Search results for: statistical parameters

Authors: Young Jae Choung, Seoung Bum Kim

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Statistical Process Control (SPC) is a popular technique for process monitoring. A widely used tool in SPC is a control chart, which is used to detect the abnormal status of a process and maintain the controlled status of the process. Traditional control charts, such as Hotelling’s T2 control chart, are effective techniques to detect abnormal observations and monitor processes. However, many complicated manufacturing systems exhibit nonlinearity because of the different demands of the market. In this case, the unregulated use of a traditional linear modeling approach may not be effective. In reality, many industrial processes contain the nonlinear and time-varying properties because of the fluctuation of process raw materials, slowing shift of the set points, aging of the main process components, seasoning effects, and catalyst deactivation. The use of traditional SPC techniques with time-varying data will degrade the performance of the monitoring scheme. To address these issues, in the present study, we propose a parameterless self-organizing map (PLSOM)-based control chart. The PLSOM-based control chart not only can manage a situation where the distribution or parameter of the target observations changes, but also address the nonlinearity of modern manufacturing systems. The control limits of the proposed PLSOM chart are established by estimating the empirical level of significance on the percentile using a bootstrap method. Experimental results with simulated data and actual process data from a thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display process demonstrated the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed chart.

Keywords: control chart, parameter-less self-organizing map, self-organizing map, time-varying property

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Authors: Awatif Boumaza, Abderraouf Hilali, Hayat Talbi, Houda Sbayou

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The methanolic extract of Zygophyllum cornutun coss, an Algerian medicinal plant, was screened to the presence of mutagenic activity and genotoxic effect using the Ames test (Salmonella/microsome) and the micronucleus assay respectively. Positive results were obtained with both tests. The Ames test showed mutagenic activity in the presence of microsomal activation, while negative result was observed without microsomal activation. In the micronucleus test, two parameters were evaluated: the frequency of the micronucleus that increased in a dose dependent way and the proliferation index that decreased according to the micronucleus frequency. Even that further studies must be carried out, the mutagenic activity and the genotoxic effect of Zygophyllum cornutum should be taken in consideration when used as therapeutic plant.

Keywords: ames test, micronucleus test, mutagenic activity, genotoxicity, Zygophyllum cornutum

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Authors: Claudia Patricia Beltran Miranda, Mónica López Anaya, Mónica Navarro Meza, Maria Leonor Valderrama Chairez

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Background: Mexico occupies the second world-wide place of morbid obese people (10- 12 million). Factors that predispose the development of MO are genetic, environmental, physiological, psycho-social and behavioral (nourishing habits). Objective: Associate Gln223Arg polymorphism of gene LEPR, levels of leptina and nourishing habits with the presence of morbid obesity in adolescents of the south of Jalisco (México). Methods: In 41 adolescents (18 normal weight and 23 morbid obesity) of 12 to 19 years of age, both sexes that were measure size and weight with tanita scale and stadimeter to determine IMC. Morbid obesity was determined by tables of the WHO and was established with a standard deviation >3. The Gln223Arg polymorphism have been identify by PCR and leptina levels by ELISA. Nourishing habits were evaluate by the questionnaire the Adolescent Food Habits Checklist. The statistical analysis was performed to compare mean scores obtained from the questionnaire when we compare morbid obesity vs. normal weight adolescents with p=0.03 and a significance of 95%. Results: frequencies alellics and genics were not stadistics significatives p= 0,011 and p=0,279 respectly when were compared between normal weight adolescents and morbib obesity Leptin levels and nourishing habits were associated with morbid obesity. The polymorphism not shown significance with morbid obesity. Conclusions: Dietary habits and leptin levels in adolescents are important factor that predisposes the development of obesity in adolescents. The presence of the polymorphism are not associated with morbid obesity in these subjects.

Keywords: leptin, nourishing habits, morbid obesity, polymorphism

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Authors: Habib Ur Rahman Habib

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Renewable energy resources are being realized as suitable options in hybrid energy planning for on-grid and micro grid. In this paper, operation, planning and optimal design of on-grid distributed energy resources based hybrid system are investigated. The aim is to minimize the cost of the overall energy system keeping in view the environmental emission and minimum penetration of conventional energy resources. Seven grid connected different case studies including diesel only, diesel-renewable based, and renewable based only are designed to perform economic analysis, operational planning and emission. Sensitivity analysis is implemented to investigate the impact of different parameters on the performance of energy resources.

