Search results for: strong convergence

Authors: Antonin Ponsich, Eric Alfredo Rincon Garcia, Roman Anselmo Mora Gutierrez, Miguel Angel Gutierrez Andrade, Sergio Gerardo De Los Cobos Silva, Pedro Lara Velzquez

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The electoral zone design problem consists in redrawing the boundaries of legislative districts for electoral purposes in such a way that federal or state requirements are fulfilled. In Mexico, this process has been historically carried out by the National Electoral Institute (INE), by optimizing an integer nonlinear programming model, in which population equality and compactness of the designed districts are considered as two conflicting objective functions, while contiguity is included as a hard constraint. The solution technique used by the INE is a Simulated Annealing (SA) based algorithm, which handles the multi-objective nature of the problem through an aggregation function. The present work represents the first intent to apply a classical Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA), the second version of the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II), to this hard combinatorial problem. First results show that, when compared with the SA algorithm, the NSGA-II obtains promising results. The MOEA manages to produce well-distributed solutions over a wide-spread front, even though some convergence troubles for some instances constitute an issue, which should be corrected in future adaptations of MOEAs to the redistricting problem.

Keywords: multi-objective optimization, NSGA-II, redistricting, zone design problem

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Authors: M. Kolotylo, H. Zheng, R. Parente, R. Dahiya

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Large number of organizations, frequently motivated by budget and cost cuts, outsource their Information Technology (IT) positions every year. Although the objective of reduction in financial obligations is often not accomplished, many buyer companies still manage to benefit from outsourcing projects. Knowledge Transfer (KT), being one of the major processes that take place during IT outsourcing partnership, may exert a strong impact on the performance of the parties involved, particularly that of the buyer. Research, however, lacks strong conceptual basis for the possible benefits that KT from supplier may bring to the buyer; and for the mechanisms that may be adopted by the buyer to maximize such benefit. This paper aims to fill this gap by proposing a conceptual framework of organizational learning and development of dynamic capabilities enabled by KT from the supplier to the buyer. The study examines buyer-supplier relationships in the context of IT outsourcing transactions, and theorizes how KT from the supplier to the buyer helps the performance of the buyer. It warrants that more research is carried out in order to explicate and provide evidence regarding the role that KT plays in strategic improvements for the buyer. The paper proposes to take up a two-fold approach to the research: conceptual development that utilizes logical argumentation and interpretive historical research, as well as a qualitative case study which aims to capture and understand the complex processes involved. Thus, the study provides a comprehensive visualization of the dynamics of the conditions under which participation in IT outsourcing partnership might be of benefit to the buyer company. The framework demonstrates the mechanisms involved in buyer’s achievement of strategic alignment through organizational learning enabled by KT from the supplier. It highlights that organizational learning involves a balance between exploitation of assets and exploration of new possibilities, and further notes that the dynamic capabilities mediate the effect of organizational learning on firm performance. The paper explicates in what ways managers can leverage outsourcing projects to execute strategy, which would enable their organization achieve better performance. The study concludes that organizational learning enables the firm to develop IT capabilities of strategic planning, IT integration, and IT relationships in the outsourcing context, and that IT capabilities developed through the organizational learning would help the firm in achieving strategic alignment.

Keywords: dynamic capabilities, it outsourcing, knowledge transfer, organizational learning, strategic alignment

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Authors: Amna Khaliq

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In this article, the phenomena of common stereotypes and glass ceiling barriers in women’s career advancement in men dominating society are explored. A brief background is provided on the misconception for women as soft, delicate, polite and compassionate at a workplace in the place of strong head and go-getter. Then, the literature review supports that stereotypes and glass ceiling barriers are still in existence for young women’s leadership. Increased encouragement, emotional intelligence, and better communication skills are recommended to parents, educators, and employers to prepare young women for senior leadership roles. Young women need mentorship from other women with no competition.

Keywords: Gender inequality, Glass ceiling, Stereotypes, Leadership

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Authors: H. A. Taner, V. Önen

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A suitable choice of flotation parameters and reagents have a strong effect on the effectiveness of flotation process. The objective of this paper is to give an overview of the flotation of chalcopyrite with the different conditions and dispersants. Flotation parameters such as grinding time, pH, type, and dosage of dispersant were investigated. In order to understand the interaction of some dispersants, sodium silicate, sodium hexametaphosphate and sodium polyphosphate were used. The optimum results were obtained at a pH of 11.5 and a grinding time of 10 minutes. A copper concentrate was produced assaying 29.85% CuFeS₂ and 65.97% flotation recovery under optimum rougher flotation conditions with sodium silicate.

