Search results for: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System

Authors: Emine Yilmaz, Ismail Yilmaz, Harun Uran

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Food-borne problems have been placed among the most leading problems of the society especially in recent years. This state arises as a problem which affects the society wholly such as the supply of food stuffs that are necessary for an individual to perform his physiological and biological functions, their amount, compound, their effects on health and distribution by individuals. This study was conducted in order to determine the sensitivities and criteria of people, who have different socio-economic backgrounds and live in Süleymanpasa Town of Tekirdag City, in their preference of food stuffs. The research data were collected by means of Interview Technique with individuals within the scope of the study (300) and applying surveys with convenience sampling. According to the research results, quality appears in the first rank among the factors by which consumers are affected while buying food stuffs. Consumers stated that they try to be careful with not buying food sold outdoors. The most preferred food among the ones being sold outdoor were found to be breakfast food. Also, food stuff which consumers become the most selective for while buying was determined to be meat and meat products. Due to general knowledge about the food stuff consumed in human nutrition may affect their health negatively; consumers expressed that they are very relevant with their diets and this circumstances affects their purchase preferences.  

Keywords: Consumption, food safety, consumer behavior, purchase preferences.

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Authors: Marie Alaghband, Niloofar Yousefi, Ivan Garibay

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Facial expressions are important parts of both gesture and sign language recognition systems. Despite the recent advances in both fields, annotated facial expression datasets in the context of sign language are still scarce resources. In this manuscript, we introduce an annotated sequenced facial expression dataset in the context of sign language, comprising over 3000 facial images extracted from the daily news and weather forecast of the public tv-station PHOENIX. Unlike the majority of currently existing facial expression datasets, FePh provides sequenced semi-blurry facial images with different head poses, orientations, and movements. In addition, in the majority of images, identities are mouthing the words, which makes the data more challenging. To annotate this dataset we consider primary, secondary, and tertiary dyads of seven basic emotions of "sad", "surprise", "fear", "angry", "neutral", "disgust", and "happy". We also considered the "None" class if the image’s facial expression could not be described by any of the aforementioned emotions. Although we provide FePh as a facial expression dataset of signers in sign language, it has a wider application in gesture recognition and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) systems.

Keywords: Annotated Facial Expression Dataset, Sign Language Recognition, Gesture Recognition, Sequenced Facial Expression Dataset.

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Authors: Ola I. S. El Dardery, Ismail Gomaa, Adel R. M. Rayan, Ghada El Khayat, Sara H. Sabry

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Continuous improvement activities are becoming a key organizational success factor; those improvement activities include but are not limited to kaizen, six sigma, lean production, and continuous improvement projects. Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement by making small incremental changes to improve an organization’s performance, reduce costs, reduce delay time, reduce waste in production, etc. This research aims at proposing a measuring system for kaizen activities from a sustainable balanced scorecard perspective. A survey was developed and disseminated among kaizen experts in both Egypt and Japan with the purpose of allocating key performance indicators for both kaizen process (critical success factors) and result (kaizen benefits) into the five sustainable balanced scorecard perspectives. This research contributes to the extant literature by presenting a kaizen measurement of both kaizen process and results that will illuminate the benefits of using kaizen. Also, the presented measurement can help in the sustainability of kaizen implementation across various sectors and industries. Thus, grasping the full benefits of kaizen implementation will contribute to the spread of kaizen understanding and practice. Also, this research provides insights on the social and cultural differences that would influence the kaizen success. Determining the combination of the proper kaizen measures could be used by any industry, whether service or manufacturing for better kaizen activities measurement. The comparison between Japanese implementation of kaizen, as the pioneers of continuous improvement, and Egyptian implementation will help recommending better practices of kaizen in Egypt and contributing to the 2030 sustainable development goals. The study results reveal that there is no significant difference in allocating kaizen benefits between Egypt and Japan. However, with regard to the critical success factors some differences appeared reflecting the social differences and understanding between both countries, a single integrated measurement was reached between the Egyptian and Japanese allocation highlighting the Japanese experts’ opinion as the ultimate criterion for selection.

Keywords: continuous improvements, kaizen, performance, sustainable balanced scorecard

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Authors: Rishabh Garg

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Traditionally, business parties build trust with a centralized operating mechanism, such as payment by letter of credit. However, the increase in cyber-attacks and malicious hacking has jeopardized business operations and finance practices. Emerging markets, due to their high banking risks and the large presence of digital financing, are looking for technology that enables transparency and traceability of any transaction in trade, finance or supply chain management. Blockchain systems, in the absence of any central authority, enable transactions across the globe with the help of decentralized applications. DApps consist of a front-end, a blockchain back-end, and middleware, that is, the code that connects the two. The front-end can be a sophisticated web app or mobile app, which is used to implement the functions/methods on the smart contract. Web apps can employ technologies such as HTML, CSS, React and Express. In this wake, fintech and blockchain products are popping up in brokerages, digital wallets, exchanges, post-trade clearance, settlement, middleware, infrastructure and base protocols. The present paper provides a technology driven solution, financial inclusion and innovative working paradigm for business and finance.

