Search results for: competitiveness improvement strategy
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2460

Search results for: competitiveness improvement strategy

810 A Subjectively Influenced Router for Vehicles in a Four-Junction Traffic System

Authors: Anilkumar Kothalil Gopalakrishnan

Abstract:

A subjectively influenced router for vehicles in a fourjunction traffic system is presented. The router is based on a 3-layer Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN) and a greedy routing procedure. The BPNN detects priorities of vehicles based on the subjective criteria. The subjective criteria and the routing procedure depend on the routing plan towards vehicles depending on the user. The routing procedure selects vehicles from their junctions based on their priorities and route them concurrently to the traffic system. That is, when the router is provided with a desired vehicles selection criteria and routing procedure, it routes vehicles with a reasonable junction clearing time. The cost evaluation of the router determines its efficiency. In the case of a routing conflict, the router will route the vehicles in a consecutive order and quarantine faulty vehicles. The simulations presented indicate that the presented approach is an effective strategy of structuring a subjective vehicle router.

Keywords: Backpropagation Neural Network, Backpropagationalgorithm, Greedy routing procedure, Subjective criteria, Vehiclepriority, Cost evaluation, Route generation

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809 How the Conversations in Social Media Concern in Sales in the Automobile Industry in Spain

Authors: González Carreño G., Rejas Muslera Rj., Padilla Fernández-Vega J., Cepeda González M. I.

Abstract:

Automobile Industry has great importance in the Spanish economy (8,7 % of the active Spanish population is employed in this sector).The above mentioned sector has been one of the principal sectors affected by the current economic crisis, consistently, the budgets in advertising have been severely limited (46,9 % less in the period of reference), these needs of reduction have originated a substantial change in the advertising strategy (from 2007 the increase of the advertising investment in Internet is 251,6 %), and increase profitability. The growing use of social media by consumers therefore makes online consumer conversations an attractive additional format for Automobile firms to promote products at a lower cost. This research analyzes the relation between the activity in Social Media and the design in the car industry, looking for relations between strategies of design based on Social Media and sales and a channel of information for companies to know what the consumer preferences. For this ongoing research we used a longitudinal withdrawal of information has been used using information of panel. Managerial and research implications of the finding are discussed.

Keywords: Automobile Industry, Design, Economics Crisis, Innovation, Internet, Social Media.

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808 Places of Tourist Attraction: Planning Sustainable Fruition by Preserving Place Identity

Authors: Marichela Sepe

Abstract:

Massive use of places with strong tourist attraction with the consequent possibility of losing place-identity produces harmful effects on cities and their users. In order to mitigate this risk, areas close to such places can be identified so as to widen the visitor-s range of action and offer alternative activities integrated with the main site. The cultural places and appropriate activities can be identified using a method of analysis and design able to trace the identity of the places, their characteristics and potential, and to provide a sustainable improvement. The aim of this work is to propose PlaceMaker as a method of urban analysis and design which both detects elements that do not feature in traditional mapping and which constitute the contemporary identity of the places, and identifies appropriate project interventions. Two final complex maps – the first of analysis and the second of design – respectively represent the identity of places and project interventions. In order to illustrate the method-s potential; the results of the experimentation carried out in the Trevi-Pantheon route in Rome and the appropriate interventions to decongest the area are illustrated.

Keywords: Place-identity, PlaceMaker method, sustainablefruition, tourist attractions.

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807 Effect of Steel Fibers on Flexural Behavior of Normal and High Strength Concrete

Authors: K. M. Aldossari, W. A. Elsaigh, M. J. Shannag

Abstract:

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect of hooked-end steel fibers on the flexural behavior of normal and high strength concrete matrices. The fibers content appropriate for the concrete matrices investigated was also determined based on flexural tests on standard prisms. Parameters investigated include: matrix compressive strength ranging from 45 MPa to 70 MPa, corresponding to normal and high strength concrete matrices respectively; fibers volume fraction including 0, 0.5%, 0.76% and 1%, equivalent to 0, 40, 60, and 80 kg/m3 of hooked-end steel fibers respectively. Test results indicated that flexural strength and toughness of normal and high strength concrete matrices were significantly improved with the increase in the fibers content added; whereas a slight improvement in compressive strength was observed for the same matrices. Furthermore, the test results indicated that the effect of increasing the fibers content was more pronounced on increasing the flexural strength of high strength concrete than that of normal concrete.

