Abstract: A new dual-fluid concept was studied that could eventually find application for cold-gas propulsion for small space satellites or other constant flow applications. In basic form, the concept uses two different refrigerant working fluids, each having a different saturation vapor pressure. The higher vapor pressure refrigerant remains in the saturation phase and is used to pressurize the lower saturation vapor pressure fluid (the propellant) which remains in the compressed liquid phase. A demonstration thruster concept based on this principle was designed and built to study its operating characteristics. An automotive-type electronic fuel injector was used to meter and deliver the propellant. Ejected propellant mass and momentum were measured for several combinations of refrigerants and hydrocarbon fluids. The thruster has the advantage of delivering relatively large total impulse at low tank pressure within a small volume.
Abstract: Today, the working areas put forward the administration of change. In order to provide this; it is required from the organizations to be creative. Professional creativity in offices depends on an environment that enables the development of the organization only after the individual or collective exertions within the organization. By providing this environment, the organization will gain efficiency, productivity, and work pleasure. In order to bring up the workforce appropriate to the related expectations, the professional creativity of the office management and secretarial profession candidates should be evaluated, education programs appropriate to this and related directly with the service quality should be prepared and the future of this profession should be directed. The aim of this study is to ensure the attention to improve the prepared education program as well as the creative thoughts and their applications, when carrying out an office management and secretarial training. 144 students took place in this research and a questionnaire of 48 questions was carried out.
Abstract: The human head representations usually are based on
the morphological – structural components of a real model. Over the
time became more and more necessary to achieve full virtual models
that comply very rigorous with the specifications of the human
anatomy. Still, making and using a model perfectly fitted with the
real anatomy is a difficult task, because it requires large hardware
resources and significant times for processing. That is why it is
necessary to choose the best compromise solution, which keeps the
right balance between the details perfection and the resources
consumption, in order to obtain facial animations with real-time
rendering. We will present here the way in which we achieved such a
3D system that we intend to use as a base point in order to create
facial animations with real-time rendering, used in medicine to find
and to identify different types of pathologies.
Abstract: In the present investigation, H13 tool steel has been
deposited on copper alloy substrate using both CO2 and diode laser.
A detailed parametric analysis has been carried out in order to find
out optimum processing zone for coating defect free H13 tool steel
on copper alloy substrate. Followed by parametric optimization, the
microstructure and microhardness of the deposited clads have been
evaluated. SEM micrographs revealed dendritic microstructure in
both clads. However, the microhardness of CO2 laser deposited clad
was much higher compared to diode laser deposited clad.
Abstract: This paper aims to initiate an analytical account of the
issues of compliance with economy condition for incentive pay
system application in an enterprise. Economy is considered one of the
conditions for effective incentive pay system application another
condition being the achievement of desired efficiency level of the
incentive pay system application. Bonus pay system is discussed as
an example.
Abstract: Perceptions of quality from both designers and users
perspective have now stretched beyond the traditional usability,
incorporating abstract and subjective concepts. This has led to a shift
in human computer interaction research communities- focus; a shift
that focuses on achieving user experience (UX) by not only fulfilling
conventional usability needs but also those that go beyond them. The
term UX, although widely spread and given significant importance,
lacks consensus in its unified definition. In this paper, we survey
various UX definitions and modeling frameworks and examine them
as the foundation for proposing a UX evolution lifecycle framework
for understanding UX in detail. In the proposed framework we identify
the building blocks of UX and discuss how UX evolves in various
phases. The framework can be used as a tool to understand experience
requirements and evaluate them, resulting in better UX design and
hence improved user satisfaction.
Abstract: In this work, are discussed two formulations of the boundary element method - BEM to perform linear bending analysis of plates reinforced by beams. Both formulations are based on the Kirchhoff's hypothesis and they are obtained from the reciprocity theorem applied to zoned plates, where each sub-region defines a beam or a slab. In the first model the problem values are defined along the interfaces and the external boundary. Then, in order to reduce the number of degrees of freedom kinematics hypothesis are assumed along the beam cross section, leading to a second formulation where the collocation points are defined along the beam skeleton, instead of being placed on interfaces. On these formulations no approximation of the generalized forces along the interface is required. Moreover, compatibility and equilibrium conditions along the interface are automatically imposed by the integral equation. Thus, these formulations require less approximation and the total number of the degree s of freedom is reduced. In the numerical examples are discussed the differences between these two BEM formulations, comparing as well the results to a well-known finite element code.
