Search results for: negative interest rates

Authors: Manish K Rathod, Jyotirmay Banerjee

Abstract:

The storage of thermal energy as a latent heat of phase change material (PCM) has created considerable interest among researchers in recent times. Here, an attempt is made to carry out numerical investigations to analyze the performance of latent heat storage units (LHSU) employing phase change material. The mathematical model developed is based on an enthalpy formulation. Freezing time of PCM packed in three different shaped containers viz. rectangular, cylindrical and cylindrical shell is compared. The model is validated with the results available in the literature. Results show that for the same mass of PCM and surface area of heat transfer, cylindrical shell container takes the least time for freezing the PCM and this geometric effect is more pronounced with an increase in the thickness of the shell than that of length of the shell.

Keywords: Enthalpy Formulation, Latent heat storage unit(LHSU), Numerical Model, Phase change material (PCM)

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Authors: Amna Javed, Hisashi Masuda, Youji Kohda

Abstract:

This study examines the value analysis in Islamic and conventional banking services in Pakistan. Many scholars have focused on co-creation of values in services but mainly economic values not non-economic. As Islamic banking is based on Islamic principles that are more concerned with non-economic values (well-being, partnership, fairness, trust worthy, and justice) than economic values as money in terms of interest.  This study is important to know the providers point of view about the co-created values, because, it may be more sustainable and appropriate for today’s unpredictable socio-economic environment. Data were collected from 4 banks (2 Islamic and 2 conventional banks). Text mining technique is applied for data analysis, and values with 100% occurrences in Islamic banking are chosen. The results reflect that Islamic banking is more centric towards non-economic values than economic values and it promotes team work and partnership concept by applying Islamic spirit and trust worthiness concept.

Keywords: Economic values, Islamic banking, Non-economic values, Value system.

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Authors: Pankaj K. Gupta, Krishnan V. Pagalthivarthi

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The present work compares the performance of three turbulence modeling approach (based on the two-equation k -ε model) in predicting erosive wear in multi-size dense slurry flow through rotating channel. All three turbulence models include rotation modification to the production term in the turbulent kineticenergy equation. The two-phase flow field obtained numerically using Galerkin finite element methodology relates the local flow velocity and concentration to the wear rate via a suitable wear model. The wear models for both sliding wear and impact wear mechanisms account for the particle size dependence. Results of predicted wear rates using the three turbulence models are compared for a large number of cases spanning such operating parameters as rotation rate, solids concentration, flow rate, particle size distribution and so forth. The root-mean-square error between FE-generated data and the correlation between maximum wear rate and the operating parameters is found less than 2.5% for all the three models.

Keywords: Rotating channel, maximum wear rate, multi-sizeparticulate flow, k −ε turbulence models.

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Authors: R. C. Barbuti, M. N. Oliveira, N. P. Perina, C. Haro, P. Bosch, C. S. Bogsan, J. N. Eisig, T. Navarro-Rodriguez

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The management of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication is still a matter of discussion, full effectiveness is rarely achieved, and it has many adverse effects. The use of probiotics may be associated with better eradication rates and possibly prevention of adverse events due to antibiotic therapy. The present clinical study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of a specially designed fermented milk product, containing Bifidobacterium lactis B420, on the eradication of H. pylori infection in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled study in humans. Four test fermented milks (FM) were specially designed in which counts of viable cells in all products were 10^10 Log CFU. 100 mL-1 for Bifidobacterium lactis - Bifidobacterium species 420. 190 subjects infected with H. pylori, with previous diagnosis of functional dyspepsia according to Rome III criteria entered the study. Bifidobacterium lactis B420, administered twice a day for 90 days was not able to eradicate H. pylori in Brazilian patients with functional dyspepsia.

Keywords: Antibacterial Therapy, Bifidobacteria Fermented milk, Helicobacter pylori, probiotics.

