Abstract: The purpose of the experiments described in this article was the comparison of integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) and activated sludge (AS) system. The IFAS applied system consists of the cigarette filter rods (wasted filter in tobacco factories) as a biofilm carrier. The comparison with activated sludge was performed by two parallel treatment lines. Organic substance, ammonia and TP removal was investigated over four month period. Synthetic wastewater was prepared with ordinary tap water and glucose as the main sources of carbon and energy, plus balanced macro and micro nutrients. COD removal percentages of 94.55%, and 81.62% were achieved for IFAS and activated sludge system, respectively. Also, ammonia concentration significantly decreased by increasing the HRT in both systems. The average ammonia removal of 97.40 % and 96.34% were achieved for IFAS and activated sludge system, respectively. The removal efficiency of total phosphorus (TP-P) was 60.64%, higher than AS process by 56.63% respectively.
Abstract: The purposes of this research are: 1) to study the media
literacy of early teenagers, and 2) to study the interaction between
gender and timing of media exposure that affects the media literacy
of teenagers. The sample of the study included 400 young people
aged between 11 to 17 and who were living in Bangkok. The data
was collected using questionnaires. Two-way ANOVA was used in
analyzing the collected data. The result revealed that gender and
timing of media exposure affected the media literacy of early
teenagers with statistical significance at the level of 0.05.
Abstract: International markets driven forces are changing
continuously, therefore companies need to gain a competitive edge in
such markets. Improving the company's products, processes and
practices is no longer auxiliary. Lean production is a production
management philosophy that consolidates work tasks with minimum
waste resulting in improved productivity. Lean production practices
can be mapped into many production areas. One of these is
Manufacturing Equipment and Technology (MET). Many lean
production practices can be implemented in MET, namely, specific
equipment configurations, total preventive maintenance, visual
control, new equipment/ technologies, production process
reengineering and shared vision of perfection.The purpose of this
paper is to investigate the implementation level of these six practices
in Jordanian industries. To achieve that a questionnaire survey has
been designed according to five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire
is validated through pilot study and through experts review. A sample
of 350 Jordanian companies were surveyed, the response rate was
83%. The respondents were asked to rate the extent of
implementation for each of practices. A relationship conceptual
model is developed, hypotheses are proposed, and consequently the
essential statistical analyses are then performed. An assessment tool
that enables management to monitor the progress and the
effectiveness of lean practices implementation is designed and
presented. Consequently, the results show that the average
implementation level of lean practices in MET is 77%, Jordanian
companies are implementing successfully the considered lean
production practices, and the presented model has Cronbach-s alpha
value of 0.87 which is good evidence on model consistency and
results validation.
Abstract: This study, focusing on the importance of encouraging
outdoor activities for children, aims to propose and implement a Web-GIS based outdoor education program for junior high schools,
which will then be evaluated by users. Specifically, for the purpose of improved outdoor activities in the junior high school education, the
outdoor education program, with chiefly using the Web-GIS that provides a good information provision and sharing tool, is proposed
and implemented before being evaluated by users. The conclusion of
this study can be summarized in the following two points.
(1) A five -step outdoor education program based on Web-GIS was
proposed for a “second school" at junior high schools that was then implemented before being evaluated by teachers as users.
(2) Based on the results of evaluation by teachers, it was clear that the general operation of Web-GIS based outdoor education program with them only is difficult due to their lack of knowledge regarding Web-GIS and that support staff who can effectively utilize Web-GIS are essential.
Abstract: Scouring around a bridge pier is a complex
phenomenon. More laboratory experiments are required to
understand the scour mechanism. This paper focused on time
development of local scour around piers and piles in semi integral
bridges. Laboratory data collected at Hydraulics Laboratory,
University of Malaya was analyzed for this purpose. Tests were
performed with two different uniform sediment sizes and five ranges
of flow velocities. Fine and coarse sediments were tested in the
flume. Results showed that scour depths for both pier and piles
increased with time up to certain levels and after that they became
almost constant. It had been found that scour depths increased when
discharges increased. Coarser sediment also produced lesser scouring
at the piers and combined piles.