Keywords: Authentication, blockchain, channel, cryptography, DApps, data portability, Decentralized Public Key Infrastructure, Ethereum, hash function, Hashgraph, Privilege creep, Proof of Work algorithm, revocation, storage variables, Zero Knowledge Proof.

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Authors: Atef M. Ghaleb, Mohamed Z. Ramadan, Khalid Saad Aljaloud

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The aim of this study is to assesses the lifting capabilities of persons experiencing hypoxia. It also examines the behavior of the physiological response induced through the lifting process related to changing in the hypoxia and lifting frequency variables. For this purpose, the study performed two consecutive tests by using; (1) training and acclimatization; and (2) an actual collection of data. A total of 10 male students from King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, were recruited in the study. A two-way repeated measures design, with two independent variables (ambient oxygen (15%, 18% and 21%)) and lifting frequency (1 lift/min and 4 lifts/min) and four dependent variables i.e., maximum acceptable weight of lift (MAWL), Electromyography (EMG) of four muscle groups (anterior deltoid, trapezius, biceps brachii, and erector spinae), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and rating of oxygen feeling (ROF) were used in this study. The results show that lifting frequency has significantly impacted the MAWL and muscles’ activities. The oxygen content had a significant effect on the RPE and ROE. The study has revealed that acclimatization and training sessions significantly reduce the effect of the hypoxia on the human physiological parameters during the manual materials handling tasks.

Keywords: Lifting capabilities, muscle activities (sEMG), oxygen content, perceived exertion.

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Authors: Yen-Yiu Liu, Richard J. Haynes

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The effects of irrigation with dairy factory wastewater on soil properties were investigated at two sites that had received irrigation for > 60 years. Two adjoining paired sites that had never received DFE were also sampled as well as another seven fields from a wider area around the factory. In comparison with paired sites that had not received effluent, long-term wastewater irrigation resulted in an increase in pH, EC, extractable P, exchangeable Na and K and ESP. These changes were related to the use of phosphoric acid, NaOH and KOH as cleaning agents in the factory. Soil organic C content was unaffected by DFE irrigation but the size (microbial biomass C and N) and activity (basal respiration) of the soil microbial community were increased. These increases were attributed to regular inputs of soluble C (e.g. lactose) present as milk residues in the wastewater. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the soils data from all 11sites confirmed that the main effects of DFE irrigation were an increase in exchangeable Na, extractable P and microbial biomass C, an accumulation of soluble salts and a liming effect. PCA analysis of soil bacterial community structure, using PCR-DGGE of 16S rDNA fragments, generally separated individual sites from one another but did not group them according to irrigation history. Thus, whilst the size and activity of the soil microbial community were increased, the structure and diversity of the bacterial community remained unaffected.

Keywords: Dairy factory, wastewater; effluent, irrigation, soil quality.

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Authors: Yen-Yiu Liu, Richard J. Haynes

Abstract:

The effects of irrigation with dairy factory wastewater on soil properties were investigated at two sites that had received irrigation for > 60 years. Two adjoining paired sites that had never received DFE were also sampled as well as another seven fields from a wider area around the factory. In comparison with paired sites that had not received effluent, long-term wastewater irrigation resulted in an increase in pH, EC, extractable P, exchangeable Na and K and ESP. These changes were related to the use of phosphoric acid, NaOH and KOH as cleaning agents in the factory. Soil organic C content was unaffected by DFE irrigation but the size (microbial biomass C and N) and activity (basal respiration) of the soil microbial community were increased. These increases were attributed to regular inputs of soluble C (e.g. lactose) present as milk residues in the wastewater. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the soils data from all 11sites confirmed that the main effects of DFE irrigation were an increase in exchangeable Na, extractable P and microbial biomass C, an accumulation of soluble salts and a liming effect. PCA analysis of soil bacterial community structure, using PCR-DGGE of 16S rDNA fragments, generally separated individual sites from one another but did not group them according to irrigation history. Thus, whilst the size and activity of the soil microbial community were increased, the structure and diversity of the bacterial community remained unaffected.

Keywords: Dairy factory, wastewater; effluent, irrigation, soil quality.

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Authors: Adnan Z. Mkhelif

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Grammatical collocations (GCs) are word combinations containing a preposition or a grammatical structure, such as an infinitive (e.g. smile at, interested in, easy to learn, etc.). Such collocations tend to be difficult for Iraqi EFL university students (IUS) to master. To help address this problem, it is important to identify the factors causing it. This study aims at investigating the effects of L2 proficiency, frequency of GCs and their transparency on IUSs’ productive knowledge of GCs. The study involves 112 undergraduate participants with different proficiency levels, learning English in formal contexts in Iraq. The data collection instruments include (but not limited to) a productive knowledge test (designed by the researcher using the British National Corpus (BNC)), as well as the grammar part of the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). The study findings have shown that all the above-mentioned factors have significant effects on IUSs’ productive knowledge of GCs. In addition to establishing evidence of which factors of L2 learning might be relevant to learning GCs, it is hoped that the findings of the present study will contribute to more effective methods of teaching that can better address and help overcome the problems IUSs encounter in learning GCs. The study is thus hoped to have significant theoretical and pedagogical implications for researchers, syllabus designers as well as teachers of English as a foreign/second language.

