Abstract: Business Process Modeling (BPM) is the first and
most important step in business process management lifecycle. Graph
based formalism and rule based formalism are the two most
predominant formalisms on which process modeling languages are
developed. BPM technology continues to face challenges in coping
with dynamic business environments where requirements and goals
are constantly changing at the execution time. Graph based
formalisms incur problems to react to dynamic changes in Business
Process (BP) at the runtime instances. In this research, an adaptive
and flexible framework based on the integration between Object
Oriented diagramming technique and Petri Net modeling language is
proposed in order to support change management techniques for
BPM and increase the representation capability for Object Oriented
modeling for the dynamic changes in the runtime instances. The
proposed framework is applied in a higher education environment to
achieve flexible, updatable and dynamic BP.
Abstract: The analytical solutions for geodesic acoustic
eigenmodes in tokamak plasmas with circular concentric magnetic
surfaces are found. In the frame of ideal magnetohydrodynamics the
dispersion relation taking into account the toroidal coupling between
electrostatic perturbations and electromagnetic perturbations with
poloidal mode number |m| = 2 is derived. In the absence of such
a coupling the dispersion relation gives the standard continuous
spectrum of geodesic acoustic modes. The analysis of the existence
of global eigenmodes for plasma equilibria with both off-axis
and on-axis maximum of the local geodesic acoustic frequency is
performed.
Abstract: This paper establishes some closed formulas for
Riemann- Liouville impulsive fractional integral calculus and also
for Riemann- Liouville and Caputo impulsive fractional
derivatives.
Abstract: In this work, we present an automatic vehicle detection
system for airborne videos using combined features. We propose a
pixel-wise classification method for vehicle detection using Dynamic
Bayesian Networks. In spite of performing pixel-wise classification,
relations among neighboring pixels in a region are preserved in the
feature extraction process. The main novelty of the detection scheme is
that the extracted combined features comprise not only pixel-level
information but also region-level information. Afterwards, tracking is
performed on the detected vehicles. Tracking is performed using
efficient Kalman filter with dynamic particle sampling. Experiments
were conducted on a wide variety of airborne videos. We do not
assume prior information of camera heights, orientation, and target
object sizes in the proposed framework. The results demonstrate
flexibility and good generalization abilities of the proposed method on
a challenging dataset.
Abstract: A method is presented for using thermo-mechanical fatigue analysis as a tool in the design of automotive heat exchangers. Use of infra-red thermography to measure the real thermal history in the heat exchanger reduces the time necessary for calculating design parameters and improves prediction accuracy. Thermal shocks are the primary cause of heat exchanger damage. Thermo-mechanical simulation is based on the mean behavior of the aluminum tubes used in the heat exchanger. An energetic fatigue criterion is used to detect critical zones.
Abstract: Campus sustainability is the goal of a university striving for sustainable development. This study found that of 17 popular approaches, two comprehensive campus sustainability assessment frameworks were developed in the context of Sustainability in Higher Education (SHE), and used by many university campuses around the world. Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating Systems (STARS) and the Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework (CSAF) approaches are more comprehensive than others. Therefore, the researchers examined aspects and elements used by CSAF and STARS in the approach to develop a campus sustainability assessment framework for Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Documents analysis found that CSAF and STARS do not focus on physical development, especially the construction industry, as key elements of campus sustainability assessment. This finding is in accordance with the Sustainable UKM Programme which consists of three main components of sustainable community, ecosystem and physical development.
Abstract: This work aims to describe the process of developing
services and applications of seamless communication within a
Telecom Italia long-term research project, which takes as central aim
the design of a wearable communication device. In particular, the
objective was to design a wrist phone integrated into everyday life of
people in full transparency. The methodology used to design the
wristwatch was developed through several subsequent steps also
involving the Personas Layering Framework. The data collected in
this phases have been very useful for designing an improved version
of the first two concepts of wrist phone going to change aspects
related to the four critical points expressed by the users.
Abstract: Texture classification is an important image processing
task with a broad application range. Many different techniques for
texture classification have been explored. Using sparse approximation
as a feature extraction method for texture classification is a relatively
new approach, and Skretting et al. recently presented the Frame
Texture Classification Method (FTCM), showing very good results on
classical texture images. As an extension of that work the FTCM is
here tested on a real world application as detection of abnormalities
in mammograms. Some extensions to the original FTCM that are
useful in some applications are implemented; two different smoothing
techniques and a vector augmentation technique. Both detection of
microcalcifications (as a primary detection technique and as a last
stage of a detection scheme), and soft tissue lesions in mammograms
are explored. All the results are interesting, and especially the results
using FTCM on regions of interest as the last stage in a detection
scheme for microcalcifications are promising.
