Abstract: Multi User Virtual Worlds are becoming a valuable educational tool. Learning experiences within these worlds focus on discovery and active experiences that both engage students and motivate them to explore new concepts. As educators, we need to explore these environments to determine how they can most effectively be used in our instructional practices. This paper explores the current application of virtual worlds to identify meaningful educational strategies that are being used to engage students and enhance teaching and learning.
Abstract: Cameras are often mounted on platforms that canmove like rovers, booms, gantries and aircraft. People operate suchplatforms to capture desired views of scene or target. To avoidcollisions with the environment and occlusions, such platforms oftenpossess redundant degrees-of-freedom. As a result, manipulatingsuch platforms demands much skill. Visual-servoing some degrees-of-freedom may reduce operator burden and improve tracking per-formance. This concept, which we call human-in-the-loop visual-servoing, is demonstrated in this paper and applies a Α-β-γ filter and feedforward controller to a broadcast camera boom.
Abstract: Proximate (moisture, protein, total fat, total ash) and mineral (K, P, Na, Mg, Ca, Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn) composition of chicken giblets (heart, liver and gizzard) were investigated. Phosphorous content, as well as proximate composition, were determined according to recommended ISO methods. The content of all elements, except phosphorus, of the giblets tissues were determined using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), after dry ashing mineralization. Regarding proximate composition heart was the highest in total fat content, and the lowest in protein content. Liver was the highest in protein and total ash content, while gizzard was the highest in moisture and the lowest in total fat content. Regarding mineral composition liver was the highest for K, P, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mn, while heart was the highest for Na content. The contents of almost all investigated minerals in analysed giblets tissues of chickens from Vojvodina were similar to values reported in the literature, i.e. in national food composition databases of other countries.
Abstract: Recent developments in storage technology and
networking architectures have made it possible for broad areas of applications to rely on data streams for quick response and accurate
decision making. Data streams are generated from events of real world so existence of associations, which are among the occurrence of these events in real world, among concepts of data streams is
logical. Extraction of these hidden associations can be useful for prediction of subsequent concepts in concept shifting data streams. In this paper we present a new method for learning association among
concepts of data stream and prediction of what the next concept will be. Knowing the next concept, an informed update of data model will be possible. The results of conducted experiments show that the proposed method is proper for classification of concept shifting data
streams.
Abstract: In this research, a mathematical model for integrated evaluation of green design and green manufacturing processes is presented. To design a product, there can be alternative options to design the detailed components to fulfill the same product requirement. In the design alternative cases, the components of the product can be designed with different materials and detailed specifications. If several design alternative cases are proposed, the different materials and specifications can affect the manufacturing processes. In this paper, a new concept for integrating green design and green manufacturing processes is presented. A green design can be determined based the manufacturing processes of the designed product by evaluating the green criteria including energy usage and environmental impact, in addition to the traditional criteria of manufacturing cost. With this concept, a mathematical model is developed to find the green design and the associated green manufacturing processes. In the mathematical model, the cost items include material cost, manufacturing cost, and green related cost. The green related cost items include energy cost and environmental cost. The objective is to find the decisions of green design and green manufacturing processes to achieve the minimized total cost. In practical applications, the decision-making can be made to select a good green design case and its green manufacturing processes. In this presentation, an example product is illustrated. It shows that the model is practical and useful for integrated evaluation of green design and green manufacturing processes.
Abstract: Numerous concrete structures projects are currently running in Libya as part of a US$50 billion government funding. The
quality of concrete used in 20 different construction projects were assessed based mainly on the concrete compressive strength achieved. The projects are scattered all over the country and are at
various levels of completeness. For most of these projects, the
concrete compressive strength was obtained from test results of a
150mm standard cube mold. Statistical analysis of collected concrete
compressive strengths reveals that the data in general followed a
normal distribution pattern. The study covers comparison and assessment of concrete quality aspects such as: quality control, strength range, data standard deviation, data scatter, and ratio of minimum strength to design strength. Site quality control for these projects ranged from very good to poor according to ACI214 criteria [1]. The ranges (Rg) of the strength (max. strength – min. strength) divided by average strength are from (34% to 160%). Data scatter is
measured as the range (Rg) divided by standard deviation () and is
found to be (1.82 to 11.04), indicating that the range is ±3σ.
