Search results for: positive analysis
9210 Trade Openness and Its Effects on Economic Growth in Selected South Asian Countries: A Panel Data Study
Authors: Samra Bajwa, Muhammad W. Siddiqi
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The study investigates the causal link between trade openness and economic growth for four South Asian countries for period 1972-1985 and 1986-2007 to examine the scenario before and after the implementation of SAARC. Panel cointegration and FMOLS techniques are employed for short run and long run estimates. In 1972-85 short run unidirectional causality from GDP to openness is found whereas, in 1986-2007 there exists bi-directional causality between GDP and openness. The long run elasticity magnitude between GDP and openness contains negative sign in 1972-85 which shows that there exists long run negative relationship. While in time period 1986-2007 the elasticity magnitude has positive sign that indicates positive causation between GDP and openness. So it can be concluded that after the implementation of SAARC overall situation of selected countries got better. Also long run coefficient of error term suggests that short term equilibrium adjustments are driven by adjustment back to long run equilibrium.Keywords: Causality, Economic Growth, Panel Co-integration, SAARC, Trade Openness.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26469209 Improving the Quality of e-learning Courses in Higher Education through Student Satisfaction
Authors: Susana Lemos, Neuza Pedro
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Thepurpose of the research is to characterize the levels of satisfaction of the students in e-learning post-graduate courses, taking into account specific dimensions of the course which were considered as benchmarks for the quality of this type of online learning initiative, as well as the levels of satisfaction towards each specific indicator identified in each dimension. It was also an aim of this study to understand how thesedimensions relate to one another. Using a quantitative research approach in the collection and analysis of the data, the study involves the participation of the students who attended on e-learning course in 2010/2011. The conclusions of this study suggest that online students present relatively high levels of satisfaction, which points towards a positive experience during the course. It is possible to note that there is a correlation between the different dimensions studied, consequently leading to different improvement strategies. Ultimately, this investigation aims to contribute to the promotion of quality and the success of e-learning initiatives in Higher Education.Keywords: e-learning, higher education, quality, students satisfaction
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15979208 The Corporate Vision Effect on Rajabhat University Brand Building in Thailand
Authors: Pisit Potjanajaruwit
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This study aims to (1) investigate the corporate vision factor influencing Rajabhat University brand building in Thailand and (2) explore influences of brand building upon Rajabhat University stakeholders’ loyalty, and the research method will use mixed methods to conduct qualitative research with the quantitative research. The qualitative will approach by Indebt-interview the executive of Rathanagosin Rajabhat University group for 6 key informants and the quantitative data was collected by questionnaires distributed to stakeholder including instructors, staff, students and parents of the Rathanagosin Rajabhat University group for 400 sampling were selected by multi-stage sampling method. Data was analyzed by Structural Equation Modeling: SEM and also provide the focus group interview for confirming the model. Findings corporate vision had a direct and positive influence on Rajabhat University brand building were showed direct and positive influence on stakeholder’s loyalty and stakeholder’s loyalty was indirectly influenced by corporate vision through Rajabhat University brand building.
