Search results for: Software Product Line
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4004

Search results for: Software Product Line

2534 Valorization of Waste Dates in South Algeria: Biofuel Production

Authors: Insaf Mehani, Bachir Bouchekima

Abstract:

In Algeria, the conditioning units of dates, generate significant quantities of waste arising from sorting deviations. This biomass, until then considered as a waste with high impact on the environment can be transformed into high value added product. It is possible to develop common dates of low commercial value, and put on the local and international market a new generation of products with high added values such as bio ethanol. Besides its use in chemical synthesis, bio ethanol can be blended with gasoline to produce a clean fuel while improving the octane.

Keywords: Bioenergy, dates, bioethanol, valorisation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1445
2533 Evaluating Emission Reduction Due to a Proposed Light Rail Service: A Micro-Level Analysis

Authors: Saeid Eshghi, Neeraj Saxena, Abdulmajeed Alsultan

Abstract:

Carbon dioxide (CO2) alongside other gas emissions in the atmosphere cause a greenhouse effect, resulting in an increase of the average temperature of the planet. Transportation vehicles are among the main contributors of CO2 emission. Stationary vehicles with initiated motors produce more emissions than mobile ones. Intersections with traffic lights that force the vehicles to become stationary for a period of time produce more CO2 pollution than other parts of the road. This paper focuses on analyzing the CO2 produced by the traffic flow at Anzac Parade Road - Barker Street intersection in Sydney, Australia, before and after the implementation of Light rail transport (LRT). The data are gathered during the construction phase of the LRT by collecting the number of vehicles on each path of the intersection for 15 minutes during the evening rush hour of 1 week (6-7 pm, July 04-31, 2018) and then multiplied by 4 to calculate the flow of vehicles in 1 hour. For analyzing the data, the microscopic simulation software “VISSIM” has been used. Through the analysis, the traffic flow was processed in three stages: before and after implementation of light rail train, and one during the construction phase. Finally, the traffic results were input into another software called “EnViVer”, to calculate the amount of CO2 during 1 h. The results showed that after the implementation of the light rail, CO2 will drop by a minimum of 13%. This finding provides an evidence that light rail is a sustainable mode of transport.

Keywords: Carbon dioxide, emission modeling, light rail, microscopic model, traffic flow.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 924
2532 Towards Innovation Performance among University Staff

Authors: C. S. Quah, S. P. L. Sim

Abstract:

This study examined how individuals in their respective teams contributed to innovation performance besides defining the term of innovation in their own respective views. This study also identified factors that motivated University staff to contribute to the innovation products. In addition, it examined whether there is a significant relationship between professional training level and the length of service among university staff towards innovation and to what extent do the two variables contributed towards innovative products. The significance of this study is that it revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the university staff when contributing to innovation performance. Stratified-random sampling was employed to determine the samples representing the population of lecturers in the study, involving 123 lecturers in one of the local universities in Malaysia. The method employed to analyze the data is through categorizing into themes for the open-ended questions besides using descriptive and inferential statistics for the quantitative data. This study revealed that two types of definition for the term “innovation” exist among the university staff, namely, creation of new product or new approach to do things as well as value-added creative way to upgrade or improve existing process and service to be more efficient. This study found that the most prominent factor that propels them towards innovation is to improve the product in order to benefit users, followed by selfsatisfaction and recognition. This implies that the staff in the organization viewed the creation of innovative products as a process of growth to fulfill the needs of others and also to realize their personal potential. This study also found that there was only a significant relationship between the professional training level and the length of service of 4 - 6 years among the university staff. The rest of the groups based on the length of service showed that there was no significant relationship with the professional training level towards innovation. Moreover, results of the study on directional measures depicted that the relationship for the length of service of 4- 6 years with professional training level among the university staff is quite weak. This implies that good organization management lies on the shoulders of the key leaders who enlighten the path to be followed by the staff.

