Development of a voice recognition based system to help physically disabled people use the facebook

Social network sites (SNSs) have become so popular that the number of people joining and actively participating on such sites is increasing on a daily basis. Although there are several SNSs, Facebook is currently the most popular and most commonly used. SNSs have primarily been developed with able-bodied people in mind and as a result of this, people with disabilities find it difficult to join and participate on these sites. Furthermore, this topic has received little attention by researchers around the world. Facebook pages usually consist of text, graphics, and sound where the users navigate through the pages using a mouse. As a step towards addressing this need and finding a possible elegant solution, the authors have developed a voice-activated PC-based system (called NEU-FACE) in the form of an interface to Facebook. With the aid of this system, a person with a physical disability can join and participate in Facebook by giving voice commands to manage the typical Facebook activities.

     

CKshare: secured cloud-based knowledge-sharing blockchain for injection mold redesign

This paper proposes a trustable mold redesign knowledge-sharing platform, known as CKshare, based on private cloud and blockchain technology. Firstly, we use private cloud to store the mold redesign knowledge of each party to meet its own privacy and data format requirements. Secondly, a blockchain network is used for recording the knowledge and its transactions to ensure security and trustfulness. Thirdly, a simple retrieval mechanism is developed based on k-nearest neighbors for retrieving the codified knowledge on the platform. To realize CKshare, a prototype platform has been developed and explained based on real data from the case mold company.     

Structural breaks and GARCH models of stock return volatility: The case of South Africa

This paper investigates the empirical relevance of structural breaks in forecasting stock return volatility using both in-sample and out-of-sample tests applied to daily returns of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) All Share Index from 07/02/1995 to 08/25/2010. We find evidence of structural breaks in the unconditional variance of the stock returns series over the period, with high levels of persistence and variability in the parameter estimates of the GARCH(1,1) model across the sub-samples defined by the structural breaks. This indicates that structural breaks are empirically relevant to stock return volatility in South Africa. However, based on the out-of-sample forecasting exercise, we find that even though there structural breaks in the volatility, there are no statistical gains from using competing models that explicitly accounts for structural breaks, relative to a GARCH(1,1) model with expanding window. This could be because of the fact that the two identified structural breaks occurred in our out-of-sample, and recursive estimation of the GARCH(1,1) model is perhaps sufficient to account for the effect of the breaks on the parameter estimates. Finally, we highlight that, given the point of the breaks, perhaps what seems more important in South Africa, is accounting for leverage effects, especially in terms of long-horizon forecasting of stock return volatility.     

Corporate mergers and union wage premiums

Corporate mergers possibly enhance the labor negotiation advantage of employers. This study investigates the association between wage levels and merger activity to test the employer bargaining strength hypothesis. The results indicate significantly lower union wages as a consequence of merging. Merger activity, however, does not influence wage levels of non-union workers. These findings are supportive of the employer bargaining strength hypothesis.     

Food Security and Food Productivity in Sudan, 1970–95

Against the backdrop of a persistent food insecurity problem in Sudan which has prevailed since the mid 1970s, this paper makes use of the ordinary least squares (OLS) method of analysis to assess the performance of the national development strategies encapsulated in various medium‐term plans and programs between 1970/71 and 1992/93 with respect to achieving their objective of national self sufficiency in food production through both vertical and horizontal expansion in food production. An exponential function is used to estimate the trends in area, production, and productivity for three major staple crops, namely sorghum, wheat, and millet using annual time series data covering the period 1970–95. The results provide clear evidence that vertical expansion alone does not pay off in terms of output. Instead, policies should focus more on improving agricultural productivity via the introduction of new varieties and the application of technological packages. These policies must then be reinforced by efforts to improve infrastructure, including health and education, to pave the way for a positive supply response at lower costs. Experience has shown that food security, as a prelude to industrial growth is not likely to be achieved if agricultural productivity is not increased. Face à l’insécurité alimentaire persistante qui a prévalu au Soudan depuis le milieu des années 70, cette étude utilise la méthode des moindres carrés ordinaires pour évaluer la performance des stratégies nationales de développment. Celles‐ci sont consacrées par les différents plans et programmes à moyen terme appliqués entre 1970/71 et 1992/93 en vue de réaliser l’objectif d’autosuffisance alimentaire par l’expansion verticale et horizontale de la production alimentaire. Une fonction est utilisée pour estimer, par le biais de séries chronologiques annuelles couvrant la période 1970–1995, l’evolution des superficies, de la production et de la productivité des trois grandes cultures que sont le sorgho, le blé et le mil. Il ressort clairement des résultats que l’expansion verticale à elle seule ne permet pas d’augmenter les rendements. Les mesures devraient viser davantage à améliorer la productivité agricole en introduisant de nouvelles variétés et en appliquant des programmes technologiques. Ces mesures doivent ensuite à tre renforcées par des actions tendant à améliorer les infrastructures, notamment celles de santé et d’éducation, pour favoriser une réaction positive de l’offre à des coûts moins élevés. On sait par expérience que la sécurité alimentaire, en tant que prélude à la croissance industrielle, a peu de chances d’être réalisée si la productivité agricole n’est pas renforcée.     

CONTROLLING SERIOUS FINANCIAL CRIME: A JAMAICAN PERSPECTIVE

This paper examines the approach taken by Jamaica to control money laundering, terrorist financing and market abuse. With respect to money laundering and terrorist financing, the discussion involves a review of the statutory offences, the confiscation/forfeiture regime and the reporting obligations imposed on the financial sector. The analysis of market abuse focuses on both insider dealing and market manipulation.     

Consumer credit and monetary policy in Malaysia

What is the impact of monetary policy on the Malaysian consumer? The study addresses this issue by empirically investigating the consequences of interest rate shocks on consumer credit in Malaysia. The study relies on the impulse response functions and the variance decomposition analysis based on the structural Vector Auto‐regression methodology. Apart from analysing the responses of aggregate consumer loans (ACL) to interest rate changes, further disaggregation is made in efforts to arrive at more detailed findings. In particular, the ACL data are categorized into loans for purchase of residential property, loans for personal uses, loans for credit cards, loans for purchase of consumer durables, loans for purchase of passenger cars and loans for purchase of securities. Through this disaggregation, the study shows the relative sensitivity of the various types of consumer loans to interest rate shocks.