Search results for: cross junction

Authors: Niranjani Ruba Pandian

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In today’s multicultural global business community, most of the businesses and industries are linked with various countries in which different nationalities have different roles and responsibilities throughout the project. The purpose of this research is to examine the cross-cultural challenges between Indian and French and the ways to minimize these challenges to manage effectively the cross-cultural aspect of human resources for the success of global business in an automotive industry. The conducted study utilized quantitative methodology to analyze the data on Indian and French employees' perceptions of 6 cultural dimensions such as power versus distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty versus avoidance, pragmatic versus normative and indulgence versus restraint. Employees of 4 multinational companies filled in the questionnaire based on the 5-point Likert scale to present quantitative results. The data was analysed with the correlation and multiple regression statistical analyses. It was found that Indian and French have major gap in uncertainty versus avoidance followed by individualism versus collectivism. However, this article highlights the way to minimize these gaps by adopting certain sequenced methodologies.

Keywords: automotive industry, cross cultural challenges, globalization, global business

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Authors: Mohsen S. Sajadieha, Danyar Molavia

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In this paper, a truck scheduling problem is investigated at a two-touch cross-docking center with due dates for outbound trucks as a hard constraint. The objective is to minimize the total cost comprising penalty and delivery cost of delayed shipments. The sequence of unloading shipments is considered and is assumed that shipments are sent to shipping dock doors immediately after unloading and a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) policy is considered for loading the shipments. A mixed integer programming model is developed for the proposed model. Two meta-heuristic algorithms including genetic algorithm (GA) and variable neighborhood search (VNS) are developed to solve the problem in medium and large sized scales. The numerical results show that increase in due dates for outbound trucks has a crucial impact on the reduction of penalty costs of delayed shipments. In addition, by increase the due dates, the improvement in the objective function arises on average in comparison with the situation that the cross-dock is multi-touch and shipments are sent to shipping dock doors only after unloading the whole inbound truck.

Keywords: cross-docking, truck scheduling, fixed due date, door assignment

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Authors: C. Labate, M. P. De Santo, G. Lombardo, R. Barberi, M. Lombardo, N. M. Ziebarth

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In the past decades, the importance of corneal biomechanics in the normal and pathological functions of the eye has gained its credibility. In fact, the mechanical properties of biological tissues are essential to their physiological function. We are convinced that an improved understanding of the nanomechanics of corneal tissue is important to understand the basic molecular interactions between collagen fibrils. Ultimately, this information will help in the development of new techniques to cure ocular diseases and in the development of biomimetic materials. Therefore, nanotechnology techniques are powerful tools and, in particular, Atomic Force Microscopy has demonstrated its ability to reliably characterize the biomechanics of biological tissues either at the micro- or nano-level. In the last years, we have investigated the mechanical anisotropy of the human corneal stroma at both the tissue and molecular levels. In particular, we have focused on corneal cross-linking, an established procedure aimed at slowing down or halting the progression of the disease known as keratoconus. We have obtained the first evidence that riboflavin/UV-A corneal cross-linking induces both an increase of the elastic response and a decrease of the viscous response of the most anterior stroma at the scale of stromal molecular interactions.

Keywords: atomic force spectroscopy, corneal stroma, cross-linking, viscoelasticity

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Authors: Yingyi Luo

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Cross-border surrogacy is seen by many as a market in which women are bought and sold commodities at risk of trafficking. A surrogate can be framed as either a fully acknowledged subject, with whom intended parents engage in cross-border surrogacy—or as a tool utilized by intended parents and surrogacy facilitators in the furtherance of their own objectives. In order to identify which frame prevails, this paper applies subjectivity theory to an empirical study of cross-border surrogacy facilitated by facilitators in Australia analysing interviews with surrogate agents, counsellors and lawyers, and observations at trade show. The aim of the paper is to advance understanding of the dynamics of the relationship between intended parents, surrogates, and surrogacy facilitators by collecting new data and applying unique framework. As dominant players, surrogacy facilitators have a significant impact on determining the nature of cross-border surrogacy. However, little is known concerning the manner in which facilitators influence the inter-subjectivity between surrogate mothers and intended parents. Thus, this paper intends to identify how facilitators depict surrogate mothers, the degree to which their perspectives bear upon both the subjectivity of the surrogate mother and the relationship of intended parents with surrogate mothers. For the purpose of introducing and developing this framework in the context of cross-border surrogacy, this paper borrows from the work of theorists not often mentioned in bioethics, including Jacques Lacan, Marco Cavallaro, Michel Foucault, and others. It also applies the concept of 'the gaze' along with the dynamic of 'self' and 'other' to the cross-border surrogacy arrangement. Applying the concept of the gaze can provide a new way to interpret the power dynamic that plays out among surrogacy facilitators, intended parents, and surrogates within the commercial surrogacy arrangement and how the subjectivity is produced through the power. Viewing the relationships between the players in cross-border surrogacy through the lens of gaze theory, this paper finds that, in cross-border surrogacy, due to the structural power imbalance, affluent intended parents and surrogacy facilitators are possessors of the gaze, while surrogate mothers are under the thrall of the gaze. Specifically, facilitators frame surrogate mothers' reproductive abilities as commodities that intended parents can purchase to fulfil their urgent need to have children and experience full subjectivity, and they take a cut of the money that paid by intended parents. Therefore, commodification of the body results in degrading a surrogate mother (the object), reifying her as no more than a walking womb (the other), a process which is highly detrimental to the self of surrogate mothers. This relationship, formalized through contractual means, allows intended parents and facilitators to take advantage of surrogate mothers in the furtherance of their own objectives. This argument is enriched by new data from interviews and observations that provide nuance to this understanding of inter-subjectivity.

