Abstract: The purpose of this study was to understand the main
sources of copper (Cu) accumulation in target organs of tilapia
(Oreochromis mossambicus) and to investigate how the organism
mediate the process of Cu accumulation under prolonged conditions.
By measuring both dietary and waterborne Cu accumulation and total
concentrations in tilapia with biokinetic modeling approach, we were
able to clarify the biokinetic coping mechanisms for the long term Cu
accumulation. This study showed that water and food are both the
major source of Cu for the muscle and liver of tilapia. This implied
that control the Cu concentration in these two routes will be correlated
to the Cu bioavailability for tilapia. We found that exposure duration
and level of waterborne Cu drove the Cu accumulation in tilapia. The
ability for Cu biouptake and depuration in organs of tilapia were
actively mediated under prolonged exposure conditions. Generally,
the uptake rate, depuration rate and net bioaccumulation ability in all
selected organs decreased with the increasing level of waterborne Cu
and extension of exposure duration.Muscle tissues accounted for over
50%of the total accumulated Cu and played a key role in buffering the
Cu burden in the initial period of exposure, alternatively, the liver
acted a more important role in the storage of Cu with the extension of
exposures. We concluded that assumption of the constant biokinetic
rates could lead to incorrect predictions with overestimating the
long-term Cu accumulation in ecotoxicological risk assessments.
Abstract: Faults in a network may take various forms such as hardware/software errors, vertex/edge faults, etc. Folded hypercube is a well-known variation of the hypercube structure and can be constructed from a hypercube by adding a link to every pair of nodes with complementary addresses. Let FFv (respectively, FFe) be the set of faulty nodes (respectively, faulty links) in an n-dimensional folded hypercube FQn. Hsieh et al. have shown that FQn - FFv - FFe for n ≥ 3 contains a fault-free cycle of length at least 2n -2|FFv|, under the constraints that (1) |FFv| + |FFe| ≤ 2n - 4 and (2) every node in FQn is incident to at least two fault-free links. In this paper, we further consider the constraints |FFv| + |FFe| ≤ 2n - 3. We prove that FQn - FFv - FFe for n ≥ 5 still has a fault-free cycle of length at least 2n - 2|FFv|, under the constraints : (1) |FFv| + |FFe| ≤ 2n - 3, (2) |FFe| ≥ n + 2, and (3) every vertex is still incident with at least two links.
Abstract: Numerical study of a plane jet occurring in a vertical
heated channel is carried out. The aim is to explore the influence of
the forced flow, issued from a flat nozzle located in the entry section
of a channel, on the up-going fluid along the channel walls. The
Reynolds number based on the nozzle width and the jet velocity
ranges between 3 103 and 2.104; whereas, the Grashof number based
on the channel length and the wall temperature difference is 2.57
1010. Computations are established for a symmetrically heated
channel and various nozzle positions. The system of governing
equations is solved with a finite volumes method. The obtained
results show that the jet-wall interactions activate the heat transfer,
the position variation modifies the heat transfer especially for low
Reynolds numbers: the heat transfer is enhanced for the adjacent
wall; however it is decreased for the opposite one. The numerical
velocity and temperature fields are post-processed to compute the
quantities of engineering interest such as the induced mass flow rate,
and the Nusselt number along the plates.
Abstract: In the recent works related with mixture discriminant
analysis (MDA), expectation and maximization (EM) algorithm is
used to estimate parameters of Gaussian mixtures. But, initial values
of EM algorithm affect the final parameters- estimates. Also, when
EM algorithm is applied two times, for the same data set, it can be
give different results for the estimate of parameters and this affect the
classification accuracy of MDA. Forthcoming this problem, we use
Self Organizing Mixture Network (SOMN) algorithm to estimate
parameters of Gaussians mixtures in MDA that SOMN is more robust
when random the initial values of the parameters are used [5]. We
show effectiveness of this method on popular simulated waveform
datasets and real glass data set.
Abstract: The study deals with the modelling of the gas flow during heliox therapy. A special model has been developed to study the effect of the helium upon the gas flow in the airways during the spontaneous breathing. Lower density of helium compared with air decreases the Reynolds number and it allows improving the flow during the spontaneous breathing. In the cases, where the flow becomes turbulent while the patient inspires air the flow is still laminar when the patient inspires heliox. The use of heliox decreases the work of breathing and improves ventilation. It allows in some cases to prevent the intubation of the patients.
Abstract: We address the balancing problem of transfer lines in
this paper to find the optimal line balancing that minimizes the nonproductive
time. We focus on the tool change time and face
orientation change time both of which influence the makespane. We
consider machine capacity limitations and technological constraints
associated with the manufacturing process of auto cylinder heads.
