Abstract: Model Predictive Control has been previously applied
to supply chain problems with promising results; however hitherto
proposed systems possessed no information on future demand. A
forecasting methodology will surely promote the efficiency of
control actions by providing insight on the future. A complete supply
chain management framework that is based on Model Predictive
Control (MPC) and Time Series Forecasting will be presented in this
paper. The proposed framework will be tested on industrial data in
order to assess the efficiency of the method and the impact of
forecast accuracy on overall control performance of the supply chain.
To this end, forecasting methodologies with different characteristics
will be implemented on test data to generate forecasts that will serve
as input to the Model Predictive Control module.
Abstract: In this paper we will constructively prove the existence
of an equilibrium in a competitive economy with sequentially locally
non-constant excess demand functions. And we will show that the
existence of such an equilibrium in a competitive economy implies
Sperner-s lemma. We follow the Bishop style constructive mathematics.
Abstract: Accurate and comprehensive thermodynamic properties of pure and mixture of refrigerants are in demand by both producers and users of these materials. Information about thermodynamic properties is important initially to qualify potential candidates for working fluids in refrigeration machinery. From practical point of view, Refrigerants and refrigerant mixtures are widely used as working fluids in many industrial applications, such as refrigerators, heat pumps, and power plants The present work is devoted to evaluating seven cubic equations of state (EOS) in predicting gas and liquid phase volumetric properties of nine ozone-safe refrigerants both in super and sub-critical regions. The evaluations, in sub-critical region, show that TWU and PR EOS are capable of predicting PVT properties of refrigerants R32 within 2%, R22, R134a, R152a and R143a within 1% and R123, R124, R125, TWU and PR EOS's, from literature data are 0.5% for R22, R32, R152a, R143a, and R125, 1% for R123, R134a, and R141b, and 2% for R124. Moreover, SRK EOS predicts PVT properties of R22, R125, and R123 to within aforementioned errors. The remaining EOS's predicts volumetric properties of this class of fluids with higher errors than those above mentioned which are at most 8%.In general, the results are in favor of the preference of TWU and PR EOS over other remaining EOS's in predicting densities of all mentioned refrigerants in both super and sub critical regions. Typically, this refrigerant is known to offer advantages such as ozone depleting potential equal to zero, Global warming potential equal to 140, and no toxic.
Abstract: As a matter of the fact that online social networks like
Twitter, Facebook and MySpace have experienced an extensive
growth in recent years. Social media offers individuals with a tool for
communicating and interacting with one another. These social
networks enable people to stay in touch with other people and
express themselves. This process makes the users of online social
networks active creators of content rather than being only consumers
of traditional media. That’s why millions of people show strong
desire to learn the methods and tools of digital content production
and necessary communication skills. However, the booming interest
in communication and interaction through online social networks and
high level of eagerness to invent and implement the ways to
participate in content production raise some privacy and security
concerns.
This presentation aims to open the assumed revolutionary,
democratic and liberating nature of the online social media up for
discussion by reviewing some recent political developments in
Turkey. Firstly, the role of Internet and online social networks in
mobilizing collective movements through social interactions and
communications will be questioned. Secondly, some cases from Gezi
and Okmeydanı Protests and also December 17-25 period will be
presented in order to illustrate misinformation and manipulation in
social media and violation of individual privacy through online social
networks in order to damage social unity and stability contradictory
to democratic nature of online social networking.
Abstract: The expression of LFA-1 diverges from the
physiological condition, thus active targeting carrier can provide the
benefits from difference into LFA-1 expression in various conditions.
Here, the selectivity of cIBR-conjugated nanoparticles (cIBR-NPs),
in terms of uptake, was investigated using PBMCs, Mixed PBMCMolt-
3 cells and Molt-3 cells. The expressions of LFA-1 on Molt-3
cells, from flow cytometry and Western blot, possessed the highest
level whereas PBMCs showed the lowest level. The kinetic uptake
profiles of cIBR-NPs were obtained by flow cytometry, which the
degree of cellular uptake presented a similar trend with the level of
LFA-1 indicating the influence of LFA-1 expression on the cellular
uptake of cIBR-NPs. The conformation of LFA-1 had a slight effect
on the cellular uptake of cIBR-NPs. Overall we demonstrated that
cIBR-NPs enhanced cellular uptake and improved the selectivity of
drug carriers to LFA-1 on the leukemia cells, which related with the
order of LFA-1 expression.
