Search results for: experiment design method

Authors: Panisa Panyalert

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This research aims to study the difference between Thailand and China in using English language in the homestay business, and also promoting using English language in the Thai community for developing employees in the tourism business. Then, the two provinces which are Samut Songkram province, Thailand and Yangzhou province, China where English is not the official language can be occurred more problems and difficulties in the communication to foreign tourists. The study uses the questionnaire for collecting the data by distributing the questionnaire to the homestay’s staff both in Samut Songkram province, Thailand and Yangzhou province, China. The sample group is 100 homestays for each province. The method of participant as observer role is required to play during visiting each homestay. Due to the comparative of the research between Samut Songkram and Yangzhou homestays, there are two hypotheses, hypothesis one: there will be relationships between English using and the profit of a homestay, probability because if the homestay staff can speak English, there will be more travelers, especially foreigners come for staying, and hypothesis two: managers in Thailand may know more English than the Chinese homestay staff. The questionnaire is separated into three parts to answer the two hypotheses. The first part is about the general information of the informant, the second part is mainly concerned with the homestay business characteristics, and the third part is English language using. As a result, the research is clearly answered the second hypothesis which is Thai homestay is using more English language than Chinese homestay.

Keywords: English language, guesthouse, homestay, using English

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Authors: Antaram Sarve, Mahesh Varma, Shriram Sonawane

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Conventional route of producing biodiesel with alcohol produces glycerol as side product which leads to oversupply and devaluation in the world market. Supercritical methyl acetate (SCMA) has been proven to convert triglycerides into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and triacetin, which is a valuable biodiesel additive as side product rather than glycerol. However, due to the low reactivity of supercritical methyl acetate on triglycerides, high reaction conditions are required to obtained maximum yields. The present study describes the renewable approach for the production of biodiesel from low-cost, high acid value mahua oil under supercritical methyl acetate condition using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a co-solvent. CO2 was employed to decrease high reaction conditions required for supercritical methyl acetate transesterification. The influence of process parameters such as temperature, oil to methyl acetate molar ratio, reaction time, and the CO2 pressure was evaluated. The properties of biodiesel produced were found to be superior compared to conventional biodiesel method. Furthermore, SCMA has a high tolerance towards free fatty acids (FFAs) which is crucial to allow the utilization of inexpensive waste oils as a biodiesel feedstock.

Keywords: supercritical methyl acetate, CO2, biodiesel, fuel properties

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Authors: Mehtap Öztürk, Adem Öğüt, Emine Öğüt

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Leader member exchange is considered as relationship-based approach to leadership. The focal point of this theory is that effective leadership processes occur when leaders and followers are able to develop mature leadership relationships and thus gain access to a variety of benefits these relationships bring. In this context, it can be claimed that the quality of leader member exchange appears to have a strong affect on perceived organizational support and reduce turnover intention. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between the levels of leader member exchange, perceived organizational support and turnover intention on the employees of a health institution operating in the province of Konya. A field study based on survey method on 134 physicians who are employees of a health institution operating in the mentioned sample. In accordance with this purpose, it has been observed that there is a negative and statistically significant relationship between leader member exchange and turnover intention. Furthermore, it has been also realized that there is a negative and statistically significant relationship between perceived organizational support and turnover intention.

Keywords: leader member exchange, perceived organizational support, social exchange theory, turnover intention

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Authors: Chongyang Ye, Rong Liu

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Elastic compression stockings (ECSs) have been widely applied in prophylaxis and treatment of chronic venous insufficiency of lower extremities. The medical function of ECS is to improve venous return and increase muscular pumping action to facilitate blood circulation, which is largely determined by the complex interaction between the ECS and lower limb tissues. Understanding the mechanical transmission of ECS along the skin surface, deeper tissues, and vascular system is essential to assess the effectiveness of the ECSs. In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) model of the leg-ECS system integrated with a 3D fluid-solid interaction (FSI) model of the leg-vein system was constructed to analyze the biomechanical properties of veins and soft tissues under different ECS compression. The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the human leg was divided into three regions, including soft tissues, bones (tibia and fibula) and veins (peroneal vein, great saphenous vein, and small saphenous vein). The ECSs with pressure ranges from 15 to 26 mmHg (Classes I and II) were adopted in the developed FE-FSI model. The soft tissue was assumed as a Neo-Hookean hyperelastic model with the fixed bones, and the ECSs were regarded as an orthotropic elastic shell. The interfacial pressure and stress transmission were simulated by the FE model, and venous hemodynamics properties were simulated by the FSI model. The experimental validation indicated that the simulated interfacial pressure distributions were in accordance with the pressure measurement results. The developed model can be used to predict interfacial pressure, stress transmission, and venous hemodynamics exerted by ECSs and optimize the structure and materials properties of ECSs design, thus improving the efficiency of compression therapy.

