Abstract: Estimation time and cost of work completion in a
project and follow up them during execution are contributors to
success or fail of a project, and is very important for project
management team. Delivering on time and within budgeted cost
needs to well managing and controlling the projects. To dealing with
complex task of controlling and modifying the baseline project
schedule during execution, earned value management systems have
been set up and widely used to measure and communicate the real
physical progress of a project. But it often fails to predict the total
duration of the project. In this paper data mining techniques is used
predicting the total project duration in term of Time Estimate At
Completion-EAC (t). For this purpose, we have used a project with
90 activities, it has updated day by day. Then, it is used regular
indexes in literature and applied Earned Duration Method to
calculate time estimate at completion and set these as input data for
prediction and specifying the major parameters among them using
Clem software. By using data mining, the effective parameters on
EAC and the relationship between them could be extracted and it is
very useful to manage a project with minimum delay risks. As we
state, this could be a simple, safe and applicable method in prediction
the completion time of a project during execution.
Abstract: In this paper, we study the oscillation of a class of second-order nonlinear neutral damped variable delay dynamic equations on time scales. By using a generalized Riccati transformation technique, we obtain some sufficient conditions for the oscillation of the equations. The results of this paper improve and extend some known results. We also illustrate our main results with some examples.
Abstract: High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) generally give rise to positive impacts on employees by increasing their commitments in workplaces. While some argued this actually have considerable negative impacts on employees with increasing possibilities of imposing strains caused by stress and intensity of such work places. Do stressful workplaces hamper employee commitment? The author has tried to find the answer by exploring linkages between HPWS practices and its impact on employees in Japanese organizations. How negative outcomes like job intensity and workplaces and job stressors can influence different forms of employees- commitments which can be a hindrance to their performance. Design: A close ended questionnaire survey was conducted amongst 16 large, medium and small sized Japanese companies from diverse industries around Chiba, Saitama, and Ibaraki Prefectures and in Tokyo from the month of October 2008 to February 2009. Questionnaires were aimed to the non managerial employees- perceptions of HPWS practices, their behavior, working life experiences in their work places. A total of 227 samples are used for analysis in the study. Methods: Correlations, MANCOVA, SEM Path analysis using AMOS software are used for data analysis in this study. Findings: Average non-managerial perception of HPWS adoption is significantly but negatively correlated to both work place Stressors and Continuous commitment, but positively correlated to job Intensity, Affective, Occupational and Normative commitments in different workplaces at Japan. The path analysis by SEM shows significant indirect relationship between Stressors and employee Affective organizational commitment and Normative organizational commitments. Intensity also has a significant indirect effect on Occupational commitments. HPWS has an additive effect on all the outcomes variables. Limitations: The sample size in this study cannot be a representative to the entire population of non-managerial employees in Japan. There were no respondents from automobile, pharmaceuticals, finance industries. The duration of the survey coincided in a period when Japan as most of the other countries is under going recession. Biases could not be ruled out completely. We must take cautions in interpreting the results of studies as they cannot be generalized. And the path analysis cannot provide the complete causality of the inter linkages between the variables used in the study. Originality: There have been limited studies on linkages in HPWS adoptions and their impacts on employees- behaviors and commitments in Japanese workplaces. This study may provide some ingredients for further research in the fields of HRM policies and practices and their linkages on different forms of employees- commitments.
Abstract: Sustainable development is one of the most debated
issues, recently. In terms of providing more livable Earth continuity,
while Production activities are going on, on the other hand protecting
the environment has importance. As a strategy for sustainable
development, eco-innovation is the application of innovations to
reduce environmental burdens. Endeavors to understand ecoinnovation
processes have been affected from environmental
economics and innovation economics from neoclassical economics,
and evolutionary economics other than neoclassical economics. In
the light of case study analyses, this study aims to display activities
in this field through case studies after explaining the theoretical
framework of eco-innovations. This study consists of five sections
including introduction and conclusion. In the second part of the study
identifications of the concepts related with eco-innovation are
described and eco-innovations are classified. Third section considers
neoclassical and evolutionary approaches from neoclassical
economics and evolutionary economics, respectively. Fourth section
gives the case studies of successful eco-innovations. Last section is
the conclusion part and offers suggestions for future eco-innovation
research according to the theoretical framework and the case studies.