Keywords: chalcopyrite, dispersant, flotation, reagent

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Authors: Gaurav Bisht, Rahul Rathnakumar, Ravikumar Duggirala

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Predictive simulations are one of the key focus areas in safety-critical industries such as aerospace and high-performance automotive engineering. The stone-chipping study is one such effort taken up by the industry to predict and evaluate the damage caused due to gravel impact on vehicles. This paper describes a finite elements based method that can simulate the ejection of gravel chips from a vehicle tire. The FE simulations were used to obtain the initial ejection velocity of the stones for various driving conditions using a computational contact mechanics approach. To verify the accuracy of the tire model, several parametric studies were conducted. The FE simulations resulted in stone loft velocities ranging from 0–8 m/s, regardless of tire speed. The stress on the tire at the instant of initial contact with the stone increased linearly with vehicle speed. Mesh convergence studies indicated that a highly resolved tire mesh tends to result in better momentum transfer between the tire and the stone. A fine tire mesh also showed a linearly increasing relationship between the tire forward speed and stone lofting speed, which was not observed in coarser meshes. However, it also highlighted a potential challenge, in that the ejection velocity vector of the stone seemed to be sensitive to the mesh, owing to the FE-based contact mechanical formulation of the problem.

Keywords: abaqus, contact mechanics, foreign object debris, stone chipping

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Authors: Anders S. Kristensen, Dewan Ahsan, Saqib Mehmood, Shakeel Ahmed

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Traffic accidents are a result of the convergence of hazards, malfunctioning of vehicles and human negligence that have adverse economic and health impacts and effects. Unfortunately, avoiding them completely is very difficult, but with quick response to rescue and first aid, the mortality rate of inflicted persons can be reduced significantly. Smart and innovative technologies can play a pivotal role to respond faster to traffic crash emergencies comparing conventional means of transportation. For instance, Rescue Emergency Drone (RED) can provide faster and real-time crash site risk assessment to emergency medical services, thereby helping them to quickly and accurately assess a situation, dispatch the right equipment and assist bystanders to treat inflicted person properly. To conduct a research in this regard, the case of a traffic roundabout that is prone to frequent traffic accidents on the outskirts of Esbjerg, a town located on western coast of Denmark is hypothetically considered. Along with manual calculations, Emergency Disaster Management Simulation (EDMSIM) has been used to verify the response time of RED from a fire station of the town to the presumed crash site. The results of the study demonstrate the robustness of RED into emergency services to help save lives. 

Keywords: automated external defibrillator, medical emergency, response time, unmanned aerial system

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Authors: Ounis Hadj Mohamed, Ounis Abdelhafid

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In order to illustrate the effect of damping on the response of a base-isolated building, a parametric study is led, taking into account the progressive variation of the damping ratio (10% to 30%) under different types of seismic excitations (near and far field). A time history analysis is used to determine the response of the structure in terms of relative displacement and understory drift at various levels of the building. Thus, the results show that the efficiency of the isolator increases with the assumed damping ratio, provided that this latter is less or equal to 20%. Beyond this value, the isolator becomes less convenient. Furthermore, a strong deviation of energy capacity by the LRB (Lead Rubber Bearing) system is recorded.

Keywords: damping, base isolation, LRB, seismic excitation, hysteresis

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Authors: Deddi Nordiawan

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Effective public policy creation required a strong budget system, both in terms of design and implementation. Performance-based Budget is an evolutionary approach with two substantial characteristics; first, the strong integration between budgeting and planning, and second, its existence as guidance so that all activities and expenditures refer to measurable performance targets. There are four processes in the government that should be followed in order to make the budget become performance-based. These four processes consist of the preparation of a vision according to the bold aspiration, the formulation of outcome, the determination of output based on the analysis of organizational resources, and the formulation of Value Creation Map that contains a series of programs and activities. This is consistent with the concept of logic model which revealed that the budget performance should be placed within a relational framework of resources, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts. Through the issuance of Law 17/2003 regarding State Finance, local governments in Indonesia have to implement performance-based budget. Central Government then issued Government Regulation 58/2005 which contains the detail guidelines how to prepare local governments budget. After a decade, implementation of performance budgeting in local government is still not fully meet expectations, though the guidance is completed, socialization routinely performed, and trainings have also been carried out at all levels. Accordingly, this study views the practice of performance-based budget at local governments as a problematic situation. This condition must be approached with a system approach that allows the solutions from many point of views. Based on the fact that the infrastructure of budgeting has already settled, the study then considering the situation as complexity. Therefore, the intervention needs to be done in the area of human activity system. Using Soft Systems Methodology, this research will reconstruct the process of performance-based budget at local governments is area of human activity system. Through conceptual models, this study will invite all actors (central government, local government, and the parliament) for dialogue and formulate interventions in human activity systems that systematically desirable and culturally feasible. The result will direct central government in revise the guidance to local government budgeting process as well as a reference to build the capacity building strategy.

