Search results for: learner factors/variables

Authors: Mayar A. Omar, Ismail Gomaa, Heba Badawy, Hosam Moubarak

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Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is an integrated system that helps companies in managing their resources. There are two types of ERP systems, traditional ERP systems and cloud ERP systems. Cloud ERP systems were introduced after the development of cloud computing technology. This research aims to identify the factors that affect the adoption of cloud ERP in Egyptian companies. Moreover, the aim of our study is to provide guidance to Egyptian companies in the cloud ERP adoption decision and to participate in increasing the number of cloud ERP studies that are conducted in the Middle East and in developing countries. There are many factors influencing the adoption of cloud ERP in Egyptian organizations, which are discussed and explained in the research. Those factors are examined by combining the diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) and technology-organization-environment framework (TOE). Data were collected through a survey that was developed using constructs from the existing studies of cloud computing and cloud ERP technologies and was then modified to fit our research. The analysis of the data was based on structural equation modeling (SEM) using Smart PLS software that was used for the empirical analysis of the research model.

Keywords: cloud computing, cloud ERP systems, DOI, Egypt, SEM, TOE

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Authors: Hend Almaseb

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​The motivational model proposed by Self-Determination Theory provided an explanation for clients’ motivation for therapy. Among a sample of 78 inpatient residents in the Addiction Treatment Center, this study examined the relationship between three types of motivation (Autonomous, Controlled, and Amotivation) and each of the following variables: Age, Marital Status, Educational Level of Participant, and Number of Years of Addiction. In addition, the study investigated whether or not the participants are motivated to receive therapy. The results showed 1) a significant relationship between Controlled Motivation and the following variables: Age, Marital Status, and Number of Years of Addiction; 2) a significant relationship between Autonomous Motivation and Number of Years of Addiction; and a significant relationship between Educational Level and Amotivation. The results also illustrated that the participants of this study were not motivated to seek therapy.

Keywords: addiction, clinical social work, motivation, self-determination

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Authors: Denvi Giovanita, Wustari L. H. Mangundjaya

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The pace of globalization and technological development make changes inevitable to organizations. However, organizational change is not easy to implement and is prone to failure. One of the reasons of change failure is due to lack of employees’ commitment to change. There are many variables that can influence employees’ commitment to change. The influencing factors can be sourced from the organization or individuals themselves. This study focuses on the affective form of commitment to change. The objective of this study is to identify the effect of transformational leadership (organizational factor) and employees’ change self-efficacy (individual factor) on affective commitment to change. The respondents of this study were employees who work in organizations that are or have faced organizational change. The data were collected using Affective Commitment to Change, Change Self-Efficacy, and Transformational Leadership Inventory. The data were analyzed using regression. The result showed that both transformational leadership and change self-efficacy have a positive and significant impact on affective commitment to change. The implication of the study can be used for practitioners to enhance the success of organizational change, by developing transformational leadership on the leaders and change self-efficacy on the employees in order to create a high affective commitment to change.

Keywords: affective commitment to change, change self-efficacy, organizational change, transformational leadership

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Authors: Jiyoung Bae, Gyoomi Kim

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This study explores a range of linguistic features used in Korean college students’ argumentative writings for the purpose of developing a model that identifies variables which predict writing proficiencies. This study investigated the latent variable structure of L2 linguistic features, including syntactic complexity, the lexical complexity, and fluency. One hundred forty-six university students in Korea participated in this study. The results of the study’s confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that indicators of linguistic features from this study-provided a foundation for re-categorizing indicators found in extant research on L2 Korean writers depending on each latent variable of linguistic features. The CFA models indicated one measurement model of L2 syntactic complexity and L2 learners’ writing proficiency; these two latent factors were correlated with each other. Based on the overall findings of the study, integrated linguistic features of L2 writings suggested some pedagogical implications in L2 writing instructions.

Keywords: linguistic features, syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, fluency

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Authors: Suchitra Pal, Arjun Mitra

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Objective: The purpose of this empirical study is to ascertain if gender, personality traits and social support predict the self-esteem amongst business school students. Method: The study was conducted through an online survey administered on 160 business school students of which equal-number of males and females were taken, with controls for education and family income status. The participants were contacted through emails. Data was gathered and statistically analyzed to determine the relationship between the variables. Results: The results showed that gender was not associated with self-esteem. Whilst all the personality and social support factors were found to be significantly inter-correlated with self-esteem, only extraversion, openness to new experiences, conscientiousness, emotional stability and total perceived social support were found to predict self-esteem. Conclusion: The findings were explained in the light of existing conceptualizations in the field of self-concept. Recommendations for early identification and interventions for a population with lower self-esteem levels have been made based on findings of the study. Major implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Keywords: self-esteem, personality, social support, gender, self-concept

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Authors: Fredrick Ishengoma, Leonard Mselle, Hector Mongi

