Search results for: clearing functions
2366 Examining the Performance of Three Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithms Based on Benchmarking Problems
Authors: Konstantinos Metaxiotis, Konstantinos Liagkouras
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The objective of this study is to examine the performance of three well-known multiobjective evolutionary algorithms for solving optimization problems. The first algorithm is the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II), the second one is the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm 2 (SPEA-2), and the third one is the Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithms based on decomposition (MOEA/D). The examined multiobjective algorithms are analyzed and tested on the ZDT set of test functions by three performance metrics. The results indicate that the NSGA-II performs better than the other two algorithms based on three performance metrics.Keywords: MOEAs, multiobjective optimization, ZDT test functions, evolutionary algorithms
Procedia PDF Downloads 4692365 Circular Approximation by Trigonometric Bézier Curves
Authors: Maria Hussin, Malik Zawwar Hussain, Mubashrah Saddiqa
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We present a trigonometric scheme to approximate a circular arc with its two end points and two end tangents/unit tangents. A rational cubic trigonometric Bézier curve is constructed whose end control points are defined by the end points of the circular arc. Weight functions and the remaining control points of the cubic trigonometric Bézier curve are estimated by variational approach to reproduce a circular arc. The radius error is calculated and found less than the existing techniques.Keywords: control points, rational trigonometric Bézier curves, radius error, shape measure, weight functions
Procedia PDF Downloads 4752364 Collocation Method for Coupled System of Boundary Value Problems with Cubic B-Splines
Authors: K. N. S. Kasi Viswanadham
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Coupled system of second order linear and nonlinear boundary value problems occur in various fields of Science and Engineering. In the formulation of the problem, any one of 81 possible types of boundary conditions may occur. These 81 possible boundary conditions are written as a combination of four boundary conditions. To solve a coupled system of boundary value problem with these converted boundary conditions, a collocation method with cubic B-splines as basis functions has been developed. In the collocation method, the mesh points of the space variable domain have been selected as the collocation points. The basis functions have been redefined into a new set of basis functions which in number match with the number of mesh points in the space variable domain. The solution of a non-linear boundary value problem has been obtained as the limit of a sequence of solutions of linear boundary value problems generated by quasilinearization technique. Several linear and nonlinear boundary value problems are presented to test the efficiency of the proposed method and found that numerical results obtained by the present method are in good agreement with the exact solutions available in the literature.Keywords: collocation method, coupled system, cubic b-splines, mesh points
Procedia PDF Downloads 2092363 CAP-Glycine Protein Governs Growth, Differentiation, and the Pathogenicity of Global Meningoencephalitis Fungi
Authors: Kyung-Tae Lee, Li Li Wang, Kwang-Woo Jung, Yong-Sun Bahn
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Microtubules are involved in mechanical support, cytoplasmic organization as well as in a number of cellular processes by interacting with diverse microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs), such as plus-end tracking proteins, motor proteins, and tubulin-folding cofactors. A common feature of these proteins is the presence of a cytoskeleton-associated protein-glycine-rich (CAP-Gly) domain, which is evolutionarily conserved and generally considered to bind to α-tubulin to regulate functions of microtubules. However, there has been a dearth of research on CAP-Gly proteins in fungal pathogens, including Cryptococcus neoformans, which causes fatal meningoencephalitis globally. In this study, we identified five CAP-Gly proteins encoding genes in C. neoformans. Among these, Cgp1, encoded by CNAG_06352, has a unique domain structure that has not been reported before in other eukaryotes. Supporting the role of Cpg1 in microtubule-related functions, we demonstrate that deletion or overexpression of CGP1 alters cellular susceptibility to thiabendazole, a microtubule destabilizer, and Cgp1 is co-localized with cytoplasmic microtubules. Related to the cellular functions of microtubules, Cgp1 also governs maintenance of membrane stability and genotoxic stress responses. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Cgp1 uniquely regulates sexual differentiation of C. neoformans with distinct roles in the early and late stage of mating. Our domain analysis reveals that the CAP-Gly domain plays major roles in all the functions of Cgp1. Finally, the cgp1Δ mutant is attenuated in virulence. In conclusion, this novel CAP-Gly protein, Cgp1, has pleotropic roles in regulating growth, stress responses, differentiation and pathogenicity of C. neoformans.Keywords: human fungal pathogen, CAP-Glycine protein, microtubule, meningoencephalitis
Procedia PDF Downloads 3152362 On the Fractional Integration of Generalized Mittag-Leffler Type Functions
Authors: Christian Lavault
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In this paper, the generalized fractional integral operators of two generalized Mittag-Leffler type functions are investigated. The special cases of interest involve the generalized M-series and K-function, both introduced by Sharma. The two pairs of theorems established herein generalize recent results about left- and right-sided generalized fractional integration operators applied here to the M-series and the K-function. The note also results in important applications in physics and mathematical engineering.Keywords: Fox–Wright Psi function, generalized hypergeometric function, generalized Riemann– Liouville and Erdélyi–Kober fractional integral operators, Saigo's generalized fractional calculus, Sharma's M-series and K-function
