Abstract: Discharges in hydrogen, ignited by wire explosion, with current amplitude up to 1.5 MA were investigated. Channel diameter oscillations were observed on the photostreaks. Voltage and current curves correlated with the photostreaks. At initial gas pressure of 5-35 MPa the oscillation period was proportional to square root of atomic number of the initiating wire material. These oscillations were associated with aligned magnetic and gas-kinetic pressures. At initial pressure of 80-160 MPa acoustic pressure fluctuations on the discharge chamber wall were increased up to 150 MPa and there were the growth of voltage fluctuations on the discharge gap up to 3 kV simultaneously with it. In some experiments it was observed abrupt increase in the oscillation amplitude, which can be caused by the resonance of the acoustic oscillations in discharge chamber volume and the oscillations connected with alignment of the gaskinetic pressure and the magnetic pressure, as far as frequencies of these oscillations are close to each other in accordance with the estimates and the experimental data. Resonance of different type oscillations can produce energy density increasing in the discharge channel. Thus, the appropriate initial conditions in the experiment allow to increase the energy density in the discharge channel
Abstract: Soil microbial activity is adversely affected by pollutants such as heavy metals, antibiotics and pesticides. Organic amendments including sewage sludge, municipal compost and vermicompost are recently used to improve soil structure and fertility. But, these materials contain heavy metals including Pb, Cd, Zn, Ni and Cu that are toxic to soil microorganisms and may lead to occurrence of more tolerant microbes. Among these, Pb is the most abundant and has more negative effect on soil microbial ecology. In this study, Pb levels of 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 mg Pb [as Pb(NO3)2] per kg soil were added to the pots containing 2 kg of a loamy soil and incubated for 6 months at 25°C with soil moisture of - 0.3 MPa. Dehydrogenase activity of soil as a measure of microbial activity was determined on 15, 30, 90 and 180 days after incubation. Triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) was used as an electron acceptor in this assay. PICTs (IC50 values) were calculated for each Pb level and incubation time. Soil microbial activity was decreased by increasing Pb level during 30 days of incubation but the induced tolerance appeared on day 90 and thereafter. During 90 to 180 days of incubation, the PICT was gradually developed by increasing Pb level up to 200 mg kg-1, but the rate of enhancement was steeper at higher concentrations.
Abstract: In this paper we present high performance
dynamically allocated multi-queue (DAMQ) buffer schemes for fault
tolerance systems on chip applications that require an interconnection
network. Two virtual channels shared the same buffer space. Fault
tolerant mechanisms for interconnection networks are becoming a
critical design issue for large massively parallel computers. It is also
important to high performance SoCs as the system complexity keeps
increasing rapidly. On the message switching layer, we make
improvement to boost system performance when there are faults
involved in the components communication. The proposed scheme is
when a node or a physical channel is deemed as faulty, the previous
hop node will terminate the buffer occupancy of messages destined
to the failed link. The buffer usage decisions are made at switching
layer without interactions with higher abstract layer, thus buffer
space will be released to messages destined to other healthy nodes
quickly. Therefore, the buffer space will be efficiently used in case
fault occurs at some nodes.
Abstract: Collective action can be an effective means for local development as well as important strategy to enhance livelihoods especially among rural people. This article explores the level of collective action among members of Fishermen-s Wives Group (KUNITA) in Malaysia. KUNITA was established by the Malaysian Fishery Development Authority (LKIM) with an objective to increase the socio-economic status of fishermen-s families. The members who are mostly the wives and daughters of fishermen are strongly encouraged by LKIM to venture into entrepreneurship activities. The objective of this research was to see the level of collective action among members in KUNITA groups in the state of Selangor. The finding shows that high level of collective action among KUNITA members is strongly based on volunteerism. However, the level of cooperation among members in the group is relatively low. The findings present significant challenges for the group in maintaining the sustainability of KUNITA organization.
