Search results for: Organizational activity system

Authors: Gayadhar Panda, P. K. Rautraya

Abstract:

In this paper, an investigation into the use of modified Genetic Algorithm optimized SSSC based controller to aid damping of low frequency inter-area oscillations in power systems is presented. Controller design is formulated as a nonlinear constrained optimization problem and modified Genetic Algorithm (MGA) is employed to search for the optimal controller parameters. For evaluation of effectiveness and robustness of proposed controllers, the performance was tested on multi-machine system subjected to different disturbances, loading conditions and system parameter variations. Simulation results are presented to show the fine performance of the proposed SSSC controller in damping the critical modes without significantly deteriorating the damping characteristics of other modes in multi-machine power system.

Keywords: SSSC, FACTS, Controller Design, Damping of Oscillations, Multi-machine system, Modified Genetic Algorithm (MGA).

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Authors: Al-Khalid Othman, Wan A. Wan Zainal Abidin, Kee M. Lee, Hushairi Zen, Tengku. M. A. Zulcaffle, Kuryati Kipli

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This paper provides an in-depth study of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) application to monitor and control the swiftlet habitat. A set of system design is designed and developed that includes the hardware design of the nodes, Graphical User Interface (GUI) software, sensor network, and interconnectivity for remote data access and management. System architecture is proposed to address the requirements for habitat monitoring. Such applicationdriven design provides and identify important areas of further work in data sampling, communications and networking. For this monitoring system, a sensor node (MTS400), IRIS and Micaz radio transceivers, and a USB interfaced gateway base station of Crossbow (Xbow) Technology WSN are employed. The GUI of this monitoring system is written using a Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench (LabVIEW) along with Xbow Technology drivers provided by National Instrument. As a result, this monitoring system is capable of collecting data and presents it in both tables and waveform charts for further analysis. This system is also able to send notification message by email provided Internet connectivity is available whenever changes on habitat at remote sites (swiftlet farms) occur. Other functions that have been implemented in this system are the database system for record and management purposes; remote access through the internet using LogMeIn software. Finally, this research draws a conclusion that a WSN for monitoring swiftlet habitat can be effectively used to monitor and manage swiftlet farming industry in Sarawak.

Keywords: Swiftlet, WSN, Habitat Monitoring, Networking.

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Authors: Kee-Young Kwahk

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Previous studies have indicated that one of the most critical failure reasons of enterprise systems is the lack of knowledge sharing and utilization across organizations. As a consequence, many information systems researchers have paid attention to examining the effect of absorptive capacity closely associated with knowledge sharing and transferring on IS usage performance. A lack of communications and interactions due to a lack of organizational citizenship behavior might lead to weak absorptive capacity and thus negatively influence knowledge sharing across organizations. In this study, a theoretical model which delves into the relationship between usage performance of enterprise systems and its determinants was established.

Keywords: Usage performance of information systems, Social exchanges, Enterprise systems.

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Authors: Shivali D. Kulkarni, Ameya K. Naik, Nitin S. Nagori

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In this paper we present simulation results for the application of a bandwidth efficient algorithm (mapping algorithm) to an image transmission system. This system considers three different real valued transforms to generate energy compact coefficients. First results are presented for gray scale and color image transmission in the absence of noise. It is seen that the system performs its best when discrete cosine transform is used. Also the performance of the system is dominated more by the size of the transform block rather than the number of coefficients transmitted or the number of bits used to represent each coefficient. Similar results are obtained in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise. The varying values of the bit error rate have very little or no impact on the performance of the algorithm. Optimum results are obtained for the system considering 8x8 transform block and by transmitting 15 coefficients from each block using 8 bits.

Keywords: Additive white Gaussian noise channel, mapping algorithm, peak signal to noise ratio, transform encoding.

