Abstract: Focusing on the environmental issues, including the reduction of scrap and consumer residuals, along with the benefiting from the economic value during the life cycle of goods/products leads the companies to have an important competitive approach. The aim of this paper is to present a new mixed nonlinear facility locationallocation model in recycling collection networks by considering multi-echelon, multi-suppliers, multi-collection centers and multifacilities in the recycling network. To make an appropriate decision in reality, demands, returns, capacities, costs and distances, are regarded uncertain in our model. For this purpose, a fuzzy mathematical programming-based possibilistic approach is introduced as a solution methodology from the recent literature to solve the proposed mixed-nonlinear programming model (MNLP). The computational experiments are provided to illustrate the applicability of the designed model in a supply chain environment and to help the decision makers to facilitate their analysis.
Abstract: Falls are the primary cause of accidents in people over
the age of 65, and frequently lead to serious injuries. Since the early
detection of falls is an important step to alert and protect the aging
population, a variety of research on detecting falls was carried out
including the use of accelerators, gyroscopes and tilt sensors. In
exiting studies, falls were detected using an accelerometer with
errors. In this study, the proposed method for detecting falls was to
use two accelerometers to reject wrong falls detection. As falls are
accompanied by the acceleration of gravity and rotational motion, the
falls in this study were detected by using the z-axial acceleration
differences between two sites. The falls were detected by calculating
the difference between the analyses of accelerometers placed on two
different positions on the chest of the subject. The parameters of the
maximum difference of accelerations (diff_Z) and the integration of
accelerations in a defined region (Sum_diff_Z) were used to form the
fall detection algorithm. The falls and the activities of daily living
(ADL) could be distinguished by using the proposed parameters
without errors in spite of the impact and the change in the positions
of the accelerometers. By comparing each of the axial accelerations,
the directions of falls and the condition of the subject afterwards
could be determined.In this study, by using two accelerometers
without errors attached to two sites to detect falls, the usefulness of
the proposed fall detection algorithm parameters, diff_Z and
Sum_diff_Z, were confirmed.
Abstract: Jacobs, A.B. (1993) stated that "When I think of a city,
the first thing that comes to mind is the street. If the street is
interesting, the rest of the city is interesting. If the street is mundane,
the city is also mundane." In this statement, he expresses the
importance of the streetscape and the street environment. The
objective of this paper is to analyze the spatial relationships of the
streetscape that affect the general public's preference of the cityscape.
Furthermore, this research focuses on the important role that
streetscape plays in public perception of the city by the pedestrians
who experience it daily. The subject of this paper is eight of the
"Design Seoul Street."The analysis and survey results show the
preference criteria that affect the streetscape and ultimately the
cityscape. This research endeavor shows that differences in physical
form, shape, size, color, locations, and context are important.
Abstract: Solidification cracking and hydrogen cracking are some defects generated in the fusion welding of ultrahigh carbon steels. However, friction stir welding (FSW) of such steels, being a solid-state technique, has been demonstrated to alleviate such problems encountered in traditional welding. FSW include different process parameters that must be carefully defined prior processing. These parameters included but not restricted to: tool feed, tool RPM, tool geometry, tool tilt angle. These parameters form a key factor behind avoiding warm holes and voids behind the tool and in achieving a defect-free weld. More importantly, these parameters directly affect the microstructure of the weld and hence the final mechanical properties of weld. For that, 3D finite element (FE) thermo-mechanical model was developed using DEFORM 3D to simulate FSW of carbon steel. At points of interest in the joint, tracking is done for history of critical state variables such as temperature, stresses, and strain rates. Typical results found include the ability to simulate different weld zones. Simulations predictions were successfully compared to experimental FSW tests. It is believed that such a numerical model can be used to optimize FSW processing parameters to favor desirable defect free weld with better mechanical properties.
Abstract: MBMS is a unidirectional point-to-multipoint bearer
service in which data are transmitted from a single source entity to
multiple recipients. For a mobile to support the MBMS, MBMS client
functions as well as MBMS radio protocols should be designed and
implemented. In this paper, we analyze the MBMS client functions
and describe the implementation of them in our mobile test-bed. User
operations and signaling flows between protocol entities to control the
MBMS functions are designed in detail. Service announcement
utilizing the file download MBMS service and four MBMS user
services are demonstrated in the test-bed to verify the MBMS client
functions.
Abstract: The impact of the information revolution is double
edged. While it is applauded for its versatility and performance
robustness and acclaimed for making life smooth and easy, on the
other hand people are concerned about its dark side especially to
younger generations. The education system should extend its
educating role beyond the school to home. Parents should be included
in forming the policies of Internet use as well as in the curriculum
delivery. This paper discusses how curriculum can be instrumental in
addressing social and ethical issues resulted from the Internet.
