Search results for: tests of hypotheses.

Authors: Kalyan Kr. Mandal, Suresh Thokchom, Mithun Roy

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The present paper reports results of an experimental program conducted to study performance of fly ash based geopolymer pastes at elevated temperature. Three series of geopolymer pastes differing in Na2O content (8.5%, 10% and 11.5%) were manufactured by activating low calcium fly ash with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution. The paste specimens were subjected to temperatures as high as 900oC and the behaviour at elevated temperatures were investigated on the basis of physical appearance, weight losses, residual strength, shrinkage measurements and sorptivity tests at different temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy along with EDX and XRD tests were also conducted to examine microstructure and mineralogical changes during the thermal exposure. Specimens which were initially grey turned reddish accompanied by appearance of small cracks as the temperature increased to 900oC. Loss of weight was more in specimens manufactured with highest Na2O content. Geopolymer paste specimen containing minimum Na2O performed better than those with higher Na2O content in terms of residual compressive strength.

Keywords: Compressive strength, EDX, Elevated temperature, Fly ash, Geopolymer, Scanning electron microscopy, XRD

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Authors: Seung Yeon Son

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Workers (especially, competent personnel) have been recognized as a core contributor to overall organizational effectiveness. Hence, verifying the determinants of turnover intention is one of the most important research issues. This study tested the influence of perceived organizational support and abusive supervision on employee’s turnover intention. In addition, mediating roles of psychological contract and emotional exhaustion were examined. Data from 255 Korean employees supported all hypotheses Implications for research and directions for future research are discussed.

 

Keywords: Abusive Supervision, Emotional Exhaustion, Perceived Organizational Support, Psychological Contract, Turnover Intention.

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Authors: Norfadzila, S.W.A., Balakrishnan, V., A. Abrizah

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The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated consumer health informatics utilization framework that can be used to gauge the online health information needs and usage patterns among Malaysian women. The proposed framework was developed based on four different theories/models: Use and Gratification Theory, Technology Acceptance 3 Model, Health Belief Model, and Multi-level Model of Information Seeking. The relevant constructs and research hypotheses are also presented in this paper. The framework will be tested in order for it to be used successfully to identify Malaysian women-s preferences of online health information resources and health information seeking activities.

Keywords: Consumer Health Informatics, Consumer Preferences, Information Needs and Usage Patterns, Online Health Information, Women Studies

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Authors: Satjaporn Tungsong, Gun Srijuntongsiri

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This research seeks to investigate the frequency and profitability of index arbitrage opportunities involving the SET50 futures, SET50 component stocks, and the ThaiDEX SET50 ETF (ticker symbol: TDEX). In particular, the frequency and profit of arbitrage are measured in the following three arbitrage tests: (1) SET50 futures vs. ThaiDEX SET50 ETF, (2) SET50 futures vs. SET50 component stocks, and (3) ThaiDEX SET50 ETF vs. SET50 component stocks are investigated. For tests (2) and (3), the problems involve conic optimization and quadratic programming as subproblems. This research is first to apply conic optimization and quadratic programming techniques in the context of index arbitrage and is first to investigate such index arbitrage in the Thai equity and derivatives markets. Thus, the contribution of this study is twofold. First, its results would help understand the contribution of the derivatives securities to the efficiency of the Thai markets. Second, the methodology employed in this study can be applied to other geographical markets, with minor adjustments.

Keywords: Conic optimization, Equity index arbitrage, Executionlags, Quadratic programming, SET50 index futures, ThaiDEX SET50ETF, Transaction costs

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Authors: N. Sumathi, R. Srinivasa Rao

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This paper presents the experimental results of 11 kV and 33 kV silicon composite insulators under artificial salt and urea polluted conditions. The tests were carried out under different seasons like summer, winter, and monsoon. The artificial pollution is prepared by properly dissolving the salt and urea in the water. The prepared salt and urea pollutions are sprayed on the insulators and dried up for sufficiently large time. The process is continued until a uniform layer is formed on the surface of insulator. For each insulator rating, four samples were tested. The maximum leakage current and breakdown voltage were measured. From experimental data, performance of test specimen is evaluated by comparing breakdown voltage and leakage current during different seasons when exposed to salt and urea polluted conditions. From these results the performance of the insulators can be predicted when they are installed in industrial, agricultural, and coastal areas. The experimental tests were carried out in the High Voltage laboratory using two stage cascade transformer having the rating of 1000 kVA, 500 kV.

Keywords: Silicon composite insulators, Urea pollution, Leakage current, Breakdown voltage, salt pollution, artificial pollution.

