Search results for: cultural studies

Authors: Omnia Elkommos

Abstract:

Language is communication on several discourse levels. The target of teaching a language and the literature of a foreign language is to communicate a message. Reading, appreciating, analysing, and interpreting poetry as a sophisticated rhetorical expression of human thoughts, emotions, and philosophical messages is more feasible through the use of linguistic pragmatic tools from a communicative discourse perspective. The poet's intention, speech act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary goal can be better understood when communicative situational context as well as linguistic discourse structure theories are employed. The use of linguistic theories in the teaching of poetry is, therefore, intrinsic to students' comprehension, interpretation, and appreciation of poetry of the different ages. It is the purpose of this study to show how both teachers as well as students can apply these linguistic theories and tools to dramatic poetic texts for an engaging, enlightening, and effective interpretation and appreciation of the language. Theories drawn from areas of pragmatics, discourse analysis, embedded discourse level, communicative situational context, and other linguistic approaches were applied to selected poetry texts from the different centuries. Further, in a simple statistical count of the number of poems with dialogic dramatic discourse with embedded two or three levels of discourse in different anthologies outweighs the number of descriptive poems with a one level of discourse, between the poet and the reader. Poetry is thus discourse on one, two, or three levels. It is, therefore, recommended that teachers and students in the area of ESL/EFL use the linguistics theories for a better understanding of poetry as communicative discourse. The practice of applying these linguistic theories in classrooms and in research will allow them to perceive the language and its linguistic, social, and cultural aspect. Texts will become live illocutionary acts with a perlocutionary acts goal rather than mere literary texts in anthologies.

Keywords: Coda, commissives, communicative situation, context of culture, context of reference, context of utterance, dialogue, directives, discourse analysis, dramatic discourse interaction, duologue, embedded discourse levels, language for communication, linguistic structures, literary texts, poetry, pragmatic theories, reader response, speech acts (macro/micro), stylistics, teaching literature, TEFL, terms of address, turn-taking.

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Authors: Bahi-Eddine Lahouel, Mohamed Guenfoud

Abstract:

In this study, a vibration analysis was carried out of symmetric angle-ply laminated composite plates with and without square hole when subjected to compressive loads, numerically. A buckling analysis is also performed to determine the buckling load of laminated plates. For each fibre orientation, the compression load is taken equal to 50% of the corresponding buckling load. In the analysis, finite element method (FEM) was applied to perform parametric studies, the effects of degree of orthotropy and stacking sequence upon the fundamental frequencies and buckling loads are discussed. The results show that the presence of a constant compressive load tends to reduce uniformly the natural frequencies for materials which have a low degree of orthotropy. However, this reduction becomes non-uniform for materials with a higher degree of orthotropy.

Keywords: Vibration, Buckling, Cutout, Laminated composite, FEM

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Authors: M. H. Pol, A. Bidi, A.V. Hoseini, G.H. Liaghat

Abstract:

In this note, a theoretical model for analyzing of normal penetration of the ogive – nose projectile into metallic targets is presented .The failure is assumed to be asymmetry petalling and the analysis is performed by using the energy balance and work done .The work done consist of the work required for plastic deformation Wp, the work for transferring the matter to new position Wd and the work for bending of the petals Wb. In several studies, it has been shown that we can neglect the loss of energy by temperature. In this present study, in first, by assuming the crater formation after perforation, the value of work done is calculated during the normal penetration of conical projectiles into thin metallic targets. Then the value of residual velocity and ballistic limit of the projectile is predicated by using the energy balance. In final, theoretical and experimental results is compared.

Keywords: Ogive Projectile, normal impact, penetration, thinmetallic target.

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Authors: Naveed Ahmed, Gunar Matthies

Abstract:

We deal with the numerical solution of time-dependent convection-diffusion-reaction equations. We combine the local projection stabilization method for the space discretization with two different time discretization schemes: the continuous Galerkin-Petrov (cGP) method and the discontinuous Galerkin (dG) method of polynomial of degree k. We establish the optimal error estimates and present numerical results which shows that the cGP(k) and dG(k)- methods are accurate of order k +1, respectively, in the whole time interval. Moreover, the cGP(k)-method is superconvergent of order 2k and dG(k)-method is of order 2k +1 at the discrete time points. Furthermore, the dependence of the results on the choice of the stabilization parameter are discussed and compared.

