Abstract: Ant colony optimization is an ant algorithm framework that took inspiration from foraging behavior of ant colonies. Indeed, ACO algorithms use a chemical communication, represented by pheromone trails, to build good solutions. However, ants involve different communication channels to interact. Thus, this paper introduces the acoustic communication between ants while they are foraging. This process allows fine and local exploration of search space and permits optimal solution to be improved.
Abstract: In this paper we propose a novel Run Time Interface
(RTI) technique to provide an efficient environment for MPI jobs on
the heterogeneous architecture of PARAM Padma. It suggests an
innovative, unified framework for the job management interface
system in parallel and distributed computing. This approach employs
proxy scheme. The implementation shows that the proposed RTI is
highly scalable and stable. Moreover RTI provides the storage access
for the MPI jobs in various operating system platforms and improve
the data access performance through high performance C-DAC
Parallel File System (C-PFS). The performance of the RTI is
evaluated by using the standard HPC benchmark suites and the
simulation results show that the proposed RTI gives good
performance on large scale supercomputing system.
Abstract: Today-s children, who are born into a more colorful,
more creative, more abstract and more accessible communication
environment than their ancestors as a result of dizzying advances in
technology, have an interesting capacity to perceive and make sense
of the world. Millennium children, who live in an environment where
all kinds of efforts by marketing communication are more intensive
than ever are, from their early childhood on, subject to all kinds of
persuasive messages. As regards advertising communication, it
outperforms all the other marketing communication efforts in
creating little consumer individuals and, as a result of processing of
codes and signs, plays a significant part in building a world of seeing,
thinking and understanding for children. Children who are raised with
metaphorical expressions such as tales and riddles also meet that fast
and effective meaning communication in advertisements.
Children-s perception of metaphors, which help grasp the “product
and its promise" both verbally and visually and facilitate association
between them is the subject of this study. Stimulating and activating
imagination, metaphors have unique advantages in promoting the
product and its promise especially in regard to print advertisements,
which have certain limitations. This study deals comparatively with
both literal and metaphoric versions of print advertisements
belonging to various product groups and attempts to discover to what
extent advertisements are liked, recalled, perceived and are
persuasive. The sample group of the study, which was conducted in
two elementary schools situated in areas that had different socioeconomic
features, consisted of children aged 12.
Abstract: The effect of autofrettage process in strain hardened
thick-walled pressure vessels has been investigated theoretically by
finite element modeling. Equivalent von Mises stress is used as yield
criterion to evaluate the optimum autofrettage pressure and the
optimum radius of elastic-plastic junction. It has been observed that
the optimum autofrettage pressure increases along with the working
pressure. For two different working pressures, the effect of the ratio
of outer to inner radius (b/a=k) value on the optimum autofrettage
pressure is also noticed. The Optimum autofrettage pressure solely
depends on K value rather than on the inner or outer radius.
Furthermore, percentage reduction of von Mises stresses is compared
for different working pressures and different k values. Maximum von
Mises stress developed at different autofrettage pressure is equated
for elastic perfectly plastic and elastic-plastic material with different
slope of strain hardening segment. Cylinder material having higher
slope of strain hardening segment provides better benedictions in the
autofrettage process.
Abstract: In this work, the effects of scale on thermal behavior of the slab in a walking-beam type reheating furnace is studied by considering scale formation and growth in a furnace environment. Also, mathematical heat transfer model to predict the thermal radiation in a complex shaped reheating furnace with slab and skid buttons is developed with combined nongray WSGGM and blocked-off solution procedure. The model can attack the heat flux distribution within the furnace and the temperature distribution in the slab throughout the reheating furnace process by considering the heat exchange between the slab and its surroundings, including the radiant heat transfer among the slabs, the skids, the hot combustion gases and the furnace wall as well as the gas convective heat transfer in the furnace. With the introduction of the mathematical formulations validation of the present numerical model is conducted by calculating two example problems of blocked-off and nongray gas radiative heat transfer. After discussing the formation and growth of the scale on the slab surface, slab heating characteristics with scale is investigated in terms of temperature rise with time.