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Authors: G. Venkata Rao, P. Kalpana, R. Srinivasa Rao

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Adequate and reliable estimates of aquifer parameters are of utmost importance for proper management of vital groundwater resources. At present scenario, the ground water is polluted because of industrial waste disposed over the land and the contaminants are transported in the aquifer from one area to another area, which is depending on the characteristics of the aquifer and contaminants. To know the contaminant transport, the accurate estimation of aquifer properties is highly needed. Conventionally, these properties are estimated through pumping tests carried out on water wells. The occurrence and movement of ground water in the aquifer are characteristically defined by the aquifer parameters. The pumping (aquifer) test is the standard technique for estimating various hydraulic properties of aquifer systems, viz., transmissivity (T), hydraulic conductivity (K), storage coefficient (S) etc., for which the graphical method is widely used. The study area for conducting pumping test is Pydibheemavaram Industrial area near the coastal belt of Srikulam, AP, India. The main objective of the present work is to estimate the aquifer properties for developing contaminant transport model for the study area.

Keywords: Aquifer, contaminant transport, hydraulic conductivity, industrial waste, pumping test.

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Authors: Junqi Zhao, Yongqiang Chen

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Preference for different conflict resolution styles is influenced by cultural background and power distance of two parties involving in conflict. This research put forward 7 hypotheses and tested the preference differences of the five conflict resolution styles between Chinese owner and contractor as well as the preference differences concerning the same style between two parties. The research sample includes 202 practitioners from construction enterprises in mainland China. Research result found that theories concerning conflict resolution styles could be applied in the Chinese construction industry. Some results of this research were not in line with former research, and this research also gave explanation to the differences from the characteristics of construction projects. Based on the findings, certain suggestions were made to serve as a guidance for managers to choose appropriate conflict resolution styles for a better handling of conflict.

Keywords: Chinese Owner and Contractor, Conflict, Construction Project, Conflict Resolution Styles.

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Authors: A. O. Oladele

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The purpose of this study was to find out the effectiveness of neurological impress method and repeated reading technique on reading fluency of children with learning disabilities. Thirty primary four pupils in three public primary schools participated in the study. There were two experimental groups and a control. This research employed a 3 by 2 factorial matrix and the participants were taught for one session. Two hypotheses were formulated to guide the research. T-test was used to analyse the data gathered, and data analysis revealed that pupils exposed to the two treatment strategies had improvement in their reading fluency. It was recommended that the two strategies used in the study can be used to intervene in reading fluency problems in children with learning disabilities.

Keywords: Learning disabilities, neurological impress method, repeated reading, reading fluency.

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Authors: B. A. Mir, A. Juneja

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In this paper, shear behavior of reconstituted clay reinforced with varying diameter of sand compaction piles with area replacement-ratio (a_s) of 6.25, 10.24, 16, 20.25 and 64% in 100mm diameter and 200mm long clay specimens is modeled using consolidated drained and undrained triaxial tests under different confining pressures ranging from 50kPa to 575kPa. The test results show that the stress-strain behavior of the clay was highly influenced by the presence of SCP. The insertion of SCPs into soft clay has shown to have a positive effect on the load carrying capacity of the clay, resulting in a composite soil mass that has greater shear strength and improved stiffness compared to the unreinforced clay due to increased reinforcement area ratio. In addition, SCP also acts as vertical drain in the clay thus accelerating the dissipation of excess pore water pressures that are generated during loading by shortening the drainage path and activating radial drainage, thereby reducing post-construction settlement. Thus, sand compaction piles currently stand as one of the most viable and practical techniques for improving the mechanical properties of soft clays.

Keywords: Reconstituted clay, SCP, shear strength, stress-strain response, triaxial tests.

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Authors: Wasiu O. Ajagbe, Habeeb O. Hamzat, Waris A. Adebisi