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The growing number of mobile phone subscribers in Tanzania offers the government a new channel for the delivery of information and government services to citizens, thus mobile Government (m-Government). In Tanzania, m-Government services usage is in the early stages, and factors that influence its adoption are yet to be known. This study seeks to identify and understand the critical success factors (CSFs) that influence citizens’ behavioural intention (BI) to adopt m-Government services in Tanzania. The study employed the mobile services acceptance model (MSAM) and extends it with external factors relevant in the Tanzanian context. A survey questionnaire was used to collect primary data from users of m-Government services in Dar es salaam and Dodoma cities, and 253 responses were received. Data were analyzed by IBM-SPSS AMOS 23.0 software using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings of the study indicate that perceived usefulness, trust, perceived mobility, power distance, quality of service, awareness, perceived cost, personal initiatives, and characteristics significantly influence the BI to adopt m-Government services. However, perceived ease of use was found statistically insignificant to predict BI. Furthermore, the interplay between CSFs, discussion on theoretical and practical implications that follow from the results are presented.

Keywords: adoption, critical success factors, structural equation modeling, m-Government, MSAM, Tanzania

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Authors: Jing Jiang, Wenhuan XU, Lei Zhang, Shiyi Zhang, Tongli Wang

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Climate data quality significantly affects the reliability of ecological modeling. In the Asia Pacific (AP) region, low-quality climate data hinders ecological modeling. ClimateAP, a software developed in 2017, generates high-quality climate data for the AP region, benefiting researchers in forestry and agriculture. However, its adoption remains limited. This study aims to confirm the validity of biologically relevant variable data generated by ClimateAP during the normal climate period through comparison with the currently available gridded data. Climate data from 2,366 weather stations were used to evaluate the prediction accuracy of ClimateAP in comparison with the commonly used gridded data from WorldClim1.4. Univariate regressions were applied to 48 monthly biologically relevant variables, and the relationship between the observational data and the predictions made by ClimateAP and WorldClim was evaluated using Adjusted R-Squared and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE). Locations were categorized into mountainous and flat landforms, considering elevation, slope, ruggedness, and Topographic Position Index. Univariate regressions were then applied to all biologically relevant variables for each landform category. Random Forest (RF) models were implemented for the climatic niche modeling of Cunninghamia lanceolata. A comparative analysis of the prediction accuracies of RF models constructed with distinct climate data sources was conducted to evaluate their relative effectiveness. Biologically relevant variables were obtained from three unpublished Chinese meteorological datasets. ClimateAPv3.0 and WorldClim predictions were obtained from weather station coordinates and WorldClim1.4 rasters, respectively, for the normal climate period of 1961-1990. Occurrence data for Cunninghamia lanceolata came from integrated biodiversity databases with 3,745 unique points. ClimateAP explains a minimum of 94.74%, 97.77%, 96.89%, and 94.40% of monthly maximum, minimum, average temperature, and precipitation variances, respectively. It outperforms WorldClim in 37 biologically relevant variables with lower RMSE values. ClimateAP achieves higher R-squared values for the 12 monthly minimum temperature variables and consistently higher Adjusted R-squared values across all landforms for precipitation. ClimateAP's temperature data yields lower Adjusted R-squared values than gridded data in high-elevation, rugged, and mountainous areas but achieves higher values in mid-slope drainages, plains, open slopes, and upper slopes. Using ClimateAP improves the prediction accuracy of tree occurrence from 77.90% to 82.77%. The biologically relevant climate data produced by ClimateAP is validated based on evaluations using observations from weather stations. The use of ClimateAP leads to an improvement in data quality, especially in non-mountainous regions. The results also suggest that using biologically relevant variables generated by ClimateAP can slightly enhance climatic niche modeling for tree species, offering a better understanding of tree species adaptation and resilience compared to using gridded data.

Keywords: climate data validation, data quality, Asia pacific climate, climatic niche modeling, random forest models, tree species

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Authors: Manpreet Kaur, Badaruddoza, Sandeep Kaur Brar

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The increasing prevalence of adolescent obesity is one of the major causes to be hypertensive in adulthood. Various statistical methods have been applied to examine the performance of anthropometric indices for the identification of adverse cardiovascular risk profile. The present work was undertaken to determine the significant traditional risk factors through principal component factor analysis (PCFA) among population based Punjabi adolescents aged 10-18 years. Data was collected among adolescent children from different schools situated in urban areas of Punjab, India. Principal component factor analysis (PCFA) was applied to extract orthogonal components from anthropometric and physiometric variables. Association between components were explained by factor loadings. The PCFA extracted four factors, which explained 84.21%, 84.06% and 83.15% of the total variance of the 14 original quantitative traits among boys, girls and combined subjects respectively. Factor 1 has high loading of the traits that reflect adiposity such as waist circumference, BMI and skinfolds among both sexes. However, waist circumference and body mass index are the indicator of abdominal obesity which increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The loadings of these two traits have found maximum in girls adolescents (WC=0.924; BMI=0.905). Therefore, factor 1 is the strong indicator of atherosclerosis in adolescents. Factor 2 is predominantly loaded with blood pressures and related traits (SBP, DBP, MBP and pulse rate) which reflect the risk of essential hypertension in adolescent girls and combined subjects, whereas, factor 2 loaded with obesity related traits in boys (weight and hip circumferences). Comparably, factor 3 is loaded with blood pressures in boys and with height and WHR in girls, while factor 4 contains high loading of pulse pressure among boys, girls and combined group of adolescents.