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Authors: Taekyun Kim, Jongho Park, Jinwoong Choi, Sun-Kyu Park

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Recently, the abnormal climate phenomenon has enlarged due to the global warming. As a result, temperature variation is increasing and the term is being prolonged, frequency of high and low temperature is increasing by heat wave and severe cold. Especially for reinforced concrete structure, the corrosion of reinforcement has occurred by concrete crack due to temperature change and the durability of the structure that has decreased by concrete crack. Accordingly, the textile reinforced concrete (TRC) which does not corrode due to using textile is getting the interest and the investigation of TRC is proceeding. The study of TRC structure behavior has proceeded, but the characteristic study of the concrete used in TRC is insufficient. Therefore, characteristic of the concrete by changing mixing ratio is studied in this paper. As a result, mixing ratio with different water-binder ratio has influenced to the strength of concrete. Also, as the water-binder ratio has decreased, strength of concrete has increased.

Keywords: Concrete, mixing ratio, textile, TRC.

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Authors: Daniel Pereiro, Felix Martinez, Iker Urresti, Ana Gomez Gonzalez

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Today modern simulations solutions in the wind turbine industry have achieved a high degree of complexity and detail in result. Limitations exist when it is time to validate model results against measurements. Regarding Model validation it is of special interest to identify mode frequencies and to differentiate them from the different excitations. A wind turbine is a complex device and measurements regarding any part of the assembly show a lot of noise. Input excitations are difficult or even impossible to measure due to the stochastic nature of the environment. Traditional techniques for frequency analysis or features extraction are widely used to analyze wind turbine sensor signals, but have several limitations specially attending to non stationary signals (Events). A new technique based on autoregresive analysis techniques is introduced here for a specific application, a comparison and examples related to different events in the wind turbine operations are presented.

Keywords: Wind turbine, signal processing, mode extraction.

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Authors: Nagesha, G. Hemantha Kumar

Abstract:

Although the level crossing concept has been the subject of intensive investigation over the last few years, certain problems of great interest remain unsolved. One of these concern is distribution of threshold levels. This paper presents a new threshold level allocation schemes for level crossing based on nonuniform sampling. Intuitively, it is more reasonable if the information rich regions of the signal are sampled finer and those with sparse information are sampled coarser. To achieve this objective, we propose non-linear quantization functions which dynamically assign the number of quantization levels depending on the importance of the given amplitude range. Two new approaches to determine the importance of the given amplitude segment are presented. The proposed methods are based on exponential and logarithmic functions. Various aspects of proposed techniques are discussed and experimentally validated. Its efficacy is investigated by comparison with uniform sampling.

Keywords: speech signals, sampling, signal reconstruction, asynchronousdelta modulation, non-linear quantization.

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Authors: Mark Rousell, Di Catherwood, Graham Edgar

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The main issue of interest here is whether individuals who differ in arithmetical reasoning ability and levels of imagery ability display different brain activity during the conduct of mental arithmetical reasoning tasks. This was a case study of four participants who represented four extreme combinations of Maths –Imagery abilities: ie., low-low, high-high, high-low, low-high respectively. As the Ps performed a series of 60 arithmetical reasoning tasks, 128-channel EEG recordings were taken and the pre-response interval subsequently analysed using EGI GeosourceTM software. The P who was high in both imagery and maths ability showed peak activity prior to response in BA7 (superior parietal cortex) but other Ps did not show peak activity in this region. The results are considered in terms of the diverse routes that may be employed by individuals during the conduct of arithmetical reasoning tasks and the possible implications of this for mathematics education.

Keywords: Arithmetic, imagery, EEG, education.

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Authors: M. Bagci, H. Imrek, Omari M. Khalfan

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Materials added to the matrix help improving operating properties of a composite. This experimental study has targeted to investigate this aim where Silicon Oxide particles were added to glass fibre and epoxy resin at an amount of 15% to the main material to obtain a sort of new composite material. Erosive wear behavior of epoxy-resin dipped composite materials reinforced with glass fibre and Silicon Oxide under three different impingement angles (30°, 60° and 90°), three different impact velocities (23, 34 and 53 m/s), two different angular Aluminum abrasive particle sizes (approximately 200 and 400 μm) and the fibre orientation of 45° (45/-45) were investigated. In the test results, erosion rates were obtained as functions of impingement angles, impact velocities, particle sizes and fibre orientation. Moreover, materials with addition of Silicon Oxide filler material exhibited lower wear as compared to neat materials with no added filler material. In addition, SEM views showing worn out surfaces of the test specimens were scrutinized.

