Abstract: In this paper, we describe an application for face
recognition. Many studies have used local descriptors to characterize
a face, the performance of these local descriptors remain low by
global descriptors (working on the entire image). The application of
local descriptors (cutting image into blocks) must be able to store
both the advantages of global and local methods in the Discrete
Cosine Transform (DCT) domain. This system uses neural network
techniques. The letter method provides a good compromise between
the two approaches in terms of simplifying of calculation and
classifying performance. Finally, we compare our results with those
obtained from other local and global conventional approaches.
Abstract: The traditional rhythms of the West African country
of Guinea have played a centuries-long role in defining the different
people groups that make up the country. Throughout their history,
before and since colonization by the French, the different ethnicities
have used their traditional music as a distinct part of their historical
identities. That is starting to change. Guinea is an impoverished
nation created in the early twentieth-century with little regard for the
history and cultures of the people who were included. The traditional
rhythms of the different people groups and their heritages have
remained. Fifteen individual traditional Guinean rhythms were
chosen to represent popular rhythms from the four geographical
regions of Guinea. Each rhythm was traced back to its native village
and video recorded on-site by as many different local performing
groups as could be located. The cyclical patterns rhythms were
transcribed via a circular, spatial design and then copied into a box
notation system where sounds happening at the same time could be
studied. These rhythms were analyzed for their consistency-overperformance
in a Fundamental Rhythm Pattern analysis so rhythms
could be compared for how they are changing through different
performances. The analysis showed that the traditional rhythm
performances of the Middle and Forest Guinea regions were the most
cohesive and showed the least evidence of change between
performances. The role of music in each of these regions is both
limited and focused. The Coastal and High Guinea regions have
much in common historically through their ethnic history and
modern-day trade connections, but the rhythm performances seem to
be less consistent and demonstrate more changes in how they are
performed today. In each of these regions the role and usage of music
is much freer and wide-spread. In spite of advances being made as a
country, different ethnic groups still frequently only respond and
participate (dance and sing) to the music of their native ethnicity.
There is some evidence that this self-imposed musical barrier is
beginning to change and evolve, partially through the development of
better roads, more access to electricity and technology, the nationwide
Ebola health crisis, and a growing self-identification as a
unified nation.
Abstract: This contribution is focused on the methodology for
identifying levels of quality and improving quality through new
logistics model in railway transport. It is oriented on the application
of dynamic quality models, which represent an innovative method of
evaluation quality services. Through this conception, time factor,
expected, and perceived quality in each moment of the transportation
process within logistics chain can be taken into account. Various
models describe the improvement of the quality which emphases the
time factor throughout the whole transportation logistics chain.
Quality of services in railway transport can be determined by the
existing level of service quality, by detecting the causes of
dissatisfaction employees but also customers, to uncover strengths
and weaknesses. This new logistics model is able to recognize critical
processes in logistic chain. It includes service quality rating that must
respect its specific properties, which are unrepeatability,
impalpability, their use right at the time they are provided and
particularly changeability, which is significant factor in the
conditions of rail transport as well. These peculiarities influence the
quality of service regarding the constantly increasing requirements
and that result in new ways of finding progressive attitudes towards
the service quality rating.
Abstract: This article describes the results of research focused
on quality of railway freight transport services. Improvement of these
services has a crucial importance in customer considering on the
future use of railway transport. Processes filling the customer
demands and output quality assessment were defined as a part of the
research. In this contribution is introduced the map of quality
planning and the algorithm of applied methodology. It characterizes a
model which takes into account characters of transportation with
linking a perception services quality in ordinary and extraordinary
operation. Despite the fact that rail freight transport has its solid
position in the transport market, lots of carriers worldwide have been
experiencing a stagnation for a couple of years. Therefore, specific
results of the research have a significant importance and belong to
numerous initiatives aimed to develop and support railway transport
not only by creating a single railway area or reducing noise but also
by promoting railway services. This contribution is focused also on
the application of dynamic quality models which represent an
innovative method of evaluation quality services. Through this
conception, time factor, expected, and perceived quality in each
moment of the transportation process can be taken into account.
Abstract: Scheduled waste management is very important in
environmental and health aspects. In delivering services, highway
industry has been indirectly involved in producing scheduled wastes.
