Abstract: This paper aims at improving web server performance
by establishing a middleware layer between web and database
servers, which minimizes the overload on the database server. A
middleware system has been developed as a service mainly to
improve the performance. This system manages connection accesses
in a way that would result in reducing the overload on the database
server. In addition to the connection management, this system acts as
an object-oriented model for best utilization of operating system
resources. A web developer can use this Service Broker to improve
web server performance.
Abstract: detecting the deadlock is one of the important
problems in distributed systems and different solutions have been
proposed for it. Among the many deadlock detection algorithms,
Edge-chasing has been the most widely used. In Edge-chasing
algorithm, a special message called probe is made and sent along
dependency edges. When the initiator of a probe receives the probe
back the existence of a deadlock is revealed. But these algorithms are
not problem-free. One of the problems associated with them is that
they cannot detect some deadlocks and they even identify false
deadlocks. A key point not mentioned in the literature is that when
the process is waiting to obtain the required resources and its
execution has been blocked, how it can actually respond to probe
messages in the system. Also the question of 'which process should
be victimized in order to achieve a better performance when multiple
cycles exist within one single process in the system' has received
little attention. In this paper, one of the basic concepts of the
operating system - daemon - will be used to solve the problems
mentioned. The proposed Algorithm becomes engaged in sending
probe messages to the mandatory daemons and collects enough
information to effectively identify and resolve multi-cycle deadlocks
in distributed systems.
Abstract: In this paper a new approach to prioritize urban planning projects in an efficient and reliable way is presented. It is based on environmental pressure indices and multicriteria decision methods. The paper introduces a rigorous method with acceptable complexity of rank ordering urban development proposals according to their environmental pressure. The technique combines the use of Environmental Pressure Indicators, the aggregation of indicators in an Environmental Pressure Index by means of the Analytic Network Process method and interpreting the information obtained from the experts during the decision-making process. The ANP method allows the aggregation of the experts- judgments on each of the indicators into one Environmental Pressure Index. In addition, ANP is based on utility ratio functions which are the most appropriate for the analysis of uncertain data, like experts- estimations. Finally, unlike the other multicriteria techniques, ANP allows the decision problem to be modelled using the relationships among dependent criteria. The method has been applied to the proposal for urban development of La Carlota airport in Caracas (Venezuela). The Venezuelan Government would like to see a recreational project develop on the abandoned area and mean a significant improvement for the capital. There are currently three options on their table which are currently under evaluation. They include a Health Club, a Residential area and a Theme Park. The participating experts coincided in the appreciation that the method proposed in this paper is useful and an improvement from traditional techniques such as environmental impact studies, lifecycle analysis, etc. They find the results obtained coherent, the process seems sufficiently rigorous and precise, and the use of resources is significantly less than in other methods.
Abstract: Development of knowledge based society carries multiple challenges to the higher education system. Some of the challenges laid before the higher education sector of countries which aspire to become knowledge based societies are: the entrepreneurial leadership of the higher education institutions, finding new sources of financing in order to minimize dependence on public resources, creating connections with the labor market, commercial utilization of R&D results, promotion of innovations as well as the overall promotion of science excellence relevant to the economic sector. Within a framework of this paper and its main subject of research, the challenge which is being put before the higher education institutions is an effort of establishing regional mission of higher education through the open collaboration with regional key factors, both private and public. Development of the mentioned collaboration and its contribution to the overall regional development in Croatia is the main subject of empirical research in this paper.
Abstract: Amphawa is the most popular weekend destination for
both domestic and international tourists in Thailand. More than 112
homestays and resorts have been developed along the water
resources. This research aims to initiate appropriate environmental
management system for riverside tourist accommodations in
Amphawa by investigating current environmental characteristics.
Eighty-eight riverside tourist accommodations were survey from
specific questionnaire, GPS data were also gathered for spatial
analysis. The results revealed that the accommodations are welled
manage in regards to some environmental aspects. In order to reduce
economic costs, energy efficiency equipment is utilized. A substantial
number of tourist accommodations encouraged waste separation,
followed by transfer to local administration organization. Grease
traps also utilized in order to decrease chemical discharged, grease
and oil from canteen and restaurants on natural environment. The
most notable mitigation is to initiate environmental friendly cleansers
for tourist accommodation along the riverside in tourism destinations.
Abstract: The development incompatible with environment cannot be sustainable. Using renewable energy sources such as solar energy, geothermal energy and wind energy can make sustainable development in a region. Iran has a lot of renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. Since Iran has a special geographic position, it has lot of solar and wind energy resources. Both solar and wind energy are free, renewable and adaptable with environment. The study of 10 year wind data in Iranian South coastal and Islands synoptic stations shows that the production of wind power electricity and water pumping is possible in this region. In this research, we studied the local and temporal distribution of wind using three – hour statistics of windspeed in Iranian South coastal and Islands synoptic stations. This research shows that the production of wind power electricity is possible in this region all the year.
