Search results for: vibration level
1987 Data and Control Flow Analysis of VDMµ Specifications
Authors: Mubina Nazmeen, Iram Rubab
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Formal Specification languages are being widely used for system specification and testing. Highly critical systems such as real time systems, avionics, and medical systems are represented using Formal specification languages. Formal specifications based testing is mostly performed using black box testing approaches thus testing only the set of inputs and outputs of the system. The formal specification language such as VDMµ can be used for white box testing as they provide enough constructs as any other high level programming language. In this work, we perform data and control flow analysis of VDMµ class specifications. The proposed work is discussed with an example of SavingAccount.Keywords: VDM-SL, VDMµ, data flow graph, control flowgraph, testing, formal specification.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 43771986 The Benefits of IFRS Adoption – A Survey of Chief Financial Officers of Romanian Listed Companies
Authors: Lucian Munteanu
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The move towards internationalization of accounting encountered a great boost, when in 2002 EU delegated the IASB to provide the accounting standards to be applied inside its frontiers. Among the incentives of the standardization of accounting on the international level, is the reduction of the cost of capital. Romania made the move towards IFRS before EU, when the country was not yet a member of it. Even if this made Romania a special case, it was scarcely approached. The leak of real data is usually the reason for avoiding. The novelty of this paper is that it offers an insight from the reality of Romanian companies and their view regarding the IFRS. The paper is based on a survey that the authors made among the companies listed on the first two tiers of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE), which are basically, the most important companies in the country.
Keywords: Cost of capital, IFRS, information asymmetry, transparency.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26801985 RAPD Analysis of the Genetic Polymorphism in the Collection of Rye Cultivars
Authors: L. Petrovičová, Ž. Balážová, Z. Gálová, M. Wójcik-Jagła, M. Rapacz
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In the present study, RAPD-PCR was used to assess genetic diversity of the rye including landrances and new rye cultivars coming from Central Europe and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SUN). Five arbitrary random primers were used to determine RAPD polymorphism in the set of 38 rye genotypes. These primers amplified altogether 43 different DNA fragments with an average number of 8.6 fragments per genotypes. The number of fragments ranged from 7 (RLZ 8, RLZ 9 and RLZ 10) to 12 (RLZ 6). DI and PIC values of all RAPD markers were higher than 0.8 that generally means high level of polymorphism detected between rye genotypes. The dendrogram based on hierarchical cluster analysis using UPGMA algorithm was prepared. The cultivars were grouped into two main clusters. In this experiment, RAPD proved to be a rapid, reliable and practicable method for revealing of polymorphism in the rye cultivars.
Keywords: Genetic diversity, polymorphism, RAPD markers, Secalecereale L.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26511984 Proposal of a Model Supporting Decision-Making on Information Security Risk Treatment
Authors: Ritsuko Kawasaki (Aiba), Takeshi Hiromatsu
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Management is required to understand all information security risks within an organization, and to make decisions on which information security risks should be treated in what level by allocating how much amount of cost. However, such decision-making is not usually easy, because various measures for risk treatment must be selected with the suitable application levels. In addition, some measures may have objectives conflicting with each other. It also makes the selection difficult. Therefore, this paper provides a model which supports the selection of measures by applying multi-objective analysis to find an optimal solution. Additionally, a list of measures is also provided to make the selection easier and more effective without any leakage of measures.
