Abstract: A welded structure must be inspected to guarantee that the weld quality meets the design requirements to assure safety and reliability. However, X-ray image analyses and defect recognition with the computer vision techniques are very complex. Most difficulties lie in finding the small, irregular defects in poor contrast images which requires pre processing to image, extract, and classify features from strong background noise. This paper addresses the issue of designing methodology to extract defect from noisy background radiograph with image processing. Based on the use of actives contours this methodology seems to give good results
Abstract: In this work, we study the problem of determining
the minimum scheduling length that can satisfy end-to-end (ETE)
traffic demand in scheduling-based multihop WSNs with cooperative
multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission scheme. Specifically,
we present a cross-layer formulation for the joint routing,
scheduling and stream control problem by incorporating various
power and rate adaptation schemes, and taking into account an
antenna beam pattern model and the signal-to-interference-and-noise
(SINR) constraint at the receiver. In the context, we also propose
column generation (CG) solutions to get rid of the complexity
requiring the enumeration of all possible sets of scheduling links.
Abstract: An artificial neural network (ANN) approach was used to model the energy consumption of wheat production. This study was conducted over 35,300 hectares of irrigated and dry land wheat fields in Canterbury in the 2007-2008 harvest year.1 In this study several direct and indirect factors have been used to create an artificial neural networks model to predict energy use in wheat production. The final model can predict energy consumption by using farm condition (size of wheat area and number paddocks), farmers- social properties (education), and energy inputs (N and P use, fungicide consumption, seed consumption, and irrigation frequency), it can also predict energy use in Canterbury wheat farms with error margin of ±7% (± 1600 MJ/ha).
Abstract: The study aimed to investigate characteristics of
vegetative tissue for taxonomic purpose and possibly trend of waste
application in industry. Stems and branches of 15 species in Solanum
found in Thailand were prepared for fiber and examined by light
microscopy. Microstructural characteristic data of fiber i.e. fiber
length and width, fiber lumen diameter and fiber cell wall thickness
were recorded. The longest average fiber cell length (>3.9 mm.) were
obtained in S. lycopersicum L. and S. tuberosum L. Fiber cells from
S. lycopersicum also revealed the widest average diameter of whole
cell and its lumen at >45.5 μm and >29 μm respectively. However
fiber cells with thickest wall of > 9.6 μm were belonged to the
ornamental tree species, S. wrightii Benth. The results showed that
the slenderness ratio, Runkel ratio, and flexibility coefficient, with
potentially suitable for feedstock in paper industry fell in 4 exotic
species, i.e. Solanumamericanum L., S. lycopersicum, S.
seaforthianum Andr., and S. tuberosum L
Abstract: The waves of eGovernment are rising very fast
through almost all public administration, or at least most of the
public administrations around the world, and not only the public
administration, but also the entire government and all of their
organization as a whole. The government uses information
technology, and above all the internet or web network, to facilitate
the exchange of services between government agencies and citizens,
businesses, employees and other non-governmental agencies. With
efficient and transparent information exchange, the information
becomes accessible to the society (citizens, business, employees etc.),
and as a result of these processes the society itself becomes the
information society or knowledge society. This paper discusses the
knowledge management for eGovernment development in
significance and role. Also, the paper reviews the role of virtual
communities as a knowledge management mechanism to support
eGovernment in Montenegro. It explores the need for knowledge
management in eGovernment, identifies knowledge management
technologies, and highlights the challenges for developing countries,
such as Montenegro in the implementation of eGovernment. The
paper suggests that knowledge management is needed to facilitate
information exchange and transaction processing with citizens, as
well as to enable creation of knowledge society.
Abstract: In this note first we define the notions of intuitionistic
fuzzy dual positive implicative hyper K-ideals of types
1,2,3,4 and intuitionistic fuzzy dual hyper K-ideals. Then we
give some classifications about these notions according to the
level subsets. Also by given some examples we show that these
notions are not equivalent, however we prove some theorems
which show that there are some relationships between these
notions. Finally we define the notions of product and antiproduct
of two fuzzy subsets and then give some theorems
about the relationships between the intuitionistic fuzzy dual
positive implicative hyper K-ideal of types 1,2,3,4 and their
(anti-)products, in particular we give a main decomposition
theorem.
