Search results for: Internal Rate of Return
830 Fabrication and Characterization of CdS Nanoparticles Annealed by using Different Radiations
Authors: Aneeqa Sabah, Saadat Anwar Siddiqi, Salamat Ali
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The systematic manipulations of shapes and sizes of inorganic compounds greatly benefit the various application fields including optics, magnetic, electronics, catalysis and medicine. However shape control has been much more difficult to achieve. Hence exploration of novel method for the preparation of differently shaped nanoparticles is challenging research area. II-VI group of semiconductor cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanostructure with different morphologies (such as, acicular like, mesoporous, spherical shapes) and of crystallite sizes vary from 11 to 16 nm were successfully synthesized by chemical aqueous precipitation of Cd2+ ions with homogeneously released S2- ions from decomposition of cadmium sulphate (CdSO4) and thioacetamide (CH3CSNH2) by annealing at different radiations (microwave, ultrasonic and sunlight) with matter and systematic research has been done for various factors affecting the controlled growth rate of CdS nanoparticles. The obtained nanomaterials have been characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravometric (DSC-TGA) analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The result indicates that on increasing the reaction time particle size increases but on increasing the molar ratios grain size decreases.Keywords: CdS nanoparticles, Morphology, Oxidation, Radiations
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2965829 Fast Intra Prediction Algorithm for H.264/AVC Based on Quadratic and Gradient Model
Authors: A. Elyousfi, A. Tamtaoui, E. Bouyakhf
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The H.264/AVC standard uses an intra prediction, 9 directional modes for 4x4 luma blocks and 8x8 luma blocks, 4 directional modes for 16x16 macroblock and 8x8 chroma blocks, respectively. It means that, for a macroblock, it has to perform 736 different RDO calculation before a best RDO modes is determined. With this Multiple intra-mode prediction, intra coding of H.264/AVC offers a considerably higher improvement in coding efficiency compared to other compression standards, but computational complexity is increased significantly. This paper presents a fast intra prediction algorithm for H.264/AVC intra prediction based a characteristic of homogeneity information. In this study, the gradient prediction method used to predict the homogeneous area and the quadratic prediction function used to predict the nonhomogeneous area. Based on the correlation between the homogeneity and block size, the smaller block is predicted by gradient prediction and quadratic prediction, so the bigger block is predicted by gradient prediction. Experimental results are presented to show that the proposed method reduce the complexity by up to 76.07% maintaining the similar PSNR quality with about 1.94%bit rate increase in average.Keywords: Intra prediction, H.264/AVC, video coding, encodercomplexity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1870828 Effect of Fuel Spray Angle on Soot Formation in Turbulent Spray Flames
Authors: K. Bashirnezhad, M. Moghiman, M. Javadi Amoli, F. Tofighi, S. Zabetnia
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Results are presented from a combined experimental and modeling study undertaken to understand the effect of fuel spray angle on soot production in turbulent liquid spray flames. The experimental work was conducted in a cylindrical laboratory furnace at fuel spray cone angle of 30º, 45º and 60º. Soot concentrations inside the combustor are measured by filter paper technique. The soot concentration is modeled by using the soot particle number density and the mass density based acetylene concentrations. Soot oxidation occurred by both hydroxide radicals and oxygen molecules. The comparison of calculated results against experimental measurements shows good agreement. Both the numerical and experimental results show that the peak value of soot and its location in the furnace depend on fuel spray cone angle. An increase in spray angle enhances the evaporating rate and peak temperature near the nozzle. Although peak soot concentration increase with enhance of fuel spray angle but soot emission from the furnace decreases.Keywords: Soot, spray angle, turbulent flames, liquid fuel.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1870827 Investigation on Performance of Change Point Algorithm in Time Series Dynamical Regimes and Effect of Data Characteristics
Authors: Farhad Asadi, Mohammad Javad Mollakazemi
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In this paper, Bayesian online inference in models of data series are constructed by change-points algorithm, which separated the observed time series into independent series and study the change and variation of the regime of the data with related statistical characteristics. variation of statistical characteristics of time series data often represent separated phenomena in the some dynamical system, like a change in state of brain dynamical reflected in EEG signal data measurement or a change in important regime of data in many dynamical system. In this paper, prediction algorithm for studying change point location in some time series data is simulated. It is verified that pattern of proposed distribution of data has important factor on simpler and smother fluctuation of hazard rate parameter and also for better identification of change point locations. Finally, the conditions of how the time series distribution effect on factors in this approach are explained and validated with different time series databases for some dynamical system.
