Search results for: kinetic study

Authors: C. G. Jinimole, A. Harsha

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One of the key problems facing in the analysis of Computed Tomography (CT) images is the poor contrast of the images. Image enhancement can be used to improve the visual clarity and quality of the images or to provide a better transformation representation for further processing. Contrast enhancement of images is one of the acceptable methods used for image enhancement in various applications in the medical field. This will be helpful to visualize and extract details of brain infarctions, tumors, and cancers from the CT image. This paper presents a comparison study of five contrast enhancement techniques suitable for the contrast enhancement of CT images. The types of techniques include Power Law Transformation, Logarithmic Transformation, Histogram Equalization, Contrast Stretching, and Laplacian Transformation. All these techniques are compared with each other to find out which enhancement provides better contrast of CT image. For the comparison of the techniques, the parameters Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Mean Square Error (MSE) are used. Logarithmic Transformation provided the clearer and best quality image compared to all other techniques studied and has got the highest value of PSNR. Comparison concludes with better approach for its future research especially for mapping abnormalities from CT images resulting from Brain Injuries.

Keywords: Computed tomography, enhancement techniques, increasing contrast, PSNR and MSE.

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Authors: Anne C. Okwedadi, Samson Ng’ambi, Ian Jefferson

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Collapsible soils go through radical rearrangement of their particles when triggered by water, stress or/and vibration, causing loss of volume. This loss of volume in soil as seen in foundation failures has caused millions of dollars’ worth of damages to public facilities and infrastructure and so has an adverse effect on the society and people. Despite these consequences and the several studies that are available, more research is still required in the study of soil collapsibility. Discerning the pedogenesis (formation) of soils and investigating the combined effects of the different geological soil properties is key to elucidating and quantifying soils collapsibility. This study presents a novel laboratory testing regime that would be undertaken on soil samples where the effects of soil type, compactive variables (moisture content, density, void ratio, degree of saturation) and loading are analyzed. It is anticipated that results obtained would be useful in mapping the trend of the combined effect thus the basis for evaluating soil collapsibility or collapse potentials encountered in construction with volume loss problems attributed to collapse.

Keywords: Collapsible soil, Geomorphological process, Soil Collapsibility properties, Soil test.

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Authors: Muhammad F. Yaqub, Iqbal Gondal, Joarder Kamruzzaman

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Occurrence of a multiple-points fault in machine operations could result in exhibiting complex fault signatures, which could result in lowering fault diagnosis accuracy. In this study, a multiple-points defect model (MPDM) is proposed which can simulate fault signature-s dynamics for n-points bearing faults. Furthermore, this study identifies that in case of multiple-points fault in the rotary machine, the location of the dominant component of defect frequency shifts depending upon the relative location of the fault points which could mislead the fault diagnostic model to inaccurate detections. Analytical and experimental results are presented to characterize and validate the variation in the dominant component of defect frequency. Based on envelop detection analysis, a modification is recommended in the existing fault diagnostic models to consider the multiples of defect frequency rather than only considering the frequency spectrum at the defect frequency in order to incorporate the impact of multiple points fault.

Keywords: Envelop detection, machine defect frequency, multiple faults, machine health monitoring.

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Authors: Wei Zhang, Lifen Zhao

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The present study aims to translate and validate the Career Motivation Scale among Chinese University and vocational college teachers. Exploratory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure that was consistent with the original structure of career motivation: career insight, career identity, and career resilience. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that a second-order three-factor model with correlated measurement errors best fit the data. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance models were tested, demonstrating that the Chinese version of the Career Motivation Scale did not differ across groups of school type, educational level, and working years in current institutions. The concurrent validity of the Chinese Career Motivation Scale was confirmed by its significant correlations with work engagement, career adaptability, career satisfaction, job crafting, and intention to quit. The results of the study indicated that the Chinese Career Motivation Scale was a valid and reliable measure of career motivation among university and vocational college teachers in China.

Keywords: Career motivation scale, Chinese university and vocational college teachers, measurement invariance, validation.