Abstract: This paper considers the integration of assembly
operations and product structure to Cellular Manufacturing System
(CMS) design so that to correct the drawbacks of previous researches
in the literature. For this purpose, a new mathematical model is
developed which dedicates machining and assembly operations to
manufacturing cells while the objective function is to minimize the
intercellular movements resulting due to both of them. A
linearization method is applied to achieve optimum solution through
solving aforementioned nonlinear model by common programming
language such as Lingo. Then, using different examples and
comparing the results, the importance of integrating assembly
considerations is demonstrated.
Abstract: This paper presents an approach which is based on the
use of supervised feed forward neural network, namely multilayer
perceptron (MLP) neural network and finite element method (FEM)
to solve the inverse problem of parameters identification. The
approach is used to identify unknown parameters of ferromagnetic
materials. The methodology used in this study consists in the
simulation of a large number of parameters in a material under test,
using the finite element method (FEM). Both variations in relative
magnetic permeability and electrical conductivity of the material
under test are considered. Then, the obtained results are used to
generate a set of vectors for the training of MLP neural network.
Finally, the obtained neural network is used to evaluate a group of
new materials, simulated by the FEM, but not belonging to the
original dataset. Noisy data, added to the probe measurements is used
to enhance the robustness of the method. The reached results
demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach, and encourage
future works on this subject.
Abstract: Advances in computing applications in recent years
have prompted the demand for more flexible scheduling models for
QoS demand. Moreover, in practical applications, partly violated
temporal constraints can be tolerated if the violation meets certain
distribution. So we need extend the traditional Liu and Lanland model
to adapt to these circumstances. There are two extensions, which are
the (m, k)-firm model and Window-Constrained model. This paper
researches on weakly hard real-time constraints and their combination
to support QoS. The fact that a practical application can tolerate some
violations of temporal constraint under certain distribution is
employed to support adaptive QoS on the open real-time system. The
experiment results show these approaches are effective compared to
traditional scheduling algorithms.
Abstract: The aim of the study was to investigate whether there
is the promotion of product ecodesign measures as a result of
adopting ISO 14001 certification in manufacturing companies in the
Republic of Slovenia. Companies gave the most of their product
development attention to waste and energy reduction during
manufacturing process and reduction of material consumption per
unit of product. Regarding the importance of different ecodesign
criteria reduction of material consumption per unit of product was
reported as the most important criterion. Less attention is paid to endof-
life issues considering recycling or packaging. Most
manufacturing enterprises considered ISO 14001 standard as a very
useful tool or at least a useful tool helping them to accelerate and
establish product ecodesign activities. Two most frequently
considered ecodesign drivers are increased competitive advantage
and legal requirements and two most important barriers are high
development costs and insufficient market demand.
Abstract: An epidemiological cross sectional study was
undertaken in Yaoundé in 2002 and updated in 2005. Focused on
health within the city, the objectives were to measure diarrheal
prevalence and to identify the risk factors associated with them.
Results of microbiological examinations have revealed an urban
average prevalence rate of 14.5%. Access to basic services in the
living environment appears to be an important risk factor for
diarrheas. Statistical and spatial analyses conducted have revealed
that prevalence of diarrheal diseases vary among the two main types
of settlement (informal and planned). More importantly, this study
shows that, diarrhea prevalence rates (notably bacterial and parasitic
diarrheas) vary according to the sub- category of settlements. The
study draws a number of theoretical and policy implications for
researchers and policy decision makers.
