Search results for: Microwave signal level
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4565

Search results for: Microwave signal level

3005 Investigating the Application of Social Sustainability: A Case Study in the Egyptian Retailing Sector

Authors: Lobna Hafez, Eman Elakkad

Abstract:

Sustainability is no longer a choice for firms. To achieve sustainable supply chain, all three dimensions of sustainability should be considered. Unlike the economic and environmental aspects, social sustainability has been rarely given attention. The problem surrounding social sustainability and employees’ welfare in Egypt is complex and remains unsolved. The aim of this study is to qualitatively assess the current level of application of social sustainability in the retailing sector in Egypt through using the social sustainability indicators identified in the literature. The purpose of this investigation is to gain knowledge about the complexity of the system involved. A case study is conducted on one of the largest retailers in Egypt. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with managers and employees to determine the level of application and identify the major obstacles affecting the social sustainability in the retailing context. The work developed gives insights about the details and complexities of the application of social sustainability in developing countries, from the retailing perspective. The outcomes of this study will help managers to understand the enablers of social sustainability and will direct them to methods of sound implementation.

Keywords: Egypt, retailing sector, social sustainability, sustainability.

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3004 Using Metacognitive Strategies in Reading Comprehension by EFL Students

Authors: Simin Sadeghi-Saeb

Abstract:

Metacognitive strategies consistently play important roles in reading comprehension. The metacognitive strategies involve the active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of the cognitive processes in relation to the cognitive objects or data on which they bear. In this paper, the effect of instruction in using metacognitive strategies on reading academic materials, type of metacognitive strategies were mostly used by college university students before and after the instruction and the level they use those strategies before and after the instruction were studied. For these aims, 50 female college students were chosen. Then, they were divided randomly into two groups, experimental and control groups. At first session, students in both groups took the standard TOFEL exam. After the pre-test had been administered, the instruction began. After treatment, a post-test was taken. It is useful to state that after pre-test and post-test the same questionnaire was handed to the students of experimental group. The results of this research show that the instruction of metacognitive strategies has positive effect on the students' scores in reading comprehension tests. Furthermore, it showed that before and after the instruction, the students' usage of metacognitive strategies changed. Also, it demonstrated that the instruction affected the students' level of metacognitive strategies' usage.

Keywords: EFL students, English reading comprehension, instruction, metacognitive strategies.

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3003 Greening the Greyfields: Unlocking the Redevelopment Potential of the Middle Suburbs in Australian Cities

Authors: Peter Newton, Peter Newman, Stephen Glackin, Roman Trubka

Abstract:

Pressures for urban redevelopment are intensifying in all large cities. A new logic for urban development is required – green urbanism – that provides a spatial framework for directing population and investment inwards to brownfields and greyfields precincts, rather than outwards to the greenfields. This represents both a major opportunity and a major challenge for city planners in pluralist liberal democracies. However, plans for more compact forms of urban redevelopment are stalling in the face of community resistance. A new paradigm and spatial planning platform is required that will support timely multi-level and multi-actor stakeholder engagement, resulting in the emergence of consensus plans for precinct-level urban regeneration capable of more rapid implementation. Using Melbourne, Australia as a case study, this paper addresses two of the urban intervention challenges – where and how – via the application of a 21st century planning tool ENVISION created for this purpose.

Keywords: Green urbanism, greyfields, planning tools, urban regeneration.

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3002 Enhancing Operational Effectiveness in the Norwegian Army through Simulation-Based Training

Authors: B. Bakken, O. Boe

Abstract:

The Norwegian Military Academy (Army) has initiated a project with the main ambition to explore possible avenues to enhancing operational effectiveness through an increased use of simulation-based training and exercises. Within a cost/benefit framework, we discuss opportunities and limitations of vertical and horizontal integration of the existing tactical training system. Vertical integration implies expanding the existing training system to span the full range of training from tactical level (platoon, company) to command and staff level (battalion, brigade). Horizontal integration means including other domains than army tactics and staff procedures in the training, such as military ethics, foreign languages, leadership and decision making. We discuss each of the integration options with respect to purpose and content of training, "best practice" for organising and conducting simulation-based training, and suggest how to evaluate training procedures and measure learning outcomes. We conclude by giving guidelines towards further explorative work and possible implementation.

