Abstract: Serial hierarchical support vector machine (SHSVM)
is proposed to discriminate three brain tissues which are white matter
(WM), gray matter (GM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). SHSVM
has novel classification approach by repeating the hierarchical
classification on data set iteratively. It used Radial Basis Function
(rbf) Kernel with different tuning to obtain accurate results. Also as
the second approach, segmentation performed with DAGSVM
method. In this article eight univariate features from the raw DTI data
are extracted and all the possible 2D feature sets are examined within
the segmentation process. SHSVM succeed to obtain DSI values
higher than 0.95 accuracy for all the three tissues, which are higher
than DAGSVM results.
Abstract: Public sector corruption has long-term and damaging
effects that are deep and broad. Addressing corruption relies on
understanding the drivers that precipitate acts of corruption and
developing educational programs that target areas of vulnerability.
This paper provides an innovative approach to explore the nature of
corruption by drawing on the perceptions and ideas of a group of
public servants who have been part of a corruption investigation. The
paper examines these reflections through the ideas of Pierre Bourdieu
and Alfred Schutz to point to some of the steps that can lead to
corrupt activity. The paper demonstrates that phenomenological
inquiry is useful in the exploration of corruption and, as a theoretical
framework, it highlights that corruption emerges through a
combination of conflict, doubt and uncertainty. The paper calls for
anti-corruption education programs to be attentive to way in which
these conditions can influence the steps into corruption.
Abstract: Green buildings have been commonly cited to be more
expensive than conventional buildings. However, limited research
has been conducted to clearly identify elements that contribute to this
cost differential. The construction cost of buildings can be typically
divided into “hard" costs and “soft" cost elements. Using a review
analysis of existing literature, the study identified six main elements
in green buildings that contribute to the general cost elements that are
“soft" in nature. The six elements found are insurance, developer-s
experience, design cost, certification, commissioning and energy
modeling. Out of the six elements, most literatures have highlighted
the increase in design cost for green design as compared to
conventional design due to additional architectural and engineering
costs, eco-charettes, extra design time, and the further need for a
green consultant. The study concluded that these elements of soft cost
contribute to the green premium or cost differential of green
buildings.
Abstract: In recent years linguistic research has turned
increasing attention to covert/overt strategies to modulate authorial
stance and positioning in scientific texts, and to the recipients'
response. This study discussed some theoretical implications of the
use of rhetoric in scientific communication and analysed qualitative
data from the authoritative The Cognitive Neurosciences III (2004)
volume. Its genre-identity, status and readability were considered, in
the social interactive context of contemporary disciplinary discourses
– in their polyphony of traditional and new, emerging genres.
Evidence was given of the ways its famous authors negotiate and
shape knowledge and research results – explicitly appraising team
work and promoting faith in the fast-paced progress of Cognitive
Neuroscience, also through experiential metaphors – by presenting a
set of examples, ordered according to their dominant rhetorical
quality.
Abstract: It is an important task in Korean-English machine
translation to classify the gender of names correctly. When a sentence
is composed of two or more clauses and only one subject is given as a proper noun, it is important to find the gender of the proper noun
for correct translation of the sentence. This is because a singular pronoun has a gender in English while it does not in Korean. Thus,
in Korean-English machine translation, the gender of a proper noun should be determined. More generally, this task can be expanded into the classification of the general Korean names. This paper proposes a statistical method for this problem. By considering a name as just
a sequence of syllables, it is possible to get a statistics for each name from a collection of names. An evaluation of the proposed method
yields the improvement in accuracy over the simple looking-up of the
collection. While the accuracy of the looking-up method is 64.11%, that of the proposed method is 81.49%. This implies that the proposed
method is more plausible for the gender classification of the Korean names.
Abstract: Magnetic and semiconductor nanomaterials exhibit
novel magnetic and optical properties owing to their unique size and
shape-dependent effects. With shrinking the size down to nanoscale
region, various anomalous properties that normally not present in bulk
start to dominate. Ability in harnessing of these anomalous properties
for the design of various advance electronic devices is strictly
dependent on synthetic strategies. Hence, current research has focused
on developing a rational synthetic control to produce high quality
nanocrystals by using organometallic approach to tune both size and
shape of the nanomaterials. In order to elucidate the growth
mechanism, transmission electron microscopy was employed as a
powerful tool in performing real time-resolved morphologies and
structural characterization of magnetic (Fe3O4) and semiconductor
(ZnO) nanocrystals. The current synthetic approach is found able to
produce nanostructures with well-defined shapes. We have found that
oleic acid is an effective capping ligand in preparing oxide-based
nanostructures without any agglomerations, even at high temperature.
