Search results for: Multi- criteria decision making
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4133

Search results for: Multi- criteria decision making

2183 Attribute Selection for Preference Functions in Engineering Design

Authors: Ali E. Abbas

Abstract:

Industrial Engineering is a broad multidisciplinary field with intersections and applications in numerous areas. When designing a product, it is important to determine the appropriate attributes of value and the preference function for which the product is optimized. This paper provides some guidelines on appropriate selection of attributes for preference and value functions for engineering design.

Keywords: Decision analysis, engineering design, direct vs. indirect values.

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2182 Performance Analysis of MC-SS for the Indoor BPLC Systems

Authors: Justinian Anatory

Abstract:

power-line networks are promise infrastructure for broadband services provision to end users. However, the network performance is affected by stochastic channel changing which is due to load impedances, number of branches and branched line lengths. It has been proposed that multi-carrier modulations techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), Multi-Carrier Spread Spectrum (MC-SS), wavelet OFDM can be used in such environment. This paper investigates the performance of different indoor topologies of power-line networks that uses MC-SS modulation scheme.It is observed that when a branch is added in the link between sending and receiving end of an indoor channel an average of 2.5dB power loss is found. In additional, when the branch is added at a node an average of 1dB power loss is found. Additionally when the terminal impedances of the branch change from line characteristic impedance to impedance either higher or lower values the channel performances were tremendously improved. For example changing terminal load from characteristic impedance (85 .) to 5 . the signal to noise ratio (SNR) required to attain the same performances were decreased from 37dB to 24dB respectively. Also, changing the terminal load from channel characteristic impedance (85 .) to very higher impedance (1600 .) the SNR required to maintain the same performances were decreased from 37dB to 23dB. The result concludes that MC-SS performs better compared with OFDM techniques in all aspects and especially when the channel is terminated in either higher or lower impedances.

Keywords: Communication channel model; Broadband Powerlinecommunication; Branched network; OFDM; Delay Spread, MCSS;impulsive noise; load impedance

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2181 Education of Purchasing Professionals in Austria: Competence Based View

Authors: Volker Koch

Abstract:

This paper deals with the education of purchasing professionals in Austria. In this education, equivalent and measurable criteria are collected in order to create a comparison. The comparison shows the problem. To make the aforementioned comparison possible, methodologies such as KODE-Competence Atlas or presentations in a matrix form are used. The result shows the content taught and whether there are any similarities or interesting differences in the current Austrian purchasers’ formations. Purchasing professionals learning competencies are also illustrated in the study result.

Keywords: Competencies, education, purchasing professional, technological-oriented.

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2180 Participatory Financial Inclusion Hypothesis: A Preliminary Empirical Validation Using Survey Design

Authors: Edward A. Osifodunrin, Jose Manuel Dias Lopes

Abstract:

In Nigeria, enormous efforts/resources had, over the years, been expended on promoting financial inclusion (FI); however, it is seemingly discouraging that many of its self-declared targets on FI remained unachieved, especially amongst the Rural Dwellers and Actors in the Informal Sectors (RDAIS). Expectedly, many reasons had been earmarked for these failures: low literacy level, huge informal/rural sectors etc. This study posits that in spite of these truly-debilitating factors, these FI policy failures could have been avoided or mitigated if the principles of active and better-managed citizens’ participation had been strictly followed in the (re)design/implementation of its FI policies. In other words, in a bid to mitigate the prevalent financial exclusion (FE) in Nigeria, this study hypothesizes the significant positive impact of involving the RDAIS in policy-wide decision making in the FI domain, backed by a preliminary empirical validation. Also, the study introduces the RDAIS-focused Participatory Financial Inclusion Policy (PFIP) as a major FI policy regeneration/improvement tool. The three categories of respondents that served as research subjects are FI experts in Nigeria (n = 72), RDAIS from the very rural/remote village of Unguwar Dogo in Northern Nigeria (n = 43) and RDAIS from another rural village of Sekere (n = 56) in the Southern region of Nigeria. Using survey design (5-point Likert scale questionnaires), random/stratified sampling, and descriptive/inferential statistics, the study often recorded independent consensus (amongst these three categories of respondents) that RDAIS’s active participation in iterative FI policy initiation, (re)design, implementation, (re)evaluation could indeed give improved FI outcomes. However, few questionnaire items also recorded divergent opinions and various statistically (in)significant differences on the mean scores of these three categories. The PFIP (or any customized version of it) should then be carefully integrated into the NFIS of Nigeria (and possibly in the NFIS of other developing countries) to truly/fully provide FI policy integration for these excluded RDAIS and arrest the prevalence of FE.

Keywords: Citizens’ participation, development, financial inclusion, formal financial services, national financial inclusion strategy, participatory financial inclusion policy, rural dwellers and actors in the informal sectors.

