Abstract: The ultimate purpose of this investigation was to
determine the teachers’ opinions as well as students’ opinions
towards the Adapted English Lessons. The subjects of the study were
5 Thai teachers, who teach English, and 85 Grade 10 mixed-ability
students at Triamudom Suksa Pattanakarn Ratchada School,
Bangkok, Thailand. The research instruments included questionnaires
and the informal interview. The data from the research instruments
was collected and analyzed concerning linguistic principles of
minimal pair and articulatory phonetics as well as teaching
techniques of mimicry-memorization; vocabulary substitution drills,
language pattern drills, reading comprehension exercise, practicing
listening, speaking and writing skill and communicative activities;
informal talk and free writing. The data was statistically compiled
according to an arithmetic percentage. The results showed that the
teachers and students have very highly positive opinions towards
adapting linguistic principles for teaching and learning phonological
accuracy. Teaching techniques provided in the Adapted English
Lessons can be used efficiently in the classroom. The teachers and
students have positive opinions towards them too.
Abstract: Graphene, a single-atom sheet, has been considered as
the most promising material for making future nanoelectromechanical
systems as well as purely electrical switching with graphene
transistors. Graphene-based devices have advantages in scaled-up
device fabrication due to the recent progress in large area graphene
growth and lithographic patterning of graphene nanostructures. Here
we investigated its mechanical responses of circular graphene
nanoflake under the nanoindentation using classical molecular
dynamics simulations. A correlation between the load and the
indentation depth was constructed. The nanoindented force in this
work was applied to the center point of the circular graphene nanoflake
and then, the resonance frequency could be tuned by a nanoindented
depth. We found the hardening or the softening of the graphene
nanoflake during its nanoindented-deflections, and such properties
were recognized by the shift of the resonance frequency. The
calculated mechanical parameters in the force-vs-deflection plot were
in good agreement with previous experimental and theoretical works.
This proposed schematics can detect the pressure via the deflection
change or/and the resonance frequency shift, and also have great
potential for versatile applications in nanoelectromechanical systems.
Abstract: Background: To compare the thinning patterns of the
ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) and peripapillary retinal
nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) as measured using Cirrus high-definition
optical coherence tomography (HD-OCT) in patients with visual field
(VF) defects that respect the vertical meridian. Methods: Twenty eyes of eleven patients with VF defects that
respect the vertical meridian were enrolled retrospectively. The
thicknesses of the macular GCIPL and pRNFL were measured using
Cirrus HD-OCT. The 5% and 1% thinning area index (TAI) was
calculated as the proportion of abnormally thin sectors at the 5% and
1% probability level within the area corresponding to the affected VF.
The 5% and 1% TAI were compared between the GCIPL and pRNFL
measurements. Results: The color-coded GCIPL deviation map showed a
characteristic vertical thinning pattern of the GCIPL, which is also
seen in the VF of patients with brain lesions. The 5% and 1% TAI
were significantly higher in the GCIPL measurements than in the
pRNFL measurements (all P < 0.01). Conclusions: Macular GCIPL analysis clearly visualized a
characteristic topographic pattern of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss
in patients with VF defects that respect the vertical meridian, unlike
pRNFL measurements. Macular GCIPL measurements provide more
valuable information than pRNFL measurements for detecting the
loss of RGCs in patients with retrograde degeneration of the optic
nerve fibers.
Abstract: The traditional rhythms of the West African country
of Guinea have played a centuries-long role in defining the different
people groups that make up the country. Throughout their history,
before and since colonization by the French, the different ethnicities
have used their traditional music as a distinct part of their historical
identities. That is starting to change. Guinea is an impoverished
nation created in the early twentieth-century with little regard for the
history and cultures of the people who were included. The traditional
rhythms of the different people groups and their heritages have
remained. Fifteen individual traditional Guinean rhythms were
chosen to represent popular rhythms from the four geographical
regions of Guinea. Each rhythm was traced back to its native village
and video recorded on-site by as many different local performing
groups as could be located. The cyclical patterns rhythms were
transcribed via a circular, spatial design and then copied into a box
notation system where sounds happening at the same time could be
studied. These rhythms were analyzed for their consistency-overperformance
in a Fundamental Rhythm Pattern analysis so rhythms
could be compared for how they are changing through different
performances. The analysis showed that the traditional rhythm
performances of the Middle and Forest Guinea regions were the most
cohesive and showed the least evidence of change between
performances. The role of music in each of these regions is both
limited and focused. The Coastal and High Guinea regions have
much in common historically through their ethnic history and
modern-day trade connections, but the rhythm performances seem to
be less consistent and demonstrate more changes in how they are
performed today. In each of these regions the role and usage of music
is much freer and wide-spread. In spite of advances being made as a
country, different ethnic groups still frequently only respond and
participate (dance and sing) to the music of their native ethnicity.