Keywords: soft systems methodology, performance-based budgeting, Indonesia, public policy

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Authors: Ghada Badr, Manar Hosny, Nuha Bintayyash, Eman Albilali, Souad Larabi Marie-Sainte

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The median problem is significantly applied to derive the most reasonable rearrangement phylogenetic tree for many species. More specifically, the problem is concerned with finding a permutation that minimizes the sum of distances between itself and a set of three signed permutations. Genomes with equal number of genes but different order can be represented as permutations. In this paper, an algorithm, namely BeamGA median, is proposed that combines a heuristic search approach (local beam) as an initialization step to generate a number of solutions, and then a Genetic Algorithm (GA) is applied in order to refine the solutions, aiming to achieve a better median with the smallest possible reversal distance from the three original permutations. In this approach, any genome rearrangement distance can be applied. In this paper, we use the reversal distance. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed approach was not applied before for solving the median problem. Our approach considers true biological evolution scenario by applying the concept of common intervals during the GA optimization process. This allows us to imitate a true biological behavior and enhance genetic approach time convergence. We were able to handle permutations with a large number of genes, within an acceptable time performance and with same or better accuracy as compared to existing algorithms.

Keywords: median problem, phylogenetic tree, permutation, genetic algorithm, beam search, genome rearrangement distance

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Authors: Shreya Srivastava, Sushovan Ghosh, Sagnik Dey

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Aerosols directly affect Earth’s radiation budget by scattering and absorbing incoming solar radiation and outgoing terrestrial radiation. While the uncertainty in aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) has decreased over the years, it is still higher than that of greenhouse gas forcing, particularly in the South Asian region, due to high heterogeneity in their chemical properties. Understanding the Spatio-temporal heterogeneity of aerosol composition is critical in improving climate prediction. Studies using satellite data, in-situ and aircraft measurements, and models have investigated the Spatio-temporal variability of aerosol characteristics. In this study, we have taken aerosol data from Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR) level-2 version 23 aerosol products retrieved at 4.4 km and radiation data from Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES, spatial resolution=1ox1o) for 21 years (2000-2021) over the Indian subcontinent. MISR aerosol product includes size and shapes segregated aerosol optical depth (AOD), Angstrom exponent (AE), and single scattering albedo (SSA). Additionally, 74 aerosol mixtures are included in version 23 data that is used for aerosol speciation. We have seasonally mapped aerosol optical and microphysical properties from MISR for India at quarter degrees resolution. Results show strong Spatio-temporal variability, with a constant higher value of AOD for the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). The contribution of small-size particles is higher throughout the year, spatially during winter months. SSA is found to be overestimated where absorbing particles are present. The climatological map of short wave (SW) ARF at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) shows a strong cooling except in only a few places (values ranging from +2.5o to -22.5o). Cooling due to aerosols is higher in the absence of clouds. Higher negative values of ARF are found over the IGP region, given the high aerosol concentration above the region. Surface ARF values are everywhere negative for our study domain, with higher values in clear conditions. The results strongly correlate with AOD from MISR and ARF from CERES.

Keywords: aerosol Radiative forcing (ARF), aerosol composition, single scattering albedo (SSA), CERES

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Authors: Mohammad Javad Afroughi, Vahid Hosseini, Jason S. Olfert

