Search results for: Empirical techniques.

Authors: Vinicius Binotte, Guilherme Baldo, Christiane Goulart, Carlos Valadão, Eliete Caldeira, Teodiano Bastos

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Socially assistive robotic has become increasingly active and it is present in therapies of people affected for several neurobehavioral conditions, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In fact, robots have played a significant role for positive interaction with children with ASD, by stimulating their social and cognitive skills. This work introduces a mobile socially-assistive robot, which was built for interaction with children with ASD, using non-linear control techniques for this interaction.

Keywords: Socially assistive robotics, mobile robot, autonomous control, autism.

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Authors: Pathravut Klinklom, Apanee Luengnaruemitchai, Samai Jai-In

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In this research, CaO-ZnO catalysts (with various Ca:Zn atomic ratios of 1:5, 1:3, 1:1, and 3:1) prepared by incipientwetness impregnation (IWI) and co-precipitation (CP) methods were used as a catalyst in the transesterification of palm oil with methanol for biodiesel production. The catalysts were characterized by several techniques, including BET method, CO2-TPD, and Hemmett Indicator. The effects of precursor concentration, and calcination temperature on the catalytic performance were studied under reaction conditions of a 15:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, 6 wt% catalyst, reaction temperature of 60°C, and reaction time of 8 h. At Ca:Zn atomic ratio of 1:3 gave the highest FAME value owing to a basic properties and surface area of the prepared catalyst.

Keywords: CaO, ZnO, Biodiesel, Impregnation, Coprecipitation.

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Authors: Jindřiška Šedová, Miloš Šeda

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This paper summarizes and compares approaches to solving the knapsack problem and its known application in capital budgeting. The first approach uses deterministic methods and can be applied to small-size tasks with a single constraint. We can also apply commercial software systems such as the GAMS modelling system. However, because of NP-completeness of the problem, more complex problem instances must be solved by means of heuristic techniques to achieve an approximation of the exact solution in a reasonable amount of time. We show the problem representation and parameter settings for a genetic algorithm framework.

Keywords: Capital budgeting, knapsack problem, GAMS, heuristic method, genetic algorithm.

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Authors: Dalvinder Singh Dhaliwal, Parvinder S. Sandhu, S. N. Panda

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This paper is on the general discussion of memory consistency model like Strict Consistency, Sequential Consistency, Processor Consistency, Weak Consistency etc. Then the techniques for implementing distributed shared memory Systems and Synchronization Primitives in Software Distributed Shared Memory Systems are discussed. The analysis involves the performance measurement of the protocol concerned that is Multiple Writer Protocol. Each protocol has pros and cons. So, the problems that are associated with each protocol is discussed and other related things are explored.

Keywords: Distributed System, Single owner protocol, Multiple owner protocol

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Authors: John Kabuba, Antoine Mulaba-Bafubiandi, Kim Battle

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This paper presents a critical study about the application of Neural Networks to ion-exchange process. Ionexchange is a complex non-linear process involving many factors influencing the ions uptake mechanisms from the pregnant solution. The following step includes the elution. Published data presents empirical isotherm equations with definite shortcomings resulting in unreliable predictions. Although Neural Network simulation technique encounters a number of disadvantages including its “black box", and a limited ability to explicitly identify possible causal relationships, it has the advantage to implicitly handle complex nonlinear relationships between dependent and independent variables. In the present paper, the Neural Network model based on the back-propagation algorithm Levenberg-Marquardt was developed using a three layer approach with a tangent sigmoid transfer function (tansig) at hidden layer with 11 neurons and linear transfer function (purelin) at out layer. The above mentioned approach has been used to test the effectiveness in simulating ion exchange processes. The modeling results showed that there is an excellent agreement between the experimental data and the predicted values of copper ions removed from aqueous solutions.

