Abstract: Optical network uses a tool for routing which is called
Latin router. These routers use particular algorithms for routing. In this paper, we present algorithm for configuration of optical network that is optimized regarding previous algorithm. We show that by decreasing the number of hops for source-destination in lightpath number of satisfied request is less. Also we had shown that more than
single-hop lightpath relating single-hop lightpath is better.
Abstract: UWB is a very attractive technology for many
applications. It provides many advantages such as fine resolution and high power efficiency. Our interest in the current study is the use of
UWB radar technique in microwave medical imaging systems, especially for early breast cancer detection. The Federal Communications Commission FCC allowed frequency bandwidth of
3.1 to 10.6 GHz for this purpose. In this paper we suggest an UWB Bowtie slot antenna with enhanced bandwidth. Effects of varying the geometry of the antenna
on its performance and bandwidth are studied. The proposed antenna
is simulated in CST Microwave Studio. Details of antenna design and
simulation results such as return loss and radiation patterns are discussed in this paper. The final antenna structure exhibits good
UWB characteristics and has surpassed the bandwidth requirements.
Abstract: The culture of riding heavy motorcycles originates
from advanced countries and mainly comes from Europe, North
America, and Japan. Heavy duty motorcycle riders are different from
people who view motorcycles as a convenient mean of transportation.
They regard riding them as a kind of enjoyment and high-level taste.
The activities of riding heavy duty motorcycles have formes a
distinctive landscape in domestic land in Taiwan. Previous studies
which explored motorcycle culture in Taiwan still focused on the
objects of motorcycle engine displacement under 50 cc.. The study
aims to study the heavy duty motorcycles of engine displacement over
550 cc. and explores where their attractiveness is. For finding the
attractiveness of heavy duty motorcycle, the study chooses Miryoku
Engineering (Preference-Based Design) approach. Two steps are
adopted to proceed the research. First, through arranging the letters
obtained from interviewing experts, EGM (The Evaluation Grid
Method) was applied to find out the structure of attractiveness. The
attractive styles are eye-dazzling, leisure, classic, and racing
competitive styles. Secondarily, Quantification Theory Type I analysis
was adopted as a tool for analyzing the importance of attractiveness.
The relationship between style and attractive parts was also discussed.
The results could contribute to the design and research development of
heavy duty motorcycle industry in Taiwan.
Abstract: This study aims at providing empirical evidence on a
comparison of two equity valuation models: (1) the dividend discount
model (DDM) and (2) the residual income model (RIM), in
estimating equity values of Thai firms during 1995-2004. Results
suggest that DDM and RIM underestimate equity values of Thai
firms and that RIM outperforms DDM in predicting cross-sectional
stock prices. Results on regression of cross-sectional stock prices on
the decomposed DDM and RIM equity values indicate that book
value of equity provides the greatest incremental explanatory power,
relative to other components in DDM and RIM terminal values,
suggesting that book value distortions resulting from accounting
procedures and choices are less severe than forecast and
measurement errors in discount rates and growth rates.
We also document that the incremental explanatory power of book
value of equity during 1998-2004, representing the information
environment under Thai Accounting Standards reformed after the
1997 economic crisis to conform to International Accounting
Standards, is significantly greater than that during 1995-1996,
representing the information environment under the pre-reformed
Thai Accounting Standards. This implies that the book value
distortions are less severe under the 1997 Reformed Thai Accounting
Standards than the pre-reformed Thai Accounting Standards.
Abstract: Graph decompositions are vital in the study of combinatorial design theory. Given two graphs G and H, an H-decomposition of G is a partition of the edge set of G into disjoint isomorphic copies of H. An n-sun is a cycle Cn with an edge terminating in a vertex of degree one attached to each vertex. In this paper we have proved that the complete graph of order 2n, K2n can be decomposed into n-2 n-suns, a Hamilton cycle and a perfect matching, when n is even and for odd case, the decomposition is n-1 n-suns and a perfect matching. For an odd order complete graph K2n+1, delete the star subgraph K1, 2n and the resultant graph K2n is decomposed as in the case of even order. The method of building n-suns uses Walecki's construction for the Hamilton decomposition of complete graphs. A spanning tree decomposition of even order complete graphs is also discussed using the labeling scheme of n-sun decomposition. A complete bipartite graph Kn, n can be decomposed into n/2 n-suns when n/2 is even. When n/2 is odd, Kn, n can be decomposed into (n-2)/2 n-suns and a Hamilton cycle.