Keywords: Innovation, length of service, performance, professional training level, motivation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1557
2531 Identification of Outliers in Flood Frequency Analysis: Comparison of Original and Multiple Grubbs-Beck Test

Authors: Ayesha S. Rahman, Khaled Haddad, Ataur Rahman

Abstract:

At-site flood frequency analysis is used to estimate flood quantiles when at-site record length is reasonably long. In Australia, FLIKE software has been introduced for at-site flood frequency analysis. The advantage of FLIKE is that, for a given application, the user can compare a number of most commonly adopted probability distributions and parameter estimation methods relatively quickly using a windows interface. The new version of FLIKE has been incorporated with the multiple Grubbs and Beck test which can identify multiple numbers of potentially influential low flows. This paper presents a case study considering six catchments in eastern Australia which compares two outlier identification tests (original Grubbs and Beck test and multiple Grubbs and Beck test) and two commonly applied probability distributions (Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) and Log Pearson type 3 (LP3)) using FLIKE software. It has been found that the multiple Grubbs and Beck test when used with LP3 distribution provides more accurate flood quantile estimates than when LP3 distribution is used with the original Grubbs and Beck test. Between these two methods, the differences in flood quantile estimates have been found to be up to 61% for the six study catchments. It has also been found that GEV distribution (with L moments) and LP3 distribution with the multiple Grubbs and Beck test provide quite similar results in most of the cases; however, a difference up to 38% has been noted for flood quantiles for annual exceedance probability (AEP) of 1 in 100 for one catchment. This finding needs to be confirmed with a greater number of stations across other Australian states.

Keywords: Floods, FLIKE, probability distributions, flood frequency, outlier.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3295
2530 eTax Filing and Service Quality: The Case of the Revenue Online Service

Authors: Regina Connolly, Frank Bannister

Abstract:

This paper describes an ongoing study into the quality of service provided by the Irish Revenue Commisioners- online tax filing and collection system. The Irish Revenue On-Line Service (ROS) site has won several awards. In this study, a version of the widely use SERVQUAL measuring instrument, adapted for use with online services, has been modified for the specific case of ROS. In this paper, the theory behind this instrument is set out, the particular problems of evaluating revenue collecting online are examined and the rationale for this approach is explained.

Keywords: E-service quality, revenue online system, online tax filing system.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2532
2529 Modeling the Hybrid Battery/Super-Storage System for a Solar Standalone Microgrid

Authors: Astiaj Khoramshahi, Hossein Ahmadi Danesh Ashtiani, Ahmad Khoshgard, Hamidreza Damghani, Leila Damghani

Abstract:

Solar energy systems using various storages are required to be evaluated based on energy requirements and applications. Also, modeling and analysis of storage systems are necessary to increase the effectiveness of combinations of these systems. In this paper, analysis based on the MATLAB software has been analyzed to evaluate the response of the hybrid energy system considering various technologies of renewable energy and energy storage. In the present study, three different simulation scenarios are presented. Simulation output results using software for the first scenario show that the battery is effective in smoothing the overall power demand to the consumer studied during a day, but temporary loads on the grid with high frequencies, effectively cannot be canceled due to the limited response speed of battery control. Simulation outputs for the second scenario using the energy storage system show that sudden changes in demand power are paved by super saving. The majority of these sudden changes in power demand are caused by sewing consumers and receiving variable solar power (due to clouds passing through the solar array). Simulation outputs for the third scenario show the effects of the hybrid system for the same consumer and the output of the solar array, leading to the smallest amount of power demand fed into the grid, as well as demand at peak times. According to the "battery only" scenario, the displacement technique of the peak load has been significantly reduced.

Keywords: Storage system, super storage, standalone, microgrid.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 305
2528 Theoretical Modal Analysis of Freely and Simply Supported RC Slabs

Authors: M. S. Ahmed, F. A. Mohammad

Abstract:

This paper focuses on the dynamic behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) slabs. Therefore, the theoretical modal analysis was performed using two different types of boundary conditions. Modal analysis method is the most important dynamic analyses. The analysis would be modal case when there is no external force on the structure. By using this method in this paper, the effects of freely and simply supported boundary conditions on the frequencies and mode shapes of RC square slabs are studied. ANSYS software was employed to derive the finite element model to determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the slabs. Then, the obtained results through numerical analysis (finite element analysis) would be compared with the exact solution. The main goal of the research study is to predict how the boundary conditions change the behavior of the slab structures prior to performing experimental modal analysis. Based on the results, it is concluded that simply support boundary condition has obvious influence to increase the natural frequencies and change the shape of the mode when it is compared with freely supported boundary condition of slabs. This means that such support conditions have the direct influence on the dynamic behavior of the slabs. Thus, it is suggested to use free-free boundary condition in experimental modal analysis to precisely reflect the properties of the structure. By using free-free boundary conditions, the influence of poorly defined supports is interrupted.

