Search results for: Measurement of Market Orientation

Authors: Ahmet Yetik, Seyit Ali Kara, Cevat Özarpa

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Load changes occur on natural gas and oil pipelines due to natural disasters. The displacement of the soil around the natural gas and oil pipes due to situations that may cause erosion, such as earthquakes, landslides, and floods, is the source of this load change. The exposure of natural gas and oil pipes to variable loads causes deformation, cracks, and breaks in these pipes. Such cracks and breaks can cause significant damage to people and the environment, including the risk of explosions. Especially with the examinations made after natural disasters, it can be easily understood which of the pipes has sustained more damage in those quake-affected regions. It has been determined that earthquakes in Türkiye have caused permanent damage to pipelines. This project was initiated in response to the identification of cracks and gas leaks in the insulation gaskets placed in the pipelines, especially at the junction points. In this study, a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) application has been developed to monitor load changes caused by natural disasters. The developed SCADA application monitors the changes in the x, y, and z axes of the stresses occurring in the pipes with the help of strain gauge sensors placed on the pipes. For the developed SCADA system, test setups in accordance with the standards were created during the fieldwork. The test setups created were integrated into the SCADA system, and the system was followed up. Thanks to the SCADA system developed with the field application, the load changes that will occur on the natural gas and oil pipes are instantly monitored, and the accumulations that may create a load on the pipes and their surroundings are immediately intervened, and new risks that may arise are prevented. It has contributed to energy supply security, asset management, pipeline holistic management, and overall sustainability in the industry.

Keywords: Earthquake, natural gas pipes, oil pipes, voltage measurement, landslide.

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Authors: Chukiat Chaiboonsri, Satawat Wannapan

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This paper used an asymmetric informative concept to apply in the macroeconomic model estimation of the tourism sector in Thailand. The variables used to statistically analyze are Thailand international and domestic tourism revenues, the expenditures of foreign and domestic tourists, service investments by private sectors, service investments by the government of Thailand, Thailand service imports and exports, and net service income transfers. All of data is a time-series index which was observed between 2002 and 2015. Empirically, the tourism multiplier and accelerator were estimated by two statistical approaches. The first was the result of the Generalized Method of Moments model (GMM) based on the assumption which the tourism market in Thailand had perfect information (Symmetrical data). The second was the result of the Maximum Entropy Bootstrapping approach (MEboot) based on the process that attempted to deal with imperfect information and reduced uncertainty in data observations (Asymmetrical data). In addition, the tourism leakages were investigated by a simple model based on the injections and leakages concept. The empirical findings represented the parameters computed from the MEboot approach which is different from the GMM method. However, both of the MEboot estimation and GMM model suggests that Thailand’s tourism sectors are in a period capable of stimulating the economy.

Keywords: Thailand tourism, maximum entropy bootstrapping approach, macroeconomic model, asymmetric information.

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Authors: Mohammed Gamil Montasser, Angelo Battaglia

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Tourism is making its presence felt across the Sultanate of Oman. The story is one of the most recognized phenomena as a sustainable solid growth and is considered a remarkable outcome for any destination. The competitive situation and challenges within the tourism industry worldwide entail a better understanding of the destination position and its image to achieve Oman’s aspiration to retain its international reputation as one of the most desirable destinations in the Middle East. To access general perceptions of Oman’s attributes, their importance and their influences among U.S. tourists, an online survey was conducted with 522 American travelers who have traveled internationally, including non-visitors, virtual-visitors and visitors to Oman. This research involved a total of 36 attributes in the survey. Participants were asked to rate their agreement on how each attribute represented Oman and how important each attribute was for selecting destinations on 5- point Likert Scale. They also indicated if each attribute has a positive, neutral or negative influence on their destination selection. Descriptive statistics and importance performance analysis (IPA) were conducted. IPA illustrated U.S. tourists’ perceptions of Oman’s destination attributes and their importance in destination selection on a matrix with four quadrants, divided by actual mean value in each grid for importance (M=3.51) and performance (M=3.57). Oman tourism organizations and destination managers may use these research findings for future marketing and management efforts toward the U.S. travel market.

Keywords: Analysis of importance and performance, destination attributes, Oman’s position, U.S. tourists.

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Authors: Etim, Victoria Enefiok, Dada, Oluseyi Akintunde, Bassey Okon

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Phonological disorder is a serious and disturbing issue to many parents and teachers. Efforts towards resolving the problem have been undermined by other specific disabilities which were hidden to many regular and special education teachers. It is against this background that this study was motivated to provide data on the prevalence of phonological disorders in children with specific language impairment (CWSLI) as the first step towards critical intervention. The study was a survey of 15 CWSLI from St. Louise Inclusive schools, Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. Phonological Processes Diagnostic Scale (PPDS) with 17 short sentences, which cut across the five phonological processes that were examined, were validated by experts in test measurement, phonology and special education. The respondents were made to read the sentences with emphasis on the targeted sounds. Their utterances were recorded and analyzed in the language laboratory using Praat Software. Data were also collected through friendly interactions at different times from the clients. The theory of generative phonology was adopted for the descriptive analysis of the phonological processes. Data collected were analyzed using simple percentage and composite bar chart for better understanding of the result. The study found out that CWSLI exhibited the five phonological processes under investigation. It was revealed that 66.7%, 80%, 73.3%, 80%, and 86.7% of the respondents have severe deficit in fricative stopping, velar fronting, liquid gliding, final consonant deletion and cluster reduction, respectively. It was therefore recommended that a nationwide survey should be carried out to have national statistics of CWSLI with phonological deficits and develop intervention strategies for effective therapy to remediate the disorder.

