Search results for: learning community

Authors: Wichuda Kunnu, Aungkana Sukwises

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Audio-lingual Method (ALM) is a teaching approach that is claimed that ineffective for teaching second/foreign languages. Because some linguists and second/foreign language teachers believe that ALM is a rote learning style. However, this study is done on a belief that ALM will be able to solve Thais’ English speaking problem. This paper aims to report the findings on teaching English speaking to adult learners with an “adapted ALM”, one distinction of which is to use Thai as the medium language of instruction. The participants are consisted of 9 adult learners. They were allowed to speak English more freely using both the materials presented in the class and their background knowledge of English. At the end of the course, they spoke English more fluently, more confidently, to the extent that they applied what they learnt both in and outside the class.

Keywords: Teaching English, Audio Lingual Method.

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Authors: Zahra Hatami, Hesham Ali, David Volkman

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Selecting a portfolio for investing is a crucial decision for individuals and legal entities. In the last two decades, with economic globalization, a stream of financial innovations has rushed to the aid of financial institutions. The importance of selecting stocks for the portfolio is always a challenging task for investors. This study aims to create a financial network to identify optimal portfolios using network centralities metrics. This research presents a community detection technique of superior stocks that can be described as an optimal stock portfolio to be used by investors. By using the advantages of a network and its property in extracted communities, a group of stocks was selected for each of the various time periods. The performance of the optimal portfolios was compared to the famous index. Their Sharpe ratio was calculated in a timely manner to evaluate their profit for making decisions. The analysis shows that the selected potential portfolio from stocks with low centrality measurement can outperform the market; however, they have a lower Sharpe ratio than stocks with high centrality scores. In other words, stocks with low centralities could outperform the S&P500 yet have a lower Sharpe ratio than high central stocks.

Keywords: Portfolio management performance, network analysis, centrality measurements, Sharpe ratio.

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Authors: Wenguang Ding, Yang Wu, Xia Wang, Yayu Gao

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Biogas, a clean renewable energy, is attracting a growing concern of researchers and professionals in many fields. Based on the natural and climatic conditions in semi-arid regions of northwestern China, the present study introduces a specifically-designed family-size biogas plant (with a digester of 10m3) with manure and urine of animals and humanity as raw materials. The biogas plant is applicable to areas with altitudes of more than 2000 meters in northwestern China. In addition to the installation cost, a little operational expenditure, structure, characteristics, benefits of this small-scale biogas plant, this article introduces a wide range of specific popularization methods such as training, financial support, guided tour to the biogas plant, community-based group study and delivery of operational manuals. The feasibility of the biogas plant is explored on the basis of the availability of the raw materials. Simple operations contained in the current work increase the possibility of the wide use of this small-scale biogas plant in similar regions of the world.

Keywords: biogas, family-size biogas plant, northwestern China, popularization

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Authors: Firas M. Tuaimah

Abstract:

This paper presents an Artificial Neural Network based approach for short-term load forecasting and exactly for two days ahead. Two seasons have been discussed for Iraqi power system, namely summer and winter; the hourly load demand is the most important input variables for ANN based load forecasting. The recorded daily load profile with a lead time of 1-48 hours for July and December of the year 2012 was obtained from the operation and control center that belongs to the Ministry of Iraqi electricity.

The results of the comparison show that the neural network gives a good prediction for the load forecasting and for two days ahead.

Keywords: Short-Term Load Forecasting, Artificial Neural Networks, Back propagation learning.

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Authors: Kari Björn, Mikael Soini

