Abstract: This paper proposes a feed-forward control in
resonant dc link inverter. The feed-forward control configuration is
based on synchronous sigma-delta modulation. The simulation
results showing the proposed technique can reject non-ideal dc bus
improving the total harmonic distortion.
Abstract: In order to consider the effects of the higher modes in
the pushover analysis, during the recent years several multi-modal
pushover procedures have been presented. In these methods the
response of the considered modes are combined by the square-rootof-
sum-of-squares (SRSS) rule while application of the elastic modal
combination rules in the inelastic phases is no longer valid. In this
research the feasibility of defining an efficient alternative
combination method is investigated. Two steel moment-frame
buildings denoted SAC-9 and SAC-20 under ten earthquake records
are considered. The nonlinear responses of the structures are
estimated by the directed algebraic combination of the weighted
responses of the separate modes. The weight of the each mode is
defined so that the resulted response of the combination has a
minimum error to the nonlinear time history analysis. The genetic
algorithm (GA) is used to minimize the error and optimize the weight
factors. The obtained optimal factors for each mode in different cases
are compared together to find unique appropriate weight factors for
each mode in all cases.
Abstract: Transnational corporations (TNCs) are playing a major role in global R&D, not only through activities in their home countries but also increasingly abroad. However, the process of R&D offshoring is not yet discussed thoroughly. Based on in-depth case study on Agilent China Communications Operation, this paper presents a stage model for theorizing the R&D offshoring process. This stage model outlines 5 maturity levels of organization and the offshoring process: Subsidiary team, Mirror team, Independent team, Mirror sector and the Independent sector (from software engineering point of view, it is similar to the local team's capability level of maturity model). Moreover, the paper gives a detailed discussion on the relevant characteristics, as well as the ability/responsibility of transfer, priorities and the corresponding organization structure. It also gives the characteristics and key points of different level-s R&D offshoring implementation using actual team practice.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present a Dynamic
Time Warping technique which reduces significantly the data
processing time and memory size of multi-dimensional time series
sampled by the biometric smart pen device BiSP. The acquisition
device is a novel ballpoint pen equipped with a diversity of sensors
for monitoring the kinematics and dynamics of handwriting
movement. The DTW algorithm has been applied for time series
analysis of five different sensor channels providing pressure,
acceleration and tilt data of the pen generated during handwriting on
a paper pad. But the standard DTW has processing time and memory
space problems which limit its practical use for online handwriting
recognition. To face with this problem the DTW has been applied to
the sum of the five sensor signals after an adequate down-sampling
of the data. Preliminary results have shown that processing time and
memory size could significantly be reduced without deterioration of
performance in single character and word recognition. Further
excellent accuracy in recognition was achieved which is mainly due
to the reduced dynamic time warping RDTW technique and a novel
pen device BiSP.
Abstract: It is believed that continuously variable transmission (CVT) will dominate the automotive transmissions in the future. The most popular design is Van Doorne-s CVT with single metal pushing V-belt. However, it is only applicable to low power passenger cars because its major limitation is low torque capacity. Therefore, this research studies a novel dual-belt CVT system to overcome the limitation of traditional single-belt CVT, such that it can be applicable to the heavy-duty vehicles. This paper presents the mathematical model of the design and its experimental verification. Experimental and simulated results show that the model developed is valid and the proposed dual-belt CVT can really overcome the traditional limitation of single-belt Van Doorne-s CVT.
Abstract: Nowadays due to globalization of economy and
competition environment, innovation and technology plays key role
at creation of wealth and economic growth of countries. In fact
prompt growth of practical and technologic knowledge may results in
social benefits for countries when changes into effective innovation.