Keywords: Concrete, flexural strength, toughness, steel fibers.

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806 Logistics Model for Improving Quality in Railway Transport

Authors: Eva Nedeliakova, Juraj Camaj, Jaroslav Masek

Abstract:

This contribution is focused on the methodology for identifying levels of quality and improving quality through new logistics model in railway transport. It is oriented on the application of dynamic quality models, which represent an innovative method of evaluation quality services. Through this conception, time factor, expected, and perceived quality in each moment of the transportation process within logistics chain can be taken into account. Various models describe the improvement of the quality which emphases the time factor throughout the whole transportation logistics chain. Quality of services in railway transport can be determined by the existing level of service quality, by detecting the causes of dissatisfaction employees but also customers, to uncover strengths and weaknesses. This new logistics model is able to recognize critical processes in logistic chain. It includes service quality rating that must respect its specific properties, which are unrepeatability, impalpability, their use right at the time they are provided and particularly changeability, which is significant factor in the conditions of rail transport as well. These peculiarities influence the quality of service regarding the constantly increasing requirements and that result in new ways of finding progressive attitudes towards the service quality rating.

Keywords: Logistics model, quality, railway transport.

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805 Hybrid Markov Game Controller Design Algorithms for Nonlinear Systems

Authors: R. Sharma, M. Gopal

Abstract:

Markov games can be effectively used to design controllers for nonlinear systems. The paper presents two novel controller design algorithms by incorporating ideas from gametheory literature that address safety and consistency issues of the 'learned' control strategy. A more widely used approach for controller design is the H∞ optimal control, which suffers from high computational demand and at times, may be infeasible. We generate an optimal control policy for the agent (controller) via a simple Linear Program enabling the controller to learn about the unknown environment. The controller is facing an unknown environment and in our formulation this environment corresponds to the behavior rules of the noise modeled as the opponent. Proposed approaches aim to achieve 'safe-consistent' and 'safe-universally consistent' controller behavior by hybridizing 'min-max', 'fictitious play' and 'cautious fictitious play' approaches drawn from game theory. We empirically evaluate the approaches on a simulated Inverted Pendulum swing-up task and compare its performance against standard Q learning.

Keywords: Fictitious Play, Cautious Fictitious Play, InvertedPendulum, Controller, Markov Games, Mobile Robot.

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804 An Experimental Study on Intellectual Concentration Influenced by Indoor Airflow

Authors: Kyoko Ito, Shinya Furuta, Daisuke Kamihigashi, Kimi Ueda, Hirotake Ishii, Hiroshi Shimoda, Fumiaki Obayashi, Kazuhiro Taniguchi

Abstract:

In order to improve intellectual concentration, few studies have verified the effect of indoor airflow among the thermal environment conditions, and the differences of the season in effects have not been studied. In this study, in order to investigate the influence of the airflow in winter on the intellectual concentration, an evaluation experiment was conducted. In the previous study, an effective airflow in summer was proposed and the improvement of intellectual concentration by evaluation experiment was confirmed. Therefore, an airflow profile in winter was proposed with reference to the airflow profile in summer. The airflows are a combination of a simulative airflow and mild airflow. An experiment has been conducted to investigate the influence of a room airflow in winter on intellectual concentration. As a result of comparison with no airflow condition, no significant difference was found. Based on the results, it is a future task to ask preliminary preference in advance and to establish a mechanism that can provide controllable airflow for each individual, taking into account the preference for airflow to be different for each individual.

Keywords: Intellectual concentration, airflow, winter, experiment.

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803 Adsorption Refrigeration Working Pairs: The State-of-the-Art in the Application

Authors: Ahmed N. Shmroukh, Ahmed Hamza H. Ali, Ali K. Abel-Rahman

Abstract:

Adsorption refrigeration working pair is a vital and is the main component in the adsorption refrigeration machine. Therefore the development key is laying on the adsorption pair that leads to the improvement of the adsorption refrigeration machine. In this study the state-of-the-art in the application of the adsorption refrigeration working pairs in both classical and modern adsorption pairs are presented, compared and summarized. It is found that the maximum adsorption capacity for the classical working pairs was 0.259kg/kg for activated carbon/methanol and that for the modern working pairs was 2kg/kg for maxsorb III/R-134a. The study concluded that, the performances of the adsorption working pairs of adsorption cooling systems are still need further investigations as well as developing adsorption pairs having higher sorption capacity with low or no impact on environmental, to build compact, efficient, reliable and long life performance adsorption chillier. Also, future researches need to be focused on designing the adsorption system that provide efficient heating and cooling for the adsorbent materials through distributing the adsorbent material over heat exchanger surface, to allow good heat and mass transfer between the adsorbent and the refrigerant.

