Centralized Peak Consumption Smoothing Revisited for Habitat Energy Scheduling

Currently, electricity suppliers must predict the consumption of their customers in order to deduce the power they need to produce. It is then important in a first step to optimize household consumptions to obtain more constant curves by limiting peaks in energy consumption. Here centralized real time scheduling is proposed to manage the equipments starting in parallel. The aim is not to exceed a certain limit while optimizing the power consumption across a habitat. The Raspberry Pi is used as a box; this scheduler interacts with the various sensors in 6LoWPAN. At the scale of a single dwelling, household consumption decreases, particularly at times corresponding to the peaks. However, it would be wiser to consider the use of a residential complex so that the result would be more significant. So the ceiling would no longer be fixed. The scheduling would be done on two scales, on the one hand per dwelling, and secondly, at the level of a residential complex.

Low Cost IMU \ GPS Integration Using Kalman Filtering for Land Vehicle Navigation Application

Land vehicle navigation system technology is a subject of great interest today. Global Positioning System (GPS) is a common choice for positioning in such systems. However, GPS alone is incapable of providing continuous and reliable positioning, because of its inherent dependency on external electromagnetic signals. Inertial Navigation is the implementation of inertial sensors to determine the position and orientation of a vehicle. As such, inertial navigation has unbounded error growth since the error accumulates at each step. Thus in order to contain these errors some form of external aiding is required. The availability of low cost Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System (MEMS) inertial sensors is now making it feasible to develop Inertial Navigation System (INS) using an inertial measurement unit (IMU), in conjunction with GPS to fulfill the demands of such systems. Typically IMU’s are very expensive systems; however this INS will use “low cost” components. Unfortunately with low cost also comes low performance and is the main reason for the inclusion of GPS and Kalman filtering into the system. The aim of this paper is to develop a GPS/MEMS INS integrated system, which is able to provide a navigation solution with accuracy levels appropriate for land vehicle navigation. The primary piece of equipment used was a MEMS-based Crista IMU (from Cloud Cap Technology Inc.) and a Garmin GPS 18 PC (which is both a receiver and antenna). The integration of GPS with INS can be implemented using a Kalman filter in loosely coupled mode. In this integration mode the INS error states, together with any navigation state (position, velocity, and attitude) and other unknown parameters of interest, are estimated using GPS measurements. All important equations regarding navigation are presented along with discussion.

Observation of Large-Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbance over Peninsular Malaysia Using GPS Receivers

This paper presents the result of large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbance (LSTID) observation during moderate magnetic storm event on 25 October 2011 with SYM-H ~ -160 nT and Kp ~ 7 over Peninsular Malaysia at equatorial region using vertical total electron content (VTEC) from the Global Positioning System (GPS) observation measurement. The propagation of the LSTID signatures in the TEC measurements over Peninsular Malaysia was also investigated using VTEC map. The LSTID was found to propagate equatorward during this event. The results showed that the LSTID propagated with an average phase velocity of 526.41 m/s and average periods of 140 min. The occurrence of this LSTID was also found to be the subsequent effects of substorm activities in the auroral region.

Individualistic and Social Moral Concerns in Hawthorne’s Novels

In all his novels, Hawthorne, the American writer, created settings in which his moral concerns could be presented through the actions of his characters. He illustrated his concern over the moral fall of man in the nineteenth century obsession for technological advancement. In “The Blithedale Romance” and “The House of Seven Gable” quite vividly, he pictured individualistic moral vices as the result of outside forces which caused social immorality. “The Marble Faun”, in its own turn, has the same type of social moral concerns to present: the story of nineteenth century modern man and his individualistic moral issues which lead to his social moral fall. He depicted the dominant themes of individualistic moral vices which all lead to social alienation and rejection. He showed hypocrisy and evil intentions as leading to social immoral atmosphere.

Experimental Study of Strength Recovery from Residual Strength on Kaolin Clay

Strength recovery effect from the residual-state of shear is not well address in scientific literature. Torsional ring shear strength recovery tests on kaolin clay using rest periods up to 30 days are performed at the effective normal stress 100kN/m2. Test results shows that recovered strength measured in the laboratory is slightly noticeable after rest period of 3 days, but recovered strength lost after very small shear displacement. This paper mainly focused on the strength recovery phenomenon from the residual strength of kaolin clay based on torsional ring shear test results. Mechanisms of recovered strength are also discussed.

