Search results for: Robin Davis P.
124 Numerical Computation of Sturm-Liouville Problem with Robin Boundary Condition
Authors: Theddeus T. Akano, Omotayo A. Fakinlede
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The modelling of physical phenomena, such as the earth’s free oscillations, the vibration of strings, the interaction of atomic particles, or the steady state flow in a bar give rise to Sturm-Liouville (SL) eigenvalue problems. The boundary applications of some systems like the convection-diffusion equation, electromagnetic and heat transfer problems requires the combination of Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. Hence, the incorporation of Robin boundary condition in the analyses of Sturm-Liouville problem. This paper deals with the computation of the eigenvalues and eigenfunction of generalized Sturm-Liouville problems with Robin boundary condition using the finite element method. Numerical solutions of classical Sturm–Liouville problems are presented. The results show an agreement with the exact solution. High results precision is achieved with higher number of elements.Keywords: Sturm-Liouville problem, Robin boundary condition, finite element method, eigenvalue problems
Procedia PDF Downloads 353123 Incorporating Priority Round-Robin Scheduler to Sustain Indefinite Blocking Issue and Prioritized Processes in Operating System
Authors: Heng Chia Ying, Charmaine Tan Chai Nie, Burra Venkata Durga Kumar
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Process scheduling is the method of process management that determines which process the CPU will proceed with for the next task and how long it takes. Some issues were found in process management, particularly for Priority Scheduling (PS) and Round Robin Scheduling (RR). The proposed recommendations made for IPRRS are to combine the strengths of both into a combining algorithm while they draw on others to compensate for each weakness. A significant improvement on the combining technique of scheduler, Incorporating Priority Round-Robin Scheduler (IPRRS) address an algorithm for both high and low priority task to sustain the indefinite blocking issue faced in the priority scheduling algorithm and minimize the average turnaround time (ATT) and average waiting time (AWT) in RR scheduling algorithm. This paper will delve into the simple rules introduced by IPRRS and enhancements that both PS and RR bring to the execution of processes in the operating system. Furthermore, it incorporates the best aspects of each algorithm to build the optimum algorithm for a certain case in terms of prioritized processes, ATT, and AWT.Keywords: round Robin scheduling, priority scheduling, indefinite blocking, process management, sustain, turnaround time
Procedia PDF Downloads 134122 A Dynamic Round Robin Routing for Z-Fat Tree
Authors: M. O. Adda
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In this paper, we propose a topology called Zoned fat tree (Z-Fat tree) which is a further extension to the classical fat trees. The extension relates to the provision of extra degree of connectivity to maximize the number of deployed ports per routing nodes, and hence increases the bisection bandwidth especially for slimmed fat trees. The extra links, when classical routing is used, tend, in deterministic environment, to be under-utilized for some traffic patterns, hence achieving poor performance. We suggest two versions of a dynamic round robin scheme that outperforms the classical D-mod-k and S-mod-K routing and show by simulation that our proposal utilize all the extra added links to the classical fat tree, and achieve better performance for general applications.Keywords: deterministic routing, fat tree, interconnection, traffic pattern
Procedia PDF Downloads 477121 Contribution of Upper Body Kinematics on Tennis Serve Performance
Authors: Ikram Hussain, Fuzail Ahmad, Tawseef Ahmad Bhat
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Tennis serve is characterized as one of the most prominent techniques pertaining to the success of winning a point. The study was aimed to explore the contributions of the upper body kinematics on the tennis performance during Davis Cup (Oceania Group). Four Indian International tennis players who participated in the Davis Cup held at Indore, India were inducted as the subjects for this study, with mean age 27 ± 4.79 Years, mean weight 186 ± 6.03 cm, mean weight 81.25 ± 7.41kg, respectively. The tennis serve was bifurcated into three phases viz, preparatory phase, force generation phase and follow through phase. The kinematic data for the study was recorded through the high speed canon