Search results for: technological risk

Authors: I. Slim, H. Akkari, A. Ben Abdallah, I. Bhouri, M. Hedi Bedoui

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Osteoporosis is a common disease characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of micro-architectural bone tissue, which provokes an increased risk of fracture. This work treats the texture characterization of trabecular bone radiographs. The aim was to analyze according to clinical research a group of 174 subjects: 87 osteoporotic patients (OP) with various bone fracture types and 87 control cases (CC). To characterize osteoporosis, Fractal and MultiFractal (MF) methods were applied to images for features (attributes) extraction. In order to improve the results, a new method of MF spectrum based on the q-stucture function calculation was proposed and a combination of Fractal and MF attributes was used. The Support Vector Machines (SVM) was applied as a classifier to distinguish between OP patients and CC subjects. The features fusion (fractal and MF) allowed a good discrimination between the two groups with an accuracy rate of 96.22%.

Keywords: Fractal, micro-architecture analysis, multifractal, SVM, osteoporosis.

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Authors: Mohammed Saleem Tariq

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The enthusiasm for gluten avoidance in a growing market is met by improvements in sensitive detection methods for analysing gluten content. Paradoxically, manufacturers employ no such systems in the production process but continue to market their product as gluten free, a significant risk posed to an undetermined coeliac population. This paper resonates with an immunological response that causes gastrointestinal scarring and villous atrophy with the conventional description of personal injury. This thesis divulges into evaluating potential inadequacies of gluten labelling laws which not only present a diagnostic challenge for general practitioners in the UK but it also exposes a less than adequate form of available legal protection to those who suffer adverse reactions as a result of gluten digestion. Central to this discussion is whether a claim brought in misrepresentation, negligence and/or under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 could be sustained. An interesting comparison is then made with the legal regimes of neighboring jurisdictions furthering the theme of a legally un-catered for gluten kingdom.

Keywords: Coeliac, litigation, misrepresentation, negligence.

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Authors: Hyun-Seop Shin, Chin-Hyung Lee, Ki-Tae Park

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In order to apply partially filled steel grid composite deck as the horizontal supporting structure of various kinds of infrastructures, the variation of its flexural strength according to design parameters such as cross and longitudinal bars constituting the steel grid and the type of shear connection is evaluated and compared experimentally. The result shows that the design sensitivity of the deck to the spacing of the cross bars is insignificant in the case of structure with low risk of punching failure or without load distribution problem. By means of shear connection composed by transverse rebar and longitudinal bar without additional shear stud bolts, the complete interaction between steel grid and concrete slab is able to be achieved and the composite deck can develop its bending resistance capacity.

Keywords: bending strength, composite action, shear connection, steel grid composite deck

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Authors: Tomislav Stambolic, Anton Causevski

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The deficit of power for electricity demand reaches almost 30% for consumers in the last few years. This reflects with continually increasing the price of electricity, and today the price for small industry is almost 110Euro/MWh. The high price is additional problem for the owners in the economy crisis which is reflected with higher price of the goods. The paper gives analyses of the energy needs for real agro complex in Macedonia, private vinery with capacity of over 2 million liters in a year and with self grapes and fruits fields. The existing power supply is from grid with 10/04 kV transformer. The geographical and meteorological condition of the vinery location gives opportunity for including renewable as a power supply option for the vinery complex. After observation of the monthly energy needs for the vinery, the base scenario is the existing power supply from the distribution grid. The electricity bill in small industry has three factors: electricity in high and low tariffs in kWh and the power engaged for the technological process of production in kW. These three factors make the total electricity bill and it is over 110 Euro/MWh which is the price near competitive for renewable option. On the other side investments in renewable (especially photovoltaic (PV)) has tendency of decreasing with price of near 1,5 Euro/W. This means that renewable with PV can be real option for power supply for small industry capacities (under 500kW installed power). Therefore, the other scenarios give the option with PV and the last one includes wind option. The paper presents some scenarios for power supply of the vinery as the followings: • Base scenario of existing conventional power supply from the grid • Scenario with implementation of renewable of Photovoltaic • Scenario with implementation of renewable of Photovoltaic and Wind power The total power installed in a vinery is near 570 kW, but the maximum needs are around 250kW. At the end of the full paper some of the results from scenarios will be presented. The paper also includes the environmental impacts of the renewable scenarios, as well as financial needs for investments and revenues from renewable.

