Abstract: Global economy today is full of sophistication. All
over the world, business and marketing practices are undergoing
unprecedented transformation. In realization of this fact, the federal
government of Nigeria has put in place a robust transformation
agenda in order to put Nigeria in a better position to be a competitive
player and in the process transform all sectors of its economy. New
technologies, especially the Internet, are the driving force behind this
transformation. However, technology has inadvertently affected the
way businesses are done thus necessitating the acquisition of new
skills. In developing countries like Nigeria, citizens are still battling
with effective application of those technologies. Obviously, students
of business education need to acquire relevant business knowledge to
be able to transit into the world of work on graduation from school
and compete favorably in the labor market. Therefore, effective
utilization of social media by both teachers and students can help
extensively in empowering students with the needed skills. Social
media which is a group of Internet-based applications built on the
ideological foundations of Web 2.0, that allow the creation and
exchange of user generated content, and if incorporated into the
classroom experience may be the needed answer to unemployment
and poverty in Nigeria as beneficiaries can easily connect with
existing and potential enterprises and customers, engage with them
and reinforce mutual business benefits. Challenges and benefits of
social media use in education in Nigeria universities were revealed in
this study.
Abstract: The floor beams of steel buildings, cold-formed steel
floor joists in particular, often require large web openings, which may
affect their shear capacities. A cost effective way to mitigate the
detrimental effects of such openings is to weld/fasten reinforcements.
A difficulty associated with an experimental investigation to establish
suitable reinforcement schemes for openings in shear zone is that
moment always coexists with the shear, and thus, it is impossible to
create pure shear state in experiments, resulting in moment
influenced results. However, Finite Element Method (FEM) based
analysis can be conveniently used to investigate the pure shear
behaviour of webs including webs with reinforced openings. This
paper presents the details associated with the finite element analysis
of thick/thin-plates (representing the web of hot-rolled steel beam,
and the web of a cold-formed steel member) having a large
reinforced opening. The study considered simply-supported
rectangular plates subjected to in-plane shear loadings until failure
(including post-buckling behaviour). The plate was modelled using
geometrically non-linear quadrilateral shell elements, and non-linear
stress-strain relationship based on experiments. Total Langrangian
with large displacement/small strain formulation was used for such
analyses. The model also considered the initial geometric
imperfections. This study considered three reinforcement schemes,
namely, flat, lip, and angle reinforcements. This paper discusses the
modelling considerations and presents the results associated with the
various reinforcement schemes under consideration.
Abstract: This paper presents the results of a study to assess
crucial aspects and the strength of the scientific basis of a typically
interdisciplinary, applied field: food supply chain risk assessment
research. Our approach is based on an advanced scientometrics
analysis that is a quantitative study of the disciplines of science based
on published literature to measure interdisciplinary. This paper aims
to describe the quantity and quality of the publication trends in food
supply chain risk assessment. The publication under study was
composed of 266 articles from database web of science. The results
were analyzed based on date of publication, type of document,
language of the documents, source of publications, subject areas,
authors and their affiliations, and the countries involved in
developing the articles.
Abstract: Steel extended end plate bolted connections are
recommended to be widely utilized in special moment-resisting frame
subjected to monotonic loading. Improper design of steel beam to
column connection can lead to the collapse and fatality of structures.
Therefore comprehensive research studies of beam to column
connection design should be carried out. Also the performance and
effect of corrugated on the strength of beam column end plate
connection up to failure under monotonic loading in horizontal
direction is presented in this paper. The non-linear elastic–plastic
behavior has been considered through a finite element analysis using
the multi-purpose software package LUSAS. The effect of vertically
and horizontally types of corrugated web was also investigated.
Abstract: The aim of the study is to describe and analyze design
of mobile teaching for students collaborative learning in distance
higher education with a focus on mobile technologies as online
webinars (web-based seminars or conferencing) by using laptops,
smart phones, or tablets. These multimedia tools can provide face-toface
interactions, recorded flipped classroom videos and parallel chat
communications. The data collection consists of interviews with 22
students and observations of online face-to-face webinars, as well
two surveys. Theoretically, the study joins the research tradition of
Computer Supported Collaborative learning, CSCL, as well as
Computer Self-Efficacy, CSE concerned with individuals’ media and
information literacy. Important conclusions from the study
demonstrated mobile interactions increased student centered
learning. As the students were appreciating the working methods,
they became more engaged and motivated. The mobile technology
using among student also contributes to increased flexibility between
space and place, as well as media and information literacy.