Keywords: data management, renewable energy, distributed energy, smart grid, micro-grid, modeling, energy planning, design optimization

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Authors: A. C. Blaga, A. Cârlescu, M. Turnea, A. I. Galaction, D. Caşcaval

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The performance of an aerobic stirred bioreactor for fungal fermentation was analyzed on the basis of mixing time and oxygen mass transfer coefficient, by quantifying the influence of some specific geometrical and operational parameters of the bioreactor, as well as the rheological behavior of Penicillium chrysogenum broth (free mycelia and mycelia aggregates). The rheological properties of the fungus broth, controlled by the biomass concentration, its growth rate, and morphology strongly affect the performance of the bioreactor. Experimental data showed that for both morphological structures the accumulation of fungus biomass induces a significant increase of broths viscosity and modifies the rheological behavior. For lower P. chrysogenum concentrations (both morphological conformations), the mixing time initially increases with aeration rate, reaches a maximum value and decreases. This variation can be explained by the formation of small bubbles, due to the presence of solid phase which hinders the bubbles coalescence, the rising velocity of bubbles being reduced by the high apparent viscosity of fungus broths. By biomass accumulation, the variation of mixing time with aeration rate is gradually changed, the continuous reduction of mixing time with air input flow increase being obtained for 33.5 g/l d.w. P. chrysogenum. Owing to the superior apparent viscosity, which reduces considerably the relative contribution of mechanical agitation to the broths mixing, these phenomena are more pronounced for P. chrysogenum free mycelia. Due to the increase of broth apparent viscosity, the biomass accumulation induces two significant effects on oxygen transfer rate: the diminution of turbulence and perturbation of bubbles dispersion - coalescence equilibrium. The increase of P. chrysogenum free mycelia concentration leads to the decrease of kla values. Thus, for the considered variation domain of the main parameters taken into account, namely air superficial velocity from 8.36 10-4 to 5.02 10-3 m/s and specific power input from 100 to 500 W/m3, kla was reduced for 3.7 times for biomass concentration increase from 4 to 36.5 g/l d.w. The broth containing P. crysogenum mycelia aggregates exhibits a particular behavior from the point of view of oxygen transfer. Regardless of bioreactor operating conditions, the increase of biomass concentration leads initially to the increase of oxygen mass transfer rate, the phenomenon that can be explained by the interaction of pellets with bubbles. The results are in relation with the increase of apparent viscosity of broths corresponding to the variation of biomass concentration between the mentioned limits. Thus, the apparent viscosity of the suspension of fungus mycelia aggregates increased for 44.2 times and fungus free mycelia for 63.9 times for CX increase from 4 to 36.5 g/l d.w. By means of the experimental data, some mathematical correlations describing the influences of the considered factors on mixing time and kla have been proposed. The proposed correlations can be used in bioreactor performance evaluation, optimization, and scaling-up.

Keywords: biomass concentration, mixing time, oxygen mass transfer, P. chrysogenum broth, stirred bioreactor

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Authors: Torchane Lazhar

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In this work, our task consists in optimizing the nitriding treatment at low-temperature of the steel 32CrMoV13 by the way of the mixtures of ammonia gas, nitrogen and hydrogen to improve the mechanical properties of the surface (good wear resistance, friction and corrosion), and of the diffusion layer of the nitrogen (good resistance to fatigue and good tenacity with heart). By limiting our work to the pure iron and to the alloys iron-chromium and iron-chrome-carbon, we have studied the various parameters which manage the nitriding: flow rate and composition of the gaseous phase, the interaction chromium-nitrogen and chromium-carbon by the help of experiments of nitriding realized in the laboratory by thermogravimetry. The acquired knowledge have been applied by the mastery of the growth of the combination layer on the diffusion layer in the case of the industrial steel 32CrMoV13.

Keywords: diffusion of nitrogen, gaseous nitriding, layer growth kinetic, steel

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Authors: Ishu Surender, M. Amez Khair, Ishan Singh

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Urbanization is a multidimensional phenomenon. It is an indication of the long-term process for the shift of economics to industrial from rural. The significance of urbanization in modernization, socio-economic development, and poverty eradication is relevant in modern times. This paper aims to study the urbanization index model in the capital of India, Delhi using aspects such as demographic aspect, infrastructural development aspect, and economic development aspect. The urbanization index of all the nine districts of Delhi will be determined using multiple parameters such as population density and the availability of health and education facilities. The definition of the urban area varies from city to city and requires periodic classification which makes direct comparisons difficult. The urbanization index calculated in this paper can be employed to measure the urbanization of a district and compare the level of urbanization in different districts.

Keywords: multiparameter, population density, multiple regression, normalized urbanization index

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Authors: Shatha A. Yousif, Hatem Jasim, Ali R. Abas, Dheya P. Yousef

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To study the effect of the cross direction in bead wheat, three hybrid combinations (Babyle 113 , Iratome), (Sawa , Tamose2) and (Al Hashymya Al Iraq) were tested for plant height, number of tillers/m, number of grains per spike, weight of grains per spike, 1000-grain weight and grain yield. The results revealed that the direction of the cross had significant effect the number of grain/spike, tillers/m and grain yields. Grain yield was positively and significantly correlated with 1000-grain weight, number of grains per spike and tillers. Depend on the result of heritability and genetic advance it was suggested that 1000-grain weight number of grains per spike and tillers should be given emphasis for future wheat yield improvement programs.

