Search results for: behavior economics

Authors: Tomas Makaras, Gintaras Svecevičius

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Landfill waste is a common problem as it has an economic and environmental impact even if it is closed. Landfill waste contains a high density of various persistent compounds such as heavy metals, organic and inorganic materials. As persistent compounds are slowly-degradable or even non-degradable in the environment, they often produce sublethal or even lethal effects on aquatic organisms. The aims of the present study were to estimate sublethal effects of the Kairiai landfill (WGS: 55°55‘46.74“, 23°23‘28.4“) leachate on the locomotor activity of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss juveniles using the original system package developed in our laboratory for automated monitoring, recording and analysis of aquatic organisms’ activity, and to determine patterns of fish behavioral response to sublethal effects of leachate. Four different concentrations of leachate were chosen: 0.125; 0.25; 0.5 and 1.0 mL/L (0.0025; 0.005; 0.01 and 0.002 as part of 96-hour LC50, respectively). Locomotor activity was measured after 5, 10 and 30 minutes of exposure during 1-minute test-periods of each fish (7 fish per treatment). The threshold-effect-concentration amounted to 0.18 mL/L (0.0036 parts of 96-hour LC50). This concentration was found to be even 2.8-fold lower than the concentration generally assumed to be “safe” for fish. At higher concentrations, the landfill leachate solution elicited behavioral response of test fish to sublethal levels of pollutants. The ability of the rainbow trout to detect and avoid contaminants occurred after 5 minutes of exposure. The intensity of locomotor activity reached a peak within 10 minutes, evidently decreasing after 30 minutes. This could be explained by the physiological and biochemical adaptation of fish to altered environmental conditions. It has been established that the locomotor activity of juvenile trout depends on leachate concentration and exposure duration. Modeling of these parameters showed that the activity of juveniles increased at higher leachate concentrations, but slightly decreased with the increasing exposure duration. Experiment results confirm that the behavior of rainbow trout juveniles is a sensitive and rapid biomarker that can be used in combination with the system for fish behavior monitoring, registration and analysis to determine sublethal concentrations of pollutants in ambient water. Further research should be focused on software improvement aimed to include more parameters of aquatic organisms’ behavior and to investigate the most rapid and appropriate behavioral responses in different species. In practice, this study could be the basis for the development and creation of biological early-warning systems (BEWS).

Keywords: fish behavior biomarker, landfill leachate, locomotor activity, rainbow trout juveniles, sublethal effects

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Authors: Roxana Maria Angelescu, Doina Răducanu, Mariana Lucia Angelescu, Ion Cincă, Vasile Dănuţ Cojocaru, Cosmin Cotruț, Şerban Nicolae

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Titanium alloys are often used for biomedical applications as hard tissue replacements, such as: orthopedic implants, spinal fixation devices and dental implants. Their advantages are well known and demonstrated: excellent mechanical properties, biocompatibility and good corrosion resistance, but it is also known that the main disadvantage of the metallic materials is their tendency of corrosion in in-vivo environments. In 1987, titanium was found to be the only metallic biomaterial that osseointegrates. The aim of this study was to investigate the microstructure and the corrosion behavior of the Ti-20Nb-5Ta wt% alloy. In this case Nb stabilizes the β-Ti structure and Ta is a highly passivating metal. The as studied alloy was melt under argon protective atmosphere in a levitation induction melting furnace, type FIVE CELES - MP25, with a nominal power of 25 kW and a melting capacity of 30 cm3. The microstructure of the as studied alloy was analyzed by using the electronic microscope Tescan Vega II-XMU. The phase structure of the as studied alloy was determined, as well as the crystalline grain size (100-200µ). To determine the corrosion behavior of the as studied alloy, the technique used was the linear polarization, with the PARSTAT 4000 potentiostat, produced by Princeton Applied Research; potentiodynamic curves were obtained with the VeraStudio v.2.4.2 software.

Keywords: corrosion resistance, microstructure, titanium alloys

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Authors: Mohammadreza Bakhtiari, Mehrdad Maghsoudi, Hamidreza Bakhtiari

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This study investigates consumer behavior in the notebook computer market by integrating social media sentiment analysis with expert evaluations. The rapid evolution of the notebook industry has intensified competition among manufacturers, necessitating a deeper understanding of consumer priorities. Social media platforms, particularly Twitter, have become valuable sources for capturing real-time user feedback. In this research, sentiment analysis was performed on Twitter data gathered in the last two years, focusing on seven major notebook brands. The PyABSA framework was utilized to extract sentiments associated with various notebook components, including performance, design, battery life, and price. Expert evaluations, conducted using fuzzy logic, were incorporated to assess the impact of these sentiments on purchase behavior. To provide actionable insights, the TOPSIS method was employed to prioritize notebook features based on a combination of consumer sentiments and expert opinions. The findings consistently highlight price, display quality, and core performance components, such as RAM and CPU, as top priorities across brands. However, lower-priority features, such as webcams and cooling fans, present opportunities for manufacturers to innovate and differentiate their products. The analysis also reveals subtle but significant brand-specific variations, offering targeted insights for marketing and product development strategies. For example, Lenovo's strong performance in display quality points to a competitive edge, while Microsoft's lower ranking in battery life indicates a potential area for R&D investment. This hybrid methodology demonstrates the value of combining big data analytics with expert evaluations, offering a comprehensive framework for understanding consumer behavior in the notebook market. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning product development and marketing strategies with evolving consumer preferences, ensuring competitiveness in a dynamic market. It also underscores the potential for innovation in seemingly less important features, providing companies with opportunities to create unique selling points. By bridging the gap between consumer expectations and product offerings, this research equips manufacturers with the tools needed to remain agile in responding to market trends and enhancing customer satisfaction.

