Search results for: multivariate distribution theory

Authors: Archana Gupta, Rajesh Kumar

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The chemistry of chalcones has generated intensive scientific studies throughout the world. Especially, interest has been focused on the synthesis and biodynamic activities of chalcones. The blue light transmittance, excellent crystallizability and the two planar rings connected through a conjugated double bond show that chalcone derivatives are superior nonlinear organic compounds. 3-(2-Chloro-6-fluoro¬phen¬yl)-1-(2-thien¬yl) prop-2-en-1-one, 3-(2, 4- Dichlorophenyl) – 1 - (4-methylphenyl) – prop -2-en-1-one, (2E)-3-[4-(methylsulfanyl) phenyl]-1-(4-nitrophenyl) prop-2-en-1-one are some chalcone derivatives exhibiting non linear optical (NLO) properties. NLO materials have been extensively investigated in recent years as they are the key elements for photonic technologies of optical communication, optical interconnect oscillator, amplifier, frequency converter etc. Due to their high molecular hyperpolarizabilities, organic materials display a number of significant NLO properties. Experimental measurements and theoretical calculations on molecular hyperpolarizability β have become one of the key factors in the design of second order NLO materials. Theoretical determination of hyperpolarizability is quite useful both in understanding the relationship between the molecular structure and NLO properties. It also provides a guideline to experimentalists for the design and synthesis of organic NLO materials. Quantum-chemical calculations have made an important contribution to the understanding of the electronic polarization underlying the molecular NLO processes and the establishment of structure–property relationships. In the present investigation, the detailed vibrational analysis of some chalcone derivatives is taken up to understand the correlation of the charge transfer interaction and the NLO activity of the molecules based on density functional theory calculations. The vibrational modes contributing toward the NLO activity have been identified and analyzed. Rather large hyperpolarizability derived by theoretical calculations suggests the possible future use of these compounds for non-linear optical applications. The study suggests the importance of π - conjugated systems for non-linear optical properties and the possibility of charge transfer interactions. We hope that the results of the present study of chalcone derivatives are of assistance in development of new efficient materials for technological applications.

Keywords: hyperpolarizability, molecular structure, NLO material, quantum chemical calculations

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Authors: Neda Orak, Mostafa Zarei

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Environmental assessment is an important session in environment management. Since various methods and techniques have been produces and implemented. Remote sensing (RS) is widely used in many scientific and research fields such as geology, cartography, geography, agriculture, forestry, land use planning, environment, etc. It can show earth surface objects cyclical changes. Also, it can show earth phenomena limits on basis of electromagnetic reflectance changes and deviations records. The research has been done on mangrove forests assessment by RS techniques. Mangrove forests quantitative analysis in Basatin and Bidkhoon estuaries was the aim of this research. It has been done by Landsat satellite images from 1975- 2013 and match to ground control points. This part of mangroves are the last distribution in northern hemisphere. It can provide a good background to improve better management on this important ecosystem. Landsat has provided valuable images to earth changes detection to researchers. This research has used MSS, TM, +ETM, OLI sensors from 1975, 1990, 2000, 2003-2013. Changes had been studied after essential corrections such as fix errors, bands combination, georeferencing on 2012 images as basic image, by maximum likelihood and IPVI Index. It was done by supervised classification. 2004 google earth image and ground points by GPS (2010-2012) was used to compare satellite images obtained changes. Results showed mangrove area in bidkhoon was 1119072 m2 by GPS and 1231200 m2 by maximum likelihood supervised classification and 1317600 m2 by IPVI in 2012. Basatin areas is respectively: 466644 m2, 88200 m2, 63000 m2. Final results show forests have been declined naturally. It is due to human activities in Basatin. The defect was offset by planting in many years. Although the trend has been declining in recent years again. So, it mentioned satellite images have high ability to estimation all environmental processes. This research showed high correlation between images and indexes such as IPVI and NDVI with ground control points.

Keywords: IPVI index, Landsat sensor, maximum likelihood supervised classification, Nayband National Park

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Authors: Brahim Aissa

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Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) used as front electrodes in solar cells must feature simultaneously high electrical conductivity, low contact resistance with the adjacent layers, and an appropriate refractive index for maximal light in-coupling into the device. However, these properties may conflict with each other, motivating thereby the search for TCOs with high performance. Additionally, due to the presence of temperature sensitive layers in many solar cell designs (for example, in thin-film silicon and silicon heterojunction (SHJ)), low-temperature deposition processes are more suitable. Several deposition techniques have been already explored to fabricate high-mobility TCOs at low temperatures, including sputter deposition, chemical vapor deposition, and atomic layer deposition. Among this variety of methods, to the best of our knowledge, magnetron sputtering deposition is the most established technique, despite the fact that it can lead to damage of underlying layers. The Sn doped In₂O₃ (ITO) is the most commonly used transparent electrode-contact in SHJ technology. In this work, we studied the properties of ITO thin films grown by RF sputtering. Using different oxygen fraction in the argon/oxygen plasma, we prepared ITO films deposited on glass substrates, on one hand, and on a-Si (p and n-types):H/intrinsic a-Si/glass substrates, on the other hand. Hall Effect measurements were systematically conducted together with total-transmittance (TT) and total-reflectance (TR) spectrometry. The electrical properties were drastically affected whereas the TT and TR were found to be slightly impacted by the oxygen variation. Furthermore, the time of flight-secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) technique was used to determine the distribution of various species throughout the thickness of the ITO and at various interfaces. The depth profiling of indium, oxygen, tin, silicon, phosphorous, boron and hydrogen was investigated throughout the various thicknesses and interfaces, and obtained results are discussed accordingly. Finally, the extreme conditions were selected to fabricate rear emitter SHJ devices, and the photovoltaic performance was evaluated; the lower oxygen flow ratio was found to yield the best performance attributed to lower series resistance.

Keywords: solar cell, silicon heterojunction, oxygen content, optoelectronic properties

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Authors: Miriam Borchardt, Agata M. Ritter, Macaliston G. da Silva, Mauricio N. de Carvalho, Giancarlo M. Pereira

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This paper aims to analyze the barriers faced by social enterprises and based on that to propose a social business model framework that helps them to leverage their businesses and the social value delivered. A business model for social enterprises should amplify the value perception including social value for the beneficiaries while generating enough profit to escalate the business. Most of the social value beneficiaries are people from the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) or the ones that have specific needs. Because of this, products and services should be affordable to consumers while solving social needs of the beneficiaries. Developing products and services with social value require tie relationship among the social enterprises and universities, public institutions, accelerators, and investors. Despite being focused on social value and contributing to the beneficiaries’ quality of life as well as contributing to the governments that cannot properly guarantee public services and infrastructure to the BOP, many barriers are faced by the social enterprises to escalate their businesses. This is a work in process and five micro- and small-sized social enterprises in Brazil have been studied: (i) one has developed a kit for cervical uterine cancer detection to allow the BOP women to collect their own material and deliver to a laboratory for U$1,00; (ii) other has developed special products without lactose and it is about 70% cheaper than the traditional brands in the market; (iii) the third has developed prosthesis and orthosis to surplus needs that health public system have not done efficiently; (iv) the fourth has produced and commercialized menstrual panties aiming to reduce the consumption of dischargeable ones while saving money to the consumers; (v) the fifth develops and commercializes clothes from fabric wastes in a partnership with BOP artisans. The preliminary results indicate that the main barriers are related to the public system to recognize these products as public money that could be saved if they bought products from these enterprises instead of the multinational pharmaceutical companies, to the traditional distribution system (e.g. pharmacies) that avoid these products because of the low or non-existing profit, to the difficulty buying raw material in small quantities, to leverage investment by the investors, to cultural barriers and taboos. Interesting strategies to reduce the costs have been observed: some enterprises have focused on simplifying products, others have invested in partnerships with local producers and have developed their machines focusing on process efficiency to leverage investment by the investors.

