Search results for: valve-point loading effects

Authors: Muhammad Tariq A. Chaudhary

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Soil-structure interaction (SSI) in bridges under seismic excitation is a complex phenomenon which involves coupling between the non-linear behavior of bridge pier columns and SSI in the soil-foundation part. It is a common practice in the study of SSI to model the bridge piers as linear elastic while treating the soil and foundation with a non-linear or an equivalent linear modeling approach. Consequently, the contribution of soil and foundation to the SSI phenomenon is disproportionately highlighted. The present study considered non-linear behavior of bridge piers in FEM model of a 4-span, pile-supported bridge that was designed for five different soil conditions in a moderate seismic zone. The FEM model of the bridge system was subjected to a suite of 21 actual ground motions representative of three levels of earthquake hazard (i.e. Design Basis Earthquake, Functional Evaluation Earthquake and Maximum Considered Earthquake). Results of the FEM analysis were used to delineate the influence of pier column non-linearity and SSI on critical design parameters of the bridge system. It was found that pier column non-linearity influenced the bridge lateral displacement and base shear more than SSI for majority of the analysis cases for the class of bridge investigated in the study.

Keywords: bridge, FEM model, reinforced concrete pier, pile foundation, seismic loading, soil-structure interaction

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Authors: Elham Falatoonitoosi, Vikki Schaffer, Don Kerr

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Over-development for tourism and its consequences on residents’ well-being turn into a critical issue in tourism destinations. Learning about undesirable impacts of tourism has led many people to seek more sustainable and responsible tourism. The main objective of this research is to understand how and to what extent sustainable tourism development enhances locals’ well-being regarding stakeholder perception. The research was conducted in a coastal-hinterland tourism region through two sequential phases. At the first phase, a unique set of 19 sustainable tourism indicators resulted from a triplex model was used to examine the sustainability effects on the main factors of residents’ well-being including equity and living condition, life satisfaction, health condition, and education quality. The triplex model including i) systematic literature search, ii) convergent interviewing, and iii) DEMATEL aimed to develop sustainability indicators, specify them for a particular destination, and identify the dominant sustainability issues acting as key predictors in sustainable development. At the second phase, a hierarchical multiple regression was used to examine the relationship between sustainable development and local residents’ well-being. A number of 167 participants from five different groups of stakeholders perceived the importance level of each sustainability indicators regarding well-being factors on 5-point Likert scale. Results from the first phase indicated that sustainability training, government support, tourism sociocultural effects, tourism revenue, and climate change are the top dominant sustainability issues in the regional sustainable development. Results from the second phase showed that sustainable development considerably improves the overall residents’ well-being and has positive relationships with all well-being factors except life satisfaction. It explains that it was difficult for stakeholders to recognize a link between sustainable development and their overall life satisfaction and happiness. Among well-being’s factors, health condition was influenced the most by sustainability indicators that indicate stakeholders believed sustainability development can promote public health, health sector performance, quality of drinking water, and sanitation. For the future research, it is highly recommended to analysis the effects of sustainable tourism development on the other features of a tourism destination’s well-being including residents sociocultural empowerment, local economic growth, and attractiveness of the destination.

Keywords: residents' well-being, stakeholder perception, sustainability indicators, sustainable tourism

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Authors: Akinwale Olusola Mokayode, Emaanuel Adu, Seriki Idowu Ibrahim

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Small business can serve as a tool for poverty reduction in South Africa, but it requires adequate support and development for its continuous sustenance in spite of rigorous challenges, especially in the rural environment. This study explored the challenges faced by the small business owners in the rural Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The objective of the study is to identify the challenges faced by small business owners in the case study area and to examine the effects of those challenges on poverty rate. Survey research design was adopted, with the distribution of structured questionnaire for data collection through a simple random sampling method. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyse the data. Findings showed that small business owners face various challenges in their commercial operations. It was also made clearer that these challenges have effects on the poverty rate as well as crime rate. In conclusion, in other for small businesses to be effective instrument to tackle poverty, certain measure must be taken into considerations. This therefore necessitates recommendation from the researcher that potential and current business owners must seek valuable advice from the more experienced business tycoon and seek information about the business assistance programmes provided by government and private sectors.

Keywords: eastern cape, poverty, poverty reduction, rural, small business, sustainable livelihood

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Authors: Farrin Nayebzadeh, Mohammadreza Eslami Amirabadi

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According to technological progress and urban development, the cities of the world are growing to become metropolitans, living in which can be enthusiastic, entertaining and accessibility to the facilities like education, economic factors, hygiene and welfare is high. On the other hand, there are some problems that have been ignored in planning for such high quality of life, most important of which, is human health. Two aspects of human health are physical health and mental health, that are closely associated. Human mental health depends on two important factors: Biological factor and environmental factor. Air pollution is one of the most important environmental risk factors that affects mental health. Psychological and toxic effects of air pollution can lead to psychiatric symptoms, including anxiety and changes in mood, cognition, and behavior, depression and also children's mental disorders like hyperactivity, aggression and agitation. Increased levels of some air pollutants are accompanied by an increase in psychiatric admissions and emergency calls and, in some studies, by changes in behavior and a reduction in psychological well-being. Numerous toxic pollutants interfere with the development and adult functioning of the nervous system. Psychosocial stress can cause symptoms similar to those of organic mental disorders. These factors can cause resonance of psychiatric disorders. So, in cities of developing countries, people challenge with mental health problems due to environmental factors especially air pollution that have not been forecasted in urban planning.