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Structural failures occur due to a number of reasons. These may include under design, poor workmanship, substandard materials, misleading laboratory tests and lots more. Reinforcing steel bar is an important construction material, hence its properties must be accurately known before being utilized in construction. Understanding this property involves carrying out mechanical tests prior to design and during construction to ascertain correlation using steel testing machine which is usually not readily available due to the location of project. This study was conducted to determine the reliability of reinforcing steel testing machines. Reconnaissance survey was conducted to identify laboratories where yield and ultimate tensile strengths tests can be carried out. Six laboratories were identified within Ibadan and environs. However, only four were functional at the time of the study. Three steel samples were tested for yield and tensile strengths, using a steel testing machine, at each of the four laboratories (LM, LO, LP and LS). The yield and tensile strength results obtained from the laboratories were compared with the manufacturer’s specification using a reliability analysis programme. Structured questionnaire was administered to the operators in each laboratory to consider their impact on the test results. The average value of manufacturers’ tensile strength and yield strength are 673.7 N/mm² and 559.7 N/mm² respectively. The tensile strength obtained from the four laboratories LM, LO, LP and LS are given as 579.4, 652.7, 646.0 and 649.9 N/mm² respectively while their yield strengths respectively are 453.3, 597.0, 550.7 and 564.7 N/mm². Minimum tensile to yield strength ratio is 1.08 for BS 4449: 2005 and 1.15 for ASTM A615. Tensile to yield strength ratio from the four laboratories are 1.28, 1.09, 1.17 and 1.15 for LM, LO, LP and LS respectively. The tensile to yield strength ratio shows that the result obtained from all the laboratories meet the code requirements used for the test. The result of the reliability test shows varying level of reliability between the manufacturers’ specification and the result obtained from the laboratories. Three of the laboratories; LO, LS and LP have high value of reliability with the manufacturer i.e. 0.798, 0.866 and 0.712 respectively. The fourth laboratory, LM has a reliability value of 0.100. Steel test should be carried out in a laboratory using the same code in which the structural design was carried out. More emphasis should be laid on the importance of code provisions.

Keywords: Reinforcing steel bars, reliability analysis, tensile strength, universal testing machine, yield strength.

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Authors: K. A. Weidenmann, M. Grigo, B. Brylka, P. Elsner, T. Böhlke

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In order to reduce fuel consumption, the weight of automobiles has to be reduced. Fiber reinforced polymers offer the potential to reach this aim because of their high stiffness to weight ratio. Additionally, the use of fiber reinforced polymers in automotive applications has to allow for an economic large-scale production. In this regard, long fiber reinforced thermoplastics made by direct processing offer both mechanical performance and processability in injection moulding and compression moulding. The work presented in this contribution deals with long glass fiber reinforced polypropylene directly processed in compression moulding (D-LFT). For the use in automotive applications both the temperature and the time dependency of the materials properties have to be investigated to fulfill performance requirements during crash or the demands of service temperatures ranging from -40 °C to 80 °C. To consider both the influence of temperature and time, quasistatic tensile tests have been carried out at different temperatures. These tests have been complemented by high speed tensile tests at different strain rates. As expected, the increase in strain rate results in an increase of the elastic modulus which correlates to an increase of the stiffness with decreasing service temperature. The results are in good accordance with results determined by dynamic mechanical analysis within the range of 0.1 to 100 Hz. The experimental results from different testing methods were grouped and interpreted by using different time temperature shift approaches. In this regard, Williams-Landel-Ferry and Arrhenius approach based on kinetics have been used. As the theoretical shift factor follows an arctan function, an empirical approach was also taken into consideration. It could be shown that this approach describes best the time and temperature superposition for glass fiber reinforced polypropylene manufactured by D-LFT processing.

Keywords: Composite, long fiber reinforced thermoplastics, mechanical properties, dynamic mechanical analysis, time temperature superposition.

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Authors: Natasha Hussain, Maleeha Aslam, Robina Farooq

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Hepatitis B and hepatitis C are among the most significant hepatic infections all around the world that may lead to hepatocellular carcinoma. This study is first time performed at the blood transfussion centre of Omar hospital, Lahore. It aims to determine the sero-prevalence of these diseases by screening the apparently healthy blood donors who might be the carriers of HBV or HCV and pose a high risk in the transmission. It also aims the comparison between the sensitivity of two diagnostic tests; chromatographic immunoassay – one step test device and Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbant Assay (ELISA). Blood serum of 855 apparently healthy blood donors was screened for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and for anti HCV antibodies. SPSS version 12.0 and X2 (Chi-square) test were used for statistical analysis. The seroprevalence of HCV was 8.07% by the device method and by ELISA 9.12% and that of HBV was 5.6% by the device and 6.43% by ELISA. The unavailability of vaccination against HCV makes it more prevalent. Comparing the two diagnostic methods, ELISA proved to be more sensitive.

