Abstract: Long terms variation of solar insolation had been
widely studied. However, its parallel observations in short time scale
is rather lacking. This paper aims to investigate the short time scale
evolution of solar radiation spectrum (UV, PAR, and NIR bands) due
to atmospheric aerosols and water vapors. A total of 25 days of
global and diffused solar spectrum ranges from air mass 2 to 6 were
collected using ground-based spectrometer with shadowband
technique. The result shows that variation of solar radiation is the
least in UV fraction, followed by PAR and the most in NIR. Broader
variations in PAR and NIR are associated with the short time scale
fluctuations of aerosol and water vapors. The corresponding daily
evolution of UV, PAR, and NIR fractions implies that aerosol and
water vapors variation could also be responsible for the deviation
pattern in the Langley-plot analysis.
Abstract: The purposes of this study were as follows to evaluate
the economic value of Phu Kradueng National Park by the travel cost
method (TCM) and the contingent valuation method (CVM) and to
estimate the demand for traveling and the willingness to pay. The
data for this study were collected by conducting two large scale
surveys on users and non-users. A total of 1,016 users and 1,034
non-users were interviewed. The data were analyzed using multiple
linear regression analysis, logistic regression model and the
consumer surplus (CS) was the integral of demand function for trips.
The survey found, were as follows:
1)Using the travel cost method which provides an estimate of direct
benefits to park users, we found that visitors- total willingness to pay
per visit was 2,284.57 bath, of which 958.29 bath was travel cost,
1,129.82 bath was expenditure for accommodation, food, and
services, and 166.66 bath was consumer surplus or the visitors -net
gain or satisfaction from the visit (the integral of demand function for
trips).
2) Thai visitors to Phu Kradueng National Park were further willing
to pay an average of 646.84 bath per head per year to ensure the
continued existence of Phu Kradueng National Park and to preserve
their option to use it in the future.
3) Thai non-visitors, on the other hand, are willing to pay an average
of 212.61 bath per head per year for the option and existence value
provided by the Park.
4) The total economic value of Phu Kradueng National Park to Thai
visitors and non-visitors taken together stands today at 9,249.55
million bath per year.
5) The users- average willingness to pay for access to Phu Kradueng
National Park rises
from 40 bath to 84.66 bath per head per trip for improved services
such as road improvement, increased cleanliness, and upgraded
information.
This paper was needed to investigate of the potential market
demand for bio prospecting in Phu Kradueng national Park and to
investigate how a larger share of the economic benefits of tourism
could be distributed income to the local residents.
Abstract: The paper presents the virtual model of the active
suspension system used for improving the dynamic behavior of a
motor vehicle. The study is focused on the design of the control
system, the purpose being to minimize the effect of the road
disturbances (which are considered as perturbations for the control
system). The analysis is performed for a quarter-car model, which
corresponds to the suspension system of the front wheel, by using the
DFC (Design for Control) software solution EASY5 (Engineering
Analysis Systems) of MSC Software. The controller, which is a PIDbased
device, is designed through a parametric optimization with the
Matrix Algebra Tool (MAT), considering the gain factors as design
variables, while the design objective is to minimize the overshoot of
the indicial response.
Abstract: Digital broadcasting has been an area of active
research, development, innovation and business models development
in recent years. This paper presents a survey on the characteristics of
the digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB) standards, and
implementation status of DTTB worldwide showing the standards
adopted. It is clear that only the developed countries and some in the
developing ones shall be able to beat the ITU set analogue to digital
broadcasting migration deadline because of the challenges that these
countries faces in digitizing their terrestrial broadcasting. The
challenges to keep on track the DTTB migration plan are also
discussed in this paper. They include financial, technology gap,
policies alignment with DTTB technology, etc. The reported
performance comparisons for the different standards are also
presented. The interesting part is that the results for many
comparative studies depends to a large extent on the objective behind
such studies, hence counter claims are common.
Abstract: The recent advances in computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) can be useful in observing the detailed hemodynamics in
cerebral aneurysms for understanding not only their formation and
rupture but also for clinical evaluation and treatment. However,
important hemodynamic quantities are difficult to measure in vivo. In
the present study, an approximate model of normal middle cerebral
artery (MCA) along with two cases consisting broad and narrow
saccular aneurysms are analyzed. The models are generated in
ANSYS WORKBENCH and transient analysis is performed in
ANSYS-CFX. The results obtained are compared for three cases and
agree well with the available literature.