Keywords: air pollution, environmental factors, mental health, psychiatric disorder

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Authors: Ehsan Tuzcuoğlu, Muhammed Emin Çoban, Songül Byraktar

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One of the main targets of the washing machine is to remove any dirt and stains from the clothes. Especially, the stain removal is significantly important in the Far East market, where the high percentage of the consumers use the top load washing machines as washing appliance. They use all pretreatment methods (i.e. soaking, prewash, and heavy functions) to eliminate the stains from their clothes. Therefore, with this study it is aimed to study experimentally the stain removal performance of 3 different Top-Loading washing machines of the Far East market with 24 different types of stains which are mostly related to Far East culture. In the meanwhile, the mechanical damge on laundry is examined for each machine to see the mechanical effect of the related stain programs on the textile load of the machines. The test machines vary according to have a heater, moving part(s)on their impeller, and to be in different height/width ratio of the drum. The results indicate that decreasing the water level inside the washing machine might result in better soil removal as well as less textile damage. Beside this, the experimental results reveal that heating has the main effect on stain removal. Two-step (or delayed) heating and a lower amount of water can also be considered as the further parameters

Keywords: laundry, washing machine, top load washing machine, stain removal, textile damage, mechanical textile damage

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Authors: Cangir Uyarlar, Eyup Eren Gultepe, Mustafa Kabu, Hacı Ahmet Celik

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This study aimed to evaluate the effects of orally Immunoglobulin (Ig) Y treatments to calves were fed with colostrum having insufficient antibodies before first suckling. A total of 28 Holstein calves were fed assigned into control and treatment groups. The calves were fed fresh colostrum from their respective mother for the first 4 days. The treatment group calves were orally administered IgLock (10 g/d/calf) immediately before the first colostrum feeding and IgLock was administered just one time in treatment group calves. Then, the calves were offered normal milk until weaning. After weaning, all calves kept same paddock and were fed same ration. Diarrhea and respiratoric diseases were recorded for one year. Blood was collected from all calves in the study on birth day (0 day) before vaccination and IgLock administration, then, collected for the following 2 days in all groups. Albumin (ALB), Total Protein (TP), Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST), Alanine Aminotrasferase (ALT), Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT), Serum Amyloid A (SAA), Haptoglobin (HPT) and Ig G analyses were performed on all samples. Although serum ALB, ALT, GGT and Ig G levels were not shown a time dependent-change within control group; serum TP, AST, HPT and SAA levels were significantly changed by the time within mentioned group. Serum TP level was steady at first 2 days, then, it was increased significantly at 3rd day. Also, serum AST level was significantly increased at 2nd day, then it was descended to first day levels again at 3rd day. Although serum HPT levels were shown a significant gradually decreasing within control group, serum SAA levels were decreased rapidly after first day and there were no significance differences between 2nd and 3rd day in SAA levels. Serum ALB, ALT, HPT and SAA levels were not shown a time dependent-change within treatmet group. After first day Serum TP, GGT, AST and Ig G levels were shown an significant increasing at 2nd day. Serum TP, GGT and Ig G levels were higher as compared to 1st day within treatment group at 3rd day. But, serum AST level was less significantly 3rd day as compared to 2nd day values. The total numbers of calves suffered from diarrhea were significantly less in treatment group as compared to control group (p < 0,05). The pneumonia reappear ratio in calves suffered the diseases is 33,3% in control group and 11,11% in treatment group. Total cost of diseases and additives was 2339,36 $ for control and 1276,4 $ for treatment. As a conclusion, the immunity enhancers like IgLock are important and cost-effective to boost up immunity status in the early age which would be having positive effects on calves were received colostrum included insufficient antibodies.

Keywords: dairy calves, Ig Y, pneumonia, scours

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Authors: Naritphol Boonjyakiat

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This research attempts to investigate the effects of corporate social responsibility and knowledge management factors on students’ job performance of the Silpakorn University’s internship program within various organizations. The goal of this study is to fill the literature gap by gaining an understanding of corporate social responsibility and the knowledge management factors that fundamentally relate to students’ job performance within the organizations. Thus, this study will focus on the outcomes that were derived from a set of secondary data that were obtained using a Silpakorn university’s data base of 200 students and selected employer assessment and evaluation forms from the companies. The results represent the perceptions of students towards the corporate social responsibility aspects and knowledge management factors within the university and their job performance evaluation from the employers in various organizations. The findings indicate that corporate social responsibility and knowledge management have significant effects on students’ job performance. This study may assist us in gaining a better understanding of the integrated aspects of university and workplace environments to discover how to optimally allocate university’s resources and management approaches to gain benefits from corporate social responsibility and knowledge management practices toward students’ job performance within an organizational experience settings. Therefore, there is a sufficient reason to believe that the findings can contribute to research in the area of CSR, KM, and job performance as essential aspect of involved stakeholder.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, knowledge management, job performance, internship program