The problem is represented by a mixed integer programming model
that aims at distributing the design features to workstations and
sequencing the machining processes at a minimum non-productive
time. The proposed model is solved by an algorithm established using
linearization schemes and Benders- decomposition approach. The
experiments show the efficiency of the algorithm in reaching the
exact solution of small and medium problem instances at reasonable
time.
Abstract: This paper proposes a new method for analyzing textual data. The method deals with items of textual data, where each item is described based on various viewpoints. The method acquires 2- class classification models of the viewpoints by applying an inductive learning method to items with multiple viewpoints. The method infers whether the viewpoints are assigned to the new items or not by using the models. The method extracts expressions from the new items classified into the viewpoints and extracts characteristic expressions corresponding to the viewpoints by comparing the frequency of expressions among the viewpoints. This paper also applies the method to questionnaire data given by guests at a hotel and verifies its effect through numerical experiments.
Abstract: Some believe that stigma is the worst side effect of the
people who have mental illness. Mental illness researchers have
focused on the influence of mass media on the stigmatization of the
people with mental illness. However, no studies have investigated the
effects of the interactive media, such as blogs, on the stigmatization
of mentally ill people, even though the media have a significant
influence on people in all areas of life. The purpose of this study is to
investigate the use of interactivity in destigmatization of the mentally
ill and the moderating effect of self-construal (independent versus
interdependent self-construal) on the relation between interactivity
and destigmatization. The findings suggested that people in the
human-human interaction condition had less social distance toward
people with mental illness. Additionally, participants with higher
independence showed more favorable affection and less social
distance toward mentally ill people. Finally, direct contact with
mentally ill people increased a person-s positive affect toward people
with mental illness. The current study should provide insights for
mental health practitioners by suggesting how they can use
interactive media to approach the public that stigmatizes the mentally
ill.
Abstract: Crosstalk is the major limiting issue in very high bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL) systems in terms of bit-rate or service coverage. At the central office side, joint signal processing accompanied by appropriate power allocation enables complex multiuser processors to provide near capacity rates. Unfortunately complexity grows with the square of the number of lines within a binder, so by taking into account that there are only a few dominant crosstalkers who contribute to main part of crosstalk power, the canceller structure can be simplified which resulted in a much lower run-time complexity. In this paper, a multiuser power control scheme, namely iterative waterfilling, is combined with previously proposed partial crosstalk cancellation approaches to demonstrate the best ever achieved performance which is verified by simulation results.
Abstract: In this paper, by using the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory, M-matrix theory and constructing some suitable Lyapunov functions, some sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence and global exponential stability of periodic solutions of recurrent neural networks with distributed delays and impulses on time scales. Without assuming the boundedness of the activation functions gj, hj , these results are less restrictive than those given in the earlier references.
Abstract: In this article, while it is attempted to describe the
problem and its importance, transformational leadership is studied by considering leadership theories. Issues such as the definition of
transformational leadership and its aspects are compared on the basis of the ideas of various connoisseurs and then it (transformational leadership) is examined in successful and
unsuccessful companies. According to the methodology, the
method of research, hypotheses, population and statistical sample
are investigated and research findings are analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistical methods in the framework of
analytical tables. Finally, our conclusion is provided by considering the results of statistical tests. The final result shows that
transformational leadership is significantly higher in successful companies than unsuccessful ones P
Abstract: Effective evaluation of software development effort is an important aspect of successful project management. Based on a large database with 4106 projects ever developed, this study statistically examines the factors that influence development effort. The factors found to be significant for effort are project size, average number of developers that worked on the project, type of development, development language, development platform, and the use of rapid application development. Among these factors, project size is the most critical cost driver. Unsurprisingly, this study found that the use of CASE tools does not necessarily reduce development effort, which adds support to the claim that the use of tools is subtle. As many of the current estimation models are rarely or unsuccessfully used, this study proposes a parsimonious parametric model for the prediction of effort which is both simple and more accurate than previous models.
Abstract: In this paper the concept of the cosets of an anti Lfuzzy
normal subgroup of a group is given. Furthermore, the group
G/A of cosets of an anti L-fuzzy normal subgroup A of a group
G is shown to be isomorphic to a factor group of G in a natural
way. Finally, we prove that if f : G1 -→ G2 is an epimorphism of
groups, then there is a one-to-one order-preserving correspondence
between the anti L-fuzzy normal subgroups of G2 and those of G1
which are constant on the kernel of f.
Abstract: Software reliability, defined as the probability of a
software system or application functioning without failure or errors
over a defined period of time, has been an important area of research
for over three decades. Several research efforts aimed at developing
models to improve reliability are currently underway. One of the
most popular approaches to software reliability adopted by some of
these research efforts involves the use of operational profiles to
predict how software applications will be used. Operational profiles
are a quantification of usage patterns for a software application. The
research presented in this paper investigates an innovative multiagent
framework for automatic creation and management of
operational profiles for generic distributed systems after their release
into the market. The architecture of the proposed Operational Profile
MAS (Multi-Agent System) is presented along with detailed
descriptions of the various models arrived at following the analysis
and design phases of the proposed system. The operational profile in
this paper is extended to comprise seven different profiles. Further,
the criticality of operations is defined using a new composed metrics
in order to organize the testing process as well as to decrease the time
and cost involved in this process. A prototype implementation of the
proposed MAS is included as proof-of-concept and the framework is
considered as a step towards making distributed systems intelligent
and self-managing.