Abstract: In the recent years, functionally gradient materials (FGMs) have gained considerable attention in the high temperature environment applications. In this paper, free vibration of thin functionally graded cylindrical shell with hole composed of stainless steel and zirconia is studied. The mechanical properties vary smoothly and continuously from one surface to the other according to a volume fraction power-law distribution. The Influence of shell geometrical parameters, variations of volume fractions and boundary conditions on natural frequency is considered. The equations of motion are based on strains-displacement relations from Love-s shell theory and Rayleigh method. The results have been obtained for natural frequencies of cylindrical shell with holes for different shape, number and location in this paper.
Abstract: The advances in multimedia and networking technologies
have created opportunities for Internet pirates, who can easily
copy multimedia contents and illegally distribute them on the Internet,
thus violating the legal rights of content owners. This paper describes
how a simple and well-known watermarking procedure based on a
spread spectrum method and a watermark recovery by correlation can
be improved to effectively and adaptively protect MPEG-2 videos
distributed on the Internet. In fact, the procedure, in its simplest
form, is vulnerable to a variety of attacks. However, its security
and robustness have been increased, and its behavior has been
made adaptive with respect to the video terminals used to open
the videos and the network transactions carried out to deliver them
to buyers. In fact, such an adaptive behavior enables the proposed
procedure to efficiently embed watermarks, and this characteristic
makes the procedure well suited to be exploited in web contexts,
where watermarks usually generated from fingerprinting codes have
to be inserted into the distributed videos “on the fly", i.e. during the
purchase web transactions.
Abstract: The objective of the present work is to conduct
investigations leading to a more complete explanation of single phase
natural convective heat transfer in an enclosure with fin utilizing
nano fluids. The nano fluid used, which is composed of Aluminum
oxide nano particles in suspension of Ethylene glycol, is provided at
various volume fractions. The study is carried out numerically for a
range of Rayleigh numbers, fin heights and aspect ratio. The flow and
temperature distributions are taken to be two-dimensional. Regions
with the same velocity and temperature distributions are identified as
symmetry of sections. One half of such a rectangular region is chosen
as the computational domain taking into account the symmetry about
the fin. Transport equations are modeled by a stream functionvorticity
formulation and are solved numerically by finite-difference
schemes. Comparisons with previously published works on the basis
of special cases are done. Results are presented in the form of
streamline, vector and isotherm plots as well as the variation of local
Nusselt number along the fin under different conditions.
Abstract: Indigenous Knowledge (IK) has many social and
economic benefits. However, IK is at the risk of extinction due to the
difficulties to preserve it as most of the IK largely remains
undocumented. This study aims to design a model of the factors
affecting the adoption of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) for the preservation of IK. The proposed model
is based on theoretical frameworks on ICT adoption. It was designed
following a literature review of ICT adoption theories for households,
and of the factors affecting ICT adoption for IK. The theory that
fitted to the best all factors was then chosen as the basis for the
proposed model. This study found that the Model of Adoption of
Technology in Households (MATH) is the most suitable theoretical
framework for modeling ICT adoption factors for the preservation of
IK.
Abstract: This paper presents an improvement method of
the multiple pitch estimation algorithm using comb filters.
Conventionally the pitch was estimated by using parallel
-connected comb filters method (PCF). However, PCF has
problems which often fail in the pitch estimation when there is
the fundamental frequency of higher tone near harmonics of
lower tone. Therefore the estimation is assigned to a wrong
note when shared frequencies happen. This issue often occurs
in estimating octave 3 or more. Proposed method, for solving
the problem, estimates the pitch with every harmonic instead of
every octave. As a result, our method reaches the accuracy of
more than 80%.
Abstract: 16-Mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHDA) and tripeptide glutathione conjugated with gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) are characterized by Fourier Transform InfaRared (FTIR) spectroscopy combined with Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technique based on FTIR spectroscopy has become an important tool in biophysics, which is perspective for the study of organic compounds. FTIR-spectra of MHDA shows the line at 2500 cm-1 attributed to thiol group which is modified by presence of Au-NPs, suggesting the formation of bond between thiol group and gold. We also can observe the peaks originate from characteristic chemical group. A Raman spectrum of the same sample is also promising. Our preliminary experiments confirm that SERS-effect takes place for MHDA connected with Au-NPs and enable us to detected small number (less than 106 cm-2) of MHDA molecules. Combination of spectroscopy methods: FTIR and SERS – enable to study optical properties of Au- NPs and immobilized bio-molecules in context of a bio-nano-sensors.