Keywords: elastic compression stockings, fluid-solid interaction, tissue and vein properties, prediction

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Authors: Anselm Onyimonyi, A. Abaponitus

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One hundred and ninety two Shaver-Brown layers aged 40 weeks were used in a 10 weeks feeding trial to investigate the effect of supplementary moringa leaf meal and sun-dried garlic powder (MOGA) on the performance, egg yolk and serum cholesterol profiles of the birds. The birds were randomly assigned to four treatments in a 2 x 2 factorial in a Completely Randomized Design with 48 birds per treatment. Each treatment had 24 replicates with 2 birds, each separately housed in a cell in a battery cage. Birds on treatment 1 received a standard layers mash (16.5% CP and 3000 kcalME/kg) without any MOGA. Treatment 2 birds received the control diet with 5 g moringa leaf meal/kg of feed, treatment 3 received the control diet with 5 g sun-dried garlic powder/kg of feed, treatment 4 had a combination of 5 g each of moringa leaf meal and sun dried garlic powder/kg of feed. Data were kept on daily egg production, egg weight and feed intake. 10 eggs were collected per treatment at the end of the study for yolk cholesterol determination. Blood samples from four birds per treatment were collected and used for the serum cholesterol and triglycerides determination. Results showed that bird on treatment 3 (5% moringa leaf meal/kg of feed) had significantly higher (P < 0.05) Hen Day Egg Production record of 83.3% as against 78.75%, 65.05% and 66.67% recorded for the control, T2 and T4 birds, respectively. Egg weight of 56.39 g recorded for the same birds on treatment 3 was significantly (P< 0.05) lower than the values of 62.61 g, 60.99 g and 59.33 g recorded for birds on T4, T1 and T2, respectively. Yolk and serum cholesterol profiles of the moringa leaf meal fed birds were significantly (P<0.05) lowered when compared to those of the other treatments. Comparatively, the birds on the MOGA diets had significantly reduced yolk and serum cholesterol than the control. It is concluded that supplementation of moringa leaf meal and sun dried garlic powder at the levels used in this study will result in the production of nutritionally healthier eggs with less yolk and serum cholesterol.

Keywords: performance, cholesterol, moringa, garlic

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Authors: Mohammed Abbas Al-Jumaili

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There are some studies which have been conducted in resent years to investigate the possibility of producing high performance polymer concrete. However, despite the great important of this subject, very limited amount of literature is available about the strength and performance of this type of concrete in case using in rigid pavement highway. In this study, the possibility of producing high performance polymer concrete by using Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) emulsion with various (SBR) percents of 5,10 ,15, and 20 % by weight of cement has been investigated. The compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths and dynamic modulus of elasticity tests were conducted after age of 7 and 28 days for control without polymer and SBR concretes. A total of (30) cubes, (30) cylinders and (30) prisms were prepared using different types of concrete mixes. The AASHTO guide-1993 method was used to determine slab concrete thickness of rigid pavement highway in case of using various SBR polymer concrete mixture types. The research results indicate that the use of 10% SBR by weight of cement leads to produce high performance concrete especially with regard to mechanical properties and structural relative to corresponding control concrete.

Keywords: rigid pavement highway, styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) latex, compressive test, splitting tensile test, flexural test and dynamic modulus of elasticity test

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Authors: Shanmugasundaram Selvadurai, Amal Chandran

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Small satellites have become an alternative low-cost solution for several missions to accomplish specific missions such as Earth imaging, Technology demonstration, Education, and other commercial purposes. Small satellite missions focusing on Infrared imaging applications require lower temperature for scientific instruments and such low temperature can be achieved only using external cryocoolers but the disadvantage is that they generate a large amount of waste heat. Existing passive thermal control techniques are not capable to handle such large thermal loads and hence one of the traditional active Thermal Control System (TCS) is studied for a small satellite configuration. This work aims to downscale the existing Mechanically Pumped Fluid Loop (MPFL) TCS to a 27U CubeSat platform for an imaginary scientific instrument. The temperature-sensitive detector in the instrument considered to be maintained between 130K and 150K to reduce dark current noise and increase the data quality. A Single-Phase fluid based MPFL is chosen for this system-level study and this TCS consists of a microfluid pump, a micro-cryocooler, a fluid accumulator, external heaters, flow regulators, and sensors. This work also explains the thermal control system architecture with a conceptual design, arrangement of all the components, and thermal analysis for different low orbit conditions. Sizing and extensive trade studies for the components are conducted and the results have shown that the Single-phase MPFL system is able to handle the given thermal loads and maintain the satellite’s interface temperature within the desired limit.

Keywords: active thermal control system, satellite thermal, mechanically pumped fluid loop system, cryogenics, cryocooler

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Authors: Matúš Mihalik, Martin Vavra, Kornel Csach, Marián Mihalik

