Abstract: Biometric measures of one kind or another have been
used to identify people since ancient times, with handwritten
signatures, facial features, and fingerprints being the traditional
methods. Of late, Systems have been built that automate the task of
recognition, using these methods and newer ones, such as hand
geometry, voiceprints and iris patterns. These systems have different
strengths and weaknesses. This work is a two-section composition. In
the starting section, we present an analytical and comparative study
of common biometric techniques. The performance of each of them
has been viewed and then tabularized as a result. The latter section
involves the actual implementation of the techniques under
consideration that has been done using a state of the art tool called,
MATLAB. This tool aids to effectively portray the corresponding
results and effects.
Abstract: This paper presents a study of the Taguchi design
application to optimize surface quality in damper inserted end milling
operation. Maintaining good surface quality usually involves
additional manufacturing cost or loss of productivity. The Taguchi
design is an efficient and effective experimental method in which a
response variable can be optimized, given various factors, using
fewer resources than a factorial design. This Study included spindle
speed, feed rate, and depth of cut as control factors, usage of different
tools in the same specification, which introduced tool condition and
dimensional variability. An orthogonal array of L9(3^4)was used;
ANOVA analyses were carried out to identify the significant factors
affecting surface roughness, and the optimal cutting combination was
determined by seeking the best surface roughness (response) and
signal-to-noise ratio. Finally, confirmation tests verified that the
Taguchi design was successful in optimizing milling parameters for
surface roughness.
Abstract: Shadoo protein (Sho) was described in 2003 as the newest member of Prion protein superfamily [1]. Sho has similar structural motifs like prion protein (PrP) that is known for its central role in transmissible spongiform enchephalopathies. Although a great number of functions have been proposed, the exact physiological function of PrP is not known yet. Investigation of the function and localization of Sho may help us to understand the function of the Prion protein superfamily. Analyzing the subcellular localization of YFP-tagged forms of Sho, we detected the protein in the plasma membrane and in the nucleus of various cell lines. To reveal the localization of the endogenous protein we generated antibodies against Shadoo as well as employed commercially available anti-Shadoo antibodies: i) EG62 anti-mouse Shadoo antibody generated by Eurogentec Ltd.; ii) S-12 anti-human Shadoo antibody by Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc.; iii) R-12 anti-mouse Shadoo antibody by Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc.; iv) SPRN antibody against human Shadoo by Abgent Inc. We carried out immunocytochemistry on non-transfected HeLa, Zpl 2-1, Zw 3-5, GT1-1, GT1-7 and SHSY5Y cells as well as on YFP-Sho, Sho-YFP, and YFP-GPI transfected HeLa cells. Their specificity (in antibody-peptide competition assay) and co-localization (with the YFP signal) were assessed.
Abstract: Despite the internet, which is one of the mass media
that has become quite common in recent years, the relationship of
Advertisement with Television and Cinema, which have always
drawn attention of researchers as basic media and where visual use is
in the foreground, have also become the subject of various studies.
Based on the assumption that the known fundamental effects of
advertisements on consumers are closely related to the creative
process of advertisements as well as the nature and characteristics of
the medium where they are used, these basic mass media (Television
and Cinema) and the consumer motivations of the advertisements
they broadcast have become a focus of study.
Given that the viewers of the mass media in question have shifted
from a passive position to a more active one especially in recent years
and approach contents of advertisements, as they do all contents, in a
more critical and “pitiless" manner, it is possible to say that
individuals make more use of advertisements than in the past and
combine their individual goals with the goals of the advertisements.
This study, which aims at finding out what the goals of these new
individual advertisement use are, how they are shaped by the distinct
characteristics of Television and Cinema, where visuality takes
precedence as basic mass media, and what kind of places they occupy
in the minds of consumers, has determined consumers- motivations
as: “Entertainment", “Escapism", “Play", “Monitoring/Discovery",
“Opposite Sex" and “Aspirations and Role Models".
