Search results for: negative feedback optical amplifier

Authors: Barbara Gawda

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The study attempts to show the relationship between the structure of love by Sternberg and personality disorder traits. People with personality disorders experience dysfunctional emotionality. They manifest difficulties in experiencing love and closeness. Their relationships are marked by ambivalence and conflicts, e.g., as in borderline and narcissistic personality disorders. Considering love as a crucial human feeling, the study was planned to describe the associations between intimacy, passion, commitment, and personality disorder traits in a community sample. A sample of 194 participants was investigated (men and women in similar age and education levels). The following techniques were used: the SCID-II to assess personality disorders’ traits and the Triangular Love Scale by Sternberg to assess the components of love. Results show there are significant negative correlations between intimacy, commitment and personality disorders traits. Many personality disorders are associated with decreasing of intimacy and commitment, whereas passion was not associated with personality disorders’ traits. Results confirm that emotional impairments in personality disorders elicit conflicts and problems in relationships based on love and closeness.

Keywords: Intimacy, commitment, love, passion, personality disorders.

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Authors: Irina Spaka, Rita Birkenfelde, Svetlana Kozireva, Jevgenija Osmjana, Madara Upmane, ElenaKashuba, Irina Kholodnyuk Holodnuka

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Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is implicated in the pathogenesis of the endemic Burkitt-s lymphoma (BL). The EBVpositive BL-derived cell lines initially maintain the original tumor phenotype of EBV infection (latency I, LatI), but most of them drift toward a lymphoblast phenotype of EBV latency III (LatIII) during in vitro culturing. The aim of the present work was to characterize the B-cell subsets in EBV-positive BL cell lines and to verify whether a particular cell subset correlates with the type of EBV infection. The phenotype analysis of two EBV-negative and eleven EBV-positive (three of LatI and eight of LatIII) BL cell lines was performed by polychromatic flow cytomery, based on expression pattern of CD19, CD10, CD38, CD27, and CD5 markers. Two cell subsets, CD19+CD10+ and CD19+CD10-, were defined in LatIII BL cell lines. In both subsets, the CD27 and CD5 cell surface expression was detected in a proportion of the cells.

Keywords: B-cell subsets, Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines, EBV latency, phenotype profiles.

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Authors: Jayaletchumi T. Sambantha Moorthy, Suhaimi bin Ibrahim, Mohd Naz’ri Mahrin

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Most quality models have defined usability as a significant factor that leads to improving product acceptability, increasing user satisfaction, improving product reliability, and also financially benefitting companies. Usability is also the best factor that balances both the technical and human aspects of a software product, which is an important aspect in defining quality during software development process. A usability risk consist risk factors that could impact the usability of a software product thereby contributing to negative user experiences and causing a possible software product failure. Hence, it is important to mitigate and reduce usability risks in the software development process itself. By managing possible usability risks in software development process, failure of software product could be reduced. Therefore, this research uses the Delphi method to identify mitigation plans for reducing potential usability risks. The Delphi method is conducted with seven experts from the field of risk management and software development.

Keywords: Usability, Usability Risk, Risk Management, Risk Mitigation, Delphi Method.

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Authors: Tamer A. Tabet, Fauziah Abdul Aziz, Shahidan Radiman

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The spiral angle of the elementary cellulose fibril in the wood cell wall, often called microfibril angle, (MFA). Microfibril angle in hardwood is one of the key determinants of solid timber performance due to its strong influence on the stiffness, strength, shrinkage, swelling, thermal-dynamics mechanical properties and dimensional stability of wood. Variation of MFA (degree) in the S2 layer of the cell walls among Acacia mangium trees was determined using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The length and orientation of the microfibrils of the cell walls in the irradiated volume of the thin samples are measured using SAXS and optical microscope for 3D surface measurement. The undetermined parameters in the analysis are the MFA, (M) and the standard deviation (σФ) of the intensity distribution arising from the wandering of the fibril orientation about the mean value. Nine separate pairs of values are determined for nine different values of the angle of the incidence of the X-ray beam relative to the normal to the radial direction in the sample. The results show good agreement. The curve distribution of scattered intensity for the real cell wall structure is compared with that calculated with that assembly of rectangular cells with the same ratio of transverse to radial cell wall length. It is demonstrated that for β = 45°, the peaks in the curve intensity distribution for the real and the rectangular cells coincide. If this peak position is Ф45, then the MFA can be determined from the relation M = tan-1 (tan Ф45 / cos 45°), which is precise for rectangular cells. It was found that 92.93% of the variation of MFA can be attributed to the distance from pith to bark. Here we shall present our results of the MFA in the cell wall with respect to its shape, structure and the distance from pith to park as an important fast check and yet accurate towards the quality of wood, its uses and application.

