Search results for: web-based group decision support system.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 11517

Search results for: web-based group decision support system.

9297 Neuroplasticity: A Fresh Beginning for Life

Authors: Leila Maleki, Ezatollah Ahmadi

Abstract:

Neuroplasticity or the flexibility of the neural system is the ability of the brain to adapt to the lack or deterioration of sense and the capability of the neural system to modify itself through changing shape and function. Not only have studies revealed that neuroplasticity does not end in childhood, but also they have proven that it continues till the end of life and is not limited to the neural system and covers the cognitive system as well. In the field of cognition, neuroplasticity is defined as the ability to change old thoughts according to new conditions and the individuals' differences in using various styles of cognitive regulation inducing several social, emotional and cognitive outcomes. This paper attempts to discuss and define major theories and principles of neuroplasticity and elaborate on nature or nurture.

Keywords: Neuroplasticity, Cognitive plasticity, Plasticity theories, Plasticity mechanisms.

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9296 Performance of BRBF System and Comparing it with the OCBF

Authors: E.Talebi, F.Zahmatkesh

Abstract:

Buckling-Restrained Braced Frame system(BRBFs) are a new type of steel seismic-load-resisting system that has found use in several countries because of its efficiency and its promise of seismic performance far superior to that of conventional braced frames. The system is addressed in the 2005 edition of the AISC Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings, also a set of design provisions has been developed by NEHRP. This report illustrates the seismic design of buckling restrained braced frames and compares the result of design in the application of earthquake load for ordinary bracing systems and buckling restrained bracing systems to see the advantage and disadvantages of this new type of seismic resisting system in comparison with the old Ordinary Concentric Braced Frame systems (OCBFs); they are defined by the provisions governing their design.

Keywords: Buckling Restrained Braced Frame system (BRBFs), Ordinary Concentric Braced Frame systems (OCBFs).

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9295 A Study on Remote On-Line Diagnostic System for Vehicles by Integrating the Technology of OBD, GPS, and 3G

Authors: Jyong Lin, Shih-Chang Chen, Yu-Tsen Shih, Shi-Huang Chen

Abstract:

This paper presents a remote on-line diagnostic system for vehicles via the use of On-Board Diagnostic (OBD), GPS, and 3G techniques. The main parts of the proposed system are on-board computer, vehicle monitor server, and vehicle status browser. First, the on-board computer can obtain the location of deriver and vehicle status from GPS receiver and OBD interface, respectively. Then on-board computer will connect with the vehicle monitor server through 3G network to transmit the real time vehicle system status. Finally, vehicle status browser could show the remote vehicle status including vehicle speed, engine rpm, battery voltage, engine coolant temperature, and diagnostic trouble codes. According to the experimental results, the proposed system can help fleet managers and car knockers to understand the remote vehicle status. Therefore this system can decrease the time of fleet management and vehicle repair due to the fleet managers and car knockers who find the diagnostic trouble messages in time.

Keywords: Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC), Electronic Control Unit (ECU), Global Position System (GPS), On-Board Diagnostic (OBD).

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9294 XML Data Management in Compressed Relational Database

Authors: Hongzhi Wang, Jianzhong Li, Hong Gao

Abstract:

XML is an important standard of data exchange and representation. As a mature database system, using relational database to support XML data may bring some advantages. But storing XML in relational database has obvious redundancy that wastes disk space, bandwidth and disk I/O when querying XML data. For the efficiency of storage and query XML, it is necessary to use compressed XML data in relational database. In this paper, a compressed relational database technology supporting XML data is presented. Original relational storage structure is adaptive to XPath query process. The compression method keeps this feature. Besides traditional relational database techniques, additional query process technologies on compressed relations and for special structure for XML are presented. In this paper, technologies for XQuery process in compressed relational database are presented..

