Abstract: A Japanese manga character, Doraemon, was made by
Fujiko F. Fujio in 1969, was made into animation in 1973. The main
character, Doraemon, is a robot cat, and is a well-known Japanese
animated character. However, Doraemon is not only regarded as an
animation character but it is also used in educational and technological
programs in Japan.
This paper focuses on the background of Doraemon, educational
and technological perspectives on Doraemon, and comparison of the
original Japanese animation and the US remade version, and the
animator Fujiko’s dreams and hopes for Doraemon will be examined.
Since Doraemon has been exported as animation and manga to
overseas, perspectives toward Doraemon have changed. For example,
changes of stories and characters can been seen in the present
Doraemon animation. Not only the overseas TV productions which
broadcast Doraemon but also the Japanese production has to consider
violence, sexuality, etc. when editing episodes. Because of
representation of cultural differences, Japanese animation is thought to
contain more violence, discrimination, and sexuality in animation.
With responses from overseas, the Japanese production was cautious
about the US remade version. They cared about the US Broadcast
Standard, and tried to consider US customs and culture in the US
remade version. Seeing the difference, acculturation is necessary for
exports of animation overseas. Moreover, observing different aspects
of Doraemon domestically, Doraemon provides dreams and hopes to
children.
Abstract: Thousands of organisations store important and
confidential information related to them, their customers, and their
business partners in databases all across the world. The stored data
ranges from less sensitive (e.g. first name, last name, date of birth) to
more sensitive data (e.g. password, pin code, and credit card
information). Losing data, disclosing confidential information or
even changing the value of data are the severe damages that
Structured Query Language injection (SQLi) attack can cause on a
given database. It is a code injection technique where malicious SQL
statements are inserted into a given SQL database by simply using a
web browser. In this paper, we propose an effective pattern
recognition neural network model for detection and classification of
SQLi attacks. The proposed model is built from three main elements
of: a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) generator in order to generate
thousands of malicious and benign URLs, a URL classifier in order
to: 1) classify each generated URL to either a benign URL or a
malicious URL and 2) classify the malicious URLs into different
SQLi attack categories, and a NN model in order to: 1) detect either a
given URL is a malicious URL or a benign URL and 2) identify the
type of SQLi attack for each malicious URL. The model is first
trained and then evaluated by employing thousands of benign and
malicious URLs. The results of the experiments are presented in
order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Abstract: Non-crimp 3D orthogonal fabric composite is one of
the textile-based composite materials that are rapidly developing
light-weight engineering materials. The present paper focuses on
geometric and micromechanical modeling of non-crimp 3D
orthogonal carbon fabric and composites reinforced with it for
aerospace applications. In this research meso-finite element (FE)
modeling employs for stress analysis in different load conditions.
Since mechanical testing of expensive textile carbon composites with
specific application isn't affordable, simulation composite in a virtual
environment is a helpful way to investigate its mechanical properties
in different conditions.
Abstract: Experimental studies to investigate the depth of the
scour conducted at a side-weir intersection located at the 1800 curved
flume which located Hydraulic Laboratory of Yıldız Technical
University, Istanbul, Turkey. Side weirs were located at the middle of
the straight part of the main channel. Three different lengths (25, 40
and 50 cm) and three different weir crest height (7, 10 and 12 cm) of
the side weir placed on the side weir station. There is no scour when
the material is only kaolin. Therefore, the cohesive bed was prepared
by properly mixing clay material (kaolin) with 31% sand in all
experiments. Following 24h consolidation time, in order to observe
the effect of flow intensity on the scour depth, experiments were
carried out for five different upstream Froude numbers in the range of
0.33-0.81.
As a result of this study the relation between scour depth and
upstream flow intensity as a function of time have been established.
The longitudinal velocities decreased along the side weir; towards the
downstream due to overflow over the side-weirs. At the beginning,
the scour depth increases rapidly with time and then asymptotically
approached constant values in all experiments for all side weir
dimensions as in non-cohesive sediment. Thus, the scour depth
reached equilibrium conditions. Time to equilibrium depends on the
approach flow intensity and the dimensions of side weirs. For
different heights of the weir crest, dimensionless scour depths
increased with increasing upstream Froude number. Equilibrium
scour depths which formed 7 cm side-weir crest height were obtained
higher than that of the 12 cm side-weir crest height. This means when
side-weir crest height increased equilibrium scour depths decreased.
Although the upstream side of the scour hole is almost vertical, the
downstream side of the hole is inclined.
