Search results for: correlation analysis

Authors: Ahmed El-Banbi, Ahmed El-Maraghi

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PVT properties are needed as input data in all reservoir, production, and surface facilities engineering calculations. In the absence of PVT reports on valid reservoir fluid samples, engineers rely on PVT correlations to generate the required PVT data. The accuracy of PVT correlations varies, and no correlation group has been found to provide accurate results for all oil types. The effect of inaccurate PVT data can be significant in engineering calculations and is well documented in the literature. Bubble point pressure can sometimes be obtained from external sources. In this paper, we show how to utilize the known bubble point pressure to improve the accuracy of calculated PVT properties from correlations. We conducted a systematic study using around 250 reservoir oil samples to quantify the effect of pre-knowledge of bubble point pressure. The samples spanned a wide range of oils, from very volatile oils to black oils and all the way to low-GOR oils. A method for shifting both undersaturated and saturated sections of the PVT properties curves to the correct bubble point is explained. Seven PVT correlation families were used in this study. All PVT properties (e.g., solution gas-oil ratio, formation volume factor, density, viscosity, and compressibility) were calculated using the correct bubble point pressure and the correlation estimated bubble point pressure. Comparisons between the calculated PVT properties and actual laboratory-measured values were made. It was found that pre-knowledge of bubble point pressure and using the shifting technique presented in the paper improved the correlation-estimated values by 10% to more than 30%. The most improvement was seen in the solution gas-oil ratio and formation volume factor.

Keywords: PVT data, PVT properties, PVT correlations, bubble point pressure

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Authors: S. J. Kim, Y. J. Yoo

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Slack-tide sampling was carried out at seven stations at high and low tides for a tidal cycle, in summer (7, 8, 9) and fall (10), 2016 to determine the differences of water quality according to tides in Masan Bay. The data were analyzed by Pearson correlation and factor analysis. The mixing state of all the water quality components investigated is well explained by the correlation with salinity (SAL). Turbidity (TURB), dissolved silica (DSi), nitrite and nitrate nitrogen (NNN) and total nitrogen (TN), which find their way into the bay from the streams and have no internal source and sink reaction, showed a strong negative correlation with SAL at low tide, indicating the property of conservative mixing. On the contrary, in summer and fall, dissolved oxygen (DO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and chemical oxygen demand with KMnO4 (CODMn) of the surface and bottom water, which were sensitive to an internal source and sink reaction, showed no significant correlation with SAL at high and low tides. The remaining water quality parameters showed a conservative or a non-conservative mixing pattern depending on the mixing characteristics at high and low tides, determined by the functional relationship between the changes of the flushing time and the changes of the characteristics of water quality components of the end-members in the bay. Factor analysis performed on the concentration difference data sets between high and low tides helped in identifying the principal latent variables for them. The concentration differences varied spatially and temporally. Principal factors (PFs) scores plots for each monitoring situation showed high associations of the variations to the monitoring sites. At sampling station 1 (ST1), temperature (TEMP), SAL, DSi, TURB, NNN and TN of the surface water in summer, TEMP, SAL, DSi, DO, TURB, NNN, TN, reactive soluble phosphorus (RSP) and total phosphorus (TP) of the bottom water in summer, TEMP, pH, SAL, DSi, DO, TURB, CODMn, particulate organic carbon (POC), ammonia nitrogen (AMN), NNN, TN and fecal coliform (FC) of the surface water in fall, TEMP, pH, SAL, DSi, H2S, TURB, CODMn, AMN, NNN and TN of the bottom water in fall commonly showed up as the most significant parameters and the large concentration differences between high and low tides. At other stations, the significant parameters showed differently according to the spatial and temporal variations of mixing pattern in the bay. In fact, there is no estuary that always maintains steady-state flow conditions. The mixing regime of an estuary might be changed at any time from linear to non-linear, due to the change of flushing time according to the combination of hydrogeometric properties, inflow of freshwater and tidal action, And furthermore the change of end-member conditions due to the internal sinks and sources makes the occurrence of concentration difference inevitable. Therefore, when investigating the water quality of the estuary, it is necessary to take a sampling method considering the tide to obtain average water quality data.

Keywords: conservative mixing, end-member, factor analysis, flushing time, high and low tide, latent variables, non-conservative mixing, slack-tide sampling, spatial and temporal variations, surface and bottom water

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Authors: Majid Afkhami, Maryam Ehsanpour

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The present study provides information about the nature of adverse effects on fish and the ecological impact that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollutant are having in the northern coast of Hormuz Strait. The glucose and cholesterol levels were higher in fish from the St3 than in Walton's mudskipper from other stations however St3 samples had lowest total proteins levels. There was a significant positive correlation between glucose and cholesterol with PAHs concentrations in sediment and tissue samples (P<0.05). However, total proteins had adverse significant correlation with PAHs concentrations (P>0.05). The adverse correlation was seen between length and body weight of fish samples with PAHs concentrations. According to the results of this study, the monitoring of contaminants bioaccumulation in the northern part of Hormuz Strait is necessary, because this will give an indication of the temporal and spatial extent of the process, as well as an assessment of the potential impact on aquatic organisms health.