Keywords: XML, compression, query processing

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9293 Attribute Based Comparison and Selection of Modular Self-Reconfigurable Robot Using Multiple Attribute Decision Making Approach

Authors: Manpreet Singh, V. P. Agrawal, Gurmanjot Singh Bhatti

Abstract:

From the last decades, there is a significant technological advancement in the field of robotics, and a number of modular self-reconfigurable robots were introduced that can help in space exploration, bucket to stuff, search, and rescue operation during earthquake, etc. As there are numbers of self-reconfigurable robots, choosing the optimum one is always a concern for robot user since there is an increase in available features, facilities, complexity, etc. The objective of this research work is to present a multiple attribute decision making based methodology for coding, evaluation, comparison ranking and selection of modular self-reconfigurable robots using a technique for order preferences by similarity to ideal solution approach. However, 86 attributes that affect the structure and performance are identified. A database for modular self-reconfigurable robot on the basis of different pertinent attribute is generated. This database is very useful for the user, for selecting a robot that suits their operational needs. Two visual methods namely linear graph and spider chart are proposed for ranking of modular self-reconfigurable robots. Using five robots (Atron, Smores, Polybot, M-Tran 3, Superbot), an example is illustrated, and raking of the robots is successfully done, which shows that Smores is the best robot for the operational need illustrated, and this methodology is found to be very effective and simple to use.

Keywords: Self-reconfigurable robots, MADM, TOPSIS, morphogenesis, scalability.

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9292 Energy Conscious Builder Design Pattern with C# and Intermediate Language

Authors: Kayun Chantarasathaporn, Chonawat Srisa-an

Abstract:

Design Patterns have gained more and more acceptances since their emerging in software development world last decade and become another de facto standard of essential knowledge for Object-Oriented Programming developers nowadays. Their target usage, from the beginning, was for regular computers, so, minimizing power consumption had never been a concern. However, in this decade, demands of more complicated software for running on mobile devices has grown rapidly as the much higher performance portable gadgets have been supplied to the market continuously. To get along with time to market that is business reason, the section of software development for power conscious, battery, devices has shifted itself from using specific low-level languages to higher level ones. Currently, complicated software running on mobile devices are often developed by high level languages those support OOP concepts. These cause the trend of embracing Design Patterns to mobile world. However, using Design Patterns directly in software development for power conscious systems is not recommended because they were not originally designed for such environment. This paper demonstrates the adapted Design Pattern for power limitation system. Because there are numerous original design patterns, it is not possible to mention the whole at once. So, this paper focuses only in creating Energy Conscious version of existing regular "Builder Pattern" to be appropriated for developing low power consumption software.

Keywords: Design Patterns, Builder Pattern, Low Power Consumption, Object Oriented Programming, Power Conscious System, Software.

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9291 A Review on Cloud Computing and Internet of Things

Authors: Sahar S. Tabrizi, Dogan Ibrahim

Abstract:

Cloud Computing is a convenient model for on-demand networks that uses shared pools of virtual configurable computing resources, such as servers, networks, storage devices, applications, etc. The cloud serves as an environment for companies and organizations to use infrastructure resources without making any purchases and they can access such resources wherever and whenever they need. Cloud computing is useful to overcome a number of problems in various Information Technology (IT) domains such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Scientific Research, e-Governance Systems, Decision Support Systems, ERP, Web Application Development, Mobile Technology, etc. Companies can use Cloud Computing services to store large amounts of data that can be accessed from anywhere on Earth and also at any time. Such services are rented by the client companies where the actual rent depends upon the amount of data stored on the cloud and also the amount of processing power used in a given time period. The resources offered by the cloud service companies are flexible in the sense that the user companies can increase or decrease their storage requirements or the processing power requirements at any time, thus minimizing the overall rental cost of the service they receive. In addition, the Cloud Computing service providers offer fast processors and applications software that can be shared by their clients. This is especially important for small companies with limited budgets which cannot afford to purchase their own expensive hardware and software. This paper is an overview of the Cloud Computing, giving its types, principles, advantages, and disadvantages. In addition, the paper gives some example engineering applications of Cloud Computing and makes suggestions for possible future applications in the field of engineering.

