Abstract: The main issue discussed is on the role of education system in the process of nation building as a means in uniting different community ethnics which later on, hoped to shape the future ethnic relation of this country. It is generally known that political socialization experienced by each ethnic community has given birth to a vernacular education system, separated along the ethnic line. Every community shapes their own education system based on their respective mother tongue language, however all are based on the same curriculum. As a result the role of education as a uniting force is not significantly effective. Historically, it has been shown that government efforts to unite the country education system under the wing of national education system (national school) is not that successful since every community (Chinese) will defend the existence of their community education system because they want to spur their mother tongue language. The clash between national education system and vernacular education system is the root cause of stalemate in the ethnic relation in Malaysia and it always becomes a flash point when the issue is raised. The question now is what is the best solution to enhance the national education system in multiethnic Malaysia?
Abstract: Titanium alloys like the modern alloy Ti 6Al 2Sn 4Zr 6Mo (Ti-6246) combine excellent specific mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. On the other hand,due to their material characteristics, machining of these alloys is difficult to perform. The aim of the current study is the analyses of wear mechanisms of coated cemented carbide tools applied in orthogonal cutting experiments of Ti-6246 alloy. Round bars were machined with standard coated tools in dry conditions on a CNC latheusing a wide range of cutting speeds and cutting depths. Tool wear mechanisms were afterwards investigated by means of stereo microscopy, optical microscopy, confocal microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Wear mechanisms included fracture of the tool tip (total failure) and abrasion. Specific wear features like crater wear, micro cracks and built-up edgeformation appeared depending of the mechanical and thermal conditions generated in the workpiece surface by the cutting action.
Abstract: In this work a new platform for mobile-health systems is
presented. System target application is providing decision support to
rescue corps or military medical personnel in combat areas. Software
architecture relies on a distributed client-server system that manages a
wireless ad-hoc networks hierarchy in which several different types of
client operate. Each client is characterized for different hardware and
software requirements. Lower hierarchy levels rely in a network of
completely custom devices that store clinical information and patient
status and are designed to form an ad-hoc network operating in the
2.4 GHz ISM band and complying with the IEEE 802.15.4 standard
(ZigBee). Medical personnel may interact with such devices, that are
called MICs (Medical Information Carriers), by means of a PDA
(Personal Digital Assistant) or a MDA (Medical Digital Assistant),
and transmit the information stored in their local databases as well as
issue a service request to the upper hierarchy levels by using IEEE
802.11 a/b/g standard (WiFi). The server acts as a repository that
stores both medical evacuation forms and associated events (e.g., a
teleconsulting request). All the actors participating in the diagnostic
or evacuation process may access asynchronously to such repository
and update its content or generate new events. The designed system
pretends to optimise and improve information spreading and flow
among all the system components with the aim of improving both
diagnostic quality and evacuation process.
Abstract: The measurement of anesthetic depth is necessary in
anesthesiology. NN10 is very simple method among the RR intervals
analysis methods. NN10 parameter means the numbers of above the 10
ms intervals of the normal to normal RR intervals.
Bispectrum analysis is defined as 2D FFT. EEG signal reflected the
non-linear peristalsis phenomena according to the change brain
function. After analyzing the bispectrum of the 2 dimension, the most
significant power spectrum density peaks appeared abundantly at the
specific area in awakening and anesthesia state. These points are
utilized to create the new index since many peaks appeared at the
specific area in the frequency coordinate. The measured range of an
index was 0-100. An index is 20-50 at an anesthesia, while the index is
90-60 at the awake.
In this paper, the relation between NN10 parameter using ECG and
bisepctrum index using EEG is observed to estimate the depth of
anesthesia during anesthesia and then we estimated the utility of the
anesthetic.
