Search results for: classification framework.
735 Playing Games with Genetic Algorithms: Application on Price-QoS Competition in Telecommunications Market
Authors: M’hamed Outanoute, Mohamed Baslam, Belaid Bouikhalene
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The customers use the best compromise criterion between price and quality of service (QoS) to select or change their Service Provider (SP). The SPs share the same market and are competing to attract more customers to gain more profit. Due to the divergence of SPs interests, we believe that this situation is a non-cooperative game of price and QoS. The game converges to an equilibrium position known Nash Equilibrium (NE). In this work, we formulate a game theoretic framework for the dynamical behaviors of SPs. We use Genetic Algorithms (GAs) to find the price and QoS strategies that maximize the profit for each SP and illustrate the corresponding strategy in NE. In order to quantify how this NE point is performant, we perform a detailed analysis of the price of anarchy induced by the NE solution. Finally, we provide an extensive numerical study to point out the importance of considering price and QoS as a joint decision parameter.
Keywords: Pricing, QoS, Market share game, Genetic algorithms, Nash equilibrium, Learning, Price of anarchy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1793734 The Framework of Termination Mechanism in Modern Emergency Management
Authors: Yannan Wu, An Chen, Yan Zhao
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Termination Mechanism is an indispensible part of the emergency management mechanism. Despite of its importance in both theory and practice, it is almost a brand new field for researching. The concept of termination mechanism is proposed firstly in this paper, and the design and implementation which are helpful to guarantee the effect and integrity of emergency management are discussed secondly. Starting with introduction of the problems caused by absent termination and incorrect termination, the essence of termination mechanism is analyzed, a model based on Optimal Stopping Theory is constructed and the termination index is given. The model could be applied to find the best termination time point.. Termination decision should not only be concerned in termination stage, but also in the whole emergency management process, which makes it a dynamic decision making process. Besides, the main subjects and the procedure of termination are illustrated after the termination time point is given. Some future works are discussed lastly.Keywords: Emergency management, Termination Mechanism, Optimal Termination Model, Decision Making, Optimal StoppingTheory.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1258733 Performance Assessment of Multi-Level Ensemble for Multi-Class Problems
Authors: Rodolfo Lorbieski, Silvia Modesto Nassar
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Many supervised machine learning tasks require decision making across numerous different classes. Multi-class classification has several applications, such as face recognition, text recognition and medical diagnostics. The objective of this article is to analyze an adapted method of Stacking in multi-class problems, which combines ensembles within the ensemble itself. For this purpose, a training similar to Stacking was used, but with three levels, where the final decision-maker (level 2) performs its training by combining outputs from the tree-based pair of meta-classifiers (level 1) from Bayesian families. These are in turn trained by pairs of base classifiers (level 0) of the same family. This strategy seeks to promote diversity among the ensembles forming the meta-classifier level 2. Three performance measures were used: (1) accuracy, (2) area under the ROC curve, and (3) time for three factors: (a) datasets, (b) experiments and (c) levels. To compare the factors, ANOVA three-way test was executed for each performance measure, considering 5 datasets by 25 experiments by 3 levels. A triple interaction between factors was observed only in time. The accuracy and area under the ROC curve presented similar results, showing a double interaction between level and experiment, as well as for the dataset factor. It was concluded that level 2 had an average performance above the other levels and that the proposed method is especially efficient for multi-class problems when compared to binary problems.Keywords: Stacking, multi-layers, ensemble, multi-class.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1084732 Developing Intellectual Capital to Advance Innovation and Entrepreneurial Capacity and Sustain Knowledge Economy
Authors: Hamid Alalwany, Nabeel A. Koshak, Mohammad K. Ibrahim
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Both knowledge economy and sustainable development are considered key dimensions in the policy action lines of many developed and developing countries. In this context, universities and other higher education institutes have a vital role in developing and sustaining wellbeing communities.
In this paper, the authors’ aim is to address the links between the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurial capacity and knowledge economy, and to utilize the approach of intellectual capital development in building a sustainable knowledge economy.