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Authors: O. A. Novitskaya

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The emerging markets of post-USSR countries have attracted Western multinational companies; however, weak institutions and unstable host country environments have hindered the implementation of successful management practices. The Ukrainian market, in light of recent events, is particularly interesting to study for its compatibility with Western businesses. This paper focuses on factors that can facilitate or inhibit the transfer of human resource management practices from Western headquarters to Ukrainian subsidiaries. To explain the national context’s effects better, a business systems approach has been applied to a qualitative study of 16 wholly owned Western subsidiaries, dissecting the reasons for a weak integration of Western practices in Ukraine. Results show that underdeveloped institutions have forced companies to develop additional practices that compensate for national weaknesses, as well as to adjust to a constantly changing environment. Flexibility and local responsiveness were observed as vital for success in Ukraine.

Keywords: Business system, HR practices, human resource management, multinational companies, Ukraine.

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Authors: Amir Ikram, Qin Su, Muhammad Fiaz, Muhammad Waqas Shabbir

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Women entrepreneurship witnessed a healthy rise in the last decade or so, and the scenario in Pakistan is not different. However female leaders are facing various, cultural, career oriented, and professional challenges. The study investigates the impact of social and industry-specific challenges on female entrepreneurship; social challenges was evaluated in terms of culture, and industry-specific challenges was measured in terms of team management and career growth. Purposive sampling was employed to collect data from 75 multicultural organizations operating in the culturally diverse and historic city of Lahore, Pakistan. Cronbach’s alpha was conducted to endorse the reliability of survey questionnaire, while correlation and regression analysis were used to test hypotheses. Industry-specific challenges were found to be more significant as compared to cultural factors. The paper also highlights the importance of female entrepreneurship for emerging economies, and suggests that bringing women to mainstream professions can lead to economic success.

Keywords: Cultural challenges, emerging economy, female entrepreneurship, leadership.

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Authors: Eiichi Sasaki, Shin-ichi Takehiro, Michio Yamada

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We study bifurcation structure of the zonal jet flow the streamfunction of which is expressed by a single spherical harmonics on a rotating sphere. In the non-rotating case, we find that a steady traveling wave solution arises from the zonal jet flow through Hopf bifurcation. As the Reynolds number increases, several traveling solutions arise only through the pitchfork bifurcations and at high Reynolds number the bifurcating solutions become Hopf unstable. In the rotating case, on the other hand, under the stabilizing effect of rotation, as the absolute value of rotation rate increases, the number of the bifurcating solutions arising from the zonal jet flow decreases monotonically. We also carry out time integration to study unsteady solutions at high Reynolds number and find that in the non-rotating case the unsteady solutions are chaotic, while not in the rotating cases calculated. This result reflects the general tendency that the rotation stabilizes nonlinear solutions of Navier-Stokes equations.

Keywords: rotating sphere, two-dimensional flow, bifurcationstructure

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Authors: Chen Bi-Hsiang, Yang Hung-Wen, Lou Jie-Chung, Han Jia-Yun

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This study was investigated on sampling and analyzing water quality in water reservoir & water tower installed in two kind of residential buildings and school facilities. Data of water quality was collected for correlation analysis with frequency of sanitization of water reservoir through questioning managers of building about the inspection charts recorded on equipment for water reservoir. Statistical software packages (SPSS) were applied to the data of two groups (cleaning frequency and water quality) for regression analysis to determine the optimal cleaning frequency of sanitization. The correlation coefficient (R) in this paper represented the degree of correlation, with values of R ranging from +1 to -1.After investigating three categories of drinking water users; this study found that the frequency of sanitization of water reservoir significantly influenced the water quality of drinking water. A higher frequency of sanitization (more than four times per 1 year) implied a higher quality of drinking water. Results indicated that sanitizing water reservoir & water tower should at least twice annually for achieving the aim of safety of drinking water.

Keywords: cleaning frequency of sanitization, parameters ofwater quality, regression analysis, water reservoir & water tower

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Authors: Nadine Ali Hassan, Ngoc Son Nguyen, Didier Marot, Fateh Bendahmane

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This paper aims at presenting a study of the effect of scalping methods on the mechanical properties of coarse soils by resorting to numerical simulations based on the discrete element method (DEM) and experimental triaxial tests. Two reconstitution methods are used, designated as scalping method and substitution method. Triaxial compression tests are first simulated on a granular materials with a grap graded particle size distribution by using the DEM. We study the effect of these reconstitution methods on the stress-strain behavior of coarse soils with different fine contents and with different ways to control the densities of the scalped and substituted materials. Experimental triaxial tests are performed on original mixtures of sands and gravels with different fine contents and on their corresponding scalped and substituted samples. Numerical results are qualitatively compared to experimental ones. Agreements and discrepancies between these results are also discussed.

