Abstract: User-based Collaborative filtering (CF), one of the
most prevailing and efficient recommendation techniques, provides
personalized recommendations to users based on the opinions of other
users. Although the CF technique has been successfully applied in
various applications, it suffers from serious sparsity problems. The
cloud-model approach addresses the sparsity problems by
constructing the user-s global preference represented by a cloud
eigenvector. The user-based CF approach works well with dense
datasets while the cloud-model CF approach has a greater
performance when the dataset is sparse. In this paper, we present a
hybrid approach that integrates the predictions from both the
user-based CF and the cloud-model CF approaches. The experimental
results show that the proposed hybrid approach can ameliorate the
sparsity problem and provide an improved prediction quality.
Abstract: In mobile environments, unspecified numbers of transactions
arrive in continuous streams. To prove correctness of their
concurrent execution a method of modelling an infinite number of
transactions is needed. Standard database techniques model fixed
finite schedules of transactions. Lately, techniques based on temporal
logic have been proposed as suitable for modelling infinite schedules.
The drawback of these techniques is that proving the basic
serializability correctness condition is impractical, as encoding (the
absence of) conflict cyclicity within large sets of transactions results
in prohibitively large temporal logic formulae. In this paper, we show
that, under certain common assumptions on the graph structure of
data items accessed by the transactions, conflict cyclicity need only
be checked within all possible pairs of transactions. This results in
formulae of considerably reduced size in any temporal-logic-based
approach to proving serializability, and scales to arbitrary numbers
of transactions.
Abstract: This paper presents the design and implementation of
the WebGD, a CORBA-based document classification and retrieval
system on Internet. The WebGD makes use of such techniques as Web,
CORBA, Java, NLP, fuzzy technique, knowledge-based processing
and database technology. Unified classification and retrieval model,
classifying and retrieving with one reasoning engine and flexible
working mode configuration are some of its main features. The
architecture of WebGD, the unified classification and retrieval model,
the components of the WebGD server and the fuzzy inference engine
are discussed in this paper in detail.
Abstract: This paper describes an automatic algorithm to restore
the shape of three-dimensional (3D) left ventricle (LV) models created
from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data using a geometry-driven
optimization approach. Our basic premise is to restore the LV shape
such that the LV epicardial surface is smooth after the restoration. A
geometrical measure known as the Minimum Principle Curvature (κ2)
is used to assess the smoothness of the LV. This measure is used to
construct the objective function of a two-step optimization process.
The objective of the optimization is to achieve a smooth epicardial
shape by iterative in-plane translation of the MRI slices.
Quantitatively, this yields a minimum sum in terms of the magnitude
of κ
2, when κ2 is negative. A limited memory quasi-Newton algorithm,
L-BFGS-B, is used to solve the optimization problem. We tested our
algorithm on an in vitro theoretical LV model and 10 in vivo
patient-specific models which contain significant motion artifacts. The
results show that our method is able to automatically restore the shape
of LV models back to smoothness without altering the general shape of
the model. The magnitudes of in-plane translations are also consistent
with existing registration techniques and experimental findings.
Abstract: In order to develop forest management strategies in
tropical forest in Malaysia, surveying the forest resources and
monitoring the forest area affected by logging activities is essential.
There are tremendous effort has been done in classification of land
cover related to forest resource management in this country as it is a
priority in all aspects of forest mapping using remote sensing and
related technology such as GIS. In fact classification process is a
compulsory step in any remote sensing research. Therefore, the main
objective of this paper is to assess classification accuracy of
classified forest map on Landsat TM data from difference number of
reference data (200 and 388 reference data). This comparison was
made through observation (200 reference data), and interpretation
and observation approaches (388 reference data). Five land cover
classes namely primary forest, logged over forest, water bodies, bare
land and agricultural crop/mixed horticultural can be identified by
the differences in spectral wavelength. Result showed that an overall
accuracy from 200 reference data was 83.5 % (kappa value
0.7502459; kappa variance 0.002871), which was considered
acceptable or good for optical data. However, when 200 reference
data was increased to 388 in the confusion matrix, the accuracy
slightly improved from 83.5% to 89.17%, with Kappa statistic
increased from 0.7502459 to 0.8026135, respectively. The accuracy
in this classification suggested that this strategy for the selection of
training area, interpretation approaches and number of reference data
used were importance to perform better classification result.