Keywords: correlation, genetic advance, heritability, wheat, yield traits

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Authors: Jayanta K. Behera, Ashwini K. Sinha

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The study has pointed out the relationship of energetic particle precipitation (EPP) during high speed solar wind streams (HSS) to the ionization characteristics and subsequent NOx production in the polar atmosphere. Over the last few decades, it has been shown that production of NOx in the mesosphere region during the precipitation of charged particles (with energy range >30 KeV to 1 MeV) is directly related to the ozone loss in the polar middle atmosphere, extending from mesosphere to upper stratosphere. This study has dealt with the analysis of the interplanetary parameters such as interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), solar wind velocity (Vs), charged particle density (Ns), convection field enhancement (Ec) during such HSS events and their link to the rate of production of NOx in the mesosphere. Moreover, the analysis will be used to validate or, to modify the current ion-chemistry models which describe the ionization rate and NOx production in the polar atmosphere due to EPP.

Keywords: energetic particle precipitation (EPP), NOx, ozone depletion, polar vortex

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Authors: Rajesh Kumar G

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A challenging aspect of any clinical trial is to carefully plan the study design to meet the study objective in optimum way and to validate the assumptions made during protocol designing. And when it is a pediatric study, there is the added challenge of stringent guidelines and difficulty in recruiting the necessary subjects. Unlike adult trials, there is not much historical data available for pediatrics, which is required to validate assumptions for planning pediatric trials. Typically, pediatric studies are initiated as soon as approval is obtained for a drug to be marketed for adults, so with the adult study historical information and with the available pediatric pilot study data or simulated pediatric data, the pediatric study can be well planned. Generalizing the historical adult study for new pediatric study is a tedious task; however, it is possible by integrating various statistical techniques and utilizing the advantage of hybrid study design, which will help to achieve the study objective in a smoother way even with the presence of many constraints. This research paper will explain how well the hybrid study design can be planned along with integrated technique (SEV) to plan the pediatric study; In brief the SEV technique (Simulation, Estimation (using borrowed adult data and applying Bayesian methods)) incorporates the use of simulating the planned study data and getting the desired estimates to Validate the assumptions.This method of validation can be used to improve the accuracy of data analysis, ensuring that results are as valid and reliable as possible, which allow us to make informed decisions well ahead of study initiation. With professional precision, this technique based on the collected data allows to gain insight into best practices when using data from historical study and simulated data alike.

Keywords: adaptive design, simulation, borrowing data, bayesian model

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Authors: Dinamarie Fonzone

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Employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) strategic decision-making processes rely on financial analysis to guide leadership in choosing plans that will produce optimal organizational spending outcomes. These financial decision-making methods have not abated ESI costs. Previously unrecognized external social determinants, the impact on ESI plan spending, and other organizational strategies are emerging and are important considerations for organizational decision-makers and change management practitioners. The purpose of thisstudy is to examine the relationship between the social determinants of health (SDoH), employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) plans, andthe unintended consequence of health inequity. A quantitative research design using selectemployee records from an existing employer human capital management database will be analyzed. Statistical regressionmethods will be used to study the relationships between certainSDoH (employee income, neighborhood geographic living area, and health care access) and health plan utilization, cost, and chronic disease prevalence. The discussion will include an application of the social gradient of health theory to the study findings, organizational transformation through changes in ESI decision-making mental models, and the connection of ESI health inequity to organizational development and changediversity, equity, and inclusion strategies.

Keywords: employer-sponsored health insurance, social determinants of health, health inequity, mental models, organizational development, organizational change, social gradient of health theory

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Authors: Istvan Csarnovics, Attila Bonyar, Miklos Veres, Laszlo Himics, Attila Csik, Judit Kaman, Julia Burunkova, Geza Szanto, Laszlo Balazs, Sandor Kokenyesi

