Search results for: linear regression models

Authors: Po-Ting Chen, Santhanamoorthi Nachimuthu, Jyh-Chiang Jiang

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Classical molecular dynamics (CMD) simulations are highly efficient for material simulations but have limited accuracy. In contrast, ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) provides high precision by solving the Kohn–Sham equations yet requires significant computational resources, restricting the size of systems and time scales that can be simulated. To address these challenges, we employed NequIP, a machine learning model based on an E(3)-equivariant graph neural network, to accelerate molecular dynamics simulations of a 1M LiPF6 in EC/EMC (v/v 3:7) for Li battery applications. AIMD calculations were initially conducted using the Vienna Ab initio Simulation Package (VASP) to generate highly accurate atomic positions, forces, and energies. This data was then used to train the NequIP model, which efficiently learns from the provided data. NequIP achieved AIMD-level accuracy with significantly less training data. After training, NequIP was integrated into the LAMMPS software to enable molecular dynamics simulations of larger systems over longer time scales. This method overcomes the computational limitations of AIMD while improving the accuracy limitations of CMD, providing an efficient and precise computational framework. This study showcases NequIP’s applicability to electrolyte systems, particularly for simulating the dynamics of LiPF6 ionic mixtures. The results demonstrate substantial improvements in both computational efficiency and simulation accuracy, highlighting the potential of machine learning models to enhance molecular dynamics simulations.

Keywords: lithium-ion batteries, electrolyte simulation, molecular dynamics, neural network

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Authors: Zandi Ahmad, Sokhanguei Yahya, Saboonchi Reza

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Objective: The new and modern lifestyle, especially in the twenty-first century and lack of movement in spinal structure have made patients and the physicians in the field of health and also other insurance companies in the developed and developing countries worry more than before about the abnormalities of spinal column- this great healthcare problem. The high prevalence of spinal column in all age groups -from children to adults- and in all professions have led the researchers to the idea of giving an opportunity to all those who worry about the dangers threatening the spinal column. Therefore, one of the corrective methods for these patients is using SEAS exercises. Materials and Methods: This study aims at investigating the effect of one-period of SEAS exercises on some spinal biomechanical and postural parameters in the students with idiopathic scoliosis. According to the nature of the study and research objectives as well as the data collection methods, the current research is a semi-empirical survey. The research population is comprised of students with idiopathic scoliosis. A total number of 30 students were selected using available sampling and divided into two groups of control and SEAS exercises. Scoliometer was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used to categorize the findings. Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical models were used to confirm that the distribution of the data is normal and T-test was used for effectiveness. Hypothesis testing was done using SPSS21. Conclusion: Results show that SEAS exercises have a significant effect in Adam’s Test. Therefore, according to the obtained results, SEAS exercises can be used to recover idiopathic scoliosis among the students. Further studies in larger samples and treatment, periods as well as more follow-up investigations appear to be essential to prove these effects.

Keywords: SEAS exercises, idiopathic scoliosis, Adam’s test, exercise

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Authors: Vadim Makarov, Stewart T.Cole

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PBTZ169 is novel drug candidate with high efficacy in animals models, and its combination treatment of PBTZ169 with BDQ and pyrazinamide was shown to be more efficacious than the standard treatment for tuberculosis in a mouse model. The target of PBTZ169 is famous DprE1, an essential enzyme in cell wall biosynthesis. The crystal structure of the DprE1-PBTZ169 complex reveals formation of a semimercaptal adduct with Cys387 in the active site and explains the irreversible inactivation of the enzyme. Furthermore, this drug candidate demonstrated during preclinical research ‘drug like’ properties what made it an attractive drug candidate to treat tuberculosis in humans. During first clinical trials several cohorts of the healthy volunteers were treated by the single doses of PBTZ169 as well as two weeks repeated treatment was chosen for two maximal doses. As expected PBTZ169 was well tolerated, and no significant toxicity effects were observed during the trials. The study of the metabolism shown that human metabolism of PBTZ169 is very different from microbial or animals compound transformation. So main pathway of microbial, mice and less rats metabolism connected with reduction processes, but human metabolism mainly connected with oxidation processes. Due to this difference we observed several metabolites of PBTZ169 in humans with antitubercular activity, and now we can conclude that animal antituberculosis activity of PBTZ169 is a result not only activity of the drug itself, but it is a result of the sum activity of the drug and its metabolites. Direct antimicrobial plasma activity was studied, and such activity was observed for 24 hours after human treatment for some doses. This data gets high chance for good efficacy of PBTZ169 in human for treatment TB infection. Second phase of clinical trials was started summer of 2017 and continues to the present day. Available data will be presented.

Keywords: clinical trials, DprE1, PBTZ169, metabolism

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Authors: Siham Rahoui, Amr Mahfouz, Amr Arisha

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In a highly competitive environment characterised by uncertainty and disruptions, such as the recent COVID-19 outbreak, supply chains (SC) face the challenge of maintaining their cost at minimum levels while continuing to provide customers with high-quality products and services. More importantly, businesses in such an economic context strive to maintain survival by keeping the cost of undertaken activities (such as logistics) low and in-house. To do so, managers need to understand the costs associated with different products and services in order to have a clear vision of the SC performance, maintain profitability levels, and make strategic decisions. In this context, SC literature explored different costing models that sought to determine the costs of undertaking supply chain-related activities. While some cost accounting techniques have been extensively explored in the SC context, more contributions are needed to explore the potential of time driven activity-based costing (TDABC). More specifically, more applications are needed in the manufacturing context of the SC, where the debate is ongoing. The aim of the study is to assess the capability of the technique to assess the operational performance of the logistics function. Through a case study methodology applied to a manufacturing company operating in the automotive industry, TDABC evaluates the efficiency of the current configuration and its logistics processes. The study shows that monitoring the process efficiency and cost efficiency leads to strategic decisions that contributed to improve the overall efficiency of the logistics processes.