The paper will contribute to two discourses:
- Developing a common understanding of the intersection aspects between the three concepts: Knowledge economy, Innovation and entrepreneurial system, and sustainable development.
- Paving the road towards developing an integrated multidimensional framework for sustainable knowledge economy.
Keywords: Innovation and Entrepreneurial Capacity, Intellectual Capital Development, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Knowledge Economy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2257731 Designing and Implementation of a Method Comprising One to One Web-Based Real-Time Communications
Authors: Lata Kiran Dey, Rajendra Kumar, Biren Karmakar
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Web Real-Time Communications is a collection of standards, and protocols, which provide real-time communications capabilities between web browsers and devices. This paper outlines the design and further implementation of a web real-time communications method on a secure web application having audio and video call capabilities. This proposed application may put up a system that will be able to work over both desktop as well as mobile browsers. Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) also gives a set of JavaScript standard Real-Time Communications (RTC) Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which primarily work over the RTC framework. This helps to build a suitable communication application, which enables the audio, video, and message transfer between today’s modern browsers having WebRTC support.
Keywords: WebRTC, Session Initiation Protocol, SIP, RTC, JavaScript, Secure Real Time Protocol, SRTP, Secure Web Sockets, Browser.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 245730 Application the Statistical Conditional Entropy Function for Definition of Cause-and-Effect Relations during Primary Soil Formation
Authors: Vladimir K. Mukhomorov
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Within the framework of a method of the information theory it is offered statistics and probabilistic model for definition of cause-and-effect relations in the coupled multicomponent subsystems. The quantitative parameter which is defined through conditional and unconditional entropy functions is introduced. The method is applied to the analysis of the experimental data on dynamics of change of the chemical elements composition of plants organs (roots, reproductive organs, leafs and stems). Experiment is directed on studying of temporal processes of primary soil formation and their connection with redistribution dynamics of chemical elements in plant organs. This statistics and probabilistic model allows also quantitatively and unambiguously to specify the directions of the information streams on plant organs.Keywords: Chemical elements, entropy function, information, plants.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1347729 Reliable Capacitated Facility Location Problem Considering Maximal Covering
Authors: Mehdi Seifbarghy, Sajjad Jalali, Seyed Habib A. Rahmati
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This paper provides a framework in order to incorporate reliability issue as a sign of disruption in distribution systems and partial covering theory as a response to limitation in coverage radios and economical preferences, simultaneously into the traditional literatures of capacitated facility location problems. As a result we develop a bi-objective model based on the discrete scenarios for expected cost minimization and demands coverage maximization through a three echelon supply chain network by facilitating multi-capacity levels for provider side layers and imposing gradual coverage function for distribution centers (DCs). Additionally, in spite of objectives aggregation for solving the model through LINGO software, a branch of LP-Metric method called Min- Max approach is proposed and different aspects of corresponds model will be explored.Keywords: Reliability Cost, Partial Covering, LP-Metric
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1886728 Individual Learning and Collaborative Knowledge Building with Shared Digital Artifacts
Authors: Joachim Kimmerle, Johannes Moskaliuk, Ulrike Cress
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The development of Internet technology in recent years has led to a more active role of users in creating Web content. This has significant effects both on individual learning and collaborative knowledge building. This paper will present an integrative framework model to describe and explain learning and knowledge building with shared digital artifacts on the basis of Luhmann-s systems theory and Piaget-s model of equilibration. In this model, knowledge progress is based on cognitive conflicts resulting from incongruities between an individual-s prior knowledge and the information which is contained in a digital artifact. Empirical support for the model will be provided by 1) applying it descriptively to texts from Wikipedia, 2) examining knowledge-building processes using a social network analysis, and 3) presenting a survey of a series of experimental laboratory studies.
