Abstract: Video sensor networks operate on stringent requirements
of latency. Packets have a deadline within which they have
to be delivered. Violation of the deadline causes a packet to be
treated as lost and the loss of packets ultimately affects the quality
of the application. Network latency is typically a function of many
interacting components. In this paper, we propose ways of reducing
the forwarding latency of a packet at intermediate nodes. The
forwarding latency is caused by a combination of processing delay
and queueing delay. The former is incurred in order to determine the
next hop in dynamic routing. We show that unless link failures in a
very specific and unlikely pattern, a vast majority of these lookups
are redundant. To counter this we propose source routing as the
routing strategy. However, source routing suffers from issues related
to scalability and being impervious to network dynamics. We propose
solutions to counter these and show that source routing is definitely
a viable option in practical sized video networks. We also propose a
fast and fair packet scheduling algorithm that reduces queueing delay
at the nodes. We support our claims through extensive simulation on
realistic topologies with practical traffic loads and failure patterns.
Abstract: Inthis paper, design and fabrication of vertical
micromirror for optical switching applications of single mode optical
fibers are proposed. The structure of micromirror will be created
from negative photoresist (SU-8) on X-ray lithography using X-ray
from synchrotron light source. The properties of X-ray from
synchrotron light source are high-energy electrons which can
construct materials that have a high aspect ratio. In addition, the
technique of gold coating of reflective material has been used for
change direction of light between two pairs of optical fibers. At a
wavelength of 1310 nm with minimum average loss of 5.305 dB is
obtained.
Abstract: The standard approach to image reconstruction is to stabilize the problem by including an edge-preserving roughness penalty in addition to faithfulness to the data. However, this methodology produces noisy object boundaries and creates a staircase effect. The existing attempts to favor the formation of smooth contour lines take the edge field explicitly into account; they either are computationally expensive or produce disappointing results. In this paper, we propose to incorporate the smoothness of the edge field in an implicit way by means of an additional penalty term defined in the wavelet domain. We also derive an efficient half-quadratic algorithm to solve the resulting optimization problem, including the case when the data fidelity term is non-quadratic and the cost function is nonconvex. Numerical experiments show that our technique preserves edge sharpness while smoothing contour lines; it produces visually pleasing reconstructions which are quantitatively better than those obtained without wavelet-domain constraints.
Abstract: Natural ventilation has played an important role for
many low energy-building designs. It has been also noticed as a
essential subject to persistently bring the fresh cool air from the
outside into a building. This study carried out the computational fluid
dynamics (CFD)-based simulations to examine the natural ventilation
development of a work area in a public building. The simulated results
can be useful to better understand the indoor microclimate and the
interaction of wind with buildings. Besides, this CFD simulation
procedure can serve as an effective analysis tool to characterize the
airing performance, and thereby optimize the building ventilation for
strengthening the architects, planners and other decision makers on
improving the natural ventilation design of public buildings.
Abstract: This study aims at investigating the empirical
relationships between risk preference, internet preference, and
internet knowledge which are known as user characteristics, in
addition to perceived risk of the customers on the internet purchase
intention. In order to test the relationships between the variables of
model 174, a questionnaire was collected from the students with
previous online experience. For the purpose of data analysis,
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation model
(SEM) was used.
Test results show that the perceived risk affects the internet
purchase intention, and increase or decrease of perceived risk
influences the purchase intention when the customer does the internet
shopping. Other factors such as internet preference, knowledge of the
internet, and risk preference affect the internet purchase intention.
Abstract: This paper presents the elastic buckling of
homogeneous beams with a pair of piezoelectric layers surface
bonded on both sides of the beams. The displacement field of beam is
assumed based on the Engesser-Timoshenko beam theory.
Applying the Hamilton's principle, the equilibrium equation is
established. The influences of applied voltage, dimensionless
geometrical parameter and piezoelectric thickness on the critical
buckling load of beam are presented. To investigate the accuracy of
the present analysis, a compression study is carried out with a known
data.
