Abstract: With the advent of new technologies, factors related to
mental health in e-workspaces are taken into consideration more than
ever. Studies have revealed that one of the factors affecting the
productivity of employees in an organization is occupational stress.
Another influential factor is quality of work life which is important in
the improvement of work environment conditions and organizational
efficiency. In order to uncover the quality of work life level and to
investigate the impact of occupational stress on quality of work life
among information technology employees in Iran, a cross-sectional
study design was applied and data were gathered using a
questionnaire validated by a group of experts. The results of the study
showed that information technology staffs have average level of both
occupational stress and quality of work life. Furthermore, it was
found that occupational stress has a negative impact on quality of
work life. In addition, the same results were observed for role
ambiguity, role conflict, role under-load, work-pace, work
repetitiveness and tension toward quality of work life. No significant
relation was found between role overload and quality of work life.
Finally, directions for future research are proposed and discussed.
Abstract: In this paper we are interested in classification problems
with a performance constraint on error probability. In such
problems if the constraint cannot be satisfied, then a rejection option
is introduced. For binary labelled classification, a number of SVM
based methods with rejection option have been proposed over the
past few years. All of these methods use two thresholds on the SVM
output. However, in previous works, we have shown on synthetic data
that using thresholds on the output of the optimal SVM may lead to
poor results for classification tasks with performance constraint. In
this paper a new method for supervised classification with rejection
option is proposed. It consists in two different classifiers jointly
optimized to minimize the rejection probability subject to a given
constraint on error rate. This method uses a new kernel based linear
learning machine that we have recently presented. This learning
machine is characterized by its simplicity and high training speed
which makes the simultaneous optimization of the two classifiers
computationally reasonable. The proposed classification method with
rejection option is compared to a SVM based rejection method
proposed in recent literature. Experiments show the superiority of
the proposed method.
Abstract: the effects of refining and alkaline chemicals on potential of recycling bleached chemical pulp of bagasse were investigated in this study. Recycling was done until three times. Handsheet properties such as, apparent density, light scattering coefficient, tear index, burst index, breaking length, and fold number according to TAPPI standard were measured. Water retention value also was used to considering the treatments during recycling. Refining enhanced the strength of recycled pulp by increasing fiber flexibility and swelling ability, whereas by applying chemical treatment didn't observe any improvement. The morphology of recycled fiber was considered with scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Abstract: In this paper, a worm-like micro robot designed for inpipe
application with intelligent active force control (AFC) capability
is modelled and simulated. The motion of the micro robot is based on
an impact drive mechanism (IDM) that is actuated using piezoelectric
device. The trajectory tracking performance of the modelled micro
robot is initially experimented via a conventional proportionalintegral-
derivative (PID) controller in which the dynamic response of
the robot system subjected to different input excitations is
investigated. Subsequently, a robust intelligent method known as
active force control with fuzzy logic (AFCFL) is later incorporated
into the PID scheme to enhance the system performance by
compensating the unwanted disturbances due to the interaction of the
robot with its environment. Results show that the proposed AFCFL
scheme is far superior than the PID control counterpart in terms of
the system-s tracking capability in the wake of the disturbances.
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel hybrid algorithm for feature selection based on a binary ant colony and SVM. The final subset selection is attained through the elimination of the features that produce noise or, are strictly correlated with other already selected features. Our algorithm can improve classification accuracy with a small and appropriate feature subset. Proposed algorithm is easily implemented and because of use of a simple filter in that, its computational complexity is very low. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated through a real Rotary Cement kiln dataset. The results show that our algorithm outperforms existing algorithms.
Abstract: We propose a new approach on how to obtain the approximate solutions of Hamilton-Jacobi (HJ) equations. The process of the approximation consists of two steps. The first step is to transform the HJ equations into the virtual time based HJ equations (VT-HJ) by introducing a new idea of ‘virtual-time’. The second step is to construct the approximate solutions of the HJ equations through a computationally iterative procedure based on the VT-HJ equations. It should be noted that the approximate feedback solutions evolve by themselves as the virtual-time goes by. Finally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our approximation approach by means of simulations with linear and nonlinear control problems.
Abstract: The problem of lot sizing, sequencing and scheduling
multiple products in flow line production systems has been studied
by several authors. Almost all of the researches in this area assumed
that setup times and costs are sequence –independent even though
sequence dependent setups are common in practice. In this paper we
present a new mixed integer non linear program (MINLP) and a
heuristic method to solve the problem in sequence dependent case.
Furthermore, a genetic algorithm has been developed which applies
this constructive heuristic to generate initial population. These two
proposed solution methods are compared on randomly generated
problems. Computational results show a clear superiority of our
proposed GA for majority of the test problems.
Abstract: The growing health hazardous impact of arsenic (As)
contamination in environment is the impetus of the present
investigation. Application of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for the
removal of toxic and heavy metals from water has been reported.