Keywords: Effectiveness, integration, simulation, training.

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3001 The Effect of Diversity Sensitive Orientation on Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention

Authors: Hyeondal Jeong, Yoonjung Baek

Abstract:

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of diversity sensitive orientation on job satisfaction and turnover intention. Diversity sensitive orientation is the attitude of the individual to respect and accommodate diversity. This is focused on an individual’s perception of diversity. Although being made from the most diversity related research team and organizational level, this study deals with diversity issues at the individual level. To test the proposed research model and hypothesis, the data were collected from 291 Korean employees. The study conducted a confirmatory factor analysis for the validity test. Furthermore, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized relationship in the conceptual model. The results of this paper were as followings: First, diversity sensitive orientation was positively related to job satisfaction. Second, diversity sensitive orientation was negatively related to turnover intention. In other words, the positive influence of the diversity sensitive orientation has been verified. Based on the findings, this study suggested implications and directions for future research.

Keywords: Diversity sensitive orientation, job satisfaction, turnover intention, perception, cognition.

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3000 Food and Beverage Safety and Satisfaction: A Gender Effect

Authors: Sakul Jariyachamsit, Kevin Wongleedee

Abstract:

There has been considerable growth in the issue of food & beverage safety in Thailand. This is important because the level of satisfaction in food & beverage safety has impacts on travel decision made by foreign tourists. Therefore, this paper was aimed to test if there is any significant gender effect in the level of satisfaction of food & beverage safety made by foreign tourists in Thailand. In addition, this paper utilized the Chi Square test of independent to test if there was an association between gender and sickness because of food and if there was an association between gender and the perception of food safety standard. During January to June, 2012, a total of 400 foreign tourist respondents, 200 male as well as 200 female foreign tourists, were interviewed at the departure lounge at Suvarnabhumi airport, Thailand. The findings revealed the astonishing result that there was no significant effect of gender. Also, there was no significant difference in the association between gender and being sick because of food as well as the association between gender and the perception on the standard of food safety during their trip in Thailand.

Keywords: Food & Beverage, Gender Effect, Safety Standard, Satisfaction.

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2999 GPI Observer-based Tracking Control and Synchronization of Chaotic Systems

Authors: Dangjun Zhao, Yongji Wang, Lei Liu

Abstract:

Based on general proportional integral (GPI) observers and sliding mode control technique, a robust control method is proposed for the master-slave synchronization of chaotic systems in the presence of parameter uncertainty and with partially measurable output signal. By using GPI observer, the master dynamics are reconstructed by the observations from a measurable output under the differential algebraic framework. Driven by the signals provided by GPI observer, a sliding mode control technique is used for the tracking control and synchronization of the master-slave dynamics. The convincing numerical results reveal the proposed method is effective, and successfully accommodate the system uncertainties, disturbances, and noisy corruptions.

Keywords: GPI observer, sliding mode control, master-slave synchronization, chaotic systems.

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2998 Cardiac Biosignal and Adaptation in Confined Nuclear Submarine Patrol

Authors: B. Lefranc, C. Aufauvre-Poupon, C. Martin-Krumm, M. Trousselard

Abstract:

Isolated and confined environments (ICE) present several challenges which may adversely affect human’s psychology and physiology. Submariners in Sub-Surface Ballistic Nuclear (SSBN) mission exposed to these environmental constraints must be able to perform complex tasks as part of their normal duties, as well as during crisis periods when emergency actions are required or imminent. The operational and environmental constraints they face contribute to challenge human adaptability. The impact of such a constrained environment has yet to be explored. Establishing a knowledge framework is a determining factor, particularly in view of the next long space travels. Ensuring that the crews are maintained in optimal operational conditions is a real challenge because the success of the mission depends on them. This study focused on the evaluation of the impact of stress on mental health and sensory degradation of submariners during a mission on SSBN using cardiac biosignal (heart rate variability, HRV) clustering. This is a pragmatic exploratory study of a prospective cohort included 19 submariner volunteers. HRV was recorded at baseline to classify by clustering the submariners according to their stress level based on parasympathetic (Pa) activity. Impacts of high Pa (HPa) versus low Pa (LPa) level at baseline were assessed on emotional state and sensory perception (interoception and exteroception) as a cardiac biosignal during the patrol and at a recovery time one month after. Whatever the time, no significant difference was found in mental health between groups. There are significant differences in the interoceptive, exteroceptive and physiological functioning during the patrol and at recovery time. To sum up, compared to the LPa group, the HPa maintains a higher level in psychosensory functioning during the patrol and at recovery but exhibits a decrease in Pa level. The HPa group has less adaptable HRV characteristics, less unpredictability and flexibility of cardiac biosignals while the LPa group increases them during the patrol and at recovery time. This dissociation between psychosensory and physiological adaptation suggests two treatment modalities for ICE environments. To our best knowledge, our results are the first to highlight the impact of physiological differences in the HRV profile on the adaptability of submariners. Further studies are needed to evaluate the negative emotional and cognitive effects of ICEs based on the cardiac profile. Artificial intelligence offers a promising future for maintaining high level of operational conditions. These future perspectives will not only allow submariners to be better prepared, but also to design feasible countermeasures that will help support analog environments that bring us closer to a trip to Mars.

Keywords: Adaptation, exteroception, HRV, ICE, interoception, SSBN.

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2997 Fast Cosine Transform to Increase Speed-up and Efficiency of Karhunen-Loève Transform for Lossy Image Compression

Authors: Mario Mastriani, Juliana Gambini

Abstract:

In this work, we present a comparison between two techniques of image compression. In the first case, the image is divided in blocks which are collected according to zig-zag scan. In the second one, we apply the Fast Cosine Transform to the image, and then the transformed image is divided in blocks which are collected according to zig-zag scan too. Later, in both cases, the Karhunen-Loève transform is applied to mentioned blocks. On the other hand, we present three new metrics based on eigenvalues for a better comparative evaluation of the techniques. Simulations show that the combined version is the best, with minor Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Mean Squared Error (MSE), higher Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) and better image quality. Finally, new technique was far superior to JPEG and JPEG2000.

Keywords: Fast Cosine Transform, image compression, JPEG, JPEG2000, Karhunen-Loève Transform, zig-zag scan.

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2996 Impact of Shearing Date on Behaviors and Performances of Pregnant Rahmani Ewes

Authors: T. M. Mousa-Balabel, M. A. Salama

Abstract:

The effect of shearing date on behaviors and performances of 20 pregnant Rahmani ewes was evaluated in four groups (5each). Ewes were shorn at 70, 100 and 130 days of pregnancy in the first three groups respectively, while the fourth group was maintained unshorn as a control. Some behavioral and physiological data related to ewes in addition, blood cortisol level were recorded. Results revealed a significant increase in the frequencies of comfort and eating behaviors, respiratory rate, pulse rate, lamb birth weight and blood cortisol level in early and mid pregnancy shorn ewes. Also, a slight increase in pregnancy period was observed for those ewes. On the other hand, social behaviors, and core temperature were not affected by shearing. These results conclude that prenatal shearing (early and mid-pregnancy) of ewes increases the frequencies of comfort and eating behaviors, and improves the survival rates of lambs by increasing their birth weights.

Keywords: behavior, blood cortisol, pregnant rahmani ewes, shearing.

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2995 Monte Carlo Analysis and Fuzzy Sets for Uncertainty Propagation in SIS Performance Assessment

Authors: Fares Innal, Yves Dutuit, Mourad Chebila

Abstract:

The object of this work is the probabilistic performance evaluation of safety instrumented systems (SIS), i.e. the average probability of dangerous failure on demand (PFDavg) and the average frequency of failure (PFH), taking into account the uncertainties related to the different parameters that come into play: failure rate (λ), common cause failure proportion (β), diagnostic coverage (DC)... This leads to an accurate and safe assessment of the safety integrity level (SIL) inherent to the safety function performed by such systems. This aim is in keeping with the requirement of the IEC 61508 standard with respect to handling uncertainty. To do this, we propose an approach that combines (1) Monte Carlo simulation and (2) fuzzy sets. Indeed, the first method is appropriate where representative statistical data are available (using pdf of the relating parameters), while the latter applies in the case characterized by vague and subjective information (using membership function). The proposed approach is fully supported with a suitable computer code.