Keywords: Adsorption, Adsorbent/Adsorbate Pairs, Refrigeration.

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802 Functionalization and Characterization of Carbon Nanotubes/ Polypropylene Nanocomposite

Authors: Mokhtar Awang, Wei-Vern Hor, Ehsan Mohammadpour, M Zaki Abdullah, Faiz Ahmad

Abstract:

Chemical and physical functionalization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) has been commonly practiced to achieve better dispersion of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in polymer matrix. This work describes various functionalization methods (acidtreatment, non-ionic surfactant treatment with TritonX-100), fabrication of MWCNT/PP nanocomposites via melt blending and characterization of mechanical properties. Microscopy analysis (FESEM, TEM, XPS) showed effective purification of MWCNTs under acid treatment, and better dispersion under both chemical and physical functionalization techniques combined, in their respective order. Tensile tests showed increase in tensile strength for the nanocomposites that contain MWCNTs up to 2 wt%. A decrease in tensile strength was seen in samples that contain 4 wt% of MWCNTs for both raw and Triton X-100 functionalized, signifying MWCNT degradation/rebundling at composition with higher content of MWCNTs. For the acid-treated MWCNTs, however, the tensile results showed slight improvement even at 4wt%, indicating effective dispersion of MWCNTs.

Keywords: Multi walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT), functionalization, dispersion, nanocomposite

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801 Control Improvement of a C Sugar Cane Crystallization Using an Auto-Tuning PID Controller Based on Linearization of a Neural Network

Authors: S. Beyou, B. Grondin-Perez, M. Benne, C. Damour, J.-P. Chabriat

Abstract:

The industrial process of the sugar cane crystallization produces a residual that still contains a lot of soluble sucrose and the objective of the factory is to improve its extraction. Therefore, there are substantial losses justifying the search for the optimization of the process. Crystallization process studied on the industrial site is based on the “three massecuites process". The third step of this process constitutes the final stage of exhaustion of the sucrose dissolved in the mother liquor. During the process of the third step of crystallization (Ccrystallization), the phase that is studied and whose control is to be improved, is the growing phase (crystal growth phase). The study of this process on the industrial site is a problem in its own. A control scheme is proposed to improve the standard PID control law used in the factory. An auto-tuning PID controller based on instantaneous linearization of a neural network is then proposed.

Keywords: Auto-tuning, PID, Instantaneous linearization, Neural network, Non linear process, C-crystallisation.

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800 Numerical Study of Developing Laminar Forced Convection Flow of Water/CuO Nanofluid in a Circular Tube with a 180 Degrees Curve

Authors: Hamed K. Arzani, Hamid K. Arzani, S.N. Kazi, A. Badarudin

Abstract:

Numerical investigation into convective heat transfer of CuO-Water based nanofluid in a pipe with return bend under laminar flow conditions has been done. The impacts of Reynolds number and the volume concentration of nanoparticles on the flow and the convective heat transfer behaviour are investigated. The results indicate that the increase in Reynolds number leads to the enhancement of average Nusselt number, and the increase in specific heat in the presence of the nanofluid results in improvement in heat transfer. Also, the presence of the secondary flow in the curve plays a key role in increasing the average Nusselt number and it appears higher than the inlet and outlet tubes. However, the pressure drop curve increases significantly in the tubes with the increase in nanoparticles concentration.

Keywords: Laminar forced convection, nanofluid, curve, return bend, CFD.

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799 Effects of Preparation Conditions on the Properties of Crumb Rubber Modified Binder

Authors: Baha Vural Kök, Mehmet Yilmaz, Mustafa Akpolat, Cihat Sav

Abstract:

Various types of additives are used frequently in order to improve the rheological and mechanical properties of bituminous mixtures. Small devices instead of full scale machines are used for bitumen modification in the laboratory. These laboratory scale devices vary in terms of their properties such as mixing rate, mixing blade and the amount of binder. In this study, the effect of mixing rate and time during the bitumen modification processes on conventional and rheological properties of pure and crumb rubber modified binder were investigated. Penetration, softening point, rotational viscosity (RV) and dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) tests were applied to pure and CR modified bitumen. It was concluded that the penetration and softening point test did not show the efficiency of CR obtained by different mixing conditions. Besides, oxidation that occurred during the preparation processes plays a great part in the improvement effects of the modified binder.