Keywords: Convection-diffusion-reaction equations, stabilized finite elements, discontinuous Galerkin, continuous Galerkin-Petrov.

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Authors: Chiara Mansanta, Daniela Sani

Abstract:

This paper studies the concept of intrapreneurship discovery for innovation and technology development related to the manufacturing industries set up in the center of Italy, in Marche Region. The study underlined the key drivers of the innovation process and the main factors that influence innovation. Starting from a literature study on open innovation, this paper examines the role of human capital to support company’s development. The empirical part of the study is based on a survey to 151 manufacturing companies that represent the 34% of that universe at the regional level. The survey underlined the main KPI’s that influence companies in their decision processes; then tools for these decision processes are presented.

Keywords: Business model, decision making, intrapreneurship discovery, open innovation, standard methodology.

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Authors: Mamta Kumari, Shashi Jain

Abstract:

Tannins are a unique category of plant phytochemicals especially in terms of their vast potential health-benefiting properties. Researchers have described the capacity of tannins to enhance glucose uptake and inhibit adipogenesis, thus being potential drugs for the treatment of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Thus, the present research was conducted to find out tannin content of food products. The percentage of tannin in various analyzed sources ranged from 0.0 to 108.53%; highest in kathaa and lowest in ker and mango bark. The percentage of tannins present in the plants, however, varies. Numerous studies have confirmed that the naturally occurring polyphenols are key factor for the beneficial effects of the herbal medicines. Isolation and identification of active constituents from plants, preparation of standardized dose & dosage regimen can play a significant role in improving the hypoglycaemic action.

Keywords: Tannins, Diabetes, Polyphenols, Antioxidants, Hypoglycemia.

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Authors: Isabella Bianco, Gian Andrea Blengini

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The environmental impact related to ornamental stones (such as marbles and granites) is largely debated. Starting from the industrial revolution, continuous improvements of machineries led to a higher exploitation of this natural resource and to a more international interaction between markets. As a consequence, the environmental impact of the extraction and processing of stones has increased. Nevertheless, if compared with other building materials, ornamental stones are generally more durable, natural, and recyclable. From the scientific point of view, studies on stone life cycle sustainability have been carried out, but these are often partial or not very significant because of the high percentage of approximations and assumptions in calculations. This is due to the lack, in life cycle databases (e.g. Ecoinvent, Thinkstep, and ELCD), of datasets about the specific technologies employed in the stone production chain. For example, databases do not contain information about diamond wires, chains or explosives, materials commonly used in quarries and transformation plants. The project presented in this paper aims to populate the life cycle databases with specific data of specific stone processes. To this goal, the methodology follows the standardized approach of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), according to the requirements of UNI 14040-14044 and to the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Handbook guidelines of the European Commission. The study analyses the processes of the entire production chain (from-cradle-to-gate system boundaries), including the extraction of benches, the cutting of blocks into slabs/tiles and the surface finishing. Primary data have been collected in Italian quarries and transformation plants which use technologies representative of the current state-of-the-art. Since the technologies vary according to the hardness of the stone, the case studies comprehend both soft stones (marbles) and hard stones (gneiss). In particular, data about energy, materials and emissions were collected in marble basins of Carrara and in Beola and Serizzo basins located in the province of Verbano Cusio Ossola. Data were then elaborated through an appropriate software to build a life cycle model. The model was realized setting free parameters that allow an easy adaptation to specific productions. Through this model, the study aims to boost the direct participation of stone companies and encourage the use of LCA tool to assess and improve the stone sector environmental sustainability. At the same time, the realization of accurate Life Cycle Inventory data aims at making available, to researchers and stone experts, ILCD compliant datasets of the most significant processes and technologies related to the ornamental stone sector.

Keywords: LCA datasets, life cycle assessment, ornamental stone, stone environmental impact.