Keywords: Natural frequencies, Mode shapes, Modal analysis, ANSYS software, RC slabs.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3806
2527 Voltage Stability Assessment and Enhancement Using STATCOM - A Case Study

Authors: Puneet Chawla, Balwinder Singh

Abstract:

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.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3007
2526 On the Need to have an Additional Methodology for the Psychological Product Measurement and Evaluation

Authors: Corneliu Sofronie, Roxana Zubcov

Abstract:

Cognitive Science appeared about 40 years ago, subsequent to the challenge of the Artificial Intelligence, as common territory for several scientific disciplines such as: IT, mathematics, psychology, neurology, philosophy, sociology, and linguistics. The new born science was justified by the complexity of the problems related to the human knowledge on one hand, and on the other by the fact that none of the above mentioned sciences could explain alone the mental phenomena. Based on the data supplied by the experimental sciences such as psychology or neurology, models of the human mind operation are built in the cognition science. These models are implemented in computer programs and/or electronic circuits (specific to the artificial intelligence) – cognitive systems – whose competences and performances are compared to the human ones, leading to the psychology and neurology data reinterpretation, respectively to the construction of new models. During these processes if psychology provides the experimental basis, philosophy and mathematics provides the abstraction level utterly necessary for the intermission of the mentioned sciences. The ongoing general problematic of the cognitive approach provides two important types of approach: the computational one, starting from the idea that the mental phenomenon can be reduced to 1 and 0 type calculus operations, and the connection one that considers the thinking products as being a result of the interaction between all the composing (included) systems. In the field of psychology measurements in the computational register use classical inquiries and psychometrical tests, generally based on calculus methods. Deeming things from both sides that are representing the cognitive science, we can notice a gap in psychological product measurement possibilities, regarded from the connectionist perspective, that requires the unitary understanding of the quality – quantity whole. In such approach measurement by calculus proves to be inefficient. Our researches, deployed for longer than 20 years, lead to the conclusion that measuring by forms properly fits to the connectionism laws and principles.

Keywords: complementary methodology, connection approach, networks without scaling, quantum psychology.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3620
2525 Cryptanalysis of Chang-Chang-s EC-PAKA Protocol for Wireless Mobile Networks

Authors: Hae-Soon Ahn, Eun-Jun Yoon

Abstract:

With the rapid development of wireless mobile communication, applications for mobile devices must focus on network security. In 2008, Chang-Chang proposed security improvements on the Lu et al.-s elliptic curve authentication key agreement protocol for wireless mobile networks. However, this paper shows that Chang- Chang-s improved protocol is still vulnerable to off-line password guessing attacks unlike their claims.

Keywords: Authentication, key agreement, wireless mobile networks, elliptic curve, password guessing attacks.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1497
2524 Production Process for Diesel Fuel Components Polyoxymethylene Dimethyl Ethers from Methanol and Formaldehyde Solution

Authors: Xiangjun Li, Huaiyuan Tian, Wujie Zhang, Dianhua Liu

Abstract:

Polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (PODEn) as clean diesel additive can improve the combustion efficiency and quality of diesel fuel and alleviate the problem of atmospheric pollution. Considering synthetic routes, PODE production from methanol and formaldehyde is regarded as the most economical and promising synthetic route. However, methanol used for synthesizing PODE can produce water, which causes the loss of active center of catalyst and hydrolysis of PODEn in the production process. Macroporous strong acidic cation exchange resin catalyst was prepared, which has comparative advantages over other common solid acid catalysts in terms of stability and catalytic efficiency for synthesizing PODE. Catalytic reactions were carried out under 353 K, 1 MPa and 3mL·gcat-1·h-1 in a fixed bed reactor. Methanol conversion and PODE3-6 selectivity reached 49.91% and 23.43%, respectively. Catalyst lifetime evaluation showed that resin catalyst retained its catalytic activity for 20 days without significant changes and catalytic activity of completely deactivated resin catalyst can basically return to previous level by simple acid regeneration. The acid exchange capacities of original and deactivated catalyst were 2.5191 and 0.0979 mmol·g-1, respectively, while regenerated catalyst reached 2.0430 mmol·g-1, indicating that the main reason for resin catalyst deactivation is that Brønsted acid sites of original resin catalyst were temporarily replaced by non-hydrogen ion cations. A separation process consisting of extraction and distillation for PODE3-6 product was designed for separation of water and unreacted formaldehyde from reactive mixture and purification of PODE3-6, respectively. The concentration of PODE3-6 in final product can reach up to 97%. These results indicate that the scale-up production of PODE3-6 from methanol and formaldehyde solution is feasible.

