Search results for: Random Fixed Point Theorem

Authors: Stephan Boehm, Julia Engel, Judith Eisser

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During the last decade communication in the Internet transformed from a broadcast to a conversational model by supporting more interactive features, enabling user generated content and introducing social media networks. Another important trend with a significant impact on electronic commerce is a massive usage shift from desktop to mobile devices. However, a presentation of product- or service-related information accumulated on websites, micro pages or portals often remains the pivot and focal point of a customer journey. A more recent change of user behavior –especially in younger user groups and in Asia– is going along with the increasing adoption of messaging applications supporting almost real-time but asynchronous communication on mobile devices. Mobile apps of this type cannot only provide an alternative for traditional one-to-one communication on mobile devices like voice calls or short messaging service. Moreover, they can be used in mobile commerce as a new marketing and sales channel, e.g., for product promotions and direct marketing activities. This requires a new way of customer interaction compared to traditional mobile commerce activities and functionalities provided based on mobile web-sites. One option better aligned to the customer interaction in mes-saging apps are so-called chatbots. Chatbots are conversational programs or dialog systems simulating a text or voice based human interaction. They can be introduced in mobile messaging and social media apps by using rule- or artificial intelligence-based imple-mentations. In this context, a comparative analysis is conducted to examine the impact of using traditional websites or chatbots for promoting a product in an impulse purchase situation. The aim of this study is to measure the impact on the customers’ user experi-ence and emotions. The study is based on a random sample of about 60 smartphone users in the group of 20 to 30-year-olds. Participants are randomly assigned into two groups and participate in a traditional website or innovative chatbot based mobile com-merce scenario. The chatbot-based scenario is implemented by using a Wizard-of-Oz experimental approach for reasons of sim-plicity and to allow for more flexibility when simulating simple rule-based and more advanced artificial intelligence-based chatbot setups. A specific set of metrics is defined to measure and com-pare the user experience in both scenarios. It can be assumed, that users get more emotionally involved when interacting with a system simulating human communication behavior instead of browsing a mobile commerce website. For this reason, innovative face-tracking and analysis technology is used to derive feedback on the emotional status of the study participants while interacting with the website or the chatbot. This study is a work in progress. The results will provide first insights on the effects of chatbot usage on user experiences and emotions in mobile commerce environments. Based on the study findings basic requirements for a user-centered design and implementation of chatbot solutions for mobile com-merce can be derived. Moreover, first indications on situations where chatbots might be favorable in comparison to the usage of traditional website based mobile commerce can be identified.

Keywords: chatbots, emotions, mobile commerce, user experience, Wizard-of-Oz prototyping

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Authors: Krisada Lekdee, Sunee Sammatat, Nittaya Boonsit

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This paper proposes a GLMM with spatial and temporal effects for malaria data in Thailand. A Bayesian method is used for parameter estimation via Gibbs sampling MCMC. A conditional autoregressive (CAR) model is assumed to present the spatial effects. The temporal correlation is presented through the covariance matrix of the random effects. The malaria quarterly data have been extracted from the Bureau of Epidemiology, Ministry of Public Health of Thailand. The factors considered are rainfall and temperature. The result shows that rainfall and temperature are positively related to the malaria morbidity rate. The posterior means of the estimated morbidity rates are used to construct the malaria maps. The top 5 highest morbidity rates (per 100,000 population) are in Trat (Q3, 111.70), Chiang Mai (Q3, 104.70), Narathiwat (Q4, 97.69), Chiang Mai (Q2, 88.51), and Chanthaburi (Q3, 86.82). According to the DIC criterion, the proposed model has a better performance than the GLMM with spatial effects but without temporal terms.

Keywords: Bayesian method, generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), malaria, spatial effects, temporal correlation

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Authors: Yadollah Hezarjaribi, Mahdie Yari Esboi

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In this paper, a novel MEMS capacitive pressure sensor with small size and high sensitivity is presented. This sensor has the separated clamped square diaphragm and the movable plate. The diaphragm material is polysilicon. The movable and fixed plates and mechanical coupling are gold. The substrate and diaphragm are pyrex glass and polysilicon, respectively. In capacitive sensor the sensitivity is proportional to deflection and capacitance changes with pressure for this reason with this design is improved the capacitance and sensitivity with small size. This sensor is designed for low pressure between 0-60 mmHg that is used for medical application such as treatment of an incurable disease called glaucoma. The size of this sensor is 350×350 µm2 and the thickness of the diaphragm is 2µm with 1μ air gap. This structure is designed by intellisuite software. In this MEMS capacitive pressure sensor the sensor sensitivity, diaphragm mechanical sensitivity for polysilicon diaphragm are 0.0469Pf/mmHg, 0.011 μm/mmHg, respectively. According to the simulating results for low pressure, the structure with polysilicon diaphragm has more change of the displacement and capacitance, this leads to high sensitivity than other diaphragms.

