Search results for: spatio-temporal information

Authors: M. Michael Gromiha, Y. Yabuki, K. Imai, P. Horton, K. Fukui

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We have developed a database for membrane protein functions, which has more than 3000 experimental data on functionally important amino acid residues in membrane proteins along with sequence, structure and literature information. Further, we have proposed different methods for identifying membrane proteins based on their functions: (i) discrimination of membrane transport proteins from other globular and membrane proteins and classifying them into channels/pores, electrochemical and active transporters, and (ii) β-signal for the insertion of mitochondrial β-barrel outer membrane proteins and potential targets. Our method showed an accuracy of 82% in discriminating transport proteins and 68% to classify them into three different transporters. In addition, we have identified a motif for targeting β-signal and potential candidates for mitochondrial β-barrel membrane proteins. Our methods can be used as effective tools for genome-wide annotations.

Keywords: Membrane proteins, database, transporters, discrimination, β-signal.

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Authors: K. Boualem, T. Yahiaoui, A. Azzi

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Numerical investigations are performed to analyze the flow behavior over NACA0015 and to evaluate the efficiency of synthetic jet as active control device. The second objective of this work is to investigate the influence of momentum coefficient of synthetic jet on the flow behaviour. The unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations of the turbulent flow are solved using, k-ω SST provided by ANSYS CFX-CFD code. The model presented in this paper is a comprehensive representation of the information found in the literature. Comparison of obtained numerical flow parameters with the experimental ones shows that the adopted computational procedure reflects nearly the real flow nature. Also, numerical results state that use of synthetic jets devices has positive effects on the flow separation, and thus, aerodynamic performance improvement of NACA0015 airfoil. It can also be observed that the use of synthetic jet increases the lift coefficient about 13.3% and reduces the drag coefficient about 52.7%.

Keywords: Active control, CFD, NACA airfoil, synthetic jet.

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Authors: Fu E. Tang

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The increase in energy demand has raised concerns over adverse impacts on the environment from energy generation. It is important to understand the status of energy consumption for institutions such as Curtin Sarawak to ensure the sustainability of energy usage, and also to reduce its costs. In this study, a preliminary audit framework was developed and was conducted around the Malaysian campus to obtain information such as the number and specifications of electrical appliances, built-up area and ambient temperature to understand the relationship of these factors with energy consumption. It was found that the number and types of electrical appliances, population and activities in the campus impacted the energy consumption of Curtin Sarawak directly. However, the built-up area and ambient temperature showed no clear correlation with energy consumption. An investigation of the diurnal and seasonal energy consumption of the campus was also carried out. From the data, recommendations were made to improve the energy efficiency of the campus.

Keywords: Energy audit, energy consumption, energy efficiency

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Authors: Milton Pavezzi Netto, Gustavo D'Almeida Scarpinella, Ricardo Siloto da Silva

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The springs located in urban areas are the outpouring of surface water, which can serve as water supply, effluent receptors and important local macro-drainage elements. With unplanned occupation, non-compliance with environmental legislation and the importance of these water bodies, it is vital to analyze the springs within urban areas, considering the Brazilian forest code. This paper submits an analysis and discussion methodology proposal of environmental compliance functions of urban springs, by means of G.I.S. - Geographic Information System analysis - and in situ analysis. The case study included two springs which exhibit a history of occupation along its length, with different degrees of impact. The proposed method is effective and easy to apply, representing a powerful tool for analyzing the environmental conditions of springs in urban areas.

Keywords: Springs, urban area, Brazilian forest code.

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Authors: María Fernández-Ropero, Ricardo Pérez-Castillo, Ismael Caballero, Mario Piattini

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Appropriate description of business processes through standard notations has become one of the most important assets for organizations. Organizations must therefore deal with quality faults in business process models such as the lack of understandability and modifiability. These quality faults may be exacerbated if business process models are mined by reverse engineering, e.g., from existing information systems that support those business processes. Hence, business process refactoring is often used, which change the internal structure of business processes whilst its external behavior is preserved. This paper aims to choose the most appropriate set of refactoring operators through the quality assessment concerning understandability and modifiability. These quality features are assessed through well-proven measures proposed in the literature. Additionally, a set of measure thresholds are heuristically established for applying the most promising refactoring operators, i.e., those that achieve the highest quality improvement according to the selected measures in each case.