Abstract: Blind signatures enable users to obtain valid signatures for a message without revealing its content to the signer. This paper presents a new blind signature scheme, i.e. identity-based blind signature scheme with message recovery. Due to the message recovery property, the new scheme requires less bandwidth than the identitybased blind signatures with similar constructions. The scheme is based on modified Weil/Tate pairings over elliptic curves, and thus requires smaller key sizes for the same level of security compared to previous approaches not utilizing bilinear pairings. Security and efficiency analysis for the scheme is provided in this paper.
Abstract: In the proposed method for Web page-ranking, a
novel theoretic model is introduced and tested by examples of order
relationships among IP addresses. Ranking is induced using a
convexity feature, which is learned according to these examples
using a self-organizing procedure. We consider the problem of selforganizing
learning from IP data to be represented by a semi-random
convex polygon procedure, in which the vertices correspond to IP
addresses. Based on recent developments in our regularization
theory for convex polygons and corresponding Euclidean distance
based methods for classification, we develop an algorithmic
framework for learning ranking functions based on a Computational
Geometric Theory. We show that our algorithm is generic, and
present experimental results explaining the potential of our approach.
In addition, we explain the generality of our approach by showing its
possible use as a visualization tool for data obtained from diverse
domains, such as Public Administration and Education.
Abstract: With the intention of screening for heavy metal
tolerance, a number of bacteria were isolated and characterized from
a pristine soil. Two Gram positive isolates were identified as
Paenibacillus sp. and Bacillus thuringeinsis. Tolerance of Cd2+, Cu2+
and Zn2+ by these bacteria was studied and found that both bacteria
were highly sensitive to Cu2+ compared to other two metals. Both
bacteria showed the same pattern of metal tolerance in the order Zn+
> Cd2+ > Cu2+. When the metal tolerance in both bacteria was
compared, Paenibacillus sp. showed the highest sensitivity to Cu2+
where as B. thuringiensis showed highest sensitivity to Cd2+ and Zn2+
.These findings revealed the potential of Paenibacillus sp. in
developing a biosensor to detect Cu2+ in environmental samples.
Abstract: Photoselective plastic films with thermic properties
are now available so that greenhouses clad with such plastics exhibit
a higher degree of “Greenhouse Effect” with a consequent increase in
night time temperature. In this study, we investigate the potential
benefits of a range of thermic plastic films used as greenhouse cover
materials on the vegetative and reproductive growth and development
of Iceberg lettuce (Lactuca sativa L). Transplants were grown under
thermic films and destructively harvested 4, 5, and 6 weeks after
transplanting. Thermic films can increase night temperatures up to 2
⁰C reducing the wide fluctuation in greenhouse temperature during
winter compared to the standard commercial film and consequently
increased the yield (leaf number, fresh weight, and dry weight) of
lettuce plants. Lettuce plants grown under Clear film respond to cold
stress by the accumulation of secondary products (phenolics, and
flavonoids).
Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on the frequency of
earnings managements towards small positive profits. We focus on
two emerging markets IFRS adopters: South Africa and Turkey.
We tested our logistic regression using appropriate panelestimation
techniques over a sample of 330 South African and 210
Turkish firm-year observations over the period 2002-2008. Our
results document that mandatory adoption of IFRS is not associated
with a reduction in earnings management towards small positive
profits in emerging markets. These results contradict most of the
previous findings of the studies conducted in developed countries.
Based on the legal system factor, we compare the intensity of
earnings management between a code law country (Turkey) and a
common law country (South Africa) over the pre and post-adoption
periods. Our findings show that the frequency of such earnings
management practice increases significantly for the code law
country.
Abstract: Little research has examined working memory
capacity (WMC) in signed language interpreters and deaf signers.
This paper presents the findings of a study that investigated WMC in
professional Australian Sign Language (Auslan)/English interpreters
and deaf signers. Thirty-one professional Auslan/English interpreters
(14 hearing native signers and 17 hearing non-native signers)
completed an English listening span task and then an Auslan working
memory span task, which tested their English WMC and their Auslan
WMC, respectively. Moreover, 26 deaf signers (6 deaf native signers
and 20 deaf non-native signers) completed the Auslan working
memory span task. The results revealed a non-significant difference
between the hearing native signers and the hearing non-native signers
in their English WMC, and a non-significant difference between the
hearing native signers and the hearing non-native signers in their
Auslan WMC. Moreover, the results yielded a non-significant
difference between the hearing native signers- English WMC and
their Auslan WMC, and a non-significant difference between the
hearing non-native signers- English WMC and their Auslan WMC.