Abstract: Sport is one of the sectors in which the largest
technical projections regarding the functions of textiles can be found.
He is a large consumer of high performance composite materials and
new fibers. It is one of the sectors where the innovation is the most
important when the greatest numbers of spectacular developments are
aimed at increasing performance. In medicine, textile innovation is
used and contributes in the amelioration of different materials such as
dressing, orthosis, bandages, etc. The hygienic textiles in non-woven
materials record a strong growth. The objective of this study is to
show the different advances of development we obtained in the both
ways (sport and medicine). Polyamide fibers where developed
tacking into account the specification of the high level athlete’s
performance like swimming and triathlon (Olympic Games, Brazil
2016). The first textile utilization was for skiing (Olympic Games,
Sotchi 2014). The different textiles technologies where adapted for
medicine.
Abstract: The present work represents an investigation of the
hydrolysis of hull-less pumpkin (Cucurbita Pepo L.) oil cake protein
isolate (PuOC PI) by pepsin. To examine the effectiveness and
suitability of pepsin towards PuOC PI the kinetic parameters for
pepsin on PuOC PI were determined and then, the hydrolysis process
was studied using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The
hydrolysis was carried out at temperature of 30°C and pH 3.00. Time
and initial enzyme/substrate ratio (E/S) at three levels were selected
as the independent parameters. The degree of hydrolysis, DH, was
mesuared after 20, 30 and 40 minutes, at initial E/S of 0.7, 1 and 1.3
mA/mg proteins. Since the proposed second-order polynomial model
showed good fit with the experimental data (R2 = 0.9822), the
obtained mathematical model could be used for monitoring the
hydrolysis of PuOC PI by pepsin, under studied experimental
conditions, varying the time and initial E/S. To achieve the highest
value of DH (39.13 %), the obtained optimum conditions for time
and initial E/S were 30 min and 1.024 mA/mg proteins.
Abstract: e-mail has become an important means of electronic
communication but the viability of its usage is marred by Unsolicited
Bulk e-mail (UBE) messages. UBE consists of many types
like pornographic, virus infected and 'cry-for-help' messages as well
as fake and fraudulent offers for jobs, winnings and medicines. UBE
poses technical and socio-economic challenges to usage of e-mails.
To meet this challenge and combat this menace, we need to
understand UBE. Towards this end, the current paper presents a
content-based textual analysis of nearly 3000 winnings-announcing
UBE. Technically, this is an application of Text Parsing and
Tokenization for an un-structured textual document and we approach
it using Bag Of Words (BOW) and Vector Space Document Model
techniques. We have attempted to identify the most frequently
occurring lexis in the winnings-announcing UBE documents. The
analysis of such top 100 lexis is also presented. We exhibit the
relationship between occurrence of a word from the identified lexisset
in the given UBE and the probability that the given UBE will be
the one announcing fake winnings. To the best of our knowledge and
survey of related literature, this is the first formal attempt for
identification of most frequently occurring lexis in winningsannouncing
UBE by its textual analysis. Finally, this is a sincere
attempt to bring about alertness against and mitigate the threat of
such luring but fake UBE.
Abstract: This paper describes a methodology for remote
performance monitoring of retail refrigeration systems. The proposed
framework starts with monitoring of the whole refrigeration circuit
which allows detecting deviations from expected behavior caused by
various faults and degradations. The subsequent diagnostics methods
drill down deeper in the equipment hierarchy to more specifically
determine root causes. An important feature of the proposed concept
is that it does not require any additional sensors, and thus, the
performance monitoring solution can be deployed at a low
installation cost. Moreover only a minimum of contextual
information is required, which also substantially reduces time and
cost of the deployment process.
Abstract: A time-domain numerical model within the
framework of transmission line modeling (TLM) is developed to
simulate electromagnetic pulse propagation inside multiple
microcavities forming photonic crystal (PhC) structures. The model
developed is quite general and is capable of simulating complex
electromagnetic problems accurately. The field quantities can be
mapped onto a passive electrical circuit equivalent what ensures that
TLM is provably stable and conservative at a local level.
Furthermore, the circuit representation allows a high level of
hybridization of TLM with other techniques and lumped circuit
models of components and devices. A photonic crystal structure
formed by rods (or blocks) of high-permittivity dieletric material
embedded in a low-dielectric background medium is simulated as an
example. The model developed gives vital spatio-temporal
information about the signal, and also gives spectral information over
a wide frequency range in a single run. The model has wide
applications in microwave communication systems, optical
waveguides and electromagnetic materials simulations.
