Search results for: social work education and pedagogy

Authors: Mandeep Kumar, Hari Singh

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The effective optimization of machining process parameters affects dramatically the cost and production time of machined components as well as the quality of the final products. This paper presents the optimization aspects of a Wire Electrical Discharge Machining operation using Inconel X-750 as work material. The objective considered in this study is minimization of the dimensional deviation. Six input process parameters of WEDM namely spark gap voltage, pulse-on time, pulse-off time, wire feed rate, peak current and wire tension, were chosen as variables to study the process performance. Taguchi's design of experiments methodology has been used for planning and designing the experiments. The analysis of variance was carried out for raw data as well as for signal to noise ratio. Four input parameters and one two-factor interaction have been found to be statistically significant for their effects on the response of interest. The confirmation experiments were also performed for validating the predicted results.

Keywords: ANOVA, DOE, inconel, machining, optimization

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Authors: Kebaili Bachir

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The reuse of concrete waste as a secondary aggregate could be an efficient solution for sustainable development and long-term environmental protection. The variable nature of waste concrete, with various compressive strengths, can have a negative effect on the final compressive strength of recycled concrete. Accordingly, an experimental test programme was developed to evaluate the effect of parent concrete qualities on the performance of recycled concrete. Three grades with different compressive strengths 10MPa, 20MPa, and 30MPa were considered in the study; moreover, an unknown compressive strength was introduced as well. The trial mixes used 40% secondary aggregates (both course and fine) and 60% of natural aggregates. The compressive strength of the test concrete decrease between 15 and 25% compared to normal concrete with no secondary aggregates. This work proves that the strength properties of the parent concrete have a limited effect on the compressive strength of recycled concrete. Low compressive strength parent concrete when crushed generate a high percentage of recycled coarse aggregates with the less attached mortar and give the same compressive strength as an excellent parent concrete. However, the decrease in compressive strength can be mitigated by increasing the cement content 4% by weight of recycled aggregates used.

Keywords: compressive, concrete, quality, recycled, strength

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Authors: Y. Galerkin, E. Popova, K. Soldatova

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There is an evident trend to elevate pressure ratio of a single stage of a turbo compressors - axial compressors in particular. Whilst there was an opinion recently that a pressure ratio 1,9 was a reasonable limit, later appeared information on successful modeling tested of stages with pressure ratio up to 2,8. The Authors recon that lack of information on high pressure stages makes actual a study of rational choice of design parameters before high supersonic flow problems solving. The computer program of an engineering type was developed. Below is presented a sample of its application to study possible parameters of the impeller of the stage with pressure ratio π*=3,0. Influence of two main design parameters on expected efficiency, periphery blade speed and flow structure is demonstrated. The results had lead to choose a variant for further analysis and improvement by CFD methods.

Keywords: supersonic stage, impeller, efficiency, flow rate coefficient, work coefficient, loss coefficient, oblique shock, direct shock

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Authors: D. Nareshyadav, K. Anand Kishore, D. Bhagawan

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Water scarcity is the much-identified issue all over the world. The available sources of water need to be reused to sustainable future. The present work explores the treatment of dye wastewater using combinative photocatalysis and ceramic nanofiltration membrane. Commercial ceramic membrane and TiO₂ catalyst were used in this study to investigate the removal of crystal violet dye from the aqueous solution. The effect of operating parameters such as inlet pressure, initial concentration of crystal violet dye, catalyst (TiO₂) loading, initial pH was investigated in the individual system as well as the combined system. In this study, 95 % of dye water was decolorized and 89 % of total organic carbon (TOC) was removed by the hybrid system for 500 ppm of dye and 0.75 g/l of TiO₂ concentrations at pH 9. The operation of the integrated photocatalytic reactor and ceramic membrane filtration has shown the maximum removal of crystal violet dye compared to individual systems. Hence this proposed method may be effective for the removal of Crystal violet dye from effluents.