Keywords: efficiency, operational performance, supply chain costing, time driven activity based costing

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Authors: Sungho Kim, Jaechoul Shin, Yujin Baek

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In recent years, due to the environmental impacts and time factor, etc., various type of pavement deterioration is increasing rapidly such as crack, pothole, rutting and roughness degradation. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport maintains regular pavement condition of the highway and the national highway using the pavement condition survey equipment and structural survey equipment in Korea. Local governments that maintain local roads, farm roads, etc. are difficult to maintain the pavement condition using the pavement condition survey equipment depending on economic conditions, skills shortages and local conditions such as narrow roads. This study presents a quantitative evaluation method of the pavement condition through the visual inspection to overcome these problems of roads managed by local governments. It is difficult to evaluate rutting and roughness with the naked eye. However, the condition of cracks can be evaluated with the naked eye. Linear cracks (m), area cracks (m²) and potholes (number, m²) were investigated with the naked eye every 100 meters for survey the cracks. In this paper, crack ratio was calculated using the results of the condition of cracks and pavement condition was evaluated by calculated crack ratio. The pavement condition survey equipment also investigated the pavement condition in the same section in order to evaluate the reliability of pavement condition evaluation by the calculated crack ratio. The pavement condition was evaluated through the SPI (Seoul Pavement Index) and calculated crack ratio using results of field survey. The results of a comparison between 'the SPI considering only crack ratio' and 'the SPI considering rutting and roughness either' using the equipment survey data showed a margin of error below 5% when the SPI is less than 5. The SPI 5 is considered the base point to determine whether to maintain the pavement condition. It showed that the pavement condition can be evaluated using only the crack ratio. According to the analysis results of the crack ratio between the visual inspection and the equipment survey, it has an average error of 1.86%(minimum 0.03%, maximum 9.58%). Economically, the visual inspection costs only 10% of the equipment survey and will also help the economy by creating new jobs. This paper advises that local governments maintain the pavement condition through the visual investigations. However, more research is needed to improve reliability. Acknowledgment: The author would like to thank the MOLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport). This work was carried out through the project funded by the MOLIT. The project name is 'development of 20mm grade for road surface detecting roadway condition and rapid detection automation system for removal of pothole'.

Keywords: asphalt pavement maintenance, crack ratio, evaluation of asphalt pavement condition, SPI (Seoul Pavement Index), visual investigation

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Authors: Monica Santi, Evita Puspitasari

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International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) has developed the principle based accounting standard. Based on this, IASB then eliminated the conservatism concept within accounting framework. Conservatism concept represents a prudent reaction to uncertainty to try to ensure that uncertainties and risk inherent in business situations are adequately considered. The conservatism concept has two ingredients: conditional conservatism or ex-post (news depending prudence) and unconditional conservatism or ex-ante (news-independent prudence). IFRS in substance disregards the unconditional conservatism because the unconditional conservatism can cause the understatement assets or overstated liabilities, and eventually the financial statement would be irrelevance since the information does not represent the real fact. Therefore, the IASB eliminate the conservatism concept. However, it does not decrease the practice of unconditional conservatism in the financial statement reporting. Therefore, we expected the earnings quality would be affected because of this situation, even though the IFRS implementation was expected to increase the earnings quality. The objective of this study was to provide empirical findings about the unconditional conservatism and the earnings quality before and after the IFRS adoption. The earnings per accrual measure were used as the proxy for the unconditional conservatism. If the earnings per accrual were negative (positive), it meant the company was classified as the conservative (not conservative). The earnings quality was defined as the ability of the earnings in reflecting the future earnings by considering the earnings persistence and stability. We used the earnings response coefficient (ERC) as the proxy for the earnings quality. ERC measured the extant of a security’s abnormal market return in response to the unexpected component of reporting earning of the firm issuing that security. The higher ERC indicated the higher earnings quality. The manufacturing companies listed in the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) were used as the sample companies, and the 2009-2010 period was used to represent the condition before the IFRS adoption, and 2011-2013 was used to represent the condition after the IFRS adoption. Data was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test and regression analysis. We used the firm size as the control variable with the consideration the firm size would affect the earnings quality of the company. This study had proved that the unconditional conservatism had not changed, either before and after the IFRS adoption period. However, we found the different findings for the earnings quality. The earnings quality had decreased after the IFRS adoption period. This empirical results implied that the earnings quality before the IFRS adoption was higher. This study also had found that the unconditional conservatism positively influenced the earnings quality insignificantly. The findings implied that the implementation of the IFRS had not decreased the unconditional conservatism practice and has not altered the earnings quality of the manufacturing company. Further, we found that the unconditional conservatism did not affect the earnings quality. Eventhough the empirical result shows that the unconditional conservatism gave positive influence to the earnings quality, but the influence was not significant. Thus, we concluded that the implementation of the IFRS did not increase the earnings quality.

Keywords: earnings quality, earnings response coefficient, IFRS Adoption, unconditional conservatism

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Authors: S. G. Vasantharaju, Viswanath Guptha, Raghavendra Shetty

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Introduction: Aminophylline is a methylxanthine derivative belonging to the class bronchodilator. From the literature survey, reported methods reveals the solid phase extraction and liquid liquid extraction which is highly variable, time consuming, costly and laborious analysis. Present work aims to develop a simple, highly sensitive, precise and accurate high-performance liquid chromatography method for the quantification of Aminophylline in rat plasma samples which can be utilized for preclinical studies. Method: Reverse Phase high-performance liquid chromatography method. Results: Selectivity: Aminophylline and the internal standard were well separated from the co-eluted components and there was no interference from the endogenous material at the retention time of analyte and the internal standard. The LLOQ measurable with acceptable accuracy and precision for the analyte was 0.5 µg/mL. Linearity: The developed and validated method is linear over the range of 0.5-40.0 µg/mL. The coefficient of determination was found to be greater than 0.9967, indicating the linearity of this method. Accuracy and precision: The accuracy and precision values for intra and inter day studies at low, medium and high quality control samples concentrations of aminophylline in the plasma were within the acceptable limits Extraction recovery: The method produced consistent extraction recovery at all 3 QC levels. The mean extraction recovery of aminophylline was 93.57 ± 1.28% while that of internal standard was 90.70 ± 1.30%. Stability: The results show that aminophylline is stable in rat plasma under the studied stability conditions and that it is also stable for about 30 days when stored at -80˚C. Pharmacokinetic studies: The method was successfully applied to the quantitative estimation of aminophylline rat plasma following its oral administration to rats. Discussion: Preclinical studies require a rapid and sensitive method for estimating the drug concentration in the rat plasma. The method described in our article includes a simple protein precipitation extraction technique with ultraviolet detection for quantification. The present method is simple and robust for fast high-throughput sample analysis with less analysis cost for analyzing aminophylline in biological samples. In this proposed method, no interfering peaks were observed at the elution times of aminophylline and the internal standard. The method also had sufficient selectivity, specificity, precision and accuracy over the concentration range of 0.5 - 40.0 µg/mL. An isocratic separation technique was used underlining the simplicity of the presented method.