Keywords: glaucoma, MEMS capacitive pressure sensor, square clamped diaphragm, polysilicon

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Authors: Nanteza Rachel

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Background: Worldwide, there were 36.7 million people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in 2015, up from 35 million at the end of 2013. Wakiso district is one of the hotspots for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) infection in Uganda, with the prevalence of 8.1 %. Herbal medicine has gained popularity among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients as adjuvant therapy to reduce the adverse effects of ART. Regardless of the subsidized and physical availability of the Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART), majority of Africans living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) resort to adding to their ART traditional medicine. Result found out from a pilot observation made by the PI that indicate 13 out of 30 People Living with AIDS(PLWA) who are attending Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) clinics in Wakiso district reported to be using herbal preparations despite the fact that they were taking Anti Retro Viral (ARVs) this prompted this study to be done. Purpose of the study: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with concurrent use of herbal medicine and anti-retroviral therapy among HIV/AIDS patients attending selected HIV clinics in Wakiso district. Methodology: This was a cross sectional study with both quantitative data collection (use of a questionnaire) and qualitative data collection (key informants’ interviews). A mixed method of sampling was used, that is, purposive and random sampling. Purposive sampling was based on the location in the district and used to select 7 health facilities basing on the 7 health sub districts from Wakiso. Simple random sampling was used to select one HIV clinic from each of the 7 health sub districts. Furthermore, the study units were enrolled in to the study as they entered into the HIV clinics, and 105 respondents were interviewed. Both manual and computer packages (SPSS) were used to analyze the data Results: The prevalence of concurrent use of herbal medicine and ART was 38 (36.2%). Commonly HIV symptom treated with herbs was fever 27(71.1%), diarrhea 3(7.9%) and cough 2(5.3%). Commonly used herbs for fever (Omululuza (Vernonica amydalina), Ekigagi (Aloe sp), Nalongo (Justicia betonica Linn) while for diarrhea was Ntwatwa. The side effects also included; too much pain, itchy pain of HIV, aneamia,felt sick, loss/gain appetite, joint pain and bad dreams. Herbs used to sooth the side effects were; for aneamia was avocado leaves Parea Americana mill The significant factors associated with concurrent use of herbal medicine were being familiar with herbs and conventional medicine for management HIV symptoms being expensive. The other significant factor was exhibiting hostility to patients by health personnel providing HIV care. Conclusion: Herbal medicine is widely used by clients in HIV/AIDS care. Patients being familiar with herbs and conventional medicine being expensive were associated with concurrent use of herbal medicine and ART. The exhibition of hostility to the HIV/AIDS patients by the health care providers was also associated with concurrent use of herbal medicine and ART among HIV/AIDS patients.

Keywords: HIV patients, herbal medicine, antiretroviral therapy, factors associated

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Authors: Radka Králová, Libor Kvítek, Václav Ranc, Aleš Panáček, Radek Zbořil

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Surface–Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) is an optical spectroscopic technique with very good potential for sensitive detection of substances. In this research, active substrates with high enhancement were provided. Novel silver particles (nanostructures) with high roughened, flower–like morphology were prepared by reduction of cation complex [Ag(NH3)2]+ in presence of sodium borohydride as reducing agent and stabilized polyacrylic acid. The products were characterized by UV/VIS absorption spectrophotometry. Special shapes of silver particles were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron spectroscopy (TEM). Dispersions of this particle were put on fixed substrate to producing suitable layer for SERS. Adenine was applied as basic substance whose effect of enhancement on the layer of silver nanostructures was studied. By comparison with our work, the important influence of stabilizers, polyacrylic acid with various molecular weight and concentration, on the transfer of particles and formation of new structure was confirmed.

Keywords: metals, nanostructures, chemical reduction, Raman spectroscopy, optical properties

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Authors: Valmir Moratelli

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This paper discusses the construction of the narrative of television fiction from the point of view of the invisibility of the representation of elderly black characters. Through the appointment of social and contemporary elements, we analyze why the theme of old age of black people is practically non-existent in brazilian soap operas of TV Globo. By raising characteristic aspects of the leaflet narrative, we want to discuss how the cancellation of identity discourses about elderly blacks and their relationship with aspects of social life is constructed.

Keywords: audiovisual, black, erderly, television

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Authors: Imad H. Hameed, Mohammad A. Jebor, Ammera J. Omer

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The aim of this research is to study the mitochonderial coding region by using the Sanger sequencing technique and establish the degree of variation characteristic of a fragment. FTA® Technology (FTA™ paper DNA extraction) utilized to extract DNA. Portion of coding region encompassing positions 11719 –12384 amplified in accordance with the Anderson reference sequence. PCR products purified by EZ-10 spin column then sequenced and Detected by using the ABI 3730xL DNA Analyzer. Five new polymorphic positions 11741, 11756, 11878, 11887 and 12133 are described may be suitable sources for identification purpose in future. The calculated value D= 0.95 and RMP=0.048 of the genetic diversity should be understood as high in the context of coding function of the analysed DNA fragment. The relatively high gene diversity and a relatively low random match probability were observed in Iraq population. The obtained data can be used to identify the variable nucleotide positions characterized by frequent occurrence which is most promising for various identifications.

