Search results for: Agent Development Framework

Authors: M. J. Xavier, J. Raja, S. Usha Nandhini

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For scores of years now, several microfinance organizations, non governmental organizations and other welfare organizations have, with a view to aiding the progress of communities rooted in poverty have been focusing on creating microentrepreneurs, besides taking several other measures. In recent times, business corporations have joined forces to combat poverty by taking up microenterprise development. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), the Indian subsidiary of Unilever Limited exemplifies this through its Project Shakti. The company through the Project creates rural women entrepreneurs by making them direct to home sales distributors of its products in villages that have thus far been ignored by multinational corporations. The members participating in Project Shakti are largely self help group members. The paper focuses on assessing the impact made by the company on the members engaged in Project Shakti. The analysis involves use of quantitative methods to study the effect of Project Shakti on those self help group members engaged in Project Shakti and those not engaged with Project Shakti. Path analysis has been used to study the impact made on those members engaged in Project Shakti. Significant differences were observed on fronts of entrepreneurial development, economic empowerment and social empowerment between members associated with Project Shakti and those not associated with Project Shakti. Path analysis demonstrated that involvement in Project Shakti led to entrepreneurial development resulting in economic empowerment that in turn led to social empowerment and that these three elements independently induced a feeling of privilege in the women for being associated with the Project.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship development, economicempowerment, impact assessment, microentrepreneurs, pathanalysis, social empowerment.

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Authors: A. Buasri, N. Chaiyut, V. Loryuenyong, E. Phakdeepataraphan, S. Watpathomsub, V. Kunakemakorn

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In this research, the optimum conditions for the synthesis of activated carbon from biodiesel wastes such as palm shells (PS) and Jatropha curcas fruit shells (JS) by chemical activation method using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activating agent under nitrogen atmosphere were investigated. The effects of soaking in hydrofluoric acid (HF), impregnation ratio, activation temperature and activation time on adsorption capacity of methylene blue (MB) and iodine (I2) solution were examined. The results showed that HF-treated activated carbons exhibited higher adsorption capacities by eliminating ash residues, which might fill up the pores. In addition, the adsorption capacities of methylene blue and iodine solution were also significantly influenced by the types of raw materials, the activation temperature and the activation time. The highest adsorption capacity of methylene blue 257.07mg/g and iodine 847.58mg/g were obtained from Jatropha curcas wastes.

Keywords: Activated Carbon, Palm Shells (PS), Jatropha Curcas Fruit Shells (JS), Agricultural Wastes, Biodiesel Wastes, Optimum Conditions.

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Authors: D. Tloczynski

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The main aim of this article is to present a balance of the decade of Polish air transport market in the European Union having taking into account selected entities of the aviation market. This article analyzes the functioning of the Polish air transport market after the Polish accession to the European Union. During the study two main areas were pointed: shipping activity and activity of the airports. The most important benefits of integration and the benefits of introducing of the open sky policy were indicated. The last part of the article presents the perspectives of development of air traffic.

Keywords: Air transport, airports, development air transport, European Union, Poland.

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Authors: Carlos F. Liard-Muriente

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The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the controversial subject of tax incentives to promote regional development. Although extensive research has been conducted, a review of the literature gives an inconclusive answer to whether economic incentives are effective. One reason is the fact that for some researchers “effective" means the significant location of new firms in targeted areas, while for others the creation of jobs regardless if new firms are arriving in a significant fashion. We present this dichotomy by analyzing a tax incentive program via both alternatives: location and job creation. The contribution of the paper is to inform policymakers about the potential opportunities and pitfalls when designing incentive strategies. This is particularly relevant, given that both the US and Europe have been promoting incentives as a tool for regional economic development.

Keywords: Employment, Foreign Investment, Tax Incentives.

