Search results for: Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rates

Authors: Hector Carcel Luis Alberiko Gil-Alana

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This paper examines the time series behavior of three variables (GDP, Price level of Consumption and Population) in the eight countries that belong to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), which are Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The reason for carrying out this study lies in the considerable heterogeneity that can be perceived in the data from these countries. We conduct a long memory and fractional integration modeling framework and we also identify potential breaks in the data. The aim of the study is to perceive up to which degree the eight West African countries that belong to the same monetary union follow the same economic patterns of stability. Testing for mean reversion, we only found strong evidence of it in the case of Senegal for the Price level of Consumption, and in the cases of Benin, Burkina Faso and Senegal for GDP.

Keywords: West Africa, Monetary Union, fractional integration, economic patterns

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Authors: Aleš Florian, Lenka Ševelová, Jaroslav Žák

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Formation of tensile cracks in concrete slabs of rigid pavement can be (among others) the initiation point of the other, more serious failures which can ultimately lead to complete degradation of the concrete slab and thus the whole pavement. Two measures can be used for reliability assessment of this phenomenon - the probability of failure and/or the reliability index. Different methods can be used for their calculation. The simple ones are called moment methods and simulation techniques. Two methods - FOSM Method and Simple Random Sampling Method - are verified and their comparison is performed. The influence of information about the probability distribution and the statistical parameters of input variables as well as of the limit state function on the calculated reliability index and failure probability are studied in three points on the lower surface of concrete slabs of the older type of rigid pavement formerly used in the Czech Republic.

Keywords: failure, pavement, probability, reliability index, simulation, tensile crack

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Authors: Taylor Harris

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Gustilo-anderson grade III tibial fractures are exquisitely difficult injuries to manage as they require extensive soft tissue repair in addition to fracture fixation. These injuries are best managed collaboratively by Orthopedic and Plastic surgeons. While utilizing an Orthoplastics approach has decreased the rates of adverse outcomes in these injuries, there is a large amount of variation in exactly how an Orthoplastics team approaches complex cases such as these. It is sometimes recommended that definitive bone fixation and soft tissue coverage be completed simultaneously in a single-stage manner, but there is a paucity of large scale studies to provide evidence to support this recommendation. It is the aim of this study to report the outcomes of a single-stage "fix-and-flap" approach through a systematic review of the available literature. Hopefully, this better informs an evidence-based Orthoplastics approach to managing open tibial fractures. Systematic review of the literature was performed. Medline and Google Scholar were used and all studies published since 2000, in English were included. 103 studies were initially evaluated for inclusion. Reference lists of all included studies were also examined for potentially eligible studies. Gustilo grade III tibial shaft fractures in adults that were managed with a single-stage Orthoplastics approach were identified and evaluated with regard to outcomes of interest. Exclusion criteria included studies with patients <16 years old, case studies, systemic reviews, meta-analyses. Primary outcomes of interest were the rates of deep infections and rates of limb salvage. Secondary outcomes of interest included time to bone union, rates of non-union, and rates of re-operation. 15 studies were eligible. 11 of these studies reported rates of deep infection as an outcome, with rates ranging from 0.98%-20%. The pooled rate between studies was 7.34%. 7 studies reported rates of limb salvage with a range of 96.25%-100%. The pooled rate of the associated studies was 97.8%. 6 reported rates of non-union with a range of 0%-14%, a pooled rate of 6.6%. 6 reported time to bone union with a range of 24 to 40.3 weeks and a pooled average time of 34.2 weeks, and 4 reported rates of reoperation ranging from 7%-55%, with a pooled rate of 31.1%. A few studies that compared a single stage to a multi stage approach side-by-side unanimously favored the single stage approach. Outcomes of Gustilo grade III open tibial fractures utilizing an Orthoplastics approach that is specifically done in a single-stage produce low rates of adverse outcomes. Large scale studies of Orthoplastic collaboration that were not completed in strictly a single stage, or were completed in multiple stages, have not reported as favorable outcomes. We recommend that not only should Orthopedic surgeons and Plastic surgeons collaborate in the management of severe open tibial fracture, but they should plan to undergo definitive fixation and coverage in a single-stage for improved outcomes.

Keywords: orthoplastic, gustilo grade iii, single-stage, trauma, systematic review

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Authors: Taufik Hidayat, Yudha Nurhantari, Bambang U. D. Rianto

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Introduction: The examination of the Short Tandem Repeats (STR) locus on nuclear DNA is very useful in solving the paternity cases. The purpose of this study is to know the description of paternity cases and paternity index/probability of paternity analysis based on Indonesian allele frequency at Sardjito Hospital Yogyakarta. Method: This was an observational study with cross-sectional analytic method. Population and sample were all cases of disputed paternity from January 2011 to June 2015 that fulfill the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were examined at Forensic Medicine Unit of Sardjito Hospital, Medical Faculty of Gadjah Mada University. The paternity index was calculated with EasyDNA Program by Fung (2013). Analysis of the study was conducted by comparing the results through unpaired categorical test using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. This study was designed with 95% confidence interval (CI) with α = 5% and significance level is p < 0,05. Results: From 42 disputed paternity cases we obtained trio paternity cases were 32 cases (76.2%) and duo without a mother was 10 cases (23.8%). The majority of the fathers' estimated ages were 21-30 years (33.3%) and the mother's age was 31-40 years (38.1%). The majority of the ages of children examined for paternity were under 12 months (47.6%). The majority of ethnic clients are Javanese. Conclusion of inclusion was 57.1%, and exclusion was 42.9%. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test obtained p-value = 0.673. Conclusion: There is no significant difference between paternity index/probability of paternity based on Indonesian allele frequency between trio and duo of paternity.

