Abstract: Comparative analysis of robotic vehicles for pipe inspection is presented in this paper. The promising concept of self-propelled intelligent robotic vehicle (SPIRV) based on octahedral dodekapod for inspection and operation in active branched pipelines with variable cross-sections is reasoned. SPIRV is able to move in pipeline, regardless of its spatial orientation. SPIRV can also be used to move along the outside of the pipelines as well as in space between surfaces of annular tubes. Every one of faces of the octahedral dodekapod can clamp/unclamp a thing with a closed loop surface of various forms as well as put pressure on environmental surface of contact. These properties open new possibilities for its applications in SPIRV. We examine design principles of octahedral dodekapod as future intelligent building blocks for various robotic vehicles that can self-move and self-reconfigure.
Abstract: This work studies the effect of thickness on structural
and electrical properties of CuAlS2 thin films grown by two stage
vacuum thermal evaporation technique. CuAlS2 thin films of
thicknesses 50nm, 100nm and 200nm were deposited on suitably
cleaned corning 7059 glass substrate at room temperature (RT). In
the first stage Cu-Al precursors were grown at room temperature by
thermal evaporation and in the second stage Cu-Al precursors were
converted to CuAlS2 thin films by sulfurisation under sulfur
atmosphere at the temperature of 673K. The structural properties of
the films were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique while
electrical properties of the specimens were studied using four point
probe method. The XRD studies revealed that the films are of
crystalline in nature having tetragonal structure. The variations of the
micro-structural parameters, such as crystallite size (D), dislocation
density ( ), and micro-strain ( ), with film thickness were
investigated. The results showed that the crystallite sizes increase as
the thickness of the film increases. The dislocation density and
micro-strain decreases as the thickness increases. The resistivity ( )
of CuAlS2 film is found to decrease with increase in film thickness,
which is related to the increase of carrier concentration with film
thickness. Thus thicker films exhibit the lowest resistivity and high
carrier concentration, implying these are the most conductive films.
Low electrical resistivity and high carrier concentration are widely
used as the essential components in various optoelectronic devices
such as light-emitting diode and photovoltaic cells.
Abstract: We investigate the performance of an integrated cascade (IC) refrigeration system which uses environment friendly zeotropic mixtures. Computational calculation has been carried out by varying pressure level at the evaporator and the condenser of the system. Effects of mass flow rate of the refrigerant on the coefficient of performance (COP) are presented. We show that the integrated cascade system produces ultra-low temperatures in the evaporator by using environment friendly zeotropic mixture.
Abstract: Despite the benefits of innovation diffusion in the
South African public service, implementation thereof seems to be
problematic, particularly with regard to e-governance which would
enhance the quality of service delivery, especially accessibility,
choice, and mode of operation. This paper reports on differences
between the public service and the private sector in terms of
innovation diffusion. Innovation diffusion will be investigated to
explore identified obstacles that are hindering successful
implementation of e-governance. The research inquiry is underpinned
by the diffusion of innovation theory, which is premised on the
assumption that innovation has a distinct channel, time, and mode of
adoption within the organisation. A comparative thematic document
analysis was conducted to investigate organisational differences with
regard to innovation diffusion. A similar approach has been followed
in other countries, where the same conceptual framework has been
used to guide document analysis in studies in both the private and the
public sectors. As per the recommended conceptual framework, three
organisational characteristics were emphasised, namely the external
characteristics of the organisation, the organisational structure, and
the inherent characteristics of the leadership. The results indicated
that the main difference in the external characteristics lies in the
focus and the clientele of the private sector. With regard to
organisational structure, private organisations have veto power,
which is not the case in the public service. Regarding leadership,
similarities were observed in social and environmental responsibility
and employees’ attitudes towards immediate supervision. Differences
identified included risk taking, the adequacy of leadership
development, organisational approaches to motivation and
involvement in decision making, and leadership style. Due to the
organisational differences observed, it is recommended that
differentiated strategies be employed to ensure effective innovation
diffusion, and ultimately e-governance. It is recommended that the
results of this research be used to stimulate discussion on ways to
improve collaboration between the mentioned sectors, to capitalise on
the benefits of each sector.