Keywords: Aminophyllin, preclinical pharmacokinetics, rat plasma, RPHPLC

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Authors: Miyako Oulevey, Kaori Tsutsui, David Lavallee, Naohiko Kohtake

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The Japan Sports Agency has made efforts to unify several career support programs for Olympic athletes prior to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. One of the programs, the Japan Olympic Committee Career Academy (JCA) was established in 2008 for Olympic athletes at their retirement. Research focusing on the service content of sport career support programs can help athletes experience a more positive transition. This study was designed to investigate the service content of the JCA program in relation to athletes’ career transition needs, including any differences of the reasons for retirement between Summer/Winter and Male/Female Olympic athletes, and to suggest the directions of how to unify the career support programs in Japan after hosting the Olympic Games using sport career transition models. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed the JCA director who started and managed the program since its inception, and a total of 15 conceptual categories were generated by the analysis. Four conceptual categories were in the result of “JCA situation”, 4 conceptual categories were in the result of “Athletes using JCA”, and 7 conceptual categories were in the result of “JCA current difficulties”. Through the analysis it was revealed that: the JCA had occupational supports for both current and retired Olympic athletes; other supports such as psychological support were unclear due to the lack of psychological professionals in JCA and the difficulties collaborating with other sports organizations; and there are differences in tendencies of visiting JCA, financial situations, and career choices depending on Summer/Winter and Male/Female athletes.

Keywords: career support programs, causes of career termination, Olympic athlete, Olympic committee

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Authors: Michelo Obrey

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Traditionally, mutual funds have long been esteemed as stand-alone entities in the U.S. However, the prevalence of the fund families’ affiliation to financial conglomerates is eroding this striking feature. Mutual fund families' affiliation with financial conglomerates can potentially be an important source of superior performance or cost to the affiliated mutual fund investors. On the one hand, financial conglomerates affiliation offers the mutual funds access to abundant resources, better research quality, private material information, and business connections within the financial group. On the other hand, conflict of interest is bound to arise between the financial conglomerate relationship and fund management. Using a sample of U.S. domestic equity mutual funds from 1994 to 2017, this paper examines whether fund family affiliation to an investment bank help the affiliated mutual funds deliver superior performance through private material information advantage possessed by the investment banks or it costs affiliated mutual fund shareholders due to the conflict of interest. Robust to alternative risk adjustments and cross-section regression methodologies, this paper finds that the investment bank-affiliated mutual funds significantly outperform those of the mutual funds that are not affiliated with an investment bank. Interestingly the paper finds that the outperformance is confined to holding return, a return measure that captures the investment talent that is uninfluenced by transaction costs, fees, and other expenses. Further analysis shows that the investment bank-affiliated mutual funds specialize in hard-to-value stocks, which are not more likely to be held by unaffiliated funds. Consistent with the information advantage hypothesis, the paper finds that affiliated funds holding covered stocks outperform affiliated funds without covered stocks lending no support to the hypothesis that affiliated mutual funds attract superior stock-picking talent. Overall, the paper findings are consistent with the idea that investment banks maximize fee income by monopolistically exploiting their private information, thus strategically transferring performance to their affiliated mutual funds. This paper contributes to the extant literature on the agency problem in mutual fund families. It adds to this stream of research by showing that the agency problem is not only prevalent in fund families but also in financial organizations such as investment banks that have affiliated mutual fund families. The results show evidence of exploitation of synergies such as private material information sharing that benefit mutual fund investors due to affiliation with a financial conglomerate. However, this research has a normative dimension, allowing such incestuous behavior of insider trading and exploitation of superior information not only negatively affect the unaffiliated fund investors but also led to an unfair and unleveled playing field in the financial market.

Keywords: mutual fund performance, conflicts of interest, informational advantage, investment bank

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Authors: Yulan Wu

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The spread of fake news on social media has posed significant societal harm to the public and the nation, with its threats spanning various domains, including politics, economics, health, and more. News on social media often covers multiple domains, and existing models studied by researchers and relevant organizations often perform well on datasets from a single domain. However, when these methods are applied to social platforms with news spanning multiple domains, their performance significantly deteriorates. Existing research has attempted to enhance the detection performance of multi-domain datasets by adding single-domain labels to the data. However, these methods overlook the fact that a news article typically belongs to multiple domains, leading to the loss of domain knowledge information contained within the news text. To address this issue, research has found that news records in different domains often use different vocabularies to describe their content. In this paper, we propose a fake news detection framework that combines domain knowledge and expert knowledge. Firstly, it utilizes an unsupervised domain discovery module to generate a low-dimensional vector for each news article, representing domain embeddings, which can retain multi-domain knowledge of the news content. Then, a feature extraction module uses the domain embeddings discovered through unsupervised domain knowledge to guide multiple experts in extracting news knowledge for the total feature representation. Finally, a classifier is used to determine whether the news is fake or not. Experiments show that this approach can improve multi-domain fake news detection performance while reducing the cost of manually labeling domain labels.

Keywords: fake news, deep learning, natural language processing, multiple domains

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Authors: Selim Kermasha

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A process for the synthesis of structured lipids (SLs) by the lipase-catalyzed interesterification of selected endogenous edible oils such as flaxseed oil (FO) and medium-chain triacylglyceols such as tricaprylin (TC) in non-conventional media (NCM), including organic solvent media (OSM) and solvent-free medium (SFM), was developed. The bioconversion yield of the medium-long-medium-type SLs (MLM-SLs were monitored as the responses with use of selected commercial lipases. In order to optimize the interesterification reaction and to establish a model system, a wide range of reaction parameters, including TC to FO molar ratio, reaction temperature, enzyme concentration, reaction time, agitation speed and initial water activity, were investigated to establish the a model system. The model system was monitored with the use of multiple response surface methodology (RSM) was used to obtain significant models for the responses and to optimize the interesterification reaction, on the basis of selected levels and variable fractional factorial design (FFD) with centre points. Based on the objective of each response, the appropriate level combination of the process parameters and the solutions that met the defined criteria were also provided by means of desirability function. The synthesized novel molecules were structurally characterized, using silver-ion reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrophotometry (APCI-MS) analyses. The overall experimental findings confirmed the formation of dicaprylyl-linolenyl glycerol, dicaprylyl-oleyl glycerol and dicaprylyl-linoleyl glycerol resulted from the lipase-catalyzed interesterification of FO and TC.

Keywords: enzymatic interesterification, non-conventinal media, nutraceuticals, structured lipids

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Authors: Ugbede Onalo, Mohd Lizam, Ahmad Kaseri, Otache Innocent

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Giving the paucity of studies on IFRS adoption and quality of banks accounting quality, particularly in emerging economies, this study is motivated to investigate whether the Nigeria decision to adopt IFRS beginning from 1 January 2012 is associated with high quality accounting measures. Consistent with prior literatures, this study measure quality of financial statement information using earnings measurement, timeliness of loss recognition and value relevance. A total of twenty Nigeria banks covering a period of six years (2008-2013) divided equally into three years each (2008, 2009, 2010) pre adoption period and (2011, 2012, 2013) post adoption period were investigated. Following prior studies eight models were in all employed to investigate earnings management, timeliness of loss recognition and value relevance of Nigeria bank accounting quality for the different reporting regimes. Results suggest that IFRS adoption is associated with minimal earnings management, timely recognition of losses and high value relevance of accounting information. Summarily, IFRS adoption engenders higher quality of banks financial statement information compared to local GAAP. Hence, this study recommends the global adoption of IFRS and that Nigeria banks should embrace good corporate governance practices.

