Search results for: school function assessment.

Authors: Christine L. Cole

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Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) often experience social-communication difficulties that negatively impact their social interactions with typical peers. However, unlike other age and disability groups, there is little intervention research to inform best practice for these students. One evidence-based strategy for younger students with ASD is peer-mediated intervention (PMI). PMI may be particularly promising for use with adolescents, as peers are readily available and are natural experts for encouraging authentic high school conversations. This paper provides a review of previous research that evaluated the use of PMI to improve the socialcommunication skills of students with ASD. Specific intervention features associated with positive student outcomes are identified and recommendations for future research are provided. Adolescents with ASD are targeted due the critical importance of social conversation at the high school level.

Keywords: Autism, peer-mediation, social communication, adolescents.

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Authors: Zhihan Li

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Nowadays, most universities use the course enrollment system considering students’ registration orders. However, the students’ preference level to certain courses is also one important factor to consider. In this research, the possibility of applying a preference-first system has been discussed and analyzed compared to the order-first system. A bipartite graph is applied to resemble the relationship between students and courses they tend to register. With the graph set up, we apply Ford-Fulkerson (F.F.) Algorithm to maximize parings between two sets of nodes, in our case, students and courses. Two models are proposed in this paper: the one considered students’ order first, and the one considered students’ preference first. By comparing and contrasting the two models, we highlight the usability of models which potentially leads to better designs for school course registration systems.

Keywords: Bipartite graph, Ford-Fulkerson Algorithm, graph theory, maximum matching.

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Authors: Qiuling Xie, Shanliang Zhu, Zongdi Sun

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In this paper, we analyzed the correlation relationship among PM2.5 from other five Air Quality Indices (AQIs) based on the grey relational degree, and built a multivariate nonlinear regression equation model of PM2.5 and the five monitoring indexes. For the optimal control problem of PM2.5, we took the partial large Cauchy distribution of membership equation as satisfaction function. We established a nonlinear programming model with the goal of maximum performance to price ratio. And the optimal control scheme is given.

Keywords: Grey relational degree, multiple linear regression, membership function, nonlinear programming.

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Authors: Anupama Pande, Vishik Goel

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A complex valued neural network is a neural network, which consists of complex valued input and/or weights and/or thresholds and/or activation functions. Complex-valued neural networks have been widening the scope of applications not only in electronics and informatics, but also in social systems. One of the most important applications of the complex valued neural network is in image and vision processing. In Neural networks, radial basis functions are often used for interpolation in multidimensional space. A Radial Basis function is a function, which has built into it a distance criterion with respect to a centre. Radial basis functions have often been applied in the area of neural networks where they may be used as a replacement for the sigmoid hidden layer transfer characteristic in multi-layer perceptron. This paper aims to present exhaustive results of using RBF units in a complex-valued neural network model that uses the back-propagation algorithm (called 'Complex-BP') for learning. Our experiments results demonstrate the effectiveness of a Radial basis function in a complex valued neural network in image recognition over a real valued neural network. We have studied and stated various observations like effect of learning rates, ranges of the initial weights randomly selected, error functions used and number of iterations for the convergence of error on a neural network model with RBF units. Some inherent properties of this complex back propagation algorithm are also studied and discussed.

Keywords: Complex valued neural network, Radial BasisFunction, Image recognition.

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Authors: Andrea Bencsik

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Gurus of the Classical Management School (like Taylor, Fayol and Ford) had an opinion that work must be delegated to the individual and the individual has to be instructed, his work assessed and paid based on individual performance. The theories of the Human Relations School have changed this mentality regarding the concept of groups. They came to the conclusion that the influence of groups greatly affects the behaviour and performance of its members. Group theories today are characterized by problem-solving teams and self-managing groups authorized to make decisions and execute; professional communities also play an important role during the operation of knowledge management systems. In this theoretical research we try to find answers to a question: what kind of characteristics (professional competencies, personal features, etc.) a successful team needs to manage a change to operate a knowledge management system step by step.

Keywords: Knowledge management, team, team knowledge, team memory, team roles.

