Search results for: Functions of random variables.

Authors: Salako Emmanuel Adekunle

Abstract:

Computer education is referred to as the knowledge and ability to use computers and related technology efficiently, with a range of skills covering levels from basic use to advance. Computer continues to make an ever-increasing impact on all aspect of human endeavours such as education. With numerous benefits of computer education, what are the insights of students on computer education? This study investigated the perception of senior secondary school students on computer education in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria. A sample of 7500 senior secondary schools students was involved in the study, one hundred (100) private and fifty (50) public schools within FCT. They were selected by using simple random sampling technique. A questionnaire [PSSSCEQ] was developed and validated through expert judgement and reliability coefficient of 0.84 was obtained. It was used to gather relevant data on computer education. Findings confirmed that the students in the FCT had positive perception on computer education. Some factors were identified that affect students’ perception on computer education. The null hypotheses were tested using t-test and ANOVA statistical analyses at 0.05 level of significance. Based on these findings, some recommendations were made which include competent teachers should be employed into all secondary schools. This will help students to acquire relevant knowledge in computer education, technological supports should be provided to all secondary schools; this will help the users (students) to solve specific problems in computer education and financial supports should be provided to procure computer facilities that will enhance the teaching and the learning of computer education.

Keywords: Computer education, perception, secondary school, students.

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Authors: Gert Van Schalkwyk, Chris Cloete

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South Africa is experiencing a massive housing backlog in urban low-cost housing. A backlog in the transfer of low-cost housing units is exacerbated by various impediments and delays that exist in the current legal framework. Structured interviews were conducted with 45 practicing conveyancers and 15 deeds office examiners at the Deeds Office in Pretoria, South Africa. One of the largest, the Deeds Office in Pretoria implements a uniform registration process and can be regarded as representative of other deeds offices in South Africa. It was established that a low percentage of low-cost properties are freely transferable. The main economic impediments are the absence of financing and the affordability or payment of rates and taxes to local government. Encroachment of buildings on neighbouring stands caused by enlargement of existing small units on small stands also cause long-term unresolved legal disputes. In addition, as transfer of properties is dependent on the proper functioning of administrative functions of various government departments, the adverse service delivery of government departments hampers transfer. Addressing the identified problems will contribute to a more sustainable process for the transfer of low-cost housing units in South Africa.

Keywords: Conveyancing, low-cost housing, South Africa, tenure, transfer, titling.

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Authors: Salako Emmanuel Adekunle

Abstract:

With numerous advantages of ICT in teaching such as using images to improve the retentive memory of students, academic staff is yet to deliver instructions adequately and effectively due to no power supply, lack of technical supports and non-availability of functional ICT tools. This study was conducted to investigate the attitudes of academic staff towards the use of information communication technology as a pedagogical tool for effective teaching in FCT College of Education, Zuba-Abuja, Nigeria. A sample of 200 academic staff from five schools/faculties was involved in the study. The respondents were selected by using simple random sampling technique (SRST). A questionnaire was developed and validated by the experts in Measurement and Evaluation, and reliability co-efficient of 0.85 was obtained. It was used to gather relevant data from the respondents. This study revealed that the respondents had positive attitudes towards the use of ICT as a pedagogical tool for effective teaching. Also, the uses of ICT by the academic staff included: to encourage closer relationship for attainment of higher academic, and to deliver instructions effectively. The study also revealed that there is a significant relationship between the attitudes and the uses of ICT by the academic staff. Based on these findings, some recommendations were made which include: power supply should be provided to operate ICT facilities for effective teaching, and technical assistance on ICT usage for effective delivery of instructions should be provided among other recommendations.

Keywords: Academic staff, attitudes, information communication technology, pedagogical tool, teaching and use.

