Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 145

Abstract: In this study, the economic selection of quality investment for designing a combined continuous lot by lot acceptance sampling plan with average outgoing quality limit (AOQL) protection is proposed. Both the mean and the standard deviation of the process are measured as an exponential function of the quality investment. The optimal combination of parameters for single and continuous sampling plan and the quality investment level is jointly determined by minimizing the expected total cost of product under the specified AOQL value.

Abstract: Conventional bio-probes are produced on a silicon substrate, they are not only fragile but unable to dispose according to the profile of human body in a large area manner, and thus the contact resistance between probe and skin may be increased. Besides, the signal processing devices are required to improve both S/N ratio and impedance matching problems. This paper proposes a novel remote human health monitor and an active RFID tag with replaceable non-frangible probes and thin-film-transistor (TFT) amplifiers. The probes are made of bio-degradable polymer (photo resist) and covered with bio-compatible TiN. In addition, we use two pieces of double sides conducting tapes to connect both TFT amplifiers and probe modules. Thus the probe module can be replaced easily by peeling the used probe module away from the double sides conducting tapes to supply a new one. Since the tag is a flexible plastic substrate, e, g. PT, PET and PI, so the probes are easier to deploy and conform to the human body profile. In addition, the signal can be amplified by the TFT amplifier nearby to improve both S/N ratio and impedance matching. Thus the human health conditions can be remotely monitored by measuring various acupuncture impedances via the active RFID tag. The active RFID monitoring range is 15m by using 2.45 GHz ISM band, the probe resistance and parasitic capacitance are as 2735 Ω and 60.7 pf, respectively. Since the typical human acupuncture point resistance is about 40-120KΩ, thus the proposed device and system can be applied.

Abstract: The objective of this study is to evaluate the usability of the popular online publishing software and survey of the consumers’ satisfaction. This study used the performance testing method including the measurement of the learnability and the error rate to achieve the objective. Subjects in the experiment were divided into the experimental group with design background and the control group without design background. Furthermore, retrospective testing will be executed to afford the relevant usability recommendations. With regard to learnability, results showed significant differences for the typical tasks of the "adjust the angle and location of photo", "transform version of the type", and "change page". Besides, results showed significant differences for the typical task of the "adjust the text size, font, writing, and alignment" regarding the error rate. However, the subjective satisfactions were not significant difference existed in the two groups. Additionally, the research development model can provided valuable references for academic circles and related digital content industries about the development and evaluation of the interface.

Abstract: Many studies have shown that IT utilization has brought about many outcomes but there are not enough approaches dealing about what kind of IT systems and how much are needed. There are no analysis reports discussed about what kinds of IT systems exist in the field of R&D and how they were utilized. This paper analyzes the current state and function of IT systems utilized in the R&D processes and proceeds in survey of the application of IT systems in each R&D process. A guide model for R&D innovation is presented through the re-interpretation of the survey results from a view of R&D managerial aspect. And we propose a guideline to rebuild system architecture for R&D functions.

Abstract: This paper found that the concepts of innovation capital are related to management performance, thereby supporting our hypothesis. Similar results are also obtained with two stage regression, which uses instrumental variables of corporate governance. The results demonstrate that independent directors have influence on innovation capital and management performance. This paper finds the coefficient of value-added innovation capital is negatively related to the grwth rate by return on assets and positively related to total production in two stages least square method. The results also show that Agency cost are reversal with innovation variables such as research and development expenditure are more accurate than personal contribution rate in measuring innovation capital. We therefore suggest a new measurement to estimate market performance using cross-sectional analysis, with the renew method to calculate the capital required to be redesigned.

Abstract: Currently, cognitive psychologists and mathematics educators are looking again at conceptual and procedural knowledge in mathematics learning. Building relationship between conceptual knowledge and the procedures of mathematics contributes to long-term memory of procedures and to their effective use. So we know that symbols could enhance concept and procedures apply concepts to solve problem efficiently. Sketch the graph of exponential function and logarithmic function. Find the inverse exponential function, logarithmic function and so on. The lack of other concrete example in general exponential and logarithmic function prevented the development of application about general exponential and logarithm. Numerical fundamental mathematic problems are provided with complicated number frequently. The lack of other concrete example in general exponential and logarithmic function prevented the development of application about general exponential and logarithm. Numerical fundamental mathematic problems are provided with complicated number frequently The conceptual knowledge, not mechanical algorithms, need more study and thought to identify. But there is a limitation for students use some materials to clarify complicated mathematic concepts perfectly. In order to insight the misconception of learning fundamental mathematics and progress teaching. The purpose of this study is to provide an integrated method of fuzzy theory basis for individualized concept structure analysis. This method integrates Fuzzy Logic Model of Perception (FLMP) and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM). The combined algorithm could analyze individualized concepts structure based on the comparisons with concept structure of expert. Applying the method of the cluster of fuzzy c-mean, we could distinguish characteristics of six groups. We analysis the whole data and discuss the relationship between knowledge structures of the sample. The result and discoveries from the research can offer pupils' misconception of learning fundamental mathematics with reference of diagnosis.