Keywords: Information security risk treatment, Selection of risk measures, Risk acceptance and Multi-objective optimization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21341983 Efficiency of Floristic and Molecular Markers to Determine Diversity in Iranian Populations of T. boeoticum
Authors: M. R. Naghavi, M. Maleki, S. F. Tabatabaei
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In order to study floristic and molecular classification of common wild wheat (Triticum boeoticum Boiss.), an analysis was conducted on populations of the Triticum boeoticum collected from different regions of Iran. Considering all floristic compositions of habitats, six floristic groups (syntaxa) within the populations were identified. A high level of variation of T. boeoticum also detected using SSR markers. Our results showed that molecular method confirmed the grouping of floristic method. In other word, the results from our study indicate that floristic classification are still useful, efficient, and economic tools for characterizing the amount and distribution of genetic variation in natural populations of T. boeoticum. Nevertheless, molecular markers appear as useful and complementary techniques for identification and for evaluation of genetic diversity in studied populations.Keywords: T. boeoticum, diversity, floristic, SSRs.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13511982 Does Labour Supply Respond to Globalisation? Malaysia Evidence from Micro Data
Authors: Poo Bee Tin, Rahmah Ismail, Norasmah Othman
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Globalisation is a phenomenon that cannot be avoided. As globalisation allowed free flow of inputs including labour, it may affect job opportunities for the locals. Therefore, investigate the determinants of labour supply is essential in understanding the structure of labour market in the new era of globalization. The objective of this article is to examine labour supply by taking into account the globalisation effect. The study covers 3885 households in Peninsular Malaysia who are chosen using stratified random sampling. The labour supply model will be the basis for the analysis. The basic labour supply determinants are own wage and non-labour income. However, the extended labour supply model incorporates other variables like spouse wage,number of children and individuals characteristics like education level and age. Besides, the globalization indicator will also be incorporated as another independent variable.Keywords: globalization, head of households, labour supply, wage
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26071981 Tests and Comparison of Two Mobile Industrial Analytical Systems for Mercury Speciation in Flue Gas
Authors: Karel Borovec, Jerzy Gorecki, Tadeas Ochodek
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Combustion of solid fuels is one of the main sources of mercury in the environment. To reduce the amount of mercury emitted to the atmosphere, it is necessary to modify or optimize old purification technologies or introduce the new ones. Effective reduction of mercury level in the flue gas requires the use of speciation systems for mercury form determination. This paper describes tests and provides comparison of two industrial portable and continuous systems for mercury speciation in the flue gas: Durag HM-1400 TRX with a speciation module and the Portable Continuous Mercury Speciation System based on the SGM-8 mercury speciation set, made by Nippon Instruments Corporation. Additionally, the paper describes a few analytical problems that were encountered during a two-year period of using the systems.Keywords: Mercury determination, speciation, continuous measurement, flue gas.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8851980 Contingent Pay and Experience with its use by Organizations of the Czech Republic Operating in the Field of Environmental Protection
Authors: Petra Horváthová, Marcela Davidová, Miroslava Bendová
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One part of the total employee-s reward is apart from basic wages or salary, employee-s benefits and intangible elements also so called contingent (variable) pay. Contingent pay is connected to performance, contribution, capcompetency or skills of individual employees, and to team-s or company-wide performance or to combination of few of the mentioned possibilities. Main aim of this article is to define, based on available information, contingent pay, describe reasons for its implementation and arguments for and against this type of remuneration, but also bring information not only about its extent and level of utilization by organizations of the Czech Republic operating in the field of environmental protection, but also mention their practical experience with this type of remuneration.
Keywords: Contingent pay, environmental protection, experience in using, organizations of the Czech Republic.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 38311979 Perceptions on Accounting Career: A Study among the Secondary School Students in a Regional Kelantan State
Authors: Hezlina Mohd Hashim, Abdul Mutalib Embong, Zullina H. Shaari
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This study analyses the perceptions of secondary school students about the accounting profession in Malaysia. Fifty five form three and form four students who are taking accounting/commerce subjects were met. Individual-s perception data were collected through questionnaires. The results at the secondary school level suggest that the stereotypical negative image of the accountant ends, with students expressing the positive view of the work of an accountant. There were also gender differences in perceiving the accounting profession. Overall, the results of the study suggest that we are now in line in projecting positive and accurate perceptions of the accounting profession to secondary school students.Keywords: Perceptions, secondary school students, accounting profession, Malaysia.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 59411978 Implementation of SSL Using Information Security Component Interface
Authors: Jong-Whoi Shin, Chong-Sun Hwang
