Search results for: Stratified double extreme ranked set sampling.

Authors: Cheng-Yu Tsai, Li-Wei Liu, Ming-Tsang Wu

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This study sought to determine whether there were relationships existed among leisure satisfaction, self-esteem, and spiritual wellness. Four hundred survey instruments were distributed, and 334 effective instruments were returned, for an effective rate of 83.5%. The participants were recruited from a purposive sampling that subjects were at least 60 years of age and retired in Tainan City, Taiwan. Three instruments were used in this research: Leisure Satisfaction Scale (LSS), Self-Esteem Scale (SES), and Spirituality Assessment Scale (SAS). The collected data were analyzed statistically. The findings of this research were as follows: 1. There is significantly correlated between leisure satisfaction and spiritual wellness. 2. There is significantly correlated between leisure satisfaction and self-esteem. 3. There is significantly correlated between spiritual wellness and self-esteem.

Keywords: Leisure satisfaction, spiritual wellness, self-esteem.

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Authors: S. M. Thahab, H. Abu Hassan, Z. Hassan

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The InAlGaN alloy has only recently began receiving serious attention into its growth and application. High quality InGaN films have led to the development of light emitting diodes (LEDs) and blue laser diodes (LDs). The quaternary InAlGaN however, represents a more versatile material since the bandgap and lattice constant can be independently varied. We report an ultraviolet (UV) quaternary InAlGaN multi-quantum wells (MQWs) LD study by using the simulation program of Integrated System Engineering (ISE TCAD). Advanced physical models of semiconductor properties were used in order to obtain an optimized structure. The device performance which is affected by piezoelectric and thermal effects was studied via drift-diffusion model for carrier transport, optical gain and loss. The optical performance of the UV LD with different numbers of quantum wells was numerically investigated. The main peak of the emission wavelength for double quantum wells (DQWs) was shifted from 358 to 355.8 nm when the forward current was increased. Preliminary simulated results indicated that better output performance and lower threshold current could be obtained when the quantum number is four, with output power of 130 mW and threshold current of 140 mA.

Keywords: Nitride semiconductors, InAlGaN quaternary, UVLD, numerical simulation.

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Authors: A. Araceli Sánchez, I. Manuel H. De la Torre, S. Fernando Mendoza, R. Cesar Tavera, R. Manuel de J. Briones

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Recycling, as part of any sustainable environment, is continuously evolving and impacting on new materials in manufacturing. One example of this is the recycled solid waste of Tetra Pak ™ packaging, which is a highly pollutant waste as it is not biodegradable since it is manufactured with different materials. The Tetra Pak ™ container consists of thermally joined layers of paper, aluminum and polyethylene. Once disposed, this packaging is recycled by completely separating the paperboard from the rest of the materials. The aluminum and the polyethylene remain together and are used to create the poly-aluminum, which is widely used to manufacture roof tiles. These recycled tiles have different thermal and acoustic properties compared with traditional manufactured ceramic and cement tiles. In this work, we compare a group of tiles using nondestructive optical testing to measure the superficial micro deformations of the tiles under well controlled experiments. The results of the acoustic and thermal tests show remarkable differences between the recycled tile and the traditional ones. These results help to determine which tile could be better suited to the specific environmental conditions in countries where extreme climates, ranging from tropical, desert-like, to very cold are experienced throughout the year.

Keywords: Digital holographic interferometry, nondestructive testing, recycled, sustainable, thermal study.

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Authors: Kunyanuth Kularbphettong, Cholticha Tongsiri

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This paper aims to create the model for student in choosing an emphasized track of student majoring in computer science at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The objective of this research is to develop the suggested system using data mining technique to analyze knowledge and conduct decision rules. Such relationships can be used to demonstrate the reasonableness of student choosing a track as well as to support his/her decision and the system is verified by experts in the field. The sampling is from student of computer science based on the system and the questionnaire to see the satisfaction. The system result is found to be satisfactory by both experts and student as well. 

Keywords: Data mining technique, the decision support system, knowledge and decision rules.