Keywords: Coarse soils, scalping, substitution, discrete element method, triaxial test.

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Authors: Wei-Yi Yang, Li-Hui Lee, Hsiao-Li Gien, Hsing-Yi Chu, Yi-Ting Chou, Der-Ming Liou

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The American Health Level Seven (HL7) Reference Information Model (RIM) consists of six back-bone classes that have different specialized attributes. Furthermore, for the purpose of enforcing the semantic expression, there are some specific mandatory vocabulary domains have been defined for representing the content values of some attributes. In the light of the fact that it is a duplicated effort on spending a lot of time and human cost to develop and modify Clinical Information Systems (CIS) for most hospitals due to the variety of workflows. This study attempts to design and develop sharing RIM-based components of the CIS for the different business processes. Therefore, the CIS contains data of a consistent format and type. The programmers can do transactions with the RIM-based clinical repository by the sharing RIM-based components. And when developing functions of the CIS, the sharing components also can be adopted in the system. These components not only satisfy physicians- needs in using a CIS but also reduce the time of developing new components of a system. All in all, this study provides a new viewpoint that integrating the data and functions with the business processes, it is an easy and flexible approach to build a new CIS.

Keywords: HL7, Reference Information Model (RIM), web service, process management.

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Authors: H. K. G. K. D. K. Hapuhinna, R. D. Gunaratne, H. M. J. C. Pitawala

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This study aimed to find out chemical and structural suitability of synthesized eppawala hydroxyapatite composite as bone cement, by comparing and contrasting it with human bone as well as commercially available bone cement, which is currently used in orthopedic surgeries. Therefore, a mixture of commercially available bone cement and its liquid monomer, commercially available methyl methacrylate (MMA) and a mixture of solid state synthesized eppawala hydroxyapatite powder with commercially available MMA were prepared as the direct substitution for bone cement. Then physical and chemical properties including composition, crystallinity, presence of functional groups, thermal stability, surface morphology, and microstructural features were examined compared to human bone. Results show that there is a close similarity between synthesized product and human bone and it has exhibited high thermal stability, good crystalline and porous properties than the commercial product. Finally, the study concluded that synthesized hydroxyapatite composite can be used directly as a substitution for commercial bone cement.

Keywords: Hydroxyapatite, bone cement, methyl methacrylate, orthopedics.

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Authors: Ilona Mewes, Helena Jenzer, Farshideh Einsele

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Objective: The objective of the study was to integrate two big databases from Swiss nutrition national survey (menuCH) and Swiss health national survey 2012 for data mining purposes. Each database has a demographic base data. An integrated Swiss database is built to later discover critical food consumption patterns linked with lifestyle diseases known to be strongly tied with food consumption. Design: Swiss nutrition national survey (menuCH) with approx. 2000 respondents from two different surveys, one by Phone and the other by questionnaire along with Swiss health national survey 2012 with 21500 respondents were pre-processed, cleaned and finally integrated to a unique relational database. Results: The result of this study is an integrated relational database from the Swiss nutritional and health databases.

Keywords: Health informatics, data mining, nutritional and health databases, nutritional and chronical databases.

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Authors: Domenico Chizzoniti, Monica Moscatelli, Letizia Cattani, Piero Favino, Luca Preis

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A settlement strategy is to anticipate and respond the needs of existing and future communities through the provision of primary health care facilities in marginalized areas. Access to a health care network is important to improving healthcare coverage, often lacking, in developing countries. The study explores that a good sanitary system strategy of rural contexts brings advantages to an existing settlement: improving transport, communication, water and social facilities. The objective of this paper is to define a possible methodology to implement primary health care facilities in disadvantaged areas of emerging countries. In this research, we analyze the case study of Lauro de Freitas, a municipality in the Brazilian state of Bahia, part of the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, with an area of 57,662 km² and 194.641 inhabitants. The health localization system in Lauro de Freitas is an integrated process that involves not only geographical aspects, but also a set of factors: population density, epidemiological data, allocation of services, road networks, and more. Data were collected also using semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to the local population. Synthesized data suggest that moving away from the coast where there is the greatest concentration of population and services, a network of primary health care facilities is able to improve the living conditions of small-dispersed communities. Based on the health service needs of populations, we have developed a methodological approach that is particularly useful in rural and remote contexts in emerging countries.