Keywords: consumer behavior, customer preferences, laptop industry, notebook computers, social media analytics, TOPSIS

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Authors: Haw-Long Lee, Win-Jin Chang, Yu-Ching Yang

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In the paper, the coupled equation of motion for the dynamic displacement of a fullerene moving in a (10,10) single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) is derived using nonlocal Timoshenko beam theory, including the effects of rotary inertia and shear deformation. The effects of confined stiffness between the fullerene and nanotube, foundation stiffness, and nonlocal parameter on the dynamic behavior are analyzed using the Runge-Kutta Method. The numerical solution is in agreement with the analytical result for the special case. The numerical results show that increasing the confined stiffness and foundation stiffness decrease the dynamic displacement of SWCNT. However, the dynamic displacement increases with increasing the nonlocal parameter. In addition, result using the Euler beam theory and the Timoshenko beam theory are compared. It can be found that ignoring the effects of rotary inertia and shear deformation leads to an underestimation of the displacement.

Keywords: single-walled carbon nanotube, nanoparticle delivery, Nonlocal Timoshenko beam theory, Runge-Kutta Method, Van der Waals force

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Authors: T. M. Buthelezi, E. O. Olagundoye, R. G. L. Cele

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This article argues that whilst African folklore has mainly been used for entertainment, it also has an educational value that has power to change young people’s attitudes and behavior. The paper is informed by the findings from the data that was generated from 154 university students who were coming from diverse backgrounds. The qualitative data was thematically analysed. Referring to the six steps of the behaviour change model, we found that African Folklore provides relevant cultural knowledge and instills values that enable young people to engage on self-reflection that eventually leads them towards attitudinal changes and behaviour modification. Using the transformative learning theory, we argue that African Folklore in itself is a pedagogical strategy that integrates cultural knowledge, values with entertainment elements concisely enough to take the young people through a transformative phase which encompasses psychological, convictional and life-style adaptation. During data production stage all ethical considerations were observed including obtaining gatekeeper’s permission letter and ethical clearance certificate from the Ethics Committee of the University. The paper recommends that African Folklore approach should be incorporated into the school curriculum particularly in life skills education with aims to change behaviour.

Keywords: African folklore, young people, attitudinal, behavior change, university students

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Authors: F. Boukazouha, G. Poulin-Vittrant, M. Rguiti, M. Lethiecq

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Since its invention, by virtue of its remarkable features, the piezoelectric transformer (PT) has drawn the attention of the scientific community. In past years, it has been extensively studied and its performances have been continuously improved. Nowadays, such devices are designed in more and more sophisticated architectures with associated models describing their behavior quite accurately. However, the different studies usually carried out on such devices mainly focus on their electrical characteristics induced by direct piezoelectric effects such as voltage gain, efficiency or supplied power. In this work, we are particularly interested in the characterization of mechanical displacements induced by the inverse piezoelectric effect in a PT in vibration. For this purpose, a detailed three-dimensional finite element analysis is proposed to examine the mechanical behavior of a Rosen-type transformer made of a single bar of soft PZT (P191) and with dimensions 22mm×2.35mm×2.5mm. At the first three modes of vibration, output voltage and mechanical displacements ux, uy and uz along the length, the width and the thickness, respectively, are calculated. The amplitude of displacements varies in a range from a few nanometers to a few hundred nanometers. The validity of the simulations was successfully confirmed by experiments carried out on a prototype using a laser interferometer. A good match was observed between simulation and experimental results, especially for us at the second mode. Such 3D simulations thus appear as a helpful tool for a better understanding of mechanical phenomena in Rosen-type PT.

Keywords: piezoelectricity, gain, dispalcement, simulations

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Authors: A. Chtourou, K. Ben Youssef, M. Friel, T. Leicht

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These Place attributes and destination images associated with tourism destinations are often crucial important for tourist travel decisions and choice behavior. Understanding the interactions between them is fundamental for developing sustainable place brands. Despite their extensive use on an empirical ground, little research has been done in terms of analyzing the constructs that determine the sense of place in the marketing of cultural heritage sites and on how tourist experiences at such places influence tourist motivations to revisit destinations. By referring to the Italian city of Vicenza, internationally renowned for its gold jewelry production and for the Palladian architectures and buildings which have been recognized World Heritage by the UNESCO, the paper aims to identify how destination image, place familiarity and travel satisfaction influence tourists’ motivations to revisit Vicenza. After an introduction and literature review, the paper investigates the importance of the core constructs that determine the sense of place in the tourist practice. In accordance with previous research, the results provide evidence that favorable travel experiences influence revisit intentions positively. The managerial implications and recommendations for the city of Vicenza are discussed.