camcorder having a shuttle speed of 1/2000, at a frame rate of 50 Hz. The data was analysed with the motion analysis software. The descriptive statistics and F-test was employed through SPSS version 17.0 for the determination of the undertaken kinematic parameters of the study, and was computed at a 0.05 level of significance with 46 degrees of freedom. Mean, standard deviation and correlation coefficient also employed to find out the relationship among the upper body kinematic parameter and performance. In the preparatory phase, the analysis revealed that no significant difference exists among the kinematic parameters of the players on the performance. However, in force generation phase, wrist velocity (r= 0.47), torso velocity (r= -0.53), racket velocity r= 0.60), and in follow through phase, torso acceleration r= 0.43), elbow angle (r= -0.48) play a significant role on the performance of the tennis serve. Therefore, players should ponder upon the velocities of the above segments at the time of preparation for the competitions.Keywords: Davis Cup, kinematics, motion analysis, tennis serve
Procedia PDF Downloads 293120 Sensitivity and Reliability Analysis of Masonry Infilled Frames
Authors: Avadhoot Bhosale, Robin Davis P., Pradip Sarkar
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The seismic performance of buildings with irregular distribution of mass, stiffness and strength along the height may be significantly different from that of regular buildings with masonry infill. Masonry infilled reinforced concrete (RC) frames are very common structural forms used for multi-storey building construction. These structures are found to perform better in past earthquakes owing to additional strength, stiffness and energy dissipation in the infill walls. The seismic performance of a building depends on the variation of material, structural and geometrical properties. The sensitivity of these properties affects the seismic response of the building. The main objective of the sensitivity analysis is to found out the most sensitive parameter that affects the response of the building. This paper presents a sensitivity analysis by considering 5% and 95% probability value of random variable in the infills characteristics, trying to obtain a reasonable range of results representing a wide number of possible situations that can be met in practice by using pushover analysis. The results show that the strength-related variation values of concrete and masonry, with the exception of tensile strength of the concrete, have shown a significant effect on the structural performance and that this effect increases with the progress of damage condition for the concrete. The seismic risk assessments of the selected frames are expressed in terms of reliability index.Keywords: fragility curve, sensitivity analysis, reliability index, RC frames
Procedia PDF Downloads 319119 An Efficient Subcarrier Scheduling Algorithm for Downlink OFDMA-Based Wireless Broadband Networks
Authors: Hassen Hamouda, Mohamed Ouwais Kabaou, Med Salim Bouhlel
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The growth of wireless technology made opportunistic scheduling a widespread theme in recent research. Providing high system throughput without reducing fairness allocation is becoming a very challenging task. A suitable policy for resource allocation among users is of crucial importance. This study focuses on scheduling multiple streaming flows on the downlink of a WiMAX system based on orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA). In this paper, we take the first step in formulating and analyzing this problem scrupulously. As a result, we proposed a new scheduling scheme based on Round Robin (RR) Algorithm. Because of its non-opportunistic process, RR does not take in account radio conditions and consequently it affect both system throughput and multi-users diversity. Our contribution called MORRA (Modified Round Robin Opportunistic Algorithm) consists to propose a solution to this issue. MORRA not only exploits the concept of opportunistic scheduler but also takes into account other parameters in the allocation process. The first parameter is called courtesy coefficient (CC) and the second is called Buffer Occupancy (BO). Performance evaluation shows that this well-balanced scheme outperforms both RR and MaxSNR schedulers and demonstrate that choosing between system throughput and fairness is not required.Keywords: OFDMA, opportunistic scheduling, fairness hierarchy, courtesy coefficient, buffer occupancy
Procedia PDF Downloads 293118 A Study on the Use Intention of Smart Phone
Authors: Zhi-Zhong Chen, Jun-Hao Lu, Jr., Shih-Ying Chueh
