Search results for: authentic activity. authentic context

Authors: Purnomo Yustianto, Robin Doss, Suhardi, Novianto Budi Kurniawan

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As a term for characterizing a process of devising a service system, the term ‘service engineering’ is still regarded as an ‘open’ research challenge due to unspecified details and conflicting perspectives. This paper presents consolidated service engineering ontologies in collecting, specifying and defining relationship between components pertinent within the context of service engineering. The ontologies are built by way of literature surveys from the collected conceptual works by collating various concepts into an integrated ontology. Two ontologies are produced: general service ontology and software service ontology. The software-service ontology is drawn from the informatics domain, while the generalized ontology of a service system is built from both a business management and the information system perspective. The produced ontologies are verified by exercising conceptual operationalizations of the ontologies in adopting several service orientation features and service system patterns. The proposed ontologies are demonstrated to be sufficient to serve as a basis for a service engineering framework.

Keywords: Engineering, ontology, service, SoaML.

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Authors: Junghoon Lee, Gyung-Leen Park, Ho-Young Kwak, Cheol Min Kim

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This paper presents the design and implements the prototype of an intelligent data processing framework in ubiquitous sensor networks. Much focus is put on how to handle the sensor data stream as well as the interoperability between the low-level sensor data and application clients. Our framework first addresses systematic middleware which mitigates the interaction between the application layer and low-level sensors, for the sake of analyzing a great volume of sensor data by filtering and integrating to create value-added context information. Then, an agent-based architecture is proposed for real-time data distribution to efficiently forward a specific event to the appropriate application registered in the directory service via the open interface. The prototype implementation demonstrates that our framework can host a sophisticated application on the ubiquitous sensor network and it can autonomously evolve to new middleware, taking advantages of promising technologies such as software agents, XML, cloud computing, and the like.

Keywords: sensor network, intelligent farm, middleware, event detection

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Authors: Marijana Pantić, Saša Milijić

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In Serbia as a continental country, the tourism industry relies on city-break, spa and mountain tourism, where ski resorts have primacy during the winter season. Even though the number of tourists has recently increased, the share of domestic tourists remained predominant. It is also noticed that tourists from Serbia eagerly travel abroad, which was so far researched in the context of summer holidays but not in the framework of ski resorts. Therefore, this paper examines the competitiveness of ski resorts in Serbia from the perspective of domestic tourists. A survey was used as a data collection method, covering various competitiveness dimensions. The aim is to recognize the main motives of consumers when choosing a ski resort in Serbia or abroad. The results showed that the choices of Serbian tourists are predominantly shaped by the cost of an offer – of accommodation above all others. They are attentive by estimating the value for money, which is the most common reason to choose a ski resort abroad over a domestic one. The crowd at ski resorts and ski runs appears to be a result of unbalanced accommodation capacities on the one hand and ski infrastructure on the other, which is currently the most notable competitiveness drawback of ski resorts in Serbia.

Keywords: Mountain tourism, Serbia, ski resorts, tourism competitiveness.

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Authors: Vidyasagar Shilapuram, Nesrin Ozalp, Anam Waheed

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Carboneous catalytical methane decomposition is an attractive process because it produces two valuable products: hydrogen and carbon. Furthermore, this reaction does not emit any green house or hazardous gases. In the present study, experiments were conducted in a thermo gravimetric analyzer using Fluka 05120 as carboneous catalyst to analyze its effectiveness in methane decomposition. Various temperatures and methane partial pressures were chosen and carbon mass gain was observed as a function of time. Results are presented in terms of carbon formation rate, hydrogen production and catalytical activity. It is observed that there is linearity in carbon deposition amount by time at lower reaction temperature (780 °C). On the other hand, it is observed that carbon and hydrogen formation rates are increased with increasing temperature. Finally, we observed that the carbon formation rate is highest at 950 °C within the range of temperatures studied.

