Search results for: theme based searching.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 11465

Search results for: theme based searching.

11285 Optimizing usage of ICTs and Outsourcing Strategic in Business Models and Customer Satisfaction

Authors: Saeed Rahmani Bagha, Mohammad Mirzahosseinian, Sonatkhatoon Kashanimotlagh

Abstract:

Nowadays, under developed countries for progress in science and technology and decreasing the technologic gap with developed countries, increasing the capacities and technology transfer from developed countries. To remain competitive, industry is continually searching for new methods to evolve their products. Business model is one of the latest buzzwords in the Internet and electronic business world. To be successful, organizations must look into the needs and wants of their customers. This research attempts to identify a specific feature of the company with a strong competitive advantage by analyzing the cause of Customer satisfaction. Due to the rapid development of knowledge and information technology, business environments have become much more complicated. Information technology can help a firm aiming to gain a competitive advantage. This study explores the role and effect of Information Communication Technology in Business Models and Customer satisfaction on firms and also relationships between ICTs and Outsourcing strategic.

Keywords: Information Communication Technology, Outsourcing, Customer Satisfaction, Business Plan

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11284 The Influence of User Involvement and Personal Innovativeness on User Behavior

Authors: Anne M. Sørebø, Øystein Sørebø, Maung K. Sein

Abstract:

The search for factors that influence user behavior has remained an important theme for both the academic and practitioner Information Systems Communities. In this paper we examine relevant user behaviors in the phase after adoption and investigate two factors that are expected to influence such behaviors, namely User Involvement (UI) and Personal Innovativeness in IT (PIIT). We conduct a field study to examine how these factors influence postadoption behavior and how they are interrelated. Building on theoretical premises and prior empirical findings, we propose and test two alternative models of the relationship between these factors. Our results reveal that the best explanation of post-adoption behavior is provided by the model where UI and PIIT independently influence post-adoption behavior. Our findings have important implications for research and practice. To that end, we offer directions for future research.

Keywords: User involvement, personal innovativeness in IT, use of systems, user support, post-adoption behavior.

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11283 Security, Securitization and Human Capital: The New Wave of Canadian Immigration Laws

Authors: Robert M. Russo

Abstract:

This paper analyzes the linkage between migration, economic globalization and terrorism concerns. On a broad level, I analyze Canadian economic and political considerations, searching for causal relationships between political and economic actors on the one hand, and Canadian immigration law on the other. Specifically, the paper argues that there are contradictory impulses affecting state sovereignty. These impulses are are currently being played out in the field of Canadian immigration law through several proposed changes to Canada-s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). These changes reflect an ideological conception of sovereignty that is intrinsically connected with decision-making capacity centered on an individual. This conception of sovereign decision-making views Parliamentary debate and bureaucratic inefficiencies as both equally responsible for delaying essential decisions relating to the protection of state sovereignty, economic benefits and immigration control This paper discusses these concepts in relation to Canadian immigration policy under Canadian governments over the past twenty five years.

Keywords: Globalization, immigration law, security, anti-terrorism.

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11282 Creating the Color Panoramic View using Medley of Grayscale and Color Partial Images

Authors: Dr. H. B. Kekre, Sudeep D. Thepade

Abstract:

Panoramic view generation has always offered novel and distinct challenges in the field of image processing. Panoramic view generation is nothing but construction of bigger view mosaic image from set of partial images of the desired view. The paper presents a solution to one of the problems of image seascape formation where some of the partial images are color and others are grayscale. The simplest solution could be to convert all image parts into grayscale images and fusing them to get grayscale image panorama. But in the multihued world, obtaining the colored seascape will always be preferred. This could be achieved by picking colors from the color parts and squirting them in grayscale parts of the seascape. So firstly the grayscale image parts should be colored with help of color image parts and then these parts should be fused to construct the seascape image. The problem of coloring grayscale images has no exact solution. In the proposed technique of panoramic view generation, the job of transferring color traits from reference color image to grayscale image is done by palette based method. In this technique, the color palette is prepared using pixel windows of some degrees taken from color image parts. Then the grayscale image part is divided into pixel windows with same degrees. For every window of grayscale image part the palette is searched and equivalent color values are found, which could be used to color grayscale window. For palette preparation we have used RGB color space and Kekre-s LUV color space. Kekre-s LUV color space gives better quality of coloring. The searching time through color palette is improved over the exhaustive search using Kekre-s fast search technique. After coloring the grayscale image pieces the next job is fusion of all these pieces to obtain panoramic view. For similarity estimation between partial images correlation coefficient is used.