Keywords: ELISA, Sensitivity comparison of diagnostic tests, seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and C

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Authors: Rafał Urbaniak, Robert Kłosowiak, Michał Ciałkowski, Jarosław Bartoszewicz

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The Chair of Thermal Engineering at Poznan University of Technology has been conducted research works on the possibilities of using carbon nanostructures in energy and mechanics applications for a couple of years. Those studies have provided results in a form of co-operation with foreign research centres, numerous publications and patent applications. Authors of this paper have studied the influence of multi-walled carbon nanostructures on changes in static friction arising when steel surfaces were moved. Tests were made using the original test stand consisting of automatically controlled inclined plane driven by precise stepper motors. Computer program created in the LabView environment was responsible for monitoring of the stand operation, accuracy of measurements and archiving the obtained results. Such a solution enabled to obtain high accuracy and repeatability of all conducted experiments. Tests and analysis of the obtained results allowed us to determine how additional layers of carbon nanostructures influenced on changes of static friction coefficients. At the same time, we analyzed the potential possibilities of applying nanostructures under consideration in mechanics.

Keywords: Carbon nanotubes, static friction, dynamic friction.

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Authors: K. Benyounes, A. Benmounah

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Cement-based grouts has been used successfully to repair cracks in many concrete structures such as bridges, tunnels, buildings and to consolidate soils or rock foundations. In the present study the rheological characterization of cement grout with water/binder ratio (W/B) is fixed at 0.5. The effect of the replacement of cement by bentonite (2 to 10% wt) in presence of superplasticizer (0.5% wt) was investigated. Several rheological tests were carried out by using controlled-stress rheometer equipped with vane geometry in temperature of 20°C. To highlight the influence of bentonite and superplasticizer on the rheological behavior of grout cement, various flow tests in a range of shear rate from 0 to 200 s-1 were observed. Cement grout showed a non-Newtonian viscosity behavior at all concentrations of bentonite. Three parameter model Herschel- Bulkley was chosen for fitting of experimental data. Based on the values of correlation coefficients of the estimated parameters, The Herschel-Bulkley law model well described the rheological behavior of the grouts. Test results showed that the dosage of bentonite increases the viscosity and yield stress of the system and introduces more thixotropy. While the addition of both bentonite and superplasticizer with cement grout improve significantly the fluidity and reduced the yield stress due to the action of dispersion of SP.

Keywords: Cement grout, bentonite, superplasticizer, viscosity, yield stress.

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Authors: Manuel Martínez Martínez, Daniel Zavala Ríos

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To determine the length of engagement threads of a bolt installed in a tapped part in order to avoid the threads stripping remains a very current problem in the design of the thread assemblies. It does not exist a calculation method formalized for the cases where the bolt is screwed directly in a ductile material. In this article, we study the behavior of the threads stripping of a loaded assembly by using a modelling by finite elements and a rupture criterion by damage. This modelling enables us to study the different parameters likely to influence the behavior of this bolted connection. We study in particular, the influence of couple of materials constituting the connection, of the bolt-s diameter and the geometrical characteristics of the tapped part, like the external diameter and the length of engagement threads. We established an experiments design to know the most significant parameters. That enables us to propose a simple expression making possible to calculate the resistance of the threads whatever the metallic materials of the bolt and the tapped part. We carried out stripping tests in order to validate our model. The estimated results are very close to those obtained by the tests.

Keywords: Bolt, damage, plasticity, stripping, thread assemblies.

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Authors: Isabel Brás, Artur Figueirinha, Bruno Esteves, Luísa P. Cruz-Lopes

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The agriculture lignocellulosic by-products are receiving increased attention, namely in the search for filter materials that retain contaminants from water. These by-products, specifically almond and hazelnut shells are abundant in Portugal once almond and hazelnuts production is a local important activity. Hazelnut and almond shells have as main constituents lignin, cellulose and hemicelluloses, water soluble extractives and tannins. Along the adsorption of heavy metals from contaminated waters, water soluble compounds can leach from shells and have a negative impact in the environment. Usually, the chemical characterization of treated water by itself may not show environmental impact caused by the discharges when parameters obey to legal quality standards for water. Only biological systems can detect the toxic effects of the water constituents. Therefore, the evaluation of toxicity by biological tests is very important when deciding the suitability for safe water discharge or for irrigation applications.

The main purpose of the present work was to assess the potential impacts of waters after been treated for heavy metal removal by hazelnut and almond shells adsorption systems, with short term acute toxicity tests.

To conduct the study, water at pH 6 with 25 mg.L^-1 of lead, was treated with 10 g of shell per litre of wastewater, for 24 hours. This procedure was followed for each bark. Afterwards the water was collected for toxicological assays; namely bacterial resistance, seed germination, Lemna minor L. test and plant grow. The effect in isolated bacteria strains was determined by disc diffusion method and the germination index of seed was evaluated using lettuce, with temperature and humidity germination control for 7 days. For aquatic higher organism, Lemnas were used with 4 days contact time with shell solutions, in controlled light and temperature. For terrestrial higher plants, biomass production was evaluated after 14 days of tomato germination had occurred in soil, with controlled humidity, light and temperature.

