Abstract: The present microfluidic study is emphasizing the flow behavior within a Y shape micro-bifurcation in two similar flow configurations. We report here a numerical and experimental investigation on the velocity profiles evolution and secondary flows, manifested at different Reynolds numbers (Re) and for two different boundary conditions. The experiments are performed using special designed setup based on optical microscopic devices. With this setup, direct visualizations and quantitative measurements of the path-lines are obtained. A Micro-PIV measurement system is used to obtain velocity profiles distributions in a spatial evolution in the main flows domains. The experimental data is compared with numerical simulations performed with commercial computational code FLUENT in a 3D geometry with the same dimensions as the experimental one. The numerical flow patterns are found to be in good agreement with the experimental manifestations.
Abstract: The human head representations usually are based on
the morphological – structural components of a real model. Over the
time became more and more necessary to achieve full virtual models
that comply very rigorous with the specifications of the human
anatomy. Still, making and using a model perfectly fitted with the
real anatomy is a difficult task, because it requires large hardware
resources and significant times for processing. That is why it is
necessary to choose the best compromise solution, which keeps the
right balance between the details perfection and the resources
consumption, in order to obtain facial animations with real-time
rendering. We will present here the way in which we achieved such a
3D system that we intend to use as a base point in order to create
facial animations with real-time rendering, used in medicine to find
and to identify different types of pathologies.
Abstract: This paper addresses the development of an intelligent vision system for human-robot interaction. The two novel contributions of this paper are 1) Detection of human faces and 2) Localizing the eye. The method is based on visual attributes of human skin colors and geometrical analysis of face skeleton. This paper introduces a spatial domain filtering method named ?Fuzzily skewed filter' which incorporates Fuzzy rules for deciding the gray level of pixels in the image in their neighborhoods and takes advantages of both the median and averaging filters. The effectiveness of the method has been justified over implementing the eye tracking commands to an entertainment robot, named ''AIBO''.
Abstract: This paper aims to initiate an analytical account of the
issues of compliance with economy condition for incentive pay
system application in an enterprise. Economy is considered one of the
conditions for effective incentive pay system application another
condition being the achievement of desired efficiency level of the
incentive pay system application. Bonus pay system is discussed as
an example.
Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on the frequency of
earnings managements towards small positive profits. We focus on
two emerging markets IFRS adopters: South Africa and Turkey.
We tested our logistic regression using appropriate panelestimation
techniques over a sample of 330 South African and 210
Turkish firm-year observations over the period 2002-2008. Our
results document that mandatory adoption of IFRS is not associated
with a reduction in earnings management towards small positive
profits in emerging markets. These results contradict most of the
previous findings of the studies conducted in developed countries.
Based on the legal system factor, we compare the intensity of
earnings management between a code law country (Turkey) and a
common law country (South Africa) over the pre and post-adoption
periods. Our findings show that the frequency of such earnings
management practice increases significantly for the code law
country.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to study Database Models
to use them efficiently in E-commerce websites. In this paper we are
going to find a method which can save and retrieve information in Ecommerce
websites. Thus, semantic web applications can work with,
and we are also going to study different technologies of E-commerce
databases and we know that one of the most important deficits in
semantic web is the shortage of semantic data, since most of the
information is still stored in relational databases, we present an
approach to map legacy data stored in relational databases into the
Semantic Web using virtually any modern RDF query language, as
long as it is closed within RDF. To achieve this goal we study XML
structures for relational data bases of old websites and eventually we
will come up one level over XML and look for a map from relational
model (RDM) to RDF. Noting that a large number of semantic webs
get advantage of relational model, opening the ways which can be
converted to XML and RDF in modern systems (semantic web) is
important.
Abstract: A large amount of valuable information is available in
plain text clinical reports. New techniques and technologies are
applied to extract information from these reports. In this study, we
developed a domain based software system to transform 600
Otorhinolaryngology discharge notes to a structured form for
extracting clinical data from the discharge notes. In order to decrease
the system process time discharge notes were transformed into a data
table after preprocessing. Several word lists were constituted to
identify common section in the discharge notes, including patient
history, age, problems, and diagnosis etc. N-gram method was used
for discovering terms co-Occurrences within each section. Using this
method a dataset of concept candidates has been generated for the
validation step, and then Predictive Apriori algorithm for Association
Rule Mining (ARM) was applied to validate candidate concepts.
Abstract: Traditionally, VLSI implementations of spiking
neural nets have featured large neuron counts for fixed computations
or small exploratory, configurable nets. This paper presents the
system architecture of a large configurable neural net system
employing a dedicated mapping algorithm for projecting the targeted
biology-analog nets and dynamics onto the hardware with its
attendant constraints.