Keywords: Primary health care, developing countries, policy health planning, settlement strategy.

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Authors: Yue-Tzu Yang, Shu-Ching Liao

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This study presents the numerical simulation of three-dimensional incompressible steady and laminar fluid flow and conjugate heat transfer of a trapezoidal microchannel heat sink using water as a cooling fluid in a silicon substrate. Navier-Stokes equations with conjugate energy equation are discretized by finite-volume method. We perform numerical computations for a range of 50 ≦ Re ≦ 600, 0.05W ≦ P ≦ 0.8W, 20W/cm² ≦q"≦ 40W/cm². The present study demonstrates the numerical optimization of a trapezoidal microchannel heat sink design using the response surface methodology (RSM) and the genetic algorithm method (GA). The results show that the average Nusselt number increases with an increase in the Reynolds number or pumping power, and the thermal resistance decreases as the pumping power increases. The thermal resistance of a trapezoidal microchannel is minimized for a constant heat flux and constant pumping power.

Keywords: Microchannel heat sinks, Conjugate heat transfer, Optimization, Genetic algorithm method.

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Authors: Bruce K. Ferguson

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The design requirements for successful human accommodation in urban spaces are well known; and the range of facilities available for meeting urban water quality and quantity requirements is also well established. Their competing requirements must be reconciled in order for urban spaces to be successful for both. This paper outlines the separate human and water imperatives and their interactions in urban spaces. Stormwater management facilities- relative potential contributions to urban spaces are contrasted, and design choices for achieving those potentials are described. This study uses human success of urban space as the evaluative criterion of stormwater amenity: human values call on stormwater facilities to contribute to successful human spaces. Placing water-s contribution under the overall idea of successful urban space is an evolution from previous subjective evaluations. The information is based on photographs and notes from approximately 1,000 stormwater facilities and urban sites collected during the last 35 years in North America and overseas, and the author-s experience on multi-disciplinary design teams. This conceptual study combines the disciplinary roles of engineering, landscape architecture, and sociology in effecting successful urban design.

Keywords: Stormwater, SUDS, Urban design, Values, Urban space.

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Authors: Sozon H. Papavlasopoulos, Marios S. Poulos, George D. Bokos, Angelos M. Evangelou

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In this study, the problem of discriminating between interictal epileptic and non- epileptic pathological EEG cases, which present episodic loss of consciousness, investigated. We verify the accuracy of the feature extraction method of autocross-correlated coefficients which extracted and studied in previous study. For this purpose we used in one hand a suitable constructed artificial supervised LVQ1 neural network and in other a cross-correlation technique. To enforce the above verification we used a statistical procedure which based on a chi- square control. The classification and the statistical results showed that the proposed feature extraction is a significant accurate method for diagnostic discrimination cases between interictal and non-interictal EEG events and specifically the classification procedure showed that the LVQ neural method is superior than the cross-correlation one.

Keywords: Cross-Correlation Methods, Diagnostic Test, Interictal Epileptic, LVQ1 neural network, Auto-Cross-Correlation Methods, chi-square test.

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Authors: S. J. Higgs, E. Van Eck, K. Heynis, S. H. Broadberry

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Engagement with non-human animals is a rapidly-growing field of study within the animal science and social science sectors, with human-interactions occurring in many forms; interactions, encounters and animal-assisted therapy. To our knowledge, there has been a wide array of research published on domestic and livestock human-animal interactions, however, there appear to be fewer publications relating to zoo animals and the effect these interactions have on the animal, human and establishment. The aim of this study was to identify if there were any perceivable benefits from the human-animal interaction for the cheetah, the human and the establishment. Behaviour data were collected before, during and after the interaction on the behaviour of the cheetah and the human participants to highlight any trends with nine interactions conducted. All 35 participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire prior to the interaction and immediately after to ascertain if their perceptions changed following an interaction with the cheetah. An online questionnaire was also distributed for three months to gain an understanding of the perceptions of human-animal interactions from members of the public, gaining 229 responses. Both questionnaires contained qualitative and quantitative questions to allow for specific definitive answers to be analysed, but also expansion on the participants perceived perception of human-animal interactions. In conclusion, it was found that participants’ perceptions of human-animal interactions saw a positive change, with 64% of participants altering their opinion and viewing the interaction as beneficial for the cheetah (reduction in stress assumed behaviours) following participation in a 15-minute interaction. However, it was noted that many participants felt the interaction lacked educational values and therefore this is an area in which zoological establishments can work to further improve upon. The results highlighted many positive benefits for the human, animal and establishment, however, the study does indicate further areas for research in order to promote positive perceptions of human-animal interactions and to further increase the welfare of the animal during these interactions, with recommendations to create and regulate legislation.

