Search results for: Technology Readiness Level.

Authors: A. Grilec, S. Petrak, M. Mahnic Naglic

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Technological development and the globalization in production and sales of clothing in the last decade have significantly influenced the changes in consumer relationship with the industrial-fashioned apparel and in the way of clothing purchasing. The Internet sale of clothing is in a constant and significant increase in the global market, but the possibilities offered by modern computing technologies in the customization segment are not yet fully involved, especially according to the individual customer requirements and body sizes. Considering the growing trend of online shopping, the main goal of this paper is to investigate the differences in customer perceptions towards online apparel shopping and particularly to discover the main differences in perceptions between customers regarding three different body sizes. In order to complete the research goal, the quantitative study on the sample of 85 Croatian consumers was conducted in 2017 in Zagreb, Croatia. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement according to a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). To analyze attitudes of respondents, simple and descriptive statistics were used. The main findings highlight the differences in respondent perception of 3D body scanning, using 3D body scanning in Internet shopping, online apparel shopping habits regarding their body sizes.

Keywords: Consumer behavior, online shopping, 3D body scanning.

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Authors: Andra Blumberga, Armands Gravelsins, Haralds Vigants, Dagnija Blumberga

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The paper discovers biotechonomy development analysis by use of system dynamics modelling. The research is connected with investigations of biomass application for production of bioproducts with higher added value. The most popular bioresource is wood, and therefore, the main question today is about future development and eco-design of products. The paper emphasizes and evaluates energy sector which is open for use of wood logs, wood chips, wood pellets and so on. The main aim for this research study was to build a framework to analyse development perspectives for wood pellet production. To reach the goal, a system dynamics model of energy wood supplies, processing, and consumption is built. Production capacity, energy consumption, changes in energy and technology efficiency, required labour source, prices of wood, energy and labour are taken into account. Validation and verification tests with available data and information have been carried out and indicate that the model constitutes the dynamic hypothesis. It is found that the more is invested into pellets production, the higher the specific profit per production unit compared to wood logs and wood chips. As a result, wood chips production is decreasing dramatically and is replaced by wood pellets. The limiting factor for pellet industry growth is availability of wood sources. This is governed by felling limit set by the government based on sustainable forestry principles.

Keywords: Bioenergy, biotechonomy, system dynamics modelling, wood pellets.

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Authors: Chiung-Hui Chen

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With advancements in science and technology, the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) has gradually developed. The development of the intelligent environment adds intelligence to objects in the living space by using the IoT. In the smart environment, when multiple users share the living space, if different service requirements from different users arise, then the context-aware system will have conflicting situations for making decisions about providing services. Therefore, the purpose of establishing a communication and negotiation mechanism among objects in the intelligent environment is to resolve those service conflicts among users. This study proposes developing a decision-making methodology that uses “Event Agents” as its core. When the sensor system receives information, it evaluates a user’s current events and conditions; analyses object, location, time, and environmental information; calculates the priority of the object; and provides the user services based on the event. Moreover, when the event is not single but overlaps with another, conflicts arise. This study adopts the “Multiple Events Correlation Matrix” in order to calculate the degree values of incidents and support values for each object. The matrix uses these values as the basis for making inferences for system service, and to further determine appropriate services when there is a conflict.

Keywords: Internet of things, intelligent object, event agents, negotiation mechanism, degree of similarity.

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Authors: Rui Magalhães, Sohel Rana, Raul Fangueiro, Clara Gonçalves, Pedro Nunes, Gustavo Dias

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Auxetic fibrous structures and composites with negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR) have huge potential for application in ballistic protection due to their high energy absorption and excellent impact resistance. In the present research, re-entrant lozenge auxetic fibrous structures were produced through weft knitting technology using high performance polyamide and para-aramid fibres. Fabric structural parameters (e.g. loop length) and machine parameters (e.g. take down load) were varied in order to investigate their influence on the auxetic behaviours of the produced structures. These auxetic structures were then impregnated with two types of polymeric resins (epoxy and polyester) to produce composite materials, which were subsequently characterized for the auxetic behaviour. It was observed that the knitted fabrics produced using the polyamide yarns exhibited NPR over a wide deformation range, which was strongly dependant on the loop length and take down load. The polymeric composites produced from the auxetic fabrics also showed good auxetic property, which was superior in case of the polyester matrix. The experimental results suggested that these composites made from the auxetic fibrous structures can be properly designed to find potential use in the body amours for personal protection applications.