Keywords: Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering, Microfibril Angle, MFA, rectangular cell wall and real cell wall, Acacia mangium.

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Authors: Mahmud Fotuhi-Firuzabad, Ali Abbaspour, Mohsen Mazidi, Mohamamd Rastegar

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To tackle the air pollution issues, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) are proposed as an appropriate solution. Charging a large amount of PHEV batteries, if not controlled, would have negative impacts on the distribution system. The control process of charging of these vehicles can be centralized in parking lots that may provide a chance for better coordination than the individual charging in houses. In this paper, an optimization-based approach is proposed to determine the optimum PHEV parking capacities in candidate nodes of the distribution system. In so doing, a profile for charging and discharging of PHEVs is developed in order to flatten the network load profile. Then, this profile is used in solving an optimization problem to minimize the distribution system losses. The outputs of the proposed method are the proper place for PHEV parking lots and optimum capacity for each parking. The application of the proposed method on the IEEE-34 node test feeder verifies the effectiveness of the method.

Keywords: Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), PHEV parking lot, V2G.

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Authors: G. Türkmen, Ö. Tekin, K. Kurtuluş, Y. Y. Yurtseven, M. Baran

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A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope mainly used in nanoscience and nanotechnology areas. Automatic image recognition and classification are among the general areas of application concerning SEM. In line with these usages, the present paper proposes a deep learning algorithm that classifies SEM images into nine categories by means of an online application to simplify the process. The NFFA-EUROPE - 100% SEM data set, containing approximately 21,000 images, was used to train and test the algorithm at 80% and 20%, respectively. Validation was carried out using a separate data set obtained from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey. To increase the accuracy in the results, the Inception ResNet-V2 model was used in view of the Fine-Tuning approach. By using a confusion matrix, it was observed that the coated-surface category has a negative effect on the accuracy of the results since it contains other categories in the data set, thereby confusing the model when detecting category-specific patterns. For this reason, the coated-surface category was removed from the train data set, hence increasing accuracy by up to 96.5%.

Keywords: Convolutional Neural Networks, deep learning, image classification, scanning electron microscope.

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Baradaran, Farhad Hamzezarghani, Mehdi Rastegari Ghiri, Zahra Mirsanjari

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Passive control methods can be utilized to build earthquake resistant structures, and also to strengthen the vulnerable ones. In this paper, we studied the effect of this system in increasing the ductility and energy dissipation and also modeled the behavior of this type of eccentric bracing, and compared the hysteresis diagram of the modeled samples with the laboratory samples. We studied several samples of frames with vertical shear-links in order to assess the behavior of this type of eccentric bracing. Each of these samples was modeled in finite element software ANSYS 9.0, and was analyzed under the static cyclic loading. It was found that vertical shear-links have a more stable hysteresis loops. Another analysis showed that using honeycomb beams as the horizontal beam along with steel reinforcement has no negative effect on the hysteresis behavior of the sample.

Keywords: Vertical shear-link, passive control, cyclic analysis, energy dissipation, honeycomb beam.

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Authors: Daniela Ocipova, Zuzana Vranayova, Ondrej Sikula

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Safe drinking water is one of the biggest issues facing the planet this century. The primary aim of this paper is to present our research focused on theoretical and experimental analysis of potable water and in-building water distribution systems from the point of view of microbiological risk on the basis of confrontation between the theoretical analysis and synthesis of gathered information in conditions of the Slovak Republic. The presence of the bacteria Legionella in water systems, especially in hot water distribution system, represents in terms of health protection of inhabitants the crucial problem which cannot be overlooked. Legionella pneumophila discovery, its classification and its influence on installations inside buildings are relatively new. There are a lot of guidelines and regulations developed in many individual countries for the design, operation and maintenance for tap water systems to avoid the growth of bacteria Legionella pneumophila, but in Slovakia we don-t have any. The goal of this paper is to show the necessity of prevention and regulations for installations inside buildings verified by simulation methods.