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Various security APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are being used in a variety of application areas requiring the information security function. However, these standards are not compatible, and the developer must use those APIs selectively depending on the application environment or the programming language. To resolve this problem, we propose the standard draft of the information security component, while SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) using the confidentiality and integrity component interface has been implemented to verify validity of the standard proposal. The implemented SSL uses the lower-level SSL component when establishing the RMI (Remote Method Invocation) communication between components, as if the security algorithm had been implemented by adding one more layer on the TCP/IP.Keywords: Component Based Design, Application Programming Interface, Secure Socket Layer, Remote Method Invocation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15121977 A Novel Method for Blood Glucose Measurement by Noninvasive Technique Using Laser
Authors: V.Ashok, A.Nirmalkumar, N.Jeyashanthi
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A method and apparatus for noninvasive measurement of blood glucose concentration based on transilluminated laser beam via the Index Finger has been reported in this paper. This method depends on atomic gas (He-Ne) laser operating at 632.8nm wavelength. During measurement, the index finger is inserted into the glucose sensing unit, the transilluminated optical signal is converted into an electrical signal, compared with the reference electrical signal, and the obtained difference signal is processed by signal processing unit which presents the results in the form of blood glucose concentration. This method would enable the monitoring blood glucose level of the diabetic patient continuously, safely and noninvasively.Keywords: Anisotropy factor, Blood glucose, Diabetes Mellitus, Noninvasive method, Photo detectors.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32951976 ZVZCT PWM Boost DC-DC Converter
Authors: İsmail Aksoy, Hacı Bodur, Nihan Altıntas
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This paper introduces a boost converter with a new active snubber cell. In this circuit, all of the semiconductor components in the converter softly turns on and turns off with the help of the active snubber cell. Compared to the other converters, the proposed converter has advantages of size, number of components and cost. The main feature of proposed converter is that the extra voltage stresses do not occur on the main switches and main diodes. Also, the current stress on the main switch is acceptable level. Moreover, the proposed converter can operates under light load conditions and wide input line voltage. In this study, the operating principle of the proposed converter is presented and its operation is verified with the Proteus simulation software for a 1 kW and 100 kHz model.Keywords: Active snubber cell, boost converter, zero current switching, zero voltage switching.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24981975 A Multi-Objective Model for Supply Chain Network Design under Stochastic Demand
Authors: F. Alborzi, H. Vafaei, M.H. Gholami, M.M. S. Esfahani
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In this article, the design of a Supply Chain Network (SCN) consisting of several suppliers, production plants, distribution centers and retailers, is considered. Demands of retailers are considered stochastic parameters, so we generate amounts of data via simulation to extract a few demand scenarios. Then a mixed integer two-stage programming model is developed to optimize simultaneously two objectives: (1) minimization the fixed and variable cost, (2) maximization the service level. A weighting method is utilized to solve this two objective problem and a numerical example is made to show the performance of the model.Keywords: Mixed Integer Programming, Multi-objective Optimization, Stochastic Demand, Supply Chain Design, Two Stage Programming
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23211974 Robust Integrated Navigation of a Low Cost System
Authors: Saman M. Siddiqui, Fang Jiancheng
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Robust nonlinear integrated navigation of GPS and low cost MEMS is a hot topic of research these days. A robust filter is required to cope up with the problem of unpredictable discontinuities and colored noises associated with low cost sensors. H∞ filter is previously used in Extended Kalman filter and Unscented Kalman filter frame. Unscented Kalman filter has a problem of Cholesky matrix factorization at each step which is a very unstable operation. To avoid this problem in this research H∞ filter is designed in Square root Unscented filter framework and found 50% more robust towards increased level of colored noises.Keywords: H∞ filter, MEMS, GPS, Nonlinear system, robust system, Square root unscented filter.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17411973 Discovering the Dimension of Abstractness: Structure-Based Model that Learns New Categories and Categorizes on Different Levels of Abstraction
Authors: Georgi I. Petkov, Ivan I. Vankov, Yolina A. Petrova
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A structure-based model of category learning and categorization at different levels of abstraction is presented. The model compares different structures and expresses their similarity implicitly in the forms of mappings. Based on this similarity, the model can categorize different targets either as members of categories that it already has or creates new categories. The model is novel using two threshold parameters to evaluate the structural correspondence. If the similarity between two structures exceeds the higher threshold, a new sub-ordinate category is created. Vice versa, if the similarity does not exceed the higher threshold but does the lower one, the model creates a new category on higher level of abstraction.
Keywords: Analogy-making, categorization, learning of categories, abstraction, hierarchical structure.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7801972 Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Control of Induction Motor
Authors: Allouche Moez, Souissi Mansour, Chaabane Mohamed, Mehdi Driss
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This paper deals with the synthesis of fuzzy state feedback controller of induction motor with optimal performance. First, the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model is employed to approximate a non linear system in the synchronous d-q frame rotating with electromagnetic field-oriented. Next, a fuzzy controller is designed to stabilise the induction motor and guaranteed a minimum disturbance attenuation level for the closed-loop system. The gains of fuzzy control are obtained by solving a set of Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI). Finally, simulation results are given to demonstrate the controller-s effectiveness.