Keywords: Auxetic fabrics, high performance, composites, impact resistance, energy absorption.

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Authors: Hyeon Seok Kim, Inhoi Lee, Seong Baeg Kim, Kyunghee Ko, Kyung Eon Lee, Dong Sik Kang

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In the age of globalization, higher education  institutions attempt to equip students with global competence. In  response, most universities have been developing and running various  international programs. However, teacher education has been a  neglected area in this trend. Therefore, in this study, we suggest a  program that offers a dual bachelor’s degree from both universities  located on different countries, focusing on teacher education  institutions with different policies and regulations of teacher education  programs that may become obstacles to designing a dual degree  program. We discuss a possible way to get a dual degree including a  teaching certificate at a specialized college, college of secondary  education. To be specific, this research presents a way to attain two  diplomas from Jeju National University (JNU) in Korea and Boise  State University (BSU) in the U.S. It attempts to build an effective  plan for students to declare simultaneous degrees at both universities.  From the study, we find that it takes about 5 years to fulfill  requirements for the dual degree at the undergraduate level.

 

Keywords: Dual degree, curriculum, teaching certificate, college of secondary education, international program.

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Authors: June Tay, Ivy Chia

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There are numerous changes, both mental and physical, taking place when people age. We need to understand the different aspects required for healthy living, including meeting nutritional needs, regular physical activities to keep agility, sufficient rest and sleep to have physical and mental well-being, social engagement to avoid the risk of social isolation and depression, and access to healthcare to detect and manage chronic conditions. Promoting physical activities for an ageing population is necessary as many may have enjoyed sedentary lifestyles for some time. In our study, we evaluate the considerations when designing a computer vision video game for the elderly. We need to design some low-impact activities, such as stretching and gentle movements, because some elderly individuals may have joint pains or mobility issues. The exercise game should consist of simple movements that are easy to follow and remember. It should be fun and enjoyable so that they can be motivated to do some exercise. Social engagement can keep the elderly motivated and competitive, and they are more willing to engage in game exercises. Elderly citizens can compare their game scores and try to improve them. We propose a computer vision-based video game for the elderly that will capture and track the movement of the elderly hand pushing a ball on the screen into a circle. It can be easily set up using a PC laptop with a webcam. Our video game adhered to the design framework we employed, and it encompassed ease of use, a simple graphical interface, easy-to-play game exercise, and fun gameplay.

Keywords: Computer vision, video games, gerontology technology, caregiving.

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Authors: Joanna M. Dulińska, Maria Fabijańska

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In the paper the results of calculations of the dynamic response of a multi-storey reinforced concrete building to a strong mining shock originated from the main region of mining activity in Poland (i.e. the Legnica-Glogow Copper District) are presented. The representative time histories of accelerations registered in three directions were used as ground motion data in calculations of the dynamic response of the structure. Two variants of a numerical model were applied: the model including only structural elements of the building and the model including both structural and non-structural elements (i.e. partition walls and ventilation ducts made of brick). It turned out that non-structural elements of multi-storey RC buildings have a small impact of about 10 % on natural frequencies of these structures. It was also proved that the dynamic response of building to mining shock obtained in case of inclusion of all non-structural elements in the numerical model is about 20 % smaller than in case of consideration of structural elements only. The principal stresses obtained in calculations of dynamic response of multi-storey building to strong mining shock are situated on the level of about 30% of values obtained from static analysis (dead load).

Keywords: Dynamic characteristics of buildings, mining shocks, dynamic response of buildings, non-structural elements

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Authors: J. Fernandez de Canete, S. Gonzalez-Perez, P. del Saz-Orozco

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Neural networks offer an alternative approach both for identification and control of nonlinear processes in process engineering. The lack of software tools for the design of controllers based on neural network models is particularly pronounced in this field. SIMULINK is properly a widely used graphical code development environment which allows system-level developers to perform rapid prototyping and testing. Such graphical based programming environment involves block-based code development and offers a more intuitive approach to modeling and control task in a great variety of engineering disciplines. In this paper a SIMULINK based Neural Tool has been developed for analysis and design of multivariable neural based control systems. This tool has been applied to the control of a high purity distillation column including non linear hydrodynamic effects. The proposed control scheme offers an optimal response for both theoretical and practical challenges posed in process control task, in particular when both, the quality improvement of distillation products and the operation efficiency in economical terms are considered.

