Search results for: Educational technology
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2960

Search results for: Educational technology

710 The Effect of Soil Contamination on Chemical Composition and Quality of Aronia (Aronia melanocarpa) Fruits

Authors: Violina R. Angelova, Sava G. Tabakov, Aleksander B. Peltekov, Krasimir I. Ivanov

Abstract:

A field study was conducted to evaluate the chemical composition and quality of the Aronia fruits, as well as the possibilities of Aronia cultivation on soils contaminated with heavy metals. The experiment was performed on an agricultural field contaminated by the Non-Ferrous-Metal Works (NFMW) near Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The study included four varieties of Aronia; Aron variety, Hugin variety, Viking variety and Nero variety. The Aronia was cultivated according to the conventional technology on areas at a different distance from the source of pollution NFMW- Plovdiv (1 km, 3.5 km, and 15 km). The concentrations of macroelements, microelements, and heavy metals in Aronia fruits were determined. The dry matter content, ash, sugars, proteins, and fats were also determined. Aronia is a crop that is tolerant to heavy metals and can successfully be grown on soils contaminated with heavy metals. The increased content of heavy metals in the soil leads to less absorption of the nutrients (Ca, Mg and P) in the fruit of the Aronia. Soil pollution with heavy metals does not affect the quality of the Aronia fruit varieties.

Keywords: Aronia, chemical composition, fruits, quality.

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709 Investigation of Spatial Changes in the Context of Cultural Sustainability

Authors: Aslı Taş, Şebnem Ertaş

Abstract:

Culture consists of material and spiritual values adopted by the emerging societies during the historical and social processes and continues to exist from past to present by being transferred through generations. Culture and cultural sustainability are interdependent concepts. Cultural sustainability exists when the requirements established cultural expression are added to the social life as lifestyle and habits. However, sustainability renders change inevitable. Changes that take place in the culture of a society also shows the impact in the daily life places. Functional changes occur in the spaces in order to adapt particularly to cultural change that appear in the aftermath of the user change, to modern technology and living standards. In this context, in this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of the time-dependent functional changes that took place in the housing where non-Muslim population who was subject to population exchange and Muslim population lived after the population exchange in the vacated housing in Sille. Therefore, the changed and newly added venues in the house belonging to Ali Oğuz in Hacı Ali Ağa Street were investigated over the generated graphic in order to clearly perceive the cultural exchange on the housing and settlement and the functional changes were demonstrated.

Keywords: Culture, house, spatial changes, sustainability.

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708 Rehabilitation of Contaminated Surface and Groundwater for Selected Sites in the Illawarra and Sydney Regions Utilising Nanotechnology

Authors: Hamad N. Altalyan, Brian G. Jones, John Bradd

Abstract:

A comprehensive study was conducted to examine the removal of inorganic contaminants that exist in surface and groundwater in the Illawarra and Sydney regions. The ability of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), as a generation of membrane technology, was examined using a dead-end filtration cell setup. A set of ten compounds were examined in this study that represent the significant inorganic cations and anions commonly found in contaminated surface and groundwater. The performance of MWCNT buckypaper membranes in excluding anions was found to be better than that of its cation exclusion. This phenomenon can be attributed to the Donnan exclusion mechanism (charge repulsion mechanism). Furthermore, the results revealed that phosphate recorded the highest exclusion value reaching 69.2%, whereas the lowest rejection value was for potassium where no removal occurred (0%). The reason for this is that the molecular weight of phosphate (95.0 g/mol) is greater than the molecular weight of potassium (39.10 g/mol).

Keywords: Nanotechnology, buckypaper, carbon nanotube, CNT, multi-walled carbon nanotube, MWCNT, Botany Bay, Russell Vale.