Keywords: Inactivation, polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers, separation process, sulfonic cation exchange resin.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 877
2523 Electrical Field Around the Overhead Transmission Lines

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

Abstract:

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.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8354
2522 The DAQ Debugger for iFDAQ of the COMPASS Experiment

Authors: Y. Bai, M. Bodlak, V. Frolov, S. Huber, V. Jary, I. Konorov, D. Levit, J. Novy, D. Steffen, O. Subrt, M. Virius

Abstract:

In general, state-of-the-art Data Acquisition Systems (DAQ) in high energy physics experiments must satisfy high requirements in terms of reliability, efficiency and data rate capability. This paper presents the development and deployment of a debugging tool named DAQ Debugger for the intelligent, FPGA-based Data Acquisition System (iFDAQ) of the COMPASS experiment at CERN. Utilizing a hardware event builder, the iFDAQ is designed to be able to readout data at the average maximum rate of 1.5 GB/s of the experiment. In complex softwares, such as the iFDAQ, having thousands of lines of code, the debugging process is absolutely essential to reveal all software issues. Unfortunately, conventional debugging of the iFDAQ is not possible during the real data taking. The DAQ Debugger is a tool for identifying a problem, isolating the source of the problem, and then either correcting the problem or determining a way to work around it. It provides the layer for an easy integration to any process and has no impact on the process performance. Based on handling of system signals, the DAQ Debugger represents an alternative to conventional debuggers provided by most integrated development environments. Whenever problem occurs, it generates reports containing all necessary information important for a deeper investigation and analysis. The DAQ Debugger was fully incorporated to all processes in the iFDAQ during the run 2016. It helped to reveal remaining software issues and improved significantly the stability of the system in comparison with the previous run. In the paper, we present the DAQ Debugger from several insights and discuss it in a detailed way.

Keywords: DAQ debugger, data acquisition system, FPGA, system signals, Qt framework.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 878
2521 On Frenet-Serret Invariants of Non-Null Curves in Lorentzian Space L5

Authors: Melih Turgut, José Luis López-Bonilla, Süha Yılmaz

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to determine Frenet-Serret invariants of non-null curves in Lorentzian 5-space. First, we define a vector product of four vectors, by this way, we present a method to calculate Frenet-Serret invariants of the non-null curves. Additionally, an algebraic example of presented method is illustrated.

Keywords: Lorentzian 5-space, Frenet-Serret Invariants, Nonnull Curves

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1513
2520 A Programming Assessment Software Artefact Enhanced with the Help of Learners

Authors: Romeo A. Botes, Imelda Smit

Abstract:

The demands of an ever changing and complex higher education environment, along with the profile of modern learners challenge current approaches to assessment and feedback. More learners enter the education system every year. The younger generation expects immediate feedback. At the same time, feedback should be meaningful. The assessment of practical activities in programming poses a particular problem, since both lecturers and learners in the information and computer science discipline acknowledge that paper-based assessment for programming subjects lacks meaningful real-life testing. At the same time, feedback lacks promptness, consistency, comprehensiveness and individualisation. Most of these aspects may be addressed by modern, technology-assisted assessment. The focus of this paper is the continuous development of an artefact that is used to assist the lecturer in the assessment and feedback of practical programming activities in a senior database programming class. The artefact was developed using three Design Science Research cycles. The first implementation allowed one programming activity submission per assessment intervention. This pilot provided valuable insight into the obstacles regarding the implementation of this type of assessment tool. A second implementation improved the initial version to allow multiple programming activity submissions per assessment. The focus of this version is on providing scaffold feedback to the learner – allowing improvement with each subsequent submission. It also has a built-in capability to provide the lecturer with information regarding the key problem areas of each assessment intervention.