Keywords: consumer behavior, heritage tourism, sense of place, place branding, territorial marketing

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Authors: D. Serero, L. Couton, J. D. Parisse, R. Leroy

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In urban planning, an increasing number of cities require wind analysis to verify comfort of public spaces and around buildings. These studies are made using computer fluid dynamic simulation (CFD). However, this technique is often based on wind information taken from meteorological stations located at several kilometers of the spot of analysis. The approximated input data on project surroundings produces unprecise results for this type of analysis. They can only be used to get general behavior of wind in a zone but not to evaluate precise wind speed. This paper presents another approach to this problem, based on collecting wind data and generating an urban wind cartography using connected ultrasound anemometers. They are wireless devices that send immediate data on wind to a remote server. Assembled in array, these devices generate geo-localized data on wind such as speed, temperature, pressure and allow us to compare wind behavior on a specific site or building. These Netatmo-type anemometers communicate by wifi with central equipment, which shares data acquired by a wide variety of devices such as wind speed, indoor and outdoor temperature, rainfall, and sunshine. Beside its precision, this method extracts geo-localized data on any type of site that can be feedback looped in the architectural design of a building or a public place. Furthermore, this method allows a precise calibration of a virtual wind tunnel using numerical aeraulic simulations (like STAR CCM + software) and then to develop the complete volumetric model of wind behavior over a roof area or an entire city block. The paper showcases connected ultrasonic anemometers, which were implanted for an 18 months survey on four study sites in the Grand Paris region. This case study focuses on Paris as an urban environment with multiple historical layers whose diversity of typology and buildings allows considering different ways of capturing wind energy. The objective of this approach is to categorize the different types of wind in urban areas. This, particularly the identification of the minimum and maximum wind spectrum, helps define the choice and performance of wind energy capturing devices that could be implanted there. The localization on the roof of a building, the type of wind, the altimetry of the device in relation to the levels of the roofs, the potential nuisances generated. The method allows identifying the characteristics of wind turbines in order to maximize their performance in an urban site with turbulent wind.

Keywords: computer fluid dynamic simulation in urban environment, wind energy harvesting devices, net-zero energy building, urban wind behavior simulation, advanced building skin design methodology

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Authors: Annamarija Paula

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Modern psychology is divided into three distinct domains: cognition, affect, and conation. Historically, psychology devalued the importance of studying the effect in order to explain human behavior as it supposedly lacked both rational thought and a scientific foundation. As a result, affect remained the least studied domain for years to come. However, the last 30 years have marked a significant change in perspective, claiming that not only is affect highly adaptive, but it also plays a crucial role in cognitive processes. Affective states have a crucial impact on human behavior, which led to fundamental advances in the study of affective states on perception and judgment. Positive affect and negative affect are distinct entities and have different effects on social information processing. In addition, emotions of the same valence are manifested in distinct and unique physiological reactions indicating that not all forms of positive or negative affect are the same or serve the same purpose. The effect plays a vital role in perception and judgments, which impacts the validity and reliability of memory retrieval. The research paper analyzes key findings from the past three decades of observational and empirical research on affective states and cognition. The paper also addresses the limitations connected to the findings and proposes suggestions for possible future research.

Keywords: memory, affect, perception, judgement, mood congruency effect

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Authors: Qing Dai, Zhengkui Lin, Jiajia Zhang, Yi Qu

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Based on activity method, this paper focuses on morning commuting behavior when commuters travel with autonomous vehicles (AVs). Firstly, a net utility function of commuters is constructed by the activity utility of commuters at home, in car and at workplace, and the disutility of travel time cost and that of schedule delay cost. Then, this net utility function is applied to build an equilibrium model. Finally, under the assumption of constant marginal activity utility, the properties of equilibrium are analyzed. The results show that, in autonomous driving, the starting and ending time of morning peak and the number of commuters who arrive early and late at workplace are the same as those in manual driving. In automatic driving, however, the departure rate of arriving early at workplace is higher than that of manual driving, while the departure rate of arriving late is just the opposite. In addition, compared with manual driving, the departure time of arriving at workplace on time is earlier and the number of people queuing at the bottleneck is larger in automatic driving. However, the net utility of commuters and the total net utility of system in automatic driving are greater than those in manual driving.

Keywords: autonomous cars, bottleneck model, activity utility, user equilibrium

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Authors: Xuyang Song, Jun Yin

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The smart card has been an extremely universal tool in public transit. It collects a large amount of data on buses, urban railway transit, and ferries and provides possibilities for passenger profiling. This paper combines offline analysis of passenger profiling and real-time prediction to propose a method that can accurately predict the destination station in real-time when passengers tag on. Firstly, this article constructs a static database of user travel characteristics after identifying passenger travel patterns based on the Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN). The dual travel passenger habits are identified: OD travel habits and D station travel habits. Then a rapid real-time prediction algorithm based on Transit Passenger Profiling is proposed, which can predict the destination of in-board passengers. This article combines offline learning with online prediction, providing a technical foundation for real-time passenger flow prediction, monitoring and simulation, and short-term passenger behavior and demand prediction. This technology facilitates the efficient and real-time acquisition of passengers' travel destinations and demand. The last, an actual case was simulated and demonstrated feasibility and efficiency.