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Authors: Sinchul Back, Sun Ho Kim, Jennifer LaPrade, Ilju Seong

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Due to the advantage of using the Internet, cybercriminals can reach target(s) without border controls. Prior research on criminology and crime science has largely been void of empirical studies on journey-to-cybercrime and crime opportunity. Thus, the purpose of this study is to understand more about cyber offender spatial decision making associated with crime opportunity factors (i.e., co-offending, offender-stranger). Data utilized in this study were derived from 306 U.S. Federal court cases of cybercrime. The findings of this study indicated that there was a positive relationship between co-offending and journey-to-cybercrime, whereas there was no link between offender-stranger and journey-to-cybercrime. Also, the results showed that there was no relationship between cybercriminal sex, age, and journey-to-cybercrime. The policy implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

Keywords: Co-offending, crime opportunity, journey-to-cybercrime, offender-stranger.

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Authors: David W.S. Tai, Ren-Cheng Zhang, Sheng-Hung Chang, Chin-Pin Chen, Jia-Ling Chen

Abstract:

This study reports results of a meta-analytic path analysis e-learning Acceptance Model with k = 27 studies, Databases searched included Information Sciences Institute (ISI) website. Variables recorded included perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward behavior, and behavioral intention to use e-learning. A correlation matrix of these variables was derived from meta-analytic data and then analyzed by using structural path analysis to test the fitness of the e-learning acceptance model to the observed aggregated data. Results showed the revised hypothesized model to be a reasonable, good fit to aggregated data. Furthermore, discussions and implications are given in this article.

Keywords: E-learning, Meta Analytic Path Analysis, Technology Acceptance Model

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Authors: Shyh-Ming Chern, H. Y. Cheng

Abstract:

Biomass is renewable and sustainable. As an energy source, it will not release extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Hence, tremendous efforts have been made to develop technologies capable of transforming biomass into suitable forms of bio-fuel. One of the viable technologies is gasifying biomass in supercritical water (SCW), a green medium for reactions. While previous studies overwhelmingly selected glucose as a model compound for biomass, the present study adopted fructose for the sake of comparison. The gasification of fructose in SCW was investigated experimentally to evaluate the applicability of supercritical water processes to biomass gasification. Experiments were conducted with an autoclave reactor. Gaseous product mainly consists of H₂, CO, CO₂, CH₄ and C₂H₆. The effect of two major operating parameters, the reaction temperature (673-873 K) and the dosage of oxidizing agent (0-0.5 stoichiometric oxygen), on the product gas composition, yield and heating value was also examined, with the reaction pressure fixed at 25 MPa.

Keywords: Biomass, Fructose, Gasification, Supercritical water.

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Authors: Wondwosen Teshome B.

Abstract:

In a representative democracy political parties promote vital competition on different policy issues and play essential roles by offering ideological alternatives. They also give channels for citizens- participation in government decision-making processes and they are significant conduits and interpreters of information about government. This paper attempts to examine how opposition political parties and rebel fronts emerged in Ethiopia, and examines their present conditions. In this paper, selected case studies of political parties and rebel fronts are included to highlight the status and the role of opposition groups in the country in the three successive administrations: Haile Selassie (1930-1974), Derg (1974- 1991), and EPRDF (1991-Present).

Keywords: Ethiopia, Hybrid regime, Incumbent, Multi-Partyelection, Opposition Party, Political Party, Rebel fronts.

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Authors: G. Korotcenkov, V. Brinzari, B. K. Cho

Abstract:

The thermoelectric properties of nano-scaled In₂O₃:Sn films deposited by spray pyrolysis are considered in the present report. It is shown that multicomponent In₂O₃:Sn-based films are promising material for the application in thermoelectric devices. It is established that the increase in the efficiency of thermoelectric conversion at C_Sn~5% occurred due to nano-scaled structure of the films studied and the effect of the grain boundary filtering of the low energy electrons. There are also analyzed the limitations that may appear during such material using in devices developed for the market of thermoelectric generators and refrigerators. Studies showed that the stability of nano-scaled film’s parameters is the main problem which can limit the application of these materials in high temperature thermoelectric converters.

Keywords: Energy conversion technologies, thermoelectricity, In2O3-based films, power factor, nanocomposites, stability.

