Archives-July 2013

Land use and land cover change play a pivotal role in global environmental change. They contribute significantly to earth-atmosphere interactions and biodiversity loss, are major factors in sustainable development and human responses to global change, and are important for integrated modeling and assessment of environmental issues in general The land cover map and land use map can be produced by field research and observation and interpretation of the large scale aerial pictures, but both of them are time and cost consuming. The main advantage of satellite images is that the classification is able to be repeatedly performed by simultaneous usage of multiple images during a short time. Applying the satellite data is a proper way in order to producing the land cover map and monitoring it especially in the vast geographical regions. The iterative self organizing data analysis technique (isodata) method used a set of rule-of-thumb procedures. Many of the steps used in the algorithm are based on the experience obtained through experimentation. According to evaluate signature file the optimal number of classes is 11.after determining of best classified NDVI map processed of spot NDVI maps for a new set of the hyper temporal. Drawinggraphs of mean digital number help to us for determined kind of classes. According to the graph of the spectral behavior of each class and fieldwork were determined land covers types. The optimum numbers of classes are 11 classes in the case study region based on the divergence of a minimum of separability. Spectral behavior shows the highest mean digital number in 11th class that starts in the spring season and finish in winter. First to fifth class has spectral behavior to each other. Mean of digital number of different years not same each other years and have different actions.

Population based stochastic search techniques inspired by nature has attracted much attention recently as an effective approach for solving numerical optimization problems. Two of the most commonly used population-based global optimization algorithms are PSO and DE. Although both have been successfully applied to a wide range of test and real life problems but they have certain shortcomings associated with them. Since DE utilizes the differential information to get the new candidate solution, sometimes it results in instability of performance. Again DE has no mechanism to memory the previous process and use the global information about the search space, so it results in a waste of computing power and may get trapped in local optima. Although PSO converges quickly but, easily gets stuck in local optima because of loss of diversity of swarm. In this paper a simple hybrid version of DEPSO has proposed. DEPSO combines the differential information obtained by DE with six mutation policies and the memory information extracted by PSO to create the promising solutions. Again a time decreasing parameter tuning has been proposed which brings in a significant improvement of the performance of DEPSO. Performances are presented through the tests of four complex benchmark functions with three different dimensionalities. The experimental results show that the convergence rates and qualities of solutions are greatly improved.

Software Reliability Growth Model (SRGM) is a mathematical model of how the software reliability improves as faults are detected and repaired. The performance of SRGM is judged by its ability to fit the software failure data. How good does a mathematical model fit to the data and reliability of software is presented in the current paper. The model under consideration is the, G-O model. A two step approach is used to estimate the model parameters by combination of Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) and Least Square Estimation (LSE) methods. To assess the performance of the considered SRGM, we have carried out the parameter estimation on the real software failure data sets.

The aim of this article is to analyze the role of metadata in the use of learning objects. Firstly, an overview of metadata is provided and the role of educational metadata for learning objects is considered. Then the purposes, the uses and the values of metadata are investigated in this regard. In the continuation, the study reviews other related issues such as metadata categories, metadata creation, and metadata attributes or characteristics. Finally a collaborative approach for metadata creation is proposed. This research concludes that metadata has an invaluable role in facilitating the widespread use of learning objects.

The effect of rice bran in reducing the weight of the overweight / obese individuals was carried out with the following objectives: to conduct the feeding trial for overweight / obese adults for a period of three months and assess the impact of feeding on the body composition, anthropometry and biochemical profile of the adults. Forty overweight / obese women (each 20) in the age group of 30 to 60 years with no other complications formed the basis for inclusion in the study. Assessment of body composition for the selected women was carried out using Biospace Inbody 720. Each adult was fed with 75 grams (uncooked) of rice bran pasta in the form of recipes during the lunch. Biochemical parameters among the overweight and obese adults before and after the feeding trial was analysed. Statistical analysis revealed that there was no significant change after the feeding trial. The body protein increased from 7.04 to 7.09 kg among the overweight and from 7.41 to 7.48 kg among the obese adults. Soft lean mass had increased from 33.9 to 34.05 kg in overweight adults and from 35.74 to 36.04 kg in obese adults. Body fat mass among the overweight adults reduced to 29.09 kg after the feeding trial. A high degree of positive correlation (P<0.01) was observed between fat free mass and protein, total body water, soft muscle mass and mineral among overweight and obese adults. In conclusion, the results indicate that the feeding trials with rice bran incorporated pasta at 15 per cent level for overweight and obese adults did not significantly contribute to the reduction of overweight and obesity.