Keywords: Energy, Power Supply, Renewable, Efficiency.

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Authors: I. Struhár, L. Dovrtělová, M. Kumstát

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Regular exercise promotes reduction in blood pressure, reduction in body weight and it also helps to increase in insulin sensitivity. Participation in physical activity should always be linked to medical screening which can reveal serious medical problems. One of them is high blood pressure. Hypertension is risk factor for one billion people worldwide and the highest prevalence is found in Africa. Another component of hypertension is that people who suffer from hypertension have no symptoms. It is estimated that reduction of 3mm Hg in Systolic Blood Pressure decreases cardiac morbidity at least 5%. The most of the guidelines suggest aerobic exercise in a prevention of cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand, it is important to emphasize the impact of resistance training. Even, it was found higher effect for reduction on the level of systolic blood pressure than aerobic exercise.

Keywords: Coronary artery disease, physical activity, prevention, resistance training.

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Authors: Giulia Sarego, Lorenzo Olivieri, Andrea Valmorbida, Carlo Bettanini, Giacomo Colombatti, Marco Pertile, Enrico C. Lorenzini

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International guidelines recommend removing any artificial body in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) within 25 years from mission completion. Among disposal strategies, electrodynamic tethers appear to be a promising option for LEO, thanks to the limited storage mass and the minimum interface requirements to the host spacecraft. In particular, recent technological advances make it feasible to deorbit large objects with tether lengths of a few kilometers or less. To further investigate such an innovative passive system, the European Union is currently funding the project E.T.PACK – Electrodynamic Tether Technology for Passive Consumable-less Deorbit Kit in the framework of the H2020 Future Emerging Technologies (FET) Open program. The project focuses on the design of an end of life disposal kit for LEO satellites. This kit aims to deploy a taped tether that can be activated at the spacecraft end of life to perform autonomous deorbit within the international guidelines. In this paper, the orbital performance of the E.T.PACK deorbiting kit is compared to other disposal methods. Besides, the orbital decay prediction is parametrized as a function of spacecraft mass and tether system performance. Different values of length, width, and thickness of the tether will be evaluated for various scenarios (i.e., different initial orbital parameters). The results will be compared to other end-of-life disposal methods with similar allocated resources. The analysis of the more innovative system’s performance with the tape coated with a thermionic material, which has a low work-function (LWT), for which no active component for the cathode is required, will also be briefly discussed. The results show that the electrodynamic tether option can be a competitive and performant solution for satellite disposal compared to other deorbit technologies.

Keywords: Deorbiting performance, H2020, spacecraft disposal, space electrodynamic tethers.

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Authors: M. G. Mattos, J. E. Pécora Jr, T. A. Briso

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Today's challenging business environment, with unpredictable demand and volatility, requires a supply chain strategy that handles uncertainty and risks in the right way. Even though inventory models have been previously explored, this paper seeks to apply these concepts on a practical situation. This study involves the inventory replenishment problem, applying techniques that are mainly based on mathematical assumptions and modeling. The primary goal is to improve the retailer’s supply chain processes taking store differences when setting the various target stock levels. Through inventory review policy, picking piece implementation and minimum exposure definition, we were able not only to promote the inventory reduction as well as improve sales results. The inventory management theory from literature review was then tested on a single case study regarding a particular department in one of the largest Latam retail chains.

Keywords: Inventory, distribution, retail, risk, safety stock, sales, uncertainty.

