A Metametadata Architecture forPedagogic Data Description

This paper focuses on a novel method for semantic searching and retrieval of information about learning materials. Metametadata encapsulate metadata instances by using the properties and attributes provided by ontologies rather than describing learning objects. A novel metametadata taxonomy has been developed which provides the basis for a semantic search engine to extract, match and map queries to retrieve relevant results. The use of ontological views is a foundation for viewing the pedagogical content of metadata extracted from learning objects by using the pedagogical attributes from the metametadata taxonomy. Using the ontological approach and metametadata (based on the metametadata taxonomy) we present a novel semantic searching mechanism.These three strands – the taxonomy, the ontological views, and the search algorithm – are incorporated into a novel architecture (OMESCOD) which has been implemented.

The Measurement of Latvian and Russian Ethnic Attitudes, Using Evaluative Priming Task and Self-Report Methods

The purposes of researches - to estimate implicit ethnic attitudes by direct and indirect methods, to determine the accordance of two types measuring, to investigate influence of task type used in an experiment, on the results of measuring, as well as to determine a presence or communication between recent episodic events and chronologic correlations of ethnic attitudes. Method of the implicit measuring - an evaluative priming (EPT) carried out with the use of different SOA intervals, explicit methods of research are G.Soldatova-s types of ethnic identity, G.Soldatova-s index of tolerance, E.Bogardus scale of social distance. During five stages of researches received results open some aspects of implicit measuring, its correlation with the results of self-reports on different SOA intervals, connection of implicit measuring with emotional valence of episodic events of participants and other indexes, presenting a contribution to the decision of implicit measuring application problem for study of different social constructs

A Pipelined FSBM Hardware Architecture for HTDV-H.26x

In MPEG and H.26x standards, to eliminate the temporal redundancy we use motion estimation. Given that the motion estimation stage is very complex in terms of computational effort, a hardware implementation on a re-configurable circuit is crucial for the requirements of different real time multimedia applications. In this paper, we present hardware architecture for motion estimation based on "Full Search Block Matching" (FSBM) algorithm. This architecture presents minimum latency, maximum throughput, full utilization of hardware resources such as embedded memory blocks, and combining both pipelining and parallel processing techniques. Our design is described in VHDL language, verified by simulation and implemented in a Stratix II EP2S130F1020C4 FPGA circuit. The experiment result show that the optimum operating clock frequency of the proposed design is 89MHz which achieves 160M pixels/sec.

ILMI Approach for Robust Output Feedback Control of Induction Machine

In this note, the robust static output feedback stabilisation of an induction machine is addressed. The machine is described by a non homogenous bilinear model with structural uncertainties, and the feedback gain is computed via an iterative LMI (ILMI) algorithm.

Computational Intelligence Techniques and Agents- Technology in E-learning Environments

In this contribution a newly developed e-learning environment is presented, which incorporates Intelligent Agents and Computational Intelligence Techniques. The new e-learning environment is constituted by three parts, the E-learning platform Front-End, the Student Questioner Reasoning and the Student Model Agent. These parts are distributed geographically in dispersed computer servers, with main focus on the design and development of these subsystems through the use of new and emerging technologies. These parts are interconnected in an interoperable way, using web services for the integration of the subsystems, in order to enhance the user modelling procedure and achieve the goals of the learning process.

Enhanced Performance of Fading Dispersive Channel Using Dynamic Frequency Hopping(DFH)

techniques are examined to overcome the performance degradation caused by the channel dispersion using slow frequency hopping (SFH) with dynamic frequency hopping (DFH) pattern adaptation. In DFH systems, the frequency slots are selected by continuous quality monitoring of all frequencies available in a system and modification of hopping patterns for each individual link based on replacing slots which its signal to interference ratio (SIR) measurement is below a required threshold. Simulation results will show the improvements in BER obtained by DFH in comparison with matched frequency hopping (MFH), random frequency hopping (RFH) and multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) in multipath slowly fading dispersive channels using a generalized bandpass two-path transfer function model, and will show the improvement obtained according to the threshold selection.

Approximation Incremental Training Algorithm Based on a Changeable Training Set

The quick training algorithms and accurate solution procedure for incremental learning aim at improving the efficiency of training of SVR, whereas there are some disadvantages for them, i.e. the nonconvergence of the formers for changeable training set and the inefficiency of the latter for a massive dataset. In order to handle the problems, a new training algorithm for a changeable training set, named Approximation Incremental Training Algorithm (AITA), was proposed. This paper explored the reason of nonconvergence theoretically and discussed the realization of AITA, and finally demonstrated the benefits of AITA both on precision and efficiency.

