Abstract: This paper presents optimization of makespan for ‘n’
jobs and ‘m’ machines flexible job shop scheduling problem with
sequence dependent setup time using genetic algorithm (GA)
approach. A restart scheme has also been applied to prevent the
premature convergence. Two case studies are taken into
consideration. Results are obtained by considering crossover
probability (pc = 0.85) and mutation probability (pm = 0.15). Five
simulation runs for each case study are taken and minimum value
among them is taken as optimal makespan. Results indicate that
optimal makespan can be achieved with more than one sequence of
jobs in a production order.
Abstract: Starting in 2020, an EU-wide CO2-limitation of
95 g/km is scheduled for the average of an OEMs passenger car fleet.
Taking that into consideration additional improvement measures of
the Diesel cycle are necessary in order to reduce fuel consumption
and emissions while boosting, or at the least, keeping performance
values at the same time.
The present article deals with the possibilities of an optimized
air/water charge air cooler, also called iCAC (indirect Charge Air
Cooler) for a Diesel passenger car amongst extreme-boundary
conditions. In this context, the precise objective was to show the
impact of improved intercooling with reference to the engine working
process (fuel consumption and NOx-emissions). Several extremeboundaries
- e.g. varying ambient temperatures or mountainous
routes - that will become very important in the near future regarding
RDE (Real Driving emissions) were subject of the investigation.
With the introduction of RDE in 2017 (EU6c measure), the
controversial NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) will belong to
the past and the OEMs will have to avoid harmful emissions in any
conceivable real life situation.
This is certainly going to lead to optimization-measurements at the
powertrain, which again is going to make the implementation of
iCACs, presently solely used for the premium class, more and more
attractive for compact class cars. The investigations showed a benefit
in FC between 1 and 3% for the iCAC in real world conditions.
Abstract: In this study, we are interested in a species of the
family of Asteraceae (Tagetes erecta). This family is considered as a
source of antimicrobial extracts with strong capacity. The extraction
of the flavonoids is carried out by the method of liquid/liquid with the
use of successive solvents. Afterwards, we evaluated the biological
activity of the flavonoids on five pathogenic bacterial stocks such as
Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus and two stocks
of yeasts to knowing Candida albicans) and Saccharomyces
cerevisiae, by employing the method of the aromatogramme starting
from a solid disc. The result of the antimicrobial activity shows an
action and a variable degree of sensitivity according to bacterial
stocks tested. It will be noted that the flavonoids have an inhibiting
effect on E. coli, B. subtilis, K. pneumoniae and S. aureus. But a
resistance with respect to the extract by P. aeruginosa, C. albicans
and S. cerevisiae is to be mentioned.
Abstract: The paper focus on robotic telepresence system build
around humanoid robot operated with controller-less Wizard of Oz
technique. Proposed solution gives possibility to quick start acting as
a operator with short, if any, initial training.
Abstract: The use of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) in
web, business and scientific databases lead to the development of
methods, techniques and systems to manage and analyze XML data.
Semi-structured documents suffer due to its heterogeneity and
dimensionality. XML structure and content mining represent
convergence for research in semi-structured data and text mining. As
the information available on the internet grows drastically, extracting
knowledge from XML documents becomes a harder task. Certainly,
documents are often so large that the data set returned as answer to a
query may also be very big to convey the required information. To
improve the query answering, a Semantic Tree Based Association
Rule (STAR) mining method is proposed. This method provides
intentional information by considering the structure, content and the
semantics of the content. The method is applied on Reuter’s dataset
and the results show that the proposed method outperforms well.
Abstract: The star network is one of the promising
interconnection networks for future high speed parallel computers, it
is expected to be one of the future-generation networks. The star
network is both edge and vertex symmetry, it was shown to have
many gorgeous topological proprieties also it is owns hierarchical
structure framework. Although much of the research work has been
done on this promising network in literature, it still suffers from
having enough algorithms for load balancing problem. In this paper
we try to work on this issue by investigating and proposing an
efficient algorithm for load balancing problem for the star network.
