...CHAPTER 5 AN INTEGRATED SYSTEMS APPROACH TO CROP IMPROVEMENT G.L. HAMMER# AND D.R. JORDAN## # Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit (APSRU), School of Land and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia. ## Hermitage Research Station, Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Warwick, QLD 4370, Australia. E-mail: g.hammer@uq.edu.au Abstract. Progress in crop improvement is limited by the ability to identify favourable combinations of genotypes (G) and management practices (M) given the resources available to search among possible combinations in the target population of environments (E). Crop improvement can be viewed as a search strategy on a complex G×M×E adaptation or fitness landscape. Here we consider design of an integrated systems approach to crop improvement that incorporates advanced technologies in molecular markers, statistics, bio-informatics, and crop physiology and modelling. We suggest that such an approach can enhance the efficiency of crop improvement relative to conventional phenotypic selection by changing the focus from the paradigm of identifying superior varieties to a focus on identifying superior combinations of genetic regions and management systems. A comprehensive information system to support decisions on identifying target combinations is the critical core of the approach. We discuss the role of ecophysiology and modelling in this integrated systems approach by reviewing (i) applications in environmental...
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...CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Gigantic population and comprehensive electrical energy consumption have made power crisis one of the gravest national problems in the developing countries like Nigeria. Excessive demand of power is always difficult to meet and as a result national economy is being hampered severely due to this deregulation of electricity. Alternative power sources that can deliver output currents in absence of grid supply are now automatic choices in home grid-connected system. In urban areas, IPS (Instant Power Supply) system is being used massively to cope up with load shedding. Increasing interest and investment in renewable energy give rise to rapid development of high penetration solar energy. There are multiple ways to interface PV arrays with the power grid. Solar energy has become a promising alternative source because it has many advantages such as abundance, pollution free and renewability. The solar photovoltaic (PV) power will play an important role in alleviating the energy crisis and reducing the environmental pollution and has a bright prospect of applications. Due to the nonlinear relationship between the current and the voltage of the photovoltaic cell, it can be observed that there is a unique maximum power point (MPP) at a particular environment, and this peak power point keeps changing with solar illumination and ambient temperature. In recent years, a large number of techniques have been proposed for maximum power point tracking...
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...Transaction-Oriented Simulation in Ad Hoc Grids Gerald Krafft Harrow School of Computer Science, University of Westminster Watford Rd, Northwick Park, Harrow HA1 3TP, U.K. g.krafft@gmx.net Abstract This paper analyses the requirements of performing parallel transaction-oriented simulations with a special focus on the space-parallel approach and discrete event simulation synchronisation algorithms that are suitable for transaction-oriented simulation and the target environment of Ad Hoc Grids. To demonstrate the findings a Java-based parallel transaction-oriented simulator for the simulation language GPSS/H is implemented on the basis of the most promising Shock Resistant Time Warp synchronisation algorithm and using the Grid framework ProActive. The validation of this parallel simulator shows that the Shock Resistant Time Warp algorithm can successfully reduce the number of rolled back Transaction moves but it also reveals circumstances in which the Shock Resistant Time Warp algorithm can be outperformed by the normal Time Warp algorithm. The conclusion of this paper suggests possible improvements to the Shock Resistant Time Warp algorithm to avoid such problems. 1. Introduction The growing demand of complex Computer Simulations for instance in engineering, military, biology and climate research has also lead to a growing demand in computing power. One possibility to reduce the runtime of large, complex Computer Simulations is to perform such simulations distributed on...
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...grade, and the subject clusters of the exam. The study covered periods 2007-2011. It was noted that the performance of the Accounting Education for the period covered was found to be impressive. Pre-review and the GPA have high statistical influence in passing the board exam. The threshold GPA is 2.2 while 2.4 for the prereview. Of the subject clusters in the board exam, accounting problems have the highest impact in the actual board score followed by theory of accounts, management services, practical accounting problems 2, practical accounting problems 1 and the least yet still bear impact is the business law and taxation. The collegiate validation exam used as indicator of readiness showed statistical association with the actual exam. A simulated model revealed that the scores of management and services, auditing problems, audit theory, business law and taxation and accounting problems 1 have strong board outcome effects. The theory of accounts and accounting problems 2 showed no statistical significance. Keywords: Accounting education, intervention measures, maximum likelihood 1 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2394997 INTRODUCTION It had been claimed that licensure examination secures protection of the profession during economic downturn (Young, 1988) because it is used as a measure of competence. It has an associational requirement for the practice which...