Keywords: Legionella pneumophila, water temperature, distribution system, risk analysis, simulations.

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Authors: U. Şendurur, B. Nazlıoğlu

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Using Turkish data, in this study it is investigated that whether a firm’s ownership structure has an impact on its stock prices after the crisis. A linear regression model is conducted on the data of non-financial firms that are trading in Istanbul Stock Exchange 100 Index (ISE 100) index. The findings show that, all explanatory variables such as inside ownership, largest ownership, concentrated ownership, foreign shareholders, family controlled and dispersed ownership are not very important to explain stock prices after the crisis. Family controlled firms and concentrated ownership is positively related to stock price, dispersed ownership, largest ownership, foreign shareholders, and inside ownership structures have negative interaction between stock prices, but because of the p value is not under the value of 0.05 this relation is not significant. In addition, the analysis shows that, the shares of firms that have inside, largest and dispersed ownership structure are outperform comparing with the other firms. Furthermore, ownership concentrated firms outperform to family controlled firms.

Keywords: Financial crisis, ISE 100 Index, Ownership structure, Stock price.

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Authors: Hafiz Muhammad Obaid, Bilal Wajid, Nauman Haider, Muhammad Zafrullah

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In this research article, a comprehensive analysis is performed to compare the diagnostic performance of soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and sTfR/log ferritin index tests in the differential diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and anemia of chronic disease (ACD). The analysis is performed for both sTfR and sTfR/log ferritin index using a set of 11 studies. The overall odds ratios for sTfR and sTfR/log ferritin index were 36.79 and 119.32 respectively, using 95% confidence interval. The relative sensitivity, specificity. positive likelihood ratio (LR) and negative LR values for sTfR in relation to sTfR/log ferritin index were 81% vs 85%, 84% vs 93%, 6.31 vs 13.95 and 0.18 vs 0.14 respectively. The summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves are also plotted for both sTfR and sTfR/log ferritin index. The area under SROC curves for sTfR and sTfR/log ferritin index was found to be 0.9296 and 0.9825 respectively. Although both tests are useful, the sTfR/log ferritin index seems to be more effective when compared with sTfR.

Keywords: Anemia, sTfR, iron deficiency, ferritin, odds ratio, sensitivity.

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Authors: Khosro Mohammadi

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The grain quality of chickpea in Iran is low and instable, which may be attributed to the evolution of cultivars with a narrow genetic base making them vulnerable to biotic stresses. Four chickpea varieties from diverse geographic origins were chosen and arranged in a randomized complete block design. Mesorhizobium sp. cicer strain SW7 was added to all the chickpea seeds. Chickpea seeds were planted on October 9, 2013. Each genotype was sown 5 m in length, with 35 cm inter-row spacing, in 3 rows. Weeds were removed manually in all plots. Results showed that Analysis of variance on the studied traits showed significant differences among genotypes for N, P, K and Fe contents of chickpea, but there is not a significant difference among Ca, Zn and Mg continents of chickpea. The experimental coefficient of variation (CV) varied from 7.3 to 15.8. In general, the CV value lower than 20% is considered to be good, indicating the accuracy of conducted experiments. The highest grain N was observed in Hashem and Jam cultivars. The highest grain P was observed in Jam cultivar. Phosphorus content (mg/100g) ranged from 142.3 to 302.3 with a mean value of 221.3. The negative correlation (-0.126) was observed between the N and P of chickpea cultivars. The highest K and Fe contents were observed in Jam cultivar.

Keywords: Cultivar, genotype, nitrogen, nutrient, yield.

