Abstract: Conventional WBL is effective for meaningful student, because rote student learn by repeating without thinking or trying to understand. It is impossible to have full benefit from conventional WBL. Understanding of rote student-s intention and what influences it becomes important. Poorly designed user interface will discourage rote student-s cultivation and intention to use WBL. Thus, user interface design is an important factor especially when WBL is used as comprehensive replacement of conventional teaching. This research proposes the influencing factors that can enhance student-s intention to use the system. The enhanced TAM is used for evaluating the proposed factors. The research result points out that factors influencing rote student-s intention are Perceived Usefulness of Homepage Content Structure, Perceived User Friendly Interface, Perceived Hedonic Component, and Perceived (homepage) Visual Attractiveness.
Abstract: Mobile ad hoc network is a collection of mobile
nodes communicating through wireless channels without any existing
network infrastructure or centralized administration. Because of the
limited transmission range of wireless network interfaces, multiple
"hops" may be needed to exchange data across the network. In order
to facilitate communication within the network, a routing protocol is
used to discover routes between nodes. The primary goal of such an
ad hoc network routing protocol is correct and efficient route
establishment between a pair of nodes so that messages may be
delivered in a timely manner. Route construction should be done
with a minimum of overhead and bandwidth consumption. This paper
examines two routing protocols for mobile ad hoc networks– the
Destination Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV), the table- driven
protocol and the Ad hoc On- Demand Distance Vector routing
(AODV), an On –Demand protocol and evaluates both protocols
based on packet delivery fraction, normalized routing load, average
delay and throughput while varying number of nodes, speed and
pause time.
Abstract: This paper deals with the design of a periodic output
feedback controller for a flexible beam structure modeled with
Timoshenko beam theory, Finite Element Method, State space
methods and embedded piezoelectrics concept. The first 3 modes are
considered in modeling the beam. The main objective of this work is
to control the vibrations of the beam when subjected to an external
force. Shear piezoelectric sensors and actuators are embedded into
the top and bottom layers of a flexible aluminum beam structure, thus
making it intelligent and self-adaptive. The composite beam is
divided into 5 finite elements and the control actuator is placed at
finite element position 1, whereas the sensor is varied from position 2
to 5, i.e., from the nearby fixed end to the free end. 4 state space
SISO models are thus developed. Periodic Output Feedback (POF)
Controllers are designed for the 4 SISO models of the same plant to
control the flexural vibrations. The effect of placing the sensor at
different locations on the beam is observed and the performance of
the controller is evaluated for vibration control. Conclusions are
finally drawn.
Abstract: The article describes problems of city centers with regard to possibilities of their delimitation in a GIS environment. First the definitions and delimitations of a city centre which are in use are mentioned, furthermore a chosen case study (the historical centre of Olomouc city in the Czech Republic) is employed to describe the methods of delimitation in use. In addition to describing the current state, the article also deals with possibilities of delimitation of a city centre in GIS environment by means of several chosen approaches. The authors describe, compare and discuss the chosen methods and assess the achieved results and also applicability of the designed methods for other cities.
Abstract: Two optimized strategies were successfully established
to develop biomolecule-based magnetic nanoassemblies.
Streptavidin-coated and amine-coated magnetic nanoparticles were
chosen as model scaffolds onto which double-stranded DNA and
human immunoglobulin G were specifically conjugated in succession,
using biotin-streptavidin interaction or covalent cross-linkers. The
success of this study opens the prospect of developing selective and
sensitive nanoparticle-based structures for diagnostics or drug
delivery.
Abstract: In this paper we propose a novel method for human
face segmentation using the elliptical structure of the human head. It
makes use of the information present in the edge map of the image.
In this approach we use the fact that the eigenvalues of covariance
matrix represent the elliptical structure. The large and small
eigenvalues of covariance matrix are associated with major and
minor axial lengths of an ellipse. The other elliptical parameters are
used to identify the centre and orientation of the face. Since an
Elliptical Hough Transform requires 5D Hough Space, the Circular
Hough Transform (CHT) is used to evaluate the elliptical parameters.
