Abstract: This paper is mainly concerned with the application of a novel technique of data interpretation to the characterization and classification of measurements of plasma columns in Tokamak reactors for nuclear fusion applications. The proposed method exploits several concepts derived from soft computing theory. In particular, Artifical Neural Networks have been exploited to classify magnetic variables useful to determine shape and position of the plasma with a reduced computational complexity. The proposed technique is used to analyze simulated databases of plasma equilibria based on ITER geometry configuration. As well as demonstrating the successful recovery of scalar equilibrium parameters, we show that the technique can yield practical advantages compares with earlier methods.
Abstract: Despite the fact that B2c eCommerce has become
important in numerous economies, its adoption varies from country to
country. This paper aims to identify the factors affecting (enabling or
inhibiting) B2c eCommerce and to determine their quantitative
impact on the diffusion of online sales across countries. A dynamic
panel model analyzing the relationship between 13 factors
(Macroeconomic, Demographic, Socio-Cultural, Infrastructural and
Offer related) stemming from a complete literature analysis and the
B2c eCommerce value in 45 countries over 9 years has been
developed. Having a positive correlation coefficient, GDP, mobile
penetration, Internet user penetration and credit card penetration
resulted as enabling drivers of the B2c eCommerce value across
countries, whereas, having a negative correlation coefficient,equal
distribution of income and the development of traditional retailing
network act as inhibiting factors.
Abstract: This paper explores how Critical Systems Thinking and Action Research can be used to improve student performance in Networking. When describing a system from a systems thinking perspective, the following aspects can be identified: the total system performance, the systems environment, the resources, the components and the management of the system. Following the history of system thinking we observe three emerged methodologies namely, hard systems, soft systems, and critical systems. This paper uses Critical Systems Thinking (CST) which describes systems in terms of contradictions and conflict. It demonstrates how CST can be used in an Action Research (AR) project to improve the performance of students. Intervention in terms of student assessment is discussed and the impact of the intervention is discussed.
Abstract: Time full of changes which is associated with globalization, tougher competition, changes in the structures of markets and economic downturn, that all force companies to think about their competitive advantages. These changes can bring the company a competitive advantage and that can help improve competitive position in the market. Policy of the European Union is focused on the fast growing innovative companies which quickly respond to market demands and consequently increase its competitiveness. To meet those objectives companies need the right conditions and support of their state.
Abstract: The most Malaria cases are occur along Thai-Mynmar border. Mathematical model for the transmission of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria in a mixed population of Thais and migrant Burmese living along the Thai-Myanmar Border is studied. The population is separated into two groups, Thai and Burmese. Each population is divided into susceptible, infected, dormant and recovered subclasses. The loss of immunity by individuals in the infected class causes them to move back into the susceptible class. The person who is infected with Plasmodium vivax and is a member of the dormant class can relapse back into the infected class. A standard dynamical method is used to analyze the behaviors of the model. Two stable equilibrium states, a disease-free state and an epidemic state, are found to be possible in each population. A disease-free equilibrium state in the Thai population occurs when there are no infected Burmese entering the community. When infected Burmese enter the Thai community, an epidemic state can occur. It is found that the disease-free state is stable when the threshold number is less than one. The epidemic state is stable when a second threshold number is greater than one. Numerical simulations are used to confirm the results of our model.
Abstract: Stuck-pipe in drilling operations is one of the most
pressing and expensive problems in the oil industry. This paper
describes a computational simulation and an experimental study of
the hydrodynamic vibrator, which may be used for liquidation of
stuck-pipe problems during well drilling. The work principle of the
vibrator is based upon the known phenomena of Vortex Street of
Karman and the resulting generation of vibrations. We will discuss
the computational simulation and experimental investigations of
vibrations in this device. The frequency of the vibration parameters
has been measured as a function of the wide range Reynolds Number.
The validity of the computational simulation and of the assumptions
on which it is based has been proved experimentally. The
computational simulation of the vibrator work and its effectiveness
was carried out using FLUENT software. The research showed high
degree of congruence with the results of the laboratory tests and
allowed to determine the effect of the granular material features upon
the pipe vibration in the well. This study demonstrates the potential
of using the hydrodynamic vibrator in a well drilling system.
Abstract: Biologically active peptides are of particular interest
in food science and human nutrition because they have been shown to play several physiological roles. In vitro gastrointestinal digestion of lentil and whey proteins in this study produced high angiotensin-I converting enzyme inhibitory activity with 75.5±1.9 and 91.4±2.3%
inhibition, respectively. High ACE inhibitory activity was observed in lentil after 5 days of germination (84.3±1.2%). Fractionation by
reverse phase chromatography gave inhibitory activities as high as
86.3±2.0 for lentil, 94.8±1.8% for whey and 93.7±1.7% at 5th day of germination. Further purification by HPLC resulted in several
inhibitory peptides with IC50 values ranging from 0.064 to 0.164
mg/ml. These results demonstrate that lentil proteins are a good
source of peptides with ACE inhibitory activity that can be released by germination or gastrointestinal digestion. Despite the lower bioactivity in comparison with whey proteins, incorporation of lentil proteins in functional food formulations and natural drugs look promising.
Abstract: Fair share objective has been included into the goaloriented
parallel computer job scheduling policy recently. However,
the previous work only presented the overall scheduling performance.
Thus, the per-user performance of the policy is still lacking. In this
work, the details of per-user fair share performance under the
Tradeoff-fs(Tx:avgX) policy will be further evaluated. A basic fair
share priority backfill policy namely RelShare(1d) is also studied.
The performance of all policies is collected using an event-driven
simulator with three real job traces as input. The experimental results
show that the high demand users are usually benefited under most
policies because their jobs are large or they have a lot of jobs. In the
large job case, one job executed may result in over-share during that
period. In the other case, the jobs may be backfilled for
performances. However, the users with a mixture of jobs may suffer
because if the smaller jobs are executing the priority of the remaining
jobs from the same user will be lower. Further analysis does not show
any significant impact of users with a lot of jobs or users with a large
runtime approximation error.