Abstract: Advertising today has already become an integral part
of human life as a building block of the consumer community. A
component of the value chain of the media, advertising sector is
struggling increasingly harder to find new methods to reach
consumers. The tendency towards experimental marketing practices
is increasing day by day, especially to divert consumers from the idea
“They are selling something to me.” It is therefore considered a good
idea to investigate the trust in ad media of consumers, who are today
exposed to a great bulk of information from advertising sector.
In this study, the current value of ad media for the young
consumer will be investigated. Data on various ad media reliability
will be comparatively analyzed and young consumers will be traced
by including university students in the study. In this research, which
will be performed on students studying at the Selçuk University
(Turkey) by random sampling method, data will be obtained by
survey technique and evaluated by a statistical analysis.
Abstract: Adapting various sensor devices to communicate
within sensor networks empowers us by providing range of
possibilities. The sensors in sensor networks need to know their
measurable belief of trust for efficient and safe communication. In this
paper, we suggested a trust model using fuzzy logic in sensor network.
Trust is an aggregation of consensus given a set of past interaction
among sensors. We applied our suggested model to sensor networks in
order to show how trust mechanisms are involved in communicating
algorithm to choose the proper path from source to destination.
Abstract: The concerns about clean environment and high oil
prices driving forces for the research on alternative fuels. The
research efforts directed towards improving the performance of C.I
engines using vegetable oil as fuel. The paper deals results of
performance of a four stroke, single cylinder C.I. engine by preheated
neat Karanja oil is done from 30
o
C to 100
o
C. The performance of the
engine was studied for a speed range between 1500 to 4000 rpm, with
the engine operated under full load conditions. The performance
parameters considered for comparing are brake specific fuel
consumption, thermal efficiency, brake power, Nox emission of the
engine. The engine offers lower thermal efficiency when it is
powered by preheated neat Karanja oil at higher speed. The power
developed and Nox emission increase with the increase in the fuel
inlet temperature and the specific fuel consumption is higher than
diesel fuel operation at all elevated fuel inlet temperature.
Abstract: Present study summarizes the control of Vibrio
alginolyticus infection in hatchery reared Clownfish, Amphiprion
sebae with the extract of the mangrove plant, Avicennia marina.
Fishes with visible symptoms of hemorrhagic spots were chosen and
the genomic DNA of the causative bacterium was isolated and
sequenced based on 16S rDNA gene. The in vitro assay revealed that
a fraction of A. marina leaf extract elucidated with ethyl acetate:
methanol (6:4) showed a high activity (28 mm) at 125 μg/ml
concentrations. About 4 % of the fraction fed along with live V.
alginolyticus was significantly decreased the cumulative mortality
(P
Abstract: As a by-product of its "cyberspace" status, electronic
commerce is global, encompassing a whole range of B2C
relationships which need to be approached with solutions provided at
a local level while remaining viable when applied to global issues.
Today, the European Union seems to be endowed with a reliable
legal framework for consumer protection. A question which remains,
however, is enforcement of this protection. This is probably a matter
of time and awareness from both parties in the B2C relationship.
Business should realize that enhancing trust in the minds of
consumers is more than a question of technology; it is a question of
best practice. Best practice starts with the online service of high
street banks as well as with the existence of a secure, user-friendly
and cost-effective payment system. It also includes the respect of
privacy and the use of smart cards as well as enhancing privacy
technologies and fair information practice. In sum, only by offering
this guarantee of privacy and security will the consumer be assured
that, in cyberspace, his/her interests will be protected in the same
manner as in a traditional commercial environment.
Abstract: recurrent neural network (RNN) is an efficient tool for
modeling production control process as well as modeling services. In
this paper one RNN was combined with regression model and were
employed in order to be checked whether the obtained data by the
model in comparison with actual data, are valid for variable process
control chart. Therefore, one maintenance process in workshop of
Esfahan Oil Refining Co. (EORC) was taken for illustration of
models. First, the regression was made for predicting the response
time of process based upon determined factors, and then the error
between actual and predicted response time as output and also the
same factors as input were used in RNN. Finally, according to
predicted data from combined model, it is scrutinized for test values
in statistical process control whether forecasting efficiency is
acceptable. Meanwhile, in training process of RNN, design of
experiments was set so as to optimize the RNN.
Abstract: Al-Murabahah is an Islamic financing facility used in
asset financing, the profit rate of the contract is determined by
components which are also being used in the conventional banking.
