Search results for: multivariate process capability indices

Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma, Muhammet Demirkol, Murat Aydin, Tuba Gokkus, Burcin Nalbantoglu, Aysin Nalbantoglu, Birol Topcu

Abstract:

Obesity in childhood establishes a ground for adulthood obesity. Especially morbid obesity is an important problem for the children because of the associated diseases such as diabetes mellitus, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In this study, body mass index (BMI), body fat ratios, anthropometric measurements and ratios were evaluated together with different laboratory indices upon evaluation of obesity in morbidly obese (MO) children. Children with nutritional problems participated in the study. Written informed consent was obtained from the parents. Study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee. Sixty-two MO girls aged 129.5±35.8 months and 75 MO boys aged 120.1±26.6 months were included into the scope of the study. WHO-BMI percentiles for age-and-sex were used to assess the children with those higher than 99^th as morbid obesity. Anthropometric measurements of the children were recorded after their physical examination. Bio-electrical impedance analysis was performed to measure fat distribution. Anthropometric ratios, body fat ratios, Index-I and Index-II as well as insulin sensitivity indices (ISIs) were calculated. Girls as well as boys were binary grouped according to homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index of <2.5 and >2.5, fasting glucose to insulin ratio (FGIR) of <6 and >6 and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) of <0.33 and >0.33 as the frequently used cut-off points. They were evaluated based upon their BMIs, arms, legs, trunk, whole body fat percentages, body fat ratios such as fat mass index (FMI), trunk-to-appendicular fat ratio (TAFR), whole body fat ratio (WBFR), anthropometric measures and ratios [waist-to-hip, head-to-neck, thigh-to-arm, thigh-to-ankle, height/2-to-waist, height/2-to-hip circumference (C)]. SPSS/PASW 18 program was used for statistical analyses. p≤0.05 was accepted as statistically significance level. All of the fat percentages showed differences between below and above the specified cut-off points in girls when evaluated with HOMA-IR and QUICKI. Differences were observed only in arms fat percent for HOMA-IR and legs fat percent for QUICKI in boys (p≤ 0.05). FGIR was unable to detect any differences for the fat percentages of boys. Head-to-neck C was the only anthropometric ratio recommended to be used for all ISIs (p≤0.001 for both girls and boys in HOMA-IR, p≤0.001 for girls and p≤0.05 for boys in FGIR and QUICKI). Indices which are recommended for use in both genders were Index-I, Index-II, HOMA/BMI and log HOMA (p≤0.001). FMI was also a valuable index when evaluated with HOMA-IR and QUICKI (p≤0.001). The important point was the detection of the severe significance for HOMA/BMI and log HOMA while they were evaluated also with the other indices, FGIR and QUICKI (p≤0.001). These parameters along with Index-I were unique at this level of significance for all children. In conclusion, well-accepted ratios or indices may not be valid for the evaluation of both genders. This study has emphasized the limiting properties for boys. This is particularly important for the selection process of some ratios and/or indices during the clinical studies. Gender difference should be taken into consideration for the evaluation of the ratios or indices, which will be recommended to be used particularly within the scope of obesity studies.

Keywords: anthropometry, childhood obesity, gender, insulin sensitivity index

Procedia PDF Downloads 329

Authors: O. E. Okafor, L. U. S. Ezeanyika, C. G. Nkwonta, C. J. Okonkwo

Abstract:

The effect of processing on plasma lipid profile and atherogenic indices of rats fed Artocarpus heterophyllus seed diets at different concentrations were investigated. Fifty five rats were used for this study, they were divided into eleven groups of five rats each (one control group and ten test groups), the test groups were fed raw, boiled, roasted, fermented, and soaked diets at 10 % and 40% concentrations. The study lasted for thirty five days. The diets led to significant decrease (p < 0.05) in plasma cholesterol and triacylglycerol of rats fed 10% and 40% concentrations of the diets, and a significant increase (p < 0.05) in high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels at 40% concentrations of the test diets. The diets also produced decrease in low density lipoprotein (LDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), cardiac risk ratio (CRR), atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and atherogenic coefficient (AC) at 40% concentrations except the soaked group that showed slight elevation of LDL, CRR, AC and AIP at 40% concentration. Artocarpus heterophyllus seeds could be beneficial to health because of its ability to increase plasma HDL and reduce plasma LDL, VLDL, cholesterol, triglycerides and atherogenic indices at higher diet concentration.

Keywords: artocarpus heterophyllus, atherogenic indices, concentrations, lipid profile

Procedia PDF Downloads 274

Authors: Azim Khodadadi, Sahar Sadaat Vakili, Ebrahim Babaei

Abstract:

This study presents a numerical method to optimize the failure rate and repair time of a typical radial distribution system. Failure rate and repair time are effective parameters in customer and energy based indices of reliability. Decrease of these parameters improves reliability indices. Thus, system stability will be boost. The penalty functions indirectly reflect the cost of investment which spent to improve these indices. Constraints on customer and energy based indices, i.e. SAIFI, SAIDI, CAIDI and AENS have been considered by using a new method which reduces optimization algorithm controlling parameters. Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) used as main optimization technique and particle swarm optimization (PSO), simulated annealing (SA) and differential evolution (DE) has been applied for further investigation. These algorithms have been implemented on a test system by MATLAB. Obtained results have been compared with each other. The optimized values of repair time and failure rate are much lower than current values which this achievement reduced investment cost and also ICA gives better answer than the other used algorithms.

