Abstract: Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a noninvasive
technique that registers signals originating from the firing of neurons
in the brain. The Emotiv EEG Neuroheadset is a consumer product
comprised of 14 EEG channels and was used to record the reactions
of the neurons within the brain to two forms of stimuli in 10
participants. These stimuli consisted of auditory and visual formats
that provided directions of ‘right’ or ‘left.’ Participants were
instructed to raise their right or left arm in accordance with the
instruction given. A scenario in OpenViBE was generated to both
stimulate the participants while recording their data. In OpenViBE,
the Graz Motor BCI Stimulator algorithm was configured to govern
the duration and number of visual stimuli. Utilizing EEGLAB under
the cross platform MATLAB®, the electrodes most stimulated during
the study were defined. Data outputs from EEGLAB were analyzed
using IBM SPSS Statistics® Version 20. This aided in determining
the electrodes to use in the development of a brain-machine interface
(BMI) using real-time EEG signals from the Emotiv EEG
Neuroheadset. Signal processing and feature extraction were
accomplished via the Simulink® signal processing toolbox. An
Arduino™ Duemilanove microcontroller was used to link the Emotiv
EEG Neuroheadset and the right and left Mecha TE™ Hands.
Abstract: IEEE 802.11a/b/g standards provide multiple
transmission rates, which can be changed dynamically according to the
channel condition. Cooperative communications were introduced to
improve the overall performance of wireless LANs with the help of
relay nodes with higher transmission rates. The cooperative
communications are based on the fact that the transmission is much
faster when sending data packets to a destination node through a relay
node with higher transmission rate, rather than sending data directly to
the destination node at low transmission rate. To apply the cooperative
communications in wireless LAN, several MAC protocols have been
proposed. Some of them can result in collisions among relay nodes in a
dense network. In order to solve this problem, we propose a new
protocol. Relay nodes are grouped based on their transmission rates.
And then, relay nodes only in the highest group try to get channel
access. Performance evaluation is conducted using simulation, and
shows that the proposed protocol significantly outperforms the
previous protocol in terms of throughput and collision probability.
Abstract: The English competence of Thai people was examined
in the context of knowledge of English in everyday life for Small and
Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs), and also integrated with Second
language acquisition (SLA) students’ classroom. Second language
acquisition was applied to the results of the questionnaires and
interview forms. Levels of the need on English used for SME
entrepreneurs in Thailand, satisfaction on joining the street classroom
project were shown to be significantly high for some certain language
functions and satisfaction. Finding suggests that the language
functions on etiquette for professional use is essential and useful
because lesson learned can be used in the real situation for their
career. Implications for the climate of the street classroom are
discussed.
Abstract: The concept of technology as well as itself has
evolved continuously over time, such that, nowadays, this concept is
still marked by myths and realities. Even the concept of science is
frequently misunderstood as technology. In this way, this paper
presents different forms of interpretation of the concept of technology
in the course of history, as well as the social and cultural aspects
associated with it, through an analysis made by means of insights
from sociological studies of science and technology and its multiple
relations with society. Through the analysis of contents, the paper
presents a classification of how technology is interpreted in the social
sphere and search channel efforts to show how a broader
understanding can contribute to better interpretations of how
scientific and technological development influences the environment
in which we operate. The text also presents a particular point of view
for the interpretation of the concept from the analysis throughout the
whole work.
Abstract: This article discusses issues related to the System of
Innovation: Comparing economies of Brazil and South Africa.
Having as this study aimed at comparing the Innovation System of
the countries mentioned. Then briefly describe the process of Venture
Capital and present the industry innovation in Brazil and South
Africa. The methodological approach described in this article is
descriptive and the approach is qualitative, taking as a basis
secondary data relating to research articles. The main results are
related to the different forms of financing of Venture Capital used by
countries compared, in addition to the training and economic policy.
And finally, it was highlighted the importance of implementation of
policy reforms for the Brazil and Africa in the innovation process.
Abstract: Large-scale data stream analysis has become one of
the important business and research priorities lately. Social networks
like Twitter and other micro-blogging platforms hold an enormous
amount of data that is large in volume, velocity and variety.
Extracting valuable information and trends out of these data would
aid in a better understanding and decision-making. Multiple analysis
techniques are deployed for English content. Moreover, one of the
languages that produce a large amount of data over social networks
and is least analyzed is the Arabic language. The proposed paper is a
survey on the research efforts to analyze the Arabic content in
Twitter focusing on the tools and methods used to extract the
sentiments for the Arabic content on Twitter.