Keywords: cross-border surrogacy, facilitators, self, surrogate mothers

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Authors: Thomas Chinwe Urama, Patrick Oseloka Ezepue, Peters Chimezie Nnanwa

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This paper investigates the universal financial dynamics in two dominant stock markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, through an in-depth analysis of the cross-correlation matrix of price returns in Nigerian Stock Market (NSM) and Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), for the period 2009 to 2013. The strength of correlations between stocks is known to be higher in JSE than that of the NSM. Particularly important for modelling Nigerian derivatives in the future, the interactions of other stocks with the oil sector are weak, whereas the banking sector has strong positive interactions with the other sectors in the stock exchange. For the JSE, it is the oil sector and beverages that have greater sectorial correlations, instead of the banks which have the weaker correlation with other sectors in the stock exchange.

Keywords: random matrix theory, cross-correlations, emerging markets, option pricing, eigenvalues eigenvectors, inverse participation ratios and implied volatility

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Authors: Bui Phuong Linh, Yuki Sakakibara, Ryuto Tanaka, Elizabeth H. Pigney, Taishi Hashiguchi

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NASH is an increasingly prevalent chronic liver disease that can progress to hepatocellular carcinoma and now is attracting interest worldwide. The STAM™ model is a clinically-correlated murine NASH model which shows the same pathological progression as NASH patients and has been widely used for pharmacological and basic research. The multiple parallel hits hypothesis suggests abnormalities in adipocytokines, intestinal microflora, and endotoxins are intertwined and could contribute to the development of NASH. In fact, NASH patients often exhibit gut dysbiosis and dysfunction in adipose tissue and metabolism. However, the analysis of the STAM™ model has only focused on the liver. To clarify whether the STAM™ model can also mimic multiple pathways of NASH progression, we analyzed the organ crosstalk interactions between the liver and the gut and the phenotype of adipose tissue in the STAM™ model. NASH was induced in male mice by a single subcutaneous injection of 200 µg streptozotocin 2 days after birth and feeding with high-fat diet after 4 weeks of age. The mice were sacrificed at NASH stage. Colon samples were snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80˚C for tight junction-related protein analysis. Adipose tissue was prepared into paraffin blocks for HE staining. Blood adiponectin was analyzed to confirm changes in the adipocytokine profile. Tight junction-related proteins in the intestine showed that expression of ZO-1 decreased with the progression of the disease. Increased expression of endotoxin in the blood and decreased expression of Adiponectin were also observed. HE staining revealed hypertrophy of adipocytes. Decreased expression of ZO-1 in the intestine of STAM™ mice suggests the occurrence of leaky gut, and abnormalities in adipocytokine secretion were also observed. Together with the liver, phenotypes in these organs are highly similar to human NASH patients and might be involved in the pathogenesis of NASH.

Keywords: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma, fibrosis, organ crosstalk, leaky gut

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Authors: Nouria Bouchikhi, Soufiane Bedjaoui, C. Tewfik Bouchaour, Lamia Alachaher Bedjaoui, Ulrich Maschke

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Swelling properties and phase diagrams of binary systems composed of liquid crystalline networks and a low molecular mass liquid crystal (LMWLC) have been investigated. The networks were prepared by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation of reactive mixtures including a monomer, a cross-linking agent and a photo-initiator. These networks were prepared using two cross-linking agents: 1,6 hexanedioldiacrylate (HDDA) and a mesogenic acrylic acid 6-(4’-(6-acryloyloxy-hexyloxy) biphenyl-4-yl oxy) hexyl ester (AHBH). The obtained dry networks were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, and immersed in an excess of a LMWLC solvent 4-cyano-4’-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), forming polymer gels. A detailed study by polarized optical microscopy allowed to determine the swelling degree of the gels and to follow the phase behavior of the solvent inside the polymer matrix in a wide range of temperature. It has been found that the gels undergo a sharp decrease of their swelling degree in response to an infinitesimal change of temperature. This finding adds new and interesting aspects on the actuators applications. We have subsequently explored the effect of different parameters on volume phase transition of these liquid crystalline materials. Such as the cross-linking density (CD), a nature of cross-linking agent and the photo initiator concentration.