Keywords: Fuzzy sets, Monte Carlo simulation, Safety instrumented system, Safety integrity level.

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2994 Contingent Pay and Experience with Its Utilization by Companies in one of the Czech Republic's Regions

Authors: Petra Horváthová, Andrej Miklosik

Abstract:

One part of the total employee’s reward is apart from basic wages or salary, employee’s benefits and intangible remuneration also so called contingent (variable) pay. Contingent pay is connected to performance, contribution, cap competency or skills of individual employees, and to team’s or company-wide performance or to combination of few of the mentioned possibilities. Sometimes among the contingent pay is also incorporated the remuneration based on length of employment, when the financial reward is not connected to performance or skills, but to length of continuous employment either on one working position or in one level of remuneration scale. Main aim of this article is to define, based on available information, contingent pay, describe individual forms, its advantages and disadvantages and possibilities to utilization in practice; but also bring information not only about its extent and level of utilization of contingent pay by companies in one of the Czech Republic’s regions, but also mention their practical experience with this type of remuneration.

Keywords: Contingent pay, individual contingent pay, team contingent pay, company-wide contingent pay

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2993 Identification of Wideband Sources Using Higher Order Statistics in Noisy Environment

Authors: S. Bourennane, A. Bendjama

Abstract:

This paper deals with the localization of the wideband sources. We develop a new approach for estimating the wide band sources parameters. This method is based on the high order statistics of the recorded data in order to eliminate the Gaussian components from the signals received on the various hydrophones.In fact the noise of sea bottom is regarded as being Gaussian. Thanks to the coherent signal subspace algorithm based on the cumulant matrix of the received data instead of the cross-spectral matrix the wideband correlated sources are perfectly located in the very noisy environment. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm on the real data recorded during an underwater acoustics experiments.

Keywords: Higher-order statistics, high resolution array processing techniques, localization of acoustics sources, wide band sources.

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2992 Digital Image Encryption Scheme using Chaotic Sequences with a Nonlinear Function

Authors: H. Ogras, M. Turk

Abstract:

In this study, a system of encryption based on chaotic sequences is described. The system is used for encrypting digital image data for the purpose of secure image transmission. An image secure communication scheme based on Logistic map chaotic sequences with a nonlinear function is proposed in this paper. Encryption and decryption keys are obtained by one-dimensional Logistic map that generates secret key for the input of the nonlinear function. Receiver can recover the information using the received signal and identical key sequences through the inverse system technique. The results of computer simulations indicate that the transmitted source image can be correctly and reliably recovered by using proposed scheme even under the noisy channel. The performance of the system will be discussed through evaluating the quality of recovered image with and without channel noise.

Keywords: Digital image, Image encryption, Secure communication

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2991 An Expert System for Assessment of Learning Outcomes for ABET Accreditation

Authors: M. H. Imam, Imran A. Tasadduq, Abdul-Rahim Ahmad, Fahd M. Aldosari

Abstract:

Learning outcomes of a course (CLOs) and the abilities at the time of graduation referred to as Student Outcomes (SOs) are required to be assessed for ABET accreditation. A question in an assessment must target a CLO as well as an SO and must represent a required level of competence. This paper presents the idea of an Expert System (ES) to select a proper question to satisfy ABET accreditation requirements. For ES implementation, seven attributes of a question are considered including the learning outcomes and Bloom’s Taxonomy level. A database contains all the data about a course including course content topics, course learning outcomes and the CLO-SO relationship matrix. The knowledge base of the presented ES contains a pool of questions each with tags of the specified attributes. Questions and the attributes represent expert opinions. With implicit rule base the inference engine finds the best possible question satisfying the required attributes. It is shown that the novel idea of such an ES can be implemented and applied to a course with success. An application example is presented to demonstrate the working of the proposed ES.

