Abstract: In this paper a very simple and effective user
administration view of computing clusters systems is implemented in
order of friendly provide the configuration and monitoring of
distributed application executions. The user view, the administrator
view, and an internal control module create an illusionary
management environment for better system usability. The
architecture, properties, performance, and the comparison with others
software for cluster management are briefly commented.
Abstract: The garment manufacturing industry involves
sequential processes that are subjected to uncontrollable variations.
The industry depends on the skill of labour in handling the varieties
of fabrics and accessories, machines, as well as complicated sewing
operation. Due to these reasons, garment manufacturers have created
systems to monitor and to control the quality of the products on a
regular basis by conducting quality approaches to minimize variation.
With that, the aim of this research has been to ascertain the quality
approaches deployed by Malaysian garment manufacturers in three
key areas - quality systems and tools; quality control and types of
inspection; as well as sampling procedures chosen for garment
inspection. Besides, the focus of this research was to distinguish the
quality approaches adopted by companies that supplied finished
garments to both domestic and international markets. Feedback from
each company representative has been obtained via online survey,
which comprised of five sections and 44 questions on the
organizational profile and the quality approaches employed in the
garment industry. As a result, the response rate was 31%. The results
revealed that almost all companies have established their own
mechanism of process control by conducting a series of quality
inspections for daily production, either it was formally set up or
otherwise. In addition, quality inspection has been the predominant
quality control activity in the garment manufacturing, while the level
of complexity of these activities was substantially dictated by the
customers. Moreover, AQL-based sampling was utilized by
companies dealing with exports, whilst almost all the companies that
only concentrated on the domestic market were comfortable using
their own sampling procedures for garment inspection. Hence, this
research has provided insights into the implementation of a number
of quality approaches that were perceived as important and useful in
the garment manufacturing sector, which is truly labour-intensive.
Abstract: Mixed-use development is one of the most important
trends in new island house transformation along southeast coastal area
in China. Unique island geographical environment and profound
fishing village culture coexist for a long time in this. With artistic
creation for the purpose of the "live-work" houses are in a large
number of emergence, however, still lack of systematic strategy.
Based on space effect from marine resources to regional human
settlements, this article teases out the evolution regularity of island
settlement context and architectural form, then, puts forward the
formation mechanism and construction model of art island houses.
Thereby, to further explore space design method and site creation
strategy of mixed-use development.
Abstract: In this paper, we present an application of Riemannian
geometry for processing non-Euclidean image data. We consider the
image as residing in a Riemannian manifold, for developing a new
method to brain edge detection and brain extraction. Automating this
process is a challenge due to the high diversity in appearance brain
tissue, among different patients and sequences. The main contribution, in this paper, is the use of an edge-based
anisotropic diffusion tensor for the segmentation task by integrating
both image edge geometry and Riemannian manifold (geodesic,
metric tensor) to regularize the convergence contour and extract
complex anatomical structures. We check the accuracy of the
segmentation results on simulated brain MRI scans of single
T1-weighted, T2-weighted and Proton Density sequences. We
validate our approach using two different databases: BrainWeb
database, and MRI Multiple sclerosis Database (MRI MS DB). We
have compared, qualitatively and quantitatively, our approach with
the well-known brain extraction algorithms. We show that using
a Riemannian manifolds to medical image analysis improves the
efficient results to brain extraction, in real time, outperforming the
results of the standard techniques.
Abstract: This paper expands on the role of the professor by detailing the origins of the profession, adding some of the unique contributions of North American universities as well as some of the best practice recommendations to the unique tripartite role of the professor. It describes current challenges to the profession including the ever-controversial student rating of professors. It continues with the significance of empowerment to the role of the professor. It concludes with a predictive prescription for the future of the professoriate and the role of the university-level educational administrator toward that end.