Keywords: cross-linking density, liquid crystalline elastomers, phase diagrams, swelling

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Authors: Mannika Garg, N. Srinivas Murthy, Sunish Nair

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TeamIndus is only Indian team participated in the Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP). GLXP is an incentive prize space competition which is organized by the XPrize Foundation and sponsored by Google. The main objective of the mission is to soft land a rover on the moon surface, travel minimum displacement of 500 meters and transmit HD and NRT videos and images to the Earth. Team Indus is designing a Lunar Lander which carries Rover with it and deliver onto the surface of the moon with a soft landing. For lander to survive throughout the mission, energy is required to operate all attitude control sensors, actuators, heaters and other necessary components. Photovoltaic solar array systems are the most common and primary source of power generation for any spacecraft. The scope of this paper is to provide a system-level approach for designing the solar array systems of the lander to generate required power to accomplish the mission. For this mission, the direction of design effort is to higher efficiency, high reliability and high specific power. Towards this approach, highly efficient multi-junction cells have been considered. The design is influenced by other constraints also like; mission profile, chosen spacecraft attitude, overall lander configuration, cost effectiveness and sizing requirements. This paper also addresses the various solar array design challenges such as operating temperature, shadowing, radiation environment and mission life and strategy of supporting required power levels (peak and average). The challenge to generate sufficient power at the time of surface touchdown, due to low sun elevation (El) and azimuth (Az) angle which depends on Lunar landing site, has also been showcased in this paper. To achieve this goal, energy balance analysis has been carried out to study the impact of the above-mentioned factors and to meet the requirements and has been discussed in this paper.

Keywords: energy balance analysis, multi junction solar cells, photovoltaic, reliability, spacecraft attitude

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Authors: D. Beziakina, E. Bulgakova

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This study continues the research on Tuvinian intonation and presents a general cross-dialect analysis of intonation of Tuvinian declarative utterances, specifically the character of the tone movement in order to test the hypothesis about the prevalence of level tone in some Tuvinian dialects. The results of the analysis of basic pitch characteristics of Tuvinian speech (in general and in comparison with two other Turkic languages - Uzbek and Azerbaijani) are also given in this paper. The goal of our work was to obtain the ranges of pitch parameter values typical for Tuvinian speech. Such language-specific values can be used in speaker identification systems in order to get more accurate results of ethnic speech analysis. We also present the results of a cross-dialect analysis of declarative intonation in the poorly studied Tuvinian language.

Keywords: speech analysis, statistical analysis, speaker recognition, identification of person

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Authors: Dana Abed, Mu`Tasim Abdel-Jaber, Nasim Shatarat

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This study aims at investigating the influence of cross-sectional size on axial compressive capacity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) wrapped square reinforced concrete short columns. Three sets of columns were built for this purpose: 200x200x1200 mm; 250x250x1500 mm and 300x300x1800 mm. Each set includes a control column and a strengthened column with one layer of CFRP sheets. All columns were tested under the effect of pure axial compression load. The results of the study show that using CFRP sheets resulted in capacity enhancement of 37%, 32% and 27% for the 200×200, 250×250, and 300×300 mm, respectively. The results of the experimental program demonstrated that the percentage of improvement in strength decreased by increasing the cross-sectional size of the column.

Keywords: CFRP, columns, concentric loading, cross-sectional

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Authors: H. Bayat, M. Majidi, M. Bolhasani, A. Karbalaie Alilou, A. Mirabdolah Lavasani

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Unsteady flow and heat transfer from a circular cylinder in cross-flow is studied numerically. The governing equations are solved by using finite volume method. Reynolds number varies in range of 50 to 200, in this range flow is considered to be laminar and unsteady. Al2O3 nanoparticle with volume fraction in range of 5% to 20% is added to pure water. Effects of adding nanoparticle to pure water on lift and drag coefficient and Nusselt number is presented. Addition of Al2O3 has inconsiderable effect on the value of drags and lift coefficient. However, it has significant effect on heat transfer; results show that heat transfer of Al2O3 nanofluid is about 9% to 36% higher than pure water.

Keywords: nanofluid, heat transfer, unsteady flow, forced convection, cross-flow

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Authors: Jiexiu Chen

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This research aims to examine several vital issues relating to the foreign scholars’ cross-cultural adaptation in China, including how they perceive about the adaptation process, what the affecting factors are in the adaptation, and which strategies they will apply to deal with perceived cultural differences. The target population of this research is academics regularly working or long-term visiting in these joint colleges, and semi-structured interviews are used in data collection. Moreover, the theoretical perspectives mainly include Ward’s sociocultural and psychological adaptation theory, Berry’s adaptation strategies and Black and his colleague’s expatriate’s adjustment model. This research offers an in-depth profile as well as theory-based analysis about this unique group, and the results of this research are profound in offering directory suggestions for foreign scholars to facilitate their adaptation in China better and for the Chinese universities to eliminate intercultural obstacles, and optimize the international cooperation programs in China.

Keywords: cross-cultural adaptation, foreign scholars, expatriates

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Authors: Jonas Gradauskas, Oleksandr Masalskyi, Ihor Zharchenko