Abstract: Given the increase in the number of e-commerce sites,
the number of competitors has become very important. This means
that companies have to take appropriate decisions in order to meet the
expectations of their customers and satisfy their needs. In this paper,
we present a case study of applying LRFM (length, recency,
frequency and monetary) model and clustering techniques in the
sector of electronic commerce with a view to evaluating customers’
values of the Moroccan e-commerce websites and then developing
effective marketing strategies. To achieve these objectives, we adopt
LRFM model by applying a two-stage clustering method. In the first
stage, the self-organizing maps method is used to determine the best
number of clusters and the initial centroid. In the second stage, kmeans
method is applied to segment 730 customers into nine clusters
according to their L, R, F and M values. The results show that the
cluster 6 is the most important cluster because the average values of
L, R, F and M are higher than the overall average value. In addition,
this study has considered another variable that describes the mode of
payment used by customers to improve and strengthen clusters’
analysis. The clusters’ analysis demonstrates that the payment method is
one of the key indicators of a new index which allows to assess the
level of customers’ confidence in the company's Website.
Abstract: This paper is meant to analyze the ranking of
University of Malaysia Terengganu, UMT’s website in the World
Wide Web. There are only few researches have been done on
comparing the ranking of universities’ websites so this research will
be able to determine whether the existing UMT’s website is serving
its purpose which is to introduce UMT to the world. The ranking is
based on hub and authority values which are accordance to the
structure of the website. These values are computed using two websearching
algorithms, HITS and SALSA. Three other universities’
websites are used as the benchmarks which are UM, Harvard and
Stanford. The result is clearly showing that more work has to be done
on the existing UMT’s website where important pages according to
the benchmarks, do not exist in UMT’s pages. The ranking of UMT’s
website will act as a guideline for the web-developer to develop a
more efficient website.
Abstract: Distance learning systems offer useful methods of
learning and usually contain a final course test or another form of
test. The paper proposes a web application for evaluating tests using
an expert system in distance learning systems. The proposed web
application is appropriate for didactic tests or tests with results for
subsequent studying follow-up courses. The web application works
with test questions and uses an expert system and LFLC tool for test
evaluation. After test evaluation, the results are visualized and shown
to the student.
Abstract: In this paper, we present an application of Riemannian
geometry for processing non-Euclidean image data. We consider the
image as residing in a Riemannian manifold, for developing a new
method to brain edge detection and brain extraction. Automating this
process is a challenge due to the high diversity in appearance brain
tissue, among different patients and sequences. The main contribution, in this paper, is the use of an edge-based
anisotropic diffusion tensor for the segmentation task by integrating
both image edge geometry and Riemannian manifold (geodesic,
metric tensor) to regularize the convergence contour and extract
complex anatomical structures. We check the accuracy of the
segmentation results on simulated brain MRI scans of single
T1-weighted, T2-weighted and Proton Density sequences. We
validate our approach using two different databases: BrainWeb
database, and MRI Multiple sclerosis Database (MRI MS DB). We
have compared, qualitatively and quantitatively, our approach with
the well-known brain extraction algorithms. We show that using
a Riemannian manifolds to medical image analysis improves the
efficient results to brain extraction, in real time, outperforming the
results of the standard techniques.
Abstract: Electronic mediums such as websites, feeds, blogs and
social media sites are on a daily basis influencing our decision
making, are improving our productivity and are shaping futures of
many consumers and service/product providers. This research
identifies that both customers and business providers heavily rely on
smart phone applications. Based on this, mobile applications
available on iTunes store were studied. It was identified that fruit and
vegetable related applications used by consumers can broadly be
categorized into purchase applications, diaries, tracking health
applications, trip farm location and cooking applications. On the
other hand, applications used by farmers can broadly be classified as:
weather tracking, pests / fertilizer applications and general social
media applications such as Facebook. To blur this farmer-consumer
application divide, our research utilizes Context Specific
eTransformation Framework and based on it identifies characteristic
future consumer-farmer applications will need to have so that the
current divide can be narrowed and consequently better farmerconsumer
supply chain link established.