Abstract: Moulded parts contribute to more than 70% of
components in products. However, common defects particularly in
plastic injection moulding exist such as: warpage, shrinkage, sink
marks, and weld lines. In this paper Taguchi experimental design
methods are applied to reduce the warpage defect of thin plate
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and are demonstrated in two
levels; namely, orthogonal arrays of Taguchi and the Analysis of
Variance (ANOVA). Eight trials have been run in which the optimal
parameters that can minimize the warpage defect in factorial
experiment are obtained. The results obtained from ANOVA
approach analysis with respect to those derived from MINITAB
illustrate the most significant factors which may cause warpage in
injection moulding process. Moreover, ANOVA approach in
comparison with other approaches like S/N ratio is more accurate and
with the interaction of factors it is possible to achieve higher and the
better outcomes.
Abstract: Implementing quality assurance in higher education establishments is the main focus of the reform process currently undertaken by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The reform agenda has involved attempts to improve academic quality and management processes in universities, technical institutions and colleges. The central challenge for the reform process is to produce change in higher education in a region where administration is described as centralized and bureaucratic. To make these changes, there should be a well-designed plans and follow up processes in order to monitor progress and develop responses to obstacles. Lack of skills, resources, political dilemmas, poor motivation, and readiness to face the consequences of change are factors which will determine the success of the reform process.
Abstract: A two-dimensional moving mesh algorithm is developed to simulate the general motion of two rotating bodies with relative translational motion. The grid includes a background grid and two sets of grids around the moving bodies. With this grid arrangement rotational and translational motions of two bodies are handled separately, with no complications. Inter-grid boundaries are determined based on their distances from two bodies. In this method, the overset concept is applied to hybrid grid, and flow variables are interpolated using a simple stencil. To evaluate this moving mesh algorithm unsteady Euler flow is solved for different cases using dual-time method of Jameson. Numerical results show excellent agreement with experimental data and other numerical results. To demonstrate the capability of present algorithm for accurate solution of flow fields around moving bodies, some benchmark problems have been defined in this paper.
Abstract: This paper estimates the economic values of
household preference for enhanced solid waste disposal services in
Malaysia. The contingent valuation (CV) method estimates an
average additional monthly willingness-to-pay (WTP) in solid waste
management charges of Ôé¼0.77 to 0.80 for improved waste disposal
services quality. The finding of a slightly higher WTP from the
generic CV question than that of label-specific, further reveals a
higher WTP for sanitary landfill, at Ôé¼0.90, than incineration, at Ôé¼0.63.
This suggests that sanitary landfill is a more preferred alternative.
The logistic regression estimation procedure reveals that household-s
concern of where their rubbish is disposed, age, ownership of house,
household income and format of CV question are significant factors
in influencing WTP.
Abstract: Environmental awareness and the recent
environmental policies have forced many electric utilities to
restructure their operational practices to account for their emission
impacts. One way to accomplish this is by reformulating the
traditional economic dispatch problem such that emission effects are
included in the mathematical model. This paper presents a Particle
Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm to solve the Economic-
Emission Dispatch problem (EED) which gained recent attention due
to the deregulation of the power industry and strict environmental
regulations. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective one with
two competing functions, namely economic cost and emission
functions, subject to different constraints. The inequality constraints
considered are the generating unit capacity limits while the equality
constraint is generation-demand balance. A novel equality constraint
handling mechanism is proposed in this paper. PSO algorithm is
tested on a 30-bus standard test system. Results obtained show that
PSO algorithm has a great potential in handling multi-objective
optimization problems and is capable of capturing Pareto optimal
solution set under different loading conditions.
Abstract: The article deals with dividends and their distribution from investors from a theoretical point of view. Some studies try to analyzed the reaction of the market on the dividend announcement and found out the change of dividend policy is associated with abnormal returns around the dividend announcement date. Another researches directly questioned the investors about their dividend preference and beliefs. Investors want the dividend from many reasons (e.g. some of them explain the dividend preference by the existence of transaction cost; investors prefer the dividend today, because there is less risky; the managers have private information about the firm). The most controversial theory of dividend policy was developed by Modigliani and Miller (1961) who demonstrated that in the perfect and complete capital markets the dividend policy is irrelevant and the value of the company is independent of its payout policy. Nevertheless, in the real world the capital markets are imperfect, because of asymmetric information, transaction costs, incomplete contracting possibilities and taxes.
