Search results for: tool.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1662

Search results for: tool.

312 Computer Software Applicable in Rehabilitation, Cardiology and Molecular Biology

Authors: P. Kowalska, P. Gabka, K. Kamieniarz, M. Kamieniarz, W. Stryla, P. Guzik, T. Krauze

Abstract:

We have developed a computer program consisting of 6 subtests assessing the children hand dexterity applicable in the rehabilitation medicine. We have carried out a normative study on a representative sample of 285 children aged from 7 to 15 (mean age 11.3) and we have proposed clinical standards for three age groups (7-9, 9-11, 12-15 years). We have shown statistical significance of differences among the corresponding mean values of the task time completion. We have also found a strong correlation between the task time completion and the age of the subjects, as well as we have performed the test-retest reliability checks in the sample of 84 children, giving the high values of the Pearson coefficients for the dominant and non-dominant hand in the range 0.740.97 and 0.620.93, respectively. A new MATLAB-based programming tool aiming at analysis of cardiologic RR intervals and blood pressure descriptors, is worked out, too. For each set of data, ten different parameters are extracted: 2 in time domain, 4 in frequency domain and 4 in Poincaré plot analysis. In addition twelve different parameters of baroreflex sensitivity are calculated. All these data sets can be visualized in time domain together with their power spectra and Poincaré plots. If available, the respiratory oscillation curves can be also plotted for comparison. Another application processes biological data obtained from BLAST analysis.

Keywords: Biomedical data base processing, Computer software, Hand dexterity, Heart rate and blood pressure variability.

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311 Operational Software Maturity: An Aerospace Industry Analysis

Authors: Raúl González Muñoz, Essam Shehab, Martin Weinitzke, Chris Fowler, Paul Baguley

Abstract:

Software applications have become crucial to the aerospace industry, providing a wide range of functionalities and capabilities used during the design, manufacturing and support of aircraft. However, as this criticality increases, so too does the risk for business operations when facing a software failure. Hence, there is a need for new methodologies to be developed to support aerospace companies in effectively managing their software portfolios, avoiding the hazards of business disruption and additional costs. This paper aims to provide a definition of operational software maturity, and how this can be used to assess software operational behaviour, as well as a view on the different aspects that drive software maturity within the aerospace industry. The key research question addressed is, how can operational software maturity monitoring assist the aerospace industry in effectively managing large software portfolios? This question has been addressed by conducting an in depth review of current literature, by working closely with aerospace professionals and by running an industry case study within a major aircraft manufacturer. The results are a software maturity model composed of a set of drivers and a prototype tool used for the testing and validation of the research findings. By utilising these methodologies to assess the operational maturity of software applications in aerospace, benefits in maintenance activities and operations disruption avoidance have been observed, supporting business cases for system improvement.

Keywords: Aerospace, capability maturity model, software maturity, software lifecycle.

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310 Detection and Classification of Faults on Parallel Transmission Lines Using Wavelet Transform and Neural Network

Authors: V.S.Kale, S.R.Bhide, P.P.Bedekar, G.V.K.Mohan

Abstract:

The protection of parallel transmission lines has been a challenging task due to mutual coupling between the adjacent circuits of the line. This paper presents a novel scheme for detection and classification of faults on parallel transmission lines. The proposed approach uses combination of wavelet transform and neural network, to solve the problem. While wavelet transform is a powerful mathematical tool which can be employed as a fast and very effective means of analyzing power system transient signals, artificial neural network has a ability to classify non-linear relationship between measured signals by identifying different patterns of the associated signals. The proposed algorithm consists of time-frequency analysis of fault generated transients using wavelet transform, followed by pattern recognition using artificial neural network to identify the type of the fault. MATLAB/Simulink is used to generate fault signals and verify the correctness of the algorithm. The adaptive discrimination scheme is tested by simulating different types of fault and varying fault resistance, fault location and fault inception time, on a given power system model. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme for fault diagnosis is able to classify all the faults on the parallel transmission line rapidly and correctly.

Keywords: Artificial neural network, fault detection and classification, parallel transmission lines, wavelet transform.

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309 A Microcontroller Implementation of Constrained Model Predictive Control

Authors: Amira Kheriji Abbes, Faouzi Bouani, Mekki Ksouri

Abstract:

Model Predictive Control (MPC) is an established control technique in a wide range of process industries. The reason for this success is its ability to handle multivariable systems and systems having input, output or state constraints. Neverthless comparing to PID controller, the implementation of the MPC in miniaturized devices like Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) and microcontrollers has historically been very small scale due to its complexity in implementation and its computation time requirement. At the same time, such embedded technologies have become an enabler for future manufacturing enterprisers as well as a transformer of organizations and markets. In this work, we take advantage of these recent advances in this area in the deployment of one of the most studied and applied control technique in the industrial engineering. In this paper, we propose an efficient firmware for the implementation of constrained MPC in the performed STM32 microcontroller using interior point method. Indeed, performances study shows good execution speed and low computational burden. These results encourage to develop predictive control algorithms to be programmed in industrial standard processes. The PID anti windup controller was also implemented in the STM32 in order to make a performance comparison with the MPC. The main features of the proposed constrained MPC framework are illustrated through two examples.