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2179 Predictions and Comparisons of Thermohydrodynamic State for Single and Three Pads Gas Foil Bearings Operating at Steady-State Based on Multi-Physics Coupling Computer-Aided Engineering Simulations

Authors: Tai Yuan Yu, Pei-Jen Wang

Abstract:

Oil-free turbomachinery is considered one of the critical technologies for future green power generation systems as rotor machinery systems. Oil-free technology allows clean, compact, and maintenance-free working, and gas foil bearings (GFBs) are important for the technology. Since the first applications in the auxiliary power units and air cycle machines in the 1970s, obvious improvement has been created to the computational models for dynamic rotor behavior. However, many technical issues are still poorly understood or remain unsolved, and some of those are thermal management and the pattern of how pressure will be distributed in bearing clearance. This paper presents a three-dimensional (3D) fluid-structure interaction model of single pad foil bearings and three pad foil bearings to predict bearing working behavior that researchers could compare characteristics of those. The coupling analysis model involves dynamic working characteristics applied to all the gas film and mechanical structures. Therefore, the elastic deformation of foil structure and the hydrodynamic pressure of gas film can both be calculated by a finite element method program. As a result, the temperature distribution pattern could also be iteratively solved by coupling analysis. In conclusion, the working fluid state in a gas film of various pad forms of bearings working characteristic at constant rotational speed for both can be solved for comparisons with the experimental results.

Keywords: Fluid structure interaction multi-physics simulations, gas foil bearing, oil-free, transient thermohydrodynamic.

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2178 Ionic Liquid Promoted One-pot Synthesis of Benzo[b][1,4]oxazines

Authors: Ebrahim Soleimani, Afsaneh Taheri Kal koshvandi

Abstract:

benzo[b][1,4]oxazines have been synthesized in good to excellent yields in the presence of the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3- methylimidazolium bromide [bmim]Br under relatively mild conditions without any added catalyst, the reaction workup is simple and the ionic liquid can be easily separated from the product and reused.

Keywords: Isocyanide, Benzo[b][1, 4]oxazines, Multi-componentreactions, [bmim]Br, Ionic Liquid.

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2177 LSGENSYS - An Integrated System for Pattern Recognition and Summarisation

Authors: Hema Nair

Abstract:

This paper presents a new system developed in Java® for pattern recognition and pattern summarisation in multi-band (RGB) satellite images. The system design is described in some detail. Results of testing the system to analyse and summarise patterns in SPOT MS images and LANDSAT images are also discussed.

Keywords: Pattern recognition, image analysis, feature extraction, blackboard component, linguistic summary.

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2176 Parallel Pipelined Conjugate Gradient Algorithm on Heterogeneous Platforms

Authors: Sergey Kopysov, Nikita Nedozhogin, Leonid Tonkov

Abstract:

The article presents a parallel iterative solver for large sparse linear systems which can be used on a heterogeneous platform. Traditionally, the problem of solving linear systems do not scale well on cluster containing multiple Central Processing Units (multi-CPUs cluster) or cluster containing multiple Graphics Processing Units (multi-GPUs cluster). For example, most of the attempts to implement the classical conjugate gradient method were at best counted in the same amount of time as the problem was enlarged. The paper proposes the pipelined variant of the conjugate gradient method (PCG), a formulation that is potentially better suited for hybrid CPU/GPU computing since it requires only one synchronization point per one iteration, instead of two for standard CG (Conjugate Gradient). The standard and pipelined CG methods need the vector entries generated by current GPU and other GPUs for matrix-vector product. So the communication between GPUs becomes a major performance bottleneck on miltiGPU cluster. The article presents an approach to minimize the communications between parallel parts of algorithms. Additionally, computation and communication can be overlapped to reduce the impact of data exchange. Using pipelined version of the CG method with one synchronization point, the possibility of asynchronous calculations and communications, load balancing between the CPU and GPU for solving the large linear systems allows for scalability. The algorithm is implemented with the combined use of technologies: MPI, OpenMP and CUDA. We show that almost optimum speed up on 8-CPU/2GPU may be reached (relatively to a one GPU execution). The parallelized solver achieves a speedup of up to 5.49 times on 16 NVIDIA Tesla GPUs, as compared to one GPU.

Keywords: Conjugate Gradient, GPU, parallel programming, pipelined algorithm.

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2175 Adaptive WiFi Fingerprinting for Location Approximation

Authors: Mohd Fikri Azli bin Abdullah, Khairul Anwar bin Kamarul Hatta, Esther Jeganathan

Abstract:

WiFi has become an essential technology that is widely used nowadays. It is famous due to its convenience to be used with mobile devices. This is especially true for Internet users worldwide that use WiFi connections. There are many location based services that are available nowadays which uses Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) signal fingerprinting. A common example that is gaining popularity in this era would be Foursquare. In this work, the WiFi signal would be used to estimate the user or client’s location. Similar to GPS, fingerprinting method needs a floor plan to increase the accuracy of location estimation. Still, the factor of inconsistent WiFi signal makes the estimation defer at different time intervals. Given so, an adaptive method is needed to obtain the most accurate signal at all times. WiFi signals are heavily distorted by external factors such as physical objects, radio frequency interference, electrical interference, and environmental factors to name a few. Due to these factors, this work uses a method of reducing the signal noise and estimation using the Nearest Neighbour based on past activities of the signal to increase the signal accuracy up to more than 80%. The repository yet increases the accuracy by using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) pattern matching. The repository acts as the server cum support of the client side application decision. Numerous previous works has adapted the methods of collecting signal strengths in the repository over the years, but mostly were just static. In this work, proposed solutions on how the adaptive method is done to match the signal received to the data in the repository are highlighted. With the said approach, location estimation can be done more accurately. Adaptive update allows the latest location fingerprint to be stored in the repository. Furthermore, any redundant location fingerprints are removed and only the updated version of the fingerprint is stored in the repository. How the location estimation of the user can be predicted would be highlighted more in the proposed solution section. After some studies on previous works, it is found that the Artificial Neural Network is the most feasible method to deploy in updating the repository and making it adaptive. The Artificial Neural Network functions are to do the pattern matching of the WiFi signal to the existing data available in the repository.