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...Single Author Two Authors Three to Six Authors More Than Six Authors Author - Malay Names (without family names) Author - Chinese Names Author - Chinese Names with English Names Author - Indian & Sikh Names (without family names) Inherited Names Conferred titles Local Government Institution as Author Foreign Government Institution as Author Unique Corporate Body Names Organization as Author Conference Names with Numbers Unknown Author Page 1-2 Reference List : Book Basic Format for Books Edited Book, No Author Edited Book with an Author or Authors A Translation Edition Other Than the First Article or Chapter in an Edited Book Multivolume Work Reference List : Articles in Periodicals Basic Form Article in Journal Paginated by Volume Article in Journal Paginated by Issue Article in a Magazine Article in a Newspaper Letter to the Editor Review Reference List : Other Print Sources An Entry in an Encyclopedia Work Discussed in a Secondary Source Dissertation Abstract Government Document Report from a Private Organization Conference Proceedings Published Conference Paper Unpublished Conference Paper Academic Exercise / Thesis (Unpublished) 3 4 5-6 i Title Content Page 7-8 Reference List : Electronic Sources Article From an Online Periodical Online Scholarly Journal Article Online Scholarly Journal Article with Printed Version Available Article From a Database Nonperiodical Web Document, Web Page, or Report Chapter or Section of a Web Document Online Forum...
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...it to prevent having an effect on the MessagePad sales. In 2007, Apple decided to re-enter the mobile-computing markets and introduced the iPhone. The iPhone is smaller in size than the iPad and features a mobile phone and a camera while also initiating the finger-sensitive multi-touch touchscreen of Apple's iOS mobile working structure. The release of the iPad had been assumed for numerous years by the end of 2009. Many rumors spoke mainly about “Apple’s tablet” and suggested names such as the iTablet. In January of 2010, Steve Jobs introduced the iPad at an Apple press conference in San Francisco (Ritchie, R. 2014, October 6). The first Apple iPad was released in April of 2010. The use of the iPad is constructed throughout the device's wide range of a touch screen, which includes a simulated keyboard. The iPad contains already installed Wi-Fi and on certain styles, a cellular connection. On a financial conference call in October of 2010, Steve Jobs stated that Apple retailed more iPads than Mac computers for the fiscal quarter. Before the actual unveiling of the iPad 2, Apple retailed more than 15 million iPads that were first-generation and at the end of 2010, reached 75% of tablet PC sales. According to PCMag, there has been over 200 million iPads sold as of June 2014 (Apple iPad Reviews, News, Tips | PCMag.com. 2011, May). The Apple iPad was chosen for the basis of this assignment because Apple is a strong and well-developed brand and the iPad has numerous features to be...
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...2009 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics Suntec Convention and Exhibition Center Singapore, July 14-17, 2009 A Virtual Reality Operator Interface Station with Hydraulic Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation for Prototyping Excavator Control Systems Mark D. Elton, Aaron R. Enes, and Wayne J. Book, Fellow, IEEE Abstract— A multimodal operator interface station is developed to display a realistic virtual reality depiction of a compact excavator performing general digging tasks. The interface station includes engine audio feedback and a near life-size operator display attached to a full-size cab. The excavator dynamics are determined by models of the hydraulic system, the linkage system, and the soil digging forces. To maximize the fidelity of the hydraulic model, certain “virtual” components of the model are replaced with real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulations of the actual hardware. HIL simulation is done in a geographically isolated facility, with Internet based communication between HIL and the Remote Operator Interface. This is the first reported high-fidelity operator interface to be combined with remote hydraulic HIL simulations. I. I NTRODUCTION Hydraulic hardware has undergone a great evolution in recent years, evolving from purely hydro-mechanical devices to electro-hydraulic systems controlled by microprocessors. The use of electronic controllers opens the door to improving dynamic performance and enhancing traditional hydraulic...