The proposed algorithm is called Star Clustered Dimension Exchange
Method SCDEM to be implemented on the star network. The
proposed algorithm is based on the Clustered Dimension Exchange
Method (CDEM). The SCDEM algorithm is shown to be efficient in
redistributing the load balancing as evenly as possible among all
nodes of different factor networks.
Abstract: Now-a-days autonomous mobile robots have found
applications in diverse fields. An autonomous robot system must be
able to behave in an intelligent manner to deal with complex and
changing environment. This work proposes the performance of path
planning and navigation of autonomous mobile robot using
Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA), Simulated Annealing (SA)
and Particle Swarm optimization (PSO) based intelligent controllers
in an unstructured environment. The approach not only finds a valid
collision free path but also optimal one. The main aim of the work is
to minimize the length of the path and duration of travel from a
starting point to a target while moving in an unknown environment
with obstacles without collision. Finally, a comparison is made
between the three controllers, it is found that the path length and time
duration made by the robot using GSA is better than SA and PSO
based controllers for the same work.
Abstract: This paper investigates the joint effect of the
interconnected (n,k)-star network topology and Multi-Agent
automated control on restoration and reconfiguration of power
systems. With the increasing trend in development in Multi-Agent
control technologies applied to power system reconfiguration
in presence of faulty components or nodes. Fault tolerance is
becoming an important challenge in the design processes of the
distributed power system topology. Since the reconfiguration of a
power system is performed by agent communication, the (n,k)-star
interconnected network topology is studied and modeled in this
paper to optimize the process of power reconfiguration. In this paper,
we discuss the recently proposed (n,k)-star topology and examine its
properties and advantages as compared to the traditional multi-bus
power topologies. We design and simulate the topology model for
distributed power system test cases. A related lemma based on the
fault tolerance and conditional diagnosability properties is presented
and proved both theoretically and practically. The conclusion is
reached that (n,k)-star topology model has measurable advantages
compared to standard bus power systems while exhibiting fault
tolerance properties in power restoration, as well as showing
efficiency when applied to power system route discovery.
Abstract: Nanocrystalline powders of the lead-free piezoelectric
material, tantalum-substituted potassium sodium niobate
(K0.5Na0.5)(Nb0.9Ta0.1)O3 (KNNT), were produced using a Retsch
PM100 planetary ball mill by setting the milling time to 15h, 20h,
25h, 30h, 35h and 40h, at a fixed speed of 250rpm. The average
particle size of the milled powders was found to decrease from 12nm
to 3nm as the milling time increases from 15h to 25h, which is in
agreement with the existing theoretical model. An anomalous
increase to 98nm and then a drop to 3nm in the particle size were
observed as the milling time further increases to 30h and 40h
respectively. Various sizes of these starting KNNT powders were
used to investigate the effect of milling time on the microstructure,
dielectric properties, phase transitions and piezoelectric properties of
the resulting KNNT ceramics. The particle size of starting KNNT
was somewhat proportional to the grain size. As the milling time
increases from 15h to 25h, the resulting ceramics exhibit
enhancement in the values of relative density from 94.8% to 95.8%,
room temperature dielectric constant (εRT) from 878 to 1213, and
piezoelectric charge coefficient (d33) from 108pC/N to 128pC/N. For
this range of ceramic samples, grain size refinement suppresses the
maximum dielectric constant (εmax), shifts the Curie temperature (Tc)
to a lower temperature and the orthorhombic-tetragonal phase
transition (Tot) to a higher temperature. Further increase of milling
time from 25h to 40h produces a gradual degradation in the values of
relative density, εRT, and d33 of the resulting ceramics.
Abstract: The research conducted in early seventies apparently
assumed the existence of a universal decision model for union
negotiators and furthermore tended to regard financial information as
a ‘neutral’ input into a rational decision making process. However,
research in the eighties began to question the neutrality of financial
information as an input in collective bargaining rather viewing it as a
potentially effective means for controlling the labour force.
