Abstract: In conducting a case study to analyze the status-quo of
the extremists’ dominance in Egypt, the author of this paper uses
qualitative research method to analyze the evolution of extreme
Islamist groups in Egypt. In conducting this qualitative research, the
author of this paper intends to use several lenses to understand the
rise and the evolution of the hegemony of extremist groups, such as
the Muslim Brotherhood and other groups in Egypt. Therefore, unless
he intends to show an important nexus between the Egyptian groups
and their sister-groups in other countries, he will intentionally
exclude analyzing extreme Islamism of non-Egyptian origins. This
case study relies on the moral disengagement theory to shed light on
the ideological evolution of extremism in Egypt. The goal of this case
study is to help in understanding extreme-Islamism adverse to the
mainstream Islam; therefore, understanding the concept here should
help in preventing similar groups from threatening the international
community.
Abstract: As a part of routine oesophageal HDR Brachytherapy procedure, treatment planning takes about 45 minutes while patients are under light sedation. Some patients may suffer gagging and/or spasms before the 90-minute brachytherapy procedure complete, and the treatment may need to be aborted. A pre-prepared plan generated before patient’s sedation may reduce the brachytherapy procedure time by 40 minutes. This paper reports rationality and evidence of pre-prepared treatment plans. A retrospective study of 28 patients confirms that pre-prepared plans would be acceptable for all reviewed patients. The rationality is further confirmed by a systemic study with a wide range of applicator curvature and treatment volume. Detailed comparison between CT based treatment plans and pre-prepared plans are discussed. The argument holds for endobronchial HDR brachytherapy too. With the above evidence, pre-prepared plans have been used for all oesophageal and endobronchial HDR brachytherapy cases in our clinic.
Abstract: To increase the maximum span of cable-stayed
bridges, Uwe Starossek has developed a modified statical system.
The basic idea of this new concept is the use of pairs of inclined
pylon legs that spread out longitudinally from the foundation base or
from the girder level.
Spread-pylon cable-stayed bridge has distinct advantage like
reduction of sag of cables and oscillation of cable during earthquake
over traditional cable-stayed bridges. Spread-pylon also improves
seismic performance of deck during strong ground motion.
Abstract: This paper explains the cause of nonlinearity in floor
attenuation hither to left unexplained. The performance degradation
occurring in air interface for GSM signals is quantitatively analysed
using the concept of Radiating Columns of buildings. The signal
levels were measured using Wireless Network Optimising Drive Test
Tool (E6474A of Agilent Technologies). The measurements were
taken in reflected signal environment under usual fading conditions
on actual GSM signals radiated from base stations. A mathematical
model is derived from the measurements to predict the GSM signal
levels in different floors. It was applied on three buildings and found
that the predicted signal levels deviated from the measured levels
with in +/- 2 dB for all floors. It is more accurate than the prediction
models based on Floor Attenuation Factor. It can be used for
planning proper indoor coverage in multi storey buildings.
Abstract: This paper presents a comparative study of statistical methods for the multi-response surface optimization of a cryogenic freezing process. Taguchi design and analysis and steepest ascent methods based on the desirability function were conducted to ascertain the influential factors of a cryogenic freezing process and their optimal levels. The more preferable levels of the set point, exhaust fan speed, retention time and flow direction are set at -90oC, 20 Hz, 18 minutes and Counter Current, respectively. The overall desirability level is 0.7044.
Abstract: In order to investigate a PROX microreactor
performance, two-dimensional modeling of the reacting flow
between two parallel plates is performed through a finite volume
method using an improved SIMPLE algorithm. A three-step surface
kinetics including hydrogen oxidation, carbon monoxide oxidation
and water-gas shift reaction is applied for a Pt-Fe/γ-Al2O3 catalyst
and operating temperatures of about 100ºC. Flow pattern, pressure
field, temperature distribution, and mole fractions of species are
found in the whole domain for all cases. Also, the required reactive
length for removing carbon monoxide from about 2% to less than 10
ppm is found. Furthermore, effects of hydraulic diameter, wall
temperature, and inlet mole fraction of air and water are investigated
by considering carbon monoxide selectivity and conversion. It is
found that air and water addition may improve the performance of
the microreactor in carbon monoxide removal in such operating
conditions; this is in agreement with the pervious published results.
Abstract: The localization of software products is essential for reaching the users of the international market. An important task for this is the translation of the user interface into local national languages. As graphical interfaces are usually optimized for the size of the texts in the original language, after the translation certain user controls (e.g. text labels and buttons in dialogs) may grow in such a manner that they slip above each other. This not only causes an unpleasant appearance but also makes the use of the program more difficult (or even impossible) which implies that the arrangement of the controls must be corrected subsequently. The correction should preserve the original structure of the interface (e.g. the relation of logically coherent controls), furthermore, it is important to keep the nicely proportioned design: the formation of large empty areas should be avoided. This paper describes an algorithm that automatically rearranges the controls of a graphical user interface based on the principles above. The algorithm has been implemented and integrated into a translation support system and reached results pleasant for the human eye in most test cases.