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GdMnO₃ belongs to orthorhombically distorted, GdFeO₃-type family of perovskite compounds. These compounds are naturally vacant and the amount of vacancies depend on the sample preparation conditions. Our GdMnO₃ samples were prepared by float zone method and the vacancies were controlled using an air, Ar and O₂ preparation atmosphere. The highest amount of vacancies was found for sample prepared in Ar atmosphere, while the sample prepared in O₂ was observed to be almost vacancy-free. The magnetic measurements indicate that the preparation atmosphere has no impact on Néel temperature (TN ~ 42 K), however, it has strong impact on the incommensurate antiferromagnetic (IC) to canted A-type weak ferromagnetic (AWF) phase transition at T1: T1 = 23.4 K; 18 K and 6.7 K for samples prepared in Ar; air and O₂ atmosphere; respectively. The hysteresis loop measured at 2 K has a butterfly-type shape with the remnant magnetization (Mr) of 0.6 µB/f.u. for Ar and air sample, while Mr = 0.3 µB/f.u. for O₂ sample. The shape of the hysteresis loop depends on the preparation atmosphere in magnetic fields up to 1.5 T, but is independent for higher magnetic fields. The coercive field of less than 0.06 T and the maximum magnetic moment of 6 µB/f.u. at magnetic field µ0H = 7 T do not depend on the preparation atmosphere. All these findings indicate that only AWF phase of GdMnO₃ compound is directly affected by the vacancies in the system, while IC phase and the field induced ferroelectric phase are not affected.

Keywords: magnetism, perovskites, sample preparation, magnetic phase transition

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Authors: Hui-Fang Lee, Hsuan-Jung Hsieh, Wen-Chi Lu, Meng-Chu Liu

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The purpose of the study was to examine abnormal BMI students of Chien Hsin University of Science and Technology, implement teaching aerobics course through elementary and advanced curriculum design, dietary education and three-day dietary record, analyze participant fitness improvement, an 10-week course as well as pre-test and post-test were carried out to evaluate the effect of the aerobics course on the fitness ability. The actual participate elementary and advanced courses each of 40 people, with low participation deduction course unfinished fitness testing, access to elementary curriculum valid samples 35 (87.5%) people, advanced courses valid samples 38(95%) people, 16 students participated in two consecutive courses. The fitness activities included sit-bending, one-minute sit-ups, standing long jump, and three minutes to board the stage. Analysis and comparison to the average three-day dietary record difference, an independent samples t-test was conducted to analyze the differences in the four activities between pre-test and post-test. The results showed that the elementary course had significant effects on females’ sit-bending and one minute sit-ups, the females also had high fat intake in three-day dietary record. The advanced course had significant effects on males’ sit-bending and on females’ BMI, sit-bending and standing long jump, males and females in three-day dietary record carbohydrate intake slightly low, slightly higher protein and fat intake. In conclusion, aerobics course teaching, dietary education and three-day, dietary record implementation can significantly enhance the physical fitness indicators, and continued to participate in advanced courses better. In the practice of sport should be the future course planning elementary and advanced courses, while introducing dietary education, achieve concrete results in improving physical fitness.

Keywords: physical fitness, aerobics course, dietary education, three-day dietary record

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Authors: Xianping Du, Runlu Miao, Guanjun Zhang, Libo Cao, Feng Zhu

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Current vehicle safety standards and human body injury criteria were established based on the biomechanical response of Euro-American human body, without considering the difference in the body anthropometry and injury characteristics among different races, particularly the East Asian people with smaller body size. Absence of such race specific design considerations will negatively influence the protective performance of safety products for these populations, and weaken the accuracy of injury thresholds derived. To resolve these issues, in this study, we aim to develop a race specific finite element model to simulate the impact response of the lower extremity of a 50th percentile East Asian (Chinese) male. The model was built based on medical images for the leg of an average size Chinese male and slightly adjusted based on the statistical data. The model includes detailed anatomic features and is able to simulate the muscle active force. Thirteen biomechanical tests available in the literature were used to validate its biofidelity. Using the validated model, a pedestrian-car impact accident taking place in China was re-constructed computationally. The results show that the newly developed lower leg model has a good performance in predicting dynamic response and tibia fracture pattern. An additional comparison on the fracture tolerance of the East Asian and Euro-American lower limb suggests that the current injury criterion underestimates the degree of injury of East Asian human body.

Keywords: lower limb, East Asian body characteristics, traffic accident reconstruction, finite element analysis, injury tolerance

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Authors: Guo Yan

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Clothing recycling bin is a traditional way to collect textile waste in many areas. In the clothing recycling business, the transportation cost normally takes over 50% of total costs. This case gives a good way to reduce transportation cost by reverse logistics system. In this reverse logistics system, there are offline strategic alliance partners, such as transport firms, convenience stores, laundries, and post office which are integrated onto the mobile APP. Offline strategic alliance partners provide the service of textile waste collection, and transportation by their vacant vehicles return journey from convenience stores, laundries and post offices to sorting centers. The results of the case study provide the strategic alliance with a valuable and light - asset business model by using the logistics of offline memberships. The company in this case just focuses on textile waste sorting, reuse, recycling etc. The research method of this paper is a case study of a clothing recycling company in Chengdu by field research and interview; the analysis is based on the theory of the reverse logistics system.

Keywords: closed-loop recycles system, clothing recycling, end-of-life clothing, sharing economy, strategic alliance, reverse logistics.