Keywords: IFRS, SAS, quality of accounting information, earnings measurement, discretionary accruals, non-discretionary accruals, total accruals, Jones model, timeliness of loss recognition, value relevance

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Authors: Rakesh Mishra, Rajni Singh, Mukunda Upadhyay

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Since the last few decades, the prima facie of development has shifted towards the working population in India. There has been a paradigm shift in the development approach with the realization that the present demographic dividend has to be harnessed for sustainable development. Rapid urbanization and improved socioeconomic characteristics experienced within its territory has catalyzed various forms of migration into it, resulting in massive transference of workforce between its states. Workforce in any country plays a very crucial role in deciding development of both the places, from where they have out-migrated and the place they are residing currently. In India, people are found to be migrating from relatively less developed states to a well urbanized and developed state for satisfying their neediness. Linking migration to HDI at place of destination, the regression coefficient (β ̂) shows affirmative association between them, because higher the HDI of the place would be, higher would be chance of earning and hence likeliness of the migrants would be more to choose that place as a new destination and vice versa. So the push factor is compromised by the cost of rearing and provides negative impulse on the in migrants letting down their numbers to metro cities or megacities of the states but increasing their mobility to the suburban areas and vice versa. The main objective of the study is to check the role of migration in deciding the dividend of the place of destination as well as people at the place of their usual residence with special focus to highly urban states in India. Idealized scenario of Indian migrants refers to some new theories in making. On analyzing the demographic dividend of the places we got to know that Uttar Pradesh provides maximum dividend to Maharashtra, West Bengal and Delhi, and the demographic divided of migrants are quite comparable to the native’s shares in the demographic dividend in these places. On analyzing the data from National Sample Survey 64th round and Census of India-2001, we have observed that for males in rural areas, the share of unemployed person declined by 9 percentage points (from 45% before migration to 36 % after migration) and for females in rural areas the decline was nearly 12 percentage points (from 79% before migration to 67% after migration. It has been observed that the shares of unemployed males in both rural and urban areas, which were significant before migration, got reduced after migration while the share of unemployed females in the rural as well as in the urban areas remained almost negligible both for before and after migration. So increase in the number of employed after migration provides an indication of changes in the associated cofactors like health and education of the place of destination and arithmetically to the place from where they have migrated out. This paper presents the evidence on the patterns of prevailing migration dynamics and corresponding demographic benefits in India and its states, examines trends and effects, and discusses plausible explanations.

Keywords: migration, demographic shift, human development index, multilevel analysis

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Authors: Hiromi Kawai

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This study investigates the nature of EFL older children’s L2 perceptive and productive abilities using classroom data, in order to find a pedagogical solution to the teaching of L2 sounds at an early stage of learning in a formal school setting. It is still inconclusive whether older children with only EFL formal school instruction at the initial stage of L2 learning are able to attain native-like perception and production in English within the very limited amount of exposure to the target language available. Based on the notion of the lack of study of EFL Japanese children’s acquisition of English segments, the researcher uses a model of L1 speech processing which was developed for investigating L1 English children’s speech and literacy difficulties using a psycholinguistic framework. The model is composed of input channel, output channel, and lexical representation, and examines how a child receives information from spoken or written language, remembers and stores it within the lexical representations and how the child selects and produces spoken or written words. Concerning language universality and language specificity in the language acquisitional process, the aim of finding any sound errors in L1 English children seemed to conform to the author’s intention to find abilities of English sounds in older Japanese children at the novice level of English in an EFL setting. 104 students in Grade 5 (between the ages of 10 and 11 years old) of an elementary school in Tokyo participated in this study. Four tests to measure their perceptive ability and three oral repetition tests to measure their productive ability were conducted with/without reference to lexical representation. All the test items were analyzed to calculate item facility (IF) indices, and correlational analyses and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were conducted to examine the relationship between the receptive ability and the productive ability. IF analysis showed that (1) the participants were better at perceiving a segment than producing a segment, (2) they had difficulty in auditory discrimination of paired consonants when one of them does not exist in the Japanese inventory, (3) they had difficulty in both perceiving and producing English vowels, and (4) their L1 loan word knowledge had an influence on their ability to perceive and produce L2 sounds. The result of the Multiple Regression Modeling showed that the two production tests could predict the participants’ auditory ability of real words in English. The result of SEM showed that the hypothesis that perceptive ability affects productive ability was supported. Based on these findings, the author discusses the possible explicit method of teaching English segments to EFL older children in a formal school setting.

Keywords: EFL older children, english segments, perception, production, speech processing system

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Authors: O. D. Adegbehingbe, S. D. Eyono Obono

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The education sector is constantly faced with rapid changes in technologies in terms of ensuring that the curriculum is up to date and in terms of making sure that students are aware of these technological changes. This challenge can be seen as the motivation for this study, which is to examine the factors affecting computing students’ awareness of the latest Information Technologies (ICTs). The aim of this study is divided into two sub-objectives which are: the selection of relevant theories and the design of a conceptual model to support it as well as the empirical testing of the designed model. The first objective is achieved by a review of existing literature on technology adoption theories and models. The second objective is achieved using a survey of computing students in the four universities of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Data collected from this survey is analyzed using Statistical package for the Social Science (SPSS) using descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Pearson correlations. The main hypothesis of this study is that there is a relationship between the demographics and the prior conditions of the computing students and their awareness of general ICT trends and of Digital Switch Over (DSO) a new technology which involves the change from analog to digital television broadcasting in order to achieve improved spectrum efficiency. The prior conditions of the computing students that were considered in this study are students’ perceived exposure to career guidance and students’ perceived curriculum currency. The results of this study confirm that gender, ethnicity, and high school computing course affect students’ perceived curriculum currency while high school location affects students’ awareness of DSO. The results of this study also confirm that there is a relationship between students prior conditions and their awareness of general ICT trends and DSO in particular.