Keywords: Erosive wear, fibre orientation, GF/EP, silicon oxide.

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Authors: M. Wendeker, K. Siadkowska, P. Magryta, Z. Czyz, K. Skiba

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In the paper environmental impact analysis the optimal Diesel engine for a light helicopter was performed. The paper consist an answer to the question of what the optimal Diesel engine for a light helicopter is, taking into consideration its expected performance and design capacity. The use of turbocharged engine with self-ignition and an electronic control system can substantially reduce the negative impact on the environment by decreasing toxic substance emission, fuel consumption and therefore carbon dioxide emission. In order to establish the environmental benefits of the diesel engine technologies, mathematical models were created, providing additional insight on the environmental impact and performance of a classic turboshaft and an advanced diesel engine light helicopter, incorporating technology developments.

Keywords: Diesel engine, helicopter, simulation, environmental impact.

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Authors: R. Mangiaracina, A. Perego, F. Campari

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Despite the fact that B2c eCommerce has become important in numerous economies, its adoption varies from country to country. This paper aims to identify the factors affecting (enabling or inhibiting) B2c eCommerce and to determine their quantitative impact on the diffusion of online sales across countries. A dynamic panel model analyzing the relationship between 13 factors (Macroeconomic, Demographic, Socio-Cultural, Infrastructural and Offer related) stemming from a complete literature analysis and the B2c eCommerce value in 45 countries over 9 years has been developed. Having a positive correlation coefficient, GDP, mobile penetration, Internet user penetration and credit card penetration resulted as enabling drivers of the B2c eCommerce value across countries, whereas, having a negative correlation coefficient,equal distribution of income and the development of traditional retailing network act as inhibiting factors.

Keywords: B2c eCommerce diffusion, influencing factors, dynamic panel model

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Authors: T. Kosáros, D. Gál, F. Pekár, Gy. Lakatos

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Periphyton development and composition were studied in three different treatments: (i) two fishpond units of wetland-type wastewater treatment pond systems, (ii) two fishponds in combined intensive-extensive fish farming systems and (iii) three traditional polyculture fishponds. Results showed that amounts of periphyton developed in traditional polyculture fishponds (iii) were different compared to the other treatments (i and ii), where the main function of ponds was stated wastewater treatment. Negative correlation was also observable between water quality parameters and periphyton production. The lower trophity, halobity and saprobity level of ponds indicated higher amount of periphyton. The dry matter content of periphyton was significantly higher in the samples, which were developed in traditional polyculture fishponds (2.84±3.02 g m-2 day-1, whereby the ash content in dry matter 74%), than samples taken from (i) (1.60±2.32 g m-2 day-1, 61%) and (ii) fishponds (0.65±0.45 g m-2 day-1, 81%).

Keywords: Artificial substrate, fishpond, periphyton, waterquality

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Authors: Giovanni Luca Masala

Abstract:

A typical definition of the Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD), found in literature, can be: A diagnosis made by a radiologist using the output of a computerized scheme for automated image analysis as a diagnostic aid. Often it is possible to find the expression Computer Aided Detection (CAD or CADe): this definition emphasizes the intent of CAD to support rather than substitute the human observer in the analysis of radiographic images. In this article we will illustrate the application of CAD systems and the aim of these definitions. Commercially available CAD systems use computerized algorithms for identifying suspicious regions of interest. In this paper are described the general CAD systems as an expert system constituted of the following components: segmentation / detection, feature extraction, and classification / decision making. As example, in this work is shown the realization of a Computer- Aided Detection system that is able to assist the radiologist in identifying types of mammary tumor lesions. Furthermore this prototype of station uses a GRID configuration to work on a large distributed database of digitized mammographic images.