Keywords: Individual learning, collaborative knowledge building, systems theory, equilibration.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1618727 Modeling User Behaviour by Planning
Authors: Alfredo Milani, Silvia Suriani
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A model of user behaviour based automated planning is introduced in this work. The behaviour of users of web interactive systems can be described in term of a planning domain encapsulating the timed actions patterns representing the intended user profile. The user behaviour recognition is then posed as a planning problem where the goal is to parse a given sequence of user logs of the observed activities while reaching a final state. A general technique for transforming a timed finite state automata description of the behaviour into a numerical parameter planning model is introduced. Experimental results show that the performance of a planning based behaviour model is effective and scalable for real world applications. A major advantage of the planning based approach is to represent in a single automated reasoning framework problems of plan recognitions, plan synthesis and plan optimisation.Keywords: User behaviour, Timed Transition Automata, Automated Planning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1329726 Experimental Evaluation of Mobility Anchor Point Selection Scheme in Hierarchical Mobile IPv6
Authors: Zulkeflee Kusin, Mohamad Shanudin Zakaria
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Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 (HMIPv6) was designed to support IP micro-mobility management in the Next Generation Networks (NGN) framework. The main design behind this protocol is the usage of Mobility Anchor Point (MAP) located at any level router of network to support hierarchical mobility management. However, the distance MAP selection in HMIPv6 causes MAP overloaded and increase frequent binding update as the network grows. Therefore, to address the issue in designing MAP selection scheme, we propose a dynamic load control mechanism integrates with a speed detection mechanism (DMS-DLC). From the experimental results we obtain that the proposed scheme gives better distribution in MAP load and increase handover speed.Keywords: Dynamic load control, HMIPv6, Mobility AnchorPoint, MAP selection scheme
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1791725 Strength Optimization of Induction Hardened Splined Shaft – Material and Geometric Aspects
Authors: I. Barsoum, F. Khan
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the current study presents a modeling framework to determine the torsion strength of an induction hardened splined shaft by considering geometry and material aspects with the aim to optimize the static torsion strength by selection of spline geometry and hardness depth. Six different spline geometries and seven different hardness profiles including non-hardened and throughhardened shafts have been considered. The results reveal that the torque that causes initial yielding of the induction hardened splined shaft is strongly dependent on the hardness depth and the geometry of the spline teeth. Guidelines for selection of the appropriate hardness depth and spline geometry are given such that an optimum static torsion strength of the component can be achieved.
Keywords: Static strength, splined shaft, torsion, induction hardening, hardness profile, finite element, optimization, design.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4958724 Utility of Range of Motion Measurements on Classification of Athletes
Authors: Dhiraj Dolai, Rupayan Bhattacharya
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In this study, a comparison of Range Of Motion (ROM) of middle and long-distance runners and swimmers has been made. The mobility of the various joints is essential for the quick movement of any sportsman. Knowledge of a ROM helps in preventing injuries, in repeating the movement, and in generating speed and power. ROM varies among individuals, and it is influenced by factors such as gender, age, and whether the motion is performed actively or passively. ROM for running and swimming, both performed with due consideration on speed, plays an important role. The time of generation of speed and mobility of the particular joints are very important for both kinds of athletes. The difficulties that happen during running and swimming in the direction of motion is changed. In this study, data were collected for a total of 102 subjects divided into three groups: control group (22), middle and long-distance runners (40), and swimmers (40), and their ages are between 12 to 18 years. The swimmers have higher ROM in shoulder joint flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction movement. Middle and long-distance runners have significantly greater ROM from Control Group in the left shoulder joint flexion with a 5.82 mean difference. Swimmers have significantly higher ROM from the Control Group in the left shoulder joint flexion with 24.84 mean difference and swimmers have significantly higher ROM from the Middle and Long distance runners in left shoulder flexion with 19.02 mean difference. The picture will be clear after a more detailed investigation.Keywords: Range of motion, runners, swimmers, significance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 493723 Evaluation of Haar Cascade Classifiers Designed for Face Detection
