Search results for: influencing factors.

Authors: A. Hadi-Vencheh, N. Shayesteh Moghadam

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Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has gained great popularity in environmental performance measurement because it can provide a synthetic standardized environmental performance index when pollutants are suitably incorporated into the traditional DEA framework. Since some of the environmental performance indicators cannot be controlled by companies managers, it is necessary to develop the model in a way that it could be applied when discretionary and/or non-discretionary factors were involved. In this paper, we present a semi-radial DEA approach to measuring environmental performance, which consists of non-discretionary factors. The model, then, has been applied on a real case.

Keywords: Environmental performance, efficiency, non-discretionary variables, data envelopment analysis.

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Authors: S. R. Nikhashemi, L. Haj Paim, Ali Khatibi

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Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test a hypothesized model explaining Malaysian hypermarket customers’ perceptions of brand trust (BT), customer perceived value (CPV) and perceived service quality (PSQ) on building their brand loyalty (CBL) and generating positive word-of-mouth communication (WOM). Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from 374 Malaysian hypermarket customers from Mydin, Tesco, Aeon Big and Giant in Kuala Lumpur, a metropolitan city of Malaysia. The data strongly supported the model exhibiting that BT, CPV and PSQ are prerequisite factors in building customer brand loyalty, while PSQ has the strongest effect on prediction of customer brand loyalty compared to other factors. Besides, the present study suggests the effect of the aforementioned factors via customer brand loyalty strongly contributes to generate positive word of mouth communication.

Keywords: Brand trust, perceived value, perceived service quality, brand loyalty, positive word of mouth communication.

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Authors: Hejun Guo, Shenghua Liu

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Five palm oil ether monoesters utilized as novel biodiesels were synthesized and structurally identified in the paper. The investigation was made on the effect of ether species on physicochemical properties of the palm oil ether monoesters. The results showed that density, kinematic viscosity, smoke point, and solidifying point increase linearly with their –CH2 group number in certain relationships. Cetane number is enhanced whereas heat value decreases linearly with –CH2 group number. In addition, the influencing regularities of the volumetric content of the palm oil ether monoesters on the fuel properties were also studied when the ether monoesters are used as diesel fuel additives.

Keywords: Biodiesel, palm oil ether monoester, ether species, physicochemical property.

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Authors: Zhizhong Jiang, Craig Comstock

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The past decade has seen enormous growth in the amount of software produced. However, given the ever increasing complexity of the software being developed and the concomitant rise in the typical project size, managers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of issues that influence the productivity levels of the project teams involved. By analyzing the latest release of ISBSG data repository, we report on the factors found to significantly influence the productivity among which average team size and language type are the two most essential ones. Building on this we present an original model for evaluating the potential productivity during the project planning stage.

Keywords: ISBSG, Linear Model, Productivity, SoftwareEngineering.

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Authors: R. Tur, A. Yardımcı

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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: Münevver Başman, Deniz Gülleroğlu

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The purpose of this study is to develop a scale to determine the attitudes towards social networking sites. 45 tryout items, prepared for this aim, were applied to 342 students studying at Marmara University, Faculty of Education. The reliability and the validity of the scale were conducted with the help of these students. As a result of exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation, 41 items grouped according to the structure with three factors (interest, reality and negative effects) is obtained. While alpha reliability of the scale is obtained as .899; the reliability of factors is obtained as .899, .799, .775, respectively.

Keywords: Attitude, reliability, social networking sites, validity.

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Authors: A. Buruzs, M. F. Hatwágner, A. Torma, L. T. Kóczy

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The development, operation and maintenance of Integrated Waste Management Systems (IWMS) affects essentially the sustainable concern of every region. The features of such systems have great influence on all of the components of sustainability. In order to reach the optimal way of processes, a comprehensive mapping of the variables affecting the future efficiency of the system is needed such as analysis of the interconnections among the components and modeling of their interactions. The planning of a IWMS is based fundamentally on technical and economical opportunities and the legal framework. Modeling the sustainability and operation effectiveness of a certain IWMS is not in the scope of the present research. The complexity of the systems and the large number of the variables require the utilization of a complex approach to model the outcomes and future risks. This complex method should be able to evaluate the logical framework of the factors composing the system and the interconnections between them. The authors of this paper studied the usability of the Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM) approach modeling the future operation of IWMS’s. The approach requires two input data set. One is the connection matrix containing all the factors affecting the system in focus with all the interconnections. The other input data set is the time series, a retrospective reconstruction of the weights and roles of the factors. This paper introduces a novel method to develop time series by content analysis.

