Abstract: The pollutant removal efficiency of the Intermittently
Decanted Extended Aeration (IDEA) wastewater treatment system at
Curtin University Sarawak Campus, and conventional activated
sludge wastewater treatment system at a local resort, Resort A, is
monitored. The influent and effluent characteristics are tested during
wet and dry weather conditions, and peak and off peak periods. For
the wastewater treatment systems at Curtin Sarawak and Resort A,
during dry weather and peak season, it was found that the BOD5
concentration in the influent is 121.7mg/L and 80.0mg/L
respectively, and in the effluent, 18.7mg/L and and 18.0mg/L
respectively. Analysis of the performance of the IDEA treatment
system showed that the operational costs can be minimized by 3%, by
decreasing the number of operating cycles. As for the treatment
system in Resort A, by utilizing a smaller capacity air blower, a
saving of 12% could be made in the operational costs.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of
cognitive decision effort in recommendation system, combined with
indicators "information quality" and "service quality" from IS success
model to exam the awareness of the user for the "recommended system
performance". A total of 411 internet user answered a questionnaire
assessing their attention of use and satisfaction of recommendation
system in internet book store. Quantitative result indicates following
research results. First, information quality of recommended system
has obvious influence in consumer shopping decision-making process,
and the attitude to use the system. Second, in the process of consumer's
shopping decision-making, the recommendation system has no
significant influence for consumers to pay lower cognitive
decision-making effort. Third, e-commerce platform provides
recommendations and information is necessary, but the quality of
information on user needs must be considered, or they will be other
competitors offer homogeneous services replaced.
Abstract: This paper presents the new results of energy plant –
rye and triticale at yellow ripeness and ripe, pre-treatment in high
pressure steam reactor and monosaccharide extraction. There were
investigated the influence of steam pressure (20 to 22 bar), retention
duration (180 to 240 s) and catalytic sulphuric acid concentration
strength (0 to 0.5 %) on the pre-treatment process, contents of
monosaccharides (glucose, arabinose, xylose, mannose) and
undesirable by-compounds (furfural and HMF) in the reactor. The
study has determined that the largest amount of monosaccharides
(37.2 % of glucose, 2.7 % of arabinose, 8.4 % of xylose, and 1.3 %
of mannose) was received in the rye at ripe, the samples of which
were mixed with 0.5 % concentration of catalytic sulphuric acid, and
hydrolysed in the reactor, where the pressure was 20 bar, whereas the
reaction time – 240 s.
Abstract: The consumption capability of people in China has
been a big issue to tourism business. Due to the increasing of China
tourists, Taiwan-s government rescinded the category of people in
China and opened up the non-stopped airline from China to Taiwan.
The “one-day traveling style between China and Taiwan" has formed,
hoping to bring business to Taiwan. Night market, which shows
foreigners the very local character of Taiwan, contains various
merchandise for consumers to purchase. With the increasing numbers
of non-stopped airline, visiting Taiwan-s night markets has also been
one of major activities to China-s tourists. The purpose of the present
study is to understand the consumer behavior of China tourists in
tourist night markets in Taipei and analyze that if their shopping
motives cause the different shopping behaviors and post-purchase
satisfaction and revisiting intention. The results reveled that for the
China tourists, the motives of significant influence to the shopping
behaviors. Also, the shopping behaviors significant influence to the
whole satisfaction and the whole satisfaction significant influence to
post-purchase behavior.
Abstract: Recently, Denial of Service(DoS) attacks and Distributed DoS(DDoS) attacks which are stronger form of DoS attacks from plural hosts have become security threats on the Internet. It is important to identify the attack source and to block attack traffic as one of the measures against these attacks. In general, it is difficult to identify them because information about the attack source is falsified. Therefore a method of identifying the attack source by tracing the route of the attack traffic is necessary. A traceback method which uses traffic patterns, using changes in the number of packets over time as criteria for the attack traceback has been proposed. The traceback method using the traffic patterns can trace the attack by matching the shapes of input traffic patterns and the shape of output traffic pattern observed at a network branch point such as a router. The traffic pattern is a shapes of traffic and unfalsifiable information. The proposed trace methods proposed till date cannot obtain enough tracing accuracy, because they directly use traffic patterns which are influenced by non-attack traffics. In this paper, a new traffic pattern matching method using Independent Component Analysis(ICA) is proposed.
