Search results for: design science research

Authors: Κonstantinos Kalovrektis, Chryssanthi Palazi

Abstract:

Schools today face ever-increasing demands in their attempts to ensure that students are well equipped to enter the workforce and navigate a complex world. Research indicates that computer technology can help support learning, implementation of various experiments or learning games, and that it is especially useful in developing the higher-order skills of critical thinking, observation, comprehension, implementation, comparison, analysis and active attention to activities such as research, field work, simulations and scientific inquiry. The ICT in education supports the learning procedure by enabling it to be more flexible and effective, create a rich and attractive training environment and equip the students with knowledge and potential useful for the competitive social environment in which they live. This paper presents the design, the development, and the results of the evaluation analysis of an interactive educational game which using real electric vehicles - toys (material) on a toy race track. When the game starts each student selects a specific vehicle toy. Then students are answering questionnaires in the computer. The vehicles' speed is related to the percentage of right answers in a multiple choice questionnaire (software). Every question has its own significant value depending of the different level of questionnaire. Via the developed software, each right or wrong answers in questionnaire increase or decrease the real time speed of their vehicle toys. Moreover the rate of vehicle's speed increase or decrease depends on the difficulty level of each question. The aim of the work is to attract the student’s interest in a learning process and also to improve their scores. The developed real time game was tested using independent populations of students of age groups: 8-10, 11-14, 15-18 years. Standard educational and statistical analysis tools were used for the evaluation analysis of the game. Results reveal that students using the developed real time control game scored much higher (60%) than students using a traditional simulation game on the same questionnaire. Results further indicate that student's interest in repeating the developed real time control gaming was far higher (70%) than the interest of students using a traditional simulation game.

Keywords: Real time game, sensor, learning games, LabVIEW

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Authors: A. Khourgami, M. Rafiee, H. Jafari, Z. Bitarafan

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To study the effect of suitable methods for propagation of True Potato Seed (TPS) progenies, transplant and selection of the best progenies, a factorial experiment base on a randomized complete block design was carried out in the research field of Sahneh region, Kermanshah, Iran during 2009-2010. Five selective progenies from CIP (International Potato Center) including CIP.994013, CIP.994002, CIP.994014, CIP.888006, and CIP.994001 and two transplant preparation methods (Paper pot preparation for mechanical cultivation and preparation in transplant trays for manual cultivation) were studied in three replications. Results showed that different progenies had no significant effect on plant height (cm) and tuber yield (t ha-1), whereas had a significant effect on number of tubers per unit area (m2). There was significant difference between transplant preparation methods for plant height and tuber yield. The interaction effect of progenies and transplant preparation method was not significant for these traits. CIP.888006 progeny and paper pot preparation method produced the highest tuber yields. Also CIP.994002 and CIP.994014 progenies considered as the best progenies under paper pot preparation method due to high yields.

Keywords: Potato, Solanum tuberosum, TPS progenies, Transplant preparation method

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Authors: M. Gregor, J. Polcar, P. Horejsi, M. Simon

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Machine visualization is an area of interest with fast and progressive development. We present a method of machine visualization which will be applicable in real industrial conditions according to current needs and demands. Real factory data were obtained in a newly built research plant. Methods described in this paper were validated on a case study. Input data were processed and the virtual environment was created. The environment contains information about dimensions, structure, disposition, and function. Hardware was enhanced by modular machines, prototypes, and accessories. We added functionalities and machines into the virtual environment. The user is able to interact with objects such as testing and cutting machines, he/she can operate and move them. Proposed design consists of an environment with two degrees of freedom of movement. Users are in touch with items in the virtual world which are embedded into the real surroundings. This paper describes development of the virtual environment. We compared and tested various options of factory layout virtualization and visualization. We analyzed possibilities of using a 3D scanner in the layout obtaining process and we also analyzed various virtual reality hardware visualization methods such as: Stereoscopic (CAVE) projection, Head Mounted Display (HMD) and augmented reality (AR) projection provided by see-through glasses.

Keywords: Augmented reality, spatial scanner, virtual environment, virtual reality.