Keywords: imperialist competitive algorithm, failure rate, repair time, radial distribution network

Procedia PDF Downloads 628

Authors: Esmat Mohammadinasab

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to investigate theoretically and establish a predictive model for determination LogP of armchair polyhex BN nanotubes by using simple descriptors. The relationship between the octanol-water partition coefficient (LogP) and quantum chemical descriptors, electric moments, and topological indices of some armchair polyhex BN nanotubes with various lengths and fixed circumference are represented. Based on density functional theory (DFT) electric moments and physico-chemical properties of those nanotubes are calculated. The DFT method performed based on the Becke’s 3-parameter formulation with the Lee-Yang-Parr functional (B3LYP) method and 3-21G standard basis sets. For the first time, the relationship between partition coefficient and different properties of polyhex BN nanotubes is investigated.

Keywords: topological indices, quantum descriptors, DFT method, nanotubes

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Saeed Pourhassan, Nastaran Maghbouli

Abstract:

Statement of the problem: The relationship between obesity and cardiovascular diseases has been studied widely(1). The distribution of fat tissue gained attention in relation to cardiovascular risk factors during lang-time research (2). American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) is widely and the most reliable tool to be used as a cardiovascular risk (CVR) assessment tool(3). This study aimed to determine which anthropometric index is better in discrimination of high CVR patients from low risks using ACC/AHA score in addition to finding the best index as a CVR predictor among both genders in different races and countries. Methodology & theoretical orientation: The literature in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched by two independent investigators using the keywords "anthropometric indices," "cardiovascular risk," and "obesity." The search strategy was limited to studies published prior to Jan 2022 as full-texts in the English language. Studies using ACC/AHA risk assessment tool as CVR and those consisted at least 2 anthropometric indices (ancient ones and novel ones) are included. Study characteristics and data were extracted. The relative risks were pooled with the use of the random-effect model. Analysis was repeated in subgroups. Findings: Pooled relative risk for 7 studies with 16,348 participants were 1.56 (1.35-1.72) for BMI, 1.67(1.36-1.83) for WC [waist circumference], 1.72 (1.54-1.89) for WHR [waist-to-hip ratio], 1.60 (1.44-1.78) for WHtR [waist-to-height ratio], 1.61 (1.37-1.82) for ABSI [A body shape index] and 1.63 (1.32-1.89) for CI [Conicity index]. Considering gender, WC among females and WHR among men gained the highest RR. The heterogeneity of studies was moderate (α²: 56%), which was not decreased by subgroup analysis. Some indices such as VAI and LAP were evaluated just in one study. Conclusion & significance: This meta-analysis showed WHR could predict CVR better in comparison to BMI or WHtR. Some new indices like CI and ABSI are less accurate than WHR and WC. Among women, WC seems to be a better choice to predict cardiovascular disease risk.

Keywords: obesity, cardiovascular disease, risk assessment, anthropometric indices

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: R. Lhissou , A. El Harti , K. Chokmani, E. Bachaoui, A. El Ghmari

Abstract:

Soil salinity is a serious environmental hazard in many countries around the world especially the arid and semi-arid countries like Morocco. Salinization causes negative effects on the ground; it affects agricultural production, infrastructure, water resources and biodiversity. Remote sensing can provide soil salinity information for large areas, and in a relatively short time. In addition, remote sensing is not limited by extremes in terrain or hazardous condition. Contrariwise, experimental methods for monitoring soil salinity by direct measurements in situ are very demanding of time and resources, and also very limited in spatial coverage. In the irrigated perimeter of Tadla plain in central Morocco, the increased use of saline groundwater and surface water, coupled with agricultural intensification leads to the deterioration of soil quality especially by salinization. In this study, we assessed several spectral indices of soil salinity cited in the literature using Landsat TM satellite images and field measurements of electrical conductivity (EC). Three Landsat TM satellite images were taken during 3 months in the dry season (September, October and November 2011). Based on field measurement data of EC collected in three field campaigns over the three dates simultaneously with acquisition dates of Landsat TM satellite images, a two assessment techniques are used to validate a soil salinity spectral indices. Firstly, the spectral indices are validated locally by pixel. The second validation technique is made using a window of size 3x3 pixels. The results of the study indicated that the second technique provides getting a more accurate validation and the assessment has shown its limits when it comes to assess across the pixel. In addition, the EC values measured from field have a good correlation with some spectral indices derived from Landsat TM data and the best results show an r² of 0.88, 0.79 and 0.65 for Salinity Index (SI) in the three dates respectively. The results have shown the usefulness of spectral indices as an auxiliary variable in the spatial estimation and mapping salinity in irrigated land.

