Abstract: Using bottom-up image processing algorithms to predict human eye fixations and extract the relevant embedded information in images has been widely applied in the design of active machine vision systems. Scene text is an important feature to be extracted, especially in vision-based mobile robot navigation as many potential landmarks such as nameplates and information signs contain text. This paper proposes an edge-based text region extraction algorithm, which is robust with respect to font sizes, styles, color/intensity, orientations, and effects of illumination, reflections, shadows, perspective distortion, and the complexity of image backgrounds. Performance of the proposed algorithm is compared against a number of widely used text localization algorithms and the results show that this method can quickly and effectively localize and extract text regions from real scenes and can be used in mobile robot navigation under an indoor environment to detect text based landmarks.
Abstract: The main objective of this paper is a comparative
investigate in enhancement of damping power system oscillation via
coordinated design of the power system stabilizer (PSS) and static
synchronous series compensator (SSSC) and static synchronous
compensator (STATCOM). The design problem of FACTS-based
stabilizers is formulated as a GA based optimization problem. In this
paper eigenvalue analysis method is used on small signal stability of
single machine infinite bus (SMIB) system installed with SSSC and
STATCOM. The generator is equipped with a PSS. The proposed
stabilizers are tested on a weakly connected power system with
different disturbances and loading conditions. This aim is to enhance
both rotor angle and power system stability. The eigenvalue analysis
and non-linear simulation results are presented to show the effects of
these FACTS-based stabilizers and reveal that SSSC exhibits the best
effectiveness on damping power system oscillation.
Abstract: This paper proposes a modeling method of the laws controlling manufacturing systems with temporal and non temporal constraints. A methodology of robust control construction generating the margins of passive and active robustness is being elaborated. Indeed, two paramount models are presented in this paper. The first utilizes the P-time Petri Nets which is used to manage the flow type disturbances. The second, the quality model, exploits the Intervals Constrained Petri Nets (ICPN) tool which allows the system to preserve its quality specificities. The redundancy of the robustness of the elementary parameters between passive and active is also used. The final model built allows the correlation of temporal and non temporal criteria by putting two paramount models in interaction. To do so, a set of definitions and theorems are employed and affirmed by applicator examples.
Abstract: The National Blood Center, Thai Red Cross Society is
responsible for providing blood to hospitals all over the country.
When any hospital needs blood, it will have to send the vehicle to
pick up at the NBC. There are a lot of vehicles to pick up blood at the
NBC every day. Each vehicle is usually empty for inbound trip and a
little loaded for outbound. The NBC realized such waste or loss and
there have been the third party offered to distribute blood and charge
for fee. This paper proposes to apply the vehicle routing problem
(VRP) for estimating the fair price. The idea is tested with the real
data during seven-day period of 6 – 12 July 2010 to estimate the fair
price for transporting blood in Bangkok Metropolitan Region.
Abstract: The running logs of a process hold valuable
information about its executed activity behavior and generated activity
logic structure. Theses informative logs can be extracted, analyzed and
utilized to improve the efficiencies of the process's execution and
conduction. One of the techniques used to accomplish the process
improvement is called as process mining. To mine similar processes is
such an improvement mission in process mining. Rather than directly
mining similar processes using a single comparing coefficient or a
complicate fitness function, this paper presents a simplified heuristic
process mining algorithm with two similarity comparisons that are
able to relatively conform the activity logic sequences (traces) of
mining processes with those of a normalized (regularized) one. The
relative process conformance is to find which of the mining processes
match the required activity sequences and relationships, further for
necessary and sufficient applications of the mined processes to process
improvements. One similarity presented is defined by the relationships
in terms of the number of similar activity sequences existing in
different processes; another similarity expresses the degree of the
similar (identical) activity sequences among the conforming processes.
Since these two similarities are with respect to certain typical behavior
(activity sequences) occurred in an entire process, the common
problems, such as the inappropriateness of an absolute comparison and
the incapability of an intrinsic information elicitation, which are often
appeared in other process conforming techniques, can be solved by the
relative process comparison presented in this paper. To demonstrate
the potentiality of the proposed algorithm, a numerical example is
illustrated.
Abstract: Thousands of masters athletes participate
quadrennially in the World Masters Games (WMG), yet this cohort
of athletes remains proportionately under-investigated. Due to a
growing global obesity pandemic in context of benefits of physical
activity across the lifespan, the BMI trends for this unique population
was of particular interest. The nexus between health, physical
activity and aging is complex and has raised much interest in recent
times due to the realization that a multifaceted approach is necessary
in order to counteract the obesity pandemic. By investigating age
based trends within a population adhering to competitive sport at
older ages, further insight might be gleaned to assist in understanding
one of many factors influencing this relationship.BMI was derived
using data gathered on a total of 6,071 masters athletes (51.9% male,
48.1% female) aged 25 to 91 years ( =51.5, s =±9.7), competing at
the Sydney World Masters Games (2009). Using linear and loess
regression it was demonstrated that the usual tendency for prevalence
of higher BMI increasing with age was reversed in the sample. This
trend in reversal was repeated for both male and female only sub-sets
of the sample participants, indicating the possibility of improved
prevalence of BMI with increasing age for both the sample as a
whole and these individual sub-groups.This evidence of improved
classification in one index of health (reduced BMI) for masters
athletes (when compared to the general population) implies there are
either improved levels of this index of health with aging due to
adherence to sport or possibly the reduced BMI is advantageous and
contributes to this cohort adhering (or being attracted) to masters
sport at older ages.
