Search results for: robust penalized regression
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4499

Search results for: robust penalized regression

2429 Antibacterial Zwitterion Carboxylate and Sulfonate Copolymer Auxetic Hydrogels for Diabetic Wound Healing Application

Authors: Udayakumar Veerabagu, Franck Quero

Abstract:

Zwitterion carboxylate and sulfonate polymers generally have been viewed as a new class of antimicrobial and non-fouling materials. They offer a broad versatility for chemical modification and hence great freedom for accurate molecular design, which bear an equimolar number of homogenously distributed anionic and cationic groups along their polymer chains. This study explores the effectiveness of the auxetic zwitterion carboxylate/sulfonate hydrogel in the diabetic-induced mouse model. A series of silver metal-doped auxetic zwitterion carboxylate/sulfonate/vinylaniline copolymer hydrogels is designed via a 3D printer. Zwitterion monomers have been characterized by FT-IR and NMR techniques. The effect of changing the monomers and different loading ratios of Ag over zwitterion on the final hydrogel materials' antimicrobial properties and biocompatibility will be investigated in detail. The synthesized auxetic hydrogel has been characterized using a wide range of techniques to help establish the relationship between molecular level and macroscopic properties of these materials, including mechanical and antibacterial and biocompatibility and wound healing ability. This work's comparative studies and results provide new insights and guide us in choosing a better auxetic structured material for a broad spectrum of wound healing applications in the animal model. We expect this approach to provide a versatile and robust platform for biomaterial design that could lead to promising treatments for wound healing applications.

Keywords: auxetic, zwitterion, carboxylate, sulfonate, polymer, wound healing

Procedia PDF Downloads 149
2428 Personalty Traits as Predictors of Emotional Distress among Awaiting-trials Inmates in Some Selected Correctional Centers in Nigeria

Authors: Fasanmi Samuel Sunday

Abstract:

This study investigated the influence of gender and personality traits on emotional distress among awaiting trial inmates in Nigeria. Participants were three hundred and twenty (320) awaiting trial inmates, drawn from three main correctional centres in Northeast Nigeria, namely: Gashua Correctional Centre, Postiskum Correctional Centre, and Bauchi Correctional Centre. Expo facto research design was adopted. Questionnaires such as the Big Five Inventory and the Perceived Emotional Distress Inventory (PEDI) were used to measure the variables of the study. Three hypotheses were tested. Logistic regression was used for data analysis. Results of the analysis indicated that conscientiousness significantly predicted emotional distress among awaiting trial inmates. However, most of the identified personality traits did not significantly predict emotional distress among awaiting trial inmates. There was no significant gender difference in emotional distress among awaiting-trial inmates. The implications of the study were discussed.

Keywords: personality traits, emotional distress, awaiting-trial inmates, gender

Procedia PDF Downloads 88
2427 Evaluation of Real-Time Background Subtraction Technique for Moving Object Detection Using Fast-Independent Component Analysis

Authors: Naoum Abderrahmane, Boumehed Meriem, Alshaqaqi Belal

Abstract:

Background subtraction algorithm is a larger used technique for detecting moving objects in video surveillance to extract the foreground objects from a reference background image. There are many challenges to test a good background subtraction algorithm, like changes in illumination, dynamic background such as swinging leaves, rain, snow, and the changes in the background, for example, moving and stopping of vehicles. In this paper, we propose an efficient and accurate background subtraction method for moving object detection in video surveillance. The main idea is to use a developed fast-independent component analysis (ICA) algorithm to separate background, noise, and foreground masks from an image sequence in practical environments. The fast-ICA algorithm is adapted and adjusted with a matrix calculation and searching for an optimum non-quadratic function to be faster and more robust. Moreover, in order to estimate the de-mixing matrix and the denoising de-mixing matrix parameters, we propose to convert all images to YCrCb color space, where the luma component Y (brightness of the color) gives suitable results. The proposed technique has been verified on the publicly available datasets CD net 2012 and CD net 2014, and experimental results show that our algorithm can detect competently and accurately moving objects in challenging conditions compared to other methods in the literature in terms of quantitative and qualitative evaluations with real-time frame rate.

Keywords: background subtraction, moving object detection, fast-ICA, de-mixing matrix

Procedia PDF Downloads 91
2426 Machine Learning Automatic Detection on Twitter Cyberbullying

Authors: Raghad A. Altowairgi

Abstract:

With the wide spread of social media platforms, young people tend to use them extensively as the first means of communication due to their ease and modernity. But these platforms often create a fertile ground for bullies to practice their aggressive behavior against their victims. Platform usage cannot be reduced, but intelligent mechanisms can be implemented to reduce the abuse. This is where machine learning comes in. Understanding and classifying text can be helpful in order to minimize the act of cyberbullying. Artificial intelligence techniques have expanded to formulate an applied tool to address the phenomenon of cyberbullying. In this research, machine learning models are built to classify text into two classes; cyberbullying and non-cyberbullying. After preprocessing the data in 4 stages; removing characters that do not provide meaningful information to the models, tokenization, removing stop words, and lowering text. BoW and TF-IDF are used as the main features for the five classifiers, which are; logistic regression, Naïve Bayes, Random Forest, XGboost, and Catboost classifiers. Each of them scores 92%, 90%, 92%, 91%, 86% respectively.

