Search results for: Relevance Vector Regression.

Authors: Astrid de Leeuw, Pierre Valois

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Environmental education is the key to enhancing or changing students’ ways of thinking and acting in order to create an environmentally robust future for all. The present study investigates the beliefs of 812 primary school students, which merit consideration when developing educational interventions. Results of multiple regression analyses reveal that educational interventions should focus on promoting students’ feelings of control over pro-environmental behaviors (PEB). For example, schools could provide recycling bins on the premises. Furthermore, it is critical to develop positive attitudes in students by stressing the various benefits of PEB for keeping our planet clean and protecting wildlife. Unfortunately, our results indicate that students believe that PEB is boring and annoying. Suggestions are offered for making PEB more interesting and relevant. Further research is needed to test the effectiveness of interventions based on the present results.

Keywords: Pro-environmental behaviors, primary school students, theory of planned behavior, beliefs, educational interventions.

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Authors: Yuthapoom Thanakijborisut

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This paper studies consumption insurance against the chronic illness in Thailand. The study estimates the impact of household consumption in the chronic illness on consumption growth. Chronic illness is the health care costs of a person or a household’s decision in treatment for the long term; the causes and effects of the household’s ability for smooth consumption. The chronic illnesses are measured in health status when at least one member within the household faces the chronic illness. The data used is from the Household Social Economic Panel Survey conducted during 2007 and 2012. The survey collected data from approximately 6,000 households from every province, both inside and outside municipal areas in Thailand. The study estimates the change in household consumption by using an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model. The result shows that the members within the household facing the chronic illness would reduce the consumption by around 4%. This case indicates that consumption insurance in Thailand is quite sufficient against chronic illness.

Keywords: Consumption insurance, chronic illness, health care, Thailand.

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Authors: Emine Teke, Soner Kuşlu, Sabri Çolak, Turan Çalban

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the dissolution kinetics of ulexite in sodium dihydrogen phosphate in a mechanical agitation system and also to declare an alternative reactant to produce the boric acid. Reaction temperature, concentration of sodium dihydrogen phosphate, stirring speed, solid-liquid ratio, and ulexite particle size were selected as parameters. The experimental results were successfully correlated by using linear regression and a statistical program. Dissolution curves were evaluated in order to test the shrinking core models for solid-fluid systems. It was observed that increase in the reaction temperature and decrease in the solid/liquid ratio causes an increase in the dissolution rate of ulexite. The activation energy was found to be 36.4 kJ/mol. The leaching of ulexite was controlled by diffusion through the ash (or product) layer.

Keywords: Sodium dihydrogen phosphate, leaching kinetics, ulexite.

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Authors: Carmen Grigoraş, Victor Grigoraş, Daniela Boişteanu

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The standard investigational method for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) diagnosis is polysomnography (PSG), which consists of a simultaneous, usually overnight recording of multiple electro-physiological signals related to sleep and wakefulness. This is an expensive, encumbering and not a readily repeated protocol, and therefore there is need for simpler and easily implemented screening and detection techniques. Identification of apnea/hypopnea events in the screening recordings is the key factor for the diagnosis of OSAS. The analysis of a solely single-lead electrocardiographic (ECG) signal for OSAS diagnosis, which may be done with portable devices, at patient-s home, is the challenge of the last years. A novel artificial neural network (ANN) based approach for feature extraction and automatic identification of respiratory events in ECG signals is presented in this paper. A nonlinear principal component analysis (NLPCA) method was considered for feature extraction and support vector machine for classification/recognition. An alternative representation of the respiratory events by means of Kohonen type neural network is discussed. Our prospective study was based on OSAS patients of the Clinical Hospital of Pneumology from Iaşi, Romania, males and females, as well as on non-OSAS investigated human subjects. Our computed analysis includes a learning phase based on cross signal PSG annotation.

Keywords: Artificial neural networks, feature extraction, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, pattern recognition, signalprocessing.