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Authors: Farzad Khajavi, Farzaneh Jalilfar, Faranak Jafari, Leila Shokrani

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Formulation of gliclazide in the form of extended-release tablet in 30 and 60 mg dosage forms was performed using hypromellose (HPMC K4M) as a retarding agent. Drug-release profiles were investigated in comparison with references Diamicron MR 30 and 60 mg tablets. The effect of size of powder particles, the amount of hypromellose in formulation, hardness of tablets, and also the effect of halving the tablets were investigated on drug release profile. A mathematical model which describes hypromellose behavior in initial times of drug release was proposed for the estimation of hypromellose content in modified-release gliclazide 60 mg tablet. This model is based on erosion of hypromellose in dissolution media. The model is applicable to describe release profiles of insoluble drugs. Therefore, by using dissolved amount of drug in initial times of dissolution and the model, the amount of hypromellose in formulation can be predictable. The model was used to predict the HPMC K4M content in modified-release gliclazide 30 mg and extended-release quetiapine 200 mg tablets.

Keywords: Hypromellose, gliclazide, drug release, modified-release tablet, mathematical model.

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Authors: M. F. Miah, H. Ali, E. Zannath, T. M. Shuvra, M. N. Naser, M. K. Ahmed

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In this study, breeding biology and induced breeding of freshwater mud eel, Monopterus cuchia was observed during the experimental period from February to June, 2013. Breeding biology of freshwater mud eel, Monopterus cuchia was considered in terms of gonadosomatic index, length-weight relationship of gonad, ova diameter and fecundity. The ova diameter was recorded from 0.3 mm to 4.30 mm and the individual fecundity was recorded from 155 to 1495 while relative fecundity was found from 2.64 to 12.45. The fecundity related to body weight and length of fish was also discussed. A peak of GSI was observed 2.14±0.2 in male and 5.1 ±1.09 in female. Induced breeding of freshwater mud eel, Monopterus cuchia was also practiced with different doses of different inducing agents like pituitary gland (PG), human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) and Ovuline-a synthetic hormone in different environmental conditions. However, it was observed that the artificial breeding of freshwater mud eel, Monopterus cuchia was not yet succeeded through inducing agents in captive conditions, rather the inducing agent showed negative impacts on fecundity and ovarian tissues. It was seen that mature eggs in the oviduct were reduced, absorbed and some eggs were found in spoiled condition.

Keywords: Breeding biology, induced breeding, Monopterus cuchia.

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Authors: Ellen A. Kalinga, R. B. Bagile Burchard, Lena Trojer

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Tanzania secondary schools in rural areas are geographically and socially isolated, hence face a number of problems in getting learning materials resulting in poor performance in National examinations. E-learning as defined to be the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for supporting the educational processes has motivated Tanzania to apply ICT in its education system. There has been effort to improve secondary school education using ICT through several projects. ICT for e-learning to Tanzania rural secondary school is one of the research projects conceived by the University of Dar-es-Salaam through its College of Engineering and Technology. The main objective of the project is to develop a tool to enable ICT support rural secondary school. The project is comprehensive with a number of components, one being development of e-learning management system (e-LMS) for Tanzania secondary schools. This paper presents strategies of developing e-LMS. It shows the importance of integrating action research methodology with the modeling methods as presented by model driven architecture (MDA) and the usefulness of Unified Modeling Language (UML) on the issue of modeling. The benefit of MDA will go along with the development based on software development life cycle (SDLC) process, from analysis and requirement phase through design and implementation stages as employed by object oriented system analysis and design approach. The paper also explains the employment of open source code reuse from open source learning platforms for the context sensitive development of the e-LMS for Tanzania secondary schools.

Keywords: Action Research Methodology, OOSA&D, MDA, UML, Open Source LMS.

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Authors: Thet Thet Han Yee, Su Su Win, Nyein Nyein Soe

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Energy consumption is one of the indices in determining the levels of development of a nation. Therefore, availability of energy supply to all sectors of life in any country is crucial for its development. These exists shortage of all kinds of energy, particularly electricity which is badly needed for economic development. Electricity from the sun which is quite abundant in most of the developing countries is used in rural areas to meet basic electricity needs of a rural community. Today-s electricity supply in Myanmar is generated by fuel generators and hydroelectric power plants. However, far-flung areas which are away from National Grids cannot enjoy the electricity generated by these sources. Since Myanmar is a land of plentiful sunshine, especially in central and southern regions of the country, the first form of energy- solar energy could hopefully become the final solution to its energy supply problem. The direct conversion of solar energy into electricity using photovoltaic system has been receiving intensive installation not only in developed countries but also in developing countries. It is mainly intended to present solar energy potential and application in Myanmar. It is also wanted to get the benefits of using solar energy for people in remote areas which are not yet connected to the national grids because of the high price of fossil fuel.