Keywords: base of the pyramid, business model, social business, social business model, social enterprises

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Authors: Nikolaos Petropoulos, Elena Blokhina, Andrii Sokolov, Andrii Semenov, Panagiotis Giounanlis, Xutong Wu, Dmytro Mishagli, Eugene Koskin, Robert Bogdan Staszewski, Dirk Leipold

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We investigate entanglement and quantum information scrambling (QIS) by the example of a many-body Extended and spinless effective Fermi-Hubbard Model (EFHM and e-FHM, respectively) that describes a special type of quantum dot array provided by Equal1 labs silicon-based quantum computer. The concept of QIS is used in the framework of quantum information processing by quantum circuits and quantum channels. In general, QIS is manifest as the de-localization of quantum information over the entire quantum system; more compactly, information about the input cannot be obtained by local measurements of the output of the quantum system. In our work, we will first make an introduction to the concept of quantum information scrambling and its connection with the 4-point out-of-time-order (OTO) correlators. In order to have a quantitative measure of QIS we use the tripartite mutual information, in similar lines to previous works, that measures the mutual information between 4 different spacetime partitions of the system and study the Transverse Field Ising (TFI) model; this is used to quantify the dynamical spreading of quantum entanglement and information in the system. Then, we investigate scrambling in the quantum many-body Extended Hubbard Model with external magnetic field Bz and spin-spin coupling J for both uniform and thermal quantum channel inputs and show that it scrambles for specific external tuning parameters (e.g., tunneling amplitudes, on-site potentials, magnetic field). In addition, we compare different Hilbert space sizes (different number of qubits) and show the qualitative and quantitative differences in quantum scrambling as we increase the number of quantum degrees of freedom in the system. Moreover, we find a "scrambling phase transition" for a threshold temperature in the thermal case, that is, the temperature of the model that the channel starts to scramble quantum information. Finally, we make comparisons to the TFI model and highlight the key physical differences between the two systems and mention some future directions of research.

Keywords: condensed matter physics, quantum computing, quantum information theory, quantum physics

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Authors: Suzan Sayegh, Izzeldin Ibrahim, Mercia Van Der Walt, Mohamed Al-Kuwari

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Background: Walking is the most common form of physical activity which can promote a healthy well-being among people of different age groups. In this regard, pedometers are becoming more popular within research and are considered useful tools in monitoring physical activity levels based on individuals’ daily steps. A value of ˂5,000 steps/day is identified as a sedentary lifestyle index where individuals are physically inactive. Those achieving 5,000-7,499 steps/day have a low active lifestyle as they do not meet the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendations. Moreover, individuals achieving ≥7,500 steps/day are classified as physically active. The objective of this study is to assess the physical activity levels of adult population in Qatar through a pedometer-based program over a one-year period. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis, as part of a longitudinal study, was carried out over one year to assess the daily step count. “Step into Health” is a community-based program launched by Aspire as an approach for the purpose of improving physical activity across the population of Qatar. The program involves distribution of pedometers to registered members which is supported by a self-monitoring online account and linked to a web database. Daily habitual physical activity (daily total step count) was assessed through Omron HJ-324U pedometer. Analyses were done on data extracted from the web database. Results: A total of 1,988 members were included in this study (males: n=1,143, 57%; females: n=845, 43%). Average age was 37.8±10.9 years distributed as 60% of age between age 25-54 (n=1,186), 27% of age 45-64 (n=546), and 13% of age 18-24 years (n=256). Majority were non-Qataris, 81% (n=1,609) compared with 19% of the Qatari nationality (n=379). Average body mass index (BMI) was 27.8±6.1 (kg/m2) where most of them (41%, n=809) were found to be overweight, between 25-30 kg/m2. Total average step count was 5,469±3,884. Majority were found to be sedentary (n=1110, 55.8%). Middle aged individuals were more active than the other two age groups. Males were seen as more active than females. Those who were less active had a higher BMI. Older individuals were more active. There was a variation in the physical activity level throughout the year period. Conclusion: It is essential to further develop the available intervention programs and increase their physical activity behavior. Planning such physical activity interventions for female population should involve aspects such as time, environmental variables and aerobic steps.

Keywords: adults, pedometer, physical activity, step-count

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Authors: Evrim Colak, Andriy E. Serebryannikov, Thore Magath, Ekmel Ozbay

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Single beam deflection and unidirectional transmission are examined for oblique incidence in a Photonic Crystal (PC) structure which employs defect layer instead of surface corrugations at the interfaces. In all of the studied cases, the defect layer is placed such that the symmetry is broken. Two types of deflection are observed depending on whether the zeroth order is coupled or not. These two scenarios can be distinguished from each other by considering the simulated field distribution in PC. In the first deflection type, Floquet-Bloch mode enables zeroth order coupling. The energy of the zeroth order is redistributed between the diffraction orders at the defect layer, providing deflection. In the second type, when zeroth order is not coupled, strong diffractions cause blazing and the evanescent waves deliver energy to higher order diffraction modes. Simulated isofrequency contours can be utilized to estimate the coupling behavior. The defect layer is placed at varying rows, preserving the asymmetry of PC while evancescent waves can still couple to higher order modes. Even for deeply buried defect layer, asymmetric transmission and beam deflection are still encountered when the zeroth order is not coupled. We assume ε=11.4 (refractive index close to that of GaAs and Si) for the PC rods. A possible operation wavelength can be within microwave and infrared range. Since the suggested material is low loss, the structure can be scaled down to operate higher frequencies. Thus, a sample operation wavelength is selected as 1.5μm. Although the structure employs no surface corrugations transmission value T≈0.97 can be achieved by means of diffraction order m=-1. Moreover, utilizing an extra line defect, T value can be increased upto 0.99, under oblique incidence even if the line defect layer is deeply embedded in the photonic crystal. The latter configuration can be used to obtain deflection in one frequency range and can also be utilized for the realization of another functionality like defect-mode wave guiding in another frequency range but still using the same structure.