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Authors: G. H. B. Dilhari, A. A. D. T. Saparamadu

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Sri Lanka is one of the prominent countries for the coir production. The coir is one of the by-products of the coconut and the coir industry is considered to be one of the traditional industries in Sri Lanka. Because of the inherent nature of the coir industry, labourers play a significant role in the coir production process. The study has analyzed the determinants of the income of the household level coir yarn labourers. The study was conducted in the Kumarakanda Grama Niladhari division. Simple random sampling was used to generate a sample of 100 household level coir yarn labourers and structured questionnaire, personal interviews, and discussion were performed to gather the required data. The obtained data were statistically analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test were performed for mean comparison. The findings revealed that the household level coir yarn industry is dominated by the female workers and it was identified that fewer numbers of workers have engaged in this industry as the main occupation. In addition to that, elderly participation in the industry is higher than the younger participation and most of them have engaged in the industry as a source of extra income. Level of education, the methods of engagement, satisfaction, engagement in the industry by the next generation, support from the government, method of government support, working hours per day, employed as a main job, number of completed units per day, suffering from job related diseases and type of the diseases were related with income level of household level coir yarn laboures. The recommendations as to flourish in future includes, technological transformation for coir yarn production, strengthening the raw material base and regulating the raw material supply, introduction of new technologies, markets and training programmes, the establishment of the labourers’ association, the initiation of micro credit schemes and better consideration about the job oriented diseases.

Keywords: Coir, Income, Sri Lanka.

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Authors: Moh’d A. AL-Shboul

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Recently, and due to Arab spring and terrorism around the globe, pushing and driving most governments potentially to harmonize their border measures particularly the regional and an international transit trade within and among Customs Unions. The main purpose of this study is to investigate and provide an insight for monitoring and controlling the trade supply chain within and among different countries by using technological advancement (i.e. an electronic tracking system, etc.); furthermore, facilitate the local and intra-regional trade among countries through reviewing the recent trends and practical implementation of an electronic transit traffic and cargo that related to customs measures by introducing and supporting some case studies of several international and landlocked transit trade countries. The research methodology employed in this study was described as qualitative by conducting few interviews with managers, transit truck drivers, and traders and reviewing the related literature to collect qualitative data from secondary sources such as statistical reports, previous studies, etc. The results in this study show that Jordan and other countries around the globe that used an electronic tracking system for monitoring transit trade has led to a significant reduction in cost, effort and time in physical movement of goods internally and crossing through other countries. Therefore, there is no need to escort transit trucks by customs staff; hence, the rate of escort transit trucks is reduced by more than ninety percent, except the bulky and high duty goods. Electronic transit traffic has been increased; the average transit time journey has been reduced by more than seventy percent and has led to decrease in rates of smuggling up to fifty percent. The researcher recommends considering Jordan as regional and international office for tracking electronically and monitoring the transit trade for many considerations.

Keywords: Electronic tracking system, facilitation system, regional and international corridor, supply chain security, transit trade.

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Authors: F. Habib, A. Shokoohi

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Urban problems are problems of organized complexity. Thus, many models and scientific methods to resolve urban problems are failed. This study is concerned with proposing of a fuzzy system driven approach for classification and solving urban problems. The proposed study investigated mainly the selection of the inputs and outputs of urban systems for classification of urban problems. In this research, five categories of urban problems, respect to fuzzy system approach had been recognized: control, polytely, optimizing, open and decision making problems. Grounded Theory techniques were then applied to analyze the data and develop new solving method for each category. The findings indicate that the fuzzy system methods are powerful processes and analytic tools for helping planners to resolve urban complex problems. These tools can be successful where as others have failed because both incorporate or address uncertainty and risk; complexity and systems interacting with other systems.

Keywords: Classification, complexity, Fuzzy theory, urban problems.

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Authors: Mudafara S Bengleil

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Estimation of the magnitude and causes of poisoning was the objective of the current study. A retrospective study of medical records of all poisoning children admitted to Benghazi Children Hospital in Libya from January 2008 up to December 2010. Number of children admitted was 244; the age ranged from less than one to 13 years old. Most of cases were admitted with mild symptom and the majority of them were boys. Only few cases admitted to intensive care unit and there was no mortality recorded through the period of study. Age group 1 to 3 years (50.8%) had the highest frequency of admission and the peak of admission was during summer. The most common cause of admission was due to ingestion of medication (53.69%), House hold product exposure (26.64%) was the second causes of admission while, 19.67% of admissions were due to Food poisoning. Almost all admitted cases were accidental and medicines were the most consumed substances in addition, improper storage of toxic agents were the first risk factor of poisoning. Present results indicated that, children poisoning seems to be a common pediatric care problem which need to control and prevent.