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Authors: Omid S. Fard, Akbar H. Borzabadi

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In this paper we apply one of approaches in category of heuristic methods as Genetic Algorithms for obtaining approximate solution of optimal control problems. The firs we convert optimal control problem to a quasi Assignment Problem by defining some usual characters as defined in Genetic algorithm applications. Then we obtain approximate optimal control function as an piecewise constant function. Finally the numerical examples are given.

Keywords: Optimal control, Integer programming, Genetic algorithm, Discrete approximation, Linear programming.

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Authors: Saipunidzam Mahamad, Mohammad Noor Ibrahim, Mohamad Izzriq Ab Malek Foad, ShakirahMohd Taib

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With the proliferation of the mobile device technologies, mobile learning can be used to complement and improve traditional learning problems. Both students and teachers need a proper and handy system to monitor and keep track the performance of the students. This paper presents an implementation of M-learning for primary school in Malaysia by using an open source technology. It focuses on learning mathematics using handheld devices for primary schools- students aged 11 and 12 years old. Main users for this system include students, teachers and the administrator. This application suggests a new mobile learning environment with mobile graph for tracking the students- progress and performance. The purpose of this system is not to replace traditional classroom but to complement the learning process. In a testing conducted, students who used this system performed better in their examination.

Keywords: M-Learning, Automated Mobile Graph.

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Authors: R. M. R. Hussein

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Sustainable urban waterfront development is one of the most interesting phenomena of urban renewal in the last decades. However, there are still many cities whose visual image is compromised due to the lack of a sustainable urban waterfront development, which consequently affects the place of those cities globally. This paper aims to reimagine the role of waterfront areas in city design, with a particular focus on Egypt, so that they provide attractive, sustainable urban environments while promoting the continued aesthetic development of the city overall. This aim will be achieved by determining the main principles of a sustainable urban waterfront and its applications. This paper concentrates on sustainability assessment rating systems. A number of international case-studies, wherein a city has applied the basic principles for a sustainable urban waterfront and have made use of sustainability assessment rating systems, have been selected as examples which can be applied to the urban waterfronts in Egypt. This paper establishes the importance of developing the design of urban environments in Egypt, as well as identifying the methods of sustainability application for urban waterfronts.

Keywords: Sustainable Urban Waterfront, Green Infrastructure, Energy Efficient, Cairo.

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Authors: Rafael Dias Silva

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The school is a social institution that should promote learning situations that remain throughout life. Based on this, the teaching activities promoted in museum spaces can represent an educational strategy that contributes to the learning process in a more meaningful way. This article systematizes a series of elements that guide the use of these spaces for the scientific literacy of deaf students and as experiences of this nature are favorable for the school development through the concept of the circularity. The methodology for the didactic use of these spaces of non-formal education is one of the reflections developed in this study and how such environments can contribute to the learning in the classroom. To develop in the student the idea of ​​association making him create connections with the curricular proposal and notice how the proposed activity is articulated. It is in our interest that the experience lived in the museum be shared collaborating for the construction of a scientific literacy and cultural identity through the research.

Keywords: Accessibility in museums, Brazilian sign language, deaf students, teacher training.

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Authors: Han-Gook Kim, Dong-Suk Hong

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As the latest advancement and trend in IT field, Green & Smart IT has attracted more and more attentions from researchers. This study focuses on the development of assessing tools which can be used for evaluating Green & Smart IT level within an organization. In order to achieve meaningful results, a comprehensive review of relevant literature was performed in advance, then, Delphi survey and other processes were also employed to develop the assessment tools for Green & Smart IT level. Two rounds of Delphi questionnaire survey were conducted with 20 IT experts in public sector. The results reveal that the top five weighted KPIs to evaluate maturity of Green & Smart IT were: (1) electronic execution of business process; (2) shutdown of unused IT devices; (3) virtualization of severs; (4) automation of constant temperature and humidity; and (5) introduction of smart-work system. Finally, these tools were applied to case study of a public research institute in Korea. The findings presented in this study provide organizations with useful implications for the introduction and promotion of Green & Smart IT in the future

Keywords: Assessment, Case Study, Delphi, Green & Smart

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Authors: Aleš Florian, Lenka Ševelová, Jaroslav Žák

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Formation of tensile cracks in concrete slabs of rigid pavement can be (among others) the initiation point of the other, more serious failures which can ultimately lead to complete degradation of the concrete slab and thus the whole pavement. Two measures can be used for reliability assessment of this phenomenon - the probability of failure and/or the reliability index. Different methods can be used for their calculation. The simple ones are called moment methods and simulation techniques. Two methods - FOSM Method and Simple Random Sampling Method - are verified and their comparison is performed. The influence of information about the probability distribution and the statistical parameters of input variables as well as of the limit state function on the calculated reliability index and failure probability are studied in three points on the lower surface of concrete slabs of the older type of rigid pavement formerly used in the Czech Republic.