Considering the importance of innovation for the development of
countries, this study addresses the radical technological innovation
introduced by nanopapers at different stages of producing paper
including stock preparation, using authorized additives, fillers and
pigments, using retention, calender, stages of producing conductive
paper, porous nanopaper and Layer by layer self-assembly. Research
results show that in coming years the jungle related products will lose
considerable portion of their market share, unless embracing radical
innovation. Although incremental innovations can make this industry
still competitive in mid-term, but to have economic growth and
competitive advantage in long term, radical innovations are
necessary. Radical innovations can lead to new products and
materials which their applications in packaging industry can produce
value added. However application of nanotechnology in this industry
can be costly, it can be done in cooperation with other industries to
make the maximum use of nanotechnology possible. Therefore this
technology can be used in all the production process resulting in the
mass production of simple and flexible papers with low cost and
special properties such as facility at shape, form, easy transportation,
light weight, recovery and recycle marketing abilities, and sealing.
Improving the resistance of the packaging materials without reducing
the performance of packaging materials enhances the quality and the
value added of packaging. Improving the cellulose at nano scale can
have considerable electron optical and magnetic effects leading to
improvement in packaging and value added. Comparing to the
specifications of thermoplastic products and ordinary papers,
nanopapers show much better performance in terms of effective
mechanical indexes such as the modulus of elasticity, tensile strength,
and strain-stress. In densities lower than 640 kgm -3, due to the
network structure of nanofibers and the balanced and randomized
distribution of NFC in flat space, these specifications will even
improve more. For nanopapers, strains are 1,4Gpa, 84Mpa and 17%,
13,3 Gpa, 214Mpa and 10% respectively. In layer by layer self
assembly method (LbL) the tensile strength of nanopaper with Tio3
particles and Sio2 and halloysite clay nanotube are 30,4 ±7.6Nm/g
and 13,6 ±0.8Nm/g and 14±0.3,3Nm/g respectively that fall within
acceptable range of similar samples with virgin fiber. The usage of
improved brightness and porosity index in nanopapers can create
more competitive advantages at packaging industry.
Abstract: This paper deals with econometric analysis of real
retail trade turnover. It is a part of an extensive scientific research
about modern trends in Croatian national economy. At the end of the
period of transition economy, Croatia confronts with challenges and
problems of high consumption society. In such environment as
crucial economic variables: real retail trade turnover, average
monthly real wages and household loans are chosen for consequence
analysis. For the purpose of complete procedure of multiple
econometric analysis data base adjustment has been provided.
Namely, it has been necessary to deflate original national statistics
data of retail trade turnover using consumer price indices, as well as
provide process of seasonally adjustment of its contemporary
behavior. In model establishment it has been necessary to involve the
overcoming procedure for the autocorrelation and colinearity
problems. Moreover, for case of time-series shift a specific
appropriate econometric instrument has been applied. It would be
emphasize that the whole methodology procedure is based on the real
Croatian national economy time-series.
Abstract: Ceramics comprise the largest proportion of Korea-s cultural heritage currently preserved (Cited from “The Beauty of Old Ceramics of Korea" written by Yoon Yong-iee). Thus, this researcher conducted this investigation in an attempt to gain insight into Korea-s past culture and the lost period of the colonial period and the Korean War by looking into the ceramics. Korea, China and Japan are part of the similar cultural bloc within the East Asian region. Their porcelains manifest distinctive characteristics by each nation along with similarities. Thus, this research seeks to find the distinctive characteristics of the Korean porcelain by conducting comparative analysis of the similarities and distinctive characteristics. These distinctive characteristics are manifested effectively in the colors of the porcelains following the materials that can be obtained in Korea, China and Japan and production method. Likewise, this research seeks to identify the characteristics of the Korean porcelains- colors based on the comparative analysis of the porcelain colors. The reasons that porcelains were selected were because they are the most well preserved cultural remains in Korea and since they have both similarities and distinctive characteristics due to the cultural interchanges among Korea, China and Japan, which facilitates comparative study. The research targets include Korea, China and Japan-s porcelains. By comparing the colors of the porcelains from Korea, China and Japan that have their distinctive characteristics, this research seeks to identify Korea-specific porcelain colors. These colors derive from the materials that can be obtained only in Korea, and they are affected by the ideologies that governed at the time. This research is meaningful in the sense that this identifies the colors that embraces the Korean culture and provides important data by leveraging the study of the characteristics of the Korea-specific porcelains.
