Search results for: level set method

Authors: Fatima Ammari, Meriem Chenouf

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Synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has attracted much attention since the pioneering discovery of the high catalytic activity of supported gold nanoparticles in the reaction of CO oxidation at low temperature. In this research field, we used montmorillonite pre-acidified under gentle conditions for AuNPs stabilization; using different loading percentage 1, 2 and 5%. The gold nanoparticles were obtained using chemical reduction method using NaBH4 as reductant agent. The obtained gold nanoparticles stabilized in acid-activated montmorillonite were used as catalysts for reduction of 4-nitrophenol to aminophenol with sodium borohydride at room temperature The UV-Vis results confirm directly the gold nanaoparticles formation. The XRD N2 adsorption and MET results showed the formation of gold nanoparticles in the pores of preacidified montmorillonite with an average size of 5.7nm. The reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol into 4-aminophenol with NaBH4 catalyzed by Au°-montmorillonite catalyst exhibits remarkably a high activity; the reaction was completed within 4.5min.

Keywords: gold, acid-activated montmorillonite, nanoparticles, 4-nitrophenol

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Authors: Siwarak Kitchanapaibul, Warren Gillibrand, Rob Burton

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The prevalence of diabetes mellitus has been rising all over the world. Self-management is required for diabetes mellitus patients. The objective of this study is to explore the self-management among the ethnic groups with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Thailand, an upper middle-income country which is located in South East Asia. The ethnic groups in Thailand are a minority group which has limited education and a different culture, language, costume and lifestyle from Thai people. The qualitative exploratory study was used in this study. In-depth interviews with semi-structured open questions were conducted by 20 participants from purposive sampling. These participants were the ethnic groups who have type 2 diabetes mellitus, received the services from a region hospital, understood Thai and were willing to participate. Content analysis was adopted for the study. The results showed that all of the participants controlled their diet before the appointment day and never miss their appointment. Only 3 participants did their exercise while 2 participants stated that they occasionally forgot to take medicine. 10 participants use the herbs for reducing the sugar level. 12 participants drank a lot of water after a lapse in the diet because they believed that water could dilute the sugar. The findings identified 5 themes; ‘controlling diet before appointment day’; ‘drinking water after a lapse in diet’; ‘medication being a vital importance’; ‘exercise is unimportant’; and ‘taking herbs for sugar reduction’. The results of this study are important to the health professionals to understand the self-management of Ethnic groups and use the data to create the appropriate intervention for promoting health among the ethnic groups with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Thailand. The findings will lead to the revision of health policy and the procedure for promoting health in this special ethnic groups.

Keywords: self-management, diabetes, ethnic groups, Thailand

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Authors: Juliza Hidayati, Sawarni Hasibuan

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PT. XYZ is a manufacturing company that produces Crude Palm Oil (CPO). The fierce competition in the global markets not only between companies but also a competition between supply chains. This research aims to analyze the supply chain and value chain of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) in the company. Data analysis method used is qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis describes supply chain and value chain, while the quantitative analysis is used to find out value added and the establishment of the value chain. Based on the analysis, the value chain of crude palm oil (CPO) in the company consists of four main actors that are suppliers of raw materials, processing, distributor, and customer. The value chain analysis consists of two actors; those are palm oil plantation and palm oil processing plant. The palm oil plantation activities include nurseries, planting, plant maintenance, harvesting, and shipping. The palm oil processing plant activities include reception, sterilizing, thressing, pressing, and oil classification. The value added of palm oil plantations was 72.42% and the palm oil processing plant was 10.13%.

Keywords: palm oil, value chain, value added, supply chain

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Authors: Seyed Mahdi Rafiaei

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In this investigation, red emitting Eu³⁺ doped YVO₄ nano-phosphors have been synthesized via the facile combustion method using isobutyl nitrite and urea fuels, individually. Field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images, high resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM) images and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra reveal that the mentioned fuels can be used successfully to synthesis YVO₄: Eu³⁺ nano-particles. Interestingly, the fuels have a large effect on the size and morphology of nano-phosphors as well as luminescence properties. Noteworthy the use of isobutyl nitrite provides an average particle size of 65 nm, while the employment of urea, results in the formation of larger particles and also provides higher photoluminescence emission intensity. The improved luminescence performance is attributed to the condition of chemical reaction via the combustion synthesis and the size of synthesized phosphors.

