Search results for: toxic and essential elements

Authors: T. R. Bandara, H. Jaelani, G. J. Griffin

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The conversion of lignocellulosic waste materials, such as sugar cane bagasse, to biofuels such as ethanol has attracted significant interest as a potential element for transforming transport fuel supplies to totally renewable sources. However, the refractory nature of the cellulosic structure of lignocellulosic materials has impeded progress on developing an economic process, whereby the cellulose component may be effectively broken down to glucose monosaccharides and then purified to allow downstream fermentation. Ionic liquid (IL) treatment of lignocellulosic biomass has been shown to disrupt the crystalline structure of cellulose thus potentially enabling the cellulose to be more readily hydrolysed to monosaccharides. Furthermore, conventional hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials yields byproducts that are inhibitors for efficient fermentation of the monosaccharides. However, selective extraction of monosaccharides from an aqueous/IL phase into an organic phase utilizing a combination of boronic acids and quaternary amines has shown promise as a purification process. Hydrolysis of sugar cane bagasse immersed in an aqueous solution with IL (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate) was conducted at different pH and temperature below 100 ºC. It was found that the use of a high concentration of hydrochloric acid to acidify the solution inhibited the hydrolysis of bagasse. At high pH (i.e. basic conditions), using sodium hydroxide, catalyst yields were reduced for total reducing sugars (TRS) due to the rapid degradation of the sugars formed. For purification trials, a supported liquid membrane (SLM) apparatus was constructed, whereby a synthetic solution containing xylose and glucose in an aqueous IL phase was transported across a membrane impregnated with phenyl boronic acid/Aliquat 336 to an aqueous phase. The transport rate of xylose was generally higher than that of glucose indicating that a SLM scheme may not only be useful for purifying sugars from undesirable toxic compounds, but also for fractionating sugars to improve fermentation efficiency.

Keywords: Biomass, bagasse, hydrolysis, monosaccharide, supported liquid membrane, purification.

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Authors: Noriyoshi Hosoya, Kayoko Yamamoto

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This study, focusing on the importance of encouraging outdoor activities for children, aims to propose and implement a Web-GIS based outdoor education program for junior high schools, which will then be evaluated by users. Specifically, for the purpose of improved outdoor activities in the junior high school education, the outdoor education program, with chiefly using the Web-GIS that provides a good information provision and sharing tool, is proposed and implemented before being evaluated by users. The conclusion of this study can be summarized in the following two points. (1) A five -step outdoor education program based on Web-GIS was proposed for a “second school" at junior high schools that was then implemented before being evaluated by teachers as users. (2) Based on the results of evaluation by teachers, it was clear that the general operation of Web-GIS based outdoor education program with them only is difficult due to their lack of knowledge regarding Web-GIS and that support staff who can effectively utilize Web-GIS are essential.

Keywords: Outdoor Education, Web-Based GIS (Geographical Information Systems), Junior High Schools, School Education

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Authors: Ahmad Khalesizadeh, Alireza Vakili, Mohsen Danesh Mesgaran, Reza Valizadeh

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The objective of this study was to determine the effects of garlic oil (Allium sativa), turmeric powder (Curcuma longa Linn) and Monensin on Total apparent digestibility of nutrients in Baloochi lambs. The experiment was designed as a 4 x 4 Latin square using 4 ruminally baloochi lambs with 4 treatments in four 28-d periods. Treatments were control (no additive), garlic oil (0. 4 g/d), monensin (0. 2 g/d) and turmeric powder (20 g/d). Total apparent digestibility's (% of intake) of organic matter (OM), dry matter (DM), crud protein (CP), ether extract(EE), non fiber carbohydrate (NFC), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) in the total tract were not influenced by addition of either additives.

Keywords: apparent digestibility, essential oil, garlic oil, monensin, turmeric

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Authors: Norsiah Abdul Hamid, Halimah Badioze Zaman

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This paper outlines the research conducted to propose na framework of 'Knowledge Society' (KS) in the Malaysian context. It is important to highlight that the emergence of KS is a result of the rapid growth in knowledge and information. However, the discussion of KS should not only be limited to the importance of knowledge, but a holistic KS is also determined by other imperative dimensions. This article discusses the results of a study conducted previously in Malaysia in order to identify the essential dimensions of KS, and consequently propose a KS framework in the Malaysian context. Two methods were employed, namely the Delphi technique and semi-structured interviews. The modified Delphi involved five rounds with ten experts, while the interviews were conducted with two prominent figures in Malaysia. The results support the proposed framework which contains seven major dimensions in order for Malaysia to become a KS in the future. The dimensions which are crucial for a holistic Malaysian KS are human capital, spirituality, economy, social, institutional, sustainability, and driven by the ICT.

