Spare capacity modelling and its applications in survivable iP-over-optical networks

As the interest in IP-over-optical networks are becoming the preferred core network architecture, survivability has emerged as a major concern for network service providers; a result of the potentially huge traffic volumes that will be supported by optical infrastructure. Therefore, implementing recovery strategies is critical. In addition to the traditional recovery schemes based around protection and restoration mechanisms, pre-allocated restoration represents a potential candidate to effect and maintain network resilience under failure conditions. Preallocated restoration technique is particularly interesting because it provides a trade-off in terms of recovery performance and resources between protection and restoration schemes. In this paper, the pre-allocated restoration performance is investigated under single and dual-link failures considering a distributed GMPLSbased IP/WDM mesh network. Two load-based spare capacity optimisation methods are proposed in this paper; Local Spare Capacity Optimisation (LSCO) and Global Spare Capacity Optimisation (GSCO)

Evaporation and Potential Evapotranspiration in Central Iraq

The principal objectives of this study were to compare several formulas for estimating pan evaporation and evapotranspiration and to derive new formulas or modify existing formulas that will better fit the data for central Iraq. Computed evaporation was compared with measured evaporation by determining the differences and the ratios. The pan evaporation formulas were also compared by expressing them all in the form Ev = K CRCTCWCHCDTCSCMThree pan evaporation formulas were modified. For the Meyer and Utah formulas, the constants were changed and expressions were derived for monthly coefficients. For the Blaney-Criddle formula, an expression for k was derived in which k is a function of the mean temperature, wind velocity, and the month. For potential evapotranspiration, two formulas were modified to give reasonable values for January and July. For the Blaney- Criddle formula, an expression for k was derived in which k is a function of ternperature. Grassi\u27s formula 3a, which expresses evapotranspiration as a function of pan evaporation, was rnodified by deriving a new expression for the temperature coefficient. From these rnodified forrnulas, potential evapotranspiration and pan evaporation can be estimated from climatic data without applying any judgrnent factor, as is ordinarily necessary in using the Blaney-Criddle formula

Optimization of square microneedle arrays for increasing drug permeability in skin

Microneedles array is a new transdermal drug delivery technique designed to create holes in the epidermis and penetrate the stratum corneum, thus avoiding the high resistance of this barrier. Microneedles have been shown to increase the skin permeability of drugs with no or little pain. However, the skin permeability of epidermis while using microneedle arrays has yet to be fully studied. In some cases, microneedle and microneedle array designs which were developed based on certain criteria (e.g., material of the microneedles) have to be related to other criteria (e.g., drug permeability in skin, skin thickness, etc.). Therefore, in order to determine the optimum design of the microneedle arrays, the effect of different factors (e.g., number of the microneedle, surface area of the patch, etc.) along with skin permeability by using microneedles should be determined accurately. In this work, an optimization framework for transdermal delivery of high molecular weight drug from microneedle is presented. The outputs of this framework have allowed us to identify the optimum design of various microneedles. Data from this optimization algorithm is then used to predict skin permeability of high molecular weight injected into the skin from a microneedle system. The effect of the optimized microneedles on blood drug concentration has been determined. The outcome of this study is useful to propose an optimum design based on different measurement (e.g., variation of skin thickness) for transdermal delivery of drugs

Towards a model for monitoring public services projects in Saudi Arabia

Information and communication technology (ICT) has been adopted by many governments around the world in the form of e-government to facilitate service delivery to the public. Saudi Arabia is an example of such a country that has adopted technology with these aims, but there is a failure in enabling the engagement of citizens with government to deliver public services projects with assured quality standards. The failings are blamed on the system's lack of support for stakeholder oversight. In light of these inadequacies, more effective monitoring of project construction and project implementation is required in order to improve public service quality from a long-term perspective. Fixes have been proposed to the lack of two-way communication between citizens and the government by inviting feedback from citizens through social media and other communication channels, however, a cohesive overarching model that enables the engagement of citizens with government projects has yet to be devised. There is a clear need for a model that can be applied to design official systems to facilitate consultation between the government and the public and to invite feedback from key stakeholders throughout each stage of the project lifecycle. This paper proposes a conceptual model to facilitate citizens in monitoring the quality of public services and the progress of public service projects. It is designed based on an in-depth analysis of the available systems on the market, e-participation studies and theoretical work presented in the literature. The paper also recommends technologies and features that will facilitate the implementation of the model in different contexts