Keywords: Computer Aided Detection, Computer Aided Diagnosis, mammography, GRID.

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Authors: Liv Gingnell, Evelina Ericsson, Joakim Lilliesköld, Robert Langerström

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In recent years, an increased competition and lower profit margins have necessitated a focus on improving the performance of the product development process, an area that traditionally have been excluded from detailed steering and evaluation. A systematic improvement requires a good understanding of the current performance, wherefore the interest for product development performance measurement has increased dramatically. This paper presents a case study that evaluates the performance of the product development performance measurement system used in a Swedish company that is a part of a global corporate group. The study is based on internal documentation and eighteen in-depth interviews with stakeholders involved in the product development process. The results from the case study includes a description of what metrics that are in use, how these are employed, and its affect on the quality of the performance measurement system. Especially, the importance of having a well-defined process proved to have a major impact on the quality of the performance measurement system in this particular case.

Keywords: Outcome metric, Performance driver, Performance measurement, Product development process.

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Authors: Imran C.T., Syibrah M.N., Mohd Lazim A.

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Fuzzy sets theory affirmed that the linguistic value for every contraries relation is complementary. It was stressed in the intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFS) that the conditions for contraries relations, which are the fuzzy values, cannot be greater than one. However, complementary in two contradict phenomena are not always true. This paper proposes a new idea condition for conflicting bifuzzy sets by relaxing the condition of intuitionistic fuzzy sets. Here, we will critically forward examples using triangular fuzzy number in formulating a new condition for conflicting bifuzzy sets (CBFS). Evaluation of positive and negative in conflicting phenomena were calculated concurrently by relaxing the condition in IFS. The hypothetical illustration showed the applicability of the new condition in CBFS for solving non-complement contraries intuitionistic evaluation. This approach can be applied to any decision making where conflicting is very much exist.

Keywords: Conflicting bifuzzy set, conflicting degree, fuzzy sets, fuzzy numbers.

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Authors: Turki Alotaibi

Abstract:

Student counseling programs can provide many benefits to students in schools all around the world. In theory, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia) has committed itself to school counseling programs in educational institutions throughout the country. Student counselors face a number of burdens and obstacles that impact student counseling programs. It is also widely known that Saudi Arabia has extremely high prevalence rates for overweight and obesity, anxiety and depression, and diabetes in children. It has also been demonstrated that teachers and staff are inadequately prepared when dealing with health issues relating to diabetes in schools in Saudi Arabia. This study will clearly demonstrate how student counselors in Saudi Arabia could become 'New Educators' in Saudi schools in relation to these health issues. This would allow them to leverage their position as student counselor to improve the management of these health issues in Saudi schools, to improve the quality of care provided to school children, and to overcome burdens and obstacles that are currently negatively affecting student counseling in Saudi schools.

Keywords: Anxiety, depression, diabetes, overweight, obesity, policy recommendations, student counseling, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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Authors: Andy Handouyahia, Tony Haddad, Frank Eaton

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Recent quasi-experimental evaluation of the Canadian Active Labour Market Policies (ALMP) by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) has provided an opportunity to examine alternative methods to estimating the incremental effects of Employment Benefits and Support Measures (EBSMs) on program participants. The focus of this paper is to assess the efficiency and robustness of inverse probability weighting (IPW) relative to kernel matching (KM) in the estimation of program effects. To accomplish this objective, the authors compare pairs of 1,080 estimates, along with their associated standard errors, to assess which type of estimate is generally more efficient and robust. In the interest of practicality, the authorsalso document the computationaltime it took to produce the IPW and KM estimates, respectively.

Keywords: Treatment effect, causal inference, observational studies, Propensity score based matching, Kernel Matching, Inverse Probability Weighting, Estimation methods for incremental effect.

