Search results for: R statistical software

Authors: Leena-Maria Alyedreessy

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Self-esteem is thought to be determined by ones’ own feeling of being included, liked and accepted by others. This research explores whether this concept may also be applied in the virtual world and assesses whether there is any relationship between Twitter users' self-esteem and the amount of interactions they receive. 20 female Arab participants were given a survey asking them about their Twitter interactions and their feelings of having an imagined audience to fill out and a Rosenberg Self-Esteem Assessment to complete. After completion and statistical analysis, results showed a significant correlation between the feeling of being Twitter elite, the feeling of having a lot of people listening to your tweets and having a lot of interactions with high self-esteem. However, no correlations were detected for low-self-esteem and low interactions.

Keywords: twitter, social media, self-esteem, narcissism, interactions

Procedia PDF Downloads 412

Authors: Revathi S. Rajan, Pratibha Malik, Nupur Garg, Smitha Avula, Kamini A. Rao

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This study aimed to analyse the pregnancy outcomes in patients with TPO positivity after appropriate L-Thyroxin supplementation with close surveillance. All pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at Milann-The Fertility Center, Bangalore, India- from Aug 2013 to Oct 2014 whose booking TSH was more than 2.5 mIU/L were included along with those pregnant women with prior hypothyroidism who were TPO positive. Those with TPO positive status were vigorously managed with appropriate thyroxin supplementation and the doses were readjusted every 3 to 4 weeks until delivery. Women with recurrent pregnancy loss were also tested for TPO positivity and if tested positive, were monitored serially with TSH and fT4 levels every 3 to 4 weeks and appropriately supplemented with thyroxin when the levels fluctuated. The testing was done after an informed consent in all these women. The statistical software namely SAS 9.2, SPSS 15.0, Stata 10.1, MedCalc 9.0.1, Systat 12.0 and R environment ver.2.11.1 were used for the analysis of the data. 460 pregnant women were screened for thyroid dysfunction at booking of which 52% were hypothyroid. Majority of them (31.08%) were subclinically hypothyroid and the remaining were overt. 25% of the total no. of patients screened were TPO positive. The various pregnancy complications that were observed in the TPO positive women were gestational glucose intolerance [60%], threatened abortion [21%], midtrimester abortion [4.3%], premature rupture of membranes [4.3%], cervical funneling [4.3%] and fetal growth restriction [3.5%]. 95.6% of the patients who followed up till the end delivered beyond 30 weeks. 42.6% of these patients had previous history of recurrent abortions or adverse obstetric outcome and 21.7% of the delivered babies required NICU admission. Obstetric outcomes in our study in terms of midtrimester abortions, placental abruption, and preterm delivery improved for the better after close monitoring of the thyroid hormone [TSH and fT4] levels every 3 to 4 weeks with appropriate dose adjustment throughout pregnancy. Euthyroid women with TPO positive status enrolled in the study incidentally were those with recurrent abortions/infertility and required thyroxin supplements due to elevated Thyroid hormone (TSH, fT4) levels during the course of their pregnancy. Significant associations were found with age>30 years and Hyperhomocysteinemia [p=0.017], recurrent pregnancy loss or previous adverse obstetric outcomes [p=0.067] and APLA [p=0.029]. TPO antibody levels >600 I U/ml were significantly associated with development of gestational hypertension [p=0.041] and fetal growth restriction [p=0.082]. Euthyroid women with TPO positivity were also screened periodically to counter fluctuations of the thyroid hormone levels with appropriate thyroxin supplementation. Thus, early identification along with aggressive management of thyroid dysfunction and stratification of these patients based on their TPO status with appropriate thyroxin supplementation beginning in the first trimester will aid risk modulation and also help avert complications.

Keywords: TPO antibody, subclinical hypothyroidism, anti nuclear antibody, thyroxin

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Authors: Iva Buchberger, Vesna Kovač

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Global education policy trends and recommendations underline the importance of (distributive) school leadership as a school effectiveness key factor. In this context, the broader aim of this research (supported by the Croatian Science Foundation) is to identify school leadership characteristics in Croatian schools and to examine the correlation between school leadership and school effectiveness. The aim of the proposed conference paper is to focus on the school leadership characteristics which are additionally explained with school leadership facilitators that contribute to (distributive) school leadership development. The aforementioned school leadership characteristics include the following dimensions: (a) participation in the process of making different types of decisions, (b) influence in the decision making process, (c) social interactions between different stakeholders in the decision making process in schools. Further, the school leadership facilitators are categorized as follows: (a) principal’s activities (such as providing support to different stakeholders and developing mutual trust among them), (b) stakeholders’ characteristics (such as developed stakeholders’ interest and competence to participate in decision-making process), (c) organizational and material resources (such as school material conditions, the necessary information and time as resources for making decisions). The data were collected by a constructed and validated questionnaire for examining the school leadership characteristics and facilitators from teachers’ perspective. The main population in this study consists of all primary schools in Croatia while the sample is comprised of 100 primary schools, selected by random sampling. Furthermore, the sample of teachers was selected by an additional procedure taking into consideration the independent variables of sex, work experience, etc. Data processing was performed by standard statistical methods of descriptive and inferential statistics. Statistical program IBM SPSS 20.0 was used for data processing. The results of this study show that there is a (positive) correlation between school leadership characteristics and school leadership facilitators. Specifically, it is noteworthy to mention that all the dimensions of school leadership characteristics are in positive correlation with the categories of school leadership facilitators. These results are indicative for the education policy creators who should ensure positive and supportive environment for the school leadership development including the development of school leadership characteristics and school leadership facilitators.

Keywords: distributive school leadership, school effectiveness , school leadership characteristics, school leadership facilitators

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Abdul Khalique Baloch, Ali Okatan

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The quality analysis of food and vegetable from image is hot topic now a day, where researchers make them better then pervious findings through different technique and methods. In this research we have review the literature, and find gape from them, and suggest better proposed approach, design the algorithm, developed a software to measure the quality from images, where accuracy of image show better results, and compare the results with Perouse work done so for. The Application we uses an open-source dataset and python language with tensor flow lite framework. In this research we focus to sort food and vegetable from image, in the images, the application can sorts and make them grading after process the images, it could create less errors them human base sorting errors by manual grading. Digital pictures datasets were created. The collected images arranged by classes. The classification accuracy of the system was about 94%. As fruits and vegetables play main role in day-to-day life, the quality of fruits and vegetables is necessary in evaluating agricultural produce, the customer always buy good quality fruits and vegetables. This document is about quality detection of fruit and vegetables using images. Most of customers suffering due to unhealthy foods and vegetables by suppliers, so there is no proper quality measurement level followed by hotel managements. it have developed software to measure the quality of the fruits and vegetables by using images, it will tell you how is your fruits and vegetables are fresh or rotten. Some algorithms reviewed in this thesis including digital images, ResNet, VGG16, CNN and Transfer Learning grading feature extraction. This application used an open source dataset of images and language used python, and designs a framework of system.

