Search results for: NH3 uniformity index

Authors: N. Talisa, K. Rungsarid, P. Chakrit

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The objectives of the research are to study the existing agricultural patterns, and to evaluate the sustainability of agricultural on economic, social and environmental aspects. The samplings were the representatives of the agriculturist group from Ban Paew district, Samut Sakorn province by purposive sampling method of 30 households. The tools being used were interview forms together with the Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) and the Participation Rural Appraisal (PRA). The information collected was analyzed with the principle of Content Analysis andusing Descriptive Statistics. After that all the information gotten was analyze the sustainability on the household level and village level. The research result can be concluded as follows: The agricultural Patterns: For most of the cultivation main crop was fruit trees planted and the supplement crop was around the patch or added other plants in the trenches. There were trenches for the cultivating water. The product distribution was by selling (97.5%) and the selling to middle man was the highest number (62.5%). Evaluating the sustainability of the agricultural by the indicators which were appropriate to the area: For the agricultural sustainability on the household level it was found that only one household had sustainable, others household had conditioned sustainable. For on the village level it was found that the sustainability on the issue of agricultural knowledge training had the lowest level (Sustainability index = 31.67%). Secondary was the acknowledging about soil information (Sustainability index = 35.0), and the household labors on agriculture, net return over cash cost (Sustainability index = 55.0%) respectively. Performance percentage is 48.81 %. It was brought to the conclusion that this area did not have the agricultural sustainability.

Keywords: Sustainability of agricultural, sustainability indicators, sustainability index.

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Authors: Leila Ramezani, Mohammad Saeid Mossadegh

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Different uses of land by humans alter the physico chemical characteristics of the soil and affect the soil microhabitat. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of tillage in three different human land uses on microarthropods biodiversity in Khuzestan province, southwest of Iran. Three microhabitats including a permanent grassland with old Date-Palms around and no till system, and two wheat fields, one with conservative agricultural practices and low till system and the other with conventional agricultural practices (deep tillage), were compared for the biodiversity of the two main groups of soil microarthropods (Oribatida and Collembola). Soil samples were collected from the top to a depth of 15 cm bimonthly during a period of two years. Significant differences in the biodiversity index of microarthropods were observed between the different tillage systems (F = 36.748, P =0.000). Indeed, analysis of species diversity showed that the diversity index at the conservative field with low till (2.58 ± 0.01) was higher (p < 0.05) than the conventional tilled field (2.45 ± 0.08) and the diversity of natural grassland was the highest (2.79 ± 0.19, p < 0.05). Indeed, the index of biodiversity and population abundance differed significantly in different seasons (p < 0.00).

Keywords: Biodiversity, collembola, microarthropods, oribatida.

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Authors: C. S. Saini

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The composite flour blend consisting of corn, pearl millet, black gram and wheat bran in the ratio of 80:5:10:5 was taken to prepare the extruded product and their effect on physical properties of extrudate was studied. The extrusion process was conducted in laboratory by using twin screw extruder. The physical characteristics evaluated include lateral expansion, bulk density, water absorption index, water solubility index, and rehydration ratio and moisture retention. The Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) was used to decide the level of processing variables i.e. feed moisture content (%), screw speed (rpm), and barrel temperature (oC) for the experiment. The data obtained after extrusion process were analyzed by using response surface methodology. A second order polynomial model for the dependent variables was established to fit the experimental data. The numerical optimization studies resulted in 127°C of barrel temperature, 246 rpm of screw speed, and 14.5% of feed moisture as optimum variables to produce acceptable extruded product. The responses predicted by the software for the optimum process condition resulted in lateral expansion 126%, bulk density 0.28 g/cm3, water absorption index 4.10 g/g, water solubility index 39.90%, rehydration ratio 544% and moisture retention 11.90% with 75% desirability.

Keywords: Black gram, corn flour, extrusion, physical characteristics.