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Authors: Ε. Giovanis

Abstract:

In this paper we present an autoregressive model with neural networks modeling and standard error backpropagation algorithm training optimization in order to predict the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of four countries. Specifically we propose a kind of weighted regression, which can be used for econometric purposes, where the initial inputs are multiplied by the neural networks final optimum weights from input-hidden layer after the training process. The forecasts are compared with those of the ordinary autoregressive model and we conclude that the proposed regression-s forecasting results outperform significant those of autoregressive model in the out-of-sample period. The idea behind this approach is to propose a parametric regression with weighted variables in order to test for the statistical significance and the magnitude of the estimated autoregressive coefficients and simultaneously to estimate the forecasts.

Keywords: Autoregressive model, Error back-propagation Feed-Forward neural networks, , Gross Domestic Product

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Authors: Umut Tuğlu Karslı

Abstract:

Istanbul-Karakoy Port, field of this study, has lost its former significance in time due to the transformation of urban functions. Today, activities for regeneration of this region continue in two forms and scales. First of these activities is the "planned transformation projects," which also includes “Galataport project”, and the second one is "spontaneous transformation," which consists of individual interventions. Galataport project that based on the idea of arranging the area specifically for tourists was prepared in 2005 and became a topic of tremendous public debate. On the other hand, the "spontaneous transformation" that is observed in Karakoy District starts in 2004 with the foundation of “Istanbul Modern Museum” which allowed the cultural integration of old naval warehouses of the port to the daily life. Following this adaptive reuse intervention, the district started to accommodate numerous art galleries, studios, caféworkshops and design stores. In this context, this paper first examines regeneration studies in obsolete port regions, analyzes the planned and ongoing socio-spatial transformations in the specific case of Karakoy and performs a critical review of the sustainability of the proposals on how to reinstate the district in the active life of Istanbul.

Keywords: Port Cities, Socio-Spatial Transformation, Urban Regeneration, Urban Revitalization.

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Authors: A. S. Haruna, M. U. Tambawal, A. A. Salawu

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The psychological impact of peer influence on its individual group members, can make them resist HIV/AIDS counselling and testing. This study investigated the correlate of peer influence and resistance to HIV/AIDS counselling and testing among students in tertiary institutions in Kano state, Nigeria. To achieve this, three null hypotheses were postulated and tested. Cross- Sectional Survey Design was employed in which 1512 sample was selected from a student population of 104,841.Simple Random Sampling was used in the selection. A self-developed 20-item scale called Peer Influence and Psychological Resistance Inventory (PIPRI) was used for data collection. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMCC) via test-retest method was applied to estimate a reliability coefficient of 0.86 for the scale. Data obtained was analyzed using t-test and PPMCC at 0.05 level of confidence. Results reveal 26.3% (397) of the respondents being influenced by their peer group, while 39.8% showed resistance. Also, the t-tests and PPMCC statistics were greater than their respective critical values. This shows that there was a significant gender difference in peer influence and a difference between peer influence and resistance to HIV/AIDS counselling and testing. However, a positive relationship between peer influence and resistance to HIV/AIDS counselling and testing was shown. A major recommendation offered suggests the use of reinforcement and social support for positive attitudes and maintenance of safe behaviour among students who patronize HIV/AIDS counselling.

Keywords: Peer influence, HIV/AIDS counselling and testing, Resistance.

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Authors: N. A. Zambri, A. Mohamed, H. Shareef, M. Z. C. Wanik

Abstract:

This paper presents the modeling and simulation of a hybrid proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with an energy storage system for use in a stand-alone distributed generation (DG) system. The simulation model consists of fuel cell DG, lead-acid battery, maximum power point tracking and power conditioning unit which is modeled in the MATLAB/Simulink platform. Poor loadfollowing characteristics and slow response to rapid load changes are some of the weaknesses of PEMFC because of the gas processing reaction and the fuel cell dynamics. To address the load-tracking issues in PEMFC, a hybrid PEMFC and battery storage system is considered and modelled. The model utilizes PEMFC as the main energy source whereas the battery functions as energy storage to compensate for the limitations of PEMFC.Simulation results are given to show the overall system performance under light and heavyloading conditions.

Keywords: Hybrid, Lead–Acid Battery, Maximum Power Point Tracking, Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell.