Keywords: Rejection disturbance, fuzzy modelling, open-loop control, Fuzzy feedback controller, fuzzy observer, Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI)
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19071971 An Implicit Region-Based Deformable Model with Local Segmentation Applied to Weld Defects Extraction
Authors: Y. Boutiche, N. Ramou, M. Ben Gharsallah
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This paper is devoted to present and discuss a model that allows a local segmentation by using statistical information of a given image. It is based on Chan-Vese model, curve evolution, partial differential equations and binary level sets method. The proposed model uses the piecewise constant approximation of Chan-Vese model to compute Signed Pressure Force (SPF) function, this one attracts the curve to the true object(s)-s boundaries. The implemented model is used to extract weld defects from weld radiographic images in the aim to calculate the perimeter and surfaces of those weld defects; encouraged resultants are obtained on synthetic and real radiographic images.
Keywords: Active contour, Chan-Vese Model, local segmentation, weld radiographic images.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15051970 Collection of Untraditionally Developed Academic IT Services in Eastern Europe
Authors: Rihards Balodis, Inara Opmane
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Deep and radical social reforms of the last century-s nineties in many Eastern European countries caused changes in Information Technology-s (IT) field. Inefficient information technologies were rapidly replaced with forefront IT solutions, e.g., in Eastern European countries there is a high level penetration of qualitative high-speed Internet. The authors have taken part in the introduction of those changes in Latvia-s leading IT research institute. Grounding on their experience authors in this paper offer an IT services based model for analysis the mentioned changes- and development processes in the higher education and research fields, i.e., for research e-infrastructure-s development. Compare to the international practice such services were developed in Eastern Europe in an untraditional way, which provided swift and positive technological changes.Keywords: Computing, data networking, e-infrastructure, IT services.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19051969 Health Assessment of Electronic Products using Mahalanobis Distance and Projection Pursuit Analysis
Authors: Sachin Kumar, Vasilis Sotiris, Michael Pecht
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With increasing complexity in electronic systems there is a need for system level anomaly detection and fault isolation. Anomaly detection based on vector similarity to a training set is used in this paper through two approaches, one the preserves the original information, Mahalanobis Distance (MD), and the other that compresses the data into its principal components, Projection Pursuit Analysis. These methods have been used to detect deviations in system performance from normal operation and for critical parameter isolation in multivariate environments. The study evaluates the detection capability of each approach on a set of test data with known faults against a baseline set of data representative of such “healthy" systems.Keywords: Mahalanobis distance, Principle components, Projection pursuit, Health assessment, Anomaly.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16811968 The Design of PFM Mode DC-DC Converter with DT-CMOS Switch
Authors: Jae-Chang Kwak, Yong-Seo Koo
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The high efficiency power management IC (PMIC) with switching device is presented in this paper. PMIC is controlled with PFM control method in order to have high power efficiency at high current level. Dynamic Threshold voltage CMOS (DT-CMOS) with low on-resistance is designed to decrease conduction loss. The threshold voltage of DT-CMOS drops as the gate voltage increase, resulting in a much higher current handling capability than standard MOSFET. PFM control circuits consist of a generator, AND gate and comparator. The generator is made to have 1.2MHz oscillation voltage. The DC-DC converter based on PFM control circuit and low on-resistance switching device is presented in this paper.
Keywords: DT-CMOS, PMIC, PFM, DC-DC converter.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32031967 Associations between Game Users and Life Satisfaction: Role of Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy and Social Capital
Authors: Hye Rim Lee, Eui Jun Jeong
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This study makes an integrated investigation on how life satisfaction is associated with the Korean game users' psychological variables (self-esteem, game and life self- efficacy), social variables (bonding and bridging social capital), and demographic variables (age, gender). The data used for the empirical analysis came from a representative sample survey conducted in South Korea. Results show that self-esteem and game efficacy were an important antecedent to the degree of users’ life satisfaction. Both bonding social capital and bridging social capital enhance the level of the users’ life satisfaction. The importance of perspectives as well as their implications for the game users and further associated research is explored.Keywords: Life satisfaction, self-esteem, game efficacy, life-efficacy, social capital.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27571966 A Comparative Analysis of Insolvency Proceedings in France, Germany and Slovak Republic
Authors: Zuzana Crhová, Marie Paseková
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This contribution aims to compare legislation adjusting the course of insolvency proceedings in France, Germany and Slovakia. On the basis of an investigation of the legislative adjustment of this problem, an attempt is made to ascertain in the given countries the extent to which the outcome of the entire proceedings is influenced by legislation and to determine the fundamental moments that influence costs, recovery rate and the duration of proceedings. A comparative analysis was utilized in order to achieve the set goal. The results of the survey could be used to improve legislation so as to lead in the best and most expedient way to a departure from the market of those subjects that are for economic reasons unable to continue with their activities whilst burdening the entire process with the lowest possible costs, which would lead to a high level of satisfaction for creditors.
