bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Coherent Optical Transduction of Suspended Microcapillary Resonators for Multi-Parameter Sensing Applications
Authors: Martín-Pérez Alberto , Ramos Daniel , Tamayo Javier , Calleja Montserrat
Published: November 2019

Characterization of micro and nanoparticle mass has become increasingly relevant in a wide range of fields, from materials science to drug development. The real-time analysis of complex mixtures in liquids demands very high mass sensitivity and high throughput. One of the most promising approaches for real-time measurements in liquid, with an excellent mass sensitivity, is the use of suspended microchannel resonators, where a carrier liquid containing the analytes flows through a nanomechanical resonator while tracking its resonance frequency shift. To this end, an extremely sensitive mechanical displacement technique is necessary. Here, we have developed an optomechanical transduction technique to enhance the mechanical displacement sensitivity of optically transparent hollow nanomechanical resonators. The capillaries have been fabricated by using a thermal stretching technique, which allows to accurately control the final dimensions of the device. We have experimentally demonstrated the light coupling into the fused silica capillary walls and how the evanescent light coming out from the silica interferes with the surrounding electromagnetic field distribution, a standing wave sustained by the incident laser and the reflected power from the substrate, modulating the reflectivity. The enhancement of the displacement sensitivity due to this interferometric modulation (two orders of magnitude better than compared with previous accomplishments) has been theoretically predicted and experimentally demonstrated.
Effect of Adhesive Debonding on the Performance of Piezoelectric Sensors in Structural Health Monitoring Systems
Authors: Liu Xuerong , Xu Yuanming , Li Ning , Wang Xiangyu , Zhang Weifang
Published: November 2019

Piezoelectric (PZT) ceramic elements are often subjected to complex loads during in- service lifetime in structural health monitoring (SHM) systems, and debonding of both excitation actuators and receiving sensors have a negative effect on the monitoring signals. A first systematic investigation of debonding behaviors by considering actuators and sensors simultaneously was performed in this paper. The debonding areas of actuators were set in different percentage range from 0% to 70%, and sensors in 0%, 20%, 40% and 60%. The signal-based monitoring method was used to extract the characteristic parameters of both the amplitudes and phases of received signals. Experimental results revealed that as the debonding areas of the actuators increase, the normalized amplitude appears a quick decrease before 35% debonding area of actuators and then a slow rise until 60% of debonding reached. This may be explained that the 35% debonding turning point correspond to the coincidence of the excitation frequencies of peripheral actuators with the inherent frequency of the central piezoelectric sensor, and the 60% be the result of the maximum ability of piezoelectric sensor. The degrees of debonding of actuators and sensors also have significant influence on the phase angle offset, with large debonding of actuators increases the phase offset sharply. The research work may provide useful information for practical monitoring of SHM systems.
A New Principle for Measuring the Average Relative Humidity in Large Volumes of Non-Homogenous Gas
Authors: Lazik Detlef , de Rooij Gerrit H. , Lazik Walter , Meissner Ralph
Published: November 2019

Due to the current extent of arid regions, the pressure on available water resources is increasing. A suitable measure for water availability and dynamics in dry soil is the relative humidity of the soil air. Due to the heterogeneity of soil, water inputs, and root water uptake, the humidity of soil air will vary in space. Therefore, area-representative measurement methods are needed to find a representative measure of the soil water status. Existing sensors for the direct determination of relative humidity only represent a single location with a spatial extent of up to several cm. We introduce a new measuring principle that averages over a spatially heterogeneously distributed relative humidity. It is based on the selective diffusion of water vapor pressure through a tubular semipermeable membrane to/from a closed measurement chamber. A measured pressure change is sensitive to the water vapor pressure and enables, without any external calibration, to estimate an average of the relative humidity. The comparison of our first laboratory prototype of the new sensor with calibrated reference sensors for relative humidity in a range of approx. 4 to 100% proves the linearity of the measuring method and its high accuracy. For further optimization improved reference measurement techniques are necessary. A potential application is the improvement of water use efficiency in irrigated agriculture.
Cyclodextrins in Drug Delivery Systems and Their Effects on Biological Barriers
Authors: Haimhoffer Ádám , Rusznyák Ágnes , Réti-Nagy Katalin , Vasvári Gábor , Váradi Judit , Vecsernyés Miklós , Bácskay Ildikó , Fehér Pálma , Ujhelyi Zoltán , Fenyvesi Ferenc
Published: November 2019

Cyclodextrins are widely used excipients, composed of glucopyranose units with a cyclic structure. One of their most important properties, is that their inner cavity is hydrophobic, while their surface is hydrophilic. This enables them for the complex formation with lipophilic molecules. They have several applications in the pharmaceutical field like solubility enhancers or the building blocks of larger drug delivery systems. On the other hand, they have numerous effects on cells or biological barriers. In this review the most important properties of cyclodextrins and cyclodextrin-based drug delivery systems are summarized with special focus on their biological activity.
Reinforcing and Reproducing Stereotypes? Ethical Considerations When Doing Research on Stereotypes and Stereotyped Reasoning
Authors: Cecchini Mathilde
Published: November 2019