Keywords: Adaptive Repository, Artificial Neural Network, Location Estimation, Nearest Neighbour Euclidean Distance, WiFi RSSI Fingerprinting.

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2174 Global Behavior in (Q-xy)2 Potential

Authors: K. Jaroensutasinee

Abstract:

The general global behavior of particle S a non-linear (Q - xy)2 potential cannot be revealed a Poincare surface of section method (PSS) because inost trajectories take practically infinitely long time to integrate numerically before they come back to the surface. In this study as an alternative to PSS, a multiple scale perturbation is applied to analyze global adiabatic, non-adiabatic and chaotic behavior of particles in this potential. It was found that the results can be summarized as a form of a Fermi-like map. Additionally, this method gives a variation of global stochasticity criteria with Q.

Keywords: Multiple Scak Perturbation The Poincare Surface or Section, Fermi Map

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2173 An Effort at Improving Reliability of Laboratory Data in Titrimetric Analysis for Zinc Sulphate Tablets Using Validated Spreadsheet Calculators

Authors: M. A. Okezue, K. L. Clase, S. R. Byrn

Abstract:

The requirement for maintaining data integrity in laboratory operations is critical for regulatory compliance. Automation of procedures reduces incidence of human errors. Quality control laboratories located in low-income economies may face some barriers in attempts to automate their processes. Since data from quality control tests on pharmaceutical products are used in making regulatory decisions, it is important that laboratory reports are accurate and reliable. Zinc Sulphate (ZnSO4) tablets is used in treatment of diarrhea in pediatric population, and as an adjunct therapy for COVID-19 regimen. Unfortunately, zinc content in these formulations is determined titrimetrically; a manual analytical procedure. The assay for ZnSO4 tablets involves time-consuming steps that contain mathematical formulae prone to calculation errors. To achieve consistency, save costs, and improve data integrity, validated spreadsheets were developed to simplify the two critical steps in the analysis of ZnSO4 tablets: standardization of 0.1M Sodium Edetate (EDTA) solution, and the complexometric titration assay procedure. The assay method in the United States Pharmacopoeia was used to create a process flow for ZnSO4 tablets. For each step in the process, different formulae were input into two spreadsheets to automate calculations. Further checks were created within the automated system to ensure validity of replicate analysis in titrimetric procedures. Validations were conducted using five data sets of manually computed assay results. The acceptance criteria set for the protocol were met. Significant p-values (p < 0.05, α = 0.05, at 95% Confidence Interval) were obtained from students’ t-test evaluation of the mean values for manual-calculated and spreadsheet results at all levels of the analysis flow. Right-first-time analysis and principles of data integrity were enhanced by use of the validated spreadsheet calculators in titrimetric evaluations of ZnSO4 tablets. Human errors were minimized in calculations when procedures were automated in quality control laboratories. The assay procedure for the formulation was achieved in a time-efficient manner with greater level of accuracy. This project is expected to promote cost savings for laboratory business models.

Keywords: Data integrity, spreadsheets, titrimetry, validation, zinc sulphate tablets.

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2172 Development of a Telemedical Network Supporting an Automated Flow Cytometric Analysis for the Clinical Follow-up of Leukaemia

Authors: Claude Takenga, Rolf-Dietrich Berndt, Erling Si, Markus Diem, Guohui Qiao, Melanie Gau, Michael Brandstoetter, Martin Kampel, Michael Dworzak

Abstract:

In patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), treatment response is increasingly evaluated with minimal residual disease (MRD) analyses. Flow Cytometry (FCM) is a fast and sensitive method to detect MRD. However, the interpretation of these multi-parametric data requires intensive operator training and experience. This paper presents a pipeline-software, as a ready-to-use FCM-based MRD-assessment tool for the daily clinical practice for patients with ALL. The new tool increases accuracy in assessment of FCM-MRD in samples which are difficult to analyse by conventional operator-based gating since computer-aided analysis potentially has a superior resolution due to utilization of the whole multi-parametric FCM-data space at once instead of step-wise, two-dimensional plot-based visualization. The system developed as a telemedical network reduces the work-load and lab-costs, staff-time needed for training, continuous quality control, operator-based data interpretation. It allows dissemination of automated FCM-MRD analysis to medical centres which have no established expertise for the benefit of an even larger community of diseased children worldwide. We established a telemedical network system for analysis and clinical follow-up and treatment monitoring of Leukaemia. The system is scalable and adapted to link several centres and laboratories worldwide.

