Abstract: Calibration estimation is a method of adjusting the
original design weights to improve the survey estimates by using
auxiliary information such as the known population total (or mean)
of the auxiliary variables. A calibration estimator uses calibrated
weights that are determined to minimize a given distance measure to
the original design weights while satisfying a set of constraints
related to the auxiliary information. In this paper, we propose a new
multivariate calibration estimator for the population mean in the
stratified sampling design, which incorporates information available
for more than one auxiliary variable. The problem of determining the
optimum calibrated weights is formulated as a Mathematical
Programming Problem (MPP) that is solved using the Lagrange
multiplier technique.
Abstract: The prospective analysis is presented as an important tool to identify the most relevant opportunities and needs in research and development from planned interventions in innovation systems. This study chose Phyllanthus niruri, known as "stone break" to describe the knowledge about the specie, by using biotechnological forecasting through the software Vantage Point. It can be seen a considerable increase in studies on Phyllanthus niruri in recent years and that there are patents about this plant since twenty-five years ago. India was the country that most carried out research on the specie, showing interest, mainly in studies of hepatoprotection, antioxidant and anti-cancer activities. Brazil is in the second place, with special interest for anti-tumor studies. Given the identification of the Brazilian groups that exploit the species it is possible to mediate partnerships and cooperation aiming to help on the implementing of the Program of Herbal medicines (phytotherapics) in Brazil.
Abstract: Along with the advances in medicine, providing medical information to individual patient is becoming more important. In Japan such information via Braille is hardly provided to blind and partially sighted people. Thus we are researching and developing a Web-based automatic translation program “eBraille" to translate Japanese text into Japanese Braille. First we analyzed the Japanese transcription rules to implement them on our program. We then added medical words to the dictionary of the program to improve its translation accuracy for medical text. Finally we examined the efficacy of statistical learning models (SLMs) for further increase of word segmentation accuracy in braille translation. As a result, eBraille had the highest translation accuracy in the comparison with other translation programs, improved the accuracy for medical text and is utilized to make hospital brochures in braille for outpatients and inpatients.
Abstract: Nozzle is the main part of various spinning systems
such as air-jet and Murata air vortex systems. Recently, many
researchers worked on the usage of the nozzle on different spinning
systems such as conventional ring and compact spinning systems. In
these applications, primary purpose is to improve the yarn quality. In
present study, it was produced the yarns with two different nozzle
types and determined the changes in yarn properties. In order to
explain the effect of the nozzle, airflow structure in the nozzle was
modelled and airflow variables were determined. In numerical
simulation, ANSYS 12.1 package program and Fluid Flow (CFX)
analysis method was used. As distinct from the literature, Shear
Stress Turbulent (SST) model is preferred. And also air pressure at
the nozzle inlet was measured by electronic mass flow meter and
these values were used for the simulation of the airflow. At last, the
yarn was modelled and the area from where the yarn is passing was
included to the numerical analysis.
Abstract: In the artificial intelligence field, knowledge
representation and reasoning are important areas for intelligent
systems, especially knowledge base systems and expert systems.
Knowledge representation Methods has an important role in
designing the systems. There have been many models for knowledge
such as semantic networks, conceptual graphs, and neural networks.
These models are useful tools to design intelligent systems. However,
they are not suitable to represent knowledge in the domains of reality
applications. In this paper, new models for knowledge representation
called computational networks will be presented. They have been
used in designing some knowledge base systems in education for
solving problems such as the system that supports studying
knowledge and solving analytic geometry problems, the program for
studying and solving problems in Plane Geometry, the program for
solving problems about alternating current in physics.
Abstract: A minimal complexity version of component mode
synthesis is presented that requires simplified computer
programming, but still provides adequate accuracy for modeling
lower eigenproperties of large structures and their transient
responses. The novelty is that a structural separation into components
is done along a plane/surface that exhibits rigid-like behavior, thus
only normal modes of each component is sufficient to use, without
computing any constraint, attachment, or residual-attachment modes.
The approach requires only such input information as a few (lower)
natural frequencies and corresponding undamped normal modes of
each component. A novel technique is shown for formulation of
equations of motion, where a double transformation to generalized
coordinates is employed and formulation of nonproportional damping
matrix in generalized coordinates is shown.
Abstract: Due to the three- dimensional flow pattern interacting with bed material, the process of local scour around bridge piers is complex. Modeling 3D flow field and scour hole evolution around a bridge pier is more feasible nowadays because the computational cost and computational time have significantly decreased. In order to evaluate local flow and scouring around a bridge pier, a completely three-dimensional numerical model, SSIIM program, was used. The model solves 3-D Navier-Stokes equations and a bed load conservation equation. The model was applied to simulate local flow and scouring around a bridge pier in a large natural river with four piers. Computation for 1 day of flood condition was carried out to predict the maximum local scour depth. The results show that the SSIIM program can be used efficiently for simulating the scouring in natural rivers. The results also showed that among the various turbulence models, the k-ω model gives more reasonable results.