Why do Clawback Provisions Affect Financial Reporting Quality? - An Analysis of Trigger Effects

We identify clawback triggers from firms- proxy statements (Form DEF 14A) and use the likelihood of restatements to proxy for financial reporting quality. Based on a sample of 578 U.S. firms that voluntarily adopt clawback provisions during 2003-2009, when restatement-based triggers could be decomposed into two types: fraud and unintentional error, and we do observe the evidence that using fraud triggers is associated with high financial reporting quality. The findings support that fraud triggers can enhance deterrent effect of clawback provision by establishing a viable disincentive against fraud, misconduct, and otherwise harmful acts. These results are robust to controlling for the compensation components, to different sample specifications and to a number of sensitivity.

The Anti-Noise System for Rail Brakes on Hump Yards

The friction between two metal surfaces results in a high frequency noise (squealing) which also occurs during the braking of wagons with rail brakes in the process of shunting at a marshalling yard with a hump. At that point the noise level may exceed 130dB, which is extremely unpleasant for workers and inhabitants. In our research we developed a new composite material which does not change braking properties, is capable of taking extremely high pressure loads, reduces noise and is environmentally friendly. The noise reduction results had been very good and had shown a decrease of the high frequency noise almost completely (by 99%) at its source. With our technology we had also reduced general noise by more than 30dBA.

Deformation Mechanisms at Elevated Temperatures: Influence of Momenta and Energy in the Single Impact Test

Within this work High Temperature Single Impact Studies were performed to evaluate deformation mechanisms at different energy and momentum levels. To show the influence of different microstructures and hardness levels and their response to single impacts four different materials were tested at various temperatures up to 700°C. One carbide reinforced NiCrBSi based Metal Matrix Composite and three different steels were tested. The aim of this work is to determine critical energies for fracture appearance and the materials response at different energy and momenta levels. Critical impact loadings were examined at elevated temperatures to limit operating conditions in impact dominated regimes at elevated temperatures. The investigations on the mechanisms were performed using different means of microscopy at the surface and in metallographic cross sections. Results indicate temperature dependence of the occurrence of cracks in hardphase rich materials, such as Metal Matrix Composites High Speed Steels and the influence of different impact momenta at constant energies on the deformation of different steels.

Wheat Yield Prediction through Agro Meteorological Indices for Ardebil District

Wheat prediction was carried out using different meteorological variables together with agro meteorological indices in Ardebil district for the years 2004-2005 & 2005–2006. On the basis of correlation coefficients, standard error of estimate as well as relative deviation of predicted yield from actual yield using different statistical models, the best subset of agro meteorological indices were selected including daily minimum temperature (Tmin), accumulated difference of maximum & minimum temperatures (TD), growing degree days (GDD), accumulated water vapor pressure deficit (VPD), sunshine hours (SH) & potential evapotranspiration (PET). Yield prediction was done two months in advance before harvesting time which was coincide with commencement of reproductive stage of wheat (5th of June). It revealed that in the final statistical models, 83% of wheat yield variability was accounted for variation in above agro meteorological indices.

Natural Flickering of Methane Diffusion Flames

Present study focuses on studying the oscillatory behavior of jet diffusion flames. At a particular jet exit velocity, the flames are seen to exhibit natural flickering. Initially the flickering process is not continuous. In this transition region as well as in the continuous flickering regime, the flickering displays multiple frequency oscillations. The response of the flame to the exit velocity profile of the burner is also studied using three types of burners. The entire range of natural flickering is investigated by capturing high speed digital images and processing them using a MATLAB code.

Collaborative Tracking Control of UAV-UGV

This paper suggests a fast and stable Target Tracking system in collaborative control of UAV and UGV. Wi-Fi communication range is limited in collaborative control of UAV and UGV. Thus, to secure a stable communications, UAV and UGV have to be kept within a certain distance from each other. But existing method which uses UAV Vertical Camera to follow the motion of UGV is likely to lose a target with a sudden movement change. Eventually, UGV has disadvantages that it could only move at a low speed and not make any sudden change of direction in order to keep track of the target. Therefore, we suggest utilizing AR Drone UAV front camera to track fast-moving and Omnidirectional Mecanum Wheel UGV.

Definition and Implementation of a Simulation Model for the Physical Layer and the Radio Channel in Dedicated Short Range Communication Systems

This paper proposes a vehicle-to-vehicle propagation model implemented with SDL. To estimate the channel characteristics for Inter-Vehicle communication, we first define a predicted propagation pathloss between the moving vehicles under three typical scenarios. A Ray-tracing method is used for the simple gamma model performance.