Keywords: Corpus linguistics, frequency, grammatical collocations, L2 vocabulary learning, productive knowledge, proficiency, transparency.

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Authors: Charles P. Mukumba, Kahilu K. Shakantu

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Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is critical to achieving transformational results that support Zambia's developmental agenda. Public procurement is integral to the government's mission to deliver goods and services in a timely and economical manner beyond the value of money spent. This study explores the link between sustainable public procurement and the SDGs in Zambia. To validate the established links with public sector procurement in Zambia, the study employed qualitative research using semi-structured interviews with 12 public procurement officials. The collected data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that public procurement plays a fundamental role in achieving the SDGs by helping deliver core public services that support SDGs and systematizing and co-delivering added value along the way. The study further established the importance of sustainable public procurement within the development context. The interviews were limited to mainstream public sector procurement entities in Lusaka, Zambia. Sustainable public procurement actions have the potential to impact SDGs. Promoting sustainable public procurement will enhance sustainable development and significantly improve the supply chain, benefiting the economy, society and environment. Findings will inform policy-makers how to strategically design sustainable public procurement policy by attuning it to procuring entities' objectives and priorities to contribute to attaining SDGs.

Keywords: Sustainable public procurement, sustainable development goals, SDG targets, Zambia.

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Authors: Jasim. A. Ghaeb

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A high performance computer includes a fast processor and millions bytes of memory. During the data processing, huge amount of information are shuffled between the memory and processor. Because of its small size and its effectiveness speed, cache has become a common feature of high performance computers. Enhancing cache performance proved to be essential in the speed up of cache-based computers. Most enhancement approaches can be classified as either software based or hardware controlled. The performance of the cache is quantified in terms of hit ratio or miss ratio. In this paper, we are optimizing the cache performance based on enhancing the cache hit ratio. The optimum cache performance is obtained by focusing on the cache hardware modification in the way to make a quick rejection to the missed line's tags from the hit-or miss comparison stage, and thus a low hit time for the wanted line in the cache is achieved. In the proposed technique which we called Even- Odd Tabulation (EOT), the cache lines come from the main memory into cache are classified in two types; even line's tags and odd line's tags depending on their Least Significant Bit (LSB). This division is exploited by EOT technique to reject the miss match line's tags in very low time compared to the time spent by the main comparator in the cache, giving an optimum hitting time for the wanted cache line. The high performance of EOT technique against the familiar mapping technique FAM is shown in the simulated results.

Keywords: Caches, Cache performance, Hit time, Cache hit ratio, Cache mapping, Cache memory.

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Authors: Mukesh Doble, Sunil K Narayan

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Diffuse viral encephalitis may lack fever and other cardinal signs of infection and hence its distinction from other acute encephalopathic illnesses is challenging. Often, the EEG changes seen routinely are nonspecific and reflect diffuse encephalopathic changes only. The aim of this study was to use nonlinear dynamic mathematical techniques for analyzing the EEG data in order to look for any characteristic diagnostic patterns in diffuse forms of encephalitis.It was diagnosed on clinical, imaging and cerebrospinal fluid criteria in three young male patients. Metabolic and toxic encephalopathies were ruled out through appropriate investigations. Digital EEGs were done on the 3rd to 5th day of onset. The digital EEGs of 5 male and 5 female age and sex matched healthy volunteers served as controls.Two sample t-test indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the average values in amplitude between the two groups. However, the standard deviation (or variance) of the EEG signals at FP1-F7 and FP2-F8 are significantly higher for the patients than the normal subjects. The regularisation dimension is significantly less for the patients (average between 1.24-1.43) when compared to the normal persons (average between 1.41-1.63) for the EEG signals from all locations except for the Fz-Cz signal. Similarly the wavelet dimension is significantly less (P = 0.05*) for the patients (1.122) when compared to the normal person (1.458). EEGs are subdued in the case of the patients with presence of uniform patterns, manifested in the values of regularisation and wavelet dimensions, when compared to the normal person, indicating a decrease in chaotic nature.

Keywords: Chaos, Diffuse encephalitis, Electroencephalogram, Fractal dimension, Fourier spectrum.