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Both traffic-generated particles and noise have been associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases, especially in near-highway environments. Although noise and particulate matters (PM) have different mechanisms of dispersion, sharing the same emission source in urban areas (road traffics) can result in a similar degree of variability in their levels. This study investigated the temporal variation of and correlation between noise levels, PM concentrations and traffic intensities near a major highway in Tehran, Iran. Tehran particulate concentration is highly influenced by road traffic. Additionally, Tehran ultrafine particles (UFP, PM<0.1 µm) are mostly emitted from combustion processes of motor vehicles. This gives a high possibility of a strong association between traffic-related noise and UFP in near-highway environments of this megacity. Hourly average of equivalent continuous sound pressure level (Leq), total number concentration of UFPs, mass concentration of PM2.5 and PM10, as well as traffic count and speed were simultaneously measured over a period of three days in winter. Additionally, meteorological data including temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction were collected in a weather station, located 3 km from the monitoring site. Noise levels showed relatively low temporal variability in near-highway environments compared to PM concentrations. Hourly average of Leq ranged from 63.8 to 69.9 dB(A) (mean ~ 68 dB(A)), while hourly concentration of particles varied from 30,800 to 108,800 cm-3 for UFP (mean ~ 64,500 cm-3), 41 to 75 µg m-3 for PM2.5 (mean ~ 53 µg m-3), and 62 to 112 µg m-3 for PM10 (mean ~ 88 µg m-3). The Pearson correlation coefficient revealed strong relationship between noise and UFP (r ~ 0.61) overall. Under downwind conditions, UFP number concentration showed the strongest association with noise level (r ~ 0.63). The coefficient decreased to a lesser degree under upwind conditions (r ~ 0.24) due to the significant role of wind and humidity in UFP dynamics. Furthermore, PM2.5 and PM10 correlated moderately with noise (r ~ 0.52 and 0.44 respectively). In general, traffic counts were more strongly associated with noise and PM compared to traffic speeds. It was concluded that noise level combined with meteorological data can be used as a proxy to estimate PM concentrations (specifically UFP number concentration) in near-highway environments of Tehran. However, it is important to measure joint variability of noise and particles to study their health effects in epidemiological studies.

Keywords: noise, particulate matter, PM10, PM2.5, ultrafine particle

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Authors: Rabah Iratni, Husain El Hasasna, Khawlah Athamneh, Halima Al Sameri, Nehla Benhalilou, Asma Al Rashedi

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Background: Cancer therapies have witnessed great advances in the recent past, however, cancer continues to be a leading cause of death, with colorectal cancer being the fourth cause of cancer-related deaths. Colorectal cancer affects both sexes equally with poor survival rate once it metastasizes. Phytochemicals, which are plant derived compounds, have been on a steady rise as anti-cancer drugs due to the accumulation of evidences that support their potential. Here, we investigated the anticancer effect of Rhus coriaria on colon cancer cells. Material and Method: Human colon cancer HT-29 cell line was used. Protein expression and protein phosphorylation were examined using Western blotting. Transcription activity was measure using Quantitative RT-PCR. Human tumoral clonogenic assay was used to assess cell survival. Senescence was assessed by the senescence-associated beta-galactosidase assay. Results: Rhus coriaria extract (RCE) was found to significantly inhibit the viability and colony growth of human HT-29 colon cancer cells. RCE induced senescence and cell cycle arrest at G1 phase. These changes were concomitant with upregulation of p21, p16, downregulation of cyclin D1, p27, c-myc and expression of Senescence-associated-β-Galactosidase activity. Moreover, RCE induced non-canonical beclin-1independent autophagy and subsequent apoptotic cell death through activation of activation caspase 8 and caspase 7. The blocking of autophagy by 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or chloroquine (CQ) reduced RCE-induced cell death. Further, RCE induced DNA damage, reduced mutant p53 protein level and downregulated phospho-AKT and phospho-mTOR, events that preceded autophagy. Mechanistically, we found that RCE inhibited the AKT and mTOR pathway, a regulator of autophagy, by promoting the proteasome-dependent degradation of both AKT and mTOR proteins. Conclusion: Our findings provide strong evidence that Rhus coriaria possesses strong anti-colon cancer activity through induction of senescence and autophagic cell death, making it a promising alternative or adjunct therapeutic candidate against colon cancer.

Keywords: autophagy, proteasome degradation, senescence, mTOR, apoptosis, Beclin-1

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Authors: K. Masera, A. K. Hossain

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Hardly any neat biodiesel satisfies the European EN14214 standard for compression ignition engine application. To satisfy the EN14214 standard, various additives are doped into biodiesel; however, biodiesel additives might cause other problems such as increase in the particular emission and increased specific fuel consumption. In addition, the additives could be expensive. Considering the increasing level of greenhouse gas GHG emissions and fossil fuel depletion, it is forecasted that the use of biodiesel will be higher in the near future. Hence, the negative aspects of the biodiesel additives will likely to gain much more importance and need to be replaced with better solutions. This study aims to satisfy the European standard EN14214 by blending the biodiesels derived from sustainable feedstocks. Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) and Animal Fat Oil (AFO) are two sustainable feedstocks in the EU (including the UK) for producing biodiesels. In the first stage of the study, these oils were transesterified separately and neat biodiesels (W100 & A100) were produced. Secondly, the biodiesels were blended together in various ratios: 80% WCO biodiesel and 20% AFO biodiesel (W80A20), 60% WCO biodiesel and 40% AFO biodiesel (W60A40), 50% WCO biodiesel and 50% AFO biodiesel (W50A50), 30% WCO biodiesel and 70% AFO biodiesel (W30A70), 10% WCO biodiesel and 90% AFO biodiesel (W10A90). The prepared samples were analysed using Thermo Scientific Trace 1300 Gas Chromatograph and ISQ LT Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS). The GS-MS analysis gave Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) breakdowns of the fuel samples. It was found that total saturation degree of the samples was linearly increasing (from 15% for W100 to 54% for A100) as the percentage of the AFO biodiesel was increased. Furthermore, it was found that WCO biodiesel was mainly (82%) composed of polyunsaturated FAMEs. Cetane numbers, iodine numbers, calorific values, lower heating values and the densities (at 15 ^oC) of the samples were estimated by using the mass percentages data of the FAMEs. Besides, kinematic viscosities (at 40 °C and 20 °C), densities (at 15 °C), heating values and flash point temperatures of the biomixture samples were measured in the lab. It was found that estimated and measured characterisation results were comparable. The current study concluded that biomixture fuel samples W60A40 and W50A50 were perfectly satisfying the European EN 14214 norms without any need of additives. Investigation on engine performance, exhaust emission and combustion characteristics will be conducted to assess the full feasibility of the proposed biomixture fuels.