Keywords: deep learning, computer vision, image processing, rotten fruit detection, fruits quality criteria, vegetables quality criteria

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Authors: Salam Alzubaidi, G. Fantoni, F. Failli, M. Frosolini

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The dynamic facility layout problem is a really critical issue in the competitive industrial market; thus, solving this problem requires robust design and effective simulation systems. The sustainable simulation requires inputting reliable and accurate data into the system. So this paper describes an automated system integrated into the real environment to measure the duration of the material handling operations, collect the data in real-time, and determine the variances between the actual and estimated time schedule of the operations in order to update the simulation software and redesign the facility layout periodically. The automated method- time measurement system collects the real data through using Radio Frequency-Identification (RFID) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Hence, attaching RFID- antenna reader and RFID tags enables the system to identify the location of the objects and gathering the time data. The real duration gathered will be manipulated by calculating the moving average duration of the material handling operations, choosing the shortest material handling path, and then updating the simulation software to redesign the facility layout accommodating with the shortest/real operation schedule. The periodic simulation in real-time is more sustainable and reliable than the simulation system relying on an analysis of historical data. The case study of this methodology is in cooperation with a workshop team for producing mechanical parts. Although there are some technical limitations, this methodology is promising, and it can be significantly useful in the redesigning of the manufacturing layout.

Keywords: dynamic facility layout problem, internet of things, method time measurement, radio frequency identification, simulation

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Authors: Fatema Akram, Mohammad Golam Rasul, Mohammad Masud Kamal Khan, Md. Sharif Imam Ibne Amir

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A variety of routing techniques are available to develop surface runoff hydrographs from rainfall. The selection of runoff routing method is very vital as it is directly related to the type of watershed and the required degree of accuracy. There are different modelling softwares available to explore the rainfall-runoff process in urban areas. XPSTORM, a link-node based, integrated storm-water modelling software, has been used in this study for developing surface runoff hydrograph for a Golf course area located in Rockhampton in Central Queensland in Australia. Four commonly used methods, namely SWMM runoff, Kinematic wave, Laurenson, and Time-Area are employed to generate runoff hydrograph for design storm of this study area. In runoff mode of XPSTORM, the rainfall, infiltration, evaporation and depression storage for sub-catchments were simulated and the runoff from the sub-catchment to collection node was calculated. The simulation results are presented, discussed and compared. The total surface runoff generated by SWMM runoff, Kinematic wave and Time-Area methods are found to be reasonably close, which indicates any of these methods can be used for developing runoff hydrograph of the study area. Laurenson method produces a comparatively less amount of surface runoff, however, it creates highest peak of surface runoff among all which may be suitable for hilly region. Although the Laurenson hydrograph technique is widely acceptable surface runoff routing technique in Queensland (Australia), extensive investigation is recommended with detailed topographic and hydrologic data in order to assess its suitability for use in the case study area.

Keywords: ARI, design storm, IFD, rainfall temporal pattern, routing techniques, surface runoff, XPSTORM

Procedia PDF Downloads 453

Authors: Majda Ibrahim Aljaroudi, Jwaher Alburake

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The study aimed to identify the active role of the teacher in the management of the effective classroom environment for high school students from the viewpoint of the teachers, and to identify whether there were statistically significant differences between the averages of the respondents regarding the active role of the high school teachers in managing effective classroom environment in Riyadh, and also the total score depending on the variables of the study (qualifications, years of experience, training and development programs). This study used the descriptive survey approach where a questionnaire has been built and consisted of (35) items about five areas as a tool to measure the teacher's role in the management of effective classroom environment for high school students. The study population consisted of (1313) high school teachers in the government schools in south of Riyadh. It consisted of (70) teachers who were selected randomly. It used the appropriate statistical methods to analyze data by using statistical packages (SPSS). The study found the following results: • Most of the study sample members agreed on their role in the effective classroom environment management for high school students in government schools in Riyadh with an average (3.91 out of 5), which falls in the fifth category of Quintet scale (from 3.41 to 4.20) that refers to the option "often". • There are statistically significant differences between the mean responses of the study sample about the active role of the teacher in the effective classroom environment management for high school students regarding the concept of order in the classroom depending on the variable of years of experience for the benefit of teachers who have over 10 years of experience. There are statistically significant differences between the mean responses of the study sample about the teacher's active role in the effective classroom environment management for high school students regarding the educational process for maintaining the order in the classroom depending on the variable of training and development programs for the benefit of the teachers who have more than (5) courses. Due to the results of the study the researcher recommended a number of recommendations to improve the teacher's role in the effective classroom environment management for high school students.

Keywords: effective management, active learning, educational sciences, pedagogical sciences

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Authors: Nitika Sharma, Yogesh Jain

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Introduction: An efficient Information System helps in improving the service delivery as well provides the foundation for policy and regulation of other building blocks of Health System. Health care organizations require an integrated working of its various sub-systems. An efficient EMR software boosts the teamwork amongst the various sub-systems thereby resulting in improved service delivery. Although there has been a huge impetus to EMR under the Digital India initiative, it has still not been mandated in India. It is generally implemented in huge funded public or private healthcare organizations only. Objective: The study was conducted to understand the factors that lead to the successful adoption of an affordable EMR in the low level healthcare organization. It intended to understand the design of the EMR and address the solutions to the challenges faced in adoption of the EMR. Methodology: The study was conducted in a non-profit registered Healthcare organization that has been providing healthcare facilities to more than 2500 villages including certain areas that are difficult to access. The data was collected with help of field notes, in-depth interviews and participant observation. A total of 16 participants using the EMR from different departments were enrolled via purposive sampling technique. The participants included in the study were working in the organization before the implementation of the EMR system. The study was conducted in one month period from 25 June-20 July 2018. The Ethical approval was taken from the institute along with prior approval of the participants. Data analysis: A word document of more than 4000 words was obtained after transcribing and translating the answers of respondents. It was further analyzed by focused coding, a line by line review of the transcripts, underlining words, phrases or sentences that might suggest themes to do thematic narrative analysis. Results: Based on the answers the results were thematically grouped under four headings: 1. governance of organization, 2. architecture and design of the software, 3. features of the software, 4. challenges faced in adoption and the solutions to address them. It was inferred that the successful implementation was attributed to the easy and comprehensive design of the system which has facilitated not only easy data storage and retrieval but contributes in constructing a decision support system for the staff. Portability has lead to increased acceptance by physicians. The proper division of labor, increased efficiency of staff, incorporation of auto-correction features and facilitation of task shifting has lead to increased acceptance amongst the users of various departments. Geographical inhibitions, low computer literacy and high patient load were the major challenges faced during its implementation. Despite of dual efforts made both by the architects and administrators to combat these challenges, there are still certain ongoing challenges faced by organization. Conclusion: Whenever any new technology is adopted there are certain innovators, early adopters, late adopters and laggards. The same pattern was followed in adoption of this software. He challenges were overcome with joint efforts of organization administrators and users as well. Thereby this case study provides a framework of implementing similar systems in public sector of countries that are struggling for digitizing the healthcare in presence of crunch of human and financial resources.