Abstract: Qatar, a Gulf country highly dependent on its oil and
gas revenues – is looking to innovate, diversify, and ultimately reach
its aim of creating a knowledge economy to prepare for its post-oil
era. One area that the country is investing in is Contemporary Art,
and world renowned artists such as Damien Hirst and Richard Serra –
have been commissioned to design site-specific art for the public
spaces of the city of Doha as well as in more remote desert locations.
This research discusses the changing presence, role and context of
public art in Doha, both from a historical and cultural overview, and
the different forms and media as well as the typologies of urban and
public spaces in which the art is installed. It examines the process of
implementing site-specific artworks, looking at questions of scale,
history, social meaning and formal aesthetics. The methodologies
combine theoretical research on the understanding of public art and
its role and placement in public space, as well as empirical research
on contemporary public art projects in Doha, based on documentation
and interviews and as well as site and context analysis of the urban or
architectural spaces within which the art is situated. Surveys and
interviews – using social media - in different segments of the
contemporary Qatari society, including all nationalities and social
groups, are used to measure and qualify the impacts and effects on
the population.
Abstract: The 3D body movement signals captured during
human-human conversation include clues not only to the content of
people’s communication but also to their culture and personality.
This paper is concerned with automatic extraction of this information
from body movement signals. For the purpose of this research, we
collected a novel corpus from 27 subjects, arranged them into groups
according to their culture. We arranged each group into pairs and
each pair communicated with each other about different topics.
A state-of-art recognition system is applied to the problems of
person, culture, and topic recognition. We borrowed modeling,
classification, and normalization techniques from speech recognition.
We used Gaussian Mixture Modeling (GMM) as the main technique
for building our three systems, obtaining 77.78%, 55.47%, and
39.06% from the person, culture, and topic recognition systems
respectively. In addition, we combined the above GMM systems with
Support Vector Machines (SVM) to obtain 85.42%, 62.50%, and
40.63% accuracy for person, culture, and topic recognition
respectively.
Although direct comparison among these three recognition
systems is difficult, it seems that our person recognition system
performs best for both GMM and GMM-SVM, suggesting that intersubject
differences (i.e. subject’s personality traits) are a major
source of variation. When removing these traits from culture and
topic recognition systems using the Nuisance Attribute Projection
(NAP) and the Intersession Variability Compensation (ISVC)
techniques, we obtained 73.44% and 46.09% accuracy from culture
and topic recognition systems respectively.
Abstract: Neurons in the nervous system communicate with
each other by producing electrical signals called spikes. To
investigate the physiological function of nervous system it is essential
to study the activity of neurons by detecting and sorting spikes in the
recorded signal. In this paper a method is proposed for considering
the spike sorting problem which is based on the nonlinear modeling
of spikes using exponential autoregressive model. The genetic
algorithm is utilized for model parameter estimation. In this regard
some selected model coefficients are used as features for sorting
purposes. For optimal selection of model coefficients, self-organizing
feature map is used. The results show that modeling of spikes with
nonlinear autoregressive model outperforms its linear counterpart.
Also the extracted features based on the coefficients of exponential
autoregressive model are better than wavelet based extracted features
and get more compact and well-separated clusters. In the case of
spikes different in small-scale structures where principal component
analysis fails to get separated clouds in the feature space, the
proposed method can obtain well-separated cluster which removes
the necessity of applying complex classifiers.
Abstract: In this study, composites were fabricated from oil
palm empty fruit bunch fiber and poly(lactic) acid by extrusion
followed by injection moulding. Surface of the fiber was pre-treated
by ultrasound in an alkali medium and treatment efficiency was
investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and
Fourier transforms infrared spectrometer (FTIR). Effect of fiber
treatment on composite was characterized by tensile strength (TS),
tensile modulus (TM) and impact strength (IS). Furthermore,
biostrong impact modifier was incorporated into the treated fiber
composite to improve its impact properties. Mechanical testing
showed an improvement of up to 23.5% and 33.6% respectively for
TS and TM of treated fiber composite above untreated fiber
composite. On the other hand incorporation of impact modifier led to
enhancement of about 20% above the initial IS of the treated fiber
composite.