Keywords: remote sensing, spectral indices, soil salinity, irrigated land

Procedia PDF Downloads 365

Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

Abstract:

Association between insulin resistance (IR) and hematological parameters has long been a matter of interest. Within this context, body mass index (BMI), red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets were involved in this discussion. Parameters related to platelets associated with IR may be useful indicators for the identification of IR. Platelet indices such as mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW) and plateletcrit (PCT) are being questioned for their possible association with IR. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between platelet (PLT) count as well as PLT indices and the surrogate indices used to determine IR in morbid obese (MO) children. A total of 167 children participated in the study. Three groups were constituted. The number of cases was 34, 97 and 36 children in the normal BMI, MO and metabolic syndrome (MetS) groups, respectively. Sex- and age-dependent BMI-based percentile tables prepared by World Health Organization were used for the definition of morbid obesity. MetS criteria were determined. BMI values, homeostatic model assessment for IR (HOMA-IR), alanine transaminase-to-aspartate transaminase ratio (ALT/AST) and diagnostic obesity notation model assessment laboratory (DONMA-lab) index values were computed. PLT count and indices were analyzed using automated hematology analyzer. Data were collected for statistical analysis using SPSS for Windows. Arithmetic mean and standard deviation were calculated. Mean values of PLT-related parameters in both control and study groups were compared by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey post hoc tests to determine whether a significant difference exists among the groups. The correlation analyses between PLT as well as IR indices were performed. Statistically significant difference was accepted as p-value < 0.05. Increased values were detected for PLT (p < 0.01) and PCT (p > 0.05) in MO group compared to those observed in children with N-BMI. Significant increases for PLT (p < 0.01) and PCT (p < 0.05) were observed in MetS group in comparison with the values obtained in children with N-BMI (p < 0.01). Significantly lower MPV and PDW values were obtained in MO group compared to the control group (p < 0.01). HOMA-IR (p < 0.05), DONMA-lab index (p < 0.001) and ALT/AST (p < 0.001) values in MO and MetS groups were significantly increased compared to the N-BMI group. On the other hand, DONMA-lab index values also differed between MO and MetS groups (p < 0.001). In the MO group, PLT was negatively correlated with MPV and PDW values. These correlations were not observed in the N-BMI group. None of the IR indices exhibited a correlation with PLT and PLT indices in the N-BMI group. HOMA-IR showed significant correlations both with PLT and PCT in the MO group. All of the three IR indices were well-correlated with each other in all groups. These findings point out the missing link between IR and PLT activation. In conclusion, PLT and PCT may be related to IR in addition to their identities as hemostasis markers during morbid obesity. Our findings have suggested that DONMA-lab index appears as the best surrogate marker for IR due to its discriminative feature between morbid obesity and MetS.

Keywords: children, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, plateletcrit, platelet indices

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Jiwoo Park, Junseok Yoon, Jeong Kim, Beomsoo Kang

Abstract:

Multi-Point Stretch Forming (MPSF) process is suitable for flexible manufacturing, and it has several advantages including that it could be applied to various forming such as sheet metal forming, single curved surface forming and double curved one. In this study, a systematic numerical simulation was carried out for atypical double curved surface forming using the multiple die stretch forming process. In this simulation, urethane pads were defined based on hyper-elastic material model as a cushion for the smooth forming surface. The deformation behaviour on elastic recovery was also investigated to consider the exact result after the last forming process, and then the experiment was also carried out to confirm the formability of this forming process. By comparing the simulation and experiment results, the suitability of the multiple die stretch forming process for the atypical double curved surface was verified. Consequently, it is confirmed that the multi-point stretch forming process has the capability and feasibility of being used to manufacture the double curved surfaces of sheet metal.

Keywords: multi-point stretch forming, double curved surface, numerical simulation, manufacturing

Procedia PDF Downloads 452

Authors: Sohail Ahmed, Ke Xing

Abstract:

This research theoretically explored the evolution mechanism of enterprise technological innovation capability system (ETICS) from the perspective of complex adaptive systems (CAS). This research proposed an analytical framework for ETICS, its concepts, and theory by integrating CAS methodology into the management of the technological innovation capability of enterprises and discusses how to use the principles of complexity to analyze the composition, evolution, and realization of the technological innovation capabilities in complex dynamic environments. This paper introduces the concept and interaction of multi-agent, the theoretical background of CAS, and summarizes the sources of technological innovation, the elements of each subject, and the main clusters of adaptive interactions and innovation activities. The concept of multi-agents is applied through the linkages of enterprises, research institutions, and government agencies with the leading enterprises in industrial settings. The study was exploratory and based on CAS theory. Theoretical model is built by considering technological and innovation literature from foundational to state of the art projects of technological enterprises. On this basis, the theoretical model is developed to measure the evolution mechanism of the enterprise's technological innovation capability system. This paper concludes that the main characteristics for evolution in technological systems are based on the enterprise’s research and development personnel, investments in technological processes, and innovation resources are responsible for the evolution of enterprise technological innovation performance. The research specifically enriched the application process of technological innovation in institutional networks related to enterprises.