Keywords: advanced oxidation process, ceramic nanoporous membrane, dye degradation/removal, hybrid system, photocatalysis

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Authors: Hyun-Woo Cho

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Unexpected operational events or abnormalities of industrial processes have a serious impact on the quality of final product of interest. In terms of statistical process control, fault detection and diagnosis of processes is one of the essential tasks needed to run the process safely. In this work, nonlinear representation of process measurement data is presented and evaluated using a simulation process. The effect of using different representation methods on the diagnosis performance is tested in terms of computational efficiency and data handling. The results have shown that the nonlinear representation technique produced more reliable diagnosis results and outperforms linear methods. The use of data filtering step improved computational speed and diagnosis performance for test data sets. The presented scheme is different from existing ones in that it attempts to extract the fault pattern in the reduced space, not in the original process variable space. Thus this scheme helps to reduce the sensitivity of empirical models to noise.

Keywords: fault diagnosis, nonlinear technique, process data, reduced spaces

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Authors: Marina Paula Carreira Rolim

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In order to have ELLs take responsibility for their own learning, it is important that they develop skills to work their studies strategically. The less they rely on the instructor as the content provider, the more they become active learners and have a higher sense of self-regulation and confidence in the learning process. This e-poster proposes a new teacher-student relationship that encourages learners to reflect, think critically, and act upon their realities. It also suggests the implementation of different autonomy-supportive teaching tools, such as portfolios, written journals, problem-solving activities, and strategy-based discussions in class. These teaching tools enable ELLs to develop awareness of learning strategies, learning styles, study plans, and available learning resources as means to foster their creative power of learning outside of classroom. In the role of a learning advisor, the teacher is no longer the content provider but a facilitator that introduces skills such as ‘elaborating’, ‘planning’, ‘monitoring’, and ‘evaluating’. The teacher acts as an educator and promotes the use of lifelong metacognitive skills to develop learner autonomy in the ESL/EFL context.

Keywords: autonomy, metacognitive skills, self-regulation, learning strategies, reflection

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Authors: R. Asmeda, A. Noorlaila, M. H. Norziah

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This research work was conducted to investigate the effects of different grinding techniques during the milling process of rice grains on physicochemical characteristics of rice flour produced. Dry grinding, semi-wet grinding, and wet grinding were employed to produce the rice flour. The results indicated that different grinding methods significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected physicochemical and functional properties of starch except for the carbohydrate content, x-ray diffraction pattern and breakdown viscosity. Dry grinding technique caused highest percentage of starch damage compared to semi-wet and wet grinding. Protein, fat and ash content were highest in rice flour obtained by dry grinding. It was found that wet grinding produce flour with smallest average particle size (8.52 µm), resulting in highest process yield (73.14%). Pasting profiles revealed that dry grinding produce rice flour with significantly lowest pasting temperature and highest setback viscosity.

Keywords: average particle size, grinding techniques, physicochemical characteristics, rice flour

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Authors: D. K. Maurya, S. M. Saini

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We investigate theoretically the electronic and optical properties of YNi₄Si-type HoNi₄Si compound from first principle calculations. Calculations are performed using full-potential augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) method in the frame work of density functional theory (DFT). The Coulomb corrected local-spin density approximation (LSDA+U) in the self-interaction correction (SIC) has been used for exchange-correlation potential. Analysis of the calculated band structure of HoNi₄Si compound demonstrates their metallic character. We found Ni-3d states mainly contribute to density of states from -5.0 eV to the Fermi level while the Ho-f states peak stands tall in comparison to the small contributions made by the Ni-d and Ho-d states above Fermi level, which is consistent with experiment, in HoNi4Si compound. Our calculated optical conductivity compares well with the experimental data and the results are analyzed in the light of band to band transitions.

Keywords: electronic properties, density of states, optical properties, LSDA+U approximation, YNi₄Si-type HoNi4Si compound

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Authors: Nemes Alexandra

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The aim of the research is to develop an optimum microstructure of steel coatings on aluminum surfaces for application on the crankcase cylinder bores. For the proper design of the microstructure of the coat, it is important to control the plasma gun unit properly. The maximum operating time was determined while the plasma gun could optimally work before its destruction. Objectives: The aim of the research is to determine the optimal operating time of the plasma gun between renovations (the renovation shall involve the replacement of the test components of the plasma gun: electrode, nozzle plate, powder injector. Methodology: Plasma jet and particle flux analysis with PFI (PFI is a diagnostic tool for all kinds of thermal spraying processes), CT reconstruction and analysis on the new and the used plasma guns, failure analysis of electrodes, nozzle plates, and powder injectors, microscopic examination of the microstructure of the coating. Contributions: As the result of the failure analysis detailed above, the use of the plasma gun was maximized at 100 operating hours in order to get optimal microstructure for the coat.