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Authors: T. Sikram, M. Ichinose, R. Sasaki

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In the tropics, indoor thermal environment is usually provided by a cooling mode to maintain comfort all year. Indoor thermal environment performance is sometimes different from the standard or from the first design process because of operation, maintenance, and utilization. The field study of thermal environment in the green building is still limited in this region, while the green building continues to increase. This study aims to clarify thermal performance and subjective perception in the green building by testing the temperature set-points. A Thai green office was investigated twice in October 2018 and in May 2019. Indoor environment variables (temperature, relative humidity, and wind velocity) were collected continuously. The temperature set-point was normally set as 23 °C, and it was changed into 24 °C and 25 °C. The study found that this gap of temperature set-point produced average room temperature from 22.7 to 24.6 °C and average relative humidity from 55% to 62%. Thermal environments slight shifted out of the ASHRAE comfort zone when the set-point was increased. Based on the thermal sensation vote, the feeling-colder vote decreased by 30% and 18% when changing +1 °C and +2 °C, respectively. Predicted mean vote (PMV) shows that most of the calculated median values were negative. The values went close to the optimal neutral value (0) when the set-point was set at 25 °C. The neutral temperature was slightly decreased when changing warmer temperature set-points. Building-related symptom reports were found in this study that the number of votes reduced continuously when the temperature was warmer. The symptoms that occurred by a cooler condition had the number of votes more than ones that occurred by a warmer condition. In sum, for this green office, there is a possibility to adjust a higher temperature set-point to +1 °C (24 °C) in terms of reducing cold sensitivity, discomfort, and symptoms. All results could support the policy of changing a warmer temperature of this office to become “a better green building”.

Keywords: thermal environment, green office, temperature set-point, comfort

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Authors: Erizal Lugman

Abstract:

To achieve their academic goals whilst studying abroad, international students must successfully adjust to cross-cultural differences. As a result, they need to develop new abilities including intercultural competence and politeness in order to effectively communicate with different languages and cultures. (Im)politeness is also an essential aspect of intercultural competence which is vital for effective intercultural communication. This study seeks to integrate different aspects of intercultural competence, (im)politeness and the use of social media platforms which is solely focused on Indonesian students studying in the UK. Using a purposive sampling method, participants will be recruited to address the research questions who will all be volunteers and have lived in Britain for at least six months or who have passed the cultural adjustment period. Using a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, in this respect, participants will be recruited and asked to relate the intercultural experiences they encountered during the cultural adjustment period through the use of e-portfolios, interviews, and critical reflection. This will be followed by online surveying from the Indonesian participants' point of view using the cross-cultural adaptability inventory (CCAI), which aims to measure the individual potential for cross-cultural adaptability. A discursive approach will be employed which aims to focus on analysing (im)politeness as reported and narrated by the participants.

Keywords: im)politeness, intercultural communication, intercultural competence, social media

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Sabah El-Sawalhi, Elie Fayad, Roula M. Abdel-Massih

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Ilex paraguariensis (Yerba Mate) is a medium to large tree commonly consumed by South Americans. Its leaves and stems are associated with different biological activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of Yerba Mate against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains and its action against some resistant bacteria with different resistance profiles. Yerba Mate aqueous extracts were prepared at 70°C for 2 hrs, and the microdilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Gram-positive bacteria exhibited a stronger antibacterial activity (MIC ranged between 0.468 mg/mL and 15 mg/mL) than Gram-negative bacteria. Yerba Mate was also extracted with acetone: water (1:1) and then further sub-fractionated with hexane, chloroform, and ethyl acetate. MIC values against Staphylococcus aureus ranged from 0.78 to 2.5 mg/ml for the chloroform fraction, from 1.56 to 3.75 mg/ml for the ethyl acetate fraction, and 0.78 to 1.87 mg/ml for the water fraction. The water fraction also exhibited antibacterial activity against Salmonella species (MIC ranged from 1.56 mg/ml to 3.12 mg/ml). The water fraction exhibited the highest antibacterial activity among all the fractions obtained. More studies are needed to determine the molecule or molecules responsible for this activity.

Keywords: antibacterial activity, bacterial resistance, minimum inhibitory concentration, yerba mate

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Y. P. Wang, J. K. Chen, C. H. Lee, G. H. Huang, M. C. Wang, S. W. Chen, Y. T. Kuan, H. C. Lin, C. Y. Huang, W. H. Liang, W. C. Lin, H. C. Yu

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The hi-tech industries in the Science Park at southern Taiwan were heavily damaged by a strong earthquake early 2016. The financial loss in this event was attributed primarily to the automated stocker system handling fully processed products, and recovery of the automated stocker system from the aftermath proved to contribute major lead time. Therefore, development of effective means for protection of stockers against earthquakes has become the highest priority for risk minimization and business continuity. This study proposes to mitigate the seismic response of the stockers by introducing viscous fluid dampers in between the ceiling and the top of the stockers. The stocker is expected to vibrate less violently with a passive control force on top. Linear damper is considered in this application with an optimal damping coefficient determined from a preliminary parametric study. The damper is small in size in comparison with those adopted for building or bridge applications. Component test of the dampers has been carried out to make sure they meet the design requirement. Shake table tests have been further conducted to verify the proposed scheme under realistic earthquake conditions. Encouraging results have been achieved by effectively reducing the seismic responses of up to 60% and preventing the FOUPs from falling off the shelves that would otherwise be the case if left unprotected. Effectiveness of adopting a viscous fluid damper for seismic control of the stocker on top against the ceiling has been confirmed. This technique has been adopted by Macronix International Co., LTD for seismic retrofit of existing stockers. Demonstrative projects on the application of the proposed technique are planned underway for other companies in the display industry as well.