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Authors: Anu Vinod Ranade

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Aim: To evaluate and compare the effects of Vitamin C and Vitamin E on experimentally induced testicular torsion and detorsion in rats. Methods: Forty Male Wistar Albino rats were divided into five groups. Animals in the Group I underwent Sham operation, Group II consisted of animals that were subjected to torsion for three hours followed by detorsion for 24 hours without any treatment. While Group III, IV and V were orally pretreated with Vitamin C (40mg/kg.bw), vitamin E (100mg/kg.bw) and a combination of Vitamin C and vitamin E respectively for a period of 30 days. The testes of the experimental groups were manually rotated to 720° clockwise for three hours and counter rotated for 24 hours to induce ischemia and reperfusion. Sequential biopsies were performed and the testes were collected at the end of 24 hours of detrosion for morphological evaluation. Result: There was a significant decrease in the standard tubular diameter and the epithelial height of the seminiferous tubules in the untreated group when compared to Sham controls. The standard tubular diameter and seminiferous epithelial height showed near normal values when animals were pretreated with Vitamin C and Vitamin E individually or in combination. Conclusion: The results showed that pretreatment of with antioxidants vitamin E and vitamin C when administered prior to testicular torsion in rats significantly reduced the torsion and detorsion induced histopathlogical injury.

Keywords: vitamin C, vitamin E, standard tubular diameter, standard epithelial height, testicular torsion

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Authors: Svetlana Guryeva, Inna Kornienko, Andrey Usanov, Dmitry Usanov, Elena Petersen

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Every day cells in our organism are exposed to various factors: chemical agents, reactive oxygen species, ionizing radiation, and others. These factors can cause damage to DNA, cellular membrane, intracellular compartments, and proteins. The fate of cells depends on the exposure intensity and duration. The prolonged and intense exposure causes the irreversible damage accumulation, which triggers the permanent cell cycle arrest (cellular senescence) or cell death programs. In the case of low dose of impacts, it can lead to cell renovation and to cell functional state improvement. Therefore, it is a pivotal question to investigate the factors and doses that result in described positive effects. In order to estimate the influence of different agents, the proliferation index and levels of cell death markers (annexin V/propidium iodide), senescence-associated β-galactosidase, and lipofuscin were measured. The experiments were conducted on primary human fibroblasts of the 8th passage. According to the levels of mentioned markers, these cells were defined as senescent cells. The effect of low-frequency magnetic field was investigated. Different modes of magnetic field exposure were tested. The physical agents were compared with chemical agents: metformin (10 mM) and taurine (0.8 mM and 1.6 mM). Cells were incubating with chemicals for 5 days. The highest decrease in the level of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (21%) and lipofuscin (17%) was observed in the primary senescent fibroblasts after 5 days after double treatments with 48 h intervals with low-frequency magnetic field. There were no significant changes in the proliferation index after magnetic field application. The cytotoxic effect of magnetic field was not observed. The chemical agent taurine (1.6 mM) decreased the level of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (23%) and lipofuscin (22%). Metformin improved the activity of senescence-associated β-galactosidase on 15% and the level of lipofuscin on 19% in this experiment. According to these results, the effect of double treatment with 48 h interval with low-frequency magnetic field and the effect of taurine (1.6 mM) were comparable to the effect of metformin, for which anti-aging properties are proved. In conclusion, this study can become the first step towards creation of the standardized system for the investigation of different effects on senescent cells.

Keywords: biomarkers, magnetic field, metformin, primary fibroblasts, senescence, taurine

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Authors: Saziye Ugur

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In this study, optical, film formation, morphological and the magnetic properties of a nanocomposite system, composed of polystyrene (PS) latex polymer and core-shell magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) is presented. Nine different mixtures were prepared by mixing of PS latex dispersion with different amount of MNPs in the range of (0- 100 wt%). PS/MNPs films were prepared from these mixtures on glass substrates by drop casting method. After drying at room temperature, each film sample was separately annealed at temperatures from 100 to 250 °C for 10 min. In order to monitor film formation process, the transmittance of these composites was measured after each annealing step as a function of MNPs content. Below a critical MNPs content (30 wt%), it was found that PS percolates into the MNPs hard phase and forms an interconnected network upon annealing. The transmission results showed above this critical value, PS latexes were no longer film forming at all temperatures. Besides, the PS/MNPs composite films also showed excellent magnetic properties. All composite films showed superparamagnetic behaviors. The saturation magnetisation (Ms) first increased up to 0.014 emu in the range of (0-50) wt% MNPs content and then decreased to 0.010 emu with increasing MNPs content. The highest value of Ms was approximately 0.020 emu and was obtained for the film filled with 85 wt% MNPs content. These results indicated that the optical, film formation and magnetic properties of PS/MNPs composite films can be readily tuned by varying loading content of MNPs nanoparticles.

