Abstract: Technology changes have been acknowledged as a
critical factor in determining competitiveness of organization. Under
such environment, the right anticipation of technology change has
been of huge importance in strategic planning. To monitor technology
change, technology forecasting (TF) is frequently utilized. In
academic perspective, TF has received great attention for a long time.
However, few researches have been conducted to provide overview of
the TF literature. Even though some studies deals with review of TF
research, they generally focused on type and characteristics of various
TF, so hardly provides information about patterns of TF research and
which TF method is used in certain technology industry. Accordingly,
this study profile developments in and patterns of scholarly research in
TF over time. Also, this study investigates which technology
industries have used certain TF method and identifies their
relationships. This study will help in understanding TF research trend
and their application area.
Abstract: In this paper, we focus on the problem of driving and
herding a collection of autonomous actors to a given area. Then, a
new method based on multi-agent coordination is proposed for
solving the problem.
In our proposed method, we assume that the environment is
covered by sensors. When an event is occurred, sensors forward
information to a sink node. Based on received information, the sink
node will estimate the direction and the speed of movement of actors
and announce the obtained value to the actors. The actors coordinate
to reach the target location.
Abstract: Application of wood in rural construction is diffused
all around the world since remote times. However, its inclusion in
structural design deserves strong support from broad knowledge of
material properties. The pertinent literature reveals the application of
optical methods in determining the complete field displacement on
bodies exhibiting regular as well as irregular surfaces. The use of
moiré techniques in experimental mechanics consists in analyzing the
patterns generated on the body surface before and after deformation.
The objective of this research work is to study the qualitative
deformation behavior of wooden testing specimens under specific
loading situations. The experiment setup follows the literature
description of shadow moiré methods. Results indicate strong
anisotropy influence of the generated displacement field. Important
qualitative as well as quantitative stress and strain distribution were
obtained wooden members which are applicable to rural
constructions.
Abstract: The spin (ms) and orbital (mo) magnetic moment of
the antiferromagnetic NiO and MnO have been studied in the local
spin density approximation (LSDA+U) within full potential linear
muffin-tin orbital (FP-LMTO method with in the coulomb interaction
U varying from 0 to 10eV, exchange interaction J, from 0 to 1.0eV,
and volume compression VC in range of 0 to 80%. Our calculated
results shown that the spin magnetic moments and the orbital
magnetic moments increase linearly with increasing U and J. While
the interesting behaviour appears when volume compression is
greater than 70% for NiO and 50% for MnO at which ms collapses.
Further increase of volume compression to be at 80% leads to the
disappearance of both magnetic moments.
Abstract: Construction of tunnels is connected with high
uncertainty in the field of costs, construction period, safety and
impact on surroundings. Risk management became therefore a
common part of tunnel projects, especially after a set of fatal
collapses occurred in 1990's. Such collapses are caused usually by
combination of factors that can be divided into three main groups, i.e.
unfavourable geological conditions, failures in the design and
planning or failures in the execution.
This paper suggests a procedure enabling quantification of the
excavation risk related to extraordinary accidents using FTA and
ETA tools. It will elaborate on a common process of risk analysis and
enable the transfer of information and experience between particular
tunnel construction projects. Further, it gives a guide for designers,
management and other participants, how to deal with risk of such
accidents and how to make qualified decisions based on a
probabilistic approach.
Abstract: Phase locked loops for data links operating at 10 Gb/s
or faster are low phase noise devices designed to operate with a low
jitter reference clock. Characterization of their jitter transfer function
is difficult because the intrinsic noise of the device is comparable to
the random noise level in the reference clock signal. A linear model
is proposed to account for the intrinsic noise of a PLL. The intrinsic
noise data of a PLL for 10 Gb/s links is presented. The jitter transfer
function of a PLL in a test chip for 12.8 Gb/s data links was
determined in experiments using the 400 MHz reference clock as the
source of simultaneous excitations over a wide range of frequency.
The result shows that the PLL jitter transfer function can be
approximated by a second order linear model.
Abstract: Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computerbased
tool used extensively to solve various engineering problems
related to spatial data. In spite of growing popularity of GIS, its
complete potential to construction industry has not been realized. In
this paper, the summary of up-to-date work on spatial applications of
GIS technologies in construction industry is presented. GIS
technologies have the potential to solve space related problems of
construction industry involving complex visualization, integration of
information, route planning, E-commerce, cost estimation, etc. GISbased
methodology to handle time and space issues of construction
projects scheduling is developed and discussed in this paper.
Abstract: With the advantage of wireless network technology,
there are a variety of mobile applications which make the issue of
wireless sensor networks as a popular research area in recent years.
As the wireless sensor network nodes move arbitrarily with the
topology fast change feature, mobile nodes are often confronted with
the void issue which will initiate packet losing, retransmitting,
rerouting, additional transmission cost and power consumption.