Keywords: adolescent obesity, cvd, hypertension, punjabi population

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Authors: Yong Jae Yu, Jae-Yeol Cho

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In the design of structural concrete for impact loading, design or model codes often employ a dynamic increase factor (DIF) to impose dynamic effect on static response. Dynamic increase factors that are obtained from laboratory material test results and that are commonly given as a function of strain rate only are quite different from each other depending on the design concept of design codes like ACI 349M-06, fib Model Code 2010 and ACI 370R-14. Because the dynamic increase factors currently adopted in the codes are too simple and limited to consider a variety of strength of materials, their application in practical design is questionable. In this study, the dynamic increase factors used in the three codes were validated through the finite element analysis of reinforced concrete slab elements which were tested and reported by other researcher. The test was intended to simulate a wall element of the containment building in nuclear power plants that is assumed to be subject to impact scenario that the Pentagon experienced on September 11, 2001. The finite element analysis was performed using the ABAQAUS 6.10 and the plasticity models were employed for the concrete, reinforcement. The dynamic increase factors given in the three codes were applied to the stress-strain curves of the materials. To estimate the dynamic increase factors, strain rate was adopted as a parameter. Comparison of the test and analysis was done with regard to perforation depth, maximum deflection, and surface crack area of the slab. Consequently, it was found that DIF has so great an effect on the behavior of the reinforced concrete structures that selection of DIF should be very careful. The result implies that DIF should be provided in design codes in more delicate format considering various influence factors.

Keywords: impact, strain rate, DIF, slab elements

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Authors: Fadoua Ouamani, Narjès Bellamine Ben Saoud, Henda Hajjami Ben Ghézala

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In the last few years and over the last decades, there was a growing interest in the development of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments. However, the existing systems ignore the variety of learners and their socio-cultural differences, especially in the case of distant and networked learning. In fact, within such collaborative learning environments, learners from different socio-cultural backgrounds may interact together. These learners evolve within various cultures and social contexts and acquire different socio-cultural values and behaviors. Thus, they should be assisted while communicating and collaborating especially in an intercultural group. Besides, the communication and collaboration tools provided to each learner must depend on and be adapted to her/his socio-cultural profile. The main goal of this paper is to present the proposed socio-cultural adaptation approach based on and guided by ontologies to adapt CSCL environments to the socio-cultural profiles of its users (learners or others).

Keywords: CSCL, socio-cultural profile, adaptation, ontology

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Authors: S. Kaira, S. Mohamed, A. Rahman

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Traditionally, highway infrastructure projects are initiated based on their economic benefits, thereafter environmental, social and governance impacts are addressed discretely for the selected project from a set of pre-determined alternatives. When opting for cost-benefit analysis (CBA), multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) has been used as the default assessment tool. But this tool has been critiqued as it does not mimic the real-world dynamic environment. Indeed, it is because of the fact that public sector projects like highways have to experience intense exposure to dynamic environments. Therefore, it is essential to appreciate the impacts of various dynamic factors (factors that change or progress with the system) on project performance. Thus, this paper presents various sustainability assessment tools that have been globally developed to determine sustainability performance of infrastructure projects during the design, procurement and commissioning phase. Indeed, identification of the current gaps in the available assessment methods provides a potential to add prominent part of knowledge in the field of ‘road project development systems and procedures’ that are generally used by road agencies.

Keywords: dynamic impact factors, micro and macro factors, sustainability assessment framework, sustainability performance

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Authors: Pawan Kumar, Dhananjoy Shaw

