Search results for: Selection Criteria
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1756

Search results for: Selection Criteria

826 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.

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825 A Dynamic Hybrid Option Pricing Model by Genetic Algorithm and Black- Scholes Model

Authors: Yi-Chang Chen, Shan-Lin Chang, Chia-Chun Wu

Abstract:

Unlike this study focused extensively on trading behavior of option market, those researches were just taken their attention to model-driven option pricing. For example, Black-Scholes (B-S) model is one of the most famous option pricing models. However, the arguments of B-S model are previously mentioned by some pricing models reviewing. This paper following suggests the importance of the dynamic character for option pricing, which is also the reason why using the genetic algorithm (GA). Because of its natural selection and species evolution, this study proposed a hybrid model, the Genetic-BS model which combining GA and B-S to estimate the price more accurate. As for the final experiments, the result shows that the output estimated price with lower MAE value than the calculated price by either B-S model or its enhanced one, Gram-Charlier garch (G-C garch) model. Finally, this work would conclude that the Genetic-BS pricing model is exactly practical.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, Genetic-BS, option pricing model.

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824 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.

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823 Development of Logic Model for R&D Program Plan Analysis in Preliminary Feasibility Study

Authors: Hyun-Kyu Kang

Abstract:

The Korean Government has applied the preliminary feasibility study to new government R&D program plans as a part of an evaluation system for R&D programs. The preliminary feasibility study for the R&D program is composed of 3 major criteria such as technological, policy and economic analysis. The program logic model approach is used as a part of the technological analysis in the preliminary feasibility study. We has developed and improved the R&D program logic model. The logic model is a very useful tool for evaluating R&D program plans. Using a logic model, we can generally identify important factors of the R&D program plan, analyze its logic flow and find the disconnection or jump in the logic flow among components of the logic model.

Keywords: Preliminary feasibility study, R&D program logic model, technological analysis.

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822 Monotonic and Cyclic J-integral Estimation for Through-Wall Cracked Straight Pipes

Authors: Rohit, S. Vishnuvardhan, P. Gandhi, Nagesh R. Iyer

Abstract:

The evaluation of energy release rate and centre Crack Opening Displacement (COD) for circumferential Through-Wall Cracked (TWC) pipes is an important issue in the assessment of critical crack length for unstable fracture. The ability to predict crack growth continues to be an important component of research for several structural materials. Crack growth predictions can aid the understanding of the useful life of a structural component and the determination of inspection intervals and criteria. In this context, studies were carried out at CSIR-SERC on Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) piping components subjected to monotonic as well as cyclic loading to assess the damage for crack growth due to low-cycle fatigue in circumferentially TWC pipes.

Keywords: 304LN stainless steel, cyclic J-integral, Elastic- Plastic Fracture Mechanics, J-integral, Through-wall crack

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821 Detection of Moving Images Using Neural Network

Authors: P. Latha, L. Ganesan, N. Ramaraj, P. V. Hari Venkatesh

Abstract:

Motion detection is a basic operation in the selection of significant segments of the video signals. For an effective Human Computer Intelligent Interaction, the computer needs to recognize the motion and track the moving object. Here an efficient neural network system is proposed for motion detection from the static background. This method mainly consists of four parts like Frame Separation, Rough Motion Detection, Network Formation and Training, Object Tracking. This paper can be used to verify real time detections in such a way that it can be used in defense applications, bio-medical applications and robotics. This can also be used for obtaining detection information related to the size, location and direction of motion of moving objects for assessment purposes. The time taken for video tracking by this Neural Network is only few seconds.

Keywords: Frame separation, Correlation Network, Neural network training, Radial Basis Function, object tracking, Motion Detection.

