Abstract: The problem of N cracks interaction in an isotropic
elastic solid is decomposed into a subproblem of a homogeneous solid
without crack and N subproblems with each having a single crack
subjected to unknown tractions on the two crack faces. The unknown
tractions, namely pseudo tractions on each crack are expanded into
polynomials with unknown coefficients, which have to be determined
by the consistency condition, i.e. by the equivalence of the original
multiple cracks interaction problem and the superposition of the N+1
subproblems. In this paper, Kachanov-s approach of average tractions
is extended into the method of moments to approximately impose the
consistence condition. Hence Kachanov-s method can be viewed as
the zero-order method of moments. Numerical results of the stress
intensity factors are presented for interactions of two collinear cracks,
three collinear cracks, two parallel cracks, and three parallel cracks.
As the order of moment increases, the accuracy of the method of
moments improves.
Abstract: Nano fibers produced by electrospinning are of industrial and scientific attention due to their special characteristics such as long length, small diameter and high surface area. Applications of electrospun structures in nanotechnology are included tissue scaffolds, fibers for drug delivery, composite reinforcement, chemical sensing, enzyme immobilization, membrane-based filtration, protective clothing, catalysis, solar cells, electronic devices and others. Many polymer and ceramic precursor nano fibers have been successfully electrospun with diameters in the range from 1 nm to several microns. The process is complex so that fiber diameter is influenced by various material, design and operating parameters. The objective of this work is to apply genetic algorithm on the parameters of electrospinning which have the most significant effect on the nano fiber diameter to determine the optimum parameter values before doing experimental set up. Effective factors including initial polymer concentration, initial jet radius, electrical potential, relaxation time, initial elongation, viscosity and distance between nozzle and collector are considered to determine finest diameter which is selected by user.
Abstract: Descriptive statistics was performed with the aim to achieve research objective of to investigate lecturers- usage of the mobile technology for teaching. A representative sample of 20 lecturers from the Faculty of Industrial Art & Design Technology of Universiti Industri Selangor (UNISEL), Malaysia was selected as the respondents. The result attested that lecturers fully accept the concept of mobility in learning and game play is appealing concept to support classroom learning. Subsequently, analogous experience on small size of keypad, screen resolution, and navigation could be the major problematic factors to students and affect their mobile learning process. Recommendation for future research is also presented.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present a new
three-dimensional proportional-pursuit coupled (PP) guidance law to
track highly maneuverable aircraft. Utilizing a 3-D polar coordinate frame, the PP guidance law is formed by collecting proportional
navigation guidance in Z-R plane and pursuit guidance in X-Y plane.
Feedback linearization control method to solve the guidance
accelerations is used to implement PP guidance. In order to
compensate the actuator time delay, the time delay compensated
version of PP guidance law (CPP) was derived and proved the
effectiveness of modifying the problem of high acceleration in the final
phase of pursuit guidance and improving the weak robustness of
proportional navigation. The simulation results for intercepting Max G
turn situation show that the proposed proportional-pursuit coupled
guidance law guidance law with actuator delay compensation (CPP)
possesses satisfactory robustness and performance.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to reveal the principles, which have the highest impact on determining the Strategic Quality Management (SQM) implementation perceptions of managers. In order to accomplish this goal, first of all, a factor analysis is conducted on the attitudes of managers at 80 large-scale firms in Turkey for SQM principles. Secondly, utilizing t tests and discriminant analysis, the most effective items are determined. The results show that “process improvement" and “assessment of competitiveness" are the management principles, which have the highest impact on determining the SQM implementation perceptions of Turkish managers.
