Search results for: increasing literacy
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2182

Search results for: increasing literacy

1402 Information Quality Evaluation Framework: Extending ISO 25012 Data Quality Model

Authors: Irfan Rafique, Philip Lew, Maissom Qanber Abbasi, Zhang Li

Abstract:

The world wide web coupled with the ever-increasing sophistication of online technologies and software applications puts greater emphasis on the need of even more sophisticated and consistent quality requirements modeling than traditional software applications. Web sites and Web applications (WebApps) are becoming more information driven and content-oriented raising the concern about their information quality (InQ). The consistent and consolidated modeling of InQ requirements for WebApps at different stages of the life cycle still poses a challenge. This paper proposes an approach to specify InQ requirements for WebApps by reusing and extending the ISO 25012:2008(E) data quality model. We also discuss learnability aspect of information quality for the WebApps. The proposed ISO 25012 based InQ framework is a step towards a standardized approach to evaluate WebApps InQ.

Keywords: Data Quality Model, Information learnability, Information Quality, Web applications.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5784
1401 Using Self Organizing Feature Maps for Classification in RGB Images

Authors: Hassan Masoumi, Ahad Salimi, Nazanin Barhemmat, Babak Gholami

Abstract:

Artificial neural networks have gained a lot of interest as empirical models for their powerful representational capacity, multi input and output mapping characteristics. In fact, most feedforward networks with nonlinear nodal functions have been proved to be universal approximates. In this paper, we propose a new supervised method for color image classification based on selforganizing feature maps (SOFM). This algorithm is based on competitive learning. The method partitions the input space using self-organizing feature maps to introduce the concept of local neighborhoods. Our image classification system entered into RGB image. Experiments with simulated data showed that separability of classes increased when increasing training time. In additional, the result shows proposed algorithms are effective for color image classification.

Keywords: Classification, SOFM, neural network, RGB images.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2316
1400 Transform to Succeed: An Empirical Analysis of Digital Transformation in Firms

Authors: Sarah E. Stief, Anne Theresa Eidhoff, Markus Voeth

Abstract:

Despite all progress firms are facing the increasing need to adapt and assimilate digital technologies to transform their business activities in order to pursue business development. By using new digital technologies, firms can implement major business improvements in order to stay competitive and foster new growth potentials. The corresponding phenomenon of digital transformation has received some attention in previous literature in respect to industries such as media and publishing. Nevertheless, there is a lack of understanding of the concept and its organization within firms. With the help of twenty-three in-depth field interviews with German experts responsible for their company’s digital transformation, we examined what digital transformation encompasses, how it is organized and which opportunities and challenges arise within firms. Our results indicate that digital transformation is an inevitable task for all firms, as it bears the potential to comprehensively optimize and reshape established business activities and can thus be seen as a strategy of business development.

Keywords: Business development, digitalization, digital strategies, digital transformation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6322
1399 A Review on Soft Computing Technique in Intrusion Detection System

Authors: Noor Suhana Sulaiman, Rohani Abu Bakar, Norrozila Sulaiman

Abstract:

Intrusion Detection System is significant in network security. It detects and identifies intrusion behavior or intrusion attempts in a computer system by monitoring and analyzing the network packets in real time. In the recent year, intelligent algorithms applied in the intrusion detection system (IDS) have been an increasing concern with the rapid growth of the network security. IDS data deals with a huge amount of data which contains irrelevant and redundant features causing slow training and testing process, higher resource consumption as well as poor detection rate. Since the amount of audit data that an IDS needs to examine is very large even for a small network, classification by hand is impossible. Hence, the primary objective of this review is to review the techniques prior to classification process suit to IDS data.

Keywords: Intrusion Detection System, security, soft computing, classification.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1863
1398 Studying Efficiency of Digital Technology Facilitated Assessment Techniques in Higher Education

Authors: B. Ferdousi

Abstract:

This study examines the adoption of digital technology in academic assessment or e-assessment in higher education. The main focus of this research is to determine the impact of advanced digital technology on different assessment techniques such as formative assessment and summative assessment. The goal of this study is to critically evaluate the selection of different assessment methods using digital technology to enhance assessment for more effective learning. Given the increasing use of digital technology in the assessment of students' achievement in the learning process, this research is significant. Based on a literature review of different assessment techniques using technology, this study focuses on the formative and summative techniques of e-assessment. The paper offers an in-depth analysis of the innovative and creative use of digital technology in assessment. The findings of this research will enhance knowledge and in-depth understanding of using technology in assessment, especially in active learning environments, in higher academic institutions.