Abstract: Titanium dioxide coatings were deposited by utilizing
atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) system. The agglomerated nanopowder
and different spraying parameters were used to determine
their influences on the microstructure surface feature and photoabsorption
of the coatings. The microstructure of as-sprayed TiO2
coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM).
Surface characteristics were investigated by Fourier Transform
Infrared (FT-IR). The photo absorption was determined by UV-VIS
spectrophotometer. It is found that the spray parameters have an
influence on the microstructure, surface feature and photo-absorption
of the TiO2 coatings.
Abstract: This research assesses the value of the brand personality and its influence on consumer-s decision making, through relational variables, after receiving a text message ad. An empirical study, in which 380 participants have received an SMS ad, confirms that brand personality does actually influence the brand trust as well as the attachment and commitment. The levels of sensitivity and involvement have an impact on the brand personality and the related variables to it.
Abstract: The survival of publicly listed companies largely
depends on their stocks being liquidly traded. This goal can be
achieved when new investors are attracted to invest on companies-
stocks. Among different groups of investors, individual investors are
generally less able to objectively evaluate companies- risks and
returns, and tend to be emotionally biased in their investing
decisions. Therefore their decisions may be formed as a result of
perceived risks and returns, and influenced by companies- images.
This study finds that perceived risk, perceived returns and trust
directly affect individual investors- trading decisions while attitude
towards brand partially mediates the relationships. This finding
suggests that, in courting individual investors, companies still need to
perform financially while building a good image can result in their
stocks being accepted quicker than the stocks of good performing
companies with hidden images.
Abstract: The whole-cell protein-profiling technique was
evaluated for studying differences in banding pattern of three
different species of Cyanobacteria i.e. Anabaena fertilissima,
Aulosira fertilissima and Westiellopsis prolifica under the influence
of four different pesticides-2,4-D (Ethyl Ester of 2,4-Dichloro
Phenoxy Acetic Acid), Pencycuron (N-[(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]-Ncyclopentyl-
N'–phenylurea), Endosulfan (6,7,8,9,10,10hexachloro-
1,5,5a,6,9,9a-hexahydro-6,9-methano-2,4,3-benzodioxathiepine-3-
oxide) and Tebuconazole (1-(4-Chlorophenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-3-(1,2,4-
triazol-1-ylmethyl)pentan-3-ol). Whole-cell extracts were obtained by
sonication treatment (Sonifier cell disruptor -Branson Digital Sonifier
S-450D, USA) and were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate
polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). SDS-PAGE
analyses of the total protein profile of Anabaena fertilissima,
Aulosira fertilissima and Westiellopsis prolifica showed a linear
decrease in the protein content with increasing pesticide stress when
administered to different concentrations of 2, 4-D, Pencycuron,
Endosulfan and Tebuconazole. The results indicate that different
stressors exert specific effects on cyanobacterial protein synthesis.
Abstract: Calcium [Ca2+] dynamics is studied as a potential form
of neuron excitability that can control many irregular processes like
metabolism, secretion etc. Ca2+ ion enters presynaptic terminal and
increases the synaptic strength and thus triggers the neurotransmitter
release. The modeling and analysis of calcium dynamics in neuron
cell becomes necessary for deeper understanding of the processes
involved. A mathematical model has been developed for cylindrical
shaped neuron cell by incorporating physiological parameters like
buffer, diffusion coefficient, and association rate. Appropriate initial
and boundary conditions have been framed. The closed form solution
has been developed in terms of modified Bessel function. A computer
program has been developed in MATLAB 7.11 for the whole
approach.