Keywords: Language disorders, phonology, phonological processes, specific language impairment.

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Authors: Titus Amodu Umoru

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Global economy today is full of sophistication. All over the world, business and marketing practices are undergoing unprecedented transformation. In realization of this fact, the federal government of Nigeria has put in place a robust transformation agenda in order to put Nigeria in a better position to be a competitive player and in the process transform all sectors of its economy. New technologies, especially the Internet, are the driving force behind this transformation. However, technology has inadvertently affected the way businesses are done thus necessitating the acquisition of new skills. In developing countries like Nigeria, citizens are still battling with effective application of those technologies. Obviously, students of business education need to acquire relevant business knowledge to be able to transit into the world of work on graduation from school and compete favorably in the labor market. Therefore, effective utilization of social media by both teachers and students can help extensively in empowering students with the needed skills. Social media which is a group of Internet-based applications built on the ideological foundations of Web 2.0, that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content, and if incorporated into the classroom experience may be the needed answer to unemployment and poverty in Nigeria as beneficiaries can easily connect with existing and potential enterprises and customers, engage with them and reinforce mutual business benefits. Challenges and benefits of social media use in education in Nigeria universities were revealed in this study.

Keywords: Challenges, opportunities, utilization, social media, business education.

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Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou, Maria F. Sartzetaki

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Transport infrastructure assets are key components of the national asset portfolio. The decision to invest in a new infrastructure in transports could take from a few years to some decades. This is mainly because of the need to reserve and spent many capitals, the long payback period, the number of the stakeholders involved in decision process and –many times- the investment and business risks are high. Therefore, the decision assessment framework is an essential challenge linked with the key decision factors meet the stakeholder expectations highlighting project trade-offs, financial risks, business uncertainties and market limitations. This paper examines the decision process for new transport infrastructure projects in cross border regions, where a wide range of stakeholders with different expectation is involved. According to a consequences analysis systemic approach, the relationship of transport infrastructure development, economic system development and stakeholder expectation is analyzed. Adopting the on system of system methodological approach, the decision making framework, variables, inputs and outputs are defined, highlighting the key shareholder’s role and expectations. The application provides the methodology outputs presenting the proposed decision framework for a strategic railway project in north Greece deals with the upgrade of the existing railway corridor connecting Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria.

Keywords: System of system approach, decision making, cross-border, infrastructure project.

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Authors: Chee Teck Phua, Gaëlle Lissorgues

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Blood pulse is an important human physiological signal commonly used for the understanding of the individual physical health. Current methods of non-invasive blood pulse sensing require direct contact or access to the human skin. As such, the performances of these devices tend to vary with time and are subjective to human body fluids (e.g. blood, perspiration and skin-oil) and environmental contaminants (e.g. mud, water, etc). This paper proposes a simulation model for the novel method of non-invasive acquisition of blood pulse using the disturbance created by blood flowing through a localized magnetic field. The simulation model geometry represents a blood vessel, a permanent magnet, a magnetic sensor, surrounding tissues and air in 2-dimensional. In this model, the velocity and pressure fields in the blood stream are described based on Navier-Stroke equations and the walls of the blood vessel are assumed to have no-slip condition. The blood assumes a parabolic profile considering a laminar flow for blood in major artery near the skin. And the inlet velocity follows a sinusoidal equation. This will allow the computational software to compute the interactions between the magnetic vector potential generated by the permanent magnet and the magnetic nanoparticles in the blood. These interactions are simulated based on Maxwell equations at the location where the magnetic sensor is placed. The simulated magnetic field at the sensor location is found to assume similar sinusoidal waveform characteristics as the inlet velocity of the blood. The amplitude of the simulated waveforms at the sensor location are compared with physical measurements on human subjects and found to be highly correlated.

Keywords: Blood pulse, magnetic sensing, non-invasive measurement, magnetic disturbance.

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Authors: R. Lekaviciene, D. Antiniene

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Attempts to split the construct of emotional intelligence (EI) into separate components – ability to understand own and others’ emotions and ability to control own and others’ emotions may be meaningful more theoretically than practically. In real life, a personality encounters various emotional situations that require exhibition of complex EI to solve them. Emotional situation solution tests enable measurement of such undivided EI. The object of the present study is to determine sociodemographic and other factors that are important for emotional situation solutions. The study involved 1,430 participants from various regions of Lithuania. The age of participants varied from 17 years to 27 years. Emotional social and interpersonal situation scale EI-DARL-V2 was used. Each situation had two mandatory answering formats: The first format contained assignments associated with hypothetical theoretical knowledge of how the situation should be solved, while the second format included the question of how the participant would personally resolve the given situation in reality. A questionnaire that contained various sociodemographic data of subjects was also presented. Factors, statistically significant for emotional situation solution, have been determined: gender, family structure, the subject’s relation with his or her mother, mother’s occupation, subjectively assessed financial situation of the family, level of education of the subjects and his or her parents, academic achievement, etc. The best solvers of emotional situations are women with high academic achievements. According to their chosen study profile/acquired profession, they are related to the fields in social sciences and humanities. The worst solvers of emotional situations are men raised in foster homes. They are/were bad students and mostly choose blue-collar professions.