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Authors: S.H. Khoon, G.I. Issabayeva, L.W. Lee

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Air quality in Setapak district of Kuala Lumpur was studied by analysing the rainwater chemical composition using ion chromatography method. Twelve sampling sites were selected and 120 rainwater samples were collected in the period of 10 weeks. The results of this study were compared to the earlier published data and the evaluation showed that the NO3 - ion concentration increased from 0.41 to 3.32 ppm, while SO4 2- ion concentration increased from 0.39 to 3.26 ppm over the past two decades that is mostly due to rapid urban development of the city. However, it was found that the chemical composition for both residential and industrial areas does not have significant difference. Most of the rainwater samples showed alkaline pH (pH > 5.6). The possible factors for such alkaline pH in rainwater samples are assumed to be the marine sources, biomass burning and alkaline character of soil particles.

Keywords: acid deposition; atmospheric pollution; deposition fluxes; trajectories

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Authors: Shuen-Tai Wang, Ying-Chuan Chen, Yu-Ching Lin

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There has been renewal of interest in the relation between Green IT and cloud computing in recent years. Cloud computing has to be a highly elastic environment which provides stable services to users. The growing use of cloud computing facilities has caused marked energy consumption, putting negative pressure on electricity cost of computing center or data center. Each year more and more network devices, storages and computers are purchased and put to use, but it is not just the number of computers that is driving energy consumption upward. We could foresee that the power consumption of cloud computing facilities will double, triple, or even more in the next decade. This paper aims at resource allocation and scheduling technologies that are short of or have not well developed yet to reduce energy utilization in cloud computing platform. In particular, our approach relies on recalling services dynamically onto appropriate amount of the machines according to user’s requirement and temporarily shutting down the machines after finish in order to conserve energy. We present initial work on integration of resource and power management system that focuses on reducing power consumption such that they suffice for meeting the minimizing quality of service required by the cloud computing platform.

Keywords: Cloud computing, energy utilization, power consumption, resource allocation.

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Authors: Imen Mejri, Ahmed Mahmoudi, Mohamed A. Abbassi, Ahmed Omri

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The Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) with double populations is applied to solve the steady-state laminar natural convective heat transfer in a triangular cavity filled with water. The bottom wall is heated, the vertical wall is cooled, and the inclined wall is kept adiabatic. The buoyancy effect was modeled by applying the Boussinesq approximation to the momentum equation. The fluid velocity is determined by D2Q9 LBM and the energy equation is discritized by D2Q4 LBM to compute the temperature field. Comparisons with previously published work are performed and found to be in excellent agreement. Numerical results are obtained for a wide range of parameters: the Rayleigh number from  to  and the inclination angle from 0° to 360°. Flow and thermal fields were exhibited by means of streamlines and isotherms. It is observed that inclination angle can be used as a relevant parameter to control heat transfer in right-angled triangular enclosures.

 

Keywords: Heat transfer, inclination angle, Lattice Boltzmann Method, Nusselt number, Natural convection, Rayleigh number.

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Authors: Naren Bag, S. Bhattacharyya, Partha P. Gopmandal

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In this study, we have analyzed the transport of analytes under a two dimensional steady incompressible flow of power-law fluids through rectangular nanochannel. A mathematical model based on the Cauchy momentum-Nernst-Planck-Poisson equations is considered to study the combined effect of mixed electroosmotic (EO) and pressure driven (PD) flow. The coupled governing equations are solved numerically by finite volume method. We have studied extensively the effect of key parameters, e.g., flow behavior index, concentration of the electrolyte, surface potential, imposed pressure gradient and imposed electric field strength on the net average flow across the channel. In addition to study the effect of mixed EOF and PD on the analyte distribution across the channel, we consider a nonlinear model based on general convective-diffusion-electromigration equation. We have also presented the retention factor for various values of electrolyte concentration and flow behavior index.

Keywords: Electric double layer, finite volume method, flow behavior index, mixed electroosmotic/pressure driven flow, Non-Newtonian power-law fluids, numerical simulation.