Abstract: The paper presents an investigation in to the effect of neural network predictive control of UPFC on the transient stability performance of a multimachine power system. The proposed controller consists of a neural network model of the test system. This model is used to predict the future control inputs using the damped Gauss-Newton method which employs ‘backtracking’ as the line search method for step selection. The benchmark 2 area, 4 machine system that mimics the behavior of large power systems is taken as the test system for the study and is subjected to three phase short circuit faults at different locations over a wide range of operating conditions. The simulation results clearly establish the robustness of the proposed controller to the fault location, an increase in the critical clearing time for the circuit breakers, and an improved damping of the power oscillations as compared to the conventional PI controller.
Abstract: Names are important in many societies, even in technologically oriented ones which use e.g. ID systems to identify individual people. Names such as surnames are the most important as they are used in many processes, such as identifying of people and genealogical research. On the other hand variation of names can be a major problem for the identification and search for people, e.g. web search or security reasons. Name matching presumes a-priori that the recorded name written in one alphabet reflects the phonetic identity of two samples or some transcription error in copying a previously recorded name. We add to this the lode that the two names imply the same person. This paper describes name variations and some basic description of various name matching algorithms developed to overcome name variation and to find reasonable variants of names which can be used to further increasing mismatches for record linkage and name search. The implementation contains algorithms for computing a range of fuzzy matching based on different types of algorithms, e.g. composite and hybrid methods and allowing us to test and measure algorithms for accuracy. NYSIIS, LIG2 and Phonex have been shown to perform well and provided sufficient flexibility to be included in the linkage/matching process for optimising name searching.
Abstract: Recently, grid computing has been widely focused on
the science, industry, and business fields, which are required a vast
amount of computing. Grid computing is to provide the environment
that many nodes (i.e., many computers) are connected with each
other through a local/global network and it is available for many
users. In the environment, to achieve data processing among nodes
for any applications, each node executes mutual authentication by
using certificates which published from the Certificate Authority
(for short, CA). However, if a failure or fault has occurred in the
CA, any new certificates cannot be published from the CA. As
a result, a new node cannot participate in the gird environment.
In this paper, an off-the-shelf scheme for dependable grid systems
using virtualization techniques is proposed and its implementation is
verified. The proposed approach using the virtualization techniques
is to restart an application, e.g., the CA, if it has failed. The system
can tolerate a failure or fault if it has occurred in the CA. Since
the proposed scheme is implemented at the application level easily,
the cost of its implementation by the system builder hardly takes
compared it with other methods. Simulation results show that the
CA in the system can recover from its failure or fault.
Abstract: Decision support based upon risk analysis into
comparison of the electricity generation from different renewable
energy technologies can provide information about their effects on
the environment and society. The aim of this paper is to develop the
assessment framework regarding risks to health and environment,
and the society-s benefits of the electric power plant generation from
different renewable sources. The multicriteria framework to
multiattribute risk analysis technique and the decision analysis
interview technique are applied in order to support the decisionmaking
process for the implementing renewable energy projects to
the Bangkok case study. Having analyses the local conditions and
appropriate technologies, five renewable power plants are postulated
as options. As this work demonstrates, the analysis can provide a tool
to aid decision-makers for achieving targets related to promote
sustainable energy system.
Abstract: In this paper an analysis of blackouts in electric power
transmission systems is implemented using a model and studied in
simple networks with a regular topology. The proposed model
describes load demand and network improvements evolving on a
slow timescale as well as the fast dynamics of cascading overloads
and outages.
Abstract: Ireland developed a National Strategy 2030 that
argued for the creation of a new form of higher education institution,
a Technological University. The research reported here reviews the
first stage of this partnership development. The study found that
national policy can create system capacity and change, but that
individual partners may have more to gain or lose in collaborating.
When presented as a zero-sum activity, fear among partners is high.
The level of knowledge and networking within the higher education
system possessed by each partner contributed to decisions to
participate or not in a joint proposal for collaboration. Greater
success resulted when there were gains for all partners. This research
concludes that policy mandates can provide motivation to
collaborate, but that the partnership needs to be built more on shared
values versus coercion by mandates.
Abstract: The ARMrayan Multimedia Mobile CMS (Content
Management System) is the first mobile CMS that gives the
opportunity to users for creating multimedia J2ME mobile
applications with their desired content, design and logo; simply,
without any need for writing even a line of code. The low-level
programming and compatibility problems of the J2ME, along with
UI designing difficulties, makes it hard for most people –even
programmers- to broadcast their content to the widespread mobile
phones used by nearly all people. This system provides user-friendly,
PC-based tools for creating a tree index of pages and inserting
multiple multimedia contents (e.g. sound, video and picture) in each
page for creating a J2ME mobile application. The output is a standalone
Java mobile application that has a user interface, shows texts
and pictures and plays music and videos regardless of the type of
devices used as long as the devices support the J2ME platform.