Keywords: cyberbullying, machine learning, Bag-of-Words, term frequency-inverse document frequency, natural language processing, Catboost

Procedia PDF Downloads 124
2425 Higher Education and Empowerment of Women: A Case Study

Authors: Anupam Deka

Abstract:

Gender discrimination has been considered as a major obstacle in granting equal opportunity for woman in Higher education as education plays a pivotal role in a country’s socio-economic development. To examine the empowerment of women in the higher education field of Assam, a case study has been carried out. In the first stage, an overview of enrolment of students in different courses has been made by considering the whole state. In the second stage a study has been conducted regarding the enrolment of students in various degree and P-G courses for the period 2000-2007 under Gauhati University (which is one of the four universities of Assam) and the relevant data has been collected. It has been found that though the enrolment of students in the degree levels has been constantly increasing, but the enrolment of girls are not proportionately increasing, specially in commerce and law. On the other hand, in the post-graduate level, these proportions are higher in almost all the subjects (except some subjects like M. COM., L.L.M, M. C. A., Mathematics, etc.), indicating that more number of girls than boys are taking admission in the P-G courses.

Keywords: field study, enrolment of girls in degree and P G levels, regression lines, Chi Square test, diagrams and statistical tables

Procedia PDF Downloads 261
2424 Non-Performing Assets and Credit Risk Performance: An Evidence of Commercial Banks in India

Authors: Sirus Sharifi, Arunima Haldar, S. V. D. Nageswara Rao

Abstract:

This research analyzes the effect of credit risk management practices of commercial banks in India and the relationship with their non-performing assets (NPAs). Required data on credit risk performance was collected through a survey questionnaire from top risk officers of 38 Indian banks. NPA data (period from 2012 to 2016) was collected from Prowess database compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The model was assessed utilizing cross sectional regression method. As expected, the results indicate a negative significant relationship between credit risk management in India banks and their NPA growth. The research has implications for banks given the high level of losses in India and other economies as well, and the implementation of Basel III standards by the central banks. This research would be an evidence on credit risk performance and its relationship with the level of non-performing assets (NPAs) in Indian banks.

Keywords: risk management, risk identification, banks, Non-Performing Assets (NPAs)

Procedia PDF Downloads 259
2423 Housing Price Prediction Using Machine Learning Algorithms: The Case of Melbourne City, Australia

Authors: The Danh Phan

Abstract:

House price forecasting is a main topic in the real estate market research. Effective house price prediction models could not only allow home buyers and real estate agents to make better data-driven decisions but may also be beneficial for the property policymaking process. This study investigates the housing market by using machine learning techniques to analyze real historical house sale transactions in Australia. It seeks useful models which could be deployed as an application for house buyers and sellers. Data analytics show a high discrepancy between the house price in the most expensive suburbs and the most affordable suburbs in the city of Melbourne. In addition, experiments demonstrate that the combination of Stepwise and Support Vector Machine (SVM), based on the Mean Squared Error (MSE) measurement, consistently outperforms other models in terms of prediction accuracy.

Keywords: house price prediction, regression trees, neural network, support vector machine, stepwise

Procedia PDF Downloads 217
2422 Material Choice Driving Sustainability of 3D Printing

Authors: Jeremy Faludi, Zhongyin Hu, Shahd Alrashed, Christopher Braunholz, Suneesh Kaul, Leulekal Kassaye

Abstract:

Environmental impacts of six 3D printers using various materials were compared to determine if material choice drove sustainability, or if other factors such as machine type, machine size, or machine utilization dominate. Cradle-to-grave life-cycle assessments were performed, comparing a commercial-scale FDM machine printing in ABS plastic, a desktop FDM machine printing in ABS, a desktop FDM machine printing in PET and PLA plastics, a polyjet machine printing in its proprietary polymer, an SLA machine printing in its polymer, and an inkjet machine hacked to print in salt and dextrose. All scenarios were scored using ReCiPe Endpoint H methodology to combine multiple impact categories, comparing environmental impacts per part made for several scenarios per machine. Results showed that most printers’ ecological impacts were dominated by electricity use, not materials, and the changes in electricity use due to different plastics was not significant compared to variation from one machine to another. Variation in machine idle time determined impacts per part most strongly. However, material impacts were quite important for the inkjet printer hacked to print in salt: In its optimal scenario, it had up to 1/38th the impacts coreper part as the worst-performing machine in the same scenario. If salt parts were infused with epoxy to make them more physically robust, then much of this advantage disappeared, and material impacts actually dominated or equaled electricity use. Future studies should also measure DMLS and SLS processes / materials.