Abstract: This paper introduces an intelligent system, which can be applied in the monitoring of vehicle speed using a single camera. The ability of motion tracking is extremely useful in many automation problems and the solution to this problem will open up many future applications. One of the most common problems in our daily life is the speed detection of vehicles on a highway. In this paper, a novel technique is developed to track multiple moving objects with their speeds being estimated using a sequence of video frames. Field test has been conducted to capture real-life data and the processed results were presented. Multiple object problems and noisy in data are also considered. Implementing this system in real-time is straightforward. The proposal can accurately evaluate the position and the orientation of moving objects in real-time. The transformations and calibration between the 2D image and the actual road are also considered.
Abstract: Road rage is an increasingly prevalent expression of
aggression in our society. Its dangers are apparent and understanding
its causes may shed light on preventative measures. This study
involved a fifteen-minute survey administered to 147 undergraduate
students at a North Eastern suburban university. The survey
consisted of a demographics section, questions regarding financial
investment in respondents- vehicles, experience driving, habits of
driving, experiences witnessing role models driving, and an
evaluation of road rage behavior using the Driving Vengeance
Questionnaire. The study found no significant differences in driving
aggression between respondents who were financially invested in
their vehicle compared to those who were not, or between
respondents who drove in heavy traffic hours compared to those who
did not, suggesting internal factors correlate with aggressive driving
habits. The study also found significant differences in driving
aggression between males versus females, those with more points on
their license versus fewer points, and those who witnessed parents
driving aggressively very often versus rarely or never. Additional
studies can investigate how witnessing parents driving aggressively
is related to future driving behaviors.
Abstract: One of the most importance of intelligence in-car and
roadside systems is the cooperative vehicle-infrastructure system. In
Thailand, ITS technologies are rapidly growing and real-time vehicle
information is considerably needed for ITS applications; for example,
vehicle fleet tracking and control and road traffic monitoring
systems. This paper defines the communication protocols and
software design for middleware components of B-VIS (Burapha
Vehicle-Infrastructure System). The proposed B-VIS middleware architecture serves the needs of a distributed RFID sensor network and simplifies some intricate details of several communication standards.
Abstract: South Africa is facing a crisis with not being able to produce enough graduates in the scarce skills areas to sustain economic growth. The crisis is fuelled by a school system that does not produce enough potential students with Mathematics, Accounting and Science. Since the introduction of the new school curriculum in 2008, there is no longer an option to take pure maths on a standard grade level. Instead, only two mathematical subjects are offered: pure maths (which is on par with higher grade maths) and mathematical literacy. It is compulsory to take one or the other. As a result, lees student finishes Grade 12 with pure mathematics every year. This national problem needs urgent attention if South Africa is to make any headway in critical skills development as mathematics is a gateway to scarce skills professions. Higher education institutions initiated several initiatives in an attempt to address the above, including preparatory courses, bridging programmes and extended curricula with foundation provisions. In view of the above, and government policy directives to broaden access in the scarce skills areas to increase student throughput, foundation provision was introduced for Commerce and Information Technology programmes at the Vaal Triangle Campus (VTC) of North-West University (NWU) in 2010. Students enrolling for extended programmes do not comply with the minimum prerequisites for the normal programmes. The question then arises as to whether these programmes have the intended impact? This paper reports the results of a two year longitudinal study, tracking the first year academic achievement of the two cohorts of enrolments since 2010. The results provide valuable insight into the structuring of an extended programme and its potential impact.
Abstract: The rapid advance of communication technology is
evolving the network environment into the broadband convergence
network. Likewise, the IT services operated in the individual network
are also being quickly converged in the broadband convergence
network environment. VoIP and IPTV are two examples of such new
services. Efforts are being made to develop the video phone service,
which is an advanced form of the voice-oriented VoIP service.
However, the new IT services will be subject to stability and reliability
vulnerabilities if the relevant security issues are not answered during
the convergence of the existing IT services currently being operated in
individual networks within the wider broadband network
environment. To resolve such problems, this paper attempts to analyze
the possible threats and identify the necessary security measures
before the deployment of the new IT services. Furthermore, it
measures the quality of the encryption algorithm application example
to describe the appropriate algorithm in order to present security
technology that will have no negative impact on the quality of the
video phone service.
