Abstract: The objective of this research is to study the people’s level of participation in activities of the community, their satisfaction towards the community, the attachment they have to the community, factors that influence the attachment, as well as the characteristics of the relationships of military families’ of the Royal Guards community of Dusit District. The method used was non-probability sampling by quota sampling according to people’s age. The determined age group was 18 years or older.
One set of a sample group was done per family. The questionnaires were conducted by 287 people. Snowball sampling was also used by interviewing people of the community, starting from the Royal Guards Community’s leader, then by 20 of the community’s well-respected persons. The data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics, such as arithmetic mean and standard deviation, as well as by inferential statistics, such as Independent - Samples T test (T-test), One-Way ANOVA (F-test), Chi-Square. Descriptive analysis according to the structure of the interview content was also used. The results of the research is that the participation of the population in the Royal Guards Community in various activities is at a medium level, with the average participation level during Mother’s and Father’s Days. The people’s general level of satisfaction towards the premises of the Royal Guards Community is at the highest level.
The people were most satisfied with the transportation within the community and in contacting with people from outside the premises. The access to the community is convenient and there are various entrances. The attachment of the people to the Royal Guards Community in general and by each category is at a high level. The feeling that the community is their home rated the highest average. Factors that influence the attachment of the people of the Royal Guards Community are age, status, profession, income, length of stay in the community, membership of social groups, having neighbors they feel close and familiar with, and as well as the benefits they receive from the community. In addition, it was found that people that participate in activities have a high level of positive relationship towards the attachment of the people to the Royal Guards Community. The satisfaction of the community has a very high level of positive relationship with the attachment of the people to the Royal Guards Community.
The characteristics of the attachment of military families’ is that they live in big houses that everyone has to protect and care for, starting from the leader of the family as well as all members. Therefore, they all love the community they live in. The characteristics that show the participation of activities within the community and the high level of satisfaction towards the premises of the community will enable the people to be more attached to the community. The people feel that everyone is close neighbors within the community, as if they are one big family.
Abstract: In this study, multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)
were modified with nitric acid chemically and by dielectric barrier
discharge (DBD) plasma in an oxygen-based atmosphere. Used
carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were prepared by chemical vapour
deposition (CVD) floating catalyst method. For removing amorphous
carbon and metal catalyst, MWNTs were exposed to dry air and
washed with hydrochloric acid. Heating purified CNTs under helium
atmosphere caused elimination of acidic functional groups. Fourier
transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) shows formation of
oxygen containing groups such as C=O and COOH. Brunauer,
Emmett, Teller (BET) analysis revealed that functionalization causes
generation of defects on the sidewalls and opening of the ends of
CNTs. Results of temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and gas
chromatography(GC) indicate that nitric acid treatment create more
acidic groups than plasma treatment.
Abstract: The issue of unintentional islanding in PV grid
interconnection still remains as a challenge in grid-connected
photovoltaic (PV) systems. This paper discusses the overview of
popularly used anti-islanding detection methods, practically applied
in PV grid-connected systems. Anti-islanding methods generally can
be classified into four major groups, which include passive methods,
active methods, hybrid methods and communication base methods.
Active methods have been the preferred detection technique over the
years due to very small non-detected zone (NDZ) in small scale
distribution generation. Passive method is comparatively simpler
than active method in terms of circuitry and operations. However, it
suffers from large NDZ that significantly reduces its performance.
Communication base methods inherit the advantages of active and
passive methods with reduced drawbacks. Hybrid method which
evolved from the combination of both active and passive methods
has been proven to achieve accurate anti-islanding detection by many
researchers. For each of the studied anti-islanding methods, the
operation analysis is described while the advantages and
disadvantages are compared and discussed. It is difficult to pinpoint a
generic method for a specific application, because most of the
methods discussed are governed by the nature of application and
system dependent elements. This study concludes that the setup and
operation cost is the vital factor for anti-islanding method selection in
order to achieve minimal compromising between cost and system
quality.
Abstract: This paper presents a simplified version of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) - a conventional approach to evaluating the performance and ranking of competitive objects characterized by two groups of factors acting in opposite directions: inputs and outputs. DEA with a Perfect Object (DEA PO) augments the group of actual objects with a virtual Perfect Object - the one having greatest outputs and smallest inputs. It allows for obtaining an explicit analytical solution and making a step to an absolute efficiency. This paper develops this approach further and introduces a DEA model with Partially Perfect Objects. DEA PPO consecutively eliminates the smallest relative inputs or greatest relative outputs, and applies DEA PO to the reduced collections of indicators. The partial efficiency scores are combined to get the weighted efficiency score. The computational scheme remains simple, like that of DEA PO, but the advantage of the DEA PPO is taking into account all of the inputs and outputs for each actual object. Firm evaluation is considered as an example.