Abstract: Wireless ad hoc nodes are freely and dynamically
self-organize in communicating with others. Each node can act as
host or router. However it actually depends on the capability of
nodes in terms of its current power level, signal strength, number
of hops, routing protocol, interference and others. In this research,
a study was conducted to observe the effect of hops count over
different network topologies that contribute to TCP Congestion
Control performance degradation. To achieve this objective, a
simulation using NS-2 with different topologies have been
evaluated. The comparative analysis has been discussed based on
standard observation metrics: throughput, delay and packet loss
ratio. As a result, there is a relationship between types of topology
and hops counts towards the performance of ad hoc network. In
future, the extension study will be carried out to investigate the
effect of different error rate and background traffic over same
topologies.
Abstract: In this note the notion of interval-valued fuzzy BG-algebras (briefly, i-v fuzzy BG-algebras), the level and strong level BG-subalgebra is introduced. Then we state and prove some theorems which determine the relationship between these notions and BG-subalgebras. The images and inverse images of i-v fuzzy BG-subalgebras are defined, and how the homomorphic images and inverse images of i-v fuzzy BG-subalgebra becomes i-v fuzzy BG-algebras are studied.
Abstract: In this study, the thermal and mechanical properties of
basalt fibre reinforced concrete were investigated. The volume
fractions of basalt fibre of (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5% by total mix
volume) were used. Properties such as heat transfer, compressive and
splitting tensile strengths were examined. Results indicated that the
strength increases with increase the fibre content till 0.3% then there
is a slight reduction when 0.5% fibre used. Lower amount of heat
conducted through the thickness of concrete specimens than the
conventional concrete was also recorded.
Abstract: Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology
(UTAUT) model has demonstrated the influencing factors for generic
information systems use such as tablet personal computer (TPC) and
mobile communication. However, in the context of digital library
system, there has been very little effort to determine factors affecting
the intention to use digital library based on the UTAUT model. This
paper investigates factors that are expected to influence the intention
of postgraduate students to use digital library based on modified
UTAUT model. The modified model comprises of constructs
represented by several latent variables, namely performance
expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), information quality (IQ)
and service quality (SQ) and moderated by age, gender and
experience in using digital library. Results show that performance
expectancy, effort expectancy and information quality are positively
related to the intention to use digital library, while service quality is
negatively related to the intention to use digital library. Age and
gender have shown no evidence of any significant interactions, while
experience in using digital library significantly interacts with effort
expectancy and intention to use digital library. This has provided the
evidence of a moderating effect of experience in the intention to use
digital library. It is expected that this research will shed new lights
into research of acceptance and intention to use the library in a digital
environment.
Abstract: In this work, we present a comparison between two
techniques of image compression. In the first case, the image is
divided in blocks which are collected according to zig-zag scan. In
the second one, we apply the Fast Cosine Transform to the image,
and then the transformed image is divided in blocks which are
collected according to zig-zag scan too. Later, in both cases, the
Karhunen-Loève transform is applied to mentioned blocks. On the
other hand, we present three new metrics based on eigenvalues for a
better comparative evaluation of the techniques. Simulations show
that the combined version is the best, with minor Mean Absolute
Error (MAE) and Mean Squared Error (MSE), higher Peak Signal to
Noise Ratio (PSNR) and better image quality. Finally, new technique
was far superior to JPEG and JPEG2000.
Abstract: Delayed wound healing in diabetes is primarily
associated with hyperglycemia, over-expression of inflammatory
marker, oxidative stress and delayed collagen synthesis. This
unmanaged wound is producing high economic burden on the
society. Thus research is required to develop new and effective
treatment strategies to deal with this emerging issue. Our present
study incorporates the evaluation of wound healing effects of 50%
ethanol extract of Ocimum sanctum (OSE) in streptozotocin
(45mg/kg)-induced diabetic rats with concurrent wound ulcer. The
animals showing diabetes (Blood glucose level >140 and
Abstract: Over the past few years, companies in developing
countries have implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP)
systems. Regardless of the various benefits of the ERP system, its
adoption and implementation have not been without problems. Many
companies have assigned considerable organizational resources to
their ERP projects, but have encountered unexpected challenges.
Neglecting a number of important factors in ERP projects might lead
to failure instead of success. User satisfaction is among those factors
that has a major influence on ERP implementation success. So, this
paper intends to investigate the key factors that create ERP users-
satisfaction and to discover whether ERP users- satisfaction varies
among different users- profiles. The study was conducted using a
survey questionnaire which was distributed to ERP users in Iranian
organizations. A total of 384 responses were collected and analyzed.
The findings indicated that younger ERP users tend to be more
satisfied with ERP systems. Furthermore, ERP users with more
experiences in IT and also more educated users have more
satisfaction with ERP softwares. However, the study found no
satisfaction differences between men and women users.