Abstract: Three new algorithms based on minimization of autocorrelation of transmitted symbols and the SLM approach which are computationally less demanding have been proposed. In the first algorithm, autocorrelation of complex data sequence is minimized to a value of 1 that results in reduction of PAPR. Second algorithm generates multiple random sequences from the sequence generated in the first algorithm with same value of autocorrelation i.e. 1. Out of these, the sequence with minimum PAPR is transmitted. Third algorithm is an extension of the second algorithm and requires minimum side information to be transmitted. Multiple sequences are generated by modifying a fixed number of complex numbers in an OFDM data sequence using only one factor. The multiple sequences represent the same data sequence and the one giving minimum PAPR is transmitted. Simulation results for a 256 subcarrier OFDM system show that significant reduction in PAPR is achieved using the proposed algorithms.
Abstract: Resistive switching of aluminum nitride (AlNx) thin film was demonstrated in a TaN/AlNx/TiN memory cell that was prepared by sputter deposition techniques. The memory cell showed bipolar switching of resistance between +3.5 V and –3.5 V. The resistance ratio of high resistance state (HRS) to low resistance state (HRS), RHRS/RLRS, was about 2 over 100 cycles of endurance test. Both the LRS and HRS of the memory cell exhibited ohmic conduction at low voltages and Poole-Frenkel emission at high voltages. The electrical conduction in the TaN/AlNx/TiN memory cell was possibly attributed to the interactions between charges and defects in the AlNx film.
Abstract: BioEnergy is an archetypal appropriate technology
and alternate source of energy in rural areas of China, and can meet
the basic need for cooking fuel in rural areas. The paper introduces
with an alternate mean of research that can accelerate the biogas
energy production. Tithonia diversifolia or the Tree marigold can be
hailed as mesophillic anaerobic digestion to increase the production
of more Bioenergy. Tithonia diversifolia is very native to Mexico and
Central America, which can be served as ornamental plants- green
manure and can prevent soil erosion. Tithonia diversifolia is widely
grown and known to Asia, Africa, America and Australia as well.
Nowadays, Considering China’s geographical condition it is found
that Tithonia diversifolia is widely growing plant in the many tropical
and subtropical regions of southern Yunnan- which can have great
usage in accelerating and increasing the Bioenergy production
technology. The paper discussed aiming at proving possibility that
Tithonia diversifolia can be applied in biogas fermentation and its
biogas production potential, the research carried experiment on
Tithonia diversifolia biogas fermentation under the mesophilic
condition (35 Celsius Degree). The result revealed that Tithonia
diversifolia can be used as biogas fermentative material, and 6%
concentration can get the best biogas production, with the TS biogas
production rate 656mL/g and VS biogas production rate 801mL/g. It
is well addressed that Tithonia diversifolia grows wildly in 53
Counties and 9 cities of Yunnan Province, which mainly grows in
form of the road side plants, the edge of the field, countryside, forest
edge, open space; of which demersum-natures can form dense
monospecific beds -causing serious harm to agricultural production
landforms threatening the ecological system as a potentially harmful
exotic plant. There are also found the three types of invasive daisy
alien plants -Eupatorium adenophorum, Eupatorium Odorata and
Tithonia diversifolia in Yunnan Province of China-among them the
Tithonia diversifolia is responsible for causing serious harm to
agricultural production. In this paper we have designed the
experimental explanation of Biogas energy production that requires
anaerobic environment and some microbes; Tithonia diversifolia
plant has been taken into consideration while carrying experiments
and with successful resulting of generating more BioEnergy
emphasizing on the practical applications of Tithonia diversifolia.
This paper aims at- to find a new mechanism to provide a more
scientific basis for the development of this plant herbicides in Biogas
energy and to improve the utilization throughout the world as well.
Abstract: Environmental conflicts produced by economic development and natural resources exploitation, are discussed. Main causes of conflicts in developing countries were shown to arise from geographically external investments, inefficiency of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and the lack of communication between government and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). Citizen participation can only intervene during late stages of the EIA, which is considered as one of the main shortcomings in satisfying demands of local people.