Furthermore, this later research also started challenging the simplistic
assumptions relating particularly to union objectives which have
underpinned the earlier search for universal union decision models.
Despite the above developments there seems to be a dearth of studies
in developing countries concerning the use of financial information in
collective bargaining. This paper seeks to begin to remedy this
deficiency. Utilising a case study approach based on two enterprises,
one in the public sector and the other a multinational, the universal
decision model is rejected and it is argued that the decision whether
or not to use financial information is a contingent one and such a
contingency is largely defined by the context and environment in
which both union and management negotiators work. An attempt is
also made to identify the factors constraining as well as promoting
the use of financial information in collective bargaining, these being
regarded as unique to the organisations within which the case studies
are conducted.
Abstract: As enterprise computing becomes more and more
complex, the costs and technical challenges of IT system maintenance
and support are increasing rapidly. One popular approach to managing
IT system maintenance is to prepare and use a FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions) system to manage and reuse systems knowledge. Such a
FAQ system can help reduce the resolution time for each service
incident ticket. However, there is a major problem where over time the
knowledge in such FAQs tends to become outdated. Much of the
knowledge captured in the FAQ requires periodic updates in response
to new insights or new trends in the problems addressed in order to
maintain its usefulness for problem resolution. These updates require a
systematic approach to define the exact portion of the FAQ and its
content. Therefore, we are working on a novel method to
hierarchically structure the FAQ and automate the updates of its
structure and content. We use structured information and the
unstructured text information with the timelines of the information in
the service incident tickets. We cluster the tickets by structured
category information, by keywords, and by keyword modifiers for the
unstructured text information. We also calculate an urgency score
based on trends, resolution times, and priorities. We carefully studied
the tickets of one of our projects over a 2.5-year time period. After the
first 6 months we started to create FAQs and confirmed they improved
the resolution times. We continued observing over the next 2 years to
assess the ongoing effectiveness of our method for the automatic FAQ
updates. We improved the ratio of tickets covered by the FAQ from
32.3% to 68.9% during this time. Also, the average time reduction of
ticket resolution was between 31.6% and 43.9%. Subjective analysis
showed more than 75% reported that the FAQ system was useful in
reducing ticket resolution times.
Abstract: Enterprise Architecture (EA) Implementation
Methodologies have become an important part of EA projects.
Several implementation methodologies have been proposed, as a
theoretical and practical approach, to facilitate and support the
development of EA within an enterprise. A significant question when
facing the starting of EA implementation is deciding which
methodology to utilize. In order to answer this question, a framework
with several criteria is applied in this paper for the comparative
analysis of existing EA implementation methodologies. Five EA
implementation methodologies including: EAP, TOGAF, DODAF,
Gartner, and FEA are selected in order to compare with proposed
framework. The results of the comparison indicate that those
methodologies have not reached a sufficient maturity as whole due to
lack of consideration on requirement management, maintenance,
continuum, and complexities in their process. The framework has
also ability for the evaluation of any kind of EA implementation
methodologies.
Abstract: Many problems in science and engineering field require
the solution of shifted linear systems with multiple right hand
sides and multiple shifts. To solve such systems efficiently, the
implicitly restarted global GMRES algorithm is extended in this
paper. However, the shift invariant property could no longer hold over
the augmented global Krylov subspace due to adding the harmonic
Ritz matrices. To remedy this situation, we enforce the collinearity
condition on the shifted system and propose shift implicitly restarted
global GMRES. The new method not only improves the convergence
but also has a potential to simultaneously compute approximate
solution for the shifted systems using only as many matrix vector
multiplications as the solution of the seed system requires. In
addition, some numerical experiments also confirm the effectiveness
of our method.
Abstract: We have experimentally demonstrated bright-dark
pulses in a nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) based mode-locked
Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) with a long cavity configuration.
