Abstract: Nigeria is considered as one of the many countries in
sub-Saharan Africa with a weak economy and gross deficiencies in technology and engineering. Available data from international monitoring and regulatory organizations show that technology is pivotal to determining the economic strengths of nations all over the
world. Education is critical to technology acquisition, development,
dissemination and adaptation. Thus, this paper seeks to critically
assess and discuss issues and challenges facing technological
advancement in Nigeria, particularly in the education sector, and also
proffers solutions to resuscitate the Nigerian education system
towards achieving national technological and economic sustainability
such that Nigeria can compete favourably with other technologicallydriven
economies of the world in the not-too-distant future.
Abstract: In this paper, a methodology of a model based on
predicting the tool forces oblique machining are introduced by
adopting the orthogonal technique. The applied analytical calculation
is mostly based on Devries model and some parts of the methodology
are employed from Amareggo-Brown model. Model validation is
performed by comparing experimental data with the prediction results
on machining titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) based on micro-cutting tool
perspective. Good agreements with the experiments are observed. A
detailed friction form that affected the tool forces also been examined
with reasonable results obtained.
Abstract: The paper is concerned with relationships between
SSME and ICTs and focuses on the role of Web 2.0 tools in
the service development process. The research presented aims at
exploring how collaborative technologies can support and improve
service processes, highlighting customer centrality and value coproduction.
The core idea of the paper is the centrality of user
participation and the collaborative technologies as enabling factors;
Wikipedia is analyzed as an example. The result of such analysis is
the identification and description of a pattern characterising specific
services in which users collaborate by means of web tools with value
co-producers during the service process. The pattern of collaborative
co-production concerning several categories of services including
knowledge based services is then discussed.
Abstract: A fully on-chip low drop-out (LDO) voltage regulator with 100pF output load capacitor is presented. A novel frequency compensation scheme using current buffer is adopted to realize single dominant pole within the unit gain frequency of the regulation loop, the phase margin (PM) is at least 50 degree under the full range of the load current, and the power supply rejection (PSR) character is improved compared with conventional Miller compensation. Besides, the differentiator provides a high speed path during the load current transient. Implemented in 0.18μm CMOS technology, the LDO voltage regulator provides 100mA load current with a stable 1.8V output voltage consuming 80μA quiescent current.
Abstract: Gas hydrates can agglomerate and block multiphase oil and gas pipelines when water is present at hydrate forming conditions. Using "Cold Flow Technology", the aim is to condition gas hydrates so that they can be transported as a slurry mixture without a risk of agglomeration. During the pipeline shut down however, hydrate particles may settle in bends and build hydrate plugs. An experimental setup has been designed and constructed to study the flow of such plugs at start up operations. Experiments have been performed using model fluid and model hydrate particles. The propagations of initial plugs in a bend were recorded with impedance probes along the pipe. The experimental results show a dispersion of the plug front. A peak in pressure drop was also recorded when the plugs were passing the bend. The evolutions of the plugs have been simulated by numerical integration of the incompressible mass balance equations, with an imposed mixture velocity. The slip between particles and carrier fluid has been calculated using a drag relation together with a particle-fluid force balance.
Abstract: Moisture is an important consideration in many
aspects ranging from irrigation, soil chemistry, golf course, corrosion
and erosion, road conditions, weather predictions, livestock feed
moisture levels, water seepage etc. Vegetation and crops always
depend more on the moisture available at the root level than on
precipitation occurrence. In this paper, design of an instrument is
discussed which tells about the variation in the moisture contents of
soil. This is done by measuring the amount of water content in soil by
finding the variation in capacitance of soil with the help of a
capacitive sensor. The greatest advantage of soil moisture sensor is
reduced water consumption. The sensor is also be used to set lower
and upper threshold to maintain optimum soil moisture saturation and
minimize water wilting, contributes to deeper plant root growth
,reduced soil run off /leaching and less favorable condition for insects
and fungal diseases. Capacitance method is preferred because, it
provides absolute amount of water content and also measures water
content at any depth.
Abstract: This paper is a survey of current component-based
software technologies and the description of promotion and
inhibition factors in CBSE. The features that software components
inherit are also discussed. Quality Assurance issues in componentbased
software are also catered to. The feat research on the quality
model of component based system starts with the study of what the
components are, CBSE, its development life cycle and the pro &
cons of CBSE. Various attributes are studied and compared keeping
in view the study of various existing models for general systems and
CBS. When illustrating the quality of a software component an apt
set of quality attributes for the description of the system (or
components) should be selected. Finally, the research issues that can
be extended are tabularized.
Abstract: In order to improve control performance and eliminate steady, a coupling compensation for 6-DOF parallel robot is presented. Taking dynamic load Tank Simulator as the research object, this paper analyzes the coupling of 6-DOC parallel robot considering the degree of freedom of the 6-DOF parallel manipulator. The coupling angle and coupling velocity are derived based on inverse kinematics model. It uses the mechanism-model combined method which takes practical moving track that considering the performance of motion controller and motor as its input to make the study. Experimental results show that the coupling compensation improves motion stability as well as accuracy. Besides, it decreases the dither amplitude of dynamic load Tank Simulator.
