Search results for: spot price
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1385

Search results for: spot price

755 Detection of Atrial Fibrillation Using Wearables via Attentional Two-Stream Heterogeneous Networks

Authors: Huawei Bai, Jianguo Yao, Fellow, IEEE

Abstract:

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common form of heart arrhythmia and is closely associated with mortality and morbidity in heart failure, stroke, and coronary artery disease. The development of single spot optical sensors enables widespread photoplethysmography (PPG) screening, especially for AF, since it represents a more convenient and noninvasive approach. To our knowledge, most existing studies based on public and unbalanced datasets can barely handle the multiple noises sources in the real world and, also, lack interpretability. In this paper, we construct a large- scale PPG dataset using measurements collected from PPG wrist- watch devices worn by volunteers and propose an attention-based two-stream heterogeneous neural network (TSHNN). The first stream is a hybrid neural network consisting of a three-layer one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) and two-layer attention- based bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) network to learn representations from temporally sampled signals. The second stream extracts latent representations from the PPG time-frequency spectrogram using a five-layer CNN. The outputs from both streams are fed into a fusion layer for the outcome. Visualization of the attention weights learned demonstrates the effectiveness of the attention mechanism against noise. The experimental results show that the TSHNN outperforms all the competitive baseline approaches and with 98.09% accuracy, achieves state-of-the-art performance.

Keywords: PPG wearables, atrial fibrillation, feature fusion, attention mechanism, hyber network

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754 The Customer Attitude and Behavior of Boutique Hotels in Eastern Part of Thailand

Authors: Anocha Rojanapanich

Abstract:

This research aimed to identify important factors that effect customer satisfaction in boutique hotels and the important factors effecting customer loyalty in returning to boutique hotels. Furthermore, this study also aimed to study demographics, which effect variable factors. Four hundred questionnaires were completed by customers of the boutique hotels. The descriptive statistics used in this paper were percentages, means, and standard deviation (S.D.), while hypothesis testing was done using T-test, Anova, Correlation and Regression to analyze the relationship among those factors. In terms of the purpose in staying, it was found that the largest respondent was for ‘leisure purposes’. While the frequency indicated that most of the customers who stayed ‘once’in the last two years in the hotels had less concern in the hotel’s image than other groups. For customer’s perceived value and income levels had an influence on customer perceived values in both functional value price and emotional value.

Keywords: boutique hotels, customer attitude, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty

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753 Using ANN in Emergency Reconstruction Projects Post Disaster

Authors: Rasha Waheeb, Bjorn Andersen, Rafa Shakir

Abstract:

Purpose The purpose of this study is to avoid delays that occur in emergency reconstruction projects especially in post disaster circumstances whether if they were natural or manmade due to their particular national and humanitarian importance. We presented a theoretical and practical concepts for projects management in the field of construction industry that deal with a range of global and local trails. This study aimed to identify the factors of effective delay in construction projects in Iraq that affect the time and the specific quality cost, and find the best solutions to address delays and solve the problem by setting parameters to restore balance in this study. 30 projects were selected in different areas of construction were selected as a sample for this study. Design/methodology/approach This study discusses the reconstruction strategies and delay in time and cost caused by different delay factors in some selected projects in Iraq (Baghdad as a case study).A case study approach was adopted, with thirty construction projects selected from the Baghdad region, of different types and sizes. Project participants from the case projects provided data about the projects through a data collection instrument distributed through a survey. Mixed approach and methods were applied in this study. Mathematical data analysis was used to construct models to predict delay in time and cost of projects before they started. The artificial neural networks analysis was selected as a mathematical approach. These models were mainly to help decision makers in construction project to find solutions to these delays before they cause any inefficiency in the project being implemented and to strike the obstacles thoroughly to develop this industry in Iraq. This approach was practiced using the data collected through survey and questionnaire data collection as information form. Findings The most important delay factors identified leading to schedule overruns were contractor failure, redesigning of designs/plans and change orders, security issues, selection of low-price bids, weather factors, and owner failures. Some of these are quite in line with findings from similar studies in other countries/regions, but some are unique to the Iraqi project sample, such as security issues and low-price bid selection. Originality/value we selected ANN’s analysis first because ANN’s was rarely used in project management , and never been used in Iraq to finding solutions for problems in construction industry. Also, this methodology can be used in complicated problems when there is no interpretation or solution for a problem. In some cases statistical analysis was conducted and in some cases the problem is not following a linear equation or there was a weak correlation, thus we suggested using the ANN’s because it is used for nonlinear problems to find the relationship between input and output data and that was really supportive.