Abstract: The aim of the present study is to analyze the generation of osteoporotic vertebral bone induced by lack of calcium during growth period and analyze its effects for disc degeneration, based on biomechanical and histomorphometrical study. Mechanical and histomorphological characteristics of lumbar vertebral bones and discs of rats with calcium free diet (CFD) were detected and tracked by using high resolution in-vivo micro-computed tomography (in-vivo micro-CT), finite element (FE) and histological analysis. Twenty female Sprague-Dawley rats (6 weeks old, approximate weight 170g) were randomly divided into two groups (CFD group: 10, NOR group: 10). The CFD group was maintained on a refmed calcium-controlled semisynthetic diet without added calcium, to induce osteoporosis. All lumbar (L 1-L6) were scanned by using in vivo micro-CT with 35i.un resolution at 0, 4, 8 weeks to track the effects of CFD on the generation of osteoporosis. The fmdings of the present study indicated that calcium insufficiency was the main factor in the generation of osteoporosis and it induced lumbar vertebral disc degeneration. This study is a valuable experiment to firstly evaluate osteoporotic vertebral bone and disc degeneration induced by lack of calcium during growth period from a biomechanical and histomorphometrical point of view.
Abstract: Off-grid Photovoltaic (PV) systems are empowering
technology in underdeveloped countries like Ethiopia where many
people live far away from the modern world. Where there is
relatively low energy consumption, providing energy from grid
systems is not commercially cost-effective. As a result, significant
people groups worldwide stay without access to electricity. One
remote village in northern Ethiopia was selected by the United
Nations for a pilot project to improve its living conditions. As part of
this comprehensive project, an intelligent charge controller circuit for
Off-grid PV systems was designed for the clinic in that village. In
this paper, design aspects of an intelligent charge controller unit and
its load driver circuits are discussed for an efficient utilization of PVbased
supply systems.
Abstract: Star graphs are Cayley graphs of symmetric groups of permutations, with transpositions as the generating sets. A star graph is a preferred interconnection network topology to a hypercube for its ability to connect a greater number of nodes with lower degree. However, an attractive property of the hypercube is that it has a Hamiltonian decomposition, i.e. its edges can be partitioned into disjoint Hamiltonian cycles, and therefore a simple routing can be found in the case of an edge failure. The existence of Hamiltonian cycles in Cayley graphs has been known for some time. So far, there are no published results on the much stronger condition of the existence of Hamiltonian decompositions. In this paper, we give a construction of a Hamiltonian decomposition of the star graph 5-star of degree 4, by defining an automorphism for 5-star and a Hamiltonian cycle which is edge-disjoint with its image under the automorphism.
Abstract: In this paper the concept of the cosets of an anti Lfuzzy
normal subgroup of a group is given. Furthermore, the group
G/A of cosets of an anti L-fuzzy normal subgroup A of a group
G is shown to be isomorphic to a factor group of G in a natural
way. Finally, we prove that if f : G1 -→ G2 is an epimorphism of
groups, then there is a one-to-one order-preserving correspondence
between the anti L-fuzzy normal subgroups of G2 and those of G1
which are constant on the kernel of f.
Abstract: The purpose of this research is the analysis of the
impact of ICT-related training in the adoption of a learning
management systems (LMS) for teaching practicesby faculties in a
higher education institution. Based on comparative analyses the
impact will be obtained by the number of LMS courses created and
managed by participants in ICT for teaching workshops and those
who have not attended to any workshops. Involving near 1320 LMS
courses and 265 faculties, the results evidence that(i) faculties who
have not attend any workshop present a larger distribution of empty
courses and (ii) faculties who have attended three or more workshops
managed a higher distribution of courses with a considerable level of
use intensity, when compared to the others groups. These findings
supportthe idea that faculty training is a crucial factor in the process
of LMS integration in higher education institutions and that faculties
who have been enrolled in three or more workshops develop a higher
level of technical and pedagogical proficiency in LMS.
