Search results for: conditional proportional reversed hazard rate model

Authors: Tafadzwa Shumba, Rose C. Nyatondo, Regret Sunge

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This research analyses the impact of budget deficits on the economic performance of Zimbabwe. The study employs the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) confines testing method to co-integration and long-run estimation using time series data from 1980-2018. The Augmented Dick Fuller (ADF) and the Granger approach were used to testing for stationarity and causality among the factors. Co-integration test results affirm a long term association between GDP development rate and descriptive factors. Causality test results show a unidirectional connection between budget shortfall to GDP development and bi-directional causality amid debt and budget deficit. This study also found unidirectional causality from debt to GDP growth rate. ARDL estimates indicate a significantly positive long term and significantly negative short term impact of budget shortfall on GDP. This suggests that budget deficits have a short-run growth retarding effect and a long-run growth-inducing effect. The long-run results follow the Keynesian theory that posits that fiscal deficits result in an increase in GDP growth. Short-run outcomes follow the neoclassical theory. In light of these findings, the government is recommended to minimize financing of recurrent expenditure using a budget deficit. To achieve sustainable growth and development, the government needs to spend an absorbable budget deficit focusing on capital projects such as the development of human capital and infrastructure.

Keywords: ARDL, budget deficit, economic performance, long run

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Authors: Fouzia Amireche-Ziar, Ilham Mokbel, Jacques Jose

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The vapour pressures of the three binary mixtures: 1, 2- dichloroethane + 1,3-dioxolane, + 1,4-dioxane or + tetrahydropyrane, are carried out at ten temperatures ranging from 273 to 353.15 K. An accurate static device was employed for these measurements. The VLE data were reduced using the Redlich-Kister equation by taking into consideration the vapour pressure non-ideality in terms of the second molar virial coefficient. The experimental data were compared to the results predicted with the DISQUAC and Dortmund UNIFAC group contribution models for the total pressures P and the excess molar Gibbs energies GE.

Keywords: disquac model, dortmund UNIFAC model, excess molar Gibbs energies GE, VLE

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Authors: Farhood Rismanchian, Seong Hyeon Park, Young Hoon Lee

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During the recent years, demand for healthcare services has dramatically increased. As the demand for healthcare services increases, so does the necessity of constructing new healthcare buildings and redesigning and renovating existing ones. Increasing demands necessitate the use of optimization techniques to improve the overall service efficiency in healthcare settings. However, high complexity of care processes remains the major challenge to accomplish this goal. This study proposes a method based on process mining results to address the high complexity of care processes and to find the optimal layout of the various medical centers in an emergency department. ProM framework is used to discover clinical pathway patterns and relationship between activities. Sequence clustering plug-in is used to remove infrequent events and to derive the process model in the form of Markov chain. The process mining results served as an input for the next phase which consists of the development of the optimization model. Comparison of the current ED design with the one obtained from the proposed method indicated that a carefully designed layout can significantly decrease the distances that patients must travel.

Keywords: Mixed Integer programming, Facility layout problem, Process Mining, Healthcare Operation Management

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Authors: Shriya Shukla, Lachin Fernando

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Pneumonia, a leading cause of mortality in young children globally, presents significant diagnostic challenges, particularly in resource-limited settings. This study presents an approach to diagnosing pediatric pneumonia using Chest X-Ray (CXR) images, employing a lightweight MobileNetV2 model enhanced with synthetic data augmentation. Addressing the challenge of dataset scarcity and imbalance, the study used a Variational Autoencoder-Generative Adversarial Network (VAE-GAN) to generate synthetic CXR images, improving the representation of normal cases in the pediatric dataset. This approach not only addresses the issues of data imbalance and scarcity prevalent in medical imaging but also provides a more accessible and reliable diagnostic tool for early pneumonia detection. The augmented data improved the model’s accuracy and generalization, achieving an overall accuracy of 95% in pneumonia detection. These findings highlight the efficacy of the MobileNetV2 model, offering a computationally efficient yet robust solution well-suited for resource-constrained environments such as mobile health applications. This study demonstrates the potential of synthetic data augmentation in enhancing medical image analysis for critical conditions like pediatric pneumonia.

Keywords: pneumonia, MobileNetV2, image classification, GAN, VAE, deep learning

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Authors: N. Hammid, F. Bouarab-Dahmani, T. Berkane

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Since its appearance, the MOOC (massive open online course) is gaining more and more intention of the educational communities over the world. Apart from the current MOOCs design and purposes, the creators of MOOC focused on the importance of the connection and knowledge exchange between individuals in learning. In this paper, we present a conceptual model for massive open online blended courses where teachers over the world can collaborate and exchange their experience to get a common efficient content designed as a MOOC opened to their students to live a better learning experience. This model is based on disciplines’ concepts capitalization and the detection of the obstacles met by their students when faced with problem situations (exercises, projects, case studies, etc.). This detection is possible by analyzing the frequently of semantic errors committed by the students. The participation of teachers in the design of the course and the attendance by their students can guarantee an efficient and extensive participation (an important number of participants) in the course, the learners’ motivation and the evaluation issues, in the way that the teachers designing the course assess their students. Thus, the teachers review, together with their knowledge, offer a better assessment and efficient connections to their students.