Keywords: Electricity supply in Myanmar, National Grids, solarenergy.

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Authors: Mario Spremić, Jurica Šimurina, Božidar Jaković, Marijana Ivanov

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This paper deals with e-government issues at several levels. Initially we look at the concept of e-government itself in order to give it a sound framework. Than we look at the e-government issues at three levels, first we analyse it at the global level, second we analyse it at the level of transition economies, and finally we take a closer look on developments in Croatia. The analysis includes actual progress being made in selected transition economies given the Euro area averages, along with e-government potential in future demanding period.

Keywords: Central and Eastern Europe, Croatia, e-Government, ICT.

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Authors: Ashiquer Rahman

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The cutting edge knowledge mediation system called ‘ePLANETe’ provides a framework for building knowledge, tools, and methods for education, research, and sustainable practices, as well as the deliberative assessment support for Higher Education, Research Institutions, and elsewhere e.g., the collaborative learning and research on sustainability and biodiversity issues of territorial development sectors. The paper is to present the analytical perspective of the ‘ePLANETe’ concept and functionalities as an experimental platform for contributing to sustainability assessment. Now the ‘ePLANETe’ can be seen as experimentation of the challenges of “ICT for Green”. The digital technologies of ‘ePLANETe’ are exploited (i) to facilitate collaborative research, learning tools, and knowledge for sustainability challenges, and (ii) as deliberation support tools in pursuing of sustainability performance and practices in territorial governance, public policy, and business strategy, as well as in the higher education sectors itself. The paper investigates the dealing capacity of qualitative and quantitative assessment of agriculture sustainability through the stakeholder-based integrated assessment. Specifically, this paper focuses on integrating system methodologies with Deliberation Support Tools (DST) and INTEGRAAL method for collective assessment and decision-making in implementing regional plans. The report aims to identify the effective knowledge and tools to enable deliberations methodologies regarding practices on the sustainability of agriculture and biodiversity issues, societal responsibilities, and regional planning, concentrating on the question: “How to effectively mobilize resources (knowledge, tools, and methods) from different sources and at different scales regarding on agriculture and biodiversity issues to address sustainability challenges” that will create the scope for qualitative and quantitative assessments of sustainability as a new landmark of the agriculture sector.

Keywords: Biodiversity, Deliberation Support Tools, INTEGRAAL, stakeholder.

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Authors: S. S. Dol

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Improvement in vehicle efficiency can reduce global fossil fuels consumptions. For that sole reason, Shell Global Corporation introduces Shell Eco-marathon where student teams require to design, build and test energy-efficient vehicles. Hence, this paper will focus on design processes and the development of a fuel economic vehicle which satisfying the requirements of the competition. In this project, three components are designed and analyzed, which are the body, chassis and powertrain of the vehicle. Optimum design for each component is produced through simulation analysis and theoretical calculation in which improvement is made as the project progresses.

Keywords: Energy efficient vehicle, drag force, chassis, powertrain.

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Authors: Nattapol Pourprasert

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This study has an objective to analyze foreign policy of member states in globalization current, aiming to answer that the foreign policy of member states have been changed or remained the same and there are any factors affecting changing of foreign policy of the member states. From the study results, it is found that the foreign policy of Thailand is a friendly foreign policy with all states. The policy of Indonesia is more opened because of a change in leader, allowing more democratic development in the country; the government has proceeded with friendly foreign policy with the states in order to bring funds into the state. The foreign policy of Malaysia is not much changed as there is no changing in the leader; the policy of Malaysia has reconciled relations with main city of Indian and Chinese residing in the country in order to bring investments into the country and to relieve tensions in the country. The foreign policy of the Philippines has proceeded with policy under the ASEAN framework and emphasized on international Islam communities. The foreign policy of Singapore has the least changed as the Singapore's policy focuses on internal trade since the state was found. As for the foreign policy of Brunei Darussalam, Brunei has a little role in the international stage; the state having closest relationship as from the view of history is Singapore as the Singaporean has invested in retailing business in Brunei. The foreign policy of Vietnam has emphasized on an omnidirectional foreign policy in order to compete with several states in global stage. The foreign policy of Myanmar has proceeded with a friendly foreign policy with all ASEAN member states, the East-west Corridor transportation line from Myanmar through Thailand and Lao to Vietnam has been developed. As for the foreign policy of Lao, In 2001, the Thai government and Lao government held a discussion which Thailand reaffirmed the position not to support the anti-Lao group. The foreign policy of Cambodia has proceeded with more openness, having good relation with China, Russia and USA as these states has invested in the state, especially the US company.

