Abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the
mucoadhesion and the release of nicotinamide gel formulations using
in vitro methods. An agar plate technique was used to investigate the
adhesiveness of the gels whereas a diffusion apparatus was employed
to determine the release of nicotinamide from the gels. In this
respect, 10% w/w nicotinamide gels containing bioadhesive
polymers: Carbopol 934P (0.5-2% w/w), hydroxypropylmethyl
cellulose (HPMC) (4-10% w/w), sodium carboxymethyl cellulose
(SCMC) (4-6% w/w) and methylcellulose 4000 (MC) (3-5% w/w)
were prepared. The gel formulations had pH values in the range of
7.14 - 8.17, which were considered appropriate to oral mucosa
application. In general, the rank order of pH values appeared to be
SCMC > MC4000 > HPMC > Carbopol 934P. Types and
concentrations of polymers used somewhat affected the
adhesiveness. It was found that anionic polymers (Carbopol 934 and
SCMC) adhered more firmly to the agar plate than the neutral
polymers (HPMC and MC 4000). The formulation containing 0.5%
Carbopol 934P (F1) showed the highest release rate. With the
exception of the formulation F1, the neutral polymers tended to give
higher relate rates than the anionic polymers. For oral tissue
treatment, the optimum has to be balanced between the residence
time (adhesiveness) of the formulations and the release rate of the
drug. The formulations containing the anionic polymers: Carbopol
934P or SCMC possessed suitable physical properties (appearance,
pH and viscosity). In addition, for anionic polymer formulations,
justifiable mucoadhesive properties and reasonable release rates of
nicotinamide were achieved. Accordingly, these gel formulations
may be applied for the treatment of oral mucosal lesions.
Abstract: As increasing importance of symbiosis and cooperation among mobile communication industries, the mobile ecosystem has been especially highlighted in academia and practice. The structure of mobile ecosystem is quite complex and the ecological role of actors is important to understand that structure. In this respect, this study aims to explore structure of mobile ecosystem in the case of Korea using inter-industry network analysis. Then, the ecological roles in mobile ecosystem are identified using centrality measures as a result of network analysis: degree of centrality, closeness, and betweenness. The result shows that the manufacturing and service industries are separate. Also, the ecological roles of some actors are identified based on the characteristics of ecological terms: keystone, niche, and dominator. Based on the result of this paper, we expect that the policy makers can formulate the future of mobile industry and healthier mobile ecosystem can be constructed.
Abstract: Trauma in early life is widely regarded as a cause for
adult mental health problems. This study explores the role of
secondary trauma on later functioning in a sample of 359 university
students enrolled in undergraduate psychology classes in the United
States. Participants were initially divided into four groups based on
1) having directly experienced trauma (assaultive violence), 2)
having directly experienced trauma and secondary traumatization
through the unanticipated death of a close friend or family member
or witnessing of an injury or shocking even), 3) having no
experience of direct trauma but having experienced indirect trauma
(secondary trauma), or 4) reporting no exposure. Participants
completed a battery of measures on concepts associated with
psychological functioning which included measures of
psychological well-being, problem solving, coping and resiliency.
Findings discuss differences in psychological functioning and
resilience based on participants who experienced secondary
traumatization and assaultive violence versus secondary
traumatization alone.
Abstract: Palm oil could be converted to cocoa butter equivalent by lipase-catalyzed interesterification. The objective of this research was to investigate the structure modification of palm oil to cocoa butter equivalent using Carica papaya lipase –catalyzed interesterification. The study showed that the compositions of cocoa butter equivalent were affected by acyl donor sources, substrate ratio, initial water of enzyme, reaction time, reaction temperature and the amount of enzyme. Among three acyl donors tested (methyl stearate, ethyl stearate and stearic acid), methyl stearate appeared to be the best acyl donor for incorporation to palm oil structure. The best reaction conditions for cocoa butter equivalent production were : substrate ratio (palm oil : methyl stearate, mol/mol) at 1 : 4, water activity of enzyme at 0.11, reaction time at 4 h, reaction temperature at 45 ° C and 18% by weight of the enzyme. The chemical and physical properties of cocoa butter equivalent were 9.75 ± 0.41% free fatty acid, 44.89 ± 0.84 iodine number, 193.19 ± 0.78 sponification value and melting point at 37-39 °C.
