Abstract: In this article, we propose a new surgical device for
circumferentially excision of high anal fistulas in a minimally
invasive manner. The new apparatus works on the basis of axially
rotating and moving a tubular blade along a fistulous tract
straightened using a rigid straight guidewire. As the blade moves
along the tract, its sharp circular cutting edge circumferentially
separates approximately 2.25 mm thickness of tract encircling the
rigid guidewire. We used the new set to excise two anal fistulas in a
62-year-old male patient, an extrasphincteric type and a long tract
with no internal opening. With regard to the results of this test, the
new device can be considered as a sphincter preserving mechanism
for treatment of high anal fistulas. Consequently, a major reduction
in the risk of fecal incontinence, recurrence rate, convalescence
period and patient morbidity may be achieved using the new device
for treatment of fistula-in-ano.
Abstract: Problem Statement:Rapid technological developments of the 21st century have advanced our daily lives in various ways. Particularly in education, students frequently utilize technological resources to aid their homework and to access information. listen to radio or watch television (26.9 %) and e-mails (34.2 %) [26]. Not surprisingly, the increase in the use of technologies also resulted in an increase in the use of e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, mobile phones, mobile phone cameras and web sites by adolescents to bully peers. As cyber bullying occurs in the cyber space, lesser access to technologies would mean lesser cyber-harm. Therefore, the frequency of technology use is a significant predictor of cyber bullying and cyber victims. Cyber bullies try to harm the victim using various media. These tools include sending derogatory texts via mobile phones, sending threatening e-mails and forwarding confidential emails to everyone on the contacts list. Another way of cyber bullying is to set up a humiliating website and invite others to post comments. In other words, cyber bullies use e-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging, pagers, mobile texts and online voting tools to humiliate and frighten others and to create a sense of helplessness. No matter what type of bullying it is, it negatively affects its victims. Children who bully exhibit more emotional inhibition and attribute themselves more negative self-statements compared to non-bullies. Students whose families are not sympathetic and who receive lower emotional support are more prone to bully their peers. Bullies have authoritarian families and do not get along well with them. The family is the place where the children-s physical, social and psychological needs are satisfied and where their personalities develop. As the use of the internet became prevalent so did parents- restrictions on their children-s internet use. However, parents are unaware of the real harm. Studies that explain the relationship between parental attitudes and cyber bullying are scarce in literature. Thus, this study aims to investigate the relationship between cyber bullying and parental attitudes in the primary school. Purpose of Study: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between cyber bullying and parental attitudes. A second aim was to determine whether parental attitudes could predict cyber bullying and if so which variables could predict it significantly. Methods:The study had a cross-sectional and relational survey model. A demographics information form, questions about cyber bullying and a Parental Attitudes Inventory were conducted with a total of 346 students (189 females and 157 males) registered at various primary schools. Data was analysed by multiple regression analysis using the software package SPSS 16.
Abstract: This paper considers the autonomous navigation
problem of multiple n-link nonholonomic mobile manipulators within
an obstacle-ridden environment. We present a set of nonlinear
acceleration controllers, derived from the Lyapunov-based control
scheme, which generates collision-free trajectories of the mobile
manipulators from initial configurations to final configurations in a
constrained environment cluttered with stationary solid objects of
different shapes and sizes. We demonstrate the efficiency of the
control scheme and the resulting acceleration controllers of the
mobile manipulators with results through computer simulations of an
interesting scenario.
Abstract: Detection, feature extraction and pose estimation of
people in images and video is made challenging by the variability of
human appearance, the complexity of natural scenes and the high
dimensionality of articulated body models and also the important
field in Image, Signal and Vision Computing in recent years. In this
paper, four types of people in 2D dimension image will be tested and
proposed. The system will extract the size and the advantage of them
(such as: tall fat, short fat, tall thin and short thin) from image. Fat
and thin, according to their result from the human body that has been
extract from image, will be obtained. Also the system extract every
size of human body such as length, width and shown them in output.