Keywords: Distillation, neural networks, software tools, identification, control.

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Authors: Siddeeq Y. Ameen, Mohammed K. Yousif

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Cooperative communication systems are considered to be a promising technology to improve the system capacity, reliability and performances over fading wireless channels. Cooperative relaying system with a single antenna will be able to reach the advantages of multiple antenna communication systems. It is ideally suitable for the distributed communication systems; the relays can cooperate and form virtual MIMO systems. Thus the paper will aim to investigate the possible enhancement of cooperated system using decode and forward protocol. On the decode and forward an attempt to cancel or at least reduce the interference instead of increasing the SNR values is achieved. The latter can be achieved via the use group of relays depending on the channel status from source to relay and relay to destination respectively.

In the proposed system, the transmission time has been divided into two phases to be used by the decode and forward protocol. The first phase has been allocated for the source to transmit its data whereas the relays and destination nodes are in receiving mode. On the other hand, the second phase is allocated for the first and second groups of relay nodes to relay the data to the destination node. Simulations results have shown an improvement in performance is achieved compared to the conventional decode and forward in terms of BER and transmission rate.

Keywords: Cooperative systems, decode and forward, interference cancellation, virtual MIMO.

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Authors: Ebrahim Safarian, Kadir Bilen, Akif Ceviz

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The turbocharger and turbocharging have been the inherent component of diesel engines, so that critical parameters of such engines, as BSFC (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption) or thermal efficiency, fuel consumption, BMEP (Brake Mean Effective Pressure), the power density output and emission level have been improved extensively. In general, the turbocharger can be considered as the most complex component of diesel engines, because it has closely interrelated turbomachinery concepts of the turbines and the compressors to thermodynamic fundamentals of internal combustion engines and stress analysis of all components. In this paper, a waste gate for a conventional single stage radial turbine is investigated by consideration of turbochargers operation constrains and engine operation conditions, without any detail designs in the turbine and the compressor. Amount of opening waste gate which extended between the ranges of full opened and closed valve, is demonstrated by limiting compressor boost pressure ratio. Obtaining of an optimum point by regard above mentioned items is surveyed by three linked meanline modeling programs together which consist of Turbomatch®, Compal®, Rital® madules in concepts NREC® respectively.

Keywords: Turbocharger, Wastegate, diesel engine, CONCEPT NREC programs.

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Authors: N. Lokeshwari, G. Srinikethan, V. S. Hegde

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Monitoring is essential to assessing the effectiveness of air pollution control actions. The goal of the air quality information system is through monitoring, to keep authorities, major polluters and the public informed on the short and long-term changes in air quality, thereby helping to raise awareness. Mathematical models are the best tools available for the prediction of the air quality management. The main objective of the work was to apply a Model that predicts the concentration levels of different pollutants at any instant of time. In this study, distribution of air pollutants concentration such as nitrogen dioxides (NO₂), sulphur dioxides (SO₂) and total suspended particulates (TSP) of industries are determined by using Gaussian model. Besides that, the effect of wind speed and its direction on the pollutant concentration within the affected area were evaluated. In order to determine the efficiency and percentage of error in the modeling, validation process of data was done. Sampling of air quality was conducted in getting existing air quality around a factory and the concentrations of pollutants in a plume were inversely proportional to wind velocity. The resultant ground level concentrations were then compared to the quality standards to determine if there could be a negative impact on health. This study concludes that concentration of pollutants can be significantly predicted using Gaussian Model. The data base management is developed for the air data of Hubli-Dharwad region.

Keywords: DBMS, NO2, SO2, Wind rose plots.

