Search results for: social network analysis (SNA).
9681 Fractal - Wavelet Based Techniques for Improving the Artificial Neural Network Models
Authors: Reza Bazargan Lari, Mohammad H. Fattahi
Abstract:
Natural resources management including water resources requires reliable estimations of time variant environmental parameters. Small improvements in the estimation of environmental parameters would result in grate effects on managing decisions. Noise reduction using wavelet techniques is an effective approach for preprocessing of practical data sets. Predictability enhancement of the river flow time series are assessed using fractal approaches before and after applying wavelet based preprocessing. Time series correlation and persistency, the minimum sufficient length for training the predicting model and the maximum valid length of predictions were also investigated through a fractal assessment.
Keywords: Wavelet, de-noising, predictability, time series fractal analysis, valid length, ANN.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20639680 End-to-End Pyramid Based Method for MRI Reconstruction
Authors: Omer Cahana, Maya Herman, Ofer Levi
Abstract:
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a lengthy medical scan that stems from a long acquisition time. Its length is mainly due to the traditional sampling theorem, which defines a lower boundary for sampling. However, it is still possible to accelerate the scan by using a different approach such as Compress Sensing (CS) or Parallel Imaging (PI). These two complementary methods can be combined to achieve a faster scan with high-fidelity imaging. To achieve that, two conditions must be satisfied: i) the signal must be sparse under a known transform domain, and ii) the sampling method must be incoherent. In addition, a nonlinear reconstruction algorithm must be applied to recover the signal. While the rapid advances in Deep Learning (DL) have had tremendous successes in various computer vision tasks, the field of MRI reconstruction is still in its early stages. In this paper, we present an end-to-end method for MRI reconstruction from k-space to image. Our method contains two parts. The first is sensitivity map estimation (SME), which is a small yet effective network that can easily be extended to a variable number of coils. The second is reconstruction, which is a top-down architecture with lateral connections developed for building high-level refinement at all scales. Our method holds the state-of-art fastMRI benchmark, which is the largest, most diverse benchmark for MRI reconstruction.
Keywords: Accelerate MRI scans, image reconstruction, pyramid network, deep learning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3369679 A Car Parking Monitoring System Using Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Jung-Ho Moon, Tae Kwon Ha
Abstract:
This paper presents a car parking monitoring system using wireless sensor networks. Multiple sensor nodes and a sink node, a gateway, and a server constitute a wireless network for monitoring a parking lot. Each of the sensor nodes is equipped with a 3-axis AMR sensor and deployed in the center of a parking space. Each sensor node reads its sensor values periodically and transmits the data to the sink node if the current and immediate past sensor values show a difference exceeding a threshold value. The sensor nodes and sink node use the 448 MHz band for wireless communication. Since RF transmission only occurs when sensor values show abrupt changes, the number of RF transmission operations is reduced and battery power can be conserved. The data from the sensor nodes reach the server via the sink node and gateway. The server determines which parking spaces are taken by cars based upon the received sensor data and reference values. The reference values are average sensor values measured by each sensor node when the corresponding parking spot is not occupied by a vehicle. Because the decision making is done by the server, the computational burden of the sensor node is relieved, which helps reduce the duty cycle of the sensor node.