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Based on Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the study investigates people’s intention on using smart phones. The study additionally incorporates two new variables: 'self-efficacy' and 'attitude toward using'. Samples are collected by questionnaire survey, in which 240 are valid. After Correlation Analysis, Reliability Test, ANOVA, t-test and Multiple Regression Analysis, the study finds that social impact and self-efficacy have positive effect on use intentions, and the use intentions also have positive effect on use behavior.Keywords: [1] Ajzen & Fishbein (1975), “Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: An introduction to theory and research”, Reading MA: Addison-Wesley. [2] Bandura (1977) Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioural change. Psychological Review , 84, 191–215. [3] Bandura( 1986) A. Bandura, Social foundations of though and action, Prentice-Hall. Englewood Cliffs. [4] Ching-Hui Huang (2005). The effect of Regular Exercise on Elderly Optimism: The Self-efficacy and Theory of Reasoned Action Perspectives.(Master's dissertation, National Taiwan Sport University, 2005).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan。 [5] Chun-Mo Wu (2007).The Effects of Perceived Risk and Service Quality on Purchase Intention - an Example of Taipei City Long-Term Care Facilities. (Master's dissertation, Ming Chuan University, 2007).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. [6] Compeau, D.R., and Higgins, C.A., (1995) “Application of social cognitive theory to training for computer skills.”, Information Systems Research, 6(2), pp.118-143. [7] computer-self-efficacy and mediators of the efficacy-performance relationship. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 62, 737-758. [8] Davis et al(1989), “User acceptance of computer technology: A comparison of two theoretical models ”, Management Science, 35(8), p.982-1003. [9] Davis et al(1989), “User acceptance of computer technology:A comparison of two theoretical models ”, Management Science, 35(8), p.982-1003. [10] Davis, F.D. (1989). Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340。 [11] Davis. (1989). Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. doi:10.2307/249008 [12] Johnson, R. D. (2005). An empirical investigation of sources of application-specific [13] Mei-yin Hsu (2010).The Study on Attitude and Satisfaction of Electronic Documents System for Administrators of Elementary Schools in Changhua County.(Master's dissertation , Feng Chia University, 2010).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. [14] Ming-Chun Hsieh (2010). Research on Parents’ Attitudes Toward Electronic Toys: The case of Taichung City.(Master's dissertation, Chaoyang University of Technology,2010).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. [15] Moon and Kim(2001). Extending the TAM for a World-Wide-Web context, Information and Management, v.38 n.4, p.217-230. [16] Shang-Yi Hu (2010).The Impacts of Knowledge Management on Customer Relationship Management – Enterprise Characteristicsand Corporate Governance as a Moderator.(Master's dissertation, Leader University, 2010)。National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. [17] Sheng-Yi Hung (2013, September10).Worldwide sale of smartphones to hit one billion IDC:Android dominate the market. ETtoday. Retrieved data form the available protocol:2013/10/3. [18] Thompson, R.L., Higgins, C.A., and Howell, J.M.(1991), “Personal Computing: Toward a Conceptual Model of Utilization”, MIS Quarterly(15:1), pp. 125-143. [19] Venkatesh, V., M.G. Morris, G.B. Davis, and F. D. Davis (2003), “User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view, ” MIS Quarterly, 27, No. 3, pp.425-478. [20] Vijayasarathy, L. R. (2004), Predicting Consumer Intentions to Use On-Line Shopping: The Case for an Augmented Technology Acceptance Model, Information and Management, Vol.41, No.6, pp.747-762. [21] Wikipedia - smartphone (http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E6%99%BA%E8%83%BD%E6%89%8B%E6%9C%BA)。 [22] Wu-Minsan (2008).The impacts of self-efficacy, social support on work adjustment with hearing impaired. (Master's dissertation, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 2008).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. [23] Yu-min Lin (2006). The Influence of Business Employee’s MSN Self-efficacy On Instant Messaging Usage Behavior and Communicaiton Satisfaction.(Master's dissertation, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 2006).National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan.