Abstract: The number of the companies accepting RFID in Korea
has been increased continuously due to the domestic development of
information technology. The acceptance of RFID by companies in
Korea enabled them to do business with many global enterprises in a
much more efficient and effective way. According to a survey[33,
p76], many companies in Korea have used RFID for inventory or
distribution manages. But, the use of RFID in the companies in Korea
is in the early stages and its potential value hasn-t fully been realized
yet. At this time, it would be very important to investigate the factors
that affect RFID acceptance. For this study, many previous studies
were referenced and some RFID experts were interviewed. Through
the pilot test, four factors were selected - Security Trust, Employee
Knowledge, Partner Influence, Service Provider Trust - affecting
RFID acceptance and an extended technology acceptance
model(e-TAM) was presented with those factors. The proposed model
was empirically tested using data collected from employees in
companies or public enterprises. In order to analyze some
relationships between exogenous variables and four variables in TAM,
structural equation modeling(SEM) was developed and SPSS12.0 and
AMOS 7.0 were used for analyses. The results are summarized as
follows: 1) security trust perceived by employees positively
influences on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use; 2)
employee-s knowledge on RFID positively influences on only
perceived ease of use; 3) a partner-s influence for RFID acceptance
positively influences on only perceived usefulness; 4) service provider
trust very positively influences on perceived usefulness and perceived
ease of use 5) the relationships between TAM variables are the same as
the previous studies.
Abstract: Work-life balance has been acknowledged and
promoted for the sake of employee retention. It is essential for a
manager to realize the human resources situation within a company to
help employees work happily and perform at their best. This paper
suggests knowledge management and critical thinking are useful to
motivate employees to think about their work-life balance. A
qualitative case study is presented, which aimed to discover the
meaning of work-life balance-s meaning from the perspective of Thai
knowledge workers and how it affects their decision-making towards
work resignation. Results found three types of work-life balance
dimensions; a work- life balance including a workplace and a private
life setting, an organizational working life balance only, and a worklife
balance only in a private life setting. These aspects all influenced
the decision-making of the employees. Factors within a theme of an
organizational work-life balance were involved with systematic
administration, fair treatment, employee recognition, challenging
assignments to gain working experience, assignment engagement,
teamwork, relationship with superiors, and working environment,
while factors concerning private life settings were about personal
demands such as an increasing their salary or starting their own
business.
Abstract: School experiences, family bonding and self-concept
had always been a crucial factor in influencing all aspects of a
student-s development. The purpose of this study is to develop and to
validate a priori model of self-concept among students. The study
was tested empirically using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to validate the structural
model. To address these concerns, 1167 students were randomly
selected and utilized the Cognitive Psycho-Social University of
Malaya instrument (2009).Resulted demonstrated there is indirect
effect from family bonding to self-concept through school
experiences among secondary school students as a mediator. Besides
school experiences, there is a direct effect from family bonding to
self-concept and family bonding to school experiences among
students.
Abstract: In this article the influence of higher frequency effects
in addition to a special damper design on the electrical behavior of a
synchronous generator main exciter machine is investigated. On the
one hand these machines are often highly stressed by harmonics from
the bridge rectifier thus facing additional eddy current losses. On the
other hand the switching may cause the excitation of dangerous
voltage peaks in resonant circuits formed by the diodes of the
rectifier and the commutation reactance of the machine. Therefore
modern rotating exciters are treated like synchronous generators
usually modeled with a second order equivalent circuit. Hence the
well known Standstill Frequency Response Test (SSFR) method is
applied to a test machine in order to determine parameters for the
simulation. With these results it is clearly shown that higher
frequencies have a strong impact on the conventional equivalent
circuit model. Because of increasing field displacement effects in the
stranded armature winding the sub-transient reactance is even smaller
than the armature leakage at high frequencies. As a matter of fact this
prevents the algorithm to find an equivalent scheme. This issue is
finally solved using Laplace transfer functions fully describing the
transient behavior at the model ports.
Abstract: The influence of twist arrangement on the temperature
distribution in an annular diffuser fitted with twisted rectangular hub
is investigated. Different pitches (Y = 120 mm, 100 mm, 80 mm, and
60 mm) for the twist arrangements are simulated to be compared. The
geometry of the annular diffuser and the inlet condition for the hub
arrangements are kept constant. The result reveals that using twisted
rectangular hub insert with different pitches will force the
temperature to distribute in a circular direction. However,
temperature distribution will be enhanced with the length pitch
increases.
