Abstract: The European countries that during the past two
decades based their exchange rate regimes on currency board
arrangement (CBA) are usually analysed from the perspective of
corner solution choice’s stabilisation effects. There is an open
discussion on the positive and negative background of a strict
exchange rate regime choice, although it should be seen as part of the
transition process towards the monetary union membership. The
focus of the paper is on the Baltic countries that after two decades of
a rigid exchange rate arrangement and strongly influenced by global
crisis are finishing their path towards the euro zone. Besides the
stabilising capacity, the CBA is highly vulnerable regime, with
limited developing potential. The rigidity of the exchange rate (and
monetary) system, despite the ensured credibility, do not leave
enough (or any) space for the adjustment and/or active crisis
management. Still, the Baltics are in a process of recovery, with fiscal
consolidation measures combined with (painful and politically
unpopular) measures of internal devaluation. Today, two of them
(Estonia and Latvia) are members of euro zone, fulfilling their
ultimate transition targets, but de facto exchanging one fixed regime
with another.
The paper analyses the challenges for the CBA in unstable
environment since the fixed regimes rely on imported stability and
are sensitive to external shocks. With limited monetary instruments,
these countries were oriented to the fiscal policies and used a
combination of internal devaluation and tax policy measures. Despite
their rather quick recovery, our second goal is to analyse the long
term influence that the measures had on the national economy.
Abstract: For high-speed control of robots, a good knowledge of system modelling is necessary to obtain the desired bandwidth. In this paper, we present a cartesian robot with a pan/tilt unit in end-effector (5 dof). This robot is implemented with powerful direct drive AC induction machines. The dynamic model, parameter identification and model validation of the robot are studied (including actuators). This work considers the cartesian robot coupled and non linear (contrary to normal considerations for this type of robots). The mechanical and control architecture proposed in this paper is efficient for industrial and research application in which high speed, well known model and very high accuracy are required.
Abstract: This paper reviews various approaches that have been
used for the modeling and simulation of large-scale engineering
systems and determines their appropriateness in the development of a
RICS modeling and simulation tool. Bond graphs, linear graphs,
block diagrams, differential and difference equations, modeling
languages, cellular automata and agents are reviewed. This tool
should be based on linear graph representation and supports symbolic
programming, functional programming, the development of noncausal
models and the incorporation of decentralized approaches.
Abstract: Wheeled Mobile Robots (WMRs) are built with their
Wheels- drive machine, Motors. Depend on their desire design of
WMR, Technicians made used of DC Motors for motion control. In
this paper, the author would like to analyze how to choose DC motor
to be balance with their applications of especially for WMR.
Specification of DC Motor that can be used with desire WMR is to
be determined by using MATLAB Simulink model. Therefore, this
paper is mainly focus on software application of MATLAB and
Control Technology. As the driving system of DC motor, a
Peripheral Interface Controller (PIC) based control system is
designed including the assembly software technology and H-bridge
control circuit. This Driving system is used to drive two DC gear
motors which are used to control the motion of WMR. In this
analyzing process, the author mainly focus the drive system on
driving two DC gear motors that will control with Differential Drive
technique to the Wheeled Mobile Robot . For the design analysis of
Motor Driving System, PIC16F84A is used and five inputs of sensors
detected data are tested with five ON/OFF switches. The outputs of
PIC are the commands to drive two DC gear motors, inputs of Hbridge
circuit .In this paper, Control techniques of PIC
microcontroller and H-bridge circuit, Mechanism assignments of
WMR are combined and analyzed by mainly focusing with the
“Modeling and Simulink of DC Motor using MATLAB".
Abstract: One of the most common practices for strengthening
the reinforced concrete structures is the application of FRP (Fiber
Reinforce Plastic) sheets to increase the flexural and shear strengths
of the member. The elastic modulus of FRP is considerably higher
than that of concrete. This will result in debonding between the FRP
sheets and concrete surface. With conventional surface preparation of
concrete, the ultimate capacity of the FRP sheets can hardly be
achieved. New methods for preparation of the bonding surface have
shown improvements in reducing the premature debonding of FRP
sheets from concrete surface. The present experimental study focuses
on the application of grooving method to postpone debonding of the
FRP sheets attached to the side faces of concrete beams for shear
strengthening. Comparison has also been made with conventional
surface preparation method. This study clearly shows the efficiency
of grooving method compared to surface preparation method, in
preventing the debonding phenomenon and in increasing the load
carrying capacity of FRP.
