Algebraic Riccati Matrix Equation for Eigen- Decomposition of Special Structured Matrices; Applications in Structural Mechanics

In this paper Algebraic Riccati matrix equation is used for Eigen-decomposition of special structured matrices. This is achieved by similarity transformation and then using algebraic riccati matrix equation to triangulation of matrices. The process is decomposition of matrices into small and specially structured submatrices with low dimensions for fast and easy finding of Eigenpairs. Numerical and structural examples included showing the efficiency of present method.

Investments Attractiveness via Combinatorial Optimization Ranking

The paper proposes an approach to ranking a set of potential countries to invest taking into account the investor point of view about importance of different economic indicators. For the goal, a ranking algorithm that contributes to rational decision making is proposed. The described algorithm is based on combinatorial optimization modeling and repeated multi-criteria tasks solution. The final result is list of countries ranked in respect of investor preferences about importance of economic indicators for investment attractiveness. Different scenarios are simulated conforming to different investors preferences. A numerical example with real dataset of indicators is solved. The numerical testing shows the applicability of the described algorithm. The proposed approach can be used with any sets of indicators as ranking criteria reflecting different points of view of investors. 

Existence of Periodic Solution for p-Laplacian Neutral Rayleigh Equation with Sign-variable Coefficient of Non Linear Term

As p-Laplacian equations have been widely applied in field of the fluid mechanics and nonlinear elastic mechanics, it is necessary to investigate the periodic solutions of functional differential equations involving the scalar p-Laplacian. By using Mawhin’s continuation theorem, we study the existence of periodic solutions for p-Laplacian neutral Rayleigh equation (ϕp(x(t)−c(t)x(t − r))) + f(x(t)) + g1(x(t − τ1(t, |x|∞))) + β(t)g2(x(t − τ2(t, |x|∞))) = e(t), It is meaningful that the functions c(t) and β(t) are allowed to change signs in this paper, which are different from the corresponding ones of known literature.

Revision of Genus Polygonum L. s.l. in Flora of Armenia

The account of genus Polygonum L. in "Flora of Armenia" was made more than five decades ago. After that many expeditions have been carried out in different regions of Armenia and a huge herbarium material has been collected. The genus included 5 sections with 20 species. Since then many authors accepted the sections as separate genera on the basis of anatomical, morphological, palynological and molecular data. According to the above mentioned it became clear, that the taxonomy of Armenian representatives of Polygonum s. l. also needs revision. New literature data and our investigations of live and herbarium material (ERE, LE) with specification of the morphological characters, distribution, ecology, flowering and fruiting terms brought us to conclusion, that genus Polygonum s. l. has to be split into 5 different genera (Aconogonon (Meisn.) Reichenb., Bistorta (L.) Scop., Fallopia Adans., Persicaria Mill., Polygonum L. s. s.). The number of species has been reduced to 16 species. For each genus new determination keys has been created. 

K-best Night Vision Devices by Multi-Criteria Mixed-Integer Optimization Modeling

The paper describes an approach for defining of k-best night vision devices based on multi-criteria mixed-integer optimization modeling. The parameters of night vision devices are considered as criteria that have to be optimized. Using different user preferences for the relative importance between parameters different choice of k-best devices can be defined. An ideal device with all of its parameters at their optimum is used to determine how far the particular device from the ideal one is. A procedure for evaluation of deviation between ideal solution and k-best solutions is presented. The applicability of the proposed approach is numerically illustrated using real night vision devices data. The proposed approach contributes to quality of decisions about choice of night vision devices by making the decision making process more certain, rational and efficient. 

Simulation Model of an Ultra-Light Overhead Conveyor System; Analysis of the Process in the Warehouse

Ultra-light overhead conveyor systems are rope-based conveying systems with individually driven vehicles. The vehicles can move automatically on the rope and this can be realized by energy and signals. The ultra-light overhead conveyor systems always must be integrated with a logistical process by finding a best way for a cheaper material flow in order to guarantee precise and fast workflows. This paper analyzes the process of an ultra-light overhead conveyor system using necessary assumptions. The analysis consists of three scenarios. These scenarios are based on raising the vehicle speeds with equal increments at each case. The correlation between the vehicle speed and system throughput is investigated. A discrete-event simulation model of an ultra-light overhead conveyor system is constructed using DOSIMIS-3 software to implement three scenarios. According to simulation results; the optimal scenario, hence the optimal vehicle speed, is found out among three scenarios. This simulation model demonstrates the effect of increased speed on the system throughput.