Keywords: 3D printing, additive manufacturing, sustainability, life-cycle assessment, design for environment

Procedia PDF Downloads 486
2421 Coordination Polymer Hydrogels Based on Coinage Metals and Nucleobase Derivatives

Authors: Lamia L. G. Al-Mahamad, Benjamin R. Horrocks, Andrew Houlton

Abstract:

Hydrogels based on metal coordination polymers of nucleosides and a range of metal ions (Au, Ag, Cu) have been prepared and characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction. AFM images of the xerogels revealed the formation of extremely long polymer molecules (> 10 micrometers, the maximum scan range). This result is also consistent with TEM images which show a fibrous morphology. Oxidative doping of the Au-nucleoside fibres produces an electrically conductive nanowire. No sharp Bragg peaks were found at the at the X-ray diffraction pattern for metal ions hydrogels indicating that the samples were amorphous, but instead the data showed broad peaks in the range 20 < Q < 40 and correspond to distances d=2μ/Q. The data was analysed using a simplified Rietveld method by fitting a regression model to obtain the distance between atoms.

Keywords: hydrogel, metal ions, nanowire, nucleoside

Procedia PDF Downloads 254
2420 Confidence Envelopes for Parametric Model Selection Inference and Post-Model Selection Inference

Authors: I. M. L. Nadeesha Jayaweera, Adao Alex Trindade

Abstract:

In choosing a candidate model in likelihood-based modeling via an information criterion, the practitioner is often faced with the difficult task of deciding just how far up the ranked list to look. Motivated by this pragmatic necessity, we construct an uncertainty band for a generalized (model selection) information criterion (GIC), defined as a criterion for which the limit in probability is identical to that of the normalized log-likelihood. This includes common special cases such as AIC & BIC. The method starts from the asymptotic normality of the GIC for the joint distribution of the candidate models in an independent and identically distributed (IID) data framework and proceeds by deriving the (asymptotically) exact distribution of the minimum. The calculation of an upper quantile for its distribution then involves the computation of multivariate Gaussian integrals, which is amenable to efficient implementation via the R package "mvtnorm". The performance of the methodology is tested on simulated data by checking the coverage probability of nominal upper quantiles and compared to the bootstrap. Both methods give coverages close to nominal for large samples, but the bootstrap is two orders of magnitude slower. The methodology is subsequently extended to two other commonly used model structures: regression and time series. In the regression case, we derive the corresponding asymptotically exact distribution of the minimum GIC invoking Lindeberg-Feller type conditions for triangular arrays and are thus able to similarly calculate upper quantiles for its distribution via multivariate Gaussian integration. The bootstrap once again provides a default competing procedure, and we find that similar comparison performance metrics hold as for the IID case. The time series case is complicated by far more intricate asymptotic regime for the joint distribution of the model GIC statistics. Under a Gaussian likelihood, the default in most packages, one needs to derive the limiting distribution of a normalized quadratic form for a realization from a stationary series. Under conditions on the process satisfied by ARMA models, a multivariate normal limit is once again achieved. The bootstrap can, however, be employed for its computation, whence we are once again in the multivariate Gaussian integration paradigm for upper quantile evaluation. Comparisons of this bootstrap-aided semi-exact method with the full-blown bootstrap once again reveal a similar performance but faster computation speeds. One of the most difficult problems in contemporary statistical methodological research is to be able to account for the extra variability introduced by model selection uncertainty, the so-called post-model selection inference (PMSI). We explore ways in which the GIC uncertainty band can be inverted to make inferences on the parameters. This is being attempted in the IID case by pivoting the CDF of the asymptotically exact distribution of the minimum GIC. For inference one parameter at a time and a small number of candidate models, this works well, whence the attained PMSI confidence intervals are wider than the MLE-based Wald, as expected.

Keywords: model selection inference, generalized information criteria, post model selection, Asymptotic Theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 82
2419 Understanding Cruise Passengers’ On-board Experience throughout the Customer Decision Journey

Authors: Sabina Akter, Osiris Valdez Banda, Pentti Kujala, Jani Romanoff

Abstract:

This paper examines the relationship between on-board environmental factors and customer overall satisfaction in the context of the cruise on-board experience. The on-board environmental factors considered are ambient, layout/design, social, product/service and on-board enjoyment factors. The study presents a data-driven framework and model for the on-board cruise experience. The data are collected from 893 respondents in an application of a self-administered online questionnaire of their cruise experience. This study reveals the cruise passengers’ on-board experience through the customer decision journey based on the publicly available data. Pearson correlation and regression analysis have been applied, and the results show a positive and a significant relationship between the environmental factors and on-board experience. These data help understand the cruise passengers’ on-board experience, which will be used for the ultimate decision-making process in cruise ship design.