Keywords: Children, hospital, poisoning.

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Authors: Margarita Zavala, Julio Rolón, Gabriel Chavira, José González, Jorge Orozco, Roberto Pichardo

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Adolescence is a neuralgic stage in the formation of every human being, generally at this stage is when the middle school level is studied. In 2006 in Mexico incorporated “mentoring" space to assist students in their integration and participation in life. In public middle schools, is sometimes difficult to be aware of situations that affect students because of the number of them and traditional records management. Whit this they lose the opportunity to provide timely support as a preventive way. In order to provide this support, it is required to know the students by detecting the relevant information that has greater impact on their learning process. This research is looking to check if it is possible to identify student’s relevant information to detect when it is at risk, and then to propose a model to manage in a proper way such information.

Keywords: Adolescence, mentoring, middle school students, mentoring system support.

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Authors: Milorad Pavlovic, Sebastiano Trevisani, Antonella Cecchi

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In this paper, a procedure for the evaluation of seismic behavior of slender masonry structures (towers, bell towers, chimneys, minarets, etc.) is presented. The presented procedure is based on a full three-dimensional modal analyses and frequency measurements. As well-known, masonry is a composite material formed by bricks, or stone blocks, and mortar arranged more or less regularly and adopted for many centuries as structural material. Dynamic actions may represent the major risk of collapse of brickworks, and despite the progress achieved so far in science and mechanics; the assessment of their seismic performance remains a challenging task. Then, reliable physical and numerical models are worthy of recommendation. In this paper, attention is paid to the historical bell tower of the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari - usually called Frari - one of the greatest churches in Venice, Italy.

Keywords: Bell tower, FEM, masonry, modal analysis, non-destructive testing.

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Authors: Hadi Farhadian, Homayoon Katibeh

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In this paper, groundwater seepage into Amirkabir tunnel has been estimated using analytical and numerical methods for 14 different sections of the tunnel. Site Groundwater Rating (SGR) method also has been performed for qualitative and quantitative classification of the tunnel sections. The obtained results of above mentioned methods were compared together. The study shows reasonable accordance with results of the all methods unless for two sections of tunnel. In these two sections there are some significant discrepancies between numerical and analytical results mainly originated from model geometry and high overburden. SGR and the analytical and numerical calculations, confirm high concentration of seepage inflow in fault zones. Maximum seepage flow into tunnel has been estimated 0.425 lit/sec/m using analytical method and 0.628 lit/sec/m using numerical method occured in crashed zone. Based on SGR method, six sections of 14 sections in Amirkabir tunnel axis are found to be in "No Risk" class that is supported by the analytical and numerical seepage value of less than 0.04 lit/sec/m.

Keywords: Water Seepage, Amirkabir Tunnel, Analytical Method, DEM, SGR.

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Authors: Abu Bakar Sambah, Fusanori Miura

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Remote sensing image processing, spatial data analysis through GIS approach, and analytical hierarchy process were introduced in this study for assessing the vulnerability area and inundation area due to tsunami hazard in the area of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. Appropriate input parameters were derived from GSI DEM data, ALOS AVNIR-2, and field data. We used the parameters of elevation, slope, shoreline distance, and vegetation density. Five classes of vulnerability were defined and weighted via pairwise comparison matrix. The assessment results described that 14.35km² of the study area was under tsunami vulnerability zone. Inundation areas are those of high and slightly high vulnerability. The farthest area reached by a tsunami was about 7.50km from the shoreline and shows that rivers act as flooding strips that transport tsunami waves into the hinterland. This study can be used for determining a priority for land-use planning in the scope of tsunami hazard risk management.

Keywords: AHP, GIS, remote sensing, tsunami vulnerability.