Keywords: composite film, film formation, magnetic nanoparticles, ps latex, transmission

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Authors: Santiranjan Shannigrahi, Mohit Sharma, Ivan Tan Chee Kiang, Yong Anna Marie

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Polymer-ceramics composites are gaining importance due to their high specific strength, corrosion resistance, and high mechanical properties, as well as low cost. As a result, polymer composites are suitable for various industrial applications, like automobiles, aerospace, and biomedical areas. The present work comprises the development of polymer-ceramic composite films and is tested for the harsh environment including weatherability and UV barrier property. The polymer composite films are kept in weather chamber for a fixed period of time followed by tested for their physical, mechanical and chemical properties. The composite films are fabricated using compounding followed by hot pressing. UV-visible spectroscopy results reveal that the pure polymer polyethylene (PE) films are transparent in the visible range and do not absorb UV. However, polymer ceramic composite films start absorbing UV completely even at very low filler loading amount of 5 wt.%. The changes in tensile properties of the various composite films before and after UV illuminations for 40 hrs at 60 degC are analyzed. The tensile strength of neat PE film has been observed 8% reduction, whereas the remarkable increase in tensile strength has been observed (18% improvement for 10 wt. % filled composites films). The UV exposure leads to strengthen the crosslinking among PE polymer chains in the filled composite films, which contributes towards the incremented tensile strength properties.

Keywords: polymer ceramic composite, processing, harsh environment, mechanical properties

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Authors: Eniola Simbiat Ibude

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Work politics could be referred to as office politics or organizational politics. Work place politics take different form, direction, and dimensions. Studies of these features of organizational politics have been conducted in the private sector and much has been left to be studied on the other side of the fence, namely in larger bureaucracies and in public sector system. This is the gap the study tried to fill. This study also focuses on the negative effects that perceptions of politics seem to have on job attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction, organizational commitment) and on affective performance. This was with a view to understanding the relevance of its effects on job performance. The descriptive survey research design of the ex-post facto type was adopted for this study since the variables being studied had already occurred and were, therefore, not manipulated. Data were analyzed using the descriptive and inferential statistics of frequency counts, simple percentages, ANOVA, and multiple regression. Findings show that the joint and relative effect of organizational politics on workers performance, planning, coordination and supervision of work (B 0.71), delaying information for carrying out work (B 0.67), criticizing and wasting time for work done (B 0.56) has contributed to workers performance. The effect could be seen as negative on workers performance. Conclusively, every employee will not react to organizational politics the same way. The 'social arsenal' or the 'social skills' of the individual are a good buffer against the potential aftermaths of organizational politics. Also, from this study, it could be concluded that the perceptions of politics have a more complex relationship with job performance, a relationship that may be different for various types of employees.

Keywords: bureaucracies, dimension, politics, trend

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Authors: Rhea Mathews

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The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of perceived social support and cultural self-efficacy on the acculturative stress of international postgraduate students in the United Kingdom. The study adopted Berry, Kim, Minde & Mok’s (1987) acculturative framework on acculturative stress and examined the relationship between the variables. The study hypothesized that perceived social support and cultural self-efficacy would predict lower levels of acculturative stress among students. Postgraduate students in the United Kingdom (N = 76) completed three surveys measuring the variables; Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Cultural Self-efficacy for Adolescents. To evaluate the role of the perceived social support and cultural self-efficacy in determining the acculturative stress level of international students, multiple linear regression was employed. Both independent variables exhibited a significant, negative relationship with acculturative stress (p < 0.001; p < 0.01). Results described that cultural self-efficacy and perceived social support significantly predicted acculturative stress (p < 0.01). Together, the variables accounted for 22% of the variance in acculturative stress scores (adjusted R² = 0.22), with cultural self-efficacy playing a larger role in predicting the dependent variable. Limitations and implications of the study are noted. The findings of the study are discussed in relation to enhancing international students’ acculturative experience when relocating to a new environment.

Keywords: acculturative stress, coping, cultural adjustment, cultural self-efficacy, international education, international students, migration, perceived social support

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Authors: Carlo Gozzelino

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Since the early 2000s, the phenomenon of the two-sided markets has been of growing interest in academic literature as such kind of markets differs by having cross-side network effects and same-side network effects characterizing the transactions, which make the analysis different when compared to traditional seller-buyer concept. Due to such externalities, pricing strategies can be based on subsidizing the participation of one side (i.e. considered key for the platform to attract the other side) while recovering the loss on the other side. In recent years, several players of the Italian financial intermediation industry moved from an integrated landscape (i.e. selling their own products) to an open one (i.e. intermediating third party products). According to academic literature such behavior can be interpreted as a merchant move towards a platform, operating in a two-sided market environment. While several application of two-sided market framework are available in academic literature, purpose of this paper is to use a two-sided market concept to suggest a new framework applied to financial intermediation. To this extent, a model is developed to show how competitors behave when vertically integrated and how the peculiarities of a two-sided market act as an incentive to disintegrate. Additionally, we show that when all players act as a platform, the dynamics of a two-sided markets can allow at least a Nash equilibrium to exist, in which platform of different sizes enjoy positive profit. Finally, empirical evidences from Italian market are given to sustain – and to challenge – this interpretation.