Keywords: PAHs, blood metabolic factors, Periophthalmus waltoni, Hormuz Strait

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Authors: Qingfang Guo

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Isodon rubescens is rich in a variety of terpenes such as oridonin. It has important medicinal value. MYB transcription factors are involved in the regulation of plant secondary metabolic pathways. The combined transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis revealed that IrMYB55 might be involved in the regulation of the synthesis of terpenes. The function of IrMYB55 was further verified by establishing of a genetic transformation system by CRISPR/Cas9. Obtaining a virus-mediated Isodon rubescens gene silencing material. The main research results are as follows: (1) Screening IrMYB which can regulate the synthesis of terpenes. Metabolomics and transcriptomics analyses of materials with high (TJ)-and low (FL)-content populations which revealed significant differences in terpene content and IrMYB55 expression. Correlation analysis showed that the expression level of IrMYB55 had a significant correlation with the content of terpenes. (2) Establishment of a genetic transformation system of Isodon rubescens. The IrPDS gene could be knocked out by injection of Isodon rubescens cotyledon, and the transformed material showed obvious albino phenotype. Subsequently, IrMYB55 conversion material was obtained by this method. (3) The IrMYB55 silencing material was obtained. Subcellular localization indicated that IrMYB55 was located in the nucleus, indicating that it might regulate the synthesis of terpenoids through transcription. In summary, IrMYB55 that may regulate the synthesis of oridonin was dug out from the transcriptome and metabolome data. In this study, a genetic transformation system of Isodon rubescens was successfully established. Further studies showed that IrMYB55 regulated the transcription level of genes related to the synthesis of terpenoids, thereby promoting the accumulation of oridonin.

Keywords: isodon rubescens, MYB, oridonin, CRISPR/Cas9

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Authors: Mahnaz Seyedoshohadaee

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Background and Aims: Hospitalization of one of the family members in the hospital, especially in the emergency department, causes anxiety and psychological problems in family members and others. The way nurses interact with patients and their companions can play an important role in controlling and managing their anxiety. This study aims to determine the relationship between the anxiety of family members of patients referring to emergency departments and their views on the communication skills of nurses. Materials and Methods: The current research was a descriptive-correlation cross-sectional study on 263 family members of patients referred to the department. The emergency of two selected medical training centers affiliated with Iran University of Medical Sciences was performed. The samples were selected continuously in 2018 based on the inclusion criteria. Information was collected using the Health Communication Questionnaire (HCCQ) and Beck Anxiety Questionnaire (BAI). To analyze the data, Pearson's correlation coefficient, independent t-tests, analysis of variance, and Kruskal-Wallis were used at a significance level of 0.05. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 16 statistical software. Results: The mean score of communication skills of emergency department nurses from the point of view of patients' companions was at a low level (74.36 with a standard deviation of 3.7). 3.75% of patients' companions had anxiety at a mild level. There was no statistically significant correlation between the anxieties of the patient's companions. The anxiety of the patient's companions had a statistically significant relationship with the educational level (P=0.039), economic status (P=0.033), and family relationship with the patient (P=0.001). Also, the average anxiety score in children was significantly higher than that of patients' wives (P=0.008). The triage level of the patient also had a statistically significant relationship with the anxiety of the patient's companions (P>0.001). Conclusion: Most of the family members of the patients referred to the emergency room experienced mild anxiety. Also, from their point of view, the communication skills of emergency nurses were at a weak level. Despite the fact that there was no statistically significant relationship between the patient's family member's anxiety and their opinion about nurses' communication skills in this study, it seems that the weak communication skills of nurses from the patient's family member's point of view need special attention. The results of the present study can provide the necessary grounds for planning to improve the communication skills of nurses and also control the anxiety of patient caregivers through in-service training or other incentive mechanisms.

Keywords: anxiety, family, emergency department, communication skills, nurse

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Authors: Wei Zhang, Yan He, Yan Wang, Yufeng Li, Chuanpeng Hao

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Surface roughness is an important index for evaluating surface quality, needs to be accurately measured to ensure the performance of the workpiece. The roughness measurement based on machine vision involves various image features, some of which are redundant. These redundant features affect the accuracy and speed of the visual approach. Previous research used correlation analysis methods to select the appropriate features. However, this feature analysis is independent and cannot fully utilize the information of data. Besides, blindly reducing features lose a lot of useful information, resulting in unreliable results. Therefore, the focus of this paper is on providing a redundant feature removal approach for visual roughness measurement. In this paper, the statistical methods and gray-level co-occurrence matrix(GLCM) are employed to extract the texture features of machined images effectively. Then, the principal component analysis(PCA) is used to fuse all extracted features into a new one, which reduces the feature dimension and maintains the integrity of the original information. Finally, the relationship between new features and roughness is established by the support vector machine(SVM). The experimental results show that the approach can effectively solve multi-feature information redundancy of machined surface images and provides a new idea for the visual evaluation of surface roughness.