Abstract: Lake Nasser is one of the largest reservoirs in the
world. Over 120 million metric tons of sediments are deposited in its
dead storage zone every year. The main objective of the present work
was to determine the physical and chemical characteristics of Lake
Nasser sediments. The sample had a relatively low surface area of 2.9
m2/g which increased more than 3-fold upon chemical activation. The
main chemical elements of the raw sediments were C, O and Si with
some traces of Al, Fe and Ca. The organic functional groups for the
tested sample included O-H, C=C, C-H and C-O, with indications of
Si-O and other metal-C and/or metal-O bonds normally associated
with clayey materials. Potentiometric titration of the sample in
different ionic strength backgrounds revealed an alkaline material with
very strong positive surface charge at pH values just a little less than
the pH of zero charge which is ~9. Surface interactions of the
sediments with the background electrolyte were significant. An
advanced surface complexation model was able to capture these
effects, employing a single-site approach to represent protolysis
reactions in aqueous solution, and to determine the significant surface
species in the pH range of environmental interest.
Abstract: In order to study floristic and molecular classification
of common wild wheat (Triticum boeoticum Boiss.), an analysis was
conducted on populations of the Triticum boeoticum collected from
different regions of Iran. Considering all floristic compositions of
habitats, six floristic groups (syntaxa) within the populations were
identified. A high level of variation of T. boeoticum also detected
using SSR markers. Our results showed that molecular method
confirmed the grouping of floristic method. In other word, the results
from our study indicate that floristic classification are still useful,
efficient, and economic tools for characterizing the amount and
distribution of genetic variation in natural populations of T.
boeoticum. Nevertheless, molecular markers appear as useful and
complementary techniques for identification and for evaluation of
genetic diversity in studied populations.
Abstract: This research aimed to study the market feasibility for
new brand coffee house, the case study of Thailand.. This study is a
mixed methods research combining quantitative research and the
qualitative research. Primary data 350 sets of questionnaires were
distributed, and the high quality completed questionnaires of 320 sets
returned. Research samples are identified as customers’ of Hi-end
department stores in Thailand. The sources of secondary data were
critical selected from highly reliable sources, both from public and
private sectors. The results were used to classify the customer group
into two main groups, the younger than 25 and the older than 25years
old. Results of the younger group, are give priority to the dimension
of coffee house and its services dimension more than others, then
branding dimension and the product dimension respectively. On the
other hand, the older group give the difference result as they rate the
important of the branding, coffee house and its services, then the
product respectively. Coffee consuming is not just the trend but it
has become part of people lifestyle. And the new cultures also created
by the wise businessman. Coffee was long produced and consumed in
Thailand. But it is surprisingly the hi-end brand coffee houses in Thai
market are mostly imported brands. The café business possibility for
Thai brand coffee house in Thai market were discussed in the paper.
Abstract: This research studied recycled wastes by Recyclable Material Bank project of 17 universities of Thailand for evaluation of reducing greenhouse gasses emission compared with landfilling activity during January 2011 to December 2011. The results showed that the projects collected total amount of recyclable wastes about 1,626.917 metric ton. The office paper has the largest amount among these recycled wastes (55.61 % of total recycled wastes). Groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low according to their amount as paper, plastic, glass, mixed recyclables and metal, respectively. The project reduced greenhouse gasses emission equivalent to about 5,263.481 metric ton of carbon dioxide. The most significant recycled waste that affects the reduction of greenhouse gasses emission is office paper which is 73.45% of total reduced greenhouse gasses emission. According to amount of reduced greenhouse gasses emission, groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low significances as paper, plastic, metal, mixed recyclables and glass, respectively.
Abstract: The main purpose of this research was to study how to communicate the identity of the Bangpoo, Samu tPrakan province for ecotourism. The qualitative data was collected through studying related materials, exploring the area, in-depth interviews with three groups of people: three directly responsible officers who were key informants of the district, twenty foreign tourists and five Thai tourist guides. A content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The two main findings of the study were as follows:
The identity of Bangpoo, Samut Prakan province. This establishment was near the Mouth of the Gulf of Thailand for normal people and tourists, consisting of rest accommodations. There are restaurants where food and drinks are served, rich mangrove forests, Banpoo seaside resort and mangrove trees. Bangpoo seaside resort is characterized by muddy beacheswhere the greatest number of seagulls can be seen from March to May each year.
The communication of the identity of Bangpoo, Samut Prakan province which the researcher could find and design to present in English materials can be summed up in 3 items: 1) The history of Bangpoo, Samut Prakan province 2) The Learning center of Ecotourism: Seagulls and Mangrove forest 3) How to keep Banpoo, Samut Prakran province for ecotourism.