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Authors: N. Miklavčič, U. Kugovnik, N. Galkina, P. Ribarič, R. Vončina

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Today the need for weather predictions is deeply rooted in the everyday life of people as well as it is in industry. The forecasts influence final decision-making processes in multiple areas from agriculture and prevention of natural disasters to air traffic regulations and solutions on a national level for health, security, and economic problems. Namely in Slovenia, alongside other existing forms of application, weather forecasts are adopted for the prognosis of electrical current transmission through powerlines. Meteorological parameters are one of the key factors which need to be considered in estimations of the reliable supply of electrical energy to consumers. And like for any other measured value, the knowledge about measurement uncertainty is critical also for the secure and reliable supply of energy. The estimation of measurement uncertainty grants us a more accurate interpretation of data, a better quality of the end results, and even a possibility of improvement of weather forecast models.

Keywords: Measurement uncertainty, microscale meteorological model, CALMET meteorological station, orthogonal regression.

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Authors: Nor Azuana Ramli, Mohd Tahir Ismail, Hooy Chee Wooi

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Developing a stable early warning system (EWS) model that is capable to give an accurate prediction is a challenging task. This paper introduces k-nearest neighbour (k-NN) method which never been applied in predicting currency crisis before with the aim of increasing the prediction accuracy. The proposed k-NN performance depends on the choice of a distance that is used where in our analysis; we take the Euclidean distance and the Manhattan as a consideration. For the comparison, we employ three other methods which are logistic regression analysis (logit), back-propagation neural network (NN) and sequential minimal optimization (SMO). The analysis using datasets from 8 countries and 13 macro-economic indicators for each country shows that the proposed k-NN method with k = 4 and Manhattan distance performs better than the other methods.

Keywords: Currency crisis, k-nearest neighbour method, logit, neural network.

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Authors: Haksoon Kim

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The paper investigates the relationship between the foreign direct investment (FDI) and the corporate governance or transparency by investigating the country-level FDI flows, FDI inward performance, corporate governance and transparency variables. From the regression analysis with Newey-West estimator of 28 country panel data from 1990- 2002, we find strong positive relationships between corporate governance or transparency level of hosting countries and FDI inward performance within hosting countries. A strong positive relationship is found between anti-director rights level or number of analysts of hosting countries and FDI inward performance within hosting countries. Also, we find a positive relationship between the number of analysts of hosting countries and FDI inflows. The empirical results are consistent with stock market liberalizations and corporate governance explanations of reasons for FDI.

Keywords: corporate governance, corporate transparency, FDIflows, FDI inward performance

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Authors: Kobra Nalbandi, Bahram Baghban Kohnehrouz, Khalil Alami Saeed

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The low level of foreign genes expression in transgenic plants is a key factor that limits plant genetic engineering. Because of the critical regulatory activity of the promoters on gene transcription, they are studied extensively to improve the efficiency of the plant transgenic system. The strong constitutive promoters, such as CaMV 35S promoter and Ubiqutin 1 maize are usually used in plant biotechnology research. However the expression level of the foreign genes in all tissues is often undesirable. But using a strong seed-specific promoter to limit gene expression in the seed solves such problems. The purpose of this study is to isolate one of the seed specific promoters of Hordeum vulgare. So one of the common varieties of Hordeum vulgare in Iran was selected and their genomes extracted then the D-Hordein promoter amplified using the specific designed primers. Then the amplified fragment of the insert cloned in an appropriate vector and then transformed to E. coli. At last for the final admission of accuracy the cloned fragments sent for sequencing. Sequencing analysis showed that the cloned fragment DHPcontained motifs; like TATA box, CAAT-box, CCGTCC-box, AMYBOX1 and E-box etc., which constituted the seed-specific promoter activity. The results were compared with sequences existing in data banks. D-Hordein promoters of Alger has 99% similarity at 100 % coverage. The results also showed that D-Hordein promoter of barley and HMW promoter of wheat are too similar.

Keywords: Barley, Seed specific promoter, Hordein.