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In this work, the performance of gold nanoparticles were investigated for stimulation of photosensitive materials for photonic applications. It was widely used for surface plasmon resonance experiments, not in the last place because of the manifestation of optical resonances in the visible spectral region. The localized surface plasmon resonance is rather easily observed in nanometer-sized metallic structures and widely used for measurements, sensing, in semiconductor devices and even in optical data storage. Firstly, gold nanoparticles on silica glass substrate satisfy the conditions for surface plasmon resonance in the green-red spectral range, where the chalcogenide glasses have the highest sensitivity. The gold nanostructures influence and enhance the optical, structural and volume changes and promote the exciton generation in gold nanoparticles/chalcogenide layer structure. The experimental results support the importance of localized electric fields in the photo-induced transformation of chalcogenide glasses as well as suggest new approaches to improve the performance of these optical recording media. Results may be utilized for direct, micrometre- or submicron size geometrical and optical pattern formation and used also for further development of the explanations of these effects in chalcogenide glasses. Besides of that, gold nanoparticles could be added to the organic light-sensitive material. The acrylate-based materials are frequently used for optical, holographic recording of optoelectronic elements due to photo-stimulated structural transformations. The holographic recording process and photo-polymerization effect could be enhanced by the localized plasmon field of the created gold nanostructures. Finally, gold nanoparticles widely used for electrochemical and optical sensor applications. Although these NPs can be synthesized in several ways, perhaps one of the simplest methods is the thermal annealing of pre-deposited thin films on glass or silicon surfaces. With this method, the parameters of the annealing process (time, temperature) and the pre-deposited thin film thickness influence and define the resulting size and distribution of the NPs on the surface. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is a very sensitive optical phenomenon and can be utilized for a large variety of sensing purposes (chemical sensors, gas sensors, biosensors, etc.). Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an analytical method which can significantly increase the yield of Raman scattering of target molecules adsorbed on the surface of metallic nanoparticles. The sensitivity of LSPR and SERS based devices is strongly depending on the used material and also on the size and geometry of the metallic nanoparticles. By controlling these parameters the plasmon absorption band can be tuned and the sensitivity can be optimized. The technological parameters of the generated gold nanoparticles were investigated and influence on the SERS and on the LSPR sensitivity was established. The LSPR sensitivity were simulated for gold nanocubes and nanospheres with MNPBEM Matlab toolbox. It was found that the enhancement factor (which characterize the increase in the peak shift for multi-particle arrangements compared to single-particle models) depends on the size of the nanoparticles and on the distance between the particles. This work was supported by GINOP- 2.3.2-15-2016-00041 project, which is co-financed by the European Union and European Social Fund. Istvan Csarnovics is grateful for the support through the New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities, supported by the ÚNKP-17-4 Attila Bonyár and Miklós Veres are grateful for the support of the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Keywords: light sensitive nanocomposites, metallic nanoparticles, photonic application, plasmonic nanostructures

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Authors: Odunjo Oluronke Omolola, Okanlawon Simon Ayorinde

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This study examines the relationship between house characteristics and socio-economic characteristics of developers in Ibadan, southwest, Nigeria. The research is borne out of the fact that social housing has not done much as a result of finance and housing poverty is on the increase in the country. Multistage random sampling was used in selecting 2,646 respondents in the area. The questionnaire forms the basic instrument for data collection and was administered to heads of households to collect information on socio-economic and demographic characteristics as well as characteristics of development. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were employed in the presentation of the findings; MANOVA was used to analyse the relationship between house characteristics measured by wall materials (Y1-Yn) and socio-economic characteristics of developers measured by gender (X1), religion (X2), educational background (X3) and employment status (X4).The study found out that the bulk of the respondents (65.7%) were male, while 51.7% practiced Christianity. Also, 35.9% had HND/1st/Postgraduate degree, while 43.9% were self employed; Most households however, had membership size of 5 (26.9%). The significant wall material in the area was sandcrete block (71.2%) as opposed to mud (19.1%) and brick (0.6%). Multiple Analysis of Variance shows that there is a significant relationship between sandcrete block and each of gender (X1) and employment status (X3). The factor adduced to this is accessibility to cooperative societies which serve as the gravitational force of attraction for housing finance. The study suggests among others that, there should be re-invigoration of existing cooperative societies, while more should be established for the provision of housing finance.

Keywords: relationship, house development, developers, sandcrete block, cooperative societies

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Authors: Duško Salemović, Aleksandar Dedić, Matilda Lazić, Dragan Halas

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The aim of the paper was the thermal balance control of vertical kiln dryer indirect type (VSU-36) for drying sunflower seed, produced by "Cer" - Čačak, capacity 39 [t/h]. The balance control was executed because the dryer damaged by NATO bombing in 1999, and it was planned its reconstruction. The structural and geometric characteristics of the dryer were known, and it was necessary to determine the parameters of: wet air as a drying agent and the sunflower seeds. The thermal balance control was the basis for replacement of damaged parts of dryer during its reconstruction. After that, it was necessary to perform the subsequent calculation of strength. Therefore, since its accuracy was largely dependent on cost-effectiveness and safety of a single drying chamber. Also, the work provides guidelines for the regimes of drying of grain crops with the explanation of specificity of drying sunflowers.

Keywords: sunflower seeds, regimes of drying, vertical kiln dryer, thermal analysis

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Authors: Fally Titikpina, Abderafi Charki, Antoine Caucheteux, David Bigaud

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The building sector is one of the largest energy consumer with about 40% of the final energy consumption in the European Union. Ensuring building energy performance is of scientific, technological and sociological matter. To assess a building energy performance, the consumption being predicted or estimated during the design stage is compared with the measured consumption when the building is operational. When valuing this performance, many buildings show significant differences between the calculated and measured consumption. In order to assess the performance accurately and ensure the thermal efficiency of the building, it is necessary to evaluate the uncertainties involved not only in measurement but also those induced by the propagation of dynamic and static input data in the model being used. The evaluation of measurement uncertainty is based on both the knowledge about the measurement process and the input quantities which influence the result of measurement. Measurement uncertainty can be evaluated within the framework of conventional statistics presented in the \textit{Guide to the Expression of Measurement Uncertainty (GUM)} as well as by Bayesian Statistical Theory (BST). Another choice is the use of numerical methods like Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). In this paper, we proposed to evaluate the uncertainty associated to the use of a simplified model for the estimation of the energy consumption of a given building. A detailed review and discussion of these three approaches (GUM, MCS and BST) is given. Therefore, an office building has been monitored and multiple sensors have been mounted on candidate locations to get required data. The monitored zone is composed of six offices and has an overall surface of 102 $m^2$. Temperature data, electrical and heating consumption, windows opening and occupancy rate are the features for our research work.

