Abstract: The objective of this research is to study the technical
and economic performance of wind/diesel/battery (W/D/B) system
supplying a remote small gathering of six families using HOMER
software package. The electrical energy is to cater for the basic needs
for which the daily load pattern is estimated. Net Present Cost (NPC)
and Cost of Energy (COE) are used as economic criteria, while the measure of performance is % of power shortage. Technical and
economic parameters are defined to estimate the feasibility of the
system under study. Optimum system configurations are estimated for two sites. Using HOMER software, the simulation results showed that W/D/B systems are economical for the assumed community sites
as the price of generated electricity is about 0.308 $/kWh, without
taking external benefits into considerations. W/D/B systems are more
economical than W/B or diesel alone systems, as the COE is 0.86 $/kWh for W/B and 0.357 $/kWh for diesel alone.
Abstract: Shoots, with three leaves, of Paphiopedilum 'Delrosi'
were used as explants for multiple shoot induction. Modified
Hyponex medium was supplemented with thidiazuron (TDZ), N6-
benzyladenine (BA) or kinetin (Kn) alone and in combinations with
2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). All explants were cultured
for 15 weeks. It was found that TDZ alone at the concentration of
0.45μM or in combination with 4.52μM 2,4-D and 8.88μM BA in
combination with 13.56μM 2,4-D promoted multiple shoots. The
highest shoot sprouting efficiencies (80.0, 90.0 and 80.0%) and new
shoot numbers (1.5, 1.3 and 1.1) were obtained, respectively. Fresh
weight, height, numbers of leaf and root of new shoots and initial
explants were discussed.
Abstract: Cryptographic algorithms play a crucial role in the
information society by providing protection from unauthorized
access to sensitive data. It is clear that information technology will
become increasingly pervasive, Hence we can expect the emergence
of ubiquitous or pervasive computing, ambient intelligence. These
new environments and applications will present new security
challenges, and there is no doubt that cryptographic algorithms and
protocols will form a part of the solution. The efficiency of a public
key cryptosystem is mainly measured in computational overheads,
key size and bandwidth. In particular the RSA algorithm is used in
many applications for providing the security. Although the security
of RSA is beyond doubt, the evolution in computing power has
caused a growth in the necessary key length. The fact that most chips
on smart cards can-t process key extending 1024 bit shows that there
is need for alternative. NTRU is such an alternative and it is a
collection of mathematical algorithm based on manipulating lists of
very small integers and polynomials. This allows NTRU to high
speeds with the use of minimal computing power. NTRU (Nth degree
Truncated Polynomial Ring Unit) is the first secure public key
cryptosystem not based on factorization or discrete logarithm
problem. This means that given sufficient computational resources
and time, an adversary, should not be able to break the key. The
multi-party communication and requirement of optimal resource
utilization necessitated the need for the present day demand of
applications that need security enforcement technique .and can be
enhanced with high-end computing. This has promoted us to develop
high-performance NTRU schemes using approaches such as the use
of high-end computing hardware. Peer-to-peer (P2P) or enterprise
grids are proven as one of the approaches for developing high-end
computing systems. By utilizing them one can improve the
performance of NTRU through parallel execution. In this paper we
propose and develop an application for NTRU using enterprise grid
middleware called Alchemi. An analysis and comparison of its
performance for various text files is presented.
Abstract: Many accidents were happened because of fast driving, habitual working overtime or tired spirit. This paper presents a solution of remote warning for vehicles collision avoidance using vehicular communication. The development system integrates dedicated short range communication (DSRC) and global position system (GPS) with embedded system into a powerful remote warning system. To transmit the vehicular information and broadcast vehicle position; DSRC communication technology is adopt as the bridge. The proposed system is divided into two parts of the positioning andvehicular units in a vehicle. The positioning unit is used to provide the position and heading information from GPS module, and furthermore the vehicular unit is used to receive the break, throttle, and othersignals via controller area network (CAN) interface connected to each mechanism. The mobile hardware are built with an embedded system using X86 processor in Linux system. A vehicle is communicated with other vehicles via DSRC in non-addressed protocol with wireless access in vehicular environments (WAVE) short message protocol. From the position data and vehicular information, this paper provided a conflict detection algorithm to do time separation and remote warning with error bubble consideration. And the warning information is on-line displayed in the screen. This system is able to enhance driver assistance service and realize critical safety by using vehicular information from the neighbor vehicles.KeywordsDedicated short range communication, GPS, Control area network, Collision avoidance warning system.