Keywords: Time series, fluctuation in statistical characteristics, optimal learning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1798826 Development of Mechanisms of Value Creation and Risk Management Organization in the Conditions of Transformation of the Economy of Russia
Authors: Mikhail V. Khachaturyan, Inga A. Koryagina, Eugenia V. Klicheva
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In modern conditions, scientific judgment of problems in developing mechanisms of value creation and risk management acquires special relevance. Formation of economic knowledge has resulted in the constant analysis of consumer behavior for all players from national and world markets. Effective mechanisms development of the demand analysis, crucial for consumer's characteristics of future production, and the risks connected with the development of this production are the main objectives of control systems in modern conditions. The modern period of economic development is characterized by a high level of globalization of business and rigidity of competition. At the same time, the considerable share of new products and services costs has a non-material intellectual nature. The most successful in Russia is the contemporary development of small innovative firms. Such firms, through their unique technologies and new approaches to process management, which form the basis of their intellectual capital, can show flexibility and succeed in the market. As a rule, such enterprises should have very variable structure excluding the tough scheme of submission and demanding essentially new incentives for inclusion of personnel in innovative activity. Realization of similar structures, as well as a new approach to management, can be constructed based on value-oriented management which is directed to gradual change of consciousness of personnel and formation from groups of adherents included in the solution of the general innovative tasks. At the same time, valuable changes can gradually capture not only innovative firm staff, but also the structure of its corporate partners. Introduction of new technologies is the significant factor contributing to the development of new valuable imperatives and acceleration of the changing values systems of the organization. It relates to the fact that new technologies change the internal environment of the organization in a way that the old system of values becomes inefficient in new conditions. Introduction of new technologies often demands change in the structure of employee’s interaction and training in their new principles of work. During the introduction of new technologies and the accompanying change in the value system, the structure of the management of the values of the organization is changing. This is due to the need to attract more staff to justify and consolidate the new value system and bring their view into the motivational potential of the new value system of the organization.
Keywords: Value, risk, creation, problems, organization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 968825 The Optimization of an Intelligent Traffic Congestion Level Classification from Motorists- Judgments on Vehicle's Moving Patterns
Authors: Thammasak Thianniwet, Satidchoke Phosaard, Wasan Pattara-Atikom
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We proposed a technique to identify road traffic congestion levels from velocity of mobile sensors with high accuracy and consistent with motorists- judgments. The data collection utilized a GPS device, a webcam, and an opinion survey. Human perceptions were used to rate the traffic congestion levels into three levels: light, heavy, and jam. Then the ratings and velocity were fed into a decision tree learning model (J48). We successfully extracted vehicle movement patterns to feed into the learning model using a sliding windows technique. The parameters capturing the vehicle moving patterns and the windows size were heuristically optimized. The model achieved accuracy as high as 99.68%. By implementing the model on the existing traffic report systems, the reports will cover comprehensive areas. The proposed method can be applied to any parts of the world.Keywords: intelligent transportation system (ITS), traffic congestion level, human judgment, decision tree (J48), geographic positioning system (GPS).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1809824 Hybrid Anomaly Detection Using Decision Tree and Support Vector Machine
Authors: Elham Serkani, Hossein Gharaee Garakani, Naser Mohammadzadeh, Elaheh Vaezpour
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Intrusion detection systems (IDS) are the main components of network security. These systems analyze the network events for intrusion detection. The design of an IDS is through the training of normal traffic data or attack. The methods of machine learning are the best ways to design IDSs. In the method presented in this article, the pruning algorithm of C5.0 decision tree is being used to reduce the features of traffic data used and training IDS by the least square vector algorithm (LS-SVM). Then, the remaining features are arranged according to the predictor importance criterion. The least important features are eliminated in the order. The remaining features of this stage, which have created the highest level of accuracy in LS-SVM, are selected as the final features. The features obtained, compared to other similar articles which have examined the selected features in the least squared support vector machine model, are better in the accuracy, true positive rate, and false positive. The results are tested by the UNSW-NB15 dataset.
