Abstract: This paper examines ethical and social issues which
have proved important when initiating and creating educational spaces within a virtual environment. It focuses on one project, identifying the key decisions made, the barriers to new practice
encountered and the impact these had on the project. It demonstrates
the importance of the 'backstage' ethical and social issues involved in
the creation of a virtual education community and offers conclusions,
and questions, which will inform future research and practice in this
area. These ethical issues are considered using Knobel-s framework
of front-end, in-process and back-end concerns, and include
establishing social practices for the islands, allocating access rights,
considering personal safety and supporting researchers appropriately
within this context.
Abstract: This paper employs a the variable returns to scale DEA
model to take account of risky assets and estimate the operating
efficiencies for the 21 domestic listed securities firms during the
period 2005-2009. Evidence is found that on average the brokerage
securities firms- operating efficiencies are better than integrated
securities firms. Evidence is also found that the technical inefficiency
from inappropriate management constitutes the main source of the
operating inefficiency for both types of securities firms. Moreover, the
scale economies prevail in brokerage and integrated securities firms,
in other words, which exhibit the characteristic of increasing returns to
scale.
Abstract: The proliferation of user-generated content (UGC) results in huge opportunities to explore event patterns. However, existing event recommendation systems primarily focus on advanced information technology users. Little work has been done to address novice and low-literacy users. The next billion users providing and consuming UGC are likely to include communities from developing countries who are ready to use affordable technologies for subsistence goals. Therefore, we propose a design framework for providing event recommendations to address the needs of such users. Grounded in information integration theory (IIT), our framework advocates that effective event recommendation is supported by systems capable of (1) reliable information gathering through structured user input, (2) accurate sense making through spatial-temporal analytics, and (3) intuitive information dissemination through interactive visualization techniques. A mobile pest management application is developed as an instantiation of the design framework. Our preliminary study suggests a set of design principles for novice and low-literacy users.
Abstract: The transition to sustainable development requires
considerable investments from stakeholders, both financial and
immaterial. However, accounting for such investments often poses a
challenge, as ventures with intangible or non-financial returns remain
oblivious to conventional accounting techniques and risk assessment.
That such investments may significantly contribute to the welfare of
those affected may act as a driving force behind attempting to bridge
this gap. This gains crucial importance as investments must be also
backed by governments and administrations; entities whose budget
depends on taxpayers- contributions and whose tasks are based on
securing the welfare of their citizens. Besides economic welfare,
citizens also require social and environmental wellbeing too.
However, administrations must also safeguard that welfare is
guaranteed not only to present, but to future generations too. With
already strained budgets and the requirement of sustainable
development, governments on all levels face the double challenge of
making both of these ends meet.
Abstract: This paper presents a comparison of metaheuristic
algorithms, Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Ant Colony Optimization
(ACO), in producing freeman chain code (FCC). The main problem
in representing characters using FCC is the length of the FCC
depends on the starting points. Isolated characters, especially the
upper-case characters, usually have branches that make the traversing
process difficult. The study in FCC construction using one
continuous route has not been widely explored. This is our
motivation to use the population-based metaheuristics. The
experimental result shows that the route length using GA is better
than ACO, however, ACO is better in computation time than GA.
Abstract: In this paper 2D Simulation of catalytic Fixed Bed Reactor in Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis of GTL technology has been performed utilizing computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Synthesis gas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen) has been used as feedstock. The reactor was modeled and the model equations were solved employing finite volume method. The model was validated against the experimental data reported in literature. The comparison showed a good agreement between simulation results and the experimental data. In addition, the model was applied to predict the concentration contours of the reactants and products along the length of reactor.
Abstract: Now-a-days, numbers of simulation software are
being used all over the world to solve Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) related problems. In this present study, a
commercial CFD simulation software namely STAR-CCM+ is
applied to analyze the airflow characteristics inside a 2.5" hard
disk drive. Each step of the software is described adequately to
obtain the output and the data are verified with the theories to
justify the robustness of the simulation outcome. This study
gives an insight about the accuracy level of the CFD
simulation software to compute CFD related problems
although it largely depends upon the computer speed. Also
this study will open avenues for further research.
Abstract: This paper focuses attention on specific aspects of
entrepreneurial decisions relating to investment, both in the total
fixed investments and plant & machinery (separately). Demand and
financial factors, internal and external, are considered in the
investment analysis. Finally the influence of determinants of fixed
investment and investment plans are examined in Electric Power
industry in India.
