Search results for: knowledge communication barriers
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3341

Search results for: knowledge communication barriers

1001 Study of Measures to Secure Video Phone Service Safety through a Preliminary Evaluationof the Information Security of the New IT Service

Authors: DongHoon Shin, Yunmook Nah, HoSeong Kim, Gang Shin Lee, Jae-Il Lee

Abstract:

The rapid advance of communication technology is evolving the network environment into the broadband convergence network. Likewise, the IT services operated in the individual network are also being quickly converged in the broadband convergence network environment. VoIP and IPTV are two examples of such new services. Efforts are being made to develop the video phone service, which is an advanced form of the voice-oriented VoIP service. However, the new IT services will be subject to stability and reliability vulnerabilities if the relevant security issues are not answered during the convergence of the existing IT services currently being operated in individual networks within the wider broadband network environment. To resolve such problems, this paper attempts to analyze the possible threats and identify the necessary security measures before the deployment of the new IT services. Furthermore, it measures the quality of the encryption algorithm application example to describe the appropriate algorithm in order to present security technology that will have no negative impact on the quality of the video phone service.

Keywords: BcN, Security Measures, Video Phone.

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1000 Children and Advertising: Issues in Consumer Socialization Process

Authors: Laimona Sliburyte

Abstract:

Today advertising is actively penetrating into many spheres of our lives. We cannot imagine the existence of a lot of economic activities without advertising. That mostly concerns trade and services. Everyone of us should look better into the everyday communication and carefully consider the amount and the quality of the information we receive as well as its influence on our behaviour. Special attention should be paid to the young generation. Theoretical and practical research has proved the ever growing influence of information (especially the one contained in advertising) on a society; on its economics, culture, religion, politics and even people-s private lives and behaviour. Children have plenty of free time and, therefore, see a lot of different advertising. Though education of children is in the hands of parents and schools, advertising makers and customers should think with responsibility about the selection of time and transmission channels of child targeted advertising. The purpose of the present paper is to investigate the influence of advertising upon consumer views and behaviour of children in different age groups. The present investigation has clarified the influence of advertising as a means of information on a certain group of society, which in the modern information society is the most vulnerable – children. In this paper we assess children-s perception and their understanding of advertising.

Keywords: Advertising, children, children targeted advertising, consumer socialization process.

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999 A Taxonomy of Behavior for a Medical Coordinator by Utlizing Leadership Styles

Authors: Aryana Collins Jackson, Elisabetta Bevacqua, Pierre De Loor, Ronan Querrec

Abstract:

This paper presents a taxonomy of non-technical skills, communicative intentions, and behavior for an individual acting as a medical coordinator. In medical emergency situations, a leader among the group is imperative to both patient health and team emotional and mental health. Situational Leadership is used to make clear and easy-to-follow guidelines for behavior depending on circumstantial factors. Low-level leadership behaviors belonging to two different styles, directive and supporting, are identified from literature and are included in the proposed taxonomy. The high-level information in the taxonomy consists of the necessary non-technical skills belonging to a medical coordinator: situation awareness, decision making, task management, and teamwork. Finally, communicative intentions, dimensions, and functions are included. Thus this work brings high-level and low-level information - medical non-technical skills, communication capabilities, and leadership behavior - into a single versatile taxonomy of behavior.

Keywords: Medical, leadership styles, taxonomy, human behavior.

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998 Use of Bayesian Network in Information Extraction from Unstructured Data Sources

Authors: Quratulain N. Rajput, Sajjad Haider

Abstract:

This paper applies Bayesian Networks to support information extraction from unstructured, ungrammatical, and incoherent data sources for semantic annotation. A tool has been developed that combines ontologies, machine learning, and information extraction and probabilistic reasoning techniques to support the extraction process. Data acquisition is performed with the aid of knowledge specified in the form of ontology. Due to the variable size of information available on different data sources, it is often the case that the extracted data contains missing values for certain variables of interest. It is desirable in such situations to predict the missing values. The methodology, presented in this paper, first learns a Bayesian network from the training data and then uses it to predict missing data and to resolve conflicts. Experiments have been conducted to analyze the performance of the presented methodology. The results look promising as the methodology achieves high degree of precision and recall for information extraction and reasonably good accuracy for predicting missing values.