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Authors: Aya Salama

Abstract:

Digital Twin has emerged as a compelling research area, capturing the attention of scholars over the past decade. It finds applications across diverse fields, including smart manufacturing and healthcare, offering significant time and cost savings. Notably, it often intersects with other cutting-edge technologies such as Data Mining, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning. However, the concept of a Human Digital Twin (HDT) is still in its infancy and requires further demonstration of its practicality. HDT takes the notion of Digital Twin a step further by extending it to living entities, notably humans, who are vastly different from inanimate physical objects. The primary objective of this research was to create an HDT capable of automating real-time human responses by simulating human behavior. To achieve this, the study delved into various areas, including clustering, supervised classification, topic extraction, and sentiment analysis. The paper successfully demonstrated the feasibility of HDT for generating personalized responses in social messaging applications. Notably, the proposed approach achieved an overall accuracy of 63%, a highly promising result that could pave the way for further exploration of the HDT concept. The methodology employed Random Forest for clustering the question database and matching new questions, while K-nearest neighbor was utilized for sentiment analysis.

Keywords: Human Digital twin, sentiment analysis, topic extraction, supervised machine learning, unsupervised machine learning, classification and clustering.

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Authors: Janaína F. Guidolini, Jean P. H. B. Ometto, Angélica Giarolla, Peter M. Toledo, Carlos A. Valera

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The water crisis, a major problem of the 21^st century, occurs mainly due to poor management. The central issue that should govern the management is the integration of the various aspects that interfere with the use of water resources and their protection, supported by legal basis. A watershed is a unit of water interacting with the physical, biotic, social, economic and cultural variables. The Brazilian law recognized river basin as the territorial management unit. Based on the diagnosis of the current situation of the water resources of the Rio Grande Basin, a discussion informed in the Brazilian legal basis was made to propose measures to fight or mitigate damages and environmental degradation in the Basin. To manage water resources more efficiently, conserve water and optimize their multiple uses, the integration of acquired scientific knowledge and management is essential. Moreover, it is necessary to monitor compliance with environmental legislation.

Keywords: Conservation of soil and water, river basin, sustainability, water governance.

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Authors: Hiba Basim Alwan, Ku Ruhana Ku-Mahamud

Abstract:

A direction for ACO is to optimize continuous and mixed (discrete and continuous) variables in solving problems with various types of data. Support Vector Machine (SVM), which originates from the statistical approach, is a present day classification technique. The main problems of SVM are selecting feature subset and tuning the parameters. Discretizing the continuous value of the parameters is the most common approach in tuning SVM parameters. This process will result in loss of information which affects the classification accuracy. This paper presents two algorithms that can simultaneously tune SVM parameters and select the feature subset. The first algorithm, ACO_R-SVM, will tune SVM parameters, while the second IACO_MV-R-SVM algorithm will simultaneously tune SVM parameters and select the feature subset. Three benchmark UCI datasets were used in the experiments to validate the performance of the proposed algorithms. The results show that the proposed algorithms have good performances as compared to other approaches.

Keywords: Continuous ant colony optimization, incremental continuous ant colony, simultaneous optimization, support vector machine.

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Authors: Markus Kaiser, Johannes Buchmann

Abstract:

In this article, a formal specification and verification of the Rabin public-key scheme in a formal proof system is presented. The idea is to use the two views of cryptographic verification: the computational approach relying on the vocabulary of probability theory and complexity theory and the formal approach based on ideas and techniques from logic and programming languages. A major objective of this article is the presentation of the first computer-proved implementation of the Rabin public-key scheme in Isabelle/HOL. Moreover, we explicate a (computer-proven) formalization of correctness as well as a computer verification of security properties using a straight-forward computation model in Isabelle/HOL. The analysis uses a given database to prove formal properties of our implemented functions with computer support. The main task in designing a practical formalization of correctness as well as efficient computer proofs of security properties is to cope with the complexity of cryptographic proving. We reduce this complexity by exploring a light-weight formalization that enables both appropriate formal definitions as well as efficient formal proofs. Consequently, we get reliable proofs with a minimal error rate augmenting the used database, what provides a formal basis for more computer proof constructions in this area.