Keywords: Brand building, corporate vision, Rajabhat University, stakeholders’ loyalty.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8079207 A Survey of Sentiment Analysis Based on Deep Learning
Authors: Pingping Lin, Xudong Luo, Yifan Fan
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Sentiment analysis is a very active research topic. Every day, Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, and other social media, as well as significant e-commerce websites, generate a massive amount of comments, which can be used to analyse peoples opinions or emotions. The existing methods for sentiment analysis are based mainly on sentiment dictionaries, machine learning, and deep learning. The first two kinds of methods rely on heavily sentiment dictionaries or large amounts of labelled data. The third one overcomes these two problems. So, in this paper, we focus on the third one. Specifically, we survey various sentiment analysis methods based on convolutional neural network, recurrent neural network, long short-term memory, deep neural network, deep belief network, and memory network. We compare their futures, advantages, and disadvantages. Also, we point out the main problems of these methods, which may be worthy of careful studies in the future. Finally, we also examine the application of deep learning in multimodal sentiment analysis and aspect-level sentiment analysis.Keywords: Natural language processing, sentiment analysis, document analysis, multimodal sentiment analysis, deep learning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20059206 Observations about the Principal Components Analysis and Data Clustering Techniques in the Study of Medical Data
Authors: Cristina G. Dascâlu, Corina Dima Cozma, Elena Carmen Cotrutz
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The medical data statistical analysis often requires the using of some special techniques, because of the particularities of these data. The principal components analysis and the data clustering are two statistical methods for data mining very useful in the medical field, the first one as a method to decrease the number of studied parameters, and the second one as a method to analyze the connections between diagnosis and the data about the patient-s condition. In this paper we investigate the implications obtained from a specific data analysis technique: the data clustering preceded by a selection of the most relevant parameters, made using the principal components analysis. Our assumption was that, using the principal components analysis before data clustering - in order to select and to classify only the most relevant parameters – the accuracy of clustering is improved, but the practical results showed the opposite fact: the clustering accuracy decreases, with a percentage approximately equal with the percentage of information loss reported by the principal components analysis.Keywords: Data clustering, medical data, principal components analysis.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15029205 The Impact of Online Advertising on Consumer Purchase Behavior Based on Malaysian Organizations
Authors: Naser Zourikalatehsamad, Seyed Abdorreza Payambarpour, Ibrahim Alwashali, Zahra Abdolkarimi
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The paper aims to evaluate the effect of online advertising on consumer purchase behavior in Malaysian organizations. The paper has potential to extend and refine theory. A survey was distributed among Students of UTM university during the winter 2014 and 160 responses were collected. Regression analysis was used to test the hypothesized relationships of the model. Result shows that the predictors (cost saving factor, convenience factor and customized product or services) have positive impact on intention to continue seeking online advertising.Keywords: Consumer purchase, convenience, customized product, cost saving, customization, flow theory, mass communication, online advertising ads, online advertising measurement, online advertising mechanism, online intelligence system, self-confidence, willingness to purchase.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 135819204 Self-Efficacy Perceptions and the Attitudes of Prospective Teachers towards Assessment and Evaluation
Authors: Münevver Başman, Ezel Tavşancıl
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Making the right decisions about students depends on teachers’ use of the assessment and evaluation techniques effectively. In order to do that, teachers should have positive attitudes and adequate self-efficacy perception towards assessment and evaluation. The purpose of this study is to investigate relationship between self-efficacy perception and the attitudes of prospective teachers towards assessment and evaluation and what kind of differences these issues have in terms of a variety of demographic variables. The study group consisted of 277 prospective teachers who have been studying in different departments of Marmara University, Faculty of Education. In this study, ‘Personal Information Form’, ‘A Perceptual Scale for Measurement and Evaluation of Prospective Teachers Self-Efficacy in Education’ and ‘Attitudes toward Educational Measurement Inventory’ are applied. As a result, positive correlation was found between self-efficacy perceptions and the attitudes of prospective teachers towards assessment and evaluation. Considering different departments, there is a significant difference between the mean score of attitudes of prospective teachers and between the mean score of self-efficacy perceptions of them. However, considering variables of attending statistics class and the class types at the graduated high school, there is no significant difference between the mean score of attitudes of prospective teachers and between the mean score of self-efficacy perceptions of them.Keywords: Attitude, perception, prospective teacher, self-efficacy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15599203 Application of Sorptive Passive Panels for Reducing Indoor Formaldehyde Level: Effect of Environmental Conditions
Authors: Mitra Bahri, Jean Leopold Kabambi, Jacqueline Yakobi-Hancock, William Render, Stephanie So
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Reducing formaldehyde concentration in residential buildings is an important challenge, especially during the summer. In this study, a ceiling tile was used as a sorptive passive panel for formaldehyde removal. The performance of this passive panel was evaluated under different environmental conditions. The results demonstrated that the removal efficiency is comprised between 40% and 71%. Change in the level of relative humidity (30%, 50%, and 75%) had a slight positive effect on the sorption capacity. However, increase in temperature from 21 °C to 26 °C led to approximately 7% decrease in the average formaldehyde removal performance. GC/MS and HPLC analysis revealed the formation of different by-products at low concentrations under extreme environmental conditions. These findings suggest that the passive panel selected for this study holds the potential to be used for formaldehyde removal under various conditions.