The oleate-based precursors and capping ligands are fatty acid
compounds, which are respectively originated from natural palm oil
with low toxicity. In comparison with other synthetic approaches in
producing nanostructures, current synthetic method offers an effective
route to produce oxide-based nanomaterials with well-defined shapes
and good monodispersity. The nanocystals are well-separated with
each other without any stacking effect. In addition, the as-synthesized
nanopellets are stable in terms of chemically and physically if
compared to those nanomaterials that are previous reported. Further
development and extension of current synthetic strategy are being
pursued to combine both of these materials into nanocomposite form
that will be used as “smart magnetic nanophotocatalyst" for industry
waste water treatment.
Abstract: Coriander is an annual and herbaceous plant, belong to
the apiaceae family. This plant is cultivated world widely. It is well
known for having medicinal properties. The aim of this experiment
was to study seed quality of species grown in Kermanshah
conditions. The experiment was carried out in research farm, Campus
of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Razi University, Kermanshah,
Iran. Coriander (local type) was grown in late spring May (5th and
20th) and Jun (4th and 19th), and plant density (10, 30, 50 and 70
plants m-2) in 2009. The experimental plots were laid out in a
factorial according to a randomized complete block design with three
replications. The fruits were harvest between 83.5 – 106.5 days after
sowing. The essential oil and oil content was extracted by Clevenger
and Soxhlet apparatuses, respectively. Results showed that delay at
planting date increased the oil content. Also, with the increase at
plant density was decreased oil content and essential oil.
Abstract: The primary objective of this study is to test whether
there is any difference in performance between funded and nonfunded
registered charity organizations. In this study, performance as
the dependent variable is measured using total donations. Using a
sample of 101 charity organizations registered with the Registry of
Society, analysis of variance (ANOVA) results indicate that there is a
difference in financial performance between funded and non-funded
charity organizations. The study provides empirical evidence to
resource providers and the policy makers in scrutinizing the decision
to disburse their funds and resources to these charity organizations.
Abstract: Natural pozzolan (NP) is one of the potential
prehistoric alternative binders in the construction industry. It has
been investigated as cement replacement in ordinary concrete by
several researchers for many purposes. Various supplementary
cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash, limestone dust and
silica fume are widely used in the production of SCC; however,
limited studies to address the effect of NP on the properties of SCC
are documented. The current research is composed of different SCC
paste and concrete mixtures containing different replacement levels
of local NP as an alternative SCM. The effect of volume of paste
containing different amounts of local NP related to W/B ratio and
cement content on SCC fresh properties was assessed. The variations
in the fresh properties of SCC paste and concrete represented by
slump flow (flowability) and the flow rate were determined and
discussed. The results indicated that the flow properties of SCC paste
and concrete mixtures, at their optimized superplasticizer dosages,
were affected by the binder content of local NP and the total volume
fraction of SCC paste.
Abstract: In most wheat growing moderate regions and
especially in the north of Iran climate, is affected grain filling by
several physical and abiotic stresses. In this region, grain filling often
occurs when temperatures are increasing and moisture supply is
decreasing. The experiment was designed in RCBD with split plot
arrangements with four replications. Four irrigation treatments
included (I0) no irrigation (check); (I1) one irrigation (50 mm) at
heading stage; (I2) two irrigation (100 mm) at heading and anthesis
stage; and (I3) three irrigation (150 mm) at heading, anthesis and
early grain filling growth stage, two wheat cultivars (Milan and
Shanghai) were cultured in the experiment. Totally raining was 453
mm during the growth season. The result indicated that biological
yield, grain yield and harvest index were significantly affected by
irrigation levels. I3 treatment produced more tillers number in m2,
fertile tillers number in m2, harvest index and biological yield. Milan
produced more tillers number in m2, fertile tillers in m2, while
Shanghai produced heavier tillers and grain 1000 weight. Plant height
was significant in wheat varieties while were not statistically
significant in irrigation levels. Milan produced more grain yield,
harvest index and biological yield. Grain yield shown that I1, I2, and
I3 produced increasing of 5228 (21%), 5460 (27%) and 5670 (29%)
kg ha-1, respectively. There was an interaction of irrigation and
cultivar on grain yields. In the absence of the irrigation reduced grain
1000 weight from 45 to 40 g. No irrigation reduced soil moisture
extraction during the grain filling stage. Current assimilation as a
source of carbon for grain filling depends on the light intercepting
viable green surfaces of the plant after anthesis that due to natural
senescence and the effect of various stresses. At the same time the
demand by the growing grain is increasing. It is concluded from
research work that wheat crop irrigated Milan cultivar could increase
the grain yield in comparison with Shanghai cultivar. Although, the
grain yield of Shanghai under irrigation was slightly lower than
Milan. This grain yield also was related to weather condition, sowing
date, plant density and location conditions and management of
fertilizers, because there was not significant difference in biological
and straw yield. The best result was produced by I1 treatment. I2 and
I3 treatments were not significantly difference with I1 treatment.