Keywords: massive open online course, MOOC, online learning, e-learning

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Authors: Mamoon Masud, Suleman Mazhar

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Indus river basin’s irrigation system in Pakistan is extremely complex, spanning over 50,000 km. Maintenance and monitoring of this demands enormous resources. This paper describes the development of a streamlined and low-cost autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for the monitoring of irrigation canals including water quality monitoring and water theft detection. The vehicle is a hovering-type AUV, designed mainly for monitoring irrigation canals, with fully documented design and open source code. It has a length of 17 inches, and a radius of 3.5 inches with a depth rating of 5m. Multiple sensors are present onboard the AUV for monitoring water quality parameters including pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS) and dissolved oxygen. A 9-DOF Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), GY-85, is used, which incorporates an Accelerometer (ADXL345), a Gyroscope (ITG-3200) and a Magnetometer (HMC5883L). The readings from these sensors are fused together using directional cosine matrix (DCM) algorithm, providing the AUV with the heading angle, while a pressure sensor gives the depth of the AUV. 2 sonar-based range sensors are used for obstacle detection, enabling the vehicle to align itself with the irrigation canals edges. 4 thrusters control the vehicle’s surge, heading and heave, providing 3 DOF. The thrusters are controlled using a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) feedback control system, with heading angle and depth being the controller’s input and the thruster motor speed as the output. A flow sensor has been incorporated to monitor canal water level to detect water-theft event in the irrigation system. In addition to water theft detection, the vehicle also provides information on water quality, providing us with the ability to identify the source(s) of water contamination. Detection of such events can provide useful policy inputs for improving irrigation efficiency and reducing water contamination. The AUV being low cost, small sized and suitable for autonomous maneuvering, water level and quality monitoring in the irrigation canals, can be used for irrigation network monitoring at a large scale.

Keywords: the autonomous underwater vehicle, irrigation canal monitoring, water quality monitoring, underwater line tracking

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Authors: Mandeep Kaur, K. C. Sharma, P. L. Sharma, R. S. Chandel

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Cauliflower is an important vegetable crop grown throughout the world and is attacked by a large number of insect pests at various stages of the crop growth. Amongst them, the cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) is an important insect pest. Continued feeding by both nymphs and adults of this aphid causes yellowing, wilting and stunting of plants. Amongst various management practices, the use of resistant cultivars is important and can be an effective method of reducing the population of this aphid. So it is imperative to know the complete record on various biological parameters and life table on specific cultivars. The biology and life fertility of the cabbage aphid were studied on five cauliflower cultivars viz. Megha, Shweta, K-1, PSB-1 and PSBK-25 under controlled temperature conditions of 20 ± 2°C, 70 ± 5% relative humidity and 16:8 h (Light: Dark) photoperiods. For studying biology; apterous viviparous adults were picked up from the laboratory culture of all five cauliflower cultivars after rearing them at least for two generations and placed individually on the desired plants of cauliflower cultivars grown in pots with ten replicates of each. Daily record on the duration of nymphal period, adult longevity, mortality in each stage and the total number of progeny produced per female was made. This biological data were further used to construct life fertility table on each cultivar. Statistical analysis showed that there was a significant difference ( P  < 0.05) between the different growth stages and the mean number of laid nymphs. The maximum and minimum growth periods were observed on Shweta and Megha (at par with K-1) cultivars, respectively. The maximum number of nymphs were laid on Shweta cultivar (26.40 nymphs per female) and minimum on Megha (at par with K-1) cultivar (15.20 nymphs per female). The true intrinsic rate of increase (rm) was found to be maximum on Shweta (0.233 nymphs/female/day) followed by PSB K-25 (0.207 nymphs/female/day), PSB-1 (0.203 nymphs/female/day), Megha (0.166 nymphs/female/day) and K-1 (0.153 nymphs/female/day). The finite rate of natural increase (λ) was also found to be in the order: K-1 < Megha < PSB-1 < PSBK-25 < Shweta whereas the doubling time (DT) was in the order of K-1 >Megha> PSB-1 >PSBk-25> Shweta. The aphids reared on the K-1 cultivar had the lowest values of rm & λ and the highest value of DT whereas on Shweta cultivar the values of rm & λ were the highest and the lowest value of DT. So on the basis of these studies, K-1 cultivar was found to be the least suitable and the Shweta cultivar was the most suitable for the cabbage aphid population growth. Although the cauliflower cultivars used in different parts of the world may be different yet the results of the present studies indicated that the application of cultivars affecting multiplication rate and reproductive parameters could be a good solution for the management of the cabbage aphid.

