Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science

Inventory procurement is one of the most important aspects of the supply chain. This aspect is supported by specific numerical techniques to determine the optimal lot sizes to ensure prompt supply without increasing operational costs for retailers and providers. However, the practical performance of these techniques is only evaluated after implementation, which can lead to unnecessary risks and costs. In such case, simulation can provide the means to evaluate the dynamic performance of these techniques to reduce this risk. The present work describes the development of an open computational simulation code for two non-deterministic inventory control techniques. The functionality of this code provides insights regarding the disadvantages of considering just the static numerical parameters of the model and the advantages of the dynamic aspect of simulation. This contribution can be used by the academic researcher or professional within the logistic field to evaluate and improve their strategies for inventory procurement.

The combination of Internet technology and the financial industry makes information more symmetrical, improves the efficiency of payment and settlement in the financial industry, reduces the cost of currency financing, and makes risk management more effective based on big data technologies. Just the improvement of form and means has not changed the nature of finance. With the development boom of financial technology, blockchain technology seems to have become the key to start a new technological revolution. The value transfer of blockchain technology and the absence of credit intermediation, high security, decentralization, and de-monetization are a fundamental disruption of the financial industry.

Banks and financial institutions all over the world have adopted and continue to adopt Automated Teller Machine (ATM) systems into their transactions to extend banking hours, and also provide convenience for their customers. ATM systems are networked computerized systems, and as the case is in these systems, their security must be given the highest priority. Among the many strategies for ensuring secured networked systems, authentication is very important. Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of a user or a process that attempts to access information resources from a system. Good authentication methods and schemes are one of the best standard ways of implementing security on computerized systems. The importance of selecting an environment appropriate authentication method is perhaps the most crucial decision in designing secure systems. Authentication protocols are capable of simply authenticating the connecting party or authenticating the connecting party as well as authenticating itself to the connecting party. The verification process is usually based on authentication factors like facts, characteristics, behaviors, or knowledge known only to both the claimant and the verifier. Based on these authentication factors, authentication is classified into knowledge-based (KBA), token-based (TBA) and biometrics-based (BBA) authentications. In this paper, we designed and implemented a hybrid and secure cost-effective authentication framework for ATM systems based on the strengths of the three main authentication classifications.

Despite significant research efforts for School Timetabling Problem (STP) and other timetabling problems, an effective solution approach (model and algorithm) which provides boundless use and high quality solution has not been developed. Hence, this paper presents a novel solution approach for solving school timetabling problem which characterizes the problem-setting in the timetabling problem of the high school system in Nigeria. We developed a mixed integer linear programming model and meta-heuristic method - Enhanced Simulated Annealing (ESA) algorithm. Our method incorporates specific features of Simulated Annealing (SA) and Genetic Algorithms (GA) in order to solve the school timetabling problem. Both our solution approach and SA approach were implemented using Matrix Laboratory 8.6 software. In order to validate and demonstrate the performance of the developed solution approach, it was tested with the highly constrained school timetabling datasets provided by a Nigerian high school using constraints violation, simulation time and solution cost as evaluation metrics. Our developed solution approach is able to find optimal solution as it satisfied all the specified hard and soft constraints with average simulation time of 37.91 and 42.16 seconds and solution cost of 17.03 and 18.99, respectively, for JSS and SSS to the problem instance. A comparison with results obtained with SA approach shows that the developed solution approach produced optimal solution in smaller simulation time and solution cost, and has a great potential to solve school timetabling problems with satisfactory results. The developed ESA algorithm can be used for solving other related optimization problems.

Inbound call centres are centralized offices which are operated by modern organizations to administer incoming product supports or information inquiries from consumers. In this paper, a model for an inbound call centre, which is characterized by agent utilization and call abandon rates, was developed using Hierarchical Timed Coloured Petri Nets (HTCPN). The inbound call section of SN Nigeria Ltd., Lagos, Nigeria, was used as a case study in developing the HTCPN model. Data were collected and analyzed statistically using ARENA simulation software to determine the model parameters. These parameters were used as inputs in developing the HTCPN model which consists of Call Arrival, Hang up Processes, Sales Processes, Customercare and Enterprise Process modules. The model was simulated using Colour Petri Nets tools and validated by carrying out a statistical analysis (t-Test) between the simulated and the real number of abandon calls and agents utilization rates at 5% significance level. The simulation results of the developed HTCPN model revealed that increase in number of agents utilized resulted into decrease in abandon calls from 71, 7 and 108 to 35, 4 and 102 in customer care, enterprise and sales departments, respectively. Correspondingly, increase in number of utilized agents led to reduction in agents’ utilization rates from 96, 50 and 96% to 84, 40 and 92% for customer care, enterprise and sales departments, respectively. The result of the validation showed that there were no significant differences between the simulated and the real number of abandoned calls and agents utilization rates.

Aim: The concept of research/project archiving revolves around access to and storage of past works. With the increase in technology, several universities have incorporated the use of electronic archive systems to store research works to provide easy access to such works and improve their research output. Bowen University, Nigeria however, currently runs a manual system of project archiving which is not in tune with the current trend in research archiving. This work was therefore aimed at designing an electronic project archive system for Bowen University that provides accessibility to securely managed past works to cater for the research needs of undergraduate students and enable them to contribute their quota to knowledge.

Study Design:  An empirical research study design was employed.

Place of Study: Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria.

Methodology: A self-constructed questionnaire designed via Google Forms was administered to current students, past students and staff members of Bowen University to collect data on user requirements; data were analyzed and the results served as a platform to develop a user-centred system.

The Bowen University Project Archive System (BUPAS) was built with a focus on the authenticity of the materials archived using HTML for the user interface design, PHP for the system logic to communicate with a carefully designed and structured database, and a local host server, WAMP providing back and forth communication. The usability test was also conducted for users. 

Conclusion: The use of the agile methodology ensured the development of a fully functional system that provides a faster and easier platform for submitting and accessing project works with users attesting to the need for the system and commending the simplicity and easy navigation of the system. Also, a major strength any archive system should possess is its ability to ensure a secure way of depositing into it to guarantee the authenticity of materials that are being accessed. The Bowen University Project Archive System possesses this strength.

Nowadays security became a major global issue. To manage the security issue and its risk, different kinds of biometric authentication are available. Face recognition is one of the most significant processes in this system. Since the face is the most important part of the body so the face recognition system is the most important in the biometric authentication. Sometimes a human face affected due to different kinds of skin problems, such as mole, scars, freckles, etc. Sometimes some parts of the face are missing due to some injuries. In this paper, the main aim is to detect a facial spots present in the face. The total work divided into three parts first, face and facial components are detected. The validation of checking facial parts is detected using the Convolution Neural Network (CNN). The second part is to find out the spot on the face based on Normalized Cross-Correlation and the third part is to check the kind of spot based on CNN. This process can detect a face under different lighting conditions very efficiently. In cosmetology, this work helps to detect the spots on the human face and its type which is very helpful in different surgical processes on the face.