Keywords: Information Extraction, Bayesian Network, ontology, Machine Learning

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997 Current Status of Industry 4.0 in Material Handling Automation and In-house Logistics

Authors: Orestis Κ. Efthymiou, Stavros T. Ponis

Abstract:

In the last decade, a new industrial revolution seems to be emerging, supported -once again- by the rapid advancements of Information Technology in the areas of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication permitting large numbers of intelligent devices, e.g. sensors to communicate with each other and take decisions without any or minimum indirect human intervention. The advent of these technologies have triggered the emergence of a new category of hybrid (cyber-physical) manufacturing systems, combining advanced manufacturing techniques with innovative M2M applications based on the Internet of Things (IoT), under the umbrella term Industry 4.0. Even though the topic of Industry 4.0 has attracted much attention during the last few years, the attempts of providing a systematic literature review of the subject are scarce. In this paper, we present the authors’ initial study of the field with a special focus on the use and applications of Industry 4.0 principles in material handling automations and in-house logistics. Research shows that despite the vivid discussion and attractiveness of the subject, there are still many challenges and issues that have to be addressed before Industry 4.0 becomes standardized and widely applicable.

Keywords: Industry 4.0, internet of things, manufacturing systems, material handling, logistics.

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996 High Perfomance Communication Protocol for Wireless Ad-Hoc Sensor Networks

Authors: Toshihiko Sasama, Takahide Yanaka, Kazunori Sugahara, Hiroshi Masuyama

Abstract:

In order to monitor for traffic traversal, sensors can be deployed to perform collaborative target detection. Such a sensor network achieves a certain level of detection performance with the associated costs of deployment and routing protocol. This paper addresses these two points of sensor deployment and routing algorithm in the situation where the absolute quantity of sensors or total energy becomes insufficient. This discussion on the best deployment system concluded that two kinds of deployments; Normal and Power law distributions, show 6 and 3 times longer than Random distribution in the duration of coverage, respectively. The other discussion on routing algorithm to achieve good performance in each deployment system was also addressed. This discussion concluded that, in place of the traditional algorithm, a new algorithm can extend the time of coverage duration by 4 times in a Normal distribution, and in the circumstance where every deployed sensor operates as a binary model.

Keywords: binary sensor, coverage rate, power energy consumption, routing algorithm, sensor deployment

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995 Wavelet-Based Data Compression Technique for Wireless Sensor Networks

Authors: P. Kumsawat, N. Pimpru, K. Attakitmongcol, A.Srikaew

Abstract:

In this paper, we proposed an efficient data compression strategy exploiting the multi-resolution characteristic of the wavelet transform. We have developed a sensor node called “Smart Sensor Node; SSN". The main goals of the SSN design are lightweight, minimal power consumption, modular design and robust circuitry. The SSN is made up of four basic components which are a sensing unit, a processing unit, a transceiver unit and a power unit. FiOStd evaluation board is chosen as the main controller of the SSN for its low costs and high performance. The software coding of the implementation was done using Simulink model and MATLAB programming language. The experimental results show that the proposed data compression technique yields recover signal with good quality. This technique can be applied to compress the collected data to reduce the data communication as well as the energy consumption of the sensor and so the lifetime of sensor node can be extended.

Keywords: Wireless sensor network, wavelet transform, data compression, ZigBee, skipped high-pass sub-band.

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994 Computer Graphics and Understanding Semiotics in Design

Authors: Manoj Majhi, Debkumar Chakrabaty

Abstract:

The objective of the paper was to understand the use of an important element of design, namely color in a Semiotic system. Semiotics is the study of signs and sign processes, it is often divided into three branches namely (i) Semantics that deals with the relation between signs and the things to which they refer to mean, (ii) Syntactics which addresses the relations among signs in formal structures and (iii) Pragmatics that relates between signs and its effects on they have on the people who use them to create a plan for an object or a system referred to as design. Cubism with its versatility was the key design tool prevalent across the 20th century. In order to analyze the user's understanding of interaction and appreciation of color through the movement of Cubism, an exercise was undertaken in Dept. of Design, IIT Guwahati. This included tasks to design a composition using color and sign process to the theme 'Between the Lines' on a given tessellation where the users relate their work to the world they live in, which in this case was the college campus of IIT Guwahati. The findings demonstrate impact of the key design element color on the principles of visual perception based on image analysis of specific compositions.