Abstract: Confucius was a fifth-century BCE Chinese thinker whose influence upon East Asian intellectual and social history is immeasurable. Better known is in China as “Master Kong”. As a culturally symbolic figure, he has been alternately idealized, deified, dismissed, vilified, and rehabilitated over the millennia by both Asian and non-Asian thinkers and regimes. Given his extraordinary impact on Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese thought, it is ironic that so little can be known about Confucius. The tradition that bears his name – “Confucianizm” (Chinese: Rujia) – ultimately traces itself to the sayings and biographical fragments recorded in the text known as the Analects (Chinese: Lunyu). In the Analects, two types of persons are opposed to one another – not in terms of basic potential, but in terms of developed potential. These are the junzi (literally, “lord’s son” or “gentleman”) and the xiaoren (“small person”). The junzi is the person who always manifests the quality of ren in his
person and the displays the quality of lee in his actions. In this article examines the category of the ideal man and the spiritual and moral values of the philosophy of Confucius. According to Confucius high-morality Jun-zi is characterized by two things: a sense of humanity and duty. This article provides an analysis of the ethical category for the ideal man.
Abstract: Statistical analysis of electrophysiological recordings
obtained under, e.g. tactile, stimulation frequently suggests participation
in the network dynamics of experimentally unobserved “hidden"
neurons. Such interneurons making synapses to experimentally
recorded neurons may strongly alter their dynamical responses to
the stimuli. We propose a mathematical method that formalizes this
possibility and provides an algorithm for inferring on the presence
and dynamics of hidden neurons based on fitting of the experimental
data to spike trains generated by the network model. The model
makes use of Integrate and Fire neurons “chemically" coupled
through exponentially decaying synaptic currents. We test the method
on simulated data and also provide an example of its application to
the experimental recording from the Dorsal Column Nuclei neurons
of the rat under tactile stimulation of a hind limb.
Abstract: The African Diaspora in Singapore (and larger Asia)
is a topic that has received little scholarly attention and research. This
exploratory study will analyze the changing identity of Africans
throughout the process of cultural adaptation in Singapore. For the
focus of this study, “black Africans" will be defined as any black
Africans from sub-Saharan Africa who have lived in Singapore for at
least six months. The dialectic relationship between Singaporean
conceptions of black African identity and African self-consciousness
will be analyzed from the perspective of black Africans so as to
evaluate the impact of intercultural discourse on the evolution of the
African identity in Singapore.
Abstract: This study examined the toxicological effects and
safety of polypeptide k isolated from the seeds of Momordica
charantia in laboratory rats. 30 male Sprague Dawley rats (12 weeks
old, bodyweight 180-200 g) were randomly divided into 3 groups
(1000 mg/kg, 500 mg and 0 mg/kg). Rats were acclimatized to
laboratory conditions for 7 days and at day 8 rats were dosed orally
with polypeptide k (in 2% DMSO/normal saline) and the controls
received the dosed vehicle only. Rats were then observed for 72
hours before sacrificed. Rats were anaesthetized by pentobarbital
(50 mg/kg ip) and 2-3.0 mL of blood was taken by cardiac puncture
and rats were scarified by anaesthetic overdose. Immediately, organs
(heart, lungs, liver, kidneys) were weigh and taken for histology.
Organ sections were then evaluated by a histopathologist. Serum
samples were assayed for liver functions (ALT and γ-GT) and kidney
functions (BUN and creatinine). All rats showed normal behavior
after the dosing and no statistical changes were observed in all blood
parameters and organ weight. Histological examinations revealed
normal organ structures. In conclusion, dosing of rats up to 1000
mg/kg did not have any effects on the rat behavior, liver or kidney
functions nor histology of the selected organs.
