Abstract: Learning programming is difficult for many learners. Some researches have found that the main difficulty relates to cognitive load. Cognitive overload happens in programming due to the nature of the subject which is intrinisicly over-bearing on the working memory. It happens due to the complexity of the subject itself. The problem is made worse by the poor instructional design methodology used in the teaching and learning process. Various efforts have been proposed to reduce the cognitive load, e.g. visualization softwares, part-program method etc. Use of many computer based systems have also been tried to tackle the problem. However, little success has been made to alleviate the problem. More has to be done to overcome this hurdle. This research attempts at understanding how cognitive load can be managed so as to reduce the problem of overloading. We propose a mechanism to measure the cognitive load during pre instruction, post instruction and in instructional stages of learning. This mechanism is used to help the instruction. As the load changes the instruction is made to adapt itself to ensure cognitive viability. This mechanism could be incorporated as a sub domain in the student model of various computer based instructional systems to facilitate the learning of programming.
Abstract: A synchronous network-on-chip using wormhole packet switching
and supporting guaranteed-completion best-effort with low-priority (LP)
and high-priority (HP) wormhole packet delivery service is presented in
this paper. Both our proposed LP and HP message services deliver a good
quality of service in term of lossless packet completion and in-order message
data delivery. However, the LP message service does not guarantee minimal
completion bound. The HP packets will absolutely use 100% bandwidth of
their reserved links if the HP packets are injected from the source node with
maximum injection. Hence, the service are suitable for small size messages
(less than hundred bytes). Otherwise the other HP and LP messages, which
require also the links, will experience relatively high latency depending on the
size of the HP message. The LP packets are routed using a minimal adaptive
routing, while the HP packets are routed using a non-minimal adaptive routing
algorithm. Therefore, an additional 3-bit field, identifying the packet type,
is introduced in their packet headers to classify and to determine the type
of service committed to the packet. Our NoC prototypes have been also
synthesized using a 180-nm CMOS standard-cell technology to evaluate the
cost of implementing the combination of both services.
Abstract: In the last decade, energy based control theory has undergone a significant breakthrough in dealing with underactated mechanical systems with two successful and similar tools, controlled Lagrangians and controlled Hamiltanians (IDA-PBC). However, because of the complexity of these tools, successful case studies are lacking, in particular, MIMO cases. The seminal theoretical paper of controlled Lagrangians proposed by Bloch and his colleagues presented a benchmark example–a 4 d.o.f underactuated pendulum on a cart but a detailed and completed design is neglected. To compensate this ignorance, the note revisit their design idea by addressing explicit control functions for a similar device motivated by a vector thrust body hovering in the air. To the best of our knowledge, this system is the first MIMO, underactuated example that is stabilized by using energy based tools at the courtesy of the original design idea. Some observations are given based on computer simulation.
Abstract: Cloud Computing has recently emerged as a
compelling paradigm for managing and delivering services over the
internet. The rise of Cloud Computing is rapidly changing the
landscape of information technology, and ultimately turning the longheld
promise of utility computing into a reality. As the development
of Cloud Computing paradigm is speedily progressing, concepts, and
terminologies are becoming imprecise and ambiguous, as well as
different technologies are interfering. Thus, it becomes crucial to
clarify the key concepts and definitions. In this paper, we present the
anatomy of Cloud Computing, covering its essential concepts,
prominent characteristics, its affects, architectural design and key
technologies. We differentiate various service and deployment
models. Also, significant challenges and risks need are tackled in
order to guarantee the long-term success of Cloud Computing. The
aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the anatomy
of Cloud Computing and pave the way for further research in this
area.
Abstract: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a form of cloud
computing that relieves the user of the burden of hardware and
software installation and management. SaaS can be used at the course
level to enhance curricula and student experience. When cloud
computing and SaaS are included in educational literature, the focus
is typically on implementing administrative functions. Yet, SaaS can
make more immediate and substantial contributions to the technical
course content in educational offerings. This paper explores cloud
computing and SaaS, provides examples, reports on experiences
using SaaS to offer specialized software in courses, and analyzes the
advantages and disadvantages of using SaaS at the course level. The
paper contributes to the literature in higher education by analyzing
the major technical concepts, potential, and constraints for using
SaaS to deliver specialized software at the course level. Further it
may enable more educators and students to benefit from this
emerging technology.