Keywords: Copper, ion-exchange process, neural networks, simulation

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Authors: L. L. Ivy-Yap, H. A. Bekhet

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As the Malaysian residential electricity consumption continued to increase rapidly, effective energy policies, which address factors affecting residential electricity consumption, is urgently needed. This study attempts to investigate the relationship between residential electricity consumption (EC), real disposable income (Y), price of electricity (Pe) and population (Po) in Malaysia for 1978-2011 period. Unlike previous studies on Malaysia, the current study focuses on the residential sector, a sector that is important for the contemplation of energy policy. The Phillips-Perron (P-P) unit root test is employed to infer the stationarity of each variable while the bound test is executed to determine the existence of co-integration relationship among the variables, modelled in an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) framework. The CUSUM and CUSUM of squares tests are applied to ensure the stability of the model. The results suggest the existence of long-run equilibrium relationship and bidirectional Granger causality between EC and the macroeconomic variables. The empirical findings will help policy makers of Malaysia in developing new monitoring standards of energy consumption. As it is the major contributing factor in economic growth and CO₂ emission, there is a need for more proper planning in Malaysia to attain future targets in order to cut emissions.

Keywords: Co-integration, Elasticity, Granger causality, Malaysia, Residential electricity consumption.

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Authors: Henok Hailemariam, Frank Wuttke

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Collapsible soils are weak soils that appear to be stable in their natural state, normally dry condition, but rapidly deform under saturation (wetting), thus generating large and unexpected settlements which often yield disastrous consequences for structures unwittingly built on such deposits. In this study, a prediction model for the relative subsidence of stressed collapsible soils based on dielectric permittivity measurement is presented. Unlike most existing methods for soil subsidence prediction, this model does not require moisture content as an input parameter, thus providing the opportunity to obtain accurate estimation of the relative subsidence of collapsible soils using dielectric measurement only. The prediction model is developed based on an existing relative subsidence prediction model (which is dependent on soil moisture condition) and an advanced theoretical frequency and temperature-dependent electromagnetic mixing equation (which effectively removes the moisture content dependence of the original relative subsidence prediction model). For large scale sub-surface soil exploration purposes, the spatial sub-surface soil dielectric data over wide areas and high depths of weak (collapsible) soil deposits can be obtained using non-destructive high frequency electromagnetic (HF-EM) measurement techniques such as ground penetrating radar (GPR). For laboratory or small scale in-situ measurements, techniques such as an open-ended coaxial line with widely applicable time domain reflectometry (TDR) or vector network analysers (VNAs) are usually employed to obtain the soil dielectric data. By using soil dielectric data obtained from small or large scale non-destructive HF-EM investigations, the new model can effectively predict the relative subsidence of weak soils without the need to extract samples for moisture content measurement. Some of the resulting benefits are the preservation of the undisturbed nature of the soil as well as a reduction in the investigation costs and analysis time in the identification of weak (problematic) soils. The accuracy of prediction of the presented model is assessed by conducting relative subsidence tests on a collapsible soil at various initial soil conditions and a good match between the model prediction and experimental results is obtained.

Keywords: Collapsible soil, relative subsidence, dielectric permittivity, moisture content.

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Authors: Melodi Mbuyi Mata, Blessing Olamide Taiwo, Afolabi Ayodele David

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The purpose of this research is to create empirical models for assessing the profitability of granite aggregate production in Akure, Ondo state aggregate quarries. In addition, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model and multivariate predicting models for granite profitability were developed in the study. A formal survey questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. The data extracted from the case study mine for this study include granite marketing operations, royalty, production costs, and mine production information. The following methods were used to achieve the goal of this study: descriptive statistics, MATLAB 2017, and SPSS16.0 software in analyzing and modeling the data collected from granite traders in the study areas. The ANN and Multi Variant Regression models' prediction accuracy was compared using a coefficient of determination (R2), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and mean square error (MSE). Due to the high prediction error, the model evaluation indices revealed that the ANN model was suitable for predicting generated profit in a typical quarry. More quarries in Nigeria's southwest region and other geopolitical zones should be considered to improve ANN prediction accuracy.

Keywords: National development, granite, profitability assessment, ANN models.

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Authors: Karel Frydrýšek, Pavel Koštial, Karla Barabaszová, Jana Kukutschová

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This paper deals with a new way for designing external fixators applied in traumatology and orthopaedics. These fixators can be applied in the treatment of open and unstable fractures or for lengthening human or animal bones etc. The new design is based on the development of Ilizarov and other techniques (i.e. shape and weight optimalization based on composite materials, application of smart materials, nanotechnology, low x-ray absorption, antibacterial protection, patient's comfort, reduction in the duration of the surgical treatment, and cost).