Abstract: This paper presents design features of a rescue robot, named CEO Mission II. Its body is designed to be the track wheel type with double front flippers for climbing over the collapse and the rough terrain. With 125 cm. long, 5-joint mechanical arm installed on the robot body, it is deployed not only for surveillance from the top view but also easier and faster access to the victims to get their vital signs. Two cameras and sensors for searching vital signs are set up at the tip of the multi-joint mechanical arm. The third camera is at the back of the robot for driving control. Hardware and software of the system, which controls and monitors the rescue robot, are explained. The control system is used for controlling the robot locomotion, the 5-joint mechanical arm, and for turning on/off devices. The monitoring system gathers all information from 7 distance sensors, IR temperature sensors, 3 CCD cameras, voice sensor, robot wheels encoders, yawn/pitch/roll angle sensors, laser range finder and 8 spare A/D inputs. All sensors and controlling data are communicated with a remote control station via IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi. The audio and video data are compressed and sent via another IEEE 802.11g Wi-Fi transmitter for getting real-time response. At remote control station site, the robot locomotion and the mechanical arm are controlled by joystick. Moreover, the user-friendly GUI control program is developed based on the clicking and dragging method to easily control the movement of the arm. Robot traveling map is plotted from computing the information of wheel encoders and the yawn/pitch data. 2D Obstacle map is plotted from data of the laser range finder. The concept and design of this robot can be adapted to suit many other applications. As the Best Technique awardee from Thailand Rescue Robot Championship 2006, all testing results are satisfied.
Abstract: To identify an endothelial cell-specific promoter suitable for vascular-specific targeting, we tested five promoters in vitro--Tie2SE, Tie2LE, ICAM2, Flt-1 and vWF--for promoter activity and specificity in endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and non-vascular resident cells as well as tissues. These promoters, except for vWF, exhibited good endothelial activity and specificity in vitro. In a syngenic heart transplantation model, the ICAM2 promoter was variably functional in coronary endothelial cells of donor hearts. Thus, the ICAM2, Flt-1, Tie2SE and Tie2LE promoters hold promise for endothelial-specific targeting, but in vitro expression may not predict in vivo expression.
Abstract: Medical negligence disputes in Malaysia are mainly resolved through litigation by using the tort system. The tort system, being adversarial in nature has subjected parties to litigation hazards such as delay, excessive costs and uncertainty of outcome. The dissatisfaction of the tort system in compensating medically injured victims has created various alternatives to litigation. Amongst them is the implementation of a no-fault compensation system which would allow compensation to be given without the need of proving fault on the medical personnel. Instead, the community now bears the burden of compensating and at the end, promotes collective responsibility. For Malaysia, introducing a no-fault system would provide a tempting solution and may ultimately, achieve justice for the medical injured victims. Nevertheless, such drastic change requires a great deal of consideration to determine the suitability of the system and whether or not it will eventually cater for the needs of the Malaysian population
Abstract: Among other factors that characterize satellite communication
channels is their high bit error rate. We present a system for
still image transmission over noisy satellite channels. The system
couples image compression together with error control codes to
improve the received image quality while maintaining its bandwidth
requirements. The proposed system is tested using a high resolution
satellite imagery simulated over the Rician fading channel. Evaluation
results show improvement in overall system including image quality
and bandwidth requirements compared to similar systems with different
coding schemes.
Abstract: Leonotisleonurus a shrub indigenous to Southern
Africa is widely used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of
conditions ranging from skin diseases and cough to epileptic fits and
‘heart problems’. Studies on the aqueous extract of the leaves have
indicated cycloxegenase enzyme inhibitory activity and an
antihypertensive effect.
Five methanol leaf extract fractions (MLEa - MLEe) of L.
leonurus were tested on anaesthetized normotensive male Wistar rats
(AWR) and isolated perfused working rat hearts (IWH). Fraction
MLEc (0.01mg/kg – 0.05mg/kg) induced significant increases in BP
and HR in AWR and positive chronotropic and inotropic effects in
IWH (1.0mg/ml – 5.0mg/ml). Pre-administration of atenolol
(2.0mg/kg) and prazosin (60μg/kg) significantly inhibited MLEc
effect on HR and MAP respectively in vivo, while atenolol
(7.0mg/ml) pre-perfusion significantly inhibited MLEc effect in vitro.
The hypertensive effect of MLEc is probably via β1agonism.
Results also indicate the presence of multiple cardioactive
compounds in L. leonurus.
Abstract: Extraction of edge-end-pixels is an important step for the edge linking process to achieve edge-based image segmentation. This paper presents an algorithm to extract edge-end pixels together with their directional sensitivities as an augmentation to the currently available mathematical models. The algorithm is implemented in the Java environment because of its inherent compatibility with web interfaces since its main use is envisaged to be for remote image analysis on a virtual instrumentation platform.