Keywords: coding region, Iraq, mitochondrial DNA, polymorphic positions, sanger technique

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Authors: Ashish Kumar, Kaptan Singh, Amit Saxena

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Today, it is believed that crimes have the greatest impact on a person's ability to progress financially and personally. Identifying places where individuals shouldn't go is crucial for preventing crimes and is one of the key considerations. As society and technologies have advanced significantly, so have crimes and the harm they wreak. When there is a concentration of people in one place and changes happen quickly, it is even harder to prevent. Because of this, many crime prevention strategies have been embraced as a component of the development of smart cities in numerous cities. However, crimes can occur anywhere; all that is required is to identify the pattern of their occurrences, which will help to lower the crime rate. In this paper, an analysis related to crime has been done; information related to crimes is collected from all over India that can be accessed from anywhere. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between several factors and India's crime rate. The review has covered information related to every state of India and their associated regions of the period going in between 2001- 2014. However various classes of violations have a marginally unique scope over the years.

Keywords: K-nearest neighbor, random forest, decision tree, pre-processing

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Authors: A. Satty, H. Mwambi

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Much clinical trials data-based research are characterized by the unavoidable problem of dropout as a result of missing or erroneous values. This paper aims to review some of the various techniques to address the dropout problems in longitudinal clinical trials. The fundamental concepts of the patterns and mechanisms of dropout are discussed. This study presents five general techniques for handling dropout: (1) Deletion methods; (2) Imputation-based methods; (3) Data augmentation methods; (4) Likelihood-based methods; and (5) MNAR-based methods. Under each technique, several methods that are commonly used to deal with dropout are presented, including a review of the existing literature in which we examine the effectiveness of these methods in the analysis of incomplete data. Two application examples are presented to study the potential strengths or weaknesses of some of the methods under certain dropout mechanisms as well as to assess the sensitivity of the modelling assumptions.

Keywords: incomplete longitudinal clinical trials, missing at random (MAR), imputation, weighting methods, sensitivity analysis

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Authors: Gülşen Akın Evingür, Önder Pekcan

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The fractal analysis is a bridge between the microstructure and macroscopic properties of gels. Fractal structure is usually provided to define the complexity of crosslinked molecules. The complexity in gel systems is described by the fractal dimension (Df). In this study, polyacrylamide- graphene oxide (GO) composite gels were prepared by free radical crosslinking copolymerization. The fractal analysis of polyacrylamide- graphene oxide (GO) composite gels were analyzed in various GO contents during gelation and were investigated by using Fluorescence Technique. The analysis was applied to estimate Df s of the composite gels. Fractal dimension of the polymer composite gels were estimated based on the power law exponent values using scaling models. In addition, here we aimed to present the geometrical distribution of GO during gelation. And we observed that as gelation proceeded GO plates first organized themselves into 3D percolation cluster with Df=2.52, then goes to diffusion limited clusters with Df =1.4 and then lines up to Von Koch curve with random interval with Df=1.14. Here, our goal is to try to interpret the low conductivity and/or broad forbidden gap of GO doped PAAm gels, by the distribution of GO in the final form of the produced gel.

Keywords: composite gels, fluorescence, fractal, scaling

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Authors: Pule P. Mpopetsi, Warren M. Potts, Nicola James, Amber Childs

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Increased CO₂ production and the consequent ocean acidification (OA) have been identified as one of the greatest threats to both calcifying and non-calcifying marine organisms. Traditionally, marine fishes, as non-calcifying organisms, were considered to have a higher tolerance to near-future OA conditions owing to their well-developed ion regulatory mechanisms. However, recent studies provide evidence to suggest that they may not be as resilient to near-future OA conditions as previously thought. In addition, earlier life stages of marine fishes are thought to be less tolerant than juveniles and adults of the same species as they lack well-developed ion regulatory mechanisms for maintaining homeostasis. This study focused on the effects of near-future OA on larval Argyrosomus japonicus, an estuarine-dependent marine fish species, in order to identify the tipping point of tolerance for the larvae of this species. Larval A. japonicus in the present study were reared from the egg up to 22 days after hatching (DAH) under three treatments. The three treatments, (pCO₂ 353 µatm; pH 8.03), (pCO₂ 451 µatm; pH 7.93) and (pCO₂ 602 µatm; pH 7.83) corresponded to levels predicted to occur in year 2050, 2068 and 2090 respectively under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Representative Concentration Pathways (IPCC RCP) 8.5 model. Size-at-hatch, growth, development, and metabolic responses (standard and active metabolic rates and metabolic scope) were assessed and compared between the three treatments throughout the rearing period. Five earlier larval life stages (hatchling – flexion/post-flexion) were identified by the end of the experiment. There were no significant differences in size-at-hatch (p > 0.05), development or the active metabolic (p > 0.05) or metabolic scope (p > 0.05) of fish in the three treatments throughout the study. However, the standard metabolic rate was significantly higher in the year 2068 treatment but only at the flexion/post-flexion stage which could be attributed to differences in developmental rates (including the development of the gills) between the 2068 and the other two treatments. Overall, the metabolic scope was narrowest in the 2090 treatment but varied according to life stage. Although not significantly different, metabolic scope in the 2090 treatment was noticeably lower at the flexion stage compared to the other two treatments, and the development appeared slower, suggesting that this could be the stage most prone to OA. The study concluded that, in isolation, OA levels predicted to occur between 2050 and 2090 will not negatively affect size-at-hatch, growth, development, and metabolic responses of larval A. japonicus up to 22 DAH (flexion/post-flexion stage). The present study also identified the tipping point of tolerance (where negative impacts will begin) in larvae of the species to be between the years 2090 and 2100.

