Search results for: factor analysis

Authors: Mohamed A. Morsy, Azza A. K. El-Sheikh, Abdulla Y. Al-Taher

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The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of resveratrol (RES) on methotrexate (MTX)-induced testicular damage. RES (10 mg/kg/day) was given for 8 days orally and MTX (20 mg/kg i.p.) was given at day 4 of experiment, with or without RES in rats. MTX decreased serum testosterone, induced histopathological testicular damage, increased testicular tumor necrosis factor-α level and expression of nuclear factor-κB and cyclooxygenase-2. In MTX/RES group, significant reversal of these parameters was noticed, compared to MTX group. Testicular expression of multidrug resistance protein (Mrp) 3 was three- and five-folds higher in RES- and MTX/RES-treated groups, respectively. In vitro, using prostate cancer cells, each of MTX and RES alone induced cytotoxicity with IC50 0.18 ± 0.08 and 20.5 ± 3.6 µM, respectively. RES also significantly enhanced cytotoxicity of MTX. In conclusion, RES appears to have dual beneficial effect, as it promotes MTX tumor cytotoxicity, while protecting the testes, probably via up-regulation of testicular Mrp3 as a novel mechanism.

Keywords: resveratrol, methotrexate, multidrug resistance protein 3, tumor necrosis factor-α, nuclear factor-κB, cyclooxygenase-2

Procedia PDF Downloads 415

Authors: C. J. W. Habets, D. J. Peters, J. G. de Gijt, A. V. Metrikine, S. N. Jonkman

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Conventional seismic designs of quay walls in ports are mostly based on pseudo-static analysis. A more advanced alternative is the Performance-Based Design (PBD) method, which evaluates permanent deformations and amounts of (repairable) damage under seismic loading. The aim of this study is to investigate the suitability of this method for anchored sheet pile quay walls that were not purposely designed for seismic loads. A research methodology is developed in which pseudo-static, permanent-displacement and finite element analysis are employed, calibrated with an experimental reference case that considers a typical anchored sheet pile wall. A reduction factor that accounts for deformation behaviour is determined for pseudo-static analysis. A model to apply traditional permanent displacement analysis on anchored sheet pile walls is proposed. Dynamic analysis is successfully carried out. From the research it is concluded that PBD evaluation can effectively be used for seismic analysis and design of this type of structure.

Keywords: anchored sheet pile quay wall, simplified dynamic analysis, performance-based design, pseudo-static analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 347

Authors: Zhaojun Wang, Zongdi Sun, Qinqin Cui, Xingwan Ren

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Based on multivariate statistical analysis theory, this paper uses the principal component analysis method, Mahalanobis distance analysis method and fitting method to establish the photovoltaic health model to evaluate the health of photovoltaic panels. First of all, according to weather conditions, the photovoltaic panel variable data are classified into five categories: sunny, cloudy, rainy, foggy, overcast. The health of photovoltaic panels in these five types of weather is studied. Secondly, a scatterplot of the relationship between the amount of electricity produced by each kind of weather and other variables was plotted. It was found that the amount of electricity generated by photovoltaic panels has a significant nonlinear relationship with time. The fitting method was used to fit the relationship between the amount of weather generated and the time, and the nonlinear equation was obtained. Then, using the principal component analysis method to analyze the independent variables under five kinds of weather conditions, according to the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test, it was found that three types of weather such as overcast, foggy, and sunny meet the conditions for factor analysis, while cloudy and rainy weather do not satisfy the conditions for factor analysis. Therefore, through the principal component analysis method, the main components of overcast weather are temperature, AQI, and pm2.5. The main component of foggy weather is temperature, and the main components of sunny weather are temperature, AQI, and pm2.5. Cloudy and rainy weather require analysis of all of their variables, namely temperature, AQI, pm2.5, solar radiation intensity and time. Finally, taking the variable values in sunny weather as observed values, taking the main components of cloudy, foggy, overcast and rainy weather as sample data, the Mahalanobis distances between observed value and these sample values are obtained. A comparative analysis was carried out to compare the degree of deviation of the Mahalanobis distance to determine the health of the photovoltaic panels under different weather conditions. It was found that the weather conditions in which the Mahalanobis distance fluctuations ranged from small to large were: foggy, cloudy, overcast and rainy.