Modeling Aggregation of Insoluble Phase in Reactors

In the paper we submit the modification of kinetic Smoluchowski equation for binary aggregation applying to systems with chemical reactions of first and second orders in which the main product is insoluble. The goal of this work is to create theoretical foundation and engineering procedures for calculating the chemical apparatuses in the conditions of joint course of chemical reactions and processes of aggregation of insoluble dispersed phases which are formed in working zones of the reactor.

Magnetoviscous Effects on Axi-Symmetric Ferrofluid Flow over a Porous Rotating Disk with Suction/Injection

The present study is carried out to investigate the magneto-viscous effects on incompressible ferrofluid flow over a porous rotating disc with suction or injection on the surface of the disc subjected to a magnetic field. The flow under consideration is axi-symmetric steady ferrofluid flow of electrically non-conducting fluid. Karman’s transformation is used to convert the governing boundary layer equations involved in the problem to a system of non linear coupled differential equations. The solution of this system is obtained by using power series approximation. The flow characteristics i.e. radial, tangential, axial velocities and boundary layer displacement thickness are calculated for various values of MFD (magnetic field dependent) viscosity and for different values of suction injection parameter. Besides this, skin friction coefficients are also calculated on the surface of the disk. The results thus obtained are presented numerically and graphically in the paper.

Intelligent Face-Up CMP System Integrated with On-Line Optical Measurements

An innovative design for intelligent Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) system is proposed and verified by experiments in this report. On-line measurement and real-time feedback are integrated to eliminate the shortcomings of traditional approaches, e.g., the batch-to-batch discrepancy of required polishing time, over consumption of chemical slurry, and non-uniformity across the wafer. The major advantage of the proposed method is that the finish of local surface roughness can be consistent, no matter where the inner-ring region or outer-ring region is concerned. Secondly, it is able to eliminate the Edge effect. Conventionally, the interfacial induced stress near the wafer edge is generally much higher than that near the wafer center. At last, by using the proposed intelligent chemical mechanical polishing strategy, the cost of the entire machining cycle can be much reduced while the quality of the finished goods certainly upgraded.

Behaviours of Energy Spectrum at Low Reynolds Numbers in Grid Turbulence

This paper reports an experimental investigation of the energy spectrum of turbulent velocity fields at low Reynolds numbers in grid turbulence. Hot wire measurements are carried out in grid turbulence with subjected to a 1.36:1 contraction of the wind tunnel. Three different grids are used: (i) large square perforated grid (mesh size 43.75mm), (ii) small square perforated grid (mesh size 14. and (iii) woven mesh grid (mesh size 5mm). The results indicate that the energy spectrum at small Reynolds numbers does not follow Kolmogorov’s universal scaling. It is further found that the critical Reynolds number, below which the scaling breaks down, is around 25.

DC Bus Voltage Regulator for Renewable Energy Based Microgrid Application

Renewable Energy based microgrids are being considered to provide electricity for the expanding energy demand in the grid distribution network and grid isolated areas. The technical challenges associated with the operation and controls are immense. Electricity generation by Renewable Energy Sources is of stochastic nature such that there is a demand for regulation of voltage output in order to satisfy the standard loads’ requirements. In a renewable energy based microgrid, the energy sources give stochastically variable magnitude AC or DC voltages. AC voltage regulation of micro and mini sources pose practical challenges as well as unbearable costs. It is therefore practically and economically viable to convert the voltage outputs from stochastic AC and DC voltage sources to constant DC voltage to satisfy various DC loads including inverters which ultimately feed AC loads. This paper presents results obtained from SEPIC converter based DC bus voltage regulator as a case study for renewable energy microgrid application. Real-Time Simulation results show that upon appropriate choice of controller parameters for control of the SEPIC converter, the output DC bus voltage can be kept constant regardless of wide range of voltage variations of the source. This feature is particularly important in the situation that multiple renewable sources are to be integrated to supply a microgrid under main grid integration or isolated modes of operation.

