Abstract: Command and Control (C2) system and its interfacethe
Common Operational Picture (COP) are main means that
supports commander in its decision making process. COP contains
information about friendly and enemy unit positions. The friendly
position is gathered via tactical network. In the case of tactical
network failure the information about units are not available. The
tactical simulator can be used as a tool that is capable to predict
movements of units in respect of terrain features. Article deals with
an experiment that was based on Czech C2 system that is in the case
of connectivity lost fed by VR Forces simulator. Article analyzes
maximum time interval in which the position created by simulator is
still usable and truthful for commander in real time.
Abstract: To simulate expected climate change, we implemented a two-factor (temperature and soil moisture) field design in a forest in Ontario, Canada. To manipulate moisture input, we erected rain-exclusion structures. Under each structure, plots were watered with one of three treatments and thermally controlled with three heat treatments to simulate changes in air temperature and rainfall based on the climate model (GCM) predictions for the study area. Environmental conditions (including untreated controls) were monitored tracking air temperature, soil temperature, soil moisture, and photosynthetically active radiation. We measured rainfall and relative humidity at the site outside the rain-exclusion structures. Analyses of environmental conditions demonstrates that the temperature manipulation was most effective at maintaining target temperature during the early part of the growing season, but it was more difficult to keep the warmest treatment at 5º C above ambient by late summer. Target moisture regimes were generally achieved however incoming solar radiation was slightly attenuated by the structures.
Abstract: In the context of channel coding, the Generalized Belief Propagation (GBP) is an iterative algorithm used to recover the transmission bits sent through a noisy channel. To ensure a reliable transmission, we apply a map on the bits, that is called a code. This code induces artificial correlations between the bits to send, and it can be modeled by a graph whose nodes are the bits and the edges are the correlations. This graph, called Tanner graph, is used for most of the decoding algorithms like Belief Propagation or Gallager-B. The GBP is based on a non unic transformation of the Tanner graph into a so called region-graph. A clear advantage of the GBP over the other algorithms is the freedom in the construction of this graph. In this article, we explain a particular construction for specific graph topologies that involves relevant performance of the GBP. Moreover, we investigate the behavior of the GBP considered as a dynamic system in order to understand the way it evolves in terms of the time and in terms of the noise power of the channel. To this end we make use of classical measures and we introduce a new measure called the hyperspheres method that enables to know the size of the attractors.
Abstract: Lossless compression schemes with secure
transmission play a key role in telemedicine applications that helps in
accurate diagnosis and research. Traditional cryptographic algorithms
for data security are not fast enough to process vast amount of data.
Hence a novel Secured lossless compression approach proposed in
this paper is based on reversible integer wavelet transform, EZW
algorithm, new modified runlength coding for character
representation and selective bit scrambling. The use of the lifting
scheme allows generating truly lossless integer-to-integer wavelet
transforms. Images are compressed/decompressed by well-known
EZW algorithm. The proposed modified runlength coding greatly
improves the compression performance and also increases the
security level. This work employs scrambling method which is fast,
simple to implement and it provides security. Lossless compression
ratios and distortion performance of this proposed method are found
to be better than other lossless techniques.
Abstract: Response surface methodology was used for
quantitative investigation of water and solids transfer during osmotic
dehydration of beetroot in aqueous solution of salt. Effects of
temperature (25 – 45oC), processing time (30–150 min), salt
concentration (5–25%, w/w) and solution to sample ratio (5:1 – 25:1)
on osmotic dehydration of beetroot were estimated. Quadratic
regression equations describing the effects of these factors on the
water loss and solids gain were developed. It was found that effects
of temperature and salt concentrations were more significant on the
water loss than the effects of processing time and solution to sample
ratio. As for solids gain processing time and salt concentration were
the most significant factors. The osmotic dehydration process was
optimized for water loss, solute gain, and weight reduction. The
optimum conditions were found to be: temperature – 35oC,
processing time – 90 min, salt concentration – 14.31% and solution
to sample ratio 8.5:1. At these optimum values, water loss, solid gain
and weight reduction were found to be 30.86 (g/100 g initial sample),
9.43 (g/100 g initial sample) and 21.43 (g/100 g initial sample)
respectively.
Abstract: For many chemical and biological processes, the understanding of the mixing phenomenon and flow behavior in a stirred tank is of major importance. A three-dimensional numerical study was performed using the software Fluent, to study the flow field in a stirred tank with a Rushton turbine. In this work, we first studied the flow generated in the tank with a Rushton turbine. Then, we studied the effect of the variation of turbine’s submergence on the thermodynamic quantities defining the flow field. For that, four submergences were considered, while maintaining the same rotational speed (N =250rpm). This work intends to optimize the aeration performances of a Rushton turbine in a stirred tank.