Keywords: Expert system, student outcomes, course learning outcomes, question attributes.

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2990 Effect of Channel Estimation on Capacity of MIMO System Employing Circular or Linear Receiving Array Antennas

Authors: Xia Liu, Marek E. Bialkowski

Abstract:

This paper reports on investigations into capacity of a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) wireless communication system employing a uniform linear array (ULA) at the transmitter and either a uniform linear array (ULA) or a uniform circular array (UCA) antenna at the receiver. The transmitter is assumed to be surrounded by scattering objects while the receiver is postulated to be free from scattering objects. The Laplacian distribution of angle of arrival (AOA) of a signal reaching the receiver is postulated. Calculations of the MIMO system capacity are performed for two cases without and with the channel estimation errors. For estimating the MIMO channel, the scaled least square (SLS) and minimum mean square error (MMSE) methods are considered.

Keywords: MIMO, channel capacity, channel estimation, ULA, UCA, spatial correlation

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2989 Security Enhanced RFID Middleware System

Authors: Jieun Song, Taesung Kim, Sokjoon Lee, Howon Kim

Abstract:

Recently, the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology attracts the world market attention as essential technology for ubiquitous environment. The RFID market has focused on transponders and reader development. But that concern has shifted to RFID software like as high-valued e-business applications, RFID middleware and related development tools. However, due to the high sensitivity of data and service transaction within the RFID network, security consideration must be addressed. In order to guarantee trusted e-business based on RFID technology, we propose a security enhanced RFID middleware system. Our proposal is compliant with EPCglobal ALE (Application Level Events), which is standard interface for middleware and its clients. We show how to provide strengthened security and trust by protecting transported data between middleware and its client, and stored data in middleware. Moreover, we achieve the identification and service access control against illegal service abuse. Our system enables secure RFID middleware service and trusted e-business service.

Keywords: RFID Middleware, ALE (Application Level Events), Security.

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2988 Metoprolol Tartrate-Ethylcellulose Tabletted Microparticles: Development of a Validated Invitro In-vivo Correlation

Authors: Fatima Rasool, Mahmood Ahmad, Ghulam Murtaza, Haji M. S. Khan, Shujaat A. Khan, Sonia Khiljee, Muhammad Qamar-Uz-Zaman

Abstract:

This study describes the methodology for the development of a validated in-vitro in-vivo correlation (IVIVC) for metoprolol tartrate modified release dosage forms with distinctive release rate characteristics. Modified release dosage forms were formulated by microencapsulation of metoprolol tartrate into different amounts of ethylcellulose by non-solvent addition technique. Then in-vitro and in-vivo studies were conducted to develop and validate level A IVIVC for metoprolol tartrate. The values of regression co-efficient (R2-values) for IVIVC of T2 and T3 formulations were not significantly (p<0.05) different from 1 while the values of R2 for IVIVC of T1 and Mepressor® were significantly (p<0.05) different from 1. Internal prediction errors of IVIVC, calculated from observed Area under Curve (AUC) and predicted AUC, were less than 10%. This study successfully presents a valid level A IVIVC for metoprolol tartrate modified dosage forms.

Keywords: Metoprolol tartrate, Dissolution, Bioavailability, Validated in-vitro in-vivo correlation.

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2987 Detecting and Tracking Vehicles in Airborne Videos

Authors: Hsu-Yung Cheng, Chih-Chang Yu

Abstract:

In this work, we present an automatic vehicle detection system for airborne videos using combined features. We propose a pixel-wise classification method for vehicle detection using Dynamic Bayesian Networks. In spite of performing pixel-wise classification, relations among neighboring pixels in a region are preserved in the feature extraction process. The main novelty of the detection scheme is that the extracted combined features comprise not only pixel-level information but also region-level information. Afterwards, tracking is performed on the detected vehicles. Tracking is performed using efficient Kalman filter with dynamic particle sampling. Experiments were conducted on a wide variety of airborne videos. We do not assume prior information of camera heights, orientation, and target object sizes in the proposed framework. The results demonstrate flexibility and good generalization abilities of the proposed method on a challenging dataset.

