Abstract: E-learning refers to the specific kind of learning
experienced within the domain of educational technology, which can
be used in or out of the classroom. In this paper, we give an
overview of an e-learning platform 'An Innovative Interactive and
Online English Platform for Upper Primary Students' is an
interactive web-based application which will serve as an aid to the
primary school students in Mauritius. The objectives of this platform
are to offer quality learning resources for the English subject at our
primary level of education, encourage self-learning and hence
promote e-learning. The platform developed consists of several
interesting features, for example, the English Verb Conjugation tool,
Negative Form tool, Interrogative Form tool and Close Test
Generator. Thus, this learning platform will be useful at a time
where our country is looking for an alternative to private tuition and
also, looking forward to increase the pass rate.
Abstract: This paper presents a method to detect multiple cracks
based on frequency information. When a structure is subjected to
dynamic or static loads, cracks may develop and the modal
frequencies of the cracked structure may change. To detect cracks in a
structure, we construct a high precision wavelet finite element (EF)
model of a certain structure using the B-spline wavelet on the interval
(BSWI). Cracks can be modeled by rotational springs and added to the
FE model. The crack detection database will be obtained by solving
that model. Then the crack locations and depths can be determined
based on the frequency information from the database. The
performance of the proposed method has been numerically verified by
a rotor example.
Abstract: In the present paper, an improved initial value
numerical technique is presented to analyze the free vibration of
symmetrically laminated rectangular plate. A combination of the
initial value method (IV) and the finite differences (FD) devices is
utilized to develop the present (IVFD) technique. The achieved
technique is applied to the equation of motion of vibrating laminated
rectangular plate under various types of boundary conditions. Three
common types of laminated symmetrically cross-ply, orthotropic and
isotropic plates are analyzed here. The convergence and accuracy of
the presented Initial Value-Finite Differences (IVFD) technique have
been examined. Also, the merits and validity of improved technique
are satisfied via comparing the obtained results with those available
in literature indicating good agreements.
Abstract: This paper presents a large scale, quantitative investigation of the impact of discipline differences on the student experience of using an online learning environment (OLE). Based on a representative sample of 2526 respondents, a number of significant differences in the mean rating by broad discipline area of the importance of, and satisfaction with, a range of elements of an OLE were found. Broadly speaking, the Arts and Science and Technology discipline areas reported the lowest importance and satisfaction ratings for the OLE, while the Health and Behavioural Sciences area was the most satisfied with the OLE. A number of specific, systematic discipline differences are reported and discussed. Compared to the observed significant differences in mean importance ratings, there were fewer significant differences in mean satisfaction ratings, and those that were observed were less systematic than for importance ratings.
Abstract: POS (also been called DGPS/IMU) technique can obtain the Exterior Orientation Elements of aerial photo, so the triangulation and DLG production using POS can save large numbers of ground control points (GCP), and this will improve the produce efficiency of DLG and reduce the cost of collecting GCP. This paper mainly research on POS technique in production of 1:10 000 scale DLG on GCP distribution. We designed 23 kinds of ground control points distribution schemes, using integrated sensor direction method to do the triangulation experiments, based on the results of triangulation, we produce a map with the scale of 1:10 000 and test its accuracy. This paper put forward appropriate GCP distributing schemes by experiments and research above, and made preparations for the application of POS technique on photogrammetry 4D data production.
Abstract: A number of studies highlighted problems related to
ERP systems, yet, most of these studies focus on the problems during
the project and implementation stages but not during the postimplementation
use process. Problems encountered in the process of
using ERP would hinder the effective exploitation and the extended
and continued use of ERP systems and their value to organisations.
This paper investigates the different types of problems users
(operational, supervisory and managerial) faced in using ERP and
how 'feral system' is used as the coping mechanism. The paper
adopts a qualitative method and uses data collected from two cases
and 26 interviews, to inductively develop a casual network model of
ERP usage problem and its coping mechanism. This model classified
post ERP usage problems as data quality, system quality, interface
and infrastructure. The model is also categorised the different coping
mechanism through use of 'feral system' inclusive of feral
information system, feral data and feral use of technology.
Abstract: Today global warming, climate change and energy supply are of greater concern as it is widely realized that the planet earth does not provide an infinite capacity for absorbing human industrialization in the 21st century. The aim of this paper is to analyze upstream and downstream electricity production in selected case studies: a coal power plant, a pump system and a microwave oven covering and consumption to explore the position of energy efficiency in engineering sustainability. Collectively, the analysis presents energy efficiency as a major pathway towards sustainability that requires an inclusive and a holistic supply chain response in the engineering design process.
Abstract: This research examines possible effects of climatic
change focusing on global warming and its impacts on world
agricultural product markets, by using a world food model developed
to consider climate changes. GDP and population for each scenario
were constructed by IPCC and climate data for each scenario was
reported by the Hadley Center and are used in this research to consider
results in different contexts. Production and consumption of primary
agriculture crops of the world for each socio-economic scenario are
obtained and investigated by using the modified world food model.