Sparse matrix technique is used to perform CHT, as it squeeze zero
elements, and have only a small number of non-zero elements,
thereby having an advantage of less storage space and computational
time. Neighborhood suppression scheme is used to identify the valid
Hough peaks. The accurate position of the circumference pixels for
occluded and distorted ellipses is identified using Bresenham-s
Raster Scan Algorithm which uses the geometrical symmetry
properties. This method does not require the evaluation of tangents
for curvature contours, which are very sensitive to noise. The method
has been evaluated on several images with different face orientations.
Abstract: Use of a sliding joint is an effective method to
decrease the stress in foundation structure where there is a horizontal
deformation of subsoil (areas afflicted with underground mining) or
horizontal deformation of a foundation structure (pre-stressed
foundations, creep, shrinkage, temperature deformation). A
convenient material for a sliding joint is a bitumen asphalt belt.
Experiments for different types of bitumen belts were undertaken at
the Faculty of Civil Engineering - VSB Technical University of
Ostrava in 2008. This year an extension of the 2008 experiments is in
progress and the shear resistance of a slide joint is being tested as a
function of temperature in a temperature controlled room. In this
paper experimental results of temperature dependant shear resistance
are presented. The result of the experiments should be the sliding
joint shear resistance as a function of deformation velocity and
temperature. This relationship is used for numerical analysis of
stress/strain relation between foundation structure and subsoil. Using
a rheological slide joint could lead to a decrease of the reinforcement
amount, and contribute to higher reliability of foundation structure
and thus enable design of more durable and sustainable building
structures.
Abstract: The Czech Republic is a country whose economy has
undergone a transformation since 1989. Since joining the EU it has
been striving to reduce the differences in its economic standard and
the quality of its institutional environment in comparison with
developed countries. According to an assessment carried out by the
World Bank, the Czech Republic was long classed as a country
whose institutional development was seen as problematic. For many
years one of the things it was rated most poorly on was its bankruptcy
law. The new Insolvency Act, which is a modern law in terms of its
treatment of bankruptcy, was first adopted in the Czech Republic in
2006. This law, together with other regulatory measures, offers debtridden
Czech economic subjects legal instruments which are well
established and in common practice in developed market economies.
Since then, analyses performed by the World Bank and the London
EBRD have shown that there have been significant steps forward in
the quality of Czech bankruptcy law. The Czech Republic still lacks
an analytical apparatus which can offer a structured characterisation
of the general and specific conditions of Czech company and
household debt which is subject to current changes in the global
economy. This area has so far not been given the attention it
deserves. The lack of research is particularly clear as regards analysis
of household debt and householders- ability to settle their debts in a
reasonable manner using legal and other state means of regulation.
We assume that Czech households have recourse to a modern
insolvency law, yet the effective application of this law is hampered
by the inconsistencies in the formal and informal institutions
involved in resolving debt. This in turn is based on the assumption
that this lack of consistency is more marked in cases of personal
bankruptcy. Our aim is to identify the symptoms which indicate that
for some time the effective application of bankruptcy law in the
Czech Republic will be hindered by factors originating in
householders- relative inability to identify the risks of falling into
debt.
Abstract: Technology transfer is a common method for
companies to acquire new technology and presents both challenges
and substantial benefits. In some cases especially in developing
countries, the mere possession of technology does not guarantee a
competitive advantage if the appropriate infrastructure is not in place.
In this paper, we identify the localization factors needed to provide a
better understanding of the conditions necessary for localization in
order to benefit from future technology developments. Our
theoretical and empirical analyses allow us to identify several factors
in the technology transfer process that affect localization and provide
leverage in enhancing capabilities and absorptive capacity.The
impact factors are categorized within different groups of government,
firms, institutes and market, and are verified through the empirical
survey of a technology transfer experience. Moreover, statistical
analysis has allowed a deeper understanding of the importance of
each factor and has enabled each group to prioritize their
organizational policies to effectively localize their technology.
