Abstract: These days we face with so many advertisements in
magazines, those mentioned coaching is pragmatic specialties which
help people make change in their lives. Up to know Specialty coaches
are not necessarily therapists, consultants or psychologist, thus they
may not know psychological theories. The International Coach
Federation identifies "facilitating learning and results" as one of its
four core coach competencies, without understanding learning
theories coaching practice hangs in theoretical abyss. Thus the aim of
this article is investigating learning theories within coaching process.
Therefore, I reviewed some cognitive and behavioral learning
theories and analyzed their contribution with coaching process which
has been introduced in mentor coaches and ICF certified coaches'
papers and books. The result demonstrated that coaching profession
is strongly grounded in learning theories, and it will be strengthened
by the validation of theories and evidence-based research as we move
forward. Thus, it needs more research in order to applying effective
theoretical frameworks.
Abstract: This paper presents a vocoder to obtain high quality synthetic speech at 600 bps. To reduce the bit rate, the algorithm is based on a sinusoidally excited linear prediction model which extracts few coding parameters, and three consecutive frames are grouped into a superframe and jointly vector quantization is used to obtain high coding efficiency. The inter-frame redundancy is exploited with distinct quantization schemes for different unvoiced/voiced frame combinations in the superframe. Experimental results show that the quality of the proposed coder is better than that of 2.4kbps LPC10e and achieves approximately the same as that of 2.4kbps MELP and with high robustness.
Abstract: Despite the extensive use of eLearning systems, there
is no consensus on a standard framework for evaluating this kind of
quality system. Hence, there is only a minimum set of tools that can
supervise this judgment and gives information about the course
content value. This paper presents two kinds of quality set evaluation
indicators for eLearning courses based on the computational process
of three known metrics, the Euclidian, Hamming and Levenshtein
distances. The “distance" calculus is applied to standard evaluation
templates (i.e. the European Commission Programme procedures vs.
the AFNOR Z 76-001 Standard), determining a reference point in the
evaluation of the e-learning course quality vs. the optimal concept(s).
The case study, based on the results of project(s) developed in the
framework of the European Programme “Leonardo da Vinci", with
Romanian contractors, try to put into evidence the benefits of such a
method.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to present a research
study of the convectors that are used for heating or cooling of the
living room or industrial halls. The key points are experimental
measurement and comprehensive numerical simulation of the flow
coming throughout the part of the convector such as heat exchanger,
input from the fan etc.. From the obtained results, the components of
the convector are optimized in sense to increase thermal power
efficiency due to improvement of heat convection or reduction of air
drag friction. Both optimized aspects are leading to the more
effective service conditions and to energy saving. The significant part
of the convector research is a design of the unique measurement
laboratory and adopting measure techniques. The new laboratory
provides possibility to measure thermal power efficiency and other
relevant parameters under specific service conditions of the
convectors.
Abstract: WLAN Positioning has been presented by many
approaches in literatures using the characteristics of Received Signal
Strength (RSS), Time of Arrival (TOA) or Time Difference of
Arrival (TDOA), Angle of Arrival (AOA) and cell ID. Among these,
RSS approach is the simplest method to implement because there is
no need of modification on both access points and client devices
whereas its accuracy is terrible due to physical environments. For
TOA or TDOA approach, the accuracy is quite acceptable but most
researches have to modify either software or hardware on existing
WLAN infrastructure. The scales of modifications are made on only
access card up to the changes in protocol of WLAN. Hence, it is an
unattractive approach to use TOA or TDOA for positioning system.
In this paper, the new concept of merging both RSS and TOA
positioning techniques is proposed. In addition, the method to
achieve TOA characteristic for positioning WLAN user without any
extra modification necessarily appended in the existing system is
presented. The measurement results confirm that the proposed
technique using both RSS and TOA characteristics provides better
accuracy than using only either RSS or TOA approach.