Keywords: travel behavior, destination prediction, public transit, passenger profiling

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Authors: Neda Azari Dodaran, Hamid Ahmadi

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Results of 405 finite element (FE) analyses were used in the present research to study the effect of the joint geometry on the ultimate strength and initial stiffness of tubular K-joints subjected to axial loading at fire-induced elevated temperatures. The FE models were validated against the data available from experimental tests. Structural behavior under different temperatures (200ºC, 400ºC, 500ºC, and 700ºC) was investigated and compared to the behavior at ambient temperature (20ºC). A parametric study was conducted to investigate the effect of dimensionless geometrical parameters (β, γ, θ, and τ) on the ultimate strength and initial stiffness. Afterwards, ultimate strength data extracted from the FE analyses were compared with the values calculated from the equations proposed by available design codes in which the ultimate strength of the joint at elevated temperatures is obtained by replacing the yield stress of the steel at ambient temperature with the corresponding value at elevated temperature. It was indicated that this method may not have acceptable accuracy for K-joints under axial loading. Hence, a design formula was developed, through nonlinear regression analyses, to determine the ultimate strength of K-joints subjected to balanced axial loads at elevated temperatures.

Keywords: axial loading, elevated temperature, parametric equation, static strength, tubular K-joint

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Authors: Liron Hoch

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Traditional religious and spiritual texts offer a surprising wealth of relevant theoretical and practical knowledge about human behavior. This wellspring may contribute significantly to expanding our current body of knowledge in the social sciences and criminology in particular. In Jewish religious texts, specifically by Maimonides, we can find profound analyses of human traits and guidelines for a normative way of life. Among other things, modern criminological literature attempts to link certain character traits and divergent behaviors. Using the hermeneutic phenomenological approach, we analyzed the writings of Maimonides, mainly Laws of Human Dispositions, in order to understand Moses ben Maimon's (1138–1204) view of character traits. The analysis yielded four themes: (1) Human personality between nature and nurture; (2) The complexity of human personality, imbalance and criminality; (3) Extremism as a way to achieve balance; and (4) The Middle Way, flexibility and common sense. These themes can serve therapeutic purposes, as well as inform a rehabilitation model. Grounded in a theoretical rationale about the nature of humans, this model is designed to direct individuals to balance their traits by self-reflection and constant practice of the Middle Way. The proposal we will present is that implementing this model may promote normative behavior and thus contribute to rehabilitating offenders.

Keywords: rehabilitation, traits, offenders, maimonides, middle way

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Authors: Ghada Shahrour, Nusiebeh Ananbh, Heyam Dalky, Mohammad Rababa, Fatmeh Alzoubi

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Positive teacher-student relationship has been found to affect students’ attitudes towards bullying and, in turn, their engagement in bullying behavior. However, no investigation has been conducted to explore whether teacher-student relationship affects teachers’ attitudes towards bullying. The aim of this study was to examine the role of teacher-student relationship on teachers’ attitudes towards bullying in terms of bullying seriousness, empathic responding, and likelihood to intervene in bullying situation. A cross-sectional, descriptive design was employed among a convenience sample of 173 school teachers (50.9% female) of 12 to 17-year-old students. The teachers were recruited from secondary public schools of three governorates in the Northern district of Jordan. Each group of students has multiple teachers for different subjects. Results showed that teacher-student relationship is partially related to teachers’ attitudes towards bullying. More specifically, having a close teacher-student relationship significantly increased teachers’ perception of bullying seriousness and empathy but not the likelihood to intervene. Research is needed to examine teachers’ obstacles for not providing bullying interventions, as the barriers may be culturally contextualized. Meanwhile, interventions that promote quality teacher-student relationship are necessary to increase teachers’ perception of bullying seriousness and empathy. Students have been found to adopt the values of their teachers, and this may deter them from engaging in bullying behavior.

Keywords: school bullying, teachers’ attitudes, teacher-student relationship, adolescent students

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Authors: Alaa Fezai, Anuj Sharma, Wolfgang Mueller-Hirsch, André Zimmermann

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Viscoelastic materials have been widely used in the automotive industry over the last few decades with different functionalities. Besides their main application as a simple and efficient surface damping treatment, they may ensure optimal operating conditions for on-board electronics as thermal interface or sealing layers. The dynamic behavior of viscoelastic materials is generally dependent on many environmental factors, the most important being temperature and strain rate or frequency. Prior to the reliability analysis of systems including viscoelastic layers, it is, therefore, crucial to accurately predict the dynamic and lifetime behavior of these materials. This includes the identification of the dynamic material parameters under critical temperature and frequency conditions along with a precise damage localization and identification methodology. The goal of this work is twofold. The first part aims at applying an inverse viscoelastic material-characterization approach for a wide frequency range and under different temperature conditions. For this sake, dynamic measurements are carried on a single lap joint specimen using an electrodynamic shaker and an environmental chamber. The specimen consists of aluminum beams assembled to adapter plates through a viscoelastic adhesive layer. The experimental setup is reproduced in finite element (FE) simulations, and frequency response functions (FRF) are calculated. The parameters of both the generalized Maxwell model and the fractional derivatives model are identified through an optimization algorithm minimizing the difference between the simulated and the measured FRFs. The second goal of the current work is to guarantee an on-line detection of the damage, i.e., delamination in the viscoelastic bonding of the described specimen during frequency monitored end-of-life testing. For this purpose, an inverse technique, which determines the damage location and size based on the modal frequency shift and on the change of the mode shapes, is presented. This includes a preliminary FE model-based study correlating the delamination location and size to the change in the modal parameters and a subsequent experimental validation achieved through dynamic measurements of specimen with different, pre-generated crack scenarios and comparing it to the virgin specimen. The main advantage of the inverse characterization approach presented in the first part resides in the ability of adequately identifying the material damping and stiffness behavior of soft viscoelastic materials over a wide frequency range and under critical temperature conditions. Classic forward characterization techniques such as dynamic mechanical analysis are usually linked to limitations under critical temperature and frequency conditions due to the material behavior of soft viscoelastic materials. Furthermore, the inverse damage detection described in the second part guarantees an accurate prediction of not only the damage size but also its location using a simple test setup and outlines; therefore, the significance of inverse numerical-experimental approaches in predicting the dynamic behavior of soft bonding layers applied in automotive electronics.