Keywords: biomechanics, design, external fixators, newmaterials, traumatology

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Authors: Manal Sultan Alhussein, Xiang Michelle Liu

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Telehealth is an advanced technology using digital information and telecommunication facilities that provide access to health services from a distance. It slows the transmission factor of COVID-19, especially for elderly patients and patients with chronic diseases during the pandemic. Therefore, understanding patient perspectives on telehealth services and the factors impacting their option of telehealth service will shed light on the measures that healthcare providers can take to improve the quality of telehealth services. This study aimed to evaluate perceptions of telehealth services among different patient groups and explore various aspects of telehealth utilization in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey distributed via social media platforms was used to collect research data. In addition to the descriptive statistics, both correlation and regression analyses were conducted to test research hypotheses. The empirical results highlighted that the factors such as accessibility to telehealth services and the type of specialty clinics that the patients required play important roles in the effectiveness of telehealth services they received. However, the results found that patients’ waiting time to receive telehealth services and their annual income did not significantly influence their desire to select receiving healthcare services via telehealth. The limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords: Telehealth, patient satisfaction, pandemic, healthcare, remote patient monitor.

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Authors: Carmen Navarrete, Eloy Anguiano

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In the last years, the computers have increased their capacity of calculus and networks, for the interconnection of these machines. The networks have been improved until obtaining the actual high rates of data transferring. The programs that nowadays try to take advantage of these new technologies cannot be written using the traditional techniques of programming, since most of the algorithms were designed for being executed in an only processor,in a nonconcurrent form instead of being executed concurrently ina set of processors working and communicating through a network.This paper aims to present the ongoing development of a new system for the reconfiguration of grouping of computers, taking into account these new technologies.

Keywords: Dynamic network topology, resource and task allocation, parallel computing, heterogeneous computing, dynamic reconfiguration.

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Authors: S.K. Satpathy, S.K. Nayak, K. K. Nagwanshi, S. Panda, C. Ardil

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Image restoration involves elimination of noise. Filtering techniques were adopted so far to restore images since last five decades. In this paper, we consider the problem of image restoration degraded by a blur function and corrupted by random noise. A method for reducing additive noise in images by explicit analysis of local image statistics is introduced and compared to other noise reduction methods. The proposed method, which makes use of an a priori noise model, has been evaluated on various types of images. Bayesian based algorithms and technique of image processing have been described and substantiated with experimentation using MATLAB.

Keywords: Image Restoration, Probability DensityFunction (PDF), Neural Networks, Bayesian Classifier.

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Authors: Joanna Stawska

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The main objective of this article is to examine the impact of interest rates on investments in Poland in the context of financial crisis. The paper also investigates the dependence of bank loans to enterprises on interbank market rates. The article studies the impact of interbank market rate on the level of investments in Poland. Besides, this article focuses on the research of the correlation between the level of corporate loans and the amount of investments in Poland in order to determine the indirect impact of central bank interest rates through the transmission mechanism of monetary policy on the real economy. To achieve the objective we have used econometric and statistical research methods like: econometric model and Pearson correlation coefficient. This analysis suggests that the central bank reference rate inversely proportionally affects the level of investments in Poland and this dependence is moderate. This is also important issue because it is related to preparing of Poland to accession to euro area. The research is important from both theoretical and empirical points of view. The formulated conclusions and recommendations determine the practical significance of the paper which may be used in the decision making process of monetary and economic authorities of the country.

Keywords: Central bank, financial crisis, interest rate, investments.

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Authors: Puneet Chawla, Balwinder Singh

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Recently, increased attention has been devoted to the voltage instability phenomenon in power systems. Many techniques have been proposed in the literature for evaluating and predicting voltage stability using steady state analysis methods. In this paper P-V and Q-V curves have been generated for a 57 bus Patiala Rajpura circle of India. The power-flow program is developed in MATLAB using Newton Raphson method. Using Q-V curves the weakest bus of the power system and the maximum reactive power change permissible on that bus is calculated. STATCOMs are placed on the weakest bus to improve the voltage and hence voltage stability and also the power transmission capability of the line.

Keywords: Voltage stability, Reactive power, power flow, weakest bus, STATCOM.

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Authors: Djamila Benhaddouche, Abdelkader Benyettou

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In this paper, we used data mining to extract biomedical knowledge. In general, complex biomedical data collected in studies of populations are treated by statistical methods, although they are robust, they are not sufficient in themselves to harness the potential wealth of data. For that you used in step two learning algorithms: the Decision Trees and Support Vector Machine (SVM). These supervised classification methods are used to make the diagnosis of thyroid disease. In this context, we propose to promote the study and use of symbolic data mining techniques.