Toxicity tests of water treated with shells revealed in some extent effects in the tested organisms, with the test assays showing a close behaviour as the control, leading to the conclusion that its further utilization may not be considered to create a serious risk to the environment.

Keywords: Acute toxicity tests, adsorption, lignocellulosic wastes, risk assessment.

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Authors: Surajit Debnath, Soma Addya

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Human genome is not only the evolutionary summation of all advantageous events, but also houses lesions of deleterious foot prints. A single gene mutation sometimes may express multiple consequences in numerous tissues and a linear relationship of the genotype and the phenotype may often be obscure. ß Thalassemia minor, a transfusion independent mild anaemia, coupled with environment among other factors may articulate into phenotypic pleotropy with Hypocholesterolemia, Vitamin D deficiency, Tissue hypoxia, Hyper-parathyroidism and Psychological alterations. Occurrence of Pancreatic insufficiency, resultant steatorrhoea, Vitamin-D (25-OH) deficiency (13.86 ngm/ml) with Hypocholesterolemia (85mg/dl) in a 30 years old male ß Thal-minor patient (Hemoglobin 11mg/dl with Fetal Hemoglobin 2.10%, Hb A2 4.60% and Hb Adult 84.80% and altered Hemogram) with increased Para thyroid hormone (62 pg/ml) & moderate Serum Ca+2 (9.5mg/ml) indicate towards a cascade of phenotypic pleotropy where the ß Thalassemia mutation ,be it in the 5’ cap site of the mRNA , differential splicing etc in heterozygous state is effecting several metabolic pathways. Compensatory extramedulary hematopoiesis may not coped up well with the stressful life style of the young individual and increased erythropoietic stress with high demand for cholesterol for RBC membrane synthesis may have resulted in Hypocholesterolemia.Oxidative stress and tissue hypoxia may have caused the pancreatic insufficiency, leading to Vitamin D deficiency. This may in turn have caused the secondary hyperparathyroidism to sustain serum Calcium level. Irritability and stress intolerance of the patient was a cumulative effect of the vicious cycle of metabolic compromises. From these findings we propose that the metabolic deficiencies in the ß Thalassemia mutations may be considered as the phenotypic display of the pleotropy to explain the genetic epidemiology. According to the recommendations from the NIH Workshop on Gene-Environment Interplay in Common Complex Diseases: Forging an Integrative Model, study design of observations should be informed by gene-environment hypotheses and results of a study (genetic diseases) should be published to inform future hypotheses. Variety of approaches is needed to capture data on all possible aspects, each of which is likely to contribute to the etiology of disease. Speakers also agreed that there is a need for development of new statistical methods and measurement tools to appraise information that may be missed out by conventional method where large sample size is needed to segregate considerable effect. A meta analytic cohort study in future may bring about significant insight on to the title comment.

Keywords: Genetic disease, Genetic epidemiology, Heterozygous, Phenotype, Pleotropy, ß Thalassemia minor, Metabolic compromises.

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Authors: M. Tohidi, J. Yang, C. Baniotopoulos

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Progressive collapse of buildings typically occurs  when abnormal loading conditions cause local damages, which leads  to a chain reaction of failure and ultimately catastrophic collapse. The  tie force (TF) method is one of the main design approaches for  progressive collapse. As the TF method is a simplified method, further  investigations on the reliability of the method is necessary. This study  aims to develop an improved TF method to design the cross wall  structures for progressive collapse. To this end, the pullout behavior of  strands in grout was firstly analyzed; and then, by considering the tie  force-slip relationship in the friction stage together with the catenary  action mechanism, a comprehensive analytical method was developed.  The reliability of this approach is verified by the experimental results  of concrete block pullout tests and full scale floor-to-floor joints tests  undertaken by Portland Cement Association (PCA). Discrepancies in  the tie force between the analytical results and codified specifications  have suggested the deficiency of TF method, hence an improved  model based on the analytical results has been proposed to address this  concern.

 

Keywords: Cross wall, progressive collapse, ties force method, catenary, analytical.