Keywords: EMR, healthcare technology, e-health, EHR

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Authors: Magda Milleyde de Sousa Lima, Letícia Lima Aguiar, Marina Guerra Martins, Erika Veríssimo Dias Sousa, Lizandra Sampaio de Oliveira, Lívia Moreira Barros, Joselany Áfio Caetano

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Patients with chronic kidney disease are vulnerable to episodes which make the safety of their health vulnerable, mainly due to the treatment process that exposes them to high rates of interventions during hemodialysis sessions. Some factors associated with health care contribute to the risk of death and complications. However, there are a small number of scientific studies evaluating the level of safety of hemodialysis clinics, and the sociodemographic characteristics of patients and professionals associated with this safety. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the level of patient safety in hemodialysis clinics in the Brazilian capital, to identify the sociodemographic and clinical factors of patients and nursing staff associated with the level of safety. This is an observational, descriptive and quantitative research conducted in three hemodialysis clinics placed in the city of Fortaleza-CE, Brazil, from September to November 2019. The sample was formed after a sample calculation for finite inhabitants of correlation with 200 chronic renal patients, 30 nursing technicians and seven nurses. Conventional sampling was used based on the inclusion criteria: being present at the hemodialysis session on the day the researcher performed the data collection and being 18 years of age or older. Participants who presented communication difficulties to listen to and/or answer the sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire were excluded. Two instruments were applied: sociodemographic and clinical characterization form and Chronic Renal Patient Safety Assessment Scale on Hemodialysis (EASPRCH). The data were analyzed using the Kruskal Walls Test for categorical variables and Spearman correlation coefficient for non-categorical variables, using the Statistical Package SPSS version 20.0. The present study respected the ethical and legal principles determined by resolution 466/2012 of the National Health Council, under the approval of the Ethics and Research Committee with an opinion number: 3,255,635. The results showed that a hemodialysis clinic presented unsafe care practices of 32 points in the EASPRCH (p=0.001). A statistical association was identified between the level of safety and the variables of the patients: level of education (p=0.018), family income (p=0.049), type of employment (p=0.012), venous access site (p=0.009), use of medication during the session (p=0.008) and time of hemodialysis (p=0.002). When evaluating the profile of nurses, a statistical association was evidenced between the level of safety with the variables: marital status (p=0.000), race (p=0.017), schooling (p= 0.000), income (p=0.013), age (p=0.000), clinic workload (p=0.000), time working with hemodialysis (p=0.000), time working in the clinic (p= 0.007) and clinic sizing (p=0.000). In order, the sociodemographic factors of nursing technicians associated with the level of patient safety were: race (p= 0.001) and weekly workload at (p=0.010). Therefore, it is concluded that there is a non-conformity in the level of patient safety in one of the clinics studied and, that sociodemographic and clinical factors of patients and health professionals corroborate the level of safety of the health unit.

Keywords: hemodialysis, nursing, patient safety, quality improvement

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Authors: Amany Haridy, Ahmed Elseragy, Fahd Omar

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The issue of temperature increase in the urban microclimate has been at the center of attention recently, especially in dense urban areas, such as the City of Alexandria in Egypt, where building surfaces have become the dominant element (more than green areas and streets). Temperatures have been rising during daytime as well as nighttime, however, the research focused on the rise of air temperature at night, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island. This phenomenon has many effects on ecological life, as well as human health. This study provided evidence of the possibility of reducing the urban heat island by using a green building envelope (green wall and green roof) in Alexandria, Egypt. This City has witnessed a boom in growth in its urban fabric and population. A simulation analysis using the Envi-met software to find the ratio of air temperature reduction was performed. The simulation depended on the orientation of the green areas and their density, which was defined through a process of climatic analysis made by the Diva plugin using the Grasshopper software. Results showed that the reduction in air temperature varies from 0.8–2.0 °C, increasing with the increasing density of green areas. Many systems of green wall and green roof can be found in the local market. However, treating an existing building requires a careful choice of system to fit the building construction load and the surrounding nature. Among the systems of choice, there was the ‘geometric system’ of vertical greening that can be fixed on a light aluminum structure for walls and the extensive green system for roofs. Finally, native plants were the best choice in the long term because they fare well in the local climate.

Keywords: envi-met, green building envelope, urban heat island, urban microclimate

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Authors: U. Ali Rahoma, Nabil Esawy, Fawzia Ibrahim Moursy, A. H. Hassan, Samy A. Khalil, Ashraf S. Khamees

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The design of any solar energy conversion system requires the knowledge of solar radiation data obtained over a long period. Satellite data has been widely used to estimate solar energy where no ground observation of solar radiation is available, yet there are limitations on the temporal coverage of satellite data. Reanalysis is a “retrospective analysis” of the atmosphere parameters generated by assimilating observation data from various sources, including ground observation, satellites, ships, and aircraft observation with the output of NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction) models, to develop an exhaustive record of weather and climate parameters. The evaluation of the performance of reanalysis datasets (ERA-5) for North Africa against high-quality surface measured data was performed using statistical analysis. The estimation of global solar radiation (GSR) distribution over six different selected locations in North Africa during ten years from the period time 2011 to 2020. The root means square error (RMSE), mean bias error (MBE) and mean absolute error (MAE) of reanalysis data of solar radiation range from 0.079 to 0.222, 0.0145 to 0.198, and 0.055 to 0.178, respectively. The seasonal statistical analysis was performed to study seasonal variation of performance of datasets, which reveals the significant variation of errors in different seasons—the performance of the dataset changes by changing the temporal resolution of the data used for comparison. The monthly mean values of data show better performance, but the accuracy of data is compromised. The solar radiation data of ERA-5 is used for preliminary solar resource assessment and power estimation. The correlation coefficient (R2) varies from 0.93 to 99% for the different selected sites in North Africa in the present research. The goal of this research is to give a good representation for global solar radiation to help in solar energy application in all fields, and this can be done by using gridded data from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ECMWF and producing a new model to give a good result.