Keywords: Panoramic View, Similarity Estimate, Color Transfer, Color Palette, Kekre's Fast Search, Kekre's LUV

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11281 ‘Saying’ the Nuclear Power in France: Evolution of the Images and Perceptions of a Sensitive Theme

Authors: Jandot Aurélia

Abstract:

As the nuclear power is a sensitive field leading to controversy, the quality of the communication about it is important. Between 1965 and 1981, in France, this one had gradually changed. This change is studied here in the main French news magazine L’Express, in connection with several parameters. As this represents a huge number of copies and occurrences, thus a considerable amount of information; this paper is focused on the main articles as well as the main “mental images”. These ones are important, as their aim is to direct the thought of the readers, and as they have led the public awareness to evolve. Over this 17 years, two trends are in confrontation: The first one is promoting the perception of the nuclear power, while the second one is discrediting it. These trends are organized in two axes: the evolution of engineering, and the risks. In both cases, the changes in the language allow discerning the deepest intentions of the magazine editing, over a period when the nuclear technology, to there a laboratory object accompanied with mystery and secret, has become a social issue seemingly open to all.

Keywords: French news magazine, mental images, nuclear power, public awareness.

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11280 A Decision Matrix for the Evaluation of Triplestores for Use in a Virtual Research Environment

Authors: Tristan O’Neill, Trina Myers, Jarrod Trevathan

Abstract:

The Tropical Data Hub (TDH) is a virtual research environment that provides researchers with an e-research infrastructure to congregate significant tropical data sets for data reuse, integration, searching, and correlation. However, researchers often require data and metadata synthesis across disciplines for cross-domain analyses and knowledge discovery. A triplestore offers a semantic layer to achieve a more intelligent method of search to support the synthesis requirements by automating latent linkages in the data and metadata. Presently, the benchmarks to aid the decision of which triplestore is best suited for use in an application environment like the TDH are limited to performance. This paper describes a new evaluation tool developed to analyze both features and performance. The tool comprises a weighted decision matrix to evaluate the interoperability, functionality, performance, and support availability of a range of integrated and native triplestores to rank them according to requirements of the TDH.

Keywords: Virtual research environment, Semantic Web, performance analysis, tropical data hub.

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11279 A National Idea in Conditions of the Islamic Revival

Authors: G. E. Nadirova, Sh. S. Kaliyeva, A. A. Mustafaeva, B. Zh. Aktaulova

Abstract:

Discussion and development of principles of the uniform nation formation within the limits of the Kazakhstan state obviously became one of the most pressing questions of the day. The fact that this question has not been solved "from above" as many other questions has caused really brisk discussion, shows us increase of civil consciousness in Kazakhstan society, and also the actuality of this theme which can be carried in the category of fatal questions. In any sense, nation building has raised civil society to a much higher level. It would be better to begin with certain definitions. First is the word "nation". The second is the "state". Both of these terms are very closely connected with each other, so that in English language they are in general synonyms. In Russian more shades of these terms exist. For example in Kazakhstan the citizens of the country irrespective of nationality (but mainly with reference to non-kazakhs) are called «kazakhstanians», while the name of the title nation is \"Kazakhs\". The same we can see in Russia, where, for example, the Chechen or the Yakut –are \"Rossiyane\" which means “the citizens of Russian Federation, but not \"Russians\". The paper was written under the research project “Islam in modern Kazakhstan: the nature and outcome of the religious revival”.

Keywords: Islamic revival, Kazakhs, Kazakhstan, Nation, National idea.

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11278 Genetic Algorithms for Feature Generation in the Context of Audio Classification

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

Abstract:

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

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

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11277 Music-Inspired Harmony Search Algorithm for Fixed Outline Non-Slicing VLSI Floorplanning

Authors: K. Sivasubramanian, K. B. Jayanthi

Abstract:

Floorplanning plays a vital role in the physical design process of Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) chips. It is an essential design step to estimate the chip area prior to the optimized placement of digital blocks and their interconnections. Since VLSI floorplanning is an NP-hard problem, many optimization techniques were adopted in the literature. In this work, a music-inspired Harmony Search (HS) algorithm is used for the fixed die outline constrained floorplanning, with the aim of reducing the total chip area. HS draws inspiration from the musical improvisation process of searching for a perfect state of harmony. Initially, B*-tree is used to generate the primary floorplan for the given rectangular hard modules and then HS algorithm is applied to obtain an optimal solution for the efficient floorplan. The experimental results of the HS algorithm are obtained for the MCNC benchmark circuits.