Keywords: public-key encryption, Rabin public-key scheme, formalproof system, higher-order logic, formal verification.

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Authors: Rampal Singh, S. Balasundaram

Abstract:

In this paper, we study the application of Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) algorithm for single layered feedforward neural networks to non-linear chaotic time series problems. In this algorithm the input weights and the hidden layer bias are randomly chosen. The ELM formulation leads to solving a system of linear equations in terms of the unknown weights connecting the hidden layer to the output layer. The solution of this general system of linear equations will be obtained using Moore-Penrose generalized pseudo inverse. For the study of the application of the method we consider the time series generated by the Mackey Glass delay differential equation with different time delays, Santa Fe A and UCR heart beat rate ECG time series. For the choice of sigmoid, sin and hardlim activation functions the optimal values for the memory order and the number of hidden neurons which give the best prediction performance in terms of root mean square error are determined. It is observed that the results obtained are in close agreement with the exact solution of the problems considered which clearly shows that ELM is a very promising alternative method for time series prediction.

Keywords: Chaotic time series, Extreme learning machine, Generalization performance.

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Authors: M. S. Khurram, S. A. Memon, S. Khan

Abstract:

Bed voidage behavior among different flow regimes for Geldart A, B, and D particles (fluid catalytic cracking catalyst (FCC), particle A and glass beads) of diameter range 57-872 μm, apparent density 1470-3092 kg/m³, and bulk density range 890-1773 kg/m³ were investigated in a gas-solid circulating fluidized bed of 0.1 m-i.d. and 2.56 m-height of plexi-glass. Effects of variables (gas velocity, particle properties, and static bed height) were analyzed on bed voidage. The axial voidage profile showed a typical trend along the riser: a dense bed at the lower part followed by a transition in the splash zone and a lean phase in the freeboard. Bed expansion and dense bed voidage increased with an increase of gas velocity as usual. From experimental results, a generalized model relationship based on inverse fluidization number for dense bed voidage from bubbling to fast fluidization regimes was presented.

Keywords: Axial voidage, circulating fluidized bed, splash zone, static bed.

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Authors: V. Tawiwat, T. Amornthep, P. Pnop

Abstract:

Both the minimum energy consumption and smoothness, which is quantified as a function of jerk, are generally needed in many dynamic systems such as the automobile and the pick-and-place robot manipulator that handles fragile equipments. Nevertheless, many researchers come up with either solely concerning on the minimum energy consumption or minimum jerk trajectory. This research paper considers the indirect minimum Jerk method for higher order differential equation in dynamics optimization proposes a simple yet very interesting indirect jerks approaches in designing the time-dependent system yielding an alternative optimal solution. Extremal solutions for the cost functions of indirect jerks are found using the dynamic optimization methods together with the numerical approximation. This case considers the linear equation of a simple system, for instance, mass, spring and damping. The simple system uses two mass connected together by springs. The boundary initial is defined the fix end time and end point. The higher differential order is solved by Galerkin-s methods weight residual. As the result, the 6th higher differential order shows the faster solving time.

Keywords: Optimization, Dynamic, Linear Systems, Jerks.

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Authors: Dler Abdullah Ahmed, Zozan Ahmed Mohammed

Abstract:

This study looked into contact surface temperature during a pin-on-disk test. Friction and wear between sliding surfaces raised the temperature differential between contact surface and ambient temperatures Tdiff. Tdiff was significantly influenced by wear test variables. Tdiff rose with the increase of sliding speed and applied load, while dropped with the increase in ambient temperature. The highest Tdiff was 289 °C during the tests at room temperature and 2.5 m/s sliding speed, while the minimum was only 24 °C during the tests at 400 °C and 0.5 m/s. However, the maximum contact temperature Tmax was found during tests conducted at high ambient temperatures. The Tmax was estimated based on the theoretical equation. The comparison of experimental and theoretical Tmax data was revealed good agreement.