Keywords: financial intermediation, network externalities, two-sided markets, vertical differentiation

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Authors: Fatima Zohra Rahou, A. Guen Bouazza, B. Bouazza

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Multi-gate SOI MOSFETs has shown better results in subthreshold performances. The replacement of SiO2 by high-k dielectric can fulfill the requirements of Multi-gate MOSFETS with a scaling trend in device dimensions. The advancement in fabrication technology has also boosted the use of different high -k dielectric materials as oxide layer at different places in MOSFET structures. One of the most important multi-gate structures is square GAA SOI MOSFET that is a strong candidate for the next generation nanoscale devices; show an even stronger control of short channel effects. In this paper, GAA SOI MOSFET structure with using high -k dielectrics materials Al2O3 (k~9), HfO2 (k~20), La2O3 (k~30) and metal gate TiN are simulated by using 3-D device simulator DevEdit and Atlas of SILVACO TCAD tools. Square GAA SOI MOSFET transistor with High-k HfO2 gate dielectrics and TiN metal gate exhibits significant improvements performances compared to Al2O3 and La2O3 dielectrics for the same structure. Simulation results of GAA SOI MOSFET transistor with HfO2 dielectric show the increase in saturation current and Ion/Ioff ratio while leakage current, subthreshold slope and DIBL effect are decreased.

Keywords: technology SOI, short-channel effects (SCEs), multi-gate SOI MOSFET, square GAA SOI MOSFET, high-k dielectric, Silvaco software

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Authors: Esmaeil Bahmyari

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The natural frequency analysis of the functionally graded (FG) rotating cylindrical shells subjected to thermal loads is studied based on the three-dimensional elasticity theory. The temperature-dependent assumption of the material properties is graded in the thickness direction, which varies based on the simple power law distribution. The governing equations and the appropriate boundary conditions, which include the effects of initial thermal stresses, are derived employing Hamilton’s principle. The initial thermo-mechanical stresses are obtained by the thermo-elastic equilibrium equation’s solution. As an efficient and accurate numerical tool, the differential quadrature method (DQM) is adopted to solve the thermo-elastic equilibrium equations, free vibration equations and natural frequencies are obtained. The high accuracy of the method is demonstrated by comparison studies with those existing solutions in the literature. Ultimately, the parametric studies are performed to demonstrate the effects of boundary conditions, temperature rise, material graded index, the thickness-to-length and the aspect ratios for the rotating cylindrical shells on the natural frequency.

Keywords: free vibration, DQM, elasticity theory, FG shell, rotating cylindrical shell

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Authors: Safitri W. Nur, Prathisto Panuntun L. Unggul, M. Ivan Adi Perdana, R. Dary Wira Mahadika

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On soft soil areas, high embankment as a preloading needed to improve the bearing capacity of the soil. For sustainable development, the construction of embankment must not disturb the area around of them. So, the influence area must be known before the contractor applied their embankment design. For several cases in Indonesia, the area around of embankment construction is housing resident and other building. So that, the influence area must be identified to avoid the differential settlement occurs on the buildings around of them. Differential settlement causes the building crack. Each building has a limited tolerance for the differential settlement. For concrete buildings, the tolerance is 0,002 – 0,003 m and for steel buildings, the tolerance is 0,006 – 0,008 m. If the differential settlement stands on the range of that value, building crack can be avoided. In fact, the settlement around of embankment is assumed as zero. Because of that, so many problems happen when high embankment applied on soft soil area. This research used the superposition method combined with plaxis analysis to know the influences area around of embankment in some location with the differential characteristic of the soft soil. The undisturbed soil samples take on 55 locations with undisturbed soil samples at some soft soils location in Indonesia. Based on this research, it was concluded that the effects of embankment variation are if more gentle the slope, the influence area will be greater and vice versa. The largest of the influence area with h initial embankment equal to 2 - 6 m with slopes 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5, 1:6, 1:7, 1:8 is 32 m from the edge of the embankment.

Keywords: differential settlement, embankment, influence area, slope, soft soil

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Authors: Hasan Serdar Öge, Esra Çiftçi, Kazım Karaboğa

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The main purpose of the research is to address the role of psychological harassment behaviors (mobbing) to which employees are exposed and personality characteristics over work alienation. Research population was composed of the employees of Provincial Special Administration. A survey with four sections was created to measure variables and reach out the basic goals of the research. Correlation and step-wise regression analyses were performed to investigate the separate and overall effects of sub-dimensions of psychological harassment behaviors and personality characteristic on work alienation of employees. Correlation analysis revealed significant but weak relationships between work alienation and psychological harassment and personality characteristics. Step-wise regression analysis revealed also significant relationships between work alienation variable and assault to personality, direct negative behaviors (sub dimensions of mobbing) and openness (sub-dimension of personality characteristics). Each variable was introduced into the model step by step to investigate the effects of significant variables in explaining the variations in work alienation. While the explanation ratio of the first model was 13%, the last model including three variables had an explanation ratio of 24%.

