Abstract: Rural tourism has many economical, environmental, and socio-cultural benefits. However, the development of rural tourism compared to urban tourism is also faced with several challenges added to the disadvantages of rural tourism. The aim of this study is to design a model of the factors affecting the motivations of rural tourists, in an attempt to improve the understanding of rural tourism motivation for the development of that form of tourism. The proposed model is based on a sound theoretical framework. It was designed following a literature review of tourism motivation theoretical frameworks and of rural tourism motivation factors. The tourism motivation theoretical framework that fitted to the best all rural tourism motivation factors was then chosen as the basis for the proposed model. This study hence found that the push and pull tourism motivation framework and the inner and outer directed values theory are the most adequate theoretical frameworks for the modeling of rural tourism motivation.
Abstract: In this research, we propose to use the discrete cosine
transform to approximate the cumulative distributions of data cube
cells- values. The cosine transform is known to have a good energy
compaction property and thus can approximate data distribution
functions easily with small number of coefficients. The derived
estimator is accurate and easy to update. We perform experiments to
compare its performance with a well-known technique - the (Haar)
wavelet. The experimental results show that the cosine transform
performs much better than the wavelet in estimation accuracy, speed,
space efficiency, and update easiness.
Abstract: The paper focuses on the enhanced stiffness modeling
of robotic manipulators by taking into account influence of the external force/torque acting upon the end point. It implements the
virtual joint technique that describes the compliance of manipulator elements by a set of localized six-dimensional springs separated by
rigid links and perfect joints. In contrast to the conventional
formulation, which is valid for the unloaded mode and small
displacements, the proposed approach implicitly assumes that the loading leads to the non-negligible changes of the manipulator posture and corresponding amendment of the Jacobian. The
developed numerical technique allows computing the static
equilibrium and relevant force/torque reaction of the manipulator for
any given displacement of the end-effector. This enables designer
detecting essentially nonlinear effects in elastic behavior of
manipulator, similar to the buckling of beam elements. It is also proposed the linearization procedure that is based on the inversion of
the dedicated matrix composed of the stiffness parameters of the
virtual springs and the Jacobians/Hessians of the active and passive
joints. The developed technique is illustrated by an application example that deals with the stiffness analysis of a parallel
manipulator of the Orthoglide family
Abstract: Recently, Cassava has been the driving force of many
developing countries- economic progress. To attain this level,
prerequisites were put in place enabling cassava sector to become an
industrial and a highly competitive crop. Cameroon can achieve the
same results. Moreover, it can upgrade the living conditions of both
rural and urban dwellers and stimulate the development of the whole
economy. Achieving this outcome calls for agricultural policy
reforms. The adoption and implementation of adequate policies go
along with efficient strategies. To choose effective strategies, an indepth
investigation of the sector-s problems is highly recommended.
This paper uses gap analysis method to evaluate cassava sector in
Cameroon. It studies the present situation (where it is now),
interrogates the future (where it should be) and finally proposes
solutions to fill the gap.
Abstract: This paper proposes a new decision making approch
based on quantitative possibilistic influence diagrams which are
extension of standard influence diagrams in the possibilistic framework.
We will in particular treat the case where several expert
opinions relative to value nodes are available. An initial expert assigns
confidence degrees to other experts and fixes a similarity threshold
that provided possibility distributions should respect. To illustrate our
approach an evaluation algorithm for these multi-source possibilistic
influence diagrams will also be proposed.
Abstract: Cooperative communication scheme can be substituted
for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique when it may
not be able to support multiple antennas due to size, cost or
hardware limitations. In other words, cooperative communication
scheme is an efficient method to achieve spatial diversity without
multiple antennas. For satisfaction of rising QoS, we propose a
reliable cooperative communication scheme with M-QAM based Dual
Carrier Modulation (M-DCM), which can increase diversity gain.
Although our proposed scheme is very simple method, it gives us
frequency and spatial diversity. Simulation result shows our proposed
scheme obtains diversity gain more than the conventional cooperative
communication scheme.
Abstract: This article proposes an Ant Colony Optimization
(ACO) metaheuristic to minimize total makespan for scheduling a set
of jobs and assign workers for uniformly related parallel machines.
An algorithm based on ACO has been developed and coded on a
computer program Matlab®, to solve this problem. The paper
explains various steps to apply Ant Colony approach to the problem
of minimizing makespan for the worker assignment & jobs
scheduling problem in a parallel machine model and is aimed at
evaluating the strength of ACO as compared to other conventional
approaches. One data set containing 100 problems (12 Jobs, 03
machines and 10 workers) which is available on internet, has been
taken and solved through this ACO algorithm. The results of our
ACO based algorithm has shown drastically improved results,
especially, in terms of negligible computational effort of CPU, to
reach the optimal solution. In our case, the time taken to solve all 100
problems is even lesser than the average time taken to solve one
problem in the data set by other conventional approaches like GA
algorithm and SPT-A/LMC heuristics.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to analyze the
performance of a double-sided axial flux permanent magnet
brushless DC (AFPM BLDC) motor with two-phase winding.
