Abstract: Today’s technology is heavily dependent on web applications. Web applications are being accepted by users at a very rapid pace. These have made our work efficient. These include webmail, online retail sale, online gaming, wikis, departure and arrival of trains and flights and list is very long. These are developed in different languages like PHP, Python, C#, ASP.NET and many more by using scripts such as HTML and JavaScript. Attackers develop tools and techniques to exploit web applications and legitimate websites. This has led to rise of web application security; which can be broadly classified into Declarative Security and Program Security. The most common attacks on the applications are by SQL Injection and XSS which give access to unauthorized users who totally damage or destroy the system. This paper presents a detailed literature description and analysis on Web Application Security, examples of attacks and steps to mitigate the vulnerabilities.
Abstract: Self-organizing map (SOM) is a well known data
reduction technique used in data mining. It can reveal structure in
data sets through data visualization that is otherwise hard to detect
from raw data alone. However, interpretation through visual
inspection is prone to errors and can be very tedious. There are
several techniques for the automatic detection of clusters of code
vectors found by SOM, but they generally do not take into account
the distribution of code vectors; this may lead to unsatisfactory
clustering and poor definition of cluster boundaries, particularly
where the density of data points is low. In this paper, we propose the
use of an adaptive heuristic particle swarm optimization (PSO)
algorithm for finding cluster boundaries directly from the code
vectors obtained from SOM. The application of our method to
several standard data sets demonstrates its feasibility. PSO algorithm
utilizes a so-called U-matrix of SOM to determine cluster boundaries;
the results of this novel automatic method compare very favorably to
boundary detection through traditional algorithms namely k-means
and hierarchical based approach which are normally used to interpret
the output of SOM.
Abstract: Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) is an additive manufacturing process with capabilities that include: producing new
part directly from 3 Dimensional Computer Aided Design (3D CAD)
model, building new part on the existing old component and repairing an existing high valued component parts that would have
been discarded in the past. With all these capabilities and its advantages over other additive manufacturing techniques, the
underlying physics of the LMD process is yet to be fully understood probably because of high interaction between the processing
parameters and studying many parameters at the same time makes it
further complex to understand. In this study, the effect of laser power
and powder flow rate on physical properties (deposition height and
deposition width), metallurgical property (microstructure) and
mechanical (microhardness) properties on laser deposited most
widely used aerospace alloy are studied. Also, because the Ti6Al4V
is very expensive, and LMD is capable of reducing buy-to-fly ratio
of aerospace parts, the material utilization efficiency is also studied.
Four sets of experiments were performed and repeated to establish repeatability using laser power of 1.8 kW and 3.0 kW, powder flow
rate of 2.88 g/min and 5.67 g/min, and keeping the gas flow rate and
scanning speed constant at 2 l/min and 0.005 m/s respectively. The
deposition height / width are found to increase with increase in laser
power and increase in powder flow rate. The material utilization is favoured by higher power while higher powder flow rate reduces
material utilization. The results are presented and fully discussed.
Abstract: Recent quasi-experimental evaluation of the Canadian Active Labour Market Policies (ALMP) by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) has provided an opportunity to examine alternative methods to estimating the incremental effects of Employment Benefits and Support Measures (EBSMs) on program participants. The focus of this paper is to assess the efficiency and robustness of inverse probability weighting (IPW) relative to kernel matching (KM) in the estimation of program effects. To accomplish this objective, the authors compare pairs of 1,080 estimates, along with their associated standard errors, to assess which type of estimate is generally more efficient and robust. In the interest of practicality, the authorsalso document the computationaltime it took to produce the IPW and KM estimates, respectively.