Keywords: construction projects, delay factors, emergency reconstruction, innovation ANN, post disasters, project management

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752 Horizontal Development of Built-up Area and Its Impacts on the Agricultural Land of Peshawar City District (1991-2014)

Authors: Pukhtoon Yar

Abstract:

Peshawar City is experiencing a rapid spatial urban growth primarily as a result of high rate of urbanization along with economic development. This paper was designed to understand the impacts of urbanization on agriculture land use change by particularly focusing on land use change trajectories from the past (1991-2014). We used Landsat imageries (30 meters) for1991along with Spot images (2.5 meters) for year 2014. . The ground truthing of the satellite data was performed by collecting information from Peshawar Development Authority, revenue department, real estate agents and interviews with the officials of city administration. The temporal satellite images were processed by applying supervised maximum likelihood classification technique in ArcGIS 9.3. The procedure resulted into five main classes of land use i.e. built-up area, farmland, barren land, cultivable-wasteland and water bodies. The analysis revealed that, in Peshawar City the built-up environment has been doubled from 8.1 percent in 1991 to over 18.2 percent in 2014 by predominantly encroaching land producing food. Furthermore, the CA-Markov Model predicted that the area under impervious surfaces would continue to flourish during the next three decades. This rapid increase in built-up area is accredited to the lack of proper land use planning and management, which has caused chaotic urban sprawl with detrimental social and environmental consequences.

Keywords: Urban Expansion, Land use, GIS, Remote Sensing, Markov Model, Peshawar City

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751 Consumer Innovativeness and Shopping Styles: An Empirical Study in Turkey

Authors: Hande Begum Bumin Doyduk, Elif Okan Yolbulan

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Innovation is very important for success and competitiveness of countries, as well as business sectors and individuals' firms. In order to have successful and sustainable innovations, the other side of the game, consumers, should be aware of the innovations and appreciate them. In this study, the consumer innovativeness is focused and the relationship between motivated consumer innovativeness and consumer shopping styles is analyzed. Motivated consumer innovativeness scale by (Vandecasteele & Geuens, 2010) and consumer shopping styles scale by (Sproles & Kendall, 1986) is used. Data is analyzed by SPSS 20 program through realibility, factor, and correlation analysis. According to the findings of the study, there are strong positive relationships between hedonic innovativeness and recreational shopping style; social innovativeness and brand consciousness; cognitive innovativeness and price consciousness and functional innovativeness and perfectionistic high-quality conscious shopping styles.

Keywords: consumer innovativeness, consumer decision making, shopping styles, innovativeness

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750 Low Cost Inertial Sensors Modeling Using Allan Variance

Authors: A. A. Hussen, I. N. Jleta

Abstract:

Micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) accelerometers and gyroscopes are suitable for the inertial navigation system (INS) of many applications due to the low price, small dimensions and light weight. The main disadvantage in a comparison with classic sensors is a worse long term stability. The estimation accuracy is mostly affected by the time-dependent growth of inertial sensor errors, especially the stochastic errors. In order to eliminate negative effect of these random errors, they must be accurately modeled. Where the key is the successful implementation that depends on how well the noise statistics of the inertial sensors is selected. In this paper, the Allan variance technique will be used in modeling the stochastic errors of the inertial sensors. By performing a simple operation on the entire length of data, a characteristic curve is obtained whose inspection provides a systematic characterization of various random errors contained in the inertial-sensor output data.

Keywords: Allan variance, accelerometer, gyroscope, stochastic errors

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749 Pet Bearing Bio-Based Moities

Authors: Majdi Abid

Abstract:

During the last few decades, great efforts have been made for the development of innovative materials using vegetal biomass. This strategy is understandable for different reasons including the predictable dwindling of the petrochemical feedstock and their price increase as well as the counterbalancing of the environmental problems. As novel bio-based monomers used in polyesters synthesis, two families, namely 1,4:3,6-dianhydrohexitols and furanics were prepared for saccharidic renewable resources. The present work deals with a detail investigation on the synthesis of poly(ethylene-co-isosorbide terephthalate-co-furoate) (PEITF) by melt polycondensation of dimethylterephtalate (DMT), 5,5’-isopropylidene-bis (ethyl 2-furoate) (DEF) ethan-1,2-diol (ED) and isosorbide (IS). Polycondensationwas achieved in two steps: (i) the formation of a hydroxyethylterminated oligomer by reaction of starting diester mixture with excess ED and, (ii) a polycondensation step with elimination of ED was used to obtain high molar mass copolyesters. Copolymers of various compositions were synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR, SEC, DSC and TGA. The resulting materials are amorphous polymers (Tg = 104–127 °C) with good thermal stability.