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The advancement in improving the efficiency of conventional solar cells toward the Shockley-Queisser limit seems to be slowing down or reaching a point of saturation. The challenges hindering the reduction of this efficiency gap can be categorized into extrinsic and intrinsic losses, with the former being theoretically avoidable. Among the five intrinsic losses, two — the below-Eg loss (resulting from non-absorption of photons with energy below the semiconductor bandgap) and thermalization loss —contribute to approximately 55% of the overall lost fraction of solar radiation at energy bandgap values corresponding to silicon and gallium arsenide. Efforts to minimize the disparity between theoretically predicted and experimentally achieved efficiencies in solar cells necessitate the integration of innovative physical concepts. Hot carriers (HC) present a contemporary approach to addressing this challenge. The significance of hot carriers in photovoltaics is not fully understood. Although their excessive energy is thought to indirectly impact a cell's performance through thermalization loss — where the excess energy heats the lattice, leading to efficiency loss — evidence suggests the presence of hot carriers in solar cells. Despite their exceptionally brief lifespan, tangible benefits arise from their existence. The study highlights direct experimental evidence of hot carrier effect induced by both below- and above-bandgap radiation in a singlejunction solar cell. Photocurrent flowing across silicon and GaAs p-n junctions is analyzed. The photoresponse consists, on the whole, of three components caused by electron-hole pair generation, hot carriers, and lattice heating. The last two components counteract the conventional electron-hole generation-caused current required for successful solar cell operation. Also, a model of the temperature coefficient of the voltage change of the current–voltage characteristic is used to obtain the hot carrier temperature. The distribution of cold and hot carriers is analyzed with regard to the potential barrier height of the p-n junction. These discoveries contribute to a better understanding of hot carrier phenomena in photovoltaic devices and are likely to prompt a reevaluation of intrinsic losses in solar cells.

Keywords: solar cell, hot carriers, intrinsic losses, efficiency, photocurrent

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Authors: Mohd Harun, Cini Varghese, Eldho Varghese, Seema Jaggi

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Hybridization crosses find a vital role in breeding experiments to evaluate the combining abilities of individual parental lines or crosses for creation of lines with desirable qualities. There are various ways of obtaining progenies and further studying the combining ability effects of the lines taken in a breeding programme. Some of the most common methods are diallel or two-way cross, triallel or three-way cross, tetra-allele or four-way cross. These techniques help the breeders to improve the quantitative traits which are of economical as well as nutritional importance in crops and animals. Amongst these methods, tetra-allele cross provides extra information in terms of the higher specific combining ability (sca) effects and the hybrids thus produced exhibit individual as well as population buffering mechanism because of the broad genetic base. Most of the common commercial hybrids in corn are either three-way or four-way cross hybrids. Tetra-allele cross came out as the most practical and acceptable scheme for the production of slaughter pigs having fast growth rate, good feed efficiency, and carcass quality. Tetra-allele crosses are mostly used for exploitation of heterosis in case of commercial silkworm production. Experimental designs involving tetra-allele crosses have been studied extensively in literature. Optimality of designs has also been considered as a researchable issue. In practical situations, it is advisable to include sca effects in the model as this information is needed by the breeder to improve economically and nutritionally important quantitative traits. Thus, a model that provides information regarding the specific traits by utilizing sca effects along with general combining ability (gca) effects may help the breeders to deal with the problem of various stresses. In this paper, a model for experimental designs involving tetra-allele crosses that incorporates both gca and sca has been defined. Optimality aspects of such designs have been discussed incorporating sca effects in the model. Orthogonality conditions have been derived for block designs ensuring estimation of contrasts among the gca effects, after eliminating the nuisance factors, independently from sca effects. User friendly SAS macro and web solution (webPTC) have been developed for the generation and analysis of such designs.

Keywords: general combining ability, optimality, specific combining ability, tetra-allele cross, webPTC

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Authors: Jimmy Eadie

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Convolutional Cross Synthesis (CCS) has emerged as a powerful technique for blending input signals to create hybrid sounds. It has significantly expanded the horizons of digital signal processing, enabling artists to explore audio effects. However, the conventional applications of CCS primarily revolve around reverberation and room simulation rather than being utilized as a creative synthesis method. In this paper, we present the design of a digital instrument called CrossSampler that harnesses a parametric approach to convolution cross-synthesis, which involves using adjustable parameters to control the blending of audio signals through convolution. These parameters allow for customization of the resulting sound, offering greater creative control and flexibility. It enables users to shape the output by manipulating factors such as duration, intensity, and spectral characteristics. This approach facilitates experimentation and exploration in sound design and opens new sonic possibilities.

Keywords: convolution, synthesis, sampling, virtual instrument

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Authors: Xiaoqing Wang, Jianjian Zong, Li Li, Yanxing Zheng, Jinrong Tong, Mao Zhan

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With the rapid development of network and communication technology, a great deal of data has been generated in different domains of a network. These data show a trend of increasing scale and more complex structure. Therefore, an effective and flexible cross-domain data-sharing system is needed. The Cross-domain Data Sharing System(CDSS) in a net-centric environment is composed of three sub-systems. The data distribution sub-system provides data exchange service through publish-subscribe technology that supports asynchronism and multi-to-multi communication, which adapts to the needs of the dynamic and large-scale distributed computing environment. The access control sub-system adopts Attribute-Based Access Control(ABAC) technology to uniformly model various data attributes such as subject, object, permission and environment, which effectively monitors the activities of users accessing resources and ensures that legitimate users get effective access control rights within a legal time. The cross-domain access security negotiation subsystem automatically determines the access rights between different security domains in the process of interactive disclosure of digital certificates and access control policies through trust policy management and negotiation algorithms, which provides an effective means for cross-domain trust relationship establishment and access control in a distributed environment. The CDSS’s asynchronous,multi-to-multi and loosely-coupled communication features can adapt well to data exchange and sharing in dynamic, distributed and large-scale network environments. Next, we will give CDSS new features to support the mobile computing environment.

