Abstract: Crucial information barely visible to the human eye is
often embedded in a series of low resolution images taken of the
same scene. Super resolution reconstruction is the process of
combining several low resolution images into a single higher
resolution image. The ideal algorithm should be fast, and should add
sharpness and details, both at edges and in regions without adding
artifacts. In this paper we propose a super resolution blind
reconstruction technique for linearly degraded images. In our
proposed technique the algorithm is divided into three parts an image
registration, wavelets based fusion and an image restoration. In this
paper three low resolution images are considered which may sub
pixels shifted, rotated, blurred or noisy, the sub pixel shifted images
are registered using affine transformation model; A wavelet based
fusion is performed and the noise is removed using soft thresolding.
Our proposed technique reduces blocking artifacts and also
smoothens the edges and it is also able to restore high frequency
details in an image. Our technique is efficient and computationally
fast having clear perspective of real time implementation.
Abstract: This study was investigated on sampling and
analyzing water quality in water reservoir & water tower installed in
two kind of residential buildings and school facilities. Data of water
quality was collected for correlation analysis with frequency of
sanitization of water reservoir through questioning managers of
building about the inspection charts recorded on equipment for water
reservoir. Statistical software packages (SPSS) were applied to the
data of two groups (cleaning frequency and water quality) for
regression analysis to determine the optimal cleaning frequency of
sanitization. The correlation coefficient (R) in this paper represented
the degree of correlation, with values of R ranging from +1 to -1.After
investigating three categories of drinking water users; this study found
that the frequency of sanitization of water reservoir significantly
influenced the water quality of drinking water. A higher frequency of
sanitization (more than four times per 1 year) implied a higher quality
of drinking water. Results indicated that sanitizing water reservoir &
water tower should at least twice annually for achieving the aim of
safety of drinking water.
Abstract: This paper presents an advance in monitoring and
process control of surface roughness in CNC machine for the turning
and milling processes. An integration of the in-process monitoring
and process control of the surface roughness is proposed and
developed during the machining process by using the cutting force
ratio. The previously developed surface roughness models for turning
and milling processes of the author are adopted to predict the inprocess
surface roughness, which consist of the cutting speed, the
feed rate, the tool nose radius, the depth of cut, the rake angle, and
the cutting force ratio. The cutting force ratios obtained from the
turning and the milling are utilized to estimate the in-process surface
roughness. The dynamometers are installed on the tool turret of CNC
turning machine and the table of 5-axis machining center to monitor
the cutting forces. The in-process control of the surface roughness
has been developed and proposed to control the predicted surface
roughness. It has been proved by the cutting tests that the proposed
integration system of the in-process monitoring and the process
control can be used to check the surface roughness during the cutting
by utilizing the cutting force ratio.
Abstract: PCCI engines can reduce NOx and PM emissions
simultaneously without sacrificing thermal efficiency, but a low
combustion temperature resulting from early fuel injection, and
ignition occurring prior to TDC, can cause higher THC and CO
emissions and fuel consumption. In conclusion, it was found that the
PCCI combustion achieved by the 2-stage injection strategy with
optimized calibration factors (e.g. EGR rate, injection pressure, swirl
ratio, intake pressure, injection timing) can reduce NOx and PM
emissions simultaneously. This research works are expected to
provide valuable information conducive to a development of an
innovative combustion engine that can fulfill upcoming stringent
emission standards.
Abstract: One of the main advantages of the LO paradigm is to
allow the availability of good quality, shareable learning material
through the Web. The effectiveness of the retrieval process requires a
formal description of the resources (metadata) that closely fits the
user-s search criteria; in spite of the huge international efforts in this
field, educational metadata schemata often fail to fulfil this
requirement. This work aims to improve the situation, by the
definition of a metadata model capturing specific didactic features of
shareable learning resources. It classifies LOs into “teacher-oriented"
and “student-oriented" categories, in order to describe the role a LO
is to play when it is integrated into the educational process. This
article describes the model and a first experimental validation process
that has been carried out in a controlled environment.
