Abstract: Optimal reactive power flow is an optimization problem
with one or more objective of minimizing the active power losses for
fixed generation schedule. The control variables are generator bus
voltages, transformer tap settings and reactive power output of the
compensating devices placed on different bus bars. Biogeography-
Based Optimization (BBO) technique has been applied to solve
different kinds of optimal reactive power flow problems subject
to operational constraints like power balance constraint, line flow
and bus voltages limits etc. BBO searches for the global optimum
mainly through two steps: Migration and Mutation. In the present
work, BBO has been applied to solve the optimal reactive power
flow problems on IEEE 30-bus and standard IEEE 57-bus power
systems for minimization of active power loss. The superiority of the
proposed method has been demonstrated. Considering the quality of
the solution obtained, the proposed method seems to be a promising
one for solving these problems.
Abstract: This research is aimed to compare the percentages of correct classification of Empirical Bayes method (EB) to Classical method when data are constructed as near normal, short-tailed and long-tailed symmetric, short-tailed and long-tailed asymmetric. The study is performed using conjugate prior, normal distribution with known mean and unknown variance. The estimated hyper-parameters obtained from EB method are replaced in the posterior predictive probability and used to predict new observations. Data are generated, consisting of training set and test set with the sample sizes 100, 200 and 500 for the binary classification. The results showed that EB method exhibited an improved performance over Classical method in all situations under study.
Abstract: In recent years, rapid advances in software and hardware in the field of information technology along with a digital imaging revolution in the medical domain facilitate the generation and storage of large collections of images by hospitals and clinics. To search these large image collections effectively and efficiently poses significant technical challenges, and it raises the necessity of constructing intelligent retrieval systems. Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) consists of retrieving the most visually similar images to a given query image from a database of images[5]. Medical CBIR (content-based image retrieval) applications pose unique challenges but at the same time offer many new opportunities. On one hand, while one can easily understand news or sports videos, a medical image is often completely incomprehensible to untrained eyes.
Abstract: Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is one of the
serious problems in most electrical and electronic appliances
including fluorescent lamps. The electronic ballast used to regulate
the power flow through the lamp is the major cause for EMI. The
interference is because of the high frequency switching operation of
the ballast. Formerly, some EMI mitigation techniques were in
practice, but they were not satisfactory because of the hardware
complexity in the circuit design, increased parasitic components and
power consumption and so on. The majority of the researchers have
their spotlight only on EMI mitigation without considering the other
constraints such as cost, effective operation of the equipment etc. In
this paper, we propose a technique for EMI mitigation in fluorescent
lamps by integrating Frequency Modulation and Evolutionary
Programming. By the Frequency Modulation technique, the
switching at a single central frequency is extended to a range of
frequencies, and so, the power is distributed throughout the range of
frequencies leading to EMI mitigation. But in order to meet the
operating frequency of the ballast and the operating power of the
fluorescent lamps, an optimal modulation index is necessary for
Frequency Modulation. The optimal modulation index is determined
using Evolutionary Programming. Thereby, the proposed technique
mitigates the EMI to a satisfactory level without disturbing the
operation of the fluorescent lamp.
Abstract: Biometrics methods include recognition techniques
such as fingerprint, iris, hand geometry, voice, face, ears and gait. The gait recognition approach has some advantages, for example it
does not need the prior concern of the observed subject and it can
record many biometric features in order to make deeper analysis, but
most of the research proposals use high computational cost. This
paper shows a gait recognition system with feature subtraction on a
bundle rectangle drawn over the observed person. Statistical results
within a database of 500 videos are shown.