Abstract: Owing the fact that optimization of business process
is a crucial requirement to navigate, survive and even thrive in
today-s volatile business environment, this paper presents a
framework for selecting a best-fit optimization package for solving
complex business problems. Complexity level of the problem and/or
using incorrect optimization software can lead to biased solutions of
the optimization problem. Accordingly, the proposed framework
identifies a number of relevant factors (e.g. decision variables,
objective functions, and modeling approach) to be considered during
the evaluation and selection process. Application domain, problem
specifications, and available accredited optimization approaches are
also to be regarded. A recommendation of one or two optimization
software is the output of the framework which is believed to provide
the best results of the underlying problem. In addition to a set of
guidelines and recommendations on how managers can conduct an
effective optimization exercise is discussed.
Abstract: Designing a simulated system and training it to optimize its tasks in simulated environment helps the designers to avoid problems that may appear when designing the system directly in real world. These problems are: time consuming, high cost, high errors percentage and low efficiency and accuracy of the system. The proposed system will investigate and improve the efficiency and accuracy of a simulated robot to choose correct behavior to perform its task. In this paper, machine learning, which uses genetic algorithm, is adopted. This type of machine learning is called genetic-based machine learning in which a distributed classifier system is used to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the robot. Consequently, it helps the robot to achieve optimal action.
Abstract: In order to evaluate the relationship between the sulphur (S), glucose (G), nitrogen (N) and plant residues (st), sulphur immobilization and microbial transformation were monitored in five soil samples from 0-30 cm of Bastam farmers fields of Shahrood area following 11 treatments with different levels of Sulphur (S), glucose (G), N and plant residues (wheat straw) in a randomized block design with three replications and incubated over 20, 45 and 60 days, the immobilization of SO4 -2-S presented as a percentage of that added, was inversely related to its addition rate. Additions of glucose and plant residues increased with the C-to-S ratio of the added amendments, irrespective of their origins (glucose and plant residues). In the presence of C sources (glucose or plant residues). N significantly increased the immobilization of SO4 -2-S, whilst the effect of N was insignificant in the absence of a C amendment. In first few days the amounts of added SO4 -2-S immobilized were linearly correlated with the amounts of added S recovered in the soil microbial biomass. With further incubation the proportions of immobilized SO4 -2-S remaining as biomass-S decreased. Decrease in biomass-S was thought to be due to the conversion of biomass-S into soil organic-S. Glucose addition increased the immobilization (microbial utilization and incorporation into the soil organic matter) of native soil SO4 -2-S. However, N addition enhance the mineralization of soil organic-S, increasing the concentration of SO4 - 2-S in soil.
Abstract: The study examines the determinants of corporate cash holding of non-financial quoted firms in Nigeria using a sample of fifty four non-financial quoted firms listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange for the period 1995-2009. Data were sourced from the Annual reports of the sampled firms and analyzed using Generalized Method of Moments(GMM). The study finds evidence supportive of a target adjustment model and that firms can not instantaneously adjust towards the target cash level owing to the fact that adjustment cost being costly,. Also, the result shows significant negative relationship between cash holdings and firm size, net working capital, return on asset and bank relationship and positive relationship with growth opportunities, leverage, inventories, account receivables and financial distress. Furthermore, there is no significant relationship between cash holdings and cash flow. In Nigerian setting, most of the variables that are relevant for explaining cash holdings in the Developed countries are found by this study to be relevant also in Nigeria.
Abstract: This study was set to determine the antimicrobial
activities of brine salting, chlorinated solution, and oil frying
treatments on enteric bacteria and fungi in Rastrineobola argentea
fish from fish landing beaches within L. Victoria basin of western
Kenya. Statistical differences in effectiveness of the different
treatment methods was determined by single factor ANOVA, and
paired two-tail t-Test was performed to compare the differences in
moisture contents before and after storage. Oil fried fish recorded the
lowest microbial loads, sodium chloride at 10% concentration was
the second most effective and chlorinated solution even at 150ppm
was the least effective against the bacteria and fungi in fish. Moisture
contents of the control and treated fish were significantly lower after
storage. These results show that oil frying of fish should be adopted
for processing and preserving Rastrineobola argentea which is the
most abundant and affordable fish species from Lake Victoria.