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Higher Education system reforms, especially Finnish system of Universities of Applied Sciences in 2014 are discussed. The new steering model is based on major legislative changes, output-oriented funding and open information. The governmental steering reform, especially the financial model and the resulting institutional level responses, such as a curriculum reforms are discussed, focusing especially in engineering programs. The paper is motivated by management need to establish objective steering-related performance indicators and to apply them consistently across all educational programs. The close relationship to governmental steering and funding model imply that internally derived indicators can be directly applied. Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (MUAS) as a case institution is briefly introduced, focusing on engineering education in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and its related programs. The reform forced consolidation of previously separate smaller programs into fewer units of student application. New curriculum ICT students have a common first year before they apply for a Major. A framework of parallel and longitudinal comparisons is introduced and used across Majors in two campuses. The new externally introduced performance criteria are applied internally on ICT Majors using data ex-ante and ex-post of program merger.  A comparative performance of the Majors after completion of joint first year is established, focusing on previously omitted Majors for completeness of analysis. Some new research questions resulting from transfer of Majors between campuses and quota setting are discussed. Practical orientation identifies best practices to share or targets needing most attention for improvement. This level of analysis is directly applicable at student group and teaching team level, where corrective actions are possible, when identified. The analysis is quantitative and the nature of the corrective actions are not discussed. Causal relationships and factor analysis are omitted, because campuses, their staff and various pedagogical implementation details contain still too many undetermined factors for our limited data. Such qualitative analysis is left for further research. Further study must, however, be guided by the relevance of the observations.

Keywords: Engineering education, integrated curriculum, learning outcomes, performance measurement.

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Authors: Barzan Hadi Hama Karim

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The primary purpose of this paper is to explain the impact of successful classroom management on the academic achievements of students, the importance of positive relationship between teacher and students, among students, between teacher and parents. Effective communication plays an important role to encourage students study hard and learn materials which are covered by the teacher in the class. Friendly relationships among students other than their preferred friends help them to have team working and be socialized. In addition, a well-organized classroom arrangement enhances students learning. As the consequence of successful classroom management students should feel responsibility and need to feel it. The one who is responsible to provide a comfortable environment and help students learn is the manager of the classroom who is named Teacher.

Keywords: Classroom management, positive relationship, effective communication, teacher, student.

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Authors: H. Çimen, İ. Yabanova, M. Nartkaya, S. M. Çinar

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This paper presents a web based remote access microcontroller laboratory. Because of accelerated development in electronics and computer technologies, microcontroller-based devices and appliances are found in all aspects of our daily life. Before the implementation of remote access microcontroller laboratory an experiment set is developed by teaching staff for training microcontrollers. Requirement of technical teaching and industrial applications are considered when experiment set is designed. Students can make the experiments by connecting to the experiment set which is connected to the computer that set as the web server. The students can program the microcontroller, can control digital and analog inputs and can observe experiment. Laboratory experiment web page can be accessed via www.elab.aku.edu.tr address.

Keywords: Embedded systems education, distance learning, internet-based control, remote microcontroller laboratory.

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Authors: Susan.Bandias

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This paper examines the role of telecommunications in sustainable development of urban, rural and remote communities in the Northern Territory of Australia through the theoretical lens of Social Capital. Social Capital is a relatively new construct and is rapidly gaining interest among policy makers, politicians and researchers as a means to both describe and understand social and economic development. Increasingly, the concept of Social Capital, as opposed to the traditional economic indicators, is seen as a more accurate measure of well-being. Whilst the essence of Social Capital is quality social relations, the concept intersects with telecommunications and Information Communications Technology (ICT) in a number of ways. The potential of ICT to disseminate information quickly, to reach vast numbers of people simultaneously and to include the previously excluded, is immense. However, the exact nature of the relationship is not clearly defined. This paper examines the nexus between social relations of mutual benefit, telecommunications access and sustainable development. A mixed methodological approach was used to test the hypothesis that No relationship exists between Social Capital and access to telecommunications services and facilities. Four communities, which included two urban, a rural and a remote Indigenous community in the Northern Territory of Australia are the focus of this research paper.

Keywords: Indigenous disadvantage, Social Capital, sustainable development, telecommunications.

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Authors: Su-Lien Liao

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Most of college students in Taiwan do not have sufficient English proficiency to express themselves in written English. Teachers spent a lot of time correcting the errors in students’ English writing, but the results are not satisfactory. This study aims to use blogs as a teaching and learning tool in written English. Before applying peer assessment, students should be trained to be good reviewers.  The teacher starts the course by posting the error analysis of students’ first English composition on blogs as the comment models for students. Then the students will go through the process of drafting, composing, peer response and last revision on blogs. Evaluation questionnaires and interviews will be conducted at the end of the course to see the impact and also students’ perception for the course.