Keywords: Color in Semiotics, Cubism and novice designer, visual perception, multimedia and communication.

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993 Nodal Load Profiles Estimation for Time Series Load Flow Using Independent Component Analysis

Authors: Mashitah Mohd Hussain, Salleh Serwan, Zuhaina Hj Zakaria

Abstract:

This paper presents a method to estimate load profile in a multiple power flow solutions for every minutes in 24 hours per day. A method to calculate multiple solutions of non linear profile is introduced. The Power System Simulation/Engineering (PSS®E) and python has been used to solve the load power flow. The result of this power flow solutions has been used to estimate the load profiles for each load at buses using Independent Component Analysis (ICA) without any knowledge of parameter and network topology of the systems. The proposed algorithm is tested with IEEE 69 test bus system represents for distribution part and the method of ICA has been programmed in MATLAB R2012b version. Simulation results and errors of estimations are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Electrical Distribution System, Power Flow Solution, Distribution Network, Independent Component Analysis, Newton Raphson, Power System Simulation for Engineering.

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992 A Tabu Search Heuristic for Scratch-Pad Memory Management

Authors: Maha Idrissi Aouad, Rene Schott, Olivier Zendra

Abstract:

Reducing energy consumption of embedded systems requires careful memory management. It has been shown that Scratch- Pad Memories (SPMs) are low size, low cost, efficient (i.e. energy saving) data structures directly managed at the software level. In this paper, the focus is on heuristic methods for SPMs management. A method is efficient if the number of accesses to SPM is as large as possible and if all available space (i.e. bits) is used. A Tabu Search (TS) approach for memory management is proposed which is, to the best of our knowledge, a new original alternative to the best known existing heuristic (BEH). In fact, experimentations performed on benchmarks show that the Tabu Search method is as efficient as BEH (in terms of energy consumption) but BEH requires a sorting which can be computationally expensive for a large amount of data. TS is easy to implement and since no sorting is necessary, unlike BEH, the corresponding sorting time is saved. In addition to that, in a dynamic perspective where the maximum capacity of the SPM is not known in advance, the TS heuristic will perform better than BEH.

Keywords: Energy consumption, memory allocation management, optimization, tabu search heuristic.

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991 Metal(loids) Speciation Using HPLC-ICP-MS Technique in Klodnica River, Upper Silesia, Poland

Authors: Magdalena Jabłońska-Czapla

Abstract:

The work allowed gaining knowledge about redox and speciation changes of As, Cr and Sb ionic forms in Klodnica River water. This kind of studies never has been conducted in this region of Poland. In study optimized and validated previously HPLC-ICP-MS methods for determination of As, Sb and Cr was used. Separation step was done using high-performance liquid chromatograph equipped with ion-exchange column followed by ICP-MS spectrometer detector. Preliminary studies included determination of the total concentration of As, Sb and Cr, pH, Eh, temperature and conductivity of the water samples. The study was conducted monthly from March to August 2014, at six points on the Klodnica River. The results indicate that exceeded at acceptable concentration of total Cr and Sb was observed in Klodnica River and we should qualify Klodnica River waters below the second purity class. In Klodnica River waters dominates oxidized antimony and arsenic forms, as well as the two forms of chromium Cr(VI) and Cr(III). Studies have also shown the methyl derivative of arsenic's presence.

Keywords: Antimony, arsenic, chromium, HPLC-ICP-MS, river water, speciation.

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990 A Materialized Approach to the Integration of XML Documents: the OSIX System

Authors: H. Ahmad, S. Kermanshahani, A. Simonet, M. Simonet

Abstract:

The data exchanged on the Web are of different nature from those treated by the classical database management systems; these data are called semi-structured data since they do not have a regular and static structure like data found in a relational database; their schema is dynamic and may contain missing data or types. Therefore, the needs for developing further techniques and algorithms to exploit and integrate such data, and extract relevant information for the user have been raised. In this paper we present the system OSIX (Osiris based System for Integration of XML Sources). This system has a Data Warehouse model designed for the integration of semi-structured data and more precisely for the integration of XML documents. The architecture of OSIX relies on the Osiris system, a DL-based model designed for the representation and management of databases and knowledge bases. Osiris is a viewbased data model whose indexing system supports semantic query optimization. We show that the problem of query processing on a XML source is optimized by the indexing approach proposed by Osiris.