Keywords: bio-based monomers, furan, isosrbide, polycondensation

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748 Democrat Support to Antiterorrism of USA from Hollywood: Homeland Series

Authors: Selman Selim Akyüz, Mete Kazaz

Abstract:

Since The First Gulf War, USA, “Leader of The Free World” has been in trouble with terror. The USA created a complexity in The Middle East and paid the price with terrorist attacks in homeland. USA has made serious mistakes in terms of antiterrorism and fight against its supporters. Democrats have repaired damages caused by the Republican Party's management. Old methods about antiterrorism have been slowly abandoned. Hollywood, too, has played an important part in this war. Sometimes, Hollywood became an unquestioned patriot, sometimes it cried for the death of American Soldiers far away. In this study, messages in The Homeland, broadcast in the USA and a lot of countries around the world, are analyzed in terms of Washington’s foreign policy and position of the CIA in the fight against antiterrorism. The series reflect an orientalist viewpoint and has been criticized for offensive policy against the government. Homeland wanted to offer a perspective for the USA to be the “Leader of The Free World” again but with a liberal-democrat approach, dialogue and rational intelligence methods.

Keywords: antiterrorism, CIA, homeland, USA

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747 Development of Pasta Production by Using of Hard and Soft Domestic Sorts of Wheat

Authors: A.N. Zhilkaidarov, G.K. Iskakova, V.Y. Chernyh

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High-qualified and not-expensive products of daily usage have a big demand on food products’ market. Moreover, it is about independent and irreplaceable product as pasta. Pasta is a product, which represents itself the conserved dough from wheat flour made through special milling process. A wide assortment of the product and its pleasant taste properties allow to use pasta products in very different combinations with other food products. Pasta industry of Kazakhstan has large perspectives of development. There are many premises for it, which includes first an importance of pasta as a social product. Due to for its nutritional and energetically value pasta is the part of must have food. Besides that, the pasta production in Kazakhstan has traditional bases, and nowadays the market of this product develops rapidly as in quantity as well as in quality aspects. Moreover, one of the advantages of this branch is an economical aspect – pasta is the product of secondary processing, and therefore price for sailing is much higher as its own costs.

Keywords: pasta, new wheat sorts, domesic sorts of wheat, macaronic flour

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746 A Nonstandard Finite Difference Method for Weather Derivatives Pricing Model

Authors: Clarinda Vitorino Nhangumbe, Fredericks Ebrahim, Betuel Canhanga

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The price of an option weather derivatives can be approximated as a solution of the two-dimensional convection-diffusion dominant partial differential equation derived from the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, where one variable represents the weather dynamics and the other variable represent the underlying weather index. With appropriate financial boundary conditions, the solution of the pricing equation is approximated using a nonstandard finite difference method. It is shown that the proposed numerical scheme preserves positivity as well as stability and consistency. In order to illustrate the accuracy of the method, the numerical results are compared with other methods. The model is tested for real weather data.

Keywords: nonstandard finite differences, Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, partial differential equations approach, weather derivatives

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745 An Innovative High Energy Density Power Pack for Portable and Off-Grid Power Applications

Authors: Idit Avrahami, Alex Schechter, Lev Zakhvatkin

Abstract:

This research focuses on developing a compact and light Hydrogen Generator (HG), coupled with fuel cells (FC) to provide a High-Energy-Density Power-Pack (HEDPP) solution, which is 10 times Li-Ion batteries. The HEDPP is designed for portable & off-grid power applications such as Drones, UAVs, stationary off-grid power sources, unmanned marine vehicles, and more. Hydrogen gas provided by this device is delivered in the safest way as a chemical powder at room temperature and ambient pressure is activated only when the power is on. Hydrogen generation is based on a stabilized chemical reaction of Sodium Borohydride (SBH) and water. The proposed solution enables a ‘No Storage’ Hydrogen-based Power Pack. Hydrogen is produced and consumed on-the-spot, during operation; therefore, there’s no need for high-pressure hydrogen tanks, which are large, heavy, and unsafe. In addition to its high energy density, ease of use, and safety, the presented power pack has a significant advantage of versatility and deployment in numerous applications and scales. This patented HG was demonstrated using several prototypes in our lab and was proved to be feasible and highly efficient for several applications. For example, in applications where water is available (such as marine vehicles, water and sewage infrastructure, and stationary applications), the Energy Density of the suggested power pack may reach 2700-3000 Wh/kg, which is again more than 10 times higher than conventional lithium-ion batteries. In other applications (e.g., UAV or small vehicles) the energy density may exceed 1000 Wh/kg.