Keywords: Catalysis, Fluka 05120, Hydrogen production, Methane decomposition

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Authors: Jamaliah Mohd. Yusof, Rosidah Musa, Sofiah Abd. Rahman

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With previous studies that examined the importance of functional store image and CSR, this study is aimed at examining their effects in the self-congruity model in influencing store loyalty. In particular, this study developed and tested a structural model in the context of retailing industry on the self-congruity theory. Whilst much of the self-congruity studies have incorporated functional store image, there has been lack of studies that examined social responsibility image of retail stores in the self-congruity studies. Findings indicate that self-congruity influence on store loyalty was mediated by both functional store image and social responsibility image. In influencing store loyalty, the findings have shown that social responsibility image has a stronger influence on store loyalty than functional store image. This study offers important findings and implications for future research as it presents a new framework on the importance of social responsibility image.

Keywords: Self-congruity, functional store image, social responsibility image, store loyalty

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Authors: Emil Crişan, Matthias Klumpp

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This paper discusses the theory behind the existence of an idealistic model for business network governance and uses a clarifying case-study, containing governance structures and processes within a business network framework. The case study from a German pharmaceutical industry company complements existing literature by providing a comprehensive explanation of the relations between supply chains and business networks, and also between supply chain management and business network governance. Supply chains and supply chain management are only one side of the interorganizational relationships and ensure short-term performance, while real-world governance structures are needed for ensuring the long-term existence of a supply chain. Within this context, a comprehensive model for business governance is presented. An interesting finding from the case study is that multiple business network governance systems co-exist within the evaluated supply chain.

Keywords: Business network, pharmaceutical industry, supply chain governance, supply chain management.

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Authors: Barau Daniel, Bashayi Obadiah

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A spatial analysis of a large 20th century urban settlement (town/city) easily presents the celebrated central Business District (CBD). Theories of Urban Land Economics have easily justified and attempted to explain the existence of such a district activity area within the cityscape. This work examines the gradual emergence and development of the CBD in Lafia Town, Nigeria over 20 years and the attended urban problems caused by its emergence. Personal knowledge and observation of land use change are the main sources of data for the work, with unstructured interview with residents. The result are that the absence of a co-ordinate land use plan for the town, multi-nuclei nature, and regional location of surrounding towns have affected the growth pattern, hence the CBD. Traffic congestion, dispersed CBD land uses are some of the urban planning problems. The work concludes by advocating for integrating CBD uses.

Keywords: Urban planning, Central Business District (CBD), downtown.

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Authors: M. Mahli, A.I. Che-Ani, M.Z. Abd-Razak. N.M. Tawil, H. Yahaya

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Building condition assessment is a critical activity in Malaysia-s Comprehensive Asset Management Model. It is closely related to building performance that impact user-s life and decision making. This study focuses on public primary school, one of the most valuable assets for the country. The assessment was carried out based on CSP1 Matrix in Kuching Division of Sarawak, Malaysia. Based on the matrix used, three main criteria of the buildings has successfully evaluate: the number of defects; schools rating; and total schools rating. The analysis carried out on 24 schools found that the overall 4, 725 defects has been identified. Meanwhile, the overall score obtained was 45, 868 and the overall rating is 9.71, which is at the fair condition. This result has been associated with building age to evaluate its impacts on school buildings condition. The findings proved that building condition is closely related to building age and its support the theory that 'the ageing building has more defect than the new one'.

Keywords: building condition, CSP1 Matrix, assessment, school, Malaysia

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Authors: M. Balestrieri, C. Pusceddu

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Issues relating to the destructive phenomena that can damage people and goods have returned to the centre of debate in Italy with the increase in catastrophic episodes in recent years in a country which is highly vulnerable to hydrological risk. Environmental factors and geological and geomorphological territorial characteristics play an important role in determining the level of vulnerability and the natural tendency to risk. However, a territory has also been subjected to the requirements of and transformations of society and this brings other relevant factors. The reasons for the increase in destructive phenomena are often to be found in the territorial development models adopted. Stewardship of the landscape and management of risk are related issues. This study aims to summarize the most relevant elements about this connection and at the same time to clarify the role of environmental risk assessment as a tool to aid in the sustainable management of landscape. Finally, the study reflects on how regional and urban planners deal with environmental risk and which aspects should be monitored in order to adopt responsible and useful interventions.