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Authors: C. Gunavathi, K. Premalatha

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Tumor classification is a key area of research in the field of bioinformatics. Microarray technology is commonly used in the study of disease diagnosis using gene expression levels. The main drawback of gene expression data is that it contains thousands of genes and a very few samples. Feature selection methods are used to select the informative genes from the microarray. These methods considerably improve the classification accuracy. In the proposed method, Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used for effective feature selection. Informative genes are identified based on the T-Statistics, Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and F-Test values. The initial candidate solutions of GA are obtained from top-m informative genes. The classification accuracy of k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) method is used as the fitness function for GA. In this work, kNN and Support Vector Machine (SVM) are used as the classifiers. The experimental results show that the proposed work is suitable for effective feature selection. With the help of the selected genes, GA-kNN method achieves 100% accuracy in 4 datasets and GA-SVM method achieves in 5 out of 10 datasets. The GA with kNN and SVM methods are demonstrated to be an accurate method for microarray based tumor classification.

Keywords: F-Test, Gene Expression, Genetic Algorithm, k- Nearest-Neighbor, Microarray, Signal-to-Noise Ratio, Support Vector Machine, T-statistics, Tumor Classification.

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Authors: Sujoy Das, M. M. Ghosh

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The thermal conductivity of a fluid can be significantly enhanced by dispersing nano-sized particles in it, and the resultant fluid is termed as "nanofluid". A theoretical model for estimating the thermal conductivity of a nanofluid has been proposed here. It is based on the mechanism that evenly dispersed nanoparticles within a nanofluid undergo Brownian motion in course of which the nanoparticles repeatedly collide with the heat source. During each collision a rapid heat transfer occurs owing to the solidsolid contact. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of the collision of nanoparticles with the heat source has shown that there is a pulselike pick up of heat by the nanoparticles within 20-100 ps, the extent of which depends not only on thermal conductivity of the nanoparticles, but also on the elastic and other physical properties of the nanoparticle. After the collision the nanoparticles undergo Brownian motion in the base fluid and release the excess heat to the surrounding base fluid within 2-10 ms. The Brownian motion and associated temperature variation of the nanoparticles have been modeled by stochastic analysis. Repeated occurrence of these events by the suspended nanoparticles significantly contributes to the characteristic thermal conductivity of the nanofluids, which has been estimated by the present model for a ethylene glycol based nanofluid containing Cu-nanoparticles of size ranging from 8 to 20 nm, with Gaussian size distribution. The prediction of the present model has shown a reasonable agreement with the experimental data available in literature.

Keywords: Brownian dynamics, Molecular dynamics, Nanofluid, Thermal conductivity.

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Authors: Fawzi Irshaid, Adnan Jaran, Fatiha Dilmi, Khaled Tarawneh, Raji Hadeth, Ahad Al-Khatib

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The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency of EBV infection in Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) occurring in Jordanian patients. A total of 55 patients with lymphoma were examined in this study. Of 55 patients, 30 and 25 were diagnosed as HL and NHL, respectively. The four HL subtypes were observed with the majority of the cases exhibited the mixed cellularity (MC) subtype followed by the nodular sclerosis (NS). The high grade was found to be the commonest subtype of NHL in our sample, followed by the low grade. The presence of EBV virus was detected by immunostating for expression of latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1). The frequency of LMP-1 expression occurred more frequent in patients with HL (60.0%) than in patients with NHL (32.0%). The frequency of LMP-1 expression was also higher in patients with MC subtype (61.11%) than those patients with NS (28.57%). No age or gender difference in occurrence of EBV infection was observed among patient with HL. By contrast, the prevalence of EBV infection in NHL patients aged below 50 was lower (16.66%) than in NHL patients aged 50 or above (46.15%). In addition, EBV infection was more frequent in females with NHL (38.46%) than in male with NHL (25%). In NHL cases, the frequency of EBV infection in intermediate grade (60.0%) was high when compared with frequency of low (25%) or high grades (25%). In conclusion, analysis of LMP-1 expression indicates an important role for this viral oncogene in the pathogenesis of EBV-associated malignant lymphomas. These data also support the previous findings that people with EBV may develop lymphoma and that efforts to maintain low lymphoma should be considered for people with EBV infection.

Keywords: Hodgkin lymphoma, Epstein Barr virus, hematoxylin, infection, LMP-1 expression.

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Authors: Shankar Subramanian Iyer

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The vocational education, enhanced by technology and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is going to be the main ingredient of the future of education. This is coming from the various issues of the current educational system like cost, time, type of course, type of curriculum, unemployment, to name the major reasons. Most millennials like to perform and learn rather than learning how to perform. This is the essence of vocational education be it any field from cooking, painting, plumbing to modern technologies using computers. Even a more theoretical course like entrepreneurship can be taught as to be an entrepreneur and learn about its nuances. The best way to learn accountancy is actually keeping accounts for a small business or grocer and learn the ropes of accountancy and finance. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between vocational skills, RPL and new technologies with future employability. This study implies that individual's knowledge and skills are essential aspects to be emphasized in future education and to give credit for prior experience for future employability. Virtual reality can be used to stimulate workplace situations for vocational learning for fields like hospitality, medical emergencies, healthcare, draughtsman ship, building inspection, quantity surveying, estimation, to name a few. All disruptions in future education, especially vocational education, are going to be technology driven with the advent of AI, ML, IoT, VR, VI etc. Vocational education not only helps institutes cut costs drastically, but allows all students to have hands-on experiences, rather than to be observers. The earlier experiential learning theory and the recent theory of knowledge and skills-based learning modified and applied to the vocational education and development of skills is the proposed contribution of this paper. Apart from secondary research study on major scholarly articles, books, primary research using interviews, questionnaire surveys have been used to validate and test the reliability of the suggested model using Partial Least Square- Structural Equation Method (PLS-SEM), the factors being assimilated using an existing literature review. Major findings have been that there exists high relationship between the vocational skills, RPL, new technology to the future employability through mediation of future employability skills.