Keywords: Data integration, semi-structured data, views, XML.

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989 Jointly Learning Python Programming and Analytic Geometry

Authors: Cristina-Maria Păcurar

Abstract:

The paper presents an original Python-based application that outlines the advantages of combining some elementary notions of mathematics with the study of a programming language. The application support refers to some of the first lessons of analytic geometry, meaning conics and quadrics and their reduction to a standard form, as well as some related notions. The chosen programming language is Python, not only for its closer to an everyday language syntax – and therefore, enhanced readability – but also for its highly reusable code, which is of utmost importance for a mathematician that is accustomed to exploit already known and used problems to solve new ones. The purpose of this paper is, on one hand, to support the idea that one of the most appropriate means to initiate one into programming is throughout mathematics, and reciprocal, one of the most facile and handy ways to assimilate some basic knowledge in the study of mathematics is to apply them in a personal project. On the other hand, besides being a mean of learning both programming and analytic geometry, the application subject to this paper is itself a useful tool for it can be seen as an independent original Python package for analytic geometry.

Keywords: Analytic geometry, conics, Python programming language, quadrics.

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988 Digital Geomatics Trends for Production and Updating Topographic Map by Using Digital Generalization Procedures

Authors: O. Z. Jasim

Abstract:

An accuracy digital map must satisfy the users for two main requirements, first, map must be visually readable and second, all the map elements must be in a good representation. These two requirements hold especially true for map generalization which aims at simplifying the representation of cartographic data. Different scales of maps are very important for any decision in any maps with different scales such as master plan and all the infrastructures maps in civil engineering. Cartographer cannot project the data onto a piece of paper, but he has to worry about its readability. The map layout of any geodatabase is very important, this layout is help to read, analyze or extract information from the map. There are many principles and guidelines of generalization that can be find in the cartographic literature. A manual reduction method for generalization depends on experience of map maker and therefore produces incompatible results. Digital generalization, rooted from conventional cartography, has become an increasing concern in both Geographic Information System (GIS) and mapping fields. This project is intended to review the state of the art of the new technology and help to understand the needs and plans for the implementation of digital generalization capability as well as increase the knowledge of production topographic maps.

Keywords: Cartography, digital generalization, mapping, GIS.

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987 Speech Intelligibility Improvement Using Variable Level Decomposition DWT

Authors: Samba Raju, Chiluveru, Manoj Tripathy

Abstract:

Intelligibility is an essential characteristic of a speech signal, which is used to help in the understanding of information in speech signal. Background noise in the environment can deteriorate the intelligibility of a recorded speech. In this paper, we presented a simple variance subtracted - variable level discrete wavelet transform, which improve the intelligibility of speech. The proposed algorithm does not require an explicit estimation of noise, i.e., prior knowledge of the noise; hence, it is easy to implement, and it reduces the computational burden. The proposed algorithm decides a separate decomposition level for each frame based on signal dominant and dominant noise criteria. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated with speech intelligibility measure (STOI), and results obtained are compared with Universal Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) thresholding and Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) methods. The experimental results revealed that the proposed scheme outperformed competing methods

Keywords: Discrete Wavelet Transform, speech intelligibility, STOI, standard deviation.

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986 A Study of the Problems and Demands of Community Leaders- Training in the Upper Northeastern Region

Authors: Teerawach Khamkorn, Laongtip Mathurasa, Savittree Rochanasmita Arnold, Witthaya Mekhum

Abstract:

This research is aimed at studying the nature of problems and demands of the training for community leaders in the upper northeastern region of Thailand. Population and group samplings are based on 360 community leaders in the region who have experienced prior training from the Udonthani Rajabhat University. Stratified random samplings have been drawn upon 186 participants. The research tools is questionnaires. The frequency, percentage and standard deviation are employed in data analysis. The findings indicate that most of community leaders are males and senior adults. The problems in training are associated with the inconveniences of long-distance travelling to training locations, inadequacy of learning centers and training sites and high training costs. The demand of training is basically motivated by a desire for self-development in modern knowledge in keeping up-to-date with the changing world and the need for technological application and facilitation in shortening the distance to training locations and in limiting expensive training costs.