Abstract: The objective of this study is to propose a statistical
modeling method which enables simultaneous term structure
estimation of the risk-free interest rate, hazard and loss given default,
incorporating the characteristics of the bond issuing company such as
credit rating and financial information. A reduced form model is used
for this purpose. Statistical techniques such as spline estimation and
Bayesian information criterion are employed for parameter estimation
and model selection. An empirical analysis is conducted using the
information on the Japanese bond market data. Results of the
empirical analysis confirm the usefulness of the proposed method.
Abstract: The rising price of fossil fuels, government incentives
and growing public aware-ness for the need to implement sustainable
energy supplies has resulted in a large in-crease in solar panel
installations across the country. For many sites the most eco-nomical
solar panel installation uses existing, southerly facing rooftops.
Adding solar panels to an existing roof typically means increased
loads that must be borne by the building-s structural elements. The
structural design professional is responsible for ensuring a new solar
panel installation is properly supported by an existing structure and
configured to maximize energy generation.
Abstract: Contact centres have been exemplars of scientific management in the discipline of operations management for more than a decade now. With the movement of industries from a resource based economy to knowledge based economy businesses have started to realize the customer eccentricity being the key to sustainability amidst high velocity of the market. However, as technologies have converged and advanced, so have the contact centres. Contact Centres have redirected the supply chains and the concept of retailing is highly diminished due to over exaggeration of cost reduction strategies. In conditions of high environmental velocity together with services featuring considerable information intensity contact centres will require up to date and enlightened agents to satisfy the demands placed upon them by those requesting their services. In this paper we examine salient factors such as Power Distance, Knowledge structures and the dynamics of job specialisation and enlargement to suggest critical success factors in the domain of contact centres.
Abstract: Single crystals of Magnesium alloys such as pure Mg,
Mg-1Zn-0.5Y, Mg-0.1Y, and Mg-0.1Ce alloys were successfully
fabricated in this study by employing the modified Bridgman method.
To determine the exact orientation of crystals, pole figure
measurement using X-ray diffraction were carried out on each single
crystal. Hardness and compression tests were conducted followed by
subsequent recrysatllization annealing. Recrystallization kinetics of
Mg alloy single crystals has been investigated. Fabricated single
crystals were cut into rectangular shaped specimen and solution
treated at 400oC for 24 hrs, and then deformed in compression mode
by 30% reduction. Annealing treatment for recrystallization has been
conducted on these cold-rolled plates at temperatures of 300oC for
various times from 1 to 20 mins. The microstructure observation and
hardness measurement conducted on the recrystallized specimens
revealed that static recrystallization of ternary alloy single crystal was
very slow, while recrystallization behavior of binary alloy single
crystals appeared to be very fast.
Abstract: This paper aims at numerically analysing the effect
of an active flow control (AFC) by a vortex generator jet (VGJ)
submerged in a boundary layer via Chimera Grids and Detached-
Eddy Simulation (DES). The performance of DES results are
judged against Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and
compared with the experiments that showed an unsteady vortex
motion downstream of VGJ. Experimental results showed that
the mechanism of embedding logitudinal vortex structure in the
main stream flow is quite effective in increasing the near wall
momentum of separated aircraft wing. In order to simulate such
a flow configuration together with the VGJ, an efficient numerical
approach is required. This requirement is fulfilled by performing
the DES simulation over the flat plate using the DLR TAU Code.
The DES predictions identify the vortex region via smooth hybrid
length scale and predict the unsteady vortex motion observed in
the experiments. The DES results also showed that the sufficient
grid refinement in the vortex region resolves the turbulent scales
downstream of the VGJ, the spatial vortex core postion and nondimensional
momentum coefficient RVx .
Abstract: Today technological process makes possible surface
control of producing parts which is needful for product quality
guarantee. Geometrical structure of part surface includes form,
proportion, accuracy to shape, accuracy to size, alignment and
surface topography (roughness, waviness, etc.). All these parameters
are dependence at technology, production machine parameters,
material properties, but also at human, etc. Every parameters
approves at total part accuracy, it is means at accuracy to shape. One
of the most important accuracy to shape element is roundness. This
paper will be deals by comparison of roughness deviations at
coordination measuring machines and at special single purpose
machines. Will describing measuring by discreet method
(discontinuous) and scanning method (continuous) at coordination
measuring machines and confrontation with reference method using
at single purpose machines.