This study intends to reveal the differences or similarities among
the needs and hence the gratifications of viewers who consume
advertisements on Television or at the Cinema, which are two basic
media where visuality is prioritized.
Abstract: The environment pollution with pesticides and heavy
metals is a recognized problem nowadays, with extension to the
global scale the tendency of amplification. Even with all the progress
in the environmental field, both in the emphasize of the effect of the
pollutants upon health, the linked studies environment-health are
insufficient, not only in Romania but all over the world also. We aim
to describe the particular situation in Romania regarding the
uncontrolled use of pesticides, to identify and evaluate the risk zones
for health and the environment in Romania, with the final goal of
designing adequate programs for reduction and control of the risk
sources. An exploratory study was conducted to determine the
magnitude of the pesticide use problem in a population living in
Saliste, a rural setting in Transylvania, Romania. The significant
stakeholders in Saliste region were interviewed and a sample from
the population living in Saliste area was selected to fill in a designed
questionnaire. All the selected participants declared that they used
pesticides in their activities for more than one purpose. They
declared they annually applied pesticides for a period of time
between 11 and 30 years, from 5 to 9 days per year on average,
mainly on crops situated at some distance from the houses but high
risk behavior was identified as the volunteers declared the use of
pesticides in the backyard gardens, near their homes, where children
were playing. The pesticide applicators did not have the necessary
knowledge about safety and exposure. The health data must be
correlated with exposure biomarkers in attempt to identify the
possible health effects of the pesticides exposure. Future plans
include educational campaigns to raise the awareness of the
population on the danger of uncontrolled use of pesticides.
Abstract: Many Thai movies have been very popular
domestically and internationally. Some movies were box office hits
and receiving awards. However, there has not yet been research
about how Thai movies can sell in international markets
The objectives of the research were 1) To analyze the
characteristics of Thai movies that can sell to world audiences; 2) To
investigate the factors making Thai movies into foreign markets. Thai
film professionals were interviewed. Their ideas were analyzed to
find out what factors contributing to Thai movies widely seen in
worldwide markets. Nine foreign audiences were also interviewed to
reveal what characteristics of Thai movies would be well accepted by
the markets.
The results showed that major characteristics of Thai movies
proving successful worldwide were cultural and exotic Thai movies,
outstanding genres, well-known actors, music and songs. Factors
contributing to global market were marketing, qualities of Thai
movies, and financial support from the government.
Abstract: This paper examines predictability in stock return in
developed and emergingmarkets by testing long memory in stock
returns using wavelet approach. Wavelet-based maximum likelihood
estimator of the fractional integration estimator is superior to the
conventional Hurst exponent and Geweke and Porter-Hudak
estimator in terms of asymptotic properties and mean squared error.
We use 4-year moving windows to estimate the fractional integration
parameter. Evidence suggests that stock return may not be predictable
indeveloped countries of the Asia-Pacificregion. However,
predictability of stock return insome developing countries in this
region such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines may not be ruled
out. Stock return in the Thailand stock market appears to be not
predictable after the political crisis in 2008.
Abstract: Digital watermarking is the process of embedding
information into a digital signal which can be used in DRM (digital
rights managements) system. The visible watermark (often called logo)
can indicate the owner of the copyright which can often be seen in the
TV program and protects the copyright in an active way. However,
most of the schemes do not consider the visible watermark removing
process. To solve this problem, a visible watermarking scheme with
embedding and removing process is proposed under the control of a
secure template. The template generates different version of
watermarks which can be seen visually the same for different users.
Users with the right key can completely remove the watermark and
recover the original image while the unauthorized user is prevented to
remove the watermark. Experiment results show that our
watermarking algorithm obtains a good visual quality and is hard to be
removed by the illegally users. Additionally, the authorized users can
completely remove the visible watermark and recover the original
image with a good quality.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the
relationship between parent involvement and preschool disabled
children’s development. Parents of 3 year old disabled children
(N=440) and 5 year old disabled children (N=937) participating in the
Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study were interviewed or
answered the web design questionnaire about their actions in parenting
their disabled children. These children’s developments were also
evaluated by their teachers. Data were analyzed using Structural
Equation Modeling. Results were showed by tables and figures. Based
on the results, the researcher made some suggestions for future studies.
