Abstract: Linear stability of wake-shear layers in two-phase
shallow flows is analyzed in the present paper. Stability analysis is
based on two-dimensional shallow water equations. It is assumed that
the fluid contains uniformly distributed solid particles. No dynamic
interaction between the carrier fluid and particles is expected in the
initial moment. Linear stability curves are obtained for different
values of the particle loading parameter, the velocity ratio and the
velocity deficit. It is shown that the increase in the velocity ratio
destabilizes the flow. The particle loading parameter has a stabilizing
effect on the flow. The role of the velocity deficit is also
destabilizing: the increase of the velocity deficit leads to less stable
flow.
Abstract: This research focuses on the use of a recommender
system in decision support by means of a used car dealer case study
in Bangkok Metropolitan. The goal is to develop an effective used car
purchasing system for dealers based on the above premise. The
underlying principle rests on content-based recommendation from a
set of usability surveys. A prototype was developed to conduct
buyers- survey selected from 5 experts and 95 general public. The
responses were analyzed to determine the mean and standard
deviation of buyers- preference. The results revealed that both groups
were in favor of using the proposed system to assist their buying
decision. This indicates that the proposed system is meritorious to
used car dealers.
Abstract: In today-s competitive environment, the security concerns have grown tremendously. In the modern world, possession is known to be 9/10-ths of the law. Hence, it is imperative for one to be able to safeguard one-s property from worldly harms such as thefts, destruction of property, people with malicious intent etc. Due to the advent of technology in the modern world, the methodologies used by thieves and robbers for stealing have been improving exponentially. Therefore, it is necessary for the surveillance techniques to also improve with the changing world. With the improvement in mass media and various forms of communication, it is now possible to monitor and control the environment to the advantage of the owners of the property. The latest technologies used in the fight against thefts and destruction are the video surveillance and monitoring. By using the technologies, it is possible to monitor and capture every inch and second of the area in interest. However, so far the technologies used are passive in nature, i.e., the monitoring systems only help in detecting the crime but do not actively participate in stopping or curbing the crime while it takes place. Therefore, we have developed a methodology to detect the motion in a video stream environment and this is an idea to ensure that the monitoring systems not only actively participate in stopping the crime, but do so while the crime is taking place. Hence, a system is used to detect any motion in a live streaming video and once motion has been detected in the live stream, the software will activate a warning system and capture the live streaming video.
Abstract: The paper proposes an approach for design of modular
systems based on original technique for modeling and formulation of
combinatorial optimization problems. The proposed approach is
described on the example of personal computer configuration design.
It takes into account the existing compatibility restrictions between
the modules and can be extended and modified to reflect different
functional and users- requirements. The developed design modeling
technique is used to formulate single objective nonlinear mixedinteger
optimization tasks. The practical applicability of the
developed approach is numerically tested on the basis of real modules
data. Solutions of the formulated optimization tasks define the
optimal configuration of the system that satisfies all compatibility
restrictions and user requirements.
Abstract: The effect of cassava root ensiled with cassava top or
legumes on voluntary feed intake and milk production were
determined in 12 dairy cows using a 4×3 change-over design.
Experimental period were 30 days long and consisted of 14 days of
adaptation. Silage was prepared from cassava root mixed with
cassava top or legumes at ratio 60:40. Cows were allotted at random
to receive ad libitum one of four rations: T1) control, T2) cassava
root +cassava top-silages, T3) cassava root +hamata - silages and T4)
cassava root +Thapra stylo-silages.
The dry matter intake (BW0.75) was higher (P< 0.05) in cow fed
with silages diets compared with T1. However, the intake of T2 was
higher among treatments. Milk production was lowest in cow fed
with T1. Among silages based diets, milk production was not
significantly different but 4%FCM was higher in cow fed T2. Milk
compositions were not affected by feeding diets.
It is concluded that feeding cassava root ensiled with its leaves as
a supplement increased dry matter intake and significantly improved
4%FCM. The combination of cassava root and legume silages did not
improve the feed intake but did increase the milk production.
Abstract: The objectives of this study are to determine the role of media that influence the values, attitudes and behaviors of Thai youths. Analytical qualitative research techniques were used for this purpose. Data collection based techniques was used which were individual interviews and focus group discussions with journalists, sample of high school and university students, and parents. The results show that “Social Media" is still the most popular media for Thai youths. It is also still in the hands of the marketing business and it can motivate Thai youths to do so many things. The main reasons of media exposure are to find quality information that they want quickly, get satisfaction and can use social media to get more exciting and to build communities. They believe that the need for media and information literacy skills is defined as making judgments, personal integrity, training of family and the behavior of close friends.