Keywords: biology, cauliflower, cultivars, fertility

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Authors: Muhammad Farhan Ul Moazzam, Tamkeen Urooj Paracha, Ghani Rahman, Byung Gul Lee, Nasir Farid, Adnan Arshad

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The novel coronavirus pandemic disease (COVID-19) affected the whole globe, though there is a lack of clinical studies and its epidemiological features. But as per the observation, it has been seen that most of the COVID-19 infected patients show mild to moderate symptoms, and they get better without any medical assistance due to a better immune system to generate antibodies against the novel coronavirus. In this study, the active cases, serious cases, recovered cases, deaths and total confirmed cases had been analyzed using the geospatial inverse distance weightage technique (IDW) within the time span of 2nd March to 3rd June 2020. As of 3rd June, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Italy were 231,238, total deaths 33,310, serious cases 350, recovered cases 158,951, and active cases were 39,177, which has been reported by the Ministry of Health, Italy. March 2nd-June 3rd, 2020 a sum of 231,238 cases has been reported in Italy out of which 38.68% cases reported in the Lombardia region with a death rate of 18%, which is high from its national mortality rate followed by Emilia-Romagna (14.89% deaths), Piemonte (12.68% deaths), and Vento (10% deaths). As per the total cases in the region, the highest number of recoveries has been observed in Umbria (92.52%), followed by Basilicata (87%), Valle d'Aosta (86.85%), and Trento (84.54%). The COVID-19 evolution in Italy has been particularly found in the major urban area, i.e., Rome, Milan, Naples, Bologna, and Florence. Geospatial technology played a vital role in this pandemic by tracking infected patient, active cases, and recovered cases. Geospatial techniques are very important in terms of monitoring and planning to control the pandemic spread in the country.

Keywords: COVID-19, public health, geospatial analysis, IDW, Italy

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Authors: G. M. Dominguez Almaraz, J. A. Ruiz Vilchez, M. A. Sanchez Miranda

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Ultrasonic fatigue tests have been carried out in the maraging 300 steel. Experimental results show that fatigue endurance under this modality of testing is closely related to the nature and geometrical properties of inclusions present in this alloy. A model was proposed to correlate the ultrasonic fatigue endurance with the nature and geometrical properties of the crack initiation inclusion. Scanning Electron Microscopy analyses were obtained on the fracture surfaces, in order to assess the crack initiation inclusion and to introduce these parameters in the proposed model, with good agreement for the fatigue life prediction.

Keywords: inclusions, ultrasonic fatigue, maraging 300 steel, crack initiation

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Authors: Michelle Siao-Cing Guo

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Technology is widely adopted to assist instruction and learning across disciplines. Traditional teaching method fails to capture the attention of the generation of digital native and does not accommodate diverse needs of today’s learners. The innovation in technology allows new pedagogical approaches. One approach that converts the traditional learning classroom to a more flexible learning time and space is known as the flipped classroom. This new pedagogy extends and enhances learning and accommodates different learning styles. The flipped classroom employs technology to offer course materials online 24 hours/day and to promote active class learning. However, will Taiwanese students who are used to more traditional instructional methods embrace the flipped classroom using E-learning? Will the flipped approach have an effect on Taiwanese students’ English mastery and learning autonomy? The researcher compares a flipped classroom model using E-learning and the traditional-lecture model. A pre- and post-test and a questionnaire were utilized to examine the effect of the flipped classroom on Taiwanese college students. The test results showed that the flipped approach had a positive effect on learners’ English proficiency level, topical knowledge, and willingness to participate in class. The questionnaire also demonstrates the acceptance of the new teaching model.

Keywords: flipped classroom , E-learning, innovative teaching, technology

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Authors: Gülay Dalgıç, Gildis Tachir

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Architectural design studios are ambiencein where architecture design is realized as a palpable product in architectural education. In the design studios that the architect candidate will use in the design processthe information, the methods of approaching the design problem, the solution proposals, etc., are set uptogetherwith the studio coordinators. The architectural design process, on the other hand, is complex and uncertain.Candidate architects work in a process that starts with abstre and ill-defined problems. This process starts with the generation of alternative solutions with the help of representation tools, continues with the selection of the appropriate/satisfactory solution from these alternatives, and then ends with the creation of an acceptable design/result product. In the studio ambience, many designs and thought relationships are evaluated, the most important step is the early design phase. In the early design phase, the first steps of converting the information are taken, and converted information is used in the constitution of the first design decisions. This phase, which positively affects the progress of the design process and constitution of the final product, is complex and fuzzy than the other phases of the design process. In this context, the aim of the study is to investigate the effects of face-to-face learning model and e-learning model on the early design phase. In the study, the early design phase was defined by literature research. The data of the defined early design phase criteria were obtained with the feedback graphics created for the architect candidates who performed e-learning in the first year of architectural education and continued their education with the face-to-face learning model. The findings of the data were analyzed with the common graphics program. It is thought that this research will contribute to the establishment of a contemporary architectural design education model by reflecting the evaluation of the data and results on architectural education.

