Abstract: The purpose of this research is to study motivation
factors and also to study factors relation to job performance to
compare motivation factors under the personal factor classification
such as gender, age, income, educational level, marital status, and
working duration; and to study the relationship between Motivation
Factors and Job Performance with job satisfactions. The sample
groups utilized in this research were 400 Suan Sunandha Rajabhat
University employees. This research is a quantitative research using
questionnaires as research instrument. The statistics applied for data
analysis including percentage, mean, and standard deviation. In
addition, the difference analysis was conducted by t value computing,
one-way analysis of variance and Pearson’s correlation coefficient
computing. The findings of the study results were as follows the
findings showed that the aspects of job promotion and salary were at
the moderate levels. Additionally, the findings also showed that the
motivations that affected the revenue branch chiefs’ job performance
were job security, job accomplishment, policy and management, job
promotion, and interpersonal relation.
Abstract: In the present work, the effective moisture diffusivity
and activation energy were calculated using an infinite series solution
of Fick-s diffusion equation. The results showed that increasing
drying temperature accelerated the drying process. All drying
experiments had only falling rate period. The average effective
moisture diffusivity values varied from 2.807x10-10 to 6.977x10-10m2
s_1 over the temperature and velocity range. The temperature
dependence of the effective moisture diffusivity for the thin layer
drying of the ginger slices was satisfactorily described by an
Arrhenius-type relationship with activation energy values of 19.313-
22.722 kJ.mol-1 within 40–70 °C and 0.8-3 ms-1 temperature range.
Abstract: In this paper, by using Mawhin-s continuation theorem of coincidence degree and a method based on delay differential inequality, some sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence and global exponential stability of periodic solutions of cellular neural networks with distributed delays and impulses on time scales. The results of this paper generalized previously known results.
Abstract: The process of wafer fabrication is arguably the most
technologically complex and capital intensive stage in semiconductor
manufacturing. This large-scale discrete-event process is highly reentrant,
and involves hundreds of machines, restrictions, and
processing steps. Therefore, production control of wafer fabrication
facilities (fab), specifically scheduling, is one of the most challenging
problems that this industry faces. Dispatching rules have been
extensively applied to the scheduling problems in semiconductor
manufacturing. Moreover, lot release policies are commonly used in
this manufacturing setting to further improve the performance of such
systems and reduce its inherent variability. In this work, simulation is
used in the scheduling of re-entrant flow shop manufacturing systems
with an application in semiconductor wafer fabrication; where, a
simulation model has been developed for the Intel Five-Machine Six
Step Mini-Fab using the ExtendTM simulation environment. The
Mini-Fab has been selected as it captures the challenges involved in
scheduling the highly re-entrant semiconductor manufacturing lines.
A number of scenarios have been developed and have been used to
evaluate the effect of different dispatching rules and lot release
policies on the selected performance measures. Results of simulation
showed that the performance of the Mini-Fab can be drastically
improved using a combination of dispatching rules and lot release
policy.
Abstract: A low cost Short Message System (SMS) based Home security system equipped with motion, smoke, temperature, humidity and light sensors has been studied and tested. The sensors are controlled by a microprocessor PIC 18F4520 through the SMS having password protection code for the secure operation. The user is able to switch light and the appliances and get instant feedback. Also in cases of emergencies such as fire or robbery the system will send alert message to occupant and relevant civil authorities. The operation of the home security has been tested on Vodafone- Fiji network and Digicel Fiji Network for emergency and feedback responses for 25 samples. The experiment showed that it takes about 8-10s for the security system to respond in case of emergency. It takes about 18-22s for the occupant to switch and monitor lights and appliances and then get feedback depending upon the network traffic.