Keywords: Pin-on-disk test, contact temperature, wear, sliding surface, friction, ambient temperature.

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Authors: Y. Zheng, W. Sun

Abstract:

This paper describes a new approach which can be used to interpret the experimental creep deformation data obtained from miniaturized thin plate bending specimen test to the corresponding uniaxial data based on an inversed application of the reference stress method. The geometry of the thin plate is fully defined by the span of the support, l, the width, b, and the thickness, d. Firstly, analytical solutions for the steady-state, load-line creep deformation rate of the thin plates for a Norton’s power law under plane stress (b→0) and plane strain (b→∞) conditions were obtained, from which it can be seen that the load-line deformation rate of the thin plate under plane-stress conditions is much higher than that under the plane-strain conditions. Since analytical solution is not available for the plates with random b-values, finite element (FE) analyses are used to obtain the solutions. Based on the FE results obtained for various b/l ratios and creep exponent, n, as well as the analytical solutions under plane stress and plane strain conditions, an approximate, numerical solutions for the deformation rate are obtained by curve fitting. Using these solutions, a reference stress method is utilised to establish the conversion relationships between the applied load and the equivalent uniaxial stress and between the creep deformations of thin plate and the equivalent uniaxial creep strains. Finally, the accuracy of the empirical solution was assessed by using a set of “theoretical” experimental data.

Keywords: Bending, Creep, Miniature Specimen, Thin Plate.

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Authors: Vinko Vidučić, Ljiljana Vidučić, Damir Boras

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The goals of the research include the determination of the characteristics of SMEs finance in Croatia, as well as the determination of indirect growth rates of the information model of the entrepreneurs` perception of business environment. The research results show that cost of finance and access to finance are most important constraining factor in setting up and running the business of small entrepreneurs in Croatia. Furthermore, small entrepreneurs in Croatia are significantly dissatisfied with the administrative barriers although relatively to a lesser extent than was the case in the pre crisis time. High collateral requirement represents the main characteristic of bank lending concerning SMEs followed by long credit elaboration process. Formulated information model has defined the individual impact of indirect growth rates of the remaining variables on the model’s specific variable.

Keywords: Business environment, information model, indirect growth rates, SME finance.

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Authors: T. Motsima

Abstract:

The under-5 mortality rate is high in sub-Saharan Africa with Lesotho being amongst the highest under-5 mortality rates in the world. The objective of the study is to determine the factors associated with under-5 mortality in Lesotho. The data used for this analysis come from the nationally representative household survey called the 2009 Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey. Odds ratios produced by the logistic regression models were used to measure the effect of each independent variable on the dependent variable. Female children were significantly 38% less likely to die than male children. Children who were breastfed for 13 to 18 months and those who were breastfed for more than 19 months were significantly less likely to die than those who were breastfed for 12 months or less. Furthermore, children of mothers who stayed in Quthing, Qacha’s Nek and Thaba Tseka ran the greatest risk of dying. The results suggested that: sex of child, type of birth, breastfeeding duration, district, source of energy and marital status were significant predictors of under-5 mortality, after correcting for all variables.

Keywords: Under-5 mortality, risk factors, millennium development goals, breastfeeding, logistic regression.

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Authors: J. Salaenoi, A. Thongpan, M. Mingmuang

Abstract:

The activities of alkaline phosphatase and Ca2+ATPase in mud crab (Scylla serrata) collected from a soft-shell crab farm in Chantaburi Province, Thailand, in several stages of molting cycle were observed. The results showed that the activity of alkaline phosphatase in gill after molting was highly significant (p<0.05) comparing to those at intermolt and premolt stages. The activity profiles of alkaline phosphatase in integument and haemolymph were similar showing a decrease from intermolt to 2- week premolt stage and increased during 2-day premolt to 6-h postmolt stage before dropping at 7-day postmolt stage, while this enzyme in the gill was quite low at intermolt and premolt stages. For Ca2+ATPase, the activity profiles in gill and integument corresponded to the molting variation, especially the activities increased during 5-7 day postmolt stage were at highly significant levels (p<0.05) comparing to those at premolt and early postmolt stages. The highest activity of Ca2+ATPase in haemolymph was found at 2-week premolt stage (p<0.05). Changes in alkaline phosphatase and Ca2+ATPase activities over the molting cycle clearly indicated their active functions on calcification.