There is some evidence that this self-imposed musical barrier is
beginning to change and evolve, partially through the development of
better roads, more access to electricity and technology, the nationwide
Ebola health crisis, and a growing self-identification as a
unified nation.
Abstract: The paper shows that on transferring sense from the
SL to the TL, the translator’s reading against the grain determines the
creation of a faulty pattern of rendering the original meaning in the
receiving culture which reflects the use of misleading transformative
codes. In this case, the translator is a writer per se who decides what
goes in and out of the book, how the style is to be ciphered and what
elements of ideology are to be highlighted. The paper also proves that
figurative language must not be flattened for the sake of clarity or
naturalness. The missing figurative elements make the translated text
less interesting, less challenging and less vivid which reflects poorly
on the writer. There is a close connection between style and the
writer’s person. If the writer’s style is very much altered in a
translation, the translation is useless as the original writer and his /
her imaginative world can no longer be discovered. The purpose of the paper is to prove that adaptation is a dangerous
tool which leads to variants that sometimes reflect the original less
than the reader would wish to. It contradicts the very essence of the
process of translation which is that of making an original work
available in a foreign language. If the adaptive transformative codes
are so flexible that they encourage the translator to repeatedly leave
out parts of the original work, then a subversive pattern emerges
which changes the entire book. In conclusion, as a result of using adaptation, manipulative or
subversive effects are created in the translated work. This is generally
achieved by adding new words or connotations, creating new figures
of speech or using explicitations. The additional meanings of the
original work are neglected and the translator creates new meanings,
implications, emphases and contexts. Again s/he turns into a new
author who enjoys the freedom of expressing his / her own ideas
without the constraints of the original text. Reading against the grain
is unadvisable during the process of translation and consequently,
following personal common sense becomes essential in the field of
translation as well as everywhere else, so that translation should not
become a source of fantasy.
Abstract: This paper integrates Octagon and Square Search
pattern (OCTSS) motion estimation algorithm into H.264/AVC
(Advanced Video Coding) video codec in Adaptive Group of Pictures
(AGOP) mode. AGOP structure is computed based on scene change
in the video sequence. Octagon and square search pattern block-based
motion estimation method is implemented in inter-prediction process
of H.264/AVC. Both these methods reduce bit rate and computational
complexity while maintaining the quality of the video sequence
respectively. Experiments are conducted for different types of video
sequence. The results substantially proved that the bit rate,
computation time and PSNR gain achieved by the proposed method
is better than the existing H.264/AVC with fixed GOP and AGOP.
With a marginal gain in quality of 0.28dB and average gain in bitrate
of 132.87kbps, the proposed method reduces the average computation
time by 27.31 minutes when compared to the existing state-of-art
H.264/AVC video codec.
Abstract: In the context of the handwriting recognition, we
propose an off line system for the recognition of the Arabic
handwritten words of the Algerian departments. The study is based
mainly on the evaluation of neural network performances, trained
with the gradient back propagation algorithm. The used parameters to
form the input vector of the neural network are extracted on the
binary images of the handwritten word by several methods. The
Distribution parameters, the centered moments of the different
projections of the different segments, the centered moments of the
word image coding according to the directions of Freeman, and the
Barr features applied binary image of the word and on its different
segments. The classification is achieved by a multi layers perceptron.
A detailed experiment is carried and satisfactory recognition results
are reported.