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707 Agro-Morphological Characterization of Vicia faba L. Accessions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Authors: Zia Amjad, Salem S. Alghamdi

Abstract:

The study was conducted at the student educational farm at the College of Food and Agriculture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The aim of study was to characterize 154 Vicia faba L. accessions using agro-morphological traits based on The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) and The International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) descriptors. This research is significant as it contributes to the understanding of the genetic diversity and potential yield of V. faba in Saudi Arabia. In the study, 24 agro-morphological characters including 11 quantitative and 13 qualitative were observed for genetic variation. All the results were analyzed using multivariate analysis i.e., principal component analysis (PCA). First, six principal components (PC) had eigenvalues greater than one; accounted for 72% of available V. faba genetic diversity. However, first three components revealed more than 10% of genetic diversity each i.e., 22.36%, 15.86% and 10.89% respectively. PCA distributed the V. faba accessions into different groups based on their performance for the characters under observation. PC-1, which represented 22.36% of the genetic diversity, was positively associated with stipule spot pigmentation, intensity of streaks, pod degree of curvature and to some extent with 100 seed weight. PC-2 covered 15.86 of the genetic diversity and showed positive association for average seed weight per plant, pod length, number of seeds per plant, 100 seed weight, stipule spot pigmentation, intensity of streaks (same as in PC-1) and to some extent for pod degree of curvature and number of pods per plant. PC-3 revealed 10.89% of genetic diversity and expressed positive association for number of pods per plant and number of leaflets per plant. This study contributes to the understanding of the genetic diversity and potential yield of V. faba in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. By establishing a core collection of V. faba, the research provides a valuable resource for future conservation and utilization of this crop worldwide.

Keywords: Agro-morphological characterization, genetic diversity, core collection, PCA, Vicia faba L.

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706 Multimedia Data Fusion for Event Detection in Twitter by Using Dempster-Shafer Evidence Theory

Authors: Samar M. Alqhtani, Suhuai Luo, Brian Regan

Abstract:

Data fusion technology can be the best way to extract useful information from multiple sources of data. It has been widely applied in various applications. This paper presents a data fusion approach in multimedia data for event detection in twitter by using Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. The methodology applies a mining algorithm to detect the event. There are two types of data in the fusion. The first is features extracted from text by using the bag-ofwords method which is calculated using the term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF). The second is the visual features extracted by applying scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT). The Dempster - Shafer theory of evidence is applied in order to fuse the information from these two sources. Our experiments have indicated that comparing to the approaches using individual data source, the proposed data fusion approach can increase the prediction accuracy for event detection. The experimental result showed that the proposed method achieved a high accuracy of 0.97, comparing with 0.93 with texts only, and 0.86 with images only.

Keywords: Data fusion, Dempster-Shafer theory, data mining, event detection.

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705 Estimating Marine Tidal Power Potential in Kenya

Authors: Lucy Patricia Onundo, Wilfred Njoroge Mwema

Abstract:

The rapidly diminishing fossil fuel reserves, their exorbitant cost and the increasingly apparent negative effect of fossil fuels to climate changes is a wake-up call to explore renewable energy. Wind, bio-fuel and solar power have already become staples of Kenyan electricity mix. The potential of electric power generation from marine tidal currents is enormous, with oceans covering more than 70% of the earth. However, attempts to harness marine tidal energy in Kenya, has yet to be studied thoroughly due to its promising, cyclic, reliable and predictable nature and the vast energy contained within it. The high load factors resulting from the fluid properties and the predictable resource characteristics make marine currents particularly attractive for power generation and advantageous when compared to others. Global-level resource assessments and oceanographic literature and data have been compiled in an analysis of the technology-specific requirements for tidal energy technologies and the physical resources. Temporal variations in resource intensity as well as the differences between small-scale applications are considered.

Keywords: Energy data assessment, environmental legislation, renewable energy, tidal-in-stream turbines.

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704 Study of Two Writing Schemes for a Magnetic Tunnel Junction Based On Spin Orbit Torque

Authors: K. Jabeur, L. D. Buda-Prejbeanu, G. Prenat, G. Di Pendina

Abstract:

MRAM technology provides a combination of fast access time, non-volatility, data retention and endurance. While a growing interest is given to two-terminal Magnetic Tunnel Junctions (MTJ) based on Spin-Transfer Torque (STT) switching as the potential candidate for a universal memory, its reliability is dramatically decreased because of the common writing/reading path. Three-terminal MTJ based on Spin-Orbit Torque (SOT) approach revitalizes the hope of an ideal MRAM. It can overcome the reliability barrier encountered in current two-terminal MTJs by separating the reading and the writing path. In this paper, we study two possible writing schemes for the SOT-MTJ device based on recently fabricated samples. While the first is based on precessional switching, the second requires the presence of permanent magnetic field. Based on an accurate Verilog-A model, we simulate the two writing techniques and we highlight advantages and drawbacks of each one. Using the second technique, pioneering logic circuits based on the three-terminal architecture of the SOT-MTJ described in this work are under development with preliminary attractive results.