Keywords: Scylla serrata, molting cycle, alkaline phosphatase, Ca2+ATPase

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Authors: Abiodun M. Aibinu, Athaur Rahman Najeeb, Momoh J. E. Salami, Amir A. Shafie

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An alternative approach to the use of Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) reconstruction is the use of parametric modeling technique. This method is suitable for problems in which the image can be modeled by explicit known source functions with a few adjustable parameters. Despite the success reported in the use of modeling technique as an alternative MRI reconstruction technique, two important problems constitutes challenges to the applicability of this method, these are estimation of Model order and model coefficient determination. In this paper, five of the suggested method of evaluating the model order have been evaluated, these are: The Final Prediction Error (FPE), Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Residual Variance (RV), Minimum Description Length (MDL) and Hannan and Quinn (HNQ) criterion. These criteria were evaluated on MRI data sets based on the method of Transient Error Reconstruction Algorithm (TERA). The result for each criterion is compared to result obtained by the use of a fixed order technique and three measures of similarity were evaluated. Result obtained shows that the use of MDL gives the highest measure of similarity to that use by a fixed order technique.

Keywords: Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA), MagneticResonance Imaging (MRI), Parametric modeling, Transient Error.

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Authors: N.A. Rashidi, S. Yusup, M.M. Ahmad

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As the fossil fuels kept on depleting, intense research in developing hydrogen (H2) as the alternative fuel has been done to cater our tremendous demand for fuel. The potential of H2 as the ultimate clean fuel differs with the fossil fuel that releases significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the surrounding and leads to the global warming. The experimental work was carried out to study the production of H2 from palm kernel shell steam gasification at different variables such as heating rate, steam to biomass ratio and adsorbent to biomass ratio. Maximum H2 composition which is 61% (volume basis) was obtained at heating rate of 100oCmin-1, steam/biomass of 2:1 ratio, and adsorbent/biomass of 1:1 ratio. The commercial adsorbent had been modified by utilizing the alcoholwater mixture. Characteristics of both adsorbents were investigated and it is concluded that flowability and floodability of modified CaO is significantly improved.

Keywords: Biomass gasification, Calcium oxide, Carbon dioxide capture, Sorbent flowability

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Authors: Ali Kezmane, Said Boukais, Mohand Hamizi

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This paper presents an analytical study on the behavior of reinforced concrete walls with rectangular cross section. Several experiments on such walls have been selected to be studied. Database from various experiments were collected and nominal shear wall strengths have been calculated using formulas, such as those of the ACI (American), NZS (New Zealand), Mexican (NTCC), and Wood and Barda equations. Subsequently, nominal shear wall strengths from the formulas were compared with the ultimate shear wall strengths from the database. These formulas vary substantially in functional form and do not account for all variables that affect the response of walls. There is substantial scatter in the predicted values of ultimate shear strength. Two new semi empirical equations are developed using data from tests of 57 walls for transitions walls and 27 for slender walls with the objective of improving the prediction of peak strength of walls with the most possible accurate.

Keywords: Shear strength, reinforced concrete walls, rectangular walls, shear walls, models.