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Authors: M. Frydrysiak, J. Zięba, L. Tęsiorowski, M. Tokarska

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In the paper the research of flat textile products for use as electrodes was presented. Material-s resistance measurements were carried out to determine the suitability of the textiles. Based on the received results of studies different types of textile electrodes were designed. Textile electrodes tests were carried out on human phantoms. The electro-conductive properties of human forearm phantom were also described. Based on this results special electroconductive hydrogels with electro-conductive particles were feasible. The hydrogel is an important element of the forearm-s phantom model of a survey of electrodes for muscle electrostimulation. The hydrogel is an equivalent human skin and tissue. The hydrogel should have a permanence and recurrence of the electro-conductive properties.

Keywords: Electro-conductive textiles, electrostimulation, forearm phantom, resistance measurement, textile electrodes.

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Authors: Yun Jong Choi, Nam Woong, PooGyeon Park

Abstract:

Variable Structure Control (VSC) is one of the most useful tools handling the practical system with uncertainties and disturbances. Up to now, unfortunately, not enough studies on the input-saturated system with linear-growth-bound disturbances via VSC have been presented. Therefore, this paper proposes an asymp¬totic stability condition for the system via VSC. The designed VSC controller consists of two control parts. The linear control part plays a role in stabilizing the system, and simultaneously, the nonlinear control part in rejecting the linear-growth-bound disturbances perfectly. All conditions derived in this paper are expressed with Linear Matrices Inequalities (LMIs), which can be easily solved with an LMI toolbox in MATLAB.

Keywords: Input saturation, linear-growth bounded disturbances, linear matrix inequality (LMI), variable structure control

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Authors: Parvaneh Shabanzadeh, Malik Hj Abu Hassan, Leong Wah June, Maryam Mohagheghtabar

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Clustering is one of an interesting data mining topics that can be applied in many fields. Recently, the problem of cluster analysis is formulated as a problem of nonsmooth, nonconvex optimization, and an algorithm for solving the cluster analysis problem based on nonsmooth optimization techniques is developed. This optimization problem has a number of characteristics that make it challenging: it has many local minimum, the optimization variables can be either continuous or categorical, and there are no exact analytical derivatives. In this study we show how to apply a particular class of optimization methods known as pattern search methods to address these challenges. These methods do not explicitly use derivatives, an important feature that has not been addressed in previous studies. Results of numerical experiments are presented which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Keywords: Clustering functions, Non-smooth Optimization, Nonconvex Optimization, Pattern Search Method.

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Authors: E. Happ, A. Albert Tóth

Abstract:

The aim of the research is to investigate the forms of the demands of leisure tourism in a West-Hungarian industrial city, Győr. Today, Győr is still a traditional industrial city, its industry is mainly based on vehicle industry, but the role of tourism is increasing in the life of the city as well. Because of the industrial nature and the strong economy of the city, the ratio of business tourists is high. It can be stated that MICE tourism is dominating in Győr. Developments of the last decade can help the city with new tourism products to increase the leisure tourism. The new types of tourism – besides business tourism – can help the providers to increase the occupancy rates and the demand at the weekends. The research demonstrates the theoretical background of the topic, and it shows the present situation of the tourism in Győr with secondary data. The secondary research contains statistical data from the Hungarian Statistical Office and the city council, and it is based on the providers’ data. The next part of the paper shows the potential types of leisure tourism with the help of primary research. The primary research contains the results of an online questionnaire with a sample of 1000 potential customers. It is completed with 10 in-depth interviews with tourism experts, who explained their opinions about the opportunities of leisure tourism in Győr from the providers’ side. The online questionnaire was filled out in spring 2017 by customers, who have already stayed in Győr or plan to visit the city. At the same time in-depth interviews were made with hotel managers, head of touristic institutions and employees at the council. Based on the research it can be stated that the touristic supply of Győr allows the increase of the leisure tourism ratio in the city. Primarily, the cultural and health tourism show potential development, but the supply side of touristic services can be developed in order to increase the number of guest nights. The tourism marketing needs to be strengthened in the city, and a distinctive marketing activity - from other cities - is needed as well. To conclude, although Győr is an industrial city, it has a transforming industrial part, and tourism is also strongly present in its economy. Besides the leading role of business tourism, different types of leisure tourism have the opportunity to take place in the city.