Abstract: On a such wide-area environment as a Grid, data
placement is an important aspect of distributed database systems. In
this paper, we address the problem of initial placement of database
no-replicated fragments in Grid architecture. We propose a graph
based approach that considers resource restrictions. The goal is to
optimize the use of computing, storage and communication
resources. The proposed approach is developed in two phases: in the
first phase, we perform fragment grouping using knowledge about
fragments dependency and, in the second phase, we determine an
efficient placement of the fragment groups on the Grid. We also
show, via experimental analysis that our approach gives solutions
that are close to being optimal for different databases and Grid
configurations.
Abstract: Copolymerization of ethylene with 1-hexene was
carried out using two ansa-fluorenyl titanium derivative complexes.
The substituent effect on the catalytic activity, monomer reactivity
ratio and polymer property was investigated. It was found that the
presence of t-Bu groups on fluorenyl ring exhibited remarkable
catalytic activity and produced polymer with high molecular weight.
However, these catalysts produce polymer with narrow molecular
weight distribution, indicating the characteristic of single-site
metallocene catalyst. Based on 13C NMR, we can observe that
monomer reactivity ratio was affected by catalyst structure. The rH
values of complex 2 were lower than that of complex 1 which might
be result from the higher steric hindrance leading to a reduction of 1-
hexene insertion step.
Abstract: The market transformation in Kazakhstan during the
last two decades has essentially strengthened a gap between
development of urban and rural areas. Implementation of market
institutes, transition from public financing to paid rendering of social
services, change of forms of financing of social and economic
infrastructure have led to strengthening of an economic inequality of
social groups, including growth of stratification of the city and the
village. Sociological survey of urban and rural households in Almaty
city and villages of Almaty region has been carried out within the
international research project “Livelihoods Strategies of Private
Households in Central Asia: A Rural–Urban Comparison in
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan" (Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan).
The analysis of statistical data and results of sociological research of
urban and rural households allows us to reveal issues of territorial
development, to investigate an availability of medical, educational
and other services in the city and the village, to reveal an evaluation
urban and rural dwellers of living conditions, to compare economic
strategies of households in the city and the village.
Abstract: In this study, we report the synthesis and
characterization of nanohydroxyapatite (nHAp) in gelatin-starch
matrix via biomimetic method. Characterization of the samples was
performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform
infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The Size and morphology of the
nHAp samples were determined using scanning and transmission
electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). The results reveal that the
shape and morphology of nHAp is influenced by presence of
biopolymers as template. Carbonyl and amino groups from gelatin
and hydroxyl from starch play crucial roles in HAp formation on the
surface of gelatin-starch.
Abstract: We investigated the effects of modified
preprogrammed training mode Chase Trainer from Balance Trainer
(BT3, HurLab, Tampere, Finland) on athlete who experienced
unilateral Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS). Twenty-seven
athletes with mean age= 14.23 ±1.31 years, height = 164.89 ± 7.85
cm, weight = 56.94 ± 9.28 kg were randomly assigned to two groups:
experiment (EG; n = 14) and injured (IG; n = 13). EG performed a
series of Chase Trainer program which required them to shift their
body weight at different directions, speeds and angle of leaning twice
a week for duration of 8 weeks. The static postural control and
perceived pain level measures were taken at baseline, after 6 weeks
and 8 weeks of training. There was no significant difference in any of
tested variables between EG and IG before and after 6-week the
intervention period. However, after 8-week of training, the postural
control (eyes open) and perceived pain level of EG improved
compared to IG (p
Abstract: A new method for low complexity image coding is presented, that permits different settings and great scalability in the generation of the final bit stream. This coding presents a continuoustone still image compression system that groups loss and lossless compression making use of finite arithmetic reversible transforms. Both transformation in the space of color and wavelet transformation are reversible. The transformed coefficients are coded by means of a coding system in depending on a subdivision into smaller components (CFDS) similar to the bit importance codification. The subcomponents so obtained are reordered by means of a highly configure alignment system depending on the application that makes possible the re-configure of the elements of the image and obtaining different levels of importance from which the bit stream will be generated. The subcomponents of each level of importance are coded using a variable length entropy coding system (VBLm) that permits the generation of an embedded bit stream. This bit stream supposes itself a bit stream that codes a compressed still image. However, the use of a packing system on the bit stream after the VBLm allows the realization of a final highly scalable bit stream from a basic image level and one or several enhance levels.