Keywords: Intrusion detection system, decision tree, support vector machine, feature selection.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1221823 Preparation and Investigation of Photocatalytic Properties of ZnO Nanocrystals: Effect of Operational Parameters and Kinetic Study
Authors: N. Daneshvar, S. Aber, M. S. Seyed Dorraji, A. R. Khataee, M. H. Rasoulifard
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ZnO nanocrystals with mean diameter size 14 nm have been prepared by precipitation method, and examined as photocatalyst for the UV-induced degradation of insecticide diazinon as deputy of organic pollutant in aqueous solution. The effects of various parameters, such as illumination time, the amount of photocatalyst, initial pH values and initial concentration of insecticide on the photocatalytic degradation diazinon were investigated to find desired conditions. In this case, the desired parameters were also tested for the treatment of real water containing the insecticide. Photodegradation efficiency of diazinon was compared between commercial and prepared ZnO nanocrystals. The results indicated that UV/ZnO process applying prepared nanocrystalline ZnO offered electrical energy efficiency and quantum yield better than commercial ZnO. The present study, on the base of Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism, illustrated a pseudo first-order kinetic model with rate constant of surface reaction equal to 0.209 mg l-1 min-1 and adsorption equilibrium constant of 0.124 l mg-1.Keywords: Zinc oxide nanopowder, Electricity consumption, Quantum yield, Nanoparticles, Photodegradation, Kinetic model, Insecticide.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3546822 Synthesis of Peptide Amides using Sol-Gel Immobilized Alcalase in Batch and Continuous Reaction System
Authors: L. N. Corîci, A. E. Frissen, D -J. Van Zoelen, I. F. Eggen, F. Peter, C. M. Davidescu, C. G. Boeriu
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Two commercial proteases from Bacillus licheniformis (Alcalase 2.4 L FG and Alcalase 2.5 L, Type DX) were screened for the production of Z-Ala-Phe-NH2 in batch reaction. Alcalase 2.4 L FG was the most efficient enzyme for the C-terminal amidation of Z-Ala-Phe-OMe using ammonium carbamate as ammonium source. Immobilization of protease has been achieved by the sol-gel method, using dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMOS) and tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) as precursors (unpublished results). In batch production, about 95% of Z-Ala-Phe-NH2 was obtained at 30°C after 24 hours of incubation. Reproducibility of different batches of commercial Alcalase 2.4 L FG preparations was also investigated by evaluating the amidation activity and the entrapment yields in the case of immobilization. A packed-bed reactor (0.68 cm ID, 15.0 cm long) was operated successfully for the continuous synthesis of peptide amides. The immobilized enzyme retained the initial activity over 10 cycles of repeated use in continuous reactor at ambient temperature. At 0.75 mL/min flow rate of the substrate mixture, the total conversion of Z-Ala-Phe-OMe was achieved after 5 hours of substrate recycling. The product contained about 90% peptide amide and 10% hydrolysis byproduct.Keywords: packed-bed reactor, peptide amide, protease, sol-gel immobilization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2680821 An Analysis of Dynamic Economic Dispatch Using Search Space Reduction Based Gravitational Search Algorithm
Authors: K. C. Meher, R. K. Swain, C. K. Chanda
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This paper presents the performance analysis of dynamic search space reduction (DSR) based gravitational search algorithm (GSA) to solve dynamic economic dispatch of thermal generating units with valve point effects. Dynamic economic dispatch basically dictates the best setting of generator units with anticipated load demand over a definite period of time. In this paper, the presented technique is considered that deals an inequality constraints treatment mechanism known as DSR strategy to accelerate the optimization process. The presented method is demonstrated through five-unit test systems to verify its effectiveness and robustness. The simulation results are compared with other existing evolutionary methods reported in the literature. It is intuited from the comparison that the fuel cost and other performances of the presented approach yield fruitful results with marginal value of simulation time.Keywords: Dynamic economic dispatch, dynamic search space reduction strategy, gravitational search algorithm, ramp rate limits, valve-point effects.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1478820 Modified Fuzzy ARTMAP and Supervised Fuzzy ART: Comparative Study with Multispectral Classification
Authors: F.Alilat, S.Loumi, H.Merrad, B.Sansal
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In this article a modification of the algorithm of the fuzzy ART network, aiming at returning it supervised is carried out. It consists of the search for the comparison, training and vigilance parameters giving the minimum quadratic distances between the output of the training base and those obtained by the network. The same process is applied for the determination of the parameters of the fuzzy ARTMAP giving the most powerful network. The modification consist in making learn the fuzzy ARTMAP a base of examples not only once as it is of use, but as many time as its architecture is in evolution or than the objective error is not reached . In this way, we don-t worry about the values to impose on the eight (08) parameters of the network. To evaluate each one of these three networks modified, a comparison of their performances is carried out. As application we carried out a classification of the image of Algiers-s bay taken by SPOT XS. We use as criterion of evaluation the training duration, the mean square error (MSE) in step control and the rate of good classification per class. The results of this study presented as curves, tables and images show that modified fuzzy ARTMAP presents the best compromise quality/computing time.