Abstract: Construction projects generally take place in
uncontrolled and dynamic environments where construction waste is
a serious environmental problem in many large cities. The total
amount of waste and carbon dioxide emissions from transportation
vehicles are still out of control due to increasing construction
projects, massive urban development projects and the lack of
effective tools for minimizing adverse environmental impacts in
construction. This research is about utilization of the integrated
applications of automated advanced tracking and data storage
technologies in the area of environmental management to monitor
and control adverse environmental impacts such as construction
waste and carbon dioxide emissions. Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) integrated with the Global Position System (GPS) provides
an opportunity to uniquely identify materials, components, and
equipments and to locate and track them using minimal or no worker
input. The transmission of data to the central database will be carried
out with the help of Global System for Mobile Communications
(GSM).
Abstract: The statistical distributions are modeled in explaining
nature of various types of data sets. Although these distributions are
mostly uni-modal, it is quite common to see multiple modes in the
observed distribution of the underlying variables, which make the
precise modeling unrealistic. The observed data do not exhibit
smoothness not necessarily due to randomness, but could also be due
to non-randomness resulting in zigzag curves, oscillations, humps
etc. The present paper argues that trigonometric functions, which
have not been used in probability functions of distributions so far,
have the potential to take care of this, if incorporated in the
distribution appropriately. A simple distribution (named as, Sinoform
Distribution), involving trigonometric functions, is illustrated in the
paper with a data set. The importance of trigonometric functions is
demonstrated in the paper, which have the characteristics to make
statistical distributions exotic. It is possible to have multiple modes,
oscillations and zigzag curves in the density, which could be suitable
to explain the underlying nature of select data set.
Abstract: Model Predictive Control (MPC) is increasingly being
proposed for real time applications and embedded systems. However
comparing to PID controller, the implementation of the MPC in
miniaturized devices like Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA)
and microcontrollers has historically been very small scale due to its
complexity in implementation and its computation time requirement.
At the same time, such embedded technologies have become an
enabler for future manufacturing enterprises as well as a transformer
of organizations and markets. Recently, advances in microelectronics
and software allow such technique to be implemented in embedded
systems. In this work, we take advantage of these recent advances
in this area in the deployment of one of the most studied and
applied control technique in the industrial engineering. In fact in
this paper, we propose an efficient framework for implementation
of Generalized Predictive Control (GPC) in the performed STM32
microcontroller. The STM32 keil starter kit based on a JTAG interface
and the STM32 board was used to implement the proposed GPC
firmware. Besides the GPC, the PID anti windup algorithm was
also implemented using Keil development tools designed for ARM
processor-based microcontroller devices and working with C/Cµ
langage. A performances comparison study was done between both
firmwares. This performances study show good execution speed and
low computational burden. These results encourage to develop simple
predictive algorithms to be programmed in industrial standard hardware.
The main features of the proposed framework are illustrated
through two examples and compared with the anti windup PID
controller.
Abstract: In this work, we developed the concept of
supercompression, i.e., compression above the compression standard
used. In this context, both compression rates are multiplied. In fact,
supercompression is based on super-resolution. That is to say,
supercompression is a data compression technique that superpose
spatial image compression on top of bit-per-pixel compression to
achieve very high compression ratios. If the compression ratio is very
high, then we use a convolutive mask inside decoder that restores the
edges, eliminating the blur. Finally, both, the encoder and the
complete decoder are implemented on General-Purpose computation
on Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) cards. Specifically, the
mentio-ned mask is coded inside texture memory of a GPGPU.