Keywords: Spin orbit Torque, Magnetic Tunnel Junction, MRAM, Spintronic, Circuit simulation.

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703 Lack of BIM Training: Investigating Practical Solutions for the State of Kuwait

Authors: Noor M. Abdulfattah, Ahmed M. Khalafallah, Nabil A. Kartam

Abstract:

Despite the evident benefits of building information modeling (BIM) to the construction industry, it faces significant implementation challenges in the State of Kuwait. This study investigates the awareness of construction stakeholders of BIM implementation challenges, and identifies various solutions to overcome these challenges. Specifically, the main objectives of this study are to: (1) characterize the barriers that deter utilization of BIM, (2) examine the awareness of engineers, architects, and construction stakeholders of these barriers, and (3) identify practical solutions to facilitate BIM utilization. A questionnaire survey was designed to collect data on the aforementioned objectives from local companies and senior BIM experts. It was found that engineers are highly aware of BIM implementation barriers. In addition, it was concluded from the questionnaire that the biggest barrier is the lack of BIM training. Based on expert feedback, the study concluded with a number of recommendations on how to overcome the barriers of BIM utilization. This should prove useful to the construction industry stakeholders and can lead to significant changes to design and construction practices.

Keywords: Building information modeling, construction, challenges, information technology.

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702 Smart Cane Assisted Mobility for the Visually Impaired

Authors: Jayant Sakhardande, Pratik Pattanayak, Mita Bhowmick

Abstract:

An efficient reintegration of the disabled people in the family and society should be fulfilled; hence it is strongly needful to assist their diminished functions or to replace the totally lost functions. Assistive technology helps in neutralizing the impairment. Recent advancements in embedded systems have opened up a vast area of research and development for affordable and portable assistive devices for the visually impaired. Granted there are many assistive devices on the market that are able to detect obstacles, and numerous research and development currently in process to alleviate the cause, unfortunately the cost of devices, size of devices, intrusiveness and higher learning curve prevents the visually impaired from taking advantage of available devices. This project aims at the design and implementation of a detachable unit which is robust, low cost and user friendly, thus, trying to aggrandize the functionality of the existing white cane, to concede above-knee obstacle detection. The designed obstruction detector uses ultrasound sensors for detecting the obstructions before direct contact. It bestows haptic feedback to the user in accordance with the position of the obstacle.

Keywords: Visually impaired, Ultrasonic sensors, Obstruction detector, Mobility aid

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701 The Journey from Lean Manufacturing to Industry 4.0: The Rail Manufacturing Process in Mexico

Authors: Diana Flores Galindo, Richard Gil Herrera

Abstract:

Nowadays, Lean Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 are very important in every country. One of the main benefits is continued market presence. It has been identified that there is a need to change existing educational programs, as well as update the knowledge and skills of existing employees. It should be borne in mind that behind each technological improvement, there is a human being. Human talent cannot be neglected. The main objectives of this article are to review the link between Lean Manufacturing, the incorporation of Industry 4.0 and the steps to follow to implement it; analyze the current situation and study the implications and benefits of this new trend, with a particular focus on Mexico. Lean Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 implementation waves must always take care of the most important capital – intellectual capital. The methodology used in this article comprised the following steps: reviewing the reality of the fourth industrial revolution, reviewing employees’ skills on the journey to become world-class, and analyzing the situation in Mexico. Lean Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 were studied not as exclusive concepts, but as complementary ones. The methodological framework used is focused on motivating companies’ collaborators to guarantee common results, innovate, and remain in the market in the face of new requirements from company stakeholders. The key findings were that both trends emphasize the need to improve communication across the entire company and incorporate new technologies into everyday work, from the shop floor to administrative staff, to help improve processes. Taking care of people, activities and processes will bring a company success. In the specific case of Mexico, companies in all sectors need to be aware of and implement technological improvements according to their specific needs. Low-cost labor represents one of the most typical barriers. In conclusion, companies must build a roadmap according to their strategy and needs to achieve their short, medium- and long-term goals.