Keywords: phosphors, combustion, fuels, luminescence, nanostructure

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Authors: E. Abustam, M. Yusuf, H. M. Ali, M. I. Said, F. N. Yuliati

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The aim of this study was to improve the durability and quality of Bali beef (M. Longissimus dorsi) and broiler carcass through the addition of liquid smoke as a natural preservative. This study was using Longissimus dorsi muscle from male Bali beef aged 3 years, broiler breast and thigh aged 40 days. Three types of meat were marinated in liquid smoke with concentrations of 0, 5, and 10% for 30 minutes at the level of 20% of the sample weight (w/w). The samples were storage at 2-5°C for 1 month. This study designed as a factorial experiment 3 x 3 x 4 based on a completely randomized design with 5 replications; the first factor was meat type (beef, chicken breast and chicken thigh); the 2nd factor was liquid smoke concentrations (0, 5, and 10%), and the 3rd factor was storage duration (1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks). Parameters measured were TBA value, total bacterial colonies, water holding capacity (WHC), shear force value both before and after cooking (80°C – 15min.), and cooking loss. The results showed that the type of meat produced WHC, shear force value, cooking loss and TBA differed between the three types of meat. Higher concentration of liquid smoke, the WHC, shear force value, TBA, and total bacterial colonies were decreased; at a concentration of 10% of liquid smoke, the total bacterial colonies decreased by 57.3% from untreated with liquid smoke. Longer storage, the total bacterial colonies and WHC were increased, while the shear force value and cooking loss were decreased. It can be concluded that a 10% concentration of liquid smoke was able to maintain fat oxidation and bacterial growth in Bali beef and chicken breast and thigh.

Keywords: Bali beef, chicken meat, liquid smoke, meat quality

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Authors: Corazon Virtudazo-Ligaray, Mark Daniel G. de Luna, Meng-Wei Wan, Ming-Chun Lu

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A series of ternary compound catalyst with nanocomposites of ceria, tungsten trioxide and titania (CeO2-WOx-TiO2) with different WOx mole fraction (10, 20, 30, 40) have been synthesized by sol-gel method. These nanocomposite catalysts were used for oxidative extractive desulfurization of model fuel oil, which were composed of dibenzothiophene (DBT) dissolved in toluene. The 30% hydrogen peroxide, H2O2 was used as oxidant and acetonitrile as extractant. These catalysts were characterized by SEM-EDS to determine the morphology. Catalytic oxidation results show that the catalysts have high selectivity in refractory fuel oil with organo sulfur contents. The oxidative removal of DBT increases as the HPW content increases. The nanocomposites CeO2-WOx-TiO2 also shows high selectivity for DBT oxidation in the DBT–toluene acetonitrile system. The catalytic oxidative desulfurization ratio of model fuel reached to 100% with nanocomposites CeO2-WOx-TiO2 (35-30-35) mol percent catalyst nanocomposition under 333 K in 30 minutes.

Keywords: ceria, oxidative desulfurization, titania, phosphotungstic acid

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Authors: Shih-Pin Chen, Shih-Syuan You

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This study proposes a regression model with flexible spreads for fuzzy input-output data to cope with the situation that the existing measures cannot reflect the actual estimation error. The main idea is that a dissemblance index (DI) is carefully identified and defined for precisely measuring the actual estimation error. Moreover, the graded mean integration (GMI) representation is adopted for determining more representative numeric regression coefficients. Notably, to comprehensively compare the performance of the proposed model with other ones, three different criteria are adopted. The results from commonly used test numerical examples and an application to Taiwan's business monitoring indicator illustrate that the proposed dissemblance index method not only produces valid fuzzy regression models for fuzzy input-output data, but also has satisfactory and stable performance in terms of the total estimation error based on these three criteria.

Keywords: dissemblance index, forecasting, fuzzy sets, linear regression

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Authors: Anca-Diana Bibiri, Mihaela Mocanu, Adrian Turculeț

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In a language the inventory of greetings is dynamic with frequent input and output, although this is hardly noticed by the speakers. In this register, there are a number of constant, conservative elements that survive different language models (among them, the classic formulae: bună ziua! (good afternoon!), bună seara! (good evening!), noapte bună! (good night!), la revedere! (goodbye!) and a number of items that fail to pass the test of time, according to language use at a time (ciao!, pa!, bai!). The source of innovation depends both of internal factors (contraction, conversion, combination of classic formulae of greetings), and of external ones (borrowings and calques). Their use imposes their frequencies at once, namely the elimination of the use of others. This paper presents a sociolinguistic approach of contemporary Romanian greetings, based on prosodic surveys in two research projects: AMPRom, and SoRoEs. Romanian language presents a rich inventory of questions (especially partial interrogatives questions/WH-Q) which are used as greetings, alone or, more commonly accompanying a proper greeting. The representative of the typical formulae is Ce mai faci? (How are you?), which, unlike its English counterpart How do you do?, has not become a stereotype, but retains an obvious emotional impact, while serving as a mark of sociolinguistic group. The analyzed corpus consists of structures containing greetings recorded in the main Romanian cultural (urban) centers. From the methodological point of view, the acoustic analysis of the recorded data is performed using software tools (GoldWave, Praat), identifying intonation patterns related to three sociolinguistics variables: age, sex and level of education. The intonation patterns of the analyzed statements are at the interface between partial questions and typical greetings.