Abstract: Automatic reusability appraisal is helpful in
evaluating the quality of developed or developing reusable software
components and in identification of reusable components from
existing legacy systems; that can save cost of developing the
software from scratch. But the issue of how to identify reusable
components from existing systems has remained relatively
unexplored. In this research work, structural attributes of software
components are explored using software metrics and quality of the
software is inferred by different Neural Network based approaches,
taking the metric values as input. The calculated reusability value
enables to identify a good quality code automatically. It is found that
the reusability value determined is close to the manual analysis used
to be performed by the programmers or repository managers. So, the
developed system can be used to enhance the productivity and
quality of software development.
Abstract: .Hardware realization of a Neural Network (NN), to a large extent depends on the efficient implementation of a single neuron. FPGA-based reconfigurable computing architectures are suitable for hardware implementation of neural networks. FPGA realization of ANNs with a large number of neurons is still a challenging task. This paper discusses the issues involved in implementation of a multi-input neuron with linear/nonlinear excitation functions using FPGA. Implementation method with resource/speed tradeoff is proposed to handle signed decimal numbers. The VHDL coding developed is tested using Xilinx XC V50hq240 Chip. To improve the speed of operation a lookup table method is used. The problems involved in using a lookup table (LUT) for a nonlinear function is discussed. The percentage saving in resource and the improvement in speed with an LUT for a neuron is reported. An attempt is also made to derive a generalized formula for a multi-input neuron that facilitates to estimate approximately the total resource requirement and speed achievable for a given multilayer neural network. This facilitates the designer to choose the FPGA capacity for a given application. Using the proposed method of implementation a neural network based application, namely, a Space vector modulator for a vector-controlled drive is presented
Abstract: This paper reported an experimental research of
steady-state heat transfer behaviour of a gas flowing through a fixed
bed under the different operating conditions. Studies had been carried
out in a fixed-bed packed methanol synthesis catalyst percolated by air
at appropriate flow rate. Both radial and axial direction temperature
distribution had been investigated under the different operating
conditions. The effects of operating conditions including the reactor
inlet air temperature, the heating pipe temperature and the air flow rate
on temperature distribution was investigated and the experimental
results showed that a higher inlet air temperature was conducive to
uniform temperature distribution in the fixed bed. A large temperature
drop existed at the radial direction, and the temperature drop increased
with the heating pipe temperature increasing under the experimental
conditions; the temperature profile of the vicinity of the heating pipe
was strongly affected by the heating pipe temperature. A higher air
flow rate can improve the heat transfer in the fixed bed. Based on the
thermal distribution, heat transfer models of the fixed bed could be
established, and the characteristics of the temperature distribution in
the fixed bed could be finely described, that had an important practical
significance.
Abstract: Wireless mesh networks based on IEEE 802.11
technology are a scalable and efficient solution for next generation
wireless networking to provide wide-area wideband internet access to
a significant number of users. The deployment of these wireless mesh
networks may be within different authorities and without any
planning, they are potentially overlapped partially or completely in
the same service area. The aim of the proposed model is design a new
model to Enhancement Throughput of Unplanned Wireless Mesh
Networks Deployment Using Partitioning Hierarchical Cluster
(PHC), the unplanned deployment of WMNs are determinates there
performance. We use throughput optimization approach to model the
unplanned WMNs deployment problem based on partitioning
hierarchical cluster (PHC) based architecture, in this paper the
researcher used bridge node by allowing interworking traffic between
these WMNs as solution for performance degradation.
Abstract: In this paper, a uniform calculus-based approach for
synthesizing monitors checking correctness properties specified by a
large variety of logics at runtime is provided, including future and past
time logics, interval logics, state machine and parameterized temporal
logics. We present a calculus mechanism to synthesize monitors from
the logical specification for the incremental analysis of execution
traces during test and real run. The monitor detects both good and bad
prefix of a particular kind, namely those that are informative for the
property under investigation. We elaborate the procedure of calculus
as monitors.