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Authors: Umut Gunduz, Mehtap Hisarciklilar, Tolga Kaya

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Studies revealing the positive relationship between trade and income are often criticized with the argument that “development should mean more than rising incomes". Taking this argument as a base and utilizing panel data, Davies and Quinlivan [1] have demonstrated that increases in trade are positively associated with future increases in social welfare as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI). The purpose of this study is twofold: Firstly, utilizing an income based country classification; it is aimed to investigate whether the positive association between foreign trade and HDI is valid within all country groups. Secondly, keeping the same categorization as a base; it is aimed to reveal whether the positive link between trade and HDI still exists when the income components of the index are excluded. Employing a panel data framework of 106 countries, this study reveals that the positive link between trade and human development is valid only for high and medium income countries. Moreover, the positive link between trade and human development diminishes in lower-medium income countries when only non-income components of the index are taken into consideration.

Keywords: HDI, foreign trade, development, panel data.

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Authors: Nga T.T. Mai, Emilía Martinsdóttir, Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir, Gudrun Olafsdóttir, Sigurjón Arason

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Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) is an important commercial fish and shows to be more and more demanded for human consumption. Therefore, it is very important to find good methods for monitoring the freshness of the fish in order to keep it in the best quality for human consumption. In this study, the fish was stored in ice up to 2 weeks. Quality changes during storage were assessed by the Quality Index Method (QIM), quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) and Torry scheme, by texture measurements: puncture tests and Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) tests on texture analyzer TA.XT2i, and by electronic nose (e-nose) measurements using FreshSense instrument. Storage time of herring in ice could be estimated by QIM with ± 2 days using 5 herring per lot. No correlation between instrumental texture parameters and storage time or between sensory and instrumental texture variables was found. E-nose measurements could be use to detect the onset of spoilage.

Keywords: Herring, Quality Index Method (QIM), freshness, storage time.

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Authors: Z. Khan, O. Moselhi, T. Zayed

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Development of levels of service in municipal context is a flexible vehicle to assist in performing quality-cost trade-off analysis for municipal services. This trade-off depends on the willingness of a community to pay as well as on the condition of the assets. Community perspective of the performance of an asset from service point of view may be quite different from the municipality perspective of the performance of the same asset from condition point of view. This paper presents a three phased level of service based methodology for water mains that consists of :1)development of an Analytical Hierarchy model of level of service 2) development of Fuzzy Weighted Sum model of water main condition index and 3) deriving a Fuzzy logic based function that maps level of service to asset condition index. This mapping will assist asset managers in quantifying condition improvement requirement to meet service goals and to make more informed decisions on interventions and relayed priorities.

Keywords: Asset Management, Level of Service, Condition Index, Analytical Hierarchy, Fuzzy Logic.

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Authors: Nadia Albu, Cătălin Nicolae Albu, Mădălina Maria Gîrbină, Maria Iuliana Sandu

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Professions are concerned about the public image they have, and this public image is represented by stereotypes. Research is needed to understand how accountants are perceived by different actors in the society in different contexts, which would allow universities, professional bodies and employers to adjust their strategies to attract the right people to the profession and their organizations. We aim to develop in this paper a framework to be used in empirical testing in different environments to determine and analyze the accountant-s stereotype. This framework will be useful in analyzing the nuances associated to the accountant-s image and in understanding the factors that may lead to uniformity in the profession and of those leading to diversity from one context (country, type of countries, region) to another.

Keywords: accounting profession, accounting stereotype, framework, public image

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Authors: M. Shiva Prasad, S. R. Atchuta, T. Vijayaraghavan, S. Sakthivel