Abstract: In this paper, we have presented a new multivariate fuzzy time series forecasting method. This method assumes mfactors with one main factor of interest. History of past three years is used for making new forecasts. This new method is applied in forecasting total number of car accidents in Belgium using four secondary factors. We also make comparison of our proposed method with existing methods of fuzzy time series forecasting. Experimentally, it is shown that our proposed method perform better than existing fuzzy time series forecasting methods. Practically, actuaries are interested in analysis of the patterns of causalities in road accidents. Thus using fuzzy time series, actuaries can define fuzzy premium and fuzzy underwriting of car insurance and life insurance for car insurance. National Institute of Statistics, Belgium provides region of risk classification for each road. Thus using this risk classification, we can predict premium rate and underwriting of insurance policy holders.
Abstract: An optimal control strategy based on simple model, a
single phase unity power factor boost converter is presented with an
evaluation of first order differential equations. This paper presents an
evaluation of single phase boost converter having power factor
correction. The simple discrete model of boost converter is formed
and optimal control is obtained, digital PI is adopted to adjust control
error. The method of instantaneous current control is proposed in this
paper for its good tracking performance of dynamic response. The
simulation and experimental results verified our design.
Abstract: Studies were carried out on the comparative study of the production of Avicelase enzyme using sugarcane bagasse-SCB in two different statuses (i.e. treated and untreated SCB) by thermophilic Geobacillus stearothermophilus at 50ºC. Only four thermophilic bacterial isolates were isolated and assayed for Avicelase production using UntSCB and TSCB. Only one isolate selected as most potent and identified as G. stearothermophilus used in this study. A specific endo-β-1,4-D-glucanase (Avicelase EC 3.2.1.91) was partially purified from a thermophilic bacterial strain was isolated from different soil samples when grown on cellulose enrichment SCB substrate as the sole carbon source. Results shown that G. stearothermophilus was the better Avicelase producer strain. Avicelase had an optimum pH and temperature 7.0 and 50ºC for both UntSCB and TSCB and exhibited good pH stability between "5-8" and "4-9", however, good temperature stability between (30-80ºC) for UntSCB and TSCB, respectively. Other factors affecting the production of Avicelase were compared (i.e. SCB concentration, inoculum size and different incubation periods), all results observed and obtained were revealed that the TSCB was exhibited maximal enzyme activity in comparison with the results obtained from UntSCB, so, the TSCB was enhancing the Avicelase production.
Abstract: Finding suitable non-supersingular elliptic curves for
pairing-based cryptosystems becomes an important issue for the
modern public-key cryptography after the proposition of id-based
encryption scheme and short signature scheme. In previous work
different algorithms have been proposed for finding such elliptic
curves when embedding degree k ∈ {3, 4, 6} and cofactor h ∈ {1, 2, 3,
4, 5}. In this paper a new method is presented to find more
non-supersingular elliptic curves for pairing-based cryptosystems with
general embedding degree k and large values of cofactor h. In
addition, some effective parameters of these non-supersingular elliptic
curves are provided in this paper.
Abstract: A statistical optimization of the saccharification
process of EFB was studied. The statistical analysis was done by
applying faced centered central composite design (FCCCD) under
response surface methodology (RSM). In this investigation, EFB
dose, enzyme dose and saccharification period was examined, and the
maximum 53.45% (w/w) yield of reducing sugar was found with 4%
(w/v) of EFB, 10% (v/v) of enzyme after 120 hours of incubation. It
can be calculated that the conversion rate of cellulose content of the
substrate is more than 75% (w/w) which can be considered as a
remarkable achievement. All the variables, linear, quadratic and
interaction coefficient, were found to be highly significant, other than
two coefficients, one quadratic and another interaction coefficient.
The coefficient of determination (R2) is 0.9898 that confirms a
satisfactory data and indicated that approximately 98.98% of the
variability in the dependent variable, saccharification of EFB, could
be explained by this model.
Abstract: Continuously variable transmission (CVT) is a type of
automatic transmission that can change the gear ratio to any arbitrary
setting within the limits. The most common type of CVT operates on
a pulley system that allows an infinite variability between highest and
lowest gears with no discrete steps. However, the current CVT
system with hydraulic actuation method suffers from the power loss.