It is a significant challenge to search, comprehend and use the semi-structured HTML, XML, database-service-engine information stored on the web. This data is more complex and dynamic than commercial databases’ data. Data mining has been applied to web-page ranking to supplement keyboard-based indexing. In this context, data mining improves the quality and efficiency of search results[1]. For the web to be at its best, we must improve its usability. Data mining can play a vital role in the development of intelligent web. It will make the web a more exhaustive, intuitive and intelligent, usable resource. The paper shows how data mining can be applied to discover and catalog important links and patterns that will make our web interactions directed and intelligent.

Estimating the design flood is one of the main steps in designing and measuring different structures and hydraulic facilities which could be conducted in different ways. In cases where the saving capacity of the system would be significant or period of the design flood would be long (For example in designing the overflow of dams), using mathematical models for converting the design rain into the design flood is a common option. The selected design rain which will generate the design flood should possess some characteristics among which would be the way of rain distribution during raining time which is expressed as the temporal pattern of the design rain. In this study, this method has been employed in order to extract the pattern of the design rain by means of the data related to the stability rain gauge in Jashlobar region and by being supported by pilgrim method in Australia which has had good compatibility and agreement with the climate conditions in Iran and had publicity. According to temporal changes in the intensity of the flood rains, recognizing the precise temporal patterns of the rain in a region is of great importance. In this research, in order to extract the most appropriate temporal patterns, cloudbursts were divided into continuities of 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24 and 48 hours. Initially, all data and information related to the occurred cloudburstsin the region and the runoff and precipitates samples were taken from the research center of Semnan and the data were categorized through an exact investigation of the status of each cloudburst which led to a division into data related to runoff and the ones without runoff. Thereafter, the suspicious data were omitted and in the next step, the characteristics of the rains were extracted which required the graph of all cloudbursts to be created. At first the characteristics of the cloudbursts and the pattern of the rains distribution through pilgrim method and then the amount of rain in the area in each quarter was specified. Then, the average between the census obtained from both sites were calculated and the graphs of the rain patterns, with and without runoff, were provided and the intersection point of two graphs of erosion and precipitation threshold limit has been determined through adapting the graphs with and without runoff.

A steady two dimensional free convective flow of an electrically conducting and radiating micropolar fluid along an inclined flat plate is investigated, by taking variable electrical conductivity, uniform surface heat flux and mass flux into account. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations, which are then solved numerically by a fourth order Runge-Kutta method along with shooting technique. A parametric study is conducted to illustrate the effects of the governing parameters namely, micro-inertia density parameter, vertex viscosity parameter, heat generation/absorption parameter, radiation parameter, Schmidt number and Prandtl number on the velocity, temperature and concentration as well as skin-friction coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number.

In the last phase of twentieth and beginning of twenty first century, Jean Sasson, the American writer, emerges as new oreintalist on the international horizon through the publication of her books. Just as the Chinese travellers, Fa-Hien and Huen-Tsang gave an elaborate account of fifth and seventh century socio-cultural and religio-political Indian life; Jean Sasson’s writings throw ample light on the religious, social, cultural and political life of the Middle Easterners in the twentieth century. The paper explores the visions and beliefs of Muslim community of the Middle East region as depicted by Jean Sasson in her books. The faith in religion is expressed as great strength of the Arabic people. This faith is the epicenter of their foundation of life-style even in the modern context.

The present paper intends to overview some basic concerns and developments in the educational systems of the current century highlighting how remarkable role information communication technology (ICT) plays in today’s education and finally comes up with some justifications for the integration of ICT into the teaching and learning process.