Abstract: The present study was done primarily to address two major research gaps: firstly, development of an empirical measure of life meaningfulness for substance users and secondly, to determine the psychosocial determinants of life meaningfulness among the substance users. The study is classified into two phases: the first phase which dealt with development of Life Meaningfulness Scale and the second phase which examined the relationship between life meaningfulness and social support, abstinence self efficacy and depression. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used for framing items. A Principal Component Analysis yielded three components: Overall Goal Directedness, Striving for healthy lifestyle and Concern for loved ones which collectively accounted for 42.06% of the total variance. The scale and its subscales were also found to be highly reliable. Multiple regression analyses in the second phase of the study revealed that social support and abstinence self efficacy significantly predicted life meaningfulness among 48 recovering inmates of a de-addiction center while level of depression failed to predict life meaningfulness.
Abstract: Safety of bus journey is a fundamental concern. Risk of injuries and fatalities is severe when bus superstructure fails during rollover accident. Adequate design and sufficient strength of bus superstructure can reduce the number of injuries and fatalities. This paper deals with structural analysis of bus superstructure undergoes rollover event. Several value of mass will be varied in multiple simulations. The purpose of this work is to analyze structural response of bus superstructure in terms of deformation, stress and strain under several loading and constraining conditions. A complete bus superstructure with forty four passenger-s capability was developed using finite element analysis software. Simulations have been conducted to observe the effect of total mass of bus on the strength of superstructure. These simulations are following United Nation Economic Commission of Europe regulation 66 which focuses on strength of large vehicle superstructure. Validation process had been done using simple box model experiment and results obtained are comparing with simulation results. Inputs data from validation process had been used in full scale simulation. Analyses suggested that, the failure of bus superstructure during rollover situation is basically dependent on the total mass of bus and on the strength of bus superstructure.
Abstract: With the growth of electricity generation from gas
energy gas pipeline reliability can substantially impact the electric
generation. A physical disruption to pipeline or to a compressor
station can interrupt the flow of gas or reduce the pressure and lead
to loss of multiple gas-fired electric generators, which could
dramatically reduce the supplied power and threaten the power
system security. Gas pressure drops during peak loading time on
pipeline system, is a common problem in network with no enough
transportation capacity which limits gas transportation and causes
many problem for thermal domain power systems in supplying their
demand. For a feasible generation scheduling planning in networks
with no sufficient gas transportation capacity, it is required to
consider gas pipeline constraints in solving the optimization problem
and evaluate the impacts of gas consumption in power plants on gas
pipelines operating condition. This paper studies about operating of
gas fired power plants in critical conditions when the demand of gas
and electricity peak together. An integrated model of gas and electric
model is used to consider the gas pipeline constraints in the economic
dispatch problem of gas-fueled thermal generator units.
Abstract: A Data Warehouses is a repository of information
integrated from source data. Information stored in data warehouse is
the form of materialized in order to provide the better performance
for answering the queries. Deciding which appropriated views to be
materialized is one of important problem. In order to achieve this
requirement, the constructing search space close to optimal is a
necessary task. It will provide effective result for selecting view to be
materialized. In this paper we have proposed an approach to reoptimize
Multiple View Processing Plan (MVPP) by using global
common subexpressions. The merged queries which have query
processing cost not close to optimal would be rewritten. The
experiment shows that our approach can help to improve the total
query processing cost of MVPP and sum of query processing cost
and materialized view maintenance cost is reduced as well after views
are selected to be materialized.
Abstract: In this paper, we address the problem of adaptive radio
resource allocation (RRA) and packet scheduling in the downlink of a
cellular OFDMA system, and propose a downlink multi-carrier
proportional fair (MPF) scheduler and its joint with adaptive RRA
algorithm to distribute radio resources among multiple users according
to their individual QoS requirements. The allocation and scheduling
objective is to maximize the total throughput, while at the same time
maintaining the fairness among users. The simulation results
demonstrate that the methods presented provide for user more explicit
fairness relative to RRA algorithm, but the joint scheme achieves the
higher sum-rate capacity with flexible parameters setting compared
with MPF scheduler.
Abstract: Chemical industry project management involves
complex decision making situations that require discerning abilities
and methods to make sound decisions. Project managers are faced
with decision environments and problems in projects that are
complex. In this work, case study is Research and Development
(R&D) project selection. R&D is an ongoing process for forward
thinking technology-based chemical industries. R&D project
selection is an important task for organizations with R&D project
management. It is a multi-criteria problem which includes both
tangible and intangible factors. The ability to make sound decisions
is very important to success of R&D projects. Multiple-criteria
decision making (MCDM) approaches are major parts of decision
theory and analysis. This paper presents all of MCDM approaches
for use in R&D project selection. It is hoped that this work will
provide a ready reference on MCDM and this will encourage the
application of the MCDM by chemical engineering management.
