Search results for: statistical package IBM SPSS 20
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1539

Search results for: statistical package IBM SPSS 20

1029 A Study on Reducing Malicious Replies on the Internet: An Approach by Game Theory

Authors: Sanghun Lee

Abstract:

Since the advent of the information era, the Internet has brought various positive effects in everyday life. Nevertheless, recently, problems and side-effects have been noted. Internet witch-trials and spread of pornography are only a few of these problems.In this study, problems and causes of malicious replies on internet boards were analyzed, using the key ideas of game theory. The study provides a mathematical model for the internet reply game to devise three possible plans that could efficiently counteract malicious replies. Furthermore, seven specific measures that comply with one of the three plans were proposed and evaluated according to the importance and utility of each measure using the orthogonal array survey and SPSS conjoint analysis.The conclusion was that the most effective measure would be forbidding unsigned user access to malicious replies. Also notable was that some analytically proposed measures, when implemented, could backfire and encourage malicious replies.

Keywords: Conjoint Analysis, Game Theory, Internet, MaliciousReplies, Prisoner's Dilemma

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1028 Marketing Planning Strategy to Promote Family Agro-Tourism: A Case Study of Bang Nam Phueng Community Prapradeang District, Samutprakarn Province

Authors: Sasitorn Chetanont, Benjaporn Yamjameung

Abstract:

The objectives of this study are to increase tourism products and to develop family agro-tourism. The research methodology was to analyze internal and external situations according to MP-MF and the MC-STEPS principles.

The results of this study highlight following necessary improvements; extend the cycling routes, increase the number of bicycle rental shops, offer a recreation place for the elders, organize a space for the floating market products and increase tourism activities throughout the year. In ‘places or distribution channel’ we discuss the improvement of facilities, specifically the routes to facilitate elder visitors and visitors on wheelchairs and furthermore the arrangement of educational trips to relevant centers in the community. In ‘promotions’, we discuss the implementation of an “all inclusive package” were the agro-tourism program, health-conscious program and the elderly fun program converge.

Keywords: Marketing Planning Strategy, Agro-tourism, Bang Nam Phueng.

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1027 Crashworthiness Optimization of an Automotive Front Bumper in Composite Material

Authors: S. Boria

Abstract:

In the last years, the crashworthiness of an automotive body structure can be improved, since the beginning of the design stage, thanks to the development of specific optimization tools. It is well known how the finite element codes can help the designer to investigate the crashing performance of structures under dynamic impact. Therefore, by coupling nonlinear mathematical programming procedure and statistical techniques with FE simulations, it is possible to optimize the design with reduced number of analytical evaluations. In engineering applications, many optimization methods which are based on statistical techniques and utilize estimated models, called meta-models, are quickly spreading. A meta-model is an approximation of a detailed simulation model based on a dataset of input, identified by the design of experiments (DOE); the number of simulations needed to build it depends on the number of variables. Among the various types of meta-modeling techniques, Kriging method seems to be excellent in accuracy, robustness and efficiency compared to other ones when applied to crashworthiness optimization. Therefore the application of such meta-model was used in this work, in order to improve the structural optimization of a bumper for a racing car in composite material subjected to frontal impact. The specific energy absorption represents the objective function to maximize and the geometrical parameters subjected to some design constraints are the design variables. LS-DYNA codes were interfaced with LS-OPT tool in order to find the optimized solution, through the use of a domain reduction strategy. With the use of the Kriging meta-model the crashworthiness characteristic of the composite bumper was improved.

Keywords: Composite material, crashworthiness, finite element analysis, optimization.

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1026 The Effect of Mixture Velocity and Droplet Diameter on Oil-water Separator using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Authors: M. Abdulkadir, V. Hernandez-Perez

Abstract:

The characteristics of fluid flow and phase separation in an oil-water separator were numerically analysed as part of the work presented herein. Simulations were performed for different velocities and droplet diameters, and the way this parameters can influence the separator geometry was studied. The simulations were carried out using the software package Fluent 6.2, which is designed for numerical simulation of fluid flow and mass transfer. The model consisted of a cylindrical horizontal separator. A tetrahedral mesh was employed in the computational domain. The condition of two-phase flow was simulated with the two-fluid model, taking into consideration turbulence effects using the k-ε model. The results showed that there is a strong dependency of phase separation on mixture velocity and droplet diameter. An increase in mixture velocity will bring about a slow down in phase separation and as a consequence will require a weir of greater height. An increase in droplet diameter will produce a better phase separation. The simulations are in agreement with results reported in literature and show that CFD can be a useful tool in studying a horizontal oilwater separator.

