Abstract: In the last two decades radiofrequency ablation (RFA)
has been considered a promising medical procedure for the treatment
of primary and secondary malignancies. However, the needle-based
electrodes so far developed for this kind of treatment are not suitable
for the thermal ablation of tumors located in hollow organs like
esophagus, colon or bile duct. In this work a tubular electrode
solution is presented. Numerical and experimental analyses were
performed to characterize the volume of the lesion induced. Results
show that this kind of electrode is a feasible solution and numerical
simulation might provide a tool for planning RFA procedure with
some accuracy.
Abstract: Webcam systems now function as the new privileged
vantage points from which to view the city. This transformation of
CCTV technology from surveillance to promotional tool is significant
because its'scopic regime' presents, back to the public, a new virtual
'site' that sits alongside its real-time counterpart. Significantly,
thisraw 'image' data can, in fact,be co-optedand processed so as to
disrupt their original purpose. This paper will demonstrate this
disruptive capacity through an architectural project. It will reveal how
the adaption the webcam image offers a technical springboard by
which to initiate alternate urban form making decisions and subvert
the disciplinary reliance on the 'flat' orthographic plan. In so doing,
the paper will show how this 'digital material' exceeds the imagistic
function of the image; shiftingit from being a vehicle of signification
to a site of affect.
Abstract: Coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG) are widely
studied with respect to hemodynamic conditions which play
important role in presence of a restenosis. However, papers which
concern with constitutive modeling of CABG are lacking in the
literature. The purpose of this study is to find a constitutive model for
CABG tissue. A sample of the CABG obtained within an autopsy
underwent an inflation–extension test. Displacements were
recoredered by CCD cameras and subsequently evaluated by digital
image correlation. Pressure – radius and axial force – elongation
data were used to fit material model. The tissue was modeled as onelayered
composite reinforced by two families of helical fibers. The
material is assumed to be locally orthotropic, nonlinear,
incompressible and hyperelastic. Material parameters are estimated
for two strain energy functions (SEF). The first is classical
exponential. The second SEF is logarithmic which allows
interpretation by means of limiting (finite) strain extensibility.
Presented material parameters are estimated by optimization based
on radial and axial equilibrium equation in a thick-walled tube. Both
material models fit experimental data successfully. The exponential
model fits significantly better relationship between axial force and
axial strain than logarithmic one.
Abstract: In this paper, acoustic techniques are used to detect hidden insect infestations of date palm tress (Phoenix dactylifera L.). In particular, we use an acoustic instrument for early discovery of the presence of a destructive insect pest commonly known as the Red Date Palm Weevil (RDPW) and scientifically as Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier). This type of insect attacks date palm tress and causes irreversible damages at late stages. As a result, the infected trees must be destroyed. Therefore, early presence detection is a major part in controlling the spread and economic damage caused by this type of infestation. Furthermore monitoring and early detection of the disease can asses in taking appropriate measures such as isolating or treating the infected trees. The acoustic system is evaluated in terms of its ability for early discovery of hidden bests inside the tested tree. When signal acquisitions is completed for a number of date palms, a signal processing technique known as time-frequency analysis is evaluated in terms of providing an estimate that can be visually used to recognize the acoustic signature of the RDPW. The testing instrument was tested in the laboratory first then; it was used on suspected or infested tress in the field. The final results indicate that the acoustic monitoring approach along with signal processing techniques are very promising for the early detection of presence of the larva as well as the adult pest in the date palms.
Abstract: Modeling transfer phenomena in several chemical
engineering operations leads to the resolution of partial differential
equations systems. According to the complexity of the operations
mechanisms, the equations present a nonlinear form and analytical
solution became difficult, we have then to use numerical methods
which are based on approximations in order to transform a
differential system to an algebraic one.Finite element method is one
of numerical methods which can be used to obtain an accurate
solution in many complex cases of chemical engineering.The packed
columns find a large application like contactor for liquid-liquid
systems such solvent extraction. In the literature, the modeling of this
type of equipment received less attention in comparison with the
plate columns.A mathematical bidimensionnal model with radial and
axial dispersion, simulating packed tower extraction behavior was
developed and a partial differential equation was solved using the
finite element method by adopting the Galerkine model. We
developed a Mathcad program, which can be used for a similar
equations and concentration profiles are obtained along the column.