Keywords: Neural Networks, fuzzy ART, fuzzy ARTMAP, Remote sensing, multispectral Classification.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1347819 An Image Segmentation Algorithm for Gradient Target Based on Mean-Shift and Dictionary Learning
Authors: Yanwen Li, Shuguo Xie
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In electromagnetic imaging, because of the diffraction limited system, the pixel values could change slowly near the edge of the image targets and they also change with the location in the same target. Using traditional digital image segmentation methods to segment electromagnetic gradient images could result in lots of errors because of this change in pixel values. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel image segmentation and extraction algorithm based on Mean-Shift and dictionary learning. Firstly, the preliminary segmentation results from adaptive bandwidth Mean-Shift algorithm are expanded, merged and extracted. Then the overlap rate of the extracted image block is detected before determining a segmentation region with a single complete target. Last, the gradient edge of the extracted targets is recovered and reconstructed by using a dictionary-learning algorithm, while the final segmentation results are obtained which are very close to the gradient target in the original image. Both the experimental results and the simulated results show that the segmentation results are very accurate. The Dice coefficients are improved by 70% to 80% compared with the Mean-Shift only method.
Keywords: Gradient image, segmentation and extract, mean-shift algorithm, dictionary learning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 961818 Illuminating the Policies Affecting Energy Security in Malaysia’s Electricity Sector
Authors: Hussain Ali Bekhet, Endang Jati Mat Sahid
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For the past few decades, the Malaysian economy has expanded at an impressive pace, whilst, the Malaysian population has registered a relatively high growth rate. These factors had driven the growth of final energy demand. The ballooning energy demand coupled with the country’s limited indigenous energy resources have resulted in an increased of the country’s net import. Therefore, acknowledging the precarious position of the country’s energy self-sufficiency, this study has identified three main concerns regarding energy security, namely; over-dependence on fossil fuel, increasing energy import dependency, and increasing energy consumption per capita. This paper discusses the recent energy demand and supply trends, highlights the policies that are affecting energy security in Malaysia and suggests strategic options towards achieving energy security. The paper suggested that diversifying energy sources, reducing carbon content of energy, efficient utilization of energy and facilitating low-carbon industries could further enhance the effectiveness of the measures as the introduction of policies and initiatives will be more holistic.Keywords: Energy security, electricity, energy policy, renewable energy, energy efficiency, Malaysia.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1817817 ROSA/LSTF Separate Effect Test on Natural Circulation under High Core Power Condition of Pressurized Water Reactor
Authors: Takeshi Takeda
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A separate effect test (SET) simulated natural circulation (NC) under high core power condition of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) utilizing the ROSA/LSTF (rig of safety assessment/large-scale test facility). The LSTF test results clarified the relationship between the primary loop mass inventory and the primary loop mass flow rate being dependent on the NC mode at a constant core power of 8% of the volumetric-scaled PWR nominal power. When the core power was 9% or more during reflux condensation, large-amplitude level oscillation in a form of slow fill and dump occurred in steam generator (SG) U-tubes. At 11% core power during reflux condensation, intermittent rise took place in the cladding surface temperature of simulated fuel rods. The RELAP5/MOD3.3 code indicated the insufficient prediction of the SG U-tube liquid level behavior during reflux condensation.Keywords: LSTF, natural circulation, core power, RELAP5.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 816816 Anodic Growth of Highly Ordered Titanium Oxide Nanotube Arrays: Effects of Critical Anodization Factors on their Photocatalytic Activity
Authors: Chin-Jung Lin, Yi-Hsien Yu, Szu-Ying Chen, Ya-Hsuan Liou
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Highly ordered arrays of TiO2 nanotubes (TiNTs) were grown vertically on Ti foil by electrochemical anodization. We controlled the lengths of these TiNTs from 2.4 to 26.8 ¶üÇóμm while varying the water contents (1, 3, and 6 wt%) of the electrolyte in ethylene glycol in the presence of 0.5 wt% NH4F with anodization for various applied voltages (20–80 V), periods (10–240 min) and temperatures (10–30 oC). For vertically aligned TiNT arrays, not only the increase in their tube lengths, but also their geometric (wall thickness and surface roughness) and crystalline structure lead to a significant influence on photocatalytic activity. The length optimization for methylene blue (MB) photodegradation was 18 μm. Further extending the TiNT length yielded lower photocatalytic activity presumably related to the limited MB diffusion and light-penetration depth into the TiNT arrays. The results indicated that a maximum MB photodegradation rate was obtained for the discrete anatase TiO2 nanotubes with thick and rough walls.