Abstract: This paper has as its main aim to analyse how
corporate web pages can become an essential tool in order to detect
strategic trends by firms or sectors, and even a primary source for
benchmarking. This technique has made it possible to identify the key
issues in the strategic management of the most excellent large Spanish
firms and also to describe trends in their long-range planning, a way of
working that can be generalised to any country or firm group. More
precisely, two objectives were sought. The first one consisted in showing
the way in which corporate websites make it possible to obtain direct
information about the strategic variables which can define firms. This
tool is dynamic (since web pages are constantly updated) as well as
direct and reliable, since the information comes from the firm itself, not
from comments of third parties (such as journalists, academicians,
consultants...). When this information is analysed for a group of firms,
one can observe their characteristics in terms of both managerial tasks
and business management. As for the second objective, the methodology
proposed served to describe the corporate profile of the large Spanish
enterprises included in the Ibex35 (the Ibex35 or Iberia Index is the
reference index in the Spanish Stock Exchange and gathers periodically
the 35 most outstanding Spanish firms). An attempt is therefore made to
define the long-range planning that would be characteristic of the largest
Spanish firms.
Abstract: A new nonlinear sum-difference inequality in two variables
which generalize some existing results and can be used as handy
tools in the analysis of certain partial difference equation is discussed.
An example to show boundedness of solutions of a difference value
problem is also given.
Abstract: In pressure vessels contain hydrogen, the role of
hydrogen will be important because of hydrogen cracking problem. It
is difficult to predict what is happened in metallurgical field spite of a
lot of studies have been searched. The main role in controlling the
mass diffusion as driving force is related to stress. In this study, finite
element analysis is implemented to estimate material-s behavior
associated with hydrogen embrittlement. For this purpose, one model
of a pressure vessel is introduced that it has definite boundary and
initial conditions. In fact, finite element is employed to solve the
sequentially coupled mass diffusion with stress near a crack front in a
pressure vessel. Modeling simulation intergrarnular fracture of AISI
4135 steel due to hydrogen is investigated. So, distribution of
hydrogen and stress are obtained and they indicate that their
maximum amounts occur near the crack front. This phenomenon is
happened exactly the region between elastic and plastic field.
Therefore, hydrogen is highly mobile and can diffuse through crystal
lattice so that this zone is potential to trap high volume of hydrogen.
Consequently, crack growth and fast fracture will be happened.
Abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the
distribution patterns of Cd, Zn and Hg in groundwater by geospatial
interpolation. The study was performed at Rayong province in the
eastern part of Thailand, with high agricultural and industrial
activities. Groundwater samples were collected twice a year from 31
tubewells around this area. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic
Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES) was used to measure the
concentrations of Cd, Zn, and Hg in groundwater samples. The
results demonstrated that concentrations of Cd, Zn and Hg range
from 0.000-0.297 mg/L (x = 0.021±0.033 mg/L), 0.022-33.236 mg/L
(x = 4.214±4.766 mg/L) and 0.000-0.289 mg/L (x = 0.023±0.034
mg/L), respectively. Most of the heavy metals concentrations were
exceeded groundwater quality standards as specified in the Ministry
of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand. The trend
distribution of heavy metals were high concentrations at the
southeastern part of the area that especially vulnerable to heavy
metals and other contaminants.
Abstract: Truly successful bloggers, navigating the public to know them, often use their blogs as a way to better communicate with customers. Integrating with marketing tools, storytelling can be regarded as one of the most effective ways that businesses can follow to gain competitive edge. Even though the literature on marketing contains much discussion of traditional vehicles, the issue of business blogs applying storytelling has, as yet, received little attention. In the exploration stage, this paper identifies four storytelling disciplines and then presents a road map to business blogging. This paper also provides a two-path framework for blog storytelling and initiates an issue for further study.
Abstract: The present paper is oriented to classification and application of agent technique in simulation of anticipatory systems, namely those that use simulation models for the aid of anticipation. The main ideas root in the fact that the best way for description of computer simulation models is the technique of describing the simulated system itself (and the translation into the computer code is provided as automatic), and that the anticipation itself is often nested.
Abstract: The use of technology is increasingly adopted to
support flexible learning in Higher Education institutions. The
adoption of more sophisticated technologies offers a broad range of
facilities for communication and resource sharing, thereby creating a
flexible learning environment that facilitates and even encourages
students not to physically attend classes. However this emerging
trend seems to contradict class attendance requirements within
universities, inevitably leading to a dilemma between amending
traditional regulations and creating new policies for the higher
education institutions. This study presents an investigation into
student engagement in a technology enhanced/driven flexible
environment along with its relationship to attainment. We propose an
approach to modelling engagement from different perspectives in
terms of indicators and then consider what impact these indicators
have on student academic performance. We have carried out a case
study on the relation between attendance and attainment in a flexible
environment. Although our preliminary results show attendance is
quantitatively correlated with successful student development and
learning outcomes, our results also indicate there is a cohort that did
not follow such a pattern. Nevertheless the preliminary results could
provide an insight into pilot studies in the wider deployment of new
technology to support flexible learning.