Keywords: E-assessment techniques, assessment for learning, assessment of learning, digital technology.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 196
1397 Consideration of Criteria of Vibration Comfort of People in Diagnosis and Design of Buildings

Authors: Kawecki J., Kowalska-Koczwara A., Stypula K.

Abstract:

The increasing influence of traffic on building objects and people residing in them should be taken into account in diagnosis and design. Users of buildings expect that vibrations occurring in their environment, will not only lead to damage to the building or its accelerated wear, but neither would affect the required comfort in rooms designed to accommodate people. This article describes the methods and principles useful in designing and building diagnostics located near transportation routes, with particular emphasis on the impact of traffic vibration on people in buildings. It also describes the procedures used in obtaining information about the parameters of vibrations in different cases of diagnostics and design. A universal algorithm of procedure in diagnostics and design of buildings taking into account assurance of human vibration comfort of people residing in the these buildings was presented.

Keywords: diagnostics, influence of public transport, influence of vibrations on humans, transport vibrations

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2372
1396 Using Knowledge Management and Visualisation Concepts to Improve Patients and Hospitals Staff Workflow

Authors: A. A. AlRasheed, A. Atkins, R. Campion

Abstract:

This paper focuses on using knowledge management and visualisation concepts to improve the patients and hospitals employee’s workflow. Hospitals workflow is a complex and complicated process and poor patient flow can put both patients and a hospital’s reputation at risk, and can threaten the facility’s financial sustainability. Healthcare leaders are under increased pressure to reduce costs while maintaining or increasing patient care standards. In this paper, a framework is proposed to help improving patient experience, staff satisfaction, and operational efficiency across hospitals by using knowledge management based visualisation concepts. This framework is using real-time visibility to track and monitor location and status of patients, staff, rooms, and medical equipment.

Keywords: Knowledge management, visualisation, patients, hospitals, healthcare workers, workflow, improvements.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1020
1395 Renewable Energies in Spain and Portugal: A Strategic Challenge for the Sustainability

Authors: María Teresa García-Álvarez, Isabel Soares, Rosa María Mariz-Pérez

Abstract:

Directive 2009/28/CE establishes, as obligatory objective, a share of renewable energies on energetic consumption of 20%, in European Union, in 2020 However, such European normative gives freedom to member states in the selection of the renewable promotion mechanism that allows them to obtain that objective. In this paper, we analyze the main characteristics of the promotion mechanisms of renewable energy used in the countries that shape the Electricity Iberian Market (Spain and Portugal) and the results in employment. The importance of these countries is given by the great increasing of the renewable energies which suppose a share higher than 30% of the overall generation in 2010. Therefore, this research paper can serve as the basis for the learning of other countries with regard to the main advantages that entail the use of a feed-in tariff system.

Keywords: Employment, Energy policy, Professional profiles, Renewable energies, Professional profiles.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1941
1394 Hydrolytic Properties of Ellagic Acid in Commercial Pomegranate Juices

Authors: Sibel Uzuner, Jale Acar

Abstract:

Pomegranate and pomegranate juices (PJs) have taken great attention for their health benefits in the last years. As there is an increasing concern about potential health benefits of ellagic acid, it is of great interest to evaluate alterations in ellagic acid concentration of commercial PJs. The purpose of this study is to analyze total phenolic, free and total ellagic acid content of six commercial PJs sold in Turkish markets using HPLC. The results showed that some commercial PJs had markedly high total phenolic and ellagic acid content. Total phenolic substances of commercial PJs range from 796.71 to 4608.91 mg GAE/l. Free amount of ellagic acid in commercial PJs range from 27.64 to 111.78 mg/l. Samples are hydrolyzed with concentrated HCl at 93oC for 2 and 24 hour and influences of temperature and time parameters on hydrolization were investigated. Thermal processing for pasteurization increased ellagic acid via ellagitannins hydrolysis.