Keywords: hydrogen energy, sodium borohydride, fixed-wing UAV, energy pack

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744 Survival Strategies of Street Children Using the Urban Space: A Case Study at Sealdah Railway Station Area, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Authors: Sibnath Sarkar

Abstract:

Developing countries are facing many Social problems. In India, too there are several such problems. The problem of street children is one of them. No country or city anywhere in the world today is without the presence of street children, but the problem is most acute in developing countries. Thousands of street children can be seen in our populous cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, and Chennai. Most of them are in the age group of 5-15 years. The number of street children is increasing gradually. Poverty, unemployment, rapid urbanization, rural-urban migrations are the root causes of street children. Being deprive from many of their, they have escaped to the street as a safe place for living. Street children always related with the urban spaces in the developing world and it represents a sad outcome of the rapid urbanization process. After coming to the streets, these children have to cope with the new situation every day. They also adopt or develop many complex survival strategies and a variety of different informal or even illegal activities in public space and form supportive social networks in order to survive in street life. Street children use the different suitable urban spaces as their earning, living, entertaining spot. Therefore, the livelihoods of young people on the street should analyze in relation to the spaces they use, as well as their age and length of stay on the streets. This paper tries to explore the livelihood strategies and copping situation of street children in Sealdah station area. One hundred seventy-five street living children are included in the study living in and around the railway station.

Keywords: strategies, street children, survive, urban-space

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743 The Geographic Distribution of Complementary, Alternative, and Traditional Medicine in the United States in 2018

Authors: Janis E. Campbell

Abstract:

Most of what is known about complementary, alternative or traditional medicine (CATM) in the United States today is known from either the National Health Interview Survey a cross-sectional survey with a few questions or from small cross-sectional or cohort studies with specific populations. The broad geographical distribution in CATM use or providers is not known. For this project, we used geospatial cluster analysis to determine if there were clusters of CATM provider by county in the US. In this analysis, we used the National Provider Index to determine the geographic distribution of providers in the US. Of the 215,769 CAMT providers 211,603 resided in the contiguous US: Acupuncturist (26,563); Art, Poetry, Music and Dance Therapist (2,752); Chiropractor (89,514); Doula/Midwife (3,535); Exercise (507); Homeopath (380); Massage Therapist (36,540); Mechanotherapist (1,888); Naprapath (146); Naturopath (4,782); Nutrition (42,036); Reflexologist (522); Religious (2,438). ESRI® spatial autocorrelation was used to determine if the geographic location of CATM providers were random or clustered. For global analysis, we used Getis-Ord General G and for Local Indicators of Spatial Associations with an Optimized Hot Spot Analysis using an alpha of 0.05. Overall, CATM providers were clustered with both low and high. With Chiropractors, focusing in the Midwest, religious providers having very small clusters in the central US, and other types of CAMT focused in the northwest and west coast, Colorado and New Mexico, the great lakes areas and Florida. We will discuss some of the implications of this study, including associations with health, economic, social, and political systems.

Keywords: complementary medicine, alternative medicine, geospatial, United States

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742 Combining the Dynamic Conditional Correlation and Range-GARCH Models to Improve Covariance Forecasts

Authors: Piotr Fiszeder, Marcin Fałdziński, Peter Molnár

Abstract:

The dynamic conditional correlation model of Engle (2002) is one of the most popular multivariate volatility models. However, this model is based solely on closing prices. It has been documented in the literature that the high and low price of the day can be used in an efficient volatility estimation. We, therefore, suggest a model which incorporates high and low prices into the dynamic conditional correlation framework. Empirical evaluation of this model is conducted on three datasets: currencies, stocks, and commodity exchange-traded funds. The utilisation of realized variances and covariances as proxies for true variances and covariances allows us to reach a strong conclusion that our model outperforms not only the standard dynamic conditional correlation model but also a competing range-based dynamic conditional correlation model.

Keywords: volatility, DCC model, high and low prices, range-based models, covariance forecasting

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741 Empirical and Indian Automotive Equity Portfolio Decision Support

Authors: P. Sankar, P. James Daniel Paul, Siddhant Sahu

Abstract:

A brief review of the empirical studies on the methodology of the stock market decision support would indicate that they are at a threshold of validating the accuracy of the traditional and the fuzzy, artificial neural network and the decision trees. Many researchers have been attempting to compare these models using various data sets worldwide. However, the research community is on the way to the conclusive confidence in the emerged models. This paper attempts to use the automotive sector stock prices from National Stock Exchange (NSE), India and analyze them for the intra-sectorial support for stock market decisions. The study identifies the significant variables and their lags which affect the price of the stocks using OLS analysis and decision tree classifiers.