Keywords: Vocational education, vocational skills, competencies, modern technologies, Recognition of Prior Learning, RPL.

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Authors: Filiz Ersoz, Taner Ersoz, Tugrul Bayraktar

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Renewable energy is referred to as "clean energy" and common popular support for the use of renewable energy (RE) is to provide electricity with zero carbon dioxide emissions. This study provides useful insight into the European Union (EU) RE, especially, into electricity generation obtained from renewables, and their targets. The objective of this study is to identify groups of European countries, using multivariate statistical analysis and selected indicators. The hierarchical clustering method is used to decide the number of clusters for EU countries. The conducted statistical hierarchical cluster analysis is based on the Ward’s clustering method and squared Euclidean distances. Hierarchical cluster analysis identified eight distinct clusters of European countries. Then, non-hierarchical clustering (k-means) method was applied. Discriminant analysis was used to determine the validity of the results with data normalized by Z score transformation. To explore the relationship between the selected indicators, correlation coefficients were computed. The results of the study reveal the current situation of RE in European Union Member States.

Keywords: Share of electricity generation, CO2 emission, targets, multivariate methods, hierarchical clustering, K-means clustering, discriminant analyzed, correlation, EU member countries.

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Authors: S. Petrovska, D. Jonkus, D. Smiltiņa

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κ-casein is one of milk proteins which are very important for milk processing. Genotypes of κ-casein affect milk yield, fat, and protein content. The main factors which affect local Latvian dairy breed milk yield and composition are analyzed in research. Data were collected from 88 Latvian brown and 82 Latvian blue cows in 2015. AA genotype was 0.557 in Latvian brown and 0.232 in Latvian blue breed. BB genotype was 0.034 in Latvian brown and 0.207 in Latvian blue breed. Highest milk yield was observed in Latvian brown (5131.2 ± 172.01 kg), significantly high fat content and fat yield also was in Latvian brown (p < 0.05). Significant differences between κ-casein genotypes were not found in Latvian brown, but highest milk yield (5057 ± 130.23 kg), protein content (3.42 ± 0.03%), and protein yield (171.9 ± 4.34 kg) were with AB genotype. Significantly high fat content was observed in Latvian blue breed with BB genotype (4.29 ± 0.17%) compared with AA genotypes (3.42 ± 0.19). Similar tendency was found in protein content – 3.27 ± 0.16% with BB genotype and 2.59 ± 0.16% with AA genotype (p < 0.05). Milk yield increases by increasing parity. We did not obtain major tendency of changes of milk fat and protein content according parity.

Keywords: κ-casein, polymorphism, dairy cows, milk productivity.

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Authors: Temitope M. Ojo, Titilayo A. Benson

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This study investigated street begging and its psychosocial effect in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria. In carrying out this study, four research questions were used. The instrument used for data collection was a face-to-face and self-developed questionnaire. The results revealed there is high awareness level on the causes of street begging among the respondents, who also mentioned several factors contributing to street begging. However, respondents disagreed that lack of education is a factor contributing to street begging in Nigeria. The psycho-social effects of street begging, as identified by the respondents, are development of inferiority complex, lack of social interaction, loss of self-respect and dignity, increased mindset of poverty and loss of self-confident. Solution to street begging as identified by the respondents also includes provision of rehabilitation centers, provision of food for students in Islamic schools and monthly survival allowance. Specific policies and other legislative frameworks are needed in terms of age, sex, disability, and family-related issues, to effectively address the begging problem. Therefore, it is recommended that policy planners must adopt multi-faceted, multi-targeted, and multi-tiered approaches if they are to have any impact on the lives of street beggars in all four categories. In this regard, both preventative and responsive interventions are needed instead of rehabilitative solutions for each category of street beggars.

Keywords: Beggars, begging, psychosocial effect, respondents, street begging.