Abstract: This study aims to assess the students' needs for the
tour planning e-guide. The study is developing on the contribution
and importance of the Educational Tour Planning Guide (ETP) is a
multimedia course ware as one of the effective methods in teaching
and learning of environmental science among the students in primary
schools of the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. It is to provide the
student with knowledge and experience about tourism, environmental
science activities and process. E-guide to ETP also hopes to
strengthen the student understanding toward the subject learn in the
tourism environmental science. In order to assess the student's needs
on the e-Guide to Educational Tour Planning in Environmental
Science, the study has produced a similar e-Guide to ETP in the form
as a course ware to be tested during the study. The study has involved
several steps in order to be completed. It is such as the formulation of
the problem, the review of the literature, the formulation of the study
methodology, the production of the e-Guide to ETP, field survey and
finally the analyses and discussion made on the data gathered during
the study. The survey has involved 100 respondents among the
students in standard six primary schools in Kluang Johor. Through
the findings, the study indicates that the current tested product is
acceptable among the students in learning environmental science as a
guide to plan for the tour. The findings also show a slight difference
between the respondents who are using the e-Guide to ETP, and those
who are not on the basis of the e-Guide to ETP results. Due the
important for the study, the researcher hopes to be having a fair
discussion and excellence, recommendation for the development of
the product of the current study. This report is written also important
to provide a written reference for the future related study.
Abstract: This study focuses on the hydro-geology and chemical
constituents analysis of Ikogosi Warm Spring waters in South West
Nigeria. Ikogosi warm spring is a global tourist attraction because it
has both warm and cold spring sources. Water samples from the cold
spring, warm spring and the meeting point were collected, analyzed
and the result shows close similarity in temperature, hydrogen iron
concentration (pH), alkalinity, hardness, Calcium, Magnesium,
Sodium, Iron, total dissolved solid and heavy metals. The measured
parameters in the water samples are within World Health
Organisation standards for fresh water. The study of the geology of
the warm spring reveals that the study area is underlain by a group of
slightly migmatised to non-migmatised paraschists and meta-igneous
rocks. Also, concentration levels of selected heavy metals, (Copper,
Cadmium, Zinc, Arsenic and Cromium) were determined in the water
(ppm) samples. Chromium had the highest concentration value of
1.52ppm (an average of 49.67%) and Cadmium had the lowest
concentration with value of 0.15ppm (an average of 4.89%).
Comparison of these results showed that, their mean levels are within
the standard values obtained in Nigeria. It can be concluded that both
warm and spring water are safe for drinking.
Abstract: This study identified the hypothesised relationship
between creative experience, and revisit intention of handmade
oriental parasol umbrella in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. A face-to-face
questionnaire survey was administered in Meinong town, Kaohsiung.
The components of creative experience were found as “sense of
achievement”, “unique learning” and “interaction with instructors” in
creative tourism. The result also revealed significant positive
relationships between creative experience and revisit intention in
handmade activities. This paper provides additional suggestions for
enhancing revisit intention and guidance regarding creative tourism.
Abstract: The advancements in technology allow the
development of a new system that can continuously measure surface
soil erosion. Continuous soil erosion measurements are required in
order to comprehend the erosional processes and propose effective
and efficient conservation measures to mitigate surface erosion.
Mitigating soil erosion, especially in Mediterranean countries such as
Greece, is essential in order to maintain environmental and
agricultural sustainability. In this paper, we present the Automated
Soil Erosion Monitoring System (ASEMS) that measures surface soil
erosion along with other factors that impact erosional process.
Specifically, this system measures ground level changes (surface soil
erosion), rainfall, air temperature, soil temperature, and soil moisture.
Another important innovation is that the data will be collected by
remote communication. In addition, stakeholder’s awareness is a key
factor to help reduce any environmental problem. The different
dissemination activities that were utilized are described. The overall
outcomes were the development of a new innovative system that can
measure erosion very accurately. These data from the system help
study the process of erosion and find the best possible methods to
reduce erosion. The dissemination activities enhance the stakeholders
and public's awareness on surface soil erosion problems and will lead
to the adoption of more effective soil erosion conservation practices
in Greece.