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...Faculty of Business and Economics A comparison of two-stage segmentation methods for choice-based conjoint data: a simulation study Marjolein Crabbe, Bradley Jones and Martina Vandebroek DEPARTMENT OF DECISION SCIENCES AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT (KBI) KBI 1109 A Comparison of Two-Stage Segmentation Methods for Choice-Based Conjoint Data: A Simulation Study Marjolein Crabbe Bradley Jones Martina Vandebroek Abstract Due to the increasing interest in market segmentation in modern marketing research, several methods for dealing with consumer heterogeneity and for revealing market segments have been described in the literature. In this study, the authors compare eight two-stage segmentation methods that aim to uncover consumer segments by classifying subject-specific indicator values. Four different indicators are used as a segmentation basis. The forces, which are subject-aggregated gradient values of the likelihood function, and the dfbetas, an outlier detection measure, are two indicators that express a subject’s effect on the estimation of the aggregate partworths in the conditional logit model. Although the conditional logit model is generally estimated at the aggregate level, this research obtains individual-level partworth estimates for segmentation purposes. The respondents’ raw choices are the final indicator values. The authors classify the indicators by means of cluster analysis and latent class models. The goal of the study is to compare the segmentation performance...
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...the formulation of a desired position for the organization in terms of how it wants to be seen by its different stakeholder groups. The content of a communication strategy is influenced by the process by which it is formed and by the different individuals and layers in the organization who have had a stake in it (Cornelissen, 2014). When an incident arises that has the possibility of attracting public or media attention, it is important for an organization to be prepared in regards to their stance regarding the issue. For the purposes of this exercise, an example will be referenced regarding a press release from Whole Foods Market. This combination style external communication is a well-written example of an informative as well as a persuasive communication strategy that addresses the termination of business relations with an overseas contracted supply company, NatureCo. In this simulated scenario, NatureCo has been revealed as an organization that is not providing a safe working environment or reasonable work hours for its employees. The document has a target audience of the communities in which it operates, along with the...
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...October 2006 ii Abstract Parameter optimization, such as antenna tilting and CPICH power, can be used to adapt the traffic capacity of 3G systems to traffic demands which are varying in the space and time dimensions. The goal of this thesis is to investigate how parameter optimization can be implemented, both in the 3G cellular system’s initial planning stage to optimize the network for CAPEX saving as well as after the deployment of the network, to increase the capacity of the system. For this purpose, appropriate models, including the space and time domain dynamics of the traffic modeling the moving hotspot characteristics, have been integrated into a system simulation tool. Meta-heuristics techniques such as Tabu Search and Simulated Annealing have been implemented to solve this NP-hard problem. Results show that the existence of optimal configurations can have an achievable capacity gain of more than 30%. iii Acknowledgements This Master Thesis would not have been possible without the support of many people. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Mr. Roger Abou-Jaoude for his time, guidance and invaluable support during my work. A special thanks goes to Dr.-Ing. Christian Hartmann for his useful suggestions to improve the quality of this thesis. Not forgetting my senior, Bruno El Asmar whose thesis that I am based on. Thank you for the wonderful work on the thesis and Java coding, which provided a...
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...Content Quality Assessment Related Frameworks for Social Media Kevin Chai, Vidyasagar Potdar, and Tharam Dillon Digital Ecosystems and Business Intelligence Institute, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia kevin.chai@postgrad.curtin.edu.au, {v.potdar,t.dillon}@curtin.edu.au Abstract. The assessment of content quality (CQ) in social media adds a layer of complexity over traditional information quality assessment frameworks. Challenges arise in accurately evaluating the quality of content that has been created by users from different backgrounds, for different domains and consumed by users with different requirements. This paper presents a comprehensive review of 19 existing CQ assessment related frameworks for social media in addition to proposing directions for framework improvements. Keywords: content quality assessment, social media, discussion forums, wikis, weblogs. 1 Introduction Information quality (IQ) has been widely defined in literature by its fitness for use. Existing research in the field of assessing IQ within traditional information systems is relatively mature and has led to the discovery and validation of numerous quality dimensions and metrics [2, 15, 17, 29, 35]. Knight & Burn (2005) have presented a comprehensive review of literature in the realm of assessing IQ frameworks. Common IQ dimensions that were identified from their review are presented in Table 1. The definitions of these dimensions have been included from Wang & Strong (1996)...