Abstract: Truss spars are used for oil exploitation in deep and ultra-deep water if storage crude oil is not needed. The linear hydrodynamic analysis of truss spar in random sea wave load is necessary for determining the behaviour of truss spar. This understanding is not only important for design of the mooring lines, but also for optimising the truss spar design. In this paper linear hydrodynamic analysis of truss spar is carried out in frequency domain. The hydrodynamic forces are calculated using the modified Morison equation and diffraction theory. Added mass and drag coefficients of truss section computed by transmission matrix and normal acceleration and velocity component acting on each element and for hull section computed by strip theory. The stiffness properties of the truss spar can be separated into two components; hydrostatic stiffness and mooring line stiffness. Then, platform response amplitudes obtained by solved the equation of motion. This equation is non-linear due to viscous damping term therefore linearised by iteration method [1]. Finally computed RAOs and significant response amplitude and results are compared with experimental data.
Abstract: This paper will present the initial findings of a
research into distributed computer rendering. The goal of the
research is to create a distributed computer system capable of
rendering a 3D model into an MPEG-4 stream. This paper outlines
the initial design, software architecture and hardware setup for the
system.
Distributed computing means designing and implementing
programs that run on two or more interconnected computing systems.
Distributed computing is often used to speed up the rendering of
graphical imaging. Distributed computing systems are used to
generate images for movies, games and simulations.
A topic of interest is the application of distributed computing to
the MPEG-4 standard. During the course of the research, a
distributed system will be created that can render a 3D model into an
MPEG-4 stream. It is expected that applying distributed computing
principals will speed up rendering, thus improving the usefulness and
efficiency of the MPEG-4 standard
Abstract: A biophysically based multilayer continuum model of the facial soft tissue composite has been developed for simulating wrinkle formation. The deformed state of the soft tissue block was determined by solving large deformation mechanics equations using the Galerkin finite element method. The proposed soft tissue model is composed of four layers with distinct mechanical properties. These include stratum corneum, epidermal-dermal layer (living epidermis and dermis), subcutaneous tissue and the underlying muscle. All the layers were treated as non-linear, isotropic Mooney Rivlin materials. Contraction of muscle fibres was approximated using a steady-state relationship between the fibre extension ratio, intracellular calcium concentration and active stress in the fibre direction. Several variations of the model parameters (stiffness and thickness of epidermal-dermal layer, thickness of subcutaneous tissue layer) have been considered.
Abstract: The exhaustive quality control is becoming more and
more important when commercializing competitive products in the
world's globalized market. Taken this affirmation as an undeniable
truth, it becomes critical in certain sector markets that need to offer
the highest restrictions in quality terms. One of these examples is the
percussion cap mass production, a critical element assembled in
firearm ammunition. These elements, built in great quantities at a
very high speed, must achieve a minimum tolerance deviation in
their fabrication, due to their vital importance in firing the piece of
ammunition where they are built in. This paper outlines a machine
vision development for the 100% inspection of percussion caps
obtaining data from 2D and 3D simultaneous images. The acquisition
speed and precision of these images from a metallic reflective piece
as a percussion cap, the accuracy of the measures taken from these
images and the multiple fabrication errors detected make the main
findings of this work.
Abstract: Three dimensional simulations in tube in tube heat
exchangers are investigated numerically in this study. In these
simulations forced convective heat transfer and laminar flow of
single-phase water are considered. In order to measure heat transfer
parameters in these heat exchangers, FLUENT CFD Solver is used in
this numerical method. For the purpose of creating geometry and
exert boundary and initial conditions in the present model, finite
volume method in Computational Fluid Dynamics is used in this
study. In the present study, at each Z-location, variation of local
temperatures, heat flux and Nusselt number at the whole tube is
investigated in detail. Thereafter, averaged computational Nusselt
number in this model is calculated. In addition, conceivable pressure
drops have been obtained at each Z-location in this model. Then,
pressure drop values in the present model are explored. Finally, all
the numerical results for this kind of heat exchanger will be discussed
precisely.
Abstract: This paper presents a highly efficient algorithm for detecting and tracking humans and objects in video surveillance sequences. Mean shift clustering is applied on backgrounddifferenced image sequences. For efficiency, all calculations are performed on integral images. Novel corresponding exponential integral kernels are introduced to allow the application of nonuniform kernels for clustering, which dramatically increases robustness without giving up the efficiency of the integral data structures. Experimental results demonstrating the power of this approach are presented.
Abstract: Much has been written about the difficulties students
have with producing traditional dissertations. This includes both
native English speakers (L1) and students with English as a second
language (L2). The main emphasis of these papers has been on the
structure of the dissertation, but in all cases, even when electronic
versions are discussed, the dissertation is still in what most would
regard as a traditional written form.
Master of Science Degrees in computing disciplines require
students to gain technical proficiency and apply their knowledge to a
range of scenarios. The basis of this paper is that if a dissertation is a
means of showing that such a student has met the criteria for a pass,
which should be based on the learning outcomes of the dissertation
module, does meeting those outcomes require a student to
demonstrate their skills in a solely text based form, particularly in a
highly technical research project? Could it be possible for a student
to produce a series of related artifacts which form a cohesive package
that meets the learning out comes of the dissertation?