Abstract: In this paper, we present a novel approach to location
system under indoor environment. The key idea of our work is
accurate distance estimation with cricket-based location system using
A* algorithm. We also use magnetic sensor for detecting obstacles in
indoor environment. Finally, we suggest how this system can be used
in various applications such as asset tracking and monitoring.
Abstract: In this paper, cloud resource broker using goalbased
request in medical application is proposed. To handle recent
huge production of digital images and data in medical informatics
application, the cloud resource broker could be used by medical
practitioner for proper process in discovering and selecting correct
information and application. This paper summarizes several
reviewed articles to relate medical informatics application with
current broker technology and presents a research work in applying
goal-based request in cloud resource broker to optimize the use of
resources in cloud environment. The objective of proposing a new
kind of resource broker is to enhance the current resource
scheduling, discovery, and selection procedures. We believed that
it could help to maximize resources allocation in medical
informatics application.
Abstract: The paper focuses on the enhanced stiffness modeling
of robotic manipulators by taking into account influence of the external force/torque acting upon the end point. It implements the
virtual joint technique that describes the compliance of manipulator elements by a set of localized six-dimensional springs separated by
rigid links and perfect joints. In contrast to the conventional
formulation, which is valid for the unloaded mode and small
displacements, the proposed approach implicitly assumes that the loading leads to the non-negligible changes of the manipulator posture and corresponding amendment of the Jacobian. The
developed numerical technique allows computing the static
equilibrium and relevant force/torque reaction of the manipulator for
any given displacement of the end-effector. This enables designer
detecting essentially nonlinear effects in elastic behavior of
manipulator, similar to the buckling of beam elements. It is also proposed the linearization procedure that is based on the inversion of
the dedicated matrix composed of the stiffness parameters of the
virtual springs and the Jacobians/Hessians of the active and passive
joints. The developed technique is illustrated by an application example that deals with the stiffness analysis of a parallel
manipulator of the Orthoglide family
Abstract: Detection of incipient abnormal events is important to
improve safety and reliability of machine operations and reduce losses
caused by failures. Improper set-ups or aligning of parts often leads to
severe problems in many machines. The construction of prediction
models for predicting faulty conditions is quite essential in making
decisions on when to perform machine maintenance. This paper
presents a multivariate calibration monitoring approach based on the
statistical analysis of machine measurement data. The calibration
model is used to predict two faulty conditions from historical reference
data. This approach utilizes genetic algorithms (GA) based variable
selection, and we evaluate the predictive performance of several
prediction methods using real data. The results shows that the
calibration model based on supervised probabilistic principal
component analysis (SPPCA) yielded best performance in this work.
By adopting a proper variable selection scheme in calibration models,
the prediction performance can be improved by excluding
non-informative variables from their model building steps.
Abstract: Failure in mastery of motor skills proficiency during
childhood has been seen as a detrimental factor for children to be
physically active. Lack of motor skills proficiency tends to reduce
children’s competency and confidence level to participate in physical
activity. As a consequence of less participation in physical activity,
children will turn to be overweight and obese. It has been suggested
that children who master motor skill proficiency will be more
involved in physical activity thus preventing them from being
overweight. Obesity has become a serious childhood health issues
worldwide. Previous studies have found that children who were
overweight and obese were generally less active however these
studies focused on one gender. This study aims to compare motor
skill proficiency of underweight, normal-weight, overweight and
obese young boys as well as to determine the relationship between
motor skills proficiency and body composition. 112 boys aged
between 8 to 10 years old participated in this study. Participants were
assigned to four groups; underweight, normal-weight, overweight and
obese using BMI-age percentile chart for children. Bruininks-
Oseretsky Test Second Edition-Short Form was administered to
assess their motor skill proficiency. Meanwhile, body composition
was determined by the skinfold thickness measurement. Result
indicated that underweight and normal children were superior in
motor skills proficiency compared to overweight and obese children
(p < 0.05). A significant strong inverse correlation between motor
skills proficiency and body composition (r = -0.849) is noted. The
findings of this study could be explained by non-contributory mass
that carried by overweight and obese children leads to biomechanical
movement inefficiency which will become detrimental to motor skills
proficiency. It can be concluded that motor skills proficiency is
inversely correlated with body composition.
Abstract: The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world's
largest suppliers to the healthcare industry and a trendsetter in
medical imaging and therapy, laboratory diagnostics, medical
information technology, and hearing aids.
Siemens offers its customers products and solutions for the entire
range of patient care from a single source – from prevention and
early detection to diagnosis, and on to treatment and aftercare. By
optimizing clinical workflows for the most common diseases,
Siemens also makes healthcare faster, better, and more cost effective.
The optimization of clinical workflows requires a
multidisciplinary focus and a collaborative approach of e.g. medical
advisors, researchers and scientists as well as healthcare economists.
This new form of collaboration brings together experts with deep
technical experience, physicians with specialized medical knowledge
as well as people with comprehensive knowledge about health
economics.