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Authors: M. S. M. El-Bady

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Water quality and heavy metals pollution of the Damietta Nile Branch at Damietta governorate were investigated in the current work. Fourteen different sampling points were selected along the Damietta Nile branch from Ras EL-Bar (sample 1) to Sheremsah (sample 14). Physical and chemical parameters and the concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Fe, Al, Hg, Pb and Zn were investigated for water quality assessment of Damietta Nile Branch at Damietta Governorate. Most of the samples show that the water is suitable for drinking and irrigation purposes. All locations of samples near the sea are unsuitable water but the samples in the south direction away from the sea are suitable or good water for drinking and irrigation.

Keywords: Water quality indices, Damietta Governorate, Nile River, pollution.

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Authors: M. Almas Anjum, M. Younus Javed, A. Basit

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In this paper a new approach to face recognition is presented that achieves double dimension reduction, making the system computationally efficient with better recognition results and out perform common DCT technique of face recognition. In pattern recognition techniques, discriminative information of image increases with increase in resolution to a certain extent, consequently face recognition results change with change in face image resolution and provide optimal results when arriving at a certain resolution level. In the proposed model of face recognition, initially image decimation algorithm is applied on face image for dimension reduction to a certain resolution level which provides best recognition results. Due to increased computational speed and feature extraction potential of Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), it is applied on face image. A subset of coefficients of DCT from low to mid frequencies that represent the face adequately and provides best recognition results is retained. A tradeoff between decimation factor, number of DCT coefficients retained and recognition rate with minimum computation is obtained. Preprocessing of the image is carried out to increase its robustness against variations in poses and illumination level. This new model has been tested on different databases which include ORL , Yale and EME color database.

Keywords: Biometrics, DCT, Face Recognition, Illumination, Computation, Feature extraction.

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Authors: Reena Murali, David Peter S.

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The small interfering RNA (siRNA) alters the regulatory role of mRNA during gene expression by translational inhibition. Recent studies show that upregulation of mRNA because serious diseases like cancer. So designing effective siRNA with good knockdown effects plays an important role in gene silencing. Various siRNA design tools had been developed earlier. In this work, we are trying to analyze the existing good scoring second generation siRNA predicting tools and to optimize the efficiency of siRNA prediction by designing a computational model using Artificial Neural Network and whole stacking energy (%G), which may help in gene silencing and drug design in cancer therapy. Our model is trained and tested against a large data set of siRNA sequences. Validation of our results is done by finding correlation coefficient of experimental versus observed inhibition efficacy of siRNA. We achieved a correlation coefficient of 0.727 in our previous computational model and we could improve the correlation coefficient up to 0.753 when the threshold of whole tacking energy is greater than or equal to -32.5 kcal/mol.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Network, Double Stranded RNA, RNA Interference, Short Interfering RNA.

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Authors: Ramesh K. Sunkaria

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The linear methods of heart rate variability analysis such as non-parametric (e.g. fast Fourier transform analysis) and parametric methods (e.g. autoregressive modeling) has become an established non-invasive tool for marking the cardiac health, but their sensitivity and specificity were found to be lower than expected with positive predictive value <30%. This may be due to considering the RR-interval series as stationary and re-sampling them prior to their use for analysis, whereas actually it is not. This paper reviews the non-linear methods of HRV analysis such as correlation dimension, largest Lyupnov exponent, power law slope, fractal analysis, detrended fluctuation analysis, complexity measure etc. which are currently becoming popular as these uses the actual RR-interval series. These methods are expected to highly accurate cardiac health prognosis.

Keywords: chaos, nonlinear dynamics, sample entropy, approximate entropy, detrended fluctuation analysis.

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Authors: B. Terzioglu, E.S.K. Chan

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The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview on methodological aspects of the information technology outsourcing (ITO) surveys, in an attempt to improve the data quality and reporting in survey research. It is based on a review of thirty articles on ITO surveys and focuses on two commonly explored dimensions of ITO, namely what are outsourced and why should there be ITO. This study highlights weaknesses in ITO surveys including lack of a clear definition of population, lack of information regarding the sampling method used, not citing the response rate, no information pertaining to pilot testing of survey instrument and absence of information on internal validity in the use or reporting of surveys. This study represents an attempt with a limited scope to point to shortfalls in the use survey methodology in ITO, and thus raise awareness among researchers in enhancing the reliability of survey findings.

