Eurasian Economic Integration: Eurasian Economic Community and Shanghai Cooperation Organization

The purpose of this article is to analyze economic and political tendencies of development of integration processes with different developing level and speed on the Eurasian space, by considering two organizations at the region – Eurasian Economic Community and Shanghai Cooperation Organization, by considering the interests of participations in organizations of Russia and China as a global powers and Kazakhstan as a leader among the Central Asian countries. This article investigates what certain goals Eurasian countries (especially Russia, Kazakhstan and China) are waiting from integration within the SCO and the EurAsEC, linking the process with the theories of regional integration. After European debt crisis it is more topically to research the integration within the specific region's conditions.

Alcoholic Extract of Terminalia Arjuna Protects Rabbit Heart against Ischemic-Reperfusion Injury: Role of Antioxidant Enzymes and Heat Shock Protein

The present study was designed to investigate the cardio protective role of chronic oral administration of alcoholic extract of Terminalia arjuna in in-vivo ischemic reperfusion injury and the induction of HSP72. Rabbits, divided into three groups, and were administered with the alcoholic extract of the bark powder of Terminalia arjuna (TAAE) by oral gavage [6.75mg/kg: (T1) and 9.75mg/kg: (T2), 6 days /week for 12 weeks]. In open-chest Ketamine pentobarbitone anaesthetized rabbits, the left anterior descending coronary artery was occluded for 15 min of ischemia followed by 60 min of reperfusion. In the vehicle-treated group, ischemic-reperfusion injury (IRI) was evidenced by depression of global hemodynamic function (MAP, HR, LVEDP, peak LV (+) & (- ) (dP/dt) along with depletion of HEP compounds. Oxidative stress in IRI was evidenced by, raised levels of myocardial TBARS and depletion of endogenous myocardial antioxidants GSH, SOD and catalase. Western blot analysis showed a single band corresponding to 72 kDa in homogenates of hearts from rabbits treated with both the doses. In the alcoholic extract of the bark powder of Terminalia arjuna treatment groups, both the doses had better recovery of myocardial hemodynamic function, with significant reduction in TBARS, and rise in SOD, GSH, catalase were observed. The results of the present study suggest that the alcoholic extract of the bark powder of Terminalia arjuna in rabbit induces myocardial HSP 72 and augments myocardial endogenous antioxidants, without causing any cellular injury and offered better cardioprotection against oxidative stress associated with myocardial IR injury.

Detection of Oxidative Stress Induced by Mobile Phone Radiation in Tissues of Mice using 8-Oxo-7, 8-Dihydro-2'-Deoxyguanosine as a Biomarker

We investigated oxidative DNA damage caused by radio frequency radiation using 8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2'- deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) generated in mice tissues after exposure to 900 MHz mobile phone radio frequency in three independent experiments. The RF was generated by a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) signal generator. The radio frequency field was adjusted to 25 V/m. The whole body specific absorption rate (SAR) was 1.0 W/kg. Animals were exposed to this field for 30 min daily for 30 days. 24 h post-exposure, blood serum, brain and spleen were removed and DNA was isolated. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure 8-oxodG concentration. All animals survived the whole experimental period. The body weight of animals did not change significantly at the end of the experiment. No statistically significant differences observed in the levels of oxidative stress. Our results are not in favor of the hypothesis that 900 MHz RF induces oxidative damage.

On the Performance of Information Criteria in Latent Segment Models

Nevertheless the widespread application of finite mixture models in segmentation, finite mixture model selection is still an important issue. In fact, the selection of an adequate number of segments is a key issue in deriving latent segments structures and it is desirable that the selection criteria used for this end are effective. In order to select among several information criteria, which may support the selection of the correct number of segments we conduct a simulation study. In particular, this study is intended to determine which information criteria are more appropriate for mixture model selection when considering data sets with only categorical segmentation base variables. The generation of mixtures of multinomial data supports the proposed analysis. As a result, we establish a relationship between the level of measurement of segmentation variables and some (eleven) information criteria-s performance. The criterion AIC3 shows better performance (it indicates the correct number of the simulated segments- structure more often) when referring to mixtures of multinomial segmentation base variables.