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Authors: Li Feng

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In this paper, center conditions and bifurcation of limit cycles at the nilpotent critical point in a class of quintic polynomial differential system are investigated.With the help of computer algebra system MATHEMATICA, the first 10 quasi Lyapunov constants are deduced. As a result, sufficient and necessary conditions in order to have a center are obtained. The fact that there exist 10 small amplitude limit cycles created from the three order nilpotent critical point is also proved. Henceforth we give a lower bound of cyclicity of three-order nilpotent critical point for quintic Lyapunov systems. At last, we give an system which could bifurcate 10 limit circles.

Keywords: Three-order nilpotent critical point, center-focus problem, bifurcation of limit cycles, Quasi-Lyapunov constant.

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Authors: Jung-Chuan Chou, Chang-Chi Lee

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A measurement system was successfully fabricated to detect ion concentrations (hydrogen and chlorine) in this study. PIC18F4520, the microcontroller was used as the control unit in the measurement system. The measurement system was practically used to sense the H+ and Cl- in different examples, and the pH and pCl values were exhibited on real-time LCD display promptly. In the study, the measurement method is used to judge whether the response voltage is stable. The change quantity is smaller than 0.01%, that the present response voltage compares with next response voltage for H+ measurement, and the above condition is established only 6 sec. Besides, the change quantity is smaller than 0.01%, that the present response voltage compares with next response voltage for Clmeasurement, and the above condition is established only 5 sec. Furthermore, the average error quantities would also be considered, and they are 0.05 and 0.07 for measurements of pH and pCl values, respectively.

Keywords: Chlorine ion sensor, hydrogen ion sensor, microcontroller, response voltage.

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Authors: Graziele Zwielewski, Suzana R. Tolfo

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The globalization of markets, the need to develop competitive advantages and core competencies, among other things, lead organizations to increasingly cross borders to operate in other countries. The expatriation of professionals who go to work in another country besides their own becomes increasingly common. In order to generate data about this issue, research was conducted concerning the perception of expatriate employees concerning expatriation success. The research method used was case study through a qualitative approach. This research was done through interviews with five India expatriates and five China expatriates, interview with expatriate department heads and analysis of company documents. It was found that there are differences between the organizational perception and perception of expatriates of what constitutes mission success. The paper also provides suggestions for further research and suggestions for future expatriates.

Keywords: Expatriation success, International assignments, Success factors, Success for expatriates.

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Authors: Ana Horvat, Maja Krsmanovic, Mladen Djuric

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Rapid growth of distance learning resulted in importance to conduct research on students- satisfaction with distance learning because differences in students- satisfaction might influence educational opportunities for learning in a relevant Web-based environment. In line with this, this paper deals with satisfaction of students with distance module at Faculty of organizational sciences (FOS) in Serbia as well as some factors affecting differences in their satisfaction . We have conducted a research on a population of 68 first-year students of distance learning studies at FOS. Using statistical techniques, we have found out that there is no significant difference in students- satisfaction with distance learning module between men and women. In the same way, we also concluded that there is a difference in satisfaction with distance learning module regarding to student-s perception of opportunity to gain knowledge as the classic students.

Keywords: distance learning, students' satisfaction

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Authors: Ching-Sheng Wang, Xin-Mao Huang, Ming-Yu Hung

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In this paper, we present a method named Signal Level Matrix (SLM) which can improve the accuracy and stability of active RFID indoor positioning system. Considering the accuracy and cost, we use uniform distribution mode to set up and separate the overlapped signal covering areas, in order to achieve preliminary location setting. Then, based on the proposed SLM concept and the characteristic of the signal strength value that attenuates as the distance increases, this system cross-examines the distribution of adjacent signals to locate the users more accurately. The experimental results indicate that the adaptive positioning method proposed in this paper could improve the accuracy and stability of the positioning system effectively and satisfyingly.

Keywords: RFID positioning, localization, indoor, location-aware.