Keywords: ITO, information technology outsourcing, survey methodology

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Authors: K .Belhadi, H. Bousselsela, M. Yahia, A. Zidani, S. Benbia

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Sickle cell anemia is a recessive genetic disease caused by the presence in the red blood cell, of abnormal hemoglobin called hemoglobin S. It results from the replacement in the beta chain of the acid glutamic acid by valin at position 6. Topics may be homozygous (SS) or heterozygous (AS) most often asymptomatic. Other mutations result in compound heterozygous: - Synthesis of hemoglobin C mutation in the sixth leucin codon (heterozygous SC); - ß-thalassemia (heterozygous S-ß thalassemia). SS homozygous, heterozygous SC and S- ß -thalassemia are grouped under the major sickle cell syndromes. To make a laboratory diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies in a portion of the population in region of Batna, our study was conducted on 115 patients with suspected sickle cell anemia, all cases have benefited from hematological tests as blood count (count RBC, calculated erythrocyte indices, MCV and MCHC, measuring the hemoglobin concentration) and a biochemical test in this case electrophoresis CAPILLARYS HEMOGLOBIN (E). The results showed: 27 cases of sickle cell anemia were found on 115 suspected cases, 73,03% homozygous sickle cell disease and 59,25% sickle cell trait. Finally, the double heterozygous S/C, represent the incidence rate of 3, 70%.

Keywords: Hemoglobin, sickle cell syndromes, laboratory diagnosis

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Authors: V. Khosravi, F. D. Ardejani, A. Aryafar, M. Sedighi

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Heavy metals have a damaging impact for the environment, animals and humans due to their extreme toxicity and removing them from wastewaters is a very important and interesting task in the field of water pollution control. Biosorption is a relatively new method for treatment of wastewaters and recovery of heavy metals. In this study, a continuous fixed bed study was carried out by using Bacillus thuringiensis as a biosorbent for the removal of Cu and Mn ions from Sarcheshmeh Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). The effect of operating parameters such as flow rate and bed height on the sorption characteristics of B. thuringiensis was investigated at pH 6.0 for each metal ion. The experimental results showed that the breakthrough time decreased with increasing flow rate and decreasing bed height. The data also indicated that the equilibrium uptake of both metals increased with decreasing flow rate and increasing bed height. BDST, Thomas, and Yoon–Nelson models were applied to experimental data to predict the breakthrough curves. All models were found suitable for describing the whole dynamic behavior of the column with respect to flow rate and bed height. In order to regenerate the adsorbent, an elution step was carried out with 1 M HCl and five adsorption-desorption cycles were carried out in continuous manner.

Keywords: Acid Mine Drainage, Bacillus thuringiensis, Biosorption, Cu and Mn ions, Fixed bed.

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Authors: B. Marasović, S. Pivac, S. V. Vukasović

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Constructing a portfolio of investments is one of the most significant financial decisions facing individuals and institutions. In accordance with the modern portfolio theory maximization of return at minimal risk should be the investment goal of any successful investor. In addition, the costs incurred when setting up a new portfolio or rebalancing an existing portfolio must be included in any realistic analysis. In this paper rebalancing an investment portfolio in the presence of transaction costs on the Croatian capital market is analyzed. The model applied in the paper is an extension of the standard portfolio mean-variance optimization model in which transaction costs are incurred to rebalance an investment portfolio. This model allows different costs for different securities, and different costs for buying and selling. In order to find efficient portfolio, using this model, first, the solution of quadratic programming problem of similar size to the Markowitz model, and then the solution of a linear programming problem have to be found. Furthermore, in the paper the impact of transaction costs on the efficient frontier is investigated. Moreover, it is shown that global minimum variance portfolio on the efficient frontier always has the same level of the risk regardless of the amount of transaction costs. Although efficient frontier position depends of both transaction costs amount and initial portfolio it can be concluded that extreme right portfolio on the efficient frontier always contains only one stock with the highest expected return and the highest risk.

