Abstract: The highly nonlinear characteristics of drying
processes have prompted researchers to seek new nonlinear control
solutions. However, the relation between the implementation
complexity, on-line processing complexity, reliability control
structure and controller-s performance is not well established. The
present paper proposes high performance nonlinear fuzzy controllers
for a real-time operation of a drying machine, being developed under
a consistent match between those issues. A PCI-6025E data
acquisition device from National Instruments® was used, and the
control system was fully designed with MATLAB® / SIMULINK
language. Drying parameters, namely relative humidity and
temperature, were controlled through MIMOs Hybrid Bang-bang+PI
(BPI) and Four-dimensional Fuzzy Logic (FLC) real-time-based
controllers to perform drying tests on biological materials. The
performance of the drying strategies was compared through several
criteria, which are reported without controllers- retuning. Controllers-
performance analysis has showed much better performance of FLC
than BPI controller. The absolute errors were lower than 8,85 % for
Fuzzy Logic Controller, about three times lower than the
experimental results with BPI control.
Abstract: This paper shows a simple and effective approach to
the design and implementation of Industrial Information Systems
(IIS) oriented to control the characteristics of each individual product manufactured in a production line and also their manufacturing conditions. The particular products considered in this work are large steel strips that are coiled just after their manufacturing. However, the approach is directly applicable to coiled strips in other industries, like
paper, textile, aluminum, etc. These IIS provide very detailed information of each manufactured product, which complement the general information managed by the ERP system of the production line. In spite of the high importance of this type of IIS to guarantee and improve the quality of the products manufactured in many industries, there are very few works about them in the technical literature. For this reason, this paper represents an important contribution to the development of this type of IIS, providing guidelines for their design, implementation and exploitation.
Abstract: The research investigates the “impact of VLE on mathematical concepts acquisition of the special education needs (SENs) students at KS4 secondary education sector" in England. The overall aim of the study is to establish possible areas of difficulties to approach for above or below knowledge standard requirements for KS4 students in the acquisition and validation of basic mathematical concepts. A teaching period, in which virtual learning environment (Fronter) was used to emphasise different mathematical perception and symbolic representation was carried out and task based survey conducted to 20 special education needs students [14 actually took part]. The result shows that students were able to process information and consider images, objects and numbers within the VLE at early stages of acquisition process. They were also able to carry out perceptual tasks but with limiting process of different quotient, thus they need teacher-s guidance to connect them to symbolic representations and sometimes coach them through. The pilot study further indicates that VLE curriculum approaches for students were minutely aligned with mathematics teaching which does not emphasise the integration of VLE into the existing curriculum and current teaching practice. There was also poor alignment of vision regarding the use of VLE in realisation of the objectives of teaching mathematics by the management. On the part of teacher training, not much was done to develop teacher-s skills in the technical and pedagogical aspects of VLE that is in-use at the school. The classroom observation confirmed teaching practice will find a reliance on VLE as an enhancer of mathematical skills, providing interaction and personalisation of learning to SEN students.
Abstract: This paper presents the design, implementation and
results related to the storage system of medical information
associated to the ECG (Electrocardiography) signal. The system
includes the signal acquisition modules, the preprocessing and signal
processing, followed by a module of transmission and reception of
the signal, along with the storage and web display system of the
medical platform. The tests were initially performed with this signal,
with the purpose to include more biosignal under the same system in
the future.
Abstract: Total liquid ventilation can support gas exchange in animal models of lung injury. Clinical application awaits further technical improvements and performance verification. Our aim was to develop a liquid ventilator, able to deliver accurate tidal volumes, and a computerized system for measuring lung mechanics. The computer-assisted, piston-driven respirator controlled ventilatory parameters that were displayed and modified on a real-time basis. Pressure and temperature transducers along with a lineal displacement controller provided the necessary signals to calculate lung mechanics. Ten newborn lambs (
Abstract: This paper examines the influence of communication
form on employee uncertainty during mergers and acquisitions
(M&As). Specifically, the author uses narrative theory to analyze
how narrative organizational communication affects the three
components of uncertainty – decreased predictive, explanatory, and
descriptive ability. It is hypothesized that employees whose
organizations use narrative M&A communication will have greater
predictive, explanatory, and descriptive abilities than employees of
organizations using non-narrative M&A communication. This paper
contributes to the stream of research examining uncertainty during
mergers and acquisitions and argues that narratives are an effective
means of managing uncertainty in the mergers and acquisitions
context.