Keywords: Globalization, Public Policy Analysis, Foreign Policy, ASEAN Member States.

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Authors: C. Oprean, C. V. Kifor, S. C. Negulescu, C. Candea, L. Oprean, C. Oprean, S. Kifor

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This paper presents an innovative approach within the area of Group Decision Support System (GDSS) by using tools based on intelligent agents. It introduces iGDSS, a software platform for decision support and collaboration and an application of this platform - eCollaborative Decisions - for academic environment, all these developed within a framework of a research project.

Keywords: Group Decision Support System, Managerial Academic Decisions, Computer Interaction.

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Authors: Isaac Kofi Mensah, Mi Jianing

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The lack of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure in African countries is hampering the successful adoption, development and implementation of e-government in Africa. Electronic government is the use of ICTs to modernize government public administration processes and to provide government services to citizens with a purpose to enhance efficiency, accountability, and transparency in government’s interaction with the citizenry. ICT application in public administration has the potential to modernize and create smarter government and improvement in public service delivery. China’s Internet Plus policy and One Belt One Road strategy present a golden opportunity for countries in Africa to attract the huge financial investment through Chinese IT companies to develop and close Africa’s ICT infrastructure gap. This study recommends the establishment of One Belt One Road ICT Infrastructure Fund for Africa (OBOR ICT Fund for Africa) to enable countries in Africa to source solely for the purpose of ICT infrastructure development in the public sector/government machinery which would in turn promote the adoption and development of e-government in the public sectors of respective countries in Africa.

Keywords: E-government, public service delivery, internet plus, one belt one road initiative, China, Africa.

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Authors: Mikhail V. Khachaturyan, Inga A. Koryagina, Maria Nikishova

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The study investigates the impact of the ongoing financial crisis, started in the 2^nd half of 2014, on marketing budgets spent by Fast-moving consumer goods companies. In these conditions, special importance is given to efficient possessory risk management systems. The main objective for establishing and developing possessory risk management systems for FMCG companies in a crisis is to analyze the data relating to the external environment and consumer behavior in a crisis. Another important objective for possessory risk management systems of FMCG companies is to develop measures and mechanisms to maintain and stimulate sales. In this regard, analysis of risks and threats which consumers define as the main reasons affecting their level of consumption become important. It is obvious that in crisis conditions the effective risk management systems responsible for development and implementation of strategies for consumer demand stimulation, as well as the identification, analysis, assessment and management of other types of risks of economic security will be the key to sustainability of a company. In terms of financial and economic crisis, the problem of forming and developing possessory risk management systems becomes critical not only in the context of management models of FMCG companies, but for all the companies operating in other sectors of the Russian economy. This study attempts to analyze the specifics of formation and development of company possessory risk management systems. In the modern economy, special importance among all the types of owner’s risks has the risk of reduction in consumer activity. This type of risk is common not only for the consumer goods trade. Study of consumer activity decline is especially important for Russia due to domestic market of consumer goods being still in the development stage, despite its significant growth. In this regard, it is especially important to form and develop possessory risk management systems for FMCG companies. The authors offer their own interpretation of the process of forming and developing possessory risk management systems within owner’s management models of FMCG companies as well as in Russian economy in general. Proposed methods and mechanisms of problem analysis of formation and development of possessory risk management systems in FMCG companies and the results received can be helpful for researchers interested in problems of consumer goods market development in Russia and overseas.

Keywords: FMCG companies, marketing budget, risk management, owner, Russian economy, organization, formation, development, system.