Abstract: In this paper, a two-dimensional (2D) numerical
model for the tidal currents simulation in Persian Gulf is presented.
The model is based on the depth averaged equations of shallow water
which consider hydrostatic pressure distribution. The continuity
equation and two momentum equations including the effects of bed
friction, the Coriolis effects and wind stress have been solved. To
integrate the 2D equations, the Alternative Direction Implicit (ADI)
technique has been used. The base of equations discritization was
finite volume method applied on rectangular mesh. To evaluate the
model validation, a dam break case study including analytical
solution is selected and the comparison is done. After that, the
capability of the model in simulation of tidal current in a real field is
represented by modeling the current behavior in Persian Gulf. The
tidal fluctuations in Hormuz Strait have caused the tidal currents in
the area of study. Therefore, the water surface oscillations data at
Hengam Island on Hormoz Strait are used as the model input data.
The check point of the model is measured water surface elevations at
Assaluye port. The comparison between the results and the
acceptable agreement of them showed the model ability for modeling
marine hydrodynamic.
Abstract: Rolling element bearings are widely used in industry,
especially where high load capacity is required. The diagnosis of
their conditions is essential matter for downtime reduction and saving
cost of maintenance. Therefore, an intensive analysis of frequency
spectrum of their faults must be carried out in order to determine the
main reason of the fault. This paper focus on a beating phenomena
observed in the waveform (time domain) of a cylindrical rolling
element bearing. The beating frequencies were not related to any
sources nearby the machine nor any other malfunctions (unbalance,
misalignment ...etc). More investigation on the spike energy and the
frequency spectrum indicated a problem with races of the bearing.
Multi-harmonics of the fundamental defects frequencies were
observed. Two of them were close to each other in magnitude those
were the source of the beating phenomena.
Abstract: One of the mayor problems of programming a cruise
circuit is to decide which destinations to include and which don-t.
Thus a decision problem emerges, that might be solved using a linear
and goal programming approach. The problem becomes more
complex if several boats in the fleet must be programmed in a limited
schedule, trying their capacity matches best a seasonal demand and
also attempting to minimize the operation costs. Moreover, the
programmer of the company should consider the time of the
passenger as a limited asset, and would like to maximize its usage.
The aim of this work is to design a method in which, using linear and
goal programming techniques, a model to design circuits for the
cruise company decision maker can achieve an optimal solution
within the fleet schedule.
Abstract: Medical applications are among the most impactful
areas of microrobotics. The ultimate goal of medical microrobots is
to reach currently inaccessible areas of the human body and carry out
a host of complex operations such as minimally invasive surgery
(MIS), highly localized drug delivery, and screening for diseases at
their very early stages. Miniature, safe and efficient propulsion
systems hold the key to maturing this technology but they pose
significant challenges. A new type of propulsion developed recently,
uses multi-flagella architecture inspired by the motility mechanism of
prokaryotic microorganisms. There is a lack of efficient methods for
designing this type of propulsion system. The goal of this paper is to
overcome the lack and this way, a numerical strategy is proposed to
design multi-flagella propulsion systems. The strategy is based on the
implementation of the regularized stokeslet and rotlet theory, RFT
theory and new approach of “local corrected velocity". The effects of
shape parameters and angular velocities of each flagellum on overall
flow field and on the robot net forces and moments are considered.
Then a multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network is designed
and employed to adjust the angular velocities of the motors for
propulsion control. The proposed method applied successfully on a
sample configuration and useful demonstrative results is obtained.
Abstract: In this study, we examined gender differences in: (1) a
flexible remembering task, that asked for episodic memory decisions
at an item-specific versus category-based level, and (2) the retrieval
specificity of autobiographical memory during free recall.
Differences favouring women were found on both measures.
Furthermore, a significant association was observed, across gender
groups, between level of specificity in the autobiographical memory
interview and sensitivity to gist on the flexible remembering task.
These results suggest that similar cognitive processes may partially
contribute to both the ability for specific autobiographical recall and
the capacity for inhibition of gist-information on the flexible
remembering task.