Abstract: The UK is leading in online retail and mobile
adoption. However, there is a dearth of information relating to mobile
apparel retail, and developing an understanding about consumer
browsing and purchase behaviour in m-retail channel would provide
apparel marketers, mobile website and app developers with the
necessary understanding of consumers’ needs. Despite the rapid
growth of mobile retail businesses, no published study has examined
shopping behaviour on fashion mobile apps and websites. A mixed method approach helped to understand why fashion
consumers prefer websites on smartphones, when diverse mobile
apps are also available. The following research methods were
employed: survey, eye-tracking experiments, observation, and
interview with retrospective think aloud. The mobile gaze tracking
device by SensoMotoric Instruments was used to understand
frustrations in navigation and other issues facing consumers in
mobile channel. This method helped to validate and compliment
other traditional user-testing approaches in order to optimize user
experience and enhance the development of mobile retail channel.
The study involved eight participants - females aged 18 to 35 years
old, who are existing mobile shoppers. The participants used the
Topshop mobile app and website on a smart phone to complete a task
according to a specified scenario leading to a purchase. The
comparative study was based on: duration and time spent at different
stages of the shopping journey, number of steps involved and product
pages visited, search approaches used, layout and visual clues, as
well as consumer perceptions and expectations. The results from the data analysis show significant differences in
consumer behaviour when using a mobile app or website on a smart
phone. Moreover, two types of problems were identified, namely
technical issues and human errors. Having a mobile app does not
guarantee success in satisfying mobile fashion consumers. The
differences in the layout and visual clues seem to influence the
overall shopping experience on a smart phone. The layout of search
results on the website was different from the mobile app. Therefore,
participants, in most cases, behaved differently on different
platforms. The number of product pages visited on the mobile app
was triple the number visited on the website due to a limited visibility
of products in the search results. Although, the data on traffic trends
held by retailers to date, including retail sector breakdowns for visits
and views, data on device splits and duration, might seem a valuable
source of information, it cannot explain why consumers visit many
product pages, stay longer on the website or mobile app, or abandon
the basket. A comprehensive list of pros and cons was developed by
highlighting issues for website and mobile app, and recommendations
provided. The findings suggest that fashion retailers need to be aware of
actual consumers’ behaviour on the mobile channel and their expectations in order to offer a seamless shopping experience. Added
to which is the challenge of retaining existing and acquiring new
customers. There seem to be differences in the way fashion
consumers search and shop on mobile, which need to be explored in
further studies.
Abstract: This paper aims to determine Fundamental Natural
Frequency (FNF) of a structural composite floor system known as
Chromite. To achieve this purpose, FNFs of studied panels are
determined by development of Finite Element Models (FEMs) in
ABAQUS program. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC)
code in Steel Design Guide Series 11 presents a fundamental formula
to calculate FNF of a steel framed floor system. This formula has
been used to verify results of the FEMs. The variability in the FNF of
the studied system under various parameters such as dimensions of
floor, boundary conditions, rigidity of main and secondary beams
around the floor, thickness of concrete slab, height of composite
joists, distance between composite joists, thickness of top and bottom
flanges of the open web steel joists, and adding tie beam
perpendicular on the composite joists, is determined. The results
show that changing in dimensions of the system, its boundary
conditions, rigidity of main beam, and also adding tie beam,
significant changes the FNF of the system up to 452.9%, 50.8%, -
52.2%, %52.6%, respectively. In addition, increasing thickness of
concrete slab increases the FNF of the system up to 10.8%.
Furthermore, the results demonstrate that variation in rigidity of
secondary beam, height of composite joist, and distance between
composite joists, and thickness of top and bottom flanges of open
web steel joists insignificant changes the FNF of the studied system
up to -0.02%, -3%, -6.1%, and 0.96%, respectively. Finally, the
results of this study help designer predict occurrence of resonance,
comfortableness, and design criteria of the studied system.
Abstract: Due to the fast and flawless technological innovation
there is a tremendous amount of data dumping all over the world in
every domain such as Pattern Recognition, Machine Learning, Spatial
Data Mining, Image Analysis, Fraudulent Analysis, World Wide
Web etc., This issue turns to be more essential for developing several
tools for data mining functionalities. The major aim of this paper is to
analyze various tools which are used to build a resourceful analytical
or descriptive model for handling large amount of information more
efficiently and user friendly. In this survey the diverse tools are
illustrated with their extensive technical paradigm, outstanding
graphical interface and inbuilt multipath algorithms in which it is
very useful for handling significant amount of data more indeed.
Abstract: Digital reference service is when a traditional library
reference service is provided electronically. In most cases users do
not get full satisfaction from using digital reference service due to
variety of reasons. This paper discusses the formal specification of
web services applications for digital reference services (WSDRS).