Abstract: The promises of component-based technology can only be fully realized when the system contains in its design a necessary level of separation of concerns. The authors propose to focus on the concerns that emerge throughout the life cycle of the system and use them as an architectural foundation for the design of a component-based framework. The proposed model comprises a set of superimposed views of the system describing its functional and non-functional concerns. This approach is illustrated by the design of a specific framework for data analysis and data acquisition and supplemented with experiences from using the systems developed with this framework at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
Abstract: The pipe inspection operation is the difficult detective
performance. Almost applications are mainly relies on a manual
recognition of defective areas that have carried out detection by an
engineer. Therefore, an automation process task becomes a necessary
in order to avoid the cost incurred in such a manual process. An
automated monitoring method to obtain a complete picture of the
sewer condition is proposed in this work. The focus of the research is
the automated identification and classification of discontinuities in
the internal surface of the pipe. The methodology consists of several
processing stages including image segmentation into the potential
defect regions and geometrical characteristic features. Automatic
recognition and classification of pipe defects are carried out by means
of using an artificial neural network technique (ANN) based on
Radial Basic Function (RBF). Experiments in a realistic environment
have been conducted and results are presented.
Abstract: Renewable energy sources have gained ultimate urgency due to the need of the preservation of the environment for a sustainable development. Pyrolysis is an ultimate promising process in the recycling and acquisition of precious chemicals from wastes. Here, the co-pyrolysis of hazelnut shell with ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene was carried out catalytically and noncatalytically at 500 and 650 ºC. Potassium dichromate was added in certain amounts to act as a catalyst. The liquid, solid and gas products quantities were determined by gravimetry. As a main result, remarkable increases in gasification were observed by using this catalyst for pure components and their blends especially at 650 ºC. The increase in gas product quantity was compensated mainly with the decreases in the solid products and additionally in some cases liquid products quantities. These observations may stem from mainly the activation of carbon-carbon bonds rather than carbon-hydrogen bonds via potassium dichromate. Also, the catalytic effect of potassium dichromate on HS: PEO and HS: UHMWPE co-pyrolysis was compared.
Abstract: Total liquid ventilation can support gas exchange in animal models of lung injury. Clinical application awaits further technical improvements and performance verification. Our aim was to develop a liquid ventilator, able to deliver accurate tidal volumes, and a computerized system for measuring lung mechanics. The computer-assisted, piston-driven respirator controlled ventilatory parameters that were displayed and modified on a real-time basis. Pressure and temperature transducers along with a lineal displacement controller provided the necessary signals to calculate lung mechanics. Ten newborn lambs (
Abstract: This paper proposes a method to vibration analysis in
order to on-line monitoring and predictive maintenance during the
milling process. Adapting envelope method to diagnostics and the
analysis for milling tool materials is an important contribution to the
qualitative and quantitative characterization of milling capacity and a
step by modeling the three-dimensional cutting process. An
experimental protocol was designed and developed for the
acquisition, processing and analyzing three-dimensional signal. The
vibration envelope analysis is proposed to detect the cutting capacity
of the tool with the optimization application of cutting parameters.
The research is focused on Hilbert transform optimization to evaluate
the dynamic behavior of the machine/ tool/workpiece.
Abstract: Noise contamination in a magnetic resonance (MR)
image could occur during acquisition, storage, and transmission in
which effective filtering is required to avoid repeating the MR
procedure. In this paper, an iterative asymmetrical triangle fuzzy
filter with moving average center (ATMAVi filter) is used to reduce
different levels of salt and pepper noise in a brain MR image. Besides
visual inspection on filtered images, the mean squared error (MSE) is
used as an objective measurement. When compared with the median
filter, simulation results indicate that the ATMAVi filter is effective
especially for filtering a higher level noise (such as noise density =
0.45) using a smaller window size (such as 3x3) when operated
iteratively or using a larger window size (such as 5x5) when operated
non-iteratively.
Abstract: Today-s economy is in a permanent change, causing
merger and acquisitions and co operations between enterprises. As a
consequence, process adaptations and realignments result in systems
integration and software development projects. Processes and
procedures to execute such projects are still reliant on craftsman-ship
of highly skilled workers. A generally accepted, industrialized
production, characterized by high efficiency and quality, seems
inevitable.
In spite of this, current concepts of software industrialization are
aimed at traditional software engineering and do not consider the
characteristics of systems integration. The present work points out
these particularities and discusses the applicability of existing
industrial concepts in the systems integration domain. Consequently
it defines further areas of research necessary to bring the field of
systems integration closer to an industrialized production, allowing a
higher efficiency, quality and return on investment.
Abstract: Complex systems are composed of several plain interacting independent entities. Interaction between these entities creates a unified behavior at the global level that cannot be predicted by examining the behavior of any single individual component of the system. In this paper we consider a welded frame of an automobile trailer as a real example of Complex Technical Systems, The purpose of this paper is to introduce a Statistical method for predicting the life cycle of complex technical systems. To organize gathering of primary data for modeling the life cycle of complex technical systems an “Automobile Trailer Frame" were used as a prototype in this research. The prototype represents a welded structure of several pieces. Both information flows underwent a computerized analysis and classification for the acquisition of final results to reach final recommendations for improving the trailers structure and their operational conditions.