Keywords: climate change, ecology, marine, ocean acidification

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Authors: Funda Terzi, Elif Dogan, Ayse B. Kapcak

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In this report, clinical, radiological, macroscopic, and histopathological findings of apocrine sweat gland adenocarcinoma are presented in a 13-year-old male tabby cat. In clinical examination, soft tissue masses were detected in the caudal abdomen and left tuber coxae. On radiological examination, subcutaneous masses with soft tissue contrast appearance were detected, and the masses were surgically removed under general anesthesia. The sizes of the masses were approximately 2x2x3 cm in the caudal abdomen and approximately 1x1x2 cm in the tuber coxae region. The cross-section of the mass was whitish-yellow in color. After the masses were fixed in 10% formaldehyde solution, a routine histopathology procedure was applied. In histopathological examination, apocrine sweat glands in a cystic structure and extensions from the center of the cyst to the lumen were determined, and anisonucleosis, anisocytosis, and anaplastic cells with giant nuclei were observed in the epithelial cells of the gland facing the lumen. A diagnosis of papillary-cystic type apocrine sweat gland adenocarcinoma was made with these findings.

Keywords: apocrine sweat gland, carcinoma, cat, histopathology

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Authors: Osamede Asowata

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The current resurgence of interest in the use of renewable energy is driven by the need to reduce the high environmental impact of fossil-based energy. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of a stationary PV panel on the charging rate of deep-cycle valve regulated lead-acid (DCVRLA) batteries. Stationary PV panels are set to a fixed tilt and orientation angle, which plays a major role in dictating the output power of a PV panel and subsequently on the charging time of a DCVRLA battery. In a basic PV system, an energy storage device that stores the power from the PV panel is necessary due to the fluctuating nature of the PV voltage caused by climatic conditions. The charging and discharging times of a DCVRLA battery were determined for a twelve month period from January through December 2012. Preliminary results, which include regression analysis (R2), conversion-time per week and work-time per day, indicate that a 36 degrees tilt angle produces a good charging rate for a latitude of 26 degrees south throughout the year.

Keywords: tilt and orientation angles, solar chargers, PV panels, storage devices, direct solar radiation.

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Fawehinmi Olabisi Alaba, O. R. Adeniyi

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Farming households faces lots of disaster which contribute to endemic poverty. Anticipated increases in extreme weather events will exacerbate this. Primary data was administered to farming household using multi-stage random sampling technique. The result of the analysis shows that majority of the respondents (69.9%) are male, have mean household size, years of formal education and age of 5±1.14, 6±3.41, and 51.06±10.43 respectively. The major (48.9%) type of disaster experienced is flooding. Major coping mechanism adopted is sourcing for support from family and friends. Age, education, experience, access to extension agent, and mitigation control method contribute significantly to vulnerability to disaster. The major adaptation method (62.3%) is construction of drainage. The study revealed that the coping mechanisms employed may become less effective as increasingly fragile livelihood systems struggle to withstand disaster shocks. Thus there is need for training of the farmers on measures to adapt to mitigate the shock from disasters.

Keywords: adaptation, disasters, flooding, vulnerability

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Authors: Maru R., Singh V. P.

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In this research, analytical study of the flexural strength of Concrete Filled Steel Tube (CFST) beams is carried out based on wide-range finite element models to obtain the better perspective for flexural strength achievement with the use of ABAQUS finite element program. This work adopts concrete damaged plasticity model to get the actual simulation of CFST under bending. To get the decent interaction between concrete and steel, normal and tangential surface interaction provided by ABAQUS is used with hard contact for normal surface interaction and for 0.65 friction coefficient for tangential surface interactions. In this study, rectangular and square CFST beam model cross-sections are adopted with its limits pertained to Eurocode specifications. To get the visualization for flexural strength of CFST beams, total of 74 rectangular CFST beams and 86 square CFST beams are used with four-point bending test setup and the length of the beam model as 1000mm. The grades of concrete and grades of steel are used as 30 MPa & 35MPa and 235 MPa and 275MPa respectively for both sections to get the confinement factor 0.583 to 2.833, steel ratio of 0.069 to 0.236 and length to depth ratio of 4.167 to 16.667. It was found based on this study that flexural strength of CFST beams falls around strain of 0.012. Eurocode provides the results harmonically with finite elemental results. It was also noted for square sections that reduction of steel ratio is not useful as compared to rectangular section although it increases moment capacity up to certain limits because for square sectional area similar to that of rectangular, it possesses lesser depth than rectangular sections. Also It can be said that effect of increment of grade of concrete can be achieved when thicker steel tube is present. It is observed that there is less increment in moment capacity initially but after D/b ratio 1.2, moment capacity of CFST beam rapidly.