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820 Analysis of Liquid Nitrogen Spray Atomization Characteristics by Internal-Mixing Atomizers

Authors: Zhang Lei, Liu Gaotong

Abstract:

The atomization effect is an important factor of the heat transfer of liquid nitrogen spray. In this paper, two kinds of internal-mixing twin-fluid atomizers were design. According to the fracture theory and fluid mechanics, the model is established to simulate atomization effect. The results showed that: Internal-mixing atomizers, with the liquid nitrogen atomization size from 20um to 40um, have superior performance. Y-jet atomizer spray speed is greater than Multi-jet atomizer, and it can improve the efficiency of heat transfer between the liquid nitrogen and its spray object. Multi-jet atomizer atomization cone angle is about 30°, Y-jet atomizer atomization cone angle is about 20°. During atomizer selection, the size of the heat transfer area should be considered.

Keywords: Atomization, two-phase flow, atomizer, heat transfer.

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819 Finding Viable Pollution Routes in an Urban Network under a Predefined Cost

Authors: Dimitra Alexiou, Stefanos Katsavounis, Ria Kalfakakou

Abstract:

In an urban area the determination of transportation routes should be planned so as to minimize the provoked pollution taking into account the cost of such routes. In the sequel these routes are cited as pollution routes.

The transportation network is expressed by a weighted graph G=(V,E,D,P) where every vertex represents a location to be served and contains unordered pairs (edges) of elements in V that indicate a simple road. The distances / cost and a weight that depict the provoked air pollution by a vehicle transition at every road are assigned to each road as well. These are the items of set D andrespectively.

Furthermore the investigated pollution routes must not exceed predefined corresponding values concerning the route cost and the route pollution level during the vehicle transition.

In this paper we present an algorithm that generates such routes in order that the decision maker selects the most appropriate one. 

Keywords: bi-criteria, pollution, shortest paths.

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818 Post Mining- Discovering Valid Rules from Different Sized Data Sources

Authors: R. Nedunchezhian, K. Anbumani

Abstract:

A big organization may have multiple branches spread across different locations. Processing of data from these branches becomes a huge task when innumerable transactions take place. Also, branches may be reluctant to forward their data for centralized processing but are ready to pass their association rules. Local mining may also generate a large amount of rules. Further, it is not practically possible for all local data sources to be of the same size. A model is proposed for discovering valid rules from different sized data sources where the valid rules are high weighted rules. These rules can be obtained from the high frequency rules generated from each of the data sources. A data source selection procedure is considered in order to efficiently synthesize rules. Support Equalization is another method proposed which focuses on eliminating low frequency rules at the local sites itself thus reducing the rules by a significant amount.

Keywords: Association rules, multiple data stores, synthesizing, valid rules.

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817 Role of Association Rule Mining in Numerical Data Analysis

Authors: Sudhir Jagtap, Kodge B. G., Shinde G. N., Devshette P. M

Abstract:

Numerical analysis naturally finds applications in all fields of engineering and the physical sciences, but in the 21st century, the life sciences and even the arts have adopted elements of scientific computations. The numerical data analysis became key process in research and development of all the fields [6]. In this paper we have made an attempt to analyze the specified numerical patterns with reference to the association rule mining techniques with minimum confidence and minimum support mining criteria. The extracted rules and analyzed results are graphically demonstrated. Association rules are a simple but very useful form of data mining that describe the probabilistic co-occurrence of certain events within a database [7]. They were originally designed to analyze market-basket data, in which the likelihood of items being purchased together within the same transactions are analyzed.

Keywords: Numerical data analysis, Data Mining, Association Rule Mining

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816 Fish Marketing: A Panacea towards Sustainable Agriculture in Ogun State, Nigeria

Authors: A. M. Omoare, E. O. Fakoya, B. G. Abiona, W. O. Oyediran

Abstract:

This study assessed fish marketing as panacea towards sustainable agriculture in Ogun State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used in the selection of 150 fish marketers for this study. Descriptive statistics were used for the objectives while Product Pearson Moment Correlation was used to test the hypothesis. Result of the findings revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 38.60 years. Majority (93.33%) of the respondents had acceptable levels of formal education. Many (44.00%) of the respondents had spent 1-5 years in fish marketing. The average quantity of fish sold in a day was 94.10kg. However, efficient fish marketing were hindered by inadequate processing equipment, storage rooms and ice holding facilities (86.67%). There was a significant relationship between socio-economic characteristics and profit realized from fish marketing (p < 0.05). It was recommended that storage and warehousing facilities should be provided to the fish marketers in the study area.