Keywords: Community leaders, Distance Training, Management, Technology.

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985 Dempster-Shafer Evidence Theory for Image Segmentation: Application in Cells Images

Authors: S. Ben Chaabane, M. Sayadi, F. Fnaiech, E. Brassart

Abstract:

In this paper we propose a new knowledge model using the Dempster-Shafer-s evidence theory for image segmentation and fusion. The proposed method is composed essentially of two steps. First, mass distributions in Dempster-Shafer theory are obtained from the membership degrees of each pixel covering the three image components (R, G and B). Each membership-s degree is determined by applying Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) clustering to the gray levels of the three images. Second, the fusion process consists in defining three discernment frames which are associated with the three images to be fused, and then combining them to form a new frame of discernment. The strategy used to define mass distributions in the combined framework is discussed in detail. The proposed fusion method is illustrated in the context of image segmentation. Experimental investigations and comparative studies with the other previous methods are carried out showing thus the robustness and superiority of the proposed method in terms of image segmentation.

Keywords: Fuzzy C-means, Color image, data fusion, Dempster-Shafer's evidence theory

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984 UDCA: An Energy Efficient Clustering Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Network

Authors: Boregowda S.B., Hemanth Kumar A.R. Babu N.V, Puttamadappa C., And H.S Mruthyunjaya

Abstract:

In the past few years, the use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) potentially increased in applications such as intrusion detection, forest fire detection, disaster management and battle field. Sensor nodes are generally battery operated low cost devices. The key challenge in the design and operation of WSNs is to prolong the network life time by reducing the energy consumption among sensor nodes. Node clustering is one of the most promising techniques for energy conservation. This paper presents a novel clustering algorithm which maximizes the network lifetime by reducing the number of communication among sensor nodes. This approach also includes new distributed cluster formation technique that enables self-organization of large number of nodes, algorithm for maintaining constant number of clusters by prior selection of cluster head and rotating the role of cluster head to evenly distribute the energy load among all sensor nodes.

Keywords: Clustering algorithms, Cluster head, Energy consumption, Sensor nodes, and Wireless sensor networks.

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983 Complementary Split Ring Resonator-Loaded Microstrip Patch Antenna Useful for Microwave Communication

Authors: Subal Kar, Madhuja Ghosh, Amitesh Kumar, Arijit Majumder

Abstract:

Complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR) loaded microstrip square patch antenna has been optimally designed with the help of high frequency structure simulator (HFSS). The antenna has been fabricated on the basis of the simulation design data and experimentally tested in anechoic chamber to evaluate its gain, bandwidth, efficiency and polarization characteristics. The CSRR loaded microstrip patch antenna has been found to realize significant size miniaturization (to the extent of 24%) compared to the conventional-type microstrip patch antenna both operating at the same frequency (5.2 GHz). The fabricated antenna could realize a maximum gain of 4.17 dB, 10 dB impedance bandwidth of 34 MHz, efficiency 50.73% and with maximum cross-pol of 10.56 dB down at the operating frequency. This practically designed antenna with its miniaturized size is expected to be useful for airborne and space borne applications at microwave frequency.

Keywords: Split ring resonator, metamaterial, CSRR loaded patch antenna, microstrip patch antenna, LC resonator.

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982 Implementation of Geo-Crowdsourcing Mobile Applications in e-Government of V4 Countries: A State-of-the-Art Survey

Authors: Barbora Haltofová

Abstract:

In recent years, citizens have become an important source of geographic information and, therefore, geo-crowdsourcing, often known as volunteered geographic information, has provided an interesting alternative to traditional mapping practices which are becoming expensive, resource-intensive and unable to capture the dynamic nature of urban environments. In order to address a gap in research literature, this paper deals with a survey conducted to assess the current state of geo-crowdsourcing, a recent phenomenon popular with people who collect geographic information using their smartphones. This article points out that there is an increasing body of knowledge of geo-crowdsourcing mobile applications in the Visegrad countries marked by the ubiquitous Internet connection and the current massive proliferation of smartphones. This article shows how geo-crowdsourcing can be used as a complement, or in some cases a replacement, to traditionally generated sources of spatial data and information in public management. It discusses the new spaces of citizen participation constructed by these geo-crowdsourcing practices.