Keywords: Acinonyx jubatus, encounters, human-animal interactions, perceptions, zoological establishments.

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Authors: S. M. Abdul Khader, Anurag Ayachit, Raghuvir Pai, K. A. Ahmed, V. R. K. Rao, S. Ganesh Kamath

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The numerical simulation has made tremendous advances in investigating the blood flow phenomenon through elastic arteries. Such study can be useful in demonstrating the disease progression and hemodynamics of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. In the present study, patient specific case diagnosed with partially stenosed complete right ICA and normal left carotid bifurcation without any atherosclerotic plaque formation is considered. 3D patient specific carotid bifurcation model is generated based on CT scan data using MIMICS-4.0 and numerical analysis is performed using FSI solver in ANSYS-14.5. The blood flow is assumed to be incompressible, homogenous and Newtonian, while the artery wall is assumed to be linearly elastic. The two-way sequentially coupled transient FSI analysis is performed using FSI solver for three pulse cycles. The hemodynamic parameters such as flow pattern, Wall Shear Stress, pressure contours and arterial wall deformation are studied at the bifurcation and critical zones such as stenosis. The variation in flow behavior is studied throughout the pulse cycle. Also, the simulation results reveal that there is a considerable increase in the flow behavior in stenosed carotid in contrast to the normal carotid bifurcation system. The investigation also demonstrates the disturbed flow pattern especially at the bifurcation and stenosed zone elevating the hemodynamics, particularly during peak systole and later part of the pulse cycle. The results obtained agree well with the clinical observation and demonstrates the potential of patient specific numerical studies in prognosis of disease progression and plaque rupture.

Keywords: Fluid-Structure Interaction, arterial stenosis, Wall Shear Stress, Carotid Artery Bifurcation.

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Authors: A. Pourkamali Anaraki, G. H. Payganeh, F. Ashena ghasemi, A. Fallah

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Repairing of the cracks by fiber metal laminates (FMLs) was first done by some aeronautical laboratories in early 1970s. In this study, experimental investigations were done on the effect of repairing the center-cracked aluminum plates using the FML patches. The repairing processes were conducted to characterize the response of the repaired structures to tensile tests. The composite patches were made of one aluminum layer and two woven glassepoxy composite layers. Three different crack lengths in three crack angles and different patch lay-ups were examined. It was observed for the lengthen cracks, the effect of increasing the crack angle on ultimate tensile load in the structure was increase. It was indicated that the situation of metal layer in the FML patches had an important effect on the tensile response of the tested specimens. It was found when the aluminum layer is farther, the ultimate tensile load has the highest amount.

Keywords: Crack, Composite patch repair, Fiber metal laminate (FML), Patch Lay-up, Repair surface, Ultimate load

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Authors: Anand B. Desamala, Ashok Kumar Dasamahapatra, Tapas K. Mandal

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In the present work, detailed analysis on flow characteristics of a pair of immiscible liquids through horizontal pipeline is simulated by using ANSYS FLUENT 6.2. Moderately viscous oil and water (viscosity ratio = 107, density ratio = 0.89 and interfacial tension = 0.024 N/m) have been taken as system fluids for the study. Volume of Fluid (VOF) method has been employed by assuming unsteady flow, immiscible liquid pair, constant liquid properties, and co-axial flow. Meshing has been done using GAMBIT. Quadrilateral mesh type has been chosen to account for the surface tension effect more accurately. From the grid independent study, we have selected 47037 number of mesh elements for the entire geometry. Simulation successfully predicts slug, stratified wavy, stratified mixed and annular flow, except dispersion of oil in water, and dispersion of water in oil. Simulation results are validated with horizontal literature data and good conformity is observed. Subsequently, we have simulated the hydrodynamics (viz., velocity profile, area average pressure across a cross section and volume fraction profile along the radius) of stratified wavy and annular flow at different phase velocities. The simulation results show that in the annular flow, total pressure of the mixture decreases with increase in oil velocity due to the fact that pipe cross section is completely wetted with water. Simulated oil volume fraction shows maximum at the centre in core annular flow, whereas, in stratified flow, maximum value appears at upper side of the pipeline. These results are in accord with the actual flow configuration. Our findings could be useful in designing pipeline for transportation of crude oil.