Image Compression with Back-Propagation Neural Network using Cumulative Distribution Function

Image Compression using Artificial Neural Networks is a topic where research is being carried out in various directions towards achieving a generalized and economical network. Feedforward Networks using Back propagation Algorithm adopting the method of steepest descent for error minimization is popular and widely adopted and is directly applied to image compression. Various research works are directed towards achieving quick convergence of the network without loss of quality of the restored image. In general the images used for compression are of different types like dark image, high intensity image etc. When these images are compressed using Back-propagation Network, it takes longer time to converge. The reason for this is, the given image may contain a number of distinct gray levels with narrow difference with their neighborhood pixels. If the gray levels of the pixels in an image and their neighbors are mapped in such a way that the difference in the gray levels of the neighbors with the pixel is minimum, then compression ratio as well as the convergence of the network can be improved. To achieve this, a Cumulative distribution function is estimated for the image and it is used to map the image pixels. When the mapped image pixels are used, the Back-propagation Neural Network yields high compression ratio as well as it converges quickly.

Harmonic Elimination of Hybrid Multilevel Inverters Using Particle Swarm Optimization

This paper present the harmonic elimination of hybrid multilevel inverters (HMI) which could be increase the number of output voltage level. Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is one of the most important requirements concerning performance indices. Because of many numbers output levels of HMI, it had numerous unknown variables of eliminate undesired individual harmonic and THD nonlinear equations set. Optimized harmonic stepped waveform (OHSW) is solving switching angles conventional method, but most complicated for solving as added level. The artificial intelligent techniques are deliberation to solve this problem. This paper presents the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique for solving switching angles to get minimum THD and eliminate undesired individual harmonics of 15-levels hybrid multilevel inverters. Consequently it had many variables and could eliminate numerous harmonics. Both advantages including high level of inverter and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) are used as powerful tools for harmonics elimination.

Design and Implementation of Secure Electronic Payment System (Client)

Secure electronic payment system is presented in this paper. This electronic payment system is to be secure for clients such as customers and shop owners. The security architecture of the system is designed by RC5 encryption / decryption algorithm. This eliminates the fraud that occurs today with stolen credit card numbers. The symmetric key cryptosystem RC5 can protect conventional transaction data such as account numbers, amount and other information. This process can be done electronically using RC5 encryption / decryption program written by Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0. There is no danger of any data sent within the system being intercepted, and replaced. The alternative is to use the existing network, and to encrypt all data transmissions. The system with encryption is acceptably secure, but that the level of encryption has to be stepped up, as computing power increases. Results In order to be secure the system the communication between modules is encrypted using symmetric key cryptosystem RC5. The system will use simple user name, password, user ID, user type and cipher authentication mechanism for identification, when the user first enters the system. It is the most common method of authentication in most computer system.

Confirming the Identity of the Individual Using Remote Assessment in E-learning

One major issue that is regularly cited as a block to the widespread use of online assessments in eLearning, is that of the authentication of the student and the level of confidence that an assessor can have that the assessment was actually completed by that student. Currently, this issue is either ignored, in which case confidence in the assessment and any ensuing qualification is damaged, or else assessments are conducted at central, controlled locations at specified times, losing the benefits of the distributed nature of the learning programme. Particularly as we move towards constructivist models of learning, with intentions towards achieving heutagogic learning environments, the benefits of a properly managed online assessment system are clear. Here we discuss some of the approaches that could be adopted to address these issues, looking at the use of existing security and biometric techniques, combined with some novel behavioural elements. These approaches offer the opportunity to validate the student on accessing an assessment, on submission, and also during the actual production of the assessment. These techniques are currently under development in the DECADE project, and future work will evaluate and report their use..

Awareness of Reading Strategies among EFL Learners at Bangkok University

This questionnaire-based study, aimed to measure and compare the awareness of English reading strategies among EFL learners at Bangkok University (BU) classified by their gender, field of study, and English learning experience. Proportional stratified random sampling was employed to formulate a sample of 380 BU students. The data were statistically analyzed in terms of the mean and standard deviation. t-Test analysis was used to find differences in awareness of reading strategies between two groups (-male and female- /-science and social-science students). In addition, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare reading strategy awareness among BU students with different lengths of English learning experience. The results of this study indicated that the overall awareness of reading strategies of EFL learners at BU was at a high level (ðÑ = 3.60) and that there was no statistically significant difference between males and females, and among students who have different lengths of English learning experience at the significance level of 0.05. However, significant differences among students coming from different fields of study were found at the same level of significance.

Numerical Simulation of the Transient Shape Variation of a Rotating Liquid Droplet

Transient shape variation of a rotating liquid dropletis simulated numerically. The three dimensional Navier-Stokes equations were solved by using the level set method. The shape variation from the sphere to the rotating ellipsoid, and to the two-robed shapeare simulated, and the elongation of the two-robed droplet is discussed. The two-robed shape after the initial transient is found to be stable and the elongation is almost the same for the cases with different initial rotation rate. The relationship between the elongation and the rotation rate is obtained by averaging the transient shape variation. It is shown that the elongation of two-robed shape is in good agreement with the existing experimental data. It is found that the transient numerical simulation is necessary for analyzing the largely elongated two-robed shape of rotating droplet.