Abstract: Reducing the risk of information leaks is one of
the most important functions of identity management systems. To
achieve this purpose, Dey et al. have already proposed an account
management method for a federated login system using a blind
signature scheme. In order to ensure account anonymity for the
authentication provider, referred to as an IDP (identity provider),
a blind signature scheme is utilized to generate an authentication
token on an authentication service and the token is sent to an IDP.
However, there is a problem with the proposed system. Malicious
users can establish multiple accounts on an IDP by requesting such
accounts. As a measure to solve this problem, in this paper, the
authors propose an account checking method that is performed before
account generation.
Abstract: In this paper, the effect of atmospheric turbulence on
bit error probability in free-space optical CDMA scheme with
Sequence Inverse Keyed (SIK) optical correlator receiver is analyzed.
Here Intensity Modulation scheme is considered for transmission.
The turbulence induced fading is described by the newly introduced
gamma-gamma pdf[1] as a tractable mathematical model for
atmospheric turbulence. Results are evaluated with Gold and Kasami
code & it is shown that Gold sequence can be used for more
efficient transmission than Kasami sequence in an atmospheric
turbulence channel.
Abstract: Mining sequential patterns from large customer transaction databases has been recognized as a key research topic in database systems. However, the previous works more focused on mining sequential patterns at a single concept level. In this study, we introduced concept hierarchies into this problem and present several algorithms for discovering multiple-level sequential patterns based on the hierarchies. An experiment was conducted to assess the performance of the proposed algorithms. The performances of the algorithms were measured by the relative time spent on completing the mining tasks on two different datasets. The experimental results showed that the performance depends on the characteristics of the datasets and the pre-defined threshold of minimal support for each level of the concept hierarchy. Based on the experimental results, some suggestions were also given for how to select appropriate algorithm for a certain datasets.
Abstract: Information sharing and exchange, rather than
information processing, is what characterizes information
technology in the 21st century. Ontologies, as shared common
understanding, gain increasing attention, as they appear as the
most promising solution to enable information sharing both at
a semantic level and in a machine-processable way. Domain
Ontology-based modeling has been exploited to provide
shareability and information exchange among diversified,
heterogeneous applications of enterprises.
Contextual ontologies are “an explicit specification of
contextual conceptualization". That is: ontology is
characterized by concepts that have multiple representations
and they may exist in several contexts. Hence, contextual
ontologies are a set of concepts and relationships, which are
seen from different perspectives. Contextualization is to allow
for ontologies to be partitioned according to their contexts.
The need for contextual ontologies in enterprise modeling
has become crucial due to the nature of today's competitive
market. Information resources in enterprise is distributed and
diversified and is in need to be shared and communicated
locally through the intranet and globally though the internet.
This paper discusses the roles that ontologies play in an
enterprise modeling, and how ontologies assist in building a
conceptual model in order to provide communicative and
interoperable information systems. The issue of enterprise
modeling based on contextual domain ontology is also
investigated, and a framework is proposed for an enterprise
model that consists of various applications.
Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the study of techniques
for scheduling users for resource allocation in the case of multiple
input and multiple output (MIMO) packet transmission systems. In
these systems, transmit antennas are assigned to one user or
dynamically to different users using spatial multiplexing. The
allocation of all transmit antennas to one user cannot take full
advantages of multi-user diversity. Therefore, we developed the case
when resources are allocated dynamically. At each time slot users
have to feed back their channel information on an uplink feedback
channel. Channel information considered available in the schedulers
is the zero forcing (ZF) post detection signal to interference plus
noise ratio. Our analysis study concerns the round robin and the
opportunistic schemes.
In this paper, we present an overview and a complete capacity
analysis of these schemes. The main results in our study are to give
an analytical form of system capacity using the ZF receiver at the
user terminal. Simulations have been carried out to validate all
proposed analytical solutions and to compare the performance of
these schemes.
Abstract: In this paper, we have developed a method to
compute fractal dimension (FD) of discrete time signals, in the
time domain, by modifying the box-counting method. The size
of the box is dependent on the sampling frequency of the
signal. The number of boxes required to completely cover the
signal are obtained at multiple time resolutions. The time
resolutions are made coarse by decimating the signal. The loglog
plot of total number of boxes required to cover the curve
versus size of the box used appears to be a straight line, whose
slope is taken as an estimate of FD of the signal. The results
are provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed
method using parametric fractal signals. The estimation
accuracy of the method is compared with that of Katz, Sevcik,
and Higuchi methods. In addition, some properties of the FD
are discussed.
Abstract: This study examines the issue of recommendation
sources from the perspectives of gender and consumers- perceived
risk, and validates a model for the antecedents of consumer online
purchases. The method of obtaining quantitative data was that of the
instrument of a survey questionnaire. Data were collected via
questionnaires from 396 undergraduate students aged 18-24, and a
multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify causal
relationships. Empirical findings established the link between
recommendation sources (word-of-mouth, advertising, and
recommendation systems) and the likelihood of making online
purchases and demonstrated the role of gender and perceived risk as
moderators in this context. The results showed that the effects of
word-of-mouth on online purchase intentions were stronger than those
of advertising and recommendation systems. In addition, female
consumers have less experience with online purchases, so they may be
more likely than males to refer to recommendations during the
decision-making process. The findings of the study will help
marketers to address the recommendation factor which influences
consumers- intention to purchase and to improve firm performances to
meet consumer needs.