Keywords: Embedded software, microcontroller, constrainedModel Predictive Control, interior point method, PID antiwindup, Keil tool, C/Cµ language.

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308 A Study on the Attractiveness of Heavy Duty Motorcycle

Authors: Kaishuan Shen, Pan Changyu, Yuhsiang Lu, Zongshao Liu, Chishxsin Chuang, Minyuan Ma

Abstract:

The culture of riding heavy motorcycles originates from advanced countries and mainly comes from Europe, North America, and Japan. Heavy duty motorcycle riders are different from people who view motorcycles as a convenient mean of transportation. They regard riding them as a kind of enjoyment and high-level taste. The activities of riding heavy duty motorcycles have formes a distinctive landscape in domestic land in Taiwan. Previous studies which explored motorcycle culture in Taiwan still focused on the objects of motorcycle engine displacement under 50 cc.. The study aims to study the heavy duty motorcycles of engine displacement over 550 cc. and explores where their attractiveness is. For finding the attractiveness of heavy duty motorcycle, the study chooses Miryoku Engineering (Preference-Based Design) approach. Two steps are adopted to proceed the research. First, through arranging the letters obtained from interviewing experts, EGM (The Evaluation Grid Method) was applied to find out the structure of attractiveness. The attractive styles are eye-dazzling, leisure, classic, and racing competitive styles. Secondarily, Quantification Theory Type I analysis was adopted as a tool for analyzing the importance of attractiveness. The relationship between style and attractive parts was also discussed. The results could contribute to the design and research development of heavy duty motorcycle industry in Taiwan.

Keywords: attractiveness, evaluation, heavy dutymotorcycle, miryoku engineering

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307 Promoting Authenticity in Employer Brands to Address the Global-Local Problem in Complex Organisations: The Case of a Developing Country

Authors: Saud A. Taj

Abstract:

Employer branding is considered as a useful tool for addressing the global-local problem facing complex organisations that have operations scattered across the globe and face challenges of dealing with the local environment alongside. Despite being an established field of study within the Western developed world, there is little empirical evidence concerning the relevance of employer branding to global companies that operate in the under-developed economies. This paper fills this gap by gaining rich insight into the implementation of employer branding programs in a foreign multinational operating in Pakistan dealing with the global-local problem. The study is qualitative in nature and employs semistructured and focus group interviews with senior/middle managers and local frontline employees to deeply examine the phenomenon in case organisation. Findings suggest that authenticity is required in employer brands to enable them to respond to the local needs thereby leading to the resolution of the global-local problem. However, the role of signaling theory is key to the development of authentic employer brands as it stresses on the need to establish an efficient and effective signaling environment where in signals travel in both directions (from signal designers to receivers and backwards) and facilitate firms with the global-local problem. The paper also identifies future avenues of research for the employer branding field.

Keywords: Authenticity, Counter-signals, Employer Branding, Global-Local Problem, Signaling Theory.

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306 Effect of Flowrate and Coolant Temperature on the Efficiency of Progressive Freeze Concentration on Simulated Wastewater

Authors: M. Jusoh, R. Mohd Yunus, M. A. Abu Hassan

Abstract:

Freeze concentration freezes or crystallises the water molecules out as ice crystals and leaves behind a highly concentrated solution. In conventional suspension freeze concentration where ice crystals formed as a suspension in the mother liquor, separation of ice is difficult. The size of the ice crystals is still very limited which will require usage of scraped surface heat exchangers, which is very expensive and accounted for approximately 30% of the capital cost. This research is conducted using a newer method of freeze concentration, which is progressive freeze concentration. Ice crystals were formed as a layer on the designed heat exchanger surface. In this particular research, a helical structured copper crystallisation chamber was designed and fabricated. The effect of two operating conditions on the performance of the newly designed crystallisation chamber was investigated, which are circulation flowrate and coolant temperature. The performance of the design was evaluated by the effective partition constant, K, calculated from the volume and concentration of the solid and liquid phase. The system was also monitored by a data acquisition tool in order to see the temperature profile throughout the process. On completing the experimental work, it was found that higher flowrate resulted in a lower K, which translated into high efficiency. The efficiency is the highest at 1000 ml/min. It was also found that the process gives the highest efficiency at a coolant temperature of -6 °C.

Keywords: Freeze concentration, progressive freeze concentration, freeze wastewater treatment, ice crystals.

