Abstract: This paper presents the concept and realisation of an
e-learning tool that provides predefined or automatically generated
exercises concerning logistics cost accounting. Students may practise
where and whenever they like to via the Internet. Their solutions are
marked automatically by the tool while considering consecutive
faults and without any intervention of lecturers.
Abstract: Social networking is one of the most successful and popular tools to emerge from the Web 2.0 era. However, the increased interconnectivity and access to peoples- personal lives and information has created a plethora of opportunities for the nefarious side of human nature to manifest. This paper categorizes and describes the major types of anti-social behavior and criminal activity that can arise through undisciplined use and/or misuse of social media. We specifically address identity theft, misrepresentation of information posted, cyber bullying, children and social networking, and social networking in the work place. Recommendations are provided for how to reduce the risk of being the victim of a crime or engaging in embarrassing behavior that could irrevocably harm one-s reputation either professionally or personally. We also discuss what responsibilities social networking companies have to protect their users and also what law enforcement and policy makers can do to help alleviate the problems.
Abstract: Longitudinal data typically have the characteristics of
changes over time, nonlinear growth patterns, between-subjects
variability, and the within errors exhibiting heteroscedasticity and
dependence. The data exploration is more complicated than that of
cross-sectional data. The purpose of this paper is to organize/integrate
of various visual-graphical techniques to explore longitudinal data.
From the application of the proposed methods, investigators can
answer the research questions include characterizing or describing the
growth patterns at both group and individual level, identifying the time
points where important changes occur and unusual subjects, selecting
suitable statistical models, and suggesting possible within-error
variance.
Abstract: Eco-driving allows the driver to optimize his/her behaviour in order to achieve several types of benefits: reducing pollution emissions, increasing road safety, and fuel saving. One of the main rules for adopting eco-driving is to anticipate the traffic events by avoiding strong acceleration or braking and maintaining a steady speed when possible. Therefore, drivers have to comply with speed limits and time headway. The present study explored the role of three types of motivation and social norms in predicting French drivers- intentions to comply with speed limits and time headway as eco-driving practices as well as examine the variations according to gender and age. 1234 drivers with ages between 18 and 75 years old filled in a questionnaire which was presented as part of an online survey aiming to better understand the drivers- road habits. It included items assessing: a) behavioural intentions to comply with speed limits and time headway according to three types of motivation: reducing pollution emissions, increasing road safety, and fuel saving, b) subjective and descriptive social norms regarding the intention to comply with speed limits and time headway, and c) sociodemographical variables. Drivers expressed their intention to frequently comply with speed limits and time headway in the following 6 months; however, they showed more intention to comply with speed limits as compared to time headway regardless of the type of motivation. The subjective injunctive norms were significantly more important in predicting drivers- intentions to comply with speed limits and time headway as compared to the descriptive norms. In addition, the most frequently reported type of motivation for complying with speed limits and time headway was increasing road safety followed by fuel saving and reducing pollution emissions, hence underlining a low motivation to practice eco-driving. Practical implications of the results are discussed.
Abstract: This paper presents the approximate analytical solution of a Zakharov-Kuznetsov ZK(m, n, k) equation with the help of the differential transform method (DTM). The DTM method is a powerful and efficient technique for finding solutions of nonlinear equations without the need of a linearization process. In this approach the solution is found in the form of a rapidly convergent series with easily computed components. The two special cases, ZK(2,2,2) and ZK(3,3,3), are chosen to illustrate the concrete scheme of the DTM method in ZK(m, n, k) equations. The results demonstrate reliability and efficiency of the proposed method.
Abstract: Cloud computing is the innovative and leading
information technology model for enabling convenient, on-demand
network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources
that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal
management effort. This paper presents our development on enabling
an individual user's desktop in a virtualized environment, which is
stored on a remote virtual machine rather than locally. We present the
initial work on the integration of virtual desktop and application
sharing with virtualization technology. Given the development of
remote desktop virtualization, this proposed effort has the potential to
positively provide an efficient, resilience and elastic environment for
online cloud service. Users no longer need to burden the cost of
software licenses and platform maintenances. Moreover, this
development also helps boost user productivity by promoting a
flexible model that lets users access their desktop environments from
virtually anywhere.
Abstract: Local Linear Neuro-Fuzzy Models (LLNFM) like other neuro- fuzzy systems are adaptive networks and provide robust learning capabilities and are widely utilized in various applications such as pattern recognition, system identification, image processing and prediction. Local linear model tree (LOLIMOT) is a type of Takagi-Sugeno-Kang neuro fuzzy algorithm which has proven its efficiency compared with other neuro fuzzy networks in learning the nonlinear systems and pattern recognition. In this paper, a dedicated reconfigurable and parallel processing hardware for LOLIMOT algorithm and its applications are presented. This hardware realizes on-chip learning which gives it the capability to work as a standalone device in a system. The synthesis results on FPGA platforms show its potential to improve the speed at least 250 of times faster than software implemented algorithms.