Abstract: A neurofuzzy approach for a given set of input-output training data is proposed in two phases. Firstly, the data set is partitioned automatically into a set of clusters. Then a fuzzy if-then rule is extracted from each cluster to form a fuzzy rule base. Secondly, a fuzzy neural network is constructed accordingly and parameters are tuned to increase the precision of the fuzzy rule base. This network is able to learn and optimize the rule base of a Sugeno like Fuzzy inference system using Hybrid learning algorithm, which combines gradient descent, and least mean square algorithm. This proposed neurofuzzy system has the advantage of determining the number of rules automatically and also reduce the number of rules, decrease computational time, learns faster and consumes less memory. The authors also investigate that how neurofuzzy techniques can be applied in the area of control theory to design a fuzzy controller for linear and nonlinear dynamic systems modelling from a set of input/output data. The simulation analysis on a wide range of processes, to identify nonlinear components on-linely in a control system and a benchmark problem involving the prediction of a chaotic time series is carried out. Furthermore, the well-known examples of linear and nonlinear systems are also simulated under the Matlab/Simulink environment. The above combination is also illustrated in modeling the relationship between automobile trips and demographic factors.
Abstract: The mechanical properties of granular solids are
dependent on the flow of stresses from one particle to another
through inter-particle contact. Although some experimental methods
have been used to study the inter-particle contacts in the past,
preliminary work with these techniques indicated that they do not
have the necessary resolution to distinguish between those contacts
that transmit the load and those that do not, especially for systems
with a wide distribution of particle sizes. In this research, computer
simulations are used to study the nature and distribution of contacts
in a compact with wide particle size distribution, representative of
aggregate size distribution used in asphalt pavement construction.
The packing fraction, the mean number of contacts and the
distribution of contacts were studied for different scenarios. A
methodology to distinguish and compute the fraction of load-bearing
particles and the fraction of space-filling particles (particles that do
not transmit any force) is needed for further investigation.
Abstract: Cameras are often mounted on platforms that canmove like rovers, booms, gantries and aircraft. People operate suchplatforms to capture desired views of scene or target. To avoidcollisions with the environment and occlusions, such platforms oftenpossess redundant degrees-of-freedom. As a result, manipulatingsuch platforms demands much skill. Visual-servoing some degrees-of-freedom may reduce operator burden and improve tracking per-formance. This concept, which we call human-in-the-loop visual-servoing, is demonstrated in this paper and applies a Α-β-γ filter and feedforward controller to a broadcast camera boom.
Abstract: In this paper, Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage
(SAGD) is introduced and its advantages over ordinary steam
injection is demonstrated. A simple simulation model is built and
three scenarios of natural production, ordinary steam injection, and
SAGD are compared in terms of their cumulative oil production and
cumulative oil steam ratio. The results show that SAGD can
significantly enhance oil production in quite a short period of time.
However, since the distance between injection and production wells
is short, the oil to steam ratio decreases gradually through time.
Abstract: In this paper, we present a system for content-based
retrieval of large database of classified satellite images, based on
user's relevance feedback (RF).Through our proposed system, we
divide each satellite image scene into small subimages, which stored
in the database. The modified radial basis functions neural network
has important role in clustering the subimages of database according
to the Euclidean distance between the query feature vector and the
other subimages feature vectors. The advantage of using RF
technique in such queries is demonstrated by analyzing the database
retrieval results.
Abstract: Perhaps no single issue has been cited as either the root
cause and / or the greatest challenge to the restructured power system then the lack of adequate reliable transmission. Probabilistic transmission planning has become increasingly necessary and important in recent
years. The transmission planning analysis carried out by the authors,
spans a 10-year horizon, taking into consideration a value of 2 % load
increase / year at each consumer. Taking into consideration this increased
load, a probabilistic power flow was carried out, all the system components
being regarded from probabilistic point of view. Several contingencies
have been generated, for assessing the security of the power system. The results have been analyzed and several important conclusions were pointed. The objective is to achieve a network that works without limit violations for all (or most of) scenario realizations. The case study is represented by the IEEE 14 buses test power system.