Keywords: Formaldehyde, indoor air quality, passive panel, removal efficiency, sorption.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7899202 Identification of Cellulose-Hydrolytic Thermophiles Isolated from Sg. Klah Hot Spring Based On 16S rDNA Gene Sequence
Authors: M. J. Norashirene, Y. Zakiah, S. Nurdiana, I. Nur Hilwani, M. H. Siti Khairiyah, M. J. Muhamad Arif
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In this study, six bacterial isolates of a slightly thermophilic organism from the Sg. Klah hot spring, Malaysia were successfully isolated and designated as M7T55D1, M7T55D2, M7T55D3, M7T53D1, M7T53D2 and M7T53D3 respectively. The bacterial isolates were screened for their cellulose hydrolytic ability on Carboxymethlycellulose agar medium. The isolated bacterial strains were identified morphologically, biochemically and molecularly with the aid of 16S rDNA sequencing. All of the bacteria showed their optimum growth at a slightly alkaline pH of 7.5 with a temperature of 55°C. All strains were Gram-negative, non-spore forming type, strictly aerobic, catalase-positive and oxidase-positive with the ability to produce thermostable cellulase. Based on BLASTn results, bacterial isolates of M7T55D2 and M7T53D1 gave the highest homology (97%) with similarity to Tepidimonas ignava while isolates M7T55D1, M7T55D3, M7T53D2 and M7T53D3 showed their closest homology (97%-98%) with Tepidimonas thermarum. These cellulolytic thermophiles might have a commercial potential to produce valuable thermostable cellulase.
Keywords: Cellulase, Cellulolytic, Thermophiles, 16S rDNA Gene.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20949201 Design Guidelines for an Enhanced Interaction Experience in the Domain of Smartphone-Based Applications for Sport and Fitness
Authors: Paolo Pilloni, Fabrizio Mulas, Salvatore Carta
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Nowadays, several research studies point up that an active lifestyle is essential for physical and mental health benefits. Mobile phones have greatly influenced people’s habits and attitudes also in the way they exercise. Our research work is mainly focused on investigating how to exploit mobile technologies to favour people’s exertion experience. To this end, we developed an exertion framework users can exploit through a real world mobile application, called EverywhereSport Run (EWRun), designed to act as a virtual personal trainer to support runners during their trainings. In this work, inspired by both previous findings in the field of interaction design for people with visual impairments, feedback gathered from real users of our framework, and positive results obtained from two experimentations, we present some new interaction facilities we designed to enhance the interaction experience during a training. The positive obtained results helped us to derive some interaction design recommendations we believe will be a valid support for designers of future mobile systems conceived to be used in circumstances where there are limited possibilities of interaction.Keywords: Human Computer Interaction, Interaction Design Guidelines, Persuasive Mobile Technologies for Sport and Health.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19479200 The Effects of Applying Linguistic Principles and Teaching Techniques in Teaching English at Secondary School in Thailand
Authors: Wannakarn Likitrattanaporn
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The ultimate purpose of this investigation was to determine the teachers’ opinions as well as students’ opinions towards the Adapted English Lessons. The subjects of the study were 5 Thai teachers, who teach English, and 85 Grade 10 mixed-ability students at Triamudom Suksa Pattanakarn Ratchada School, Bangkok, Thailand. The research instruments included questionnaires and the informal interview. The data from the research instruments was collected and analyzed concerning linguistic principles of minimal pair and articulatory phonetics as well as teaching techniques of mimicry-memorization; vocabulary substitution drills, language pattern drills, reading comprehension exercise, practicing listening, speaking and writing skill and communicative activities; informal talk and free writing. The data was statistically compiled according to an arithmetic percentage. The results showed that the teachers and students have very highly positive opinions towards adapting linguistic principles for teaching and learning phonological accuracy. Teaching techniques provided in the Adapted English Lessons can be used efficiently in the classroom. The teachers and students have positive opinions towards them too.Keywords: Applying linguistic principles and teaching techniques, teachers’ and students’ opinions, teaching English, the Adapted English Lessons.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17139199 Sensitivity Analysis in Power Systems Reliability Evaluation
Authors: A.R Alesaadi, M. Nafar, A.H. Gheisari
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In this paper sensitivity analysis is performed for reliability evaluation of power systems. When examining the reliability of a system, it is useful to recognize how results change as component parameters are varied. This knowledge helps engineers to understand the impact of poor data, and gives insight on how reliability can be improved. For these reasons, a sensitivity analysis can be performed. Finally, a real network was used for testing the presented method.Keywords: sensitivity analysis, reliability evaluation, powersystems.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22749198 The Effect of Displacement on Indigenous Tribes’ Socio-Culture and Food Practices
Authors: M. Salehuddin Mohd Zahari, N. Mohd Shahril Nik Mohd Nor, H. Abdul Hadi, M. Zulhilmi Suhaimi
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This paper reports the empirical investigation on the effect of involuntary displacement of indigenous tribes on their sociocultural and food practices. A descriptive research design using the quantitative approach was applied and individual of indigenous tribes as unit of analysis. Through a self-administered survey among two selected Malaysia indigenous tribes, one hundred fifty questionnaires were successfully collected. With the application of descriptive and inferential statistic some useful insights pertaining to the issue investigated was significantly obtained. Findings revealed that improvement on the socio-culture, economy and knowledge is apparent on the indigenous groups’ resulted from displacement program. Displacement also has a slight impact on indigenous groups’ food practices. These positive indications provide significant implications, not only for the indigenous groups themselves, but also for the responsible authorities.
