Abstract: In this paper, we present a method for edge
segmentation of satellite images based on 2-D Phase Congruency
(PC) model. The proposed approach is composed by two steps: The
contextual non linear smoothing algorithm (CNLS) is used to smooth
the input images. Then, the 2D stretched Gabor filter (S-G filter)
based on proposed angular variation is developed in order to avoid
the multiple responses in the previous work. An assessment of our
proposed method performance is provided in terms of accuracy of
satellite image edge segmentation. The proposed method is compared
with others known approaches.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify the underlying
causes of late payment from the contractors- perspective in the
Malaysian construction industry and to recommend effective solutions
to mitigate late payment problems. The target groups of respondents in
this study were Grades G3, G5, G6 and G7 contractors with
specialization in building works and civil engineering works registered
with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in
Malaysia. Results from this study were analyzed with Statistical
Package for the Social Science (SPSS 15.0). From this study, it was
found that respondents have highest ranked five significant variables
out of a total of forty-one variables which can caused late payment
problems: a) cash flow problems due to deficiencies in client-s
management capacity (mean = 3.96); b) client-s ineffective utilization
of funds (mean = 3.88); c) scarcity of capital to finance the project
(mean = 3.81); d) clients failure to generate income from bank when
sales of houses do not hit the targeted amount (mean=3.72); and e)
poor cash flow because of lack of proper process implementation,
delay in releasing of the retention monies to contractor and delay in the
evaluation and certification of interim and final payment (mean =
3.66).
Abstract: Clustering is one of an interesting data mining topics
that can be applied in many fields. Recently, the problem of cluster
analysis is formulated as a problem of nonsmooth, nonconvex optimization,
and an algorithm for solving the cluster analysis problem
based on nonsmooth optimization techniques is developed. This
optimization problem has a number of characteristics that make it
challenging: it has many local minimum, the optimization variables
can be either continuous or categorical, and there are no exact
analytical derivatives. In this study we show how to apply a particular
class of optimization methods known as pattern search methods
to address these challenges. These methods do not explicitly use
derivatives, an important feature that has not been addressed in
previous studies. Results of numerical experiments are presented
which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Abstract: Recently, we have presented an initial implementation
of a model agent-based e-commerce system, which utilized a simple
price negotiation mechanism–English Auction. In this note we
discuss how a Dutch Auction involving multiple units of a product
can be included in our system. We present UML diagrams of
agents involved in price negotiations and briefly discuss rule-based
mechanism exemplifying Dutch Auction.
Abstract: Potassium monopersulfate has been decomposed in
aqueous solution in the presence of Co(II). The effect of the main
operating variables has been assessed. Minimum variations in pH
exert a considerable influence on the process kinetics. Thus, when no
pH adjustment is considered, the actual effect of variables like initial
monopersulfate and/or catalyst concentration may be hindered. As
expected, temperature enhances the monopersulfate decomposition
rate by following the Arrhenius law. The activation energy in the
proximity of 85 kJ/mol has been obtained. Amongst the different
solids tested in the monopersulfate decomposition, only the
perovskite LaTi0.15Cu0.85O3 has shown a significant catalytic activity.
Abstract: III-nitride quaternary InxAlyGa1-x-yN alloys have experienced considerable interest as potential materials for optoelectronic applications. Despite these interesting applications and the extensive efforts to understand their fundamental properties, research on its fundamental surface property, i.e., surface phonon polariton (SPP) has not yet been reported. In fact, the SPP properties have been shown to provide application for some photonic devices. Hence, there is an absolute need for thorough studies on the SPP properties of this material. In this work, theoretical study on the SPP modes in InAlGaN quaternary alloys are reported. Attention is focus on the wurtzite (α-) structure InxAlyGa1-x-yN semi-crystal with different In composition, x ranging from 0 to 0.10 and constant Al composition, y = 0.06. The SPP modes are obtained through the theoretical simulation by means of anisotropy model. The characteristics of SP dispersion curves are discussed. Accessible results in terms of the experimental point of view are also given. Finally, the results revealed that the SPP mode of α-InxAlyGa1-x-yN semiconductors exhibits two-mode behavior.
Abstract: In this research relationship between to be smooth the
interest and output of accepted companies stock at negotiable paper
exchange of Tehran is studied. Static community capacity included
363 companies member of negotiable paper exchange of Tehran that
54 companies were, by considering research limitation, selected from
2004 to 2009. Needed data for model test in librarian method was
chosen from RAH AVARDE NOVIN informative banks, TADBIR
and collecting needed data was selected from Tehran negotiable
paper exchange archive. Given results show that in spite of belief
among people based on companies have more smooth interest have
more output, but resulted outcomes of test-done reveals that there is
no relation between smooth interest and stock output.