Keywords: Data security, flow cytometry, leukaemia, telematics platform, telemedicine.

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2171 Pilot Scale Production and Compatibility Criteria of New Self-Cleaning Materials

Authors: J. Ranogajec, O. Rudic, S. Pasalic, S. Vucetic, D. Cjepa

Abstract:

The paper involves a chain of activities from synthesis, establishment of the methodology for characterization and testing of novel protective materials through the pilot production and application on model supports. It summarizes the results regarding the development of the pilot production protocol for newly developed self-cleaning materials. The optimization of the production parameters was completed in order to improve the most important functional properties (mineralogy characteristics, particle size, self-cleaning properties and photocatalytic activity) of the newly designed nanocomposite material.

Keywords: Cultural heritage. Materials compatibility. Pilot production. Self-cleaning.

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2170 Security Analysis of Password Hardened Multimodal Biometric Fuzzy Vault

Authors: V. S. Meenakshi, G. Padmavathi

Abstract:

Biometric techniques are gaining importance for personal authentication and identification as compared to the traditional authentication methods. Biometric templates are vulnerable to variety of attacks due to their inherent nature. When a person-s biometric is compromised his identity is lost. In contrast to password, biometric is not revocable. Therefore, providing security to the stored biometric template is very crucial. Crypto biometric systems are authentication systems, which blends the idea of cryptography and biometrics. Fuzzy vault is a proven crypto biometric construct which is used to secure the biometric templates. However fuzzy vault suffer from certain limitations like nonrevocability, cross matching. Security of the fuzzy vault is affected by the non-uniform nature of the biometric data. Fuzzy vault when hardened with password overcomes these limitations. Password provides an additional layer of security and enhances user privacy. Retina has certain advantages over other biometric traits. Retinal scans are used in high-end security applications like access control to areas or rooms in military installations, power plants, and other high risk security areas. This work applies the idea of fuzzy vault for retinal biometric template. Multimodal biometric system performance is well compared to single modal biometric systems. The proposed multi modal biometric fuzzy vault includes combined feature points from retina and fingerprint. The combined vault is hardened with user password for achieving high level of security. The security of the combined vault is measured using min-entropy. The proposed password hardened multi biometric fuzzy vault is robust towards stored biometric template attacks.

Keywords: Biometric Template Security, Crypto Biometric Systems, Hardening Fuzzy Vault, Min-Entropy.

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2169 Study of Rayleigh-Bénard-Brinkman Convection Using LTNE Model and Coupled, Real Ginzburg-Landau Equations

Authors: P. G. Siddheshwar, R. K. Vanishree, C. Kanchana

Abstract:

A local nonlinear stability analysis using a eight-mode expansion is performed in arriving at the coupled amplitude equations for Rayleigh-Bénard-Brinkman convection (RBBC) in the presence of LTNE effects. Streamlines and isotherms are obtained in the two-dimensional unsteady finite-amplitude convection regime. The parameters’ influence on heat transport is found to be more pronounced at small time than at long times. Results of the Rayleigh-Bénard convection is obtained as a particular case of the present study. Additional modes are shown not to significantly influence the heat transport thus leading us to infer that five minimal modes are sufficient to make a study of RBBC. The present problem that uses rolls as a pattern of manifestation of instability is a needed first step in the direction of making a very general non-local study of two-dimensional unsteady convection. The results may be useful in determining the preferred range of parameters’ values while making rheometric measurements in fluids to ascertain fluid properties such as viscosity. The results of LTE are obtained as a limiting case of the results of LTNE obtained in the paper.

Keywords: Rayleigh-Bénard convection, heat transport, porous media, generalized Lorenz model, coupled Ginzburg-Landau model.

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2168 Environmental Impact of Sustainability Dispersion of Chlorine Releases in Coastal Zone of Alexandra: Spatial-Ecological Modeling

Authors: Mohammed El Raey, Moustafa Osman Mohammed

Abstract:

The spatial-ecological modeling is relating sustainable dispersions with social development. Sustainability with spatial-ecological model gives attention to urban environments in the design review management to comply with Earth’s system. Naturally exchanged patterns of ecosystems have consistent and periodic cycles to preserve energy flows and materials in Earth’s system. The Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) technique is utilized to assess the safety of an industrial complex. The other analytical approach is the Failure-Safe Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) for critical components. The plant safety parameters are identified for engineering topology as employed in assessment safety of industrial ecology. In particular, the most severe accidental release of hazardous gaseous is postulated, analyzed and assessment in industrial region. The IAEA-safety assessment procedure is used to account the duration and rate of discharge of liquid chlorine. The ecological model of plume dispersion width and concentration of chlorine gas in the downwind direction is determined using Gaussian Plume Model in urban and rural areas and presented with SURFER®. The prediction of accident consequences is traced in risk contour concentration lines. The local greenhouse effect is predicted with relevant conclusions. The spatial-ecological model is predicted for multiple factors distribution schemes of multi-criteria analysis. The input–output analysis is explored from the spillover effect, and we conducted Monte Carlo simulations for sensitivity analysis. Their unique structure is balanced within “equilibrium patterns”, such as the composite index for biosphere with collective structure of many distributed feedback flows. These dynamic structures are related to have their physical and chemical properties and enable a gradual and prolonged incremental pattern. While this spatial model structure argues from ecology, resource savings, static load design, financial and other pragmatic reasons, the outcomes are not decisive in an artistic/architectural perspective. The hypothesis is deployed to unify analytic and analogical spatial structure in development urban environments using optimization loads as an example of integrated industrial structure where the process is based on engineering topology of systems ecology.

