Cooperative Multi Agent Soccer Robot Team

This paper introduces our first efforts of developing a new team for RoboCup Middle Size Competition. In our robots we have applied omni directional based mobile system with omnidirectional vision system and fuzzy control algorithm to navigate robots. The control architecture of MRL middle-size robots is a three layered architecture, Planning, Sequencing, and Executing. It also uses Blackboard system to achieve coordination among agents. Moreover, the architecture should have minimum dependency on low level structure and have a uniform protocol to interact with real robot.

Environmental Performance Assessment Model as a Sustainability Decision Tool for Small and Middle Sized Enterprises

Paper deals with environmental metrics and assessment systems devoted to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. Authors are presenting proposed assessment model which has an ability to discover current environmental strengths and weaknesses of Small and Middle Sized Enterprise. Suggested model has also an ambition to become a Sustainability Decision Tool. Model is able to identify "best environmental devision" in the company, and to quantify how this decision contributed into overall environmental improvement. Authors understand environmental improvements as environmental innovations (product, process and organizational). Suggested model is based on its own concept; however, authors are also utilizing already existing environmental assessment tools.

Citizenship Norms and the Participation of Young Adults in a Democracy

This paper explores the changing trend in citizenship norms among young citizens from various ethnic groups in Malaysia and the extent to which it influences the participation of young citizens in political and civil issues. Embedded in democratic constitutions are the rights and freedoms that accompany citizenship, and these rights and freedoms include participation. Participation in democracies should go beyond voting; it should include taking part in the governance process. The political process is not at risk even though politics does not work as it did in the past. A national sample of 1697 respondents between the ages of 21 and 40 years were interviewed in January 2011. The findings show that respondents embrace an engaged-citizenship norm more than they do the traditional duty-citizen norm. Among the ethnic groups, the Chinese show lower means in both citizenship norms compared with other ethnic groups, namely, the Malays and the Indians. The duty-citizen norm correlates higher with political participation than with civic participation. On the other hand, the engaged-citizen norm correlates higher with civic participation than with political participation.

Quantifying the Sustainable Building Criteria Based on Case Studies from Malaysia

In order to encourage the construction of green homes (GH) in Malaysia, a simple and attainable framework for designing and building GHs is needed. This can be achieved by aligning GH principles against Cole-s 'Sustainable Building Criteria' (SBC). This set of considerations was used to categorize the GH features of three case studies from Malaysia. Although the categorization of building features is useful at exploring the presence of sustainability inclinations of each house, the overall impact of building features in each of the five SBCs are unknown. Therefore, this paper explored the possibility of quantifying the impact of building features categorized in SBC1 – “Buildings will have to adapt to the new environment and restore damaged ecology while mitigating resource use" based on existing GH assessment tools and methods and other literature. This process as reported in this paper could lead to a new dimension in green home rating and assessment methods.

Finite Element Study on Corono-Radicular Restored Premolars

Restoration of endodontically treated teeth is a common problem in dentistry, related to the fractures occurring in such teeth and to concentration of forces little information regarding variation of basic preparation guidelines in stress distribution has been available. To date, there is still no agreement in the literature about which material or technique can optimally restore endodontically treated teeth. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of the core height and restoration materials on corono-radicular restored upper first premolar. The first step of the study was to achieve 3D models in order to analyze teeth, dowel and core restorations and overlying full ceramic crowns. The FEM model was obtained by importing the solid model into ANSYS finite element analysis software. An occlusal load of 100 N was conducted, and stresses occurring in the restorations, and teeth structures were calculated. Numerical simulations provide a biomechanical explanation for stress distribution in prosthetic restored teeth. Within the limitations of the present study, it was found that the core height has no important influence on the stress generated in coronoradicular restored premolars. It can be drawn that the cervical regions of the teeth and restorations were subjected to the highest stress concentrations.

The Use of Acid-Aluminium Tolerant Bradyrhizobium japonicum Formula for

Land with low pH soil spread widely in Indonesia can be used for soybean (Glycine max) cultivation, however the production is low. The use of acid tolerant soybean and acidaluminium tolerant nitrogen-fixing bacteria formula was an alternative way to increase soybean productivity on acid soils. Bradyrhizobium japonicum is one of the nitrogen fixing bacteria which can symbiose with soybean plants through root nodule formation. Most of the nitrogen source required by soybean plants can be provided by this symbiosis. This research was conducted to study the influence of acid-aluminium tolerant B. japonicum strain BJ 11 formula using peat as carrier on growth of Tanggamus and Anjasmoro cultivar soybean planted on acid soil fields (pH 5.0- 5.5). The results showed that the inoculant was able to increase the growth and production of soybean which were grown on fields acid soil at Sukadana (Lampung) and Tanah Laut (South Kalimantan), Indonesia.

Realization of Fractional-Order Capacitors with Field-Effect Transistors

A novel and efficient approach to realize fractional-order capacitors is investigated in this paper. Meanwhile, a new approach which is more efficient for semiconductor implementation of fractional-order capacitors is proposed. The feasibility of the approach has been verified with the preliminary measured results.