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Authors: Krasimira Georgieva, Yordan Denev

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Many of thermosetting resins have application only in filled state, reinforced with different mineral fillers. The co-filling of polymers with mineral filler and gases creates a possibility for production of polymer composites materials with low density. This processing leads to forming of new materials – gas-filled plastics (polymer foams). The properties of these materials are determined mainly by the shape and size of internal structural elements (pores). The interactions on the phase boundaries have influence on the materials properties too. In the present work, the gas-filled urea-formaldehyde resins were reinforced by waste phosphogypsum. The waste phosphogypsum (CaSO₄.2H₂O) is a solid by-product in wet phosphoric acid production processes. The values of the interactions polymer-filler were increased by using two modifying agents: polyvinyl acetate for polymer matrix and sodium metasilicate for filler. Technological methods for gas-filling and recipes of urea-formaldehyde based materials with apparent density 20-120 kg/m³ were developed. The heat conductivity of the samples is between 0.024 and 0.029 W/m^oK. Tensile analyses were carried out at 10 and 50% deformation and show values 0.01-0.14 MPa and 0.01-0.09 MPa, respectively. The apparent density of obtained materials is between 20 and 92 kg/m³. The changes in the tensile properties and density of these materials according to sodium metasilicate content were studied too. The mechanism of phosphogypsum adsorption modification was studied using methods of FT-IR spectroscopy. The structure of the gas-filled urea-formaldehyde resins was described by results of electron scanning microscopy at three different magnification ratios – x50, x150 and x 500. The aim of present work is to study the possibility of the usage of phosphogypsum as mineral filler for urea-formaldehyde resins and development of a technology for the production of gas-filled reinforced polymer composite materials. The structure and the properties of obtained composite materials are suitable for thermal and sound insulation applications.

Keywords: Gas-filled thermosets, mechanical properties, phosphogypsum, urea-formaldehyde resins.

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Authors: Karim Shiraazi, Zargham OstadiAsl, Vahid Sheikhloie, Ahadollah Azami, Shahin Hassanimehr

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Bridge is an architectural symbol in Iran as Badgir (wind catcher); fire temples and arch are vaults are such. Therefore, from the very old ages, construction of bridges in Iran has mixed with architecture, social customs, alms and charity and holiness. Since long ago, from Mad, Achaemenid, Parthian and Sassanid times which construction of bridges got an inseparable relation with social dependency and architecture, based on those dependency bridges and dams got holy names; as Dokhtar castle and Dokhtar bridges were constructed. This method continued even after Islam and whenever Iranians got free from political fights and the immunity of roads were established the bridge construction did also prospered. In ancient times bridge construction passes through it growing and completion process and in Sassanid time in some way it reached to the peak of art and glory; as after Islam especially during 4th. century (Arab calendar) it put behind a period of glory and in Safavid time it reached to an exceptional glory and magnificence by constructing glorious bridges on Zayandeh Roud River in Isfahan. Having a combined style and changeability into bridge barrier, some of these bridges develop into magnificent constructions. The sustainable structures, mentioned above, are constructed for various reasons as follows: connecting two sides of a river, storing water, controlling floods, using water energy to operate water windmills, making lanes of streams for farms- use, and building recreational places for people, etc. These studies carried in bridges reveals the fact that in construction and designing mentioned above, lots of technological factors have been taken into consideration such as exceeding floods in the rives, hydraulic and hydrology of the rivers and bridges, geology, foundation, structure, construction material, and adopting appropriate executing methods, all of which are being analyzed in this article.