Keywords: Malaysia, Knowledge Society, Framework, Delphi Technique, Interview.

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Authors: S. Moghaddaszadeh-Ahrabi, S. Farajnia, Gh. Rahimi-Mianji, A. Nejati-Javaremi

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In recent years, there has been an increasing interest toward the use of bovine genotyped embryos for commercial embryo transfer programs. Biopsy of a few cells in morulla stage is essential for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Low amount of DNA have limited performing the several molecular analyses within PGD analyses. Whole genome amplification (WGA) promises to eliminate this problem. We evaluated the possibility and performance of an improved primer extension preamplification (I-PEP) method with a range of starting bovine genomic DNA from 1-8 cells into the WGA reaction. We optimized a short and simple I-PEP (ssI-PEP) procedure (~3h). This optimized WGA method was assessed by 6 loci specific polymerase chain reactions (PCRs), included restriction fragments length polymorphism (RFLP). Optimized WGA procedure possesses enough sensitivity for molecular genetic analyses through the few input cells. This is a new era for generating characterized bovine embryos in preimplantation stage.

Keywords: Whole genome amplification (WGA), Genotyping, Bovine, Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)

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Authors: Mohd Salehuddin Mohd Zahari, Hamizad Abdul Hadi, Nik Mohd Shahril Nik Mohd Nor, Syuhirdy Mat Noor

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Postgraduate education is generally aimed at providing in-depth knowledge and understanding that include general philosophy in the world sciences, management, technologies, applications and other elements closely related to specific areas. In most universities, besides core and non-core subjects, a thesis is one of the requirements for the postgraduate student to accomplish before graduating. This paper reports on the empirical investigation into attributes that are associated with the obstacles to thesis accomplishment among postgraduate students. Using the quantitative approach the experiences of postgraduate students were tapped. Findings clearly revealed that information seeking, writing skills and other factors which refer to supervisor and time management, in particular, are recognized as contributory factors which positively or negatively influence postgraduates’ thesis accomplishment. Among these, writing skills dimensions were found to be the most difficult process in thesis accomplishment compared to information seeking and other factors. This pessimistic indication has provided some implications not only for the students but supervisors and institutions as a whole.

Keywords: Hospitality, Program, Postgraduate, thesis.

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Authors: A. Kojah, A. Nacaroğlu

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Single phase transmission lines are used to transfer data or energy between two users. Transient conditions such as switching operations and short circuit faults cause the generation of the fluctuation on the waveform to be transmitted. Spatial voltage distribution on the single phase transmission line may change owing to the position and duration of the short circuit fault in the system. In this paper, the state space representation of the single phase transmission line for short circuit fault and for various types of terminations is given. Since the transmission line is modeled in time domain using distributed parametric elements, the mathematical representation of the event is given in state space (time domain) differential equation form. It also makes easy to solve the problem because of the time and space dependent characteristics of the voltage variations on the distributed parametrically modeled transmission line.

Keywords: Energy transmission, transient effects, transmission line, transient voltage, RLC short circuit, single phase.

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Authors: Paul Okonkwo, Howard Smith

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A study to estimate the size of the cabin and major aircraft components as well as detect and avoid interference between internally placed components and the external surface, during the conceptual design synthesis and optimisation to explore the design space of a BWB, was conducted. Sizing of components follows the Bradley cabin sizing and rubber engine scaling procedures to size the cabin and engine respectively. The interference detection and avoidance algorithm relies on the ability of the Class Shape Transform parameterisation technique to generate polynomial functions of the surfaces of a BWB aircraft configuration from the sizes of the cabin and internal objects using few variables. Interference detection is essential in packaging of non-conventional configuration like the BWB because of the non-uniform airfoil-shaped sections and resultant varying internal space. The unique configuration increases the need for a methodology to prevent objects from being placed in locations that do not sufficiently enclose them within the geometry.

Keywords: Packaging, Optimisation, BWB, Parameterisation, Aircraft Conceptual Design.