Keywords: acoustic analysis, greetings, Romanian language, sociolinguistics

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Authors: Jalindar R. Patil, Harish P. Gayakwad

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The increased economic growth across the globe as well as urbanization in developing countries have led into extensive construction activities that generate large amounts of wastes. Material wastage in construction projects resulted into huge financial setbacks to builders and contractors. In addition to this, it may also cause significant effects over aesthetics, health, and the general environment. However in many cities across the globe where construction wastes material management is still a problem. In this paper, the discussion is all about the method for the management of waste construction materials. The objectives of this seminar are to identify the significant source of construction waste globally, to improve the performance of by extracting the major barriers construction waste management and to determine the cost impact on the construction project. These wastes needs to be managed as well as their impacts needs to be ascertained to pave way for their proper management. The seminar includes the details of construction waste management with the reference to construction project. The application of construction waste management in the civil engineering projects is to describe the reduction in the construction wastes.

Keywords: civil engineering, construction materials, waste management, construction activities

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Authors: Degale Desta, Cheng Jian

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The most important factor in identifying a person is their face. Even identical twins have their own distinct faces. As a result, identification and face recognition are needed to tell one person from another. A face recognition system is a verification tool used to establish a person's identity using biometrics. Nowadays, face recognition is a common technique used in a variety of applications, including home security systems, criminal identification, and phone unlock systems. This system is more secure because it only requires a facial image instead of other dependencies like a key or card. Face detection and face identification are the two phases that typically make up a human recognition system.The idea behind designing and creating a face recognition system using deep learning with Azure ML Python's OpenCV is explained in this paper. Face recognition is a task that can be accomplished using deep learning, and given the accuracy of this method, it appears to be a suitable approach. To show how accurate the suggested face recognition system is, experimental results are given in 98.46% accuracy using Fast-RCNN Performance of algorithms under different training conditions.

Keywords: deep learning, face recognition, identification, fast-RCNN

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Authors: A. Rong, P. B. Luh, R. Lahdelma

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High penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources (RES) such as solar power and wind power into the energy system has caused temporal and spatial imbalance between electric power supply and demand for some countries and regions. This brings about the critical need for coordinating power production and power exchange for different regions. As compared with the power-only systems, the combined heat and power (CHP) systems can provide additional flexibility of utilizing RES by exploiting the interdependence of power and heat production in the CHP plant. In the CHP system, power production can be influenced by adjusting heat production level and electric power can be used to satisfy heat demand by electric boiler or heat pump in conjunction with heat storage, which is much cheaper than electric storage. This paper addresses multi-site CHP systems without considering RES, which lay foundation for handling penetration of RES. The problem under study is the unit commitment (UC) of the transmission-constrained multi-site CHP systems. We solve the problem by combining linear relaxation of ON/OFF states and sequential dynamic programming (DP) techniques, where relaxed states are used to reduce the dimension of the UC problem and DP for improving the solution quality. Numerical results for daily scheduling with realistic models and data show that DP-based algorithm is from a few to a few hundred times faster than CPLEX (standard commercial optimization software) with good solution accuracy (less than 1% relative gap from the optimal solution on the average).

Keywords: dynamic programming, multi-site combined heat and power system, relaxed states, transmission-constrained generation unit commitment

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Authors: Cagla Gul Guldiken, Levent Akyalcin, Hasan Ferdi Gercel

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Fuel cells are electrochemical devices which convert the chemical energy of hydrogen into the electricity. Among the types of fuel cells, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are attracting considerable attention as non-polluting power generators with high energy conversion efficiencies in mobile applications. Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) is one of the essential components of PEMFCs. Perfluorosulfonic acid based membranes known as Nafion® is widely used as PEMs. Nafion® membranes water dependent proton conductivity which limits the operating temperature below 100ᵒC. At higher temperatures, proton conductivity and mechanical stability of these membranes decrease because of dehydration. Polybenzimidazole (PBI), which has good anhydrous proton conductivity after doped with acids, as well as excellent thermal stability, shows great potential in the application of high temperature PEMFCs. In the present study, PBI polymers were synthesized by solution polycondensation at 190 and 210ᵒC. The synthesized polymers were characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, and TGA. Phosphoric acid doped PBI membranes were prepared and tested in a PEMFC. The influences of reaction temperature on structural properties of synthesized polymers were investigated. Mechanical properties, acid-doping level, proton conductivity, and fuel cell performances of prepared phosphoric acid doped PBI membranes were evaluated. The maximum power density was found as 32.5 mW/cm² at 120ᵒC.

