Rural pluriactivity in Jordan : issues and policy implications.

Imperial Users onl

Book Review: "Majālis al-Nūr fī Tadabbur al-Qurʾān al-Karīm wa Tafsirih bi Manhaj ʿIlmiyy wa Tarbawiyy Jadīd"

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Distributed Object Medical Imaging Model

Abstract- Digital medical informatics and images are commonly used in hospitals today,. Because of the interrelatedness of the radiology department and other departments, especially the intensive care unit and emergency department, the transmission and sharing of medical images has become a critical issue. Our research group has developed a Java-based Distributed Object Medical Imaging Model(DOMIM) to facilitate the rapid development and deployment of medical imaging applications in a distributed environment that can be shared and used by related departments and mobile physiciansDOMIM is a unique suite of multimedia telemedicine applications developed for the use by medical related organizations. The applications support realtime patients’ data, image files, audio and video diagnosis annotation exchanges. The DOMIM enables joint collaboration between radiologists and physicians while they are at distant geographical locations. The DOMIM environment consists of heterogeneous, autonomous, and legacy resources. The Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Java Database Connectivity (JDBC), and Java language provide the capability to combine the DOMIM resources into an integrated, interoperable, and scalable system. The underneath technology, including IDL ORB, Event Service, IIOP JDBC/ODBC, legacy system wrapping and Java implementation are explored. This paper explores a distributed collaborative CORBA/JDBC based framework that will enhance medical information management requirements and development. It encompasses a new paradigm for the delivery of health services that requires process reengineering, cultural changes, as well as organizational changes

Shunt Active Power Filter Employing Kalman Filter Estimator For Harmonics Reduction

The wide use of non-linear loads, such as front-end rectifiers connected to the power distribution systems for DC supply or inverter-based applications, causes significant power quality degradation in power distribution networks in terms of current or voltage harmonics, power factor, and resonance problems. Many techniques have been proposed by the researchers to overcome these problems. One of the method is by using shunt active power filter (APF). This technique is an effective solution for reducing the current harmonics for low to medium power applications. Therefore, this research is targeted to design and implement a three-phase shunt APF employing Kalman filter estimator. The first step is designing the shunt APF circuit by deploying voltage source inverter (VSI). However, when using VSI the DC voltage needs to be maintained because its influence the real power conversion hence degrades the performance of the APF. Two methods are used to overcome this problem namely are conventional PI and PI-improved method. Both methods have been simulated under voltage variation and open circuit test. The results show that PI-improved voltage regulator produce better performance in reduction of the THD as the results reduce the surge current. On the other hands, three common controllers of the shunt APF for generation of reference current are compared and analysed to determine the best performance of THD reduction. Based on the results, the d-q reference current generator produces the lowest THD among others. Conventionally, low-pass filter (LPF) is used to filter out the unwanted DC component of the non-linear load to produce the sinusoidal waveform called reference current. However, when applying LPF it contribute with the phase shift and high transient at the supply current. Therefore, to reduce these problems, the digital Kalman filter estimator is used to replace the LPF for generating the reference current. Details investigation between conventional and proposed method under simulation based on Matlab simulink platform and experimental are made for three types of load namely three-phase rectifier with R-load, three-phase rectifier with RC-load and three-phase induction motor are presented. The performance criteria of the shunt APF are determined by the supply current waveform, THD, harmonics spectrum and power quality measurements were also obtained by simulation and experimental. In conclusion, by employing Kalman filter estimator for generating the reference current it reduce the time delay and high transient current at the power supply thus, improved the overall THD from 0.15% to 0.42% compared to the LPF

INJECTION STRATEGY TO DETERMINE HIGHEST OIL RECOVERY

The main objective of this project is to analyze different type of injection strategies by comparing the reservoir performance after applying different type of injection pattern and injection fluid techniques. The main parameter that crucially observed in this project is the percentage of oil recovery after applying recovery method, field reservoir pressure depletion, watercut and gas oil ratio from particular field.Injection is important for secondary oil recovery and highly affecting the performance of particular reservoir. In order to get the best or most efficient injection, there are several factors that need to be considered such as injection patterns and also injection fluid techniques. During FYPI, the author has implemented different type of injection pattern through out several cases in the conceptual model where injection at one corner of the reservoir from the bottom has proved the most effective pattern to be applied in the model. However, the author cannot continue the project to the real field like Angsi field that the author planned to do since the reservoir is homogenous and the injection pattern do not effect much in the production of oil from the field. So, for FYP2 the author focused mainly on the different types of injection fluid techniques including water injection, gas injection and also water alternating gas injection as the next injection strategy to be implemented in the particular real field in Malaysia which is Angsi field. The main methadology to be used in this project is simulation of Angsi field by using Eclipse 100 as the main software and Petrel as the add-on software