Keywords: A classifier, Algorithms decision tree, knowledge extraction, Support Vector Machine.

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Authors: O. Starineca

Abstract:

Some organizations as employers have difficulties to attract job seekers and retain their employees. Strategic planning of Human Resources (HR) presumes broad analysis of perspectives including analysis of potential job seekers in the field. Human Resources Recruitment (HRR) influences employer brand of an organization and peculiarities of both external organizational factors and stakeholders. Defining peculiarities of the future job seekers, who could potentially become the employees of the organization, could help to adjust HRR tools and methods adapt to the youngest generation employees’ preferences and be more successful in selecting the best candidates, who are likely to be loyal to the employer. The aim of the empirical study is definition of some students’ as job seekers peculiarities and their requirements to their potential employer. The survey in Latvia, Lithuania and Spain. Respondents were students from these countries’ tertiary education institutions Public Administration (PA) or relevant study programs. All three countries students’ peculiarities have just a slight difference. Overall, they all wish to work for a socially responsible employer that is able to provide positive working environment and possibilities for professional development and learning. However, respondents from each country have own peculiarities. The study might have a practical application. PA of the examined countries might use the results developing employer brand and creating job advertisements focusing on recent graduates’ recruitment.

Keywords: Generation Y, human resources recruitment, public administration.

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Authors: Gizem Intepe, Tufan Koc

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S-Curves are commonly used in technology forecasting. They show the paths of product performance in relation to time or investment in R&D. It is a useful tool to describe the inflection points and the limit of improvement of a technology. Companies use this information to base their innovation strategies. However inadequate use and some limitations of this technique lead to problems in decision making. In this paper first technology forecasting and its importance for company level strategies will be discussed. Secondly the S-Curve and its place among other forecasting techniques will be introduced. Thirdly its use in technology forecasting will be discussed based on its advantages, disadvantages and limitations. Finally an application of S-curve on 3D TV technology using patent data will also be presented and the results will be discussed.

Keywords: Patent analysis, Technological forecasting. S curves, 3D TV

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Authors: Meng-Lung Lin, Chien-Min Chu, Chung-Hung Tsai, Chih-Cheng Chen, Chen-Yuan Chen

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The study of tourist activities and the mapping of their routes in space and time has become an important issue in tourism management. Here we represent space-time paths for the tourism industry by visualizing individual tourist activities and the paths followed using a 3D Geographic Information System (GIS). Considerable attention has been devoted to the measurement of accessibility to shopping, eating, walking and other services at the tourist destination. I turns out that GIS is a useful tool for studying the spatial behaviors of tourists in the area. The value of GIS is especially advantageous for space-time potential path area measures, especially for the accurate visualization of possible paths through existing city road networks. This study seeks to apply space-time concepts with a detailed street network map obtained from Google Maps to measure tourist paths both spatially and temporally. These paths are further determined based on data obtained from map questionnaires regarding the trip activities of 40 individuals. The analysis of the data makes it possible to determining the locations of the more popular paths. The results can be visualized using 3D GIS to show the areas and potential activity opportunities accessible to tourists during their travel time.

Keywords: Tourist activity analysis, space-time path, GIS, geovisualization, activity-travel pattern.

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Authors: Shao-lun Zeng, Yu-long Ren

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Benchmarking cleaner production performance is an effective way of pollution control and emission reduction in coal-fired power industry. A benchmarking method using two-stage super-efficiency data envelopment analysis for coal-fired power plants is proposed – firstly, to improve the cleaner production performance of DEA-inefficient or weakly DEA-efficient plants, then to select the benchmark from performance-improved power plants. An empirical study is carried out with the survey data of 24 coal-fired power plants. The result shows that in the first stage the performance of 16 plants is DEA-efficient and that of 8 plants is relatively inefficient. The target values for improving DEA-inefficient plants are acquired by projection analysis. The efficient performance of 24 power plants and the benchmarking plant is achieved in the second stage. The two-stage benchmarking method is practical to select the optimal benchmark in the cleaner production of coal-fired power industry and will continuously improve plants- cleaner production performance.