Abstract: The development of composite materials and the
related design and manufacturing technologies is one of the most
important advances in the history of materials. Composites are
multifunctional materials having unprecedented mechanical and
physical properties that can be tailored to meet the requirements of a
particular application. Some composites also exhibit great resistance
to high-temperature corrosion, oxidation, and wear. Polymers are
widely used indoors and outdoors, therefore they are exposed to a
chemical environment which may include atmospheric oxygen, acidic
fumes, acidic rain, moisture heat and thermal shock, ultra-violet light,
high energy radiation, etc. Different polymers are affected differently
by these factors even though the amorphous polymers are more
sensitive. Ageing is also important and it is defined as the process of
deterioration of engineering materials resulting from the combined
effects of atmospheric radiation, heat, oxygen, water, microorganisms
and other atmospheric factors.
Abstract: In this paper, we present an optimization technique or
a learning algorithm using the hybrid architecture by combining the
most popular sequence recognition models such as Recurrent Neural
Networks (RNNs) and Hidden Markov models (HMMs). In order to
improve the sequence/pattern recognition/classification performance
by applying a hybrid/neural symbolic approach, a gradient descent
learning algorithm is developed using the Real Time Recurrent
Learning of Recurrent Neural Network for processing the knowledge
represented in trained Hidden Markov Models. The developed hybrid
algorithm is implemented on automata theory as a sample test beds
and the performance of the designed algorithm is demonstrated and
evaluated on learning the deterministic finite state automata.
Abstract: Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRPs) are widely
used for advanced applications, in particular in aerospace, automotive
and wind energy industries. Once cured to near net shape, CFRP
parts need several finishing operations such as trimming, milling or
drilling in order to accommodate fastening hardware and meeting the
final dimensions. The present research aims to study the effect of the
cutting temperature in trimming on the mechanical strength of high
performance CFRP laminates used for aeronautics applications. The
cutting temperature is of great importance when dealing with
trimming of CFRP. Temperatures higher than the glass-transition
temperature (Tg) of the resin matrix are highly undesirable: they
cause degradation of the matrix in the trimmed edges area, which can
severely affect the mechanical performance of the entire component.
In this study, a 9.50mm diameter CVD diamond coated carbide tool
with six flutes was used to trim 24-plies CFRP laminates. A
300m/min cutting speed and 1140mm/min feed rate were used in the
experiments. The tool was heated prior to trimming using a
blowtorch, for temperatures ranging from 20°C to 300°C. The
temperature at the cutting edge was measured using embedded KType
thermocouples. Samples trimmed for different cutting
temperatures, below and above Tg, were mechanically tested using
three-points bending short-beam loading configurations. New cutting
tools as well as worn cutting tools were utilized for the experiments.
The experiments with the new tools could not prove any correlation
between the length of cut, the cutting temperature and the mechanical
performance. Thus mechanical strength was constant, regardless of
the cutting temperature. However, for worn tools, producing a cutting
temperature rising up to 450°C, thermal damage of the resin was
observed. The mechanical tests showed a reduced mean resistance in
short beam configuration, while the resistance in three point bending
decreases with increase of the cutting temperature.
Abstract: Rapid prototyping is a new group of manufacturing
processes, which allows fabrication of physical of any complexity
using a layer by layer deposition technique directly from a computer
system. The rapid prototyping process greatly reduces the time and
cost necessary to bring a new product to market. The prototypes
made by these systems are used in a range of industrial application
including design evaluation, verification, testing, and as patterns for
casting processes. These processes employ a variety of materials and
mechanisms to build up the layers to build the part. The present work
was to build a FDM prototyping machine that could control the X-Y
motion and material deposition, to generate two-dimensional and
three-dimensional complex shapes. This study focused on the
deposition of wax material. This work was to find out the properties
of the wax materials used in this work in order to enable better
control of the FDM process. This study will look at the integration of
a computer controlled electro-mechanical system with the traditional
FDM additive prototyping process. The characteristics of the wax
were also analysed in order to optimise the model production process.