Keywords: ABAQUS, CFST beams, flexural strength, four-point bending, rectangular and square sections

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Authors: Fahad Suleiman

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The aim of this paper is to study students’ view on mathematics learning in Katsina State Senior Secondary Schools of Nigeria, such as their conceptions of mathematics, attitudes toward mathematics learning, etc. A questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 1,225 senior secondary two (SS II) students of Katsina State in Nigeria. The data collected showed a clear picture of the hurdles that affect the teaching and learning of mathematics in our schools. Problems such as logistics and operational which include shortage of mathematics teachers, non–availability of a mathematics laboratory, etc. were identified. It also depicted the substantial trends of changing views and attitudes toward mathematics across secondary schools. Students’ responses to the conception of mathematics were consistent and they demonstrated some specific characteristics of their views in learning mathematics. This survey has provided useful information regarding students’ needs and aspirations in mathematics learning for curriculum planners and frontline teachers for future curriculum reform and implementation.

Keywords: attitudes, mathematics, students, teacher

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: Mathilde Blondon, Salla Aicha Dieng, Catherine Pfister

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In a paradoxical way, teenagers nowadays seem to use suicidal attempts to elaborate on their trauma abuses and regain some kind of control in their lives. As their behavior becomes life-threatening, the hospital offers a variety of expertise to address their need, with Child Protective Services also joining in, to a point when teenagers could have a feeling of losing control of their lives, which results in them making more suicidal attempts. Our goal here is to walk with these foster teenagers long enough to step therapy up first, then as their mental health is restored enough to step the therapy down in a way that is secure and will give them their life back. This would prevent them from making suicidal attempts to get a feeling of control over their life. We’ll present a clinical case of a 14-year-old girl named Sofia, who was suffering from parental deprivation, an identity disorder, and severe depression disorder. Our intervention took place in January 2024, after Sofia had undergone four hospitalizations, including a two-month period in a specialized clinic. In a stepping-up effort, a substantial setting has been built around Sofia. She was coming three days a week to therapeutic activities at the Child Psychiatry Day Hospital, she had one psychotherapy session a week at the Medical-Psychological Center, and she was meeting with the Adolescent Psychiatrist on a regular basis. However, her suicidal attempts frequency continued to increase to the point when she couldn’t stay more than four days outside the hospital unit without harming herself and being brought back to the Emergency Unit. We were all stuck in some kind of medical deadlock, writing to clinics that had no room for her while social workers were calling foster homes that wouldn’t even accept her either. At some point, a clinical decision was made by the psychiatrist to stop what appeared to be a global movement of traumatic repetition, which involved Sofia’s family, the medical team and the social workers as one. This decision to step therapy down created a surprise and put an end to the cycle. It provided a new path, a new solution where Sofia could securely settle without being unfaithful to her family. Her suicidal attempts stopped for four weeks. She had one relapse, then didn’t make another attempt so far. There is a fine line between too little and too much, a pathway with the right amount of care and support. We believe it is not a steady line but rather a path up and down the hill. It’s about building up this moment when medication and mental processes have improved the subject’s condition enough to allow the medical team to step therapy down and give more control back to the subject. These needed variations used to come from a change of hospital or medical team. Stepped care avoids any breaking of bonds and appears to be decisive in stopping teenagers’ suicidal attempts.

Keywords: child protection, adolescent psychiatry, teenager suicidal attempt, foster teenagers, parental deprivation, stepped care

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Authors: Oleksii Bychkov

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The fundamental difference between randomness and vagueness is that the former requires statistical research. These issues were studied by Zadeh L, Dubois D., Prad A. The theory of possibility works with expert assessments, hypotheses, etc. gives an idea of the characteristics of the problem situation, the nature of the goals and real limitations. Possibility theory examines experiments that are not repeated. The article discusses issues related to the formalization of a fuzzy, uncertain idea of reality. The author proposes to expand the classical model of the theory of possibilities by introducing a measure of necessity. The proposed model of the theory of possibilities allows us to extend the measures of possibility and necessity onto a Boolean while preserving the properties of the measure. Thus, upper and lower estimates are obtained to describe the fact that the event will occur. Knowledge of the patterns that govern mass random, uncertain, fuzzy events allows us to predict how these events will proceed. The article proposed for publication quite fully reveals the essence of the construction and use of the theory of probability and the theory of possibility.

Keywords: possibility, artificial, modeling, axiomatics, intellectual approach

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Authors: Rachid Belhachemi, Pierre Rostan, Alexandra Rostan