Keywords: Programming, computer-aided assessment, technology-assisted assessment, programming assessment software, design science research, mixed-method.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 977
2519 Optimal Assessment of Faulted Area around an Industrial Customer for Critical Sag Magnitudes

Authors: Marios N. Moschakis

Abstract:

This paper deals with the assessment of faulted area around an industrial customer connected to a particular electric grid that will cause a certain sag magnitude on this customer. The faulted (critical or exposed) area’s length is calculated by adding all line lengths in the neighborhood of the critical node (customer). The applied method is the so-called Method of Critical Distances. By using advanced short-circuit analysis, the Critical Area can be accurately calculated for radial and meshed power networks due to all symmetrical and asymmetrical faults. For the demonstration of the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, a study case is used.

Keywords: Critical area, fault-induced voltage sags, industrial customers, power quality.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1627
2518 Kalman Filter for Bilinear Systems with Application

Authors: Abdullah E. Al-Mazrooei

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a new kind of the bilinear systems in the form of state space model. The evolution of this system depends on the product of state vector by its self. The well known Lotak Volterra and Lorenz models are special cases of this new model. We also present here a generalization of Kalman filter which is suitable to work with the new bilinear model. An application to real measurements is introduced to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.

Keywords: Bilinear systems, state space model, Kalman filter.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1952
2517 Cellulose Extraction from Pomelo Peel: Synthesis of Carboxymethyl Cellulose

Authors: J. Chumee, D. Seeburin

Abstract:

The cellulose was extracted from pomelo peel and an etherification reaction used for converting cellulose to carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The pomelo peel was refluxed with 0.5 M HCl and 1 M NaOH solution at 90°C for 1 h and 2 h, respectively. The cellulose was bleached with calcium hypochlorite and used as precursor. The precursor was soaked in mixed solution between isopropyl alcohol and 40%w/v NaOH for 12 h. After that, chloroacetic acid was added and reacted at 55°C for 6 h. The optimum condition was 5 g of cellulose: 0.25 mole of NaOH : 0.07 mole of ClCH2COOH with 78.00% of yield. Moreover, the product had 0.54 of degree of substitution (DS).

Keywords: Pomelo peel, Carboxymethyl cellulose, Cellulose.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4283
2516 Organization of the Purchasing Function for Innovation

Authors: Jasna Prester, Ivana Rašić Bakarić, Božidar Matijević

Abstract:

Innovations not only contribute to competitiveness of the company but have also positive effects on revenues. On average, product innovations account to 14 percent of companies’ sales. Innovation management has substantially changed during the last decade, because of growing reliance on external partners. As a consequence, a new task for purchasing arises, as firms need to understand which suppliers actually do have high potential contributing to the innovativeness of the firm and which do not. Proper organization of the purchasing function is important since for the majority of manufacturing companies deal with substantial material costs which pass through the purchasing function. In the past the purchasing function was largely seen as a transaction-oriented, clerical function but today purchasing is the intermediate with supply chain partners contributing to innovations, be it product or process innovations. Therefore, purchasing function has to be organized differently to enable firm innovation potential. However, innovations are inherently risky. There are behavioral risk (that some partner will take advantage of the other party), technological risk in terms of complexity of products and processes of manufacturing and incoming materials and finally market risks, which in fact judge the value of the innovation. These risks are investigated in this work. Specifically, technological risks which deal with complexity of the products, and processes will be investigated more thoroughly. Buying components or such high edge technologies necessities careful investigation of technical features and therefore is usually conducted by a team of experts. Therefore it is hypothesized that higher the technological risk, higher will be the centralization of the purchasing function as an interface with other supply chain members. Main contribution of this research lies is in the fact that analysis was performed on a large data set of 1493 companies, from 25 countries collected in the GMRG 4 survey. Most analyses of purchasing function are done by case study analysis of innovative firms. Therefore this study contributes with empirical evaluations that can be generalized.

Keywords: Purchasing function organization, innovation, technological risk, GMRG 4 survey.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3708
2515 A Review on Cloud Computing and Internet of Things

Authors: Sahar S. Tabrizi, Dogan Ibrahim

Abstract:

Cloud Computing is a convenient model for on-demand networks that uses shared pools of virtual configurable computing resources, such as servers, networks, storage devices, applications, etc. The cloud serves as an environment for companies and organizations to use infrastructure resources without making any purchases and they can access such resources wherever and whenever they need. Cloud computing is useful to overcome a number of problems in various Information Technology (IT) domains such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Scientific Research, e-Governance Systems, Decision Support Systems, ERP, Web Application Development, Mobile Technology, etc. Companies can use Cloud Computing services to store large amounts of data that can be accessed from anywhere on Earth and also at any time. Such services are rented by the client companies where the actual rent depends upon the amount of data stored on the cloud and also the amount of processing power used in a given time period. The resources offered by the cloud service companies are flexible in the sense that the user companies can increase or decrease their storage requirements or the processing power requirements at any time, thus minimizing the overall rental cost of the service they receive. In addition, the Cloud Computing service providers offer fast processors and applications software that can be shared by their clients. This is especially important for small companies with limited budgets which cannot afford to purchase their own expensive hardware and software. This paper is an overview of the Cloud Computing, giving its types, principles, advantages, and disadvantages. In addition, the paper gives some example engineering applications of Cloud Computing and makes suggestions for possible future applications in the field of engineering.

Keywords: Cloud computing, cloud services, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, IoT.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1369
2514 Characterizations of Star-Shaped, L-Convex, and Convex Polygons

Authors: Thomas Shermer, Godfried T. Toussaint

Abstract:

A chord of a simple polygon P is a line segment [xy] that intersects the boundary of P only at both endpoints x and y. A chord of P is called an interior chord provided the interior of [xy] lies in the interior of P. P is weakly visible from [xy] if for every point v in P there exists a point w in [xy] such that [vw] lies in P. In this paper star-shaped, L-convex, and convex polygons are characterized in terms of weak visibility properties from internal chords and starshaped subsets of P. A new Krasnoselskii-type characterization of isothetic star-shaped polygons is also presented.

Keywords: Convex polygons, L-convex polygons, star-shaped polygons, chords, weak visibility, discrete and computational geometry

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2323
2513 Design of a Tuning Fork type UWB Patch Antenna

Authors: A. H. M. Zahirul Alam, Rafiqul Islam, Sheroz Khan

Abstract:

In this paper a tuning fork type structure of Ultra Wideband (UWB) antenna is proposed. The antenna offers excellent performance for UWB system, ranging from 3.7 GHz to 13.8 GHz. The antenna exhibits a 10 dB return loss bandwidth over the entire frequency band. The rectangular patch antenna is designed on FR4 substrate and fed with 50 ohms microstrip line by optimizing the width of partial ground, the width and position of the feedline to operate in UWB. The rectangular patch is then modified to tuning fork structure by maintaining UWB frequency range.

Keywords: Ultra wide band, antenna, microstrip, partial groundplane.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1959
2512 Using Tabu Search to Analyze the Mauritian Economic Sectors

Authors: J. Cheeneebash, V. Beeharry, A. Gopaul

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to express the input-output matrix as a linear ordering problem which is classified as an NP-hard problem. We then use a Tabu search algorithm to find the best permutation among sectors in the input-output matrix that will give an optimal solution. This optimal permutation can be useful in designing policies and strategies for economists and government in their goal of maximizing the gross domestic product.

Keywords: Input-Output matrix, linear ordering problem, Tabusearch.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1478
2511 The Impact of Regulatory Changes on the Development of Mobile Medical Apps

Authors: M. McHugh, D. Lillis

Abstract:

Mobile applications are being used to perform a wide variety of tasks in day-to-day life, ranging from checking email to controlling your home heating. Application developers have recognized the potential to transform a smart device into a medical device, by using a mobile medical application i.e. a mobile phone or a tablet. When initially conceived these mobile medical applications performed basic functions e.g. BMI calculator, accessing reference material etc.; however, increasing complexity offers clinicians and patients a range of functionality. As this complexity and functionality increases, so too does the potential risk associated with using such an application. Examples include any applications that provide the ability to inflate and deflate blood pressure cuffs, as well as applications that use patient-specific parameters and calculate dosage or create a dosage plan for radiation therapy. If an unapproved mobile medical application is marketed by a medical device organization, then they face significant penalties such as receiving an FDA warning letter to cease the prohibited activity, fines and possibility of facing a criminal conviction. Regulatory bodies have finalized guidance intended for mobile application developers to establish if their applications are subject to regulatory scrutiny. However, regulatory controls appear contradictory with the approaches taken by mobile application developers who generally work with short development cycles and very little documentation and as such, there is the potential to stifle further improvements due to these regulations. The research presented as part of this paper details how by adopting development techniques, such as agile software development, mobile medical application developers can meet regulatory requirements whilst still fostering innovation.

