Abstract: In this paper, we present a comparative study of three
methods of 2D face recognition system such as: Iso-Geodesic Curves
(IGC), Geodesic Distance (GD) and Geodesic-Intensity Histogram
(GIH). These approaches are based on computing of geodesic
distance between points of facial surface and between facial curves.
In this study we represented the image at gray level as a 2D surface in
a 3D space, with the third coordinate proportional to the intensity
values of pixels. In the classifying step, we use: Neural Networks
(NN), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) and Support Vector Machines
(SVM). The images used in our experiments are from two wellknown
databases of face images ORL and YaleB. ORL data base was
used to evaluate the performance of methods under conditions where
the pose and sample size are varied, and the database YaleB was used
to examine the performance of the systems when the facial
expressions and lighting are varied.
Abstract: The effect of molybdate addition to chloride
environment on resistance of AISI 316Ti stainless steel to pitting
corrosion was studied. Potentiodynamic polarisation tests were
performed in 1 M and 0.1 M chloride acidified solutions with various
additions of sodium molybdate at room temperature. The presented
results compare the effect of molybdate anions on quality of passive
film (expressed by the pitting potential) in both chloride solutions.
The pitting potential increases with the increase inhibitor
concentration. The inhibitive effect of molybdate ions is stronger in
chloride solution of lower aggressiveness (0.1M).
Abstract: Ocean current is always available around the
surrounding of SHELL Sabah Water Platform and data are collected
every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day, for a period of 365 days. Due to
low current speed, conventional hydrokinetic power generation is not
feasible, thus leading to the study of low current enabled vortex
induced vibration power generation application. In this case, the
design of a vortex induced vibration application is studied to obtain
an optimum design for the VIV oscillator. Power output is then
determined to study the feasibility of the VIV application in low
current condition.
Abstract: Asphalt concrete pavements have a short life cycle,
failing mainly due to temperature changes, traffic loading and ageing.
Modified asphalt mixtures provide the technology to produce a
bituminous binder with improved viscoelastic properties, which
remain in balance over a wider temperature range and loading
conditions. In this research, 60/70 penetration grade asphalt binder
was modified by adding 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 percent by weight of asphalt
binder following the wet process and the mineral aggregate was
modified by adding 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 percent crumb rubber by volume
of the mineral aggregate following the dry process. The LDPE
modified asphalt binder rheological properties were evaluated. The
laboratory results showed an increase in viscosity, softening point
and stiffness of the binder. The modified asphalt was then used in
preparing asphalt mixtures by Marshall Mix design procedure. The
Marshall Stability values for mixes containing 2% crumb rubber and
4% LDPE were found to be 30% higher than the conventional asphalt
concrete mix.
Abstract: Health of a person plays a vital role in the collective
health of his community and hence the well-being of the society as a
whole. But, in today’s fast paced technology driven world, health
issues are increasingly being associated with human behaviors – their
lifestyle. Social networks have tremendous impact on the health
behavior of individuals. Many researchers have used social network
analysis to understand human behavior that implicates their social
and economic environments. It would be interesting to use a similar
analysis to understand human behaviors that have health
implications. This paper focuses on concepts of those behavioural
analyses that have health implications using social networks analysis
and provides possible algorithmic approaches. The results of these
approaches can be used by the governing authorities for rolling out
health plans, benefits and take preventive measures, while the
pharmaceutical companies can target specific markets, helping health
insurance companies to better model their insurance plans.