Keywords: cruise behavior, customer activities, on-board environmental factors, on-board experience, user or customer satisfaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 164
2418 Photocatalysis with Fe/Ti-Pillared Clays for the Oxofunctionalization of Alkylaromatics by O2

Authors: Houria Rezala, Jose Luis Valverde, Amaya Romero, Alessandra Molinari, Andrea Maldotti

Abstract:

A pillared montmorillonite containing iron doped titania (Fe/Ti-PILC) has been prepared from a natural clay. This material has been characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption, temperature programmed desorption of ammonia, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, atomic absorption, and diffuse reflectance UV-VIS spectroscopy. The layer structure of Fe/Ti-PILC resulted to be ordered with an insertion of pillars, which caused a slight increase in the basal spacing of the clay. Its specific surface area was about three times larger than that of the parent Na-montmorillonite due principally to the creation of a remarkable microporous network. The doped material was a robust photocatalyst able to oxidize liquid alkyl aromatics to the corresponding carbonylic derivatives, using O2 as the oxidizing species, at mild pressure and temperature conditions. Accumulation of valuable carbonylic derivatives was possible since their over-oxidation to carbon dioxide was negligible. Fe/Ti-PILC was able to discriminate between toluene and cyclohexane in favor of the aromatic compound with an efficiency that is about three times higher than that of titanium pillared clays (Ti-PILC). It is likely that the addition of iron favored the formation of new acid sites able to interact with the aromatic substrate. Iron doping caused a significant TiO2 visible light-induced activity (wavelength > 400 nm) with only minor negative effects on its performance under UV-light irradiation (wavelength > 290 nm).

Keywords: alkyl aromatics oxidation, heterogeneous photocatalysis, iron doping, pillared clays

Procedia PDF Downloads 442
2417 Degumming of Eri Silk Fabric with Ionic Liquid

Authors: Shweta K. Vyas, Rakesh Musale, Sanjeev R. Shukla

Abstract:

Eri silk is a non mulberry silk which is obtained without killing the silkworms and hence it is also known as Ahmisa silk. In the present study, the results on degumming of eri silk with alkaline peroxide have been compared with those obtained by using ionic liquid (IL) 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [BMIM]Cl. Experiments were designed to find out the optimum processing parameters for degumming of eri silk by response surface methodology. The statistical software, Design-Expert 6.0 was used for regression analysis and graphical analysis of the responses obtained by running the set of designed experiments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to estimate the statistical parameters. The polynomial equation of quadratic order was employed to fit the experimental data. The quality and model terms were evaluated by F-test. Three dimensional surface plots were prepared to study the effect of variables on different responses. The optimum conditions for IL treatment were selected from predicted combinations and the experiments were repeated under these conditions to determine the reproducibility.

Keywords: silk degumming, ionic liquid, response surface methodology, ANOVA

Procedia PDF Downloads 583
2416 Consequences of Employees' Perception of Political Behavior in Kuwaiti Business Organizations

Authors: Ali Muhammad

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of employees’ perception of political behavior on their behavior and attitudes. The model tested in this study suggests that employees’ perception of political behavior in their organizations leads to lower levels of job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, and higher levels of work-related stress, and intentions to leave the organization. A sample of 182 employees working in six Kuwaiti business organizations were surveyed using a questionnaire, and data was analyzed using correlation analysis, regression analysis, and non-parametric tests. Results reveal that employees’ perception of political behavior is negatively associated with job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and positively associated with work-related stress and employees’ intentions to leave the organization. The results of the current study are discussed and are compared to the results of previous studies in this area. Finally, the directions for future research are suggested.

Keywords: perceptions of political behavior, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, intention to leave

Procedia PDF Downloads 347
2415 Optimization of the Mechanical Performance of Fused Filament Fabrication Parts

Authors: Iván Rivet, Narges Dialami, Miguel Cervera, Michele Chiumenti

Abstract:

Process parameters in Additive Manufacturing (AM) play a critical role in the mechanical performance of the final component. In order to find the input configuration that guarantees the optimal performance of the printed part, the process-performance relationship must be found. Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is the selected demonstrative AM technology due to its great popularity in the industrial manufacturing world. A material model that considers the different printing patterns present in a FFF part is used. A voxelized mesh is built from the manufacturing toolpaths described in the G-Code file. An Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) based on the octree strategy is used in order to reduce the complexity of the mesh while maintaining its accuracy. High-fidelity and cost-efficient Finite Element (FE) simulations are performed and the influence of key process parameters in the mechanical performance of the component is analyzed. A robust optimization process based on appropriate failure criteria is developed to find the printing direction that leads to the optimal mechanical performance of the component. The Tsai-Wu failure criterion is implemented due to the orthotropy and heterogeneity constitutive nature of FFF components and because of the differences between the strengths in tension and compression. The optimization loop implements a modified version of an Anomaly Detection (AD) algorithm and uses the computed metrics to obtain the optimal printing direction. The developed methodology is verified with a case study on an industrial demonstrator.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, optimization, printing direction, mechanical performance, voxelization

Procedia PDF Downloads 56
2414 Rotor Radial Vent Pumping in Large Synchronous Electrical Machines

Authors: Darren Camilleri, Robert Rolston

Abstract:

Rotor radial vents make use of the pumping effect to increase airflow through the active material thus reduce hotspot temperatures. The effect of rotor radial pumping in synchronous machines has been studied previously. This paper presents the findings of previous studies and builds upon their theories using a parametric numerical approach to investigate the rotor radial pumping effect. The pressure head generated by the poles and radial vent flow-rate were identified as important factors in maximizing the benefits of the pumping effect. The use of Minitab and ANSYS Workbench to investigate the key performance characteristics of radial pumping through a Design of Experiments (DOE) was described. CFD results were compared with theoretical calculations. A correlation for each response variable was derived through a statistical analysis. Findings confirmed the strong dependence of radial vent length on vent pressure head, and radial vent cross-sectional area was proved to be significant in maximising radial vent flow rate.

