Abstract: Oil-and-gas potential of Cuba is found through the discoveries among which there are the most large-scale deposits, such as the Boca de Jaruco and Varadero fields of heavy oils. Currently, the petroleum and petroleum products needs of the island state are satisfied by own sources by less than a half. The prospects of the hydrocarbon resource base development are connected with the adjacent water area of the Gulf of Mexico where foreign companies had been granted license blocks for geological study and further development since 2001. Two Russian companies - JSC Gazprom Neft and OJSC Zarubezhneft, among others, took part in the development of the Cuban part of the Gulf of Mexico. Since 2004, five oil wells have been drilled by various companies in the deep waters of the exclusive economic zone of Cuba. Commercial oil-and-gas bearing prospects have been established in neither of them for both geological and technological reasons. However, only a small part of the water area has been covered by drilling and the productivity of the drill core has been tested at the depth of Cretaceous sediments only. In our opinion, oil-and-gas bearing prospects of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cuba in the Gulf of Mexico remain undervalued and the mentioned water area needs additional geological exploration. The planning of exploration work in this poorly explored region shall be carried out systematically and it shall be based on the results of the regional scientific research.
Abstract: Urban intersection control without the use of the traffic light has the potential to vastly improve the efficiency of the urban traffic flow. For most proposals in the literature, such lightless intersection control depends on the mass market commercialization of highly intelligent autonomous vehicles (AV), which limits the prospects of near future implementation. We present an efficient lightless intersection traffic control scheme that only requires Level 1 AV as defined by NHTSA. The technological barriers of such lightless intersection control are thus very low. Our algorithm can also accommodate a mixture of AVs and conventional vehicles. We also carry out large scale numerical analysis to illustrate the feasibility, safety and robustness, comfort level, and control efficiency of our intersection control scheme.
Abstract: With the unprecedented rates of technological improvements, people start to solve their problems with the help of technological tools. According to application stores and websites in which people evaluate and comment on the traffic apps, there are more than 100 traffic applications which have different features with respect to their purpose of usage ranging from the features of traffic apps for public transit modes to the features of traffic apps for private cars. This study focuses on the top 30 traffic applications which were chosen with respect to their download counts. All data about the traffic applications were obtained from related websites. The purpose of this study is to analyze traffic applications in terms of their categorical attributes with the help of developing a regression model. The analysis results suggest that negative interpretations (e.g., being deficient) does not lead to lower star ratings of the applications. However, those negative interpretations result in a smaller increase in star rate. In addition, women use higher star rates than men for the evaluation of traffic applications.
Abstract: Despite the considerable body of literature investigating the influence of National Culture (NC) dimensions on consumer behaviour, there is a lack of studies comparing the influence of NC in Africa with Western European countries. This study is intended to fill the vacuum in knowledge by exploring how NC affects consumer buyer behavior in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. The primary data were collected through in depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with three groups of individuals: British students, Nigerian students in the United Kingdom, and Nigerian-based students. This approach and new frontier to analyze culture and consumer behaviour could help understand residual cultural threads of people (that are ingrained in their being) irrespective of exposure to other cultures. The findings of this study show that Nigerian and British consumers differ remarkably in cultural orientations such as symbols, values and psychological standpoints. This ultimately affects the choices made at every stage of the decision building process, and proves beneficial for international retail marketing.
Abstract: Students learn effectively in a learning environment with a suitable teaching approach that matches their learning preferences. The main objective of the study is to examine the learning preferences amongst the students in the Science and Technology (S&T), and Social Science (SS) fields of study at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Pulau Pinang. The measurement instrument is based on the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles which measure five elements of learning styles; environmental, sociological, emotional, physiological and psychological. Questionnaires are distributed amongst undergraduates in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Faculty of Business Management. The respondents comprise of 131 diploma students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and 111 degree students of the Faculty of Business Management. The results indicate that, both S&T and SS students share a similar learning preferences on the environmental aspect, emotional preferences, motivational level, learning responsibility, persistent level in learning and learning structure. Most of the S&T students are concluded as analytical learners and the majority of SS students are global learners. Both S&T and SS students are concluded as visual learners, preferred to be in an active mobility in a relaxing and enjoying mode with some light of refreshments during the learning process and exhibited reflective characteristics in learning. Obviously, the S&T students are considered as left brain dominant, whereas the SS students are right brain dominant. The findings highlighted that both categories of students exhibited similar learning preferences except on psychological preferences.