Abstract: There are reports of gas and oil wells fire due to different accidents. Many different methods are used for fire fighting in gas and oil industry. Traditional fire extinguishing techniques are mostly faced with many problems and are usually time consuming and needs lots of equipments. Besides, they cause damages to facilities, and create health and environmental problems. This article proposes innovative approach in fire extinguishing techniques in oil and gas industry, especially applicable for burning oil wells located offshore. Fire extinguishment employing a turbojet is a novel approach which can help to extinguishment the fire in short period of time. Divergent and convergent turbojets modeled in laboratory scale along with a high pressure flame were used. Different experiments were conducted to determine the relationship between output discharges of trumpet and oil wells. The results were corrected and the relationship between dimensionless parameters of flame and fire extinguishment distances and also the output discharge of turbojet and oil wells in specified distances are demonstrated by specific curves.
Abstract: This paper proposes a method that discovers sequential patterns corresponding to user-s interests from sequential data. This method expresses the interests as constraint patterns. The constraint patterns can define relationships among attributes of the items composing the data. The method recursively decomposes the constraint patterns into constraint subpatterns. The method evaluates the constraint subpatterns in order to efficiently discover sequential patterns satisfying the constraint patterns. Also, this paper applies the method to the sequential data composed of stock price indexes and verifies its effectiveness through comparing it with a method without using the constraint patterns.
Abstract: Software and applications are subjected to serious and damaging security threats, these threats are increasing as a result of increased number of potential vulnerabilities. Security testing is an indispensable process to validate software security requirements and to identify security related vulnerabilities. In this paper we analyze and compare different available vulnerabilities testing techniques based on a pre defined criteria using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). We have selected five testing techniques which includes Source code analysis, Fault code injection, Robustness, Stress and Penetration testing techniques. These testing techniques have been evaluated against five criteria which include cost, thoroughness, Ease of use, effectiveness and efficiency. The outcome of the study is helpful for researchers, testers and developers to understand effectiveness of each technique in its respective domain. Also the study helps to compare the inner working of testing techniques against a selected criterion to achieve optimum testing results.
Abstract: The problem of controlling a two link robotic manipulator, consisting of a rotating and a prismatic links, is addressed. The actuations of both links are assumed to have unknown dead zone nonlinearities and friction torques modeled by LuGre friction model. Because of the existence of the unknown dead zone and friction torque at the actuations, unknown parameters and unmeasured states would appear to be part of the overall system dynamics that need for estimation. Unmeasured states observer, unknown parameters estimators, and robust adaptive control laws have been derived such that closed loop global stability is achieved. Simulation results have been performed to show the efficacy of the suggested approach.
Abstract: Supplier selection, in real situation, is affected by
several qualitative and quantitative factors and is one of the most
important activities of purchasing department. Since at the time of
evaluating suppliers against the criteria or factors, decision makers
(DMS) do not have precise, exact and complete information, supplier
selection becomes more difficult. In this case, Grey theory helps us
to deal with this problem of uncertainty. Here, we apply Technique
for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS)
method to evaluate and select the best supplier by using interval
fuzzy numbers. Through this article, we compare TOPSIS with some
other approaches and afterward demonstrate that the concept of
TOPSIS is very important for ranking and selecting right supplier.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the case of the
U.S. Pivot and to suggest an appropriate model including entry
strategies and success factors for QPS of Cable TV. The
telecommunication companies have been operating QPS including
IPTV service, which enables them to cross over broadcasting areas.
Due to this circumstance, the Cable TV operators are now concerned
and are planning to add QPS with the mobile service. Based on the
Porter's five forces model, an analytical framework has been proposed
to MVNO in Cable TV industry in the United States. As a result of this
study, MVNO in Cable TV industry has to have a clear killer
application with their sufficient contents. Subsequently, the direction
of the future Cable TV industry is proposed.
Abstract: Not many studies have been undertaken on shareholder activism in emerging economies, including Malaysia. Shareholder activism in emerging economies is on the rise. This paper seeks to comprehend the elements of this activism that are unique to Malaysia, specifically with respect to how the agency problem is controlled through shareholder activism in improving corporate governance practices within target companies. Through shareholder activism, shareholders make contact with a target company to voice their dissatisfaction, suggestions, or recommendations. This paper utilises agency theory to explain institutional shareholder activism. This theory has been extensively used within literature on corporate governance with regards to shareholder activism. The effectiveness of shareholder activism in improving corporate governance will be examined as well. This research provides a further understanding of shareholder activism in emerging economies, such as Malaysia; this research also has the potential to enhance shareholder activism and corporate governance practices in general.