Keywords: APS, air plasma spray, failure analysis, electrode, nozzle plate, powder injector

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Authors: Rupesh K. Mishra, Gaëlle Catanante, Akhtar Hayat, Jean-Louis Marty

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Ochratoxins (OTA) are secondary metabolites present in a wide variety of food stuff. They are dangerous by-products mainly produced by several species of storage fungi including the Aspergillus and Penicillium genera. OTA is known to have nephrotoxic, immunotoxic, teratogenic and carcinogenic effects. Thus, needs a special attention for a highly sensitive and selective detection system that can quantify these organic toxins in various matrices such as cocoa beans. This work presents a folding based aptasensors by employing an aptamer conjugated redox probe (methylene blue) specifically designed for OTA. The aptamers were covalently attached to the screen printed carbon electrodes using diazonium grafting. Upon sensing the OTA, it binds with the immobilized aptamer on the electrode surface, which induces the conformational changes of the aptamer, consequently increased in the signal. This conformational change of the aptamer before and after biosensing of target OTA could produce the distinguishable electrochemical signal. The obtained limit of detection was 0.01 ng/ml for OTA samples with recovery of up to 88% in contaminated cocoa samples.

Keywords: ochratoxin A, cocoa, DNA aptamer, labelled probe

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Authors: Hossein Vahedi, Zahra Soleymani Fard

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SefidKuh area in Baluchistan, Iran, is one of the impossible areas which the focused archeological investigations have not been on it. In the Sefidkuh area, there are colonies as if they were stopped in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic ages. These colonies exhibit culturally specific behaviors, which their study can reveal much of the cultural nature of the Neolithic, Chalcolithic inhabitants of the region. In the villages of this area, still, circular architecture is used in different types. The political management of the villages in the region is also the responsibility of Khan, whose characteristics can be compared to the prehistoric era. These people's livelihoods include hunting, animal husbandry, horticulture, and limited crop storage. Residents of Sefidkuh use the exchange of goods to obtain needed supplies that they themselves cannot produce. In this area, there are central location villages that are quite similar to the cluster model, and the Great Khan leads the surrounding villages.

Keywords: archaeology, social structure, neolithic, chalcolithic, Sefidkuh, Baluchistan

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Authors: Ziyad Alghamdi

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This research investigates how issues concerning Saudi women have been represented in selected U.S. and Saudi publications. Saudi Vision 2030 is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's development strategy, which was revealed on April 25, 2016. This study used 115 news items across selected newspapers as its sampling. The New York Times and the Washington Post were chosen to represent U.S. newspapers and picked two Saudi newspapers, Al Jazirah, and Al Watan. This research examines how these issues were covered before and during the implementation of Saudi Vision 2030. The news pieces were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The qualitative study employed an inductive technique to uncover frames. Furthermore, this work looked at how American and Saudi publications had framed Saudi women depicted in images by reviewing the photographs used in news reports about Saudi women's issues. The primary conclusion implies that the human-interest frame was more prevalent in American media, whereas the economic frame was more prevalent in Saudi publications. A variety of diverse topics were considered.

Keywords: Saudi newspapers, Saudi Vision 2030, framing theory, Saudi women

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Authors: Sumayyah Qaed J. Alsulami

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English as a foreign language (EFL) in Saudi Arabia is still new and evolving. Recently, many of the university language centres that provide intensive and mandatory English courses for the preparatory-year students have been working to develop English teaching. These centres emphasise teaching using 'special editions' textbooks for Saudi students. While the government has been working to provide social and economic policies that intend to open up and communicate widely with the world, there is a need to educate Saudi citizens to be aware and understand others in order to promote tolerance and accept others, especially in a conservative culture like Saudi Arabia. In this study, the data will be English teachers’ views on teaching culture using the special edition textbooks that will be conducted by semi-structured interviews. Teachers’ views will manifest to what extent these textbooks are used interculturally to teach the students.