Keywords: solar energy, solar radiation, ERA-5, potential energy

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Authors: Chaudhary Itisha, Shankar Manu

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Patient satisfaction represents a crucial aspect in the evaluation of health care services. Preoperative teaching provides the patient with pertinent information concerning the surgical process and the intended surgical procedure as well as anticipated patient behavior (anxiety, fear), expected sensation, and the probable outcomes. Although patient education is part of Accreditation protocols, it is not uniform at most places. The aim of this study was to try to assess the benefit of preoperative patient education on selected post-operative outcome parameters; mainly, post-operative pain scores, requirement of additional analgesia, return to activity of daily living and overall patient satisfaction, and try to standardize few education protocols. Dependent variables were measured before and after the treatment on a study population of 302 volunteers. Educational intervention was provided by the Investigator in the preoperative period to the study group through personal counseling. An information booklet contained detailed information was also provided. Statistical Analysis was done using Chi square test, Mann Whitney u test and Fischer Exact Test on a total of 302 subjects. P value <0.05 was considered as level of statistical significance and p<0.01 was considered as highly significant. This study suggested that patients who are given a structured, individualized and elaborate preoperative education and counseling have a better ability to cope up with postoperative pain in the immediate post-operative period. However, there was not much difference when the patients have had almost complete recovery. There was no difference in the requirement of additional analgesia among the two groups. There is a positive effect of preoperative counseling on expected return to the activities of daily living and normal work schedule. However, no effect was observed on the activities in the immediate post-operative period. There is no difference in the overall satisfaction score among the two groups of patients. Thus this study concludes that there is a positive benefit as suggested by the results for pre-operative patient education. Although the difference in various parameters studied might not be significant over a long term basis, they definitely point towards the benefits of preoperative patient education. 

Keywords: patient education, post-operative pain, postoperative outcomes, patient satisfaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: E. Nemes-Nagy, E. Fogarasi, M. Croitoru, A. Nyárádi, K. Komlódi, S. Pál, A. Kovács, O. Kopácsy, R. Tripon, Z. Fazakas, C. Uzun, Z. Simon-Szabó, V. Balogh-Sămărghițan, E. Ernő Nagy, M. Szabó, M. Tilinca

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Intense oxidative stress, increased glycated hemoglobin and mineral imbalance represent risk factors for complications in diabetic patients. Cardiovascular complications are most common in these patients, including nephropathy. This study was conducted in 2015 at the Procardia Laboratory in Tîrgu Mureș, Romania on 40 type 2 diabetic adults. Routine biochemical tests were performed on the Konleab 20XTi analyzer (serum glucose, total cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, triglyceride, creatinine, urea). We also measured serum uric acid, magnesium and calcium concentration by photometric procedures, potassium, sodium and chloride by ion selective electrode, and chromium by atomic absorption spectrometry in a group of patients. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) dosage was made by reflectometry. Urine analysis was performed using the HandUReader equipment. The level of oxidative stress was measured by serum malondialdehyde dosage using the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances method. MDRD (Modification of Diet in Renal Disease) formula was applied for calculation of creatinine-derived glomerular filtration rate. GraphPad InStat software was used for statistical analysis of the data. The diabetic subject included in the study presented high MDA concentrations, showing intense oxidative stress. Calcium was deficient in 5% of the patients, chromium deficiency was present in 28%. The atherogenic cholesterol fraction was elevated in 13% of the patients. Positive correlation was found between creatinine and MDRD-creatinine values (p<0.0001), 68% of the patients presented increased creatinine values. The majority of the diabetic patients had good control of their diabetes, having optimal HbA1c values, 35% of them presented fasting serum glucose over 120 mg/dl and 18% had glucosuria. Intense oxidative stress and mineral deficiencies can increase the risk of cardiovascular complications in diabetic patients in spite of their good metabolic balance. More than two third of the patients present biochemical signs of nephropathy, cystatin C dosage and microalbuminuria could reveal better the kidney disorder, but glomerular filtration rate calculation formulas are also useful for evaluation of renal function.

Keywords: cardiovascular risk, homocysteine, malondialdehyde, metformin, minerals, type 2 diabetes, vitamin B12

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Marlon P. Perez

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The study entitled “The Effect of Leader Motivating Language on Work Performance and Job Satisfaction as Perceived by the Employees of SoroSoro Ibaba Development Cooperative (SIDC)” primarily aims to evaluate the effect of leader’s use of motivating language in terms of the three types of speech acts namely, direction-giving language, empathetic language and meaning-making language with regard to the work performance and job satisfaction of the employees. The study made use of the descriptive method of this research that it followed certain processes in gathering the necessary and accurate information. Furthermore, survey questionnaires were used in order to congregate the respondents’ outlooks, opinions, and insight in the study. These survey questionnaires were distributed to one hundred fifty (150) employees from the five (5) outlets of SoroSoro Ibaba Development Cooperative (SIDC) in Batangas City who were chosen as the respondents of the study. However, only hundred twenty (120) out of one hundred fifty (150) or eighty (80) percent of the questionnaires were retrieved. Moreover, to accomplish the objectives of the study, different statistical treatments were used for the interpretation and analysis of the gathered data. These were the relative frequency, weighted mean, one-way analysis of variance and Pearson r. Based on those statistical treatments, researchers came up with the following results: first, most of the respondents were below 35 years old, males, college graduates and in regular status; second, direction-giving language, empathetic language, and meaning-making language affect the work performance and job satisfaction of the employees to a great extent; third, there was a non-significant difference with regards to the effect of leader motivating language on the work performance and job satisfaction of the employee; and, last, there was a significant relationship on the assessment of the effect of leader motivating language on work performance and job satisfaction when grouped according to respondents’ profile. Based on these results, various recommendations were conceptualized such as the designing of proposed activities like communication workshop and team-building to augment the communication between the leader and an employee. These activities could help for the development and attainment of an excellent communication within the different organizations and companies that are very important to any business success.