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Authors: Yash Pal, A.Swarup, Bhim Singh

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A new topology of unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) is proposed for different power quality (PQ) improvement in a three-phase four-wire (3P-4W) distribution system. For neutral current mitigation, a star-hexagon transformer is connected in shunt near the load along with three-leg voltage source inverters (VSIs) based UPQC. For the mitigation of source neutral current, the uses of passive elements are advantageous over the active compensation due to ruggedness and less complexity of control. In addition to this, by connecting a star-hexagon transformer for neutral current mitigation the over all rating of the UPQC is reduced. The performance of the proposed topology of 3P-4W UPQC is evaluated for power-factor correction, load balancing, neutral current mitigation and mitigation of voltage and currents harmonics. A simple control algorithm based on Unit Vector Template (UVT) technique is used as a control strategy of UPQC for mitigation of different PQ problems. In this control scheme, the current/voltage control is applied over the fundamental supply currents/voltages instead of fast changing APFs currents/voltages, thereby reducing the computational delay. Moreover, no extra control is required for neutral source current compensation; hence the numbers of current sensors are reduced. The performance of the proposed topology of UPQC is analyzed through simulations results using MATLAB software with its Simulink and Power System Block set toolboxes.

Keywords: Power-factor correction, Load balancing, UPQC, Voltage and Current harmonics, Neutral current mitigation, Starhexagon transformer.

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Authors: Hasan Atak

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Emerging adulthood, between the ages of 18 and 25, as a distinct developmental stage extending from adolescence to young adulthood. The proportions composing the five-factor model are neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. In the literature, there is any study which includes the relationship between emerging adults loneliness and personality traits. Therefore, the relationship between emerging adults loneliness and personality traits have to be investigated. This study examines the association between the Big Five personality traits, and loneliness among Turkish emerging adults. A total of 220 emerging adults completed the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and the The UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLALS). Correlation analysis showed that three Big Five personality dimensions which are Neuroticism (positively), and Extraversion and Aggreableness (negatively) are moderately correlated with emerging adults loneliness. Regression analysis shows that Extraversion, Aggreableness and Neuroticism are the most important predictors of emerging adults loneliness. Results can be discussed in the context of emerging adulthood theory.

Keywords: Personality, Big Five Traits, Loneliness, Turkish Emerging Adults

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Authors: Mais Nijim, Rama Devi Chennuboyina, Waseem Al Aqqad

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Advances in spatial and spectral resolution of satellite images have led to tremendous growth in large image databases. The data we acquire through satellites, radars, and sensors consists of important geographical information that can be used for remote sensing applications such as region planning, disaster management. Spatial data classification and object recognition are important tasks for many applications. However, classifying objects and identifying them manually from images is a difficult task. Object recognition is often considered as a classification problem, this task can be performed using machine-learning techniques. Despite of many machine-learning algorithms, the classification is done using supervised classifiers such as Support Vector Machines (SVM) as the area of interest is known. We proposed a classification method, which considers neighboring pixels in a region for feature extraction and it evaluates classifications precisely according to neighboring classes for semantic interpretation of region of interest (ROI). A dataset has been created for training and testing purpose; we generated the attributes by considering pixel intensity values and mean values of reflectance. We demonstrated the benefits of using knowledge discovery and data-mining techniques, which can be on image data for accurate information extraction and classification from high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery.

Keywords: Remote sensing, object recognition, classification, data mining, waterbody identification, feature extraction.

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Authors: María Araya Léon, Ainoa Abella, Aura Murillo, Ricardo Guasch, Laura Clèries

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This article aims to examine scientific theory framed within the term hospitals of the future from a multidisciplinary and cross-sectional perspective. To understand the connection that the various cross-sectional areas, we studied have with architectural spaces and to determine the future outlook of the works examined and how they can be classified into the categories of need/solution, evolution/revolution, collective/individual, and preventive/corrective. The changes currently taking place within the context of healthcare demonstrate how important these projects are and the need for companies to face future changes. A systematic review has been carried out focused on what will the hospitals of the future be like in relation to the elements that form part of their use, design, and architectural space experience, using the WOS database from 2016 to 2019. The large number of works about sensoring & big data and the scarce amount related to the area of materials is worth highlighting. Furthermore, no growth concerning future issues is envisaged over time. Regarding classifications, the articles we reviewed address evolutionary and collective solutions more, and in terms of preventive and corrective solutions, they were found at a similar level. Although our research focused on the future of hospitals, there is little evidence representing this approach. We also detected that, given the relevance of the research on how the built environment influences human health and well-being, these studies should be promoted within the context of healthcare. This article allows to find evidence on the future perspective from within the domain of hospital architecture, in order to create bridges between the productive sector of architecture and scientific theory. This will make it possible to detect R&D opportunities in each analyzed cross-section.

