Abstract: In highly competitive environments, a growing
number of companies must regularly launch new products speedily
and successfully. A company-s success is based on the systematic,
conscious product designing method which meets the market
requirements and takes risks as well as resources into consideration.
Research has found that developing and launching new products are
inherently risky endeavors. Hence in this research, we aim at
introducing a risk evaluation framework for the new product
innovation process. Our framework is based on the fuzzy analytical
hierarchy process (FAHP) methodology. We have applied all the
stages of the framework on the risk evaluation process of a
pharmaceuticals company.
Abstract: Arguments on a popular microblogging site were analysed by means of a methodological approach to business rhetoric focusing on the logos communication technique. The focus of the analysis was the 100 day countdown to the 2011 Rugby World Cup as advanced by the organisers. Big sporting events provide an attractive medium for sport event marketers in that they have become important strategic communication tools directed at sport consumers. Sport event marketing is understood in the sense of using a microblogging site as a communication tool whose purpose it is to disseminate a company-s marketing messages by involving the target audience in experiential activities. Sport creates a universal language in that it excites and increases the spread of information by word of mouth and other means. The findings highlight the limitations of a microblogging site in terms of marketing messages which can assist in better practices. This study can also serve as a heuristic tool for other researchers analysing sports marketing messages in social network environments.
Abstract: In this paper, a delayed prototype model is studied. Regarding the delay as a bifurcation parameter, we prove that a sequence of Hopf bifurcations will occur at the positive equilibrium when the delay increases. Using the normal form method and center manifold theory, some explicit formulae are worked out for determining the stability and the direction of the bifurcated periodic solutions. Finally, Computer simulations are carried out to explain some mathematical conclusions.
Abstract: Economic crime (i.e. corporate fraud) has a
significant impact on business. This study analyzes the fraud cases
reported by the Malaysian Securities Commission. Frauds involving
market manipulation and/or illegal share trading are the most
common types of fraud reported over the 6 years analyzed. The
highest number of frauds reported involved investment and fund
holding companies. Alarmingly the results indicate quite a high
number of frauds cases are committed by management. The higher
number of Chinese perpetrators may be due to fact that they are the
dominant group in Malaysian business. The result also shows that
more than half of companies involved with fraud are privately held
companies in the investment/fund/finance sector. The results of this
study highlight general characteristic of perpetrators (person and
company) that commit fraud which could help the regulators in their
monitoring and enforcement activities. To investors, this would help
in analyzing their business investment or portfolio risk.
Abstract: Transmission control protocol (TCP) Vegas detects
network congestion in the early stage and successfully prevents
periodic packet loss that usually occurs in TCP Reno. It has been
demonstrated that TCP Vegas outperforms TCP Reno in many
aspects. However, TCP Vegas suffers several problems that affect its
congestion avoidance mechanism. One of the most important
weaknesses in TCP Vegas is that alpha and beta depend on a good
expected throughput estimate, which as we have seen, depends on a
good minimum RTT estimate. In order to make the system more
robust alpha and beta must be made responsive to network conditions
(they are currently chosen statically). This paper proposes a modified
Vegas algorithm, which can be adjusted to present good performance
compared to other transmission control protocols (TCPs). In order to
do this, we use PSO algorithm to tune alpha and beta. The simulation
results validate the advantages of the proposed algorithm in term of
performance.
Abstract: The analysis to detect arrhythmias and life-threatening
conditions are highly essential in today world and this analysis
can be accomplished by advanced non-linear processing methods
for accurate analysis of the complex signals of heartbeat dynamics.
In this perspective, recent developments in the field of multiscale
information content have lead to the Microcanonical Multiscale
Formalism (MMF). We show that such framework provides several
signal analysis techniques that are especially adapted to the
study of heartbeat dynamics. In this paper, we just show first hand
results of whether the considered heartbeat dynamics signals have
the multiscale properties by computing local preticability exponents
(LPEs) and the Unpredictable Points Manifold (UPM), and thereby
computing the singularity spectrum.
Abstract: Cellular networks provide voice and data services to the users with mobility. To deliver services to the mobile users, the cellular network is capable of tracking the locations of the users, and allowing user movement during the conversations. These capabilities are achieved by the location management. Location management in mobile communication systems is concerned with those network functions necessary to allow the users to be reached wherever they are in the network coverage area. In a cellular network, a service coverage area is divided into smaller areas of hexagonal shape, referred to as cells. The cellular concept was introduced to reuse the radio frequency. Continued expansion of cellular networks, coupled with an increasingly restricted mobile spectrum, has established the reduction of communication overhead as a highly important issue. Much of this traffic is used in determining the precise location of individual users when relaying calls, with the field of location management aiming to reduce this overhead through prediction of user location. This paper describes and compares various location management schemes in the cellular networks.