Keywords: Floor planning, harmony search, non-slicing floorplan, very large scale integrated circuits.

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11276 A Novel Genetic Algorithm Designed for Hardware Implementation

Authors: Zhenhuan Zhu, David Mulvaney, Vassilios Chouliaras

Abstract:

A new genetic algorithm, termed the 'optimum individual monogenetic genetic algorithm' (OIMGA), is presented whose properties have been deliberately designed to be well suited to hardware implementation. Specific design criteria were to ensure fast access to the individuals in the population, to keep the required silicon area for hardware implementation to a minimum and to incorporate flexibility in the structure for the targeting of a range of applications. The first two criteria are met by retaining only the current optimum individual, thereby guaranteeing a small memory requirement that can easily be stored in fast on-chip memory. Also, OIMGA can be easily reconfigured to allow the investigation of problems that normally warrant either large GA populations or individuals many genes in length. Local convergence is achieved in OIMGA by retaining elite individuals, while population diversity is ensured by continually searching for the best individuals in fresh regions of the search space. The results given in this paper demonstrate that both the performance of OIMGA and its convergence time are superior to those of a range of existing hardware GA implementations.

Keywords: Genetic algorithms, genetic hardware, machinelearning.

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11275 Simulation of Enhanced Biomass Gasification for Hydrogen Production using iCON

Authors: Mohd K. Yunus, Murni M. Ahmad, Abrar Inayat, Suzana Yusup

Abstract:

Due to the environmental and price issues of current energy crisis, scientists and technologists around the globe are intensively searching for new environmentally less-impact form of clean energy that will reduce the high dependency on fossil fuel. Particularly hydrogen can be produced from biomass via thermochemical processes including pyrolysis and gasification due to the economic advantage and can be further enhanced through in-situ carbon dioxide removal using calcium oxide. This work focuses on the synthesis and development of the flowsheet for the enhanced biomass gasification process in PETRONAS-s iCON process simulation software. This hydrogen prediction model is conducted at operating temperature between 600 to 1000oC at atmospheric pressure. Effects of temperature, steam-to-biomass ratio and adsorbent-to-biomass ratio were studied and 0.85 mol fraction of hydrogen is predicted in the product gas. Comparisons of the results are also made with experimental data from literature. The preliminary economic potential of developed system is RM 12.57 x 106 which equivalent to USD 3.77 x 106 annually shows economic viability of this process.

Keywords: Biomass, Gasification, Hydrogen, iCON.

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11274 Overcrowding and Adequate Housing: The Potential of Adaptability

Authors: Inês Ramalhete, Hugo Farias, Rui da Silva Pinto

Abstract:

Adequate housing has been a widely discussed theme in academic circles related to low-cost housing, whereas its physical features are easy to deal with, overcrowding (related to social, cultural and economic aspects) is still ambiguous, particularly regarding the set of indicators that can accurately reflect and measure it. This paper develops research on low-cost housing models for developing countries and what is the best method to embed overcrowding as an important parameter for adaptability. A critical review of international overcrowding indicators and their application in two developing countries, Cape Verde and Angola, is presented. The several rationales and the constraints for an accurate assessment of overcrowding are considered, namely baseline data (statistics), which can induce misjudgments, as well as social and cultural factors (such as personal choices of residents). This paper proposes a way to tackle overcrowding through housing adaptability, considering factors such as physical flexibility, functional ambiguity, and incremental expansion schemes. Moreover, a case-study is presented to establish a framework for the theoretical application of the proposed approach.

Keywords: Adaptive housing, low-cost housing, overcrowding.

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11273 Research Topic Map Construction

Authors: Hei-Chia Wang, Che-Tsung Yang

Abstract:

While the explosive increase in information published on the Web, researchers have to filter information when searching for conference related information. To make it easier for users to search related information, this paper uses Topic Maps and social information to implement ontology since ontology can provide the formalisms and knowledge structuring for comprehensive and transportable machine understanding that digital information requires. Besides enhancing information in Topic Maps, this paper proposes a method of constructing research Topic Maps considering social information. First, extract conference data from the web. Then extract conference topics and the relationships between them through the proposed method. Finally visualize it for users to search and browse. This paper uses ontology, containing abundant of knowledge hierarchy structure, to facilitate researchers getting useful search results. However, most previous ontology construction methods didn-t take “people" into account. So this paper also analyzes the social information which helps researchers find the possibilities of cooperation/combination as well as associations between research topics, and tries to offer better results.