Abstract: Mankind has entered into an extremely complex and
controversial stage of its development: the world is simultaneously
organized and chaoticized, globalized and localized, combined and
split. Analysts point out that globalization as a process of
strengthening economic, cultural, financial and other ties of states
cause many problems. In the economic sphere, it creates the danger
of growing gap between the states, in the sphere of politics it leads to
the weakening of political power and influence of nation-states.
Abstract: Atherosclerosis was identified as a chronic inflammatory process resulting from interactions between plasma lipoproteins, cellular components (monocyte, macrophages, T lymphocytes, endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells) and the extracellular matrix of the arterial wall. Several types of genes were known to express during formation of atherosclerosis. This study is carried out to identify unknown differentially expressed gene (DEG) in atherogenesis. Rabbit’s aorta tissues were stained by H&E for histomorphology. GeneFishing™ PCR analysis was performed from total RNA extracted from the aorta tissues. The DNA fragment from DEG was cloned, sequenced and validated by Real-time PCR. Histomorphology showed intimal thickening in the aorta. DEG detected from ACP-41 was identified as cathepsin B gene and showed upregulation at week-8 and week-12 of atherogenesis. Therefore, ACP-based GeneFishing™ PCR facilitated identification of cathepsin B gene which was differentially expressed during development of atherosclerosis.
Abstract: The interaction of tunneling or mining with
groundwater has become a very relevant problem not only due to the
need to guarantee the safety of workers and to assure the efficiency of
the tunnel drainage systems, but also to safeguard water resources
from impoverishment and pollution risk. Therefore it is very
important to forecast the drainage processes (i.e., the evaluation of
drained discharge and drawdown caused by the excavation). The aim
of this study was to know better the system and to quantify the flow
drained from the Fontane mines, located in Val Germanasca (Turin,
Italy). This allowed to understand the hydrogeological local changes
in time. The work has therefore been structured as follows: the
reconstruction of the conceptual model with the geological,
hydrogeological and geological-structural study; the calculation of
the tunnel inflows (through the use of structural methods) and the
comparison with the measured flow rates; the water balance at the
basin scale. In this way it was possible to understand what are the
relationships between rainfall, groundwater level variations and the
effect of the presence of tunnels as a means of draining water.
Subsequently, it the effects produced by the excavation of the mining
tunnels was quantified, through numerical modeling. In particular,
the modeling made it possible to observe the drawdown variation as a
function of number, excavation depth and different mines linings.
Abstract: Reinforced concrete crash barriers used in road traffic
must meet a number of criteria. Crash barriers are laid lengthwise,
one behind another, and joined using specially designed steel locks.
While developing BSV reinforced concrete crash barriers (type
ŽPSV), experiments and calculations aimed to optimize the shape of
a newly designed lock and the reinforcement quantity and
distribution in a crash barrier were carried out. The tension carrying
capacity of two parallelly joined locks was solved experimentally.
Based on the performed experiments, adjustments of nonlinear
properties of steel were performed in the calculations. The obtained
results served as a basis to optimize the lock design using a
computational model that takes into account the plastic behaviour of
steel and the influence of the surrounding concrete [6]. The response
to the vehicle impact has been analyzed using a specially elaborated
complex computational model, comprising both the nonlinear model
of the damping wall or crash barrier and the detailed model of the
vehicle [7].
Abstract: This paper deals with the problem of thermal and
mechanical shocks, which rising during operation, mostly at
interrupted cut. Here will be solved their impact on the cutting edge
tool life, the impact of coating technology on resistance to shocks
and experimental determination of tool life in heating flame.
Resistance of removable cutting edges against thermal and
mechanical shock is an important indicator of quality as well as its
abrasion resistance. Breach of the edge or its crumble may occur due
to cyclic loading. We can observe it not only during the interrupted
cutting (milling, turning areas abandoned hole or slot), but also in
continuous cutting. This is due to the volatility of cutting force on
cutting. Frequency of the volatility in this case depends on the type
of rising chips (chip size element). For difficult-to-machine materials
such as austenitic steel particularly happened at higher cutting speeds
for the localization of plastic deformation in the shear plane and for
the inception of separate elements substantially continuous chips.
This leads to variations of cutting forces substantially greater than for
other types of steel.