Abstract: The technological concepts such as wireless hospital
and portable cardiac telemetry system require the development of
physiological signal acquisition devices to be easily integrated into
the hospital database. In this paper we present the low cost, portable
wireless ECG acquisition hardware that transmits ECG signals to a
dedicated computer.The front end of the system obtains and
processes incoming signals, which are then transmitted via a
microcontroller and wireless Bluetooth module. A monitoring
purpose Bluetooth based end user application integrated with patient
database management module is developed for the computers. The
system will act as a continuous event recorder, which can be used to
follow up patients who have been resuscitatedfrom cardiac arrest,
ventricular tachycardia but also for diagnostic purposes for patients
with arrhythmia symptoms. In addition, cardiac information can be
saved into the patient-s database of the hospital.
Abstract: The design of an active leg orthosis for tumble
protection is proposed in this paper. The orthosis would be applied to
assist elders or invalids in rebalancing while they fall unexpectedly.
We observe the regain balance motion of healthy and youthful people,
and find the difference to elders or invalids. First, the physical model
of leg would be established, and we consider the leg motions are
achieve through four joints (phalanx stem, ankle, knee, and hip joint)
and five links (phalanges, talus, tibia, femur, and hip bone). To
formulate the dynamic equations, the coordinates which can clearly
describe the position in 3D space are first defined accordance with the
human movement of leg, and the kinematics and dynamics of the leg
movement can be formulated based on the robotics. For the purpose,
assisting elders and invalids in avoiding tumble, the posture variation
of unbalance and regaining balance motion are recorded by the
motion-capture image system, and the trajectory is taken as the desire
one. Then we calculate the force and moment of each joint based on
the leg motion model through programming MATLAB code. The
results would be primary information of the active leg orthosis design
for tumble protection.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the
importance of the concept of competitiveness in the supply chain and
to present a conceptual framework for Supply Chain Competitiveness
(SCC). The framework is based on supply chain activities, which are
inputs, necessary for SCC and the benefits which are the outputs of
SCC. A literature review is conducted on key supply chain
competitiveness issues, its determinants, its various dimensions
followed by exploration for SCC. Based on the insights gained, a
conceptual framework for SCC is presented based on activities for
SCC, SCC environment and outcomes of SCC. The information flow
in the conceptual framework is bi-directional at all levels and the
activities are interrelated in a global competitive environment. The
activities include the activities of suppliers, manufacturers and
distributors, giving more emphasis on manufacturers- activities.
Further, implications of various factors such as economic, politicolegal,
technical, socio-cultural, competition, demographic etc. are
also highlighted. The SCC framework is an attempt to cover the
relatively less explored area of supply chain competitiveness. It is
expected that this work will further motivate researchers,
academicians and practitioners to work in this area and offers
conceptual help in providing a directions for supply chain
competitiveness which leads to improvement in the supply chain and
supply chain performance.
Abstract: In this paper a novel scheme for watermarking digital
audio during its compression to MPEG-1 Layer III format is
proposed. For this purpose we slightly modify some of the selected
MDCT coefficients, which are used during MPEG audio
compression procedure. Due to the possibility of modifying different
MDCT coefficients, there will be different choices for embedding the
watermark into audio data, considering robustness and transparency
factors. Our proposed method uses a genetic algorithm to select the
best coefficients to embed the watermark. This genetic selection is
done according to the parameters that are extracted from the
perceptual content of the audio to optimize the robustness and
transparency of the watermark. On the other hand the watermark
security is increased due to the random nature of the genetic
selection. The information of the selected MDCT coefficients that
carry the watermark bits, are saves in a database for future extraction
of the watermark. The proposed method is suitable for online MP3
stores to pursue illegal copies of musical artworks. Experimental
results show that the detection ratio of the watermarks at the bitrate
of 128kbps remains above 90% while the inaudibility of the
watermark is preserved.
Abstract: The main purpose of this study is to analyze the
relationship of leisure agriculture park visitors on tourist destination
image, environmental perception, travel experiences and revisiting
willingness. This study used questionnaires to Xinshe leisure
agriculture park visitors- targeted convenience sampling manner total
of 636 valid questionnaires. Valid questionnaires by descriptive
statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis, the
study found that: 1. The agricultural park visitors- correlations exist
between the destination image, perception of the environment, tourism
experience and revisiting willingness. 2."Excellent facilities and
services", "space atmosphere comfortable" and "the spacious paternity
outdoor space" imagery, of visitors- "revisiting willingness predict. 3.