Keywords: Vehicle Detection, Airborne Video, Tracking, Dynamic Bayesian Networks

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2986 Examining Organizational Improvisation: The Role of Strategic Reasoning and Managerial Factors

Authors: Darwina Arshad, Paul Hughes

Abstract:

Recent environmental turbulence including financial crisis, intensified competitive forces, rapid technological change and high market turbulence have dramatically changed the current business climate. The managers firms have to plan and decide what the best approaches that best fit their firms in order to pursue superior performance. This research aims to examine the influence of strategic reasoning and top level managers- individual characteristics on the effectiveness of organizational improvisation and firm performance. Given the lack of studies on these relationships in the previous literature, there is significant contribution to the body of knowledge as well as for managerial practices. 128 responses from top management of technology-based companies in Malaysia were used as a sample. Three hypotheses were examined and the findings confirm that (a) there is no relationship between intuitive reasoning and organizational improvisation but there is a link between rational reasoning and organizational improvisation, (b) top level managers- individual characteristics as a whole affect organizational improvisation; and (c) organizational improvisation positively affects firm performance. The theoretical and managerial implications were discussed in the conclusions.

Keywords: Organizational improvisation, strategic reasoning, firm performance.

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2985 DEA Method for Evaluation of EU Performance

Authors: M. Staníčková

Abstract:

The paper deals with an application of quantitative analysis – the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method to performance evaluation of the European Union Member States, in the reference years 2000 and 2011. The main aim of the paper is to measure efficiency changes over the reference years and to analyze a level of productivity in individual countries based on DEA method and to classify the EU Member States to homogeneous units (clusters) according to efficiency results. The theoretical part is devoted to the fundamental basis of performance theory and the methodology of DEA. The empirical part is aimed at measuring degree of productivity and level of efficiency changes of evaluated countries by basic DEA model – CCR CRS model, and specialized DEA approach – the Malmquist Index measuring the change of technical efficiency and the movement of production possibility frontier. Here, DEA method becomes a suitable tool for setting a competitive/uncompetitive position of each country because there is not only one factor evaluated, but a set of different factors that determine the degree of economic development.

Keywords: CCR CRS model, cluster analysis, DEA method, efficiency, EU, Malmquist index, performance.

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2984 The Relationship between Adolescent Emotional Inhibition and Depression Disorder: The Moderate Effect of Gender

Authors: Jia-Ru Li, Chih-Hung Wang, Ching-Wen Lin

Abstract:

The association between emotional inhibition strategies linked to depression has been showed inconsistent among studies. Mild emotional inhibition maybe benefit for social interaction, especially for female among East Asian cultures. The present study aimed to examine whether the inhibition–depression relationship is dependent on level of emotion inhibition and gender context, given differing value of suppressing emotional displays. We hypothesized that the negative associations between inhibition and adolescent depression would not directly, in which affected by interaction between emotion inhibition and gender. To test this hypothesis, we asked 309 junior high school students which age range from 12 to14 years old to report on their use of emotion inhibition and depression syndrome. A multiple regressions analysis revealed that significant interaction that gender as a moderator to the relationships between emotion inhibition and adolescent depression. The group with the highest level of depression was girls with high levels of emotion inhibition, whose depression score was higher than that of boys with high levels of emotion inhibition. The result highlights that the importance of context in understanding the inhibition-depression relationship.

Keywords: Emotional inhibition strategies, gender, adolescent depression.