Abstract: Human biological signals (pulse wave and brain wave, etc.) have a rhythm which shows fluctuations. This study investigates the relationship between fluctuations of biological signals which are shown by a finger plethysmogram (i.e., finger pulse wave) in conversation and anthropophobic tendency, and identifies whether the fluctuation could be an index of mental health. 32 college students participated in the experiment. The finger plethysmogram of each subject was measured in the following conversation situations: Fun memory talking/listening situation and regrettable memory talking/ listening situation for three minutes each. Lyspect 3.5 was used to collect the data of the finger plethysmogram. Since Lyspect calculates the Lyapunov spectrum, it is possible to obtain the largest Lyapunov exponent (LLE). LLE is an indicator of the fluctuation and shows the degree to which a measure is going away from close proximity to the track in a dynamical system. Before the finger plethysmogram experiment, each participant took the psychological test questionnaire “Anthropophobic Scale.” The scale measures the social phobia trend close to the consciousness of social phobia. It is revealed that there is a remarkable relationship between the fluctuation of the finger plethysmography and anthropophobic tendency scale in talking about a regrettable story in conversation: The participants (N=15) who have a low anthropophobic tendency show significantly more fluctuation of finger pulse waves than the participants (N=17) who have a high anthropophobic tendency (F (1, 31) =5.66, p
Abstract: 3D models obtained with advanced survey techniques such as close-range photogrammetry and laser scanner are nowadays particularly appreciated in Cultural Heritage and Archaeology fields. In order to produce high quality models representing archaeological evidences and anthropological artifacts, the appearance of the model (i.e. color) beyond the geometric accuracy, is not a negligible aspect. The integration of the close-range photogrammetry survey techniques with the laser scanner is still a topic of study and research. By combining point cloud data sets of the same object generated with both technologies, or with the same technology but registered in different moment and/or natural light condition, could construct a final point cloud with accentuated color dissimilarities. In this paper, a methodology to uniform the different data sets, to improve the chromatic quality and to highlight further details by balancing the point color will be presented.
Abstract: This case study features the Kuehne + Nagel PharmaChain solution for ‘cold chain’ pharmaceutical and biologic product shipments with IOT-enabled features for shipment temperature and location tracking. Using the case study method and content analysis, this research project investigates the application of the structurational model of technology theory introduced by Orlikowski in order to interpret the firm’s entry and participation in the IOT-impelled marketplace.
Abstract: With the advent of modern computing technology, there is an increased demand for developing recognition systems that have the capability of verifying the identity of individuals. Recognition systems are required by several civilian and commercial applications for providing access to secured resources. Traditional recognition systems which are based on physical identities are not sufficiently reliable to satisfy the security requirements due to the use of several advances of forgery and identity impersonation methods. Recognizing individuals based on his/her unique physiological characteristics known as biometric traits is a reliable technique, since these traits are not transferable and they cannot be stolen or lost. Since the performance of biometric based recognition system depends on the particular trait that is utilized, the present work proposes a fusion approach which combines Inner knuckle print (IKP) trait of the middle, ring and index fingers with the geometrical features of hand. The hand image captured from a digital camera is preprocessed to find finger IKP as region of interest (ROI) and hand geometry features. Geometrical features are represented as the distances between different key points and IKP features are extracted by applying local binary pattern descriptor on the IKP ROI. The decision level AND fusion was adopted, which has shown improvement in performance of the combined scheme. The proposed approach is tested on the database collected at our institute. Proposed approach is of significance since both hand geometry and IKP features can be extracted from the palm region of the hand. The fusion of these features yields a false acceptance rate of 0.75%, false rejection rate of 0.86% for verification tests conducted, which is less when compared to the results obtained using individual traits. The results obtained confirm the usefulness of proposed approach and suitability of the selected features for developing biometric based recognition system based on features from palmar region of hand.
Abstract: For the study of salinity stress on Vicia villosa and calcium effect for modulation of that, an experiment was conducted under hydroponic condition, and some important morphological and physiological characteristics were evaluated. This experiment was conducted as a factorial based on randomized complete design with three replications. The treatments include salinity stress in three levels (0, 50, and 100 mM NaCl) and calcium in two levels (content in Hoagland solution and double content). The results showed that all morphological and physiological traits include root and shoot length, root and shoot wet and dry weight, leaf area, leaf chlorophyll content, RWC, CMS, and biological yield was significantly different from the control and is affected by the salinity stress severely. But, calcium effect on them was not significant despite of decreasing salinity effect.
Abstract: The Carry Select Adder (CSLA) is a fast adder which improves the speed of addition. From the structure of the CSLA, it is clear that there is opportunity for reducing the area. The logic operations involved in conventional CSLA and binary to excess-1 converter (BEC) based CSLA are analyzed to make a study on the data dependence and to identify redundant logic operations. In the existing adder design, the carry select (CS) operation is scheduled before the final-sum, which is different from the conventional CSLA design. In the presented scheme, Kogge stone parallel adder approach is used instead of existing adder design it will generate fast carry for intermediate stages and also improves the speed of addition. When compared to existing adder design the delay is less in the proposed adder design.