It needs continuous force for the pulley to clamp the belt and hold the
torque resulting in large amount of energy consumption. This study
focused on the development of an electromechanical actuated control
CVT to eliminate the problem that faced by the existing CVT. It is
conducted with several steps; computing and selecting the
appropriate sizing for stroke length, lead screw system and etc. From
the visual observation it was found that the CVT system of this
research is satisfactory.
Abstract: Researches on the general rules of temperature field
changing and their effects on the bridge in construction are necessary.
This paper investigated the rules of temperature field changing and its
effects on bridge using onsite measurement and computational
analysis. Guanyinsha Bridge was used as a case study in this research.
The temperature field was simulated in analyses. The effects of certain
boundary conditions such as sun radiance, wind speed, and model
parameters such as heat factor and specific heat on temperature field
are investigated. Recommended values for these parameters are
proposed. The simulated temperature field matches the measured
observations with high accuracy. At the same time, the stresses and
deflections of the bridge computed with the simulated temperature
field matches measured values too. As a conclusion, the temperature
effect analysis of reinforced concrete box girder can be conducted
directly based on the reliable weather data of the concerned area.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to propose a model designed to achieve Total Knowledge Transfer in the public health sector. The Total Knowledge Transfer Model integrated four essential organizational factors which have been under examined in totality in the literature. The research design was inductive in nature and used a case study for accomplishing the research objectives. The researcher investigated the factors that created a base to design a framework for total knowledge transfer in the public health sector. The results of this study are drawn from a fairly large sample in only two hospitals. A further research can be conducted to cover more responses from a wider health sector. The Total Knowledge Transfer Model is essential to improve the transfer and application of total common health knowledge.
Abstract: A multi-agent type robot for disaster response in calamity scene is proposed in this paper. The proposed grouped rescue robots can perform cooperative reconnaissance and surveillance to achieve a given rescue mission. The multi-agent rescue of dual set robot consists of one master set and three slave units. The research for this rescue robot system is going to detect at harmful environment where human is unreachable, such as the building is infected with virus or the factory has hazardous liquid in effluent. As a dual set robot, with Bluetooth and communication network, the master set can connect with slave units and send information back to computer by wireless and monitor. Therefore, rescuer can be informed the real-time information in a calamity area. Furthermore, each slave robot is able to obstacle avoidance by ultrasonic sensors, and encodes distance and location by compass. The master robot can integrate every devices information to increase the efficiency of prospected and research unknown area.
Abstract: Nowadays, keyless entry systems are widely adopted
for vehicle immobilizer systems due to both advantages of security and
convenience. Keyless entry systems could overcome brute-force key
guessing attack, statistics attack and masquerade attack, however,
they can't prevent from thieves stealing behavior. In this paper, we
proposed a new architecture try to improve the existent flaws. The
integration of the keyless entry system and the fingerprint
identification technology is more suitable to implement on the
portable transponder to achieve higher security needs. We also adopt
and modify AES security protocol for life expectancy and security of
the portable transponder. In addition, the identification of a driver's
fingerprint makes the service of automatic reinstatement of a driver's
preferences become possible. Our design can satisfy not only the three
kinds of previous illegal attacks, but also the stealing situation.
Furthermore, many practical factors, such as costs, life expectancy and
performance, have been well considered in the design of portable
transponder.
Abstract: Proton transfer and hydrogen bonding are two aspects
of the chemistry of hydrogen that respectively govern the behaviour
and structure of many molecules, both simple and complex. All the
theoretical enol and keto conformations of 1,3-diphenyl-1,3-
propandion known as dibenzoylmethane (DBM), have been
investigated by means of atoms in molecules (AIM) theory. It was
found that the most stable conformers are those stabilized by
hydrogen bridges.The aim of the present paper is a thorough
conformational analysis of DBM (with special attention on chelated
cis-enol conformers) in order to obtain detailed information on the
geometrical parameters, relative stabilities and rotational motion of
the phenyl groups. It is also important to estimate the barrier height
for ptoton transfer and hydrogen bond strength, which are the main
factors governing conformational stability.