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Authors: Seyed Abolhasan Naeini, Saeideh Mohammadi

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Time dependent settlement due to loading on soft saturated soils produces many problems such as high consolidation settlements and low consolidation rates. Also, long term consolidation settlement of soft soil underlying the embankment leads to unpredicted settlements and cracks on soil surface. Preloading method is an effective improvement method to solve this problem. Using vertical drains in preloading method is an effective method for improving soft soils. Applying deep soil mixing method on soft soils is another effective method for improving soft soils. There are little studies on using two methods of preloading and deep soil mixing simultaneously. In this paper, the concurrent effect of preloading with deep soil mixing by vertical drains is investigated through a finite element code, Plaxis2D. The influence of parameters such as deep soil mixing columns spacing, existence of vertical drains and distance between them, on settlement and stability factor of safety of embankment embedded on soft soil is investigated in this research.

Keywords: Preloading, soft soil, vertical drains, deep soil mixing, consolidation settlement.

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Authors: Alexandra Leukauf, Alexander Schirrer, Emir Talic

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Numerical computation of wave propagation in a large domain usually requires significant computational effort. Hence, the considered domain must be truncated to a smaller domain of interest. In addition, special boundary conditions, which absorb the outward travelling waves, need to be implemented in order to describe the system domains correctly. In this work, the linear one dimensional wave equation is approximated by utilizing the Fourier Galerkin approach. Furthermore, the artificial boundaries are realized with absorbing boundary conditions. Within this work, a systematic work flow for setting up the wave problem, including the absorbing boundary conditions, is proposed. As a result, a convenient modal system description with an effective absorbing boundary formulation is established. Moreover, the truncated model shows high accuracy compared to the global domain.

Keywords: Absorbing boundary conditions, boundary control, Fourier Galerkin approach, modal approach, wave equation.

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Authors: P. Suparada, D. Eakapotch

Abstract:

This research’s objectives were to analyze the using of new media in the form of set up candid clip that affects the product and presenter, to study the effectiveness of using new media in the form of set up candid clip in order to increase the circulation and audience satisfaction and to use the earned information and knowledge to develop the communication for publicizing and advertising via new media. This research is qualitative research based on questionnaire from 50 random sampling representative samples and in-depth interview from experts in publicizing and advertising fields. The findings indicated the positive and negative effects to the brands’ image and presenters’ image of product named “Scotch 100” and “Snickers” that used set up candid clips via new media for publicizing and advertising in Thailand. It will be useful for fields of publicizing and advertising in the new media forms.

Keywords: Candid Clip, Effect, New Media, Social Network.

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Authors: Benjamin Y. M. Kwan, Hon Keung Kwan

Abstract:

Early detection of lung cancer through chest radiography is a widely used method due to its relatively affordable cost. In this paper, an approach to improve lung nodule visualization on chest radiographs is presented. The approach makes use of linear phase high-frequency emphasis filter for digital filtering and histogram equalization for contrast enhancement to achieve improvements. Results obtained indicate that a filtered image can reveal sharper edges and provide more details. Also, contrast enhancement offers a way to further enhance the global (or local) visualization by equalizing the histogram of the pixel values within the whole image (or a region of interest). The work aims to improve lung nodule visualization of chest radiographs to aid detection of lung cancer which is currently the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.

Keywords: Chest radiographs, Contrast enhancement, Digital filtering, Lung nodule detection

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Authors: Saeid Fazli, Hadis Askarifar, Maryam Sheikh Shoaie

Abstract:

Human identification at a distance has recently gained growing interest from computer vision researchers. Gait recognition aims essentially to address this problem by identifying people based on the way they walk [1]. Gait recognition has 3 steps. The first step is preprocessing, the second step is feature extraction and the third one is classification. This paper focuses on the classification step that is essential to increase the CCR (Correct Classification Rate). Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) is used in this work. Neural Networks imitate the human brain to perform intelligent tasks [3].They can represent complicated relationships between input and output and acquire knowledge about these relationships directly from the data [2]. In this paper we apply MLP NN for 11 views in our database and compare the CCR values for these views. Experiments are performed with the NLPR databases, and the effectiveness of the proposed method for gait recognition is demonstrated.