Keywords: Citizen participation, geo-crowdsourcing, e-government, participatory mapping, mobile applications.

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981 Real Time Remote Monitoring and Fault Detection in Wind Turbine

Authors: Saad Chakkor, Mostafa Baghouri, Abderrahmane Hajraoui

Abstract:

In new energy development, wind power has boomed. It is due to the proliferation of wind parks and their operation in supplying the national electric grid with low cost and clean resources. Hence, there is an increased need to establish a proactive maintenance for wind turbine machines based on remote control and monitoring. That is necessary with a real-time wireless connection in offshore or inaccessible locations while the wired method has many flaws. The objective of this strategy is to prolong wind turbine lifetime and to increase productivity. The hardware of a remote control and monitoring system for wind turbine parks is designed. It takes advantage of GPRS or Wi-Max wireless module to collect data measurements from different wind machine sensors through IP based multi-hop communication. Computer simulations with Proteus ISIS and OPNET software tools have been conducted to evaluate the performance of the studied system. Study findings show that the designed device is suitable for application in a wind park.

Keywords: Embedded System, Monitoring, Wind Turbine, Faults Diagnosis, TCP/IP Protocol, Real Time, Web.

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980 Approximate Bounded Knowledge Extraction Using Type-I Fuzzy Logic

Authors: Syed Muhammad Aqil Burney, Tahseen Ahmed Jilani, C. Ardil

Abstract:

Using neural network we try to model the unknown function f for given input-output data pairs. The connection strength of each neuron is updated through learning. Repeated simulations of crisp neural network produce different values of weight factors that are directly affected by the change of different parameters. We propose the idea that for each neuron in the network, we can obtain quasi-fuzzy weight sets (QFWS) using repeated simulation of the crisp neural network. Such type of fuzzy weight functions may be applied where we have multivariate crisp input that needs to be adjusted after iterative learning, like claim amount distribution analysis. As real data is subjected to noise and uncertainty, therefore, QFWS may be helpful in the simplification of such complex problems. Secondly, these QFWS provide good initial solution for training of fuzzy neural networks with reduced computational complexity.

Keywords: Crisp neural networks, fuzzy systems, extraction of logical rules, quasi-fuzzy numbers.

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979 Family Carers' Experiences in Striving for Medical Care and Finding Their Solutions for Family Members with Mental Illnesses

Authors: Yu-Yu Wang, Shih-Hua Hsieh, Ru-Shian Hsieh

Abstract:

Wishes and choices being respected, and the right to be supported rather than coerced, have been internationally recognized as the human rights of persons with mental illness. In Taiwan, ‘coerced hospitalization’ has become difficult since the revision of the mental health legislation in 2007. Despite trend towards human rights, the real problem families face when their family members are in mental health crisis is the lack of alternative services. This study aims to explore: 1) When is hospitalization seen as the only solution by family members? 2) What are the barriers for arranging hospitalization, and how are they managed? 3) What have family carers learned, in their experiences of caring for their family members with mental illness? To answer these questions, qualitative approach was adopted, and focus group interviews were taken to collect data. This study includes 24 family carers. The main findings of this research include: First, hospital is the last resort for carers in helplessness. Family carers tend to do everything they could to provide care at home for their family members with mental illness. Carers seek hospitalization only when a patient’s behavior is too violent, weird, and/or abnormal, and beyond their ability to manage. Hospitalization, nevertheless, is never an easy choice. Obstacles emanate from the attitudes of the medical doctors, the restricted areas of ambulance service, and insufficient information from the carers’ part. On the other hand, with some professionals’ proactive assistance, access to medical care while in crisis becomes possible. Some family carers obtained help from the medical doctor, nurse, therapist and social workers. Some experienced good help from policemen, taxi drivers, and security guards at the hospital. The difficulty in accessing medical care prompts carers to work harder on assisting their family members with mental illness to stay in stable states. Carers found different ways of helping the ‘person’ to get along with the ‘illness’ and have better quality of life. Taking back ‘the right to control’ in utilizing medication, from passiveness to negotiating with medical doctors and seeking alternative therapies, are seen in many carers’ efforts. Besides, trying to maintain regular activities in daily life and play normal family roles are also experienced as important. Furthermore, talking with the patient as a person is also important. The authors conclude that in order to protect the human rights of persons with mental illness, it is crucial to make the medical care system more flexible and to make the services more humane: sufficient information should be provided and communicated, and efforts should be made to maintain the person’s social roles and to support the family.