Abstract: Simulation of occlusal function during laboratory
material-s testing becomes essential in predicting long-term
performance before clinical usage. The aim of the study was to assess
the influence of chamfer preparation depth on failure risk of heat
pressed ceramic crowns with and without zirconia framework by
means of finite element analysis. 3D models of maxillary central
incisor, prepared for full ceramic crowns with different depths of the
chamfer margin (between 0.8 and 1.2 mm) and 6-degree tapered
walls together with the overlying crowns were generated using
literature data (Fig. 1, 2). The crowns were designed with and
without a zirconia framework with a thickness of 0.4 mm. For all
preparations and crowns, stresses in the pressed ceramic crown,
zirconia framework, pressed ceramic veneer, and dentin were
evaluated separately. The highest stresses were registered in the
dentin. The depth of the preparations had no significant influence on
the stress values of the teeth and pressed ceramics for the studied
cases, only for the zirconia framework. The zirconia framework
decreases the stress values in the veneer.
Abstract: In this paper, a fractional-order FIR differentiator
design method using the differential evolution (DE) algorithm is
presented. In the proposed method, the FIR digital filter is designed to
meet the frequency response of a desired fractal-order differentiator,
which is evaluated in the frequency domain. To verify the design
performance, another design method considered in the time-domain is
also provided. Simulation results reveal the efficiency of the proposed
method.
Abstract: The question of interethnic and interreligious conflicts
in ex-Yugoslavia receives much attention within the framework of
the international context created after 1991 because of the impact of
these conflicts on the security and the stability of the region of
Balkans and of Europe.
This paper focuses on the rationales leading to the declaration of
independence by Kosovo according to ethnic and religious criteria
and analyzes why these same rationales were not applied in Bosnia
and Herzegovina. The approach undertaken aims at comparatively
examining the cases of Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the
same time, it aims at understanding the political decision making of
the international community in the case of Kosovo. Specifically, was
this a good political decision for the security and the stability of the
region of Balkans, of Europe, or even for global security and
stability?
This research starts with an overview on the European security
framework post 1991, paying particular attention to Kosovo and
Bosnia and Herzegovina. It then presents the theoretical and
methodological framework and compares the representative cases.
Using the constructivism issue and the comparative methodology, it
arrives at the results of the study. An important issue of the paper is
the thesis that this event modifies the principles of international law
and creates dangerous precedents for regional stability in the
Balkans.
Abstract: Through 1980s, management accounting researchers
described the increasing irrelevance of traditional control and
performance measurement systems. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC)
is a critical business tool for a lot of organizations. It is a
performance measurement system which translates mission and
strategy into objectives. Strategy map approach is a development
variant of BSC in which some necessary causal relations must be
established. To recognize these relations, experts usually use
experience. It is also possible to utilize regression for the same
purpose. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), which is one of the
most powerful methods of multivariate data analysis, obtains more
appropriate results than traditional methods such as regression. In the
present paper, we propose SEM for the first time to identify the
relations between objectives in the strategy map, and a test to
measure the importance of relations. In SEM, factor analysis and test
of hypotheses are done in the same analysis. SEM is known to be
better than other techniques at supporting analysis and reporting. Our
approach provides a framework which permits the experts to design
the strategy map by applying a comprehensive and scientific method
together with their experience. Therefore this scheme is a more
reliable method in comparison with the previously established
methods.
Abstract: In this paper, the performance of two adaptive
observers applied to interconnected systems is studied. The
nonlinearity of systems can be written in a fractional form. The first
adaptive observer is an adaptive sliding mode observer for a Lipchitz
nonlinear system and the second one is an adaptive sliding mode
observer having a filtered error as a sliding surface. After comparing
their performances throughout the inverted pendulum mounted on a
car system, it was shown that the second one is more robust to
estimate the state.
Abstract: The increasing popularity of wireless technologies
and mobile computing devices has enabled new application areas and
research. One of these new areas is pervasive systems in urban
environments, because urban environments are characterized by high
concentration of these technologies and devices. In this paper we will
show the process of pervasive system design in urban environments,
using as use case a local zoo in Cali, Colombia. Based on an
ethnographic studio, we present the design of a pervasive system for
urban computing based on service oriented architecture to controlled
environment of Cali Zoo. In this paper, the reader will find a
methodological approach for the design of similar systems, using
data collection methods, conceptual frameworks for urban
environments and considerations of analysis and design of service
oriented systems.