Abstract: This paper presents the use of the predictive fuzzy logic controller (PFLC) applied to attitude control system for agile micro-satellite. In order to reduce the effect of unpredictable time delays and large uncertainties, the algorithm employs predictive control to predict the attitude of the satellite. Comparison of the PFLC and conventional fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is presented to evaluate the performance of the control system during attitude maneuver. The two proposed models have been analyzed with the same level of noise and external disturbances. Simulation results demonstrated the feasibility and advantages of the PFLC on the attitude determination and control system (ADCS) of agile satellite.
Abstract: In this paper presents the mathematical model of
hydrothermal processes in thermal power plant with different wind
direction scenarios in the water reservoir, which is solved by the
Navier - Stokes and temperature equations for an incompressible
fluid in a stratified medium. Numerical algorithm based on the
method of splitting by physical parameters. Three dimensional
Poisson equation is solved with Fourier method by combination of
tridiagonal matrix method (Thomas algorithm).
Abstract: We describe a new filtering approach in the wavelet domain for image denoising and compression, based on the projections of details subbands coefficients (resultants of the splitting procedure, typical in wavelet domain) onto the approximation subband coefficients (much less noisy). The new algorithm is called Projection Onto Approximation Coefficients (POAC). As a result of this approach, only the approximation subband coefficients and three scalars are stored and/or transmitted to the channel. Besides, with the elimination of the details subbands coefficients, we obtain a bigger compression rate. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach compares favorably to more typical methods of denoising and compression in wavelet domain.
Abstract: The evaluation of energy release rate and centre Crack
Opening Displacement (COD) for circumferential Through-Wall
Cracked (TWC) pipes is an important issue in the assessment of
critical crack length for unstable fracture. The ability to predict crack
growth continues to be an important component of research for
several structural materials. Crack growth predictions can aid the
understanding of the useful life of a structural component and the
determination of inspection intervals and criteria. In this context,
studies were carried out at CSIR-SERC on Nuclear Power Plant
(NPP) piping components subjected to monotonic as well as cyclic
loading to assess the damage for crack growth due to low-cycle
fatigue in circumferentially TWC pipes.
Abstract: Personnel protection devices are cardinal in safety hazard applications. They are widely used in home, office and in industry environments to reduce the risk of lethal shock to human being and equipment safety. This paper briefly reviews various personnel protection devices also describes the basic working principle of conventional ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) or ground fault isolator (GFI), its disadvantages and ways to overcome the disadvantages with solid-state relay (SSR) based GFI with ultrafast response up on fault implemented in printed circuit board. This solid state GFI comprises discrete MOSFET based alternating current (AC) switches, linear optical amplifier, photovoltaic isolator and sense resistor. In conventional GFI, current transformer is employed as a sensing element to detect the difference in current flow between live and neutral conductor. If there is no fault in equipment powered through GFI, due to insulation failure of internal wires and windings of motors, both live and neutral currents will be equal in magnitude and opposite in phase.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a new robust and secure
system that is based on the combination between two different
transforms Discrete wavelet Transform (DWT) and Contourlet
Transform (CT). The combined transforms will compensate the
drawback of using each transform separately. The proposed
algorithm has been designed, implemented and tested successfully.
The experimental results showed that selecting the best sub-band for
embedding from both transforms will improve the imperceptibility
and robustness of the new combined algorithm. The evaluated
imperceptibility of the combined DWT-CT algorithm which gave a
PSNR value 88.11 and the combination DWT-CT algorithm
improves robustness since it produced better robust against Gaussian
noise attack. In addition to that, the implemented system shored a
successful extraction method to extract watermark efficiently.
Abstract: The performance results of the athletes competed in
the 1988-2008 Olympic Games were analyzed (n = 166). The data
were obtained from the IAAF official protocols. In the principal
component analysis, the first three principal components explained
70% of the total variance. In the 1st principal component (with
43.1% of total variance explained) the largest factor loadings were
for 100m (0.89), 400m (0.81), 110m hurdle run (0.76), and long jump
(–0.72). This factor can be interpreted as the 'sprinting performance'.