Grain yield of I1 indicated that wheat is under soil moisture
deficiency. Therefore, I1 irrigation was better than I0.
Abstract: This paper proposes an Interactive Chinese Character
Learning System (ICCLS) based on pictorial evolution as an
edutainment concept in computer-based learning of language. The
advantage of the language origination itself is taken as a learning
platform due to the complexity in Chinese language as compared to
other types of languages. Users especially children enjoy more by
utilize this learning system because they are able to memories the
Chinese Character easily and understand more of the origin of the
Chinese character under pleasurable learning environment, compares
to traditional approach which children need to rote learning Chinese
Character under un-pleasurable environment. Skeletonization is used
as the representation of Chinese character and object with an animated
pictograph evolution to facilitate the learning of the language. Shortest
skeleton path matching technique is employed for fast and accurate
matching in our implementation. User is required to either write a
word or draw a simple 2D object in the input panel and the matched
word and object will be displayed as well as the pictograph evolution
to instill learning. The target of computer-based learning system is for
pre-school children between 4 to 6 years old to learn Chinese
characters in a flexible and entertaining manner besides utilizing
visual and mind mapping strategy as learning methodology.
Abstract: The analytical prediction of the decay heat results
from the fast neutron fission of actinides was initiated under a project, 10-MAT1134-3, funded by king Abdulaziz City of Science
and Technology (KASCT), Long-Term Comprehensive National Plan for Science, Technology and Innovations, managed by a team
from King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Saudi Arabia, and
supervised by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has collaborated
with KAU's team to assist in the computational analysis. In this paper, the numerical solution of coupled linear differential equations
that describe the decays and buildups of minor fission product MFA, has been used to predict the total decay heat and its components from the fast neutron fission of 235U and 239Pu. The reliability of the present approach is illustrated via systematic
comparisons with the measurements reported by the University of
Tokyo, in YAYOI reactor.
Abstract: Sweet potato products are necessary for the provision
of essential nutrients in every household, regardless of their poverty
status. Their consumption appears to be highly influenced by socioeconomic
factors, such as malnutrition, food insecurity and
unemployment. Therefore, market availability is crucial for these
cultivars to resolve some of the socio-economic factors. The aim of
the study was to investigate market availability of sweet potato
cultivars in the North West Province. In this study, both qualitative
and quantitative research methodologies were used. Qualitative
methodology was used to explain the quantitative outcomes of the
variables. On the other hand, quantitative results were used to test the
hypothesis. The study used SPSS software to analyse the data. Crosstabulation
and Chi-square statistics were used to obtain the
descriptive and inferential analyses, respectively. The study found
that the Blesbok cultivar is dominating the markets of the North West
Province, with the Monate cultivar dominating in the Bojanala
Platinum (75%) and Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati (25%) districts. It
is also found that a unit increase in the supply of sweet potato
cultivars in both local and district municipal markets is accompanied
by a reduced demand of 28% and 33% at district and local markets,
respectively. All these results were found to be significant at p
Abstract: The prediction of long-term deformations of concrete and reinforced concrete structures has been a field of extensive research and several different creep models have been developed so far. Most of the models were developed for constant concrete stresses, thus, in case of varying stresses a specific superposition principle or time-integration, respectively, is necessary. Nowadays, when modeling concrete creep the engineering focus is rather on the application of sophisticated time-integration methods than choosing the more appropriate creep model. For this reason, this paper presents a method to quantify the uncertainties of creep prediction originating from the selection of creep models or from the time-integration methods. By adapting variance based global sensitivity analysis, a methodology is developed to quantify the influence of creep model selection or choice of time-integration method. Applying the developed method, general recommendations how to model creep behavior for varying stresses are given.