Keywords: CFD, Horizontal pipeline, Oil-water flow, VOF technique.

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Authors: Haoshui Yu, Donghoi Kim, Truls Gundersen

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Low-temperature waste heat is abundant in the process industries, and large amounts of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) cold energy are discarded without being recovered properly in LNG terminals. Power generation is an effective way to utilize low-temperature waste heat and LNG cold energy simultaneously. Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs) and CO₂ power cycles are promising technologies to convert low-temperature waste heat and LNG cold energy into electricity. If waste heat and LNG cold energy are utilized simultaneously in one system, the performance may outperform separate systems utilizing low-temperature waste heat and LNG cold energy, respectively. Low-temperature waste heat acts as the heat source and LNG regasification acts as the heat sink in the combined system. Due to the large temperature difference between the heat source and the heat sink, cascaded power cycle configurations are proposed in this paper. Cascaded power cycles can improve the energy efficiency of the system considerably. The cycle operating at a higher temperature to recover waste heat is called top cycle and the cycle operating at a lower temperature to utilize LNG cold energy is called bottom cycle in this study. The top cycle condensation heat is used as the heat source in the bottom cycle. The top cycle can be an ORC, transcritical CO₂ (tCO₂) cycle or supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) cycle, while the bottom cycle only can be an ORC due to the low-temperature range of the bottom cycle. However, the thermodynamic path of the tCO₂ cycle and sCO₂ cycle are different from that of an ORC. The tCO₂ cycle and the sCO₂ cycle perform better than an ORC for sensible waste heat recovery due to a better temperature match with the waste heat source. Different combinations of the tCO₂ cycle, sCO₂ cycle and ORC are compared to screen the best configurations of the cascaded power cycles. The influence of the working fluid and the operating conditions are also investigated in this study. Each configuration is modeled and optimized in Aspen HYSYS. The results show that cascaded tCO₂/ORC performs better compared with cascaded ORC/ORC and cascaded sCO₂/ORC for the case study.

Keywords: LNG cold energy, low-temperature waste heat, organic Rankine cycle, supercritical CO2 cycle, transcritical CO2 cycle.

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Authors: Wenzhe Li, Xiaoyu Ying, Grace Ding

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Architecture plane form is an important consideration in the design of green buildings due to its significant impact on energy performance. The most effective method to consider energy performance in the early design stages is parametric modelling. This paper presents a methodology to program plane forms using MATLAB language, generating 16 kinds of plane forms by changing four designed parameters. DesignBuilder (an energy consumption simulation software) was proposed to simulate the energy consumption of the generated planes. A regression mathematical model was established to study the relationship between the plane forms and their energy consumption. The main finding of the study suggested that there was a cubic function relationship between the depth-ratio of U-shaped buildings and energy consumption, and there is also a cubic function relationship between the width-ratio and energy consumption. In the design, the depth-ratio of U-shaped buildings should not be less than 2.5, and the width-ratio should not be less than 2.

Keywords: Graphic parameterization, green building design, mathematical model, U-shaped buildings.