Keywords: Anodic oxidation, nanotube, photocatalytic, TiO2.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2657815 The Effect of Ambient Occlusion Shading on Perception of Sign Language Animations
Authors: Nicoletta Adamo-Villani, Joe Kasenga, Tiffany Jen, Bryan Colbourn
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The goal of the study reported in the paper was to determine whether Ambient Occlusion Shading (AOS) has a significant effect on users' perception of American Sign Language (ASL) finger spelling animations. Seventy-one (71) subjects participated in the study; all subjects were fluent in ASL. The participants were asked to watch forty (40) sign language animation clips representing twenty (20) finger spelled words. Twenty (20) clips did not show ambient occlusion, whereas the other twenty (20) were rendered using ambient occlusion shading. After viewing each animation, subjects were asked to type the word being finger-spelled and rate its legibility. Findings show that the presence of AOS had a significant effect on the subjects perception of the signed words. Subjects were able to recognize the animated words rendered with AOS with higher level of accuracy, and the legibility ratings of the animations showing AOS were consistently higher across subjects.Keywords: Sign Language, Animation, Ambient Occlusion Shading, Deaf Education
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1670814 Fast Search for MPEG Video Clips Using Adjacent Pixel Intensity Difference Quantization Histogram Feature
Authors: Feifei Lee, Qiu Chen, Koji Kotani, Tadahiro Ohmi
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In this paper, we propose a novel fast search algorithm for short MPEG video clips from video database. This algorithm is based on the adjacent pixel intensity difference quantization (APIDQ) algorithm, which had been reliably applied to human face recognition previously. An APIDQ histogram is utilized as the feature vector of the frame image. Instead of fully decompressed video frames, partially decoded data, namely DC images are utilized. Combined with active search [4], a temporal pruning algorithm, fast and robust video search can be realized. The proposed search algorithm has been evaluated by 6 hours of video to search for given 200 MPEG video clips which each length is 15 seconds. Experimental results show the proposed algorithm can detect the similar video clip in merely 80ms, and Equal Error Rate (ERR) of 3 % is achieved, which is more accurately and robust than conventional fast video search algorithm.
Keywords: Fast search, adjacent pixel intensity difference quantization (APIDQ), DC image, histogram feature.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1563813 Mixed Convection in a 2D-channel with a Co- Flowing Fluid Injection: Influence of the Jet Position
Authors: Ameni Mokni, Hatem Mhiri, Georges Le Palec, Philippe Bournot
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Numerical study of a plane jet occurring in a vertical heated channel is carried out. The aim is to explore the influence of the forced flow, issued from a flat nozzle located in the entry section of a channel, on the up-going fluid along the channel walls. The Reynolds number based on the nozzle width and the jet velocity ranges between 3 103 and 2.104; whereas, the Grashof number based on the channel length and the wall temperature difference is 2.57 1010. Computations are established for a symmetrically heated channel and various nozzle positions. The system of governing equations is solved with a finite volumes method. The obtained results show that the jet-wall interactions activate the heat transfer, the position variation modifies the heat transfer especially for low Reynolds numbers: the heat transfer is enhanced for the adjacent wall; however it is decreased for the opposite one. The numerical velocity and temperature fields are post-processed to compute the quantities of engineering interest such as the induced mass flow rate, and the Nusselt number along the plates.Keywords: Channel, Heat flux, Jet, Mixed convection.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1744812 Improved Root-Mean-Square-Gain-Combining for SIMO Channels
Authors: Rania Minkara, Jean-Pierre Dubois
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The major problem that wireless communication systems undergo is multipath fading caused by scattering of the transmitted signal. However, we can treat multipath propagation as multiple channels between the transmitter and receiver to improve the signal-to-scattering-noise ratio. While using Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) systems, the diversity receivers extract multiple signal branches or copies of the same signal received from different channels and apply gain combining schemes such as Root Mean Square Gain Combining (RMSGC). RMSGC asymptotically yields an identical performance to that of the theoretically optimal Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) for values of mean Signal-to- Noise-Ratio (SNR) above a certain threshold value without the need for SNR estimation. This paper introduces an improvement of RMSGC using two different issues. We found that post-detection and de-noising the received signals improve the performance of RMSGC and lower the threshold SNR.Keywords: Bit error rate, de-noising, pre-detection, root-meansquare gain combining, single-input multiple-output channels.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1327811 The Impact of Change Management on Employee Satisfaction and Engagement
Authors: Ju-Chun Chien