Keywords: fitting, principal component analysis, Mahalanobis distance, SPSS, MATLAB

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Authors: Erhong Sun, Xuchun Ye

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Technophobia, namely the fear or dislike of modern advanced technologies, plays a central role in age-related digital divides and is considered a new risk factor for older adults, which can affect the daily lives of people through low adherence to digital living. Indeed, there is considerable heterogeneity in the group of older adults who feel technophobia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify different technophobia typologies of older people and to examine their associations with the subjective age factor. A sample of 704 retired elderly over the age of 55 was recruited in China. Technophobia and subjective age were assessed with a questionnaire, respectively. Latent profile analysis was used to identify technophobia subgroups, using three dimensions including techno-anxiety, techno-paranoia, and privacy concerns as indicators. The association between the identified technophobia subgroups and subjective age was explored. In summary, four different technophobia typologies were identified among older adults in China. Combined with an investigation of personal background characteristics and subjective age, it draws a more nuanced image of the technophobia phenome among older adults in China. First, not all older adults suffer from technophobia, with about half of the elderly subjects belonging to the profiles of “Low-technophobia” and “Medium-technophobia.” Second, privacy concern plays an important role in the classification of technophobia among older adults. Third, subjective age might be a protective factor for technophobia in older adults. Although the causal direction between identified technophobia typologies and subjective age remains uncertain, our suggests that future interventions should better focus on subjective age by breaking the age stereotype of technology to reduce the negative effect of technophobia on older. Future development of this research will involve extensive investigation of the detailed impact of technophobia in senior populations, measurement of the negative outcomes, as well as formulation of innovative educational and clinical pathways.

Keywords: technophobia, older adults, latent profile analysis, subjective age

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Authors: Ahmadreza Ashraf, Elias Saion, Elham Gharib Shahi, Chee Kong Yap, Mohd Suhaimi Hamzah

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Fifty-five core marine sediments from three locations at South China Sea and one location each at Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea of coastal East Malaysia was analyzed for heavy metals using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy. The enrichment factor of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn varied from 0.42 to 4.26, 0.50 to 2.34, 0.31 to 0.82, 0.20 to 0.61, 0.91 to 1.92, 0.23 to 1.52, and 0.90 to 1.28 respectively, with the modified degree of contamination values below 0.6. Comparative data show that coastal East Malaysia is of low levels of contamination.

Keywords: coastal East Malaysia, core marine sediments, enrichment factor, heavy metals, INAA and ICP method, modified degree of contamination

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Authors: P. Mendes, H. Stel, R. E. M. Morales

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This article presents a numerical and experimental study of turbulent flow in corrugated pipes with helically “d-type" grooves, for Reynolds numbers between 7500 and 100,000. The ANSYS-CFX software is used to solve the RANS equations with the BSL two equation turbulence model, through the element-based finite-volume method approach. Different groove widths and helix angles are considered. Numerical results are validated with experimental pressure drop measurements for the friction factor. A correlation for the friction factor is also proposed considering the geometric parameters and Reynolds numbers evaluated.

Keywords: turbulent flow, corrugated pipe, helical, numerical, experimental, friction factor, correlation

Procedia PDF Downloads 447

Authors: İsmail Seçer

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Although depression and anxiety disorders are considered to be adult disorders, the evidence obtained from several studies conducted recently shows that the roots of depression and anxiety disorders go back to childhood years. Thus, it is thought that analyzing depressive symptoms and anxiety disorders observed in the childhood is an important necessity. In the direction of the problem status of the study, the purpose of this study is to adapt anxiety and depression questionnaire for children into Turkish culture and analyze the psychometric characteristics of it on clinical and nonclinical samples separately. The study is a descriptive survey research. The study was conducted on two different sample groups, clinical and nonclinical. The clinical sample is formed of 205 individuals and the nonclinical sample is formed of 630 individuals. Through the study, anxiety and depression questionnaire for children, anxiety sensitivity index and obsessive compulsive disorder questionnaire for children were used. Experts’ opinions were asked to provide language validity of the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis and criterion-related validity to analyze construct validity and internal consistency and split-half reliability analyses were done for reliability. In the direction of experts’ opinions, construct validity of the scale was analyzed with simple confirmatory factor analysis and it was determined that the model fit of the two-factor structure of the scale gives good fit on both the clinical and nonclinical samples after determining that the language validity of the scale is provided. In criterion-related validity, it was determined that there are positive and significant relations between anxiety and depression questionnaire for children and anxiety sensitivity and obsessive compulsive disorder. The results of internal consistency and half-split reliability analyses also show that the scale has adequate reliability value. It can be said that depression and anxiety questionnaire for children which was adapted to determine depressive symptoms and anxiety disorders observed in childhood has adequate reliability and validity values and it can be used in future studies. It can be recommended that the psychometric characteristics of the scale can be analyzed and reported on new samples in the future studies.

