Abstract: Distance education program is a dimension of contemporary and new education technologies. Concepts and applications in this field are the results of a series of educational demands and developments in various communication and education technologies. Distance education applications have some conceptual bases. These are creating new education opportunities, realizing work-education unity, getting democratic in education, lifelong education, tendency to individual matters, effective use of institutions, integration of technology and education, tendency to individual and social needs, taking three dimensional integration as the main principle (publishing, printed materials and face to face education), reaching maximum mass, individual and mass education integrity and education demand and financial matters balance. Economics, Business Administration and Open Education faculties, which have been giving education within Anadolu University since 1982 in Turkey, are carrying on education with nearly 1.000.000 students. The aim of this study is to determine organizational commitment levels of students who have been studying at Anadolu University Economics, Business Administration and Open Education faculties in the scope of affective, continuance and nominative commitment in Allen&Meyer model. In the study, organizational commitment of the Economics, Business Administration and Open Education faculty students, who are receiving education by means of distance education, to their faculties is dealt after introducing Anadolu University Distance Education system which gives higher education via distance education method in Turkey. In order to increase the success level of faculties it is required for students to have high level of organizational commitment to their faculties. A questionnaire has been applied by using “Organizational Commitment Scale", developed by Meyer&Allen to determine organizational commitments of Economics, Business Administration and Open Education students. Organizational commitment is dealt with as affective, continuance and nominative commitment. The questionnaire was applied face to face to randomly chosen 500 students living in Eskişehir and the data was downloaded to the computer by using SPSS program and the results were analyzed in terms of demographic features (gender, age, marital status, years of study, work and income level) of students by using frequency test, ttest and ANOVA test. As a result of these analyses, when the comments of Open Education Faculty students on levels of affective, continuance and nominative commitment to their faculties were examined, it has been revealed that continuance commitment level has the highest rate. Among the female participants; continuance commitment is high in the age range of 30-40, for normative commitment it is 17-22. However no dominant age range was defined for affective commitment. Regarding the marital status; continuance commitment average is higher among married participants; but nominative affective commitment average is higher among single participants. As to the years of study, affective and continuance commitment is higher among senior students while normative commitment is higher among junior students. Moreover; in terms of continuance, affective and normative commitment, those who do not work and have low income have higher level of all there commitment types than those who work and have relatively high income.
Abstract: In recent years, there has been an increasing interest
toward the use of bovine genotyped embryos for commercial embryo
transfer programs. Biopsy of a few cells in morulla stage is essential
for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Low amount of DNA
have limited performing the several molecular analyses within PGD
analyses. Whole genome amplification (WGA) promises to eliminate
this problem. We evaluated the possibility and performance of an
improved primer extension preamplification (I-PEP) method with a
range of starting bovine genomic DNA from 1-8 cells into the WGA
reaction. We optimized a short and simple I-PEP (ssI-PEP) procedure
(~3h). This optimized WGA method was assessed by 6 loci specific
polymerase chain reactions (PCRs), included restriction fragments
length polymorphism (RFLP). Optimized WGA procedure possesses
enough sensitivity for molecular genetic analyses through the few
input cells. This is a new era for generating characterized bovine
embryos in preimplantation stage.
Abstract: The practical implementation of audio-video coupled speech recognition systems is mainly limited by the hardware complexity to integrate two radically different information capturing devices with good temporal synchronisation. In this paper, we propose a solution based on a smart CMOS image sensor in order to simplify the hardware integration difficulties. By using on-chip image processing, this smart sensor can calculate in real time the X/Y projections of the captured image. This on-chip projection reduces considerably the volume of the output data. This data-volume reduction permits a transmission of the condensed visual information via the same audio channel by using a stereophonic input available on most of the standard computation devices such as PC, PDA and mobile phones. A prototype called VMIKE (Visio-Microphone) has been designed and realised by using standard 0.35um CMOS technology. A preliminary experiment gives encouraged results. Its efficiency will be further investigated in a large variety of applications such as biometrics, speech recognition in noisy environments, and vocal control for military or disabled persons, etc.