Abstract: A novel methodology has been used to design an
evaporator coil of a refrigerant. The methodology used is through a
complete Computer Aided Design /Computer Aided Engineering
approach, by means of a Computational Fluid Dynamic/Finite
Element Analysis model which is executed many times for the
thermal-fluid exploration of several designs' configuration by an
commercial optimizer. Hence the design is carried out automatically
by parallel computations, with an optimization package taking the
decisions rather than the design engineer. The engineer instead takes
decision regarding the physical settings and initializing of the
computational models to employ, the number and the extension of the
geometrical parameters of the coil fins and the optimization tools to
be employed. The final design of the coil geometry found to be better
than the initial design.
Abstract: The term interactive education indicates the meaning
related with multidisciplinary aspects of distance education following
contemporary means around a common basis with different
functional requirements. The aim of this paper is to reflect the new
techniques in education with the new methods and inventions. These
methods are better supplied by interactivity. The integration of
interactive facilities in the discipline of education with distance
learning is not a new concept but in addition the usage of these
methods on design issue is newly being adapted to design education.
In this paper the general approach of this method and after the
analysis of different samples, the advantages and disadvantages of
these approaches are being identified. The method of this paper is to
evaluate the related samples and then analyzing the main hypothesis.
The main focus is to mention the formation processes of this
education. Technological developments in education should be
filtered around the necessities of the design education and the
structure of the system could then be formed or renewed. The
conclusion indicates that interactive methods of education in design
issue is a meaning capturing not only technical and computational
intelligence aspects but also aesthetical and artistic approaches
coming together around the same purpose.
Abstract: Absorption and fluorescence spectra of quinine
sulphate (QSD) have been recorded at room temperature in wide
range of solvents of different polarities. The ground-state dipole
moment of QSD was obtained from quantum mechanical calculations
and the excited state dipole moment of QSD was estimated from
Bakhshiev-s and Kawski-Chamma-Viallet-s equations by means of
solvatochromic shift method. Higher value of dipole moment is
observed for excited state as compared to the corresponding ground
state value and this is attributed to the more polar excited state of
QSD.
Abstract: In this article an isotropic linear elastic half-space with
a cylindrical cavity of finite length is considered to be under the
effect of a ring shape time-harmonic torsion force applied at an
arbitrary depth on the surface of the cavity. The equation of
equilibrium has been written in a cylindrical coordinate system. By
means of Fourier cosine integral transform, the non-zero
displacement component is obtained in the transformed domain. With
the aid of the inversion theorem of the Fourier cosine integral
transform, the displacement is obtained in the real domain. With the
aid of boundary conditions, the involved boundary value problem for
the fundamental solution is reduced to a generalized Cauchy singular
integral equation. Integral representation of the stress and
displacement are obtained, and it is shown that their degenerated
form to the static problem coincides with existing solutions in the
literature.
Abstract: Within this work High Temperature Single Impact
Studies were performed to evaluate deformation mechanisms at
different energy and momentum levels. To show the influence of
different microstructures and hardness levels and their response to
single impacts four different materials were tested at various
temperatures up to 700°C. One carbide reinforced NiCrBSi based
Metal Matrix Composite and three different steels were tested. The
aim of this work is to determine critical energies for fracture
appearance and the materials response at different energy and
momenta levels. Critical impact loadings were examined at elevated
temperatures to limit operating conditions in impact dominated
regimes at elevated temperatures. The investigations on the
mechanisms were performed using different means of microscopy at
the surface and in metallographic cross sections. Results indicate
temperature dependence of the occurrence of cracks in hardphase
rich materials, such as Metal Matrix Composites High Speed Steels
and the influence of different impact momenta at constant energies
on the deformation of different steels.
Abstract: Although there have been many researches in cluster
analysis to consider on feature weights, little effort is made on sample
weights. Recently, Yu et al. (2011) considered a probability
distribution over a data set to represent its sample weights and then
proposed sample-weighted clustering algorithms. In this paper, we
give a sample-weighted version of generalized fuzzy clustering
regularization (GFCR), called the sample-weighted GFCR
(SW-GFCR). Some experiments are considered. These experimental
results and comparisons demonstrate that the proposed SW-GFCR is
more effective than the most clustering algorithms.