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Authors: Kavita H. Dhanawade, Hanamant S. Dhanawade, Ajay Kashikar, Shweta Matey, Mahesh Bhadane, Sunny Sarraf

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Extended surfaces are commonly used in practice to enhance heat transfer. Most of the engineering problems require high performance heat transfer components with light weight, volumes, accommodating shapes, costs and reliability depending on industrial applications. This paper reports an experimental analysis to investigate heat transfer enhancement by forced convection using different sizes of pin-fin with rectangular slots at the center. The cross sectional area of the oblong duct was 200 mm x 80 mm. The info utilized in performance analysis was obtained experimentally for material, aluminum at 200 Watts heat input varying velocity 1 m/s to 5 m/s. Using the Taguchi experimental design method, optimum design parameters and their levels were analysed. Nusselt number and friction factor were considered as a performance characteristic parameter. An An L₉ (3³) orthogonal array was designated as an experimental proposal. Optimum results were found by experimenting. It is observed that pin-fins with different slots sizes have a better impact on Nusselt Number.

Keywords: Heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt Number, pin-fin, forced convection.

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Authors: Kitda Praraththajariya

Abstract:

The main purpose of this research was to study how to communicate the identity of the Bangpoo, Samu tPrakan province for ecotourism. The qualitative data was collected through studying related materials, exploring the area, in-depth interviews with three groups of people: three directly responsible officers who were key informants of the district, twenty foreign tourists and five Thai tourist guides. A content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The two main findings of the study were as follows:

1. The identity of Bangpoo, Samut Prakan province. This establishment was near the Mouth of the Gulf of Thailand for normal people and tourists, consisting of rest accommodations. There are restaurants where food and drinks are served, rich mangrove forests, Banpoo seaside resort and mangrove trees. Bangpoo seaside resort is characterized by muddy beacheswhere the greatest number of seagulls can be seen from March to May each year.
2. The communication of the identity of Bangpoo, Samut Prakan province which the researcher could find and design to present in English materials can be summed up in 3 items: 1) The history of Bangpoo, Samut Prakan province 2) The Learning center of Ecotourism: Seagulls and Mangrove forest 3) How to keep Banpoo, Samut Prakran province for ecotourism.

Keywords: Foreigner tourists, signified, semiotics, ecotourism.

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Authors: Ondřej Lufinka, Jan Kadeřábek, Juraj Prstek, Jiří Skála, Kamil Kosturik

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This paper deals with the problem of using Autonomous Robotic Platforms (ARP) for the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) testing in automotive. There are different possibilities of the testing already in development and lately, the ARP are beginning to be used more and more widely. ARP discussed in this paper explores the hardware and software design possibilities related to the field of embedded systems. The paper focuses in its chapters on the introduction of the problem in general, then it describes the proposed prototype concept and its principles from the embedded HW and SW point of view. It talks about the key features that can be used for the innovation of these platforms (e.g., modularity, omnidirectional movement, common and non-traditional sensors used for localization, synchronization of more platforms and cars together or safety mechanisms). In the end, the future possible development of the project is discussed as well.

Keywords: ADAS Systems, autonomous robotic platform, embedded systems, hardware, localization, modularity, multiple robots synchronization, omnidirectional movement, safety mechanisms, software.

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Authors: Syed Manzoor Qasim, Shuja Abbasi, Saleh Alshebeili, Bandar Almashary, Ateeq Ahmad Khan

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Higher-order Statistics (HOS), also known as cumulants, cross moments and their frequency domain counterparts, known as poly spectra have emerged as a powerful signal processing tool for the synthesis and analysis of signals and systems. Algorithms used for the computation of cross moments are computationally intensive and require high computational speed for real-time applications. For efficiency and high speed, it is often advantageous to realize computation intensive algorithms in hardware. A promising solution that combines high flexibility together with the speed of a traditional hardware is Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). In this paper, we present FPGA-based parallel architecture for the computation of third-order cross moments. The proposed design is coded in Very High Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) Hardware Description Language (VHDL) and functionally verified by implementing it on Xilinx Spartan-3 XC3S2000FG900-4 FPGA. Implementation results are presented and it shows that the proposed design can operate at a maximum frequency of 86.618 MHz.

Keywords: Cross moments, Cumulants, FPGA, Hardware Implementation.