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Authors: B. Gangloff, N. Malleh

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Well-being at work has many positive aspects. Our general hypothesis is that employees who feel well-being at work will be positively valued by their superiors, and that this positive value, which evokes the concept of social norms, allows us to assign to well-being at work a normative status. Three populations (line managers, students destined to become human resource managers, and employees) responded to a well-being questionnaire. Managers had to indicate, for each item, if they appreciated (or not) an employee feeling the well-being presented in the item; students had to indicate which items an employee should check if s/he wants to be positively (versus negatively) appreciated by his/her superior; and employees had to indicate to what degree each item corresponded to the well-being they used to feel. Three hypotheses are developed and confirmed: Managers positively value employees feeling some sense of well-being; students are aware of this positivity; spontaneously employees show a state of well-being, which means, knowing that spontaneous self-presentation is often produced by social desirability, that employees are aware of the well-being positivity. These data are discussed under a conceptual and applied angle.

Keywords: Normativity, well-being at work, organization, evaluation.

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Authors: Y. W. Chen, H. L. Fan

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Evidence shows that start-ups success is positively correlated with the launch of the first product. However, new ventures are seldom able to acquire abundant resources for new product development (NPD), which means that entrepreneurs may depend on personal creativity instead of physical investments to achieve and accelerate innovation speed. This study accentuates the role of entrepreneurial bricolage, which defined as making do by applying combinations of the resources at hand to new problems and opportunities, in the relations of creative self-efficacy and innovation speed. This study uses the multiple regression analysis to test the hypotheses in a sample of 203 start-ups operating in various creative markets in Taiwan. Results reveal that creative self-efficacy is positively and directly associated with innovation speed, whereas entrepreneurial bricolage plays a full mediator. These findings offer important theoretical and practical implications.

Keywords: Creative self-efficacy, innovation speed, entrepreneurial bricolage, new ventures.

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Authors: Anchana Khemphila, Veera Boonjing

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In this study, the Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP)with Back-Propagation learning algorithm are used to classify to effective diagnosis Parkinsons disease(PD).It-s a challenging problem for medical community.Typically characterized by tremor, PD occurs due to the loss of dopamine in the brains thalamic region that results in involuntary or oscillatory movement in the body. A feature selection algorithm along with biomedical test values to diagnose Parkinson disease.Clinical diagnosis is done mostly by doctor-s expertise and experience.But still cases are reported of wrong diagnosis and treatment. Patients are asked to take number of tests for diagnosis.In many cases,not all the tests contribute towards effective diagnosis of a disease.Our work is to classify the presence of Parkinson disease with reduced number of attributes.Original,22 attributes are involved in classify.We use Information Gain to determine the attributes which reduced the number of attributes which is need to be taken from patients.The Artificial neural networks is used to classify the diagnosis of patients.Twenty-Two attributes are reduced to sixteen attributes.The accuracy is in training data set is 82.051% and in the validation data set is 83.333%.

Keywords: Data mining, classification, Parkinson disease, artificial neural networks, feature selection, information gain.

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Authors: Hassnen M. Jafer, W. Atherton, F. Ruddock, E. Loffill

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This study represents the results of an experimental work using two types of fly ashes as a cement replacement in soft soil stabilisation. The fly ashes (FA1 and FA2) used in this study are by-products resulting from an incineration processes between 800 and 1200 ˚C. The stabilised soil in this study was an intermediate plasticity silty clayey soil with medium organic matter content. The experimental works were initially conducted on soil treated with different percentages of FA1 (0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15%) to identify the optimum FA1 content. Then FA1 was chemically activated by FA2 which has high alkalinity by blending the optimum content of FA1 with different portions of FA2. The improvement levels were evaluated dependent on the results obtained from consistency limits and compaction tests along with the results of unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests which were conducted on specimens of soil treated with FA1 and FA2 and exposed to different periods of curing (zero, 7, 14, and 28 days). The results indicated that the FA1 and FA2 used in this study effectively improved the physical and geotechnical properties of the soft soil where the index of plasticity (IP) was decreased significantly from 21 to 13.17 with 12% of FA1; however, there was a slight increase in IP with the use of FA2. Meanwhile, 12% of FA1 was identified as the optimum percentage improving the UCS of stabilised soil significantly. Furthermore, FA2 was found effective as a chemical activator to FA1 where the UCS was improved significantly after using FA2.

Keywords: Soft soil stabilisation, waste materials, unconfined compressive strength.

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Authors: Dalila Hamami, Baghdad Atmani

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Modelling is a widely used tool to facilitate the evaluation of disease management. The interest of epidemiological models lies in their ability to explore hypothetical scenarios and provide decision makers with evidence to anticipate the consequences of disease incursion and impact of intervention strategies.