Procedia PDF Downloads 4402361 Prediction of Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Dynamics in an Iowan Agriculture Watershed
Authors: Mohamed Elhakeem, A. N. Thanos Papanicolaou, Christopher Wilson, Yi-Jia Chang
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In this study, a physically-based, modelling framework was developed to predict saturated hydraulic conductivity (KSAT) dynamics in the Clear Creek Watershed (CCW), Iowa. The modelling framework integrated selected pedotransfer functions and watershed models with geospatial tools. A number of pedotransfer functions and agricultural watershed models were examined to select the appropriate models that represent the study site conditions. Models selection was based on statistical measures of the models’ errors compared to the KSAT field measurements conducted in the CCW under different soil, climate and land use conditions. The study has shown that the predictions of the combined pedotransfer function of Rosetta and the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) provided the best agreement to the measured KSAT values in the CCW compared to the other tested models. Therefore, Rosetta and WEPP were integrated with the Geographic Information System (GIS) tools for visualization of the data in forms of geospatial maps and prediction of KSAT variability in CCW due to the seasonal changes in climate and land use activities.Keywords: saturated hydraulic conductivity, pedotransfer functions, watershed models, geospatial tools
Procedia PDF Downloads 2602360 Teachers’ Role and Principal’s Administrative Functions as Correlates of Effective Academic Performance of Public Secondary School Students in Imo State, Nigeria
Authors: Caroline Nnokwe, Iheanyi Eneremadu
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Teachers and principals are vital and integral parts of the educational system. For educational objectives to be met, the role of teachers and the functions of the principals are not to be overlooked. However, the inability of teachers and principals to carry out their roles effectively has impacted the outcome of the students’ performance. The study, therefore, examined teachers’ roles and principal’s administrative functions as correlates of effective academic performance of public secondary school students in Imo state, Nigeria. Four research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a correlation research design. The sample size was 5,438 respondents via the Yaro-Yamane technique, which consists of 175 teachers, 13 principals and 5,250 students using the proportional stratified random sampling technique. The instruments for data collection were a researcher-made questionnaire titled Teachers’ Role/Principals’ Administrative Functions Questionnaire (TRPAFQ) with a Cronbach Alpha coefficient of .82 and student's internal results obtained from the school authorities. Data collected were analyzed using the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and simple linear regression. Research questions were answered using Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistics, while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using regression analysis. The findings of the study showed that the educational qualification of teachers, organizing, and planning correlated student’s academic performance to a great extent, while availability and proper use of instructional materials by teachers correlated the academic performance of students to a very high extent. The findings also revealed that there is a significant relationship between teachers’ role, principals’ administrative functions and student’s academic performance of public secondary schools in Imo State, The study recommended among others that there is the need for government, through the ministry of education, and education authorities to adequately staff their supervisory department in order to carry out proper supervision of secondary school teachers, and also provide adequate instructional materials to ensure greater academic performance among secondary school students of Imo state, Nigeria.Keywords: instructional materials, principals’ administrative functions, students’ academic performance, teacher role
Procedia PDF Downloads 862359 Improve Safety Performance of Un-Signalized Intersections in Oman
Authors: Siham G. Farag
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The main objective of this paper is to provide a new methodology for road safety assessment in Oman through the development of suitable accident prediction models. GLM technique with Poisson or NBR using SAS package was carried out to develop these models. The paper utilized the accidents data of 31 un-signalized T-intersections during three years. Five goodness-of-fit measures were used to assess the overall quality of the developed models. Two types of models were developed separately; the flow-based models including only traffic exposure functions, and the full models containing both exposure functions and other significant geometry and traffic variables. The results show that, traffic exposure functions produced much better fit to the accident data. The most effective geometric variables were major-road mean speed, minor-road 85th percentile speed, major-road lane width, distance to the nearest junction, and right-turn curb radius. The developed models can be used for intersection treatment or upgrading and specify the appropriate design parameters of T- intersections. Finally, the models presented in this thesis reflect the intersection conditions in Oman and could represent the typical conditions in several countries in the middle east area, especially gulf countries.Keywords: accidents prediction models (APMs), generalized linear model (GLM), T-intersections, Oman
Procedia PDF Downloads 2732358 Solving Process Planning, Weighted Apparent Tardiness Cost Dispatching, and Weighted Processing plus Weight Due-Date Assignment Simultaneously Using a Hybrid Search
Authors: Halil Ibrahim Demir, Caner Erden, Abdullah Hulusi Kokcam, Mumtaz Ipek