Keywords: CFD, droplet diameter, mixture velocity

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1025 Optimization of Lead Bioremediation by Marine Halomonas sp. ES015 Using Statistical Experimental Methods

Authors: Aliaa M. El-Borai, Ehab A. Beltagy, Eman E. Gadallah, Samy A. ElAssar

Abstract:

Bioremediation technology is now used for treatment instead of traditional metal removal methods. A strain was isolated from Marsa Alam, Red sea, Egypt showed high resistance to high lead concentration and was identified by the 16S rRNA gene sequencing technique as Halomonas sp. ES015. Medium optimization was carried out using Plackett-Burman design, and the most significant factors were yeast extract, casamino acid and inoculums size. The optimized media obtained by the statistical design raised the removal efficiency from 84% to 99% from initial concentration 250 ppm of lead. Moreover, Box-Behnken experimental design was applied to study the relationship between yeast extract concentration, casamino acid concentration and inoculums size. The optimized medium increased removal efficiency to 97% from initial concentration 500 ppm of lead. Immobilized Halomonas sp. ES015 cells on sponge cubes, using optimized medium in loop bioremediation column, showed relatively constant lead removal efficiency when reused six successive cycles over the range of time interval. Also metal removal efficiency was not affected by flow rate changes. Finally, the results of this research refer to the possibility of lead bioremediation by free or immobilized cells of Halomonas sp. ES015. Also, bioremediation can be done in batch cultures and semicontinuous cultures using column technology.

Keywords: Bioremediation, lead, Box–Behnken, Halomonas sp. ES015, loop bioremediation, Plackett-Burman.

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1024 Problems of Lifelong Education Course in Information and Communication Technology

Authors: Hisham Md Suhadi, Faaizah Shahbodin, Jamaluddin Hashim

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The study is the way to identify the problems that occur in organizing short course’s lifelong learning in the information and communication technology (ICT) education which are faced by the lecturer and staff at the Mara Skill Institute and Industrial Training Institute in Pahang Malaysia. The important aspects of these issues are classified to five which are selecting the courses administrative. Fifty lecturers and staff were selected as a respondent. The sample is selected by using the non-random sampling method purpose sampling. The questionnaire is used as a research instrument and divided into five main parts. All the data that gain from the questionnaire are analyzed by using the SPSS in term of mean, standard deviation and percentage. The findings showed, there are the problems occur in organizing the short course for lifelong learning in ICT education.

Keywords: Lifelong education, information and communication technology (ICT), short course, ICT education, courses administrative.

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1023 Structural Behaviour of Concrete Energy Piles in Thermal Loadings

Authors: E. H. N. Gashti, M. Malaska, K. Kujala

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The thermo-mechanical behaviour of concrete energy pile foundations with different single and double U-tube shapes incorporated was analysed using the Comsol Multi-physics package. For the analysis, a 3D numerical model in real scale of the concrete pile and surrounding soil was simulated regarding actual operation of ground heat exchangers (GHE) and the surrounding ambient temperature. Based on initial ground temperature profile measured in situ, tube inlet temperature was considered to range from 6oC to 0oC (during the contraction process) over a 30-day period. Extra thermal stresses and deformations were calculated during the simulations and differences arising from the use of two different systems (single-tube and double-tube) were analysed. The results revealed no significant difference for extra thermal stresses at the centre of the pile in either system. However, displacements over the pile length were found to be up to 1.5-fold higher in the double-tube system than the singletube system.

Keywords: Concrete Energy Piles, Stresses, Displacements, Thermo-mechanical behaviour, Soil-structure interactions.

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1022 Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation and Comparison of Flow through Mechanical Heart Valve Using Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Fluid

Authors: D. Šedivý, S. Fialová

Abstract:

The main purpose of this study is to show differences between the numerical solution of the flow through the artificial heart valve using Newtonian or non-Newtonian fluid. The simulation was carried out by a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package based on finite-volume method. An aortic bileaflet heart valve (Sorin Bicarbon) was used as a pattern for model of real heart valve replacement. Computed tomography (CT) was used to gain the accurate parameters of the valve. Data from CT were transferred in the commercial 3D designer, where the model for CFD was made. Carreau rheology model was applied as non-Newtonian fluid. Physiological data of cardiac cycle were used as boundary conditions. Outputs were taken the leaflets excursion from opening to closure and the fluid dynamics through the valve. This study also includes experimental measurement of pressure fields in ambience of valve for verification numerical outputs. Results put in evidence a favorable comparison between the computational solutions of flow through the mechanical heart valve using Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid.