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Authors: K. D. R. Jagath-Kumara, D. D. Dias

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The sea waves carry thousands of GWs of power globally. Although there are a number of different approaches to harness offshore energy, they are likely to be expensive, practically challenging, and vulnerable to storms. Therefore, this paper considers using the near shore waves for generating mechanical and electrical power. It introduces two new approaches, the wave manipulation and using a variable duct turbine, for intercepting very wide wave fronts and coping with the fluctuations of the wave height and the sea level, respectively. The first approach effectively allows capturing much more energy yet with a much narrower turbine rotor. The second approach allows using a rotor with a smaller radius but captures energy of higher wave fronts at higher sea levels yet preventing it from totally submerging. To illustrate the effectiveness of the first approach, the paper contains a description and the simulation results of a scale model of a wave manipulator. Then, it includes the results of testing a physical model of the manipulator and a single duct, axial flow turbine in a wave flume in the laboratory. The paper also includes comparisons of theoretical predictions, simulation results, and wave flume tests with respect to the incident energy, loss in wave manipulation, minimal loss, brake torque, and the angular velocity.

Keywords: Near-shore sea waves, Renewable energy, Wave energy conversion, Wave manipulation.

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Authors: N.E.Galich

Abstract:

We develop new nonlinear methods of immunofluorescence analysis for a sensitive technology of respiratory burst reaction of DNA fluorescence due to oxidative activity in the peripheral blood neutrophils. Histograms in flow cytometry experiments represent a fluorescence flashes frequency as functions of fluorescence intensity. We used the Shannon-Weaver index for definition of neutrophils- biodiversity and Hurst index for definition of fractal-s correlations in immunofluorescence for different donors, as the basic quantitative criteria for medical diagnostics of health status. We analyze frequencies of flashes, information, Shannon entropies and their fractals in immunofluorescence networks due to reduction of histogram range. We found the number of simplest universal correlations for biodiversity, information and Hurst index in diagnostics and classification of pathologies for wide spectra of diseases. In addition is determined the clear criterion of a common immunity and human health status in a form of yes/no answers type. These answers based on peculiarities of information in immunofluorescence networks and biodiversity of neutrophils. Experimental data analysis has shown the existence of homeostasis for information entropy in oxidative activity of DNA in neutrophil nuclei for all donors.

Keywords: blood and cells fluorescence in diagnostics ofdiseases, cytometric histograms, entropy and information in fractalnetworks of oxidative activity of DNA, long-range chromosomalcorrelations in living cells.

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Authors: M. Amlie A. Kasim, Ahsana Aqilah, Ahmed Jaffar, Cheng Yee Low, Roseleena Jaafar, M. Saiful Bahari, Armansyah

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The study of human hand morphology reveals that developing an artificial hand with the capabilities of human hand is an extremely challenging task. This paper presents the development of a robotic prosthetic hand focusing on the improvement of a tendon driven mechanism towards a biomimetic prosthetic hand. The design of this prosthesis hand is geared towards achieving high level of dexterity and anthropomorphism by means of a new hybrid mechanism that integrates a miniature motor driven actuation mechanism, a Shape Memory Alloy actuated mechanism and a passive mechanical linkage. The synergy of these actuators enables the flexion-extension movement at each of the finger joints within a limited size, shape and weight constraints. Tactile sensors are integrated on the finger tips and the finger phalanges area. This prosthesis hand is developed with an exact size ratio that mimics a biological hand. Its behavior resembles the human counterpart in terms of working envelope, speed and torque, and thus resembles both the key physical features and the grasping functionality of an adult hand.

Keywords: Prosthetic hand, Biomimetic actuation, Shape Memory Alloy, Tactile sensing.

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Authors: M. A. M. El-Bendary, H. Kazimian, A. E. Abo-El-azm, N. A. El-Fishawy, F. El-Samie, F. Shawki

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This paper studies a vital issue in wireless communications, which is the transmission of images over Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) through the Bluetooth network. It presents a simple method to improve the efficiency of error control code of old Bluetooth versions over mobile WPANs through Interleaved Error Control Code (IECC) technique. The encoded packets are interleaved by simple block interleaver. Also, the paper presents a chaotic interleaving scheme as a tool against bursts of errors which depends on the chaotic Baker map. Also, the paper proposes using the chaotic interleaver instead of traditional block interleaver with Forward Error Control (FEC) scheme. A comparison study between the proposed and standard techniques for image transmission over a correlated fading channel is presented. Simulation results reveal the superiority of the proposed chaotic interleaving scheme to other schemes. Also, the superiority of FEC with proposed chaotic interleaver to the conventional interleavers with enhancing the security level with chaotic interleaving packetby- packet basis.