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Authors: Suvradip Mullick, Yuvraj K. Madhukar, Subhranshu Roy, Ashish K. Nath

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We present the development of a new underwater laser cutting process in which a water-jet has been used along with the laser beam to remove the molten material through kerf. The conventional underwater laser cutting usually utilizes a high pressure gas jet along with laser beam to create a dry condition in the cutting zone and also to eject out the molten material. This causes a lot of gas bubbles and turbulence in water, and produces aerosols and waste gas. This may cause contamination in the surrounding atmosphere while cutting radioactive components like burnt nuclear fuel. The water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting process produces much less turbulence and aerosols in the atmosphere. Some amount of water vapor bubbles is formed at the laser-metal-water interface; however, they tend to condense as they rise up through the surrounding water. We present the design and development of a water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting head and the parametric study of the cutting of AISI 304 stainless steel sheets with a 2 kW CW fiber laser. The cutting performance is similar to that of the gas assist laser cutting; however, the process efficiency is reduced due to heat convection by water-jet and laser beam scattering by vapor. This process may be attractive for underwater cutting of nuclear reactor components.

Keywords: Laser, underwater cutting, water-jet.

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Authors: Muhammad Fiaz, Naqvi Najam Abbas, Baseerat Rizwan, Yang Naiding

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This research contribution propels the idea of collaborating environment for the execution of student satellite projects in the backdrop of project management principles. The recent past has witnessed a technological shift in the aerospace industry from the big satellite projects to the small spacecrafts especially for the earth observation and communication purposes. This vibrant shift has vitalized the academia and industry to share their resources and to create a win-win paradigm of mutual success and technological development along with the human resource development in the field of aerospace. Small student satellites are the latest jargon of academia and more than 100 CUBESAT projects have been executed successfully all over the globe and many new student satellite projects are in the development phase. The small satellite project management requires the application of specific knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to achieve the defined mission requirements. The Authors have presented the detailed outline for the project management of student satellites and presented the role of industry to collaborate with the academia to get the optimized results in academic environment.

Keywords: Project Management, Academia-Industry Collaboration, Satellite, Aerospace

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Authors: Urszula Wachowska, Anna Daria Stasiulewicz-Paluch, Iwona Konopka, Katarzyna Kucharska, Justyna Borowska

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The biological activity of A. pullulans isolates against species of the genus Fusarium, bacteria of the genus Azotobacter and pseudomonads colonizing wheat kernels was evaluated. A field experiment was carried out in 2009-2011, in north-eastern Poland. Winter wheat (cv. Bogatka) plants were sprayed with a cell suspension of A. pullulans at a density of 106 - 108 per cm3 water at the stem elongation stage and the heading stage. Untreated plants served as control. The abundance of epiphytic yeasts, bacteria of the genus Azotobacter, pseudomonads and Fusarium pathogens on wheat grain was estimated at harvest and after six months’ storage. The average size of yeast communities was significantly greater on wheat kernels treated with a cell suspension of A. pullulans, compared with control samples. In 2010-2011, biological control reduced the abundance of some species of the genus Fusarium.

Keywords: Aureobasidium pullulans, winter wheat grain, Fusarium, bacteria.

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Authors: Haitao Yang

Abstract:

Despite so many years- development, the mainstream of workflow solutions from IT industries has not made ad-hoc workflow-support easy or inexpensive in MIS. Moreover, most of academic approaches tend to make their resulted BPM (Business Process Management) more complex and clumsy since they used to necessitate modeling workflow. To cope well with various ad-hoc or casual requirements on workflows while still keeping things simple and inexpensive, the author puts forth first the TSM design pattern that can provide a flexible workflow control while minimizing demand of predefinitions and modeling workflow, which introduces a generic approach for building BPM in workflow-aware MISs (Management Information Systems) with low development and running expenses.