Keywords: Car parking monitoring, magnetometer, sensor node, wireless sensor network.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 81779678 Artificial Neural Network Model Based Setup Period Estimation for Polymer Cutting
Authors: Zsolt János Viharos, Krisztián Balázs Kis, Imre Paniti, Gábor Belső, Péter Németh, János Farkas
Abstract:
The paper presents the results and industrial applications in the production setup period estimation based on industrial data inherited from the field of polymer cutting. The literature of polymer cutting is very limited considering the number of publications. The first polymer cutting machine is known since the second half of the 20th century; however, the production of polymer parts with this kind of technology is still a challenging research topic. The products of the applying industrial partner must met high technical requirements, as they are used in medical, measurement instrumentation and painting industry branches. Typically, 20% of these parts are new work, which means every five years almost the entire product portfolio is replaced in their low series manufacturing environment. Consequently, it requires a flexible production system, where the estimation of the frequent setup periods' lengths is one of the key success factors. In the investigation, several (input) parameters have been studied and grouped to create an adequate training information set for an artificial neural network as a base for the estimation of the individual setup periods. In the first group, product information is collected such as the product name and number of items. The second group contains material data like material type and colour. In the third group, surface quality and tolerance information are collected including the finest surface and tightest (or narrowest) tolerance. The fourth group contains the setup data like machine type and work shift. One source of these parameters is the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) but some data were also collected from Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawings. The number of the applied tools is one of the key factors on which the industrial partners’ estimations were based previously. The artificial neural network model was trained on several thousands of real industrial data. The mean estimation accuracy of the setup periods' lengths was improved by 30%, and in the same time the deviation of the prognosis was also improved by 50%. Furthermore, an investigation on the mentioned parameter groups considering the manufacturing order was also researched. The paper also highlights the manufacturing introduction experiences and further improvements of the proposed methods, both on the shop floor and on the quotation preparation fields. Every week more than 100 real industrial setup events are given and the related data are collected.Keywords: Artificial neural network, low series manufacturing, polymer cutting, setup period estimation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9759677 Cultural Diversity and Challenges for Female Entrepreneurs: Empirical Study of an Emerging Economy
Authors: Amir Ikram, Qin Su, Muhammad Fiaz, Muhammad Waqas Shabbir
Abstract:
Women entrepreneurship witnessed a healthy rise in the last decade or so, and the scenario in Pakistan is not different. However female leaders are facing various, cultural, career oriented, and professional challenges. The study investigates the impact of social and industry-specific challenges on female entrepreneurship; social challenges was evaluated in terms of culture, and industry-specific challenges was measured in terms of team management and career growth. Purposive sampling was employed to collect data from 75 multicultural organizations operating in the culturally diverse and historic city of Lahore, Pakistan. Cronbach’s alpha was conducted to endorse the reliability of survey questionnaire, while correlation and regression analysis were used to test hypotheses. Industry-specific challenges were found to be more significant as compared to cultural factors. The paper also highlights the importance of female entrepreneurship for emerging economies, and suggests that bringing women to mainstream professions can lead to economic success.Keywords: Cultural challenges, emerging economy, female entrepreneurship, leadership.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19259676 Rough Neural Networks in Adapting Cellular Automata Rule for Reducing Image Noise
Authors: Yasser F. Hassan
Abstract:
The reduction or removal of noise in a color image is an essential part of image processing, whether the final information is used for human perception or for an automatic inspection and analysis. This paper describes the modeling system based on the rough neural network model to adaptive cellular automata for various image processing tasks and noise remover. In this paper, we consider the problem of object processing in colored image using rough neural networks to help deriving the rules which will be used in cellular automata for noise image. The proposed method is compared with some classical and recent methods. The results demonstrate that the new model is capable of being trained to perform many different tasks, and that the quality of these results is comparable or better than established specialized algorithms.
Keywords: Rough Sets, Rough Neural Networks, Cellular Automata, Image Processing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19489675 Intrabody Communication Using Different Ground Configurations in Digital Door Lock
Authors: Daewook Kim, Gilwon Yoon
Abstract:
Intrabody communication (IBC) is a new way of transferring data using human body as a medium. Minute current can travel though human body without any harm. IBC can remove electrical wires for human area network. IBC can be also a secure communication network system unlike wireless networks which can be accessed by anyone with bad intentions. One of the IBC systems is based on frequency shift keying modulation where individual data are transmitted to the external devices for the purpose of secure access such as digital door lock. It was found that the quality of IBC data transmission was heavily dependent on ground configurations of electronic circuits. Reliable IBC transmissions were not possible when both of the transmitter and receiver used batteries as circuit power source. Transmission was reliable when power supplies were used as power source for both transmitting and receiving sites because the common ground was established through the grounds of instruments such as power supply and oscilloscope. This was due to transmission dipole size and the ground effects of floor and AC power line. If one site used battery as power source and the other site used the AC power as circuit power source, transmission was possible.