Abstract: The myocardial sintigraphy is an imaging modality which provides functional informations. Whereas, coronarography modality gives useful informations about coronary arteries anatomy. In case of coronary artery disease (CAD), the coronarography can not determine precisely which moderate lesions (artery reduction between 50% and 70%), known as the “gray zone", are haemodynamicaly significant. In this paper, we aim to define the relationship between the location and the degree of the stenosis in coronary arteries and the observed perfusion on the myocardial scintigraphy. This allows us to model the impact evolution of these stenoses in order to justify a coronarography or to avoid it for patients suspected being in the gray zone. Our approach is decomposed in two steps. The first step consists in modelling a coronary artery bed and stenoses of different location and degree. The second step consists in modelling the left ventricle at stress and at rest using the sphercical harmonics model and myocardial scintigraphic data. We use the spherical harmonics descriptors to analyse left ventricle model deformation between stress and rest which permits us to conclude if ever an ischemia exists and to quantify it.
Abstract: The pollution of sediments sampled from the North
Port by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was investigated.
Concentrations of PAHs estimated in the port sediments ranged from
199 to 2851.2 μg/kg dw. The highest concentration was found which
is closed to the Berth line, this locations affected by intensive
shipping activities and Land based runoff and they were dominated
by the high molecular weight PAHs (4–6- rings). Source
identification showed that PAHs originated mostly from the
pyrogenic source either from the combustion of fossil fuels, grass,
wood and coal (majority of the samples). Ecological Risk Assessment
on the port sediments presented that slightly adverse ecological
effects to biological community are expected to occur at the vicinity
of the stations 1 and 4. Thus PAHs are not considered as pollutants of
concern in the North Port.
Abstract: Views on therapists- attraction have influenced the ethical and professional development of the mental health fields. Because the majority of therapist attraction literature (63.6%) has been conducted from a psychoanalytic standpoint, approaches to attraction from feminist perspectives have not been adequately developed. Considering the lack of a feminist voice regarding attraction, this article attempts to offer a feminist perspective on this issue. The purpose of this article is to offer a feminist perspective on the phenomenon of attraction in order to raise awareness about the importance of power inequalities, intersectionalities, contextual variables and the need for action in the field.
Abstract: Sarkhoon gas plant, located in south of Iran, has been installed to removal H2S contained in a high pressure natural gas stream. The solvent used for the H2S removal from gaseous stream is 34% by weight (wt%) Di-ethanol amine (DEA) solutions. Due to increasing concentration of heat stable salt (HSS) in solvent, corrosivity of amine solution had been increased. Reports indicated that there was corrosion on the shell of regeneration column. Because source formation of HSS was unknown, we decided to control the amount of HSS at the limit less than 3% wt amine solvent. Therefore, two small columns were filled by strong anionic base and carbon active, and then polluted amine was passed through beds. Finally a temporary amine recovery package on industrial scale was made based on laboratory’s results. From economical point of view we could save $700000 beside corrosion occurrence of the stripping column has been vigorously decreased.
Abstract: Nowadays, power systems, energy generation by wind
has been very important. Noting that the production of electrical
energy by wind turbines on site to several factors (such as wind speed
and profile site for the turbines, especially off the wind input speed,
wind rated speed and wind output speed disconnect) is dependent. On
the other hand, several different types of turbines in the market there.
Therefore, selecting a turbine that its capacity could also answer the
need for electric consumers the efficiency is high something is
important and necessary. In this context, calculating the amount of
wind power to help optimize overall network, system operation, in
determining the parameters of wind power is very important.
In this article, to help calculate the amount of wind power plant,
connected to the national network in the region Manjil wind,
selecting the best type of turbine and power delivery profile
appropriate to the network using Monte Carlo method has been.
In this paper, wind speed data from the wind site in Manjil, as minute
and during the year has been. Necessary simulations based on
Random Numbers Simulation method and repeat, using the software
MATLAB and Excel has been done.
Abstract: In this paper, we consider a new particle filter inspired
by biological evolution. In the standard particle filter, a resampling
scheme is used to decrease the degeneracy phenomenon and improve
estimation performance. Unfortunately, however, it could cause the
undesired the particle deprivation problem, as well. In order to
overcome this problem of the particle filter, we propose a novel
filtering method called the genetic filter. In the proposed filter, we
embed the genetic algorithm into the particle filter and overcome the
problems of the standard particle filter. The validity of the proposed
method is demonstrated by computer simulation.