Abstract: This paper examines the issues, the dangers and the
saving graces of life in a transparent global community where there is
truly “no place to hide". In recent years, social networks and online
groups have transformed issues of privacy and the ways in which we
perceive and interact with others. The idea of reputation is critical to
this dynamic. The discussion begins with a brief etymological history
of the concept of reputation and moves to an exploration of how and
why online communication changes our basic nature, our various
selves and the Bakhtin idea of the polyphonic nature of truth. The
discussion considers the damaging effects of bullying and gossip,
both of which constitute an assault on reputation and the latter of
which is not limited to the lifetime of the person. It concludes with
guidelines and specific recommendations.
Abstract: The empirical mode decomposition (EMD) represents any time series into a finite set of basis functions. The bases are termed as intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) which are mutually orthogonal containing minimum amount of cross-information. The EMD successively extracts the IMFs with the highest local frequencies in a recursive way, which yields effectively a set low-pass filters based entirely on the properties exhibited by the data. In this paper, EMD is applied to explore the properties of the multi-year air temperature and to observe its effects on climate change under global warming. This method decomposes the original time-series into intrinsic time scale. It is capable of analyzing nonlinear, non-stationary climatic time series that cause problems to many linear statistical methods and their users. The analysis results show that the mode of EMD presents seasonal variability. The most of the IMFs have normal distribution and the energy density distribution of the IMFs satisfies Chi-square distribution. The IMFs are more effective in isolating physical processes of various time-scales and also statistically significant. The analysis results also show that the EMD method provides a good job to find many characteristics on inter annual climate. The results suggest that climate fluctuations of every single element such as temperature are the results of variations in the global atmospheric circulation.
Abstract: This paper aims to address the new trend of social
commerce as electronic commerce leverages Web 2.0 technologies
and online social media. The infusions of new technologies on the
World Wide Web connect users in their homes and workplaces,
thus transforming social formations and business transactions. An
in-depth study of the growth and success of a social commerce site,
Facebook was conducted. The investigation is finalized with a triad
relational model which reflects socioeconomic life in the Internet
today. The following three concepts work jointly to form a global
community that has already started to take the place of traditional
commerce and socialization: Web 2.0 technology, E-commerce,
and online social media. A discussion of the research findings
indicates that social commerce networks are sustainable because of
the various incentives given to users as they collaborate with others
regardless of their identity and location. The focus of this article is
to increase understanding on quickly developing Web 2.0 based
social media and their subsequent effects on the emerging social
commerce.
Abstract: Because of architectural condition and structure application, sometimes mass source and stiffness source are not coincidence, and the structure is irregular. The structure is also might be asymmetric as an asymmetric bracing in plan which leads to unbalance distribution of stiffness or because of unbalance distribution of the mass. Both condition lead to eccentricity and torsion in the structure. The deficiency of ordinary code to evaluate the performance of steel structures against earthquake has been caused designing based on performance level or capacity spectrum be used. By using the mentioned methods it is possible to design a structure that its behavior against different earthquakes be predictive. In this article 5- story buildings with different percentage of asymmetric which is because of stiffness changes have been designed. The static and dynamic nonlinear analysis under three acceleration recording has been done. Finally performance level of the structure has been evaluated.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose synchronization of an array of nonlinear systems with time delays. The array of systems is decomposed into isolated systems to establish appropriate Lyapunov¬Krasovskii functional. Using the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, a sufficient condition for the synchronization is derived in terms of LMIs(Linear Matrix Inequalities). Delayed feedback control gains are obtained by solving the sufficient condition. Numerical examples are given to show the validity the proposed method.
Abstract: This paper presents the feasibility study of CO2 sequestration from the sources to the sinks in the prospective of Italian Industries. CO2 produced at these sources captured, compressed to supercritical pressures, transported via pipelines and stored in underground geologic formations such as depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs, un-minable coal seams and deep saline aquifers. In this work, we present the optimized pipeline infrastructure for the CO2 with appropriate constraints to find lower cost system by the use of nonlinear optimization software LINGO 11.0. This study was conducted on CO2 transportation complex network of Italian Industries, to find minimum cost network for transporting the CO2 from sources to the sinks.
Abstract: There are increasingly plagiarism offences for
students in higher education in the digital educational world. On the
other hand, various and competitive online assessment and
plagiarism detection tools are available in the market. Taking the
University of Glamorgan as a case study, this paper describes and
introduces an institutional journey on electronic plagiarism detection
to inform the initial experience of an innovative tool and method
which could be further explored in the future research. The
comparative study and system workflow for e-plagiarism detection
tool are discussed. Benefits for both academics and students are also
presented. Electronic plagiarism detection tools brought great
benefits to both academics and students in Glamorgan. On the other
hand, the debates raised in such initial experience are discussed.