Keywords: Ontology, topic maps, social information, co-authorship.

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11272 The Concept of Decentralization: Modern Challenges for the EU Countries, Prospects for Further Implementation in Ukraine

Authors: Alina Murtishcheva

Abstract:

The tendency of globalization, challenges to democracy and peace caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and other global conflicts require searching general orientations of governmental development, including local government. The formation of a common theoretical framework for local government guarantees not only of harmonisation of European legislation but also creates prerequisites for the integration of new members into the European Union. One of the most important milestones of such a theoretical framework is the concept of decentralization. Decentralization as a phenomenon is characteristic of most European Union countries at different historical stages. For Ukraine, as a country that has clearly defined a European integration vector of development, understanding not only the legal but also the theoretical basis of decentralization processes in European countries is an important prerequisite for further reforms. Decentralization takes different forms, which leads to a variety of understandings in doctrine and, consequently, different interpretations in national legislation. Despite this, decentralization is based on common ideas and values such as democracy, participation, the rule of law, and proximity government that are shared by all EU member states. Nevertheless, not all EU countries are currently implementing broad decentralization in their political and legal practices. Some countries are gradually moving in this direction, while others remain quite centralised. There is also a new, insufficiently studied trend today – recentralisation, which can be broadly defined as the strengthening of centralization tendencies in countries that were considered to be decentralized. Consequently, an exploratory theoretical study is needed to identify how the concept of decentralization is combined with the recentralization tendency in EU member states. The purpose of this study is to empirically analyse scientific approaches to the concept of “decentralization”, to highlight the tendency of recentralisation and its consequences, to analyse Ukraine's experience in the field of decentralization of public power, and to outline the prospects for further development of Ukrainian legislation in this area.

Keywords: Centralization, decentralization, local government, recentralization, reforms.

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11271 Molecular Dynamics of Fatty Acid Interacting with Carbon Nanotube as Selective Device

Authors: David L. Azevedo, Jordan Del Nero

Abstract:

In this paper we study a system composed by carbon nanotube (CNT) and bundle of carbon nanotube (BuCNT) interacting with a specific fatty acid as molecular probe. Full system is represented by open nanotube (or nanotubes) and the linoleic acid (LA) relaxing due the interaction with CNT and BuCNT. The LA has in his form an asymmetric shape with COOH termination provoking a close BuCNT interaction mainly by van der Waals force field. The simulations were performed by classical molecular dynamics with standard parameterizations. Our results show that these BuCNT and CNT are dynamically stable and it shows a preferential interaction position with LA resulting in three features: (i) when the LA is interacting with CNT and BuCNT (including both termination, CH2 or COOH), the LA is repelled; (ii) when the LA terminated with CH2 is closer to open extremity of BuCNT, the LA is also repelled by the interaction between them; and (iii) when the LA terminated with COOH is closer to open extremity of BuCNT, the LA is encapsulated by the BuCNT. These simulations are part of a more extensive work on searching efficient selective molecular devices and could be useful to reach this goal.

Keywords: Carbon Nanotube, Linoleic Acid, MolecularDynamics.

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11270 Effects of Introducing Similarity Measures into Artificial Bee Colony Approach for Optimization of Vehicle Routing Problem

Authors: P. Shunmugapriya, S. Kanmani, P. Jude Fredieric, U. Vignesh, J. Reman Justin, K. Vivek

Abstract:

Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) is a complex combinatorial optimization problem and it is quite difficult to find an optimal solution consisting of a set of routes for vehicles whose total cost is minimum. Evolutionary and swarm intelligent (SI) algorithms play a vital role in solving optimization problems. While the SI algorithms perform search, the diversity between the solutions they exploit is very important. This is because of the need to avoid early convergence and to get an appropriate balance between the exploration and exploitation. Therefore, it is important to check how far the solutions are diverse. In this paper, we measure the similarity between solutions, which ABC exploits while optimizing VRP. The similar solutions found are discarded at the end of the iteration and only unique solutions are passed on to the next iteration. The bees of discarded solutions become scouts and they start searching for new solutions. This process is continued and results show that the solution is optimized at lesser number of iterations but with the overhead of computing similarity in all the iterations. The problem instance from Solomon benchmarked dataset has been used for evaluating the presented methodology.