Keywords: Spatial-ecological modeling, spatial structure orientation impact, composite structure, industrial ecology.

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2167 Customer Churn Prediction Using Four Machine Learning Algorithms Integrating Feature Selection and Normalization in the Telecom Sector

Authors: Alanoud Moraya Aldalan, Abdulaziz Almaleh

Abstract:

A crucial part of maintaining a customer-oriented business in the telecommunications industry is understanding the reasons and factors that lead to customer churn. Competition between telecom companies has greatly increased in recent years, which has made it more important to understand customers’ needs in this strong market. For those who are looking to turn over their service providers, understanding their needs is especially important. Predictive churn is now a mandatory requirement for retaining customers in the telecommunications industry. Machine learning can be used to accomplish this. Churn Prediction has become a very important topic in terms of machine learning classification in the telecommunications industry. Understanding the factors of customer churn and how they behave is very important to building an effective churn prediction model. This paper aims to predict churn and identify factors of customers’ churn based on their past service usage history. Aiming at this objective, the study makes use of feature selection, normalization, and feature engineering. Then, this study compared the performance of four different machine learning algorithms on the Orange dataset: Logistic Regression, Random Forest, Decision Tree, and Gradient Boosting. Evaluation of the performance was conducted by using the F1 score and ROC-AUC. Comparing the results of this study with existing models has proven to produce better results. The results showed the Gradients Boosting with feature selection technique outperformed in this study by achieving a 99% F1-score and 99% AUC, and all other experiments achieved good results as well.

Keywords: Machine Learning, Gradient Boosting, Logistic Regression, Churn, Random Forest, Decision Tree, ROC, AUC, F1-score.

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2166 Information Retrieval in Domain Specific Search Engine with Machine Learning Approaches

Authors: Shilpy Sharma

Abstract:

As the web continues to grow exponentially, the idea of crawling the entire web on a regular basis becomes less and less feasible, so the need to include information on specific domain, domain-specific search engines was proposed. As more information becomes available on the World Wide Web, it becomes more difficult to provide effective search tools for information access. Today, people access web information through two main kinds of search interfaces: Browsers (clicking and following hyperlinks) and Query Engines (queries in the form of a set of keywords showing the topic of interest) [2]. Better support is needed for expressing one's information need and returning high quality search results by web search tools. There appears to be a need for systems that do reasoning under uncertainty and are flexible enough to recover from the contradictions, inconsistencies, and irregularities that such reasoning involves. In a multi-view problem, the features of the domain can be partitioned into disjoint subsets (views) that are sufficient to learn the target concept. Semi-supervised, multi-view algorithms, which reduce the amount of labeled data required for learning, rely on the assumptions that the views are compatible and uncorrelated. This paper describes the use of semi-structured machine learning approach with Active learning for the “Domain Specific Search Engines". A domain-specific search engine is “An information access system that allows access to all the information on the web that is relevant to a particular domain. The proposed work shows that with the help of this approach relevant data can be extracted with the minimum queries fired by the user. It requires small number of labeled data and pool of unlabelled data on which the learning algorithm is applied to extract the required data.

Keywords: Search engines; machine learning, Informationretrieval, Active logic.

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2165 Development of an Ensemble Classification Model Based on Hybrid Filter-Wrapper Feature Selection for Email Phishing Detection

Authors: R. B. Ibrahim, M. S. Argungu, I. M. Mungadi

Abstract:

It is obvious in this present time, internet has become an indispensable part of human life since its inception. The Internet has provided diverse opportunities to make life so easy for human beings, through the adoption of various channels. Among these channels are email, internet banking, video conferencing, and the like. Email is one of the easiest means of communication hugely accepted among individuals and organizations globally. But over decades the security integrity of this platform has been challenged with malicious activities like Phishing. Email phishing is designed by phishers to fool the recipient into handing over sensitive personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers, account credentials, social security numbers, etc. This activity has caused a lot of financial damage to email users globally which has resulted in bankruptcy, sudden death of victims, and other health-related sicknesses. Although many methods have been proposed to detect email phishing, in this research, the results of multiple machine-learning methods for predicting email phishing have been compared with the use of filter-wrapper feature selection. It is worth noting that all three models performed substantially but one outperformed the other. The dataset used for these models is obtained from Kaggle online data repository, while three classifiers: decision tree, Naïve Bayes, and Logistic regression are ensemble (Bagging) respectively. Results from the study show that the Decision Tree (CART) bagging ensemble recorded the highest accuracy of 98.13% using PEF (Phishing Essential Features). This result further demonstrates the dependability of the proposed model.

Keywords: Ensemble, hybrid, filter-wrapper, phishing.