Keywords: alienation, five-factor personality characteristics, mobbing, psychological harassment, work alienation

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Authors: Abigail Gragg

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The goal of this research study was to adjudicate if implementing Howard Gardner’s multiple levels of intelligence would enhance student achievement levels in an Algebra 1 College Preparatory class. This was conducted within every class by incorporating one level of the eight levels of intelligence into small group work in stations. Every class was conducted utilizing small-group instruction. Achievement levels were measured through various forms of collected data that expressed student understandings in class through formative assessments versus student understandings on summative assessments. The data samples included: assessments (i.e. summative and formative assessments), observable data, video recordings, a daily log book, student surveys, and checklists kept during the observation periods. Formative assessments were analyzed during each class period to measure in-class understanding. Summative assessments were dissected per question per accuracy to review the effects of each intelligence implemented. The data was collated into a coding workbook for further analysis to conclude the resulting themes of the research. These themes include 1) there was no correlation to multiple levels of intelligence enhancing student achievement, 2) bodily-kinesthetic intelligence showed to be the intelligence that had the most improvement on test questions and 3) out of all of the bits of intelligence, interpersonal intelligence enhanced student understanding in class.

Keywords: stations, small group instruction, multiple levels of intelligence, Mathematics, Algebra 1, student achievement, secondary school, instructional Pedagogies

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Authors: Jawad Alzeer

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Natural products are well recognized as sources of drugs in several human ailments. To investigate the impact of variable extraction techniques on the cytotoxic effects of medicinal plant extracts, 5 well-known medicinal plants from Palestine were extracted with 90% ethanol, 80% methanol, acetone, coconut water, apple vinegar, grape vinegar or 5% acetic acid. The resulting extracts were screened for cytotoxic activities against three different cancer cell lines (B16F10, MCF-7, and HeLa) using a standard resazurin-based cytotoxicity assay and Nile Blue A as the positive control. Highly variable toxicities and tissue sensitivity were observed, depending upon the solvent used for extraction. Acetone consistently gave lower extraction yields but higher cytotoxicity, whereas other solvent systems gave much higher extraction yields with lower cytotoxicity. Interestingly, coconut water was found to offer a potential alternative to classical organic solvents; it gave consistently highest extraction yields, and in the case of S. officinalis L., highly toxic extracts towards MCF-7 cells derived from human breast cancer. These results demonstrate how the cytotoxicity of plant extracts can be inversely proportional to the yield, and that solvent selection plays an important role in both factors.

Keywords: plant extract, natural products, anti cancer drug, cytotoxicity

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Authors: Youn Young Shim, Ji Hye Kim, Jae Youl Cho, Martin JT Reaney

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Flaxseed (Linumusitatissimum L.) is gaining popularity in the food industry as a superfood due to its health-promoting properties. Linusorbs (LOs, a.k.a. Cyclolinopeptide) are bioactive compounds present in flaxseed exhibiting potential health effects. The study focused on the effects of processing and storage on the stability of flaxseed-derived LOs added to various bakery products. The flaxseed meal fortified gluten-free (GF) bakery bread was prepared, and the changes of LOs during the bread-making process (meal, fortified flour, dough, and bread) and storage (0, 1, 2, and 4 weeks) at different temperatures (−18 °C, 4 °C, and 22−23 °C) were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection. The total oxidative LOs and LO1OB2 were almost kept stable in flaxseed meals at storage temperatures of 22−23 °C, −18 °C, and 4 °C for up to four weeks. Processing steps during GF-bread production resulted in the oxidation of LOs. Interestingly, no LOs were detected in the dough sample; however, LOs appeared when the dough was stored at −18 °C for one week, suggesting that freezing destroyed the sticky structure of the dough and resulted in the release of LOs. The final product, flaxseed meal fortified bread, could be stored for up to four weeks at −18 °C and 4 °C, and for one week at 22−23 °C. All these results suggested that LOs may change during processing and storage and that flaxseed flour-fortified bread should be stored at low temperatures to preserve effective LOs components.

Keywords: linum usitatissimum L., flaxseed, linusorb, stability, gluten-free, peptides, cyclolinopeptide

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Authors: Marinos Dimitropoulos, George Trakakis, Nikolaus Meyerbröker, Raphael Dalpke, Polina Angelova, Albert Schnieders, Christos Pavlou, Christos Kostaras, Costas Galiotis, Konstantinos Dassios

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Intended for purifying water, water separation technologies are widely employed in a variety of contemporary household and industrial applications. Ultrathin Carbon Nanomembranes (CNMs) offer a highly selective, fast-flow, energy-efficient water separation technology intended for demanding water treatment applications as a technological replacement for biological filtration membranes. The membranes are two-dimensional (2D) materials with sub-nm functional pores and a thickness of roughly 1 nm; they may be generated in large quantities on porous supporting substrates and have customizable properties. The purpose of this work was to investigate and analyze the mechanical characteristics of CNMs and their substrates in order to ensure the structural stability of the membrane during operation. Contrary to macro-materials, it is difficult to measure the mechanical properties of membranes that are only a few nanometers thick. The membranes were supported on atomically flat substrates as well as suspended over patterned substrates, and their inherent mechanical properties were tested with atomic force microscopy. Quantitative experiments under nanomechanical loading, nanoindentation, and nano fatigue demonstrated the membranes' potential for usage in water separation applications.