Keywords: Emotional intelligence, emotional situations, solution of situation, young people.

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Authors: Natalia Polkanova, Sergey Kazakov

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In the second decade of the XXI century the role of tourism destination attractiveness is becoming increasingly important for destination management. Competition in tourism market moves from ordinary service quality to provision of unforgettable emotional experience for tourists. The main purpose of the present study is to identify the perception of the tourism destinations based on the number of factors related to its tourist attractiveness. The content analysis method was used to analyze the on-line tourist feedback data immensely available in Social Media and in travel related sites. The collected data made it possible to procure the information which is necessary to understand the perceived attractiveness of the destinations and key destination appeal factors that are important for Russian leisure travelers. Results of the present study demonstrate key attractiveness factors or destination ‘properties’ that were unveiled as the most important for Russian leisure tourists. The study targeted five main Spanish tourism destinations that initially were determined by in-depth interview with a number of Russian nationals who had visited Spain at least once. The research results can be useful for Spanish Tourism Organization Representation office in Russia as well as for the other national tourism organizations in order to promote their respective destinations for Russian travelers focusing on main attractiveness factors identified in this study.

Keywords: Tourism destination, destination attractiveness, destination competitiveness, content analysis, unstructured image.

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Authors: David Ruiz, Carlos Nava, Roberto Carbajal

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The psychological profile has become one of the most important sources of information when it comes to individual selection and the hiring process in any organization. Psychological instruments are used to collect data about variables that are considered critically important for performance in work. However, because of conceptual chaos in organizational psychology, most of the information provided by psychological testing is not directly useful for Mexican human resources professionals to take hiring decisions. The aims of this paper are 1) to underline the lack of conceptual precision in theoretical testing foundations in Mexico and 2) presenting a reliability and validity analysis of a frustration tolerance instrument created as an alternative to a heuristically conduct individual assessment in organizations. First, a description of assessment conditions in Mexico is made. Second, an instrument and a theoretical framework is presented as an alternative to the assessment practices in the country. A total of 65 Psychology Iztacala Superior Studies Faculty students were assessed. Cronbach´s alpha coefficient was calculated and an exploratory factor analysis was carried out to prove the scale unidimensionality. Reliability analysis revealed good internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach’s α = 0.825). Factor analysis produced 4 factors for the scale. However, factor loadings and explained variation give proof to the scale unidimensionality. It is concluded that the instrument has good psychometric properties that will allow human resources professionals to collect useful data. Different possibilities to conduct psychological assessment are suggested for future development.

Keywords: Psychological assessment, frustration tolerance, human resources, organizational psychology.

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Authors: Mesbaholdin Salami, Farzad Movahedi Sobhani, Mohammad Sadegh Ghazizadeh

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Evaluation of organizational performance is among the most important measures that help organizations and entities continuously improve their efficiency. Organizations can use the existing data and results from the comparison of units under investigation to obtain an estimation of their performance. The Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) is an important index in the evaluation of overall productivity, which considers technological developments and technical efficiency at the same time. This article proposed a model based on the multistage MPI, considering limited data (Grey’s theory). This model can evaluate the performance of units using limited and uncertain data in a multistage process. It was applied by the electricity market manager to Iran’s electric power supply chain (EPSC), which contains uncertain data, to evaluate the performance of its actors. Results from solving the model showed an improvement in the accuracy of future performance of the units under investigation, using the Grey’s system theory. This model can be used in all case studies, in which MPI is used and there are limited or uncertain data.

Keywords: Malmquist Index, Grey's Theory, Charnes Cooper & Rhodes (CCR) Model, network data envelopment analysis, Iran electricity power chain.

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Authors: Abdullah I. Alkraiji, Thomas W. Jackson, Ian R. Murray

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The proliferation of health data standards today is somewhat overlapping and conflicting, resulting in market confusion and leading to increasing proprietary interests. The government role and support in standardization for health data are thought to be crucial in order to establish credible standards for the next decade, to maximize interoperability across the health sector, and to decrease the risks associated with the implementation of non-standard systems. The normative literature missed out the exploration of the different steps required to be undertaken by the government towards the development of national health data standards. Based on the lessons learned from a qualitative study investigating the different issues to the adoption of health data standards in the major tertiary hospitals in Saudi Arabia and the opinions and feedback from different experts in the areas of data exchange and standards and medical informatics in Saudi Arabia and UK, a list of steps required towards the development of national health data standards was constructed. Main steps are the existence of: a national formal reference for health data standards, an agreed national strategic direction for medical data exchange, a national medical information management plan and a national accreditation body, and more important is the change management at the national and organizational level. The outcome of this study can be used by academics and practitioners to develop the planning of health data standards, and in particular those in developing countries.