Keywords: business process model, modifiability, refactoring, understandability

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Authors: H. Nur Gorkemli, Mehmet Fidan

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After the first acquaintance with internet in April 1993, number of internet users increased rapidly in Turkey. Almost half of the population between 16-74 age group use internet in the country. Hospitals are one of the areas where the internet is intensively being used like many other businesses. As a part of public relations application, websites are important tools for hospitals to reach a wide range of target audience within and outside the organization. With their websites, hospitals have opportunities to give information about their organization, strengthen their image, compete with their rivals, interact with shareholders, reflect their transparency and meet with new audiences. This study examines web sites of totally 34 hospitals which are located in Konya. Institutions are categorized as public and private hospitals and then three main research categories are determined: content, visual and technical. Main and sub categories are examined by using content analysis method. Results are interpreted in scope of public and private institutions and as a whole.

Keywords: Health Communication, Hospital, Internet, Webpages, Websites

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Authors: Halabi Hasbullah, Irshad Ahmed Soomro, Jamalul-lail Ab Manan

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Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) is taking more attention in automotive industry due to the safety concern of human lives on roads. Security is one of the safety aspects in VANET. To be secure, network availability must be obtained at all times since availability of the network is critically needed when a node sends any life critical information to other nodes. However, it can be expected that security attacks are likely to increase in the coming future due to more and more wireless applications being developed and deployed onto the well-known expose nature of the wireless medium. In this respect, the network availability is exposed to many types of attacks. In this paper, Denial of Service (DOS) attack on network availability is presented and its severity level in VANET environment is elaborated. A model to secure the VANET from the DOS attacks has been developed and some possible solutions to overcome the attacks have been discussed.

Keywords: Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET); security;availability; security attack; Denial of Service (DOS).

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Authors: Dariusz Dymek, Leszek Kotulski

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Modeling of the distributed systems allows us to represent the whole its functionality. The working system instance rarely fulfils the whole functionality represented by model; usually some parts of this functionality should be accessible periodically. The reporting system based on the Data Warehouse concept seams to be an intuitive example of the system that some of its functionality is required only from time to time. Analyzing an enterprise risk associated with the periodical change of the system functionality, we should consider not only the inaccessibility of the components (object) but also their functions (methods), and the impact of such a situation on the system functionality from the business point of view. In the paper we suggest that the risk attributes should be estimated from risk attributes specified at the requirements level (Use Case in the UML model) on the base of the information about the structure of the model (presented at other levels of the UML model). We argue that it is desirable to consider the influence of periodical changes in requirements on the enterprise risk estimation. Finally, the proposition of such a solution basing on the UML system model is presented.

Keywords: Risk assessing, software maintenance, UML, graph grammars.

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Authors: Manpreet Singh, Parvinder Singh Sandhu, Basant Raj Singh

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Hybridization refers to the crossing breeding of two plants. Coefficient of Parentage (COP) is used by the plant breeders to determine the genetic diversity across various varieties so as to incorporate the useful characters of the two varieties to develop a new crop variety with particular useful characters. Genetic Diversity is the prerequisite for any cultivar development program. Genetic Diversity depends upon the pedigree information of the varieties based on particular levels. Pedigree refers to the parents of a particular variety at various levels. This paper discusses the searching and analyses of different possible pairs of varieties selected on the basis of morphological characters, Climatic conditions and Nutrients so as to obtain the most optimal pair that can produce the required crossbreed variety. An algorithm was developed to determine the coefficient of parentage (COP) between the selected wheat varieties. Dummy values were used wherever actual data was not available.

Keywords: Coefficient of Parentage, Morphological characters, Pedigree, Genetic Diversity.