Keywords: building energy performance, uncertainty evaluation, GUM, bayesian approach, monte carlo method

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Authors: Mohammad R. Salimpour, Amir Dehshiri

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In the present article, we investigate experimental laminar forced convective heat transfer specifications of TiO2/water nanofluids through conduits with different cross sections. we check the effects of different parameters such as cross sectional shape, Reynolds number and concentration of nanoparticles in stable suspension on increasing convective heat transfer by designing and assembling of an experimental apparatus. The results demonstrate adding a little amount of nanoparticles to the base fluid, improves heat transfer behavior in conduits. Moreover, conduit with circular cross-section has better performance compared to the square and triangular cross sections. However, conduits with square and triangular cross sections have more relative heat transfer enchantment than conduit with circular cross section.

Keywords: nano fluid, cross-sectional shape, TiO2, convection

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Authors: Mehdi Destani, Asghar Heydari

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Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the association between pathological personality dimensions and emotion dysregulation through the mediating role of Cyberchondria behaviors among users of virtual networks. Materials and methods: A descriptive–correlational research method was used in this study, and the statistical population consisted of all people active on social network sites in 2020. The sample size was 300 people who were selected through Convenience Sampling. Data collection was carried out in a survey method using online questionnaires, including the "Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale" (DERS), Personality Inventory for DSM-5 Brief Form (PID-5-BF), and Cyberchondria Severity Scale Brief Form (CSS-12). Data analysis was conducted using Pearson's Correlation Coefficient and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Findings: Findings suggested that pathological personality dimensions and Cyberchondria behaviors have a positive and significant association with emotion dysregulation (p<0.001). The presented model had a good fit with the data. The variable “pathological personality dimensions” with an overall effect (p<0.001, β=0.658), a direct effect (p<0.001, β=0.528), and an indirect mediating effect through Cyberchondria Behaviors (p<.001), β=0.130), accounted for emotion dysregulation among virtual network users. Conclusion: The research findings showed a necessity to pay attention to the pathological personality dimensions as a determining variable and Cyberchondria behaviors as a mediator in the vulnerability of users of social network sites to emotion dysregulation.

Keywords: cyberchondria, emotion dysregulation, pathological personality dimensions, social networks

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Authors: Mahmoud Ahmed Khater

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This study aimed to improve the deleterious effects of salinity stress in chickpeas using both proline and glycine betaine as osmoregulants. The aim was achieved using foliar spraying with different concentrations of proline (5 mM and 10 mM) and glycinebetaine (10 mM and 20 mM) to chickpea plants grown in pots under salinity stress (3000 mg/l NaCl) at the greenhouse of the National Research Centre, Egypt, during two successive seasons 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. Results indicated that all applied treatments caused significant increases in most of the investigated parameters of chickpea plants irrigated with either tap water or saline solution relative to the corresponding control. It is worth mentioning that proline treatments were more effective than glycine betaine treatments in increasing the salinity tolerance of chickpea plants, reflected in their quality and quantity. Moreover, proline treatment at 5mM was the most pronounced treatment in alleviating the deleterious effect of salinity on chickpea plants.

Keywords: cicer arietinum L., osmoprotectant, proline, glycinebetaine salinity tolerance

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Authors: Ampe Mohottige Sachinthi Sandaruwani Amarasiri, Anoja Priyadarshani Attanayake, Kamani Ayoma Perera Wijewardana Jayatilaka, Lakmini Kumari Boralugoda Mudduwa