Bitmap fonts have also been used thus Middle Eastern languages can
be easily supported on all mobile phone devices. We omitted
programming concepts for users in order to simplify multimedia
content-oriented mobile applictaion designing for use in educational,
cultural or marketing centers. Ordinary operators can now create a
variety of multimedia mobile applications such as tutorials,
catalogues, books, and guides in minutes rather than months.
Simplicity and power has been the goal of this CMS. In this paper,
we present the software engineered-designed concepts of the
ARMrayan MCMS along with the implementation challenges faces
and solutions adapted.
Abstract: In order to increase in chickpea quality and
agroecosystem sustainability, field experiments were carried out in
2007 and 2008 growing seasons. In this research the effects of
different organic, chemical and biological fertilizers were
investigated on grain yield and quality of chickpea. Experimental
units were arranged in split-split plots based on randomized complete
blocks with three replications. The highest amounts of yield and yield
components were obtained in G1×N5 interaction. Significant
increasing of N, P, K, Fe and Mg content in leaves and grains
emphasized on superiority of mentioned treatment because each one
of these nutrients has an approved role in chlorophyll synthesis and
photosynthesis ability of the crop. The combined application of
compost, farmyard manure and chemical phosphorus (N5) had the
best grain quality due to high protein, starch and total sugar contents,
low crude fiber and reduced cooking time.
Abstract: In this article, we introduce a mechanism by which the same concept of differentiated services used in network transmission can be applied to provide quality of service levels to pervasive systems applications. The classical DiffServ model, including marking and classification, assured forwarding, and expedited forwarding, are all utilized to create quality of service guarantees for various pervasive applications requiring different levels of quality of service. Through a collection of various sensors, personal devices, and data sources, the transmission of contextsensitive data can automatically occur within a pervasive system with a given quality of service level. Triggers, initiators, sources, and receivers are four entities labeled in our mechanism. An explanation of the role of each is provided, and how quality of service is guaranteed.
Abstract: Systems Analysis and Design is a key subject in
Information Technology courses, but students do not find it easy to
cope with, since it is not “precise" like programming and not exact
like Mathematics. It is a subject working with many concepts,
modeling ideas into visual representations and then translating the
pictures into a real life system. To complicate matters users who are
not necessarily familiar with computers need to give their inputs to
ensure that they get the system the need. Systems Analysis and
Design also covers two fields, namely Analysis, focusing on the
analysis of the existing system and Design, focusing on the design of
the new system. To be able to test the analysis and design of a
system, it is necessary to develop a system or at least a prototype of
the system to test the validity of the analysis and design. The skills
necessary in each aspect differs vastly. Project Management Skills,
Database Knowledge and Object Oriented Principles are all
necessary. In the context of a developing country where students
enter tertiary education underprepared and the digital divide is alive
and well, students need to be motivated to learn the necessary skills,
get an opportunity to test it in a “live" but protected environment –
within the framework of a university. The purpose of this article is to
improve the learning experience in Systems Analysis and Design
through reviewing the underlying teaching principles used, the
teaching tools implemented, the observations made and the
reflections that will influence future developments in Systems
Analysis and Design. Action research principles allows the focus to
be on a few problematic aspects during a particular semester.
Abstract: A separation-kernel-based operating system (OS) has been designed for use in secure embedded systems by applying formal methods to the design of the separation-kernel part. The separation kernel is a small OS kernel that provides an abstract distributed environment on a single CPU. The design of the separation kernel was verified using two formal methods, the B method and the Spin model checker. A newly designed semi-formal method, the extended state transition method, was also applied. An OS comprising the separation-kernel part and additional OS services on top of the separation kernel was prototyped on the Intel IA-32 architecture. Developing and testing of a prototype embedded application, a point-of-sale application, on the prototype OS demonstrated that the proposed architecture and the use of formal methods to design its kernel part are effective for achieving a secure embedded system having a high-assurance separation kernel.
Abstract: This paper presents an efficient emission constrained
economic dispatch algorithm that deals with nonlinear cost function
and constraints. It is then incorporated into the dynamic
programming based hydrothermal coordination program. The
program has been tested on a practical utility system having 32
thermal and 12 hydro generating units. Test results show that a slight
increase in production cost causes a substantial reduction in
emission.