Keywords: Blog, Peer assessment, English writing, Error analysis.

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Authors: Alexander Dao, Oscar Wambuguh

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a heterogeneous functional bowel disease that is characterized by chronic visceral abdominal pain and abnormal bowel function and habits. Its multifactorial pathophysiology and mechanisms are still largely a mystery to the contemporary biomedical community, although there are many hypotheses to try to explain IBS’s presumed physiological, psychosocial, genetic, and environmental etiologies. IBS’s symptomatic presentation is varied and divided into four major subtypes: IBS-C, IBS-D, IBS-M, and IBS-U. Given its diverse presentation and unclear mechanisms, diagnosis is done through a combination of positive identification utilizing the “Rome IV Irritable Bowel Syndrome Criteria'' (Rome IV) diagnostic criteria while also excluding other potential conditions with similar symptoms. Treatment of IBS is focused on the management of symptoms using an assortment of pharmaceuticals, lifestyle changes, and dietary changes, with future potential in microbial treatment and psychotherapy as other therapy methods. Its chronic, heterogeneous nature and disruptive gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are negatively impactful on patients’ daily lives, health systems, and society. However, with a better understanding of the gaps in knowledge and technological advances in IBS’s pathophysiology, management, and treatment options, there is optimism for the millions of people worldwide who are suffering from the debilitating effects of IBS.

Keywords: Irritable bowel syndrome, lifestyle, diet, functional gastrointestinal disorder.

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Authors: Pilar Rey-del-Castillo, Jesús Cardeñosa

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There are many situations where input feature vectors are incomplete and methods to tackle the problem have been studied for a long time. A commonly used procedure is to replace each missing value with an imputation. This paper presents a method to perform categorical missing data imputation from numerical and categorical variables. The imputations are based on Simpson-s fuzzy min-max neural networks where the input variables for learning and classification are just numerical. The proposed method extends the input to categorical variables by introducing new fuzzy sets, a new operation and a new architecture. The procedure is tested and compared with others using opinion poll data.

Keywords: Classifier, imputation techniques, fuzzy systems, fuzzy min-max neural networks.

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Authors: Juha Kettunen

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This study presents a project that tests and adjusts active European learning and teaching methods in Indonesian universities to increase their external impact on enterprises and other organizations; it also assesses the implementation of the Erasmus+ projects funded by the European Union. The project is based on the approach of innovation pedagogy that responds to regional development needs and integrates applied research and development projects into education to create capabilities for students to participate in development work after graduation. The assessment of the Erasmus+ project resulted in many improvements that can be made to achieve higher quality and innovativeness. The results of this study are useful for those who want to improve the applied research and development projects of higher education institutions.

Keywords: Higher education, innovations, project management, networks.

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Authors: S. H. J. Liu

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This paper aims to explore the role of peer Corrective Feedback (CF) in improving written productions by English-as-a- foreign-language (EFL) learners who work together via Wikispaces. It attempted to determine the effect of peer CF on form accuracy in English, such as grammar and lexis. Thirty-four EFL learners at the tertiary level were randomly assigned into the experimental (with peer feedback) or the control (without peer feedback) group; each group was subdivided into small groups of two or three. This resulted in six and seven small groups in the experimental and control groups, respectively. In the experimental group, each learner played a role as an assessor (providing feedback to others), as well as an assessee (receiving feedback from others). Each participant was asked to compose his/her written work and revise it based on the feedback. In the control group, on the other hand, learners neither provided nor received feedback but composed and revised their written work on their own. Data collected from learners’ compositions and post-task interviews were analyzed and reported in this study. Following the completeness of three writing tasks, 10 participants were selected and interviewed individually regarding their perception of collaborative learning in the Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) environment. Language aspects to be analyzed included lexis (e.g., appropriate use of words), verb tenses (e.g., present and past simple), prepositions (e.g., in, on, and between), nouns, and articles (e.g., a/an). Feedback types consisted of CF, affective, suggestive, and didactic. Frequencies of feedback types and the accuracy of the language aspects were calculated. The results first suggested that accurate items were found more in the experimental group than in the control group. Such results entail that those who worked collaboratively outperformed those who worked non-collaboratively on the accuracy of linguistic aspects. Furthermore, the first type of CF (e.g., corrections directly related to linguistic errors) was found to be the most frequently employed type, whereas affective and didactic were the least used by the experimental group. The results further indicated that most participants perceived that peer CF was helpful in improving the language accuracy, and they demonstrated a favorable attitude toward working with others in the CMC environment. Moreover, some participants stated that when they provided feedback to their peers, they tended to pay attention to linguistic errors in their peers’ work but overlook their own errors (e.g., past simple tense) when writing. Finally, L2 or FL teachers or practitioners are encouraged to employ CMC technologies to train their students to give each other feedback in writing to improve the accuracy of the language and to motivate them to attend to the language system.