Abstract: The work reported through this paper is an
experimental work conducted on High Performance Concrete (HPC)
with super plasticizer with the aim to develop some models suitable
for prediction of compressive strength of HPC mixes. In this study,
the effect of varying proportions of fly ash (0% to 50% @ 10%
increment) on compressive strength of high performance concrete has
been evaluated. The mix designs studied were M30, M40 and M50 to
compare the effect of fly ash addition on the properties of these
concrete mixes. In all eighteen concrete mixes that have been
designed, three were conventional concretes for three grades under
discussion and fifteen were HPC with fly ash with varying
percentages of fly ash. The concrete mix designing has been done in
accordance with Indian standard recommended guidelines. All the
concrete mixes have been studied in terms of compressive strength at
7 days, 28 days, 90 days, and 365 days. All the materials used have
been kept same throughout the study to get a perfect comparison of
values of results. The models for compressive strength prediction
have been developed using Linear Regression method (LR), Artificial
Neural Network (ANN) and Leave-One-Out Validation (LOOV)
methods.
Abstract: Students of Higher Education Technical School of
Professional Studies in Novi Sad follow the subject ‘Maintenance of
Electric Power Equipment’ at the Electrotechnical Department. This
paper presents educational plan and program of the subject
Maintenance of Electric Power Equipment. The course deals with the
problems of preventive and investing maintenance of transformer
stations (TS), performing and maintenance of grounding of TS and
pillars, as well as tracing and detection the location of the cables
failure. There is a special elaborated subject concerning the safe work
conditions for the electrician during network maintenance, as well as
the basics of making and keeping technical documentation of the
equipment.
Abstract: The main issue in designing a wireless sensor network
(WSN) is the finding of a proper routing protocol that complies with
the several requirements of high reliability, short latency, scalability,
low power consumption, and many others. This paper proposes a
novel routing algorithm that complies with these design
requirements. The new routing protocol divides the WSN into several subnetworks
and each sub-network is divided into several clusters. This
division is designed to reduce the number of radio transmission and
hence decreases the power consumption. The network division may
be changed dynamically to adapt with the network changes and
allows the realization of the design requirements.
Abstract: Food supply chain is one of the most complex supply
chain networks due to its perishable nature and customer oriented
products, and food safety is the major concern for this industry. IT
system could help to minimize the production and consumption of
unsafe food by controlling and monitoring the entire system.
However, there have been many issues in adoption of IT system in
this industry specifically within SMEs sector. With this regard, this
study presents a novel approach to use IT and tractability systems in
the food supply chain, using application of RFID and central
database.
Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of resource allocation
in the emerging cognitive technology. Focusing the Quality of
Service (QoS) of Primary Users (PU), a novel method is proposed for
the resource allocation of Secondary Users (SU). In this paper, we
propose the unique Utility Function in the game theoretic model of
Cognitive Radio which can be maximized to increase the capacity of
the Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) and to minimize the
interference scenario. Utility function is formulated to cater the need
of PUs by observing Signal to Noise ratio. Existence of Nash
Equilibrium for the postulated game is established.
Abstract: The shielding ability of a shielding cavity with an
aperture will be greatly degraded at resonance frequencies, and the
resonance modes and frequencies are affected by aperture resonances
and aperture-cavity coupling, which are closely related with aperture
sizes. The equivalent circuit method and numerical method of
Transmission Line Matrix (TLM) are used to analyze the effects of
aperture resonances and aperture-cavity coupling on the
electromagnetic resonances of a cavity with an aperture in this paper.
Both analytical and numerical results show that the resonance modes
of a shielding cavity with an aperture consist of cavity resonance
modes and aperture resonance modes, and the resonance frequencies
will shift with the change of the aperture sizes because of the aperture
resonances and aperture-cavity coupling. Variation rules of
electromagnetic resonances with aperture sizes for a cavity with an
aperture are given, which will be useful for design of shielding
cavities.