Abstract: This paper presents a systematic approach for
designing Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) based
supplementary damping controllers for damping low frequency
oscillations in a single-machine infinite-bus power system. The
design problem of the proposed controller is formulated as an
optimization problem and RCGA is employed to search for optimal
controller parameters. By minimizing the time-domain based
objective function, in which the deviation in the oscillatory rotor
speed of the generator is involved; stability performance of the
system is improved. Simulation results are presented and compared
with a conventional method of tuning the damping controller
parameters to show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed
design approach.
Abstract: In this paper, we present a method for edge
segmentation of satellite images based on 2-D Phase Congruency
(PC) model. The proposed approach is composed by two steps: The
contextual non linear smoothing algorithm (CNLS) is used to smooth
the input images. Then, the 2D stretched Gabor filter (S-G filter)
based on proposed angular variation is developed in order to avoid
the multiple responses in the previous work. An assessment of our
proposed method performance is provided in terms of accuracy of
satellite image edge segmentation. The proposed method is compared
with others known approaches.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify the underlying
causes of late payment from the contractors- perspective in the
Malaysian construction industry and to recommend effective solutions
to mitigate late payment problems. The target groups of respondents in
this study were Grades G3, G5, G6 and G7 contractors with
specialization in building works and civil engineering works registered
with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in
Malaysia. Results from this study were analyzed with Statistical
Package for the Social Science (SPSS 15.0). From this study, it was
found that respondents have highest ranked five significant variables
out of a total of forty-one variables which can caused late payment
problems: a) cash flow problems due to deficiencies in client-s
management capacity (mean = 3.96); b) client-s ineffective utilization
of funds (mean = 3.88); c) scarcity of capital to finance the project
(mean = 3.81); d) clients failure to generate income from bank when
sales of houses do not hit the targeted amount (mean=3.72); and e)
poor cash flow because of lack of proper process implementation,
delay in releasing of the retention monies to contractor and delay in the
evaluation and certification of interim and final payment (mean =
3.66).
Abstract: The aim of the article is extending and developing
econometrics and network structure based methods which are able to
distinguish price manipulation in Tehran stock exchange. The
principal goal of the present study is to offer model for
approximating price manipulation in Tehran stock exchange. In order
to do so by applying separation method a sample consisting of 397
companies accepted at Tehran stock exchange were selected and
information related to their price and volume of trades during years
2001 until 2009 were collected and then through performing runs
test, skewness test and duration correlative test the selected
companies were divided into 2 sets of manipulated and non
manipulated companies. In the next stage by investigating
cumulative return process and volume of trades in manipulated
companies, the date of starting price manipulation was specified and
in this way the logit model, artificial neural network, multiple
discriminant analysis and by using information related to size of
company, clarity of information, ratio of P/E and liquidity of stock
one year prior price manipulation; a model for forecasting price
manipulation of stocks of companies present in Tehran stock
exchange were designed. At the end the power of forecasting models
were studied by using data of test set. Whereas the power of
forecasting logit model for test set was 92.1%, for artificial neural
network was 94.1% and multi audit analysis model was 90.2%;
therefore all of the 3 aforesaid models has high power to forecast
price manipulation and there is no considerable difference among
forecasting power of these 3 models.
Abstract: The use of Virtual Reality (VR) in schools and higher education is proliferating. Due to its interactive and animated features, it is regarded as a promising technology to increase students- spatial ability. Spatial ability is assumed to have a prominent role in science and engineering domains. However, research concerning individual differences such as spatial ability in the context of VR is still at its infancy. Moreover, empirical studies that focus on the features of VR to improve spatial ability are to date rare. Thus, this paper explores the possible educational values of VR in relation to spatial ability to call for more research concerning spatial ability in the context of VR based on studies in computerbased learning. It is believed that the incorporation of state-of-the-art VR technology for educational purposes should be justified by the enhanced benefits for the target learners.
Abstract: Recently, content delivery services have grown rapidly
over the Internet. For ASPs (Application Service Provider) providing
content delivery services, P2P architecture is beneficial to reduce
outgoing traffic from content servers. On the other hand, ISPs are
suffering from the increase in P2P traffic. The P2P traffic is
unnecessarily redundant because the same content or the same
fractions of content are transferred through an inter-ISP link several
times. Subscriber ISPs have to pay a transit fee to upstream ISPs based
on the volume of inter-ISP traffic. In order to solve such problems,
several works have been done for the purpose of P2P traffic reduction.
However, these existing works cannot control the traffic volume of a
certain link. In order to solve such an ISP-s operational requirement,
we propose a method to control traffic volume for a link within a
preconfigured upper bound value. We evaluated that the proposed
method works well by conducting a simulation on a 1,000-user scale.
We confirm that the traffic volume could be controlled at a lower level
than the upper bound for all evaluated conditions. Moreover, our
method could control the traffic volume at 98.95% link usage against
the target value.