Keywords: fuel cell, high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane, polybenzimidazole, proton exchange membrane fuel cell

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Authors: Ewa Mojs, Katarzyna Wiechec, Maia Kubiak, Wlodzimierz Samborski

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Interactions between mother’s psychological condition and child’s health status are complex and derive from the nature of the mother-child relationship. The aim of the study was to analyze the issue of anxiety amongst mothers of short children in the aspect of growth hormone therapy. The study was based on a group of 101 mothers of originally short-statured children – 70 with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) treated with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) and 31 undergoing the diagnostic process, without any treatment. Collected medical data included child's gender, height and weight, chronological age, bone age delay, and rhGH therapy duration. For all children, the height SDS and BMI SDS were calculated. To evaluate anxiety in mothers, the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used. Obtained results revealed low trait anxiety levels, with no statistically significant differences between the groups. State anxiety levels were average when mothers of all children were analyzed together, but when divided into groups, statistical differences appeared. Mothers of children without diagnosis and treatment had significantly higher levels of state anxiety than mothers of children with GHD receiving appropriate therapy. These results show, that the occurrence of growth failure in children is not related to high maternal trait anxiety, but the lack of diagnosis and lack of appropriate treatment generates higher levels of maternal state anxiety than the process of rh GH therapy in the offspring. Commencement of growth hormone therapy induce a substantial reduction of the state anxiety in mothers, and the duration of treatment causes its further decrease.

Keywords: anxiety, development, growth hormone deficiency, motherhood

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Authors: Bhawana, Roshan Kamal Topno, Maneesh Kumar, Major Madhukar, Krishna Pandey, Ganesh Chandra Sahoo, Manas Ranjan Dikhit, Surya Suman, Devendra Prasad Yadav, Rishikesh Kumar, Pradeep Das

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Viral co-infection is now very common across taxa and environments that are involved in congenital infections. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) and Rubella are the two serious viral infections, well categorized in TORCH Syndrome. Here we had endeavoured the seroprevalence of co-infection of HSV and Rubella. Systematic tests have been performed to check the virulence pattern of the co-infection. The study was conducted at Department of Virology, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, Bihar, India during January 2018-July 2018. 299 newly cases were attended with the sign and symptoms of HSV and Rubella. After taking written consent forms from all the subjects, blood samples were collected for serological detection. ELISA was performed to detect the presence of IgM antibody level. 12 patients were found to be IgM positive from each HSV and Rubella infection. The findings of our study showed that 6 patients were positive for both HSV and rubella and hence were co-infected. Such co-infection causes severe health problems as it leads to the mortality rate of the patients during viral infectivity. Epidemiologically, proper screening should be needed to check any chance of occurrence of such co-infection in the affected regions in large scale and take suitable preventive approach to decrease the case totality. Concern has to be given to aid proper diagnosis and treatment in order to decrease the spread of HSV and Rubella co-infection.

Keywords: HSV, Rubella, seroprevalence, co-infection, ELISA, viral infectivity

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Authors: Haibo Sheng, Yuan Hu

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Spinel structure Zinc stannate (Zn2SnO4, ZS)/Graphene was successfully synthesized by a simple in situ hydrothermal route. Morphological study and structure analysis confirmed the homogenously loading of ZS on the graphene sheets. Then, the resulted ZS/graphene hybrids were incorporated into epoxy resin to form EP/ZS/graphene composites by a solvent dispersion method. Improved thermal stability was investigated by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). Cone calorimeter result showed low peak heat release rate (PHRR). Toxical gases release during combustion was evaluated by a facile device organized in our lab. The results showed that the release of NOx, HCN decrease of about 55%. Also, TG-IR technology was used to investigate the gas release during the EP decomposition process. The CO release had decreased about 80%.The EP/G/ZS showed lowest hazards during combustion (including flame retardancy, thermal stability, lower toxical gases release and so on) than pure EP.

Keywords: fire hazards, zinc stannate, epoxy resin, toxical gas hazards

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Authors: Mahdi Bazarganigilani

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Aortic enlargement, also known as an aortic aneurysm, can occur when the walls of the aorta become weak. This disease can become deadly if overlooked and undiagnosed. In this paper, a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system was introduced to accurately diagnose aortic enlargement from chest x-ray images. An enhanced convolutional neural network (CNN) was employed and then trained by transfer learning by using three different main areas from the original images. The areas included the left lung, heart, and right lung. The accuracy of the system was then evaluated on 1001 samples by using 4-fold cross-validation. A promising accuracy of 90% was achieved in terms of the F-measure indicator. The results showed using different areas from the original image in the training phase of CNN could increase the accuracy of predictions. This encouraged the author to evaluate this method on a larger dataset and even on different CAD systems for further enhancement of this methodology.