International construction companies working in Libya follow
different assessment criteria for concrete compressive strength in lieu
of national unified procedure. The study reveals that assessments of
concrete quality conducted by these construction companies usually
meet their adopted (internal) standards, but sometimes fail to meet
internationally known standard requirements. The assessment of
concrete presented in this paper is based on ACI, British standards
and proposed Libyan concrete strength assessment criteria.
Abstract: Malware is software which was invented and meant for doing harms on computers. Malware is becoming a significant threat in computer network nowadays. Malware attack is not just only involving financial lost but it can also cause fatal errors which may cost lives in some cases. As new Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) emerged, many people believe this protocol could solve most malware propagation issues due to its broader addressing scheme. As IPv6 is still new compares to native IPv4, some transition mechanisms have been introduced to promote smoother migration. Unfortunately, these transition mechanisms allow some malwares to propagate its attack from IPv4 to IPv6 network environment. In this paper, a proof of concept shall be presented in order to show that some existing IPv4 malware detection technique need to be improvised in order to detect malware attack in dual-stack network more efficiently. A testbed of dual-stack network environment has been deployed and some genuine malware have been released to observe their behaviors. The results between these different scenarios will be analyzed and discussed further in term of their behaviors and propagation methods. The results show that malware behave differently on IPv6 from the IPv4 network protocol on the dual-stack network environment. A new detection technique is called for in order to cater this problem in the near future.
Abstract: The scientific perspective, the practice area of physical education and sports activities improve power capacity in all its forms of expression, being a generator of the research topics. Today theories that strength training athletes and slow down development progress will affect the strength and flexibility are discredited. On the other hand there are sectors and / or samples whose results are sports of the way higher manifestation of power as a result of the composition of the force and velocity, being based in this respect on the systematic and continuous development of both bio-motric capacities said. Training of force for children was and is controversial. Teama de accidentări sau a stopării premature a procesului de creştere a făcut ca în trecut copiii să fie ţinuţi departe de lucrul cu diferite greutăţi.Fear of injury or premature stop the growth process in the past made the children to be kept away from working with different weights. Recent studies have shown that the risk of accidents is relatively small and the strength training can help prevent them. For example, most accidents occur at the level of athletics ligaments and tendons. From this point of view, it can be said that a progressive intervention of force training, optimal design, will help enhancing their process, such as athlete much better prepared to meet training requests and competitions. Preparation of force provides a solid basis for further phases in the highest performance.
Abstract: This paper shows that the economy of any country
can be presented as three different shells such as: economic shell of a
big, a medium and a small business. The new concepts were
introduced such as: volume of an economic shell, coefficient of
shell-s expansion (compression) etc. These shells can expansion or
compress under action by internal or external powers and when shell
expansions - it means the rising of a business activity and
compression shows us that economy goes on recession. This process
of an expansion or a compression can develop in the various ways
like linear, logarithm or any other mathematical laws.
Abstract: In this paper we will develop further the sequential
life test approach presented in a previous article by [1] using an
underlying two parameter Weibull sampling distribution. The
minimum life will be considered equal to zero. We will again provide
rules for making one of the three possible decisions as each
observation becomes available; that is: accept the null hypothesis H0;
reject the null hypothesis H0; or obtain additional information by
making another observation. The product being analyzed is a new
type of a low alloy-high strength steel product. To estimate the shape
and the scale parameters of the underlying Weibull model we will use
a maximum likelihood approach for censored failure data. A new
example will further develop the proposed sequential life testing
approach.
Abstract: In this paper, mathematical modeling of detonation in the ground is studied. Estimation of flow parameters such as velocity, maximum velocity, acceleration, maximum acceleration, shock pressure as a result of an explosion in the ground have been computed in an appropriate dynamic model approach. The variation of these parameters with the diameter of detonation place (L), density of earth or stone (¤ü), time decay of detonation (T), peak pressure (Pm), and time (t) have been analyzed. The model has been developed from the concept of underwater explosions [Refs. [1]-[3]] with appropriate changes to the present model requirements.
Abstract: Ringing effect is one of the most annoying visual
artifacts in digital video. It is a significant factor of subjective quality
deterioration. However, there is a widely-accepted misunderstanding
of its cause. In this paper, we propose a reasonable interpretation of the
cause of ringing effect. Based on the interpretation, we suggest further
two methods to reduce ringing effect in DCT-based video coding. The
methods adaptively adjust quantizers according to video features. Our
experiments proved that the methods could efficiently improve
subjective quality with acceptable additional computing costs.