Keywords: leader motivating language, work performance, job satisfaction, employees

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: Tatyana Savchuk, Yelena Grinvald, Mohamed Ali, Ramune Sepetiene, Dinara Sadvakassova, Saniya Saussakova, Kuralay Zhangazieva, Dulat Imashpayev

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Introduction. The problem of viral hepatitis B (HBV) takes a vital place in the global health system. The existing risk of HBV transmission through blood transfusions is associated with transfusion of blood taken from infected individuals during the “serological window” period or from patients with latent HBV infection, the marker of which is anti-HBcore. In the absence of information about other markers of hepatitis B, the presence of anti-HBcore suggests that a person may be actively infected or has suffered hepatitis B in the past and has immunity. Aim. To study the risk factors influencing the positive anti-HBcore indicators among the donor population. Materials and Methods. The study was conducted in 2021 in the Scientific and Production Center of Transfusiology of the Ministry of Healthcare in Kazakhstan. The samples taken from blood donors were tested for anti-HBcore, by CLIA on the Architect i2000SR (ABBOTT). A special questionnaire was developed for the blood donors’ socio-demographic characteristics. Statistical analysis was conducted by the R software (version 4.1.1, USA, 2021). Results.5709 people aged 18 to 66 years were included in the study, the proportion of men and women was 68.17% and 31.83%, respectively. The average age of the participants was 35.7 years. A weighted multivariable mixed effects logistic regression analysis showed that age (p<0.001), ethnicity (p<0.05), and marital status (p<0.05) were statistically associated with anti-HBcore positivity. In particular, analysis adjusting for gender, nationality, education, marital status, family history of hepatitis, blood transfusion, injections, and surgical interventions, with a one-year increase in age (adjOR=1.06, 95%CI:1.05-1.07), showed an 6% growth in odds of having anti-HBcore positive results. Those who were russian ethnicity (adjOR=0.65, 95%CI:0.46-0.93) and representatives of other nationality groups (adjOR=0.56, 95%CI:0.37-0.85) had lower odds of having anti-HBcore when compared to Kazakhs when controlling for other covariant variables. Among singles, the odds of having a positive anti-HBcore were lower by 29% (adjOR = 0.71, 95%CI:0.57-0.89) compared to married participants when adjusting for other variables. Conclusions.Kazakhstan is one of the countries with medium endemicity of HBV prevalence (2%-7%). Results of the study demonstrated the possibility to form a profile of risk factors (age, nationality, marital status). Taking into account the data, it is recommended to increase attention to donor questionnaires by adding leading questions and to improve preventive measures to prevent HBV. Funding. This research was supported by a grant from Abbott Laboratories.

Keywords: anti-HBcore, blood donor, donation, hepatitis B virus, occult hepatitis

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Authors: Somruay Apichatibutarapong

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The purpose of this study was to address and comparison of the attitudes towards the statistics course for undergraduate students. Data were collected from 120 students in Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University who enrolled in the statistics course. The quantitative approach was used to investigate the assessment and comparison of attitudes towards statistics course. It was revealed that the overall attitudes somewhat agree both in pre-test and post-test. In addition, the comparison of students’ attitudes towards the statistic course (Form A) has no difference in the overall attitudes. However, there is statistical significance in all dimensions and overall attitudes towards the statistics course (Form B).

Keywords: statistics attitude, student’s attitude, statistics, attitude test

Procedia PDF Downloads 458

Authors: Ozan Yavuz Baytemir, Ender Cigeroglu, Gokhan Osman Ozgen

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Vibration is an important issue in the design of various components of aerospace, marine and vehicular applications. In order not to lose the components’ function and operational performance, vibration isolation design involving the optimum isolator properties selection and isolator positioning processes appear to be a critical study. Knowing the growing need for the vibration isolation system design, this paper aims to present two types of software capable of implementing modal analysis, response analysis for both random and harmonic types of excitations, static deflection analysis, Monte Carlo simulations in addition to study of parameter and location optimization for different types of isolation problem scenarios. Investigating the literature, there is no such study developing a software-based tool that is capable of implementing all those analysis, simulation and optimization studies in one platform simultaneously. In this paper, the theoretical system model is generated for a 6-DOF rigid body. The vibration isolation system of any mechanical structure is able to be optimized using hybrid method involving both global search and gradient-based methods. Defining the optimization design variables, different types of optimization scenarios are listed in detail. Being aware of the need for a user friendly vibration isolation problem solver, two types of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are prepared and verified using a commercial finite element analysis program, Ansys Workbench 14.0. Using the analysis and optimization capabilities of those GUIs, a real application used in an air-platform is also presented as a case study at the end of the paper.

Keywords: hybrid optimization, Monte Carlo simulation, multi-degree-of-freedom system, parameter optimization, location optimization, passive vibration isolation analysis

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Authors: J. K. Karapetyan

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In this paper seismological-statistical analysis of actual instrumental data on the main tremor of the Great Japan earthquake 11.03.2011 is implemented for finding out the dependence between maximal values of peak ground accelerations (PGA) and epicentric distances. A number of peculiarities of manifestation of accelerations' maximum values at the interval of long epicentric distances are revealed which do not correspond with current scales of seismic intensity.

Keywords: earthquakes, instrumental records, seismic hazard, Japan

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Authors: M. Jalali Azizpour, H.Mohammadi Majd

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In this paper, the effect of WC-12Co particle Temperature in HVOF thermal spraying process on the coating thickness has been studied. The statistical results show that the spray distance and oxygen-to-fuel ratio are more effective factors on particle characterization and thickness of HVOF thermal spraying coatings. Spray Watch diagnostic system, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction and thickness measuring system were used for this purpose.

Keywords: HVOF, temperature, thickness, velocity, WC-12Co

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Authors: Maria E. V. Amarante, Carolina L. Cerdeira, Julia V. Cortes, Fiorita G. L. Mundim