Keywords: computer-aided diagnosis systems, aortic enlargement, chest X-ray, image processing, convolutional neural networks

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Authors: Bernard L. Middleton, Susan P. Cosgrove

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There is an immediate need for alternative anti-herpetic treatment options effective for both primary infections and reoccurring reactivations of herpes simplex virus types 1 (HSV-1) and 2 (HSV-2). Alternatives currently approved for the purposes of clinical administration includes antivirals and a reduced set of nucleoside analogues. The present article tests a treatment based on a systemic understanding of how the herpes virus affects cell inhibition and breakdown and targets different phases of the viral cycle, including the entry stage, reproductive cross mutation, and cell-to-cell infection. The treatment consisted of five immunotherapeutic core compounds (5CC), which were hypothesized to be capable of neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies. The tested 5CC were noted as being functional in the application of eliminating the DNA synthesis of herpes viral interferon (IFN) - induced cellular antiviral response. They were here found to neutralize antiviral reproduction by blocking cell-to-cell infection. The activity of the 5CC was tested on RC-37 in vitro using an assay plaque reduction and in vivo against HSV-1 and HSV-2. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 5CC was 0.0009% for HSV-1 plaque formation and 0.0008% for HSV-2 plaque formation. Further tests were performed to evaluate the susceptibility of HSV-1 and HSV-2 to anti-herpetic drugs in Vero cells after virus entry. There were high-level markers of the 5CC virucidal activity in the viral suspension of HSV-1 and HSV-2. These concentrations of the 5CC are nontoxic and reduced plaque formation by 98.2% for HSV-1 and 93.0% for HSV-2. Virus HSV-1 and HSV-2 titers were reduced significantly by 5CC to the point of being negative, ranging 0.01–0.09 in 72%. The results concluded the 5CC as being an effective treatment option for the herpes simplex virus.

Keywords: synergy pharmaceuticals, herpes treatment, herpes cure, synergy pharmaceuticals treatment

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Authors: Abdelrahman Zkria, Tsuyoshi Yoshitake

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Diamond is one of the most interesting semiconducting carbon materials owing to its unique physical and chemical properties, yet its application in electronic devices is limited due to the difficulty of realizing n-type conduction by nitrogen doping. In contrast Ultrananocrystalline diamond with diamond grains of about 3–5 nm in diameter have attracted much attention for device-oriented applications because they may enable the realization of n-type doping with nitrogen. In this study, nitrogen-doped Ultra-Nanocrystalline diamond films were prepared by coaxial arc plasma deposition (CAPD) method, the nitrogen content was estimated by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The electrical conductivity increased with increasing nitrogen contents. Heterojunction diodes with p-type Si were fabricated and evaluated based on current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics measured in dark at room temperature.

Keywords: heterojunction diodes, hopping conduction mechanism, nitrogen-doping, ultra-nanocrystalline diamond

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Authors: Prakriti Chand, Binayak Prasad Rajbhandari, Ram Prasad Mainali

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Local indigenous community in Lalitpur, Nepal, use Ignored, Underutilized and Uncommercialized Horticultural Species (IUUHS) for medicine, food, spice, pickles, and religious purposes. But, research and exploration about usage, status, potentialities, and importance of these future sustainable crops are inadequately documented and have been ignored for a positive food transformation system. The study aimed to assess the use and diversity of NUWHS in terms of current status investigation, documentation, management, and future potentialities of IUUHS. A wide range of participatory tools through the household survey ( 100 respondents), 8 focus group discussions, 20 key informant interviews was followed by individual assessment, participatory rural assessments and supplemented by literature review. This study recorded 95 IUUHS belonging to 43 families, of which 92 were angiosperms, 2 pteridophytes, and 1 gymnosperm. Twenty seven species had multiple uses. The IUUHS observed during the study were 31 vegetables, 20 fruits, 14 wild species, 7 spices, 7 pulses, 7 pickle, 7 medicine, and 2 religious species. Vegetables and fruits were the most observed category of IUUHS. Eighty nine species were observed as medicinally valued species, and 86% of the women had taken over all the agricultural activities. 84% of respondents used these species during food deficient period. IUUHS have future potential as an alternative food to major staple crops due to its remarkable ability to be adapted in marginal soil and thrive harsh climatic condition. There are various constraints regarding the utilization and development of IUUHS, which needs initiation of promotion, utilization, management, and conservation of species from the grass root level.