Keywords: hi-tech industries, seismic protection, automated stocker system, viscous fluid damper

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Authors: Mehrnoosh Askarizadeh

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People, process and IT are the most important assets of any organization. Optimal utilization of these resources has been the question of research in business for many decades. The business world have responded by inventing various methodologies that can be used for addressing problems of quality improvement, efficiency of processes, continuous improvement, reduction of waste, automation, strategy alignments etc. Some of these methodologies can be commonly called as Business Process Quality Management methodologies (BPQM). In essence, the first references to the process management can be traced back to Frederick Taylor and scientific management. Time and motion study was addressed to improvement of manufacturing process efficiency. The ideas of scientific management were in use for quite a long period until more advanced quality management techniques were developed in Japan and USA. One of the first prominent methods had been Total Quality Management (TQM) which evolved during 1980’s. About the same time, Six Sigma (SS) originated at Motorola as a separate method. SS spread and evolved; and later joined with ideas of Lean manufacturing to form Lean Six Sigma. In 1990’s due to emerging IT technologies, beginning of globalization, and strengthening of competition, companies recognized the need for better process and quality management. Business Process Management (BPM) emerged as a novel methodology that has taken all this into account and helped to align IT technologies with business processes and quality management. In this article we will study various aspects of above mentioned methods and identified their relations.

Keywords: e-process, quality, TQM, BPM, lean, six sigma, CPI, information technology, management

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Authors: Ru-Yu Lien, Shih-Hsin Hung, Shu-Fen Lu, Ju-Jen Shie, Wen-Ju Yang, Yuann-Meei Tzeng, Chien-Ying Wang

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Background: The quality of care in intensive care units (ICUs) is crucial, especially for terminally ill patients. Shared decision-making (SDM) with families is essential to ensure appropriate care and reduce suffering. Aim: This study explores the effectiveness of an end-of-life decision support Patient Decision Aid (PDA) in an ICU setting. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional research design conducted in an ICU from August 2020 to June 2023. Participants included family members of end-of-life patients aged 20 or older. A total of 319 participants. Family members of end-of-life patients received the PDA, and data were collected after they made medical decisions. Data collection involved providing family members with a PDA during family meetings. A post-PDA questionnaire with 17 questions assessed PDA effectiveness and anxiety levels. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0. Results: The PDA significantly reduced anxiety levels among family members (p < 0.001). It helped them organize their thoughts, prepare for discussions with doctors, and understand critical decision factors. Most importantly, it influenced decision outcomes, with a shift towards palliative care and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of family-centered end-of-life care in ICUs. PDAs promote informed decision-making, reduce conflicts, and enhance patient and family involvement. These tools align patient values and goals with medical recommendations, ultimately leading to decisions that prioritize comfort and quality of life. Implementing PDAs in healthcare systems can ensure that patients' care aligns with their values.

Keywords: shared decision-making, patient decision aid, end-of-life care, intensive care unit, family-centered care

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Authors: Farzad Khajavi

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Studies about the interaction between active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and excipients are so important in the pre-formulation stage of development of all dosage forms. Analytical techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Thermal gravimetry (TG), and Furrier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) are commonly used tools for investigating regarding compatibility and incompatibility of APIs with excipients. Sometimes the interpretation of data obtained from these techniques is difficult because of severe overlapping of API spectrum with excipients in their mixtures. Principal component analysis (PCA) as a powerful factor analytical method is used in these situations to resolve data matrices acquired from these analytical techniques. Binary mixtures of API and interested excipients are considered and produced. Peaks of FTIR, DSC, or TG of pure API and excipient and their mixtures at different mole ratios will construct the rows of the data matrix. By applying PCA on the data matrix, the number of principal components (PCs) is determined so that it contains the total variance of the data matrix. By plotting PCs or factors obtained from the score of the matrix in two-dimensional spaces if the pure API and its mixture with the excipient at the high amount of API and the 1:1mixture form a separate cluster and the other cluster comprise of the pure excipient and its blend with the API at the high amount of excipient. This confirms the existence of compatibility between API and the interested excipient. Otherwise, the incompatibility will overcome a mixture of API and excipient.

Keywords: API, compatibility, DSC, TG, interactions

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Authors: Ghasem Sharifi, Hamed Shahmohamadi Ousaloo, Milad Azimi, Mehran Mirshams

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The ever-increasing use of satellites demands a search for increasingly accurate and reliable pointing systems. Reaction wheels are rotating devices used commonly for the attitude control of the spacecraft since provide a wide range of torque magnitude and high reliability. The numerical modeling of this device can significantly enhance the accuracy of the satellite control in space. Modeling the wheel rotation in the presence of the various frictions is one of the critical parts of this approach. This paper presents a Dynamic Model Control of a Reaction Wheel (DMCR) in the current control mode. In current-mode, the required current is delivered to the coils in order to achieve the desired torque. During this research, all the friction parameters as viscous and coulomb, motor coefficient, resistance and voltage constant are identified. In order to model identification of a reaction wheel, numerous varying current commands apply on the particular wheel to verify the estimated model. All the parameters of DMCR are identified by classical Levenberg-Marquardt (CLM) optimization method. The experimental results demonstrate that the developed model has an appropriate precise and can be used in the satellite control simulation.