Abstract: In the present communication, the existing measures of
fuzzy entropy are reviewed. A generalized parametric exponential
fuzzy entropy is defined.Our study of the four essential and some
other properties of the proposed measure, clearly establishes the
validity of the measure as an entropy.
Abstract: The aim of the present paper is to investigate the
interdependency among ego-identity status, autobiographical memory
and cultural life story schema. The study shows considerable
differences between autobiographical memory characteristics and
“family script", which is typical for participants (adolescents, M age
years = 17.84, SD = 1.18, N = 58), with different ego-identity
statuses. Participants with diffused ego-identity status recalled fewer
autobiographical memories. Additionally, this group of participants
recalled fewer events from their parents- life. Participants with
moratorium ego-identity status dated their first recollections to a later
age than others, and recalled fewer memories relating to their
childhood. Participants with achieved identity status recalled more
self-defining memories and events from their parents- life. They used
more functions from the autobiographical memory. There weren-t
any significant differences between the foreclosed identity status
group and the others. These findings support the idea of a
bidirectional relation between culture, memory and self.
Abstract: In this paper the authors propose a protocol, which uses Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) based on the ElGamal-s algorithm, for sending small amounts of data via an authentication server. The innovation of this approach is that there is no need for a symmetric algorithm or a safe communication channel such as SSL. The reason that ECC has been chosen instead of RSA is that it provides a methodology for obtaining high-speed implementations of authentication protocols and encrypted mail techniques while using fewer bits for the keys. This means that ECC systems require smaller chip size and less power consumption. The proposed protocol has been implemented in Java to analyse its features and vulnerabilities in the real world.
Abstract: We have considered an unmagnetized dusty plasma system consisting of ions obeying superthermal distribution and strongly coupled negatively charged dust. We have used reductive perturbation method and derived the Kordeweg-de Vries-Burgers (KdV-Burgers) equation. The behavior of the shock waves in the plasma has been investigated.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the pregnancy
outcomes of teenage mothers at DanKhunThot hospital, Nakhon
Ratchasima, Thailand. A retrospective descriptive study was
conducted in 573 of teenage pregnant from charts reviewed from 1st
October 2010-31st March, 2012. Data were analyzed by frequency
distribution, mean and Standard Deviation.
The results shown several problems and negatives outcomes of
pregnancy in teenager such as not attended prenatal care, Low birth
weight infants, death fetus in utero and other complications. The
results of this study can be utilized in the development of prenatal,
perinatal and post natal care services, especially in DanKhunthot
Hospital contexts. Moreover, the results were present to the District
Health Care committees in order to enhance health care service
system for teenage pregnancy of DanKhunthot District in further.
Abstract: Corrosion of metallic water pipelines buried below
ground surface is a function of the nature of the surrounding soil and
groundwater. This gives the importance of knowing the physical and
chemical characteristics of the pipe-s surrounding environment. The
corrosion of externally – unprotected metallic water pipelines,
specially ductile iron pipes, in localities with aggressive soil
conditions is becoming a significant problem. Anticorrosive
protection for metallic water pipelines, their fittings and accessories
is very important, because they may be attached by corrosion with
time. The tendency of a metallic substrate to corrode is a function of
the surface characteristics of the metal and of the metal/protective
film interface, the physical, electrical and electrochemical properties
of the film, and the nature of the environment in which the pipelines
system is placed. In this work the authors have looked at corrosion
problems of water pipelines and their control. The corrosive
properties of groundwater and soil environments are reviewed, and
parameters affecting corrosion are discussed. The purpose of this
work is to provide guidelines for materials selection in water and soil
environments, and how the water pipelines can be protected against
metallic corrosion.