Keywords: feature analysis, machine vision, PCA, surface roughness, SVM

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Authors: Folayele Oluyemi Akindeju, Tobi Joseph Ajoro

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The city as a complex system exhibiting chaotic behaviour is in a state of constant change, in response to prevailing social, economic, environmental and technological factors. Without adequate investigation and control mechanisms to tame the sporadic nature of growth in most urban areas of cities in developing regions, organic sprawling visibly manifests with its attendant problems, most especially at peri-urban areas. The Lagos Megacity region in southwest Nigeria, as one of the largest megacities in the world contends with the challenges of sprawling at the peri-urban areas especially along emerging transit corridors. Due to the seemingly unpredictable nature of this growth, this paper attempts a morphological investigation into the growth of peri-urban settlements along the Mowe-Ibafo transit corridor of the Megacity region over a temporal space of three decades (1984-2014). This study adopts the application of the Fractal Analysis and Regression Analysis methods through the correlation of population density and fractal dimension values to establish the pattern and nature of growth, due to the inadequacies of conventional methods of urban analysis which cannot deal with the unpredictability of such complex urban forms as the peri-urban areas. It was deduced that the dynamic urban expansion in the last three decades resulted in about 74.2% urban change rate between 1984 and 2000 and 63.4% urban change rate between 2000 and 2014. With the R2 value between the fractal dimension and population density been 1, the regression model indicates a positive correlation between Fractal Dimension (D) and Population Density (pop/km2), where the increase in the population density from 5740 pop/km2 to 8060 pop/km2 and later decrease to 7580 pop/km2 leads to an increase in the fractal dimension of urban growth from 1.451 in 1984 to 1.853 in 2014. This, therefore, justifies the ability to predict and determine the nature and direction of growth of complex entities and is sufficient to substantially suggest the need for adequate policy framework towards sustainable urban planning and infrastructural provision in the Peri-urban areas.

Keywords: fractal analysis, Lagos Megacity, peri-urban, sprawling, urban morphology

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Authors: Muhammad Luqman, Yusuf Kurniawan

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S-Boxes is one of the linear parts of the cryptographic algorithm. The existence of S-Box in the cryptographic algorithm is needed to maintain non-linearity of the algorithm. Nowadays, modern cryptographic algorithms use an S-Box as a part of algorithm process. Despite the fact that several cryptographic algorithms today reuse theoretically secure and carefully constructed S-Boxes, there is an evaluation characteristic that can measure security properties of S-Boxes and hence the corresponding primitives. Analysis of an S-Box usually is done using manual mathematics calculation. Several S-Boxes are presented as a Truth Table without any mathematical background algorithm. Then, it’s rather difficult to determine the strength of Truth Table S-Box without a mathematical algorithm. A comprehensive analysis should be applied to the Truth Table S-Box to determine the characteristic. Several important characteristics should be owned by the S-Boxes, they are Nonlinearity, Balancedness, Algebraic degree, LAT, DAT, differential delta uniformity, correlation immunity and global avalanche criterion. Then, a comprehensive tool will be present to automatically calculate the characteristics of S-Boxes and determine the strength of S-Box. Comprehensive analysis is done on a deterministic process to produce a sequence of S-Boxes characteristic and give advice for a better S-Box construction.

Keywords: cryptographic properties, Truth Table S-Boxes, S-Boxes characteristic, deterministic process

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Authors: Ayşen Edirneligil, Mehmet Mucuk

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In developing countries, one of the most important restrictions about the economic growth is the lack of national savings which are supposed to finance the investments. In order to overcome this restriction and achieve the higher rate of economic growth by increasing the level of output, countries choose the external borrowing. However, there is a dispute in the literature over the correlation between external debt and economic growth. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of external debt on Turkish economic growth by using VAR analysis with the quarterly data over the period of 2002:01-2014:04. In this respect, Johansen Cointegration Test, Impulse- Response Function and Variance Decomposition Tests will be used for analyses. Empirical findings show that there is no cointegration in the long run.

Keywords: external debt, economic growth, Turkish economy, time series analysis

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Authors: Xiaoying Guo, Xiangyun Wang

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Access rates is a key indicator of reflecting the popularity of web pages. Having high access rates are very important for web pages, especially for news web pages, online shopping sites and searching engines. In this paper, we analyzed the influences of visual fluency and cognitive fluency on access rates of Chinese web pages. Firstly, we conducted an experiment of scoring the web pages. Twenty-five subjects were invited to view top 50 web pages of China, and they were asked to give a score in a 5-point Likert-scale from four aspects, including complexity, comfortability, familiarity and usability. Secondly, the obtained results was analyzed by correlation analysis and factor analysis in R. By factor analysis; we analyzed the contributions of visual fluency and cognitive fluency to the access rates. The results showed that both visual fluency and cognitive fluency affect the access rate of web pages. Compared to cognitive fluency, visual fluency play a more important role in user’s accessing of web pages.

Keywords: visual fluency, cognitive fluency, visual complexity, usability

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Authors: Suman Bala, Sunil Kamboj, Vipin Saini

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Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) analysis has been developed to relate antifungal activity of novel substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazole against Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger using computer assisted multiple regression analysis. The study has shown the better relationship between antifungal activities with respect to various descriptors established by multiple regression analysis. The analysis has shown statistically significant correlation with R² values 0.932 and 0.782 against Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger respectively. These derivatives were further subjected to molecular docking studies to investigate the interactions between the target compounds and amino acid residues present in the active site of glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase. All the synthesized compounds have better docking score as compared to standard fluconazole. Our results could be used for the further design as well as development of optimal and potential antifungal agents.