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2983 Visual Odometry and Trajectory Reconstruction for UAVs

Authors: Sandro Bartolini, Alessandro Mecocci, Alessio Medaglini

Abstract:

The growing popularity of systems based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is highlighting their vulnerability particularly in relation to the positioning system used. Typically, UAV architectures use the civilian GPS which is exposed to a number of different attacks, such as jamming or spoofing. This is why it is important to develop alternative methodologies to accurately estimate the actual UAV position without relying on GPS measurements only. In this paper we propose a position estimate method for UAVs based on monocular visual odometry. We have developed a flight control system capable of keeping track of the entire trajectory travelled, with a reduced dependency on the availability of GPS signal. Moreover, the simplicity of the developed solution makes it applicable to a wide range of commercial drones. The final goal is to allow for safer flights in all conditions, even under cyber-attacks trying to deceive the drone.

Keywords: Visual odometry, autonomous UAV, position measurement, autonomous outdoor flight.

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2982 A Novel Estimation Method for Integer Frequency Offset in Wireless OFDM Systems

Authors: Taeung Yoon, Youngpo Lee, Chonghan Song, Na Young Ha, Seokho Yoon

Abstract:

Ren et al. presented an efficient carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation method for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), which has an estimation range as large as the bandwidth of the OFDM signal and achieves high accuracy without any constraint on the structure of the training sequence. However, its detection probability of the integer frequency offset (IFO) rapidly varies according to the fractional frequency offset (FFO) change. In this paper, we first analyze the Ren-s method and define two criteria suitable for detection of IFO. Then, we propose a novel method for the IFO estimation based on the maximum-likelihood (ML) principle and the detection criteria defined in this paper. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the Ren-s method in terms of the IFO detection probability irrespective of a value of the FFO.

Keywords: Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, integer frequency offset, estimation, training symbol

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2981 Feature Vector Fusion for Image Based Human Age Estimation

Authors: D. Karthikeyan, G. Balakrishnan

Abstract:

Human faces, as important visual signals, express a significant amount of nonverbal info for usage in human-to-human communication. Age, specifically, is more significant among these properties. Human age estimation using facial image analysis as an automated method which has numerous potential real‐world applications. In this paper, an automated age estimation framework is presented. Support Vector Regression (SVR) strategy is utilized to investigate age prediction. This paper depicts a feature extraction taking into account Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM), which can be utilized for robust face recognition framework. It applies GLCM operation to remove the face's features images and Active Appearance Models (AAMs) to assess the human age based on image. A fused feature technique and SVR with GA optimization are proposed to lessen the error in age estimation.

Keywords: Support vector regression, feature extraction, gray level co-occurrence matrix, active appearance models.

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2980 Comparison of the Parameter using ECG with Bisepctrum Parameter using EEG during General Anesthesia

Authors: Seong-wan Baik, Soo-young Ye, Byeong-cheol Choi, Gye-rok Jeon

Abstract:

The measurement of anesthetic depth is necessary in anesthesiology. NN10 is very simple method among the RR intervals analysis methods. NN10 parameter means the numbers of above the 10 ms intervals of the normal to normal RR intervals. Bispectrum analysis is defined as 2D FFT. EEG signal reflected the non-linear peristalsis phenomena according to the change brain function. After analyzing the bispectrum of the 2 dimension, the most significant power spectrum density peaks appeared abundantly at the specific area in awakening and anesthesia state. These points are utilized to create the new index since many peaks appeared at the specific area in the frequency coordinate. The measured range of an index was 0-100. An index is 20-50 at an anesthesia, while the index is 90-60 at the awake. In this paper, the relation between NN10 parameter using ECG and bisepctrum index using EEG is observed to estimate the depth of anesthesia during anesthesia and then we estimated the utility of the anesthetic.

Keywords: Anesthesia, Bispectrum index, ECG, EEG

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2979 Detection and Pose Estimation of People in Images

Authors: Mousa Mojarrad, Amir Masoud Rahmani, Mehrab Mohebi

Abstract:

Detection, feature extraction and pose estimation of people in images and video is made challenging by the variability of human appearance, the complexity of natural scenes and the high dimensionality of articulated body models and also the important field in Image, Signal and Vision Computing in recent years. In this paper, four types of people in 2D dimension image will be tested and proposed. The system will extract the size and the advantage of them (such as: tall fat, short fat, tall thin and short thin) from image. Fat and thin, according to their result from the human body that has been extract from image, will be obtained. Also the system extract every size of human body such as length, width and shown them in output.