Keywords: CFD, cooling, electrical machines, regression analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 310
2413 Determinants of Child Nutritional Inequalities in Pakistan: Regression-Based Decomposition Analysis

Authors: Nilam Bano, Uzma Iram

Abstract:

Globally, the dilemma of undernutrition has become a notable concern for the researchers, academicians, and policymakers because of its severe consequences for many centuries. The nutritional deficiencies create hurdles for the people to achieve goals related to live a better lifestyle. Not only at micro level but also at the macro level, the consequences of undernutrition affect the economic progress of the country. The initial five years of a child’s life are considered critical for the physical growth and brain development. In this regard, children require special care and good quality food (nutrient intake) to fulfill their nutritional demand of the growing body. Having the sensitive stature and health, children specially under the age of 5 years are more vulnerable to the poor economic, housing, environmental and other social conditions. Beside confronting economic challenges and political upheavals, Pakistan is also going through from a rough patch in the context of social development. Majority of the children are facing serious health problems in the absence of required nutrition. The complexity of this issue is getting severe day by day and specially children are left behind with different type of immune problems and vitamins and mineral deficiencies. It is noted that children from the well-off background are less likely affected by the undernutrition. In order to underline this issue, the present study aims to highlight the existing nutritional inequalities among the children of under five years in Pakistan. Moreover, this study strives to decompose those factors that severely affect the existing nutritional inequality and standing in the queue to capture the consideration of concerned authorities. Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13 was employed to assess the relevant indicators of undernutrition such as stunting, wasting, underweight and associated socioeconomic factors. The objectives were executed through the utilization of the relevant empirical techniques. Concentration indices were constructed to measure the nutritional inequalities by utilizing three measures of undernutrition; stunting, wasting and underweight. In addition to it, the decomposition analysis following the logistic regression was made to unfold the determinants that severely affect the nutritional inequalities. The negative values of concentration indices illustrate that children from the marginalized background are affected by the undernutrition more than their counterparts who belong from rich households. Furthermore, the result of decomposition analysis indicates that child age, size of a child at birth, wealth index, household size, parents’ education, mother’s health and place of residence are the most contributing factors in the prevalence of existing nutritional inequalities. Considering the result of the study, it is suggested to the policymakers to design policies in a way so that the health sector of Pakistan can stimulate in a productive manner. Increasing the number of effective health awareness programs for mothers would create a notable difference. Moreover, the education of the parents must be concerned by the policymakers as it has a significant association with the present research in terms of eradicating the nutritional inequalities among children.

Keywords: concentration index, decomposition analysis, inequalities, undernutrition, Pakistan

Procedia PDF Downloads 128
2412 Accounting and Auditing Standards Influence on Income Smoothing Perspective in Islamic Financial Institutions

Authors: Fatma Ezzahra Kateb, Neila Boulila Taktak, Mohamed Kabir Hassan

Abstract:

We examine the impact of Islamic accounting and auditing standards issued by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) on the income smoothing perspective of Islamic financial institutions located in the Middle East and North Africa region between 2013 and 2018. Based on General Least square regression for panel data, we find a significant and positive relationship between intentional income smoothing and earning persistence and cash flow predictability in all models. However, we discovered that AAOIFI accounting standards (FAS) had a negative and significant effect on intentional income smoothing and earning persistence. As a result, the income smoothing efficiency is lower for IFIs that use FASs than IFIs that use IFRSs. Our findings emphasize the need for specific standards to enhance the relevance of financial reports disclosed by Islamic financial institutions.

Keywords: AAOIFI, financial reporting quality, income smoothing perspective, MENA countries

Procedia PDF Downloads 81
2411 Organization’s Ethics, Job Performance Satisfaction and Effects on Employees’ Engagement and Commitment

Authors: Anunya Thanasrisuebwong

Abstract:

This research paper aimed to find out how was the ethical climate in an organization and job performance satisfaction of employees affected employees’ engagement and commitment by using the case study of PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited, Thailand. The population of this research was 4,383 Thai employees of PTTEP, Thailand. From a total of 420 questionnaires sent out, 345 respondents replied. The statistics utilized was mean score and Multiple Regression Analysis. The findings revealed that the respondents had opinion towards ethical climate of their organization, job performance satisfaction and organization engagement and commitment at a high level. The test of hypothesis disclosed the determinant attributes of job performance satisfaction that affected the respondents’ overall level of organization engagement and commitment. The set of these determinant attributes consisted of employees’ responsibilities for duties, organization’s policies and practice, relationship with organization’s commanders, work security and stability, job description, career path and relationship with colleagues. These variables were able to predict the employees’ organization engagement and commitment at 50.6 percent.