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Authors: Eyup Yurt, Ahmet Kurnaz, Ismail Sahin

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The purpose of the study is to investigate the education faculty students’ attitudes towards e-learning according to different variables. In current study, the data were collected from 393 students of an education faculty in Turkey. In this study, theattitude towards e‐learning scale and the demographic information form were used to collect data. The collected data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient. It was found that there is a significant difference in students’ tendency towards e-learning and avoidance from e-learning based on gender. Male students have more positive attitudes towards e-learning than female students. Also, the students who used the internet lesshave higher levels of avoidance from e-learning. Additionally, it is found that there is a positive and significant relationship between the number of personal mobile learning devices and tendency towards e-learning. On the other hand, there is a negative and significant relationship between the number of personal mobile learning devices and avoidance from e-learning. Also, suggestions were presented according to findings.

Keywords: Education faculty students, attitude towards e-learning, gender, daily Internet usage time, m-learning.

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Authors: Luis Arias, Jorge E. Pezoa, Daniel Sbárbaro

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In this paper, an automated algorithm to estimate and remove the continuous baseline from measured spectra containing both continuous and discontinuous bands is proposed. The algorithm uses previous information contained in a Continuous Database Spectra (CDBS) to obtain a linear basis, with minimum number of sampled vectors, capable of representing a continuous baseline. The proposed algorithm was tested by using a CDBS of flame spectra where Principal Components Analysis and Non-negative Matrix Factorization were used to obtain linear bases. Thus, the radical emissions of natural gas, oil and bio-oil flames spectra at different combustion conditions were obtained. In order to validate the performance in the baseline estimation process, the Goodness-of-fit Coefficient and the Root Mean-squared Error quality metrics were evaluated between the estimated and the real spectra in absence of discontinuous emission. The achieved results make the proposed method a key element in the development of automatic monitoring processes strategies involving discontinuous spectral bands.

Keywords: Flame spectra, removing baseline, recovering spectrum.

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Authors: Paschalis Koutalakis, George N. Zaimes, Valasia Iakovoglou, Konstantinos Ioannou

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Mitigating soil erosion, especially in Mediterranean countries such as Greece, is essential in order to maintain environmental and agricultural sustainability. In this paper, scientific publications related to soil erosion studies in Greece were reviewed and categorized. To accomplish this, the online search engine of Scopus was used. The key words were “soil”, “erosion” and “Greece.” An analysis of the published articles was conducted at three levels: i) type of publication, ii) chronologic and iii) thematic. A hundred and ten publications published in scientific journals were reviewed. The results showed that the awareness regarding the soil erosion in Greece has increased only in the last decades. The publications covered a wide range of thematic categories such as the type of studied areas, the physical phenomena that trigger and influence the soil erosion, the negative anthropogenic impacts on them, the assessment tools that were used in order to examine the threat and the proper management. The analysis of these articles was significant and necessary in order to find the scientific gaps of soil erosion studies in Greece and help enhance the sustainability of soil management in the future.

Keywords: Climate change, agricultural sustainability, environmental sustainability, soil management.

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Authors: N. Aliasgharzad, A. Molaei, S. Oustan

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Soil microbial activity is adversely affected by pollutants such as heavy metals, antibiotics and pesticides. Organic amendments including sewage sludge, municipal compost and vermicompost are recently used to improve soil structure and fertility. But, these materials contain heavy metals including Pb, Cd, Zn, Ni and Cu that are toxic to soil microorganisms and may lead to occurrence of more tolerant microbes. Among these, Pb is the most abundant and has more negative effect on soil microbial ecology. In this study, Pb levels of 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 mg Pb [as Pb(NO3)2] per kg soil were added to the pots containing 2 kg of a loamy soil and incubated for 6 months at 25°C with soil moisture of - 0.3 MPa. Dehydrogenase activity of soil as a measure of microbial activity was determined on 15, 30, 90 and 180 days after incubation. Triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) was used as an electron acceptor in this assay. PICTs (€IC50 values) were calculated for each Pb level and incubation time. Soil microbial activity was decreased by increasing Pb level during 30 days of incubation but the induced tolerance appeared on day 90 and thereafter. During 90 to 180 days of incubation, the PICT was gradually developed by increasing Pb level up to 200 mg kg-1, but the rate of enhancement was steeper at higher concentrations.

Keywords: Induced tolerance, soil microorganisms, Pb, PICT, pollutants.