Abstract: Thailand-s health system is challenged by the rising
number of patients and decreasing ratio of medical
practitioners/patients, especially in rural areas. This may tempt
inexperienced GPs to rush through the process of anamnesis with the
risk of incorrect diagnosis. Patients have to travel far to the hospital
and wait for a long time presenting their case. Many patients try to
cure themselves with traditional Thai medicine. Many countries are
making use of the Internet for medical information gathering,
distribution and storage. Telemedicine applications are a relatively
new field of study in Thailand; the infrastructure of ICT had
hampered widespread use of the Internet for using medical
information. With recent improvements made health and technology
professionals can work out novel applications and systems to help
advance telemedicine for the benefit of the people. Here we explore
the use of telemedicine for people with health problems in rural areas
in Thailand and present a Telemedicine Diagnosis System for Rural
Thailand (TEDIST) for diagnosing certain conditions that people
with Internet access can use to establish contact with Community
Health Centers, e.g. by mobile phone. The system uses a Web-based
input method for individual patients- symptoms, which are taken by
an expert system for the analysis of conditions and appropriate
diseases. The analysis harnesses a knowledge base and a backward
chaining component to find out, which health professionals should be
presented with the case. Doctors have the opportunity to exchange
emails or chat with the patients they are responsible for or other
specialists. Patients- data are then stored in a Personal Health Record.
Abstract: Variations in the growth rate constant of the Listeria
monocytogenes bacterial species were determined at 37°C in
irradiated environments and compared to the situation of a nonirradiated
environment. The bacteria cells, contained in a suspension
made of a nutrient solution of Brain Heart Infusion, were made to
grow at different frequency (2.30e2.60 GHz) and power (0e400
mW) values, in a plug flow reactor positioned in the irradiated
environment. Then the reacting suspension was made to pass into a
cylindrical cuvette where its optical density was read every 2.5
minutes at a wavelength of 600 nm. The obtained experimental data
of optical density vs. time allowed the bacterial growth rate constant
to be derived; this was found to be slightly influenced by microwave
power, but not by microwave frequency; in particular, a minimum
value was found for powers in the 50e150 mW field.
Abstract: A number of studies highlighted problems related to
ERP systems, yet, most of these studies focus on the problems during
the project and implementation stages but not during the postimplementation
use process. Problems encountered in the process of
using ERP would hinder the effective exploitation and the extended
and continued use of ERP systems and their value to organisations.
This paper investigates the different types of problems users
(operational, supervisory and managerial) faced in using ERP and
how 'feral system' is used as the coping mechanism. The paper
adopts a qualitative method and uses data collected from two cases
and 26 interviews, to inductively develop a casual network model of
ERP usage problem and its coping mechanism. This model classified
post ERP usage problems as data quality, system quality, interface
and infrastructure. The model is also categorised the different coping
mechanism through use of 'feral system' inclusive of feral
information system, feral data and feral use of technology.
Abstract: Polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption
spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) in combination with electrochemistry,
was employed to study the influence of surface charge (potential) on
the kinetics of bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption on a
biomedical-grade 316LVM stainless steel surface is discussed. The
BSA adsorption kinetics was found to greatly depend on the surface
potential. With an increase in surface potential towards more
negative values, both the BSA initial adsorption rate and the
equilibrium (saturated) surface concentration also increased. Both
effects were explained on the basis of replacement of well-ordered
water molecules at the 316LVM / solution interface, i.e. by the
increase in entropy of the system.
Abstract: On March 11, 2011, the East coast of Japan was hit by
one of the strongest earthquakes in history, followed by a devastating
tsunami. Although most lifelines, infrastructure, and public facilities
have been restored gradually, recovery efforts in terms of disposal of
disaster waste and revival of primary industry are lagging. This study
presents a summary of the damage inflicted by the earthquake and the
current status of reconstruction in the disaster area. Moreover, we
discuss the current trends and future perspectives on recently
implemented eco-friendly reconstruction projects and focus on the
pro-environmental behavior of disaster victims which is emerging as a
result of the energy shortage after the earthquake. Finally, we offer
ideas for initiatives for the next stage of the reconstruction policies.