Abstract: This paper is intended to assist anyone with some general technical experience, but perhaps limited specific knowledge of heat transfer equipment. A characteristic of heat exchanger design is the procedure of specifying a design, heat transfer area and pressure drops and checking whether the assumed design satisfies all requirements or not. The purpose of this paper is how to design the oil cooler (heat exchanger) especially for shell-and-tube heat exchanger which is the majority type of liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger. General design considerations and design procedure are also illustrated in this paper and a flow diagram is provided as an aid of design procedure. In design calculation, the MatLAB and AutoCAD software are used. Fundamental heat transfer concepts and complex relationships involved in such exchanger are also presented in this paper. The primary aim of this design is to obtain a high heat transfer rate without exceeding the allowable pressure drop. This computer program is highly useful to design the shell-and-tube type heat exchanger and to modify existing deign.
Abstract: Recently, various services such as television and the
Internet have come to be received through various terminals.
However, we could gain greater convenience by receiving these
services through cellular phone terminals when we go out and then
continuing to receive the same services through a large screen digital
television after we have come home. However, it is necessary to go
through the same authentication processing again when using TVs
after we have come home. In this study, we have developed an
authentication method that enables users to switch terminals in
environments in which the user receives service from a server through
a terminal. Specifically, the method simplifies the authentication of
the server side when switching from one terminal to another terminal
by using previously authenticated information.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a fully-utilized, block-based 2D DWT (discrete wavelet transform) architecture, which consists of four 1D DWT filters with two-channel QMF lattice structure. The proposed architecture requires about 2MN-3N registers to save the intermediate results for higher level decomposition, where M and N stand for the filter length and the row width of the image respectively. Furthermore, the proposed 2D DWT processes in horizontal and vertical directions simultaneously without an idle period, so that it computes the DWT for an N×N image in a period of N2(1-2-2J)/3. Compared to the existing approaches, the proposed architecture shows 100% of hardware utilization and high throughput rates. To mitigate the long critical path delay due to the cascaded lattices, we can apply the pipeline technique with four stages, while retaining 100% of hardware utilization. The proposed architecture can be applied in real-time video signal processing.
Abstract: This paper applies an anthropological approach to illuminate the dynamic cultural geography of Kazakhstani Korean ethnicity focusing on its turning point, the historic “Seoul Olympic Games in 1988." The Korean ethnic group was easily considered as a harmonious and homogeneous community by outsiders, but there existed deep-seated conflicts and hostilities within the ethnic group. The majority-s oppositional dichotomy of superiority and inferiority toward the minority was continuously reorganized and reinforced by difference in experience, memory and sentiment. However, such a chronic exclusive boundary was collapsed following the patriotism ignited by the Olympics held in their mother country. This paper explores the fluidity of subject by formation of the boundary in which constructed cultural differences are continuously essentialized and reproduced, and by dissolution of cultural barrier in certain contexts.
Abstract: The paper deals with the perspectives and possibilities
of "smart solutions" to critical infrastructure protection. It means that
common computer aided technologies are used from the perspective
of new, better protection of selected infrastructure objects. The paper
is focused on the co-product of the Czech Defence Research Project -
ADAPTIV. This project is carrying out by the University of Defence,
Faculty of Economics and Management at the Department of Civil
Protection. The project creates system and technology for adaptive
cybernetic camouflage of armed forces objects, armaments, vehicles
and troops and of mobilization infrastructure. These adaptive
camouflage system and technology will be useful for army tactic
activities protection and for decoys generation also. The fourth
chapter of the paper concerns the possibilities of using the introduced
technology to the protection of selected civil (economically
important), critical infrastructure objects. The aim of this section
is to introduce the scientific capabilities and potential of the
University of Defence research results and solutions for the practice.
Abstract: Face recognition is a technique to automatically
identify or verify individuals. It receives great attention in
identification, authentication, security and many more applications.