Keywords: ABC algorithm, vehicle routing problem, optimization, Jaccard’s similarity measure.

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11269 Sport Facilities and Social Change: European Funds as an Opportunity for Urban Regeneration

Authors: Lorenzo Maiorino, Fabio Fortuna, Giovanni Panebianco, Marco Sanzari, Gabriella Arcese, Valerio Maria Paolozzi

Abstract:

It is well known that sport is a factor of social cohesion and the breaking down of barriers between people. From this point of view, the aim is to demonstrate how, through the (re)generation of sustainable structures, it is possible to give life to a new social, cultural and economic pathway, where possible, in peripheral areas with problems of abandonment and degradation. The aim of this paper is therefore to study realities such as European programs and funds and to highlight the ways in which planning can be used to respond to critical issues such as urban decay, abandonment, and the mitigation of social differences. For this reason, the analysis will be carried out through the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) package, the next generation EU, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund, and other managed funds. The procedure will rely on sources and data of unquestionable origin, and the relation to the object of study in question will be highlighted. The project lends itself to be ambitious and explore a further aspect of the sports theme, which as we know, is one of the foundations for a healthy society

.

Keywords: Sport, social inclusion, urban regeneration, sport facilities, European funds.

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11268 The CEO Mission II, Rescue Robot with Multi-Joint Mechanical Arm

Authors: Amon Tunwannarux, Supanunt Tunwannarux

Abstract:

This paper presents design features of a rescue robot, named CEO Mission II. Its body is designed to be the track wheel type with double front flippers for climbing over the collapse and the rough terrain. With 125 cm. long, 5-joint mechanical arm installed on the robot body, it is deployed not only for surveillance from the top view but also easier and faster access to the victims to get their vital signs. Two cameras and sensors for searching vital signs are set up at the tip of the multi-joint mechanical arm. The third camera is at the back of the robot for driving control. Hardware and software of the system, which controls and monitors the rescue robot, are explained. The control system is used for controlling the robot locomotion, the 5-joint mechanical arm, and for turning on/off devices. The monitoring system gathers all information from 7 distance sensors, IR temperature sensors, 3 CCD cameras, voice sensor, robot wheels encoders, yawn/pitch/roll angle sensors, laser range finder and 8 spare A/D inputs. All sensors and controlling data are communicated with a remote control station via IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi. The audio and video data are compressed and sent via another IEEE 802.11g Wi-Fi transmitter for getting real-time response. At remote control station site, the robot locomotion and the mechanical arm are controlled by joystick. Moreover, the user-friendly GUI control program is developed based on the clicking and dragging method to easily control the movement of the arm. Robot traveling map is plotted from computing the information of wheel encoders and the yawn/pitch data. 2D Obstacle map is plotted from data of the laser range finder. The concept and design of this robot can be adapted to suit many other applications. As the Best Technique awardee from Thailand Rescue Robot Championship 2006, all testing results are satisfied.

Keywords: Controlling, monitoring, rescue robot, mechanicalarm.

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11267 A Cross-Cultural Approach for Communication with Biological and Non-Biological Intelligences

Authors: Thomas Schalow

Abstract:

This paper posits the need to take a cross-cultural approach to communication with non-human cultures and intelligences in order to meet the following three imminent contingencies: communicating with sentient biological intelligences, communicating with extraterrestrial intelligences, and communicating with artificial super-intelligences. The paper begins with a discussion of how intelligence emerges. It disputes some common assumptions we maintain about consciousness, intention, and language. The paper next explores cross-cultural communication among humans, including non-sapiens species. The next argument made is that we need to become much more serious about communicating with the non-human, intelligent life forms that already exist around us here on Earth. There is an urgent need to broaden our definition of communication and reach out to the other sentient life forms that inhabit our world. The paper next examines the science and philosophy behind CETI (communication with extraterrestrial intelligences) and how it has proven useful, even in the absence of contact with alien life. However, CETI’s assumptions and methodology need to be revised and based on the cross-cultural approach to communication proposed in this paper if we are truly serious about finding and communicating with life beyond Earth. The final theme explored in this paper is communication with non-biological super-intelligences using a cross-cultural communication approach. This will present a serious challenge for humanity, as we have never been truly compelled to converse with other species, and our failure to seriously consider such intercourse has left us largely unprepared to deal with communication in a future that will be mediated and controlled by computer algorithms. Fortunately, our experience dealing with other human cultures can provide us with a framework for this communication. The basic assumptions behind intercultural communication can be applied to the many types of communication envisioned in this paper if we are willing to recognize that we are in fact dealing with other cultures when we interact with other species, alien life, and artificial super-intelligence. The ideas considered in this paper will require a new mindset for humanity, but a new disposition will prepare us to face the challenges posed by a future dominated by artificial intelligence.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, CETI, communication, culture, language.

