Abstract: Biodiversity crisis is one of the many crises that
started at the turn of the millennia. Concrete form of expression is
still disputed, but there is a relatively high consensus regarding the
high rate of degradation and the urgent need for action. The strategy
of action outlines a strong economic component, together with the
recognition of market mechanisms as the most effective policies to
protect biodiversity. In this context, biodiversity and ecosystem
services are natural assets that play a key role in economic strategies
and technological development to promote development and
prosperity. Developing and strengthening policies for transition to an
economy based on efficient use of resources is the way forward.
To emphasize the co-viability specific to the connection economyecosystem
services, scientific approach aimed on one hand how to
implement policies for nature conservation and on the other hand, the
concepts underlying the economic expression of ecosystem services-
value, in the context of current technology. Following the analysis of
business opportunities associated with changes in ecosystem services
was concluded that development of market mechanisms for nature
conservation is a trend that is increasingly stronger individualized
within recent years. Although there are still many controversial issues
that have already given rise to an obvious bias, international
organizations and national governments have initiated and
implemented in cooperation or independently such mechanisms.
Consequently, they created the conditions for convergence between
private interests and social interests of nature conservation, so there
are opportunities for ongoing business development which leads,
among other things, the positive effects on biodiversity. Finally,
points out that markets fail to quantify the value of most ecosystem
services. Existing price signals reflect at best, only a proportion of the
total amount corresponding provision of food, water or fuel.
Abstract: Quantum cryptography offers a way of key agreement,
which is unbreakable by any external adversary. Authentication is
of crucial importance, as perfect secrecy is worthless if the identity
of the addressee cannot be ensured before sending important information.
Message authentication has been studied thoroughly, but no
approach seems to be able to explicitly counter meet-in-the-middle
impersonation attacks. The goal of this paper is the development of
an authentication scheme being resistant against active adversaries
controlling the communication channel. The scheme is built on top
of a key-establishment protocol and is unconditionally secure if built
upon quantum cryptographic key exchange. In general, the security
is the same as for the key-agreement protocol lying underneath.
Abstract: The effect of magnetic field on germination
characteristics of two wheat Seeds has been studied under laboratory
conditions. Seeds were magnetically exposed to magnetic field
strengths, 125 or 250mT for different periods of time. Mean
germination time and the time required to obtain 10, 25, 50, 75 and
90%of seeds to germinate were calculated. The germination time for
each treatment were in general, higher than corresponding control
values, in the other word in treated seeds time required for mean seed
germination time increased nearly 3 hours in compared non treated
control seeds. T10 for doses D5, D6, D11 and D12 significantly higher
than the control values for both cultivars. Mean germination time
(MGT) in both cultivars significantly increased when the time of
seed exposed at magnetic field treatments increased , about 3 and 2
hour respectively for Omid and BCR cultivars.
Abstract: Fingerprint based identification system; one of a well
known biometric system in the area of pattern recognition and has
always been under study through its important role in forensic
science that could help government criminal justice community. In
this paper, we proposed an identification framework of individuals by
means of fingerprint. Different from the most conventional
fingerprint identification frameworks the extracted Geometrical
element features (GEFs) will go through a Discretization process.
The intention of Discretization in this study is to attain individual
unique features that could reflect the individual varianceness in order
to discriminate one person from another. Previously, Discretization
has been shown a particularly efficient identification on English
handwriting with accuracy of 99.9% and on discrimination of twins-
handwriting with accuracy of 98%. Due to its high discriminative
power, this method is adopted into this framework as an independent
based method to seek for the accuracy of fingerprint identification.
Finally the experimental result shows that the accuracy rate of
identification of the proposed system using Discretization is 100%
for FVC2000, 93% for FVC2002 and 89.7% for FVC2004 which is
much better than the conventional or the existing fingerprint
identification system (72% for FVC2000, 26% for FVC2002 and
32.8% for FVC2004). The result indicates that Discretization
approach manages to boost up the classification effectively, and
therefore prove to be suitable for other biometric features besides
handwriting and fingerprint.
