Abstract: This paper aims to explain the project carried out at
the University of Cordoba, specifically at the High Polytechnic
School in collaboration with two other organizations belonging to the
Andalusian Ministry of Innovation, Science and Business:
Andalusian Innovation and Development Agency (IDEA agency) [1]
and the Territorial Net of Entrepreneurship Support (in Spanish Red
Territorial de Apoyo al Emprendedor) [11].
The project is being developed in several stages of which only the
first one has already been completed. However, several important
preliminary results derive from it, based mainly in the description of
the nature of entrepreneurship in the field of university education and
its impact on student-s competency as recommended by the European
Higher Education Area. Some problems holding back the correct
future development will also be shown as derived from the specific
context of application of the project.
Abstract: Cenozoic basalts found in Jiangsu province of eastern
China include tholeiites and alkali basalts. The present paper analyzed
the major, trace elements, rare earth elements of these Cenozoic
basalts and combined with Sr-Nd isotopic compositions proposed by
Chen et al. (1990)[1] in the literatures to discuss the petrogenesis of
these basalts and the geochemical characteristics of the source mantle.
Based on major, trace elements and fractional crystallization model
established by Brooks and Nielsen (1982)[2] we suggest that the
basaltic magma has experienced olivine + clinopyroxene fractionation
during its evolution. The chemical compositions of basaltic rocks from
Jiangsu province indicate that these basalts may belong to the same
magmatic system. Spidergrams reveal that Cenozoic basalts from
Jiangsu province have geochemical characteristics similar to those of
ocean island basalts(OIB). The slight positive Nb and Ti anomalies
found in basaltic rocks of this study suggest the presence of Ti-bearing
minerals in the mantle source and these Ti-bearing minerals had
contributed to basaltic magma during partial melting, indicating a
metasomatic event might have occurred before the partial melting.
Based on the Sr vs. Nd isotopic ratio plots, we suggest that Jiangsu
basalts may be derived from partial melting of mantle source which
may represent two-end members mixing of DMM and EM-I. Some
Jiangsu basaltic magma may be derived from partial melting of EM-I
heated by the upwelling asthenospheric mantle or asthenospheric
diapirism.
Abstract: This paper introduces a hand gesture recognition system to recognize real time gesture in unstrained environments. Efforts should be made to adapt computers to our natural means of communication: Speech and body language. A simple and fast algorithm using orientation histograms will be developed. It will recognize a subset of MAL static hand gestures. A pattern recognition system will be using a transforrn that converts an image into a feature vector, which will be compared with the feature vectors of a training set of gestures. The final system will be Perceptron implementation in MATLAB. This paper includes experiments of 33 hand postures and discusses the results. Experiments shows that the system can achieve a 90% recognition average rate and is suitable for real time applications.
Abstract: Gene, principal unit of inheritance, is an ordered
sequence of nucleotides. The genes of eukaryotic organisms include
alternating segments of exons and introns. The region of
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) within a gene containing instructions
for coding a protein is called exon. On the other hand, non-coding
regions called introns are another part of DNA that regulates gene
expression by removing from the messenger Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
in a splicing process. This paper proposes to determine splice
junctions that are exon-intron boundaries by analyzing DNA
sequences. A splice junction can be either exon-intron (EI) or intron
exon (IE). Because of the popularity and compatibility of the
artificial neural network (ANN) in genetic fields; various ANN
models are applied in this research. Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP),
Radial Basis Function (RBF) and Generalized Regression Neural
Networks (GRNN) are used to analyze and detect the splice junctions
of gene sequences. 10-fold cross validation is used to demonstrate
the accuracy of networks. The real performances of these networks
are found by applying Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC)
analysis.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present two different
approaches of financial distress pre-warning models appropriate for
risk supervisors, investors and policy makers. We examine a sample
of the financial institutions and electronic companies of Taiwan
Security Exchange (TSE) market from 2002 through 2008. We
present a binary logistic regression with paned data analysis. With
the pooled binary logistic regression we build a model including
more variables in the regression than with random effects, while the
in-sample and out-sample forecasting performance is higher in
random effects estimation than in pooled regression. On the other
hand we estimate an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System
(ANFIS) with Gaussian and Generalized Bell (Gbell) functions and
we find that ANFIS outperforms significant Logit regressions in both
in-sample and out-of-sample periods, indicating that ANFIS is a
more appropriate tool for financial risk managers and for the
economic policy makers in central banks and national statistical
services.
Abstract: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with their high mechanical,
electrical, thermal and chemical properties are regarded as promising
materials for many different potential applications. Having unique
properties they can be used in a wide range of fields such as
electronic devices, electrodes, drug delivery systems, hydrogen
storage, textile etc. Catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) is a
common method for CNT production especially for mass production.
Catalysts impregnated on a suitable substrate are important for
production with chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Iron
catalyst and MgO substrate is one of most common catalyst-substrate
combination used for CNT. In this study, CNTs were produced by
CCVD of acetylene (C2H2) on magnesium oxide (MgO) powder
substrate impregnated by iron nitrate (Fe(NO3)3•9H2O) solution. The
CNT synthesis conditions were as follows: at synthesis temperatures
of 500 and 800°C multiwall and single wall CNTs were produced
respectively. Iron (Fe) catalysts were prepared by with Fe:MgO ratio
of 1:100, 5:100 and 10:100. The duration of syntheses were 30 and
60 minutes for all temperatures and catalyst percentages. The
synthesized materials were characterized by thermal gravimetric
analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman
spectroscopy.
