Abstract: Steepest descent method is a simple gradient method
for optimization. This method has a slow convergence in heading to
the optimal solution, which occurs because of the zigzag form of the
steps. Barzilai and Borwein modified this algorithm so that it
performs well for problems with large dimensions. Barzilai and
Borwein method results have sparked a lot of research on the method
of steepest descent, including alternate minimization gradient method
and Yuan method. Inspired by previous works, we modified the step
size of the steepest descent method. We then compare the
modification results against the Barzilai and Borwein method,
alternate minimization gradient method and Yuan method for
quadratic function cases in terms of the iterations number and the
running time. The average results indicate that the steepest descent
method with the new step sizes provide good results for small
dimensions and able to compete with the results of Barzilai and
Borwein method and the alternate minimization gradient method for
large dimensions. The new step sizes have faster convergence
compared to the other methods, especially for cases with large
dimensions.
Abstract: Artificial neural networks have gained a lot of interest
as empirical models for their powerful representational capacity,
multi input and output mapping characteristics. In fact, most feedforward
networks with nonlinear nodal functions have been proved to
be universal approximates. In this paper, we propose a new
supervised method for color image classification based on selforganizing
feature maps (SOFM). This algorithm is based on
competitive learning. The method partitions the input space using
self-organizing feature maps to introduce the concept of local
neighborhoods. Our image classification system entered into RGB
image. Experiments with simulated data showed that separability of
classes increased when increasing training time. In additional, the
result shows proposed algorithms are effective for color image
classification.
Abstract: This paper investigates the parametric stability of an
axially moving web subjected to non-uniform in-plane edge
excitations on two opposite, simply-supported edges. The web is
modeled as a viscoelastic plate whose constitutive relation obeys the
Kelvin-Voigt model, and the in-plane edge excitations are expressed
as the sum of a static tension and a periodical perturbation. Due to the
in-plane edge excitations, the moving plate may bring about
parametric instability under certain situations. First, the in-plane
stresses of the plate due to the non-uniform edge excitations are
determined by solving the in-plane forced vibration problem. Then,
the dependence on the spatial coordinates in the equation of transverse
motion is eliminated by the generalized Galerkin method, which
results in a set of discretized system equations in time. Finally, the
method of multiple scales is utilized to solve the set of system
equations analytically if the periodical perturbation of the in-plane
edge excitations is much smaller as compared with the static tension of
the plate, from which the stability boundaries of the moving plate are
obtained. Numerical results reveal that only combination resonances
of the summed-type appear under the in-plane edge excitations
considered in this work.
Abstract: Aurèsregion is one of the arid and semi-arid areas that
have suffered climate crises and overexploitation of natural resources
they have led to significant land degradation. The use of remote sensing data allowed us to analyze the land and
its spatiotemporal changes in the Aurès between 1987 and 2013, for
this work, we adopted a method of analysis based on the exploitation
of the images satellite Landsat TM 1987 and Landsat OLI 2013, from
the supervised classification likelihood coupled with field surveys of
the mission of May and September of 2013. Using ENVI EX software by the superposition of the ground cover
maps from 1987 and 2013, one can extract a spatial map change of
different land cover units. The results show that between 1987 and
2013 vegetation has suffered negative changes are the significant
degradation of forests and steppe rangelands, and sandy soils and
bare land recorded a considerable increase. The spatial change map land cover units between 1987 and 2013
allows us to understand the extensive or regressive orientation of
vegetation and soil, this map shows that dense forests give his place
to clear forests and steppe vegetation develops from a degraded forest
vegetation and bare, sandy soils earn big steppe surfaces that explain
its remarkable extension.
The analysis of remote sensing data highlights the profound
changes in our environment over time and quantitative monitoring of
the risk of desertification.
Abstract: In this paper, influence of harmonics on medium
voltage distribution system of Bogazici Electricity Distribution Inc.
(BEDAS) which takes place at Istanbul/Turkey is investigated. A ring
network consisting of residential loads is taken into account for this
study. Real system parameters and measurement results are used for
simulations. Also, probable working conditions of the system are
analyzed for 50%, 75%, and 100% loading of transformers with
similar harmonic contents. Results of the study are exhibited the
influence of nonlinear loads on %THDV, P.F. and technical losses of
the medium voltage distribution system.
Abstract: This paper presents a state-of-the-art survey of the
operations research models developed for internal audit planning.
