ezzouine, A. Nakheli

Abstract:

This paper presents a high position electromagnetic sensor system (HPESS) that is applicable for moving object detection. The authors have developed a high-performance position sensor prototype dedicated to students’ laboratory. The challenge was to obtain a highly accurate and real-time sensor that is able to calculate position, length or displacement. An electromagnetic solution based on a two coil induction principal was adopted. The HPESS converts mechanical motion to electric energy with direct contact. The output signal can then be fed to an electronic circuit. The voltage output change from the sensor is captured by data acquisition system using LabVIEW software. The displacement of the moving object is determined. The measured data are transmitted to a PC in real-time via a DAQ (NI USB -6281). This paper also describes the data acquisition analysis and the conditioning card developed specially for sensor signal monitoring. The data is then recorded and viewed using a user interface written using National Instrument LabVIEW software. On-line displays of time and voltage of the sensor signal provide a user-friendly data acquisition interface. The sensor provides an uncomplicated, accurate, reliable, inexpensive transducer for highly sophisticated control systems.

Keywords: Electromagnetic sensor, data acquisition, accurately, position measurement.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 960

Authors: N. Kudaibergenova, S. Edilbay, S. Rysbekova, Zh. Amirkulova, G. Zhumatayev

Abstract:

Confucius was a fifth-century BCE Chinese thinker whose influence upon East Asian intellectual and social history is immeasurable. Better known is in China as “Master Kong”. As a culturally symbolic figure, he has been alternately idealized, deified, dismissed, vilified, and rehabilitated over the millennia by both Asian and non-Asian thinkers and regimes. Given his extraordinary impact on Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese thought, it is ironic that so little can be known about Confucius. The tradition that bears his name – “Confucianizm” (Chinese: Rujia) – ultimately traces itself to the sayings and biographical fragments recorded in the text known as the Analects (Chinese: Lunyu). In the Analects, two types of persons are opposed to one another – not in terms of basic potential, but in terms of developed potential. These are the junzi (literally, “lord’s son” or “gentleman”) and the xiaoren (“small person”). The junzi is the person who always manifests the quality of ren in his person and the displays the quality of lee in his actions. In this article examines the category of the ideal man and the spiritual and moral values of the philosophy of Confucius. According to Confucius high-morality Jun-zi is characterized by two things: a sense of humanity and duty. This article provides an analysis of the ethical category for the ideal man. 

Keywords: Confucius, Humanity, Men Zi, Lun Yui, Ideal man, Zhun Yun.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2757

Authors: M. Cuevas-González, O. Monserrat, A. Barra, C. Reyes-Carmona, R. M. Mateos, J. P. Galve, R. Sarro, M. Cantalejo, E. Peña, M. Martínez-Corbella, J. A. Luque, J. M. Azañón, A. Millares, M. Béjar, J. A. Navarro, L. Solari

Abstract:

Geohazard prone areas require continuous monitoring to detect risks, understand the phenomena occurring in those regions and prevent disasters. Satellite interferometry (InSAR) has come to be a trustworthy technique for ground movement detection and monitoring in the last few years. InSAR based techniques allow to process large areas providing high number of displacement measurements at low cost. However, the results provided by such techniques are usually not easy to interpret by non-experienced users hampering its use for decision makers. This work presents a set of tools developed in the framework of different projects (Momit, Safety, U-Geohaz, Riskcoast) and an example of their use in the Granada Coastal area (Spain) is shown. The ADA (Active Displacement Areas) tool has been developed with the aim of easing the management, use and interpretation of InSAR based results. It provides a semi-automatic extraction of the most significant ADAs through the application ADAFinder tool. This tool aims to support the exploitation of the European Ground Motion Service (EU-GMS), which will offer reliable and systematic information on natural and anthropogenic ground motion phenomena across Europe.

Keywords: Ground displacements, InSAR, natural hazards, satellite imagery.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 409

Authors: S. K. Bhullar, J. Ko, F. Ahmed, M. B. G. Jun

Abstract:

The negative Poisson’s ratios can be described in terms of models based on the geometry of the system and the way this geometry changes due to applied loads. As the Poisson’s ratio does not depend on scale hence deformation can take place at the nano to macro level the only requirement is the right combination of the geometry. Our thrust in this paper is to combine our knowledge of tailored enhanced mechanical properties of the materials having negative Poisson’s ratio with the micromachining and electrospining technology to develop a novel stent carrying a drug delivery system. Therefore, the objective of this paper includes (i) fabrication of a micromachined metal sheet tailored with structure having negative Poisson’s ratio through rotating solid squares geometry using femtosecond laser ablation; (ii) rolling fabricated structure and welding to make a tubular structure (iii) wrapping it with nanofibers of biocompatible polymer PCL (polycaprolactone) for drug delivery (iv) analysis of the functional and mechanical performance of fabricated structure analytically and experimentally. Further, as the applications concerned, tubular structures have potential in biomedical for example hollow tubes called stents are placed inside to provide mechanical support to a damaged artery or diseased region and to open a blocked esophagus thus allowing feeding capacity and improving quality of life.