Keywords: Mobile Bluetooth terminals, WPANs, Jackes' model, Interleaving technique, chaotic interleaver

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Authors: Anu Paul, Varghese Paul

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The focal aspire of e-Government (eGovt) is to offer citizen-centered service delivery. Accordingly, the citizenry consumes services from multiple government agencies through national portal. Thus, eGovt is an enterprise with the primary business motive of transparent, efficient and effective public services to its citizenry and its logical structure is the eGovernment Enterprise Architecture (eGEA). Since eGovt is IT oriented multifaceted service-centric system, EA doesn’t do much on an automated enterprise other than the business artifacts. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) manifestation led some governments to pertain this in their eGovts, but it limits the source of business artifacts. The concurrent use of EA and SOA in eGovt executes interoperability and integration and leads to Service-Oriented e-Government Enterprise (SOeGE). Consequently, agile eGovt system becomes a reality. As an IT perspective eGovt comprises of centralized public service artifacts with the existing application logics belong to various departments at central, state and local level. The eGovt is renovating to SOeGE by apply the Service-Orientation (SO) principles in the entire system. This paper explores IT perspective of SOeGE in India which encompasses the public service models and illustrated with a case study the Passport service of India.

Keywords: Enterprise Architecture, Service-Oriented e-Government Enterprise, Service Interface Layer, Service Model.

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Authors: Addion Nizori, Lan T.T. Bui, Darryl M. Small

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Ascorbic acid (AA), commonly known as vitamin C, is essential for normal functioning of the body and maintenance of metabolic integrity. Among its various roles are as an antioxidant, a cofactor in collagen formation and other reactions, as well as reducing physical stress and maintenance of the immune system. Recent collaborative research between the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) in Scottsdale, Tasmania and RMIT University has sought to overcome the problems arising from the inherent instability of ascorbic acid during processing and storage of foods. The recent work has demonstrated the potential of microencapsulation by spray drying as a means to enhance retention. The purpose of this current study has been focused upon the influence of spray drying conditions on the properties of encapsulated ascorbic acid. The process was carried out according to a central composite design. Independent variables were: inlet temperature (80-120° C) and feed flow rate (7-14 mL/minute). Process yield, ascorbic acid loss, moisture content, water activity and particle size distribution were analysed as responses. The results have demonstrated the potential of microencapsulation by spray drying as a means to enhance retention. Vitamin retention, moisture content, water activity and process yield were influenced positively by inlet air temperature and negatively by feed flow rate.

Keywords: Microencapsulation, spray drying, ascorbic acid.

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Authors: Ramesh K. Sunkaria, Puneeta Marwaha

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Non linear methods of heart rate variability (HRV) analysis are becoming more popular. It has been observed that complexity measures quantify the regularity and uncertainty of cardiovascular RR-interval time series. In the present work, SampEn has been evaluated in healthy normal sinus rhythm (NSR) male and female subjects for different data lengths and tolerance level r. It is demonstrated that SampEn is small for higher values of tolerance r. Also SampEn value of healthy female group is higher than that of healthy male group for short data length and with increase in data length both groups overlap each other and it is difficult to distinguish them. The SampEn gives inaccurate results by assigning higher value to female group, because male subject have more complex HRV pattern than that of female subjects. Therefore, this traditional algorithm exhibits higher complexity for healthy female subjects than for healthy male subjects, which is misleading observation. This may be due to the fact that SampEn do not account for multiple time scales inherent in the physiologic time series and the hidden spatial and temporal fluctuations remains unexplored.

Keywords: Heart rate variability, normal sinus rhythm group, RR interval time series, sample entropy.