Keywords: data sharing, cross-domain, data exchange, publish-subscribe

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Authors: Soney C. George, Thomasukutty Jose, Sabu Thomas

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Membrane based separation is the most important energy –efficient separation processes. There are wide ranges of membrane based separation process such as Micro-filtration, ultra filtration, reverse osmosis, electro-dialysis etc. Among these pervaporation is one of the most promising techniques. The promising technique is in the sense that it needs an ease of process design, low energy consumption, environmentally clean, economically cost effective and easily separate azeotropic composition without losing any components, unlike distillation in a short period of time. In the present work, we developed a new bentonite clay reinforced cross-linked PVA nano-composite membranes by solution casting method. The membranes were used for the pervaporation separation of azeotropic composition of isopropanol and water mixtures. The azeotropic composition of water and isopropanol is difficult to separate and we can’t get a better separation by normal separation processes. But the better separation was achieved here using cross-linked PVA/Clay nano-composite membranes. The 2wt% bentonite clay reinforced 5vol% GA cross-linked nano-composite membranes showed better separation efficiency. The selectivity of the cross-linked membranes increases 65% upon filler loading. The water permeance is showed tremendous enhancement upon filler loading. The permeance value changes from 4100 to 8200, due to the incorporation hydrophilic bentonite clay to the cross-linked PVA membranes. The clay reinforced membranes shows better thermal stability upon filler loading was confirmed from TGA and DSC analysis. The dispersion of nanoclay in the polymeric matrix was clearly evident from the TEM analysis. The better dispersed membranes showed better separation performance. Thus the developed cross-linked PVA/Clay membranes can be effectively used for the separation of azeotropic composition of water and isopropanol.

Keywords: poly(vinyl alcohol), membrane, gluraldehyde, permeance

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Authors: Tamar Arieli

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Cross-border cooperation has long been hailed as a means for stabilizing and normalizing relations between former enemies. Cooperation in problem-solving and realizing of local interests in post-conflict environments can indeed serve as a basis for developing dialogue and meaningful relations between neighbors across borders. Hence the potential for formerly sealed borders to serve as a basis for generating local and national perceptions of interdependence and as a buffer against the resume of conflict. Central questions which arise for policy-makers and third parties are how to facilitate cross-border cooperation and which areas of cooperation best serve to normalize post-conflict border regions. The Israel-Jordan border functions as a post-conflict border, in that it is a peaceful border since the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty yet cross-border relations are defined but the highly securitized nature of the border region and the ongoing Arab-Israel regional conflict. This case study is based on long term qualitative research carried out in the border regions of both Israel and Jordan, which mapped and analyzed cross-border in a wide range of activities – social interactions sponsored by peace-facilitating NGOs, government sponsored agricultural cooperation, municipal initiated emergency planning in cross-border continuous urban settings, private cross-border business ventures and various environmental cooperative initiatives. These cooperative initiatives are evaluated through multiple interviews carried out with initiators and partners in cross-border cooperation as well as analysis of documentation, funding and media. These cooperative interactions are compared based on levels of cross-border local and official awareness and involvement as well as sustainability over time. This research identifies environmental cooperation as the most sustainable area of cross- border cooperation and as most conducive to generating perceptions of regional interdependence. This is a variation to the ‘New Middle East’ vision of business-based cooperation leading to conflict amelioration and regional stability. Environmental cooperation serving the public good rather than personal profit enjoys social legitimization even in the face of widespread anti-normalization sentiments common in the post-conflict environment. This insight is examined in light of philosophical and social aspects of the natural environment and its social perceptions. This research has theoretical implications for better understanding dynamics of cooperation and conflict, as well as practical ramifications for practitioners in border region policy and management.

Keywords: borders, cooperation, post-conflict, security

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Authors: Jeng-Shin Sheu, Qi-Xun Zheng

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This paper mainly discusses a method of separating speech when using a microphone array without knowing the number and direction of sound sources. In recent years, there have been many studies on the method of separating signals by using masking, but most of the separation methods must be operated under the condition of a known number of sound sources. Such methods cannot be used for real-time applications. In our method, this paper uses Circular-Integrated-Cross-Spectrum to estimate the statistical histogram distribution of the direction of arrival (DOA) to obtain the number of sound sources and sound in the mixed-signal Source direction. In calculating the relevant parameters of the ring integrated cross-spectrum, the phase (Phase of the Cross-Power Spectrum) and phase rotation factors (Phase Rotation Factors) calculated by the cross power spectrum of each microphone pair are used. In the part of separating speech, it uses the DOA weighting and shielding separation method to calculate the sound source direction (DOA) according to each T-F unit (time-frequency point). The weight corresponding to each T-F unit can be used to strengthen the intensity of each sound source from the T-F unit and reduce the influence of the remaining sound sources, thereby achieving voice separation.