Abstract: Fast forecasting of stock market prices is very important for
strategic planning. In this paper, a new approach for fast forecasting of
stock market prices is presented. Such algorithm uses new high speed
time delay neural networks (HSTDNNs). The operation of these
networks relies on performing cross correlation in the frequency
domain between the input data and the input weights of neural
networks. It is proved mathematically and practically that the number
of computation steps required for the presented HSTDNNs is less
than that needed by traditional time delay neural networks
(TTDNNs). Simulation results using MATLAB confirm the
theoretical computations.
Abstract: In recent years, the research in wireless sensor
network has increased steadily, and many studies were focusing on
reducing energy consumption of sensor nodes to extend their lifetimes.
In this paper, the issue of energy consumption is investigated and two
adaptive mechanisms are proposed to extend the network lifetime.
This study uses high-energy-first scheme to determine cluster heads
for data transmission. Thus, energy consumption in each cluster is
balanced and network lifetime can be extended. In addition, this study
uses cluster merging and dynamic routing mechanisms to further
reduce energy consumption during data transmission. The simulation
results show that the proposed method can effectively extend the
lifetime of wireless sensor network, and it is suitable for different base
station locations.
Abstract: We consider optimal channel equalization for MIMO
(multi-input/multi-output) time-varying channels in the sense of
MMSE (minimum mean-squared-error), where the observation noise
can be non-stationary. We show that all ZF (zero-forcing) receivers
can be parameterized in an affine form which eliminates completely
the ISI (inter-symbol-interference), and optimal channel equalizers
can be designed through minimization of the MSE (mean-squarederror)
between the detected signals and the transmitted signals,
among all ZF receivers. We demonstrate that the optimal channel
equalizer is a modified Kalman filter, and show that under the AWGN
(additive white Gaussian noise) assumption, the proposed optimal
channel equalizer minimizes the BER (bit error rate) among all
possible ZF receivers. Our results are applicable to optimal channel
equalization for DWMT (discrete wavelet multitone), multirate transmultiplexers,
OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing),
and DS (direct sequence) CDMA (code division multiple access)
wireless data communication systems. A design algorithm for optimal
channel equalization is developed, and several simulation examples
are worked out to illustrate the proposed design algorithm.
Abstract: This paper describes studies carried out to investigate
the viability of using wireless cameras as a tool in monitoring
changes in air quality. A camera is used to monitor the change in
colour of a chemically responsive polymer within view of the camera
as it is exposed to varying chemical species concentration levels. The
camera captures this image and the colour change is analyzed by
averaging the RGB values present. This novel chemical sensing
approach is compared with an established chemical sensing method
using the same chemically responsive polymer coated onto LEDs. In
this way, the concentration levels of acetic acid in the air can be
tracked using both approaches. These approaches to chemical plume
tracking have many applications for air quality monitoring.
Abstract: Development of artificial neural network (ANN) for
prediction of aluminum workpieces' surface roughness in ultrasonicvibration
assisted turning (UAT) has been the subject of the present
study. Tool wear as the main cause of surface roughness was also
investigated. ANN was trained through experimental data obtained
on the basis of full factorial design of experiments. Various
influential machining parameters were taken into consideration. It
was illustrated that a multilayer perceptron neural network could
efficiently model the surface roughness as the response of the
network, with an error less than ten percent. The performance of the
trained network was verified by further experiments. The results of
UAT were compared with the results of conventional turning
experiments carried out with similar machining parameters except for
the vibration amplitude whence considerable reduction was observed
in the built-up edge and the surface roughness.