Colorectal Cancer Screening by a CEACAM-6 Immunosensor

The biomarker for colorectal cancer (CRC) is CEACAM-6 antigen (C6AG). Therefore, this study aims to develop a novel, simple and low-cost CEACAM-6 antigen immumosensor (C6AG-IMS), based on electrical impedance measurement, for precise determination of C6AG. A low-cost screen-printed graphite electrode was constructed and used as the sensor, with CEACAM-6 antibody (C6AB) immobilized on it. The procedures of sensor fabrication and antibody immobilization are simple and low-cost. Measurement of the electrical impedance at a definite frequency ranges (0.43 – 1.26 MHz) showed that the C6AG-IMS has an excellent linear (r2>0.9) response range (8.125 – 65 pg/mL), covering the normal physiological and pathological ranges of blood C6AG levels. Also, the C6AG-IMS has excellent reliability and validity, with the intraclass correlation coefficient being 0.97. In conclusion, a novel, simple, low-cost and reliable C6AG-IMS was designed and developed, being able to accurately determine blood C6AG levels in the range of pathological and normal physiological regions. The C6AG-IMS can provide a point-of-care and immediate screening results to the user at home.

Reliability Analysis of Underground Pipelines Using Subset Simulation

An advanced Monte Carlo simulation method, called Subset Simulation (SS) for the time-dependent reliability prediction for underground pipelines has been presented in this paper. The SS can provide better resolution for low failure probability level with efficient investigating of rare failure events which are commonly encountered in pipeline engineering applications. In SS method, random samples leading to progressive failure are generated efficiently and used for computing probabilistic performance by statistical variables. SS gains its efficiency as small probability event as a product of a sequence of intermediate events with larger conditional probabilities. The efficiency of SS has been demonstrated by numerical studies and attention in this work is devoted to scrutinise the robustness of the SS application in pipe reliability assessment. It is hoped that the development work can promote the use of SS tools for uncertainty propagation in the decision-making process of underground pipelines network reliability prediction.

Position Awareness Mechanisms for Wireless Sensor Networks

A Wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of a set of battery-powered nodes, which collaborate to perform sensing tasks in a given environment. Each node in WSN should be capable to act for long periods of time with scrimpy or no external management. One requirement for this independent is: in the presence of adverse positions, the sensor nodes must be capable to configure themselves. Hence, the nodes for determine the existence of unusual events in their surroundings should make use of position awareness mechanisms. This work approaches the problem by considering the possible unusual events as diseases, thus making it possible to diagnose them through their symptoms, namely, their side effects. Considering these awareness mechanisms as a foundation for highlevel monitoring services, this paper also shows how these mechanisms are included in the primal plan of an intrusion detection system.

Rigorous Modeling of Fixed-Bed Reactors Containing Finite Hollow Cylindrical Catalyst with Michaelis-Menten Type of Kinetics

A large number of chemical, bio-chemical and pollution-control processes use heterogeneous fixed-bed reactors. The use of finite hollow cylindrical catalyst pellets can enhance conversion levels in such reactors. The absence of the pellet core can significantly lower the diffusional resistance associated with the solid phase. This leads to a better utilization of the catalytic material, which is reflected in the higher values for the effectiveness factor, leading ultimately to an enhanced conversion level in the reactor. It is however important to develop a rigorous heterogeneous model for the reactor incorporating the two-dimensional feature of the solid phase owing to the presence of the finite hollow cylindrical catalyst pellet. Presently, heterogeneous models reported in the literature invariably employ one-dimension solid phase models meant for spherical catalyst pellets. The objective of the paper is to present a rigorous model of the fixed-bed reactors containing finite hollow cylindrical catalyst pellets. The reaction kinetics considered here is the widely used Michaelis–Menten kinetics for the liquid-phase bio-chemical reactions. The reaction parameters used here are for the enzymatic degradation of urea. Results indicate that increasing the height to diameter ratio helps to improve the conversion level. On the other hand, decreasing the thickness is apparently not as effective. This could however be explained in terms of the higher void fraction of the bed that causes a smaller amount of the solid phase to be packed in the fixed-bed bio-chemical reactor.