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Authors: Ilkka Niskanen, Jarmo Kalaoja, Julia Kantorovitch, Toni Piirainen

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Ontologies are broadly used in the context of networked home environments. With ontologies it is possible to define and store context information, as well as to model different kinds of physical environments. Ontologies are central to networked home environments as they carry the meaning. However, ontologies and the OWL language is complex. Several ontology visualization approaches have been developed to enhance the understanding of ontologies. The domain of networked home environments sets some special requirements for the ontology visualization approach. The visualization tool presented here, visualizes ontologies in a domain-specific way. It represents effectively the physical structures and spatial relationships of networked home environments. In addition, it provides extensive interaction possibilities for editing and manipulating the visualization. The tool shortens the gap from beginner to intermediate OWL ontology reader by visualizing instances in their actual locations and making OWL ontologies more interesting and concrete, and above all easier to comprehend.

Keywords: Ontologies, visualization, interaction.

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Authors: Paulo Fernando Silva Filho, Elcio Hideiti Shiguemori

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The selection of specific landmarks for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicles’ Visual Navigation systems based on Automatic Landmark Recognition has significant influence on the precision of the system’s estimated position. At the same time, manual selection of the landmarks does not guarantee a high recognition rate, which would also result on a poor precision. This work aims to develop an automatic landmark selection that will take the image of the flight area and identify the best landmarks to be recognized by the Visual Navigation Landmark Recognition System. The criterion to select a landmark is based on features detected by ORB or AKAZE and edges information on each possible landmark. Results have shown that disposition of possible landmarks is quite different from the human perception.

Keywords: Clustering, edges, feature points, landmark selection, X-Means.

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Authors: N. Paparisteidi, D. Rodamitou

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This article focuses on the skills development and path planning of students studying computer science at EPITECH: French private institute of higher education. We examine students’ points of view and experience in a blended learning model based on a skills development curriculum. The study is based on the collection of four main categories of data: semi-participant observation, distribution of questionnaires, interviews, and analysis of internal school databases. The findings seem to indicate that a skills-based program on active learning enables students to develop their learning strategies as well as their personal skills and to actively engage in the creation of their career path and contribute to providing additional information to curricula planners and decision-makers about learning design in higher education.

Keywords: Active learning, blended learning, higher education, skills development.

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Authors: Halle Bakhteeyar, Azadeh Maroufmashat, Abbas Maleki, Sourena Sattari Khavas

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In this paper, five options of Iran’s gas flare recovery have been compared via MCDM method. For developing the model, the weighing factor of each indicator an AHP method is used via the Expert-choice software. Several cases were considered in this analysis. They are defined where the priorities were defined always keeping one criterion in first position, while the priorities of the other criteria were defined by ordinal information defining the mutual relations of the criteria and the respective indicators. The results, show that amongst these cases, priority is obtained for CHP usage where availability indicator is highly weighted while the pipeline usage is obtained where environmental indicator highly weighted and the injection priority is obtained where economic indicator is highly weighted and also when the weighing factor of all the criteria are the same the Injection priority is obtained.

Keywords: Flare, Gas, Iran.

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Authors: Tahmina Akhter

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In the present work, we make a study of the repercussions of the pandemic generated by COVID-19 in the real estate market, this disease has affected almost all sectors of the economy across different countries in the world, including the real estate markets. This documentary research, basically focused on the years 2021 and 2022, as we seek to focus on the strongest time of the pandemic. We carried out the study trying to take into account the repercussions throughout the world and that is why the data we analyze take into account information from all possible continents. Particularly in the US, Europe and China, where the COVID-19 impact has been of such proportions that it has fundamentally affected the housing market for middle-class housing. In addition, the pandemic has posed risks to investments in this market, due to the fact that companies in the sector have generated losses in certain cases; in the Chinese case, Evergrande, one of the largest companies in the sector, fell into default.

Keywords: COVID-19, real estate market, statistics of COVID-19, Evergrande Real Estate.

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Authors: Ayman M. Mansour

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In this paper, we propose a multi-agent intelligent system that is used for monitoring the health conditions of elderly people. Monitoring the health condition of elderly people is a complex problem that involves different medical units and requires continuous monitoring. Such expert system is highly needed in rural areas because of inadequate number of available specialized physicians or nurses. Such monitoring must have autonomous interactions between these medical units in order to be effective. A multi-agent system is formed by a community of agents that exchange information and proactively help one another to achieve the goal of elderly monitoring. The agents in the developed system are equipped with intelligent decision maker that arms them with the rule-based reasoning capability that can assist the physicians in making decisions regarding the medical condition of elderly people.

