A cross industry comparison of inter-organisational systems implementation activities

The Inter-organisational systems (IOS) Motivation Model (IMM) has recently been proposed as a theory that explains variations in IOS implementation processes initiated by organisations. The IMM classifies IOS adoption projects (regardless of the underlying technology used) into four generic motivation scenarios and explains different implementation processes for each motivation scenario. The theory was tested in the Australian pharmaceutical industry where it received broad support. In order to enhance its generality, in this study we explore the applicability of part of the IMM theory to a different industry context by addressing the research objective that organisations with the same motive for implementing an IOS initiate the same implementation activities regardless of differences in the industry contexts within which they operate. We have used a multiple case study approach and compared the implementation of a proprietary in-house built e-ordering system in a large Australian pharmaceutical manufacturing company with that of a web-based EDI system used by a large automotive manufacturing company using IMM as a theoretical lens. The empirical results indicate a striking similarity in the implementation processes of these two different IOS applications; this can largely be explained using the IMM theory. Furthermore, the differences in industry contexts do not appear to have a direct influence on the activities associated with implementing these systems.     

Software piracy among computing students: a Bruneian scenario

Software piracy committed by university students in the western world has been published widely in various computer literature. Little is reported however about why and what proportion of students, particularly computing students, in a South East Asian Country like Brunei Darussalam, use pirated software. A survey was thus conducted among the computing students of all the higher educational institutions in Brunei Darussalam. A normative model was also developed that brought together eight factors related to student demography, nature of educational institutions and copyright laws. This model was empirically tested using 91 responses received from the survey. Several interesting findings emerged. Firstly, nearly two-thirds of the students admitted to having used pirated software. Secondly, entertainment was the prominent reason for using pirated software. Thirdly, gender, computer experience and ownership of a personal computer, were found to affect students' use of pirated software. Fourthly, even those students who supported the introduction of copyright laws committed software piracy. The implications of these findings are discussed, and are compared with some related studies. Finally, limitations of the study are mentioned, and areas of further research are identified.     

Surface structural and solar absorptance features of nitrate-based copper-cobalt oxides composite coatings: Experimental studies and molecular dynamic simulation

The copper and cobalt oxides composites coatings on aluminum substrates have been successfully synthesized via sol-gel method using nitrate-based sol precursors. The composites were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometry. The sol-gel reactions were discussed and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation was integrated into the study to predict molecules assembly properties. The XRD analyses revealed that the CuO and the Co₃O₄ composites were formed after the annealing process with the average difference of the calculated lattice parameters compared to ICDDs was 1.17%. The surface electronic structure was mainly consisted of tetrahedral Cu(I), octahedral Cu(II), tetrahedral Co(II), octahedral Co(III) as well as surface, sub-surface and lattice oxygen O^?. The XRD, XPS and MD simulation results showed that there was minimal (or possibly non-existing) indication of copper-cobalt mixed phase oxides formations. FESEM and AFM surveys revealed that the coating had a porous surface composed of interlinked nanoparticles in the range of ~?10 to ~?40?nm. UV–Vis–NIR reflectance spectra showed that the sol precursors concentration and the dip-drying cycle significantly influenced the absorptance value with optimum absorptance (α) of 88.7% exhibited by coating synthesized using sol concentration of 0.1?M and 10 dip-drying cycles. High absorptance value and simplicity in the synthesis process render the coatings to be very promising candidates for solar selective absorber (SSA) applications.     

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopic Analysis of Sensitization-Based Solar Cells

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a very powerful tool for elucidation of charge transfer and transport processes in sensitization-based solar cells (e.g., dye-sensitized solar cells [DSSCs], quantum dot-sensitized solar cells [QDSSCs], and perovskite solar cells [PSCs]). EIS measures the electrochemical response to small amplitude AC signals over a wide range of frequencies. Analysis of the EIS response provides information about the corresponding parameters of the cells. Here, we review the fundamentals of EIS, charge transport kinetic processes, and equivalent circuit models of sensitization-based solar cells and use these concepts to explain the EIS spectra of DSSCs, QDSSCs, and PSCs. This review will be very useful for understanding the fundamental charge transfer and transport processes in different sensitization-based solar cells and the use of an equivalent circuit model to interpret the observed charge transfer and reactions.     