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Authors: D. R. Delgado Sobrino, R. Holubek, R. Ružarovský

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In the past years, the world has witnessed significant work in the field of Manufacturing. Special efforts have been made in the implementation of new technologies, management and control systems, among many others which have all evolved the field. Closely following all this, due to the scope of new projects and the need of turning the existing flexible ideas into more autonomous and intelligent ones, i.e.: moving toward a more intelligent manufacturing, the present paper emerges with the main aim of contributing to the analysis and a few customization issues of a new iCIM 3000 system at the IPSAM. In this process, special emphasis in made on the material flow problem. For this, besides offering a description and analysis of the system and its main parts, also some tips on how to define other possible alternative material flow scenarios and a partial analysis of the combinatorial nature of the problem are offered as well. All this is done with the intentions of relating it with the use of simulation tools, for which these have been briefly addressed with a special focus on the Witness simulation package. For a better comprehension, the previous elements are supported by a few figures and expressions which would help obtaining necessary data. Such data and others will be used in the future, when simulating the scenarios in the search of the best material flow configurations.

Keywords: Flexible/Intelligent assembly/disassembly cell (F/IA/DC), Flexible/Intelligent Manufacturing Systems/Cell (F/IMS/C), Material Flow Optimization/Combinations/Design (MFO/C/D).

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Authors: Haluk Gümüskaya, Hüseyin Hakkoymaz

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This paper describes WiPoD (Wireless Position Detector) which is a pure software based location determination and tracking (positioning) system. It uses empirical signal strength measurements from different wireless access points for mobile user positioning. It is designed to determine the location of users having 802.11 enabled mobile devices in an 802.11 WLAN infrastructure and track them in real time. WiPoD is the first main module in our LBS (Location Based Services) framework. We tested K-Nearest Neighbor and Triangulation algorithms to estimate the position of a mobile user. We also give the analysis results of these algorithms for real time operations. In this paper, we propose a supportable, i.e. understandable, maintainable, scalable and portable wireless positioning system architecture for an LBS framework. The WiPoD software has a multithreaded structure and was designed and implemented with paying attention to supportability features and real-time constraints and using object oriented design principles. We also describe the real-time software design issues of a wireless positioning system which will be part of an LBS framework.

Keywords: Indoor location determination and tracking, positioning in Wireless LAN.

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Authors: Sannikumar Patel, Brian Nolan, Markus Hofmann, Philip Owende, Kunjan Patel

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Sentiment analysis and opinion mining have become emerging topics of research in recent years but most of the work is focused on data in the English language. A comprehensive research and analysis are essential which considers multiple languages, machine translation techniques, and different classifiers. This paper presents, a comparative analysis of different approaches for multilingual sentiment analysis. These approaches are divided into two parts: one using classification of text without language translation and second using the translation of testing data to a target language, such as English, before classification. The presented research and results are useful for understanding whether machine translation should be used for multilingual sentiment analysis or building language specific sentiment classification systems is a better approach. The effects of language translation techniques, features, and accuracy of various classifiers for multilingual sentiment analysis is also discussed in this study.

Keywords: Cross-language analysis, machine learning, machine translation, sentiment analysis.

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Authors: N. N. Nkomo, M. L. Mayanchi

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The present study investigated various forms of disciplinary procedures or punishment used by teachers in secondary schools in Calabar Municipality, Nigera. There are agitations amongst parents and educators on the use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure against children. Those against the use of corporal punishment argue that this form of punishment does not teach, it only terminates behaviour temporarily and inculcates violence. Those in support are of the view that corporal punishment serves as a deterrent to others. This study sought to find out the most common measure of discipline employed by teachers in private and public schools. The study had three objectives, three research questions and two hypotheses. The design of the present study was the ex-post facto descriptive survey, since variables under study were not manipulated by the researcher. Teachers in Calabar Municipal Secondary Schools formed the population. A sample of 160 teachers was used for the study. The data collection instrument was a facts finding questionnaire titled Disciplinary Procedures Inventory. Data collected were analyzed using simple percentages and chi-square. The major findings were that physical measures such as flogging, exercise/drills, and painful postures were commonly used by teachers in secondary schools. It was also found that these measures were more often used in public schools. It was recommended that teachers should rather employ non-violent techniques of discipline than physical punishment.

Keywords: Discipline, non-violent punishment, physical punishment.