Keywords: Micromachining, electrospining, auxetic materials, enhanced mechanical properties.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3686

Authors: Yeonjeong Lee, Kyoung-jae Kim, Youngtae Kim

Abstract:

This study proposes a novel recommender system that uses data mining and multi-model ensemble techniques to enhance the recommendation performance through reflecting the precise user’s preference. The proposed model consists of two steps. In the first step, this study uses logistic regression, decision trees, and artificial neural networks to predict customers who have high likelihood to purchase products in each product group. Then, this study combines the results of each predictor using the multi-model ensemble techniques such as bagging and bumping. In the second step, this study uses the market basket analysis to extract association rules for co-purchased products. Finally, the system selects customers who have high likelihood to purchase products in each product group and recommends proper products from same or different product groups to them through above two steps. We test the usability of the proposed system by using prototype and real-world transaction and profile data. In addition, we survey about user satisfaction for the recommended product list from the proposed system and the randomly selected product lists. The results also show that the proposed system may be useful in real-world online shopping store.

Keywords: Product recommender system, Ensemble technique, Association rules, Decision tree, Artificial neural networks.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4220

Authors: H. Salonen, E. Castagnoli, C. Vornanen-Winqvist, R. Mikkola, C. Duchaine, L. Morawska, J. Kurnitski

Abstract:

A wide range of health effects among occupants are associated with the exposure to bioaerosols from fungal sources. Although the accurate role of these aerosols in causing the symptoms and diseases is poorly understood, the important effect of bioaerosol exposure on human health is well recognized. Thus, there is a need to determine all of the contributing factors related to the concentration of fungi in indoor air. In this study, we reviewed and summarized the different factors affecting the concentrations of viable fungi in school buildings. The literature research was conducted using Pubmed and Google Scholar. In addition, we searched the lists of references of selected articles. According to the literature, the main factors influencing the concentration of viable fungi in the school buildings are moisture damage in building structures, the season (temperature and humidity conditions), the type and rate of ventilation, the number and activities of occupants and diurnal variations. This study offers valuable information that can be used in the interpretation of the fungal analysis and to decrease microbial exposure by reducing known sources and/or contributing factors. However, more studies of different local factors contributing to the human microbial exposure in school buildings—as well as other type of buildings and different indoor environments—are needed.

Keywords: Fungi, concentration, indoor, school, contributing factor.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1033

Authors: M. Bevilacqua, F. E. Ciarapica, G. Marcucci

Abstract:

Supply Chain Resilience has been broadly studied during the last decade, focusing the research on many aspects of Supply Chain performance. Consequently, different definitions of Supply Chain Resilience have been developed by the research community, drawing inspiration also from other fields of study such as ecology, sociology, psychology, economy et al. This way, the definitions so far developed in the extant literature are therefore very heterogeneous, and many authors have pointed out a lack of consensus in this field of analysis. The aim of this research is to find common points between these definitions, through the development of a framework of study: the Resilience Triangle. The Resilience Triangle is a tool developed in the field of civil engineering, with the objective of modeling the loss of resilience of a given structure during and after the occurrence of a disruption such as an earthquake. The Resilience Triangle is a simple yet powerful tool: in our opinion, it can summarize all the features that authors have captured in the Supply Chain Resilience definitions over the years. This research intends to recapitulate within this framework all these heterogeneities in Supply Chain Resilience research. After collecting a various number of Supply Chain Resilience definitions present in the extant literature, the methodology approach provides a taxonomy step with the scope of collecting and analyzing all the data gathered. The next step provides the comparison of the data obtained with the plotting of a disruption profile, in order to contextualize the Resilience Triangle in the Supply Chain context. The tool and the results developed in this research will allow to lay the foundation for future Supply Chain Resilience modeling and measurement work.