Abstract: In recent years, strategic alliances have taken
increasing importance as a means to control competitive forces and to
enter into new markets. Joint ventures are one of the most frequently
used contractual forms in strategic alliances. There are various
motivations for cooperation between two or more firms e.g.,
accessing to technical know-how, accessing to financial resources
and managing risks. The firms must know about these motivations to
encourage for establishing joint venture. So, it is important for
managers to understand about these motives. On the other hand, the
cooperation section is one of the most effective parts in each country.
In this way, our study identifies goals of joint venture between
cooperative manufacturing firms, and prioritizes those using
TOPSIS1. The results show that the most important of joint venture
goals are: accessing to managerial know-how, sharing total capital
investment.
Abstract: Run-offs are considered as important hydrological factors in feasibility studies of river engineering and irrigation-related projects under arid and semi-arid condition. Flood control is one of the crucial factor, the management of which while mitigates its destructive consequences, abstracts considerable volume of renewable water resources. The methodology applied here was based on Mizumura, which applied a mathematical model for simple tank to simulate the rainfall-run-off process in a particular water basin using the data from the observational hydrograph. The model was applied in the Dez River water basin adjacent to Greater Dezful region, Iran in order to simulate and estimate the floods. Results indicated that the calculated hydrographs using the simple tank method, SCS-CN model and the observation hydrographs had a close proximity. It was also found that on average the flood time and discharge peaks in the simple tank were closer to the observational data than the CN method. On the other hand, the calculated flood volume in the CN model was significantly closer to the observational data than the simple tank model.
Abstract: This paper presents the stabilization potential of Class
F pond ash (PA) from a coal fired thermal power station on tropical
peat soil. Peat or highly organic soils are well known for their high
compressibility, natural moisture content, low shear strength and
long-term settlement. This study investigates the effect of different
amount (i.e., 5, 10, 15 and 20%) of PA on peat soil, collected from
Sarawak, Malaysia, mainly compaction and unconfined compressive
strength (UCS) properties. The amounts of PA added to the peat soil
sample as percentage of the dry peat soil mass. With the increase in
PA content, the maximum dry density (MDD) of peat soil increases,
while the optimum moisture content (OMC) decreases. The UCS
value of the peat soils increases significantly with the increase of PA
content and also with curing periods. This improvement on
compressive strength of tropical peat soils indicates that PA has the
potential to be used as a stabilizer for tropical peat soil. Also, the use
of PA in soil stabilization helps in reducing the pond volume and
achieving environment friendly as well as a sustainable development
of natural resources.
Abstract: New advancement of technology and never satisfying demands of the civilization are putting huge pressure on the natural fuel resources and these resources are at a constant threat to its sustainability. To get the best out of the automobile, the optimum balance between performance and fuel economy is important. In the present state of art, either of the above two aspects are taken into mind while designing and development process which puts the other in the loss as increase in fuel economy leads to decrement in performance and vice-versa. In-depth observation of the vehicle dynamics apparently shows that large amount of energy is lost during braking and likewise large amount of fuel is consumed to reclaim the initial state, this leads to lower fuel efficiency to gain the same performance. Current use of Kinetic Energy Recovery System is only limited to sports vehicles only because of the higher cost of this system. They are also temporary in nature as power can be squeezed only during a small time duration and use of superior parts leads to high cost, which results on concentration on performance only and neglecting the fuel economy. In this paper Kinetic Energy Recovery System for storing the power and then using the same while accelerating has been discussed. The major storing element in this system is a Flat Spiral Spring that will store energy by compression and torsion.
The use of spring ensure the permanent storage of energy until used by the driver unlike present mechanical regeneration system in which the energy stored decreases with time and is eventually lost. A combination of internal gears and spur gears will be used in order to make the energy release uniform which will lead to safe usage. The system can be used to improve the fuel efficiency by assisting in overcoming the vehicle’s inertia after braking or to provide instant acceleration whenever required by the driver. The performance characteristics of the system including response time, mechanical efficiency and overall increase in efficiency are demonstrated. This technology makes the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) more flexible and economical allowing specific application while at the same time increasing the time frame and ease of usage.