Keywords: asymmetric transmission, beam deflection, blazing, bi-directional splitting, defect layer, dual beam splitting, Floquet-Bloch modes, isofrequency contours, line defect, oblique incidence, photonic crystal, unidirectionality

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Authors: Rabindra K. Panda, Gurjeet Singh

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The major objective of this study was to analyze the trend and variability of rainfall in the middle Mahandi river basin located in eastern India. The trend of variation of extreme rainfall events has predominant effect on agricultural water management and extreme hydrological events such as floods and droughts. Mahanadi river basin is one of the major river basins of India having an area of 1,41,589 km² and divided into three regions: Upper, middle and delta region. The middle region of Mahanadi river basin has an area of 48,700 km² and it is mostly dominated by agricultural land, where agriculture is mostly rainfed. The study region has five Agro-climatic zones namely: East and South Eastern Coastal Plain, North Eastern Ghat, Western Undulating Zone, Western Central Table Land and Mid Central Table Land, which were numbered as zones 1 to 5 respectively for convenience in reporting. In the present study, analysis of variability and trends of annual, seasonal, and monthly rainfall was carried out, using the daily rainfall data collected from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) for 35 years (1979-2013) for the 5 agro-climatic zones. The long term variability of rainfall was investigated by evaluating the mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation. The long term trend of rainfall was analyzed using the Mann-Kendall test on monthly, seasonal and annual time scales. It was found that there is a decreasing trend in the rainfall during the winter and pre monsoon seasons for zones 2, 3 and 4; whereas in the monsoon (rainy) season there is an increasing trend for zones 1, 4 and 5 with a level of significance ranging between 90-95%. On the other hand, the mean annual rainfall has an increasing trend at 99% significance level. The estimated seasonality index showed that the rainfall distribution is asymmetric and distributed over 3-4 months period. The study will help to understand the spatio-temporal variation of rainfall and to determine the correlation between the current rainfall trend and climate change scenario of the study region for multifarious use.

Keywords: Eastern India, long-term variability and trends, Mann-Kendall test, seasonality index, spatio-temporal variation

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Authors: Nelson F. F. Ebecken, Gilberto C. Pereira, Lucio P. de Andrade

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Bays, estuaries and coastal ecosystems are some of the most used and threatened natural systems globally. Its deterioration is due to intense and increasing human activities. This paper aims to monitor the socio-ecological in Brazil, model and simulate it through a multilayer network representing a DPSIR structure (Drivers, Pressures, States-Impacts-Responses) considering the concept of Management based on Ecosystems to support decision-making under the National/State/Municipal Coastal Management policy. This approach considers several interferences and can represent a significant advance in several scientific aspects. The main objective of this paper is the coupling of three different types of complex networks, the first being an ecological network, the second a social network, and the third a network of economic activities, in order to model the marine ecosystem. Multilayer networks comprise two or more "layers", which may represent different types of interactions, different communities, different points in time, and so on. The dependency between layers results from processes that affect the various layers. For example, the dispersion of individuals between two patches affects the network structure of both samples. A multilayer network consists of (i) a set of physical nodes representing entities (e.g., species, people, companies); (ii) a set of layers, which may include multiple layering aspects (e.g., time dependency and multiple types of relationships); (iii) a set of state nodes, each of which corresponds to the manifestation of a given physical node in a layer-specific; and (iv) a set of edges (weighted or not) to connect the state nodes among themselves. The edge set includes the intralayer edges familiar and interlayer ones, which connect state nodes between layers. The applied methodology in an existent case uses the Flow cytometry process and the modeling of ecological relationships (trophic and non-trophic) following fuzzy theory concepts and graph visualization. The identification of subnetworks in the fuzzy graphs is carried out using a specific computational method. This methodology allows considering the influence of different factors and helps their contributions to the decision-making process.

Keywords: marine ecosystems, complex systems, multilayer network, ecosystems management

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Authors: Dejen Alemu, Murray E. Jennex, Temtim Assefa

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Agriculture is the mainstay of the Ethiopian economy; however, the sector is dominated by smallholder farmers resulting in land fragmentation and suffering from low productivity. Due to these issues, much effort has been put into the transformation of the sector to bring about more sustainable rural economic development. Technological advancements have been applied for the betterment of farmers resulting in the design of tools that are potentially capable of supporting the agricultural sector; however, their use and relevance are still alien to the local rural communities. The notion of the creating, capturing and sharing of knowledge has also been repetitively raised by many international donor agencies to transform the sector, yet the most current approaches to knowledge dissemination focus on knowledge that originates from the western view of scientific rationality while overlooking the role of indigenous knowledge (IK). Therefore, in agricultural knowledge management system (KMS) development, the integration of IKS with scientific knowledge is a critical success factor. The present study aims to contribute in the discourse on how to best integrate scientific and IK in agricultural KMS development. The conceptual framework of the research is anchored in concepts drawn from the theory of situated learning in communities of practice (CoPs): knowledge brokering. Using the KMS development practices of Ethiopian agricultural transformation agency as a case area, this research employed an interpretive analysis using primary and secondary qualitative data acquired through in-depth semi-structured interviews and participatory observations. As a result, concepts are identified for understanding the integration of the two major knowledge systems (i.e., indigenous and scientific knowledge) and participation of relevant stakeholders in particular the local farmers in agricultural KMS development through the roles of extension agent as a knowledge broker including crossing boundaries, in-between position, translation and interpretation, negotiation, and networking. The research shall have a theoretical contribution in addressing the incorporation of a variety of knowledge systems in agriculture and practically to provide insight for policy makers in agriculture regarding the importance of IK integration in agricultural KMS development and support marginalized small-scale farmers.

Keywords: communities of practice, indigenous knowledge, knowledge management system development, knowledge brokering

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Authors: Stijn Horck

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Background: The value of lessons learned from failure increases when these insights can be put to use by those who did not experience the failure. While learning from others has mostly been researched between individuals or teams within the same environment, transferring knowledge from the person who experienced the failure to an outsider comes with extra challenges. As sense-making of failure is an individual process leading to different learning experiences, the potential of lessons learned from failure is highly variable depending on who is transferring the lessons learned. Using an integrated framework of linguistic aspects related to attributional egotism, this study aims to offer a complete explanation of the challenges in transferring lessons learned from failures that are experienced by others. Method: A case study of a failed foundation established to address the information needs for GPs in times of COVID-19 has been used. An overview of failure causes and lessons learned were made through a preliminary analysis of data collected in two phases with metaphoric examples of failure types. This was followed up by individual narrative interviews with the board members who have all experienced the same events to analyse the individual variance of lessons learned through discourse analysis. This research design uses the researcher-as-instrument approach since the recipient of these lessons learned is the author himself. Results: Thirteen causes were given why the foundation has failed, and nine lessons were formulated. Based on the individually emphasized events, the explanation of the failure events mentioned by all or three respondents consisted of more linguistic aspects related to attributional egotism than failure events mentioned by only one or two. Moreover, the learning events mentioned by all or three respondents involved lessons learned that are based on changed insight, while the lessons expressed by only one or two are more based on direct value. Retrospectively, the lessons expressed as a group in the first data collection phase seem to have captured some but not all of the direct value lessons. Conclusion: Individual variance in expressing lessons learned to outsiders can be reduced using metaphoric or analogical explanations from a third party. In line with the attributional egotism theory, individuals separated from a group that has experienced the same failure are more likely to refer to failure causes of which the chances to be contradicted are the smallest. Lastly, this study contributes to the academic literature by demonstrating that the use of linguistic analysis is suitable for investigating the knowledge transfer from lessons learned after failure.