Keywords: Ellagic acid, ellagitannin, pomegranate juice, total phenolic compounds

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2209
1393 Design of a Carbon Silicon Electrode for Iontophoresis Treatment towards Alopecia

Authors: Q. Wei, D. G. Hwang, Z. Mohy-Udin, D. H. Shin, J. H. Park, M. Y. Kang, J. H. Cho

Abstract:

This study presents design of a carbon silicon electrode for iontophorsis treatment towards alopecia. The alopecia is a medical description means loss of hair from the body. For solving this problem, the drug need to be delivered into the scalp, therefore, the iontophoresis was chosen to use in this treatment. However, almost common electrodes of iontophoresis device are made with metal material, the electrodes could give patients hurt when they using it, and it is hard to avoid the hair for attaching the hair. For this reason, an electrode is made with silicon material to decrease the hurt from the electrodes, and the carbon material is mixed in it for increasing conductance. The several cones with stainless material on the electrode make the electrode is able to void hair to attach the affected part. According to the results of a vivo-experiment, the carbon silicon electrode showed a good performance and in treatment comfortably.

Keywords: Carbon silicon, drug delivery system, iontophoresis

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1704
1392 Polymerisation Shrinkage of Light−Cured Hydroxyapatite (HA)−Reinforced Dental Composites

Authors: Bilge S. Oduncu, Sevil Yucel, Ismail Aydin, Isil D. Sener, Gokhan Yamaner

Abstract:

The dental composites are preferably used as filling materials due to their esthetic appearances. Nevertheless one of the major problems, during the application of the dental composites, is shape change named as “polymerisation shrinkage" affecting clinical success of the dental restoration while photo-polymerisation. Polymerisation shrinkage of composites arises basically from the formation of a polymer due to the monomer transformation which composes of an organic matrix phase. It was sought, throughout this study, to detect and evaluate the structural polymerisation shrinkage of prepared dental composites in order to optimize the effects of various fillers included in hydroxyapatite (HA)-reinforced dental composites and hence to find a means to modify the properties of these dental composites prepared with defined parameters. As a result, the shrinkage values of the experimental dental composites were decreased by increasing the filler content of composites and the composition of different fillers used had effect on the shrinkage of the prepared composite systems.

Keywords: Dental composites, hydroxyapatite (HA), BisGMA, shrinkage.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2065
1391 Traffic Noise under Stop and Go Conditions in Intersections – A Case Study

Authors: Nima Jahandar, Amin Hosseinpour, Mohammad Ali Sahraei

Abstract:

Whit the increasing of traffic, noise emanated from motor vehicles increases as well, which subsequently causes adding to the stress of modern city. Thus, it is needed to look for most critical areas in terms of environmental and social impact of noise. There are several critical situations for noise emanated from motor vehicles such as stop and go situation which usually occurs near junctions or at-grade intersections. This study was conducted in two locations, most common types of intersections, crossroads and Tjunctions. The highest average noise levels are recorded during Go phase for T-junction, 64.4 dB, and Drive phase for crossroad, 64 dB. It implies that the existence of intersection caused the noise level to increase. The vehicles starting to move produce more sound than when they travel at a constant speed along the intersection. It is suggested that special considerations and priority of allocating funds should be given to these critical spots.

Keywords: Crossroad, T-junction, Traffic Noise, Stop and Go, Urban noise

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1867
1390 Monte Carlo Simulation of Copolymer Heterogeneity in Atom Transfer Radical Copolymerization of Styrene and N-Butyl Acrylate

Authors: Mohammad Najafi, Hossein Roghani-Mamaqani, Mehdi Salami-Kalajahi, Vahid Haddadi-Asl

Abstract:

A high-performance Monte Carlo simulation, which simultaneously takes diffusion-controlled and chain-length-dependent bimolecular termination reactions into account, is developed to simulate atom transfer radical copolymerization of styrene and nbutyl acrylate. As expected, increasing initial feed fraction of styrene raises the fraction of styrene-styrene dyads (fAA) and reduces that of n-butyl acrylate dyads (fBB). The trend of variation in randomness parameter (fAB) during the copolymerization also varies significantly. Also, there is a drift in copolymer heterogeneity and the highest drift occurs in the initial feeds containing lower percentages of styrene, i.e. 20% and 5%.