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305 Influence of Slope Shape and Surface Roughness on the Moving Paths of a Single Rockfall

Authors: Iau-Teh Wang, Chin-Yu Lee

Abstract:

Rockfall is a kind of irregular geological disaster. Its destruction time, space and movements are highly random. The impact force is determined by the way and velocity rocks move. The movement velocity of a rockfall depends on slope gradient of its moving paths, height, slope surface roughness and rock shapes. For effectively mitigate and prevent disasters brought by rockfalls, it is required to precisely calculate the moving paths of a rockfall so as to provide the best protective design. This paper applies Colorado Rockfall Simulation Program (CRSP) as our study tool to discuss the impact of slope shape and surface roughness on the moving paths of a single rockfall. The analytical results showed that the slope, m=1:1, acted as the threshold for rockfall bounce height on a monoclinal slight slope. When JRC ´╝£ 1.2, movement velocity reduced and bounce height increased as JCR increased. If slope fixed and JRC increased, the bounce height of rocks increased gradually with reducing movement velocity. Therefore, the analysis on the moving paths of rockfalls with CRSP could simulate bouncing of falling rocks. By analyzing moving paths, velocity, and bounce height of falling rocks, we could effectively locate impact points of falling rocks on a slope. Such analysis can be served as a reference for future disaster prevention and control.

Keywords: Rockfall, Slope Shape, Moving Path, SurfaceRoughness.

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304 Annual and Seasonal Variations in Air Quality Index of the National Capital Region, India

Authors: Surinder Deswal, Vineet Verma

Abstract:

Air Quality Index (AQI) is used as a tool to indicate the level of severity and disseminate the information on air pollution to enable the public to understand the health and environmental impacts of air pollutant concentration levels. The annual and seasonal variation of criteria air pollutants concentration based on the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme has been conducted for a period of nine years (2006-2014) using the AQI system. AQI was calculated using IND-AQI methodology and Maximum Operator Concept is applied. An attempt has been made to quantify the variations in AQI on an annual and seasonal basis over a period of nine years. Further, year-wise frequency of occurrence of AQI in each category for all the five stations is analysed, which presents in depth analysis of trends over the period of study. The best air quality was observed in the Noida residential area, followed by Noida industrial area during the study period; whereas, Bulandshahar industrial area and Faridabad residential area were observed to have the worst air quality. A shift in the worst air quality from winter to summer season has also been observed during the study period. Further, the level of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter was found to be above permissible limit at all the stations. The present study helps in enhancing public awareness and calls for the need of immediate measures to be taken to counter-effect the cause of the increasing level of air pollution.

Keywords: Air quality index, annual trends, criteria pollutants, seasonal variation.

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303 Influence of Instructors in Engaging Online Graduate Students in Active Learning in the United States

Authors: Ehi E. Aimiuwu

Abstract:

As of 2017, many online learning professionals, institutions, and journals are still wondering how instructors can keep student engaged in the online learning environment to facilitate active learning effectively. The purpose of this qualitative single-case and narrative research is to explore whether online professors understand their role as mentors and facilitators of students’ academic success by keeping students engaged in active learning based on personalized experience in the field. Data collection tools that were used in the study included an NVivo 12 Plus qualitative software, an interview protocol, a digital audiotape, an observation sheet, and a transcription. Seven online professors in the United States from LinkedIn and residencies were interviewed for this study. Eleven online teaching techniques from previous research were used as the study framework. Data analysis process, member checking, and key themes were used to achieve saturation. About 85.7% of professors agreed on rubric as the preferred online grading technique. About 57.1% agreed on professors logging in daily, students logging in about 2-5 times weekly, knowing students to increase accountability, email as preferred communication tool, and computer access for adequate online learning. About 42.9% agreed on syllabus for clear class expectations, participation to show what has been learned, and energizing students for creativity.

Keywords: Class facilitation, class management, online teaching, online education, pedagogy.

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302 Metal Ship and Robotic Car: A Hands-On Activity to Develop Scientific and Engineering Skills for High School Students

Authors: Jutharat Sunprasert, Ekapong Hirunsirisawat, Narongrit Waraporn, Somporn Peansukmanee

Abstract:

Metal Ship and Robotic Car is one of the hands-on activities in the course, the Fundamental of Engineering that can be divided into three parts. The first part, the metal ships, was made by using engineering drawings, physics and mathematics knowledge. The second part is where the students learned how to construct a robotic car and control it using computer programming. In the last part, the students had to combine the workings of these two objects in the final testing. This aim of study was to investigate the effectiveness of hands-on activity by integrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) concepts to develop scientific and engineering skills. The results showed that the majority of students felt this hands-on activity lead to an increased confidence level in the integration of STEM. Moreover, 48% of all students engaged well with the STEM concepts. Students could obtain the knowledge of STEM through hands-on activities with the topics science and mathematics, engineering drawing, engineering workshop and computer programming; most students agree and strongly agree with this learning process. This indicated that the hands-on activity: “Metal Ship and Robotic Car” is a useful tool to integrate each aspect of STEM. Furthermore, hands-on activities positively influence a student’s interest which leads to increased learning achievement and also in developing scientific and engineering skills.