Keywords: scale adapting, construct validity, confirmatory factor analysis, childhood depression

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Authors: Amani Kappi, Ana Maria Linares, Gia Mudd-Martin

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Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are more likely to develop social skills deficits that can lead to academic underachievement, peer rejection, and maladjustment. Surveying teachers about children's social skills with ADHD will become a significant factor in identifying whether the children will be diagnosed with social skills deficits. The teacher-specific version of the Social Skills Rating System scale (SSRS-T) has been used as a screening tool for children's social behaviors. The psychometric properties of the SSRS-T have been evaluated in various populations and settings, such as when used by teachers to assess social skills for children with learning disabilities. However, few studies have been conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the SSRS-T when used to assess children with ADHD. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the SSRS-T and two SSRS-T subscales, Social Skills and Problem Behaviors. This was a secondary analysis of longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. This study included a sample of 194 teachers who used the SSRS-T to assess the social skills of children aged 8 to 10 years with ADHD. Exploratory principal components factor analysis was used to assess the construct validity of the SSRS-T scale. Cronbach’s alpha value was used to assess the internal consistency reliability of the total SSRS-T scale and the subscales. Item analyses included item-item intercorrelations, item-to-subscale correlations, and Cronbach’s alpha value changes with item deletion. The results of internal consistency reliability for both the total scale and subscales were acceptable. The results of the exploratory factor analysis supported the five factors of SSRS-T (Cooperation, Self-control, Assertion, Internalize behaviors, and Externalize behaviors) reported in the original version. Findings indicated that SSRS-T is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the social behaviors of children with ADHD.

Keywords: ADHD, children, social skills, SSRS-T, psychometric properties

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Authors: Fathul Mubin, Budi E. Nurcahya

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In 2006, a large earthquake ever occurred in the province of Yogyakarta, which caused considerable damage. This is the basis need to investigate the seismic vulnerability index in around of the earthquake zone. This research is called microzonation of earthquake hazard. This research has been conducted at the site and surrounding of Prambanan Temple, includes homes and civil buildings. The reason this research needs to be done because in the event of an earthquake in 2006, there was damage to the temples at Prambanan temple complex and its surroundings. In this research, data collection carried out for 60 minutes using three component seismograph measurements at 165 points with spacing of 1000 meters. The data recorded in time function were analyzed using the spectral ratio method, known as the Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR). Results from this analysis are dominant frequency (Fg) and maximum amplification factor (Ag) are used to obtain seismic vulnerability index. The results of research showed the dominant frequency range from 0.5 to 30 Hz and the amplification is in interval from 0.5 to 9. Interval value for seismic vulnerability index is 0.1 to 50. Based on distribution maps of seismic vulnerability index and impact of buildings damage seemed for suitability. For further research, it needs to survey to the east (klaten) and south (Bantul, DIY) to determine a full distribution maps of seismic vulnerability index.

Keywords: amplification factor, dominant frequency, microzonation analysis, seismic vulnerability index

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Authors: Anh Nguyen, Jane Fisher, Thach Tran, Anh T. T. Tran

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Trait Emotional Intelligence is the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes an individual has about their own and other people’s emotions. It is believed that trait emotional intelligence is a component of personality. Petrides’ Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) is well regarded and well-established, with validation data about its functioning among adults from many countries. However, there is little data yet about its use among Asian populations, including adolescents. The aims were to translate and culturally verify the Trait Emotional Intelligence Adolescent Short Form (TEIQue-ASF) and investigate content validity, construct validity, and reliability among adolescents attending high schools in Vietnam. Content of the TEIQue-ASF was translated (English to Vietnamese) and back-translated (Vietnamese to English) in consultation with bilingual and bicultural health researchers and pilot tested among 51 potential respondents. Phraseology and wording were then adjusted and the final version is named the VN-TEIQue-ASF. The VN-TEIQue-ASF’s properties were investigated in a cross-sectional elf-report survey among high school students in Central Vietnam. In total 1,546 / 1,573 (98.3%) eligible students from nine high schools in rural, urban, and coastline areas completed the survey. Explanatory Factor Analysis yielded a four-factor solution, including some with facets that loaded differently compared to the original version: Well-being, Emotion in Relationships, Emotion Self-management, and Emotion Sensitivity. The Cronbach’s alpha of the global score for the VN-TEIQue-ASF was .77. The VN-TEIQue-ASF is comprehensible and has good content and construct validity and reliability among adolescents in Vietnam. The factor structure is only partly replicated the original version. The VN-TEIQue-ASF is recommended for use in school or community surveys and professional study in education, psychology, and public health to investigate the trait emotional intelligence of adolescents in Vietnam.