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Authors: Nantapanuwat Nattapol, Ractham Peter, Kaewkittipong Laddawan

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The efficient knowledge management system (KMS) is one of the important strategies to help firms to achieve sustainable competitive advantages, but little research has been conducted to understand what contributes to the KMS success. This study thus set to investigate the determinants of KMS success in the context of Thai banking industry. A questionnaire survey was conducted in four major Thai Banks to test the proposed KMS Success model. The result of this study shows that KMS use and user satisfaction relate significantly to the success of KMS, and knowledge quality, service quality and trust lead to system use, and knowledge quality, system quality and trust lead to user satisfaction. However, this research focuses only on system and user-related factors. Future research thus can extend to study factors such as management support and organization readiness.

Keywords: Knowledge, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management system, Knowledge Management System Success, Banking Industry, Thailand

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Authors: Anjali Sadanand, R. V. Nagarajan

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Architecture morphs with advances in technology and the roof, wall, and floor as basic elements of a building, follow in redefining themselves over time. Their contribution is bound by time and held by design principles that deal with function, sturdiness, and beauty. Architecture engages with people to give joy through its form, material, design structure, and spatial qualities. This paper attempts to re-interpret John Ruskin’s “Seven lamps of Architecture” in the context of the architecture of the modern and present period. The paper focuses on the “wall” as an element of study in this context. Four of Ruskin’s seven lamps will be discussed, namely beauty, truth, life, and memory, through examples of architecture ranging from modernism to contemporary architecture of today. The study will focus on the relevance of Ruskin’s principles to the “wall” in specific, in buildings of different materials and over a range of typologies from all parts of the world. Two examples will be analyzed for each lamp. It will be shown that in each case, there is relevance to the significance of Ruskin’s lamps in modern and contemporary architecture. Nature to which Ruskin alludes to for his lamp of “beauty” is found in the different expressions of interpretation used by Corbusier in his Villa Stein façade based on proportion found in nature and in the direct expression of Toyo Ito in his translation of an understanding of the structure of trees into his façade design of the showroom for a Japanese bag boutique. “Truth” is shown in Mies van der Rohe’s Crown Hall building with its clarity of material and structure and Studio Mumbai’s Palmyra House, which celebrates the use of natural materials and local craftsmanship. “Life” is reviewed with a sustainable house in Kerala by Ashrams Ravi and Alvar Aalto’s summer house, which illustrate walls as repositories of intellectual thought and craft. “Memory” is discussed with Charles Correa’s Jawahar Kala Kendra and Venturi’s Vana Venturi house and discloses facades as text in the context of its materiality and iconography. Beauty is reviewed in Villa Stein and Toyo Ito’s Branded Retail building in Tokyo. The paper thus concludes that Ruskin’s Lamps can be interpreted in today’s context and add richness to meaning to the understanding of architecture.

Keywords: Beauty, design, façade, modernism.

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Authors: B. Daee, H. M. El Naggar

Abstract:

This paper presents an experimental study on structural performance of an innovative noise barrier consisting of poly-block, light polyurethane foam (LPF) and polyurea. This wall system (flexi-wall) is intended to be employed as a vertical extension to existing sound barriers in an accelerated construction method. To aid in the wall design, several mechanical tests were conducted on LPF specimens and two full-scale walls were then fabricated employing the same LPF material. The full-scale walls were subjected to lateral loading in order to establish their lateral resistance. A cyclic fatigue test was also performed on a full-scale flexi-wall in order to evaluate the performance of the wall under a repetitive loading condition. The result of the experiments indicated the suitability of flexi-wall in accelerated construction and confirmed that the structural performance of the wall system under lateral loading is satisfactory for the sound barrier application. The experimental results were discussed and a preliminary design procedure for application of flexi-wall in sound barrier applications was also developed.

Keywords: Noise barrier, Polyurethane Foam, Accelerated construction, Full-scale experiment.

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Authors: R. Hanuma Naik, D. V. Ashok Kumar, K. S. R. Anjaneyulu

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Several of the practical industrial control processes are multivariable processes. Due to the relation amid the variables (interaction), delay in the loops, it is very intricate to design a controller directly for these processes. So first, the interaction of the variables is analyzed using Relative Normalized Gain Array (RNGA), which considers the time constant, static gain and delay time of the processes. Based on the effect of RNGA, relative gain array (RGA) and NI, the pair (control configuration) of variables to be controlled by decentralized control is selected. The equivalent transfer function (ETF) of the process model is estimated as first order process with delay using the corresponding elements in the Relative gain array and Relative average residence time array (RARTA) of the processes. Secondly, a decentralized Proportional- Integral (PI) controller is designed for each ETF simply using frequency response specifications. Finally, the performance and robustness of the algorithm is comparing with existing related approaches to validate the effectiveness of the projected algorithm.