Keywords: biodiesel, blending, characterisation, CI engine

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Authors: Alemayehu Mengesha, Solomon Belay

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We determine the general dispersion relation for the propagation of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in an astrophysical plasma by considering the effect of viscosity with an anisotropic pressure tensor. Basic MHD equations have been derived and linearized by the method of perturbation to develop the general form of the dispersion relation equation. Our result indicates that an astrophysical plasma with an anisotropic pressure tensor is stable in the presence of viscosity and a strong magnetic field at considerable wavelength. Currently, we are doing the numerical analysis of this work.

Keywords: astrophysical, magnetic field, instability, MHD, wavelength, viscosity

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Authors: Mine Koyaz, M. Cem Altun

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Selection of the materials satisfying the expected performances is significantly important for any design. Today, with the constantly evolving and developing technologies, the material options are so wide that the necessity of the use of some support tools in the selection process is arising. Therefore, as a sub process of building element design, a systematic material selection tool is developed, that defines four main steps of the material selection; definition, research, comparison and decision. The main purpose of the tool is being an educational instrument that would show a methodic way of material selection in architectural detailing for the use of architecture students. The tool predefines the possible uses of various material databases and other sources of information on material properties. Hence, it is to be used as a guidance for designers, especially with a limited material knowledge and experience. The material selection tool not only embraces technical properties of materials related with building elements’ functional requirements, but also its sensual properties related with the identity of design and its environmental impacts with respect to the sustainability of the design. The method followed in the development of the tool has two main sections; first the examination and application of the existing methods and second the development of trial versions and their applications. Within the scope of the existing methods; design support tools, methodic approaches for the building element design and material selection process, material properties, material databases, methodic approaches for the decision making process are examined. The existing methods are applied by architecture students and newly graduate architects through different design problems. With respect to the results of these applications, strong and weak sides of the existing material selection tools are presented. A main flow chart of the material selection tool has been developed with the objective to apply the strong aspects of the existing methods and develop their weak sides. Through different stages, a different aspect of the material selection process is investigated and the tool took its final form. Systematic material selection tool, within the building element design process, guides the users with a minimum background information, to practically and accurately determine the ideal material that is to be chosen, satisfying the needs of their design. The tool has a flexible structure that answers different needs of different designs and designers. The trial version issued in this paper shows one of the paths that could be followed and illustrates its application over a design problem.

Keywords: architectural education, building element design, material selection tool, systematic approach

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Authors: Jun-Ho Chung, Sung-Hyun Yoo, In-Hwan Choi, Hyun-Kook Lee, Moon-Kyu Song, Choon-Ki Ahn

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The extended finite impulse response (EFIR) filter is addressed to optimize membership functions (MFs) of the fuzzy model that has strong nonlinearity. MFs are important parts of the fuzzy logic system (FLS) and, thus optimizing MFs of FLS is one of approaches to improve the performance of output. We employ the EFIR as an alternative optimization option to nonlinear fuzzy model. The performance of EFIR is demonstrated on a fuzzy cruise control via a numerical example.