Abstract: Automated discovery of hierarchical structures in
large data sets has been an active research area in the recent past.
This paper focuses on the issue of mining generalized rules with crisp
hierarchical structure using Genetic Programming (GP) approach to
knowledge discovery. The post-processing scheme presented in this
work uses flat rules as initial individuals of GP and discovers
hierarchical structure. Suitable genetic operators are proposed for the
suggested encoding. Based on the Subsumption Matrix(SM), an
appropriate fitness function is suggested. Finally, Hierarchical
Production Rules (HPRs) are generated from the discovered
hierarchy. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the
performance of the proposed algorithm.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to determine the
circumstances affecting elementary school students in their family
and school lives and what kind of emotions children may feel
because of these circumstances. The study was carried out according
to the survey model. Four Turkish elementary schools provided 123
fourth grade students for participation in the study. The study-s data
were collected by using worksheets for the activity titled “Important
Days in Our Lives", which was part of the Elementary School Social
Sciences Course 4th Grade Education Program. Data analysis was
carried out according to the content analysis technique used in
qualitative research. The study detected that circumstances of their
family and school lives caused children to feel emotions such as
happiness, sadness, anger, fear and jealousy. The circumstances and
the emotions caused by these circumstances were analyzed according
to gender and interpreted by presenting them with their frequencies.
Abstract: One of the purposes of the robust method of
estimation is to reduce the influence of outliers in the data, on the
estimates. The outliers arise from gross errors or contamination from
distributions with long tails. The trimmed mean is a robust estimate.
This means that it is not sensitive to violation of distributional
assumptions of the data. It is called an adaptive estimate when the
trimming proportion is determined from the data rather than being
fixed a “priori-.
The main objective of this study is to find out the robustness
properties of the adaptive trimmed means in terms of efficiency, high
breakdown point and influence function. Specifically, it seeks to find
out the magnitude of the trimming proportion of the adaptive
trimmed mean which will yield efficient and robust estimates of the
parameter for data which follow a modified Weibull distribution with
parameter λ = 1/2 , where the trimming proportion is determined by a
ratio of two trimmed means defined as the tail length. Secondly, the
asymptotic properties of the tail length and the trimmed means are
also investigated. Finally, a comparison is made on the efficiency of
the adaptive trimmed means in terms of the standard deviation for the
trimming proportions and when these were fixed a “priori".
The asymptotic tail lengths defined as the ratio of two trimmed
means and the asymptotic variances were computed by using the
formulas derived. While the values of the standard deviations for the
derived tail lengths for data of size 40 simulated from a Weibull
distribution were computed for 100 iterations using a computer
program written in Pascal language.
The findings of the study revealed that the tail lengths of the
Weibull distribution increase in magnitudes as the trimming
proportions increase, the measure of the tail length and the adaptive
trimmed mean are asymptotically independent as the number of
observations n becomes very large or approaching infinity, the tail
length is asymptotically distributed as the ratio of two independent
normal random variables, and the asymptotic variances decrease as
the trimming proportions increase. The simulation study revealed
empirically that the standard error of the adaptive trimmed mean
using the ratio of tail lengths is relatively smaller for different values
of trimming proportions than its counterpart when the trimming
proportions were fixed a 'priori'.
Abstract: In Mauritius, much emphasis is put on measures to
combat the high prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Health promotion campaigns for the adoption of healthy behaviors
and screening programs are done regularly by local authorities and
NCD surveys are carried out at intervals. However, the health
behaviors of the poor have not been investigated so far. This study
aims to give an insight on the perceptions of health status and
lifestyle health behaviors of poor people in Mauritius. A crosssectional
study among 83 persons benefiting from social aid in a
selected urban district was carried out. Results showed that 51.8% of
respondents perceived that they had good health status. 57.8% had no
known NCD whilst 25.3% had hypertension, followed by diabetes
(16.9%), asthma (9.6%) and heart disease (7.2%).They had low
smoking (10.8%) and alcohol consumption (6.0%) as well as high
physical activity prevalence (54.2%). These results were significantly
different from the NCD survey carried out in the general population.
Consumption of vegetables in the study was high. Overweight and
obesity trends were however similar to the NCD survey report 2009.
These findings contrast with other international studies showing poor
people having poor perceptions of health status and unhealthy
behavioral choices. Whether these positive health behaviors of poor
people in Mauritius arise out of choice or whether it is because the
alternative behavior is too costly remains to be investigated further.
Abstract: Negation is useful in the majority of the real world applications. However, its introduction leads to semantic and canonical problems. We propose in this paper an approach based on stratification to deal with negation problems. This approach is based on an extension of predicates nets. It is characterized with two main contributions. The first concerns the management of the whole class of stratified programs. The second contribution is related to usual operations optimizations on stratified programs (maximal stratification, incremental updates ...).