Keywords: Cloud computing, cloud services, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, IoT.

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9290 A Materialized Approach to the Integration of XML Documents: the OSIX System

Authors: H. Ahmad, S. Kermanshahani, A. Simonet, M. Simonet

Abstract:

The data exchanged on the Web are of different nature from those treated by the classical database management systems; these data are called semi-structured data since they do not have a regular and static structure like data found in a relational database; their schema is dynamic and may contain missing data or types. Therefore, the needs for developing further techniques and algorithms to exploit and integrate such data, and extract relevant information for the user have been raised. In this paper we present the system OSIX (Osiris based System for Integration of XML Sources). This system has a Data Warehouse model designed for the integration of semi-structured data and more precisely for the integration of XML documents. The architecture of OSIX relies on the Osiris system, a DL-based model designed for the representation and management of databases and knowledge bases. Osiris is a viewbased data model whose indexing system supports semantic query optimization. We show that the problem of query processing on a XML source is optimized by the indexing approach proposed by Osiris.

Keywords: Data integration, semi-structured data, views, XML.

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9289 3D Dynamic Modeling of Transition Zones

Authors: Edina Koch, Péter Hudacsek

Abstract:

In railways transition zone is present at the boundaries of zones with different stiffness. When a train rides from an embankment onto a stiff structure, such as a bridge, tunnel or culvert, an abrupt change in the support stiffness occurs possibly inducing differential settlements. This in long term can yield to the degradation of the tracks and foundations in the transition zones. A number of techniques have been proposed or implemented to provide gradual stiffness transition at the problem zones, such as methods to ensure gradually changing pad stiffness, application of long sleepers or installation of auxiliary rails in the transition zone. Aim of the research presented in this paper is to analyze the 3D and the dynamic effects induced by the passing train over an area where significant difference in the support stiffness exists. The effects were analyzed for different arrangements associated with certain differential settlement mitigation strategies of the transition zones.

Keywords: Culvert, dynamic load, HS small model, railway transition zone.

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9288 Controllable Electrical Power Plug Adapters Made As A ZigBee Wireless Sensor Network

Authors: Toshihiko Sasama, Takao Kawamura, Kazunori Sugahara

Abstract:

Using Internet communication, new home electronics have functions of monitoring and control from remote. However in many case these electronics work as standalone, and old electronics are not followed. Then, we developed the total remote system include not only new electronics but olds. This systems node is a adapter of electrical power plug that embed relay switch and some sensors, and these nodes communicate with each other. the system server was build on the Internet, and users access to this system from web browsers. To reduce the cost to set up of this system, communication between adapters are used ZigBee wireless network instead of wired LAN cable[3]. From measured RSSI(received signal strength indicator) information between each nodes, the system can estimate roughly adapters were mounted on which room, and where in the room. So also it reduces the cost of mapping nodes. Using this system, energy saving and house monitoring are expected.

Keywords: outlet, remote monitor, remote control, mobile ad hocnetwork, sensor network, zigbee.

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9287 Image Modeling Using Gibbs-Markov Random Field and Support Vector Machines Algorithm

Authors: Refaat M Mohamed, Ayman El-Baz, Aly A. Farag

Abstract:

This paper introduces a novel approach to estimate the clique potentials of Gibbs Markov random field (GMRF) models using the Support Vector Machines (SVM) algorithm and the Mean Field (MF) theory. The proposed approach is based on modeling the potential function associated with each clique shape of the GMRF model as a Gaussian-shaped kernel. In turn, the energy function of the GMRF will be in the form of a weighted sum of Gaussian kernels. This formulation of the GMRF model urges the use of the SVM with the Mean Field theory applied for its learning for estimating the energy function. The approach has been tested on synthetic texture images and is shown to provide satisfactory results in retrieving the synthesizing parameters.

Keywords: Image Modeling, MRF, Parameters Estimation, SVM Learning.