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The search for alternative pharmacological therapies based on natural extracts for renal failure has become an urgent need, due to paucity of effective pharmacotherapy. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the acute nephroprotective effect of aqueous leaf extract of Plectranthus amboinicus (Roxb.) (Family: Lamiaceae), a medicinal plant used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine for the management of renal diseases in Sri Lanka. The study was performed in adriamycin (ADR) induced nephrotoxic in Wistar rats. Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups each with six rats. A single dose of ADR (20 mg/kg body wt., ip) was used for the induction of nephrotoxicity in all groups of rats except group one. The treatments were started 24 hours after induction of nephrotoxicity and continued for three days. Group one and two served as healthy and nephrotoxic control rats and were administered equivalent volumes of normal saline (0.9% NaCl) orally. Group three and four nephrotoxic rats were administered the lyophilized powder of the aqueous extract of P. amboinicus (400 mg/ kg body wt.; equivalent human therapeutic dose) and the standard drug, fosinopril sodium (0.09 mg/ kg body wt.) respectively. Urine and blood samples were collected from rats in each group at the end of the period of intervention for the estimation of selected renal parameters. H and E stained sections of the kidney tissues were examined for histopathological changes. Rats treated with the plant extract showed significant improvement in biochemical parameters and histopathological changes compared to ADR induced nephrotoxic group. The elevation of serum concentrations of creatinine and β2-microglobulin were decreased by 38%, and 66% in plant extract treated nephrotoxic rats respectively (p < 0.05). In addition, serum concentrations of total protein and albumin were significantly increased by 25% and 14% in rats treated with P. amboinicus respectively (p < 0.05). The results of β2 –microglobulin and serum total protein demonstrated a significant reduction in the elevated values in rats administered with the plant extract (400 mg/kg) compared to that of fosinopril (0.09 mg/kg). Urinary protein loss in 24hr urine samples was significantly decreased in rats treated with both fosinopril (86%) and P. ambonicus (56%) at the end of the intervention (p < 0.01). Accordingly, an attenuation of morphological destruction was observed in the H and E stained sections of the kidney with the treatments of plant extract and fosinopril. The results of the present study revealed that the aqueous leaf extract of P. amboinicus possesses significant nephroprotective activity at the equivalent therapeutic dose of 400 mg/ kg against adriamycin induced acute nephrotoxicity.

Keywords: biochemical assessment, histopathological assessment, nephroprotective activity, Plectranthus amboinicus

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Authors: M. E. Abou-Hashem El Dib, M. K. Swailem, M. M. Metwally, A. I. El Awady

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The present work illustrates a parametric study for the effect of stiffeners on the performance of slender built up steel I-columns. To achieve the desired analysis, finite element technique is used to develop nonlinear three-dimensional models representing the investigated columns. The finite element program (ANSYS 13.0) is used as a calculation tool for the necessary nonlinear analysis. A validation of the obtained numerical results is achieved. The considered parameters in the study are the column slenderness ratio and the horizontal stiffener's dimensions as well as the number of stiffeners. The dimensions of the stiffeners considered in the analysis are the stiffener width and the stiffener thickness. Numerical results signify a considerable effect of stiffeners on the performance and failure load of slender built up steel I-columns.

Keywords: columns, local buckling, slender, stiffener, thin walled section

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Authors: Wasfi Al Salamat, Shaker Al-Kharouf

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This study aims to examine the determinants of financial stability for 13 commercial banks listed on the Amman stock exchange (ASE) over the period (2007-2016) after controlling for the independent variables: return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA), earnings per share (EPS), growth in gross domestic product (GDP), inflation rate and debt ratio to measure the financial stability by three main variables: capital adequacy, non-performing loans and the number of returned checks. The balanced panel data statistical approach has been used for data analysis. Results are estimated by using multiple regression models. The empirical results suggested that there is statistically significant negative effect of inflation rate and debt ratio on the capital adequacy while there is statistically significant positive effect of growth in gross domestic product on capital adequacy. In contrast, there is statistically significant negative effect of return on equity and growth in gross domestic product on the non-performing loans while there is statistically significant positive effect of inflation rate on non-performing loans. Finally, there is statistically significant negative effect of growth in gross domestic product on the number of returned checks while there is statistically significant positive effect of inflation rate on the number of returned checks.

Keywords: capital adequacy, financial stability, non-performing loans, number of returned checks, ASE

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Authors: Milica Karadzic, Lidija Jevric, Sanja Podunavac-Kuzmanovic, Strahinja Kovacevic, Anamarija Mandic, Katarina Penov Gasi, Marija Sakac, Aleksandar Okljesa, Andrea Nikolic

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The present paper deals with chromatographic lipophilicity prediction of newly synthesized steroid derivatives. The prediction was achieved using in silico generated molecular descriptors and quantitative structure-retention relationship (QSRR) methodology with the artificial neural networks (ANN) approach. Chromatographic lipophilicity of the investigated compounds was expressed as retention factor value logk. For QSRR modeling, a feedforward back-propagation ANN with gradient descent learning algorithm was applied. Using the novel sum of ranking differences (SRD) method generated ANN models were ranked. The aim was to distinguish the most consistent QSRR model that can be found, and similarity or dissimilarity between the models that could be noticed. In this study, SRD was performed with average values of retention factor value logk as reference values. An excellent correlation between experimentally observed retention factor value logk and values predicted by the ANN was obtained with a correlation coefficient higher than 0.9890. Statistical results show that the established ANN models can be applied for required purpose. This article is based upon work from COST Action (TD1305), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).