Keywords: Supply chain resilience, resilience definition, supply chain resilience triangle.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2705

Authors: Mugabe Nzarama Gabriel

Abstract:

In Rwanda, many healthcare organizations are still using a paper based patients’ data record system although it still present weaknesses to share health patients’ information across different services when necessary. In developed countries, the EHR has been put in place to revolutionize the paper based record system but still the EHR has some challenges related to privacy, security, or interoperability. The purpose of this research was to assess the existing patients’ data record system in healthcare sector in Rwanda, see what an EHR can improve to the system in place and assess the acceptance of EHR as system which is interoperable, very secure and interoperable and see whether stakeholders are ready to adopt the system. The case based methodology was used and TAM theoretical framework to design the questionnaire for the survey. A judgmental sample across two cases, CHUB and Hopital de Nemba, has been selected and SPSS has been used for descriptive statistics. After a qualitative analysis, the findings showed that the paper based record is useful, gives complete information about the patient, protects the privacy of patients but it is still less secure and less interoperable. The respondents shown that they are ready to use the proposed EHR System and want it secure, capable of enforcing the privacy but still they are not all ready for the interoperability. A conclusion has been formulated; recommendations and further research have been proposed.

Keywords: EHR system, healthcare service, TAM, privacy, interoperability.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1101

Authors: Shi Zhang

Abstract:

This paper aims to introduce the allopatry of national college entrance examination which allow migrant students enter senior high schools and take college entrance exam where they live, identifies the reasons affect the implementation of this policy in the Chinese context. Most of China’s provinces and municipalities recently have announced new policies regarding national college entrance exams for non-local students. The paper conducts SWOT analysis reveals the opportunities, strength, weakness and challenges of the scheme, so as to discuss the implementation strategies from the perspectives of idea and institution. The research findings imply that the government should take a more positive attitude toward relaxing the allopatry of NCEE policy restrictions, and promote the reform household registration policy and NCEE policy with synchronous operations. Higher education institutions should explore the diversification of enrollment model; the government should issue the authority of universities and colleges to select elite migrant students beyond the restrictions of NCEE. To suit reform policies to local conditions, the big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou should publish related compensate measures for children of migrant workers access to higher vocational colleges with tuition fee waivered. 

Keywords: College entrance examination, higher education, education policy, education equality.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2679

Authors: J. P. Dubois, H. M. Chiu

Abstract:

In this paper, we study statistical multiplexing of VBR video in ATM networks. ATM promises to provide high speed realtime multi-point to central video transmission for telemedicine applications in rural hospitals and in emergency medical services. Video coders are known to produce variable bit rate (VBR) signals and the effects of aggregating these VBR signals need to be determined in order to design a telemedicine network infrastructure capable of carrying these signals. We first model the VBR video signal and simulate it using a generic continuous-data autoregressive (AR) scheme. We carry out the queueing analysis by the Fluid Approximation Model (FAM) and the Markov Modulated Poisson Process (MMPP). The study has shown a trade off: multiplexing VBR signals reduces burstiness and improves resource utilization, however, the buffer size needs to be increased with an associated economic cost. We also show that the MMPP model and the Fluid Approximation model fit best, respectively, the cell region and the burst region. Therefore, a hybrid MMPP and FAM completely characterizes the overall performance of the ATM statistical multiplexer. The ramifications of this technology are clear: speed, reliability (lower loss rate and jitter), and increased capacity in video transmission for telemedicine. With migration to full IP-based networks still a long way to achieving both high speed and high quality of service, the proposed ATM architecture will remain of significant use for telemedicine.

Keywords: ATM, multiplexing, queueing, telemedicine, VBR.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1743

Authors: F. P. Chew, Z. Ishak

Abstract:

Malay Folk Literature in early childhood education served as an important agent in child development that involved emotional, thinking and language aspects. Up to this moment not much research has been carried out in Malaysia particularly in the teaching and learning aspects nor has there been an effort to publish “big books." Hence this article will discuss the stance taken by university undergraduate students, teachers and parents in evaluating Malay Folk Literature in early childhood education to be used as big books. The data collated and analyzed were taken from 646 respondents comprising 347 undergraduates and 299 teachers. Results of the study indicated that Malay Folk Literature can be absorbed into teaching and learning for early childhood with a mean of 4.25 while it can be in big books with a mean of 4.14. Meanwhile the highest mean value required for placing Malay Folk Literature genre as big books in early childhood education rests on exemplary stories for undergraduates with mean of 4.47; animal fables for teachers with a mean of 4.38. The lowest mean value of 3.57 is given to lipurlara stories. The most popular Malay Folk Literature found suitable for early children is Sang Kancil and the Crocodile, followed by Bawang Putih Bawang Merah. Pak Padir, Legends of Mahsuri, Origin of Malacca, and Origin of Rainbow are among the popular stories as well. Overall the undergraduates show a positive attitude toward all the items compared to teachers. The t-test analysis has revealed a non significant relationship between the undergraduate students and teachers with all the items for the teaching and learning of Malay Folk Literature.