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11266 Thread Lift: Classification, Technique, and How to Approach to the Patient

Authors: Panprapa Yongtrakul, Punyaphat Sirithanabadeekul, Pakjira Siriphan

Abstract:

Background: The thread lift technique has become popular because it is less invasive, requires a shorter operation, less downtime, and results in fewer postoperative complications. The advantage of the technique is that the thread can be inserted under the skin without the need for long incisions. Currently, there are a lot of thread lift techniques with respect to the specific types of thread used on specific areas, such as the mid-face, lower face, or neck area. Objective: To review the thread lift technique for specific areas according to type of thread, patient selection, and how to match the most appropriate to the patient. Materials and Methods: A literature review technique was conducted by searching PubMed and MEDLINE, then compiled and summarized. Result: We have divided our protocols into two sections: Protocols for short suture, and protocols for long suture techniques. We also created 3D pictures for each technique to enhance understanding and application in a clinical setting. Conclusion: There are advantages and disadvantages to short suture and long suture techniques. The best outcome for each patient depends on appropriate patient selection and determining the most suitable technique for the defect and area of patient concern.

Keywords: Thread lift, thread lift method, thread lift technique, thread lift procedure, threading.

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11265 Application of Exact String Matching Algorithms towards SMILES Representation of Chemical Structure

Authors: Ahmad Fadel Klaib, Zurinahni Zainol, Nurul Hashimah Ahamed, Rosma Ahmad, Wahidah Hussin

Abstract:

Bioinformatics and Cheminformatics use computer as disciplines providing tools for acquisition, storage, processing, analysis, integrate data and for the development of potential applications of biological and chemical data. A chemical database is one of the databases that exclusively designed to store chemical information. NMRShiftDB is one of the main databases that used to represent the chemical structures in 2D or 3D structures. SMILES format is one of many ways to write a chemical structure in a linear format. In this study we extracted Antimicrobial Structures in SMILES format from NMRShiftDB and stored it in our Local Data Warehouse with its corresponding information. Additionally, we developed a searching tool that would response to user-s query using the JME Editor tool that allows user to draw or edit molecules and converts the drawn structure into SMILES format. We applied Quick Search algorithm to search for Antimicrobial Structures in our Local Data Ware House.

Keywords: Exact String-matching Algorithms, NMRShiftDB, SMILES Format, Antimicrobial Structures.

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11264 An Alternative and Complementary Medicine Method in Vulnerable Pediatric Cancer Patients: Yoga

Authors: Ç. Erdoğan, T. Turan

Abstract:

Pediatric cancer patients experience multiple distressing, challenges, physical symptom such as fatigue, pain, sleep disturbance, and balance impairment that continue years after treatment completion. In recent years, yoga is often used in children with cancer to cope with these symptoms. Yoga practice is defined as a unique physical activity that combines physical practice, breath work and mindfulness/meditation. Yoga is an increasingly popular mind-body practice also characterized as a mindfulness mode of exercise. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of yoga intervention of children with cancer. This article planned searching the literature in this field. It has been determined that individualized yoga is feasible and provides benefits for inpatient children, improves health-related quality of life, physical activity levels, physical fitness. After yoga program, children anxiety score decreases significantly. Additionally, individualized yoga is feasible for inpatient children receiving intensive chemotherapy. As a result, yoga is an alternative and complementary medicine that can be safely used in children with cancer.

Keywords: Cancer treatment, children, nursing, yoga.

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11263 Failure Analysis and Fatigue Life Estimation of a Shaft of a Rotary Draw Bending Machine

Authors: B. Engel, Sara Salman Hassan Al-Maeeni

Abstract:

Human consumption of the Earth's resources increases the need for a sustainable development as an important ecological, social, and economic theme. Re-engineering of machine tools, in terms of design and failure analysis, is defined as steps performed on an obsolete machine to return it to a new machine with the warranty that matches the customer requirement. To understand the future fatigue behavior of the used machine components, it is important to investigate the possible causes of machine parts failure through design, surface, and material inspections. In this study, the failure modes of the shaft of the rotary draw bending machine are inspected. Furthermore, stress and deflection analysis of the shaft subjected to combined torsion and bending loads are carried out by an analytical method and compared with a finite element analysis method. The theoretical fatigue strength, correction factors, and fatigue life sustained by the shaft before damaged are estimated by creating a stress-cycle (S-N) diagram. In conclusion, it is seen that the shaft can work in the second life, but it needs some surface treatments to increase the reliability and fatigue life.