Abstract: The potential of economically cheaper cellulose
containing natural materials like rice husk was assessed for nickel
adsorption from aqueous solutions. The effects of pH, contact time,
sorbent dose, initial metal ion concentration and temperature on the
uptake of nickel were studied in batch process. The removal of nickel
was dependent on the physico-chemical characteristics of the
adsorbent, adsorbate concentration and other studied process
parameters. The sorption data has been correlated with Langmuir,
Freundlich and Dubinin-Radush kevich (D-R) adsorption models. It
was found that Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms fitted well to the
data. Maximum nickel removal was observed at pH 6.0. The
efficiency of rice husk for nickel removal was 51.8% for dilute
solutions at 20 g L-1 adsorbent dose. FTIR, SEM and EDAX were
recorded before and after adsorption to explore the number and
position of the functional groups available for nickel binding on to
the studied adsorbent and changes in surface morphology and
elemental constitution of the adsorbent. Pseudo-second order model
explains the nickel kinetics more effectively. Reusability of the
adsorbent was examined by desorption in which HCl eluted 78.93%
nickel. The results revealed that nickel is considerably adsorbed on
rice husk and it could be and economic method for the removal of
nickel from aqueous solutions.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to discuss the relationship between tourist awareness of environmental issues and their own recreational behaviors in the Taipei Guandu Wetland. A total of 392 questionnaires were gathered for data analysis using descriptive statistics, t-testing, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least significant difference (LSD) post hoc comparisons. The results showed that most of the visitors there enjoying the beautiful scenery are 21 to 30 years old with a college education. The means and standard deviations indicate that tourists express a positive degree of cognition of environmental issues and recreational behaviors. They suggest that polluting the environment is harmful to the natural ecosystem and that the natural resources of ecotourism are fragile, as well as expressing a high degree of recognition of the need to protect wetlands. Most of respondents are cognizant of the regulations proposed by the Guandu Wetland administration which asks that users exercise self-control and follow recommended guidelines when traveling the wetland. There were significant differences in the degree of cognition related to the variables of age, number of visits and reasons for visiting. We found that most respondents with relatively high levels of education would like to learn more about the wetland and are supportive of its conservation.
Abstract: In this paper, a novel deinterlacing algorithm is
proposed. The proposed algorithm approximates the distribution of the
luminance into a polynomial function. Instead of using one
polynomial function for all pixels, different polynomial functions are
used for the uniform, texture, and directional edge regions. The
function coefficients for each region are computed by matrix
multiplications. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed
method performs better than the conventional algorithms.
Abstract: Since polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been
invented, it has emerged as a powerful tool in genetic analysis. The
PCR products are closely linked with thermal cycles. Therefore, to
reduce the reaction time and make temperature distribution uniform in
the reaction chamber, a novel oscillatory thermal cycler is designed.
The sample is placed in a fixed chamber, and three constant isothermal
zones are established and lined in the system. The sample is oscillated
and contacted with three different isothermal zones to complete
thermal cycles. This study presents the design of the geometric
characteristics of the chamber. The commercial software
CFD-ACE+TM is utilized to investigate the influences of various
materials, heating times, chamber volumes, and moving speed of the
chamber on the temperature distributions inside the chamber. The
chamber moves at a specific velocity and the boundary conditions
with time variations are related to the moving speed. Whereas the
chamber moves, the boundary is specified at the conditions of the
convection or the uniform temperature. The user subroutines compiled
by the FORTRAN language are used to make the numerical results
realistically. Results show that the reaction chamber with a rectangular
prism is heated on six faces; the effects of various moving speeds of
the chamber on the temperature distributions are examined. Regarding
to the temperature profiles and the standard deviation of the
temperature at the Y-cut cross section, the non-uniform temperature
inside chamber is found as the moving speed is larger than 0.01 m/s.