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Heart rate variability (HRV) is the physiological phenomenon of variation in the time interval between heartbeats and is alterable with fitness, age and different medical conditions including withdrawal/retirement from games/sports. Objectives of the study were to develop (a) percentile norms of heart rate variability (HRV) variables derived from time domain analysis of the Indian sportspersons withdrawn from competitive games/sports pertaining to sympathetic and parasympathetic activity (b) percentile norms of heart rate variability (HRV) variables derived from frequency domain analysis of the Indian sportspersons withdrawn from competitive games/sports pertaining to sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. The study was conducted on 430 males. Ages of the sample ranged from 30 to 35 years of same socio-economic status. Date was collected using ECG polygraphs. Data were processed and extracted using frequency domain analysis and time domain analysis. Collected data were computed with percentile from one to hundred. The finding showed that the percentile norms of heart rate variability (HRV) variables derived from time domain analysis of the Indian sportspersons withdrawn from competitive games/sports pertaining to sympathetic and parasympathetic activity namely, NN50 count (ranged from 1 to 189 score as percentile range). pNN50 count (ranged from .24 to 60.80 score as percentile range). SDNN (ranged from 17.34 to 167.29 score as percentile range). SDSD (ranged from 11.14 to 120.46 score as percentile range). RMMSD (ranged from 11.19 to 120.24 score as percentile range) and SDANN (ranged from 4.02 to 88.75 score as percentile range). The percentile norms of heart rate variability (HRV) variables derived from frequency domain analysis of the Indian sportspersons withdrawn from competitive games/sports pertaining to sympathetic and parasympathetic activity namely Low Frequency (Normalized Power) ranged from 20.68 to 90.49 score as percentile range. High Frequency (Normalized Power) ranged from 14.37 to 81.60 score as percentile range. LF/ HF ratio(ranged from 0.26 to 9.52 score as percentile range). LF (Absolute Power) ranged from 146.79 to 5669.33 score as percentile range. HF (Absolute Power) ranged from 102.85 to 10735.71 score as percentile range and Total Power (Absolute Power) ranged from 471.45 to 25879.23 score as percentile range. Conclusion: The analysis documented percentile norms for time domain analysis and frequency domain analysis for versatile use and evaluation.

Keywords: RMSSD, Percentile, SDANN, HF, LF

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Authors: Vincent Otieno, Alfred Agwanda, Anne Khasakhala

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Among the neo-Malthusian adherents, it is believed that rapid population growth strain countries’ capacity and performance. Fertility have however decelerated in most of the countries in the recent past. Scholars have concentrated on wide range of factors associated with fertility majorly at the national scale with some opining that analysis of trends and differentials in the various fertility parameters have been discussed extensively. However, others believe that considerably less attention has been paid to the fertility preference- a pathway through which various variables act on fertility. The Sub-Saharan African countries’ disparities amid almost similarities in policies is a cause of concern to demographers. One would point at the meager synergies that have been focused on the fertility preference as well, especially at the macro scale. Using Bongaarts reformulation of Easterlin and Crimmins (1985) conceptual scheme, the understanding of the current transition based on the fertility preference in general would help to provide explanations to the observed latest dynamics. This study therefore is an attempt to explain the current fertility transition through women’s fertility preference. Results reveal that indeed fertility transition is on course in most of the sub-Saharan countries with huge disparities in fertility preferences and its implementation indices.

Keywords: fertility preference, the degree of implementation index, sub-Saharan Africa, transition

Procedia PDF Downloads 243

Authors: Hyeon-Kyo Lim, Tong-il Jang, Yong-Hee Lee

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As for any nuclear power plant, human error is one of the most dreaded factors that may result in unexpected accidents. Thus, for accident prevention, it is quite indispensable to analyze and to manage the influence of any factor which may raise the possibility of human errors. Among lots factors, stress has been reported to have significant influence on human performance. Stress level of a person may fluctuate over time. To handle the possibility over time, robust stress management program is required, especially in nuclear power plants. Therefore, to overcome the possibility of human errors, this study aimed to develop a stress management program as a part of Fitness-for-Duty (FFD) Program for the workers in nuclear power plants. The meaning of FFD might be somewhat different by research objectives, appropriate definition of FFD was accomplished in this study with special reference to human error prevention, and diverse stress factors were elicited for management of human error susceptibility. In addition, with consideration of conventional FFD management programs, appropriate tests and interventions were introduced over the whole employment cycle including selection and screening of workers, job allocation, job rotation, and disemployment as well as Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP). The results showed that most tools mainly concentrated their weights on common organizational factors such as Demands, Supports, and Relationships in sequence, which were referred as major stress factors.

Keywords: human error, accident prevention, work performance, stress, fatigue

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Authors: S. U. Kunya, S. A. Mohammad

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Construction projects in Nigeria are characterized with risks emanating from delays and accompanying cost-overruns. The aim of the study was to identify and assess factors constraining the utilization of risk management strategies in the execution of public construction project in North-East Nigeria. Data was collected with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire administered to three identified projects in the North-east. Data collected were analysed using the severity index. Findings revealed political involvement, selection of inexperienced contractors and lack of coordinated public sector strategy as the most severe factors constraining the utilization of risk management strategies. The study recommended that: formulation of laws to prevent negative political meddling in construction projects; selection of experienced, risk-informed contractors; and comprehensive risk assessment and planning on all public construction projects.

Keywords: factors, Nigeria, north-east, public projects, risk management, strategies, utilization

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Authors: Marwa Sahnoun, Chokri Abdennadher

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This article comes, very timely, to look at the effectiveness of active labor market policies (ALMP) in improving labor market outcomes. Using panel data estimates for 19 European countries during the period 2000-2012, this article showed the role of institutional factors, especially the role of employment policies implementation based on three variables: the allocation of resources for the implementation of policies, continuity and timing in the implementation of policies to capture their effectiveness on the labor market. Empirical results shows favor effect of training, employment incentives, sheltered employment and rehabilitation and direct job creation on the entire population employment growth. Results shows also that start-up incentives seems to be more effective in increasing employment than other types of policies. Importantly, two aspects are important in terms of implementation: public expenditure on program administration, e.g. (PES) watches the most favorable aspect and the continuity of policies implemented.