Keywords: Hospitals, trends, architectural space, disruptive approach.

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Authors: Chyn Liaw, Chun-Wei Tung, Shinn-Jang Ho, Shinn-Ying Ho

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The γ-turns play important roles in protein folding and molecular recognition. The prediction and analysis of γ-turn types are important for both protein structure predictions and better understanding the characteristics of different γ-turn types. This study proposed a physicochemical property-based decision tree (PPDT) method to interpretably predict γ-turn types. In addition to the good prediction performance of PPDT, three simple and human interpretable IF-THEN rules are extracted from the decision tree constructed by PPDT. The identified informative physicochemical properties and concise rules provide a simple way for discriminating and understanding γ-turn types.

Keywords: Classification and regression tree (CART), γ-turn, Physicochemical properties, Protein secondary structure.

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Authors: Th. Arti Devi, Parthasarthi Choudhury

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Extreme rainfall frequency analysis for Meteorological Sub-Division 4 of India was analyzed using L-moments approach. Serial Correlation and Mann Kendall tests were conducted for checking serially independent and stationarity of the observations. The discordancy measure for the sites was conducted to detect the discordant sites. The regional homogeneity was tested by comparing with 500 generated homogeneous regions using a 4 parameter Kappa distribution. The best fit distribution was selected based on Z^DIST statistics and L-moments ratio diagram from the five extreme value distributions GPD, GLO, GEV, P3 and LP3. The LN3 distribution was selected and regional rainfall frequency relationship was established using index-rainfall procedure. A regional mean rainfall relationship was developed using multiple linear regression with latitude and longitude of the sites as variables.

Keywords: L-moments, ZDIST statistics, Serial correlation, Mann Kendall test.

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Authors: Hussain A. Alkharusi, Said S. Aldhafri, Hilal Z. Alnabhani, Muna Alkalbani

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Analyzing classroom assessments is one of the responsibilities of the teacher. It aims improving teacher’s instruction and assessment as well as student learning. The present study investigated factors that might explain variation in teachers’ practices regarding analysis of classroom assessments. The factors considered in the investigation included gender, in-service assessment training, teaching load, teaching experience, knowledge in assessment, attitude towards quantitative aspects of assessment, and self-perceived competence in analyzing assessments. Participants were 246 in-service teachers in Oman. Results of a stepwise multiple linear regression analysis revealed that self-perceived competence was the only significant factor explaining the variance in teachers’ analysis of assessments. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

 

Keywords: Analysis of assessment, Classroom assessment, In-service teachers, Self-competence.

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Authors: Naoya Ozaki, Takuya Watanabe, Ryosuke Matsumoto, Noriko Fukasawa

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In the metropolitan areas in Japan, in many stations, shopping areas are set up, and escalators and elevators are installed to make the stations be barrier-free. Further, many areas around the stations are being redeveloped. Railway business operators want to know how much effect these circumstances have on attractiveness of the station or number of passengers using the station. So, we performed a questionnaire survey of the station users in the metropolitan areas for finding factors to affect the attractiveness of stations. Then, based on the analysis of the survey, we developed a method to quantitatively evaluate attractiveness of the stations. We also developed an estimation method for number of passengers based on combination of attractiveness of the station quantitatively evaluated and the residential and labor population around the station. Then, we derived precise linear regression models estimating the attractiveness of the station and number of passengers of the station.

Keywords: Attractiveness of the station, estimation method, number of passengers of the station, redevelopment around the station, renovation of the station.

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Authors: Farhad Kolahan, A. Hamid Khajavi

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In this paper, a set of experimental data has been used to assess the influence of abrasive water jet (AWJ) process parameters in cutting 6063-T6 aluminum alloy. The process variables considered here include nozzle diameter, jet traverse rate, jet pressure and abrasive flow rate. The effects of these input parameters are studied on depth of cut (h); one of most important characteristics of AWJ. The Taguchi method and regression modeling are used in order to establish the relationships between input and output parameters. The adequacy of the model is evaluated using analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique. In the next stage, the proposed model is embedded into a Simulated Annealing (SA) algorithm to optimize the AWJ process parameters. The objective is to determine a suitable set of process parameters that can produce a desired depth of cut, considering the ranges of the process parameters. Computational results prove the effectiveness of the proposed model and optimization procedure.