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Authors: Ahmed Aljudaya, Derek Ingham, Lin Ma, Kevin Hughes, Mohammed Pourkashanian

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Researchers, power companies, and state politicians have given concentrated solar power (CSP) much attention due to its capacity to generate large amounts of electricity whereas overcoming the intermittent nature of solar resources. The Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR) is a well-known CSP technology type for being inexpensive, having a low land use factor, and suffering from low optical efficiency. The LFR was considered a cost-effective alternative option to the Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) because of its simplistic design, and this often outweighs its lower efficiency. The LFR power plants commercially generate steam directly and indirectly in order to produce electricity with high technical efficiency and lower its costs. The purpose of this important analysis is to compare the annual performance of the Direct Steam Generation (DSG) and Indirect Steam Generation (ISG) of LFR power plants using molten salt and other different Heat Transfer Fluids (HTF) to investigate their technical and economic effects. A 50 MWe solar-only system is examined as a case study for both steam production methods in extreme weather conditions. In addition, a parametric analysis is carried out to determine the optimal solar field size that provides the lowest Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) while achieving the highest technical performance. As a result of optimizing the optimum solar field size, the solar multiple (SM) is found to be between 1.2 – 1.5 in order to achieve as low as 9 Cent/KWh for the DSG of the LFR. In addition, the power plant is capable of producing around 141 GWh annually and up to 36% of the capacity factor, whereas the ISG produces less energy at a higher cost. The optimization results show that the DSG’s performance overcomes the ISG in producing around 3% more annual energy, 2% lower LCOE, and 28% less capital cost.

Keywords: Concentrated Solar Power, Levelized cost of electricity, Linear Fresnel reflectors, Steam generation.

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Authors: Wan-I Lee, Nelio Mendoza Figueredo

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The impact of COVID-19 has a significant effect on all sectors of society globally. Health information technology (HIT) has become an effective health strategy in this age of distancing. In this regard, Mobile Health (mHealth) plays a critical role in managing patient and provider workflows during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the users' perception of service quality about mHealth services plays a significant role in shaping confidence and subsequent behaviors regarding the mHealth users' intention of use. This study's objective was to explore levels of user attributes analyzed by a qualitative method of how health practitioners and patients are satisfied or dissatisfied with using mHealth services; and analyzed the users' intention in the context of Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research explores the experienced usability of a mHealth services during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study uses qualitative methods that include in-depth and semi-structured interviews that investigate participants' perceptions and experiences and the meanings they attribute to them. The five cases consisted of health practitioners, clinic staff, and patients' experiences using mHealth services. This study encourages participants to discuss issues related to the research question by asking open-ended questions, usually in one-to-one interviews. The findings show the positive and negative attributes of mHealth service quality. Hence, the significant importance of patients' and health practitioners' issues on several dimensions of perceived service quality is system quality, information quality, and interaction quality. A concept map for perceptions regards to emergency uses' intention of mHealth services process is depicted. The findings revealed that users pay more attention to "Medical care", "ease of use" and "utilitarian benefits" and have less importance for "Admissions and Convenience" and "Social influence". To improve mHealth services, the mHealth providers and health practitioners should better manage users' experiences to enhance mHealth services. This research contributes to the understanding of service quality issues in mHealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19, mobile health, mHealth, service quality, use intention.

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Authors: P. Thepnarintra

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Frozen shrimp industry plays an important role in the development of production industry of the country. There has been a continuing development to response the increasing demand; however, there have been some problems in running the enterprises. The purposes of this study are to: 1) investigate problems related to basic factors in operating frozen shrimp industry based on the entrepreneurs’ points of view. The enterprises involved in this study were small and medium industry receiving Thai Frozen Foods Association. 2) Compare the problems of the frozen shrimp industry according to their sizes of operation in 3 provinces of the central region Thailand. Population in this study consisted of 148 managers from 148 frozen shrimp enterprises Thai Frozen Foods Association which 77 were small size and 71 were medium size. The data were analyzed to find percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and independent sample T-test with the significant hypothesis at .05. The results revealed that the problems of the frozen shrimp industries of both size were in high level. The needs for government supporting were in high level. The comparison of the problems and the basic factors between the small and medium size enterprises showed no statistically significant level. The problems that they mentioned included raw materials, labors, production, marketing, and the need for academic supporting from the government sector.

Keywords: Frozen shrimp industry, problems, related to the enterprise, operation.

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Authors: Ujjwala Bhand, Mridula Goel

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Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) prepared by World Economic Forum has become a benchmark in studying the competitiveness of countries and for understanding the factors that enable competitiveness. Innovation is a key pillar in competitiveness and has the unique property of enabling exponential economic growth. This paper attempts to analyze how the pillars comprising the Global Competitiveness Index affect innovation and whether GDP growth can directly affect innovation outcomes for a country. The key objective of the study is to identify areas on which governments of developing countries can focus policies and programs to improve their country’s innovativeness. We have compiled a panel data set for top innovating countries and large emerging economies called BRICS from 2007-08 to 2014-15 in order to find the significant factors that affect innovation. The results of the regression analysis suggest that government should make policies to improve labor market efficiency, establish sophisticated business networks, provide basic health and primary education to its people and strengthen the quality of higher education and training services in the economy. The achievements of smaller economies on innovation suggest that concerted efforts by governments can counter any size related disadvantage, and in fact can provide greater flexibility and speed in encouraging innovation.