Keywords: Atom Transfer Radical Copolymerization, MonteCarlo Simulation, Copolymer Heterogeneity, Styrene n-ButylAcrylate

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1600
1389 New Effect of Duct Cross Sectional Shape on the Nanofluid Flow Heat Transfer

Authors: Mohammad R. Salimpour, Amir Dehshiri

Abstract:

In the present article, we investigate experimental laminar forced convective heat transfer specifications of TiO2/water nanofluids through conduits with different cross sections. we check the effects of different parameters such as cross sectional shape, Reynolds number and concentration of nanoparticles in stable suspension on increasing convective heat transfer by designing and assembling of an experimental apparatus. The results demonstrate adding a little amount of nanoparticles to the base fluid, improves heat transfer behavior in conduits. Moreover, conduit with circular cross-section has better performance compared to the square and triangular cross sections. However, conduits with square and triangular cross sections have more relative heat transfer enchantment than conduit with circular cross section.

Keywords: Nanofluid, cross-sectional shape, TiO2, convection.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1081
1388 Batch-Oriented Setting Time Optimisation in an Aerodynamic Feeding System

Authors: Jan Busch, Maurice Schmidt, Peter Nyhuis

Abstract:

The change of conditions for production companies in high-wage countries is characterized by the globalization of competition and the transition of a supplier´s to a buyer´s market. The companies need to face the challenges of reacting flexibly to these changes. Due to the significant and increasing degree of automation, assembly has become the most expensive production process. Regarding the reduction of production cost, assembly consequently offers a considerable rationalizing potential. Therefore, an aerodynamic feeding system has been developed at the Institute of Production Systems and Logistics (IFA), Leibniz Universitaet Hannover. This system has been enabled to adjust itself by using a genetic algorithm. The longer this genetic algorithm is executed the better is the feeding quality. In this paper, the relation between the system´s setting time and the feeding quality is observed and a function which enables the user to achieve the minimum of the total feeding time is presented.

Keywords: Aerodynamic feeding system, batch size, optimisation, setting time.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1452
1387 Robust and Transparent Spread Spectrum Audio Watermarking

Authors: Ali Akbar Attari, Ali Asghar Beheshti Shirazi

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a blind and robust audio watermarking scheme based on spread spectrum in Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) domain. Watermarks are embedded in the low-frequency coefficients, which is less audible. The key idea is dividing the audio signal into small frames, and magnitude of the 6th level of DWT approximation coefficients is modifying based upon the Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) technique. Also, the psychoacoustic model for enhancing in imperceptibility, as well as Savitsky-Golay filter for increasing accuracy in extraction, is used. The experimental results illustrate high robustness against most common attacks, i.e. Gaussian noise addition, Low pass filter, Resampling, Requantizing, MP3 compression, without significant perceptual distortion (ODG is higher than -1). The proposed scheme has about 83 bps data payload.

Keywords: Audio watermarking, spread spectrum, discrete wavelet transform, psychoacoustic, Savitsky-Golay filter.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 851
1386 Emotion Recognition Using Neural Network: A Comparative Study

Authors: Nermine Ahmed Hendy, Hania Farag

Abstract:

Emotion recognition is an important research field that finds lots of applications nowadays. This work emphasizes on recognizing different emotions from speech signal. The extracted features are related to statistics of pitch, formants, and energy contours, as well as spectral, perceptual and temporal features, jitter, and shimmer. The Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) was chosen as the classifier. Working on finding a robust and fast ANN classifier suitable for different real life application is our concern. Several experiments were carried out on different ANN to investigate the different factors that impact the classification success rate. Using a database containing 7 different emotions, it will be shown that with a proper and careful adjustment of features format, training data sorting, number of features selected and even the ANN type and architecture used, a success rate of 85% or even more can be achieved without increasing the system complicity and the computation time

Keywords: Classification, emotion recognition, features extraction, feature selection, neural network

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4697
1385 A Strategic Evaluation Approach for Defining the Maturity of Manufacturing Technologies