Abstract: Al6061 alloy base matrix, reinforced with particles of
silicon carbide (10 wt %) and Graphite powder (1wt%), known as
hybrid composites have been fabricated by liquid metallurgy route
(stir casting technique) and optimized at different parameters like
applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance by taguchi method. A
plan of experiment generated through taguchi technique was used to
perform experiments based on L27 orthogonal array. The developed
ANOVA and regression equations are used to find the optimum
coefficient of friction and wear under the influence of applied load,
sliding speed and sliding distance. On the basis of “smaller the best”
the dry sliding wear resistance was analysed and finally confirmation
tests were carried out to verify the experimental results.
Abstract: This research paper presents highly optimized barrel
shifter at 22nm Hi K metal gate strained Si technology node. This
barrel shifter is having a unique combination of static and dynamic
body bias which gives lowest power delay product. This power delay
product is compared with the same circuit at same technology node
with static forward biasing at ‘supply/2’ and also with normal reverse
substrate biasing and still found to be the lowest. The power delay
product of this barrel sifter is .39362X10-17J and is lowered by
approximately 78% to reference proposed barrel shifter at 32nm bulk
CMOS technology. Power delay product of barrel shifter at 22nm Hi
K Metal gate technology with normal reverse substrate bias is
2.97186933X10-17J and can be compared with this design’s PDP of
.39362X10-17J. This design uses both static and dynamic substrate
biasing and also has approximately 96% lower power delay product
compared to only forward body biased at half of supply voltage. The
NMOS model used are predictive technology models of Arizona state
university and the simulations to be carried out using HSPICE
simulator.
Abstract: Purpose: The study aimed to assess the depressant or
antidepressant effects of several Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory
Drugs (NSAIDs) in mice: the selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)
inhibitor meloxicam, and the non-selective COX-1 and COX-2
inhibitors lornoxicam, sodium metamizole, and ketorolac. The
current literature data regarding such effects of these agents are
scarce.
Materials and methods: The study was carried out on NMRI mice
weighing 20-35 g, kept in a standard laboratory environment. The
study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of
Medicine and Pharmacy „Carol Davila”, Bucharest. The study agents
were injected intraperitoneally, 10 mL/kg body weight (bw) 1 hour
before the assessment of the locomotor activity by cage testing (n=10
mice/ group) and 2 hours before the forced swimming tests (n=15).
The study agents were dissolved in normal saline (meloxicam,
sodium metamizole), ethanol 11.8% v/v in normal saline (ketorolac),
or water (lornoxicam), respectively. Negative and positive control
agents were also given (amitryptilline in the forced swimming test).
The cage floor used in the locomotor activity assessment was divided
into 20 equal 10 cm squares. The forced swimming test involved
partial immersion of the mice in cylinders (15/9cm height/diameter)
filled with water (10 cm depth at 28C), where they were left for 6
minutes. The cage endpoint used in the locomotor activity assessment
was the number of treaded squares. Four endpoints were used in the
forced swimming test (immobility latency for the entire 6 minutes,
and immobility, swimming, and climbing scores for the final 4
minutes of the swimming session), recorded by an observer that was
„blinded” to the experimental design. The statistical analysis used the
Levene test for variance homogeneity, ANOVA and post-hoc
analysis as appropriate, Tukey or Tamhane tests.
Results: No statistically significant increase or decrease in the
number of treaded squares was seen in the locomotor activity
assessment of any mice group. In the forced swimming test,
amitryptilline showed an antidepressant effect in each experiment, at
the 10 mg/kg bw dosage. Sodium metamizole was depressant at 100
mg/kg bw (increased the immobility score, p=0.049, Tamhane test),
but not in lower dosages as well (25 and 50 mg/kg bw). Ketorolac
showed an antidepressant effect at the intermediate dosage of 5
mg/kg bw, but not so in the dosages of 2.5 and 10 mg/kg bw,
respectively (increased the swimming score, p=0.012, Tamhane test).
Meloxicam and lornoxicam did not alter the forced swimming
endpoints at any dosage level.
Discussion: 1) Certain NSAIDs caused changes in the forced
swimming patterns without interfering with locomotion. 2) Sodium
metamizole showed a depressant effect, whereas ketorolac proved
antidepressant. Conclusion: NSAID-induced mood changes are not
class effects of these agents and apparently are independent of the
type of inhibited cyclooxygenase (COX-1 or COX-2).