Such are cost of fund, overhead cost, risk premium cost and bank-s
profit margin. At the same time, the profit rate determined by Islamic
banking system also refers to Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) in
London as a benchmark. This practice has risen arguments among
Muslim scholars in term of its validity of the contract; whether the
contract maintains the Shariah compliance or not. This paper aims to
explore the view of Shariah towards the above components practiced
by Islamic Banking in determining the profit rate of al-murabahah
asset financing in Malaysia. This is a comparative research which
applied the views of Muslim scholars from all major mazahibs in
Islamic jurisprudence and examined the practices by Islamic banks in
Malaysia for the above components. The study found that the shariah
accepts all the components with conditions. The cost of fund is
accepted as a portion of al-mudarabah-s profit, the overhead cost is
accepted as a cost of product, risk premium cost consist of business
risk and mitigation risk are accepted through the concept of alta-awun
and bank-s profit margin is accepted as a right of bank after
venturing in risky investment.
Abstract: Lightweight ceramic materials in the form of bricks
and blocks are widely used in modern construction. They may be
obtained by adding of rice husk, rye straw, etc, as porous forming
materials. Rice husk is a major by-product of the rice milling
industry. Its utilization as a valuable product has always been a
problem. Various technologies for utilization of rice husk through
biological and thermochemical conversion are being developed.
The purpose of this work is to develop lightweight ceramic
materials with clay matrix and filler of rice husk and examine their
main physicomechanical properties. The results obtained allow to
suppose that the materials synthesized on the basis of waste materials
can be used as lightweight materials for construction purpose.
Abstract: This paper reports a new application of material accounting techniques to characterise and quantify material stocks and flows at the “neighbourhood" scale. The study area is the main campus of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. The system boundary is defined by the urban structural unit (USU), a typological construct devised to facilitate assessment of the metabolism of urban systems. A streamlined material flow analysis (MFA) was applied to quantify the stocks and flows of key construction materials within the campus USU over time, drawing on empirical data from a major campus development project. The results are reviewed to assess the efficacy of the method in supporting urban environmental evaluation and design practice, for example to facilitate estimation of significant impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions. It is concluded that linking a service (in this case, teaching students) enabled by a given product (university buildings) to the amount of materials used in creating that product offers a potential way to reduce the environmental impact of that service, through more efficient use of materials.
Abstract: Chemical vapor deposition method was used to
produce carbon nanotubes on an iron based catalyst from acetylene.
Gas-phase samples collected from the different positions of the tubular reactor were analyzed by GC/MS. A variety of species ranging from hydrogen to naphthalene were observed and changes in their concentrations were plotted against the reactor position. Briefly benzene, toluene, styrene, indene and naphthalene were the main
higher molecular weight species and vinylacetylene and diacetylene were the important intermediates. Nanotube characterization was performed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.
Abstract: The objective of this contribution is to study the
performances in terms of bit error rate, of space-time code algorithms
applied to MIMO communication in tunnels. Indeed, the channel
characteristics in a tunnel are quite different than those of urban or
indoor environment, due to the guiding effect of the tunnel.
Therefore, MIMO channel matrices have been measured in a straight
tunnel, in a frequency band around 3GHz. Correlation between array
elements and properties of the MIMO matrices are first studied as a
function of the distance between the transmitter and the receiver.
Then, owing to a software tool simulating the link, predicted values
of bit error rate are given for VLAST, OSTBC and QSTBC
algorithms applied to a MIMO configuration with 2 or 4 array
elements. Results are interpreted from the analysis of the channel
properties.
Abstract: FACTS devices are used to control the power flow, to
increase the transmission capacity and to optimize the stability of the
power system. One of the most widely used FACTS devices is
Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC). The controller used in the
control mechanism has a significantly effects on controlling of the
power flow and enhancing the system stability of UPFC. According
to this, the capability of UPFC is observed by using different control
mechanisms based on P, PI, PID and fuzzy logic controllers (FLC) in
this study. FLC was developed by taking consideration of Takagi-
Sugeno inference system in the decision process and Sugeno-s
weighted average method in the defuzzification process. Case studies
with different operating conditions are applied to prove the ability of
UPFC on controlling the power flow and the effectiveness of
controllers on the performance of UPFC. PSCAD/EMTDC program
is used to create the FLC and to simulate UPFC model.
Abstract: Innovational development of regions in Russia is generally faced with the essential influence from federal and local authorities. The organization of effective mechanism of innovation development (and self-development) is impossible without establishment of defined institutional conditions in the analyzed field. Creative utilization of scientific concepts and information should merge, giving rise to continuing innovation and advanced production. The paper presents an analysis of institutional conditions in the field of creation and development of innovation activity infrastructure and transferring of knowledge and skills between different economic agents in Russia. Knowledge is mainly privately owned, developed through R&D investments and incorporated into technology or a product. Innovation infrastructure is a strong concentration mechanism of advanced facilities, which are mainly located inside large agglomerations or city-regions in order to benefit from scale effects in both input markets (human capital, private financial capital) and output markets (higher education services, research services). The empirical results of the paper show that in the presence of more efficient innovation and knowledge transfer and transcoding system and of a more open attitude of economic agents towards innovation, the innovation and knowledge capacity of regional economy is much higher.