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Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most prevalent type of skin cancer in humans. It arises from the basal cells of the epidermis and cutaneous appendages. The role of sunlight exposure as a risk factor for BCC is very well defined due to its power to influence genetic mutations, in addition to having a suppressor effect on the skin immune system. Despite showing low metastasis and mortality rates, the tumor is locally infiltrative, aggressive, and destructive. Considering the high prevalence rate of this carcinoma and the importance of early detection, a retrospective study was carried out in order to correlate the clinical data available on BBC, characterize it epidemiologically, and thus enable effective prevention measures for the population. Data on the period from January 2015 to December 2019 were collected from the medical records of patients registered at one pathology service located in the southeast region of Brazil, known as SVO, which delivers skin biopsy results. The study was aimed at correlating the variables, sex, age, and subtypes found. Data analysis was performed using the chi-square test at a nominal significance level of 5% in order to verify the independence between the variables of interest. Fisher's exact test was applied in cases where the absolute frequency in the cells of the contingency table was less than or equal to five. The statistical analysis was performed using the R® software. Ninety-three basal cell carcinoma were analyzed, and its frequency in the 31-to 45-year-old age group was 5.8 times higher in men than in women, whereas, from 46 to 59 years, the frequency was found 2.4 times higher in women than in men. Between the ages of 46 to 59 years, it should be noted that the sclerodermiform subtype appears more than the solid one, with a difference of 7.26 percentage points. Reversely, the solid form appears more frequently in individuals aged 60 years or more, with a difference of 8.57 percentage points. Among women, the frequency of the solid subtype was 9.93 percentage points higher than the sclerodermiform frequency. In males, the same percentage difference is observed, but sclerodermiform is the most prevalent subtype. It is concluded in this study that, in general, there is a predominance of basal cell carcinoma in females and in individuals aged 60 years and over, which demonstrates the tendency of this tumor. However, when rarely found in younger individuals, the male gender prevailed. The most prevalent subtype was the solid one. It is worth mentioning that the sclerodermiform subtype, which is more aggressive, was seen more frequently in males and in the 46-to 59-year-old range.

Keywords: basal cell carcinoma, epidemiology, sclerodermiform basal cell carcinoma, skin cancer, solar radiation, solid basal cell carcinoma

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Authors: Maciej Czarnecki

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Even though growth is one of the most important strategic objectives for many enterprises, we know relatively little about this phenomenon. This research contributes to broaden our knowledge of managerial consequences of growth. Scales for measuring organizational development and growing pains were developed. Conceptual model of connections among growth, organizational development, growing pains, selected development factors and financial performance were examined. The research process contained literature review, 20 interviews with managers, examination of 12 raters’ opinions, pilot research and 7 point Likert scale questionnaire research on 138 Polish enterprises employing 50-249 people which increased their employment at least by 50% within last three years. Factor analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, student’s t-test and chi-squared test were used to develop scales. High Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were obtained. The verification of correlations among the constructs was carried out with factor correlations, multiple regressions and path analysis. When the enterprise grows, it is necessary to implement changes in its structure, management practices etc. (organizational development) to meet challenges of growing complexity. In this paper, organizational development was defined as internal changes aiming to improve the quality of existing or to introduce new elements in the areas of processes, organizational structure and culture, operational and management systems. Thus; H1: Growth has positive effects on organizational development. The main thesis of the research is that if organizational development does not catch up　with growing complexity of growing enterprise, growing pains will arise (lower work comfort, conflicts, lack of control etc.). They will exert a negative influence on the financial performance and may result in serious organizational crisis or even bankruptcy. Thus; H2: Growth has positive effects on growing pains, H3: Organizational development has negative effects on growing pains, H4: Growing pains have negative effects on financial performance, H5: Organizational development has positive effects on financial performance. Scholars considered long lists of factors having potential influence on organizational development. The development of comprehensive model taking into account all possible variables may be beyond the capacity of any researcher or even statistical software used. After literature review, it was decided to increase the level of abstraction and to include following constructs in the conceptual model: organizational learning (OL), positive organization (PO) and high performance factors (HPF). H1a/b/c: OL/PO/HPF has positive effect on organizational development, H2a/b/c: OL/PO/HPF has negative effect on growing pains. The results of hypothesis testing: H1: partly supported, H1a/b/c: supported/not supported/supported, H2: not supported, H2a/b/c: not supported/partly supported/not supported, H3: supported, H4: partly supported, H5: supported. The research seems to be of a great value for both scholars and practitioners. It proved that OL and HPO matter for organizational development. Scales for measuring organizational development and growing pains were developed. Its main finding, though, is that organizational development is a good way of improving financial performance.

Keywords: organizational development, growth, growing pains, financial performance

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Authors: Mohamed Khalifa Zayet, Salma Belal Eiid, Mushira Mohamed Dahaba

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Introduction: Malignant tumors may not be easily detected by traditional radiographic techniques especially in an anatomically complex area like maxillofacial region. At the same time, the advent of biological functional MRI was a significant footstep in the diagnostic imaging field. Objective: The purpose of this study was to define the malignant metabolic profile of maxillofacial lesions using diffusion MRI and magnetic resonance spectroscopy, as adjunctive aids for diagnosing of such lesions. Subjects and Methods: Twenty-one patients with twenty-two lesions were enrolled in this study. Both morphological and functional MRI scans were performed, where T1, T2 weighted images, diffusion-weighted MRI with four apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were constructed for analysis, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy with qualitative and semi-quantitative analyses of choline and lactate peaks were applied. Then, all patients underwent incisional or excisional biopsies within two weeks from MR scans. Results: Statistical analysis revealed that not all the parameters had the same diagnostic performance, where lactate had the highest areas under the curve (AUC) of 0.9 and choline was the lowest with insignificant diagnostic value. The best cut-off value suggested for lactate was 0.125, where any lesion above this value is supposed to be malignant with 90 % sensitivity and 83.3 % specificity. Despite that ADC maps had comparable AUCs still, the statistical measure that had the final say was the interpretation of likelihood ratio. As expected, lactate again showed the best combination of positive and negative likelihood ratios, whereas for the maps, ADC map with 500 and 1000 b-values showed the best realistic combination of likelihood ratios, however, with lower sensitivity and specificity than lactate. Conclusion: Diffusion weighted imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy are state-of-art in the diagnostic arena and they manifested themselves as key players in the differentiation process of orofacial tumors. The complete biological profile of malignancy can be decoded as low ADC values, high choline and/or high lactate, whereas that of benign entities can be translated as high ADC values, low choline and no lactate.