Keywords: Big Book, Early Childhood Education, Malay FolkLiterature

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4301

Authors: Siri-orn Champatong

Abstract:

The purpose of this research was to study five vital factors related to employees’ job performance. A total of 250 respondents were sampled from employees who worked at a public warehouse organization, Bangkok, Thailand. Samples were divided into two groups according to their work experience. The average working experience was about 9 years for group one and 28 years for group two. A questionnaire was utilized as a tool to collect data. Statistics utilized in this research included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test analysis, one way ANOVA, and Pearson Product-moment correlation coefficient. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The findings disclosed that the majority of respondents were female between 23- 31 years old, single, and hold an undergraduate degree. The average income of respondents was less than 30,900 baht. The findings also revealed that the factors of organization chart awareness, job process and technology, internal environment, employee loyalty, and policy and management were ranked as medium level. The hypotheses testing revealed that difference in gender, age, and position had differences in terms of the awareness of organization chart, job process and technology, internal environment, employee loyalty, and policy and management in the same direction with low level.

Keywords: Employees, Factors Related, Job Performance, Public Warehouse Organization.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1646

Authors: Kuntal Thakkar, Chaouki Ghenai, Ahmed Hachicha

Abstract:

An integrated modeling approach was used in this study for energy planning and climate change mitigation assessment. The main objective of this study was to develop various green-house gas (GHG) mitigations scenarios in the energy demand and supply sectors for the state of Florida. The Long range energy alternative planning (LEAP) model was used in this study to examine the energy alternative and GHG emissions reduction scenarios for short and long term (2010-2050). One of the energy analysis and GHG mitigation scenarios was developed by taking into account the available renewable energy resources potential for power generation in the state of Florida. This will help to compare and analyze the GHG reduction measure against “Business As Usual” and ‘State of Florida Policy” scenarios. Two master scenarios: “Electrification” and “Energy efficiency and Lifestyle” were developed through combination of various mitigation scenarios: technological changes and energy efficiency and conservation. The results show a net reduction of the energy demand and GHG emissions by adopting these two energy scenarios compared to the business as usual.

Keywords: Integrated modeling, energy planning, climate change mitigation assessment, greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, energy efficiency.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1780

Authors: L. Bennaceur Farah, I. R. Farah, R. Bennaceur, Z. Belhadj, M. R. Boussema

Abstract:

The overall objective of this paper is to retrieve soil surfaces parameters namely, roughness and soil moisture related to the dielectric constant by inverting the radar backscattered signal from natural soil surfaces. Because the classical description of roughness using statistical parameters like the correlation length doesn't lead to satisfactory results to predict radar backscattering, we used a multi-scale roughness description using the wavelet transform and the Mallat algorithm. In this description, the surface is considered as a superposition of a finite number of one-dimensional Gaussian processes each having a spatial scale. A second step in this study consisted in adapting a direct model simulating radar backscattering namely the small perturbation model to this multi-scale surface description. We investigated the impact of this description on radar backscattering through a sensitivity analysis of backscattering coefficient to the multi-scale roughness parameters. To perform the inversion of the small perturbation multi-scale scattering model (MLS SPM) we used a multi-layer neural network architecture trained by backpropagation learning rule. The inversion leads to satisfactory results with a relative uncertainty of 8%.

Keywords: Remote sensing, rough surfaces, inverse problems, SAR, radar scattering, Neural networks and Fractals.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1594

Authors: Oday Al-Mamoori, J. Enrique Martinez-Rueda

Abstract:

'C' shape yielding devices (C-devices) are effective tools for introducing supplemental sources of energy dissipation by hysteresis. Studies have shown that C-devices made of mild steel can be successfully applied as integral parts of seismic retrofitting schemes. However, explicit modelling of these devices can become cumbersome, expensive and time consuming. The device under study in this article has been previously used in non-invasive dissipative bracing for seismic retrofitting. The device is cut from a mild steel plate and has an overall shape that resembles that of a rectangular portal frame with circular interior corner transitions to avoid stress concentration and to control the extension of the dissipative region of the device. A number of inelastic finite element (FE) analyses using either inelastic 2D plane stress elements or inelastic fibre frame elements are reported and used to calibrate a 1D equivalent inelastic spring model that effectively reproduces the cyclic response of the device. The more elaborate FE model accounts for the frictional forces developed between the steel plate and the bolts used to connect the C-device to structural members. FE results also allow the visualization of the inelastic regions of the device where energy dissipation is expected to occur. FE analysis results are in a good agreement with experimental observations.