Keywords: Innovation, Global Competitiveness Index, BRICS, economic growth.

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Authors: Robin C. Ladwig

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The future of work becomes less predictable which requires increasing adaptability of organizations to social and work changes. Society is transforming regarding gender identity in the sense that more people come forward to identify as trans and gender diverse (TGD). Organizations are ill-equipped to provide a safe and encouraging work environment by lacking inclusive organizational structures. The qualitative multi-method research about TGD inclusivity in the workplace explores the enablers and barriers for TGD individuals to satisfactorily engage in the work environment and organizational culture. Furthermore, these TGD insights are analyzed based on organizational implications and awareness from a leadership and management perspective. The semi-structured online interviews with TGD individuals and the photo-elicit open-ended questionnaire addressed to leadership and management in diversity, career development, and human resources have been analyzed with a critical grounded theory approach. Findings demonstrated the significance of TGD voices, the support of leadership and management, as well as the synergy between voices and leadership. Hence, it indicates practical implications such as the revision of exclusive language used in policies, data collection, or communication and reconsideration of organizational decision-making by leaders to include TGD voices.

Keywords: Future of work, occupational identity, organizational decision-making, trans and gender diverse identity.

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Authors: Zsolt Szilvágyi, Jakub Panuska, Orsolya Kegyes-Brassai, Ákos Wolf, Péter Tildy, Richard P. Ray

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Near-surface loose sediments and local ground conditions in general have a major influence on seismic response of structures. It is a difficult task to model ground behavior in seismic soil-structure-foundation interaction problems, fully account for them in seismic design of structures, or even properly consider them in seismic hazard assessment. In this study, we focused on applying seismic soil investigation methods, used for determining soil stiffness and damping properties, to response analysis used in seismic design. A site in Budapest, Hungary was investigated using Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves, Seismic Cone Penetration Tests, Bender Elements, Resonant Column and Torsional Shear tests. Our aim was to compare the results of the different test methods and use the resulting soil properties for 1D ground response analysis. Often in practice, there are little-to no data available on dynamic soil properties and estimated parameters are used for design. Therefore, a comparison is made between results based on estimated parameters and those based on detailed investigations. Ground response results are also compared to Eurocode 8 design spectra.

Keywords: Bender element, ground response analysis, MASW, resonant column test, SCPT, torsional shear test.

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Authors: Jing Zhou, Li Wu

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Based on the remote image data of land use in the four periods of 1980, 1995, 2005 and 2015, this study quantitatively analyzed the dynamic variation of landscape transfer and landscape pattern in the Fuxian Lake basin by constructing a land use dynamic variation model and using ArcGIS 10.5 and Fragstats 4.2. The results indicate that: (1) From the perspective of land use landscape transfer, the intensity of land use is slowly rising from 1980 to 2015, and the main reduction landscape type is farmland and its net amount of transfer-out is the most among all transfer-outs, which is to 788.85 hm², the main added landscape type is construction land and its net amount of transfer-in is the most, which is to 475.23 hm². Meanwhile, the land use landscape variation in the stage of 2005-2015 showed the most severe among three periods when compared with other two stages. (2) From the perspective of land use landscape variation, significant spatial differences are shown, the changes in the north of the basin are significantly higher than that in the south, the west coast are apparently higher than the east. (3) From the perspective of landscape pattern index, the number of plaques is on the increase in the periods of 35 years in the basin, and there is little mutual interference between landscape patterns because the plaques are relatively discrete. Cultivated land showed a trend of fragmentation but constructive land showed trend of relative concentration. The sustainable development and biodiversity in this basin are under threat for the fragmented landscape pattern and the poorer connectivity.

Keywords: Land use, landscape pattern evolution, landscape pattern index, Fuxian Lake basin.

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Authors: Alquliyev R.M., Kazimov T.H., Mahmudova Sh.C., Mahmudova R.Sh.

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The given work is devoted to the description of Information Technologies NAS of Azerbaijan created and successfully maintained in Institute. On the basis of the decision of board of the Supreme Certifying commission at the President of the Azerbaijan Republic and Presidium of National Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan Republic, the organization of training courses on Computer Sciences for all post-graduate students and dissertators of the republic, taking of examinations of candidate minima, it was on-line entrusted to Institute of Information Technologies of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. Therefore, teaching the computer sciences to post-graduate students and dissertators a scientific - methodological manual on effective application of new information technologies for research works by post-graduate students and dissertators and taking of candidate minima is carried out in the Educational Center. Information and communication technologies offer new opportunities and prospects of their application for teaching and training. The new level of literacy demands creation of essentially new technology of obtaining of scientific knowledge. Methods of training and development, social and professional requirements, globalization of the communicative economic and political projects connected with construction of a new society, depends on a level of application of information and communication technologies in the educational process. Computer technologies develop ideas of programmed training, open completely new, not investigated technological ways of training connected to unique opportunities of modern computers and telecommunications. Computer technologies of training are processes of preparation and transfer of the information to the trainee by means of computer. Scientific and technical progress as well as global spread of the technologies created in the most developed countries of the world is the main proof of the leading role of education in XXI century. Information society needs individuals having modern knowledge. In practice, all technologies, using special technical information means (computer, audio, video) are called information technologies of education.