Keywords: Hands-on activity, STEM education, computer programming, metal work.

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301 Benzpyrimoxan: An Insecticide for the Control of Rice Plant Hoppers

Authors: E. Satoh, R. Kasahara, T. Aoki, K. Fukatsu, D. Venkata Ramanarao, H. Harayama, T. Murata, A. Suwa

Abstract:

Rice plant hoppers (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) have been causing extensive economic damage in rice and are considered as serious threat in rice producing countries of Asia. They have developed resistance to major groups of chemical insecticide, and severe outbreaks occur commonly throughout Asia. To control these nuisance pests, Nihon Nohyaku Co., Ltd., recently discovered an insecticide, benzpyrimoxan (proposed ISO name), which is under development as NNI-1501 (development code). Benzpyrimoxan has a unique chemical structure which contains benzyloxy and cyclic acetal groups on pyrimidine moiety (5-(1,3-dioxan-2-yl)-4-[4- (trifluoromethyl)benzyloxy]pyrimidine). In order to clarify the biological properties of benzpyrimoxan, we conducted several experiments and found the following results. Benzpyrimoxan has high activity against nymphal stages of rice plant hoppers without any adulticidal activity. It provides excellent and long lasting control against rice plant hoppers, including populations that have developed resistance to several other chemical groups of insecticide. The study on its mode of action is undergoing. These features highlight the versatility of this insecticide as an effective and valuable tool from the viewpoints of insecticide resistance management and integrated pest management program. With the use of benzpyrimoxan, farmers shall be able to lead the best yield potential by keeping the population density of rice plant hoppers and associated virus diseases under control.

Keywords: Acetal, benzpyrimoxan, insecticide, NNI-1501, pyrimidine, rice plant hoppers.

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300 Static Analysis of Security Issues of the Python Packages Ecosystem

Authors: Adam Gorine, Faten Spondon

Abstract:

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

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

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299 A Comparative Analysis of Asymmetric Encryption Schemes on Android Messaging Service

Authors: Mabrouka Algherinai, Fatma Karkouri

Abstract:

Today, Short Message Service (SMS) is an important means of communication. SMS is not only used in informal environment for communication and transaction, but it is also used in formal environments such as institutions, organizations, companies, and business world as a tool for communication and transactions. Therefore, there is a need to secure the information that is being transmitted through this medium to ensure security of information both in transit and at rest. But, encryption has been identified as a means to provide security to SMS messages in transit and at rest. Several past researches have proposed and developed several encryption algorithms for SMS and Information Security. This research aims at comparing the performance of common Asymmetric encryption algorithms on SMS security. The research employs the use of three algorithms, namely RSA, McEliece, and RABIN. Several experiments were performed on SMS of various sizes on android mobile device. The experimental results show that each of the three techniques has different key generation, encryption, and decryption times. The efficiency of an algorithm is determined by the time that it takes for encryption, decryption, and key generation. The best algorithm can be chosen based on the least time required for encryption. The obtained results show the least time when McEliece size 4096 is used. RABIN size 4096 gives most time for encryption and so it is the least effective algorithm when considering encryption. Also, the research shows that McEliece size 2048 has the least time for key generation, and hence, it is the best algorithm as relating to key generation. The result of the algorithms also shows that RSA size 1024 is the most preferable algorithm in terms of decryption as it gives the least time for decryption.

Keywords: SMS, RSA, McEliece, RABIN.

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298 General Regression Neural Network and Back Propagation Neural Network Modeling for Predicting Radial Overcut in EDM: A Comparative Study

Authors: Raja Das, M. K. Pradhan

Abstract:

This paper presents a comparative study between two neural network models namely General Regression Neural Network (GRNN) and Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) are used to estimate radial overcut produced during Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM). Four input parameters have been employed: discharge current (Ip), pulse on time (Ton), Duty fraction (Tau) and discharge voltage (V). Recently, artificial intelligence techniques, as it is emerged as an effective tool that could be used to replace time consuming procedures in various scientific or engineering applications, explicitly in prediction and estimation of the complex and nonlinear process. The both networks are trained, and the prediction results are tested with the unseen validation set of the experiment and analysed. It is found that the performance of both the networks are found to be in good agreement with average percentage error less than 11% and the correlation coefficient obtained for the validation data set for GRNN and BPNN is more than 91%. However, it is much faster to train GRNN network than a BPNN and GRNN is often more accurate than BPNN. GRNN requires more memory space to store the model, GRNN features fast learning that does not require an iterative procedure, and highly parallel structure. GRNN networks are slower than multilayer perceptron networks at classifying new cases.