Abstract: With the exponential rise in the number of multimedia
applications available, the best-effort service provided by the Internet
today is insufficient. Researchers have been working on new
architectures like the Next Generation Network (NGN) which, by
definition, will ensure Quality of Service (QoS) in an all-IP based
network [1]. For this approach to become a reality, reservation of
bandwidth is required per application per user. WiMAX (Worldwide
Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a wireless communication
technology which has predefined levels of QoS which can be
provided to the user [4]. IPv6 has been created as the successor for
IPv4 and resolves issues like the availability of IP addresses and
QoS. This paper provides a design to use the power of WiMAX as an
NSP (Network Service Provider) for NGN using IPv6. The use of the
Traffic Class (TC) field and the Flow Label (FL) field of IPv6 has
been explained for making QoS requests and grants [6], [7]. Using
these fields, the processing time is reduced and routing is simplified.
Also, we define the functioning of the ASN gateway and the NGN
gateway (NGNG) which are edge node interfaces in the NGNWiMAX
design. These gateways ensure QoS management through
built in functions and by certain physical resources and networking
capabilities.
Abstract: Image compression can improve the performance of
the digital systems by reducing time and cost in image storage
and transmission without significant reduction of the image quality.
Furthermore, the discrete cosine transform has emerged as the new
state-of-the art standard for image compression. In this paper, a
hybrid image compression technique based on reversible blockade
transform coding is proposed. The technique, implemented over
regions of interest (ROIs), is based on selection of the coefficients
that belong to different transforms, depending on the coefficients is
proposed. This method allows: (1) codification of multiple kernals
at various degrees of interest, (2) arbitrary shaped spectrum,and (3)
flexible adjustment of the compression quality of the image and the
background. No standard modification for JPEG2000 decoder was
required. The method was applied over different types of images.
Results show a better performance for the selected regions, when
image coding methods were employed for the whole set of images.
We believe that this method is an excellent tool for future image
compression research, mainly on images where image coding can
be of interest, such as the medical imaging modalities and several
multimedia applications. Finally VLSI implementation of proposed
method is shown. It is also shown that the kernal of Hartley and
Cosine transform gives the better performance than any other model.
Abstract: Iron in groundwater is one of the problems that render the water unsuitable for drinking. The concentration above 0.3 mg/L is common in groundwater. The conventional method of removal is by precipitation under oxic condition. In this study, iron removal under anaerobic conditions was examined by batch experiment as a main purpose. The process involved by purging of groundwater samples with H2S to form iron sulfide. Removal up to 83% for 1 mg/L iron solution was achieved. The removal efficiency dropped to 82% and 75% for the higher initial iron concentrations 3.55 and 5.01 mg/L, respectively. The average residual sulfide concentration in water after the process was 25*g/L. The Eh level during the process was -272 mV. The removal process was found to follow the first order reaction with average rate constant of 4.52 x 10-3. The half-life for the concentrations to reduce from initial values was 157 minutes.
Abstract: Patients with diabetes are susceptible to chronic foot
wounds which may be difficult to manage and slow to heal.
Diagnosis and treatment currently rely on the subjective judgement of
experienced professionals. An objective method of tissue assessment
is required. In this paper, a data fusion approach was taken to wound
tissue classification. The supervised Maximum Likelihood and
unsupervised Multi-Modal Expectation Maximisation algorithms
were used to classify tissues within simulated wound models by
weighting the contributions of both colour and 3D depth information.
It was found that, at low weightings, depth information could show
significant improvements in classification accuracy when compared
to classification by colour alone, particularly when using the
maximum likelihood method. However, larger weightings were
found to have an entirely negative effect on accuracy.
Abstract: Worm propagation profiles have significantly changed
since 2003-2004: sudden world outbreaks like Blaster or Slammer
have progressively disappeared and slower but stealthier worms
appeared since, most of them for botnets dissemination. Decreased
worm virulence results in more difficult detection.
In this paper, we describe a stealth worm propagation model
which has been extensively simulated and analysed on a huge virtual
network. The main features of this model is its ability to infect any
Internet-like network in a few seconds, whatever may be its size while
greatly limiting the reinfection attempt overhead of already infected
hosts. The main simulation results shows that the combinatorial
topology of routing may have a huge impact on the worm propagation
and thus some servers play a more essential and significant role than
others. The real-time capability to identify them may be essential to
greatly hinder worm propagation.