Keywords: Medical, mobile, applications, software Engineering, FDA, standards, regulations, agile.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2044
2510 WAF: an Interface Web Agent Framework

Authors: Xizhi Li, Qinming He

Abstract:

A trend in agent community or enterprises is that they are shifting from closed to open architectures composed of a large number of autonomous agents. One of its implications could be that interface agent framework is getting more important in multi-agent system (MAS); so that systems constructed for different application domains could share a common understanding in human computer interface (HCI) methods, as well as human-agent and agent-agent interfaces. However, interface agent framework usually receives less attention than other aspects of MAS. In this paper, we will propose an interface web agent framework which is based on our former project called WAF and a Distributed HCI template. A group of new functionalities and implications will be discussed, such as web agent presentation, off-line agent reference, reconfigurable activation map of agents, etc. Their enabling techniques and current standards (e.g. existing ontological framework) are also suggested and shown by examples from our own implementation in WAF.

Keywords: HCI, Interface agent, MAS.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1632
2509 Obtaining of Nanocrystalline Ferrites and Other Complex Oxides by Sol–Gel Method with Participation of Auto–Combustion

Authors: V. S. Bushkova

Abstract:

It is well known that in recent years magnetic materials have received increased attention due to their properties. For this reason a significant number of patents that were published during the last decade are oriented towards synthesis and study of such materials. The aim of this work is to create and study ferrite nanocrystalline materials with spinel structure, using sol-gel technology with participation of auto-combustion. This method is perspective in that it is a cheap and low-temperature technique that allows for the fine control on the product’s chemical composition.

Keywords: Magnetic materials, ferrites, sol–gel technology, nanocrystalline powders.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1878
2508 Validation Testing for Temporal Neural Networks for RBF Recognition

Authors: Khaled E. A. Negm

Abstract:

A neuron can emit spikes in an irregular time basis and by averaging over a certain time window one would ignore a lot of information. It is known that in the context of fast information processing there is no sufficient time to sample an average firing rate of the spiking neurons. The present work shows that the spiking neurons are capable of computing the radial basis functions by storing the relevant information in the neurons' delays. One of the fundamental findings of the this research also is that when using overlapping receptive fields to encode the data patterns it increases the network-s clustering capacity. The clustering algorithm that is discussed here is interesting from computer science and neuroscience point of view as well as from a perspective.

Keywords: Temporal Neurons, RBF Recognition, Perturbation, On Line Recognition.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1478
2507 Floating-Point Scaling for BSS Gain Control

Authors: Abdelmalek Fermas, Adel Belouchrani, Otmane Ait Mohamed

Abstract:

In Blind Source Separation (BSS) processing, taking advantage of scaling factor indetermination and based on the floatingpoint representation, we propose a scaling technique applied to the separation matrix, to avoid the saturation or the weakness in the recovered source signals. This technique performs an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) in an on-line BSS environment. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique by using the implementation of a division free BSS algorithm with two input, two output. This technique is computationally cheaper and efficient for a hardware implementation.

Keywords: Automatic Gain Control, Blind Source Separation, Floating-Point Representation, FPGA Implementation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1507
2506 The Effect of a Free -Trade Agreement upon Agricultural Imports

Authors: Andres G. Victorio, Montita Rungswang

Abstract:

A free-trade agreement is found to increase Thailand-s agricultural imports from New Zealand, despite the short span of time for which the agreement has been operational. The finding is described by autoregressive estimates that correct for possible unit roots in the data. The agreement-s effect upon imports is also estimated while considering an error-correction model of imports against gross domestic product.

Keywords: Agricultural imports, free trade, unit roots, cointegration, error correction.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1792
2505 An Efficient Feature Extraction Algorithm for the Recognition of Handwritten Arabic Digits

Authors: Ahmad T. Al-Taani

Abstract:

In this paper, an efficient structural approach for recognizing on-line handwritten digits is proposed. After reading the digit from the user, the slope is estimated and normalized for adjacent nodes. Based on the changing of signs of the slope values, the primitives are identified and extracted. The names of these primitives are represented by strings, and then a finite state machine, which contains the grammars of the digits, is traced to identify the digit. Finally, if there is any ambiguity, it will be resolved. Experiments showed that this technique is flexible and can achieve high recognition accuracy for the shapes of the digits represented in this work.

Keywords: Digits Recognition, Pattern Recognition, FeatureExtraction, Structural Primitives, Document Processing, Handwritten Recognition, Primitives Selection.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2622