Keywords: Business Tourism, Győr, industrial city, leisure tourism, touristic demand.

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Authors: Jesus Orbe, Vicente Nunez-Anton

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In this work we study the effect of several covariates X on a censored response variable T with unknown probability distribution. In this context, most of the studies in the literature can be located in two possible general classes of regression models: models that study the effect the covariates have on the hazard function; and models that study the effect the covariates have on the censored response variable. Proposals in this paper are in the second class of models and, more specifically, on least squares based model approach. Thus, using the bootstrap estimate of the bias, we try to improve the estimation of the regression parameters by reducing their bias, for small sample sizes. Simulation results presented in the paper show that, for reasonable sample sizes and censoring levels, the bias is always smaller for the new proposals.

Keywords: Censored response variable, regression, bias.

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Authors: Hisham Mortada

Abstract:

Transition in the urban configuration of Arab cities has never been as radical and visible as it has been since the turn of the last century. The emergence of new cities near historical settlements of Arabia has spawned a series of developments in and around the old city precincts. New developments are based on advanced technology and conform to globally prevalent standards of city planning, superseding the vernacular arrangements based on traditional norms that guided so-called ‘city planning’. Evidence to this fact are the extant Arab buildings present at the urban core of modern cities, which inform us about intricate spatial organization. Organization that subscribed to multiple norms such as, satisfying gender segregation and socialization, economic sustainability, and ensuring security and environmental coherence etc., within settlement compounds. Several participating factors achieved harmony in such an inclusive city—an organization that was challenged and apparently replaced by the new planning order in the face of growing needs of globalized, economy-centric and high-tech models of development. Communities found it difficult to acclimatize with the new western planning models that were implemented at a very large scale throughout the Kingdom, which later experienced spatial re-structuring to suit users’ needs. A closer look the ancient city of Yanbu, now flanked with such new developments, allows us to differentiate and track the beginnings of this unprecedented transition in settlement formations. This paper aims to elaborate the Arabian context offered to both the ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ planning approaches, in order to understand challenges and solutions offered by both at different times. In the process it will also establish the inconsistencies and conflicts that arose with the shift in planning paradigm, from traditional-'cultural norms’, to modern-'physical planning', in the Arabian context. Thus, by distinguishing the two divergent planning philosophies, their impact of the Arabian morphology, relevance to lifestyle and suitability to the biophysical environment, it concludes with a perspective on sustainability particularly for in case of Yanbu.

Keywords: Yanbu, traditional architecture, Hijaz, coral building, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors: K. Abuzayan, H. Alabed, J. Ezarrugh, M. Agila

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Static and dynamic balance are essential in daily and sports life. Many factors have been identified as influencing static balance control. Therefore, the aim of this study was to apply the (XCoM) method and other relevant variables (CoP, CoM, F_h, KE, P, Q, and, AI) to investigate sport related activities such as hopping and jumping. Many studies have represented the CoP data without mentioning its accuracy so several experiments were done to establish the agreement between the CoP and the projected CoM in a static condition. 5 healthy male were participated in this study (Mean ± SD:- age 24.6 years ±4.5, height 177cm ± 6.3, body mass 72.8kg ± 6.6).Results found that the implementation of the XCoM method was found to be practical for evaluating both static and dynamic balance. The general findings were that the CoP, the CoM, the XCoM, F_h, and Q were more informative than the other variables (e.g. KE, P, and AI) during static and dynamic balance. The XCoM method was found to be applicable to dynamic balance as well as static balance.

Keywords: Centre of Mass, static balance, Dynamic balance, extrapolated Centre of Mass

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Authors: Elena B. Cherepetskaya, Vladimir A. Makarov, Dmitry V. Morozov, Ivan E. Sas

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Laboratory studies of the stress-strain behavior of rocks specimens were conducted by using acoustic emission and laser-ultrasonic diagnostics. The sensitivity of the techniques allowed changes in the internal structure of the specimens under uniaxial compressive load to be examined at micro- and macro scales. It was shown that microcracks appear in geologic materials when the stress level reaches about 50% of breaking strength. Also, the characteristic stress of the main crack formation was registered in the process of single-stage compression of rocks. On the base of laser-ultrasonic echoscopy, 2D visualization of the internal structure of rocky soil specimens was realized, and the microcracks arising during uniaxial compression were registered.