Keywords: Family carers, coercive treatment, independent living, mental health crisis, persons with mental illness.

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978 Published Financial Statement as a Correlate of Investment Decision among Commercial Bank Stakeholders in Nigeria

Authors: Popoola, C. F., Akinsanya, K., Babarinde, S. B., Farinde, D. A.

Abstract:

This study investigated published financial statement as correlate of investment decision among commercial bank stakeholders in Nigeria. A correlation research design was used in the study. 180 users of published financial statement were purposively sampled from Lagos and Ibadan. Data generated were analyzed using Pearson correlation and regression. The findings of the study revealed that, balance sheet is negatively related with investment decision (r= -.483; p<.01) while income statement (r= .249; p<.001), notes on the account (r= .230; p<.001), cash flow statement (r= .202; p<.001), value added statement (r= .328; p<.001) and five-year financial summary (r= .191; p<.01) are positively related with investment decision. Findings also revealed that components of published financial statement significantly predicted good investment decision (R2= .983; F(5,175)=284.5; p<.05) for commercial bank stakeholders. Therefore, it was suggested that Nigeria banks and professional bodies should instigate programs that will increase the knowledge of stakeholders on published financial statement.

Keywords: Commercial banks, Financial statement, Income Statement, Investment decision, Stakeholders.

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977 Burstiness Reduction of a Doubly Stochastic AR-Modeled Uniform Activity VBR Video

Authors: J. P. Dubois

Abstract:

Stochastic modeling of network traffic is an area of significant research activity for current and future broadband communication networks. Multimedia traffic is statistically characterized by a bursty variable bit rate (VBR) profile. In this paper, we develop an improved model for uniform activity level video sources in ATM using a doubly stochastic autoregressive model driven by an underlying spatial point process. We then examine a number of burstiness metrics such as the peak-to-average ratio (PAR), the temporal autocovariance function (ACF) and the traffic measurements histogram. We found that the former measure is most suitable for capturing the burstiness of single scene video traffic. In the last phase of this work, we analyse statistical multiplexing of several constant scene video sources. This proved, expectedly, to be advantageous with respect to reducing the burstiness of the traffic, as long as the sources are statistically independent. We observed that the burstiness was rapidly diminishing, with the largest gain occuring when only around 5 sources are multiplexed. The novel model used in this paper for characterizing uniform activity video was thus found to be an accurate model.

Keywords: AR, ATM, burstiness, doubly stochastic, statisticalmultiplexing.

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976 System Security Impact on the Dynamic Characteristics of Measurement Sensors in Smart Grids

Authors: Yiyang Su, Jörg Neumann, Jan Wetzlich, Florian Thiel

Abstract:

Smart grid is a term used to describe the next generation power grid. New challenges such as integration of renewable and decentralized energy sources, the requirement for continuous grid estimation and optimization, as well as the use of two-way flows of energy have been brought to the power gird. In order to achieve efficient, reliable, sustainable, as well as secure delivery of electric power more and more information and communication technologies are used for the monitoring and the control of power grids. Consequently, the need for cybersecurity is dramatically increased and has converged into several standards which will be presented here. These standards for the smart grid must be designed to satisfy both performance and reliability requirements. An in depth investigation of the effect of retrospectively embedded security in existing grids on it’s dynamic behavior is required. Therefore, a retrofitting plan for existing meters is offered, and it’s performance in a test low voltage microgrid is investigated. As a result of this, integration of security measures into measurement architectures of smart grids at the design phase is strongly recommended.