WSDRS is an informal model that claims to reduce the problems of
digital reference services in libraries. It uses web services technology
to provide efficient digital way of satisfying users’ need in the
reference section of libraries. Informal model is in natural language
which is inconsistent and ambiguous that may cause difficulties to the
developers of the system. In order to solve this problem we decided
to convert the informal specifications into formal specifications. This
is supposed to reduce the overall development time and cost. We use
Z language to develop the formal model and verify it with Z/EVES
theorem prover tool.
Abstract: This paper describes I²C Slave implementation using
I²C master obtained from the OpenCores website. This website
provides free Verilog and VHDL Codes to users. The design
implementation for the I²C slave is in Verilog Language and uses
EDA tools for ASIC design known as ModelSim from Mentor
Graphic. This tool is used for simulation and verification purposes.
Common application for this I²C Master-Slave integration is also
included. This paper also addresses the advantages and limitations of
the said design.
Abstract: There are real needs to integrate types of Open
Educational Resources (OER) with an intelligent system to extract
information and knowledge in the semantic searching level. The
needs came because most of current learning standard adopted web
based learning and the e-learning systems do not always serve all
educational goals. Semantic Web systems provide educators,
students, and researchers with intelligent queries based on a semantic
knowledge management learning system. An ontology-based learning
system is an advanced system, where ontology plays the core of the
semantic web in a smart learning environment. The objective of this
paper is to discuss the potentials of ontologies and mapping different
kinds of ontologies; heterogeneous or homogenous to manage and
control different types of Open Educational Resources. The important
contribution of this research is that it uses logical rules and
conceptual relations to map between ontologies of different
educational resources. We expect from this methodology to establish
an intelligent educational system supporting student tutoring, self and
lifelong learning system.
Abstract: The apportionment method is used by many countries, to calculate the distribution of seats in political bodies. For example, this method is used in the United States (U.S.) to distribute house seats proportionally based on the population of the electoral district. Famous apportionment methods include the divisor methods called the Adams Method, Dean Method, Hill Method, Jefferson Method and Webster Method. Sometimes the results from the implementation of these divisor methods are unfair and include errors. Therefore, it is important to examine the optimization of this method by using a bias measurement to figure out precise and fair results. In this research we investigate the bias of divisor methods in the U.S. Houses of Representatives toward large and small states by applying the Stolarsky Mean Method. We compare the bias of the apportionment method by using two famous bias measurements: the Balinski and Young measurement and the Ernst measurement. Both measurements have a formula for large and small states. The Third measurement however, which was created by the researchers, did not factor in the element of large and small states into the formula. All three measurements are compared and the results show that our measurement produces similar results to the other two famous measurements.
Abstract: Measuring the Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is an
essential process for the diagnosis of the heart diseases. The ECG
signal has the information of the degree of how much the heart
performs its functions. In medical diagnosis and treatment systems,
Decision Support Systems processing the ECG signal are being
developed for the use of clinicians while medical examination. In this
study, a modular wireless ECG (WECG) measuring and recording
system using a single board computer and e-Health sensor platform
is developed. In this designed modular system, after the ECG signal
is taken from the body surface by the electrodes first, it is filtered and
converted to digital form. Then, it is recorded to the health database
using Wi-Fi communication technology. The real time access of the
ECG data is provided through the internet utilizing the developed
web interface.
Abstract: The web services applications for digital reference
service (WSDRS) of LIS model is an informal model that claims to
reduce the problems of digital reference services in libraries. It uses
web services technology to provide efficient way of satisfying users’
needs in the reference section of libraries. The formal WSDRS model
consists of the Z specifications of all the informal specifications of
the model. This paper discusses the formal validation of the Z
specifications of WSDRS model. The authors formally verify and
thus validate the properties of the model using Z/EVES theorem
prover.
Abstract: Web mining is to discover and extract useful
Information. Different users may have different search goals when
they search by giving queries and submitting it to a search engine.
The inference and analysis of user search goals can be very useful for
providing an experience result for a user search query. In this project,
we propose a novel approach to infer user search goals by analyzing
search web logs. First, we propose a novel approach to infer user
search goals by analyzing search engine query logs, the feedback
sessions are constructed from user click-through logs and it
efficiently reflect the information needed for users. Second we
propose a preprocessing technique to clean the unnecessary data’s
from web log file (feedback session). Third we propose a technique
to generate pseudo-documents to representation of feedback sessions
for clustering. Finally we implement k-medoids clustering algorithm
to discover different user search goals and to provide a more optimal
result for a search query based on feedback sessions for the user.