Keywords: education, information technologies, IDT, awareness

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Authors: Ehsan Alishahi, Chuang Deng

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Commercial applications of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) were restricted due to the sudden brittle failure mode which was the main drawback in these new class of materials. Therefore, crystalline-amorphous (C-A) composites were introduced as a toughening strategy in BMGs. In spite of numerous researches in the area of metallic C-A composites, the fundamental structure-property relation in these composites that are not exactly known yet. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the fundamental properties of crystalline-amorphous interface in a model system of Cu/CuZr by using molecular dynamics simulations. Several parameters including interface energy and mechanical properties were investigated by means of atomic models and employing Embedded Atom Method (EAM) potential function. It is found that the crystalline-amorphous interfacial energy weakly depends on the orientation of the crystalline layer, which is in stark contrast to that in a regular crystalline grain boundary. Additionally, the results showed that the interface controls the yielding of the crystalline-amorphous composites during uniaxial tension either by serving as sources for dislocation nucleation in the crystalline layer or triggering local shear transformation zones in amorphous layer. The critical resolved shear stress required to nucleate the first dislocation is also found to strongly depend on the crystalline orientation. Furthermore, it is found that the interaction between dislocations and shear localization at the crystalline-amorphous interface oriented in different directions can lead to a change in the deformation mode. For instance, while the dislocation and shear banding are aligned to each other in {0 0 1} interface plane, the misorientation angle between these failure mechanisms causing more homogeneous deformation in {1 1 0} and {1 1 1} crystalline-amorphous interfaces. These results should help clarify the failure mechanism of crystalline-amorphous composites under various loading conditions.

Keywords: crystalline-amorphous, composites, orientation, plasticity

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Authors: Jonah Kenei, Elisha Opiyo

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Electronic health records, as a repository of patient information, is nowadays the most commonly used technology to record, store and review patient clinical records and perform other clinical tasks. However, the accurate identification and retrieval of relevant information from clinical records is a difficult task due to the unstructured nature of clinical documents, characterized in particular by a lack of clear structure. Therefore, medical practice is facing a challenge thanks to the rapid growth of health information in electronic health records (EHRs), mostly in narrative text form. As a result, it's becoming important to effectively manage the growing amount of data for a single patient. As a result, there is currently a requirement to visualize electronic health records (EHRs) in a way that aids physicians in clinical tasks and medical decision-making. Leveraging text visualization techniques to unstructured clinical narrative texts is a new area of research that aims to provide better information extraction and retrieval to support clinical decision support in scenarios where data generated continues to grow. Clinical datasets in electronic health records (EHR) offer a lot of potential for training accurate statistical models to classify facets of information which can then be used to improve patient care and outcomes. However, in many clinical note datasets, the unstructured nature of clinical texts is a common problem. This paper examines the very issue of getting raw clinical texts and mapping them into meaningful structures that can support healthcare professionals utilizing narrative texts. Our work is the result of a collaborative design process that was aided by empirical data collected through formal usability testing.

Keywords: classification, electronic health records, narrative texts, visualization

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Authors: Jane A. Luke

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Persistent pressure passed on to manufacturers from escalating consumer expectations and the ever growing global competitiveness have produced a rapidly increasing interest in the development of various manufacturing strategy models. Academic and industrial circles are taking keen interest in the field of manufacturing strategy. Many manufacturing strategies are currently centered on the traditional concepts of focused manufacturing capabilities such as quality, cost, dependability and innovation. Process capability indices was conducted assuming that the process under study is in statistical control and independent observations are generated over time. However, in practice, it is very common to come across processes which, due to their inherent natures, generate autocorrelated observations. The degree of autocorrelation affects the behavior of patterns on control charts. Even, small levels of autocorrelation between successive observations can have considerable effects on the statistical properties of conventional control charts. When observations are autocorrelated the classical control charts exhibit nonrandom patterns and lack of control. Many authors have considered the effect of autocorrelation on the performance of statistical process control charts. In this paper, the effect of autocorrelation on confidence intervals for different PCIs was included. Stationary Gaussian processes is explained. Effect of autocorrelation on PCIs is described in detail. Confidence intervals for Cp and Cpk are constructed for PCIs when data are both independent and autocorrelated. Confidence intervals for Cp and Cpk are computed. Approximate lower confidence limits for various Cpk are computed assuming AR(1) model for the data. Simulation studies and industrial examples are considered to demonstrate the results.

Keywords: autocorrelation, AR(1) model, Bissell’s approximation, confidence intervals, statistical process control, specification limits, stationary Gaussian processes

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Authors: Sejin Jung, Dongho Kang, Byungsik Kim

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Assessing the impact of climate change requires the use of a multi-model ensemble (MME) to quantify uncertainties between scenarios and produce downscaled outlines for simulation of climate under the influence of different factors, including topography. This study decreases climate change scenarios from the 13 global climate models (GCMs) to assess the impacts of future climate change. Unlike South Korea, North Korea lacks in studies using climate change scenarios of the CoupledModelIntercomparisonProject (CMIP5), and only recently did the country start the projection of extreme precipitation episodes. One of the main purposes of this study is to predict changes in the average climatic conditions of North Korea in the future. The result of comparing downscaled climate change scenarios with observation data for a reference period indicates high applicability of the Multi-Model Ensemble (MME). Furthermore, the study classifies climatic zones by applying the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system to the MME, which is validated for future precipitation and temperature. The result suggests that the continental climate (D) that covers the inland area for the reference climate is expected to shift into the temperate climate (C). The coefficient of variation (CVs) in the temperature ensemble is particularly low for the southern coast of the Korean peninsula, and accordingly, a high possibility of the shifting climatic zone of the coast is predicted. This research was supported by a grant (MOIS-DP-2015-05) of Disaster Prediction and Mitigation Technology Development Program funded by Ministry of Interior and Safety (MOIS, Korea).

Keywords: MME, North Korea, Koppen–Geiger, climatic zones, coefficient of variation, CV

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Authors: Rowane May A. Fesalbon, Greyland C. Agno, Jodel L. Cuasay, Dindo A. Malonzo, Ma. Rosario Concepcion O. Ang

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The Department of Energy of the Republic of the Philippines estimates that the country’s energy reserves for 2015 are dwindling– observed in the rotating power outages in several localities. To aid in the energy crisis, a national hydropower resource assessment scheme is developed. Hydropower is a resource that is derived from flowing water and difference in elevation. It is a renewable energy resource that is deemed abundant in the Philippines – being an archipelagic country that is rich in bodies of water and water resources. The objectives of this study is to develop a methodology for a national hydropower resource assessment using hydrologic modeling and geospatial techniques in order to generate resource maps for future reference and use of the government and other stakeholders. The methodology developed for this purpose is focused on two models – the implementation of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the river discharge and the use of geospatial techniques to analyze the topography and obtain the head, and generate the theoretical hydropower potential sites. The methodology is highly coupled with Geographic Information Systems to maximize the use of geodatabases and the spatial significance of the determined sites. The hydrologic model used in this workflow is SWAT integrated in the GIS software ArcGIS. The head is determined by a developed algorithm that utilizes a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-derived digital elevation model (DEM) which has a resolution of 10-meters. The initial results of the developed workflow indicate hydropower potential in the river reaches ranging from pico (less than 5 kW) to mini (1-3 MW) theoretical potential.