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9286 Arabic and Islamic Education in Nigeria: The Case of Al-Majiri Schools

Authors: Abdul Ganiy A. S. Oladosu

Abstract:

The AL-MAJIRI school system is a variant of private Arabic and Islamic schools which cater for the religious and moral development of Muslims. In the past, the system produced clerics, scholars, judges, religious reformers, eminent teachers and great men who are worthy of emulation, particularly in northern Nigeria. Gradually, the system lost its glory but continued to discharge its educational responsibilities to a certain extent. This paper takes a look at the activities of the AL-MAJIRI schools. The introduction provides background information about Nigeria where the schools operate. This is followed by an overview of the Nigerian educational system, the nature and the features of the AL-MAJIRI school system, its weaknesses and the current challenges facing the schools. The paper concludes with emphasis on the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the curriculum content of the schools. The step by step procedure required for the reform is discussed.

Keywords: AL-MAJIRI, Arabic and Islamic schools, Nigeria.

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9285 Activation of Prophenoloxidase during Bacterial Injection into the Desert Locust, Schistocerca Gregaria

Authors: Shaiemaa, A. Momen, Dalia, A.M. Salem, Emad, M.S. Barakat, Mohamed, S. Salama

Abstract:

The present study has been conducted to characterize the prophenoloxidase (PPO) system of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria following injection of Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (Bt). The bulk of PPO system was associated with haemocytes and a little amount was found in plasma. This system was activated by different activators such as laminarin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and trypsin suggesting that the stimulatory mechanism may involve an enzyme cascade of one or more associated molecules. These activators did not activate all the molecules of the cascade. Presence of phenoloxidase activity (PO) coincides with the appearance of protein band with molecular weight (MW) 70.154 KD (Kilo Dalton).

Keywords: Schistocerca gregaria, haemolymph, proteins, prophenoloxidase system, phenoloxidase

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9284 A United Nations Safety Compliant Urban Vehicle Design

Authors: Marcelo R. G. Duarte, Marcilio Alves

Abstract:

Pedestrians are the fourth group among road traffic users that most suffer accidents. Their death rate is even higher than the motorcyclists group. This gives motivation for the development of an urban vehicle capable of complying with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe pedestrian regulations. The conceptual vehicle is capable of transporting two passengers and small parcels for 100 km at a maximum speed of 90 km/h. This paper presents the design of this vehicle using the finite element method specially in connection with frontal crash test and car to pedestrian collision. The simulation is based in a human body FE.

Keywords: Electric urban vehicle, finite element method, global human body model, pedestrian safety, road safety.

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9283 The Data Mining usage in Production System Management

Authors: Pavel Vazan, Pavol Tanuska, Michal Kebisek

Abstract:

The paper gives the pilot results of the project that is oriented on the use of data mining techniques and knowledge discoveries from production systems through them. They have been used in the management of these systems. The simulation models of manufacturing systems have been developed to obtain the necessary data about production. The authors have developed the way of storing data obtained from the simulation models in the data warehouse. Data mining model has been created by using specific methods and selected techniques for defined problems of production system management. The new knowledge has been applied to production management system. Gained knowledge has been tested on simulation models of the production system. An important benefit of the project has been proposal of the new methodology. This methodology is focused on data mining from the databases that store operational data about the production process.

Keywords: data mining, data warehousing, management of production system, simulation

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9282 Government Initiatives: The Missing Key for E-commerce Growth in KSA

Authors: R. AlGhamdi, S. Drew, S. Alkhalaf

Abstract:

This paper explores the issues that influence online retailing in Saudi Arabia. Retailers in Saudi Arabia have been reserved in their adoption of electronically delivered aspects of their business. Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia has the largest and fastest growth of ICT marketplaces in the Arab region, e-commerce activities are not progressing at the same speed. Only very few Saudi companies, mostly medium and large companies from the manufacturing sector, are involved in e-commerce implementation. Based on qualitative data collected by conducting interviews with 16 retailers and 16 potential customers in Saudi Arabia, several factors influencing online retailing diffusion in Saudi Arabia are identified. However, government support comes the highest and most influencing factor for online retailing growth as identified by both parties; retailers and potential customers in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: government support, key factor, online retailing growth, Saudi Arabia