Keywords: Bitumen, crumb rubber, modification, rheological properties.

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798 Effects of the In-Situ Upgrading Project in Afghanistan: A Case Study on the Formally and Informally Developed Areas in Kabul

Authors: Maisam Rafiee, Chikashi Deguchi, Akio Odake, Minoru Matsui, Takanori Sata

Abstract:

Cities in Afghanistan have been rapidly urbanized; however, many parts of these cities have been developed with no detailed land use plan or infrastructure. In other words, they have been informally developed without any government leadership. The new government started the In-situ Upgrading Project in Kabul to upgrade roads, the water supply network system, and the surface water drainage system on the existing street layout in 2002, with the financial support of international agencies. This project is an appropriate emergency improvement for living life, but not an essential improvement of living conditions and infrastructure problems because the life expectancies of the improved facilities are as short as 10–15 years, and residents cannot obtain land tenure in the unplanned areas. The Land Readjustment System (LRS) conducted in Japan has good advantages that rearrange irregularly shaped land lots and develop the infrastructure effectively. This study investigates the effects of the In-situ Upgrading Project on private investment, land prices, and residents’ satisfaction with projects in Kart-e-Char, where properties are registered, and in Afshar-e-Silo Lot 1, where properties are unregistered. These projects are located 5 km and 7 km from the CBD area of Kabul, respectively. This study discusses whether LRS should be applied to the unplanned area based on the questionnaire and interview responses of experts experienced in the In-situ Upgrading Project who have knowledge of LRS. The analysis results reveal that, in Kart-e-Char, a lot of private investment has been made in the construction of medium-rise (five- to nine-story) buildings for commercial and residential purposes. Land values have also incrementally increased since the project, and residents are commonly satisfied with the road pavement, drainage systems, and water supplies, but dissatisfied with the poor delivery of electricity as well as the lack of public facilities (e.g., parks and sport facilities). In Afshar-e-Silo Lot 1, basic infrastructures like paved roads and surface water drainage systems have improved from the project. After the project, a few four- and five-story residential buildings were built with very low-level private investments, but significant increases in land prices were not evident. The residents are satisfied with the contribution ratio, drainage system, and small increase in land price, but there is still no drinking water supply system or tenure security; moreover, there are substandard paved roads and a lack of public facilities, such as parks, sport facilities, mosques, and schools. The results of the questionnaire and interviews with the four engineers highlight the problems that remain to be solved in the unplanned areas if LRS is applied—namely, land use differences, types and conditions of the infrastructure still to be installed by the project, and time spent for positive consensus building among the residents, given the project’s budget limitation.

Keywords: In-Situ Upgrading, Kabul, Land Readjustment, Land value, Planned areas, Private investment, Resident satisfaction, Unplanned areas.

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797 Modeling and Dynamics Analysis for Intelligent Skid-Steering Vehicle Based on Trucksim-Simulink

Authors: Yansong Zhang, Xueyuan Li, Junjie Zhou, Xufeng Yin, Shihua Yuan, Shuxian Liu

Abstract:

Aiming at the verification of control algorithms for skid-steering vehicles, a vehicle simulation model of 6×6 electric skid-steering unmanned vehicle was established based on Trucksim and Simulink. The original transmission and steering mechanism of Trucksim are removed, and the electric skid-steering model and a closed-loop controller for the vehicle speed and yaw rate are built in Simulink. The simulation results are compared with the ones got by theoretical formulas. The results show that the predicted tire mechanics and vehicle kinematics of Trucksim-Simulink simulation model are closed to the theoretical results. Therefore, it can be used as an effective approach to study the dynamic performance and control algorithm of skid-steering vehicle. In this paper, a method of motion control based on feed forward control is also designed. The simulation results show that the feed forward control strategy can make the vehicle follow the target yaw rate more quickly and accurately, which makes the vehicle have more maneuverability.

Keywords: Skid-steering, Trucksim-Simulink, feedforward control, dynamics.

