Abstract: The objectives of this research were 1) to study the
opinions of newspaper journalists about their trustworthiness in the
National Press Council of Thailand (NPCT) and the NPCT-s success
in regulating the professional ethics; and 2) to study the differences
among mean vectors of the variables of trustworthiness in the NPCT
and opinions on the NPCT-s success in regulating professional ethics
among samples working at different work positions and from
different affiliation of newspaper organizations. The results showed
that 1) Interaction effects between the variables of work positions and
affiliation were not statistically significant at the confidence level of
0.05. 2) There was a statistically significant difference (p
Abstract: This paper describes simple implementation of
homotopy (also called continuation) algorithm for determining the proper resistance of the resistor to dissipate energy at a specified rate of an electric circuit. Homotopy algorithm can be considered as a developing of the classical methods in numerical computing such as Newton-Raphson and fixed
point methods. In homoptopy methods, an embedding
parameter is used to control the convergence. The method purposed in this work utilizes a special homotopy called Newton homotopy. Numerical example solved in MATLAB is given to show the effectiveness of the purposed method
Abstract: Fuzzy logic control (FLC) systems have been tested in
many technical and industrial applications as a useful modeling tool
that can handle the uncertainties and nonlinearities of modern control
systems. The main drawback of the FLC methodologies in the
industrial environment is challenging for selecting the number of
optimum tuning parameters.
In this paper, a method has been proposed for finding the optimum
membership functions of a fuzzy system using particle swarm
optimization (PSO) algorithm. A synthetic algorithm combined from
fuzzy logic control and PSO algorithm is used to design a controller
for a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with the aim of
achieving the accurate and acceptable desired results. To exhibit the
effectiveness of proposed algorithm, it is used to optimize the
Gaussian membership functions of the fuzzy model of a nonlinear
CSTR system as a case study. It is clearly proved that the optimized
membership functions (MFs) provided better performance than a
fuzzy model for the same system, when the MFs were heuristically
defined.
Abstract: In this research, the diabetes conditions of people (healthy, prediabete and diabete) were tried to be identified with noninvasive palm perspiration measurements. Data clusters gathered from 200 subjects were used (1.Individual Attributes Cluster and 2. Palm Perspiration Attributes Cluster). To decrase the dimensions of these data clusters, Principal Component Analysis Method was used. Data clusters, prepared in that way, were classified with Support Vector Machines. Classifications with highest success were 82% for Glucose parameters and 84% for HbA1c parametres.
Abstract: This study investigated the number of Aedes larvae,
the key breeding sites of Aedes sp., and the relationship between
climatic factors and the incidence of DHF in Samui Islands. We
conducted our questionnaire and larval surveys from randomly
selected 105 households in Samui Islands in July-September 2006.
Pearson-s correlation coefficient was used to explore the primary
association between the DHF incidence and all climatic factors.
Multiple stepwise regression technique was then used to fit the
statistical model. The results showed that the positive indoor
containers were small jars, cement tanks, and plastic tanks. The
positive outdoor containers were small jars, cement tanks, plastic
tanks, used cans, tires, plastic bottles, discarded objects, pot saucers,
plant pots, and areca husks. All Ae. albopictus larval indices (i.e., CI,
HI, and BI) were higher than Ae. aegypti larval indices in this area.
These larval indices were higher than WHO standard. This indicated
a high risk of DHF transmission at Samui Islands. The multiple
stepwise regression model was y = –288.80 + 11.024xmean temp. The
mean temperature was positively associated with the DHF incidence
in this area.
Abstract: In this paper, a plane-strain orthotropic elasto-plastic
dynamic constitutive model is established, and with this constitutive
model, the thermal shock wave induced by intense pulsed X-ray
radiation in cylinder shell composite is simulated by the finite element
code, then the properties of thermal shock wave propagation are
discussed. The results show that the thermal shock wave exhibit
different shapes under the radiation of soft and hard X-ray, and while
the composite is radiated along different principal axes, great
differences exist in some aspects, such as attenuation of the peak stress
value, spallation and so on.
Abstract: This paper examines the effect of corporate diversification on the profitability of the Financial services sector in Nigeria. The study relied on historic accounting data generated from financial (annual) reports and accounts of sampled banks between the period 1998 and 2007 (a ten-year period). A regression equation was formulated, in line with previous studies to shed light on the effect of corporate diversification on the profitability of the Financial services sector in Nigeria. The results of the regression analysis revealed that diversification impacts strongly on banks profitability. Conclusively the paper produces strong evidence to assert that diversification impacts positively and significantly on banks profitability because among other things such diversified banks can pool their internally generated funds and allocate them properly.