Abstract: For broadband wireless mobile communication
systems the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a
suitable modulation scheme. The frequency offset between
transmitter and receiver local oscillator is main drawback of OFDM
systems, which causes intercarrier interference (ICI) in the
subcarriers of the OFDM system. This ICI degrades the bit error rate
(BER) performance of the system. In this paper an improved self-ICI
cancellation scheme is proposed to improve the system performance.
The proposed scheme is based on discrete Fourier transform-inverse
discrete Fourier transform (DFT-IDFT). The simulation results show
that there is satisfactory improvement in the bit error rate (BER)
performance of the present scheme.
Abstract: This paper presents a large scale, quantitative investigation of the impact of discipline differences on the student experience of using an online learning environment (OLE). Based on a representative sample of 2526 respondents, a number of significant differences in the mean rating by broad discipline area of the importance of, and satisfaction with, a range of elements of an OLE were found. Broadly speaking, the Arts and Science and Technology discipline areas reported the lowest importance and satisfaction ratings for the OLE, while the Health and Behavioural Sciences area was the most satisfied with the OLE. A number of specific, systematic discipline differences are reported and discussed. Compared to the observed significant differences in mean importance ratings, there were fewer significant differences in mean satisfaction ratings, and those that were observed were less systematic than for importance ratings.
Abstract: Cyclic delay diversity (CDD) is a simple technique to
intentionally increase frequency selectivity of channels for orthogonal
frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).This paper proposes a residual
carrier frequency offset (RFO) estimation scheme for OFDMbased
broadcasting system using CDD. In order to improve the RFO
estimation, this paper addresses a decision scheme of the amount of
cyclic delay and pilot pattern used to estimate the RFO. By computer
simulation, the proposed estimator is shown to benefit form propoerly
chosen delay parameter and perform robustly.
Abstract: ERP systems are the largest software applications adopted by universities, along with quite significant investments in their implementation. However, unlike other applications little research has been conducted regarding these systems in a university environment. This paper aims at providing a critical review of previous research in ERP system in higher education with a special focus on higher education in Australia. The research not only forms the basis of an evaluation of previous research and research needs, it also makes inroads in identifying the payoff of ERPs in the sector from different perspectives with particular reference to the user. The paper is divided into two parts, the first part focuses on ERP literature in higher education at large, while the second focuses on ERP literature in higher education in Australia.
Abstract: In this paper, the noise maps for the area encircled by
the Second Ring Road in Riyadh city are developed based on real
measured data. Sound level meters, GPS receivers to determine
measurement position, a database program to manage the measured
data, and a program to develop the maps are used. A baseline noise
level has been established at each short-term site so subsequent
monitoring may be conducted to describe changes in Riyadh-s noise
environment. Short-term sites are used to show typical daytime and
nighttime noise levels at specific locations by short duration grab
sampling.
Abstract: The need to evaluate and understand the natural
drainage pattern in a flood prone, and fast developing environment is
of paramount importance. This information will go a long way to
help the town planners to determine the drainage pattern, road
networks and areas where prominent structures are to be located. This
research work was carried out with the aim of studying the Bayelsa
landscape topography using digitized topographic information, and to
model the natural drainage flow pattern that will aid the
understanding and constructions of workable drainages. To achieve
this, digitize information of elevation and coordinate points were
extracted from a global imagery map. The extracted information was
modeled into 3D surfaces. The result revealed that the average
elevation for Bayelsa State is 12 m above sea level. The highest
elevation is 28 m, and the lowest elevation 0 m, along the coastline.
In Yenagoa the capital city of Bayelsa were a detail survey was
carried out showed that average elevation is 15 m, the highest
elevation is 25 m and lowest is 3 m above the mean sea level. The
regional elevation in Bayelsa, showed a gradation decrease from the
North Eastern zone to the South Western Zone. Yenagoa showed an
observed elevation lineament, were low depression is flanked by high
elevation that runs from the North East to the South west. Hence,
future drainages in Yenagoa should be directed from the high
elevation, from South East toward the North West and from the
North West toward South East, to the point of convergence which is
at the center that flows from South East toward the North West.