Keywords: disputed paternity, paternity index, probability of paternity, short tandem

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Authors: Saad Bin Saeed, Fayzan Ahmed, Shahbaz Ahmed, Amjad Hussain

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The aim of this study is to evaluate dynamic log files (Dynalogs) at different dose rates by dose-volume histograms (DVH) and used as a (QA) procedure of IMRT. Seven patients of phase one head and neck cancer with similar OAR`s are selected randomly. Reference plans of dose rate 300 and 600 MU/Min with prescribed dose of 50Gy in 25 fractions for each patient is made. Dynalogs produced by delivery of reference plans processed by in-house MATLAB program which produces new field files contain actual positions of multi-leaf collimators (MLC`s) instead of planned positions in reference plans. Copies of reference plans are used to import new field files generated by MATLAB program and renamed as Dyn.plan. After dose calculations of Dyn.plans for different dose rates, DVH, and multiple linear regression tools are used to evaluate reference and Dyn.plans. The results indicate good agreement of correlation between different dose rate plans. The maximum dose difference among PTV and OAR`s are found to be less than 5% and 9% respectively. The study indicates the potential of dynalogs to be used as patient-specific QA of IMRT at different dose rate.

Keywords: IMRT, dynalogs, dose rate, DVH

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Authors: Salehah Tahkin, Norlaila Mustafa, Dayang Anita Abdul Aziz

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Knowledge of medical ethics is important to all practitioners so the best care can be delivered to all patients through safe practice. Surgeons are not exceptions to this. Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of medical ethics among paediatric surgeons and trainees in Malaysia has not been evaluated before. This study aims to determine the level of KAP regarding medical ethics among these groups. This was a cross-sectional study involving three groups of samples, i.e., paediatric surgeons (PS), paediatric surgical trainees (PST), and medical officers with a special interest in paediatric surgery (MO). A validated KAP questionnaire was used. Standard formulas were used to calculate objective indexes for measuring KAP, which were then compared for statistical significance across different sample groups; p less than 0.05 is taken as significant. The index is rated into 5 classes using a score of 0 to 10, i.e., poor (1-2.99), fair (3-4.99), good (5-6.99), very good (7-8.99), and excellent (9-10). There were 117 samples, i.e., PS n=45 (38.5%), PST n=25 (21.3%), and MO n=47 (40.2%). For knowledge, all three groups display a good index score (mean score of 5.44). For attitude, PS and MO also display an index score of good (mean score of 5.81), while the PST index score was fair (4.82). For practice, our study shows a highest score of 7.14 (very good) among PST. However, these differences were not statistically significant (p> 0.05). Conclusion: Training in paediatric surgery must continue to emphasize professionalism and medical ethics education to deliver the best health care services.

Keywords: KAP, medical ethics, paediatric, surgeons, trainees

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Authors: Sunmyeng Kim

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IEEE 802.11a/b/g standards provide multiple transmission rates, which can be changed dynamically according to the channel condition.Cooperative communications we reintroduced to improve the overallperformance of wireless LANs with the help of relay nodes with higher transmission rates. The cooperative communications are based on the fact that the transmission is much faster when sending data packets to a destination node through a relay node with higher transmission rate, rather than sending data directly to the destination node at low transmission rate. To apply the cooperative communications in wireless LAN, several MAC protocols have been proposed. Some of them can result in collisions among relay nodes in a dense network. In order to solve this problem, we propose a new protocol. Relay nodes are grouped based on their transmission rates. And then, relay nodes only in the highest group try to get channel access. Performance evaluation is conducted using simulation, and shows that the proposed protocol significantly outperforms the previous protocol in terms of throughput and collision probability.

Keywords: cooperative communications, MAC protocol, relay node, WLAN

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a severe health problem which is common among obese individuals. The components of MetS are rather stable in adults compared to the components discussed for children. Due to the ambiguity in this group of the population, how to diagnose MetS in morbid obese (MO) children still constitutes a matter of discussion. For this purpose, a formula, which facilitates the diagnosis of MetS in MO children, was investigated. The aim of this study was to develop a formula which was capable of discriminating MO children with and without MetS findings. Study population comprised MO children. Age and sex-dependent body mass index (BMI) percentiles of the children were above 99. Metabolic syndrome components were also determined. Elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP and DBP), elevated fasting blood glucose (FBG), elevated triglycerides (TRG), and/or depressed high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in addition to central obesity were listed as MetS components for each child. Presence of at least two of these components confirmed that the case was MetS. Two groups were constituted. In the first group, there were forty-two MO children without MetS components. Second group was composed of forty-four MO children with at least two MetS components. Anthropometric measurements, including weight, height, waist, and hip circumferences, were performed following physical examination. Body mass index and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance values were calculated. Informed consent forms were obtained from the parents of the children. Institutional Non-Interventional Ethics Committee approved the study design. Blood pressure values were recorded. Routine biochemical analysis, including FBG, insulin (INS), TRG, HDL-C were performed. The performance and the clinical utility of the Diagnostic Obesity Notation Model Assessment Metabolic Syndrome Index (DONMA MetS index) [(INS/FBG)/(HDL-C/TRG)*100] was tested. Appropriate statistical tests were applied to the study data. p value smaller than 0.05 was defined as significant. Metabolic syndrome index values were 41.6±5.1 in MO group and 104.4±12.8 in MetS group. Corresponding values for HDL-C values were 54.5±13.2 mg/dl and 44.2±11.5 mg/dl. There were statistically significant differences between the groups (p<0.001). Upon evaluation of the correlations between MetS index and HDL-C values, a much stronger negative correlation was found in MetS group (r=-0.515; p=0.001) in comparison with the correlation detected in MO group (r=-0.371; p=0.016). From these findings, it was concluded that the statistical significance degree of the difference between MO and MetS groups was highly acceptable for this recently introduced MetS index as expected. This was due to the involvement of all of the biochemically defined MetS components into the index. This is particularly important because each of these four parameters used in the formula is cardiac risk factor. Aside from discriminating MO children with and without MetS findings, MetS index introduced in this study is important from the cardiovascular risk point of view in MetS group of children.