Abstract: Intelligent technologies are increasingly facilitating
sustainable water management strategies in Australia. While this
innovation can present clear cost benefits to utilities through
immediate leak detection and deference of capital costs, the impact of
this technology on households is less distinct. By offering real-time
engagement and detailed end-use consumption breakdowns, there is
significant potential for demand reduction as a behavioural response
to increased information. Despite this potential, passive
implementation without well-planned residential engagement
strategies is likely to result in a lost opportunity. This paper begins
this research process by exploring the effect of smart water meters
through the lens of three behaviour change theories. The Theory of
Planned Behaviour (TPB), Belief Revision theory (BR) and Practice
Theory emphasise different variables that can potentially influence
and predict household water engagements. In acknowledging the
strengths of each theory, the nuances and complexity of household
water engagement can be recognised which can contribute to
effective planning for residential smart meter engagement strategies.
Abstract: In the power quality analysis non-stationary nature
of voltage distortions require some precise and powerful analytical
techniques. The time-frequency representation (TFR) provides a
powerful method for identification of the non-stationary of the
signals. This paper investigates a comparative study on two
techniques for analysis and visualization of voltage distortions with
time-varying amplitudes. The techniques include the Discrete
Wavelet Transform (DWT), and the S-Transform. Several power
quality problems are analyzed using both the discrete wavelet
transform and S–transform, showing clearly the advantage of the S–
transform in detecting, localizing, and classifying the power quality
problems.
Abstract: White rust, caused by Albugo candida, is the most
destructive foliar diseases of persian cress, Lepidium sativum in Iran.
Application of fungicide is the most common method for the disease
control. However, regarding the problems created by synthetic
pesticides application, environmentally safe methods are needed to
replace chemical pesticides. In this study, the antifungal activity of
plant natural extracts was investigated for their ability to inhibit
zoospore release from sporangia of A. candida. The crude extract of
46 plants was obtained using methanol. The inhibitory effect of the
extracts was examined by mixing the plant extracts with a
zoosporangial suspension of A. candida (1×106 spore/ml) at three
concentrations, 250, 100 and 50 ppm. The experiments were
conducted in a completely randomized design, with three replicates.
The results of the experiment showed that three out of 46 plants
species, including, Rhus coriaria, Anagallis arvensis and Mespilus
germanica were completely inhibit zoospore release from
zoosporangia of Albugo candida at concentration of 50 ppm.
Abstract: Y chromosome microdeletions are the most common
genetic cause of male infertility and screening for these
microdeletions in azoospermic or severely oligospermic men is now
standard practice. Analysis of the Y chromosome in men with
azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia has resulted in the
identification of three regions in the euchromatic part of the long arm
of the human Y chromosome (Yq11) that are frequently deleted in
men with otherwise unexplained spermatogenic failure. PCR analysis
of microdeletions in the AZFa, AZFb and AZFc regions of the
human Y chromosome is an important screening tool. The aim of this
study was to analyse the type of microdeletions in men with fertility
disorders in Slovakia. We evaluated 227 patients with azoospermia
and with normal karyotype. All patient samples were analyzed
cytogenetically. For PCR amplification of sequence-tagged sites
(STS) of the AZFa, AZFb and AZFc regions of the Y chromosome
was used Devyser AZF set. Fluorescently labeled primers for all
markers in one multiplex PCR reaction were used and for automated
visualization and identification of the STS markers we used genetic
analyzer ABi 3500xl (Life Technologies). We reported 13 cases of
deletions in the AZF region 5,73%. Particular types of deletions were
recorded in each region AZFa,b,c .The presence of microdeletions in
the AZFc region was the most frequent. The study confirmed that
percentage of microdeletions in the AZF region is low in Slovak
azoospermic patients, but important from a prognostic view.
Abstract: Groundlessness of application probability-statistic methods are especially shown at an early stage of the aviation GTE technical condition diagnosing, when the volume of the information has property of the fuzzy, limitations, uncertainty and efficiency of application of new technology Soft computing at these diagnosing stages by using the fuzzy logic and neural networks methods. It is made training with high accuracy of multiple linear and nonlinear models (the regression equations) received on the statistical fuzzy data basis. At the information sufficiency it is offered to use recurrent algorithm of aviation GTE technical condition identification on measurements of input and output parameters of the multiple linear and nonlinear generalized models at presence of noise measured (the new recursive least squares method (LSM)). As application of the given technique the estimation of the new operating aviation engine D30KU-154 technical condition at height H=10600 m was made.