Keywords: damage detection, dynamic characterization, inverse approaches, vibration testing, viscoelastic layers

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Authors: Tayebeh Zargar

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The aim of the present research is to study the role of organizational trust in the relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behaviors in sport organizations of Tehran Municipality. The method of this study is correlation and it is based on structural equation modeling. Among all staffs of sport organizations of Tehran Municipality, 150 staff members were selected through random sampling. The data gathering instrument of the study incorporated the Moorman’s (1999) Organizational Justice Questionnaire (OJQ), Ruder’s (2003) Trust Organizational Questionnaire (TOQ), and the Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale (DiPaola, Tarter, & Hoy, 2005). SEM was utilized to analyze the data. Regarding the relationships between the variables presented in the model, the following results were obtained: organizational justice has significant direct positive effect on organizational trust (β=0.82), and organizational trust itself has significant direct positive effect on citizenship behavior (β=0.65). According to the results, making efforts in order to encourage staff members to participate more in organizational decision-making will influence their condition. Furthermore, paying more attention to organizational justice may cause the staff members to accept the organizational structure and respect the rules, volunteer in supporting the organizational resources, and have active participation in managing organization roles.

Keywords: organizational trust, organizational justice, organizational citizenship behaviors, sport organizations

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Authors: Helena López-Moreno, Antoni Rodríguez-Sánchez, Carmen Viñas-Arrebola, Cesar Porras-Amores

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The ventilated façade has great advantages when compared to traditional façades as it reduces the air conditioning thermal loads due to the stack effect induced by solar radiation in the air chamber. Optimizing energy consumption by using a ventilated façade can be used not only in newly built buildings but also it can be implemented in existing buildings, opening the field of implementation to energy building retrofitting works. In this sense, the following three prototypes of façade where designed, built and further analyzed in this research: non-ventilated façade (NVF); slightly ventilated façade (SLVF) and strongly ventilated façade (STVF). The construction characteristics of the three facades are based on the Spanish regulation of building construction “Technical Building Code”. The façades have been monitored by type-k thermocouples in a representative day of the summer season in Madrid (Spain). Moreover, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures, studying the thermal lag in the ventilated and no-ventilated façades has been designed. Results show that STVF façade presents higher levels of thermal inertia as the thermal lag reduces up to 100% (daily mean) compared to the non-ventilated façade. In addition, the statistical analysis proves that an increase of the ventilation holes size in STVF façades does not improve the thermal lag significantly (p > 0.05) when compared to the SLVF façade.

Keywords: ventilated façade, energy efficiency, thermal behavior, statistical analysis

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Authors: B. Ashraf, A. M. Malik

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The study was accomplished at the Department of Economics and Agriculture Economics, Pir Mahar Ali Shah ARID Agriculture University, Punjab, Pakistan during 2013-16 with a purpose to discover the effect of Islamic finance/banking on employment in Punjab, Pakistan. Islamic banking system is sub-component of conventional banking system in various countries of the world; however, in Pakistan, it has been established as a separate Islamic banking system. The Islamic banking operates under the doctrine of Shariah. It is claimed that the referred banking is free of interest (Riba) and addresses the philosophy and basic values of Islam in finance that reduces the factors of uncertainty, risk and others speculative activities. Two Islamic bank’s; Meezan Bank Limited (Pakistan) and Al-Baraka Bank Limited (Pakistan) from North Punjab (Bahawalnagar) and central Punjab (Lahore) west Punjab (Gujrat), Pakistan were randomly selected for the conduct of research. A total of 206 samples were collected from the define areas and banks through questionnaire. The data was analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Multiple linear regressions were applied to prove the hypothesis. The results revealed that the assets formation had significant positive; whereas, the technology, length of business (experience) and bossiness size had significant negative impact with employment generation in Islamic finance/banking in Punjab, Pakistan. This concludes that the employment opportunities may be created in the country by extending the finance to business/firms to start new business and increase the Public awareness by the Islamic banks through intensive publicity. However; Islamic financial institutions may be encouraged by Government as it enhances the employment in the country.