Keywords: Failure, pavement, probability, reliability index, simulation, tensile crack.

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Authors: Osagiede Mercy Afe

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After the internet explosion in the 90’s, technology was immediately integrated into the school system. Technology which symbolizes advancement in human knowledge was seen as a setback by many educators. Efforts have been made to help stem this erroneous believes and help educators realize the benefits of technology and ways of implementing it in the classrooms especially in the sciences. This advancement created a constantly expanding gap between the pupil’s perception on the use of technology within the learning atmosphere and the teacher’s perception and limitations hence, the focus of this paper is on the need to refocus on the use of Science and Technology in enhancing children’s potentials in learning at school especially in Science for sustainable development in Nigeria. The paper recommended measures for facilitating the sustenance of science and technology in Nigerian schools so as to enhance the potentials of our children in Science and Technology for a better tomorrow.

Keywords: Children’s potential, Educational system, ICT, Sustainable development.

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Authors: Gamze Ozel, Selen Cakmakyapan

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We introduce a new model called the Marshall-Olkin Rayleigh distribution which extends the Rayleigh distribution using Marshall-Olkin transformation and has increasing and decreasing shapes for the hazard rate function. Various structural properties of the new distribution are derived including explicit expressions for the moments, generating and quantile function, some entropy measures, and order statistics are presented. The model parameters are estimated by the method of maximum likelihood and the observed information matrix is determined. The potentiality of the new model is illustrated by means of a simulation study. 

Keywords: Marshall-Olkin distribution, Rayleigh distribution, estimation, maximum likelihood.

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Authors: Mohamed Elhadi M. Sharif, Mona Masood

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The usage of e-health facilities is seen to be the first priority by the Libyan government. As such this paper focuses on how the key factors or elements of working size in terms of technological availability, structural environment, and other competence-related matters may affect nurses’ sharing of knowledge in e-health. Hence, this paper investigates learning readiness assessment to raise e-health for Libyan regional hospitals by using ehealth services in nursing education.

Keywords: Libyan nurses, e-Learning readiness, e-Health.

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Authors: Javadi Alimohammad, Javadi Maryam, Feizi Fereidoon

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A review of the literature found that Domestic violence and child maltreatment co-occur in many families, the purpose of this study attempts to emphasize the factors relating to intra-family relationships (order point of view) on violence against the children, For this purpose a survey technique on the sample size amounted 200 students of governmental guidance schools of city of Gilanegharb in country of Iran were considered. For measurement of violence against the children (VAC) the CTS scaled has been used .The results showed that children have experienced the violence more than once during the last year. degree of order in family is high. Explanation result indicated that the order variables in family including collective thinking, empathy, communal co-circumstance have significant effects on VAC.

Keywords: Violence, domestic violence, violence against children, order, guidance school, family, children.

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Authors: Jianning Tang, Xiaofeng Wu

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With the increasing demand for space use in multiple sectors (navigation, telecommunication, imagery, etc.), the deployment and maintenance demand of satellites are growing. Considering the high launching cost and the restrictions on weight and size of the payload when using launch vehicle, the technique of on-orbit manufacturing has obtained more attention because of its significant potential to support future space missions. 3D printing is the most promising manufacturing technology that could be applied in space. However, due to the lack of autonomous quality assessment, the operation of conventional 3D printers still relies on human presence to supervise the printing process. This paper is proposed to develop an automatic 3D reconstruction system aiming at detecting failures on the 3D printed objects through application of point cloud technology. Based on the data obtained from the point cloud, the 3D printer could locate the failure and repair the failure. The system will increase automation and provide 3D printing with more feasibilities for space use without human interference.

Keywords: 3D printing, quality assessment, point cloud, on-orbit manufacturing.