Abstract: The paper presents frame and burst acquisition in a satellite communication network based on time division multiple access (TDMA) in which the transmissions may be carried on different transponders. A unique word pattern is used for the acquisition process. The search for the frame is aided by soft-decision of QPSK modulated signals in an additive white Gaussian channel. Results show that when the false alarm rate is low the probability of detection is also low, and the acquisition time is long. Conversely when the false alarm rate is high, the probability of detection is also high and the acquisition time is short. Thus the system operators can trade high false alarm rates for high detection probabilities and shorter acquisition times.
Abstract: Preparation and negotiation of innovative and future
projects can be characterized as a strategic-type decision situation,
involving many uncertainties and an unpredictable environment.
We will focus in this paper on the bidding process. It includes cooperative
and strategic decisions.
Our approach for bidding process knowledge capitalization is
aimed at information management in project-oriented organizations,
based on the MUSIC (Management and Use of Co-operative
Information Systems) model.
We will show how to capitalize the company strategic knowledge
and also how to organize the corporate memory. The result of the
adopted approach is improvement of corporate memory quality.
Abstract: The Sensor Network consists of densely deployed
sensor nodes. Energy optimization is one of the most important
aspects of sensor application design. Data acquisition and aggregation
techniques for processing data in-network should be energy efficient.
Due to the cross-layer design, resource-limited and noisy nature
of Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs), it is challenging to study
the performance of these systems in a realistic setting. In this
paper, we propose optimizing queries by aggregation of data and
data redundancy to reduce energy consumption without requiring
all sensed data and directed diffusion communication paradigm to
achieve power savings, robust communication and processing data
in-network. To estimate the per-node power consumption POWERTossim
mica2 energy model is used, which provides scalable and
accurate results. The performance analysis shows that the proposed
methods overcomes the existing methods in the aspects of energy
consumption in wireless sensor networks.
Abstract: Blood pulse is an important human physiological signal commonly used for the understanding of the individual physical health. Current methods of non-invasive blood pulse sensing require direct contact or access to the human skin. As such, the performances of these devices tend to vary with time and are subjective to human body fluids (e.g. blood, perspiration and skin-oil) and environmental contaminants (e.g. mud, water, etc). This paper proposes a simulation model for the novel method of non-invasive acquisition of blood pulse using the disturbance created by blood flowing through a localized magnetic field. The simulation model geometry represents a blood vessel, a permanent magnet, a magnetic sensor, surrounding tissues and air in 2-dimensional. In this model, the velocity and pressure fields in the blood stream are described based on Navier-Stroke equations and the walls of the blood vessel are assumed to have no-slip condition. The blood assumes a parabolic profile considering a laminar flow for blood in major artery near the skin. And the inlet velocity follows a sinusoidal equation. This will allow the computational software to compute the interactions between the magnetic vector potential generated by the permanent magnet and the magnetic nanoparticles in the blood. These interactions are simulated based on Maxwell equations at the location where the magnetic sensor is placed. The simulated magnetic field at the sensor location is found to assume similar sinusoidal waveform characteristics as the inlet velocity of the blood. The amplitude of the simulated waveforms at the sensor location are compared with physical measurements on human subjects and found to be highly correlated.
Abstract: In our current political climate of assessment and
accountability initiatives we are failing to prepare our children for a
participatory role in the creative economy. The field of education is
increasingly falling prey to didactic methodologies which train a
nation of competent test takers, foregoing the opportunity to educate
students to find problems and develop multiple solutions. No where is
this more evident than in the area of art education. Due to a myriad of
issues including budgetary shortfalls, time constraints and a general
misconception that anyone who enjoys the arts is capable of teaching
the arts, our students are not developing the skills they require to
become fully literate in critical thinking and creative processing.
Although art integrated curriculum is increasingly being viewed as a
reform strategy for motivating students by offering alternative
presentation of concepts and representation of knowledge acquisition,
misinformed administrators are often excluding the art teacher from
the integration equation. The paper to follow addresses the problem
of the need for divergent thinking and conceptualization in our
schools. Furthermore, this paper explores the role of education, and
specifically, art education in the development of a creatively literate
citizenry.
Abstract: In this paper, acoustic techniques are used to detect hidden insect infestations of date palm tress (Phoenix dactylifera L.). In particular, we use an acoustic instrument for early discovery of the presence of a destructive insect pest commonly known as the Red Date Palm Weevil (RDPW) and scientifically as Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier). This type of insect attacks date palm tress and causes irreversible damages at late stages. As a result, the infected trees must be destroyed. Therefore, early presence detection is a major part in controlling the spread and economic damage caused by this type of infestation. Furthermore monitoring and early detection of the disease can asses in taking appropriate measures such as isolating or treating the infected trees. The acoustic system is evaluated in terms of its ability for early discovery of hidden bests inside the tested tree. When signal acquisitions is completed for a number of date palms, a signal processing technique known as time-frequency analysis is evaluated in terms of providing an estimate that can be visually used to recognize the acoustic signature of the RDPW. The testing instrument was tested in the laboratory first then; it was used on suspected or infested tress in the field. The final results indicate that the acoustic monitoring approach along with signal processing techniques are very promising for the early detection of presence of the larva as well as the adult pest in the date palms.