Keywords: real-time, spectrum analysis, sound source localization, sound source separation

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Authors: I. Badhrees

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This paper is an attempt to describe some of the results that had been found through a journey of study in the field of particle physics. This study consists of two parts, one about the measurement of the cross section of the decay of the Z particle in two electrons, and the other deals with the measurement of the cross section of the multi-photon absorption process using a beam of laser in the Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber. The first part of the paper concerns the results based on the analysis of a data sample containing 8120 ee candidates to reconstruct the mass of the Z particle for each event where each event has an ee pair with PT(e) > 20GeV, and η(e) < 2.5. Monte Carlo templates of the reconstructed Z particle were produced as a function of the Z mass scale. The distribution of the reconstructed Z mass in the data was compared to the Monte Carlo templates, where the total cross section is calculated to be equal to 1432 pb. The second part concerns the Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber, LAr TPC, the results of the interaction of the UV Laser, Nd-YAG with λ= 266mm, with LAr and through the study of the multi-photon ionization process as a part of the R&D at Bern University. The main result of this study was the cross section of the process of the multi-photon ionization process of the LAr, σe = 1.24±0.10stat±0.30sys.10 -56cm4.

Keywords: ATLAS, CERN, KACST, LArTPC, particle physics

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Authors: M. T. Becerra, F. Martín, P. Gutiérrez, S. Cubo, E. Iglesias, A. A. Sáenz del Castillo, P. Cañamero

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The consolidation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in universities has led to significant changes in student training. This paper, part of a Teaching Innovation Project, starts from new training requirements that are fit within Undergraduate Thesis Project, a subject that culminate student learning. Undergraduate Thesis Project is current assessment system that weigh the student acquired training in university education. Students should develop a range of cross curricular competences such as public presentation of ideas, problems and solutions both orally and writing in Undergraduate Thesis Project. Specifically, we intend with our innovation proposal to provide resources that enable university students from Teacher Degree in Education Faculty of University of Extremadura (Spain) to develop the cross curricular competence of public speaking.

Keywords: interaction, public speaking, student, university

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Authors: Guo Lei, Wang Yue, Nakamura Yoshio, Shi Ji

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Recently, perpendicular exchange bias (PEB) is introduced as an active topic attracting continuous efforts. Since its discovery, extrinsic control of PEB has been proposed, due to its scientific significance in spintronic devices and potential application in high density magnetic random access memory with perpendicular magnetic tunneling junction (p-MTJ). To our knowledge, the researches aiming to controlling PEB so far are focused mainly on enhancing the interfacial exchange coupling by adjusting the FM/AFM interface roughness, or optimizing the crystalline structures of FM or AFM layer by employing different seed layers. In present work, the effects of magnetoelastically induced PMA on PEB have been explored in [CoO5nm/CoPt5nm]5 multilayer films. We find the PMA strength of FM layer also plays an important role on PEB at the FM/AFM interface and it is effective to control PEB of [CoO5nm/CoPt5nm]5 multilayer films by changing the magnetoelastically induced PMA of CoPt layer. [CoO5nm/CoPt5nm]5 multilayer films were deposited by magnetron sputtering on fused quartz substrate at room temperature, then annealed at 100°C, 250°C, 300°C and 375°C for 3h, respectively. XRD results reveal that all the samples are well crystallized with preferred fcc CoPt (111) orientation. The continuous multilayer structure with sharp component transition at the CoO5nm/CoPt5nm interface are identified clearly by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray reflectivity (XRR) and atomic force microscope (AFM). CoPt layer in-plane tensile stress is calculated by sin2φ method, and we find it increases gradually upon annealing from 0.99 GPa (as-deposited) up to 3.02 GPa (300oC-annealed). As to the magnetic property, significant enhancement of PMA is achieved in [CoO5nm/CoPt5nm]5 multilayer films after annealing due to the increase of CoPt layer in-plane tensile stress. With the enhancement of magnetoelastically induced PMA, great improvement of PEB is also achieved in [CoO5nm/CoPt5nm]5 multilayer films, which increases from 130 Oe (as-deposited) up to 1060 Oe (300oC-annealed), showing the same change tendency as PMA and the strong correlation with CoPt layer in-plane tensile stress. We consider it is the increase of CoPt layer in-plane tensile stress that leads to the enhancement of PMA, and thus the enhancement of magnetoelastically induced PMA results in the improvement of PEB in [CoO5nm/CoPt5nm]5 multilayer films.

Keywords: perpendicular exchange bias, magnetoelastically induced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, CoO5nm/CoPt5nm]5 multilayer film with in-plane stress, perpendicular magnetic tunneling junction

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Authors: Gábor Kocsmárik

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The topic of this is coercive measures against assets in which the factor of the procedure contains a foreign element. We speak of cross-border enforcement if the debtor or the property requesting enforcement or subject to enforcement is not located in the bordering country. Given that the jurisdiction of a country cannot extend beyond its borders, the cooperation of nations and the mutual recognition of their decisions are necessary to eliminate this. In addition, it is essential to create framework rules that are binding and enforceable for each country participating in the convention. During the study, some conventions between countries that are still in force will be presented, which can serve as a starting point for dealing with existing problems.