Furthermore, a non-significant difference was found between the deaf
native signers and the deaf non-native signers in their Auslan WMC.
Abstract: Sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) contain various
phenolic compounds which contribute to total antioxidant activity.
Total polyphenols, tannins, flavonoids and anthocyanins, and
antioxidant capacity in a fruits of a number of selected sweet cherry
genotypes were investigated. Total polyphenols content ranged from
4.12 to 8.34 mg gallic acid equivantents/g dry fruit weight and total
tannins content ranged from 0.19 to 1.95 mg gallic acid equivalent/g
dry fruit weight. Total flavonoids were within the range 0.42-1.56 mg
of rutin equivalents/g dry fruit weight and total anthocyanins content
were between 0.35 and 0.69 mg cyanidin 3-glucoside equivalent/ g
dry fruit weight. Although sweet cherry fruits are a significant source
of different phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity of sweet
cherries is not related only with the total polyphenolics, flavonoids or
anthocyanins.
Abstract: Traditionally, VLSI implementations of spiking
neural nets have featured large neuron counts for fixed computations
or small exploratory, configurable nets. This paper presents the
system architecture of a large configurable neural net system
employing a dedicated mapping algorithm for projecting the targeted
biology-analog nets and dynamics onto the hardware with its
attendant constraints.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to know the sociodemographic
and operational-financial determinants of the services
quality perceived by users of the national health services. Through
the use of an inquiry conducted by the Ministry of Health,
comprehending 16.936 interviews in 2006, we intend to find out if
there is any characteristic that determines the 2006 inquiry results.
With the revision of the literature we also want to know if the
operational-financial results have implications in hospitals users-
perception on the quality of the received services. In order to achieve
our main goals we will make use of the regression analysis to find out
the possible dimensions that determine those results.
Abstract: In this paper, we address the problem of reducing the
switching activity (SA) in on-chip buses through the use of a bus
binding technique in high-level synthesis. While many binding
techniques to reduce the SA exist, we present yet another technique for
further reducing the switching activity. Our proposed method
combines bus binding and data sequence reordering to explore a wider
solution space. The problem is formulated as a multiple traveling
salesman problem and solved using simulated annealing technique.
The experimental results revealed that a binding solution obtained
with the proposed method reduces 5.6-27.2% (18.0% on average) and
2.6-12.7% (6.8% on average) of the switching activity when compared
with conventional binding-only and hybrid binding-encoding
methods, respectively.
Abstract: The paper presents an investigation in to the effect of neural network predictive control of UPFC on the transient stability performance of a multimachine power system. The proposed controller consists of a neural network model of the test system. This model is used to predict the future control inputs using the damped Gauss-Newton method which employs ‘backtracking’ as the line search method for step selection. The benchmark 2 area, 4 machine system that mimics the behavior of large power systems is taken as the test system for the study and is subjected to three phase short circuit faults at different locations over a wide range of operating conditions. The simulation results clearly establish the robustness of the proposed controller to the fault location, an increase in the critical clearing time for the circuit breakers, and an improved damping of the power oscillations as compared to the conventional PI controller.
Abstract: Names are important in many societies, even in technologically oriented ones which use e.g. ID systems to identify individual people. Names such as surnames are the most important as they are used in many processes, such as identifying of people and genealogical research. On the other hand variation of names can be a major problem for the identification and search for people, e.g. web search or security reasons. Name matching presumes a-priori that the recorded name written in one alphabet reflects the phonetic identity of two samples or some transcription error in copying a previously recorded name. We add to this the lode that the two names imply the same person. This paper describes name variations and some basic description of various name matching algorithms developed to overcome name variation and to find reasonable variants of names which can be used to further increasing mismatches for record linkage and name search. The implementation contains algorithms for computing a range of fuzzy matching based on different types of algorithms, e.g. composite and hybrid methods and allowing us to test and measure algorithms for accuracy. NYSIIS, LIG2 and Phonex have been shown to perform well and provided sufficient flexibility to be included in the linkage/matching process for optimising name searching.
Abstract: The reliable results of an insulated oval duct
considering heat radiation are obtained basing on accurate oval
perimeter obtained by integral method as well as one-dimensional
Plane Wedge Thermal Resistance (PWTR) model. This is an extension
study of former paper of insulated oval duct neglecting heat radiation.
It is found that in the practical situations with long-short-axes ratio a/b
4.5% while t/R2