Abstract: The effect of extraction solvent upon properties
of carrageenan from Eucheuma cottonii was studied. The
distilled water and KOH solution (concentration 0.1- 0.5N) were
used as the solvent. Extraction process was carried out in water
bath equipped by stirrer with constant speed of 275 rpm with a
constant ratio of seaweed weight to solvent volume ( 1:50 g/mL)
at 86oC for 45 minutes. The extract was then precipitated in 3
volume of 90% ethanol, oven dried at 60oC. Based on
experimental data, alkali significantly influenced yield and
properties of extracted carrageenan. The extracted carrageenan
was found to have essentially identical FTIR spectra to the
reference samples of kappa-carrageenan. Increasing the KOH
concentration led to carrageenan containing less sulfate content
and intrinsic viscosity. The gel strength increased along with the
increasing of KOH concentration. The decreasing of intrinsic
viscosity value indicates that a polymer degradation occurs
during alkali extraction.
Abstract: Recent years have seen a growing trend towards the
integration of multiple information sources to support large-scale
prediction of protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks in model
organisms. Despite advances in computational approaches, the
combination of multiple “omic" datasets representing the same type
of data, e.g. different gene expression datasets, has not been
rigorously studied. Furthermore, there is a need to further investigate
the inference capability of powerful approaches, such as fullyconnected
Bayesian networks, in the context of the prediction of PPI
networks. This paper addresses these limitations by proposing a
Bayesian approach to integrate multiple datasets, some of which
encode the same type of “omic" data to support the identification of
PPI networks. The case study reported involved the combination of
three gene expression datasets relevant to human heart failure (HF).
In comparison with two traditional methods, Naive Bayesian and
maximum likelihood ratio approaches, the proposed technique can
accurately identify known PPI and can be applied to infer potentially
novel interactions.
Abstract: Photovoltaic power generation forecasting is an
important task in renewable energy power system planning and
operating. This paper explores the application of neural networks
(NN) to study the design of photovoltaic power generation
forecasting systems for one week ahead using weather databases
include the global irradiance, and temperature of Ghardaia city
(south of Algeria) using a data acquisition system. Simulations were
run and the results are discussed showing that neural networks
Technique is capable to decrease the photovoltaic power generation
forecasting error.
Abstract: There are three distinct stages in the evolution of
economic thought, namely:
1. in the first stage, the major concern was to accelerate
economic growth with increased availability of material
goods, especially in developing economies with very low
living standards, because poverty eradication meant faster
economic growth.
2. in the second stage, economists made distinction between
growth and development. Development was seen as going
beyond economic growth, and bringing certain changes in
the structure of the economy with more equitable
distribution of the benefits of growth, with the growth
coming automatic and sustained.
3. the third stage is now reached. Our concern is now with
“sustainable development", that is, development not only
for the present but also of the future.
Thus the focus changed from “sustained growth" to “sustained
development". Sustained development brings to the fore the long
term relationship between the ecology and economic development.
Since the creation of UNEP in 1972 it has worked for
development without destruction for environmentally sound and
sustained development. It was realised that the environment cannot
be viewed in a vaccum, it is not separate from development, nor is it
competing. It suggested for the integration of the environment with
development whereby ecological factors enter development planning,
socio-economic policies, cost-benefit analysis, trade, technology
transfer, waste management, educational and other specific areas.
Industrialisation has contributed to the growth of economy of
several countries. It has improved the standards of living of its people
and provided benefits to the society. It has also created in the process
great environmental problems like climate change, forest destruction
and denudation, soil erosion and desertification etc.
On the other hand, industry has provided jobs and improved the
prospects of wealth for the industrialists. The working class
communities had to simply put up with the high levels of pollution in
order to keep up their jobs and also to save their income.
There are many roots of the environmental problem. They may be
political, economic, cultural and technological conditions of the
modern society. The experts concede that industrial growth lies
somewhere close to the heart of the matter. Therefore, the objective
of this paper is not to document all roots of an environmental crisis
but rather to discuss the effects of industrial growth and
development.