Keywords: agrobiodiversity, Ignored and underutilized species, uncultivated horticultural species, diversity use

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Authors: Huie-Wen Lin

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This study integrated various teaching factors -based on the idea of a flipped classroom- in a financial management course. The study’s aim was to establish an effective teaching implementation strategy and evaluation mechanism with respect to learning outcomes, which can serve as a reference for the future modification of teaching methods. This study implemented a teaching method in five stages and estimated the learning efficiencies of 22 students (in the teaching scenario and over two semesters). Subsequently, data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to compare, for each student, between the learning efficiencies before and after participation in the flipped classroom -in the first and second semesters, respectively- to identify the crucial external factors influencing learning efficiency. According to the results, the average overall student learning efficiency increased from 0.901 in the first semester to 0.967 in the second semester, which demonstrate that the flipped classroom approach can improve teaching effectiveness and learning outcomes. The results also revealed a difference in learning efficiency between male and female students.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis, flipped classroom, learning outcome, teaching and learning

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Authors: Ferzat Anka

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Many types of problems can be solved using traditional analytical methods. However, these methods take a long time and cause inefficient use of resources. In particular, different approaches may be required in solving complex and global engineering problems that we frequently encounter in real life. The bigger and more complex a problem, the harder it is to solve. Such problems are called Nondeterministic Polynomial time (NP-hard) in the literature. The main reasons for recommending different metaheuristic algorithms for various problems are the use of simple concepts, the use of simple mathematical equations and structures, the use of non-derivative mechanisms, the avoidance of local optima, and their fast convergence. They are also flexible, as they can be applied to different problems without very specific modifications. Thanks to these features, it can be easily embedded even in many hardware devices. Accordingly, this approach can also be used in trend application areas such as IoT, big data, and parallel structures. Indeed, the metaheuristic approaches are algorithms that return near-optimal results for solving large-scale optimization problems. This study is focused on the new metaheuristic method that has been merged with the chaotic approach. It is based on the chaos theorem and helps relevant algorithms to improve the diversity of the population and fast convergence. This approach is based on Chimp Optimization Algorithm (ChOA), that is a recently introduced metaheuristic algorithm inspired by nature. This algorithm identified four types of chimpanzee groups: attacker, barrier, chaser, and driver, and proposed a suitable mathematical model for them based on the various intelligence and sexual motivations of chimpanzees. However, this algorithm is not more successful in the convergence rate and escaping of the local optimum trap in solving high-dimensional problems. Although it and some of its variants use some strategies to overcome these problems, it is observed that it is not sufficient. Therefore, in this study, a newly expanded variant is described. In the algorithm called Ex-ChOA, hybrid models are proposed for position updates of search agents, and a dynamic switching mechanism is provided for transition phases. This flexible structure solves the slow convergence problem of ChOA and improves its accuracy in multidimensional problems. Therefore, it tries to achieve success in solving global, complex, and constrained problems. The main contribution of this study is 1) It improves the accuracy and solves the slow convergence problem of the ChOA. 2) It proposes new hybrid movement strategy models for position updates of search agents. 3) It provides success in solving global, complex, and constrained problems. 4) It provides a dynamic switching mechanism between phases. The performance of the Ex-ChOA algorithm is analyzed on a total of 8 benchmark functions, as well as a total of 2 classical and constrained engineering problems. The proposed algorithm is compared with the ChoA, and several well-known variants (Weighted-ChoA, Enhanced-ChoA) are used. In addition, an Improved algorithm from the Grey Wolf Optimizer (I-GWO) method is chosen for comparison since the working model is similar. The obtained results depict that the proposed algorithm performs better or equivalently to the compared algorithms.

Keywords: optimization, metaheuristic, chimp optimization algorithm, engineering constrained problems

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Authors: Carol S. Binnekade, Deon Scott, Christina C. Shuttleworth, Annelien A. Van Rooyen

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Higher education institutions are constantly challenged to deliver skilled graduates into the workplace. Employers expect graduates to have the required technical knowledge as well as various pervasive skills. This also applies to accountants who need to know the technical requirements of financial reporting and be able to communicate with individuals, teams and clients at a high level. Accountants need to develop effective business conversational skills and use these skills to communicate up, down and across organizations, taking into consideration cultural and gender diversity. In addition, they need to master business writing and presentation skills. However, providing students with these skills in a distance-learning environment where interaction between students and instructors is limited, is a challenge for academics. The study on which this paper reports, forms part of a larger body of research, which explored the perceptions of accounting practitioners of the communication skills (or lack thereof) of recently qualified accounting students. Feedback (qualitative and quantitative) was obtained from various accounting practitioners in South Africa. Taking into consideration that distance learners communicate mainly with their instructors via email communication and their assignments are submitted using various word processor software, the researchers were of the opinion that the accounting graduates would be capable of communicating effectively once they entered the workplace. However, the research findings, inter alia, suggested that the accounting graduates lacked communication skills and that training was needed to differentiate between business and social communication once they entered the workplace. Recommendations on how these communication challenges may be addressed by higher education institutions are provided.