Keywords: Peer corrective feedback, computer-mediated communication, second or foreign language learning, Wikispaces.

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Authors: S. Kotsiantis, A. Kostoulas, S. Lykoudis, A. Argiriou, K. Menagias

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Estimates of temperature values at a specific time of day, from daytime and daily profiles, are needed for a number of environmental, ecological, agricultural and technical applications, ranging from natural hazards assessments, crop growth forecasting to design of solar energy systems. The scope of this research is to investigate the efficiency of data mining techniques in estimating minimum, maximum and mean temperature values. For this reason, a number of experiments have been conducted with well-known regression algorithms using temperature data from the city of Patras in Greece. The performance of these algorithms has been evaluated using standard statistical indicators, such as Correlation Coefficient, Root Mean Squared Error, etc.

Keywords: regression algorithms, supervised machine learning.

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Authors: Riham A. Ragheb, Ingy M. Naguib

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Conservation and urban investment are a prerequisite to improve the quality of life. Since the historic street is a part of the economic system, it should be able to play an important role in the city development by upgrading all services, public open spaces and reuse of historical buildings and sites. Furthermore, historical conservation enriches the political, economic, social, cultural and functional aspects of the site. Rosetta has been selected as an area of study because it has a unique character due to its possession of a variety of monuments and historical buildings. The aim of this research is to analyze the existing situation of an historic street named El Sheikh Kandil, to be able to identify the potentials and problems. The paper gives a proposal for the redesign and reinvestment of the street and the reuse for the historical buildings to serve the community, users and visitors. Then, it concludes with recommendations to improve quality of life through the rehabilitation of the historical buildings and strengthening of the cultural and historical identity of the street. Rosetta city can benefit from these development proposals by preserving and revitalizing its unique character which leads to tourism development and benefits from the new investments.

Keywords: Adaptive reuse, heritage street, historic investment, restoration, urban design.

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Authors: Ayşe Eldem, Fatih Başçiftçi

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Braille alphabet is an important tool that enables visually impaired individuals to have a comfortable life like those who have normal vision. For this reason, new applications related to the Braille alphabet are being developed. In this study, a new Refreshable Braille Display was developed to help visually impaired individuals learn the Braille alphabet easier. By means of this system, any text downloaded on a computer can be read by the visually impaired individual at that moment by feeling it by his/her hands. Through this electronic device, it was aimed to make learning the Braille alphabet easier for visually impaired individuals with whom the necessary tests were conducted.

Keywords: Visually Impaired Individual, Braille, Braille Display, Refreshable Braille Display, USB.

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Authors: Manuela Nayantara Jeyaraj

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Green IT is a term that refers to the collective strategic and tactical practices that unswervingly condense the carbon footprint to a diminished proportion in an establishment’s computing procedures. This concept has been tightly knit with IT related organizations; hence it has been precluded to be applied within non-IT organizations in Sri Lanka. With the turn of the century, computing technologies have taken over commonplace activities in every nook and corner in Sri Lanka, which is still on the verge of moving forth in its march towards being a developed country. Hence, it needs to be recursively proven that non-IT industries are well-bound to adhere to ‘Green IT’ practices as well, in order to reduce their carbon footprint and move towards considering the practicality of implementing Green-IT practices within their work-arounds. There are several spheres that need to be taken into account in creating awareness of ‘Green IT’, such as the economic breach, technologies available, legislative bounds, community mind-set and many more. This paper tends to reconnoiter causes that currently restrain non-IT organizations from considering Green IT concepts. By doing so, it is expected to prove the beneficial providence gained by implementing this concept within the organization. The ultimate goal is to propose feasible ‘Green IT’ practices that could be implemented within the context of Sri Lankan non-IT sectors in order to ensure that organization’s sustainable growth towards a long term existence.