Abstract: The prediction of long-term deformations of concrete and reinforced concrete structures has been a field of extensive research and several different creep models have been developed so far. Most of the models were developed for constant concrete stresses, thus, in case of varying stresses a specific superposition principle or time-integration, respectively, is necessary. Nowadays, when modeling concrete creep the engineering focus is rather on the application of sophisticated time-integration methods than choosing the more appropriate creep model. For this reason, this paper presents a method to quantify the uncertainties of creep prediction originating from the selection of creep models or from the time-integration methods. By adapting variance based global sensitivity analysis, a methodology is developed to quantify the influence of creep model selection or choice of time-integration method. Applying the developed method, general recommendations how to model creep behavior for varying stresses are given.
Abstract: The contribution deals with analysis of identity style
at adolescents (N=463) at the age from 16 to 19 (the average age is
17,7 years). We used the Identity Style Inventory by Berzonsky,
distinguishing three basic, measured identity styles: informational,
normative, diffuse-avoidant identity style and also commitment. The
informational identity style influencing on personal adaptability,
coping strategies, quality of life and the normative identity style, it
means the style in which an individual takes on models of authorities
at self-defining were found to have the highest representation in the
studied group of adolescents by higher scores at girls in comparison
with boys. The normative identity style positively correlates with the
informational identity style. The diffuse-avoidant identity style was
found to be positively associated with maladaptive decisional
strategies, neuroticism and depressive reactions. There is the style,
in which the individual shifts aside defining his personality. In our
research sample the lowest score represents it and negatively
correlates with commitment, it means with coping strategies, thrust in
oneself and the surrounding world. The age of adolescents did not
significantly differentiate representation of identity style. We were
finding the model, in which informational and normative identity
style had positive relationship and the informational and diffuseavoidant
style had negative relationship, which were determinated
with commitment. In the same time the commitment is influenced
with other outside factors.
Abstract: Facial features are frequently used to represent local
properties of a human face image in computer vision applications. In
this paper, we present a fast algorithm that can extract the facial
features online such that they can give a satisfying representation of a
face image. It includes one step for a coarse detection of each facial
feature by AdaBoost and another one to increase the accuracy of the
found points by Active Shape Models (ASM) in the regions of interest.
The resulted facial features are evaluated by matching with artificial
face models in the applications of physiognomy. The distance measure
between the features and those in the fate models from the database is
carried out by means of the Hausdorff distance. In the experiment, the
proposed method shows the efficient performance in facial feature
extractions and online system of physiognomy.
Abstract: CIM is the standard formalism for modeling management
information developed by the Distributed Management Task
Force (DMTF) in the context of its WBEM proposal, designed to
provide a conceptual view of the managed environment. In this
paper, we propose the inclusion of formal knowledge representation
techniques, based on Description Logics (DLs) and the Web Ontology
Language (OWL), in CIM-based conceptual modeling, and then we
examine the benefits of such a decision. The proposal is specified as a
CIM metamodel level mapping to a highly expressive subset of DLs
capable of capturing all the semantics of the models. The paper shows
how the proposed mapping can be used for automatic reasoning
about the management information models, as a design aid, by means
of new-generation CASE tools, thanks to the use of state-of-the-art
automatic reasoning systems that support the proposed logic and use
algorithms that are sound and complete with respect to the semantics.
Such a CASE tool framework has been developed by the authors and
its architecture is also introduced. The proposed formalization is not
only useful at design time, but also at run time through the use of
rational autonomous agents, in response to a need recently recognized
by the DMTF.