Keywords: Fish marketers, panacea, retail markets, sustainable.

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815 Recent Accounting Standard Setting Changes for Consolidated Financial Statements

Authors: Maria Damian, Carmen G. Bonaci, Jiří Strouhal, Razvan V. Mustata, Dumitru Matis, Jiřina Bokšová

Abstract:

In the current context of globalization, a large number of companies sought to develop as a group in order to reach to other markets or meet the necessary criteria for listing on a stock exchange. The issue of consolidated financial statements prepared by a parent, an investor or a venture and the financial reporting standards guiding them therefore becomes even more important. The aim of our paper is to expose this issue in a consistent manner, first by summarizing the international accounting and financial reporting standards applicable before the 1st of January 2013 and considering the role of the crisis in shaping the standard setting process, and secondly by analyzing the newly issued/modified standards and main changes being brought

Keywords: Consolidated financial statements, control, IFRS 10, financial crisis.

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814 Iterative Learning Control of Two Coupled Nonlinear Spherical Tanks

Authors: A. R. Tavakolpour-Saleh, A. R. Setoodeh, E. Ansari

Abstract:

This paper presents modeling and control of a highly nonlinear system including, non-interacting two spherical tanks using iterative learning control (ILC). Consequently, the objective of the paper is to control the liquid levels in the nonlinear tanks. First, a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is applied to the plant model as a suitable benchmark for comparison. Then, dynamic responses of the control system corresponding to different step inputs are investigated. It is found that the conventional PID control is not able to fulfill the design criteria such as desired time constant. Consequently, an iterative learning controller is proposed to accurately control the coupled nonlinear tanks system. The simulation results clearly demonstrate the superiority of the presented ILC approach over the conventional PID controller to cope with the nonlinearities presented in the dynamic system.

Keywords: Iterative learning control, spherical tanks, nonlinear system.

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813 Seismic Behavior of a Jumbo Container Crane in the Low Seismicity Zone Using Time-History Analyses

Authors: Huy Q. Tran, Bac V. Nguyen, Choonghyun Kang, Jungwon Huh

Abstract:

Jumbo container crane is an important part of port structures that needs to be designed properly, even when the port locates in low seismicity zone such as in Korea. In this paper, 30 artificial ground motions derived from the elastic response spectra of Korean Building Code (2005) are used for time history analysis. It is found that the uplift might not occur in this analysis when the crane locates in the low seismic zone. Therefore, a selection of a pinned or a gap element for base supporting has not much effect on the determination of the total base shear. The relationships between the total base shear and peak ground acceleration (PGA) and the relationships between the portal drift and the PGA are proposed in this study.

Keywords: Jumbo container crane, portal drift, time history analysis, total base shear.

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812 Study of Icons in Enterprise Application Software Context

Authors: Shiva Subhedar, Abhishek Jain, Shivin Mittal

Abstract:

Icons are not merely decorative elements in enterprise applications but very often used because of their many advantages such as compactness, visual appeal, etc. Despite these potential advantages, icons often cause usability problems when they are designed without consideration for their many potential downsides. The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of articulatory distance – the distance between the physical appearance of an interface element and what it actually means. In other words, will the subject find the association of the function and its appearance on the interface natural or is the icon difficult for them to associate with its function. We have calculated response time and quality of identification by varying icon concreteness, the context of usage and subject experience in the enterprise context. The subjects were asked to associate icons (prepared for study purpose) with given function options in context and out of context mode. Response time and their selection were recorded for analysis.

Keywords: Icons, icon concreteness, icon recognition, HCI.