Keywords: Ad-hoc workflow, BPM, Design pattern, TSM

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Authors: Amer A. Dheedan

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Operational safety of critical systems, such as nuclear power plants, industrial chemical processes and means of transportation, is a major concern for system engineers and operators. A means to assure that is on-line safety monitors that deliver three safety tasks; fault detection and diagnosis, alarm annunciation and fault controlling. While current monitors deliver these tasks, benefits and limitations in their approaches have at the same time been highlighted. Drawing from those benefits, this paper develops a distributed monitor based on semi-independent agents, i.e. a multiagent system, and monitoring knowledge derived from a safety assessment model of the monitored system. Agents are deployed hierarchically and provided with knowledge portions and collaboration protocols to reason and integrate over the operational conditions of the components of the monitored system. The monitor aims to address limitations arising from the large-scale, complicated behaviour and distributed nature of monitored systems and deliver the aforementioned three monitoring tasks effectively.

Keywords: Alarm annunciation, fault controlling, fault detection and diagnosis

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Authors: D. Kari Basavaraja, M. G. Skanda, C. Soumya, V. Ramesh

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This paper discusses the effects of sodium hypophosphite concentration, pH, and temperature on deposition rate. This paper also discusses the evaluation of coating strength, surface, and subsurface by varying the bath parameters, percentage of phosphate, plating temperature, and pH of the plating solution. Taguchi technique has been used for the analysis. In the experiment, nickel chloride which is a source of nickel when mixed with sodium hypophosphite has been used as the reducing agent and the source of phosphate and sodium hydroxide has been used to vary the pH of the coating bath. The coated samples are tested for impact energy by conducting impact test. Finally, the effects of coating bath parameters on the impact energy absorbed have been plotted, and analysis has been carried out. Further, percentage contribution of coating bath parameters using Design of Experiments approach (DOE) has been analysed. Finally, it can be concluded that the bath parameters of the Ni-P coating will certainly influence on the strength of the specimen.

Keywords: Bath parameters, coatings, design of experiment, fracture toughness, impact strength.

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Authors: Vipin Kumar Verma, Praveen Saraswat

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The development of double stenosis in an artery can have serious consequences and can disrupt the normal functioning of the circulatory system. It has been realized that various hydrodynamics effects (i.e. wall shear, pressure distribution etc.) play important role in the development of this disease. Generally in the literature, the cross-section of the artery is assumed to be uniform with a single stenosis. However, in real situation the multiple stenosis develops in series along the length of artery whose cross-section varies slowly. Therefore, the flow of blood is laminar through a small diameter artery with axisymmetric identical double stenosis in series.

Keywords: Wall shear, multiple stenosis, artery.

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Authors: Wided GuezGuez, Nahla Ben Amor, Khaled Mellouli

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Influence diagrams (IDs) are one of the most commonly used graphical decision models for reasoning under uncertainty. The quantification of IDs which consists in defining conditional probabilities for chance nodes and utility functions for value nodes is not always obvious. In fact, decision makers cannot always provide exact numerical values and in some cases, it is more easier for them to specify qualitative preference orders. This work proposes an adaptation of standard IDs to the qualitative framework based on possibility theory.

Keywords: decision making, influence diagrams, qualitative utility, possibility theory.

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Authors: Krešimir Fertalj, Mladen Matejaš

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In turbulent modern economy, the companies need to properly manage their business processes. Well-defined and stable business processes ensure security of crucial data and applications, and provide a quality product or service to the end customer. On the other side, constant changes on the market, new regulatory provisions, and emerging new technologies require the need of issuing prompt and effective changes of business process. In this article, we explore the use of agile principles in working with business process management (BPM) solutions. We deal with difficulties in BPM development cycle, review the benefits of using agility, and choose the basic agile principles that ensure the success of a BPM project.

Keywords: Agile development, BPM environment, Kanban, SCRUM, XP.

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Authors: R.P.Masztalski, M.Michalski

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The paper presents the results of research on trends in shaping of multifamily buildings in Poland on the example of Wrocław, after Polish accession to the European Union. The study is conducted within the research project: “Trends in creating of multifamily housing development since 2004, on the Wrocław study case" supported by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education and will be completed in November 2011. The research involves multifamily buildings completed in the last decade, in term of fundamental urbanization factors such as: building-s coefficient area, useable area, green area (biologically active surface), intensity of building development, amount of dwellings, dwelling area, amount of parking places, numbers of floors, etc. The analysis of these indicators was conducted based on the date obtained in the study of approximately one hundred new housing units, completed in Wroclaw. The analysis attempts to formulate the main trends in creating of housing policy in Poland during the last 10 years in reference to local urban policy.