Keywords: Frequency shift keying, Ground, Intrabody, Communication, door lock.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20199674 Reduction of Power Losses in Distribution Systems
Authors: Y. Al-Mahroqi, I.A. Metwally, A. Al-Hinai, A. Al-Badi
Abstract:
Losses reduction initiatives in distribution systems have been activated due to the increasing cost of supplying electricity, the shortage in fuel with ever-increasing cost to produce more power, and the global warming concerns. These initiatives have been introduced to the utilities in shape of incentives and penalties. Recently, the electricity distribution companies in Oman have been incentivized to reduce the distribution technical and non-technical losses with an equal annual reduction rate for 6 years. In this paper, different techniques for losses reduction in Mazoon Electricity Company (MZEC) are addressed. In this company, high numbers of substation and feeders were found to be non-compliant with the Distribution System Security Standard (DSSS). Therefore, 33 projects have been suggested to bring non-complying 29 substations and 28 feeders to meet the planed criteria and to comply with the DSSS. The largest part of MZEC-s network (South Batinah region) was modeled by ETAP software package. The model has been extended to implement the proposed projects and to examine their effects on losses reduction. Simulation results have shown that the implementation of these projects leads to a significant improvement in voltage profile, and reduction in the active and the reactive power losses. Finally, the economical analysis has revealed that the implementation of the proposed projects in MZEC leads to an annual saving of about US$ 5 million.Keywords: Losses Reduction, Technical Losses, Non-Technical Losses, Cost Analysis
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 93709673 An Artificial Neural Network Based Model for Predicting H2 Production Rates in a Sucrose-Based Bioreactor System
Authors: Nikhil, Bestamin Özkaya, Ari Visa, Chiu-Yue Lin, Jaakko A. Puhakka, Olli Yli-Harja
Abstract:
The performance of a sucrose-based H2 production in a completely stirred tank reactor (CSTR) was modeled by neural network back-propagation (BP) algorithm. The H2 production was monitored over a period of 450 days at 35±1 ºC. The proposed model predicts H2 production rates based on hydraulic retention time (HRT), recycle ratio, sucrose concentration and degradation, biomass concentrations, pH, alkalinity, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), acids and alcohols concentrations. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have an ability to capture non-linear information very efficiently. In this study, a predictive controller was proposed for management and operation of large scale H2-fermenting systems. The relevant control strategies can be activated by this method. BP based ANNs modeling results was very successful and an excellent match was obtained between the measured and the predicted rates. The efficient H2 production and system control can be provided by predictive control method combined with the robust BP based ANN modeling tool.Keywords: Back-propagation, biohydrogen, bioprocessmodeling, neural networks.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17739672 Performance Evaluation of QoS Based Forwarding and Non Forwarding Energetic Node Selection Algorithm for Reducing the Flooding in Multihop Routing in Highly Dynamic MANET
Authors: R. Reka, R. S. D. Wahidabanu
Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to propose a novel technique to guarantee Quality of Service (QoS) in a highly dynamic environment. The MANET changes its topology dynamically as the nodes are moved frequently. This will cause link failure between mobile nodes. MANET cannot ensure reliability without delay. The relay node is selected based on achieving QoS in previous transmission. It considers one more factor Connection Existence Period (CEP) to ensure reliability. CEP is to find out the period during that connection exists between the nodes. The node with highest CEP becomes a next relay node. The relay node is selected dynamically to avoid frequent failure. The bandwidth of each link changed dynamically based on service rate and request rate. This paper proposes Active bandwidth setting up algorithm to guarantee the QoS. The series of results obtained by using the Network Simulator (NS-2) demonstrate the viability of our proposed techniques.
Keywords: Bandwidth, Connection Existence Period (CEP), Mobile Adhoc Network (MANET), Quality of Service (QoS), Relay node.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21079671 Novel SNC-NN-MRAS Based Speed Estimator for Sensor-Less Vector Controlled IM Drives
Authors: A.Venkadesan, S.Himavathi, A.Muthuramalingam
Abstract:
Rotor Flux based Model Reference Adaptive System (RF-MRAS) is the most popularly used conventional speed estimation scheme for sensor-less IM drives. In this scheme, the voltage model equations are used for the reference model. This encounters major drawbacks at low frequencies/speed which leads to the poor performance of RF-MRAS. Replacing the reference model using Neural Network (NN) based flux estimator provides an alternate solution and addresses such drawbacks. This paper identifies an NN based flux estimator using Single Neuron Cascaded (SNC) Architecture. The proposed SNC-NN model replaces the conventional voltage model in RF-MRAS to form a novel MRAS scheme named as SNC-NN-MRAS. Through simulation the proposed SNC-NN-MRAS is shown to be promising in terms of all major issues and robustness to parameter variation. The suitability of the proposed SNC-NN-MRAS based speed estimator and its advantages over RF-MRAS for sensor-less induction motor drives is comprehensively presented through extensive simulations.Keywords: Sensor-less operation, vector-controlled IM drives, SNC-NN-MRAS, single neuron cascaded architecture, RF-MRAS, artificial neural network