Keywords: children, fasting blood glucose, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, index, insulin, metabolic syndrome, morbid obesity, triglycerides.

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Authors: Mojtaba Heydarizad

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Khorasan Razavi is the second most important province in north-east of Iran, which faces a water shortage crisis due to recent droughts and huge water consummation. Kardeh and Torogh dam reservoirs in this province provide a notable part of Mashhad metropolitan (with more than 4.5 million inhabitants) potable water needs. Hydrochemical analyses on these dam reservoirs samples demonstrate that MgHCO₃ in Kardeh and CaHCO₃ and to lower extent MgHCO₃ water types in Torogh dam reservoir are dominant. On the other hand, Gibbs binary diagram demonstrates that rock weathering is the main factor controlling water quality in dam reservoirs. Plotting dam reservoir samples on Mg²⁺/Na⁺ and HCO₃^-/Na⁺ vs. Ca²⁺/ Na⁺ diagrams demonstrate evaporative and carbonate mineral dissolution is the dominant rock weathering ion sources in these dam reservoirs. Cluster Analyses (CA) also demonstrate intense role of rock weathering mainly (carbonate and evaporative minerals dissolution) in water quality of these dam reservoirs. Studying water quality by the U.S. National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) WQI index NSF-WQI, Oregon Water Quality Index (OWQI) and Canadian Water Quality Index DWQI index show moderate and good quality.

Keywords: hydrochemistry, water quality classification, water quality indexes, Torogh and Kardeh dam reservoir

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Authors: Omar Ibrahim, Aly A. Gaafar, K. A. Ratib

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Two field experiments in micro plots were carried out during the winter seasons of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014, Soil Salinity Laboratory, Alexandria, Egypt, to study the effect of three levels of salicylic acid (SA) as a growth regulator (0, 50, 100 ppm) and three rates of nitrogen fertilizer (75, 100, 125 kg N/feddan) on growth and yield of a spring wheat (Giza 168). The experimental design was a split plot with the main plots in randomized complete block design (RCBD) and four replicates. The results indicated that increasing nitrogen fertilizer rates resulted in insignificant effect on both plant height (cm) and grain weight/spike only. However, a significant effect was observed in all the other studied characters due to the increase in nitrogen fertilizer. On the other hand, increasing salicylic acid rates resulted in insignificant effect in all the studied characters except for chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, number of grain/spike, and grain yield (gm/ plot). The highest effects on grain yield in wheat were obtained by the rate of 125 kg/feddan of nitrogen fertilizer and 100 ppm of salicylic acid. In conclusion, the data indicated that a high grain yield could be obtained by adding 100 kg/feddan of nitrogen fertilizer and spraying of 50 ppm of salicylic acid with no significant difference with the highest rates. Finally, the interaction had no significant effect on all the studied characters.

Keywords: growth regulator, nitrogen fertilizer, spring wheat, salicylic acid

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Authors: Chang-Fa Liu, Yi-Ting Wang, Yuan Liu, Hai-Feng Wei, Lei Fang, Jin Li

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Heavy metals in sediments can cause adverse ecological effects while it exceeds a given criteria. The present study investigated sediment environmental quality, pollutant enrichment, ecological risk, and source identification for copper, cadmium, lead, zinc, mercury, and arsenic in the sediments collected from tidal flat marsh of Shuangtai estuary, China. The arithmetic mean integrated pollution index, geometric mean integrated pollution index, fuzzy integrated pollution index, and principal component score were used to characterize sediment environmental quality; fuzzy similarity and geo-accumulation Index were used to evaluate pollutant enrichment; correlation matrix, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis were used to identify source of pollution; environmental risk index and potential ecological risk index were used to assess ecological risk. The environmental qualities of sediment are classified to very low degree of contamination or low contamination. The similar order to element background of soil in the Liaohe plain is region of Sanjiaozhou, Honghaitan, Sandaogou, Xiaohe by pollutant enrichment analysis. The source identification indicates that correlations are significantly among metals except between copper and cadmium. Cadmium, lead, zinc, mercury, and arsenic will be clustered in the same clustering as the first principal component. Copper will be clustered as second principal component. The environmental risk assessment level will be scaled to no risk in the studied area. The order of potential ecological risk is As > Cd > Hg > Cu > Pb > Zn.