Visitors- in leisure agriculture park "environmental perception" and
"travel experience, future revisiting willingness predict. According to
the analysis of the results, the study not only operate on the
recommendations of the leisure farm owners also provide follow-up
study direction for future researchers.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to understand how
consumers react to a company's promotional offers with mobile
applications (APP) as premiums. This paper presents the results of an
experimental study where five features of APP were involved: the
cost (free/discounted) for earning APP, the relationship between APP
and the promoted product, the perceived usefulness, the perceived
ease of use, and the perceived playfulness of APP in the context of
light foods purchase. The results support that the above features,
except perceived ease of use, have substantial influences on
consumers' intention to adopt the APP. Among the five features, the
cost for earning APP has the most impact on the adopting intention
of APP. The study also found a positive influence of adopting
intention of APP on the consumer's purchase intention of the
promoted product. Thus, APP-based premiums may enhance the
consumer's purchase intention of a company's promoted products.
Abstract: The catalytic dehydroxylation of glycerol to propylene
glycol was investigated over Cu-ZnO/Al2O3 prepared by incipient
wetness impregnation (IWI) method with different purity feedstocks -
refined glycerol and technical grade glycerol. The main purpose is to
investigate the effects of feed impurities that cause the catalyst
deactivation. The prepared catalyst were tested for its catalytic
activity and selectivity in a continuous flow fixed bed reactor at 523
K, 500 psig, H2/feed molar ratio of 4 and WHSV of 3 h-1. The results
showed that conversion of refined glycerol and technical grade
glycerol at time on stream 6 hour are 99% and 71% and selectivity to
propylene glycol are 87% and 56% respectively. The ICP-EOS and
TPO results indicated that the cause of catalyst deactivation was the
amount of impurities in the feedstock. The higher amount of
impurities (especially Na and K) the lower catalytic activity.
Abstract: As the Textile Industry is the second largest industry
in Egypt and as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up
a great portion of this industry therein it is essential to apply the
concept of Cleaner Production for the purpose of reducing pollution.
In order to achieve this goal, a case study concerned with ecofriendly
stone-washing of jeans-garments was investigated. A raw
material-substitution option was adopted whereby the toxic
potassium permanganate and sodium sulfide were replaced by the
environmentally compatible hydrogen peroxide and glucose
respectively where the concentrations of both replaced chemicals
together with the operating time were optimized. In addition, a
process-rationalization option involving four additional processes
was investigated. By means of criteria such as product quality,
effluent analysis, mass and heat balance; and cost analysis with the
aid of a statistical model, a process optimization treatment revealed
that the superior process optima were 50%, 0.15% and 50min for
H2O2 concentration, glucose concentration and time, respectively.
With these values the superior process ought to reduce the annual
cost by about EGP 105 relative to the currently used conventional
method.
Abstract: Wireless sensor network is formed with the combination of sensor nodes and sink nodes. Recently Wireless sensor network has attracted attention of the research community. The main application of wireless sensor network is security from different attacks both for mass public and military. However securing these networks, by itself is a critical issue due to many constraints like limited energy, computational power and lower memory. Researchers working in this area have proposed a number of security techniques for this purpose. Still, more work needs to be done.In this paper we provide a detailed discussion on security in wireless sensor networks. This paper will help to identify different obstacles and requirements for security of wireless sensor networks as well as highlight weaknesses of existing techniques.
Abstract: Retinal vascularity assessment plays an important role in diagnosis of ophthalmic pathologies. The employment of digital images for this purpose makes possible a computerized approach and has motivated development of many methods for automated vascular tree segmentation. Metrics based on contingency tables for binary classification have been widely used for evaluating performance of these algorithms and, concretely, the accuracy has been mostly used as measure of global performance in this topic. However, this metric shows very poor matching with human perception as well as other notable deficiencies. Here, a new similarity function for measuring quality of retinal vessel segmentations is proposed. This similarity function is based on characterizing the vascular tree as a connected structure with a measurable area and length. Tests made indicate that this new approach shows better behaviour than the current one does. Generalizing, this concept of measuring descriptive properties may be used for designing functions for measuring more successfully segmentation quality of other complex structures.