The use of Hormone Auxin in the Different Period Growth on Yield Components of Plant Vetch

The trial in the city, located 170 kilometers from the Iranian city of Ahvaz was Omidiyeh. The main factor in this project includes 4 levels in control (without hormones), use of hormones in the seed, vegetative and flowering stage respectively. And sub-plots included 3 varieties of vetch in three levels, with local names, was the jewel in the study of light and Auxin in the vegetative and reproductive different times in different varieties of vetch was investigated. This test has been taken in the plots in a randomized complete block with four replications. In order to study the effects of the hormone Auxin in the growth stages (seed, vegetative and flowering) to control (no hormone Auxin) on three local varieties of vetch, the essence of light and plant height, number of pods per plant, seed number The pods, seeds per plant, grain weight, grain yield, plant dry weight and protein content were measured. Among the vetch varieties for plant height, number of pods per plant, a seed per plant, grain weight, grain yield, and plant dry weight and protein levels of 1 percent of plant and seed number per pod per plant at 5% level of There was no significant difference. Interactions for grain yield per plant, grain yield and protein levels of 1 percent and the number of seeds per pod and seed weight are significant differences in levels 5 and plant height and plant dry weight of the interaction were INFLUENCE There was no significant difference in them.

Single-qubit Quantum Gates using Magneto-optic Kerr Effect

We propose the use of magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) to realize single-qubit quantum gates. We consider longitudinal and polar MOKE in reflection geometry in which the magnetic field is parallel to both the plane of incidence and surface of the film. MOKE couples incident TE and TM polarized photons and the Hamiltonian that represents this interaction is isomorphic to that of a canonical two-level quantum system. By varying the phase and amplitude of the magnetic field, we can realize Hadamard, NOT, and arbitrary phase-shift single-qubit quantum gates. The principal advantage is operation with magnetically non-transparent materials.

IVE: Virtual Humans’ AI Prototyping Toolkit

IVE toolkit has been created for facilitating research,education and development in the field of virtual storytelling and computer games. Primarily, the toolkit is intended for modelling action selection mechanisms of virtual humans, investigating level-of-detail AI techniques for large virtual environments, and for exploring joint behaviour and role-passing technique (Sec. V). Additionally, the toolkit can be used as an AI middleware without any changes. The main facility of IVE is that it serves for prototyping both the AI and virtual worlds themselves. The purpose of this paper is to describe IVE's features in general and to present our current work - including an educational game - on this platform.

A New Approach for Prioritization of Failure Modes in Design FMEA using ANOVA

The traditional Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) uses Risk Priority Number (RPN) to evaluate the risk level of a component or process. The RPN index is determined by calculating the product of severity, occurrence and detection indexes. The most critically debated disadvantage of this approach is that various sets of these three indexes may produce an identical value of RPN. This research paper seeks to address the drawbacks in traditional FMEA and to propose a new approach to overcome these shortcomings. The Risk Priority Code (RPC) is used to prioritize failure modes, when two or more failure modes have the same RPN. A new method is proposed to prioritize failure modes, when there is a disagreement in ranking scale for severity, occurrence and detection. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is used to compare means of RPN values. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) statistical analysis package is used to analyze the data. The results presented are based on two case studies. It is found that the proposed new methodology/approach resolves the limitations of traditional FMEA approach.

Applying Complex Network Theory to Software Structure Analysis

Complex networks have been intensively studied across many fields, especially in Internet technology, biological engineering, and nonlinear science. Software is built up out of many interacting components at various levels of granularity, such as functions, classes, and packages, representing another important class of complex networks. It can also be studied using complex network theory. Over the last decade, many papers on the interdisciplinary research between software engineering and complex networks have been published. It provides a different dimension to our understanding of software and also is very useful for the design and development of software systems. This paper will explore how to use the complex network theory to analyze software structure, and briefly review the main advances in corresponding aspects.

An Exhaustive Review of Die Sinking Electrical Discharge Machining Process and Scope for Future Research

Electrical Discharge Machine (EDM) is especially used for the manufacturing of 3-D complex geometry and hard material parts that are extremely difficult-to-machine by conventional machining processes. In this paper authors review the research work carried out in the development of die-sinking EDM within the past decades for the improvement of machining characteristics such as Material Removal Rate, Surface Roughness and Tool Wear Ratio. In this review various techniques reported by EDM researchers for improving the machining characteristics have been categorized as process parameters optimization, multi spark technique, powder mixed EDM, servo control system and pulse discriminating. At the end, flexible machine controller is suggested for Die Sinking EDM to enhance the machining characteristics and to achieve high-level automation. Thus, die sinking EDM can be integrated with Computer Integrated Manufacturing environment as a need of agile manufacturing systems.