Abstract: The paper provides a literature review of the STEPNC
compliant research around the world. The first part of this paper
focuses on projects based on STEP compliance followed by research
and development in this area based on machining operations. Review
the literature relating to relevant STEP standards and application in
the area of turning centers. This research will review the various
research work, carried out from the evolution of STEP-NC of the
CNC manufacturing activities. The paper concludes with discussion
of the applications in this particular area.
Abstract: Losses reduction initiatives in distribution systems
have been activated due to the increasing cost of supplying
electricity, the shortage in fuel with ever-increasing cost to produce
more power, and the global warming concerns. These initiatives have
been introduced to the utilities in shape of incentives and penalties.
Recently, the electricity distribution companies in Oman have been
incentivized to reduce the distribution technical and non-technical
losses with an equal annual reduction rate for 6 years. In this paper,
different techniques for losses reduction in Mazoon Electricity
Company (MZEC) are addressed. In this company, high numbers of
substation and feeders were found to be non-compliant with the
Distribution System Security Standard (DSSS). Therefore, 33
projects have been suggested to bring non-complying 29 substations
and 28 feeders to meet the planed criteria and to comply with the
DSSS. The largest part of MZEC-s network (South Batinah region)
was modeled by ETAP software package. The model has been
extended to implement the proposed projects and to examine their
effects on losses reduction. Simulation results have shown that the
implementation of these projects leads to a significant improvement
in voltage profile, and reduction in the active and the reactive power
losses. Finally, the economical analysis has revealed that the
implementation of the proposed projects in MZEC leads to an annual
saving of about US$ 5 million.
Abstract: This paper presents an approach for daily optimal operation of distribution networks considering Distributed Generators (DGs). Due to private ownership of DGs, a cost based compensation method is used to encourage DGs in active and reactive power generation. The objective function is summation of electrical energy generated by DGs and substation bus (main bus) in the next day. A genetic algorithm is used to solve the optimal operation problem. The approach is tested on an IEEE34 buses distribution feeder.
Abstract: Internal controls of accounting are an essential
business function for a growth-oriented organization, and include the
elements of risk assessment, information communications and even
employees' roles and responsibilities. Internal controls of accounting
systems are designed to protect a company from fraud, abuse and
inaccurate data recording and help organizations keep track of
essential financial activities. Internal controls of accounting provide a
streamlined solution for organizing all accounting procedures and
ensuring that the accounting cycle is completed consistently and
successfully. Implementing a formal Accounting Procedures Manual
for the organization allows the financial department to facilitate
several processes and maintain rigorous standards. Internal controls
also allow organizations to keep detailed records, manage and
organize important financial transactions and set a high standard for
the organization's financial management structure and protocols. A
well-implemented system also reduces the risk of accounting errors
and abuse. A well-implemented controls system allows a company's
financial managers to regulate and streamline all functions of the
accounting department. Internal controls of accounting can be set up
for every area to track deposits, monitor check handling, keep track
of creditor accounts, and even assess budgets and financial statements
on an ongoing basis. Setting up an effective accounting system to
monitor accounting reports, analyze records and protect sensitive
financial information also can help a company set clear goals and
make accurate projections. Creating efficient accounting processes
allows an organization to set specific policies and protocols on
accounting procedures, and reach its financial objectives on a regular
basis. Internal accounting controls can help keep track of such areas
as cash-receipt recording, payroll management, appropriate recording
of grants and gifts, cash disbursements by authorized personnel, and
the recording of assets. These systems also can take into account any
government regulations and requirements for financial reporting.
Abstract: There are increasingly plagiarism offences for
students in higher education in the digital educational world. On the
other hand, various and competitive online assessment and
plagiarism detection tools are available in the market. Taking the
University of Glamorgan as a case study, this paper describes and
introduces an institutional journey on electronic plagiarism detection
to inform the initial experience of an innovative tool and method
which could be further explored in the future research. The
comparative study and system workflow for e-plagiarism detection
tool are discussed. Benefits for both academics and students are also
presented. Electronic plagiarism detection tools brought great
benefits to both academics and students in Glamorgan. On the other
hand, the debates raised in such initial experience are discussed.