Abstract: This article experimentally investigates the
thermal performance of thermoelectric air-cooling module
which comprises a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) and an
air-cooling heat sink. The influences of input current and heat
load are determined. And performances under each situation
are quantified by thermal resistance analysis. Since TEC
generates Joule heat, this nature makes construction of thermal
resistance network difficult. To simplify the analysis, this
article emphasizes on the resistance heat load might meet when
passing through the device. Therefore, the thermal resistances
in this paper are to divide temperature differences by heat load.
According to the result, there exists an optimum input current
under every heating power. In this case, the optimum input
current is around 6A or 7A. The performance of the heat sink
would be improved with TEC under certain heating power and
input current, especially at a low heat load. According to the
result, the device can even make the heat source cooler than the
ambient. However, TEC is not always effective at every heat
load and input current. In some situation, the device works
worse than the heat sink without TEC. To determine the
availability of TEC, this study figures out the effective
operating region in which the TEC air-cooling module works
better than the heat sink without TEC. The result shows that
TEC is more effective at a lower heat load. If heat load is too
high, heat sink with TEC will perform worse than without TEC.
The limit of this device is 57W. Besides, TEC is not helpful if
input current is too high or too low. There is an effective range
of input current, and the range becomes narrower when the heat
load grows.
Abstract: The aim of this study is evaluating the antinociceptive
and anti-inflamatory activity of Geum kokanicum. After
determination total extract LD50, different doses of extract were
chosen for intrapritoneal injections. In inflammation test, male NMRI
mice were divided into 6 groups: control (normal saline), positive
control (Dexamethasone 15mg/kg), and total extract (0.025, 0.05,
0.1, and 0.2 gr/kg). The inflammation was produced by xyleneinduced
edema. In order to evaluate the antinociceptive effect of total
extract, formalin test was used. Mice were divided into 6 groups:
control, positive control (morphine 10mg/kg), and 4 groups which
received total extract. Then they received Formalin. The animals
were observed for the reaction to pain. Data were analyzed using
One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison
test. LD50 was 1 gr/kg. Data indicated that 0.5,0.1 and 0.2 gr/kg
doses of total extract have particular antinociceptive and antiinflammatory
effects in a comparison with control (P
Abstract: The algorithm represents the DCT coefficients to concentrate signal energy and proposes combination and dictator to eliminate the correlation in the same level subband for encoding the DCT-based images. This work adopts DCT and modifies the SPIHT algorithm to encode DCT coefficients. The proposed algorithm also provides the enhancement function in low bit rate in order to improve the perceptual quality. Experimental results indicate that the proposed technique improves the quality of the reconstructed image in terms of both PSNR and the perceptual results close to JPEG2000 at the same bit rate.
Abstract: Twist drills are geometrical complex tools and thus various researchers have adopted different mathematical and experimental approaches for their simulation. The present paper acknowledges the increasing use of modern CAD systems and using the API (Application Programming Interface) of a CAD system, drilling simulations are carried out. The developed DRILL3D software routine, creates parametrically controlled tool geometries and using different cutting conditions, achieves the generation of solid models for all the relevant data involved (drilling tool, cut workpiece, undeformed chip). The final data derived, consist a platform for further direct simulations regarding the determination of cutting forces, tool wear, drilling optimizations etc.
Abstract: Automatic face detection is a complex problem in
image processing. Many methods exist to solve this problem such as
template matching, Fisher Linear Discriminate, Neural Networks,
SVM, and MRC. Success has been achieved with each method to
varying degrees and complexities. In proposed algorithm we used
upright, frontal faces for single gray scale images with decent
resolution and under good lighting condition. In the field of face
recognition technique the single face is matched with single face
from the training dataset. The author proposed a neural network
based face detection algorithm from the photographs as well as if any
test data appears it check from the online scanned training dataset.
Experimental result shows that the algorithm detected up to 95%
accuracy for any image.
Abstract: Online trading is an alternative to conventional shopping method. People trade goods which are new or pre-owned before. However, there are times when a user is not able to search the items wanted online. This is because the items may not be posted as yet, thus ending the search. Conventional search mechanism only works by searching and matching search criteria (requirement) with data available in a particular database. This research aims to match current search requirements with future postings. This would involve the time factor in the conventional search method. A Car Matching Alert System (CMAS) prototype was developed to test the matching algorithm. When a buyer-s search returns no result, the system saves the search and the buyer will be alerted if there is a match found based on future postings. The algorithm developed is useful and as it can be applied in other search context.
Abstract: This paper presents an interval-based multi-attribute
decision making (MADM) approach in support of the decision
process with imprecise information. The proposed decision
methodology is based on the model of linear additive utility function
but extends the problem formulation with the measure of composite
utility variance. A sample study concerning with the evaluation of
electric generation expansion strategies is provided showing how the
imprecise data may affect the choice toward the best solution and
how a set of alternatives, acceptable to the decision maker (DM),
may be identified with certain confidence.