Abstract: The performances of small and medium enterprises
have stagnated in the last two decades. This has mainly been due to
the emergence of HIV / Aids. The disease has had a detrimental
effect on the general economy of the country leading to morbidity
and mortality of the Kenyan workforce in their primary age. The
present study sought to establish the economic impact of HIV / Aids
on the micro-enterprise development in Obunga slum – Kisumu, in
terms of production loss, increasing labor related cost and to establish
possible strategies to address the impact of HIV / Aids on microenterprises.
The study was necessitated by the observation that most
micro-enterprises in the slum are facing severe economic and social
crisis due to the impact of HIV / Aids, they get depleted and close
down within a short time due to death of skilled and experience
workforce. The study was carried out between June 2008 and June
2009 in Obunga slum. Data was subjected to computer aided
statistical analysis that included descriptive statistic, chi-squared and
ANOVA techniques. Chi-squared analysis on the micro-enterprise
owners opinion on the impact of HIV / Aids on depletion of microenterprise
compared to other diseases indicated high levels of the
negative effects of the disease at significance levels of P
Abstract: In this research, we have developed a new efficient
heuristic algorithm for the dynamic facility layout problem with
budget constraint (DFLPB). This heuristic algorithm combines two
mathematical programming methods such as discrete event
simulation and linear integer programming (IP) to obtain a near
optimum solution. In the proposed algorithm, the non-linear model
of the DFLP has been changed to a pure integer programming (PIP)
model. Then, the optimal solution of the PIP model has been used in
a simulation model that has been designed in a similar manner as the
DFLP for determining the probability of assigning a facility to a
location. After a sufficient number of runs, the simulation model
obtains near optimum solutions. Finally, to verify the performance of
the algorithm, several test problems have been solved. The results
show that the proposed algorithm is more efficient in terms of speed
and accuracy than other heuristic algorithms presented in previous
works found in the literature.
Abstract: Axisymmetric vibration of an infinite Pyrocomposite
circular hollow cylinder made of inner and outer pyroelectric layer of
6mm-class bonded together by a Linear Elastic Material with Voids
(LEMV) layer is studied. The exact frequency equation is obtained
for the traction free surfaces with continuity condition at the
interfaces. Numerical results in the form of data and dispersion
curves for the first and second mode of the axisymmetric vibration of
the cylinder BaTio3 / Adhesive / BaTio3 by taking the Adhesive layer
as an existing Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) are
compared with a hypothetical LEMV layer with and without voids
and as well with a pyroelectric hollow cylinder. The damping is
analyzed through the imaginary parts of the complex frequencies.
Abstract: The genre of fantasy depicts a world of imagine that triggers popular interest from a created view of world, and a fantasy is defined as a story that illustrates a world of imagine where scientific or horror elements are stand in its center. This study is not focused on the narrative of the fantasy, i.e. not on the adventurous story, but is concentrated on the image of the fantasy to work on its relationship with intended themes and differences among cultures due to meanings of materials. As for films, we have selected some films in the 2000's that are internationally recognized as expressing unique images of fantasy containing the theme of love in them. The selected films are 5 pieces including two European films, Amelie from Montmartre (2001) and The Science of Sleep (2005) and three Asian films, Citizen Dog from Thailand (2004), Memories of Matsuko from Japan (2006), and I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK from Korea (2006). These films share some common characteristics to the effect that they give tiny lessons and feelings for life with expressions of fantasy images as if they were fairy tales for adults and that they lead the audience to reflect on their days and revive forgotten dreams of childhood. We analyze the images of fantasy in each of the films on the basis of the elements of Mise-en-Scène (setting and props, costume, hair and make-up, facial expressions and body language, lighting and color, positioning of characters, and objects within a frame).
Abstract: The purpose of this paper primarily intends to develop GIS interface for estimating sequences of stream-flows at ungauged stations based on known flows at gauged stations. The integrated GIS interface is composed of three major steps. The first, precipitation characteristics using statistical analysis is the procedure for making multiple linear regression equation to get the long term mean daily flow at ungauged stations. The independent variables in regression equation are mean daily flow and drainage area. Traditionally, mean flow data are generated by using Thissen polygon method. However, method for obtaining mean flow data can be selected by user such as Kriging, IDW (Inverse Distance Weighted), Spline methods as well as other traditional methods. At the second, flow duration curve (FDC) is computing at unguaged station by FDCs in gauged stations. Finally, the mean annual daily flow is computed by spatial interpolation algorithm. The third step is to obtain watershed/topographic characteristics. They are the most important factors which govern stream-flows. In summary, the simulated daily flow time series are compared with observed times series. The results using integrated GIS interface are closely similar and are well fitted each other. Also, the relationship between the topographic/watershed characteristics and stream flow time series is highly correlated.