Keywords: education modeling, architecture education, design education, design process

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Authors: Muftah H. El-Naas, Ameera F. Mohammad, Mabruk I. Suleiman, Mohamed Al Musharfy, Ali H. Al-Marzouqi

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CO₂ capture and storage technologies play a significant role in contributing to the control of climate change through the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. The present study evaluates and optimizes CO₂ capture through a process, where carbon dioxide is passed into pH adjusted high salinity water and reacted with sodium chloride to form a precipitate of sodium bicarbonate. This process is based on a modified Solvay process with higher CO₂ capture efficiency, higher sodium removal, and higher pH level without the use of ammonia. The process was tested in a bubble column semi-batch reactor and was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). CO₂ capture efficiency and sodium removal were optimized in terms of major operating parameters based on four levels and variables in Central Composite Design (CCD). The operating parameters were gas flow rate (0.5–1.5 L/min), reactor temperature (10 to 50 ^oC), buffer concentration (0.2-2.6%) and water salinity (25-197 g NaCl/L). The experimental data were fitted to a second-order polynomial using multiple regression and analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The optimum values of the selected variables were obtained using response optimizer. The optimum conditions were tested experimentally using desalination reject brine with salinity ranging from 65,000 to 75,000 mg/L. The CO₂ capture efficiency in 180 min was 99% and the maximum sodium removal was 35%. The experimental and predicted values were within 95% confidence interval, which demonstrates that the developed model can successfully predict the capture efficiency and sodium removal using the modified Solvay method.

Keywords: CO2 capture, water desalination, Response Surface Methodology, bubble column reactor

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Authors: K. Hinde, R. Bookun, P. Tran

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Percutaneous CT guided biopsies provide a fast, minimally invasive, cost effective and safe method for obtaining tissue for histopathology and culture. Standards for diagnostic yield vary depending on whether the tissue is being obtained for histopathology or culture. We present a retrospective audit from Western Health in Melbourne Australia over a 12-month period which aimed to determine the diagnostic yield, technical success and complication rate for CT guided bone biopsies and identify factors affecting these results. The digital imaging storage program (Synapse Picture Archiving and Communication System – Fujifilm Australia) was analysed with key word searches from October 2015 to October 2016. Nineteen CT guided bone biopsies were performed during this time. The most common referring unit was oncology, work up imaging included CT, MRI, bone scan and PET scan. The complication rate was 0%, overall diagnostic yield was 74% with a technical success of 95%. When performing biopsies for histologic analysis diagnostic yield was 85% and when performing biopsies for bacterial culture diagnostic yield was 60%. There was no significant relationship identified between size of lesion, distance of lesion to skin, lesion appearance on CT, the number of samples taken or gauge of needle to diagnostic yield or technical success. CT guided bone biopsy at Western Health meets the standard reported at other major clinical centres for technical success and safety. It is a useful investigation in identification of primary malignancy in distal bone metastases.

Keywords: bone biopsy, computed tomography, core biopsy, histopathology

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Authors: Randa Alharbi, Vladislav Vyshemirsky

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Systems biology is an important field in science which focuses on studying behaviour of biological systems. Modelling is required to produce detailed description of the elements of a biological system, their function, and their interactions. A well-designed model requires selecting a suitable mechanism which can capture the main features of the system, define the essential components of the system and represent an appropriate law that can define the interactions between its components. Complex biological systems exhibit stochastic behaviour. Thus, using probabilistic models are suitable to describe and analyse biological systems. Continuous-Time Markov Chain (CTMC) is one of the probabilistic models that describe the system as a set of discrete states with continuous time transitions between them. The system is then characterised by a set of probability distributions that describe the transition from one state to another at a given time. The evolution of these probabilities through time can be obtained by chemical master equation which is analytically intractable but it can be simulated. Uncertain parameters of such a model can be inferred using methods of Bayesian inference. Yet, inference in such a complex system is challenging as it requires the evaluation of the likelihood which is intractable in most cases. There are different statistical methods that allow simulating from the model despite intractability of the likelihood. Approximate Bayesian computation is a common approach for tackling inference which relies on simulation of the model to approximate the intractable likelihood. Particle Markov chain Monte Carlo (PMCMC) is another approach which is based on using sequential Monte Carlo to estimate intractable likelihood. However, both methods are computationally expensive. In this paper we discuss the efficiency and possible practical issues for each method, taking into account the computational time for these methods. We demonstrate likelihood-free inference by performing analysing a model of the Repressilator using both methods. Detailed investigation is performed to quantify the difference between these methods in terms of efficiency and computational cost.

Keywords: Approximate Bayesian computation(ABC), Continuous-Time Markov Chains, Sequential Monte Carlo, Particle Markov chain Monte Carlo (PMCMC)

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Authors: M. Mamor

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GaN-based compounds have attracted much interest in the fabrication of high-power, high speed and high-frequency electronic devices. Other examples of GaN-based applications are blue and ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs). All these devices require high-quality ohmic and Schottky contacts. Gaining an understanding of the electrical characteristics of metal/GaN contacts is of fundamental and technological importance for developing GaN-based devices. In this work, the barrier characteristics of Pt and Pd Schottky contacts on n-type GaN were studied using temperature-dependent forward current-voltage (I-V) measurements over a wide temperature range 80–400 K. Our results show that the barrier height and ideality factor, extracted from the forward I-V characteristics based on thermionic emission (TE) model, exhibit an abnormal dependence with temperature; i.e., by increasing temperature, the barrier height increases whereas the ideality factor decreases. This abnormal behavior has been explained based on the TE model by considering the presence of double Gaussian distribution (GD) of nonhomogeneous barrier height at the metal/GaN interface. However, in the high-temperature range (160-400 K), the extracted value for the effective Richardson constant A* based on the barrier inhomogeneity (BHi) model is found in fair agreement with the theoretically predicted value of about 26.9 A.cm-2 K-2 for n-type GaN. This result indicates that in this temperature range, the conduction current transport is dominated by the thermionic emission mode. On the other hand, in the lower temperature range (80-160 K), the corresponding effective Richardson constant value according to the BHi model is lower than the theoretical value, suggesting the presence of other current transport, such as tunneling-assisted mode at lower temperatures.