Keywords: Computational modeling, dynamic mesh, mechanical heart valve, non-Newtonian fluid, SDOF.

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1021 Infrastructure Change Monitoring Using Multitemporal Multispectral Satellite Images

Authors: U. Datta

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The main objective of this study is to find a suitable approach to monitor the land infrastructure growth over a period of time using multispectral satellite images. Bi-temporal change detection method is unable to indicate the continuous change occurring over a long period of time. To achieve this objective, the approach used here estimates a statistical model from series of multispectral image data over a long period of time, assuming there is no considerable change during that time period and then compare it with the multispectral image data obtained at a later time. The change is estimated pixel-wise. Statistical composite hypothesis technique is used for estimating pixel based change detection in a defined region. The generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) is used to detect the changed pixel from probabilistic estimated model of the corresponding pixel. The changed pixel is detected assuming that the images have been co-registered prior to estimation. To minimize error due to co-registration, 8-neighborhood pixels around the pixel under test are also considered. The multispectral images from Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 from 2015 to 2018 are used for this purpose. There are different challenges in this method. First and foremost challenge is to get quite a large number of datasets for multivariate distribution modelling. A large number of images are always discarded due to cloud coverage. Due to imperfect modelling there will be high probability of false alarm. Overall conclusion that can be drawn from this work is that the probabilistic method described in this paper has given some promising results, which need to be pursued further.

Keywords: Co-registration, GLRT, infrastructure growth, multispectral, multitemporal, pixel-based change detection.

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1020 A New Shock Model for Systems Subject to Random Threshold Failure

Authors: A. Rangan, A. Tansu

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This paper generalizes Yeh Lam-s shock model for renewal shock arrivals and random threshold. Several interesting statistical measures are explicitly obtained. A few special cases and an optimal replacement problem are also discussed.

Keywords: shock model, optimal replacement, random threshold, shocks.

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1019 Stochastic Optimization of a Vendor-Managed Inventory Problem in a Two-Echelon Supply Chain

Authors: Bita Payami-Shabestari, Dariush Eslami

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to develop a multi-product economic production quantity model under vendor management inventory policy and restrictions including limited warehouse space, budget, and number of orders, average shortage time and maximum permissible shortage. Since the “costs” cannot be predicted with certainty, it is assumed that data behave under uncertain environment. The problem is first formulated into the framework of a bi-objective of multi-product economic production quantity model. Then, the problem is solved with three multi-objective decision-making (MODM) methods. Then following this, three methods had been compared on information on the optimal value of the two objective functions and the central processing unit (CPU) time with the statistical analysis method and the multi-attribute decision-making (MADM). The results are compared with statistical analysis method and the MADM. The results of the study demonstrate that augmented-constraint in terms of optimal value of the two objective functions and the CPU time perform better than global criteria, and goal programming. Sensitivity analysis is done to illustrate the effect of parameter variations on the optimal solution. The contribution of this research is the use of random costs data in developing a multi-product economic production quantity model under vendor management inventory policy with several constraints.

Keywords: Economic production quantity, random cost, supply chain management, vendor-managed inventory.

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1018 Factors Contributing to Building Construction Project’s Cost Overrun in Jordan

Authors: Ghaleb Y. Abbasi, Sufyan Al-Mrayat

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This study examined the contribution of 36 factors to building construction project’s cost overrun in Jordan. A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 350 stakeholders comprised of owners, consultants, and contractors, of which 285 responded. SPSS analysis was conducted to identify the top five causes of cost overrun, which were a large number of variation orders, inadequate quantities provided in the contract, misunderstanding of the project plan, incomplete bid documents, and choosing the lowest price in the contract bidding. There was an agreement among the study participants in ranking the factors contributing to cost overrun, which indicated that these factors were very commonly encountered in most construction projects in Jordan. Thus, it is crucial to enhance the collaboration among the different project stakeholders to understand the project’s objectives and set a realistic plan that takes into consideration all the factors that might influence the project cost, which might eventually prevent cost overrun.

Keywords: Cost, overrun, building construction projects, Jordan.