This paper aims to define the scheduled waste, to provide a
conceptual framework of the scheduled waste management in
highway industry, to highlight the effect of improper management of
scheduled waste and to encourage future researchers to identify and
share the present practice of scheduled waste management in their
country. The understanding on effective management of scheduled
waste will help the operators of highway industry, the academicians,
future researchers, and encourage a friendly environment around the
world. The study on scheduled waste management in highway
industry is very crucial as highway transverse and run along
kilometers crossing the various type of environment, residential and
schools. Using Environmental Quality (Scheduled Waste)
Regulations 2005 as a guide, this conceptual paper highlight several
scheduled wastes produced by highway industry in Malaysia and
provide a conceptual framework of scheduled waste management that
focused on the highway industry. Understanding on scheduled waste
management is vital in order to preserve the environment. Besides
that, the waste substances are hazardous to human being. Many
diseases have been associated with the improper management of
schedule waste such as cancer, throat irritation and respiration
problem.
Abstract: The paper shows that on transferring sense from the
SL to the TL, the translator’s reading against the grain determines the
creation of a faulty pattern of rendering the original meaning in the
receiving culture which reflects the use of misleading transformative
codes. In this case, the translator is a writer per se who decides what
goes in and out of the book, how the style is to be ciphered and what
elements of ideology are to be highlighted. The paper also proves that
figurative language must not be flattened for the sake of clarity or
naturalness. The missing figurative elements make the translated text
less interesting, less challenging and less vivid which reflects poorly
on the writer. There is a close connection between style and the
writer’s person. If the writer’s style is very much altered in a
translation, the translation is useless as the original writer and his /
her imaginative world can no longer be discovered. The purpose of the paper is to prove that adaptation is a dangerous
tool which leads to variants that sometimes reflect the original less
than the reader would wish to. It contradicts the very essence of the
process of translation which is that of making an original work
available in a foreign language. If the adaptive transformative codes
are so flexible that they encourage the translator to repeatedly leave
out parts of the original work, then a subversive pattern emerges
which changes the entire book. In conclusion, as a result of using adaptation, manipulative or
subversive effects are created in the translated work. This is generally
achieved by adding new words or connotations, creating new figures
of speech or using explicitations. The additional meanings of the
original work are neglected and the translator creates new meanings,
implications, emphases and contexts. Again s/he turns into a new
author who enjoys the freedom of expressing his / her own ideas
without the constraints of the original text. Reading against the grain
is unadvisable during the process of translation and consequently,
following personal common sense becomes essential in the field of
translation as well as everywhere else, so that translation should not
become a source of fantasy.
Abstract: The growth in the demand of electrical energy is
leading to load on the Power system which increases the occurrence
of frequent oscillations in the system. The reason for the oscillations
is due to the lack of damping torque which is required to dominate
the disturbances of Power system. By using FACT devices, such as
Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) can control power flow,
reduce sub-synchronous resonances and increase transient stability.
Hence, UPFC is used to damp the oscillations occurred in Power
system. This research focuses on adapting the neuro fuzzy controller
for the UPFC design by connecting the infinite bus (SMIB - Single
machine Infinite Bus) to a linearized model of synchronous machine
(Heffron-Phillips) in the power system. This model gains the
capability to improve the transient stability and to damp the
oscillations of the system.
Abstract: In this paper, a comparative performance analysis of
mostly used four nonlinearity cancellation techniques used to realize
the passive resistor by MOS transistors, is presented. The comparison
is done by using an integrator circuit which is employing sequentially
Op-amp, OTRA and ICCII as active element. All of the circuits are
implemented by MOS-C realization and simulated by PSPICE
program using 0.35μm process TSMC MOSIS model parameters.
With MOS-C realization, the circuits became electronically tunable
and fully integrable which is very important in IC design. The output
waveforms, frequency responses, THD analysis results and features
of the nonlinearity cancellation techniques are also given.
Abstract: CuO thin films were deposited by spray ultrasonic
pyrolysis with different precursor solution. Two staring solution slats
were used namely: copper acetate and copper chloride. The influence
of these solutions on CuO thin films proprieties of is instigated. The
X rays diffraction (XDR) analysis indicated that the films deposed
with copper acetate are amorphous however the films elaborated with
copper chloride have monoclinic structure. UV- Visible transmission
spectra showed a strong absorbance of the deposited CuO thin films
in the visible region. Electrical characterization has shown that CuO
thin films prepared with copper acetate have a higher electrical
conductivity.