Keywords: Lean management, lean manufacturing, industry 4.0, motivation, SWOT analysis, Hoshin Kanri.

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700 Social Assistive Robots, Reframing the Human Robotics Interaction Benchmark of Social Success

Authors: Antonio Espingardeiro

Abstract:

It is likely that robots will cross the boundaries of industry into households over the next decades. With demographic challenges worldwide, the future ageing populations will require the introduction of assistive technologies capable of providing, care, human dignity and quality of life through the aging process. Robotics technology has a high potential for being used in the areas of social and healthcare by promoting a wide range of activities such as entertainment, companionship, supervision or cognitive and physical assistance. However such close Human Robotics Interaction (HRI) encompass a rich set of ethical scenarios that need to be addressed before Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) reach the global markets. Such interactions with robots may seem a worthy goal for many technical/financial reasons but inevitably require close attention to the ethical dimensions of such interactions. This article investigates the current HRI benchmark of social success. It revises it according to the ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence and justice aligned with social care ethos. An extension of such benchmark is proposed based on an empirical study of HRIs conducted with elderly groups.

Keywords: HRI, SARs, Social Success, Benchmark, Elderly care.

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699 Interoperability in Component Based Software Development

Authors: M. Madiajagan, B. Vijayakumar

Abstract:

The ability of information systems to operate in conjunction with each other encompassing communication protocols, hardware, software, application, and data compatibility layers. There has been considerable work in industry on the development of component interoperability models, such as CORBA, (D)COM and JavaBeans. These models are intended to reduce the complexity of software development and to facilitate reuse of off-the-shelf components. The focus of these models is syntactic interface specification, component packaging, inter-component communications, and bindings to a runtime environment. What these models lack is a consideration of architectural concerns – specifying systems of communicating components, explicitly representing loci of component interaction, and exploiting architectural styles that provide well-understood global design solutions. The development of complex business applications is now focused on an assembly of components available on a local area network or on the net. These components must be localized and identified in terms of available services and communication protocol before any request. The first part of the article introduces the base concepts of components and middleware while the following sections describe the different up-todate models of communication and interaction and the last section shows how different models can communicate among themselves.

Keywords: Interoperability, component packaging, communication technology, heterogeneous platform, component interface, middleware.

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698 Comparative Study of Iran and Turkey Advantages to Attract Foreign Investors

Authors: Alireza Saviz, Sedigheh Zarei

Abstract:

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an integral part of an open and effective international economic system and a major catalyst to development. Developing countries, emerging economies and countries in transition have come increasingly to see FDI as a source of economic development modernization, income growth and employment. FDI is an important vehicle for the transfer of technology, contributing relatively more to growth than domestic investment. Exploratory research is being conducted here. The data for the study is collected from secondary sources like research papers, journals, websites and reports. This paper aim was to generate knowledge on Iran’s situation through these factors after lifting sanction in comparison to Turkey. Although the most important factors that influence foreign investor decisions vary depending on the countries, sectors, years, and the objective of investor, nowadays governments should pay more attention to human resources education, marketing, infrastructure and administrative process in order to attracting foreign investors. A proper understanding of these findings will help governments to create appropriate policies in order to encourage more foreign investors

Keywords: FDI, foreign investor, comparative study, host country.

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697 Identified Factors Affecting the Citizen’s Intention to Adopt E-government in Saudi Arabia

Authors: Sulaiman A. Alateyah, Richard M Crowder, Gary B Wills

Abstract:

This paper discusses E-government, in particular the challenges that face adoption in Saudi Arabia. E-government can be defined based on an existing set of requirements. In this research we define E-government as a matrix of stakeholders: governments to governments, governments to business and governments to citizens, using information and communications technology to deliver and consume services. E-government has been implemented for a considerable time in developed countries. However, E-government services still face many challenges in their implementation and general adoption in many countries including Saudi Arabia. It has been noted that the introduction of E-government is a major challenge facing the government of Saudi Arabia, due to possible concerns raised by its citizens. In addition, the literature review and the discussion identify the influential factors that affect the citizens’ intention to adopt E-government services in Saudi Arabia. Consequently, these factors have been defined and categorized followed by an exploratory study to examine the importance of these factors. Therefore, this research has identified factors that determine if the citizen will adopt E-government services and thereby aiding governments in accessing what is required to increase adoption.