Keywords: Human motion analysis, biometrics, gait recognition, principal component analysis, MLP neural network.

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Authors: Madina Hamiane, Amina Khunji

Abstract:

Detecting changes in multiple images of the same scene has recently seen increased interest due to the many contemporary applications including smart security systems, smart homes, remote sensing, surveillance, medical diagnosis, weather forecasting, speed and distance measurement, post-disaster forensics and much more. These applications differ in the scale, nature, and speed of change. This paper presents an application of image processing techniques to implement a real-time change detection system. Change is identified by comparing the RGB representation of two consecutive frames captured in real-time. The detection threshold can be controlled to account for various luminance levels. The comparison result is passed through a filter before decision making to reduce false positives, especially at lower luminance conditions. The system is implemented with a MATLAB Graphical User interface with several controls to manage its operation and performance.

Keywords: Image change detection, Image processing, image filtering, thresholding, B/W quantization.

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Authors: Khampheth Bounnady, Boontee Kruatrachue, Somkiat Wangsiripitak

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This paper proposed high level feature for online Lao handwritten recognition. This feature must be high level enough so that the feature is not change when characters are written by different persons at different speed and different proportion (shorter or longer stroke, head, tail, loop, curve). In this high level feature, a character is divided in to sequence of curve segments where a segment start where curve reverse rotation (counter clockwise and clockwise). In each segment, following features are gathered cumulative change in direction of curve (- for clockwise), cumulative curve length, cumulative length of left to right, right to left, top to bottom and bottom to top ( cumulative change in X and Y axis of segment). This feature is simple yet robust for high accuracy recognition. The feature can be gather from parsing the original time sampling sequence X, Y point of the pen location without re-sampling. We also experiment on other segmentation point such as the maximum curvature point which was widely used by other researcher. Experiments results show that the recognition rates are at 94.62% in comparing to using maximum curvature point 75.07%. This is due to a lot of variations of turning points in handwritten.

Keywords: Handwritten feature, chain code, Lao handwritten recognition.

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Authors: Tasawar Nawaz

Abstract:

Promotion of socioeconomic justice through redistribution of wealth is one of the most salient features of Islamic economic system. Islamic financial institutions known as Islamic banks are used to implement this in practice under the guidelines of Islamic Shariah law. Islamic banking systems strive to promote and achieve financial inclusion among the society by offering interest-free banking and risk-sharing financing solutions. Shariah-compliant micro finance is one of the most popular financial instruments used by Islamic banks to enhance access to finance. Benevolent loan (or Qard-al-Hassanah) is one of the popular financial tools used by the Islamic banks to promote financial inclusion. This aspect of Islamic banking is empirically examined in this paper with specific reference to firm’s resources, largely defined here as intellectual capital. The paper finds that Islamic banks promote financial inclusion by exploiting available resources especially, the human intellectual capital.

Keywords: Financial inclusion, intellectual capital, Qard-al-Hassanah, Islamic banking.

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Authors: Sawangjit Sopid

Abstract:

In this study sugarcane field soils with a long history of atrazine application in Chachoengsao and Chonburi provinces have been explored for their potential of atrazine biodegradation. For the atrazine degrading bacteria isolation, the soils used in this study named ACS and ACB were inoculated in MS-medium containing atrazine. Six short rod and gram-negative bacterial isolates, which were able to use this herbicide as a sole source of nitrogen, were isolated and named as ACS1, ACB1, ACB3, ACB4, ACB5 and ACB6. From the 16S rDNA nucleotide sequence analysis, the isolated bacteria ACS1 and ACB4 were identified as Rhizobium sp. with 89.1-98.7% nucleotide identity, ACB1 and ACB5 were identified as Stenotrophomonas sp. with 91.0-92.8% nucleotide identity, whereas ACB3 and ACB6 were Klebsiella sp. with 97.4-97.8% nucleotide identity.