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Authors: V. Polenta, S. D. Garvey, D. Chronopoulos, A. C. Long, H. P. Morvan

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A parametric study on circular thin-walled pipes subjected to pure bending is performed. Both straight and curved pipes are considered. Ratio D/t, initial pipe curvature and internal pressure are the parameters varying in the analyses. The study is mainly FEA-based. It is found that negative curvatures (opposite to bending moment) considerably increase stiffness and buckling limit of the pipe when no internal pressure is acting and, similarly, positive curvatures decrease the stiffness and buckling limit. For internal pressurised pipes the effects of initial pipe curvature are less relevant. Results show that this phenomenon is in relationship with the cross-section deformation due to bending moment, which undergoes relevant ovalisation for no pressurised pipes and little ovalisation for pressurised pipes.

Keywords: Buckling, curved pipes, internal pressure, ovalisation, pure bending, thin-walled pipes.

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Authors: George Leventakis, George Kokkinis, Nikos Moustakidis, George Papalexandratos, Ioanna Vasiliadou

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Enhancing the feeling of public safety and crime prevention are tasks customarily assigned to the Police. Police departments have, however, recognized that traditional ways of policing methods are becoming obsolete; Community Policing (CP) philosophy; however, when applied appropriately, leads to seamless collaboration between various stakeholders like the Police, NGOs and the general public and provides the opportunity to identify risks, assist in solving problems of crime, disorder, safety and crucially contribute to improving the quality of life for everyone in a community. Social Media, on the other hand, due to its high level of infiltration in modern life, constitutes a powerful mechanism which offers additional and direct communication channels to reach individuals or communities. These channels can be utilized to improve the citizens’ perception of the Police and to capture individual and community needs, when their feedback is taken into account by Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in a structured and coordinated manner. This paper presents research conducted under INSPEC²T (Inspiring CitizeNS Participation for Enhanced Community PoliCing AcTions), a project funded by the European Commission’s research agenda to bridge the gap between CP as a philosophy and as an organizational strategy, capitalizing on the use of Social Media. The project aims to increase transparency, trust, police accountability, and the role of civil society. It aspires to build strong, trusting relationships between LEAs and the public, supporting two-way, contemporary communication while at the same time respecting anonymity of all affected parties. Results presented herein summarize the outcomes of four online multilingual surveys, focus group interviews, desktop research and interviews with experts in the field of CP practices. The above research activities were conducted in various EU countries aiming to capture requirements of end users from diverse backgrounds (social, cultural, legal and ethical) and determine public expectations regarding CP, community safety and crime prevention.

Keywords: Community partnerships, next generation community policing, public safety, social media.

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Authors: Irfah Najihah Basir Malan, Norhana Salamudin, Noryati Ahmad

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Corporate ownership structure is an important factor influencing firm performance. This study aims to answer the question whether pyramid structure has negative effect on firm value. This study is important because the ownership of public listed companies in Malaysia is highly concentrated. The concentrated ownership such as Malaysia, agency conflict is prevalent between controlling shareholders and minority shareholders. Accordingly, the dominant role of shareholders in firms allows the controlling shareholders (including managers) to expropriate the interest of the minority shareholders for their own private advantage. This research is conducted on pyramidal firms in Malaysia. Applying the Attig Model as the underlying statistical test, it is found that firm value is negatively related to pyramid ownership of Malaysian public listed firms due to the mismatch between cash flow rights and control rights. Future research needs to focus on identifying the heterogeneous factors that improve the generalizability of research.

Keywords: Pyramid structure, Cash flow right, Control right, Firm value, Attig model.

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Authors: Yoong H. Chan, Brenda C. T. Lee, Jin C. Lee

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As Malaysia aims to be a developed country by year 2020; the construction industry has since been identified as a major catalyst for the country to attain the status. It is one of the sectors that contribute to most environmental pollutions. It is, therefore, important for the industry to implement sustainable construction practices to reduce the negative impacts that it has on the environment. However, most Malaysian developers have placed much focus on market demand and economic factors; neglecting the need for attention on environmental issues. The practice of sustainable construction is deemed to be an obstacle to achieve short-term economic goals due to the higher cost incurred in the operations. Hence, choices need to be made and a balance needs to be struck in weighing the long-term environmental benefits against immediate economic factors. This paper discusses the challenges faced by Malaysian developers in adopting sustainable practices in the construction industry and the cause of these challenges. It also looks into the achievements and breakthroughs that developers in Malaysia have achieved so far. The paper aims explores the long-term benefits of sustainable practices that would potentially raise awareness on the feasibility and economic potential of sustainable construction.