Abstract: At present, web Service is the first choice to reuse the
legacy system for the implementation of SOA. According to the status
of the implementation of SOA and the status of the legacy systems, we propose four encapsulating strategies. Base on the strategies, we
proposal the service-oriented encapsulating framework, the legacy system can be encapsulated by the service-oriented encapsulating
layer in three aspects, communication protocols, data and program.
The reuse rate of the legacy systems can be increased by using this framework
Abstract: PCMs have always been viewed as a suitable
candidate for off peak thermal storage, particularly for refrigeration
systems, due to the high latent energy densities of these materials.
However, due to the need to have them encapsulated within a
container this density is reduced. Furthermore, PCMs have a low
thermal conductivity which reduces the useful amount of energy
which can be stored. To consider these factors, the true energy
storage density of a PCM system was proposed and optimised for
PCMs encapsulated in slabs. Using a validated numerical model of
the system, a parametric study was undertaken to investigate the
impact of the slab thickness, gap between slabs and the mass flow
rate. The study showed that, when optimised, a PCM system can
deliver a true energy storage density between 53% and 83% of the
latent energy density of the PCM.
Abstract: The mechanical properties including flexural and
tensile of neat vinyl ester and polymer based on layered silicate
nanocomposite materials are discussed. The addition of layered
silicate into the polymer matrix increased the tensile and flexural
modulus up to 1 wt.% clay loading. The incorporation of more clay
resulted in decreasing the mechanical properties which was traced to
the existence of aggregation layers. Likewise, up to 1 wt.% clay
loading, the thermal behaviour showed significant improvements and
at higher clay loading the thermal pattern was reduced. The
aggregation layers imparted a negative impact on the overall
mechanical and thermal properties. Wide Angle X-ray Diffraction,
Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron
Microscopy were utilised in order to characterise the interlamellar
structure of nanocomposites.
Abstract: Image data holds a large amount of different context
information. However, as of today, these resources remain largely
untouched. It is thus the aim of this paper to present a basic technical
framework which allows for a quick and easy exploitation of context
information from image data especially by non-expert users.
Furthermore, the proposed framework is discussed in detail
concerning important social and ethical issues which demand special
requirements in system design. Finally, a first sensor prototype is
presented which meets the identified requirements. Additionally,
necessary implications for the software and hardware design of the
system are discussed, rendering a sensor system which could be
regarded as a good, acceptable and justifiable technical and thereby
enabling the extraction of context information from image data.
Abstract: Support Vector Machine (SVM) is a recent class of statistical classification and regression techniques playing an increasing role in applications to detection problems in various engineering problems, notably in statistical signal processing, pattern recognition, image analysis, and communication systems. In this paper, SVM is applied to an infrared (IR) binary communication system with different types of channel models including Ricean multipath fading and partially developed scattering channel with additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) at the receiver. The structure and performance of SVM in terms of the bit error rate (BER) metric is derived and simulated for these channel stochastic models and the computational complexity of the implementation, in terms of average computational time per bit, is also presented. The performance of SVM is then compared to classical binary signal maximum likelihood detection using a matched filter driven by On-Off keying (OOK) modulation. We found that the performance of SVM is superior to that of the traditional optimal detection schemes used in statistical communication, especially for very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) ranges. For large SNR, the performance of the SVM is similar to that of the classical detectors. The implication of these results is that SVM can prove very beneficial to IR communication systems that notoriously suffer from low SNR at the cost of increased computational complexity.