Abstract: The data measurement of mean velocity has been
taken for the wake of single circular cylinder with three different diameters for two different velocities. The effects of change in
diameter and in velocity are studied in self-similar coordinate system.
The spatial variations of velocity defect and that of the half-width
have been investigated. The results are compared with those
published by H.Schlichting. In the normalized coordinates, it is also observed that all cases except for the first station are self-similar. By attention to self-similarity profiles of mean velocity, it is observed for all the cases at the each station curves tend to zero at a same point.
Abstract: Shadow detection is still considered as one of the
potential challenges for intelligent automated video surveillance
systems. A pre requisite for reliable and accurate detection and
tracking is the correct shadow detection and classification. In such a
landscape of conditions, privacy issues add more and more
complexity and require reliable shadow detection.
In this work the intertwining between security, accuracy,
reliability and privacy is analyzed and, accordingly, a novel
architecture for Privacy Enhancing Video Surveillance (PEVS) is
introduced. Shadow detection and masking are dealt with through the
combination of two different approaches simultaneously. This results
in a unique privacy enhancement, without affecting security.
Subsequently, the methodology was employed successfully in a
large-scale wireless video surveillance system; privacy relevant
information was stored and encrypted on the unit, without
transferring it over an un-trusted network.
Abstract: This paper develops a quality estimation method with
the application of fuzzy hierarchical clustering. Quality estimation is
essential to quality control and quality improvement as a precise
estimation can promote a right decision-making in order to help
better quality control. Normally the quality of finished products in
manufacturing system can be differentiated by quality standards. In
the real life situation, the collected data may be vague which is not
easy to be classified and they are usually represented in term of fuzzy
number. To estimate the quality of product presented by fuzzy
number is not easy. In this research, the trapezoidal fuzzy numbers
are collected in manufacturing process and classify the collected data
into different clusters so as to get the estimation. Since normal
hierarchical clustering methods can only be applied for real numbers,
fuzzy hierarchical clustering is selected to handle this problem based
on quality standards.
Abstract: The use of electronic sensors in the electronics
industry has become increasingly popular over the past few years,
and it has become a high competition product. The frequency
adjustment process is regarded as one of the most important process
in the electronic sensor manufacturing process. Due to inaccuracies
in the frequency adjustment process, up to 80% waste can be caused
due to rework processes; therefore, this study aims to provide a
preliminary understanding of the role of parameters used in the
frequency adjustment process, and also make suggestions in order to
further improve performance. Four parameters are considered in this
study: air pressure, dispensing time, vacuum force, and the distance
between the needle tip and the product. A full factorial design for
experiment 2k was considered to determine those parameters that
significantly affect the accuracy of the frequency adjustment process,
where a deviation in the frequency after adjustment and the target
frequency is expected to be 0 kHz. The experiment was conducted on
two levels, using two replications and with five center-points added.
In total, 37 experiments were carried out. The results reveal that air
pressure and dispensing time significantly affect the frequency
adjustment process. The mathematical relationship between these
two parameters was formulated, and the optimal parameters for air
pressure and dispensing time were found to be 0.45 MPa and 458 ms,
respectively. The optimal parameters were examined by carrying out
a confirmation experiment in which an average deviation of 0.082
kHz was achieved.
Abstract: This paper studies ruin probabilities in two discrete-time
risk models with premiums, claims and rates of interest modelled by
three autoregressive moving average processes. Generalized Lundberg
inequalities for ruin probabilities are derived by using recursive
technique. A numerical example is given to illustrate the applications
of these probability inequalities.
Abstract: The present work was conducted to find out the effect
of biofertilizer formulated with four species of bacteria (two species
of Azotobacter and two species of Lysobacter) and zinc sulphate.
Field experiments with mustard plant were conducted to study the
effectiveness of soil application of zinc sulphate and biofertilizer at
0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 days after sowing. Plant height and condition of
plant was found to be increased significantly using a mixture of
biofertilizer and zinc sulphate than other treatments after 40 days
sowing. Three treatments were also used in this field experiment such
as bacteria only, zinc sulphate only and mixture of biofertilizer and
zinc sulphate. The treatment using a mixture of zinc sulphate and
biofertilizer had the best yield (4688.008 kg/ha) within 50 days of
sowing and performed better than other treatments. Field experiment
using zinc sulphate only was second best yield (3380.75Kg/ha) and
biofertilizer only treatment gave (2639.04kg/ha).