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18759670 Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network Classifier with Binary Particle Swarm Optimization Based Feature Selection for Brain-Computer Interfaces
Authors: K. Akilandeswari, G. M. Nasira
Abstract:
Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) measure brain signals activity, intentionally and unintentionally induced by users, and provides a communication channel without depending on the brain’s normal peripheral nerves and muscles output pathway. Feature Selection (FS) is a global optimization machine learning problem that reduces features, removes irrelevant and noisy data resulting in acceptable recognition accuracy. It is a vital step affecting pattern recognition system performance. This study presents a new Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO) based feature selection algorithm. Multi-layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLPNN) classifier with backpropagation training algorithm and Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm classify selected features.Keywords: Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), Feature Selection (FS), Walsh–Hadamard Transform (WHT), Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO), Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21859669 A Comparison of Adaline and MLP Neural Network based Predictors in SIR Estimation in Mobile DS/CDMA Systems
Authors: Nahid Ardalani, Ahmadreza Khoogar, H. Roohi
Abstract:
In this paper we compare the response of linear and nonlinear neural network-based prediction schemes in prediction of received Signal-to-Interference Power Ratio (SIR) in Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS/CDMA) systems. The nonlinear predictor is Multilayer Perceptron MLP and the linear predictor is an Adaptive Linear (Adaline) predictor. We solve the problem of complexity by using the Minimum Mean Squared Error (MMSE) principle to select the optimal predictors. The optimized Adaline predictor is compared to optimized MLP by employing noisy Rayleigh fading signals with 1.8 GHZ carrier frequency in an urban environment. The results show that the Adaline predictor can estimates SIR with the same error as MLP when the user has the velocity of 5 km/h and 60 km/h but by increasing the velocity up-to 120 km/h the mean squared error of MLP is two times more than Adaline predictor. This makes the Adaline predictor (with lower complexity) more suitable than MLP for closed-loop power control where efficient and accurate identification of the time-varying inverse dynamics of the multi path fading channel is required.Keywords: Power control, neural networks, DS/CDMA mobilecommunication systems.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25159668 A Study of Behavioral Phenomena Using ANN
Authors: Yudhajit Datta
Abstract:
Behavioral aspects of experience such as will power are rarely subjected to quantitative study owing to the numerous complexities involved. Will is a phenomenon that has puzzled humanity for a long time. It is a belief that will power of an individual affects the success achieved by them in life. It is also thought that a person endowed with great will power can overcome even the most crippling setbacks in life while a person with a weak will cannot make the most of life even the greatest assets. This study is an attempt to subject the phenomena of will to the test of an artificial neural network through a computational model. The claim being tested is that will power of an individual largely determines success achieved in life. It is proposed that data pertaining to success of individuals be obtained from an experiment and the phenomenon of will be incorporated into the model, through data generated recursively using a relation between will and success characteristic to the model. An artificial neural network trained using part of the data, could subsequently be used to make predictions regarding data points in the rest of the model. The procedure would be tried for different models and the model where the networks predictions are found to be in greatest agreement with the data would be selected; and used for studying the relation between success and will.
Keywords: Will Power, Success, ANN, Time Series Prediction, Sliding Window, Computational Model, Behavioral Phenomena.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19309667 Marketing Strategy Analysis of Boon Rawd Brewery Company
Authors: Sinee Sankrusme
Abstract:
Boon Rawd Brewery is a beer company based in Thailand that has an exemplary image, both as a good employer and a well-managed company with a strong record of social responsibility. The most famous of the company’s products is Singha beer. To study the company’s marketing strategy, a case study analysis was conducted together with qualitative research methods. The study analyzed the marketing strategy of Boon Rawd Brewery before the liberalization of the liquor market in 2000. The company’s marketing strategies consisted of the following: product line strategy, product development strategy, block channel strategy, media strategy, trade strategy, and consumer incentive strategy. Additionally, the company employed marketing mix strategy based on the 4Ps: product, price, promotion and place (of distribution).