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1017 Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Separation by Amine Solutions Using Electrolyte Non-Random Two-Liquid and Peng-Robinson Models: Carbon Dioxide Absorption Efficiency

Authors: Arash Esmaeili, Zhibang Liu, Yang Xiang, Jimmy Yun, Lei Shao

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A high pressure carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption from a specific gas in a conventional column has been evaluated by the Aspen HYSYS simulator using a wide range of single absorbents and blended solutions to estimate the outlet CO2 concentration, absorption efficiency and CO2 loading to choose the most proper solution in terms of CO2 capture for environmental concerns. The property package (Acid Gas-Chemical Solvent) which is compatible with all applied solutions for the simulation in this study, estimates the properties based on an electrolyte non-random two-liquid (E-NRTL) model for electrolyte thermodynamics and Peng-Robinson equation of state for the vapor and liquid hydrocarbon phases. Among all the investigated single amines as well as blended solutions, piperazine (PZ) and the mixture of piperazine and monoethanolamine (MEA) have been found as the most effective absorbents respectively for CO2 absorption with high reactivity based on the simulated operational conditions.

Keywords: Absorption, amine solutions, Aspen HYSYS, carbon dioxide, simulation.

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1016 Laboratory Indices in Late Childhood Obesity: The Importance of DONMA Indices

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

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

Keywords: Anthropometry, childhood obesity, gender, insulin sensitivity index.

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1015 An Indispensable Parameter in Lipid Ratios to Discriminate between Morbid Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome in Children: High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol

Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

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Obesity is a low-grade inflammatory disease and may lead to health problems such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes. It is also associated with important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. This requires the detailed evaluation of obesity, particularly in children. The aim of this study is to enlighten the potential associations between lipid ratios and obesity indices and to introduce those with discriminating features among children with obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS). A total of 408 children (aged between six and eighteen years) participated in the scope of the study. Informed consent forms were taken from the participants and their parents. Ethical Committee approval was obtained. Anthropometric measurements such as weight, height as well as waist, hip, head, neck circumferences and body fat mass were taken. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure values were recorded. Body mass index (BMI), diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index-II (D2 index), waist-to-hip, head-to-neck ratios were calculated. Total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLChol), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLChol) analyses were performed in blood samples drawn from 110 children with normal body weight, 164 morbid obese (MO) children and 134 children with MetS. Age- and sex-adjusted BMI percentiles tabulated by World Health Organization were used to classify groups; normal body weight, MO and MetS. 15th-to-85th percentiles were used to define normal body weight children. Children, whose values were above the 99th percentile, were described as MO. MetS criteria were defined. Data were evaluated statistically by SPSS Version 20. The degree of statistical significance was accepted as p≤0.05. Mean±standard deviation values of BMI for normal body weight children, MO children and those with MetS were 15.7±1.1, 27.1±3.8 and 29.1±5.3 kg/m2, respectively. Corresponding values for the D2 index were calculated as 3.4±0.9, 14.3±4.9 and 16.4±6.7. Both BMI and D2 index were capable of discriminating the groups from one another (p≤0.01). As far as other obesity indices were considered, waist-to hip and head-to-neck ratios did not exhibit any statistically significant difference between MO and MetS groups (p≥0.05). Diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index-II was correlated with the triglycerides-to-HDL-C ratio in normal body weight and MO (r=0.413, p≤0.01 and r=0.261, (p≤0.05, respectively). Total cholesterol-to-HDL-C and LDL-C-to-HDL-C showed statistically significant differences between normal body weight and MO as well as MO and MetS (p≤0.05). The only group in which these two ratios were significantly correlated with waist-to-hip ratio was MetS group (r=0.332 and r=0.334, p≤0.01, respectively). Lack of correlation between the D2 index and the triglycerides-to-HDL-C ratio was another important finding in MetS group. In this study, parameters and ratios, whose associations were defined previously with increased cardiovascular risk or cardiac death have been evaluated along with obesity indices in children with morbid obesity and MetS. Their profiles during childhood have been investigated. Aside from the nature of the correlation between the D2 index and triglycerides-to-HDL-C ratio, total cholesterol-to-HDL-C as well as LDL-C-to- HDL-C ratios along with their correlations with waist-to-hip ratio showed that the combination of obesity-related parameters predicts better than one parameter and appears to be helpful for discriminating MO children from MetS group.

Keywords: Children, lipid ratios, metabolic syndrome, obesity indices.

