Swarm Intelligence based Optimal Linear Phase FIR High Pass Filter Design using Particle Swarm Optimization with Constriction Factor and Inertia Weight Approach

In this paper, an optimal design of linear phase digital high pass finite impulse response (FIR) filter using Particle Swarm Optimization with Constriction Factor and Inertia Weight Approach (PSO-CFIWA) has been presented. In the design process, the filter length, pass band and stop band frequencies, feasible pass band and stop band ripple sizes are specified. FIR filter design is a multi-modal optimization problem. The conventional gradient based optimization techniques are not efficient for digital filter design. Given the filter specifications to be realized, the PSO-CFIWA algorithm generates a set of optimal filter coefficients and tries to meet the ideal frequency response characteristic. In this paper, for the given problem, the designs of the optimal FIR high pass filters of different orders have been performed. The simulation results have been compared to those obtained by the well accepted algorithms such as Parks and McClellan algorithm (PM), genetic algorithm (GA). The results justify that the proposed optimal filter design approach using PSOCFIWA outperforms PM and GA, not only in the accuracy of the designed filter but also in the convergence speed and solution quality.

Simulation of Tracking Time Delay Algorithm using Mathcad Package

This paper deals with tracking and estimating time delay between two signals. The simulation of this algorithm accomplished by using Mathcad package is carried out. The algorithm we will present adaptively controls and tracking the delay, so as to minimize the mean square of this error. Thus the algorithm in this case has task not only of seeking the minimum point of error but also of tracking the change of position, leading to a significant improving of performance. The flowchart of the algorithm is presented as well as several tests of different cases are carried out.

Re-Engineering the Human: New Reproductive Technologies and the Specter of Frankenstein

The virulent debates that have dogged research on, and the diffusion of, a wide range of technologies indicate a growing loss of confidence in what we might call, the techno-scientific endeavour to reshape the world. Utopian images of a world rendered ever more amenable to human desires are now closely shadowed by just as compelling dystopian visions of monstrosity and disaster that are nevertheless constructed from the same cultural material. The paper uses the case of the debates over developments in reproductive technology to offer some observations on the ways in which such technologies routinely become enmirred in cultural ambivalence.

A Fuzzy Dynamic Load Balancing Algorithm for Homogenous Distributed Systems

Load balancing in distributed computer systems is the process of redistributing the work load among processors in the system to improve system performance. Most of previous research in using fuzzy logic for the purpose of load balancing has only concentrated in utilizing fuzzy logic concepts in describing processors load and tasks execution length. The responsibility of the fuzzy-based load balancing process itself, however, has not been discussed and in most reported work is assumed to be performed in a distributed fashion by all nodes in the network. This paper proposes a new fuzzy dynamic load balancing algorithm for homogenous distributed systems. The proposed algorithm utilizes fuzzy logic in dealing with inaccurate load information, making load distribution decisions, and maintaining overall system stability. In terms of control, we propose a new approach that specifies how, when, and by which node the load balancing is implemented. Our approach is called Centralized-But-Distributed (CBD).

Sentiment Analysis: Popularity of Candidates for the President of the United States

This article deals with the popularity of candidates for the president of the United States of America. The popularity is assessed according to public comments on the Web 2.0. Social networking, blogging and online forums (collectively Web 2.0) are for common Internet users the easiest way to share their personal opinions, thoughts, and ideas with the entire world. However, the web content diversity, variety of technologies and website structure differences, all of these make the Web 2.0 a network of heterogeneous data, where things are difficult to find for common users. The introductory part of the article describes methodology for gathering and processing data from Web 2.0. The next part of the article is focused on the evaluation and content analysis of obtained information, which write about presidential candidates.

A Socio-Ecological Study of Sacred Groves and Memorial Parks: Cases from USA and India

The concept of sacred and nature have long been interlinked. Various cultural aspects such as religion, faith, traditions bring people closer to nature and the natural environment. Memorial Parks and Sacred Groves are examples of two such cultural landscapes that exist today. The project mainly deals with the significance of such sites to the environment and the deep rooted significance it has to the people. These parks and groves play an important role in biodiversity conservation and environmental protection. There are many differences between the establishment of memorial parks and sacred groves, but the underlying significance is the same. Sentiments, emotions play an important role in landscape planning and management. Hence the people and communities living at these sites need to be involved in any planning activity or decisions. The conservation of the environment should appeal to the sentiments of the people; the need to be 'with nature' should be used in the setting up of memorial forests and in the preservation of sacred groves.

