Abstract: A healthcare monitoring system is presented in this
paper. This system is based on ultra-low power sensor nodes and a
personal server, which is based on hardware and software extensions
to a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)/Smartphone. The sensor node
collects data from the body of a patient and sends it to the personal
server where the data is processed, displayed and made ready to be
sent to a healthcare network, if necessary. The personal server
consists of a compact low power receiver module and equipped with
a Smartphone software. The receiver module takes less than 30 × 30
mm board size and consumes approximately 25 mA in active mode.
Abstract: Genetic Folding (GF) a new class of EA named as is
introduced for the first time. It is based on chromosomes composed
of floating genes structurally organized in a parent form and
separated by dots. Although, the genotype/phenotype system of GF
generates a kernel expression, which is the objective function of
superior classifier. In this work the question of the satisfying
mapping-s rules in evolving populations is addressed by analyzing
populations undergoing either Mercer-s or none Mercer-s rule. The
results presented here show that populations undergoing Mercer-s
rules improve practically models selection of Support Vector
Machine (SVM). The experiment is trained multi-classification
problem and tested on nonlinear Ionosphere dataset. The target of this
paper is to answer the question of evolving Mercer-s rule in SVM
addressed using either genetic folding satisfied kernel-s rules or not
applied to complicated domains and problems.
Abstract: The internet has become an attractive avenue for
global e-business, e-learning, knowledge sharing, etc. Due to
continuous increase in the volume of web content, it is not practically
possible for a user to extract information by browsing and integrating
data from a huge amount of web sources retrieved by the existing
search engines. The semantic web technology enables advancement
in information extraction by providing a suite of tools to integrate
data from different sources. To take full advantage of semantic web,
it is necessary to annotate existing web pages into semantic web
pages. This research develops a tool, named OWIE (Ontology-based
Web Information Extraction), for semantic web annotation using
domain specific ontologies. The tool automatically extracts
information from html pages with the help of pre-defined ontologies
and gives them semantic representation. Two case studies have been
conducted to analyze the accuracy of OWIE.
Abstract: This study aims at using multi-source data to monitor
coral biodiversity and coral bleaching. We used coral reef at Racha
Islands, Phuket as a study area. There were three sources of data:
coral diversity, sensor based data and satellite data.
Abstract: Lean, which was initially developed by Toyota, is
widely implemented in other companies to improve competitiveness.
This research is an attempt to identify the adoption of lean in the
production system of Malaysian car manufacturer, Proton using case
study approach. To gain the in-depth information regarding lean
implementation, an activity on the assembly line called Set Parts
Supply (SPS) was studied. The result indicates that by using lean
principles, tools and techniques in the implementation of SPS enabled
to achieve the goals on safety, quality, cost, delivery and morale. The
implementation increased the size of the workspace, improved the
quality of assembly and the delivery of parts supply, reduced the
manpower, achieved cost savings on electricity and also increased the
motivation of manpower in respect of attendance at work. A
framework of SPS implementation is suggested as a contribution for
lean practices in production system.
Abstract: Aiming at most of the aviation products are facing the problem of fatigue fracture in vibration environment, we makes use of the testing result of a bracket, analysis for the structure with ANSYS-Workbench, predict the life of the bracket by different ways, and compared with the testing result. With the research on analysis methods, make an organic combination of simulation analysis and testing, Not only ensure the accuracy of simulation analysis and life predict, but also make a dynamic supervision of product life process, promote the application of finite element simulation analysis in engineering practice.
Abstract: The objective of this research is to develop the
performance indicators (PIs) in operational level for the Pre-hospital Emergency Medical Service (EMS) system employing in Thailand. This research started with ascertaining the current pre-hospital care
system. The team analyzed the strategies of Narerthorn, a government unit under the ministry of public health, and the existing PIs of the pre-hospital care. Afterwards, the current National Strategic Plan of EMS development (2008-2012) of the Emergency
Medical Institute of Thailand (EMIT) was considered using strategic
analysis to developed Strategy Map (SM) and identified the Success
Factors (SFs). The analysis results from strategy map and SFs were used to develop the Performance Indicators (PIs). To verify the set of
PIs, the team has interviewed with the relevant practitioners for the possibilities to implement the PIs. To this paper, it was to ascertain
that all the developed PIs support the objectives of the strategic plan. Nevertheless, the results showed that the operational level PIs suited
only with the first dimension of National Strategic Plan
(infrastructure and information technology development). Besides,
the SF was the infrastructure development (to contribute the EMS system to people throughout with standard and efficiency both in normally and disaster conditions). Finally, twenty-nine indicators
were developed from the analysis results of SM and SFs.