Authors: G. Reinhart, S. Schindler

Abstract:

Due to dynamic evolution, the ability of a manufacturing technology to produce a special product is changing. Therefore, it is essential to monitor the established techniques and processes to detect whether a company-s production will fit future circumstances. Concerning the manufacturing technology planning process, companies must decide when to change to a new technology for maintaining and increasing competitive advantages. In this context, the maturity assessment of the focused technologies is crucial. This article presents an approach for defining the maturity of a manufacturing technology from a strategic point of view. The concept is based on the approach of technology readiness level (TRL) according to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), but also includes dynamic changes. Therefore, the model takes into account the concept of the technology life cycle. Furthermore, it enables a company to estimate the ideal date for implementation of a new manufacturing technology.

Keywords: Maturity Assessment, Manufacturing Technology Planning, Technology Life Cycle, Technology Readiness Level.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2491
1384 Surface Roughness Prediction Model for Grinding of Composite Laminate Using Factorial Design

Authors: P. Chockalingam, C. K. Kok, T. R. Vijayaram

Abstract:

Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates have been widely used because of their unique mechanical and physical properties such as high specific strength, stiffness and corrosive resistance. Accordingly, the demand for precise grinding of composites has been increasing enormously. Grinding is the one of the obligatory methods for fabricating products with composite materials and it is usually the final operation in the assembly of structural laminates. In this experimental study, an attempt has been made to develop an empirical model to predict the surface roughness of ground GFRP composite laminate with respect to the influencing grinding parameters by factorial design approach of design of experiments (DOE). The significance of grinding parameters and their three factor interaction effects on grinding of GFRP composite have been analyzed in detail. An empirical equation has been developed to attain minimum surface roughness in GFRP laminate grinding.

Keywords: GFRP Laminates, Grinding, Surface Roughness, Factorial Design.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2451
1383 Promoting Electric Vehicles for Sustainable Urban Transport: How to Do It This Time Right

Authors: Reinhard Haas, Amela Ajanovic

Abstract:

In recent years various types of electric vehicles has gained again increasing attention as an environmentally benign technology in transport. Especially for urban areas with high local pollution this Zero-emission technology (at the point of use) is considered to provide proper solutions. Yet, the bad economics and the limited driving ranges are still major barriers for a broader market penetration of battery electric vehicles (BEV) and of fuel cell vehicles (FCV). The major result of our analyses is that the most important precondition for a further dissemination of BEV in urban areas are emission-free zones. This is an instrument which allows the promotion of BEV without providing excessive subsidies. In addition, it is important to note that the full benefits of EV can only be harvested if the electricity used is produced from renewable energy sources. That is to say, it has to be ensured that the use of BEV in urban areas is clearly linked to a green electricity purchase model. And moreover, the introduction of a CO2- emission-based tax system would support this requirement.

Keywords: Electric vehicles, economics, policies, history.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1824
1382 Optimal Sizing of a Hybrid Wind/PV Plant Considering Reliability Indices

Authors: S. Dehghan, B. Kiani, A. Kazemi, A. Parizad

Abstract:

The utilization of renewable energy sources in electric power systems is increasing quickly because of public apprehensions for unpleasant environmental impacts and increase in the energy costs involved with the use of conventional energy sources. Despite the application of these energy sources can considerably diminish the system fuel costs, they can also have significant influence on the system reliability. Therefore an appropriate combination of the system reliability indices level and capital investment costs of system is vital. This paper presents a hybrid wind/photovoltaic plant, with the aim of supplying IEEE reliability test system load pattern while the plant capital investment costs is minimized by applying a hybrid particle swarm optimization (PSO) / harmony search (HS) approach, and the system fulfills the appropriate level of reliability.