Keywords: experimental modeling, friction parameters, model identification, reaction wheel

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Authors: Susan Lanz, Gary T. Burke, Omid Omidvar

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The intention to transfer ownership control across family generations is acknowledged to be central to developing a theoretical understanding of how family businesses differ and are distinct as a business group. However, in practice, most business-owning families face challenges to transfer their business ownership from one family generation to the next. To date, researchers have paid little attention to how and when ownership is passed across family generations and what the dynamics of such transitions are. This is primarily due to the prevailing assumption that ownership transfer is an unimportant and legalistic issue that occurs within a wider family management succession process. Yet, the limited evidence available suggests that family ownership transfer occurs inside and outside of the management succession process and is a difficult process for business-owning families to navigate. As a result, many otherwise viable family businesses are closing, leading to unnecessary loss of jobs and knowledge. This qualitative paper examines how family members understand and navigate the ownership transfer process. This study uses an inductive qualitative research design, conducted through in-depth interviews within eight business-owning families. It draws on family development theory and shows how a wide range of family-related events and dynamics outside of family business involvement underlie and shape the ownership transfer process. The findings extend the theory on how these events trigger ownership transfer and how they shape the ownership meanings held within business-owning families. This study found that ownership transfer meanings extend beyond that of transferring the legal control and financial appropriation rights of shareholders. The study concludes there are three different stages in the process of ownership transfer -symbolic, re-balancing, and protectionist. Each stage creates distinct family social constructions of the rights of family members to hold business ownership, and each stage occurs within a specific family development phase.

Keywords: business-owning family, family development theory, ownership transfer, process

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Authors: Vaclav Mentl, P. Zlabek, J. Volak

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New methods of mechanical testing were developed recently that are based on making use of miniature test specimens (e.g. Small Punch Test). The most important advantage of these method is the nearly non-destructive withdrawal of test material and small size of test specimen what is interesting in cases of remaining lifetime assessment when a sufficient volume of the representative material cannot be withdrawn of the component in question. In opposite, the most important disadvantage of such methods stems from the necessity to correlate test results with the results of standardised test procedures and to build up a database of material data in service. The correlations among the miniature test specimen data and the results of standardised tests are necessary. The paper describes the results of fatigue tests performed on miniature tests specimens in comparison with traditional fatigue tests for several steels applied in power producing industry. Special miniature test specimens fixtures were designed and manufactured for the purposes of fatigue testing at the Zwick/Roell 10HPF5100 testing machine. The miniature test specimens were produced of the traditional test specimens. Seven different steels were fatigue loaded (R = 0.1) at room temperature.

Keywords: mechanical properties, miniature test specimens, correlations, small punch test, micro-tensile test, mini-charpy impact test

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Authors: Cheng Fang, Lingwei Quan, Cunyue Lu

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Human pose estimation and tracking are to accurately identify and locate the positions of human joints in the video. It is a computer vision task which is of great significance for human motion recognition, behavior understanding and scene analysis. There has been remarkable progress on human pose estimation in recent years. However, more researches are needed for human pose tracking especially for online tracking. In this paper, a framework, called PoseSRPN, is proposed for online single-person pose estimation and tracking. We use Siamese network attaching a pose estimation branch to incorporate Single-person Pose Tracking (SPT) and Visual Object Tracking (VOT) into one framework. The pose estimation branch has a simple network structure that replaces the complex upsampling and convolution network structure with deconvolution. By augmenting the loss of fully convolutional Siamese network with the pose estimation task, pose estimation and tracking can be trained in one stage. Once trained, PoseSRPN only relies on a single bounding box initialization and producing human joints location. The experimental results show that while maintaining the good accuracy of pose estimation on COCO and PoseTrack datasets, the proposed method achieves a speed of 59 frame/s, which is superior to other pose tracking frameworks.

Keywords: computer vision, pose estimation, pose tracking, Siamese network

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Authors: Lucy Novianti

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The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of corporate governance, ownership structure, and cash holdings on firm value, either direct or indirect through profitability as an intervening variable for non-financial companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2006 to 2014. Samples of 176 firms are chosen based on purposive sampling method. The results of this study conclude that profitability, the size of Audit Committee, audit quality, and cash flow have positive effects on firm value. This study also shows that the meeting frequency of the Board of Directors and free cash flow have negative effects on firm value. In addition, this study finds that the size of the Board of Directors, Independent Commissioner, and ownership structure do not have significant effects on firm value. In this study, the function of profitability as an intervening variable can only be done on the impact of the meeting frequency of the Board of Directors and cash flow on firm value. This study provides a reference for management in decision making concerning the application of corporate governance, cash holdings, and financial performance. Moreover, it can be used as additional information for investors in assessing the feasibility of an investment. Finally, it provides a suggestion for the government regarding the regulation of corporate governance.