Keywords: Failure analysis, fatigue life, FEM analysis, shaft, stress analysis.

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11262 Data Hiding by Vector Quantization in Color Image

Authors: Yung-Gi Wu

Abstract:

With the growing of computer and network, digital data can be spread to anywhere in the world quickly. In addition, digital data can also be copied or tampered easily so that the security issue becomes an important topic in the protection of digital data. Digital watermark is a method to protect the ownership of digital data. Embedding the watermark will influence the quality certainly. In this paper, Vector Quantization (VQ) is used to embed the watermark into the image to fulfill the goal of data hiding. This kind of watermarking is invisible which means that the users will not conscious the existing of embedded watermark even though the embedded image has tiny difference compared to the original image. Meanwhile, VQ needs a lot of computation burden so that we adopt a fast VQ encoding scheme by partial distortion searching (PDS) and mean approximation scheme to speed up the data hiding process. The watermarks we hide to the image could be gray, bi-level and color images. Texts are also can be regarded as watermark to embed. In order to test the robustness of the system, we adopt Photoshop to fulfill sharpen, cropping and altering to check if the extracted watermark is still recognizable. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system can resist the above three kinds of tampering in general cases.

Keywords: Data hiding, vector quantization, watermark.

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11261 Between Legal Authority and Epistemic Competence: A Case Study of the Brazilian Supreme Court

Authors: Júlia Massadas

Abstract:

The objective of this paper is to analyze the role played by the institute of the public hearings in the Brazilian Supreme Court. The public hearings are regulated since 1999 by the Brazilian Laws nº 9.868, nº 9.882 and by the Intern Regiment of the Brazilian Supreme Court. According to this legislation, the public hearings are supposed to be called when a matter of circumstance of fact must be clarified, what can be done through the hearing of the testimonies of persons with expertise and authority in the theme related to the cause. This work aims to investigate what is the role played by the public hearings and by the experts in the Brazilian Supreme Court. The hypothesis of this research is that: (I) The public hearings in the Brazilian Supreme Court are used to uphold a rhetoric of a democratic legitimacy of the Court`s decisions; (II) The Legislative intentions have been distorted. To test this hypothesis, the adopted methodology involves an empirical study of the Brazilian jurisprudence. As a conclusion, it follows that the public hearings convened by the Brazilian Supreme Court do not correspond, in practice, to the role assigned to them by the Congress since they do not serve properly to epistemic interests. The public hearings not only do not legitimate democratically the decisions, but also, do not properly clarify technical issues.

Keywords: Brazilian Supreme Court, constitutional law, public hearings, epistemic competence, legal authority.

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11260 Self-evolving Artificial Immune System via Developing T and B Cell for Permutation Flow-shop Scheduling Problems

Authors: Pei-Chann Chang, Wei-Hsiu Huang, Ching-Jung Ting, Hwei-Wen Luo, Yu-Peng Yu

Abstract:

Artificial Immune System is applied as a Heuristic Algorithm for decades. Nevertheless, many of these applications took advantage of the benefit of this algorithm but seldom proposed approaches for enhancing the efficiency. In this paper, a Self-evolving Artificial Immune System is proposed via developing the T and B cell in Immune System and built a self-evolving mechanism for the complexities of different problems. In this research, it focuses on enhancing the efficiency of Clonal selection which is responsible for producing Affinities to resist the invading of Antigens. T and B cell are the main mechanisms for Clonal Selection to produce different combinations of Antibodies. Therefore, the development of T and B cell will influence the efficiency of Clonal Selection for searching better solution. Furthermore, for better cooperation of the two cells, a co-evolutional strategy is applied to coordinate for more effective productions of Antibodies. This work finally adopts Flow-shop scheduling instances in OR-library to validate the proposed algorithm.