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9281 Using Heuristic Rules from Sentence Decomposition of Experts- Summaries to Detect Students- Summarizing Strategies

Authors: Norisma Idris, Sapiyan Baba, Rukaini Abdullah

Abstract:

Summarizing skills have been introduced to English syllabus in secondary school in Malaysia to evaluate student-s comprehension for a given text where it requires students to employ several strategies to produce the summary. This paper reports on our effort to develop a computer-based summarization assessment system that detects the strategies used by the students in producing their summaries. Sentence decomposition of expert-written summaries is used to analyze how experts produce their summary sentences. From the analysis, we identified seven summarizing strategies and their rules which are then transformed into a set of heuristic rules on how to determine the summarizing strategies. We developed an algorithm based on the heuristic rules and performed some experiments to evaluate and support the technique proposed.

Keywords: Summarizing strategies, heuristic rules, sentencedecomposition.

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9280 Low cost Nano-membrane Fabrication and Electro-polishing System

Authors: Ajab Khan Kasi, Muhammad Waseem Ashraf, Jafar Khan Kasi, Shahzadi Tayyaba, NitinAfzulpurkar

Abstract:

This paper presents the development of low cost Nano membrane fabrication system. The system is specially designed for anodic aluminum oxide membrane. This system is capable to perform the processes such as anodization and electro-polishing. The designed machine was successfully tested for 'mild anodization' (MA) for 48 hours and 'hard anodization' (HA) for 3 hours at constant 0oC. The system is digitally controlled and guided for temperature maintenance during anodization and electro-polishing. The total cost of the developed machine is 20 times less than the multi-cooling systems available in the market which are generally used for this purpose.

Keywords: Anodic aluminum oxide, Nano-membrane, hardanodization, mild anodization, electro-polishing.

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9279 Verification of On-Line Vehicle Collision Avoidance Warning System using DSRC

Authors: C. W. Hsu, C. N. Liang, L. Y. Ke, F. Y. Huang

Abstract:

Many accidents were happened because of fast driving, habitual working overtime or tired spirit. This paper presents a solution of remote warning for vehicles collision avoidance using vehicular communication. The development system integrates dedicated short range communication (DSRC) and global position system (GPS) with embedded system into a powerful remote warning system. To transmit the vehicular information and broadcast vehicle position; DSRC communication technology is adopt as the bridge. The proposed system is divided into two parts of the positioning andvehicular units in a vehicle. The positioning unit is used to provide the position and heading information from GPS module, and furthermore the vehicular unit is used to receive the break, throttle, and othersignals via controller area network (CAN) interface connected to each mechanism. The mobile hardware are built with an embedded system using X86 processor in Linux system. A vehicle is communicated with other vehicles via DSRC in non-addressed protocol with wireless access in vehicular environments (WAVE) short message protocol. From the position data and vehicular information, this paper provided a conflict detection algorithm to do time separation and remote warning with error bubble consideration. And the warning information is on-line displayed in the screen. This system is able to enhance driver assistance service and realize critical safety by using vehicular information from the neighbor vehicles.KeywordsDedicated short range communication, GPS, Control area network, Collision avoidance warning system.

Keywords: Dedicated short range communication, GPS, Control area network, Collision avoidance warning system.