Keywords: C-device, equivalent nonlinear spring, FE analyses, reversed cyclic tests.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 794

Authors: R.S.Sabeenian, V.Palanisamy

Abstract:

Texture classification is a trendy and a catchy technology in the field of texture analysis. Textures, the repeated patterns, have different frequency components along different orientations. Our work is based on Texture Classification and its applications. It finds its applications in various fields like Medical Image Classification, Computer Vision, Remote Sensing, Agricultural Field, and Textile Industry. Weed control has a major effect on agriculture. A large amount of herbicide has been used for controlling weeds in agriculture fields, lawns, golf courses, sport fields, etc. Random spraying of herbicides does not meet the exact requirement of the field. Certain areas in field have more weed patches than estimated. So, we need a visual system that can discriminate weeds from the field image which will reduce or even eliminate the amount of herbicide used. This would allow farmers to not use any herbicides or only apply them where they are needed. A machine vision precision automated weed control system could reduce the usage of chemicals in crop fields. In this paper, an intelligent system for automatic weeding strategy Multi Resolution Combined Statistical & spatial Frequency is used to discriminate the weeds from the crops and to classify them as narrow, little and broad weeds.

Keywords: crop weed discrimination, MRCSF, MRFM, Weeddetection, Spatial Frequency.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1826

Authors: Ekesa B. Nakhauka, De Lange M., Macharia I., Garming H., Ouma E., Birachi E., Van Asten P., Van-Lauwe B., Blomme G.

Abstract:

Impact of adopting products promoted by the Consortium for Improving Agriculture-based livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA) on food and nutrition security was tested. Multi-stage sampling was used to select 7 project mandate areas, 5 villages/mandate area (stratified into action, satellite and control sites) and 913 households. Structured questionnaires were administered; analysis of impact based on comparison between stratums, differences in means tested by ANOVA and significance of difference obtained by Tukey's HSD multiple rank tests. Perception of adequate food sufficiency received a higher rating in action and satellite sites compared to control sites reason being improved agricultural technologies. For >60% of households, worsened food security was due to climatic conditions. Although a higher proportion of households in action and satellite was meeting calorie RDIs in DRC and Burundi the difference was insignificant from control sites. 53% of respondents in control sites indicated a decrease in intake of protein rich foods, this was significantly higher than the proportion in the action (46%) and satellite (41%) sites.

Keywords: Food security, Farmer-households, Nutrition security

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2017

Authors: Atef. A. Ata, Sohair F. Rezeka, Ahmed El-Shenawy, Mohammed Diab

Abstract:

Image processing in today’s world grabs massive attentions as it leads to possibilities of broaden application in many fields of high technology. The real challenge is how to improve existing sorting system applications which consists of two integrated stations of processing and handling with a new image processing feature. Existing color sorting techniques use a set of inductive, capacitive, and optical sensors to differentiate object color. This research presents a mechatronic color sorting system solution with the application of image processing. A 5-DOF robot arm is designed and developed with pick and place operation to act as the main part of the color sorting system. Image processing procedure senses the circular objects in an image captured in real time by a webcam fixed at the end-effector then extracts color and position information out of it. This information is passed as a sequence of sorting commands to the manipulator that has pick-and-place mechanism. Performance analysis proves that this color based object sorting system works accurately under ideal condition in term of adequate illumination, circular objects shape and color. The circular objects tested for sorting are red, green and blue. For non-ideal condition, such as unspecified color the accuracy reduces to 80%.