Abstract: In this paper a procedure for the split-pipe design of looped water distribution network based on the use of simulated annealing is proposed. Simulated annealing is a heuristic-based search algorithm, motivated by an analogy of physical annealing in solids. It is capable for solving the combinatorial optimization problem. In contrast to the split-pipe design that is derived from a continuous diameter design that has been implemented in conventional optimization techniques, the split-pipe design proposed in this paper is derived from a discrete diameter design where a set of pipe diameters is chosen directly from a specified set of commercial pipes. The optimality and feasibility of the solutions are found to be guaranteed by using the proposed method. The performance of the proposed procedure is demonstrated through solving the three well-known problems of water distribution network taken from the literature. Simulated annealing provides very promising solutions and the lowest-cost solutions are found for all of these test problems. The results obtained from these applications show that simulated annealing is able to handle a combinatorial optimization problem of the least cost design of water distribution network. The technique can be considered as an alternative tool for similar areas of research. Further applications and improvements of the technique are expected as well.
Abstract: This paper presents the experimental results of
discharge current phenomena on various humidity, temperature,
pressure and pollutant conditions of epoxy resin specimen. The
leakage distance of specimen was 3 cm, that it was supplied by high
voltage. The polluted condition was given with NaCl artificial
pollutant. The conducted measurements were discharge current and
applied voltage. The specimen was put in a hermetically sealed
chamber, and the current waveforms were analyzed with FFT.
The result indicated that on discharge condition, the fifth
harmonics still had dominant, rather than third one. The third
harmonics tent to be appeared on low pressure heavily polluted
condition, and followed by high humidity heavily polluted condition.
On the heavily polluted specimen, the peaks discharge current points
would be high and more frequent. Nevertheless, the specimen still
had capacitive property. Besides that, usually discharge current
points were more frequent. The influence of low pressure was still
dominant to be easier to discharge. The non-linear property would be
appear explicitly on low pressure and heavily polluted condition.
Abstract: Chevron frames (Inverted-V-braced frames or Vbraced
frames) have seismic disadvantages, such as not good exhibit force redistribution capability and compression brace buckles
immediately. Researchers developed new design provisions on
increasing both the ductility and lateral resistance of these structures
in seismic areas. One of these new methods is adding zipper columns, as proposed by Khatib et al. (1988) [2]. Zipper columns are
vertical members connecting the intersection points of the braces
above the first floor. In this paper applicability of the suspended
zipper system to Seismic Rehabilitation of Steel Structures is investigated.
The models are 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-story Inverted-V-braced frames.
In this case, it is assumed that the structures must be rehabilitated. For rehabilitation of structures, zipper column is used. The result of
researches showed that the suspended zipper system is effective in
case of 3-, 6-, and 9-story Inverted-V-braced frames and it would
increase lateral resistance of structure up to life safety level. But in
case of high-rise buildings (such as 12 story frame), it doesn-t show
good performance. For solving this problem, the braced bay can
consist of small “units" over the height of the entire structure, which each of them is a zipper-braced bay with a few stories. By using this
method the lateral resistance of 12 story Inverted-V-braced frames is increased up to safety life level.
Abstract: The importance of inter-organizational system (IOS)
has been increasingly recognized by organizations. However, IOS
adoption has proved to be difficult and, at this stage, why this is so is
not fully uncovered. In practice, benefits have often remained
concentrated, primarily accruing to the dominant party, resulting in
low rates of adoption and usage, and often culminating in the failure
of the IOS. The main research question is why organizations initiate
or join IOS and what factors influence their adoption and use levels.
This paper reviews the literature on IOS adoption and proposes a
theoretical framework in order to identify the critical factors to
capture a complete picture of IOS adoption. With our proposed
critical factors, we are able to investigate their relative contributions
to IOS adoption decisions. We obtain findings that suggested that
there are five groups of factors that significantly affect the adoption
and use decision of IOS in the Supply Chain Management (SCM)
context: 1) interorganizational context, 2) organizational context, 3)
technological context, 4) perceived costs, and 5) perceived benefits.