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Process planning, scheduling, and due date assignment are three important manufacturing functions which are studied independently in literature. There are hundreds of works on IPPS and SWDDA problems but a few works on IPPSDDA problem. Integrating these three functions is very crucial due to the high relationship between them. Since the scheduling problem is in the NP-Hard problem class without any integration, an integrated problem is even harder to solve. This study focuses on the integration of these functions. Sum of weighted tardiness, earliness, and due date related costs are used as a penalty function. Random search and hybrid metaheuristics are used to solve the integrated problem. Marginal improvement in random search is very high in the early iterations and reduces enormously in later iterations. At that point directed search contribute to marginal improvement more than random search. In this study, random and genetic search methods are combined to find better solutions. Results show that overall performance becomes better as the integration level increases.Keywords: process planning, genetic algorithm, hybrid search, random search, weighted due-date assignment, weighted scheduling
Procedia PDF Downloads 3612357 Strongly Coupled Finite Element Formulation of Electromechanical Systems with Integrated Mesh Morphing Using Radial Basis Functions
Authors: David Kriebel, Jan Edgar Mehner
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The paper introduces a method to efficiently simulate nonlinear changing electrostatic fields occurring in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Large deflections of the capacitor electrodes usually introduce nonlinear electromechanical forces on the mechanical system. Traditional finite element methods require a time-consuming remeshing process to capture exact results for this physical domain interaction. In order to accelerate the simulation process and eliminate the remeshing process, a formulation of a strongly coupled electromechanical transducer element will be introduced, which uses a combination of finite-element with an advanced mesh morphing technique using radial basis functions (RBF). The RBF allows large geometrical changes of the electric field domain while retaining the high element quality of the deformed mesh. Coupling effects between mechanical and electrical domains are directly included within the element formulation. Fringing field effects are described accurately by using traditional arbitrary shape functions.Keywords: electromechanical, electric field, transducer, simulation, modeling, finite-element, mesh morphing, radial basis function
Procedia PDF Downloads 2422356 Autobiographical Memory Functions and Perceived Control in Depressive Symptoms among Young Adults
Authors: Meenu S. Babu, K. Jayasankara Reddy
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Depression is a serious mental health concern that leads to significant distress and dysfunction in an individual. Due to the high physical, psychological, social, and economic burden it causes, it is important to study various bio-psycho-social factors that influence the onset, course, duration, intensity of depressive symptoms. The study aims to explore relationship between autobiographical memory (AM) functions, perceived control over stressful events and depressive symptoms. AM functions and perceived control were both found to be protective factors for individuals against depression and were both modifiable to predict better behavioral and affective outcomes. An extensive review of literatur, with a systematic search on Google Scholar, JSTOR, Science Direct and Springer Journals database, was conducted for the purpose of this review paper. These were used for all the aforementioned databases. The time frame used for the search was 2010-2021. An additional search was conducted with no time bar to map the development of the theoretical concepts. The relevant studies with quantitative, qualitative, experimental, and quasi- experimental research designs were included for the review. Studies including a sample with a DSM- 5 or ICD-10 diagnosis of depressive disorders were excluded from the study to focus on the behavioral patterns in a non-clinical population. The synthesis of the findings that were obtained from the review indicates there is a significant relationship between cognitive variables of AM functions and perceived control and depressive symptoms. AM functions were found to be have significant effects on once sense of self, interpersonal relationships, decision making, self- continuity and were related to better emotion regulation and lower depressive symptoms. Not all the components of AM function were equally significant in their relationships with various depressive symptoms. While self and directive functions were more related to emotion regulation, anhedonia, motivation and hence mood and affect, the social function was related to perceived social support and social engagement. Perceived control was found to be another protective cognitive factor that provides individuals a sense of agency and control over one’s life outcomes which was found to be low in individuals with depression. This was also associated to the locus of control, competency beliefs, contingency beliefs and subjective well being in individuals and acted as protective factors against depressive symptoms. AM and perceived control over stressful events serve adaptive functions, hence it is imperative to study these variables more extensively. They can be imperative in planning and implementing therapeutic interventions to foster these cognitive protective factors to mitigate or alleviate depressive symptoms. Exploring AM as a determining factor in depressive symptoms along with perceived control over stress creates a bridge between biological and cognitive factors underlying depression and increases the scope of developing a more eclectic and effective treatment plan for individuals. As culture plays a crucial role in AM functions as well as certain aspects of control such as locus of control, it is necessary to study these variables keeping in mind the cultural context to tailor culture/community specific interventions for depression.Keywords: autobiographical memories, autobiographical memory functions, perceived control, depressive symptoms, depression, young adults
