Abstract: Chikungunya virus (CHICKV) is an arboviruses belonging to family Tagoviridae and is transmitted to human through by mosquito (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) bite. A large outbreak of chikungunya has been reported in India between 2006 and 2007, along with several other countries from South-East Asia and for the first time in Europe. It was for the first time that the CHICKV outbreak has been reported with mortality from Reunion Island and increased mortality from Asian countries. CHICKV affects all age groups, and currently there are no specific drugs or vaccine to cure the disease. The need of antiviral agents for the treatment of CHICKV infection and the success of virtual screening against many therapeutically valuable targets led us to carry out the structure based drug design against Chikungunya nSP2 protease (PDB: 3TRK). Highthroughput virtual screening of publicly available databases, ZINC12 and BindingDB, has been carried out using the Openeye tools and Schrodinger LLC software packages. Openeye Filter program has been used to filter the database and the filtered outputs were docked using HTVS protocol implemented in GLIDE package of Schrodinger LLC. The top HITS were further used for enriching the similar molecules from the database through vROCS; a shape based screening protocol implemented in Openeye. The approach adopted has provided different scaffolds as HITS against CHICKV protease. Three scaffolds: Indole, Pyrazole and Sulphone derivatives were selected based on the docking score and synthetic feasibility. Derivatives of Pyrazole were synthesized and submitted for antiviral screening against CHICKV.
Abstract: Pre-germinated parboiled brown rice or Khao hang (in Thai) is paddy which undergoing the processes of soaking, steaming, drying and dehusking to obtain the edible form for consumption. The objectives of this research were to study the kinetic of pre-germinated parboiled brown rice drying using fluidization technique and to study the properties of pre-germinated parboiled brown rice after drying. The dryings were performed at the different temperatures of 110, 120 and 130 oC at the bed depth of 2 cm with the air velocity of 1.98 m/s. The results found that the higher drying temperature led to the faster moisture reduction. After drying until the moisture content of pre-germinated parboiled brown rice was lower than 14%wet basis, samples were taken to determine various qualities such as percentage of head rice and L* a* b* color values. The shade drying was used as a control. The results found that the higher drying temperature resulted in the decrease of head rice percentage. For the color assessment, the trend of L* and a* values was increased with the drying temperature, while the b* value was not significantly difference (p › 0.05) by drying temperatures. However, the b value of drying by fluidized bed dryer was higher than the control.
Abstract: Lately management strategy that put Industrial Design (ID) in its core is recognized more important, as technology and price alone cannot differentiate a product. The needs to shorten the time to develop a product also shorten the development period of ID, and it necessitates the ID process management. This research analyzes the status of integration process of ID and Engineering Design (ED) of office equipment that requires the collaboration of ID and ED to clarify the issues for the efficiency of the development and to propose solutions.
Abstract: With the advance of multimedia and diagnostic
images technologies, the number of radiographic images is increasing
constantly. The medical field demands sophisticated systems for
search and retrieval of the produced multimedia document. This
paper presents an ongoing research that focuses on the semantic
content of radiographic image documents to facilitate semantic-based
radiographic image indexing and a retrieval system. The proposed
model would divide a radiographic image document, based on its
semantic content, and would be converted into a logical structure or
a semantic structure. The logical structure represents the overall
organization of information. The semantic structure, which is bound
to logical structure, is composed of semantic objects with
interrelationships in the various spaces in the radiographic image.
Abstract: The Helmholtz equation often arises in the study of physical problems involving partial differential equation. Many researchers have proposed numerous methods to find the analytic or approximate solutions for the proposed problems. In this work, the exact analytical solutions of the Helmholtz equation in spherical polar coordinates are presented using the Nikiforov-Uvarov (NU) method. It is found that the solution of the angular eigenfunction can be expressed by the associated-Legendre polynomial and radial eigenfunctions are obtained in terms of the Laguerre polynomials. The special case for k=0, which corresponds to the Laplace equation is also presented.
Abstract: Until recently, researchers have developed various
tools and methodologies for effective clinical decision-making.
Among those decisions, chest pain diseases have been one of
important diagnostic issues especially in an emergency department. To
improve the ability of physicians in diagnosis, many researchers have
developed diagnosis intelligence by using machine learning and data
mining. However, most of the conventional methodologies have been
generally based on a single classifier for disease classification and
prediction, which shows moderate performance. This study utilizes an
ensemble strategy to combine multiple different classifiers to help
physicians diagnose chest pain diseases more accurately than ever.
Specifically the ensemble strategy is applied by using the integration
of decision trees, neural networks, and support vector machines. The
ensemble models are applied to real-world emergency data. This study
shows that the performance of the ensemble models is superior to each
of single classifiers.