Keywords: EFL, intercultural teaching, teachers' views, textbooks

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Authors: Hussain Al-Baghli

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In comparison to hot mix asphalt (HMAs) composed of non-modified bitumens, the superior performance of rubberized HMAs is very well documented, and numerous trials in the USA and elsewhere have demonstrated excellent performance in terms of creep, fatigue, and durability. In this investigation, rubberized HMA technology was examined to address the most critical forms of pavement distresses in the State of Kuwait, namely, high-temperature rutting and moisture-induced raveling. Pelletpave additive was selected as the preferred technology since it offered a convenient method of directly modifying the exiting local HMA recipe without having to polymer modify the bitumen. Experimental work using various Pelletpave contents was carried out at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) to design an optimum rubberized HMA formulation prior to conducting a pilot-scale road trial. With the aid of a gyratory compactor, the compaction and volumetric properties of HMAs containing 2.5% and 3.0% Pelletpave additive were investigated at a range of bitumen contents, all by mass of total mix.

Keywords: modified bitumen, rubberized hot mix asphalt, gyratory compaction, volumetric properties

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Authors: L. Arumuru

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The paper investigates computer anxiety and the use of computerized library system by university librarians in Delta State University library, Abraka, Nigeria. Some of the root causes of computer anxiety among university librarians such as lack of exposure to computers at early age, inadequate computer skills, inadequate computer training, fear at the sight of a computer, lack of understanding of how computers work, etc. were pin-pointed in the study. Also, the different services rendered in the university libraries with the aid of computers such as reference services, circulation services, acquisition services, cataloguing and classification services, etc. were identified. The study employed the descriptive survey research design through the expo-facto method, with a population of 56 librarians, while the simple percentage and frequency counts were used to analyze the data generated from the administered copies of the questionnaire. Based on the aforementioned root causes of computer anxiety and the resultant effect on computerized library system, recommendations were proffered in the study.

Keywords: computer anxiety, computerized library system, library services, university librarians

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Authors: Avasha Rambiritch, Adelia Carstens

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In especially the context of a writing center, learning takes place during, and as part of, the conversations between the writing center tutor and the student. This interaction or dialogue is an integral part of writing center research and is the focus of this largely qualitative study, employing a politeness lens. While there is some research on positive politeness strategies employed by writing center tutors, there is very little research on specifically praising as a positive politeness strategy. This study attempts to fill this gap by analyzing a corpus of 10 video-recorded consultations to determine how tutors in a writing center utilize the positive politeness strategy of praise. Findings indicate that while tutors exploit a range of politeness strategies, praise is used more often than any other strategy. The research indicates that praise as a politeness strategy is utilized significantly more when commenting on higher-order concerns, as in line with the writing center literature. The benefits of this study include insights into how such analyses can be used to better prepare and equip the tutors (usually postgraduate students appointed as part-time tutors in the writing center) for the work they do on a daily basis.

Keywords: writing center, academic writing, positive politeness, tutor

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Authors: Supachai Supmak, Yachai Limpiyakorn

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Mutation testing can be applied for the quality assessment of test cases. Prioritization of mutation test generation has been a critical element of the industry practice that would contribute to the evaluation of test cases. The industry generally delivers the product under the condition of time to the market and thus, inevitably sacrifices software testing tasks, even though many test cases are required for software verification. This paper presents an approach of applying a social network centrality measure, PageRank, to prioritize mutation test generation. The source code with the highest values of PageRank will be focused first when developing their test cases as these modules are vulnerable to defects or anomalies which may cause the consequent defects in many other associated modules. Moreover, the approach would help identify the reducible test cases in the test suite, still maintaining the same criteria as the original number of test cases.

Keywords: software testing, mutation test, network centrality measure, test case prioritization

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Authors: Dnaya Soukaina

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It’s over six decades that Reverse logistics had appeared as a research area, and it is emerging again and again in the scientific fields. As reverse logistics presents real potential for value recovery and environmental impacts decrease, it’s still necessary to extend this concept more in the industrial and commercial field especially in developing countries. The process of reverse logistics is a progression of steps beginning with the customer and finishing with the organization or even the customer, however the issue is that this cycle must be adjustable to the organization concerned, in addition of legislative, operational, financial and social obstacles. Literature had demonstrated that there are many other uncertainties while the implementation of this process that vary in function of the sector concerned and the kind of activity. Besides, even if literature is developing this topic over the last years, reseraches about uncertainties quantification in reverse logistics process still being few. the paper has the objective to fill this gap, and carry out a study to identify sustainable strategies that can be adapted to different industrial or commercial sectors to facilitate the implementation of reverse logistics.