Procedia PDF Downloads 1012355 Analysis of the Probable Maximum Flood in Hydrologic Design Using Different Functions of Rainfall-Runoff Transformation
Authors: Evangelos Baltas, Elissavet Feloni, Dimitrios Karpouzos
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A crucial issue in hydrologic design is the sizing of structures and flood-control works in areas with limited data. This research work highlights the significant variation in probable maximum flood (PMF) for a design hyetograph, using different theoretical functions of rainfall-runoff transformation. The analysis focuses on seven subbasins with different characteristics in the municipality of Florina, northern Greece. This area is a semi-agricultural one which hosts important activities, such as the operation of one of the greatest fields of lignite for power generation in Greece. Results illustrate the notable variation in estimations among the methodologies used for the examined subbasins.Keywords: rainfall, runoff, hydrologic design, PMF
Procedia PDF Downloads 2542354 User Selections on Social Network Applications
Authors: C. C. Liang
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MSN used to be the most popular application for communicating among social networks, but Facebook chat is now the most popular. Facebook and MSN have similar characteristics, including usefulness, ease-of-use, and a similar function, which is the exchanging of information with friends. Facebook outperforms MSN in both of these areas. However, the adoption of Facebook and abandonment of MSN have occurred for other reasons. Functions can be improved, but users’ willingness to use does not just depend on functionality. Flow status has been established to be crucial to users’ adoption of cyber applications and to affects users’ adoption of software applications. If users experience flow in using software application, they will enjoy using it frequently, and even change their preferred application from an old to this new one. However, no investigation has examined choice behavior related to switching from Facebook to MSN based on a consideration of flow experiences and functions. This investigation discusses the flow experiences and functions of social-networking applications. Flow experience is found to affect perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness; perceived ease of use influences information ex-change with friends, and perceived usefulness; information exchange influences perceived usefulness, but information exchange has no effect on flow experience.Keywords: consumer behavior, social media, technology acceptance model, flow experience
Procedia PDF Downloads 3552353 Amplifying Sine Unit-Convolutional Neural Network: An Efficient Deep Architecture for Image Classification and Feature Visualizations
Authors: Jamshaid Ul Rahman, Faiza Makhdoom, Dianchen Lu
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Activation functions play a decisive role in determining the capacity of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) as they enable neural networks to capture inherent nonlinearities present in data fed to them. The prior research on activation functions primarily focused on the utility of monotonic or non-oscillatory functions, until Growing Cosine Unit (GCU) broke the taboo for a number of applications. In this paper, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model named as ASU-CNN is proposed which utilizes recently designed activation function ASU across its layers. The effect of this non-monotonic and oscillatory function is inspected through feature map visualizations from different convolutional layers. The optimization of proposed network is offered by Adam with a fine-tuned adjustment of learning rate. The network achieved promising results on both training and testing data for the classification of CIFAR-10. The experimental results affirm the computational feasibility and efficacy of the proposed model for performing tasks related to the field of computer vision.Keywords: amplifying sine unit, activation function, convolutional neural networks, oscillatory activation, image classification, CIFAR-10
Procedia PDF Downloads 1102352 The Desire to Know: Arnold’s Contribution to a Psychological Conceptualization of Academic Motivation
Authors: F. Ruiz-Fuster
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Arnold’s redefinition of human motives can sustain a psychology of education which emphasizes the beauty of knowledge and the exercise of intellectual functions. Thus, education instead of focusing on skills and learning by doing would be centered on ‘the widest reaches of the human spirit’. One way to attain it is by developing children’s inherent interest. Arnold takes into account the fact that the desire to know is the inherent interest which leads students to explore and learn. She also emphasizes the need of exercising human functions as thinking, judging and reasoning. According to Arnold, the influence of psychological theories of motivation in education has derived in considering that all learning and school tasks should derive from children’s needs and impulses. The desire to know and the curiosity have not been considered as basic and active as any instinctive drive or basic need, so there has been an attempt to justify and understand how biological drives guide student’s learning. However, understanding motives and motivation not as a drive, an instinct or an impulse guided by our basic needs, but as a want that leads to action can help to understand, from a psychological perspective, how teachers can motivate students to learn, strengthening their desire and interest to reason and discover the whole new world of knowledge.Keywords: academic motivation, interests, desire to know, educational psychology, intellectual functions
Procedia PDF Downloads 1522351 Meta Model for Optimum Design Objective Function of Steel Frames Subjected to Seismic Loads
Authors: Salah R. Al Zaidee, Ali S. Mahdi