Two alternative approaches have been followed in the literature for
audit planning: (1) identifying the optimal audit frequency; and (2)
determining the optimal audit resource allocation. The first approach
identifies the elapsed time between two successive audits, which can
be presented as the optimal number of audits in a given planning
horizon, or the optimal number of transactions after which an audit
should be performed. It also includes the optimal audit schedule. The
second approach determines the optimal allocation of audit frequency
among all auditable units in the firm. In our review, we discuss both
the deterministic and probabilistic models developed for audit
planning. In addition, game theory models are reviewed to find the
optimal auditing strategy based on the interactions between the
auditors and the clients.
Abstract: Accurate forecasting of fresh produce demand is one
the challenges faced by Small Medium Enterprise (SME)
wholesalers. This paper is an attempt to understand the cause for the
high level of variability such as weather, holidays etc., in demand of
SME wholesalers. Therefore, understanding the significance of
unidentified factors may improve the forecasting accuracy. This
paper presents the current literature on the factors used to predict
demand and the existing forecasting techniques of short shelf life
products. It then investigates a variety of internal and external
possible factors, some of which is not used by other researchers in the
demand prediction process. The results presented in this paper are
further analysed using a number of techniques to minimize noise in
the data. For the analysis past sales data (January 2009 to May 2014)
from a UK based SME wholesaler is used and the results presented
are limited to product ‘Milk’ focused on café’s in derby. The
correlation analysis is done to check the dependencies of variability
factor on the actual demand. Further PCA analysis is done to
understand the significance of factors identified using correlation.
The PCA results suggest that the cloud cover, weather summary and
temperature are the most significant factors that can be used in
forecasting the demand. The correlation of the above three factors
increased relative to monthly and becomes more stable compared to
the weekly and daily demand.
Abstract: High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) power
transmission is employed to move large amounts of electric power.
There are several possibilities to enhance the transient stability in a
power system. One adequate option is by using the high
controllability of the HVDC if HVDC is available in the system. This
paper presents a control technique for HVDC to enhance the transient
stability. The strategy controls the power through the HVDC to help
make the system more transient stable during disturbances. Loss of
synchronism is prevented by quickly producing sufficient
decelerating energy to counteract accelerating energy gained during.
In this study, the power flow in the HVDC link is modulated with the
addition of an auxiliary signal to the current reference of the rectifier
firing angle controller. This modulation control signal is derived from
speed deviation signal of the generator utilizing a PD controller; the
utilization of a PD controller is suitable because it has the property of
fast response. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is
demonstrated with a SMIB test system.
Abstract: It is necessary to predict a fatigue crack propagation
life for estimation of structural integrity. Because of an uncertainty
and a randomness of a structural behavior, it is also required to
analyze stochastic characteristics of the fatigue crack propagation life
at a specified fatigue crack size. The essential purpose of this study is to find the effect of load ratio
on probability distribution of the fatigue crack propagation life at a
specified grown crack size and to confirm the good probability
distribution in magnesium alloys under various fatigue load ratio
conditions. To investigate a stochastic crack growth behavior, fatigue
crack propagation experiments are performed in laboratory air under
several conditions of fatigue load ratio using AZ31. By Anderson-Darling test, a goodness-of-fit test for probability
distribution of the fatigue crack propagation life is performed. The
effect of load ratio on variability of fatigue crack propagation life is
also investigated.
Abstract: Background: The change in foot posture can possibly
generate changes in the pelvic alignment. There is still a lack of
evidence about the effects of bilateral and unilateral flatfoot on
possible changes in pelvic alignment. The purpose of this study was
to investigate the effect of flatfoot on the sagittal and frontal planes of
pelvic postures. Materials and Methods: 56 subjects, aged 18–40
years, were assigned into three groups: 20 healthy subjects, 19
subjects with bilateral flexible second-degree flat foot, and 17
subjects with unilateral flexible second-degree flat foot. 3D
assessment of the pelvis using the formetric-II device was used to
evaluate pelvic alignment in the frontal and sagittal planes by
measuring pelvic inclination and pelvic tilt angles. Results: ANOVA
test with LSD test were used for statistical analysis. Both Unilateral
and bilateral second degree flatfoot produced significant (P
Abstract: In this paper, we present a four-step ortho-rectification
procedure for real-time geo-referencing of video data from a low-cost
UAV equipped with a multi-sensor system. The basic procedures for
the real-time ortho-rectification are: (1) decompilation of the video
stream into individual frames; (2) establishing the interior camera
orientation parameters; (3) determining the relative orientation
parameters for each video frame with respect to each other; (4)
finding the absolute orientation parameters, using a self-calibration
bundle and adjustment with the aid of a mathematical model. Each
ortho-rectified video frame is then mosaicked together to produce a
mosaic image of the test area, which is then merged with a well
referenced existing digital map for the purpose of geo-referencing
and aerial surveillance. A test field located in Abuja, Nigeria was
used to evaluate our method. Video and telemetry data were collected
for about fifteen minutes, and they were processed using the four-step
ortho-rectification procedure. The results demonstrated that the
geometric measurement of the control field from ortho-images is
more accurate when compared with those from original perspective
images when used to pin point the exact location of targets on the
video imagery acquired by the UAV. The 2-D planimetric accuracy
when compared with the 6 control points measured by a GPS receiver
is between 3 to 5 metres.