Keywords: Displacement, indigenous tribes, Socio-culture, Food, Practices.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 40479197 Neuromarketing: Discovering the Somathyc Marker in the Consumer´s Brain
Authors: Mikel Alonso López, María Francisca Blasco López, Víctor Molero Ayala
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The present study explains the somatic marker theory of Antonio Damasio, which indicates that when making a decision, the stored or possible future scenarios (future memory) images allow people to feel for a moment what would happen when they make a choice, and how this is emotionally marked. This process can be conscious or unconscious. The development of new Neuromarketing techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), carries a greater understanding of how the brain functions and consumer behavior. In the results observed in different studies using fMRI, the evidence suggests that the somatic marker and future memories influence the decision-making process, adding a positive or negative emotional component to the options. This would mean that all decisions would involve a present emotional component, with a rational cost-benefit analysis that can be performed later.
Keywords: Emotions, decision making, somatic marker, consumer´s brain.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21379196 Relationship between Facebook Usage and the Student Engagement of Sri Lankan Management Undergraduates
Authors: L. C. H. Jayarathna, W. M. N. Fernando
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Academics and researchers are interested in the effects of social media on college students, with a specific focus on the most popular social media website; Facebook. Previous studied have found contradictory result on the relationship between Facebook usage and the student engagement with positive, detrimental and no significant relationships. However, these studies were limited to western higher education system. This paper fills a gap in the literature by using a sample (300) of Sri Lankan management undergraduates to examine the relationship between Facebook usage and student engagement. Student engagement was measured 35 item scale based on the National Survey of Student Engagement and Facebook usage by Facebook intensity scale. Descriptive statistics, path analysis and structural equation modeling were applied as statistical tools and techniques. Results indicate that student engagement scale was significantly negatively related with the Facebook usage with the influence from student engagement on Facebook usage.
Keywords: Facebook Intensity, Social Networking Sites, Student Engagement.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 37489195 Military Families’ Attachment to the Royal Guards Community of Dusit District, Bangkok Metropolitan
Authors: Kaniknun Photchong, Phusit Phukamchanoad
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The objective of this research is to study the people’s level of participation in activities of the community, their satisfaction towards the community, the attachment they have to the community, factors that influence the attachment, as well as the characteristics of the relationships of military families’ of the Royal Guards community of Dusit District. The method used was non-probability sampling by quota sampling according to people’s age. The determined age group was 18 years or older.
One set of a sample group was done per family. The questionnaires were conducted by 287 people. Snowball sampling was also used by interviewing people of the community, starting from the Royal Guards Community’s leader, then by 20 of the community’s well-respected persons. The data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics, such as arithmetic mean and standard deviation, as well as by inferential statistics, such as Independent - Samples T test (T-test), One-Way ANOVA (F-test), Chi-Square. Descriptive analysis according to the structure of the interview content was also used. The results of the research is that the participation of the population in the Royal Guards Community in various activities is at a medium level, with the average participation level during Mother’s and Father’s Days. The people’s general level of satisfaction towards the premises of the Royal Guards Community is at the highest level.