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The main purpose of this study was to figure out employees’ attitudes toward the new performance appraisal program and to examine whether three different types of appraisal processes differentially affected job satisfaction and employee engagement. The second purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between performance appraisal reform, job satisfaction, and employee engagement. A large polyester and textile corporation had 2046 non-operational employees in February 2014. The valid participants were 1474 (72.04%) in this study. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, one-way MANOVA, Pearson correlation, Content Validity Index, the exploratory factor analysis, and reliability analysis. The general results showed that employees who received the new performance appraisal program evaluated the program more positively and showed more job satisfaction than those who did not. In particular, the implementation effects of this new performance appraisal program were most highly rated by employees who used the KPI to rate their job performance. Moreover, employees’ attitudes toward the new performance appraisal program were positively related to their job satisfaction and employee engagement. Lastly, most employees regarded themselves as engaged workers. To sum up, the HR department of this company has made an effective contribution to performance appraisal reforms.Keywords: Change management, Employee engagement, Job satisfaction, Performance appraisal reform.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4155810 Hydrothermal Treatment for Production of Aqueous Co-Product and Efficient Oil Extraction from Microalgae
Authors: Manatchanok Tantiphiphatthana, Lin Peng, Rujira Jitrwung, Kunio Yoshikawa
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Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a technique for obtaining clean biofuel from biomass in the presence of heat and pressure in an aqueous medium which leads to a decomposition of this biomass to the formation of various products. A role of operating conditions is essential for the bio-oil and other products’ yield and also quality of the products. The effects of these parameters were investigated in regards to the composition and yield of the products. Chlorellaceae microalgae were tested under different HTL conditions to clarify suitable conditions for extracting bio-oil together with value-added co-products. Firstly, different microalgae loading rates (5-30%) were tested and found that this parameter has not much significant to product yield. Therefore, 10% microalgae loading rate was selected as a proper economical solution for conditioned schedule at 250oC and 30 min-reaction time. Next, a range of temperature (210-290oC) was applied to verify the effects of each parameter by keeping the reaction time constant at 30 min. The results showed no linkage with the increase of the reaction temperature and some reactions occurred that lead to different product yields. Moreover, some nutrients found in the aqueous product are possible to be utilized for nutrient recovery.
Keywords: Bio-oil, Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Microalgae, Aqueous co-product.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2090809 Application of Company Financial Crisis Early Warning Model- Use of “Financial Reference Database“
Authors: Chiung-ying Lee, Chia-hua Chang
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In July 1, 2007, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) on market observation post system (MOPS) adds a new "Financial reference database" for investors to do investment reference. This database as a warning to public offering companies listed on the public financial information and it original within eight targets. In this paper, this database provided by the indicators for the application of company financial crisis early warning model verify that the database provided by the indicator forecast for the financial crisis, whether or not companies have a high accuracy rate as opposed to domestic and foreign scholars have positive results. There is use of Logistic Regression Model application of the financial early warning model, in which no joined back-conditions is the first model, joined it in is the second model, has been taken occurred in the financial crisis of companies to research samples and then business took place before the financial crisis point with T-1 and T-2 sample data to do positive analysis. The results show that this database provided the debt ratio and net per share for the best forecast variables.Keywords: Financial reference database, Financial early warning model, Logistic Regression.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1414808 A Systematic Approach for Identifying Turning Center Capabilities with Vertical Machining Center in Milling Operation
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Conventional machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, in which a collection of material-working processes utilizing power-driven machine tools are used to remove undesired material to achieve a desired geometry. This paper presents an approach for comparison between turning center and vertical machining center by optimization of cutting parameters at cylindrical workpieces leading to minimum surface roughness by using taguchi methodology. Aluminum alloy was taken to conduct experiments due to its unique high strength-weight ratio that is maintained at elevated temperatures and their exceptional corrosion resistance. During testing, the effects of the cutting parameters on the surface roughness were investigated. Additionally, by using taguchi methodology for each of the cutting parameters (spindle speed, depth of cut, insert diameter, and feed rate) minimum surface roughness for the process of turn-milling was determined according to the cutting parameters. A confirmation experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of taguchi method.