Abstract: Research Objectives: The roles and activities of
Human Resource Management (HRM) have changed a lot in the past
years. Driven by a changing environment and therefore new business
requirements, the scope of human resource (HR) activities has
widened. The extent to which these activities should focus on
strategic issues to support the long term success of a company has
been discussed in science for many years. As many economies of
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) experienced a phase of transition
after the socialist era and are now recovering from the 2008 global
crisis it is needed to examine the current state of HR positioning.
Furthermore a trend in HR work developing from rather
administrative units to being strategic partners of management can be
noticed. This leads to the question of better understanding the
underlying competencies which are necessary to support
organisations. This topic was addressed by the international study
“HR Competencies in international comparison”. The quantitative
survey was conducted by the Institute for Human Resources &
Organisation of FHWien University of Applied Science of WKW (A)
in cooperation with partner universities in the countries Bosnia-
Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Methodology: Using the
questionnaire developed by Dave Ulrich we tested whether the HR
Competency model can be used for Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. After performing confirmatory and
exploratory factor analysis for the whole data set containing all five
countries we could clearly distinguish between four competencies. In
a further step our analysis focused on median and average
comparisons between the HR competency dimensions. Conclusion:
Our literature review, in alignment with other studies, shows a
relatively rapid pace of development of HR Roles and HR
Competencies in BCSS in the past decades. Comparing data from
BCSS and Austria we still can notice that regards strategic orientation
there is a lack in BCSS countries, thus competencies are not as
developed as in Austria. This leads us to the tentative conclusion that
HR has undergone a rapid change but is still in a State of Transition
from being a rather administrative unit to performing the role of a
strategic partner.
Abstract: This paper describes a novel sensor device, a pressure
pulse wave meter, which uses a bidirectional condenser microphone.
The microphone work as a microphone as well as a sensor with high
gain over a wide frequency range; they are also highly reliable and
economic. Currently aging is becoming a serious social issue in Japan causing
increased medical expenses in the country. Hence, it is important for
elderly citizens to check health condition at home, and to care the
health conditions through daily monitoring. Given this circumstances,
we developed a novel pressure pulse wave meter based on a
bidirectional condenser microphone: this device is used as a measuring
instrument of health conditions.
Abstract: In this paper, we explore the macroeconomic effects
of the European Single Market on Austria by simulating the
McKibbin-Sachs Global Model. Global interdependences and the
impact of long-run effects on short-run adjustments are taken into
account. We study the sensitivity of the results with respect to
different assumptions concerning monetary and fiscal policies for the
countries and regions of the world economy. The consequences of
different assumptions about budgetary policies in Austria are also
investigated. The simulation results are contrasted with ex-post
evaluations of the actual impact of Austria’s membership in the
Single Market. As a result, it can be concluded that the Austrian
participation in the European Single Market entails considerable
long-run gains for the Austrian economy with nearly no adverse sideeffects
on any macroeconomic target variable.
Abstract: This study examined whether big five personality traits
affect game addiction with control of psychological, social, and
demographic factors. Specifically, using data from a survey of 789
game users in Korea, we conducted a regression analysis to see the
associations of psychological (loneliness/depression), social (activities
with family/friends), self-efficacy (game/general), gaming (daily
gaming time/perception), demographic (age/gender), and personality
traits (extraversion, neuroticism conscientiousness, agreeableness, &
openness) with the degree of game addiction. Results showed that
neuroticism increase game addiction with no effect of extraversion on
the addiction. General self-efficacy negatively affected game
addiction, whereas game self-efficacy increased the degree of game
addiction. Loneliness enhanced game addiction while depression
showed a negative effect on the addiction. Results and implications are
discussed.
Abstract: In present global scenario, aluminum alloys are
coining the attention of many innovators as competing structural
materials for automotive and space applications. Comparing to other
challenging alloys, especially, 7xxx series aluminum alloys have
been studied seriously because of benefits such as moderate strength;
better deforming characteristics and affordable cost. It is expected
that substitution of aluminum alloys for steels will result in great
improvements in energy economy, durability and recyclability.