Keywords: Content analysis, factors, integrated waste management system, time series.

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Authors: Raquel P. F. Guiné, Susana R. Matos, Daniela V. T. A. Costa, Fernando J. Gonçalves

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Because blueberries are worldwide recognized as a good source of beneficial components, their consumption has increased in the past decades, and so have the scientific works about their properties. Hence, this work was undertaken to evaluate the effect of some production and conservation factors on the properties of blueberries from cultivar Bluecrop. The physical and chemical analyses were done according to established methodologies and then all data was treated using software SPSS for assessment of the possible differences among the factors investigated and/or the correlations between the variables at study. The results showed that location of production influenced some of the berries properties (caliber, sugars, antioxidant activity, color and texture) and that the age of the bushes was correlated with moisture, sugars and acidity, as well as lightness. On the other hand, altitude of the farm only was correlated to sugar content. With regards to conservation, it influenced only anthocyanins content and DPPH antioxidant activity. Finally, the type of extract and the order of extraction had a pronounced influence on all the phenolic properties evaluated.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, blueberry, conservation, geographical origin, phenolic compounds, statistical analysis.

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Authors: Jingwen Shan

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In order to explore the key factors affecting the robot program learning intention of school students, this study takes the technology acceptance model as the theoretical basis and invites 167 students from Jiading District of Shanghai as the research subjects. In the robot course, the model of school students on their learning behavior is constructed. By verifying the causal path relationship between variables, it is concluded that teachers can enhance students’ perceptual usefulness to robotics courses by enhancing subjective norms, entertainment perception, and reducing technical anxiety, such as focusing on the gradual progress of programming and analyzing learner characteristics. Students can improve perceived ease of use by enhancing self-efficacy. At the same time, robot hardware designers can optimize in terms of entertainment and interactivity, which will directly or indirectly increase the learning intention of the robot course. By changing these factors, the learning behavior of primary and secondary school students can be more sustainable.

Keywords: TAM, learning behavior intentions, robot courses, primary and secondary school students.

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Authors: Nisha Harry

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The study discussed in this article sought to assess whether a sense of professional efficacy mediates the relationship between personal factors and career adaptability. A quantitative cross-sectional survey approach was followed. A non–probability sample of (N = 409) of which predominantly early career and permanently employed black females in call centres in Africa participated in this study. In order to assess personal factors, the participants completed sense of meaningfulness and emotional intelligence measures. Measures of professional efficacy and career adaptability were also completed. The results of the mediational analysis revealed that professional efficacy significantly mediates the meaningfulness (sense of coherence) and career adaptability relationship, but not the emotional intelligence–career adaptability relationship. Call centre agents with professional efficacy are likely to be more work engaged as a result of their sense of meaningfulness and emotional intelligence.

Keywords: Call centre, professional efficacy, career adaptability, emotional intelligence.

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Authors: Vera Pujani

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The purpose of this study is to investiagte the use of the ecommerce website in Indonesia as a developing country. The ecommerce website has been identified having the significant impact on business activities in particular solving the geographical problem for islanded countries likes Indonesia. Again, website is identified as a crucial marketing tool. This study presents the effect of quality and features on the use and user satisfaction employing ecommerce websites. Survey method for 115 undergraduate students of Management Department in Andalas University who are attending Management Information Systems (SIM) class have been undertaken. The data obtained is analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using SmartPLS program. This result found that quality of system and information, feature as well satisfaction influencing the use ecommerce website in Indonesia contexts.