Abstract: In this paper, a mathematical model is proposed to
estimate the dropping probabilities of cellular wireless networks by
queuing handoff instead of reserving guard channels. Usually, prioritized
handling of handoff calls is done with the help of guard channel
reservation. To evaluate the proposed model, gamma inter-arrival and
general service time distributions have been considered. Prevention of
some of the attempted calls from reaching to the switching center due
to electromagnetic propagation failure or whimsical user behaviour
(missed call, prepaid balance etc.), make the inter-arrival time of
the input traffic to follow gamma distribution. The performance is
evaluated and compared with that of guard channel scheme.
Abstract: In this paper we introduce three watermarking methods that can be used to count the number of times that a user has played some content. The proposed methods are tested with audio content in our experimental system using the most common signal processing attacks. The test results show that the watermarking methods used enable the watermark to be extracted under the most common attacks with a low bit error rate.
Abstract: Voltage flicker is a disturbance in electrical power
systems. The reason for this disturbance is mainly the large nonlinear
loads such as electric arc furnaces. Synchronous static
compensator (STATCOM) is considered as a proper technique to
mitigate the voltage flicker. Application of more suitable and precise
power electronic converter leads to a more precise performance of the
compensator. In this paper a three-level 12-pulse voltage source
inverter (VSI) with a 12-terminal transformer connected to the ac
system is studied and the obtained results are compared with the
performance of a STATCOM using a simple two-level VSI and an
optimal and more precise performance of the proposed scheme is
achieved.
Abstract: In the present study, position estimation of switched reluctance motor (SRM) has been achieved on the basis of the artificial neural networks (ANNs). The ANNs can estimate the rotor position without using an extra rotor position sensor by measuring the phase flux linkages and phase currents. Flux linkage-phase current-rotor position data set and supervised backpropagation learning algorithm are used in training of the ANN based position estimator. A 4-phase SRM have been used to verify the accuracy and feasibility of the proposed position estimator. Simulation results show that the proposed position estimator gives precise and accurate position estimations for both under the low and high level reference speeds of the SRM
Abstract: Multi-residue analysis method for penicillins was
developed and validated in bovine muscle, chicken, milk, and flatfish.
Detection was based on liquid chromatography tandem mass
spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The developed method was validated for
specificity, precision, recovery, and linearity. The analytes were
extracted with 80% acetonitrile and clean-up by a single
reversed-phase solid-phase extraction step. Six penicillins presented
recoveries higher than 76% with the exception of Amoxicillin
(59.7%). Relative standard deviations (RSDs) were not more than
10%. LOQs values ranged from 0.1 and to 4.5 ug/kg. The method was
applied to 128 real samples. Benzylpenicillin was detected in 15
samples and Cloxacillin was detected in 7 samples. Oxacillin was
detected in 2 samples. But the detected levels were under the MRL
levels for penicillins in samples.
Abstract: Standards for learning objects focus primarily on
content presentation. They were already extended to support automatic evaluation but it is limited to exercises with a predefined
set of answers. The existing standards lack the metadata required by specialized evaluators to handle types of exercises with an indefinite
set of solutions. To address this issue existing learning object standards were extended to the particular requirements of a
specialized domain. A definition of programming problems as learning objects, compatible both with Learning Management Systems and with systems performing automatic evaluation of
programs, is presented in this paper. The proposed definition includes
metadata that cannot be conveniently represented using existing standards, such as: the type of automatic evaluation; the requirements
of the evaluation engine; and the roles of different assets - tests cases, program solutions, etc. The EduJudge project and its main services
are also presented as a case study on the use of the proposed definition of programming problems as learning objects.
Abstract: This paper proposes an efficient lattice-reduction-aided
detection (LRD) scheme to improve the detection performance of
MIMO-OFDM system. In this proposed scheme, V candidate symbols
are considered at the first layer, and V probable streams are
detected with LRD scheme according to the first detected V candidate
symbols. Then, the most probable stream is selected through a ML
test. Since the proposed scheme can more accurately detect initial
symbol and can reduce transmission of error to rest symbols, the
proposed scheme shows more improved performance than conventional
LRD with very low complexity.
Abstract: Beam and diffuse radiation data are extracted analytically from previous measured data on a horizontal surface in Zarqa city. Moreover, radiation data on a tilted surfaces with different slopes have been derived and analyzed. These data are consisting of of beam contribution, diffuse contribution, and ground reflected contribution radiation. Hourly radiation data for horizontal surface possess the highest radiation values on June, and then the values decay as the slope increases and the sharp decreasing happened for vertical surface. The beam radiation on a horizontal surface owns the highest values comparing to diffuse radiation for all days of June. The total daily radiation on the tilted surface decreases with slopes. The beam radiation data also decays with slopes especially for vertical surface. Diffuse radiation slightly decreases with slopes with sharp decreases for vertical surface. The groundreflected radiation grows with slopes especially for vertical surface. It-s clear that in June the highest harvesting of solar energy occurred for horizontal surface, then the harvesting decreases as the slope increases.