Abstract: Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene
(DBT) in a high pressure batch reactor was done at 320 °C on
CoMoS/Al2O3-B2O3 (4, 10, and 16 wt. % of Boria) using nhexadecane
as solvent, dimethyldisulfide (DMDS) in tetradecane as
sulfur agent, and stirring at 1000 rpm. The effects of boria were
investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Temperature
programmed desorption (TPD) of ammonia, and Brunauer-Emmet-
Teller (BET) experiments. The results showed that the catalyst
prepared with low boria content (4 wt. %) had HDS activity (in
pseudo first order kinetic constant basis) value ~1.45 times higher to
that of CoMoS/Al2O3 catalyst.
Abstract: This paper constructs a four factors theoretical model of Chinese small and medium enterprises based on the “cartoon characters- reputation - enterprise marketing and management capabilities – protection of the cartoon image - institutional environment" by literature research, case studies and investigation. The empirical study show that the greatest impact on current merchandising rights income is the institutional environment friendliness, followed by marketing and management capabilities, input of character image protection and Cartoon characters- reputation through the real-time grey relational analysis, and the greatest impact on post-merchandising rights profit is Cartoon characters reputation, followed by the institutional environment friendliness, then marketing and management ability and input of character image protection through the time-delay grey relational analysis.
Abstract: Remarkable changes, like the progress in the ability to understand others' minds, can be identified in several socio-cognitive dimensions between age four and seven. Recently, the parenting attitudes have been considerate as one of the potential extrinsic modifiers of these important developmental aspects. The aim of present study is to explore the relationship among authoritarian parenting attitudes and individual differences in Theory of Mind performance. The study included ninety-two Costarrican preschoolers. Six False-belief tasks, an Advanced Theory of Mind test and the Parenting Attitudes Inventory were used. The results demonstrate that participants with high and low Authoritarian Parenting Received differ in their performance on First and Second Order False-belief tasks, but not in Advanced Theory of Mind tasks. Theoretical considerations about possible explanations regarding these results are discussed and methodological limitations are considered to shed light over future directions.
Abstract: This paper aims at a new challenge of customer
satisfaction on mobile customer relationship management. In this
paper presents a conceptualization of mCRM on its unique
characteristics of customer satisfaction. Also, this paper develops an
empirical framework in conception of customer satisfaction in
mCRM. A single-case study is applied as the methodology. In order to
gain an overall view of the empirical case, this paper accesses to
invisible and important information of company in this investigation.
Interview is the key data source form the main informants of the
company through which the issues are identified and the proposed
framework is built. It supports the development of customer
satisfaction in mCRM; links this theoretical framework into practice;
and provides the direction for future research. Therefore, this paper is
very useful for the industries as it helps them to understand how
customer satisfaction changes the mCRM structure and increase the
business competitive advantage. Finally, this paper provides a
contribution in practice by linking a theoretical framework in
conception of customer satisfaction in mCRM for companies to a
practical real case.
Abstract: The scientific achievements coming from molecular
biology depend greatly on the capability of computational
applications to analyze the laboratorial results. A comprehensive
analysis of an experiment requires typically the simultaneous study
of the obtained dataset with data that is available in several distinct
public databases. Nevertheless, developing a centralized access to
these distributed databases rises up a set of challenges such as: what
is the best integration strategy, how to solve nomenclature clashes,
how to solve database overlapping data and how to deal with huge
datasets. In this paper we present GeNS, a system that uses a simple and yet innovative approach to address several biological data integration issues. Compared with existing systems, the main
advantages of GeNS are related to its maintenance simplicity and to its coverage and scalability, in terms of number of supported
databases and data types. To support our claims we present the current use of GeNS in two concrete applications. GeNS currently contains more than 140 million of biological relations and it can be
publicly downloaded or remotely access through SOAP web services.