Authors: R. Padilla, C. F. F. Costa Filho, M. G. F. Costa
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In the past years a lot of effort has been made in the field of face detection. The human face contains important features that can be used by vision-based automated systems in order to identify and recognize individuals. Face location, the primary step of the vision-based automated systems, finds the face area in the input image. An accurate location of the face is still a challenging task. Viola-Jones framework has been widely used by researchers in order to detect the location of faces and objects in a given image. Face detection classifiers are shared by public communities, such as OpenCV. An evaluation of these classifiers will help researchers to choose the best classifier for their particular need. This work focuses of the evaluation of face detection classifiers minding facial landmarks.Keywords: Face datasets, face detection, facial landmarking, haar wavelets, Viola-Jones detectors.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5392722 Utilization of Schnerr-Sauer Cavitation Model for Simulation of Cavitation Inception and Super Cavitation
Authors: Mohammadreza Nezamirad, Azadeh Yazdi, Sepideh Amirahmadian, Nasim Sabetpour, Amirmasoud Hamedi
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In this study, the Reynolds-Stress-Navier-Stokes framework is utilized to investigate the flow inside the diesel injector nozzle. The flow is assumed to be multiphase as the formation of vapor by pressure drop is visualized. For pressure and velocity linkage, the coupled algorithm is used. Since the cavitation phenomenon inherently is unsteady, the quasi-steady approach is utilized for saving time and resources in the current study. Schnerr-Sauer cavitation model is used, which was capable of predicting flow behavior both at the initial and final steps of the cavitation process. Two different turbulent models were used in this study to clarify which one is more capable in predicting cavitation inception and super-cavitation. It was found that K-ε was more compatible with the Shnerr-Sauer cavitation model; therefore, the mentioned model is used for the rest of this study.
Keywords: CFD, RANS, cavitation, fuel, injector.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 527721 Information Retrieval: A Comparative Study of Textual Indexing Using an Oriented Object Database (db4o) and the Inverted File
Authors: Mohammed Erritali
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The growth in the volume of text data such as books and articles in libraries for centuries has imposed to establish effective mechanisms to locate them. Early techniques such as abstraction, indexing and the use of classification categories have marked the birth of a new field of research called "Information Retrieval". Information Retrieval (IR) can be defined as the task of defining models and systems whose purpose is to facilitate access to a set of documents in electronic form (corpus) to allow a user to find the relevant ones for him, that is to say, the contents which matches with the information needs of the user. Most of the models of information retrieval use a specific data structure to index a corpus which is called "inverted file" or "reverse index". This inverted file collects information on all terms over the corpus documents specifying the identifiers of documents that contain the term in question, the frequency of each term in the documents of the corpus, the positions of the occurrences of the word... In this paper we use an oriented object database (db4o) instead of the inverted file, that is to say, instead to search a term in the inverted file, we will search it in the db4o database. The purpose of this work is to make a comparative study to see if the oriented object databases may be competing for the inverse index in terms of access speed and resource consumption using a large volume of data.
Keywords: Information Retrieval, indexation, oriented object database (db4o), inverted file.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1724720 Incidence, Occurrence, Classification and Outcome of Small Animal Fractures: A Retrospective Study (2005-2010)
Authors: L. M. Ben Ali