Keywords: ecological risk assessment, heavy metals, sediment, marsh, Shuangtai estuary

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Authors: Jeonghyun Chang, Taegeun Lee, Heungsup Sung, Yoon-Seon Lee, Youn-Jung Kim, Mi-Na Kim

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Background: Safety device has been applied to improve safety and performance of blood culture practice. BD vacutainer® Safety-Lokᵀᴹ blood collection sets with pre-attached holder (Safety-Lok) (BD, USA) was evaluated in the emergency room (ER) of a tertiary care hospital. Methods: From April to June 2017, interns and nurses in ER were surveyed for blood culture practices with a questionnaire before and after 2 or 3 weeks of experience of Safety-Lok. All of them participated in exercise workshop for 1 hour combined with video education prior to the initial survey. The blood volume, positive and contamination rates of Safety-Lok-drawn (SD) blood cultures were compared to those of overall blood cultures. Results: Eighteen interns and 30 nurses were enrolled. As a result of the initial survey, interns had higher rates of needlestick incidence (27.8%), carriage of the blood-filled syringe with needle (88.9%) and lower rates of vacutainer use (38.9%) than nurses (13.3%, 53.3%, and 60.0%). Interns preferred to use safety devices (88.9%) rather than nurses (40.0%). The number of overall blood cultures and SD blood cultures was 9,053 and 555, respectively. While the overall blood volume of aerobic bottles was 2.6±2.1 mL, those of SD blood cultures were 5.0±3.0 mL in aerobic bottles and 6.0±3.0 mL in anaerobic bottles. Positive and contamination rates were 6.5% and 0.72% with SD blood cultures and 6.2% and 0.3% with overall blood cultures. Conclusions: The introduction of the safety device would encourage healthcare workers to collect adequate blood volume as well as lead to safer practices in the ER.

Keywords: blood culture, needlestick, safety device, volume

Procedia PDF Downloads 189

Authors: Ilma Robo, Saimir Heta, Greta Plaka, Vera Ostreni

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Purpose: Drug gingival hyperplasia is an uncommon pathology encountered during routine work in dental units. The purpose of this paper is to present the clinical appearance of gingival hyperplasia caused by medications. There are already three classes of medications that cause hyperplasia and based on data from the literature, the clinical cases encountered and included in this study have been compared. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a total of 311 patients, out of which 182 patients were included in our study, meeting the inclusion criteria. After each patient's history was recorded and it was found that patients were in their knowledge of chronic illness, undergoing treatment of gingivitis hypertrophic drugs was performed with a clinical examination of oral cavity and assessment by vertical and horizontal evaluation according to the periodontal indexes. Results: Of the data collected during the study, it was observed that 97% of patients with gingival hyperplasia are treated with nifedipine. 84% of patients treated with selected medicines and gingival hyperplasia in the oral cavity has been exposed at time period for more than 1 year and 1 month. According to the GOI, in the first rank of this index are about 21% of patients, in the second rank are 52%, in the third rank are 24% and in the fourth grade are 3%. According to the horizontal growth index of gingival hyperplasia, grade 1 included about 61% of patients and grade 2 included about 39% of patients with gingival hyperplasia. Bacterial index divides patients by degrees: grading 0 - 8.2%, grading 1 - 32.4%, grading 2 - 14% and grading 3 - 45.1%. Conclusions: The highest percentage of gingival hyperplasia caused by drugs is due to dosing of nifedipine for a duration of dosing and application for systemic healing for more than 1 year.

Keywords: drug gingival hyperplasia, horizontal growth index, vertical growth index

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Authors: Wipanee Maen-In

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This research aims to study the tourism marketing and the trip behaviors profile of international tourists who visited Phuket in Thailand and study the influence of their selected demographic characters on their selected trip behaviors. The study was conducted through survey by using questionnaires asking 400 sample respondents from international tourists who visited Phuket. The result found out that type of group travel is the key variable that indicates higher and lower daily spending tourists, tourists spend more when they visit with their family. Trip arrangement is the key variables that indicate shorter and longer stay tourists. From these findings, it is recommended that both private and public sectors should make marketing to potential tourists in order to increase tourism revenue and to be a sustainable tourism, all of agencies that involves in Phuket tourism industry should coordinate to satisfy tourists to revisit and recommend Phuket to friends and relatives.

Keywords: consumer behavior, international tourists, Phuket province, tourism marketing

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Authors: Wen-Hsien Huang, Hsu-Ting Hsu

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While advertisers often use animal metaphors to promote product performance, representing through the use of a product image together with an animal-like messenger to imply the undesirable health states of not using the product, the effect of such metaphors on persuasion remains unclear. The current research addresses this issue by investigating how consumers perceive and react to animal metaphor advertising in the context of product promotion. Three studies are carried out using field and experimental data. The findings demonstrate that animal metaphor ads are less persuasive than non-metaphor ads and that ads with animal-like messengers (as opposed to human messengers) activate stronger dehumanization perceptions, which in turn lead to lower product choice, product evaluation and purchase intention, regardless of whether the animal metaphors are presented visually in the picture or verbally in the headline. Furthermore, when the metaphorical pairing includes a more disliked animal, consumer reaction was less favorable. The implications of the findings for advertisers considering the use of animalized messengers are discussed.

Keywords: animal metaphor, dehumanization, product evaluation, health communication

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Authors: Hasan Ustun Basaran