Procedia PDF Downloads 402117 Rapid Nanoparticle Formulation Development and Screening Using NanoFabTxTM Platform
Authors: Zhen Ye, Maryam Zaroudi, Elizabeth Aisenbrey, Nicolynn E. Davis, Peng Gao
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Nanoparticles have been used as drug delivery systems in the treatment of life-threatening diseases for decades, but traditional formulation development methods are time consuming and labor intensive. Millipore Sigma has developed a platform¬¬– NanoFabTxTM¬¬– for rapid and reproducible formulation development and screening to ensure consistentnanoparticle characteristics. Reproducible and precise control of the development process for a range of nanoparticle formulations accelerates the introduction of novel formulations to the clinic.Keywords: Bio platform, Formulation development, NanoFabTxTM, Drug delivery
Procedia PDF Downloads 222116 Comparative Study of the Earth Land Surface Temperature Signatures over Ota, South-West Nigeria
Authors: Moses E. Emetere, M. L. Akinyemi
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Agricultural activities in the South–West Nigeria are mitigated by the global increase in temperature. The unpredictive surface temperature of the area had increased health challenges amongst other social influence. The satellite data of surface temperatures were compared with the ground station Davis weather station. The differential heating of the lower atmosphere were represented mathematically. A numerical predictive model was propounded to forecast future surface temperature.Keywords: numerical predictive model, surface temperature, satellite date, ground data
Procedia PDF Downloads 464115 Factors Influencing University Student's Acceptance of New Technology
Authors: Fatma Khadra
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The objective of this research is to identify the acceptance of new technology in a sample of 150 Participants from Qatar University. Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), we used the Davis’s scale (1989) which contains two item scales for Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use. The TAM represents an important theoretical contribution toward understanding how users come to accept and use technology. This model suggests that when people are presented with a new technology, a number of variables influence their decision about how and when they will use it. The results showed that participants accept more technology because flexibility, clarity, enhancing the experience, enjoying, facility, and useful. Also, results showed that younger participants accept more technology than others.Keywords: new technology, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, technology acceptance model
Procedia PDF Downloads 312114 A Study of Issues and Mitigations on Distributed Denial of Service and Medical Internet of Things Devices
Authors: Robin Singh, Jing-Chiou Liou
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The Internet of Things (IoT) devices are being used heavily as part of our everyday routines. Through improved communication and automated procedures, its popularity has assisted users in raising the quality of work. These devices are used in healthcare in order to better collect the patient’s data for their treatment. They are generally considered safe and secure. However, there is some possibility that some loopholes do exist which manufacturers do need to identify before some hacker takes advantage of them. For this study, we focused on two medical IoT devices which are pacemakers and hearing aids. The aim of this paper is to identify if there is any likelihood of these medical devices being hijacked and used as a botnet in Distributed Denial-Of Service attacks. Moreover, some mitigation strategies are being proposed to better secureKeywords: cybersecurity, DDoS, IoT, medical devices
Procedia PDF Downloads 77113 An Investigation of the Mystic Term on 'The Conference of the Birds' of Attar on the Basis of Van Doorslaer's Map
Authors: Saber Noie
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This research follows some objectives to consider the mystic terms as one of the main issues in translation of poems. Firstly, it is an attempt to find out what strategies have been used to find equivalents for source text mystic. Second, it is hoped that this study of the translations of the mystic terms in Attar’s poems will further address and explore the problems in translating mystic texts, proposed by other Persian poets and suggest instructional points from Davis work for translation education. In order to deal with such a breadth of work, a new conceptual tool was developed, as explained by Van Doorslaer (2007). This study shows that according to Van Doorslaer’s map, the mystic terms can be transferred to the target language (TL) with their exact content of the source language (SL) if the translator has a good choice for any term.Keywords: metaphor, mystic, mysticism, source language (SL), target language (TL)
Procedia PDF Downloads 251112 Modern Work Modules in Construction Practice
Authors: Robin Becker, Nane Roetmann, Manfred Helmus