Keywords: benchmarking, cleaner production performance, coal-fired power plant, super-efficiency data envelopment analysis

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Authors: Ekaterina Y. Lukianova-Hleb, Dmitri O. Lapotko

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Cell processing techniques for gene and cell therapies use several separate procedures for gene transfer and cell separation or elimination, because no current technology can offer simultaneous multi-functional processing of specific cell sub-sets in heterogeneous cell systems. Using our novel on-demand nonstationary intracellular events instead of permanent materials, plasmonic nanobubbles, generated with a short laser pulse only in target cells, we achieved simultaneous multifunctional cell-specific processing with the rate up to 50 million cells per minute.

Keywords: Delivery, cell separation, graft, laser, plasmonic nanobubble, cell therapy, gold nanoparticle.

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Authors: Himanshu V. Gajjar, Anish H. Gandhi, Harit K. Raval

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Air bending is one of the important metal forming processes, because of its simplicity and large field application. Accuracy of analytical and empirical models reported for the analysis of bending processes is governed by simplifying assumption and do not consider the effect of dynamic parameters. Number of researches is reported on the finite element analysis (FEA) of V-bending, Ubending, and air V-bending processes. FEA of bending is found to be very sensitive to many physical and numerical parameters. FE models must be computationally efficient for practical use. Reported work shows the 3D FEA of air bending process using Hyperform LSDYNA and its comparison with, published 3D FEA results of air bending in Ansys LS-DYNA and experimental results. Observing the planer symmetry and based on the assumption of plane strain condition, air bending problem was modeled in 2D with symmetric boundary condition in width. Stress-strain results of 2D FEA were compared with 3D FEA results and experiments. Simplification of air bending problem from 3D to 2D resulted into tremendous reduction in the solution time with only marginal effect on stressstrain results. FE model simplification by studying the problem symmetry is more efficient and practical approach for solution of more complex large dimensions slow forming processes.

Keywords: Air V-bending, Finite element analysis, HyperformLS-DYNA, Planner symmetry.

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Authors: Nadeem Iftikhar, Zouhaib Zafar, Shaukat Ali

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Efficient retrieval of multimedia objects has gained enormous focus in recent years. A number of techniques have been suggested for retrieval of textual information; however, relatively little has been suggested for efficient retrieval of multimedia objects. In this paper we have proposed a generic architecture for contextaware retrieval of multimedia objects. The proposed framework combines the well-known approaches of text-based retrieval and context-aware retrieval to formulate architecture for accurate retrieval of multimedia data.

Keywords: Context-aware retrieval, information retrieval, multimedia databases, multimedia data.

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Authors: N. Dahbi, D-E. Arafah

Abstract:

The effect of chemical treatment in CdCl2 and thermal annealing in 400°C, on the defect structures of potentially useful ZnS\CdS solar cell thin films deposited onto quartz substrate and prepared by vacuum deposition method was studied using the Thermoluminesence (TL) techniques. A series of electron and hole traps are found in the various deposited samples studied. After annealing, however, it was observed that the intensity and activation energy of TL signal increases with loss of the low temperature electron traps.

Keywords: CdS, chemical treatment, heat treatment, Thermoluminescence, trapping parameters, thin film, vacuumdeposition, ZnS

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Authors: Makesh Iyer, T. Shanmuganantham

Abstract:

This work deals with the designing of an efficient low noise amplifier for 10.00 GHz applications. The amplifier is designed using Gallium Arsenide High Electron Mobility Transistor (GaAs HEMT) ATF – 36077 with inductive source degeneration technique which is one of the techniques to improve the stability of the potentially unstable device and make it unconditionally stable. Also, different substrates are used for designing the LNA to identify the suitable substrate that gives optimum results. It is observed that the noise immunity is more in Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) designed using RT Duroid 5880 substrate. This design resulted in noise figure of 0.859 dB and power gain of 15.530 dB. The comparative analysis of the LNA design is discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Low noise amplifier, substrate, distributed components, gain, noise figure.

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Authors: M. Victor Jose, V. Seenivasagam

Abstract:

This paper describes a logical method to enhance security on the grid computing to restrict the misuse of the grid resources. This method is an economic and efficient one to avoid the usage of the special devices. The security issues, techniques and solutions needed to provide a secure grid computing environment are described. A well defined process for security management among the resource accesses and key holding algorithm is also proposed. In this method, the identity management, access control and authorization and authentication are effectively handled.