Keywords: Assessment, landscape, risk, planning.

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Authors: D. Reich, R. Stark

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To provide reliable and valid findings when evaluating innovative in-car devices in the automotive context highly realistic driving environments are recommended. Nowadays, in-car devices are mostly evaluated due to driving simulator studies followed by real car driving experiments. Driving simulators are characterized by high internal validity, but weak regarding ecological validity. Real car driving experiments are ecologically valid, but difficult to standardize, more time-robbing and costly. One economizing suggestion is to implement more immersive driving environments when applying driving simulator studies. This paper presents research comparing non-immersive standard PC conditions with mobile and highly immersive Oculus Rift conditions while performing the Lane Change Task (LCT). Subjective data with twenty participants show advantages regarding presence and immersion experience when performing the LCT with the Oculus Rift, but affect adversely cognitive workload and simulator sickness, compared to non-immersive PC condition.

Keywords: LCT, immersion, oculus rift, presence, situation awareness.

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Authors: Bernardo Cedano, Ahmed H. Eltom, Bob Hay, Jim Glass, Raga Ahmed

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The deployment of smart grid devices such as smart meters and smart switches (SS) supported by a reliable and fast communications system makes automated distribution possible, and thus, provides great benefits to electric power consumers and providers alike. However, more research is needed before the full utility of smart switch data is realized. This paper presents new automated switching techniques using SS within the electric power grid. A concise background of the SS is provided, and operational examples are shown. Organization and presentation of data obtained from SS are shown in the context of the future goal of total automation of the distribution network. The description of application techniques, the examples of success with SS, and the vision outlined in this paper serve to motivate future research pertinent to disturbance analysis automation.

Keywords: Disturbance automation, electric power grid, smart grid, smart switch.

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Authors: Govind Shay Sharma, Randhir Singh Baghel

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The stock management of raw materials and finished goods is a significant issue for industries in fulfilling customer demand. Optimization of inventory strategies is crucial to enhancing customer service, reducing lead times and costs, and meeting market demand. This paper suggests finding an approach to predict the optimum stock level by utilizing past stocks and forecasting the required quantities. In this paper, we utilized Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to determine the optimal value. The objective of this paper is to discuss the optimized ANN that can find the best solution for the inventory model. In the context of the paper, we mentioned that the k-means algorithm is employed to create homogeneous groups of items. These groups likely exhibit similar characteristics or attributes that make them suitable for being managed using uniform inventory control policies. The paper proposes a method that uses the neural fit algorithm to control the cost of inventory.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Network, inventory management, optimization, distributor center.

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Authors: Lotfi Beji, Laredj Benchikh

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Underground tunnel face bolting and pipe umbrella reinforcement are one of the most challenging tasks in construction whether industrial or not, and infrastructures such as roads or pipelines. It is one of the first sectors of economic activity in the world. Through a variety of soil and rock, a cyclic Conventional Tunneling Method (CTM) remains the best one for projects with highly variable ground conditions or shapes. CTM is the only alternative for the renovation of existing tunnels and creating emergency exit. During the drilling process, a wide variety of non-desired vibrations may arise, and a method using a robot arm is proposed. The main kinds of drilling through vibration here is the bit-bouncing phenomenon (resonant axial vibration). Hence, assisting the task by a robot arm may play an important role on drilling performances and security. We propose to control the axial-vibration phenomenon along the drillstring at a practical resonant frequency, and embed a Resonant Sonic Drilling Head (RSDH) as a robot end effector for drilling. Many questionable industry drilling criteria and stability are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Drilling, PDE control, robotic arm, resonant vibration.