Abstract: Fly ash is one of the residues generated in
combustion, and comprises the fine particles that rise with the flue
gases. Ash which does not rise is termed bottom ash [1]. In our
country, it is expected that will be occurred 50 million tons of waste
ash per year until 2020. Released waste from the thermal power
plants is caused very significant problems as known. The fly ashes
can be evaluated by using as adsorbent material.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of use of
Tuncbilek fly ash like low-cost adsorbents for heavy metal
adsorption. First of all, Tuncbilek fly ash was characterized. For this
purpose; analysis such as sieve analysis, XRD, XRF, SEM and FT-IR
were performed.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between hope and resilience with work engagement. A total of 422 staff nurses working in three public hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia participated in this study. Statistical results using regression analysis revealed that hope and resilience were positively related to work engagement. Possible reasons for these findings, as well as their implications and future research directions are discussed.
Abstract: In this paper we present an autoregressive model with
neural networks modeling and standard error backpropagation
algorithm training optimization in order to predict the gross domestic
product (GDP) growth rate of four countries. Specifically we propose
a kind of weighted regression, which can be used for econometric
purposes, where the initial inputs are multiplied by the neural
networks final optimum weights from input-hidden layer after the
training process. The forecasts are compared with those of the
ordinary autoregressive model and we conclude that the proposed
regression-s forecasting results outperform significant those of
autoregressive model in the out-of-sample period. The idea behind
this approach is to propose a parametric regression with weighted
variables in order to test for the statistical significance and the
magnitude of the estimated autoregressive coefficients and
simultaneously to estimate the forecasts.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the
efficiency of a double-layer roof in collecting solar energy as an
application to the areas such as raising high-end temperature of
organic Rankine cycle (ORC). The by-product of the solar roof is to
reduce building air-conditioning loads. The experimental apparatus
are arranged to evaluate the effects of the solar roof in absorbing solar
energy. The flow channel is basically formed by an aluminum plate on
top of a plywood plate. The geometric configurations in which the
effects of absorbing energy is analyzed include: a bare uncovered
aluminum plate, a glass-covered aluminum plate, a
glass-covered/black-painted aluminum plate, a plate with variable
lengths, a flow channel with stuffed material (in an attempt on
enhancement of heat conduction), and a flow channel with variable
slanted angles. The experimental results show that the efficiency of
energy collection varies from 0.6 % to 11 % for the geometric
configurations mentioned above. An additional study is carried out
using CFD simulation to investigate the effects of fins on the
aluminum plate. It shows that due to vastly enhanced heat conduction,
the efficiency can reach ~23 % if 50 fins are installed on the aluminum
plate. The study shows that a double-layer roof can efficiently absorb
solar energy and substantially reduce building air-conditioning
loads. On the high end of an organic Rankine cycle, a solar pond is
used to replace the warm surface water of the sea as OTEC (ocean
thermal energy conversion) is the driving energy for the ORC. The
energy collected from the double-layered solar roof can be pumped
into the pond and raise the pond temperature as the pond surface area is
equivalently increased by nearly one-fourth of the total area of the
double-layer solar roof. The effect of raising solar pond temperature is
especially prominent if the double-layer solar roofs are installed in a
community area.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to introduce a new
interface program to calculate a dose distribution with Monte Carlo method in complex heterogeneous systems such as organs or tissues
in proton therapy. This interface program was developed under
MATLAB software and includes a friendly graphical user interface
with several tools such as image properties adjustment or results display. Quadtree decomposition technique was used as an image
segmentation algorithm to create optimum geometries from Computed Tomography (CT) images for dose calculations of proton
beam. The result of the mentioned technique is a number of nonoverlapped
squares with different sizes in every image. By this way
the resolution of image segmentation is high enough in and near
heterogeneous areas to preserve the precision of dose calculations
and is low enough in homogeneous areas to reduce the number of
cells directly. Furthermore a cell reduction algorithm can be used to combine neighboring cells with the same material. The validation of this method has been done in two ways; first, in comparison with experimental data obtained with 80 MeV proton beam in Cyclotron
and Radioisotope Center (CYRIC) in Tohoku University and second, in comparison with data based on polybinary tissue calibration method, performed in CYRIC. These results are presented in this paper. This program can read the output file of Monte Carlo code while region of interest is selected manually, and give a plot of dose distribution of proton beam superimposed onto the CT images.