Abstract: Recent progress in the next generation of automobile
technology is geared towards incorporating information technology
into cars. Collectively called smart cars are bringing intelligence to
cars that provides comfort, convenience and safety. A branch of smart
cars is connected-car system. The key concept in connected-cars is the
sharing of driving information among cars through decentralized
manner enabling collective intelligence. This paper proposes a
foundation of the information model that is necessary to define the
driving information for smart-cars. Road conditions are modeled
through a unique data structure that unambiguously represent the time
variant traffics in the streets. Additionally, the modeled data structure
is exemplified in a navigational scenario and usage using UML.
Optimal driving route searching is also discussed using the proposed
data structure in a dynamically changing road conditions.
Abstract: Cloud computing is a business model which provides
an easier management of computing resources. Cloud users can
request virtual machine and install additional softwares and configure
them if needed. However, user can also request virtual appliance
which provides a better solution to deploy application in much faster
time, as it is ready-built image of operating system with necessary
softwares installed and configured. Large numbers of virtual
appliances are available in different image format. User can
download available appliances from public marketplace and start
using it. However, information published about the virtual appliance
differs from each providers leading to the difficulty in choosing
required virtual appliance as it is composed of specific OS with
standard software version. However, even if user choses the
appliance from respective providers, user doesn’t have any flexibility
to choose their own set of softwares with required OS and
application. In this paper, we propose a referenced architecture for
dynamically customizing virtual appliance and provision them in an
easier manner. We also add our experience in integrating our
proposed architecture with public marketplace and Mi-Cloud, a cloud
management software.
Abstract: Recently developed cooperative diversity scheme
enables a terminal to get transmit diversity through the support of other
terminals. However, most of the introduced cooperative schemes have
a common fault of decreased transmission rate because the destination
should receive the decodable compositions of symbols from the source
and the relay. In order to achieve high data rate, we propose a
cooperative scheme that employs hierarchical modulation. This
scheme is free from the rate loss and allows seamless cooperative
communication.
Abstract: The aim of this research is to understand how the
emerging power bloc BRICS employs infrastructure development
narratives to construct a new world order. BRICS is an international
body consisting of five emerging countries that collaborate on
economic and political issues: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South
Africa. This study explores the projection of infrastructure
development narratives through an analysis of BRICS’ attention to
infrastructure investment and financing, its support of the New
Partnership on African Development and the establishment of the
New Development Bank in Shanghai. The theory of Strategic
Narratives is used to explore BRICS’ commitment to infrastructure
development and to distinguish three layers: system narratives
(BRICS as a global actor to propose development reform), identity
narratives (BRICS as a collective identity joining efforts to act upon
development aspirations) and issue narratives (BRICS committed to a
range of issues of which infrastructure development is prominent).
The methodology that is employed is a narrative analysis of BRICS’
official documents, media statements, and website imagery. A
comparison of these narratives illuminates tensions at the three layers
and among the five member states. Identifying tensions among
development infrastructure narratives provides an indication of how
policymaking for infrastructure development could be improved.
Subsequently, it advances BRICS’ ability to act as a global actor to
construct a new world order.
Abstract: This paper analyzes the institutionalization of social
protest in Spain. In the current crisis Podemos party seems to
represent the political positions of the most affected citizens by the
economic situation. It studies using quantitative techniques (statistical
bivariate analysis), focusing on the exploitation of several bases of
statistics data from the Center for Sociological and Research of
Spanish Government, 15M movement characterization to its
institutionalization in the Podemos party. Making a comparison
between the participant's profile by the 15M and the social bases of
Podemos votes. Data on the transformation of the socio-demographic
profile of the fans, connoisseurs and 15M participants and voters are
given.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to develop an empirical
research on the nature and consequences of corporate governance on
Eurozone Insurance Industry risk taking attitude. More particularly,
we analyzed the effect of public ownership on risk taking with
respect to privately held Insurance Companies. We also analyzed the
effects on risk taking attitude of different degrees of ownership
concentration, directors compensation, and the dimension/diversity of
the Board of Directors. Our results provide quite strong evidence that,
coherently with the Agency Theory, publicly traded insurance
companies with more concentrated ownership are less risky than the
corresponding privately held.