Abstract: Robots are now playing a very promising role in industries. Robots are commonly used in applications in repeated operations or where operation by human is either risky or not feasible. In most of the industrial applications, robotic arm manipulators are widely used. Robotic arm manipulator with two link or three link structures is commonly used due to their low degrees-of-freedom (DOF) movement. As the DOF of robotic arm increased, complexity increases. Instrumentation involved with robotics plays very important role in order to interact with outer environment. In this work, optimal control for movement of various DOFs of robotic arm using various soft computing techniques has been presented. We have discussed about different robotic structures having various DOF robotics arm movement. Further stress is on kinematics of the arm structures i.e. forward kinematics and inverse kinematics. Trajectory planning of robotic arms using soft computing techniques is demonstrating the flexibility of this technique. The performance is optimized for all possible input values and results in optimized movement as resultant output. In conclusion, soft computing has been playing very important role for achieving optimized movement of robotic arm. It also requires very limited knowledge of the system to implement soft computing techniques.
Abstract: Ship detection is nowadays quite an important issue
in tasks related to sea traffic control, fishery management and ship
search and rescue. Although it has traditionally been carried out
by patrol ships or aircrafts, coverage and weather conditions and
sea state can become a problem. Synthetic aperture radars can
surpass these coverage limitations and work under any climatological
condition. A fast CFAR ship detector based on a robust statistical
modeling of sea clutter with respect to sea states in SAR images
is used. In this paper, the minimum SNR required to obtain a
given detection probability with a given false alarm rate for any
sea state is determined. A Gaussian target model using real SAR
data is considered. Results show that SNR does not depend heavily
on the class considered. Provided there is some variation in the
backscattering of targets in SAR imagery, the detection probability
is limited and a post-processing stage based on morphology would
be suitable.
Abstract: In this paper, we present a neural approach for
unsupervised natural color-texture image segmentation, which is
based on both Kohonen maps and mathematical morphology, using
a combination of the texture and the image color information of the
image, namely, the fractal features based on fractal dimension are
selected to present the information texture, and the color features
presented in RGB color space. These features are then used to train
the network Kohonen, which will be represented by the underlying
probability density function, the segmentation of this map is made
by morphological watershed transformation. The performance of our
color-texture segmentation approach is compared first, to color-based
methods or texture-based methods only, and then to k-means method.
Abstract: Place-making is viewed here as an empowering process in which people represent, improve and maintain their spatial (natural or built) environment. With the above-mentioned in mind, place-making is multi-dimensional and include a spatial dimension (including visual properties or the end product/plan), a procedural dimension during which (negotiation/discussion of ideas with all relevant stakeholders in terms of end product/plan) and a psychological dimension (inclusion of intrinsic values and meanings related to a place in the end product/plan). These three represent dimensions of place-making. The purpose of this paper is to explore these dimensions of place-making in a case study of a local community in Ikageng, Potchefstroom, North-West Province, South Africa. This case study represents an inclusive process that strives to empower a local community (forcefully relocated due to Apartheid legislation in South Africa). This case study focussed on the inclusion of participants in the decision-making process regarding their daily environment. By means of focus group discussions and a collaborative design workshop, data is generated and ultimately creates a linkage with the theoretical dimensions of place-making. This paper contributes to the field of spatial planning due to the exploration of the dimensions of place-making and the relevancy of this process on spatial planning (especially in a South African setting).
Abstract: In order to have stable and high performance of direct torque and flux control (DTFC) of double star induction motor drive (DSIM), proper on-line adaptation of the stator resistance is very important. This is inevitably due to the variation of the stator resistance during operating conditions, which introduces error in estimated flux position and the magnitude of the stator flux. Error in the estimated stator flux deteriorates the performance of the DTFC drive. Also, the effect of error in estimation is very important especially at low speed. Due to this, our aim is to overcome the sensitivity of the DTFC to the stator resistance variation by proposing on-line fuzzy estimation stator resistance. The fuzzy estimation method is based on an on-line stator resistance correction through the variations of the stator current estimation error and its variations. The fuzzy logic controller gives the future stator resistance increment at the output. The main advantage of the suggested algorithm control is to avoid the drive instability that may occur in certain situations and ensure the tracking of the actual stator resistance. The validity of the technique and the improvement of the whole system performance are proved by the results.