Disclosure: This paper was co-financed from the European Social
Fund, through the Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013, project number POSDRU /159
/1.5 /S /138907 "Excellence in scientific interdisciplinary research,
doctoral and postdoctoral, in the economic, social and medical fields
-EXCELIS", coordinator The Bucharest University of Economic
Studies.
Abstract: The aim of the current study was to develop and
validate a Response to Stressful Situations Scale (RSSS) for the
Portuguese population. This scale assesses the degree of stress
experienced in scenarios that can constitute positive, negative and
more neutral stressors, and also describes the physiological,
emotional and behavioral reactions to those events according to their
intensity. These scenarios include typical stressor scenarios relevant
to patients with schizophrenia, which are currently absent from most
scales, assessing specific risks that these stressors may bring on
subjects, which may prove useful in non-clinical and clinical
populations (i.e. Patients with mood or anxiety disorders,
schizophrenia). Results from Principal Components Analysis and
Confirmatory Factor Analysis of two adult samples from general
population allowed to confirm a three-factor model with good fit
indices: χ2 (144)= 370.211, p = 0.000; GFI = 0.928; CFI = 0.927; TLI =
0.914, RMSEA = 0.055, P(rmsea ≤0.005) = .096; PCFI = .781.
Further data analysis of the scale revealed that RSSS is an adequate
assessment tool of stress response in adults to be used in further
research and clinical settings, with good psychometric characteristics,
adequate divergent and convergent validity, good temporal stability
and high internal consistency.
Abstract: Brass terminal, one of the several crude oil and
petroleum products storage/handling facilities in the Niger Delta was
built in the 1980s. Activities at this site, over the years, released
crude oil into this 3 m-deep, 1500 m-long canal lying adjacent to the
terminal with oil floating on it and its sediment heavily polluted. To
ensure effective clean-up, three major activities were planned: site
characterization, bioremediation pilot plant construction and testing
and full-scale bioremediation of contaminated sediment / bank soil by
land farming. The canal was delineated into 12 lots and each
characterized, with reference to the floating oily phase, contaminated
sediment and canal bank soil. As a result of site characterization, a
pilot plant for on-site bioremediation was designed and a treatment
basin constructed for carrying out pilot bioremediation test.
Following a designed sampling protocol, samples from this pilot
plant were collected for analysis at two laboratories as a quality
assurance / quality control check. Results showed that Brass Canal
upstream is contaminated with dark, thick and viscous oily film with
characteristic hydrocarbon smell while downstream, thin oily film
interspersed with water was observed. Sediments were observed to be
dark with mixture of brownish sandy soil with TPH ranging from
17,800 mg/kg in Lot 1 to 88,500 mg/kg in Lot 12 samples. Brass
Canal bank soil was observed to be sandy from ground surface to 3m,
below ground surface (bgs) it was silty-sandy and brownish while
subsurface soil (4-10m bgs) was sandy-clayey and whitish/grayish
with typical hydrocarbon smell. Preliminary results obtained so far
have been very promising but were proprietary. This project is
considered, to the best of technical literature knowledge, the first
large-scale on-site bioremediation project in the Niger Delta region,
Nigeria.
Abstract: Phthalates are ubiquitous environmental pollutants
well known because of their endocrine disrupting activity in human
organism. The aim of our study was, by biological monitoring,
investigate exposure to phthalates of Roma ethnicity group i.e.
children and adults from 5 families (n=29, average age 11.8 ± 7.6
years) living in western Slovakia. Additionally, we analysed some
associations between anthropometric measures, questionnaire data
i.e. socio-economic status, eating and drinking habits, practise of
personal care products and household conditions in comparison with
concentrations of phthalate metabolites. We used for analysis of urine
samples high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass
spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) to determine concentrations of
phthalate metabolites monoethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl
phthalate (MnBP), mono-iso-butyl phthalate (MiBP), mono(2-ethyl-
5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (5OH-MEHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl)
phthalate (5oxo-MEHP) and mono(2-etylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP).
Our results indicate that ethnicity, lower socioeconomic status and
different housing conditions in Roma population can affect urinary
concentration of phthalate metabolites.
