987 research outputs found

    Alternative sweetener from curculigo fruits

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    This study gives an overview on the advantages of Curculigo Latifolia as an alternative sweetener and a health product. The purpose of this research is to provide another option to the people who suffer from diabetes. In this research, Curculigo Latifolia was chosen, due to its unique properties and widely known species in Malaysia. In order to obtain the sweet protein from the fruit, it must go through a couple of procedures. First we harvested the fruits from the Curculigo trees that grow wildly in the garden. Next, the Curculigo fruits were dried in the oven at 50 0C for 3 days. Finally, the dried fruits were blended in order to get a fine powder. Curculin is a sweet protein with a taste-modifying activity of converting sourness to sweetness. The curculin content from the sample shown are directly proportional to the mass of the Curculigo fine powder. While the FTIR result shows that the sample spectrum at peak 1634 cm–1 contains secondary amines. At peak 3307 cm–1 contains alkynes

    Integrating case based reasoning and geographic information systems in a planing support system: Çeşme Peninsula study

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    Thesis (Doctoral)--Izmir Institute of Technology, City and Regional Planning, Izmir, 2009Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 110-121)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxii, 140 leavesUrban and regional planning is experiencing fundamental changes on the use of of computer-based models in planning practice and education. However, with this increased use, .Geographic Information Systems. (GIS) or .Computer Aided Design.(CAD) alone cannot serve all of the needs of planning. Computational approaches should be modified to deal better with the imperatives of contemporary planning by using artificial intelligence techniques in city planning process.The main aim of this study is to develop an integrated .Planning Support System. (PSS) tool for supporting the planning process. In this research, .Case Based Reasoning. (CBR) .an artificial intelligence technique- and .Geographic Information Systems. (GIS) .geographic analysis, data management and visualization techniqueare used as a major PSS tools to build a .Case Based System. (CBS) for knowledge representation on an operational study. Other targets of the research are to discuss the benefits of CBR method in city planning domain and to demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of this technique in a PSS. .Çeşme Peninsula. case study which applied under the desired methodology is presented as an experimental and operational stage of the thesis.This dissertation tried to find out whether an integrated model which employing CBR&GIS could support human decision making in a city planning task. While the CBS model met many of predefined goals of the thesis, both advantages and limitations have been realized from findings when applied to the complex domain such as city planning

    THE DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF AN ANALYTICAL STRUCTURAL MAINTENANCE DESIGN SYSTEM FOR ROADS

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    Previous work at Plymouth has shown the deflected shape as measured by the Deflectograph can be used to estimate the thickness of surfacing. This thesis extends the earlier work to develop relations between deflected shape and the stiffness and thickness of pavement layers. A literature study has been carried out to identify the factors causing the deterioration of flexible pavements. The literature study also assesses the various pavement evaluation equipment that is available and describes various methods of analysis and the interpretation of the pavement surface deflection shape that have been proposed. The properties of the materials of the various layers of the flexible pavement have been reviewed. Various structural models of a pavement are considered and the study indicates that the finite element method provides a most accurate prediction of actual pavement response to a moving wheel load. A 3D finite element model of a flexible pavement has been produced and partially validated with data obtained from the TRRL. A Fortran Programe has been developed to convert absolute deflections predicted by the 3D model into equivalent Deflectograph deflections. The model has been used to carry out parametric study to establish appropriate relationships between the deflected shape and material properties of the pavement layers. Relationships have been established to determine the thickness, modular ratio and modulus of the pavement layers and its support subgrade from measurement of the deflected shape. An Analytical Pavement Evaluation and Design System has been set up based on the relationships. The system has been validated by comparing the material properties obtained from the laboratory testing with those predicted by the design model using the Deflectograph measurements obtained from local roads with measurement of layer thickness and subgrade strength measured in-situ

    A review of impact damage detection in structures using strain data

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    This paper aims to provide a state-of-the-art review on impact damage detection techniques in structures using strain data. An overview of impact detection systems is provided. These include sensors, specimens, and impact sources used for developing and testing strategies. The review is focused on approaches that use impact strain data (passive approach) to determine simultaneously the location and/or energy of an impact at the time it occurs. These approaches can be classed into two main groups, one based on analytical models and the other based on data-driven models. The former uses a first-principle model obtained from physical laws, whereas the latter describes complex relationships between input and output data obtained by experiments or simulations. Although some weaknesses and strengths are cited, we did not attempt to compare these approaches, and we do not comment the quantitative results.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