Keywords: Atrazine-degrading bacteria, bioremediation, Thai isolate bacteria.

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Authors: Moulay A. Akhloufi, Abdelhakim Bendada

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Face recognition in the infrared spectrum has attracted a lot of interest in recent years. Many of the techniques used in infrared are based on their visible counterpart, especially linear techniques like PCA and LDA. In this work, we introduce a probabilistic Bayesian framework for face recognition in the infrared spectrum. In the infrared spectrum, variations can occur between face images of the same individual due to pose, metabolic, time changes, etc. Bayesian approaches permit to reduce intrapersonal variation, thus making them very interesting for infrared face recognition. This framework is compared with classical linear techniques. Non linear techniques we developed recently for infrared face recognition are also presented and compared to the Bayesian face recognition framework. A new approach for infrared face extraction based on SVM is introduced. Experimental results show that the Bayesian technique is promising and lead to interesting results in the infrared spectrum when a sufficient number of face images is used in an intrapersonal learning process.

Keywords: Face recognition, biometrics, probabilistic imageprocessing, infrared imaging.

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Authors: Mateusz Rak

Abstract:

Objective: The paper aims to present various sources of competitive advantage which may occur when an enterprise strategically applies its concept of corporate philanthropy. Methodology: The review of the literature and available reports on the research regarding corporate philanthropy. Results: Strategic philanthropy is a positive phenomenon. Unfortunately, enterprises in Poland do not see all positive sides of such activities yet. Three kinds of corporate philanthropy may be described. They are to fulfil a social duty, improve the company reputation and gain a competitive edge. Practical implications: Showing enterprises the advantages of taking philanthropic actions, in particular, a large role of strategic philanthropy in gaining a competitive edge in the market as well as how to avoid negative consequences of corporate philanthropy. The paper presents corporate philanthropy on a few layers: as a CSR element, actions generating values in products, actions improving a corporate image in the market, altruist actions of employees.

Keywords: Corporate philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, corporate foundations, CSR.

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Authors: F. Garousi, Sz. Veres, É. Bódi, Sz. Várallyay, B. Kovács

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Specific leaf area (SLA; cm2leaf g-1leaf) the ratio of leaf area to leaf dry mass is a key ecophysiological parameter influencing leaf physiology, photosynthesis, and whole plant carbon gain and also can be used as a rapid and diagnostic tool. In this study, two species of soluble inorganic selenium forms, selenite (Se^IV) and selenate (Se^VI) at different concentrations were investigated on maize plants that were growing in nutrient solutions during 2 weeks and at the end of the experiment, amounts of SLA for first and second leaves of maize were measured. In accordance with the results we observed that our regarded Se concentrations in both forms of Se^IV and Se^VI were not effective on maize plants’ SLA significantly although high level of 3 mg.kg-1 Se^IV had negative affect on growth of the samples that had been treated by it but about Se^VI samples we did not observe this state and our different considered Se^VI concentrations were not toxic for maize plants.

Keywords: Maize, Sodium selenate, sodium selenite, specific leaf area.

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Authors: Débora V. Busman, Venerando E. Amaro, Mattheus da C. Prudêncio

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Prognostic studies of the shoreline are of utmost importance for Ponta Negra Beach, located in Natal, Northeastern Brazil, where the infrastructure recently built along the shoreline is severely affected by flooding and erosion. This study compares shoreline predictions using three linear regression methods (LMS, LRR and WLR) and tries to discern the best method for different shoreline position scenarios. The methods have shown erosion on the beach in each of the scenarios tested, even in less intense dynamic conditions. The WLA_A with confidence interval of 95% was the well-adjusted model and calculated a retreat of -1.25 m/yr to -2.0 m/yr in hot spot areas. The change of the shoreline on Ponta Negra Beach can be measured as a negative exponential curve. Analysis of these methods has shown a correlation with the morphodynamic stage of the beach.

Keywords: Coastal Erosion, Prognostic Model, DSAS.

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