Abstract: Wireless LAN (WLAN) access in public hotspot areas
becomes popular in the recent years. Since more and more multimedia
information is available in the Internet, there is an increasing demand
for accessing multimedia information through WLAN hotspots.
Currently, the bandwidth offered by an IEEE 802.11 WLAN cannot
afford many simultaneous real-time video accesses. A possible way to
increase the offered bandwidth in a hotspot is the use of multiple access
points (APs). However, a mobile station is usually connected to the
WLAN AP with the strongest received signal strength indicator (RSSI).
The total consumed bandwidth cannot be fairly allocated among those
APs. In this paper, we will propose an effective load-balancing scheme
via the support of the IAPP and SNMP in APs. The proposed scheme is
an open solution and doesn-t need any changes in both wireless stations
and APs. This makes load balancing possible in WLAN hotspots,
where a variety of heterogeneous mobile devices are employed.
Abstract: A new class of percolation model in complex networks,
in which nodes are characterized by hidden variables reflecting the
properties of nodes and the occupied probability of each link is
determined by the hidden variables of the end nodes, is studied
in this paper. By the mean field theory, the analytical expressions
for the phase of percolation transition is deduced. It is determined
by the distribution of the hidden variables for the nodes and the
occupied probability between pairs of them. Moreover, the analytical
expressions obtained are checked by means of numerical simulations
on a particular model. Besides, the general model can be applied
to describe and control practical diffusion models, such as disease
diffusion model, scientists cooperation networks, and so on.
Abstract: Snow cover is an important phenomenon in
hydrology, hence modeling the snow accumulation and melting is an
important issue in places where snowmelt significantly contributes to
runoff and has significant effect on water balance. The physics-based
models are invariably distributed, with the basin disaggregated into
zones or grid cells. Satellites images provide valuable data to verify
the accuracy of spatially distributed model outputs. In this study a
spatially distributed physically based model (WetSpa) was applied to
predict snow cover and melting in the Latyan dam watershed in Iran.
Snowmelt is simulated based on an energy balance approach. The
model is applied and calibrated with one year of observed daily
precipitation, air temperature, windspeed, and daily potential
evaporation. The predicted snow-covered area is compared with
remotely sensed images (MODIS). The results show that simulated
snow cover area SCA has a good agreement with satellite image
snow cover area SCA from MODIS images. The model performance
is also tested by statistical and graphical comparison of simulated and
measured discharges entering the Latyan dam reservoir.
Abstract: The implementations of green roof have been widely
used in the developed countries such as Germany, United Kingdom,
United States and Canada. Green roof have many benefits such as
aesthetic and economic value, ecological gain which are optimization
of storm water management, urban heat island mitigation and energy
conservation. In term of pollution, green roof can control the air and
noise pollution in urban cities. The application of green roof in
Malaysian building has been studied with the previous work of green
roof either in Malaysia or other Asian region as like Indonesia,
Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and several other countries that have
similar climate and environment as in Malaysia. These technologies
of adapting green roof have been compared to the Green Building
Index (GBI) of Malaysian buildings. The study has concentrated on
the technical aspect of green roof system having focused on i) waste
& recyclable materials ii) types of plants and method of planting and
iii) green roof as tool to reduce storm water runoff. The finding of
these areas will be compared to the suitability in achieving good
practice of the GBI in Malaysia. Results show that most of the
method are based on the countries own climate and environment.
This suggests that the method of using green roof must adhere to the
tropical climate of Malaysia. Suggestion of this research will be
viewed in term of the sustainability of the green roof. Further
research can be developed to implement the best method and
application in Malaysian climate especially in urban cities and
township.