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Authors: Janaína F. Guidolini, Jean P. H. B. Ometto, Angélica Giarolla, Peter M. Toledo, Carlos A. Valera

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The water crisis, a major problem of the 21^st century, occurs mainly due to poor management. The central issue that should govern the management is the integration of the various aspects that interfere with the use of water resources and their protection, supported by legal basis. A watershed is a unit of water interacting with the physical, biotic, social, economic and cultural variables. The Brazilian law recognized river basin as the territorial management unit. Based on the diagnosis of the current situation of the water resources of the Rio Grande Basin, a discussion informed in the Brazilian legal basis was made to propose measures to fight or mitigate damages and environmental degradation in the Basin. To manage water resources more efficiently, conserve water and optimize their multiple uses, the integration of acquired scientific knowledge and management is essential. Moreover, it is necessary to monitor compliance with environmental legislation.

Keywords: Conservation of soil and water, river basin, sustainability, water governance.

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Authors: Qiuyi Lyu, Bin Gong

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Breadth-First Search (BFS) is a core graph algorithm that is widely used for graph analysis. As it is frequently used in many graph applications, improving the BFS performance is essential. In this paper, we present a graph ordering method that could reorder the graph nodes to achieve better data locality, thus, improving the BFS performance. Our method is based on an observation that the sibling relationships will dominate the cache access pattern during the BFS traversal. Therefore, we propose a frequency-based model to construct the graph order. First, we optimize the graph order according to the nodes’ visit frequency. Nodes with high visit frequency will be processed in priority. Second, we try to maximize the child nodes’ overlap layer by layer. As it is proved to be NP-hard, we propose a heuristic method that could greatly reduce the preprocessing overheads.We conduct extensive experiments on 16 real-world datasets. The result shows that our method could achieve comparable performance with the state-of-the-art methods while the graph ordering overheads are only about 1/15.

Keywords: Breadth-first search, BFS, graph ordering, graph algorithm.

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Authors: Roselyn A. Maaño

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Eyes are an essential and conspicuous organ of the human body. Human eyes are outward and inward portals of the body that allows to see the outside world and provides glimpses into ones inner thoughts and feelings. Inevitable blindness and visual impairments may results from eye-related disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means. The study emphasizes innovative tools that will serve as an aid to the blind and visually impaired (VI) individuals. The researchers fabricated a prototype that utilizes the Microsoft Kinect for Windows and Arduino microcontroller board. The prototype facilitates advanced gesture recognition, voice recognition, obstacle detection and indoor environment navigation. Open Computer Vision (OpenCV) performs image analysis, and gesture tracking to transform Kinect data to the desired output. A computer vision technology device provides greater accessibility for those with vision impairments.

Keywords: Algorithms, Blind, Computer Vision, Embedded Systems, Image Analysis.

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Authors: Sannikumar Patel, Brian Nolan, Markus Hofmann, Philip Owende, Kunjan Patel

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Sentiment analysis and opinion mining have become emerging topics of research in recent years but most of the work is focused on data in the English language. A comprehensive research and analysis are essential which considers multiple languages, machine translation techniques, and different classifiers. This paper presents, a comparative analysis of different approaches for multilingual sentiment analysis. These approaches are divided into two parts: one using classification of text without language translation and second using the translation of testing data to a target language, such as English, before classification. The presented research and results are useful for understanding whether machine translation should be used for multilingual sentiment analysis or building language specific sentiment classification systems is a better approach. The effects of language translation techniques, features, and accuracy of various classifiers for multilingual sentiment analysis is also discussed in this study.

Keywords: Cross-language analysis, machine learning, machine translation, sentiment analysis.

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Authors: Akif Kutlu, Merve Ermis, Nihal Eratlı, Mehmet H. Omurtag

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The objective of this study is to investigate the forced vibration analysis of a planar curved beam lying on elastic foundation by using the mixed finite element method. The finite element formulation is based on the Timoshenko beam theory. In order to solve the problems in frequency domain, the element matrices of two nodded curvilinear elements are transformed into Laplace space. The results are transformed back to the time domain by the well-known numerical Modified Durbin’s transformation algorithm. First, the presented finite element formulation is verified through the forced vibration analysis of a planar curved Timoshenko beam resting on Winkler foundation and the finite element results are compared with the results available in the literature. Then, the forced vibration analysis of a planar curved beam resting on Winkler-Pasternak foundation is conducted.

Keywords: Curved beam, dynamic analysis, elastic foundation, finite element method.