Abstract: In this paper, transversal vibration of buried pipelines
during loading induced by underground explosions is analyzed. The
pipeline is modeled as an infinite beam on an elastic foundation, so
that soil-structure interaction is considered by means of transverse
linear springs along the pipeline. The pipeline behavior is assumed to
be ideal elasto-plastic which an ultimate strain value limits the plastic
behavior. The blast loading is considered as a point load, considering
the affected length at some point of the pipeline, in which the
magnitude decreases exponentially with time. A closed-form solution
for the quasi-static problem is carried out for both elastic and elasticperfect
plastic behaviors of pipe materials. At the end, a comparative
study on steel and polyethylene pipes with different sizes buried in
various soil conditions, affected by a predefined underground
explosion is conducted, in which effect of each parameter is
discussed.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to estimate realistic
principal extrusion process parameters by means of artificial neural
network. Conventionally, finite element analysis is used to derive
process parameters. However, the finite element analysis of the
extrusion model does not consider the manufacturing process
constraints in its modeling. Therefore, the process parameters
obtained through such an analysis remains highly theoretical.
Alternatively, process development in industrial extrusion is to a
great extent based on trial and error and often involves full-size
experiments, which are both expensive and time-consuming. The
artificial neural network-based estimation of the extrusion process
parameters prior to plant execution helps to make the actual extrusion
operation more efficient because more realistic parameters may be
obtained. And so, it bridges the gap between simulation and real
manufacturing execution system. In this work, a suitable neural
network is designed which is trained using an appropriate learning
algorithm. The network so trained is used to predict the
manufacturing process parameters.
Abstract: The paper analyzes the large power transformer unit regimes, indicating the criteria for the management of the voltage operating conditions, as well as the change in the operating conditions with the load connected to the secondary winding of the transformer unit. Further, the paper presents the software application for the evaluation of the transformer unit operation under different conditions. The software application was developed by means of virtual instrumentation.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a robust scheme to work face alignment and recognition under various influences. For face representation, illumination influence and variable expressions are the important factors, especially the accuracy of facial localization and face recognition. In order to solve those of factors, we propose a robust approach to overcome these problems. This approach consists of two phases. One phase is preprocessed for face images by means of the proposed illumination normalization method. The location of facial features can fit more efficient and fast based on the proposed image blending. On the other hand, based on template matching, we further improve the active shape models (called as IASM) to locate the face shape more precise which can gain the recognized rate in the next phase. The other phase is to process feature extraction by using principal component analysis and face recognition by using support vector machine classifiers. The results show that this proposed method can obtain good facial localization and face recognition with varied illumination and local distortion.
Abstract: Advances in clinical medical imaging have brought about the routine production of vast numbers of medical images that need to be analyzed. As a result an enormous amount of computer vision research effort has been targeted at achieving automated medical image analysis. Computed Tomography (CT) is highly accurate for diagnosing liver tumors. This study aimed to evaluate the potential role of the wavelet and the neural network in the differential diagnosis of liver tumors in CT images. The tumors considered in this study are hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangio carcinoma, hemangeoma and hepatoadenoma. Each suspicious tumor region was automatically extracted from the CT abdominal images and the textural information obtained was used to train the Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) to classify the tumors. Results obtained were evaluated with the help of radiologists. The system differentiates the tumor with relatively high accuracy and is therefore clinically useful.
Abstract: More and more governments around the world are
introducing e-government as a means of reducing costs, improving
services, saving time and increasing effectiveness and efficiency in
the public sector Therefore e-government has been identified as one
of the top priorities for Saudi government and all its agencies.
However, the adoption of e-government is facing many challenges
and barriers such as technological, cultural, organizational, and social
issues which must be considered and treated carefully by any
government contemplating its adoption. This paper reports on a pilot
study amongst online (e-ready) citizens to identify the challenges and
barriers that affect the adoption of e-government services especially
from their perspective in Saudi society. Based on the analysis of data
collected from an online survey the researcher was able to identify
some of the important barriers and challenges from the e-ready
citizen perspective. As a result, this study has generated a list of
possible strategies to move towards successful adoption of egovernment
services in Saudi Arabia.