Keywords: Costs, Insolvency Proceeding, Recovery Rate, Time.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27711965 Silicon Nanowire for Thermoelectric Applications: Effects of Contact Resistance
Authors: Y. Li, K. Buddharaju, N. Singh, G. Q. Lo, S. J. Lee
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Silicon nanowire (SiNW) based thermoelectric device (TED) has potential applications in areas such as chip level cooling/ energy harvesting. It is a great challenge however, to assemble an efficient device with these SiNW. The presence of parasitic in the form of interfacial electrical resistance will have a significant impact on the performance of the TED. In this work, we explore the effect of the electrical contact resistance on the performance of a TED. Numerical simulations are performed on SiNW to investigate such effects on its cooling performance. Intrinsically, SiNW individually without the unwanted parasitic effect has excellent cooling power density. However, the cooling effect is undermined with the contribution of the electrical contact resistance.
Keywords: Thermoelectric, silicon, nanowire, electrical contact resistance, parasitics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21071964 Exploring the Relationships between Experiential Marketing, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty: An Empirical Examination in Konya
Authors: R. Öztürk
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Experiential marketing is one of the marketing approaches that offer an exceptional framework to integrate elements of experience and entertainment in a product or service. Experiential marketing is defined as a memorable experience that goes deeply into the customer’s mind. Besides that, customer satisfaction is defined as an emotional response to the experiences provided by and associated with particular products or services purchased. Thus, experiential marketing activities can affect the level of customer satisfaction and loyalty. In this context, the research aims to explore the relationship among experiential marketing, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty among the cosmetic products customers in Konya. The partial least squares (PLS) method is used to analyze the survey data. Findings of the present study revealed that experiential marketing has been a significant predictor of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and also experiential marketing has a significantly positive effect on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.Keywords: Customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, experiential marketing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 45821963 HIV Modelling - Parallel Implementation Strategies
Authors: Dimitri Perrin, Heather J. Ruskin, Martin Crane
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We report on the development of a model to understand why the range of experience with respect to HIV infection is so diverse, especially with respect to the latency period. To investigate this, an agent-based approach is used to extract highlevel behaviour which cannot be described analytically from the set of interaction rules at the cellular level. A network of independent matrices mimics the chain of lymph nodes. Dealing with massively multi-agent systems requires major computational effort. However, parallelisation methods are a natural consequence and advantage of the multi-agent approach and, using the MPI library, are here implemented, tested and optimized. Our current focus is on the various implementations of the data transfer across the network. Three communications strategies are proposed and tested, showing that the most efficient approach is communication based on the natural lymph-network connectivity.Keywords: HIV, Immune modelling, MPI, Parallelisation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15501962 Predictive Fuzzy Logic Controller for Agile Micro-Satellite
Authors: A. Bellar, M.K. Fellah, A.M. Si Mohammed, M. Bensaada, L. Boukhris
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This paper presents the use of the predictive fuzzy logic controller (PFLC) applied to attitude control system for agile micro-satellite. In order to reduce the effect of unpredictable time delays and large uncertainties, the algorithm employs predictive control to predict the attitude of the satellite. Comparison of the PFLC and conventional fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is presented to evaluate the performance of the control system during attitude maneuver. The two proposed models have been analyzed with the same level of noise and external disturbances. Simulation results demonstrated the feasibility and advantages of the PFLC on the attitude determination and control system (ADCS) of agile satellite.