Keywords: Schottky diodes, inhomogeneous barrier height, GaN semiconductors, Schottky barrier heights

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Authors: Xuejiao Shao, Jianguo Chen, Xiaolong Fu

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In this paper, the elastoplastic strain correction factor computed by software of ANSYS was modified, and the fatigue usage factor in air was also corrected considering in water under reactor operating condition. The fatigue of key parts on control rod drive mechanisms was analyzed considering the influence of environmental fatigue caused by the coolant in the react pressure vessel. The elastoplastic strain correction factor was modified by analyzing thermal and mechanical loads separately referring the rules of RCC-M 2002. The new elastoplastic strain correction factor Ke(mix) is computed to replace the original Ke computed by the software of ANSYS when evaluating the fatigue produced by thermal and mechanical loads together. Based on the Ke(mix) and the usage cycle and fatigue design curves, the new range of primary plus secondary stresses was evaluated to obtain the final fatigue usage factor. The results show that the precision of fatigue usage factor can be elevated by using modified Ke when the amplify of the primary and secondary stress is large to some extent. One approach has been proposed for incorporating the environmental effects considering the effects of reactor coolant environments on fatigue life in terms of an environmental correction factor Fen, which is the ratio of fatigue life in air at room. To incorporate environmental effects into the RCCM Code fatigue evaluations, the fatigue usage factor based on the current Code design curves is multiplied by the correction factor. The contribution of environmental effects to results is discussed. Fatigue life decreases logarithmically with decreasing strain rate below 10%/s, which is insensitive to strain rate when temperatures below 100°C.

Keywords: environmental fatigue, usage factor, elastoplastic strain correction factor, environmental correction

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Authors: Sameer Jung Karki, Gokhan Saygili

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The allowable bearing capacity of foundation systems is determined by applying a factor of safety to the ultimate bearing capacity. Conventional ultimate bearing capacity calculations routines are based on deterministic input parameters where the nonuniformity and inhomogeneity of soil and site properties are not accounted for. Hence, the laws of mathematics like probability calculus and statistical analysis cannot be directly applied to foundation engineering. It’s assumed that the Factor of Safety, typically as high as 3.0, incorporates the uncertainty of the input parameters. This factor of safety is estimated based on subjective judgement rather than objective facts. It is an ambiguous term. Hence, a probabilistic analysis of the bearing capacity of an isolated footing on a clayey soil is carried out by using the Monte Carlo Simulation method. This simulated model was compared with the traditional discrete model. It was found out that the bearing capacity of soil was found higher for the simulated model compared with the discrete model. This was verified by doing the sensitivity analysis. As the number of simulations was increased, there was a significant % increase of the bearing capacity compared with discrete bearing capacity. The bearing capacity values obtained by simulation was found to follow a normal distribution. While using the traditional value of Factor of safety 3, the allowable bearing capacity had lower probability (0.03717) of occurring in the field compared to a higher probability (0.15866), while using the simulation derived factor of safety of 1.5. This means the traditional factor of safety is giving us bearing capacity that is less likely occurring/available in the field. This shows the subjective nature of factor of safety, and hence probability method is suggested to address the variability of the input parameters in bearing capacity equations.

Keywords: bearing capacity, factor of safety, isolated footing, montecarlo simulation

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Authors: Asadullah I. Qazi, Mansoor Ahsan, Zahir Ashraf, Uzair Ahmad

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System identification of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), to acquire its mathematical model, is a significant step in the process of aircraft flight automation. The need for reliable mathematical model is an established requirement for autopilot design, flight simulator development, aircraft performance appraisal, analysis of aircraft modifications, preflight testing of prototype aircraft and investigation of fatigue life and stress distribution etc.  This research is aimed at system identification of a fixed wing UAV by means of specifically designed flight experiment. The purposely designed flight maneuvers were performed on the UAV and aircraft states were recorded during these flights. Acquired data were preprocessed for noise filtering and bias removal followed by parameter estimation of longitudinal dynamics transfer functions using MATLAB system identification toolbox. Black box identification based transfer function models, in response to elevator and throttle inputs, were estimated using least square error   technique. The identification results show a high confidence level and goodness of fit between the estimated model and actual aircraft response.

Keywords: fixed wing UAV, system identification, black box modeling, longitudinal dynamics, least square error

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Authors: Martin Popescu D. Dana Maria

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The aims of this research are to broaden the study on the relationship between emotional intelligence and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). The study sample consisted in 441 Romanian employees from companies all over the country. Data has been collected through web surveys and processed with SPSS. The results indicated an average correlation between the two constructs and their sub variables, employees with a high level of emotional intelligence tend to be less aggressive. In addition, labeling was considered an individual difference which has the power to influence the level of employee aggression. A regression model was used to underline the importance of emotional intelligence together with labeling as predictors of CWB. Results have shown that this regression model enforces the assumption that labeling and emotional intelligence, taken together, predict CWB. Employees, who label themselves as victims and have a low degree of emotional intelligence, have a higher level of CWB.