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2164 Wind Energy Development in the African Great Lakes Region to Supplement the Hydroelectricity in the Locality: A Case Study from Tanzania

Authors: R.M. Kainkwa

Abstract:

The African Great Lakes Region refers to the zone around lakes Victoria, Tanganyika, Albert, Edward, Kivu, and Malawi. The main source of electricity in this region is hydropower whose systems are generally characterized by relatively weak, isolated power schemes, poor maintenance and technical deficiencies with limited electricity infrastructures. Most of the hydro sources are rain fed, and as such there is normally a deficiency of water during the dry seasons and extended droughts. In such calamities fossil fuels sources, in particular petroleum products and natural gas, are normally used to rescue the situation but apart from them being nonrenewable, they also release huge amount of green house gases to our environment which in turn accelerates the global warming that has at present reached an amazing stage. Wind power is ample, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and free energy source that does not consume or pollute water. Wind generated electricity is one of the most practical and commercially viable option for grid quality and utility scale electricity production. However, the main shortcoming associated with electric wind power generation is fluctuation in its output both in space and time. Before making a decision to establish a wind park at a site, the wind speed features there should therefore be known thoroughly as well as local demand or transmission capacity. The main objective of this paper is to utilise monthly average wind speed data collected from one prospective site within the African Great Lakes Region to demonstrate that the available wind power there is high enough to generate electricity. The mean monthly values were calculated from records gathered on hourly basis for a period of 5 years (2001 to 2005) from a site in Tanzania. The documentations that were collected at a height of 2 m were projected to a height of 50 m which is the standard hub height of wind turbines. The overall monthly average wind speed was found to be 12.11 m/s whereas June to November was established to be the windy season as the wind speed during the session is above the overall monthly wind speed. The available wind power density corresponding to the overall mean monthly wind speed was evaluated to be 1072 W/m2, a potential that is worthwhile harvesting for the purpose of electric generation.

Keywords: Hydro power, windy season, available wind powerdensity.

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2163 Optimal Criteria for Non-Minimal Phase Plants

Authors: Z. Nemec, R. Matousek

Abstract:

The paper describes the evaluation of quality of control for cases of controlled non-minimal phase plants. Control circuits containing non-minimal phase plants have different properties, they manifest reversed reaction at the beginning of unit step response. For these types of plants are developed special criterion of quality of control, which considers the difference and can be helpful for synthesis of optimal controller tuning. All results are clearly presented using Matlab/Simulink models.

Keywords: control design, non-minimal phase system, optimalcriteria, power plant, heating plant, water turbine, Matlab, Simulink.

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2162 Fabrication of Nanoengineered Radiation Shielding Multifunctional Polymeric Sandwich Composites

Authors: Nasim Abuali Galehdari, Venkat Mani, Ajit D. Kelkar

Abstract:

Space Radiation has become one of the major factors in successful long duration space exploration. Exposure to space radiation not only can affect the health of astronauts but also can disrupt or damage materials and electronics. Hazards to materials include degradation of properties, such as, modulus, strength, or glass transition temperature. Electronics may experience single event effects, gate rupture, burnout of field effect transistors and noise. Presently aluminum is the major component in most of the space structures due to its lightweight and good structural properties. However, aluminum is ineffective at blocking space radiation. Therefore, most of the past research involved studying at polymers which contain large amounts of hydrogen. Again, these materials are not structural materials and would require large amounts of material to achieve the structural properties needed. One of the materials to alleviate this problem is polymeric composite materials, which has good structural properties and use polymers that contained large amounts of hydrogen. This paper presents steps involved in fabrication of multi-functional hybrid sandwich panels that can provide beneficial radiation shielding as well as structural strength. Multifunctional hybrid sandwich panels were manufactured using vacuum assisted resin transfer molding process and were subjected to radiation treatment. Study indicates that various nanoparticles including Boron Nano powder, Boron Carbide and Gadolinium nanoparticles can be successfully used to block the space radiation without sacrificing the structural integrity.

Keywords: Multi-functional, polymer composites, radiation shielding, sandwich composites.

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2161 Web-Based Tools to Increase Public Understanding of Nuclear Technology and Food Irradiation

Authors: Denise Levy, Anna Lucia C. H. Villavicencio

Abstract:

Food irradiation is a processing and preservation technique to eliminate insects and parasites and reduce disease-causing microorganisms. Moreover, the process helps to inhibit sprouting and delay ripening, extending fresh fruits and vegetables shelf-life. Nevertheless, most Brazilian consumers seem to misunderstand the difference between irradiated food and radioactive food and the general public has major concerns about the negative health effects and environmental contamination. Society´s judgment and decision making are directly linked to perceived benefits and risks. The web-based project entitled ‘Scientific information about food irradiation: Internet as a tool to approach science and society’ was created by the Nuclear and Energetic Research Institute (IPEN), in order to offer an interdisciplinary approach to science education, integrating economic, ethical, social and political aspects of food irradiation. This project takes into account that, misinformation and unfounded preconceived ideas impact heavily on the acceptance of irradiated food and purchase intention by the Brazilian consumer. Taking advantage of the potential value of the Internet to enhance communication and education among general public, a research study was carried out regarding the possibilities and trends of Information and Communication Technologies among the Brazilian population. The content includes concepts, definitions and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about processes, safety, advantages, limitations and the possibilities of food irradiation, including health issues, as well as its impacts on the environment. The project counts on eight self-instructional interactive web courses, situating scientific content in relevant social contexts in order to encourage self-learning and further reflections. Communication is a must to improve public understanding of science. The use of information technology for quality scientific divulgation shall contribute greatly to provide information throughout the country, spreading information to as many people as possible, minimizing geographic distances and stimulating communication and development.