Abstract: Large scale Indian manufacturers started
implementing Six Sigma to their supply core to fulfill the endless
need of high quality products. As well, they initiated encouraging
their suppliers to apply the well-ascertain SS management practice
and kept no resource for supplier enterprises, generally small midsized
enterprises to think for the admittance of Six Sigma as a quality
promotion drive. There are many issues to study for requisite changes
before the introduction of Six Sigma in auto SMEs. This paper
converges on impeding factors while implementing SS drive and also
pinpoints the gains achieved through successful implementation. The
result of this study suggest some operational guidelines for effective
implementation of Six Sigma from evidences acquired through
research questionnaire and interviews with industrial professionals,
apportioned to assort auto sector mid-sized enterprises (MSEs) in
India.
Abstract: Interaction between mixing and crystallization is often
ignored despite the fact that it affects almost every aspect of the
operation including nucleation, growth, and maintenance of the
crystal slurry. This is especially pronounced in multiple impeller
systems where flow complexity is increased. By choosing proper
mixing parameters, what closely depends on the knowledge of the
hydrodynamics in a mixing vessel, the process of batch cooling
crystallization may considerably be improved. The values that render
useful information when making this choice are mixing time and
power consumption. The predominant motivation for this work was
to investigate the extent to which radial dual impeller configuration
influences mixing time, power consumption and consequently the
values of metastable zone width and nucleation rate. In this research,
crystallization of borax was conducted in a 15 dm3 baffled batch
cooling crystallizer with an aspect ratio (H/T) of 1.3. Mixing was
performed using two straight blade turbines (4-SBT) mounted on the
same shaft that generated radial fluid flow. Experiments were
conducted at different values of N/NJS ratio (impeller speed/
minimum impeller speed for complete suspension), D/T ratio
(impeller diameter/crystallizer diameter), c/D ratio (lower impeller
off-bottom clearance/impeller diameter), and s/D ratio (spacing
between impellers/impeller diameter). Mother liquor was saturated at
30°C and was cooled at the rate of 6°C/h. Its concentration was
monitored in line by Na-ion selective electrode. From the values of
supersaturation that was monitored continuously over process time, it
was possible to determine the metastable zone width and
subsequently the nucleation rate using the Mersmann’s nucleation
criterion. For all applied dual impeller configurations, the mixing
time was determined by potentiometric method using a pulse
technique, while the power consumption was determined using a
torque meter produced by Himmelstein & Co. Results obtained in
this investigation show that dual impeller configuration significantly
influences the values of mixing time, power consumption as well as
the metastable zone width and nucleation rate. A special attention
should be addressed to the impeller spacing considering the flow
interaction that could be more or less pronounced depending on the
spacing value.
Abstract: Nowadays, food safety is a great public concern;
therefore, robust and effective techniques are required for detecting
the safety situation of goods. Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) is an
attractive material for researchers to inspect food quality and safety
estimation such as meat quality assessment, automated poultry
carcass inspection, quality evaluation of fish, bruise detection of
apples, quality analysis and grading of citrus fruits, bruise detection
of strawberry, visualization of sugar distribution of melons,
measuring ripening of tomatoes, defect detection of pickling
cucumber, and classification of wheat kernels. HSI can be used to
concurrently collect large amounts of spatial and spectral data on the
objects being observed. This technique yields with exceptional
detection skills, which otherwise cannot be achieved with either
imaging or spectroscopy alone. This paper presents a nonlinear
technique based on kernel Fukunaga-Koontz transform (KFKT) for
detection of fat content in ground meat using HSI. The KFKT which
is the nonlinear version of FKT is one of the most effective
techniques for solving problems involving two-pattern nature. The
conventional FKT method has been improved with kernel machines
for increasing the nonlinear discrimination ability and capturing
higher order of statistics of data. The proposed approach in this paper
aims to segment the fat content of the ground meat by regarding the
fat as target class which is tried to be separated from the remaining
classes (as clutter). We have applied the KFKT on visible and nearinfrared
(VNIR) hyperspectral images of ground meat to determine
fat percentage. The experimental studies indicate that the proposed
technique produces high detection performance for fat ratio in ground
meat.
Abstract: Debts reconstruction under some of moratorium
projects is one of important method that highly benefits to both the
Banks and farmers. The method can reduce probabilities for nonprofits
loan. This paper discuss about debts reconstruction and career
development training for farmers in Thailand between 2011 and
2013. The research designed is mix-method between quantitative
survey and qualitative survey. Sample size for quantitative method is
1003 cases. Data gathering procedure is between October and
December 2013. Main results affirmed that debts reconstruction is
needed. And there are numerous benefits from farmers’ career
development training. Many of farmers who attend field school
activities able to bring knowledge learned to apply for the farms’
work. They can reduce production costs. Framers’ quality of life and
their household well-being also improve. This program should apply
in any countries where farmers have highly debts and highly risks for
not return the debts.