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Authors: Sabina Akter, Osiris Valdez Banda, Pentti Kujala, Jani Romanoff

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This paper examines the relationship between on-board environmental factors and customer overall satisfaction in the context of the cruise on-board experience. The on-board environmental factors considered are ambient, layout/design, social, product/service and on-board enjoyment factors. The study presents a data-driven framework and model for the on-board cruise experience. The data are collected from 893 respondents in an application of a self-administered online questionnaire of their cruise experience. This study reveals the cruise passengers’ on-board experience through the customer decision journey based on the publicly available data. Pearson correlation and regression analysis have been applied, and the results show a positive and a significant relationship between the environmental factors and on-board experience. These data help understand the cruise passengers’ on-board experience, which will be used for the ultimate decision-making process in cruise ship design.

Keywords: Cruise behavior, on-board environmental factors, on-board experience, user or customer satisfaction.

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Authors: S. Ben Chaabane, M. Sayadi, F. Fnaiech, E. Brassart

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In this paper we propose a new knowledge model using the Dempster-Shafer-s evidence theory for image segmentation and fusion. The proposed method is composed essentially of two steps. First, mass distributions in Dempster-Shafer theory are obtained from the membership degrees of each pixel covering the three image components (R, G and B). Each membership-s degree is determined by applying Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) clustering to the gray levels of the three images. Second, the fusion process consists in defining three discernment frames which are associated with the three images to be fused, and then combining them to form a new frame of discernment. The strategy used to define mass distributions in the combined framework is discussed in detail. The proposed fusion method is illustrated in the context of image segmentation. Experimental investigations and comparative studies with the other previous methods are carried out showing thus the robustness and superiority of the proposed method in terms of image segmentation.

Keywords: Fuzzy C-means, Color image, data fusion, Dempster-Shafer's evidence theory

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Authors: Simone Galati, Adriano Troia

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Ultrasound (US) is widely used in medical field for a variety diagnostic techniques but, in recent years, it has also been creating great interest for therapeutic aims. Regarding drug delivery, the use of US as an activation source provides better spatial delivery confinement and limits the undesired side effects. However, at present there is no complete characterization at a fundamental level of the different signals produced by sono-activated nanocarriers. Therefore, the aim of this study is to obtain a metrological characterization of the cavitation phenomena induced by US through three parallel investigation approaches. US was focused into a channel of a customized phantom in which a solution with oxygen-loaded nanodroplets (OLNDs) was led to flow and the cavitation activity was monitored. Both quantitative and qualitative real-time analysis were performed giving information about the dynamics of bubble formation, oscillation and final implosion with respect to the working acoustic pressure and the type of nanodroplets, compared with pure water. From this analysis a possible interpretation of the observed results is proposed.

Keywords: Cavitation, Drug Delivery, Nanodroplets, Ultrasound.

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Authors: Sawsan Dacrory, Hussein Abou-Yousef, Samir Kamel, Ragab E. Abou-Zeid, Mohamed S. Abdel-Aziz, Mohamed Elbadry

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A considerable amount of lignocellulosic by-product could be obtained from olive pulp during olive oil extraction industry. The major constituents of the olive pulp are husks and seeds. The separation of each portion of olive pulp (seeds and husks) was carried out by water flotation where seeds were sediment in the bottom. Both seeds and husks were dignified by 15% NaOH followed by complete lignin removal by using sodium chlorite in acidic medium. The isolated holocellulose, α-cellulose, hydrogel and CMC which prepared from cellulose of both seeds and husk fractions were characterized by FTIR and SEM. The present study focused on the investigation of the chemical components of the lignocellulosic fraction of olive pulp. Biofunctionlization of hydrogel was achieved through loading of silver nanoparticles AgNPs in to the prepared hydrogel. The antimicrobial activity of the loaded silver hydrogel against G-ve, and G+ve, and candida was demonstrated.