Many social scientists are interested in studying stereotypes and stereotyped reasoning. This interest often comes from a wish to contribute to creating a more just and equal society. However, when we as scholars study stereotypes and stereotyped reasoning, we risk reproducing and maybe even reinforcing these processes, and thereby harming individuals or groups of individuals. The debates of this ethical issue mainly take the form of general discussions of research ethics and of weighing the aim of the research against potential harm to participants. While these reflections are extremely important, there is a need for discussing how this ethical issue can be handled in practice. The aim of this article is to develop a set of practical guidelines for managing this ethical issue, based on the examination of ethically delicate moments experienced during an ethnographic study of the construction of health and risk identities among seventh-graders in Denmark. Three guiding principles are proposed: Develop an ethical sensibility in order to identify ethically delicate moments; consider ethics as well as methods when constructing and posing questions; more specifically, briefings and debriefings can be used to address ethical issues; and, finally, make participants reflect upon their opinions and answers.
Relevance of Gastronomy in the Tourism of a World Heritage Site: The Case of Sucre (Bolivia)
Authors: Medina-Viruel Miguel Jesús , Gomez Casero Gema , Fuentes Jiménez Pedro Antonio , González Santa Cruz Francisco
Published: November 2019

Recently, gastronomy has become one of the most important tourist attractions for cities as well as for rural areas. In this respect, tourists look for authenticity in the gastronomy heritage of these destinations, making it, thusly, a motivation for visiting the place. This research presents a segmentation of the tourists who visit Sucre (Bolivia), on the basis of a higher or lower interest in the gastronomy of the city. The results extracted from the research highlight the existence of three tourist segments with different attitudes regarding gastronomic experiences. Additionally, it notes the importance that a specific type of tourist places on discovering and better understanding the gastronomy of a city as part of its cultural heritage.
Willingness to Pay for Eco-Labeled Food in Forests: Integrated View from South Korea
Authors: Jo Jang-Hwan , Yang Ji Yeon , Roh Taewoo
Published: November 2019

Due to global interest in the improvement of national income and quality of life, eco-labeled food (ELF) for sustainable consumption and personal healthcare has been increasing. This study aims to contribute to two research streams by examining the quality of ELF in forests (ELFF). First, this study intends to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) of ELFF producers for the certification verified by the government-supported institution and investigate the difference in certification costs between the actual certificating authority and ELFF producers. Second, this study aims to figure out the perception mechanism of how consumers who would like to purchase ELFFs recognize the effect of enhanced certification. These efforts may contribute to the research on how to raise interest in the production of ELF-related products and sustainable consumption. To achieve the purpose of this study, we adopted contingent valuation methods (CVM) to measure WTPs using interview-based surveys with 40 ELF producers and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to examine the effect of certification with 112 consumers who experienced ELF consumption. Results of this study provide theoretical and practical implications by looking at the relationship between ELF certification and sustainable consumption from a stakeholder’s perspective. This study intends to expand the research field of ELF from agriculture to forestry products. It provides a basis for providing practical implications for policymakers who propose sustainable consumption.
Time Series Analysis for Predicting Hydroelectric Power Production: The Ecuador Case
Authors: Barzola-Monteses Julio , Mite-León Mónica , Espinoza-Andaluz Mayken , Gómez-Romero Juan , Fajardo Waldo
Published: November 2019

Electrical generation in Ecuador mainly comes from hydroelectric and thermo-fossil sources, with the former amounting to almost half of the national production. Even though hydroelectric power sources are highly stable, there is a threat of droughts and floods affecting Ecuadorian water reservoirs and producing electrical faults, as highlighted by the 2009 Ecuador electricity crisis. Therefore, predicting the behavior of the hydroelectric system is crucial to develop appropriate planning strategies and a good starting point for energy policy decisions. In this paper, we developed a time series predictive model of hydroelectric power production in Ecuador. To this aim, we used production and precipitation data from 2000 to 2015 and compared the Box-Jenkins (ARIMA) and the Box-Tiao (ARIMAX) regression methods. The results showed that the best model is the ARIMAX (1,1,1) (1,0,0)12, which considers an exogenous variable precipitation in the Napo River basin and can accurately predict monthly production values up to a year in advance. This model can provide valuable insights to Ecuadorian energy managers and policymakers.
Fare Evasion in Public Transport: Grouping Transantiago Users’ Behavior
Authors: González Felipe , Busco Carolina , Codocedo Katheryn
Published: November 2019