Keywords: AWJ machining, Mathematical modeling, Simulated Annealing, Optimization

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Authors: M. Siosemarde, F. Kave, E. Pazira, H. Sedghi, S. J. Ghaderi

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Researchers have long had trouble in measurement of Exchangeable Sodium Ratio (ESR) at salt-affected soils. this parameter are often determined using laborious and time consuming laboratory tests, but it may be more appropriate and economical to develop a method which uses a more simple soil salinity index. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between exchangeable sodium ratio (ESR) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) in some salt-affected soils of Khuzestan plain. To this purpose, two experimental areas (S1, S2) of Khuzestan province-IRAN were selected and four treatments with three replications by series of double rings were applied. The treatments were included 25cm, 50cm, 75cm and 100cm water application. The statistical results of the study indicated that in order to predict soil ESR based on soil SAR the linear regression model ESR=0.2048+0.0066 SAR (R2=0.53) & ESR=0.0564+0.0171 SAR (R2=0.76) can be recommended in Pilot S1 and S2 respectively.

Keywords: exchangeable sodium ratio, Khuzestan plain, saltaffectedsoils and sodium adsorption ratio.

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Authors: C. Scott-Young, D. Samson

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Team efficacy beliefs show promise in enhancing team performance. Using a model-based quantitative research design, we investigated the antecedents and performance consequences of generalized team efficacy (potency) in a sample of 56 capital projects executed by 15 Fortune 500 companies in the process industries. Empirical analysis of our field survey identified that generalized team efficacy beliefs were positively associated with an objective measure of project cost performance. Regression analysis revealed that team competence, empowering leadership, and performance feedback all predicted generalized team efficacy beliefs. Tests of mediation revealed that generalized team efficacy fully mediated between these three inputs and project cost performance.

Keywords: Team efficacy, Potency, Leadership, Feedback, Project cost.

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Authors: Rohit Gupta, Ravinder Agarwal

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Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signal has the potential to identify the human activities and intention. This potential is further exploited to control the artificial limbs using the sEMG signal from residual limbs of amputees. The paper deals with the development of multichannel cost efficient sEMG signal interface for research application, along with evaluation of proposed class dependent statistical approach of the feature selection method. The sEMG signal acquisition interface was developed using ADS1298 of Texas Instruments, which is a front-end interface integrated circuit for ECG application. Further, the sEMG signal is recorded from two lower limb muscles for three locomotions namely: Plane Walk (PW), Stair Ascending (SA), Stair Descending (SD). A class dependent statistical approach is proposed for feature selection and also its performance is compared with 12 preexisting feature vectors. To make the study more extensive, performance of five different types of classifiers are compared. The outcome of the current piece of work proves the suitability of the proposed feature selection algorithm for locomotion recognition, as compared to other existing feature vectors. The SVM Classifier is found as the outperformed classifier among compared classifiers with an average recognition accuracy of 97.40%. Feature vector selection emerges as the most dominant factor affecting the classification performance as it holds 51.51% of the total variance in classification accuracy. The results demonstrate the potentials of the developed sEMG signal acquisition interface along with the proposed feature selection algorithm.

Keywords: Classifiers, feature selection, locomotion, sEMG.

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Authors: Lavkush Kumar Brahman, Ramesh Chandra

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Experiments were carried out on the survival and growth of Rasbora daniconius, Puntius ticto and Puntius conchonius. The motivation of the study was to obtain information for growing the fish on a commercial scale for their use as biological control agents against mosquito larvae. The effects of temperature, total hardness, DO, pH and feed on the growth of fish were also investigated. Excessive value of total hardness was found because very rich calcium ion is present in Chitrakoot area. There was significant increases in growth rates of fish as temperature was increased from 28⁰C to 30⁰C. Further increases in temperature up to 32⁰C, did not further affect growth. The positive and highly significant correlations 0.991488, 0.9581 and 0.9935 were found between length and weight of P. ticto, P. conchonius and R. daniconius respectively. The regression was significant at 5% level of probability.

Keywords: Indigenous fish, DO, larvae, mosquito, pH, Temperature, total hardness.