A Discrete-Event-Simulation Approach for Logistic Systems with Real Time Resource Routing and VR Integration

Today, transport and logistic systems are often tightly integrated in the production. Lean production and just-in-time delivering create multiple constraints that have to be fulfilled. As transport networks often have evolved over time they are very expensive to change. This paper describes a discrete-event-simulation system which simulates transportation models using real time resource routing and collision avoidance. It allows for the specification of own control algorithms and validation of new strategies. The simulation is integrated into a virtual reality (VR) environment and can be displayed in 3-D to show the progress. Simulation elements can be selected through VR metaphors. All data gathered during the simulation can be presented as a detailed summary afterwards. The included cost-benefit calculation can help to optimize the financial outcome. The operation of this approach is shown by the example of a timber harvest simulation.

Determining the Gender of Korean Names for Pronoun Generation

It is an important task in Korean-English machine translation to classify the gender of names correctly. When a sentence is composed of two or more clauses and only one subject is given as a proper noun, it is important to find the gender of the proper noun for correct translation of the sentence. This is because a singular pronoun has a gender in English while it does not in Korean. Thus, in Korean-English machine translation, the gender of a proper noun should be determined. More generally, this task can be expanded into the classification of the general Korean names. This paper proposes a statistical method for this problem. By considering a name as just a sequence of syllables, it is possible to get a statistics for each name from a collection of names. An evaluation of the proposed method yields the improvement in accuracy over the simple looking-up of the collection. While the accuracy of the looking-up method is 64.11%, that of the proposed method is 81.49%. This implies that the proposed method is more plausible for the gender classification of the Korean names.

Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO and Fe3O4 Nanocrystals from Oleat-based Organometallic Compounds

Magnetic and semiconductor nanomaterials exhibit novel magnetic and optical properties owing to their unique size and shape-dependent effects. With shrinking the size down to nanoscale region, various anomalous properties that normally not present in bulk start to dominate. Ability in harnessing of these anomalous properties for the design of various advance electronic devices is strictly dependent on synthetic strategies. Hence, current research has focused on developing a rational synthetic control to produce high quality nanocrystals by using organometallic approach to tune both size and shape of the nanomaterials. In order to elucidate the growth mechanism, transmission electron microscopy was employed as a powerful tool in performing real time-resolved morphologies and structural characterization of magnetic (Fe3O4) and semiconductor (ZnO) nanocrystals. The current synthetic approach is found able to produce nanostructures with well-defined shapes. We have found that oleic acid is an effective capping ligand in preparing oxide-based nanostructures without any agglomerations, even at high temperature. The oleate-based precursors and capping ligands are fatty acid compounds, which are respectively originated from natural palm oil with low toxicity. In comparison with other synthetic approaches in producing nanostructures, current synthetic method offers an effective route to produce oxide-based nanomaterials with well-defined shapes and good monodispersity. The nanocystals are well-separated with each other without any stacking effect. In addition, the as-synthesized nanopellets are stable in terms of chemically and physically if compared to those nanomaterials that are previous reported. Further development and extension of current synthetic strategy are being pursued to combine both of these materials into nanocomposite form that will be used as “smart magnetic nanophotocatalyst" for industry waste water treatment.

The Study of Managing the Personal Consent in the Electronic Healthcare Environment

The Electronic Health Record (EHR) system is very general and we should pay more attention to a patient-s privacy. The patient-s consent is one of the elements when dealing with privacy topics. This study focuses on the creating and managing of patient consent. The integration of the HL7 standards and the IHE BPPC profile provides a base for the creation of patient consent. Establishing the platform offers the patients a way to create, revoke or update their consents. Through this platform, they can manage their consents in an easier manner.

Salient Points Reduction for Content-Based Image Retrieval

Salient points are frequently used to represent local properties of the image in content-based image retrieval. In this paper, we present a reduction algorithm that extracts the local most salient points such that they not only give a satisfying representation of an image, but also make the image retrieval process efficiently. This algorithm recursively reduces the continuous point set by their corresponding saliency values under a top-down approach. The resulting salient points are evaluated with an image retrieval system using Hausdoff distance. In this experiment, it shows that our method is robust and the extracted salient points provide better retrieval performance comparing with other point detectors.

Marangoni Convection in a Fluid Saturated Porous Layer with a Deformable Free Surface

The stability analysis of Marangoni convection in porous media with a deformable upper free surface is investigated. The linear stability theory and the normal mode analysis are applied and the resulting eigenvalue problem is solved exactly. The Darcy law and the Brinkman model are used to describe the flow in the porous medium heated from below. The effect of the Crispation number, Bond number and the Biot number are analyzed for the stability of the system. It is found that a decrease in the Crispation number and an increase in the Bond number delay the onset of convection in porous media. In addition, the system becomes more stable when the Biot number is increases and the Daeff number is decreases.