Abstract: The paper analyses the usage of the Internet by university students in Visegrad Countries (4V Countries) who study economic fields in their formal and informal financial education and captures the areas of untapped potential of Internet in educational processes. Higher education and training, technological readiness, and the financial market development are in the group of pillars, that are key for efficiency driven economies. These three pillars have become an inspiration to the research on using the Internet in the financial education among economic university students as the group of the best educated people in finance. The financial education is a process that allows for improving the level of financial literacy. In turn, the financial literacy it is the set of financial knowledge, skills, awareness and patterns influencing the financial decisions. The level of financial literacy influences the level of financial well-being of individuals, determines the scale of saving of households and at the same time gives the greater chance for sustainable and more predictable development of the financial market with the positive impact on economy. The financial literacy is necessary for each group of society but its appropriate level is desirable especially in respect of economics students as future participants of financial markets as well as the experts and advisors in financial decision making. The low level of financial literacy is the great problem of many target groups in both developing and developed countries and the financial education is seen as the best way of improving this situation. Also the financial inclusion plays the special role in enhancing the level of financial literacy in the aspect of education by practice as well as due to interrelation between level of financial literacy and degree of financial inclusion. Despite many initiatives under financial education, the level of financial literacy is still very low. Scientists still search for new ways of solving this problem. One of the proposal is more effective usage of the new technology in financial education, especially the Internet, because of the growing popularity of e-learning and the increasing number of Internet users, especially among young people who are called the Generation Net. Due to special role of the university students studying the economics fields for the future financial markets, students of four universities from Visegrad Countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) were invited to participate in the survey. The aim of the article is to present the level and ways of using the Internet technology in financial education and indicating the so far unused or underused opportunities.
Abstract: A channel/tunnel, which carries the water to the penstock/pressure shaft is called headrace tunnel (HRT). It is necessary to know the general topography, geology of the area, state of stress and other mechanical properties of the strata. For this certain topographical and geological investigations, in-situ and laboratory tests, and observations are required to be done. These investigations play an important role in a tunnel design as these help in deciding the optimum layout, shape and size and support requirements of the tunnel. The paper includes inputs from Nathpa Jhakri Hydeoelectric project which is India’s highest capacity (1500 MW) operating hydroelectric project. The paper would help the design engineers with various new concepts and preparedness against geological surprises.
Abstract: An important number of technological equipment and high-skilled workers over long periods of time have to be mobilized during nuclear decommissioning processes. The related operations generate complex flows of waste and high inventory levels, associated to information flows of heterogeneous types. Taking into account that more than 10 decommissioning operations are on-going in France and about 50 are expected toward 2025: A big challenge is addressed today. The management of decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear installations represents an important part of the nuclear-based energy lifecycle, since it has an environmental impact as well as an important influence on the electricity cost and therefore the price for end-users. Bringing new technologies and new solutions into decommissioning methodologies is thus mandatory to improve the quality, cost and delay efficiency of these operations. The purpose of our project is to improve decommissioning management efficiency by developing a decision-support framework dedicated to plan nuclear facility decommissioning operations and to optimize waste evacuation by means of a logistic approach. The target is to create an easy-to-handle tool capable of i) predicting waste flows and proposing the best decommissioning logistics scenario and ii) managing information during all the steps of the process and following the progress: planning, resources, delays, authorizations, saturation zones, waste volume, etc. In this article we present our results from waste nuclear flows simulation during decommissioning process, including discrete-event simulation supported by FLEXSIM 3-D software. This approach was successfully tested and our works confirms its ability to improve this type of industrial process by identifying the critical points of the chain and optimizing it by identifying improvement actions. This type of simulation, executed before the start of the process operations on the basis of a first conception, allow ‘what-if’ process evaluation and help to ensure quality of the process in an uncertain context. The simulation of nuclear waste flows before evacuation from the site will help reducing the cost and duration of the decommissioning process by optimizing the planning and the use of resources, transitional storage and expensive radioactive waste containers. Additional benefits are expected for the governance system of the waste evacuation since it will enable a shared responsibility of the waste flows.
Abstract: Rapid technological developments and increase in organizations’ interdependence on international scale are changing the traditional workplace paradigm. A key feature of knowledge based economy is that employers are looking for individuals that possess both specific academic skills and knowledge, and also capability to be proactive and respond to problems creatively and autonomously. The focus of this paper is workers with Economics and Business background and its goals are threefold: (1) to explore wide range of competences and identify which are the most important to employers; (2) to investigate the existence and magnitude of gap between required and possessed level of a certain competency; and (3) to inquire how this gap is connected with performance of a company. A study was conducted on a representative sample of Croatian enterprises during the spring of 2016. Results show that generic, rather than specific, competences are more important to employers and the gap between the relative importance of certain competence and its current representation in existing workforce is greater for generic competences than for specific. Finally, results do not support the hypothesis that this gap is correlated with firms’ performance.