Keywords: Fuzzy Logic, Inference system, Monitoring system, Multi-agent system.

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Authors: Rahmatollah Hooshmand, Mahdi Banejad

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One of the problems in fault diagnosis of transformer based on dissolved gas, is lack of matching the result of fault diagnosis of different standards with the real world. In this paper, the result of the different standards is analyzed using fuzzy and the result is compared with the empirical test. The comparison between the suggested method and existing methods indicate the capability of the suggested method in on-line fault diagnosis of the transformers. In addition, in some cases the existing standards are not able to diagnose the fault. In theses cases, the presented method has the potential of diagnosing the fault. The information of three transformers is used to the show the capability of the suggested method in diagnosing the fault. The results validate the capability of the presented method in fault diagnosis of the transformer.

Keywords: Fault Diagnosis of Transformer, Dissolved Gas, Fuzzy Logic.

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Authors: Javed Ahmed, M. N. Jafri, J. Ahmad, Muhammad I. Khan

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Real-time object tracking is a problem which involves extraction of critical information from complex and uncertain imagedata. In this paper, we present a comprehensive methodology to design an artificial neural network (ANN) for a real-time object tracking application. The object, which is tracked for the purpose of demonstration, is a specific airplane. However, the proposed ANN can be trained to track any other object of interest. The ANN has been simulated and tested on the training and testing datasets, as well as on a real-time streaming video. The tracking error is analyzed with post-regression analysis tool, which finds the correlation among the calculated coordinates and the correct coordinates of the object in the image. The encouraging results from the computer simulation and analysis show that the proposed ANN architecture is a good candidate solution to a real-time object tracking problem.

Keywords: Image processing, machine vision, neural networks, real-time object tracking.

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Authors: A. Evans, M. McKinley

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Knowledge management (KM) is generally considered to be a positive process in an organisation, facilitating opportunities to achieve competitive advantage via better quality information handling, compilation of expert know-how and rapid response to fluctuations in the business environment. The KM paradigm as portrayed in the literature informs the processes that can increase intangible assets so that corporate knowledge is preserved. However, in some instances, knowledge management exists in a universe of dynamic tension among the conflicting needs to respect privacy and intellectual property (IP), to guard against data theft, to protect national security and to stay within the laws. While the Knowledge Management literature focuses on the bright side of the paradigm, there is also a different side in which knowledge is distorted, suppressed or misappropriated due to personal or organisational motives (the paradox). This paper describes the ethical paradoxes that occur within the taxonomy and deontology of knowledge management and suggests that recognising both the promises and pitfalls of KM requires wisdom.

Keywords: business ethics, data, knowledge, knowledgemanagement, privacy, protection.

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Authors: Petra Heribanová, Jaroslav Polec, Michal Martinovič

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In this paper we propose a new content-weighted method for full reference (FR) video quality control using a region of interest (ROI) and wherein two-component weighted metrics for Deaf People Video Communication. In our approach, an image is partitioned into region of interest and into region "dry-as-dust", then region of interest is partitioned into two parts: edges and background (smooth regions), while the another methods (metrics) combined and weighted three or more parts as edges, edges errors, texture, smooth regions, blur, block distance etc. as we proposed. Using another idea that different image regions from deaf people video communication have different perceptual significance relative to quality. Intensity edges certainly contain considerable image information and are perceptually significant.

Keywords: Video quality assessment, weighted MSE.

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Authors: Hajer Rahali, Zied Hajaiej, Noureddine Ellouze

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The goal of speech parameterization is to extract the relevant information about what is being spoken from the audio signal. In speech recognition systems Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) and Relative Spectral Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (RASTA-MFCC) are the two main techniques used. It will be shown in this paper that it presents some modifications to the original MFCC method. In our work the effectiveness of proposed changes to MFCC called Modified Function Cepstral Coefficients (MODFCC) were tested and compared against the original MFCC and RASTA-MFCC features. The prosodic features such as jitter and shimmer are added to baseline spectral features. The above-mentioned techniques were tested with impulsive signals under various noisy conditions within AURORA databases.