Keywords: Beer, Boon Rawd Brewery Company, Marketing Strategy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 88369666 A Robust Al-Hawalees Gaming Automation using Minimax and BPNN Decision
Authors: Ahmad Sharieh, R Bremananth
Abstract:
Artificial Intelligence based gaming is an interesting topic in the state-of-art technology. This paper presents an automation of a tradition Omani game, called Al-Hawalees. Its related issues are resolved and implemented using artificial intelligence approach. An AI approach called mini-max procedure is incorporated to make a diverse budges of the on-line gaming. If number of moves increase, time complexity will be increased in terms of propositionally. In order to tackle the time and space complexities, we have employed a back propagation neural network (BPNN) to train in off-line to make a decision for resources required to fulfill the automation of the game. We have utilized Leverberg- Marquardt training in order to get the rapid response during the gaming. A set of optimal moves is determined by the on-line back propagation training fashioned with alpha-beta pruning. The results and analyses reveal that the proposed scheme will be easily incorporated in the on-line scenario with one player against the system.
Keywords: Artificial neural network, back propagation gaming, Leverberg-Marquardt, minimax procedure.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19379665 A High Level Implementation of a High Performance Data Transfer Interface for NoC
Authors: Mansi Jhamb, R. K. Sharma, A. K. Gupta
Abstract:
The distribution of a single global clock across a chip has become the major design bottleneck for high performance VLSI systems owing to the power dissipation, process variability and multicycle cross-chip signaling. A Network-on-Chip (NoC) architecture partitioned into several synchronous blocks has become a promising approach for attaining fine-grain power management at the system level. In a NoC architecture the communication between the blocks is handled asynchronously. To interface these blocks on a chip operating at different frequencies, an asynchronous FIFO interface is inevitable. However, these asynchronous FIFOs are not required if adjacent blocks belong to the same clock domain. In this paper, we have designed and analyzed a 16-bit asynchronous micropipelined FIFO of depth four, with the awareness of place and route on an FPGA device. We have used a commercially available Spartan 3 device and designed a high speed implementation of the asynchronous 4-phase micropipeline. The asynchronous FIFO implemented on the FPGA device shows 76 Mb/s throughput and a handshake cycle of 109 ns for write and 101.3 ns for read at the simulation under the worst case operating conditions (voltage = 0.95V) on a working chip at the room temperature.Keywords: Asynchronous, FIFO, FPGA, GALS, Network-on- Chip (NoC), VHDL.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20409664 Factors Influencing B2c eCommerce Diffusion
Authors: R. Mangiaracina, A. Perego, F. Campari
Abstract:
Despite the fact that B2c eCommerce has become important in numerous economies, its adoption varies from country to country. This paper aims to identify the factors affecting (enabling or inhibiting) B2c eCommerce and to determine their quantitative impact on the diffusion of online sales across countries. A dynamic panel model analyzing the relationship between 13 factors (Macroeconomic, Demographic, Socio-Cultural, Infrastructural and Offer related) stemming from a complete literature analysis and the B2c eCommerce value in 45 countries over 9 years has been developed. Having a positive correlation coefficient, GDP, mobile penetration, Internet user penetration and credit card penetration resulted as enabling drivers of the B2c eCommerce value across countries, whereas, having a negative correlation coefficient,equal distribution of income and the development of traditional retailing network act as inhibiting factors.Keywords: B2c eCommerce diffusion, influencing factors, dynamic panel model
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 35649663 Strategies for Securing Safety Messages with Fixed Key Infrastructure in Vehicular Network
Authors: Nasser Mozayani, Maryam Barzegar, Hoda Madani
Abstract:
Vehicular communications play a substantial role in providing safety in transportation by means of safety message exchange. Researchers have proposed several solutions for securing safety messages. Protocols based on a fixed key infrastructure are more efficient in implementation and maintain stronger security in comparison with dynamic structures. These protocols utilize zone partitioning to establish distinct key infrastructure under Certificate Authority (CA) supervision in different regions. Secure anonymous broadcasting (SAB) is one of these protocols that preserves most of security aspects but it has some deficiencies in practice. A very important issue is region change of a vehicle for its mobility. Changing regions leads to change of CA and necessity of having new key set to resume communication. In this paper, we propose solutions for informing vehicles about region change to obtain new key set before entering next region. This hinders attackers- intrusion, packet loss and lessons time delay. We also make key request messages secure by confirming old CA-s public key to the message, hence stronger security for safety message broadcasting is attained.