Abstract: In recent years, though, the concept of fit has been
now in widespread used in strategic management research, it is in its
infancy for applying fit concept to service innovation issue. Therefore,
drawing on the concept of fit, this present research proposed an
innovation service fit model within service innovation, market
orientation, marketing strategy, and IT adoption are coexisted. The
perspective of fit as covariation will be employed to test the hypothesis
and identify the effects of fit. We contend that the fit among these four
factors will contribution to business performance. Finally, according
to the empirical data collected from manufacturing, service, and
financial industry in Taiwan, meaningful findings and conclusions
will be proposed and discussed.
Abstract: The use of contour strips of perennial vegetation with
bio-fuel potential can improve surface water quality by reducing
NO3-N and sediment outflow from cropland to surface water-bodies.
It also has economic benefits of producing ethanol. In this study,
The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was applied to
a watershed in Iowa, USA to examine the effectiveness of contour
strips of switch grass in reducing the NO3-N outflows from crop
fields to rivers or lakes. Numerical experiments were conducted to
identify potential subbasins in the watershed that have high water
quality impact, and to examine the effects of strip size on NO3-N
reduction under various meteorological conditions, i.e. dry, average
and wet years. Useful information was obtained for the evaluation of
economic feasibility of growing switch grass for bio-fuel in contour
strips. The results can assist in cost-benefit analysis and decisionmaking
in best management practices for environmental protection.
Abstract: Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is widely used
in telecommunications systems to send data, video and voice at a
very high speed. In ATM network optimizing the bandwidth through
dynamic routing is an important consideration. Previous research
work shows that traditional optimization heuristics result in suboptimal
solution. In this paper we have explored non-traditional
optimization technique. We propose comparison of two such
algorithms - Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Tabu search (TS), based on
non-traditional Optimization approach, for solving the dynamic
routing problem in ATM networks which in return will optimize the
bandwidth. The optimized bandwidth could mean that some
attractive business applications would become feasible such as high
speed LAN interconnection, teleconferencing etc. We have also
performed a comparative study of the selection mechanisms in GA
and listed the best selection mechanism and a new initialization
technique which improves the efficiency of the GA.
Abstract: The present report describes the characteristics of
damages and behavior of reinforced concrete buildings during the
tsunami action. The discussion is based on the field damage survey in
selected cities located on the coast of the zone affected by the Great
East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. This earthquake is the most
powerful know earthquake that has hit Japan with a magnitude 9.0 and
with epicenter located at 129 km of Sendai city (off the coast). The
earthquake triggered a destructive tsunami with run up height of up to
40 meters that mainly affect cities located on the Pacific Ocean coast of
the Tohoku region (north-east region of Japan). Reinforced concrete
buildings in general resist the tsunami without collapse however the
non-structural elements like panels and ceilings were severely
damaged. The analysis of damages has permitted to understand the
behavior of RC buildings under tsunami attack, and has also permitted
to establish recommendations for their use to take refuge from tsunami
in places where natural topography makes impossible to reach hilltops
or other safer places.
Abstract: For today-s and future wireless communications applications,
more and more data traffic has to be transmitted with
growing speed and quality demands. The analog front-end of any
mobile device has to cope with very hard specifications regardless
which transmission standard has to be supported. State-of-the-art
analog front-end implementations are reaching the limit of technical
feasibility. For that reason, alternative front-end architectures could
support a continuing development of mobile communications e.g.,
six-port-based front-ends [1], [2].
In this article we propose an analog front-end with high intermediate
frequency and which utilizes additive mixing instead
of multiplicative mixing. The system architecture is presented and
several spurious effects as well as their influence on the system
dimensioning are discussed. Furthermore, several issues concerning
the technical feasibility are provided and some simulation results
are discussed which show the principle functionality of the proposed
superposition heterodyne receiver.
Abstract: It-s difficult for China-s current land transfer
institutions limited to county-wide to solve the contradiction between
urban-rural development and construction land shortage. On the basis of analyzing China-s construction land transfer system, and evaluation
toward Transfer of development rights (TDR) practices in Anhui and
Chongqing, the passage proposes: (1) we should establish a multi-level
land indicators trade market under the guidance of regional spatial
objectives, and allow land transfer paid across cities and counties
within a specific area following the regulation of both government and
market; (2) it would be better to combine organically the policy ntentions of land plan, regional plan, urban plan and economic plan, and link them with land indicators transfer to promote a wider range of
urban-rural balance and regional coordination.
Abstract: This paper describes interconnection between
technical and economical making decision. The reason of this dealing
could be different: poor technical condition, change of substation
(electrical network) regime, power transformer owner budget deficit
and increasing of tariff on electricity. Establishing of recommended
practice as well as to give general advice and guidance in economical
sector, testing, diagnostic power transformers to establish its
conditions, identify problems and provide potential remedies.