Keywords: ArcSWAT, renewable energy, hydrologic model, hydropower, GIS

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Authors: Mutaz Dwairy

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Solid tumors have high interstitial fluid pressure (IFP), high mechanical stress, and low oxygen levels. Solid stresses may induce apoptosis, stimulate the invasiveness and metastasis of cancer cells, and lower their proliferation rate, while oxygen concentration may affect the response of cancer cells to treatment. Although tumors grow in a nonhomogeneous environment, many existing theoretical models assume homogeneous growth and tissue has uniform mechanical properties. For example, the brain consists of three primary materials: white matter, gray matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Therefore, tissue inhomogeneity should be considered in the analysis. This study established a physical model based on convection-diffusion equations and continuum mechanics principles. The model considers the geometrical inhomogeneity of the brain by including the three different matters in the analysis: white matter, gray matter, and CSF. The model also considers fluid-solid interaction and explicitly describes the effect of mechanical factors, e.g., solid stresses and IFP, chemical factors, e.g., oxygen concentration, and biological factors, e.g., cancer cell concentration, on growing tumors. In this article, we applied the model on a brain tumor positioned within the white matter, considering the brain inhomogeneity to estimate solid stresses, IFP, the cancer cell concentration, oxygen concentration, and the deformation of the tissues within the neoplasm and the surrounding. Tumor size was estimated at different time points. This model might be clinically crucial for cancer detection and treatment planning by measuring mechanical stresses, IFP, and oxygen levels in the tissue.

Keywords: biomechanical model, interstitial fluid pressure, solid stress, tumor microenvironment

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Authors: Mary Elizabeth Bernardin, Margie Batek, Joseph Moen, David Schnadower

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Background: Injuries due to interpersonal violence are a common reason for emergency department (ED) visits amongst the American pediatric population. Gun violence, in particular, is associated with high morbidity, mortality as well as financial costs. Patterns of pediatric ED usage may be an indicator of risk for future violence, but very little data on the topic exists. Objective: The aims of this study were to assess for frequencies of ED usage for previous interpersonal violence, mental/behavioral issues, sexual/reproductive issues and concerns for abuse in youths presenting to EDs due to physical assault injuries (PAIs) compared to firearm injuries (FIs). Methods: In this retrospective case-control study, ED charts of children ages 8-19 years who presented with injuries due to interpersonal violent encounters from 2014-2017 were reviewed. Data was collected regarding all previous ED visits for injuries due to interpersonal violence (including physical assaults and firearm injuries), mental/behavioral health visits (including depression, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, homicidal ideation and violent behavior), sexual/reproductive health visits (including sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy related issues), and concerns for abuse (including physical abuse or domestic violence, neglect, sexual abuse, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence). Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of gun violence based on previous ED visits amongst physical assault injured versus firearm injured youths. Results: A total of 407 patients presenting to the ED for an interpersonal violent encounter were analyzed, 251 (62%) of which were due to physical assault injuries (PAIs) and 156 (38%) due to firearm injuries (FIs). The majority of both PAI and FI patients had no previous history of ED visits for violence, mental/behavioral health, sexual/reproductive health or concern for abuse (60.8% PAI, 76.3% FI). 19.2% of PAI and 13.5% of FI youths had previous ED visits for physical assault injuries (OR 0.68, P=0.24, 95% CI 0.36 to 1.29). 1.6% of PAI and 3.2% of FI youths had a history of ED visits for previous firearm injuries (OR 3.6, P=0.34, 95% CI 0.04 to 2.95). 10% of PAI and 3.8% of FI youths had previous ED visits for mental/behavioral health issues (OR 0.91, P=0.80, 95% CI 0.43 to 1.93). 10% of PAI and 2.6% of FI youths had previous ED visits due to concerns for abuse (OR 0.76, P=0.55, 95% CI 0.31 to 1.86). Conclusions: There are no statistically significant differences between physical assault-injured and firearm-injured youths in terms of ED usage for previous violent injuries, mental/behavioral health visits, sexual/reproductive health visits or concerns for abuse. However, violently injured youths in this study have more than twice the number of previous ED usage for physical assaults and mental health visits than previous literature indicates. Data comparing ED usage of victims of interpersonal violence to nonviolent ED patients is needed, but this study supports the notion that EDs may be a useful place for identification of and enrollment in interventions for youths most at risk for future violence.

Keywords: child abuse, emergency department usage, pediatric gun violence, pediatric interpersonal violence, pediatric mental health, pediatric reproductive health

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Authors: M. De Filippo, J. S. Kuang

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In construction industry, reinforced concrete (RC) slabs represent fundamental elements of buildings and bridges. Different methods are available for analysing the structural behaviour of slabs. In the early ages of last century, the yield-line method has been proposed to attempt to solve such problem. Simple geometry problems could easily be solved by using traditional hand analyses which include plasticity theories. Nowadays, advanced finite element (FE) analyses have mainly found their way into applications of many engineering fields due to the wide range of geometries to which they can be applied. In such cases, the application of an elastic or a plastic constitutive model would completely change the approach of the analysis itself. Elastic methods are popular due to their easy applicability to automated computations. However, elastic analyses are limited since they do not consider any aspect of the material behaviour beyond its yield limit, which turns to be an essential aspect of RC structural performance. Furthermore, their applicability to non-linear analysis for modeling plastic behaviour gives very reliable results. Per contra, this type of analysis is computationally quite expensive, i.e. not well suited for solving daily engineering problems. In the past years, many researchers have worked on filling this gap between easy-to-implement elastic methods and computationally complex plastic analyses. This paper aims at proposing a numerical procedure, through which a pseudo-lower bound solution, not violating the yield criterion, is achieved. The advantages of moment distribution are taken into account, hence the increase in strength provided by plastic behaviour is considered. The lower bound solution is improved by detecting over-yielded moments, which are used to artificially rule the moment distribution among the rest of the non-yielded elements. The proposed technique obeys Nielsen’s yield criterion. The outcome of this analysis provides a simple, yet accurate, and non-time-consuming tool of predicting the lower-bound solution of the collapse load of RC slabs. By using this method, structural engineers can find the fracture patterns and ultimate load bearing capacity. The collapse triggering mechanism is found by detecting yield-lines. An application to the simple case of a square clamped slab is shown, and a good match was found with the exact values of collapse load.