Abstract: This study examines the mediating effects of male
dyadic adjustment on the relationships between attachment and
attributional styles, and both psychological and physical husband
violence. Based on data from 68 married violent men recruited
through community organizations that work with violent men,
regression analyses showed that husbands- dyadic adjustment
mediates the associations between avoidant attachment and
attributional style, and psychological aggression, but not physical
violence. Scientific and clinical implications are discussed
Abstract: Anxiety is a common disorder that attacks many people in society and often accompanied by physiological sensations such as tachycardia, chest pain, shortness of breath, insensitivity and etc. The purpose of this study is to characterize the putative anxiolytic-like effects of DEV (dichloromethane extracts of valerian) using the elevated plus maze (EPM) in rats. DEV was dissolved in DMSO and orally administered at different doses to adult male wistar rats, 0.5, 1.5 and 3 hours before behavioral evaluation in an EPM respectively. Control rats were treated with an equal volume of DMSO. Single treatment of DEV (at 0.1,0.2. 0.3, and 0.4 g/kg) significantly increased time-spent and arm entries into open arms of EPM versus control groups (p
Abstract: The significance of psychology in studying politics
is embedded in philosophical issues as well as behavioural
pursuits. For the former is often associated with Sigmund Freud
and his followers. The latter is inspired by the writings of Harold
Lasswell. Political psychology or psychopolitics has its own
impression on political thought ever since it deciphers the concept
of human nature and political propaganda. More importantly,
psychoanalysis views political thought as a textual content which
needs to explore the latent from the manifest content. In other
words, it reads the text symptomatically and interprets the hidden
truth. This paper explains the paradigm of dream interpretation
applied by Freud. The dream work is a process which has four
successive activities: condensation, displacement, representation
and secondary revision. The texts dealing with political though can
also be interpreted on these principles. Freud's method of dream
interpretation draws its source after the hermeneutic model of
philological research. It provides theoretical perspective and
technical rules for the interpretation of symbolic structures. The
task of interpretation remains a discovery of equivalence of
symbols and actions through perpetual analogies. Psychoanalysis
can help in studying political thought in two ways: to study the text
distortion, Freud's dream interpretation is used as a paradigm
exploring the latent text from its manifest text; and to apply Freud's
psychoanalytic concepts and theories ranging from individual mind
to civilization, religion, war and politics.
Abstract: Aims for this study: first, to compare the expertise
level in data analysis, communication and information technologies
in undergraduate psychology students. Second, to verify the factor
structure of E-ETICA (Escala de Experticia en Tecnologias de la Informacion, la Comunicacion y el Análisis or Data Analysis,
Communication and Information'Expertise Scale) which had shown
an excellent internal consistency (α= 0.92) as well as a simple factor
structure. Three factors, Complex, Basic Information and
Communications Technologies and E-Searching and Download
Abilities, explains 63% of variance. In the present study, 260
students (119 juniors and 141 seniors) were asked to respond to
ETICA (16 items Likert scale of five points 1: null domain to 5: total
domain). The results show that both junior and senior students report
having very similar expertise level; however, E-ETICA presents a
different factor structure for juniors and four factors explained also
63% of variance: Information E-Searching, Download and Process;
Data analysis; Organization; and Communication technologies.
Abstract: Speeding represents one of the main concerns for road safety and it still is a subject for research. The need to address this problem and to understand why drivers over speed increases especially in Romania, where in 2011, speed was the main cause of car accidents. This article addresses this problem by using the theory of planned behaviour. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of young Romanian drivers (18 to 25 years) and several path analyses were made in order to verify if the model proposed by the theory of planned behaviour fits the data. One interesting result is that perceived behavioural control does not predict the intention to speed or self-reported driving speed, but subjective norms do. This implies that peers and social environment have a greater impact on young Romanian drivers than we thought.