As Charles Darwin is often quoted as saying, “It is neither the
strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the
one most responsive to change," We believe that those who can
successfully manage this change will emerge as winners, with
valuable competitive advantage.
Current medical information and knowledge are some of the core
assets in the healthcare industry. The main issue is to connect
knowledge holders and knowledge recipients from various
disciplines efficiently in order to spread and distribute knowledge.
Abstract: This paper presents performance comparison of three estimation techniques used for peak load forecasting in power systems. The three optimum estimation techniques are, genetic algorithms (GA), least error squares (LS) and, least absolute value filtering (LAVF). The problem is formulated as an estimation problem. Different forecasting models are considered. Actual recorded data is used to perform the study. The performance of the above three optimal estimation techniques is examined. Advantages of each algorithms are reported and discussed.
Abstract: It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between
innocent murmurs and pathological murmurs during auscultation. In
these difficult cases, an intelligent stethoscope with decision support
abilities would be of great value. In this study, using a dog model,
phonocardiographic recordings were obtained from 27 boxer dogs
with various degrees of aortic stenosis (AS) severity. As a reference
for severity assessment, continuous wave Doppler was used. The data
were analyzed with recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) with
the aim to find features able to distinguish innocent murmurs from
murmurs caused by AS. Four out of eight investigated RQA features
showed significant differences between innocent murmurs and
pathological murmurs. Using a plain linear discriminant analysis
classifier, the best pair of features (recurrence rate and entropy)
resulted in a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 88%. In
conclusion, RQA provide valid features which can be used for
differentiation between innocent murmurs and murmurs caused by
AS.
Abstract: An experiment was implemented in a filed in the south of Morocco to evaluate the effects of domestic treated wastewater use for irrigation of amaranth crop under semi-arid conditions. Three varieties (A0020, A0057 & A211) were tested and irrigated using domestic treated wastewater EC1 (0,92 dS/m) as control, EC3 (3dS/m) and EC6 (6dS/m) obtained by adding sea water. In term of growth, an increase of the EC level of applied irrigation water reduced significantly the plant-s height, leaf area, fresh and dry weight measured at vegetative, flowering and maturity stage for all varieties. Even with the application of the EC6, yields were relatively higher in comparison with the once obtained in normal cultivation conditions. A significant accumulation of nitrate, chloride and sodium in soil layers during the crop cycle was noted. The use of treated waste water for its irrigation is proved to be possible. The variety A211 had showed to be less sensitive to salinity stress and it could be more promising its introduction to study area.
Abstract: Focusing on the environmental issues, including the reduction of scrap and consumer residuals, along with the benefiting from the economic value during the life cycle of goods/products leads the companies to have an important competitive approach. The aim of this paper is to present a new mixed nonlinear facility locationallocation model in recycling collection networks by considering multi-echelon, multi-suppliers, multi-collection centers and multifacilities in the recycling network. To make an appropriate decision in reality, demands, returns, capacities, costs and distances, are regarded uncertain in our model. For this purpose, a fuzzy mathematical programming-based possibilistic approach is introduced as a solution methodology from the recent literature to solve the proposed mixed-nonlinear programming model (MNLP). The computational experiments are provided to illustrate the applicability of the designed model in a supply chain environment and to help the decision makers to facilitate their analysis.
Abstract: Falls are the primary cause of accidents in people over
the age of 65, and frequently lead to serious injuries. Since the early
detection of falls is an important step to alert and protect the aging
population, a variety of research on detecting falls was carried out
including the use of accelerators, gyroscopes and tilt sensors. In
exiting studies, falls were detected using an accelerometer with
errors. In this study, the proposed method for detecting falls was to
use two accelerometers to reject wrong falls detection. As falls are
accompanied by the acceleration of gravity and rotational motion, the
falls in this study were detected by using the z-axial acceleration
differences between two sites. The falls were detected by calculating
the difference between the analyses of accelerometers placed on two
different positions on the chest of the subject. The parameters of the
maximum difference of accelerations (diff_Z) and the integration of
accelerations in a defined region (Sum_diff_Z) were used to form the
fall detection algorithm. The falls and the activities of daily living
(ADL) could be distinguished by using the proposed parameters
without errors in spite of the impact and the change in the positions
of the accelerometers. By comparing each of the axial accelerations,
the directions of falls and the condition of the subject afterwards
could be determined.In this study, by using two accelerometers
without errors attached to two sites to detect falls, the usefulness of
the proposed fall detection algorithm parameters, diff_Z and
Sum_diff_Z, were confirmed.
Abstract: In this paper, a few chattering-free Sliding Mode Controllers (SMC) are proposed to stabilize an Active Magnetic Bearing (AMB) system with gyroscopic effect that is proportional to the rotor speed. The improved switching terms of the controller inherited from the saturation-type function and boundary layer control technique is shown to be able to achieve bounded and asymptotic stability, respectively, while the chattering effect in the input is attenuated. This is proven to be advantageous for AMB system since minimization of chattering results in optimized control effort. The performance of each controller is demonstrated via result of simulation in which the measurement of the total consumed energy and maximum control magnitude of each controller illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed controllers.