Keywords: assets formation, borrowers, employment generation, Islamic banks, Islamic finance

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Authors: Nurul Huda Baharuddin, Nik Meriam Nik Sulaiman, Mohammed Kheireddine Aroua

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The effects of pH, polymer concentration, and metal ions feed concentration for four selected heavy metals Zn (II), Pb (II), Cr (III) and Cr (VI) were tested by using Polymer Enhanced Ultrafiltration (PEUF). An alternative biopolymer namely unmodified starch is proposed as a binding reagent in consequences, as compared to commonly used water-soluble polymers namely polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) in the removal of selected four heavy metal ions. The speciation species profiles of four selected complexes ions namely Zn (II), Pb (II), Cr (III) and Cr (VI) and the present of hydroxides ions (OH-) in variously charged ions were investigated by available software at certain pH range. In corresponds to identify the potential of complexation behavior between metal ion-polymers, potentiometric titration studies were obtained at first before carried out experimental works. Experimental works were done using ultrafiltration systems obtained by laboratory ultrafiltration bench scale equipped with 10 kDa polysulfone hollow fiber membrane. Throughout the laboratory works, the rejection coefficient and permeate flux were found to be significantly affected by the main operating parameter, namely the effects of pH, polymer composition and metal ions concentrations. The interaction of complexation between two binding polymers namely unmodified starch and PEG were occurred due to physical attraction of metal ions to the polymer on the molecular surface with high possibility of chemical occurrence. However, these selected metal ions are mainly complexes by polymer functional groups whenever there is interaction with PEI polymer. For study of single metal ions solutions, Zn (II) ions' rejections approaching over 90% were obtained at pH 7 for each tested polymer. This behavior was similar to Pb (II), Cr (III) and Cr (VI); where the rejections were obtained at lower acidic pH and increased at neutral pH of 7. Different behavior was found by Cr (VI) ions where a high rejection was only achieved at acidic pH region with PEI. Polymer concentration and metal ions concentration are found to have a significant effect on rejections. For mixed metal ion solutions, the behavior of metal ion rejections was similar to single metal ion solutions for investigation on the effects of pH. Rejection values were high at pH 7 for Zn (II) pH 7 for Zn (II) and Cr (III) ions, corresponding to higher rejections with unmodified starch. Pb (II) ions obtained high rejections when tested with PEG whenever carried out in mixed metal ion solutions. High Cr (VI) ions' rejection was found with PEI in single and mixed metal ions solutions at neutral pH range. The influence of starch’s granule structure towards the rejections of these four selected metal ions is found to be attracted in a non-ionic manner. No significant effects on permeate flux were obtained when tested at different pH ranges, polymer concentrations and metal ions feed either by single or mixtures metal ions solutions. Canizares Model was employed as the theoretical model to predict permeate flux and metal ions retention on the study of heavy metal ions removal.

Keywords: polyethyleneimine, polyethylene glycol, polymer-enhanced ultrafiltration, unmodified starch

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Authors: J. Alvarez Muñoz, Dominguez Lepe J. A.

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A suitable mixing time of the concrete, allows form a homogeneous mass, quality that leads to greater compressive strength and durability. Although there are recommendations as ASTM C94 standard these mention the time and the number of minimum and maximum speed for a ready-mix concrete of good quality, the specific behavior that would have a concrete mixed on site to variability of the mixing time is unknown. In this study was evaluated the behavior a design of mixture structural of f´c=250 kg/cm2, elaborate on site with limestone aggregate in warm sub-humid climate, subjected to different mixing times. Based on the recommendation for ready-mixed concrete ASTM C94, different times were set at 70, 90, 100, 110, 120, 140 total revolutions. A field study in which 14 works were observed where structural concrete made on site was used, allowed to set at 24 the number of revolutions to the reference mixture. For the production of concrete was used a hand feed concrete mixer with drum speed 28 RPM, the ratio w/c was 0.36 corrected, with a slump of 5-6 cm, for all mixtures. The compressive strength tests were performed at 3, 7, 14, and 28 days. The most outstanding results show increases in resistance in the mixtures of 24 to 70 revolutions between 8 and 17 percent and 70 to 90 revolutions of 3 to 8 percent. Increasing the number of revolutions at 110, 120 and 140, there was a reduction of the compressive strength of 0.5 to 8 percent. Regarding mixtures consistencies, they had a slump of 5 cm to 24, 70 and 90 rpm and less than 5 cm from 100 revolutions. Clearly, those made with more than 100 revolutions mixtures not only decrease the compressive strength but also the workability.

Keywords: compressive strength, concrete, mixing time, workability

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Authors: Aulon Shabani, Denis Panxhi, Orion Zavalani

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This paper presents the modelling and development of a simulator for residential electrical appliances. The simulator is developed on MATLAB providing the possibility to analyze and simulate energy consumption of frequently used home appliances in Albania. Modelling of devices considers the impact of different factors, mentioning occupant behavior and climacteric conditions. Most devices are modeled as an electric circuit, and the electric energy consumption is estimated by the solutions of the guiding differential equations. The provided models refer to devices like a dishwasher, oven, water heater, air conditioners, light bulbs, television, refrigerator water, and pump. The proposed model allows us to simulate beforehand the energetic behavior of the largest consumption home devices to estimate peak consumption and improving its reduction. Simulated home prototype results are compared to real measurement of a considered typical home. Obtained results from simulator framework compared to monitored typical household using EmonTxV3 show the effectiveness of the proposed simulation. This conclusion will help for future simulation of a large group of typical household for a better understanding of peak consumption.