Keywords: Distributed Generation, Fuel Cell, HS, Hybrid Power Plant, PSO, Photovoltaic, Reliability.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2301
1381 Effects of Polymers and Alkaline on Recovery Improvement from Fractured Models

Authors: Payam Parvasi, Mohammad Hossein Sedaghat, Reza Janamiri, Amir Hatampour

Abstract:

In this work, several ASP solutions were flooded into fractured models initially saturated with heavy oil at a constant flow rate and different geometrical characteristics of fracture. The ASP solutions are constituted from 2 polymers i.e. a synthetic polymer, hydrolyzed polyacrylamide as well as a biopolymer, a surfactant and 2types of alkaline. The results showed that using synthetic hydrolyzed polyacrylamide polymer increases ultimate oil recovery; however, type of alkaline does not play a significant rule on oil recovery. In addition, position of the injection well respect to the fracture system has remarkable effects on ASP flooding. For instance increasing angle of fractures with mean flow direction causes more oil recovery and delays breakthrough time. This work can be accounted as a comprehensive survey on ASP flooding which considers most of effective factors in this chemical EOR method.

Keywords: ASP Flooding, Fractured System, Displacement, Heavy Oil.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1831
1380 Verification of a Locked CFD Approach to Cool Down Modeling

Authors: P. Bárta

Abstract:

Increasing demand on the performance of Subsea Production Systems (SPS) suggests a need for more detailed investigation of fluid behavior taking place in subsea equipment. Complete CFD cool down analyses of subsea equipment are very time demanding. The objective of this paper is to investigate a Locked CFD approach, which enables significant reduction of the computational time and at the same time maintains sufficient accuracy during thermal cool down simulations. The result comparison of a dead leg simulation using the Full CFD and the three LCFD-methods confirms the validity of the locked flow field assumption for the selected case. For the tested case the LCFD simulation speed up by factor of 200 results in the absolute thermal error of 0.5 °C (3% relative error), speed up by factor of 10 keeps the LCFD results within 0.1 °C (0.5 % relative error) comparing to the Full CFD.

Keywords: CFD, Locked Flow Field, Speed up of CFD simulation time, Subsea

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1673
1379 An Evaluation Framework for Participation: The VAAs Case Study

Authors: Luis Teran, Aleksandar Drobnjak

Abstract:

The number of electronic participation (eParticipation) projects introduced by different governments and international organisations is considerably high and increasing. In order to have an overview of the development of these projects, various evaluation frameworks have been proposed. In this paper, a five-level participation model, which takes into account the advantages of the Social Web or Web 2.0, together with a quantitative approach for the evaluation of eParticipation projects is presented. Each participation level is evaluated independently, taking into account three main components: Web evolution, media richness, and communication channels. This paper presents the evaluation of a number of existing Voting Advice Applications (VAAs). The results provide an overview of the main features implemented by each project, their strengths and weaknesses, and the participation levels reached.

Keywords: Evaluation Framework, eParticipation, e-Participation, Electronic Participation, eDemocracy, e-Democracy, Electronic Democracy, Voting Advice Applications, VAAs.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2655
1378 Labeling Method in Steganography

Authors: H. Motameni, M. Norouzi, M. Jahandar, A. Hatami

Abstract:

In this paper a way of hiding text message (Steganography) in the gray image has been presented. In this method tried to find binary value of each character of text message and then in the next stage, tried to find dark places of gray image (black) by converting the original image to binary image for labeling each object of image by considering on 8 connectivity. Then these images have been converted to RGB image in order to find dark places. Because in this way each sequence of gray color turns into RGB color and dark level of grey image is found by this way if the Gary image is very light the histogram must be changed manually to find just dark places. In the final stage each 8 pixels of dark places has been considered as a byte and binary value of each character has been put in low bit of each byte that was created manually by dark places pixels for increasing security of the main way of steganography (LSB).

Keywords: Binary image, labeling, low bit, neighborhood, RGB image, steganography, threshold.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2135
1377 Adsorption of Textile Reactive Dye by Palm Shell Activated Carbon: Response Surface Methodology

Authors: Siti Maryam Rusly, Shaliza Ibrahim

Abstract:

The adsorption of simulated aqueous solution containing textile remazol reactive dye, namely Red 3BS by palm shell activated carbon (PSAC) as adsorbent was carried out using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). A Box-Behnken design in three most important operating variables; initial dye concentration, dosage of adsorbent and speed of impeller was employed for experimental design and optimization of results. The significance of independent variables and their interactions were tested by means of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) with 95% confidence limits. Model indicated that with the increasing of dosage and speed give the result of removal up to 90% with the capacity uptake more than 7 mg/g. High regression coefficient between the variables and the response (R-Sq = 93.9%) showed of good evaluation of experimental data by polynomial regression model.