Keywords: Computing practices, green IT, non-IT industries, Sri Lanka, sustainability.

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Authors: Elinda Ai-Lim Lee, Kok Wai Wong, Chun Che Fung

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The use of Virtual Reality (VR) in schools and higher education is proliferating. Due to its interactive and animated features, it is regarded as a promising technology to increase students- spatial ability. Spatial ability is assumed to have a prominent role in science and engineering domains. However, research concerning individual differences such as spatial ability in the context of VR is still at its infancy. Moreover, empirical studies that focus on the features of VR to improve spatial ability are to date rare. Thus, this paper explores the possible educational values of VR in relation to spatial ability to call for more research concerning spatial ability in the context of VR based on studies in computerbased learning. It is believed that the incorporation of state-of-the-art VR technology for educational purposes should be justified by the enhanced benefits for the target learners.

Keywords: Ability-as-compensator, ability-as-enhancer, spatialability, virtual reality.

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Authors: Yayun Hsu, Henry Horng-Shing Lu

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This paper proposes a data-driven, biology-inspired neural segmentation method of 3D drosophila Brainbow images. We use Bayesian Sequential Partitioning algorithm for probabilistic modeling, which can be used to detect somas and to eliminate crosstalk effects. This work attempts to develop an automatic methodology for neuron image segmentation, which nowadays still lacks a complete solution due to the complexity of the image. The proposed method does not need any predetermined, risk-prone thresholds, since biological information is inherently included inside the image processing procedure. Therefore, it is less sensitive to variations in neuron morphology; meanwhile, its flexibility would be beneficial for tracing the intertwining structure of neurons.

Keywords: Brainbow, 3D imaging, image segmentation, neuron morphology, biological data mining, non-parametric learning.

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Authors: A.A. Amran, S. R. M. Shukri, S. M. Taib

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The role of entrepreneurs in generating the economy is very important. Thus, nurturing entrepreneurship skills among society is very crucial and should start from the early age. One of the methods is to teach through game such as board game. Game provides a fun and interactive platform for players to learn and play. Besides that as today-s world is moving towards Islamic approach in terms of finance, banking and entertainment but Islamic based game is still hard to find in the market especially games on entrepreneurship. Therefore, there is a gap in this segment that can be filled by learning entrepreneurship through game. The objective of this paper is to develop an entrepreneurship digital-based game entitled “Catur Bistari" that is based on Islamic business approach. Knowledge and skill of entrepreneurship and Islamic business approach will be learned through the tasks that are incorporated inside the game.

Keywords: Board game, educational game, entrepreneurship, Islamic finance and simulation.

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Authors: Raluca Iulia Iulian

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The question of interethnic and interreligious conflicts in ex-Yugoslavia receives much attention within the framework of the international context created after 1991 because of the impact of these conflicts on the security and the stability of the region of Balkans and of Europe. This paper focuses on the rationales leading to the declaration of independence by Kosovo according to ethnic and religious criteria and analyzes why these same rationales were not applied in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The approach undertaken aims at comparatively examining the cases of Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time, it aims at understanding the political decision making of the international community in the case of Kosovo. Specifically, was this a good political decision for the security and the stability of the region of Balkans, of Europe, or even for global security and stability? This research starts with an overview on the European security framework post 1991, paying particular attention to Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It then presents the theoretical and methodological framework and compares the representative cases. Using the constructivism issue and the comparative methodology, it arrives at the results of the study. An important issue of the paper is the thesis that this event modifies the principles of international law and creates dangerous precedents for regional stability in the Balkans.

Keywords: Interethnic and interreligious conflict, security andstability, superpower.