Keywords: adolescents, construct validity, content validity, factor analysis, questionnaire validity, trait emotional intelligence, Vietnam

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Authors: Inyeol Paik, Ah-Ryang Kim

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In this research, a statistical analysis is carried out to examine the statistical properties of the formula given in the design code for concrete structures. The design formulas of the Korea highway bridge design code - the limit state design method (KHBDC) which is the current national bridge design code and the design code for concrete structures by Korea Concrete Institute (KCI) are applied for the analysis. The safety levels provided by the strength formulas of the design codes are defined based on the probabilistic and statistical theory.KHBDC is a reliability-based design code. The load and resistance factors of this code were calibrated to attain the target reliability index. It is essential to define the statistical properties for the design formulas in this calibration process. In general, the statistical characteristics of a member strength are due to the following three factors. The first is due to the difference between the material strength of the actual construction and that used in the design calculation. The second is the difference between the actual dimensions of the constructed sections and those used in design calculation. The third is the difference between the strength of the actual member and the formula simplified for the design calculation. In this paper, the statistical study is focused on the third difference. The formulas for calculating the shear strength of concrete members are presented in different ways in KHBDC and KCI. In this study, the statistical properties of design formulas were obtained through comparison with the database which comprises the experimental results from the reference publications. The test specimen was either reinforced with the shear stirrup or not. For an applied database, the bias factor was about 1.12 and the coefficient of variation was about 0.18. By applying the statistical properties of the design formula to the reliability analysis, it is shown that the resistance factors of the current design codes satisfy the target reliability indexes of both codes. Also, the minimum resistance factors of the KHBDC which is written in the material resistance factor format and KCE which is in the member resistance format are obtained and the results are presented. A further research is underway to calibrate the resistance factors of the high strength and high-performance concrete design guide.

Keywords: concrete design code, reliability analysis, resistance factor, shear strength, statistical property

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Authors: Kathryn Strachan, Sameer Otoom, Amal AL-Gallaf, Ahmed Al Ansari

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Introduction: Introducing a reliable method to select graduates for an award in higher education can be challenging but is not impossible. Multisource feedback (MSF) is a popular assessment tool that relies on evaluations of different groups of people, including physicians and non-physicians. It is useful for assessing several domains, including professionalism, communication and collaboration and may be useful for selecting the best interns to receive a University award. Methods: 16 graduates responded to an invitation to participate in the student award, which was conducted by the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland-Bahrain Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain) using the MSF process. Five individuals from the following categories rated each participant: physicians, nurses, and fellow students. RCSI Bahrain graduates were assessed in the following domains; professionalism, communication, and collaboration. Mean and standard deviation were calculated and the award was given to the graduate who scored the highest among his/her colleagues. Cronbach’s coefficient was used to determine the questionnaire’s internal consistency and reliability. Factor analysis was conducted to examine for the construct validity. Results: 16 graduates participated in the RCSI-Bahrain interns’ award based on the MSF process, giving us a 16.5% response rate. The instrument was found to be suitable for factor analysis and showed 3 factor solutions representing 79.3% of the total variance. Reliability analysis using Cronbach’s α reliability of internal consistency indicated that the full scale of the instrument had high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α 0.98). Conclusion: This study found the MSF process to be reliable and valid for selecting the best graduates for the interns’ awards. However, the low response rates may suggest that the process is not feasible for allowing the majority of the students to participate in the selection process. Further research studies may be required to support the feasibility of the MSF process in selecting graduates for the university award.

Keywords: MSF, RCSI, validity, Bahrain

Procedia PDF Downloads 307

Authors: Pacharaporn Lekyan

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The purpose of this study is to explore the conflict management affecting the workplace and analyze the ability of the prediction of leadership of the headman and the methods to handle the conflict in an organization. The quantitative research and developed the questionnaire in order to collect information from the respondents from 200 samples from leader or manager who worked in frozen food factories in Thailand. The result analysis shows about the problem of the relationship between conflict management factors, leadership, and the confliction in organization. The emotion of the leader in the organization is not the only factor that can affect conflict management but also the emotion of surrounding people which this factor can happen all the time and shows that four out of five factors of interpersonal conflict management have affected on emotion intelligence and also shows that the behaviors of leadership have an influence on conflict management.