Abstract: MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA found in
many different species. They play crucial roles in cancer such as
biological processes of apoptosis and proliferation. The identification
of microRNA-target genes can be an essential first step towards to
reveal the role of microRNA in various cancer types. In this paper,
we predict miRNA-target genes for lung cancer by integrating
prediction scores from miRanda and PITA algorithms used as a
feature vector of miRNA-target interaction. Then, machine-learning
algorithms were implemented for making a final prediction. The
approach developed in this study should be of value for future studies
into understanding the role of miRNAs in molecular mechanisms
enabling lung cancer formation.
Abstract: The combination of multi–walled carbon nanotubes
(MWCNTs) with polymers offers an attractive route to reinforce the
macromolecular compounds as well as the introduction of new
properties based on morphological modifications or electronic
interactions between the two constituents. As they are only a few
nanometers in dimension, it offers ultra-large interfacial area per
volume between the nano-element and polymer matrix. Nevertheless,
the use of MWCNTs as a rough material in different applications has
been largely limited by their poor processability, insolubility, and
infusibility. Studies concerning the nanofiller reinforced polymer
composites are justified in an attempt to overcome these limitations.
This work presents one preliminary study of MWCNTs dispersion
into the PVDF homopolymer. For preparation, the composite
components were diluted in n,n-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) with
mechanical agitation assistance. After complete dilution, followed by
slow evaporation of the solvent at 60°C, the samples were dried.
Films of about 80 μm were obtained. FTIR and UV-Vis
spectroscopic techniques were used to characterize the
nanocomposites. The appearance of absorption bands in the FTIR
spectra of nanofilled samples, when compared to the spectrum of
pristine PVDF samples, are discussed and compared with the UV-Vis
measurements.
Abstract: This paper applies recursive cointegration analysis to
examine the dynamic changes in Feldstein-Horioka saving-investment
(S-I) coefficients across China and the ASEAN-5 countries over time.
To the extent that the S-I coefficients measure international capital
mobility, the main empirical results are as follows. The recursive trace
statistics show that the investment- savings nexus varies in these six
countries. There is no cointegration between investment and savings in
three countries (China, Malaysia, and Singapore), which means that
the mobility of the capital markets in the three is high and that
domestic investment in them will be financed by the global pool of
capital. As to the other three countries (Indonesia, Thailand, and
Philippines), there is cointegration between investment and savings for
part of the sample period in the three, including before 2002 for
Thailand, before 2001 for Indonesia, and before 2002 for Philippines.
This shows these three countries achieved highly mobile and open
capital markets later.
Abstract: Mumbai, being traditionally the epicenter of India's
trade and commerce, the existing major ports such as Mumbai and
Jawaharlal Nehru Ports (JN) situated in Thane estuary are also
developing its waterfront facilities. Various developments over the
passage of decades in this region have changed the tidal flux
entering/leaving the estuary. The intake at Pir-Pau is facing the
problem of shortage of water in view of advancement of shoreline,
while jetty near Ulwe faces the problem of ship scheduling due to
existence of shallower depths between JN Port and Ulwe Bunder. In
order to solve these problems, it is inevitable to have information
about tide levels over a long duration by field measurements.
However, field measurement is a tedious and costly affair;
application of artificial intelligence was used to predict water levels
by training the network for the measured tide data for one lunar tidal
cycle. The application of two layered feed forward Artificial Neural
Network (ANN) with back-propagation training algorithms such as
Gradient Descent (GD) and Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) was used to
predict the yearly tide levels at waterfront structures namely at Ulwe
Bunder and Pir-Pau. The tide data collected at Apollo Bunder, Ulwe,
and Vashi for a period of lunar tidal cycle (2013) was used to train,
validate and test the neural networks. These trained networks having
high co-relation coefficients (R= 0.998) were used to predict the tide
at Ulwe, and Vashi for its verification with the measured tide for the
year 2000 & 2013. The results indicate that the predicted tide levels
by ANN give reasonably accurate estimation of tide. Hence, the
trained network is used to predict the yearly tide data (2015) for
Ulwe. Subsequently, the yearly tide data (2015) at Pir-Pau was
predicted by using the neural network which was trained with the
help of measured tide data (2000) of Apollo and Pir-Pau. The analysis of measured data and study reveals that: The
measured tidal data at Pir-Pau, Vashi and Ulwe indicate that there is
maximum amplification of tide by about 10-20 cm with a phase lag
of 10-20 minutes with reference to the tide at Apollo Bunder
(Mumbai). LM training algorithm is faster than GD and with increase
in number of neurons in hidden layer and the performance of the
network increases. The predicted tide levels by ANN at Pir-Pau and
Ulwe provides valuable information about the occurrence of high and
low water levels to plan the operation of pumping at Pir-Pau and
improve ship schedule at Ulwe.