Keywords: aggression, CWB, emotional intelligence, labeling

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Authors: Achiron Anat, Mathilda Mandel, Mayust Sue, Achiron Reuven, Gurevich Michael

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Introduction: As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination is currently spreading around the world, it is of importance to assess the ability of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients to mount an appropriate immune response to the vaccine in the context of disease-modifying treatments (DMT’s). Objectives: Evaluate immunity generated following COVID-19 vaccination in MS patients, and assess factors contributing to protective humoral and cellular immune responses in MS patients vaccinated against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) virus infection. Methods: Review our recent data related to (1) the safety of PfizerBNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in adult MS patients; (2) the humoral post-vaccination SARS-CoV2 IgG response in MS vaccinees using anti-spike protein-based serology; and (3) the cellular immune response of memory B-cells specific for SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) and memory T-cells secreting IFN-g and/or IL-2 in response to SARS-CoV2 peptides using ELISpot/Fluorospot assays in MS patients either untreated or under treatment with fingolimod, cladribine, or ocrelizumab; (4) covariate parameters related to mounting protective immune responses. Results: COVID-19 vaccine proved safe in MS patients, and the adverse event profile was mainly characterised by pain at the injection site, fatigue, and headache. Not any increased risk of relapse activity was noted and the rate of patients with acute relapse was comparable to the relapse rate in non-vaccinated patients during the corresponding follow-up period. A mild increase in the rate of adverse events was noted in younger MS patients, among patients with lower disability, and in patients treated with DMTs. Following COVID-19 vaccination protective humoral immune response was significantly decreased in fingolimod- and ocrelizumab- treated MS patients. SARS-CoV2 specific B-cell and T-cell cellular responses were respectively decreased. Untreated MS patients and patients treated with cladribine demonstrated protective humoral and cellular immune responses, similar to healthy vaccinated subjects. Conclusions: COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccine proved as safe for MS patients. No increased risk of relapse activity was noted post-vaccination. Although COVID-19 vaccination is new, accumulated data demonstrate differences in immune responses under various DMT’s. This knowledge can help to construct appropriate COVID-19 vaccine guidelines to ensure proper immune responses for MS patients.

Keywords: covid-19, vaccination, multiple sclerosis, IgG

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Authors: Bataineh Abdallah, Alabdallah Ghaith, Alkharabshe Abdalhameed

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Social media is an umbrella term for different types of online communication channels. The most prominent forms can be divided into four categories: Collaborative projects (e.g. Wikipedia, comparison-shopping sites), blogs (e.g. Twitter), content communities (e.g. Youtube), social networking sites (e.g. Facebook) social media allow consumers to share their opinions, criticisms and suggestions in public. Facebook launched in 2004, initially targeted college students and later started including everyone has become the most popular sites amongst the young generation for connecting with friends and relatives and for the communication of ideas. In 2013 Facebook penetration rate reached 41.4% of the population making it the most popular social networking site in Jordan. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to examine the impact of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived trust, perceived enjoyment and subjective norms on users' satisfaction and continuance intention to use Facebook in Jordan. Using a structured questionnaire, the primary data was collected from 584 users who have an active Facebook accounts. Multiple regression analysis was employed to test the research model and hypotheses. The research findings indicate that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived trust, perceived enjoyment, and subjective norms have a positive and significant effect on users' satisfaction and continuance intention to use Facebook. The findings also indicated that the strongest predictors, based on beta values, on both users' satisfaction and continuance intention to use Facebook is subjective norms and respectively, perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of us, and perceived trust. Research results, recommendations, and future research opportunities are also discussed.

Keywords: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived trust, perceived enjoyment, perceived subjective norms, users' satisfaction, continuance intention, Facebook

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Authors: Hicham Amar, Mustapha El Ghorfi, Yassine Taha, Abdellatif Elghali, Rachid Hakkou, Mostafa Benzaazoua

Abstract:

Phosphate mine waste rock (PMWR) generated during ore extraction is continuously increasing, resulting in a significant environmental footprint. The main objectives of this study consist of i) elaboration of the sampling strategy of PMWR piles, ii) a mineralogical and chemical characterization of PMWR piles, and iii) 3D block model creation to evaluate the potential valorization of the existing PMWR. Destructive drilling using reverse circulation from 13 drills was used to collect samples for chemical (X-ray fluorescence analysis) and mineralogical assays. The 3D block model was created based on the data set, including chemical data of the realized drills using Datamine RM software. The optical microscopy observations showed that the sandy phosphate from drills in the PMWR piles is characterized by the abundance of carbonate fluorapatite with the presence of calcite, dolomite, and quartz. The mean grade of composite samples was around 19.5±2.7% for P₂O₅. The mean grade of P₂O₅ exhibited an increasing tendency by depth profile from bottom to top of PMWR piles. 3D block model generated with chemical data confirmed the tendency of the mean grades’ variation and may allow a potential selective extraction according to %P₂O₅. The 3D block model of P₂O₅ grade is an efficient sampling approach that confirmed the variation of P₂O₅ grade. This integrated approach for PMWR management will be a helpful tool for decision-making to recover the residual phosphate, adopting the circular economy and sustainability in the phosphate mining industry.