Keywords: ethical climate in organization, job performance satisfaction, organization engagement, commitment

Procedia PDF Downloads 278
2410 Evolution and Obstacles Encountered in the Realm of Sports Tourism in Pakistan

Authors: Muhammad Saleem

Abstract:

Tourism stands as one of the swiftly expanding sectors globally, contributing to 10% of the overall worldwide GDP. It holds a vital role in generating income, fostering employment opportunities, alleviating poverty, facilitating foreign exchange earnings, and advancing intercultural understanding. This industry encompasses a spectrum of activities, encompassing transportation, communication, hospitality, catering, entertainment, and advertising. The objective of this study is to assess the evolution and obstacles encountered by sports tourism in Pakistan. In pursuit of this objective, relevant literature has been scrutinized, while data has been acquired from 60 respondents, employing a simple random sampling approach for analysis. The survey comprised close-ended inquiries directed towards all participants. Analytical tools such as mean, mode, median, graphs, and percentages have been employed for data analysis. The findings revealed through robust analysis, indicate that the mean, mode, and median tools consistently yield results surpassing the 70% mark, underscoring that heightened development within sports tourism significantly augments its progress. Effective governance demonstrates a favorable influence on sports tourism, with increased government-provided safety and security potentially amplifying its expansion, thus attracting a higher number of tourists and consequently propelling the growth of the sports tourism sector. This study holds substantial significance for both academic scholars and industry practitioners within Pakistan's tourism landscape, as previous explorations in this realm have been relatively limited.

Keywords: obstacles-spots, evolution-tourism, sports-pakistan, sports-obstacles-pakistan

Procedia PDF Downloads 42
2409 The Role of Organizational Culture, Work Discipline, and Employee Motivation towards Employees Performance at Personal Care and Cosmetic Department Flammable PT XYZ Cosmetics

Authors: Novawiguna Kemalasari, Ahmad Badawi Saluy

Abstract:

This research is a planned activity to find an objective answer to PT XYZ problem through scientific procedure. In this study, It was used quantitative research methods by using samples taken from a department selected by researchers. This study aims to analyze the influence of organizational culture, work discipline and work motivation on employee performance of Personal Care & Cosmetic Department (PCC) Flammable PT XYZ. This research was conducted at PT XYZ Personal Care & Cosmetic Department (PCC) Flammable involving 82 employees as respondents, the data were obtained by using questionnaires filled in self-rating by respondents. The data were analyzed by multiple linear regression model processed by using SPSS version 22. The result of research showed that organizational culture variable, work discipline and work motivation had significant effect to employee performance.

Keywords: organizational culture, work discipline, employee motivation, employees performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 248
2408 Assessment of Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Urban Water Management

Authors: Suraj Sharma

Abstract:

Green infrastructure (GI) offers a contemporary approach for reducing the risk of flooding, improve water quality, and harvesting stormwater for sustainable use. GI promotes landscape planning to enhance sustainable development and urban resilience. However, the existing literature is lacking in ensuring the comprehensive assessment of GI performance in terms of ecosystem function and services for social, ecological, and economical system resilience. We propose a robust indicator set and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) for quantitative and qualitative analysis for sustainable water management to assess the capacity of urban resilience. Green infrastructure in urban resilience water management system (GIUR-WMS) supports decision-making for GI planning through scenario comparisons with urban resilience capacity index. To demonstrate the GIUR-WMS, we develop five scenarios for five sectors of Chandigarh (12, 26, 14, 17, and 34) to test common type of GI (rain barrel, rain gardens, detention basins, porous pavements, and open spaces). The result shows the open spaces achieve the highest green infrastructure urban resilience index of 4.22/5. To implement the open space scenario in urban sites, suitable vacant can be converted to green spaces (example: forest, low impact recreation areas, and detention basins) GIUR-WMS is easy to replicate, customize and apply to cities of different sizes to assess environmental, social and ecological dimensions.

Keywords: green infrastructure, assessment, urban resilience, water management system, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 138
2407 Employing Motivation, Enjoyment and Self-Regulation to Predict Aural Vocabulary Knowledge

Authors: Seyed Mohammad Reza Amirian, Seyedeh Khadije Amirian, Maryam Sabouri

Abstract:

The present study aimed to investigate second language (L2) motivation, enjoyment, and self-regulation as the main variables for explaining variance in the process, and to find out the outcome of L2 Aural Vocabulary Knowledge (AVK) development by focusing on the Iranian EFL students at Hakim Sabzevari University. To this end, 122 EFL students (86 females) and (36 males) participated in this study. The students filled out the Motivation Questionnaire, Foreign Language Enjoyment Questionnaire, and Self-Regulation Questionnaire and also took Aural Vocabulary Knowledge (AVK) Test. Using SPSS software, the data were analyzed through multiple regressions and path analysis. A preliminary Pearson correlation analysis revealed that 2 out of 3 independent variables were significantly linked to AVK. According to the obtained regression model, self-regulation was a significant predictor of aural vocabulary knowledge test. Finally, the results of the mediation analysis showed that the indirect effect of enjoyment on AVK through self- regulation was significant. These findings are discussed, and implications are offered.