Keywords: Construction industry, construction method, sustainability.

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Authors: Kai-Ying A. Chan, Leon A.G. Oerlemans, Marthinus W. Pretorius

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Science parks are often established to drive regional economic growth, especially in countries with emerging economies. However, mixed findings regarding the performances of science park firms are found in the literature. This study tries to explain these mixed findings by taking a relational approach and exploring (un)intended knowledge transfers between new technology-based firms (NTBFs) in the emerging South African economy. Moreover, the innovation outcomes of these NTBFs are examined by using a multi-dimensional construct. Results show that science park location plays a significant role in explaining innovative sales, but is insignificant when a different indicator of innovation outcomes is used. Furthermore, only for innovations that are new to the firms, both science park location and intended knowledge transfer via informal business relationships have a positive impact; whereas social relationships have a negative impact.

Keywords: knowledge flows, innovative performances, science parks, new technology-based firms

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Authors: Mazila Md-Yusuf, Fauziah Mohamad Yunus, Nur Zahraatul Lail Md Supaat

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Capital structure is one of the most important financial decisions in corporate financing strategy. It involves the choice of debt and equity level in financing a company-s operations. This study aims to investigate whether the capital structure choice of Malaysian electrical and electronic manufacturing companies that are listed in the Bursa Malaysia can be explained by factors that have been found by most studies as dominant determinants of capital structure (company size, profitability, asset tangibility, liquidity and growth). Using debt ratio as the proxy for capital structure and applying pooled ordinary least square multiple regression estimation, the results showed that on average, Malaysian electrical and electronic manufacturing companies used less debt in funding their business operations. The findings also showed that size and asset tangibility has a significant positive relationship with debt level, while liquidity has a negative significant relationship with leverage.

Keywords: Capital structure, capital structure theories, leverage, manufacturing companies.

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Authors: Ivan Pavic, Fran Galetic, Tomislava Pavic Kramaric

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The purpose of this article is to analyze the degree of concentration in the banking market in EU member states as well as to determine the impact of the length of EU membership on the degree of concentration. In that sense several analysis were conducted, specifically, panel analysis, calculation of correlation coefficient and regression analysis of the impact of the length of EU membership on the degree of concentration. Panel analysis was conducted to determine whether there is a similar trend of concentration in three groups of countries - countries with a low, moderate and high level of concentration. The conducted panel analysis showed that in EU countries with a moderate level of concentration, the level of concentration decreases. The calculation of correlation showed that, to some extent, with other influential factors, the length of EU membership negatively affects the market concentration of the banking market. Using the regression analysis for investigation of the influence of the length of EU membership on the level of concentration in the banking sector in a particular country, the results reveal that there is a negative effect of the length in EU membership on market concentration, although it is not significantly influential variable.

Keywords: Banking sector, concentration, EU

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Authors: Daniel Stamate

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One of the most used assumptions in logic programming and deductive databases is the so-called Closed World Assumption (CWA), according to which the atoms that cannot be inferred from the programs are considered to be false (i.e. a pessimistic assumption). One of the most successful semantics of conventional logic programs based on the CWA is the well-founded semantics. However, the CWA is not applicable in all circumstances when information is handled. That is, the well-founded semantics, if conventionally defined, would behave inadequately in different cases. The solution we adopt in this paper is to extend the well-founded semantics in order for it to be based also on other assumptions. The basis of (default) negative information in the well-founded semantics is given by the so-called unfounded sets. We extend this concept by considering optimistic, pessimistic, skeptical and paraconsistent assumptions, used to complete missing information from a program. Our semantics, called extended well-founded semantics, expresses also imperfect information considered to be missing/incomplete, uncertain and/or inconsistent, by using bilattices as multivalued logics. We provide a method of computing the extended well-founded semantics and show that Kripke-Kleene semantics is captured by considering a skeptical assumption. We show also that the complexity of the computation of our semantics is polynomial time.