Keywords: failure, discourse analysis, knowledge transfer, attributional egotism

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Authors: Silvia Miele, Patrice Rusconi, Harriet Tenenbaum

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An increasingly multi-ethnic Europe has been pushing citizens’ boundaries on who should be entitled and to what extent to practise their own diversity. Indeed, according to a Standard Eurobarometer survey conducted in 2017, immigration is seen by Europeans as the most serious issue facing the EU, and a third of respondents reported they do not feel comfortable interacting with migrants from outside the EU. Many of these come from Muslim countries, accounting for 4.9% of Europe population in 2016. However, the figure is projected to rise up to 14% by 2050. Additionally, political debates have increasingly focused on Muslim immigrants, who are frequently portrayed as difficult to integrate, while nationalist parties across Europe have fostered the idea of insuperable cultural differences, creating an atmosphere of hostility. Using a 3 X 3 X 2 between-subjects design, it was investigated how people reason about endorsing religious and non-religious rights to minorities. An online survey has been administered to university students of three different countries (Italy, Spain and the UK) via Qualtrics, presenting hypothetical scenarios through a vignette methodology. Each respondent has been randomly allocated to one of the three following conditions: Christian, Muslim or non-religious (vegan) target. Each condition entailed three questions about children self-determination rights to exercise some control over their own lives and 3 questions about children nurturance rights of care and protection. Moreover, participants have been required to further elaborate on their answers via free-text entries and have been asked about their contact and quality of contact with the three targets, and to self-report religious, national and ethnic identification. Answers have been recorded on a Likert scale of 1-5, 1 being "not at all", 5 being "very much". A two-way ANCOVA will be used to analyse answers to closed-ended questions, while free-text answers will be coded and data will be dichotomised based on Social Cognitive Domain Theory for four categories: moral, social conventional and psychological reasons, and analysed via ANCOVAs. This study’s findings aim to contribute to the implementation of educational interventions and speak to the introduction of governmental policies on human rights.

Keywords: children's rights, Europe, migration, minority

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Authors: Joseph Bentil

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Successful acquisition of 21st-century competencies needed by students to navigate through the ever-changing world requires that they are taught and molded by 21st-century teachers with the needed professional competencies. Accordingly, this study sought to understand the readiness and how efficacious pre-service Social Studies specialism students are towards the implementation of the Common Core Social Studies Curriculum in the Junior High Schools in Ghana. Theory of Experience served as the theoretical lens for the study. Working within the pragmatist paradigm, this study utilized the cross-sectional descriptive survey design with a mixed method approach where, through census sampling technique, all the 120 pre-service Social Studies specialism students were sampled for the study. A structured questionnaire and an interview guide were the instruments employed for data collection. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics like independent samples t-test, one-way between groups ANOVA and Pearson Product Moment Correlation) were employed in the analysis the research questions and hypotheses with the aid of version 28 of SPSS while the qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings discovered that pre-service Social Studies teachers were highly ready and efficacious towards implementing the Common Core Junior High School Social Studies curriculum. However, male pre-service teachers were highly efficacious and ready than their female counterparts. Besides, it was disclosed that pre-service teachers within the 31-40 years age bracket were found to be highly efficacious and ready than their colleagues with 20-30 and below 20 years age bracket respectively. The findings further revealed that there was a moderate and statistically significant positive relationship between pre-service teachers’ readiness and efficacy in implementing the Common Core Social Studies curriculum. Therefore, the study recommended that interventional programmes aimed at raising the readiness and efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers should be targeted towards female preservice teachers and those below 20 years age bracket for successful implementation and realization of the competencies enshrined in the common core social Studies curriculum.

Keywords: pre-service, readiness, social studies, teachers

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Authors: Zahid Ullah, Atlas Khan

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This abstract focuses on the advancements in mathematical modeling and optimization techniques that play a crucial role in enhancing the efficiency, reliability, and performance of these systems. In this era of rapidly evolving technology, mathematical modeling and optimization offer powerful tools to tackle the complex challenges faced by control, signal processing, and energy systems. This abstract presents the latest research and developments in mathematical methodologies, encompassing areas such as control theory, system identification, signal processing algorithms, and energy optimization. The abstract highlights the interdisciplinary nature of mathematical modeling and optimization, showcasing their applications in a wide range of domains, including power systems, communication networks, industrial automation, and renewable energy. It explores key mathematical techniques, such as linear and nonlinear programming, convex optimization, stochastic modeling, and numerical algorithms, that enable the design, analysis, and optimization of complex control and signal processing systems. Furthermore, the abstract emphasizes the importance of addressing real-world challenges in control, signal processing, and energy systems through innovative mathematical approaches. It discusses the integration of mathematical models with data-driven approaches, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to enhance system performance, adaptability, and decision-making capabilities. The abstract also underscores the significance of bridging the gap between theoretical advancements and practical applications. It recognizes the need for practical implementation of mathematical models and optimization algorithms in real-world systems, considering factors such as scalability, computational efficiency, and robustness. In summary, this abstract showcases the advancements in mathematical modeling and optimization techniques for control, signal processing, and energy systems. It highlights the interdisciplinary nature of these techniques, their applications across various domains, and their potential to address real-world challenges. The abstract emphasizes the importance of practical implementation and integration with emerging technologies to drive innovation and improve the performance of control, signal processing, and energy.

Keywords: mathematical modeling, optimization, control systems, signal processing, energy systems, interdisciplinary applications, system identification, numerical algorithms

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Authors: Mariia Timofeeva, Andrew Ooi, Eric K. W. Poon, Peter Barlis

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Atherosclerotic plaque build-up, commonly known as stenosis, limits blood flow and hence oxygen and nutrient supplies to the heart muscle. Thus, assessment of its severity is of great interest to health professionals. Numerical simulation of the fractional flow reserve (FFR) has proved to be well correlated with invasively measured FFR used for physiological assessment of the severity of coronary stenosis in arteries. Atherosclerosis may impact the diseased artery in several locations causing serial stenoses, which is a complicated subset of coronary artery disease that requires careful treatment planning. However, hemodynamic of the serial sequential stenoses in coronary arteries has not been extensively studied. The hemodynamics of the serial stenoses is complex because the stenoses in the series interact and affect the flow through each other. To address this, serial stenoses in a 3.4 mm left anterior descending (LAD) artery are examined in this study. Two diameter stenoses (DS) are considered, 30 and 50 percent of the reference diameter. Serial stenoses configurations are divided into three groups based on the order of the stenoses in the series, spacing between them, and deviation of the stenoses’ symmetry (eccentricity). A patient-specific pulsatile waveform is used in the simulations. Blood flow within the stenotic artery is assumed to be laminar, Newtonian, and incompressible. Results for the FFR are reported. Based on the simulation results, it can be deduced that the larger drop in pressure (smaller value of the FFR) is expected when the percentage of the second stenosis in the series is bigger. Varying the distance between the stenoses affects the location of the maximum drop in the pressure, while the minimal FFR in the artery remains unchanged. Eccentric serial stenoses are characterized by a noticeably larger decrease in pressure through the stenoses and by the development of the chaotic flow downstream of the stenoses. The largest drop in the pressure (about 4% difference compared to the axisymmetric case) is obtained for the serial stenoses, where both the stenoses are highly eccentric with the centerlines deflected to the different sides of the LAD. In conclusion, varying configuration of the sequential serial stenoses results in a different distribution of FFR through the LAD. Results presented in this study provide insight into the clinical assessment of the severity of the coronary serial stenoses, which is proved to depend on the relative position of the stenoses and the deviation of the stenoses’ symmetry.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, coronary artery, fractional flow reserve, serial stenoses

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Authors: Julio Silva, Lia Hasenclever, Gilson G. Silva Jr.