Abstract: Current systems for face recognition techniques often
use either SVM or Adaboost techniques for face detection part and use
PCA for face recognition part. In this paper, we offer a novel method
for not only a powerful face detection system based on
Six-segment-filters (SSR) and Adaboost learning algorithms but also
for a face recognition system. A new exclusive face detection
algorithm has been developed and connected with the recognition
algorithm. As a result of it, we obtained an overall high-system
performance compared with current systems. The proposed algorithm
was tested on CMU, FERET, UNIBE, MIT face databases and
significant performance has obtained.
Abstract: A reduced-bit multiplication algorithm based on the ancient Vedic multiplication formulae is proposed in this paper. Both the Vedic multiplication formulae, Urdhva tiryakbhyam and Nikhilam, are first discussed in detail. Urdhva tiryakbhyam, being a general multiplication formula, is equally applicable to all cases of multiplication. It is applied to the digital arithmetic and is shown to yield a multiplier architecture which is very similar to the popular array multiplier. Due to its structure, it leads to a high carry propagation delay in case of multiplication of large numbers. Nikhilam Sutra, on the other hand, is more efficient in the multiplication of large numbers as it reduces the multiplication of two large numbers to that of two smaller numbers. The framework of the proposed algorithm is taken from this Sutra and is further optimized by use of some general arithmetic operations such as expansion and bit-shifting to take advantage of bit-reduction in multiplication. We illustrate the proposed algorithm by reducing a general 4x4-bit multiplication to a single 2 x 2-bit multiplication operation.
Abstract: In this paper, a method for deriving a group priority vector in the Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) is proposed. By introducing importance weights of multiple decision makers (DMs) based on their experiences, the Fuzzy Preferences Programming Method (FPP) is extended to a fuzzy group prioritization problem in the FANP. Additionally, fuzzy pair-wise comparison judgments are presented rather than exact numerical assessments in order to model the uncertainty and imprecision in the DMs- judgments and then transform the fuzzy group prioritization problem into a fuzzy non-linear programming optimization problem which maximize the group satisfaction. Unlike the known fuzzy prioritization techniques, the new method proposed in this paper can easily derive crisp weights from incomplete and inconsistency fuzzy set of comparison judgments and does not require additional aggregation producers. Detailed numerical examples are used to illustrate the implement of our approach and compare with the latest fuzzy prioritization method.
Abstract: The changes in quality properties and nutritional
components in two fermented mugworts (Artemisia capillaries
Thumberg, Artemisiaeasiaticae Nakai) were characterized followed
by the rapid pattern analysis of volatile flavor compounds by Electric
Nose based on SAW(Surface Acoustic Wave) sensor in GC system.
There were remarkable decreases in the pH and small changes in the
total soluble solids after fermentation. The L (lightness) and b
(yellowness) values in Hunter's color system were shown to be
decreased, whilst the a (redness) value was increased by fermentation.
The HPLC analysis demonstrated that total amino acids were
increased in quantity and the essential amino acids were contained
higher in A. asiaticaeNakai than in A. capillaries Thumberg. While
the total polyphenol contents were not affected by fermentation, the
total sugar contents were dramatically decreased. Scopoletinwere
highly abundant in A. capillarisThumberg, however, it was not
detected in A. asiaticaeNakai. Volatile flavor compounds by Electric
Nose showed that the intensity of several peaks were increased much
and seven additional flavor peaks were newly produced after
fermentation. The flavor differences of two mugworts were clearly
distinguished from the image patterns of VaporPrintTM which indicate
that the fermentation enables the two mugworts to have subtle flavor
differences.
Abstract: A research effort to find the reality of the business of Japan-s software globalization of enterprise-level business software systems has found that while the number of Japan-made enterpriselevel software systems is comparable with those of the other G7 countries, the business is limited to the East and Southeast Asian markets. This indicates that this business has a problem in the European and USA markets. Based on the knowledge that the research has established, the research concludes that the communication problems arise from the lack of individualists' communication styles and foreign language skills in Japan's software globalization is compensated by similarities in certain Japanese cultural factors and Japan's cultural power in the East and Southeast Asian markets and that this business does not have this compensation factor in the European and American markets due to dissimilarities and no cultural power.