Keywords: Decentralized control, interaction, Multivariable processes, relative normalized gain array, relative average residence time array, steady state gain.

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Authors: H. Naghawi, R. Al-Ajarmeh, R. Allouzi, A. AlKlub, K. Masarwah, A. AL-Quraini, M. Abu-Sarhan

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The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the use of plastic waste as a low cost asphalt binder modifier. For this purpose Marshall mix design procedure was used. Marshall mix design procedure seeks to select the Optimum Binder Content (OBC) to be added to a specific aggregate blend resulting in a mixture that satisfies the desired properties of strength and durability. In order to evaluate the plastic waste modified (PWM) asphalt mixtures, the OBC for the conventional asphalt mix was first identified, and then different percentages of crushed plastic waste by weight of the identified OBC were tested. Marshall test results for the modified asphalt mixtures were analyzed to find the optimum PWM content. Finally, the static indirect tensile strength (IDT) was determined for all mixtures using the splitting tensile test. It was found that PWM content of 7.43% by weight of OBC is recommended as the optimum PWM content needed for enhancing the performance of asphalt mixtures. It enhanced stability by 42.56%, flow by 89.91% and strength by 13.54%. This would lead to a more durable pavement by improving the pavement resistance to fatigue cracking and rutting.

Keywords: Binder content modifier, Marshall test, plastic waste, polyethylene terephthalate.

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Authors: Armin Samarghandi, Amirreza Jafari, Mohamad Ghiasi

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Since individuals spend the majority of their time indoors, this immediately affects their productivity and health. An essential factor in occupational health and public health is the influence of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in buildings on occupant welfare and productivity. Since then, empirical data have been equivocal, indicating either that the studies are inaccurate or that the research has just scratched the surface of green buildings in offices, accommodation, and hospital settings and not taken the aforementioned holistically. This study compared three green-certified buildings — a residential green building, a green hospital, and a green school — with conventional structures in Tehran, Iran by means of a questionnaire spread among those utilizing these buildings, and assessing their productivity and health rate as opposed to the time they resided, worked in conventional buildings. The results demonstrated higher scores pertaining to productivity, physical and mental wellness as a consequence of better indoor environmental quality (IEQ), natural lighting, design, and sustainability of these building against non-green buildings. In addition, ancillary matters — environmental, financial, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual dimensions of participants — were indirectly evaluated, and the same results are produced.

Keywords: Green building, Iran, productivity, physical and mental health, Tehran.

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Authors: V. Endo, A. G. Silva Sobrinho, F. A. Almeida, N. L. L. Lima, G. M. Manzi, L. G. A. Cirne, N. M. B. L. Zeola

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We used 24 Ile de France lambs, weighing between 15 and 32 kg (BW). Treatments were supplemented with concentrate: “in nature” sugarcane (IN), sugarcane hydrolyzed using 0.6% calcium oxide (CaO) under aerobic condition (AER), and sugarcane hydrolyzed using 0.6% CaO under anaerobic condition (ANA), constituting a completely randomized design with eight repetitions per treatment. Lambs were housed in individual stalls and fed into the through, allowing 10% of leftovers. Lambs were slaughtered when body weight reached 32 kg. The following parameters were determined on Longissimu lumborum muscle of hot and cold carcasses: pH and color, 45 minutes and 24 hours after slaughtering. Qualitative analysis of the meat were performed in the loins, water-holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL), and shear force (SF). We used a completely randomized design with three treatments and eight repetitions. Means were compared by Tukey test at 5% significance. A higher value for redness (a*) 45 minutes after slaughter (10.48) were found for lambs fed hydrolyzed under anaerobic conditions sugarcane. The other qualitative characteristics of meat were not affected by treatments (P >0.05). The comparison of meat quality resulting from the treatments shows that it is possible to feed in nature sugarcane to lambs, thus waiving hydrolyses process and the spending with alkalizing agent.

Keywords: Calcium oxide, hydrolysis, meat quality, pH.