Keywords: Acoustic emission, geomaterial, laser ultrasound, uniaxial compression.

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Authors: Phu-Cuong Nguyen, Seung-Eock Kim

Abstract:

This paper presents nonlinear elastic dynamic analysis of 3-D semi-rigid steel frames including geometric and connection nonlinearities. The geometric nonlinearity is considered by using stability functions and updating geometric stiffness matrix. The nonlinear behavior of the steel beam-to-column connection is considered by using a zero-length independent connection element comprising of six translational and rotational springs. The nonlinear dynamic equilibrium equations are solved by the Newmark numerical integration method. The nonlinear time-history analysis results are compared with those of previous studies and commercial SAP2000 software to verify the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed procedure.

Keywords: Geometric nonlinearity, nonlinear time-historyanalysis, semi-rigid connection, stability functions.

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Authors: Woo-Young Jung, Minho Kwon

Abstract:

Seismic design criteria based on performance of structures have recently been adopted by practicing engineers in response to destructive earthquakes. A simple but efficient structural-analysis tool capable of predicting both the strength and ductility is needed to analyze reinforced concrete (RC) structures under such event. A three-dimensional lattice model is developed in this study to analyze torsions in high-strength RC members. Optimization techniques for determining optimal variables in each lattice model are introduced. Pure torsion tests of RC members are performed to validate the proposed model. Correlation studies between the numerical and experimental results confirm that the proposed model is well capable of representing salient features of the experimental results.

Keywords: Torsion, non-linear analysis, three-dimensional lattice, high-strength concrete.

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Authors: Hend S.H. Hassan, Essam M. Shehab, Joe Peppard

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E-government projects have potential for greater efficiency and effectiveness of government operations. For this reason, many developing countries governments have invested heavily in this agenda and an increasing number of e-government projects are being implemented. However, there is a lack of clear case material, which describes the potentialities and consequence experienced by organizations trying to manage with this change. The Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MSAD) is the organization responsible for the e-Government program in Egypt since early 2004. This paper presents a case study of the process of admission to public universities and institutions in Egypt which is led by MSAD. Underlining the key benefits resulting from the initiative, explaining the strategies and the development steps used to implement it, and highlighting the main obstacles encountered and how they were overcome will help repeat the experience in other useful e-government projects.

Keywords: Case studies, Egypt, Electronic government, Electronic services, University enrolment.

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Authors: Hsin-Yun Lee, Hao-Hsi Tseng

Abstract:

Previous studies mass evacuation route network does not fully reflect the step-by-step behavior and evacuees make routing decisions. Therefore, they do not work as expected when applied to the evacuation route planning is valid. This article describes where evacuees may have to make a direction to select all areas were identified as guiding points to improve evacuation routes network. This improved route network can be used as a basis for the layout can be used to guide the signs indicate that provides the required evacuation direction. This article also describes that combines simulation and artificial bee colony algorithm to provide the proposed routing solutions, to plan an integrated routing mode. The improved network and the model used is the cinema as a case study to assess the floor. The effectiveness of guidance solution in the total evacuation time is significant by verification.

Keywords: Artificial bee colony, Evacuation, Simulation.

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Authors: Olga A. Berillo, Assel S. Issabekova, Anatoly T. Ivashchenko

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MiRNAs participate in gene regulation of translation. Some studies have investigated the interactions between genes and intragenic miRNAs. It is important to study the miRNA binding sites of genes involved in carcinogenesis. RNAHybrid 2.1 and ERNAhybrid programmes were used to compute the hybridization free energy of miRNA binding sites. Of these 54 mRNAs, 22.6%, 37.7%, and 39.7% of miRNA binding sites were present in the 5'UTRs, CDSs, and 3'UTRs, respectively. The density of the binding sites for miRNAs in the 5'UTR ranged from 1.6 to 43.2 times and from 1.8 to 8.0 times greater than in the CDS and 3'UTR, respectively. Three types of miRNA interactions with mRNAs have been revealed: 5'- dominant canonical, 3'-compensatory, and complementary binding sites. MiRNAs regulate gene expression, and information on the interactions between miRNAs and mRNAs could be useful in molecular medicine. We recommend that newly described sites undergo validation by experimental investigation.