Abstract: Structural and UV/Visible optical properties can be
useful to describe a material for the CIGS solar cell active layer,
therefore, this work demonstrates the properties like surface
morphology, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) bonding
energy (EB) core level spectra, UV/Visible absorption spectra,
refractive index (n), optical energy band (Eg), reflection spectra for
the Cu25 (In16Ga9) Se40Te10 (CIGST-1) and Cu20 (In14Ga9) Se45Te12
(CIGST-2) chalcogenide compositions. Materials have been
exhibited homogenous surface morphologies, broading /-or diffusion
of bonding energy peaks relative elemental values and a high
UV/Visible absorption tendency in the wave length range 400 nm-
850 nm range with the optical energy band gaps 1.37 and 1.42
respectively. Subsequently, UV/Visible reflectivity property in the
wave length range 250 nm to 320 nm for these materials has also
been discussed.
Abstract: The urban centers within northeastern Brazil are
mainly influenced by the intense rainfalls, which can occur after long
periods of drought, when flood events can be observed during such
events. Thus, this paper aims to study the rainfall frequencies in such
region through the wavelet transform. An application of wavelet
analysis is done with long time series of the total monthly rainfall
amount at the capital cities of northeastern Brazil. The main
frequency components in the time series are studied by the global
wavelet spectrum and the modulation in separated periodicity bands
were done in order to extract additional information, e.g., the 8 and
16 months band was examined by an average of all scales, giving a
measure of the average annual variance versus time, where the
periods with low or high variance could be identified. The important
increases were identified in the average variance for some periods,
e.g. 1947 to 1952 at Teresina city, which can be considered as high
wet periods. Although, the precipitation in those sites showed similar
global wavelet spectra, the wavelet spectra revealed particular
features. This study can be considered an important tool for time
series analysis, which can help the studies concerning flood control,
mainly when they are applied together with rainfall-runoff
simulations.
Abstract: There are three main ways of categorizing capital in banking operations: accounting, regulatory and economic capital. However, the 2008-2009 global crisis has shown that none of these categories adequately reflects the real risks of bank operations, especially in light of the failures Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers or Northern Rock. This paper deals with the economic capital allocation of global banks. In theory, economic capital should reflect the real risks of a bank and should be publicly available. Yet, as discovered during the global financial crisis, even when economic capital information was publicly disclosed, the underlying assumptions rendered the information useless. Specifically, some global banks that reported relatively high levels of economic capital before the crisis went bankrupt or had to be bailed-out by their government. And, only 15 out of 50 global banks reported their economic capital during the 2007-2010 period. In this paper, we analyze the changes in reported bank economic capital disclosure during this period. We conclude that relative shares of credit and business risks increased in 2010 compared to 2007, while both operational and market risks decreased their shares on the total economic capital of top-rated global banks. Generally speaking, higher levels of disclosure and transparency of bank operations are required to obtain more confidence from stakeholders. Moreover, additional risks such as liquidity risks should be included in these disclosures.
Abstract: Classifying data hierarchically is an efficient approach
to analyze data. Data is usually classified into multiple categories, or
annotated with a set of labels. To analyze multi-labeled data, such
data must be specified by giving a set of labels as a semantic range.
There are some certain purposes to analyze data. This paper shows
which multi-labeled data should be the target to be analyzed for
those purposes, and discusses the role of a label against a set of
labels by investigating the change when a label is added to the set of
labels. These discussions give the methods for the advanced analysis
of multi-labeled data, which are based on the role of a label against
a semantic range.
Abstract: Minimization methods for training feed-forward networks with Backpropagation are compared. Feedforward network training is a special case of functional minimization, where no explicit model of the data is assumed. Therefore due to the high dimensionality of the data, linearization of the training problem through use of orthogonal basis functions is not desirable. The focus is functional minimization on any basis. A number of methods based on local gradient and Hessian matrices are discussed. Modifications of many methods of first and second order training methods are considered. Using share rates data, experimentally it is proved that Conjugate gradient and Quasi Newton?s methods outperformed the Gradient Descent methods. In case of the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm is of special interest in financial forecasting.
Abstract: An important problem in speech research is the automatic extraction of information about the shape and dimensions of the vocal tract during real-time speech production. We have previously developed Southampton dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (SDMRI) as an approach to the solution of this problem.However, the SDMRI images are very noisy so that shape extraction is a major challenge. In this paper, we address the problem of tongue shape extraction, which poses difficulties because this is a highly deforming non-parametric shape. We show that combining active shape models with the dynamic Hough transform allows the tongue shape to be reliably tracked in the image sequence.
Abstract: Transliteration is frequently used especially in writing geographic denominations, personal names (onyms) etc. Proper names (onyms) of all languages must sound similarly in translated works as well as in scientific projects and works written in mother tongue, because we can get introduced with the nation, its history, culture, traditions and other spiritual values through the onyms of that nation. Therefore it is necessary to systematize the different transliterations of onyms of foreign languages. This paper is dedicated to the problem of making the project of transliterating Kazakh onyms into Arabic. In order to achieve this goal we use scientific or practical types of transliteration. Because in this type of transliteration provides easy reading writing source language's texts in the target language without any diacritical symbols, it is limited by the target language's alphabetic system.