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Diesel engines are widely used in transportation sector due to their high thermal efficiency. However, they also release high rates of NOₓ and PM (particulate matter) emissions into the environment which have hazardous effects on human health. Therefore, environmental protection agencies have issued strict emission regulations on automotive diesel engines. Recently, these regulations are even increasingly strengthened. Engine producers search novel on-engine methods such as advanced combustion techniques, utilization of renewable fuels, exhaust gas recirculation, advanced fuel injection methods or use exhaust after-treatment (EAT) systems in order to reduce emission rates on diesel engines. Although those aforementioned on-engine methods are effective to curb emission rates, they result in inefficiency or cannot decrease emission rates satisfactorily at all operating conditions. Therefore, engine manufacturers apply both on-engine techniques and EAT systems to meet the stringent emission norms. EAT systems are highly effective to diminish emission rates, however, they perform inefficiently at low loads due to low exhaust gas temperatures (below 250°C). Therefore, the objective of this study is to demonstrate that engine-out temperatures can be elevated above 250°C at low-loaded cases via cylinder disablement. The engine studied and modeled via Lotus Engine Simulation (LES) software is a six-cylinder turbocharged and intercooled diesel engine. Exhaust temperatures and mass flow rates are predicted at 1200 rpm engine speed and several low loaded conditions using LES program. It is seen that cylinder deactivation results in a considerable exhaust temperature rise (up to 100°C) at low loads which ensures effective EAT management. The method also improves fuel efficiency through reduced total pumping loss. Decreased total air induction due to inactive cylinders is thought to be responsible for improved engine pumping loss. The technique reduces exhaust gas flow rate as air flow is cut off on disabled cylinders. Still, heat transfer rates to the after-treatment catalyst bed do not decrease that much since exhaust temperatures are increased sufficiently. Simulation results are promising; however, further experimental studies are needed to identify the true potential of the method on fuel consumption and EAT improvement.

Keywords: cylinder disablement, diesel engines, exhaust after-treatment, exhaust temperature, fuel efficiency

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Authors: S. Olyaee, M. Seifouri, A. Nikoosohbat, M. Shams Esfand Abadi

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Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCFs) can be used in optical communications as transmission lines. For this reason, the PCFs with low confinement loss, low chromatic dispersion, and low nonlinear effects are highly suitable transmission media. In this paper, we introduce a new design of index-guiding photonic crystal fiber (IG-PCF) with ultra-low chromatic dispersion, low nonlinearity effects, and low confinement loss. Relatively low dispersion is achieved in the wavelength range of 1200 to 1600 nm using the proposed design. According to the new structure of IG-PCF presented in this study, the chromatic dispersion slope is -30(ps/km.nm) and the confinement loss reaches below 10-7 dB/km. While in the wavelength range mentioned above at the same time an effective area of more than 50.2μm2 is obtained.

Keywords: optical communication systems, index-guiding, dispersion, confinement loss, photonic crystal fiber

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Authors: T. A. Khan, A. B. Khan, M. Babar, T. A. Taj, Imran Ijaz Imran

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Smart Meter is a key element in the evolving concept of Smart Grid, which plays an important role in interaction between the consumer and the supplier. In general, the smart meter is an intelligent digital energy meter that measures the consumption of electrical energy and provides other additional services as compared to the conventional energy meters. One of the important element that makes a meter smart and different is its communication module. Smart meters usually have two way and real-time communication between the consumer and the supplier through which its transfer data and information. In this paper, Ultra Wide Band (UWB) is recommended as communication platform because of its high data-rate and presents the physical layer, which could be easily incorporated in existing Smart Meters. The physical layer is simulated in MATLAB Simulink and the results are provided.

Keywords: Ultra Wide Band (UWB), Smart Meter, MATLAB, transfer data

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Authors: Fatihin Khoirul, Muhammad Muqorrobin Ist

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Bojonegoro Regency is one of the districts that use the concept Agropolitan as the Territorial Development Policy. Three sub-district designated as Area Development District of Agropolitan are Kapas, Dander, and Kalitidu or commonly called KADEKA. Current policy has been shown results, but there was an inequality of results in some areas. One of them occurred in the Ngringinrejo village with the main commodities is Starfruit and Wedi village with the main commodities is Salak fruit. Therefore, a comparative study is used to search for causal factors of inequality result of the policy by using the 5 aspects compared, namely: (1) Management Development Agropolitan; (2) Physical Condition agropolitan Region; (3) Implementing Agency at the Village Level; (4) Village Government Support; and (5) Community support. Based on the discussion of qualitative analysis, it was found that five aspects have their respective roles in creating inequality of outcomes that occur in both villages. But beyond that, there are conditions where the two villages experienced the same condition that is when the initial implementation of the policy. The condition is referred to as 'the phenomenon of price trap.' The condition is caused by lower commodity prices, causing the village government's commitment in implementing policies too low, followed by public awareness in support of the policy is also low, so care for commodities is also low, and the quality is too low lead and eventually back causing low price. However, the difference is that the village Ngringinrejo able to get out of this condition with 'the new culture of administration' at the end of 2013. While the conditions in the village of Wedi compounded by not respected request assistance by the irrigation district.

Keywords: comparative policy analysis, qualitative comparative, inequallity, price trap, new culture of administration

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Authors: Bharat Singh Deora, Sushma Satpute

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Cloud computing is based on resource sharing. Like other resources which can be shareable, storage is a resource which can be shared. We can use collective resources of storage from different locations and maintain a central index table for storage details. The storage combining of different places can form a suitable data storage which is operated from one location and is very economical. Proper storage of data should improve data reliability & availability and bandwidth utilization. Also, we are moving the contents of one storage to other according to our need.