    REDIR: Automated Static Detection of Obfuscated Anti-Debugging Techniques

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    Reverse Code Engineering (RCE) to detect anti-debugging techniques in software is a very difficult task. Code obfuscation is an anti-debugging technique makes detection even more challenging. The Rule Engine Detection by Intermediate Representation (REDIR) system for automated static detection of obfuscated anti-debugging techniques is a prototype designed to help the RCE analyst improve performance through this tedious task. Three tenets form the REDIR foundation. First, Intermediate Representation (IR) improves the analyzability of binary programs by reducing a large instruction set down to a handful of semantically equivalent statements. Next, an Expert System (ES) rule-engine searches the IR and initiates a sensemaking process for anti-debugging technique detection. Finally, an IR analysis process confirms the presence of an anti-debug technique. The REDIR system is implemented as a debugger plug-in. Within the debugger, REDIR interacts with a program in the disassembly view. Debugger users can instantly highlight anti-debugging techniques and determine if the presence of a debugger will cause a program to take a conditional jump or fall through to the next instruction

    TOWARDS BUILDING AN INTELLIGENT INTEGRATED MULTI-MODE TIME DIARY SURVEY FRAMEWORK

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    Enabling true responses is an important characteristic in surveys; where the responses are free from bias and satisficing. In this thesis, we examine the current state of surveys, briefly touching upon questionnaire surveys, and then on time diary surveys (TDS). TDS are open-ended conversational surveys of a free-form nature with both, the interviewer and the respondent, playing a part in its progress and successful completion. With limited research available on how intelligent and assistive components can affect TDS respondents, we explore ways in which intelligent systems such as Computer Adaptive Testing, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Recommender Systems, and Decision Support Systems can be leveraged for use in TDS. The motivation for this work is from realizing the opportunity that an enhanced web based instrument can offer the survey domain to unite the various facets of web based surveys to create an intelligent integrated multi-mode TDS framework. We envision the framework to provide all the advantages of web based surveys and interviewer assisted surveys. The two primary challenges are in determining what data is to be used by the system and how to interact with the user – specifically integrating the (1) Interviewer-assisted mode, and (2) Self-administered mode. Our proposed solution – the intelligent integrated multi-mode framework – is essentially the solution to a set of modeling problems and we propose two sets of overreaching mechanisms: (1) Knowledge Engineering Mechanisms (KEM), and (2) Interaction Mechanisms (IxM), where KEM serves the purpose of understanding what data can be created, used and stored while IxM deals with interacting with the user. We build and study a prototype instrument in the interviewer-assisted mode based on the framework. We are able to determine that the instrument improves the interview process as intended and increases the data quality of the response data and is able to assist the interviewer. We also observe that the framework’s mechanisms contribute towards reducing interviewers’ cognitive load, data entry times and interview time by predicting the next activity. Advisor: Leenkiat So

    The Role of Sense of Community in Online Brand Social Networking Sites

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    This study was designed to explore the phenomenon of social commerce marketing in relation to consumer-brand relationship development. The specific research objective were as follows: (a) to identify multiple factors motivating consumers to have sense of community in the context of brand social networking sites; (b) to investigate the effects of general connection between consumers and the brand on developing a sense of online brand community in social networking site-based brand communities; (c) to examine potential outcomes of having a sense of online brand community in brand social networking sites such as brand commitment, advocacy, and loyalty; (d) to investigate whether levels of participation in brand social networking site strengthens the relationship between a sense of online brand community and relational outcomes such as brand commitment. Theoretical foundations from sense of community (i.e., sense of psychological community), social identity theory, and social capital theory were used to support and test a proposed model. This research employed an online self-administered survey method. A total of 617 complete responses were collected from consumer panels across United States. The analyses of responses were based on a two-step approach: confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Through confirmatory factor analyses with the measurement model development, each construct was examined carefully. The results from the structural model suggested that perceived social support and consumer-brand relationship were important drivers of relationship mediators (i.e., sense of online brand community), which led to relational outcomes (i.e., brand commitment, brand preference, brand advocacy, and behavioral loyalty). However, need for affiliation did not have impact on developing a sense of online brand community. In addition, the levels of engagement of in brand social networking sites strengthened the relationship between sense of online brand community and brand commitment. From the results, academic and managerial implications were suggested, and suggestions for future research were presented
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