Keywords: Use, Developing Country, Satisfaction, Website

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Authors: A. Buruzs, M. F. Hatwágner, A. Torma, L. T. Kóczy

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Recently, an increasing number of researchers have been focusing on working out realistic solutions to sustainability problems. As sustainability issues gain higher importance for organisations, the management of such decisions becomes critical. Knowledge representation is a fundamental issue of complex knowledge based systems. Many types of sustainability problems would benefit from models based on experts’ knowledge. Cognitive maps have been used for analyzing and aiding decision making. A cognitive map can be made of almost any system or problem. A fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) can successfully represent knowledge and human experience, introducing concepts to represent the essential elements and the cause and effect relationships among the concepts to model the behaviour of any system. Integrated waste management systems (IWMS) are complex systems that can be decomposed to non-related and related subsystems and elements, where many factors have to be taken into consideration that may be complementary, contradictory, and competitive; these factors influence each other and determine the overall decision process of the system. The goal of the present paper is to construct an efficient IWMS which considers various factors. The authors’ intention is to propose an expert based system design approach for implementing expert decision support in the area of IWMSs and introduces an appropriate methodology for the development and analysis of group FCM. A framework for such a methodology consisting of the development and application phases is presented.

Keywords: Factors, fuzzy cognitive map, group decision, integrated waste management system.

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Authors: Anocha Kimkong

Abstract:

This research paper, based on demographic variables, is aimed to study the behaviour of bookkeeping for household accounts of residents living in urban communities in Dusit District, Bangkok and to investigate factors that affected the behavior of bookkeeping. By use of non proportional stratified sampling technique of probability sampling, the research had a total of 247 samples. The systematic sampling technique was also utilized by selecting one household out of every 3 households. The demographic findings reported female respondents as the majority with an average age between 26-35 years old, having married status and having children. The respondents earn a living by selling, with an average income per month of between 5,001-15,000 Baht. Most of the families rent a house and each family have approximately 3-4 members. Furthermore, most of the household respondents used to be trained to do bookkeeping for household accounts. In addition, the factors in affecting the residents’ behaviour of doing household account bookkeeping included a dislike of numbers, inaccuracy of recording, availability of accounting counselors in the communities, people’s participation in trainings arranged by outside organizations.

Keywords: Household Account Bookkeeping, Urban Community.

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Authors: Sumalee Lekprayura

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The purposes of this research were 1) to study consumer-based equity of luxury brands, 2) to study consumers- purchase intention for luxury brands, 3) to study direct factors affecting purchase intention towards luxury brands, and 4) to study indirect factors affecting purchase intention towards luxury brands through brand consciousness and brand equity to analyze information by descriptive statistic and hierarchical stepwise regression analysis. The findings revealed that the eight variables of the framework which were: need for uniqueness, normative susceptibility, status consumption, brand consciousness, brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association, and brand loyalty affected the purchase intention of the luxury brands (at the significance of 0.05). Brand Loyalty had the strongest direct effect while status consumption had the strongest indirect effect affecting the purchase intention towards luxury brands. Brand consciousness and brand equity had the mediators through the purchase intention of the luxury brands (at the significance of 0.05).

Keywords: Brand Consciousness, Brand Equity, Luxury Brands, Purchase intention.

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Authors: Chutima Klaysung

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This research aims to study the factors that influence the decision to choose the spa service of consumers in Amphawa, Samut Songkhram, Thailand. The research method will use quantitative research; data were collected by questionnaires distributed to spa consumers, both female and male, aged between 20 years and 70 years in the Amphawa, Samut Songkhram area for 400 samples by convenience sampling method. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including percentage, mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics, including Pearson correlation for hypothesis testing. The results showed that the demographic variables including age, education, occupation, income and frequency of access to service spa were related to the decision to choose the spa service of consumers in Amphawa, Samut Songkhram. In addition, the researchers found the marketing mixed factors such as products, prices, places, promotion, personnel selling, physical evidence and processes were associated with the decision to choose the spa service of consumers in Amphawa, Samut Songkhram, Thailand.

Keywords: Consumers in Amphawa, Samut Songkhram, Thailand, decision to choose a spa service, marketing mixed factor, spa service.

