Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor Cluster: communication linkages among stakeholders in a national system of innovation

As the wave of globalization washes over geographical boundaries, the world steps into the era of a new knowledge-based economy with governments striving to encourage innovation in industry especially through national systems of innovation. A national system of innovation (NSI) is considered important because how a nation utilizes and exploits its NSI will determine whether it can compete and ride the wave of globalization or be carried by it and thrashed onto the shores of the new economy. This paper seeks to highlight the linkages developed for enabling communication among the various NSI stakeholders for achieving goals in one such effort, viz. the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Cluster of Malaysia. The MSC offers a vision to create a global multimedia climate through an integrated environment of interlinked elements and attributes. The government of Malaysia, realising the significance of the NSI as a way to better utilize, exploit, and enhance systems, is making efforts to this effect. The efforts include bringing together various stakeholder organizations under the "Multimedia Flagship Applications" to develop flagship applications. This is for the development of information technology applications to pave the way toward a knowledge-based economy. The MSC Cluster is presented here as a physical manifestation of the NSI, and it gives an idea as to how policy makers can design linkages for communication among the various stakeholders to further national innovative performance and competitiveness in general.     

Lateral polysilicon pn diodes: current-voltage characteristicssimulation between 200 K and 400 K using a numerical approach

The current-voltage characteristics of lateral pn diodes fabricated in polysilicon layer grown by LPCVD on oxidized silicon substrates are analyzed versus temperature. The simulation proposed by Greve (1985) using the analytical current modeling is applied to forward and reverse junction currents for various temperatures; this modeling shows its limitations. Then to fit the experimental characteristics at low and high temperatures as well as at low and high current levels, a numerical modeling is developed taking into account the local electrical field effect on recombination and generation mechanisms at grain boundaries in the whole of the structure, i.e., quasi-neutral and depleted regions. This modeling allows one to fit the complete I-V experimental curves in the whole of the considered temperature range (200 K-400 K) with physical acceptable parameters     

Learning nonlinear dynamics with behavior ordinary/partial/system of the differential equations: looking through the lens of orthogonal neural networks

In this paper, size-dependent dynamic stability of axially loaded functionally graded (FG) composite truncated conical microshells with magnetostrictive facesheets surrounded by nonlinear viscoelastic foundations including a two-parameter Winkler–Pasternak medium augmented via a Kelvin–Voigt viscoelastic approach is analyzed considering nonlinear cubic stiffness. To this purpose, von Karman-type kinematic nonlinearity along with modified couple stress theory of elasticity was applied to third-order shear deformation conical shell theory in the presence of magnetic permeability tensor and magnetic fluxes. The numerical technique of generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) was used for the solution of microstructural-dependent dynamic stability responses of FG composite truncated conical microshells. It was seen that moving from prebuckling to postbuckling domain somehow increased the significance of couple stress type of size dependency on frequency. In addition, within both prebuckling and postbuckling regimes, an increase of material gradient index decreased the importance of couple stress type of size dependency on the frequency of an axially loaded FG composite truncated conical microshell. Furthermore, it was revealed that by applying a positive magnetic field to an axially loaded truncated conical microshell with magnetostrictive facesheets, its frequency at a specific axial load value was increased in prebuckling domain and decreased in postbuckling domain. However, this pattern was reversed by applying a negative magnetic field.

     

A hybrid model for spelling error detection and correction for Urdu language

Neural Computing and Applications - Detecting and correcting misspelled words in a written text are of great importance in many natural language processing applications. Errors can be broadly...     

Commenting in the Online Arab Public Sphere: Debating the Swiss Minaret Ban and the “Ground Zero Mosque” Online

This article focuses on the emerging online Arab public sphere that the web has enabled. It explores how the “local” interacts with the “global,” critically examining their implications on global politics. Specifically looking at online readers' comments about the Swiss minaret ban the so‐called “Ground Zero Mosque,” how does the Arab online public sphere respond to and frame these issues? What implications do these reader frames portend locally and globally? The study analyzes online comments and responses that readers of Al Arabiya.net and Al Jazeera.net posted on related news articles. The article concludes that the new online public sphere does make it possible for Arab citizens to circumvent and challenge traditional authoritarian controls.     

Microstructure and morphology of amine-cured epoxy coatings before and after outdoor exposures—An AFM study

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to study the morphology and microstructure of an amine-cured epoxy before and after outdoor exposure. Measurements were made from samples prepared in an essentially CO₂-free, H₂O-free glove box and from samples prepared in ambient conditions. For those prepared in a CO₂-free glove box, AFM imaging was conducted on (1) an unexposed air/coating surface, (2) an unexposed coating bulk, (3) an unexposed coating/substrate interface, and (4) a field exposed air/coating surface. For samples prepared in ambient conditions, only the unexposed air/coating surface was investigated. The same regions of the exposed samples were scanned periodically by the AFM to monitor changes in the surface morphology of the coating as UV exposure progressed. Small angle neutron scattering and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies were performed to verify the microstructure and to follow chemical changes during outdoor exposure, respectively. The results have shown that amine blushing, which occurs only under ambient conditions, had a significant effect on the surface morphology and microstructure of the epoxy. The surface morphology of the samples prepared under CO₂-free, dry conditions was generally smooth and homogeneous. However, the interface and the bulk samples clearly revealed a two-phase structure consisting of bright nodular domains and dark interstitial regions, indicating an inhomogeneous microstructure. Such heterogeneous structure of the bulk was in good agreement with results obtained by small angle neutron scattering of unexposed samples and by AFM phase imaging of the degraded sample surface. The relationship between submicrometer physical changes and molecular chemical degradation is discussed. Presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology, October 27–29, 2004, in Chicago, IL.