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796 Minimization Entropic Applied to Rotary Dryers to Reduce the Energy Consumption

Authors: I. O. Nascimento, J. T. Manzi

Abstract:

The drying process is an important operation in the chemical industry and it is widely used in the food, grain industry and fertilizer industry. However, for demanding a considerable consumption of energy, such a process requires a deep energetic analysis in order to reduce operating costs. This paper deals with thermodynamic optimization applied to rotary dryers based on the entropy production minimization, aiming at to reduce the energy consumption. To do this, the mass, energy and entropy balance was used for developing a relationship that represents the rate of entropy production. The use of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is essential because it takes into account constraints of nature. Since the entropy production rate is minimized, optimals conditions of operations can be established and the process can obtain a substantial gain in energy saving. The minimization strategy had been led using classical methods such as Lagrange multipliers and implemented in the MATLAB platform. As expected, the preliminary results reveal a significant energy saving by the application of the optimal parameters found by the procedure of the entropy minimization It is important to say that this method has shown easy implementation and low cost.

Keywords: Drying, entropy minimization, modeling dryers, thermodynamic optimization.

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795 Delivery System Design of the Local Part to Reduce the Logistic Costs in an Automotive Industry

Authors: Inaki Maulida Hakim, Alesandro Romero

Abstract:

This research was conducted in an automotive company in Indonesia to overcome the problem of high logistics cost. The problem causes high of additional truck delivery. From the breakdown of the problem, chosen one route, which has the highest gap value, namely for RE-04. Research methodology will be started from calculating the ideal condition, making simulation, calculating the ideal logistic cost, and proposing an improvement. From the calculation of the ideal condition, box arrangement was done on the truck has efficiency with three trucks delivery per day. Route simulation making uses Tecnomatix Plant Simulation software as a visualization for the company about how the system is occurred on route RE-04 in ideal condition. The last step is proposing improvements on the area of route RE-04. The route arrangement is done by Saving Method and sequence of each supplier with the Nearest Neighbor. The results of the proposed improvements are three new route groups, where was expected to decrease logistics cost and increase the average of the truck efficiency per day.

Keywords: Logistic cost, milkrun, simulation, efficiency.

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794 Multichannel Scheme under Max-Min Fairness Environment for Cognitive Radio Networks

Authors: Hans R. Márquez, Cesar Hernández, Ingrid Páez

Abstract:

This paper develops a multiple channel assignment model, which allows to take advantage of spectrum opportunities in cognitive radio networks in the most efficient way. The developed scheme allows making several assignments of available and frequency adjacent channel, which require a bigger bandwidth, under an equality environment. The hybrid assignment model it is made by two algorithms, one that makes the ranking and selects available frequency channels and the other one in charge of establishing the Max-Min Fairness for not restrict the spectrum opportunities for all the other secondary users, who also claim to make transmissions. Measurements made were done for average bandwidth, average delay, as well as fairness computation for several channel assignments. Reached results were evaluated with experimental spectrum occupational data from captured GSM frequency band. The developed model shows evidence of improvement in spectrum opportunity use and a wider average transmission bandwidth for each secondary user, maintaining equality criteria in channel assignment.

Keywords: Bandwidth, fairness, multichannel, secondary users.

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793 Concept Indexing using Ontology and Supervised Machine Learning

Authors: Rossitza M. Setchi, Qiao Tang

Abstract:

Nowadays, ontologies are the only widely accepted paradigm for the management of sharable and reusable knowledge in a way that allows its automatic interpretation. They are collaboratively created across the Web and used to index, search and annotate documents. The vast majority of the ontology based approaches, however, focus on indexing texts at document level. Recently, with the advances in ontological engineering, it became clear that information indexing can largely benefit from the use of general purpose ontologies which aid the indexing of documents at word level. This paper presents a concept indexing algorithm, which adds ontology information to words and phrases and allows full text to be searched, browsed and analyzed at different levels of abstraction. This algorithm uses a general purpose ontology, OntoRo, and an ontologically tagged corpus, OntoCorp, both developed for the purpose of this research. OntoRo and OntoCorp are used in a two-stage supervised machine learning process aimed at generating ontology tagging rules. The first experimental tests show a tagging accuracy of 78.91% which is encouraging in terms of the further improvement of the algorithm.

Keywords: Concepts, indexing, machine learning, ontology, tagging.