Abstract: In many applications, magnetic suspension systems
are required to operate over large variations in air gap. As a result,
the nonlinearities inherent in most types of suspensions have a
significant impact on performance. Specifically, it may be difficult to
design a linear controller which gives satisfactory performance,
stability, and disturbance rejection over a wide range of operating
points. in this paper an optimal controller based on discontinuous
mathematical model of the system for an electromagnetic suspension
system which is applied in magnetic trains has been designed .
Simulations show that the new controller can adapt well to the
variance of suspension mass and gap, and keep its dynamic
performance, thus it is superior to the classic controller.
Abstract: The human knee joint has a three dimensional
geometry with multiple body articulations that produce complex
mechanical responses under loads that occur in everyday life and
sports activities. To produce the necessary joint compliance and
stability for optimal daily function various menisci and ligaments are
present while muscle forces are used to this effect. Therefore,
knowledge of the complex mechanical interactions of these load
bearing structures is necessary when treatment of relevant diseases is
evaluated and assisting devices are designed.
Numerical tools such as finite element analysis are suitable for
modeling such joints in order to understand their physics. They have
been used in the current study to develop an accurate human knee
joint and model its mechanical behavior. To evaluate the efficacy of
this articulated model, static load cases were used for comparison
purposes with previous experimentally verified modeling works
drawn from literature.
Abstract: Prediction of highly non linear behavior of suspended
sediment flow in rivers has prime importance in the field of water
resources engineering. In this study the predictive performance of
two Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) namely, the Radial Basis
Function (RBF) Network and the Multi Layer Feed Forward (MLFF)
Network have been compared. Time series data of daily suspended
sediment discharge and water discharge at Pari River was used for
training and testing the networks. A number of statistical parameters
i.e. root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE),
coefficient of efficiency (CE) and coefficient of determination (R2)
were used for performance evaluation of the models. Both the models
produced satisfactory results and showed a good agreement between
the predicted and observed data. The RBF network model provided
slightly better results than the MLFF network model in predicting
suspended sediment discharge.
Abstract: Nowadays increasingly the population makes use of
Information Technology (IT). As such, in recent year the Portuguese
government increased its focus on using the IT for improving
people-s life and began to develop a set of measures to enable the
modernization of the Public Administration, and so reducing the gap
between Public Administration and citizens.Thus the Portuguese
Government launched the Simplex Program. However these
SIMPLEX eGov measures, which have been implemented over the
years, present a serious challenge: how to forecast its impact on
existing Information Systems Architecture (ISA). Thus, this research
is focus in addressing the problem of automating the evaluation of the
actual impact of implementation an eGovSimplification and
Modernization measures in the Information Systems Architecture. To
realize the evaluation we proposes a Framework, which is supported
by some key concepts as: Quality Factors, ISA modeling,
Multicriteria Approach, Polarity Profile and Quality Metrics
Abstract: The present study has been conducted to characterize
the prophenoloxidase (PPO) system of the desert locust, Schistocerca
gregaria following injection of Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (Bt).
The bulk of PPO system was associated with haemocytes and a little
amount was found in plasma. This system was activated by different
activators such as laminarin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and trypsin
suggesting that the stimulatory mechanism may involve an enzyme
cascade of one or more associated molecules. These activators did
not activate all the molecules of the cascade. Presence of
phenoloxidase activity (PO) coincides with the appearance of protein
band with molecular weight (MW) 70.154 KD (Kilo Dalton).
Abstract: In this paper, the effect of addition the dune sand powder (DSP) on development of compressive strength and hydration of cement pastes was investigated as a function of water/binder ratio, was varied, on the one hand, the percentage of DSP and on the other, the fineness of DSP. In order to understand better the pozzolanic effect of dune sand powder in cement pastes, we followed the mixtures hydration (50% Pure Lime + 50% DSP) by X-ray diffraction. These mixtures the pastes present a hydraulic setting which is due to the formation of a C-S-H phase (calcium silicate hydrate). The latter is semi-crystallized. This study is a simplified approach to that of the mixtures (80% ordinary Portland cement + 20% DSP), in which the main reaction is the fixing of the lime coming from the cement hydration in the presence of DSP, to form calcium silicate hydrate semi-crystallized of second generation. The results proved that up to (20% DSP) as Portland cement replacement could be used with a fineness of 4000 cm²/g without affecting adversely the compressive strength. After 28 days, the compressive strength at 5, 10 and 15% DSP is superior to Portland cement, with an optimum effect for a percentage of the order of 5% to 10% irrespective of the w/b ratio and fineness of DSP.