Abstract: It has been established that microRNAs (miRNAs) play
an important role in gene expression by post-transcriptional regulation
of messengerRNAs (mRNAs). However, the precise relationships
between microRNAs and their target genes in sense of numbers,
types and biological relevance remain largely unclear. Dissecting the
miRNA-target relationships will render more insights for miRNA
targets identification and validation therefore promote the understanding
of miRNA function. In miRBase, miRanda is the key
algorithm used for target prediction for Zebrafish. This algorithm
is high-throughput but brings lots of false positives (noise). Since
validation of a large scale of targets through laboratory experiments
is very time consuming, several computational methods for miRNA
targets validation should be developed. In this paper, we present an
integrative method to investigate several aspects of the relationships
between miRNAs and their targets with the final purpose of extracting
high confident targets from miRanda predicted targets pool. This is
achieved by using the techniques ranging from statistical tests to
clustering and association rules. Our research focuses on Zebrafish.
It was found that validated targets do not necessarily associate with
the highest sequence matching. Besides, for some miRNA families,
the frequency of their predicted targets is significantly higher in the
genomic region nearby their own physical location. Finally, in a case
study of dre-miR-10 and dre-miR-196, it was found that the predicted
target genes hoxd13a, hoxd11a, hoxd10a and hoxc4a of dre-miR-
10 while hoxa9a, hoxc8a and hoxa13a of dre-miR-196 have similar
characteristics as validated target genes and therefore represent high
confidence target candidates.
Abstract: The use of Electronic Commerce (EC)
technologies enables Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to improve their efficiency and competitive position. Much of the literature proposes an extensive set of benefits for
organizations that choose to adopt and implement ECommerce
systems. Factors of Business –to-business (B2B)
E-Commerce adoption and implementation have been
extensively investigated. Despite enormous attention given to encourage Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to adopt and
implement E-Commerce, little research has been carried out in identifying the factors of Business-to-Consumer ECommerce adoption and implementation for SMEs. To conduct the study, Tornatsky and Fleischer model was adopted
and tested in four SMEs located in Christchurch, New
Zealand. This paper explores the factors that impact the
decision and method of adoption and implementation of ECommerce
systems in automobile industry. Automobile
industry was chosen because the product they deal with i.e.
cars are not a common commodity to be sold online, despite this fact the eCommerce penetration in automobile industry is
high. The factors that promote adoption and implementation of
E-Commerce technologies are discussed, together with the
barriers. This study will help SME owners to effectively
handle the adoption and implementation process and will also
improve the chance of successful E-Commerce
implementation. The implications of the findings for
managers, consultants, and government organizations engaged in promoting E-Commerce adoption and implementation in
small businesses and future research are discussed.
Abstract: Malware is software which was invented and meant for doing harms on computers. Malware is becoming a significant threat in computer network nowadays. Malware attack is not just only involving financial lost but it can also cause fatal errors which may cost lives in some cases. As new Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) emerged, many people believe this protocol could solve most malware propagation issues due to its broader addressing scheme. As IPv6 is still new compares to native IPv4, some transition mechanisms have been introduced to promote smoother migration. Unfortunately, these transition mechanisms allow some malwares to propagate its attack from IPv4 to IPv6 network environment. In this paper, a proof of concept shall be presented in order to show that some existing IPv4 malware detection technique need to be improvised in order to detect malware attack in dual-stack network more efficiently. A testbed of dual-stack network environment has been deployed and some genuine malware have been released to observe their behaviors. The results between these different scenarios will be analyzed and discussed further in term of their behaviors and propagation methods. The results show that malware behave differently on IPv6 from the IPv4 network protocol on the dual-stack network environment. A new detection technique is called for in order to cater this problem in the near future.
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel architecture for At-
Home medical care which enables senior citizens, patients
with chronic ailments and patients requiring post- operative
care to be remotely monitored in the comfort of their homes.
This architecture is implemented using sensors and wireless
networking for transmitting patient data to the hospitals,
health- care centers for monitoring by medical professionals.
Patients are equipped with sensors to measure their
physiological parameters, like blood pressure, pulse rate etc.
and a Wearable Data Acquisition Unit is used to transmit the
patient sensor data. Medical professionals can be alerted to
any abnormal variations in these values for diagnosis and
suitable treatment. Security threats and challenges inherent to
wireless communication and sensor network have been
discussed and a security mechanism to ensure data
confidentiality and source authentication has been proposed.
Symmetric key algorithm AES has been used for encrypting
the data and a patent-free, two-pass block cipher mode CCFB
has been used for implementing semantic security.