Abstract: Irradiated material is a typical example of a complex
system with nonlinear coupling between its elements. During
irradiation the radiation damage is developed and this development
has bifurcations and qualitatively different kinds of behavior.
The accumulation of primary defects in irradiated crystals is
considered in frame work of nonlinear evolution of complex system.
The thermo-concentration nonlinear feedback is carried out as a
mechanism of self-oscillation development.
It is shown that there are two ways of the defect density evolution
under stationary irradiation. The first is the accumulation of defects;
defect density monotonically grows and tends to its stationary state
for some system parameters. Another way that takes place for
opportune parameters is the development of self-oscillations of the
defect density.
The stationary state, its stability and type are found. The
bifurcation values of parameters (environment temperature, defect
generation rate, etc.) are obtained. The frequency of the selfoscillation
and the conditions of their development is found and
rated. It is shown that defect density, heat fluxes and temperature
during self-oscillations can reach much higher values than the
expected steady-state values. It can lead to a change of typical
operation and an accident, e.g. for nuclear equipment.
Abstract: LABVIEW is a graphical programming language that has its roots in automation control and data acquisition. In this paper we have utilized this platform to provide a powerful toolset for process identification and control of nonlinear systems based on artificial neural networks (ANN). This tool has been applied to the monitoring and control of a lab-scale distillation column DELTALAB DC-SP. The proposed control scheme offers high speed of response for changes in set points and null stationary error for dual composition control and shows robustness in presence of externally imposed disturbance.
Abstract: We present our ongoing work on the development
of a new quadrotor aerial vehicle which has a tilt-wing
mechanism. The vehicle is capable of take-off/landing in vertical flight mode (VTOL) and flying over long distances in horizontal flight mode. Full dynamic model of the vehicle is derived using
Newton-Euler formulation. Linear and nonlinear controllers for
the stabilization of attitude of the vehicle and control of its
altitude have been designed and implemented via simulations. In particular, an LQR controller has been shown to be quite
effective in the vertical flight mode for all possible yaw angles. A sliding mode controller (SMC) with recursive nature has also
been proposed to stabilize the vehicle-s attitude and altitude. Simulation results show that proposed controllers provide
satisfactory performance in achieving desired maneuvers.
Abstract: In digital signal processing it is important to
approximate multi-dimensional data by the method called rank
reduction, in which we reduce the rank of multi-dimensional data from
higher to lower. For 2-dimennsional data, singular value
decomposition (SVD) is one of the most known rank reduction
techniques. Additional, outer product expansion expanded from SVD
was proposed and implemented for multi-dimensional data, which has
been widely applied to image processing and pattern recognition.
However, the multi-dimensional outer product expansion has behavior
of great computation complex and has not orthogonally between the
expansion terms. Therefore we have proposed an alterative method,
Third-order Orthogonal Tensor Product Expansion short for 3-OTPE.
3-OTPE uses the power method instead of nonlinear optimization
method for decreasing at computing time. At the same time the group
of B. D. Lathauwer proposed Higher-Order SVD (HOSVD) that is
also developed with SVD extensions for multi-dimensional data.
3-OTPE and HOSVD are similarly on the rank reduction of
multi-dimensional data. Using these two methods we can obtain
computation results respectively, some ones are the same while some
ones are slight different. In this paper, we compare 3-OTPE to
HOSVD in accuracy of calculation and computing time of resolution,
and clarify the difference between these two methods.
Abstract: Personal computers draw non-sinusoidal current
with odd harmonics more significantly. Power Quality of
distribution networks is severely affected due to the flow of these
generated harmonics during the operation of electronic loads. In
this paper, mathematical modeling of odd harmonics in current like
3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th influencing the power quality has been presented.
Live signals have been captured with the help of power quality
analyzer for analysis purpose. The interesting feature is that Total
Harmonic Distortion (THD) in current decreases with the increase
of nonlinear loads has been verified theoretically. The results
obtained using mathematical expressions have been compared with
the practical results and exciting results have been found.
Abstract: In this paper, investigation of subsynchronous
resonance (SSR) characteristics of a hybrid series compensated
system and the design of voltage controller for three level 24-pulse
Voltage Source Converter based Static Synchronous Series
Compensator (SSSC) is presented. Hybrid compensation consists of
series fixed capacitor and SSSC which is a active series FACTS
controller. The design of voltage controller for SSSC is based on
damping torque analysis, and Genetic Algorithm (GA) is adopted for
tuning the controller parameters. The SSR Characteristics of SSSC
with constant reactive voltage control modes has been investigated.
The results show that the constant reactive voltage control of SSSC
has the effect of reducing the electrical resonance frequency, which
detunes the SSR.The analysis of SSR with SSSC is carried out based
on frequency domain method, eigenvalue analysis and transient
simulation. While the eigenvalue and damping torque analysis are
based on D-Q model of SSSC, the transient simulation considers both
D-Q and detailed three phase nonlinear system model using
switching functions.