Keywords: accounting practitioners, communication skills, distance education, pervasive skills

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Authors: Tomola Obamuyi

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The banking system in Nigeria adopted innovative banking, with the aim of enhancing financial inclusion, and making financial services readily and cheaply available to majority of the people, and to contribute to the efficiency of the financial system. Some of the innovative services include: Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs), National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), Point of Sale (PoS), internet (Web) banking, Mobile Money payment (MMO), Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), agent banking, among others. The introduction of these payment systems is expected to increase bank efficiency and customers' satisfaction, culminating in better performance for the commercial banks. However, opinions differ on the possible effects of the various innovative payment systems on the performance of commercial banks in the country. Thus, this study empirically determines how commercial banks use innovation to gain competitive advantage in the specific context of Nigeria's finance and business. The study also analyses the effects of financial innovation on the performance of commercial banks, when different periods of analysis are considered. The study employed secondary data from 2009 to 2018, the period that witnessed aggressive innovation in the financial sector of the country. The Vector Autoregression (VAR) estimation technique forecasts the relative variance of each random innovation to the variables in the VAR, examine the effect of standard deviation shock to one of the innovations on current and future values of the impulse response and determine the causal relationship between the variables (VAR granger causality test). The study also employed the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) to rank the innovations and the performance criteria of Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE). The entropy method of MCDM was used to determine which of the performance criteria better reflect the contributions of the various innovations in the banking sector. On the other hand, the Range of Values (ROV) method was used to rank the contributions of the seven innovations to performance. The analysis was done based on medium term (five years) and long run (ten years) of innovations in the sector. The impulse response function derived from the VAR system indicated that the response of ROA to the values of cheques transaction, values of NEFT transactions, values of POS transactions was positive and significant in the periods of analysis. The paper also confirmed with entropy and range of value that, in the long run, both the CHEQUE and MMO performed best while NEFT was next in performance. The paper concluded that commercial banks would enhance their performance by continuously improving on the services provided through Cheques, National Electronic Fund Transfer and Point of Sale since these instruments have long run effects on their performance. This will increase the confidence of the populace and encourage more usage/patronage of these services. The banking sector will in turn experience better performance which will improve the economy of the country. Keywords: Bank performance, financial innovation, multi-criteria decision making, vector autoregression,

Keywords: Bank performance, financial innovation, multi-criteria decision making, vector autoregression

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Authors: Marijana Pantić, Saša Milijić

Abstract:

In Serbia as a continental country, the tourism industry relies on city-break, spa and mountain tourism, where ski resorts have primacy during the winter season. Even though the number of tourists has recently increased, the share of domestic tourists remained predominant. It is also noticed that tourists from Serbia eagerly travel abroad, which was so far researched in the context of summer holidays but not in the framework of ski resorts. Therefore, this paper examines the competitiveness of ski resorts in Serbia from the perspective of domestic tourists. A survey was used as a data collection method, covering various competitiveness dimensions. The aim is to recognize the main motives of consumers when choosing a ski resort in Serbia or abroad. The results showed that the choices of Serbian tourists are predominantly shaped by the cost of an offer – of accommodation above all others. They are attentive by estimating the value for money, which is the most common reason to choose a ski resort abroad over a domestic one. The crowd at ski resorts and ski runs appears to be a result of unbalanced accommodation capacities on the one hand and ski infrastructure on the other, which is currently the most notable competitiveness drawback of ski resorts in Serbia.

Keywords: mountain tourism, Serbia, ski resorts, tourism competitiveness

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Salami Akeem Olanrewaju

Abstract:

The transportation models or problems are primarily concerned with the optimal (best possible) way in which a product produced at different factories or plants (called supply origins) can be transported to a number of warehouses or customers (called demand destinations). The objective in a transportation problem is to fully satisfy the destination requirements within the operating production capacity constraints at the minimum possible cost. The objective of this study is to determine ways of minimizing transport cost in order to maximum profit. Data were gathered from the records of the Distribution Department of 7-Up Bottling Company Plc. Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The data were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) while applying the three methods of solving a transportation problem. The three methods produced the same results; therefore, any of the method can be adopted by the company in transporting its final products to the wholesale dealers in order to minimize total production cost.