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Authors: Juhan Kim, Soohyung Kim, Kiyoung Moon

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In this paper, we design an integration security system that provides authentication service, authorization service, and management service of security data and a unified interface for the management service. The interface is originated from XKMS protocol and is used to manage security data such as XACML policies, SAML assertions and other authentication security data including public keys. The system includes security services such as authentication, authorization and delegation of authentication by employing SAML and XACML based on security data such as authentication data, attributes information, assertions and polices managed with the interface in the system. It also has SAML producer that issues assertions related on the result of the authentication and the authorization services.

Keywords: XML, XML Security, XACML.

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Authors: Hong Dongchen, Chen Qiuxiao, Wu Shuang

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Systematic Science reveals the complex nonlinear mechanisms of behavior in urban system. However, when confronted with such system, most city planners in China are still utilizing simple linear thinking to learn and understand this open complex giant system. In this paper, the hypercycle theory was introduced, which is one of the basis theories of systematic science. Based on the analysis of the reasons for the failure of current urban planning in China, and in consideration of the nonlinear characteristics of the urban system as well, optimization ideas for urban planning formulation were presented such as the shift from blueprint planning to progressive planning and from the rigid urban planning management control to its dynamically monitor and in time feedback.

Keywords: Systematic science, hypercycle theory, urban planning.

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Authors: Ian Heazlewood, Joe Walsh, Mike Climstein, Stephen Burke, Kent Adams, Mark DeBeliso

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Whilst there is growing evidence that activity across the lifespan is beneficial for improved health, there are also many changes involved with the aging process and subsequently the potential for reduced indices of health. The nexus between all forms of health, physical activity and aging is complex and has raised much interest in recent times due to the realization that a multifaceted approached is necessary in order to counteract a growing obesity epidemic. By investigating age based trends within a population adherring to competitive sport at older ages, further insight might be gleaned to assist in understanding one of many factors influencing this relationship. This study evaluated those sport psychological constructs of health, physical fitness, mental health states, and social dimension factors in sport that were associated with factors to participate in sport and physical activity based on responses from the 2009 World Masters Games in Sydney. The sample consisted of 7846 athletes who competed at the games and who completed a 56 item sports participation survey using a 7-point Likert response (1 - not important to 7 - very important). Questions focuses on factors thought to promote participation, such as weight control, living longer, improving mental health (self-esteem, mood states), improving physical health and factors related to the athlete-s competitive perspective. The most significant factors related to participation with this cohort of masters athletes were the socializing environment of sport, getting physically fit and improving competitive personal best performances. Strategies to increase participation in masters sport should focus on these factors as other factors such as weight loss, improving mental health and living longer were not identified as important determinates of sports participation at the World Masters level.

Keywords: masters sport, promoting participation, sport psychology.

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Authors: Abdelrasoul, Khalid Ahmed Elrabie

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The study was conducted on Sahiwal cattle bulls maintained at the Artificial Breeding Complex, NDRI, Karnal, Hayana, India, to determine the effect of exercise on the sexual behavior and semen quality. Fourteen Sahiwal bulls were classified into two groups of seven each. Group-1, bulls were exercised by walking in a bull exerciser once a week one hour before semen collection, whereas bulls in group-2 were exercised daily. Sexual behavior and semen quality traits studied were: Reaction time (RT), Dismounting time (DMT), Total time taken in mounts (TTTM), Flehmen response (FR), Erection Score (ES), Protrusion Score (PS), Intensity of thrust (ITS), Temperament Score (TS), Libido Score (LS), Semen volume, Physical appearance, Mass activity, Initial progressive motility, Non-eosinophilic spermatozoa count (NESC) and post thaw motility percent. Data were analyzed by least squares technique. Group-2 showed significantly (p < 0.01) higher value in RT (sec), DMT (sec), TTTM (sec), ES, PS, ITS, LS, semen volume, semen color density and mass activity.

Keywords: Exercise, Sahiwal bulls, semen quality, sexual behavior.