All models are, by nature, simplification of more complex systems. Models that involve diseases can be classified into different categories depending on how they treat the variability, time, space, and structure of the population. Approaches may be different from simple deterministic mathematical models, to complex stochastic simulations spatially explicit.

Thus, epidemiological modelling is now a necessity for epidemiological investigations, surveillance, testing hypotheses and generating follow-up activities necessary to perform complete and appropriate analysis.

The state of the art presented in the following, allows us to position itself to the most appropriate approaches in the epidemiological study.

Keywords: Bio-PEPA, Cellular automata, Epidemiological modelling, multi agent system, ordinary differential equations, PEPA, Process Algebra, Tuberculosis.

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Authors: Derek Wardle, Tarik Al-Shemmeri, Neil Packer

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This paper presents a small tube/wire type electrostatic precipitator (ESP). In the ESPs present form, particle charging and collecting voltages and airflow rates were individually varied throughout 200 ambient temperature test runs ranging from 10 to 30 kV in increments on 5 kV and 0.5 m/s to 1.5 m/s, respectively. It was repeatedly observed that, at input air velocities of between 0.5 and 0.9 m/s and voltage settings of 20 kV to 30 kV, the collection efficiency remained above 95%. The outcomes of preliminary tests at combustion flue temperatures are, at present, inconclusive although indications are that there is little or no drop in comparable performance during ideal test conditions. A limited set of similar tests was carried out during which the collecting electrode was grounded, having been disconnected from the static generator. The collecting efficiency fell significantly, and for that reason, this approach was not pursued further. The collecting efficiencies during ambient temperature tests were determined by mass balance between incoming and outgoing dry PM. The efficiencies of combustion temperature runs are determined by analysing the difference in opacity of the flue gas at inlet and outlet compared to a reference light source. In addition, an array of Leit tabs (carbon coated, electrically conductive adhesive discs) was placed at inlet and outlet for a number of four-day continuous ambient temperature runs. Analysis of the discs’ contamination was carried out using scanning electron microscopy and ImageJ computer software that confirmed collection efficiencies of over 99% which gave unequivocal support to all the previous tests. The average efficiency for these runs was 99.409%. Emissions collected from a woody biomass combustion unit, classified to a diameter of 100 µm, were used in all ambient temperature trials test runs apart from two which collected airborne dust from within the laboratory. Sawdust and wood pellets were chosen for laboratory and field combustion trials. Video recordings were made of three ambient temperature test runs in which the smoke from a wood smoke generator was drawn through the precipitator. Although these runs were visual indicators only, with no objective other than to display, they provided a strong argument for the device’s claimed efficiency, as no emissions were visible at exit when energised.  The theoretical performance of ESPs, when applied to the geometry and configuration of the tested model, was compared to the actual performance and was shown to be in good agreement with it.

Keywords: Electrostatic precipitators, air quality, particulates emissions, electron microscopy, ImageJ.

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Authors: A. Boudjemai , M.H. Bouanane, Mankour, R. Amri, H. Salem, B. Chouchaoui

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to perform a multidisciplinary design and analysis (MDA) of honeycomb panels used in the satellites structural design. All the analysis is based on clamped-free boundary conditions. In the present work, detailed finite element models for honeycomb panels are developed and analysed. Experimental tests were carried out on a honeycomb specimen of which the goal is to compare the previous modal analysis made by the finite element method as well as the existing equivalent approaches. The obtained results show a good agreement between the finite element analysis, equivalent and tests results; the difference in the first two frequencies is less than 4% and less than 10% for the third frequency. The results of the equivalent model presented in this analysis are obtained with a good accuracy. Moreover, investigations carried out in this research relate to the honeycomb plate modal analysis under several aspects including the structural geometrical variation by studying the various influences of the dimension parameters on the modal frequency, the variation of core and skin material of the honeycomb. The various results obtained in this paper are promising and show that the geometry parameters and the type of material have an effect on the value of the honeycomb plate modal frequency.

Keywords: Satellite, honeycomb, finite element method, modal frequency, dynamic.

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Authors: Ali Rashash Alzahrani, Elizabeth Stojanovski

Abstract:

Data on various aspects of education are collected at the institutional and government level regularly. In Australia, for example, students at various levels of schooling undertake examinations in numeracy and literacy as part of NAPLAN testing, enabling longitudinal assessment of such data as well as comparisons between schools and states within Australia. Another source of educational data collected internationally is via the PISA study which collects data from several countries when students are approximately 15 years of age and enables comparisons in the performance of science, mathematics and English between countries as well as ranking of countries based on performance in these standardised tests. As well as student and school outcomes based on the tests taken as part of the PISA study, there is a wealth of other data collected in the study including parental demographics data and data related to teaching strategies used by educators. Overall, an abundance of educational data is available which has the potential to be used to help improve educational attainment and teaching of content in order to improve learning outcomes. A multivariate assessment of such data enables multiple variables to be considered simultaneously and will be used in the present study to help develop profiles of students based on performance in mathematics using data obtained from the PISA study.