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Construction companies lack junior staff for construction management. According to a nationwide survey of students, however, the profession lacks attractiveness. The conflict between the traditional job profile and the current desires of junior staff for contemporary and flexible working models must be resolved. Increasing flexibility is essential for the future viability of small and medium-sized enterprises. The implementation of modern work modules can help here. The following report will present the validation results of the developed work modules in construction practice.Keywords: modern construction management, construction industry, work modules, shortage of junior staff, sustainable personnel management, making construction management more attractive, working time model
Procedia PDF Downloads 76111 Feedback Preference and Practice of English Majors’ in Pronunciation Instruction
Authors: Claerchille Jhulia Robin
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This paper discusses the perspective of ESL learners towards pronunciation instruction. It sought to determine how these learners view the type of feedback their speech teacher gives and its impact on their own classroom practice of providing feedback. This study utilized a quantitative-qualitative approach to the problem. The respondents were Education students majoring in English. A survey questionnaire and interview guide were used for data gathering. The data from the survey was tabulated using frequency count and the data from the interview were then transcribed and analyzed. Results showed that ESL learners favor immediate corrective feedback and they do not find any issue in being corrected in front of their peers. They also practice the same corrective technique in their own classroom.Keywords: ESL, feedback, learner perspective, pronunciation instruction
Procedia PDF Downloads 226110 Harmful Conceptual Metaphors for Women in Popular Songs
Authors: Danielle Kim
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This paper analyzes how conceptual metaphors in the lyrics of popular songs can be potentially detrimental by influencing the public’s perception of women. Conceptual metaphors in songs often compare women to objects (objects that are fragile and breakable or primarily of monetary value) and animals. Many common conceptual metaphors in music refer to women as less than sovereign, rational humans, implying that women should be owned, controlled, and used. These comparisons are harmful because music is so influential and has the ability to create and perpetuate stereotypes. By examining the lyrics of the popular songs: Bob Dylan’s “Just like a woman,” Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (written by Marvin Gaye), and Chris Brown’s “Fine China,” we can discern subtle ways in which misogynistic language has become so imbedded into popular culture.Keywords: conceptual metaphors, women studies, feminism, lyrics
Procedia PDF Downloads 80109 Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network for Rainfall-Water Level Modeling
Authors: Thohidul Islam, Md. Hamidul Haque, Robin Kumar Biswas
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Floods are one of the deadliest natural disasters which are very complex to model; however, machine learning is opening the door for more reliable and accurate flood prediction. In this research, a multilayer perceptron neural network (MLP) is developed to model the rainfall-water level relation, in a subtropical monsoon climatic region of the Bangladesh-India border. Our experiments show promising empirical results to forecast the water level for 1 day lead time. Our best performing MLP model achieves 98.7% coefficient of determination with lower model complexity which surpasses previously reported results on similar forecasting problems.Keywords: flood forecasting, machine learning, multilayer perceptron network, regression
Procedia PDF Downloads 166108 Internal and External Validity in Experimental Economics
Authors: Helena Chytilova, Robin Maialeh
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Experimental economics is subject to criticism with regards to frequently discussed trade-off between internal and external validity requirements, which seems to be critically flawed. Incompatibility of trade-off condition and condition of internal validity as a prerequisite for external validity is presented. In addition, the imprecise concept of artificiality found to be rather improving external validity, seems to strengthen illusory status of external versus internal validity tension. Internal validity will be further analysed with regards to Duhem-Quine problem, where unpredictability argument is significantly weakened trough application of inductivism within the illustrative hypothetical-deductive model. Discussion outlined above partially weakens critical arguments related to robustness of results in experimental economics, if perfectly controlled experimental environment is secured.Keywords: Duhem-Quine problem, external validity, inductivism, internal validity
Procedia PDF Downloads 277107 Automated Recognition of Still’s Murmur in Children
Authors: Sukryool Kang, James McConnaughey, Robin Doroshow, Raj Shekhar
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Still’s murmur, a vibratory heart murmur, is the most common normal innocent murmur of childhood. Many children with this murmur are unnecessarily referred for cardiology consultation and testing, which exacts a high cost financially and emotionally on the patients and their parents. Pediatricians to date are not successful at distinguishing Still’s murmur from murmurs of true heart disease. In this paper, we present a new algorithmic approach to distinguish Still’s murmur from pathological murmurs in children. We propose two distinct features, spectral width and signal power, which describe the sharpness of the spectrum and the signal intensity of the murmur, respectively. Seventy pediatric heart sound recordings of 41 Still’s and 29 pathological murmurs were used to develop and evaluate our algorithm that achieved a true positive rate of 97% and false positive rate of 0%. This approach would meet clinical standards in recognizing Still’s murmur.Keywords: AR modeling, auscultation, heart murmurs, Still's murmur