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811 The Digital Filing Cabinet–A GIS Based Management Solution Tool for the Land Surveyor and Engineer

Authors: A. Giraldo, A. Lapatka, A. Namyslak, S. Pilny, J. B. Miima

Abstract:

This paper explains how the New Jersey Institute of Technology surveying student team members designed and created an interactive GIS map, the purpose of which is to be useful to the land surveyor and engineer for project management. This was achieved by building a research and storage database that can be easily integrated into any land surveyor’s current operations through the use of ArcGIS 10, Arc Catalog, and AutoCAD. This GIS database allows for visual representation and information querying for multiple job sites, and simple access to uploaded data, which is geospatially referenced to each individual job site or project. It can also be utilized by engineers to determine design criteria, or to store important files. This cost-effective approach to a surveying map not only saves time, but saves physical storage space and paper resources.

Keywords: Data Storage, GIS, Land Surveying, Mapping.

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810 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

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809 Design Approach to Incorporate Unique Performance Characteristics of Special Concrete

Authors: Devendra Kumar Pandey, Debabrata Chakraborty

Abstract:

The advancement in various concrete ingredients like plasticizers, additives and fibers, etc. has enabled concrete technologists to develop many viable varieties of special concretes in recent decades. Such various varieties of concrete have significant enhancement in green as well as hardened properties of concrete. A prudent selection of appropriate type of concrete can resolve many design and application issues in construction projects. This paper focuses on usage of self-compacting concrete, high early strength concrete, structural lightweight concrete, fiber reinforced concrete, high performance concrete and ultra-high strength concrete in the structures. The modified properties of strength at various ages, flowability, porosity, equilibrium density, flexural strength, elasticity, permeability etc. need to be carefully studied and incorporated into the design of the structures. The paper demonstrates various mixture combinations and the concrete properties that can be leveraged. The selection of such products based on the end use of structures has been proposed in order to efficiently utilize the modified characteristics of these concrete varieties. The study involves mapping the characteristics with benefits and savings for the structure from design perspective. Self-compacting concrete in the structure is characterized by high shuttering loads, better finish, and feasibility of closer reinforcement spacing. The structural design procedures can be modified to specify higher formwork strength, height of vertical members, cover reduction and increased ductility. The transverse reinforcement can be spaced at closer intervals compared to regular structural concrete. It allows structural lightweight concrete structures to be designed for reduced dead load, increased insulation properties. Member dimensions and steel requirement can be reduced proportionate to about 25 to 35 percent reduction in the dead load due to self-weight of concrete. Steel fiber reinforced concrete can be used to design grade slabs without primary reinforcement because of 70 to 100 percent higher tensile strength. The design procedures incorporate reduction in thickness and joint spacing. High performance concrete employs increase in the life of the structures by improvement in paste characteristics and durability by incorporating supplementary cementitious materials. Often, these are also designed for slower heat generation in the initial phase of hydration. The structural designer can incorporate the slow development of strength in the design and specify 56 or 90 days strength requirement. For designing high rise building structures, creep and elasticity properties of such concrete also need to be considered. Lastly, certain structures require a performance under loading conditions much earlier than final maturity of concrete. High early strength concrete has been designed to cater to a variety of usages at various ages as early as 8 to 12 hours. Therefore, an understanding of concrete performance specifications for special concrete is a definite door towards a superior structural design approach.

Keywords: High performance concrete, special concrete, structural design, structural lightweight concrete.

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808 An in Silico Approach for Prioritizing Drug Targets in Metabolic Pathway of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

Authors: Baharak Khoshkholgh-Sima, Soroush Sardari, Jalal Izadi Mobarakeh, Ramezan Ali Khavari-Nejad

Abstract:

There is an urgent need to develop novel Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) drugs that are active against drug resistant bacteria but, more importantly, kill persistent bacteria. Our study structured based on integrated analysis of metabolic pathways, small molecule screening and similarity Search in PubChem Database. Metabolic analysis approaches based on Unified weighted used for potent target selection. Our results suggest that pantothenate synthetase (panC) and and 3-methyl-2-oxobutanoate hydroxymethyl transferase (panB) as a appropriate drug targets. In our study, we used pantothenate synthetase because of existence inhibitors. We have reported the discovery of new antitubercular compounds through ligand based approaches using computational tools.