Abstract: Power line communications may be used as a data
communication channel in public and indoor distribution networks so
that it does not require the installing of new cables. Industrial low
voltage distribution network may be utilized for data transfer
required by the on-line condition monitoring of electric motors. This
paper presents a pilot distribution network for modeling low voltage
power line as data transfer channel. The signal attenuation in
communication channels in the pilot environment is presented and
the analysis is done by varying the corresponding parameters for the
signal attenuation.
Abstract: From a long time age, human beings have chosen their
place of residence and comfort so that those places would have
relatively ideal natural and climatic conditions. For this reason, from
the beginning, the civilizations have been formed in the susceptible
natural regions such as Mesopotamia in Iran and Nile coasts in
Egypt. Also, the core of human density has been made in the form of
an oasis in the deserts.
Regarding the formation and combination of the native
architecture in different regions of Iran, we find that different
properties of these climates have affected frequently the formation of
cities and the architectural combinations of these regions. Thus, the
precise determinations of climatic areas and attaining the climatic
properties of different regions have a great deal of importance in
presenting appropriate and compatible-with-climate designs.
Abstract: The pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of seven marine biomass, which are fixed Enteromorpha clathrata, floating Enteromorpha clathrata, Ulva lactuca L., Zosterae Marinae L., Thallus Laminariae, Asparagus schoberioides kunth and Undaria pinnatifida (Harv.), were studied with thermogravimetric analysis method. Simultaneously, cornstalk, which is a grass biomass, and sawdust, which is a lignocellulosic biomass, were references. The basic pyrolysis characteristics were studied by using TG- DTG-DTA curves. The results showed that there were three stages (dehydration, dramatic weight loss and slow weight loss) during the whole pyrolysis process of samples. The Tmax of marine biomass was significantly lower than two kinds of terrestrial biomass. Zosterae Marinae L. had a relatively high stability of pyrolysis, but floating Enteromorpha clathrata had lowest stability of pyrolysis and a good combustion characteristics. The corresponding activation energy E and frequency factor A were obtained by Coats-Redfern method. It was found that the pyrolysis reaction mechanism functions of three kinds of biomass are different.
Abstract: The bridge vibration due to traffic loading has been a
subject of extensive research during the last decades. A number of
these studies are concerned with the effects of the unevenness of
roadways on the dynamic responses of highway bridges. The road
unevenness is often described as a random process that constitutes
of different wavelengths. Thus, the study focuses on examining
the effects of the random description of roadways on the dynamic
response and its variance. A new setting of variance based sensitivity
analysis is proposed and used to identify and quantify the
contributions of the roadway-s wavelengths to the variance of the
dynamic response. Furthermore, the effect of the vehicle-s speed on
the dynamic response is studied.
Abstract: A new and highly efficient architecture for elliptic curve scalar point multiplication which is optimized for a binary field recommended by NIST and is well-suited for elliptic curve cryptographic (ECC) applications is presented. To achieve the maximum architectural and timing improvements we have reorganized and reordered the critical path of the Lopez-Dahab scalar point multiplication architecture such that logic structures are implemented in parallel and operations in the critical path are diverted to noncritical paths. With G=41, the proposed design is capable of performing a field multiplication over the extension field with degree 163 in 11.92 s with the maximum achievable frequency of 251 MHz on Xilinx Virtex-4 (XC4VLX200) while 22% of the chip area is occupied, where G is the digit size of the underlying digit-serial finite field multiplier.
Abstract: As the world changes more rapidly, the demand for update information for resource management, environment monitoring, planning are increasing exponentially. Integration of Remote Sensing with GIS technology will significantly promote the ability for addressing these concerns. This paper presents an alternative way of update GIS applications using image processing and high resolution images. We show a method of high-resolution image segmentation using graphs and morphological operations, where a preprocessing step (watershed operation) is required. A morphological process is then applied using the opening and closing operations. After this segmentation we can extract significant cartographic elements such as urban areas, streets or green areas. The result of this segmentation and this extraction is then used to update GIS applications. Some examples are shown using aerial photography.
Abstract: Foodborne Salmonella infections have become a
major problem world wide. Salmonellosis transmitted from fish are
quite common. Established quality control measures exist for export
oriented fish, none exists for fish consumed locally. This study aimed
at characterization of Salmonella isolated from Nile tilapia . The
study was carried out in selected beaches along L. Victoria in
Western Kenya between March and June 2007. One hundred and
twenty fish specimens were collected. Salmonella isolates were
confirmed using serotyping, biochemical testing in addition to malic
acid dehydrogenase (mdh) and fliC gene sequencing. Twenty
Salmonella isolates were confirmed by mdh gene sequencing. Nine
(9) were S. enterica serotype typhimurium, four (4) were S. enterica
Serotype, enteritidis and seven (7) were S. enterica serotype typhi.