Keywords: Adsorption, Box-Behnken Design, Palm ShellActivated Carbon, Red 3BS, RSM.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1998
1376 Particle Simulation of Rarefied Gas Flows witha Superimposed Wall Surface Temperature Gradient in Microgeometries

Authors: V. Azadeh Ranjbar

Abstract:

Rarefied gas flows are often occurred in micro electro mechanical systems and classical CFD could not precisely anticipate the flow and thermal behavior due to the high Knudsen number. Therefore, the heat transfer and the fluid dynamics characteristics of rarefied gas flows in both a two-dimensional simple microchannel and geometry similar to single Knudsen compressor have been investigated with a goal of increasing performance of a actual Knudsen compressor by using a particle simulation method. Thermal transpiration and thermal creep, which are rarefied gas dynamic phenomena, that cause movement of the flow from less to higher temperature is generated by using two different longitude temperature gradients (Linear, Step) along the walls of the flow microchannel. In this study the influence of amount of temperature gradient and governing pressure in various Knudsen numbers and length-to-height ratios have been examined.

Keywords: DSMC, Thermal transpiration, Thermal creep, MEMS, Knudsen Compressor.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1252
1375 Sovereign Credit Risk Measures

Authors: Kristýna Pokorná, Petr Teplý

Abstract:

This paper focuses on sovereign credit risk meaning a hot topic related to the current Eurozone crisis. In the light of the recent financial crisis, market perception of the creditworthiness of individual sovereigns has changed significantly. Before the outbreak of the financial crisis, market participants did not differentiate between credit risk born by individual states despite different levels of public indebtedness. In the proceeding of the financial crisis, the market participants became aware of the worsening fiscal situation in the European countries and started to discriminate among government issuers. Concerns about the increasing sovereign risk were reflected in surging sovereign risk premium. The main of this paper is to shed light on the characteristics of the sovereign risk with the special attention paid to the mutual relation between credit spread and the CDS premium as the main measures of the sovereign risk premium.

Keywords: cointegration, credit default swap, credit risk, credit spread, sovereign risk

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1953
1374 Sustainability of Urban Cemeteries and the Transformation of Malay Burial Practices in Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan Region

Authors: Mohamed Afla, Mohamad Reza

Abstract:

Land shortage for burials is one of many issues that emerge out of accelerated urban growth in most developing Asian cities, including Kuala Lumpur. Despite actions taken by the federal government and local authorities in addressing this issue, there is no strategic solution being formulated. Apart from making provisions for land to be developed as new cemeteries, the future plan is merely to allocate reserve land to accommodate the increasing demands of burial grounds around the city. This paper examines problems that arise from the traditional practices of Malay funerary as well as an insight to current urban practices in managing Muslim burial spaces around Kuala Lumpur metropolitan region. This paper will also provide some solutions through design approach that can be applied to counter the existing issues.

Keywords: Kuala Lumpur metropolitan region, Malay burial practices, sustainable development, urban cemeteries.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3988
1373 Sewage Sludge Management in Egypt: Current Status and Perspectives towards a Sustainable Agricultural Use

Authors: M. Ghazy, T. Dockhorn, N. Dichtl

Abstract:

The present disposal routes of sewage sludge represent a critical environmental issue in Egypt. Recently, there has been an increasing concern about sewage sludge management due to the environmental risks, which resulted from the fast expansion of wastewater treatment plants without equal attention in dealing with the produced sludge. This paper discusses the current situation of sewage sludge management in Egypt presenting a brief overview of the existing wastewater treatment plants, sludge production and characteristics as well as options of beneficial use and potential demand of sewage sludge under Egyptian conditions. The characteristics of sewage sludge are discussed considering the results of own sampling and analysis as well as previous studies. Furthermore, alternative treatment scenarios for sewage sludge, which have been recently developed in Egypt, are discussed and perspectives for a sustainable agricultural use are outlined.

Keywords: Beneficial use, Egypt, Monetary value, Stabilization processes, Sewage sludge, Sludge management

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4453