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Except for simple problems of statically determinate structures, optimum design problems in structural engineering have implicit objective functions where structural analysis and design are essential within each searching loop. With these implicit functions, the structural engineer is usually enforced to write his/her own computer code for analysis, design, and searching for optimum design among many feasible candidates and cannot take advantage of available software for structural analysis, design, and searching for the optimum solution. The meta-model is a regression model used to transform an implicit objective function into objective one and leads in turn to decouple the structural analysis and design processes from the optimum searching process. With the meta-model, well-known software for structural analysis and design can be used in sequence with optimum searching software. In this paper, the meta-model has been used to develop an explicit objective function for plane steel frames subjected to dead, live, and seismic forces. Frame topology is assumed as predefined based on architectural and functional requirements. Columns and beams sections and different connections details are the main design variables in this study. Columns and beams are grouped to reduce the number of design variables and to make the problem similar to that adopted in engineering practice. Data for the implicit objective function have been generated based on analysis and assessment for many design proposals with CSI SAP software. These data have been used later in SPSS software to develop a pure quadratic nonlinear regression model for the explicit objective function. Good correlations with a coefficient, R2, in the range from 0.88 to 0.99 have been noted between the original implicit functions and the corresponding explicit functions generated with meta-model.Keywords: meta-modal, objective function, steel frames, seismic analysis, design
Procedia PDF Downloads 2432350 Religious Tattoos Symbols amongst Underground Communities in Surabaya and Sidoarjo, Indonesia: Their Functions and Significances
Authors: Constantius Tri Handoko
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Tattoos on the body of Christian youths seemed interesting as the majority of Christian look at tattoo and tattooing activity are prohibited. This research besides to understand the motivation behind why Christian youth in Surabaya and Sidoarjo, Indonesia being tattooed also focus on the regard to what functions and meanings of the tattoos are. By using visual discourse analysis, the tattoos had relation to the informants’ social lives dimension, such as the Christian symbol tattoos expressed their spiritual life journey, a faith symbol to God, as personal symbols (identity), art expression, as well as fashion. On the other hands, tattoos also became a hatred symbol to Jesus and the Christian faith, since the tattoo wearers who were a former Christians felt disappointed to God as they thought God never help them to survive in their lives.Keywords: tattoo, representation, identity, belief, Christian
Procedia PDF Downloads 2612349 MATLAB Supported Learning and Students' Conceptual Understanding of Functions of Two Variables: Experiences from Wolkite University
Authors: Eyasu Gemech, Kassa Michael, Mulugeta Atnafu
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A non-equivalent group's quasi-experiment research was conducted at Wolkite University to investigate MATLAB supported learning and students' conceptual understanding in learning Applied Mathematics II using four different comparative instructional approaches: MATLAB supported traditional lecture method, MATLAB supported collaborative method, only collaborative method, and only traditional lecture method. Four intact classes of mechanical engineering groups 1 and 2, garment engineering and textile engineering students were randomly selected out of eight departments. The first three departments were considered as treatment groups and the fourth one 'Textile engineering' was assigned as a comparison group. The departments had 30, 29, 35 and 32 students respectively. The results of the study show that there is a significant mean difference in students' conceptual understanding between groups of students learning through MATLAB supported collaborative method and the other learning approaches. Students who were learned through MATLAB technology-supported learning in combination with collaborative method were found to understand concepts of functions of two variables better than students learning through the other methods of learning. These, hence, are informative of the potential approaches universities would follow for a better students’ understanding of concepts.Keywords: MATLAB supported collaborative method, MATLAB supported learning, collaborative method, conceptual understanding, functions of two variables
Procedia PDF Downloads 2772348 Monitoring the Rate of Expansion of Agricultural Fields in Mwekera Forest Reserve Using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems
Authors: K. Kanja, M. Mweemba, K. Malungwa
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Due to the rampant population growth coupled with retrenchments currently going on in the Copper mines in Zambia, a number of people are resorting to land clearing for agriculture, illegal settlements as well as charcoal production among other vices. This study aims at assessing the rate of expansion of agricultural fields and illegal settlements in protected areas using remote sensing and Geographic Information System. Zambia’s Mwekera National Forest Reserve was used as a case study. Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis Technique (ISODATA), as well as maximum likelihood, supervised classification on four Landsat images as well as an accuracy assessment of the classifications was performed. Over the period under observation, results indicate annual percentage changes to be -0.03, -0.49 and 1.26 for agriculture, forests and settlement respectively indicating a higher conversion of forests into human settlements and agriculture.Keywords: geographic information system, land cover change, Landsat TM and ETM+, Mwekera forest reserve, remote sensing
Procedia PDF Downloads 1422347 Dynamic Self-Scheduling of Pumped-Storage Power Plant in Energy and Ancillary Service Markets Using Sliding Window Technique
Authors: P. Kanakasabapathy, S. Radhika