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Authors: Olga Tkacheva, Pavel Arkhipov, Alexey Rudenko, Yurii Zaikov

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The aluminum electrolysis process in the conventional cryolite-alumina electrolyte with cryolite ratio of 2.7 was carried out at an initial temperature of 970 °C and the anode current density of 0.5 A/cm² in a 15A lab-scale cell in order to study the formation of the side ledge during electrolysis and the alumina distribution between electrolyte and side ledge. The alumina contained 35.97% α-phase and 64.03% γ-phase with the particles size in the range of 10-120 μm. The cryolite ratio and the alumina concentration were determined in molten electrolyte during electrolysis and in frozen bath after electrolysis. The side ledge in the electrolysis cell was formed only by the 13^th hour of electrolysis. With a slight temperature decrease a significant increase in the side ledge thickness was observed. The basic components of the side ledge obtained by the XRD phase analysis were Na₃AlF₆, Na₅Al₃F₁₄, Al₂O₃, and NaF^.5CaF₂^.AlF₃. As in the industrial cell, the increased alumina concentration in the side ledge formed on the cell walls and at the ledge-electrolyte-aluminum three-phase boundary during aluminum electrolysis in the lab cell was found (FTP No 05.604.21.0239, IN RFMEFI60419X0239).

Keywords: Alumina, alumina distribution, aluminum electrolyzer, cryolite-alumina electrolyte, side ledge.

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Authors: Barbara Gawda

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The study attempts to show the relationship between the structure of love by Sternberg and personality disorder traits. People with personality disorders experience dysfunctional emotionality. They manifest difficulties in experiencing love and closeness. Their relationships are marked by ambivalence and conflicts, e.g., as in borderline and narcissistic personality disorders. Considering love as a crucial human feeling, the study was planned to describe the associations between intimacy, passion, commitment, and personality disorder traits in a community sample. A sample of 194 participants was investigated (men and women in similar age and education levels). The following techniques were used: the SCID-II to assess personality disorders’ traits and the Triangular Love Scale by Sternberg to assess the components of love. Results show there are significant negative correlations between intimacy, commitment and personality disorders traits. Many personality disorders are associated with decreasing of intimacy and commitment, whereas passion was not associated with personality disorders’ traits. Results confirm that emotional impairments in personality disorders elicit conflicts and problems in relationships based on love and closeness.

Keywords: Intimacy, commitment, love, passion, personality disorders.

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Authors: Tahvilian R., Siahi Shadbad MR., Hamishehkar H., Aghababa Gharehbagh V.

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Nowadays pharmaceutical care departments located in hospitals are amongst the important pillars of the healthcare system. The aim of this study was to evaluate quality of hospital drugstores affiliated with Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. In this cross-sectional study a validated questionnaire was used. The questionnaire was filled in by the one of the researchers in all seventeen hospital drugstores located in the teaching and nonteaching hospitals affiliated with Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. The results shows that in observed hospitals,24% of pharmacy environments, 25% of pharmacy store and storage conditions, 49% of storage procedure, 25% of ordering drugs and supplies, 73% of receiving supplies (proper procedure are fallowed for receiving supplies), 35% of receiving supplies (prompt action taken if deterioration of drugs received is suspected), 23.35% of drugs delivery to patients and finally 0% of stock cards are used for proper inventory control have full compliance with standards.

Keywords: Hospital pharmacy standards, Kermanshah, pharmacy management

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Authors: Temsiri Sapsaman, Anocha Bhocarattanahkul

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The maintenance of work rolls in hot strip processing has been lengthy and difficult tasks for hot strip manufacturer because heavy work rolls have to be taken out of the production line, which could take hours. One way to increase the time between maintenance is to improve the effectiveness of the work roll cooling system such that the wear and tear more slowly occurs, while the operation cost is kept low. Therefore, this study aims to improve the work roll cooling system by providing the manufacturer the relationship between the work-roll temperature reduced by cooling and the water flow that can help manufacturer determining the more effective water flow of the cooling system. The relationship is found using simulation with a systematic process adjustment so that the satisfying quality of product is achieved. Results suggest that the manufacturer could reduce the water flow by 9% with roughly the same performance. With the same process adjustment, the feasibility of finishing-mill-stand reduction is also investigated. Results suggest its possibility.

Keywords: Work-roll cooling system, hot strip process adjustment, feasibility study.