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Authors: Navid Mehdizadeh Afroozi, Khodakhast Isapour, Mojtaba Hakimzadeh, Abdolmohammad Davodi

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The objective of the Economic Dispatch(ED) Problems of electric power generation is to schedule the committed generating units outputs so as to meet the required load demand at minimum operating cost while satisfying all units and system equality and inequality constraints. This paper presents a new method of ED problems utilizing the Max-Min Ant System Optimization. Historically, traditional optimizations techniques have been used, such as linear and non-linear programming, but within the past decade the focus has shifted on the utilization of Evolutionary Algorithms, as an example Genetic Algorithms, Simulated Annealing and recently Ant Colony Optimization (ACO). In this paper we introduce the Max-Min Ant System based version of the Ant System. This algorithm encourages local searching around the best solution found in each iteration. To show its efficiency and effectiveness, the proposed Max-Min Ant System is applied to sample ED problems composed of 4 generators. Comparison to conventional genetic algorithms is presented.

Keywords: Economic Dispatch (ED), Ant Colony Optimization, Fuel Cost, Algorithm.

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Authors: Maarit Valo, Pertti Hurme

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This study focuses on teamwork in Finnish working life. Through a wide cross-section of teams the study examines the causes to which team members attribute the outcomes of their teams. Qualitative data was collected from 314 respondents. They wrote 616 stories to describe memorable experiences of success and failure in teamwork. The stories revealed 1930 explanations. The findings indicate that both favorable and unfavorable team outcomes are perceived as being caused by the characteristics of team members, relationships between members, team communication, team structure, team goals, team leadership, and external forces. The types represent different attribution levels in the context of organizational teamwork.

Keywords: Team, teamwork, team outcomes, workplace, working life.

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Authors: N. Gopalakrishna Kini, Ranjana Paleppady, Akshata K. Naik

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Password authentication is one of the widely used methods to achieve authentication for legal users of computers and defense against attackers. There are many different ways to authenticate users of a system and there are many password cracking methods also developed. This paper proposes how best password cracking can be performed on a CPU-GPGPU based system. The main objective of this work is to project how quickly a password can be cracked with some knowledge about the computer security and password cracking if sufficient security is not incorporated to the system.

Keywords: GPGPU, password cracking, secret key, user authentication.

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Authors: Asar Khan, Peter D. Widdop, Andrew J. Day, Aliaster S. Wood, Steve, R. Mounce, John Machell

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This paper describes an automated event detection and location system for water distribution pipelines which is based upon low-cost sensor technology and signature analysis by an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The development of a low cost failure sensor which measures the opacity or cloudiness of the local water flow has been designed, developed and validated, and an ANN based system is then described which uses time series data produced by sensors to construct an empirical model for time series prediction and classification of events. These two components have been installed, tested and verified in an experimental site in a UK water distribution system. Verification of the system has been achieved from a series of simulated burst trials which have provided real data sets. It is concluded that the system has potential in water distribution network management.

Keywords: Detection, leakage, neural networks, sensors, water distribution networks

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Authors: Amri Yusoff, Shahrizuan Shafiril, Ashardi Abas, Norma Che Yusoff

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Nowadays, illegal logging has been causing many effects including flash flood, avalanche, global warming, and etc. The purpose of this study was to maintain the earth ecosystem by keeping and regulate Malaysia’s treasurable rainforest by utilizing a new technology that will assist in real-time alert and give faster response to the authority to act on these illegal activities. The methodology of this research consisted of design stages that have been conducted as well as the system model and system architecture of the prototype in addition to the proposed hardware and software that have been mainly used such as microcontroller, sensor with the implementation of GSM, and GPS integrated system. This prototype was deployed at Royal Belum forest in December 2014 for phase 1 and April 2015 for phase 2 at 21 pinpoint locations. The findings of this research were the capture of data in real-time such as temperature, humidity, gaseous, fire, and rain detection which indicate the current natural state and habitat in the forest. Besides, this device location can be detected via GPS of its current location and then transmitted by SMS via GSM system. All of its readings were sent in real-time for further analysis. The data that were compared to meteorological department showed that the precision of this device was about 95% and these findings proved that the system is acceptable and suitable to be used in the field.