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792 Flexural Strength and Ductility Improvement of NSC beams

Authors: Jun Peng, Johnny Ching Ming Ho

Abstract:

In order to calculate the flexural strength of normal-strength concrete (NSC) beams, the nonlinear actual concrete stress distribution within the compression zone is normally replaced by an equivalent rectangular stress block, with two coefficients of α and β to regulate the intensity and depth of the equivalent stress respectively. For NSC beams design, α and β are usually assumed constant as 0.85 and 0.80 in reinforced concrete (RC) codes. From an earlier investigation of the authors, α is not a constant but significantly affected by flexural strain gradient, and increases with the increasing of strain gradient till a maximum value. It indicates that larger concrete stress can be developed in flexure than that stipulated by design codes. As an extension and application of the authors- previous study, the modified equivalent concrete stress block is used here to produce a series of design charts showing the maximum design limits of flexural strength and ductility of singly- and doubly- NSC beams, through which both strength and ductility design limits are improved by taking into account strain gradient effect.

Keywords: Concrete beam, Ductility, Equivalent concrete stress, Normal strength, Strain gradient, Strength

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791 Increasing the System Availability of Data Centers by Using Virtualization Technologies

Authors: Chris Ewe, Naoum Jamous, Holger Schrödl

Abstract:

Like most entrepreneurs, data center operators pursue goals such as profit-maximization, improvement of the company’s reputation or basically to exist on the market. Part of those aims is to guarantee a given quality of service. Quality characteristics are specified in a contract called the service level agreement. Central part of this agreement is non-functional properties of an IT service. The system availability is one of the most important properties as it will be shown in this paper. To comply with availability requirements, data center operators can use virtualization technologies. A clear model to assess the effect of virtualization functions on the parts of a data center in relation to the system availability is still missing. This paper aims to introduce a basic model that shows these connections, and consider if the identified effects are positive or negative. Thus, this work also points out possible disadvantages of the technology. In consequence, the paper shows opportunities as well as risks of data center virtualization in relation to system availability.

Keywords: Availability, cloud computing IT service, quality of service, service level agreement, virtualization.

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790 Impregnation of Cupper into Kanuma Volcanic Ash Soil to Improve Mercury Sorption Capacity

Authors: Jatindra N. Bhakta, Yukihiro Munekage

Abstract:

The present study attempted to improve the Mercury (Hg) sorption capacity of kanuma volcanic ash soil (KVAS) by impregnating the cupper (Cu). Impregnation was executed by 1 and 5% Cu powder and sorption characterization of optimum Hg removing Cu impregnated KVAS was performed under different operational conditions, contact time, solution pH, sorbent dosage and Hg concentration using the batch operation studies. The 1% Cu impregnated KVAS pronounced optimum improvement (79%) in removing Hg from water compare to control. The present investigation determined the equilibrium state of maximum Hg adsorption at 6 h contact period. The adsorption revealed a pH dependent response and pH 3.5 showed maximum sorption capacity of Hg. Freundlich isotherm model is well fitted with the experimental data than that of Langmuir isotherm. It can be concluded that the Cu impregnation improves the Hg sorption capacity of KVAS and 1% Cu impregnated KVAS could be employed as cost-effective adsorbent media for treating Hg contaminated water.

Keywords: Cupper, impregnation, isotherm, kanuma volcanic ash soil, mercury, sorption

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789 Advanced Geolocation of IP Addresses

Authors: Robert Koch, Mario Golling, Gabi Dreo Rodosek

Abstract:

Tracing and locating the geographical location of users (Geolocation) is used extensively in todays Internet. Whenever we, e.g., request a page from google we are - unless there was a specific configuration made - automatically forwarded to the page with the relevant language and amongst others, dependent on our location identified, specific commercials are presented. Especially within the area of Network Security, Geolocation has a significant impact. Because of the way the Internet works, attacks can be executed from almost everywhere. Therefore, for an attribution, knowledge of the origination of an attack - and thus Geolocation - is mandatory in order to be able to trace back an attacker. In addition, Geolocation can also be used very successfully to increase the security of a network during operation (i.e. before an intrusion actually has taken place). Similar to greylisting in emails, Geolocation allows to (i) correlate attacks detected with new connections and (ii) as a consequence to classify traffic a priori as more suspicious (thus particularly allowing to inspect this traffic in more detail). Although numerous techniques for Geolocation are existing, each strategy is subject to certain restrictions. Following the ideas of Endo et al., this publication tries to overcome these shortcomings with a combined solution of different methods to allow improved and optimized Geolocation. Thus, we present our architecture for improved Geolocation, by designing a new algorithm, which combines several Geolocation techniques to increase the accuracy.