Abstract: The issue of unintentional islanding in PV grid
interconnection still remains as a challenge in grid-connected
photovoltaic (PV) systems. This paper discusses the overview of
popularly used anti-islanding detection methods, practically applied
in PV grid-connected systems. Anti-islanding methods generally can
be classified into four major groups, which include passive methods,
active methods, hybrid methods and communication base methods.
Active methods have been the preferred detection technique over the
years due to very small non-detected zone (NDZ) in small scale
distribution generation. Passive method is comparatively simpler
than active method in terms of circuitry and operations. However, it
suffers from large NDZ that significantly reduces its performance.
Communication base methods inherit the advantages of active and
passive methods with reduced drawbacks. Hybrid method which
evolved from the combination of both active and passive methods
has been proven to achieve accurate anti-islanding detection by many
researchers. For each of the studied anti-islanding methods, the
operation analysis is described while the advantages and
disadvantages are compared and discussed. It is difficult to pinpoint a
generic method for a specific application, because most of the
methods discussed are governed by the nature of application and
system dependent elements. This study concludes that the setup and
operation cost is the vital factor for anti-islanding method selection in
order to achieve minimal compromising between cost and system
quality.
Abstract: This paper introduces a temporal epistemic logic
CBCTL that updates agent-s belief states through communications
in them, based on computational tree logic (CTL). In practical
environments, communication channels between agents may not be
secure, and in bad cases agents might suffer blackouts. In this study,
we provide inform* protocol based on ACL of FIPA, and declare the
presence of secure channels between two agents, dependent on time.
Thus, the belief state of each agent is updated along with the progress
of time. We show a prover, that is a reasoning system for a given
formula in a given a situation of an agent ; if it is directly provable
or if it could be validated through the chains of communications, the
system returns the proof.
Abstract: Software Development Risks Identification (SDRI),
using Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), is a proposed technique to identify
not only the risk factors but also the causes of the appearance of the
risk factors in software development life cycle. The method is based
on analyzing the probable causes of software development failures
before they become problems and adversely affect a project. It uses
Fault tree analysis (FTA) to determine the probability of a particular
system level failures that are defined by A Taxonomy for Sources of
Software Development Risk to deduce failure analysis in which an
undesired state of a system by using Boolean logic to combine a
series of lower-level events. The major purpose of this paper is to use
the probabilistic calculations of Fault Tree Analysis approach to
determine all possible causes that lead to software development risk
occurrence
Abstract: The authors present an algorithm for order reduction of linear dynamic systems using the combined advantages of stability equation method and the error minimization by Genetic algorithm. The denominator of the reduced order model is obtained by the stability equation method and the numerator terms of the lower order transfer function are determined by minimizing the integral square error between the transient responses of original and reduced order models using Genetic algorithm. The reduction procedure is simple and computer oriented. It is shown that the algorithm has several advantages, e.g. the reduced order models retain the steady-state value and stability of the original system. The proposed algorithm has also been extended for the order reduction of linear multivariable systems. Two numerical examples are solved to illustrate the superiority of the algorithm over some existing ones including one example of multivariable system.
Abstract: Phishing scheme is a new emerged security issue of
E-Commerce Crime in globalization. In this paper, the legal scaffold
of Malaysia, United States and United Kingdom are analyzed and
followed by discussion on critical issues that rose due to phishing
activities. The result revealed that inadequacy of current legal
framework is the main challenge to govern this epidemic. However,
lack of awareness among consumers, crisis on merchant-s
responsibility and lack of intrusion reports and incentive arrangement
contributes to phishing proliferating. Prevention is always better than
curb. By the end of this paper, some best practices for consumers and
corporations are suggested.
Abstract: The mechanical and tribological properties in WC-Co
coatings are strongly affected by hardness and elasticity
specifications. The results revealed the effect of spraying distance on
microhardness and elasticity modulus of coatings. The metallurgical
studies have been made on coated samples using optical microscopy,
scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Abstract: The aim of the present study is to analyze the generation of osteoporotic vertebral bone induced by lack of calcium during growth period and analyze its effects for disc degeneration, based on biomechanical and histomorphometrical study. Mechanical and histomorphological characteristics of lumbar vertebral bones and discs of rats with calcium free diet (CFD) were detected and tracked by using high resolution in-vivo micro-computed tomography (in-vivo micro-CT), finite element (FE) and histological analysis. Twenty female Sprague-Dawley rats (6 weeks old, approximate weight 170g) were randomly divided into two groups (CFD group: 10, NOR group: 10). The CFD group was maintained on a refmed calcium-controlled semisynthetic diet without added calcium, to induce osteoporosis. All lumbar (L 1-L6) were scanned by using in vivo micro-CT with 35i.un resolution at 0, 4, 8 weeks to track the effects of CFD on the generation of osteoporosis. The fmdings of the present study indicated that calcium insufficiency was the main factor in the generation of osteoporosis and it induced lumbar vertebral disc degeneration. This study is a valuable experiment to firstly evaluate osteoporotic vertebral bone and disc degeneration induced by lack of calcium during growth period from a biomechanical and histomorphometrical point of view.