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1014 Implementation of an Innovative Simplified Sliding Mode Observer-Based Robust Fault Detection in a Drum Boiler System

Authors: L. Khoshnevisan, H. R. Momeni, A. Ashraf-Modarres

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One of the robust fault detection filter (RFDF) designing method is based on sliding-mode theory. The main purpose of our study is to introduce an innovative simplified reference residual model generator to formulate the RFDF as a sliding-mode observer without any manipulation package or transformation matrix, through which the generated residual signals can be evaluated. So the proposed design is more explicit and requires less design parameters in comparison with approaches requiring changing coordinates. To the best author's knowledge, this is the first time that the sliding mode technique is applied to detect actuator and sensor faults in a real boiler. The designing procedure is proposed in a drum boiler in Synvendska Kraft AB Plant in Malmo, Sweden as a multivariable and strongly coupled system. It is demonstrated that both sensor and actuator faults can robustly be detected. Also sensor faults can be diagnosed and isolated through this method.

Keywords: Boiler, fault detection, robustness, simplified sliding-mode observer.

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1013 In Vivo Evaluation of Stable Cream Containing Flavonoids on Hydration and TEWL of Human Skin

Authors: Haji M Shoaib Khan, Naveed Akhtar, Fatima Rasool, Barkat Ali Khan, Tariq Mahmood, Muhammad Shuaib Khan

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Antioxidants contribute to endogenous photoprotection and are important for the maintenance of skin health. The study was carried out to compare the skin hydration and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) effects of a stable cosmetic preparation containing flavonoids, following two applications a day over a period of tenth week. The skin trans-epidermal water loss and skin hydration effect was measured at the beginning and up to the end of study period of ten weeks. Any effect produced was measured by Corneometer and TEWA meter (Non-invasive probe). Two formulations were developed for this study design. Formulation one the control formulation in which no apple juice extract( Flavonoids) was incorporated while second one was the active formulation in which the apple juice extract (3%) containing flavonoids was incorporated into water in oil emulsion using Abil EM 90 as an emulsifier. Stable formulations (control and Active) were applied on human cheeks (n = 12) for a study period of 10 weeks. Result of each volunteer of skin hydration and TEWL was measured by corneometer and TEWA meter. By using ANOVA and Paired sample t test as a statistical evaluation, result of both base and formulation were compared. Statistical significant results (p≤0.05) were observed regarding skin hydration and TEWL when two creams, control and Formulation were compared. It showed that desired formulation (Active) may have interesting application as an active moisturizing cream on healthy skin.

Keywords: Apple juice extract, TEWL, Corneometer, flavonoids.

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1012 On λ− Summable of Orlicz Space of Gai Sequences of Fuzzy Numbers

Authors: N.Subramanian, S.Krishnamoorthy, S. Balasubramanian

Abstract:

In this paper the concept of strongly (λM)p - Ces'aro summability of a sequence of fuzzy numbers and strongly λM- statistically convergent sequences of fuzzy numbers is introduced.

Keywords: Fuzzy numbers, statistical convergence, Orlicz space, gai sequence.

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1011 Impact of Strategic Emotional Intelligence to Transformational Leadership of Managers: A Case Study

Authors: L. N. A. C. Jayawardena, Ales Gregar

Abstract:

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been identified as an important factor for corporate success. However, there are few empirical findings on the impact of Strategic EI per se. The ooverall objective of the study was to empirically examine the relationship between the Strategic EI and Transformational Leadership style of managers. Sixty four managers were selected from the banking industry in Czech Republic. Genos EI Inventory, and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire – Form 5X-Short were employed as the major research instruments of the study. Descriptive and inferential analyses of survey data were conducted using SPSS software. Variations were observed among the components of Strategic EI between males, and females. Study concludes positive a relationship between Strategic EI of Czech managers and their transformational leadership style. Improving awareness and usage of EI, will contribute to facilitate career success through enhanced levels of transformational leadership of managers.

Keywords: Strategic Emotional Intelligence, Transformational leadership, Socio-demographic factors.