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Authors: Shun-Kai Yang, Kuo-Feng Ssu

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Target tracking and localization are important applications in wireless sensor networks. In these applications, sensor nodes collectively monitor and track the movement of a target. They have limited energy supplied by batteries, so energy efficiency is essential for sensor networks. Most existing target tracking protocols need to wake up sensors periodically to perform tracking. Some unnecessary energy waste is thus introduced. In this paper, an energy efficient protocol for target localization is proposed. In order to preserve energy, the protocol fixes the number of sensors for target tracking, but it retains the quality of target localization in an acceptable level. By selecting a set of sensors for target localization, the other sensors can sleep rather than periodically wake up to track the target. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol saves a significant amount of energy and also prolongs the network lifetime.

Keywords: Coverage, energy efficiency, target localization, wireless sensor network.

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Authors: M. M. Mashhadi, K. Mohajeri, M. D. Nayeri

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Positioning the organization in the strategic environment of its industry is one of the first and most important phases of the organizational strategic planning and in today knowledge-based economy has its importance been duplicated for higher education institutes as the centers of education, knowledge creation and knowledge worker training. Up to now, various models with diverse approaches have been applied to investigate organizations- strategic position in different industries. Regarding the essential importance and strategic role of quality in higher education institutes, in this study, a quality-oriented approach has been suggested to positioning them in their strategic environment. Then the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) model has been adopted to position the top Iranian business schools in their strategic environment. The result of this study can be used in strategic planning of these institutes as well as the other Iranian business schools.

Keywords: Strategic planning, Strategic positioning, Quality, EFQM model, Higher education institutions.

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Authors: Dominik Krimpmann

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Information technology and information systems are currently at a tipping point. The digital age fundamentally transforms a large number of industries in the ways they work. Lines between business and technology blur. Researchers have acknowledged that this is the time in which the IT/IS organisation needs to re-strategize itself. In this paper, the author provides a structured review of the IS and organisation design literature addressing the question of how the digital age changes the design categories of an IT/IS organisation design. The findings show that most papers just analyse single aspects of either IT/IS relevant information or generic organisation design elements but miss a holistic ‘big-picture’ onto an IT/IS organisation design. This paper creates a holistic IT/IS organisation design framework bringing together the IS research strand, the digital strand and the generic organisation design strand. The research identified four IT/IS organisation design categories (strategy, structure, processes and people) and discusses the importance of two additional categories (sourcing and governance). The authors findings point to a first anchor point from which further research needs to be conducted to develop a holistic IT/IS organisation design framework.

Keywords: IT/IS strategy, IT/IS organisation design, digital age, organisational effectiveness, literature review.

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Authors: Gabriela R. Fernandes, Danilo H. Konda, Luiz C. F. Sanches

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In this work, the plate bending formulation of the boundary element method - BEM, based on the Reissner?s hypothesis, is extended to the analysis of plates reinforced by beams taking into account the membrane effects. The formulation is derived by assuming a zoned body where each sub-region defines a beam or a slab and all of them are represented by a chosen reference surface. Equilibrium and compatibility conditions are automatically imposed by the integral equations, which treat this composed structure as a single body. In order to reduce the number of degrees of freedom, the problem values defined on the interfaces are written in terms of their values on the beam axis. Initially are derived separated equations for the bending and stretching problems, but in the final system of equations the two problems are coupled and can not be treated separately. Finally are presented some numerical examples whose analytical results are known to show the accuracy of the proposed model.

Keywords: Boundary elements, Building floor structures, Platebending.

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Authors: Marichela Sepe

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Massive use of places with strong tourist attraction with the consequent possibility of losing place-identity produces harmful effects on cities and their users. In order to mitigate this risk, areas close to such places can be identified so as to widen the visitor-s range of action and offer alternative activities integrated with the main site. The cultural places and appropriate activities can be identified using a method of analysis and design able to trace the identity of the places, their characteristics and potential, and to provide a sustainable improvement. The aim of this work is to propose PlaceMaker as a method of urban analysis and design which both detects elements that do not feature in traditional mapping and which constitute the contemporary identity of the places, and identifies appropriate project interventions. Two final complex maps – the first of analysis and the second of design – respectively represent the identity of places and project interventions. In order to illustrate the method-s potential; the results of the experimentation carried out in the Trevi-Pantheon route in Rome and the appropriate interventions to decongest the area are illustrated.