Keywords: carbon nanomembranes, mechanical properties, AFM

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Authors: Daniel K. Gameti

Abstract:

The paper explored the effects of active and passive entrepreneurship education methods on the venture creation intention of undergraduate students in Ghana. The study also examined the moderating effect of gender and negative personal characteristics (risk tolerance, stress tolerance and fear of failure) on students’ venture creation intention. Deductive approach was used in collecting quantitative data from 555 business students from one public university and one private university through self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistic was used to determine the dominant method of entrepreneurship education used in Ghana. Further, structural equation model was used to test four hypotheses. The results of the study show that the dominant method of education used in Ghana was lectures and the least method used was field trip. The study further revealed that passive methods of education are less effective compared to active methods which were statistically significant in venture creation intention among students. There was also statistical difference between male and female students’ venture creation intention but stronger among male students and finally, the only personal characteristics that influence students’ intention was stress tolerance because risk tolerance and fear of failure were statistically insignificant.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education, Ghana, moderating variables, venture creation intention, undergraduate students

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Authors: Chih-Hua Wu, Bang-Fuh Chen, Keryea Soong

Abstract:

Midges can move on the surface of the water at speeds of approximately 340 body-lengths/s and can move continuously for >90 min. Their wings periodically scull the sea surface to push water backward and thus generate thrust; their other body parts, including their three pairs of legs, touch the water only occasionally. The aim of this study was to investigate the locomotion mechanism of marine midges with a size of 2 mm and living in shallow reefs in Wanliton, southern Taiwan. We assumed that midges generate lift through two mechanisms: by sculling the surface of seawater to leverage the generated tension for thrust and by retracting their wings to generate aerodynamic lift at a suitable angle of attack. We performed computational fluid dynamic simulations to determine the mechanism of midge locomotion above the surface of the water. The simulations indicated that ground effects are essential and that both the midge trunk and wing tips must be very close to the water surface to produce sufficient lift to keep the midge airborne. Furthermore, a high wing-beat frequency is crucial for the midge to produce sufficient lift during wing retraction. Accordingly, ground effects, forward speed, and high wing-beat frequency are major factors influencing the ability of midges to generate sufficient lift and remain airborne above the water surface.

Keywords: ground effect, water locomotion, CFD, aerodynamic lift

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Authors: Samatha Ss Sutton, Kaouther Kooli

Abstract:

In recent years social media influences (SMI) have become integrated into many companies marketing strategies to create buzz, target new and younger markets and further expand social media coverage in business (Lim et al 2017). SMI’s can be defined as online personalities with a substantial number of followers, across one or more social media platforms, with influence on their followers (Lou and Yuan 2018). Recently expenditure on influencer marketing has increased exponentially becoming an important area for marketing opportunities and strategies in the future (Lou and Yuan 2018). In order to market products and brands effectively through SMI’s it is important for business to understand the attributes of SMI that effect purchase intention (Lim et al 2017) of their followers and whether or not these attributes vary across generations so to market effectively to their specific segment or target market. The present study involves quantitative research to understand the attributes by which influence differs across generations namely Generation X and Millennials and its effects on purchase intentions of these generational groups. A survey will be conducted using an online questionnaire. Structural Equation Modelling and Multi group analysis will be applied. The study provides insight to marketers/decision makers on how to use influencers accordingly with their target consumer.

Keywords: social media marketing, social media influencers, attitude towards social media influencers, intention to purchase

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Authors: Ahmed Fawzy, Khaled Ayad, Gh. M. Koura, W. Reda

Abstract:

The knee joint complex is one of the most commonly injured areas of the body in athletes. Excessive frontal plane knee excursion is considered a risk factor for multiple knee pathologies such as anterior cruciate ligament and patellofemoral joint injuries, however, little is known about the biomechanical factors that contribute to this loading pattern. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate if there is a relationship between hip abductors isometric strength and the value of FPPA during single leg landing tasks in normal male subjects. Methods: One hundred (male) subjects free from lower extremity injuries for at least six months ago participated in this study. Their mean age was (23.25 ± 2.88) years, mean weight was (74.76 ± 13.54) (Kg), mean height was (174.23 ± 6.56) (Cm). The knee frontal plane projection angle was measured by digital video camera using single leg landing task. Hip abductors isometric strength were assessed by portable hand-held dynamometer. Muscle strength had been normalized to the body weight to obtain more accurate measurements. Results: The results demonstrated that there was no significant relationship between hip abductors isometric strength and the value of FPPA during single leg landing tasks in normal male subjects. Conclusion: It can be concluded that there is no relationship between hip abductors isometric strength and the value of FPPA during functional activities in normal male subjects.