Keywords: Educational Center, post-graduate, database.

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Authors: Akiko Kondo, Akio Kondo

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We are facing serious problems related to long-term depopulation and an aging society with a falling birth rate in Japan. In this situation, we are suffering from a shortfall in human resources as well as a shortage of workforce in rural regions. In addition, we are struggling with a protracted economic slump and excess concentration of population in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. It is an urgent national issue to consider how to live in this country and what kind of structure of society and administration policy is needed. It is necessary to clarify people’s desire for their way of living and social assistance to be provided. The aim of this study is to clarify the characteristics of regional issues and the degree of their seriousness in local municipalities of Japan. We conducted a questionnaire survey about regional agenda in all local municipalities in Japan. We obtained responses concerning the degree of seriousness of regional issues and degree of importance of policies. Based on the data gathered from the survey, it is apparent that many local municipalities are facing an aging population and declining population. We constructed a model to analyze factors for declining population. Using the model, it was clarified that a population’s age structure, job opportunities and income level affect the decline of population. In addition, we showed the way of the evaluation of state of local municipality.

Keywords: Evaluation, Local municipality, Regional analysis, Regional issue.

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Authors: Khaled S. Ragab

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This paper deals with behavior and capacity of punching shear force for flat slabs produced from steel fiber reinforced self compacting concrete (SFRSCC) by application nonlinear finite element method. Nonlinear finite element analysis on nine slab specimens was achieved by using ANSYS software. A general description of the finite element method, theoretical modeling of concrete and reinforcement are presented. The nonlinear finite element analysis program ANSYS is utilized owing to its capabilities to predict either the response of reinforced concrete slabs in the post elastic range or the ultimate strength of a flat slabs produced from steel fiber reinforced self compacting concrete (SFRSCC). In order to verify the analytical model used in this research using test results of the experimental data, the finite element analysis were performed then a parametric study of the effect ratio of flexural reinforcement, ratio of the upper reinforcement, and volume fraction of steel fibers were investigated. A comparison between the experimental results and those predicted by the existing models are presented. Results and conclusions may be useful for designers, have been raised, and represented.

Keywords: Nonlinear FEM, Punching shear behavior, Flat slabs and Steel fiber reinforced self compacting concrete (SFRSCC).

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Authors: Saeed Sayyad Hagh Shomar

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Traffic congestion pricing in urban streets is one of the most suitable options for solving the traffic problems and environment pollutions in the cities of the country. Unlike its acceptable outcomes, there are problems concerning the necessity to pay by the mass. Regarding the fact that public response in order to succeed in this strategy is so influential, studying their response and behavior to get the feedback and improve the strategies is of great importance. In this study, a questionnaire was used to examine the public reactions to the traffic congestion pricing schemes at the center of Tehran metropolis and the factors involved in people’s decision making in accepting or rejecting the congestion pricing schemes were assessed based on the data obtained from the questionnaire as well as the international experiences. Then, by analyzing and comparing the schemes, guidelines to reduce public objections to them are discussed. The results of reviewing and evaluating the public reactions show that all the pros and cons must be considered to guarantee the success of these projects. Consequently, with targeted public education and consciousness-raising advertisements, prior to initiating a scheme and ensuring the mechanism of the implementation after the start of the project, the initial opposition is reduced and, with the gradual emergence of the real and tangible benefits of its implementation, users’ satisfaction will increase.

Keywords: Demand management, international experiences, traffic congestion pricing, public acceptance, public objection.

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Authors: Abilio Avila, Orestis Terzidis

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A fundamental principle of Grounded Theory (GT) is to prevent the formation of preconceived theories. This implies the need to start a research study with an open mind and to avoid being absorbed by the existing literature. However, to start a new study without an understanding of the research domain and its context can be extremely challenging. This paper presents a research approach that simultaneously supports a researcher to identify and to focus on critical areas of a research project and prevent the formation of prejudiced concepts by the current body of literature. This approach comprises of four stages: Selection of secondary case studies, analysis of secondary case studies, development of an initial conceptual framework, development of an initial interview guide. The analysis of secondary case studies as a starting point for a research project allows a researcher to create a first understanding of a research area based on real-world cases without being influenced by the existing body of theory. It enables a researcher to develop through a structured course of actions a firm guide that establishes a solid starting point for further investigations. Thus, the described approach may have significant implications for GT researchers who aim to start a study within a given research area.

Keywords: Grounded theory, qualitative research, secondary case studies, secondary data analysis, interview guide.

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