Analysis of Take-off Phase of Somersaults with Twisting along the Longitudinal Body Axis

The contribution deals with problem of take-off phase of back somersault with twisting with various numbers of twists along longitudinal body axis. The aim was to evaluate the changes in angles during transition phase from back handspring to back somersault using 3D kinematic analysis of the somersaults. We used Simi Motion System for the 3D kinematic analysis of the observed gymnastic element performed by Czech Republic female representative and 2008 Summer Olympic Games participant. The results showed that the higher the number of twists, the smaller the touchdown angle in which the gymnasts lands on the pad in the beginning of take-off phase. In back somersault with one twist (180°) the average angle is 54°, in 1080° back somersault the average angle is 45.9°. These results may help to improve technical training of sports gymnasts.

Application of a Novel Audio Compression Scheme in Automatic Music Recommendation, Digital Rights Management and Audio Fingerprinting

Rapid progress in audio compression technology has contributed to the explosive growth of music available in digital form today. In a reversal of ideas, this work makes use of a recently proposed efficient audio compression scheme to develop three important applications in the context of Music Information Retrieval (MIR) for the effective manipulation of large music databases, namely automatic music recommendation (AMR), digital rights management (DRM) and audio finger-printing for song identification. The performance of these three applications has been evaluated with respect to a database of songs collected from a diverse set of genres.

Navigation of Multiple Mobile Robots using Rule-based-Neuro-Fuzzy Technique

This paper deals with motion planning of multiple mobile robots. Mobile robots working together to achieve several objectives have many advantages over single robot system. However, the planning and coordination between the mobile robots is extremely difficult. In the present investigation rule-based and rulebased- neuro-fuzzy techniques are analyzed for multiple mobile robots navigation in an unknown or partially known environment. The final aims of the robots are to reach some pre-defined goals. Based upon a reference motion, direction; distances between the robots and obstacles; and distances between the robots and targets; different types of rules are taken heuristically and refined later to find the steering angle. The control system combines a repelling influence related to the distance between robots and nearby obstacles and with an attracting influence between the robots and targets. Then a hybrid rule-based-neuro-fuzzy technique is analysed to find the steering angle of the robots. Simulation results show that the proposed rulebased- neuro-fuzzy technique can improve navigation performance in complex and unknown environments compared to this simple rulebased technique.

Anticipating Action Decisions of Automated Guided Vehicle in an Autonomous Decentralized Flexible Manufacturing System

Nowadays the market for industrial companies is becoming more and more globalized and highly competitive, forcing them to shorten the duration of the manufacturing system development time in order to reduce the time to market. In order to achieve this target, the hierarchical systems used in previous manufacturing systems are not enough because they cannot deal effectively with unexpected situations. To achieve flexibility in manufacturing systems, the concept of an Autonomous Decentralized Flexible Manufacturing System (AD-FMS) is useful. In this paper, we introduce a hypothetical reasoning based algorithm called the Algorithm for Future Anticipative Reasoning (AFAR) which is able to decide on a conceivable next action of an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) that works autonomously in the AD-FMS.

Effects of Drought on Microbial Activity in Rhizosphere, Soil Hydrophobicity and Leaching of Mineral Nitrogen from Arable Soil Depending on Method of Fertilization

This work presents the first results from the long-term laboratory experiment dealing with impact of drought on soil properties. Three groups of the treatment (A, B and C) with different regime of irrigation were prepared. The soil water content was maintained at 70 % of soil water holding capacity in group A, at 40 % in group B. In group C, soil water regime was maintained in the range of wilting point. Each group of the experiment was divided into three variants (A1 = B1, C1; A2 = B2, C2 etc.) with three repetitions: Variants A1 (B1, C1) were a controls without addition of another fertilizer. Variants A2 (B2, C2) were fertilized with mineral nitrogen fertilizer DAM 390 (0.140 Mg of N per ha) and variants A3 (B3, C3) contained 45 g of Cp per a pot. The significant differences (ANOVA, P

Environmental Friendly Polyurethane Coatings Based On Hyperbranched Resin

Water borne polyurethane (PU) based on newly prepared hyperbranched poly (amine-ester) (HBPAE) was applied and evaluated as organic coating material. HBPAE was prepared through one-pot synthesis between trimethylol propane as a core and AB2 branched monomer which was obtained via Michal addition of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and diethanol amine (DEA). PU was prepared from HBPAE using different ratios of toluene diisocyanate (TDI) to form cured coating film. The prepared HBPAE was characterized using; GPC, FT-IR and 1H-NMR. The mechanical properties (impact, hardness, adhesion, and flexibility), thermal properties (DSC and TGA) and chemical resistance of the applied film were estimated. The results indicated 50% of TDI is the selected ratio. This formulation represents a promising candidate to be used as coating material.

Using the OWA Operator in the Minkowski Distance

We study different types of aggregation operators such as the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator and the generalized OWA (GOWA) operator. We analyze the use of OWA operators in the Minkowski distance. We will call these new distance aggregation operator the Minkowski ordered weighted averaging distance (MOWAD) operator. We give a general overview of this type of generalization and study some of their main properties. We also analyze a wide range of particular cases found in this generalization such as the ordered weighted averaging distance (OWAD) operator, the Euclidean ordered weighted averaging distance (EOWAD) operator, the normalized Minkowski distance, etc. Finally, we give an illustrative example of the new approach where we can see the different results obtained by using different aggregation operators.