Keywords: Place-identity, PlaceMaker method, sustainablefruition, tourist attractions.

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Authors: M. Kumpugdee-Vollrath, M. Tabatabaeifar, M. Helmis

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Shellac is a natural polyester resin secreted by insects. Pectins are natural, non-toxic and water-soluble polysaccharides extracted from the peels of citrus fruits or the leftovers of apples. Both polymers are allowed for the use in the pharmaceutical industry and as a food additive. SSB Aquagold® is the aqueous solution of shellac and can be used for a coating process as an enteric or controlled drug release polymer. In this study, tablets containing 10 mg methylene blue as a model drug were prepared with a rotary press. Those tablets were coated with mixtures of shellac and one of the pectin different types (i.e. CU 201, CU 501, CU 701 and CU 020) mostly in a 2:1 ratio or with pure shellac in a small scale fluidized bed apparatus. A stable, simple and reproducible three-stage coating process was successfully developed. The drug contents of the coated tablets were determined using UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The characterization of the surface and the film thickness were performed with the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the light microscopy. Release studies were performed in a dissolution apparatus with a basket. Most of the formulations were enteric coated. The dissolution profiles showed a delayed or sustained release with a lagtime of at least 4 h. Dissolution profiles of coated tablets with pure shellac had a very long lagtime ranging from 13 to 17.9 h and the slopes were quite high. The duration of the lagtime and the slope of the dissolution profiles could be adjusted by adding the proper type of pectin to the shellac formulation and by variation of the coating amount. In order to apply a coating formulation as a colon delivery system, the prepared film should be resistant against gastric fluid for at least 2 h and against intestinal fluid for 4-6 h. The required delay time was gained with most of the shellac-pectin polymer mixtures. The release profiles were fitted with the modified model of the Korsmeyer-Peppas equation and the Hixson-Crowell model. A correlation coefficient (R²)> 0.99 was obtained by Korsmeyer-Peppas equation.

Keywords: Shellac, pectin, coating, fluidized bed, release, colon delivery system, kinetic, SEM, methylene blue.

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Authors: H. Nejadriahi

Abstract:

This paper focuses on the performance of Iwan as one of the significant spaces in the traditional architecture of Iran. The aim of this study is to investigate on the role of Iwan in sustainability enhancement of traditional houses of different climatic regions of Iran. Iwan is considered as a semi-open space, which its form and location in the building highly depends to the climatic situation of that region. For that reason, Iwan is recognized as one of the sustainable elements in the traditional houses of Iran, which can provide more comfort with less use of energy. In this study, the history and emergence of Iwan in the traditional architecture of Iran as well as the concept of sustainability in architecture are explained briefly. Then, the change of performance or form of Iwan is analysed in different climatic regions of Iran in accordance to the sustainability concepts. The methods used in this study are descriptive and analytic. Results of this paper verify that studying the sustainability solutions in the traditional architecture of Iran, would be a valuable source of inspiration for the current designers to create an environmental and sustainable architecture for the future.

Keywords: Climatic regions of Iran, Iwan, sustainability, traditional houses.

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Authors: Marie Mikušová, Viktorie Janečková

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Measurement and the following evaluation of performance represent important part of management. The paper focuses on indicators as the basic elements of performance measurement system. It emphasizes a necessity of searching requirements for quality indicators so that they can become part of the useful system. It introduces standpoints for a systematic dividing of indicators so that they have as high as possible informative value of background sources for searching, analysis, designing and using of indicators. It draws attention to requirements for indicators' quality and at the same it deals with some dangers decreasing indicator's informative value. It submits a draft of questions that should be answered at the construction of indicator. It is obvious that particular indicators need to be defined exactly to stimulate the desired behavior in order to attain expected results. In the enclosure a concrete example of the defined indicator in the concrete conditions of a small firm is given. The authors of the paper pay attention to the fact that a quality indicator makes it possible to get to the basic causes of the problem and include the established facts into the company information system. At the same time they emphasize that developing of a quality indicator is a prerequisite for the utilization of the system of measurement in management.