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Authors: Jerome T. Tolentino, Ma. Victoria Rejuso, Jara Kaye Villanueva, Loureal Camille Inocencio, Ma. Rosario Concepcion O. Ang

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Wind energy is rapidly emerging as the primary source of electricity in the Philippines, although developing an accurate wind resource model is difficult. In this study, Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, an open source mesoscale Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model, was used to produce a 1-year atmospheric simulation with 4 km resolution on the Ilocos Region of the Philippines. The WRF output (netCDF) extracts the annual mean wind speed data using a Python-based Graphical User Interface. Lastly, wind resource assessment was produced using a GIS software. Results of the study showed that it is more flexible to use Python scripts than using other post-processing tools in dealing with netCDF files. Using WRF Model, Python, and Geographic Information Systems, a reliable wind resource map is produced.

Keywords: Wind resource assessment, Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, python, GIS software.

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Authors: Nurfirdawati Muhamad Hanafi, Azmanirah Ab Rahman, Marina Ibrahim Mukhtar, Jamil Ahmad, Sarebah Warman

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This study was conducted to generate empirical evidence on validity and reliability of the item of Competency Assessment Implementation (CAI) Instrument using Rasch Model for polythomous data aided by Winstep software version 3.68. The construct validity was examined by analyzing the point-measure correlation index (PTMEA), infit and outfit MNSQ values; meanwhile the reliability was examined by analyzing item reliability index. A survey technique was used as the major method with the CAI instrument on 156 teachers from vocational schools. The results have shown that the reliability of CAI Instrument items were between 0.80 and 0.98. PTMEA Correlation is in positive values, in which the item is able to distinguish between the ability of the respondent. Statistical data obtained show that out of 154 items, 12 items from the instrument suggested to be omitted. This study is hoped could bring a new direction to the process of data analysis in educational research.

Keywords: Competency Assessment, Reliability, Validity, Item Analysis.

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Authors: S. A. Nta

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The study assessed the levels of some heavy metals in the contaminated soil from a point source using pollution indices to measure the extent of pollution. The soil used was sandy-loam in texture. The contaminant used was landfill leachate, introduced as a point source through an entry point positioned at the center of top layer of the soil tank. Samples were collected after 50 days and analyzed for heavy metal (Zn, Ni, Cu and Cd) using standard methods. The mean concentration of Ni ranged from 5.55-2.65 mg/kg, Zn 3.67-0.85 mg/kg, Cu 1.60-0.93 mg/kg and Cd 1.60-0.15 mg/kg. The richness of metals was in decreasing order: Ni > Zn > Cu > Cd. The metals concentration was found to be maximum at 0.25 m radial distance from the point of leachate application. The geo-accumulation index (Igeo) studied revealed that all the metals recovered at 0.25 and 0.50 m radial distance and at 0.15, 0.30, 0.45 and 0.60 m depth from the point of application of leachate fall under unpolluted to moderately polluted range. Ecological risk assessment showed high ecological risk index with values higher than RI > 300. The RI shows that the ecological risk in this study was mostly contributed by Cd ranging from 9-96.

Keywords: Ecological risk, assessment, heavy metals, test soils, landfill leachate.

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Authors: Jerry Szatko, Edan L. Jorgensen, Stacia Jorgensen

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A crucial component to the success of any financial advising relationship is for the financial professional to understand the perceptions, preferences and thought-processes carried by the financial clients they serve. Armed with this information, financial professionals are more quickly able to understand how they can tailor their approach to best match the individual preferences and needs of each personal investor. Our research explores the use of a quantitative assessment tool in the financial services industry to assist in the identification of the personal investor’s consumer behaviors, especially in terms of financial risk tolerance, as it relates to their financial decision making. Through this process, the Unitifi Consumer Insight Tool (UCIT) was created and refined to capture and categorize personal investor financial behavioral categories and the financial personality tendencies of individuals prior to the initiation of a financial advisement relationship. This paper discusses the use of this tool to place individuals in one of four behavior-based financial risk tolerance categories. Our discoveries and research were aided through administration of a web-based survey to a group of over 1,000 individuals. Our findings indicate that it is possible to use a quantitative assessment tool to assist in predicting the behavioral tendencies of personal consumers when faced with consumer financial risk and decisions.