Keywords: cost minimization, resources utilization, distribution system, allocation problem

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Fanqiang Kong, Chending Bian

Abstract:

In this work, we exploit two assumed properties of the abundances of the observed signatures (endmembers) in order to reconstruct the abundances from hyperspectral data. Joint-sparsity is the first property of the abundances, which assumes the adjacent pixels can be expressed as different linear combinations of same materials. The second property is rank-deficiency where the number of endmembers participating in hyperspectral data is very small compared with the dimensionality of spectral library, which means that the abundances matrix of the endmembers is a low-rank matrix. These assumptions lead to an optimization problem for the sparse unmixing model that requires minimizing a combined l_2,p-norm and nuclear norm. We propose a variable splitting and augmented Lagrangian algorithm to solve the optimization problem. Experimental evaluation carried out on synthetic and real hyperspectral data shows that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms with a better spectral unmixing accuracy.

Keywords: hyperspectral unmixing, joint-sparse, low-rank representation, abundance estimation

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Authors: Mohamed M. El Gendy, Ibrahim A. El Arabi, Rafeek W. Abdel-Missih, Omar A. Kandil

Abstract:

Nonlinear analysis is one of the most important design and safety tools in structural engineering. Based on the finite-element method, a geometrical and material nonlinear analysis of large span reinforced concrete arches is carried out considering soil-structure interaction. The concrete section details and reinforcement distribution are taken into account. The behavior of soil is considered via Winkler's and continuum models. A computer program (NARC II) is specially developed in order to follow the structural behavior of large span reinforced concrete arches up to failure. The results obtained by the proposed model are compared with available literature for verification. This work confirmed that the geometrical and material nonlinearities, as well as soil structure interaction, have considerable influence on the structural response of reinforced concrete arches.

Keywords: nonlinear analysis, reinforced concrete arched structure, soil-structure interaction, geotechnical engineering

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Authors: Arezou Javadi

Abstract:

The use of algorithmic models dependent on software calculations and simulation of new government management assays with the help of specialized software had increased the productivity and efficiency of the government management system recently. This has caused the management approach to change from the old bitch & fix model, which has low efficiency and less usefulness, to the capable management model with higher efficiency called the partnership with resident model. By using Govpilot TM software, the relationship between people in a system and the government was examined. The method of two tailed interaction was the outsourcing of a goal in a system, which is formed in the order of goals, qualified executive people, optimal executive model, and finally, summarizing additional activities at the different statistical levels. The results showed that the participation of people in a financial implementation system with a statistical potential of P≥5% caused a significant increase in investment and initial capital in the government system with maximum implement project in a smart government.

Keywords: machine learning, financial income, statistical potential, govpilot

Procedia PDF Downloads 73

Authors: Arezou Javadi

Abstract:

The use of algorithmic models dependent on software calculations and simulation of new government management assays with the help of specialized software had increased the productivity and efficiency of the government management system recently. This has caused the management approach to change from the old bitch & fix model, which has low efficiency and less usefulness, to the capable management model with higher efficiency called the partnership with resident model. By using Govpilot TM software, the relationship between people in a system and the government was examined. The method of two tailed interaction was the outsourcing of a goal in a system, which is formed in the order of goals, qualified executive people, optimal executive model, and finally, summarizing additional activities at the different statistical levels. The results showed that the participation of people in a financial implementation system with a statistical potential of P≥5% caused a significant increase in investment and initial capital in the government system with maximum implement project in a smart government.

Keywords: machine learning, financial income, statistical potential, govpilot

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Amanda Cristina de Oliveira, Elias de Souza Monteiro Filho, Roberta Ceriani

Abstract:

Liquid-liquid extraction in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs) constitutes a powerful tool for purifying bio-materials, such as cells, organelles, proteins, among others. In this work, the extraction of the bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been studied in systems formed by polyethylene glycol (PEG) (1500, 4000, and 6000 g.mol⁻¹) + potassium sodium tartrate + water at 303.15°K. Phase diagrams were obtained by turbidimetry and Merchuk’s method (1998). The experimental tie-lines were described using the Othmer-Tobias and Bancroft correlations. ATPSs were correlated with the nonrandom two-liquid (NRTL) model. The results were considered excellent according to global root-mean-square deviations found which were between 0,72 and 1,13%. The concentrations of the proteins in each phase were determined by spectrophotometry at 280 nm, finding partition efficiencies greater than 71%.

Keywords: aqueous two phases systems, bovine serum albumin , liquid-liquid extraction, polyethylene glycol

Procedia PDF Downloads 138