Keywords: Electrical-discharge machining, General Regression Neural Network, Back-propagation Neural Network, Radial Overcut.

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297 A Detailed Experimental Study of the Springback Anisotropy of Three Metals using the Stretching-Bending Process

Authors: A. Soualem

Abstract:

Springback is a significant problem in the sheet metal forming process. When the tools are released after the stage of forming, the product springs out, because of the action of the internal stresses. In many cases the deviation of form is too large and the compensation of the springback is necessary. The precise prediction of the springback of product is increasingly significant for the design of the tools and for compensation because of the higher ratio of the yield stress to the elastic modulus. The main object in this paper was to study the effect of the anisotropy on the springback for three directions of rolling: 0°, 45° and 90°. At the same time, we highlighted the influence of three different metallic materials: Aluminum, Steel and Galvanized steel. The original of our purpose consist on tests which are ensured by adapting a U-type stretching-bending device on a tensile testing machine, where we studied and quantified the variation of the springback according to the direction of rolling. We also showed the role of lubrication in the reduction of the springback. Moreover, in this work, we have studied important characteristics in deep drawing process which is a springback. We have presented defaults that are showed in this process and many parameters influenced a springback. Finally, our results works lead us to understand the influence of grains orientation with different metallic materials on the springback and drawing some conclusions how to concept deep drawing tools. In addition, the conducted work represents a fundamental contribution in the discussion the industry application.

Keywords: Deep-Drawing, Grains orientation, Laminate Tool, Springback.

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296 Hydrological Characterization of a Watershed for Streamflow Prediction

Authors: Oseni Taiwo Amoo, Bloodless Dzwairo

Abstract:

In this paper, we extend the versatility and usefulness of GIS as a methodology for any river basin hydrologic characteristics analysis (HCA). The Gurara River basin located in North-Central Nigeria is presented in this study. It is an on-going research using spatial Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Arc-Hydro tools to take inventory of the basin characteristics in order to predict water abstraction quantification on streamflow regime. One of the main concerns of hydrological modelling is the quantification of runoff from rainstorm events. In practice, the soil conservation service curve (SCS) method and the Conventional procedure called rational technique are still generally used these traditional hydrological lumped models convert statistical properties of rainfall in river basin to observed runoff and hydrograph. However, the models give little or no information about spatially dispersed information on rainfall and basin physical characteristics. Therefore, this paper synthesizes morphometric parameters in generating runoff. The expected results of the basin characteristics such as size, area, shape, slope of the watershed and stream distribution network analysis could be useful in estimating streamflow discharge. Water resources managers and irrigation farmers could utilize the tool for determining net return from available scarce water resources, where past data records are sparse for the aspect of land and climate.

Keywords: Hydrological characteristic, land and climate, runoff discharge, streamflow.

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295 Using Emotional Learning in Rescue Simulation Environment

Authors: Maziar Ahmad Sharbafi, Caro Lucas, Abolfazel Toroghi Haghighat, Omid AmirGhiasvand, Omid Aghazade

Abstract:

RoboCup Rescue simulation as a large-scale Multi agent system (MAS) is one of the challenging environments for keeping coordination between agents to achieve the objectives despite sensing and communication limitations. The dynamicity of the environment and intensive dependency between actions of different kinds of agents make the problem more complex. This point encouraged us to use learning-based methods to adapt our decision making to different situations. Our approach is utilizing reinforcement leaning. Using learning in rescue simulation is one of the current ways which has been the subject of several researches in recent years. In this paper we present an innovative learning method implemented for Police Force (PF) Agent. This method can cope with the main difficulties that exist in other learning approaches. Different methods used in the literature have been examined. Their drawbacks and possible improvements have led us to the method proposed in this paper which is fast and accurate. The Brain Emotional Learning Based Intelligent Controller (BELBIC) is our solution for learning in this environment. BELBIC is a physiologically motivated approach based on a computational model of amygdale and limbic system. The paper presents the results obtained by the proposed approach, showing the power of BELBIC as a decision making tool in complex and dynamic situation.

Keywords: Emotional learning, rescue, simulation environment, RoboCup, multi-agent system.

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294 Buckling of Plates on Foundation with Different Types of Sides Support

Authors: Ali N. Suri, Ahmad A. Al-Makhlufi

Abstract:

In this paper the problem of buckling of plates on foundation of finite length and with different side support is studied.

The Finite Strip Method is used as tool for the analysis. This method uses finite strip elastic, foundation, and geometric matrices to build the assembly matrices for the whole structure, then after introducing boundary conditions at supports, the resulting reduced matrices is transformed into a standard Eigenvalue-Eigenvector problem. The solution of this problem will enable the determination of the buckling load, the associated buckling modes and the buckling wave length.