Abstract: A numerical study is made in a parallel-plate porous
channel subjected to an oscillating flow and an exothermic chemical
reaction on its walls. The flow field in the porous region is modeled
by the Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer model and the finite volume
method is used to solve the governing equations. The effects of the
modified Frank-Kamenetskii (FKm) and Damköhler (Dm) numbers,
the amplitude of oscillation (A), and the Strouhal number (St) are
examined. The main results show an increase of heat and mass
transfer rates with A and St, and their decrease with FKm and Dm.
Abstract: Electronic mediums such as websites, feeds, blogs and
social media sites are on a daily basis influencing our decision
making, are improving our productivity and are shaping futures of
many consumers and service/product providers. This research
identifies that both customers and business providers heavily rely on
smart phone applications. Based on this, mobile applications
available on iTunes store were studied. It was identified that fruit and
vegetable related applications used by consumers can broadly be
categorized into purchase applications, diaries, tracking health
applications, trip farm location and cooking applications. On the
other hand, applications used by farmers can broadly be classified as:
weather tracking, pests / fertilizer applications and general social
media applications such as Facebook. To blur this farmer-consumer
application divide, our research utilizes Context Specific
eTransformation Framework and based on it identifies characteristic
future consumer-farmer applications will need to have so that the
current divide can be narrowed and consequently better farmerconsumer
supply chain link established.
Abstract: The noise is one of the negative elements which
affects the human health. This article presents the measurement of
emitted noise by road vehicle and its parts during the operation.
Measurement was done in the interior of common passenger cars
with a digital sound meter. The results compare the noise value in
different cars with different body shape, which influences the driver’s
health. Transport has considerable ecological effects; many of them
are detrimental to environmental sustainability. Roads and traffic
exert a variety of direct and mostly detrimental effects on nature.
Abstract: Revenue leakages are one of the major challenges
manufacturers face in production processes, as most of the input
materials that should emanate as products from the lines are lost as
waste. Rather than generating income from material input which is
meant to end-up as products, losses are further incurred as costs in
order to manage waste generated. In addition, due to the lack of a
clear view of the flow of resources on the lines from input to output
stage, acquiring information on the true cost of waste generated have
become a challenge. This has therefore given birth to the
conceptualization and implementation of waste minimization
strategies by several manufacturing industries. This paper reviews the
principles and applications of three environmental management
accounting tools namely Activity-based Costing (ABC), Life-Cycle
Assessment (LCA) and Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) in
the manufacturing industry and their effectiveness in curbing revenue
leakages. The paper unveils the strengths and limitations of each of
the tools; beaming a searchlight on the tool that could allow for
optimal resource utilization, transparency in production process as
well as improved cost efficiency. Findings from this review reveal
that MFCA may offer superior advantages with regards to the
provision of more detailed information (both in physical and
monetary terms) on the flow of material inputs throughout the
production process compared to the other environmental accounting
tools. This paper therefore makes a case for the adoption of MFCA as
a viable technique for the identification and reduction of waste in
production processes, and also for effective decision making by
production managers, financial advisors and other relevant
stakeholders.
Abstract: This paper evaluates the accrual based scheduling for
cloud in single and multi-resource system. Numerous organizations
benefit from Cloud computing by hosting their applications. The
cloud model provides needed access to computing with potentially
unlimited resources. Scheduling is tasks and resources mapping to a
certain optimal goal principle. Scheduling, schedules tasks to virtual
machines in accordance with adaptable time, in sequence under
transaction logic constraints. A good scheduling algorithm improves
CPU use, turnaround time, and throughput. In this paper, three realtime
cloud services scheduling algorithm for single resources and
multiple resources are investigated. Experimental results show
Resource matching algorithm performance to be superior for both
single and multi-resource scheduling when compared to benefit first
scheduling, Migration, Checkpoint algorithms.
Abstract: The health care must be a right for people around the
world, but in order to guarantee the access to all, it is necessary to
overcome geographical barriers. Telemedicine take advantage of
Information Communication Technologies to deploy health care
services around the world. To achieve those goals, it is necessary to
use existing last mile solution to create access for home users, which
is why is necessary to establish the channel characteristics for those
kinds of services. This paper presents an analysis of network
performance of last mile solution for the use of IPTV broadcasting
with the application of streaming for telemedicine apps.