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Authors: J.Morris, D.Allinson, J.Harrison, K.J. Lomas

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The UK Government has emphasized the role of Local Authorities as a key player in its flagship residential energy efficiency strategies, by identifying and targeting areas for energy efficiency improvements. Residential energy consumption in England is characterized by significant geographical variation in energy demand, which makes centralized targeting of areas for energy efficiency intervention difficult. This paper draws on research which aims to understand how demographic, social, economic, urban form and climatic factors influence the geographical variations in English residential gas consumption. The paper reports the findings of a multiple regression model that shows how 64% of the geographical variation in residential gas consumption is accounted for by variations in these factors. Results from this study, after further refinement and validation, can be used by Local Authorities to identify areas within their boundaries that have higher than expected gas consumption, these may be prime targets for energy efficiency initiatives.

Keywords: UK Housing, Heating Energy, Socio-Economics, Statistical Modelling

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Authors: Jayshree Patnaik, Bhaskar Bhowmick

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The economic growth of any nation is steered and dependent on innovation in technology. It can be preferably argued that technology has enhanced the quality of life. Technology is linked both with an economic and a social structure. But there are some parts of the world or communities which are yet to reap the benefits of technological innovation. Business and organizations are now well equipped with cutting-edge innovations that improve the firm performance and provide them with a competitive edge, but rarely does it have a positive impact on any community which is weak and marginalized. In recent times, it is observed that communities are actively handling social or ecological issues with the help of indigenous technologies. Thus, "Appropriate Technology" comes into the discussion, which is quite prevalent in the rural third world. Appropriate technology grew as a movement in the mid-1970s during the energy crisis, but it lost its stance in the following years when people started it to describe it as an inferior technology or dead technology. Basically, there is no such technology which is inferior or sophisticated for a particular region. The relevance of appropriate technology lies in penetrating technology into a larger and weaker section of community where the “Bottom of the pyramid” can pay for technology if they find the price is affordable. This is a theoretical paper which primarily revolves around how appropriate technology has faded and again evolved in both developed and developing countries. The paper will try to focus on the various concepts, history and challenges faced by the appropriate technology over the years. Appropriate technology follows a documented approach but lags in overall design and diffusion. Diffusion of technology into the poorer sections of community remains unanswered until the present time. Appropriate technology is multi-disciplinary in nature; therefore, this openness allows having a varied working model for different problems. Appropriate technology is a friendly technology that seeks to improve the lives of people in a constraint environment by providing an affordable and sustainable solution. Appropriate technology needs to be defined in the era of modern technological advancement for sustainability.

Keywords: Appropriate technology, community, developing country, sustainability.

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Authors: Sajed Yaghoubnezhad, Mina Karimi, Seyede Marjan Modirkhazeni

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The goal of this research was to study the relationship between codependency, perceived social support and depression in mothers of children with intellectual disability (ID). The correlational method was used in this study. The research population is comprised of mothers of educable children with ID in the age range of 25 to 61 years. From among this, a sample of 251 individuals, in the multistage cluster sampling method, was selected from educational districts in Tehran, who responded to the Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale (SFCDS), the Social Support Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The findings of this study indicate that among mothers of children with ID depression has a positive and significant correlation with codependency (P<0.01, r=0.4) and a negative and significant correlation with the total score of social support (P<0.01, r=-0.34). Moreover, the results of stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that codependency is allocated a higher variance than social support in explaining depression (R²=0.023).

Keywords: Codependency, social support, depression, mothers of children with ID.

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Authors: Paul W. Murray, Marco Barajas

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Recent changes in supply chains, especially globalization and collaboration, have created new risks for enterprises of all sizes. A variety of complex frameworks, often based on enterprise risk management strategies have been presented under the heading of Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM). The literature on promotes the benefits of a robust SCRM strategy; however, implementing SCRM is difficult and resource demanding for Large Enterprises (LEs), and essentially out of reach for Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This research debunks the idea that SCRM is necessary for all enterprises and instead proposes a simple and effective Vendor Selection Template (VST). Empirical testing and a survey of supply chain practitioners provide a measure of validation to the VST. The resulting VSTis a valuable contribution because is easy to use, provides practical results, and is sufficiently flexible to be universally applied to SMEs.

Keywords: Multiple Regression Analysis, Supply Chain Management, Risk Assessment, Vendor Selection.