Abstract: In the current age, retrieval of relevant information
from massive amount of data is a challenging job. Over the years,
precise and relevant retrieval of information has attained high
significance. There is a growing need in the market to build systems,
which can retrieve multimedia information that precisely meets the
user's current needs. In this paper, we have introduced a framework
for refining query results before showing it to the user, using ambient
intelligence, user profile, group profile, user location, time, day, user
device type and extracted features. A prototypic tool was also
developed to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.
Abstract: Two indica varieties, IR36 and ‘Suweon 258’ (“S”)
are middle-heading in southern Japan. 36U, also middle-heading, is
an isogenic line of IR36 carrying Ur1 (Undulate rachis-1) gene.
However, late-heading plants segregated in the F2 population from
the F1 of S × 36U, and so did in the following generations. The
concerning lateness gene is designated as Ex. From the F8 generation,
isogenic-line pair of early-heading and late-heading lines, denoted by
“E” (ex/ex) and “L” (Ex/Ex), were developed. Genetic analyses of
heading time were conducted, using F1s and F2s among L, E, S and
36U. The following inferences were drawn from the experimental
results: 1) L, and both of E and 36U harbor Ex and ex, respectively;
2) Besides Ex, S harbors an inhibitor gene to it, i.e. I-Ex which is a
novel finding of the present study. 3) Ex is a dominant allele at the
E1 locus.
Abstract: Knowledge sharing enables the information or
knowledge to be transmitted from one source to another. This paper
demonstrates the needs of having the online book catalogue which
can be used to facilitate disseminating information on textbook used
in the university. This project is aimed to give access to the students
and lecturers to the list of books in the bookstore and at the same
time to allow book reviewing without having to visit the bookstore
physically. Research is carried out according to the boundaries which
accounts to current process of new book purchasing, current system
used by the bookstore and current process the lecturers go through
for reviewing textbooks. The questionnaire is used to gather the
requirements and it is distributed to 100 students and 40 lecturers.
This project has enabled the improvement of a manual process to be
carried out automatically, through a web based platform. It is shown
based on the user acceptance survey carried out that target groups
found that this web service is feasible to be implemented in
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), and they have shown
positive signs of interest in utilizing it in the future.
Abstract: This paper compares planning results of the electricity and water generation inventory up to year 2030 in the State of
Kuwait. Currently, the generation inventory consists of oil and gas fired technologies only. The planning study considers two main cases. The first case, Reference case, examines a generation inventory based on oil and gas fired generation technologies only.
The second case examines the inclusion of renewables as part of the generation inventory under two scenarios. In the first scenario, Ref-RE, renewable build-out is based on optimum economic performance
of overall generation system. Result shows that the optimum installed
renewable capacity with electric energy generation of 11% . In the second scenario, Ref-RE20, the renewable capacity build-out is
forced to provide 20% of electric energy by 2030. The respective energy systems costs of Reference, Ref-RE and Ref-RE20 case
scenarios reach US dollar 24, 10 and 14 billion annually in 2030.
Abstract: Knowledge capabilities are increasingly important for
the innovative technology enterprises to enhance the business
performance in terms of product competitiveness, innovation and
sales. Recognition of the company capability by auditing allows them
to further pursue advancement, strategic planning and hence gain
competitive advantages. This paper attempts to develop an
Organizations- Knowledge Capabilities Assessment (OKCA) method
to assess the knowledge capabilities of technology companies. The
OKCA is a questionnaire-based assessment tool which has been
developed to uncover the impact of various knowledge capabilities on
different organizational performance. The collected data is then
analyzed to find out the crucial elements for different technological
companies. Based on the results, innovative technology enterprises are
able to recognize the direction for further improvement on business
performance and future development plan. External environmental
factors affecting organization performance can be found through the
further analysis of some selected reference companies.
Abstract: Several approaches such as linear programming, network
modeling, greedy heuristic and decision support system are well-known
approaches in solving irregular airline operation problem. This paper
presents an alternative approach based on Multi Objective Micro Genetic
Algorithm. The aim of this research is to introduce the concept of Multi
Objective Micro Genetic Algorithm as a tool to solve irregular airline
operation, combine and reroute problem. The experiment result indicated
that the model could obtain optimal solutions within a few second.