Abstract: This paper presents optimal based damping controllers of Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) for improving the damping power system oscillations. The design problem of UPFC damping controller and system configurations is formulated as an optimization with time domain-based objective function by means of Adaptive Tabu Search (ATS) technique. The UPFC is installed in Single Machine Infinite Bus (SMIB) for the performance analysis of the power system and simulated using MATLAB-s simulink. The simulation results of these studies showed that designed controller has an tremendous capability in damping power system oscillations.
Abstract: For stricter drinking water regulations in the future, reducing the humic acid and disinfection byproducts in raw water, namely, trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) is worthy for research. To investigate the removal of waterborne organic material using a lab-scale of bio-activated carbon filter under different EBCT, the concentrations of humic acid prepared were 0.01, 0.03, 0.06, 0.12, 0.17, 0.23, and 0.29 mg/L. Then we conducted experiments using a pilot plant with in-field of the serially connected bio-activated carbon filters and hollow fiber membrane processes employed in traditional water purification plants. Results showed under low TOC conditions of humic acid in influent (0.69 to 1.03 mg TOC/L) with an EBCT of 30 min, 40 min, and 50 min, TOC removal rates increases with greater EBCT, attaining about 39 % removal rate. The removal rate of THMs and HAAs by BACF was 54.8 % and 89.0 %, respectively.
Abstract: Earth reinforcing techniques have become useful and economical to solve problems related to difficult grounds and provide satisfactory foundation performance. In this context, this paper uses radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) for predicting the bearing pressure of strip footing on reinforced granular bed overlying weak soil. The inputs for the neural network models included plate width, thickness of granular bed and number of layers of reinforcements, settlement ratio, water content, dry density, cohesion and angle of friction. The results indicated that RBFNN model exhibited more than 84 % prediction accuracy, thereby demonstrating its application in a geotechnical problem.
Abstract: This paper presents a text clustering system developed based on a k-means type subspace clustering algorithm to cluster large, high dimensional and sparse text data. In this algorithm, a new step is added in the k-means clustering process to automatically calculate the weights of keywords in each cluster so that the important words of a cluster can be identified by the weight values. For understanding and interpretation of clustering results, a few keywords that can best represent the semantic topic are extracted from each cluster. Two methods are used to extract the representative words. The candidate words are first selected according to their weights calculated by our new algorithm. Then, the candidates are fed to the WordNet to identify the set of noun words and consolidate the synonymy and hyponymy words. Experimental results have shown that the clustering algorithm is superior to the other subspace clustering algorithms, such as PROCLUS and HARP and kmeans type algorithm, e.g., Bisecting-KMeans. Furthermore, the word extraction method is effective in selection of the words to represent the topics of the clusters.
Abstract: Segmentation and quantification of stenosis is an
important task in assessing coronary artery disease. One of the main
challenges is measuring the real diameter of curved vessels.
Moreover, uncertainty in segmentation of different tissues in the
narrow vessel is an important issue that affects accuracy. This paper
proposes an algorithm to extract coronary arteries and measure the
degree of stenosis. Markovian fuzzy clustering method is applied to
model uncertainty arises from partial volume effect problem. The
algorithm employs: segmentation, centreline extraction, estimation of
orthogonal plane to centreline, measurement of the degree of
stenosis. To evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility, the approach
has been applied to a vascular phantom and the results are compared
with real diameter. The results of 10 patient datasets have been
visually judged by a qualified radiologist. The results reveal the
superiority of the proposed method compared to the Conventional
thresholding Method (CTM) on both datasets.
Abstract: Oxygen transfer, the process by which oxygen is
transferred from the gaseous to liquid phase, is a vital part of the
waste water treatment process. Because of low solubility of
oxygen and consequent low rate of oxygen transfer, sufficient
oxygen to meet the requirement of aerobic waste does not enter
through normal surface air water interface. Many theories have
come up in explaining the mechanism of gas transfer and
absorption of non-reacting gases in a liquid, of out of which, Two
film theory is important. An exiting mathematical model
determines approximate value of Overall Gas Transfer coefficient.