When transmitting packets, we would not predict void problem
occurring in advance. Thus, how to improve geographic routing with
void avoidance in wireless networks becomes an important issue. In
this paper, we proposed a greedy geographical void routing algorithm
to solve the void problem for wireless sensor networks. We use the
information of source node and void area to draw two tangents to
form a fan range of the existence void which can announce voidavoiding
message. Then we use source and destination nodes to draw
a line with an angle of the fan range to select the next forwarding
neighbor node for routing. In a dynamic wireless sensor network
environment, the proposed greedy void avoiding algorithm can be
more time-saving and more efficient to forward packets, and improve
current geographical void problem of wireless sensor networks.
Abstract: In the past years a lot of effort has been made in the
field of face detection. The human face contains important features
that can be used by vision-based automated systems in order to
identify and recognize individuals. Face location, the primary step of
the vision-based automated systems, finds the face area in the input
image. An accurate location of the face is still a challenging task.
Viola-Jones framework has been widely used by researchers in order
to detect the location of faces and objects in a given image. Face
detection classifiers are shared by public communities, such as
OpenCV. An evaluation of these classifiers will help researchers to
choose the best classifier for their particular need. This work focuses
of the evaluation of face detection classifiers minding facial
landmarks.
Abstract: Power-line networks are widely used today for broadband data transmission. However, due to multipaths within the broadband power line communication (BPLC) systems owing to stochastic changes in the network load impedances, branches, etc., network or channel capacity performances are affected. This paper attempts to investigate the performance of typical medium voltage channels that uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) techniques with Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) sub carriers. It has been observed that when the load impedances are different from line characteristic impedance channel performance decreases. Also as the number of branches in the link between the transmitter and receiver increases a loss of 4dB/branch is found in the signal to noise ratio (SNR). The information presented in the paper could be useful for an appropriate design of the BPLC systems.
Abstract: This paper presents an idea to improve the efficiency
of security checks in airports through the active tracking and
monitoring of passengers and staff using OFDM modulation
technique and Finger print authentication. The details of the
passenger are multiplexed using OFDM .To authenticate the
passenger, the fingerprint along with important identification
information is collected. The details of the passenger can be
transmitted after necessary modulation, and received using various
transceivers placed within the premises of the airport, and checked at
the appropriate check points, thereby increasing the efficiency of
checking. OFDM has been employed for spectral efficiency.
Abstract: In today-s competitive environment, the security concerns have grown tremendously. In the modern world, possession is known to be 9/10-ths of the law. Hence, it is imperative for one to be able to safeguard one-s property from worldly harms such as thefts, destruction of property, people with malicious intent etc. Due to the advent of technology in the modern world, the methodologies used by thieves and robbers for stealing have been improving exponentially. Therefore, it is necessary for the surveillance techniques to also improve with the changing world. With the improvement in mass media and various forms of communication, it is now possible to monitor and control the environment to the advantage of the owners of the property. The latest technologies used in the fight against thefts and destruction are the video surveillance and monitoring. By using the technologies, it is possible to monitor and capture every inch and second of the area in interest. However, so far the technologies used are passive in nature, i.e., the monitoring systems only help in detecting the crime but do not actively participate in stopping or curbing the crime while it takes place. Therefore, we have developed a methodology to detect the motion in a video stream environment and this is an idea to ensure that the monitoring systems not only actively participate in stopping the crime, but do so while the crime is taking place. Hence, a system is used to detect any motion in a live streaming video and once motion has been detected in the live stream, the software will activate a warning system and capture the live streaming video.
Abstract: The effect of cassava root ensiled with cassava top or
legumes on voluntary feed intake and milk production were
determined in 12 dairy cows using a 4×3 change-over design.
Experimental period were 30 days long and consisted of 14 days of
adaptation. Silage was prepared from cassava root mixed with
cassava top or legumes at ratio 60:40. Cows were allotted at random
to receive ad libitum one of four rations: T1) control, T2) cassava
root +cassava top-silages, T3) cassava root +hamata - silages and T4)
cassava root +Thapra stylo-silages.
The dry matter intake (BW0.75) was higher (P< 0.05) in cow fed
with silages diets compared with T1. However, the intake of T2 was
higher among treatments. Milk production was lowest in cow fed
with T1. Among silages based diets, milk production was not
significantly different but 4%FCM was higher in cow fed T2. Milk
compositions were not affected by feeding diets.
It is concluded that feeding cassava root ensiled with its leaves as
a supplement increased dry matter intake and significantly improved
4%FCM. The combination of cassava root and legume silages did not
improve the feed intake but did increase the milk production.