Keywords: Secure broadcasting, Certificate authority (CA), Key exchange, Vehicular network.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15399662 Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility: Research on the Interconnection of Both Concepts and Its Impact on Non-Profit Organizations
Authors: Helene Eller
Abstract:
The aim of non-profit organizations (NPO) is to provide services and goods for its clientele, with profit being a minor objective. By having this definition as the basic purpose of doing business, it is obvious that the goal of an organisation is to serve several bottom lines and not only the financial one. This approach is underpinned by the non-distribution constraint which means that NPO are allowed to make profits to a certain extent, but not to distribute them. The advantage is that there are no single shareholders who might have an interest in the prosperity of the organisation: there is no pie to divide. The gained profits remain within the organisation and will be reinvested in purposeful projects. Good governance is mandatory to support the aim of NPOs. Looking for a measure of good governance the principals of corporate governance (CG) will come in mind. The purpose of CG is direction and control, and in the field of NPO, CG is enlarged to consider the relationship to all important stakeholders who have an impact on the organisation. The recognition of more relevant parties than the shareholder is the link to corporate social responsibility (CSR). It supports a broader view of the bottom line: It is no longer enough to know how profits are used but rather how they are made. Besides, CSR addresses the responsibility of organisations for their impact on society. When transferring the concept of CSR to the non-profit area it will become obvious that CSR with its distinctive features will match the aims of NPOs. As a consequence, NPOs who apply CG apply also CSR to a certain extent. The research is designed as a comprehensive theoretical and empirical analysis. First, the investigation focuses on the theoretical basis of both concepts. Second, the similarities and differences are outlined and as a result the interconnection of both concepts will show up. The contribution of this research is manifold: The interconnection of both concepts when applied to NPOs has not got any attention in science yet. CSR and governance as integrated concept provides a lot of advantages for NPOs compared to for-profit organisations which are in a steady justification to show the impact they might have on the society. NPOs, however, integrate economic and social aspects as starting point. For NPOs CG is not a mere concept of compliance but rather an enhanced concept integrating a lot of aspects of CSR. There is no “either-nor” between the concepts for NPOs.
Keywords: Business ethics, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, non-profit organisations, stakeholder theory.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19519661 Characteristics of Corporate Social Responsibility Indicators
Authors: Grigoris Giannarakis, Nikolaos Litinas, Ioannis Theotokas
Abstract:
The aim of the study is to investigate a number of characteristics of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) indicators that should be adopted by CSR assessment methodologies. For the purpose of this paper, a survey among the Greek companies that belong to FTSE 20 in Athens Exchange (FTSE/Athex-20) has been conducted, as these companies are expected to pioneer in the field of CSR. The results show consensus as regards the characteristics of indicators such as the need for the adoption of general and specific sector indicators, financial and non-financial indicators, the origin and the weight rate. However, the results are contradictory concerning the appropriate number of indicators for the assessment of CSR and the unit of measurement. Finally, the company-s sector is a more important dimension of CSR than the size and the country where the company operates. The purpose of this paper is to standardize the main characteristics of CSR indicators.
Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, Greece, Indicators
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 79589660 Optimized Energy Scheduling Algorithm for Energy Efficient Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: S. Arun Rajan, S. Bhavani
Abstract:
Wireless sensor networks can be tiny, low cost, intelligent sensors connected with advanced communication systems. WSNs have pulled in significant consideration as a matter of fact that, industrial as well as medical solicitations employ these in monitoring targets, conservational observation, obstacle exposure, movement regulator etc. In these applications, sensor hubs are thickly sent in the unattended environment with little non-rechargeable batteries. This constraint requires energy-efficient systems to drag out the system lifetime. There are redundancies in data sent over the network. To overcome this, multiple virtual spine scheduling has been presented. Such networks problems are called Maximum Lifetime Backbone Scheduling (MLBS) problems. Though this sleep wake cycle reduces radio usage, improvement can be made in the path in which the group heads stay selected. Cluster head selection with emphasis on geometrical relation of the system will enhance the load sharing among the nodes. Also the data are analyzed to reduce redundant transmission. Multi-hop communication will facilitate lighter loads on the network.