Keywords: fuzzy logic system, optimization, membership function, extended FIR filter

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Authors: Juhee Lee, Yongjun Lee

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In designing a low-energy-consuming buildings, the heat transfer through a large glass or wall becomes critical. Multiple layers of the window glasses and walls are employed for the high insulation. The gravity driven air flow between window glasses or wall layers is a natural heat convection phenomenon being a key of the heat transfer. For the first step of the natural heat transfer analysis, in this study the development and application of a finite volume method for the numerical computation of viscous incompressible flows is presented. It will become a part of the natural convection analysis with high-order scheme, multi-grid method, and dual-time step in the future. A finite volume method based on a fully-implicit second-order is used to discretize and solve the fluid flow on unstructured grids composed of arbitrary-shaped cells. The integrations of the governing equation are discretised in the finite volume manner using a collocated arrangement of variables. The convergence of the SIMPLE segregated algorithm for the solution of the coupled nonlinear algebraic equations is accelerated by using a sparse matrix solver such as BiCGSTAB. The method used in the present study is verified by applying it to some flows for which either the numerical solution is known or the solution can be obtained using another numerical technique available in the other researches. The accuracy of the method is assessed through the grid refinement.

Keywords: finite volume method, fluid flow, laminar flow, unstructured grid

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Authors: Rajesh Kumar, Anil Kamboj

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Inhibition of α- amylase play a vital role in the clinical management of postprandial hyperglycemia. Although, powerful synthetic inhibitors are available, natural inhibitors are potentially safer. The present study was carried out to evaluate α- amylase inhibition activity from hydroalcoholic extracts from aerial parts of Cestrum nocturnum. Hydroalcoholic extract was prepared by Soxhletation Method. The extract showed strong inhibition towards α- amylase activity and IC50 value were 45.9 µg. This In vitro studies indicate the potential of C. nocturnum in the development of effective anti-diabetic agents.

Keywords: α- amylase, cestrum nocturnum, hyperglycemia, hydroalcoholic extracts, diabetes

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Authors: Ashish Kumar Singh, Mehak Gulati, Neelam Verma

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Arginine majorly acts as a substrate for the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS) for the production of nitric oxide, a strong vasodilator. Current study demonstrated a novel amperometric approach for estimation of arginine using nitric oxide synthase. The enzyme was co-immobilized in carbon paste electrode with NADP+, FAD and BH4 as cofactors. The detection principle of the biosensor is enzyme NOS catalyzes the conversion of arginine into nitric oxide. The developed biosensor could able to detect up to 10-9M of arginine. The oxidation peak of NO was observed at 0.65V. The developed arginine biosensor was used to monitor arginine content in fruit juices.

Keywords: arginine, biosensor, carbon paste elctrode, nitric oxide

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Authors: Gideon Ndubuisi

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It is widely acknowledged that the quality of a country’s export matters more decisively than the quantity it exports. Hence, understanding the drivers of exported goods’ quality is a relevant policy question. Among other things, product quality upgrading is a considerable cost uncertainty venture that can be undertaken by an entrepreneur. Once a product is successfully upgraded, however, others can imitate the product, and hence, the returns to the pioneer entrepreneur are socialized. Along with this line, a government policy such as intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection which lessens the non-appropriability problem and incentivizes cost discovery investments becomes both a panacea in addressing the market failure and a sine qua non for an entrepreneur to engage in product quality upgrading. In addendum, product quality upgrading involves complex tasks which often require a lot of knowledge and technology sharing beyond the bounds of the firm thereby creating rooms for knowledge spillovers and imitations. Without an institution that protects upstream suppliers of knowledge and technology, technology masking occurs which bids up marginal production cost and product quality fall. Despite these clear associations between IPRs and product quality upgrading, the surging literature on the drivers of the quality of exported goods has proceeded almost in isolation of IPRs protection as a determinant. Consequently, the current study uses a difference-in-difference method to evaluate the effects of IPRs reforms on the quality of exported goods in 16 developing countries over the sample periods of 1984-2000. The study finds weak evidence that IPRs reforms increase the quality of all exported goods. When the industries are sorted into high and low-patent sensitive industries, however, we find strong indicative evidence that IPRs reform increases the quality of exported goods in high-patent sensitive sectors both in absolute terms and relative to the low-patent sensitive sectors in the post-reform period. We also obtain strong indicative evidence that it brought the quality of exported goods in the high-patent sensitive sectors closer to the quality frontier. Accounting for time-duration effects, these observed effects grow over time. The results are also largely consistent when we consider the sophistication and complexity of exported goods rather than just quality upgrades.

Keywords: exports, export quality, export sophistication, intellectual property rights

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Authors: JooYoung Lee, Rasheed Hussain

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Understanding the relationships among communities of users is the key to blueprint the evolution of human society. Majority of people are equipped with GPS devices, such as smart phones and smart cars, which can trace their whereabouts. In this paper, we discover communities of device users based on real locations in a given time frame. We, then, study the associations of discovered communities, referred to as temporal communities, and generate temporal and probabilistic association rules. The rules describe how strong communities are associated. By studying the generated rules, we can automatically extract underlying hierarchies of communities and permanent communities such as work places.