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Authors: Dyah Titisari Widyastuti

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Rail-station area development that is based on the concept of TOD (Transit Oriented Development) is principally oriented to pedestrian accessibility for daily mobility. The aim of this research is elaborating how far the existing physical elements of a rail-station district could facilitate pedestrian mobility and establish a pedestrian friendly district toward implementation of a TOD concept. This research was conducted through some steps: (i) mapping the rail-station area pedestrian sidewalk and pedestrian network as well as activity nodes and transit nodes, (ii) assessing the level of pedestrian sidewalk connectivity joining trip origin and destination. The research area coverage in this case is limited to walking distance of the rail station (around 500 meters or 10-15 minutes walking). The findings of this research on the current condition of the street and pedestrian sidewalk network and connectivity, show good preference for the foot modal share (more than 50%) is achieved. Nevertheless, it depends on the distance from the trip origin to destination.

Keywords: Accessibility of daily mobility, pedestrian friendly district, rail-station district, Transit Oriented Development.

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Authors: Greg Turner, Bin Lu, Cheer-Sun Yang

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As computing technology advances, smartphone applications can assist student learning in a pervasive way. For example, the idea of using mobile apps for the PA Common Trees, Pests, Pathogens, in the field as a reference tool allows middle school students to learn about trees and associated pests/pathogens without bringing a textbook. While working on the development of three heterogeneous mobile apps, we ran into numerous challenges. Both the traditional waterfall model and the more modern agile methodologies failed in practice. The waterfall model emphasizes the planning of the duration for each phase. When the duration of each phase is not consistent with the availability of developers, the waterfall model cannot be employed. When applying Agile Methodologies, we cannot maintain the high frequency of the iterative development review process, known as ‘sprints’. In this paper, we discuss the challenges and solutions. We propose a hybrid model known as the Relay Race Methodology to reflect the concept of racing and relaying during the process of software development in practice. Based on the development project, we observe that the modeling of the relay race transition between any two phases is manifested naturally. Thus, we claim that the RRM model can provide a de fecto rather than a de jure basis for the core concept in the software development model. In this paper, the background of the project is introduced first. Then, the challenges are pointed out followed by our solutions. Finally, the experiences learned and the future works are presented.

Keywords: Agile methods, mobile apps, software process model, waterfall model.

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Authors: Levan Sabauri

Abstract:

Audit is an independent inspection of the financial statement of the audited person and expresses the opinion of an auditor on the reliability of this statement. The auditor’s activity (auditor’s service) is realized by auditing organizations, individual auditors in connection to conduction of an audit and rendering of audit accompanying services. The profession of auditor means a high level of responsibility for rendered service. Results of decisions made by information users depend on the quality of the auditor’s conclusion. Owners, investors, creditors, and society rely on the opinion of the auditor under the condition that inspection was conducted with good quality. Therefore, the existence of the well-functioning audit quality control system for the administering of the audit is an important issue. An efficient audit quality control system is a substantial challenge that many countries face worldwide, especially those states where these systems are being formed within the respective reform program. The presented article reflects on the best practices of the leading countries, the assumptions and recommendations for the financial accounting, reporting and audit; current reforms in Georgia are made based on this comparative analysis.

Keywords: Audit quality control, audit program, financial statement, perspective analysis.

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Authors: C. Manjula, Lilly Florence

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Software technology is developing rapidly which leads to the growth of various industries. Now-a-days, software-based applications have been adopted widely for business purposes. For any software industry, development of reliable software is becoming a challenging task because a faulty software module may be harmful for the growth of industry and business. Hence there is a need to develop techniques which can be used for early prediction of software defects. Due to complexities in manual prediction, automated software defect prediction techniques have been introduced. These techniques are based on the pattern learning from the previous software versions and finding the defects in the current version. These techniques have attracted researchers due to their significant impact on industrial growth by identifying the bugs in software. Based on this, several researches have been carried out but achieving desirable defect prediction performance is still a challenging task. To address this issue, here we present a machine learning based hybrid technique for software defect prediction. First of all, Genetic Algorithm (GA) is presented where an improved fitness function is used for better optimization of features in data sets. Later, these features are processed through Decision Tree (DT) classification model. Finally, an experimental study is presented where results from the proposed GA-DT based hybrid approach is compared with those from the DT classification technique. The results show that the proposed hybrid approach achieves better classification accuracy.

Keywords: Decision tree, genetic algorithm, machine learning, software defect prediction.