Abstract: A new method for determining the distribution of
birefringence and linear dichroism in optical polymer materials is
presented. The method is based on the use of polarizationholographic
diffraction grating that forms an orthogonal circular basis
in the process of diffraction of probing laser beam on the grating. The
intensities ratio of the orders of diffraction on this grating enables the
value of birefringence and linear dichroism in the sample to be
determined. The distribution of birefringence in the sample is
determined by scanning with a circularly polarized beam with a
wavelength far from the absorption band of the material. If the
scanning is carried out by probing beam with the wavelength near to
a maximum of the absorption band of the chromophore then the
distribution of linear dichroism can be determined. An appropriate
theoretical model of this method is presented. A laboratory setup was
created for the proposed method. An optical scheme of the laboratory
setup is presented. The results of measurement in polymer films with
two-dimensional gradient distribution of birefringence and linear
dichroism are discussed.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to design and simulate a
particular type of Asynchronous State Machine (ASM), namely a
‘traffic light controller’ (TLC), operated at a frequency of 0.5 Hz.
The design task involved two main stages: firstly, designing a 4-bit
binary counter using J-K flip flops as the timing signal and,
subsequently, attaining the digital logic by deploying ASM design
process. The TLC was designed such that it showed a sequence of
three different colours, i.e. red, yellow and green, corresponding to
set thresholds by deploying the least number of AND, OR and NOT
gates possible. The software Multisim was deployed to design such
circuit and simulate it for circuit troubleshooting in order for it to
display the output sequence of the three different colours on the
traffic light in the correct order. A clock signal, an asynchronous 4-
bit binary counter that was designed through the use of J-K flip flops
along with an ASM were used to complete this sequence, which was
programmed to be repeated indefinitely. Eventually, the circuit was
debugged and optimized, thus displaying the correct waveforms of
the three outputs through the logic analyser. However, hazards
occurred when the frequency was increased to 10 MHz. This was
attributed to delays in the feedback being too high.
Abstract: The problem of psychologist training remains a key
priority in Armenia. During the Soviet period, the notion of a
psychologist was obscure not only in Armenia but also in other
Soviet republics. The breakup of the Soviet Union triggered a gradual
change in this area activating the cooperation with specialists from
other countries. The need for recovery from the psychological trauma
caused by the 1988 earthquake pushed forward the development of
practical psychology in Armenia. This phenomenon led to positive
changes in perception of and interest to a psychologist
profession.Armenian universities started designing special programs
for psychologists’ preparation. Armenian psychologists combined
their efforts in the field of training relevant specialists.
During the recent years, the Bologna educational system was
introduced in Armenia which led to implementation of education
quality improvement programs. Nevertheless, even today the issue of
psychologists’ training is not yet settled in Armenian universities. So
far graduate psychologists haven’t got a clear idea of personal and
professional qualities of a psychologist. Recently, as a result of
educational reforms, the psychology curricula underwent changes,
but so far they have not led to a desired outcome. Almost all curricula
in certain specialties are aimed to form professional competencies
and strengthen practical skills.
A survey conducted in Armenia aimed to identify what are the
ideas of young psychology specialists on the image of a psychologist.
The survey respondents were 45 specialists holding bachelor’s degree
as well as 30 master degree graduates, who have not been working
yet. The research reveals that we need to change the approach of
preparing psychology practitioners in the universities of Armenia.
Such an approach to psychologist training will make it possible to
train qualified specialists for enhancement of modern psychology
theory and practice.
Abstract: Compositions of different molar ratios of
polymethylmethacrylate-co-methacrylic acid (PMMA-co-MAA)
were synthesized via free-radical polymerization. Polymer coated
surfaces have been produced on silicon wafers. Coated samples were
analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results have shown
that the roughness of the surfaces have increased by increasing the
molar ratio of monomer methacrylic acid (MAA). This study reveals
that the gradual increase in surface roughness is due to the fact that
carboxylic functional groups have been generated by MAA segments.
Such surfaces can be desirable platforms for fabrication of the
biosensors for detection of the viruses and diseases.
Abstract: Contracting authorities in the public sector are
obligated to apply the principles provided for in the Polish law for the
evaluation and selection of contractors. In order to analyse the
methods of contractors selecting applied in practice by public clients,
the notices of contract award results for construction works were
analysed. The analysis shows that the procedure selected more and
more often is open competitive bidding, where the assessment of the
competence of contractors is not very precise, as well as noncompetitive
bidding, i.e. single source procurement. The share of
procurement procedures, where the only criterion is price, is
increasing. The solution to the problems existing here might be the
introduction of one of the forms of pre-selection of contractors. The
article also briefly discusses verification systems for companies
applying for public contracts used in EU countries.