Abstract: Predicting earnings management is vital for the capital
market participants, financial analysts and managers. The aim of this
research is attempting to respond to this query: Is there a significant
difference between the regression model and neural networks’
models in predicting earnings management, and which one leads to a
superior prediction of it? In approaching this question, a Linear
Regression (LR) model was compared with two neural networks
including Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), and Generalized
Regression Neural Network (GRNN). The population of this study
includes 94 listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE)
market from 2003 to 2011. After the results of all models were
acquired, ANOVA was exerted to test the hypotheses. In general, the
summary of statistical results showed that the precision of GRNN did
not exhibit a significant difference in comparison with MLP. In
addition, the mean square error of the MLP and GRNN showed a
significant difference with the multi variable LR model. These
findings support the notion of nonlinear behavior of the earnings
management. Therefore, it is more appropriate for capital market
participants to analyze earnings management based upon neural
networks techniques, and not to adopt linear regression models.
Abstract: In recent years, new techniques for solving complex
problems in engineering are proposed. One of these techniques is
JPSO algorithm. With innovative changes in the nature of the jump
algorithm JPSO, it is possible to construct a graph-based solution
with a new algorithm called G-JPSO. In this paper, a new algorithm
to solve the optimal control problem Fletcher-Powell and optimal
control of pumps in water distribution network was evaluated.
Optimal control of pumps comprise of optimum timetable operation
(status on and off) for each of the pumps at the desired time interval.
Maximum number of status on and off for each pumps imposed to the
objective function as another constraint. To determine the optimal
operation of pumps, a model-based optimization-simulation
algorithm was developed based on G-JPSO and JPSO algorithms.
The proposed algorithm results were compared well with the ant
colony algorithm, genetic and JPSO results. This shows the
robustness of proposed algorithm in finding near optimum solutions
with reasonable computational cost.
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel heuristic algorithm that aims to determine the best size and location of distributed generators in unbalanced distribution networks. The proposed heuristic algorithm can deal with the planning cases where power loss is to be optimized without violating the system practical constraints. The distributed generation units in the proposed algorithm is modeled as voltage controlled node with the flexibility to be converted to constant power factor node in case of reactive power limit violation. The proposed algorithm is implemented in MATLAB and tested on the IEEE 37 -node feeder. The results obtained show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Abstract: This paper presents a speed estimation scheme based
on second-order sliding-mode Super Twisting Algorithm (STA) and
Model Reference Adaptive System (MRAS) estimation theory for
Sensorless control of multiphase induction machine. A stator current
observer is designed based on the STA, which is utilized to take the
place of the reference voltage model of the standard MRAS
algorithm. The observer is insensitive to the variation of rotor
resistance and magnetizing inductance when the states arrive at the
sliding mode. Derivatives of rotor flux are obtained and designed as
the state of MRAS, thus eliminating the integration. Compared with
the first-order sliding-mode speed estimator, the proposed scheme
makes full use of the auxiliary sliding-mode surface, thus alleviating
the chattering behavior without increasing the complexity. Simulation
results show the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed
scheme.
Abstract: Three purified diets were formulated using fish meal,
soya bean, wheat flour, palm oil, minerals and maltose. The
carbohydrate in the diets was increased from 5 to 15% by changing
the cellulose content to study the effect of dietary carbohydrate level
on the growth parameters of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. The
protein and the lipid contents were kept constant in all the diets. The
results showed that, weight gain, protein efficiency ratio, net protein
utilisation and hepatosomatic index of fish fed the diet containing
15% cellulose were the lowest among all groups. Addition, the fish
fed the diet containing 5% cellulose had the best specific growth rate,
and food conversion ratio. While, there was no effect of the dietary
cellulose levels on condition factor and survival rate. These results
indicate that Nile tilapia fingerlings are able to utilize dietary
cellulose does not exceed 10% in their feed for optimum growth.