Bright–dark pulses could be achieved when the laser works in the
passively mode-locking regime and the net group velocity dispersion
is quite anomalous. The EDFL starts to generate a bright pulse train
with degenerated dark pulse at the mode-locking threshold pump
power of 35.09 mW by manipulating the polarization states of the
laser oscillation modes using a polarization controller (PC). A split
bright–dark pulse is generated when further increasing the pump
power up to 37.95 mW. Stable bright pulses with no obvious
evidence of a dark pulse can also be generated when further adjusting
PC and increasing the pump power up to 52.19 mW. At higher pump
power of 54.96 mW, a new form of bright-dark pulse emission was
successfully identified with the repetition rate of 29 kHz. The bright
and dark pulses have a duration of 795.5 ns and 640 ns, respectively.
Abstract: This review summarizes the potential of starch
agroindustrial residues as substrate for biohydrogen production.
Types of potential starch agroindustrial residues, recent developments
and bio-processing conditions for biohydrogen production will be
discussed. Biohydrogen is a clean energy source with great potential
to be an alternative fuel, because it releases energy explosively in
heat engines or generates electricity in fuel cells producing water as
only by-product. Anaerobic hydrogen fermentation or dark
fermentation seems to be more favorable, since hydrogen is yielded
at high rates and various organic waste enriched with carbohydrates
as substrate result in low cost for hydrogen production. Abundant
biomass from various industries could be source for biohydrogen
production where combination of waste treatment and energy
production would be an advantage. Carbohydrate-rich nitrogendeficient
solid wastes such as starch residues can be used for
hydrogen production by using suitable bioprocess technologies.
Alternatively, converting biomass into gaseous fuels, such as
biohydrogen is possibly the most efficient way to use these
agroindustrial residues.
Abstract: The efficiency of wood vinegar mixed with each
individual of three plants extract such as: citronella grass
(Cymbopogon nardus), neem seed (Azadirachta indica A. Juss), and
yam bean seed (Pachyrhizus erosus Urb.) were tested against the
second instar larvae of housefly (Musca domestica L.). Steam
distillation was used for extraction of the citronella grass while neem
and yam bean were simple extracted by fermentation with ethyl
alcohol. Toxicity test was evaluated in laboratory based on two
methods of larvicidal bioassay: topical application method (contact
poison) and feeding method (stomach poison). Larval mortality was
observed daily and larval survivability was recorded until the
survived larvae developed to pupae and adults. The study resulted
that treatment of wood vinegar mixed with citronella grass showed
the highest larval mortality by topical application method (50.0%)
and by feeding method (80.0%). However, treatment of mixed wood
vinegar and neem seed showed the longest pupal duration to 25 day
and 32 days for topical application method and feeding method
respectively. Additional, larval duration on treated M. domestica
larvae was extended to 13 days for topical application method and 11
days for feeding method. Thus, the feeding method gave higher
efficiency compared with the topical application method.
Abstract: Taro Scarab beetles (Papuana uninodis, Coleoptera:
Scarabaeidae) inflict severe damage on important root crops and
plants such as Taro or Cocoyam, yam, sweet potatoes, oil palm and
coffee tea plants across Africa and Asia resulting in economic
hardship and starvation in some nations. Scoliid wasps and
Metarhizium anisopliae fungus - bio-control agents; are shown to be
able to control the population of Scarab beetle adults and larvae using
a newly created simulation model based on non-linear ordinary
differential equations that track the populations of the beetle life
cycle stages: egg, larva, pupa, adult and the population of the scoliid
parasitoid wasps, which attack beetle larvae. In spite of the challenge
driven by the longevity of the scarab beetles, the combined effect of
the larval wasps and the fungal bio-control agent is able to control
and drive down the population of both the adult and the beetle eggs
below the environmental carrying capacity within an interval of 120
days, offering the long term prospect of a stable and eco-friendly
environment; where the population of scarab beetles is: regulated by
parasitoid wasps and beneficial soil saprophytes.
Abstract: In this paper it was examined the influence of margin
regulation on stock market volatility in EU 1993 – 2014. Regulating
margin requirements or haircuts for securities financing transactions
has for a long time been considered as a potential tool to limit the
build-up of leverage and dampen volatility in financial markets. The
margin requirement dictates how much investors can borrow against
these securities. Margin can be an important part of investment.