Keywords: Analysis of Image Processing, Canny Edge Detection, Human Body Recognition, Measurement, Pose Estimation, 2D Human Dimension.

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2978 The Quality of Fishery Product on the Moldovan Market, Regulations, National Institutions, Controls and Non-Compliant Products

Authors: Mihaela Munteanu (Pila), Silvius Stanciu

Abstract:

This paper presents the aspects of the official control of fishery in the Republic of Moldova. Currently, the regulations and the activity of national institutions with responsibilities in the field of food quality are in a process of harmonization with the European rules, aiming at European integration, quality improvement and providing a higher level of food safety. The National Agency for Food Safety is the main national body with responsibilities in the field of food safety. In the field of fishery products, the Agency carries out an intensive activity of informing the citizen and controlling the products marketed. The paper presents the dangers related to the consumption of fish and fishery products traded on the national market, the sanitary-veterinary inspections conducted by the profile institution and the improper situations identified. The national market of fishery products depends largely on imports, mainly focused on ocean fish. The research carried out has shown that during the period 2011-2018, following the inspections carried out on fishery products traded on the national market, a number of inconsistencies have been identified. Thus, indigenous products were frequently detected with sensory characteristics unfit for consumption, and being commercialized in inappropriate locations or contaminated with chemical pollutants. On import products controlled, the most frequent inconsistent situations have been represented by inconsistent sensory aspects and by parasite contamination. Taking into account the specific aspects of aquatic products, including the high level of alterability, special conditions of growth, marketing, culinary preparation and consumption are necessary in order to decrease the risk of disease over the population. Certificates, attestations and other documents certifying the quality of batches, completed by additional laboratory examinations, are necessary in order to increase the level of confidence on the quality of products marketed in the Republic. The implementation of various control procedures and mechanisms at national level, correlated with the focused activity of the specialized institutions, can decrease the risk of contamination and avoid cases of disease on the population due to the consumption of fishery products.

Keywords: Fishery products, food safety, insurance, inspection, Republic of Moldova.

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2977 Investigation of Interference Conditions in BFWA System Applying Adaptive TDD

Authors: Gábor Szládek, Balázs Héder, János Bitó

Abstract:

In a BFWA (Broadband Fixed Wireless Access Network) the evolved SINR (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio) is relevant influenced by the applied duplex method. The TDD (Time Division Duplex), especially adaptive TDD method has some advantage contrary to FDD (Frequency Division Duplex), for example the spectrum efficiency and flexibility. However these methods are suffering several new interference situations that can-t occur in a FDD system. This leads to reduced SINR in the covered area what could cause some connection outages. Therefore, countermeasure techniques against interference are necessary to apply in TDD systems. Synchronization is one way to handling the interference. In this paper the TDD systems – applying different system synchronization degree - will be compared by the evolved SINR at different locations of the BFWA service area and the percentage of the covered area by the system.

Keywords: Adaptive TDD, BFWA networks, duplex methods, intra system interferences.

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2976 A Tutorial on Dynamic Simulation of DC Motor and Implementation of Kalman Filter on a Floating Point DSP

Authors: Padmakumar S., Vivek Agarwal, Kallol Roy

Abstract:

With the advent of inexpensive 32 bit floating point digital signal processor-s availability in market, many computationally intensive algorithms such as Kalman filter becomes feasible to implement in real time. Dynamic simulation of a self excited DC motor using second order state variable model and implementation of Kalman Filter in a floating point DSP TMS320C6713 is presented in this paper with an objective to introduce and implement such an algorithm, for beginners. A fractional hp DC motor is simulated in both Matlab® and DSP and the results are included. A step by step approach for simulation of DC motor in Matlab® and “C" routines in CC Studio® is also given. CC studio® project file details and environmental setting requirements are addressed. This tutorial can be used with 6713 DSK, which is based on floating point DSP and CC Studio either in hardware mode or in simulation mode.

Keywords: DC motor, DSP, Dynamic simulation, Kalman Filter

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