Simulation results show that crop production in some countries or
regions will have different trends depending on the context. These
alternative contexts depend on the rate of GDP growth, population,
temperature, and rainfall. Results suggest that the development of
environment friendly technologies lead to more consumption of food
in many developing countries. Relationships among environmental
policy, clean energy development, and poverty elimination warrant
further investigation.
Abstract: This paper proposes, implements and evaluates an original discretization method for continuous random variables, in order to estimate the reliability of systems for which stress and strength are defined as complex functions, and whose reliability is not derivable through analytic techniques. This method is compared to other two discretizing approaches appeared in literature, also through a comparative study involving four engineering applications. The results show that the proposal is very efficient in terms of closeness of the estimates to the true (simulated) reliability. In the study we analyzed both a normal and a non-normal distribution for the random variables: this method is theoretically suitable for each parametric family.
Abstract: The major objective of this study is to understand the
potential of a newly fabricated equipment to study the thermal
properties of nonwoven textile fabrics treated with aerogel at subzero
temperatures. Thermal conductivity was calculated by using the
empirical relation Fourier’s law, The relationship between the
thermal conductivity and thermal resistance of the samples were
studied at various environmental temperatures (which was set in the
clima temperature system between +25oC to -25oC). The newly
fabricated equipment was found to be a suitable for measuring at
subzero temperatures. This field of measurements is being developed
and will be the subject of further research which will be more suitable
for measurement of the various thermal characteristics.
Abstract: This paper proposes a new approach to perform the
problem of real-time face detection. The proposed method combines
primitive Haar-Like feature and variance value to construct a new
feature, so-called Variance based Haar-Like feature. Face in image
can be represented with a small quantity of features using this
new feature. We used SVM instead of AdaBoost for training and
classification. We made a database containing 5,000 face samples
and 10,000 non-face samples extracted from real images for learning
purposed. The 5,000 face samples contain many images which have
many differences of light conditions. And experiments showed that
face detection system using Variance based Haar-Like feature and
SVM can be much more efficient than face detection system using
primitive Haar-Like feature and AdaBoost. We tested our method on
two Face databases and one Non-Face database. We have obtained
96.17% of correct detection rate on YaleB face database, which is
higher 4.21% than that of using primitive Haar-Like feature and
AdaBoost.
Abstract: Cyclic delay diversity (CDD) is a simple technique to
intentionally increase frequency selectivity of channels for orthogonal
frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).This paper proposes a residual
carrier frequency offset (RFO) estimation scheme for OFDMbased
broadcasting system using CDD. In order to improve the RFO
estimation, this paper addresses a decision scheme of the amount of
cyclic delay and pilot pattern used to estimate the RFO. By computer
simulation, the proposed estimator is shown to benefit form propoerly
chosen delay parameter and perform robustly.
Abstract: White scar oyster (Crassostrea belcheri) is often eaten
raw and being the leading vehicle for foodborne disease, especially
Salmonella Weltevreden which exposed the prominent and most
resistant to radiation. Gamma irradiation at a low dose of 1 kGy was
enough to eliminate S. Weltevreden contaminated in oyster meat at a
level up to 5 log CFU/g while it still retain the raw characteristics and
equivalent sensory quality as the non-irradiated one. Process
development of ready-to-eat chilled oyster meat was conducted by
shucking the meat, individually packed in plastic bags, subjected to 1
kGy gamma radiation at chilled condition and then stored in 4oC
refrigerated temperature. Microbiological determination showed the
absence of S. Weltevreden (5 log CFU/g initial inoculated) along the
whole storage time of 30 days. Sensory evaluation indicated the
decreasing in sensory scores along storage time which determining
the product shelf life to be 18 days compared to 15 days of nonirradiated
one. The most advantage of developed process was to
provide the safe raw oyster to consumers and in addition sensory
quality retained and 3-day extension shelf life also exist.
Abstract: The huge development of new technologies and the
apparition of open communication system more and more
sophisticated create a new challenge to protect digital content from
piracy. Digital watermarking is a recent research axis and a new
technique suggested as a solution to these problems. This technique
consists in inserting identification information (watermark) into
digital data (audio, video, image, databases...) in an invisible and
indelible manner and in such a way not to degrade original medium-s
quality. Moreover, we must be able to correctly extract the
watermark despite the deterioration of the watermarked medium (i.e
attacks). In this paper we propose a system for watermarking satellite
images. We chose to embed the watermark into frequency domain,
precisely the discrete wavelet transform (DWT). We applied our
algorithm on satellite images of Tunisian center. The experiments
show satisfying results. In addition, our algorithm showed an
important resistance facing different attacks, notably the compression
(JEPG, JPEG2000), the filtering, the histogram-s manipulation and
geometric distortions such as rotation, cropping, scaling.