Keywords: Indian automotive sector, stock market decisions, equity portfolio analysis, decision tree classifiers, statistical data analysis

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740 Forecasting Issues in Energy Markets within a Reg-ARIMA Framework

Authors: Ilaria Lucrezia Amerise

Abstract:

Electricity markets throughout the world have undergone substantial changes. Accurate, reliable, clear and comprehensible modeling and forecasting of different variables (loads and prices in the first instance) have achieved increasing importance. In this paper, we describe the actual state of the art focusing on reg-SARMA methods, which have proven to be flexible enough to accommodate the electricity price/load behavior satisfactory. More specifically, we will discuss: 1) The dichotomy between point and interval forecasts; 2) The difficult choice between stochastic (e.g. climatic variation) and non-deterministic predictors (e.g. calendar variables); 3) The confrontation between modelling a single aggregate time series or creating separated and potentially different models of sub-series. The noteworthy point that we would like to make it emerge is that prices and loads require different approaches that appear irreconcilable even though must be made reconcilable for the interests and activities of energy companies.

Keywords: interval forecasts, time series, electricity prices, reg-SARIMA methods

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739 A Strategy for the Application of Second-Order Monte Carlo Algorithms to Petroleum Exploration and Production Projects

Authors: Obioma Uche

Abstract:

Due to the recent volatility in oil & gas prices as well as increased development of non-conventional resources, it has become even more essential to critically evaluate the profitability of petroleum prospects prior to making any investment decisions. Traditionally, simple Monte Carlo (MC) algorithms have been used to randomly sample probability distributions of economic and geological factors (e.g. price, OPEX, CAPEX, reserves, productive life, etc.) in order to obtain probability distributions for profitability metrics such as Net Present Value (NPV). In recent years, second-order MC algorithms have been shown to offer an advantage over simple MC techniques due to the added consideration of uncertainties associated with the probability distributions of the relevant variables. Here, a strategy for the application of the second-order MC technique to a case study is demonstrated to analyze its effectiveness as a tool for portfolio management.

Keywords: Monte Carlo algorithms, portfolio management, profitability, risk analysis

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738 Secret Agents in the Azores during the Second World War and the Impact of Espionage on Portuguese-British Relations

Authors: Marisa Galiza Filipe

Abstract:

In 1942, at the height of the Second World War, Roosevelt and Churchill planned to occupy the Azores to establish air and naval bases. The islands' privileged position in the middle of the Atlantic made them a strategic location for both the Axis and the Allies. For the Germans, the occupation of the island was also a strategic place to launch an attack on the United States of America, and for the British and Americans, the islands were the perfect spot to counterattack the German sinking of British boats and submarines. Salazar avoided the concession of the islands until 1943, claiming, on the one hand, the policy of neutrality, a decision made in agreement with England, and on the other hand, the reaffirmation of Portuguese sovereignty over the territory. Aware of the constant changes and supported by a network of informers on the islands, the German and British spies played a crucial role in the negotiations between Portugal and the Allies and the ceding of the bases by Salazar, which prevented their forced occupation. The espionage caused several diplomatic tensions, and the large number of German spies denounced by the British, operating on the islands under the watchful eye of the PVDE and Salazar, weakened the Portuguese-British alliance. Using primary source documents in the Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros (MNE) archives, this paper introduces the spies that operated on the islands, their missions and motives, organizations, and modus operandi. As a chess game, any move was careful thinking and the spies were valuable assets to control and use information that could lead to the occupation of the islands and, ultimately, change the tide of the war.

Keywords: espionage, Azores, WWI, neutrality

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737 Corporate Governance and Share Prices: Firm Level Review in Turkey

Authors: Raif Parlakkaya, Ahmet Diken, Erkan Kara

Abstract:

This paper examines the relationship between corporate governance rating and stock prices of 26 Turkish firms listed in Turkish stock exchange (Borsa Istanbul) by using panel data analysis over five-year period. The paper also investigates the stock performance of firms with governance rating with regards to the market portfolio (i.e. BIST 100 Index) both prior and after governance scoring began. The empirical results show that there is no relation between corporate governance rating and stock prices when using panel data for annual variation in both rating score and stock prices. Further analysis indicates surprising results that while the selected firms outperform the market significantly prior to rating, the same performance does not continue afterwards.