Keywords: Interoperability, Case Study, Health Data Standards, Medical Data Exchange, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors: B. Nassar, W. Hussein, M. Mokhtar

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The critical concern of satellite operations is to ensure the health and safety of satellites. The worst case in this perspective is probably the loss of a mission, but the more common interruption of satellite functionality can result in compromised mission objectives. All the data acquiring from the spacecraft are known as Telemetry (TM), which contains the wealth information related to the health of all its subsystems. Each single item of information is contained in a telemetry parameter, which represents a time-variant property (i.e. a status or a measurement) to be checked. As a consequence, there is a continuous improvement of TM monitoring systems to reduce the time required to respond to changes in a satellite's state of health. A fast conception of the current state of the satellite is thus very important to respond to occurring failures. Statistical multivariate latent techniques are one of the vital learning tools that are used to tackle the problem above coherently. Information extraction from such rich data sources using advanced statistical methodologies is a challenging task due to the massive volume of data. To solve this problem, in this paper, we present a proposed unsupervised learning algorithm based on Principle Component Analysis (PCA) technique. The algorithm is particularly applied on an actual remote sensing spacecraft. Data from the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) was acquired under two operation conditions: normal and faulty states. The models were built and tested under these conditions, and the results show that the algorithm could successfully differentiate between these operations conditions. Furthermore, the algorithm provides competent information in prediction as well as adding more insight and physical interpretation to the ADCS operation.

Keywords: Space telemetry monitoring, multivariate analysis, PCA algorithm, space operations.

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Authors: Robin Lok-Wang

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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how engineering students’ motivation and interests are maintained through a project-based course in their lifelong learning journeys. In recent years, different pedagogies of teaching including entrepreneurship, experiential and lifelong learnings as well as dream builder, etc., have been widely used for education purpose. University advocates hands-on practice, learning by experiencing and experimenting throughout different courses. Students are not limited to gain knowledge via traditional lectures, laboratory demonstration, tutorial and so on. The capabilities to identify both complex problems and its corresponding solutions in daily lives are one of the criteria/skill sets required for graduates to obtain their careers at professional organizations and companies. A project-based course, namely Mechatronic Design and Prototyping, was developed for students to design and build a physical prototype for solving existing problems in their daily lives, thereby encouraging them as an entrepreneur to explore further possibilities to commercialize their designed prototypes and launch it to the market. Feedbacks from students show that they are keen to propose their own ideas freely with guidance from instructor instead of using either suggested or assigned topics. Proposed ideas of the prototypes reflect that if students’ interests are maintained, they acquire the knowledges and skills they need, including essential communication, logical thinking and more importantly problem solving for their lifelong learning journey.

Keywords: Problem solving, lifelong learning, entrepreneurship, mechanical engineering.

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Authors: L. C. Moreira, M. Kauffman

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This paper outlines the results of an experimental research on deploying an emerging augmented reality (AR) system for real-time task assistance (or work instructions) of highly customised and high-risk manual operations. The focus is on human operators’ training effectiveness and performance and the aim is to test if such technologies can support enhancing the knowledge retention levels and accuracy of task execution to improve health and safety (H&S). An AR enhanced assembly method is proposed and experimentally tested using a real industrial process as case study for electric vehicles’ (EV) battery module assembly. The experimental results revealed that the proposed method improved the training practices and performance through increases in the knowledge retention levels from 40% to 84%, and accuracy of task execution from 20% to 71%, when compared to the traditional paper-based method. The results of this research validate and demonstrate how emerging technologies are advancing the choice for manual, hybrid or fully automated processes by promoting the XR-assisted processes, and the connected worker (a vision for Industry 4 and 5.0), and supporting manufacturing become more resilient in times of constant market changes.

Keywords: Augmented reality, extended reality, connected worker, XR-assisted operator, manual assembly 4.0, industry 5.0, smart training, battery assembly.

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Authors: B. Ghanbarian-Alavijeh, A.M. Liaghat, S. Sohrabi

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Saturated hydraulic conductivity is one of the soil hydraulic properties which is widely used in environmental studies especially subsurface ground water. Since, its direct measurement is time consuming and therefore costly, indirect methods such as pedotransfer functions have been developed based on multiple linear regression equations and neural networks model in order to estimate saturated hydraulic conductivity from readily available soil properties e.g. sand, silt, and clay contents, bulk density, and organic matter. The objective of this study was to develop neural networks (NNs) model to estimate saturated hydraulic conductivity from available parameters such as sand and clay contents, bulk density, van Genuchten retention model parameters (i.e. r θ , α , and n) as well as effective porosity. We used two methods to calculate effective porosity: : (1) eff s FC φ =θ -θ , and (2) inf φ =θ -θ eff s , in which s θ is saturated water content, FC θ is water content retained at -33 kPa matric potential, and inf θ is water content at the inflection point. Total of 311 soil samples from the UNSODA database was divided into three groups as 187 for the training, 62 for the validation (to avoid over training), and 62 for the test of NNs model. A commercial neural network toolbox of MATLAB software with a multi-layer perceptron model and back propagation algorithm were used for the training procedure. The statistical parameters such as correlation coefficient (R2), and mean square error (MSE) were also used to evaluate the developed NNs model. The best number of neurons in the middle layer of NNs model for methods (1) and (2) were calculated 44 and 6, respectively. The R2 and MSE values of the test phase were determined for method (1), 0.94 and 0.0016, and for method (2), 0.98 and 0.00065, respectively, which shows that method (2) estimates saturated hydraulic conductivity better than method (1).