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A retrospective study was undertaken to record the occurrence and pattern of fractures in small animals (dogs and cats) from year 2005 to 2010. A total of 650 cases were presented in small animal surgery unit out of which of 116 (dogs and cats) were presented with history of fractures of different bones. A total of 17.8% (116/650) cases were of fractures which constituted dogs 67% while cats were 23%. The majority of animals were intact. Trauma in the form of road side accident was the principal cause of fractures in dogs whereas as in cats it was fall from height. The ages of the fractured dog ranged from 4 months to 12 years whereas in cat it was from 4 weeks to 10 years. The femoral fractures represented 37.5% and 25% respectively in dogs and cats. Diaphysis, distal metaphyseal and supracondylar fractures were the most affected sites in dog and cats. Tibial fracture in dogs and cats represented 21.5% and 10% while humoral fractures were 7.9% and 14% in dogs and cats respectively. Humoral condyler fractures were most commonly seen in puppies aged 4 to 6 months. Fractured radius-ulna incidence was 19% and 14% in dogs and cats respectively. Other fractures recorded were of lumbar vertebrae, mandible and metacarpals etc. The management comprised of external and internal fixation in both the species. The most common internal fixation technique employed was Intramedullary fixation in long followed by other methods like stack or cross pinning, wiring etc as per findings in the cases. The cast bandage was used majorly as mean for external coaptation. The paper discusses the outcome of the case as per the technique employed.Keywords: Animal, Fracture, Incidence, Occurrence.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4645719 Equity Risk Premiums and Risk Free Rates in Modelling and Prediction of Financial Markets
Authors: Mohammad Ghavami, Reza S. Dilmaghani
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This paper presents an adaptive framework for modelling financial markets using equity risk premiums, risk free rates and volatilities. The recorded economic factors are initially used to train four adaptive filters for a certain limited period of time in the past. Once the systems are trained, the adjusted coefficients are used for modelling and prediction of an important financial market index. Two different approaches based on least mean squares (LMS) and recursive least squares (RLS) algorithms are investigated. Performance analysis of each method in terms of the mean squared error (MSE) is presented and the results are discussed. Computer simulations carried out using recorded data show MSEs of 4% and 3.4% for the next month prediction using LMS and RLS adaptive algorithms, respectively. In terms of twelve months prediction, RLS method shows a better tendency estimation compared to the LMS algorithm.Keywords: Prediction of financial markets, Adaptive methods, MSE, LSE.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1011718 A New Composition Method of Admissible Support Vector Kernel Based on Reproducing Kernel
Authors: Wei Zhang, Xin Zhao, Yi-Fan Zhu, Xin-Jian Zhang
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Kernel function, which allows the formulation of nonlinear variants of any algorithm that can be cast in terms of dot products, makes the Support Vector Machines (SVM) have been successfully applied in many fields, e.g. classification and regression. The importance of kernel has motivated many studies on its composition. It-s well-known that reproducing kernel (R.K) is a useful kernel function which possesses many properties, e.g. positive definiteness, reproducing property and composing complex R.K by simple operation. There are two popular ways to compute the R.K with explicit form. One is to construct and solve a specific differential equation with boundary value whose handicap is incapable of obtaining a unified form of R.K. The other is using a piecewise integral of the Green function associated with a differential operator L. The latter benefits the computation of a R.K with a unified explicit form and theoretical analysis, whereas there are relatively later studies and fewer practical computations. In this paper, a new algorithm for computing a R.K is presented. It can obtain the unified explicit form of R.K in general reproducing kernel Hilbert space. It avoids constructing and solving the complex differential equations manually and benefits an automatic, flexible and rigorous computation for more general RKHS. In order to validate that the R.K computed by the algorithm can be used in SVM well, some illustrative examples and a comparison between R.K and Gaussian kernel (RBF) in support vector regression are presented. The result shows that the performance of R.K is close or slightly superior to that of RBF.
Keywords: admissible support vector kernel, reproducing kernel, reproducing kernel Hilbert space, Green function, support vectorregression
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1525717 On Bayesian Analysis of Failure Rate under Topp Leone Distribution using Complete and Censored Samples
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The article is concerned with analysis of failure rate (shape parameter) under the Topp Leone distribution using a Bayesian framework. Different loss functions and a couple of noninformative priors have been assumed for posterior estimation. The posterior predictive distributions have also been derived. A simulation study has been carried to compare the performance of different estimators. A real life example has been used to illustrate the applicability of the results obtained. The findings of the study suggest that the precautionary loss function based on Jeffreys prior and singly type II censored samples can effectively be employed to obtain the Bayes estimate of the failure rate under Topp Leone distribution.