Abstract: Green chemistry for plant extraction of active principles is the main interest of many researchers concerned with climate change. While classical organic solvents are detrimental to our environment, greener alternatives to ionic liquids are very promising for sustainable organic chemistry. This study focused on the determination of functional groups observed in the main constituents from the ionic liquid extracts of Coleus aromaticus Benth leaves using FT-IR Spectroscopy. Moreover, this research aimed to determine the best ionic liquid that can separate functionalized plant constituents from the leaves Coleus aromaticus Benth using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Coleus aromaticus Benth leaf extract in different ionic liquids, elucidated pharmacologically important functional groups present in major constituents of the plant, namely, rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid. In connection to distinctive appearance of functional groups in the spectrum and highest % transmittance, potassium chloride-glycerol is the best ionic liquid for green extraction.
Abstract: Ultrasonic metal welding has been the subject of ongoing research and development, most recently concentrating on metal joining in miniature devices, for example to allow solder-free wire bonding. As well as at the small scale, there are also opportunities to research the joining of thicker sheet metals and to widen the range of similar and dissimilar materials that can be successfully joined using this technology. This study presents the design, characterisation and test of a lateral-drive ultrasonic metal spot welding device. The ultrasonic metal spot welding horn is modelled using finite element analysis (FEA) and its vibration behaviour is characterised experimentally to ensure ultrasonic energy is delivered effectively to the weld coupon. The welding stack and fixtures are then designed and mounted on a test machine to allow a series of experiments to be conducted for various welding and ultrasonic parameters. Weld strength is subsequently analysed using tensile-shear tests. The results show how the weld strength is particularly sensitive to the combination of clamping force and ultrasonic vibration amplitude of the welding tip, but there are optimal combinations of these and also limits that must be clearly identified.
Abstract: Centrifugal-casting machine is used in manufacturing
special machine components like multi-layer journal bearing used in
all internal combustion engine, steam, gas turbine and air craft turboengine
where isotropic properties and high precisions are desired.
Moreover, this machine can be used in manufacturing thin wall hightech
machine components like cylinder liners and piston rings of IC
engine and other machine parts like sleeves, and bushes. Heavy-duty
machine component like railway wheel can also be prepared by
centrifugal casting. A lot of technological developments are required
in casting process for production of good casted machine body and
machine parts. Usually defects like blowholes, surface roughness,
chilled surface etc. are found in sand casted machine parts. But these
can be removed by centrifugal casting machine using rotating
metallic die. Moreover, die rotation, its temperature control, and good
pouring practice can contribute to the quality of casting because of
the fact that the soundness of a casting in large part depends upon
how the metal enters into the mold or dies and solidifies. Poor
pouring practice leads to variety of casting defects such as
temperature loss, low quality casting, excessive turbulence, over
pouring etc. Besides these, handling of molten metal is very
unsecured and dangerous for the workers. In order to get rid of all
these problems, the need of an automatic pouring device arises. In
this research work, a robot assisted pouring device and a centrifugal
casting machine are designed, developed constructed and tested
experimentally which are found to work satisfactorily. The robot
assisted pouring device is further modified and developed for using it
in actual metal casting process. Lot of settings and tests are required
to control the system and ultimately it can be used in automation of
centrifugal casting machine to produce high-tech machine parts with
desired precision.
Abstract: The objective of this research is to develop a general technique so that one may predict the dynamic behaviour of a three-dimensional scale crane model subjected to time-dependent moving point forces by means of conventional finite element computer packages. To this end, the whole scale crane model is divided into two parts: the stationary framework and the moving substructure. In such a case, the dynamic responses of a scale crane model can be predicted from the forced vibration responses of the stationary framework due to actions of the four time-dependent moving point forces induced by the moving substructure. Since the magnitudes and positions of the moving point forces are dependent on the relative positions between the trolley, moving substructure and the stationary framework, it can be found from the numerical results that the time histories for the moving speeds of the moving substructure and the trolley are the key factors affecting the dynamic responses of the scale crane model.
Abstract: In this paper, autonomous performance of a small
manufactured unmanned helicopter is tried to be increased. For this
purpose, a small unmanned helicopter is manufactured in Erciyes
University, Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics. It is called as
ZANKA-Heli-I. For performance maximization, autopilot parameters
are determined via minimizing a cost function consisting of flight
performance parameters such as settling time, rise time, overshoot
during trajectory tracking. For this purpose, a stochastic optimization
method named as simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation
is benefited. Using this approach, considerable autonomous
performance increase (around %23) is obtained.
Abstract: The recent instability in economy was found to be
influencing the situation in Malaysia whether directly or indirectly.