Keywords: Housing indicators, multifamily housing development in Poland, multifamily housing transformation.

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Authors: Sheng-Min Cheng

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parent involvement and preschool disabled children’s development. Parents of 3 year old disabled children (N=440) and 5 year old disabled children (N=937) participating in the Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study were interviewed or answered the web design questionnaire about their actions in parenting their disabled children. These children’s developments were also evaluated by their teachers. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Results were showed by tables and figures. Based on the results, the researcher made some suggestions for future studies.

Keywords: Child development, longitudinal data analysis, parent involvement, preschool disabled children.

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Authors: Hongbin Gu, Dongsu Wu, Hui Liu

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A novel low-cost flight simulator with the development goals cost effectiveness and high performance has been realized for meeting the huge pilot training needs of airlines. The simulator consists of an aircraft dynamics model, a sophisticated designed low-profile electrical driven motion system with a subsided cabin, a mixed reality based semi-virtual cockpit system, a control loading system and some other subsystems. It shows its advantages over traditional flight simulator by its features achieved with open architecture, software solutions and low-cost hardware.

Keywords: Flight simulator, mixed reality, motion system, control loading system.

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

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Recently, the climate change is the one of the main problems. This abnormal phenomenon is consisted of the scorching heat, heavy rain and snowfall, and cold wave that will be enlarged abnormal climate change repeatedly. Accordingly, the width of temperature change is increased more and more by abnormal climate, and it is the main factor of cracking in the reinforced concrete. The crack of the reinforced concrete will affect corrosion of steel re-bar which can decrease durability of the structure easily. Hence, the elimination of the durability weakening factor (steel re-bar) is needed. Textile which weaves the carbon, AR-glass and aramid fiber has been studied actively for exchanging the steel re-bar in the Europe for about 15 years because of its good durability. To apply textile as the concrete reinforcement, the bond strength between concrete and textile will be investigated closely. Therefore, in this paper, pull-out test was performed with change of development length of textile. Significant load and stress was increasing at D80. But, bond stress decreased by increasing development length.

Keywords: Bond strength, climate change, pull-out test, replacement of reinforcement material, textile.

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Authors: M. McHugh, D. Lillis

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Mobile applications are being used to perform a wide variety of tasks in day-to-day life, ranging from checking email to controlling your home heating. Application developers have recognized the potential to transform a smart device into a medical device, by using a mobile medical application i.e. a mobile phone or a tablet. When initially conceived these mobile medical applications performed basic functions e.g. BMI calculator, accessing reference material etc.; however, increasing complexity offers clinicians and patients a range of functionality. As this complexity and functionality increases, so too does the potential risk associated with using such an application. Examples include any applications that provide the ability to inflate and deflate blood pressure cuffs, as well as applications that use patient-specific parameters and calculate dosage or create a dosage plan for radiation therapy. If an unapproved mobile medical application is marketed by a medical device organization, then they face significant penalties such as receiving an FDA warning letter to cease the prohibited activity, fines and possibility of facing a criminal conviction. Regulatory bodies have finalized guidance intended for mobile application developers to establish if their applications are subject to regulatory scrutiny. However, regulatory controls appear contradictory with the approaches taken by mobile application developers who generally work with short development cycles and very little documentation and as such, there is the potential to stifle further improvements due to these regulations. The research presented as part of this paper details how by adopting development techniques, such as agile software development, mobile medical application developers can meet regulatory requirements whilst still fostering innovation.

Keywords: Medical, mobile, applications, software Engineering, FDA, standards, regulations, agile.

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Authors: Feryal Aslani, Mohammad Mousakhani, Alireza Aslani

Abstract:

One of the most important areas of knowledge management studies is knowledge sharing. Measured in terms of number of scientific articles and organization-s applications, knowledge sharing stands as an example of success in the field. This paper reviews the related papers in the context of the underlying individual behavioral variables to providea direction framework for future research and writing.

Keywords: future research, individual variables, knowledge sharing, organizational behavior

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