Keywords: active labor market policies, implementation, public expenditure on program administration, start-up incentives, training

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Authors: M. Zaitoun, S. Cumming, A. Purcell

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This study aims to determine if audiologists' experience characteristics in ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) reading is associated with their performance in interpreting ABR results. Fifteen ABR traces with varying degrees of hearing level were presented twice, making a total of 30. Audiologists were asked to determine the hearing threshold for each of the cases after completing a brief survey regarding their experience and training in ABR administration. Sixty-one audiologists completed all tasks. Correlations between audiologists’ performance measures and experience variables suggested significant associations (p < 0.05) between training period in ABR testing and audiologists’ performance in terms of both sensitivity and accuracy. In addition, the number of years conducting ABR testing correlated with specificity. No other correlations approached significance. While there are relatively few significant correlations between ABR performance and experience, accuracy in ABR reading is associated with audiologists’ length of experience and period of training. To improve audiologists’ performance in reading ABR results, an emphasis on the importance of training should be raised and standardized levels and period for audiologists training in ABR testing should also be set.

Keywords: ABR, audiology, performance, training, experience

Procedia PDF Downloads 166

Authors: Simone Raimondi De Souza, Glaucia Maria Moraes De Oliveira, Ronir Raggio Luiz, Glorimar Rosa

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Introduction: Obesity is among the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Genesis is multifactorial, including genetic, hormonal and environmental factors disorders, among which inadequate feeding pattern, for which nutritional counseling strategies have proven effective. The consumption of beta-glucans (soluble fibers that reportedly promote satiety) present in oat bran can be an effective strategy for preventing and treating obesity. Other benefits have been observed with oat bran consumption, such as reduction of hypercholesterolemia and hyperglycemia, two other risk factors for CVD. Objectives: To analyze the effect of oat bran consumption associated with nutritional counseling in reducing body mass index (BMI), blood cholesterol, glucose profile, waist and neck circumference in obese individuals, and to evaluate the change in eating pattern. Methods: clinical trial, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, lasting 90 days with adults of both genders, with BMI ≥30kg/m2. The study was approved by the Ethics in Research involving human beings in a public institute of cardiology, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Individuals were invited to participate and accepted formally by signing the Terms of Consent. Participants were randomized into oat bran group (gOB) or placebo group (gPCB) and received, respectively: morning prepared consisting of 40g oat bran, 30g of skimmed milk powder and 1g sweetener sucralose; refined flour 40g rice, 30g of milk powder and 1g sweetener sucralose. The Ten Steps to Healthy Eating, of Brazilian Ministry of Health were used to support the nutritional counseling. Variables analyzed: gender; age; BMI, waist circumference (WC) neck circumference (NC); systolic blood pressure (SBP); diastolic blood pressure (DBP); food consumption, total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-c), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-c), non-HDL cholesterol (nHDLc), triglycerides (TG), fasting glucose (FG), fasting insulin (FI) and HOMA-IR. Dietary intake was assessed by 24-hour dietary recall. The Diet Quality Index revised for the Brazilian population (IQD-R) assessed quality of feeding pattern. Statistical analyzes were performed using SPSS version 21, considering statistically significant p-value less than 0.05. Results: A total of 38 participants were included, age = 50 ± 7,6years, 63% women. 19 subjects were placed in gOB and 19 in gPCB. After intervention, statistically significant reductions were observed in the following parameters: in gOB: IQD-R, TC, LDL-c, nHDL-c, FI, SBP, DBP, BMI, WC, NC; in gPCB: IQD-R, LDL-c, SBP, DBP, BMI, WC, NC. No statistically significant differences were observed in the results between groups. Conclusion: Our results reinforce nutritional counseling as important strategy for prevention and treatment of obesity and suggest that inclusion of oat bran in daily diet can bring additional benefits controlling risk factors for CVD. More studies are needed to establish all benefits of oat bran to human health as well as the ideal daily dose for consumption.

Keywords: oat bran, cardiovascular disease, nutritional counseling, obesity

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Authors: Chairun Wiedyaningsih, Sri Suryawati, Yati Soenarto, Muhammad Hakimi