Abstract: The objective of current issue was to develop a model
of testicular herpes simplex virus (HSV) type I infection for
assessment of viral effect on fertility. 56 male mice were inoculated
intraperitoneally with different concentrations of HSV on 8 day post
partum. It was revealed that the optimal dose was 100 plaque
forming units per mice as it provided testicular infection in 100% of
survivors. HSV proteins were detected both in somatic and germ
cells (spermatogonia, spermatocytes, spermatides). Although DNA
load in testis was descending from 3 to 28 days post infection only
12.5% of infected males had offspring after mating with uninfected
females comparing to 87.5% in control (p=0.012). These results are
the first direct evidence for HSV impact in male sterility. Prepuberal
mice appeared to be a suitable model for investigation of
pathogenesis of virus-associated fertility disorders.
Abstract: A new technique to quantify the differential mode
delay (DMD) in multimode fiber (MMF) is been presented. The
technique measures DMD based on angular launch and
measurements of the difference in modal delay using variable
apertures at the fiber face. The result of the angular spatial filtering
revealed less excitation of higher order modes when the laser beam is
filtered at higher angles. This result would indicate that DMD
profiles would experience a data pattern dependency.
Abstract: With the development of the Polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) products in many applications, the challenge of investigating
the raw material composition and reducing the cost have both
become more and more important. Considerable research has been
done investigating the effect of additives on the PVC products. Most
of the PVC composites research investigates only the effect of
single/few factors, at a time. This isolated consideration of the input
factors does not take in consideration the interaction effect of the
different factors. This paper implements a mixture experimental
design approach to find out a cost-effective PVC composition for the
production of electrical-insulation cables considering the ASTM
Designation (D) 6096. The results analysis showed that a minimum
cost can be achieved through using 20% virgin PVC, 18.75%
recycled PVC, 43.75% CaCO3 with participle size 10 microns, 14%
DOP plasticizer, and 3.5% CPW plasticizer. For maximum UTS the
compound should consist of: 17.5% DOP, 62.5% virgin PVC, and
20.0% CaCO3 of particle size 5 microns. Finally, for the highest
ductility the compound should be made of 35% virgin PVC, 20%
CaCO3 of particle size 5 microns, and 45.0% DOP plasticizer.
Abstract: In Iran, due to abundance of energy resources, energy consumption is extraordinarily higher than international standards and transportation sector is considered to be one of the major consumers of energy. Moreover, air pollution in urban areas as a result of high dependence on private vehicle and lower standards of vehicles, high subsidies spent on fuel and time waste due to traffic congestion in urban areas all have led to speculations on new strategies and policies in order to control energy consumption in transportation sector. These strategies and policies will be introduced in this paper and their consequences will be analyzed with consideration to socio-economic factors affecting the urban society of Iran. Besides, the intention is to suggest and analyze new approaches such as broader application of public transportation system, demand management in transport sector, replacement of deteriorated vehicles, quality improvement in car manufacture and introduction of substitute fuels.
Abstract: In this work the numerical simulation of transient heat
transfer in a cylindrical probe is done. An experiment was conducted
introducing a steel cylinder in a heating chamber and registering its
surface temperature along the time during one hour. In parallel, a
mathematical model was solved for one dimension transient heat
transfer in cylindrical coordinates, considering the boundary
conditions of the test. The model was solved using finite difference
method, because the thermal conductivity in the cylindrical steel bar
and the convection heat transfer coefficient used in the model are
considered temperature dependant functions, and both conditions
prevent the use of the analytical solution. The comparison between
theoretical and experimental results showed the average deviation is
below 2%. It was concluded that numerical methods are useful in
order to solve engineering complex problems. For constant k and h,
the experimental methodology used here can be used as a tool for
teaching heat transfer in mechanical engineering, using mathematical
simplified models with analytical solutions.
Abstract: Compliance requires an effective communication
within an enterprise as well as towards a company-s external
environment. This requirement commences with the
implementation of compliance within large scale compliance
projects and still persists in the compliance reporting within
standard operations. On the one hand the understanding of
compliance necessities within the organization is promoted.
On the other hand reduction of asymmetric information with
compliance stakeholders is achieved. To reach this goal, a
central reporting must provide a consolidated view of different
compliance efforts- statuses. A concept which could be
adapted for this purpose is the balanced scorecard by Kaplan /
Norton. This concept has not been analyzed in detail
concerning its adequacy for a holistic compliance reporting
starting in compliance projects until later usage in regularly
compliance operations.
At first, this paper evaluates if a holistic compliance
reporting can be designed by using the balanced scorecard
concept. The current status of compliance reporting clearly
shows that scorecards are generally accepted as a compliance
reporting tool and are already used for corporate governance
reporting. Additional specialized compliance IT - solutions
exist in the market. After the scorecard-s adequacy is
thoroughly examined and proofed, an example strategy map as
the basis to derive a compliance balanced scorecard is defined.
This definition answers the question on proceeding in
designing a compliance reporting tool.
Abstract: Recent progress in calculation of the one-loop selfenergy
of the electron bound in the Coulomb field is summarized.