The people were most satisfied with the transportation within the community and in contacting with people from outside the premises. The access to the community is convenient and there are various entrances. The attachment of the people to the Royal Guards Community in general and by each category is at a high level. The feeling that the community is their home rated the highest average. Factors that influence the attachment of the people of the Royal Guards Community are age, status, profession, income, length of stay in the community, membership of social groups, having neighbors they feel close and familiar with, and as well as the benefits they receive from the community. In addition, it was found that people that participate in activities have a high level of positive relationship towards the attachment of the people to the Royal Guards Community. The satisfaction of the community has a very high level of positive relationship with the attachment of the people to the Royal Guards Community.
The characteristics of the attachment of military families’ is that they live in big houses that everyone has to protect and care for, starting from the leader of the family as well as all members. Therefore, they all love the community they live in. The characteristics that show the participation of activities within the community and the high level of satisfaction towards the premises of the community will enable the people to be more attached to the community. The people feel that everyone is close neighbors within the community, as if they are one big family.
Keywords: Activities, Attachment, Community, Royal Guards, Satisfaction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16689194 A New blaVIM Gene in a Pseudomonas putida Isolated from ENT Units in Sulaimani Hospitals
Authors: Dalanya Asaad Mohammed, Dara Abdul Razaq
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A total of twenty tensile biopsies were collected from children undergoing tonsillectomy from teaching hospital ENT department and Kurdistan private hospital in sulaimani city. All biopsies were homogenized and cultured; the obtained bacterial isolates were purified and identified by biochemical tests and VITEK 2 compact system. Among the twenty studied samples, only one Pseudomonas putida with probability of 99% was isolated. Antimicrobial susceptibility was carried out by disk diffusion method, Pseudomonas putida showed resistance to all antibiotics used except vancomycin. The isolate further subjected to PCR and DNA sequence analysis of blaVIM gene using different set of primers for different regions of VIM gene. The results were found to be PCR positive for the blaVIM gene. To determine the sequence of blaVIM gene, DNA sequencing performed. Sequence alignment of blaVIM gene with previously recorded blaVIM gene in NCBI- database showed that P. putida isolate have different blaVIM gene.Keywords: Clinical isolates, Putida, Sulaimani, Vim gene.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16559193 Relationship between Codependency, Perceived Social Support, and Depression in Mothers of Children with Intellectual Disability
Authors: Sajed Yaghoubnezhad, Mina Karimi, Seyede Marjan Modirkhazeni
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The goal of this research was to study the relationship between codependency, perceived social support and depression in mothers of children with intellectual disability (ID). The correlational method was used in this study. The research population is comprised of mothers of educable children with ID in the age range of 25 to 61 years. From among this, a sample of 251 individuals, in the multistage cluster sampling method, was selected from educational districts in Tehran, who responded to the Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale (SFCDS), the Social Support Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The findings of this study indicate that among mothers of children with ID depression has a positive and significant correlation with codependency (P<0.01, r=0.4) and a negative and significant correlation with the total score of social support (P<0.01, r=-0.34). Moreover, the results of stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that codependency is allocated a higher variance than social support in explaining depression (R2=0.023).
Keywords: Codependency, social support, depression, mothers of children with ID.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14729192 Antinociceptive and Anti-inflammatory Effects of Hydroalcohol Extract of Vitex agnus castus Fruit
Authors: M. Ramezani, Gh. Amin, E. Jalili
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In present study the effects of anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive of vitex hydro-alcoholic extract were evaluated on male mice. In inflammatory test mice were divided into 7 groups: first group was control. The second group, positive control group, received dexamethasone (15 mg/kg) and the other five groups received different doses of hydroalcohol extract of Vitex fruit (265, 365, 465, 565, and 665 mg/kg). The inflammation was caused by xylene-induced ear edema. Formalin test was used for evaluation of antinociceptive effect of extract. In this test, mice were divided into 7 groups: control, morphine (10mg/kg) as positive control group, and Vitex extract groups ((265, 365, 465, 565, and 665 mg/kg). All drugs were administered intrapritoneally, 30 min before each test. The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey-kramer multiple comparison test. Results have shown significant antiinflammatory effects of extract at all dosed as compared with control (P<0.05). In the first phase of formalin test (0-5 min) none doses of extract could inhibit acute pain, but in the second phase (15-30 min) chronic pain decreased at 265, 365, 465, and 565 mg/kg doses (P<0.05). The results of this research indicated that Vitex extract remarkably inhibited inflammation and second phase of nociception (inflammatory pain) and can be used for treatment of inflammatory diseases.Keywords: Anti-inflammatory, Antinociceptive, Mice, Vitexagnus castus.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20939191 The Impact of Environmental Dynamism on Strategic Outsourcing Success
Authors: Mohamad Ghozali Hassan, Abdul Aziz Othman, Mohd Azril Ismail
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Adapting quickly to environmental dynamism is essential for an organization to develop outsourcing strategic and management in order to sustain competitive advantage. This research used the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLSSEM) tool to investigate the factors of environmental dynamism impact on the strategic outsourcing success among electrical and electronic manufacturing industries in outsourcing management. Statistical results confirm that the inclusion of customer demand, technological change, and competition level as a new combination concept of environmental dynamism, has positive effects on outsourcing success. Additionally, this research demonstrates the acceptability of PLS-SEM as a statistical analysis to furnish a better understanding of environmental dynamism in outsourcing management in Malaysia. A practical finding contributes to academics and practitioners in the field of outsourcing management.