We have come to the conclusion that although public intervention
is often unnecessary to ensure that perfectly competitive markets will
function in society-s best interests, such intervention is necessary
when firms or consumers pollute.
Abstract: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder which affects individuals with varying degrees of impairment. Currently, there has been ample research done in serious game for autism children. Although serious games are traditionally associated with software developments, developing them in the autism field involves studying the associated technology and paying attention to aspects related to interaction with the game. Serious Games for autism cover matters related to education, therapy for communication, psychomotor treatment and social behavior enhancement. In this paper, a systematic review sets out the lines of development and research currently being conducted into serious games which pursue some form of benefit in the field of autism. This paper includes a literature review of relevant serious game developments since in year 2007 and examines new trends.
Abstract: The present study concentrates on solving the along wind oscillation problem of a tall square building from first principles and across wind oscillation problem of the same from empirical relations obtained by experiments. The criterion for human comfort at the worst condition at the top floor of the building is being considered and a limiting value of height of a building for a given cross section is predicted. Numerical integrations are carried out as and when required. The results show severeness of across wind oscillations in comparison to along wind oscillation. The comfort criterion is combined with across wind oscillation results to determine the maximum allowable height of a building for a given square cross-section.
Abstract: Most Decision Support Systems (DSS) for waste
management (WM) constructed are not widely marketed and lack
practical applications. This is due to the number of variables and
complexity of the mathematical models which include the
assumptions and constraints required in decision making. The
approach made by many researchers in DSS modelling is to isolate a
few key factors that have a significant influence to the DSS. This
segmented approach does not provide a thorough understanding of
the complex relationships of the many elements involved. The
various elements in constructing the DSS must be integrated and
optimized in order to produce a viable model that is marketable and
has practical application. The DSS model used in assisting decision
makers should be integrated with GIS, able to give robust prediction
despite the inherent uncertainties of waste generation and the plethora
of waste characteristics, and gives optimal allocation of waste stream
for recycling, incineration, landfill and composting.
Abstract: In a nuclear reactor Loss of Coolant accident (LOCA)
considers wide range of postulated damage or rupture of pipe in the
heat transport piping system. In the case of LOCA with/without
failure of emergency core cooling system in a Pressurised Heavy
water Reactor, the Pressure Tube (PT) temperature could rise
significantly due to fuel heat up and gross mismatch of the heat
generation and heat removal in the affected channel. The extent and
nature of deformation is important from reactor safety point of view.
Experimental set-ups have been designed and fabricated to simulate
ballooning (radial deformation) of PT for 220 MWe IPHWRs.
Experiments have been conducted by covering the CT by ceramic
fibers and then by submerging CT in water of voided PTs. In both
the experiments, it is observed that ballooning initiates at a
temperature around 665´┐¢C and complete contact between PT and
Caldaria Tube (CT) occurs at around 700´┐¢C approximately. The
strain rate is found to be 0.116% per second. The structural integrity
of PT is retained (no breach) for all the experiments. The PT heatup
is found to be arrested after the contact between PT and CT, thus
establishing moderator acting as an efficient heat sink for IPHWRs.
Abstract: In Knowledge Structure Graph, each course unit
represents a phase of learning activities. Both learning portfolios and
Knowledge Structure Graphs contain learning information of students
and let teachers know which content are difficulties and fails. The
study purposes "Dual Mode On-line Learning Diagnosis System" that
integrates two search methods: learning portfolio and knowledge
structure. Teachers can operate the proposed system and obtain the
information of specific students without any computer science
background. The teachers can find out failed students in advance and
provide remedial learning resources.