Abstract: The aim of this qualitative case study is to examine how school principals perform their new roles and responsibilities defined in accordance with the new curriculum. Of ten primary schools that the new curriculum was piloted in Istanbul in school year of 2004-2005, one school was randomly selected as the sample of the study. The participants of the study were comprised of randomly-selected 26 teachers working in the case school. To collect data, an interview schedule was developed based on the new role definitions for school principals by the National Ministry of Education. Participants were interviewed on one-to-one basis in February and March 2007. Overall results showed that the school principal was perceived to be successful in terms of the application of the new curriculum in school. According to the majority of teachers, the principal has done his best to establish the infrastructure that is necessary for successful application of the new program. In addition to these, the principal was reported to adopt a collegial and participatory leadership style by creating a positive school atmosphere that enables the school community (teachers, parents and students) to involve school more than before. Keywordscase study, curriculum implementation, school principals and curriculum
Abstract: This study was carried out to investigate lamb mortalities relating to ewes' breed and some managemental factors on 250 pregnant ewes (190-Rahmani, 30-Ossimi and 30-Romanov) at Mehallet Mousa, Animal Production Research Station, Kafr El- Sheikh Province, Egypt. These animals divided into five groups according to the managemental factors used. The results revealed that the lamb mortality was higher in Ossimi breed and lower in Romanov one. In addition, the highest lamb mortality occurred among lambs for unsupplemented ewes, for those had body condition score two and for lambs which born outdoor. Moreover, the lamb survivability was increased by the parity of ewes. From this study it can be concluded that the lamb mortality depends on ewes' body condition score, parity, lambing system (indoor or outdoor), nutrition during pregnancy period and selected breed. In addition, the most important period for lamb survival is the first week of age.
Abstract: The two significant overvoltages in power system,
switching overvoltage and lightning overvoltage, are investigated in
this paper. Firstly, the effect of various power system parameters on
Line Energization overvoltages is evaluated by simulation in ATP.
The dominant parameters include line parameters; short-circuit
impedance and circuit breaker parameters. Solutions to reduce
switching overvoltages are reviewed and controlled closing using
switchsync controllers is proposed as proper method.
This paper also investigates lightning overvoltages in the
overhead-cable transition. Simulations are performed in
PSCAD/EMTDC. Surge arresters are applied in both ends of cable to
fulfill the insulation coordination. The maximum amplitude of
overvoltages inside the cable is surveyed which should be of great
concerns in insulation coordination studies.
Abstract: Advances in technology (e.g. the internet,
telecommunication) and political changes (fewer trade barriers and an
enlarged European Union, ASEAN, NAFTA and other organizations)
have led to develop international competition and expand into new
markets. Companies in Thailand, Asia and around the globe are
increasingly being pressured on price and for faster time to enter the
market. At the same time, new markets are appearing and many
companies are looking for changes and shifts in their domestic
markets. These factors have enabled the rapid growth for companies
and globalizing many different business activities during the product
development process from research and development (R&D) to
production.
This research will show and clarify methods how to develop
global product. Also, it will show how important is a global product
impact into Thai Economy development.
Abstract: Peer review is an activity where students review their
classmates- writing and then evaluate the content, development, unity
and organization. Studies have shown that peer review activities
benefit both the reviewer and the writer in developing their reading
and writing skills. Furthermore, peer review activities may also
enhance students- soft skills. This study was conducted to find out the
benefits of peer review activity in a technical writing class based on
engineering students- perceptions. The study also highlights how
these benefits could improve the students- soft skills. A set of
questionnaire was given to 200 undergraduate students of a technical
writing course. The results of the study indicate that the activity could
help improve their critical thinking skills, written and oral
communication skills, as well as team work. This paper further
discusses how the implications of these benefits could help enhance
students- soft skills.