Abstract: Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) uses the
contents of images to characterize and contact the images. This paper
focus on retrieving the image by separating images into its three color
mechanism R, G and B and for that Discrete Wavelet Transformation
is applied. Then Wavelet based Generalized Gaussian Density (GGD)
is practical which is used for modeling the coefficients from the
wavelet transforms. After that it is agreed to Histogram of Oriented
Gradient (HOG) for extracting its characteristic vectors with Relevant
Feedback technique is used. The performance of this approach is
calculated by exactness and it confirms that this method is wellorganized
for image retrieval.
Abstract: Karst term is the determiner of a variety of areas or
landforms and unique perspectives that have been formed in result of
the of the ingredients dissolution of rocks constituter by natural
waters. Shiraz area with an area of 5322km2 is located in the simple
folded belt in the southern part of Zagros Mountain of Fars, and is
surrounded with Limestone Mountains (Asmari formation). Shiraz
area is located in Calcareous areas. The infrastructure of this city is
lime and absorbing wells that the city can influence the Limestone
dissolution and those accelerate its rate and increase the cavitation
below the surface. Dasht-e Arjan is a graben, which has been created
as the result of activity of two normal faults in its east and west sides.
It is a complete sample of Karst plains (Polje) which has been created
with the help of tectonic forces (fault) and dissolution process of
water in Asmari limestone formation. It is located 60km. off south
west of Shiraz (on Kazeroon-Shiraz road). In 1971, UNESCO has
recognized this plain as a reserve of biosphere. It is considered as one
of the world’s most beautiful geological phenomena, so that most of
the world’s geologists are interested in visiting this place. The
purpose of this paper is to identify and introduce landscapes of Karst
features shiraz city and Dasht-e Arjan including Karst dissolution
features (Lapiez, Karst springs, dolines, caves, underground caves,
ponors, and Karst valleys), anticlines and synclines, and Arjan Lake.
Abstract: This paper describes a novel application of Fiber
Braggs Grating (FBG) sensors in the assessment of human postural
stability and balance on an unstable platform. In this work, FBG
sensor Stability Analyzing Device (FBGSAD) is developed for
measurement of plantar strain to assess the postural stability of
subjects on unstable platforms during different stances in eyes open
and eyes closed conditions on a rocker board. The studies are
validated by comparing the Centre of Gravity (CG) variations
measured on the lumbar vertebra of subjects using a commercial
accelerometer. The results obtained from the developed FBGSAD
depict qualitative similarities with the data recorded by commercial
accelerometer. The advantage of the FBGSAD is that it measures
simultaneously plantar strain distribution and postural stability of the
subject along with its inherent benefits like non-requirement of
energizing voltage to the sensor, electromagnetic immunity and
simple design which suits its applicability in biomechanical
applications. The developed FBGSAD can serve as a tool/yardstick to
mitigate space motion sickness, identify individuals who are
susceptible to falls and to qualify subjects for balance and stability,
which are important factors in the selection of certain unique
professionals such as aircraft pilots, astronauts, cosmonauts etc.
Abstract: The use of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) in
web, business and scientific databases lead to the development of
methods, techniques and systems to manage and analyze XML data.
Semi-structured documents suffer due to its heterogeneity and
dimensionality. XML structure and content mining represent
convergence for research in semi-structured data and text mining. As
the information available on the internet grows drastically, extracting
knowledge from XML documents becomes a harder task. Certainly,
documents are often so large that the data set returned as answer to a
query may also be very big to convey the required information. To
improve the query answering, a Semantic Tree Based Association
Rule (STAR) mining method is proposed. This method provides
intentional information by considering the structure, content and the
semantics of the content. The method is applied on Reuter’s dataset
and the results show that the proposed method outperforms well.
Abstract: This paper presents nonlinear pulse propagation characteristics for different input optical pulse shapes with various input pulse energy levels in semiconductor optical amplifiers. For simulation of nonlinear pulse propagation, finite-difference beam propagation method is used to solve the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. In this equation, gain spectrum dynamics, gain saturation are taken into account which depends on carrier depletion, carrier heating, spectral-hole burning, group velocity dispersion, self-phase modulation and two photon absorption. From this analysis, we obtained the output waveforms and spectra for different input pulse shapes as well as for different input energies. It shows clearly that the peak position of the output waveforms are shifted toward the leading edge which due to the gain saturation of the SOA for higher input pulse energies. We also analyzed and compared the normalized difference of full-width at half maximum for different input pulse shapes in the SOA.