Abstract: TTV is an unenveloped circular single-stranded DNA
virus with a diameter of 30-32 nm that first was described in 1997 in
Japan. TTV was detected in various populations without proven
pathology, including blood donors and in patients with chronic HBV
and HCV hepatitis. The aim of this study was to determine the
prevalence of TTV DNA in Iranian patients with chronic hepatitis B
and C. Viral TTV-DNA was studied in 442 samples (202 with HBV,
138 with HCV and 102 controls) collected from west south of Iran.
All extracted serum DNA was amplified by TTV ORF1 gene specific
primers using the semi nested PCR technique. TTV DNA was
detected in the serum of 8.9% and 10.8% patients with chronic
hepatitis B and C, respectively. Prevalence of TTV-DNA in the serum
of 102 controls was 2.9%. Results showed significant relation of TTV
with HBV and HCV in patients by using T test examination (P
Abstract: Literature review revealed the importance of the
adoption of marketing Relationship for loyalty and retaining
profitable customer (Customer Relationship Management). LPQ
satisfaction will reinforce the loyalty and customer brand
attachment. Customer will communicate the operator to others. The
focus of this study is to examine the relationship between the
LPPQ and the WOM recommendations through: customer
satisfaction, loyalty and attachment. The results show that LPQ
affect positively the satisfaction, negatively the loyalty. LPQ has an
indirectly effect on WOM recommendations but through the
satisfaction and attachment. The mediating effect of satisfaction in
the relationship between LPQ and Loyalty is rejected. This finding
can be explained by the nature of mobile sector in Tunisia.
Abstract: According to dramatic growth of internet services, an easy and prompt service deployment has been important for internet service providers to successfully maintain time-to-market. Before global service deployment, they have to pay the big cost for service evaluation to make a decision of the proper system location, system scale, service delay and so on. But, intra-Lab evaluation tends to have big gaps in the measured data compared with the realistic situation, because it is very difficult to accurately expect the local service environment, network congestion, service delay, network bandwidth and other factors. Therefore, to resolve or ease the upper problems, we propose multiple cloud based GPES Broker system and use case that helps internet service providers to alleviate the above problems in beta release phase and to make a prompt decision for their service launching. By supporting more realistic and reliable evaluation information, the proposed GPES Broker system saves the service release cost and enables internet service provider to make a prompt decision about their service launching to various remote regions.
Abstract: Method of multiple scales is used in the paper in order
to derive an amplitude evolution equation for the most unstable mode
from two-dimensional shallow water equations under the rigid-lid
assumption. It is assumed that shallow mixing layer is slightly curved
in the longitudinal direction and contains small particles. Dynamic
interaction between carrier fluid and particles is neglected. It is
shown that the evolution equation is the complex Ginzburg-Landau
equation. Explicit formulas for the computation of the coefficients of
the equation are obtained.
Abstract: This main purpose of the study reported here was to
investigate the extent to which the form of school
governance (particularly decision-making) had an impact upon the
effectiveness of the school with reference to parental involvement,
planning and budgeting, professional development of teachers,
school facilities and resources, and student outcomes. Particular
attention was given to decision-making within the governance
arrangements. The study was based on four case studies of high
schools in New South Wales, Australia including one government
school, one independent Christian community school, one
independent Catholic school, and one Catholic systemic school.
The focus of the research was principals, teachers, parents, and
students of four schools with varying governance structures. To
gain a greater insight into the issues, the researchers collected
information by questionnaire, semi-structured interview, and
review of school key documents. This study found that it was not
so much structure but the centrality of the school Principal and the
way that the Principal perceived his/her roles in relation to others
that impacted most on school governance.
Abstract: In this paper, the optical generation of three bands of
continuously tunable millimeter-wave signals using an optical phase
modulator (OPM) and a polarization state rotation filter (PSRF) as an
optical notch filter is analyzed. The effect of the chromatic dispersion
on millimeter-wave signals is presented.