Keywords: In Silico, Ligand-based Virtual Screening, Metabolic Pathways, Mycobacterium tuberculosis

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807 The Study on Mechanical Properties of Graphene Using Molecular Mechanics

Authors: I-Ling Chang, Jer-An Chen

Abstract:

The elastic properties and fracture of two-dimensional graphene were calculated purely from the atomic bonding (stretching and bending) based on molecular mechanics method. Considering the representative unit cell of graphene under various loading conditions, the deformations of carbon bonds and the variations of the interlayer distance could be realized numerically under the geometry constraints and minimum energy assumption. In elastic region, it was found that graphene was in-plane isotropic. Meanwhile, the in-plane deformation of the representative unit cell is not uniform along armchair direction due to the discrete and non-uniform distributions of the atoms. The fracture of graphene could be predicted using fracture criteria based on the critical bond length, over which the bond would break. It was noticed that the fracture behavior were directional dependent, which was consistent with molecular dynamics simulation results.

Keywords: Energy minimization, fracture, graphene, molecular mechanics.

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806 Assessing Chemo-Radiotherapy Induced Toxicity and Quality of Life of Cancer Patients

Authors: A. Taqaddas

Abstract:

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are one of the major treatment modalities that play important role in the management of a number of different cancers. This study for the first time evaluates the toxicity of these treatment modalities and its impact on quality of life of cancer patients in Pakistan. The study also for the first time determines what cancer patients of different ages and cancer stages believe would be an effective intervention to manage their psychosocial needs and treatment induced toxicity. The article also provides evidence based approach for the use of variety of interventions to mange cancer treatment induced morbidity and toxicity. In light of the present study and reviewed research data, evidence based recommendations are also made for selection of appropriate interventions to manage Pain, Nausea and Vomiting, Anxiety and Depression, Fatigue and Overall QOL of cancer survivors.

Keywords: Chemotherapy Toxicity, Psycho-Social Interventions, Quality of Life, Radiotherapy Toxicity.

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805 Selecting Materialized Views Using Two-Phase Optimization with Multiple View Processing Plan

Authors: Jiratta Phuboon-ob, Raweewan Auepanwiriyakul

Abstract:

A data warehouse (DW) is a system which has value and role for decision-making by querying. Queries to DW are critical regarding to their complexity and length. They often access millions of tuples, and involve joins between relations and aggregations. Materialized views are able to provide the better performance for DW queries. However, these views have maintenance cost, so materialization of all views is not possible. An important challenge of DW environment is materialized view selection because we have to realize the trade-off between performance and view maintenance cost. Therefore, in this paper, we introduce a new approach aimed at solve this challenge based on Two-Phase Optimization (2PO), which is a combination of Simulated Annealing (SA) and Iterative Improvement (II), with the use of Multiple View Processing Plan (MVPP). Our experiments show that our method provides a further improvement in term of query processing cost and view maintenance cost.

Keywords: Data warehouse, materialized views, view selectionproblem, two-phase optimization.

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804 Performance Evaluation of ROI Extraction Models from Stationary Images

Authors: K.V. Sridhar, Varun Gunnala, K.S.R Krishna Prasad

Abstract:

In this paper three basic approaches and different methods under each of them for extracting region of interest (ROI) from stationary images are explored. The results obtained for each of the proposed methods are shown, and it is demonstrated where each method outperforms the other. Two main problems in ROI extraction: the channel selection problem and the saliency reversal problem are discussed and how best these two are addressed by various methods is also seen. The basic approaches are 1) Saliency based approach 2) Wavelet based approach 3) Clustering based approach. The saliency approach performs well on images containing objects of high saturation and brightness. The wavelet based approach performs well on natural scene images that contain regions of distinct textures. The mean shift clustering approach partitions the image into regions according to the density distribution of pixel intensities. The experimental results of various methodologies show that each technique performs at different acceptable levels for various types of images.

Keywords: clustering, ROI, saliency, wavelets.