Keywords: cloud computing, cloud storage, Iaas, PaaS, SaaS

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Authors: Andrew Gray, Zhibing Zhang

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The ability for consumer products to deliver a sustained perfume response can be a key driver for a variety of applications. Many compounds in perfume oils are highly volatile, meaning they readily evaporate once the product is applied, and the longevity of the scent is poor. Perfume capsules have been introduced as a means of abating this evaporation once the product has been delivered. The impermeable capsules are aimed to be stable within the formulation, and remain intact during delivery to the desired substrate, only rupturing to release the core perfume oil through application of mechanical force applied by the consumer. This opens up the possibility of obtaining an olfactive response hours, weeks or even months after delivery, depending on the nature of the desired application. Tailoring the properties of the polymeric capsules to better address the needs of the application is not a trivial challenge and currently design of capsules is largely done by trial and error. The aim of this work is to have more predictive methods for capsule design depending on the consumer application. This means refining formulations such that they rupture at the right time for the specific consumer application, not too early, not too late. Finding the right balance between these extremes is essential if a benefit is sought with respect to neat addition of perfume to formulations. It is important to understand the forces that influence capsule rupture, first, by quantifying the magnitude of these different forces, and then by assessing bulk rupture in real-world applications to understand how capsules actually respond. Samples were provided by an industrial partner and the mechanical properties of individual capsules within the samples were characterized via a micromanipulation technique, developed by Professor Zhang at the University of Birmingham. The capsules were synthesized such as to change one particular physicochemical property at a time, such as core: wall material ratio, and the average size of capsules. Analysis of shell thickness via Transmission Electron Microscopy, size distribution via the use of a Mastersizer, as well as a variety of other techniques confirmed that only one particular physicochemical property was altered for each sample. The mechanical analysis was subsequently undertaken, showing the effect that changing certain capsule properties had on the response under compression. It was, however, important to link this fundamental mechanical response to capsule performance in real-world applications. As such, the capsule samples were introduced to a formulation and exposed to full scale stresses. GC-MS headspace analysis of the perfume oil released from broken capsules enabled quantification of what the relative strengths of capsules truly means for product performance. Correlations have been found between the mechanical strength of capsule samples and performance in terms of perfume release in consumer applications. Having a better understanding of the key parameters that drive performance benefits the design of future formulations by offering better guidelines on the parameters that can be adjusted without worrying about the performance effects, and singles out those parameters that are essential in finding the sweet spot for capsule performance.

Keywords: consumer products, mechanical and physicochemical properties, perfume capsules, rupture behaviour

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Authors: S. Olyaee, M. Seifouri, A. Nikoosohbat, M. Shams Esfand Abadi

Abstract:

Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCFs) can be used in optical communications as transmission lines. For this reason, the PCFs with low confinement loss, low chromatic dispersion, and low nonlinear effects are highly suitable transmission media. In this paper, we introduce a new design of index-guiding nanostructured photonic crystal fiber (IG-NPCF) with ultra-low chromatic dispersion, low nonlinearity effects, and low confinement loss. Relatively low dispersion is achieved in the wavelength range of 1200 to 1600nm using the proposed design. According to the new structure of nanostructured PCF presented in this study, the chromatic dispersion slope is -30(ps/km.nm) and the confinement loss reaches below 10-7 dB/km. While in the wavelength range mentioned above at the same time an effective area of more than 50.2μm2 is obtained.

Keywords: optical communication systems, nanostructured, index-guiding, dispersion, confinement loss, photonic crystal fiber

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Authors: Trina Isabel D. Santiago, Juan Raphael M. Perez, Maria Angelica O. Soriano, Teresita B. Suing, Jumee F. Tayaban

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To achieve universal healthcare for everyone, the World Health Organization has emphasized the importance of National Medicines Policies for increased accessibility and utilization of high-quality and affordable medications. In the Philippines, significant challenges have been identified surrounding the sustainability of essential medicines, resulting in limited access such as high cost and dominance and market dominance and monopoly of multinational companies (MNCs) in the Philippine pharmaceutical industry. These identified challenges have been addressed by several initiatives, such as the Philippine National Drug Policy and Generics Act of 1988 (Republic Act 6675), to attempt to reduce drug prices. Despite these efforts, the concerns with drug accessibility and affordability continue to persist; hence, Republic Act 9502 was enacted. This paper attempts to review RA 9502 in the pursuit of making medicines more affordable for Filipinos, analyze and critique the problems and challenges associated with the law, and provide recommendations to address identified problems and challenges. A literature search and review, as well as an analysis of the law, has been done to evaluate the policy. RA 9502 recognizes the importance of market competition in drug price reduction and quality medicine accessibility. Contentious issues prior to enactment of the law include 1) parallel importation, pointing out that the drug price will depend on the global market price, 2) contrasting approaches in the drafting of the law as the House version focused on medicine price control while the Senate version prioritized market competition, and 3) MNCs opposing the amendments with concerns on discrimination, constitutional violations, and noncompliance with international treaty obligations. There are also criticisms and challenges with the implementation of the law in terms of content or modeling, interpretation and implementation, and other external factors or hindrances. The law has been criticized for its narrow scope as it only covers specific essential medicines with no cooperation with the national health insurance program. Moreover, the law has sections taking advantage of the TRIPS flexibilities, which disallow smaller countries to reap the benefits of flexibilities. The sanctions and penalties have an insignificant role in implementation as they only ask for a small portion of the income of MNCs. Proposed recommendations for policy improvement include aligning existing legislation through strengthened price regulation and expanded law coverage, strengthening penalties to promote law adherence, and promoting research and development to encourage and support local initiatives. Through these comprehensive recommendations, the issues surrounding the policy can be addressed, and the goal of enhancing the affordability and accessibility of medicines in the country can be achieved.