Abstract: The Pads have unique values of thermophysical
properties (THP) having important contribution over heat transfer
into the PCB structure.
Materials with high thermal diffusivity (TD) rapidly adjust their
temperature to that of their surroundings, because the HT is quick in
compare to their volumetric heat capacity (VHC).
In the paper is presenting the diffusivity tests (ASTM E1461 flash
method) for PCBs with different core materials. In the experiments,
the multilayer structure of PCBA was taken into consideration, an
equivalent property referring to each of experimental structure be
practically measured.
Concerning to entire structure, the THP emphasize the major
contribution of substrate in establishing of reflow soldering process
(RSP) heat transfer necessities. This conclusion offer practical
solution for heat transfer time constant calculation as function of
thickness and substrate material diffusivity with an acceptable error
estimation.
Abstract: The log periodogram regression is widely used in empirical
applications because of its simplicity, since only a least squares
regression is required to estimate the memory parameter, d, its good
asymptotic properties and its robustness to misspecification of the
short term behavior of the series. However, the asymptotic distribution
is a poor approximation of the (unknown) finite sample distribution
if the sample size is small. Here the finite sample performance of different
nonparametric residual bootstrap procedures is analyzed when
applied to construct confidence intervals. In particular, in addition to
the basic residual bootstrap, the local and block bootstrap that might
adequately replicate the structure that may arise in the errors of the
regression are considered when the series shows weak dependence in
addition to the long memory component. Bias correcting bootstrap
to adjust the bias caused by that structure is also considered. Finally,
the performance of the bootstrap in log periodogram regression based
confidence intervals is assessed in different type of models and how
its performance changes as sample size increases.
Abstract: Vertex configuration for a vertex in an orthogonal
pseudo-polyhedron is an identity of a vertex that is determined by the
number of edges, dihedral angles, and non-manifold properties
meeting at the vertex. There are up to sixteen vertex configurations
for any orthogonal pseudo-polyhedron (OPP). Understanding the
relationship between these vertex configurations will give us insight
into the structure of an OPP and help us design better algorithms for
many 3-dimensional geometric problems. In this paper, 16 vertex
configurations for OPP are described first. This is followed by a
number of formulas giving insight into the relationship between
different vertex configurations in an OPP. These formulas
will be useful as an extension of orthogonal polyhedra usefulness on
pattern analysis in 3D-digital images.
Abstract: Ultrafast doped zinc oxide crystal promised us a good
opportunity to build new instruments for ICF fusion neutron
measurement. Two pulsed neutron detectors based on ZnO crystal
wafer have been conceptually designed, the superfast ZnO timing
detector and the scintillation recoil proton neutron detection system.
The structure of these detectors was presented, and some characters
were studied as well. The new detectors could be much faster than
existing systems, and would be more competent for ICF neutron
diagnostics.
Abstract: Value engineering is an efficacious contraption for
administrators to make up their minds. Value perusals proffer the
gaffers a suitable instrument to decrease the expenditures of the life
span, quality amelioration, structural improvement, curtailment of the
construction schedule, longevity prolongation or a merging of the
aforementioned cases. Subjecting organizers to pressures on one
hand and their accountability towards their pertinent fields together
with inherent risks and ambiguities of other options on the other hand
set some comptrollers in a dilemma utilization of risk management
and the value engineering in projects manipulation with regard to
complexities of implementing projects can be wielded as a
contraption to identify and efface each item which wreaks
unnecessary expenses and time squandering sans inflicting any
damages upon the essential project applications. Of course It should
be noted that implementation of risk management and value
engineering with regard to the betterment of efficiency and functions
may lead to the project implementation timing elongation. Here time
revamping does not refer to time diminishing in the whole cases. his
article deals with risk and value engineering conceptualizations at
first. The germane reverberations effectuated due to its execution in
Iran Khodro Corporation are regarded together with the joint features
and amalgamation of the aforesaid entia; hence the proposed
blueprint is submitted to be taken advantage of in engineering and
industrial projects including Iran Khodro Corporation.