Keywords: Auditory filter, impulsive noise, MFCC, prosodic features, RASTA filter.

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Authors: Khalil Shihab, Nida Al-Chalabi

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This article describes Uruk, the virtual museum of Iraq that we developed for visual exploration and retrieval of image collections. The system largely exploits the loosely-structured hierarchy of XML documents that provides a useful representation method to store semi-structured or unstructured data, which does not easily fit into existing database. The system offers users the capability to mine and manage the XML-based image collections through a web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI). Typically, at an interactive session with the system, the user can browse a visual structural summary of the XML database in order to select interesting elements. Using this intermediate result, queries combining structure and textual references can be composed and presented to the system. After query evaluation, the full set of answers is presented in a visual and structured way.

Keywords: Data-centric XML, graphical user interfaces, information retrieval, case-based reasoning, fuzzy sets

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Authors: Tomy Prihananto, Damar Apri Sudarmadi

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Indonesia recognizes the right to privacy as a human right. Indonesia provides legal protection against data management activities because the protection of personal data is a part of human rights. This paper aims to describe the arrangement of data management and data management in Indonesia. This paper is a descriptive research with qualitative approach and collecting data from literature study. Results of this paper are comprehensive arrangement of data that have been set up as a technical requirement of data protection by encryption methods. Arrangements on encryption and protection of personal data are mutually reinforcing arrangements in the protection of personal data. Indonesia has two important and immediately enacted laws that provide protection for the privacy of information that is part of human rights.

Keywords: Indonesia, protection, personal data, privacy, human rights, encryption.

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Authors: S. S. Rwanga, J. M. Ndambuki, Y. Woyessa

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Development of a groundwater management model is an important step in the exploitation and management of any groundwater aquifer as it assists in the long-term sustainable planning of the resource. The current study was conducted in Central Limpopo province of South Africa with the overall objective of determining how much water can be withdrawn from the aquifer without producing nonreversible impacts on the groundwater quantity, hence developing a model which can sustainably protect the aquifer. The development was done through the computation of Groundwater Sustainability Index (GSI). Values of GSI close to unity and above indicated overexploitation. In this study, an index of 0.8 was considered as overexploitation. The results indicated that there is potential for higher abstraction rates compared to the current abstraction rates. GSI approach can be used in the management of groundwater aquifer to sustainably develop the resource and also provides water managers and policy makers with fundamental information on where future water developments can be carried out.

Keywords: Development, groundwater, groundwater sustainability index, model.

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Authors: F. Saptouw

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This paper briefly reviews the range of curatorial interventions made to preserve and display the Timbuktu Manuscripts. The government of South Africa and Mali collaborated to preserve the manuscripts, and brief notes will be presented about the value of archives in those specific spaces. The research initiatives of the Tombouctou Manuscripts Project, based at the University of Cape Town, feature prominently in the text. A brief overview of the history of the archive will be presented and its preservation as a key turning point in curating the intellectual history of the continent. ­­­The strategies of preservation, curation, publication and digitization are presented as complimentary interventions. Each materialization of the manuscripts contributes something significant; the complexity of the contribution is dependent primarily on the format of presentation. This integrated reading of the manuscripts is presented as a means to gain a more nuanced understanding of the past, which greatly surpasses how much information would be gleaned from relying on a single media format.

Keywords: Archive, curatorship, cultural heritage, museum practice, Timbuktu manuscripts.

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Authors: Amit Kamra, V. K. Jain, Pragya

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Mammography is widely used technique for breast cancer screening. There are various other techniques for breast cancer screening but mammography is the most reliable and effective technique. The images obtained through mammography are of low contrast which causes problem for the radiologists to interpret. Hence, a high quality image is mandatory for the processing of the image for extracting any kind of information from it. Many contrast enhancement algorithms have been developed over the years. In the present work, an efficient morphology based technique is proposed for contrast enhancement of masses in mammographic images. The proposed method is based on Multiscale Morphology and it takes into consideration the scale of the structuring element. The proposed method is compared with other stateof- the-art techniques. The experimental results show that the proposed method is better both qualitatively and quantitatively than the other standard contrast enhancement techniques.