Keywords: corporate governance, stock price, performance, panel data analysis

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736 Understanding National Soccer Jersey Design from a Material Culture Perspective: A Content Analysis and Wardrobe Interviews with Canadian Consumers

Authors: Olivia Garcia, Sandra Tullio-Pow

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to understand what design attributes make the most ideal (wearable and memorable) national soccer jersey. The research probed Canadian soccer enthusiasts to better understand their jersey-purchasing rationale. The research questions framing this study were: how do consumers feel about their jerseys? How do these feelings influence their choices? There has been limited research on soccer jerseys from a material culture perspective, and it is not inclusive of national soccer jerseys. The results of this study may be used for product developers and advertisers who are looking to better understand the consumer base for national soccer jersey design. A mixed methods approach informed the research. To begin, a content analysis of all the home jerseys from the 2018 World Cup was done. Information such as size range, main colour, fibre content, brand, collar details, availability, sleeve length, place of manufacturing, pattern, price, fabric as per company, neckline, availability on company website, jersey inspiration, and badge/crest details were noted. Following the content analysis, wardrobe interviews were conducted with six consumers/fans. Participants brought two or more jerseys to the interviews, where the jerseys acted as clothing probes to recount information. Interview questions were semi-structured and focused on the participants’ relationship with the sport, their personal background, who they cheered for, why they bought the jerseys, and fit preferences. The goal of the inquiry was to pull out information on how participants feel about their jerseys and why. Finally, an interview with an industry professional was done. This interview was semi-structured, focusing on basic questions regarding sportswear design, sales, the popularity of soccer, and the manufacturing and marketing process. The findings proved that national soccer jerseys are an integral part of material culture. Women liked more fitted jerseys, and men liked more comfortable jerseys. Jerseys should be made with a cooling, comfortable fabric and should always prevent peeling. The symbols on jerseys are there to convey a team’s history and are most typically placed on the left chest. Jerseys should always represent the flag and/or the country’s colours and should use designs that are both fashionable and innovative. Jersey design should always consider the opinions of the consumers to help influence the design process. Jerseys should always use concepts surrounding culture, as consumers feel connected to the jerseys that represent the culture and/or family they have grown up with. Jerseys should use a team’s history, as well as the nostalgia associated with the team, as consumers prefer jerseys that reflect important moments in soccer. Jerseys must also sit at a reasonable price point for consumers, with an experience to go along with the jersey purchase. In conclusion, national soccer jerseys are considered sites of attachment and memories and play an integral part in the study of material culture.

Keywords: Design, Fashion, Material Culture, Sport

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735 Technical and Economical Evaluation of Electricity Generation and Seawater Desalination Using Nuclear Energy

Authors: A. Hany A. Khater, G. M. Mostafa, M. R. Badawy

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The techno-economic analysis of the nuclear desalination is a very important tool that enables studying of the mutual effects between the nuclear power plant and the coupled desalination plant under different operating conditions, and hence investigating the feasibility of safe and economical production of potable water. For this purpose, a comprehensive model for both technical and economic performance evaluation of the nuclear desalination has been prepared. The developed model has the capability to be used in performing a parametric study for the performance measuring parameters of the nuclear desalination system. Also a sensitivity analysis of varying important factors such as interest/discount rate, power plant availability, fossil fuel prices, purchased electricity price, nuclear fuel cost, and specific base cost for both power and water plant has been conducted.

Keywords: uclear desalination, PWR, MED, MED-TVC, MSF, RO

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734 Biotransformation of Monoterpenes by Whole Cells of Eleven Praxelis clematidea-Derived Endophytic Fungi

Authors: Daomao Yang, Qizhi Wang

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Monoterpenoids are mainly found in plant essential oils and they are ideal substrates for biotransformation into oxygen-containing derivatives with important commercial value due to their low price and simple structure. In this paper, eleven strains of endophytic fungi from Praxelis clematidea were used as test strains to conduct the whole cell biotransformation of the monoterpenoids: (+)-limonene, (-)-limonene and myrcene. The fungi were inoculated in 50 ml Sabouraud medium and incubated at 30 ℃ with the agitation of 150 r/min for 6 d, and then 0.5% (v/v) substrates were added into the medium and biotransformed for further 3 d. Afterwards the cultures were filtered, and extracted using equal volume of ethyl acetate. The metabolites were analyzed by GC-MS technique with NIST database. The Total Ion Chromatogram of the extractions from the eleven strains showed that the main product of (+)- and (-)-limonene biotransformation was limonene-1,2-diol, while it is limonene and linalool oxide for biotransformation of myrcene. This work will help screen the microorganisms to biotransform the monoterpenes.

