Abstract: Contamination of heavy metals in tin tailings has
caused an interest in the scientific approach of their remediation. One
of the approaches is through phytoremediation, which is using tree
species to extract the heavy metals from the contaminated soils. Tin
tailings comprise of slime and sand tailings. This paper reports only
on the finding of the four timber species namely Acacia mangium,
Hopea odorata, Intsia palembanica and Swietenia macrophylla on
the removal of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) from the slime tailings.
The methods employed for sampling and soil analysis are established
methods. Six trees of each species were randomly selected from a
0.25 ha plot for extraction and determination of their heavy metals.
The soil samples were systematically collected according to 5 x 5 m
grid from each plot. Results showed that the concentration of heavy
metals in soils and trees varied according to species. Higher
concentration of heavy metals was found in the stem than the
primary roots of all the species. A. Mangium accumulated the highest
total amount of Pb per hectare basis.
Abstract: Nothing that an effective cure for infertility happens
when we can find a unique solution, a great deal of study has been
done in this field and this is a hot research subject for to days study.
So we could analyze the men-s seaman and find out about fertility
and infertility and from this find a true cure for this, since this will be
a non invasive and low risk procedure, it will be greatly welcomed.
In this research, the procedure has been based on few Algorithms
enhancement and segmentation of images which has been done on
the images taken from microscope in different fertility institution and
have obtained a suitable result from the computer images which in
turn help us to distinguish these sperms from fluids and its
surroundings.
Abstract: In our current political climate of assessment and
accountability initiatives we are failing to prepare our children for a
participatory role in the creative economy. The field of education is
increasingly falling prey to didactic methodologies which train a
nation of competent test takers, foregoing the opportunity to educate
students to find problems and develop multiple solutions. No where is
this more evident than in the area of art education. Due to a myriad of
issues including budgetary shortfalls, time constraints and a general
misconception that anyone who enjoys the arts is capable of teaching
the arts, our students are not developing the skills they require to
become fully literate in critical thinking and creative processing.
Although art integrated curriculum is increasingly being viewed as a
reform strategy for motivating students by offering alternative
presentation of concepts and representation of knowledge acquisition,
misinformed administrators are often excluding the art teacher from
the integration equation. The paper to follow addresses the problem
of the need for divergent thinking and conceptualization in our
schools. Furthermore, this paper explores the role of education, and
specifically, art education in the development of a creatively literate
citizenry.
Abstract: Although so far, many methods for ranking fuzzy numbers
have been discussed broadly, most of them contained some shortcomings,
such as requirement of complicated calculations, inconsistency
with human intuition and indiscrimination. The motivation of
this study is to develop a model for ranking fuzzy numbers based
on the lexicographical ordering which provides decision-makers with
a simple and efficient algorithm to generate an ordering founded on
a precedence. The main emphasis here is put on the ease of use
and reliability. The effectiveness of the proposed method is finally
demonstrated by including a comprehensive comparing different
ranking methods with the present one.
Abstract: Recycling of aluminum alloys often decrease fluidity,
consequently influence the castability of the alloy. In this study, the
fluidity of Al-Zn alloys, such as the standard A713 alloy with and
without scrap addition has been investigated. The scrap added was
comprised of contaminated alloy turning chips. Fluidity
measurements were performed with double spiral fluidity test
consisting of gravity casting of double spirals in green sand moulds
with good reproducibility. The influence of recycled alloy on fluidity
has been compared with that of the virgin alloy and the results
showed that the fluidity decreased with the increase in recycled alloy
at minimum pouring temperatures. Interestingly, an appreciable
improvement in the fluidity was observed at maximum pouring
temperature, especially for coated spirals.
Abstract: The development of Web has affected different aspects of our lives, such as communication, sharing knowledge, searching for jobs, social activities, etc. The web portal as a gateway in the World Wide Web is a starting point for people who are connecting to the Internet. The web portal as the type of knowledge management system provides a rich space to share and search information as well as communication services like free email or content provision for the users. This research aims to discover the university needs to the web portal as a necessary tool for students in the universities to help them in getting the required information. A survey was conducted to gather students' requirements which can be incorporated in to portal to be developed.
Abstract: The present study focuses on the discussion over the
parameter of Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Sensitivity analysis is
applied to assess the effect of the parameters of ANN on the prediction
of turbidity of raw water in the water treatment plant. The result shows
that transfer function of hidden layer is a critical parameter of ANN.
When the transfer function changes, the reliability of prediction of
water turbidity is greatly different. Moreover, the estimated water
turbidity is less sensitive to training times and learning velocity than
the number of neurons in the hidden layer. Therefore, it is important to
select an appropriate transfer function and suitable number of neurons
in the hidden layer in the process of parameter training and validation.