Keywords: loss functions, type II censoring, posterior distribution, Bayes estimators.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2546716 Shannon-Weaver Biodiversity of Neutrophils in Fractal Networks of Immunofluorescence for Medical Diagnostics
Authors: N.E.Galich
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We develop new nonlinear methods of immunofluorescence analysis for a sensitive technology of respiratory burst reaction of DNA fluorescence due to oxidative activity in the peripheral blood neutrophils. Histograms in flow cytometry experiments represent a fluorescence flashes frequency as functions of fluorescence intensity. We used the Shannon-Weaver index for definition of neutrophils- biodiversity and Hurst index for definition of fractal-s correlations in immunofluorescence for different donors, as the basic quantitative criteria for medical diagnostics of health status. We analyze frequencies of flashes, information, Shannon entropies and their fractals in immunofluorescence networks due to reduction of histogram range. We found the number of simplest universal correlations for biodiversity, information and Hurst index in diagnostics and classification of pathologies for wide spectra of diseases. In addition is determined the clear criterion of a common immunity and human health status in a form of yes/no answers type. These answers based on peculiarities of information in immunofluorescence networks and biodiversity of neutrophils. Experimental data analysis has shown the existence of homeostasis for information entropy in oxidative activity of DNA in neutrophil nuclei for all donors.Keywords: blood and cells fluorescence in diagnostics ofdiseases, cytometric histograms, entropy and information in fractalnetworks of oxidative activity of DNA, long-range chromosomalcorrelations in living cells.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1689715 A Framework for Vacant City-Owned Land to Be Utilised for Urban Agriculture: The Case of Cape Town, South Africa
Authors: P. S. Van Staden, M. M. Campbell
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Vacant City of Cape Town-owned land lying unutilized and -productive could be developed for land uses such as urban agriculture that may improve the livelihoods of low income families. The new City of Cape Town zoning scheme includes an Urban Agriculture zoning for the first time. Unstructured qualitative interviews among town planners revealed their optimism about this inclusion as it will provide low-income residents with opportunities to generate an income. An existing farming community at Philippi, located within the municipal boundary of the city, was approached and empirical data obtained through questionnaires provided proof that urban agriculture could be viable in a coastal metropolitan city such as Cape Town even if farmers only produce for their own households. The lease method proposed for urban agriculture is a usufruct agreement conferring the right to another party, other than the legal owner, to enjoy the use and advantages of the property.
Keywords: Land uses, urban agriculture.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1991714 Mineralogical and Geochemical Characteristics of Serpentinite-Derived Ni-Bearing Laterites from Fars Province, Iran: Implications for the Lateritization Process and Classification of Ni-Laterites
Authors: S. Rasti, M. A. Rajabzadeh
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Nickel-bearing laterites occur as two parallel belts along Sedimentary Zagros Orogenic (SZO) and Metamorphic Sanandaj-Sirjan (MSS) petrostructural zones, Fars Province, south Iran. An undisturbed vertical profile of these laterites includes protolith, saprolite, clay, and oxide horizons from base to top. Highly serpentinized harzburgite with relicts of olivine and orthopyroxene is regarded as the source rock. The laterites are unusual in lacking a significant saprolite zone with little development of Ni-silicates. Hematite, saponite, dolomite, smectite and clinochlore increase, while calcite, olivine, lizardite and chrysotile decrease from saprolite to oxide zones. Smectite and clinochlore with minor calcite are the major minerals in clay zone. Contacts of different horizons in laterite profiles are gradual and characterized by a decrease in Mg concentration ranging from 18.1 to 9.3 wt.% in oxide and saprolite, respectively. The maximum Ni concentration is 0.34 wt.% (NiO) in the base of the oxide zone, and goethite is the major Ni-bearing phase. From saprolite to oxide horizons, Al2O3, K2O, TiO2, and CaO decrease, while SiO2, MnO, NiO, and Fe2O3 increase. Silica content reaches up to 45 wt.% in the upper part of the soil profile. There is a decrease in pH (8.44-8.17) and an increase in organic matter (0.28-0.59 wt.%) from base to top of the soils. The studied laterites are classified in the oxide clans which were derived from ophiolite ultramafic rocks under Mediterranean climate conditions.