Abstract: The aim of this research was to calculate the thermal
properties of Au3Ni Nanowire. The molecular dynamics (MD)
simulation technique was used to obtain the effect of radius size on
the energy, the melting temperature and the latent heat of fusion at
the isobaric-isothermal (NPT) ensemble. The Quantum Sutton-Chen
(Q-SC) many body interatomic potentials energy have been used for
Gold (Au) and Nickel (Ni) elements and a mixing rule has been
devised to obtain the parameters of these potentials for nanowire
stats. Our MD simulation results show the melting temperature and
latent heat of fusion increase upon increasing diameter of nanowire.
Moreover, the cohesive energy decreased with increasing diameter of
nanowire.
Abstract: The need to implement intelligent highways is much
more emphasized with the growth of vehicle production line as well as vehicle intelligence. The control of intelligent vehicles in order to
reduce human error and boost ease congestion is not accomplished solely by the aid of human resources. The present article is an attempt
to introduce an intelligent control system based on a single central computer. In this project, central computer, without utilizing Global
Positioning System (GPS), is capable of tracking all vehicles, crisis management and control, traffic guidance and recording traffic
crimes along the highway. By the help of RFID technology, vehicles
are connected to computerized systems, intelligent light poles and
other available hardware along the way. By the aid of Wimax
communicative technology, all components of the system are
virtually connected together through local and global networks
devised in them and the energy of the network is provided by the
solar cells installed on the intelligent light poles.
Abstract: The main purpose of this study was to determine the predictors of academic achievement of student Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) teachers with different learning styles. Participants were 148 student ICT teachers from Ankara University. Participants were asked to fill out a personal information sheet, the Turkish version of Kolb-s Learning Style Inventory, Weinstein-s Learning and Study Strategies Inventory, Schommer's Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire, and Eysenck-s Personality Questionnaire. Stepwise regression analyses showed that the statistically significant predictors of the academic achievement of the accommodators were attitudes and high school GPAs; of the divergers was anxiety; of the convergers were gender, epistemological beliefs, and motivation; and of the assimilators were gender, personality, and test strategies. Implications for ICT teaching-learning processes and teacher education are discussed.
Abstract: The autonomous mobile robot was designed and implemented which was capable of navigating in the industrial environments and did a job of picking objects from variable height and delivering it to another location following a predefined trajectory. In developing country like Bangladesh industrial robotics is not very prevalent yet, due to the high installation cost. The objective of this project was to develop an autonomous mobile robot for industrial application using the available resources in the local market at lower manufacturing cost. The mechanical system of the robot was comprised of locomotion, gripping and elevation system. Grippers were designed to grip objects of a predefined shape. Cartesian elevation system was designed for vertical movement of the gripper. PIC18F452 microcontroller was the brain of the control system. The prototype autonomous robot was fabricated for relatively lower load than the industry and the performance was tested in a virtual industrial environment created within the laboratory to realize the effectiveness.
Abstract: The aim of this research is to evaluate surface
roughness and develop a multiple regression model for surface roughness as a function of cutting parameters during the turning of
flame hardened medium carbon steel with TiN-Al2O3-TiCN coated inserts. An experimental plan of work and signal-to-noise ratio (S/N)
were used to relate the influence of turning parameters to the
workpiece surface finish utilizing Taguchi methodology. The effects
of turning parameters were studied by using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method. Evaluated parameters were feed, cutting speed,
and depth of cut. It was found that the most significant interaction among the considered turning parameters was between depth of cut and feed. The average surface roughness (Ra) resulted by TiN-Al2O3-
TiCN coated inserts was about 2.44 μm and minimum value was 0.74 μm. In addition, the regression model was able to predict values for surface roughness in comparison with experimental values within
reasonable limit.
Abstract: The production of devices in nanoscale with specific
molecular rectifying function is one of the most significant goals in
state-of-art technology. In this work we show by ab initio quantum
mechanics calculations coupled with non-equilibrium Green
function, the design of an organic two-terminal device. These
molecular structures have molecular source and drain with several
bridge length (from five up to 11 double bonds). Our results are
consistent with significant features as a molecular rectifier and can be
raised up as: (a) it can be used as bi-directional symmetrical rectifier;
(b) two devices integrated in one (FET with one operational region,
and Thyristor thiristor); (c) Inherent stability due small intrinsic
capacitance under forward/reverse bias. We utilize a scheme for the
transport mechanism based on previous properties of ¤Ç bonds type
that can be successfully utilized to construct organic nanodevices.