Keywords: WSN, wireless sensor networks, MLBS, maximum lifetime backbone scheduling.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8779659 An Approach for Ensuring Data Flow in Freight Delivery and Management Systems
Authors: Aurelija Burinskienė, Dalė Dzemydienė, Arūnas Miliauskas
Abstract:
This research aims at developing the approach for more effective freight delivery and transportation process management. The road congestions and the identification of causes are important, as well as the context information recognition and management. The measure of many parameters during the transportation period and proper control of driver work became the problem. The number of vehicles per time unit passing at a given time and point for drivers can be evaluated in some situations. The collection of data is mainly used to establish new trips. The flow of the data is more complex in urban areas. Herein, the movement of freight is reported in detail, including the information on street level. When traffic density is extremely high in congestion cases, and the traffic speed is incredibly low, data transmission reaches the peak. Different data sets are generated, which depend on the type of freight delivery network. There are three types of networks: long-distance delivery networks, last-mile delivery networks and mode-based delivery networks; the last one includes different modes, in particular, railways and other networks. When freight delivery is switched from one type of the above-stated network to another, more data could be included for reporting purposes and vice versa. In this case, a significant amount of these data is used for control operations, and the problem requires an integrated methodological approach. The paper presents an approach for providing e-services for drivers by including the assessment of the multi-component infrastructure needed for delivery of freights following the network type. The construction of such a methodology is required to evaluate data flow conditions and overloads, and to minimize the time gaps in data reporting. The results obtained show the possibilities of the proposing methodological approach to support the management and decision-making processes with functionality of incorporating networking specifics, by helping to minimize the overloads in data reporting.Keywords: Transportation networks, freight delivery, data flow, monitoring, e-services.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6089658 Research on the Survivability of Embedded Real-time System
Abstract:
Introducing survivability into embedded real-time system (ERTS) can improve the survivability power of the system. This paper mainly discusses about the survivability of ERTS. The first is the survivability origin of ERTS. The second is survivability analysis. According to the definition of survivability based on survivability specification and division of the entire survivability analysis process for ERTS, a survivability analysis profile is presented. The quantitative analysis model of this profile is emphasized and illuminated in detail, the quantifying analysis of system was showed helpful to evaluate system survivability more accurate. The third is platform design of survivability analysis. In terms of the profile, the analysis process is encapsulated and assembled into one platform, on which quantification, standardization and simplification of survivability analysis are all achieved. The fourth is survivability design. According to character of ERTS, strengthened design method is selected to realize system survivability design. Through the analysis of embedded mobile video-on-demand system, intrusion tolerant technology is introduced in whole survivability design.
Keywords: ERTS (embedded real-time system), survivability, quantitative analysis, survivability specification, intrusion tolerant
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13039657 Sentiment Analysis: Comparative Analysis of Multilingual Sentiment and Opinion Classification Techniques
Authors: Sannikumar Patel, Brian Nolan, Markus Hofmann, Philip Owende, Kunjan Patel
Abstract:
Sentiment analysis and opinion mining have become emerging topics of research in recent years but most of the work is focused on data in the English language. A comprehensive research and analysis are essential which considers multiple languages, machine translation techniques, and different classifiers. This paper presents, a comparative analysis of different approaches for multilingual sentiment analysis. These approaches are divided into two parts: one using classification of text without language translation and second using the translation of testing data to a target language, such as English, before classification. The presented research and results are useful for understanding whether machine translation should be used for multilingual sentiment analysis or building language specific sentiment classification systems is a better approach. The effects of language translation techniques, features, and accuracy of various classifiers for multilingual sentiment analysis is also discussed in this study.
Keywords: Cross-language analysis, machine learning, machine translation, sentiment analysis.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16669656 Distributed Relay Selection and Channel Choice in Cognitive Radio Network
Authors: Hao He, Shaoqian Li
Abstract:
In this paper, we study the cooperative communications where multiple cognitive radio (CR) transmit-receive pairs competitive maximize their own throughputs. In CR networks, the influences of primary users and the spectrum availability are usually different among CR users. Due to the existence of multiple relay nodes and the different spectrum availability, each CR transmit-receive pair should not only select the relay node but also choose the appropriate channel. For this distributed problem, we propose a game theoretic framework to formulate this problem and we apply a regret-matching learning algorithm which is leading to correlated equilibrium. We further formulate a modified regret-matching learning algorithm which is fully distributed and only use the local information of each CR transmit-receive pair. This modified algorithm is more practical and suitable for the cooperative communications in CR network. Simulation results show the algorithm convergence and the modified learning algorithm can achieve comparable performance to the original regretmatching learning algorithm.