Abstract: The PH curve can be constructed by given parameters, but the shape of the curve is not so easy to image from the value of the parameters. On the contract, Bézier curve can be constructed by the control polygon, and from the control polygon, we can image the figure of the curve. In this paper, we want to use the hodograph of Bézier curve to construct PH curve by selecting part of the control vectors, and produce other control vectors, so the property of PH curve exists.
Abstract: The paper discusses a 3D numerical solution of the inverse boundary problem for a continuous casting process of alloy. The main goal of the analysis presented within the paper was to estimate heat fluxes along the external surface of the ingot. The verified information on these fluxes was crucial for a good design of a mould, effective cooling system and generally the whole caster. In the study an enthalpy-porosity technique implemented in Fluent package was used for modeling the solidification process. In this method, the phase change interface was determined on the basis of the liquid fraction approach. In inverse procedure the sensitivity analysis was applied for retrieving boundary conditions. A comparison of the measured and retrieved values showed a high accuracy of the computations. Additionally, the influence of the accuracy of measurements on the estimated heat fluxes was also investigated.
Abstract: The kinetics of palm oil catalytic cracking over
aluminum containing mesoporous silica Al-MCM-41 (5% Al) was
investigated in a batch autoclave reactor at the temperatures range of
573 – 673 K. The catalyst was prepared by using sol-gel technique
and has been characterized by nitrogen adsorption and x-ray
diffraction methods. Surface area of 1276 m2/g with average pore
diameter of 2.54 nm and pore volume of 0.811 cm3/g was obtained.
The experimental catalytic cracking runs were conducted using 50 g
of oil and 1 g of catalyst. The reaction pressure was recorded at
different time intervals and the data were analyzed using Levenberg-
Marquardt (LM) algorithm using polymath software. The results
show that the reaction order was found to be -1.5 and activation
energy of 3200 J/gmol.
Abstract: In this paper, the data correction algorithm is suggested
when the environmental air temperature varies. To correct the infrared
data in this paper, the initial temperature or the initial infrared image
data is used so that a target source system may not be necessary. The
temperature data obtained from infrared detector show nonlinear
property depending on the surface temperature. In order to handle this
nonlinear property, Taylor series approach is adopted. It is shown that
the proposed algorithm can reduce the influence of environmental
temperature on the components in the board. The main advantage of
this algorithm is to use only the initial temperature of the components
on the board rather than using other reference device such as black
body sources in order to get reference temperatures.
Abstract: This paper shows the results of empirical research. It
presents experiences of Polish companies from the Podkarpackie
voivodeship connected with implementing EMS according to the
requirements of the ISO 14001 international standard. The incentives
to introduce and certify organizational eco-innovation, which formal
EMSs are treated as, are presented in this paper.
Abstract: Thermo-chemical treatment (TCT) such as pyrolysis
is getting recognized as a valid route for (i) materials and valuable
products and petrochemicals recovery; (ii) waste recycling; and (iii)
elemental characterization. Pyrolysis is also receiving renewed
attention for its operational, economical and environmental
advantages. In this study, samples of polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) and polystyrene (PS) were pyrolysed in a microthermobalance
reactor (using a thermogravimetric-TGA setup). Both
polymers were prepared and conditioned prior to experimentation.
The main objective was to determine the kinetic parameters of the
depolymerization reactions that occur within the thermal degradation
process. Overall kinetic rate constants (ko) and activation energies
(Eo) were determined using the general kinetics theory (GKT)
method previously used by a number of authors. Fitted correlations
were found and validated using the GKT, errors were within ± 5%.
This study represents a fundamental step to pave the way towards the
development of scaling relationship for the investigation of larger
scale reactors relevant to industry.