Keywords: E-government, adoption, factors, G2C, intention, citizens’ intention, influential factors.

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696 Production of the Protein-Vitamin Complex from Wheat Germ

Authors: Gulmira Kenenbay, Urishbay Chomanov, Tamara Tultabayeva, Aruzhan Shoman

Abstract:

Wheat germ has a balanced amino acid composition of the protein, which is well digested by enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract of humans, a high content of vitamins, minerals and unsaturated acids. Introduction components grain food products will enrich their biologically important substances, giving these products a number of valuable properties and reducing their caloric. A complex natural system of substances in foods will help replenish the body's need of essential nutrients, increasing its resistance to the harmful effects of the environment, prolong life. In this regard, there was a need for the development of production technology of protein complexes from wheat germ and then applying them in food, particularly in the dairy industry. Experimental studies were conducted to determine the number of herbal supplements on the sensory characteristics of the product. Studies have been conducted to determine the optimal process parameters of water activity and moisture content of the investigational product. 

Keywords: Wheat germ, sensory characteristics of the product, water activity.

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695 Urban Big Data: An Experimental Approach to Building-Value Estimation Using Web-Based Data

Authors: Sun-Young Jang, Sung-Ah Kim, Dongyoun Shin

Abstract:

Current real-estate value estimation, difficult for laymen, usually is performed by specialists. This paper presents an automated estimation process based on big data and machine-learning technology that calculates influences of building conditions on real-estate price measurement. The present study analyzed actual building sales sample data for Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea, measuring the major influencing factors among the various building conditions. Further to that analysis, a prediction model was established and applied using RapidMiner Studio, a graphical user interface (GUI)-based tool for derivation of machine-learning prototypes. The prediction model is formulated by reference to previous examples. When new examples are applied, it analyses and predicts accordingly. The analysis process discerns the crucial factors effecting price increases by calculation of weighted values. The model was verified, and its accuracy determined, by comparing its predicted values with actual price increases.

Keywords: Big data, building-value analysis, machine learning, price prediction.

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694 Comparative Study of Sub-Critical and Supercritical ORC Applications for Exhaust Waste Heat Recovery

Authors: Buket Boz, Alvaro Diez

Abstract:

Waste heat recovery by means of Organic Rankine Cycle is a promising technology for the recovery of engine exhaust heat. However, it is complex to find out the optimum cycle conditions with appropriate working fluids to match exhaust gas waste heat due to its high temperature. Hence, this paper focuses on comparing sub-critical and supercritical ORC conditions with eight working fluids on a combined diesel engine-ORC system. The model employs two ORC designs, Regenerative-ORC and Pre-Heating-Regenerative-ORC respectively. The thermodynamic calculations rely on the first and second law of thermodynamics, thermal efficiency and exergy destruction factors are the fundamental parameters evaluated. Additionally, in this study, environmental and safety, GWP (Global Warming Potential) and ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential), characteristic of the refrigerants are taken into consideration as evaluation criteria to define the optimal ORC configuration and conditions. Consequently, the studys outcomes reveal that supercritical ORCs with alkane and siloxane are more suitable for high temperature exhaust waste heat recovery in contrast to sub-critical conditions.

Keywords: Internal combustion engine, organic rankine cycle, waste heat recovery, working fluids.