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The world is in need of efficient energy conversion technologies which are affordable, accessible, and sustainable with eco-friendly nature. Solar energy is one of the cornerstones for the world’s economic growth because of its abundancy with zero carbon pollution. Among the various solar energy conversion technologies, solar thermal technology has attracted a substantial renewed interest due to its diversity and compatibility in various applications. Solar thermal systems employ concentrators, tracking systems and heat engines for electricity generation which lead to high cost and complexity in comparison with photovoltaics; however, it is compatible with distinct thermal energy storage capability and dispatchable electricity which creates a tremendous attraction. Apart from that, employing cost-effective solar selective receiver tube in a concentrating solar thermal (CST) system improves the energy conversion efficiency and directly reduces the cost of technology. In addition, the development of solar receiver tubes by low cost methods which can offer high optical properties and corrosion resistance in an open-air atmosphere would be beneficial for low and medium temperature applications. In this regard, our work opens up an approach which has the potential to achieve cost-effective energy conversion. We have developed a highly selective tandem absorber coating through a facile wet chemical route by a combination of chemical oxidation, sol-gel, and nanoparticle coating methods. The developed tandem absorber coating has gradient refractive index nature on stainless steel (SS 304) and exhibited high optical properties (α ≤ 0.95 & ε ≤ 0.14). The first absorber layer (Cr-Mn-Fe oxides) developed by controlled oxidation of SS 304 in a chemical bath reactor. A second composite layer of ZrO₂-SiO₂ has been applied on the chemically oxidized substrate by So-gel dip coating method to serve as optical enhancing and corrosion resistant layer. Finally, an antireflective layer (MgF₂) has been deposited on the second layer, to achieve > 95% of absorption. The developed tandem layer exhibited good thermal stability up to 250 °C in open air atmospheric condition and superior corrosion resistance (withstands for > 200h in salt spray test (ASTM B117)). After the successful development of a coating with targeted properties at a laboratory scale, a prototype of the 1 m tube has been demonstrated with excellent uniformity and reproducibility. Moreover, it has been validated under standard laboratory test condition as well as in field condition with a comparison of the commercial receiver tube. The presented strategy can be widely adapted to develop highly selective coatings for a variety of CST applications ranging from hot water, solar desalination, and industrial process heat and power generation. The high-performance, cost-effective medium temperature receiver tube technology has attracted many industries, and recently the technology has been transferred to Indian industry.

Keywords: Concentrated solar thermal system, solar selective coating, tandem absorber, ultralow refractive index.

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Authors: Lv Yuhua

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In this paper, by constructing a special cone and using fixed point theorem and fixed point index theorem of cone, we get the existence of positive solution for a class of singular eigenvalue value problems with p-Laplace operator, which improved and generalized the result of related paper.

Keywords: Cone, fixed point index, eigenvalue problem, p-Laplace operator, positive solutions.

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Authors: U. Bawa

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Macro invertebrates have been used to monitor organic pollution in rivers and streams. Several biotic indices based on macro invertebrates have been developed over the years including the Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP). A new biotic index, the Gammarus:Asellus ratio has been recently proposed as an index of organic pollution. This study tested the validity of the Gammarus:Asellus ratio as an index of organic pollution, by examining the relationship between the Gammarus:Asellus ratio and physical chemical parameters, and other biotic indices such as BMWP and, Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT) from lakes and streams at Markeaton Park, Allestree Park and Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire. Macro invertebrates were sampled using the standard five minute kick sampling techniques physical and chemical environmental variables were obtained based on standard sampling techniques. Eighteen sites were sampled, six sites from Markeaton Park (three sites across the stream and three sites across the lake). Six sites each were also sampled from Allestree Park and Kedleston Hall lakes. The Gammarus:Asellus ratio showed an opposite significant positive correlations with parameters indicative of organic pollution such as the level of nitrates, phosphates, and calcium and also revealed a negatively significant correlations with other biotic indices (BMWP/ASPT). The BMWP score correlated positively significantly with some water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen and flow rate, but revealed no correlations with other chemical environmental variables. The BMWP score was significantly higher in the stream than the lake in Markeaton Park, also The ASPT scores appear to be significantly higher in the upper Lakes than the middle and lower lakes. This study has further strengthened the use of BMWP/ASPT score as an index of organic pollution. But additional application is required to validate the use of Gammarus:Asellus as a rapid bio monitoring tool.

Keywords: Asellus, Biotic index, Gammarus, Organic pollution, Macro invertebrate.