Keywords: Remote monitoring system, forest data, GSM, GPS, wireless sensor.

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Authors: Mostafa A. Shokshok, Omran Ali Abu Krais

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This paper describes the collection and analysis of data obtained from face-to-face interviews conducted in selected Libyan industrial companies. The objectives of the interviews are to enhance understanding, and generate explanations of current issues in culture and quality management systems in Libyan companies. The method used in analyzing the questions, as well as the main finding of each question are explained. The interviews probed areas identify national and organizational culture, quality management systems, current methods, effects, barriers and other factors affecting the success of quality management implementation. Eleven questions are prepared and been discussed with the interviewees.

Keywords: Interviews, quality, culture, Libyan industrial companies.

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Authors: Stefanie Heinke, Carina Pereira, Jan Spillner, Steffen Leonhardt

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Severe heart failure is a common problem that has a significant effect on health expenditures in industrialized countries; moreover it reduces patient-s quality of life. However, current research usually focuses either on detailed modeling of the heart or on detailed modeling of the cardiovascular system. Thus, this paper aims to present a sophisticated model of the heart enhanced with an extensive model of the cardiovascular system. Special interest is on the pressure and flow values close to the heart since these values are critical to accurately diagnose causes of heart failure. The model is implemented in Dymola an object-oriented, physical modeling language. Results achieved with the novel model show overall feasibility of the approach. Moreover, results are illustrated and compared to other models. The novel model shows significant improvements.

Keywords: Cardiovascular system, heart, modeling.

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Authors: E. I. Fandi, E. A. Alfandi, M. A. Alrabib

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Implementing of a continues flow gas lift system for one vertical oil well producer in Wafa field was investigated under five reservoir pressures and their dependent parameters. Well 03 producers were responded positively to the gas lift system despite of the high well head operating pressures. However, the flowing bottom hole pressures were reduced by a ratio from 6 to 33 % in the case A3 for example, for the design runs conducted under the existing operating conditions for years 2003, 2006 and 2009. This reduction in FBHP has increased the production rate by a ratio from 12 to 22.5%. The results indicated that continues flow gas lift system is a good candidate as an artificial lift system to be considered for the one vertical producer covered by this study. Most significantly, timing for artificial lift by a gas lift system for this field is highly dependent on the amount of gas available at the time of implementation because of the high gas production rate from the top of the reservoir. 

Keywords: Gas lift, Wafa field, Ghadamis Basin, Artificial lift, Libya.

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Authors: Noor Azlina Mohd Salleh, Salmiah Kasolang, Ahmed Jaffar

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Green Lean Total Quality Management (LTQM) Human Resource Management (HRM) System is a system comprises of HRM in Environmental Management System (EMS) practices which is integrated to TQM with Lean Manufacturing (LM) principles. HRM is essential especially in dealing with low motivation and less productive employees. The ultimate goal of this system is to focus on achieving total human resource development that is motivated and capable to optimize their creativity to be a part of Green and Lean TQM organization. A survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to 30 highly active automotive vendors in Malaysia and analyzed by Minitab v16 and SPSS v17. It was found out companies that are practicing Green LTQM HRM practices have generated more revenue and have RND capability. However, years of company establishment do not affect the openness of the company to adapt new initiatives that can help to improve the effectiveness of the operations. It was also found out the importance of training, communication and rewards for employees. The Green LTQM HRM practices framework model established in this study hopefully will give preliminary insight especially to companies that are still looking for system that can improve their productivity from managing human resource. This is preliminary study that combined 4 awards practices, ISO/TS16949, Toyota Production System SAEJ4000, MAJAICO Lean Production System and EMS focusing on highly active companies that have been involved in MAJAICO Program and Proton Vendor Development Program. Future study can be conducted to know the status at other industry as well as case study pertaining to this system.

Keywords: Automotive Industry, Lean Manufacturing, Operational Engineering Management, Total Quality Management. Environmental Management System.