Jacobi-Based Methods in Solving Fuzzy Linear Systems

Linear systems are widely used in many fields of science and engineering. In many applications, at least some of the parameters of the system are represented by fuzzy rather than crisp numbers. Therefore it is important to perform numerical algorithms or procedures that would treat general fuzzy linear systems and solve them using iterative methods. This paper aims are to solve fuzzy linear systems using four types of Jacobi based iterative methods. Four iterative methods based on Jacobi are used for solving a general n × n fuzzy system of linear equations of the form Ax = b , where A is a crisp matrix and b an arbitrary fuzzy vector. The Jacobi, Jacobi Over-Relaxation, Refinement of Jacobi and Refinement of Jacobi Over-Relaxation methods was tested to a five by five fuzzy linear system. It is found that all the tested methods were iterated differently. Due to the effect of extrapolation parameters and the refinement, the Refinement of Jacobi Over-Relaxation method was outperformed the other three methods.

Stabilization of Steel Beams of Monosymmetric Thin-Walled Cross-Section by Trapezoidal Sheeting

Steel thin-walled beams have been widely used in civil engineering as purlins, ceiling beams or wall substructure beams. There are often planar members such as trapezoidal sheeting or sandwich panels used as roof or wall cladding fastened to the steel beams. The planar members also serve as stabilization of thin-walled beams against buckling due to loss of stability. This paper focuses on problem of stabilization of steel monosymmetric thin-walled beams by trapezoidal sheeting. Some factors having influence on overall behavior of this structural system are investigated using numerical analysis. Thin-walled beams in bending stabilized by trapezoidal sheeting are of primarily interest of this study.

Periodic Solutions for a Food Chain System with Monod–Haldane Functional Response on Time Scales

In this paper, the three species food chain model on time scales is established. The Monod–Haldane functional response and time delay are considered. With the help of coincidence degree theory, existence of periodic solutions is investigated, which unifies the continuous and discrete analogies.

Spline Basis Neural Network Algorithm for Numerical Integration

A new basis function neural network algorithm is proposed for numerical integration. The main idea is to construct neural network model based on spline basis functions, which is used to approximate the integrand by training neural network weights. The convergence theorem of the neural network algorithm, the theorem for numerical integration and one corollary are presented and proved. The numerical examples, compared with other methods, show that the algorithm is effective and has the characteristics such as high precision and the integrand not required known. Thus, the algorithm presented in this paper can be widely applied in many engineering fields.

Automatic Detection of Breast Tumors in Sonoelastographic Images Using DWT

Breast Cancer is the most common malignancy in women and the second leading cause of death for women all over the world. Earlier the detection of cancer, better the treatment. The diagnosis and treatment of the cancer rely on segmentation of Sonoelastographic images. Texture features has not considered for Sonoelastographic segmentation. Sonoelastographic images of 15 patients containing both benign and malignant tumorsare considered for experimentation.The images are enhanced to remove noise in order to improve contrast and emphasize tumor boundary. It is then decomposed into sub-bands using single level Daubechies wavelets varying from single co-efficient to six coefficients. The Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM), Local Binary Pattern (LBP) features are extracted and then selected by ranking it using Sequential Floating Forward Selection (SFFS) technique from each sub-band. The resultant images undergo K-Means clustering and then few post-processing steps to remove the false spots. The tumor boundary is detected from the segmented image. It is proposed that Local Binary Pattern (LBP) from the vertical coefficients of Daubechies wavelet with two coefficients is best suited for segmentation of Sonoelastographic breast images among the wavelet members using one to six coefficients for decomposition. The results are also quantified with the help of an expert radiologist. The proposed work can be used for further diagnostic process to decide if the segmented tumor is benign or malignant.

The Digital Filing Cabinet–A GIS Based Management Solution Tool for the Land Surveyor and Engineer

This paper explains how the New Jersey Institute of Technology surveying student team members designed and created an interactive GIS map, the purpose of which is to be useful to the land surveyor and engineer for project management. This was achieved by building a research and storage database that can be easily integrated into any land surveyor’s current operations through the use of ArcGIS 10, Arc Catalog, and AutoCAD. This GIS database allows for visual representation and information querying for multiple job sites, and simple access to uploaded data, which is geospatially referenced to each individual job site or project. It can also be utilized by engineers to determine design criteria, or to store important files. This cost-effective approach to a surveying map not only saves time, but saves physical storage space and paper resources.

Some New Inequalities for Eigenvalues of the Hadamard Product and the Fan Product of Matrices

Let A and B be nonnegative matrices. A new upper bound on the spectral radius ρ(A◦B) is obtained. Meanwhile, a new lower bound on the smallest eigenvalue q(AB) for the Fan product, and a new lower bound on the minimum eigenvalue q(B ◦A−1) for the Hadamard product of B and A−1 of two nonsingular M-matrices A and B are given. Some results of comparison are also given in theory. To illustrate our results, numerical examples are considered.