Abstract: TiO2/Ag composite films were prepared by
incorporating Ag in the pores of mesoporous TiO2 films using a
photoreduction method. The Ag nanoparticle sizes were in a range of
3.66-38.56 nm. The TiO2/Ag composite films were characterized by
X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and
transmission electron microscropy (TEM). The TiO2 films and
TiO2/Ag composite films were immersed in a 0.3 mM N719 dye
solution and characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The
TiO2/Ag/N719 composite film showed that an optimal size of Ag
nanoparticles was 19.12 nm and, hence, gave the maximum optical
absorption spectra. The improved absorption was due to surface
plasmon resonance induced by the Ag nanoparticles to enhance the
absorption coefficient of the dye.
Abstract: The ε4 allele of the ε2, ε3 and ε4 protein isoform polymorphism in the gene encoding apolipoprotein E (Apo E) has previously been associated with increased cardiac artery disease (CAD); therefore to investigate the significance of this polymorphism in pathogenesis of CAD in Iranian patients with stenosis and control subjects. To investigate the association between
Apo E polymorphism and coronary artery disease we performed a comparative case control study of the frequency of Apo E
polymorphism in One hundred CAD patients with stenosis who underwent coronary angiography (>50% stenosis) and 100 control subjects (
Abstract: For a given specific problem an efficient algorithm has been the matter of study. However, an alternative approach orthogonal to this approach comes out, which is called a reduction. In general for a given specific problem this reduction approach studies how to convert an original problem into subproblems. This paper proposes a formal modeling language to support this reduction approach in order to make a solver quickly. We show three examples from the wide area of learning problems. The benefit is a fast prototyping of algorithms for a given new problem. It is noted that our formal modeling language is not intend for providing an efficient notation for data mining application, but for facilitating a designer who develops solvers in machine learning.
Abstract: The Taiwan government has started to promote the “Plain Landscape Afforestation and Greening Program" since 2002. A key task of the program was the payment for environmental services (PES), entitled the “Plain Landscape Afforestation Policy" (PLAP), which was certificated by the Executive Yuan on August 31, 2001 and enacted on January 1, 2002. According to the policy, it is estimated that the total area of afforestation will be 25,100 hectares by December 31, 2007. Until the end of 2007, the policy had been enacted for six years in total and the actual area of afforestation was 8,919.18 hectares. Among them, Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC) was accounted for 7,960 hectares (with 2,450.83 hectares as public service area) which occupied 86.22% of the total afforestation area; the private farmland promoted by local governments was accounted for 869.18 hectares which occupied 9.75% of the total afforestation area. Based on the above, we observe that most of the afforestation area in this policy is executed by TSC, and the achievement ratio by TSC is better than by others. It implies that the success of the PLAP is seriously related to the execution of TSC. The objective of this study is to analyze the relevant policy planning of TSC's participation in the PLAP, suggest complementary measures, and draw up effective adjustment mechanisms, so as to improve the effectiveness of executing the policy. Our main conclusions and suggestions are summarized as follows: 1. The main reason for TSC’s participation in the PLAP is based on their passive cooperation with the central government or company policy. Prior to TSC’s participation in the PLAP, their lands were mainly used for growing sugarcane. 2. The main factors of TSC's consideration on the selection of tree species are based on the suitability of land and species. The largest proportion of tree species is allocated to economic forests, and the lack of technical instruction was the main problem during afforestation. Moreover, the method of improving TSC’s future development in leisure agriculture and landscape business becomes a key topic. 3. TSC has developed short and long-term plans on participating in the PLAP for the future. However, there is no great willingness or incentive on budgeting for such detailed planning. 4. Most people from TSC interviewed consider the requirements on PLAP unreasonable. Among them, an unreasonable requirement on the number of trees accounted for the greatest proportion; furthermore, most interviewees suggested that the government should continue to provide incentives even after 20 years. 5. Since the government shares the same goals as TSC, there should be sufficient cooperation and communication that support the technical instruction and reduction of afforestation cost, which will also help to improve effectiveness of the policy.