Abstract: This research details a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach to model fluid flow in a journal bearing with 8 equispaced semi-circular axial grooves. Water is used as the lubricant and is fed from one end of the bearing to the other, under pressure. The geometry of the bearing is modeled using a commercially available modeling software GAMBIT and the flow analysis is performed using a dedicated CFD analysis software FLUENT. The pressure distribution in the bearing clearance is obtained from FLUENT for various whirl ratios and is used to calculate the hydrodynamic force components in the radial and tangential direction of the bearing. These values along with the various whirl speeds can be used to do a regression analysis to determine the stiffness and damping coefficients. The values obtained are then compared with the stiffness and damping coefficients of a 3 Axial groove water lubricated journal bearing and those obtained from a FORTRAN code for a similar bearing.
Abstract: 4G Communication Networks provide heterogeneous
wireless technologies to mobile subscribers through IP based
networks and users can avail high speed access while roaming across
multiple wireless channels; possible by an organized way to manage
the Quality of Service (QoS) functionalities in these networks. This
paper proposes the idea of developing a novel QoS optimization
architecture that will judge the user requirements and knowing peak
times of services utilization can save the bandwidth/cost factors. The
proposed architecture can be customized according to the network
usage priorities so as to considerably improve a network-s QoS
performance.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the ability
of a genetic programming (GP) algorithm to evolve a team of data
classification models. The GP algorithm used in this work is
“multigene" in nature, i.e. there are multiple tree structures (genes)
that are used to represent team members. Each team member assigns
a data sample to one of a fixed set of output classes. A majority vote,
determined using the mode (highest occurrence) of classes predicted
by the individual genes, is used to determine the final class
prediction. The algorithm is tested on a binary classification problem.
For the case study investigated, compact classification models are
obtained with comparable accuracy to alternative approaches.
Abstract: The designing of charge pump with high gain Op-
Amp is a challenging task for getting faithful response .Design of
high performance phase locked loop require ,a design of high
performance charge pump .We have designed a operational amplifier
for reducing the error caused by high speed glitch in a transistor and
mismatch currents . A separate Op-Amp has designed in 180 nm
CMOS technology by CADENCE VIRTUOSO tool. This paper
describes the design of high performance charge pump for GHz
CMOS PLL targeting orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
(OFDM) application. A high speed low power consumption Op-Amp
with more than 500 MHz bandwidth has designed for increasing the
speed of charge pump in Phase locked loop.
Abstract: System is using multiple processors for computing and information processing, is increasing rapidly speed operation of these systems compared with single processor systems, very significant impact on system performance is increased .important differences to yield a single multi-processor cpu, the scheduling policies, to reduce the implementation time of all processes. Notwithstanding the famous algorithms such as SPT, LPT, LSPT and RLPT for scheduling and there, but none led to the answer are not optimal.In this paper scheduling using genetic algorithms and innovative way to finish the whole process faster that we do and the result compared with three algorithms we mentioned.
Abstract: By taking advantage of computer-s processing power, an unlimited number of variations and parameters in both spatial and environmental can be provided while following the same set of rules and constraints. This paper focuses on using the tools of parametric urbanism towards a more responsive environmental and sustainable urban morphology. It presents an understanding to Parametric Urban Comfort Envelope (PUCE) as an interactive computational assessment urban model. In addition, it investigates the applicability potentials of this model to generate an optimized urban form to Borg El Arab city (a new Egyptian Community) concerning the human comfort values specially wind and solar envelopes. Finally, this paper utilizes its application outcomes -both visual and numerical- to extend the designer-s limitations by decrease the concern of controlling and manipulation of geometry, and increase the designer-s awareness about the various potentials of using the parametric tools to create relationships that generate multiple geometric alternatives.
Abstract: Intelligent Video-Surveillance (IVS) systems are
being more and more popular in security applications. The analysis
and recognition of abnormal behaviours in a video sequence has
gradually drawn the attention in the field of IVS, since it allows
filtering out a large number of useless information, which guarantees
the high efficiency in the security protection, and save a lot of human
and material resources. We present in this paper ADABeV, an
intelligent video-surveillance framework for event recognition in
crowded scene to detect the abnormal human behaviour. This
framework is attended to be able to achieve real-time alarming,
reducing the lags in traditional monitoring systems. This architecture
proposal addresses four main challenges: behaviour understanding in
crowded scenes, hard lighting conditions, multiple input kinds of
sensors and contextual-based adaptability to recognize the active
context of the scene.