Abstract: This paper describes the authorization system
architecture for Pervasive Grid environment. It discusses the
characteristics of classical authorization system and requirements of
the authorization system in pervasive grid environment as well.
Based on our analysis of current systems and taking into account the
main requirements of such pervasive environment, we propose new
authorization system architecture as an extension of the existing grid
authorization mechanisms. This architecture not only supports user
attributes but also context attributes which act as a key concept for
context-awareness thought. The architecture allows authorization of
users dynamically when there are changes in the pervasive grid
environment. For this, we opt for hybrid authorization method that
integrates push and pull mechanisms to combine the existing grid
authorization attributes with dynamic context assertions. We will
investigate the proposed architecture using a real testing environment
that includes heterogeneous pervasive grid infrastructures mapped
over multiple virtual organizations. Various scenarios are described
in the last section of the article to strengthen the proposed mechanism
with different facilities for the authorization procedure.
Abstract: In this research, a 2-D computational analysis of
steady state free convection in a rectangular enclosure filled with an
electrically conducting fluid under Effect of Magnetic Field has been
performed. The governing equations (mass, momentum, and energy)
are formulated and solved by a finite volume method (FVM)
subjected to different boundary conditions. A parametric study has
been conducted to consider the influence of Grashof number (Gr),
Prantdl number (Pr) and the orientation of magnetic field on the flow
and heat transfer characteristics. It is observed that Nusselt number
(Nu) and heat flux will increase with increasing Grashof and Prandtl
numbers and decreasing the slope of the orientation of magnetic field.
Abstract: Cardiac pulse-related artifacts in the EEG recorded
simultaneously with fMRI are complex and highly variable. Their
effective removal is an unsolved problem. Our aim is to develop an
adaptive removal algorithm based on the matching pursuit (MP)
technique and to compare it to established methods using a visual
evoked potential (VEP). We recorded the VEP inside the static
magnetic field of an MR scanner (with artifacts) as well as in an
electrically shielded room (artifact free). The MP-based artifact
removal outperformed average artifact subtraction (AAS) and
optimal basis set removal (OBS) in terms of restoring the EEG field
map topography of the VEP. Subsequently, a dipole model was fitted
to the VEP under each condition using a realistic boundary element
head model. The source location of the VEP recorded inside the MR
scanner was closest to that of the artifact free VEP after cleaning
with the MP-based algorithm as well as with AAS. While none of the
tested algorithms offered complete removal, MP showed promising
results due to its ability to adapt to variations of latency, frequency
and amplitude of individual artifact occurrences while still utilizing a
common template.
Abstract: In this paper, an ultrasonic technique is proposed to
predict oil content in a fresh palm fruit. This is accomplished by
measuring the attenuation based on ultrasonic transmission mode.
Several palm fruit samples with known oil content by Soxhlet
extraction (ISO9001:2008) were tested with our ultrasonic
measurement. Amplitude attenuation data results for all palm samples
were collected. The Feedforward Neural Networks (FNNs) are
applied to predict the oil content for the samples. The Root Mean
Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of the FNN
model for predicting oil content percentage are 7.6186 and 5.2287
with the correlation coefficient (R) of 0.9193.
Abstract: Noise causes significant sensibility changes on a human. This study investigated the effect of five different noises on electroencephalogram (EEG) and subjective evaluation. Six human subjects were exposed to classic piano, ocean wave, alarm in army, ambulance, mosquito noise and EEG data were collected during the experimental session. Alpha band activity in the mosquito noise was smaller than that in the classic piano. Alpha band activity decreased 43.4 ± 8.2 % in the mosquito noise. On the other hand, Beta band activity in the mosquito noise was greater than that in the classic piano. Beta band activity increased 60.1 ± 10.7 % in the mosquito noise. The advances from this study may aid the product design process with human sensibility engineering. This result may provide useful information in designing a human-oriented product to avoid the stress.
Abstract: This paper present a new way to find the aerodynamic characteristic equation of missile for the numerical trajectories prediction more accurate. The goal is to obtain the polynomial equation based on two missile characteristic parameters, angle of attack (α ) and flight speed (╬¢ ). First, the understudied missile is modeled and used for flow computational model to compute aerodynamic force and moment. Assume that performance range of understudied missile where range -10< α