Keywords: Hydraulic-Architectural Bridge, Sustainability, Construction

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Authors: Michael Moeti, Khuliso Sigama, Thapelo Samuel Matlala

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One of the principal challenges that the world is confronted with is insecurity. The crime rate is increasing exponentially, and protecting our physical assets, especially in the motorist sector, is becoming impossible when applying our own strength. The need to develop technological solutions that detect and report theft without any human interference is inevitable. This is critical, especially for vehicle owners, to ensure theft detection and speedy identification towards recovery efforts in cases where a vehicle is missing or attempted theft is taking place. The vehicle theft detection system uses Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to recognize the driver's face captured using an installed mobile phone device. The location identification function uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the real-time location of the vehicle. Upon identification of the location, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology is used to report or notify the vehicle owner about the whereabouts of the vehicle. The installed mobile app was implemented by making use of Python as it is undoubtedly the best choice in machine learning. It allows easy access to machine learning algorithms through its widely developed library ecosystem. The graphical user interface was developed by making use of JAVA as it is better suited for mobile development. Google's online database (Firebase) was used as a means of storage for the application. The system integration test was performed using a simple percentage analysis. 60 vehicle owners participated in this study as a sample, and questionnaires were used in order to establish the acceptability of the system developed. The result indicates the efficiency of the proposed system, and consequently, the paper proposes that the use of the system can effectively monitor the vehicle at any given place, even if it is driven outside its normal jurisdiction. More so, the system can be used as a database to detect, locate and report missing vehicles to different security agencies.

Keywords: Convolutional Neural Network, CNN, location identification, tracking, GPS, GSM.

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Authors: Mikel Niño, Roberto V. Zicari, Todor Ivanov, Kim Hee, Naveed Mushtaq, Marten Rosselli, Concha Sánchez-Ocaña, Karsten Tolle, José Miguel Blanco, Arantza Illarramendi, Jörg Besier, Harry Underwood

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One of the application fields for data analysis techniques and technologies gaining momentum is the area of social good or “common good”, covering cases related to humanitarian crises, global health care, or ecology and environmental issues, among others. The promotion of data-driven projects in this field aims at increasing the efficacy and efficiency of social initiatives, improving the way these actions help humanity in general and people in need in particular. This application field, however, poses its own barriers and challenges when developing data-driven projects, lagging behind in comparison with other scenarios. These challenges derive from aspects such as the scope and scale of the social issue to solve, cultural and political barriers, the skills of main stakeholders and the technological resources available, the motivation to be engaged in such projects, or the ethical and legal issues related to sensitive data. This paper analyzes the application of data projects in the field of social good, reviewing its current state and noteworthy initiatives, and presenting a framework covering the key aspects to analyze in such projects. The goal is to provide guidelines to understand the main challenges and opportunities for this type of data project, as well as identifying the main differential issues compared to “classical” data projects in general. A case study is presented on the initial steps and stakeholder analysis of a data project for the inclusion of refugees in the city of Frankfurt, Germany, in order to empirically confront the framework with a real example.

Keywords: Data-Driven projects, humanitarian operations, personal and sensitive data, social good, stakeholders analysis.

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Authors: N. A. Salim, M. M. Othman, I. Musirin, M. S. Serwan

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Hidden failure in a protection system has been recognized as one of the main reasons which may cause to a power system instability leading to a system cascading collapse. This paper presents a computationally systematic approach used to obtain the estimated average probability of a system cascading collapse by considering the effect of probability hidden failure in a protection system. The estimated average probability of a system cascading collapse is then used to determine the severe loading condition contributing to the higher risk of critical system cascading collapse. This information is essential to the system utility since it will assist the operator to determine the highest point of increased system loading condition prior to the event of critical system cascading collapse.

Keywords: Critical system cascading collapse, protection system hidden failure, severe loading condition.

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Authors: H. J. Kim, G. C. Park, K. C. Kim, J. H. Shin

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Cavities are frequently found beneath conduits on pile foundations in old embankments. Cavity reduces seepage length significantly and consequently causes piping failure of embankments. Case studies of embankment failures indicate that the relative settlement between ground and pile supported-concrete conduit was the main reason of the cavity. In this paper, an attempt to simulate the cavity-induced piping failure mechanism was made using finite element numerical method. Piping potential is examined by carrying out parametric study for influencing factors such as cavity length, water level, and flow conditions. The concentration of hydraulic gradient adjacent to cavity was found. It is found that the hydraulic gradient close to the cavity exceeds considerably the critical hydraulic gradient causing piping. Piping failure potential due to the existence of cavity is evaluated and contour map for the potential risk of an embankment for piping failure is proposed.