These included wax phase change temperature, wax viscosity and
wax droplet shape during processing.
Abstract: In recent years, the power system has been changed
and a flexible power pricing system such as demand response has been
sought in Japan. The demand response system works simply in the
household sector and the owner as the decision-maker, can benefit
from power saving. On the other hand, the execution of demand
response in the office building is more complex than in the household
because various people such as owners, building administrators and
occupants are involved in the decision-making process. While the
owners benefit from demand saving, the occupants are exposed to
restricted benefits of a demand-saved environment. One of the reasons
is that building systems are usually under centralized management and
each occupant cannot choose freely whether to participate in demand
response or not. In addition, it is unclear whether incentives give
occupants the motivation to participate. However, the recent
development of IT and building systems enables the personalized
control of the office environment where each occupant can control the
lighting level or temperature individually. Therefore, it can be possible
to have a system which each occupant can make a decision of whether
or not to participate in demand response in the office building. This study investigates personal responses to demand response
requests, under the condition where each occupant can adjust their
brightness individually in their workspace. Once workers participate
in the demand response, their desk-lights are automatically turned off.
The participation rates in the demand response events are compared
among four groups, which are divided by different motivation, the
presence, or absence of incentives and the method of participation. The
result shows that there are significant differences of participation rates
in demand response event between four groups. The method of
participation has a large effect on the participation rate. The “Opt-out”
groups where the occupants are automatically enrolled in a demand
response event if they do not express non-participation have the
highest participation rate in the four groups. Incentives also have an
effect on the participation rate. This study also reports on the impact of low illumination office
environment on the occupants, such as stress or fatigue. The
electrocardiogram and the questionnaire are used to investigate the
autonomic nervous activity and subjective fatigue symptoms of the
occupants. There is no big difference between dim workspace during
demand response event and bright workspace in autonomic nervous
activity and fatigue.
Abstract: Public participation in recycling domestic waste is still
very low in Malaysia. Only 10.5% of solid waste was recycled up to
now which is far below than of in developed countries. Therefore,
understanding public motivations towards recycling domestic waste
are important to improve current recycling rate. Thus, this study
attempts to identify what are the possible motivations and hindrances
for the public to recycle. Open-ended questions format were
administered to 484 people in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Two
specific questions we asked to explore their general determinants and
barriers in practicing recycling: “What motivates you to recycle?”
and “What are the barriers you encountered in doing recycling
activities?” Thematic was conducted on the open-ended questions in
which themes were created with the raw comments. It was found that
the underlying recycling motivations are (i) awareness’ towards the
environment; (ii) benefits to the society and individual; and (iii)
social influence. Non participations are influence by (i) attitudes; (ii)
commitment; (iii) facilities; (iv) knowledge; (v) inconvenience; and
(vi) enforcement.
Abstract: This paper presents the influence of the vertical
seismic component on the non-linear dynamics analysis of three
different structures. The subject structures were analyzed and
designed according to recent codes. This paper considers three types
of buildings: 5-, 10-, and 15-story buildings. The non-linear
dynamics analysis of the structures with assuming elastic-perfectlyplastic
behavior was performed using RAM PERFORM-3D software;
the horizontal component was taken into consideration with and
without the incorporation of the corresponding vertical component.
Dynamic responses obtained for the horizontal component acting
alone were compared with those obtained from the simultaneous
application of both seismic components. The results show that the
effect of the vertical component of ground motion may increase the
axial load significantly in the interior columns and, consequently, the
stories. The plastic mechanisms would be changed. The P-Delta
effect is expected to increase. The punching base plate shear of the
columns should be considered. Moreover, the vertical component
increases the input energy when the structures exhibit inelastic
behavior and are taller.