Abstract: Web usage mining has become a popular research
area, as a huge amount of data is available online. These data can be
used for several purposes, such as web personalization, web structure
enhancement, web navigation prediction etc. However, the raw log
files are not directly usable; they have to be preprocessed in order to
transform them into a suitable format for different data mining tasks.
One of the key issues in the preprocessing phase is to identify web
users. Identifying users based on web log files is not a
straightforward problem, thus various methods have been developed.
There are several difficulties that have to be overcome, such as client
side caching, changing and shared IP addresses and so on. This paper
presents three different methods for identifying web users. Two of
them are the most commonly used methods in web log mining
systems, whereas the third on is our novel approach that uses a
complex cookie-based method to identify web users. Furthermore we
also take steps towards identifying the individuals behind the
impersonal web users. To demonstrate the efficiency of the new
method we developed an implementation called Web Activity
Tracking (WAT) system that aims at a more precise distinction of
web users based on log data. We present some statistical analysis
created by the WAT on real data about the behavior of the Hungarian
web users and a comprehensive analysis and comparison of the three
methods
Abstract: Innovation, technology and knowledge are the trilogy
of impact to support the challenges arising from uncertainty.
Evidence showed an opportunity to ask how to manage in this
environment under constant innovation. In an attempt to get a
response from the field of Management Sciences, based in the
Contingency Theory, a research was conducted, with
phenomenological and descriptive approaches, using the Case Study
Method and the usual procedures for this task involving a focus
group composed of managers and employees working in the
pharmaceutical field. The problem situation was raised; the state of
the art was interpreted and dissected the facts. In this tasks were
involved four establishments. The result indicates that these focused
ventures have been managed by its founder empirically and is
experimenting agility described in this work. The expectation of this
study is to improve concepts for stakeholders on creativity in
business.
Abstract: The flow of a third grade fluid in an orthogonal rheometer is studied. We employ the admissible velocity field proposed in [5]. We solve the problem and obtain the velocity field as well as the components for the Cauchy tensor. We compare the results with those from [9]. Some diagrams concerning the velocity and Cauchy stress components profiles are presented for different values of material constants and compared with the corresponding values for a linear viscous fluid.
Abstract: Using a scoring system, this paper provides a
comparative assessment of the quality of data between XBRL
formatted financial reports and non-XBRL financial reports. It shows a
major improvement in the quality of data of XBRL formatted financial
reports. Although XBRL formatted financial reports do not show
much advantage in the quality at the beginning, XBRL financial
reports lately display a large improvement in the quality of data in
almost all aspects. With the improved XBRL web data managing,
presentation and analysis applications, XBRL formatted financial
reports have a much better accessibility, are more accurate and better
in timeliness.
Abstract: In this article, we propose an Intelligent Medical
Diagnostic System (IMDS) accessible through common
web-based interface, to on-line perform initial screening for
osteoporosis. The fundamental approaches which construct the
proposed system are mainly based on the fuzzy-neural theory,
which can exhibit superiority over other conventional technologies
in many fields. In diagnosis process, users simply answer
a series of directed questions to the system, and then they
will immediately receive a list of results which represents the
risk degrees of osteoporosis. According to clinical testing results,
it is shown that the proposed system can provide the general
public or even health care providers with a convenient, reliable,
inexpensive approach to osteoporosis risk assessment.
Abstract: Arc welding creates a weld pool to realize continuity between pieces of assembly. The thermal history of the weld is dependent on heat transfer and fluid flow in the weld pool. The metallurgical transformation during welding and cooling are modeled in the literature only at solid state neglecting the fluid flow. In the present paper we associate a heat transfer – fluid flow and metallurgical model for the 16MnD5 steel. The metallurgical transformation model is based on Leblond model for the diffusion kinetics and on the Koistinen-Marburger equation for Marteniste transformation. The predicted thermal history and metallurgical transformations are compared to a simulation without fluid phase. This comparison shows the great importance of the fluid flow modeling.
Abstract: Energy efficient protocol design is the aim of current
researches in the area of sensor networks where limited power
resources impose energy conservation considerations. In this paper
we care for Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols and after an
extensive literature review, two adaptive schemes are discussed. Of
them, adaptive-rate MACs which were introduced for throughput
enhancement show the potency to save energy, even more than
adaptive-power schemes. Then we propose an allocation algorithm
for getting accurate and reliable results. Through a simulation study
we validated our claim and showed the power saving of adaptive-rate
protocols.