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1010 Factors Related to Working Behavior

Authors: Charawee Butbumrung

Abstract:

This paper aimed to study the factors that relate to working behavior of employees at Pakkred Municipality, Nonthaburi Province. A questionnaire was utilized as the tool in collecting information. Descriptive statistics included frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Independent- sample t- test, analysis of variance and Pearson Correlation were also used. The findings of this research revealed that the majority of the respondents were female, between 25- 35 years old, married, with a Bachelor degree. The average monthly salary of respondents was between 8,001- 12,000 Baht, and having about 4-7 years of working experience. Regarding the overall working motivation factors, the findings showed that interrelationship, respect, and acceptance were ranked as highly important factors, whereas motivation, remunerations & welfare, career growth, and working conditions were ranked as moderately important factors. Also, overall working behavior was ranked as high. The hypotheses testing revealed that different genders had a different working behavior and had a different way of working as a team, which was significant at the 0.05 confidence level, Moreover, there was a difference among employees with different monthly salary in working behavior, problem- solving and decision making, which all were significant at the 0.05 confidence level. Employees with different years of working experience were found to have work working behavior both individual and as a team at the statistical significance level of 0.01 and 0.05. The result of testing the relationship between motivation in overall working revealed that interrelationship, respect and acceptance from others, career growth, and working conditions related to working behavior at a moderate level, while motivation in performing duties and remunerations and welfares related to working behavior towards the same direction at a low level, with a statistical significance of 0.01.

Keywords: Employees of Pakkred Municipality, Factors, Nonthaburi Province, Working Behavior.

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1009 Using Genetic Algorithm for Distributed Generation Allocation to Reduce Losses and Improve Voltage Profile

Authors: M. Sedighizadeh, A. Rezazadeh

Abstract:

This paper presents a method for the optimal allocation of Distributed generation in distribution systems. In this paper, our aim would be optimal distributed generation allocation for voltage profile improvement and loss reduction in distribution network. Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used as the solving tool, which referring two determined aim; the problem is defined and objective function is introduced. Considering to fitness values sensitivity in genetic algorithm process, there is needed to apply load flow for decision-making. Load flow algorithm is combined appropriately with GA, till access to acceptable results of this operation. We used MATPOWER package for load flow algorithm and composed it with our Genetic Algorithm. The suggested method is programmed under MATLAB software and applied ETAP software for evaluating of results correctness. It was implemented on part of Tehran electricity distributing grid. The resulting operation of this method on some testing system is illuminated improvement of voltage profile and loss reduction indexes.

Keywords: Distributed Generation, Allocation, Voltage Profile, losses, Genetic Algorithm.

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1008 Memory Types in Hemodialysis Patients: A Study Based on Hemodialysis Duration, Zahedan, South East of Iran

Authors: B. Sabayan, A. Alidadi, S. Ebrahimi, N. M. Bakhshani

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Neuropsychological problems are more common in hemodialysis (HD) patients than in healthy individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of long term HD on memory types of HD patients. To assess the different type of memory, we used memory parts of the Persian Papers and Pencil Cognitive assessment package (PCAP) and Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE-R). Our study included 80 HD patients of whom 39 had less than six months of HD and 41 patients and another group which had a history of HD more than six months. The population had a mean age of 51.60 years old and 27.5% of them were female. The scores of patients who have been hemodialyzed for a long time (median time of HD was up to 4 years) had lower score in anterograde, explicit, visual, recall and recognition memory (5.44±1.07, 9.49±3.472, 22.805±6.6913, 5.59±10.435, 11.02±3.190 score) than the HD patients who underwent HD for a shorter term, where the median time was 3 to 5 months (P<0.01). The regression result shows that, by increasing the HD duration, all memory types are reduced (R2=0.600, P<0.01). The present study demonstrated that HD patients who were under HD for a long time had significantly lower scores in the different types of memory. However, additional researches are needed in this area.

Keywords: Hemodialysis patients, duration of hemodialysis, memory types, Zahedan.

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1007 Object-Centric Process Mining Using Process Cubes

Authors: Anahita Farhang Ghahfarokhi, Alessandro Berti, Wil M.P. van der Aalst

Abstract:

Process mining provides ways to analyze business processes. Common process mining techniques consider the process as a whole. However, in real-life business processes, different behaviors exist that make the overall process too complex to interpret. Process comparison is a branch of process mining that isolates different behaviors of the process from each other by using process cubes. Process cubes organize event data using different dimensions. Each cell contains a set of events that can be used as an input to apply process mining techniques. Existing work on process cubes assume single case notions. However, in real processes, several case notions (e.g., order, item, package, etc.) are intertwined. Object-centric process mining is a new branch of process mining addressing multiple case notions in a process. To make a bridge between object-centric process mining and process comparison, we propose a process cube framework, which supports process cube operations such as slice and dice on object-centric event logs. To facilitate the comparison, the framework is integrated with several object-centric process discovery approaches.

Keywords: Process mining, multidimensional process mining, multi-perspective business processes, OLAP, process cubes, process discovery.