Keywords: 3D modelling, reverse circulation drilling, circular economy, phosphate mine waste rock, sampling

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Authors: Ahmed El-Sabbagh, Heba Mansour, Magdy El-Hedeny

Abstract:

This study provided a taphonomic alteration and paleoecology of Cenomanian oysters from the Musabaa Salama area, south western Sinai, Egypt. Three oyster zones can be recognized in the studied area, a lower one of Amphidonte (Ceratostreon) flabellatum (lower-middle Cenomanian), a middle zone of Ilymatogyra (Afrogyra) africana (upper Cenomanian) and an upper one of Exogyra (Costagyra) olisiponensis (upper Cenomanian). Taphonomic features including disarticulation, fragmentation, encrustation and bioerosion were subjected to multivariate statistical analyses. The analyses showed that the distributions of the identified ichnospecies were greatly similar within the identified oyster zones in the Musabaa Salama section. With rare exceptions, Entobia cretacea, Gastrochaenolites torpedo and Maeandropolydora decipiens are considered as common to abundant ichnospecies within the three recorded oyster zones. In contrast, and with some exceptions, E. ovula, E. retiformis and Rogerella pattei are considered as frequent to common ichnospecies within the identified oyster zones. Other ichnospecies, including Caulostrepsis cretacea, G. orbicularis, Trypanites solitarius, E. geometrica and C. taeniola, are mostly recorded in rare to frequent occurrences. Careful investigation of these host shells and the preserved encrusters and/or bioerosion sculptures provided data concerning: 1) the substrate characteristics, 2) time of encrustation and bioerosion, 3) rate of sedimentation, 4) the planktonic productivity level, and 5) the general bathymetry and the rate of transgression across the substrate.

Keywords: oysters, Cenomanian, taphonomy, palaeoecology, Sinai, Egypt

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Authors: Salim Belouettar, Kodjo Attipou

Abstract:

The thermal wrinkling behavior of thin membranes is investigated. The Fourier double scale series are used to deduce the macroscopic membrane wrinkling equations. The obtained equations account for the global and local wrinkling modes. Numerical examples are conducted to assess the validity of the approach developed. Compared to the finite element full model, the present model needs only few degrees of freedom to recover accurately the bifurcation curves and wrinkling paths. Different parameters such as membrane’s aspect ratio, wave number, pre-stressed membranes are discussed from a numerical point of view and the properties of the wrinkles (critical load, wavelength, size and location) are presented.

Keywords: wrinkling, thermal stresses, Fourier series, thin membranes

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Authors: Nithipattara Balsiri

Abstract:

The purposes of this research was to develop instructional model by using research-based learning enhancing critical thinking, cognitive skills, and culture and local wisdom knowledge of undergraduate students. The sample consisted of 307 undergraduate students. Critical thinking and cognitive skills test were employed for data collection. Second-order confirmatory factor analysis, t-test, and one-way analysis of variance were employed for data analysis using SPSS and LISREL programs. The major research results were as follows; 1) the instructional model by using research-based learning enhancing critical thinking, cognitive skills, and culture and local wisdom knowledge should be consists of 6 sequential steps, namely (1) the setting research problem (2) the setting research hypothesis (3) the data collection (4) the data analysis (5) the research result conclusion (6) the application for problem solving, and 2) after the treatment undergraduate students possessed a higher scores in critical thinking and cognitive skills than before treatment at the 0.05 level of significance.

Keywords: critical thinking, cognitive skills, culture and local wisdom knowledge

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Authors: Zhaopeng Xuan, Yuan Bian, C. Cailleaux, Jing Qin, S. Traore

Abstract:

Traditional software engineering allows engineers to propose to their clients multiple specialized software distributions assembled from a shared set of software assets. The management of these assets however requires a trade-off between client satisfaction and software engineering process. Clients have more and more difficult to find a distribution or components based on their needs from all of distributed repositories. This paper proposes a software engineering for a user-driven software product line in which engineers define a feature model but users drive the actual software distribution on demand. This approach makes the user become final actor as a release manager in software engineering process, increasing user product satisfaction and simplifying user operations to find required components. In addition, it provides a way for engineers to manage and assembly large software families. As a proof of concept, a user-driven software product line is implemented for eclipse, an integrated development environment. An eclipse feature model is defined, which is exposed to users on a cloud-based built platform from which clients can download individualized Eclipse distributions.