Service level agreement framework for differentiated survivability in GMPLS-based IP-over-optical networks

In the next generation optical internet, GMPLS based IP-over-optical networks, ISPs will be required to support a wide variety of applications each having their own requirements. These requirements are contracted by means of the SLA. This paper describes a recovery framework that may be included in the SLA contract between ISP and customers in order to provide the required level of survivability. A key concern with such a recovery framework is how to present the different survivability alternatives including recovery techniques, failure scenario and layered integration into a transparent manner for customers. In this paper, two issues are investigated. First, the performance of the recovery framework when applying a proposed mapping procedure as an admission control mechanism in the edge router considering a smart-edge simple-core GMPLS-based IP/WDM network is considered. The second issue pertains to the performance of a pre-allocated restoration and its ability to provide protected connections under different failure scenarios

Optimizing microneedle arrays for transdermal drug delivery: extension to non-square distribution of microneedles

The technology of fabricating microneedle arrays to deliver high molecular weight drugs across skin in a minimally invasive manner is receiving increasing attention. Microneedle arrays with different geometries have been manufactured using materials such as glass, polymer, metal, etc. However, a framework that can identify the optimum designs of these arrays seems to be lacking. This is important since by optimising the microneedles dimensions (e.g., surface area of the patch, microneedle radius, etc) the permeability of drugs in skin can be increased. To address this issue, this study presents an optimization framework for transdermal delivery of high molecular weight drug from microneedle. The optimization process is based on determining an optimisation function (g) for various microneedles patterns (e.g., square, diamond, triangular, etc). We argue that higher the value of g is the higher the drug permeability in skin is. The outputs of the developed framework have allowed us to identify the optimum design of both solid and hollow microneedles. In particular, the results have been used to predict skin permeability of high molecular weight using microneedle system. Also, optimum designs based on different classifications of skin thickness (e.g., race, age, etc) for transdermal delivery of drugs are suggested

La formation au sein des multinationales industrielles

L'un des plus grands défis que les multinationales d'aujourd'hui doivent relever, si elles désirent rester compétitives et garder un avantage concurrentiel, est de disposer d'un capital humain formé en accord avec les objectifs stratégiques de la firme, afin d'être capables de réagir et de s'adapter constamment aux changements et aux difficultés imposés par son environnement concurrentiel, technologique et réglementaire. Ceci est d'autant plus vrai pour les multinationales industrielles dont les activités quotidiennes reposent sur l'utilisation d'outils informatiques et de technologies de l'information et de la communication, qui sont souvent objet de changements, d'améliorations et de mises à  jour, auxquels les employés doivent s'adapter pour continuer à  exécuter leurs tâches de maniêre efficiente et productive. L'un des rôles majeurs de la direction des ressources humaines est dês lors d'assurer que le capital humain de l'entreprise sera prêt à  faire face aux challenges actuels et futurs, afin de permettre à  la firme de continuer à  exister sur le marché. Les questions que l'on pourrait se poser à  ce sujet sont diverses : Quel est le rôle de la direction des ressources humaines dans l'accompagnement et la réalisation des objectifs de l'entreprise ? Quelles sont les différentes possibilités auxquelles les multinationales pourraient avoir recours en matiêre de formation continue de leurs employés ? Comment être sà»r qu'un programme de formation est efficace et quels sont les critêres d'évaluation qui permettent de déterminer cette efficacité ? Le sujet de la formation étant três vaste, nous ne pouvons aspirer à  le traiter de maniêre exhaustive dans notre écrit, c'est la raison pour laquelle, dans le présent article, nous avons décidé de nous focaliser sur les deux principales pratiques en matiêre de formation dans les multinationales, à  savoir, la formation sur site (on-site training), dans laquelle l'entreprise utilise ses propres moyens pour fournir la formation adéquate à  ses employés, et la formation hors site (off-site training), dans laquelle, la formation est prodiguée hors des locaux de l'entreprise. Dans un premier temps, nous allons commencer par établir un état de l'art des écrits en matiêre de formation afin de mettre en exergue les différences et spécificités des formations sur site et hors site. Dans un second temps, nous présenterons la méthodologie et le cheminement employés pour notre étude. Enfin, nous essaierons de concrétiser nos propos par l'étude d'un cas concret, celui de la société Delphi, qui opêre dans l'industrie des faisceaux électriques. Nous essaierons de détailler les pratiques adoptées par Delphi en matiêre de formation et de développement des compétences