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803 Research of the Factors Affecting the Administrative Capacity of Enterprises in the Logistic Sector of Bulgaria

Authors: R. Kenova, K. Anguelov, R. Nikolova

Abstract:

The human factor plays a major role in boosting the competitive capacity of logistic enterprises. This is of particular importance when it comes to logistic companies. On the one hand they should be strictly compliant with legislation; on the other hand, they should be competitive in terms of pricing and of delivery timelines. Moreover, their policies should allow them to be as flexible as possible. All these circumstances are reason for very serious challenges for the qualification, motivation and experience of the human resources, working in logistic companies or in logistic departments of trade and industrial enterprises. The geographic place of Bulgaria puts it in position of a country with some specific competitive advantages in the goods transport from Europe to Asia and back. Along with it, there is a number of logistic companies, that operate in this sphere in Bulgaria. In the current paper, the authors aim to establish the condition of the administrative capacity and human resources in the logistic companies and logistic departments of trade and industrial companies in Bulgaria in order to propose some guidelines for improving of their effectiveness. Due to independent empirical research, conducted in Bulgarian logistic, trade and industrial enterprises, the authors investigate both the impact degree and the interdependence of various factors that characterize the administrative capacity. The study is conducted with a prepared questionnaire, in format of direct interview with the respondents. The volume of the poll is 50 respondents, representatives of: general managers of industrial or trade enterprises; logistic managers of industrial or trade enterprises; general managers of forwarding companies – either with own or with hired transport; experts from Bulgarian association of logistics; logistic lobbyist and scientists of the relevant area. The data are gathered for 3 months, then arranged by a specialized software program and analyzed by preset criteria. Based on the results of this methodological toolbox, it can be claimed that there is a correlation between the individual criteria. Also, a commitment between the administrative capacity and other factors that determine the competitiveness of the studied companies is established. In this paper, the authors present results of the empirical research that concerns the number and the workload in the logistic departments of the enterprises. Also, what is commented is the experience, related to logistic processes management and human resources competence. Moreover, the overload level of the logistic specialists is analyzed as one of the main threats for making mistakes and losing clients. The paper stands behind the thesis that there is indispensability of forming an effective and efficient administrative capacity, based on the number, qualification, experience and motivation of the staff in the logistic companies. The paper ends with recommendations about the qualification and experience of the specialists in logistic departments; providing effective and efficient administrative capacity in the logistic departments; interdependence of the human factor and the other factors that influence the enterprise competitiveness.

Keywords: Administrative capacity, human resources, logistic competitiveness, staff qualification.

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802 Evaluation of Beauveria bassiana Spore Compatibility with Surfactants

Authors: Sapna Mishra, Peeyush Kumar, Anushree Malik

Abstract:

The spores of entomopathogenic fungi, Beauveria bassiana was evaluated for their compatibility with four surfactants; SDS (sodium dodyl sulphate) and CABS-65 (calcium alkyl benzene sulphonate), Tween 20 (polyethylene sorbitan monolaureate) and Tween 80 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monoleate) at six different concentrations (0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, 2.5%, 5% and 10%). Incubated spores showed decrease in concentrations due to conversion of spores to hyphae. The maximum germination recorded in 72 h incubated spores varied with surfactant concentration at 49-68% (SDS), 39- 53% (CABS), 78-92% (Tween 80) and 80-92% (Tween 20), while the optimal surfactant concentration for spore germination was found to be 2.5-5%. The surfactant effect on spores was more pronounced with SDS and CABS-65, where significant deterioration and loss in viability of the incubated spores was observed. The effect of Tween 20 and Tween 80 were comparatively less inhibiting. The results of the study would help in surfactant selection for B. bassiana emulsion preparation.

Keywords: Beauveria bassiana, spore, surfactant, compatibility, germination.

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801 Design, Implementation and Analysis of Composite Material Dampers for Turning Operations

Authors: Lorenzo Daghini, Andreas Archenti, Cornel Mihai Nicolescu

Abstract:

This paper introduces a novel design for boring bar with enhanced damping capability. The principle followed in the design phase was to enhance the damping capability minimizing the loss in static stiffness through implementation of composite material interfaces. The newly designed tool has been compared to a conventional tool. The evaluation criteria were the dynamic characteristics, frequency and damping ratio, of the machining system, as well as the surface roughness of the machined workpieces. The use of composite material in the design of damped tool has been demonstrated effective. Furthermore, the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models presented in this paper take into consideration the interaction between the elastic structure of the machine tool and the cutting process and can therefore be used to characterize the machining system in operational conditions.