Keywords: 2-dimensional motion analysis, hip strength, kinematics, knee injuries

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Authors: Md. Hafezur Rahaman, Md. Sagor Hosen, Md. Abdul Gafur, Rasel Habib

Abstract:

This research is a systematic study of effects of poly(D-lactic acid) (PDLA) on the properties of poly(L-lactic acid)(PLLA)/microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)/PDLA blends by stereo complex crystallization. Blends were prepared with constant percentage of (3 percent) MCC and different percentage of PDLA by solution casting methods. These blends were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) for the confirmation of blends compatibility, Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) for the analysis of morphology, thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) for thermal properties measurement. FTIR Analysis results confirm no new characteristic absorption peaks appeared in the spectrum instead shifting of peaks due to hydrogen bonding help to have compatibility of blends component. Development of three new peaks from XRD analysis indicates strongly the formation of stereo complex crystallinity in the PLLA structure with the addition of PDLA. TGA and DTG results indicate that PDLA can improve the heat resistivity of the PLLA/MCC blends by increasing its degradation temperature. Comparison of DTA peaks also ensure developed thermal properties. Image of SEM shows the improvement of surface morphology.

Keywords: microcrystalline cellulose, poly(l-lactic acid), stereocomplex crystallization, thermal stability

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Authors: K. R. Thabethe, G. A. Adefolaju, M. J. Hosie

Abstract:

Cervical cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer globally and it is one of three AIDS defining malignancies. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is a combination of three or more antiretroviral drugs and has been shown to play a significant role in reducing the incidence of some AIDS defining malignancies, although its effect on cervical cancer is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cervical cancer and HAART. This was achieved by studying the expression of two signalling molecules expressed in cervical cancer; MUC1 and P65. Following the 24 hour treatment of a cervical cancer cell line, HCS-2, with drugs which are commonly used as part of HAART at their clinical plasma concentrations, real-time qPCR and immunofluorescence were used in order to study gene and protein expression. A one way ANOVA followed by a Tukey Kramer Post Hoc test was conducted using JMP 11 software on both sets of data. The drug classified as a protease inhibitor (PI) (i.e. LPV/r) reduced MUC1 and P65 gene and protein expression more than the other drug tested. PIs are known to play a significant role in cell death, therefore the cells were thought to be more susceptible to cell death following treatment with PIs. In conclusion, the drugs used, especially the PI showed some anticancer effects by facilitating cell death through decreased gene and protein expression of MUC1 and P65 and present promising agents for cancer treatment.

Keywords: cervical cancer, haart, MUC1, P65

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Authors: Ali N. Suri, Ahmad A. Al-Makhlufi

Abstract:

Sandwich construction is widely accepted as a method of construction especially in the aircraft industry. It is a type of stressed skin construction formed by bonding two thin faces to a thick core, the faces resist all of the applied edge loads and provide all or nearly all of the required rigidities, the core spaces the faces to increase cross section moment of inertia about common neutral axis and transmit shear between them provides a perfect bond between core and faces is made. Material for face sheets can be of metal or reinforced plastics laminates, core material can be metallic cores of thin sheets forming corrugation or honeycomb, or non-metallic core of Balsa wood, plastic foams, or honeycomb made of reinforced plastics. For in plane axial loading web core and web-foam core Sandwich panels can fail by local buckling of plates forming the cross section with buckling wave length of the order of length of spacing between webs. In this study local buckling of web core and web-foam core Sandwich panels is carried out for given materials of facing and core, and given panel overall dimension for different combinations of cross section geometries. The Finite Strip Method is used for the analysis, and Fortran based computer program is developed and used.

Keywords: local buckling, finite strip, sandwich panels, web and foam core

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Authors: Yo-Sheng Lin, Run-Chi Liu, Chien-Chu Ji, Chih-Chung Chen, Chien-Chin Wang

Abstract:

A W-band double-balanced mixer for direct up-conversion using standard 90 nm CMOS technology is reported. The mixer comprises an enhanced double-balanced Gilbert cell with PMOS negative resistance compensation for conversion gain (CG) enhancement and current injection for power consumption reduction and linearity improvement, a Marchand balun for converting the single LO input signal to differential signal, another Marchand balun for converting the differential RF output signal to single signal, and an output buffer amplifier for loading effect suppression, power consumption reduction and CG enhancement. The mixer consumes low power of 6.9 mW and achieves LO-port input reflection coefficient of -17.8~ -38.7 dB and RF-port input reflection coefficient of -16.8~ -27.9 dB for frequencies of 90~100 GHz. The mixer achieves maximum CG of 3.6 dB at 95 GHz, and CG of 2.1±1.5 dB for frequencies of 91.9~99.4 GHz. That is, the corresponding 3 dB CG bandwidth is 7.5 GHz. In addition, the mixer achieves LO-RF isolation of 36.8 dB at 94 GHz. To the authors’ knowledge, the CG, LO-RF isolation and power dissipation results are the best data ever reported for a 94 GHz CMOS/BiCMOS up-conversion mixer.

Keywords: CMOS, W-band, up-conversion mixer, conversion gain, negative resistance compensation, output buffer amplifier

Procedia PDF Downloads 518