Abstract: This paper looks at healing performances as
ethnographic expressions of local knowledge and culture embedded
within the Malay psyche and gemeinschaft. As society develops and
progresses, these healing performances are caught within conflicting
trajectories which become compounded by the contestations of
tradition, religious concerns, locality and modernity. As
exemplifications of the Malay ethos, these performances practice
common rituals, cater to the innate needs of the practitioners and
serve the targeted, closed, local community. This paper traces the
ethnographic methods in documenting these practices as rituals of
healing in a post-modern world. It delineates the ethnographic
concepts used to analyze these rituals, and to semiotically read the
varied binarial oppositions and juxtapositions. The paper concludes
by highlighting the reconciliatory processes involved in maintaining
these ritual performances as exemplifications of the Malay ethos
playing an important role in the re-aligning, re-balancing and healing
of the Malay community’s psyche.
Abstract: The beginning of 21st century has witnessed new
advancements in the design and use of new materials for biosensing
applications, from nano to macro, protein to tissue. Traditional
analytical methods lack a complete toolset to describe the
complexities introduced by living systems, pathological relations,
discrete hierarchical materials, cross-phase interactions, and
structure-property dependencies. Materiomics – via systematic
molecular dynamics (MD) simulation – can provide structureprocess-
property relations by using a materials science approach
linking mechanisms across scales and enables oriented biosensor
design. With this approach, DNA biosensors can be utilized to detect
disease biomarkers present in individuals’ breath such as acetone for
diabetes. Our wireless sensor array based on single-stranded DNA
(ssDNA)-decorated single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) has
successfully detected trace amount of various chemicals in vapor
differentiated by pattern recognition. Here, we present how MD
simulation can revolutionize the way of design and screening of DNA
aptamers for targeting biomarkers related to oral diseases and oral
health monitoring. It demonstrates great potential to be utilized to
build a library of DNDA sequences for reliable detection of several
biomarkers of one specific disease, and as well provides a new
methodology of creating, designing, and applying of biosensors.
Abstract: Concrete is an essential building material which is
widely used in construction industry all over the world due to its
compressible strength. Curing of concrete plays a vital role in
durability and other performance necessities. Improper curing can
affect the concrete performance and durability easily. When areas
like scarcity of water, structures is not accessible by humans external
curing cannot be performed, so we opt for internal curing. Internal
curing (or) self curing plays a major role in developing the concrete
pore structure and microstructure. The concept of internal curing is to
enhance the hydration process to maintain the temperature uniformly.
The evaporation of water in the concrete is reduced by self curing
agent (Super Absorbing Polymer – SAP) there by increasing the
water retention capacity of the concrete. The research work was
carried out to reduce water, which is prime material used for concrete
in the construction industry. Concrete curing plays a major role in
developing hydration process. Concept of self curing will reduce the
evaporation of water from concrete. Self curing will increase water
retention capacity as compared to the conventional concrete. Proper
self curing (or) internal curing increases the strength, durability and
performance of concrete. Super absorbing Polymer (SAP) used as
internal curing agent. In this study 0.2% to 0.4% of SAP was varied
in different grade of high strength concrete. In the experiment
replacement of cement by silica fumes with 5%, 10% and 15% are
studied. It is found that replacement of silica fumes by 10 % gives
more strength and durability when compared to others.