Keywords: Iran, laterite, mineralogy, ophiolite.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1358713 An Energy Consumption Study for a Malaysian University
Authors: Fu E. Tang
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The increase in energy demand has raised concerns over adverse impacts on the environment from energy generation. It is important to understand the status of energy consumption for institutions such as Curtin Sarawak to ensure the sustainability of energy usage, and also to reduce its costs. In this study, a preliminary audit framework was developed and was conducted around the Malaysian campus to obtain information such as the number and specifications of electrical appliances, built-up area and ambient temperature to understand the relationship of these factors with energy consumption. It was found that the number and types of electrical appliances, population and activities in the campus impacted the energy consumption of Curtin Sarawak directly. However, the built-up area and ambient temperature showed no clear correlation with energy consumption. An investigation of the diurnal and seasonal energy consumption of the campus was also carried out. From the data, recommendations were made to improve the energy efficiency of the campus.Keywords: Energy audit, energy consumption, energy efficiency
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4117712 A Multilevel Comparative Assessment Approach to International Services Trade Competitiveness: The Case of Romania and Bulgaria
Authors: Ana Bobirca, Paul-Gabriel Miclaus
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International competitiveness receives much attention nowadays, but up to now its assessment has been heavily based on manufacturing industry statistics. This paper addresses the need for competitiveness indicators that cover the service sector and sets out a multilevel framework for measuring international services trade competitiveness. The approach undertaken here aims at comparatively examining the international competitiveness of the EU-25 (the twenty-five European Union member states before the 1st of January 2007), Romanian and Bulgarian services trade, as well as the last two countries- structure of specialization on the EU-25 services market. The primary changes in the international competitiveness of three major services sectors – transportation, travel and other services - are analyzed. This research attempts to determine the ability of the two recent European Union (EU) member states to contend with the challenges that might arise from the hard competition within the enlarged EU, in the field of services trade.Keywords: Bulgaria, EU-25, international competitiveness, international services trade, Romania.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1998711 The Long Run Relationship between Exports and Imports in South Africa: Evidence from Cointegration Analysis
Authors: Sagaren Pillay
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This study empirically examines the long run equilibrium relationship between South Africa’s exports and imports using quarterly data from 1985 to 2012. The theoretical framework used for the study is based on Johansen’s Maximum Likelihood cointegration technique which tests for both the existence and number of cointegration vectors that exists. The study finds that both the series are integrated of order one and are cointegrated. A statistically significant cointegrating relationship is found to exist between exports and imports. The study models this unique linear and lagged relationship using a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The findings of the study confirm the existence of a long run equilibrium relationship between exports and imports.
Keywords: Cointegration lagged, linear, maximum likelihood, vector error correction model.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2770710 Design of a Non-linear Observer for VSI Fed Synchronous Motor
Authors: P. Ramana , K. Alice Mary, M. Surya Kalavathi, M. Phani Kumar
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This paper discusses two observers, which are used for the estimation of parameters of PMSM. Former one, reduced order observer, which is used to estimate the inaccessible parameters of PMSM. Later one, full order observer, which is used to estimate all the parameters of PMSM even though some of the parameters are directly available for measurement, so as to meet with the insensitivity to the parameter variation. However, the state space model contains some nonlinear terms i.e. the product of different state variables. The asymptotic state observer, which approximately reconstructs the state vector for linear systems without uncertainties, was presented by Luenberger. In this work, a modified form of such an observer is used by including a non-linear term involving the speed. So, both the observers are designed in the framework of nonlinear control; their stability and rate of convergence is discussed.Keywords: Permanent magnet synchronous motor, Mathematicalmodelling, Rotor reference frame, parameter estimation, Luenbergerobserver, reduced order observer, full order observer
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1854709 Performance Analysis of Certificateless Signature for IKE Authentication
Authors: Nazrul M. Ahmad, Asrul H. Yaacob, Ridza Fauzi, Alireza Khorram