The Overall Gas Transfer coefficient, in case of Penetration theory,
is 1.13 time more than that obtained in case of Two film theory.
The difference is due to the difference in assumptions in the two
theories.
The paper aims at development of mathematical model which
determines the value of Overall Gas Transfer coefficient with
greater accuracy than the existing model.
Abstract: An experiment was conducted using two aeration
methods (water-into-air and air-into-water) and followed by filtration
processes using manganese greensand material. The properties of
groundwater such as pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and heavy metal
concentration (iron and manganese) will be assessed. The objectives
of this study are i) to determine the effective aeration method and ii)
to assess the effectiveness of manganese greensand as filter media in
removing iron and manganese concentration in groundwater. Results
showed that final pH for all samples after treatment are in range from
7.40 and 8.40. Both aeration methods increased the dissolved oxygen
content. Final turbidity for groundwater samples are between 3 NTU
to 29 NTU. Only three out of eight samples achieved iron
concentration of 0.3mg/L and less and all samples reach manganese
concentration of 0.1mg/L and less. Air-into-water aeration method
gives higher percentage of iron and manganese removal compare to
water-into-air method.
Abstract: This study examines the relationships between foreign
aid, levels of schooling and democracy for Pakistan using the ARDL
cointegration approach. The results of study provide strong evidence
for fairly robust long run as well as short run relationships among
these variables for the period 1973-2008. The results state that
foreign aid and primary school enrollments have negative impact on
democracy index and high school enrollments have positive impact
on democracy index in Pakistan. The study suggests for promotion of
education levels and relies on local resources instead of foreign aid
for a good quality of political institutions in Pakistan.
Abstract: An attempt was made for availability of wastewater reuse/reclamation for irrigation purposes using phytoremediation “the low cost and less technology", using six local aquatic macrophytes “e.g. T. angustifolia, B. maritimus, Ph. australis, A. donax, A. plantago-aquatica and M. longifolia (Linn)" as biological waste purifiers. Outdoor experiments/designs were conducted from May 03, 2007 till October 15, 2008, close to one of the main sewage channels of Sulaimani City/Iraq*. All processes were mainly based on conventional wastewater treatment processes, besides two further modifications were tested, the first was sand filtration pots, implanted by individual species of experimental macrophytes and the second was constructed wetlands implanted by experimental macrophytes all together. Untreated and treated wastewater samples were analyzed for their key physico-chemical properties (only heavy metals Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu with particular reference to removal efficiency by experimental macrophytes are highlighted in this paper). On the other hand, vertical contents of heavy metals were also evaluated from both pots and the cells of constructed wetland. After 135 days, macrophytes were harvested and heavy metals were analyzed in their biomass (roots/shoots) for removal efficiency assessment (i.e. uptake/ bioaccumulation rate). Results showed that; removal efficiency of all studied heavy metals was much higher in T. angustifolia followed by Ph. Australis, B. maritimus and A. donax in triple experiment sand pots. Constructed wetland experiments have revealed that; the more replicated constructed wetland cells the highest heavy metal removal efficiency was indicated.
Abstract: Quality evaluation of an image is an important task in image processing applications. In case of image compression, quality of decompressed image is also the criterion for evaluation of given coding scheme. In the process of compression -decompression various artifacts such as blocking artifacts, blur artifact, ringing or edge artifact are observed. However quantification of these artifacts is a difficult task. We propose here novel method to quantify blur and ringing artifact in an image.
Abstract: In this paper, the concepts of dichotomous logistic
regression (DLR) with leave-one-out (L-O-O) were discussed. To
illustrate this, the L-O-O was run to determine the importance of the
simulation conditions for robust test of spread procedures with good
Type I error rates. The resultant model was then evaluated. The
discussions included 1) assessment of the accuracy of the model, and
2) parameter estimates. These were presented and illustrated by
modeling the relationship between the dichotomous dependent
variable (Type I error rates) with a set of independent variables (the
simulation conditions). The base SAS software containing PROC
LOGISTIC and DATA step functions can be making used to do the
DLR analysis.