Using daily and monthly stock returns and there is no convincing
evidence that EU Regulation margin requirements have served to
dampen stock market volatility. In this paper was detected the
expected negative relation between margin requirements and the
amount of margin credit outstanding. Also, it confirmed that changes
in margin requirements by the EU regulation have tended to follow
than lead changes in market volatility. For the analysis have been
used the modified Levene statistics to test whether the standard
deviation of stock returns in the 25, 50 and 100 days preceding
margin changes is the same as that in the succeeding 25, 50 and 100
days. The analysis started in May 1993 when it was first empowered
to set the initial margin requirement and the last sample was in May
2014. To test whether margin requirements influence stock market
volatility over the long term, the sample of stock returns was divided
into 14 periods, according to the 14 changes in margin requirements.
Abstract: Since the marine environmental conditions are
extremely different from the other ones, marine actinomycetes might
produce novel bioactive compounds. Therefore, actinomycete strains
were screened from marine water and sediment samples collected
from the coastal areas of Northern Vietnam. Ninety-nine
actinomycete strains were obtained on starch-casein agar media by
dilution technique, only seven strains, named HP112, HP12, HP411,
HPN11, HP 11, HPT13 and HPX12, showed significant antibacterial
activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria
(Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Staphylococcus epidemidis ATCC
12228, Escherichia coli ATCC 11105). Further studies were carried
out with the most active HP411 strain against Candida albicans
ATCC 10231. This strain could grow rapidly on starch casein agar
and other media with high salt containing 7-10% NaCl at 28-30oC.
Spore-chain of HP411 showed an elongated and circular shape with
10 to 30 spores/chain. Identification of the strain was carried out by
employing the taxonomical studies including the 16S rRNA
sequence. Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence it is
proposed that HP411 to be belongs to species Streptomyces
variabilis. The potent of the crude extract of fermentation broth of
HP411 that are effective against wide range of pathogens: both grampositive,
gram-negative and fungi. Further studies revealed that the
crude extract HP411 could obtain the anticancer activity for cancer
cell lines: Hep-G2 (liver cancer cell line); RD (cardiac and skeletal
muscle letters cell line); FL (membrane of the uterus cancer cell line).
However, the actinomycetes from marine ecosystem will be useful
for the discovery of new drugs in the future.
Abstract: The postharvest quality management of tomatoes is
important to limit the amount of losses that occur due to deterioration
between harvest and consumption. This study was undertaken to
investigate the effects of pre- and postharvest integrated agrotechnologies,
involving greenhouse microclimate and postharvest
storage conditions, on the postharvest quality attributes of four
tomato cultivars. Tomato fruit firmness, colour (hue angle (h°) and
L* value), pH and total soluble solids for the cultivars Bona,
Star 9037, Star 9009 and Zeal, grown in a fan-pad evaporativelycooled
and an open-ended naturally-ventilated tunnel, were harvested
at the mature-green stage. The tomatoes were stored for 28 days
under cold storage conditions, with a temperature of 13°C and RH of
85%, and under ambient air conditions, with a temperature of 23±
2°C and RH of 52± 4%. This study has provided information on the
effect of integrated pre-harvest and postharvest agro-technologies,
involving greenhouse microclimate and postharvest storage
environment on the postharvest quality attributes of four of the
tomato cultivars in South Africa. NVT-grown tomatoes retained
better textural qualities, but ripened faster by changing from green to
red faster, although these were reduced under cold storage conditions.
FPVT-grown tomatoes had lower firmness, but ripened slowly with
higher colour attributes. With cold storage conditions, the firmness of
FPVT-grown tomatoes was maintained. Cultivar Bona firmness and
colour qualities depreciated the fastest, but it had higher TSS content
and lower pH values. Star 9009 and Star 9037 presented better
quality, by retaining higher firmness and ripening slowly, but they
had the lowest TSS contents and high pH values, especially
Star 9037. Cold storage improved the firmness of tomato cultivars
with poor textural quality and faster colour changes.