To carry out the buckling analysis starting from the elastic, foundation, and geometric stiffness matrices for each strip a computer program FORTRAN list is developed.

Since stiffness matrices are function of wave length of buckling, the computer program used an iteration procedure to find the critical buckling stress for each value of foundation modulus and for each boundary condition.

The results showed the use of elastic medium to support plates subject to axial load increase a great deal the buckling load, the results found are very close with those obtained by other analytical methods and experimental work.

The results also showed that foundation compensates the effect of the weakness of some types of constraint of side support and maximum benefit found for plate with one side simply supported the other free.

Keywords: Buckling, Finite Strip, Different Sides Support, Plates on Foundation.

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293 A Concept to Assess the Economic Importance of the On-Site Activities of ETICS

Authors: V. Sulakatko, F. U. Vogdt, I. Lill

Abstract:

Construction technology and on-site construction activities have a direct influence on the life cycle costs of energy efficiently renovated apartment buildings. The systematic inadequacies of the External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) which occur during the construction phase increase the risk for all stakeholders, reduce mechanical durability and increase the life cycle costs of the building. The economic effect of these shortcomings can be minimised if the risk of the most significant on-site activities is recognised. The objective of the presented ETICS economic assessment concept is to evaluate the economic influence of on-site shortcomings and reveal their significance to the foreseeable future repair costs. The model assembles repair techniques, discusses their direct cost calculation methods, argues over the proper usage of net present value over the life cycle of the building, and proposes a simulation tool to evaluate the risk of on-site activities. As the technique is dependent on the selected real interest rate, a sensitivity analysis is anticipated to determine the validity of the recommendations. After the verification of the model on the sample buildings by the industry, it is expected to increase economic rationality of resource allocation and reduce high-risk systematic shortcomings during the construction process of ETICS.

Keywords: Activity-based cost estimating, Cost estimation, ETICS, Life cycle costing.

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292 Embryo Transfer as an Assisted Reproductive Technology in Farm Animals

Authors: Diah Tri Widayati

Abstract:

Various assisted reproductive techniques have been developed and refined to obtain a large number of offspring from genetically superior animals or obtain offspring from infertile (or subfertile) animals. The embryo transfer is one assisted reproductive technique developed well, aimed at increased productivity of selected females, disease control, importation and exportation of livestock, rapid screening of AI sires for genetically recessive characteristics, treatment or circumvention of certain types of infertility. Embryo transfer also is a useful research tool for evaluating fetal and maternal interactions. This technique has been applied to nearly every species of domestic animal and many species of wildlife and exotic animals, including humans and non-human primates. The successful of embryo transfers have been limited to within-animal, homologous replacement of the embryos. There are several examples of interspecific and intergeneric embryo transfers in which embryos implanted but did not develop to term: sheep and goat, mouse and rat. An immunological rejections and placental incompatibility between the embryo and the surrogate mother appear to restrict interspecific embryo transfer/interspecific pregnancy. Recently, preimplantation embryo manipulation procedures have been applied, such as technique of inner cell mass transfer. This technique will possible to overcome the reproductive barrier interspecific embryo transfer/interspecific pregnancy, if there is a protective mechanism which prevents recognition of the foreign fetus by the mother of the other species

Keywords: Embryo Transfer, Assisted Reproductive Techology, Intraspesific-Interspesific Pregnancy, Inner cell mass.

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291 Spreading Japan's National Image through China during the Era of Mass Tourism: The Japan National Tourism Organization’s Use of Sina Weibo

Authors: Abigail Qian Zhou

Abstract:

Since China has entered an era of mass tourism, there has been a fundamental change in the way Chinese people approach and perceive the image of other countries. With the advent of the new media era, social networking sites such as Sina Weibo have become a tool for many foreign governmental organizations to spread and promote their national image. Among them, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) was one of the first foreign official tourism agencies to register with Sina Weibo and actively implement communication activities. Due to historical and political reasons, cognition of Japan's national image by the Chinese has always been complicated and contradictory. However, since 2015, China has become the largest source of tourists visiting Japan. This clearly indicates that the broadening of Japan's national image in China has been effective and has value worthy of reference in promoting a positive Chinese perception of Japan and encouraging Japanese tourism. Within this context and using the method of content analysis in media studies through content mining software, this study analyzed how JNTO’s Sina Weibo accounts have constructed and spread Japan's national image. This study also summarized the characteristics of its content and form, and finally revealed the strategy of JNTO in building its international image. The findings of this study not only add a tourism-based perspective to traditional national image communications research, but also provide some reference for the effective international dissemination of national image in the future.

Keywords: National image, tourism, international communication, Japan, China.