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Authors: Mst Ilme Faridatul, Bo Wu

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Multi-temporal urban land cover mapping is of paramount importance for monitoring urban sprawl and managing the ecological environment. For diversified urban activities, it is challenging to map land covers in a complex urban environment. Spectral indices have proved to be effective for mapping urban land covers. To improve multi-temporal urban land cover classification and mapping, we evaluate the performance of three spectral indices, e.g. modified normalized difference bare-land index (MNDBI), tasseled cap water and vegetation index (TCWVI) and shadow index (ShDI). The MNDBI is developed to evaluate its performance of enhancing urban impervious areas by separating bare lands. A tasseled cap index, TCWVI is developed to evaluate its competence to detect vegetation and water simultaneously. The ShDI is developed to maximize the spectral difference between shadows of skyscrapers and water and enhance water detection. First, this paper presents a comparative analysis of three spectral indices using Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM), Thematic Mapper (TM) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) data. Second, optimized thresholds of the spectral indices are imputed to classify land covers, and finally, their performance of enhancing multi-temporal urban land cover mapping is assessed. The results indicate that the spectral indices are competent to enhance multi-temporal urban land cover mapping and achieves an overall classification accuracy of 93-96%.

Keywords: Land cover, mapping, multi-temporal, spectral indices.

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Authors: Li Xiguang

Abstract:

In this paper, by constructing a special operator and using fixed point index theorem of cone, we get the sufficient conditions for symmetric positive solution of a class of nonlinear singular boundary value problems with p-Laplace operator, which improved and generalized the result of related paper.

Keywords: Banach space, cone, fixed point index, singular differential equation, p-Laplace operator, symmetric solutions.

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Authors: Moumita Palchaudhuri, Sujata Biswas

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Drought is universally acknowledged as a phenomenon associated with scarcity of water. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) expresses the actual rainfall as standardized departure from rainfall probability distribution function. In this study severity and spatial pattern of meteorological drought was analyzed in the Puruliya District, West Bengal, India using multi-temporal SPI. Daily gridded data for the period 1971-2005 from 4 rainfall stations surrounding the study area were collected from IMD, Pune, and used in the analysis. Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to generate drought severity maps for the different time scales and months of the year. Temporal SPI graphs show that the maximum SPI value (extreme drought) occurs in station 3 in the year 1993. Mild and moderate droughts occur in the central portion of the study area. Severe and extreme droughts were mostly found in the northeast, northwest and the southwest part of the region.

Keywords: Standardized Precipitation Index, Meteorological Drought, Geographical Information System, Drought severity.

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Authors: Antigoni Panagiotopoulou, Lemonia Ragia

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High-resolution satellite images can provide detailed information about change detection on the earth. In the present work, QuickBird images of spatial resolution 60 cm/pixel and WorldView images of resolution 30 cm/pixel are utilized to perform automatic change detection in urban and suburban areas of Crete, Greece. There is a relative time difference of 13 years among the satellite images. Multiindex scene representation is applied on the images to classify the scene into buildings, vegetation, water and ground. Then, automatic change detection is made possible by pixel-per-pixel comparison of the classified multi-temporal images. The vegetation index and the water index which have been developed in this study prove effective. Furthermore, the proposed change detection approach not only indicates whether changes have taken place or not but also provides specific information relative to the types of changes. Experimentations with other different scenes in the future could help optimize the proposed spectral indices as well as the entire change detection methodology.

Keywords: Change detection, multiindex scene representation, spectral index, QuickBird, WorldView.

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Authors: Hossein Taherian Far, Ali Bazaee

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Achieving continuous sustained economic growth and following economic development can be the target for all countries which are looking for it. In this regard, distribution industry plays an important role in growth and development of any nation. So, estimating the efficiency and productivity of the so called industry and identifying factors influencing it, is very necessary. The objective of the present study is to measure the efficiency and productivity of seven branches of Nina Distribution Company using window data envelopment analysis and Malmquist productivity index from spring 2013 to summer 2015. In this study, using criteria of fixed assets, payroll personnel, operating costs and duration of collection of receivables were selected as inputs and people and net sales, gross profit and percentage of coverage to customers were selected as outputs. Then, the process of performance window data envelopment analysis was driven and process efficiency has been measured using Malmquist index. The results indicate that the average technical efficiency of window Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model and fluctuating trend is sustainable. But the average management efficiency in window DEA model is related with negative growth (decline) of about 13%. The mean scale efficiency in all windows, except in the second one which is faced with 8%, shows growth of 18% compared to the first window. On the other hand, the mean change in total factor productivity in all branches of the industry shows average negative growth (decrease) of 12% which are the result of a negative change in technology.