Abstract: Nowadays, the demand for high product quality
focuses extensive attention to the quality of machined surface. The
(CNC) milling machine facilities provides a wide variety of
parameters set-up, making the machining process on the glass
excellent in manufacturing complicated special products compared to
other machining processes. However, the application of grinding
process on the CNC milling machine could be an ideal solution to
improve the product quality, but adopting the right machining
parameters is required. In glass milling operation, several machining
parameters are considered to be significant in affecting surface
roughness. These parameters include the lubrication pressure, spindle
speed, feed rate and depth of cut. In this research work, a fuzzy logic
model is offered to predict the surface roughness of a machined
surface in glass milling operation using CBN grinding tool. Four
membership functions are allocated to be connected with each input
of the model. The predicted results achieved via fuzzy logic model
are compared to the experimental result. The result demonstrated
settlement between the fuzzy model and experimental results with the
93.103% accuracy.
Abstract: Computers are increasingly being used as educational
tools in elementary/primary schools worldwide. A specific
application of such computer use, is that of multimedia games, where
the aim is to combine pedagogy and entertainment. This study
reports on a case-study whereby an educational multimedia game has
been developed for use by elementary school children. The stages of
the application-s design, implementation and evaluation are
presented. Strengths of the game are identified and discussed, and its
weaknesses are identified, allowing for suggestions for future redesigns.
The results show that the use of games can engage children
in the learning process for longer periods of time with the added
benefit of the entertainment factor.
Abstract: The problem of mapping tasks onto a computational grid with the aim to minimize the power consumption and the makespan subject to the constraints of deadlines and architectural requirements is considered in this paper. To solve this problem, we propose a solution from cooperative game theory based on the concept of Nash Bargaining Solution. The proposed game theoretical technique is compared against several traditional techniques. The experimental results show that when the deadline constraints are tight, the proposed technique achieves superior performance and reports competitive performance relative to the optimal solution.
Abstract: Recently, it is found that telegraph equation is more suitable than ordinary diffusion equation in modelling reaction diffusion for such branches of sciences. In this paper, a numerical solution for the one-dimensional hyperbolic telegraph equation by using the collocation method using the septic splines is proposed. The scheme works in a similar fashion as finite difference methods. Test problems are used to validate our scheme by calculate L2-norm and L∞-norm. The accuracy of the presented method is demonstrated by two test problems. The numerical results are found to be in good agreement with the exact solutions.
Abstract: In this paper, the telegraph equation is solved numerically by cubic B-spline quasi-interpolation .We obtain the numerical scheme, by using the derivative of the quasi-interpolation to approximate the spatial derivative of the dependent variable and a low order forward difference to approximate the temporal derivative of the dependent variable. The advantage of the resulting scheme is that the algorithm is very simple so it is very easy to implement. The results of numerical experiments are presented, and are compared with analytical solutions by calculating errors L2 and L∞ norms to confirm the good accuracy of the presented scheme.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was primarily assessing how important economic factors namely: The Thai export price of white rice, the exchange rate, and the world rice consumption affect the overall Thai white rice export, using historical data during the period 1989-2013 from the Thai Rice Exporters Association, and Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. The co-integration method, regression analysis, and error correction model were applied to investigate the econometric model. The findings indicated that in the long-run, the world rice consumption, the exchange rate, and the Thai export price of white rice were the important factors affecting the export quantity of Thai white rice respectively, as indicated by their significant coefficients. Meanwhile, the rice export price was an important factor affecting the export quantity of Thai white rice in the short-run. This information is useful in the business, export opportunities, price competitiveness, and policymaker in Thailand.
Abstract: This paper argues that a product development exercise
involves in addition to the conventional stages, several decisions
regarding other aspects. These aspects should be addressed
simultaneously in order to develop a product that responds to the
customer needs and that helps realize objectives of the stakeholders
in terms of profitability, market share and the like. We present a
framework that encompasses these different development
dimensions. The framework shows that a product development
methodology such as the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is the
basic tool which allows definition of the target specifications of a
new product. Creativity is the first dimension that enables the
development exercise to live and end successfully. A number of
group processes need to be followed by the development team in
order to ensure enough creativity and innovation. Secondly,
packaging is considered to be an important extension of the product.