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In the competitive electricity market environment, the profit of the pumped-storage plant in the energy market can be maximized by operating it as a generator, when market clearing price is high and as a pump, to pump water from lower reservoir to upper reservoir, when the price is low. An optimal self-scheduling plan has been developed for a pumped-storage plant, carried out on weekly basis in order to maximize the profit of the plant, keeping into account of all the major uncertainties such as the sudden ancillary service delivery request and the price forecasting errors. For a pumped storage power plant to operate in a real time market successive self-scheduling has to be done by considering the forecast of the day-ahead market and the modified reservoir storage due to the ancillary service request of the previous day. Sliding Window Technique has been used for successive self-scheduling to ensure profit for the plant.Keywords: ancillary services, BPSO, power system economics, self-scheduling, sliding window technique
Procedia PDF Downloads 4012346 The Relationship between Public Relations and Media Relations: The Case of Hotel Enterprises
Authors: Burcu Oksuz, Volkan Altıintas, Zulfiye Acar Senturk
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Though in the academic literature, it is emphasized that Public Relations (PR) should not be seen only as media relations, in practise, the media relations has a very dominant position at the communication studies carried out by many companies. There are many PR practitioners who have journalism background. However the number of the practitioners who have started to work in the sector after having PR education at the universities has been highly increasing. Therefore, it can be said that previous journalist dominance has diminished at the public relations sector in Turkey. However, by virtue of the fact that some companies and practitioners consider the media coverage the first priority of PR, this much is certain that the dominant position of media relations is ongoing. On the other hand, still many companies measure the success of their PR by how much place their companies have taken. This situation creates major pressure on the PR practitioners to have close relations with the media members and to make them write articles about their companies. Thereupon, PR practitioners have to take the time for the media relations and the media relations comes into prominence more than the other PR functions. The aim of this study is to reveal the PR functions at the companies and to evaluate the position of the media relations in the PR studies. Therefore, it is aimed to find out at what extend the discourse of “Public relations is not media relations” is accepted in practice and actualised. Accordingly, a research about 15 hotel enterprises which are located in the city of İzmir will be carried out. İzmir as one of the most important tourism destinations has many hotels. The PR/corporate communications managers will be interviewed profoundly within the scope of this study and PR functions performed by hotels will be discussed in details in consideration of the datum obtained.Keywords: media relations, public relations, public relations practitioners, Turkey
Procedia PDF Downloads 3832345 Interaction between Cognitive Control and Language Processing in Non-Fluent Aphasia
Authors: Izabella Szollosi, Klara Marton
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Aphasia can be defined as a weakness in accessing linguistic information. Accessing linguistic information is strongly related to information processing, which in turn is associated with the cognitive control system. According to the literature, a deficit in the cognitive control system interferes with language processing and contributes to non-fluent speech performance. The aim of our study was to explore this hypothesis by investigating how cognitive control interacts with language performance in participants with non-fluent aphasia. Cognitive control is a complex construct that includes working memory (WM) and the ability to resist proactive interference (PI). Based on previous research, we hypothesized that impairments in domain-general (DG) cognitive control abilities have negative effects on language processing. In contrast, better DG cognitive control functioning supports goal-directed behavior in language-related processes as well. Since stroke itself might slow down information processing, it is important to examine its negative effects on both cognitive control and language processing. Participants (N=52) in our study were individuals with non-fluent Broca’s aphasia (N = 13), with transcortical motor aphasia (N=13), individuals with stroke damage without aphasia (N=13), and unimpaired speakers (N = 13). All participants performed various computer-based tasks targeting cognitive control functions such as WM and resistance to PI in both linguistic and non-linguistic domains. Non-linguistic tasks targeted primarily DG functions, while linguistic tasks targeted more domain specific (DS) processes. The results showed that participants with Broca’s aphasia differed from the other three groups in the non-linguistic tasks. They performed significantly worse even in the baseline conditions. In contrast, we found a different performance profile in the linguistic domain, where the control group differed from all three stroke-related groups. The three groups with impairment performed more poorly than the controls but similar to each other in the verbal baseline condition. In the more complex verbal PI condition, however, participants with Broca’s aphasia performed significantly worse than all the other groups. Participants with Broca’s aphasia demonstrated the most severe language impairment and the highest vulnerability in tasks measuring DG cognitive control functions. Results support the notion that the more severe the cognitive control impairment, the more severe the aphasia. Thus, our findings suggest a strong interaction between cognitive control and language. Individuals with the most severe and most general cognitive control deficit - participants with Broca’s aphasia - showed the most severe language impairment. Individuals with better DG cognitive control functions demonstrated better language performance. While all participants with stroke damage showed impaired cognitive control functions in the linguistic domain, participants with better language skills performed also better in tasks that measured non-linguistic cognitive control functions. The overall results indicate that the level of cognitive control deficit interacts with the language functions in individuals along with the language spectrum (from severe to no impairment). However, future research is needed to determine any directionality.Keywords: cognitive control, information processing, language performance, non-fluent aphasia