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Authors: Parvinder S. Sandhu, Roma Jaswal, Sandeep Khimta, Shailendra Singh

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As the majority of faults are found in a few of its modules so there is a need to investigate the modules that are affected severely as compared to other modules and proper maintenance need to be done in time especially for the critical applications. As, Neural networks, which have been already applied in software engineering applications to build reliability growth models predict the gross change or reusability metrics. Neural networks are non-linear sophisticated modeling techniques that are able to model complex functions. Neural network techniques are used when exact nature of input and outputs is not known. A key feature is that they learn the relationship between input and output through training. In this present work, various Neural Network Based techniques are explored and comparative analysis is performed for the prediction of level of need of maintenance by predicting level severity of faults present in NASA-s public domain defect dataset. The comparison of different algorithms is made on the basis of Mean Absolute Error, Root Mean Square Error and Accuracy Values. It is concluded that Generalized Regression Networks is the best algorithm for classification of the software components into different level of severity of impact of the faults. The algorithm can be used to develop model that can be used for identifying modules that are heavily affected by the faults.

Keywords: Neural Network, Software faults, Software Metric.

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Authors: Nora Yusma Bte Mohamed Yusoff, Hussain Ali Bekhet

Abstract:

The rationalization of a gradual subsidies reforms plan has been set out by the Malaysian government to achieve the high-income nation target. This paper attempts to analyze the impacts of energy subsidy reform policy on fiscal deficit and macroeconomics variables in Malaysia. The Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Model is employed. Three simulations based on different groups of scenarios have been developed. Importantly, the overall results indicate that removal of fuel subsidy has significantly improved the real GDP and reduced the government fiscal deficit. On the other hand, the removal of the fuel subsidy has increased most of the local commodity prices, especially energy commodities. The findings of the study could provide some imperative inputs for policy makers, especially to identify the right policy mechanism. This is especially ensures the subsidy savings from subsidy removal could be transferred back into the domestic economy in the form of infrastructure development, compensation and increases in others sector output contributions towards a sustainable economic growth.

Keywords: CGE, deficit, energy, reform, subsidy.

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Authors: Rahmat A, Radin Rafeeuddin R. D., Norasrudin S., Mastura M.

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The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of a footballer-s postural on selected physical fitness components. Twenty-one (21) subjects of the university male footballers under the Sport Excellence Center programme were photographed using qualitative analysis. The postural variables were stratified manually into normal and anomalies group and their flexibility, strength and SAQ performance were compared using the Mann-Whitney Test. The AROM assessment and SAQ test reported no significance difference (Z=-.398, p=0.711, p>0.05), similar to the lower body strength was shown with no significance different (Z=-.493, p=0.640, p>0.05). In contrast, only 1 RM strength test for the upper body strength test shown with a significance different (Z=- 2.537, p=0.009, p<0.05) the. Hence, the Body posture among the football athletes with anomalies does not influence selected physical fitness components. This study has proven, that postural anomalies will not affect or influence the physical performance the respective athletes.

Keywords: Postural Analysis, Anomalies, Flexibility, Strength, SAQ.

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Authors: Shaharin A. Sulaiman, Malcolm Lawes

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Combustion of sprays is of technological importance, but its flame behavior is not fully understood. Furthermore, the multiplicity of dependent variables such as pressure, temperature, equivalence ratio, and droplet sizes complicates the study of spray combustion. Fundamental study on the influence of the presence of liquid droplets has revealed that laminar flames within aerosol mixtures more readily become unstable than for gaseous ones and this increases the practical burning rate. However, fundamental studies on turbulent flames of aerosol mixtures are limited particularly those under near mono-dispersed droplet conditions. In the present work, centrally ignited expanding flames at near atmospheric pressures are employed to quantify the burning rates in gaseous and aerosol flames. Iso-octane-air aerosols are generated by expansion of the gaseous pre-mixture to produce a homogeneously distributed suspension of fuel droplets. The effects of the presence of droplets and turbulence velocity in relation to the burning rates of the flame are also investigated.