Keywords: electrical appliances, energy management, modelling, peak estimation, simulation, smart home

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Authors: G. A. Rombach, A. Faron

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Crack formation and growth in reinforced concrete members are, in many cases, the cause of the collapse of technical structures. Such serious failures impair structural behavior and can also damage property and persons. An intensive investigation of the crack propagation is indispensable. Numerical methods are being developed to analyze crack growth in an element and to detect fracture failure at an early stage. For reinforced concrete components, however, further research and action are required in the analysis of shear cracks. This paper presents numerical simulations and continuum mechanical modeling of bending shear crack propagation in a three-dimensional reinforced concrete beam without transverse reinforcement. The analysis will provide a further understanding of crack growth and redistribution of inner forces in concrete members. As a numerical method to map discrete cracks, the extended finite element method (XFEM) is applied. The crack propagation is compared with the smeared crack approach using concrete damage plasticity. For validation, the crack patterns of real experiments are compared with the results of the different finite element models. The evaluation is based on single span beams under bending. With the analysis, it is possible to predict the fracture behavior of concrete members.

Keywords: concrete damage plasticity, crack propagation, extended finite element method, fracture mechanics

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Authors: Hassan. A. Abas, Saad A. Aiban

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Soil improvement by means of stone column method is used to improve sabkha soils in order to limit total and differential settlement and to achieve the required bearing capacity. Full-scale plate test was performed on site to confirm the achievement of required bearing capacity at the specified settlement. Despite the fact that this technique is widely used to improve sabkha soils, there are no studies focusing on the behavior of stone columns in such problematic soils. Sabkha soils are known for its high compressibility, low strength and water sensitivity due to loss of salt cementation upon flooding during installation of stone columns. Numerical modeling of plate load test assist to understand complicated behavior of sabkha – stone column interaction. This paper presents a three-dimensional Finite element model, using PLAXIS 3D software, to simulate vertical plate load tests on a stone column installed in sabkha. The predicted settlement values are in reasonable agreement with the field measure values and the field load - settlement curve can be predicted with good accuracy.

Keywords: soil improvement, stone column, sabkha, PLAXIS 3D

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Authors: Jayanta Pokharel, Gokarna Aryal, Netra Kanaal, Chris Tsokos

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Investment in stocks and shares aims to seek potential gains while weighing the risk of future needs, such as retirement, children's education etc. Analysis of the behavior of the stock market returns and making prediction is important for investors to mitigate risk on investment. Historically, the normal variance models have been used to describe the behavior of stock market returns. However, the returns of the financial assets are actually skewed with higher kurtosis, heavier tails, and a higher center than the normal distribution. The Laplace distribution and its family are natural candidates for modeling stock returns. The Variance-Gamma (VG) distribution is the most sought-after distributions for modeling asset returns and has been extensively discussed in financial literatures. In this paper, it explore the other Laplace family, such as Asymmetric Laplace, Skewed Laplace, Kumaraswamy Laplace (KS) together with Variance-Gamma to model the weekly returns of the S&P 500 Index and it's eleven business sector indices. The method of maximum likelihood is employed to estimate the parameters of the distributions and our empirical inquiry shows that the Kumaraswamy Laplace distribution performs much better for stock returns modeling among the choice of distributions used in this study and in practice, KS can be used as a strong alternative to VG distribution.

Keywords: stock returns, variance-gamma, kumaraswamy laplace, maximum likelihood

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Authors: Carla Caiazza, Valentina Preziosi, Giovanna Tomaiuolo, Denis O'Sullivan, Vincenzo Guida, Stefano Guido

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In the last decades, wormlike micellar solutions have been extensively used to tune the rheological behavior of home care and personal care products. This and other successful applications underlie the growing attention that both basic and applied research are devoting to these systems, and to their unique rheological and flow properties. One of the key research topics is the occurrence of flow instabilities at high shear rates (such as shear banding), with the possibility of appearance of flow induced structures. In this scenario, microfluidics is a powerful tool to get a deeper insight into the flow behavior of a wormlike micellar solution, as the high confinement of a microfluidic device facilitates the onset of the flow instabilities; furthermore, thanks to its small dimensions, it can be coupled with optical microscopy, allowing a direct visualization of flow structuring phenomena. Here, the flow of a widely used wormlike micellar solution through a glass capillary has been studied, by coupling the microfluidic device with μPIV techniques. The direct visualization of flow-induced structures and the flow visualization analysis highlight a relationship between solution structuring and the onset of discontinuities in the velocity profile.

Keywords: flow instabilities, flow-induced structures, μPIV, wormlike micelles

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Authors: Memnun Seven, Mine Bahar, Aygül Akyüz, Hatice Erdoğan

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Background: The workplace has been deemed a suitable location for educating many women at once about cancer screening. Objective: To determine how group education about early diagnostic methods for breast and cervical cancer affects women’s behavior and readiness to receive mammography and Pap smears. Methods: This semi-interventional study was conducted at a textile factory in Istanbul, Turkey. Female workers (n = 125) were included in the study. A participant identification form and knowledge evaluation form developed for this study, along with the trans-theoretical model, were used to collect data. A 45-min interactive group education was given to the participants. Results: Upon contacting participants 3 months after group education, 15.4% (n = 11) stated that they had since received a mammogram and 9.8% (n = 7) a Pap smear. As suggested by the trans-theoretical model, group education increased participants’ readiness to receive cancer screening, along with their knowledge of breast and cervical cancer. Conclusions: Group education positively impacted women’s knowledge of cancer and their readiness to receive mammography and Pap smears. Group education can therefore potentially create awareness of cancer screening tests among women and improve their readiness to receive such tests.