Keywords: Logic programs, imperfect information, multivalued logics, bilattices, assumptions.

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Authors: S. Jahani, V. Choopankareh

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Many people lost their life caused by environmental pollution every year. The negative effects of environmental crises appear to be much higher in Asian countries. The most important environmental issue in the developing countries and especially in Tehran, to our best knowledge, is air pollution that has affected many aspects of life in society. Environmental topics related to technology’s development have been salient issues among the main concerns of designers. Green facades are the most considerable solutions which designers and architectures are focused on, all over the world. But there are lots of behavioral and psychological problems about this point. In this line, this excavation has tried to reveal the cultural and psychological influences of green façade in developing countries like Tehran. Green façades in developing countries are so useless, although they are so expensive. As a matter of fact, users consider green facade as a decorative item. This research is an attempt to recognize the reasons which show green façades as worthless element. Also, some solutions are presented to promote green façades in the developing countries as an intrinsic solution. There are so many environmental threats, especially about air pollution, for a city as Tehran, which might be solved by green facades.

Keywords: Air pollution, developing countries, effects, green facades.

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Authors: Safaee Safiollah , Javadi Alimohammad, Javadi Maryam

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Internet access is a vital part of the modern world and an important tool in the education of our children. It is present in schools, homes and even shopping malls. Mastering the use of the internet is likely to be an important skill for those entering the job markets of the future. An internet user can be anyone he or she wants to be in an online chat room, or play thrilling and challenging games against other players from all corners of the globe. It seems at present time (or near future) for many people relationships in the real world may be neglected as those in the virtual world increase in importance. Internet is provided a fast mode of transportation caused freedom from family bonds and mixing with different cultures and new communities. This research is an attempt to study effect of Internet on Social capital. For this purpose a survey technique on the sample size amounted 168 students of Payame Noor University of Kermanshah city in country of Iran were considered. Degree of social capital is moderate. With the help of the Multi-variable Regression, variables of Iranian message attractive, Interest to internet with effect of positive and variable Creating a cordial atmosphere with negative effect be significant.

Keywords: Internet, Social Capital, social participation Social trust

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Authors: Pibool Waijittragum

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The purpose of this research is to analyze the marketing strategies of Thai Halal products which related to the way of life for Thai Muslims. The expected benefit is the marketing strategy for brand building process for Halal products in Thailand. 4 elements of marketing strategies which necessary for the brand identity creation is the research framework: consists of Attributes, Benefits, Values and Personality. The research methodology was applied using qualitative and quantitative; 19 marketing experts with dynamic roles in Thai consumer products were interviewed. In addition, a field survey of 122 Thai Muslims selected from 175 Muslim communities in Bangkok was studied. Data analysis will be according to 5 categories of Thai Halal product: 1) Meat 2) Vegetable and Fruits 3) Instant foods and Garnishing ingredient 4) Beverages, Desserts and Snacks 5) Hygienic daily products; such as soap, shampoo and body lotion. The results will explain some suitable representation in the marketing strategies of Thai Halal products as are: 1) Benefit; the characteristics of the product with its benefit. Consumers will purchase this product with the reason of; it is beneficial nutrients product, there are no toxic or chemical residues. Fresh and clean materials 2) Attribute; the exterior images that attract to consumer. Consumers will purchase this product with the reason of; there is a standard proof mark, food and drug secure proof mark and Halal products mark. Packaging and its materials should be draw attention. Use an attractive graphic. Use outstanding images of product, material or ingredients. 3) Value; the value of products that affect to consumers perception; it is healthy products. Accumulate quality of life. It is a product of expertise, manufacturing of research result. Consumers are important. It’s sincere, honest and reliable to all. 4) Personality; reflection of consumers thought. The Personality feedback to them after they were consumes this product; they are health care persons. They are the rational person, moral person, justice person and thoughtful person like a progressive thinking.

Keywords: Marketing strategies, Product identity, Branding, Thai Halal products.