Abstract: An economic operation scheduling problem of a
hydro-thermal power generation system has been properly solved by
the proposed multipath adaptive tabu search algorithm (MATS). Four
reservoirs with their own hydro plants and another one thermal plant
are integrated to be a studied system used to formulate the objective
function under complicated constraints, eg water managements,
power balance and thermal generator limits. MATS with four subsearch
units (ATSs) and two stages of discarding mechanism (DM),
has been setting and trying to solve the problem through 25 trials
under function evaluation criterion. It is shown that MATS can
provide superior results with respect to single ATS and other
previous methods, genetic algorithms (GA) and differential evolution
(DE).
Abstract: Intelligent deep-drawing is an instrumental research field in sheet metal forming. A set of 28 different experimental data have been employed in this paper, investigating the roles of die radius, punch radius, friction coefficients and drawing ratios for axisymmetric workpieces deep drawing. This paper focuses an evolutionary neural network, specifically, error back propagation in collaboration with genetic algorithm. The neural network encompasses a number of different functional nodes defined through the established principles. The input parameters, i.e., punch radii, die radii, friction coefficients and drawing ratios are set to the network; thereafter, the material outputs at two critical points are accurately calculated. The output of the network is used to establish the best parameters leading to the most uniform thickness in the product via the genetic algorithm. This research achieved satisfactory results based on demonstration of neural networks.
Abstract: In parallel, broadcasting has changed rapidly with the
changing of the world at the same area. Broadcasting is also
influenced and reshaped in terms of the emergence of new
communication technologies. These developments have resulted a lot
of economic and social consequences. The most important
consequences of these results are those of the powers of the
governments to control over the means of communication and control
mechanisms related to the descriptions of the new issues. For this
purpose, autonomous and independent regulatory bodies have been
established by the state. One of these regulatory bodies is the Radio
and Television Supreme Council, which to be established in 1994,
with the Code no 3984. Today’s Radio and Television Supreme
Council which is responsible for the regulation of the radio and
television broadcasts all across Turkey has an important and effective
position as autonomous and independent regulatory body. The Radio
and Television Supreme Council acts as being a remarkable organizer
for a sensitive area of radio and television broadcasting on one hand,
and the area of democratic, liberal and keep in mind the concept of
the public interest by putting certain principles for the functioning of
the Board control, in the context of media policy as one of the central
organs, on the other hand.
In this study, the role of the Radio and Television Supreme
Council is examined in accordance with the Code no 3894 in order to
control over the communication and control mechanisms as well as
the examination of the changes in the duties of the Code No. 6112,
dated 2011.
Abstract: This work deals with modeling and simulation of SO2 removal in a ceramic membrane by means of FEM. A mass transfer model was developed to predict the performance of SO2 absorption in a chemical solvent. The model was based on solving conservation equations for gas component in the membrane. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) of mass and momentum were used to solve the model equations. The simulations aimed to obtain the distribution of gas concentration in the absorption process. The effect of the operating parameters on the efficiency of the ceramic membrane was evaluated. The modeling findings showed that the gas phase velocity has significant effect on the removal of gas whereas the liquid phase does not affect the SO2 removal significantly. It is also indicated that the main mass transfer resistance is placed in the membrane and gas phase because of high tortuosity of the ceramic membrane.
Abstract: Salinity level may affect early development of
biofuel feedstock crops. The biofuel feedstock crops canola
(Brassica napus L.), sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], and
sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.); and the potential feedstock crop
sweet corn (Zea mays L.) were planted in media in pots and treated
with aqueous solutions of 0, 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 M NaCl once at: 1)
planting; 2) 7-10 days after planting or 3) first true leaf expansion.
An additional treatment (4) comprised of one-half strength of the 0.1,
0.5 and 1.0 M (concentrations 0.05, 0.25, 0.5 M at each application)
was applied at first true leaf expansion and four days later. Survival
of most crops decreased below 90% above 0.5 M; survival of canola
decreased above 0.1 M. Application timing had little effect on crop
survival. For canola root fresh and dry weights improved when
application was at plant emergence; for sorghum top and root fresh
weights improved when the split application was used. When
application was at planting root dry weight was improved over most
other applications. Sunflower top fresh weight was among the
highest when saline solutions were split and top dry weight was
among the highest when application was at plant emergence. Sweet
corn root fresh weight was improved when the split application was
used or application was at planting. Sweet corn root dry weight was
highest when application was at planting or plant emergence. Even at
high salinity rates survival rates greater than what might be expected
occurred. Plants that survived appear to be able to adjust to saline
during the early stages of development.