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Authors: Ersen Yazıcı, Erhan Ertekin

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In this study, any possible differences between mathematics beliefs and anxiety of prospective elementary mathematics teachers have been investigated according to their gender. In this purpose, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students from a Government University in Turkey were selected as a sample. Mathematics Teaching Anxiety Scale (MATAS) and Beliefs About Mathematics Survey (BAMS) has been used as data collection tools. As a result of the study, it has been observed that prospective male teachers have more instrumentalist approach in learning mathematics than females according to their mathematical beliefs. On the other hand, females have more mathematics teaching anxiety than males especially, for subject knowledge in mathematics and selfconfidence.

Keywords: Mathematical beliefs, mathematics teaching anxiety, gender, prospective elementary mathematics teachers.

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Authors: M.Paroncini, F.Corvaro, G.Nardini, S.Pistolesi

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The development of renewable energies - particularly energy from wind, water, solar power and biomass - is a central aim of the European Commission's energy policy. There are several reasons for this choice: renewable energies are sustainable, nonpolluting, widely available and clean. Increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy balance enhances sustainability. It also helps to improve the security of energy supply by reducing the Community's growing dependence on imported energy sources.In this paper it was studied the possibility to realize three photovoltaic systems in the Italian Natural Park “Gola della Rossa e di Frasassi". The first photovoltaic system is a grid-connected system for Services and Documentation Center of Castelletta with a nominal power of about 6 kWp. The second photovoltaic system is a grid-connected integrated system on the ticket office-s roof with a nominal power of about 4 kWp. The third project is set up by five grid-connected systems integrated on the roofs of the bungalows in Natural Park-s tourist camping with a nominal power of about 10 kWp. The electricity which is generated by all these plants is purchased according to the Italian program called “Conto Energia". Economical analysis and the amount of the avoided CO2 emissions are elaborated for these photovoltaic systems.

Keywords: CO2 emissions, conto energia, photovoltaic systems.

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Authors: Alicia Y. C. Tang, Rukaini Hj. Abdullah, Sharifuddin M. Zain

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This paper discusses the development of a qualitative simulator (abbreviated QRiOM) for predicting the behaviour of organic chemical reactions. The simulation technique is based on the qualitative process theory (QPT) ontology. The modelling constructs of QPT embody notions of causality which can be used to explain the behaviour of a chemical system. The major theme of this work is that, in a qualitative simulation environment, students are able to articulate his/her knowledge through the inspection of explanations generated by software. The implementation languages are Java and Prolog. The software produces explanation in various forms that stresses on the causal theories in the chemical system which can be effectively used to support learning.

Keywords: Chemical reactions, explanation, qualitative processtheory, simulation

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Authors: L. Edirisinghe, P. Mukherjee, H. Edirisinghe

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Virtual Container Yard (VCY) is a modern concept that helps to reduce the empty container repositioning cost of carriers. The concept of VCY is based on container interchange between shipping lines. Although this mechanism has been theoretically accepted by the shipping community as a feasible solution, it has not yet achieved the necessary momentum among container shipping lines (CSL). This paper investigates whether there is any legal influence on this industry myopia about the VCY. It is believed that this is the first publication that focuses on the legal aspects of container exchange between carriers. Not much literature on this subject is available. This study establishes with statistical evidence that there is a phobia prevailing in the shipping industry that exchanging containers with other carriers may lead to various legal implications. The complexity of exchange is two faceted. CSLs assume that offering a container to another carrier (obviously, a competitor in terms of commercial context) or using a container offered by another carrier may lead to undue legal implications. This research reveals that this fear is reflected through four types of perceived components, namely: shipping associate; warehouse associate; network associate; and trading associate. These components carry eighteen subcomponents that comprehensively cover the entire process of a container shipment. The statistical explanation has been supported through regression analysis; INCO terms were used to illustrate the shipping process.

Keywords: Container, legal, shipping, virtual.