Keywords: 1, 3, 4-oxadiazole, QSAR, multiple linear regression, docking, glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase

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Authors: Nazia Mustafa, Aneela Maqsood

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Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory is the most widely used instrument for assessing children and adolescent health-related quality of life and has shown excellent markers of reliability and validity. The current study was carried out with the objectives of translation and cross-language validation along with the determination of factor Structure and psychometric properties of the Urdu version. It was administered on 154 Primary School Children with age range 10 to12 years (M= 10.86, S.D = 0.62); including boys (n=92) and girls (n = 62). The sample was recruited from two randomly selected schools from the Rawalpindi district of Pakistan. Results of the pilot phase revealed that the instrument had good reliability (Urdu Version α = 0.798; English Version α = 0.795) as well as test-retest correlation coefficients over a period of 15 days (r = 0.85). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) resulted in three factorial structures; Social/School Functioning (k = 8), Psychological Functioning (k = 7) and Physical Functioning (k = 6) considered suitable for our sample instead of four factors. Bartlett's test of sphericity showed inter-correlation between variables. However, factor loadings for items 22 and 23 of the School Functioning subscale were problematic. The model was fit to the data after their removal with Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability coefficient of the scale (k = 21) as 0.87 and for subscales as 0.75, 0.77 and 0.73 for Social/School Scale, Psychological subscale and Physical subscale, respectively. These results supported the feasibility and reliability of the Urdu version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory as a reliable and effective tool for the measurement of quality of life among Pediatrics Pakistani population.

Keywords: primary school children, paediatric quality of life, exploratory factor analysis, Pakistan

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Authors: Zongyao Sha

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Green vegetation plays a vital role in energy flows and matter cycles in terrestrial ecosystems, and vegetation phenology may not only be influenced by but also impose active feedback on climate changes. The phenological events of vegetation, such as the start of the season (SOS), end of the season (EOS), and length of the season (LOS), can respond to climate changes and affect gross primary productivity (GPP). Here we coupled satellite remote sensing imagery with FLUXNET observations to systematically map the shift of SOS, EOS, and LOS in global vegetated areas and explored their response to climate fluctuations and feedback on GPP during the last two decades. Results indicated that SOS advanced significantly, at an average rate of 0.19 days/year at a global scale, particularly in the northern hemisphere above the middle latitude (≥30°N) and that EOS was slightly delayed during the past two decades, resulting in prolonged LOS in 72.5% of the vegetated area. The climate factors, including seasonal temperature and precipitation, are attributed to the shifts in vegetation phenology but with a high spatial and temporal difference. The study revealed interactions between vegetation phenology and climate changes. Both temperature and precipitation affect vegetation phenology. Higher temperature as a direct consequence of global warming advanced vegetation green-up date. On the other hand, 75.9% and 20.2% of the vegetated area showed a positive correlation and significant positive correlation between annual GPP and length of vegetation growing season (LOS), likely indicating an enhancing effect on vegetation productivity and thus increased carbon uptake from the shifted vegetation phenology. Our study highlights a comprehensive view of the vegetation phenology changes of the global terrestrial ecosystems during the last two decades. The interactions between the shifted vegetation phenology and climate changes may provide useful information for better understanding the future trajectory of global climate changes. The feedback on GPP from the shifted vegetation phenology may serve as an adaptation mechanism for terrestrial ecosystems to mitigate global warming through improved carbon uptake from the atmosphere.

Keywords: vegetation phenology, growing season, NPP, correlation analysis

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Authors: J. Chandrasekhar Rao, B. G. Naidu, G. J. Naga Raju, P. Sarita

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Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) techniques have been employed in this work to determine the elements present in the root of Cyperus rotundus medicinal plant used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The elements V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Rb, and Sr were commonly identified and quantified by both PIXE and ICP-MS whereas the elements Li, Be, Al, As, Se, Ag, Cd, Ba, Tl, Pb and U were determined by ICP-MS and Cl, K, Ca, Ti and Br were determined by PIXE. The regional variation of elemental content has also been studied by analyzing the same plant collected from different geographical locations. Information on the elemental content of the medicinal plant would be helpful in correlating its ability in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and also in deciding the dosage of this herbal medicine from the metal toxicity point of view. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were also applied to the data matrix to understand the correlation among the elements.

Keywords: PIXE, CP-MS, elements, Cyperus rotundus, rheumatoid arthritis

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Authors: Bavornluck Kuosuwan

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The purpose of this research was to study the level of readiness of English communication skills for travel agents in the Silom road area of Bangkok in order to enter the ASEAN economic community in the year 2015. The multi-stage sampling method was utilized with 474 respondents from 79 travel agencies. An English Questionnaire was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics included percentage, average, standard deviation and Pearson’s r coefficient. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents were not well prepared in terms of ASEAN knowledge including laws and regulations. The majority of respondents had not been well informed about the changes that will come with the coming of ASEAN economic community. Moreover, the level of English communication for most travel agents was between the poor and intermediate level and therefore improvement is needed, especially the speaking and listening skill. In other words, the majority of respondents needed more training in terms of communications skills. The correlation between the working environment and attitude of the staff was very positive. Moreover, the correlation between the background of staff and attitude of staff was also very positive and most of demographic factors had a positive correlation with attitude of staff, except gender.