Abstract: With the advent of social web initiatives, some argued
that these new emerging tools might be useful in tacit knowledge
sharing through providing interactive and collaborative technologies.
However, there is still a poverty of literature to understand how and
what might be the contributions of social media in facilitating tacit
knowledge sharing. Therefore, this paper is intended to theoretically
investigate and map social media concepts and characteristics with
tacit knowledge creation and sharing requirements. By conducting a
systematic literature review, five major requirements found that need
to be present in an environment that involves tacit knowledge
sharing. These requirements have been analyzed against social media
concepts and characteristics to see how they map together. The
results showed that social media have abilities to comply some of the
main requirements of tacit knowledge sharing. The relationships have
been illustrated in a conceptual framework, suggesting further
empirical studies to acknowledge findings of this study.
Abstract: The effects of chitosan, a biodegradable polymer,
were studied in Grammatophyllum speciosum protocorm-like bodies
(PLBs) in vitro culture. The chitosan concentration of 0, 5, 10, 15,
20, 25, 50 or 100 mg/l were supplemented in half-strength Murashige
and Skoog (1/2 MS) liquid or on agar media containing 2% (w/v)
sucrose. The results showed that liquid medium supplemented with
15 mg/l chitosan showed the highest relative growth rate (7-fold
increase) of PLBs. On 1/2 MS agar medium supplemented with 25
mg/l chitosan gave the highest relative growth rate (4-fold increase).
The relative growth rate of G. speciosum PLBs on agar medium was
significantly lower than that in liquid medium. Moreover, chitosan,
supplemented to agar medium promoted shoot formation but not
rooting. However, supplementation at too high a level, such as 100
mg/l can inhibit growth and kill PLBs.
Abstract: This research proposes an algorithm for the simulation
of time-periodic unsteady problems via the solution unsteady Euler
and Navier-Stokes equations. This algorithm which is called Time
Spectral method uses a Fourier representation in time and hence
solve for the periodic state directly without resolving transients
(which consume most of the resources in a time-accurate scheme).
Mathematical tools used here are discrete Fourier transformations. It
has shown tremendous potential for reducing the computational cost
compared to conventional time-accurate methods, by enforcing
periodicity and using Fourier representation in time, leading to
spectral accuracy. The accuracy and efficiency of this technique is
verified by Euler and Navier-Stokes calculations for pitching airfoils.
Because of flow turbulence nature, Baldwin-Lomax turbulence
model has been used at viscous flow analysis. The results presented
by the Time Spectral method are compared with experimental data. It
has shown tremendous potential for reducing the computational cost
compared to the conventional time-accurate methods, by enforcing
periodicity and using Fourier representation in time, leading to
spectral accuracy, because results verify the small number of time
intervals per pitching cycle required to capture the flow physics.
Abstract: We present a simulation and realization of a battery
charge regulator (BCR) in microsatellite earth observation. The tests
were performed on battery pack 12volt, capacity 24Ah and the solar array open circuit voltage of 100 volt and optimum power of about
250 watt. The battery charge is made by solar module. The principle is to adapt the output voltage of the solar module to the battery by
using the technique of pulse width modulation (PWM). Among the different techniques of charge battery, we opted for the technique of
the controller ON/OFF is a standard technique and simple, it-s easy to
be board executed validation will be made by simulation "Proteus Isis
Professional software ". The circuit and the program of this prototype
are based on the PIC16F877 microcontroller, a serial interface connecting a PC is also realized, to view and save data and graphics
in real time, for visualization of data and graphs we develop an interface tool “visual basic.net (VB)--.
Abstract: A solar refrigeration system based on the adsorptiondesorption
phenomena is designed and analyzed. An annular tubular
generator filled with silica gel adsorbent and with a perforated inner
cylinder is integrated within a flat solar collector. The working fluid
in the refrigeration cycle is water. The thermodynamic analysis and
because of the temperature level that could be attained with a flat
solar collector it is required that the system operates under vacuum
conditions. In order to enhance the performance of the system and to
get uniform temperature in the silica gel and higher desorbed mass,
an apparatus for rotation of the generator is incorporated in the
system. Testing is carried out and measurements are taken on the
designed installation. The effect of rotation is checked on the
temperature distribution and on the performance of this machine and
compared to the flat solar collector with fixed generator.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a robust scheme to work face alignment and recognition under various influences. For face representation, illumination influence and variable expressions are the important factors, especially the accuracy of facial localization and face recognition. In order to solve those of factors, we propose a robust approach to overcome these problems. This approach consists of two phases. One phase is preprocessed for face images by means of the proposed illumination normalization method. The location of facial features can fit more efficient and fast based on the proposed image blending. On the other hand, based on template matching, we further improve the active shape models (called as IASM) to locate the face shape more precise which can gain the recognized rate in the next phase. The other phase is to process feature extraction by using principal component analysis and face recognition by using support vector machine classifiers. The results show that this proposed method can obtain good facial localization and face recognition with varied illumination and local distortion.