Keywords: Neural network, Saturated hydraulic conductivity, Soil physical properties.

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Authors: Ching-Tsan Chiang, Sheng-Jie Yang, Jing-Kai Huang

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The purpose of this research is to develop and apply the RSCMAC to enhance the dynamic accuracy of Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS devices provide services of accurate positioning, speed detection and highly precise time standard for over 98% area on the earth. The overall operation of Global Positioning System includes 24 GPS satellites in space; signal transmission that includes 2 frequency carrier waves (Link 1 and Link 2) and 2 sets random telegraphic codes (C/A code and P code), on-earth monitoring stations or client GPS receivers. Only 4 satellites utilization, the client position and its elevation can be detected rapidly. The more receivable satellites, the more accurate position can be decoded. Currently, the standard positioning accuracy of the simplified GPS receiver is greatly increased, but due to affected by the error of satellite clock, the troposphere delay and the ionosphere delay, current measurement accuracy is in the level of 5~15m. In increasing the dynamic GPS positioning accuracy, most researchers mainly use inertial navigation system (INS) and installation of other sensors or maps for the assistance. This research utilizes the RSCMAC advantages of fast learning, learning convergence assurance, solving capability of time-related dynamic system problems with the static positioning calibration structure to improve and increase the GPS dynamic accuracy. The increasing of GPS dynamic positioning accuracy can be achieved by using RSCMAC system with GPS receivers collecting dynamic error data for the error prediction and follows by using the predicted error to correct the GPS dynamic positioning data. The ultimate purpose of this research is to improve the dynamic positioning error of cheap GPS receivers and the economic benefits will be enhanced while the accuracy is increased.

Keywords: Dynamic Error, GPS, Prediction, RSCMAC.

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Authors: Kubra Sayin, Derya Arslan

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Red pepper (Capsicum annum L.) has long been recognized as a good source of antioxidants, being rich in ascorbic acid and other phytochemicals. In Turkish cuisine red pepper is sometimes consumed raw in salads and baked as a garnish, but its most wide consumption type is red pepper paste. The processing of red pepper into pepper paste includes various thermal treatment steps such as heating and pasteurizing. There are reports demonstrating an enhancement or reduction in antioxidant activity of vegetables after thermal treatment. So this study was conducted to investigate the total phenolic, ascorbic acid and total carotenoids as well as free radical scavenging activity of raw red pepper and various red pepper pastes obtainable on the market. The samples were analyzed for radical-scavenging activity (RSA) and total polyphenol (TP) content using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Folin-Ciocalteu methods, respectively. Total carotenoids and ascorbic acid contents were determined spectrophotometrically. Results suggest that hot pepper paste contained significantly (P<0.05) higher concentrations of TP than sweet pepper paste. However there is no significant (P>0.05) difference in RSA, ascorbic acid and total carotenoids content between sweet and hot red pepper paste products. It is concluded that the red pepper paste, that has a wide range of consumption in Turkish cuisine, presents a good dose of phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity and it should be regarded as a functional food.

Keywords: Antioxidant properties, Red pepper paste, Total carotenoids, Total phenolic content.

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Authors: Pricillia Priska Sianita

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An aesthetic facial profile is one of the goals in Orthodontics treatment. However, this is not easily achieved, especially in patients with Class II Division 1 malocclusion who have the clinical characteristics of convex profile and significant skeletal discrepancy due to mandibular growth deficiency. Malocclusion with skeletal problems require proper treatment timing for growth stimulation, and it must be done in early age and in need of good cooperation from the patient. If this is not done and the patient has passed the growth period, the ideal treatment is orthognathic surgery which is more complicated and more painful. The growth stimulation of skeletal malocclusion requires a careful cephalometric evaluation ranging from diagnosis to determine the parts that require stimulation to post-treatment evaluation to see the success achieved through changes in the measurement of the skeletal parameters shown in the cephalometric analysis. This case report aims to describe skeletal changes cephalometrically that were achieved through orthodontic treatment in growing period. Material and method: Lateral Cephalograms, pre-treatment, and post-treatment of cases of Class II Division 1 malocclusion is selected from a collection of cephalometric radiographic in a private clinic. The Cephalogram is then traced and measured for the skeletal parameters. The result is noted as skeletal condition data of pre-treatment and post-treatment. Furthermore, superimposition is done to see the changes achieved. The results show that growth stimulation through orthodontic treatment can solve the skeletal problem of Class II Division 1 malocclusion and the skeletal changes that occur can be verified through cephalometric analysis. The skeletal changes have an impact on the improvement of patient's facial profile. To sum up, the treatment timing on a skeletal malocclusion is very important to obtain satisfactory results for the improvement of the aesthetic facial profile, and skeletal changes can be verified through cephalometric evaluation of pre- and post-treatment.

Keywords: Cephalometric evaluation, Class II Division 1 malocclusion, growth stimulation, skeletal changes, skeletal problems.