Abstract: In today-s competitive market, most companies
develop manufacturing systems that can help in cost reduction and
maximum quality. Human issues are an important part of
manufacturing systems, yet most companies ignore their effects on
production performance. This paper aims to developing an integrated
workforce planning system that incorporates the human being.
Therefore, a multi-objective mixed integer nonlinear programming
model is developed to determine the amount of hiring, firing,
training, overtime for each worker type. This paper considers a
workforce planning model including human aspects such as skills,
training, workers- personalities, capacity, motivation, and learning
rates. This model helps to minimize the hiring, firing, training and
overtime costs, and maximize the workers- performance. The results
indicate that the workers- differences should be considered in
workforce scheduling to generate realistic plans with minimum costs.
This paper also investigates the effects of human learning rates on the
performance of the production systems.
Abstract: Despite the fact that Knowledge Sharing (KS) is very important, we found only little discussion about the reasons why people have the willingness to share knowledge at such platform even though there is no immediate benefit to the persons who contribute knowledge in it. The aim of this study is to develop an integrative understanding of the factors that support or inhibit individuals- knowledge sharing intentions in virtual communities and to find whether habit would generate people-s willingness to be involved. We apply Social Capital Theory (SCT), and we also add two dimensions for discussion: member incentive and habitual domain (HD). This research assembles the questionnaire from individuals who have experienced knowledge sharing in virtual communities, and applies survey and Structural Equation Model (SEM) to analyze the results from the questionnaires. Finally, results confirm that individuals are willing to share knowledge in virtual communities: (1) if they consider reciprocity, centrality, and have longer tenure in their field, and enjoy helping. (2) if they have the habit of sharing knowledge. This study is useful for the developers of virtual communities to insight into knowledge sharing in cyberspace.
Abstract: Operating a device at high power and high frequency
is a major problem because wall losses greatly reduce the efficiency
of the device. In the present communication, authors analytically
analyzed the dependence of ohmic/RF efficiency, the fraction of
output power with respect to the total power generated, of gyrotron
cavity structure on the conductivity of copper for the second
harmonic TE0,6 mode. This study shows a rapid fall in the RF
efficiency as the quality (conductivity) of copper degrades. Starting
with an RF efficiency near 40% at the conductivity of ideal copper
(5.8 x 107 S/m), the RF efficiency decreases (upto 8%) as the copper
quality degrades. Assuming conductivity half that of ideal copper the
RF efficiency as a function of diffractive quality factor, Qdiff, has
been studied. Here the RF efficiency decreases rapidly with
increasing diffractive Q. Ohmic wall losses as a function of
frequency for 460 GHz gyrotron cavity excited in TE0,6 mode has
also been analyzed. For 460 GHz cavity, the extracted power is
reduced to 32% of the generated power due to ohmic losses in the
walls of the cavity.
Abstract: The main objectives of this study were to identify
attributes that influence customer satisfaction and determine their
relationships with customer satisfaction. The variables included in
this research are place/ambience, food quality and service quality as
independent variables and customer satisfaction as the dependent
variable. A survey questionnaire which consisted of three parts to
measure demographic factors, independent variables, and dependent
variables was constructed based on items determined by past
research. 149 respondents from one of the well known hotel in Kuala
Lumpur, MALAYSIA were selected as a sample. Psychometric
testing was conducted to determine the reliability and validity of the
questionnaire. From the findings, there were positive significant
relationship between place/ambience (r=0.563**, p=0.000) and
service quality (r=0.544**, p=0.000) with customer satisfaction.
However, although relationship between food quality and customer
satisfaction was significant, it was in the negative direction (r=-
0.268**, p=0.001). New findings were discovered after conducting
this research and previous research findings were strengthened by the
results of this research. Future researchers could concentrate on
determining attributes that influence customer satisfaction when
cost/price is not a factor and reasons for place/ambience is currently
becoming the leading factor in determining customer satisfaction.