Keywords: Environmental Dynamism, Customer Demand, Technological Change, Competition Level, Outsourcing Success.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22139190 Artificial Intelligence Model to Predict Surface Roughness of Ti-15-3 Alloy in EDM Process
Authors: Md. Ashikur Rahman Khan, M. M. Rahman, K. Kadirgama, M.A. Maleque, Rosli A. Bakar
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Conventionally the selection of parameters depends intensely on the operator-s experience or conservative technological data provided by the EDM equipment manufacturers that assign inconsistent machining performance. The parameter settings given by the manufacturers are only relevant with common steel grades. A single parameter change influences the process in a complex way. Hence, the present research proposes artificial neural network (ANN) models for the prediction of surface roughness on first commenced Ti-15-3 alloy in electrical discharge machining (EDM) process. The proposed models use peak current, pulse on time, pulse off time and servo voltage as input parameters. Multilayer perceptron (MLP) with three hidden layer feedforward networks are applied. An assessment is carried out with the models of distinct hidden layer. Training of the models is performed with data from an extensive series of experiments utilizing copper electrode as positive polarity. The predictions based on the above developed models have been verified with another set of experiments and are found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. Beside this they can be exercised as precious tools for the process planning for EDM.Keywords: Ti-15l-3, surface roughness, copper, positive polarity, multi-layered perceptron.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19079189 The Determinants of Senior Students' Behavioral Intention on the Blended E-Learning for the Ceramics Teaching Course at the Active Aging University
Authors: Horng-Jyh Chen, Yi-Fang Chen, Chien-Liang Lin
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In this paper, the authors try to investigate the determinants of behavioral intention of the blended E-learning course for senior students at the Active Ageing University in Taiwan. Due to lower proficiency in the use of computers and less experience on learning styles of the blended E-learning course for senior students will be expected quite different from those for most young students. After more than five weeks course for two years the questionnaire survey is executed to collect data for statistical analysis in order to understand the determinants of the behavioral intention for senior students. The object of this study is at one of the Active Ageing University in Taiwan total of 84 senior students in the blended E-learning for the ceramics teaching course. The research results show that only the perceived usefulness of the blended E-learning course has significant positive relationship with the behavioral intention.