Keywords: law, execution, civil procedure law, international

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Authors: Ashish Dhamaniya, Satish Chandra

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Pedestrian crossings at grade in India are very common and pedestrian cross the carriageway at undesignated locations where they found the path to access the residential and commercial areas. Present paper aims to determine capacity loss on 4-lane urban arterials due to such crossings. Base capacity which is defined as the capacity without any influencing factor is determined on 4-lane roads by collecting speed-flow data in the field. It is observed that base capacity is varying from 1636 pcu/hr/lane to 2043 pcu/hr/lane which is attributed to the different operating conditions at different sections. The variation in base capacity is related with the operating speed on the road sections. Free flow speed of standard car is measured in the field and 85th percentile of this speed is reported as operating speed. Capacity of the 4-lane road sections with different pedestrian cross-flow is also determined and compared with the capacity of base section. The difference in capacity values is reported as capacity loss due to the average number of pedestrian crossings in one hour. It has been observed that capacity of 4-lane road section reduces from 18 to 30 percent with pedestrian cross-flow of 800 to 1550 peds/hr. A model is proposed between capacity loss and pedestrian cross-flow from the observed data.

Keywords: capacity, free flow speed, pedestrian, urban arterial, transport

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Authors: Sarah Abi Raad

Abstract:

Nowadays, one of the challenges faced by many institutions is the continuous changing psychosocial environment. This alteration affects the resources, the organizations and defies the leadership and management of people in charge. As a fact, institutions of higher education differ from many organizations, requiring leadership to be a more shared phenomenon than in most profit-centered enterprises. In these colleges, the leadership must be oriented in a way to empower activities. This said, it is important to train students to take on leadership roles in their personal and professional lives. Thus, leadership training in higher education have to manage a cross-cultural environment in order to get the best out of the whole community that works and studies there. The main directions to follow are the building of a professional identity that manages the cross-cultural public while feeling a personal fulfillment in the workplace. In order to do that, this communication proposal has three objectives: - Explain the aspects of the cross-cultural leadership training logic offered to managers and chairs by allowing them to develop a technical leader style of passionate type with a managerial leadership style of compassionate type. - Define the multiple factors on which depends the leadership, which includes the department’s stage of development, the specific management function, the academic discipline and the chair’s own style of leadership. - Emphasize on the complex nature of leadership and the different facets that results from its role in the higher education. However, different situations require a leader with particular characteristics that can be gathered into three categories: “the innovator”, “the implementer” and the “pacifier”. Each category is linked to a problem organizations normally encounter. This leads to conclude with the following question: are the gender, age and culture taken into consideration during a training?

Keywords: benevolent leadership, cross-cultural training, management, unprecedented existential crisis

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Authors: Shagil Akhtar, Syed Muneeb Iqbal, Mohammed R. Rahim

Abstract:

Common steel tubes with similar confines were used in simulation of tubes with distinctive type of corrugated sections. These corrugated cross-sections were arc-tangent, triangular, trapezoidal and square corrugated sections. The outcome of fluctuating structures of tube cross-section shape on the deformation feedback, collapse form and energy absorption characteristics of tubes under quasi-static axial compression have been prepared numerically. The finite element package of ANSYS Workbench was applied in the current analysis. The axial load-displacement products accompanied by the fold formation of disparate tubes were inspected and compared. Deviation of the initial peak load and the mean crushing force of the tubes with distinctive cross-sections were conscientiously examined.

Keywords: absorbed energy, axial loading, corrugated tubes, finite element, initial peak load, mean crushing force

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Authors: O. I. Adeniran, M. A. Mogale

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Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) have been implicated in the development and progression of vascular complications of diabetes mellitus and other age-related disease such as Alzheimer’s disease, heart diseases, stroke and limb amputation. The aim of the study was to determine the anti-glycation activity and AGE-cross-linking breaking ability of Sclerocarya birrea stem-bark extracts (SBSBETs). Hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol and water extracts of Sclerocarya birrea stem-bark and standard inhibitor, aminoguanidine (AG) were incubated with bovine serum albumin (BSA)-fructose mixture for 20 and 40 days. The amounts of total immunogenic AGEs (TIAGEs), fluorescent AGEs (FAGEs) and carboxymethyl lysine (CML) formed were determined and the percentage anti-glycation activity of each plant extract calculated. The ability of SBSBETs to break fructose-derived BSA-AGE-collagen cross-links was also investigated. All SBSBETs under investigation demonstrated less anti-glycation activity against TIAGE, FAGEs and CML than AG after 20 days incubation. After 40 days incubation, ethyl acetate, methanol and water SBSBETs demonstrated lower anti-glycation activity against TIAGEs than AG but exerted higher anti-glycation activity than AG against FAGEs. All SBSBETs except water demonstrated lower anti-glycation activity than AG against CML. With regard to the ability of SBSBETs to breakdown fructose-derived AGEs cross-links, the polar SBSBETs demonstrated higher ability to break AGE-cross-links than the non-polar ones. The results of this study may lead to the isolation of bio-active phyto-chemicals from SBSBETs that may be used for the prevention of vascular complication of diabetes.