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This paper develops a discrete-time option pricing model for index options. The model consists of two key ingredients. First, daily stock return innovations are driven by a continuous hidden threshold mixed skew-normal (HTSN) distribution which generates conditional non-normality that is needed to fit daily index return. The most important feature of the HTSN is the inclusion of a latent state variable with a continuum of states, unlike the traditional mixture distributions where the state variable is discrete with little number of states. The HTSN distribution belongs to the class of univariate probability distributions where parameters of the distribution capture the dependence between the variable of interest and the continuous latent state variable (the regime). The distribution has an interpretation in terms of a mixture distribution with time-varying mixing probabilities. It has been shown empirically that this distribution outperforms its main competitor, the mixed normal (MN) distribution, in terms of capturing the stylized facts known for stock returns, namely, volatility clustering, leverage effect, skewness, kurtosis and regime dependence. Second, heteroscedasticity in the model is captured by a threeexogenous-factor GARCH model (GARCHX), where the factors are taken from the principal components analysis of various world indices and presents an application to option pricing. The factors of the GARCHX model are extracted from a matrix of world indices applying principal component analysis (PCA). The empirically determined factors are uncorrelated and represent truly different common components driving the returns. Both factors and the eight parameters inherent to the HTSN distribution aim at capturing the impact of the state of the economy on price levels since distribution parameters have economic interpretations in terms of conditional volatilities and correlations of the returns with the hidden continuous state. The PCA identifies statistically independent factors affecting the random evolution of a given pool of assets -in our paper a pool of international stock indices- and sorting them by order of relative importance. The PCA computes a historical cross asset covariance matrix and identifies principal components representing independent factors. In our paper, factors are used to calibrate the HTSN-GARCHX model and are ultimately responsible for the nature of the distribution of random variables being generated. We benchmark our model to the MN-GARCHX model following the same PCA methodology and the standard Black-Scholes model. We show that our model outperforms the benchmark in terms of RMSE in dollar losses for put and call options, which in turn outperforms the analytical Black-Scholes by capturing the stylized facts known for index returns, namely, volatility clustering, leverage effect, skewness, kurtosis and regime dependence.

Keywords: continuous hidden threshold, factor models, GARCHX models, option pricing, risk-premium

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Authors: Inten Meutia, Emylia Yuniarti

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The objective of this study is to analyze the effects of interest rate, the rate of return of Islamic banks on the amount of mudarabah deposits in Islamic banks. In analyzing the effect of rate of return in the Islamic banks and interest rate risk in the conventional banks, the 1-month Islamic deposit rate of return and 1 month fixed deposit interest rate of a total Islamic deposit are considered. Using data covering the period from January 2010 to Sepember 2013, the study applies the regression analysis to analyze the effect between variable and independence t-test to analyze the mean difference between rate of return and rate of interest. Regression analysis shows that rate of return have significantly negative influence on mudarabah deposits, while interest rate have negative influence but not significant. The result of independent t test shows that the interest rate is not different from the rate of return in Islamic Bank. It supports the hyphotesis that rate of return in Islamic banking mimic rate of interest in conventional bank. The results of the study have important implications on the risk management practices of the Islamic banks in Indonesia.

Keywords: conventional bank, interest rate, Islamic bank, rate of return

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Authors: Umberto Platini

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This paper analyses the role of government fragmentation as predictor of the use of emergency decrees in parliamentary democracies. In particular, it focuses on the relationship between ideological divisiveness within cabinets and the choice by executives to issue emergency decrees rather initiating ordinary legislative procedures. A Bayesian multilevel analysis conducted on the population of government-initiated legislation in Italy between 1996 and 2018 finds significant evidence that those legislative proposals which are further away from the ideological centre of gravity of the executive are around three times more likely to be issued as emergency decrees. Likewise, legislative projects regulating more contentious policy areas are significantly more likely to be issued by decree. However, for more contentious issues the importance of ideological distance as a predictor diminishes. This evidence suggests that cabinets prefer decrees to ordinary legislative procedures when they expect that the bargaining environment in Parliament is more hostile. These results persist regardless of the fluctuations of the political-economic cycle. Their robustness is also tested against a battery of controls and against fixed effects both at the government level and at the legislature level.

Keywords: Bayesian multilevel logit models, executive action, executive decrees, ideology, legislative studies, polarization

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Authors: Abdelsalam Elawwad, Mostafa Ragab, Hisham Abdel-Halim

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Leakage in sewerage system can cause groundwater and soil contamination in urban areas, especially in area with a high groundwater table. This is a serious problem in small villages in developing countries that rely on ground water as a source for irrigation and drinking purposes. In the developed countries, the recent trend in areas with low population densities is vacuum sewerage system, which is environmentally safer than conventional gravity system, protecting public health, preventing exfiltration to the ground water, very easily applied in a relatively short time and can cope with a faster expansion of the urbanized areas. The aim of this work is to assess the feasibility of using vacuum sewerage in developing country, such as Egypt. Knowledge of local conditions can determine the most suitable sewer system for a specific region. Technical, environmental and financial comparisons between conventional sewerage system and vacuum sewerage system were held using statistical analysis. Different conditions, such as population densities, geometry of area, and ground water depths were evaluated. Sample comprising of 30 Egyptian villages was selected, where a complete design for conventional sewerage system and vacuum sewerage system was done. Based on this study, it is recommended from the environmental point of view to construct the vacuum sewerage system in such villages with low population densities; however, it is not economic for all cases. From financial point of view, vacuum sewerage system was a good competitor to conventional systems in flat areas and areas with high groundwater table. The local market supplying of the construction equipment especially collection chambers will greatly affect the investment cost. Capacity building and social mobilization will also play a great role in sustainability of this system. At the end, it is noteworthy that environmental sustainability and public health are more important than the financial aspects.