Keywords: Behavior based advising, behavioral finance, financial advising, financial advisor tools, financial risk tolerance.

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Authors: Ashish Payal, C. S. Rai, B. V. R. Reddy

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With the increasing use and application of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), need has arisen to explore them in more effective and efficient manner. An important area which can bring efficiency to WSNs is the localization process, which refers to the estimation of the position of wireless sensor nodes in an ad hoc network setting, in reference to a coordinate system that may be internal or external to the network. In this paper, we have done comparison and analysed Sigmoidal Feedforward Artificial Neural Networks (SFFANNs) and Radial Basis Function (RBF) networks for developing localization framework in WSNs. The presented work utilizes the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), measured by static node on 100 x 100 m² grid from three anchor nodes. The comprehensive evaluation of these approaches is done using MATLAB software. The simulation results effectively demonstrate that FFANNs based sensor motes will show better localization accuracy as compared to RBF.

Keywords: Localization, wireless sensor networks, artificial neural network, radial basis function, multi-layer perceptron, backpropagation, RSSI.

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Authors: A. Giani

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The current pedagogical culture recognizes an educational scope within the sports practices. It is widely accepted, in the pedagogical culture, that thanks to the acquisition and development of motor skills, it is also possible to exercise abilities that concern the way of facing and managing the difficulties of everyday life. Sport is a peculiar educational environment: the children have the opportunity to discover the possibilities of their body, to correlate with their peers, and to learn how to manage the rules and the relationship with authorities, such as coaches. Educational aspects of the sport concern both non-formal and formal educational environments. Coaches play a critical role in an agonistic sphere: exactly like the competencies developed by the children, coaches have to work on their skills to properly set up the educational scene. Facing these new educational tasks - which are not new per se, but new because they are brought back to awareness - a few questions arise: does the coach have adequate preparation? Is the training of the coach in this specific area appropriate? This contribution aims to explore the issue in depth by focusing on the reality of the Football School. Starting from a possible sense of pedagogical inadequacy detected during a series of meetings with several football clubs in Piedmont (Italy), there have been highlighted some important educational needs within the professional training of sports coaches. It is indeed necessary for the coach to know the processes underlying the educational relationship in order to better understand the centrality of the assessment during the educational intervention and to be able to manage the asymmetry in the coach-athlete relationship. In order to provide a response to these pedagogical needs, a formative plan has been designed to allow both an in-depth study of educational issues and a correct self-evaluation of certain pedagogical skills’ control levels, led by the coach. This plan has been based on particular practices, the Educational Practices of Pre-test (EPP), a specific version of community practices designed for the extracurricular activities. The above-mentioned practices realized through the use of texts meant as pre-tests, promoted a reflection within the group of coaches: they set up real and plausible sports experiences - in particular football, triggering a reflection about the relationship’s object, spaces, and methods. The characteristic aspect of pre-tests is that it is impossible to anticipate the reflection as it is necessarily connected to the personal experience and sensitivity, requiring a strong interest and involvement by participants: situations must be considered by the coaches as possible settings in which they could be found on the field.

Keywords: Relational needs, responsibility, self-evaluation, values.

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Authors: Jaemyoung Lee

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We present a method to set up system functions through a near filed communication (NFC) of a smartphone. The short communication distance of the NFC which is usually less than 4 cm could prevent any interferences from other devices and establish a secure communication channel between a system and the smartphone. The proposed set-up method for system function values is demonstrated for a blacbox system in a car. In demonstration, system functions of a blackbox which is manipulated through NFC of a smartphone are controls of image quality, sound level, shock sensing level to store images, etc. The proposed set-up method for system function values can be used for any devices with NFC.

Keywords: System set-up, near field communication, smartphone, Android.