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Authors: Mert Tosun, Tuğba Tosun

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The evaporator is the utmost important component in the refrigeration system, since it enables the refrigerant to draw heat from the desired environment, i.e. the refrigerated space. Studies are being conducted on this component which generally affects the performance of the system, where energy efficient products are important. This study was designed to enhance the effectiveness of the evaporator in the refrigeration cycle of a domestic refrigerator by adjusting the capillary tube length, refrigerant amount, and the evaporator pipe diameter to reduce energy consumption. The experiments were conducted under identical thermal and ambient conditions. Experiment data were analysed using the Design of Experiment (DOE) technique which is a six-sigma method to determine effects of parameters. As a result, it has been determined that the most important parameters affecting the evaporator performance among the selected parameters are found to be the refrigerant amount and pipe diameter. It has been determined that the minimum energy consumption is 6-mm pipe diameter and 16-g refrigerant. It has also been noted that the overall consumption of the experiment sample decreased by 16.6% with respect to the reference system, which has 7-mm pipe diameter and 18-g refrigerant.

Keywords: Heat exchanger, refrigerator, design of experiment, energy consumption.

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Authors: Wang Shuen-Tai, Lin Yu-Ching, Chang Hsi-Ya

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Cloud computing is the innovative and leading information technology model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort. In this paper, we aim at the development of workflow management system for cloud computing platforms based on our previous research on the dynamic allocation of the cloud computing resources and its workflow process. We took advantage of the HTML5 technology and developed web-based workflow interface. In order to enable the combination of many tasks running on the cloud platform in sequence, we designed a mechanism and developed an execution engine for workflow management on clouds. We also established a prediction model which was integrated with job queuing system to estimate the waiting time and cost of the individual tasks on different computing nodes, therefore helping users achieve maximum performance at lowest payment. This proposed effort has the potential to positively provide an efficient, resilience and elastic environment for cloud computing platform. This development also helps boost user productivity by promoting a flexible workflow interface that lets users design and control their tasks' flow from anywhere.

Keywords: Web-based, workflow, HTML5, Cloud Computing, Queuing System.

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Authors: Ehab F. Badran, Guoxiang Gu

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We consider optimal channel equalization for MIMO (multi-input/multi-output) time-varying channels in the sense of MMSE (minimum mean-squared-error), where the observation noise can be non-stationary. We show that all ZF (zero-forcing) receivers can be parameterized in an affine form which eliminates completely the ISI (inter-symbol-interference), and optimal channel equalizers can be designed through minimization of the MSE (mean-squarederror) between the detected signals and the transmitted signals, among all ZF receivers. We demonstrate that the optimal channel equalizer is a modified Kalman filter, and show that under the AWGN (additive white Gaussian noise) assumption, the proposed optimal channel equalizer minimizes the BER (bit error rate) among all possible ZF receivers. Our results are applicable to optimal channel equalization for DWMT (discrete wavelet multitone), multirate transmultiplexers, OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing), and DS (direct sequence) CDMA (code division multiple access) wireless data communication systems. A design algorithm for optimal channel equalization is developed, and several simulation examples are worked out to illustrate the proposed design algorithm.

Keywords: Channel equalization, Kalman filtering, Time-varying systems.

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Authors: Carlos Sanchís-Pedregosa, José A. D. M achuca, María del Mar González-Zamora

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The growing outsourcing of logistics services resulting from the ongoing current in firms of costs reduction/increased efficiency means that it is becoming more and more important for the companies doing the outsourcing to carry out a proper evaluation. The multiple definitions and measures of logistics service performance found in research on the topic create a certain degree of confusion and do not clear the way towards the proper measurement of their performance. Do a model and a specific set of indicators exist that can be considered appropriate for measuring the performance of logistics services outsourcing in industrial environments? Are said indicators in keeping with the objectives pursued by outsourcing? We aim to answer these and other research questions in the study we have initiated in the field within the framework of the international High Performance Manufacturing (HPM) project of which this paper forms part. As the first stage of this research, this paper reviews articles dealing with the topic published in the last 15 years with the aim of detecting the models most used to make this measurement and determining which performance indicators are proposed as part of said models and which are most used. The first steps are also taken in determining whether these indicators, financial and operational, cover the aims that are being pursued when outsourcing logistics services. The findings show there is a wide variety of both models and indicators used. This would seem to testify to the need to continue with our research in order to try to propose a model and a set of indicators for measuring the performance of logistics services outsourcing in industrial environments.