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Authors: Turki M. Habeebullah, Atef M. F. Mohammed, Essam A. Morsy

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In recent decades, particulate matter (PM10) have received much attention due to its potential adverse health impact and the subsequent need to better control or regulate these pollutants. The aim of this paper is focused on study risk assessment of PM10 in four different districts (Shebikah, Masfalah, Aziziyah, Awali) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia during the period from 1 Ramadan 1434 AH - 27 Safar 1435 AH. Samples were collected by using Low Volume Sampler (LVS Low Volume Sampler) device and filtration method for estimating the total concentration of PM10. The study indicated that the mean PM10 concentrations were 254.6 (186.1 - 343.2) μg/m3 in Shebikah, 184.9 (145.6 - 271.4) μg/m3 in Masfalah, 162.4 (92.4-253.8) μg/m3 in Aziziyah, and 56.0 (44.5 - 119.8) μg/m3 in Awali. These values did not exceed the permissible limits in PME (340 μg/m3 as daily average). Furthermore, health assessment is carried out using AirQ2.2.3 model to estimate the number of hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases. The cumulative number of cases per 100,000 were 1534 (18-3050 case), which lower than that recorded in the United States, Malaysia. The concentration response coefficient was 0.49 (95% CI 0.05 - 0.70) per 10 μg/m3 increase of PM10.

Keywords: Air pollution, Respiratory diseases, AirQ2.2.3, Makkah.

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Authors: R. Tur, A. Yardımcı

Abstract:

Imperfect knowledge cannot be avoided all the time. Imperfections may have several forms; uncertainties, imprecision and incompleteness. When we look to classification of methods for the management of imperfect knowledge we see fuzzy set-based techniques. The choice of a method to process data is linked to the choice of knowledge representation, which can be numerical, symbolic, logical or semantic and it depends on the nature of the problem to be solved for example decision support, which will be mentioned in our study. Fuzzy Logic is used for its ability to manage imprecise knowledge, but it can take advantage of the ability of neural networks to learn coefficients or functions. Such an association of methods is typical of so-called soft computing. In this study a new method was used for the management of imprecision for collected knowledge which related to economic analysis of construction industry in Turkey. Because of sudden changes occurring in economic factors decrease competition strength of construction companies. The better evaluation of these changes in economical factors in view of construction industry will made positive influence on company-s decisions which are dealing construction.

Keywords: Fuzzy logic, decision support systems, construction industry.

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Authors: Helena Costa Oliveira, Carmem Oliveira, Rita Moutinho

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The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a continuous strategic monitoring model focused not only on financial issues but also on internal processes, patients/users, and learning and growth. Initially dedicated to business management, it currently serves organizations of other natures - such as hospitals. This paper presents a BSC designed for a Portuguese Acute Pain Unit (APU). This study is qualitative and based on the experience of collaborators at the APU. The management of APU is based on four perspectives – users, internal processes, learning and growth, and financial and legal. For each perspective, there were identified strategic objectives, critical factors, lead indicators and initiatives. The strategic map of the APU outlining sustained strategic relations among strategic objectives. This study contributes to the development of research in the health management area as it explores how organizational insufficiencies and inconsistencies in this particular case can be addressed, through the identification of critical factors, to clearly establish core outcomes and initiatives to set up.

Keywords: Acute pain unit, balanced scorecard, hospital management, organizational performance, Portugal.

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Authors: Nagore Guerra Bilbao, Clemente Lobato Fraile

Abstract:

This paper outlines the design and development of the MENDEPRO questionnaire, designed to analyze mentoring performance within a professional development process carried out with professors at the University of the Basque Country, Spain. The study took into account the international research carried out over the past two decades into teachers' professional development, and was also based on a thorough review of the most common instruments used to identify and analyze mentoring styles, many of which fail to provide sufficient psychometric guarantees. The present study aimed to gather empirical data in order to verify the metric quality of the questionnaire developed. To this end, the process followed to validate the theoretical construct was as follows: The formulation of the items and indicators in accordance with the study variables; the analysis of the validity and reliability of the initial questionnaire; the review of the second version of the questionnaire and the definitive measurement instrument. Content was validated through the formal agreement and consensus of 12 university professor training experts. A reduced sample of professors who had participated in a lifelong learning program was then selected for a trial evaluation of the instrument developed. After the trial, 18 items were removed from the initial questionnaire. The final version of the instrument, comprising 33 items, was then administered to a sample group of 99 participants. The results revealed a five-dimensional structure matching theoretical expectations. Also, the reliability data for both the instrument as a whole (.98) and its various dimensions (between .91 and .97) were very high. The questionnaire was thus found to have satisfactory psychometric properties and can therefore be considered apt for studying the performance of mentoring in both induction programs for young professors and lifelong learning programs for senior faculty members.

Keywords: Higher education, mentoring, professional development, university teachers.

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