Keywords: cognitive radio, cooperative communication, relay selection, channel choice, regret-matching learning, correlated equilibrium.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16769655 Economic Evaluations Using Genetic Algorithms to Determine the Territorial Impact Caused by High Speed Railways
Authors: Gianluigi De Mare, Tony Leopoldo Luigi Lenza, Rino Conte
Abstract:
The evolution of technology and construction techniques has enabled the upgrading of transport networks. In particular, the high-speed rail networks allow convoys to peak at above 300 km/h. These structures, however, often significantly impact the surrounding environment. Among the effects of greater importance are the ones provoked by the soundwave connected to train transit. The wave propagation affects the quality of life in areas surrounding the tracks, often for several hundred metres. There are substantial damages to properties (buildings and land), in terms of market depreciation. The present study, integrating expertise in acoustics, computering and evaluation fields, outlines a useful model to select project paths so as to minimize the noise impact and reduce the causes of possible litigation. It also facilitates the rational selection of initiatives to contain the environmental damage to the already existing railway tracks. The research is developed with reference to the Italian regulatory framework (usually more stringent than European and international standards) and refers to a case study concerning the high speed network in Italy.
Keywords: Impact, compensation for financial loss, depreciation of property, railway network design, genetic algorithms.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17649654 Isolation and Classification of Red Blood Cells in Anemic Microscopic Images
Authors: Jameela Ali Alkrimi, Loay E. George, Azizah Suliman, Abdul Rahim Ahmad, Karim Al-Jashamy
Abstract:
Red blood cells (RBCs) are among the most commonly and intensively studied type of blood cells in cell biology. Anemia is a lack of RBCs is characterized by its level compared to the normal hemoglobin level. In this study, a system based image processing methodology was developed to localize and extract RBCs from microscopic images. Also, the machine learning approach is adopted to classify the localized anemic RBCs images. Several textural and geometrical features are calculated for each extracted RBCs. The training set of features was analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). With the proposed method, RBCs were isolated in 4.3secondsfrom an image containing 18 to 27 cells. The reasons behind using PCA are its low computation complexity and suitability to find the most discriminating features which can lead to accurate classification decisions. Our classifier algorithm yielded accuracy rates of 100%, 99.99%, and 96.50% for K-nearest neighbor (K-NN) algorithm, support vector machine (SVM), and neural network RBFNN, respectively. Classification was evaluated in highly sensitivity, specificity, and kappa statistical parameters. In conclusion, the classification results were obtained within short time period, and the results became better when PCA was used.
Keywords: Red blood cells, pre-processing image algorithms, classification algorithms, principal component analysis PCA, confusion matrix, kappa statistical parameters, ROC.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 31999653 Superior Performances of the Neural Network on the Masses Lesions Classification through Morphological Lesion Differences
Authors: U. Bottigli, R.Chiarucci, B. Golosio, G.L. Masala, P. Oliva, S.Stumbo, D.Cascio, F. Fauci, M. Glorioso, M. Iacomi, R. Magro, G. Raso
Abstract:
Purpose of this work is to develop an automatic classification system that could be useful for radiologists in the breast cancer investigation. The software has been designed in the framework of the MAGIC-5 collaboration. In an automatic classification system the suspicious regions with high probability to include a lesion are extracted from the image as regions of interest (ROIs). Each ROI is characterized by some features based generally on morphological lesion differences. A study in the space features representation is made and some classifiers are tested to distinguish the pathological regions from the healthy ones. The results provided in terms of sensitivity and specificity will be presented through the ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curves. In particular the best performances are obtained with the Neural Networks in comparison with the K-Nearest Neighbours and the Support Vector Machine: The Radial Basis Function supply the best results with 0.89 ± 0.01 of area under ROC curve but similar results are obtained with the Probabilistic Neural Network and a Multi Layer Perceptron.
Keywords: Neural Networks, K-Nearest Neighbours, Support Vector Machine, Computer Aided Detection
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16149652 Real Time Approach for Data Placement in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Sanjeev Gupta, Mayank Dave
Abstract:
The issue of real-time and reliable report delivery is extremely important for taking effective decision in a real world mission critical Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) based application. The sensor data behaves differently in many ways from the data in traditional databases. WSNs need a mechanism to register, process queries, and disseminate data. In this paper we propose an architectural framework for data placement and management. We propose a reliable and real time approach for data placement and achieving data integrity using self organized sensor clusters. Instead of storing information in individual cluster heads as suggested in some protocols, in our architecture we suggest storing of information of all clusters within a cell in the corresponding base station. For data dissemination and action in the wireless sensor network we propose to use Action and Relay Stations (ARS). To reduce average energy dissipation of sensor nodes, the data is sent to the nearest ARS rather than base station. We have designed our architecture in such a way so as to achieve greater energy savings, enhanced availability and reliability.
Keywords: Cluster head, data reliability, real time communication, wireless sensor networks.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1814