The influence of radial dispersion was prooved and it can-t be
neglected, the results were compared with experimental concentration
at the top of the column in the extraction system:
acetone/toluene/water.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is description of the notion of
the death for prisoners and the ways of deal with. They express
indifference, coldness, inability to accept the blame, they have no
shame and no empathy. Is it enough to perform acts verging on the
death. In this paper we described mechanisms and regularities of selfdestructive
behaviour in the view of the relevant literature? The
explanation of the phenomenon is of a biological and sociopsychological
nature. It must be clearly stated that all forms of selfdestructive
behaviour result from various impulses, conflicts and
deficits. That is why they should be treated differently in terms of
motivation and functions which they perform in a given group of
people. Behind self-destruction there seems to be a motivational
mechanism which forces prisoners to rebel and fight against the hated
law and penitentiary systems. The imprisoned believe that pain and
suffering inflicted on them by themselves are better than passive
acceptance of repression. The variety of self-destruction acts is wide,
and some of them take strange forms. We assume that a life-death
barrier is a kind of game for them. If they cannot change the
degrading situation, their life loses sense.
Abstract: Faults in a network may take various forms such as hardware/software errors, vertex/edge faults, etc. Folded hypercube is a well-known variation of the hypercube structure and can be constructed from a hypercube by adding a link to every pair of nodes with complementary addresses. Let FFv (respectively, FFe) be the set of faulty nodes (respectively, faulty links) in an n-dimensional folded hypercube FQn. Hsieh et al. have shown that FQn - FFv - FFe for n ≥ 3 contains a fault-free cycle of length at least 2n -2|FFv|, under the constraints that (1) |FFv| + |FFe| ≤ 2n - 4 and (2) every node in FQn is incident to at least two fault-free links. In this paper, we further consider the constraints |FFv| + |FFe| ≤ 2n - 3. We prove that FQn - FFv - FFe for n ≥ 5 still has a fault-free cycle of length at least 2n - 2|FFv|, under the constraints : (1) |FFv| + |FFe| ≤ 2n - 3, (2) |FFe| ≥ n + 2, and (3) every vertex is still incident with at least two links.
Abstract: Dust storms are one of the most costly and destructive
events in many desert regions. They can cause massive damages both
in natural environments and human lives. This paper is aimed at
presenting a preliminary study on dust storms, as a major natural
hazard in arid and semi-arid regions. As a case study, dust storm
events occurred in Zabol city located in Sistan Region of Iran was
analyzed to diagnose and predict dust storms. The identification and
prediction of dust storm events could have significant impacts on
damages reduction. Present models for this purpose are complicated
and not appropriate for many areas with poor-data environments. The
present study explores Gamma test for identifying inputs of ANNs
model, for dust storm prediction. Results indicate that more attempts
must be carried out concerning dust storms identification and
segregate between various dust storm types.
Abstract: In the recent works related with mixture discriminant
analysis (MDA), expectation and maximization (EM) algorithm is
used to estimate parameters of Gaussian mixtures. But, initial values
of EM algorithm affect the final parameters- estimates. Also, when
EM algorithm is applied two times, for the same data set, it can be
give different results for the estimate of parameters and this affect the
classification accuracy of MDA. Forthcoming this problem, we use
Self Organizing Mixture Network (SOMN) algorithm to estimate
parameters of Gaussians mixtures in MDA that SOMN is more robust
when random the initial values of the parameters are used [5]. We
show effectiveness of this method on popular simulated waveform
datasets and real glass data set.