However, it is necessary to improve the strength and the formability
levels at low temperatures in aluminum alloys for still better
applications. Aluminum–Zinc–Magnesium with or without other
wetting agent denoted as 7XXX series alloys are medium strength
heat treatable alloys. In addition to Zn, Mg as major alloying
additions, Cu, Mn and Si are the other solute elements which
contribute for the improvement in mechanical properties by suitable
heat treatment process. Subjecting to suitable treatments like age
hardening or cold deformation assisted heat treatments; known as low
temperature thermomechanical treatments (LTMT) the challenging
properties might be incorporated. T6 is the age hardening or
precipitation hardening process with artificial aging cycle whereas T8
comprises of LTMT treatment aged artificially with X% cold
deformation. When the cold deformation is provided after solution
treatment, there is increase in hardness related properties such as
wear resistance, yield and ultimate strength, toughness with the
expense of ductility. During precipitation hardening both hardness
and strength of the samples are increasing. The hardness value may
further improve when room temperature deformation is positively
supported with age hardening known as thermomechanical treatment.
It is intended to perform heat treatment and evaluate hardness, tensile
strength, wear resistance and distribution pattern of reinforcement in
the matrix. 2 to 2.5 and 3 to 3.5 times increase in hardness is reported
in age hardening and LTMT treatments respectively as compared to
as-cast composite. There was better distribution of reinforcements in
the matrix, nearly two fold increase in strength levels and up to 5
times increase in wear resistance are also observed in the present
study.
Abstract: In Electric Power Steering (EPS), spoke type
Brushless AC (BLAC) motors offer distinct advantages over other
electric motor types in terms torque smoothness, reliability and
efficiency. This paper deals with the shape optimization of spoke
type BLAC motor, in order to reduce cogging torque. This paper
examines 3 steps skewing rotor angle, optimizing rotor core edge and
rotor overlap length for reducing cogging torque in spoke type BLAC
motor. The methods were applied to existing machine designs and
their performance was calculated using finite- element analysis
(FEA). Prototypes of the machine designs were constructed and
experimental results obtained. It is shown that the FEA predicted the
cogging torque to be nearly reduce using those methods.
Abstract: Cyber exercises used to assess the preparedness of a
community against cyber crises, technology failures and Critical
Information Infrastructure (CII) incidents. The cyber exercises also
called cyber crisis exercise or cyber drill, involved partnerships or
collaboration of public and private agencies from several sectors.
This study investigates Organisation Cyber Resilience (OCR) of
participation sectors in cyber exercise called X Maya in Malaysia.
This study used a principal based cyber resilience survey called CSuite
Executive checklist developed by World Economic Forum in
2012. To ensure suitability of the survey to investigate the OCR, the
reliability test was conducted on C-Suite Executive checklist items.
The research further investigates the differences of OCR in ten
Critical National Infrastructure Information (CNII) sectors
participated in the cyber exercise. The One Way ANOVA test result
showed a statistically significant difference of OCR among ten CNII
sectors participated in the cyber exercise.
Abstract: The goal of this experiment is to evaluate the
effectiveness of different leachate pre-treatment options in terms of
COD and ammonia removal. This research focused on the evaluation
of physical-chemical methods for pre-treatment of leachate that
would be effective and rapid in order to satisfy the requirements of
the sewer discharge by-laws. The four pre-treatment options
evaluated were: air stripping, chemical coagulation, electrocoagulation
and advanced oxidation with sodium ferrate. Chemical
coagulation reported the best COD removal rate at 43%, compared to
18% for both air stripping and electro-coagulation, and 20% for
oxidation with sodium ferrate. On the other hand, air stripping was
far superior to the other treatment options in terms of ammonia
removal with 86%. Oxidation with sodium ferrate reached only 16%,
while chemical coagulation and electro-coagulation removed less
than 10%. When combined, air stripping and chemical coagulation
removed up to 50% COD and 85% ammonia.
Abstract: Despite the advances made in various new
technologies, application of these technologies for agriculture still
remains a formidable task, as it involves integration of diverse
domains for monitoring the different process involved in agricultural
management. Advances in ambient intelligence technology represents
one of the most powerful technology for increasing the yield of
agricultural crops and to mitigate the impact of water scarcity,
climatic change and methods for managing pests, weeds and diseases.
This paper proposes a GPS-assisted, machine to machine solutions
that combine information collected by multiple sensors for the
automated management of paddy crops. To maintain the economic
viability of paddy cultivation, the various techniques used in
agriculture are discussed and a novel system which uses ambient
intelligence technique is proposed in this paper. The ambient
intelligence based agricultural system gives a great scope.