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The aim of this paper is to check possible convergence in health measures (aged-standard rate of morbidity and mortality) for communicable diseases between developed and developing countries, conditional to productive structures features. Understanding the interrelations between health patterns and economic development is particularly important in the context of low- and middle-income countries, where economic development comes along with deep social inequality. Developing countries with less diversified productive structures (measured through complexity index) but high heterogeneous inter-sectorial labor productivity (using as a proxy inter-sectorial coefficient of variation of labor productivity) has on average low health levels in communicable diseases compared to developed countries with high diversified productive structures and low labor market heterogeneity. Structural heterogeneity and productive diversification may have influence on health levels even considering per capita income. We set up a panel data for 139 countries from 1995 to 2015, joining several data about the countries, as economic development, health, and health system coverage, environmental and socioeconomic aspects. This information was obtained from World Bank, International Labour Organization, Atlas of Economic Complexity, United Nation (Development Report) and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Database. Econometric panel models evidence shows that the level of communicable diseases has a positive relationship with structural heterogeneity, even considering other factors as per capita income. On the other hand, the recent process of convergence in terms of communicable diseases have been motivated for other reasons not directly related to productive structure, as health system coverage and environmental aspects. These evidences suggest a joint dynamics between the unequal distribution of communicable diseases and countries' productive structure aspects. These set of evidence are quite important to public policy as meet the health aims in Millennium Development Goals. It also highlights the importance of the process of structural change as fundamental to shift the levels of health in terms of communicable diseases and can contribute to the debate between the relation of economic development and health patterns changes.

Keywords: economic development, inequality, population health, structural change

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Authors: Souzan Al Sayegh, Izzeldin Ibrahim, Mercia Van Der Walt, Mohamed Al-Kuwari

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Background: Walking is the most common form of physical activity which can promote a healthy well-being among people of different age groups. In this regard, pedometers are becoming more popular within research and are considered useful tools in monitoring physical activity levels based on individuals’ daily steps. A value of ˂5,000 steps/day is identified as a sedentary lifestyle index where individuals are physically inactive. Those achieving 5,000-7,499 steps/day have a low active lifestyle as they do not meet the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendations. Moreover, individuals achieving ≥7,500 steps/day are classified as physically active. The objective of this study is to assess the physical activity levels of adult population in Qatar through a pedometer-based program over a one-year period. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis, as part of a longitudinal study, was carried out over one year to assess the daily step count. 'Step into Health' is a community-based program launched by Aspire as an approach for the purpose of improving physical activity across the population of Qatar. The program involves the distribution of pedometers to registered members which is supported by a self-monitoring online account and linked to a web database. Daily habitual physical activity (daily total step count) was assessed through Omron HJ-324U pedometer. Analyses were done on data extracted from the web database. Results: A total of 1,988 members were included in this study (males: n=1,143, 57%; females: n=845, 43%). Average age was 37.8±10.9 years distributed as 60% of age between age 25-54 (n=1,186), 27% of age 45-64 (n=546), and 13% of age 18-24 years (n=256). Majority were non-Qataris, 81% (n=1,609) compared with 19% of the Qatari nationality (n=379). Average body mass index (BMI) was 27.8±6.1 (kg/m2) where most of them (41%, n=809) were found to be overweight, between 25-30 kg/m2. Total average step count was 5,469±3,884. Majority were found to be sedentary (n=1110, 55.8%). Middle aged individuals were more active than the other two age groups. Males were seen as more active than females. Those who were less active had a higher BMI. Older individuals were more active. There was a variation in the physical activity level throughout the year period. Conclusion: It is essential to further develop the available intervention programs and increase their physical activity behavior. Planning such physical activity interventions for female population should involve aspects such as time, environmental variables and aerobic steps.

Keywords: adults, pedometer, physical activity, step-count

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Authors: Augustar Omoze Ehighalua, Itotenaan Henry Ogiri

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As a mono-product economy, Nigeria relies largely on oil revenues for its foreign exchange earnings and the exploration activities of firms operating in the Niger Delta region have left in its wake tales of environmental degradation, poverty and misery. This, no doubt, have created corporate social responsibility issues in the region. The focus of this research is the critical evaluation of the ethical response to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practice by firms operating in Nigeria Delta Swamplands. While CSR is becoming more popular in developed society with effective practice guidelines and reporting benchmark, there is a relatively low level of awareness and selective applicability of existing international guidelines to effectively support CSR practice in Nigeria. This study, haven identified the lack of CSR institutional framework attempts to develop an ethically-driven CSR transparency benchmark laced within a regulatory framework based on international best practices. The research adopts a qualitative methodology and makes use of primary data collected through semi-structured interviews conducted across the six core states of the Niger Delta Region. More importantly, the study adopts an inductive, interpretivist philosophical paradigm that reveal deep phenomenological insights into what local communities, civil society and government officials consider as good ethical benchmark for responsible CSR practice by organizations. The institutional theory provides for the main theoretical foundation, complemented by the stakeholder and legitimacy theories. The Nvivo software was used to analyze the data collected. This study shows that ethical responsibility is lacking in CSR practice by firms in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Furthermore, findings of the study indicate key issues of environmental, health and safety, human rights, and labour as fundamental in developing an effective CSR practice guideline for Nigeria. The study has implications for public policy formulation as well as managerial perspective.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, CSR, ethics, firms, Niger-Delta Swampland, Nigeria

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Authors: Kazushige Wada, Mayuko Ueda

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In the present study, we reanalyzed lapse errors in the last phase of a job, by re-counting near lapse errors and increasing the number of participants. We also examined the results of this study from the perspective of prospective memory (PM), which concerns future actions. This study was designed to investigate whether perceiving the importance of PM tasks caused lapse errors in the last phase of a job and to determine if such errors could be explained from the perspective of PM processing. Participants (N = 34) conducted a computerized clicking task, in which they clicked on 10 figures that they had learned in advance in 8 blocks of 10 trials. Participants were requested to click the check box in the start display of a block and to click the checking off box in the finishing display. This task was a PM task. As a measure of PM performance, we counted the number of omission errors caused by forgetting to check off in the finishing display, which was defined as a lapse error. The perceived importance was manipulated by different instructions. Half the participants in the highly important task condition were instructed that checking off was very important, because equipment would be overloaded if it were not done. The other half in the not important task condition was instructed only about the location and procedure for checking off. Furthermore, we controlled workload and the emotion of surprise to confirm the effect of demand capacity and attention. To manipulate emotions during the clicking task, we suddenly presented a photo of a traffic accident and the sound of a skidding car followed by an explosion. Workload was manipulated by requesting participants to press the 0 key in response to a beep. Results indicated too few forgetting induced lapse errors to be analyzed. However, there was a weak main effect of the perceived importance of the check task, in which the mouse moved to the “END” button before moving to the check box in the finishing display. Especially, the highly important task group showed more such near lapse errors, than the not important task group. Neither surprise, nor workload affected the occurrence of near lapse errors. These results imply that high perceived importance of PM tasks impair task performance. On the basis of the multiprocess framework of PM theory, we have suggested that PM task performance in this experiment relied not on monitoring PM tasks, but on spontaneous retrieving.

Keywords: prospective memory, perceived importance, lapse errors, multi process framework of prospective memory.