Abstract: The separation of Hg (II) from produced water by
hollow fiber contactors (HFC) was investigation. This system
included of two hollow fiber modules in the series connecting. The
first module used for the extraction reaction and the second module
for stripping reaction. Aliquat336 extractant was fed from the organic
reservoirs into the shell side of the first hollow fiber module and
continuous to the shell side of the second module. The organic liquid
was continuously feed recirculate and back to the reservoirs. The feed
solution was pumped into the lumen (tube side) of the first hollow
fiber module. Simultaneously, the stripping solution was pumped in
the same way in tube side of the second module. The feed and
stripping solution was fed which had a countercurrent flow. Samples
were kept in the outlet of feed and stripping solution at 1 hour and
characterized concentration of Hg (II) by Inductively Couple Plasma
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Feed solution was
produced water from natural gulf of Thailand. The extractant was
Aliquat336 dissolved in kerosene diluent. Stripping solution used was
nitric acid (HNO3) and thiourea (NH2CSNH2). The effect of carrier
concentration and type of stripping solution were investigated.
Results showed that the best condition were 10 % (v/v) Aliquat336
and 1.0 M NH2CSNH2. At the optimum condition, the extraction and
stripping of Hg (II) were 98% and 44.2%, respectively.
Abstract: In the present study, RBF neural networks were used
for predicting the performance and emission parameters of a
biodiesel engine. Engine experiments were carried out in a 4 stroke
diesel engine using blends of diesel and Honge methyl ester as the
fuel. Performance parameters like BTE, BSEC, Tex and emissions
from the engine were measured. These experimental results were
used for ANN modeling.
RBF center initialization was done by random selection and by
using Clustered techniques. Network was trained by using fixed and
varying widths for the RBF units. It was observed that RBF results
were having a good agreement with the experimental results.
Networks trained by using clustering technique gave better results
than using random selection of centers in terms of reduced MRE and
increased prediction accuracy. The average MRE for the performance
parameters was 3.25% with the prediction accuracy of 98% and for
emissions it was 10.4% with a prediction accuracy of 80%.
Abstract: In this paper, a model is proposed to determine the life
distribution parameters of the useful life region for the PV system
utilizing a combination of non-parametric and linear regression
analysis for the failure data of these systems. Results showed that this
method is dependable for analyzing failure time data for such reliable
systems when the data is scarce.
Abstract: The article presents a plasma chemical technology for
processing solid fuels, using examples of bituminous and brown
coals. Thermodynamic and experimental investigation of the
technology was made. The technology allows producing synthesis
gas from the coal organic mass and valuable components (technical
silicon, ferrosilicon, aluminum, and carbon silicon, as well as
microelements of rare metals, such as uranium, molybdenum,
vanadium, etc.) from the mineral mass. The thusly produced highcalorific
synthesis gas can be used for synthesis of methanol, as a
high-calorific reducing gas instead of blast-furnace coke as well as
power gas for thermal power plants.
Abstract: As the trend in automotive technology is fast moving
towards hybridization and electrification to curb emissions as well as
to improve the fuel efficiency, air-conditioning systems in passenger
cars have not caught up with this trend and still remain as the major
energy consumers amongst others. Adsorption based air-conditioning
systems, e.g. with silica-gel water pair, which are already in use for
residential and commercial applications, are now being considered as
a technology leap once proven feasible for the passenger cars. In this
paper we discuss a methodology, challenges and feasibility of
implementing an adsorption based air-conditioning system in a
passenger car utilizing the exhaust waste heat. We also propose an
optimized control strategy with interfaces to the engine control unit
of the vehicle for operating this system with reasonable efficiency
supported by our simulation and validation results in a prototype
vehicle, additionally comparing to existing implementations,
simulation based as well as experimental. Finally we discuss the
influence of start-stop and hybrid systems on the operation strategy of
the adsorption air-conditioning system.
Abstract: In wastewater treatment processes, aeration introduces
air into a liquid. In these systems, air is introduced by different
devices submerged in the wastewater. Smaller bubbles result in more
bubble surface area per unit of volume and higher oxygen transfer
efficiency. Jet pumps are devices that use air bubbles and are widely
used in wastewater treatment processes. The principle of jet pumps is
their ability to transfer energy of one fluid, called primary or motive,
into a secondary fluid or gas. These pumps have no moving parts and
are able to work in remote areas under extreme conditions. The
objective of this work is to study experimentally the characteristics of
the jet pump and the size of air bubbles in the laboratory water tank.
The effect of flow rate ratio on pump performance is investigated in
order to have a better understanding about pump behavior under
various conditions, in order to determine the efficiency of receiving
air bubbles different sizes. The experiments show that we should take
care when increasing the flow rate ratio while seeking to decrease
bubble size in the outlet flow. This study will help improve and
extend the use of the jet pump in many practical applications.