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Authors: Nader Gharibnavaz, Naser Gharibnavaz

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This study extends research on the relationship between marketing strategy and market segmentation by investigating on market segments in the cement industry. Competitive strength and rivals distance from the factory were used as business environment. A three segment (positive, neutral or indifferent and zero zones) were identified as strategic segments. For each segment a marketing strategy (aggressive, defensive and decline) were developed. This study employed data from cement industry to fulfill two objectives, the first is to give a framework to the segmentation of cement industry and the second is developing marketing strategy with varying competitive strength. Fifty six questionnaires containing close-and open-ended questions were collected and analyzed. Results supported the theory that segments tend to be more aggressive than defensive when competitive strength increases. It is concluded that high strength segments follow total market coverage, concentric diversification and frontal attack to their competitors. With decreased competitive strength, Business tends to follow multi-market strategy, product modification/improvement and flank attack to direct competitors for this kind of segments. Segments with weak competitive strength followed focus strategy and decline strategy.

Keywords: Marketing strategy, Competitive strength, Market Segmentation

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Authors: Manoj Kumar, A.K. Verma, A. Srividya

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Time varying network induced delays in networked control systems (NCS) are known for degrading control system-s quality of performance (QoP) and causing stability problems. In literature, a control method employing modeling of communication delays as probability distribution, proves to be a better method. This paper focuses on modeling of network induced delays as probability distribution. CAN and MIL-STD-1553B are extensively used to carry periodic control and monitoring data in networked control systems. In literature, methods to estimate only the worst-case delays for these networks are available. In this paper probabilistic network delay model for CAN and MIL-STD-1553B networks are given. A systematic method to estimate values to model parameters from network parameters is given. A method to predict network delay in next cycle based on the present network delay is presented. Effect of active network redundancy and redundancy at node level on network delay and system response-time is also analyzed.

Keywords: NCS (networked control system), delay analysis, response-time distribution, worst-case delay, CAN, MIL-STD-1553B, redundancy

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Authors: Sirbu R., Negreanu-Pirjol T., Leca M., Bechir A., Maris M., Maris D.

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In the paper we presented the possibility of application collagen gels with active principle-s from marine algae extract and chlorhexidine salt in dental medicine. The hydro-alcoholic extracts from marine algae have been used as they have been obtained. The extracts from marine algae and chlorhexidine salt (digluconate) are incorporated in type I non-denatured fibrillar collagen matrixes. In order to obtain therapeutic effects at nanostructure level, it is important to know the rheological characteristics of the relevant mixtures of collagen gels and extracts from marine algae selected for use. In this survey we have studied mixtures made of non-denatured fibrillar collagen hydro-gels where different concentrations of marine algae have been incorporated. Based on the data obtained for the shearing tensions, we have traced the rheograms – the diagrams for shearing tensions depending on the shearing speed values – from which we have calculated the apparent viscosities as ratios between shearing tension and speed values, which have been figured in relation to the shearing speed values, with a view to levelling dependency.

Keywords: rheological properties, fibrillar collagen hydro-gel, marine algae, chlorhexidine salt, dental medicine

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Authors: V. B. Bastos, M. P. Lima, P. R. G. Kurka

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This paper applies to the creation of virtual 3D environments for the study and development of mobile robot image based navigation algorithms and techniques, which need to operate robustly and efficiently. The test of these algorithms can be performed in a physical way, from conducting experiments on a prototype, or by numerical simulations. Current simulation platforms for robotic applications do not have flexible and updated models for image rendering, being unable to reproduce complex light effects and materials. Thus, it is necessary to create a test platform that integrates sophisticated simulated applications of real environments for navigation, with data and image processing. This work proposes the development of a high-level platform for building 3D model’s environments and the test of image-based navigation algorithms for mobile robots. Techniques were used for applying texture and lighting effects in order to accurately represent the generation of rendered images regarding the real world version. The application will integrate image processing scripts, trajectory control, dynamic modeling and simulation techniques for physics representation and picture rendering with the open source 3D creation suite - Blender.

Keywords: Simulation, visual navigation, mobile robot, data visualization.