Procedia PDF Downloads 361106 A Virtual Electrode through Summation of Time Offset Pulses
Authors: Isaac Cassar, Trevor Davis, Yi-Kai Lo, Wentai Liu
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Retinal prostheses have been successful in eliciting visual responses in implanted subjects. As these prostheses progress, one of their major limitations is the need for increased resolution. As an alternative to increasing the number of electrodes, virtual electrodes may be used to increase the effective resolution of current electrode arrays. This paper presents a virtual electrode technique based upon time-offsets between stimuli. Two adjacent electrodes are stimulated with identical pulses with too short of pulse widths to activate a neuron, but one has a time offset of one pulse width. A virtual electrode of twice the pulse width was then shown to appear in the center, with a total width capable of activating a neuron. This can be used in retinal implants by stimulating electrodes with pulse widths short enough to not elicit responses in neurons, but with their combined pulse width adequate to activate a neuron in between them.Keywords: electrical stimulation, neuroprosthesis, retinal implant, retinal prosthesis, virtual electrode
Procedia PDF Downloads 296105 Efficient Management through Predicting of Use E-Management within Higher Educational Institutions
Authors: S. Maddi Muhammed, Paul Davis, John Geraghty, Mabruk Derbesh
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This study discusses the probability of using electronic management in higher education institutions in Libya. This could be as sampled by creating an electronic gate at the faculties of Engineering and Computing "Information Technology" at Zaytuna University or any other university in Libya. As we all know, the competitive advantage amongst universities is based on their ability to use information technology efficiently and broadly. Universities today value information technology as part of the quality control and assurance and a ranking criterion for a range of services including e-learning and e-Registration. This could be done by developing email systems, electronic or virtual libraries, electronic cards, and other services provided to all students, faculty or staff. This paper discusses a range of important topics that explain how to apply the gate "E" with the faculties at Zaytuna University, Bani Walid colleges in Libya.Keywords: e-management, educational institutions (EI), Libya, Zaytuna, information technology
Procedia PDF Downloads 442104 In the Spirit of Open Educational Resources: Library Resources and Fashion Merchandising
Authors: Lizhu Y. Davis, Gretchen Higginbottom, Vang Vang
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This presentation explores the adoption of library resources to engage students in a Visual Merchandising course during the 2016 spring semester. This study was a cross-disciplinary collaboration between the Fashion Merchandising Program and the Madden Library at California State University, Fresno. The goal of the project was to explore and assess the students’ use of library resources as a part of the Affordable Learning Solutions Initiative, a California State University (CSU) Office of the Chancellor Program that enables faculty to choose and provide high-quality, free or low-cost educational materials for their students. Students were interviewed afterwards and the results were generally favorable and provided insight into how students perceive and use library resources to support their research needs. This study reveals an important step in examining how open educational resources impact student learning.Keywords: collaboration, library resources, open educational resources, visual merchandising
Procedia PDF Downloads 310103 Centralizing the Teaching Process in Intelligent Tutoring System Architectures
Authors: Nikolaj Troels Graf Von Malotky, Robin Nicolay, Alke Martens
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There exist a plethora of architectures for ITSs (Intelligent Tutoring Systems). A thorough analysis and comparison of the architectures revealed, that in most cases the architecture extensions are evolutionary grown, reflecting state of the art trends of each decade. However, from the perspective of software engineering, the main aspect of an ITS has not been reflected in any of these architectures, yet. From the perspective of cognitive research, the construction of the teaching process is what makes an ITS 'intelligent' regarding the spectrum of interaction with the students. Thus, in our approach, we focus on a behavior based architecture, which is based on the main teaching processes. To create a new general architecture for ITS, we have to define the prerequisites. This paper analyzes the current state of the existing architectures and derives rules for the behavior of ITS. It is presenting a teaching process for ITSs to be used together with the architecture.Keywords: intelligent tutoring, ITS, tutoring process, system architecture, interaction process