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Authors: Ammar S. M. Moohialdin, Bambang T. Suhariadi, Mohsin Siddiqui

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This paper addresses the application of physiological status monitoring (PSM) for assessing the impact of harsh weather conditions on sports activities in universities in Saudi Arabia. Real sports measurement was conducted during sports activities such that the physiological status (HR and BR) of five students were continuously monitored by using Zephyr BioHarness^TM 3.0 sensors in order to identify the physiological bonds and zones. These bonds and zones were employed as indicators of the associated physiological risks of the performed sports activities. Furthermore, a short yes/no questionnaire was applied to collect information on participants’ health conditions and opinions of the applied PSM sensors. The results show the absence of a warning system as a protective aid for the hazardous levels of extremely hot and humid weather conditions that may cause dangerous and fatal circumstances. The applied formulas for estimating maximum HR provides accurate estimations for Maximum Heart Rate (HR_max). The physiological results reveal that the performed activities by the participants are considered the highest category (90–100%) in terms of activity intensity. This category is associated with higher HR, BR and physiological risks including losing the ability to control human body behaviors. Therefore, there is a need for immediate intervention actions to reduce the intensity of the performed activities to safer zones. The outcomes of this study assist the safety improvement of sports activities inside universities and athletes performing their sports activities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to represent a special case of the application of PSM technology for assessing sports activities in universities considering the impacts of harsh weather conditions on students’ health and safety.

Keywords: PSM, heart rate, HR, breathing rate, BR.

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Authors: Andreas L. Savvides

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For a long time as a result of accommodating car traffic, planning ideologies in the past put a low priority on public space, pedestrianism and the role of city space as a meeting place for urban dwellers. In addition, according to authors such as Jan Gehl, market forces and changing architectural perceptions began to shift the focus of planning practice from the integration of public space in various pockets around the contemporary city to individual buildings. Eventually, these buildings have become increasingly more isolated and introverted and have turned their backs to the realm of the public space adjoining them. As a result of this practice, the traditional function of public space as a social forum for city dwellers has in many cases been reduced or even phased out. Author Jane Jacobs published her seminal book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities" more than fifty years ago, but her observations and predictions at the time still ring true today, where she pointed out how the dramatic increase in car traffic and its accommodation by the urban planning ideology that was brought about by the Modern movement has prompted a separation of the uses of the city. At the same time it emphasizes free standing buildings that threaten urban space and city life and result in underutilized and lifeless urban cores. In this discussion context, the aim of this paper is to showcase a reversal of just such a situation in the case of the Dasoupolis neighborhood in Strovolos, Cyprus, where enlightened urban design practice has see the reclamation of pedestrian space in a car dominated area.

Keywords: Urban Design, Public Space, Right to the City, Accessibility, Mobility

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Authors: S. Chahba, R. Sehab, A. Akrad, C. Morel

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Nowadays, the electric machines used in urban electric vehicles are, in most cases, three-phase electric machines with or without a magnet in the rotor. Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine (PMSM) and Induction Machine (IM) are the main components of drive trains of electric and hybrid vehicles. These machines have very good performance in healthy operation mode, but they are not redundant to ensure safety in faulty operation mode. Faced with the continued growth in the demand for electric vehicles in the automotive market, improving the reliability of electric vehicles is necessary over the lifecycle of the electric vehicle. Multiphase electric machines respond well to this constraint because, on the one hand, they have better robustness in the event of a breakdown (opening of a phase, opening of an arm of the power stage, intern-turn short circuit) and, on the other hand, better power density. In this work, a diagnosis approach using a neural network for an open circuit fault or more of a five-phase induction machine is developed. Validation on the simulator of the vehicle drivetrain, at reduced power, is carried out, creating one and more open circuit stator phases showing the efficiency and the reliability of the new approach to detect and to locate on-line one or more open phases of a five-induction machine.

Keywords: Electric vehicle drivetrain, multiphase drives, induction machine, control, open circuit fault diagnosis, artificial neural network.

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Authors: Luminiţa Duţică, Gheorghe Duţică

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Many of the interrogations or dilemmas of the contemporary world found the answer in what was generically called the appeal to matrix. This genuine spiritual exercise of re-connection of the present to origins, to the primary source, revealed the ontological condition of timelessness, ahistorical, immutable (epi)phenomena, of those pure essences concentrated in the archetypal-referential layer of the human existence. The musical creation was no exception to this trend, the impasse generated by the deterministic excesses of the whole serialism or, conversely, by some questionable results of the extreme indeterminism proper to the avant-garde movements, stimulating the orientation of many composers to rediscover a universal grammar, as an emanation of a new ‘collective’ order (reverse of the utopian individualism). In this context, the music of oral tradition and therefore the world of the ancient modes represented a true revelation for the composers of the twentieth century, who were suddenly in front of some unsuspected (re)sources, with a major impact on all levels of edification of the musical work: morphology, syntax, timbrality, semantics etc. For the contemporary Romanian creators, the music of rituals, existing in the local archaic culture, opened unsuspected perspectives for which it meant to be a synthetic, inclusive and recoverer vision, where the primary (archetypal) genuine elements merge with the latest achievements of language of the European composers. Thus, anchored in a strong and genuine modal source, the compositions analysed in this paper evoke, in a manner as modern as possible, the atmosphere of some ancestral rituals such as: the invocation of rain during the drought (Paparudele, Scaloianul), funeral ceremony (Bocetul), traditions specific to the winter holidays and new year (Colinda, Cântecul de stea, Sorcova, Folklore traditional dances) etc. The reactivity of those rituals in the sound context of the twentieth century meant potentiating or resizing the archaic spirit of the primordial symbolic entities, in terms of some complexity levels generated by the technique of harmonies of chordal layers, of complex aggregates (gravitational or non-gravitational, geometric), of the mixture polyphonies and with global effect (group, mass), by the technique of heterophony, of texture and cluster, leading to the implementation of some processes of collective improvisation and instrumental theatre.