Keywords: performance, measurement, firm, indicator

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Authors: Robert M. Russo

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This paper analyzes the linkage between migration, economic globalization and terrorism concerns. On a broad level, I analyze Canadian economic and political considerations, searching for causal relationships between political and economic actors on the one hand, and Canadian immigration law on the other. Specifically, the paper argues that there are contradictory impulses affecting state sovereignty. These impulses are are currently being played out in the field of Canadian immigration law through several proposed changes to Canada-s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). These changes reflect an ideological conception of sovereignty that is intrinsically connected with decision-making capacity centered on an individual. This conception of sovereign decision-making views Parliamentary debate and bureaucratic inefficiencies as both equally responsible for delaying essential decisions relating to the protection of state sovereignty, economic benefits and immigration control This paper discusses these concepts in relation to Canadian immigration policy under Canadian governments over the past twenty five years.

Keywords: Globalization, immigration law, security, anti-terrorism.

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Authors: C. Bay, A. Mahr, H. Groneberg, F. Döpper

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Additive Manufacturing processes are becoming increasingly established in the industry for the economic production of complex prototypes and functional components. Laser beam melting (LBM), the most frequently used Additive Manufacturing technology for metal parts, has been gaining in industrial importance for several years. The LBM process chain – from material storage to machine set-up and component post-processing – requires many manual operations. These steps often depend on the manufactured component and are therefore not standardized. These operations are often not performed in a standardized manner, but depend on the experience of the machine operator, e.g., levelling of the build plate and adjusting the first powder layer in the LBM machine. This lack of standardization limits the reproducibility of the component quality. When processing metal powders with inhalable and alveolar particle fractions, the machine operator is at high risk due to the high reactivity and the toxic (e.g., carcinogenic) effect of the various metal powders. Faulty execution of the operation or unintentional omission of safety-relevant steps can impair the health of the machine operator. In this paper, all the steps of the LBM process chain are first analysed in terms of their influence on the two aforementioned challenges: reproducibility and work safety. Standardization to avoid errors increases the reproducibility of component quality as well as the adherence to and correct execution of safety-relevant operations. The corresponding lean method 5S will therefore be applied, in order to develop approaches in the form of recommended actions that standardize the work processes. These approaches will then be evaluated in terms of ease of implementation and their potential for improving reproducibility and work safety. The analysis and evaluation showed that sorting tools and spare parts as well as standardizing the workflow are likely to increase reproducibility. Organizing the operational steps and production environment decreases the hazards of material handling and consequently improves work safety.

Keywords: Additive manufacturing, lean production, reproducibility, work safety.

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Authors: Sirikarn Satimanont, Apanee Luengnaruemitchai, Sujitra Wongkasemjit

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Lignocellulosic materials are new targeted source to produce second generation biofuels like biobutanol. However, this process is significantly resisted by the native structure of biomass. Therefore, pretreatment process is always essential to remove hemicelluloses and lignin prior to the enzymatic hydrolysis. The goals of pretreatment are removing hemicelluloses and lignin, increasing biomass porosity, and increasing the enzyme accessibility. The main goal of this research is to study the important variables such as pretreatment temperature and time, which can give the highest total sugar yield in pretreatment step by using dilute phosphoric acid. After pretreatment, the highest total sugar yield of 13.61 g/L was obtained under an optimal condition at 140°C for 10 min of pretreatment time by using 1.75% (w/w) H3PO4 and at 15:1 liquid to solid ratio. The total sugar yield of two-stage process (pretreatment+enzymatic hydrolysis) of 27.38 g/L was obtained.

Keywords: Butanol production, Corn cobs, Phosphoric acid, Pretreatment

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Authors: Victoriano Valencia García, Luis Usero Aragonés, Eugenio J. Fernández Vicente

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Nowadays, the successful implementation of ICTs is vital for almost any kind of organization. Good governance and ICT management are essential for delivering value, managing technological risks, managing resources and performance measurement. In addition, outsourcing is a strategic IT service solution which complements IT services provided internally in organizations. This paper proposes the measurement tools of a new holistic maturity model based on standards ISO/IEC 20000 and ISO/IEC 38500, and the frameworks and best practices of ITIL and COBIT, with a specific focus on IT outsourcing. These measurement tools allow independent validation and practical application in the field of higher education, using a questionnaire, metrics tables, and continuous improvement plan tables as part of the measurement process. Guidelines and standards are proposed in the model for facilitating adaptation to universities and achieving excellence in the outsourcing of IT services.

Keywords: IT Governance, IT Management, IT Services, Maturity Model, Measurement Tools, Outsourcing.