Keywords: conflict management, emotional intelligence, leadership, factories' employee

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Authors: Hyunjoo Park, Taehyun Kim, Taehyun Kim

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The government that declared 'de-nuclearization' pushes up renewable energy policies such as solar power and wind power as an alternative to nuclear power generation. However, local residents who are concerned about the development and natural disasters have been hit by opposition, and related businesses around the country are experiencing difficulties. There is also a voice saying that installing a large wind power generator will cause landslides, low frequencies and noise, which will have a bad influence. Renewal is only a harmful and disgusting facility for the residents. In this way, it is expected that extreme social conflicts will occur in the decision making process related to the locally unwanted land-use (LULU). The government's efforts to solve this problem have been steadily progressing, but the systematic methodology for bringing in active participation and opinion gathering of the residents has not yet been established except for the simple opinion poll or referendum. Therefore, it is time to identify the factors that concern the local residents about the wind power generation facilities, and to find ways to make policy decision-making possible. In this study, we analyze the perception of people about offshore and onshore wind power facilities through questionnaires or interviews, and examine quantitative and qualitative precedent studies to analyze them. In addition, the study evaluates what factors affect the local acceptance of wind power facilities. As a result of the factor analysis of the questionnaire items, factors affecting the residents' acceptance of the wind power facility were extracted from four factors such as environmental, economic, risk, social, and management factor. The study also found that the influence of the determinants of local acceptance on the regional acceptability differs according to the demographic characteristics such as gender and income level. This study will contribute to minimizing the conflict on the installation of wind power facilities through communication among the local residents.

Keywords: factor analysis, local acceptance, locally unwanted land-use, LULU, wind power generation facilities

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Authors: Alan Luo, Hunter N. B. Moseley

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Many macromolecular structure entries in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) have a range of regional (localized) quality issues, be it derived from x-ray crystallography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, or other experimental approaches. However, most PDB entries are judged by global quality metrics like R-factor, R-free, and resolution for x-ray crystallography or backbone phi-psi distribution statistics and average restraint violations for NMR. Regional quality is often ignored when PDB entries are re-used for a variety of structurally based analyses. The binding of ligands, especially ligands involved in energy metabolism, is of particular interest in many structurally focused protein studies. Using a regional quality metric that provides chemically interpretable information from electron density maps, a significant number of outliers in regional structural quality was detected across x-ray crystallographic PDB entries for proteins bound to biochemically critical ligands. In this study, a series of analyses was performed to evaluate both specific and general potential factors that could promote these outliers. In particular, these potential factors were the minimum distance to a metal ion, the minimum distance to a crystal contact, and the isotropic atomic b-factor. To evaluate these potential factors, Fisher’s exact tests were performed, using regional quality criteria of outlier (top 1%, 2.5%, 5%, or 10%) versus non-outlier compared to a potential factor metric above versus below a certain outlier cutoff. The results revealed a consistent general effect from region-specific normalized b-factors but no specific effect from metal ion contact distances and only a very weak effect from crystal contact distance as compared to the b-factor results. These findings indicate that no single specific potential factor explains a majority of the outlier ligand-bound regions, implying that human error is likely as important as these other factors. Thus, all factors, including human error, should be considered when regions of low structural quality are detected. Also, the downstream re-use of protein structures for studying ligand-bound conformations should screen the regional quality of the binding sites. Doing so prevents misinterpretation due to the presence of structural uncertainty or flaws in regions of interest.

Keywords: biomacromolecular structure, coenzyme, electron density discrepancy analysis, x-ray crystallography

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Authors: Ahmad Hashim, Thariq Khan Azizuddin Khan, Zulakbal Abd Karim, Nohazira Abdul Karim

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This research aims to obtain the validity and reliability of a survey instrument to evaluate the values, attitudes, and professionalism of sports science students, from the Faculty of Sports Science and Coaching, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). It is a survey which is divided into two components namely first; moral, self-esteem, proactive, self-reliant and voluntary and second; ethics and professionalism. Development of the survey instrument is based on the Malaysian Education Development Plan, Higher Education Malaysia. There are 50 items prepared based on the five-point Likert scale which were tested at the pilot test level. It involved 212 research subjects selected based on random sampling. In addition, the research method applied is in the form of pre-experimental one group pre-test-post-test. Results of the analysis showed that overall field expert validity is r = .89, while the Cronbach alpha reliability correlation value of outdoor education instrument evaluation survey is r = .85. Next, this survey was tested again for construct validity using the factor analysis method for statistical analysis which would validate each item tested was supposed to be in the right component. From the analysis, results show that Bartlett's test is significant p < .05 and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index range is r = .87. The result showed 39 survey items are produced out of 50 items of the survey based on this factor analysis method. Research has shown that the survey instrument developed is valid and reliable to be used for the Faculty of Sports Sciences and Coaching, UPSI.