Abstract: Firstly, this study briefly presents the current situation that there exists a vast gap between current Chinese and Japanese seismic design specification for bridge pile foundation in liquefiable and liquefaction-induced lateral spreading ground; The Chinese and Japanese seismic design method and technical detail for bridge pile foundation in liquefying and lateral spreading ground are described and compared systematically and comprehensively, the methods of determining coefficient of subgrade reaction and its reduction factor as well as the computing mode of the applied force on pile foundation due to liquefaction-induced lateral spreading soil in Japanese design specification are especially introduced. Subsequently, the comparison indicates that the content of Chinese seismic design specification for bridge pile foundation in liquefiable and liquefaction-induced lateral spreading ground, just presenting some qualitative items, is too general and lacks systematicness and maneuverability. Finally, some defects of seismic design specification in China are summarized, so the improvement and revision of specification in the field turns out to be imperative for China, some key problems of current Chinese specifications are generalized and the corresponding improvement suggestions are proposed.
Abstract: The author present PID controller design for
following control of hard disk drive by characteristic ratio assignment
method. The study in this paper concerns design of a PID controller
which sufficiently robust to the disturbances and plant perturbations
on following control of hard disk drive. Characteristic Ratio
Assignment (CRA) is shown to be an efficient control technique to
serve this requirement. The controller design by CRA is based on the
choice of the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial of the
closed loop system according to the convenient performance criteria
such as equivalent time constant and ration of characteristic
coefficient. Hence, in this study, CRA method is applied in PID
controller design for following control of hard disk drive. Matlab
simulation results shown that CRA design is fairly stable and robust
whilst giving the convenience in controller-s parameters adjustment.
Abstract: In recent years, we see an increase of interest for efficient tracking systems in surveillance applications. Many of the proposed techniques are designed for static cameras environments. When the camera is moving, tracking moving objects become more difficult and many techniques fail to detect and track the desired targets. The problem becomes more complex when we want to track a specific object in real-time using a moving Pan and Tilt camera system to keep the target within the image. This type of tracking is of high importance in surveillance applications. When a target is detected at a certain zone, the possibility of automatically tracking it continuously and keeping it within the image until action is taken is very important for security personnel working in very sensitive sites. This work presents a real-time tracking system permitting the detection and continuous tracking of targets using a Pan and Tilt camera platform. A novel and efficient approach for dealing with occlusions is presented. Also a new intelligent forget factor is introduced in order to take into account target shape variations and avoid learning non desired objects. Tests conducted in outdoor operational scenarios show the efficiency and robustness of the proposed approach.
Abstract: With the drastically growth in optical communication
technology, a lossless, low-crosstalk and multifunction optical switch
is most desirable for large-scale photonic network. To realize such a
switch, we have introduced the new architecture of optical switch
that embedded many functions on single device. The asymmetrical
architecture of OXADM consists of 3 parts; selective port, add/drop
operation, and path routing. Selective port permits only the interest
wavelength pass through and acts as a filter. While add and drop
function can be implemented in second part of OXADM architecture.
The signals can then be re-routed to any output port or/and perform
an accumulation function which multiplex all signals onto single path
and then exit to any interest output port. This will be done by path
routing operation. The unique features offered by OXADM has
extended its application to Fiber to-the Home Technology (FTTH),
here the OXADM is used as a wavelength management element in
Optical Line Terminal (OLT). Each port is assigned specifically with
the operating wavelengths and with the dynamic routing management
to ensure no traffic combustion occurs in OLT.
Abstract: The nanofiber sheet of Multiwall Cabon Nanotube
(MWCNTs)/Polyacylonitile (PAN) composites was fabricated from
electrospun nanofiber. Firstly the surface of MWCNTs was
chemically modified, comparing two different techniques consisting
of admicellar polymerization and functionalization to improve the
dispersion and prevent the aggregation in the PAN matrix. The
modified MWCNTs were characterized by the dispersion in
dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent, Laser particle size, and FTRaman.
Lastly, DSC, SEM and mechanical properties of the
nanofiber sheet were examined. The results show that the mechanical
properties of the nanofiber sheet prepared from admicellar
polymerization-modified MWCNTs were higher than those of the
others.
Abstract: This research investigates the factors that influence moral judgments when dealing with ethical dilemmas in the organizational context. It also investigates the antecedents of individual ethical ideology (idealism and relativism). A mixed method study, which combines qualitative (field study) and quantitative (survey) approaches, was used in this study. An initial model was developed first, which was then fine-tuned based on field studies. Data were collected from managers in Malaysian large organizations. The results of this study reveal that in-group collectivism culture, power distance culture, parental values, and religiosity were significant as antecedents of ethical ideology. However, direct effects of these variables on moral judgment were not significant. Furthermore, the results of this study confirm the significant effects of ethical ideology on moral judgment. This study provides valuable insight into evaluating the validity of existing theory as proposed in the literature and offers significant practical implications.