Volume 4 Issue 2
Authors: O.L Usman; O.B Alaba
Abstract: The management of the demand and supply pattern of electrical energy in Nigeria is a complex task that requires highly informative approaches; these approaches should be able to provide adequate models for predicting the future utilization of the energy in order to boost the economy of the nation. This study applied an Artificial Neural Network-based model, often called Radial Basis Function (RBF) network to time-series prediction of electricity consumption in Nigerian using historical data gathered from CBN annual bulletins. The implementation of the model was carried out using Neural Network Tool (nntool) of the MATLAB 7.6.0 (R2008a) tool box. The study showed that RBF network performs better than its equivalent Backpropagation (BP) networks that were compared with it.
Keywords: Prediction; Radial Basis Function (RBF) Network; MATLAB; Electricity Consumption; Nigeria
Authors: Manuela Macedonia
Abstract: In this study, the effects that a human trainer and a pedagogical virtual agent have on the memory for words in a foreign language (L2) were investigated. In a recent study on L2 word learning, Bergmann and Macedonia (2013) cued participants to memorize novel words both audiovisually and by performing additional gestures. The gestures were performed by both a human and a virtual trainer. In some of the tests, the virtual agent had a greater positive influence on memory performance than the human trainer. In order to determine why the agent was a better trainer than the human, 18 naive subjects were invited to rate the gestures performed by both trainers. Furthermore, participants were asked to evaluate their perception of the human and the agent. It was hypothesized that the gestures performed by the agent would be more peculiar than those by the human and possibly attract greater attention. It was also hypothesized that the agent’s personality might be more appealing than that of the human. The results showed that the agent’s gestures were perceived as less natural than those of the human. This might have triggered greater attention and/ or more emotional involvement of the participants. The perception of both trainers as “personalities” did not differ, with the exception of a few traits for which the human trainer was considered to be better. Altogether, because of the peculiar gestures it made and because of its looks, the agent may have been perceived as bizarre. Therefore, he might have induced the bizarreness effect in the memory for words.
Keywords: Virtual Agen; Evaluatio; Foreign Language; Learning
Authors: Joice B. Mendes; Alexandre C. B. Ramos; Felix Mora-Camino
Abstract: This work describes a computer based training system to assist the crew members to learn the ground school of helicopter AS350-B2, manufactured by HELIBRAS, a Brazilian helicopter company and widely used by the Armed Forces, Civil and Military Policies and by companies of executive transportation and load lifting. The training system consists of a 1:1 scale aircraft cabin simulator, a system software and a MS Flight Simulator interface. The project is in advanced phase of development and it already possesses positive declarations of interest from company training divisions and helicopter’s operators. A case software used by Brazilian Military Police is presented.
Keywords: Helicopter Pilot Training; Computer Based Training; Hypermedia Based System; Flight Simulator
Authors: Hoang Anh Q. Tran; Akira Namatame
Abstract: Cascading failures are an interesting phenomenon in the study of complex networks and have attracted great attention. Examples of cascading failures include disease epidemics, traffic congestion, and electrical power system blackouts. In these systems, if external shocks or excess loads at some nodes are propagated to other connected nodes because of failure, a domino effect often occurs with disastrous consequences. Therefore, how to prevent cascading failures in complex networks is emerging as an important issue. A vast amount of research has attempted to design large networked infrastructures with the capability to withstand failures and fluctuations; this can be thought of as an optimal design task. In this paper, a cascading failure on an overload-based model was studied and a novel core-periphery network topology was heuristically designed to mitigate the damage of cascading failures. Using the Largest Connected Component after a sequence of failures as the network robustness measure, numerical simulations show that the proposed network, which consists of a complete core of connected hub nodes and periphery nodes connecting to the core, is the least susceptible to cascading failures compared to other types of networks.
Keywords: Overload Cascading Failure; Robust Network; Core-Periphery