Abstract: Effectiveness and efficiency of food distribution is necessary to maintain food security in a region. Food supply varies among regions depending on their production capacity; therefore, it is necessary to regulate food distribution. Sea transportation could play a great role in the food distribution system. To play this role and to support transportation needs in the Eastern Indonesia, sea transportation shall be supported by fleet which is adequate and reliable, both in terms of load and worthiness. This research uses Linear Programming (LP) method to analyze food distribution pattern in order to determine the optimal distribution system. In this research, transshipment points have been selected for regions in one province. Comparison between result of modeling and existing shipping route reveals that from 369 existing routes, 54 routes are used for transporting rice, corn, green bean, peanut, soybean, sweet potato, and cassava.
Abstract: In this paper, a few chattering-free Sliding Mode Controllers (SMC) are proposed to stabilize an Active Magnetic Bearing (AMB) system with gyroscopic effect that is proportional to the rotor speed. The improved switching terms of the controller inherited from the saturation-type function and boundary layer control technique is shown to be able to achieve bounded and asymptotic stability, respectively, while the chattering effect in the input is attenuated. This is proven to be advantageous for AMB system since minimization of chattering results in optimized control effort. The performance of each controller is demonstrated via result of simulation in which the measurement of the total consumed energy and maximum control magnitude of each controller illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed controllers.
Abstract: This paper deals with a novel technique for the
fabrication of Spiral grooves in a dynamic thrust bearing. The main
scheme proposed in this paper is to fabricate the microgrooves using
desktop forming system. This process has advantages compared to the
conventional electro-chemical machining in the viewpoint of a higher
productivity. For this reason, a new testing apparatus is designed and
built for press forming microgrooves on a surface of the thrust bearing.
The material used in this study is sintered Cu-Fe alloy. The effects of
the forming load on the performance of micro press forming are
experimentally investigated. From the experimental results, formed
depths are closed to the target ones with increasing the forming load.
Abstract: Service-oriented systems have become popular and
presented many advantages in develop and maintain process. The
coupling is the most important attribute of services when they are
integrated into a system. In this paper, we propose a suite of metrics
to evaluate service-s quality according to its ability of coupling. We
use the coupling metrics to measure the maintainability, reliability,
testability, and reusability of services. Our proposed metrics are
operated in run-time which bring more exact results.
Abstract: The affect of the attendance percentage, the overall
GPA and the number of credit hours the student is enrolled in at
specific semester on the grade attained in specific course has been
studied. This study has been performed on three courses offered in
industrial engineering department at the Hashemite University in
Jordan. Study has revealed that the grade attained by a student is
strongly affected by the attendance percentage and his overall GPA
with a value of R2 of 52.5%. Another model that has been
investigated is the relation between the semester GPA and the
attendance percentage, the number of credit hours enrolled in at
specific semester, and the overall GPA. This model gave us a strong
relationship between the semester GPA and attendance percentage
and the overall GPA with a value of R2 of 76.2%.
Abstract: Thai language is difficult in all four language skills,
especially reading. The first year students may have different abilities
in reading, so a teacher is required to find out a student’s reading
level so that the teacher can help and support them till they can
develop and resolve each problem themselves. This research is aimed
to study the prosody problem among Thai students and will be
focused on first year Thai students in the second semester. A total of
58 students were involved in this study. Four obstacles were found:
1. Interpretation from what they read and write
2. Incorrectness Pronunciation of Prosody
3. Incorrectness in Rhythm of the Poem
4. Incorrectness of the Thai Poem Pronunciation
Abstract: Cement stabilization has been widely used for
improving the strength and stiffness of soft clayey soils. Cement
treated soil specimens used to investigate the stress-strain behaviour in
the laboratory study are usually cured for 7 days. This paper examines
the effects of curing time on the strength and stress strain behaviour of
cement treated marine clay under triaxial loading condition.
Laboratory-prepared cement treated Singapore marine clay with
different mix proportion S-C-W (soil solid-cement solid-water) and
curing time (7 days to 180 days) was investigated through conducting
unconfined compressive strength test and triaxial test. The results
show that the curing time has a significant effect on the unconfined
compressive strength u q , isotropic compression behaviour and stress
strain behaviour. Although the primary yield loci of the cement treated
soil specimens with the same mix proportion expand with curing time,
they are very narrowly banded and have nearly the same shape after
being normalized by isotropic compression primary stress '
py p . The
isotropic compression primary yield stress '
py p was shown to be
linearly related to unconfined compressive strength u q for specimens
with different curing time and mix proportion. The effect of curing
time on the hardening behaviour will diminish with consolidation
stress higher than isotropic compression primary yield stress but its
damping rate is dependent on the cement content.