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Elliptic curve-based certificateless signature is slowly gaining attention due to its ability to retain the efficiency of identity-based signature to eliminate the need of certificate management while it does not suffer from inherent private key escrow problem. Generally, cryptosystem based on elliptic curve offers equivalent security strength at smaller key sizes compared to conventional cryptosystem such as RSA which results in faster computations and efficient use of computing power, bandwidth, and storage. This paper proposes to implement certificateless signature based on bilinear pairing to structure the framework of IKE authentication. In this paper, we perform a comparative analysis of certificateless signature scheme with a well-known RSA scheme and also present the experimental results in the context of signing and verification execution times. By generalizing our observations, we discuss the different trade-offs involved in implementing IKE authentication by using certificateless signature.Keywords: Certificateless signature, IPSec, RSA signature, IKE authentication.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1791708 The Analogue of a Property of Pisot Numbers in Fields of Formal Power Series
Authors: Wiem Gadri
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This study delves into the intriguing properties of Pisot and Salem numbers within the framework of formal Laurent series over finite fields, a domain where these numbers’ spectral characteristics, Λm(β) and lm(β), have yet to be fully explored. Utilizing a methodological approach that combines algebraic number theory with the analysis of power series, we extend the foundational work of Erdos, Joo, and Komornik to this setting. Our research uncovers bounds for lm(β), revealing how these depend on the degree of the minimal polynomial of β and thus offering a characterization of Pisot and Salem formal power series. The findings significantly contribute to our understanding of these numbers, highlighting their distribution and properties in the context of formal power series. This investigation not only bridges number theory with formal power series analysis but also sets the stage for further interdisciplinary research in these areas.
Keywords: Pisot numbers, Salem numbers, Formal power series, Minimal polynomial degree.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 114707 Regional Security Issue: Central Asian Countries and NATO Cooperation (On the Example of Kazakhstan)
Authors: Karakulov Y., Baizakova K.
Abstract:
Kazakhstan attaches the great importance to cooperation with European countries within the framework of multilateral security organizations such as NATO. Cooperation of Kazakhstan with the NATO is a prominent aspect of strengthening of regional security of republic. It covers a wide spectrum of areas, such as reform of sector of defense and security, military operative compatibility of armed forces of NATO member-countries and Kazakhstan, civil emergency planning and scientific cooperation. The cooperation between Kazakhstan and NATO is based on the mutual interests of neighboring republics in the region so that the existing forms of cooperation between Kazakhstan and NATO will not be negatively perceived both in Asia as well as among CIS countries. Kazakhstan tailors its participation in the PfP programme through an annual Individual Partnership Programme, selecting those activities that will help achieve the goals it has set in the IPAP. Level of cooperation within the limits of PfP essentially differs on each republic. Cooperation with Kazakhstan progressed most of all since has been signed IPAP from the NATOKeywords: Central Asia, Kazakhstan, NATO cooperation, regional security
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2159706 Use of Data of the Remote Sensing for Spatiotemporal Analysis Land Use Changes in the Eastern Aurès (Algeria)
Authors: A. Bouzekri, H. Benmassaud
Abstract:
Aurèsregion is one of the arid and semi-arid areas that have suffered climate crises and overexploitation of natural resources they have led to significant land degradation. The use of remote sensing data allowed us to analyze the land and its spatiotemporal changes in the Aurès between 1987 and 2013, for this work, we adopted a method of analysis based on the exploitation of the images satellite Landsat TM 1987 and Landsat OLI 2013, from the supervised classification likelihood coupled with field surveys of the mission of May and September of 2013. Using ENVI EX software by the superposition of the ground cover maps from 1987 and 2013, one can extract a spatial map change of different land cover units. The results show that between 1987 and 2013 vegetation has suffered negative changes are the significant degradation of forests and steppe rangelands, and sandy soils and bare land recorded a considerable increase. The spatial change map land cover units between 1987 and 2013 allows us to understand the extensive or regressive orientation of vegetation and soil, this map shows that dense forests give his place to clear forests and steppe vegetation develops from a degraded forest vegetation and bare, sandy soils earn big steppe surfaces that explain its remarkable extension. The analysis of remote sensing data highlights the profound changes in our environment over time and quantitative monitoring of the risk of desertification.Keywords: Aurès, Land use, remote sensing, spatiotemporal.
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