Abstract: In this paper, we present an optimization technique or
a learning algorithm using the hybrid architecture by combining the
most popular sequence recognition models such as Recurrent Neural
Networks (RNNs) and Hidden Markov models (HMMs). In order to
improve the sequence/pattern recognition/classification performance
by applying a hybrid/neural symbolic approach, a gradient descent
learning algorithm is developed using the Real Time Recurrent
Learning of Recurrent Neural Network for processing the knowledge
represented in trained Hidden Markov Models. The developed hybrid
algorithm is implemented on automata theory as a sample test beds
and the performance of the designed algorithm is demonstrated and
evaluated on learning the deterministic finite state automata.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the factor
structure and psychometric properties (i.e., reliability and convergent
validity) of the Employee Trust Scale, a newly created instrument by
the researchers. The Employee Trust Scale initially contained 82
items to measure employees’ trust toward their supervisors. A sample
of 818 (343 females, 449 males) employees were selected randomly
from public and private organization sectors in Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysia. Their ages ranged from 19 to 67 years old with a
mean of 34.55 years old. Their average tenure with their current
employer was 11.2 years (s.d. = 7.5 years). The respondents were
asked to complete the Employee Trust Scale, as well as a managerial
trust questionnaire from Mishra. The exploratory factor analysis on
employees’ trust toward their supervisor’s extracted three factors,
labeled ‘trustworthiness’ (32 items), ‘position status’ (11 items) and
‘relationship’ (6 items) which accounted for 62.49% of the total
variance. Trustworthiness factors were re-categorized into three sub
factors: competency (11 items), benevolence (8 items) and integrity
(13 items). All factors and sub factors of the scales demonstrated
clear reliability with internal consistency of Cronbach’s Alpha above
.85. The convergent validity of the Scale was supported by an
expected pattern of correlations (positive and significant correlation)
between the score of all factors and sub factors of the scale and the
score on the managerial trust questionnaire, which measured the same
construct. The convergent validity of Employee Trust Scale was
further supported by the significant and positive inter-correlation
between the factors and sub factors of the scale. The results suggest
that the Employee Trust Scale is a reliable and valid measure.
However, further studies need to be carried out in other groups of
sample as to further validate the Scale.
Abstract: Rapid prototyping is a new group of manufacturing
processes, which allows fabrication of physical of any complexity
using a layer by layer deposition technique directly from a computer
system. The rapid prototyping process greatly reduces the time and
cost necessary to bring a new product to market. The prototypes
made by these systems are used in a range of industrial application
including design evaluation, verification, testing, and as patterns for
casting processes. These processes employ a variety of materials and
mechanisms to build up the layers to build the part. The present work
was to build a FDM prototyping machine that could control the X-Y
motion and material deposition, to generate two-dimensional and
three-dimensional complex shapes. This study focused on the
deposition of wax material. This work was to find out the properties
of the wax materials used in this work in order to enable better
control of the FDM process. This study will look at the integration of
a computer controlled electro-mechanical system with the traditional
FDM additive prototyping process. The characteristics of the wax
were also analysed in order to optimise the model production process.
These included wax phase change temperature, wax viscosity and
wax droplet shape during processing.
Abstract: With the increasing population and intensive land use,
huge traffic demand is generating worldwide both in developing and
developed countries. As a developing country, Bangladesh is also
facing the same problem in recent years by producing huge numbers
of daily trips. As a matter of fact, extensive traffic demand is
increasing day by day. Also, transport system in Dhaka is
heterogeneous, reflecting the heterogeneity in the socio-economic
and land use patterns. Trips produced here are for different purposes
such as work, business, educational etc. Due to the significant
concentration of educational institutions a large share of the trips are
generated by educational purpose. And one of the major percentages
of educational trips is produced by university going students and
most of them are travelled by car, bus, train, taxi, rickshaw etc. The
aim of the study was to find out the university students’ perception on
public transit ridership. A survey was conducted among 330 students
from eight different universities. It was found out that 26% of the
trips produced by university going students are travelled by public
bus service and only 5% are by train. Percentage of car share is 16%
and 12% of the trips are travelled by private taxi. It has been
observed from the study, students those who prefer bus instead of
other options, 42 percent of their family resides outside Dhaka. And
those who prefer walking, of them, over 40 percent students’ family
reside outside of Dhaka and of them over 85 percent students have a
tendency to live in a mess. On the contrary, students travelling by car
represents, most of their family reside in Dhaka. The study also
revealed that the most important reason that restricts students not to
use public transit is poor service. Negative attitudes such as
discomfort, uneasiness in using public transit also reduces the usage
of public transit. The poor waiting area is another major cause of not
using public transit. Insufficient security also plays a significant role
in not using public transit. On the contrary, the fare is not a problem
for students those who use public transit as a mode of transportation.
Students also think stations are not far away from their home or
institution and they do not need to wait long for the buses or trains. It
was also found accessibility to public transit is moderate.