Abstract: Outsourcing, a management practice strongly
consolidated within the area of Information Systems, is currently
going through a stage of unstoppable growth. This paper makes a
proposal about the main reasons which may lead firms to adopt
Information Systems Outsourcing. It will equally analyse the
potential risks that IS clients are likely to face. An additional
objective is to assess these reasons and risks in the case of large
Spanish firms, while simultaneously examining their evolution over
time.
Abstract: It is expected that ubiquitous era will come soon. A ubiquitous environment has features like peer-to-peer and nomadic environments. Such features can be represented by peer-to-peer systems and mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs). The features of P2P systems and MANETs are similar, appealing for implementing P2P systems in MANET environment. It has been shown that, however, the performance of the P2P systems designed for wired networks do not perform satisfactorily in mobile ad-hoc environment. Subsequently, this paper proposes a method to improve P2P performance using cross-layer design and the goodness of a node as a peer. The proposed method uses routing metric as well as P2P metric to choose favorable peers to connect. It also utilizes proactive approach for distributing peer information. According to the simulation results, the proposed method provides higher query success rate, shorter query response time and less energy consumption by constructing an efficient overlay network.
Abstract: The mechanism behind the electromigration and
thermomigration failure in flip-chip solder joints with Cu-pillar bumps
was investigated in this paper through using finite element method.
Hot spot and the current crowding occurrs in the upper corner of
copper column instead of solders of the common solder ball. The
simulation results show that the change in thermal gradient is
noticeable, which might greatly affect the reliability of solder joints
with Cu-pillar bumps under current stressing. When the average
applied current density is increased from 1×104 A/cm2 to 3×104 A/cm2
in solders, the thermal gradient would increase from 74 K/cm to 901
K/cm at an ambient temperature of 25°C. The force from thermal
gradient of 901 K/cm can nearly induce thermomigration by itself.
With the increase in applied current, the thermal gradient is growing. It
is proposed that thermomigration likely causes a serious reliability
issue for Cu column based interconnects.
Abstract: Several wireless networks security standards have been proposed and widely implemented in both business and home environments in order to protect the network from unauthorized access. However, the implementation of such standards is usually achieved by network administrators without even knowing the standards- weaknesses and strengths. The intention of this paper is to evaluate and analyze the impact over the network-s security due to the implementation of the wireless networks security standards WEP, WPA and WLAN 802.1X.
Abstract: Wireless capsule Endoscopy (WCE) has rapidly
shown its wide applications in medical domain last ten years
thanks to its noninvasiveness for patients and support for thorough
inspection through a patient-s entire digestive system including
small intestine. However, one of the main barriers to efficient
clinical inspection procedure is that it requires large amount of
effort for clinicians to inspect huge data collected during the
examination, i.e., over 55,000 frames in video. In this paper, we
propose a method to compute meaningful motion changes of
WCE by analyzing the obtained video frames based on regional
optical flow estimations. The computed motion vectors are used to
remove duplicate video frames caused by WCE-s imaging nature,
such as repetitive forward-backward motions from peristaltic
movements. The motion vectors are derived by calculating
directional component vectors in four local regions. Our
experiments are performed on small intestine area, which is of
main interest to clinical experts when using WCEs, and our
experimental results show significant frame reductions comparing
with a simple frame-to-frame similarity-based image reduction
method.
Abstract: This study describes the preparation of a novel proton
conducting membranes based on bacterial cellulose (BC) modified by
grafting of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1 -propanesulfonic acid (AMPS)
through UV-induced graft polymerization. These AMPS-g-BC
membranes have been characterized by various techniques including
FTIR, SEM and TGA, to find their successful grafting of AMPS on
BC, surface morphology and thermal stability, respectively. Physical
properties of AMPS-g-BC membranes have been assessed in terms of
Lamda value( λ ), ion exchange capacity(IEC) and proton
conductivity. The relationship between degree of grafting and AMPS
concentration used for grafting has been determined by weight gain
method. An optimum proton conductivity equal to 2.89x10-2 S cm-1
and IEC value equal to 1.79 mmol g-1 have been obtained when 20
wt% AMPS concentration is used for grafting (i.e. the corresponding
membrane is notated as AMPS20-g-BC).
Abstract: Business and IT alignment has continued as a
top concern for business and IT executives for almost three
decades. Many researchers have conducted empirical studies on
the relationship between business-IT alignment and performance.
Yet, these approaches, lacking a social perspective, have had little
impact on sustaining performance and competitive advantage. In
addition to the limited alignment literature that explores
organisational learning that is represented in shared understanding,
communication, cognitive maps and experiences.