Keywords: drug accessibility, drug affordability, price regulation, Republic Act 9502

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Authors: Anupam Sibal

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Whatever is measured tends to improve. With a view to objectively measuring and improving clinical quality across the Apollo Group Hospitals, the initiative of ACE @ 25 (Apollo Clinical Excellence@25) was launched on Jan 09. ACE @ 25 is a clinically balanced scorecard incorporating 25 clinical quality parameters involving complication rates, mortality rates, one-year survival rates and average length of stay after major procedures like liver and renal transplant, CABG, TKR, THR, TURP, PTCA, endoscopy, large bowel resection and MRM covering all major specialties. Also included are hospital acquired infection rates, pain satisfaction and medication errors. Benchmarks have been chosen from the world’s best hospitals. There are weighted scores for outcomes color coded green, orange and red. The cumulative score is 100. Data is reported monthly by 43 Group Hospitals online on the Lighthouse platform. Action taken reports for parameters falling in red are submitted quarterly and reviewed by the board. An audit team audits the data at all locations every six months. Scores are linked to appraisal of the medical head and there is an “ACE @ 25” Champion Award for the highest scorer. Scores for different parameters were variable from green to red at the start of the initiative. Most hospitals showed an improvement in scores over the last four years for parameters where they had showed scores in red or orange at the start of the initiative. The overall scores for the group have shown an increase from 72 in 2010 to 81 in 2015.

Keywords: benchmarks, clinical quality, lighthouse, platform, scores

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Authors: Tshegofatso Galekgathege

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Poor water quality is of great concern to human health as it can cause disease outbreaks. A standard practice today, in developed countries, is that people should be provided with safe-reliable drinking water, as safe drinking water is recognized as a basic human right and a cost effective measure of reducing diseases. Over 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to a safe water supply and as a result, the majority are forced to use polluted surface or groundwater. It is widely accepted that our water supply systems are susceptible to the intentional or accidental contamination .Water quality degradation may occur anywhere in the path that water takes from the water source to the consumer. Chlorine is believed to be an effective tool in disinfecting water, but its concentration may decrease with time due to consumption by chemical reactions. This shows that we are at the risk of being infected by waterborne diseases if chlorine in water falls below the required level of 0.2-1mg/liter which should be maintained in water and some contaminants enter into the water distribution system. It is believed that the lack of adequate sanitation also contributes to the contamination of water globally. This study therefore, assesses drinking water contamination from the source to the consumer by identifying the point vulnerable to contamination from the source to the consumer in the study area .To identify the point vulnerable to contamination, water was sampled monthly from boreholes, water treatment plant, water distribution system (WDS), service reservoirs and consumer taps from all the twenty (20) villages of Palapye region. Sampled water was then taken to the laboratory for testing and analysis of microbiological and chemical parameters. Water quality analysis were then compared with Botswana drinking water quality standards (BOS32:2009) to see if they comply. Major sources of water contamination identified during site visits were the livestock which were found drinking stagnant water from leaking pipes in 90 percent of the villages. Soils structure around the area was negatively affected because of livestock movement even vegetation in the area. In conclusion microbiological parameters of water in the study area do not comply with drinking water standards, some microbiological parameters in water indicated that livestock do not only affect land degradation but also the quality of water. Chlorine has been applied to water over some years but it is not effective enough thus preventative measures have to be developed, to prevent contaminants from reaching water. Remember: Prevention is better than cure.

Keywords: land degradation, leaking systems, livestock, water contamination

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Authors: Mustafa Metin Donma

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Circumference measurements are important because they are easily obtained values for the identification of the weight gain without determining body fat. They may give meaningful information about the varying stages of obesity. Besides, some formulas may be derived from a number of body circumference measurements to estimate body fat. Waist (WC), hip (HC) and neck (NC) circumferences are currently the most frequently used measurements. The aim of this study was to develop a formula derived from these three anthropometric measurements, each giving a valuable information independently, to question whether their combined power within a formula was capable of being helpful for the differential diagnosis of morbid obesity without metabolic syndrome (MetS) from MetS. One hundred and eighty seven children were recruited from the pediatrics outpatient clinic of Tekirdag Namik Kemal University Faculty of Medicine. The parents of the participants were informed about asked to fill and sign the consent forms. The study was carried out according to the Helsinki Declaration. The study protocol was approved by the institutional non-interventional ethics committee. The study population was divided into four groups as normal-body mass index (N-BMI), obese (OB), morbid obese (MO) and MetS, which were composed of 35, 44, 75 and 33 children, respectively. Age- and gender-adjusted BMI percentile values were used for the classification of groups. The children in MetS group were selected based upon the nature of the MetS components described as MetS criteria. Anthropometric measurements, laboratory analysis and statistical evaluation confined to study population were performed. Body mass index values were calculated. A circumference index, advanced Donma circumference index (ADCI) was introduced as WC*HC/NC. The statistical significance degree was chosen as p value smaller than 0.05. Body mass index values were 17.7±2.8, 24.5±3.3, 28.8±5.7, 31.4±8.0 kg/m2, for N-BMI, OB, MO, MetS groups, respectively. The corresponding values for ADCI were 165±35, 240±42, 270±55, and 298±62. Significant differences were obtained between BMI values of N-BMI and OB, MO, MetS groups (p=0.001). Obese group BMI values also differed from MO group BMI values (p=0.001). However, the increase in MetS group compared to MO group was not significant (p=0.091). For the new index, significant differences were obtained between N-BMI and OB, MO, MetS groups (p=0.001). Obese group ADCI values also differed from MO group ADCI values (p=0.015). A significant difference between MO and MetS groups was detected (p=0.043). The correlation coefficient value and the significance check of the correlation was found between BMI and ADCI as r=0.0883 and p=0.001 upon consideration of all participants. In conclusion, in spite of the strong correlation between BMI and ADCI values obtained when all groups were considered, ADCI, but not BMI, was the index, which was capable of differentiating cases with morbid obesity from cases with morbid obesity and MetS.