Abstract: Spectrum handover is a significant topic in the
cognitive radio networks to assure an efficient data transmission in
the cognitive radio user’s communications. This paper proposes a
comparison between three spectrum handover models: VIKOR, SAW
and MEW. Four evaluation metrics are used. These metrics are,
accumulative average of failed handover, accumulative average of
handover performed, accumulative average of transmission
bandwidth and, accumulative average of the transmission delay. As a difference with related work, the performance of the three
spectrum handover models was validated with captured data of
spectrum occupancy in experiments performed at the GSM frequency
band (824 MHz - 849 MHz). These data represent the actual behavior
of the licensed users for this wireless frequency band. The results of the comparison show that VIKOR Algorithm
provides a 15.8% performance improvement compared to SAW
Algorithm and, it is 12.1% better than the MEW Algorithm.
Abstract: In this numerical study, effects of using Al2O3-water
nanofluid on the rate of heat transfer have been investigated. Physical
model is a square enclosure with insulated top and bottom horizontal
walls, while the vertical walls are kept at different constant
temperatures. Two appropriate models are used to evaluate the
viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluid. The governing
stream-vorticity equations are solved using a second order central
finite difference scheme, coupled to the conservation of mass and
energy. The study has been carried out for the nanoparticle diameter
30, 60 and 90 nm and the solid volume fraction 0 to 0.04. Results are
presented by average Nusselt number and normalized Nusselt number
in different range of φ and D for mixed convection dominated
regime. It is found that different heat transfer rate is predicted when
the effect of nanoparticle diameter is taken into account.
Abstract: This paper develops a multiple channel assignment
model, which allows to take advantage of spectrum opportunities in
cognitive radio networks in the most efficient way. The developed
scheme allows making several assignments of available and
frequency adjacent channel, which require a bigger bandwidth, under
an equality environment. The hybrid assignment model it is made by
two algorithms, one that makes the ranking and selects available
frequency channels and the other one in charge of establishing the
Max-Min Fairness for not restrict the spectrum opportunities for all
the other secondary users, who also claim to make transmissions.
Measurements made were done for average bandwidth, average
delay, as well as fairness computation for several channel
assignments. Reached results were evaluated with experimental
spectrum occupational data from captured GSM frequency band. The
developed model shows evidence of improvement in spectrum
opportunity use and a wider average transmission bandwidth for each
secondary user, maintaining equality criteria in channel assignment.
Abstract: Nowadays, illegal logging has been causing many
effects including flash flood, avalanche, global warming, and etc. The
purpose of this study was to maintain the earth ecosystem by keeping
and regulate Malaysia’s treasurable rainforest by utilizing a new
technology that will assist in real-time alert and give faster response
to the authority to act on these illegal activities. The methodology of
this research consisted of design stages that have been conducted as
well as the system model and system architecture of the prototype in
addition to the proposed hardware and software that have been
mainly used such as microcontroller, sensor with the implementation
of GSM, and GPS integrated system. This prototype was deployed at
Royal Belum forest in December 2014 for phase 1 and April 2015 for
phase 2 at 21 pinpoint locations. The findings of this research were
the capture of data in real-time such as temperature, humidity,
gaseous, fire, and rain detection which indicate the current natural
state and habitat in the forest. Besides, this device location can be
detected via GPS of its current location and then transmitted by SMS
via GSM system. All of its readings were sent in real-time for further
analysis. The data that were compared to meteorological department
showed that the precision of this device was about 95% and these
findings proved that the system is acceptable and suitable to be used
in the field.
Abstract: The Greater Athens Area (GAA) faces photochemical
and particulate pollution episodes as a result of the combined effects
of local pollutant emissions, regional pollution transport, synoptic
circulation and topographic characteristics. The area has undergone
significant changes since the Athens 2004 Olympic Games because
of large scale infrastructure works that lead to the shift of population
to areas previously characterized as rural, the increase of the traffic
fleet and the operation of highways. However, few recent modelling
studies have been performed due to the lack of an accurate, updated
emission inventory. The photochemical modelling system
MM5/CAMx was applied in order to study the photochemical and
particulate pollution characteristics above the GAA for two distinct
ten-day periods in the summer of 2006 and 2010, where air pollution
episodes occurred. A new updated emission inventory was used
based on official data. Comparison of modeled results with
measurements revealed the importance and accuracy of the new
Athens emission inventory as compared to previous modeling
studies. The model managed to reproduce the local meteorological
conditions, the daily ozone and particulates fluctuations at different
locations across the GAA. Higher ozone levels were found at
suburban and rural areas as well as over the sea at the south of the
basin. Concerning PM10, high concentrations were computed at the
city centre and the southeastern suburbs in agreement with measured
data. Source apportionment analysis showed that different sources
contribute to the ozone levels, the local sources (traffic, port
activities) affecting its formation.