Keywords: Croatian capital market, Fractional quadratic programming, Markowitz model, Portfolio optimization, Transaction costs.

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Authors: V. Heral

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Ideas about the mechanism of heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation are diverse. The Horiuti-Polanyi mechanism is most often referred to base on the idea of a semi-hydrogenated state. In our opinion, it does not represent a satisfactory explanation of the hydrogenation mechanism because, for example, (1) It neglects the fact that the bond of atomic hydrogen to the metal surface is strongly polarized, (2) It does not explain why a surface deprived of atomic hydrogen (by thermal desorption or by alkyne) loses isomerization capabilities, but hydrogenation capabilities remain preserved, (3) It was observed that during the hydrogenation of 1-alkenes, the reaction can be of the 0th order to hydrogen and to the alkene at the same time, which is excluded during the competitive adsorption of both reactants on the catalyst surface. We offer an alternative mechanism that satisfactorily explains many of the ambiguities: It is the idea of an independent course of olefin isomerization, catalyzed by acidic atomic hydrogen bonded on the surface of the catalyst, in addition to the hydrogenation itself, in which a two-layer complex appears on the surface of the catalyst: olefin bound to the surface and molecular hydrogen bound to it in the second layer. The rate-determining step of hydrogenation is the conversion of this complex into the final product. In our opinion, the Horiuti-Polanyi mechanism is flawed, and we naturally think that our two-layer theory better describes the experimental findings.

Keywords: Acidity of hydrogenation catalyst, Horiuti-Polanyi, hydrogenation, two-layer hydrogenation.

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Authors: Cheng-Yu Tsai, Chiung-En Huang, Ming-Tsang Wu

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among leisure motivation, leisure attitude, and health promotion lifestyle. The participants were recruited from a convenience sampling that subjects were at least 55 years of age in Tainan City, Taiwan. Three hundred survey instruments were distributed, and 227 effective instruments were returned, for an effective rate of 75.7%. The collected data were analyzed statistically. The findings of this research were as follows: 1.There is significantly correlated between leisure motivation and leisure attitude. 2. There is significantly correlated between leisure attitude and health promotion lifestyle. 3. There is significantly correlated between leisure motivation and health promotion lifestyle.

Keywords: Leisure motivation, leisure attitude, health promotion lifestyle.

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Authors: Christian Doppler, Gernot Hirschl, Gerhard Zsiga

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Starting in 2020, an EU-wide CO2-limitation of 95 g/km is scheduled for the average of an OEMs passenger car fleet. Taking that into consideration additional improvement measures of the Diesel cycle are necessary in order to reduce fuel consumption and emissions while boosting, or at the least, keeping performance values at the same time. The present article deals with the possibilities of an optimized air/water charge air cooler, also called iCAC (indirect Charge Air Cooler) for a Diesel passenger car amongst extreme-boundary conditions. In this context, the precise objective was to show the impact of improved intercooling with reference to the engine working process (fuel consumption and NOx-emissions). Several extremeboundaries - e.g. varying ambient temperatures or mountainous routes - that will become very important in the near future regarding RDE (Real Driving emissions) were subject of the investigation. With the introduction of RDE in 2017 (EU6c measure), the controversial NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) will belong to the past and the OEMs will have to avoid harmful emissions in any conceivable real life situation. This is certainly going to lead to optimization-measurements at the powertrain, which again is going to make the implementation of iCACs, presently solely used for the premium class, more and more attractive for compact class cars. The investigations showed a benefit in FC between 1 and 3% for the iCAC in real world conditions.

Keywords: Air/Water-Charge Air Cooler, Co-Simulation, Diesel Working Process, EURO VI Fuel Consumption.