Abstract: World population growth drives food demand, promotes intensification of agriculture, development of new production technologies and varieties more suitable for regional nature conditions. Climate change can affect the length of growing period, biomass and carbon accumulation in winter wheat. The increasing mean air temperature resulting from climate change can reduce the length of growth period of cereals, and without adequate adjustments in growing technologies or varieties, can reduce biomass and carbon accumulation. Deeper understanding and effective measures for monitoring and management of cereal growth process are needed for adaptation to changing climate and technological conditions.
Abstract: The purpose of the current study is to gain insight into the relative role of professional self-image (PSI) for service providers among leader-member exchange (LMX), career success. Lack of studies demonstrated that PSI of service providers affect on their CS. So, it is necessary to, according to service providers- perspective, explore the relationship among LMX and CS in hospitality industry. The result of the current study can suggest strategic directions for hospitality practitioners in terms of constructing LMX relationship, so as to make service providers realize and build their PSI, and to promote their CS. Implications of these findings for hospitality implementations as well as future research directions are subsequently discussed.
Abstract: Soil erosion is the most serious problem faced at
global and local level. So planning of soil conservation measures has
become prominent agenda in the view of water basin managers. To
plan for the soil conservation measures, the information on soil
erosion is essential. Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), Revised
Universal Soil Loss Equation 1 (RUSLE1or RUSLE) and Modified
Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE), RUSLE 1.06, RUSLE1.06c,
RUSLE2 are most widely used conventional erosion estimation
methods. The essential drawbacks of USLE, RUSLE1 equations are
that they are based on average annual values of its parameters and so
their applicability to small temporal scale is questionable. Also these
equations do not estimate runoff generated soil erosion. So
applicability of these equations to estimate runoff generated soil
erosion is questionable. Data used in formation of USLE, RUSLE1
equations was plot data so its applicability at greater spatial scale
needs some scale correction factors to be induced. On the other hand
MUSLE is unsuitable for predicting sediment yield of small and large
events. Although the new revised forms of USLE like RUSLE 1.06,
RUSLE1.06c and RUSLE2 were land use independent and they have
almost cleared all the drawbacks in earlier versions like USLE and
RUSLE1, they are based on the regional data of specific area and
their applicability to other areas having different climate, soil, land
use is questionable. These conventional equations are applicable for
sheet and rill erosion and unable to predict gully erosion and spatial
pattern of rills. So the research was focused on development of nonconventional
(other than conventional) methods of soil erosion
estimation. When these non-conventional methods are combined with
GIS and RS, gives spatial distribution of soil erosion. In the present
paper the review of literature on non- conventional methods of soil
erosion estimation supported by GIS and RS is presented.
Abstract: In the globalization context and competitiveness, the role of a university is further enhanced. University is no longer confined to traditional roles. Universities need to interact with others in order to be relevant and progressive. Symbiosis relationships between the university and industry are very significant because the relationship between those two can foster economic development of a nation. In a world of fast changing technology and competition, it is necessary for the university to collaborate with industry to combine efforts fostering the diffusion of knowledge, increasing research and development, patenting innovation and commercializing products. It has become increasingly accepted that the necessity of close university-industry interactions as a mean of national economic prosperity. Therefore, this paper is aim to examine the level of linkages in university-industry interactions to which promotes the regional economic growth and development. This paper will explore the formation of linkages between the Higher Education Institution (University Technology MARA) and industries located in the Klang Valley region of Malaysia. It will present the university-industry linkages with emphasis on the type of linkages existed, the benefits of having such linkages to promote regional economic development and finally the constraints that might impede the linkages and potentials to enhance the linkages towards economic growth and development.
Abstract: Recently, majors of doctors are divided into terribly lots of detailed areas. However, it is actually not a rare case that a doctor has a patient who is not in his/her major. He/She must judge an assessment and make a medical treatment plan for this patient. According to our investigation, conventional approaches such as image diagnosis cooperation are insufficient. This paper proposes an 'Assessment / Medical Treatment Plan Consulting System'. We have implemented a pilot system based on our proposition. Its effectiveness is clarified by an evaluation.
Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to provide an efficient tool for delineating brain tumors in three-dimensional magnetic resonance images and set up compression-transmit schemes to distribute result to the remote doctor. To achieve this goal, we use basically a level-sets approach to delineating brain tumors in threedimensional. Then introduce a new compression and transmission plan of 3D brain structures based for the meshes simplification, adapted for time to the specific needs of the telemedicine and to the capacities restricted by wireless network communication. We present here the main stages of our system, and preliminary results which are very encouraging for clinical practice.