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693 Business Scenarios Assessment in Healthcare and Education for 21st Century Networks in Asia Pacific

Authors: Chin Chin Wong, Chor Min Tan, Pang Leang Hiew

Abstract:

Business scenario is an important technique that may be used at various stages of the enterprise architecture to derive its characteristics based on the high-level requirements of the business. In terms of wireless deployments, they are used to help identify and understand business needs involving wireless services, and thereby to derive the business requirements that the architecture development has to address by taking into account of various wireless challenges. This study assesses the deployment of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) solutions for several business scenarios in Asia Pacific region. This paper focuses on the overview of the business and technology environments, whereby examples of existing (or suggested) wireless solutions (to be) adopted in Asia Pacific region will be discussed. Interactions of several players, enabling technologies, and key processes in the wireless environments are studied. The analysis and discussions associated to this study are divided into two divisions: healthcare and education, where the merits of wireless solutions in improving living quality are highlighted.

Keywords: Broadband Wireless Access, business scenarios, network deployment, Wireless Local Area Network.

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

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

Abstract:

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

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

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691 Un Pavillon – Un Monument: The Modern Palace and the Case of the U.S. Embassy in Karachi, Pakistan (1955–59)

Authors: Marcos Amado Petroli

Abstract:

This paper investigates civic representation in mid-century diplomatic buildings through the case of the U.S. Embassy in Karachi (1955-59), Pakistan, designed by the Austrian-American architect Richard Neutra (1892-1970) and the American architect Robert Alexander (1907-92). Texts, magazines, and oral histories at that time highlighted the need for a new postwar expression of American governmental architecture, leaning toward modernization, technology, and monumentality. Descriptive, structural, and historical analyses of the U.S. Embassy in Karachi revealed the emergence of a new prototypical solution for postwar diplomatic buildings: the combination of one main orthogonal block, seen as a modern-day corps de logis, and a flanking arcuated pavilion, often organized in one or two stories. Although the U.S. Embassy relied on highly industrialized techniques and abstract images of social progress, archival work at the Neutra’s archives at the University of California, Los Angeles, revealed that much of this project was adapted to vernacular elements and traditional forms—such as the intriguing use of reinforced concrete barrel vaults.

Keywords: Modern monumentality, post-WWII diplomatic buildings, theory of character, thin-shells.

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690 Distributed Multi-Agent Based Approach on an Intelligent Transportation Network

Authors: Xiao Yihong, Yu Kexin, Burra Venkata Durga Kumar

Abstract:

With the accelerating process of urbanization, the problem of urban road congestion is becoming more and more serious. Intelligent transportation system combining distributed and artificial intelligence has become a research hotspot. As the core development direction of the intelligent transportation system, Cooperative Intelligent Transportation System (C-ITS) integrates advanced information technology and communication methods and realizes the integration of human, vehicle, roadside infrastructure and other elements through the multi-agent distributed system. By analyzing the system architecture and technical characteristics of C-ITS, the paper proposes a distributed multi-agent C-ITS. The system consists of Roadside Subsystem, Vehicle Subsystem and Personal Subsystem. At the same time, we explore the scalability of the C-ITS and put forward incorporating local rewards in the centralized training decentralized execution paradigm, hoping to add a scalable value decomposition method. In addition, we also suggest introducing blockchain to improve the safety of the traffic information transmission process. The system is expected to improve vehicle capacity and traffic safety.

Keywords: Distributed system, artificial intelligence, multi-agent, Cooperative Intelligent Transportation System.

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689 Investigating the Behavior of Underground Structures in the Event of an Earthquake

Authors: Davoud Beheshtizadeh, Farzin Malekpour

Abstract:

The progress of technology and producing new machinery have made a big change in excavation operations and construction of underground structures. The limitations of space and some other economic, politic and military considerations gained the attention of most developed and developing countries towards the construction of these structures for mine, military, and development objectives. Underground highways, tunnels, subways, oil reservoir resources, fuels, nuclear wastes burying reservoir and underground stores are increasingly developing and being used in these countries. The existence and habitability of the cities depend on these underground installations or in other words these vital arteries. Stopping the flow of water, gas leakage and explosion, collapsing of sewage paths, etc., resulting from the earthquake are among the factors that can severely harm the environment and increase the casualty. Lack of sewage network and complete stoppage of the flow of water in Bam (Iran) is a good example of this kind. In this paper, we investigate the effect of wave orientation on structures and deformation of them and the effect of faulting on underground structures, and then, we study resistance of reinforced concrete against earthquake, simulate two different samples, analyze the result and point out the importance of paying attention to underground installations.