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Authors: Dharni Vasudhevan Venkatesan, Shanjay K E, Sujith Kumar H, Abhilash N A, Aswin Ram D, V.R.Sanal Kumar

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Numerical studies on race car aerodynamics at wing in ground effect have been carried out using a steady 3d, double precision, pressure-based, and standard k-epsilon turbulence model. Through various parametric analytical studies we have observed that at a particular speed and ground clearance of the wings a favorable negative lift was found high at a particular angle of attack for all the physical models considered in this paper. The fact is that if the ground clearance height to chord length (h/c) is too small, the developing boundary layers from either side (the ground and the lower surface of the wing) can interact, leading to an altered variation of the aerodynamic characteristics at wing in ground effect. Therefore a suitable ground clearance must be predicted throughout the racing for a better performance of the race car, which obviously depends upon the coupled effects of the topography, wing orientation with respect to the ground, the incoming flow features and/or the race car speed. We have concluded that for the design of high performance and high speed race cars the adjustable wings capable to alter the ground clearance and the angles of attack is the best design option for any race car for racing safely with variable speeds.

Keywords: External aerodynamics, External Flow Choking, Race car aerodynamics, Wing in Ground Effect.

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Authors: Rajaram Kr. Gupta, Bhupendra Kumar, T. V. K. Gupta, D. S. Ramteke

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Machining of hard materials is a recent technology for direct production of work-pieces. The primary challenge in machining these materials is selection of cutting tool inserts which facilitates an extended tool life and high-precision machining of the component. These materials are widely for making precision parts for the aerospace industry. Nickel-based alloys are typically used in extreme environment applications where a combination of strength, corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance material characteristics are required. The present paper reports the theoretical and experimental investigations carried out to understand the influence of machining parameters on the response parameters. Considering the basic machining parameters (speed, feed and depth of cut) a study has been conducted to observe their influence on material removal rate, surface roughness, cutting forces and corresponding tool wear. Experiments are designed and conducted with the help of Central Composite Rotatable Design technique. The results reveals that for a given range of process parameters, material removal rate is favorable for higher depths of cut and low feed rate for cutting forces. Low feed rates and high values of rotational speeds are suitable for better finish and higher tool life.

Keywords: Speed, feed, depth of cut, roughness, cutting force, flank wear.

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Authors: Hasan Kalyoncu, Füsun Kılçık, Hatice Gülboy Akyıldırım, Aynur Özen, Mehmet Acar, Nur Yoluk

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For evaluation of water quality of the river systems in Antalya Basin, macrozoobenthos samples were taken from 22 determined stations by a hand net and identified at family level. Water quality of Antalya Basin was determined according to Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) system, by using macrozoobenthic invertebrates and physicochemical parameters. As a result of the evaluation, while Aksu Stream was determined as the most polluted stream in Antalya Basin, Isparta Stream was determined as the most polluted tributary of Aksu Stream. Pollution level of the Isparta Stream was determined as quality class V and it is the extremely polluted part of stream. Pollution loads at the sources of the streams were determined in low levels in general. Due to some parts of the streams have passed through deep canyons and take their sources from nonresidential and non-arable regions, majority of the streams that take place in Antalya Basin are at high quality level. Waste water, which comes from agricultural and residential regions, affects the lower basins of the streams. Because of the waste water, lower parts of the stream basins exposed to the pollution under anthropogenic effects. However, in Aksu Stream, which differs by being exposed to domestic and industrial wastes of Isparta City, extreme pollution was determined, particularly in the Isparta Stream part.

Keywords: Antalya Basin, biomonitoring, BMWP, water quality.

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Authors: Emmanuel A. Oriaifo, Noel Perera, Alan Guy, Pak. S. Leung, Kian T. Tan

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Concerns on corrosion and effective coating protection of double hull tankers and bulk carriers in service have been raised especially in water ballast tanks (WBTs). Test protocols/methodologies specifically that which is incorporated in the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Performance Standard for Protective Coatings for Dedicated Sea Water ballast tanks (PSPC) are being used to assess and evaluate the performance of the coatings for type approval prior to their application in WBTs. However, some of the type approved coatings may be applied as very thick films to less than ideally prepared steel substrates in the WBT. As such films experience hygrothermal cycling from operating and environmental conditions, they become embrittled which may ultimately result in cracking. This embrittlement of the coatings is identified as an undesirable feature in the PSPC but is not mentioned in the test protocols within it. There is therefore renewed industrial research aimed at understanding this issue in order to eliminate cracking and achieve the intended coating lifespan of 15 years in good condition. This paper will critically review test protocols currently used for assessing and evaluating coating performance, particularly the IMO PSPC.