Abstract: In order to study the Mutual effect of genotype ×
environment for the percent of oil index in sunflower items, an
experiment was accomplished form complete random block designs
in four iteration and was four diverse researching station comprising
Esfahan, Birjand, Sari, and Karaj. Complex variance analysis showed
that there is an important diversity between the items under
investigation. The results relevant the coefficient variation of items
Azargol and Vidoc has respectively allocated the minimum
coefficient of variations. According to the results extrapolated from
Shokla stability variance, the Items Brocar, Allison and Fabiola, are
among the stable genotypes for oil percent respectively. In the biplot
GGE, the location under investigations divided in two superenvironments,
first one comprised of locations naming Esfahan,
Karaj, and Birjand, and second one were such a location as Sari. By
this point of view, in the first super-environment, the Item Fabiola
and in the second Almanzor item was among the best items and
crops.
Abstract: Searching the “Island of stability” is a topic of
extreme interest in theoretical as well as experimental modern
physics today. This “island of stability” is spanned by superheavy
elements (SHE's) that are produced in the laboratory. SHE's are
believed to exist primarily due to the “magic” stabilizing effects of
nuclear shell structure. SHE synthesis is extremely difficult due to
their very low production cross section, often of the order of pico
barns or less. Stabilizing effects of shell closures at proton number
Z=82 and neutron number N=126 are predicted theoretically. Though
stabilizing effects of Z=82 have been experimentally verified, no
concluding observations have been made with N=126, so far. We
measured and analyzed the total evaporation residue (ER) cross
sections for a number of systems with neutron number around 126 to
explore possible shell closure effects in ER cross sections, in this
work.
Abstract: Recently, Job Recommender Systems have gained
much attention in industries since they solve the problem of
information overload on the recruiting website. Therefore, we
proposed Extended Personalized Job System that has the capability of
providing the appropriate jobs for job seeker and recommending
some suitable information for them using Data Mining Techniques
and Dynamic User Profile. On the other hands, company can also
interact to the system for publishing and updating job information.
This system have emerged and supported various platforms such as
web application and android mobile application. In this paper, User
profiles, Implicit User Action, User Feedback, and Clustering
Techniques in WEKA libraries were applied and implemented. In
additions, open source tools like Yii Web Application Framework,
Bootstrap Front End Framework and Android Mobile Technology
were also applied.
Abstract: This paper presents the development of a mobile
application for students at the Faculty of Information Technology,
Rangsit University (RSU), Thailand. RSU upgrades an enrollment
process by improving its information systems. Students can
download the RSU APP easily in order to access the RSU substantial
information. The reason of having a mobile application is to help
students to access the system regardless of time and place. The objectives of this paper include: 1. To develop an application
on iOS platform for those students at the Faculty of Information
Technology, Rangsit University, Thailand. 2. To obtain the students’
perception towards the new mobile app. The target group is those
from the freshman year till the senior year of the faculty of
Information Technology, Rangsit University. The new mobile application, called as RSU APP, is developed by
the department of Information Technology, Rangsit University. It
contains useful features and various functionalities particularly on
those that can give support to students. The core contents of the app
consist of RSU’s announcement, calendar, events, activities, and ebook.
The mobile app is developed on the iOS platform. The user
satisfaction is analyzed from the interview data from 81 interviewees
as well as a Google application like a Google form which 122
interviewees are involved. The result shows that users are satisfied
with the application as they score it the most satisfaction level at 4.67
SD 0.52. The score for the question if users can learn and use the
application quickly is high which is 4.82 SD 0.71. On the other hand,
the lowest satisfaction rating is in the app’s form, apps lists, with the
satisfaction level as 4.01 SD 0.45.
Abstract: In this study, the effects and interactions of reaction
time and capping agent assistance during sol-gel synthesis of
magnesium substituted hydroxyapatite nanopowder (MgHA) on
hydroxyapatite (HA) to β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) ratio, Ca/P
ratio and mean crystallite size was examined experimentally as well
as through statistical analysis. MgHA nanopowders were synthesized
by sol-gel technique at room temperature using aqueous solution of
calcium nitrate tetrahydrate, magnesium nitrate hexahydrate and
potassium dihydrogen phosphate as starting materials. The reaction
time for sol-gel synthesis was varied between 15 to 60 minutes. Two
process routes were followed with and without addition of
triethanolamine (TEA) in the solutions. The elemental compositions
of as-synthesized powders were determined using X-ray fluorescence
(XRF) spectroscopy. The functional groups present in the assynthesized
MgHA nanopowders were established through Fourier
Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The amounts of phases
present, Ca/P ratio and mean crystallite sizes of MgHA nanopowders
were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The HA content in
biphasic mixture of HA and β-TCP and Ca/P ratio in as-synthesized
MgHA nanopowders increased effectively with reaction time of sols
(p0.15, two way ANOVA). The MgHA nanopowders
synthesized with TEA assistance exhibited 14 nm lower crystallite
size (p
Abstract: Prosecution of sexual violence in international
criminal law requires not only an understanding of the mechanisms
employed to prosecute sexual violence but also a critical analysis of
the factors facilitating perpetuation of such crimes in armed conflicts.