Keywords: advanced glycation end-products, anti-glycation, cross-link breaking, Sclerocarrya birrea

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Authors: A. Maghari, V. M. Maleki

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a quantum statistical mechanical formulation from our recently analytical expressions for partial-wave transition matrix of a three-particle system. We report the quantum reactive cross sections for three-body scattering processes 1 + (2,3)-> 1 + (2,3) as well as recombination 1 + (2,3) -> 2 + (3,1) between one atom and a weakly-bound dimer. The analytical expressions of three-particle transition matrices and their corresponding cross-sections were obtained from the three-dimensional Faddeev equations subjected to the rank-two non-local separable potentials of the generalized Yamaguchi form. The equilibrium quantum statistical mechanical properties such partition function and equation of state as well as non-equilibrium quantum statistical properties such as transport cross-sections and their corresponding transport collision integrals were formulated analytically. This leads to obtain the transport properties, such as viscosity and diffusion coefficient of a moderate dense gas.

Keywords: statistical mechanics, nonlocal separable potential, three-body interaction, faddeev equations

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Authors: Keerthilatha Pai, Sakshi Kamra

Abstract:

Objectives: Determining the position of the mandibular canal prior to implant placement and surgeries of the posterior mandible are important to avoid the nerve injury. The visibility of the mandibular canal varies according to the imaging modality. Although panoramic radiography is the most common, slowly cone beam computed tomography is replacing it. This study was conducted with an aim to determine and compare the visibility of superior and inferior borders of the mandibular canal in digital panoramic radiograph, reformatted panoramic radiograph and cross-sectional images of cone beam computed tomography. Study design: digital panoramic, reformatted panoramic radiograph and cross sectional CBCT images of 25 human mandibles were evaluated for the visibility of the superior and inferior borders of the mandibular canal according to a 5 point scoring criteria. Also, the canal was evaluated as completely visible, partially visible and not visible. The mean scores and visibility percentage of all the imaging modalities were determined and compared. The interobserver and intraobserver agreement in the visualization of the superior and inferior borders of the mandibular canal were determined. Results: The superior and inferior borders of the mandibular canal were completely visible in 47% of the samples in digital panoramic, 63% in reformatted panoramic and 75.6% in CBCT cross-sectional images. The mandibular canal was invisible in 24% of samples in digital panoramic, 19% in reformatted panoramic and 2% in cross-sectional CBCT images. Maximum visibility was seen in Zone 5 and least visibility in Zone 1. On comparison of all the imaging modalities, CBCT cross-sectional images showed better visibility of superior border in Zones 2,3,4,6 and inferior border in Zones 2,3,4,6. The difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: CBCT cross-sectional images were much superior in the visualization of the mandibular canal in comparison to reformatted and digital panoramic radiographs. The inferior border was better visualized in comparison to the superior border in digital panoramic imaging. The mandibular canal was maximumly visible in posterior one-third region of the mandible and the visibility decreased towards the mental foramen.

Keywords: cone beam computed tomography, mandibular canal, reformatted panoramic radiograph, visualization

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Authors: Sujosh Nandi, Proshanta Guha

Abstract:

Synthetic plastics are preferred for food packaging due to high strength, stretch-ability, good water vapor and gas barrier properties, transparency and low cost. However, environmental pollution generated by these synthetic plastics is a major concern of modern human civilization. Therefore, use of biodegradable polymers as a substitute for synthetic non-biodegradable polymers are encouraged to be used even after considering drawbacks related to mechanical and barrier properties of the films. Starch is considered one of the potential raw material for the biodegradable polymer, encounters poor water barrier property and mechanical properties due to its hydrophilic nature. That apart, recrystallization of starch molecules occurs during aging which decreases flexibility and increases elastic modulus of the film. The recrystallization process can be minimized by blending of other hydrocolloids having similar structural compatibility, into the starch matrix. Therefore, incorporation of guar gum having a similar structural backbone, into the starch matrix can introduce a potential film into the realm of biodegradable polymer. However, hydrophilic nature of both starch and guar gum, water barrier property of the film is low. One of the prospective solution to enhance this could be modification of the potato starch/guar gum (PSGG) composite film using cross-linker. Over the years, several cross-linking agents such as phosphorus oxychloride, sodium trimetaphosphate, etc. have been used to improve water vapor permeability (WVP) of the films. However, these chemical cross-linking agents are toxic, expensive and take longer time to degrade. Therefore, naturally available carboxylic acid (tartaric acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, etc.) had been used as a cross-linker and found that water barrier property enhanced substantially. As per our knowledge, no works have been reported with tartaric acid and succinic acid as a cross-linking agent blended with the PSGG films. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to examine the changes in water vapor barrier property and mechanical properties of the PSGG films after cross-linked with tartaric acid (TA) and succinic acid (SA). The cross-linkers were blended with PSGG film-forming solution at four different concentrations (4, 8, 12 & 16%) and cast on teflon plate at 37°C for 20 h. From the fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) study of the developed films, a band at 1720cm-1 was observed which is attributed to the formation of ester group in the developed films. On the other hand, it was observed that tensile strength (TS) of the cross-linked film decreased compared to non-cross linked films, whereas strain at break increased by several folds. Moreover, the results depicted that tensile strength diminished with increasing the concentration of TA or SA and lowest TS (1.62 MPa) was observed for 16% SA. That apart, maximum strain at break was also observed for TA at 16% and the reason behind this could be a lesser degree of crystallinity of the TA cross-linked films compared to SA. However, water vapor permeability of succinic acid cross-linked film was reduced significantly, but it was enhanced significantly by addition of tartaric acid.

Keywords: cross linking agent, guar gum, organic acids, potato starch

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