Keywords: values, attitudes, professionalism, ethics, professionalism

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Authors: Mohammad J. Mortazavi, Arvin Najafi, Pejman Mansouri

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Hemophilia A is simply described as deficiency of factor VIII(FVIII) and patients with this disorder have bleeding complications in different organs. By using the recombinant factor VIII in these patients, elective orthopedic surgeries have been done approximately in 40 last years. About 10-30 % of these patients have bleeding complications in their surgeries even by using recombinant factor VIII because of their inhibitor against FVIII molecule. Preoperative haemostatic management in these patients is challenging. We treated a 28-year-old male patient with hemophilia A with FVIII inhibitor which had been detected when he was14 years old (with the titer 54 Bethesda unit(BU)) scheduled for total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We use 90 µg/kg rFVIIa just before the surgery and every 2 hours during surgery. The patient did not have any significant hemorrhage during the surgery and after that. For the 2 days after surgery, the rFVIIa repeated every 2 hours as the same as preoperative dosage(90 µg/kg) and for another 2 days of postoperative admission it continued every 4 hours. After 4th day, the rFVIIa continued every 6 hours with the same dosage until the sixth day from the surgery, and finally the patient were discharged about two weeks after surgery. Seven days after the discharge, he came back for the follow up visit. On the follow up examination, the site of the surgery had neither infection hemarthroses signs.

Keywords: hemophilia, factor VIII inhibitor, total knee replacement, rFVIIa

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Authors: Abbas Keramati, Abtin Boostani, Mohammad Jamal Sadeghi

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This paper examines the influence of knowledge management factors on organizational commitment for employees in the oil and gas drilling industry of Iran. We determine what knowledge factors have the greatest impact on the personnel loyalty and commitment to the organization using collected data from a survey of over 300 full-time personnel working in three large companies active in oil and gas drilling industry of Iran. To specify the effect of knowledge factors in the organizational commitment of the personnel in the studied organizations, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used. Findings of our study show that the factors such as knowledge and expertise, in-service training, the knowledge value and the application of individuals’ knowledge in the organization as the factor “learning and perception of personnel from the value of knowledge within the organization” has the greatest impact on the organizational commitment. After this factor, “existence of knowledge and knowledge sharing environment in the organization”; “existence of potential knowledge exchanging in the organization”; and “organizational knowledge level” factors have the most impact on the organizational commitment of personnel, respectively.

Keywords: drilling industry, knowledge management, organizational commitment, loyalty, principle component analysis

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Authors: Ekrem Erdem, Can Tansel Tugcu

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Improved resource efficiency of production is a key requirement for sustainable growth, worldwide. In this regards, by considering the energy and tourism as the extra inputs to the classical Coub-Douglas production function, this study aims at investigating the efficiency changes in the North African countries. To this end, the study uses panel data for the period 1995-2010 and adopts the Malmquist index based on the data envelopment analysis. Results show that tourism increases technical and scale efficiencies, while it decreases technological and total factor productivity changes. On the other hand, when the production function is augmented by the energy input, technical efficiency change decreases, while the technological change, scale efficiency change and total factor productivity change increase. Thus, in order to satisfy the needs for sustainable growth, North African governments should take some measures for increasing the contribution that the tourism makes to economic growth and some others for efficient use of resources in the energy sector.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis, economic efficiency, North African countries, sustainable growth

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Authors: Petarpa Boonserm, Tritos Ngampitipan, Matt Visser

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A 'clean' black hole is a black hole in vacuum such as the Schwarzschild black hole. However in real physical systems, there are matter fields around a black hole. Such a black hole is called a 'dirty black hole'. In this paper, The effect of matter fields on the black hole and the greybody factor is investigated. The results show that matter fields make a black hole smaller. They can increase the potential energy to a black hole to obstruct Hawking radiation to propagate. This causes the greybody factor of a dirty black hole to be less than that of a clean black hole.

Keywords: dirty black hole, greybody factor, hawking radiation, matter fields.

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Authors: Abida Zanib

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Social entrepreneurship is an attention-grabbing area to meet social needs. Stakeholders in the social sector of Pakistan, particularly investors, development activists and policy makers are considering it as an engine to economic growth and powerful tool to address social issues in inventive ways. However, absence of specific policy and legitimacy issues create hurdles in the way of success for emerging start-ups. The review of the literature reveals that research in this emerging phenomenon particularly in the case of Pakistan is inadequate. To fill this gap in the literature, this study aims to scrutinize characteristics of nascent social enterprises. The study collects data from 65-emerging social enterprises using questionnaire. The results of factor analysis highlight optimistic and driving qualities of Pakistani social entrepreneurs, which help them to survive and grow in the business world. Moreover, the study identifies several areas for improvements such as information disclosure, networking, corporate governance, mentorship programs, and trainings. The study notes that despite the absence of specific policy, dynamic entrepreneurial culture is fostering in Pakistan and recommends re-framing the education policy to support the development of social entrepreneurship.