Keywords: Nina Distribution Company branches, window data envelopment analysis, Malmquist productivity index.

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Authors: Riham A. Ragheb

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Tourism can do a great deal of good in destinations, whether it be by bringing economic benefits to local communities, helping with conservation efforts or in placing a value on aspects of cultural heritage. As responsive travelers, we must all try to do more of the good and less of the negative. This is simply description of the sustainable tourism. This paper aims to set some criteria of successful sustainable tourism development and then through these criteria analyzing the development of some resorts in Egypt known as sustainable resorts. Hence, a comprehensive improvement of the touristic areas is certainly needed to ensure a successful sustainable tourism development radiated the sense of uniformity and coherence. Egypt can benefit from these criteria to develop its resorts in order to preserve and revitalize its unique natural character and achieve mixed uses and tourism development.

Keywords: Egypt, resorts, sustainable tourism, tourism development.

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Authors: K. Tadjer, M. Bensaibi, A. Chaid

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The seismic vulnerability of an urban area is of a great deal for local authorities especially those facing earthquakes. So, it is important to have an efficient tool to assess the vulnerability of existing buildings. The use of the VIP (Vulnerability Index Program) and the GIS (Geographic Information System) let us to identify the most vulnerable districts of an urban area. The use of the vulnerability index method lets us to assess the vulnerability of the center town of Blida (Algeria) which is a historical town and which has grown enormously during the last decades. In this method, three levels of vulnerability are defined. The GIS has been used to build a data base in order to perform different thematic analyses. These analyses show the seismic vulnerability of Blida.

Keywords: Blida, Earthquake, GIS, Seismic vulnerability, Urban area.

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Authors: Li Xiguang

Abstract:

In this paper, by constructing a special operator and using fixed point index theorem of cone, we get the sufficient conditions for symmetric positive solution of a class of nonlinear singular boundary value problems with p-Laplace operator, which improved and generalized the result of related paper.

Keywords: Banach space, cone, fixed point index, singular differential equation, p-Laplace operator, symmetric solutions.

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Authors: Feng Yue, Fei Dai

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With the rapid development of urbanization process in China, its environmental protection pressure is severely tested. So, analyzing and optimizing the landscape pattern is an important measure to ease the pressure on the ecological environment. This paper takes Wuhan Urban Development Zone as the research object, and studies its landscape pattern evolution and quantitative optimization strategy. First, remote sensing image data from 1990 to 2015 were interpreted by using Erdas software. Next, the landscape pattern index of landscape level, class level, and patch level was studied based on Fragstats. Then five indicators of ecological environment based on National Environmental Protection Standard of China were selected to evaluate the impact of landscape pattern evolution on the ecological environment. Besides, the cost distance analysis of ArcGIS was applied to simulate wildlife migration thus indirectly measuring the improvement of ecological environment quality. The result shows that the area of land for construction increased 491%. But the bare land, sparse grassland, forest, farmland, water decreased 82%, 47%, 36%, 25% and 11% respectively. They were mainly converted into construction land. On landscape level, the change of landscape index all showed a downward trend. Number of patches (NP), Landscape shape index (LSI), Connection index (CONNECT), Shannon's diversity index (SHDI), Aggregation index (AI) separately decreased by 2778, 25.7, 0.042, 0.6, 29.2%, all of which indicated that the NP, the degree of aggregation and the landscape connectivity declined. On class level, the construction land and forest, CPLAND, TCA, AI and LSI ascended, but the Distribution Statistics Core Area (CORE_AM) decreased. As for farmland, water, sparse grassland, bare land, CPLAND, TCA and DIVISION, the Patch Density (PD) and LSI descended, yet the patch fragmentation and CORE_AM increased. On patch level, patch area, Patch perimeter, Shape index of water, farmland and bare land continued to decline. The three indexes of forest patches increased overall, sparse grassland decreased as a whole, and construction land increased. It is obvious that the urbanization greatly influenced the landscape evolution. Ecological diversity and landscape heterogeneity of ecological patches clearly dropped. The Habitat Quality Index continuously declined by 14%. Therefore, optimization strategy based on greenway network planning is raised for discussion. This paper contributes to the study of landscape pattern evolution in planning and design and to the research on spatial layout of urbanization.