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Authors: M. Rodionov, Z. Dedovets

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This article discusses plausible reasoning use for solution to practical problems. Such reasoning is the major driver of motivation and implementation of mathematical, scientific and educational research activity. A general, practical problem solving algorithm is presented which includes an analysis of specific problem content to build, solve and interpret the underlying mathematical model. The author explores the role of practical problems such as the stimulation of students' interest, the development of their world outlook and their orientation in the modern world at the different stages of learning mathematics in secondary school. Particular attention is paid to the characteristics of those problems which were systematized and presented in the conclusions.

Keywords: Mathematics, motivation, secondary school, student, practical problem.

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Authors: S. Ishak, M. G. Nasuruddin

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Traditional Malay performances are carried out for both entertainment and curing purposes. In curing rituals, the men and women serving as shamans, communicates with the spirits and beings from the nether world to facilitate the curing process. The dependency on engaging with these other-worldly beings however, have raised religious issues of being syirik, namely practicing in rituals which are religiously forbidden. This study aims to observe how ritual leaders attempt to negotiate the fine balance between what has been religiously forbidden and the psychological and sociological needs of the patient. Two curing rituals, the main peteri and the malibobou were chosen to exemplify the communication between the physical and spiritual realities. In both rituals, the healers engaged in procedures of curing as they attempted to diagnose sicknesses and proffer cures with the help of the spirits. The main peteri was conducted by a male shaman, the tuk teri whereas the malibobou was conducted by a female ritual specialist, the bobohizan. Main peteri and the malibobou both ended with ritually thanking and sending off the spirits back to their nether, invisible domains. These curing rituals heal not only the sick individual, but by extension, the village community. Therefore, there is a need to reconcile these rituals with religious tenets, beliefs and sociological-political-cultural dimensions.

Keywords: Traditional healing, trance, spirits, main peteri, bobohizan.

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Authors: H. Sagha, S. Kasaei, E. Enayati, M. Dehghani

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Although Face detection is not a recent activity in the field of image processing, it is still an open area for research. The greatest step in this field is the work reported by Viola and its recent analogous is Huang et al. Both of them use similar features and also similar training process. The former is just for detecting upright faces, but the latter can detect multi-view faces in still grayscale images using new features called 'sparse feature'. Finding these features is very time consuming and inefficient by proposed methods. Here, we propose a new approach for finding sparse features using a genetic algorithm system. This method requires less computational cost and gets more effective features in learning process for face detection that causes more accuracy.

Keywords: Face Detection, Genetic Algorithms, Sparse Feature.

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Authors: Seemaa Diwedi

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The study area receives a wide variety of wastes generated by municipalities and the industries like paints and pigments, metal processing industries, thermal power plants electroprocessing industries etc. The Physico-chemical and structural investigation of water from river Pandu indicated high level of chlorides and calcium which made the water unsuitable for human use. Algae like Cyclotella fumida, Asterionella Formosa, Cladophora glomerata, Pediastrum simplex, Scenedesmus bijuga, Cladophora glomerata were the dominant pollution tolerant species recorded under these conditions. The sensitive and less abundant species of algae included Spirogyra sps., Merismopedia sps. The predominance colonies of Zygnema sps, Phormidium sps, Mycrocystis aeruginosa, Merismopedia minima, Pandorina morum, seems to correlate with high organic contents of Pandu river water. This study assumes significance as some algae can be used as bioindicators of water pollution and algal floral of a municipal drain carrying waste effluents from industrial area Kanpur and discharge them into the river Pandu flowing onto southern outskirts of Kanpur city.

Keywords: Kanpur, North India, Physico-chemical, Pollution, River Pandu.

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Authors: Sana Bouzaida, Anis Sakly, Faouzi M'Sahli

Abstract:

In this paper, a TSK-type Neuro-fuzzy Inference System that combines the features of fuzzy sets and neural networks has been applied for the identification of MIMO systems. The procedure of adapting parameters in TSK model employs a Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm (SFLA) which is inspired from the memetic evolution of a group of frogs when seeking for food. To demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed controller, two nonlinear systems have been considered as the MIMO plant, and results have been compared with other learning methods based on Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA).

Keywords: Identification, Shuffled frog Leaping Algorithm (SFLA), TSK-type neuro-fuzzy model.

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