To study the motor operation, a mathematical dynamic model
has been proposed for motor, which became the basis for
simulations that were performed using MATLAB/SIMULINK
software package. The results of simulations were presented
in form of the waveforms of selected quantities and the
electromechanical characteristics performed by the motor. The
calculation results show that the two-phase motor version
develops smooth torque and reaches high efficiency. The twophase
motor can be applied where more smooth torque is
required. Finally a study on the influence of switching angle
on motor performance shows that when advance switching
technique is used, the motor operates with the highest
efficiency.
Abstract: Single biometric modality recognition is not able to meet the high performance supplies in most cases with its application become more and more broadly. Multimodal biometrics identification represents an emerging trend recently. This paper investigates a novel algorithm based on fusion of both fingerprint and fingervein biometrics. For both biometric recognition, we employ the Monogenic Local Binary Pattern (MonoLBP). This operator integrate the orginal LBP (Local Binary Pattern ) with both other rotation invariant measures: local phase and local surface type. Experimental results confirm that a weighted sum based proposed fusion achieves excellent identification performances opposite unimodal biometric systems. The AUC of proposed approach based on combining the two modalities has very close to unity (0.93).
Abstract: Workload and resource management are two essential functions provided at the service level of the grid software infrastructure. To improve the global throughput of these software environments, workloads have to be evenly scheduled among the available resources. To realize this goal several load balancing strategies and algorithms have been proposed. Most strategies were developed in mind, assuming homogeneous set of sites linked with homogeneous and fast networks. However for computational grids we must address main new issues, namely: heterogeneity, scalability and adaptability. In this paper, we propose a layered algorithm which achieve dynamic load balancing in grid computing. Based on a tree model, our algorithm presents the following main features: (i) it is layered; (ii) it supports heterogeneity and scalability; and, (iii) it is totally independent from any physical architecture of a grid.
Abstract: Focusing on the environmental issues, including the reduction of scrap and consumer residuals, along with the benefiting from the economic value during the life cycle of goods/products leads the companies to have an important competitive approach. The aim of this paper is to present a new mixed nonlinear facility locationallocation model in recycling collection networks by considering multi-echelon, multi-suppliers, multi-collection centers and multifacilities in the recycling network. To make an appropriate decision in reality, demands, returns, capacities, costs and distances, are regarded uncertain in our model. For this purpose, a fuzzy mathematical programming-based possibilistic approach is introduced as a solution methodology from the recent literature to solve the proposed mixed-nonlinear programming model (MNLP). The computational experiments are provided to illustrate the applicability of the designed model in a supply chain environment and to help the decision makers to facilitate their analysis.
Abstract: Falls are the primary cause of accidents in people over
the age of 65, and frequently lead to serious injuries. Since the early
detection of falls is an important step to alert and protect the aging
population, a variety of research on detecting falls was carried out
including the use of accelerators, gyroscopes and tilt sensors. In
exiting studies, falls were detected using an accelerometer with
errors. In this study, the proposed method for detecting falls was to
use two accelerometers to reject wrong falls detection. As falls are
accompanied by the acceleration of gravity and rotational motion, the
falls in this study were detected by using the z-axial acceleration
differences between two sites. The falls were detected by calculating
the difference between the analyses of accelerometers placed on two
different positions on the chest of the subject. The parameters of the
maximum difference of accelerations (diff_Z) and the integration of
accelerations in a defined region (Sum_diff_Z) were used to form the
fall detection algorithm. The falls and the activities of daily living
(ADL) could be distinguished by using the proposed parameters
without errors in spite of the impact and the change in the positions
of the accelerometers. By comparing each of the axial accelerations,
the directions of falls and the condition of the subject afterwards
could be determined.In this study, by using two accelerometers
without errors attached to two sites to detect falls, the usefulness of
the proposed fall detection algorithm parameters, diff_Z and
Sum_diff_Z, were confirmed.
Abstract: Wireless ad hoc nodes are freely and dynamically
self-organize in communicating with others. Each node can act as
host or router. However it actually depends on the capability of
nodes in terms of its current power level, signal strength, number
of hops, routing protocol, interference and others. In this research,
a study was conducted to observe the effect of hops count over
different network topologies that contribute to TCP Congestion
Control performance degradation. To achieve this objective, a
simulation using NS-2 with different topologies have been
evaluated. The comparative analysis has been discussed based on
standard observation metrics: throughput, delay and packet loss
ratio. As a result, there is a relationship between types of topology
and hops counts towards the performance of ad hoc network. In
future, the extension study will be carried out to investigate the
effect of different error rate and background traffic over same
topologies.
Abstract: In this paper, a few chattering-free Sliding Mode Controllers (SMC) are proposed to stabilize an Active Magnetic Bearing (AMB) system with gyroscopic effect that is proportional to the rotor speed. The improved switching terms of the controller inherited from the saturation-type function and boundary layer control technique is shown to be able to achieve bounded and asymptotic stability, respectively, while the chattering effect in the input is attenuated. This is proven to be advantageous for AMB system since minimization of chattering results in optimized control effort. The performance of each controller is demonstrated via result of simulation in which the measurement of the total consumed energy and maximum control magnitude of each controller illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed controllers.