Keywords: Robotics manipulator, 5-DOF manipulator, image processing, Color sorting, Pick-and-place.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4216

Authors: Fan Li, Chun-Hsien Chen, Li Pheng Khoo

Abstract:

Operators of vessel traffic service (VTS) center provides three different types of services; namely information service, navigational assistance and traffic organization to vessels. To provide these services, operators monitor vessel traffic through computer interface and provide navigational advice based on the information integrated from multiple sources, including automatic identification system (AIS), radar system, and closed circuit television (CCTV) system. Therefore, this information is crucial in VTS operation. However, what information the VTS operator actually need to efficiently and properly offer services is unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate into information requirements for VTS operation. To achieve this aim, field observation was carried out to elicit the information requirements for VTS operation. The study revealed that the most frequent and important tasks were handling arrival vessel report, potential conflict control and abeam vessel report. Current location and vessel name were used in all tasks. Hazard cargo information was particularly required when operators handle arrival vessel report. The speed, the course, and the distance of two or several vessels were only used in potential conflict control. The information requirements identified in this study can be utilized in designing a human-computer interface that takes into consideration what and when information should be displayed, and might be further used to build the foundation of a decision support system for VTS.

Keywords: Vessel traffic service, information requirements, hierarchy task analysis, field observation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1590

Authors: Mohammad Syuhaimi Ab-Rahman, Boonchuan Ng, Kasmiran Jumari

Abstract:

This paper presented a MATLAB-based system named Smart Access Network Testing, Analyzing and Database (SANTAD), purposely for in-service transmission surveillance and self restoration against fiber fault in fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) access network. The developed program will be installed with optical line terminal (OLT) at central office (CO) to monitor the status and detect any fiber fault that occurs in FTTH downwardly from CO towards residential customer locations. SANTAD is interfaced with optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) to accumulate every network testing result to be displayed on a single computer screen for further analysis. This program will identify and present the parameters of each optical fiber line such as the line's status either in working or nonworking condition, magnitude of decreasing at each point, failure location, and other details as shown in the OTDR's screen. The failure status will be delivered to field engineers for promptly actions, meanwhile the failure line will be diverted to protection line to ensure the traffic flow continuously. This approach has a bright prospect to improve the survivability and reliability as well as increase the efficiency and monitoring capabilities in FTTH.

Keywords: MATLAB, SANTAD, in-service transmission surveillance, self restoration, fiber fault, FTTH

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2114

Authors: Blandína Šramová, Gabriel Bianchi, Barbara Lášticová, Katarína Fichnová, Anežka Hamranová

Abstract:

The contribution deals with analysis of identity style at adolescents (N=463) at the age from 16 to 19 (the average age is 17,7 years). We used the Identity Style Inventory by Berzonsky, distinguishing three basic, measured identity styles: informational, normative, diffuse-avoidant identity style and also commitment. The informational identity style influencing on personal adaptability, coping strategies, quality of life and the normative identity style, it means the style in which an individual takes on models of authorities at self-defining were found to have the highest representation in the studied group of adolescents by higher scores at girls in comparison with boys. The normative identity style positively correlates with the informational identity style. The diffuse-avoidant identity style was found to be positively associated with maladaptive decisional strategies, neuroticism and depressive reactions. There is the style, in which the individual shifts aside defining his personality. In our research sample the lowest score represents it and negatively correlates with commitment, it means with coping strategies, thrust in oneself and the surrounding world. The age of adolescents did not significantly differentiate representation of identity style. We were finding the model, in which informational and normative identity style had positive relationship and the informational and diffuseavoidant style had negative relationship, which were determinated with commitment. In the same time the commitment is influenced with other outside factors.

Keywords: Identity Style Inventory, Informational IdentityStyle, Normative Identity Style, Diffuse-Avoidant Style, IdentityCommitment.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1595

Authors: Reham A. El-mayet, Hesham M. El-Badawy, Salwa H. Elramly

Abstract:

New generation mobile communication networks have the ability of supporting triple play. In order that, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) access techniques have been chosen to enlarge the system ability for high data rates networks. Many of cross-layer modeling and optimization schemes for Quality of Service (QoS) and capacity of downlink multiuser OFDM system were proposed. In this paper, the Maximum Weighted Capacity (MWC) based resource allocation at the Physical (PHY) layer is used. This resource allocation scheme provides a much better QoS than the previous resource allocation schemes, while maintaining the highest or nearly highest capacity and costing similar complexity. In addition, the Delay Satisfaction (DS) scheduling at the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, which allows more than one connection to be served in each slot is used. This scheduling technique is more efficient than conventional scheduling to investigate both of the number of users as well as the number of subcarriers against system capacity. The system will be optimized for different operational environments: the outdoor deployment scenarios as well as the indoor deployment scenarios are investigated and also for different channel models. In addition, effective capacity approach [1] is used not only for providing QoS for different mobile users, but also to increase the total wireless network's throughput.

Keywords: Cross-layer, effective capacity, LTE, OFDM, QoS, resource allocation, wireless networks.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1795