Keywords: ground water, conventional system, vacuum system, statistics, cost, density, terrain

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Authors: Muneesh Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Sangeeta Devi

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Heavy metals are a major problem because they are toxic and tend to accumulate in living organisms. This study was carried out with the aims of studying on histopathology of Zn(SO4) toxicity on gill and liver tissues of catfish (Clarias batrachus) within the period of 96 h. Totally, 140 fishes with mean weight 50±10 g were stocked in 12 aquariums with capacity of 200 L water and divided in to 3 trails including control, 4 ppm and 8 ppm of Zn with 3 replicates. Tissue samples were fixed by bouin’s solution and sectioned in 7 μm based on histological regular method and stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) method for microscopic study within the period of 96 h. Results showed some damaged such as hyperplasia, telangiectasis and edema, necrosis of second filaments, jerky movement, aneurism, hyperemia and fusion of second filaments in gills; and cell atrophy, necrosis, fatty degeneration, hyperemia and bile stagnation at different treatments in comparison with control. Gill and liver tissue damages were severed with the increase of Zn concentration and days. Therefore, Zn had acute toxicity effects on gill and liver tissues in Catfish at 5 and 10 ppm concentrations.

Keywords: gill, liver, histopathology, zinc, Clarias batrachus

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Authors: Charlotte K. Lee, Henrique R. N. Aguiar, Ralph Smith, James Baldock, Sam Botchey

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Background: Femoral neck stress fractures (FNSF) are uncommon, making up 1 to 7.2% of stress fractures in healthy subjects. FNSFs are prevalent in young women, military recruits, endurance athletes, and individuals with energy deficiency syndrome or female athlete triad. Presentation is often non-specific and is often misdiagnosed following the initial examination. There is limited research addressing the return–to–activity time after FNSF. Previous studies have demonstrated prognostic time predictions based on various imaging techniques. Here, (1) OxSport clinic FNSF practice standards are retrospectively reviewed, (2) FNSF cohort demographics are examined, (3) Regression models were used to predict return–to–activity prognosis and consequently determine bone stress risk factors. Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of FNSF attending Oxsport clinic between 01/06/2020 and 01/01/2020 were selected from the Rheumatology Assessment Database Innovation in Oxford (RhADiOn) and OxSport Stress Fracture Database (n = 14). (1) Clinical practice was audited against five criteria based on local and National Institute for Health Care Excellence guidance, with a 100% standard. (2) Demographics of the FNSF cohort were examined with Student’s T-Test. (3) Lastly, linear regression and Random Forest regression models were used on this patient cohort to predict return–to–activity time. Consequently, an analysis of feature importance was conducted after fitting each model. Results: OxSport clinical practice met standard (100%) in 3/5 criteria. The criteria not met were patient waiting times and documentation of all bone stress risk factors. Importantly, analysis of patient demographics showed that of the population with complete bone stress risk factor assessments, 53% were positive for modifiable bone stress risk factors. Lastly, linear regression analysis was utilized to identify demographic factors that predicted return–to–activity time [R2 = 79.172%; average error 0.226]. This analysis identified four key variables that predicted return-to-activity time: vitamin D level, total hip DEXA T value, femoral neck DEXA T value, and history of an eating disorder/disordered eating. Furthermore, random forest regression models were employed for this task [R2 = 97.805%; average error 0.024]. Analysis of the importance of each feature again identified a set of 4 variables, 3 of which matched with the linear regression analysis (vitamin D level, total hip DEXA T value, and femoral neck DEXA T value) and the fourth: age. Conclusion: OxSport clinical practice could be improved by more comprehensively evaluating bone stress risk factors. The importance of this evaluation is demonstrated by the population found positive for these risk factors. Using this cohort, potential bone stress risk factors that significantly impacted return-to-activity prognosis were predicted using regression models.

Keywords: eating disorder, bone stress risk factor, femoral neck stress fracture, vitamin D

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Authors: Tazvin Ijaz, Aisha Shahid Sheikh

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The current study was conducted to explore the relationship between body dissatisfaction and the perceived parenting styles of women. For the purpose of study a sample of adult women (N=308) was drawn through the process of stratified random sampling. The sample consisted of women belonging to different categories which were based on their occupation. Two instruments, the Body Dissatisfaction Scale (BDSS) and Perceived Parenting Styles (PPSS) were used in the study to find the relationship between the two variables. The results showed that the controlling parenting style in father led to higher body dissatisfaction while the nurturing parenting style lead to lesser symptoms of body dissatisfaction. The results also proved that the controlling parenting style in mother also lead to high symptoms of body dissatisfaction as well. It was revealed that the women with high education showed more body dissatisfaction than women with lower education. It was also seen that there was a significant difference in the body dissatisfaction of working and the non-working women.

Keywords: body dissatisfaction, perceived parenting styles, Pakistani women, gender

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Authors: Eamin Zahan Heanoy, Asheek Mohammad Shimul

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The purpose of the present study was to address theoretical issues of reminiscence bump in autobiographical memory using the freedom fighters of Bangladesh as participants. It was assumed that they had a lot of negative memories during the liberation war in 1971 and those events would reflect the construction of reminiscence bump. Three hundred and twenty (320) freedom fighters were selected using mixed method (purposive and random) sampling technique. The freedom fighters were taken from 10 randomly chosen districts of 64. The participants recalled and dated autobiographical memories from across the lifespan. The age of the participants was between 50 to 80+ years. Memories were encoded at the time of the age when the events occurred. As expected the reminiscence bump, preferential recall of memories from second and third decade was observed. Results indicate that the bump for the participants was found 16 to 26 years. And most remarkably, they recalled most of the memories from 1971, the liberation war. Different retrieval curve has been found for male and female participants. The results have been discussed in the light of recent developments in reminiscence bump research.