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Authors: G. Erkomaishvili, M. Kobalava, T. Lazariashvili, N. Damenia

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Current state of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Georgia is analyzed and evaluated in the paper, the existing legislative background for regulating investments and stimulating policies to attract investments are shown. It is noted that in developing countries encouragement of investment activity, support and implementation are of the most important tasks, implying a consistent investment policy, investor-friendly tax regime and the legal system, reducing administrative barriers and restrictions, fare competitive conditions and business development infrastructure. The work deals with the determining factor of FDIs and the main directions of stimulation, as well as prospective industries where new investments are needed. Contributing and hindering factors and stimulating measures are analyzed. As a result of the research, the direct and indirect factors attracting FDI have been identified. Facilitating factors to FDI inflow are as follows: simplicity of starting business, geopolitical location, low taxes, access to credit, ease of ownership registration, natural resources, low burden of regulations, low level of corruption and low crime rates. Hindering factors to FDI inflow are as follows: small market, lack of policy for attracting investments, low qualification of the workforce (despite the large number of unemployed people it is difficult to find workers with necessary special skills and qualifications), high interest rates, instability of national currency exchange rate, presence of conflict zones within the country and so forth.

Keywords: Foreign direct investment, investment attracting policies, investor, reinvestment.

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Authors: Osama Elgadi, Martin Birkett, Wai Ming Cheung

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This paper investigates the barriers behind the underutilisation of six sigma in Libyan manufacturing companies (LMCs). A mixed-method methodology is proposed, starting by conducting interviews to collect qualitative data followed by the development of a questionnaire to obtain quantitative data. The focus of this paper is on discussing the findings of the interview stage and how these can be used to further develop the questionnaire stage. The interview results showed that only four key barriers were highlighted as being encountered by LMCs. With a difference in terms of their significance, these factors were identified, and placed in descending order according to their importance, namely: “Lack of top management commitment”, “Lack of training”, “Lack of knowledge about six sigma”, and “Culture effect”. The findings also showed that some barriers which, were found in previous studies of six sigma implementation were not considered as barriers to LMCs but can, in fact, be considered as success factors or enablers for six sigma adoption. These factors were identified as: “sufficiency of time and financial resources”; “customers unsatisfied”; “good communication between all departments in the company”; “we are certain about its results and benefits to our company and unhappy with the current quality system”. These results suggest that LMCs face fewer barriers to adopting six sigma than many well-established global companies operating in other countries and could take advantage of these successful factors by developing and implementing a six sigma framework to improve their product quality and competitiveness.

Keywords: Six sigma, barriers, Libyan manufacturing companies, interview.

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Authors: B.J.C. Horsten, L.L.M. Veldhuis

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Renewed interest in propeller propulsion on aircraft configurations combined with higher propeller loads lead to the question how the effects of the propulsion on model support disturbances should be accounted for. In this paper, the determination of engine power effects on support interference of sting-mounted models is demonstrated by a measurement on a four-engine turboprop aircraft. CFD results on a more generic model are presented in order to clarify the possible mechanism behind engine power effects on support interference. The engine slipstream induces a local change in angle of sideslip at the model sting thereby influencing the sting near-field and far-field effects. Whether or not the net result of these changes in the disturbance pattern leads to a significant engine power effect depends on the configuration of the wind tunnel model and the test setup.

Keywords: CFD, engine power effects, measurements, support interference.

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Authors: Shuaa A. Mutawally, Budor H. Saigh, Ebtehal A. Mutawally

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This study aims to analyze and compare the success factors of play-based intervention programs for children with different abilities in Canada. Children with disabilities often face limited participation in play and physical activities, leading to increased health risks. Understanding the specific features of these interventions that contribute to positive outcomes is crucial to promoting holistic development in these children. A comparative case study approach was used, selecting three similar successful intervention programs through purposive sampling. Data were collected through interviews and program documents, with 40 participants purposively chosen. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify key themes, including Quality Program, Meeting the Needs of Participants, and Lessons Learned from Experts and Practitioners. These programs play a vital role in addressing the gap in community programming for children with different abilities. The results of this study contribute to the generalization of success factors derived from best practices in play-based intervention programs for children with different abilities.

Keywords: Children with different abilities, physical activity, play, play-based intervention programs.