Abstract: Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) has been
one on the most vivid research areas in the field of computer vision
over the last 10 years. Many programs and tools have been
developed to formulate and execute queries based on the visual or
audio content and to help browsing large multimedia repositories.
Still, no general breakthrough has been achieved with respect to
large varied databases with documents of difering sorts and with
varying characteristics. Answers to many questions with respect to
speed, semantic descriptors or objective image interpretations are
still unanswered. In the medical field, images, and especially
digital images, are produced in ever increasing quantities and used
for diagnostics and therapy. In several articles, content based
access to medical images for supporting clinical decision making
has been proposed that would ease the management of clinical data
and scenarios for the integration of content-based access methods
into Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) have
been created. This paper gives an overview of soft computing
techniques. New research directions are being defined that can
prove to be useful. Still, there are very few systems that seem to be
used in clinical practice. It needs to be stated as well that the goal
is not, in general, to replace text based retrieval methods as they
exist at the moment.
Abstract: Mobile payments have been deployed by businesses for more than a decade. Customers use mobile payments if they trust in this relatively new payment method, have a belief and confidence in, as well as reliance on its services and applications. Despite its potential, the current literature shows that there is lack of customer trust in B2C mobile payments, and a lack of studies that determine the factors that influence their trust in these payments; which make these factors yet to be understood, especially in the Middle East region. Thus, this study aims to explore the factors that influence customer trust in mobile payments. The empirical data for this explorative study was collected by establishing four focus group sessions in the UAE. The results indicate that the explored significant factors can be classified into five main groups: customer characteristics, environmental (social and cultural) influences, provider characteristics, mobile-device characteristics, and perceived risks.
Abstract: Wireless sensor networks is an emerging technology
that serves as environment monitors in many applications. Yet
these miniatures suffer from constrained resources in terms of
computation capabilities and energy resources. Limited energy
resource in these nodes demands an efficient consumption of that
resource either by developing the modules itself or by providing
an efficient communication protocols. This paper presents a
comprehensive summarization and a comparative study of the
available MAC protocols proposed for Wireless Sensor Networks
showing their capabilities and efficiency in terms of energy
consumption and delay guarantee.
Abstract: The environmental impact caused by industries is an issue that, in the last 20 years, has become very important in terms of society, economics and politics in Colombia. Particularly, the tannery process is extremely polluting because of uneffective treatments and regulations given to the dumping process and atmospheric emissions. Considering that, this investigation is intended to propose a management model based on the integration of Lean Supply Chain, Green Supply Chain, Cleaner Production and ISO 14001-2004, that prioritizes the strategic components of the organizations. As a result, a management model will be obtained and it will provide a strategic perspective through a systemic approach to the tanning process. This will be achieved through the use of Multicriteria Decision tools, along with Quality Function Deployment and Fuzzy Logic. The strategic approach that embraces the management model using the alignment of Lean Supply Chain, Green Supply Chain, Cleaner Production and ISO 14001-2004, is an integrated perspective that allows a gradual frame of the tactical and operative elements through the correct setting of the information flow, improving the decision making process. In that way, Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) could improve their productivity, competitiveness and as an added value, the minimization of the environmental impact. This improvement is expected to be controlled through a Dashboard that helps the Organization measure its performance along the implementation of the model in its productive process.
Abstract: This paper aims to improve a fine lapping process of
hard disk drive (HDD) lapping machines by removing materials from
each slider together with controlling the strip height (SH) variation to
minimum value. The standard deviation is the key parameter to
evaluate the strip height variation, hence it is minimized. In this
paper, a design of experiment (DOE) with factorial analysis by twoway
analysis of variance (ANOVA) is adopted to obtain a
statistically information. The statistics results reveal that initial stripe
height patterns affect the final SH variation. Therefore, initial SH
classification using a radial basis function neural network is
implemented to achieve the proportional gain prediction.