Keywords: IP geolocation, prosecution of computer fraud, attack attribution, target-analysis

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788 Improving the Performances of the nMPRA Architecture by Implementing Specific Functions in Hardware

Authors: Ionel Zagan, Vasile Gheorghita Gaitan

Abstract:

Minimizing the response time to asynchronous events in a real-time system is an important factor in increasing the speed of response and an interesting concept in designing equipment fast enough for the most demanding applications. The present article will present the results regarding the validation of the nMPRA (Multi Pipeline Register Architecture) architecture using the FPGA Virtex-7 circuit. The nMPRA concept is a hardware processor with the scheduler implemented at the processor level; this is done without affecting a possible bus communication, as is the case with the other CPU solutions. The implementation of static or dynamic scheduling operations in hardware and the improvement of handling interrupts and events by the real-time executive described in the present article represent a key solution for eliminating the overhead of the operating system functions. The nMPRA processor is capable of executing a preemptive scheduling, using various algorithms without a software scheduler. Therefore, we have also presented various scheduling methods and algorithms used in scheduling the real-time tasks.

Keywords: nMPRA architecture, pipeline processor, preemptive scheduling, real-time system.

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787 An Experimental Study on Development of the Connection System of Concrete Barriers Applicable to Modular Bridge

Authors: Seung-Kyung Kye, Sang-Seung Lee, Dooyong Cho, Sun-Kyu Park

Abstract:

Although many studies on the assembly technology of the bridge construction have dealt mostly with on the pier, girder or the deck of the bridge, studies on the prefabricated barrier have rarely been performed. For understanding structural characteristics and application of the concrete barrier in the modular bridge, which is an assembly of structure members, static loading test was performed. Structural performances as a road barrier of the three methods, conventional cast-in-place(ST), vertical bolt connection(BVC) and horizontal bolt connection(BHC) were evaluated and compared through the analyses of load-displacement curves, strain curves of the steel, concrete strain curves and the visual appearances of crack patterns. The vertical bolt connection(BVC) method demonstrated comparable performance as an alternative to conventional cast-in-place(ST) while providing all the advantages of prefabricated technology. Necessities for the future improvement in nuts enforcement as well as legal standard and regulation are also addressed.

Keywords: Modular Bridge, Concrete Barrier, Bolt Connection

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786 Evaluation of the Degree of the Sufficiency of Public Green Spaces as an Indicator of Urban Density in the Chubu Metropolitan Area in Japan

Authors: Kayoko Yamamoto

Abstract:

This study uses GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to conduct an evaluation of the degree of the sufficiency of public green spaces such as parks and urban green areas as an indicator of the density of metropolitan areas, in particular the Chubu metropolitan area, in Japan. To that end, it first grasps the distribution situation of green spaces in the three metropolitan areas in Japan, especially in the Chubu metropolitan area, using GIS digital maps. And based on this result, it conducts a GIS evaluation of the degree of sufficiency of public green spaces and arranges the result for every distance belt from the central part to compare and exam for every distance belt away from the center in the Chubu metropolitan area. Furthermore, after pointing out the insufficient areas of public green spaces based on the result, it also proposes the improvement policy which can be introduced in the Chubu metropolitan area.

Keywords: Public Green Spaces, Urban Density, MetropolitanAreas, Land Use, Urbanization, GIS (Geographic InformationSystems)

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785 Emergency Response Plan Establishment and Computerization through the Analysis of the Disasters Occurring on Long-Span Bridges by Type

Authors: Sungnam Hong, Sun-Kyu Park, Dooyong Cho, Jinwoong Choi

Abstract:

In this paper, a strategy for long-span bridge disaster response was developed, divided into risk analysis, business impact analysis, and emergency response plan. At the risk analysis stage, the critical risk was estimated. The critical risk was “car accident."The critical process by critical-risk classification was assessed at the business impact analysis stage. The critical process was the task related to the road conditions and traffic safety. Based on the results of the precedent analysis, an emergency response plan was established. By making the order of the standard operating procedures clear, an effective plan for dealing with disaster was formulated. Finally, a prototype software was developed based on the research findings. This study laid the foundation of an information-technology-based disaster response guideline and is significant in that it computerized the disaster response plan to improve the plan-s accessibility.