The extrapolations laid out in this essay delve into the jurisprudence
of international criminal law pertaining to sexual and gender based
violence followed by the core question of this essay – has the
entrenchment of sexual violence as international crimes in the Rome
Statute been successful to address such violence in armed conflicts?
Abstract: The purposes of this research are to make comparisons in
respect of the behaviors on the use of the services of metered taxi
classified by the demographic factor and to study the influence of the
recognition on service quality having the effect on usage behaviors of
metered taxi services of consumers in Bangkok Metropolitan Areas. The
samples used in this research were 400 metered taxi service users in
Bangkok Metropolitan Areas and questionnaire was used as the tool for
collecting the data. Analysis statistics are mean and multiple regression
analysis. Results of the research revealed that the consumers recognize the
overall quality of services in each aspect include tangible aspects of the
service, responses to customers, assurance on the confidence,
understanding and knowing of customers which is rated at the moderate
level except the aspect of the assurance on the confidence and
trustworthiness which are rated at a high level. For the result of
hypothetical test, it is found that the quality in providing the services on
the aspect of the assurance given to the customers has the effect on the
usage behaviors of metered taxi services and the aspect of the frequency
on the use of the services per month which in this connection. Such
variable can forecast at one point nine percent (1.9%). In addition, quality
in providing the services and the aspect of the responses to customers
have the effect on the behaviors on the use of metered taxi services on the
aspect of the expenses on the use of services per month which in this
connection, such variable can forecast at two point one percent (2.1%).
Abstract: The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is the goal
of regional economic integration by 2015. In the region, tourism is an
activity that is important, especially as a source of foreign currency, a
source of employment creation and a source of income bringing to the
region. Given the complexity of the issues entailing the concept of
sustainable tourism, this paper tries to assess tourism sustainability
with the ASEAN, based on a number of quantitative indicators for all
the ten economies, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, and Brunei. The
methodological framework will provide a number of benchmarks of
tourism activities in these countries. They include identification of the
dimensions; for example, economic, socio-ecologic, infrastructure
and indicators, method of scaling, chart representation and evaluation
on Asian countries. This specification shows that a similar level of
tourism activity might introduce different implementation in the
tourism activity and might have different consequences for the socioecological
environment and sustainability. The heterogeneity of
developing countries exposed briefly here would be useful to detect
and prepare for coping with the main problems of each country in
their tourism activities, as well as competitiveness and value creation
of tourism for ASEAN economic community, and will compare with
other parts of the world.
Abstract: The transesterification of dimethyl malonate (DMM)
with phenol has been studied in vapour phase over cordierite
honeycomb coated with solid acid catalysts such as ZrO2,
Mo(VI)/ZrO2 and SO42-/ZrO2. The catalytic materials were prepared
honeycomb coated, powder forms, and characterized for their total
surface acidity by NH3-TPD and crystalinity by powder XRD
methods. Phenyl methyl malonate (PMM) and diphenyl malonate
(DPM) were obtained as the reaction products. A good conversion of
DMM (up to 82%) of MPM with 95% selectivity was observed when
the reactions were carried out at a catalyst bed temperature of 200 °C
and flow-rate of 10 mL/h in presence of Mo(VI)/ZrO2 as catalyst.
However, over SO4^2-/ZrO2 catalyst, the yield of DPM was found to be
higher. The results have been interpreted based on the variation of
acidic properties and powder XRD phases of zirconia on
incorporation of Mo(VI) or SO42– ions. Transesterification reactions
were also carried out over powder forms of the catalytic materials
and the yield of the desired phenyl ester products were compared
with that of the HC coated catalytic materials. The solid acids were
found to be reusable when used for at least 5 reaction cycles.