Keywords: complex adaptive system, echo model, enterprise technological innovation capability system, research institutions, multi-agents

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: Siti Khairunniza-Bejo, Yusnida Yusoff, Nik Salwani Nik Yusoff, Idris Abu Seman, Mohamad Izzuddin Anuar

Abstract:

Most of the oil palm plantations have been threatened by Basal Stem Rot (BSR) disease which causes serious economic impact. This study was conducted to identify the healthy and BSR-infected oil palm tree using thirteen color indices. Multispectral and thermal camera was used to capture 216 images of the leaves taken from frond number 1, 9 and 17. Indices of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), red (R), green (G), blue (B), near infrared (NIR), green – blue (GB), green/blue (G/B), green – red (GR), green/red (G/R), hue (H), saturation (S), intensity (I) and thermal index (T) were used. From this study, it can be concluded that G index taken from frond number 9 is the best index to differentiate between the healthy and BSR-infected oil palm trees. It not only gave high value of correlation coefficient (R=-0.962), but also high value of separation between healthy and BSR-infected oil palm tree. Furthermore, power and S model developed using G index gave the highest R2 value which is 0.985.

Keywords: oil palm, image processing, disease, leaves

Procedia PDF Downloads 475

Authors: Gustavo G. Shimamoto, Matthieu Tubino

Abstract:

The characterization and the quality of biodiesel samples are checked by determining several parameters. Considering a large number of analysis to be performed, as well as the disadvantages of the use of toxic solvents and waste generation, multivariate calibration is suggested to reduce the number of tests. In this work, hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectra were used to build multivariate models, from partial least squares (PLS) regression, in order to determine simultaneously six important characterizing and/or quality parameters of biodiesels: density at 20 ºC, kinematic viscosity at 40 ºC, iodine value, acid number, oxidative stability, and water content. Biodiesels from twelve different oils sources were used in this study: babassu, brown flaxseed, canola, corn, cottonseed, macauba almond, microalgae, palm kernel, residual frying, sesame, soybean, and sunflower. 1H NMR reflects the structures of the compounds present in biodiesel samples and showed suitable correlations with the six parameters. The PLS models were constructed with latent variables between 5 and 7, the obtained values of r(cal) and r(val) were greater than 0.994 and 0.989, respectively. In addition, the models were considered suitable to predict all the six parameters for external samples, taking into account the analytical speed to perform it. Thus, the alliance between 1H NMR and PLS showed to be appropriate to characterize and evaluate the quality of biodiesels, reducing significantly analysis time, the consumption of reagents/solvents, and waste generation. Therefore, the proposed methods can be considered to adhere to the principles of green chemistry.

Keywords: biodiesel, multivariate calibration, nuclear magnetic resonance, quality parameters

Procedia PDF Downloads 497

Authors: Juliette Harper, Yu Yang

Abstract:

Biofuels have gained significant attention recently due to the new regulations and agreements regarding fossil fuels and greenhouse gases being made by countries around the globe. One of the most common types of biofuels is biodiesel, primarily made via the transesterification reaction. We model this nonlinear process in MATLAB using the standard kinetic equations. Then, a nonlinear Model predictive control (NMPC) was developed to regulate this process due to its capability to handle process constraints. The feeding flow uncertainty and kinetic disturbances are further incorporated in the model to capture the real-world operating conditions. The simulation results will show that the proposed NMPC can guarantee the final composition of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) above the target threshold with a high chance by adjusting the process temperature and flowrate. This research will allow further understanding of NMPC under uncertainties and how to design the computational strategy for larger process with more variables.

Keywords: NMPC, biodiesel, uncertainties, nonlinear, MATLAB

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Paul Okonkwo, Howard Smith

Abstract:

This paper describes a methodology to integrate the Athena Vortex Lattice Aerodynamic Software for automated operation in a multivariate optimisation of the Blended Wing Body Aircraft. The Athena Vortex Lattice code developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Mark Drela allows for the aerodynamic analysis of aircraft using the vortex lattice method. Ordinarily, the Athena Vortex Lattice operation requires a text file containing the aircraft geometry to be loaded into the AVL solver in order to determine the aerodynamic forces and moments. However, automated operation will be required to enable integration into a multidisciplinary optimisation framework. Automated AVL operation within the JAVA design environment will nonetheless require a modification and recompilation of AVL source code into an executable file capable of running on windows and other platforms without the –X11 libraries. This paper describes the procedure for the integrating the FORTRAN written AVL software for automated operation within the multivariate design synthesis optimisation framework for the conceptual design of the BWB aircraft.