Keywords: Cavity, Embankment, Hydraulic gradient, Piping.

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Authors: F. I. Belheouane, M. Bensaibi

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The seismic feedback experiences in Algeria have shown higher percentage of damages for non-code conforming reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. Furthermore, the vulnerability of these buildings was further aggravated due to presence of many factors (e.g. weak the seismic capacity of these buildings, shorts columns, Pounding effect, etc.). Consequently Seismic risk assessments were carried out on populations of buildings to identify the buildings most likely to undergo losses during an earthquake. The results of such studies are important in the mitigation of losses under future seismic events as they allow strengthening intervention and disaster management plans to be drawn up. Within this paper, the state of the existing structures is assessed using "the vulnerability index" method. This method allows the classification of RC constructions taking into account both, structural and non structural parameters, considered to be ones of the main parameters governing the vulnerability of the structure. Based on seismic feedback from past earthquakes DPM (damage probability matrices) were developed too.

Keywords: Seismic vulnerability, Reinforced concrete buildings, Earthquake, DPM, Algeria.

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Authors: Mohammed S. ALSaidi, John P. Mo

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Modern engineering assets are complex and very high in value. They are expected to function for years to come, with ability to handle the change in technology and ageing modification. The aging of an engineering asset and continues increase of vendors and contractors numbers forces the asset operation management (or Owner) to design an asset system which can capture these changes. Furthermore, an accurate performance measurement and risk evaluation processes are highly needed. Therefore, this paper explores the nature of the asset management system performance evaluation for an engineering asset based on the System Support Engineering (SSE) principles. The research work explores the asset support system from a range of perspectives, interviewing managers from across a refinery organization. The factors contributing to complexity of an asset management system are described in context which clusters them into several key areas. It is proposed that SSE framework may then be used as a tool for analysis and management of asset. The paper will conclude with discussion of potential application of the framework and opportunities for future research.

Keywords: Asset management, performance, evaluation.

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Authors: Timothy B. Oppong, Haiyan Yang, Cecilia Amponsem-Boateng, Guangcai Duan

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The human palm has been identified as one of the richest habitats for human microbial accommodation making hand hygiene essential to primary prevention of infection. Since the hand is in constant contact with fomites which have been proven to be mostly contaminated, building hand hygiene habits is essential for the prevention of infection. This research was conducted to assess the hand hygiene habits of Ghanaian youths in Accra. This study used a survey as a quantitative method of research. The findings of the study revealed that out of the 254 participants who fully answered the questionnaire, 22% had the habit of washing their hands after outings while only 51.6% had the habit of washing their hands after using the bathroom. However, about 60% of the participants said they sometimes ate with their hands while 28.9% had the habit of eating with the hand very often, a situation that put them at risk of infection from their hands since some participants had poor handwashing habits; prompting the need for continuous education on hand hygiene.

Keywords: Hand hygiene, hand hygiene habits, hand washing, hand sanitizer use.

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Authors: I. Erins, J. Erina

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The aim of the present article is to determine the impact of the external and internal factors of bank performance on the profitability indicators of the CEE countries banks in the period from 2006 to 2012. On the basis of research conducted abroad on bank and macroeconomic profitability indicators, in order to obtain research results, the authors evaluated return on average assets (ROAA) and return on average equity (ROAE) indicators of the CEE countries banks. The authors analyzed profitability indicators of banks using descriptive methods, SPSS data analysis methods, as well as data correlation and linear regression analysis. The authors concluded that most internal and external indicators of bank performance have no direct influence the profitability of the banks in the CEE countries. The only exceptions are credit risk and bank size, which affect one of the measures of bank profitability – return on average equity.

Keywords: Banks, CEE countries, Profitability ROAA, ROAE.