Keywords: artificial neural networks, liquid chromatography, molecular descriptors, steroids, sum of ranking differences

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Authors: Sahar Oudeh, Abbas Javaheri Vayeghan, Mahmood Ahmadi-Hamedani

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This study aimed to investigate the effect of diabetic duration on platelet and platelet indices in streptozotocin-induced diabetic male and female rats. Thirty-two healthy adult Wistar rats (16 females and 16 males) were randomly divided into 4 groups of eight, including 1) control group (4 females and 4 males who did not undergo any treatment until the end of 28 days), 2) 7-day diabetic group (4 females and 4 males who were diabetic for 7 days and were euthanized after 7 days), 3) 14-day diabetic group (4 females and 4 males who were diabetic for 14 days and were euthanized after 14 days), and 28-day diabetic group (4 females and 4 males who were diabetic for 28 days and were euthanized after 28 days). Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (65 mg/kg). After induction of diabetes in the groups, blood samples were taken from their hearts after anesthesia, and platelet counts (PLT) and platelet indices were measured by an automatic blood cell counter (Nihon Kohden, Celltac Alpha VET MEK-6550, Japan). Statistical differences among groups were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s multiple tests. The results of this study showed that PLT and mean platelet volume (MPV) significantly increased in 7 and 14-day diabetic groups compared to the control group, whereas plateletcrit (PCT) and platelet distribution rate (PDW) significantly increased in 14 and 28-day diabetic groups, respectively. Significant differences were observed between female and male rats in PCT and PLT in the 14-day diabetic group and PDW in the 28-day diabetic group. According to the results of this study, measurement and analysis of platelet indices can be used as a method for the early diagnosis of diabetes and its complications.

Keywords: diabetic duration, streptozotocin, female and male rats, platelet indices

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Koutsopoulou Ioanna, Gkintoni Evgenia, Halkiopoulos Constantinos, Antonopoulou Hera

Abstract:

Recent advances in Internet Computer Technology (ICT) and the ever-increasing use of technological equipment amongst adolescents and young adults along with unattended access to the internet and social media and uncontrolled use of smart phones and PCs have caused social problems like sexting to emerge. The main purpose of the present article is first to present an analytic theoretical framework of sexting as a recent social phenomenon based on studies that have been conducted the last decade or so; and second to investigate Greek students’ and also social network users, sexting perceptions and to record how often social media users exchange sexual messages and to retrace demographic variables predictors. Data from 1,000 students were collected and analyzed and all statistical analysis was done by the software package WEKA. The results indicate among others, that the use of data mining methods is an important tool to draw conclusions that could affect decision and policy making especially in the field and related social topics of educational psychology. To sum up, sexting lurks many risks for adolescents and young adults students in Greece and needs to be better addressed in relevance to the stakeholders as well as society in general. Furthermore, policy makers, legislation makers and authorities will have to take action to protect minors. Prevention strategies based on Greek cultural specificities are being proposed. This social problem has raised concerns in recent years and will most likely escalate concerns in global communities in the future.

Keywords: educational ethics, sexting, Greek sexters, sex education, data mining

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: M. J. Pourvaghar, M. E. Bahram, M. Sayyah, Sh. Khoshemehry

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Adiponectin is a cytokine secreted by the adipose tissue that functions as an anti-inflammatory, antiathrogenic and anti-diabetic substance. Its density is inversely correlated with body mass index. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of 12 weeks of high intensity interval training (HIIT) with the level of serum adiponectin and some selected adiposity markers in overweight and fat college students. This was a clinical research in which 24 students with BMI between 25 kg/m² to 30 kg/m². The sample was purposefully selected and then randomly assigned into two groups of experimental (age =22.7±1.5 yr.; weight = 85.8±3.18 kg and height =178.7±3.29 cm) and control (age =23.1±1.1 yr.; weight = 79.1±2.4 kg and height =181.3±4.6 cm), respectively. The experimental group participated in an aerobic exercise program for 12 weeks, three sessions per weeks at a high intensity between 85% to 95% of maximum heart rate (considering the over load principle). Prior and after the termination of exercise protocol, the level of serum adiponectin, BMI, waist to hip ratio, and body fat percentages were calculated. The data were analyzed by using SPSS: PC 16.0 and statistical procedure such as ANCOVA, was used. The results indicated that 12 weeks of intensive interval training led to the increase of serum adiponectin level and decrease of body weight, body fat percent, body mass index and waist to hip ratio (P < 0.05). Based on the results of this research, it may be concluded that participation in intensive interval training for 12 weeks is a non-invasive treatment to increase the adiponectin level while decreasing some of the anthropometric indices associated with obesity or being overweight.

Keywords: adiponectin, cardiovascular, interval, overweight, training

Procedia PDF Downloads 304

Authors: Mohsen Yaghmor, Sima Radmanesh

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Rapid environmental changes have been threatening the life of many organizations. Enabling and productivity of human resource should be considered as the most important issue in order to increase performance and ensure survival of the organizations. In this research, the effectiveness of management factory in productivity and inability of human resource have been identified and reviewed at glance. Afterwards, answers were sought to questions "What are the factors effecting productivity and enabling of human resource?" and "What are the priority order based on effective management of human resource in Fars Poultry Complex?". A specified questionnaire has been designed regarding the priorities and effectiveness of the identified factors. Six factors were specified consisting of: individual characteristics, teaching, motivation, partnership management, authority or power submission and job development that have most effect on organization. Then a questionnaire was specified for priority and effect measurement of specified factors that were reached after collecting information and using statistical tests of Keronchbakh alpha coefficient r = 0.792, so that we can say the questionnaire has sufficient reliability. After information analysis of specified six factors by Friedman test their effects were categorized. Measurement on organization respectively consists of individual characteristics, job development or enrichment, authority submission, partnership management, teaching and motivation. Lastly, approaches has been introduced to increase productivity of manpower.