Abstract: The Expert Witness Testimony in the Battered
Woman Syndrome Expert witness testimony (EWT) is a kind of
information given by an expert specialized in the field (here in BWS)
to the jury in order to help the court better understand the case. EWT
does not always work in favor of the battered women. Two main
decision-making models are discussed in the paper: the Mathematical
model and the Explanation model. In the first model, the jurors
calculate ″the importance and strength of each piece of evidence″
whereas in the second model they try to integrate the EWT with the
evidence and create a coherent story that would describe the crime.
The jury often misunderstands and misjudges battered women for
their action (or in this case inaction). They assume that these women
are masochists and accept being mistreated for if a man abuses a
woman constantly, she should and could divorce him or simply leave
at any time. The research in the domain found that indeed, expert
witness testimony has a powerful influence on juror’s decisions thus
its quality needs to be further explored. One of the important factors
that need further studies is a bias called the dispositionist worldview
(a belief that what happens to people is of their own doing). This
kind of attributional bias represents a tendency to think that a
person’s behavior is due to his or her disposition, even when the
behavior is clearly attributed to the situation. Hypothesis The
hypothesis of this paper is that if a juror has a dispositionist
worldview then he or she will blame the rape victim for triggering the
assault. The juror would therefore commit the fundamental
attribution error and believe that the victim’s disposition caused the
rape and not the situation she was in. Methods The subjects in the
study were 500 randomly sampled undergraduate students from
McGill, Concordia, Université de Montréal and UQAM.
Dispositional Worldview was scored on the Dispositionist
Worldview Questionnaire. After reading the Rape Scenarios, each
student was asked to play the role of a juror and answer a
questionnaire consisting of 7 questions about the responsibility,
causality and fault of the victim. Results The results confirm the
hypothesis which states that if a juror has a dispositionist worldview
then he or she will blame the rape victim for triggering the assault.
By doing so, the juror commits the fundamental attribution error
because he will believe that the victim’s disposition, and not the
constraints or opportunities of the situation, caused the rape scenario.
Abstract: The evolution in project management was triggered by
the changes in management philosophy and practices in order to
maintain competitive advantage and continuous success in the field.
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the practicality of cognitive
style and unlearning approach in influencing the achievement of
project success by project managers. It introduces the concept of
planning, knowing and creating style from cognitive style field in the
light of achieving time, cost, quality and stakeholders appreciation in
project success context. Further it takes up a discussion of the
unlearning approach as a moderator in enhancing the relationship
between cognitive style and project success. The paper bases itself on
literature review from established disciplines like psychology,
sociology and philosophy regarding cognitive style, unlearning and
project success in general. The analysis and synthesis of literature in
the subject area a conceptual paper is utilized as the basis of future
research to form a comprehensive framework for project managers in
enhancing the project management competency.
Abstract: In order to protect original data, watermarking is first consideration direction for digital information copyright. In addition, to achieve high quality image, the algorithm maybe can not run on embedded system because the computation is very complexity. However, almost nowadays algorithms need to build on consumer production because integrator circuit has a huge progress and cheap price. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm which efficient inserts watermarking on digital image and very easy to implement on digital signal processor. In further, we select a general and cheap digital signal processor which is made by analog device company to fit consumer application. The experimental results show that the image quality by watermarking insertion can achieve 46 dB can be accepted in human vision and can real-time execute on digital signal processor.
Abstract: This study was carried out to evaluate concentration
of micro minerals (Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu and Se) of forages and their
distribution in fiber fraction (neutral detergent fiber/NDF and acid
detergent fiber/ADF) in South Sumatra during dry and rainy seasons.
Seven species of commonly forages namely Axonopus compressus,
Panicum maximum, Pennisetum purpuphoides, Leucaena
leucocephala, Centrocema pubescens, Calopogonium mucunoides
and Acacia mangium were collected at native pasture during rainy
and dry seasons. The results showed that micro minerals
concentration of forages and their distribution in fiber fraction varied
among species and season. In general, concentration of micro
minerals was slightly higher in rainy season compared to dry season
either in grass or legumes forages. In grass, concentration of Fe and
Mn were above the critical level, while 33.3 %, 100 % and 16.7 % of
evaluated grass were deficient in Zn, Cu and Se. Data on legume
forages show that 75 % of legumes were deficient in Zn and Mn, 62.5
% deficient in Cu and 50 % deficient in Se. There was no species of
legume deficient in Fe. Distribution of micro minerals in NDF and
ADF were also significantly affected by species and season and
depends on the kinds of element measured. Generally, micro minerals
were associated in fiber fractions much higher during dry season
compared to rainy season. Iron (Fe) and selenium (Se) in forages
were the highest elements associated in NDF and ADF, while the
lowest was found in Copper (Cu).