Abstract: Analyzing the relation networks between the hospital
buildings which have complex structure and distinctive spatial
relationships is quite difficult. The hospital buildings which require
specialty in spatial relationship solutions during design and selfinnovation
through the developing technology should survive and
keep giving service even after the disasters such as earthquakes. In
this study, a hospital building where the load-bearing system was
strengthened because of the insufficient earthquake performance and
the construction of an additional building was required to meet the
increasing need for space was discussed and a comparative spatial
evaluation of the hospital building was made with regard to its status
before the change and after the change. For this reason, spatial
organizations of the building before change and after the change were
analyzed by means of Space Syntax method and the effects of the
change on space organization parameters were searched by applying
an analytical procedure. Using Depthmap UCL software,
Connectivity, Visual Mean Depth, Beta and Visual Integration
analyses were conducted. Based on the data obtained after the
analyses, it was seen that the relationships between spaces of the
building increased after the change and the building has become more
explicit and understandable for the occupants. Furthermore, it was
determined according to findings of the analysis that the increase in
depth causes difficulty in perceiving the spaces and the changes
considering this problem generally ease spatial use.
Abstract: Evolution strategy (ES) is a well-known instance of evolutionary algorithms, and there have been many studies on ES. In this paper, the author proposes an extended ES for solving fuzzy-valued optimization problems. In the proposed ES, genotype values are not real numbers but fuzzy numbers. Evolutionary processes in the ES are extended so that it can handle genotype instances with fuzzy numbers. In this study, the proposed method is experimentally applied to the evolution of neural networks with fuzzy weights and biases. Results reveal that fuzzy neural networks evolved using the proposed ES with fuzzy genotype values can model hidden target fuzzy functions even though no training data are explicitly provided. Next, the proposed method is evaluated in terms of variations in specifying fuzzy numbers as genotype values. One of the mostly adopted fuzzy numbers is a symmetric triangular one that can be specified by its lower and upper bounds (LU) or its center and width (CW). Experimental results revealed that the LU model contributed better to the fuzzy ES than the CW model, which indicates that the LU model should be adopted in future applications of the proposed method.
Abstract: This paper studied the flow shop scheduling problem under machine availability constraints. The machines are subject to flexible preventive maintenance activities. The nonresumable scenario for the jobs was considered. That is, when a job is interrupted by an unavailability period of a machine it should be restarted from the beginning. The objective is to minimize the total tardiness time for the jobs and the advance/tardiness for the maintenance activities. To solve the problem, a genetic algorithm was developed and successfully tested and validated on many problem instances. The computational results showed that the new genetic algorithm outperforms another earlier proposed algorithm.
Abstract: The Portuguese footwear industry had in the last five years a remarkable performance in the exportation values, the trade balance and others economic indicators. After a long period of difficulties and with a strong reduction of companies and employees since 1994 until 2009, the Portuguese footwear industry changed the strategy and is now a success case between the international players of footwear. Only the Italian industry sells footwear with a higher value than the Portuguese and the distance between them is decreasing year by year. This paper analyses how the Portuguese footwear companies innovate and make innovation, according the classification proposed by the Oslo Manual. Also, analyses the strategy follow in the innovation process and shows the linkage between the type of innovation and the strategy of innovation. The research methodology was qualitative and the strategy for data collection was the case study. The qualitative data will be analyzed with the MAXQDA software. The economic results of the footwear companies studied shows differences between all of them and these differences are related with the innovation strategy adopted. The companies focused in product and marketing innovation, oriented to their target market, have higher ratios “turnover per worker” than the companies focused in process innovation. However, all the footwear companies in this “low-tech” industry create value and contribute to a positive foreign trade of 1.310 million euros in 2013. The growth strategies implemented has the participation of the sectorial organizations in several innovative projects. And it’s obvious that cooperation between all of them is a critical element to the performance achieved by the companies and the innovation observed. The Portuguese footwear sector has in the last years an excellent performance (economic results, exportation values, trade balance, brands and international image) and his performance is strongly related with the strategy in innovation followed, the type of innovation and the networks in the cluster. A simplified model, called “Ace of Diamonds”, is proposed by the authors and explains the way how this performance was reached by the seven companies that participate in the study (two of them are the leaders in the setor), and if this model can be used in others traditional and “low-tech” industries.