Optimal design of Magneto-Rheological damper comparing different configurations by finite element analysis

Magnetorheological (MR) damper is one of the most advanced applications of semi active damper in controlling vibration. Due to its continuous controllability in both on and off state its practice is increasing day by day in the vehicle suspension system. MR damper’s damping force can be controlled by changing the viscosity of its internal magnetorheological fluids (MRF). But still there are some problems with this damper such as MR fluid’s sedimentation, optimal design configuration considering all components of the damper. In this paper both 2-D Axisymmetric and 3-D model of MR Damper is built and finite element analysis is done for design optimization. Different configurations of MR damper piston, MR fluid gap, air gap and Dampers housing are simulated for comparing the Dampers performance variation. From the analytical results it is observed that among different configurations single coil MR damper with linear plastic air gap, top and bottom chamfered piston end and medium MR fluid gap shows better performance than other configurations by maintaining the same input current and piston velocity. Further an experimental analysis is performed by using RD-8041-1 MR Damper. These results are compared with the optimized MR Damper’s simulation results, which are clearly validating the simulated results.     

Highly sensitive and simultaneous determination of hydroquinone and catechol at poly(thionine) modified glassy carbon electrode

A simple and highly sensitive electrochemical method for the simultaneous and quantitative detection of hydroquinone (HQ) and catechol (CT) was developed, based on a poly(thionine)-modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The modified electrode showed excellent electrocatalytic activity and reversibility towards the oxidation of both HQ and CT in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH 7.0). The peak-to-peak separations (ΔE_p) between oxidation and reduction waves in CV were decreased significantly from 262 and 204 mV at the bare GCE, to 63 and 56 mV, respectively for HQ and CT at the poly(thionine) modified GCE. Furthermore, the redox responses from the mixture of HQ and CT were easily resolved in both CV and DPV due to a difference in the catalytic activity of the modified GCE to each component. The peak potential separation of ca. 0.1 V was large enough for the simultaneous determination of HQ and CT electrochemically. The oxidation peak currents of HQ and CT were linear over the range from 1 to 120 μM in the presence of 100 and 200 μM of HQ and CT, respectively. The modified electrode showed very high sensitivity of 1.8 and 1.2 μA μM⁻¹ cm⁻² for HQ and CT, respectively. The detection limits (S/N = 3) for HQ and CT were 30 and 25 nM, respectively. The developed sensor was successfully examined for real sample analysis with tap water and revealed stable and reliable recovery data.     

Bayesian wavelet-based image denoising using the gauss-hermite expansion

The probability density functions (PDFs) of the wavelet coefficients play a key role in many wavelet-based image processing algorithms, such as denoising. The conventional PDFs usually have a limited number of parameters that are calculated from the first few moments only. Consequently, such PDFs cannot be made to fit very well with the empirical PDF of the wavelet coefficients of an image. As a result, the shrinkage function utilizing any of these density functions provides a substandard denoising performance. In order for the probabilistic model of the image wavelet coefficients to be able to incorporate an appropriate number of parameters that are dependent on the higher order moments, a PDF using a series expansion in terms of the Hermite polynomials that are orthogonal with respect to the standard Gaussian weight function, is introduced. A modification in the series function is introduced so that only a finite number of terms can be used to model the image wavelet coefficients, ensuring at the same time the resulting PDF to be non-negative. It is shown that the proposed PDF matches the empirical one better than some of the standard ones, such as the generalized Gaussian or Bessel K-form PDF. A Bayesian image denoising technique is then proposed, wherein the new PDF is exploited to statistically model the subband as well as the local neighboring image wavelet coefficients. Experimental results on several test images demonstrate that the proposed denoising method, both in the subband-adaptive and locally adaptive conditions, provides a performance better than that of most of the methods that use PDFs with limited number of parameters.     

Energy efficient electromagnetic actuated CVT system

A continuously variable transmission (CVT) system transmits the engine/battery power to the car driving wheel smoothly and efficiently. Several types of CVT already been developed to improve the transmission losses while maintaining acceleration time. However, most of the CVT has some constraints in the actuation mechanism which led us to develop an innovative electromagnetic actuator for CVT. Simplified mathematical equations have been developed for the kinematics analysis of clamping forces of the CVT and electromagnetic forces of EMA. The EMA has been developed for ¼ scale car with two sets of solenoid. Each of the two sets has been equipped with primary and secondary pulleys for pushing and pulling the movable sheave. The solenoid is operated by controlling the supply current with a fuzzy logic controller. A simulation based fuzzy logic controller has been introduced here for identifying the desired current of the EMA actuation. The experimental results show that the EMA develops electromagnetic forces 301 N for the supply current of 3.37 amp, which makes the acceleration time of the car in the range of 2.5～3.5 sec and electromagnetic actuated CVT system highly energy efficient.