Diverse methods had been proposed for this purpose and also a lot of
comparative studies were performed. However, researchers could not
reach unified conclusion. In this paper, we are reporting an extensive
quantitative accuracy analysis of four most widely used face
recognition algorithms: Principal Component Analysis (PCA),
Independent Component Analysis (ICA), Linear Discriminant
Analysis (LDA) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) using AT&T,
Sheffield and Bangladeshi people face databases under diverse
situations such as illumination, alignment and pose variations.
Abstract: Does open ended creative technology give positive impact in learning design? Although there are many researchers had examined on the impact of technology on design education but there are very few conclusive researches done on the impact of open ended used of software to learning design. This paper sought to investigate a group of student-s experience on relatively wider range of software application within the context of design project. A typography design project was used to create a learning environment with the aim of inculcate design skills into the learners and increase their creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills. The methods used in this study were questionnaire survey and personal observation which will be focus on the individual and group response during the completion of the task.
Abstract: Nowadays, under developed countries for progress in
science and technology and decreasing the technologic gap with
developed countries, increasing the capacities and technology
transfer from developed countries. To remain competitive, industry is
continually searching for new methods to evolve their products.
Business model is one of the latest buzzwords in the Internet and
electronic business world. To be successful, organizations must look
into the needs and wants of their customers. This research attempts to
identify a specific feature of the company with a strong competitive
advantage by analyzing the cause of Customer satisfaction. Due to
the rapid development of knowledge and information technology,
business environments have become much more complicated.
Information technology can help a firm aiming to gain a competitive
advantage. This study explores the role and effect of Information
Communication Technology in Business Models and Customer
satisfaction on firms and also relationships between ICTs and
Outsourcing strategic.
Abstract: The unanticipated brittle fracture of connection of the
steel moment resisting frame (SMRF) occurred in 1994 the Northridge
earthquake. Since then, the researches for the vulnerability of
connection of the existing SMRF and for rehabilitation of those
buildings were conducted. This paper suggests performance-based
optimal seismic retrofit technique using connection upgrade. For
optimal design, a multi-objective genetic algorithm(NSGA-II) is used.
One of the two objective functions is to minimize initial cost and
another objective function is to minimize lifetime seismic damages
cost. The optimal algorithm proposed in this paper is performed
satisfying specified performance objective based on FEMA 356. The
nonlinear static analysis is performed for structural seismic
performance evaluation. A numerical example of SAC benchmark
SMRF is provided using the performance-based optimal seismic
retrofit technique proposed in this paper
Abstract: In this paper we describe a hybrid technique of Minimax search and aggregate Mahalanobis distance function synthesis to evolve Awale game player. The hybrid technique helps to suggest a move in a short amount of time without looking into endgame database. However, the effectiveness of the technique is heavily dependent on the training dataset of the Awale strategies utilized. The evolved player was tested against Awale shareware program and the result is appealing.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to find natural gait of
biped robot such as human being by analyzing the COG (Center Of
Gravity) trajectory of human being's gait. It is discovered that human
beings gait naturally maintain the stability and use the minimum
energy. This paper intends to find the natural gait pattern of biped
robot using the minimum energy as well as maintaining the stability by
analyzing the human's gait pattern that is measured from gait image on
the sagittal plane and COG trajectory on the frontal plane. It is not
possible to apply the torques of human's articulation to those of biped
robot's because they have different degrees of freedom. Nonetheless,
human and 5-link biped robots are similar in kinematics. For this, we
generate gait pattern of the 5-link biped robot by using the GA
algorithm of adaptation gait pattern which utilize the human's ZMP
(Zero Moment Point) and torque of all articulation that are measured
from human's gait pattern. The algorithm proposed creates biped
robot's fluent gait pattern as that of human being's and to minimize
energy consumption because the gait pattern of the 5-link biped robot
model is modeled after consideration about the torque of human's each
articulation on the sagittal plane and ZMP trajectory on the frontal
plane. This paper demonstrate that the algorithm proposed is superior
by evaluating 2 kinds of the 5-link biped robot applied to each gait
patterns generated both in the general way using inverse kinematics
and in the special way in which by considering visuality and
efficiency.