Keywords: Food irradiation, multimedia learning tools, nuclear science, society and education.

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2160 Characterizing Multivariate Thresholds in Industrial Engineering

Authors: Ali E. Abbas

Abstract:

This paper highlights some of the normative issues that might result by setting independent thresholds in risk analyses and particularly with safety regions. A second objective is to explain how such regions can be specified appropriately in a meaningful way. We start with a review of the importance of setting deterministic trade-offs among target requirements. We then show how to determine safety regions for risk analysis appropriately using utility functions.

Keywords: Decision analysis, thresholds, risk, reliability.

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2159 Simulation as an Effective Tool for the Comparative Evaluation of Field Oriented Control and Direct Torque Control of Induction Motor

Authors: Y.Srinivasa Kishore Babu, G.Tulasi Ram Das

Abstract:

This paper presents a comparative study of two most popular control strategies for Induction motor (IM) drives: Field-Oriented Control (FOC) and Direct Torque Control (DTC). The comparison is based on various criteria including basic control characteristics, dynamic performance, and implementation complexity. The study is done by simulation using the Simulink Power System Block set that allows a complete representation of the power section (inverter and IM) and the control system.

Keywords: IM, FOC, DTC, Simulink

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2158 Measurements of MRI R2* Relaxation Rate in Liver and Muscle: Animal Model

Authors: Chiung-Yun Chang, Po-Chou Chen, Jiun-Shiang Tzeng, Ka-Wai Mac, Chia-Chi Hsiao, Jo-Chi Jao

Abstract:

This study was aimed to measure effective transverse relaxation rates (R2*) in the liver and muscle of normal New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. R2* relaxation rate has been widely used in various hepatic diseases for iron overload by quantifying iron contents in liver. R2* relaxation rate is defined as the reciprocal of T2* relaxation time and mainly depends on the constituents of tissue. Different tissues would have different R2* relaxation rates. The signal intensity decay in Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be characterized by R2* relaxation rates. In this study, a 1.5T GE Signa HDxt whole body MR scanner equipped with an 8-channel high resolution knee coil was used to observe R2* values in NZW rabbit’s liver and muscle. Eight healthy NZW rabbits weighted 2 ~ 2.5 kg were recruited. After anesthesia using Zoletil 50 and Rompun 2% mixture, the abdomen of rabbit was landmarked at the center of knee coil to perform 3-plane localizer scan using fast spoiled gradient echo (FSPGR) pulse sequence. Afterwards, multi-planar fast gradient echo (MFGR) scans were performed with 8 various echo times (TEs) to acquire images for R2* measurements. Regions of interest (ROIs) at liver and muscle were measured using Advantage workstation. Finally, the R2* was obtained by a linear regression of ln(sı) on TE. The results showed that the longer the echo time, the smaller the signal intensity. The R2* values of liver and muscle were 44.8 ± 10.9 s-1 and 37.4 ± 9.5 s-1, respectively. It implies that the iron concentration of liver is higher than that of muscle. In conclusion, the more the iron contents in tissue, the higher the R2*. The correlations between R2* and iron content in NZW rabbits might be valuable for further exploration.

Keywords: Liver, MRI, multi-planar fast gradient echo, muscle, R2* relaxation rate.

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2157 Advanced Palliative Aquatics Care Multi-Device AuBento for Symptom and Pain Management by Sensorial Integration and Electromagnetic Fields: A Preliminary Design Study

Authors: J. F. Pollo Gaspary, F. Peron Gaspary, E. M. Simão, R. Concatto Beltrame, G. Orengo de Oliveira, M. S. Ristow Ferreira, J.C. Mairesse Siluk, I. F. Minello, F. dos Santos de Oliveira

Abstract:

Background: Although palliative care policies and services have been developed, research in this area continues to lag. An integrated model of palliative care is suggested, which includes complementary and alternative services aimed at improving the well-being of patients and their families. The palliative aquatics care multi-device (AuBento) uses several electromagnetic techniques to decrease pain and promote well-being through relaxation and interaction among patients, specialists, and family members. Aim: The scope of this paper is to present a preliminary design study of a device capable of exploring the various existing theories on the biomedical application of magnetic fields. This will be achieved by standardizing clinical data collection with sensory integration, and adding new therapeutic options to develop an advanced palliative aquatics care, innovating in symptom and pain management. Methods: The research methodology was based on the Work Package Methodology for the development of projects, separating the activities into seven different Work Packages. The theoretical basis was carried out through an integrative literature review according to the specific objectives of each Work Package and provided a broad analysis, which, together with the multiplicity of proposals and the interdisciplinarity of the research team involved, generated consistent and understandable complex concepts in the biomedical application of magnetic fields for palliative care. Results: Aubento ambience was idealized with restricted electromagnetic exposure (avoiding data collection bias) and sensory integration (allowing relaxation associated with hydrotherapy, music therapy, and chromotherapy or like floating tank). This device has a multipurpose configuration enabling classic or exploratory options on the use of the biomedical application of magnetic fields at the researcher's discretion. Conclusions: Several patients in diverse therapeutic contexts may benefit from the use of magnetic fields or fluids, thus validating the stimuli to clinical research in this area. A device in controlled and multipurpose environments may contribute to standardizing research and exploring new theories. Future research may demonstrate the possible benefits of the aquatics care multi-device AuBento to improve the well-being and symptom control in palliative care patients and their families.