Abstract: Nowadays, people are going more and more mobile, both in terms of devices and associated applications. Moreover, services that these devices are offering are getting wider and much more complex. Even though actual handheld devices have considerable computing power, their contexts of utilization are different. These contexts are affected by the availability of connection, high latency of wireless networks, battery life, size of the screen, on-screen or hard keyboard, etc. Consequently, development of mobile applications and their associated mobile Web services, if any, should follow a concise methodology so they will provide a high Quality of Service. The aim of this paper is to highlight and discuss main issues to consider when developing mobile applications and mobile Web services and then propose a framework that leads developers through different steps and modules toward development of efficient and secure mobile applications. First, different challenges in developing such applications are elicited and deeply discussed. Second, a development framework is presented with different modules addressing each of these challenges. Third, the paper presents an example of a mobile application, Eivom Cinema Guide, which benefits from following our development framework.
Abstract: This paper presents a formant-tracking linear prediction
(FTLP) model for speech processing in noise. The main focus of this
work is the detection of formant trajectory based on Hidden Markov
Models (HMM), for improved formant estimation in noise. The
approach proposed in this paper provides a systematic framework for
modelling and utilization of a time- sequence of peaks which satisfies
continuity constraints on parameter; the within peaks are modelled
by the LP parameters. The formant tracking LP model estimation
is composed of three stages: (1) a pre-cleaning multi-band spectral
subtraction stage to reduce the effect of residue noise on formants
(2) estimation stage where an initial estimate of the LP model of
speech for each frame is obtained (3) a formant classification using
probability models of formants and Viterbi-decoders. The evaluation
results for the estimation of the formant tracking LP model tested
in Gaussian white noise background, demonstrate that the proposed
combination of the initial noise reduction stage with formant tracking
and LPC variable order analysis, results in a significant reduction in
errors and distortions. The performance was evaluated with noisy
natual vowels extracted from international french and English vocabulary
speech signals at SNR value of 10dB. In each case, the
estimated formants are compared to reference formants.
Abstract: This paper presents a design and prototype
implementation of new home automation system that uses WiFi
technology as a network infrastructure connecting its parts. The
proposed system consists of two main components; the first part is
the server (web server), which presents system core that manages,
controls, and monitors users- home. Users and system administrator
can locally (LAN) or remotely (internet) manage and control system
code. Second part is hardware interface module, which provides
appropriate interface to sensors and actuator of home automation
system. Unlike most of available home automation system in the
market the proposed system is scalable that one server can manage
many hardware interface modules as long as it exists on WiFi
network coverage. System supports a wide range of home
automation devices like power management components, and
security components. The proposed system is better from the
scalability and flexibility point of view than the commercially
available home automation systems.
Abstract: Plastic waste is a big issue in Thailand, but the amount of recycled plastic in Thailand is still low due to the high investment and operating cost. Hence, the rest of plastic waste are burnt to destroy or sent to the landfills. In order to be financial viable, an effective reverse logistics infrastructure is required to support the product recovery activities. However, there is a conflict between reducing the cost and raising environmental protection level. The purpose of this study is to build a goal programming (GP) so that it can be used to help analyze the proper planning of the Thailand-s plastic recycling system that involves multiple objectives. This study considers three objectives; reducing total cost, increasing the amount of plastic recovery, and raising the desired plastic materials in recycling process. The results from two priority structures show that it is necessary to raise the total cost budget in order to achieve targets on amount of recycled plastic and desired plastic materials.
Abstract: The increasing complexity of software development based on peer to peer networks makes necessary the creation of new frameworks in order to simplify the developer-s task. Additionally, some applications, e.g. fire detection or security alarms may require real-time constraints and the high level definition of these features eases the application development. In this paper, a service model based on a component model with real-time features is proposed. The high-level model will abstract developers from implementation tasks, such as discovery, communication, security or real-time requirements. The model is oriented to deploy services on small mobile devices, such as sensors, mobile phones and PDAs, where the computation is light-weight. Services can be composed among them by means of the port concept to form complex ad-hoc systems and their implementation is carried out using a component language called UM-RTCOM. In order to apply our proposals a fire detection application is described.