Abstract: The common practice of operating S-rotor is in an
open environment; however there are times when the rotor is
installed in a bounded environment and there might be changes in the
performance of the rotor. This paper presents the changes in the
performance of S-rotor when operated in bounded flows. The
investigation was conducted experimentally to compare the
performance of the rotors in bounded environment against open
environment. Three different rotors models were designed, fabricated
and subjected to experimental measurements. All of the three models
were having 600 mm height and 300 mm Diameter. They were tested
in three different flow environments; namely: partially bounded
environment, fully bounded environment and open environment.
Rotors were found to have better starting up capabilities when
operated in bounded environment. Apart from that, all rotors manage
to achieve higher Power and Torque Coefficients at a higher Tip
Speed Ratio as compared to the open environment.
Abstract: An ethical mandate of the social work profession in the
United States is that BSW and MSW graduates are sufficiently
prepared to both understand diverse cultural values and beliefs and
offer services that are culturally sensitive and relevant to clients. This
skill set is particularly important for social workers in the 21st Century,
given the increasing globalization of the U.S. and world. The purpose
of this paper is to outline a pedagogical model for teaching cultural
competency that resulted in a significant increase in cultural
competency for MSW graduates at Western Kentucky University
(WKU). More specifically, this model is predicated on five specific
culturally sensitive principles and activities that were found to be
highly effective in conveying culturally relevant knowledge and skills
to MSW students at WKU. Future studies can assess the effectiveness
of these principles in other MSW programs across the U.S. and abroad.
Abstract: This paper presents a novel approach to assessing textile porosity by the application of the image analysis techniques. The images of different types of sample fabrics, taken through a microscope when the fabric is placed over a constant light source,transfer the problem into the image analysis domain. Indeed, porosity can thus be expressed in terms of a brightness percentage index calculated on the digital microscope image. Furthermore, it is meaningful to compare the brightness percentage index with the air permeability and the tightness indices of each fabric type. We have experimentally shown that there exists an approximately linear relation between brightness percentage and air permeability indices.
Abstract: Routing in mobile ad hoc networks is a challenging task because nodes are free to move randomly. In DSR like all On- Demand routing algorithms, route discovery mechanism is associated with great delay. More Clearly in DSR routing protocol to send route reply packet, when current route breaks, destination seeks a new route. In this paper we try to change route selection mechanism proactively. We also define a link stability parameter in which a stability value is assigned to each link. Given this feature, destination node can estimate stability of routes and can select the best and more stable route. Therefore we can reduce the delay and jitter of sending data packets.
Abstract: Intelligent tutoring systems constitute an evolution of computer-aided educational software. We present here the modules of an intelligent tutoring system for Automatic Control, developed in our department. Through the software application developed,students can perform complete automatic control laboratory experiments, either over the departmental local area network or over the Internet. Monitoring of access to the system (local as well as international), along with student performance statistics, has yielded strongly encouraging results (as of fall 2004), despite the advanced technical content of the presented paradigm, thus showing the potential of the system developed for education and for training.
Abstract: This paper deals with the problem of non-uniform
torsion in thin-walled elastic beams with asymmetric cross-section,
removing the basic concept of a fixed center of twist, necessary in the
Vlasov-s and Benscoter-s theories to obtain a warping stress field
equivalent to zero. In this new torsion/flexure theory, despite of the
classical ones, the warping function will punctually satisfy the first
indefinite equilibrium equation along the beam axis and it wont- be
necessary to introduce the classical congruence condition, to take into
account the effect of the beam restraints. The solution, based on the
Fourier development of the displacement field, is obtained assuming
that the applied external torque is constant along the beam axis and
on both beam ends the unit twist angle and the warping axial
displacement functions are totally restrained.