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9278 A Context-Aware based Authorization System for Pervasive Grid Computing

Authors: Marilyn Lim Chien Hui, Nabil Elmarzouqi, Chan Huah Yong

Abstract:

This paper describes the authorization system architecture for Pervasive Grid environment. It discusses the characteristics of classical authorization system and requirements of the authorization system in pervasive grid environment as well. Based on our analysis of current systems and taking into account the main requirements of such pervasive environment, we propose new authorization system architecture as an extension of the existing grid authorization mechanisms. This architecture not only supports user attributes but also context attributes which act as a key concept for context-awareness thought. The architecture allows authorization of users dynamically when there are changes in the pervasive grid environment. For this, we opt for hybrid authorization method that integrates push and pull mechanisms to combine the existing grid authorization attributes with dynamic context assertions. We will investigate the proposed architecture using a real testing environment that includes heterogeneous pervasive grid infrastructures mapped over multiple virtual organizations. Various scenarios are described in the last section of the article to strengthen the proposed mechanism with different facilities for the authorization procedure.

Keywords: Pervasive Grid, Authorization System, Contextawareness, Ubiquity.

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9277 The Main Principles of Text-to-Speech Synthesis System

Authors: K.R. Aida–Zade, C. Ardil, A.M. Sharifova

Abstract:

In this paper, the main principles of text-to-speech synthesis system are presented. Associated problems which arise when developing speech synthesis system are described. Used approaches and their application in the speech synthesis systems for Azerbaijani language are shown.

Keywords: synthesis of Azerbaijani language, morphemes, phonemes, sounds, sentence, speech synthesizer, intonation, accent, pronunciation.

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9276 An Analysis of Classification of Imbalanced Datasets by Using Synthetic Minority Over-Sampling Technique

Authors: Ghada A. Alfattni

Abstract:

Analysing unbalanced datasets is one of the challenges that practitioners in machine learning field face. However, many researches have been carried out to determine the effectiveness of the use of the synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) to address this issue. The aim of this study was therefore to compare the effectiveness of the SMOTE over different models on unbalanced datasets. Three classification models (Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine and Nearest Neighbour) were tested with multiple datasets, then the same datasets were oversampled by using SMOTE and applied again to the three models to compare the differences in the performances. Results of experiments show that the highest number of nearest neighbours gives lower values of error rates. 

Keywords: Imbalanced datasets, SMOTE, machine learning, logistic regression, support vector machine, nearest neighbour.

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9275 A Design of Anisotropic Wet Etching System to Reduce Hillocks on Etched Surface of Silicon Substrate

Authors: Alonggot Limcharoen Kaeochotchuangkul, Pathomporn Sawatchai

Abstract:

This research aims to design and build a wet etching system, which is suitable for anisotropic wet etching, in order to reduce etching time, to reduce hillocks on the etched surface (to reduce roughness), and to create a 45-degree wall angle (micro-mirror). This study would start by designing a wet etching system. There are four main components in this system: an ultrasonic cleaning, a condenser, a motor and a substrate holder. After that, an ultrasonic machine was modified by applying a condenser to maintain the consistency of the solution concentration during the etching process and installing a motor for improving the roughness. This effect on the etch rate and the roughness showed that the etch rate increased and the roughness was reduced.

Keywords: Anisotropic wet etching, wet etching system, Hillocks, ultrasonic cleaning.

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9274 Customization of Moodle Open Source LMS for Tanzania Secondary Schools’ Use

Authors: Ellen. A. Kalinga

Abstract:

Moodle is an open source learning management system that enables creation of a powerful and flexible learning environment. Many organizations, especially learning institutions have customized Moodle open source LMS for their own use. In general open source LMSs are of great interest due to many advantages they offer in terms of cost, usage and freedom to customize to fit a particular context. Tanzania Secondary School e- Learning (TanSSe-L) system is the learning management system for Tanzania secondary schools. TanSSe-L system was developed using a number of methods, one of them being customization of Moodle Open Source LMS. This paper presents few areas on the way Moodle OS LMS was customized to produce a functional TanSSe-L system fitted to the requirements and specifications of Tanzania secondary schools’ context.

Keywords: LMS, Moodle, e-Learning, Tanzania, Secondary school.