Keywords: Active Aging University, blended E-learning, ceramics teaching course, behavioral intention
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17619188 Evaluation of Internet Anxiety in SRBIAU Higher Education Students in Research Process
Authors: Nima Babazadeh Gashti, Nazanin Pilevari
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Increase in using internet makes some problems that one of them is "internet anxiety". Internet anxiety is a type of anxious that people may feel during surfing internet or using internet for their educational purpose, blogging or streaming to digital libraries. The goal of this study is evaluating of internet anxiety among the management students. In this research Ealy's internet anxiety questionnaire, consists of positive and negative items, is completed by 310 participants. According to the findings, about 64.7% of them were equal or below to mean anxiety score (50). The distribution of internet anxiety scores was normal and there was no meaningful difference between men-s and women's anxiety level in this sample. Results also showed that there is no meaningful difference of internet anxiety level between different fields of study in Management. This evaluation will help managers to perform gap analysis between the existent level and the desired one. Future work would be providing techniques for abating human anxiety while using internet via human computer interaction techniques.Keywords: Internet, anxiety, research process, internet identification, human computer interaction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20489187 A Framework for Successful TQM Implementation and Its Effect on the Organizational Sustainability Development
Authors: Redha Elhuni, M. Munir Ahmad
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The main purpose of this research is to construct a generic model for successful implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in Oil sector, and to find out the effects of this model on the organizational sustainability development (OSD) performance of Libyan oil and gas companies using the structured equation modeling (SEM) approach. The research approach covers both quantitative and qualitative methods. A questionnaire was developed in order to identify the quality factors that are seen by Libyan oil and gas companies to be critical to the success of TQM implementation. Hypotheses were developed to evaluate the impact of TQM implementation on O SD. Data analysis reveals that there is a significant positive effect of the TQM implementation on OSD. 24 quality factors are found to be critical and absolutely essential for successful TQM implementation. The results generated a structure of the TQMSD implementation framework based on the four major road map constructs (Top management commitment, employee involvement and participation, customer-driven processes, and continuous improvement culture).
Keywords: TQM, CQFs, Oil & Gas, OSD, Libya.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 42849186 The Relation between Proactive Coping and Well-Being: An Example of Middle-Aged and Older Learners from Taiwan
Authors: Ya-Hui Lee, Ching-Yi Lu, Hui-Chuan Wei
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The purpose of this research was to explore the relation between proactive coping and well-being of middle-aged adults. We conducted survey research that with t-test, one way ANOVA, Pearson correlation and stepwise multiple regression to analyze. This research drew on a sample of 395 participants from the senior learning centers of Taiwan. The results provided the following findings: 1.The participants from different residence areas associated significant difference with proactive coping, but not with well-being. 2. The participants’ perceived of financial level associated significant difference with both proactive coping and well-being. 3. There was significant difference between participants’ income and well-being. 4. The proactive coping was positively correlated with well-being. 5. From stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that two dimensions of proactive coping had positive predictability. Finally, these results of this study can be provided as references for designing older adult educational programs in Taiwan.
Keywords: Middle-age adults, learners, proactive coping, well-being.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19599185 Standard Languages for Creating a Database to Display Financial Statements on a Web Application
Authors: Vladimir Simovic, Matija Varga, Predrag Oreski
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XHTML and XBRL are the standard languages for creating a database for the purpose of displaying financial statements on web applications. Today, XBRL is one of the most popular languages for business reporting. A large number of countries in the world recognize the role of XBRL language for financial reporting and the benefits that the reporting format provides in the collection, analysis, preparation, publication and the exchange of data (information) which is the positive side of this language. Here we present all advantages and opportunities that a company may have by using the XBRL format for business reporting. Also, this paper presents XBRL and other languages that are used for creating the database, such XML, XHTML, etc. The role of the AJAX complex model and technology will be explained in detail, and during the exchange of financial data between the web client and web server. Here will be mentioned basic layers of the network for data exchange via the web.Keywords: XHTML, XBRL, XML, JavaScript, AJAX technology, data exchange.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10709184 Detection of Arcobacter and Helicobacter pylori Contamination in Organic Vegetables by Cultural and PCR Methods
Authors: Miguel García-Ferrús, Ana González, María A. Ferrús
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The most demanded organic foods worldwide are those that are consumed fresh, such as fruits and vegetables. However, there is a knowledge gap about some aspects of organic food microbiological quality and safety. Organic fruits and vegetables are more exposed to pathogenic microorganisms due to surface contact with natural fertilizers such as animal manure, wastes and vermicompost used during farming. Therefore, the objective of this work was to study the contamination of organic fresh green leafy vegetables by two emergent pathogens, Arcobacter spp. and Helicobacter pylori. For this purpose, a total of 24 vegetable samples, 13 lettuce and 11 spinach were acquired from 10 different ecological supermarkets and greengroceries and analyzed by culture and PCR. Arcobacter spp. was detected in five samples (20%) by PCR, four spinach and one lettuce. One spinach sample was found to be also positive by culture. For H. pylori, the H. pylori VacA gene-specific band was detected in 12 vegetable samples (50%), 10 lettuces and two spinach. Isolation in the selective medium did not yield any positive result, possibly because of low contamination levels together with the presence of the organism in its viable but non-culturable form. Results showed significant levels of H. pylori and Arcobacter contamination in organic vegetables that are generally consumed raw, which seems to confirm that these foods can act as transmission vehicles to humans.