Revolving Ferrofluid Flow in Porous Medium with Rotating Disk

An attempt has been made to study the effect of rotation on incompressible, electrically non-conducting ferrofluid in porous medium on Axi-symmetric steady flow over a rotating disk excluding thermal effects. Here, we solved the boundary layer equations with boundary conditions using Neuringer-Rosensweig model considering the z-axis as the axis of rotation. The non linear boundary layer equations involved in the problem are transformed to the non linear coupled ordinary differential equations by Karman's transformation and solved by power series approximations. Besides numerically calculating the velocity components and pressure for different values of porosity parameter with the variation of Karman's parameter we have also calculated the displacement thickness of boundary layer, the total volume flowing outward the z-axis and angle between wall and ferrofluid. The results for all above variables are obtained numerically and discussed graphically.

A Proposed Optimized and Efficient Intrusion Detection System for Wireless Sensor Network

In recent years intrusions on computer network are the major security threat. Hence, it is important to impede such intrusions. The hindrance of such intrusions entirely relies on its detection, which is primary concern of any security tool like Intrusion detection system (IDS). Therefore, it is imperative to accurately detect network attack. Numerous intrusion detection techniques are available but the main issue is their performance. The performance of IDS can be improved by increasing the accurate detection rate and reducing false positive. The existing intrusion detection techniques have the limitation of usage of raw dataset for classification. The classifier may get jumble due to redundancy, which results incorrect classification. To minimize this problem, Principle component analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Local Binary Pattern (LBP) can be applied to transform raw features into principle features space and select the features based on their sensitivity. Eigen values can be used to determine the sensitivity. To further classify, the selected features greedy search, back elimination, and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) can be used to obtain a subset of features with optimal sensitivity and highest discriminatory power. This optimal feature subset is used to perform classification. For classification purpose, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) are used due to its proven ability in classification. The Knowledge Discovery and Data mining (KDD’99) cup dataset was considered as a benchmark for evaluating security detection mechanisms. The proposed approach can provide an optimal intrusion detection mechanism that outperforms the existing approaches and has the capability to minimize the number of features and maximize the detection rates.

Study on Network-Based Technology for Detecting Potentially Malicious Websites

Cyber terrors against specific enterprises or countries have been increasing recently. Such attacks against specific targets are called advanced persistent threat (APT), and they are giving rise to serious social problems. The malicious behaviors of APT attacks mostly affect websites and penetrate enterprise networks to perform malevolent acts. Although many enterprises invest heavily in security to defend against such APT threats, they recognize the APT attacks only after the latter are already in action. This paper discusses the characteristics of APT attacks at each step as well as the strengths and weaknesses of existing malicious code detection technologies to check their suitability for detecting APT attacks. It then proposes a network-based malicious behavior detection algorithm to protect the enterprise or national networks.

Analyzing the Impact of DCF and PCF on WLAN Network Standards 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g

Networking solutions, particularly wireless local area networks have revolutionized the technological advancement. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) have gained a lot of popularity as they provide location-independent network access between computing devices. There are a number of access methods used in Wireless Networks among which DCF and PCF are the fundamental access methods. This paper emphasizes on the impact of DCF and PCF access mechanisms on the performance of the IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g standards. On the basis of various parameters viz. throughput, delay, load etc performance is evaluated between these three standards using above mentioned access mechanisms. Analysis revealed a superior throughput performance with low delays for 802.11g standard as compared to 802.11 a/b standard using both DCF and PCF access methods.

Sustainability through Self-Restriction: Livelihood Strategies of Urban Households in Kazakhstan

Urban life is characterized by rapid changes and high influence of market institutions on livelihood strategies of households to get sustainability, especially in countries of former Soviet Union challenged transformation of economy to the market type. Moving from socialistic worldviews to capitalistic ones which as usual regulated by free markets has been enough big challenge for households in urban area, which have to face with adaptation to new systems. Influence of market institutions on everyday life and planning system of households can destroy traditional household dispositions of the sustainable managing of a family budget. New changes of economy system can lead to splitting up large social networks and appearing new risky livelihood strategies of households. Urban households from Astana that is the capital city of Kazakhstan were interviewed within international research project “Livelihoods Strategies of Private Households in Central Asia. A Rural-Urban Comparison in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan”, which enables to explore urgent issues of livelihood strategies of urban households in current Kazakhstan under influence of the spreading of market institutions from the micro level research focus of their everyday life.