Abstract: The development of sustainable utilization water resources is crucial. The ecological environment and water resources systems form the foundation of the existence and development of the social economy. The urban ecological support system depends on these resources as well. This research studies the vulnerability, criticality, and risk of climate change on water supply and demand in the main administrative district of the Taijiang Area (Tainan City). Based on the two situations set in this paper and various factors (indexes), this research adopts two kinds of weights (equal and AHP) to conduct the calculation and establish the water supply and demand risk map for the target year 2039. According to the risk analysis result, which is based on equal weight, only one district belongs to a high-grade district (Grade 4). Based on the AHP weight, 16 districts belong to a high-grade or higher-grade district (Grades 4 and 5), and from among them, two districts belong to the highest grade (Grade 5). These results show that the risk level of water supply and demand in cities is higher than that in towns. The government generally gives more attention to the adjustment strategy in the “cities." However, it should also provide proper adjustment strategies for the “towns" to be able to cope with the risks of water supply and demand.
Abstract: There is increasing pressure on, and decline of
mopane woodlands due to increasing use and competition for
mopane resources in Zimbabwe in Namibia. Community management strategies, based largely on local knowledge are
evidently unable to cope. Research has generated potentially useful
information for mopane woodland management, but this information
has not been utilized. The work reported in this paper sought to add value to research work conducted on mopane woodlands by
developing effective community-based mopane woodland
management regimes that were based on both local and scientific
knowledge in Zimbabwe and Namibia. The conditions under which research findings were likely to be adopted for mopane woodland management by communities were investigated. The study was conducted at two sites each in Matobo and Omusati Districts in Zimbabwe and Namibia respectively. The mopane woodland
resources in the two study areas were assessed using scientific
ecological methods. A range of participatory methods was used to collect information on use of mopane woodland resources by communities, institutional arrangements governing access to and use
of these resources and to evaluate scientific knowledge for
applicability in local management regimes. Coppicing, thinning and
pollarding were the research generated management methods evaluated. Realities such as availability of woodland resources and
social roles and responsibilities influenced preferences for woodland
management interventions
Abstract: There are very complex communication systems, as
the multifunction radar, MFAR (Multi-Function Array Radar), where
functions are integrated all together, and simultaneously are
performed the classic functions of tracking and surveillance, as all
the functions related to the communication, countermeasures, and
calibration. All these functions are divided into the tasks to execute.
The task scheduler is a key element of the radar, since it does the
planning and distribution of energy and time resources to be shared
and used by all tasks. This paper presents schedulers based on the use
of multiple queue. Several schedulers have been designed and
studied, and it has been made a comparative analysis of different
performed schedulers. The tests and experiments have been done by
means of system software simulation. Finally a suitable set of radar
characteristics has been selected to evaluate the behavior of the task
scheduler working.
Abstract: This work presents a novel means of extracting fixedlength parameters from voice signals, such that words can be recognized
in linear time. The power and the zero crossing rate are first
calculated segment by segment from a voice signal; by doing so, two
feature sequences are generated. We then construct an FIR system
across these two sequences. The parameters of this FIR system, used
as the input of a multilayer proceptron recognizer, can be derived by
recursive LSE (least-square estimation), implying that the complexity of overall process is linear to the signal size. In the second part of
this work, we introduce a weighting factor λ to emphasize recent
input; therefore, we can further recognize continuous speech signals.
Experiments employ the voice signals of numbers, from zero to nine, spoken in Mandarin Chinese. The proposed method is verified to
recognize voice signals efficiently and accurately.
Abstract: The main problem is that there is a very low innovation performance in Latvia. Since Latvia is a Member State of European Union, it also shall have to fulfill the set targets and to improve innovative results.Universities are one of the main performers to provide innovative capacity of country. University, industry and government need to cooperate for getting best results.The intellectual property is one of the indicators to determine innovation level in the country or organization, and patents are one of the characteristics of intellectual property.The objective of the article is to determine indicators characterizing innovative environment in Latvia and influence of the development of universities on them.The methods that will be used in the article to achieve the objectives are quantitative and qualitative analysis of the literature, statistical data analysis and graphical analysis methods.