Abstract: This paper To get the angle value with a MEMS rate
gyroscope in some specific field, the usual method is to make an
integral operation to the rate output, which will lead the error
cumulating effect. So the rate gyro is not suitable. MEMS rate
integrating gyroscope (MRIG) will solve this problem. A DSP system
has been developed to implement the control arithmetic. The system
can measure the angle of rotation directly by the control loops that
make the sensor work in whole-angle mode. Modeling the system with
MATLAB, desirable results of angle outputs are got, which prove the
feasibility of the control arithmetic.
Abstract: Alkali Activated Slag Concrete (AASC) mixes are manufactured by activating ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) using sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solutions. The aim of the present experimental research was to investigate the effect of increasing the dosages of sodium oxide (Na2O, in the range of 4 to 8%) and the activator modulus (Ms) (i.e. the SiO2/Na2O ratio, in the range of 0.5 to 1.5) of the alkaline solutions, on the workability and strength characteristics of self-cured (air-cured) alkali activated Indian slag concrete mixes. Further the split tensile and flexure strengths for optimal mixes were studied for each dosage of Na2O.It is observed that increase in Na2O concentration increases the compressive, split-tensile and flexural strengths, both at the early and later-ages, while increase in Ms, decreases the workability of the mixes. An optimal Ms of 1.25 is found at various Na2O dosages. No significant differences in the strength performances were observed between AASCs manufactured with alkali solutions prepared using either of potable and de-ionized water.
Abstract: Optimum communication and performance in
Wireless Sensor Networks, constitute multi-facet challenges due to
the specific networking characteristics as well as the scarce resource
availability. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly apparent that
isolated layer based approaches often do not meet the demands posed
by WSNs applications due to omission of critical inter-layer
interactions and dependencies. As a counterpart, cross-layer is
receiving high interest aiming to exploit these interactions and
increase network performance. However, in order to clearly identify
existing dependencies, comprehensive performance studies are
required evaluating the effect of different critical network parameters
on system level performance and behavior.This paper-s main
objective is to address the need for multi-parametric performance
evaluations considering critical network parameters using a well
known network simulator, offering useful and practical conclusions
and guidelines. The results reveal strong dependencies among
considered parameters which can be utilized by and drive future
research efforts, towards designing and implementing highly efficient
protocols and architectures.
Abstract: Artificial Immune System (AIS) is relatively naive paradigm for intelligent computations. The inspiration for AIS is derived from natural Immune System (IS). Classically it is believed that IS strives to discriminate between self and non-self. Most of the existing AIS research is based on this approach. Danger Theory (DT) argues this approach and proposes that IS fights against danger producing elements and tolerates others. We, the computational researchers, are not concerned with the arguments among immunologists but try to extract from it novel abstractions for intelligent computation. This paper aims to follow DT inspiration for intelligent data processing. The approach may introduce new avenue in intelligent processing. The data used is system calls data that is potentially significant in intrusion detection applications.
Abstract: XML is a markup language which is becoming the
standard format for information representation and data exchange. A
major purpose of XML is the explicit representation of the logical
structure of a document. Much research has been performed to
exploit logical structure of documents in information retrieval in
order to precisely extract user information need from large
collections of XML documents. In this paper, we describe an XML
information retrieval weighting scheme that tries to find the most
relevant elements in XML documents in response to a user query.
We present this weighting model for information retrieval systems
that utilize plausible inferences to infer the relevance of elements in
XML documents. We also add to this model the Dempster-Shafer
theory of evidence to express the uncertainty in plausible inferences
and Dempster-Shafer rule of combination to combine evidences
derived from different inferences.
Abstract: People usually have a telephone voice, which means
they adjust their speech to fit particular situations and to blend in with
other interlocutors. The question is: Do we speak differently to
different people? This possibility has been suggested by social
psychologists within Accommodation Theory [1]. Converging toward
the speech of another person can be regarded as a polite speech
strategy while choosing a language not used by the other interlocutor
can be considered as the clearest example of speech divergence [2].
The present study sets out to investigate such processes in the course
of everyday telephone conversations. Using Joos-s [3] model of
formality in spoken English, the researchers try to explore
convergence to or divergence from the addressee. The results
propound the actuality that lexical choice, and subsequently, patterns
of style vary intriguingly in concordance with the person being
addressed.
Abstract: Although the STL (stereo lithography) file format is
widely used as a de facto industry standard in the rapid prototyping
industry due to its simplicity and ability to tessellation of almost all
surfaces, but there are always some defects and shortcoming in their
usage, which many of them are difficult to correct manually. In
processing the complex models, size of the file and its defects grow
extremely, therefore, correcting STL files become difficult. In this
paper through optimizing the exiting algorithms, size of the files and
memory usage of computers to process them will be reduced. In spite
of type and extent of the errors in STL files, the tail-to-head
searching method and analysis of the nearest distance between tails
and heads techniques were used. As a result STL models sliced
rapidly, and fully closed contours produced effectively and errorless.