Abstract: Nowadays, Gene Ontology has been used widely by many researchers for biological data mining and information retrieval, integration of biological databases, finding genes, and incorporating knowledge in the Gene Ontology for gene clustering. However, the increase in size of the Gene Ontology has caused problems in maintaining and processing them. One way to obtain their accessibility is by clustering them into fragmented groups. Clustering the Gene Ontology is a difficult combinatorial problem and can be modeled as a graph partitioning problem. Additionally, deciding the number k of clusters to use is not easily perceived and is a hard algorithmic problem. Therefore, an approach for solving the automatic clustering of the Gene Ontology is proposed by incorporating cohesion-and-coupling metric into a hybrid algorithm consisting of a genetic algorithm and a split-and-merge algorithm. Experimental results and an example of modularized Gene Ontology in RDF/XML format are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the algorithm.
Abstract: In this paper, we have proposed two novel plasmonic demultiplexing structures based on metal-insulator-metal surfaces which, beside their compact size, have a very good transmission spectrum. The impact of the key internal parameters on the transmission spectrum is numerically analyzed by using the twodimensional (2D) finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The proposed structures could be used to develop ultra-compact photonic wavelength demultiplexing devices for large-scale photonic integration.
Abstract: The main aim of the current study was to examine the
effect of emotional intelligence on retention. The study also aimed at
analyzing the role of job involvement, as a moderator, in the effect of
emotional intelligence on retention. Using data gathered from 241
employees working with hotels and tourism corporations listed in
Amman Stock Exchange in Jordan, emotional intelligence, job
involvement and retention were measured. Hierarchical regression
analyses were used to test the three main hypotheses. Results
indicated that retention was related to emotional intelligence.
Moreover, the study yielded support for the claim that job
involvement had a moderating effect on the relationship between
emotional intelligence and retention.
Abstract: Mobile IP has been developed to provide the
continuous information network access to mobile users. In IP-based
mobile networks, location management is an important component of
mobility management. This management enables the system to track
the location of mobile node between consecutive communications. It
includes two important tasks- location update and call delivery.
Location update is associated with signaling load. Frequent updates
lead to degradation in the overall performance of the network and the
underutilization of the resources. It is, therefore, required to devise
the mechanism to minimize the update rate. Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6)
and Hierarchical MIPv6 (HMIPv6) have been the potential
candidates for deployments in mobile IP networks for mobility
management. HMIPv6 through studies has been shown with better
performance as compared to MIPv6. It reduces the signaling
overhead traffic by making registration process local. In this paper,
we present performance analysis of MIPv6 and HMIPv6 using an
analytical model. Location update cost function is formulated based
on fluid flow mobility model. The impact of cell residence time, cell
residence probability and user-s mobility is investigated. Numerical
results are obtained and presented in graphical form. It is shown that
HMIPv6 outperforms MIPv6 for high mobility users only and for low
mobility users; performance of both the schemes is almost equivalent
to each other.
Abstract: Injection molding is a very complicated process to
monitor and control. With its high complexity and many process
parameters, the optimization of these systems is a very challenging
problem. To meet the requirements and costs demanded by the
market, there has been an intense development and research with the
aim to maintain the process under control. This paper outlines the
latest advances in necessary algorithms for plastic injection process
and monitoring, and also a flexible data acquisition system that
allows rapid implementation of complex algorithms to assess their
correct performance and can be integrated in the quality control
process. This is the main topic of this paper. Finally, to demonstrate
the performance achieved by this combination, a real case of use is
presented.
Abstract: The performance of adaptive beamforming degrades
substantially in the presence of steering vector mismatches. This
degradation is especially severe in the near-field, for the
3-dimensional source location is more difficult to estimate than the
2-dimensional direction of arrival in far-field cases. As a solution, a
novel approach of near-field robust adaptive beamforming (RABF) is
proposed in this paper. It is a natural extension of the traditional
far-field RABF and belongs to the class of diagonal loading
approaches, with the loading level determined based on worst-case
performance optimization. However, different from the methods
solving the optimal loading by iteration, it suggests here a simple
closed-form solution after some approximations, and consequently,
the optimal weight vector can be expressed in a closed form. Besides
simplicity and low computational cost, the proposed approach reveals
how different factors affect the optimal loading as well as the weight
vector. Its excellent performance in the near-field is confirmed via a
number of numerical examples.