Abstract: Advancement in Artificial Intelligence has lead to the
developments of various “smart" devices. Character recognition
device is one of such smart devices that acquire partial human
intelligence with the ability to capture and recognize various
characters in different languages. Firstly multiscale neural training
with modifications in the input training vectors is adopted in this
paper to acquire its advantage in training higher resolution character
images. Secondly selective thresholding using minimum distance
technique is proposed to be used to increase the level of accuracy of
character recognition. A simulator program (a GUI) is designed in
such a way that the characters can be located on any spot on the
blank paper in which the characters are written. The results show that
such methods with moderate level of training epochs can produce
accuracies of at least 85% and more for handwritten upper case
English characters and numerals.
Abstract: This paper aims to present the reviews of the
application of neural network in shunt active power filter (SAPF).
From the review, three out of four components of SAPF structure,
which are harmonic detection component, compensating current
control, and DC bus voltage control, have been adopted some of
neural network architecture as part of its component or even
substitution. The objectives of most papers in using neural network in
SAPF are to increase the efficiency, stability, accuracy, robustness,
tracking ability of the systems of each component. Moreover,
minimizing unneeded signal due to the distortion is the ultimate goal
in applying neural network to the SAPF. The most famous
architecture of neural network in SAPF applications are ADALINE
and Backpropagation (BP).
Abstract: From a set of shifted, blurred, and decimated image , super-resolution image reconstruction can get a high-resolution image. So it has become an active research branch in the field of image restoration. In general, super-resolution image restoration is an ill-posed problem. Prior knowledge about the image can be combined to make the problem well-posed, which contributes to some regularization methods. In the regularization methods at present, however, regularization parameter was selected by experience in some cases and other techniques have too heavy computation cost for computing the parameter. In this paper, we construct a new super-resolution algorithm by transforming the solving of the System stem Є=An into the solving of the equations X+A*X-1A=I , and propose an inverse iterative method.
Abstract: An aqueous methanol sensor for use in direct
methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) applications is demonstrated; the
methanol sensor is built using dispersed single-walled carbon
nanotubes (SWCNTs) with Nafion117 solution to detect the methanol
concentration in water. The study is aimed at the potential use of the
carbon nanotubes array as a methanol sensor for direct methanol fuel
cells (DMFCs). The concentration of methanol in the fuel circulation
loop of a DMFC system is an important operating parameter, because
it determines the electrical performance and efficiency of the fuel cell
system. The sensor is also operative even at ambient temperatures
and responds quickly to changes in the concentration levels of the
methanol. Such a sensor can be easily incorporated into the methanol
fuel solution flow loop in the DMFC system.
Abstract: Simultaneous recovery of copper and DCA from
simulated MEUF concentrated stream was investigated. Effects of
surfactant (DCA) and metal (copper) concentrations, surfactant to
metal molar ratio (S/M ratio), electroplating voltage, EDTA
concentration, solution pH, and salt concentration on metal recovery
and current efficiency were studied. Electric voltage of -0.5 V was
shown to be optimum operation condition in terms of Cu recovery,
current efficiency, and surfactant recovery. Increasing Cu recovery and
current efficiency were observed with increases of Cu concentration
while keeping concentration of DCA constant. However, increasing
both Cu and DCA concentration while keeping S/M ratio constant at
2.5 showed detrimental effect on Cu recovery at DCA concentration
higher than 15 mM. Cu recovery decreases with increasing pH while
current efficiency showed an opposite trend. It is believed that
conductivity is the main cause for discrepancy of Cu recovery and
current efficiency observed at different pH. Finally, it was shown that
EDTA had adverse effect on both Cu recovery and current efficiency
while addition of NaCl salt had negative impact on current efficiency
at concentration higher than 8000 mg/L.