Keywords: aerodynamics, automation, optimisation, AVL, JNI

Procedia PDF Downloads 558

Authors: Karim Saeidi

Abstract:

One of the most important pests in the warehouses is the flour beetle, Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val (Col.: Tenebrionidae). Regarding the high degree of damage of stored product pests and dangerous effects of the chemical control using plant extracts and their components are some of the best approaches to control these pests. Antifeedant activity of plant extracts from Lavandula angustifolia Mill and Zataria multiflora Boiss using hydro-distillation were tested against the flour beetle, Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val. The nutritional indices: relative growth rate (RGR), relative consumption rate (RCR), the efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI), and feeding deterrence index (FDI) were measured for adult insects. Treatments were evaluated using a flour disk bioassay in the dark; at 25±1ᵒC and 60±5% R. H. Concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.5, and 2 μl/disk were prepared from each essential oil. After 72 h, nutritional indices were calculated. L. angustifolia oils were more effective than Z. multiflora oils by significantly decreasing the RGR, RCR, and ECI. Feeding deterrence index (FDI) of L. angustifolia essential oil was increased significantly as essential oil concentration increased. The essential oil of L. angustifolia was more effective on FDI than Z. multiflora in some concentration.

Keywords: essential oil, nutritional indices, Tribolium confusum

Procedia PDF Downloads 373

Authors: Salman Iqbal

Abstract:

Knowledge management (KM) literature has mainly focused on the antecedents of KM. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of specific human resource management (HRM) practices on employee knowledge sharing and its outcome as individual knowledge capability. Based on previous literature, a model is proposed for the study and hypotheses are formulated. The cross-sectional dataset comes from a sample of 19 knowledge intensive firms (KIFs). This study has run an item parceling technique followed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on the latent constructs of the research model. Employees’ collaboration and their interpersonal trust can help to improve their knowledge sharing behaviour and knowledge capability within organisations. This study suggests that in future, by using a larger sample, better statistical insight is possible. The findings of this study are beneficial for scholars, policy makers and practitioners. The empirical results of this study are entirely based on employees’ perceptions and make a significant research contribution, given there is a dearth of empirical research focusing on the subcontinent.

Keywords: employees’ collaboration, individual knowledge capability, knowledge sharing, monetary rewards, structural equation modelling

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Bonaventure Naab Dery, Abdul Muntaka Samad

Abstract:

During the past two decades, huge population growth has been recorded in developing countries. Thisled to an increase in the demand for transport services for human and merchandises. The study sought to examine the effect of freight transport intensity on firm performance. Among others, this study sought to examine the link between freight transport intensity and firm performance; the link between operational capability and firm performance, and the mediating role of operational capability on the relationship between freight transport intensity and firm performance. The study used a descriptive research design and a quantitative research approach. Questionnaireswereusedfor the data collection through snowball sampling and purposive sampling. SPSS and Mplus are being used to analyze the data. It is anticipated that, when the data is analyzed, it would validate the hypotheses that have been proposed by the researchers. Base on the findings, relevant recommendations would be made for managerial implications and future studies.

Keywords: freight transport intensity, freight economy transport intensity, freight efficiency transport intensity, operational capability, firm performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: Khitem Amiri, Mohamed Farah

Abstract:

Image classification is a challenging task and is gaining lots of interest since it helps us to understand the content of images. Recently Deep Learning (DL) based methods gave very interesting results on several benchmarks. For Hyperspectral images (HSI), the application of DL techniques is still challenging due to the scarcity of labeled data and to the curse of dimensionality. Among other approaches, Deep Belief Network (DBN) based approaches gave a fair classification accuracy. In this paper, we address the problem of the curse of dimensionality by reducing the number of bands and replacing the HSI channels by the channels representing radiometric indices. Therefore, instead of using all the HSI bands, we compute the radiometric indices such as NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), NDWI (Normalized Difference Water Index), etc, and we use the combination of these indices as input for the Deep Belief Network (DBN) based classification model. Thus, we keep almost all the pertinent spectral information while reducing considerably the size of the image. In order to test our image representation, we applied our method on several HSI datasets including the Indian pines dataset, Jasper Ridge data and it gave comparable results to the state of the art methods while reducing considerably the time of training and testing.

Keywords: hyperspectral images, deep belief network, radiometric indices, image classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 244

Authors: Juan Francisco Reinoso Gordo, Francisco Javier Ariza-López, José Rodríguez Avi, Domingo Barrera Rosillo

Abstract:

The evaluation of the quality of a data product is based on the comparison of the product with a reference of greater accuracy. In the case of MDE data products, quality assessment usually focuses on positional accuracy and few studies consider other terrain characteristics, such as slope and orientation. The proposal that is made consists of evaluating the similarity of two DEMs (a product and a reference), through the joint analysis of the distribution functions of the variables of interest, for example, elevations, slopes and orientations. This is a multivariable approach that focuses on distribution functions, not on single parameters such as mean values or dispersions (e.g. root mean squared error or variance). This is considered to be a more holistic approach. The use of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test is proposed due to its non-parametric nature, since the distributions of the variables of interest cannot always be adequately modeled by parametric models (e.g. the Normal distribution model). In addition, its application to the multivariate case is carried out jointly by means of a single test on the convolution of the distribution functions of the variables considered, which avoids the use of corrections such as Bonferroni when several statistics hypothesis tests are carried out together. In this work, two DEM products have been considered, DEM02 with a resolution of 2x2 meters and DEM05 with a resolution of 5x5 meters, both generated by the National Geographic Institute of Spain. DEM02 is considered as the reference and DEM05 as the product to be evaluated. In addition, the slope and aspect derived models have been calculated by GIS operations on the two DEM datasets. Through sample simulation processes, the adequate behavior of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical test has been verified when the null hypothesis is true, which allows calibrating the value of the statistic for the desired significance value (e.g. 5%). Once the process has been calibrated, the same process can be applied to compare the similarity of different DEM data sets (e.g. the DEM05 versus the DEM02). In summary, an innovative alternative for the comparison of DEM data sets based on a multinomial non-parametric perspective has been proposed by means of a single Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. This new approach could be extended to other DEM features of interest (e.g. curvature, etc.) and to more than three variables