Keywords: Corrosion Test, Hygrothermal Cycling, Coating Test Protocols, Water Ballast Tanks.

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Authors: Neelam Vats, Madhvi Pathak Pillai, Rajender Lal, Indu Dabas

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The pressure of scoring higher marks to be able to get admission in a higher ranked institution has become a social stigma for school students. It leads to various social and academic pressures on them, causing psychological anxiety. This undue stress on students sometimes may even steer to aggressive behavior or suicidal tendencies. Human mind is always surrounded by the some desires, emotions and passions, which usually disturbs our mental peace. In such a scenario, we look for a solution that helps in removing all the obstacles of mind and make us mentally peaceful and strong enough to be able to deal with all kind of pressure. Preksha meditation is one such technique which aims at bringing the positive changes for overall transformation of personality. Hence, the present study was undertaken to assess the impact of Preksha Meditation on the academic anxiety on female teenagers. The study was conducted on 120 high school students from the capital city of India. All students were in the age group of 13-15 years. They also belonged to similar social as well as economic status. The sample was equally divided into two groups i.e. experimental group (N = 60) and control group (N = 60). Subjects of the experimental group were given the intervention of Preksha Meditation practice by the trained instructor for one hour per day, six days a week, for three months for the first experimental stage and another three months for the second experimental stage. The subjects of the control group were not assigned any specific type of activity rather they continued doing their normal official activities as usual. The Academic Anxiety Scale was used to collect data during multi-level stages i.e. pre-experimental stage, post-experimental stage phase-I, and post-experimental stage phase-II. The data were statistically analyzed by computing the two-tailed-‘t’ test for inter group comparison and Sandler’s ‘A’ test with alpha = or p < 0.05 for intra-group comparisons. The study concluded that the practice for longer duration of Preksha Meditation practice brings about very significant and beneficial changes in the pattern of academic anxiety.

Keywords: Academic anxiety, academic pressure, Preksha, meditation.

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Authors: E. Kam, Z. U. Yümün, D. Kurt

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In this study, sediment samples were collected from four sampling sites located on the shores of the Gulf of İzmir. In the samples, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn concentrations were determined using inductively coupled, plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The average heavy metal concentrations were: Cd < LOD (limit of detection); Co 14.145 ± 0.13 μg g⁻¹; Cr 112.868 ± 0.89 μg g⁻¹; Cu 34.045 ± 0.53 μg g⁻¹; Mn 481.43 ± 7.65 μg g⁻¹; Ni 76.538 ± 3.81 μg g⁻¹; Pb 11.059 ± 0.53 μg g⁻¹ and Zn 140.133 ± 1.37 μg g⁻¹, respectively. The results were compared with the average abundances of these elements in the Earth’s crust. The measured heavy metal concentrations can serve as reference values for further studies carried out on the shores of the Aegean Sea.

Keywords: Heavy metal, Aegean Sea, ICP-OES, sediment.

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Authors: Sema Kurtuluş, Kemal Kurtuluş

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The objective of this paper is to review and assess the methodological issues and problems in marketing research, data and knowledge mining in Turkey. As a summary, academic marketing research publications in Turkey have significant problems. The most vital problem seems to be related with modeling. Most of the publications had major weaknesses in modeling. There were also, serious problems regarding measurement and scaling, sampling and analyses. Analyses myopia seems to be the most important problem for young academia in Turkey. Another very important finding is the lack of publications on data and knowledge mining in the academic world.

Keywords: Marketing research, data mining, knowledge mining, research modeling, analyses.