Abstract: Mineral oil is commonly used for high voltage
transformer insulation. The insulation quality of mineral oil is
affecting the operation process of high voltage transformer. There are
many contaminations which could decrease the insulation quality of
mineral oil. One of them is water. This research talks about the effect
of water content on dielectric properties, physic properties, and
partial discharge pattern on mineral oil. Samples were varied with 10
varieties of water content value. And then all samples would be tested
to measure the dielectric properties, physic properties, and partial
discharge pattern. The result of this research showed that an
increment of water content value would decrease the insulation
quality of mineral oil.
Abstract: The influence of Islam on arts can be found primarily
in calligraphy, arabesque designs and architecture. Also, geometric
designs were used quite extensively. Muslim craftsmen produced
stunning designs based on simple geometric principles and traditional
motifs which were used to decorate many surfaces. The idea of
interlacing simple rectilinear lines to form the patterns impressed
Arabs. Nomads of Persia, Turks and Mongols were equally
impressed with the designs so they begin to use them in their homes
in carpet weaving. Islamic designs, motifs and colours which were
used became common place and served to influence people’s tastes.
Modern life style and contemporary products have changed the style
of people’s daily lives, however, people still long for the nomadic
way of life. This is clearly reflected in people’s homes. In a great
many Muslim homes, Islamic decorative motifs can be seen along
with traditional ‘Bedouin’ style furnishing, especially in homes of the
Arabian Peninsula.
Abstract: Urinary Tract Infections are considered as one of the
most common bacterial infections with an estimated annual global
incidence of 150 million. Antimicrobial drug resistance is one of the
major threats due to wide spread usage of uncontrolled antibiotics. In
this study, a total number of 9149 urine samples were collected from
R.H Patiala and processed in the Department of Microbiology G. M.
C Patiala (January 2013 to December 2013). Urine samples were
inoculated on MacConkey’s and blood agar plates and incubated at
370C for 24 hrs. The organisms were identified by colony characters,
Gram’s staining, and biochemical reactions. Antimicrobial
susceptibility of the isolates was determined against various
antimicrobial agents (Hi – Media Mumbai India) by Kirby Bauer
DISK diffusion method on Muller Hinton agar plates. Maximum patients were in the age group of 21-30 yrs followed by
31-40 yrs. Males (34%) are less prone to urinary tract infections than
females (66%). Culture was positive in 25% of the samples.
Escherichia coli was the most common isolate 60.3% followed by
Klebsiella pneumoniae 13.5%, Proteus spp. 9% and Staphylococcus
aureus 7.6%. Most of the urinary isolates were sensitive to,
carbepenems, Aztreonam, Amikacin, and Piperacillin + Tazobactum.
All the isolates showed a good sensitivity towards Nitrofurantoin
(82%). ESBL production was found to be 70.6% in Escherichia coli
and 29.4% in Klebsiella pneumonia. Susceptibility of ESBL
producers to Imipenem, Nitrofurantoin and Amikacin were found to
be 100%, 76%, and 75% respectively. Uropathogens are increasingly
showing resistance to many antibiotics making empiric management
of outpatient UTIs challenging. Ampicillin, Cotrimoxazole and
Ciprofloxacin should not be used in empiric treatment. Nitrofurantoin
could be used in lower urinary tract infection. Knowledge of
uropathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern in a
geographical region will help in appropriate and judicious antibiotic
usage in a health care setup.
Abstract: Due to the fast and flawless technological innovation
there is a tremendous amount of data dumping all over the world in
every domain such as Pattern Recognition, Machine Learning, Spatial
Data Mining, Image Analysis, Fraudulent Analysis, World Wide
Web etc., This issue turns to be more essential for developing several
tools for data mining functionalities. The major aim of this paper is to
analyze various tools which are used to build a resourceful analytical
or descriptive model for handling large amount of information more
efficiently and user friendly. In this survey the diverse tools are
illustrated with their extensive technical paradigm, outstanding
graphical interface and inbuilt multipath algorithms in which it is
very useful for handling significant amount of data more indeed.
Abstract: It has been known that a characteristic
Burst-Suppression (BS) pattern appears in EEG during the early
recovery period following Cardiac Arrest (CA). Here, to explore the
relationship between cortical and subcortical neural activities
underlying BS, extracellular activity in the parietal cortex and the
centromedian nucleus of the thalamus and extradural EEG were
recorded in a rodent CA model. During the BS, the cortical firing rate
is extraordinarily high, and that bursts in EEG correlate to dense spikes
in cortical neurons. Newly observed phenomena are that 1) thalamic
activity reemerges earlier than cortical activity following CA, and 2)
the correlation coefficient of cortical and thalamic activities rises
during BS period. These results would help elucidate the underlying
mechanism of brain recovery after CA injury.