Keywords: Landscape pattern, optimization strategy, ArcGIS, Erdas, landscape metrics, landscape architecture.

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Authors: Chiung-Ju Huang, Yuan-Hong Ho

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This study utilizes the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Fiscal Rules Dataset focusing on four specific fiscal rules such as expenditure rule, revenue rule, budget balance rule, and debt rule and five main characteristics of each fiscal rule those are monitoring, enforcement, coverage, legal basis, and escape clause to construct the Fiscal Rule Index for nine countries in the Asia-Pacific region from 1996 to 2015. After constructing the fiscal rule index for each country, we utilize the Panel Generalized Method of Moments (Panel GMM) by using the constructed fiscal rule index to examine the effectiveness of fiscal rules in reducing procyclicality. Empirical results show that national fiscal rules have a significantly negative impact on procyclicality of government expenditure. Additionally, stricter fiscal rules combined with high government effectiveness are effective in reducing procyclicality of government expenditure. Results of this study indicate that for nine Asia-Pacific countries, policymakers’ use of fiscal rules and government effectiveness to reducing procyclicality of fiscal policy are effective.

Keywords: Counter-cyclical policy, fiscal rules, government effectiveness, procyclical policy.

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Authors: Tae Jin Choi, Jong Ok Kim, Sang Min Jin, Gilwon Yoon

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Analysis of EEG brainwave provides information on mental or emotional states. One of the particular states that can have various applications in human machine interface (HMI) is concentration. 8-channel EEG signals were measured and analyzed. The concentration index was compared during resting and concentrating periods. Among eight channels, locations the frontal lobe (F_p1 and F_p2) showed a clear increase of the concentration index during concentration regardless of subjects. The rest six channels produced conflicting observations depending on subjects. At this time, it is not clear whether individual difference or how to concentrate made these results for the rest six channels. Nevertheless, it is expected that F_p1 and F_p2 are promising locations for extracting control signal for HMI applications.

Keywords: Concentration, EEG, human machine interface.

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Authors: T. Pavic Kramaric, M. Kitic

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The purpose of this article is to analyze the market structure as well as the degree of concentration in insurance markets in new EU member states. The analysis was conducted using several most commonly used concentration indicators such as concentration ratio, Herfindahl-Hirschman index and entropy index. These indicators were calculated for the 2000-2010 period on the basis of total gross written premium as the most relevant indicator of market power in insurance markets. The results of the analysis showed that in all observed countries the level of concentration decreased, though with significantly different intensity. Yet, in some countries, the level of concentration remains very high.

Keywords: insurance market, concentration, new EU member states

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Authors: Manoochehr Gholipoor

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The response of growth and yield of rainfed-chickpea to population density should be evaluated based on long-term experiments to include the climate variability. This is achievable just by simulation. In this simulation study, this evaluation was done by running the CYRUS model for long-term daily weather data of five locations in Iran. The tested population densities were 7 to 59 (with interval of 2) stands per square meter. Various functions, including quadratic, segmented, beta, broken linear, and dent-like functions, were tested. Considering root mean square of deviations and linear regression statistics [intercept (a), slope (b), and correlation coefficient (r)] for predicted versus observed variables, the quadratic and broken linear functions appeared to be appropriate for describing the changes in biomass and grain yield, and in harvest index, respectively. Results indicated that in all locations, grain yield tends to show increasing trend with crowding the population, but subsequently decreases. This was also true for biomass in five locations. The harvest index appeared to have plateau state across low population densities, but decreasing trend with more increasing density. The turning point (optimum population density) for grain yield was 30.68 stands per square meter in Isfahan, 30.54 in Shiraz, 31.47 in Kermanshah, 34.85 in Tabriz, and 32.00 in Mashhad. The optimum population density for biomass ranged from 24.6 (in Tabriz) to 35.3 stands per square meter (Mashhad). For harvest index it varied between 35.87 and 40.12 stands per square meter.