Abstract: This paper deals with a novel technique for the
fabrication of Spiral grooves in a dynamic thrust bearing. The main
scheme proposed in this paper is to fabricate the microgrooves using
desktop forming system. This process has advantages compared to the
conventional electro-chemical machining in the viewpoint of a higher
productivity. For this reason, a new testing apparatus is designed and
built for press forming microgrooves on a surface of the thrust bearing.
The material used in this study is sintered Cu-Fe alloy. The effects of
the forming load on the performance of micro press forming are
experimentally investigated. From the experimental results, formed
depths are closed to the target ones with increasing the forming load.
Abstract: Service-oriented systems have become popular and
presented many advantages in develop and maintain process. The
coupling is the most important attribute of services when they are
integrated into a system. In this paper, we propose a suite of metrics
to evaluate service-s quality according to its ability of coupling. We
use the coupling metrics to measure the maintainability, reliability,
testability, and reusability of services. Our proposed metrics are
operated in run-time which bring more exact results.
Abstract: Cement stabilization has been widely used for
improving the strength and stiffness of soft clayey soils. Cement
treated soil specimens used to investigate the stress-strain behaviour in
the laboratory study are usually cured for 7 days. This paper examines
the effects of curing time on the strength and stress strain behaviour of
cement treated marine clay under triaxial loading condition.
Laboratory-prepared cement treated Singapore marine clay with
different mix proportion S-C-W (soil solid-cement solid-water) and
curing time (7 days to 180 days) was investigated through conducting
unconfined compressive strength test and triaxial test. The results
show that the curing time has a significant effect on the unconfined
compressive strength u q , isotropic compression behaviour and stress
strain behaviour. Although the primary yield loci of the cement treated
soil specimens with the same mix proportion expand with curing time,
they are very narrowly banded and have nearly the same shape after
being normalized by isotropic compression primary stress '
py p . The
isotropic compression primary yield stress '
py p was shown to be
linearly related to unconfined compressive strength u q for specimens
with different curing time and mix proportion. The effect of curing
time on the hardening behaviour will diminish with consolidation
stress higher than isotropic compression primary yield stress but its
damping rate is dependent on the cement content.
Abstract: In modern era, the biggest challenge facing the
software industry is the upcoming of new technologies. So, the
software engineers are gearing up themselves to meet and manage
change in large software system. Also they find it difficult to deal
with software cognitive complexities. In the last few years many
metrics were proposed to measure the cognitive complexity of
software. This paper aims at a comprehensive survey of the metric of
software cognitive complexity. Some classic and efficient software
cognitive complexity metrics, such as Class Complexity (CC),
Weighted Class Complexity (WCC), Extended Weighted Class
Complexity (EWCC), Class Complexity due to Inheritance (CCI) and
Average Complexity of a program due to Inheritance (ACI), are
discussed and analyzed. The comparison and the relationship of these
metrics of software complexity are also presented.
Abstract: As wireless sensor networks are energy constraint networks
so energy efficiency of sensor nodes is the main design issue.
Clustering of nodes is an energy efficient approach. It prolongs the
lifetime of wireless sensor networks by avoiding long distance communication.
Clustering algorithms operate in rounds. Performance of
clustering algorithm depends upon the round time. A large round
time consumes more energy of cluster heads while a small round
time causes frequent re-clustering. So existing clustering algorithms
apply a trade off to round time and calculate it from the initial
parameters of networks. But it is not appropriate to use initial
parameters based round time value throughout the network lifetime
because wireless sensor networks are dynamic in nature (nodes can be
added to the network or some nodes go out of energy). In this paper
a variable round time approach is proposed that calculates round
time depending upon the number of active nodes remaining in the
field. The proposed approach makes the clustering algorithm adaptive
to network dynamics. For simulation the approach is implemented
with LEACH in NS-2 and the results show that there is 6% increase
in network lifetime, 7% increase in 50% node death time and 5%
improvement over the data units gathered at the base station.
Abstract: This paper is based on a study conducted in 2006 to assess the impact of computer usage on health of National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) staff. NIMR being a research Institute, most of its staff spend substantial part of their working time on computers. There was notion among NIMR staff on possible prolonged computer usage health hazards. Hence, a study was conducted to establish facts and possible mitigation measures. A total of 144 NIMR staff were involved in the study of whom 63.2% were males and 36.8% females aged between 20 and 59 years. All staff cadres were included in the sample. The functions performed by Institute staff using computers includes; data management, proposal development and report writing, research activities, secretarial duties, accounting and administrative duties, on-line information retrieval and online communication through e-mail services. The interviewed staff had been using computers for 1-8 hours a day and for a period ranging from 1 to 20 years. The study has indicated ergonomic hazards for a significant proportion of interviewees (63%) of various kinds ranging from backache to eyesight related problems. The authors highlighted major issues which are substantially applicable in preventing occurrences of computer related problems and they urged NIMR Management and/or the government of Tanzania opts to adapt their practicability.