Keywords: ASEAN, communication skills, travel agents, media engineering

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Authors: Katsumi Mera

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The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between strengths/weaknesses on studying and subjective well-being among Japanese working adults. We conducted an online questionnaire survey of Japanese working adults (aged 20-69) and obtained 1,063 valid responses. Subjective well-being was evaluated using the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale, the method used in the World Happiness Survey, in which the highest possible life is set at 10, and the lowest possible life is set at 0. The mean subjective well-being of all 1,063 respondents was 5.87, which is a very similar value that was obtained in the Japanese World Happiness Survey in 2023. First, we investigated the respondents' strengths/weaknesses in studying and their subjective well-being. The results showed that the subjective well-being of the group who answered that they were good at studying (6.62) was significantly higher than that of the group who answered that they were poor at studying (5.15). Next, we investigated the subjective well-being of students who answered that they were good at Japanese, Math, English, Social studies, and Science, the major subjects in Japan, and found that the subjective well-being of the group that answered that they were good at these subjects was higher than that of the group that answered that they were poor at these subjects. When the correlation between the score of "strengths/weaknesses on studying" and the score of "subjective well-being" was examined, those who answered that they were good at studying had higher subjective well-being (correlation coefficient r = 0.26, p < 0.001). The correlation between the subjective well-being score and the score of "strengths/weaknesses on studying each subject” was examined. Among the subjects, the subjective well-being score was the highest for those who answered that they were good at English (correlation coefficient r = 0.17, p < 0.001). These results indicate a relationship between strengths/weaknesses on studying and subjective well-being among workers in Japan. These findings may provide an important basis for considering what kind of education should be focused on in order to nurture working adults with high levels of well-being.

Keywords: subject well-being, strengths/weaknesses, studying, Japanese working adults

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Authors: Reena Murali, David Peter S.

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The small interfering RNA (siRNA) alters the regulatory role of mRNA during gene expression by translational inhibition. Recent studies shows that up regulation of mRNA cause serious diseases like Cancer. So designing effective siRNA with good knockdown effects play an important role in gene silencing. Various siRNA design tools had been developed earlier. In this work, we are trying to analyze the existing good scoring second generation siRNA predicting tools and to optimize the efficiency of siRNA prediction by designing a computational model using Artificial Neural Network and whole stacking energy (ΔG), which may help in gene silencing and drug design in cancer therapy. Our model is trained and tested against a large data set of siRNA sequences. Validation of our results is done by finding correlation coefficient of experimental versus observed inhibition efficacy of siRNA. We achieved a correlation coefficient of 0.727 in our previous computational model and we could improve the correlation coefficient up to 0.753 when the threshold of whole tacking energy is greater than or equal to -32.5 kcal/mol.

Keywords: artificial neural network, double stranded RNA, RNA interference, short interfering RNA

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Authors: Mohammad Abedi Sh. Khodamoradi

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The main aim of this research is to assess effective factors on citizens’ participations in plants clinics. Statistical society includes 153 citizens of region 15 of Tehran municipality, which in first six months of 2015 participated in educational classes held by Plant education center of Pardis and Pamchal Park located in region no.15. Sample size was calculated by Cochran formula and 10% was added to sample size in order to prevent probable problems and the final sample was n=124. Validity of questionnaire was calculated by professors of extension and education group in Oloom Tahghighat university of Tehran and reliability was 0.82 which was reported by editors. Data then was analyzed by SPSS software, and frequency table, comparing mean and correlation and regression also were assessed. Correlation was proved between age, type of activity and participation extent in plant clinics. Also participation would be increased in plant clinics due to positive and significant relation between educational factors and participation extent with improving educational factors. Moreover, there is inverse relation between literacy level and participation in level of 5%. Finally, regression analysis was used in order to predict each change which independent variable determines for dependent one.

Keywords: plants clinics, participations, Tehran, Iran

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Authors: Fitsumbrhan Tajebe, Fadil Murad, Mitikie Tigabie, Mareye Abebaw, Tadele Alemu, Sefanit Abate, Rezika Mohammedw, Arega Yeshanew, Elias Shiferaw

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Background: Visceral leshimaniasis is a parasitic disease characterized by a systemic infection of phagocytic cells. Hematological parameters of these patients may be affected by the progress of the disease or treatment. Thus, the current study aimed to assess the hematological profiles of visceral leishmaniasis patients before and after treatment. Method: An institutional based retrospective cohort study was conducted among visceral leishmaniasis patients at University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital Leishmaniasis Research and Treatment Center from 2013 to 2018. Hematological profiles before initiation and after completion of treatment were extracted from registration book. Descriptive statics was presented using frequency and percentage. Paired t-test and Wilcoxon Signed rank test were used for comparing mean difference for normally and non- normally distributed data, respectively. Spearman and Pearson correlation analysis was used to describe the correlation of hematological parameters with different variables. P value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Result: Except absolute nerutrophil count, post treatment hematological parameters show a significant increment compared to pretreatment one. The prevalence of anemia, leucopenia and thrombocytopenia was 85.5%, 83.4% and 75.8% prior to treatment and it was 58.3%, 38.2% and 19.2% after treatment, respectively. Moreover, parasite load of the disease showed statistically significant negative correlation with hematological profiles mainly with white blood cell and red blood cell. Conclusion: Majority of hematological profiles of patients with active VL have been restored after treatment, which might be associated with treatment effect on parasite proliferation and concentration of parasite in visceral organ, which directly affect hematological profiles.