Function Approximation with Radial Basis Function Neural Networks via FIR Filter

Recent experimental evidences have shown that because of a fast convergence and a nice accuracy, neural networks training via extended kalman filter (EKF) method is widely applied. However, as to an uncertainty of the system dynamics or modeling error, the performance of the method is unreliable. In order to overcome this problem in this paper, a new finite impulse response (FIR) filter based learning algorithm is proposed to train radial basis function neural networks (RBFN) for nonlinear function approximation. Compared to the EKF training method, the proposed FIR filter training method is more robust to those environmental conditions. Furthermore , the number of centers will be considered since it affects the performance of approximation.

Performance Evaluation of Packet Scheduling with Channel Conditioning Aware Based On WiMAX Networks

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) became one of the most challenging issues, since it was responsible for distributing available resources of the network among all users this leaded to the demand of constructing and designing high efficient scheduling algorithms in order to improve the network utilization, to increase the network throughput, and to minimize the end-to-end delay. In this study, the proposed algorithm focuses on an efficient mechanism to serve non_real time traffic in congested networks by considering channel status.

Ultimate Shear Resistance of Plate Girders Part 2- Höglund Theory

Ultimate shear resistance (USR) of slender plate girders can be predicted theoretically using Cardiff theory or Höglund theory. This paper will be concerned with predicting the USR using Höglund theory and EC3. Two main factors can affect the USR, the panel width “b” and the web depth “d”, consequently, the panel aspect ratio (b/d) has to be identified by limits. In most of the previous study, there is no limit for panel aspect ratio indicated. In this paper theoretical analysis has been conducted to study the effect of (b/d) on the USR. The analysis based on ninety six test results of steel plate girders subjected to shear executed and collected by others. New formula proposed to predict the percentage of the distance between the plastic hinges form in the flanges “c” to panel width “b”. Conservative limits of (c/b) have been suggested to get a consistent value of USR.

Intertidal Fixed Stake Net Trap (Hadrah) Fishery in Kuwait: Distribution, Catch Rate and Species Composition

Intertidal fixed stake net trap (Hadrah) is one of the oldest fishing gears used throughout the Arabian Gulf countries since the 1800s and also one of most the efficient methods of capturing fish from the intertidal area. This study describes the hadrah fishery in Kuwait. From October 2001 to December 2002, more than 37,372 specimens representing 95 species (89 fish, 2 mollusks and 4 crustaceans) were measured from hadrah, located in three different areas along Kuwait's coast. In Kuwait Bay, catch rates averaged 62 kg/sir-day (from 14 kg/sir-day in February to 160 kg/sir-day in October 2002). Commercial species accounted for 41% of the catches. Catches from Failakah Island averaged 96 kg/sir-day from June to September, with 61% of the catch being commercial species. In the southern area, catches averaged only 32 kg/sir-day and only 34% were commercially important. Forty percent of the hadrah catches were juveniles, which shows that Kuwait’s shallow intertidal waters, particularly in Kuwait Bay, served as prime nursery habitat,. To maintain ecosystem biodiversity and recruitment success of the fishes, we recommended that all hadrah should be removed from Kuwait Bay. In the future, removal of hadrah from other locations should be considered.

Quantum Enhanced Correlation Matrix Memories via States Orthogonalisation

This paper introduces a Quantum Correlation Matrix Memory (QCMM) and Enhanced QCMM (EQCMM), which are useful to work with quantum memories. A version of classical Gram-Schmidt orthogonalisation process in Dirac notation (called Quantum Orthogonalisation Process: QOP) is presented to convert a non-orthonormal quantum basis, i.e., a set of non-orthonormal quantum vectors (called qudits) to an orthonormal quantum basis, i.e., a set of orthonormal quantum qudits. This work shows that it is possible to improve the performance of QCMM thanks QOP algorithm. Besides, the EQCMM algorithm has a lot of additional fields of applications, e.g.: Steganography, as a replacement Hopfield Networks, Bilevel image processing, etc. Finally, it is important to mention that the EQCMM is an extremely easy to implement in any firmware.