Enhancing BER performance limit of BCH and RS codes using multipath diversity

Modern wireless communication systems suffer from phase shifting and, more importantly, from interference caused by multipath propagation. Multipath propagation results in an antenna receiving two or more copies of the signal sequence sent from the same source but that has been delivered via different paths. Multipath components are treated as redundant copies of the original data sequence and are used to improve the performance of forward error correction (FEC) codes without extra redundancy, in order to improve data transmission reliability and increase the bit rate over the wireless communication channel. For a proof of concept Bose, Ray-Chaudhuri, and Hocquenghem (BCH) and Reed-Solomon (RS) codes have been used as FEC to compare their bit error rate (BER) performances. The results showed that the wireless multipath components significantly improve the performance of FEC. Furthermore, FEC codes with low error correction capability and employing the multipath phenomenon are enhanced to perform better than FEC codes which have a bit higher error correction capability and did not utilise the multipath. Consequently, the bit rate is increased, and communication reliability is improved without extra redundancy

Initial public offerings in Saudi Arabia : motivations, barriers and effects

This research has taken the form of a field study to gather empirical evidence capable of providing an overview of current initial public offerings OPOs) in Saudi Arabia. The main thrusts of this thesis are: to identify empirically the motivations for going public in Saudi Arabia; to find the barriers to going public in the Kingdom; to investigate the effects of IPOs on the performance of companies; to investigate the relationship between an increase in the number of IPOs and economic performance; to find which kind of companies are more likely to go public in the country, and to identify some suggestions which could increase the number of IPOs in Saudi Arabia. To answer the research questions, the researcher undertook three studies. Firstly, data was collected through a case study of a single company that had made an IPO in the Kingdom. Financial ratio analysis was employed to capture the changes in the financial Statements before and after the IFO, and two in-depth interviews were conducted with the company's CEO and financial manager to discuss the financial changes and other IDPO issues. Secondly, more data was gathered through a comprehensive questionnaire. The sample studied in the questionnaire was taken from the top management of the 500 largest companies in Saudi Arabia. A total of 145 companies from 7 different business sectors in Saudi Arabia participated in the study. This represented a response rate in excess of 29%. Thirdly, extra data was obtained from personal interviews with three well-experienced and educated businessmen who have taken their companies public. The results obtained from the single case study, the questionnaire, and the interviews showed firstly, that companies in Saudi Arabia are motivated to go public in order to use the money raised for more expansion and growth, to be more competitive, and to separate the company's life from that of the previous owners. Secondly, with regard to the most important barriers to going public in the Kingdom, the study finds that private fin-ns are reluctant to go public because of the failure of many joint stock companies listed on the Saudi Stock Market to generate profit; because of the possible loss of control; and because of the lengthy procedure for going public. Thirdly, this research also discovers that whereas most of the questionnaire survey participants believed that IPO performance would decline after the transition, and also confmned by the results from the case study, the interviewees thought that performance would improve after the IPO. Fourthly, with regard to the effect of IPOs on economic conditions, there is a great consensus between the questionnaire participants and all the interviewees on that an increased number of IPOs in Saudi Arabia would have a favourable, effect on economic welfare. An increase in joint stock companies in the Kingdom would improve several economic factors, such as the growth rate, foreign investment, the balance of trade, and the unemployment rate. Fifthly, this research also finds that while most of the questionnaire survey respondents thought that companies owned by more than one investor and large companies (in terms of size) are more likely to go public, most of the interviewees believed that companies working in industrial sector are more probably to seek public equity. Sixthly, this research finds that the rate of going public in Saudi Arabia could be improved if the government creates a complete financial system, prepares clear guidelines that explained the procedures for going public, and eases the procedures for IPOs. The rate of going public in Saudi Arabia also could be improved if the decision makers in private firms separate management from ownership and hire professional personnel to lead the companies. In conclusion, the study suggests that since going public would add many advantages to firms, like strengthening financial position, increasing public trust, and attracting well qualified personal, the flotation decision could solve some of the problems that the Saudi private sector has, such as severe competition, poor management, constraints of finance, and generation shift (lock of family succession and control). Nevertheless, the study also confirms that IPOs would create new problems, especially that of more restrictions on private transactions.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceKing Faisal UniversityGBUnited Kingdo