Abstract: A field study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of
safflower plant for phytoremediation of contaminated soils. The
experiment was performed on an agricultural fields contaminated by
the Non-Ferrous-Metal Works near Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Field
experiments with randomized complete block design with five
treatments (control, compost amendments added at 20 and 40 t/daa,
and vermicompost amendments added at 20 and 40 t/daa) were
carried out. The quality of safflower seeds and oil (heavy metals and
fatty acid composition) were determined. Tested organic amendments
significantly influenced the chemical composition of safflower seeds
and oil. The compost and vermicompost treatments significantly
reduced heavy metals concentration in safflower seeds and oils, but
the effect differed among them. Addition of vermicompost and
compost leads to an increase in the content of palmitic acid and
linoleic acid, and a decrease in the stearic and oleic acids compared
with the control. A significant increase in the quantity of saturated
acids was observed in the variants with 20 t/daa of compost and 20
t/daa of vermicompost (9.1 and 8.9% relative to the control).
Safflower is a plant which is tolerant to heavy metals and can be
successfully used in the phytoremediation of heavy metal
contaminated soils. The processing of seeds to oil and using the
obtained oil for nutritional purposes will greatly reduce the cost of
phytoremediation.
Abstract: In this paper the problem of the application of
temporal reasoning and case-based reasoning in intelligent decision
support systems is considered. The method of case-based reasoning
with temporal dependences for the solution of problems of real-time
diagnostics and forecasting in intelligent decision support systems is
described. This paper demonstrates how the temporal case-based
reasoning system can be used in intelligent decision support systems
of the car access control. This work was supported by RFBR.
Abstract: Kidney cancer is the most lethal urological cancer
accounting for 3% of adult malignancies. VHL, a tumor-suppressor
gene, is best known to be associated with renal cell carcinoma
(RCC). The VHL functions as negative regulator of hypoxia inducible
factors. Recent sequencing efforts have identified several novel
frequent mutations of histone modifying and chromatin remodeling
genes in ccRCC (clear cell RCC) including PBRM1 and SETD2. The
PBRM1 gene encodes the BAF180 protein, which involved in
transcriptional activation and repression of selected genes. SETD2
encodes a histone methyltransferase, which may play a role in
suppressing tumor development. In this study, RNAs of 30 paired
tumor and normal samples that were grouped according to the types
of kidney cancer and clinical characteristics of patients, including
gender and average age were examined by RT-PCR, SSCP and
sequencing techniques. VHL, PBRM1 and SETD2 expressions were
relatively down-regulated. However, statistically no significance was
found (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p>0.05). Interestingly, no mutation
was observed on the contrary of previous studies. Understanding the
molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of RCC has
aided the development of molecular-targeted drugs for kidney cancer.
Further analysis is required to identify the responsible genes rather
than VHL, PBRM1 and SETD2 in kidney cancer.
Abstract: In Hungary, the society has changed a lot for the past
25 years, and these changes could be detected in educational
situations as well. The number and the intensity of conflicts have
been increased in most fields of life, as well as at schools. Teachers
have difficulties to be able to handle school conflicts. What is more,
the new net generation, generation Z has values and behavioural
patterns different from those of the previous one, which might
generate more serious conflicts at school, especially with teachers
who were mainly socialising in a traditional teacher – student
relationship.
In Hungary, the bill CCIV of 2011 declared the foundation of
Institutes of Teacher Training in higher education institutes. One of
the tasks of the Institutes is to survey the competences and needs of
teachers working in public education and to provide further trainings
and services for them according to their needs and requirements. This
job is supported by the Social Renewal Operative Programs 4.1.2.B.
The professors of a college carried out a questionnaire and surveyed
the needs and the requirements of teachers working in the region.
Based on the results, the professors of the Institute of Teacher
Training decided to meet the requirements of teachers and to launch
short teacher further training courses in spring 2015. One of the
courses is going to focus on school conflict management through
mediation.
The aim of the pilot course is to provide conflict management
techniques for teachers and to present different mediation techniques
to them. The theoretical part of the course (5 hours) will enable
participants to understand the main points and the advantages of
mediation, while the practical part (10 hours) will involve teachers in
role plays to learn how to cope with conflict situations applying
mediation. We hope if conflicts could be reduced, it would influence
school atmosphere in a positive way and the teaching – learning
process could be more successful and effective.