Abstract: In the present paper, Fatigue life assessment of an
anti-roll bar component of a passenger vehicle, is investigated by
ANSYS 11 software. A stress analysis is also carried out by the
finite element technique for the determination of highly stressed
regions on the bar. Anti-roll bar is a suspension element used at the
front, rear, or at both ends of a car that reduces body roll by resisting
any unequal vertical motion between the pair of wheels to which it is
connected. As a first stage, fatigue damage models proposed by some
well-known references and the corresponding assumptions are
discussed and some enhancements are proposed. Then, fracture
analysis of an anti-roll bar of an automobile is carried out. The
analysed type of the anti-roll bar is especially important as many
cases are reported about the fracture after a 100,000 km of travel
fatigue and fracture conditions. This paper demonstrates fatigue life
of an anti-roll bar and then evaluated by experimental analytically
results from other researcher.
Abstract: An incentive for performance, as one subsystem of a
new performance management system, has been implemented in the
Thai public sector since 2004. This research investigates the
development of organizational justice in the incentive allocation by
comparing the roles of distributive and procedural justice on national
personnel-s attitudinal outcomes (incentive satisfaction and job
performance) between 2 periods, i.e. 2006 and 2008. The data were
collected via self-administered questionnaires completed by national
government officers and employees. They were stratified using multistage
sampling with 2,600 usable samples or 72.0% response rate in
2006, and 1,969 usable samples or 59.3% in 2008. The findings are:
(1) There is no difference in means between the two periods relating
to distributive justice, procedural justice, incentive satisfaction and
job performance. (2) Distributive justice and procedural justice
played more important roles in predicting incentive satisfaction and
job performance in 2008 than in 2006.
Abstract: This study aims to assess the environmental hazards
from radon exhalation rate in the soil samples in selected locations in
Iraqi Kurdistan, using passive (CR-39NTDs) and active (RAD7)
detecting method. Radon concentration, effective radium content and
radon exhalation rate were estimated in soil samples that collected at
the depth level of 30 cm inside 124 houses. The results show that the
emanation rate for radon gas was variation from location to other,
depending on the geological formation. Most health risks come from
emanation of radon and its daughter due to its contribution for indoor
radon, so the results showed that there is a linear relationship
between the ratio of soil and indoor radon concentration (CSoil Rn222/
Cindoor Rn222) and the effective radium content in soil samples. The
results show that radon concentration has high and low values in
Hajyawa city and Er. Tyrawa Qr, respectively. A comparison
between our results with that mentioned in international reports was
done.
Abstract: Temperature, humidity and precipitation in an area,
are parameters proved influential in the climate of that area, and one
should recognize them so that he can determine the climate of that
area. Climate changes are of primary importance in climatology, and
in recent years, have been of great concern to researchers and even
politicians and organizations, for they can play an important role in
social, political and economic activities. Even though the real cause
of climate changes or their stability is not yet fully recognized, they
are a matter of concern to researchers and their importance for
countries has prompted them to investigate climate changes in
different levels, especially in regional, national and continental level.
This issue has less been investigated in our country. However, in
recent years, there have been some researches and conferences on
climate changes. This study is also in line with such researches and
tries to investigate and analyze the trends of climate changes
(temperature and precipitation) in Sefid-roud (the name of a river)
basin. Three parameters of mean annual precipitation, temperature,
and maximum and minimum temperatures in 36 synoptic and
climatology stations in a statistical period of 49 years (1956-2005) in
the stations of Sefid-roud basin were analyzed by Mann-Kendall test.
The results obtained by data analysis show that climate changes are
short term and have a trend. The analysis of mean temperature
revealed that changes have a significantly rising trend, besides the
precipitation has a significantly falling trend.