Keywords: data quality, DEM, kolmogorov-smirnov test, multivariate DEM comparison

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Chanthima Phromket, Jakret Mettathamrong, Parnisara Prajudtasri

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between effects of service quality management capability and business alliance effectiveness on the performance of tourist agency business in Thailand: The moderating role of organizational climate. A survey was used as a research instrument and was given to the owner/managers of tourist agency business in Thailand. The model is tested using the data collected from 400 tourist agency business in Thailand. The results indicate that service quality management capability have the positive influence on business alliance effectiveness and performance. Trust, commitment, and cooperation are the antecedents that have a positive effect on the performance, and the results show non-significant when it is moderated by Organizational climate. Thus, contributions and suggestions are also provided for further research.

Keywords: service quality management capability, business alliance effectiveness, organizational climate, tourist agency

Procedia PDF Downloads 359

Authors: Paul Okonkwo, Howard Smith

Abstract:

This paper describes a methodology to integrate the Athena Vortex Lattice Aerodynamic Software for automated operation in a multivariate optimisation of the Blended Wing Body Aircraft. The Athena Vortex Lattice code developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Mark Drela allows for the aerodynamic analysis of aircraft using the vortex lattice method. Ordinarily, the Athena Vortex Lattice operation requires a text file containing the aircraft geometry to be loaded into the AVL solver in order to determine the aerodynamic forces and moments. However, automated operation will be required to enable integration into a multidisciplinary optimisation framework. Automated AVL operation within the JAVA design environment will nonetheless require a modification and recompilation of AVL source code into an executable file capable of running on windows and other platforms without the –X11 libraries. This paper describes the procedure for the integrating the FORTRAN written AVL software for automated operation within the multivariate design synthesis optimisation framework for the conceptual design of the BWB aircraft.

Keywords: aerodynamics, automation, optimisation, AVL

Procedia PDF Downloads 625

Authors: Piotr Prewysz-Kwinto

Abstract:

A dynamic development of financial market is accompanied by the emergence of new products on stock exchanges which give absolutely new possibilities of investing money. Currently, the most innovative financial instruments offered to investors are exchange traded products (ETP). They can be defined as financial instruments whose price depends on the value of the underlying instrument. Thus, they offer investors a possibility of making a profit that results from the change in value of the underlying instrument without having to buy it. Currently, the Warsaw Stock Exchange offers many types of ETPs. They are investment products with full or partial capital protection, products without capital protection as well as leverage products, issued on such underlying instruments as indices, sector indices, commodity indices, prices of energy commodities, precious metals, agricultural produce or prices of shares of domestic and foreign companies. This paper presents the mechanism of functioning of ETP available on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the results of the analysis of statistical data on these financial instruments.

Keywords: exchange traded products, financial market, investment, stock exchange

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Rosa Alin Cristian

Abstract:

As in any other sports branch, there is also a relationship of dependence between the motor qualities and the technical skills in the sports dance, in the sense that superior performances from a technical, artistic point of view can be obtained only on the basis of a certain level of motor qualities and of the morphological and functional indices of the organism. Starting from the premise that physical training is a basic component of the dancers' training process, determining the efficacy and efficiency of the athletes in training and competitions, its main objectives are to obtain an optimal functional capacity of the body, which is reached through a superior level of development and manifestation of the basic and specific motor qualities, through appropriate values of the morph-functional indices, all against the background of a perfect state of health. We propose in this paper to create an inventory of the motor qualities specific to the sports dance, of their forms of manifestation, to establish some methodical priorities for their development, in order to support the specialists in their attempt to approach the physical training in the most rigorous and efficient way, according to the characteristics of each age category.