Keywords: association rules, community detection, evolution of communities, spatiotemporal

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Authors: M. Habibi

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The time-resolved studies of soft and hard X-ray were carried out over a wide range of argon pressures by employing an array of eight filtered photo PIN diodes and a scintillation detector, simultaneously. In 50% of the discharges, the soft X-ray is seen to be emitted in short multiple pulses corresponding to different compression, whereas it is a single pulse for hard X-rays corresponding to only the first strong compression. It should be stated that multiple compressions dominantly occur at low pressures and high pressures are mostly in the single compression regime. In 43% of the discharges, at all pressures except for optimum pressure, the first period is characterized by two or more sharp peaks.The X–ray signal intensity during the second and subsequent compressions is much smaller than the first compression.

Keywords: plasma focus device, SXR, HXR, Pin-diode, argon plasma

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Authors: S. Bouafia Chergui, Nihal Oturan, Hussein Khalaf, Mehmet A. Oturan

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The aim of this work was to compare the degradation of a mixture of three cationic dyes by advanced oxidation processes (electro-Fenton, photo-Fenton) in aqueous solution. These processes are based on the in situ production of hydroxyl radical, a highly strong oxidant, which allows the degradation of organic pollutants until their mineralization into CO2 and H2O. Under optimal operating conditions, the evolution of total organic carbon (TOC) and electrical energy efficiency have been investigated for the two processes.

Keywords: photo-fenton, electro-fenton, energy efficiency, water treatment

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Authors: Yuri Seu, Hyun Jin Park, Jin Seo Park, Yong-Suk Moon, HongtaeKim, Mi-Sun Hur

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The present case report describes bifid ureters arising directly from the separate calyces and renal pelvis of the kidney. It was a single common ureter leading away from the bladder, which was separated into incompletely duplicated ureters near the level of the anterior superior iliac supine. These two branches then entered the left kidney through their own courses. Each ureter traveled anterior and posterior to the renal vein, respectively. These two ureters formed a Y-shaped pattern. One ureter coursed anterior to the renal vein with shorter length, and it terminated at the renal pelvis that was divided into major calices in approximately lower two thirds of the kidney. The other ureter coursed posterior to the renal vein with longer length, terminating at approximately the upper third of the kidney. The renal calices in the upper third of the kidney were directly connected to the posterior ureter, whereas the other major calices in the lower two thirds of the kidney formed the renal pelvis connecting to the anterior ureter. Thus, convergence of the major calices was separated according to the terminations of two ureters. These anomalous ureters were traced to the calices of the kidney, thereby providing a reference of a rare variation of the ureter. The bifid ureters arising from the separate calyces and renal pelvis should be considered by radiologists when evaluating images and diagnosing possible complications of these anomalies.

Keywords: bifid ureters, kidney, major calices, renal pelvis

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Authors: Amel Ltifi, Ahmed Zouinkhi, Med Salim Bouhlel

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Spontaneous networks such as VANET are in general deployed in an open and thus easily accessible environment. Therefore, they are vulnerable to attacks. Trust management is one of a set of security solutions dedicated to this type of networks. Moreover, the strong mobility of the nodes (in the case of VANET) makes the establishment of a trust management system complex. In this paper, we present a concept of ‘Active Vehicle’ which means an autonomous vehicle that is able to make decision about trustworthiness of alert messages transmitted about road accidents. The behavior of an “Active Vehicle” is modeled using Petri Nets.

Keywords: active vehicle, cooperation, petri nets, trust management, VANET

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Authors: Andriy Didenko, Zanin Kavazovic

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Engineering students often have certain difficulties in mastering major theoretical concepts in mathematical courses such as differential equations. Student projects were proposed to motivate students’ learning and can be used as a tool to promote students’ interest in the material. Authors propose a student project that includes the use of Microsoft Excel. This instructional tool is often overlooked by both educators and students. An integral component of the experimental part of such a project is the exploration of an interactive spreadsheet. The aim is to assist engineering students in better understanding of Euler’s method. This method is employed to numerically solve first order differential equations. At first, students are invited to select classic equations from a list presented in a form of a drop-down menu. For each of these equations, students can select and modify certain key parameters and observe the influence of initial condition on the solution. This will give students an insight into the behavior of the method in different configurations as solutions to equations are given in numerical and graphical forms. Further, students could also create their own equations by providing functions of their own choice and a variety of initial conditions. Moreover, they can visualize and explore the impact of the length of the time step on the convergence of a sequence of numerical solutions to the exact solution of the equation. As a final stage of the project, students are encouraged to develop their own spreadsheets for other numerical methods and other types of equations. Such projects promote students’ interest in mathematical applications and further improve their mathematical and programming skills.