Keywords: emerging, entrepreneurs, Pakistan, social, start-ups

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Authors: Mira Filali, Amar Nechnech

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Most landslides in Algiers take place in Piacenzian marls of the Sahel (port in Arabic) and cause severe damage to properties and infrastructures. The aim of this paper is to describe the results of experimental as well as theoretical analysis of landslides. In order to understand the process which caused this slope instabilities, the results of geotechnical investigation carried out by the laboratory of construction (LNHC) laboratory in the area of Dounia park were analyzed, including particle size distribution, Atterberg limits, shear strength, odometer and pressuremeter tests. The study shows that the soils exhibited a high capacity to swelling according to index plasticity and clay content. Highs limit liquidity (LL) (53.45%) means that the soils are susceptible to landslides. The stability analysis carried out using finite element method, shows that the slope is stable (Fs > 1) in dry condition and in static state. Despite this results, the stable site could be described as only conditionally stable because slope failure can occur under combined effect of different factors. In fact the safety factor obtained by applying load when the phreatic surface is at ground, less than 1.5.

Keywords: index properties, landslides, safety factor, slope stability

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Authors: Musthaya Patchanee

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The study of Sanitary landfill in Bang Nok-khwaek municipality consists of two procedures. First, to survey and create the spatial database by using physical factor, environmental factor, economical factor and social factor to follow the method of Geographic information system: GIS, second, to analyze the proper spatial for allocating the sanitary landfill in Bang Nok-khwaek municipality by using Overlay techniques to calculate the weighting linear total in Arc GIS program. The study found that there are 2.49 sq.km. proper spatial for the sanitary landfill in Bang Nok-khwaek municipals city which is 66.76% of the whole area. The highest proper spatial is 0.02 sq.km. which is 0.54%, The high proper spatial is 0.3 sq.km. which is 8.04%, the moderate spatial is 1.62 sq.km. which is 43.43% and the low proper spatial is 0.55 sq.km. which is 14.75%. These results will be used as the guideline to select the sanitary landfill area in accordance with sanitation standard for Subdistrict Administrative Organization and Subbdistrict Municipality in Samut Songkhram provice.

Keywords: Geographic Information System (GIS), sanitary landfill, Bang Nok-Khwaek municipality, Subdistrict Administrative Organization

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Authors: Deeksha Arora

Abstract:

The study aims to explore the applicability of the widely used asset pricing models, namely, Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Fama-French Four Factor Model in the Indian equity market. The study will be based on the companies that form part of the Nifty Fifty Index for a period of five years: 2011 to 2016. The asset pricing model is examined by forming portfolios on the basis of three variables – market capitalization (size effect), book-to-market equity ratio (value effect) and profitability. The study provides a basis to test the presence of the Fama-French Four factor model in Indian stock market. This study may provide a basis for future research in the generalized asset pricing model comprising of multiple risk factors.

Keywords: book to market equity, Fama French four factor model, market capitalization, profitability, size effect, value effect

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Authors: Abdelhalim Kessal

Abstract:

This paper treats a design of combined control of a single phase power factor correction (PFC). The strategy of the proposed control is based on two parts, the first, for the outer loop (DC output regulated voltage), and the second govern the input current of the converter in order to achieve a sinusoidal form in phase with the grid voltage. Two kinds of regulators are used, Fuzzy controller for the outer loop and predictive controller for the inner loop. The controllers are verified and discussed through simulation under MATLAB/Simulink platform. Also an experimental confirmation is applied. Results present a high dynamic performance under various parameters changes.

Keywords: boost converter, harmonic distortion, Fuzzy, predictive, unity power factor

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Authors: Inderpreet Kaur, Ravinder Pal Singh, Kamal Kant Sharma

Abstract:

This paper addresses the different configurations used of optical amplifiers with 16 channels in Wavelength Division Multiplexed system. The systems with 16 channels have been simulated for evaluation of various parameters; Bit Error Rate, Quality Factor, for threshold values for a range of wavelength from 1471 nm to 1611 nm. Comparison of various combination of configurations have been analyzed with EDFA and FRA but EDFA-FRA configuration performance has been found satisfactory in terms of performance indices and stable region. The paper also compared various parameters quantized with different configurations individually. It has been found that Q factor has high value with less value of BER and high resolution for EDFA-FRA configuration.

Keywords: EDFA, FRA, WDM, Q factor, BER

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Authors: Shibei Huang

Abstract:

In deep energy retrofits, the thermal performance of existing building envelopes is often difficult to determine with a high level of accuracy. For older buildings, the records of existing assemblies are often incomplete or inaccurate. To obtain greater baseline performance accuracy for energy models, in-field measurement tools can be used to obtain data on the thermal performance of the existing assemblies. For a known assembly, these field measurements assist in validating the U-factor estimates. If the field-measured U-factor consistently varies from the calculated prediction, those measurements prompt further study. For an unknown assembly, successful field measurements can provide approximate U-factor evaluation, validate assumptions, or identify anomalies requiring further investigation. Using case studies, this presentation will focus on the non-destructive methods utilizing a set of various field tools to validate the baseline U-factors for a range of existing buildings with various wall assemblies. The lessons learned cover what can be achieved, the limitations of these approaches and tools, and ideas for improving the validity of measurements. Key factors include the weather conditions, the interior conditions, the thermal mass of the measured assemblies, and the thermal profiles of the assemblies in question.