Abstract: The production of biodiesel from crude palm oil with
a homogeneous base catalyst is unlikely owing to considerable
formation of soap. Free fatty acids (FFA) in crude palm oil need to
be reduced, e.g. by esterification. This study investigated the activity
of sulfated zirconia calcined at various temperatures for esterification
of FFA in crude palm oil to biodiesel. It was found that under a
proper reaction condition, sulfated zirconia well catalyzes
esterification. FFA content can be reduced to an acceptable value for
typical biodiesel production with a homogeneous base catalyst.
Crystallinity and sulfate attachment of sulfated zirconia depend on
calcination temperature during the catalyst preparation. Too low
temperature of calcination gives amorphous sulfated zirconia which
has low activity for esterification of FFA. In contrast, very high
temperature of calcination removes sulfate group, consequently,
conversion of FFA is reduced. The appropriate temperature range of
calcination is 550-650 oC.
Abstract: This study aims to determine the level of resistance of Hevea brasiliensis and Paraserianthes falcataria (synonym: Falcataria molucana) against wood rot fungi Pleurotus ostreatus based on Indonesian standard SNI 01.7207-2006 and Japanese standard JIS K 1571-2004. The variables measured were visual appearance and weight loss percentage of wood based on longitudinal and cross section fiber directions of rubber wood and sengon wood. Measurement of oven dry weight loss of wood samples performed after 12 weeks incubation. Replication performed was 10 times at each treatment combination. The results based on SNI 01.7207-2006, weight loss value of H. brasiliensis and P. falcataria wood with fiber direction longitudinal were 23,12 and 22,25% respectively and cross section were 20,77 and 18,76% respectively, and all were classified to resistance class IV (no resistance). The results based on JIS K 1571-2004, weight loss value of both woods with fiber direction cross section were 10,95 and 14,20% respectively.
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel hybrid algorithm for feature selection based on a binary ant colony and SVM. The final subset selection is attained through the elimination of the features that produce noise or, are strictly correlated with other already selected features. Our algorithm can improve classification accuracy with a small and appropriate feature subset. Proposed algorithm is easily implemented and because of use of a simple filter in that, its computational complexity is very low. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated through a real Rotary Cement kiln dataset. The results show that our algorithm outperforms existing algorithms.
Abstract: The growing health hazardous impact of arsenic (As)
contamination in environment is the impetus of the present
investigation. Application of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for the
removal of toxic and heavy metals from water has been reported.
This study was performed in order to isolate and characterize the Asresistant
LAB from mud and sludge samples for using as efficient As
uptaking probiotic. Isolation of As-resistant LAB colonies was
performed by spread plate technique using bromocresol purple
impregnated-MRS (BP-MRS) agar media provided with As @ 50
μg/ml. Isolated LAB were employed for probiotic characterization
process, acid and bile tolerance, lactic acid production, antibacterial
activity and antibiotic tolerance assays. After As-resistant and
removal characterizations, the LAB were identified using 16S rDNA
sequencing. A total of 103 isolates were identified as As-resistant
strains of LAB. The survival of 6 strains (As99-1, As100-2, As101-3,
As102-4, As105-7, and As112-9) was found after passing through the
sequential probiotic characterizations. Resistant pattern pronounced
hollow zones at As concentration >2000 μg/ml in As99-1, As100-2,
and As101-3 LAB strains, whereas it was found at ~1000 μg/ml in
rest 3 strains. Among 6 strains, the As uptake efficiency of As102-4
(0.006 μg/h/mg wet weight of cell) was higher (17 – 209%)
compared to remaining LAB. 16S rDNA sequencing data of 3 (As99-
1, As100-2, and As101-3) and 3 (As102-4, As105-7, and As112-9)
LAB strains clearly showed 97 to 99% (340 bp) homology to
Pediococcus dextrinicus and Pediococcus acidilactici, respectively.