Keywords: Logistics, objectives, outsourcing, performancemeasurement systems

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Authors: Mehran Nasiri, Ardeshir Poornemat

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The aim of this study was to investigate the current and ideal situations of the process of talent identification in Iranian football from the point of view of Iranian instructors of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). This research was a descriptive-analytical study; in data collection phase a questionnaire was used, whose face validity was confirmed by experts of Physical Education and Sports Science. The reliability of questionnaire was estimated through the use of Cronbach's alpha method (0.91). This study involved 122 participants of Iranian instructors of the AFC who were selected based on stratified random sampling method. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the variables and inferential statistics (Chi-square) were used to test the hypotheses of the study at significant level (p ≤ 0.05). The results of Chi-square test related to the point of view of Iranian instructors of the AFC showed that the grass-roots scientific method was the best way to identify football players (0.001), less than 10 years old were the best ages for talent identification (0.001), the Football Federation was revealed to be the most important organization in talent identification (0.002), clubs were shown to be the most important institution in developing talents (0.001), trained scouts of Football Federation were demonstrated to be the best and most appropriate group for talent identification (0.001), and being referred by the football academy coaches was shown to be the best way to attract talented football players in Iran (0.001). It was also found that there was a huge difference between the current and ideal situation of the process of talent identification in Iranian football from the point of view of Iranian instructors of the AFC. Hence, it is recommended that the policy makers of talent identification for Iranian football provide a comprehensive, clear and systematic model of talent identification and development processes for the clubs and football teams, so that the talent identification process helps to nurture football talents more efficiently.

Keywords: Current situation, talent finding, ideal situation, instructors.

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Authors: Muthana A. M. Jameel Al-Jaboori

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In this paper, we will present a mathematical model to design a system able to generate electricity from ocean-sea waves. We will use the basic principles of the transfer of the energy potential of waves in a chamber to force the air inside a vertical or inclined cylindrical column, which is topped by a wind turbine to rotate the electric generator. The present mathematical model included a high number of variables such as the wave, height, width, length, velocity, and frequency, as well as others for the energy cylindrical column, like varying diameters and heights, and the wave chamber shape diameter and height. While for the wells wind turbine the variables included the number of blades, length, width, and clearance, as well as the rotor and tip radius. Additionally, the turbine rotor and blades must be made from the light and strong material for a smooth blade surface. The variables were too vast and high in number. Then the program was run successfully within the MATLAB and presented very good modeling results.

Keywords: Water wave, model, wells turbine, MATLAB program, results.

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Authors: U. Kalay, O. Kalıpsız

Abstract:

For a spatiotemporal database management system, I/O cost of queries and other operations is an important performance criterion. In order to optimize this cost, an intense research on designing robust index structures has been done in the past decade. With these major considerations, there are still other design issues that deserve addressing due to their direct impact on the I/O cost. Having said this, an efficient buffer management strategy plays a key role on reducing redundant disk access. In this paper, we proposed an efficient buffer strategy for a spatiotemporal database index structure, specifically indexing objects moving over a network of roads. The proposed strategy, namely MONPAR, is based on the data type (i.e. spatiotemporal data) and the structure of the index structure. For the purpose of an experimental evaluation, we set up a simulation environment that counts the number of disk accesses while executing a number of spatiotemporal range-queries over the index. We reiterated simulations with query sets with different distributions, such as uniform query distribution and skewed query distribution. Based on the comparison of our strategy with wellknown page-replacement techniques, like LRU-based and Prioritybased buffers, we conclude that MONPAR behaves better than its competitors for small and medium size buffers under all used query-distributions.

Keywords: Buffer Management, Spatiotemporal databases.

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Authors: Fauziah Sulaiman, Nurhayati Abdullah, Balbir Singh Mahinder Singh

Abstract:

In recent years Malaysia has included renewable energy as an alternative fuel to help in diversifying the country-s energy reliance on oil, natural gas, coal and hydropower with biomass and solar energy gaining priority. The scope of this paper is to look at the designing procedures and analysis of a solar thermal parabolic trough concentrator by simulation utilizing meteorological data in several parts of Malaysia. Parameters which include the aperture area, the diameter of the receiver and the working fluid may be varied to optimize the design. Aperture area is determined by considering the width and the length of the concentrator whereas the geometric concentration ratio (CR) is obtained by considering the width and diameter of the receiver. Three types of working fluid are investigated. Theoretically, concentration ratios can be very high in the range of 10 to 40 000 depending on the optical elements used and continuous tracking of the sun. However, a thorough analysis is essential as discussed in this paper where optical precision and thermal analysis must be carried out to evaluate the performance of the parabolic trough concentrator as the theoretical CR is not the only factor that should be considered.