Keywords: existing building, sensor, thermal analysis, retrofit

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Authors: A. Bilek, M. Beldi, T. Cherfi, S. Djebali, S. Larbi

Abstract:

Finite elements analysis and photoelasticity are used to determine the stress field developed in a double edge notched specimen loaded in tension. The specimen is cut in a birefringent plate. Experimental isochromatic fringes are obtained with circularly polarized light on the analyzer of a regular polariscope. The fringes represent the loci of points of equal maximum shear stress. In order to obtain the stress values corresponding to the fringe orders recorded in the notched specimen, particularly in the neighborhood of the notches, a calibrating disc made of the same material is loaded in compression along its diameter in order to determine the photoelastic fringe value. This fringe value is also used in the finite elements solution in order to obtain the simulated photoelastic fringes, the isochromatics as well as the isoclinics. A color scale is used by the software to represent the simulated fringes on the whole model. The stress concentration factor can be readily obtained at the notches. Good agreements are obtained between the experimental and the simulated fringe patterns and between the graphs of the shear stress particularly in the neighborhood of the notches. The purpose in this paper is to show that one can obtain rapidly and accurately, by the finite element analysis, the isochromatic and the isoclinic fringe patterns in a stressed model as the experimental procedure can be time consuming. Stress fields can therefore be analyzed in three dimensional models as long as the meshing and the limit conditions are properly set in the program.

Keywords: isochromatic fringe, isoclinic fringe, photoelasticity, stress concentration factor

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Authors: Mohammadreza Vafaei, Amirali Moradi, Sophia C. Alih

Abstract:

The method selected for the design of structures not only can affect their seismic vulnerability but also can affect their construction cost. For the design of steel structures, two distinct methods have been introduced by existing codes, namely allowable stress design (ASD) and load resistant factor design (LRFD). This study investigates the effect of using the aforementioned design methods on the seismic vulnerability and construction cost of steel structures. Specifically, a 20-story building equipped with special moment resisting frame and an eccentrically braced system was selected for this study. The building was designed for three different intensities of peak ground acceleration including 0.2 g, 0.25 g, and 0.3 g using the ASD and LRFD methods. The required sizes of beams, columns, and braces were obtained using response spectrum analysis. Then, the designed frames were subjected to nine natural earthquake records which were scaled to the designed response spectrum. For each frame, the base shear, story shears, and inter-story drifts were calculated and then were compared. Results indicated that the LRFD method led to a more economical design for the frames. In addition, the LRFD method resulted in lower base shears and larger inter-story drifts when compared with the ASD method. It was concluded that the application of the LRFD method not only reduced the weights of structural elements but also provided a higher safety margin against seismic actions when compared with the ASD method.

Keywords: allowable stress design, load resistant factor design, nonlinear time history analysis, seismic vulnerability, steel structures

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Authors: Tawanda Mushiri, Charles Mbohwa

Abstract:

When an external load is applied to one of its ends, a pipe’s bends cross section tends to deform significantly both in and out of its end plane. This shell type behaviour characteristic of pipe bends and mainly due to their curves geometry accounts for their greater flexibility. This added flexibility is also accompanied by stressed and strains that are much higher than those present in a straight pipe. The primary goal of this research is to study the elastic-plastic behaviour of pipe bends under out of plane moment loading. It is also required to study the effects of changing the value of the pipe bend factor and the value of the internal pressure on that behaviour and to determine the value of the limit moments in each case. The results of these analyses are presented in the form of load deflection plots for each load case belonging to each model. From the load deflection curves, the limit moments of each case are obtained. The limit loads are then compared to those computed using some of the analytical and empirical equation available in the literature. The effects of modelling parameters are also studied. The results obtained from small displacement and large displacement analyses are compared and the effects of using a strain hardened material model are also investigated. To better understand the behaviour of pipe elbows under out of plane bending and internal pressure, it was deemed important to know how the cross section deforms and to study the distribution of stresses that cause it to deform in a particular manner. An elbow with pipe bend factor h=0.1 to h=1 is considered and the results of the detailed analysis are thereof examined.

Keywords: elasto-plastic, finite element analysis, pipe bends, simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 297