A survey was conducted in July 2018 on the public bus system in Santiago, Chile, in which 457 users were asked to respond to a list of 42 statements expressing a range of attitudes on different aspects of the problem of fare evasion. The respondents were first categorized according to whether they had been observed paying or not paying the fare, and their responses were then subjected to separate cluster analyses that partitioned the respondents into groups according to their views on each survey statement. The analyses identified four distinguishable types or groups among those who did not pay the fare—radical, strategic, ambivalent, and accidental evaders—and three groups among those who did pay—proud, empathetic, and circumstantial evaders. The distinguishing factors motivating the decision to pay or not to pay the fare were found generally to reflect values and attitudes or ideologies but were also influenced by users’ perception of the social acceptability of evasion, the presence of anti-evasion measures, and how “organized” they were in taking care to have a farecard with them when planning to take a bus.
The Role of Different Earthworm Species (Metaphire Hilgendorfi and Eisenia Fetida) on CO2 Emissions and Microbial Biomass during Barley Decomposition
Authors: Hamamoto Toru , Uchida Yoshitaka
Published: November 2019

Earthworms are commonly known as essential modifiers of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles, but the effects of their species on nutrient cycles and interaction with soil microbial activities during the decomposition of organic materials remain unclear. We conducted an incubation experiment to investigate the effect of two different epigeic earthworms (M. hilgendorfi and E. fetida) on C and N concentrations and related enzyme activities in agricultural soils with added barley residues (ground barley powder). To achieve this, four treatments were included; (1) M. hilgendorfi and barley, (2) E. fetida and barley, (3) barley without earthworms, and (4) without earthworms and without barley. After 32 days incubation, we measured soil pH, inorganic N, microbial biomass C (MBC), water or hot-water soluble C, and soil enzyme activities. We also measured CO2 emissions during the incubation. Our results indicated the earthworm activity in soils had no effect on the cumulative CO2 emissions. However, M. hilgendorfi had a potential to accumulate MBC (2.9 g kg−1 soil) and nitrate-N (39 mg kg−1 soil), compared to E. fetida (2.5 g kg−1 soil and 14 mg kg−1 soil, respectively). In conclusion, the interaction between soil microbes and earthworm is influenced by earthworm species, consequently influencing the soil C and N dynamics.
Towards Evaluation of Environmental Spatial Order of Natural Valuable Landscapes in Suburban Areas: Evidence from Poland
Authors: Różycka-Czas Renata , Czesak Barbara , Cegielska Katarzyna
Published: November 2019

The aim of the paper is to develop a method to evaluate and monitor environmental spatial order to delimit problem areas. The method was tested on the carefully chosen suburban areas as natural valuable areas located in suburban and peri-urban areas are particularly prone to intense and chaotic development. The number of methods of spatial order evaluation is scarce. The paper is an attempt to fill this gap. We have used following indicators: afforestation rate, landscape diversity level, density of the total road network, rate of compact development, as well as the building intensity. Indicators used in the method have been chosen based on the literature and modified to adjust it to the available data. Our findings confirm that the method gives reliable results. It can be used to evaluate the efficacy of Local Spatial Development Plans and Environmental Protection Plans. Moreover, we delimited areas in which environmental spatial order could be improved.
Investigating Sustainable Practices in Hotel Industry-from Employees’ Perspective: Evidence from a Mediterranean Island
Authors: Alipour Habib , Safaeimanesh Farzad , Soosan Arezoo
Published: November 2019

Although several studies have researched the hotel employees’ environmental behavior, none has addressed the hotel employees’ perception of their respective hotels’ sustainability practices. This study aims to investigate the sustainable practices in four and five star hotels in a Mediterranean island by employing Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) hotel criteria indicators, indicators of sustainable development for tourism destinations (WTO), and the European Union’s (EU) sustainability framework for the Mediterranean hotels− “Nearly Zero-Energy Hotels” (NEZEH), and global sustainable development goals (SDG) in the context of three dimensions: social, economic and environment. The sampled hotels claim that their operation system is conformed to sustainability principles with the aim of furthering their green agenda. In this study, we aim to investigate the validity and extent of this claim. About 290 (N = 290) employees in the specified hotels were surveyed. The measurement instruments were compiled based on sustainability indicators that encompassed addressing social, economic, and environmental dimensions. The research questions contextualized around four main themes: effective sustainability planning, maximizing social and economic benefits for the local community, enhancing cultural heritage, and reducing negative environmental impacts. For the statistical and data analysis, SEM (structural equation modeling) is used. Study revealed that employees are a legitimate and credible source of information about sustainability practices. It is also revealed that as going green is becoming a means toward branding, hotels are making efforts to implement a genuine sustainability practice. Study also indicated that the majority of employees validated the sustainability practices as genuine.
A Vaccinology Approach to the Identification and Characterization of Dermanyssus gallinae Candidate Protective Antigens for the Control of Poultry Red Mite Infestations
Authors: Lima-Barbero José , Contreras Marinela , Mateos-Hernández Lourdes , Mata-Lorenzo Francisco , Triguero-Ocaña Roxana , Sparagano Olivier , Finn Robert , Strube Christina , Price Daniel , Nunn Francesca , Bartley Kathryn , Höfle Ursula , Boadella Mariana , Nisbet Alasdair , de la Fuente José , Villar Margarita
Published: November 2019