Keywords: Surface roughness, taguchi parameter design, turning center, turn-milling operations, vertical machining center.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2513807 Optimal Power Allocation for the Proposed Asymmetric Turbo Code for 3G Systems
Authors: K. Ramasamy, B. Balamuralithara, Mohammad Umar Siddiqi
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We proposed a new class of asymmetric turbo encoder for 3G systems that performs well in both “water fall" and “error floor" regions in [7]. In this paper, a modified (optimal) power allocation scheme for the different bits of new class of asymmetric turbo encoder has been investigated to enhance the performance. The simulation results and performance bound for proposed asymmetric turbo code with modified Unequal Power Allocation (UPA) scheme for the frame length, N=400, code rate, r=1/3 with Log-MAP decoder over Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel are obtained and compared with the system with typical UPA and without UPA. The performance tests are extended over AWGN channel for different frame size to verify the possibility of implementation of the modified UPA scheme for the proposed asymmetric turbo code. From the performance results, it is observed that the proposed asymmetric turbo code with modified UPA performs better than the system without UPA and with typical UPA and it provides a coding gain of 0.4 to 0.52dB.
Keywords: Asymmetric turbo code, Generator polynomial, Interleaver, UPA, WCDMA, cdma2000.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1875806 Packet Losses Interpretation in Mobile Internet
Authors: Hossam el-ddin Mostafa, Pavel Čičak
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The mobile users with Laptops need to have an efficient access to i.e. their home personal data or to the Internet from any place in the world, regardless of their location or point of attachment, especially while roaming outside the home subnet. An efficient interpretation of packet losses problem that is encountered from this roaming is to the centric of all aspects in this work, to be over-highlighted. The main previous works, such as BER-systems, Amigos, and ns-2 implementation that are considered to be in conjunction with that problem under study are reviewed and discussed. Their drawbacks and limitations, of stopping only at monitoring, and not to provide an actual solution for eliminating or even restricting these losses, are mentioned. Besides that, the framework around which we built a Triple-R sequence as a costeffective solution to eliminate the packet losses and bridge the gap between subnets, an area that until now has been largely neglected, is presented. The results show that, in addition to the high bit error rate of wireless mobile networks, mainly the low efficiency of mobile-IP registration procedure is a direct cause of these packet losses. Furthermore, the output of packet losses interpretation resulted an illustrated triangle of the registration process. This triangle should be further researched and analyzed in our future work.Keywords: Amigos, BER-systems, ns-2 implementation, packetlosses, registration process, roaming.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1457805 Multi-Wavelength Q-Switched Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser with Photonic Crystal Fiber and Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
Authors: Zian Cheak Tiu, Harith Ahmad, Sulaiman Wadi Harun
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A simple multi-wavelength passively Q-switched Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) is demonstrated using low cost multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) based saturable absorber (SA), which is prepared using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a host polymer. The multi-wavelength operation is achieved based on nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) effect by incorporating 50 m long photonic crystal fiber (PCF) in the ring cavity. The EDFL produces a stable multi-wavelength comb spectrum for more than 14 lines with a fixed spacing of 0.48 nm. The laser also demonstrates a stable pulse train with the repetition rate increases from 14.9 kHz to 25.4 kHz as the pump power increases from the threshold power of 69.0 mW to the maximum pump power of 133.8 mW. The minimum pulse width of 4.4 μs was obtained at the maximum pump power of 133.8 mW while the highest energy of 0.74 nJ was obtained at pump power of 69.0 mW.