Keywords: physical training, motor skills, sports dance, performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 48

Authors: Yung-Chung Chuang

Abstract:

The cultural layers of archaeological sites are mainly affected by surface land use, land cover, and root system of surface vegetation. For this reason, continuous monitoring of land use and land cover change is important for archaeological sites protection and management. However, in actual operation, on-site investigation and orthogonal photograph interpretation require a lot of time and manpower. For this reason, it is necessary to perform a good alternative for surface vegetation survey in an automated or semi-automated manner. In this study, we applied semi-automatic digital aerial survey technology and canopy characters classification with very high-resolution aerial photographs for surface vegetation interpretation of archaeological sites. The main idea is based on different landscape or forest type can easily be distinguished with canopy characters (e.g., specific texture distribution, shadow effects and gap characters) extracted by semi-automatic image classification. A novel methodology to classify the shape of canopy characters using landscape indices and multivariate statistics was also proposed. Non-hierarchical cluster analysis was used to assess the optimal number of canopy character clusters and canonical discriminant analysis was used to generate the discriminant functions for canopy character classification (seven categories). Therefore, people could easily predict the forest type and vegetation land cover by corresponding to the specific canopy character category. The results showed that the semi-automatic classification could effectively extract the canopy characters of forest and vegetation land cover. As for forest type and vegetation type prediction, the average prediction accuracy reached 80.3%~91.7% with different sizes of test frame. It represented this technology is useful for archaeological site survey, and can improve the classification efficiency and data update rate.

Keywords: digital aerial survey, canopy characters classification, archaeological sites, multivariate statistics

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: H. Al-Jabli

Abstract:

Using the freeze-melting process for the disposing of high saline brines was the aim of the paper by confirming the performance estimation of the treatment system. A laboratory bench scale freezing technique test unit was designed, constructed, and tested at Doha Research Plant (DRP) in Kuwait. The principal unit operations that have been considered for the laboratory study are: ice crystallization, separation, washing, and melting. The applied process is characterized as “the secondary-refrigerant indirect freezing”, which is utilizing normal freezing concept. The high saline brine was used as definite feed water, i.e. average TDS of 250,000 ppm. Kuwait desalination plants were carried out in the experimental study to measure the performance of the proposed treatment system. Experimental analysis shows that the freeze-melting process is capable of dropping the TDS of the feed water from 249,482 ppm to 56,880 ppm of the freeze-melting process in the two-phase’s course, whereas overall recovery results of the salt passage and salt rejection are 31.11%, 19.05%, and 80.95%, correspondingly. Therefore, the freeze-melting process is encouraging for the proposed application, as it shows on the results, which approves the process capability of reducing a major amount of the dissolved salts of the high saline brine with reasonable sensible recovery. This process might be reasonable with other brine disposal processes.

Keywords: high saline brine, freeze-melting process, ice crystallization, brine disposal process

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Atiwat Khatpibunchai, Taweesak Kritjaroen

Abstract:

A social enterprise is the innovative hybrid organizations where its ultimate goal is to generate revenue and use it as a fund to solve the social and environmental problem. Although the evidence shows the clear value of economic, social and environmental aspects, the limitations of most of the social enterprises are the expanding impact of social and environmental aspects through the normal market mechanism. This is because the major sources of revenues of social enterprises derive from the business advocates who merely wish to support society and environment by using products and services of social enterprises rather than expect the satisfaction and the distinctive advantage of products and services. Thus, social enterprises cannot reach the achievement as other businesses do. The relevant concepts from the literature review revealed that dynamic capability is the ability to sense, integrate and reconfigure internal resources and utilize external resources to adapt to changing environments, create innovation and achieve competitive advantage. The objective of this research is to study the influence of dynamic capability that affects competitive advantage and sustainable performance, as well as to determine important elements of dynamic capability. The researchers developed a conceptual model from the related concepts and theories of dynamic capability. A conceptual model will support and show the influence of dynamic capability on competitive advantage and sustainable performance of social enterprises. The 230 organizations in South-East Asia served as participants in this study. The results of the study were analyzed by the structural equation model (SEM) and it was indicated that research model is consistent with empirical research. The results also demonstrated that dynamic capability has a direct and indirect influence on competitive advantage and sustainable performance. Moreover, it can be summarized that dynamic capability consists of the five elements: 1) the ability to sense an opportunity; 2) the ability to seize an opportunity; 3) the ability to integrate resources; 4) the ability to absorb resources; 5) the ability to create innovation. The study recommends that related sectors can use this study as a guideline to support and promote social enterprises. The focus should be pointed to the important elements of dynamic capability that are the development of the ability to transform existing resources in the organization and the ability to seize opportunity from changing market.

Keywords: dynamic capability, social enterprise, sustainable competitive advantage, sustainable performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: R. Morbidelli, C. Saltalippi, A. Flammini, A. Garcia-Marin, J. L. Ayuso-Munoz

Abstract:

The climate change, mainly due to greenhouse gas emissions associated to human activities, has been modifying hydrologic processes with a direct effect on air surface temperature that has significantly increased in the last century at global scale. In this context the Mediterranean area is considered to be particularly sensitive to the climate change impacts on temperature indices. An analysis finalized to study the evolution of temperature indices and to check the existence of significant trends in the Umbria Region (Italy) is presented. Temperature data were obtained by seven meteorological stations uniformly distributed in the study area and characterized by very long series of temperature observations (at least 60 years) spanning the 1924-2015 period. A set of 39 temperature indices represented by monthly and annual mean, average maximum and average minimum temperatures, has been derived. The trend analysis was realized by applying the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test, while the non-parametric Pettit test and the parametric Standard Normal Homogeneity test (SNHT) were used to check the presence of breakpoints or in-homogeneities due to environmental changes/anthropic activity or climate change effects. The Umbria region, in agreement with other recent studies exploring the temperature behavior in Italy, shows a general increase in all temperature indices, with the only exception of Gubbio site that exhibits very light negative trends or absence of trend. The presence of break points and in-homogeneity was widely explored through the selected tests and the results were checked on the basis of the well-known metadata of the meteorological stations.