Though, there was no correlation between the metal resistant and
removal efficiency of LAB examined but identified elevated As
removing LAB would probably be a potential As uptaking probiotic
agent. Since present experiment concerned with only As removal
from pure water, As removal and removal mechanism in natural
condition of intestinal milieu should be assessed in future studies.
Abstract: This study investigated morphology of the Spanner Barb (Puntius lateristriga Valenciennes, 1842) and water quality at Thepchana waterfall. This study was conducted at Thepchana Waterfall, Khao Nan National Park from March to May 2007. There were 40 Spanner Barb collected with 20 males and 20 females. Males had an average of 5.57 cm in standard length, 6.62 cm in total length and 5.18 g in total body weight. Females had an average of 7.25 cm in standard length, 8.24 cm in total length and 10.96 g in total body weight. The length (L) – weight (W) relationships for combining sexes, males and females were LogW = -2.137 + 3.355logL, log W = -0.068 + 3.297logL, and log W = -2.068 + 3.297logL, respectively. The Spanner Barb were smaller size fish with a compressed form; terminal mouth; villiform teeth; ctenoid scale; concave tail; general body color yellowish olive, with slight reddish tint to fins; vertical band beginning below dorsal and horizontal stripe from base of tail almost to vertical band. They also had a vertical band midway between the eye and first vertical band. There was a black spot above anal fin. The bladder looked like J-shape. Inside of the bladder was found small insects and insect lava. The body length and the bowels length was 1:1 ratio. The water temperature ranged from 25.00 – 27.00 °C which was appropriate for their habitat characteristics. Acid - alkalinity ranged from 6.65 – 6.90 mg/l. Dissolved oxygen ranged from 4.55 – 4.70 mg/l. Water hardness ranged from 31.00 – 48.00 mg/l. The amount of ammonia was about 0.25 mg/l.
Abstract: In this study, ZnO nano rods and ZnO ultrafine particles were synthesized by Gel-casting method. The synthesized ZnO powder has a hexagonal zincite structure. The ZnO aggregates with rod-like morphology are typically 1.4 μm in length and 120 nm in diameter, which consist of many small nanocrystals with diameters of 10 nm. Longer wires connected by many hexahedral ZnO nanocrystals were obtained after calcinations at the temperature over 600° C.The crystalline structures and morphologies of the powder have been characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and Scaning electron microscopy (SEM).The result shows that the different preparation conditions such as concentration H2O, calcinations time and calcinations temperature have a lot of influences upon the properties of nano ZnO powders, an increase in the temperature of the calcinations results in an increase of the grain size and also the increase of the calcinations time in high temperature makes the size of the grains bigger. The existences of extra watter prevent nano grains from improving like rod morphology. We have obtained the smallest grain size of ZnO powder by controlling the process conditions. Finally In a suitable condition, a novel nanostructure, namely bi-rod-like ZnO nano rods was found which is different from known ZnO nanostructures.
Abstract: Parametric models have been quite popular for
studying human growth, particularly in relation to biological
parameters such as peak size velocity and age at peak size velocity.
Longitudinal data are generally considered to be vital for fittinga
parametric model to individual-specific data, and for studying the
distribution of these biological parameters in a human population.
However, cross-sectional data are easier to obtain than longitudinal
data. In this paper, we present a method of combining longitudinal
and cross-sectional data for the purpose of estimating the distribution
of the biological parameters. We demonstrate, through simulations in
the special case ofthePreece Baines model, how estimates based on
longitudinal data can be improved upon by harnessing the
information contained in cross-sectional data.We study the extent of
improvement for different mixes of the two types of data, and finally
illustrate the use of the method through data collected by the Indian
Statistical Institute.