Procedia PDF Downloads 377102 Does "R and D" Investment Drive Economic Growth? Evidence from Africa
Authors: Boopen Seetanah, R. V. Sannassee, Sheereen Fauzel, Robin Nunkoo
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The bulk of research on the impact of research and development (R&D) has been carried out in developed economies where the intensity of R&D expenditure has been relatively high and stable for many years. However, there is a paucity of similar studies in developing countries. In this paper, we provide empirical estimates of the impact of R&D investment on economic growth in a developing African economy (Mauritius) where R&D expenditure intensity has been low initially, but rising, albeit moderately in recent years. Using a dynamic time series analysis over the period 1980 to 2014 in a Vector Autoregressive framework, R & D is shown to have a positive and significant effect on the economic progress of the island, although the impact is considerably less when compared to both other ingredients of growth and also to reported elasticities fromdeveloped economies . Interestingly, there is evidence of bicausality between R & D and growth. furthermore, R & D positively impacts on both domestic and foreign investment, suggesting the possibilities of indirect effects.Keywords: R & D, VECM, Africa, Mauritius
Procedia PDF Downloads 425101 Reframing Service Oriented Architecture Design Principles in Software Design Quality
Authors: Purnomo Yustianto, Robin Doss, Novianto B. Kurniawan Suhardi
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Since its inception, the design activities of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) has been guided with aspects from the Service Design Principles (SDP), such as cohesion, granularity, loose coupling, discoverability, and autonomy, etc. The goal of this paper is two folds. The first is to examine the position of SDP within the context of software quality, and the second is to reframe the aspects of SDP into a more concise terms and relations. This paper is divided into four parts, in which after the introduction, a review on related software quality is provided to determine the quality context of SDP. The third part reviews the original SDP and offers a relation model among the SDP aspects. The fourth part explores the design quality metrics available for SOA and proposes a relationship representing the design quality. Among the aspects of design principles, the cohesion and coupling aspect is determined to be the two important aspects for achieving reusability of a service.Keywords: SOA, software quality, service design principle, reusability, cohesion, coupling
Procedia PDF Downloads 159100 Analysis of the Impact of Refractivity on Ultra High Frequency Signal Strength over Gusau, North West, Nigeria
Authors: B. G. Ayantunji, B. Musa, H. Mai-Unguwa, L. A. Sunmonu, A. S. Adewumi, L. Sa'ad, A. Kado
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For achieving reliable and efficient communication system, both terrestrial and satellite communication, surface refractivity is critical in planning and design of radio links. This study analyzed the impact of atmospheric parameters on Ultra High Frequency (UHF) signal strength over Gusau, North West, Nigeria. The analysis exploited meteorological data measured simultaneously with UHF signal strength for the month of June 2017 using a Davis Vantage Pro2 automatic weather station and UHF signal strength measuring devices respectively. The instruments were situated at the premise of Federal University, Gusau (6° 78' N, 12° 13' E). The refractivity values were computed using ITU-R model. The result shows that the refractivity value attained the highest value of 366.28 at 2200hr and a minimum value of 350.66 at 2100hr local time. The correlation between signal strength and refractivity is 0.350; Humidity is 0.532 and a negative correlation of -0.515 for temperature.Keywords: refractivity, UHF (ultra high frequency) signal strength, free space, automatic weather station
Procedia PDF Downloads 18999 Contracting Strategies to Foster Industrial Symbiosis Implementation
Authors: Robin Molinier
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Industrial symbiosis (I.S) deals with the exchange of waste materials, fatal energy and utilities as resources for production. While it brings environmental benefits from resource conservation its economic profitability is one of the main barriers to its implementation. I.S involves several actors with their own objectives and resources so that each actor must be satisfied by ex-ante arrangements to commit toward investments and transactions. Regarding I.S Transaction cost economics helps to identify hybrid forms of governance for transactions governance due to I.S projects specificities induced by the need for customization (asset specificity, non-homogeneity). Thus we propose a framework to analyze the best contractual practices tailored to address I.S specific risks that we identified as threefold (load profiles and quality mismatch, value fluctuations). Schemes from cooperative game theory and contracting management are integrated to analyze value flows between actors. Contractual guidelines are then proposed to address the identified risks and to split the value for a set of I.S archetypes drawn from actual experiences.Keywords: contracts, economics, industrial symbiosis, risks
Procedia PDF Downloads 20398 Metamodel for Artefacts in Service Engineering Analysis and Design
Authors: Purnomo Yustianto, Robin Doss