A Novel Approach to Handle Uncertainty in Health System Variables for Hospital Admissions

Hospital staff and managers are under pressure and concerned for effective use and management of scarce resources. The hospital admissions require many decisions that have complex and uncertain consequences for hospital resource utilization and patient flow. It is challenging to predict risk of admissions and length of stay of a patient due to their vague nature. There is no method to capture the vague definition of admission of a patient. Also, current methods and tools used to predict patients at risk of admission fail to deal with uncertainty in unplanned admission, LOS, patients- characteristics. The main objective of this paper is to deal with uncertainty in health system variables, and handles uncertain relationship among variables. An introduction of machine learning techniques along with statistical methods like Regression methods can be a proposed solution approach to handle uncertainty in health system variables. A model that adapts fuzzy methods to handle uncertain data and uncertain relationships can be an efficient solution to capture the vague definition of admission of a patient.

Fin Spacing Effect of the Tube Fin Heat Exchanger at the Floor Heating Convector

This article deals with numerical simulation of the floor heating convector in 3D. Numerical simulation is focused on cooling mode of the floor heating convector. Geometrical model represents section of the heat exchanger – two fins with the gap between, pipes are not involved. Two types of fin are examined – sinusoidal and angular shape with different fin spacing. Results of fin spacing in case of constant Reynolds number are presented. For the numerical simulation was used commercial software Ansys Fluent.

The Key Challenges of the New Bank Regulations

The New Basel Capital Accord (Basel II) influences how financial institutions around the world, and especially European Union institutions, determine the amount of capital to reserve. However, as the recent global crisis has shown, the revision of Basel II is needed to reflect current trends, such as increased volatility and correlation, in the world financial markets. The overall objective of Basel II is to increase the safety and soundness of the international financial system. Basel II builds on three main pillars: Pillar I deals with the minimum capital requirements for credit, market and operational risk, Pillar II focuses on the supervisory review process and finally Pillar III promotes market discipline through enhanced disclosure requirements for banks. The aim of this paper is to provide the historical background, key features and impact of Basel II on financial markets. Moreover, we discuss new proposals for international bank regulation (sometimes referred to as Basel III) which include requirements for higher quality, constituency and transparency of banks' capital and risk management, regulation of OTC markets and introduction of new liquidity standards for internationally active banks.

Intuitionistic Fuzzy Dual Positive Implicative Hyper K- Ideals

In this note first we define the notions of intuitionistic fuzzy dual positive implicative hyper K-ideals of types 1,2,3,4 and intuitionistic fuzzy dual hyper K-ideals. Then we give some classifications about these notions according to the level subsets. Also by given some examples we show that these notions are not equivalent, however we prove some theorems which show that there are some relationships between these notions. Finally we define the notions of product and antiproduct of two fuzzy subsets and then give some theorems about the relationships between the intuitionistic fuzzy dual positive implicative hyper K-ideal of types 1,2,3,4 and their (anti-)products, in particular we give a main decomposition theorem.

Prime(Semiprime) Fuzzy h-ideal in Γ-hemiring

The notions of prime(semiprime) fuzzy h-ideal(h-biideal, h-quasi-ideal) in Γ-hemiring are introduced and some of their characterizations are obtained by using "belongingness(∈)" and "quasi - coincidence(q)". Cartesian product of prime(semiprime) fuzzy h-ideals of Γ-hemirings are also investigated.

Transmitter Macrodiversity in Multihopping- SFN Based Algorithm for Improved Node Reachability and Robust Routing

A novel idea presented in this paper is to combine multihop routing with single-frequency networks (SFNs) for a broadcasting scenario. An SFN is a set of multiple nodes that transmit the same data simultaneously, resulting in transmitter macrodiversity. Two of the most important performance factors of multihop networks, node reachability and routing robustness, are analyzed. Simulation results show that our proposed SFN-D routing algorithm improves the node reachability by 37 percentage points as compared to non-SFN multihop routing. It shows a diversity gain of 3.7 dB, meaning that 3.7 dB lower transmission powers are required for the same reachability. Even better results are possible for larger networks. If an important node becomes inactive, this algorithm can find new routes that a non-SFN scheme would not be able to find. Thus, two of the major problems in multihopping are addressed; achieving robust routing as well as improving node reachability or reducing transmission power.

Computing SAGB-Gröbner Basis of Ideals of Invariant Rings by Using Gaussian Elimination

The link between Gröbner basis and linear algebra was described by Lazard [4,5] where he realized the Gr┬¿obner basis computation could be archived by applying Gaussian elimination over Macaulay-s matrix . In this paper, we indicate how same technique may be used to SAGBI- Gröbner basis computations in invariant rings.