Abstract: Estimation time and cost of work completion in a
project and follow up them during execution are contributors to
success or fail of a project, and is very important for project
management team. Delivering on time and within budgeted cost
needs to well managing and controlling the projects. To dealing with
complex task of controlling and modifying the baseline project
schedule during execution, earned value management systems have
been set up and widely used to measure and communicate the real
physical progress of a project. But it often fails to predict the total
duration of the project. In this paper data mining techniques is used
predicting the total project duration in term of Time Estimate At
Completion-EAC (t). For this purpose, we have used a project with
90 activities, it has updated day by day. Then, it is used regular
indexes in literature and applied Earned Duration Method to
calculate time estimate at completion and set these as input data for
prediction and specifying the major parameters among them using
Clem software. By using data mining, the effective parameters on
EAC and the relationship between them could be extracted and it is
very useful to manage a project with minimum delay risks. As we
state, this could be a simple, safe and applicable method in prediction
the completion time of a project during execution.
Abstract: In this paper, we study the oscillation of a class of second-order nonlinear neutral damped variable delay dynamic equations on time scales. By using a generalized Riccati transformation technique, we obtain some sufficient conditions for the oscillation of the equations. The results of this paper improve and extend some known results. We also illustrate our main results with some examples.
Abstract: High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) generally give rise to positive impacts on employees by increasing their commitments in workplaces. While some argued this actually have considerable negative impacts on employees with increasing possibilities of imposing strains caused by stress and intensity of such work places. Do stressful workplaces hamper employee commitment? The author has tried to find the answer by exploring linkages between HPWS practices and its impact on employees in Japanese organizations. How negative outcomes like job intensity and workplaces and job stressors can influence different forms of employees- commitments which can be a hindrance to their performance. Design: A close ended questionnaire survey was conducted amongst 16 large, medium and small sized Japanese companies from diverse industries around Chiba, Saitama, and Ibaraki Prefectures and in Tokyo from the month of October 2008 to February 2009. Questionnaires were aimed to the non managerial employees- perceptions of HPWS practices, their behavior, working life experiences in their work places. A total of 227 samples are used for analysis in the study. Methods: Correlations, MANCOVA, SEM Path analysis using AMOS software are used for data analysis in this study. Findings: Average non-managerial perception of HPWS adoption is significantly but negatively correlated to both work place Stressors and Continuous commitment, but positively correlated to job Intensity, Affective, Occupational and Normative commitments in different workplaces at Japan. The path analysis by SEM shows significant indirect relationship between Stressors and employee Affective organizational commitment and Normative organizational commitments. Intensity also has a significant indirect effect on Occupational commitments. HPWS has an additive effect on all the outcomes variables. Limitations: The sample size in this study cannot be a representative to the entire population of non-managerial employees in Japan. There were no respondents from automobile, pharmaceuticals, finance industries. The duration of the survey coincided in a period when Japan as most of the other countries is under going recession. Biases could not be ruled out completely. We must take cautions in interpreting the results of studies as they cannot be generalized. And the path analysis cannot provide the complete causality of the inter linkages between the variables used in the study. Originality: There have been limited studies on linkages in HPWS adoptions and their impacts on employees- behaviors and commitments in Japanese workplaces. This study may provide some ingredients for further research in the fields of HRM policies and practices and their linkages on different forms of employees- commitments.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a new algorithm for joint time-delay and direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation, here called two-dimensional code acquisition, in an asynchronous directsequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) array system. This algorithm depends on eigenvector-eigenvalue decomposition of sample correlation matrix, and requires to know desired user-s training sequence. The performance of the algorithm is analyzed both analytically and numerically in uncorrelated and coherent multipath environment. Numerical examples show that the algorithm is robust with unknown number of coherent signals.
Abstract: This paper presents initiatives of Knowledge
Management (KM) applied to Forensic Sciences field, especially
developed at the Forensic Science Institute of the Brazilian Federal
Police. Successful projects, related to knowledge sharing, drugs
analysis and environmental crimes, are reported in the KM
perspective. The described results are related to: a) the importance of
having an information repository, like a digital library, in such a
multidisciplinary organization; b) the fight against drug dealing and
environmental crimes, enabling the possibility to map the evolution
of crimes, drug trafficking flows, and the advance of deforestation in
Amazon rain forest. Perspectives of new KM projects under
development and studies are also presented, tracing an evolution line
of the KM view at the Forensic Science Institute.