Taking that into consideration, the government needs to find the best
approach to balance its citizen’s socio-economic strata level urgently.
Through education platform is among the efforts planned and acted
upon for the purpose of balancing the effects of the influence,
through the exposure of social entrepreneurial activity towards youth
especially those in higher institution level. Armed with knowledge
and skills that they gained, with the support by entrepreneurial
culture and environment while in campus; indirectly, the students will
lean more on making social entrepreneurship as a career option when
they graduate. Following the issues of marketability and workability
of current graduates that are becoming dire, research involving how
far the willingness of student to create social innovation that
contribute to the society without focusing solely on personal gain is
relevant enough to be conducted. With that, this research is
conducted with the purpose of identifying the level of entrepreneurial
intention and social entrepreneurship among higher institution
students in Malaysia. Stratified random sampling involves 355
undergraduate students from five public universities had been made
as research respondents and data were collected through surveys. The
data was then analyzed descriptively using min score and standard
deviation. The study found that the entrepreneurial intention of higher
education students are on moderate level, however it is the contrary
for social entrepreneurship activities, where it was shown on a high
level. This means that while the students only have moderate level of
willingness to be a social entrepreneur, they are very committed to
created social innovation through the social entrepreneurship
activities conducted. The implication from this study can be
contributed towards the higher institution authorities in prediction the
tendency of student in becoming social entrepreneurs. Thus, the
opportunities and facilities for realizing the courses related to social
entrepreneurship must be created expansively so that the vision of
creating as many social entrepreneurs as possible can be achieved.
Abstract: A university-wide survey to obtain baseline data
regarding the perceptions of key terms related to e-learning and
distance learning among students, faculty and staff was conducted to
help achieve the goals of Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman
University’s and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s National Center for
e-learning and Distance Learning. This paper comprises a relevant
literature review, the survey methodology, preliminary data analysis,
discussion, and recommendations for further research. The major
findings indicate a deep and wide differentiation of understanding
among users of critical key terms.
Abstract: Voltage level must be raised in order to deliver the
produced energy to the consumption zones with less loss and less
cost. Power transformers used to raise or lower voltage are important
parts of the energy transmission system. Power transformers used in
switchgear and power generation plants stay in human's intensive
habitat zones as a result of expanding cities. Accordingly, noise
levels produced by power transformers have begun more and more
important and they have established itself as one of the research field.
In this research, the noise cause on transformers has been
investigated, it's causes has been examined and noise measurement
techniques have been introduced. Examples of transformer noise test
results are submitted and precautions to be taken were discussed for
the purpose of decreasing of the noise which will occurred by
transformers.
Abstract: Wireless sensors, also known as wireless sensor nodes,
have been making a significant impact on human daily life. The
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Wireless Sensor Network
(WSN) are two complementary technologies; hence, an integrated
implementation of these technologies expands the overall
functionality in obtaining long-range and real-time information on the
location and properties of objects and people. An approach for
integrating ZigBee and RFID networks is proposed in this paper, to
create an energy-efficient network improved by the benefits of
combining ZigBee and RFID architecture. Furthermore, the
compatibility and requirements of the ZigBee device and
communication links in the typical RFID system which is presented
with the real world experiment on the capabilities of the proposed
RFID system.
Abstract: The UK has had its fair share of the shale gas
revolutionary waves blowing across the global oil and gas industry at
present. Although, its exploitation is widely agreed to have been
delayed, shale gas was looked upon favorably by the UK Parliament
when they recognized it as genuine energy source and granted
licenses to industry to search and extract the resource. This, although
a significant progress by industry, there yet remains another test the
UK fracking resource must pass in order to render shale gas
extraction feasible – it must be economically extractible and
sustainably so. Developing unconventional resources is much more
expensive and risky, and for shale gas wells, producing in
commercial volumes is conditional upon drilling horizontal wells and
hydraulic fracturing, techniques which increase CAPEX. Meanwhile,
investment in shale gas development projects is sensitive to gas price
and technical and geological risks. Using a Two-Factor Model, the
economics of the Bowland shale wells were analyzed and the
operational conditions under which fracking is profitable in the UK
was characterized. We find that there is a great degree of flexibility
about Opex spending; hence Opex does not pose much threat to the
fracking industry in the UK. However, we discover Bowland shale
gas wells fail to add value at gas price of $8/ Mmbtu. A minimum gas
price of $12/Mmbtu at Opex of no more than $2/ Mcf and no more
than $14.95M Capex are required to create value within the present
petroleum tax regime, in the UK fracking industry.