Abstract: This paper discusses the issues and challenge that
academia faced in knowledge sharing at a research university in
Malaysia. The partial results of interview are presented from the
actual study. The main issues in knowledge sharing practices are
university structure and designation and title. The academia
awareness in sharing knowledge is also influenced by culture. Our
investigation highlight that the concept of reciprocal relationship of
sharing knowledge may hinder knowledge sharing awareness among
academia. Hence, we concluded that further investigation could be
carried out on the social interaction and trust culture among academia
in sharing knowledge within research/ranking university
environment.
Abstract: Researchers of drug-drug interaction alert systems
have often suggested that there were high overridden rate for alerts and
also too false alerts. However, research about decreasing false alerts is
scant. Therefore, the aim of this article attempts to proactive
identification of false alert for drug-drug interaction and provide
solution to decrease false alerts. This research involved retrospective
analysis prescribing database and calculated false alert rate by using
MYSQL and JAVA. Results of this study showed 17% of false alerts
and the false alert rate in the hospitals (37%) was more than in the
clinics. To conclude, this study described the importance that
drug-drug interaction alert system should not only detect drug name
but also detect frequency or route, as well as in providing solution to
decrease false alerts.
Abstract: KREISIG is a computer simulation program, firstly developed by Munawar (1994) in Germany to optimize signalized roundabout. The traffic movement is based on the car following theory. Turbine method has been implemented for signal setting. The program has then been further developed in Indonesia to meet the traffic characteristics in Indonesia by adjusting the sensitivity of the drivers. Trial and error method has been implemented to adjust the saturation flow. The saturation flow output has also been compared to the calculation method according to 1997 Indonesian Highway Capacity Manual. It has then been implemented to optimize signalized roundabout at Kleringan roundabout in Malioboro area, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is found that this method can optimize the signal setting of this roundabout. Therefore, it is recommended to use this program to optimize signalized roundabout.
Abstract: Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a standard
language for modeling of a system. UML is used to visually specify
the structure and behavior of a system. The system requirements are
captured and then converted into UML specification. UML
specification uses a set of rules and notations, and diagrams to
specify the system requirements. In this paper, we present a tool for
developing the UML specification. The tool will ease the use of the
notations and diagrams for UML specification as well as increase the
understanding and familiarity of the UML specification. The tool will
also be able to check the conformance of the diagrams against each
other for basic compliance of UML specification.
Abstract: Parsing is important in Linguistics and Natural
Language Processing to understand the syntax and semantics of a
natural language grammar. Parsing natural language text is
challenging because of the problems like ambiguity and inefficiency.
Also the interpretation of natural language text depends on context
based techniques. A probabilistic component is essential to resolve
ambiguity in both syntax and semantics thereby increasing accuracy
and efficiency of the parser. Tamil language has some inherent
features which are more challenging. In order to obtain the solutions,
lexicalized and statistical approach is to be applied in the parsing
with the aid of a language model. Statistical models mainly focus on
semantics of the language which are suitable for large vocabulary
tasks where as structural methods focus on syntax which models
small vocabulary tasks. A statistical language model based on Trigram
for Tamil language with medium vocabulary of 5000 words has
been built. Though statistical parsing gives better performance
through tri-gram probabilities and large vocabulary size, it has some
disadvantages like focus on semantics rather than syntax, lack of
support in free ordering of words and long term relationship. To
overcome the disadvantages a structural component is to be
incorporated in statistical language models which leads to the
implementation of hybrid language models. This paper has attempted
to build phrase structured hybrid language model which resolves
above mentioned disadvantages. In the development of hybrid
language model, new part of speech tag set for Tamil language has
been developed with more than 500 tags which have the wider
coverage. A phrase structured Treebank has been developed with 326
Tamil sentences which covers more than 5000 words. A hybrid
language model has been trained with the phrase structured Treebank
using immediate head parsing technique. Lexicalized and statistical
parser which employs this hybrid language model and immediate
head parsing technique gives better results than pure grammar and
trigram based model.
Abstract: The study explored the question of who am I? As a (re)construction of cultural identity by delving into globalization, communication, and social change in Malta during a historical moment when Malta became a European Union Member State. Three objectives guided this qualitative study. Firstly the study reviewed European Union (EU) policies that regulate broadcasting and their implementation in Member States, whilst meeting the challenges of globalization and new media technology. Secondly the research investigated the changes of the media landscape via organizational structures, programs and television (TV) content. Finally the study explored the impact of these transformations taking place in the way Maltese live as they (re)construct their cultural identity. Despite the choices available to the Maltese audience, old local traditions and new foreign customs coexist as informants continue to (re)construct their cultural identity and define who they are.