Abstract: Designing modern machine tools is a complex task. A
simulation tool to aid the design work, a virtual machine, has
therefore been developed in earlier work. The virtual machine
considers the interaction between the mechanics of the machine
(including structural flexibility) and the control system. This paper
exemplifies the usefulness of the virtual machine as a tool for product
development. An optimisation study is conducted aiming at
improving the existing design of a machine tool regarding weight and
manufacturing accuracy at maintained manufacturing speed. The
problem can be categorised as constrained multidisciplinary multiobjective
multivariable optimisation. Parameters of the control and
geometric quantities of the machine are used as design variables. This
results in a mix of continuous and discrete variables and an
optimisation approach using a genetic algorithm is therefore
deployed. The accuracy objective is evaluated according to
international standards. The complete systems model shows nondeterministic
behaviour. A strategy to handle this based on statistical
analysis is suggested. The weight of the main moving parts is reduced
by more than 30 per cent and the manufacturing accuracy is
improvement by more than 60 per cent compared to the original
design, with no reduction in manufacturing speed. It is also shown
that interaction effects exist between the mechanics and the control,
i.e. this improvement would most likely not been possible with a
conventional sequential design approach within the same time, cost
and general resource frame. This indicates the potential of the virtual
machine concept for contributing to improved efficiency of both
complex products and the development process for such products.
Companies incorporating such advanced simulation tools in their
product development could thus improve its own competitiveness as
well as contribute to improved resource efficiency of society at large.
Abstract: In the present paper, we-ll explore how social media tools provide an opportunity for new developments of the e-Learning in the context of managing personal knowledge. There will be a discussion how social media tools provide a possibility for helping knowledge workersand students to gather, organize and manage their personal information as a part of the e-learning process. At the centre of this social software driven approach to e-learning environments are the challenges of personalization and collaboration. We-ll share concepts of how organizations are using social media for e-Learning and believe that integration of these tools into traditional e-Learning is probably not a choice, but inevitability. Students- Survey of use of web technologies and social networking tools is presented. Newly developed framework for semantic blogging capable of organizing results relevant to user requirements is implemented at Varna Free University (VFU) to provide more effective navigation and search.
Abstract: Attempts to add fibre and polyphenols (PPs) into
popular beverages present challenges related to the properties of
finished products such as smoothies. Consumer acceptability,
viscosity and phenolic composition of smoothies containing high
levels of fruit fibre (2.5-7.5 g per 300 mL serve) and PPs (250-750
mg per 300 mL serve) were examined. The changes in total
extractable PP, vitamin C content, and colour of selected smoothies
over a storage stability trial (4°C, 14 days) were compared. A set of
acidic aqueous model beverages were prepared to further examine
the effect of two different heat treatments on the stability and
extractability of PPs. Results show that overall consumer
acceptability of high fibre and PP smoothies was low, with average
hedonic scores ranging from 3.9 to 6.4 (on a 1-9 scale). Flavour,
texture and overall acceptability decreased as fibre and polyphenol
contents increased, with fibre content exerting a stronger effect.
Higher fibre content resulted in greater viscosity, with an elevated PP
content increasing viscosity only slightly. The presence of fibre also
aided the stability and extractability of PPs after heating. A reduction
of extractable PPs, vitamin C content and colour intensity of
smoothies was observed after a 14-day storage period at 4°C. Two
heat treatments (75°C for 45 min or 85°C for 1 min) that are
normally used for beverage production, did not cause significant
reduction of total extracted PPs. It is clear that high levels of added
fibre and PPs greatly influence the consumer appeal of smoothies,
suggesting the need to develop novel formulation and processing
methods if a satisfactory functional beverage is to be developed
incorporating these ingredients.
Abstract: Educational games (EG) seem to have lots of potential due to digital games popularity and preferences of our younger generations of learners. However, most studies focus on game design and its effectiveness while little has been known about the factors that can affect users to accept or to reject EG for their learning. User acceptance research try to understand the determinants of information systems (IS) adoption among users by investigating both systems factors and users factors. Upon the lack of knowledge on acceptance factors for educational games, we seek to understand the issue. This study proposed a model of acceptance factors based on Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). We use original model (performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence) together with two new determinants (learning opportunities and enjoyment). We will also investigate the effect of gender and gaming experience that moderate the proposed factors.