Keywords: ARMA, cutting stability, damped tool, machining.

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800 Application of Genetic Algorithms for Evolution of Quantum Equivalents of Boolean Circuits

Authors: Swanti Satsangi, Ashish Gulati, Prem Kumar Kalra, C. Patvardhan

Abstract:

Due to the non- intuitive nature of Quantum algorithms, it becomes difficult for a classically trained person to efficiently construct new ones. So rather than designing new algorithms manually, lately, Genetic algorithms (GA) are being implemented for this purpose. GA is a technique to automatically solve a problem using principles of Darwinian evolution. This has been implemented to explore the possibility of evolving an n-qubit circuit when the circuit matrix has been provided using a set of single, two and three qubit gates. Using a variable length population and universal stochastic selection procedure, a number of possible solution circuits, with different number of gates can be obtained for the same input matrix during different runs of GA. The given algorithm has also been successfully implemented to obtain two and three qubit Boolean circuits using Quantum gates. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the GA procedure even when the search spaces are large.

Keywords: Ancillas, Boolean functions, Genetic algorithm, Oracles, Quantum circuits, Scratch bit

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799 Impact of Social Environment on Economic Development in the Baltic States

Authors: B. Zvirbule, I. Vilka

Abstract:

The Baltic States regained independence and started the pathway from command economy to market economy and entered European Union at the same time. Latter internationally recognized evaluations for the countries are diverse. The present diversity of the Baltic States -Economic Development is a subject of interest because of the similarities – all three are small, open economies, countries have similar geographic location and initially likewise historical and political backgrounds. This article explains relationship between social environment, business environment and economic growth. It argues that the elements of social environment underlie more successful economic development. It researches the causes, why Estonia has performed better in economic outcomes and development. The article analyses selection of socio-economic indicators of all three Baltic States – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia for the time period of ten years to include the influence of economic cycles.

Keywords: Baltic States, economic development, economic growth, level of education, social environment.

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798 Automatic Authentication of Handwritten Documents via Low Density Pixel Measurements

Authors: Abhijit Mitra, Pranab Kumar Banerjee, C. Ardil

Abstract:

We introduce an effective approach for automatic offline au- thentication of handwritten samples where the forgeries are skillfully done, i.e., the true and forgery sample appearances are almost alike. Subtle details of temporal information used in online verification are not available offline and are also hard to recover robustly. Thus the spatial dynamic information like the pen-tip pressure characteristics are considered, emphasizing on the extraction of low density pixels. The points result from the ballistic rhythm of a genuine signature which a forgery, however skillful that may be, always lacks. Ten effective features, including these low density points and den- sity ratio, are proposed to make the distinction between a true and a forgery sample. An adaptive decision criteria is also derived for better verification judgements.

Keywords: Handwritten document verification, Skilled forgeries, Low density pixels, Adaptive decision boundary.

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797 Describing Learning Features of Reusable Resources: A Proposal

Authors: Serena Alvino, Paola Forcheri, Maria Grazia Ierardi, Luigi Sarti

Abstract:

One of the main advantages of the LO paradigm is to allow the availability of good quality, shareable learning material through the Web. The effectiveness of the retrieval process requires a formal description of the resources (metadata) that closely fits the user-s search criteria; in spite of the huge international efforts in this field, educational metadata schemata often fail to fulfil this requirement. This work aims to improve the situation, by the definition of a metadata model capturing specific didactic features of shareable learning resources. It classifies LOs into “teacher-oriented" and “student-oriented" categories, in order to describe the role a LO is to play when it is integrated into the educational process. This article describes the model and a first experimental validation process that has been carried out in a controlled environment.

Keywords: Learning object, pedagogical metadata, experimental validation.

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