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1006 Experimental Study of the Metal Foam Flow Conditioner for Orifice Plate Flowmeters

Authors: B. Manshoor, N. Ihsak, Amir Khalid

Abstract:

The sensitivity of orifice plate metering to disturbed flow (either asymmetric or swirling) is a subject of great concern to flow meter users and manufacturers. The distortions caused by pipe fittings and pipe installations upstream of the orifice plate are major sources of this type of non-standard flows. These distortions can alter the accuracy of metering to an unacceptable degree. In this work, a multi-scale object known as metal foam has been used to generate a predetermined turbulent flow upstream of the orifice plate. The experimental results showed that the combination of an orifice plate and metal foam flow conditioner is broadly insensitive to upstream disturbances. This metal foam demonstrated a good performance in terms of removing swirl and producing a repeatable flow profile within a short distance downstream of the device. The results of using a combination of a metal foam flow conditioner and orifice plate for non-standard flow conditions including swirling flow and asymmetric flow show this package can preserve the accuracy of metering up to the level required in the standards.

Keywords: Metal foam flow conditioner, flow measurement, orifice plate.

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1005 An Approach to Correlate the Statistical-Based Lorenz Method, as a Way of Measuring Heterogeneity, with Kozeny-Carman Equation

Authors: H. Khanfari, M. Johari Fard

Abstract:

Dealing with carbonate reservoirs can be mind-boggling for the reservoir engineers due to various digenetic processes that cause a variety of properties through the reservoir. A good estimation of the reservoir heterogeneity which is defined as the quality of variation in rock properties with location in a reservoir or formation, can better help modeling the reservoir and thus can offer better understanding of the behavior of that reservoir. Most of reservoirs are heterogeneous formations whose mineralogy, organic content, natural fractures, and other properties vary from place to place. Over years, reservoir engineers have tried to establish methods to describe the heterogeneity, because heterogeneity is important in modeling the reservoir flow and in well testing. Geological methods are used to describe the variations in the rock properties because of the similarities of environments in which different beds have deposited in. To illustrate the heterogeneity of a reservoir vertically, two methods are generally used in petroleum work: Dykstra-Parsons permeability variations (V) and Lorenz coefficient (L) that are reviewed briefly in this paper. The concept of Lorenz is based on statistics and has been used in petroleum from that point of view. In this paper, we correlated the statistical-based Lorenz method to a petroleum concept, i.e. Kozeny-Carman equation and derived the straight line plot of Lorenz graph for a homogeneous system. Finally, we applied the two methods on a heterogeneous field in South Iran and discussed each, separately, with numbers and figures. As expected, these methods show great departure from homogeneity. Therefore, for future investment, the reservoir needs to be treated carefully.

Keywords: Carbonate reservoirs, heterogeneity, homogeneous system, Dykstra-Parsons permeability variations (V), Lorenz coefficient (L).

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1004 A β-mannanase from Fusarium oxysporum SS-25 via Solid State Fermentation on Brewer’s Spent Grain: Medium Optimization by Statistical Tools, Kinetic Characterization and Its Applications

Authors: S. S. Rana, C. Janveja, S. K. Soni

Abstract:

This study is concerned with the optimization of fermentation parameters for the hyper production of mannanase from Fusarium oxysporum SS-25 employing two step statistical strategy and kinetic characterization of crude enzyme preparation. The Plackett-Burman design used to screen out the important factors in the culture medium revealed 20% (w/w) wheat bran, 2% (w/w) each of potato peels, soyabean meal and malt extract, 1% tryptone, 0.14% NH4SO4, 0.2% KH2PO4, 0.0002% ZnSO4, 0.0005% FeSO4, 0.01% MnSO4, 0.012% SDS, 0.03% NH4Cl, 0.1% NaNO3 in brewer’s spent grain based medium with 50% moisture content, inoculated with 2.8×107 spores and incubated at 30oC for 6 days to be the main parameters influencing the enzyme production. Of these factors, four variables including soyabean meal, FeSO4, MnSO4 and NaNO3 were chosen to study the interactive effects and their optimum levels in central composite design of response surface methodology with the final mannanase yield of 193 IU/gds. The kinetic characterization revealed the crude enzyme to be active over broader temperature and pH range. This could result in 26.6% reduction in kappa number with 4.93% higher tear index and 1% increase in brightness when used to treat the wheat straw based kraft pulp. The hydrolytic potential of enzyme was also demonstrated on both locust bean gum and guar gum.