Keywords: Cluster analysis, education, mathematics, profiles.

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Authors: B. Dikici, I. Ozdemir, M. Topuz

Abstract:

The corrosion behaviour of 316L stainless steel coatings obtained by cold spray method was investigated in this study. 316L powders were deposited onto Al5052 aluminum substrates. The coatings were produced using nitrogen (N₂) process gas. In order to further improve the corrosion and mechanical properties of the coatings, heat treatment was applied at 250 and 750 °C. The corrosion performances of the coatings were compared using the potentiodynamic scanning (PDS) technique under in-vitro conditions (in Ringer’s solution at 37 °C). In addition, the hardness and porosity tests were carried out on the coatings. Microstructural characterization of the coatings was carried out by using scanning electron microscopy attached with energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. It was found that clean surfaces and a good adhesion were achieved for particle/substrate bonding. The heat treatment process provided both elimination of the anisotropy in the coating and resulting in healing-up of the incomplete interfaces between the deposited particles. It was found that the corrosion potential of the annealed coatings at 750 °C was higher than that of commercially 316 L stainless steel. Moreover, the microstructural investigations after the corrosion tests revealed that corrosion preferentially starts at inter-splat boundaries.

Keywords: 316L, biomaterials, cold spray, heat treatment.

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Authors: Samah Said, Muhsin Elie Rahhal

Abstract:

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, disposable plastic-based face-masks were excessively used worldwide. Therefore, the production and consumption rates of these masks were significantly brought up, which led to severe environmental problems. The main purpose of this research is to test the possibility of reinforcing soil deposits with mask fibers to reuse pandemic-generated waste materials. When testing the compaction properties, the sand was reinforced with a fiber content that increased from 0% to 0.5%, with successive small increments of 0.1%. The optimum content of 0.1% remarkably increased the maximum dry density of the soil and dropped its optimum moisture content. Added to that, it was noticed that 15 mm and rectangular chips were, respectively, the optimum fiber length and shape to maximize the improvement of the sand compaction properties. Regarding the shear strength, fiber contents of 0.1%, 0.25%, and 0.5% were adopted. The direct shear tests have shown that the highest enhancement was observed for the optimum fiber content of 0.25%. Similar to compaction tests, 15 mm and rectangular chips were respectively the optimum fiber length and shape to extremely enhance the shear resistance of the tested sand.

Keywords: COVID-19, mask fibers, compaction properties, soil reinforcement, shear resistance.

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Authors: Somruedee Pongsena

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to follow – up the graduated students of Bachelor of Science in Applied Statistics from Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (SSRU) during the 1999 – 2012 academic years and to provide the fundamental guideline for developing the current curriculum according to Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (TQF: HEd). The sample was collected from 75 graduates by interview and online questionnaire. The content covered 5 subjects were Ethics and Moral, Knowledge, Cognitive Skills, Interpersonal Skill and Responsibility, Numerical Analysis as well as Communication and Information Technology Skills. Data were analyzed by using statistical methods as percentiles, means, standard deviation, t- tests, and F- tests. The findings showed that samples were mostly female had less than 26 years old. The majority of graduates had income in the range of 10,001-20,000 Baht and experience range were 2-5 years. In addition, overall opinions from receiving knowledge to apply to work were at agree; mean score was 3.97 and standard deviation was 0.40. In terms of, the hypothesis testing’s result indicate gender only had different opinion at a significance level of 0.05.

Keywords: Follow up, Graduates, knowledge, opinion, Work performance.

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Authors: Gultekin Gurcay

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative work behavior and to evaluate the mediating role of leader-member exchange relationships (LMX) on the assumed relationship. This study has focused on the suggestion that LMX might emerge through transformational leadership behaviors and thus could mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative behavior. A cross-sectional survey research has been conducted on the relationship these leadership approaches and their impact on organizational HRM-outcomes have been conducted on two organizations operating in the technical sector in Istanbul-Turkey. The results of the research have supported the hypotheses. Transformational leadership was positively related to the innovative behaviors and LMX emerged to mediate that relationship.

Keywords: Innovative leadership, Leader- Member Exchange, Transformational leadership, Turkey.

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