Keywords: Antimicrobial hydrogel, carboxymethyl cellulose, cellulose, grafting, olive pulp.

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Authors: M. Daskolia, C. Kynigos, N. Yiannoutsou

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Teaching and learning about sustainability is a pedagogical endeavour with various innate difficulties and increased demands. Higher education has a dual role to play in addressing this challenge: to identify and explore innovative approaches and tools for addressing the complex and value-laden nature of sustainability in more meaningful ways, and to help teachers to integrate these approaches into their practice through appropriate professional development programs. The study reported here was designed and carried out within the context of a Masters course in Environmental Education. Eight teachers were collaboratively engaged in reconstructing a digital game microworld which was deliberately designed by the researchers to be questioned and evoke critical discussion on the idea of ‘sustainable city’. The study was based on the design-based research method. The findings indicate that the teachers’ involvement in processes of co-constructing the microworld initiated discussion and reflection upon the concepts of sustainability and sustainable lifestyles.

Keywords: sustainability, sustainable lifestyles, constructionism, environmental education, digital games, teacher training

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Authors: Carmen E. Zapata, Juan Bautista, Olga Montoya, Claudia Moreno, Marisol Suarez, Alejandra Betancur, Duvan Nanclares, Natalia A. Cano

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This study aims to evaluate the diversity of microorganisms in filters PM2.5 and PM10; and determine the genotoxic and cytotoxic activity of the complex mixture present in PM2.5 filters used in the Aburrá Valley Air Quality Monitoring Network (Colombia). The research results indicate that particulate matter PM2.5 of different monitoring stations are bacteria; however, this study of detection of bacteria and their phylogenetic relationship is not complete evidence to connect the microorganisms with pathogenic or degrading activities of compounds present in the air. Additionally, it was demonstrated the damage induced by the particulate material in the cell membrane, lysosomal and endosomal membrane and in the mitochondrial metabolism; this damage was independent of the PM2.5 concentrations in almost all the cases.

Keywords: Cytotoxic, genotoxic, microbiological analysis, PM10, PM2.5.

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Authors: R. Damaševičius

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System-level design based on high-level abstractions is becoming increasingly important in hardware and embedded system design. This paper analyzes meta-design techniques oriented at developing meta-programs and meta-models for well-understood domains. Meta-design techniques include meta-programming and meta-modeling. At the programming level of design process, metadesign means developing generic components that are usable in a wider context of application than original domain components. At the modeling level, meta-design means developing design patterns that describe general solutions to the common recurring design problems, and meta-models that describe the relationship between different types of design models and abstractions. The paper describes and evaluates the implementation of meta-design in hardware design domain using object-oriented and meta-programming techniques. The presented ideas are illustrated with a case study.

Keywords: Design patterns, meta-design, meta-modeling, metaprogramming.

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Authors: Nhien-An Le-Khac, Sammer Markos, M-Tahar Kechadi

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Today, money laundering (ML) poses a serious threat not only to financial institutions but also to the nation. This criminal activity is becoming more and more sophisticated and seems to have moved from the cliché of drug trafficking to financing terrorism and surely not forgetting personal gain. Most international financial institutions have been implementing anti-money laundering solutions (AML) to fight investment fraud. However, traditional investigative techniques consume numerous man-hours. Recently, data mining approaches have been developed and are considered as well-suited techniques for detecting ML activities. Within the scope of a collaboration project for the purpose of developing a new solution for the AML Units in an international investment bank, we proposed a data mining-based solution for AML. In this paper, we present a heuristics approach to improve the performance for this solution. We also show some preliminary results associated with this method on analysing transaction datasets.

Keywords: data mining, anti money laundering, clustering, heuristics.