Abstract: In this paper, we describe the use of formal methods
to model malware behaviour. The modelling of harmful behaviour
rests upon syntactic structures that represent malicious procedures
inside malware. The malicious activities are modelled by a formal
grammar, where API calls’ components are the terminals and the set
of API calls used in combination to achieve a goal are designated
non-terminals. The combination of different non-terminals in various
ways and tiers make up the attack vectors that are used by harmful
software. Based on these syntactic structures a parser can be
generated which takes execution traces as input for pattern
recognition.
Abstract: In this numerical work, mixed convection and entropy
generation of Cu–water nanofluid in a lid-driven square cavity have
been investigated numerically using the Lattice Boltzmann Method.
Horizontal walls of the cavity are adiabatic and vertical walls have
constant temperature but different values. The top wall has been
considered as moving from left to right at a constant speed, U0. The
effects of different parameters such as nanoparticle volume
concentration (0–0.05), Rayleigh number (104–106) and Reynolds
numbers (1, 10 and 100) on the entropy generation, flow and
temperature fields are studied. The results have shown that addition
of nanoparticles to the base fluid affects the entropy generation, flow
pattern and thermal behavior especially at higher Rayleigh and low
Reynolds numbers. For pure fluid as well as nanofluid, the increase
of Reynolds number increases the average Nusselt number and the
total entropy generation, linearly. The maximum entropy generation
occurs in nanofluid at low Rayleigh number and at high Reynolds
number. The minimum entropy generation occurs in pure fluid at low
Rayleigh and Reynolds numbers. Also at higher Reynolds number,
the effect of Cu nanoparticles on enhancement of heat transfer was
decreased because the effect of lid-driven cavity was increased. The
present results are validated by favorable comparisons with
previously published results. The results of the problem are presented
in graphical and tabular forms and discussed.
Abstract: Environmental and functional conditions, sometimes,
necessitate the architectural plan of the building to be asymmetric,
and this result in an asymmetric structure. In such cases finding an
optimal pattern for locating the components of lateral load bearing
system, including shear walls, in the building’s plan is desired. In
case of shear wall in addition to the location the shape of the wall
cross-section is also an effective factor. Various types of shear walls
and their proper layout might come effective in better stiffness
distribution and more appropriate seismic response of the building.
Several studies have been conducted in the context of analysis and
design of shear walls; however, few studies have been performed on
making decisions for the location and form of shear walls in multistory
buildings, especially those with irregular plan. In this study, an
attempt has been made to obtain the most reliable seismic behavior of
multi-story reinforced concrete vertically chamfered buildings by
using more appropriate shear walls form and arrangement in 7-, 10-,
12-, and 15-stoy buildings. The considered forms and arrangements
include common rectangular walls and L-, T-, U- and Z-shaped plan,
located as the core or in the outer frames of the building structure.
Comparison of seismic behaviors of the buildings, including
maximum roof displacement and particularly formation of plastic
hinges and their distribution in the buildings’ structures, have been
done based on the results of a series of nonlinear time history
analyses, by using a set of selected earthquake records. Results show
that shear walls with U-shaped cross-section, placed as the building
central core, and also walls with Z-shaped cross-section, placed at the
corners give the building more reliable seismic behavior.
Abstract: Home Energy Management System (HEMS), which makes the residential consumers, contribute to the demand response is attracting attention in recent years. An aim of HEMS is to minimize their electricity cost by controlling the use of their appliances according to electricity price. The use of appliances in HEMS may be affected by some conditions such as external temperature and electricity price. Therefore, the user’s usage pattern of appliances should be modeled according to the external conditions, and the resultant usage pattern is related to the user’s comfortability on use of each appliances. This paper proposes a methodology to model the usage pattern based on the historical data with the copula function. Through copula function, the usage range of each appliance can be obtained and is able to satisfy the appropriate user’s comfort according to the external conditions for next day. Within the usage range, an optimal scheduling for appliances would be conducted so as to minimize an electricity cost with considering user’s comfort. Among the home appliance, electric heater (EH) is a representative appliance, which is affected by the external temperature. In this paper, an optimal scheduling algorithm for an electric heater (EH) is addressed based on the method of branch and bound. As a result, scenarios for the EH usage are obtained according to user’s comfort levels and then the residential consumer would select the best scenario. The case study shows the effects of the proposed algorithm compared with the traditional operation of the EH, and it represents impacts of the comfort level on the scheduling result.