Abstract: Fisheries management all around the world is
hampered by the lack, or poor quality, of critical data on fish
resources and fishing operations. The main reasons for the chronic
inability to collect good quality data during fishing operations is the
culture of secrecy common among fishers and the lack of modern
data gathering technology onboard most fishing vessels. In response,
OLRAC-SPS, a South African company, developed fisheries datalogging
software (eLog in short) and named it Olrac. The Olrac eLog
solution is capable of collecting, analysing, plotting, mapping,
reporting, tracing and transmitting all data related to fishing
operations. Olrac can be used by skippers, fleet/company managers,
offshore mariculture farmers, scientists, observers, compliance
inspectors and fisheries management authorities. The authors believe
that using eLog onboard fishing vessels has the potential to
revolutionise the entire process of data collection and reporting
during fishing operations and, if properly deployed and utilised,
could transform the entire commercial fleet to a provider of good
quality data and forever change the way fish resources are managed.
In addition it will make it possible to trace catches back to the actual
individual fishing operation, to improve fishing efficiency and to
dramatically improve control of fishing operations and enforcement
of fishing regulations.
Abstract: Global Software Development (GSD) projects are
passing through different boundaries of a company, country and even
in other continents where time zone differs between both sites.
Beside many benefits of such development, research declared plenty
of negative impacts on these GSD projects. It is important to
understand problems which may lie during the execution of GSD
project with different time zones. This research project discussed and
provided different issues related to time delays in GSD projects. In
this paper, authors investigated some of the time delay factors which
usually lie in GSD projects with different time zones. This
investigation is done through systematic review of literature.
Furthermore, the practices to overcome these delay factors which
have already been reported in literature and GSD organizations are
also explored through literature survey and case studies.
Abstract: We have defined two suites of metrics, which cover
static and dynamic aspects of component assembly. The static
metrics measure complexity and criticality of component assembly,
wherein complexity is measured using Component Packing Density
and Component Interaction Density metrics. Further, four criticality
conditions namely, Link, Bridge, Inheritance and Size criticalities
have been identified and quantified. The complexity and criticality
metrics are combined to form a Triangular Metric, which can be used
to classify the type and nature of applications. Dynamic metrics are
collected during the runtime of a complete application. Dynamic
metrics are useful to identify super-component and to evaluate the
degree of utilisation of various components. In this paper both static
and dynamic metrics are evaluated using Weyuker-s set of properties.
The result shows that the metrics provide a valid means to measure
issues in component assembly. We relate our metrics suite with
McCall-s Quality Model and illustrate their impact on product
quality and to the management of component-based product
development.
Abstract: Faced with social and health system capacity
constraints and rising and changing demand for welfare services,
governments and welfare providers are increasingly relying on
innovation to help support and enhance services. However, the
evidence reported by several studies indicates that the realization of
that potential is not an easy task. Innovations can be deemed
inherently complex to implement and operate, because many of them
involve a combination of technological and organizational renewal
within an environment featuring a diversity of stakeholders. Many
public welfare service innovations are markedly systemic in their
nature, which means that they emerge from, and must address, the
complex interplay between political, administrative, technological,
institutional and legal issues. This paper suggests that stakeholders
dealing with systemic innovation in welfare services must deal with
ambiguous and incomplete information in circumstances of
uncertainty. Employing a literature review methodology and case
study, this paper identifies, categorizes and discusses different
aspects of the uncertainty of systemic innovation in public welfare
services, and argues that uncertainty can be classified into eight
categories: technological uncertainty, market uncertainty,
regulatory/institutional uncertainty, social/political uncertainty,
acceptance/legitimacy uncertainty, managerial uncertainty, timing
uncertainty and consequence uncertainty.
Abstract: Currently, the Malaysian construction industry is
focusing on transforming construction processes from conventional
building methods to the Industrialized Building System (IBS). Still,
research on the decision making of IBS technology adoption with the
influence of contextual factors is scarce. The purpose of this paper is
to explore how contextual factors influence the IBS decision making
in building projects which is perceived by those involved in
construction industry namely construction stakeholders and IBS
supply chain members. Theoretical background, theoretical
frameworks and literatures which identify possible contextual factors
that influence decision making towards IBS technology adoption are
presented. This paper also discusses the importance of contextual
factors in IBS decision making, highlighting some possible crossover
benefits and making some suggestions as to how these can be
utilized. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made with
respect to the perception of socio-economic, IBS policy and IBS
technology associated with building projects.