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Authors: Leandro X. Cardoso, Susana O. Souza, Fernanda C. L. Ferreira, Orlando C. Ferreira, Elenilson Barboza, Carlos E. Alhanati

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Measurements of radioactivity in the environment is of great importance to monitor and control the levels of radiation to which man is exposed directly or indirectly. It is necessary to show that regardless of working or being close to nuclear power plants, people are daily in contact with some amount of radiation from the actual environment and food that are ingested, contradicting the view of most of them. The aim of this study was to analyze the rate of natural and artificial radiation from radionuclides present in cement, soil and fertilizers used in Sergipe State – Brazil. The radionuclide activitiesmeasured all samples arebelow the Brazilian limit of the exclusion and exemption criteria from the requirement of radiation protection.It was detected Be-7 in organic fertilizers that means a short interval between the brewing processes for use in agriculture. It was also detected an unexpected Cs-137 in some samples; however its activities does not represent risk for the population. Th-231 was also found in samples of soil and cement in the state of Sergipe that is an unprecedented result.

Keywords: Cs-137, Be-7, Th-231 radiation dose, radio isotopes.

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Authors: Kari Huhtala, Iiro Jussila

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The supervisory board is assumed to use power in the governance of a firm, but the actual use of power has been scantly investigated. The research question of the paper is “How does the supervisory board use power in the selection of the board of directors”. The data stem from 11 large Finnish agricultural cooperatives. The research approach was qualitative including semi-structured interviews of the board of directors and supervisory board chairpersons. The results were analyzed and interpreted against theories of social power. As a result, the use of power is approached from two perspectives: (1) formal position-based authority and (2) informal power. Central elements of power were the mandate of the supervisory board, the role of the supervisory board, the supervisory board chair, the nomination committee, collaboration between the supervisory board and the board of directors, the role of regions and the role of the board of directors. The study contributes to the academic discussion on corporate governance in cooperatives and on the supervisory board in the context of the two-tier model. Additional research of the model in other countries and of other types of cooperatives would further academic understanding of supervisory boards.

Keywords: Board, cooperative, supervisory board, selection, director, power.

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Authors: José A. Menezes, Giordano Cabral, Bruno T. Gomes

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Choosing good features is an essential part of machine learning. Recent techniques aim to automate this process. For instance, feature learning intends to learn the transformation of raw data into a useful representation to machine learning tasks. In automatic audio classification tasks, this is interesting since the audio, usually complex information, needs to be transformed into a computationally convenient input to process. Another technique tries to generate features by searching a feature space. Genetic algorithms, for instance, have being used to generate audio features by combining or modifying them. We find this approach particularly interesting and, despite the undeniable advances of feature learning approaches, we wanted to take a step forward in the use of genetic algorithms to find audio features, combining them with more conventional methods, like PCA, and inserting search control mechanisms, such as constraints over a confusion matrix. This work presents the results obtained on particular audio classification problems.

Keywords: Feature generation, feature learning, genetic algorithm, music information retrieval.

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Authors: Md. Z. Alam, Devi R. Asih, Md. N. Salleh

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Immobilization of lipase enzyme produced from palm oil mill effluent (POME) by the activated carbon (AC) among the low cost support materials was optimized. The results indicated that immobilization of 94% was achieved by AC as the most suitable support material. A sequential optimization strategy based on a statistical experimental design, including one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) method was used to determine the equilibrium time. Three components influencing lipase immobilization were optimized by the response surface methodology (RSM) based on the face-centered central composite design (FCCCD). On the statistical analysis of the results, the optimum enzyme concentration loading, agitation rate and carbon active dosage were found to be 30 U/ml, 300 rpm and 8 g/L respectively, with a maximum immobilization activity of 3732.9 U/g-AC after 2 hrs of immobilization. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a high regression coefficient (R²) of 0.999, which indicated a satisfactory fit of the model with the experimental data. The parameters were statistically significant at p<0.05.

Keywords: Activated carbon, adsorption, immobilization, POME based lipase.