Keywords: cash holdings, corporate governance, firm value, ownership structure, profitability

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Authors: M. A. Lahmer, K. Guergouri

Abstract:

In this work, Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method was applied to study the thermal stability of hydrogen in ZnO bulk and thin films. Our simulation includes different possible events such as interstitial hydrogen (Hi) jumps, substitutional hydrogen (HO) formation and dissociation, oxygen and zinc vacancies jumps, hydrogen-VZn complexes formation and dissociation, HO-Hi complex formation and hydrogen molecule (H2) formation and dissociation. The obtained results show that the hidden hydrogen formed during thermal annealing or at room temperature is constituted of both hydrogen molecule and substitutional hydrogen. The ratio of this constituants depends on the initial defects concentration as well as the annealing temperature. For annealing temperature below 300°C hidden hydrogen was found to be constituted from both substitutional hydrogen and hydrogen molecule, however, for higher temperature it is composed essentially from HO defects only because H2 was found to be unstable. In the other side, our results show that the remaining hydrogen amount in sample during thermal annealing depend greatly on the oxygen vacancies in the material. H2 molecule was found to be stable for thermal annealing up to 200°C, VZnHn complexes are stable up to 350°C and HO was found to be stable up to 450°C.

Keywords: ZnO, hydrogen, thermal annealing, kinetic Monte Carlo

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Authors: Annisa Amalina, Lintang Sekar Sari, Khairunnisa Salsabila, Astya Gema Ramadhan, M. Fatkhi, Andani Eka Putra

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Gonorrhea is one of the sexually transmitted diseases by genito-genital, oro-genital and anogenital. Gonorrhea disease will cause complications if not treated properly. The diagnostic tool that has been used nowadays is microscopic. Thus a rapid diagnostic tool for gonorrhea is required, using polyclonal antibodies. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of injections of intravenous, subcutaneous and intracutaneous crude protein gonorrhea. The research method used in this research is experimental explorative. This research was conducted in Molecular Microbiology Laboratory of Faculty of Medicine, Andalas University for 3 months from April to June 2017. This study used 3 groups of rabbit with intravenous, subcutaneous, and intracutaneous injections. Each group was treated on days 1, 7, 21, and 28 with crude protein injection. After that, the examination of antibody levels held by using ELISA, followed by the antibody comparative tests contained in all three groups. The results examined by One Way ANOVA test on SPSS 21 and showed that there is no significant difference between intravenous, subcutaneous, and intracutaneous use p=0.69 (p < 0.05). However, there is an increased level (0.047 to 1.171) in antibodies from day 1 to day 14. In addition, subcutaneous use is preferred because it has minimal side effects compared to intravenous and intracutaneous use.

Keywords: crude protein, Neisseria gonorrhea, polyclonal antibodies, subcutaneous

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Authors: Marvin Ricardo Awarab

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There has never been a greater need for telecom services. The Internet of Things (IoT), 5G networking, and edge computing are the driving forces behind this increased demand. The fierce demand offers communications service providers significant income opportunities. The telecom sector is centered on automation, and realizing a digital operation that functions as a real-time business will be crucial for the industry as a whole. Automation in telecom refers to the application of technology to create a more effective, quick, and scalable alternative to the conventional method of operating the telecom industry. With the promotion of 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT), telecom companies will continue to invest extensively in telecom automation technology. Automation offers benefits in the telecom industry; developing countries such as Namibia may not fully tap into such benefits because of the lack of funds and infrastructural resources to invest in automation. This paper fully investigates the benefits of automation in the telecom industry. Furthermore, the paper identifies hiccups that developing countries such as Namibia face in their quest to fully introduce automation in the telecom industry. Additionally, the paper proposes possible avenues that Namibia, as a developing country, adopt investing in automation infrastructural resources with the aim of reaping the full benefits of automation in the telecom industry.

Keywords: automation, development, internet, internet of things, network, telecom, telecommunications policy, 5G

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Authors: Arifa Batool, Ghulam Hussain Bhatti, Syed Mujtaba Shah

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Inorganic n-type (TiO2, CdO) and p-type (NiO, CuO) metal oxide nanoparticles were synthesized by a facile wet chemical method at room temperature. The morphological, compositional, structural and optical properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, FT-IR, XRD analysis, UV/Visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. All semiconducting nanoparticles were photosensitized with Ru (II) based Z907 dye in ethanol solvent by grafting. Grafting of dye on the surface of nanoparticles was confirmed by UV/Visible and FT-IR spectroscopy. The synthesized photo-active nanohybrid was thoroughly blended with P3HT, a solid electrolyte and I-V measurements under solar stimulated radiations 1000 W/m2 (AM 1.5) were recorded. Maximum incident photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 0.9% was achieved with dye functionalized Z907-TiO2 hybrid, IPCE of 0.72% was achieved with bulk-heterojunction of TiO2-Z907-CuO and IPCE of 0.68% was attained with nanocomposite of TiO2-CdO. TiO2 based Solar cells have maximum Jscvalue i.e.4.63 mA/cm2. Dye-functionalized TiO2-based photovoltaic devices were found more efficient than the reference device but the morphology of the device was a major check in progress.