Abstract: In this paper we address the problem of musical style
classification, which has a number of applications like indexing in
musical databases or automatic composition systems. Starting from
MIDI files of real-world improvisations, we extract the melody track
and cut it into overlapping segments of equal length. From these
fragments, some numerical features are extracted as descriptors of
style samples. We show that a standard Bayesian classifier can be
conveniently employed to build an effective musical style classifier,
once this set of features has been extracted from musical data.
Preliminary experimental results show the effectiveness of the
developed classifier that represents the first component of a musical
audio retrieval system
Abstract: Brand loyalty is a strategic asset of the company. In
the era of competition to have loyal customers decides on the market
superiority of enterprises. Creating the loyalty of buyers, however, is
a lengthy process and requires the appropriate business strategy,
preceded by the proper market research. The purpose of the paper is
to present the concept of brand loyalty, the creation of loyalty of
customers, the benefits and determinants of loyalty on the example of
brewery market in Poland.
Abstract: Recently, information security has become a key issue
in information technology as the number of computer security
breaches are exposed to an increasing number of security threats. A
variety of intrusion detection systems (IDS) have been employed for
protecting computers and networks from malicious network-based or
host-based attacks by using traditional statistical methods to new data
mining approaches in last decades. However, today's commercially
available intrusion detection systems are signature-based that are not
capable of detecting unknown attacks. In this paper, we present a
new learning algorithm for anomaly based network intrusion
detection system using decision tree algorithm that distinguishes
attacks from normal behaviors and identifies different types of
intrusions. Experimental results on the KDD99 benchmark network
intrusion detection dataset demonstrate that the proposed learning
algorithm achieved 98% detection rate (DR) in comparison with
other existing methods.
Abstract: This study aims to identify the current situation and
problems of environmental statement for major four home appliances
(refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and television
receivers) sold at online stores in Japan, and then to suggest how to
improve the situation, through a questionnaire survey conducted
among businesses that operate online stores and online malls with
multiple online stores. Results of the study boil down to:
(1) It is found out that environmental statement for the home
appliances at online stores have four problems; (i) less information
on “three Rs" and “chemical substances" than the one on “energy
conservation", (ii) cost for providing environmental statement, (iii)
issues associated with a label and mark placement, and (iv) issues
associated with energy conservation statement.
(2) Improvements are suggested for each of the four problems listed
above, and shown are (i) the effectiveness of, and need to promote, a
label and mark placement, (ii) cost burden on buyers, and (iii) need
of active efforts made by businesses and of dissemination of legal
regulations to businesses.
Abstract: Heat pipes are used to control the thermal problem for
electronic cooling. It is especially difficult to dissipate heat to a heat
sink in an environment in space compared to earth. For solving this
problem, in this study, the Poiseuille (Po) number, which is the main
measure of the performance of a heat pipe, is studied by CFD; then, the
heat pipe performance is verified with experimental results. A heat
pipe is then fabricated for a spatial environment, and an in-house code
is developed. Further, a heat pipe subsystem, which consists of a heat
pipe, MLI (Multi Layer Insulator), SSM (Second Surface Mirror), and
radiator, is tested and correlated with the TMM (Thermal
Mathematical Model) through a commercial code. The correlation
results satisfy the 3K requirement, and the generated thermal model is
verified for application to a spatial environment.
Abstract: The main aim of this work is to establish the
capabilities of new green buildings to ascertain off-grid electricity
generation based on the integration of wind turbines in the
conceptual model of a rotating tower [2] in Dubai. An in depth
performance analysis of the WinWind 3.0MW [3] wind turbine is
performed. Data based on the Dubai Meteorological Services is
collected and analyzed in conjunction with the performance analysis
of this wind turbine. The mathematical model is compared with
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) results based on a conceptual
rotating tower design model. The comparison results are further
validated and verified for accuracy by conducting experiments on a
scaled prototype of the tower design. The study concluded that
integrating wind turbines inside a rotating tower can generate enough
electricity to meet the required power consumption of the building,
which equates to a wind farm containing 9 horizontal axis wind
turbines located at an approximate area of 3,237,485 m2 [14].
Abstract: Luxury is an identity, a philosophy and a culture
which requires understanding before the adoption of e-business
practices because of its intricacies and output are essentially different
from other types of goods. Factors such as culture, personal
characteristics, website quality, and vendor characteristics influence
the online purchasing behavior of consumers thus making it a
complex area of study. This paper explores the scope of e-retail for
luxury consumption in the U.A.E. by identifying what motivates and
de-motivates online purchase behavior of U.A.E. consumers and
necessary hypotheses have been drawn to reflect behavior between
online luxury preference consumers and non-online luxury preference
consumers.