Finally, in order to verify the feasibility of the proposed method
and to compare it with the classical theories, two applications are
carried out. The first one, relative to an open profile, is necessary to
test the numerical method adopted to find the solution; the second
one, instead, is relative to a simplified containership section,
considered as full restrained in correspondence of two adjacent
transverse bulkheads.
Abstract: Enterprises need a strategic plan to retain their skillful employees and provide their career management, sustain their existence, to have growth and leadership qualities, to reach the objectives to increase the value of the enterprise and to not to be affected from changing demographic structure. In the cases when the long term career expectations of skillful employees are in integrity with the enterprise’s interests, skill management process is directly related to the career management. With a long term plan, the enterprises should cover the labor force need that may arise in the future by using systematic career development programs and be prepared against developments for all times. Skill management is considered as a practice with which career mobility is planned for the skillful employee to be prepared for high level positions. Career planning is the planning of an employee’s progress or promotion within an organization for which he works by developing his knowledge, skills, abilities and motives. Career planning is considered as an individual’s planning his future and the position which he wants to have, the area which he want to work in, the objectives which he want to reach. With the aim of contributing the abovementioned discussion process, career management concept and its perception manner are examined in this study in a comparative manner.
Abstract: Developing a nation geared by the principle of
sustainable development has been one of the piers in moulding a
greater nation for Malaysia since its independence. This is seen by
the act of joining the United Nations in 1957, just a month after
gaining their independence. The United Nations is an international
organization that aims to unite the nations worldwide based on
justice, human dignity and human well-being. Malaysia has
established a local body called the United Nations Malaysia which
collaborates with the government to accomplish the aim of
supporting sustainable development in Malaysia. Agenda 21 is an
international document produced from the Earth Summit providing
guidelines of implementing sustainable development globally,
nationally and locally. Initiatives of applying Agenda 21 in Malaysia
have been taken by the government and non-profit organizations to
expose issues regarding sustainable development and providing
environmental education to the community to increase awareness
towards environmental protection.
Abstract: The lack of security obstructs a large scale de- ployment of the multicast communication model. There- fore, a host of research works have been achieved in order to deal with several issues relating to securing the multicast, such as confidentiality, authentication, non-repudiation, in- tegrity and access control. Many applications require au- thenticating the source of the received traffic, such as broadcasting stock quotes and videoconferencing and hence source authentication is a required component in the whole multicast security architecture. In this paper, we propose a new and efficient source au- thentication protocol which guarantees non-repudiation for multicast flows, and tolerates packet loss. We have simu- lated our protocol using NS-2, and the simulation results show that the protocol allows to achieve improvements over protocols fitting into the same category.
Abstract: Availability of raw materials is important for
Indonesia as a furniture exporting country. Teak log as raw materials
is supplied to the furniture industry by Perum Perhutani (PP). PP
needs to involve carbon trading for nature conservation. PP also has
an obligation in the Corporate Social Responsibility program. PP and
furniture industry also must prosecute the regulations related to
ecological issues and labor rights. This study has the objective to
create the relationship model between supplier and manufacturer to
fulfill teak log demand that involving teak forest carbon
sequestration. A model is formulated as Goal Programming to get the
favorable solution for teak log procurement and support carbon
sequestration that considering economical, ecological, and social
aspects of both supplier and manufacturer. The results show that the
proposed model can be used to determine the teak log quantity
involving carbon trading to achieve the seven goals to be satisfied the
sustainability considerations.