Branding strategies, quality and standardization requirements,
identification technologies, design technologies, production
technologies and costing and pricing are also integral parts to the
development exercise. These dimensions constitute the proposed
framework. The paper also presents a mathematical model used to
calculate the design targets based on the target costing principle. The
framework is used to study a case of a new product development in
the telecommunications services sector.
Abstract: This paper discusses a new, systematic approach to
the synthesis of a NP-hard class of non-regenerative Boolean
networks, described by FON[FOFF]={mi}[{Mi}], where for every
mj[Mj]∈{mi}[{Mi}], there exists another mk[Mk]∈{mi}[{Mi}], such
that their Hamming distance HD(mj, mk)=HD(Mj, Mk)=O(n), (where
'n' represents the number of distinct primary inputs). The method
automatically ensures exact minimization for certain important selfdual
functions with 2n-1 points in its one-set. The elements meant for
grouping are determined from a newly proposed weighted incidence
matrix. Then the binary value corresponding to the candidate pair is
correlated with the proposed binary value matrix to enable direct
synthesis. We recommend algebraic factorization operations as a post
processing step to enable reduction in literal count. The algorithm
can be implemented in any high level language and achieves best
cost optimization for the problem dealt with, irrespective of the
number of inputs. For other cases, the method is iterated to
subsequently reduce it to a problem of O(n-1), O(n-2),.... and then
solved. In addition, it leads to optimal results for problems exhibiting
higher degree of adjacency, with a different interpretation of the
heuristic, and the results are comparable with other methods.
In terms of literal cost, at the technology independent stage, the
circuits synthesized using our algorithm enabled net savings over
AOI (AND-OR-Invert) logic, AND-EXOR logic (EXOR Sum-of-
Products or ESOP forms) and AND-OR-EXOR logic by 45.57%,
41.78% and 41.78% respectively for the various problems.
Circuit level simulations were performed for a wide variety of
case studies at 3.3V and 2.5V supply to validate the performance of
the proposed method and the quality of the resulting synthesized
circuits at two different voltage corners. Power estimation was
carried out for a 0.35micron TSMC CMOS process technology. In
comparison with AOI logic, the proposed method enabled mean
savings in power by 42.46%. With respect to AND-EXOR logic, the
proposed method yielded power savings to the tune of 31.88%, while
in comparison with AND-OR-EXOR level networks; average power
savings of 33.23% was obtained.
Abstract: Food mileage is one of the important issues concerning environmental sustainability. In this research we have utilized a prototype platform with iterative user-centered testing. With these findings we successfully demonstrate the use of the context of persuasive methods to influence users- attitudes towards the sustainable concept.
Abstract: In the present research, a finite element model is
presented to study the geometrical and material nonlinear behavior of
reinforced concrete plane frames considering soil-structure
interaction. The nonlinear behaviors of concrete and reinforcing steel
are considered both in compression and tension up to failure. The
model takes account also for the number, diameter, and distribution
of rebar along every cross section. Soil behavior is taken into
consideration using four different models; namely: linear-, nonlinear
Winkler's model, and linear-, nonlinear continuum model. A
computer program (NARC) is specially developed in order to
perform the analysis. The results achieved by the present model show
good agreement with both theoretical and experimental published
literature. The nonlinear behavior of a rectangular frame resting on
soft soil up to failure using the proposed model is introduced for
demonstration.
Abstract: This research is to study the types of products and
services that employs 'ambient media and respective techniques in its
advertisement materials. Data collection has been done via analyses of a total of 62 advertisements that employed ambient media
approach in Thailand during the years 2004 to 2011. The 62 advertisement were qualifying advertisements of the Adman Awards
& Symposium under the category of Outdoor & Ambience. Analysis
results reveal that there is a total of 14 products and services that
chooses to utilize ambient media in its advertisement. Amongst all ambient media techniques, 'intrusion' uses the value of a medium in
its representation of content most often. Following intrusion is 'interaction', where consumers are invited to participate and interact
with the advertising materials. 'Illusion' ranks third in its ability to subject the viewers to distortions of reality that makes the division
between reality and fantasy less clear.