Abstract: The more recent satellite projects/programs makes
extensive usage of real – time embedded systems. 16 bit processors
which meet the Mil-Std-1750 standard architecture have been used in
on-board systems. Most of the Space Applications have been written
in ADA. From a futuristic point of view, 32 bit/ 64 bit processors are
needed in the area of spacecraft computing and therefore an effort is
desirable in the study and survey of 64 bit architectures for space
applications. This will also result in significant technology
development in terms of VLSI and software tools for ADA (as the
legacy code is in ADA).
There are several basic requirements for a special processor for
this purpose. They include Radiation Hardened (RadHard) devices,
very low power dissipation, compatibility with existing operational
systems, scalable architectures for higher computational needs,
reliability, higher memory and I/O bandwidth, predictability, realtime
operating system and manufacturability of such processors.
Further on, these may include selection of FPGA devices, selection
of EDA tool chains, design flow, partitioning of the design, pin
count, performance evaluation, timing analysis etc.
This project deals with a brief study of 32 and 64 bit processors
readily available in the market and designing/ fabricating a 64 bit
RISC processor named RISC MicroProcessor with added
functionalities of an extended double precision floating point unit
and a 32 bit signal processing unit acting as co-processors. In this
paper, we emphasize the ease and importance of using Open Core
(OpenSparc T1 Verilog RTL) and Open “Source" EDA tools such as
Icarus to develop FPGA based prototypes quickly. Commercial tools
such as Xilinx ISE for Synthesis are also used when appropriate.
Abstract: In the present essay, a model of choice by actors is analysedby utilizing the theory of chaos to explain how change comes about. Then, by using ancient and modern sources of literature, the theory of the social contract is analysed as a historical phenomenon that first appeared during the period of Classical Greece. Then, based on the findings of this analysis, the practice of direct democracy and public choice in ancient Athens is analysed, through two historical cases: Eubulus and Lycurgus political program in the second half of the 4th century. The main finding of this research is that these policies can be interpreted as an implementation of a social contract, through which citizens were taking decisions based on rational choice according to economic considerations.
Abstract: Some believe that stigma is the worst side effect of the
people who have mental illness. Mental illness researchers have
focused on the influence of mass media on the stigmatization of the
people with mental illness. However, no studies have investigated the
effects of the interactive media, such as blogs, on the stigmatization
of mentally ill people, even though the media have a significant
influence on people in all areas of life. The purpose of this study is to
investigate the use of interactivity in destigmatization of the mentally
ill and the moderating effect of self-construal (independent versus
interdependent self-construal) on the relation between interactivity
and destigmatization. The findings suggested that people in the
human-human interaction condition had less social distance toward
people with mental illness. Additionally, participants with higher
independence showed more favorable affection and less social
distance toward mentally ill people. Finally, direct contact with
mentally ill people increased a person-s positive affect toward people
with mental illness. The current study should provide insights for
mental health practitioners by suggesting how they can use
interactive media to approach the public that stigmatizes the mentally
ill.
Abstract: Crosstalk is the major limiting issue in very high bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL) systems in terms of bit-rate or service coverage. At the central office side, joint signal processing accompanied by appropriate power allocation enables complex multiuser processors to provide near capacity rates. Unfortunately complexity grows with the square of the number of lines within a binder, so by taking into account that there are only a few dominant crosstalkers who contribute to main part of crosstalk power, the canceller structure can be simplified which resulted in a much lower run-time complexity. In this paper, a multiuser power control scheme, namely iterative waterfilling, is combined with previously proposed partial crosstalk cancellation approaches to demonstrate the best ever achieved performance which is verified by simulation results.
Abstract: In this article, while it is attempted to describe the
problem and its importance, transformational leadership is studied by considering leadership theories. Issues such as the definition of
transformational leadership and its aspects are compared on the basis of the ideas of various connoisseurs and then it (transformational leadership) is examined in successful and
unsuccessful companies. According to the methodology, the
method of research, hypotheses, population and statistical sample
are investigated and research findings are analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistical methods in the framework of
analytical tables. Finally, our conclusion is provided by considering the results of statistical tests. The final result shows that
transformational leadership is significantly higher in successful companies than unsuccessful ones P
Abstract: We report on a high-speed quantum cryptography
system that utilizes simultaneous entanglement in polarization and in
“time-bins". With multiple degrees of freedom contributing to the
secret key, we can achieve over ten bits of random entropy per detected coincidence. In addition, we collect from multiple spots o
the downconversion cone to further amplify the data rate, allowing usto achieve over 10 Mbits of secure key per second.