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Authors: K. Amudha, C. Nelson Kennedy Babu, S. Balu

Abstract:

The security of the medical images and its related data is the major research area which is to be concentrated in today’s era. Security in the medical image indicates that the physician may hide patients’ related data in the medical image and transfer it safely to a defined location using reversible watermarking. Many reversible watermarking methods had proposed over the decade. This paper enhances the security level in brain tumor images to hide the patient’s detail, which has to be conferred with other physician’s suggestions. The details or the information will be hidden in Non-ROI area of the image by using the block cipher algorithm. The block cipher uses different keys to extract the details that are difficult for the intruder to detect all the keys and to spot the details, which are the key advantage of this method. The ROI is the tumor area and Non-ROI is the area rest of ROI. The Non-ROI should not be spoiled in any cause and the details in the Non-ROI should be extracted correctly. The reversible watermarking method proposed in this paper performs well when compared to existing methods in the process of extraction of an original image and providing information security.

Keywords: Brain tumor images, Block Cipher, Reversible watermarking, ROI.

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Authors: Olayinka Omotosho, Anthony Amori

Abstract:

Cassava peels and bamboo waste materials discarded from construction are two sources of waste that could constitute serious menace where they exist in large quantities and inadequately handled. The study examined the physicochemical characteristics of activated carbon materials derived from cassava peels and bamboo waste materials discarded from construction site. Both materials were subjected to carbonization and chemical activation using zinc chloride. Results show that the chemical activation of the materials had a more effect on pore formation in cassava peels than in bamboo materials. Bamboo material exhibited a reverse trend for zinc and sulphate ion decontamination efficiencies as the value of zinc chloride impregnation varied unlike cassava peel carbon biomass which exhibited a more consistent result of decontamination efficiency for the seven contaminants tested. Although waste bamboo biomass exhibited higher adsorption intensity as indicated by values of decontamination for most of the contaminants tested, the cassava peel carbon biomass showed a more balanced adsorption level.

Keywords: Zinc chloride, cassava peels, activated carbon, bamboo waste, SEM.

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Authors: Kamolrat Turner, Boontuan Wattanakul

Abstract:

Critical thinking and creativity are prerequisite skills for working professionals in the 21^st century. A survey conducted in 2014 at the Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Chon Buri, Thailand, revealed that these skills within students across all academic years was at a low to moderate level. An action research study was conducted to develop the EREC IF Model, a framework which includes the concepts of experience, reflection, engagement, culture and language, ICT, and flexibility and fun, to guide pedagogic activities for 75 sophomores of the undergraduate nursing science program at the college. The model was applied to all professional nursing courses. Prior to implementation, workshops were held to prepare lecturers and students. Both lecturers and students initially expressed their discomfort and pointed to the difficulties with the model. However, later they felt more comfortable, and by the end of the project they expressed their understanding and appreciation of the model. A survey conducted four and eight months after implementation found that the critical thinking and creativity skills of the sophomores were significantly higher than those recorded in the pretest. It could be concluded that the EREC IF model is efficient for fostering critical thinking and creativity skills in the undergraduate nursing science program. This model should be used for other levels of students.

Keywords: Critical thinking, creativity, undergraduate nursing students, EREC IF model.

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Authors: Wadii Boulila, Imed Riadh Farah, Karim Saheb Ettabaa, Basel Solaiman, Henda Ben Ghezala

Abstract:

This paper investigates the problem of tracking spa¬tiotemporal changes of a satellite image through the use of Knowledge Discovery in Database (KDD). The purpose of this study is to help a given user effectively discover interesting knowledge and then build prediction and decision models. Unfortunately, the KDD process for spatiotemporal data is always marked by several types of imperfections. In our paper, we take these imperfections into consideration in order to provide more accurate decisions. To achieve this objective, different KDD methods are used to discover knowledge in satellite image databases. Each method presents a different point of view of spatiotemporal evolution of a query model (which represents an extracted object from a satellite image). In order to combine these methods, we use the evidence fusion theory which considerably improves the spatiotemporal knowledge discovery process and increases our belief in the spatiotemporal model change. Experimental results of satellite images representing the region of Auckland in New Zealand depict the improvement in the overall change detection as compared to using classical methods.

Keywords: Knowledge discovery in satellite databases, knowledge fusion, data imperfection, data mining, spatiotemporal change detection.

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