Abstract: Malware is software which was invented and meant for doing harms on computers. Malware is becoming a significant threat in computer network nowadays. Malware attack is not just only involving financial lost but it can also cause fatal errors which may cost lives in some cases. As new Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) emerged, many people believe this protocol could solve most malware propagation issues due to its broader addressing scheme. As IPv6 is still new compares to native IPv4, some transition mechanisms have been introduced to promote smoother migration. Unfortunately, these transition mechanisms allow some malwares to propagate its attack from IPv4 to IPv6 network environment. In this paper, a proof of concept shall be presented in order to show that some existing IPv4 malware detection technique need to be improvised in order to detect malware attack in dual-stack network more efficiently. A testbed of dual-stack network environment has been deployed and some genuine malware have been released to observe their behaviors. The results between these different scenarios will be analyzed and discussed further in term of their behaviors and propagation methods. The results show that malware behave differently on IPv6 from the IPv4 network protocol on the dual-stack network environment. A new detection technique is called for in order to cater this problem in the near future.
Abstract: The requirements analysis, modeling, and simulation have consistently been one of the main challenges during the development of complex systems. The scenarios and the state machines are two successful models to describe the behavior of an interactive system. The scenarios represent examples of system execution in the form of sequences of messages exchanged between objects and are a partial view of the system. In contrast, state machines can represent the overall system behavior. The automation of processing scenarios in the state machines provide some answers to various problems such as system behavior validation and scenarios consistency checking. In this paper, we propose a method for translating scenarios in state machines represented by Discreet EVent Specification and procedure to detect implied scenarios. Each induced DEVS model represents the behavior of an object of the system. The global system behavior is described by coupling the atomic DEVS models and validated through simulation. We improve the validation process with integrating formal methods to eliminate logical inconsistencies in the global model. For that end, we use the Z notation.
Abstract: The Expert Witness Testimony in the Battered
Woman Syndrome Expert witness testimony (EWT) is a kind of
information given by an expert specialized in the field (here in BWS)
to the jury in order to help the court better understand the case. EWT
does not always work in favor of the battered women. Two main
decision-making models are discussed in the paper: the Mathematical
model and the Explanation model. In the first model, the jurors
calculate ″the importance and strength of each piece of evidence″
whereas in the second model they try to integrate the EWT with the
evidence and create a coherent story that would describe the crime.
The jury often misunderstands and misjudges battered women for
their action (or in this case inaction). They assume that these women
are masochists and accept being mistreated for if a man abuses a
woman constantly, she should and could divorce him or simply leave
at any time. The research in the domain found that indeed, expert
witness testimony has a powerful influence on juror’s decisions thus
its quality needs to be further explored. One of the important factors
that need further studies is a bias called the dispositionist worldview
(a belief that what happens to people is of their own doing). This
kind of attributional bias represents a tendency to think that a
person’s behavior is due to his or her disposition, even when the
behavior is clearly attributed to the situation. Hypothesis The
hypothesis of this paper is that if a juror has a dispositionist
worldview then he or she will blame the rape victim for triggering the
assault. The juror would therefore commit the fundamental
attribution error and believe that the victim’s disposition caused the
rape and not the situation she was in. Methods The subjects in the
study were 500 randomly sampled undergraduate students from
McGill, Concordia, Université de Montréal and UQAM.
Dispositional Worldview was scored on the Dispositionist
Worldview Questionnaire. After reading the Rape Scenarios, each
student was asked to play the role of a juror and answer a
questionnaire consisting of 7 questions about the responsibility,
causality and fault of the victim. Results The results confirm the
hypothesis which states that if a juror has a dispositionist worldview
then he or she will blame the rape victim for triggering the assault.
By doing so, the juror commits the fundamental attribution error
because he will believe that the victim’s disposition, and not the
constraints or opportunities of the situation, caused the rape scenario.
Abstract: This study was carried out to evaluate concentration
of micro minerals (Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu and Se) of forages and their
distribution in fiber fraction (neutral detergent fiber/NDF and acid
detergent fiber/ADF) in South Sumatra during dry and rainy seasons.