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...Chemical Product and Process Modeling Volume 2, Issue 3 2007 Article 12 Nonlinear Modelling Application in Distillation Column Zalizawati Abdullah, Universiti Sains Malaysia Norashid Aziz, Universiti Sains Malaysia Zainal Ahmad, Universiti Sains Malaysia Recommended Citation: Abdullah, Zalizawati; Aziz, Norashid; and Ahmad, Zainal (2007) "Nonlinear Modelling Application in Distillation Column," Chemical Product and Process Modeling: Vol. 2 : Iss. 3, Article 12. Available at: http://www.bepress.com/cppm/vol2/iss3/12 DOI: 10.2202/1934-2659.1082 ©2007 Berkeley Electronic Press. All rights reserved. Nonlinear Modelling Application in Distillation Column Zalizawati Abdullah, Norashid Aziz, and Zainal Ahmad Abstract Distillation columns are widely used in chemical processes and exhibit nonlinear dynamic behavior. In order to gain optimum performance of the distillation column, an effective control strategy is needed. In recent years, model based control strategies such as internal model control (IMC) and model predictive control (MPC) have been revealed as better control systems compared to the conventional method. But one of the major challenges in developing this effective control strategy is to construct a model which is utilized to describe the process under consideration. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the models that have been implemented in continuous distillation columns. These models are categorized under three major groups: fundamental...
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...TABLE OF CONTENTS FOOTWEAR AND LEATHERGOODS SECTOR FOOTWEAR MAKING NC II | |Page No. | | | | |PREFACE | | |FOREWORD | | | | | |SECTION 1 FOOTWEAR MAKING NC II QUALIFICATION |1 - 2 | | | | | | | |SECTION 2 COMPETENCY STANDARDS |3 - 103 | | | | |Basic Competencies ...
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...Agent-based social simulation: dealing with complexity Nigel Gilbert Centre for Research on Social Simulation University of Surrey Guildford UK n.gilbert@soc.surrey.ac.uk 18 December 2004 While the idea of computer simulation has had enormous influence on most areas of science, and even on the public imagination through its use in computer games such as SimCity, it took until the 1990s for it to have a significant impact in the social sciences. The breakthrough came when it was realised that computer programs offer the possibility of creating ‘artificial’ societies in which individuals and collective actors such as organisations could be directly represented and the effect of their interactions observed. This provided for the first time the possibility of using experimental methods with social phenomena, or at least with their computer representations; of directly studying the emergence of social institutions from individual interaction; and of using computer code as a way of formalising dynamic social theories. In this chapter, these advances in the application of computer simulation to the social sciences will be illustrated with a number of examples of recent work, showing how this new methodology is appropriate for analysing social phenomena that are inherently complex, and how it encourages experimentation and the study of emergence. Social simulation The construction of computer programs that simulate aspects of social behaviour can contribute...
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...CASE ANALYSIS CRISIS MANAGEMENT AT TOYOTA CASELET Toyota Motors Corporation, one of the largest automakers in the world. In January 2010, Toyota was forced to recall millions of cars after problems with braking, floor mats and acceleration pedals in its vehicles. The recalls even led Toyota to halt sales and production of eight of its most popular models. Due to growing number of recalls, sales plummeted thereby affecting the company's position in the global automotive industry. Analysts began to question Toyota's legendary quality and felt that the recalls represented a major failure on part of the company. After the recalls, Toyota went into crisis management mode and announced a fix for the accelerator problem. Various crisis management initiatives undertaken by the company to regain the trust of customers and restore its image as a quality automaker. As part of its crisis management process, Toyota placed ads in print and television media, involved executives and used social media platforms to address its customers. However, some analysts felt that the crisis communication team of Toyota was weak which led to a delay in identifying and addressing the situation. Crisis management experts were of the view that the image of Toyota would depend on how quickly it can fix the problems and how well it communicates with its customers. ISSUES: 1. Understand the importance of crisis management and various issues and challenges related to it. 2. Analyze whether Toyota's...
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