Keywords: computational mechanics, lower bound method, reinforced concrete slabs, yield-line

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Authors: Shazia Almas, Jaffar Iqbal, Nazia Almas

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In most of the South Asian countries like Pakistan medical profession is one the most valued and respectful professions yet being a medical professional requires an enormous amount of responsibilities and work overload at the same time which possibly can be in contrast with family role of a doctor. Job and family are two primary spheres of a person's life no matter whatever the profession one adopts and the type of family one is running. There is a bi-directional relationship between job and family. The type and nature of work, time schedules, working shifts in medical profession are very demanding in the countries like Pakistan where number of patients is far more higher than the number of doctors available. The work life also have significant impact on family life and vice versa. Because of the sensitivity and interdependency of these relations, today’s overarching and competing demands remain dissatisfactory. The main objective of the current research is to investigate how interpersonal relationships affect work and work affects interpersonal relationships of medical professionals. In line with identifying these facts, the current study aimed to examine the predictive role of psychological capital (self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience), in organizational outcome (job satisfaction) and personal outcome (family satisfaction) amongst male and medical professionals. A total of 350 participants from public and private sector hospitals of Pakistan were recruited through simple random and stratified sampling techniques, with age ranges from 26-50 years. The questionnaire including established and certified self-report measures of Psychological Capital Questionnaire, Job Satisfaction, and Family Satisfaction were adopted to collect the data. The reliability and validity of mentioned instruments were established through Cronbach’s alpha and factor analyses (exploratory and confirmatory) respectively using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) by AMOS. The proposed hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s Correlation and Regression analyses for predicting effect whereas, t-Test was deployed to verify the difference between male and female health professionals. The results revealed that self-efficacy and optimism predicted job satisfaction while, self-efficacy, hope, and resilience predicted family satisfaction. Moreover, the results depicted significant gender differences in job satisfaction where females were higher on job satisfaction as compared to male medical professionals but no significant differences were observed in levels of family satisfaction between both genders. The study has implications for social, organizational and work policy designers. The study also paves for more researches with positive psychological approach to promote work-family harmony.

Keywords: family satisfaction, job satisfaction, medical professionals, psychological capital

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Pragati Sirohi, Vivek Singh Rana

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Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of all these which is intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of the competitors and perception influences purchase decisions here and so building that perception is critical. The FMCG industry is a low margin business. Volumes hold the key to success in this industry. Therefore, the industry has a strong emphasis on marketing. Creating strong brands is important for FMCG companies and they devote considerable money and effort in developing brands. Brand loyalty is fickle. Companies know this and that is why they relentlessly work towards brand building. The purpose of the study is a comparison between Indian and Multinational companies with regard to FMCG sector in India. It has been hypothesized that after liberalization the Indian companies has taken up the challenge of globalization and some of these are giving a stiff competition to MNCs. There is an existence of strong brand image of MNCs compared to Indian companies. Advertisement expenditures of MNCs are proportionately higher compared to Indian counterparts. The operational area of the study is the country as a whole. Continuous time series data is available from 1996-2014 for the selected 8 companies. The selection of these companies is done on the basis of their large market share, brand equity and prominence in the market. Research methodology focuses on finding trend growth rates of market capitalization, net worth, and brand values through regression analysis by the usage of secondary data from prowess database developed by CMIE (Centre for monitoring Indian Economy). Estimation of brand values of selected FMCG companies is being attempted, which can be taken to be the excess of market capitalization over the net worth of a company. Brand value indices are calculated. Correlation between brand values and advertising expenditure is also measured to assess the effect of advertising on branding. Major results indicate that although MNCs enjoy stronger brand image but few Indian companies like ITC is the outstanding leader in terms of its market capitalization and brand values. Dabur and Tata Global Beverages Ltd are competing equally well on these values. Advertisement expenditures are the highest for HUL followed by ITC, Colgate and Dabur which shows that Indian companies are not behind in the race. Although advertisement expenditures are playing a role in brand building process there are many other factors which affect the process. Also, brand values are decreasing over the years for FMCG companies in India which show that competition is intense with aggressive price wars and brand clutter. Implications for Indian companies are that they have to consistently put in proactive and relentless efforts in their brand building process. Brands need focus and consistency. Brand longevity without innovation leads to brand respect but does not create brand value.

Keywords: brand value, FMCG, market capitalization, net worth

Procedia PDF Downloads 354

Authors: Nulu Nanono

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Background: The Ugandan national health policy and the national population policy all recognize the need to increase access to quality, affordable, acceptable and sustainable contraceptive services for all people but provision and utilization of quality services remains low. Two contraceptive methods are categorized as long-acting temporary methods: intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUCDs) and implants. Copper-containing IUCDs, generally available in Ministry of Health (MoH) family planning programs and is effective for at least 12 years while Implants, depending on the type, last for up to three to seven years. Uganda’s current policy and political environment are favorable towards achieving national access to quality and safe contraceptives for all people as evidenced by increasing government commitments and innovative family planning programs. Despite the increase of modern contraception use from 14% to 26%, long acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) utilization has relatively remained low with less than 5% using IUDs & Implants which in a way explains Uganda’s persistent high fertility rates. Main question/hypothesis: The purpose of the study was to examine relationship between the demographic, socio-economic characteristics of women, health facility factors and long acting reversible contraception utilization. Methodology: LARC utilization was investigated comprising of the two questions namely are you or your partner currently doing something or using any method to delay or avoid getting pregnant? And which method or methods are you using? Data for the study was sourced from the 2016 Uganda Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 Survey comprising of 3816 female respondents aged 15 to 49 years. The analysis was done using the Chi-squared tests and the probit regression at bivariate and multivariate levels respectively. The model was further tested for validity and normality of the residuals using the Sharipo wilks test and test for kurtosis and skewness. Results: The results showed the model the age, parity, marital status, region, knowledge of LARCs, availability of LARCs to be significantly associated with long acting contraceptive utilization with p value of less than 0.05. At the multivariate analysis level, women who had higher parities (0.000) tertiary education (0.013), no knowledge about LARCs (0.006) increases their probability of using LARCs. Furthermore while women age 45-49, those who live in the eastern region reduces their probability of using LARCs. Knowledge contribution: The findings of this study join the debate of prior research in this field and add to the body of knowledge related to long acting reversible contraception. An outstanding and queer finding from the study is the non-utilization of LARCs by women who are aware and have knowledge about them, this may be an opportunity for further research to investigate the attribution to this.

Keywords: contraception, long acting, utilization, women (15-49)

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Solomon Assefa Huluka

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Wounds account for severe morbidity, socioeconomic distress, and mortality around the globe.For several years, various herbal products are used to expediteand augment the innate wound healing process. In Ethiopian folkloricmedicine, Verbascum sinaiticum L. (V. sinaiticum) is commonlyapplied as a wound-healing agent. The present study investigated the potential wound healing and antioxidant properties of hydroalcoholic leaf extract of V. sinaiticum. The 80% methanol extract, formulated as 5% (w/w) and 10% (w/w) ointments, was evaluated in excision and incision wound models using nitrofurazone and simple ointment as positive and negative controls, respectively. Parameters such as wound contraction, period of epithelialization, and tensile strength were determined. Moreover, its in vitro antioxidant property was evaluated using a DPPH assay. In the excision model, both doses (5% and 10% w/w) of the extract showed a significant (p<0.001) wound healing efficacy compared to the negative control, as evidenced by enhanced wound contraction rate and shorter epithelialization time records. In the incision model, the lower dose (5% w/w) ointment formulation of the extract exhibited the maximum increment in tensile strength (85.6%) that was significant (p<0.001)compared to negative and untreated controls. Animals treated with 5% w/wointment, furthermore, showed a significantly (p < 0.05) higher percentage of tensile strength than nitrofurazone treated ones. Moreover, the hydroalcoholic extract of the plant showed a noticeable free radical scavenging property. The result of the present study upholds the folkloric use of V. sinaiticum in the treatment of wounds.