Abstract: Creating a digital storytelling book is an important knowledge source for the blinds, but it usually takes a lot of time and efforts. In order to read the books from electronic contents, automatic procedures could be incorporated into a speech synthesis system. In this paper, we give a practical description using a free software Text-to-speech (TTS) program with a MIDI-to-Singing toolkit as a digital storytelling book generator. In this case, a certain amount of emotional TTS customization can be derived by using time-pitch manipulation of the synthesized acoustic waveform. MIDI-to-Singing voices can be generated automatically with special emphasis on lyrical or storytelling-styled contents that are usually discouraged by uninteresting natures of voices synthesized from traditional Text-to-speech (TTS) programs. Rule-based approaches rely on rules that describe the behavior of the pitch frequency along time to generate time-pitch values. Pitch values fluctuate within a certain range depending on the intended emotion. This MIDI-to-Singing voice synthesis relies on mapping the pitch frequency values to the 12 semi-tonal melodic scales and extracting semi-tonic intervals for each emotional state. In the current version of the system, a user can style the synthesized voice by selecting either male or female standard voice in combination with one of the predefined 12 expressive styles: Neutral, Monotonic, Lowly-pitched, Highly-pitched, Rising-pitched, Falling-pitched, Happy, Sad, Fear, Anger, Randomly-pitched, and Melody-aligning (singing) styles using a small set of musical notes. A subjective test shows that synthetic conversations based on MIDI-to-Singing with customized styles are more preferable, natural, intelligible and enjoyable than the traditional ones. Finally, the result of digital talking recordings can be heard on the web-site for the comparisons between human speech and MIDI-to-Singing synthesized speech.

Abstract: Knowledge on the SME’s present status by diagnosing firm’s innovative competencies is important to establish management strategies. It is difficult to diagnose firm’s competencies as many factors should be considered, such as human resource, technology or marketing should be considered. Many of researches regarding innovative competencies present the status of firm at the time of diagnosis. Our research aims to help SME’s to find out proper government programs to make up their insufficient innovative competencies. To achieve the aim, we propose methodology of self-diagnosing by presenting SMEs questionnaire and diagnosis report containing recommendable government programs. As the first step of the research, we propose the definition of innovative competencies and diagnosis type of SMEs.

Abstract: This paper presents additional linguistic factors that should be considered to more effectively extract terms from the machinery industry documents by augmenting the general extraction patterns. We expand on the general term extraction patterns with patterns that are tailored for machinery industry documents to improve precision and recall. We establish a theoretical basis for developing a system to support information research in the machinery industry. Using this system, we expect to increase the efficiency of new business planning process in the machine industry.

Abstract: In Taiwan, even though the average annual rainfall is up to 2500 mm, water shortage during the dry season happens sometimes. Especially in recent years, water shortage has seriously affected the agriculture, industry, commerce, and even the essential daily water use. Under the threat of climate change in the future, efficient use of water resources becomes even more challenging. For a comparative study, support vector machine (SVM) and other three models (artificial neural networks, maximum likelihood classifier, Bayesian classifier) were established to predict reservoir drought status in next 10-90 days in Tsengwen Reservoir. (The ten-days time interval was applied in this study as it is the conventional time unit for reservoir operation.) Four features (which are easily obtainable in most reservoir offices), including reservoir storage capacity, inflows, critical limit of operation rule curves, and the number of ten-days in a year, were used as input data to predict drought. The records of years from 1975 to 1999 were selected as training data, and those of years from 2000 to 2010 were selected as testing data. The empirical results showed that SVM outperforms the other three approaches for drought prediction. Unsurprisingly the longer the prediction time period is, the lower the prediction accuracy is. However, the accuracy of predicting next 50 days is about 85% both in training and testing data set by SVM. As a result, we believe that the SVM model has high potential for predicting reservoir drought due to its high prediction accuracy and simple input data.