Keywords: Enhancement, mammography, multi-scale, mathematical morphology.

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Authors: Ganesh. Vulasala, Sivanagaraju. Sirigiri, Ramana. Thiruveedula

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This paper presents an efficient approach to feeder reconfiguration for power loss reduction and voltage profile imprvement in unbalanced radial distribution systems (URDS). In this paper Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used to obtain solution for reconfiguration of radial distribution systems to minimize the losses. A forward and backward algorithm is used to calculate load flows in unbalanced distribution systems. By simulating the survival of the fittest among the strings, the optimum string is searched by randomized information exchange between strings by performing crossover and mutation. Results have shown that proposed algorithm has advantages over previous algorithms The proposed method is effectively tested on 19 node and 25 node unbalanced radial distribution systems.

Keywords: Distribution system, Load flows, Reconfiguration, Genetic Algorithm.

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Authors: Cory Cannon

Abstract:

In the current era of shrinking budgets, increasing amounts of worldwide natural disasters, state and non-state initiated conflicts within the world. The response has involved multinational coalitions to conduct effective military operations. The need for a Knowledge Management strategy when developing these coalitions have been overlooked in the past and the need for developing these accords early on will save time and help shape the way information and knowledge are transferred from the staff and action officers of the coalition to the decision-makers in order to make timely decisions within an ever changing environment. The aim of this paper is to show how Knowledge Management has developed within the United States military and how the transformation of working within a Combined/ Joint environment in both the Middle East and the Far East has improved relations between members of the coalitions as well as being more effective as a military force. These same principles could be applied to multinational corporations when dealing with cultures and decision-making processes.

Keywords: Civil-military, culture, joint environment, knowledge management.

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Authors: D. R. Ambika, K. R. Radhika, D. Seshachalam

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Unconstrained authentication is an important component for personal automated systems and human-computer interfaces. Existing solutions mostly use face as the primary object of analysis. The performance of face-based systems is largely determined by the extent of deformation caused in the facial region and amount of useful information available in occluded face images. Periocular region is a useful portion of face with discriminative ability coupled with resistance to deformation. A reliable portion of periocular area is available for occluded images. The present work demonstrates that joint representation of periocular texture and periocular structure provides an effective expression and poses invariant representation. The proposed methodology provides an effective and compact description of periocular texture and shape. The method is tested over four benchmark datasets exhibiting varied acquisition conditions.

Keywords: Periocular authentication, Zernike moments, LBPV, shape and texture fusion.

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Authors: Patrick T. I. Lam, Wenjing Yang

Abstract:

A smart city project embraces benefits and costs which can be classified under direct and indirect categories. Externalities come into the picture, but they are often difficult to quantify. Despite this barrier, policy makers need to carry out cost-benefit analysis to justify the huge investments needed to make a city smart. The recent trend is towards the engagement of the private sector to utilize their resources and expertise, especially in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) areas, where innovations blossom. This study focuses on the identification of costs (on a life cycle basis) and benefits associated with smart city project developments based on a comprehensive literature review and case studies, where public-private partnerships would warrant consideration, the related costs and benefits are highlighted. The findings will be useful for policy makers of cities.

Keywords: Costs and benefits, identification, public-private partnerships, smart city projects.

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Authors: Roxana Mendoza Huaitalla, Eva Gallmann, Kun Zheng, Xuejun Liu, Eberhard Hartung

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Porcine production in China represents approximately the 50% of the worldwide pig production. Information about pig husbandry characteristics in China and manure properties from sows to fatteners in intensive pig farms are not broadly available for scientific studies as it is a time consuming, expensive task and highly inaccessible. This study provides a report about solid pig manures (28% dry matter) in a commercial pig farm located in the peri-urban area of Beijing as well as a general overview of the current pig husbandry techniques including pig breeds, feeds, diseases, housing as well as pig manure and wastewater disposal. The main results are intended to serve as a literature source for young scientists in order to understand the main composition of pig manures as well as to identify the husbandry techniques applied in an intensive pig farm in Beijing.

Keywords: China, heavy metals, intensive pig farming, manure, nutrients, pig growing stages.

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