Abstract: This research proposes a methodology for patent-citation-based technology input-output analysis by applying the patent information to input-output analysis developed for the dependencies among different industries. For this analysis, a technology relationship matrix and its components, as well as input and technology inducement coefficients, are constructed using patent information. Then, a technology inducement coefficient is calculated by normalizing the degree of citation from certain IPCs to the different IPCs (International patent classification) or to the same IPCs. Finally, we construct a Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM) based on the technology inducement coefficient to suggest a useful application for this methodology.
Abstract: A Data Warehouses is a repository of information
integrated from source data. Information stored in data warehouse is
the form of materialized in order to provide the better performance
for answering the queries. Deciding which appropriated views to be
materialized is one of important problem. In order to achieve this
requirement, the constructing search space close to optimal is a
necessary task. It will provide effective result for selecting view to be
materialized. In this paper we have proposed an approach to reoptimize
Multiple View Processing Plan (MVPP) by using global
common subexpressions. The merged queries which have query
processing cost not close to optimal would be rewritten. The
experiment shows that our approach can help to improve the total
query processing cost of MVPP and sum of query processing cost
and materialized view maintenance cost is reduced as well after views
are selected to be materialized.
Abstract: It is believed that DNA damaging toxic metabolites contributes to the development of different pathological conditions. To prevent harmful influence of toxic agents, cells developed number of protecting mechanisms, such as enzymatic reaction of detoxification of reactive metabolites and repair of DNA damage. The aim of the study was to examine the association between polymorphism of GSTT1/GSTM1 and XRCC1/3 genes and coronary artery disease (CAD) incidence. To examine a polymorphism of these genes in CAD susceptibility in patients and controls, PCR based genotyping assay was performed. For GST genes, frequency of GSTM1 null genotype among CAD affected group was significantly increased than in control group (P0.1). We found that neither XRCC1 Arg399Gln nor XRCC3 Thr241Met were associated with CAD risk. Obtained data suggests that GSTM1 null genotype carriers are more susceptible to CAD development.
Abstract: This research paper presents the CFD analysis of
oscillating airfoil during pitch cycle. Unsteady subsonic flow is
simulated for pitching airfoil at Mach number 0.283 and Reynolds
number 3.45 millions. Turbulent effects are also considered for this
study by using K-ω SST turbulent model. Two-dimensional unsteady
compressible Navier-Stokes code including two-equation turbulence
model and PISO pressure velocity coupling is used. Pressure based
implicit solver with first order implicit unsteady formulation is used.
The simulated pitch cycle results are compared with the available
experimental data. The results have a good agreement with the
experimental data. Aerodynamic characteristics during pitch cycles
have been studied and validated.
Abstract: In order to make environmental test centrifuge balance
automatically and accurately, reduce unbalance centrifugal force,
balance adjusting system of centrifuge is designed. The new balance
adjusting system comprises motor-reducer, timing belt, screw pair,
slider-guideway and four rocker force sensors. According to
information obtained by the four rocker force sensors, unbalanced
value at both ends of the big arm is computed and heavy block is
moved to achieve balance adjusting. In this paper, motor power and
torque to move the heavy block is calculated. In full load running
progress of centrifuge, the stress-strain of screw pair composed by
adjusting nut and big arm are analyzed. A successful application of the
balance adjusting system is also put forwarded. The results show that
the balance adjusting system can satisfy balance require of
environmental test centrifuge.
Abstract: There are various approaches to implement quality
improvements. Organizations aim for a management standard which
is capable of providing customers with quality assurance on their
product/service via continuous process improvement. Carefully
planned steps are necessary to ensure the right quality improvement
methodology (QIM) and business operations are consistent, reliable
and truly meet the customers' needs. This paper traces the evolution
of QIM in Malaysia-s Information Technology (IT) industry in the
past, current and future; and highlights some of the thought of
researchers who contributed to the science and practice of quality,
and identifies leading methodologies in use today. Some of the
misconceptions and mistakes leading to quality system failures will
also be examined and discussed. This paper aims to provide a general
overview of different types of QIMs available for IT businesses in
maximizing business advantages, enhancing product quality,
improving process routines and increasing performance earnings.