Abstract: From past many decades human beings are suffering
from plethora of natural disasters. Occurrence of disasters is a
frequent process; it changes conceptual myths as more and more
advancement are made. Although we are living in technological era
but in developing countries like Pakistan disasters are shaped by
socially constructed roles. The need is to understand the most
vulnerable group of society i.e. females; their issues are complex in
nature because of undermined gender status in the society. There is a
need to identify maximum issues regarding females and to enhance
the achievement of millennium development goals (MDGs). Gender
issues are of great concern all around the globe including Pakistan.
Here female visibility in society is low, and also during disasters, the
failure to understand the reality that concentrates on double burden
including productive and reproductive care. Women have to
contribute a lot in society so we need to make them more disaster
resilient. For this non-structural measures like awareness, trainings
and education must be carried out. In rural and in urban settings in
any disaster like earthquake or flood, elements like gender
perspective, their age, physical health, demographic issues contribute
towards vulnerability. In Pakistan the gender issues in disasters were
of less concern before 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods. Significant
achievements are made after 2010 floods when gender and child cell
was created to provide all facilities to women and girls. The aim of
the study is to highlight all necessary facilities in a disaster to build
coping mechanism in females from basic rights till advance level
including education.
Abstract: Median filters with larger windows offer greater smoothing and are more robust than the median filters of smaller windows. However, the larger median smoothers (the median filters with the larger windows) fail to track low order polynomial trends in the signals. Due to this, constant regions are produced at the signal corners, leading to the loss of fine details. In this paper, an algorithm, which combines the ability of the 3-point median smoother in preserving the low order polynomial trends and the superior noise filtering characteristics of the larger median smoother, is introduced. The proposed algorithm (called the combiner algorithm in this paper) is evaluated for its performance on a test image corrupted with different types of noise and the results obtained are included.
Abstract: Salinity is a measure of the amount of salts in the
water. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) as salinity parameter are often
determined using laborious and time consuming laboratory tests, but
it may be more appropriate and economical to develop a method
which uses a more simple soil salinity index. Because dissolved ions
increase salinity as well as conductivity, the two measures are
related. The aim of this research was determine of constant
coefficients for predicting of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) based on
Electrical Conductivity (EC) with Statistics of Correlation
coefficient, Root mean square error, Maximum error, Mean Bias
error, Mean absolute error, Relative error and Coefficient of residual
mass. For this purpose, two experimental areas (S1, S2) of Khuzestan
province-IRAN were selected and four treatments with three
replications by series of double rings were applied. The treatments
were included 25cm, 50cm, 75cm and 100cm water application. The
results showed the values 16.3 & 12.4 were the best constant
coefficients for predicting of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) based on
EC in Pilot S1 and S2 with correlation coefficient 0.977 & 0.997 and
191.1 & 106.1 Root mean square errors (RMSE) respectively.
Abstract: Assessment of IEP (Individual Education Plan) is an
important stage in the area of special education. This paper deals
with this problem by introducing computer software which process
the data gathered from application of IEP. The software is intended
to be used by special education institution in Turkey and allows
assessment of school and family trainings. The software has a user
friendly interface and its design includes graphical developer tools.
Abstract: Fuzzy fingerprint vault is a recently developed cryptographic construct based on the polynomial reconstruction problem to secure critical data with the fingerprint data. However, the previous researches are not applicable to the fingerprint having a few minutiae since they use a fixed degree of the polynomial without considering the number of fingerprint minutiae. To solve this problem, we use an adaptive degree of the polynomial considering the number of minutiae extracted from each user. Also, we apply multiple polynomials to avoid the possible degradation of the security of a simple solution(i.e., using a low-degree polynomial). Based on the experimental results, our method can make the possible attack difficult 2192 times more than using a low-degree polynomial as well as verify the users having a few minutiae.