Laser Transmission through Vegetative Material

The dynamic speckle or biospeckle is an interference phenomenon generated at the reflection of a coherent light by an active surface or even by a particulate or living body surface. The above mentioned phenomenon gave scientific support to a method named biospeckle which has been employed to study seed viability, biological activity, tissue senescence, tissue water content, fruit bruising, etc. Since the above mentioned method is not invasive and yields numerical values, it can be considered for possible automation associated to several processes, including selection and sorting. Based on these preliminary considerations, this research work proposed to study the interaction of a laser beam with vegetative samples by measuring the incident light intensity and the transmitted light beam intensity at several vegetative slabs of varying thickness. Tests were carried on fifteen slices of apple tissue divided into three thickness groups, i.e., 4 mm, 5 mm, 18 mm and 22 mm. A diode laser beam of 10mW and 632 nm wavelength and a Samsung digital camera were employed to carry the tests. Outgoing images were analyzed by comparing the gray gradient of a fixed image column of each image to obtain a laser penetration scale into the tissue, according to the slice thickness.

Biodiesel Production over nano-MgO Supported on Titania

Nano-MgO was successfully deposited on titania using deposition-precipitation method. The catalyst produced was characterised using FTIR, XRD, BET and XRF and its activity was tested on the transesterification reaction of soybean oil to biodiesel. The catalyst activity improved when the reaction temperature was increasedfrom 150 and 225 OC. It was also observed that increasing the reaction time above 1h had no significant benefit on conversion. The stability fixed MgO on TiO2 was investigated using XRF and ICP-OES. It was observed that MgO loss during the reaction was between 0.5-2.3 percent and that there was no correlation between the reaction temperature and the MgO loss.

Study of Effect Different of Ozone Doses on Sugars Content in Tomatoes at Different Stages of Ripening

The determination of sugars in foods is very significant. Their relation in fact, can affect the chemical and sensorial quality of the matrix (e.g., sweetness, pH, total acidity, microbial stability, global acceptability) and can provide information on food to optimize several selected technological processes. Three stages of ripeness (green, yellow and red) of tomatoes (Lycopersicon Esculentum cv. Elegance) at different harvest dates were evaluated. Fruit from all harvests were exposed to different of ozone doses (0.25, 0.50 and 1 mg O3/g tomatoes) and clean air for 5 day at 15 °C±2 and 90-95 % relative humidity. Then, fruits were submitted for extraction and analysis after a day from the finish of exposure of each stage. The concentrations of the glucose and fructose increased in the tomatoes which were subjected to ozone treatments.

Differential Sandwich Theorems with Generalised Derivative Operator

In this paper, a generalized derivatives operator n λ,βf introduced by the authors will be discussed. Some subordination and superordination results involving this operator for certain normalized analytic functions in the open unit disk will be investigated. Our results extend corresponding previously known results.

Article 5 (3) of the Brussels I Regulation and Its Applicability in the Case of Intellectual Property Rights Infringement on the Internet

Article 5(3) of the Brussels I Regulation provides that a person domiciled in a Member State may be sued in another Member State in matters relating to tort, delict or quasi-delict, in the courts for the place where the harmful events occurred or may occur. For a number of years Article 5 (3) of the Brussels I Regulation has been at the centre of the debate regarding the intellectual property rights infringement over the Internet. Nothing has been done to adapt the provisions relating to non-internet cases of infringement of intellectual property rights to the context of the Internet. The author’s findings indicate that in the case of intellectual property rights infringement on the Internet, the plaintiff has the option to sue either: the court of the Member State of the event giving rise to the damage: where the publisher of the newspaper is established; the court of the Member State where the damage occurred: where defamatory article is distributed. However, it must be admitted that whilst infringement over the Internet has some similarity to multi-State defamation by means of newspapers, the position is not entirely analogous due to the cross-border nature of the Internet. A simple example which may appropriately illustrate its contentious nature is a defamatory statement published on a website accessible in different Member States, and available in different languages. Therefore, we need to answer the question: how these traditional jurisdictional rules apply in the case of intellectual property rights infringement over the Internet? Should these traditional jurisdictional rules be modified?

International Financial Crises and the Political Economy of Financial Reforms in Turkey: 1994-2009