Keywords: cancer screening, educational intervention, participation, women

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Authors: Marwa Ben Khalifa, Zeineb Ben Salem, Wissem Frikha

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This paper presents a case study of “Radès la Goulette” bridge project using the technique of prefabricated vertical drains (PVD) associated with step by step construction of preloading embankments with averaged height of about 6 m. These embankments are founded on a highly compressible layer of Tunis soft soil. The construction steps included extensive soil instrumentation such as piezometers and settlement plates for monitoring the dissipation of excess pore water pressures and settlement during the consolidation of Tunis soft soil. An axisymmetric numerical model using the 2D finite difference code FLAC was developed and calibrated using laboratory tests to predict the soil behavior and consolidation settlements. The constitutive model impact for simulating the soft soil behavior is investigated. The results of analyses show that numerical analysis provided satisfactory predictions for the field performance during the construction of Radès la Goulette embankment. The obtained results show the effectiveness of PVD in the acceleration of the consolidation time. A comparison of numerical results with theoretical analysis was presented.

Keywords: tunis soft soil, radès bridge project, prefabricated vertical drains, FLAC, acceleration of consolidation

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Authors: Mohaya Farzin, Parvin Babaei, Mohammad Rostampour

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Ghrelin plays a considerable role in important neurological effects related to food intake and energy homeostasis. As was found, regular physical activity may make available significant improvements to cognitive functions in various behavioral situations. Anxiety is one of the main concerns of the modern world, affecting millions of individuals’ health. There are contradictory results regarding ghrelin's effects on anxiety-like behavior, and the plasma level of this peptide is increased during physical activity. Here we aimed to evaluate the coincident effects of exogenous ghrelin and aerobic exercise on anxiety-like behavior and passive avoidance memory in Wistar rats. Forty-five male Wistar rats (250 ± 20 g) were divided into 9 groups (n=5) and received intra-hippocampal injections of 3.0 nmol ghrelin and performed aerobic exercise training for 8 weeks. Control groups received the same volume of saline and diazepam as negative and positive control groups, respectively. Learning and memory were estimated using a shuttle box apparatus, and anxiety-like behavior was recorded by an elevated plus-maze test (EPM). Data were analyzed by ANOVA test, and p<0.05 was considered significant. Our findings showed that the combined effect of ghrelin and aerobic exercise improves the acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval of passive avoidance memory in Wistar rats. Furthermore, it is supposed that the ghrelin receiving group spent less time in open arms and fewer open arms entries compared with the control group (p<0.05). However, exercising Wistar rats spent more time in the open arm zone in comparison with the control group (p<0.05). The exercise + Ghrelin administration established reduced anxiety (p<0.05). The results of this study demonstrate that aerobic exercise contributes to an increase in the endogenous production of ghrelin, and physical activity alleviates anxiety-related behaviors induced by intra-hippocampal injection of ghrelin. In general, exercise and ghrelin can reduce anxiety and improve memory.

Keywords: anxiety, ghrelin, aerobic exercise, learning, passive avoidance memory

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Authors: Ayadi Aya, Ghorbel Oussama, M. Obeid Abdulfattah, Abid Mohamed

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Nowadays, many wireless sensor networks have been distributed in the real world to collect valuable raw sensed data. The challenge is to extract high-level knowledge from this huge amount of data. However, the identification of outliers can lead to the discovery of useful and meaningful knowledge. In the field of wireless sensor networks, an outlier is defined as a measurement that deviates from the normal behavior of sensed data. Many detection techniques of outliers in WSNs have been extensively studied in the past decade and have focused on classic based algorithms. These techniques identify outlier in the real transaction dataset. This survey aims at providing a structured and comprehensive overview of the existing researches on classification based outlier detection techniques as applicable to WSNs. Thus, we have identified key hypotheses, which are used by these approaches to differentiate between normal and outlier behavior. In addition, this paper tries to provide an easier and a succinct understanding of the classification based techniques. Furthermore, we identified the advantages and disadvantages of different classification based techniques and we presented a comparative guide with useful paradigms for promoting outliers detection research in various WSN applications and suggested further opportunities for future research.

Keywords: bayesian networks, classification-based approaches, KPCA, neural networks, one-class SVM, outlier detection, wireless sensor networks

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Authors: Francisca Margarita Ocran

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Underwear, and more particularly bras and panties, are defined as intimate clothing. Strictly speaking, they enhance the place of women in the public or private satchel. Therefore, women's lingerie is a complex garment with a high involvement profile, motivating consumers to buy it not only by its functional utility but also by the multisensory experience it provides them. Customer behavior models are generally based on customer data mining, and each model is designed to answer questions at a specific time. Predicting the customer experience is uncertain and difficult. Thus, knowledge of consumers' tastes in lingerie deserves to be treated as an experiential product, where the dimensions of the experience motivating consumers to buy a lingerie product and to remain faithful to it must be analyzed in detail by the manufacturers and retailers to engage and retain consumers, which is why this research aims to identify the variables that push consumers to choose their lingerie product, based on an in-depth analysis of the types of fabrics used to make lingerie. The data used in this study comes from online purchases. Machine learning approach with the use of Python programming language and Pycaret gives us a precision of 86.34%, 85.98%, and 84.55% for the three algorithms to use concerning the preference of a buyer in front of a range of lingerie. Gradient Boosting, random forest, and K Neighbors were used in this study; they are very promising and rich in the classification of preference in the textile industry.

Keywords: consumer behavior, data mining, lingerie, machine learning, preference

Procedia PDF Downloads 90