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Authors: Payal Abichandani, Rishi Prakash, Paras Nath Barwal, B. K. Murthy

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Information generated from various computerization processes is a potential rich source of knowledge for its designated community. To pass this information from generation to generation without modifying the meaning is a challenging activity. To preserve and archive the data for future generations it’s very essential to prove the authenticity of the data. It can be achieved by extracting the metadata from the data which can prove the authenticity and create trust on the archived data. Subsequent challenge is the technology obsolescence. Metadata extraction and standardization can be effectively used to resolve and tackle this problem. Metadata can be categorized at two levels i.e. Technical and Domain level broadly. Technical metadata will provide the information that can be used to understand and interpret the data record, but only this level of metadata isn’t sufficient to create trustworthiness. We have developed a tool which will extract and standardize the technical as well as domain level metadata. This paper is about the different features of the tool and how we have developed this.  

Keywords: Digital Preservation, Metadata, OAIS, PDI, XML.

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Authors: Tina Vuko, Marija Maretić, Marko Čular

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The aim of this study is to analyze the role and effectiveness of internal mechanism (audit committee) of corporate governance on credit institutions performance in Croatia. Based on research objective, sample of 78 credit institutions listed on Zagreb Stock Exchange, from 2007 to 2012, has been collected and efficiency index of audit committee (EIAC) has been created. Based on the sample and created EIAC, conclusions are as follows: audit committees of credit institutions have medium efficiency, based on EIAC measurement; there is a significant difference in audit committee effectiveness, in observed period; there is no positive relationship between audit committee effectiveness and credit institution performance; there is a significant difference between level of audit committee effectiveness and audit firm type. Future research should contain increased number of elements in EIAC creation and increased sample, for all obligators who need to establish audit committee.

Keywords: Corporate Governance, Audit Committee, Financial Institutions, Efficiency Index of Audit Committee.

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Authors: Y. Harold Robinson, M. Rajaram

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Designing cost-efficient, secure network protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is a challenging problem because sensors are resource-limited wireless devices. Security services such as authentication and improved pairwise key establishment are critical to high efficient networks with sensor nodes. For sensor nodes to correspond securely with each other efficiently, usage of cryptographic techniques is necessary. In this paper, two key predistribution schemes that enable a mobile sink to establish a secure data-communication link, on the fly, with any sensor nodes. The intermediate nodes along the path to the sink are able to verify the authenticity and integrity of the incoming packets using a predicted value of the key generated by the sender’s essential power. The proposed schemes are based on the pairwise key with the mobile sink, our analytical results clearly show that our schemes perform better in terms of network resilience to node capture than existing schemes if used in wireless sensor networks with mobile sinks.

Keywords: Wireless Sensor Networks, predistribution scheme, cryptographic techniques.

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Authors: P. K. Gupta

Abstract:

The present paper deals with the experimental and computational study of axial collapse of the aluminum metallic shells having combined tube-frusta geometry between two parallel plates. Shells were having bottom two third lengths as frusta and remaining top one third lengths as tube. Shells were compressed to recognize their modes of collapse and associated energy absorption capability. An axisymmetric Finite Element computational model of collapse process is presented and analysed, using a non-linear FE code FORGE2. Six noded isoparametric triangular elements were used to discretize the deforming shell. The material of the shells was idealized as rigid visco-plastic. To validate the computational model experimental and computed results of the deformed shapes and their corresponding load-compression and energy-compression curves were compared. With the help of the obtained results progress of the axisymmetric mode of collapse has been presented, analysed and discussed.

Keywords: Axial compression, crashworthiness, energy absorption, FORGE2, metallic shells.

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Authors: Yuzana, Khin Marlar Tun

Abstract:

Personal name matching system is the core of essential task in national citizen database, text and web mining, information retrieval, online library system, e-commerce and record linkage system. It has necessitated to the all embracing research in the vicinity of name matching. Traditional name matching methods are suitable for English and other Latin based language. Asian languages which have no word boundary such as Myanmar language still requires sounds alike matching system in Unicode based application. Hence we proposed matching algorithm to get analogous sounds alike (phonetic) pattern that is convenient for Myanmar character spelling. According to the nature of Myanmar character, we consider for word boundary fragmentation, collation of character. Thus we use pattern conversion algorithm which fabricates words in pattern with fragmented and collated. We create the Myanmar sounds alike phonetic group to help in the phonetic matching. The experimental results show that fragmentation accuracy in 99.32% and processing time in 1.72 ms.

Keywords: natural language processing, name matching, phonetic matching

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