Abstract: Wireless Sensor Networks consist of small battery
powered devices with limited energy resources. once deployed, the
small sensor nodes are usually inaccessible to the user, and thus
replacement of the energy source is not feasible. Hence, One of the
most important issues that needs to be enhanced in order to improve
the life span of the network is energy efficiency. to overcome this
demerit many research have been done. The clustering is the one of
the representative approaches. in the clustering, the cluster heads
gather data from nodes and sending them to the base station. In this
paper, we introduce a dynamic clustering algorithm using genetic
algorithm. This algorithm takes different parameters into
consideration to increase the network lifetime. To prove efficiency of
proposed algorithm, we simulated the proposed algorithm compared
with LEACH algorithm using the matlab
Abstract: Resource Discovery in Grids is critical for efficient
resource allocation and management. Heterogeneous nature and
dynamic availability of resources make resource discovery a
challenging task. As numbers of nodes are increasing from tens to
thousands, scalability is essentially desired. Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
techniques, on the other hand, provide effective implementation of
scalable services and applications. In this paper we propose a model
for resource discovery in Condor Middleware by using the four axis
framework defined in P2P approach. The proposed model enhances
Condor to incorporate functionality of a P2P system, thus aim to
make Condor more scalable, flexible, reliable and robust.
Abstract: Despite the availability of natural disaster related time series data for last 110 years, there is no forecasting tool available to humanitarian relief organizations to determine forecasts for emergency logistics planning. This study develops a forecasting tool based on identifying probability distributions. The estimates of the parameters are used to calculate natural disaster forecasts. Further, the determination of aggregate forecasts leads to efficient pre-disaster planning. Based on the research findings, the relief agencies can optimize the various resources allocation in emergency logistics planning.
Abstract: Repeated observation of a given area over time yields
potential for many forms of change detection analysis. These
repeated observations are confounded in terms of radiometric
consistency due to changes in sensor calibration over time,
differences in illumination, observation angles and variation in
atmospheric effects.
This paper demonstrates applicability of an empirical relative
radiometric normalization method to a set of multitemporal cloudy
images acquired by Resourcesat1 LISS III sensor. Objective of this
study is to detect and remove cloud cover and normalize an image
radiometrically. Cloud detection is achieved by using Average
Brightness Threshold (ABT) algorithm. The detected cloud is
removed and replaced with data from another images of the same
area. After cloud removal, the proposed normalization method is
applied to reduce the radiometric influence caused by non surface
factors. This process identifies landscape elements whose reflectance
values are nearly constant over time, i.e. the subset of non-changing
pixels are identified using frequency based correlation technique. The
quality of radiometric normalization is statistically assessed by R2
value and mean square error (MSE) between each pair of analogous
band.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to discuss the relationship between tourist awareness of environmental issues and their own recreational behaviors in the Taipei Guandu Wetland. A total of 392 questionnaires were gathered for data analysis using descriptive statistics, t-testing, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least significant difference (LSD) post hoc comparisons. The results showed that most of the visitors there enjoying the beautiful scenery are 21 to 30 years old with a college education. The means and standard deviations indicate that tourists express a positive degree of cognition of environmental issues and recreational behaviors. They suggest that polluting the environment is harmful to the natural ecosystem and that the natural resources of ecotourism are fragile, as well as expressing a high degree of recognition of the need to protect wetlands. Most of respondents are cognizant of the regulations proposed by the Guandu Wetland administration which asks that users exercise self-control and follow recommended guidelines when traveling the wetland. There were significant differences in the degree of cognition related to the variables of age, number of visits and reasons for visiting. We found that most respondents with relatively high levels of education would like to learn more about the wetland and are supportive of its conservation.
Abstract: QoS Routing aims to find paths between senders and
receivers satisfying the QoS requirements of the application which
efficiently using the network resources and underlying routing
algorithm to be able to find low-cost paths that satisfy given QoS
constraints. The problem of finding least-cost routing is known to be
NP-hard or complete and some algorithms have been proposed to
find a near optimal solution. But these heuristics or algorithms either
impose relationships among the link metrics to reduce the complexity
of the problem which may limit the general applicability of the
heuristic, or are too costly in terms of execution time to be applicable
to large networks. In this paper, we concentrate an algorithm that
finds a near-optimal solution fast and we named this algorithm as
optimized Delay Constrained Routing (ODCR), which uses an
adaptive path weight function together with an additional constraint
imposed on the path cost, to restrict search space and hence ODCR
finds near optimal solution in much quicker time.
Abstract: Over the past few years, a number of efforts have
been exerted to build parallel processing systems that utilize the idle
power of LAN-s and PC-s available in many homes and corporations.
The main advantage of these approaches is that they provide cheap
parallel processing environments for those who cannot afford the
expenses of supercomputers and parallel processing hardware.
However, most of the solutions provided are not very flexible in the
use of available resources and very difficult to install and setup.
In this paper, a multi-level web-based parallel processing system
(MWPS) is designed (appendix). MWPS is based on the idea of
volunteer computing, very flexible, easy to setup and easy to use.