Abstract: Industrial robots play a vital role in automation
however only little effort are taken for the application of robots in
machining work such as Grinding, Cutting, Milling, Drilling,
Polishing etc. Robot parallel manipulators have high stiffness,
rigidity and accuracy, which cannot be provided by conventional
serial robot manipulators. The aim of this paper is to perform the
modeling and the workspace analysis of a 3 DOF Parallel
Manipulator (3 DOF PM). The 3 DOF PM was modeled and
simulated using 'ADAMS'. The concept involved is based on the
transformation of motion from a screw joint to a spherical joint
through a connecting link. This paper work has been planned to
model the Parallel Manipulator (PM) using screw joints for very
accurate positioning. A workspace analysis has been done for the
determination of work volume of the 3 DOF PM. The position of the
spherical joints connected to the moving platform and the
circumferential points of the moving platform were considered for
finding the workspace. After the simulation, the position of the joints
of the moving platform was noted with respect to simulation time and
these points were given as input to the 'MATLAB' for getting the
work envelope. Then 'AUTOCAD' is used for determining the work
volume. The obtained values were compared with analytical
approach by using Pappus-Guldinus Theorem. The analysis had been
dealt by considering the parameters, link length and radius of the
moving platform. From the results it is found that the radius of
moving platform is directly proportional to the work volume for a
constant link length and the link length is also directly proportional
to the work volume, at a constant radius of the moving platform.
Abstract: Countries in recession, among them Croatia, have
lower tax revenues as a result of unfavorable economic situation,
which is decrease of the economic activities and unemployment. The
global tax base has decreased. In order to create larger state revenues,
states use the institute of tax authorities. By controlling transfer
pricing in the international companies and using certain techniques,
tax authorities can create greater tax obligations for the companies in
a short period of time.
Abstract: The dynamics of the Autonomous Underwater
Vehicles (AUVs) are highly nonlinear and time varying and the hydrodynamic coefficients of vehicles are difficult to estimate
accurately because of the variations of these coefficients with
different navigation conditions and external disturbances. This study presents the on-line system identification of AUV dynamics to obtain
the coupled nonlinear dynamic model of AUV as a black box. This black box has an input-output relationship based upon on-line
adaptive fuzzy model and adaptive neural fuzzy network (ANFN)
model techniques to overcome the uncertain external disturbance and
the difficulties of modelling the hydrodynamic forces of the AUVs instead of using the mathematical model with hydrodynamic parameters estimation. The models- parameters are adapted according
to the back propagation algorithm based upon the error between the
identified model and the actual output of the plant. The proposed
ANFN model adopts a functional link neural network (FLNN) as the
consequent part of the fuzzy rules. Thus, the consequent part of the
ANFN model is a nonlinear combination of input variables. Fuzzy
control system is applied to guide and control the AUV using both
adaptive models and mathematical model. Simulation results show
the superiority of the proposed adaptive neural fuzzy network
(ANFN) model in tracking of the behavior of the AUV accurately
even in the presence of noise and disturbance.
Abstract: XML is a markup language which is becoming the
standard format for information representation and data exchange. A
major purpose of XML is the explicit representation of the logical
structure of a document. Much research has been performed to
exploit logical structure of documents in information retrieval in
order to precisely extract user information need from large
collections of XML documents. In this paper, we describe an XML
information retrieval weighting scheme that tries to find the most
relevant elements in XML documents in response to a user query.
We present this weighting model for information retrieval systems
that utilize plausible inferences to infer the relevance of elements in
XML documents. We also add to this model the Dempster-Shafer
theory of evidence to express the uncertainty in plausible inferences
and Dempster-Shafer rule of combination to combine evidences
derived from different inferences.
Abstract: Financial forecasting using machine learning techniques has received great efforts in the last decide . In this ongoing work, we show how machine learning of graphical models will be able to infer a visualized causal interactions between different banks in the Saudi equities market. One important discovery from such learned causal graphs is how companies influence each other and to what extend. In this work, a set of graphical models named Gaussian graphical models with developed ensemble penalized feature selection methods that combine ; filtering method, wrapper method and a regularizer will be shown. A comparison between these different developed ensemble combinations will also be shown. The best ensemble method will be used to infer the causal relationships between banks in Saudi equities market.