Abstract: Earth reinforcing techniques have become useful and economical to solve problems related to difficult grounds and provide satisfactory foundation performance. In this context, this paper uses radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) for predicting the bearing pressure of strip footing on reinforced granular bed overlying weak soil. The inputs for the neural network models included plate width, thickness of granular bed and number of layers of reinforcements, settlement ratio, water content, dry density, cohesion and angle of friction. The results indicated that RBFNN model exhibited more than 84 % prediction accuracy, thereby demonstrating its application in a geotechnical problem.
Abstract: Segmentation and quantification of stenosis is an
important task in assessing coronary artery disease. One of the main
challenges is measuring the real diameter of curved vessels.
Moreover, uncertainty in segmentation of different tissues in the
narrow vessel is an important issue that affects accuracy. This paper
proposes an algorithm to extract coronary arteries and measure the
degree of stenosis. Markovian fuzzy clustering method is applied to
model uncertainty arises from partial volume effect problem. The
algorithm employs: segmentation, centreline extraction, estimation of
orthogonal plane to centreline, measurement of the degree of
stenosis. To evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility, the approach
has been applied to a vascular phantom and the results are compared
with real diameter. The results of 10 patient datasets have been
visually judged by a qualified radiologist. The results reveal the
superiority of the proposed method compared to the Conventional
thresholding Method (CTM) on both datasets.
Abstract: Oxygen transfer, the process by which oxygen is
transferred from the gaseous to liquid phase, is a vital part of the
waste water treatment process. Because of low solubility of
oxygen and consequent low rate of oxygen transfer, sufficient
oxygen to meet the requirement of aerobic waste does not enter
through normal surface air water interface. Many theories have
come up in explaining the mechanism of gas transfer and
absorption of non-reacting gases in a liquid, of out of which, Two
film theory is important. An exiting mathematical model
determines approximate value of Overall Gas Transfer coefficient.
The Overall Gas Transfer coefficient, in case of Penetration theory,
is 1.13 time more than that obtained in case of Two film theory.
The difference is due to the difference in assumptions in the two
theories.
The paper aims at development of mathematical model which
determines the value of Overall Gas Transfer coefficient with
greater accuracy than the existing model.
Abstract: This study examines the relationships between foreign
aid, levels of schooling and democracy for Pakistan using the ARDL
cointegration approach. The results of study provide strong evidence
for fairly robust long run as well as short run relationships among
these variables for the period 1973-2008. The results state that
foreign aid and primary school enrollments have negative impact on
democracy index and high school enrollments have positive impact
on democracy index in Pakistan. The study suggests for promotion of
education levels and relies on local resources instead of foreign aid
for a good quality of political institutions in Pakistan.
Abstract: An attempt was made for availability of wastewater reuse/reclamation for irrigation purposes using phytoremediation “the low cost and less technology", using six local aquatic macrophytes “e.g. T. angustifolia, B. maritimus, Ph. australis, A. donax, A. plantago-aquatica and M. longifolia (Linn)" as biological waste purifiers. Outdoor experiments/designs were conducted from May 03, 2007 till October 15, 2008, close to one of the main sewage channels of Sulaimani City/Iraq*. All processes were mainly based on conventional wastewater treatment processes, besides two further modifications were tested, the first was sand filtration pots, implanted by individual species of experimental macrophytes and the second was constructed wetlands implanted by experimental macrophytes all together. Untreated and treated wastewater samples were analyzed for their key physico-chemical properties (only heavy metals Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu with particular reference to removal efficiency by experimental macrophytes are highlighted in this paper). On the other hand, vertical contents of heavy metals were also evaluated from both pots and the cells of constructed wetland. After 135 days, macrophytes were harvested and heavy metals were analyzed in their biomass (roots/shoots) for removal efficiency assessment (i.e. uptake/ bioaccumulation rate). Results showed that; removal efficiency of all studied heavy metals was much higher in T. angustifolia followed by Ph. Australis, B. maritimus and A. donax in triple experiment sand pots. Constructed wetland experiments have revealed that; the more replicated constructed wetland cells the highest heavy metal removal efficiency was indicated.