Keywords: Earthquake, underground structures, underground installations.

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688 Using Printing Method and Post Heat Treatment to Fabricate CIS Absorber Layer

Authors: Mao-An Chen, Chien-Chen Diao, Chia-Cheng Huang, Chin-Guo Kuo, Cheng-Fu Yang, Yen-Lin Chen

Abstract:

In this study, the Mo-electrode thin films were deposited using two-stepped process and the high purity copper indium selenide-based powder (CuInSe2, CIS) was fabricated by using hydrothermal process by Nanowin Technology Co. Ltd. Because the CIS powder was aggregated into microscale particles, the CIS power was ground into nano-scale particles. 6 wt% CIS particles were mixed and dispersed into isopropyl alcohol (IPA). A new non-vacuum thin-film deposition process, spray coating method (SPM), was investigated to deposit the high-densified CIS absorber layers. 0.1 ml CIS solution was sprayed on the 20 mm×10 mm Mo/glass substrates and then the CuInSe2 thin films were annealed in a selenization furnace using N2 as atmosphere. The annealing temperature and time were set at 550oC and 5 min, and 0.0g~0.6g extra Se content was added in the furnace. The influences of extra Se content on the densification, crystallization, resistivity (ρ), hall mobility (μ), and carrier concentration of the CIS absorber layers were well investigated in this study.

Keywords: CuInSe2, isopropyl alcohol, spray coating method, annealing, selenization process.

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687 Augmentation Opportunity of Transmission Control Protocol Performance in Wireless Networks and Cellular Systems

Authors: Ghassan A. Abed, Samir I. Badrawi

Abstract:

The advancement in wireless technology with the wide use of mobile devices have drawn the attention of the research and technological communities towards wireless environments, such as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWANs), and mobile systems and ad-hoc networks. Unfortunately, wired and wireless networks are expressively different in terms of link reliability, bandwidth, and time of propagation delay and by adapting new solutions for these enhanced telecommunications, superior quality, efficiency, and opportunities will be provided where wireless communications were otherwise unfeasible. Some researchers define 4G as a significant improvement of 3G, where current cellular network’s issues will be solved and data transfer will play a more significant role. For others, 4G unifies cellular and wireless local area networks, and introduces new routing techniques, efficient solutions for sharing dedicated frequency bands, and an increased mobility and bandwidth capacity. This paper discusses the possible solutions and enhancements probabilities that proposed to improve the performance of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) over different wireless networks and also the paper investigated each approach in term of advantages and disadvantages.

Keywords: TCP, Wireless Networks, Cellular Systems, WLAN.

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686 Evolution of Performance Measurement Methods in Conditions of Uncertainty: The Implementation of Fuzzy Sets in Performance Measurement

Authors: E. A. Tkachenko, E. M. Rogova, V. V. Klimov

Abstract:

One of the basic issues of development management is connected with performance measurement as a prerequisite for identifying the achievement of development objectives. The aim of our research is to develop an improved model of assessing a company’s development results. The model should take into account the cyclical nature of development and the high degree of uncertainty in dealing with numerous management tasks. Our hypotheses may be formulated as follows: Hypothesis 1. The cycle of a company’s development may be studied from the standpoint of a project cycle. To do that, methods and tools of project analysis are to be used. Hypothesis 2. The problem of the uncertainty when justifying managerial decisions within the framework of a company’s development cycle can be solved through the use of the mathematical apparatus of fuzzy logic. The reasoned justification of the validity of the hypotheses made is given in the suggested article. The fuzzy logic toolkit applies to the case of technology shift within an enterprise. It is proven that some restrictions in performance measurement that are incurred to conventional methods could be eliminated by implementation of the fuzzy logic apparatus in performance measurement models.

Keywords: Fuzzy logic, fuzzy sets, performance measurement, project analysis.