Procedia PDF Downloads 1222344 Modified Naive Bayes-Based Prediction Modeling for Crop Yield Prediction
Authors: Kefaya Qaddoum
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Most of greenhouse growers desire a determined amount of yields in order to accurately meet market requirements. The purpose of this paper is to model a simple but often satisfactory supervised classification method. The original naive Bayes have a serious weakness, which is producing redundant predictors. In this paper, utilized regularization technique was used to obtain a computationally efficient classifier based on naive Bayes. The suggested construction, utilized L1-penalty, is capable of clearing redundant predictors, where a modification of the LARS algorithm is devised to solve this problem, making this method applicable to a wide range of data. In the experimental section, a study conducted to examine the effect of redundant and irrelevant predictors, and test the method on WSG data set for tomato yields, where there are many more predictors than data, and the urge need to predict weekly yield is the goal of this approach. Finally, the modified approach is compared with several naive Bayes variants and other classification algorithms (SVM and kNN), and is shown to be fairly good.Keywords: tomato yield prediction, naive Bayes, redundancy, WSG
Procedia PDF Downloads 2332343 Numerical Solutions of Fredholm Integral Equations by B-Spline Wavelet Method
Authors: Ritu Rani
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In this paper, we apply minimalistically upheld linear semi-orthogonal B-spline wavelets, exceptionally developed for the limited interim to rough the obscure function present in the integral equations. Semi-orthogonal wavelets utilizing B-spline uniquely developed for the limited interim and these wavelets can be spoken to in a shut frame. This gives a minimized help. Semi-orthogonal wavelets frame the premise in the space L²(R). Utilizing this premise, an arbitrary function in L²(R) can be communicated as the wavelet arrangement. For the limited interim, the wavelet arrangement cannot be totally introduced by utilizing this premise. This is on the grounds that backings of some premise are truncated at the left or right end purposes of the interim. Subsequently, an uncommon premise must be brought into the wavelet development on the limited interim. These functions are alluded to as the limit scaling functions and limit wavelet functions. B-spline wavelet method has been connected to fathom linear and nonlinear integral equations and their systems. The above method diminishes the integral equations to systems of algebraic equations and afterward these systems can be illuminated by any standard numerical methods. Here, we have connected Newton's method with suitable starting speculation for solving these systems.Keywords: semi-orthogonal, wavelet arrangement, integral equations, wavelet development
Procedia PDF Downloads 1742342 Special Properties of the Zeros of the Analytic Representations of Finite Quantum Systems
Authors: Muna Tabuni
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The paper contains an investigation on the special properties of the zeros of the analytic representations of finite quantum systems. These zeros and their paths completely define the finite quantum system. The present paper studies the construction of the analytic representation from its zeros. The analytic functions of finite quantum systems are introduced. The zeros of the analytic theta functions and their paths have been studied. The analytic function f(z) have exactly d zeros. The analytic function has been constructed from its zeros.Keywords: construction, analytic, representation, zeros
Procedia PDF Downloads 2062341 Monte Carlo Pathwise Sensitivities for Barrier Options with Application to Coco-Bond Calibration
Authors: Thomas Gerstner, Bastian von Harrach, Daniel Roth
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The Monte Carlo pathwise sensitivities approach is well established for smooth payoff functions. In this work, we present a new Monte Carlo algorithm that is able to calculate the pathwise sensitivities for discontinuous payoff functions. Our main tool is the one-step survival idea of Glasserman and Staum. Although this technique yields to new terms per observation, while differentiating, the algorithm is still efficient. As an application, we use the results for a two-dimensional calibration of a Coco-Bond, which we model with different types of discretely monitored barrier options.Keywords: Monte Carlo, discretely monitored barrier options, pathwise sensitivities, Coco-Bond
Procedia PDF Downloads 3572340 Interlanguage Acquisition of a Postposition ‘e’ in Korean: Analysis of the Korean Novice Learners’ Output
Authors: Eunjung Lee