The poultry red mite (PRM), Dermanyssus gallinae, is a hematophagous ectoparasite considered as the major pest in the egg-laying industry. Its pesticide-based control is only partially successful and requires the development of new control interventions such as vaccines. In this study, we follow a vaccinology approach to identify PRM candidate protective antigens. Based on proteomic data from fed and unfed nymph and adult mites, we selected a novel PRM protein, calumenin (Deg-CALU), which is tested as a vaccine candidate on an on-hen trial. Rhipicephalus microplus Subolesin (Rhm-SUB) was chosen as a positive control. Deg-CALU and Rhm-SUB reduced the mite oviposition by 35 and 44%, respectively. These results support Deg-CALU and Rhm-SUB as candidate protective antigens for the PRM control.
The Perceptual and Aesthetic Aspects of the Music-Paintings Congruence
Authors: Rančić Katarina , Marković Slobodan
Published: November 2019

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of congruence between music and paintings on the aesthetic preference of paintings. Congruence was specified as the similarity in perceived regularity and the complexity of jazz compositions and abstract paintings (the ratings of regularity and complexity in both sets of stimuli were obtained in the pilot study). In the main experiment, 32 participants rated the aesthetic pleasantness of paintings with congruent, incongruent, and no music background. In addition, they rated the music-paintings matching (how well the music goes with the painting). The results show no effect of congruence on aesthetic pleasantness ratings. The effect on the perceived matching was significant; matching is higher in the congruent compared to the incongruent condition. These findings suggest that congruency has a strong effect on the perceptual aspect of the music-paintings compatibility (visuo-auditory similarity) and no effect on the aesthetic aspect (liking).
Errors in Imagined and Executed Typing
Authors: Dahm Stephan F. , Rieger Martina
Published: November 2019

In motor imagery (MI), internal models may predict the action effects. A mismatch between predicted and intended action effects may result in error detection. To compare error detection in MI and motor execution (ME), ten-finger typists and hunt-and-peck typists performed a copy-typing task. Visibility of the screen and visibility of the keyboard were manipulated. Participants reported what type of error occurred and by which sources they detected the error. With covered screen, fewer errors were reported, showing the importance of distal action effects for error detection. With covered screen, the number of reported higher-order planning errors did not significantly differ between MI and ME. However, the number of reported motor command errors was lower in MI than in ME. Hence, only errors that occur in advance to internal modeling are equally observed in MI and ME. MI may require more attention than ME, leaving fewer resources to monitor motor command errors in MI. In comparison to hunt-and-peck typists, ten-finger typists detected more higher-order planning errors by kinesthesis/touch and fewer motor command errors by vision of the keyboard. The use of sources for error detection did not significantly differ between MI and ME, indicating similar mechanisms.
Užnemunės kultūros raidos bruožai. Keraminis aspektas
Authors: Juodagalvis Vygandas
Published: November 2019

XX a. paskutiniais dešimtmečiais – XXI a. pradžioje Užnemunėje sistemingai buvo tyrinėjamos priešistorinės gyvenvietės. Per dešimtį sezonų aptikta per penkiasdešimt akmens, žalvario ir geležies amžių paminklų bei pavienių dirbinių radimviečių, kasinėti Kubilėlių, Žiūrių, Padusio, Aradninkų, Paveisiejų gyvenvietės ir kapinynai. Sąlygos keramikai išlikti Užnemunės paminkluose nebuvo palankios – kultūriniai gyvenviečių
sluoksniai slūgsojo smėlyje, daug kur buvo apardyti arimo arba išpustyti vėjo. Nors keramikos čia nedaug ir prastai išlikusi, vis dėlto ji labai įvairi ir tuose pačiuose paminkluose yra visokios. Tyrinėtų paminklų apžvalgos publikacijose daugiausia dėmesio skirta akmens ir žalvario amžiaus pradžios palikimui – vėlesnių laikotarpių medžiaga išnagrinėta nepakankamai. Šiuo straipsniu tikimasi užpildyti spragą ir, remiantis naujais duomenimis, apžvelgti Užnemunės keramikos raidą nuo neolito iki I tūkstantmečio vidurio.
Perspectivas para o desenvolvimento do turismo na Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável de Barra Una (SP)
Authors: Dopona Alisson Peter Brito , Prudêncio Renato Xavier Araújo , Ramires Milena , Clauzet Mariana
Published: November 2019

Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (RDS) é uma categoria de Unidade de Conservação destinada a preservar a natureza e abrigar populações locais, dando condições para resiliência, qualidade de vida e manejo dos recursos naturais. O objetivo deste artigo foi analisar o potencial turístico da Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável de Barra do Una (RDSBU), através da investigação da infraestrutura local, das demandas, expectativas e do Conhecimento Ecológico Local da comunidade relacionadas aos atrativos naturais existentes na RDSBU, visando subsidiar o planejamento de futuras atividades turísticas no local. Foram entrevistados 25 moradores de ambos os gêneros, com idade média de 47 anos, residentes há mais de duas gerações que responderam questionários semiestruturados entre 2013 e 2014. 14 atrativos com potencial turístico foram indicados, dos quais sete tiveram maior frequência de citações, incluindo praias, cachoeiras, rios e costão rochoso, sendo que duas, das 7 localidades encontram-se em área de proteção integral (Estação Ecológica). Para o desenvolvimento do turismo na RDSBU destaca-se a necessidade da melhoria de infraestrutura, incluindo o acesso à Vila, saneamento, energia e comunicação. Somado a beleza natural da Mata Atlântica que cerca a RDSBU como um atrativo, ficou evidente a expectativa dos moradores e o potencial para o turismo.
An Analysis of Students’ Attitudes Towards Twitter Use for Academic Purposes: A Case of Saudi Undergreate Female Students.
Authors: Mansour Ilham , Mansour Azza
Published: November 2019

Social media has increasingly been used in higher education classrooms as educators lean on technology to mediate and enhance their teaching and learning process. This study aims to explore students’ perceptions and attitudes towards the use of social media as an effective academic tool. 149 Undergraduate Saudi female students, enrolled in four courses at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, were surveyed about their attitude towards the use of Twitter in classroom interactions, as well as, their perceptions regarding the use of social media in teaching practice. Findings indicate that, in general, students have positive attitudes toward using Twitter for academic purposes. Additionally, students favorably perceive that Twitter facilitates knowledge sharing, collaborations, and interactions in the classroom but to a lesser extent enhancing their sense of learning.
This study sheds light on the potential opportunities of the use of Twitter in the classroom, and what benefits could it bring to the teaching and learning process in higher education that may affect the quality of the students’ learning experience.
Alfabetização, literacia e letramento: diferentes conceitos de um caminho comum
Authors: Schardosim Chris Royes , Alves Thiago Ribeiro
Published: November 2019

Este texto originou-se de uma proposta de projeto de mestrado apresentado ao Programa de Pós-Graduação stricto sensu em Educação do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Catarinense (IFC) Campus Camboriú. Trata-se de uma revisão da literatura sobre os conceitos de alfabetização, literacia e letramento refletindo teoricamente sobre os diferentes pontos de vista e definição. Também busca conexões entre esses conceitos e as práticas educativas na Educação de Jovens e Adultos (EJA), pensando nas tecnologias digitais de informação e comunicação (TDIC).
Liver Segmentation Techniques of CT Images for Clinical Diagnosis
Authors:   Pursuing Post-Graduation in Computer Science and Engineering in Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education., Kostka. J. E* Anusha Linda , Jinny S. Vinila ,   Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kumaracoil.
Published: November 2019

Liver Segmentation has become one of the most efficient and systematic tasks in the case of medical applications. Recently, the segmentation of liver has found its part in the research areas also. It has become a common feature to hinder the accurate and the proper segmentation of the liver intensities and its neighbor organs in the human body. Different techniques of liver segmentation can be performed with CT images, MRI images and PET. Among these CT images have a wide application in the detection, identification and segmentation of the liver deficiencies. Manual segmentation of the liver seems to be more time consuming yielding less precision and robustness. Nowadays, many techniques have been developed for the segmentation of liver that are more efficient, fast with accurate as well as better results than the traditional methods.
Development of an Effective Resource-Saving Design and Methods for Calculating the Parameters of Gears with Compound Wheels
Authors:   (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) - Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Department of general technical disciplines, Tashkent Institute of Textile and Light Industry, Tashkent city, Shohjahon, Djuraev* Anvar Djuraevich , Kholmamatovich Beknazarov Jasur ,   (Navoi, Uzbekistan) doctoral student of the Navoi branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Sharipovich Kenjaboev Shukurjon ,   (Namangan, Uzbekistan) Doctor of Technical Sciences, Rector of Namangan Engineering Construction Institute
Published: November 2019

The article presents the design schemes and the principle of operation of the gear transmission with composite wheels and elastic elements. The technique and the results of the analysis to determine the degree of mobility of gears with composite wheels and elastic elements are given. The angular displacement of the composite gears and gear ratios are obtained by the analytical method. Graphic dependencies are constructed and the values of the system parameters are recommended.
Understanding of CSFs in the application of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Toll expressway in Malaysia
Authors:   Faculty of Economics and Muamalat (FEM), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Malaysia., Ramli* Syaromi , Mohamed Zainal Abidin ,   Faculty of Economics and Muamalat (FEM), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Malaysia.
Published: November 2019