Abstract: Higher education institutions are increasingly opting to outsourcing methods in order to sustain themselves and this creates a gap of literature in terms of how they perceive the relationship. This research paper attempts to identify the behavioral and psychological factors that exist in the engagement thus providing valuable information to practicing and potential clients, and vendors. The determinants were gathered from previous literatures and analyzed to formulate the factors. This study adopts the case study and survey approaches in which interviews and questionnaires are deployed on employees of IT-related department in a Malaysian higher education institution.
Abstract: Numerical studies have been carried out using a
validated two-dimensional RNG k-epsilon turbulence model for the
design optimization of a thrust vector control system using shock
induced supersonic secondary jet. Parametric analytical studies have
been carried out with various secondary jets at different divergent
locations, jet interaction angles, jet pressures. The results from the
parametric studies of the case on hand reveal that the primary nozzle
with a small divergence angle, downstream injections with a distance
of 2.5 times the primary nozzle throat diameter from the primary
nozzle throat location warrant higher efficiency over a certain range
of jet pressures and jet angles. We observed that the supersonic
secondary jet opposing the core flow with jets interaction angle of
40o to the axis far downstream of the nozzle throat facilitates better
thrust vectoring than the secondary jet with same direction as that of
core flow with various interaction angles. We concluded that fixing
of the supersonic secondary jet nozzle pointing towards the throat
direction with suitable angle at a distance 2 to 4 times of the primary
nozzle throat diameter, as the case may be, from the primary nozzle
throat location could facilitate better thrust vectoring for the
supersonic aerospace vehicles.
Abstract: Since hyaluronic acid (HA) receptor such as CD44 is
over-expressed at sites of cancer cells, HA can be used as a targeting
vehicles for anti-cancer drugs. The aim of this study is to synthesize
block copolymer composed of hyaluronic acid and
poly(ε-caprolactone) (HAPCL) and to fabricate polymeric micelles for
anticancer drug targeting against CD44 receptor of tumor cells.
Chemical composition of HAPCL was confirmed using 1H NMR
spectroscopy. Doxorubicin (DOX) was incorporated into polymeric
micelles of HAPCL. The diameters of HAPHS polymeric micelles
were changed around 80nm and have spherical shapes. Targeting
potential was investigated using CD44-overexpressing. When
DOX-incorporated polymeric micelles was added to KB cells, they
revealed strong red fluorescence color while blocking of CD44
receptor by pretreatment of free HA resulted in reduced intensity,
indicating that HAPCL polymeric micelles have targetability against
CD44 receptor.
Abstract: Mobile Ad hoc networks (MANETs) are collections
of wireless mobile nodes dynamically reconfiguring and collectively
forming a temporary network. These types of networks assume
existence of no fixed infrastructure and are often useful in battle-field
tactical operations or emergency search-and-rescue type of
operations where fixed infrastructure is neither feasible nor practical.
They also find use in ad hoc conferences, campus networks and
commercial recreational applications carrying multimedia traffic. All
of the above applications of MANETs require guaranteed levels of
performance as experienced by the end-user. This paper focuses on
key challenges in provisioning predetermined levels of such Quality
of Service (QoS). It also identifies functional areas where QoS
models are currently defined and used. Evolving functional areas
where performance and QoS provisioning may be applied are also
identified and some suggestions are provided for further research in
this area. Although each of the above functional areas have been
discussed separately in recent research studies, since these QoS
functional areas are highly correlated and interdependent, a
comprehensive and comparative analysis of these areas and their
interrelationships is desired. In this paper we have attempted to
provide such an overview.
Abstract: Mammals are known to use Interaural Intensity Difference (IID) to determine azimuthal position of high frequency sounds. In the Lateral Superior Olive (LSO) neurons have firing behaviours which vary systematicaly with IID. Those neurons receive excitatory inputs from the ipsilateral ear and inhibitory inputs from the contralateral one. The IID sensitivity of a LSO neuron is thought to be due to delay differences between both ears, delays due to different synaptic delays and to intensity-dependent delays. In this paper we model the auditory pathway until the LSO. Inputs to LSO neurons are at first numerous and differ in their relative delays. Spike Timing-Dependent Plasticity is then used to prune those connections. We compare the pruned neuron responses with physiological data and analyse the relationship between IID-s of teacher stimuli and IID sensitivities of trained LSO neurons.