Keywords: anthropometry, body mass index, child, circumference, metabolic syndrome, obesity

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Authors: Sarka Langer, Despoina Teli, Blanka Cabovska, Jan-Olof Dalenbäck, Lars Ekberg, Gabriel Bekö, Pawel Wargocki, Natalia Giraldo Vasquez

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The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of various ventilation systems on indoor climate, air pollution, chemistry, and perception. Measurements of thermal environment and indoor air quality were performed in 45 primary school classrooms in Gothenburg, Sweden. The classrooms were grouped into three categories according to their ventilation system: category A) natural or exhaust ventilation or automated window opening; category B) balanced mechanical ventilation systems with constant air volume (CAV); and category C) balanced mechanical ventilation systems with variable air volume (VAV). A questionnaire survey about indoor air quality, perception of temperature, odour, noise and light, and sensation of well-being, alertness focus, etc., was distributed among the 10-12 years old children attending the classrooms. The results (medians) showed statistically significant differences between ventilation category A and categories B and C, but not between categories B and C in air change rates, median concentrations of carbon dioxide, individual volatile organic compounds formaldehyde and isoprene, in-door-to-outdoor ozone ratios and products of ozonolysis of squalene, a constituent of human skin oils, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one and decanal. Median ozone concentration, ozone loss -a difference between outdoor and indoor ozone concentrations- were different only between categories A and C. Median concentration of total VOCs and a perception index based on survey responses on perceptions and sensations indoors were not significantly different. In conclusion, ventilation systems have an impact on air change rates, indoor air quality, and chemistry, but the Swedish primary school children’s perception did not differ with the ventilation systems of the classrooms.

Keywords: indoor air pollutants, indoor climate, indoor chemistry, air change rate, perception

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Authors: Raja Irfan Sabir, Nargis Dewan

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This study examines the role of SMS marketing on perception of young consumers and its impact on society by keeping in mind the culture, values and communication norms of Pakistan. The study focused on the consumer’s perception towards SMS Marketing of Entertainment, Informativeness, Credibility and Irritation factor which can have influence on the perception of young consumer positively or negatively. It’s also observed that some of the message contents do have good or bad impact on the society’s norm. The result derived from a sample of 200 consumers indicate that communication medium ‘SMS marketing’ positively influence the consumers perception but the messages that consumers receive from these companies are against the social norms and have bad impact. So Pakistani entrepreneurs of cellular industries should be more aware that there is need to somehow modify their message content strategies according to culture, norms and values of our society and environmental situation.

Keywords: SMS marketing, messages content, consumers’ perception, cultural values and norms

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Authors: Marcos Centurion-Vicencio

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This study discusses the idea of ‘dominance’ in economic policy and its practical influence over monetary decisions. The discretionary use of repurchase agreements in Brazil over the period 2006-2016 and its effects on the overall price level are the specific issues we will be focusing on. The set of in-depth interviews carried out with public servants at the Brazilian central bank and national treasury, alongside data collected from the National Institution of Statistics (IBGE), suggest that monetary and fiscal dominance do not differ in nature once the assumption of depoliticized central bankers is relaxed. In both regimes, the pursuit of private gains via public institutions affects price stability. While short-sighted politicians in the latter are at the origin of poor monetary decisions, the action of short-sighted financial interest groups is likely to generate a similar outcome in the former. This study then contributes to rethinking monetary policy theory as well as the nature of public borrowing.

Keywords: fiscal and monetary interactions, interest groups, monetary capture, public borrowing

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Authors: Natalia M. Acevedo, Luis M. Jimenez, Erick Lambis

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Imperfections in the capital market are used to argue the relevance of the corporate risk management function. With corporate hedge, the value of the company is increased by reducing the volatility of the expected cash flow and making it possible to face a lower bankruptcy costs and financial difficulties, without sacrificing tax advantages for debt financing. With the propose to avoid exchange rate troubles over cash flows of Colombian exporting firms, this dissertation uses financial options, over exchange rate between Peso and Dollar, for realizing a financial hedge. In this study, a strategy of hedge is designed for an exporting company in Colombia with the objective of preventing fluctuations because, if the exchange rate down, the number of Colombian pesos that obtains the company by exports, is less than agreed. The exchange rate of Colombia is measured by the TRM (Representative Market Rate), representing the number of Colombian pesos for an American dollar. First, the TMR is modelled through the Geometric Brownian Motion, with this, the project price is simulated using Montecarlo simulations and finding the mean of TRM for three, six and twelve months. For financial hedging, currency options were used. The 6-month projection was covered with financial options on European-type currency with a strike price of $ 2,780.47 for each month; this value corresponds to the last value of the historical TRM. In the compensation of the options in each month, the price paid for the premium, calculated with the Black-Scholes method for currency options, was considered. Finally, with the modeling of prices and the Monte Carlo simulation, the effect of the exchange hedging with options on the exporting company was determined, this by means of the unit price estimate to which the dollars in the scenario without coverage were changed and scenario with coverage. After using the scenarios: is determinate that the TRM will have a bull trend and the exporting firm will be affected positively because they will get more pesos for each dollar. The results show that the financial options manage to reduce the exchange risk. The expected value with coverage is approximate to the expected value without coverage, but the 5% percentile with coverage is greater than without coverage. The foregoing indicates that in the worst scenarios the exporting companies will obtain better prices for the sale of the currencies if they cover.

Keywords: currency hedging, futures, geometric Brownian motion, options

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