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Authors: Bhim Singh

Abstract:

Due to increased pressure from global competitors, manufacturing organizations are switching over to lean philosophies from traditional mass production. Lean manufacturing is a manufacturing philosophy which focuses on elimination of various types of wastes and creates maximum value for the end customers. Lean thinking aims to produce high quality products and services at the lowest possible cost with maximum customer responsiveness. Indian Industry is facing lot of problems in this transformation from traditional mass production to lean production. Through this paper an attempt has been made to identify various lean implementation hurdles in Indian industries with the help of a structured survey. Identified hurdles are grouped with the help of factor analysis and rated by calculating descriptive statistics. To show the effect of lean implementation hurdles a hypothesis “Organizations having higher level of lean implementation hurdles will have poor (negative) performance” has been postulated and tested using correlation matrix between performance parameters of the organizations and identified hurdles. The findings of the paper will be helpful to prepare road map to identify and eradicate the lean implementation hurdles.

Keywords: Factor analysis, global competition, lean implementation and lean hurdles.

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Authors: Ebere U. Okolo, Eunice C. Okpalaojiego, Chimaobi V. Okolo

Abstract:

Some investors prefer to keep their money in the bank rather than invest in Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) due to the high cost of running small and medium scale enterprise in Enugu State. This cost primarily concerns multiple-taxation, enormous tax burdens, levies and charges. This study examines the effect of multiple-taxation on the investments in SMEs. The study used survey design with SME population of 80. Questionnaire was used to collect data. Simple percentages/frequencies were used to analyze the data and the research hypotheses were tested with ANOVA. It was found that multiple taxation has negative effect on SMEs investment. Furthermore, the relationship between SMEs investment and its ability to pay tax is significant. The researcher recommends that government should develop a tax policy that considers the enhancement of SMEs’ capital allowance when imposing taxes. Government should also consider a tax policy that encourages investment in SMEs by consolidating all taxes in one slot and latter disseminate to various government purses rather than having many closely related but different taxes at the same time.

Keywords: Investments, multiple taxation, small and medium enterprises.

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Authors: Hiroyuki Nishida, Taku Nonomura, Takashi Abe

Abstract:

Wall-surface jet induced by the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) has been proposed as an actuator for active flow control in aerodynamic applications. Discharge plasma evolution of the DBD plasma actuator was simulated based on a simple fluid model, in which the electron, one type of positive ion and negative ion were taken into account. Two-dimensional simulation was conducted, and the results are in agreement with the insights obtained from experimental studies. The simulation results indicate that the discharge mode changes depending on applied voltage slope; when the applied voltage is positive-going with high applied voltage slope, the corona-type discharge mode turns into the streamer-type discharge mode and the threshold voltage slope is around 300 kV/ms in this simulation. The characteristics of the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) force, which is the source of the wall-surface jet, also change depending on the discharge mode; the tentative peak value of the EHD force during the positive-going voltage phase is saturated by the periodical formation of the streamer-type discharge.

Keywords: Dielectric barrier discharge, Plasma actuator, Fluid simulation.

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Authors: J. Ruenin, S. Sukprasong, R. Phatthanakun, N. Chomnawang, P. Kuntanawat

Abstract:

In this paper, a simple microfluidic device for monitoring algal cell behavior is proposed. An array of algal microwells is fabricated by PDMS soft-lithography using X-ray LIGA mold, placed on a glass substrate. Two layers of replicated PDMS and substrate are attached by oxygen plasma bonding, creating a microchannel for the microfluidic system. Algal cell are loaded into the microfluidic device, which provides positive charge on the bottom surface of wells. Algal cells, which are negative charged, can be attracted to the bottom of the wells via electrostatic interaction. By varying the concentration of algal cells in the loading suspension, it is possible to obtain wells with a single cell. Liquid medium for cells monitoring are flown continuously over the wells, providing nutrient and waste exchange between the well and the main flow. This device could lead to the uncovering of the quantitative biology of the algae, which is a key to effective and extensive algal utilizations in the field of biotechnology, food industry and bioenergy research and developments.

Keywords: Algal cells, microfluidic device, X-ray LIGA, X-ray lithography, metallic mold, synchrotron light, PDMS

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