Keywords: reception theory, reading, literary translation, horizons of expectation, reader

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Serdal AKYUZ

Abstract:

The smart power is the use of soft and hard power together in consideration of existing circumstances. Soft power can be defined as the capability of changing perception of any target mass by employing policies based on legality. The hard power, generally, uses military and economic instruments which are the concrete indicator of general power comprehension. More than providing a balance between soft and hard power, smart power creates a proactive combination by assessing existing resources. Military targeting process (MTP), as stated in smart power methodology, benefits from a wide scope of lethal and non-lethal weapons to reach intended end state. The Smart powers components can be used in military targeting process similar to using of lethal or non-lethal weapons. This paper investigates the current use of Smart power concept, MTP and presents a new approach to MTP from smart power concept point of view.

Keywords: future security environment, hard power, military targeting process, soft power, smart power

Procedia PDF Downloads 444

Authors: Sudawan Somjai

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper was to find an appropriate outsourcing system model for the Thai electrical appliances industry. The objective was to increase competitive capability of the industry with an outsourcing system. The population for this study was the staff in the selected 10 companies in Thai electrical appliances industry located in Bangkok and the eastern part of Thailand. Data collecting techniques included in-depth interviews, focus group and storytelling techniques. The data was collected from 5 key informants from each company, making a total of 50 informants. The findings revealed that an outsourcing model would consist of important factors including outsourcing system, labor flexibility, capability of business process, manpower management efficiency, cost reduction, business risk elimination, core competency and competitiveness. Different suggestions were made as well in this research paper.

Keywords: outsourcing system, model, Thailand, electrical appliances industry

Procedia PDF Downloads 561

Authors: Tolga Barisik, Ali Fuat Guneri, K. Dastan

Abstract:

Major industrial facilities have a high potential for fire risk. In particular, the indices used for the detection of hidden fire are used very effectively in order to prevent the fire from becoming dangerous in the initial stage. These indices provide the opportunity to prevent or intervene early by determining the stage of the fire, the potential for hazard, and the type of the combustion agent with the percentage values of the ambient air components. In this system, artificial neural network will be modeled with the input data determined using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm, which is a multi-layer sensor (CAA) (teacher-learning) type, before modeling the modeling methods in the literature. The actual values produced by the indices will be compared with the outputs produced by the network. Using the neural network and the curves to be created from the resulting values, the feasibility of performance determination will be investigated.

Keywords: artifical neural networks, fire, Graham Index, levenberg-marquardt algoritm, oxygen decrease percentage index, risk assessment, Trickett Index

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Lidija R. Jevrić, Sanja O. Podunavac-Kuzmanović, Strahinja Z. Kovačević

Abstract:

Quantitative structure-retention relationship (QSRR) analysis was used to predict the chromatographic behavior of s-triazine derivatives by using theoretical descriptors computed from the chemical structure. Fundamental basis of the reported investigation is to relate molecular topological descriptors with chromatographic behavior of s-triazine derivatives obtained by reversed-phase (RP) thin layer chromatography (TLC) on silica gel impregnated with paraffin oil and applied ethanol-water (φ = 0.5-0.8; v/v). Retention parameter (RM0) of 14 investigated s-triazine derivatives was used as dependent variable while simple connectivity index different orders were used as independent variables. The best QSRR model for predicting RM0 value was obtained with simple third order connectivity index (3χ) in the second-degree polynomial equation. Numerical values of the correlation coefficient (r=0.915), Fisher's value (F=28.34) and root mean square error (RMSE = 0.36) indicate that model is statistically significant. In order to test the predictive power of the QSRR model leave-one-out cross-validation technique has been applied. The parameters of the internal cross-validation analysis (r2CV=0.79, r2adj=0.81, PRESS=1.89) reflect the high predictive ability of the generated model and it confirms that can be used to predict RM0 value. Multivariate classification technique, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), has been applied in order to group molecules according to their molecular connectivity indices. HCA is a descriptive statistical method and it is the most frequently used for important area of data processing such is classification. The HCA performed on simple molecular connectivity indices obtained from the 2D structure of investigated s-triazine compounds resulted in two main clusters in which compounds molecules were grouped according to the number of atoms in the molecule. This is in agreement with the fact that these descriptors were calculated on the basis of the number of atoms in the molecule of the investigated s-triazine derivatives.

Keywords: s-triazines, QSRR, chemometrics, chromatography, molecular descriptors

Procedia PDF Downloads 366