Keywords: Arcobacter spp., Helicobacter pylori, organic vegetables, Polymerase Chain Reaction, PCR.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4049183 Sonic Therapeutic Intervention for Preventing Financial Fraud: A Phenomenological Study
Authors: Vasudev Das
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The specific problem is that private and public organizational leaders often do not understand the importance of sonic therapeutic intervention in preventing financial fraud. The study aimed to explore sonic therapeutic intervention practitioners' lived experiences regarding the value of sonic therapeutic intervention in preventing financial fraud. The data collection methods were semi-structured interviews of purposeful samples and documentary reviews, which were analyzed thematically. Four themes emerged from the analysis of interview transcription data: Sonic therapeutic intervention enabled self-control, pro-spiritual values, consequentiality mindset, and post-conventional consciousness. The itemized four themes helped non-engagement in financial fraud. Implications for positive social change include enhanced financial fraud management, more significant financial leadership, and result-oriented decision-taking in the financial market. Also, the study results can improve the increased de-escalation of anxiety/stress associated with defrauding.
Keywords: consciousness, consequentiality, rehabilitation, reintegration
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8079182 Data and Spatial Analysis for Economy and Education of 28 E.U. Member-States for 2014
Authors: Alexiou Dimitra, Fragkaki Maria
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The objective of the paper is the study of geographic, economic and educational variables and their contribution to determine the position of each member-state among the EU-28 countries based on the values of seven variables as given by Eurostat. The Data Analysis methods of Multiple Factorial Correspondence Analysis (MFCA) Principal Component Analysis and Factor Analysis have been used. The cross tabulation tables of data consist of the values of seven variables for the 28 countries for 2014. The data are manipulated using the CHIC Analysis V 1.1 software package. The results of this program using MFCA and Ascending Hierarchical Classification are given in arithmetic and graphical form. For comparison reasons with the same data the Factor procedure of Statistical package IBM SPSS 20 has been used. The numerical and graphical results presented with tables and graphs, demonstrate the agreement between the two methods. The most important result is the study of the relation between the 28 countries and the position of each country in groups or clouds, which are formed according to the values of the corresponding variables.
Keywords: Multiple factorial correspondence analysis, principal component analysis, factor analysis, E.U.-28 countries, statistical package IBM SPSS 20, CHIC Analysis V 1.1 Software, Eurostat.eu statistics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10859181 The Evaluation and the Comparison of the Effect of Without Engine Power and Power Mechanical Systems on Rice Weed
Authors: F. E. Cherati, T. Naij , A. Amraei, Y. Hosseinpor
Abstract:
In order to study the influence of different methods of controlling weeds such as mechanical weeding and mechanical weeder efficiency analysis in mechanical cultivation conditions, in farming year of 2011 an experiment was done in a farm in coupling and development of technology center in Haraz,Iran. The treatments consisted of (I) control treatment: where no weeding was done, (II) use of mechanical weeding without engine and (III) power mechanical weeding. Results showed that experimental treatments had significantly different effects (p=0.05) on yield traits and number of filled grains per panicle, while treatments had the significant effects on grain weight and dry weight of weeds in the first, second and third weeding methods at 1% of confidence level. Treatment (II) had its most significant effect on number of filled grains per panicle and yield performance standpoint, which was 3705.97 kg ha-1 in its highest peak. Treatment (III) was ranked as second influential with 3559.8 kg ha-1. In addition, under (I) treatments, 2364.73 kg ha-1 of yield produced. The minimum dry weights of weeds in all weeding methods were related to the treatment (II), (III) and (I), respectively. The correlation coefficient analysis showed that total yield had a significant positive correlation with the panicle grain yield per plant (r= 0.55*) and the number of grains per panicle-1 (r= 0.57*) and the number of filled grains (r= 0.63*). Total rice yield also had negative correlation of r= -0. 64* with weed dry weight at second weed sampling time (17 DAT). The weed dry weight at third and fourth sampling times (24 and 40 DAT) had negative correlations of -0.65** and r=-0.61* with rice yield, respectively.
Keywords: Dry weight, without engine mechanical weeder, power mechanical weeder, yield rice.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1447