The relativistic multipole expansion is introduced. This expansion
is based on a single assumption: except for the part of the time
component of the electron four-momentum corresponding to the
electron rest mass, the exchange of four-momentum between the
virtual electron and photon can be treated perturbatively. For non Sstates
and normalized difference n3En −E1 of the S-states this
itself yields very accurate results after taking the method to the third
order. For the ground state the perturbation treatment of the electron
virtual states with very high three-momentum is to be avoided. For
these states one can always rearrange the pertinent expression in such
a way that free-particle approximation is allowed. Combination of
the relativistic multipole expansion and free-particle approximation
yields very accurate result after taking the method to the ninth order.
These results are in very good agreement with the previous results
obtained by the partial wave expansion and definitely exclude the
possibility that the uncertainity in determination of the proton radius
comes from the uncertainity in the calculation of the one-loop selfenergy.
Abstract: This paper proposes a synchronized random switching frequency pulse width modulation (SRSFPWM). In this technique, the clock signal is used to control the random noise frequency which is produced by the feedback voltage of a hysteresis circuit. These make the triangular carrier frequency equaling to the random noise frequency in each switching period with the symmetrical positive and negative slopes of triangular carrier. Therefore, there is no error voltage in PWM signal. The PSpice simulated results shown the proposed technique improved the performance in case of low frequency harmonics of PWM signal comparing with conventional random switching frequency PWM.
Abstract: The design of a complete expansion that allows for
compact representation of certain relevant classes of signals is a
central problem in signal processing applications. Achieving such a
representation means knowing the signal features for the purpose of
denoising, classification, interpolation and forecasting. Multilayer
Neural Networks are relatively a new class of techniques that are
mathematically proven to approximate any continuous function
arbitrarily well. Radial Basis Function Networks, which make use of
Gaussian activation function, are also shown to be a universal
approximator. In this age of ever-increasing digitization in the
storage, processing, analysis and communication of information,
there are numerous examples of applications where one needs to
construct a continuously defined function or numerical algorithm to
approximate, represent and reconstruct the given discrete data of a
signal. Many a times one wishes to manipulate the data in a way that
requires information not included explicitly in the data, which is
done through interpolation and/or extrapolation.
Tidal data are a very perfect example of time series and many
statistical techniques have been applied for tidal data analysis and
representation. ANN is recent addition to such techniques. In the
present paper we describe the time series representation capabilities
of a special type of ANN- Radial Basis Function networks and
present the results of tidal data representation using RBF. Tidal data
analysis & representation is one of the important requirements in
marine science for forecasting.
Abstract: This paper presents the determination of the proper
quality costs parameters which provide the optimum return. The
system dynamics simulation was applied. The simulation model was
constructed by the real data from a case of the electronic devices
manufacturer in Thailand. The Steepest Descent algorithm was
employed to optimise. The experimental results show that the
company should spend on prevention and appraisal activities for 850
and 10 Baht/day respectively. It provides minimum cumulative total
quality cost, which is 258,000 Baht in twelve months. The effect of
the step size in the stage of improving the variables to the optimum
was also investigated. It can be stated that the smaller step size
provided a better result with more experimental runs. However, the
different yield in this case is not significant in practice. Therefore, the
greater step size is recommended because the region of optima could
be reached more easily and rapidly.
Abstract: In this study an extensive experimental research is
carried out to develop a better understanding of the effects of Piano Key (PK) weir geometry on weir flow threshold submergence.
Experiments were conducted in a 12 m long, 0.4 m wide and 0.7 m deep rectangular glass wall flume. The main objectives were to
investigate the effect of the PK weir geometries including the weir
length, weir height, inlet-outlet key widths, upstream and
downstream apex overhangs, and slopped floors on threshold submergence and study the hydraulic flow characteristics. From the
experimental results, a practical formula is proposed to evaluate the flow threshold submergence over PK weirs.
Abstract: Multilobe bearings are found to be more stable than circular bearings. A three lobe bearing also possesses good stability characteristics. Sometimes the line of action of the load does not pass through the axis of a bearing and is shifted on either side by a few degrees. Load orientation is one of the factors that affect the stability of a three lobe bearing. The effect of load orientation on the stability of a three-lobe has been discussed in this paper. The results show that stability of a three-lobe bearing supporting either rigid or flexible rotor is increased for the positive values of load orientation i.e. when the load line is shifted in the opposite direction of rotation.
Abstract: During the past decade, pond aeration systems have
been developed which will sustain large quantities of fish and
invertebrate biomass. Dissolved Oxygen (DO) is considered to be
among the most important water quality parameters in fish culture.
Fishponds in aquaculture farms are usually located in remote areas
where grid lines are at far distance. Aeration of ponds is required to
prevent mortality and to intensify production, especially when
feeding is practical, and in warm regions. To increase pond
production it is necessary to control dissolved oxygen. Artificial
intelligence (AI) techniques are becoming useful as alternate
approaches to conventional techniques or as components of
integrated systems. They have been used to solve complicated
practical problems in various areas and are becoming more and more
popular nowadays. This paper presents a new design of diffused
aeration system using fuel cell as a power source. Also fuzzy logic
control Technique (FLC) is used for controlling the speed of air flow
rate from the blower to air piping connected to the pond by adjusting
blower speed. MATLAB SIMULINK results show high performance
of fuzzy logic control (FLC).