Abstract: In this paper, an image adaptive, invisible digital
watermarking algorithm with Orthogonal Polynomials based
Transformation (OPT) is proposed, for copyright protection of digital
images. The proposed algorithm utilizes a visual model to determine
the watermarking strength necessary to invisibly embed the
watermark in the mid frequency AC coefficients of the cover image,
chosen with a secret key. The visual model is designed to generate a
Just Noticeable Distortion mask (JND) by analyzing the low level
image characteristics such as textures, edges and luminance of the
cover image in the orthogonal polynomials based transformation
domain. Since the secret key is required for both embedding and
extraction of watermark, it is not possible for an unauthorized user to
extract the embedded watermark. The proposed scheme is robust to
common image processing distortions like filtering, JPEG
compression and additive noise. Experimental results show that the
quality of OPT domain watermarked images is better than its DCT
counterpart.
Abstract: The innovative fuzzy estimator is used to estimate the
ground motion acceleration of the retaining structure in this study. The
Kalman filter without the input term and the fuzzy weighting recursive
least square estimator are two main portions of this method. The
innovation vector can be produced by the Kalman filter, and be
applied to the fuzzy weighting recursive least square estimator to
estimate the acceleration input over time. The excellent performance
of this estimator is demonstrated by comparing it with the use of
difference weighting function, the distinct levels of the measurement
noise covariance and the initial process noise covariance. The
availability and the precision of the proposed method proposed in this
study can be verified by comparing the actual value and the one
obtained by numerical simulation.
Abstract: In this paper we investigate the influence of external
noise on the inference of network structures. The purpose of our
simulations is to gain insights in the experimental design of microarray
experiments to infer, e.g., transcription regulatory networks
from microarray experiments. Here external noise means, that the
dynamics of the system under investigation, e.g., temporal changes of
mRNA concentration, is affected by measurement errors. Additionally
to external noise another problem occurs in the context of microarray
experiments. Practically, it is not possible to monitor the mRNA
concentration over an arbitrary long time period as demanded by the
statistical methods used to learn the underlying network structure. For
this reason, we use only short time series to make our simulations
more biologically plausible.
Abstract: In this paper a three dimensional thermal model of a
sliding contact system is proposed for both steady-state or transient
conditions. The influence of contact force, electric current and
ambient temperature on the temperature distribution, has been
investigated. A thermal analysis of the different type of the graphite
material of fixed electric contact and its influence on contact system
temperature rise, has been performed. To validate the three
dimensional thermal model, some experimental tests have been done.
There is a good correlation between experimental and simulation
results.
Abstract: Routing security is a major concerned in Wireless
Sensor Network since a large scale of unattended nodes is deployed
in ad hoc fashion with no possibility of a global addressing due to a
limitation of node-s memory and the node have to be self organizing
when the systems require a connection with the other nodes. It
becomes more challenging when the nodes have to act as the router
and tightly constrained on energy and computational capabilities
where any existing security mechanisms are not allowed to be fitted
directly. These reasons thus increasing vulnerabilities to the network
layer particularly and to the whole network, generally. In this paper,
a Dynamic Window Secured Implicit Geographic Forwarding
(DWSIGF) routing is presented where a dynamic time is used for
collection window to collect Clear to Send (CTS) control packet in
order to find an appropriate hoping node. The DWIGF is expected to
minimize a chance to select an attacker as the hoping node that
caused by a blackhole attack that happen because of the CTS rushing
attack, which promise a good network performance with high packet
delivery ratios.
Abstract: Buckling-Restrained Braced Frame system(BRBFs)
are a new type of steel seismic-load-resisting system that has found
use in several countries because of its efficiency and its promise of
seismic performance far superior to that of conventional braced
frames. The system is addressed in the 2005 edition of the AISC
Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings, also a set of design
provisions has been developed by NEHRP. This report illustrates the
seismic design of buckling restrained braced frames and compares
the result of design in the application of earthquake load for ordinary
bracing systems and buckling restrained bracing systems to see the
advantage and disadvantages of this new type of seismic resisting
system in comparison with the old Ordinary Concentric Braced
Frame systems (OCBFs); they are defined by the provisions
governing their design.