This study was performed in order to isolate and characterize the Asresistant
LAB from mud and sludge samples for using as efficient As
uptaking probiotic. Isolation of As-resistant LAB colonies was
performed by spread plate technique using bromocresol purple
impregnated-MRS (BP-MRS) agar media provided with As @ 50
μg/ml. Isolated LAB were employed for probiotic characterization
process, acid and bile tolerance, lactic acid production, antibacterial
activity and antibiotic tolerance assays. After As-resistant and
removal characterizations, the LAB were identified using 16S rDNA
sequencing. A total of 103 isolates were identified as As-resistant
strains of LAB. The survival of 6 strains (As99-1, As100-2, As101-3,
As102-4, As105-7, and As112-9) was found after passing through the
sequential probiotic characterizations. Resistant pattern pronounced
hollow zones at As concentration >2000 μg/ml in As99-1, As100-2,
and As101-3 LAB strains, whereas it was found at ~1000 μg/ml in
rest 3 strains. Among 6 strains, the As uptake efficiency of As102-4
(0.006 μg/h/mg wet weight of cell) was higher (17 – 209%)
compared to remaining LAB. 16S rDNA sequencing data of 3 (As99-
1, As100-2, and As101-3) and 3 (As102-4, As105-7, and As112-9)
LAB strains clearly showed 97 to 99% (340 bp) homology to
Pediococcus dextrinicus and Pediococcus acidilactici, respectively.
Though, there was no correlation between the metal resistant and
removal efficiency of LAB examined but identified elevated As
removing LAB would probably be a potential As uptaking probiotic
agent. Since present experiment concerned with only As removal
from pure water, As removal and removal mechanism in natural
condition of intestinal milieu should be assessed in future studies.
Abstract: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has emerged as a cost-effective transport system for urban mobility. However its ability to stimulate land development remains largely unexplored. The study makes use of qualitative (interview method) and quantitative analysis (questionnaire survey and longitudinal analysis of property data) to investigate land development impact resulting from BRT in Beijing, China. The empirical analysis suggests that BRT has a positive impact on the residential and commercial property attractiveness along the busway corridor. The statistical analysis suggests that accessibility advantage conferred by BRT is capitalized into higher property price. The average price of apartments adjacent to a BRT station has gained a relatively faster increase than those not served by the BRT system. The capitalization effect mostly occurs after the full operation of BRT, and is more evident over time and particularly observed in areas which previously lack alternative mobility opportunity.
Abstract: Harmonic pollution and low power factor in power
systems caused by power converters have been of great concern. To
overcome these problems several converter topologies using
advanced semiconductor devices and control schemes have been
proposed. This investigation is to identify a low cost, small size,
efficient and reliable ac to dc converter to meet the input performance
index of UPS. The performance of single phase and three phase ac to
dc converter along with various control techniques are studied and
compared. The half bridge converter topology with linear current
control is identified as most suitable. It is simple, energy efficient
because of single switch power loss and transformer-less operation of
UPS. The results are validated practically using a prototype built
using IGBT and analog controller. The performance for both single
and three-phase system is verified. Digital implementation of closed
loop control achieves higher reliability. Its cost largely depends on
chosen bit precision. The minimal bit precision for optimum
converter performance is identified as 16-bit with fixed-point
operation. From the investigation and practical implementation it is
concluded that half bridge ac – dc converter along with digital linear
controller meets the performance index of UPS for single and three
phase systems.
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: In Geographic Information System, one of the sources
of obtaining needed geographic data is digitizing analog maps and
evaluation of aerial and satellite photos. In this study, a method will
be discussed which can be used to extract vectorial features and
creating vectorized drawing files for aerial photos. At the same time
a software developed for these purpose. Converting from raster to
vector is also known as vectorization and it is the most important step
when creating vectorized drawing files. In the developed algorithm,
first of all preprocessing on the aerial photo is done. These are;
converting to grayscale if necessary, reducing noise, applying some
filters and determining the edge of the objects etc. After these steps,
every pixel which constitutes the photo are followed from upper left
to right bottom by examining its neighborhood relationship and one
pixel wide lines or polylines obtained. The obtained lines have to be
erased for preventing confusion while continuing vectorization
because if not erased they can be perceived as new line, but if erased
it can cause discontinuity in vector drawing so the image converted
from 2 bit to 8 bit and the detected pixels are expressed as a different
bit. In conclusion, the aerial photo can be converted to vector form
which includes lines and polylines and can be opened in any CAD
application.
Abstract: Fault-proneness of a software module is the
probability that the module contains faults. A correlation exists
between the fault-proneness of the software and the measurable
attributes of the code (i.e. the static metrics) and of the testing (i.e.
the dynamic metrics). Early detection of fault-prone software
components enables verification experts to concentrate their time and
resources on the problem areas of the software system under
development. This paper introduces Genetic Algorithm based
software fault prediction models with Object-Oriented metrics. The
contribution of this paper is that it has used Metric values of JEdit
open source software for generation of the rules for the classification
of software modules in the categories of Faulty and non faulty
modules and thereafter empirically validation is performed. The
results shows that Genetic algorithm approach can be used for
finding the fault proneness in object oriented software components.