Abstract: The job shop scheduling problem (JSSP) is well known as one of the most difficult combinatorial optimization problems. This paper presents a hybrid genetic algorithm for the JSSP with the objective of minimizing makespan. The efficiency of the genetic algorithm is enhanced by integrating it with a local search method. The chromosome representation of the problem is based on operations. Schedules are constructed using a procedure that generates full active schedules. In each generation, a local search heuristic based on Nowicki and Smutnicki-s neighborhood is applied to improve the solutions. The approach is tested on a set of standard instances taken from the literature and compared with other approaches. The computation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Abstract: This paper presents the experimental results of a
single cylinder Enfield engine using an electronically controlled fuel
injection system which was developed to carry out exhaustive tests
using neat CNG, and mixtures of hydrogen in compressed natural gas
(HCNG) as 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% by energy. Experiments were
performed at 2000 and 2400 rpm with wide open throttle and varying
the equivalence ratio. Hydrogen which has fast burning rate, when
added to compressed natural gas, enhances its flame propagation rate.
The emissions of HC, CO, decreased with increasing percentage of
hydrogen but NOx was found to increase. The results indicated a
marked improvement in the brake thermal efficiency with the
increase in percentage of hydrogen added. The improved thermal
efficiency was clearly observed to be more in lean region as
compared to rich region. This study is expected to reduce vehicular
emissions along with increase in thermal efficiency and thus help in
reduction of further environmental degradation.
Abstract: Microcirculation is essential for the proper supply of
oxygen and nutritive substances to the biological tissue and the
removal of waste products of metabolism. The determination of
blood flow in the capillaries is therefore of great interest to clinicians.
A comparison has been carried out using the developed non-invasive,
non-contact and whole field laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI)
based technique and as well as a commercially available laser
Doppler blood flowmeter (LDF) to evaluate blood flow at the finger
tip and elbow and is presented here. The LSCI technique gives more
quantitative information on the velocity of blood when compared to
the perfusion values obtained using the LDF. Measurement of blood
flow in capillaries can be of great interest to clinicians in the
diagnosis of vascular diseases of the upper extremities.
Abstract: PARADIGMA (PARticipative Approach to DIsease
Global Management) is a pilot project which aims to develop and
demonstrate an Internet based reference framework to share scientific
resources and findings in the treatment of major diseases.
PARADIGMA defines and disseminates a common methodology and
optimised protocols (Clinical Pathways) to support service functions
directed to patients and individuals on matters like prevention, posthospitalisation
support and awareness. PARADIGMA will provide a
platform of information services - user oriented and optimised
against social, cultural and technological constraints - supporting the
Health Care Global System of the Euro-Mediterranean Community
in a continuous improvement process.
Abstract: In Algeria, liberalization reforms undertaken since the 1990s have resulted in negative effects on the development and management of irrigation schemes, as well as on the conditions of farmers. Reforms have been undertaken to improve the performance of irrigation schemes, such as the national plan of agricultural development (PNDA) in 2000 and the water pricing policy of 2005. However, after implementation of these policies, questions have arisen with regard to irrigation performance and its suitability for agricultural development. Hence, the aim of this paper is to provide insight into the profitability of irrigation during the transition period under current irrigation agricultural policies in Algeria. By using the method of farm crop budget analysis in the East Mitidja irrigation scheme, the returns from using surface water resources based on farm typology were found to vary among crops and farmers- groups within the scheme. Irrigation under the current situation is profitable for all farmers, including both those who benefit from subsidies and those who do not. However, the returns to water were found to be very sensitive to crop price fluctuations, particularly for non-subsidized groups and less so for those whose farming is based on orchards. Moreover, the socio-economic environment of the farmers contributed to less significant impacts of the PNDA policy. In fact, the limiting factor is not only the water, but also the lack of land ownership title. Market access constraints led to less agricultural investment and therefore to low intensification and low water productivity. It is financially feasible to recover the annual O&M costs in the irrigation scheme. By comparing the irrigation water price, returns to water, and O&M costs of water delivery, it is clear that irrigation can be profitable in the future. However, water productivity must be improved by enhancing farmers- income through farming investment, improving assets access, and the allocation of activities and crops which bring high returns to water; this could allow the farmers to pay more for water and allow cost recovery for water systems.
Abstract: In this work we adopt a combination of Laplace
transform and the decomposition method to find numerical solutions
of a system of multi-pantograph equations. The procedure leads to a
rapid convergence of the series to the exact solution after computing a
few terms. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated in some
examples by obtaining the exact solution and in others by computing
the absolute error which decreases as the number of terms of the series
increases.
Abstract: The camera parameters are changed due to temperature
variations, which directly influence calibrated cameras accuracy.
Robustness of calibration methods were measured and their accuracy
was tested. An error ratio due to camera parameters change
with respect to total error originated during calibration process was
determined. It pointed out that influence of temperature variations
decrease by increasing distance of observed objects from cameras.