Keywords: Parabolic trough concentrator, Concentration ratio, Intercept factor, Efficiency.

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Authors: Ming-Hsun Tsai, Ming-Chyuan Lin, Fu-Tsai Chung, Ling-Jhen Chen, Yu-Hang Lin, Meng-Shu Yeh, Lee-Long Han

Abstract:

Since 2005, an SRF module of CESR type serves as the accelerating cavity at the Taiwan Light Source in the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center. A 500-MHz niobium cavity is immersed in liquid helium inside this SRF module. To reduce heat load, the liquid helium vessel is thermally shielded by liquid-nitrogen-cooled copper layer, and the beam chambers are also anchored with pipes of the liquid nitrogen flow in middle of the liquid helium vessel and the vacuum vessel. A strong correlation of the movement of the cavity-s frequency tuner with the temperature variation of parts cooled with liquid nitrogen was observed. A previous study on a spare SRF module with the niobium cavity cooled by liquid nitrogen instead of liquid helium, satisfactory suppression of the thermal oscillation was achieved by attaching a temporary buffer tank for the vented shielding nitrogen flow from the SRF module. In this study, a home-made buffer tank is designed and integrated to the spare SRF module with cavity cooled by liquid helium. Design, construction, integration, and preliminary test results of this buffer tank are presented.

Keywords: Cryogenics, flow control, oscillation.

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Authors: Haridas Kuruveettil, Dongning Zhao, Cheong Jia Hao, Minkyu Je

Abstract:

We present the design of Analog front end (AFE) low noise pre-amplifier implemented in a high voltage 0.18-µm CMOS technology for  a three dimensional ultrasound  bio microscope (3D UBM) application. The fabricated chip has 4X16 pre-amplifiers implemented to interface   a 2-D array of    high frequency capacitive micro-machined ultrasound transducers (CMUT). Core AFE cell consists of a high-voltage pulser in the transmit path, and a low-noise transimpedance amplifier in the receive path. Proposed system offers a high image resolution by the use of high frequency CMUTs with associated high performance imaging electronics integrated together.  Performance requirements and the design methods of the high bandwidth transimpedance amplifier are described in the paper. A single cell of transimpedance (TIA) amplifier and the bias circuit occupies a silicon area of 250X380 µm² and the full chip occupies a total silicon area of 10x6.8 mm².

Keywords: Ultrasound, analog front end, medical imaging, beam forming, biomicroscope, transimpedance gain.

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Authors: Mamoon Mousa Atout

Abstract:

Projects managers in construction industry usually face a difficult organizational environment especially if the project is unique. The organization lacks the processes to practice construction management correctly, and the executive’s technical managers who have lack of experience in playing their role and responsibilities correctly. Project managers need to adopt best practices that allow them to do things effectively to make sure that the project can be delivered without any delay even though the executive’s technical managers should follow a certain process to avoid any factor might cause any delay during the project life cycle. The purpose of the paper is to examine the awareness level of projects managers about construction management processes, tools, techniques and implications to complete projects on time. The outcome and the results of the study are prepared based on the designed questionnaires and interviews conducted with many project managers. The method used in this paper is a quantitative study. A survey with a sample of 100 respondents was prepared and distributed in a construction company in Dubai, which includes nine questions to examine the level of their awareness. This research will also identify the necessary benefits of processes of construction management that has to be adopted by projects managers to mitigate the maximum potential problems which might cause any delay to the project life cycle.

Keywords: Construction Methodology, Design Process, Project Managers, Scheduling and Resource Planning.

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Authors: Yeliz Ekinci, Raife Merve Ön

Abstract:

Nowadays, technological progress is one of the most important components of economic growth and the efficiency of R&D activities is particularly essential for countries. This study is an attempt to analyze the R&D efficiencies of EU countries. The indicators related to R&D efficiencies should be determined in advance in order to use DEA. For this reason a list of input and output indicators are derived from the literature review. Considering the data availability, a final list is given for the numerical analysis for future research.

Keywords: Data envelopment analysis, economic growth, EU Countries, R&D efficiency.

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