Abstract: Today-s healthcare industries had become more
patient-centric than profession-centric, from which the issues of quality of healthcare and the patient safety are the major concerns in the modern healthcare facilities. An unplanned extubation (UE) may
be detrimental to the patient-s life, and thus is one of the major indexes
of patient safety and healthcare quality. A high UE rate not only
defeated the healthcare quality as well as the patient safety policy but
also the nurses- morality, and job satisfaction. The UE problem in a psychiatric hospital is unique and may be a tough challenge for the
healthcare professionals for the patients were mostly lacking communication capabilities. We reported with this essay a particular
project that was organized to reduce the UE rate from the current 2.3%
to a lower and satisfactory level in the long-term care units of a psychiatric hospital. The project was conducted between March 1st,
2011 and August 31st, 2011. Based on the error information gathered
from varied units of the hospital, the team analyzed the root causes
with possible solutions proposed to the meetings. Four solutions were
then concluded with consensus and launched to the units in question.
The UE rate was now reduced to a level of 0.17%. Experience from
this project, the procedure and the tools adopted would be good reference to other hospitals.
Abstract: An effort has been taken to simulate the combustion
and performance characteristics of biodiesel fuel in direct injection
(D.I) low heat rejection (LHR) diesel engine. Comprehensive
analyses on combustion characteristics such as cylinder pressure,
peak cylinder pressure, heat release and performance characteristics
such as specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency are
carried out. Compression ignition (C.I) engine cycle simulation was
developed and modified in to LHR engine for both diesel and
biodiesel fuel. On the basis of first law of thermodynamics the
properties at each degree crank angle was calculated. Preparation and
reaction rate model was used to calculate the instantaneous heat
release rate. A gas-wall heat transfer calculations are based on the
ANNAND-s combined heat transfer model with instantaneous wall
temperature to analyze the effect of coating on heat transfer. The
simulated results are validated by conducting the experiments on the
test engine under identical operating condition on a turbocharged D.I
diesel engine. In this analysis 20% of biodiesel (derived from
Jatropha oil) blended with diesel and used in both conventional and
LHR engine. The simulated combustion and performance
characteristics results are found satisfactory with the experimental
value.
Abstract: A numerical study of flow in a horizontally channel
partially filled with a porous screen with non-uniform inlet has been
performed by lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The flow in porous
layer has been simulated by the Brinkman-Forchheimer model.
Numerical solutions have been obtained for variable porosity models
and the effects of Darcy number and porosity have been studied in
detail. It is found that the flow stabilization is reliant on the Darcy
number. Also the results show that the stabilization of flow field and
heat transfer is depended to Darcy number. Distribution of stream
field becomes more stable by decreasing Darcy number. Results
illustrate that the effect of variable porosity is significant just in the
region of the solid boundary. In addition, difference between constant
and variable porosity models is decreased by decreasing the Darcy
number.
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: This study investigated morphology of the Spanner Barb (Puntius lateristriga Valenciennes, 1842) and water quality at Thepchana waterfall. This study was conducted at Thepchana Waterfall, Khao Nan National Park from March to May 2007. There were 40 Spanner Barb collected with 20 males and 20 females. Males had an average of 5.57 cm in standard length, 6.62 cm in total length and 5.18 g in total body weight. Females had an average of 7.25 cm in standard length, 8.24 cm in total length and 10.96 g in total body weight. The length (L) – weight (W) relationships for combining sexes, males and females were LogW = -2.137 + 3.355logL, log W = -0.068 + 3.297logL, and log W = -2.068 + 3.297logL, respectively. The Spanner Barb were smaller size fish with a compressed form; terminal mouth; villiform teeth; ctenoid scale; concave tail; general body color yellowish olive, with slight reddish tint to fins; vertical band beginning below dorsal and horizontal stripe from base of tail almost to vertical band. They also had a vertical band midway between the eye and first vertical band. There was a black spot above anal fin. The bladder looked like J-shape. Inside of the bladder was found small insects and insect lava. The body length and the bowels length was 1:1 ratio. The water temperature ranged from 25.00 – 27.00 °C which was appropriate for their habitat characteristics. Acid - alkalinity ranged from 6.65 – 6.90 mg/l. Dissolved oxygen ranged from 4.55 – 4.70 mg/l. Water hardness ranged from 31.00 – 48.00 mg/l. The amount of ammonia was about 0.25 mg/l.
Abstract: Today automobile and aerospace industries realise Laser Beam Welding for a clean and non contact source of heating and fusion for joining of sheets. The welding performance is mainly based on by the laser welding parameters. Some concepts related to Artificial Neural Networks and how can be applied to model weld bead geometry and mechanical properties in terms of equipment parameters are reported in order to evaluate the accuracy and compare it with traditional modeling schemes. This review reveals the output features of Titanium and Aluminium weld bead geometry and mechanical properties such as ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, elongation and reduction of the area of the weld using Artificial Neural Network.
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.