Abstract: A study was conducted to determine the effect of
feeding glycerol on dairy cows performance. Twenty four Holstein
Friesian crossbred (>87.5% Holstein Friesian) lactating dairy cows in
early lactation; averaging 13+2.4 kg of milk, 64+45 days in milk,
55+16 months old and 325+26 kg live weight, were stratified for
milk yield, days in milk, age, stage of lactation and body weight, and
then randomly allocated to three treatment groups. All cows were fed
approximate 8 kg of concentrate together with ad libitum corn silage
and freely access to clean water. Nil or 150 and 300g of glycerol
were supplemented to the cows according to treatment groups. All
cows consumed similar concentrate, corn silage and total DM and
NELP. There were no significant differences in DM intake, CP intake,
NELP intake, milk and milk composition yields. All cows had similar
fat, protein, lactose, solid not fat and total solid percentage. All cows
gain similar live weight. The present study indicated that,
supplementation of glycerol did not enhance milk yield, milk
composition and live weight change.
Abstract: Nowadays, one of the most important problems of the
metropolises and the world large cities is the habitant traffic difficulty
and lack of sufficient parking site for the vehicles. Esfahan city as the
third metropolis of Iran has encountered with the vehicles parkingplace
problems in the most parts of fourteen regions of the city. The
non principled and non systematic dispersal and lack of parking sites
in the city has created an unfavorable status for its traffic and has
caused the air and sound pollutions increase; in addition, it wastes the
most portions of the citizenship and travelers' charge and time in
urban pathways and disturbs their mental and psychical calmness,
thus leads to their intensive dissatisfaction. In this study, by the usage
of AHP model in GIS environment, the effective criteria in selecting
the public parking sites have been combined with each other, and the
results of the created layers overlapping represent the parking
utilitarian vastness and widths. The achieved results of this research
indicate the pretty appropriate public parking sites selection in region
number 3 of Esfahan; but inconsequential dispersal and lack of these
parking sites in this region have caused abundant transportation
problems in Esfahan city.
Abstract: This paper presents the optimal controller design of
the generator control unit in the aircraft power system. The adaptive
tabu search technique is applied to tune the controller parameters
until the best terminal output voltage of generator is achieved. The
output response from the system with the controllers designed by the
proposed technique is compared with those from the conventional
method. The transient simulations using the commercial software
package show that the controllers designed from the adaptive tabu
search algorithm can provide the better output performance compared
with the result from the classical method. The proposed design
technique is very flexible and useful for electrical aircraft engineers.
Abstract: Facing the concern of the population to its environment and to climatic change, city planners are now considering the urban climate in their choices of planning. The urban climate, representing different urban morphologies across central Bangkok metropolitan area (BMA), are used to investigates the effects of both the composition and configuration of variables of urban morphology indicators on the summer diurnal range of urban climate, using correlation analyses and multiple linear regressions. Results show first indicate that approximately 92.6% of the variation in the average maximum daytime near-surface air temperature (Ta) was explained jointly by the two composition variables of urban morphology indicators including open space ratio (OSR) and floor area ratio (FAR). It has been possible to determine the membership of sample areas to the local climate zones (LCZs) using these urban morphology descriptors automatically computed with GIS and remote sensed data. Finally result found the temperature differences among zones of large separation, such as the city center could be respectively from 35.48±1.04ºC (Mean±S.D.) warmer than the outskirt of Bangkok on average for maximum daytime near surface temperature to 28.27±0.21ºC for extreme event and, can exceed as 8ºC. A spatially disaggregation of urban thermal responsiveness map would be helpful for several reasons. First, it would localize urban areas concerned by different climate behavior over summer daytime and be a good indicator of urban climate variability. Second, when overlaid with a land cover map, this map may contribute to identify possible urban management strategies to reduce heat wave effects in BMA.