Keywords: aural vocabulary knowledge, enjoyment, motivation, self-regulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 146
2406 Internal Audit Innovation Affects to the Firm Performance Effectiveness

Authors: Prateep Wajeetongratana

Abstract:

The objective of this research is to examine the effects of internal audit innovation on firm performance effectiveness influences of financial report reliability, organizational process improvement, and risk management effectiveness. This paper drew upon the survey data collected from 400 employees survey conducted at Nonthaburi province, Thailand. The statistics utilized in this paper included percentage, mean, standard deviation, and regression analysis. The findings revealed that the majority of samples were between 31-40 years old, married, held an undergraduate degree, and had an average income between 10,000-15,000 baht. And also the results show that auditing integration has only influence on financial report reliability. Moreover, corporate risk evaluation has effect on firm performance by risk management effectiveness and control self-assessment has effect influence on firm performance by organizational process improvement and risk management effectiveness as well.

Keywords: corporate risk evaluation, firm performance effectiveness, internal audit innovation, marketing management

Procedia PDF Downloads 371
2405 Method for Targeting Small Volume in Rat Brainby Gamma Knife and Dosimetric Control: Towards a Standardization

Authors: J. Constanzo, B. Paquette, G. Charest, L. Masson-Côté, M. Guillot

Abstract:

Targeted and whole-brain irradiation in humans can result in significant side effects causing decreased patient quality of life. To adequately investigate structural and functional alterations after stereotactic radiosurgery, preclinical studies are needed. The first step is to establish a robust standardized method of targeted irradiation on small regions of the rat brain. Eleven euthanized male Fischer rats were imaged in a stereotactic bed, by computed tomographic (CT), to estimate positioning variations regarding to the bregma skull reference point. Using a rat brain atlas and the stereotactic bregma coordinates assessed from CT images, various regions of the brain were delimited and a treatment plan was generated. A dose of 37 Gy at 30% isodose which corresponds to 100 Gy in 100% of the target volume (X = 98.1; Y = 109.1; Z = 100.0) was set by Leksell Gamma Plan using sectors number 4, 5, 7, and 8 of the Gamma Knife unit with the 4-mm diameter collimators. Effects of positioning accuracy of the rat brain on the dose deposition were simulated by Gamma Plan and validated with dosimetric measurements. Our results showed that 90% of the target volume received 110 ± 4.7 Gy and the maximum of deposited dose was 124 ± 0.6 Gy, which corresponds to an excellent relative standard deviation of 0.5%. This dose deposition calculated with the Gamma Plan was validated with the dosimetric films resulting in a dose-profile agreement within 2%, both in X- and Z-axis,. Our results demonstrate the feasibility to standardize the irradiation procedure of a small volume in the rat brain using a Gamma Knife.

Keywords: brain irradiation, dosimetry, gamma knife, small-animal irradiation, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)

Procedia PDF Downloads 404
2404 Problems and Challenges in Social Economic Research after COVID-19: The Case Study of Province Sindh

Authors: Waleed Baloch

Abstract:

This paper investigates the problems and challenges in social-economic research in the case study of the province of Sindh after the COVID-19 pandemic; the pandemic has significantly impacted various aspects of society and the economy, necessitating a thorough examination of the resulting implications. The study also investigates potential strategies and solutions to mitigate these challenges, ensuring the continuation of robust social and economic research in the region. Through an in-depth analysis of data and interviews with key stakeholders, the study reveals several significant findings. Firstly, researchers encountered difficulties in accessing primary data due to disruptions caused by the pandemic, leading to limitations in the scope and accuracy of their studies. Secondly, the study highlights the challenges faced in conducting fieldwork, such as restrictions on travel and face-to-face interactions, which impacted the ability to gather reliable data. Lastly, the research identifies the need for innovative research methodologies and digital tools to adapt to the new research landscape brought about by the pandemic. The study concludes by proposing recommendations to address these challenges, including utilizing remote data collection methods, leveraging digital technologies for data analysis, and establishing collaborations among researchers to overcome resource constraints. By addressing these issues, researchers in the social economic field can effectively navigate the post-COVID-19 research landscape, facilitating a deeper understanding of the socioeconomic impacts and facilitating evidence-based policy interventions.

Keywords: social economic, sociology, developing economies, COVID-19

Procedia PDF Downloads 56
2403 Generative Adversarial Network Based Fingerprint Anti-Spoofing Limitations

Authors: Yehjune Heo

Abstract:

Fingerprint Anti-Spoofing approaches have been actively developed and applied in real-world applications. One of the main problems for Fingerprint Anti-Spoofing is not robust to unseen samples, especially in real-world scenarios. A possible solution will be to generate artificial, but realistic fingerprint samples and use them for training in order to achieve good generalization. This paper contains experimental and comparative results with currently popular GAN based methods and uses realistic synthesis of fingerprints in training in order to increase the performance. Among various GAN models, the most popular StyleGAN is used for the experiments. The CNN models were first trained with the dataset that did not contain generated fake images and the accuracy along with the mean average error rate were recorded. Then, the fake generated images (fake images of live fingerprints and fake images of spoof fingerprints) were each combined with the original images (real images of live fingerprints and real images of spoof fingerprints), and various CNN models were trained. The best performances for each CNN model, trained with the dataset of generated fake images and each time the accuracy and the mean average error rate, were recorded. We observe that current GAN based approaches need significant improvements for the Anti-Spoofing performance, although the overall quality of the synthesized fingerprints seems to be reasonable. We include the analysis of this performance degradation, especially with a small number of samples. In addition, we suggest several approaches towards improved generalization with a small number of samples, by focusing on what GAN based approaches should learn and should not learn.