Keywords: autobiographical memory, freedom fighters, liberation war, reminiscence bump

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Authors: Marcell Serra de Almeida Martins, Benedito de Souza Ribeiro Neto, Gerson Lima Serejo, Carlos Gustavo Resque Dos Santos

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Indoor positioning systems use sensors such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Wi-Fi, as well as cameras for image capture, which can be fixed or mobile. These computer vision-based positioning approaches are low-cost to implement, mainly when it uses a mobile camera. The present study aims to create a design of a fiducial marker for a low-cost indoor localization system. The marker is tape-shaped to perform a continuous reading employing two detection algorithms, one for greater distances and another for smaller distances. Therefore, the location service is always operational, even with variations in capture distance. A minimal localization and reading algorithm were implemented for the proposed marker design, aiming to validate it. The accuracy tests consider readings varying the capture distance between [0.5, 10] meters, comparing the proposed marker with others. The tests showed that the proposed marker has a broader capture range than the ArUco and QRCode, maintaining the same size. Therefore, reducing the visual pollution and maximizing the tracking since the ambient can be covered entirely.

Keywords: multiscale recognition, indoor localization, tape-shaped marker, fiducial marker

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: M. Rajabi, O. Moradi

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In this study, removal of Nickel and Zinc by graphene oxide and functionalized graphene oxide–gelaycin surfaces was examined. Amino group was added to surface of graphene oxide to produced functionalized graphene oxide–gelaycin. Effect of contact time and initial concentration of Ni (II) and Zn(II) ions were studied. Results showed that with increase of initial concentration of Ni (II) and Zn(II) adsorption capacity was increased. After 50 min has not a large change at adsorption capacity therefore, 50 min was selected as optimaze time. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy spectra used for the analysis confirmed the successful fictionalization of the Graphene oxide surface. Adsorption experiments of Ni (II) and Zn(II) ions graphene oxide and functionalized graphene oxide–gelaycin surfaces fixed at 298 K and pH=6. The Pseudo Firs-order and the Pseudo Second-order (types I, II, III and IV) kinetic models were tested for adsorption process and results showed that the kinetic parameters best fits with to type (I) of pseudo-second-order model because presented low X2 values and also high R2 values.

Keywords: graphene oxide, gelaycin, nickel, zinc, adsorption, kinetic, graphene oxide, gelaycin, nickel, zinc, adsorption, kinetic

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Authors: Seyedsamad Tahani, Samira Ghorbanpour

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The global warming crisis forced humans to consider their place in the world and the earth's future. In this regard, Electric Vehicles (EVs) are a significant step toward protecting the environment. By identifying factors that influence people's behavior intentions toward using Electric Vehicles (EV), we proposed a theoretical model by extending the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), including three more concepts, Subjective Norm (SN), Self-Efficacy (SE), and Perceived Behavior Control (PBC). The study was conducted in South Korea, and a random sample was taken at a specific time. In order to collect data, a questionnaire was created in a Google Form and sent via Kakao Talk, a popular social media application used in Korea. There were about 220 participants in this survey. However, 201 surveys were completely done. The findings revealed that all factors in the TAM model and the other added concepts such as subjective norms, self-efficacy and perceived behavior control significantly affect the behavioral intention of using EVs.

Keywords: electric vehicles, behavioral intention, perceived trust, perceived enjoyment, self-efficacy

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Authors: Skezeer John B. Paz, Ederlina G. Nocon

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Finding an optimal binary linear code is a central problem in coding theory. A binary linear code C = [n, k, d] is called optimal if there is no linear code with higher minimum distance d given the length n and the dimension k. There are bounds giving limits for the minimum distance d of a linear code of fixed length n and dimension k. The lower bound which can be taken by construction process tells that there is a known linear code having this minimum distance. The upper bound is given by theoretic results such as Griesmer bound. One way to find an optimal binary linear code is to make the lower bound of d equal to its higher bound. That is, to construct a binary linear code which achieves the highest possible value of its minimum distance d, given n and k. Some optimal binary linear codes were presented by Andries Brouwer in his published table on bounds of the minimum distance d of binary linear codes for 1 ≤ n ≤ 256 and k ≤ n. This was further improved by Markus Grassl by giving a detailed construction process for each code exhibiting the lower bound. In this paper, we construct new optimal binary linear codes by using some construction processes on existing binary linear codes. Particularly, we developed an algorithm applied to the codes already constructed to extend the list of optimal binary linear codes up to 257 ≤ n ≤ 300 for k ≤ 7.

Keywords: bounds of linear codes, Griesmer bound, construction of linear codes, optimal binary linear codes

Procedia PDF Downloads 755