Keywords: Advanced palliative aquatics care, magnetic field therapy, medical device, research design.

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2156 Biological Hotspots in the Galápagos Islands: Exploring Seasonal Trends of Ocean Climate Drivers to Monitor Algal Blooms

Authors: Emily Kislik, Gabriel Mantilla Saltos, Gladys Torres, Mercy Borbor-Córdova

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The Galápagos Marine Reserve (GMR) is an internationally-recognized region of consistent upwelling events, high productivity, and rich biodiversity. Despite its high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll condition, the archipelago has experienced phytoplankton blooms, especially in the western section between Isabela and Fernandina Islands. However, little is known about how climate variability will affect future phytoplankton standing stock in the Galápagos, and no consistent protocols currently exist to quantify phytoplankton biomass, identify species, or monitor for potential harmful algal blooms (HABs) within the archipelago. This analysis investigates physical, chemical, and biological oceanic variables that contribute to algal blooms within the GMR, using 4 km Aqua MODIS satellite imagery and 0.125-degree wind stress data from January 2003 to December 2016. Furthermore, this study analyzes chlorophyll-a concentrations at varying spatial scales— within the greater archipelago, as well as within five smaller bioregions based on species biodiversity in the GMR. Seasonal and interannual trend analyses, correlations, and hotspot identification were performed. Results demonstrate that chlorophyll-a is expressed in two seasons throughout the year in the GMR, most frequently in September and March, with a notable hotspot in the Elizabeth Bay bioregion. Interannual chlorophyll-a trend analyses revealed highest peaks in 2003, 2007, 2013, and 2016, and variables that correlate highly with chlorophyll-a include surface temperature and particulate organic carbon. This study recommends future in situ sampling locations for phytoplankton monitoring, including the Elizabeth Bay bioregion. Conclusions from this study contribute to the knowledge of oceanic drivers that catalyze primary productivity and consequently affect species biodiversity within the GMR. Additionally, this research can inform policy and decision-making strategies for species conservation and management within bioregions of the Galápagos.

Keywords: Bioregions, ecological monitoring, phytoplankton, remote sensing.

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2155 Fuzzy Optimization in Metabolic Systems

Authors: Feng-Sheng Wang, Wu-Hsiung Wu, Kai-Cheng Hsu

Abstract:

The optimization of biological systems, which is a branch of metabolic engineering, has generated a lot of industrial and academic interest for a long time. In the last decade, metabolic engineering approaches based on mathematical optimizations have been used extensively for the analysis and manipulation of metabolic networks. In practical optimization of metabolic reaction networks, designers have to manage the nature of uncertainty resulting from qualitative characters of metabolic reactions, e.g., the possibility of enzyme effects. A deterministic approach does not give an adequate representation for metabolic reaction networks with uncertain characters. Fuzzy optimization formulations can be applied to cope with this problem. A fuzzy multi-objective optimization problem can be introduced for finding the optimal engineering interventions on metabolic network systems considering the resilience phenomenon and cell viability constraints. The accuracy of optimization results depends heavily on the development of essential kinetic models of metabolic networks. Kinetic models can quantitatively capture the experimentally observed regulation data of metabolic systems and are often used to find the optimal manipulation of external inputs. To address the issues of optimizing the regulatory structure of metabolic networks, it is necessary to consider qualitative effects, e.g., the resilience phenomena and cell viability constraints. Combining the qualitative and quantitative descriptions for metabolic networks makes it possible to design a viable strain and accurately predict the maximum possible flux rates of desired products. Considering the resilience phenomena in metabolic networks can improve the predictions of gene intervention and maximum synthesis rates in metabolic engineering. Two case studies will present in the conference to illustrate the phenomena.

Keywords: Fuzzy multi-objective optimization problem, kinetic model, metabolic engineering.

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2154 Problems of Boolean Reasoning Based Biclustering Parallelization

Authors: Marcin Michalak

Abstract:

Biclustering is the way of two-dimensional data analysis. For several years it became possible to express such issue in terms of Boolean reasoning, for processing continuous, discrete and binary data. The mathematical backgrounds of such approach — proved ability of induction of exact and inclusion–maximal biclusters fulfilling assumed criteria — are strong advantages of the method. Unfortunately, the core of the method has quite high computational complexity. In the paper the basics of Boolean reasoning approach for biclustering are presented. In such context the problems of computation parallelization are risen.

Keywords: Boolean reasoning, biclustering, parallelization, prime implicant.

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