Expressways are extremely expensive to build and maintain. A major infrastructure project and services involve massive public investments starting from planning, land acquisition, grading, paving and other expenditure. As an alternative, Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a popular tool for the government to cope and meet the increasingly demand by capitalising on private sectors ‘resource and expertise. Given the inherent advantages of PPP model over conventional model, the PPP model was highly favoured and adopted for toll expressway development in Malaysia. Many studies have been made on PPP in the literature but very few have been conducted to investigate factors affecting adoption of PPP toll expressway in Malaysia. Thus, this paper attempts to register all these Critical Success Factors (CSFs) from available journal articles published since 2012. Twenty (20) articles were identified and all the CSFs in them were registered in one list. A two stage exploratory sequential mixed method design was adopted. The first stage was to list all the 161 CSFs that illustrated in the articles and qualitatively analysed them (using thematic analysis) and this resulted in reducing the number to 77. Then these 77 themes of CSFs went through of consolidating exercise into grouping them under the relevant Clusters. Overall, there are nine (9) clusters of criteria of CSFs that can be consolidated as factors affecting on adoption of PPP namely;(1) risks cluster, (2) governmental influence cluster, (3)project viability cluster, (4)organisational cluster, (5)economic and financial cluster, (6)legal framework cluster, (7)technology and innovation cluster, (8) social and environment cluster, and (9) trust cluster. The consolidated nine (9) clusters of CSFs list then went through a final stage of analysis for validation. A set of questionnaire to validate the degree of importance of these nine (9) clusters of factor affecting was prepared and sent to thirty (30) experts in PPP from three (3) main sectors; public, private and academic. The descriptive analysis was done by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23.0 to differentiate these nine (9) clusters of factor affecting through their mean score. Finally, based on the group mean score value higher than 3.95, three (3) clusters of CSFs were selected as the most factor affecting in adoption of PPP namely; governmental influence, project viability and trust. This list is recommended to be considered in future studies of the influencing factors of involvement private sectors into PPP particularly on expressway projects.
Authentication of an Image with Sha-1 and Invariant Vector Distances
Authors:   Assistant Professor, Department of CSE, Raghu Engineering College, Visakhapatnam, India., Narasimham* A.A. , Avadhani Prof. P.S. ,   Department of CS&SE, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam,India.
Published: November 2019

The two primary objectives of image authentication are Discrimination and Robustness. The SHA-1 algorithm, invariant vector distance and ring division are implemented to authenticate the image by using hash value to enhance discriminative capability and rotation robustness. The statistical features like central moments of the picture which contains rings in homogenous CIE L*a*b* model are unwavering because the image rotation is not linked to the ring division. Specifically, the digital operations of an image are not changed with respect to Euclidean distance and feature vectors. This makes message digest discriminative and dense. Several tests conducted with more than 200 color images and reveals that for common image digital operations this algorithm for image authentication is strong to estimate the efficiency. Among all the existing hashing algorithms, the projected technique for image authentication is demonstrated as superior.
On the New Nonlinear Properties of the Nonlinear Heat Conductivity Problem
Authors:   Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Analysis, National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Mirsiddikovich* Aripov Mersaid , Zafrullayevna Sayfullaeva Maftukha ,   Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Analysis, National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek, Tashkent, Uzbekistan,
Published: November 2019

In this article, we discuss one problem of nonlinear thermal conductivity with double nonlinearity; an exact analytical solution has been found for it, the analysis of which allows revealing a number of characteristic features of thermal processes in nonlinear media. The following nonlinear effects have been established: the inertial effect, the finite propagation velocity of thermal disturbances, the spatial localization of heat, and the effect of the finite time of the existence of a thermal structure in an absorption medium.
Preparation and Characterization of Hybrid Composite Laminated Plates with Variation of Sawdust
Authors:   Department of Mechanical Engineering, AGI (Autonomous) affiliated to JNTUH, Hyderabad, India., Raju* Dr. P. Ravikanth , Upendar Somagani ,   Department of Mechanical Engineering, AGI (Autonomous) Affiliated to JNTUH, Hyderabad, India., Rao P. Chinna Srinivas ,   Department of Mechanical Engineering, AGI (Autonomous) affiliated to JNTUH, Hyderabad, India.
Published: November 2019

From past two-three decades there has been a gradual shift from monolithic to composite materials in order to meet the increasing demand for lighter, high performance, environment friendly, corrosion and wear resistant materials. Composite materials are majorly used in massive production like boats, automotive and air craft Industry etc. in order to improve hardness and impact strength. The manufacturing of hybrid composite laminates is difficult to handle by traditional methods and gives size restrictions, wetting, poor surface finish, more number of moulding required for manufacturing. The Hand lay-up chosen as the fabrication technique when product needs smooth finish slight variations in thickness and number of moldings required is less. The moulding made from materials like plastics, wood, clay, plaster or plywood depending on the availability. Hand lay-up technique has been adopted to manufacture the hybrid composite laminated plate (sawdust with 1%, 2% and 3% variation) and impact strength and hardness is to be calculated.
Efficient Region of Interest Extraction Methods for Multiple Medical Images
Authors:   Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, YSR Engineering College of Yogi Vemana University, Proddatur, India,, Kumar* B. P. Santosh , Ramanaiah Dr. K. Venkata ,   Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, YSR Engineering College of Yogi Vemana University, Proddatur, India.
Published: November 2019