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Authors: Mussa Mahmoudi

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For Seismic design, it is important to estimate, maximum lateral displacement (inelastic displacement) of the structures due to sever earthquakes for several reasons. Seismic design provisions estimate the maximum roof and storey drifts occurring in major earthquakes by amplifying the drifts of the structures obtained by elastic analysis subjected to seismic design load, with a coefficient named “displacement amplification factor" which is greater than one. Here, this coefficient depends on various parameters, such as ductility and overstrength factors. The present research aims to evaluate the value of the displacement amplification factor in seismic design codes and then tries to propose a value to estimate the maximum lateral structural displacement from sever earthquakes, without using non-linear analysis. In seismic codes, since the displacement amplification is related to “force reduction factor" hence; this aspect has been accepted in the current study. Meanwhile, two methodologies are applied to evaluate the value of displacement amplification factor and its relation with the force reduction factor. In the first methodology, which is applied for all structures, the ratio of displacement amplification and force reduction factors is determined directly. Whereas, in the second methodology that is applicable just for R/C moment resisting frame, the ratio is obtained by calculating both factors, separately. The acquired results of these methodologies are alike and estimate the ratio of two factors from 1 to 1.2. The results indicate that the ratio of the displacement amplification factor and the force reduction factor differs to those proposed by seismic provisions such as NEHRP, IBC and Iranian seismic code (standard no. 2800).

Keywords: Displacement amplification factor, Ductility factor, Force reduction factor, Maximum lateral displacement.

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Authors: Kiyohiro Yamazaki

Abstract:

This paper considers a forming process of a single competitive factor in the digital camera industry from the viewpoint of product platform. To make product development easier for companies and to increase product introduction ratios, development efforts concentrate on improving and strengthening certain product attributes, and it is born in the process that the product platform is formed continuously. It is pointed out that the formation of this product platform raises product development efficiency of individual companies, but on the other hand, it has a trade-off relationship of causing unification of competitive factors in the whole industry. This research tries to analyze product specification data which were collected from the web page of digital camera companies. Specifically, this research collected all product specification data released in Japan from 1995 to 2003 and analyzed the composition of image sensor and optical lens; and it identified product platforms shared by multiple products and discussed their application. As a result, this research found that the product platformation was born in the development of the standard product for major market segmentation. Every major company has made product platforms of image sensors and optical lenses, and as a result, this research found that the competitive factors were unified in the entire industry throughout product platformation. In other words, this product platformation brought product development efficiency of individual firms; however, it also caused industrial competition factors to be unified in the industry.

Keywords: Digital camera industry, product evolution trajectory, product platform, unification of competitive factors.

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Authors: Panagiotis I. Mallios, Vassilis S. Moustakis

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The research reported herein presents a conceptual model that explores the relationship between social media factors and entrepreneurial intention, with a focus on the Greek startup ecosystem. The significance of the study is that social media gained importance in explaining the entrepreneurial process, and through them, nascent and potential entrepreneurs seem to get inspired and motivated to initiate their businesses. The research methodology employed in this study included a qualitative research approach, utilizing in-depth interviews with a sample of 15 startup entrepreneurs providing valuable retrospective information. The data collected were analyzed using the content analysis method. The major findings of the study are that social media factors such as usefulness, influence, and credibility have a significant impact on entrepreneurial intention. We also found that social media can be a powerful tool for entrepreneurs to access resources, knowledge and networks that can help them in their venture creation. Overall, this research contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by uncovering the relationship between social media factors and entrepreneurial intention and has implications for entrepreneurial education, policymakers, and official partners, highlighting the potential of social media to enhance the startup ecosystem.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurship, social media, startup ecosystem.

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Authors: Ali Samadi Afshar, Hamed Harrafi, S.M.Javad Gharib Zahedi

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IFP Group Technology “Sulfrex process" was used in Iran-s South Pars Gas Complex Refineries for removing sulfur compounds such as mercaptans, carbonyl sulfide and hydrogen sulfide, which uses sulfonated cobalt phthalocyanine dispersed in alkaline solution as catalyst. In this technology, catalyst and alkaline solution were used circularly. However the stability of catalyst due to effect of some parameters would reduce with the running of the unit and therefore sweetening efficiency would be decreased. Hence, the aim of this research is study the factors effecting on the stability of catalyst.