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290 Hiding Data in Images Using PCP

Authors: Souvik Bhattacharyya, Gautam Sanyal

Abstract:

In recent years, everything is trending toward digitalization and with the rapid development of the Internet technologies, digital media needs to be transmitted conveniently over the network. Attacks, misuse or unauthorized access of information is of great concern today which makes the protection of documents through digital media a priority problem. This urges us to devise new data hiding techniques to protect and secure the data of vital significance. In this respect, steganography often comes to the fore as a tool for hiding information. Steganography is a process that involves hiding a message in an appropriate carrier like image or audio. It is of Greek origin and means "covered or hidden writing". The goal of steganography is covert communication. Here the carrier can be sent to a receiver without any one except the authenticated receiver only knows existence of the information. Considerable amount of work has been carried out by different researchers on steganography. In this work the authors propose a novel Steganographic method for hiding information within the spatial domain of the gray scale image. The proposed approach works by selecting the embedding pixels using some mathematical function and then finds the 8 neighborhood of the each selected pixel and map each bit of the secret message in each of the neighbor pixel coordinate position in a specified manner. Before embedding a checking has been done to find out whether the selected pixel or its neighbor lies at the boundary of the image or not. This solution is independent of the nature of the data to be hidden and produces a stego image with minimum degradation.

Keywords: Cover Image, LSB, Pixel Coordinate Position (PCP), Stego Image.

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289 Management Software for the Elaboration of an Electronic File in the Pharmaceutical Industry Following Mexican Regulations

Authors: M. Peña Aguilar Juan, Ríos Hernández Ezequiel, R. Valencia Luis

Abstract:

For certification, certain goods of public interest, such as medicines and food, it is required the preparation and delivery of a dossier. For its elaboration, legal and administrative knowledge must be taken, as well as organization of the documents of the process, and an order that allows the file verification. Therefore, a virtual platform was developed to support the process of management and elaboration of the dossier, providing accessibility to the information and interfaces that allow the user to know the status of projects. The development of dossier system on the cloud allows the inclusion of the technical requirements for the software management, including the validation and the manufacturing in the field industry. The platform guides and facilitates the dossier elaboration (report, file or history), considering Mexican legislation and regulations, it also has auxiliary tools for its management. This technological alternative provides organization support for documents and accessibility to the information required to specify the successful development of a dossier. The platform divides into the following modules: System control, catalog, dossier and enterprise management. The modules are designed per the structure required in a dossier in those areas. However, the structure allows for flexibility, as its goal is to become a tool that facilitates and does not obstruct processes. The architecture and development of the software allows flexibility for future work expansion to other fields, this would imply feeding the system with new regulations.

Keywords: Electronic dossier, technologies for management, web software, dossier elaboration, pharmaceutical industry.

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288 Profile Controlled Gold Nanostructures Fabricated by Nanosphere Lithography for Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance

Authors: Xiaodong Zhou, Nan Zhang

Abstract:

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is the coherent oscillation of conductive electrons confined in noble metallic nanoparticles excited by electromagnetic radiation, and nanosphere lithography (NSL) is one of the cost-effective methods to fabricate metal nanostructures for LSPR. NSL can be categorized into two major groups: dispersed NSL and closely pack NSL. In recent years, gold nanocrescents and gold nanoholes with vertical sidewalls fabricated by dispersed NSL, and silver nanotriangles and gold nanocaps on silica nanospheres fabricated by closely pack NSL, have been reported for LSPR biosensing. This paper introduces several novel gold nanostructures fabricated by NSL in LSPR applications, including 3D nanostructures obtained by evaporating gold obliquely on dispersed nanospheres, nanoholes with slant sidewalls, and patchy nanoparticles on closely packed nanospheres, all of which render satisfactory sensitivity for LSPR sensing. Since the LSPR spectrum is very sensitive to the shape of the metal nanostructures, formulas are derived and software is developed for calculating the profiles of the obtainable metal nanostructures by NSL, for different nanosphere masks with different fabrication conditions. The simulated profiles coincide well with the profiles of the fabricated gold nanostructures observed under scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM), which proves that the software is a useful tool for the process design of different LSPR nanostructures.

Keywords: Nanosphere lithography, localized surface plasmonresonance, biosensor, simulation.

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287 Post Pandemic Mobility Analysis through Indexing and Sharding in MongoDB: Performance Optimization and Insights

Authors: Karan Vishavjit, Aakash Lakra, Shafaq Khan

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed healthcare professionals to use big data analytics as a vital tool for tracking and evaluating the effects of contagious viruses. To effectively analyse huge datasets, efficient NoSQL databases are needed. The analysis of post-COVID-19 health and well-being outcomes and the evaluation of the effectiveness of government efforts during the pandemic is made possible by this research’s integration of several datasets, which cuts down on query processing time and creates predictive visual artifacts. We recommend applying sharding and indexing technologies to improve query effectiveness and scalability as the dataset expands. Effective data retrieval and analysis are made possible by spreading the datasets into a sharded database and doing indexing on individual shards. Analysis of connections between governmental activities, poverty levels, and post-pandemic wellbeing is the key goal. We want to evaluate the effectiveness of governmental initiatives to improve health and lower poverty levels. We will do this by utilising advanced data analysis and visualisations. The findings provide relevant data that support the advancement of UN sustainable objectives, future pandemic preparation, and evidence-based decision-making. This study shows how Big Data and NoSQL databases may be used to address problems with global health.