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Background: Many drugs used in paediatrics are not commercially available in suitable dosage forms. Therefore, the drugs often prescribed in extemporaneous compounding dosage form. Compounding can pose health risks include poor quality and unsafe products. Studies of compounding dosage form have primarily focused on prescription profiles, reasons of prescribing never be explored. Objectives: The study was conducted to identify factors influencing physicians’ decision to prescribe extemporaneous compounding dosage form for paediatric outpatients. Setting: Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY) province, Indonesia. Method: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 general physicians and 7 paediatricians to identify the reason of prescribing extemporaneous compounding dosage form. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Factors underlying prescribing of compounding could be categorized to therapy, healthcare system, patient and past experience. The primary reasons of therapy factors were limited availability of drug compositions, dosages or formulas specific for children. Beliefs in efficacy of the compounding forms were higher when the drugs used primarily to overcome complex cases. Physicians did not concern about compounding form containing several active substances because manufactured syrups may also contain several active substances. Although medicines were available in manufactured syrups, limited institutional budget was healthcare system factor of compounding prescribing. The prescribing factors related to patients include easy to use, efficient and lower price. The prescribing factors related to past experience were physicians’ beliefs to the progress of patient's health status. Conclusions: Compounding was prescribed based on therapy-related factors, healthcare system factors, patient factors and past experience.

Keywords: compounding dosage form, interview, physician, prescription

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Authors: S. Bouharati, F. Allag, M. Belmahdi, M. Bounechada

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In terms of ecology forecast effects of desertification, the purpose of this study is to develop a predictive model of growth and adaptation of species in arid environment and bioclimatic conditions. The impact of climate change and the desertification phenomena is the result of combined effects in magnitude and frequency of these phenomena. Like the data involved in the phytopathogenic process and bacteria growth in arid soil occur in an uncertain environment because of their complexity, it becomes necessary to have a suitable methodology for the analysis of these variables. The basic principles of fuzzy logic those are perfectly suited to this process. As input variables, we consider the physical parameters, soil type, bacteria nature, and plant species concerned. The result output variable is the adaptability of the species expressed by the growth rate or extinction. As a conclusion, we prevent the possible strategies for adaptation, with or without shifting areas of plantation and nature adequate vegetation.

Keywords: climate changes, dry soil, phytopathogenicity, predictive model, fuzzy logic

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Authors: Priyanka Sharma

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The women voter turnout in India is increasing. The rising female voter turnout is explained in part by men intimidating women in the household to vote. Women are more likely than men to be guided before voting. What is perhaps more significant is that the gender gap has shrunk significantly over the years. However, there are layers and categories of women voters in India. Some women are much more likely than the average woman to follow advice. Against this backdrop, this paper investigates the variation among women voters during the national elections of 2019 in India. The central question of this research paper is whether or not the development of greater political opinion among women would offset guided voting and allow them to emerge as more independent voters. So the independent variable of the study is Indian women’s opinion on politics, and the dependent variable is their voting behavior. The methodology used in this paper is both quantitative and qualitative. This study investigated and examined Lokniti’s election survey data. The sample size used in this survey is 11568. The analysis of this study has revealed that there is a considerable impact of women having a political opinion on their voting behavior. The Bivariate analysis of the variables states that 83% of Indian women who have opinions on political issues do not seek advice while going to vote. This proves the hypothesis of this paper that women with an opinion on politics are more likely to be independent voters. To check the statistical significance of the finding, a chi-square test was done and the p-value found is 0.009737, which shows it is statistically significant. Furthermore, a regression test has been done by controlling certain variables like age, educational qualification, caste, and financial position of the women to probe the influence on the dependent variable. The findings provide worthwhile insights into the relationship between these control variables and the women voting behavior in India.

Keywords: dependent voter, independent voter, political opinion, voting behavior, women voter

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Authors: Abdullah AlGhazali, Richard Fairchild, Yilmaz Guney

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We examine the effect of managerial overconfidence on UK firms’ payout policy for the period 2000 to 2012. The analysis incorporates, in addition to common firm-specific factors, a wide range of corporate governance factors and managerial characteristics that have been documented to affect the relationship between overconfidence and payout policy. Our results are robust to several estimation considerations. The findings show that the influence of overconfident CEOs on the amount of, and the propensity to pay, dividends is significant within the UK context. Specifically, we detect that there is a reduction in dividend payments in firms managed by overconfident managers compared to their non-overconfident counterparts. Moreover, we affirm that cash flows, firm size and profitability are positively correlated, while leverage, firm growth and investment are negatively correlated with the amount of and propensity to pay dividends. Interestingly, we demonstrate that firms with the potential for undervaluation reduce dividend payments. Some of the corporate governance factors are shown to motivate firms to pay more dividends while these factors seem to have no influence on the propensity to pay dividends. The results also show that in general higher overconfidence leads to more share repurchases but the lower total payout. Overall, managerial overconfidence should be considered as an important factor influencing payout policy in addition to other known factors.