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This study aims to analyze the sentences generated by the beginners who learn ‘e,’ a postposition in Korean and to find out the regularity of learners’ interlanguage upon investigating the usages of ‘e’ that appears by meanings and functions in their interlanguage, and conditions that ‘e’ is used. This study was conducted with mainly two assumptions; first, the learner’s language has the specific type of interlanguage; and second, there is the regularity of interlanguage when students produce ‘e’ under the specific conditions. Learners’ output has various values and can be used as the useful data to understand interlanguage. Therefore, all the sentences containing a postposition ‘e’ by English speaking learners were searched in ‘Learners’ corpus sharing center in The National Institute of Korean Language’ in Korea, and the data were collected upon limiting the levels of learners with Level 1 and 2. 789 sentences that were used with ‘e’ were selected as the final subjects of the analysis. First, to understand the environmental characteristics to be used with a postposition, ‘e’ after summarizing 13 meaning and functions of ‘e’ appeared in three books of Korean dictionary that summarized the Korean grammar, 1) meaning function of ‘e’ that were used in each sentence was classified; 2) the nouns that were combined with ‘e,’ keywords of the sentences, and the characteristics of modifiers, linkers, and predicates appeared in front of ‘e’ were analyzed; 3) the regularity by the novice learners’ meaning and functions were reviewed; and 4) the differences of the regularity by level 1 and 2 learners’ meaning and functions were found. Upon the study results, the novice learners showed 1) they used the nouns related to ‘time(시간), before(전), after(후), next(다음), the next(그다음), then(때), day of the week(요일), and season(계절)’ mainly in front of ‘e’ when they used ‘e’ as the meaning function of time; 2) they used mainly the verbs of ‘go(가다),’ ‘come(오다),’ and ‘go round(다니다)’ as the predicate to match with ‘e’ that was the meaning function of direction and destination; and 3) they used mainly the nouns related to ‘locations or countries’ in front of ‘e,’ a meaning function postposition of ‘place,’ used mainly the verbs ‘be(있다), not be(없다), live(살다), be many(많다)’ after ‘e,’ and ‘i(이) or ka(가)’ was combined mainly in the subject words in case of ‘be(있다), not be(없다)’ or ‘be many(많다),’ and ‘eun(은) or nun(는)’ was combined mainly in the subject words in front of ‘live at’ In addition, 4) they used ‘e’ which indicates ‘cause or reason’ in the form of ‘because( 때문에),’ and 5) used ‘e’ of the subjects as the predicates to match with the predicates such as ‘treat(대하다), like(들다), and catch(걸리다).’ From these results, ‘e’ usage patterns of the Korean novice learners demonstrated very differently by the meaning functions and the learners’ interlanguage regularity could be deducted. However, little difference was found in interlanguage regularity between level 1 and 2. This study has the meaning to try to understand the interlanguage system and regularity in the learners’ acquisition process of postposition ‘e’ and this can be utilized to lessen their errors.Keywords: interlanguage, interlagnage anaylsis, postposition ‘e’, Korean acquisition
Procedia PDF Downloads 1292339 Some Basic Problems for the Elastic Material with Voids in the Case of Approximation N=1 of Vekua's Theory
Authors: Bakur Gulua
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In this work, we consider some boundary value problems for the plate. The plate is the elastic material with voids. The state of plate equilibrium is described by the system of differential equations that is derived from three-dimensional equations of equilibrium of an elastic material with voids (Cowin-Nunziato model) by Vekua's reduction method. Its general solution is represented by means of analytic functions of a complex variable and solutions of Helmholtz equations. The problem is solved analytically by the method of the theory of functions of a complex variable.Keywords: the elastic material with voids, boundary value problems, Vekua's reduction method, a complex variable
Procedia PDF Downloads 1272338 Identifying Psychosocial, Autonomic, and Pain Sensitivity Risk Factors of Chronic Temporomandibular Disorder by Using Ridge Logistic Regression and Bootstrapping
Authors: Haolin Li, Eric Bair, Jane Monaco, Quefeng Li
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The temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is a series of musculoskeletal disorders ranging from jaw pain to chronic debilitating pain, and the risk factors for the onset and maintenance of TMD are still unclear. Prior researches have shown that the potential risk factors for chronic TMD are related to psychosocial factors, autonomic functions, and pain sensitivity. Using data from the Orofacial Pain: Prospective Evaluation and Risk Assessment (OPPERA) study’s baseline case-control study, we examine whether the risk factors identified by prior researches are still statistically significant after taking all of the risk measures into account in one single model, and we also compare the relative influences of the risk factors in three different perspectives (psychosocial factors, autonomic functions, and pain sensitivity) on the chronic TMD. The statistical analysis is conducted by using ridge logistic regression and bootstrapping, in which the performance of the algorithms has been assessed using extensive simulation studies. The results support most of the findings of prior researches that there are many psychosocial and pain sensitivity measures that have significant associations with chronic TMD. However, it is surprising that most of the risk factors of autonomic functions have not presented significant associations with chronic TMD, as described by a prior research.Keywords: autonomic function, OPPERA study, pain sensitivity, psychosocial measures, temporomandibular disorder
Procedia PDF Downloads 1872337 Currency Exchange Rate Forecasts Using Quantile Regression
Authors: Yuzhi Cai
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In this paper, we discuss a Bayesian approach to quantile autoregressive (QAR) time series model estimation and forecasting. Together with a combining forecasts technique, we then predict USD to GBP currency exchange rates. Combined forecasts contain all the information captured by the fitted QAR models at different quantile levels and are therefore better than those obtained from individual models. Our results show that an unequally weighted combining method performs better than other forecasting methodology. We found that a median AR model can perform well in point forecasting when the predictive density functions are symmetric. However, in practice, using the median AR model alone may involve the loss of information about the data captured by other QAR models. We recommend that combined forecasts should be used whenever possible.Keywords: combining forecasts, MCMC, predictive density functions, quantile forecasting, quantile modelling
Procedia PDF Downloads 256