MWPS allows three types of subscribers: simple volunteers (single
computers), super volunteers (full networks) and end users. All of
these entities are coordinated transparently through a secure web site.
Volunteer nodes provide the required processing power needed by
the system end users. There is no limit on the number of volunteer
nodes, and accordingly the system can grow indefinitely. Both
volunteer and system users must register and subscribe. Once, they
subscribe, each entity is provided with the appropriate MWPS
components. These components are very easy to install.
Super volunteer nodes are provided with special components that
make it possible to delegate some of the load to their inner nodes.
These inner nodes may also delegate some of the load to some other
lower level inner nodes .... and so on. It is the responsibility of the
parent super nodes to coordinate the delegation process and deliver
the results back to the user.
MWPS uses a simple behavior-based scheduler that takes into
consideration the current load and previous behavior of processing
nodes. Nodes that fulfill their contracts within the expected time get a
high degree of trust. Nodes that fail to satisfy their contract get a
lower degree of trust.
MWPS is based on the .NET framework and provides the minimal
level of security expected in distributed processing environments.
Users and processing nodes are fully authenticated. Communications
and messages between nodes are very secure. The system has been
implemented using C#.
MWPS may be used by any group of people or companies to
establish a parallel processing or grid environment.
Abstract: Presently and in line with the United Nations (EPA),
human thinking system has shifted towards clean fuels so as to
maintain a cleaner environment and to save our planet earth.
One of the most successful studies in order to achieve new
energies includes the use of animal wastes and their organic residues,
and the result of these researches has been represented in the form of
very simple and cheap methods called biogas technology. Biogas
technology has developed a lot in the recent decades; its reason is the
high cost of fossil fuels and the greater attention of countries to the
environmental pollutions due to the consumption of this kind of
fuels.
IRAN is ready for the optimized application of renewable
energies, having much enriched resources of this kind of energies; so
a special place could be considered for it when making programs.
The purpose of biogas technology is the recovery of energy and
finally the protection of the environment, which is much appropriate
for the third world farmers with respect to their technical abilities and
economic potentials. Studies show that the production and
consumption of biogas is appropriate and economic in IRAN,
because of the high amount of waste in the agriculture sector, the
significant amount of animal and human excrement production, the
great volume of garbage produced and the most important the
specific social, climatic and agricultural conditions in IRAN, in order
to proceed towards the reduction of pollution due to the use of fossil
fuels.
Abstract: The paper describes design of an ontology in the
financial domain for mutual funds. The design of this ontology
consists of four steps, namely, specification, knowledge acquisition,
implementation and semantic query. Specification includes a
description of the taxonomy and different types mutual funds and
their scope. Knowledge acquisition involves the information
extraction from heterogeneous resources. Implementation describes
the conceptualization and encoding of this data. Finally, semantic
query permits complex queries to integrated data, mapping of these
database entities to ontological concepts.
Abstract: Cities denote instantaneously a challenge and an
opportunity for climate change policy. Cities are the place where
most energy services are needed because urbanization is closely
linked to high population densities and concentration of economic
activities and production (Urban energy demand). Consequently, it is
critical to explain about the role of cities within the world-s energy
systems and its correlation with the climate change issue. With more
than half of the world-s population already living in urban areas, and
that percentage expected to rise to 75 per cent by 2050, it is clear that
the path to sustainable development must pass through cities. Cities
expanding in size and population pose increased challenges to the
environment, of which energy is part as a natural resource, and to the
quality of life. Nowadays, most cities have already understood the
importance of sustainability, both at their local scale as in terms of
their contribution to sustainability at higher geographical scales. It
requires the perception of a city as a complex and dynamic
ecosystem, an open system, or cluster of systems, where the energy
as well as the other natural resources is transformed to satisfy the
needs of the different urban activities. In fact, buildings and
transportation generally represent most of cities direct energy
demand, i.e., between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of the overall
consumption. Buildings, both residential and services are usually
influenced by the local physical and social conditions. In terms of
transport, the energy demand is also strongly linked with the specific
characteristics of a city (urban mobility).The concept of a “smart
city" builds on statistics as seven key axes of a city-s success in
moving towards common platform (brain nerve)of sustainable urban
energy systems.
With the aforesaid knowledge, the authors have suggested a frame
work to role of cities, as energy actors for smart city management.
The authors have discusses the potential elements needed for energy
in smart cities and also identified potential energy actions and
relevant barriers. Furthermore, three levels of city smartness in cities
actions to overcome market /institutional failures with a local
approach are distinguished. The authors have made an attempt to
conceive and implement concepts of city smartness by adopting the
city or local government as nerve center through an integrated
planning approach. Finally, concluding with recommendations for
the organization of the Smart Sustainable Cities for positive changes
of urban India.