Keywords: Emergency response; Long-span bridge; Disaster management; Standard operating procedure; Ubiquitous.

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784 Novel Security Strategy for Real Time Digital Videos

Authors: Prakash Devale, R. S. Prasad, Amol Dhumane, Pritesh Patil

Abstract:

Now a days video data embedding approach is a very challenging and interesting task towards keeping real time video data secure. We can implement and use this technique with high-level applications. As the rate-distortion of any image is not confirmed, because the gain provided by accurate image frame segmentation are balanced by the inefficiency of coding objects of arbitrary shape, with a lot factors like losses that depend on both the coding scheme and the object structure. By using rate controller in association with the encoder one can dynamically adjust the target bitrate. This paper discusses about to keep secure videos by mixing signature data with negligible distortion in the original video, and to keep steganographic video as closely as possible to the quality of the original video. In this discussion we propose the method for embedding the signature data into separate video frames by the use of block Discrete Cosine Transform. These frames are then encoded by real time encoding H.264 scheme concepts. After processing, at receiver end recovery of original video and the signature data is proposed.

Keywords: Data Hiding, Digital Watermarking, video coding H.264, Rate Control, Block DCT.

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783 Improved Torque Control of Electrical Load Simulator with Parameters and State Estimation

Authors: Nasim Ullah, Shaoping Wang

Abstract:

ELS is an important ground based hardware in the loop simulator used for aerodynamics torque loading experiments of the actuators under test. This work focuses on improvement of the transient response of torque controller with parameters uncertainty of Electrical Load Simulator (ELS).The parameters of load simulator are estimated online and the model is updated, eliminating the model error and improving the steady state torque tracking response of torque controller. To improve the Transient control performance the gain of robust term of SMC is updated online using fuzzy logic system based on the amount of uncertainty in parameters of load simulator. The states of load simulator which cannot be measured directly are estimated using luenberger observer with update of new estimated parameters. The stability of the control scheme is verified using Lyapunov theorem. The validity of proposed control scheme is verified using simulations.

Keywords: ELS, Observer, Transient Performance, SMC, Extra Torque, Fuzzy Logic.

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782 Structural Modelling of the LiCl Aqueous Solution: Using the Hybrid Reverse Monte Carlo (HRMC) Simulation

Authors: M. Habchi, S.M. Mesli, M. Kotbi

Abstract:

The Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) simulation is applied in the study of an aqueous electrolyte LiCl6H2O. On the basis of the available experimental neutron scattering data, RMC computes pair radial distribution functions in order to explore the structural features of the system. The obtained results include some unrealistic features. To overcome this problem, we use the Hybrid Reverse Monte Carlo (HRMC), incorporating an energy constraint in addition to the commonly used constraints derived from experimental data. Our results show a good agreement between experimental and computed partial distribution functions (PDFs) as well as a significant improvement in pair partial distribution curves. This kind of study can be considered as a useful test for a defined interaction model for conventional simulation techniques.

Keywords: RMC simulation, HRMC simulation, energy constraint, screened potential, glassy state, liquid state, partial distribution function, pair partial distribution function.

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781 Investigation of Heat Loss in Ethanol-Water Distillation Column with Direct Vapour Recompression Heat Pump

Authors: Christopher C. Enweremadu, Hilary L. Rutto

Abstract:

Vapour recompression system has been used to enhance reduction in energy consumption and improvement in energy effectiveness of distillation columns. However, the effects of certain parameters have not been taken into consideration. One of such parameters is the column heat loss which has either been assumed to be a certain percent of reboiler heat transfer or negligible. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the heat loss from an ethanol-water vapour recompression distillation column with pressure increase across the compressor (VRCAS) and compare the results obtained and its effect on some parameters in similar system (VRCCS) where the column heat loss has been assumed or neglected. Results show that the heat loss evaluated was higher when compared with that obtained for the column VRCCS. The results also showed that increase in heat loss could have significant effect on the total energy consumption, reboiler heat transfer, the number of trays and energy effectiveness of the column.

Keywords: Compressor, distillation column, heat loss, vapourrecompression.

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