Keywords: anti-spoofing, CNN, fingerprint recognition, GAN

Procedia PDF Downloads 179
2402 Numerical Model for Investigation of Recombination Mechanisms in Graphene-Bonded Perovskite Solar Cells

Authors: Amir Sharifi Miavaghi

Abstract:

It is believed recombination mechnisms in graphene-bonded perovskite solar cells based on numerical model in which doped-graphene structures are employed as anode/cathode bonding semiconductor. Moreover, th‌‌‌‌e da‌‌‌‌‌rk-li‌‌‌‌‌ght c‌‌‌‌urrent d‌‌‌‌ens‌‌‌‌ity-vo‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ltage density-voltage cu‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌rves are investigated by regression analysis. L‌‌‌oss m‌‌‌‌echa‌‌‌‌nisms suc‌‌‌h a‌‌‌‌‌‌s ba‌‌‌‌ck c‌‌‌ontact b‌‌‌‌‌arrier, d‌‌‌‌eep surface defect i‌‌‌‌n t‌‌‌‌‌‌‌he adsorbent la‌‌‌yer is det‌‌‌‌‌ermined b‌‌‌y adapting th‌‌‌e sim‌‌‌‌‌ulated ce‌‌‌‌‌ll perfor‌‌‌‌‌mance to t‌‌‌‌he measure‌‌‌‌ments us‌‌‌‌ing the diffe‌‌‌‌‌‌rential evolu‌‌‌‌‌tion of th‌‌‌‌e global optimization algorithm. T‌‌‌‌he performance of t‌‌‌he c‌‌‌‌ell i‌‌‌‌n the connection proc‌‌‌‌‌ess incl‌‌‌‌‌‌udes J-V cur‌‌‌‌‌‌ves that are examined at di‌‌‌‌‌fferent tempe‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ratures an‌‌‌d op‌‌‌‌en cir‌‌‌‌cuit vol‌‌‌‌tage (V) und‌‌‌‌er differ‌‌‌‌‌ent light intensities as a function of temperature. Ba‌‌‌‌sed o‌‌‌n t‌‌‌he prop‌‌‌‌osed nu‌‌‌‌‌merical mod‌‌‌‌el a‌‌‌‌nd the acquired lo‌‌‌‌ss mecha‌‌‌‌‌‌nisms, our approach can be used to improve the efficiency of the solar cell further. Due to the high demand for alternative energy sources, solar cells are good alternatives for energy storage using the photovoltaic phenomenon.

Keywords: numerical model, recombination mechanism, graphen, perovskite solarcell

Procedia PDF Downloads 61
2401 Asymmetric Relation between Earnings and Returns

Authors: Seungmin Chee

Abstract:

This paper investigates which of the two arguments, conservatism or liquidation option, is a true underlying driver of the asymmetric slope coefficient result regarding the association between earnings and returns. The analysis of the relation between earnings and returns in four mutually exclusive settings segmented by ‘profits vs. losses’ and ‘positive returns vs. negative returns’ suggests that liquidation option rather than conservatism is likely to cause the asymmetric slope coefficient result. Furthermore, this paper documents the temporal changes between Basu period (1963-1990) and post-Basu period (1990-2005). Although no significant change in degree of conservatism or value relevance of losses is reported, stronger negative relation between losses and positive returns is observed in the post-Basu period. Separate regression analysis of each quintile based on the rankings of price to sales ratio and book to market ratio suggests that the strong negative relation is driven by growth firms.

Keywords: conservatism, earnings, liquidation option, returns

Procedia PDF Downloads 368
2400 The German Air Passenger Tax: An Empirical Analysis of Tourism Outflows

Authors: Paul Gurr, Maik Moser

Abstract:

In Europe, some countries recently abolished air passenger taxes (APT), while others issued or consider issuing an APT. From a fiscal perspective, APT can benefit the environment, while generating a vast amount of tax revenue with relatively low administration costs. However, they may have significant negative effects on the economy. Focusing on the German air passenger tax issued 2011, this work estimates the elasticity of tourism outflows using data on passenger departures from German airports between 2010 and 2016 aggregated by destination country. The results are obtained by estimating a model of the demand for outbound tourism. In line with theory, the regression results indicate a negative relationship between taxes and departures from Germany. Furthermore, on average, an increase of the air passenger tax rate results in a relatively higher decrease of passenger departures. The elasticity of tourism outflows can be used to estimate tax revenue changes and hence evaluate possible policy actions. Neglecting environmental reasons, the results suggest that tax revenue might be maximized by reducing the air passenger tax rate. Besides Germany, this work is also important for countries which have or consider implementing APT.

Keywords: air passenger tax, Germany, Outbound tourism, panel data

Procedia PDF Downloads 295