Keywords: reverse logistics, implementation, unceratinties quantification, mathematical model

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Authors: R. Sabre, W. Horrigue, J. C. Simon

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This paper is interested in two difficulties encountered in practice when observing a continuous time process. The first is that we cannot observe a process over a time interval; we only take discrete observations. The second is the process frequently observed with a constant additive error. It is important to give an estimator of the spectral density of such a process taking into account the additive observation error and the choice of the discrete observation times. In this work, we propose an estimator based on the spectral smoothing of the periodogram by the polynomial Jackson kernel reducing the additive error. In order to solve the aliasing phenomenon, this estimator is constructed from observations taken at well-chosen times so as to reduce the estimator to the field where the spectral density is not zero. We show that the proposed estimator is asymptotically unbiased and consistent. Thus we obtain an estimate solving the two difficulties concerning the choice of the instants of observations of a continuous time process and the observations affected by a constant error.

Keywords: spectral density, stable processes, aliasing, periodogram

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Authors: Eng Lye, Ooi

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The Old Man and The Sea is a novella written by Ernest Hemingway that depicts an old fisherman’ journey out into the deep sea in his pursuit to catch a big fish. Through this novella, Hemingway creates a world for his protagonist, Santiago who is portrayed as an old man who has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish, at last hooks an eighteen-foot marlin, the largest he ever known. The old man endures pain and struggles to bring back to shore. Looking through the lens of gerotranscendence, we can see that the old man has his dreams, and goals in life. In his pursuit for happiness, he has fought tirelessly to ward off the shark attacks and finally he won even though only half of his fish is left. Hemingway has portrayed Santiago as an old man as a transcendent self leaping from the dimension of “The Self” to the cosmic dimension with the personal and social relationship dimension in tow. The Old Man and The Sea offers a glimpse of the struggles of an old man, who is old and gaunt but spiritually undefeated in his battle out in the sea. He is surprisingly strong and powerful despite his old age, he respects the sea, the birds. the turtles, the sharks and the fish. He can endure suffering and is focussed on achieving his goals. This is what Hemingway has portrayed Santiago to be a gerotranscendent in the eyes of the gerotranscendental approach in respect of the changes and development as seen in Santiago, the protagonist in this novella.

Keywords: gerotranscendence, gerotranscendenatal, old man, the sea, hemingway

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Authors: Belinda Crissman

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Serious mental disorder is greatly overrepresented in prisoners compared to the general community, with consequences for prison management, recidivism and the prisoners themselves. Incarcerated individuals with psychotic disorders experience insufficient detection and treatment and higher rates of suicide in custody. However direct evidence to explain the overrepresentation of individuals with psychosis in prisons is sparse. The current study aimed to use a life course criminology perspective to answer two key questions: 1) What is the temporal relationship between psychosis and offending (does first mental health contact precede first recorded offence, or does the offending precede the mental health diagnosis)? 2) Are there key temporal points or system contacts prior to incarceration that could be identified as opportunities for early intervention? Data from the innovative Queensland Linkage project was used to link individuals with their corrections, health and relevant social service systems to answer these questions.

Keywords: mental disorder, crime, life course criminology, prevention

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Authors: Zhixiang Li, Shuguang Yao, Wen Ma

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Coupler rubber buffer has been widely applied on the high-speed trains and the main function of the rubber buffer is dissipating the impact energy between vehicles. The rubber buffer consists of two groups of rubbers, which are both pre-compressed and then installed into the frame body. This work focuses on the energy absorption capacity of each group of buffers particularly. The quasi-static compression tests were carried out to obtain the pre-compression force and the load-defection response of the buffers. Then a finite element (FE) model was constructed using Ls_dyna program. The rubber material was modeled with a tabulated method easily, in which no more material constants need to be fitted. The simulation results agreed with the experimental results well. Numerical study of the buffers was performed using the validated FE model and the influence of the initial pressure on the buffers was obtained. In addition, the interaction between the two groups of buffers was also investigated and the optimum distribution of the two was found.