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685 Application of IED to Condition Based Maintenance of Medium Voltage GCB/VCB

Authors: Ming-Ta Yang, Jyh-Cherng Gu, Chun-Wei Huang, Jin-Lung Guan

Abstract:

Time base maintenance (TBM) is conventionally applied by the power utilities to maintain circuit breakers (CBs), transformers, bus bars and cables, which may result in under maintenance or over maintenance. As information and communication technology (ICT) industry develops, the maintenance policies of many power utilities have gradually changed from TBM to condition base maintenance (CBM) to improve system operating efficiency, operation cost and power supply reliability. This paper discusses the feasibility of using intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) to construct a CB CBM management platform. CBs in power substations can be monitored using IEDs with additional logic configuration and wire connections. The CB monitoring data can be sent through intranet to a control center and be analyzed and integrated by the Elipse Power Studio software. Finally, a human-machine interface (HMI) of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system can be designed to construct a CBM management platform to provide maintenance decision information for the maintenance personnel, management personnel and CB manufacturers.

Keywords: Circuit breaker, Condition base maintenance, Intelligent electronic device, Time base maintenance, SCADA.

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684 Analysis of the Diffusion Behavior of an Information and Communication Technology Platform for City Logistics

Authors: Giulio Mangano, Alberto De Marco, Giovanni Zenezini

Abstract:

The concept of City Logistics (CL) has emerged to improve the impacts of last mile freight distribution in urban areas. In this paper, a System Dynamics (SD) model exploring the dynamics of the diffusion of a ICT platform for CL management across different populations is proposed. For the development of the model two sources have been used. On the one hand, the major diffusion variables and feedback loops are derived from a literature review of existing diffusion models. On the other hand, the parameters are represented by the value propositions delivered by the platform as a response to some of the users’ needs. To extract the most important value propositions the Business Model Canvas approach has been used. Such approach in fact focuses on understanding how a company can create value for her target customers. These variables and parameters are thus translated into a SD diffusion model with three different populations namely municipalities, logistics service providers, and own account carriers. Results show that, the three populations under analysis fully adopt the platform within the simulation time frame, highlighting a strong demand by different stakeholders for CL projects aiming at carrying out more efficient urban logistics operations.

Keywords: City logistics, simulation, system dynamics, business model.

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683 Stability Analysis and Controller Design of Further Development of MIMOS II for Space Applications with Focus on the Extended Lyapunov Method: Part I

Authors: Mohammad Beyki, Justus Pawlak, Robert Patzke, Franz Renz

Abstract:

In the context of planetary exploration, the MIMOS II (miniaturized M¨ossbauer spectrometer) serves as a proven and reliable measuring instrument. The transmission behaviour of the electronics in the M¨ossbauer spectroscopy is further developed and optimized. For this purpose, the overall electronics is split into three parts. This elaboration deals exclusively with the first part of the signal chain for the evaluation of photons in experiments with gamma radiation. Parallel to the analysis of the electronics, an additional method for analysing the stability of linear and non-linear systems is presented: The extended method of Lyapunov’s stability criteria. The design helps to weigh advantages and disadvantages against other simulated circuits in order to optimize the MIMOS II for the terestric and extraterestric measurment. Finally, after stability analysis, the controller design according to Ackermann is performed, achieving the best possible optimization of the output variable through a skillful pole assignment.

Keywords: Controller design for MIMOS II, stability analysis, M¨ossbauer spectroscopy, electronic signal amplifier, light processing technology, photocurrent, transimpedance amplifier, extended Lyapunov method.

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682 Simulation of Non-Linear Behavior of Shear Wall under Seismic Loading

Authors: M. A. Ghorbani, M. Pasbani Khiavi

Abstract:

The seismic response of steel shear wall system considering nonlinearity effects using finite element method is investigated in this paper. The non-linear finite element analysis has potential as usable and reliable means for analyzing of civil structures with the availability of computer technology. In this research the large displacements and materially nonlinear behavior of shear wall is presented with developing of finite element code. A numerical model based on the finite element method for the seismic analysis of shear wall is presented with developing of finite element code in this research. To develop the finite element code, the standard Galerkin weighted residual formulation is used. Two-dimensional plane stress model and total Lagrangian formulation was carried out to present the shear wall response and the Newton-Raphson method is applied for the solution of nonlinear transient equations. The presented model in this paper can be developed for analysis of civil engineering structures with different material behavior and complicated geometry.

Keywords: Finite element, steel shear wall, nonlinear, earthquake

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681 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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