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Authors: Proud Arunrangsiwed

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Slash or Yaoi fan art is the artwork that contains a homosexual relationship between fictional male characters, who were heterosexual in the original media. Previous belief about Slash or Yaoi fan art is that the fan fiction writers and the fan artists need to see the equality in romantic relationship. They do not prefer the pairing of man and woman, since both genders are not equal. The objectives of the current study are to confirm this belief, and to examine the relationship between equality found in Slash fan art, friendship in original media, and violence contained in fan art. Mean comparisons show that equality could be found in the pairing of hero and hero, but rarely found in the pairing of hero and villain. Regression analysis shows that the level of equality in fan art and friendship in original media are significant predictors of violence contained in fan art. Since villain-related pairings yield a high level of violence in fan art and a low level of equality, researchers of future studies should find the strategies to prevent fans to include villains in their Slash or Yaoi fan art.

Keywords: Equality, fan art, slash, violence, yaoi.

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Authors: Mohamed Zakaulla, A. R. Anwar Khan

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Al6061 alloy base matrix, reinforced with particles of silicon carbide (10 wt %) and Graphite powder (1wt%), known as hybrid composites have been fabricated by liquid metallurgy route (stir casting technique) and optimized at different parameters like applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance by taguchi method. A plan of experiment generated through taguchi technique was used to perform experiments based on L27 orthogonal array. The developed ANOVA and regression equations are used to find the optimum coefficient of friction and wear under the influence of applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance. On the basis of “smaller the best” the dry sliding wear resistance was analysed and finally confirmation tests were carried out to verify the experimental results.

Keywords: Analysis of variance, dry sliding wear, Hybrid composite, orthogonal array, Taguchi technique.

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Authors: Alhaji M. H Conteh, Xiangbin Yan, Alfred V Gborie

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The crop rice is the staple food of most Sierra Leone with no close substitute. However, its cultivation has been on its last legs over the years. The decline in the domestic rice cultivation has had vicious socio-economic implications such as hiking consumer prices, balance of payment dilemmas with debt burden. The objective of this study is thus, to assess the effect of the shift of rural labour towards non-agricultural sectors on rice cultivation. The tools utilized for analyzing the problem under consideration involved a thorough descriptive statistics and generalized linear model using OLS technique. Increased rural population was established positive and significant in affecting rice cultivation. Fertilizer utilization was insignificant in rice cultivation. For reducing the shift of rural labor force towards nonagricultural sectors, the government should make the agricultural sector very lucrative.

Keywords: Regression Model, Rice Cultivation, Rural Migration, Sierra Leone.

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Authors: Ivana Šimonová

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As widely accepted, didactic multiple-choice tests are referred as a tool providing feedback easily and quickly. Despite the final test scores are corrected by a special formula and number of high plausibility distractors is taken into consideration, the results may be influenced by the random choice. The survey was held in three academic years at the Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, where the multiple-choice test scores were compared to the open-answer ones. The research sample included 567 respondents. The collected data were processed by the NCSS2007 statistic software by the method of frequency and multiple regression analysis and presented in the form of figures and tables. The results proved statistically significant differences in test scores in academic years 2 and 3, and were discussed from the point of the credit system and conditions for teaching/learning English in the Czech education system.

Keywords: ESP, higher education, multiple-choice test, open-answer test.

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Authors: F. Rasi Maezabadi, M. Masdari, M. R. Soltani

Abstract:

Series of experimental tests were conducted on a section of a 660 kW wind turbine blade to measure the pressure distribution of this model oscillating in plunging motion. In order to minimize the amount of data required to predict aerodynamic loads of the airfoil, a General Regression Neural Network, GRNN, was trained using the measured experimental data. The network once proved to be accurate enough, was used to predict the flow behavior of the airfoil for the desired conditions. Results showed that with using a few of the acquired data, the trained neural network was able to predict accurate results with minimal errors when compared with the corresponding measured values. Therefore with employing this trained network the aerodynamic coefficients of the plunging airfoil, are predicted accurately at different oscillation frequencies, amplitudes, and angles of attack; hence reducing the cost of tests while achieving acceptable accuracy.

Keywords: Airfoil, experimental, GRNN, Neural Network, Plunging.

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