Keywords: initial pressure, rubber buffer, simulation, tabulated method

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Authors: Mathias Aakyiir, Qunhui Zheng, Sherif Araby, Jun Ma

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MXene nanosheets stack in polymer matrices, while multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) entangle themselves when used to form composites. These challenges are addressed in this work by forming MXene/MWCNT hybrid nanofillers by electrostatic self-assembly and developing elastomer/MXene/MWCNTs nanocomposites using a latex compounding method. In a 3-phase nanocomposite, MWCNTs serve as bridges between MXene nanosheets, leading to nanocomposites with well-dispersed nanofillers. The high aspect ratio of MWCNTs and the interconnection role of MXene serve as a basis for forming nanocomposites of lower percolation threshold of electrical conductivity from the hybrid fillers compared with the 2-phase composites containing either MXene or MWCNTs only. This study focuses on discussing into detail the interfacial interaction of nanofillers and the elastomer matrix and the outstanding mechanical and functional properties of the resulting nanocomposites. The developed nanocomposites have potential applications in the automotive and aerospace industries.

Keywords: elastomers, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, MXenes, nanocomposites

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Authors: Mokali Veeresham

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In this work, the high-entropy alloy TaNbHfZrTi was processed at room temperature by each step novel reverse rolling up to a 90% reduction in thickness. The reverse rolled 90% samples subsequently used for annealing at 800°C and 1000°C temperatures for 1h to understand phase stability, microstructure, texture, and mechanical properties. The reverse rolled 90% condition contains BCC single-phase; upon annealing at 800°C temperature, the formation of secondary phase BCC-2 prevailed. The partial recrystallization and complete recrystallization microstructures were developed for annealed at 800°C and 1000°C temperatures, respectively. The reverse rolled condition, and 1000°C annealed temperature exhibit extraordinary room temperature tensile properties with high tensile strength (UTS) 1430MPa and 1556 MPa without compromising loss of ductility consists of an appreciable amount of 21% and 20% elongation, respectively.

Keywords: refractory high entropy alloys, reverse rolling, recrystallization, microstructure, tensile properties

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Authors: Raneem Osama Salem, Ayesha Nuzhat, Fatimah Nasser Al Shehri, Nasser Al Hamdan

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Background: Recently, most medical schools around the globe are using simulation for teaching and assessing students’ clinical skills and competence. There are many obstacles that could face students and faculty when simulation sessions are introduced into undergraduate curriculum. Objective: The aim of this study is to obtain the opinion of undergraduate medical students and our faculty regarding the role of simulation in undergraduate curriculum, the simulation modalities used, and perceived barriers in implementing stimulation sessions. Methods: To address the role of simulation, modalities used, and perceived challenges to implementation of simulation sessions, a self-administered pilot tested questionnaire with 18 items using a 5 point Likert scale was distributed. Participants included undergraduate male medical students (n=125) and female students (n=70) as well as the faculty members (n=14). Result: Various learning outcomes are achieved and improved through the technology enhanced simulation sessions such as communication skills, diagnostic skills, procedural skills, self-confidence, and integration of basic and clinical sciences. The use of high fidelity simulators, simulated patients and task trainers was more desirable by our students and faculty for teaching and learning as well as an evaluation tool. According to most of the students,' institutional support in terms of resources, staff and duration of sessions was adequate. However, motivation to participate in the sessions and provision of adequate feedback by the staff was a constraint. Conclusion: The use of simulation laboratory is of great benefit to the students and a great teaching tool for the staff to ensure students learning of the various skills.

Keywords: simulators, medical students, skills, simulated patients, performance, challenges, skill laboratory

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Authors: Muhammad Saqlain, Nazar Abbas Saqib, Muazzam A. Khan

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Heart Failure (HF) has become the major health problem in our society. The prevalence of HF has increased as the patient’s ages and it is the major cause of the high mortality rate in adults. A successful identification and progression of HF can be helpful to reduce the individual and social burden from this syndrome. In this study, we use a real data set of cardiac patients to propose a classification model for the identification and progression of HF. The data set has divided into three age groups, namely young, adult, and old and then each age group have further classified into four classes according to patient’s current physical condition. Contemporary Data Mining classification algorithms have been applied to each individual class of every age group to identify the HF. Decision Tree (DT) gives the highest accuracy of 90% and outperform all other algorithms. Our model accurately diagnoses different stages of HF for each age group and it can be very useful for the early prediction of HF.