Keywords: COVID-19, big data, data analysis, indexing, NoSQL, sharding, scalability, poverty.

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286 Influence of Kinematic, Physical and Mechanical Structure Parameters on Aeroelastic GTU Shaft Vibrations in Magnetic Bearings

Authors: Evgeniia V. Mekhonoshina, Vladimir Ya. Modorskii, Vasilii Yu. Petrov

Abstract:

At present, vibrations of rotors of gas transmittal unit evade sustainable forecasting. This paper describes elastic oscillation modes in resilient supports and rotor impellers modeled during computational experiments with regard to interference in the system of gas-dynamic flow and compressor rotor. Verification of aeroelastic approach was done on model problem of interaction between supersonic jet in shock tube with deformed plate. ANSYS 15.0 engineering analysis system was used as a modeling tool of numerical simulation in this paper. Finite volume method for gas dynamics and finite elements method for assessment of the strain stress state (SSS) components were used as research methods. Rotation speed and material’s elasticity modulus varied during calculations, and SSS components and gas-dynamic parameters in the dynamic system of gas-dynamic flow and compressor rotor were evaluated. The analysis of time dependence demonstrated that gas-dynamic parameters near the rotor blades oscillate at 200 Hz, and SSS parameters at the upper blade edge oscillate four times higher, i.e. with blade frequency. It has been detected that vibration amplitudes correction in the test points at magnetic bearings by aeroelasticity may correspond up to 50%, and about -π/4 for phases.

Keywords: Centrifugal compressor, aeroelasticity, interdisciplinary calculation, oscillation phase displacement, vibration, nonstationarity.

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285 Authenticity of Lipid and Soluble Sugar Profiles of Various Oat Cultivars (Avena sativa)

Authors: Marijana M. Ačanski, Kristian A. Pastor, Djura N. Vujić

Abstract:

The identification of lipid and soluble sugar components in flour samples of different cultivars belonging to common oat species (Avena sativa L.) was performed: spring oat, winter oat and hulless oat. Fatty acids were extracted from flour samples with n-hexane, and derivatized into volatile methyl esters, using TMSH (trimethylsulfonium hydroxide in methanol). Soluble sugars were then extracted from defatted and dried samples of oat flour with 96% ethanol, and further derivatized into corresponding TMS-oximes, using hydroxylamine hydrochloride solution and BSTFA (N,O-bis-(trimethylsilyl)-trifluoroacetamide). The hexane and ethanol extracts of each oat cultivar were analyzed using GC-MS system. Lipid and simple sugar compositions are very similar in all samples of investigated cultivars. Chemometric tool was applied to numeric values of automatically integrated surface areas of detected lipid and simple sugar components in their corresponding derivatized forms. Hierarchical cluster analysis shows a very high similarity between the investigated flour samples of oat cultivars, according to the fatty acid content (0.9955). Moderate similarity was observed according to the content of soluble sugars (0.50). These preliminary results support the idea of establishing methods for oat flour authentication, and provide the means for distinguishing oat flour samples, regardless of the variety, from flour samples made of other cereal species, just by lipid and simple sugar profile analysis.

Keywords: Authentication, chemometrics, GC-MS, lipid and soluble sugar composition, oat cultivars.

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

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

Abstract:

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

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

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283 Customer Need Type Classification Model using Data Mining Techniques for Recommender Systems

Authors: Kyoung-jae Kim

Abstract:

Recommender systems are usually regarded as an important marketing tool in the e-commerce. They use important information about users to facilitate accurate recommendation. The information includes user context such as location, time and interest for personalization of mobile users. We can easily collect information about location and time because mobile devices communicate with the base station of the service provider. However, information about user interest can-t be easily collected because user interest can not be captured automatically without user-s approval process. User interest usually represented as a need. In this study, we classify needs into two types according to prior research. This study investigates the usefulness of data mining techniques for classifying user need type for recommendation systems. We employ several data mining techniques including artificial neural networks, decision trees, case-based reasoning, and multivariate discriminant analysis. Experimental results show that CHAID algorithm outperforms other models for classifying user need type. This study performs McNemar test to examine the statistical significance of the differences of classification results. The results of McNemar test also show that CHAID performs better than the other models with statistical significance.

Keywords: Customer need type, Data mining techniques, Recommender system, Personalization, Mobile user.

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