Keywords: wound healing, antioxidant, excision wound model, incision wound model, verbascum sinaiticum

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Authors: Priyanka Chaudhary, M. Rizwan

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This paper presents a grid synchronization technique based on adaptive notch filter for SPV (Solar Photovoltaic) system along with MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) techniques. An efficient grid synchronization technique offers proficient detection of various components of grid signal like phase and frequency. It also acts as a barrier for harmonics and other disturbances in grid signal. A reference phase signal synchronized with the grid voltage is provided by the grid synchronization technique to standardize the system with grid codes and power quality standards. Hence, grid synchronization unit plays important role for grid connected SPV systems. As the output of the PV array is fluctuating in nature with the meteorological parameters like irradiance, temperature, wind etc. In order to maintain a constant DC voltage at VSC (Voltage Source Converter) input, MPPT control is required to track the maximum power point from PV array. In this work, a variable step size P & O (Perturb and Observe) MPPT technique with DC/DC boost converter has been used at first stage of the system. This algorithm divides the dPpv/dVpv curve of PV panel into three separate zones i.e. zone 0, zone 1 and zone 2. A fine value of tracking step size is used in zone 0 while zone 1 and zone 2 requires a large value of step size in order to obtain a high tracking speed. Further, adaptive notch filter based control technique is proposed for VSC in PV generation system. Adaptive notch filter (ANF) approach is used to synchronize the interfaced PV system with grid to maintain the amplitude, phase and frequency parameters as well as power quality improvement. This technique offers the compensation of harmonics current and reactive power with both linear and nonlinear loads. To maintain constant DC link voltage a PI controller is also implemented and presented in this paper. The complete system has been designed, developed and simulated using SimPower System and Simulink toolbox of MATLAB. The performance analysis of three phase grid connected solar photovoltaic system has been carried out on the basis of various parameters like PV output power, PV voltage, PV current, DC link voltage, PCC (Point of Common Coupling) voltage, grid voltage, grid current, voltage source converter current, power supplied by the voltage source converter etc. The results obtained from the proposed system are found satisfactory.

Keywords: solar photovoltaic systems, MPPT, voltage source converter, grid synchronization technique

Procedia PDF Downloads 589

Authors: Martina I. Reinhold, Theresa Bacon-Baguley

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A core challenge of physician assistant education is preparing professionals for lifelong learning. While this conventionally has encompassed scientific advances, students must also embrace new care delivery models and technologies. Telemedicine, the provision of care via two-way audio and video, is an example of a technological advance reforming health care. During a three-semester sequence of Hospital Community Experiences, physician assistant students were assigned experiences with Answer Health on Demand, a telemedicine collaborative. Preceding the experiences, the agency lectured on the application of telemedicine. Students were then introduced to the technology and partnered with a provider. Prior to observing the patient-provider interaction, patient consent was obtained. Afterwards, students completed a reflection paper on lessons learned and the potential impact of telemedicine on their careers. Thematic analysis was completed on the students’ reflection papers (n=13). Preceding the lecture and experience, over 75% of students (10/13) were unaware of telemedicine. Several stated they were 'skeptical' about the effectiveness of 'impersonal' health care appointments. After the experience, all students remarked that telemedicine will play a large role in the future of healthcare and will provide benefits by improving access in rural areas, decreasing wait time, and saving cost. More importantly, 30% of students (4/13) commented that telemedicine is a technology they can see themselves using in their future practice. Initial results indicate that collaborative interaction between students and telemedicine providers enhanced student learning and exposed students to technological advances in the delivery of care. Further, results indicate that students perceived telemedicine more favorably as a viable delivery method after the experience.

Keywords: collaboration, physician assistant education, teaching innovative health care delivery method, telemedicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 193

Authors: T. Jivita, M. S. Salmiah

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The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of smoking, reasons for tried smoking, factors that influence smoking, and knowledge level on health risk among male Tamil primary school students. Seven urban Tamil primary schools in Kuala Lumpur were identified based on cluster sampling. A cross-sectional study was conducted in May 2014 and a total of 380 male children in standard 4 and 5 were selected. Survey included information on history of ever smoking even a puff, smoking a whole cigarette, smoking every day at least for 7 days, reasons for tried smoking, potential factors of smoking and knowledge related to smoking and health. Fifty seven had previously smoked, with a prevalence of 15.0% (95% CI = 11.4, 18.6) and 17 had smoked a whole cigarette (4.5%, 95% CI = 2.42, 6.58) while 8 had at least smoked 7 days continuously (2.1%, 95% CI = 0.66, 3.54). The reasons for tried smoking were because of curiosity (63.2%), it is not allowed (42.6%), it is relaxing (35.2%), it is cool (33.3%), to lose weight (20.4%), style (1.8%), by mistake (0.5%), for prayers purpose (0.3%), given by uncle (0.3%), and introduced by elder brother (0.3%). None of these reasons were associated with age factors (p > 0.05). Of those who had smoked a whole cigarette, 42.9% were significantly influenced by father (χ2 (1) = 6.42, p = 0.040) and 47.8% were significantly influenced by friends (χ2 (2) = 6.27, p = 0.043). Overall 91.5% had good level of knowledge about smoking, where the majority knew that smoking was dangerous to their health. However only 61.7% and 63.1% of them knew that smoking can cause high blood pressure and stroke, respectively. There is no significant different in mean rank between 10 years old and 11 years old students (p=0.987 < 0.05) for level of knowledge, tested by Mann-Whitney U Test. Odds of smoking increased 1.37 times having seen actors smoking (95% CI= 1.01, 1.86), 1.55 times having a father who smokes (95% CI= 1.26, 1.92), 1.64 times having siblings who smokes (95% CI= 1.32, 2.04), and 10.55 times having friends who offered cigarette (95% CI= 4.17, 26.68). As a conclusion, cessation of smoking in family members, who are role models, so as to reduce rates to taking up smoking among children.

Keywords: factors influence, knowledge on smoking, prevalence on smoking, reasons

Procedia PDF Downloads 306