Keywords: decision tree, heart failure, data mining, classification model

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Authors: Rasheed Gbenga Jimoh, Akinbowale Nathaniel Babatunde

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The use of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) has become an important tool among commercial banks, customers of banks have come to depend on and trust the ATM conveniently meet their banking needs. Although the overwhelming advantages of ATM cannot be over-emphasized, its alarming fraud rate has become a bottleneck in it’s full adoption in Nigeria. This study examined the menace of ATM in the society another cost of running ATM services by banks in the country. The researcher developed a prototype of an enhanced Automated Teller Machine Authentication using Short Message Service (SMS) Verification. The developed prototype was tested by Ten (10) respondents who are users of ATM cards in the country and the data collected was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Based on the results of the analysis, it is being envisaged that the developed prototype will go a long way in reducing the alarming rate of ATM fraud in Nigeria.

Keywords: ATM, ATM fraud, e-banking, prototyping

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Authors: Teresita Lopez Joy, Jose A. Acevedo Suarez, Martha I. Gomez Acosta, Ana Julia Acevedo Urquiaga

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Current trends in business competitiveness indicate the need to manage businesses as supply chains and not in isolation. The use of strategies aimed at maximum satisfaction of customers in a network and based on inter-company cooperation; contribute to obtaining successful joint results. In the Cuban economic context, the development of productive linkages to achieve integrated management of supply chains is considering a key aspect. In order to achieve this jump, it is necessary to develop acting capabilities in the entities that make up the chains through a systematic procedure that allows arriving at a management model in consonance with the environment. The objective of the research focuses on: designing a model and procedure for the development of integrated management of supply chains in economic entities. The results obtained are: the Model and the Procedure for the Development of the Supply Chains Integrated Management (MP-SCIM). The Model is based on the development of logistics in the network actors, the joint work between companies, collaborative planning and the monitoring of a main indicator according to the end customers. The application Procedure starts from the well-founded need for development in a supply chain and focuses on training entrepreneurs as doers. The characterization and diagnosis is done to later define the design of the network and the relationships between the companies. It takes into account the feedback as a method of updating the conditions and way to focus the objectives according to the final customers. The MP-SCIM is the result of systematic work with a supply chain approach in companies that have consolidated as coordinators of their network. The cases of the edible oil chain and explosives for construction sector reflect results of more remarkable advances since they have applied this approach for more than 5 years and maintain it as a general strategy of successful development. The edible oil trading company experienced a jump in sales. In 2006, the company started the analysis in order to define the supply chain, apply diagnosis techniques, define problems and implement solutions. The involvement of the management and the progressive formation of performance capacities in the personnel allowed the application of tools according to the context. The company that coordinates the explosives chain for construction sector shows adequate training with independence and opportunity in the face of different situations and variations of their business environment. The appropriation of tools and techniques for the analysis and implementation of proposals is a characteristic feature of this case. The coordinating entity applies integrated supply chain management to its decisions based on the timely training of the necessary action capabilities for each situation. Other cases of study and application that validate these tools are also detailed in this paper, and they highlight the results of generalization in the quantitative and qualitative improvement according to the final clients. These cases are: teaching literature in universities, agricultural products of local scope and medicine supply chains.

Keywords: integrated management, logistic system, supply chain management, tactical-operative planning

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Authors: Sedef Sert, Paola Garrone, Marco Melacini, Alessandro Perego