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Authors: Imelda Smit

Abstract:

Systems Analysis and Design is a key subject in Information Technology courses, but students do not find it easy to cope with, since it is not “precise" like programming and not exact like Mathematics. It is a subject working with many concepts, modeling ideas into visual representations and then translating the pictures into a real life system. To complicate matters users who are not necessarily familiar with computers need to give their inputs to ensure that they get the system the need. Systems Analysis and Design also covers two fields, namely Analysis, focusing on the analysis of the existing system and Design, focusing on the design of the new system. To be able to test the analysis and design of a system, it is necessary to develop a system or at least a prototype of the system to test the validity of the analysis and design. The skills necessary in each aspect differs vastly. Project Management Skills, Database Knowledge and Object Oriented Principles are all necessary. In the context of a developing country where students enter tertiary education underprepared and the digital divide is alive and well, students need to be motivated to learn the necessary skills, get an opportunity to test it in a “live" but protected environment – within the framework of a university. The purpose of this article is to improve the learning experience in Systems Analysis and Design through reviewing the underlying teaching principles used, the teaching tools implemented, the observations made and the reflections that will influence future developments in Systems Analysis and Design. Action research principles allows the focus to be on a few problematic aspects during a particular semester.

Keywords: Action Research, Project Development, Systems Analysis and Design, Technology in Teaching.

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Authors: Suraiya Jabin, Kamal K. Bharadwaj

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This research presents a system for post processing of data that takes mined flat rules as input and discovers crisp as well as fuzzy hierarchical structures using Learning Classifier System approach. Learning Classifier System (LCS) is basically a machine learning technique that combines evolutionary computing, reinforcement learning, supervised or unsupervised learning and heuristics to produce adaptive systems. A LCS learns by interacting with an environment from which it receives feedback in the form of numerical reward. Learning is achieved by trying to maximize the amount of reward received. Crisp description for a concept usually cannot represent human knowledge completely and practically. In the proposed Learning Classifier System initial population is constructed as a random collection of HPR–trees (related production rules) and crisp / fuzzy hierarchies are evolved. A fuzzy subsumption relation is suggested for the proposed system and based on Subsumption Matrix (SM), a suitable fitness function is proposed. Suitable genetic operators are proposed for the chosen chromosome representation method. For implementing reinforcement a suitable reward and punishment scheme is also proposed. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed system.

Keywords: Hierarchical Production Rule, Data Mining, Learning Classifier System, Fuzzy Subsumption Relation, Subsumption matrix, Reinforcement Learning.

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Authors: Wayan F. Mahmudy, Romeo M. Marian, Lee H. S. Luong

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 This paper deals with modeling and optimization of two NP-hard problems in production planning of flexible manufacturing system (FMS), part type selection problem and loading problem. The part type selection problem and the loading problem are strongly related and heavily influence the system’s efficiency and productivity. These problems have been modeled and solved simultaneously by using real coded genetic algorithms (RCGA) which uses an array of real numbers as chromosome representation. The novel proposed chromosome representation produces only feasible solutions which minimize a computational time needed by GA to push its population toward feasible search space or repair infeasible chromosomes. The proposed RCGA improves the FMS performance by considering two objectives, maximizing system throughput and maintaining the balance of the system (minimizing system unbalance). The resulted objective values are compared to the optimum values produced by branch-and-bound method. The experiments show that the proposed RCGA could reach near optimum solutions in a reasonable amount of time.

Keywords: Flexible manufacturing system, production planning, part type selection problem, loading problem, real-coded genetic algorithm.

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Authors: Martha Liliana Reina Usuga, Wilson Adarme Jaimes, Oscar Eduardo Suarez

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Coordinated supply chain represents major challenges for the different actors involved in it, because each agent responds to individual interests. The paper presents a framework with the reviewed literature regarding the system's decision structure and nature of demand. Later, it characterizes an agri food supply chain in the Central Region of Colombia, it responds to a decentralized distribution system and a stochastic demand. Finally, the paper recommends coordinating the chain based on shared information, and mechanisms for each agent, as VMI (vendor-managed inventory) strategy for farmer-buyer relationship, information system for farmers and contracts for transportation service providers.