Seven species of commonly forages namely Axonopus compressus,
Panicum maximum, Pennisetum purpuphoides, Leucaena
leucocephala, Centrocema pubescens, Calopogonium mucunoides
and Acacia mangium were collected at native pasture during rainy
and dry seasons. The results showed that micro minerals
concentration of forages and their distribution in fiber fraction varied
among species and season. In general, concentration of micro
minerals was slightly higher in rainy season compared to dry season
either in grass or legumes forages. In grass, concentration of Fe and
Mn were above the critical level, while 33.3 %, 100 % and 16.7 % of
evaluated grass were deficient in Zn, Cu and Se. Data on legume
forages show that 75 % of legumes were deficient in Zn and Mn, 62.5
% deficient in Cu and 50 % deficient in Se. There was no species of
legume deficient in Fe. Distribution of micro minerals in NDF and
ADF were also significantly affected by species and season and
depends on the kinds of element measured. Generally, micro minerals
were associated in fiber fractions much higher during dry season
compared to rainy season. Iron (Fe) and selenium (Se) in forages
were the highest elements associated in NDF and ADF, while the
lowest was found in Copper (Cu).
Abstract: Nowadays Multilevel inverters are widely using in various applications. Modulation strategy at fundamental switching frequency like, SHEPWM is prominent technique to eliminate lower order of harmonics with less switching losses and better harmonic profile. The equations which are formed by SHE are highly nonlinear transcendental in nature, there may exist single, multiple or even no solutions for a particular MI. However, some loads such as electrical drives, it is required to operate in whole range of MI. In order to solve SHE equations for whole range of MI, intelligent techniques are well suited to solve equations so as to produce lest %THDV. Hence, this paper uses Continuous genetic algorithm for minimising harmonics. This paper also presents wavelet based analysis of harmonics. The developed algorithm is simulated and %THD from FFT analysis and Wavelet analysis are compared. MATLAB programming environment and SIMULINK models are used whenever necessary.
Abstract: Using 1km grid datasets representing monthly mean
precipitation, monthly mean temperature, and dry matter production
(DMP), we considered the regional plant production ability in
Southeast and South Asia, and also employed pixel-by-pixel
correlation analysis to assess the intensity of relation between climate
factors and plant production. While annual DMP in South Asia was
approximately less than 2,000kg, the one in most part of Southeast
Asia exceeded 2,500 - 3,000kg. It suggested that plant production in
Southeast Asia was superior to South Asia, however, Rain-Use
Efficiency (RUE) representing dry matter production per 1mm
precipitation showed that inland of Indochina Peninsula and India
were higher than islands in Southeast Asia. By the results of
correlation analysis between climate factors and DMP, while the area
in most parts of Indochina Peninsula indicated negative correlation
coefficients between DMP and precipitation or temperature, the area
in Malay Peninsula and islands showed negative correlation to
precipitation and positive one to temperature, and most part of India
dominating South Asia showed positive to precipitation and negative
to temperature. In addition, the areas where the correlation coefficients
exceeded |0.8| were regarded as “susceptible" to climate factors, and
the areas smaller than |0.2| were “insusceptible". By following the
discrimination, the map implying expected impacts by climate change
was provided.
Abstract: Construction of portable device for fast analysis of energetic materials is described in this paper. The developed analytical system consists of two main parts: a miniaturized microcolumn liquid chromatograph of unique construction and original chemiluminescence detector. This novel portable device is able to determine selectively most of nitramine- and nitroester-based explosives as well as inorganic nitrates at trace concentrations in water or soil extracts in less than 8 minutes.
Abstract: Hazardous Material transportation by road is coupled
with inherent risk of accidents causing loss of lives, grievous injuries,
property losses and environmental damages. The most common type
of hazmat road accident happens to be the releases (78%) of
hazardous substances, followed by fires (28%), explosions (14%) and
vapour/ gas clouds (6 %.).
The paper is discussing initially the probable 'Impact Zones'
likely to be caused by one flammable (LPG) and one toxic (ethylene
oxide) chemicals being transported through a sizable segment of a
State Highway connecting three notified Industrial zones in Surat
district in Western India housing 26 MAH industrial units. Three
'hotspots' were identified along the highway segment depending on
the particular chemical traffic and the population distribution within
500 meters on either sides. The thermal radiation and explosion
overpressure have been calculated for LPG / Ethylene Oxide BLEVE
scenarios along with toxic release scenario for ethylene oxide.