Abstract: The Sphere Method is a flexible interior point algorithm for linear programming problems. This was developed mainly by Professor Katta G. Murty. It consists of two steps, the centering step and the descent step. The centering step is the most expensive part of the algorithm. In this centering step we proposed some improvements such as introducing two or more initial feasible solutions as we solve for the more favorable new solution by objective value while working with the rigorous updates of the feasible region along with some ideas integrated in the descent step. An illustration is given confirming the advantage of using the proposed procedure.
Abstract: This paper address the network reliability optimization
problem in the optical access network design for the 3G cellular
systems. We presents a novel 0-1 integer programming model for
designing optical access network topologies comprised of multi-rings
with common-edge in order to guarantee always-on services. The
results show that the proposed model yields access network
topologies with the optimal reliablity and satisfies both network cost
limitations and traffic demand requirements.
Abstract: Recent developments in information and
communication technologies (ICT) have created excellent conditions
for profoundly enhancing the traditional learning and teaching
practices. New modes of teaching in higher education subjects can
profoundly enhance ones ability to proactively constructing his or her
personal learning universe. These developments have contributed to
digital learning environments becoming widely available and
accessible. In addition, there is a trend towards enlargement and
specialization in higher education in Europe. With as a result that
existing Master of Science (MSc) programmes are merged or new
programmes have been established that are offered as joint MSc
programmes to students. In these joint MSc programmes, the need for
(common) digital learning environments capable of surmounting the
barriers of time and location has become evident. This paper
discusses the past and ongoing efforts to establish such common
digital learning environments in two joint MSc programmes in
Europe and discusses the way technology-based learning
environments affect the traditional way of learning.
Abstract: The environment pollution with pesticides and heavy
metals is a recognized problem nowadays, with extension to the
global scale the tendency of amplification. Even with all the progress
in the environmental field, both in the emphasize of the effect of the
pollutants upon health, the linked studies environment-health are
insufficient, not only in Romania but all over the world also. We aim
to describe the particular situation in Romania regarding the
uncontrolled use of pesticides, to identify and evaluate the risk zones
for health and the environment in Romania, with the final goal of
designing adequate programs for reduction and control of the risk
sources. An exploratory study was conducted to determine the
magnitude of the pesticide use problem in a population living in
Saliste, a rural setting in Transylvania, Romania. The significant
stakeholders in Saliste region were interviewed and a sample from
the population living in Saliste area was selected to fill in a designed
questionnaire. All the selected participants declared that they used
pesticides in their activities for more than one purpose. They
declared they annually applied pesticides for a period of time
between 11 and 30 years, from 5 to 9 days per year on average,
mainly on crops situated at some distance from the houses but high
risk behavior was identified as the volunteers declared the use of
pesticides in the backyard gardens, near their homes, where children
were playing. The pesticide applicators did not have the necessary
knowledge about safety and exposure. The health data must be
correlated with exposure biomarkers in attempt to identify the
possible health effects of the pesticides exposure. Future plans
include educational campaigns to raise the awareness of the
population on the danger of uncontrolled use of pesticides.
Abstract: The Chinese Postman Problem (CPP) is one of the
classical problems in graph theory and is applicable in a wide range
of fields. With the rapid development of hybrid systems and model
based testing, Chinese Postman Problem with Time Dependent Travel
Times (CPPTDT) becomes more realistic than the classical problems.
In the literature, we have proposed the first integer programming
formulation for the CPPTDT problem, namely, circuit formulation,
based on which some polyhedral results are investigated and a cutting
plane algorithm is also designed. However, there exists a main drawback:
the circuit formulation is only available for solving the special
instances with all circuits passing through the origin. Therefore, this
paper proposes a new integer programming formulation for solving
all the general instances of CPPTDT. Moreover, the size of the circuit
formulation is too large, which is reduced dramatically here. Thus, it
is possible to design more efficient algorithm for solving the CPPTDT
in the future research.
Abstract: Wireless Mesh Networking is a promising proposal
for broadband data transmission in a large area with low cost and
acceptable QoS. These features- trade offs in WMNs is a hot research
field nowadays. In this paper a mathematical optimization framework
has been developed to maximize throughput according to upper
bound delay constraints. IEEE 802.11 based infrastructure
backhauling mode of WMNs has been considered to formulate the
MINLP optimization problem. Proposed method gives the full
routing and scheduling procedure in WMN in order to obtain
mentioned goals.
Abstract: Leading topic of this article is description of Lorentz
forces in the container with cuboid and cylindrical shape. Inside of
the container is an electrically conductive melt. This melt is driven by
rotating magnetic field. Input data for comparing Lorentz forces in
the container with cuboid shape were obtained from the computing
program NS-FEM3D, which uses DDS method of computing. Values
of Lorentz forces for container with cylindrical shape were obtained
from inferred analytical formula.
Abstract: In this paper we present a way of controlling the
concurrent access to data in a distributed application using the
Pessimistic Offline Lock design pattern. In our case, the application
processes a complex entity, which contains in a hierarchical structure
different other entities (objects). It will be shown how the complex
entity and the contained entities must be locked in order to control
the concurrent access to data.