Keywords: Grid security, Irregular binary series, Key holding mechanism, Resource identity, Secure resource access.

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Authors: M. Antonelli, G. Frosini, B. Lazzerini, F. Marcelloni

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In this paper we describe a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system for automated detection of pulmonary nodules in computed-tomography (CT) images. After extracting the pulmonary parenchyma using a combination of image processing techniques, a region growing method is applied to detect nodules based on 3D geometric features. We applied the CAD system to CT scans collected in a screening program for lung cancer detection. Each scan consists of a sequence of about 300 slices stored in DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) format. All malignant nodules were detected and a low false-positive detection rate was achieved.

Keywords: computer assisted diagnosis, medical imagesegmentation, shape recognition.

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Authors: Christina Tay

Abstract:

This paper investigates the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on bilateral trade in goods. Empirical analysis is performed on the United States and 34 partnering countries from 2000 to 2013. Our econometric model fits the data well, explaining 52% of the variation in trade flows for goods trade, 53.2% of the variation in trade flows for goods export and 48% of the variation in trade flows for goods import. For every 10% increase in fixed broadband Internet subscribers per 100 people increases, goods trade by 7.9% and for every 5% increase in fixed broadband Internet subscribers per 100 people, goods export increases by 11%. For every 1% increase in fixed telephone line penetration per 100 people, goods trade increases by 26.3%, goods export increases by 24.4% and goods import increases by 24.8%. For every 1% increase in mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions, goods trade decreases by 29.6% and goods export decreases by 27.1%, whilst for every 0.01% increase in mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions, goods import decreases by 34.3%. For every 1% increase in the percentage of population who used the Internet from any location in the last 12 months Internet, goods trade increases by 32.5%, goods export increases by 38.9%, goods import increases by 33%. All our trade determinants as well as our ICT variables have significances on goods exports for the US. We can also draw from our study that the US relies more rather heavily on ICT for its goods export compared to goods import.

Keywords: Bilateral trade, goods trade, information and communication technologies, Internet.

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Authors: S.S. Razavipour, M. Jahangiri, H. Sadeghipoor

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In this paper, the computation of the electrical field distribution around AC high-voltage lines is demonstrated. The advantages and disadvantages of two different methods are described to evaluate the electrical field quantity. The first method is a seminumerical method using the laws of electrostatic techniques to simulate the two-dimensional electric field under the high-voltage overhead line. The second method which will be discussed is the finite element method (FEM) using specific boundary conditions to compute the two- dimensional electric field distributions in an efficient way.

Keywords: Electrical field, unloaded transmission lines, finite element method, electrostatic images technique.

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Authors: Nabilah Filzah Mohd Radzuan, Zalinda Othman, Azuraliza Abu Bakar, Abdul Razak Hamdan

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Uncertain data is believed to be an important issue in building up a prediction model. The main objective in the time series uncertainty analysis is to formulate uncertain data in order to gain knowledge and fit low dimensional model prior to a prediction task. This paper discusses the performance of a number of techniques in dealing with uncertain data specifically those which solve uncertain data condition by minimizing the loss of compression properties.

Keywords: Compression properties, uncertainty, uncertain time series, mining technique, weather prediction.

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Authors: R. Green, T. Mazzuchi, S. Sarkani

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Through inward perceptions, we intuitively expect distributed software development to increase the risks associated with achieving cost, schedule, and quality goals. To compound this problem, agile software development (ASD) insists one of the main ingredients of its success is cohesive communication attributed to collocation of the development team. The following study identified the degree of communication richness needed to achieve comparable software quality (reduce pre-release defects) between distributed and collocated teams. This paper explores the relevancy of communication richness in various development phases and its impact on quality. Through examination of a large distributed agile development project, this investigation seeks to understand the levels of communication required within each ASD phase to produce comparable quality results achieved by collocated teams. Obviously, a multitude of factors affects the outcome of software projects. However, within distributed agile software development teams, the mode of communication is one of the critical components required to achieve team cohesiveness and effectiveness. As such, this study constructs a distributed agile communication model (DAC-M) for potential application to similar distributed agile development efforts using the measurement of the suitable level of communication. The results of the study show that less rich communication methods, in the appropriate phase, might be satisfactory to achieve equivalent quality in distributed ASD efforts.

Keywords: agile software development (ASD), distributedsoftware teams, media richness theory, software development.

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