Keywords: productivity, empowerment, enrichment, authority submission, partnership management, teaching, motivation

Procedia PDF Downloads 252

Authors: Laref Nabil

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Ecology is at the center of many debates and international regulations. It therefore becomes a necessity and a privileged axis in many countries policy. The rise of environmental problems, the particularism of the hospital as an actor Public Health must lead by example in hygiene, prevention of risks to man and his environment. In this, it seemed interesting to make a poster on hospital liquid effluents in order to know not only the regulatory aspects but also their degree of pollution and their management in health institutions. Materials and methods: Samples taken at several looks, analysis performed at STEP Reghaia Algiers. Discussion and / or findings: In general, central gaze analysis results of water we can conclude that the contents of the various physico-chemical parameters greatly exceed the standards. Although the hypothesis of assimilating hospital liquid effluents domestic waters is confirmed, the liquid effluent from the University Hospital of Beni Messous and dumped in the natural environment still represent ecotoxicological risk.

Keywords: health, hospital, liquid effluents, water

Procedia PDF Downloads 436

Authors: Osama Terra, Hatem Hussein

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Calibration of Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) is crucial for the accurate determination of loss budget for long optical fiber links. In this paper, the calibration of the attenuation scale of an OTDR using two different techniques is discussed and implemented. The first technique is the external modulation method (EM). A setup is proposed to calibrate an OTDR over a dynamic range of around 15 dB based on the EM method. Afterwards, the OTDR is calibrated using two standard reference fibers (SRF). Both SRF are calibrated using cut-back technique; one of them is calibrated at our home institute (the National Institute of Standards – NIS) while the other at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) of the United Kingdom to confirm our results. In addition, the parameters contributing the calibration uncertainty are thoroughly investigated. Although the EM method has several advantages over the SRF method, the uncertainties in the SRF method is found to surpass that of the EM method.

Keywords: optical time domain reflectometer, fiber attenuation measurement, OTDR calibration, external source method

Procedia PDF Downloads 453

Authors: Christian H. Girsang, M. Razi B. Mansoor, Noorizal N. Huang

Abstract:

An offshore platform was installed in 1977 at about 260km offshore West Malaysia at the water depth of 73.6m. Twelve (12) piles were installed with four (4) are skirt piles. The piles have 1.219m outside diameter and wall thickness of 31mm and were driven to 109m below seabed. Deterministic analyses of the pile capacity under axial loading were conducted using the current API (American Petroleum Institute) method and the four (4) CPT-based methods: the ICP (Imperial College Pile)-method, the NGI (Norwegian Geotechnical Institute)-Method, the UWA (University of Western Australia)-method and the Fugro-method. A statistical analysis of the model uncertainty associated with each pile capacity method was performed. There were two (2) piles analysed: Pile 1 and piles other than Pile 1, where Pile 1 is the pile that was most affected by shallow gas problems. Using the mean estimate of soil properties, the five (5) methods used for deterministic estimation of axial pile capacity in compression predict an axial capacity from 28 to 42MN for Pile 1 and 32 to 49MN for piles other than Pile 1. These values refer to the static capacity shortly after pile installation. They do not include the effects of cyclic loading during the design storm or time after installation on the axial pile capacity. On average, the axial pile capacity is expected to have increased by about 40% because of ageing since the installation of the platform in 1977. On the other hand, the cyclic loading effects during the design storm may reduce the axial capacity of the piles by around 25%. The study concluded that all piles have sufficient safety factor when the pile aging and cyclic loading effect are considered, as all safety factors are above 2.0 for maximum operating and storm loads.

Keywords: axial capacity, cyclic loading, pile ageing, shallow gas

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: Ibrahim I. Elshahawy

Abstract:

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of green tea extract on serum oxidant and antioxidant profile, liver and kidney function. 40 Friesian calves are included in this study and allocated into two groups: Group I (n=20) clinically healthy calves showing no clinical abnormalities, not receiving any treatment and served as control; group II (n=20) received green tea extract (GTE) for 30 days. Non-significant changes in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were detected between groups, on contrary, serum creatinine and activities of liver enzymes aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) were significantly different between two groups. There were significant increases in the mean values of serum antioxidative parameters (total antioxidant capacity, catalase, superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione and glutathione peroxidase) in group II. Whereas, the activity of lipid peroxidase significantly decreased in GTE treated calves when compared to control.

Keywords: green tea extract, antioxidants, oxidants, calves

Procedia PDF Downloads 273