Keywords: Agile micro-satellite, Attitude control, fuzzy logic, predictive control
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17621961 The Correlation between Users’ Star Rating and Usability on Mobile Applications
Authors: Abdulmohsen A. AlBesher, Richard T. Stone
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Star rating for mobile applications is a very useful way to differentiate between the best and worst rated applications. However, the question is whether the rating reflects the level of usability or not. The aim of this paper is to find out if the user’ star ratings on mobile apps correlate with the usability of those apps. Thus, we tested three mobile apps, which have different star ratings: low, medium, and high. Participating in the study, 15 mobile phone users were asked to do one single task for each of the three tested apps. After each task, the participant evaluated the app by answering a survey based on the System Usability Scale (SUS). The results found that there is no major correlation between the star rating and the usability. However, it was found that the task completion time and the numbers of errors that may happen while completing the task were significantly correlated to the usability.Keywords: Mobile applications, SUS, Star rating, Usability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9191960 A Mixed Method Investigation of the Impact of Practicum Experience on Mathematics Female Pre-Service Teachers’ Sense of Preparedness
Authors: Fatimah Alsaleh, Glenda Anthony
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The practicum experience is a critical component of any initial teacher education (ITE) course. As well as providing a near authentic setting for pre-service teachers (PSTs) to practice in, it also plays a key role in shaping their perceptions and sense of preparedness. Nevertheless, merely including a practicum period as a compulsory part of ITE may not in itself be enough to induce feelings of preparedness and efficacy; the quality of the classroom experience must also be considered. Drawing on findings of a larger study of secondary and intermediate level mathematics PSTs’ sense of preparedness to teach, this paper examines the influence of the practicum experience in particular. The study sample comprised female mathematics PSTs who had almost completed their teaching methods course in their fourth year of ITE across 16 teacher education programs in Saudi Arabia. The impact of the practicum experience on PSTs’ sense of preparedness was investigated via a mixed-methods approach combining a survey (N = 105) and in-depth interviews with survey volunteers (N = 16). Statistical analysis in SPSS was used to explore the quantitative data, and thematic analysis was applied to the qualitative interviews data. The results revealed that the PSTs perceived the practicum experience to have played a dominant role in shaping their feelings of preparedness and efficacy. However, despite the generally positive influence of practicum, the PSTs also reported numerous challenges that lessened their feelings of preparedness. These challenges were often related to the classroom environment and the school culture. For example, about half of the PSTs indicated that the practicum schools did not have the resources available or the support necessary to help them learn the work of teaching. In particular, the PSTs expressed concerns about translating the theoretical knowledge learned at the university into practice in authentic classrooms. These challenges engendered PSTs feeling less prepared and suggest that more support from both the university and the school is needed to help PSTs develop a stronger sense of preparedness. The area in which PSTs felt least prepared was that of classroom and behavior management, although the results also indicated that PSTs only felt a moderate level of general teaching efficacy and were less confident about how to support students as learners. Again, feelings of lower efficacy were related to the dissonance between the theory presented at university and real-world classroom practice. In order to close this gap between theory and practice, PSTs expressed the wish to have more time in the practicum, and more accountability for support from school-based mentors. In highlighting the challenges of the practicum in shaping PSTs’ sense of preparedness and efficacy, the study argues that better communication between the ITE providers and the practicum schools is necessary in order to maximize the benefit of the practicum experience.
Keywords: Mathematics, practicum experience, pre-service teachers, sense of preparedness.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11241959 A Robust Wavelet-Based Watermarking Algorithm Using Edge Detection
Authors: John N. Ellinas
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In this paper, a robust watermarking algorithm using the wavelet transform and edge detection is presented. The efficiency of an image watermarking technique depends on the preservation of visually significant information. This is attained by embedding the watermark transparently with the maximum possible strength. The watermark embedding process is carried over the subband coefficients that lie on edges, where distortions are less noticeable, with a subband level dependent strength. Also, the watermark is embedded to selected coefficients around edges, using a different scale factor for watermark strength, that are captured by a morphological dilation operation. The experimental evaluation of the proposed method shows very good results in terms of robustness and transparency to various attacks such as median filtering, Gaussian noise, JPEG compression and geometrical transformations.Keywords: Watermarking, wavelet transform, edge detection.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23531958 Relation between Environmental Accounting and Pillars of Sustainability
Authors: P. Harazin, Gy. Horváth
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There are four challenges of sustainable development and in corporate level sustainability management-s role is to answer for ecological sustainability challenge, social sustainability challenge, economic sustainability challenges to environment and social management and integration challenge of corporate sustainable challenges by the help of different concepts, methods, instruments, which are in the toolbox of sustainability management. These instruments, concepts have different relevance in these challenges, and according to different literatures environmental management is outside of social and integration challenge. Main aim of this paper is to represent the answer for the question that: is it true that social and integration point of view is outside of the concept environmental accounting? Using literature review and primer research at the end of the paper the answer will be confirmed.Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, Environmentalaccounting, Integration, Sustainability management
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2482