Keywords: visceral leshimaniasis, hematological profile, anti-leshimanial drug, Gondar

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Authors: Alime Cengiz, Talip Kahyaoglu

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Roasting process has the major importance to obtain desired aromatic taste of nuts. In this study, two kinds of roasting process were applied to hulled sesame seeds - vacuum oven and hot air roasting. Efficiency of Gene Expression Programming (GEP), a new soft computing technique of evolutionary algorithm that describes the cause and effect relationships in the data modelling system, and response surface methodology (RSM) were examined in the modelling of roasting processes over a range of temperature (120-180°C) for various times (30-60 min). Color attributes (L*, a*, b*, Browning Index (BI)), textural properties (hardness and fracturability) and moisture content were evaluated and modelled by RSM and GEP. The GEP-based formulations and RSM approach were compared with experimental results and evaluated according to correlation coefficients. The results showed that both GEP and RSM were found to be able to adequately learn the relation between roasting conditions and physical and textural parameters of roasted seeds. However, GEP had better prediction performance than the RSM with the high correlation coefficients (R2 >0.92) for the all quality parameters. This result indicates that the soft computing techniques have better capability for describing the physical changes occuring in sesame seeds during roasting process.

Keywords: genetic expression programming, response surface methodology, roasting, sesame seed

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Authors: Mujidat Lola Olugbode

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This study investigates the effects of internet addiction on academic performance among students in some tertiary institutions in Oyo State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Two research questions and two hypotheses were answered and tested. The population of the study comprised of all students in five tertiary institutions in Oyo State, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 2550 participants (respondents) from the institutions used for the study, this constituted the sample for the study. The instruments used for data collection was a self-constructed questionnaire on Internet Addiction and Students Academic Performance (IAASAP). The reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.77. Data collected were analyzed using frequency and percentages, Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficient (PPMCC) and t-test analysis. The results showed that the students in tertiary institutions in Oyo State were occasionally addicted to internet use. The study also revealed a positive correlation between internet addiction and academic performance. The findings also showed that there was significant difference in the internet addiction between male and female Students. Based on the above findings, the researchers recommended among others that government, educators, parents, counselors, teachers should help redirect the internet use toward academics to ensure greater academic performance.

Keywords: internet, addiction, internet addiction, academic performance, tertiary institution, students

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Authors: Vramori Mitra, Bornali Sarma, Arun K. Sarma

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Recurrence is a ubiquitous feature of any real dynamical system. The states in phase space trajectory of a system have an inherent tendency to return to the same state or its close state after certain time laps. Recurrence quantification analysis technique, based on this fundamental feature of a dynamical system, detects evaluation of state under variation of control parameter of the system. The paper presents the investigation of nonlinear dynamical behavior of plasma floating potential fluctuations obtained by using a Langmuir probe in different magnetic field under the variation of discharge voltages. The main measures of recurrence quantification analysis are considered as determinism, linemax and entropy. The increment of the DET and linemax variables asserts that the predictability and periodicity of the system is increasing. The variable linemax indicates that the chaoticity is being diminished with the slump of magnetic field while increase of magnetic field enhancing the chaotic behavior. Fractal property of the plasma time series estimated by DFA technique (Detrended fluctuation analysis) reflects that long-range correlation of plasma fluctuations is decreasing while fractal dimension is increasing with the enhancement of magnetic field which corroborates the RQA analysis.

Keywords: detrended fluctuation analysis, chaos, phase space, recurrence

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Authors: F. Saccucci

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Gamification has now started to take root in the post-secondary classroom. Educators have learned much about gamification to date but there is still a great deal to learn. One definition of gamification is the ability to engage post-secondary students with games that are fun and correlate to class room curriculum. There is no shortage of literature illustrating the advantages of gamification in the class room. This study is an extension of similar thought as well as an extension of a previous study where in class testing proved with the used of paired T-test that gamification did significantly improve the students’ understanding of subject material. Gamification itself in the class room can range from high end computer simulated software to paper based games of which both have advantages and disadvantages. This analysis used a paper based game to highlight certain qualitative advantages of gamification. The paper based game in this analysis was inexpensive, required low preparation time for the faculty member and consumed approximately 20 minutes of class room time. Data for the study was collected through in class student feedback surveys and narrative from the faculty member moderating the game. Students were randomly selected into groups of four. Qualitative advantages identified in this analysis included: 1. Students had a chance to meet, connect and know other students. 2. Students enjoyed the gamification process given there was a sense of fun and competition. 3. The post assessment that followed the simulation game was not part of their grade calculation therefore it was an opportunity to participate in a low risk activity whereby students could subsequently self-assess their understanding of the subject material. 4. In the view of the student, content knowledge did increase after the gamification process. These qualitative advantages identified in this analysis contribute to the argument that there should be an attempt to use gamification in today’s post-secondary class room. The analysis also highlighted that eighty (80) percent of the respondents believe twenty minutes devoted to the gamification process was appropriate, however twenty (20) percentage of respondents believed that rather than scheduling a gamification process and its post quiz in the last week, a review for the final exam may have been more useful. An additional study to this hopes to determine if the scheduling of the gamification had any correlation to a percentage of the students not wanting to be engaged in the process. As well, the additional study hopes to determine at what incremental level of time invested in class room gamification produce no material incremental benefits to the student as well as determine if any correlation exist between respondents preferring not to have it at the end of the semester to students not believing the gamification process added to the increase of their curricular knowledge.