Abstract: In this research, Forming Limit Diagrams for supertension
sheet metals which are using in automobile industry have
been obtained. The exerted strains to sheet metals have been
measured with four different methods and the errors of each method
have also been represented. These methods have been compared with
together and the most efficient and economic way of extracting of the
exerted strains to sheet metals has been introduced. In this paper total
error and uncertainty of FLD extraction procedures have been
derived. Determination of the measurement uncertainty in extracting
of FLD has a great importance in design and analysis of the sheet
metal forming process.
Abstract: The efficient knowledge management system (KMS)
is one of the important strategies to help firms to achieve sustainable
competitive advantages, but little research has been conducted to
understand what contributes to the KMS success. This study thus set
to investigate the determinants of KMS success in the context of Thai
banking industry. A questionnaire survey was conducted in four
major Thai Banks to test the proposed KMS Success model.
The result of this study shows that KMS use and user satisfaction
relate significantly to the success of KMS, and knowledge quality,
service quality and trust lead to system use, and knowledge quality,
system quality and trust lead to user satisfaction. However, this
research focuses only on system and user-related factors. Future
research thus can extend to study factors such as management support
and organization readiness.
Abstract: The growing outsourcing of logistics services
resulting from the ongoing current in firms of costs
reduction/increased efficiency means that it is becoming more and
more important for the companies doing the outsourcing to carry out
a proper evaluation.
The multiple definitions and measures of logistics service
performance found in research on the topic create a certain degree of
confusion and do not clear the way towards the proper measurement
of their performance. Do a model and a specific set of indicators exist
that can be considered appropriate for measuring the performance of
logistics services outsourcing in industrial environments? Are said
indicators in keeping with the objectives pursued by outsourcing? We
aim to answer these and other research questions in the study we have
initiated in the field within the framework of the international High
Performance Manufacturing (HPM) project of which this paper
forms part.
As the first stage of this research, this paper reviews articles
dealing with the topic published in the last 15 years with the aim of
detecting the models most used to make this measurement and
determining which performance indicators are proposed as part of
said models and which are most used. The first steps are also taken in
determining whether these indicators, financial and operational, cover
the aims that are being pursued when outsourcing logistics services.
The findings show there is a wide variety of both models and
indicators used. This would seem to testify to the need to continue
with our research in order to try to propose a model and a set of
indicators for measuring the performance of logistics services
outsourcing in industrial environments.
Abstract: Scale defects are common surface defects in hot steel rolling. The modelling of such defects is problematic and their causes are not straightforward. In this study, we investigated genetic algorithms in search for a mathematical solution to scale formation. For this research, a high-dimensional data set from hot steel rolling process was gathered. The synchronisation of the variables as well as the allocation of the measurements made on the steel strip were solved before the modelling phase.
Abstract: Within the last years, several technologies have been developed to help building e-learning portals. Most of them follow approaches that deliver a vast amount of functionalities, suitable for class-like learning. The SuGI project, as part of the D-Grid (funded by the BMBF), targets on delivering a highly scalable and sustainable learning solution to provide materials (e.g. learning modules, training systems, webcasts, tutorials, etc.) containing knowledge about Grid computing to the D-Grid community. In this article, the process of the development of an e-learning portal focused on the requirements of this special user group is described. Furthermore, it deals with the conceptual and technical design of an e-learning portal, addressing the special needs of heterogeneous target groups. The main focus lies on the quality management of the software development process, Web templates for uploading new contents, the rich search and filter functionalities which will be described from a conceptual as well as a technical point of view. Specifically, it points out best practices as well as concepts to provide a sustainable solution to a relatively unknown and highly heterogeneous community.
Abstract: It has been shown that in most accidents the driver is responsible due to being distracted or misjudging the situation. In order to solve such problems research has been dedicated to developing driver assistance systems that are able to monitor the traffic situation around the vehicle. This paper presents methods for recognizing several circumstances on a road. The methods use both the in-vehicle warning systems and the roadside infrastructure. Preliminary evaluation results for fog and ice-on-road detection are presented. The ice detection results are based on data recorded in a test track dedicated to tyre friction testing. The achieved results anticipate that ice detection could work at a performance of 70% detection with the right setup, which is a good foundation for implementation. However, the full benefit of the presented cooperative system is achieved by fusing the outputs of multiple data sources, which is the key point of discussion behind this publication.
Abstract: To investigate the behavior of sheet metals during
forming tailor welded blanks (TWB) of various thickness made via
Co2 Laser welding are under consideration. These blanks are formed
used two different forming methods of rubber as well as the
conventional punch and die methods. The main research objective is
the effects of using a rubber die instead of a solid one the
displacement of the weld line and the press force needed for forming.
Specimens with thicknesses of 0.5, 0.6, 0.8 and 1mm are subjected to
Erichsen two dimensional tests and the resulted force for each case
are compared. This is followed by a theoretical and numerical study
of press force and weld line displacement. It is concluded that using
rubber pad forming (RPF) causes a reduction in weld line
displacement and an increase in the press force.