Bayelsa when considered on a regional Scale, the flow pattern is from
the North East to the South West, and also North South. It is
recommended that in the event of any large drainage construction at
municipal scale, it should be directed from North East to the South
West or from North to South. Secondly, detail survey should be
carried out to ascertain the local topography and the drainage pattern
before the design and construction of any drainage system in any part
of Bayelsa.
Abstract: The rapid urbanization of cities has a bane in the form
road accidents that cause extensive damage to life and limbs. A
number of location based factors are enablers of road accidents in the
city. The speed of travel of vehicles is non-uniform among locations
within a city. In this study, the perception of vehicle users is captured
on a 10-point rating scale regarding the degree of variation in speed
of travel at chosen locations in the city. The average rating is used to
cluster locations using fuzzy c-means clustering and classify them as
low, moderate and high speed of travel locations. The high speed of
travel locations can be classified proactively to ensure that accidents
do not occur due to the speeding of vehicles at such locations. The
advantage of fuzzy c-means clustering is that a location may be a
part of more than one cluster to a varying degree and this gives a
better picture about the location with respect to the characteristic
(speed of travel) being studied.
Abstract: In the present paper, disc loaded interaction structure
for potential application in wideband Gyro-TWT amplifier has been
analyzed, taking all the space and modal harmonics into
consideration, for the eigenwave solutions. The analysis has been
restricted to azimuthally symmetric TE0,n mode. Dispersion
characteristics have been plotted by varying the structure parameters
and have been validated against HFSS simulation results. The
variation of eigenvalue with respect to different structure parameters
has also been presented. It has been observed that disc periodicity
plays very important role for wideband operation of disc-loaded
Gyro-TWT.
Abstract: The Bangalore City is facing the acute problem of
pollution in the atmosphere due to the heavy increase in the traffic
and developmental activities in recent years. The present study is an
attempt in the direction to assess trend of the ambient air quality
status of three stations, viz., AMCO Batteries Factory, Mysore Road,
GRAPHITE INDIA FACTORY, KHB Industrial Area, Whitefield
and Ananda Rao Circle, Gandhinagar with respect to some of the
major criteria pollutants such as Total Suspended particular matter
(SPM), Oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and Oxides of sulphur (SO2). The
sites are representative of various kinds of growths viz., commercial,
residential and industrial, prevailing in Bangalore, which are
contributing to air pollution. The concentration of Sulphur Dioxide
(SO2) at all locations showed a falling trend due to use of refined
petrol and diesel in the recent years. The concentration of Oxides of
nitrogen (NOx) showed an increasing trend but was within the
permissible limits. The concentration of the Suspended particular
matter (SPM) showed the mixed trend. The correlation between
model and observed values is found to vary from 0.4 to 0.7 for SO2,
0.45 to 0.65 for NOx and 0.4 to 0.6 for SPM. About 80% of data is
observed to fall within the error band of ±50%. Forecast test for the
best fit models showed the same trend as actual values in most of the
cases. However, the deviation observed in few cases could be
attributed to change in quality of petro products, increase in the
volume of traffic, introduction of LPG as fuel in many types of
automobiles, poor condition of roads, prevailing meteorological
conditions, etc.
Abstract: This study analyzed environmental health risks and
people-s perceptions of risks related to waste management in poor
settlements of Abidjan, to develop integrated solutions for health and
well-being improvement. The trans-disciplinary approach used relied
on remote sensing, a geographic information system (GIS),
qualitative and quantitative methods such as interviews and a
household survey (n=1800). Mitigating strategies were then
developed using an integrated participatory stakeholder workshop.
Waste management deficiencies resulting in lack of drainage and
uncontrolled solid and liquid waste disposal in the poor settlements
lead to severe environmental health risks. Health problems were
caused by direct handling of waste, as well as through broader
exposure of the population. People in poor settlements had little
awareness of health risks related to waste management in their
community and a general lack of knowledge pertaining to sanitation
systems. This unfortunate combination was the key determinant
affecting the health and vulnerability. For example, an increased
prevalence of malaria (47.1%) and diarrhoea (19.2%) was observed
in the rainy season when compared to the dry season (32.3% and
14.3%). Concerted and adapted solutions that suited all the
stakeholders concerned were developed in a participatory workshop
to allow for improvement of health and well-being.