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Authors: Yehjune Heo

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As biometric systems become widely deployed, the security of identification systems can be easily attacked by various spoof materials. This paper contributes to finding a reliable and practical anti-spoofing method using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) based on the types of loss functions and optimizers. The types of CNNs used in this paper include AlexNet, VGGNet, and ResNet. By using various loss functions including Cross-Entropy, Center Loss, Cosine Proximity, and Hinge Loss, and various loss optimizers which include Adam, SGD, RMSProp, Adadelta, Adagrad, and Nadam, we obtained significant performance changes. We realize that choosing the correct loss function for each model is crucial since different loss functions lead to different errors on the same evaluation. By using a subset of the Livdet 2017 database, we validate our approach to compare the generalization power. It is important to note that we use a subset of LiveDet and the database is the same across all training and testing for each model. This way, we can compare the performance, in terms of generalization, for the unseen data across all different models. The best CNN (AlexNet) with the appropriate loss function and optimizers result in more than 3% of performance gain over the other CNN models with the default loss function and optimizer. In addition to the highest generalization performance, this paper also contains the models with high accuracy associated with parameters and mean average error rates to find the model that consumes the least memory and computation time for training and testing. Although AlexNet has less complexity over other CNN models, it is proven to be very efficient. For practical anti-spoofing systems, the deployed version should use a small amount of memory and should run very fast with high anti-spoofing performance. For our deployed version on smartphones, additional processing steps, such as quantization and pruning algorithms, have been applied in our final model.

Keywords: Anti-spoofing, CNN, fingerprint recognition, loss function, optimizer.

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Authors: R. Testoni, R. Levizzari, M. De Salve

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Radioactive waste management is fundamental to safeguard population and environment by radiological risks. Environmental assessment of a site, where nuclear activities are located, allows understanding the hydro geological system and the radionuclides transport in groundwater and subsoil. Use of dedicated software is the basis of transport phenomena investigation and for dynamic scenarios prediction; this permits to understand the evolution of accidental contamination events, but at the same time the potentiality of the software itself can be verified. The aim of this paper is to perform a numerical analysis by means of HYDRUS 1D code, so as to evaluate radionuclides transport in a nuclear site in Piedmont region (Italy). In particular, the behavior in vadose zone was investigated. An iterative assessment process was performed for risk assessment of radioactive contamination. The analysis therein developed considers the following aspects: i) hydro geological site characterization; ii) individuation of the main intrinsic and external site factors influencing water flow and radionuclides transport phenomena; iii) software potential for radionuclides leakage simulation purposes.

Keywords: HYDRUS 1D, radionuclides transport phenomena, site characterization.

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Authors: Alireza Azimi Sani , Shahram Chaharmahalie

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Internal controls of accounting are an essential business function for a growth-oriented organization, and include the elements of risk assessment, information communications and even employees' roles and responsibilities. Internal controls of accounting systems are designed to protect a company from fraud, abuse and inaccurate data recording and help organizations keep track of essential financial activities. Internal controls of accounting provide a streamlined solution for organizing all accounting procedures and ensuring that the accounting cycle is completed consistently and successfully. Implementing a formal Accounting Procedures Manual for the organization allows the financial department to facilitate several processes and maintain rigorous standards. Internal controls also allow organizations to keep detailed records, manage and organize important financial transactions and set a high standard for the organization's financial management structure and protocols. A well-implemented system also reduces the risk of accounting errors and abuse. A well-implemented controls system allows a company's financial managers to regulate and streamline all functions of the accounting department. Internal controls of accounting can be set up for every area to track deposits, monitor check handling, keep track of creditor accounts, and even assess budgets and financial statements on an ongoing basis. Setting up an effective accounting system to monitor accounting reports, analyze records and protect sensitive financial information also can help a company set clear goals and make accurate projections. Creating efficient accounting processes allows an organization to set specific policies and protocols on accounting procedures, and reach its financial objectives on a regular basis. Internal accounting controls can help keep track of such areas as cash-receipt recording, payroll management, appropriate recording of grants and gifts, cash disbursements by authorized personnel, and the recording of assets. These systems also can take into account any government regulations and requirements for financial reporting.

Keywords: Internal controls, risk assessment, financial management.