Keywords: Burning Rate, Droplets, Flames, Turbulent

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Authors: Bibhya Sharma, Jito Vanualailai, Ravindra Rai

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This research paper designs a unique motion planner of multiple platoons of nonholonomic car-like robots as a feasible solution to the lane changing/merging maneuvers. The decentralized planner with a leaderless approach and a path-guidance principle derived from the Lyapunov-based control scheme generates collision free avoidance and safe merging maneuvers from multiple lanes to a single lane by deploying a split/merge strategy. The fixed obstacles are the markings and boundaries of the road lanes, while the moving obstacles are the robots themselves. Real and virtual road lane markings and the boundaries of road lanes are incorporated into a workspace to achieve the desired formation and configuration of the robots. Convergence of the robots to goal configurations and the repulsion of the robots from specified obstacles are achieved by suitable attractive and repulsive potential field functions, respectively. The results can be viewed as a significant contribution to the avoidance algorithm of the intelligent vehicle systems (IVS). Computer simulations highlight the effectiveness of the split/merge strategy and the acceleration-based controllers.

Keywords: Lane merging, Lyapunov-based control scheme, path-guidance principle, split/merge strategy.

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Authors: Kamel Hashem, Ibrahim Arman

Abstract:

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in mathematical education is a very active field of research and innovation, where learning is understood to be meaningful and grasping multiple linked representation rather than rote memorization, a great amount of literature offering a wide range of theories, learning approaches, methodologies and interpretations, are generally stressing the potentialities for teaching and learning using ICT. Despite the utilization of new learning approaches with ICT, students experience difficulties in learning concepts relevant to understanding mathematics, much remains unclear about the relationship between the computer environment, the activities it might support, and the knowledge that might emerge from such activities. Many questions that might arise in this regard: to what extent does the use of ICT help students in the process of understanding and solving tasks or problems? Is it possible to identify what aspects or features of students' mathematical learning can be enhanced by the use of technology? This paper will highlight the interest of the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) into the teaching and learning of mathematics (quadratic functions), it aims to investigate the effect of four instructional methods on students- mathematical understanding and problem solving. Quantitative and qualitative methods are used to report about 43 students in middle school. Results showed that mathematical thinking and problem solving evolves as students engage with ICT activities and learn cooperatively.

Keywords: Dynamic Geometry Software, Information and Communication Technologies, Visualization, Mathematical Education.

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Authors: Sirikarn Satimanont, Apanee Luengnaruemitchai, Sujitra Wongkasemjit

Abstract:

Lignocellulosic materials are new targeted source to produce second generation biofuels like biobutanol. However, this process is significantly resisted by the native structure of biomass. Therefore, pretreatment process is always essential to remove hemicelluloses and lignin prior to the enzymatic hydrolysis. The goals of pretreatment are removing hemicelluloses and lignin, increasing biomass porosity, and increasing the enzyme accessibility. The main goal of this research is to study the important variables such as pretreatment temperature and time, which can give the highest total sugar yield in pretreatment step by using dilute phosphoric acid. After pretreatment, the highest total sugar yield of 13.61 g/L was obtained under an optimal condition at 140°C for 10 min of pretreatment time by using 1.75% (w/w) H3PO4 and at 15:1 liquid to solid ratio. The total sugar yield of two-stage process (pretreatment+enzymatic hydrolysis) of 27.38 g/L was obtained.

Keywords: Butanol production, Corn cobs, Phosphoric acid, Pretreatment

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Authors: Yi-Zhong Weng, Chien-Kang Huang, Yu-Feng Huang, Chi-Yuan Yu, Darby Tien-Hao Chang

Abstract:

Search for a tertiary substructure that geometrically matches the 3D pattern of the binding site of a well-studied protein provides a solution to predict protein functions. In our previous work, a web server has been built to predict protein-ligand binding sites based on automatically extracted templates. However, a drawback of such templates is that the web server was prone to resulting in many false positive matches. In this study, we present a sequence-order constraint to reduce the false positive matches of using automatically extracted templates to predict protein-ligand binding sites. The binding site predictor comprises i) an automatically constructed template library and ii) a local structure alignment algorithm for querying the library. The sequence-order constraint is employed to identify the inconsistency between the local regions of the query protein and the templates. Experimental results reveal that the sequence-order constraint can largely reduce the false positive matches and is effective for template-based binding site prediction.

Keywords: Protein structure, binding site, functional prediction

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