Abstract: Number Link is a Japanese logic puzzle where pairs of same numbers are connected using lines. Number Link can be regarded as a dynamic multiple travelers, multiple entries and exits maze, where the walls and passages are dynamically changing as the travelers move. In this paper, we apply the Tremaux’s algorithm to solve Number Link puzzles of size 8x8, 10x10 and 15x20. The algorithm works well and produces a solution for puzzles of size 8x8 and 10x10. However, solving a puzzle of size 15x20 requires high computer processing power and is time consuming.
Abstract: Measures of complexity and entropy have not converged to a single quantitative description of levels of organization of complex systems. The need for such a measure is increasingly necessary in all disciplines studying complex systems. To address this problem, starting from the most fundamental principle in Physics, here a new measure for quantity of organization and rate of self-organization in complex systems based on the principle of least (stationary) action is applied to a model system - the central processing unit (CPU) of computers. The quantity of organization for several generations of CPUs shows a double exponential rate of change of organization with time. The exact functional dependence has a fine, S-shaped structure, revealing some of the mechanisms of self-organization. The principle of least action helps to explain the mechanism of increase of organization through quantity accumulation and constraint and curvature minimization with an attractor, the least average sum of actions of all elements and for all motions. This approach can help describe, quantify, measure, manage, design and predict future behavior of complex systems to achieve the highest rates of self organization to improve their quality. It can be applied to other complex systems from Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Ecology, Economics, Cities, network theory and others where complex systems are present.
Abstract: A new method, based on the normal shrink and
modified version of Katssagelous and Lay, is proposed for multiscale
blind image restoration. The method deals with the noise and blur in
the images. It is shown that the normal shrink gives the highest S/N
(signal to noise ratio) for image denoising process. The multiscale
blind image restoration is divided in two sections. The first part of
this paper proposes normal shrink for image denoising and the
second part of paper proposes modified version of katssagelous and
Lay for blur estimation and the combination of both methods to reach
a multiscale blind image restoration.
Abstract: This research studied recycled waste by the Recyclable Material Bank Project of 4 universities in the central region of Thailand for the evaluation of reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared with landfilling activity during July 2012 to June 2013. The results showed that the projects collected total amount of recyclable wastes of about 911,984.80 kilograms. Office paper had the largest amount among these recycled wastes (50.68% of total recycled waste). Groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low according to their amount as paper, plastic, glass, mixed recyclables, and metal, respectively. The project reduced greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to about 2814.969 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The most significant recycled waste that affects the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is office paper which is 70.16% of total reduced greenhouse gasses emission. According to amount of reduced greenhouse gasses emission, groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low significances as paper, plastic, metals, mixed recyclables, and glass, respectively.
Abstract: B2E portals represent a new class of web-based
information technologies which many organisations are introducing
in recent years to stay in touch with their distributed workforces and
enable them to perform value added activities for organisations.
However, actual usage of these emerging systems (measured using
suitable instruments) has not been reported in the contemporary
scholarly literature. We argue that many of the instruments to
measure usage of various types of IT-enabled information systems
are not directly applicable for B2E portals because they were
developed for the context of traditional mainframe and PC-based
information systems. It is therefore important to develop a new
instrument for web-based portal technologies aimed at employees. In
this article, we report on the development and initial qualitative
evaluation of an instrument that seeks to operationaise a set of
independent factors affecting the usage of portals by employees. The
proposed instrument is useful to IT/e-commerce researchers and
practitioners alike as it enhances their confidence in predicting
employee usage of portals in organisations.
Abstract: In this study, we consider a special situation that only a pair of hydrophone on a moving underwater vehicle is available to localize a fixed acoustic source of far distance. The trigonometry can be used in this situation by using two different DOA of different locations. Notice that the distance between the two locations should be measured. Therefore, we assume that the vehicle is sailing straightly and the moving distance for each unit time is measured continuously. However, the accuracy of the localization using the trigonometry is highly dependent to the accuracy of DOAs and measured moving distances. Therefore, we proposed another method based on the extended Kalman filter that gives more robust and accurate localization result.