Keywords: student project, Euler's method, spreadsheet, engineering education

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Matthias Nnadi

Abstract:

This paper investigates the relationship between premiums and returns in the short and long terms in European merger and acquisition (M&A) deals. The study employs Calendar Time Portfolio (CTP) model and find strong evidence that in the long run, premiums have a positive impact on performance, and we also establish evidence of a significant difference between the abnormal returns of the high premium paying portfolio and the low premium paying ones. Even in cases where all sub-portfolios show negative abnormal returns, the high premium category still outperforms the low premium category. Our findings have implications for companies engaging in acquisitions.

Keywords: mergers, premium, performance, returns, acquisitions

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Shireen Bhatti, M. Asif Shaikh, Atif Khan

Abstract:

Sexually abusive behavior is seen as a social phenomenon across different societies and different territories. An institution of sport has its own uniqueness. It is different from other workplaces and academia. The challenges in sports raised are different, which require a call to action for specific sexual harassment policies and practices. Many sportswomen who are members of team games or individual games experience sexually abusive behavior from their male counterparts, including trainers, coaches, and lower staff. The power of the coach over the athlete is massive due to the coach’s position. The power can be disguised for possible abuse, whether physical or emotional. Female athletes are victims in most offensive situations that occur in collegiate settings by male coaches. The objective of the study is to identify the relationship between the sexually abusive behavior of male coaches and the motivation of female athletes at public sector universities in Sindh, Pakistan. The descriptive approach was used, whereas The cross-sectional survey design was used to support the study. Intercollegiate, intervarsity, provincial, and national level female athletes of public sector universities of Sindh province were the subject of this study. The tool of research was a self-developed scale that encompassed the relationship between the sexually abusive behaviors of coaches and the motivation of female athletes. Frequency, percentage, and mean and Pearson Correlation, chi square, and ANOVA were used. The results indicate that there is a strong negative relationship between the sexually abusive behavior of male coaches and female athletes’ sports motivation. The Pearson correlation shows that there is a strong negative relation between the sexually abusive behavior of male athletes and female athletes’ sports motivation. The significant level is (r = -.741); however, The findings confirmed that the coach’s power, authority, decision-making position, the threat of rejection on the refusal of sexual cooperation, the ready availability of inexperienced female athletes, and lack of implication of policies regarding sexual misconducts in public sector universities decline motivation of female athletes witnessed. Based on the findings, the study recommended that the family background, career history, and participation record of coaches should be investigated to ensure that they have ever been involved in any criminal activity or sexual misconduct during their career or participation.

Keywords: abusive, athlete, coach, motivation

Procedia PDF Downloads 313

Authors: Shuhong Wang, Xiang Yi

Abstract:

Through a survey of approximately 340 employees from four Chinese companies and employing cross-level analysis, this study reveals that certain cultural syndromes may exert both direct and indirect influences on such behaviors. Notably, individuals with a strong individualistic self-concept are more inclined towards innovative actions compared to their less individualistic counterparts. This research also identifies several moderating factors. For instance, trust amplifies the positive relationship between individualism and innovative actions, particularly at higher trust levels. The paper concludes by highlighting its theoretical contributions, and practical implications, and suggesting directions for future research.

Keywords: Innovation, Self-Determination Theory, Trust, Team dynamic, Allocentrism

Procedia PDF Downloads 42

Authors: Shubham Jaiswal

Abstract:

During modelling of many physical problems and engineering processes, fractional calculus plays an important role. Those are greatly described by fractional differential equations (FDEs). So a reliable and efficient technique to solve such types of FDEs is needed. In this article, a numerical solution of a class of fractional differential equations namely space fractional order reaction-advection dispersion equations subject to initial and boundary conditions is derived. In the proposed approach shifted Jacobi polynomials are used to approximate the solutions together with shifted Jacobi operational matrix of fractional order and spectral collocation method. The main advantage of this approach is that it converts such problems in the systems of algebraic equations which are easier to be solved. The proposed approach is effective to solve the linear as well as non-linear FDEs. To show the reliability, validity and high accuracy of proposed approach, the numerical results of some illustrative examples are reported, which are compared with the existing analytical results already reported in the literature. The error analysis for each case exhibited through graphs and tables confirms the exponential convergence rate of the proposed method.

Keywords: space fractional order linear/nonlinear reaction-advection diffusion equation, shifted Jacobi polynomials, operational matrix, collocation method, Caputo derivative

Procedia PDF Downloads 430