Keywords: Archetype, improvisation, instrumental theatre, polyphony, ritual.

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Authors: Mohammad R. Kavian Nezhad, Carlos F. Lange, Brian A. Fleck

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This research presents the validation study of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model developed to simulate the scalar dispersion emitted from rooftop sources around the buildings at the University of Alberta North Campus. The ANSYS CFX code was used to perform the numerical simulation of the wind regime and pollutant dispersion by solving the 3D steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations on a building-scale high-resolution grid. The validation study was performed in two steps. First, the CFD model performance in 24 cases (eight wind directions and three wind speeds) was evaluated by comparing the predicted flow fields with the available data from the previous measurement campaign designed at the North Campus, using the standard deviation method (SDM), while the estimated results of the numerical model showed maximum average percent errors of approximately 53% and 37% for wind incidents from the North and Northwest, respectively. Good agreement with the measurements was observed for the other six directions, with an average error of less than 30%. In the second step, the reliability of the implemented turbulence model, numerical algorithm, modeling techniques, and the grid generation scheme was further evaluated using the Mock Urban Setting Test (MUST) dispersion dataset. Different statistical measures, including the fractional bias (FB), the mean geometric bias (MG), and the normalized mean square error (NMSE), were used to assess the accuracy of the predicted dispersion field. Our CFD results are in very good agreement with the field measurements.

Keywords: CFD, plume dispersion, complex urban geometry, validation study, wind flow.

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Authors: Sarina Md Yusof, Suhana Aiman, Mohd Khairi Zawi, Hosni Hasan, Azila Azreen Md Radzi

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Failure in mastery of motor skills proficiency during childhood has been seen as a detrimental factor for children to be physically active. Lack of motor skills proficiency tends to reduce children’s competency and confidence level to participate in physical activity. As a consequence of less participation in physical activity, children will turn to be overweight and obese. It has been suggested that children who master motor skill proficiency will be more involved in physical activity thus preventing them from being overweight. Obesity has become a serious childhood health issues worldwide. Previous studies have found that children who were overweight and obese were generally less active however these studies focused on one gender. This study aims to compare motor skill proficiency of underweight, normal-weight, overweight and obese young boys as well as to determine the relationship between motor skills proficiency and body composition. 112 boys aged between 8 to 10 years old participated in this study. Participants were assigned to four groups; underweight, normal-weight, overweight and obese using BMI-age percentile chart for children. Bruininks- Oseretsky Test Second Edition-Short Form was administered to assess their motor skill proficiency. Meanwhile, body composition was determined by the skinfold thickness measurement. Result indicated that underweight and normal children were superior in motor skills proficiency compared to overweight and obese children (p < 0.05). A significant strong inverse correlation between motor skills proficiency and body composition (r = -0.849) is noted. The findings of this study could be explained by non-contributory mass that carried by overweight and obese children leads to biomechanical movement inefficiency which will become detrimental to motor skills proficiency. It can be concluded that motor skills proficiency is inversely correlated with body composition.

Keywords: Motor skills proficiency, body composition, obesity.

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Authors: André C. Silva, Débora N. Sousa, Elenice M. S. Silva, Thales P. Fontes, Raphael S. Tomaz

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Starches are widely used as depressant in froth flotation operations in Brazil due to their efficiency, increasing the selectivity in the inverse flotation of quartz depressing iron ore. Starches market have been growing and improving in recent years, leading to better products attending the requirements of the mineral industry. The major source of starch used for iron ore is corn starch, which needs to be gelatinized with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) prior to use. This stage has a direct impact on industrials costs, once the lowest consumption of NaOH in gelatinization provides better control of the pH in the froth flotation and reduces the amount of electrolytes present in the pulp. In order to evaluate the gelatinization degree of different starches and flour were subjected to the addiction of NaOH and temperature variation experiments. Samples of starch (corn, cassava, HIPIX 100, HIPIX 101 and HIPIX 102 commercialized by Ingredion) and flour (cassava and potato) were tested. The starch samples were characterized through Scanning Electronic Microscopy and the amylose content were determined through spectrometry, swelling and solubility tests. The gelatinization was carried out through titration with NaOH, keeping the solution temperature constant at 40 ^oC. At the end of the tests, the optimal amount of NaOH consumed to gelatinize the starch or flour from different botanical sources was established and a correlation between the content of amylopectin in the starch and the starch/NaOH ratio needed for its gelatinization.

Keywords: Froth flotation, gelatinization, sodium hydroxide, starches and flours.