Keywords: Brewer’s Spent Grain, Fusarium oxysporum, Mannanase, Response Surface Methodology.

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1003 Effect of Curing Profile to Eliminate the Voids / Black Dots Formation in Underfill Epoxy for Hi-CTE Flip Chip Packaging

Authors: Zainudin Kornain, Azman Jalar, Rozaidi Rasid, Fong Chee Seng

Abstract:

Void formation in underfill is considered as failure in flip chip manufacturing process. Void formation possibly caused by several factors such as poor soldering and flux residue during die attach process, void entrapment due moisture contamination, dispense pattern process and setting up the curing process. This paper presents the comparison of single step and two steps curing profile towards the void and black dots formation in underfill for Hi-CTE Flip Chip Ceramic Ball Grid Array Package (FC-CBGA). Statistic analysis was conducted to analyze how different factors such as wafer lot, sawing technique, underfill fillet height and curing profile recipe were affected the formation of voids and black dots. A C-Mode Scanning Aqoustic Microscopy (C-SAM) was used to scan the total count of voids and black dots. It was shown that the 2 steps curing profile provided solution for void elimination and black dots in underfill after curing process.

Keywords: black dots formation, curing profile, FC-CBGA, underfill, void formation,

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1002 Construction of Space-Filling Designs for Three Input Variables Computer Experiments

Authors: Kazeem A. Osuolale, Waheed B. Yahya, Babatunde L. Adeleke

Abstract:

Latin hypercube designs (LHDs) have been applied in many computer experiments among the space-filling designs found in the literature. A LHD can be randomly generated but a randomly chosen LHD may have bad properties and thus act poorly in estimation and prediction. There is a connection between Latin squares and orthogonal arrays (OAs). A Latin square of order s involves an arrangement of s symbols in s rows and s columns, such that every symbol occurs once in each row and once in each column and this exists for every non-negative integer s. In this paper, a computer program was written to construct orthogonal array-based Latin hypercube designs (OA-LHDs). Orthogonal arrays (OAs) were constructed from Latin square of order s and the OAs constructed were afterward used to construct the desired Latin hypercube designs for three input variables for use in computer experiments. The LHDs constructed have better space-filling properties and they can be used in computer experiments that involve only three input factors. MATLAB 2012a computer package (www.mathworks.com/) was used for the development of the program that constructs the designs.

Keywords: Computer Experiments, Latin Squares, Latin Hypercube Designs, Orthogonal Array, Space-filling Designs.

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1001 A New Hybrid Optimization Method for Optimum Distribution Capacitor Planning

Authors: A. R. Seifi

Abstract:

This work presents a new algorithm based on a combination of fuzzy (FUZ), Dynamic Programming (DP), and Genetic Algorithm (GA) approach for capacitor allocation in distribution feeders. The problem formulation considers two distinct objectives related to total cost of power loss and total cost of capacitors including the purchase and installation costs. The novel formulation is a multi-objective and non-differentiable optimization problem. The proposed method of this article uses fuzzy reasoning for sitting of capacitors in radial distribution feeders, DP for sizing and finally GA for finding the optimum shape of membership functions which are used in fuzzy reasoning stage. The proposed method has been implemented in a software package and its effectiveness has been verified through a 9-bus radial distribution feeder for the sake of conclusions supports. A comparison has been done among the proposed method of this paper and similar methods in other research works that shows the effectiveness of the proposed method of this paper for solving optimum capacitor planning problem.

Keywords: Capacitor planning, Fuzzy logic method, Genetic Algorithm, Dynamic programming, Radial Distribution feeder

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1000 Social Network Analysis & Information Disclosure: A Case Study

Authors: Shilpi Sharma, J. S. Sodhi

Abstract:

The advent of social networking technologies has been met with mixed reactions in academic and corporate circles around the world. This study explored the influence of social network in current era, the relation being maintained between the Social networking site and its user by the extent of use, benefits and latest technologies. The study followed a descriptive research design wherein a questionnaire was used as the main research tool. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS 16. Data was gathered from 1205 users and analyzed in accordance with the objectives of the study. The analysis of the results seem to suggest that the majority of users were mainly using Facebook, despite of concerns raised about the disclosure of personal information on social network sites, users continue to disclose huge quantity of personal information, they find that reading privacy policy is time consuming and changes made can result into improper settings.

Keywords: Social Networking Sites, Privacy Policy, Disclosure of Personal Information.

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