Medical images do contain important and unimportant spatial regions. Compression methods which are capable of reconstructing the image with high quality are required to compress the medical images. For these images, only a portion of it is useful for diagnosis hence a region based coding techniques are significant for compressing and transmission. Extracting a significant region is of great demand since a slighter mistake may leads to wrong diagnosis. This paper is focused on investigating multiple image processing algorithms for medical images. All the images may not contain the same region of interest, so different approaches are supposed to apply for different images. In this three types of medical images were considered like magnetic resonance (MR) brain images, computer tomography (CT) abdomen images and X-ray lung images. In this paper three automatic region of interest extraction algorithms were proposed for different types of images.
Simulation of Wave Propagation in Waveguide Tee Junctions
Authors:   Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, CVR College of Engineering, Hyderabad, India., Arora* Amit
Published: November 2019

In order to understand the behaviour of any microwave component, knowledge of electromagnetic (EM) field distribution inside the component is necessary. In this paper simulation of wave propagation in waveguide tees at X- band is presented in dominant mode. Pattern of electric field from front view, side view, and front and top view of magnetic field for dominant mode in rectangular waveguide is presented. Configuration of electric, magnetic field and power distribution at different time instants in microwave tees is explained. Power distribution and isolation property in E-H plane tee are also described.
Complexity Analysis and Accuracy of Image Recovery Based on Signal Transformation Algorithms
Authors:   M.Sc. Student, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh., Khandakar Samsunnahar , Babar Jahirul Islam ,   M.Sc. Student, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh., Majumder* Anup ,   Lecturer, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh., Islam Md. Imdadul ,   Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Published: November 2019

In this paper we compare and analyze the complexity of three functions: Fast Fourier transform (FFT), Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), used in image transformation. The purpose of all the algorithms is to shift the signal from space or time domain to frequency domain for de-noising or compression. We compare the simulated process time of both one and two dimensional FFT, DCT and DWT (Symlet and Debauches 1) using image and speech signal. The process time is found lowest for FFT and highest for DWT, provided its basis function governs the process time and DCT provide the moderate result. Finally the quality of compressed image under the three mathematical functions are compared, where DWT is found as the best and FFT yields worst result.
Multiband Microstrip Patch Antenna for IoT Applications
Authors:   Research Scholar, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, B.M.S. College of Engineering, Visvesvaraya, Technological University, Belgaum, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India., Swamy* J.C. Narayana , Seshachalam Dr. D. ,   Professor, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, B.M.S. College of Engineering, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Published: November 2019

In this paper, a planar multiband microstrip patch antenna is presented for narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) applications. The simple planar structure covers three of the approved bands (830-840 MHz), (850-890 MHz) and (1190-1200 MHz). The return loss at resonance frequencies is less than-20dB and radiation pattern is omnidirectional as desired, for all the bands. Simple basic equations of microstrip patch antenna are used for design. The simulation and performance analysis is done using HFSS tool. The design considers simple, easily available printed circuit board (PCB) with FR4 dielectric material between the patch and ground plane. Which is inexpensive, fulfills the basic need of the application. The optimetrics of the HFSS simulation tool are handy, used extensively to find appropriate feed position, optimize return loss, gain and to tune the resonance frequencies.
Effectiveness of Social Advertisements on Attitudes & Practices
Authors:   Associate Professor in Institute of Management, Christ University (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, Karnataka, Prasad* Arcot Purna , Kumar Dr.G.Vijaya ,   Associate Professor in the Department of Management Studies, Rajeev Gandhi Memorial College of Engineering & Technology, (Autonomus) Nandyala
Published: November 2019