Keywords: gamification, inexpensive, non-quantitative advantages, post-secondary

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Authors: P. Mendes, H. Stel, R. E. M. Morales

Abstract:

This article presents a numerical and experimental study of turbulent flow in corrugated pipes with helically “d-type" grooves, for Reynolds numbers between 7500 and 100,000. The ANSYS-CFX software is used to solve the RANS equations with the BSL two equation turbulence model, through the element-based finite-volume method approach. Different groove widths and helix angles are considered. Numerical results are validated with experimental pressure drop measurements for the friction factor. A correlation for the friction factor is also proposed considering the geometric parameters and Reynolds numbers evaluated.

Keywords: turbulent flow, corrugated pipe, helical, numerical, experimental, friction factor, correlation

Procedia PDF Downloads 475

Authors: Saeid Motevalli, Siti Fatimah Azzahrah Binti Abd Mutalib, Mohd Sahandri Ghani Hamzah, Hazalizah Hamzah

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The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between body esteem and self-esteem with sport-confidence among university students. This study was conducted by using the descriptive and correlational study design. Meanwhile, the method involved in this study was the online survey method. The population of the sample are mainly Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students only which 120 participants were selected by cluster sampling method from two faculties named Fakulti Pembangunan Manusia (FPM) and Fakulti Sains Sukan dan Kejurulatihan (FSSKJ). The instrument used in this study was The Body-Esteem Scale (BES) by Franzoi and Shields (1984), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) by Rosenberg (1965) and the Vealey’s Trait Sport-Confidence Inventory (TSCI) by (Vealey, 1986). The results of the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient showed that there was a positive and moderate correlation between students’ body-esteem and sport-confidence and a negative and low correlation between students’ self-esteem and sport-confidence. Likewise, based on the entry method used all two predictor variables were significant in explaining sport confidence among UPSI students. In conclusion, it can be said that students’ sport-confidence affected by students’ self-esteem and body-esteem.

Keywords: body esteem, self-esteem, sport-confidence, students

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: B. L. Gadiga

Abstract:

This study assesses the major ecological zones in Nigeria with the view to understanding the spatial pattern of vegetation zones and the implications on conservation within the period of sixteen (16) years. Satellite images used for this study were acquired from the SPOT-VEGETATION between 1998 and 2013. The annual NDVI images selected for this study were derived from SPOT-4 sensor and were acquired within the same season (November) in order to reduce differences in spectral reflectance due to seasonal variations. The images were sliced into five classes based on literatures and knowledge of the area (i.e. <0.16 Non-Vegetated areas; 0.16-0.22 Sahel Savannah; 0.22-0.40 Sudan Savannah, 0.40-0.47 Guinea Savannah and >0.47 Forest Zone). Classification of the 1998 and 2013 images into forested and non forested areas showed that forested area decrease from 511,691 km² in 1998 to 478,360 km² in 2013. Differencing change detection method was performed on 1998 and 2013 NDVI images to identify areas of ecological concern. The result shows that areas undergoing vegetation degradation covers an area of 73,062 km² while areas witnessing some form restoration cover an area of 86,315 km². The result also shows that there is a weak correlation between rainfall and the vegetation zones. The non-vegetated areas have a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.0088, Sahel Savannah belt 0.1988, Sudan Savannah belt -0.3343, Guinea Savannah belt 0.0328 and Forest belt 0.2635. The low correlation can be associated with the encroachment of the Sudan Savannah belt into the forest belt of South-eastern part of the country as revealed by the image analysis. The degradation of the forest vegetation is therefore responsible for the serious erosion problems witnessed in the South-east. The study recommends constant monitoring of vegetation and strict enforcement of environmental laws in the country.