Keywords: Cyber security, performance, protocols, security standards, smart grid.

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975 Review of Innovation Management Frameworks and Assessment Tools

Authors: Qiang Fu, Md. Abu Saleh

Abstract:

Research studies are highly fragmented when an Innovation Management Framework is being discussed. With the aim to identify an Innovation Management Framework/Assessment Tool suitable for Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the service industry, this researcher critically reviewed existing innovation management frameworks and assessment models/tools and discovered a number of literature gaps. It is established that the existing literature lacks generally agreed innovation management dimensions, commonly accepted knowledge creation through empirical studies on innovation management in SMEs, effective innovation management performance measurements, suitable innovation management framework in SMEs, and studies on innovation management in the service industry, in particular in retail SMEs. As such, there is a dire need to develop an appropriate firm-level innovation management framework suitable for SMEs in the service industry for future research projects and further studies. In addition, this researcher also discussed the significance of establishing such an innovation management framework.

Keywords: innovation management, innovation management framework, innovation management assessment tools, SMEs, service industry

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974 NGN and WiMAX: Putting the Pieces Together

Authors: Mohamed K. Watfa, Khaled Abdel Naby, Chetan Govind Bhatia

Abstract:

With the exponential rise in the number of multimedia applications available, the best-effort service provided by the Internet today is insufficient. Researchers have been working on new architectures like the Next Generation Network (NGN) which, by definition, will ensure Quality of Service (QoS) in an all-IP based network [1]. For this approach to become a reality, reservation of bandwidth is required per application per user. WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a wireless communication technology which has predefined levels of QoS which can be provided to the user [4]. IPv6 has been created as the successor for IPv4 and resolves issues like the availability of IP addresses and QoS. This paper provides a design to use the power of WiMAX as an NSP (Network Service Provider) for NGN using IPv6. The use of the Traffic Class (TC) field and the Flow Label (FL) field of IPv6 has been explained for making QoS requests and grants [6], [7]. Using these fields, the processing time is reduced and routing is simplified. Also, we define the functioning of the ASN gateway and the NGN gateway (NGNG) which are edge node interfaces in the NGNWiMAX design. These gateways ensure QoS management through built in functions and by certain physical resources and networking capabilities.

Keywords: WiMAX, NGN, QoS, IPv6, Flow Label, ASNGateway

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973 The Integrated Management of Health Care Strategies and Differential Diagnosis by Expert System Technology: A Single-Dimensional Approach

Authors: A. B. Adehor, P. R. Burrell

Abstract:

The Integrated Management of Child illnesses (IMCI) and the surveillance Health Information Systems (HIS) are related strategies that are designed to manage child illnesses and community practices of diseases. However, both strategies do not function well together because of classification incompatibilities and, as such, are difficult to use by health care personnel in rural areas where a majority of people lack the basic knowledge of interpreting disease classification from these methods. This paper discusses a single approach on how a stand-alone expert system can be used as a prompt diagnostic tool for all cases of illnesses presented. The system combines the action-oriented IMCI and the disease-oriented HIS approaches to diagnose malaria and typhoid fever in the rural areas of the Niger-delta region.

Keywords: Differential diagnosis, Health Information System(HIS), Integrated Management of Child Illnesses (IMCI), Malaria andTyphoid fever.

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972 Feature Vector Fusion for Image Based Human Age Estimation

Authors: D. Karthikeyan, G. Balakrishnan

Abstract:

Human faces, as important visual signals, express a significant amount of nonverbal info for usage in human-to-human communication. Age, specifically, is more significant among these properties. Human age estimation using facial image analysis as an automated method which has numerous potential real‐world applications. In this paper, an automated age estimation framework is presented. Support Vector Regression (SVR) strategy is utilized to investigate age prediction. This paper depicts a feature extraction taking into account Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM), which can be utilized for robust face recognition framework. It applies GLCM operation to remove the face's features images and Active Appearance Models (AAMs) to assess the human age based on image. A fused feature technique and SVR with GA optimization are proposed to lessen the error in age estimation.

Keywords: Support vector regression, feature extraction, gray level co-occurrence matrix, active appearance models.

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