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Authors: Apurva Patil, Sujatha Srinivasan

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Reducing actuator loads is important for applications in which human effort is required for actuation. The potential benefit of applying spring balancing to rehabilitation devices which work against gravity on a nonhorizontal plane is well recognized, but practical applications have been elusive. Although existing methods provide exact spring balance, they require additional masses or auxiliary links, or all the springs used originate from the ground, which makes the resulting device bulky and space-inefficient. This paper uses a method of static balancing of mechanisms with conservative loads such as gravity and spring loads using non-zero-free-length springs and no auxiliary links. Application of this method to a manually operated swimming pool lift mechanism which lowers and raises the physically challenged users into or out of the swimming pool is presented here. Various possible configurations using extension and compression springs as well as gas spring in the mechanism are compared. This work involves approximate spring balancing of the mechanism using minimization of potential energy variance. It uses the approach of flattening the potential energy distribution over the workspace and fuses it with numerical optimization. The results show the considerable reduction in actuator torque requirement with practical spring design and arrangement. Although the method provides only an approximate balancing, it is versatile, flexible in choosing appropriate control variables that are relevant to the design problem and easy to implement. The true potential of this technique lies in the fact that it uses a very simple optimization to find the spring constant, free length of the spring and the optimal attachment points subject to the optimization constraints. Also, it uses physically realizable non-zero-free-length springs directly, thereby reducing the complexity involved in simulating zero-free-length springs from non-zero-free-length springs. This method allows springs to be attached inside the mechanism, which makes the implementation of spring balancing practical. Because auxiliary linkages can be avoided, the resultant swimming pool lift mechanism is compact. The cost benefits and reduced complexity can be significant advantages in the development of this user-actuated swimming pool lift for developing countries.

Keywords: gas spring, rehabilitation device, spring balancing, swimming pool lift

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Authors: Epameinondas Xanthakis, Erik Kaunisto, Alain Le-Bail, Lilia Ahrné

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Fruits and vegetables are characterized as perishable food matrices due to their short shelf life as several deterioration mechanisms are being involved. Prior to the common preservation methods like freezing or canning, fruits and vegetables are being blanched in order to inactivate deteriorative enzymes. Both conventional blanching pretreatments and conventional freezing methods hide drawbacks behind their beneficial impacts on the preservation of those matrices. Conventional blanching methods may require longer processing times, leaching of minerals and nutrients due to the contact with the warm water which in turn leads to effluent production with large BOD. An important issue of freezing technologies is the size of the formed ice crystals which is also critical for the final quality of the frozen food as it can cause irreversible damage to the cellular structure and subsequently to degrade the texture and the colour of the product. Herein, the developed microwave blanching methodology and the results regarding quality aspects and enzyme inactivation will be presented. Moreover, heat transfer phenomena, mass balance, temperature distribution, and enzyme inactivation (such as Pectin Methyl Esterase and Ascorbic Acid Oxidase) of our microwave blanching approach will be evaluated based on measurements and computer modelling. The present work is part of the COLDμWAVE project which aims to the development of an innovative environmentally sustainable process for blanching and freezing of fruits and vegetables with improved textural and nutritional quality. In this context, COLDµWAVE will develop tailored equipment for MW blanching of vegetables that has very high energy efficiency and no water consumption. Furthermore, the next steps of this project regarding the development of innovative pathways in MW assisted freezing to improve the quality of frozen vegetables, by exploring in depth previous results acquired by the authors, will be presented. The application of MW assisted freezing process on fruits and vegetables it is expected to lead to improved quality characteristics compared to the conventional freezing. Acknowledgments: COLDμWAVE has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grand agreement No 660067.

Keywords: blanching, freezing, fruits, microwave blanching, microwave

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Authors: Jacques Lamarche, Juhani Dickinson

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This paper introduces a computational model of a Grammar as Logic of Labeling (GLL), where the lexical primitives of morphosyntax are phonological matrixes, the form of words, understood as labels that apply to realities (or targets) assumed to be outside of grammar altogether. The hypothesis is that even though a lexical label relates to its target arbitrarily, this label in a complex (constituent) label is part of a labeling pattern which, depending on its value (i.e., N, V, Adj, etc.), imposes language-specific restrictions on what it targets outside of grammar (in the world/semantics or in cognitive knowledge). Lexical forms categorized as nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc., are effectively targets of labeling patterns in use. The paper illustrates GLL through a computer model of basic patterns in English NPs. A constituent label is a binary object that encodes: i) alignment of input forms so that labels occurring at different points in time are understood as applying at once; ii) endocentric structuring - every grammatical constituent has a head label that determines the target of the constituent, and a limiter label (the non-head) that restricts this target. The N or A values are restricted to limiter label, the two differing in terms of alignment with a head. Consider the head initial DP ‘the dog’: the label ‘dog’ gets an N value because it is a limiter that is evenly aligned with the head ‘the’, restricting application of the DP. Adapting a traditional analysis of ‘the’ to GLL – apply label to something familiar – the DP targets and identifies one reality familiar to participants by applying to it the label ‘dog’ (singular). Consider next the DP ‘the large dog’: ‘large dog’ is nominal by even alignment with ‘the’, as before, and since ‘dog’ is the head of (head final) ‘large dog’, it is also nominal. The label ‘large’, however, is adjectival by narrow alignment with the head ‘dog’: it doesn’t target the head but targets a property of what dog applies to (a property or value of attribute). In other words, the internal composition of constituents determines that a form targets a property or a reality: ‘large’ and ‘dog’ happen to be valid targets to realize this constituent. In the presentation, the computer model of the analysis derives the 8 possible sequences of grammatical values with three labels after the determiner (the x y z): 1- D [ N [ N N ]]; 2- D [ A [ N N ] ]; 3- D [ N [ A N ] ]; 4- D [ A [ A N ] ]; 5- D [ [ N N ] N ]; 5- D [ [ A N ] N ]; 6- D [ [ N A ] N ] 7- [ [ N A ] N ] 8- D [ [ Adv A ] N ]. This approach that suggests that a computer model of these grammatical patterns could be used to construct ontologies/knowledge using speakers’ judgments about the validity of lexical meaning in grammatical patterns.

Keywords: syntactic theory, computational linguistics, logic and grammar, semantics, knowledge and grammar

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Authors: Orkan Ozcan, Nebiye Musaoglu, Murat Turkes

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Climate change is largely recognized as one of the real, pressing and significant global problems. The concept of ‘climate change vulnerability’ helps us to better comprehend the cause/effect relationships behind climate change and its impact on human societies, socioeconomic sectors, physiographical and ecological systems. In this study, multifactorial spatial modeling was applied to evaluate the vulnerability of a Mediterranean forest ecosystem to climate change. As a result, the geographical distribution of the final Environmental Vulnerability Areas (EVAs) of the forest ecosystem is based on the estimated final Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) values. This revealed that at current levels of environmental degradation, physical, geographical, policy enforcement and socioeconomic conditions, the area with a ‘very low’ vulnerability degree covered mainly the town, its surrounding settlements and the agricultural lands found mainly over the low and flat travertine plateau and the plains at the east and southeast of the district. The spatial magnitude of the EVAs over the forest ecosystem under the current environmental degradation was also determined. This revealed that the EVAs classed as ‘very low’ account for 21% of the total area of the forest ecosystem, those classed as ‘low’ account for 36%, those classed as ‘medium’ account for 20%, and those classed as ‘high’ account for 24%. Based on regionally averaged future climate assessments and projected future climate indicators, both the study site and the western Mediterranean sub-region of Turkey will probably become associated with a drier, hotter, more continental and more water-deficient climate. This analysis holds true for all future scenarios, with the exception of RCP4.5 for the period from 2015 to 2030. However, the present dry-sub humid climate dominating this sub-region and the study area shows a potential for change towards more dry climatology and for it to become a semiarid climate in the period between 2031 and 2050 according to the RCP8.5 high emission scenario. All the observed and estimated results and assessments summarized in the study show clearly that the densest forest ecosystem in the southern part of the study site, which is characterized by mainly Mediterranean coniferous and some mixed forest and the maquis vegetation, will very likely be influenced by medium and high degrees of vulnerability to future environmental degradation, climate change and variability.