Keywords: Exon, intron, miRNA, oncogene.

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Authors: Josefina Barnachea Janier, Radzuan B. Razali, Afza Shafie, Brahim Belhaouari Samir

Abstract:

In the Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) method, use of Carbon dioxide flooding whereby CO₂ is injected into an oil reservoir to increase output when extracting oil resulted significant recovery worldwide. The carbon dioxide function as a pressurizing agent when mixed into the underground crude oil will reduce its viscosity and will enable a rapid oil flow. Despite the CO₂’s advantage in the oil recovery, it may result to asphaltene precipitation a problem that will cause the reduction of oil produced from oil wells. In severe cases, asphaltene precipitation can cause costly blockages in oil pipes and machinery. This paper presents reviews of several studies done on mathematical modeling of asphaltene precipitation. The synthesized result from several researches done on this topic can be used as guide in order to better understand asphaltene precipitation. Likewise, this can be used as initial reference for students, and new researchers doing study on asphaltene precipitation.

Keywords: Asphaltene precipitation, crude oil, carbon dioxide flooding, enhanced oil recovery.

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Authors: K. Fraňa, S. Simon

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The objective of the paper is a numerical study of heat transfer between perforated metal plates and the surrounding air flows. Different perforation structures can nowadays be found in various industrial products. Besides improving the mechanical properties, the perforations can intensify the heat transfer as well. The heat transfer coefficient depends on a wide range of parameters such as type of perforation, size, shape, flow properties of the surrounding air etc. The paper was focused on three different perforation structures which have been investigated from the point of the view of the production in the previous studies. To determine the heat coefficients and the Nusselt numbers, the numerical simulation approach was adopted. The calculations were performed using the OpenFOAM software. The three-dimensional, unstable, turbulent and incompressible air flow around the perforated surface metal plate was considered.

Keywords: Perforations, convective heat transfers, turbulent flows, numerical simulations.

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Authors: Javier Navallas, Armando Malanda, Luis Gila, Javier Rodriguez, Ignacio Rodriguez

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According to previous studies, some muscles present a non-homogeneous spatial distribution of its muscle fiber types and motor unit types. However, available muscle models only deal with muscles with homogeneous distributions. In this paper, a new architecture muscle model is proposed to permit the construction of non-uniform distributions of muscle fibers within the muscle cross section. The idea behind is the use of a motor unit placement algorithm that controls the spatial overlapping of the motor unit territories of each motor unit type. Results show the capabilities of the new algorithm to reproduce arbitrary muscle fiber type distributions.

Keywords: muscle model, muscle architecture, motor unit, EMG simulation.

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Authors: Kayoko Yamamoto

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The purpose of this study is to review representative cases of green space development in order to compare the Garden City concept and Green Belt concept as applied and to examine its direction in major Asian and Oceanic cities. The results of previous studies and this study show that there are two major directions in such green-oriented city planning. One direction is toward Multi-Regional Development, and the other focuses on an Environmentally Symbiotic City based on the Garden City concept. In large cities and the suburbs where extremely strong pressure to urbanize makes it impossible to keep Green Belts, it is essential to strictly control land use and adopt the Garden City concept to conserve the urban environment.

Keywords: Garden City, Green Belt, Green City, Green SpaceDevelopment, Major Asian and Oceanic Cities

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Authors: G. Hernandez-Maskivker, G. Ryan, M. Blazey, M. Pàmies

Abstract:

Waiting times and queues are a daily problem for theme parks. Fast lines or priority queues appear as a solution for a specific segment of customers, that is, tourists who are willing to pay to avoid waiting. This paper analyzes the fast line system and explores the factors that affect the decision to purchase a fast line pass. A greater understanding of these factors may help companies to design appropriate products and services. This conceptual paper was based on a literature review in marketing and consumer behavior. Additional research was identified in related disciplines such as leisure studies, psychology, and sociology. A conceptual framework of the factors influencing the decision to purchase a fast line pass is presented.

Keywords: Tourist behavior, fast lines, theme park, willing to pay.

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