Keywords: sulfonated cobalt phthalocyanine, mercaptans, stability, catalyst, sulfur.

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Authors: Lee Bih Ni, Zulfhikar Rabe, Nurul Asyikin Hassan

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The Ministry of Education Malaysia dynamically and drastically made the subject of History mandatory to be in force in 2013. This is in recognition of the nation's heritage and treasures in maintaining true facts and information for future generations of the State. History reveals the civilization of a nation and the fact of national cultural heritage. Civilization needs to be preserved as a legacy of sovereign heritage. Today's generation is the catalyst for future heirs who will support the principle and direction of the country. In line with the National Education Philosophy that aims to shape the potential development of individuals holistically and uniquely in order to produce a balanced and harmonious student in terms of intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical. Hence, understanding the importance of studying the history subject as a pillar of identity and the history of nationhood is to be a priority in the pursuit of knowledge and empowering the spirit of statehood that is nurtured through continuous learning at school. Judging from the aspect of teacher leadership role in integrating history in a combined way based on Teacher Education Philosophy. It empowers the teaching profession towards the teacher to support noble character. It also supports progressive and scientific views. Teachers are willing to uphold the State's aspirations and celebrate the country's cultural heritage. They guarantee individual development and maintain a united, democratic, progressive and disciplined society. Teacher's role as a change and leadership agent in education begins in the classroom through formal or informal educational processes. This situation is expanded in schools, communities and countries. The focus of this paper is on the role of teacher leadership influencing the effectiveness of teaching and learning history in the classroom environment. Leadership guides to teachers' perceptions on the role of teacher leadership, teaching leadership, and the teacher leadership role and effective teacher leadership role. Discussions give emphasis on aspects of factors affecting the classroom environment, forming the classroom agenda, effective classroom implementation methods, suitable climate for historical learning and teacher challenges in implicating the effectiveness of teaching and learning processes.

Keywords: Teacher leadership, leadership lessons, effective classroom, effective teacher.

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Authors: Manop Vorasri, Komson Jirapattarasilp, Sittichai Kaewkuekool

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The objective of this research was to study factors, which were affected on surface roughness in high speed milling of hardened tool steel. Material used in the experiment was tool steel JIS SKD 61 that hardened on 60 ±2 HRC. Full factorial experimental design was conducted on 3 factors and 3 levels (3 3 designs) with 2 replications. Factors were consisted of cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut. The results showed that influenced factor affected to surface roughness was cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut which showed statistical significant. Higher cutting speed would cause on better surface quality. On the other hand, higher feed rate would cause on poorer surface quality. Interaction of factor was found that cutting speed and depth of cut were significantly to surface quality. The interaction of high cutting speed associated with low depth of cut affected to better surface quality than low cutting speed and high depth of cut.

Keywords: High-speed milling, Tool steel, SKD 61 Steel, Surface roughness, Cutting speed, Feed rate, Depth of cut

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Authors: Nadia H. Mohammed, Anmar Al-Taie, Fadia H. Al-Sultany

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Although breast cancer prevalence continues to increase, mortality has been decreasing as a result of early detection and improvement in adjuvant systemic therapy. Nevertheless, this disease required further efforts to understand and identify the associated potential risk factors that could play a role in the prevalence of this malignancy among Iraqi women. The objective of this study was to assess the perception of certain predictive risk factors on the prevalence of breast cancer types among a sample of Iraqi women diagnosed with breast cancer. This was a retrospective observational study carried out at National Cancer Research Center in College of Medicine, Baghdad University from November 2017 to January 2018. Data of 100 patients with breast cancer whose biopsies examined in the National Cancer Research Center were included in this study. Data were collected to structure a detailed assessment regarding the patients’ demographic, medical and cancer records. The majority of study participants (94%) suffered from ductal breast cancer with mean age 49.57 years. Among those women, 48.9% were obese with body mass index (BMI) 35 kg/m². 68.1% of them had positive family history of breast cancer and 66% had low parity. 40.4% had stage II ductal breast cancer followed by 25.5% with stage III. It was found that 59.6% and 68.1% had positive oestrogen receptor sensitivity and positive human epidermal growth factor (HER2/neu) receptor sensitivity respectively. In regard to the impact of prediction of certain variables on the incidence of ductal breast cancer, positive family history of breast cancer (P < 0.0001), low parity (P< 0.0001), stage I and II breast cancer (P = 0.02) and positive HER2/neu status (P < 0.0001) were significant predictive factors among the study participants. The results from this study provide relevant evidence for a significant positive and potential association between certain risk factors and the prevalence of breast cancer among Iraqi women.