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9273 Reform Framework for Urban Land Management in Serbia in the Period of Transition

Authors: Slavka Zeković

Abstract:

A preliminary evaluation of the urban land system is presented in the article together with the instruments of land policy in Serbia. The main reason for the analysis is demand for definition of reform framework for urban land management in Serbia in the period of transition towards market-led system. It is concluded that due to the limitations of the current regulation it will be impossible in the future to apply market principles in the urban land policy (supply and demand of land, land capitalization, investment efficiency, et al.). Based on the estimation that the urban land system and land policy are key factors of competitiveness between regions and towns in Serbia, it is necessary to initiate changes in this field. There are indicated on an option of privatization of urban public land and possible establishment of leasehold land. A comparative analysis of the possibilities of the reform urban land system in Serbia has been carried out in relation to two approaches of market systems: (a) with dominant private ownership of urban land (neo/liberal approach) and (b) with dominant public ownership of urban land (system of leasehold)whose findings can be a basis for further study of the new system in Serbia.. The attanied results are part of studies matter for the making of Strategy of territorial development of Serbia.

Keywords: Urban Land System, Urban Land Management, Instruments of Land Policy, Evaluation, Market.

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9272 State-Space PD Feedback Control

Authors: John Florescu

Abstract:

A challenged control problem is when the performance is pushed to the limit. The state-derivative feedback control strategy directly uses acceleration information for feedback and state estimation. The derivative part is concerned with the rateof- change of the error with time. If the measured variable approaches the set point rapidly, then the actuator is backed off early to allow it to coast to the required level. Derivative action makes a control system behave much more intelligently. A sensor measures the variable to be controlled and the measured in formation is fed back to the controller to influence the controlled variable. A high gain problem can be also formulated for proportional plus derivative feedback transformation. Using MATLAB Simulink dynamic simulation tool this paper examines a system with a proportional plus derivative feedback and presents an automatic implementation of finding an acceptable controlled system. Using feedback transformations the system is transformed into another system.

Keywords: Feedback, PD, state-space, derivative.

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9271 Stress Analysis of Hexagonal Element for Precast Concrete Pavements

Authors: J. Novak, A. Kohoutkova, V. Kristek, J. Vodicka, M. Sramek

Abstract:

While the use of cast-in-place concrete for an airfield and highway pavement overlay is very common, the application of precast concrete elements is very limited today. The main reasons consist of high production costs and complex structural behavior. Despite that, several precast concrete systems have been developed and tested with the aim to provide a system with rapid construction. The contribution deals with the reinforcement design of a hexagonal element developed for a proposed airfield pavement system. The sub-base course of the system is composed of compacted recycled concrete aggregates and fiber reinforced concrete with recycled aggregates place on top of it. The selected element belongs to a group of precast concrete elements which are being considered for the construction of a surface course. Both high costs of full-scale experiments and the need to investigate various elements force to simulate their behavior in a numerical analysis software by using finite element method instead of performing expensive experiments. The simulation of the selected element was conducted on a nonlinear model in order to obtain such results which could fully compensate results from experiments. The main objective was to design reinforcement of the precast concrete element subject to quasi-static loading from airplanes with respect to geometrical imperfections, manufacturing imperfections, tensile stress in reinforcement, compressive stress in concrete and crack width. The obtained findings demonstrate that the position and the presence of imperfection in a pavement highly affect the stress distribution in the precast concrete element. The precast concrete element should be heavily reinforced to fulfill all the demands. Using under-reinforced concrete elements would lead to the formation of wide cracks and cracks permanently open.

Keywords: Imperfection, numerical simulation, pavement, precast concrete element, reinforcement design, stress analysis.