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Authors: C. lo Storto

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This paper presents an approach based on the adoption of a distributed cognition framework and a non parametric multicriteria evaluation methodology (DEA) designed specifically to compare e-commerce websites from the consumer/user viewpoint. In particular, the framework considers a website relative efficiency as a measure of its quality and usability. A website is modelled as a black box capable to provide the consumer/user with a set of functionalities. When the consumer/user interacts with the website to perform a task, he/she is involved in a cognitive activity, sustaining a cognitive cost to search, interpret and process information, and experiencing a sense of satisfaction. The degree of ambiguity and uncertainty he/she perceives and the needed search time determine the effort size – and, henceforth, the cognitive cost amount – he/she has to sustain to perform his/her task. On the contrary, task performing and result achievement induce a sense of gratification, satisfaction and usefulness. In total, 9 variables are measured, classified in a set of 3 website macro-dimensions (user experience, site navigability and structure). The framework is implemented to compare 40 websites of businesses performing electronic commerce in the information technology market. A questionnaire to collect subjective judgements for the websites in the sample was purposely designed and administered to 85 university students enrolled in computer science and information systems engineering undergraduate courses.

Keywords: Website, e-commerce, DEA, distributed cognition, evaluation, comparison.

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Authors: Marcela Karmazínová, Jindrich Melcher, Lubomír Vítek, Petr Cikrle

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The paper deals with the diagnostics of steel roof structure of the winter sports halls built in 1970 year. The necessity of the diagnostics has been given by the requirement to the evaluation design of this structure, which has been caused by the new situation in the field of the loadings given by the validity of the European Standards in the Czech Republic from 2010 year. Due to these changes in the normative rules, in practice existing structures are gradually subjected to the evaluation design and depending on its results to the strengthening or reconstruction, respectively. Steel roof is composed of plane truss main girders, purlins and bracings and the roof structure is supported by two arch main girders with the span of L = 84 m. The in situ diagnostics of the roof structure was oriented to the following parts: (i) determination and evaluation of the actual material properties of used steel and (ii) verification of the actual dimensions of the structural members. For the solution the nondestructive methods have been used for in situ measurement. For the indicative determination of steel strengths the modified method based on the determination of Rockwell’s hardness has been used. For the verification of the member’s dimensions (thickness of hollow sections) the ultrasound method has been used. This paper presents the results obtained using these testing methods and their evaluation, from the viewpoint of the usage for the subsequent static assessment and design evaluation of the existing structure. For the comparison, the examples of the similar evaluations realized for steel structures of the stadiums in Olomouc and Jihlava cities are briefly illustrated, too.

Keywords: Diagnostics, existing steel structure, sport hall, steel strength, indirect non-destructive methods, Rockwel’s hardness, destructive methods, actual dimensions, ultrasound method.

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Authors: Kayode A. Olaniyi, Adeola A. Ogunleye, Tola M. Osifeko

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Electric Vehicles (EV) appear to be gaining increasing patronage as a feasible alternative to Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs) for having low emission and high operation efficiency. The EV energy storage systems are required to handle high energy and power density capacity constrained by limited space, operating temperature, weight and cost. The choice of strategies for energy storage evaluation, monitoring and control remains a challenging task. This paper presents review of various energy storage technologies and recent researches in battery evaluation techniques used in EV applications. It also underscores strategies for the hybrid energy storage management and control schemes for the improvement of EV stability and reliability. The study reveals that despite the advances recorded in battery technologies there is still no cell which possess both the optimum power and energy densities among other requirements, for EV application. However combination of two or more energy storages as hybrid and allowing the advantageous attributes from each device to be utilized is a promising solution. The review also reveals that State-of-Charge (SoC) is the most crucial method for battery estimation. The conventional method of SoC measurement is however questioned in the literature and adaptive algorithms that include all model of disturbances are being proposed. The review further suggests that heuristic-based approach is commonly adopted in the development of strategies for hybrid energy storage system management. The alternative approach which is optimization-based is found to be more accurate but is memory and computational intensive and as such not recommended in most real-time applications.

Keywords: Hybrid electric vehicle, hybrid energy storage, battery state estimation, ate of charge, state of health.

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Authors: Justinian Anatory, Ekael Stephen Manase

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In recent years, the adoption of mobile phones has been exceptionally rapid in many parts of the world, and Tanzania is not exceptional. We are witnessing a number of new mobile network operators being licensed from time to time by Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA). This makes competition in the telecommunications market very stiff. All mobile phone companies are struggling to earn more new customers into their networks. This trend courses a stiff competition. The various measures are being taken by different companies including, lowering tariff, and introducing free short messages within and out of their networks, and free calls during off-peak periods. This paper is aimed at investigating the influence of tariffs on students’ mobile customers in selecting their mobile network operators. About seventy seven students from high learning institutions in Dodoma Municipality, Tanzania, participated in responding to the prepared questionnaires. The sought information was aimed at determining if tariffs influenced students into selection of their current mobile operators. The results indicate that tariffs were the major driving factor in selection of mobile operators. However, female mobile customers were found to be more easily attracted into subscribing to a mobile operator due to low tariffs, a bigger number of free short messages or discounted call charges than their fellow male customers.

Keywords: Consumer Buying, mobile operators, tariff.

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