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As a process of developing a service system, the term ‘service engineering’ evolves in scope and definition. To achieve an integrated understanding of the process, a general framework and an ontology are required. This paper extends a previously built service engineering framework by exploring metamodels for the framework artefacts based on a foundational ontology and a metamodel landscape. The first part of this paper presents a correlation map between the proposed framework with the ontology as a form of evaluation for the conceptual coverage of the framework. The mapping also serves to characterize the artefacts to be produced for each activity in the framework. The second part describes potential metamodels to be used, from the metamodel landscape, as alternative formats of the framework artefacts. The results suggest that the framework sufficiently covers the ontological concepts, both from general service context and software service context. The metamodel exploration enriches the suggested artefact format from the original eighteen formats to thirty metamodel alternatives.Keywords: artefact, framework, service, metamodel
Procedia PDF Downloads 19997 Characterization of Calcium-Signalling Mediated by Human GPR55 Expressed in HEK293 Cells
Authors: Yousuf M. Al Suleimani, Robin Hiley
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The endogenous phospholipid lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) was recently identified as a novel ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor 55 (GPR55) and an inducer of intracellular Ca2+ [Ca2+]i release. This study attempts to characterize Ca2+ signals provoked by LPI in HEK293 cells engineered to stably express human GPR55 and to test cannabinoid ligand activity at GPR55. The study shows that treatment with LPI stimulates a sustained, oscillatory Ca2+ release. The response is characterized by an initial rapid rise, which is mediated by the Gαq-PLC-IP3 pathway, and this is followed by prolonged oscillations that require RhoA activation. Ca2+ oscillations are initiated by intracellular mechanisms and extracellular Ca2+ is only required to replenish Ca2+ lost from the cytoplasm. Analysis of cannabinoid ligand activity at GPR55 revealed no clear effect of the endocannabinoid anandamide, however, rimonabant and the CB1 receptor antagonist AM251 evoked GPR55-mediated [Ca2+]i. Thus, LPI is likely to be a key plasma membrane mediator of signaling events and changes in gene expression through GPR55 activation.Keywords: lysophosphatidylinositol, calcium, GPR55, cannabinoid
Procedia PDF Downloads 34996 Factors Affecting Students' Attitude to Adapt E-Learning: A Case from Iran How to Develop Virtual Universities in Iran: Using Technology Acceptance Model
Authors: Fatemeh Keivanifard
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E-learning is becoming increasingly prominent in higher education, with universities increasing provision and more students signing up. This paper examines factors that predict students' attitudes to adapt e-learning at the Khuzestan province Iran. Understanding the nature of these factors may assist these universities in promoting the use of information and communication technology in teaching and learning. The main focus of the paper is on the university students, whose decision supports effective implementation of e-learning. Data was collected through a survey of 300 post graduate students at the University of dezful, shooshtar and chamran in Khuzestan. The technology adoption model put forward by Davis is utilized in this study. Two more independent variables are added to the original model, namely, the pressure to act and resources availability. The results show that there are five factors that can be used in modeling students' attitudes to adapt e-learning. These factors are intention toward e-learning, perceived usefulness of e-learning, perceived ease of e-learning use, pressure to use e-learning, and the availability of resources needed to use e-learning.Keywords: e-learning, intention, ease of use, pressure to use, usefulness
Procedia PDF Downloads 36295 Consolidating Service Engineering Ontologies Building Service Ontology from SOA Modeling Language (SoaML)
Authors: Purnomo Yustianto, Robin Doss, Suhardi, Novianto Budi Kurniawan
Abstract:
As a term for characterizing a process of devising a service system, the term ‘service engineering’ is still regarded as an ‘open’ research challenge due to unspecified details and conflicting perspectives. This paper presents consolidated service engineering ontologies in collecting, specifying and defining relationship between components pertinent within the context of service engineering. The ontologies are built by way of literature surveys from the collected conceptual works by collating various concepts into an integrated ontology. Two ontologies are produced: general service ontology and software service ontology. The software-service ontology is drawn from the informatics domain, while the generalized ontology of a service system is built from both a business management and the information system perspective. The produced ontologies are verified by exercising conceptual operationalizations of the ontologies in adopting several service orientation features and service system patterns. The proposed ontologies are demonstrated to be sufficient to serve as a basis for a service engineering framework.Keywords: engineering, ontology, service, SoaML
Procedia PDF Downloads 178