Nile tilapia have a role in transmission of Salmonellosis in the study
area, poor sanitation was a major cause of pollution at the beach
inshore waters.
Abstract: Globalisation is a phenomenon that cannot be avoided.
As globalisation allowed free flow of inputs including labour, it may
affect job opportunities for the locals. Therefore, investigate the
determinants of labour supply is essential in understanding the
structure of labour market in the new era of globalization. The
objective of this article is to examine labour supply by taking into
account the globalisation effect. The study covers 3885 households in
Peninsular Malaysia who are chosen using stratified random
sampling. The labour supply model will be the basis for the analysis.
The basic labour supply determinants are own wage and non-labour
income. However, the extended labour supply model incorporates
other variables like spouse wage，number of children and
individuals characteristics like education level and age. Besides, the
globalization indicator will also be incorporated as another
independent variable.
Abstract: Due to their high power-to-weight ratio and low cost, pneumatic actuators are attractive for robotics and automation applications; however, achieving fast and accurate control of their position have been known as a complex control problem. The paper presents a methodology for obtaining controllers that achieve high position accuracy and preserve the closed-loop characteristics over a broad operating range. Experimentation with a number of conventional (or "classical") three-term controllers shows that, as repeated operations accumulate, the characteristics of the pneumatic actuator change requiring frequent re-tuning of the controller parameters (PID gains). Furthermore, three-term controllers are found to perform poorly in recovering the closed-loop system after the application of load or other external disturbances. The key reason for these problems lies in the non-linear exchange of energy inside the cylinder relating, in particular, to the complex friction forces that develop on the piston-wall interface. In order to overcome this problem but still remain within the boundaries of classical control methods, we designed an auto selective classicaql controller so that the system performance would benefit from all three control gains (KP, Kd, Ki) according to system requirements and the characteristics of each type of controller. This challenging experimentation took place for consistent performance in the face of modelling imprecision and disturbances. In the work presented, a selective PID controller is presented for an experimental rig comprising an air cylinder driven by a variable-opening pneumatic valve and equipped with position and pressure sensors. The paper reports on tests carried out to investigate the capability of this specific controller to achieve consistent control performance under, repeated operations and other changes in operating conditions.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a method to reduce the
various kinds of noise while gathering and recording the
electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. Because of the defects of former
method in the noise elimination of ECG signal, we use translation
invariant (TI) multiwavelet denoising method to the noise elimination.
The advantage of the proposed method is that it may not only remain
the geometrical characteristics of the original ECG signal and keep the
amplitudes of various ECG waveforms efficiently, but also suppress
impulsive noise to some extent. The simulation results indicate that the
proposed method are better than former removing noise method in
aspects of remaining geometrical characteristics of ECG signal and the
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
Abstract: The Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling
Problem (RCPSP) is concerned with single-item or small batch
production where limited resources have to be allocated to dependent
activities over time. Over the past few decades, a lot of work has
been made with the use of optimal solution procedures for this basic
problem type and its extensions. Brucker and Knust[1] discuss, how
timetabling problems can be modeled as a RCPSP. Authors discuss
high school timetabling and university course timetabling problem as
an example. We have formulated two mathematical formulations of
course timetabling problem in a new way which are the prototype of
single-mode RCPSP. Our focus is to show, how course timetabling
problem can be transformed into RCPSP. We solve this
transformation model with genetic algorithm.
Abstract: Categorical data based on description of the
agricultural landscape imposed some mathematical and analytical
limitations. This problem however can be overcome by data
transformation through coding scheme and the use of non-parametric
multivariate approach. The present study describes data
transformation from qualitative to numerical descriptors. In a
collection of 103 random soil samples over a 60 hectare field,
categorical data were obtained from the following variables: levels of
nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, pH, hue, chroma, value and data on
topography, vegetation type, and the presence of rocks. Categorical
data were coded, and Spearman-s rho correlation was then calculated
using PAST software ver. 1.78 in which Principal Component
Analysis was based. Results revealed successful data transformation,
generating 1030 quantitative descriptors. Visualization based on the
new set of descriptors showed clear differences among sites, and
amount of variation was successfully measured. Possible applications
of data transformation are discussed.
Abstract: Larval rearing and seed production of most of tetra fishes (Family: Characidae) is critical due to their small size larvae and limited numbers of spawning attempts. During the present study the effect of different live foods on growth and survival of neon tetra, Paracheirodon innesi larvae (length 3.1 ± 0.012mm, weight 0.048 ± 0.00015mg) and early fry (length = 6.44 ± 0.025mm, weight = 0.64 ± 0.003mg and 13 days old) was determined in two experiments. Experiment I was conducted for rearing the larvae by using mixed green water and Infusoria whereas, in Experiment II, early fry were fed with mixed zooplankton, decapsulated Artemia cyst and Artemia nauplii. The larvae fed on mixed green water showed significant (p