The loadings on the 2nd factor (15.3% of the total variance)
presented a counter-intuitive throwing-jumping combination: the
highest loadings were for throwing events (javelin throwing 0.76;
shot put 0.74; and discus throwing 0.73) and also for jumping events
(high jump 0.62; pole vaulting 0.58). On the 3rd factor (11.6% of
total variance), the largest loading was for 1500 m running (0.88); all
other loadings were below 0.4.
Abstract: This paper employs a the variable returns to scale DEA
model to take account of risky assets and estimate the operating
efficiencies for the 21 domestic listed securities firms during the
period 2005-2009. Evidence is found that on average the brokerage
securities firms- operating efficiencies are better than integrated
securities firms. Evidence is also found that the technical inefficiency
from inappropriate management constitutes the main source of the
operating inefficiency for both types of securities firms. Moreover, the
scale economies prevail in brokerage and integrated securities firms,
in other words, which exhibit the characteristic of increasing returns to
scale.
Abstract: The proliferation of user-generated content (UGC) results in huge opportunities to explore event patterns. However, existing event recommendation systems primarily focus on advanced information technology users. Little work has been done to address novice and low-literacy users. The next billion users providing and consuming UGC are likely to include communities from developing countries who are ready to use affordable technologies for subsistence goals. Therefore, we propose a design framework for providing event recommendations to address the needs of such users. Grounded in information integration theory (IIT), our framework advocates that effective event recommendation is supported by systems capable of (1) reliable information gathering through structured user input, (2) accurate sense making through spatial-temporal analytics, and (3) intuitive information dissemination through interactive visualization techniques. A mobile pest management application is developed as an instantiation of the design framework. Our preliminary study suggests a set of design principles for novice and low-literacy users.
Abstract: The transition to sustainable development requires
considerable investments from stakeholders, both financial and
immaterial. However, accounting for such investments often poses a
challenge, as ventures with intangible or non-financial returns remain
oblivious to conventional accounting techniques and risk assessment.
That such investments may significantly contribute to the welfare of
those affected may act as a driving force behind attempting to bridge
this gap. This gains crucial importance as investments must be also
backed by governments and administrations; entities whose budget
depends on taxpayers- contributions and whose tasks are based on
securing the welfare of their citizens. Besides economic welfare,
citizens also require social and environmental wellbeing too.
However, administrations must also safeguard that welfare is
guaranteed not only to present, but to future generations too. With
already strained budgets and the requirement of sustainable
development, governments on all levels face the double challenge of
making both of these ends meet.
Abstract: A vast array of biological materials, especially algae have received increasing attention for heavy metal removal. Algae have been proven to be cheaper, more effective for the removal of metallic elements in aqueous solutions. A fresh water algal strain was isolated from Zoo Lake, Johannesburg, South Africa and identified as Desmodesmus sp. This paper investigates the efficacy of Desmodesmus sp.in removing heavy metals contaminating the Wonderfonteinspruit Catchment Area (WCA) water bodies. The biosorption data fitted the pseudo-second order and Langmuir isotherm models. The Langmuir maximum uptakes gave the sequence: Mn2+>Ni2+>Fe2+. The best results for kinetic study was obtained in concentration 120 ppm for Fe3+ and Mn2+, whilst for Ni2+ was at 20 ppm, which is about the same concentrations found in contaminated water in the WCA (Fe3+115 ppm, Mn2+ 121 ppm and Ni2+ 26.5 ppm).
Abstract: Now-a-days, numbers of simulation software are
being used all over the world to solve Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) related problems. In this present study, a
commercial CFD simulation software namely STAR-CCM+ is
applied to analyze the airflow characteristics inside a 2.5" hard
disk drive. Each step of the software is described adequately to
obtain the output and the data are verified with the theories to
justify the robustness of the simulation outcome. This study
gives an insight about the accuracy level of the CFD
simulation software to compute CFD related problems
although it largely depends upon the computer speed. Also
this study will open avenues for further research.