Abstract: Off-grid Photovoltaic (PV) systems are empowering
technology in underdeveloped countries like Ethiopia where many
people live far away from the modern world. Where there is
relatively low energy consumption, providing energy from grid
systems is not commercially cost-effective. As a result, significant
people groups worldwide stay without access to electricity. One
remote village in northern Ethiopia was selected by the United
Nations for a pilot project to improve its living conditions. As part of
this comprehensive project, an intelligent charge controller circuit for
Off-grid PV systems was designed for the clinic in that village. In
this paper, design aspects of an intelligent charge controller unit and
its load driver circuits are discussed for an efficient utilization of PVbased
supply systems.
Abstract: Information is a critical asset and an important source for gaining competitive advantage in firms. The effective maintenance of IT becomes an important task. In order to better understand the determinants of IT effectiveness, this study employs the Industrial Organization (I/O) and Resource Based View (RBV) theories and investigates the industry effect and several major firmspecific factors in relation to their impact on firms- IT effectiveness. The data consist of a panel data of ten-year observations of firms whose IT excellence had been recognized by the CIO Magazine. The non-profit organizations were deliberately excluded, as explained later. The results showed that the effectiveness of IT management varied significantly across industries. Industry also moderated the effects of firm demographic factors such as size and age on IT effectiveness. Surprisingly, R & D investment intensity had negative correlation to IT effectiveness. For managers and practitioners, this study offers some insights for evaluation criteria and expectation for IT project success. Finally, the empirical results indicate that the sustainability of IT effectiveness appears to be short in duration.
Abstract: The present study aims to explore the role of parents'
ethnic socialization practices contributes to the ethnic identity
development, self-esteem and psychological adjustment of multi
ethnic children in Sabah, Malaysia. A total of 342 multi ethnic
children (age range = 10 years old to 14 years old; mean age = 12.65
years, SD = 0.88) and their parents participated in the present study.
The modified version of Multi group Ethnic Identity Measure
(MEIM), The Familial Ethnic Socialization Measure (FESM). The
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) and Behavioral and Emotional
Rating Scale Edition 2 (BERS-2) were used in this study. The results
showed that: i) parents' ethnic socialization practice was a strong
predictor of ethnic identity development of multi ethnic children; ii)
parents' ethnic socialization practice also was a significant predictor
of self-esteem of multi ethnic children; iii) parents' ethnic
socialization practice was not a significant predictor of psychological
adjustment of multi ethnic children. The results of this study showed
the implications parents' ethnic socialization practices and ethnic
identity development in successful multi ethnic families.
Abstract: Luxury is an identity, a philosophy and a culture
which requires understanding before the adoption of e-business
practices because of its intricacies and output are essentially different
from other types of goods. Factors such as culture, personal
characteristics, website quality, and vendor characteristics influence
the online purchasing behavior of consumers thus making it a
complex area of study. This paper explores the scope of e-retail for
luxury consumption in the U.A.E. by identifying what motivates and
de-motivates online purchase behavior of U.A.E. consumers and
necessary hypotheses have been drawn to reflect behavior between
online luxury preference consumers and non-online luxury preference
consumers.
Abstract: The Combination of path planning and path following is the main purpose of this paper. This paper describes the developed practical approach to motion control of the MRL small size robots. An intelligent controller is applied to control omni-directional robots motion in simulation and real environment respectively. The Brain Emotional Learning Based Intelligent Controller (BELBIC), based on LQR control is adopted for the omni-directional robots. The contribution of BELBIC in improving the control system performance is shown as application of the emotional learning in a real world problem. Optimizing of the control effort can be achieved in this method too. Next the implicit communication method is used to determine the high level strategies and coordination of the robots. Some simple rules besides using the environment as a memory to improve the coordination between agents make the robots' decision making system. With this simple algorithm our team manifests a desirable cooperation.
Abstract: Many agricultural and especially greenhouse
applications like plant inspection, data gathering, spraying and
selective harvesting could be performed by robots. In this paper
multiple nonholonomic robots are used in order to create a desired
formation scheme for screening solar energy in a greenhouse through
data gathering. The formation consists from a leader and a team
member equipped with appropriate sensors. Each robot is dedicated
to its mission in the greenhouse that is predefined by the
requirements of the application. The feasibility of the proposed
application includes experimental results with three unmanned
ground vehicles (UGV).