By reducing the heating faces to four, the standard deviation of the
temperature of the reaction chamber is under 1.4×10-3K with the range
of velocities between 0.0001 m/s and 1 m/s. The nature convective
boundary conditions are set at all boundaries while the chamber moves
between two heaters, the effects of various moving velocities of the
chamber on the temperature distributions are negligible at the assigned
time duration.
Abstract: Supplementation of palm vitamin E has been reported
to prevent loss of bone density in ovariectomised female rats. The
mechanism by which palm vitamin E exerts these effects is still
unknown. We hypothesized that palm vitamin E may act by
preventing the protein expression changes. Two dimensional poly
acyrilamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) and PD Quest software
genomic solutions Investigator (proteomics) was used to analyze the
differential protein expression profile in femoral and humeri bones
harvested from three groups of rats; sham-operated rats (SO),
ovariectomised rats (Ovx) and ovariectomised rats supplemented for
2 months with palm vitamin E. The results showed that there were
over 300 valued spot on each of the groups PVE and OVX as
compared to about 200 in SO. Comparison between the differential
protein expression between OVX and PVE groups showed that ten
spots were down –regulated in OVX but up-regulated in PVE. The
ten differential spots were separately named P1-P10. The
identification and understanding of the pathway of the differential
protein expression among the groups is ongoing and may account for
the molecular mechanism through which palm vitamin E exert its
anti-osteoporotic effect.
Abstract: Traffic enforcement units (the Police) are partly
responsible for the severity and frequency of the traffic accidents via
the effectiveness of their safety measures. The Police claims that the
reductions in accidents and their severities occur largely by their
timely interventions at the black spots, through traffic management
or temporary changes in the road design (guiding, reducing speeds
and eliminating sight obstructions, etc.). Yet, some other external
factors than the Police measures may intervene into which such
claims require a statistical confirmation. In order to test the net
impact of the Police contribution in the reduction of the number of
crashes, Chi square test was applied for 25 spots (streets and
intersections) and an average evaluation was achieved for general
conclusion in the case study of Izmir city. Separately, the net impact
of economic crisis in the reduction of crashes is assessed by the
trend analysis for the case of the economic crisis with the probable
reduction effects on the trip generation or modal choice. Finally, it
was proven that the Police measures were effective to some degree as
they claimed, though the economic crisis might have only negligible
contribution to the reductions in the same period observed.
Abstract: Serial Analysis of Gene Expression is a powerful
quantification technique for generating cell or tissue gene expression
data. The profile of the gene expression of cell or tissue in several
different states is difficult for biologists to analyze because of the large
number of genes typically involved. However, feature selection in
machine learning can successfully reduce this problem. The method
allows reducing the features (genes) in specific SAGE data, and
determines only relevant genes. In this study, we used a genetic
algorithm to implement feature selection, and evaluate the
classification accuracy of the selected features with the K-nearest
neighbor method. In order to validate the proposed method, we used
two SAGE data sets for testing. The results of this study conclusively
prove that the number of features of the original SAGE data set can be
significantly reduced and higher classification accuracy can be
achieved.
Abstract: This paper deals with dynamic load balancing using PVM. In distributed environment Load Balancing and Heterogeneity are very critical issues and needed to drill down in order to achieve the optimal results and efficiency. Various techniques are being used in order to distribute the load dynamically among different nodes and to deal with heterogeneity. These techniques are using different approaches where Process Migration is basic concept with different optimal flavors. But Process Migration is not an easy job, it impose lot of burden and processing effort in order to track each process in nodes. We will propose a dynamic load balancing technique in which application will intelligently balance the load among different nodes, resulting in efficient use of system and have no overheads of process migration. It would also provide a simple solution to problem of load balancing in heterogeneous environment.