Keywords: diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, malignant tumors, maxillofacial

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Authors: C. Bejrananda, Y. Lee, T. Khamkaew

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With the rise of the importance of air transportation in the 21st century, the role of economics in airport planning and decision-making has become more important to the urban structure and land value around it. Therefore, this research aims to examine the relationship between an airport and its impacts on the distribution of urban land uses and land values by applying the Alonso’s bid rent model. The New Bangkok International Airport (Suvarnabhumi International Airport) was taken as a case study. The analysis was made over three different time periods of airport development (after the airport site was proposed, during airport construction, and after the opening of the airport). The statistical results confirm that Alonso’s model can be used to explain the impacts of the new airport only for the northeast quadrant of the airport, while proximity to the airport showed the inverse relationship with the land value of all six types of land use activities through three periods of time. It indicates that the land value for commercial land use is the most sensitive to the location of the airport or has the strongest requirement for accessibility to the airport compared to the residential and manufacturing land use. Also, the bid-rent gradients of the six types of land use activities have declined dramatically through the three time periods because of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. Therefore, the lesson learned from this research concerns about the reliability of the data used. The major concern involves the use of different areal units for assessing land value for different time periods between zone block (1995) and grid block (2002, 2009). As a result, this affect the investigation of the overall trends of land value assessment, which are not readily apparent. In addition, the next concern is the availability of the historical data. With the lack of collecting historical data for land value assessment by the government, some of data of land values and aerial photos are not available to cover the entire study area. Finally, the different formats of using aerial photos between hard-copy (1995) and digital photo (2002, 2009) made difficult for measuring distances. Therefore, these problems also affect the accuracy of the results of the statistical analyses.

Keywords: airport development area, economic rents, spatial pattern, suvarnabhumi international airport

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Authors: Aizzat Md. Nasurdin, Noor Hazlina Ahmad, Cheng Ling Tan

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This study aims to examine the role of career advancement and job security as predictors of employee commitment to their organization. Data was collected from 580 frontline employees attached to two departments of 29 luxury hotels in Peninsular Malaysia. Statistical results using Partial Least Squares technique provided support for the proposed hypotheses. In view of the findings, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords: organizational commitment, career advancement, job security, frontline employees, luxury hotels, Malaysia

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Authors: Zeinu Ahmed Rabba, Derek D Stretch

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Remote sensing contributes valuable information to streamflow estimates. Usually, stream flow is directly measured through ground-based hydrological monitoring station. However, in many developing countries like Ethiopia, ground-based hydrological monitoring networks are either sparse or nonexistent, which limits the manage water resources and hampers early flood-warning systems. In such cases, satellite remote sensing is an alternative means to acquire such information. This paper discusses the application of remotely sensed rainfall data for streamflow modeling in Gilgel Ghibe basin in Ethiopia. Ten years (2001-2010) of two satellite-based precipitation products (SBPP), TRMM and WaterBase, were used. These products were combined with the PyTOPKAPI hydrological model to generate daily stream flows. The results were compared with streamflow observations at Gilgel Ghibe Nr, Assendabo gauging station using four statistical tools (Bias, R², NS and RMSE). The statistical analysis indicates that the bias-adjusted SBPPs agree well with gauged rainfall compared to bias-unadjusted ones. The SBPPs with no bias-adjustment tend to overestimate (high Bias and high RMSE) the extreme precipitation events and the corresponding simulated streamflow outputs, particularly during wet months (June-September) and underestimate the streamflow prediction over few dry months (January and February). This shows that bias-adjustment can be important for improving the performance of the SBPPs in streamflow forecasting. We further conclude that the general streamflow patterns were well captured at daily time scales when using SBPPs after bias adjustment. However, the overall results demonstrate that the simulated streamflow using the gauged rainfall is superior to those obtained from remotely sensed rainfall products including bias-adjusted ones.

Keywords: Ethiopia, PyTOPKAPI model, remote sensing, streamflow, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), waterBase

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Authors: Barbara Pittau, Piergiorgio Palla, Antonio Mastino

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Communication is fundamental to health education. The proper use of medicinal products is a crucial aspect of the health of citizens that affects both safety and health care spending. Therefore, encouraging/promoting communication, concerning the importance of proper use of pharmaceuticals, has substantial implications in terms of individual health, health care, and health care system sustainability. In view of these considerations, in the context of two projects, one of which is still in progress, a relational database-backed web application named COLLABORAFARMACISOLA has been designed and developed as a tool to analyze and visualize how people approach the use of medicinal products, with the aim of improving and enhancing communication efficacy. The software application is being used to collect information (anonymously and voluntarily) from the citizens of Sardinia, an Italian region, regarding their knowledge, experiences, and opinions towards pharmaceuticals. This study that was conducted to date on thousand of interviewed people, has focused on different aspects such as: the treatment interruption and the "self-prescription” without medical consultation, the attention paid to reading the leaflets, the awareness of the economic value of the pharmaceuticals, the importance of avoiding the waste of medicinal products and the attitudes towards the use of generics. To this purpose, our software application provides a set of ad hoc parsing routines, to store information into the structure of a relational database and to process and visualize it through a set of interactive tools aimed to emphasize the findings and the insights obtained. The results of our preliminary analysis show the efficacy of the awareness plan and, at the same time, the criticality and the needs of the territory under examination. The ultimate goal of our study is to provide a contribution to the community by improving communication that can result in a benefit for public health in a context strictly connected to the reality of the territory.

Keywords: communication, pharmaceuticals, public health, relational database, tool, web application

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Authors: N. Alias, W. Z. W. Muhammad, M. N. M. Ibrahim, M. Mohamed, H. F. S. Saipol, U. N. Z. Ariffin, N. A. Zakaria, M. S. Z. Suardi

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This paper presents the performance comparison of some computation software for solving the boundary element method (BEM). BEM formulation is the numerical technique and high potential for solving the advance mathematical modeling to predict the production of oil well in arbitrarily shaped based on multiple leases reservoir. The limitation of data validation for ensuring that a program meets the accuracy of the mathematical modeling is considered as the research motivation of this paper. Thus, based on this limitation, there are three steps involved to validate the accuracy of the oil production simulation process. In the first step, identify the mathematical modeling based on partial differential equation (PDE) with Poisson-elliptic type to perform the BEM discretization. In the second step, implement the simulation of the 2D BEM discretization using COMSOL Multiphysic and MATLAB programming languages. In the last step, analyze the numerical performance indicators for both programming languages by using the validation of Fortran programming. The performance comparisons of numerical analysis are investigated in terms of percentage error, comparison graph and 2D visualization of pressure on oil production of multiple leases reservoir. According to the performance comparison, the structured programming in Fortran programming is the alternative software for implementing the accurate numerical simulation of BEM. As a conclusion, high-level language for numerical computation and numerical performance evaluation are satisfied to prove that Fortran is well suited for capturing the visualization of the production of oil well in arbitrarily shaped.