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Authors: Federica Cornali

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Does education matter to the quality of our life? The results of extensive studies offer an affirmative answer to this question: high education levels are positively associated with higher income, with more highly qualified professions, with lower risk of unemployment, with better physical health and also, it is said, with more happiness. However, exploring these relationships is far from straightforward. Aside from educational credentials, what properties distinguish functionally literate individuals? How can their personal level of satisfaction be measured? What are the social mechanisms whereby education affects well-being?Using a literacy index and several measures for well-being developed by secondary analysis of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey database, this investigation examined the relationship between literacy skills and subjective wellbeing in several OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. Special attention was been addressed to Italy, and in particular to two regions representing territorial differences in this country: Piedmont and Campania.

Keywords: Cultural Divide, Literacy Index, Life Satisfaction, Subjective Well-being Index

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Authors: Maziar Ramezani, Thomas Neitzert

Abstract:

This paper gives an overview of a deep drawing process by pressurized liquid medium separated from the sheet by a rubber diaphragm. Hydroforming deep drawing processing of sheet metal parts provides a number of advantages over conventional techniques. It generally increases the depth to diameter ratio possible in cup drawing and minimizes the thickness variation of the drawn cup. To explore the deformation mechanism, analytical and numerical simulations are used for analyzing the drawing process of an AA6061-T4 blank. The effects of key process parameters such as coefficient of friction, initial thickness of the blank and radius between cup wall and flange are investigated analytically and numerically. The simulated results were in good agreement with the results of the analytical model. According to finite element simulations, the hydroforming deep drawing method provides a more uniform thickness distribution compared to conventional deep drawing and decreases the risk of tearing during the process.

Keywords: Deep drawing, Hydroforming, Rubber diaphragm

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Authors: Suppara Charoenpoom

Abstract:

This paper was aimed to survey the level of awareness of traditional grocery stores in Bangkok in these categories: location, service quality, risk, shopping, worthwhile, shopping satisfaction, and future shopping intention. The paper was also aimed to survey factors influencing the decision to shop at traditional grocery stores in Bangkok in the future. The findings revealed that consumers had a high level of awareness of traditional grocery stores in Bangkok. Consumers were aware that the price was higher and it was riskier to buy goods and services at traditional grocery stores but they still had a high level of preference to patronage traditional grocery stores. This was due to the reasons that there was a high level of satisfaction from the factors of the friendliness of the owner, the ability to negotiate the price, the ability to buy on credit, free delivery, and the enjoyment to meet with other customers in the same neighborhood.

Keywords: Business Management, Thai Economy, Traditional Grocery Store.

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Authors: A. A. K. Abou-Arab, M. A. Abou Donia, A. K. Enab

Abstract:

Lead is among the heavy metals and it is one of the highly toxic metals, recognized in most countries. This metal accumulates in animal organs as liver and kidney. The present investigation provides the concentrations of lead in cow's meat and different animal organs collected from three Egyptian environments. The results revealed that lead levels in muscle, liver, kidney, spleen and heart in industrial areas were higher than those detected in the same organs of other two areas (heavy traffic and rural), which recorded mean values of 3.0091, 1.7070, 1.8609, 0.6401 and 0.5332 mg/kg, respectively, followed by traffic areas, 2.9166, 1.4443, 1.6967, 0.4042 and 0.4103 mg/kg, respectively. The corresponding values of rural areas were 1.8895, 0.9550, 0.9117, 0.3215 and 0.2856 mg/kg, in the same order. It could be recommended that monitoring and evaluation of lead levels in meat at regular intervals are very important.

Keywords: Heavy metals, lead, meats, organs, liver, kidney, spleen, heart, environments.

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Authors: Zarita Zainuddin, Ong Pauline, C. Ardil

Abstract:

Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder, where the improper management of the blood glucose level in the diabetic patients will lead to the risk of heart attack, kidney disease and renal failure. This paper attempts to enhance the diagnostic accuracy of the advancing blood glucose levels of the diabetic patients, by combining principal component analysis and wavelet neural network. The proposed system makes separate blood glucose prediction in the morning, afternoon, evening and night intervals, using dataset from one patient covering a period of 77 days. Comparisons of the diagnostic accuracy with other neural network models, which use the same dataset are made. The comparison results showed overall improved accuracy, which indicates the effectiveness of this proposed system.

Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, principal component analysis, time-series, wavelet neural network.

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