Keywords: Artificial Immune System, Clonal Selection, Flow-shop Scheduling Problems, Co-evolutional strategy

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11259 The State Support to the Tourism Policy Formation Mechanism in Black Sea Basin Countries (Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, Georgia) and Its Impact on Sustainable Tourism Development

Authors: A. Bahar Ganiyeva, M. Sabuhi Tanriverdiyev

Abstract:

The article analyzes state support and policy mechanisms aimed at driving tourism as one of the vibrant and rapidly developing economies. State programs and long-range strategic roadmaps and previous programs execution, results and their impact on the particular countries economy have been raised during the research. This theme provides a useful framework for discussions with a wider range of stakeholders as the implications arising are of importance both for academics and practitioners engaged in hospitality and tourism development and research. The impact that tourism has on sustainable regional development in emerging markets is highly substantial. For Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, and Russia, with their rich natural resources and cultural heritage, tourism can be an important basis for economic expansion, and a way to form an acceptable image of the countries as safe, open, hospitable, and complex.

Keywords: Sustainable tourism, hospitality, destination, strategic roadmap, tourism, economy, growth, state support, mechanism, policy formation, state program.

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11258 Long Term Variability of Temperature in Armenia in the Context of Climate Change

Authors: Hrachuhi Galstyan, Lucian Sfîcă, Pavel Ichim

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to analyze the temporal and spatial variability of thermal conditions in the Republic of Armenia. The paper describes annual fluctuations in air temperature. Research has been focused on case study region of Armenia and surrounding areas, where long–term measurements and observations of weather conditions have been performed within the National Meteorological Service of Armenia and its surrounding areas. The study contains yearly air temperature data recorded between 1961- 2012. Mann-Kendal test and the autocorrelation function were applied to detect the change trend of annual mean temperature, as well as other parametric and non-parametric tests searching to find the presence of some breaks in the long term evolution of temperature. The analysis of all records reveals a tendency mostly towards warmer years, with increased temperatures especially in valleys and inner basins. The maximum temperature increase is up to 1,5°C. Negative results have not been observed in Armenia. The patterns of temperature change have been observed since the 1990’s over much of the Armenian territory. The climate in Armenia was influenced by global change in the last 2 decades, as results from the methods employed within the study.

Keywords: Air temperature, long-term variability, trend, climate change.

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11257 The Integration between Transportation Solutions, Economic Development and Community Development as an Approach for Sustainability – A Case Study of Curitiba, Brazil

Authors: G. M. Rehan, H. S. Mahmoud

Abstract:

Sustainability and sustainable development have been the main theme of many international conferences, such the UN Rio de Janeiro 1992 Earth Summit This was followed by the appearance of the global conferences at the late of the nineties and the early of 2000 to confirm the importance of the sustainable development .it was focused on the importance of the economic development as it is considered an effective tool in the operations of the sustainable development. Industry plays a critical role in technological innovations and research and development activities, which are crucial for the economic and social development of any country. Transportation and mobility are an important part or urban economics and the quality of life. To analyze urban transportation and its environmental impacts, a comprehensive approach is needed. So this research aims to apply new approach for the development of the urban communities that insure the continuity and facing the deterioration. This approach aims to integrate sustainable transport solutions with economic development and community development. For that purpose we will concentrate on one of the most sustainable cities in the world (Curitiba in Brazil) which provides the world with a model in how to integrate sustainable transport considerations into business development, road infrastructure development, and local community development.

Keywords: Community development, economic development sustainable development, sustainable transport

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11256 Cluster Algorithm for Genetic Diversity

Authors: Manpreet Singh, Keerat Kaur, Bhavdeep Singh

Abstract:

With the hardware technology advancing, the cost of storing is decreasing. Thus there is an urgent need for new techniques and tools that can intelligently and automatically assist us in transferring this data into useful knowledge. Different techniques of data mining are developed which are helpful for handling these large size databases [7]. Data mining is also finding its role in the field of biotechnology. Pedigree means the associated ancestry of a crop variety. Genetic diversity is the variation in the genetic composition of individuals within or among species. Genetic diversity depends upon the pedigree information of the varieties. Parents at lower hierarchic levels have more weightage for predicting genetic diversity as compared to the upper hierarchic levels. The weightage decreases as the level increases. For crossbreeding, the two varieties should be more and more genetically diverse so as to incorporate the useful characters of the two varieties in the newly developed variety. This paper discusses the searching and analyzing of different possible pairs of varieties selected on the basis of morphological characters, Climatic conditions and Nutrients so as to obtain the most optimal pair that can produce the required crossbreed variety. An algorithm was developed to determine the genetic diversity between the selected wheat varieties. Cluster analysis technique is used for retrieving the results.

Keywords: Genetic diversity, pedigree, nutrients.

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