How Stock Market Reacts to Guidance Revisions and Actual Earnings Surprises

According to the existing literature, companies manage analysts’ expectations of their future earnings by issuing pessimistic earnings guidance to meet the expectations. Consequently, one could expect that markets price this pessimistic bias in advance and penalize companies more for lowering the guidance than reward for beating the guidance. In this paper we confirm this empirically. In addition we show that although guidance revisions have a statistically significant relation to stock returns, that is not the case with the actual earnings surprise. Reason for this could be that, after the annual earnings report also information on future earnings power is given at the same time.

Investigating Performance of Numerical Distance Relay with Higher Order Antialiasing Filter

This paper investigates the impact on operating time delay and relay maloperation when 1st,2nd and 3rd order analog antialiasing filters are used in numerical distance protection. RC filter with cut-off frequency 90 Hz is used. Simulations are carried out for different SIR (Source to line Impedance Ratio), load, fault type and fault conditions using SIMULINK, where the voltage and current signals are fed online to the developed numerical distance relay model. Matlab is used for plotting the impedance trajectory. Investigation results shows that, about 75 % of the simulated cases, numerical distance relay operating time is not increased even-though there is a time delay when higher order filters are used. Relay maloperation (selectivity) also reduces (increases) when higher order filters are used in numerical distance protection.

A Special Algorithm to Approximate the Square Root of Positive Integer

The paper concerns a special approximate algorithm of the square root of the specific positive integer, which is built by the use of the property of positive integer solution of the Pell’s equation, together with using some elementary theorems of matrices, and then takes it to compare with general used the Newton’s method and give a practical numerical example and error analysis; it is unexpected to find its special property: the significant figure of the approximation value of the square root of positive integer will increase one digit by one. It is well useful in some occasions.

Feasibility of Risk Assessment for Type 2 Diabetes in Community Pharmacies Using Two Different Approaches: A Pilot Study in Thailand

Aims: To evaluate the application of non-invasive diabetes risk assessment tool in community pharmacy setting. Methods: Thai diabetes risk score was applied to assess individuals at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Interactive computer-based risk screening (IT) and paper-based risk screening (PT) tools were applied. Participants aged over 25 years with no known diabetes were recruited in six participating pharmacies. Results: A total of 187 clients, mean aged (+SD) was 48.6 (+10.9) years. 35% were at high risk. The mean value of willingness-to-pay for the service fee in IT group was significantly higher than PT group (p=0.013). No significant difference observed for the satisfaction between groups. Conclusions: Non-invasive risk assessment tool, whether paper-based or computerized-based can be applied in community pharmacy to support the enhancing role of pharmacists in chronic disease management. Long term follow up is needed to determine the impact of its application in clinical, humanistic and economic outcomes.

Robust Coherent Noise Suppression by Point Estimation of the Cauchy Location Parameter

This paper introduces a new point estimation algorithm, with particular focus on coherent noise suppression, given several measurements of the device under test where it is assumed that 1) the noise is first-order stationery and 2) the device under test is linear and time-invariant. The algorithm exploits the robustness of the Pitman estimator of the Cauchy location parameter through the initial scaling of the test signal by a centred Gaussian variable of predetermined variance. It is illustrated through mathematical derivations and simulation results that the proposed algorithm is more accurate and consistently robust to outliers for different tailed density functions than the conventional methods of sample mean (coherent averaging technique) and sample median search.

Real Time Acquisition and Psychoacoustic Analysis of Brain Wave

Psychoacoustics has become a potential area of research due to the growing interest of both laypersons and medical and mental health professionals. Non invasive brain computer interface like Electroencephalography (EEG) is widely being used in this field. An attempt has been made in this paper to examine the response of EEG signals to acoustic stimuli further analyzing the brain electrical activity. The real time EEG is acquired for 6 participants using a cost effective and portable EMOTIV EEG neuro headset. EEG data analysis is further done using EMOTIV test bench, EDF browser and EEGLAB (MATLAB Tool) application software platforms. Spectral analysis of acquired neural signals (AF3 channel) using these software platforms are clearly indicative of increased brain activity in various bands. The inferences drawn from such an analysis have significant correlation with subject’s subjective reporting of the experiences. The results suggest that the methodology adopted can further be used to assist patients with sleeping and depressive disorders.

Component Criticality Importance Measures in Thermal Power Plants Design

This paper presents quantitative component criticality importance indices applicable for identifying and ranking critical components in the phase of thermal power plants design. Identifying critical components for power plant reliability provides one important input to decision-making and guidance throughout the development project. The study of components criticality importance indices to several characteristic structural schemes of conventional thermal power plant is presented and discussed.