This study1 holds for the formation of international financial crisis and political factors for economic crisis in Turkey, are evaluated in chronological order. The international arena and relevant studies conducted in Turkey work in the literature are assessed. The main purpose of the study is to hold the linkage between the crises and political stability in Turkey in details, and to examine the position of Turkey in this regard. The introduction part follows the literature survey on the models explaining causes and results of the crises, the second part of the study. In the third part, the formations of the world financial crises are studied. The fourth part, financial crisis in Turkey in 1994, 2000, 2001 and 2008 are reviewed and their political reasons are analyzed. In the last part of the study the results and recommendations are held. Political administrations have laid the grounds for an economic crisis in Turkey. In this study, the emergence of an economic crisis in Turkey and the developments after the crisis are chronologically examined and an explanation is offered as to the cause and effect relationship between the political administration and economic equilibrium in the country. Economic crises can be characterized as follows: high prices of consumables, high interest rates, current account deficits, budget deficits, structural defects in government finance, rising inflation and fixed currency applications, rising government debt, declining savings rates and increased dependency on foreign capital stock. Entering into the conditions of crisis during a time when the exchange value of the country-s national currency was rising, speculative finance movements and shrinking of foreign currency reserves happened due to expectations for devaluation and because of foreign investors- resistance to financing national debt, and a financial risk occurs. During the February 2001 crisis and immediately following, devaluation and reduction of value occurred in Turkey-s stock market. While changing over to the system of floating exchange rates in the midst of this crisis, the effects of the crisis on the real economy are discussed in this study. Administered politics include financial reforms, such as the rearrangement of banking systems. These reforms followed with the provision of foreign financial support. There have been winners and losers in the imbalance of income distribution, which has recently become more evident in Turkey-s fragile economy.

Volterra Filtering Techniques for Removal of Gaussian and Mixed Gaussian-Impulse Noise

In this paper, we propose a new class of Volterra series based filters for image enhancement and restoration. Generally the linear filters reduce the noise and cause blurring at the edges. Some nonlinear filters based on median operator or rank operator deal with only impulse noise and fail to cancel the most common Gaussian distributed noise. A class of second order Volterra filters is proposed to optimize the trade-off between noise removal and edge preservation. In this paper, we consider both the Gaussian and mixed Gaussian-impulse noise to test the robustness of the filter. Image enhancement and restoration results using the proposed Volterra filter are found to be superior to those obtained with standard linear and nonlinear filters.

Product Yields and Chemical Compounds of Cogongrass by Pyrolysis in Twin Screw Feeder

Continuous pyrolysis of Cogongrass by control temperature in the novel pyrolysis reactor were conducted at three difference temperatures 400, 450 and 500°C. Preliminary calculate of the product yields founded the liquid yield of Cogongrass was highest of 41.45 %, at 500 oC. Indicated that the liquid yield from Cogongrass had good received yields because it gave over 40 % and its produced more liquid than that solid and gas. The compounds detected in bio-oil from Cogongrass showed the functional group, especially; Phenol, Phenol, 2,5-dimethyl, Phenol, 3-methyl, 2- methyl-1,3-oxathiofane, Benzene,1-ethyl-4-methoxy, 2-Cyclopenten- 1-one,2,3-dimethyl, 2- Cyclopenten-1- one, 3-Methyl.

Inference of Stress-Strength Model for a Lomax Distribution

In this paper, the estimation of the stress-strength parameter R = P(Y < X), when X and Y are independent and both are Lomax distributions with the common scale parameters but different shape parameters is studied. The maximum likelihood estimator of R is derived. Assuming that the common scale parameter is known, the bayes estimator and exact confidence interval of R are discussed. Simulation study to investigate performance of the different proposed methods has been carried out.

Analyzing Artificial Emotion in Game Characters Using Soft Computing

This paper describes a simulation model for analyzing artificial emotion injected to design the game characters. Most of the game storyboard is interactive in nature and the virtual characters of the game are equipped with an individual personality and dynamic emotion value which is similar to real life emotion and behavior. The uncertainty in real expression, mood and behavior is also exhibited in game paradigm and this is focused in the present paper through a fuzzy logic based agent and storyboard. Subsequently, a pheromone distribution or labeling is presented mimicking the behavior of social insects.

Qmulus – A Cloud Driven GPS Based Tracking System for Real-Time Traffic Routing

This paper presents Qmulus- a Cloud Based GPS Model. Qmulus is designed to compute the best possible route which would lead the driver to the specified destination in the shortest time while taking into account real-time constraints. Intelligence incorporated to Qmulus-s design makes it capable of generating and assigning priorities to a list of optimal routes through customizable dynamic updates. The goal of this design is to minimize travel and cost overheads, maintain reliability and consistency, and implement scalability and flexibility. The model proposed focuses on reducing the bridge between a Client Application and a Cloud service so as to render seamless operations. Qmulus-s system model is closely integrated and its concept has the potential to be extended into several other integrated applications making it capable of adapting to different media and resources.

Drowsiness Warning System Using Artificial Intelligence

Nowadays, driving support systems, such as car navigation systems, are getting common, and they support drivers in several aspects. It is important for driving support systems to detect status of driver's consciousness. Particularly, detecting driver's drowsiness could prevent drivers from collisions caused by drowsy driving. In this paper, we discuss the various artificial detection methods for detecting driver's drowsiness processing technique. This system is based on facial images analysis for warning the driver of drowsiness or in attention to prevent traffic accidents.

Spatial Analysis and Statistics for Zoning of Urban Areas

The use of statistical data and of the neural networks, capable of elaborate a series of data and territorial info, have allowed the making of a model useful in the subdivision of urban places into homogeneous zone under the profile of a social, real estate, environmental and urbanist background of a city. The development of homogeneous zone has fiscal and urbanist advantages. The tools in the model proposed, able to be adapted to the dynamic changes of the city, allow the application of the zoning fast and dynamic.