Keywords: forest ecosystem, Mediterranean climate, RCP scenarios, vulnerability analysis

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Authors: Lexi Li, Vanessa H. K. Pang

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This study aims to demonstrate how native and learner corpora can be used to enhance modal verb treatment in EFL textbooks in mainland China. It contributes to a corpus-informed and learner-centered design of grammar presentation in EFL textbooks that enhances the authenticity and appropriateness of textbook language for target learners. The linguistic focus is will, would, can, could, may, might, shall, should, must. The native corpus is the spoken component of BNC2014 (hereafter BNCS2014). The spoken part is chosen because pedagogical purpose of the textbooks is communication-oriented. Using the standard query option of CQPweb, 5% of each of the nine modals was sampled from BNCS2014. The learner corpus is the POS-tagged Ten-thousand English Compositions of Chinese Learners (TECCL). All the essays under the 'secondary school' section were selected. A series of five secondary coursebooks comprise the textbook corpus. All the data in both the learner and the textbook corpora are retrieved through the concordance functions of WordSmith Tools (version, 5.0). Data analysis was divided into two parts. The first part compared the patterns of modal verbs in the textbook corpus and BNC2014 with respect to distributional features, semantic functions, and co-occurring constructions to examine whether the textbooks reflect the authentic use of English. Secondly, the learner corpus was analyzed in terms of the use (distributional features, semantic functions, and co-occurring constructions) and the misuse (syntactic errors, e.g., she can sings*.) of the nine modal verbs to uncover potential difficulties that confront learners. The analysis of distribution indicates several discrepancies between the textbook corpus and BNCS2014. The first four most frequent modal verbs in BNCS2014 are can, would, will, could, while can, will, should, could are the top four in the textbooks. Most strikingly, there is an unusually high proportion of can (41.1%) in the textbooks. The results on different meanings shows that will, would and must are the most problematic. For example, for will, the textbooks contain 20% more occurrences of 'volition' and 20% less of 'prediction' than those in BNCS2014. Regarding co-occurring structures, the textbooks over-represented the structure 'modal +do' across the nine modal verbs. Another major finding is that the structure of 'modal +have done' that frequently co-occur with could, would, should, and must is underused in textbooks. Besides, these four modal verbs are the most difficult for learners, as the error analysis shows. This study demonstrates how the synergy of native and learner corpora can be harnessed to improve EFL textbook presentation of modal verbs in a way that textbooks can provide not only authentic language used in natural discourse but also appropriate design tailed for the needs of target learners.

Keywords: English as Foreign Language, EFL textbooks, learner corpus, modal verbs, native corpus

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Authors: Ingrid Ruzbarska, Martin Zvonar, Piotr Oleśniewicz, Julita Markiewicz-Patkowska, Krzysztof Widawski, Daniel Puciato

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Obese children will probably become obese adults, consequently exposed to an increased risk of comorbidity and premature mortality. Body weight may be indirectly determined by continuous development of coordination and motor skills. The level of motor skills and abilities is an important factor that promotes physical activity since early childhood. The aim of the study is to thoroughly understand the internal relations between motor coordination abilities and the somatic development of prepubertal children and to determine the effect of excess body weight on motor coordination by comparing the motor ability levels of children with different body mass index (BMI) values. The data were collected from 436 children aged 7–10 years, without health limitations, fully participating in school physical education classes. Body height was measured with portable stadiometers (Harpenden, Holtain Ltd.), and body mass—with a digital scale (HN-286, Omron). Motor coordination was evaluated with the Kiphard-Schilling body coordination test, Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder. The normality test by Shapiro-Wilk was used to verify the data distribution. The correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant negative association between the dynamic balance and BMI, as well as between the motor quotient and BMI (p<0.01) for both boys and girls. The results showed no effect of gender on the difference in the observed trends. The analysis of variance proved statistically significant differences between normal weight children and their overweight or obese counterparts. Coordination abilities probably play an important role in preventing or moderating the negative trajectory leading to childhood overweight and obesity. At this age, the development of coordination abilities should become a key strategy, targeted at long-term prevention of obesity and the promotion of an active lifestyle in adulthood. Motor performance is essential for implementing a healthy lifestyle in childhood already. Physical inactivity apparently results in motor deficits and a sedentary lifestyle in children, which may be accompanied by excess energy intake and overweight.

Keywords: childhood, KTK test, physical education, psychomotor competence

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Authors: Ashleigh Beales, Anne Whitworth, Jade Cartwright

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Background: While significant benefits of lexical retrieval intervention are evident within the Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) literature, an understanding of the mechanisms that underlie change or improvement is limited. Change mechanisms have been explored in the non-progressive post-stroke literature that may offer insight into how interventions affect change with progressive language disorders. The potential influences of cognitive factors may also play a role here, interacting with the aims of intervention. Exploring how such processes have been applied is likely to grow our understanding of how interventions have, or have not, been effective, and how and why generalisation is likely, or not, to occur. Aims: This review of the literature aimed to (1) investigate the proposed mechanisms of change which underpin lexical interventions, mapping the PPA and AD lexical retrieval literature to theoretical accounts of mechanisms that underlie change within the broader intervention literature, (2) identify whether and which nonlinguistic cognitive functions have been engaged in intervention with these populations and any proposed influence, and (3) explore evidence of linguistic generalisation, with particular reference to change mechanisms employed in interventions. Main contribution: A search of Medline, PsycINFO, and CINAHL identified 36 articles that reported data for individuals with PPA or AD following lexical retrieval intervention. A review of the mechanisms of change identified 10 studies that used stimulation, 21 studies utilised relearning, three studies drew on reorganisation, and two studies used cognitive-relay. Significant treatment gains, predominantly based on linguistic performance measures, were reported for all client groups for each of the proposed mechanisms. Reorganisation and cognitive-relay change mechanisms were only targeted in PPA. Eighteen studies incorporated nonlinguistic cognitive functions in intervention; these were limited to autobiographical memory (16 studies), episodic memory (three studies), or both (one study). Linguistic generalisation outcomes were inconsistently reported in PPA and AD studies. Conclusion: This review highlights that individuals with PPA and AD may benefit from lexical retrieval intervention, irrespective of the mechanism of change. Thorough application of a theory of intervention is required to gain a greater understanding of the change mechanisms, as well as the interplay of nonlinguistic cognitive functions.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, lexical retrieval, mechanisms of change, primary progressive aphasia

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Authors: Catarina Seco Matos, Miguel Amaral