Keywords: Agri-food supply chain, Coordination mechanisms, Decentralized distribution system, Supply chain coordination.

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Authors: Y. Yudin, T. Krasikova, Y. Dorozhko, N. Currle-Linde

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Nowadays, HPC, Grid and Cloud systems are evolving very rapidly. However, the development of infrastructure solutions related to HPC is lagging behind. While the existing infrastructure is sufficient for simple cases, many computational problems have more complex requirements.Such computational experiments use different resources simultaneously to start a large number of computational jobs.These resources are heterogeneous. They have different purposes, architectures, performance and used software.Users need a convenient tool that allows to describe and to run complex computational experiments under conditions of HPC environment. This paper introduces a modularworkflow system called SEGL which makes it possible to run complex computational experiments under conditions of a real HPC organization. The system can be used in a great number of organizations, which provide HPC power. Significant requirements to this system are high efficiency and interoperability with the existing HPC infrastructure of the organization without any changes.

Keywords: HPC, Molecular Dynamics, Workflow Languages, Workflow Management.

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Authors: M. Takhtravanchi, C. Pathirage

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In the construction industry, project members are conveyor of project knowledge which is, often, not managed properly to be used in future projects. As construction projects are temporary and unique, project members are willing to be recruited once a project is completed. Therefore, poor management of knowledge across construction projects will lead to a considerable amount of knowledge loss; the ignoring of which would be detrimental to project performance. This issue is more prominent in projects undertaken through the traditional procurement system, as this system does not incentives project members for integration. Thus, disputes exist between the design and construction phases based on the poor management of knowledge between those two phases. This paper aims to highlight the challenges of the knowledge management that exists within the traditional procurement system. Expert interviews were conducted and challenges were identified and analysed by the Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) approach in order to summarise the relationships among them. Two identified key challenges are the Culture of an Organisation and Knowledge Management Policies. A knowledge of the challenges and their relationships will help project manager and stakeholders to have a better understanding of the importance of knowledge management.

Keywords: Challenges, construction industry, knowledge management, traditional procurement system.

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Authors: Albertus G. Joubert, Roelien Goede

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This paper explores how Critical Systems Thinking and Action Research can be used to improve student performance in Networking. When describing a system from a systems thinking perspective, the following aspects can be identified: the total system performance, the systems environment, the resources, the components and the management of the system. Following the history of system thinking we observe three emerged methodologies namely, hard systems, soft systems, and critical systems. This paper uses Critical Systems Thinking (CST) which describes systems in terms of contradictions and conflict. It demonstrates how CST can be used in an Action Research (AR) project to improve the performance of students. Intervention in terms of student assessment is discussed and the impact of the intervention is discussed.

Keywords: Action research, computer networks, critical systems thinking, higher education.

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Authors: Aleksandra Chiniaeva

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The following paper describes the activity of national and international parliamentary assemblies of the European region in protection and promotion of human rights. It may be said that parliamentarians have a “double mandate” — as members of the international assembly and of their respective national parliaments. In other words, parliamentarization at both international and national level provides a situation for parliamentarians, where they link people, national governments and international organizations. The paper is aimed towards demonstrating that the activity of the main international parliamentary assemblies of the European region have a real positive impact on the human rights situation in the European region. In addition, the paper describes the assemblies that include protection of human rights in their Agenda as one of the main subjects: the EP, the PACE, the OSCE PA and the IPA CIS. Co-operation activities such as joint election observation; participation in inter-parliamentary associations, such as the IPU; conclusion agreements allow assemblies to provide observation of human right situation in the states that are not members of the particular organization and as consequence make their impact broader.

Keywords: Human rights, International parliamentary assembly, IPU, EP, PACE, OSCE, IPA CIS, international election observation.

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