Keywords: Ductal breast cancer, hormone sensitivity, Iraq, risk factors.

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Authors: Chie Urawa

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Cautionary statements or disclaimers in corporate annual reports need to be carefully designed because clear cautionary statements may protect a company in the case of legal disputes and may undermine positive impressions. This study compares the language of cautionary statements using two corpora, Sony’s cautionary statement corpus (S-corpus) and Panasonic’s cautionary statement corpus (P-corpus), illustrating the differences and similarities in relation to the use of meaningful cautionary statements and critically analyzing why practitioners use the way. The findings describe the distinct differences between the two companies in the presentation of the risk factors and the way how they make the statements. The word ability is used more for legal protection in S-corpus whereas the word possibility is used more to convey a better impression in P-corpus. The main similarities are identified in the use of lexical words and pronouns, and almost the same wordings for eight years. The findings show how they make the statements unique to the company in the presentation of risk factors, and the characteristics of specific genre of professional communication. Important implications of this study are that more comprehensive approach can be applied in other contexts, and be used by companies to reflect upon their cautionary statements.

Keywords: Cautionary statements, corporate annual reports, corpus, risk factors.

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Authors: Negar Khezri, Golnaz Yaghoubnezhadzanganeh, Amirreza Attarzadeh

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Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are two main health problems influencing millions of people in the world. Neuron loss and synaptic impairment that interfere with cognition and memory cause for the behavioral indications of AD. While it is now accepted that insulin has central neuromodulatory purpose, it was contemplated for many years that brain is insusceptible to insulin, involving its function in memory and learning, which are impaired in AD. The common characteristics of both AD and T2D are impaired insulin signaling, oxidative stress, the excitation of inflammatory pathways and unqualified glucose metabolism. This review summarizes how the recognition of these mechanisms may lead to the development of alternative therapeutic approaches. Here we summarize how the recognition of these mechanisms may lead to the development of alternative therapeutic approaches.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, insulin resistance, neurodegenerative.

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Authors: Ya-Fen Lee, Yun-Yao Chi

Abstract:

The study aims to explore the relationship between risk perception of rockfall and revisit intention using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis. A total of 573 valid questionnaires are collected from travelers to Taroko National Park, Taiwan. The findings show the majority of travelers have the medium perception of rockfall risk, and are willing to revisit the Taroko National Park. The revisit intention to Taroko National Park is influenced by hazardous preferences, willingness-to-pay, obstruction and attraction. The risk perception has an indirect effect on revisit intention through influencing willingness-to-pay. The study results can be a reference for mitigation the rockfall disaster.

Keywords: Risk perception, rockfall, revisit intention, structural equation modeling.

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Authors: Reza Gheisari, Paulo J. Bartolo, Nicholas Goddard

Abstract:

Polymeric micro-cantilevers (Cs) are rapidly becoming popular for MEMS applications such as chemo- and biosensing as well as purely electromechanical applications such as microrelays. Polymer materials present suitable physical and chemical properties combined with low-cost mass production. Hence, micro-cantilevers made of polymers indicate much more biocompatibility and adaptability of rapid prototyping along with mechanical properties. This research studies the effects of three process and one size factors on the filling behaviour in micro cavity, and the role of each in the replication of micro parts using different polymer materials i.e. polypropylene (PP) SABIC 56M10 and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) Magnum 8434 . In particular, the following factors are considered: barrel temperature, mould temperature, injection speed and the thickness of micro features. The study revealed that the barrel temperature and the injection speed are the key factors affecting the flow length of micro features replicated in PP and ABS. For both materials, an increase of feature sizes improves the melt flow. However, the melt fill of micro features does not increase linearly with the increase of their thickness.

Keywords: Flow length, micro-cantilevers, micro injection moulding, microfabrication.

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