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Authors: Mubarak S. Mohsen, Rosni Abdullah, Yong M. Teo

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Advances in processors architecture, such as multicore, increase the size of complexity of parallel computer systems. With multi-core architecture there are different parallel languages that can be used to run parallel programs. One of these languages is OpenMP which embedded in C/Cµ or FORTRAN. Because of this new architecture and the complexity, it is very important to evaluate the performance of OpenMP constructs, kernels, and application program on multi-core systems. Performance is the activity of collecting the information about the execution characteristics of a program. Performance tools consists of at least three interfacing software layers, including instrumentation, measurement, and analysis. The instrumentation layer defines the measured performance events. The measurement layer determines what performance event is actually captured and how it is measured by the tool. The analysis layer processes the performance data and summarizes it into a form that can be displayed in performance tools. In this paper, a number of OpenMP performance tools are surveyed, explaining how each is used to collect, analyse, and display data collection.

Keywords: Parallel performance tools, OpenMP, multi-core.

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Authors: Bita Mashayekhi, Azadeh Maddahi, Arash Tahriri

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The purpose of this paper is developing a model for audit quality, with regard to the contextual and environmental attributes of the audit profession in Iran. For this purpose, using an exploratory approach, and because of the special attributes of the auditing profession in Iran in terms of the legal environment, regulatory and supervisory mechanisms, audit firms size, and etc., we used grounded theory approach as a qualitative research method. Therefore, we got the opinions of the experts in the auditing and capital market areas through unstructured interviews. As a result, the authors revealed the determinants of audit quality, and by using these determinants, developed an Integrated Audit Quality Model, including causal conditions, intervening conditions, context, as well as action strategies related to AQ and their consequences. In this research, audit quality is studied using a systemic approach. According to this approach, the quality of inputs, processes, and outputs of auditing determines the quality of auditing, therefore, the quality of all different parts of this system is considered.

Keywords: Audit quality, integrated audit quality model, audit supply, demand for audit service, grounded theory.

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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: Jian Huang, Weixin Qian, Hongfang Ma, Haitao Zhang, Weiyong Ying

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Cobalt catalysts were supported on extruded silica carrier and different-type (SiO₂, γ-Al₂O₃) commercial supports with different shapes and sizes to produce heavy hydrocarbons for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The catalysts were characterized by N₂ physisorption and H₂-TPR. The catalytic performance of the catalysts was tested in a fixed bed reactor. The results of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis performance showed that the cobalt catalyst supported on spherical silica supports displayed a higher activity and a higher selectivity to C₅⁺ products, due to the fact that the active components were only distributed in the surface layer of spherical carrier, and the influence of gas diffusion restriction on catalytic performance was weakened. Therefore, it can be concluded that the eggshell cobalt catalyst was superior to precious metals modified catalysts in the synthesis of heavy hydrocarbons.

Keywords: Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, cobalt catalyst, support shape, heavy hydrocarbons.

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Authors: Zenaide Carvalho da Silva, Andrey Ricardo Pimentel, Leandro Rodrigues Ferreira

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Learning styles (LSs) correspond to the individual preferences of a person regarding the modes and forms in which he/she prefers to learn throughout the teaching/learning process. The content presentation of learning objects (LOs) using knowledge about the students’ LSs offers them digital educational resources tailored to their individual learning preferences. In this context, the most relevant characteristics of the LSs along with the most appropriate forms of LOs' content presentation were mapped and associated. Such was performed in order to define the composition of an adaptive model of LO's content presentation considering the LSs, which was called Adaptation of Content Presentation of Learning Objects Considering Learning Styles (ACPLOLS). LO prototypes were created with interfaces that were adapted to students' LSs. These prototypes were based on a model created for validation of the approaches that were used, which were established through experiments with the students. The results of subjective measures of students' emotional responses demonstrated that the ACPLOLS has reached the desired results in relation to the adequacy of the LOs interface, in accordance with the Felder-Silverman LSs Model.

Keywords: Adaptation, interface, learning styles, learning objects, students.

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