Hence, this paper proposes an integrated process that enables
social and intellectual dimensions through the concept of
organisational learning. In particular, the feedback and feedforward
process which provide a value creation across dynamic
multilevel of learning. This mechanism enables on-going
effectiveness through development of individuals, groups and
organisations, which improves the quality of business and IT
strategies and drives to performance.
Abstract: Wavelet transforms is a very powerful tools for image compression. One of its advantage is the provision of both spatial and frequency localization of image energy. However, wavelet transform coefficients are defined by both a magnitude and sign. While algorithms exist for efficiently coding the magnitude of the transform coefficients, they are not efficient for the coding of their sign. It is generally assumed that there is no compression gain to be obtained from the coding of the sign. Only recently have some authors begun to investigate the sign of wavelet coefficients in image coding. Some authors have assumed that the sign information bit of wavelet coefficients may be encoded with the estimated probability of 0.5; the same assumption concerns the refinement information bit. In this paper, we propose a new method for Separate Sign Coding (SSC) of wavelet image coefficients. The sign and the magnitude of wavelet image coefficients are examined to obtain their online probabilities. We use the scalar quantization in which the information of the wavelet coefficient to belong to the lower or to the upper sub-interval in the uncertainly interval is also examined. We show that the sign information and the refinement information may be encoded by the probability of approximately 0.5 only after about five bit planes. Two maps are separately entropy encoded: the sign map and the magnitude map. The refinement information of the wavelet coefficient to belong to the lower or to the upper sub-interval in the uncertainly interval is also entropy encoded. An algorithm is developed and simulations are performed on three standard images in grey scale: Lena, Barbara and Cameraman. Five scales are performed using the biorthogonal wavelet transform 9/7 filter bank. The obtained results are compared to JPEG2000 standard in terms of peak signal to noise ration (PSNR) for the three images and in terms of subjective quality (visual quality). It is shown that the proposed method outperforms the JPEG2000. The proposed method is also compared to other codec in the literature. It is shown that the proposed method is very successful and shows its performance in term of PSNR.
Abstract: This paper is concerned with the existence of a linear copositive Lyapunov function(LCLF) for a special class of switched positive linear systems(SPLSs) composed of continuousand discrete-time subsystems. Firstly, by using system matrices, we construct a special kind of matrices in appropriate manner. Secondly, our results reveal that the Hurwitz stability of these matrices is equivalent to the existence of a common LCLF for arbitrary finite sets composed of continuous- and discrete-time positive linear timeinvariant( LTI) systems. Finally, a simple example is provided to illustrate the implication of our results.
Abstract: In this paper, we proposed a method to design a
model-following adaptive controller for linear/nonlinear plants.
Radial basis function neural networks (RBF-NNs), which are known
for their stable learning capability and fast training, are used to
identify linear/nonlinear plants. Simulation results show that the
proposed method is effective in controlling both linear and nonlinear
plants with disturbance in the plant input.
Abstract: This paper proposes an implementation for the
directed diffusion paradigm aids in studying this paradigm-s
operations and evaluates its behavior according to this
implementation. The directed diffusion is evaluated with respect to
the loss percentage, lifetime, end-to-end delay, and throughput.
From these evaluations some suggestions and modifications are
proposed to improve the directed diffusion behavior according to
this implementation with respect to these metrics. The proposed
modifications reflect the effect of local path repair by introducing a
technique called Loop-free Local Path Repair (LLPR) which
improves the directed diffusion behavior especially with respect to
packet loss percentage by about 92.69%. Also LLPR improves the
throughput and end-to-end delay by about 55.31% and 14.06%
respectively, while the lifetime decreases by about 29.79%.
Abstract: Multi-level voltage source inverters offer several
advantages such as; derivation of a refined output voltage with
reduced total harmonic distortion (THD), reduction of voltage ratings
of the power semiconductor switching devices and also the reduced
electro-magnetic-interference problems etc. In this paper, new
carrier-overlapped phase-disposition or sub-harmonic sinusoidal
pulse width modulation (CO-PD-SPWM) and also the carrieroverlapped
phase-disposition space vector modulation (CO-PDSVPWM)
schemes for a six-level diode-clamped inverter topology
are proposed. The principle of the proposed PWM schemes is similar
to the conventional PD-PWM with a little deviation from it in the
sense that the triangular carriers are all overlapped. The overlapping
of the triangular carriers on one hand results in an increased number
of switchings, on the other hand this facilitates an improved spectral
performance of the output voltage. It is demonstrated through
simulation studies that the six-level diode-clamped inverter with the
use of CO-PD-SPWM and CO-PD-SVPWM proposed in this paper is
capable of generating multiple levels in its output voltage. The
advantages of the proposed PWM schemes can be derived to benefit,
especially at lower modulation indices of the inverter and hence this
aspect of the proposed PWM schemes can be well exploited in high
power applications requiring low speeds of operation of the drive.
Abstract: This paper describes the architecture for a collaborative Car Pooling System based on a credits mechanism to motivate the cooperation among users. Users can spend the accumulated credits on parking facilities. For this, we propose a business model to support the collaboration between a car pooling system and parking facilities. The Portuguese Lisbon-s Metropolitan area is used as application scenario.
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.