Keywords: endophytic fungi, (+)–limonene, (-)–limonene, myrcene

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733 Effect of Addition and Reduction of Sharia Index Constituents

Authors: Rosyidah, Permata Wulandari

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We investigate the price effect of addition and deletions from the Indonesia Sharia Stock Index (ISSI) and Jakarta Islamic Index (JII). Using event study methodology, we measure abnormal returns for firms over the period June 2019 - to December 2021. Through the sample of 107 additions and 95 deletions, we find evidence to support the theory of Muslim country investment behavior. We find that additions to the Islamic index led to a significant positive stock market reaction and deletions to the Islamic index led to a negative stock market reaction on Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) and there is no significant reaction of addition and deletion on Indonesia Sharia Stock Index (ISSI).

Keywords: abnormal return, abnormal volume, event study, index changes, sharia index

Procedia PDF Downloads 114
732 Modelling High-Frequency Crude Oil Dynamics Using Affine and Non-Affine Jump-Diffusion Models

Authors: Katja Ignatieva, Patrick Wong

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We investigated the dynamics of high frequency energy prices, including crude oil and electricity prices. The returns of underlying quantities are modelled using various parametric models such as stochastic framework with jumps and stochastic volatility (SVCJ) as well as non-parametric alternatives, which are purely data driven and do not require specification of the drift or the diffusion coefficient function. Using different statistical criteria, we investigate the performance of considered parametric and nonparametric models in their ability to forecast price series and volatilities. Our models incorporate possible seasonalities in the underlying dynamics and utilise advanced estimation techniques for the dynamics of energy prices.

Keywords: stochastic volatility, affine jump-diffusion models, high frequency data, model specification, markov chain monte carlo

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731 The Urban Expansion Characterization of the Bir El Djir Municipality using Remote Sensing and GIS

Authors: Fatima Achouri, Zakaria Smahi

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Bir El Djir is an important coastal township in Oran department, located at 450 Km far away from Algiers on northwest of Algeria. In this coastal area, the urban sprawl is one of the main problems that reduce the limited highly fertile land. So, using the remote sensing and GIS technologies have shown their great capabilities to solve many earth resources issues. The aim of this study is to produce land use and cover map for the studied area at varied periods to monitor possible changes that may occurred, particularly in the urban areas and subsequently predict likely changes. For this, two spatial images SPOT and Landsat satellites from 1987 and 2014 respectively were used to assess the changes of urban expansion and encroachment during this period with photo-interpretation and GIS approach. The results revealed that the town of Bir El Djir has shown a highest growth rate in the period 1987-2014 which is 521.1 hectares in terms of area. These expansions largely concern the new real estate constructions falling within the social and promotional housing programs launched by the government. Indeed, during the last census period (1998 -2008), the population of this town has almost doubled from 73 029 to 152 151 inhabitants with an average annual growth of 5.2%. This also significant population growth is causing an accelerated urban expansion of the periphery which causing its conurbation with the towns of Oran in the West side. The most urban expansion is characterized by the new construction in the form of spontaneous or peripheral precarious habitat, but also unstructured slums settled especially in the southeastern part of town.

Keywords: urban expansion, remote sensing, photo-interpretation, spatial dynamics

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730 Analysis of Transformer by Gas and Moisture Sensor during Laboratory Time Monitoring

Authors: Miroslav Gutten, Daniel Korenciak, Milan Simko, Milan Chupac

Abstract:

Ensure the reliable and correct function of transformers is the main essence of on-line non-destructive diagnostic tool, which allows the accurately track of the status parameters. Devices for on-line diagnostics are very costly. However, there are devices, whose price is relatively low and when used correctly, they can be executed a complex diagnostics. One of these devices is sensor HYDRAN M2, which is used to detect the moisture and gas content in the insulation oil. Using the sensor HYDRAN M2 in combination with temperature, load measurement, and physicochemical analysis can be made the economically inexpensive diagnostic system, which use is not restricted to distribution transformers. This system was tested in educational laboratory environment at measured oil transformer 22/0.4 kV. From the conclusions referred in article is possible to determine, which kind of fault was occurred in the transformer and how was an impact on the temperature, evolution of gases and water content.