Keywords: solar cell, bulk heterojunction, nanocomposites, photosensitization, dye sensitized solar cell

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Authors: Ali Al Shamli, Talal AlMamari

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Background: The relationship between motivation and satisfaction is posited to be mediated by reward. In this study, the motivation construct was measured by a motivation scale. The scale when factor analysed generated five factors. These factors were referred as; 1) leisure motivation, 2) egoistic motivation, 3) external motivation, 4) purposive, and 5) material motivation. The reward construct was measured by using a five-item scale whereas the satisfaction construct was measured by using a 13-item scale. The scale when factor analysed produced three factors which are referred as; 1) satisfaction A, 2) satisfaction B, and 3) satisfaction C. Objective: The main purpose of the present paper was to find out the relation of motivation and reward with volunteer satisfaction at national sports organizations (NPSOs) in Oman. Methods: This current study adopts a cross-sectional design as the data collection is done only once whereas the mode of administration was postal questionnaire where each questionnaire was posted, completed, and returned using the self-addressed envelope after its completion. The population of the study consisted of (160) boards and directors members of NPSOs (Non-Profit Sports Organization Services) in Oman from all 43 sports club. Results: The findings provided new empirical evidence that supported the argument of the relationship between motivation and satisfaction is indeed, mediated by reward. However, this study differs in that the relationship was tested based on the first-order constructs which were derived from the underlying dimensions of both motivation and satisfaction constructs. It was established that the relationships between motivation B and motivation C with satisfaction A are mediated by reward. Conclusion: In light of study findings, there is a direct relationship between developmental motivation and experiential satisfaction, a direct relationship between social motivation and relational satisfaction, as well as personal motivation and relational satisfaction, is mediated by reward. Therefore, Omani volunteers are less reliant on the reward as evidenced by the direct relationship between motivation A and satisfaction and between motivation C and satisfaction A. More tests in different settings will provide more understanding on volunteer motivation.

Keywords: non-profit sports organization, sport and reward, volunteers in sport, satisfaction in sport

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Authors: Asaad Alhabsi, Alyaqdan Algafri

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Aim: Reporting 83 years old man with history of left upper eyelid swelling post 4-lids blepharoplasty diagnosed based on clinical presentation and Radiological imaging with pseudoaneurysm of frontal branch of Superficial Temporal Artery post blepharoplasty. METHODS: 83 years old who presented to a Tertiary ophthalmic center with painless left upper eyelids swelling for 2 months post 4-lids blepharoplasty. Left subcutaneous, sub-brow lesion, in the supertemporal pre-septal area, large mass found and excised surgically. Then he developed recurrent larger mass twice first time treated with aspiration of blood, second time diagnosed with superficial temporal artery (STA) pseudoaneurysm of frontal branch treated with endovascular embolization. RESULTS: Pseudoaneurysm of superficial temporal artery (STA) is a rare, presenting usual post head or face trauma .literature reported few cases of such conditions post operatively, and no reported cases post blepharoplasty. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical intervention is the gold standard of treatment either directly by dissecting the aneurysmal sac and ligate both ends, or endovascular method of injecting thrombin or embolization which was done in this patient by interventional radiologist.

Keywords: superficial temporal artery, pseudoaneurysm, blepharoplasty, Oculoplasty

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Authors: Zahra Khodaee

Abstract:

Environmental Justice (EJ) concept consists of multifaceted movements, community struggles, and discourses in contemporary societies that seek to reduce environmental risks, increase environmental protections, and generally reduce environmental inequalities suffered by minority and poor communities; a term that incorporates ‘environmental racism’ and ‘environmental classism,’ captures the idea that different racial and socioeconomic groups experience differential access to environmental quality. This article explores environmental justice as an urban phenomenon in urban planning and applies it in peri-urban environment of a metropolis. Tehran peri-urban environments which are the result of meeting the city- village- nature systems or «city-village junction» have gradually faced effects such as accelerated environmental decline, changes without land-use plan, and severe service deficiencies. These problems are instances of environmental injustice which make the planners to adjust the problems and use and apply the appropriate strategies and policies by looking for solutions and resorting to theories, techniques and methods related to environmental justice. In order to access to this goal, try to define environmental justice through justice and determining environmental justice indices to analysis environmental injustice in case study. Then, make an effort to introduce some criteria to select case study in two micro and micro levels. Qiyamdasht town as the peri-urban environment of Tehran metropolis is chosen and examined to show the existence of environmental injustice by questionnaire analysis and SPSS software. Finally, use AIDA technique to design a strategic plan and reduce environmental injustice in case study by introducing the better scenario to be used in policy and decision making areas.

Keywords: environmental justice, metropolis of Tehran, Qiyam, Dasht peri, urban settlement, analysis of interconnected decision area (AIDA)

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