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Authors: Sabita Rani Sahoo, A.Mishra

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Delamination between layers in composite materials is a major structural failure. The delamination resistance is quantified by the critical strain energy release rate (SERR). The present investigation deals with the strain energy release rate of two woven fabric composites. Materials used are made of two types of glass fiber (360 gsm and 600 gsm) of plain weave and epoxy as matrix. The fracture behavior is studied using the mode I, double cantilever beam test and the mode II, end notched flexure test, in order to determine the energy required for the initiation and growth of an artificial crack. The delamination energy of these two materials is compared in order to study the effect of weave and reinforcement on mechanical properties. The fracture mechanism is also analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It is observed that the plain weave fabric composite with lesser strand width has higher inter laminar fracture properties compared to the plain weave fabric composite with more strand width.

Keywords: Glass- epoxy composites, Fracture Tests: mode I (DCB) and mode II (ENF), Delamination, Calculation of strain energy release rate, SEM Analysis

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Authors: Evan Hajani, Ataur Rahman, Khaled Haddad

Abstract:

Climate change will affect the hydrological cycle in many different ways such as increase in evaporation and rainfalls. There have been growing interests among researchers to identify the nature of trends in historical rainfall data in many different parts of the world. This paper examines the trends in annual maximum rainfall data from 30 stations in New South Wales, Australia by using two non-parametric tests, Mann-Kendall (MK) and Spearman’s Rho (SR). Rainfall data were analyzed for fifteen different durations ranging from 6 min to 3 days. It is found that the sub-hourly durations (6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 48 minutes) show statistically significant positive (upward) trends whereas longer duration (subdaily and daily) events generally show a statistically significant negative (downward) trend. It is also found that the MK test and SR test provide notably different results for some rainfall event durations considered in this study. Since shorter duration sub-hourly rainfall events show positive trends at many stations, the design rainfall data based on stationary frequency analysis for these durations need to be adjusted to account for the impact of climate change. These shorter durations are more relevant to many urban development projects based on smaller catchments having a much shorter response time.

Keywords: Climate change, Mann-Kendall test, Spearman’s Rho test, trends, design rainfall.

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Authors: I. L. Ahmad, M. Mohamed, N. A. Ab. Ghani

Abstract:

This paper presents the work of signal discrimination specifically for Electrocardiogram (ECG) waveform. ECG signal is comprised of P, QRS, and T waves in each normal heart beat to describe the pattern of heart rhythms corresponds to a specific individual. Further medical diagnosis could be done to determine any heart related disease using ECG information. The emphasis on QRS Complex classification is further discussed to illustrate the importance of it. Pan-Tompkins Algorithm, a widely known technique has been adapted to realize the QRS Complex classification process. There are eight steps involved namely sampling, normalization, low pass filter, high pass filter (build a band pass filter), derivation, squaring, averaging and lastly is the QRS detection. The simulation results obtained is represented in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) developed using MATLAB.

Keywords: ECG, Pan Tompkins Algorithm, QRS Complex, Simulation

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Authors: Aref Aasi, Sahar Ebrahimi Bajgani, Erfan Aasi

Abstract:

Breast cancer (BC) continues to be the most frequent cancer in females and causes the highest number of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. Inspired by recent advances in studying the relationship between different patient attributes and features and the disease, in this paper, we have tried to investigate the different classification methods for better diagnosis of BC in the early stages. In this regard, datasets from the University Hospital Centre of Coimbra were chosen, and different machine learning (ML)-based and neural network (NN) classifiers have been studied. For this purpose, we have selected favorable features among the nine provided attributes from the clinical dataset by using a random forest algorithm. This dataset consists of both healthy controls and BC patients, and it was noted that glucose, BMI, resistin, and age have the most importance, respectively. Moreover, we have analyzed these features with various ML-based classifier methods, including Decision Tree (DT), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Logistic Regression (LR), Naive Bayes (NB), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) along with NN-based Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) classifier. The results revealed that among different techniques, the SVM and MLP classifiers have the most accuracy, with amounts of 96% and 92%, respectively. These results divulged that the adopted procedure could be used effectively for the classification of cancer cells, and also it encourages further experimental investigations with more collected data for other types of cancers.

Keywords: Breast cancer, health diagnosis, Machine Learning, biomarker classification, Neural Network.

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