Social Advertisements is an influential device for social change. Social advertising is a process of changes in the behaviour is to be positive for promoting social issues through marketing and advertising principles From Social advertising change in behaviour to the individual targeted groups, make them to accept with a behaviour of new-fangled, discard a old behaviour, amend a present behaviour. Social advertising intends to confines targeted customers who wants to change, mutate or reject certain practices such as smoking, drinking, etc. and stimulate them to carry out socially desirable actions. We can see that organizations like UNICEF, UNESCO have used Social advertising for various purposes and with various degrees of success all across the world. Social Advertising and marketing is increasingly common in UK, USA, Australia, Canada and Scandinavian countries, where fundraising and collaboration between companies and NGOs happen almost every day. In a country like India which is faced with a multitude of problems we can reap huge benefits from the proper usage of social advertisements. Attitude and practices are interlinked. Actions are based on thoughts, Practices are based on Attitudes, The people who are having favourable attitudes and they are having favourable practices. The consequences of both primary & secondary data are related to each other which determine that the attitude and practices are interweaved to each other. Therefore the study deduces that there is association between the attitude and practices of health and hygiene. A sample size of 275 was considered and stratified random sampling technique was adopted for this uni-dimensional study which has been carried out with emphasis upon three major demographic variables District, Area and Gender. Considering these variables as strata, a sample was collected from the respondents belonging to the different established strata in the form of questionnaires. Questionnaires were developed in consultation with experts which are having high reliability scores. After the collection of data, the data was subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis based on the hypotheses formulated using SPSS (version 22.0). The inference of the study was that people who were regularly exposed to social advertisements gained a high level of awareness about health &hygiene, and developed favourable attitude and practices through attitude and practices.
Automation Petrol Bunk Management using Postpaid Cards
Authors:   Department of C.S.E, School of Computing, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology Chennai, India., Sujihelen* L. , Senthilsingh C. ,   Department ofE.C.E, Shadan Women’s College of Engineering, Hyderabad, India., Jyothi M.Pavithra ,   Department ofE.C.E, Shadan Women’s College of Engineering, Hyderabad, India.
Published: November 2019

This paper shows the improvisation of manually operated petrol bunks, as of this process the automated petrol bunks using cloud communications and Arduino along with RFID reader is proposed. Every step is made user friendly,where computerized RFID reader is installed at the bunk and postpaid cards are issued to every person along with vehicle registration certificate.It is that when the user approaches the petrol bunk and swipes the card at the RFID reader, it shows therespective user details. Then, after verifying the details and password is entered just to verify the user and then the required amount of fuel is entered,then the relay sensor gets activated and fuel gets released. When the quantity assigned is filled the filling gets stopped automatically, after this process the message of transaction details is automatically sent to registered mobile number of theuser.
The Vantage Point Operation of Collision on Online Shopping Via Social Media amid Shoppers and Assessments of Shopping
Authors:   Department of Commerce, St. Joseph’s College affiliated to Bharathidasan University, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India., Leo* A. , Jerome Dr. V. Bastin ,   Department of Commerce, St. Joseph’s College affiliated to Bharathidasan University, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India.
Published: November 2019

Tiruchirappalli has covered a path for a large number of online shoppers by including factors such as convenience, best prices, different varieties of the same product, flexibility in delivery location of a good and easy comparison of prices. The social media covers the entire decision-making process of the consumers on the basis of the reviews and feedbacks from the social media users. The ultimate aim of social media marketing is to boost the online shopping business and improve the profits. But sometimes the social media users are not realising that their decision-making process psychologically changed. The consumer behaviour entirely changes because of the systematic and the proper way of social media advertisements towards the usage of promotion techniques. The objectives of this paper are to determine the attitude of buying behaviour of shoppers towards social media networks. To analyse the influence of social media on shoppers. To know the level of satisfaction and the most preferred product from social media advertisement. To check out the beneficial and favour form of social media.
Integration of 6LOWPAN and Cloud Data Centers: The Role of Link Capacity between Sensor Networks and Cloud Data Centers
Authors:   School of Information Technology and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India., Suganya* P. , Reddy Dr. Pradeep ,   Ch School of Information Technology and Engineering. Vellore Institute of Technology , Amaravathi, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Published: November 2019

Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Mobile Things (IoMT) acquired widespread popularity by its ease of deployment and support for innovative applications. The sensed and aggregated data from IoT and IoMT are transferred to Cloud through Internet for analysis, interpretation and decision making. In order to generate timely response and sending back the decisions to the end users or Administrators, it is important to select appropriate cloud data centers which would process and produce responses in a shorter time. Beside several factors that determine the performance of the integrated 6LOWPAN and Cloud Data Centers, we analyze the available bandwidth between various user bases (IoT and IoMT networks) and the cloud data centers. Amidst of various services offered in cloud, problems such as congestion, delay and poor response time arises when the number of user request increases. Load balancing/sharing algorithms are the popularly used techniques to improve the performance of the cloud system. Load refers to the number of user requests (Data) from different types of networks such as IoT and IoMT which are IPv6 compliant. In this paper we investigate the impact of homogeneous and heterogeneous bandwidth between different regions in load balancing algorithms for mapping user requests (Data) to various virtual machines in Cloud. We investigate the influence of bandwidth across different regions in determining the response time for the corresponding data collected from data harvesting networks. We simulated the cloud environment with various bandwidth values between user base and data centers and presented the average response time for individual user bases. We used Cloud- Analyst an open source tool to simulate the proposed work. The obtained results can be used as a reference to map the mass data generated by various networks to appropriate data centers to produce the response in an optimal time.