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Authors: Kevin Fong-Rey Liu, Jia-Shen Chen, Han-Hsi Liang, Cheng-Wu Chen, Yung-Shuen Shen

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The purpose of determining impact significance is to place value on impacts. Environmental impact assessment review is a process that judges whether impact significance is acceptable or not in accordance with the scientific facts regarding environmental, ecological and socio-economical impacts described in environmental impact statements (EIS) or environmental impact assessment reports (EIAR). The first aim of this paper is to summarize the criteria of significance evaluation from the past review results and accordingly utilize fuzzy logic to incorporate these criteria into scientific facts. The second aim is to employ data mining technique to construct an EIS or EIAR prediction model for reviewing results which can assist developers to prepare and revise better environmental management plans in advance. The validity of the previous prediction model proposed by authors in 2009 is 92.7%. The enhanced validity in this study can attain 100.0%.

Keywords: Environmental impact assessment review, impactsignificance, fuzzy logic, data mining, classification tree.

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Authors: Amparo Camacho

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ABET accredited programs must assess the development of student learning outcomes (SOs) in engineering programs. Different institutions implement different strategies for this assessment, and they are usually designed “in house.” This paper presents a proposal for including standardized tests to complement the ABET assessment model in an engineering college made up of six distinct engineering programs. The engineering college formulated a model of quality assurance in education to be implemented throughout the six engineering programs to regularly assess and evaluate the achievement of SOs in each program offered. The model uses diverse techniques and sources of data to assess student performance and to implement actions of improvement based on the results of this assessment. The model is called “Assessment Process Model” and it includes SOs A through K, as defined by ABET. SOs can be divided into two categories: “hard skills” and “professional skills” (soft skills). The first includes abilities, such as: applying knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering and designing and conducting experiments, as well as analyzing and interpreting data. The second category, “professional skills”, includes communicating effectively, and understanding professional and ethnical responsibility. Within the Assessment Process Model, various tools were used to assess SOs, related to both “hard” as well as “soft” skills. The assessment tools designed included: rubrics, surveys, questionnaires, and portfolios. In addition to these instruments, the Engineering College decided to use tools that systematically gather consistent quantitative data. For this reason, an in-house exam was designed and implemented, based on the curriculum of each program. Even though this exam was administered during various academic periods, it is not currently considered standardized. In 2017, the Engineering College included three standardized tests: one to assess mathematical and scientific reasoning and two more to assess reading and writing abilities. With these exams, the college hopes to obtain complementary information that can help better measure the development of both hard and soft skills of students in the different engineering programs. In the first semester of 2017, the three exams were given to three sample groups of students from the six different engineering programs. Students in the sample groups were either from the first, fifth, and tenth semester cohorts. At the time of submission of this paper, the engineering college has descriptive statistical data and is working with various statisticians to have a more in-depth and detailed analysis of the sample group of students’ achievement on the three exams. The overall objective of including standardized exams in the assessment model is to identify more precisely the least developed SOs in order to define and implement educational strategies necessary for students to achieve them in each engineering program.

Keywords: Assessment, hard skills, soft skills, standardized tests.

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Authors: R. Kongnuy, E. Naowanich, T. Kruehong

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An important technique in stability theory for differential equations is known as the direct method of Lyapunov. In this work we deal global stability properties of Leptospirosis transmission model by age group in Thailand. First we consider the data from Division of Epidemiology Ministry of Public Health, Thailand between 1997-2011. Then we construct the mathematical model for leptospirosis transmission by eight age groups. The Lyapunov functions are used for our model which takes the forms of an Ordinary Differential Equation system. The globally asymptotically for equilibrium states are analyzed.

Keywords: Age Group, Leptospirosis, Lyapunov Function, Ordinary Differential Equation.

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Authors: Meiyuan Zheng, Jingwu He, Yuexi Xiong

Abstract:

A universal multi-function leaf spring main landing gear was designed for light aircraft. The main landing gear combined with the leaf spring, skidding, and wheels enables it to have a good takeoff and landing performance on various grounds such as the hard, snow, grass and sand grounds. Firstly, the characteristics of different landing sites were studied in this paper in order to analyze the load of the main landing gear on different types of grounds. Based on this analysis, the structural design optimization along with the strength and stiffness characteristics of the main landing gear has been done, which enables it to have good takeoff and landing performance on different types of grounds given the relevant regulations and standards. Additionally, the impact of the skidding on the aircraft during the flight was also taken into consideration. Finally, a universal multi-function leaf spring type of the main landing gear suitable for light aircraft has been developed.

Keywords: Landing gear, multi-function, leaf spring, skidding.

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