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The developed world is facing falling birth rates and rising life expectancies. As a result, the overall demographic structure of societies is becoming markedly older. This leads to an economic and political pressure towards the extension of individuals’ working lives. On the other hand, evidence shows that some older workers choose to stay in the labour force as employees, whereas others choose to pursue a more entrepreneurial occupational path. Thus, entrepreneurship or self-employment may be an option for socioeconomic participation of older individuals. Previous research on senior entrepreneurship is scarce and it focuses mainly on entrepreneurship determinants and individuals’ intentions. The fact that entrepreneurship is perceived as a voluntary or involuntary decision or as a positive or a negative outcome by older individuals is, to the best of our knowledge, still unexplored in the literature. In order to analyse the determinants of entrepreneurial satisfaction among older individuals, primary data were obtained from a unique questionnaire survey, which was sent to Portuguese senior entrepreneurs who have launched their company aged 50 and over (N=181). Portugal is one of the countries in the world with the with the largest ageing population and with a high proportion of older individuals who remain active after their official retirement age – which makes it an extremely relevant case study on senior entrepreneurship. Findings suggest that non pecuniary factors (rather than pecuniary) are the main driver for entrepreneurship at older ages. Specifically, results show that the will to remain active is the main motivation of older individuals to become entrepreneurs. This is line with the activity and continuity theories. Furthermore, senior entrepreneurs tend to have had an active working life (using their professional experience as a proxy) and, thus, want to keep the same lifestyle at an older age (in line with theory of continuity). Finally, results show that even though older individuals’ companies may not show the best financial performance that does not seem to affect their satisfaction with the company and with entrepreneurship in general. The present study aims at exploring, discussing and bring new research on senior entrepreneurship to the fore, rather than assuming purely deductive approach; hence, further confirmatory analyses with larger sets from different countries of data are required.

Keywords: active ageing, entrepreneurship, older entrepreneur, Portugal, satisfaction, senior entrepreneur

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Authors: Rudi Ryacudu, Edi Artono, Gema Wahyudi Purnama

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Oil and gas consumption in Indonesia is currently on the rise due to its nation economic improvement. Unfortunately, Indonesia’s domestic oil production cannot meet it’s own consumption and Indonesia has lost its status as Oil and Gas exporter. Even worse, our conventional oil and gas reserve is declining. Unwilling to give up, the government of Indonesia has taken measures to invite investors to invest in domestic oil and gas exploration to find new potential reserve and ultimately increase production. Yet, it has not bear any fruit. Indonesia has taken steps now to explore new unconventional oil and gas play including Shale Gas, Shale Oil and Tight Sands to increase domestic production. These new plays require definite parameters to differentiate each concept. The purpose of this paper is to provide ways in defining unconventional hydrocarbon reservoir parameters in Shale Gas, Shale Oil and Tight Sands. The parameters would serve as an initial baseline for users to perform analysis of unconventional hydrocarbon plays. Some of the on going concerns or question to be answered in regards to unconventional hydrocarbon plays includes: 1. The TOC number, 2. Has it been well “cooked” and become a hydrocarbon, 3. What are the permeability and the porosity values, 4. Does it need a stimulation, 5. Does it has pores, and 6. Does it have sufficient thickness. In contrast with the common oil and gas conventional play, Shale Play assumes that hydrocarbon is retained and trapped in area with very low permeability. In most places in Indonesia, hydrocarbon migrates from source rock to reservoir. From this case, we could derive a theory that Kitchen and Source Rock are located right below the reservoir. It is the starting point for user or engineer to construct basin definition in relation with the tectonic play and depositional environment. Shale Play concept requires definition of characteristic, description and reservoir identification to discover reservoir that is technically and economically possible to develop. These are the steps users and engineers has to do to perform Shale Play: a. Calculate TOC and perform mineralogy analysis using water saturation and porosity value. b. Reconstruct basin that accumulate hydrocarbon c. Brittlenes Index calculated form petrophysical and distributed based on seismic multi attributes d. Integrated natural fracture analysis e. Best location to place a well.

Keywords: unconventional hydrocarbon, shale gas, shale oil tight sand reservoir parameters, shale play

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Authors: John K. Avor, Choong-Koo Chang

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The transfer of electrical loads at power generation stations from Standby Auxiliary Transformer (SAT) to Unit Auxiliary Transformer (UAT) and vice versa is through a fast bus transfer scheme. Fast bus transfer is a time-critical application where the transfer process depends on various parameters, thus transfer schemes apply advance algorithms to ensure power supply reliability and continuity. In a nuclear power generation station, supply continuity is essential, especially for critical class 1E electrical loads. Bus transfers must, therefore, be executed accurately within 4 to 10 cycles in order to achieve safety system requirements. However, the main problem is that there are instances where transfer schemes scrambled due to inaccurate interpretation of key parameters; and consequently, have failed to transfer several critical loads from UAT to the SAT during main generator trip event. Although several techniques have been adopted to develop robust transfer schemes, a combination of Artificial Neural Network and Fuzzy Systems (Neuro-Fuzzy) has not been extensively used. In this paper, we apply the concept of Neuro-Fuzzy to determine plant operating mode and dynamic prediction of the appropriate bus transfer algorithm to be selected based on the first cycle of voltage information. The performance of Sequential Fast Transfer and Residual Bus Transfer schemes was evaluated through simulation and integration of the Neuro-Fuzzy system. The objective for adopting Neuro-Fuzzy approach in the bus transfer scheme is to utilize the signal validation capabilities of artificial neural network, specifically the back-propagation algorithm which is very accurate in learning completely new systems. This research presents a combined effect of artificial neural network and fuzzy systems to accurately interpret key bus transfer parameters such as magnitude of the residual voltage, decay time, and the associated phase angle of the residual voltage in order to determine the possibility of high speed bus transfer for a particular bus and the corresponding transfer algorithm. This demonstrates potential for general applicability to improve reliability of the auxiliary power distribution system. The performance of the scheme is implemented on APR1400 nuclear power plant auxiliary system.

Keywords: auxiliary power system, bus transfer scheme, fuzzy logic, neural networks, reliability

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Authors: Haileyesus Tessema Alemneh, Abiyu Enyew Molla, Oluwole Daniel Makinde

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Introduction: Faba bean is one of the most important grown plants worldwide for humans and animals. Several biotic and abiotic elements have limited the output of faba beans, irrespective of their diverse significance. Many faba bean pathogens have been reported so far, of which the most important yield-limiting disease is chocolate spot disease (Botrytis fabae). The dynamics of disease transmission and decision-making processes for intervention programs for disease control are now better understood through the use of mathematical modeling. Currently, a lot of mathematical modeling researchers are interested in plant disease modeling. Objective: In this paper, a deterministic mathematical model for chocolate spot disease (CSD) on faba bean plant with an optimal control model was developed and analyzed to examine the best strategy for controlling CSD. Methodology: Three control interventions, quarantine (u2), chemical control (u3), and prevention (u1), are employed that would establish the optimal control model. The optimality system, characterization of controls, the adjoint variables, and the Hamiltonian are all generated employing Pontryagin’s maximum principle. A cost-effective approach is chosen from a set of possible integrated strategies using the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). The forward-backward sweep iterative approach is used to run numerical simulations. Results: The Hamiltonian, the optimality system, the characterization of the controls, and the adjoint variables were established. The numerical results demonstrate that each integrated strategy can reduce the diseases within the specified period. However, due to limited resources, an integrated strategy of prevention and uprooting was found to be the best cost-effective strategy to combat CSD. Conclusion: Therefore, attention should be given to the integrated cost-effective and environmentally eco-friendly strategy by stakeholders and policymakers to control CSD and disseminate the integrated intervention to the farmers in order to fight the spread of CSD in the Faba bean population and produce the expected yield from the field.

Keywords: CSD, optimal control theory, Pontryagin’s maximum principle, numerical simulation, cost-effectiveness analysis

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