Besides, the dispersion calculations for ethylene oxide toxic release
have been made for each 'hotspot' location and the impact zones
have been mapped for the LOC concentrations. Subsequently, the
maximum Initial Isolation and the protective zones were calculated
based on ERPG-3 and ERPG-2 values of ethylene oxide respectively
which are estimated taking the worst case scenario under worst
weather conditions. The data analysis will be helpful to the local
administration in capacity building with respect to rescue /
evacuation and medical preparedness and quantitative inputs to
augment the District Offsite Emergency Plan document.
Abstract: Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is the
coherent oscillation of conductive electrons confined in noble
metallic nanoparticles excited by electromagnetic radiation, and
nanosphere lithography (NSL) is one of the cost-effective methods to
fabricate metal nanostructures for LSPR. NSL can be categorized
into two major groups: dispersed NSL and closely pack NSL. In
recent years, gold nanocrescents and gold nanoholes with vertical
sidewalls fabricated by dispersed NSL, and silver nanotriangles and
gold nanocaps on silica nanospheres fabricated by closely pack NSL,
have been reported for LSPR biosensing. This paper introduces
several novel gold nanostructures fabricated by NSL in LSPR
applications, including 3D nanostructures obtained by evaporating
gold obliquely on dispersed nanospheres, nanoholes with slant
sidewalls, and patchy nanoparticles on closely packed nanospheres,
all of which render satisfactory sensitivity for LSPR sensing. Since
the LSPR spectrum is very sensitive to the shape of the metal
nanostructures, formulas are derived and software is developed for
calculating the profiles of the obtainable metal nanostructures by
NSL, for different nanosphere masks with different fabrication
conditions. The simulated profiles coincide well with the profiles of
the fabricated gold nanostructures observed under scanning electron
microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM), which
proves that the software is a useful tool for the process design of
different LSPR nanostructures.
Abstract: To evaluate genetic variation of wheat (Triticum
aestivum) affected by heat and drought stress on eight Australian
wheat genotypes that are parents of Doubled Haploid (HD) mapping
populations at the vegetative stage, the water stress experiment was
conducted at 65% field capacity in growth room. Heat stress
experiment was conducted in the research field under irrigation over
summer. Result show that water stress decreased dry shoot weight
and RWC but increased osmolarity and means of Fv/Fm values in all
varieties except for Krichauff. Krichauff and Kukri had the
maximum RWC under drought stress. Trident variety was shown
maximum WUE, osmolarity (610 mM/Kg), dry mater, quantum yield
and Fv/Fm 0.815 under water stress condition. However, the
recovery of quantum yield was apparent between 4 to 7 days after
stress in all varieties. Nevertheless, increase in water stress after that
lead to strong decrease in quantum yield. There was a genetic
variation for leaf pigments content among varieties under heat stress.
Heat stress decreased significantly the total chlorophyll content that
measured by SPAD. Krichauff had maximum value of Anthocyanin
content (2.978 A/g FW), chlorophyll a+b (2.001 mg/g FW) and
chlorophyll a (1.502 mg/g FW). Maximum value of chlorophyll b
(0.515 mg/g FW) and Carotenoids (0.234 mg/g FW) content
belonged to Kukri. The quantum yield of all varieties decreased
significantly, when the weather temperature increased from 28 ÔùªC to
36 ÔùªC during the 6 days. However, the recovery of quantum yield
was apparent after 8th day in all varieties. The maximum decrease
and recovery in quantum yield was observed in Krichauff. Drought
and heat tolerant and moderately tolerant wheat genotypes were
included Trident, Krichauff, Kukri and RAC875. Molineux, Berkut
and Excalibur were clustered into most sensitive and moderately
sensitive genotypes. Finally, the results show that there was a
significantly genetic variation among the eight varieties that were
studied under heat and water stress.