Abstract: In this paper we propose a framework for
multisensor intrusion detection called Fuzzy Agent-Based Intrusion
Detection System. A unique feature of this model is that the agent
uses data from multiple sensors and the fuzzy logic to process log
files. Use of this feature reduces the overhead in a distributed
intrusion detection system. We have developed an agent
communication architecture that provides a prototype
implementation. This paper discusses also the issues of combining
intelligent agent technology with the intrusion detection domain.
Abstract: High voltage generators are being subject to higher
voltage rating and are being designed to operate in harsh conditions.
Stator windings are the main component of generators in which
Electrical, magnetically and thermal stresses remain major failures
for insulation degradation accelerated aging. A large number of
generators failed due to stator winding problems, mainly insulation
deterioration. Insulation degradation assessment plays vital role in the
asset life management. Mostly the stator failure is catastrophic
causing significant damage to the plant. Other than generation loss,
stator failure involves heavy repair or replacement cost. Electro
thermal analysis is the main characteristic for improvement design of
stator slot-s insulation. Dielectric parameters such as insulation
thickness, spacing, material types, geometry of winding and slot are
major design consideration. A very powerful method available to
analyze electro thermal performance is Finite Element Method
(FEM) which is used in this paper. The analysis of various stator coil
and slot configurations are used to design the better dielectric system
to reduce electrical and thermal stresses in order to increase the
power of generator in the same volume of core. This paper describes
the process used to perform classical design and improvement
analysis of stator slot-s insulation.
Abstract: We demonstrate through a sample application, Ebanking,
that the Web Service Modelling Language Ontology component
can be used as a very powerful object-oriented database design
language with logic capabilities. Its conceptual syntax allows the
definition of class hierarchies, and logic syntax allows the definition
of constraints in the database. Relations, which are available for
modelling relations of three or more concepts, can be connected to
logical expressions, allowing the implicit specification of database
content. Using a reasoning tool, logic queries can also be made
against the database in simulation mode.
Abstract: In general, class complexity is measured based on any
one of these factors such as Line of Codes (LOC), Functional points
(FP), Number of Methods (NOM), Number of Attributes (NOA) and so on. There are several new techniques, methods and metrics with
the different factors that are to be developed by the researchers for calculating the complexity of the class in Object Oriented (OO)
software. Earlier, Arockiam et.al has proposed a new complexity measure namely Extended Weighted Class Complexity (EWCC)
which is an extension of Weighted Class Complexity which is proposed by Mishra et.al. EWCC is the sum of cognitive weights of
attributes and methods of the class and that of the classes derived. In EWCC, a cognitive weight of each attribute is considered to be 1.
The main problem in EWCC metric is that, every attribute holds the
same value but in general, cognitive load in understanding the
different types of attributes cannot be the same. So here, we are proposing a new metric namely Attribute Weighted Class Complexity
(AWCC). In AWCC, the cognitive weights have to be assigned for the attributes which are derived from the effort needed to understand
their data types. The proposed metric has been proved to be a better
measure of complexity of class with attributes through the case studies and experiments
Abstract: The recurring decimal of rural and urban poverty in
Nigeria, resulting from lack of sustainable livelihood activities by
the people due to non-diversification of the economy, necessitated
this study. One hundred snail farmers were randomly selected in
Akure North and Akure South Local Government areas of Ondo
State, Southwest Nigeria where snail farming is widely practised.
Data collection was through questionnaires administration and onsite
observation of farms. Data obtained were subjected to
descriptive statistics, Student-s t-test and regression analysis. Cost
benefit ratio (CBR) and rate of return on investment (RORI) were
calculated in order to determine the poverty alleviation potentials of
snail farming in the study areas. Although snail farming was
profitable and viable, it was below poverty line. With time and more
knowledge in its farming activities, and with more people taking to
snail production, its poverty alleviation and reduction potentials will
increase.
Abstract: Discrimination in employment has its wider social and
economic consequences other than mere violating a basic human
right. Discrimination involves treating people differently because of
certain grounds such as race, color, or sex, which results in the
impairment of equality of opportunity and treatment. As an essential
part of promoting decent work, combating discrimination through the
principle of non-discrimination has been established by the
International Labor Organization (ILO) through the Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work 1998. Considering
elimination of discrimination in employment as a core labor standard,
member states are expected to respect, promote and implement it to
their national laws and policies. Being a member state, Malaysia has
to position herself align with this international requirement. The
author discusses the related convention together with Malaysia-s
responses on the matter. At the closing stage, the prospect of
Malaysia is presumed taking into account of the current positions and
reports submitted to the ILO.