Keywords: dividends, repurchases, UK firms, overconfidence, corporate governance, undervaluation

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Authors: Sana Maidullah, Ankita Sharma

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The present study takes naturalistic decision-making approach to examine the role of personality in information processing in consumer decision making. In the technological era, most of the information comes in form of HTML or similar language via the internet; processing of this situation could be ambiguous, laborious and painful. The present study explores the role of impulsivity in creating an extreme effect on consumer decision making. Specifically, the study explores the role of impulsivity in extreme effect, i.e., extremeness avoidance (compromise effect) and extremeness seeking; the role of demographic variables, i.e. age and gender, in the relation between impulsivity and extreme effect. The study was conducted with the help of a questionnaire and two experiments. The experiment was designed in the form of two shopping websites with two product types: Hotel choice and Mobile choice. Both experimental interfaces were created with the Xampp software, the frontend of interfaces was HTML CSS JAVASCRIPT and backend was PHP MySQL. The mobile experiment was designed to measure the extreme effect and hotel experiment was designed to measure extreme effect with alignability of attributes. To observe the possibilities of the combined effect of individual difference and context effects, the manipulation of price, a number of alignable attributes and number of the non-alignable attributes is done. The study was conducted on 100 undergraduate and post-graduate engineering students within the age range of 18-35. The familiarity and level of use of internet and shopping website were assessed and controlled in the analysis. The analysis was done by using a t-test, ANOVA and regression analysis. The results indicated that the impulsivity leads to compromise effect and at the same time it also increases the relationship between alignability of attribute among choices and the compromise effect. The demographic variables were found to play a significant role in the relationship. The subcomponents of impulsivity were significantly influencing compromise effect, but the cognitive impulsivity was significant for women, and motor impulsivity was significant for males only. The impulsivity was significantly positively predicted by age, though there were no significant gender differences in impulsivity. The results clearly indicate the importance of individual factors in decision making. The present study, with precise and direct results, provides a significant suggestion for market analyst and business providers.

Keywords: impulsivity, extreme effect, personality, alignability, consumer decision making

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Authors: Mária Hudáková, Mária Lusková

Abstract:

This report is focused on widening the theoretical knowledge as well as controlling practical application from the risk management point of view, regarding to dynamic business changes that have occurred in Slovakia which recently has been considered to be an environment full of risk and uncertainty. The idea of the report is the proposal of the controlling operation model in the course of risk management process in an enterprise operating in Slovakia, by which the controller is able to identify early risk factors in suggested major areas of the business management upon appropriate business information integration, consecutive control and prognoses and to prepare in time full-value documents in order to suggest measures for reduction thereof. Dealing with risk factors, that can quickly limit the growth potential of the enterprise, is an essential part of managerial activities on each level. This is the reason why mutual unofficial, ergo collegial cooperation of individual departments is necessary for controlling application from the business risk management point of view. An important part of the report is elaborated survey of the most important risk factors existing in major management areas of enterprises operating in Slovakia. The outcome of the performed survey is a catalogue of the most important enterprise risk factors. The catalogue serves for better understanding risk factors affecting the Slovak enterprises, their importance and evaluation.

Keywords: controlling, information, risks, risk factor, crisis

Procedia PDF Downloads 395

Authors: Erez Kita, Gil Luria

Abstract:

This study examines gender as a boundary condition for the relationship between the psychological variable of mindfulness and the social variable of income with regards to the use of smartphones by young drivers. The use of smartphones while driving increases the likelihood of a car accident, endangering young drivers and other road users. The study sample included 186 young drivers who were legally permitted to drive without supervision. The subjects were first asked to complete questionnaires on mindfulness and income. Next, their smartphone use while driving was monitored over a one-month period. This study is unique as it used an objective smartphone monitoring application (rather than self-reporting) to count the number of times the young participants actually touched their smartphones while driving. The findings show that gender moderates the effects of social and personal factors (i.e., income and mindfulness) on the use of smartphones while driving. The pattern of moderation was similar for both social and personal factors. For men, mindfulness and income are negatively associated with the use of smartphones while driving. These factors are not related to the use of smartphones by women drivers. Mindfulness and income can be used to identify male populations that are at risk of using smartphones while driving. Interventions that improve mindfulness can be used to reduce the use of smartphones by male drivers.

Keywords: mindfulness, using smartphones while driving, income, gender, young drivers

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Muhammad Abid

Abstract:

In this study, we performed the comparative exergetic and exergoeconomic analyses of a wind turbine over a period of twelve months from 1st January to 30th December 2011. The turbine is part of a wind-PV hybrid system with hydrogen storage, located on the roof of Mechanical Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The rated power output from this turbine is 1.7 W with a rated wind speed of 12 m/s and cut-in/cut-out wind speeds of 3/14 m/s. We utilize a wide range of experimental data in the analysis and assessment. We determine exergy efficiencies and their relation with meteorological variables, such as temperature and density. We also calculate exergoeconomic parameter R ̇_ex and its dependence on the temperature, using the average values for twelve months of the year considered for comparison purposes. The exergy efficiency changes from 0.12 to 0.31 while the density varies between 1.31 and 1.2 kg/m3 for different temperature values. The R ̇_ex has minimum and maximum values of 0.02 and 0.81, respectively, while the temperature is in the range of 8-24°C for various wind velocity values.