Abstract: The objectives of this study are to determine the role of media that influence the values, attitudes and behaviors of Thai youths. Analytical qualitative research techniques were used for this purpose. Data collection based techniques was used which were individual interviews and focus group discussions with journalists, sample of high school and university students, and parents. The results show that “Social Media" is still the most popular media for Thai youths. It is also still in the hands of the marketing business and it can motivate Thai youths to do so many things. The main reasons of media exposure are to find quality information that they want quickly, get satisfaction and can use social media to get more exciting and to build communities. They believe that the need for media and information literacy skills is defined as making judgments, personal integrity, training of family and the behavior of close friends.
Abstract: In this paper, a mathematical model is proposed to
estimate the dropping probabilities of cellular wireless networks by
queuing handoff instead of reserving guard channels. Usually, prioritized
handling of handoff calls is done with the help of guard channel
reservation. To evaluate the proposed model, gamma inter-arrival and
general service time distributions have been considered. Prevention of
some of the attempted calls from reaching to the switching center due
to electromagnetic propagation failure or whimsical user behaviour
(missed call, prepaid balance etc.), make the inter-arrival time of
the input traffic to follow gamma distribution. The performance is
evaluated and compared with that of guard channel scheme.
Abstract: In the present study, position estimation of switched reluctance motor (SRM) has been achieved on the basis of the artificial neural networks (ANNs). The ANNs can estimate the rotor position without using an extra rotor position sensor by measuring the phase flux linkages and phase currents. Flux linkage-phase current-rotor position data set and supervised backpropagation learning algorithm are used in training of the ANN based position estimator. A 4-phase SRM have been used to verify the accuracy and feasibility of the proposed position estimator. Simulation results show that the proposed position estimator gives precise and accurate position estimations for both under the low and high level reference speeds of the SRM
Abstract: Multi-residue analysis method for penicillins was
developed and validated in bovine muscle, chicken, milk, and flatfish.
Detection was based on liquid chromatography tandem mass
spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The developed method was validated for
specificity, precision, recovery, and linearity. The analytes were
extracted with 80% acetonitrile and clean-up by a single
reversed-phase solid-phase extraction step. Six penicillins presented
recoveries higher than 76% with the exception of Amoxicillin
(59.7%). Relative standard deviations (RSDs) were not more than
10%. LOQs values ranged from 0.1 and to 4.5 ug/kg. The method was
applied to 128 real samples. Benzylpenicillin was detected in 15
samples and Cloxacillin was detected in 7 samples. Oxacillin was
detected in 2 samples. But the detected levels were under the MRL
levels for penicillins in samples.
Abstract: Standards for learning objects focus primarily on
content presentation. They were already extended to support automatic evaluation but it is limited to exercises with a predefined
set of answers. The existing standards lack the metadata required by specialized evaluators to handle types of exercises with an indefinite
set of solutions. To address this issue existing learning object standards were extended to the particular requirements of a
specialized domain. A definition of programming problems as learning objects, compatible both with Learning Management Systems and with systems performing automatic evaluation of
programs, is presented in this paper. The proposed definition includes
metadata that cannot be conveniently represented using existing standards, such as: the type of automatic evaluation; the requirements
of the evaluation engine; and the roles of different assets - tests cases, program solutions, etc. The EduJudge project and its main services
are also presented as a case study on the use of the proposed definition of programming problems as learning objects.
Abstract: High voltage generators are being subject to higher
voltage rating and are being designed to operate in harsh conditions.
Stator windings are the main component of generators in which
Electrical, magnetically and thermal stresses remain major failures
for insulation degradation accelerated aging. A large number of
generators failed due to stator winding problems, mainly insulation
deterioration. Insulation degradation assessment plays vital role in the
asset life management. Mostly the stator failure is catastrophic
causing significant damage to the plant. Other than generation loss,
stator failure involves heavy repair or replacement cost. Electro
thermal analysis is the main characteristic for improvement design of
stator slot-s insulation. Dielectric parameters such as insulation
thickness, spacing, material types, geometry of winding and slot are
major design consideration. A very powerful method available to
analyze electro thermal performance is Finite Element Method
(FEM) which is used in this paper. The analysis of various stator coil
and slot configurations are used to design the better dielectric system
to reduce electrical and thermal stresses in order to increase the
power of generator in the same volume of core. This paper describes
the process used to perform classical design and improvement
analysis of stator slot-s insulation.
Abstract: Discrimination in employment has its wider social and
economic consequences other than mere violating a basic human
right. Discrimination involves treating people differently because of
certain grounds such as race, color, or sex, which results in the
impairment of equality of opportunity and treatment. As an essential
part of promoting decent work, combating discrimination through the
principle of non-discrimination has been established by the
International Labor Organization (ILO) through the Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work 1998. Considering
elimination of discrimination in employment as a core labor standard,
member states are expected to respect, promote and implement it to
their national laws and policies. Being a member state, Malaysia has
to position herself align with this international requirement. The
author discusses the related convention together with Malaysia-s
responses on the matter. At the closing stage, the prospect of
Malaysia is presumed taking into account of the current positions and
reports submitted to the ILO.