Abstract: Effective evaluation of software development effort is an important aspect of successful project management. Based on a large database with 4106 projects ever developed, this study statistically examines the factors that influence development effort. The factors found to be significant for effort are project size, average number of developers that worked on the project, type of development, development language, development platform, and the use of rapid application development. Among these factors, project size is the most critical cost driver. Unsurprisingly, this study found that the use of CASE tools does not necessarily reduce development effort, which adds support to the claim that the use of tools is subtle. As many of the current estimation models are rarely or unsuccessfully used, this study proposes a parsimonious parametric model for the prediction of effort which is both simple and more accurate than previous models.
Abstract: Optimization is often a critical issue for most system
design problems. Evolutionary Algorithms are population-based,
stochastic search techniques, widely used as efficient global
optimizers. However, finding optimal solution to complex high
dimensional, multimodal problems often require highly
computationally expensive function evaluations and hence are
practically prohibitive. The Dynamic Approximate Fitness based
Hybrid EA (DAFHEA) model presented in our earlier work [14]
reduced computation time by controlled use of meta-models to
partially replace the actual function evaluation by approximate
function evaluation. However, the underlying assumption in
DAFHEA is that the training samples for the meta-model are
generated from a single uniform model. Situations like model
formation involving variable input dimensions and noisy data
certainly can not be covered by this assumption. In this paper we
present an enhanced version of DAFHEA that incorporates a
multiple-model based learning approach for the SVM approximator.
DAFHEA-II (the enhanced version of the DAFHEA framework) also
overcomes the high computational expense involved with additional
clustering requirements of the original DAFHEA framework. The
proposed framework has been tested on several benchmark functions
and the empirical results illustrate the advantages of the proposed
technique.
Abstract: Vertical ZnO nanowire array films were synthesized
based on aqueous method for sensing applications. ZnO nanowires
were investigated structurally using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and
scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The gas-sensing properties of
ZnO nanowires array films are studied. It is found that the ZnO
nanowires array film sensor exhibits excellent sensing properties
towards O2 and CO2 at 100 °C with the response time shorter than 5
s. High surface area / volume ratio of vertical ZnO nanowire and high
mobility accounts for the fast response and recovery. The sensor
response was measured in the range from 100 to 500 ppm O2 and CO2
in this study.
Abstract: The article is aimed at bringing information on the scope and the level of use of talent management by organizations in one of the Czech Republic regions, in the Moravian-Silesian Region. On the basis of data acquired by a questionnaire survey it has been found out that organizations in the above-mentioned region are implementing the system of talent management on a small scale: this approach is used by 3.8 % of organizations only that is 9 from 237 (100 %) of the approached respondents. The main reasons why this approach is not used is either that organizations have no knowledge of it or there is lack of financial and personnel resources. In the article recommendations suggested by the author can be found for a wider application of talent management in the Czech practice.
Abstract: The characterisation of agro-wastes fibres for composite applications from Nigeria using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) has been done. Fibres extracted from groundnut shell, coconut husk, rice husk, palm fruit bunch and palm fruit stalk are processed using two novel cellulose fibre production methods developed by the authors. Cellulose apparent crystallinity calculated using the deconvolution of the diffractometer trace shows that the amorphous portion of cellulose was permeable to hydrolysis yielding high crystallinity after treatment. All diffratograms show typical cellulose structure with well-defined 110, 200 and 040 peaks. Palm fruit fibres had the highest 200 crystalline cellulose peaks compared to others and it is an indication of rich cellulose content. Surface examination of the resulting fibres using SEM indicates the presence of regular cellulose network structure with some agglomerated laminated layer of thin leaves of cellulose microfibrils. The surfaces were relatively smooth indicating the removal of hemicellulose, lignin and pectin.