Neighbour replica affirmative adaptive failure detection and autonomous recovery

High availability is an important property for current distributed systems. The trends of current distributed systems such as grid computing and cloud computing are the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product. Thus, current distributed systems rely more on the highly available systems. The potential to fail-stop failure in distributed computing systems is a significant disruptive factor for high availability distributed system. Hence, a new failure detection approach in a distributed system called Affirmative Adaptive Failure Detection (AAFD) is introduced. AAFD utilises heartbeat for node monitoring. Subsequently, Neighbour Replica Failure Recovery(NRFR) is proposed for autonomous recovery in distributed systems. AAFD can be classified as an adaptive failure detector, since it can adapt to the unpredictable network conditions and CPU loads. NRFR utilises the advantages of the neighbour replica distributed technique (NRDT) and combines with weighted priority selection in order to achieve high availability, since automatic failure recovery through continuous monitoring approach is essential in current high availability distributed system. The environment is continuously monitored by AAFD while auto-reconfiguring environment for automating failure recovery is managed by NRFR. The NRFR and AAFD are evaluated through virtualisation implementation. The results showed that the AAFD is 30% better than other detection techniques. While for recovery performance, the NRFR outperformed the others only with an exception to recovery in two distributed technique (TRDT). Subsequently, a realistic logical structure is modelled in complex and interdependent distributed environment for NRDT and TRDT. The model prediction showed that NRDT availability is 38.8% better than TRDT. Thus, the model proved that NRDT is the ideal replication environment for practical failure recovery in complex distributed systems. Hence, with the ability to minimise the Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) significantly and maximise Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), this research has accomplished the goal to provide high availability self sustainable distributed system

Verification and Validation of Sampling Intensities in the Pre-Felling Inventory of a Tropical Forest in Peninsular Malaysia

This study was carried out on a randomly chosen 40 ha (800 m x 500 m) forest area within the 50 ha Demography Project of the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) in Pasoh Forest Reserve, Negri Sembilan. A total of 30h a out of 40 ha study area were used as a Calibration data set and the 10 ha remaining area as a Validation data set. The percent sample or intensity of sampling was determined at various confidence and error levels, viz., from 80% to 95% confidence with ± 5% to ± 20% error in estimating tree density, basal area and volume. Results obtained from both calibration and validation data sets were used to assess the notion that the statistical reliability of the SMS's Pre-felling inventory (by Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia) is at 95% confidence and ± 20% error levels. Results showed different intensities of sampling regarding classification into diameter, plot size and species groups to the three parameters measured at different confidence and error levels. At 1% sampling intensity to inventorise density of trees 5 cm - <15 cm dbh in 10 m x 10 m plot, the confidence and error levels of respectively 95% and ± 15% or 90% and ± 10% would be better reliability levels. The 95% and ± 15% levels were also true for estimating basal area and volume. At 5% sampling intensity of trees 15 cm - <30 cm dbh (20 m x 25 m plot), its reliability was at 90% confidence and ± 10% error limits for either tree density, basal area or volume estimation. However, at 10% sampling intensity of trees ≥30 cm dbh (20 m x 50 m plot), the 95% confidence and ± 20% error held true in estimating tree volume. Classification into species groups showed that higher sampling intensity was needed to sample volume of Dipterocarps species compared to tree density, basal area and other species groups at any confidence and error levels. Results also showed that plot 10m x 10m yielded lower sampling intensity for trees <30cm dbh and plot 20 m x 25 m for trees ≥30 cm dbh at any confidence and error levels. The implications of attaching confidence and error levels to the sampling intensity are also discussed

A review on developing critical thinking skills through literary texts

Many ESL instructors are generally in agreement with the belief that it is essential that students should be assisted in developing critical thinking skills while being engaged in their language learning process especially those learning the target language at higher level (Stern, 1985; Dickinson, 1991; McKay, 2001; Terry, 2007; Van, 2009; Odenwald, 2010). As it enables language learners to engage in a more purposeful and self-regulatory in judgment, helping them in their evaluation of the arguments of others and of their own, coming to well-reasoned resolutions to any complex problems and to be able to resolve conflicts encountered in their daily lives. Critical thinking requires them to be actively involved in their own learning process as they attempt to individually understand and apply the information they are exposed to during the classroom interaction (Landsberger, 1999; Tung & Chang, 2009). The many advantageous and feasibility of teaching instruction that incorporates the study of literature in the ESL classroom which suggests that literature texts, if correctly chosen and instructed, can prove to be beneficial to ESL students’ overall level of literacy and critical thinking skills. Numerous empirical researches also asserted that literary texts that are authentic, enjoyable, and motivating would naturally increase both their knowledge of the target language patterns and cultural awareness

How do self-efficacy and learning orientation affect performance of university leaders?

This research examines the associations between self-efficacy, learning orientation and performance of university leaders.The research through survey instruments design followed a quantitative approach and the population of the research was the leaders of public sector higher education institutions of Punjab, Pakistan.Data collection was made through questionnaires, and the constructs used were adapted from past studies and already examined for reliability.The suggested structural equation model was evaluated with Partial Least Squares (PLS) methods. Findings showed support for the theoretical model that was measured. The results propose that self efficacy and learning orientation is linked with performance