Keywords: vegetation, NDVI, SPOT-vegetation, ecology, degradation

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Authors: Riky Tri Hartagung, Mohammad Syamsu Rosid

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The lithology prediction process, as well as the fluid content is the most important part in the reservoir characterization. One of the methods used in this process is the simultaneous seismic inversion method. In the Posseidon field, Browse Basin, Australia, the parameters generated through simultaneous seismic inversion are not able to characterize the reservoir accurately because of the overlapping impedance values between hydrocarbon sand, water sand, and shale, which causes a high level of ambiguity in the interpretation. The Poisson Impedance inversion provides a solution to this problem by rotating the impedance a few degrees, which is obtained through the coefficient c. Coefficient c is obtained through the Target Correlation Coefficient Analysis (TCCA) by finding the optimum correlation coefficient between Poisson Impedance and the target log, namely gamma ray, effective porosity, and resistivity. Correlation of each of these target logs will produce Lithology Impedance (LI) which is sensitive to lithology sand, Porosity Impedance (ϕI) which is sensitive to porous sand, and Fluid Impedance (FI) which is sensitive to fluid content. The results show that PI gives better results in separating hydrocarbon saturated reservoir zones. Based on the results of the LI-GR crossplot, the ϕI-effective porosity crossplot, and the FI-Sw crossplot with optimum correlations of 0.74, 0.91, and 0.82 respectively, it shows that the lithology of hidrocarbon-saturated porous sand is at the value of LI ≤ 2800 (m/s)(g *cc), ϕI ≤ 5500 (m/s)(g*cc), and FI ≤ 4000 (m/s)(g*cc). The presence of low values of LI, ϕI, and FI correlates accurately with the presence of hydrocarbons in the well. Each value of c is then applied to the seismic data. The results show that the PI inversion gives a good distribution of Hydrocarbon-saturated porous sand lithology. The distribution of hydrocarbon saturated porous sand on the seismic inversion section is seen in the northeast – southwest direction, which is estimated as the direction of gas distribution.

Keywords: reservoir characterization, poisson impedance, browse basin, poseidon field

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: N. Chikhi-Chorfi, L. Arbia, S. Zenia, H.Lounici

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Opuntia ficus-indica belongs to the Cactaceae family. The cactus is mainly cultivated for its fruit (prickly pear) that, eaten after pealing, is sweet and juicy, and rich in nutritional compounds, such as ascorbic acid and polyphenols. Different parts of O. ficus-indica are used in the traditional medicine of several countries: the cladodes are utilized to reduce serum cholesterol level and blood pressure, for treatment of ulcers, rheumatic pain, wounds, fatigue, capillary fragility, and liver conditions. This original study, investigate the effect of polyphenols of O. ficus indica (cactus) cladodes against periodontal bacteria collected from patients with periodontitis. The quantitative analysis of total polyphenols (TPP) was determined with Follin-Ciocalteu method. Different concentrations of extracts of O. ficus indica were tested by the disk method on two bacterial strains: Porphyromonas gingivalis and Prevotella intermedia responsible for periodontal disease. The results showed a good correlation between the concentration of total polyphenols and the antibacterial activity of the extracts of Opuntia ficus indica against P. gingivalis and P. intermedia with R² = 0.94 and R² = 0.90 respectively. This observation suggests that these extracts could be used in the treatment and prevention of periodontitis.

Keywords: periodontal disease, P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, polyphenols, Opuntia ficus indica

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Ayuko Itsuki, Sachiyo Aburatani

Abstract:

Soil neutral sugar contents in Kasuga-yama Hill Primeval Forest, which is a World Heritage Site in Nara, Japan consisting of lowland laurel-leaved forest where natural conditions have been preserved for more than 1,000 years, were examined using the two-step hydrolysis to clarify the source of the neutral sugar and relations with the neutral sugar constituted the soil organic matter and the microbial biomass. Samples were selected from the soil (L, F, H and A horizons) surrounding laurel-leaved (BB-1) and Carpinus japonica (BB-2 and PW) trees for analysis. The neutral sugars were one factor of increasing the fungal and bacterial biomass in the laurel-leaved forest soil (BB-1). The more neutral sugar contents in the Cryptomeria japonica forest soil (PW) contributed to the growth of the bacteria and fungi than those of in the Cryptomeria japonica forest soil (BB-2). The neutral sugars had higher correlation with the numbers of bacteria and fungi counted by the dilution plate count method than by the direct microscopic count method. The numbers of fungi had higher correlation with those of bacteria by the dilution plate method.

Keywords: forest soil, neutral sugars, soil organic matter, two-step hydrolysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Hyunjoo Choi, Jeonghun Nam, Chae Seung Lim

Abstract:

Acoustomicrofluidics has gained much attention due to the advantages, such as noninvasiveness and easy integration with other miniaturized systems, for clinical and biological applications. However, a limitation of acoustomicrofluidics is the complicated and costly fabrication process of electrodes. In this study, we propose a low-cost and lithography-free device using Lamb wave for blood analysis. Using a Lamb wave, calcium ion-removed blood plasma and coagulation reagents can be rapidly mixed for blood coagulation test. Due to the coagulation process, the viscosity of the sample increases and the viscosity change can be monitored by internal acoustic streaming of microparticles suspended in the sample droplet. When the acoustic streaming of particles stops by the viscosity increase is defined as the coagulation time. With the addition of calcium ion at 0-25 mM, the coagulation time was measured and compared with the conventional index for blood coagulation analysis, prothrombin time, which showed highly correlated with the correlation coefficient as 0.94. Therefore, our simple and cost-effective Lamb wave-based blood analysis device has the powerful potential to be utilized in clinical settings.

Keywords: acoustomicrofluidics, blood analysis, coagulation, lamb wave

Procedia PDF Downloads 333