Abstract: Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) can be
considered among one of the most important service facilities in the
banking industry. The investment in ATMs and the impact on the
banking industry is growing steadily in every part of the world. The
banks take into consideration many factors like safety, convenience,
visibility, and cost in order to determine the optimum locations of
ATMs. Today, ATMs are not only available in bank branches but
also at retail locations. Another important factor is the cash
management in ATMs. A cash demand model for every ATM is
needed in order to have an efficient cash management system. This
forecasting model is based on historical cash demand data which is
highly related to the ATMs location. So, the location and the cash
management problem should be considered together. This paper
provides a general review on studies, efforts and development in
ATMs location and cash management problem.
Abstract: Red pepper (Capsicum annum L.) has long been
recognized as a good source of antioxidants, being rich in ascorbic
acid and other phytochemicals. In Turkish cuisine red pepper is
sometimes consumed raw in salads and baked as a garnish, but its
most wide consumption type is red pepper paste. The processing of
red pepper into pepper paste includes various thermal treatment steps
such as heating and pasteurizing. There are reports demonstrating an
enhancement or reduction in antioxidant activity of vegetables after
thermal treatment. So this study was conducted to investigate the
total phenolic, ascorbic acid and total carotenoids as well as free
radical scavenging activity of raw red pepper and various red pepper
pastes obtainable on the market. The samples were analyzed for
radical-scavenging activity (RSA) and total polyphenol (TP) content
using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Folin-Ciocalteu
methods, respectively. Total carotenoids and ascorbic acid contents
were determined spectrophotometrically. Results suggest that hot
pepper paste contained significantly (P0.05) difference in RSA, ascorbic acid and total carotenoids
content between sweet and hot red pepper paste products. It is
concluded that the red pepper paste, that has a wide range of
consumption in Turkish cuisine, presents a good dose of phenolic
compounds and antioxidant capacity and it should be regarded as a
functional food.
Abstract: Cholera is a disease that is predominately common in
developing countries due to poor sanitation and overcrowding
population. In this paper, a deterministic model for the dynamics of
cholera is developed and control measures such as health educational
message, therapeutic treatment, and vaccination are incorporated in
the model. The effective reproduction number is computed in terms
of the model parameters. The existence and stability of the
equilibrium states, disease free and endemic equilibrium states are
established and showed to be locally and globally asymptotically
stable when R0 < 1 and R0 > 1 respectively. The existence of
backward bifurcation of the model is investigated. Furthermore,
numerical simulation of the model developed is carried out to show
the impact of the control measures and the result indicates that
combined control measures will help to reduce the spread of cholera
in the population.
Abstract: This article presents an alternative collapse capacity
intensity measure in the three elements form which is influenced by
the spectral ordinates at periods longer than that of the first mode
period at near and far source sites. A parameter, denoted by β, is
defined by which the spectral ordinate effects, up to the effective
period (2T1), on the intensity measure are taken into account. The
methodology permits to meet the hazard-levelled target extreme
event in the probabilistic and deterministic forms. A MATLAB code
is developed involving OpenSees to calculate the collapse capacities
of the 8 archetype RC structures having 2 to 20 stories for regression
process. The incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) method is used to
calculate the structure’s collapse values accounting for the element
stiffness and strength deterioration. The general near field set
presented by FEMA is used in a series of performing nonlinear
analyses. 8 linear relationships are developed for the 8structutres
leading to the correlation coefficient up to 0.93. A collapse capacity
near field prediction equation is developed taking into account the
results of regression processes obtained from the 8 structures. The
proposed prediction equation is validated against a set of actual near
field records leading to a good agreement. Implementation of the
proposed equation to the four archetype RC structures demonstrated
different collapse capacities at near field site compared to those of
FEMA. The reasons of differences are believed to be due to
accounting for the spectral shape effects.