Keywords: Multi-wavelength, Q-switched, multi-wall carbon nanotube, photonic crystal fiber.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2478804 Effect of Single Overload Ratio and Stress Ratio on Fatigue Crack Growth
Authors: M. Benachour, N. Benachour, M. Benguediab
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In this investigation variation of cyclic loading effect on fatigue crack growth is the studied. This study is performed on 2024 T351 and 7050-T74 aluminum alloys, used in aeronautical structures. The propagation model used in this study is NASGRO model. In constant amplitude loading (CA), effect of stress ratio has been investigated. Fatigue life and fatigue crack growth rate were affected by this factor. Results showed an increasing in fatigue crack growth rates (FCGRs) with increasing stress ratio. Variable amplitude loading (VAL) can take many forms i.e. with a single overload, overload band… etc. The shape of these loads affects strongly the fracture life and FCGRs. The application of a single overload (ORL) decrease the FCGR and increase the delay crack length caused by the formation of a larger plastic zone compared to the plastic zone due without VAL. The fatigue behavior of the both material under single overload has been compared.
Keywords: Fatigue crack growth, overload ratio, stress ratio, generalized willenborg model, retardation, Al-alloys.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3587803 Work Motivation, Work Stress, and Job Satisfaction in between Taiwan and China - An Empitical Study
Authors: Tung-Liang Chen, Ming - Yi Huang, Tchiu-Hui Su
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This study investigates the relationships between Work Motivation, Work Stress, and Job Satisfaction toward cross-strait employees. The target subjects are three manufacturing firms in Mainland China and Taiwan. Out of 450 distributed surveys, 352 valid surveys were obtained with the response rate of 78.22%.The findings have addressed three main pull factors toward cross-strait employees in choosing jobs, which are (1) high level of firm stability, (2) good firm image, and (3) good employee benefits. In addition, various employee attributes exert different impacts on Work Motivation, Work Stress, and Job Satisfaction. The comparison between expected and actual perceived Job Satisfaction toward cross-strait employees shows that “salary" ranks highest regarding expected Job Satisfaction whereas “co-worker relationship" ranks highest regarding actual perceived Job Satisfaction, which implies actual perceived Job Satisfaction do not match employee expectations. Therefore, this research further concludes that there exists differences between employees- expected and actual perceived Job Satisfaction.Keywords: Cross-strait, job satisfaction, work motivation, work stress
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2454802 Predicting Bankruptcy using Tabu Search in the Mauritian Context
Authors: J. Cheeneebash, K. B. Lallmamode, A. Gopaul
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Throughout this paper, a relatively new technique, the Tabu search variable selection model, is elaborated showing how it can be efficiently applied within the financial world whenever researchers come across the selection of a subset of variables from a whole set of descriptive variables under analysis. In the field of financial prediction, researchers often have to select a subset of variables from a larger set to solve different type of problems such as corporate bankruptcy prediction, personal bankruptcy prediction, mortgage, credit scoring and the Arbitrage Pricing Model (APM). Consequently, to demonstrate how the method operates and to illustrate its usefulness as well as its superiority compared to other commonly used methods, the Tabu search algorithm for variable selection is compared to two main alternative search procedures namely, the stepwise regression and the maximum R 2 improvement method. The Tabu search is then implemented in finance; where it attempts to predict corporate bankruptcy by selecting the most appropriate financial ratios and thus creating its own prediction score equation. In comparison to other methods, mostly the Altman Z-Score model, the Tabu search model produces a higher success rate in predicting correctly the failure of firms or the continuous running of existing entities.
Keywords: Predicting Bankruptcy, Tabu Search
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1923801 Convergence Analysis of Training Two-Hidden-Layer Partially Over-Parameterized ReLU Networks via Gradient Descent
Authors: Zhifeng Kong
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Over-parameterized neural networks have attracted a great deal of attention in recent deep learning theory research, as they challenge the classic perspective of over-fitting when the model has excessive parameters and have gained empirical success in various settings. While a number of theoretical works have been presented to demystify properties of such models, the convergence properties of such models are still far from being thoroughly understood. In this work, we study the convergence properties of training two-hidden-layer partially over-parameterized fully connected networks with the Rectified Linear Unit activation via gradient descent. To our knowledge, this is the first theoretical work to understand convergence properties of deep over-parameterized networks without the equally-wide-hidden-layer assumption and other unrealistic assumptions. We provide a probabilistic lower bound of the widths of hidden layers and proved linear convergence rate of gradient descent. We also conducted experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets to validate our theory.Keywords: Over-parameterization, Rectified Linear Units (ReLU), convergence, gradient descent, neural networks.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 871