Keywords: software product line, model-driven development, reverse engineering and refactoring, agile method

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Authors: Benedictus Asriparusa, Lathifah Al Hakimi, Aulia Husada

Abstract:

A large amount of energy is being wasted by the release of natural gas associated with the oil industry. This release interrupts the environment particularly atmosphere layer condition globally which contributes to global warming impact. This research presents an overview of the methods employed by researchers in PT. Chevron Pacific Indonesia in the Minas area to determine a new prediction method of measuring and reducing gas flaring and its emission. The method emphasizes advanced research which involved analytical studies, numerical studies, modeling, and computer simulations, amongst other techniques. A flaring system is the controlled burning of natural gas in the course of routine oil and gas production operations. This burning occurs at the end of a flare stack or boom. The combustion process releases emissions of greenhouse gases such as NO2, CO2, SO2, etc. This condition will affect the chemical composition of air and environment around the boundary layer mainly during transition season. Transition season in Indonesia is absolutely very difficult condition to predict its pattern caused by the difference of two air mass conditions. This paper research focused on transition season in 2013. A simulation to create the new pattern of the pollutants distribution is needed. This paper has outlines trends in gas flaring modeling and current developments to predict the dominant variables in the pollutants distribution. A Fluent model is used to simulate the distribution of pollutants gas coming out of the stack, whereas WRF model output is used to overcome the limitations of the analysis of meteorological data and atmospheric conditions in the study area. Based on the running model, the most influence factor was wind speed. The goal of the simulation is to predict the new pattern based on the time of fastest wind and slowest wind occurs for pollutants distribution. According to the simulation results, it can be seen that the fastest wind (last of March) moves pollutants in a horizontal direction and the slowest wind (middle of May) moves pollutants vertically. Besides, the design of flare stack in compliance according to EPA Oil and Gas Facility Stack Parameters likely shows pollutants concentration remains on the under threshold NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards).

Keywords: flare motion, new prediction, pollutants distribution, transition season, WRF model

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Authors: Hassan Samadi, Mustapha El Jarroudi

Abstract:

In this work, we consider the homogenization of a non-linear problem in periodic medium with two periodic connected media exchanging a heat flux throughout their common interface. The interfacial exchange coefficient λ is assumed to tend to zero or to infinity following a rate λ=λ(ε) when the size ε of the basic cell tends to zero. Three homogenized problems are determined according to some critical value depending of λ and ε. Our method is based on Γ-Convergence techniques.

Keywords: variational methods, epiconvergence, homogenization, convergence technique

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Authors: Sony Hartono, Azka Decana, Vilia Yohana, Annisa Luthfianihuda, Yuni Faizah, Tati Andriani, Dewi Kania, Fachri Zulfiqar, Sugiar Yusup, Arman Nugraha

Abstract:

Landslide is a geological hazard that is quite common in some areas in Indonesia and have disadvantages impact for public around. Due to the high frequency of landslides in Indonesia, and extensive damage, landslides should be specifically noted. Landslides caused by a soil or rock unit that has been in a state of unstable slopes and not in ideal state again, so the value of ground resistance or the rock been passed by the value of the forces acting on the slope. Based on this fact, authors held a geological engineering mapping at Muria Mountain, Kudus, Central Java province which is known as an agriculture and religion tourism area. This geological engineering mapping is performed to determine landslides potential at Muria Mountain. Slopes stability will be illustrated by a number called the “factor of safety” where the number can describe how much potential a slope to fall. Slopes stability can be different depending on the physical and mechanical characteristics of the soil and slope conditions. Testing of physical and mechanical characteristics of the soil conducted in the geotechnical laboratory. The characteristics of the soil must be same when sampled as well as in the test laboratory. To meet that requirement, authors used "undisturb sample" method that will be guarantee sample will not be distracted by environtment influences. From laboratory tests on soil physical and mechanical properties obtained characteristics of the soil on a slope, and then inserted into a Geological Information Software that would generate a value of factor of safety and give a visualization slope form area of research. Then, as a result of the study, obtained a map of the ground movement distribution map and i is implications for landslides potential areas.

Keywords: factor of safety, geological engineering mapping, landslides, slope stability, soil

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Authors: Fariba Tadayon, Nika Gharahgolooyan, Ateke Tadayon, Mostafa Jafarian

Abstract:

Carotenoid pigments are a various group of lipophilic compounds that generate the yellow to red colors of many plants, foods and flowers. A well-known type of carotenoids which is pro-vitamin A is β-carotene. Due to the color of citrus fruit’s peel, the peel can be a good source of different carotenoids. Ostrich oil is one of the most valuable foundations in many branches of industry, medicine, cosmetics and nutrition. The animal-based ostrich oil could be considered as an alternative and green solvent. Following this study, wastes of citrus peel will recycle by a simple method and extracted carotenoids can increase properties of ostrich oil. In this work, a simple and efficient method for extraction of carotenoids from tangerine peel was designed. Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) showed significant effect on the extraction rate by increasing the mass transfer rate. Ostrich oil can be used as a green solvent in many studies to eliminate petroleum-based solvents. Since tangerine peel is a complex source of different carotenoids separation and determination was performed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In addition, the ability of ostrich oil and sunflower oil in carotenoid extraction from tangerine peel and carrot was compared. The highest yield of β-carotene extracted from tangerine peel using sunflower oil and ostrich oil were 75.741 and 88.110 (mg/L), respectively. Optimization of the process was achieved by response surface methodology (RSM) and the optimal extraction conditions were tangerine peel powder particle size of 0.180 mm, ultrasonic intensity of 19 W/cm2 and sonication time of 30 minutes.

Keywords: β-carotene, carotenoids, citrus peel, ostrich oil, response surface methodology, ultrasound-assisted extraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 307