Keywords: transformer, diagnostics, gas and moisture sensor, monitoring

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729 Interaction between Kazal-Type Serine Proteinase Inhibitor SPIPm2 and Cyclophilin A from the Black Tiger Shrimp Penaeus monodon

Authors: Sirikwan Ponprateep, Anchalee Tassanakajon, Vichien Rimphanitchayakit

Abstract:

A Kazal-type serine proteinase inhibitor, SPIPm2, was abundantly expressed in the hemocytes and secreted into shrimp plasma has anti-viral property against white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). To discover the molecular mechanism of antiviral activity, the binding assay showed that SPIPm2 bind to the components of viral particle and shrimp hemocyte. From our previous report, viral target protein of SPIPm2 was identified, namely WSV477 using yeast two-hybrid screening. WSV477 is an early gene product of WSSV and involved in viral propagation. In this study, the co-immunoprecipitation technique and Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to identify the target protein of SPIPm2 from shrimp hemocyte. The target protein of SPIPm2 was cyclophilin A. In vertebrate, cyclophilin A or peptidylprolyl isomerase A was reported to be the immune suppressor interacted with cyclosporin A involved in immune defense response. The recombinant cyclophilin A from Penaeus monodon (rPmCypA) was produced in E.coli system and purified using Ni-NTA column to confirm the protein-protein interaction. In vitro pull-down assay showed the interaction between rSPIPm2 and rPmCypA. To study the biological function of these proteins, the expression analysis of immune gene in shrimp defense pathways will be investigated after rPmCypA administration.

Keywords: cyclophilin A, protein-protein interaction, Kazal-type serine proteinase inhibitor, Penaeus monodon

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728 Customer Service Marketing Mix: A Survey of Small Business around Campus, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

Authors: Chonlada Choovanichchanon

Abstract:

This research paper was aimed to investigate a relationship between the customer service marketing mix and the level of customers’ satisfaction from purchasing goods and service from small business around campus, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Bangkok, Thailand. Based on the survey of 200 customers who frequently purchased goods and service around campus, the level of satisfaction for each factor of marketing mix was reached. An accidental random sampling was applied by using questionnaire in collecting the data. The findings revealed that the means values can help to rank these variables from high to low mean as follows: 1) forms and system of service, 2) physical environment of service center, 3) service from staff and employee, 4) product quality and service, 5) market channel and distribution, 6) market price, and 7) market promotion and distribution.

Keywords: service marketing mix, satisfaction, small business, survey

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727 Intelligent Parking Systems for Quasi-Close Communities

Authors: Ayodele Adekunle Faiyetole, Olumide Olawale Jegede

Abstract:

This paper presents the experimental design and needs justifications for a localized intelligent parking system (L-IPS), ideal for quasi-close communities with increasing vehicular volume that depends on limited or constant parking facilities. For a constant supply in parking facilities, the demand for an increasing vehicular volume could lead to poor time conservation or extended travel time, traffic congestion or impeded mobility, and safety issues. Increased negative environmental and economic externalities are other associated and consequent downsides of disparities in demand and supply. This L-IPS is designed using a microcontroller, ultrasonic sensors, LED indicators, such that the current status, in terms of parking spots availability, can be known from the main entrance to the community or a parking zone on a LCD screen. As an advanced traffic management system (ATMS), the L-IPS is designed to resolve aspects of infrastructure-to-driver (I2D) communication and parking detection issues. Thus, this L-IPS can act as a timesaver for users by helping them know the availability of parking spots. Providing on-time, informed routing, to a next preference or seamless moving to berth on the available spot on a proximate facility as the case may be. Its use could also increase safety and increase mobility, and fuel savings and costs, therefore, reducing negative environmental and economic externalities due to transportation systems.

Keywords: intelligent parking systems, localized intelligent parking system, intelligent transport systems, advanced traffic management systems, infrastructure-to-drivers communication

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726 Factors Contributing to Building Construction Project’s Cost Overrun in Jordan

Authors: Ghaleb Y. Abbasi, Sufyan Al-Mrayat

Abstract:

This study examined the contribution of thirty-six factors to building construction project’s cost overrun in Jordan. A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 350 stakeholders comprised of owners, consultants, and contractors, of which 285 responded. SPSS analysis was conducted to identify the top five causes of cost overrun, which were a large number of variation orders, inadequate quantities provided in the contract, misunderstanding of the project plan, incomplete bid documents, and choosing the lowest price in the contract bidding. There was an agreement among the study participants in ranking the factors contributing to cost overrun, which indicated that these factors were very commonly encountered in most construction projects in Jordan. Thus, it is crucial to enhance the collaboration among the different project stakeholders to understand the project’s objectives and set a realistic plan that takes into consideration all the factors that might influence the project cost, which might eventually prevent cost overrun.

Keywords: cost, overrun, building construction projects, Jordan

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