Keywords: Rainfed-chickpea, biomass, harvest index, grain yield, simulation.

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Authors: Imen Dhaou

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This study examines conditional Value at Risk by applying the GJR-EVT-Copula model, and finds the optimal portfolio for eight Dow Jones Islamic-conventional pairs. Our methodology consists of modeling the data by a bivariate GJR-GARCH model in which we extract the filtered residuals and then apply the Peak over threshold model (POT) to fit the residual tails in order to model marginal distributions. After that, we use pair-copula to find the optimal portfolio risk dependence structure. Finally, with Monte Carlo simulations, we estimate the Value at Risk (VaR) and the conditional Value at Risk (CVaR). The empirical results show the VaR and CVaR values for an equally weighted portfolio of Dow Jones Islamic-conventional pairs. In sum, we found that the optimal investment focuses on Islamic-conventional US Market index pairs because of high investment proportion; however, all other index pairs have low investment proportion. These results deliver some real repercussions for portfolio managers and policymakers concerning to optimal asset allocations, portfolio risk management and the diversification advantages of these markets.

Keywords: CVaR, Dow Jones Islamic index, GJR-GARCH-EVT-pair copula, portfolio optimization.

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Authors: Jahanfar Daneshian, P. Jonoubi, D. Barari Tari

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In order to investigate water deficit stress on 24 of soybean (Glycine Max. L) cultivars and lines in temperate climate, an experiment was conducted in Iran Seed and Plant Improvement Institute. Stress levels were irrigation after evaporation of 50, 100, 150 mm water from pan, class A. Randomized Completely Block Design was arranged for each stress levels. Some traits such as, node number, plant height, pod number per area, grain number per pod, grain number per area, 1000 grains weight, grain yield and harvest index were measured. Results showed that water deficit stress had significant effect on node number, plant height, pod number per area, grain number per pod, grain number per area, 1000 grains weight and harvest index. Also all of agronomic traits except harvest index influenced significantly by cultivars and lines. The least and most grain yield was belonged to Ronak X Williams and M41 x Clark respectively.

Keywords: Soybean, water deficit stress, Agronomic traits, Yield

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Authors: Dongseok Cho, Mitchell Driedger, Sera Han, Noman Khan, Mohammed Elmorsy, Mohamad El-Hajj

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Since the approval of the COVID-19 vaccine in late 2020, vaccination rates have varied around the globe. Access to a vaccine supply, mandated vaccination policy, and vaccine hesitancy contribute to these rates. This study used COVID-19 vaccination data from Our World in Data and the Multilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19 to create two COVID-19 vaccination indices. The first index is the Vaccine Utilization Index (VUI), which measures how effectively each country has utilized its vaccine supply to doubly vaccinate its population. The second index is the Vaccination Acceleration Index (VAI), which evaluates how efficiently each country vaccinated their populations within their first 150 days. Pearson correlations were created between these indices and country indicators obtained from the World Bank. Results of these correlations identify countries with stronger Health indicators such as lower mortality rates, lower age-dependency ratios, and higher rates of immunization to other diseases display higher VUI and VAI scores than countries with lesser values. VAI scores are also positively correlated to Governance and Economic indicators, such as regulatory quality, control of corruption, and GDP per capita. As represented by the VUI, proper utilization of the COVID-19 vaccine supply by country is observed in countries that display excellence in health practices. A country’s motivation to accelerate its vaccination rates within the first 150 days of vaccinating, as represented by the VAI, was largely a product of the governing body’s effectiveness and economic status, as well as overall excellence in health practises.

Keywords: Data mining, Pearson Correlation, COVID-19, vaccination rates, hesitancy.