Keywords: performance comparison, 2D visualization, COMSOL multiphysic, MATLAB, Fortran, modelling and simulation, boundary element method, reservoir pressure

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Authors: Wanvipa Thongborisute, Punyaphat Sirithanabadeekul, Pichit Suvanprakorn, Anan Jiraviroon

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Background: Acne vulgaris is one of the most common dermatologic problems, and can have a significant psychological and physical effect on patients. Propionibacterium acnes' roles in acne vulgaris involve the activation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) pathways. By activating these pathways, inflammatory events of acne lesions, comedogenesis and sebaceous lipogenesis can occur. Currently, there are several topical agents commonly use in treating acne vulgaris that are known to have an effect on TLRs, such as retinoic acid and adapalene, but these drugs still have some irritating effects. At present, there is an alarming increase in rate of bacterial resistance due to irrational used of antibiotics both orally and topically. For this reason, acne treatments should contain bioactive molecules targeting at the site of action for the most effective therapeutic effect with the least side effects. Sparganium stoloniferumis a Chinese aquatic herb containing a compound called Sparstolonin B (SsnB), which has been reported to selectively blocks Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-mediated inflammatory signals. Therefore, this topical TLR2 and TLR4 antagonist, in a form of Sparganium stoloniferum-derived compound containing SsnB, should give a benefit in reducing inflammation of acne vulgaris lesions and providing an alternative treatments for patients with this condition. Materials and Methods: The objectives of this randomized double blinded split faced placebo controlled trial is to study the safety and efficacy of the Sparganium stoloniferum-derived compound. 32 volunteered patients with mild to moderate degree of acne vulgaris according to global acne grading system were included in the study. After being informed and consented the subjects were given 2 topical treatments for acne vulgaris, one being topical 2.40% Sparganium stoloniferum extraction (containing Sparstolonin B) and the other, placebo. The subjects were asked to apply each treatment to either half of the face daily morning and night by randomization for 8 weeks, and come in for a weekly follow up. For each visit, the patients went through a procedure of lesion counting, including comedones, papules, nodules, pustules, and cystic lesions. Results: During 8 weeks of experimentation, the result shows a reduction in total lesions number between the placebo and the treatment side show statistical significance starting at week 4, where the 95% confidence interval begin to no longer overlap, and shows a trend of continuing to be further apart. The decrease in the amount of total lesions between week 0 and week 8 of the placebo side shows no statistical significant at P value >0.05. While the decrease in the amount of total lesions of acne vulgaris of the treatment side comparing between week 0 and week 8 shows statistical significant at P value <0.001. Conclusion: The data demonstrates that 2.40% Sparganium stoloniferum extraction (containing Sparstolonin B) is more effective in treating acne vulgaris comparing to topical placebo in treating acne vulgaris, by showing significant reduction in the total numbers of acne lesions. Therefore, this topical Sparganium stoloniferum extraction could become a potential alternative treatment for acne vulgaris.

Keywords: acne vulgaris, sparganium stoloniferum, sparstolonin B, toll-like receptor 2, toll-like receptor 4

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: Maryam Sayadi, Rana Sedighpour, Hossein Rezaie

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In this study, in order to evaluate water quality of Gamasiab and Gharehsoo rivers located in Kermanshah province, the information of a 5-year statistical period during the years 2014-2018 was used. To evaluate the hydrochemistry of water, first the type and hydrogeochemical facies of river water were determined using Stiff and Piper diagrams. Then, based on Gibbs diagram and combination diagrams, the factors controlling the chemical parameters of the two rivers were identified. Saturation indices were used to predict the possibility of dissolution and deposition of some minerals. Then, in order to classify water in different sections, fourteen water quality indicators for different uses along with WHO standard were used. Finally, factor analysis was used to determine the processes affecting the hydrochemistry of the two rivers. The results of this study showed that in both rivers, the predominant type and facies are bicarbonate of calcite. Also, the main factor in changing the chemical quality of water in both Gamasiab and Gharehsoo rivers is the water-rock reaction. According to the results of factor analysis in both rivers, two factors have the greatest impact on water quality in the region. Among the parameters of Gamasiab river in the first factor, HCO3-, Na+ and Cl-, respectively, had the highest factor loads, and in the second factor, SO42- and Mg2+ were selected as the main parameters. The parameters Ca2+, Cl- and Na have the highest factor loads in the first factor and in the second factor Mg2+ and SO42- have the highest factor loads in Gharehsoo river. The dissolution of carbonate formations due to their abundance and expansion in the two basins has a more significant effect on changing water chemistry. It has saturated the water of rivers with aragonite, calcite and dolomite. Due to the low contribution of the second factor in changing the chemical parameters, the water of both rivers is saturated with respect to evaporative minerals such as gypsum, halite and anhydrite in all stations. Based on Schoeller diagrams, Wilcox and other quality indicators in these two sections, the amount of main physicochemical parameters are in the desired range for drinking and agriculture. The results of Langelier, Ryznar, Larson-Skold and Puckorius indices showed that water is corrosive in industry.

Keywords: factor analysis, hydrochemical, saturation index, surface water quality

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Authors: Pascal Mwenge, Tumisang Seodigeng

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The combination of world population and the third industrial revolution led to high demand for fuels. On the other hand, the decrease of global fossil 8fuels deposits and the environmental air pollution caused by these fuels has compounded the challenges the world faces due to its need for energy. Therefore, new forms of environmentally friendly and renewable fuels such as biodiesel are needed. The primary analytical techniques for methanolysis yield monitoring have been chromatography and spectroscopy, these methods have been proven reliable but are more demanding, costly and do not provide real-time monitoring. In this work, the in situ monitoring of biodiesel from sunflower oil using FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) has been studied; the study was performed using EasyMax Mettler Toledo reactor equipped with a DiComp (Diamond) probe. The quantitative monitoring of methanolysis was performed by building a quantitative model with multivariate calibration using iC Quant module from iC IR 7.0 software. 15 samples of known concentrations were used for the modelling which were taken in duplicate for model calibration and cross-validation, data were pre-processed using mean centering and variance scale, spectrum math square root and solvent subtraction. These pre-processing methods improved the performance indexes from 7.98 to 0.0096, 11.2 to 3.41, 6.32 to 2.72, 0.9416 to 0.9999, RMSEC, RMSECV, RMSEP and R2Cum, respectively. The R² value of 1 (training), 0.9918 (test), 0.9946 (cross-validation) indicated the fitness of the model built. The model was tested against univariate model; small discrepancies were observed at low concentration due to unmodelled intermediates but were quite close at concentrations above 18%. The software eliminated the complexity of the Partial Least Square (PLS) chemometrics. It was concluded that the model obtained could be used to monitor methanol of sunflower oil at industrial and lab scale.

Keywords: biodiesel, calibration, chemometrics, methanolysis, multivariate analysis, transesterification, FTIR

Procedia PDF Downloads 148