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This paper is aimed at enhancing our current understanding of motivations behind corporate in-kind donations and to find out whether economic efficiency may be a major driver. Our empirical setting is consisted of surplus food recovery and donation by companies from food supply chain. This choice of empirical setting is motivated by growing attention on the paradox of food insecurity and food waste i.e. a total of 842 million people worldwide were estimated to be suffering from regularly not getting enough food, while approximately 1.3 billion tons per year food is wasted globally. Recently, many authors have started considering surplus food donation to nonprofit organizations as a way to cope with social issue of food insecurity and environmental issue of food waste. In corporate philanthropy literature the motivations behind the corporate donations for social purposes, such as altruistic motivations, enhancements to employee morale, the organization’s image, supplier/customer relationships, local community support, have been examined. However, the relationship with economic efficiency is not studied and in many cases the pure economic efficiency as a decision making factor is neglected. Although in literature there are some studies give us the clue on economic value creation of surplus food donation such as saving landfill fees or getting tax deductions, so far there is no study focusing deeply on this phenomenon. In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework which explores the economic barriers and drivers towards alternative surplus food management options i.e. discounts, secondary markets, feeding animals, composting, energy recovery, disposal. The case study methodology is used to conduct the research. Protocols for semi structured interviews are prepared based on an extensive literature review and adapted after expert opinions. The interviews are conducted mostly with the supply chain and logistics managers of 20 companies in food sector operating in Italy, in particular in Lombardy region. The results shows that in current situation, the food manufacturing companies can experience cost saving by recovering and donating the surplus food with respect to other methods especially considering the disposal option. On the other hand, retail and food service sectors are not economically incentivized to recover and donate surplus food to disfavored population. The paper shows that not only strategic and moral motivations, but also economic motivations play an important role in managerial decision making process in surplus food management. We also believe that our research while rooted in the surplus food management topic delivers some interesting implications to more general research on corporate in-kind donations. It also shows that there is a huge room for policy making favoring the recovery and donation of surplus products.

Keywords: corporate philanthropy, donation, recovery, surplus food

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Authors: Ayman Hijazi, Witold Kwapinski, J. J. Leahy

Abstract:

Finding a sustainable alternative energy to fossil fuel is an urgent need as various environmental challenges in the world arise. Therefore, formic acid (FA) decomposition has been an attractive field that lies at the center of biomass platform, comprising a potential pool of hydrogen energy that stands as a new energy vector. Liquid FA features considerable volumetric energy density of 6.4 MJ/L and a specific energy density of 5.3 MJ/Kg that qualifies it in the prime seat as an energy source for transportation infrastructure. Additionally, the increasing research interest in FA decomposition is driven by the need of in-situ H2 production, which plays a key role in the hydrogenation reactions of biomass into higher value components. It is reported elsewhere in literature that catalytic decomposition of FA is usually performed in poorly designed setup using simple glassware under magnetic stirring, thus demanding further energy investment to retain the used catalyst. it work suggests an approach that integrates designing a novel catalyst featuring magnetic property with a robust setup that minimizes experimental & measurement discrepancies. One of the most prominent active species for dehydrogenation/hydrogenation of biomass compounds is palladium. Accordingly, we investigate the potential of engrafting palladium metal onto functionalized magnetic nanoparticles as a heterogeneous catalyst to favor the production of CO-free H2 gas from FA. Using ordinary magnet to collect the spent catalyst renders core-shell magnetic nanoparticles as the backbone of the process. Catalytic experiments were performed in a jacketed batch reactor equipped with an overhead stirrer under inert medium. Through a novel approach, FA is charged into the reactor via high-pressure positive displacement pump at steady state conditions. The produced gas (H2+CO2) was measured by connecting the gas outlet to a measuring system based on the amount of the displaced water. The novelty of this work lies in designing a very responsive catalyst, pumping consistent amount of FA into a sealed reactor running at steady state mild temperatures, and continuous gas measurement, along with collecting the used catalyst without the need for centrifugation. Catalyst characterization using TEM, XRD, SEM, and CHN elemental analyzer provided us with details of catalyst preparation and facilitated new venues to alter the nanostructure of the catalyst framework. Consequently, the introduction of amine groups has led to appreciable improvements in terms of dispersion of the doped metals and eventually attaining nearly complete conversion (100%) of FA after 7 hours. The relative importance of the process parameters such as temperature (35-85°C), stirring speed (150-450rpm), catalyst loading (50-200mgr.), and Pd doping ratio (0.75-1.80wt.%) on gas yield was assessed by a Taguchi design-of-experiment based model. Experimental results showed that operating at lower temperature range (35-50°C) yielded more gas while the catalyst loading and Pd doping wt.% were found to be the most significant factors with a P-values 0.026 & 0.031, respectively.

Keywords: formic acid decomposition, green catalysis, hydrogen, mesoporous silica, process optimization, nanoparticles

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