Keywords: exergy, efficiency, renewable energy, wind energy, meteorological variables

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Donghun Jeong, Somyoung Shin, Yeoil Yun

Abstract:

A large-scale traffic accident refers to an accident in which more than three people die or more than thirty people are dead or injured. In order to prevent a large-scale traffic accident from causing a big loss of lives or establish effective improvement measures, it is important to analyze accident situations in-depth and understand the effects of major accident variables on an accident. This study aims to analyze the contribution of individual accident variables to accident results, based on the accurate reconstruction of traffic accidents using PC-Crash’s Multi-Body, which is an accident reconstruction program, and simulation of each scenario. Multi-Body system of PC-Crash accident reconstruction program is used for multi-body accident reconstruction that shows motions in diverse directions that were not approached previously. MB System is to design and reproduce a form of body, which shows realistic motions, using several bodies. Targeting the 'freight truck cargo drop accident around the Changwon Tunnel' that happened in November 2017, this study conducted a simulation of the freight truck cargo drop accident and analyzed the contribution of individual accident majors. Then on the basis of the driving speed, cargo load, and stacking method, six scenarios were devised. The simulation analysis result displayed that the freight car was driven at a speed of 118km/h(speed limit: 70km/h) right before the accident, carried 196 oil containers with a weight of 7,880kg (maximum load: 4,600kg) and was not fully equipped with anchoring equipment that could prevent a drop of cargo. The vehicle speed, cargo load, and cargo anchoring equipment were major accident variables, and the accident contribution analysis results of individual variables are as follows. When the freight car only obeyed the speed limit, the scattering distance of oil containers decreased by 15%, and the number of dropped oil containers decreased by 39%. When the freight car only obeyed the cargo load, the scattering distance of oil containers decreased by 5%, and the number of dropped oil containers decreased by 34%. When the freight car obeyed both the speed limit and cargo load, the scattering distance of oil containers fell by 38%, and the number of dropped oil containers fell by 64%. The analysis result of each scenario revealed that the overspeed and excessive cargo load of the freight car contributed to the dispersion of accident damage; in the case of a truck, which did not allow a fall of cargo, there was a different type of accident when driven too fast and carrying excessive cargo load, and when the freight car obeyed the speed limit and cargo load, there was the lowest possibility of causing an accident.

Keywords: accident reconstruction, large-scale traffic accident, PC-Crash, MB system

Procedia PDF Downloads 200

Authors: S. V. Ncube, A. I. O. Jideani, E. T. Gwata

Abstract:

The plight of food insecurity in developing countries has led to renewed interest in underutilized legumes. Their nutritional versatility, desirable functionality, pharmaceutical value and inherent bioactive compounds have drawn the attention of researchers. This has provoked the development of value added products with the aim of commercially exploiting their full potential. However processing of these legumes leads to changes in nutritional composition as affected by processing variables like pH, temperature and pressure. There is therefore a need for process control and quality assurance during production of the value added products. However, conventional methods for microbiological and biochemical identification are labour intensive and time-consuming. Biosensors offer rapid and affordable methods to assure the quality of the products. They may be used to quantify nutrients and anti-nutrients in the products while manipulating and monitoring variables such as pH, temperature, pressure and oxygen that affect the quality of the final product. This review gives an overview of the types of biosensors used in the food industry, their advantages and disadvantages and their possible application in processing of legumes.

Keywords: legume processing, biosensors, quality control, nutritional versatility

Procedia PDF Downloads 492

Authors: L. A. Alfarani, M. McPherson, N. Morris

Abstract:

The growth of mobile learning depends primarily on the participation of teachers and their belief in the possibilities that this technology has for enhancing learning. The need to integrate technology into education seems clear-cut, however, its acceptance in Saudi higher education remains low. Thus, determining the particular factors that affect faculty acceptance of technology is vital. This paper focuses on TAM which depends on two factors: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, this theory are used to predict faculty members’ behavioural intentions towards using mobile learning technology. 279 faculty members in one Saudi university have responded to the online questionnaire. The findings have revealed that there is a statistically significant difference in both usefulness and ease of using m-learning factors.

Keywords: TAM theory, mobile learning technology acceptance, usefulness, ease of use

Procedia PDF Downloads 524

Authors: A. Yacob, N. Hj. Ali, M. H. Yusoff, M. Y. MohdSaman, W. M. A. F. W. Hamzah

Abstract:

Personalized learning becomes increasingly popular which not is restricted by time, place or any other barriers. This study proposes an analysis of Personalized Learning using Item Response Theory which considers course material difficulty and learner ability. The study investigates twenty undergraduate students at TATI University College, who are taking programming subject. By using the IRT, it was found that, finding the most appropriate problem levels to each student include high and low level test items together is not a problem. Thus, the student abilities can be asses more accurately and fairly. Learners who experience more anxiety will affect a heavier cognitive load and receive lower test scores. Instructors are encouraged to provide a supportive learning environment to enhance learning effectiveness because Cognitive Load Theory concerns the limited capacity of the brain to absorb new information.

Keywords: assessment, item response theory, cognitive load theory, learning, motivation, performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 317