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Authors: Chiu-Wen Chen, Chih-Feng Chen, Cheng-Di Dong

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The distribution, enrichment, and accumulation of zinc (Zn) in the sediments of Kaohsiung Ocean Disposal Site (KODS), Taiwan were investigated. Sediment samples from two outer disposal site stations and nine disposed stations in the KODS were collected per quarterly in 2009 and characterized for Zn, aluminum, organic matter, and grain size. Results showed that the mean Zn concentrations varied from 48 mg/kg to 456 mg/kg. Results from the enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) analyses imply that the sediments collected from the KODS can be characterized between moderate and moderately severe degree enrichment and between none and none to medium accumulation of Zn, respectively. However, results of potential ecological risk index indicate that the sediment has low ecological potential risk. The EF, Igeo, and Zn concentrations at the disposed stations were slightly higher than those at outer disposal site. This indicated that the disposed area centers may be subjected to the disposal impaction of harbor dredged sediments.

Keywords: ocean dispose; zinc; enrichment factor; potential ecological risk index.

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Authors: Takashi Kaburagi, Masashi Takenaka, Yosuke Kurihara, Takashi Matsumoto

Abstract:

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common mental illnesses today. It is believed to be caused by a combination of several factors, including stress. Stress can be quantitatively evaluated using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), one of the best indices to evaluate anxiety. Although STAI scores are widely used in applications ranging from clinical diagnosis to basic research, the scores are calculated based on a self-reported questionnaire. An objective evaluation is required because the subject may intentionally change his/her answers if multiple tests are carried out. In this article, we present a modified index called the “multi-channel Laterality Index at Rest (mc-LIR)” by recording the brain activity from a wider area of the frontal lobe using multi-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The presented index aims to measure multiple positions near the F_pz defined by the international 10-20 system positioning. Using 24 subjects, the dependencies on the number of measuring points used to calculate the mc-LIR and its correlation coefficients with the STAI scores are reported. Furthermore, a simple linear regression was performed to estimate the STAI scores from mc-LIR. The cross-validation error is also reported. The experimental results show that using multiple positions near the Fpz will improve the correlation coefficients and estimation than those using only two positions.

Keywords: Stress, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, frontal lobe, state-trait anxiety inventory score.

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Authors: Dong Wook Lee, Seung Hyun Kim

Abstract:

Geological structure formed by volcanic activities shows polymorphic characteristics due to repeated cooling and hardening of lava. The Jeju region is showing polymorphic characteristics in which clinker layers are irregularly distributed along with vesicular basalt due to volcanic activities. Accordingly, resident damages and environmental disputes occur frequently in the Jeju region due to blasting. The purpose of this study is to develop a blast vibration equation considering the polymorphic characteristics of basaltic ground in Jeju. The blast vibration equation consists of a functional formula of the blasting vibration constant K that changes according to ground characteristics, and attenuation index n. The case study results in Jeju showed that if there are clinker layers, attenuation index n showed a distribution of -1.32~-1.81, whereas if there are no clinker layers, n was -2.79. Moreover, if there are no clinker layers, the frequency of blast vibration showed a high frequency band from 30Hz to 100Hz, while in rocks with clinker layers it showed a low frequency band from 10Hz to 20Hz.

Keywords: Blast vibration equation, basaltic ground, clinker layer, blasting vibration constant, attenuation index.

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Authors: B.Tavakoly Sany, A. Salleh, A.H .Sulaiman, A. Mehdinia, GH. Monazami

Abstract:

One year (November 2009-October 2010) sediment monitoring was used to evaluate pollution status, concentration and distribution of heavy metals (As, Cu, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn) in West Port of Malaysia. Sediment sample were collected from nine stations every four months. Geo-accumulation factor and Pollution Load Index (PLI) were estimated to better understand the pollution level in study area. The heavy metal concentration (Mg/g dry weight) were ranged from 20.2 to 162 for As, 7.4 to 27.6 for Cu, 0.244 to 3.53 for Cd, 11.5 to 61.5 for Cr, 0.11 to 0.409 for Hg, 7.2 to 22.2 for Ni, 22.3 to 80 for Pb and 23 to 98.3 for Zn. In general, concentration some metals (As,Cd, Hg and Pb) was higher than background values that are considered as serious concern for aquatic life and the human health.

Keywords: Heavy metals, Sediment Quality, geo-accumulationindex, Pollution Load Index

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