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9270 Adoption and Use of an Electronic Voting System in Ghana

Authors: Isaac Kofi Mensah

Abstract:

The manual system of voting has been the most widely used system of electing representatives around the globe, particularly in Africa. Due to the known numerous problems and challenges associated with the manual system of voting, many countries are migrating to the electronic voting system as a suitable and credible means of electing representatives over the manual paper-based system. This research paper therefore investigated the factors influencing adoption and use of an electronic voting system in Ghana. A total of 400 Questionnaire Instruments (QI) were administered to potential respondents in Ghana, of which 387 responded representing a response rate of 96.75%. The Technology Acceptance Model was used as the theoretical framework for the study. The research model was tested using a simple linear regression analysis with SPSS. A little of over 71.1% of the respondents recommended the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana to adopt an electronic voting system in the conduct of public elections in Ghana. The results indicated that all the six predictors such as perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived free and fair elections (PFFF), perceived credible elections (PCE), perceived system integrity (PSI) and citizens trust in the election management body (CTEM) were all positively significant in predicting the readiness of citizens to adopt and use an electronic voting system in Ghana. However, jointly, the hypotheses tested revealed that apart from Perceived Free and Fair Elections and Perceived Credible and Transparent Elections, all the other factors such as PU, Perceived System Integrity and Security and Citizen Trust in the Election Management Body were found to be significant predictors of the Willingness of Ghanaians to use an electronic voting system. All the six factors considered in this study jointly account for about 53.1% of the reasons determining the readiness to adopt and use an electronic voting system in Ghana. The implications of this research finding on elections in Ghana are discussed.

Keywords: Credible elections, democracy, Election Management Body (EMB), electronic voting, Ghana, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

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9269 Prediction Modeling of Alzheimer’s Disease and Its Prodromal Stages from Multimodal Data with Missing Values

Authors: M. Aghili, S. Tabarestani, C. Freytes, M. Shojaie, M. Cabrerizo, A. Barreto, N. Rishe, R. E. Curiel, D. Loewenstein, R. Duara, M. Adjouadi

Abstract:

A major challenge in medical studies, especially those that are longitudinal, is the problem of missing measurements which hinders the effective application of many machine learning algorithms. Furthermore, recent Alzheimer's Disease studies have focused on the delineation of Early Mild Cognitive Impairment (EMCI) and Late Mild Cognitive Impairment (LMCI) from cognitively normal controls (CN) which is essential for developing effective and early treatment methods. To address the aforementioned challenges, this paper explores the potential of using the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm in handling missing values in multiclass classification. We seek a generalized classification scheme where all prodromal stages of the disease are considered simultaneously in the classification and decision-making processes. Given the large number of subjects (1631) included in this study and in the presence of almost 28% missing values, we investigated the performance of XGBoost on the classification of the four classes of AD, NC, EMCI, and LMCI. Using 10-fold cross validation technique, XGBoost is shown to outperform other state-of-the-art classification algorithms by 3% in terms of accuracy and F-score. Our model achieved an accuracy of 80.52%, a precision of 80.62% and recall of 80.51%, supporting the more natural and promising multiclass classification.

Keywords: eXtreme Gradient Boosting, missing data, Alzheimer disease, early mild cognitive impairment, late mild cognitive impairment, multiclass classification, ADNI, support vector machine, random forest.

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9268 Investigation of Split TCSC on Kanpur-Ballabhgarh Transmission System

Authors: S. Meikandasivam, D. Vijayakumar, Rajesh Kumar Nema, Shailendra Kumar Jain

Abstract:

This paper investigates the performance of the single TCSC and proposed split TCSC on transmission system where India’s first TCSC project is installed in Kanpur - Ballabhgarh (KB) line to ensure the fine tuning of line reactance by proposed split TCSC in place of existing KB TCSC. A three phase KB transmission system is developed in MATLAB/Simulink (SimPowerSystems) for

  1. without any compensation,
  2. with fixed capacitor (FC),
  3. with FC + existing KB TCSC and
  4. with FC + proposed split TCSC

The KB system is analyzed for a step variation of load and performance of the system is investigated with a closed loop reactance control method.

Keywords: Single TCSC, Split TCSC, TCSC Reactance characteristic curve, Power flow analysis, Sensitivity analysis.

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