Abstract: Judgment is affected by many agents and distortion in this assessment is unpreventable. Personality dimensions are among those factors that interfere with the distortion. In this research, the relations between personality dimensions of subject and his judgment on friends- personality dimensions is investigated. One-hundred friend couples completed both NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEOFFI) and Ahvaz Reality Distortion Inventory (ARDI) to make judgments about themselves and their friends. Observations show that judge-s Agreement and Neuroticism dimensions are impressed by reality distortion. On the other hand, this reality distortion interferes with one-s evaluation of his friend-s Agreement, Neuroticism, and Conscientiousness dimensions. Conscientiousness with suppressive effect on judge-s other dimensions plays the irrelevant role on personality judgment. Therefore, observer-rating tools which are used as a conventional criterion seem to be not valid because of the reality distortion due to judge-s personality dimensions.
Abstract: This paper examines two policy spaces–the ARC and TVA–and their spatialized politics. The research observes that the regional concept informs public policy and can contribute to the formation of stable policy initiatives. Using the subsystem framework to understand the political viability of policy regimes, the authors conclude policy geographies that appeal to traditional definitions of regions are more stable over time. In contrast, geographies that fail to reflect pre-existing representations of space are engaged in more competitive subsystem politics. The paper demonstrates that the spatial practices of policy regions and their directional politics influence the political viability of programs. The paper concludes that policy spaces should institutionalize pre-existing geographies–not manufacture new ones.
Abstract: This paper presents recent work on the improvement
of the robotics vision based control strategy for underwater pipeline
tracking system. The study focuses on developing image processing
algorithms and a fuzzy inference system for the analysis of the
terrain. The main goal is to implement the supervisory fuzzy learning
control technique to reduce the errors on navigation decision due to
the pipeline occlusion problem. The system developed is capable of
interpreting underwater images containing occluded pipeline, seabed
and other unwanted noise. The algorithm proposed in previous work
does not explore the cooperation between fuzzy controllers,
knowledge and learnt data to improve the outputs for underwater
pipeline tracking. Computer simulations and prototype simulations
demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach. The system accuracy
level has also been discussed.
Abstract: Early supplier involvement (ESI) benefits new
product development projects several ways. Nevertheless, many castuser
companies do not know the advantages of ESI and therefore do
not utilize it. This paper presents reasons why to utilize ESI in
casting industry and how that can be done. Further, this paper
presents advantages and challenges related to ESI in casting industry,
and introduces a Casting-Network Collaboration Model. The model
presents practices for companies to build advantageous collaborative
relationships. More detailed, the model describes three levels for
company-network relationships in casting industry with different
degrees of collaboration, and requirements for operating in each
level. In our research, ESI was found to influence, for example, on
project time, component cost, and quality. In addition, challenges
related to ESI, such as, a lack of mutual trust and unawareness about
the advantages were found. Our research approach was a case study
including four cases.
Abstract: In this research sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) was introduced to generate carbon dioxide gas (CO2) to the existing nitrogen gas (N2) of elastomeric foam, to lower thermal conductivity (K). Various loadings of NaHCO3 (0 to 60 phr) were added into the azodicarbonamide (AZC)-containing compound and its properties were then determined. Two vulcanization methods, i.e., hot air and infrared (IR), were employed and compared in this study. Results revealed that compound viscosity tended to increase slightly with increasing NaHCO3 content but cure time was delayed. The effect of NaHCO3 content on thermal conductivity depended on the vulcanization method. For hot air method, the thermal conductivity was insignificantly changed with increasing NaHCO3 up to 40 phr whereas it tended to decrease gradually for IR method. At higher NaHCO3 content (60 phr), unexpected increase of thermal conductivity was observed. The water absorption was also determined and foam structures were then used to explain the results.