Abstract: The microstructure, mechanical properties and metalgraphic characteristics of Ni plated AlN-Astaloy Cr-M powders were investigated using specimens produced by tube furnace sintering at 1000-1400 °C temperature. A uniform nickel layer on AlN powders was deposited prior to sintering using electroless plating technique. A composite consisting of ternary additions, metallic phase, Ni and ceramic phase AlN within a matrix of Astaloy Cr-M had been prepared under Ar shroud and then tube furnace sintered. The experimental results carried out by using XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) for composition (10% AlN-Astaloy Cr-M) 10% Ni at 1400 °C suggest that the best properties as 132.45HB and permittivity were obtained at 1400 °C.
Abstract: Many governments recently started to change the ways of providing their services by allowing their citizens to access services from anywhere without the need of visiting the location of the service provider. Mobile government (M-government) is one of the techniques that fulfill that goal. It has been adopted by many governments. M-government can be defined as an implementation of Electronic Government (E-Government) by using mobile technology with the aim of improving service delivery to citizens, businesses and all government agencies. There have been several research projects developing models to understand the behavior of individuals towards the adoption of m-government. This paper proposes a model for adoption of m-government services in Saudi Arabia by extending Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by introducing external factors. This paper also reports on the development of a survey instrument designed to measure user perception of mobile government acceptance. A survey instrument has been developed by using existing scales from prior instruments and a pilot study has been conducted by distributing the survey to 33 participants. As a result, a survey instrument has been refined to retain 43 items. The results also showed that the reliabilities of all the scales in the survey instrument are above the levels acceptable in current academic research, thus the instruments developed by us are capable of analyzing the factors in M-government adoption.
Abstract: This study aimed to analyse the pregnancy outcomes in patients with TPO positivity after appropriate L-Thyroxin supplementation with close surveillance. All pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at Milann-The Fertility Center, Bangalore, India- from Aug 2013 to Oct 2014 whose booking TSH was more than 2.5 mIU/L were included along with those pregnant women with prior hypothyroidism who were TPO positive. Those with TPO positive status were vigorously managed with appropriate thyroxin supplementation and the doses were readjusted every 3 to 4 weeks until delivery. Women with recurrent pregnancy loss were also tested for TPO positivity and if tested positive, were monitored serially with TSH and fT4 levels every 3 to 4 weeks and appropriately supplemented with thyroxin when the levels fluctuated. The testing was done after an informed consent in all these women. The statistical software namely SAS 9.2, SPSS 15.0, Stata 10.1, MedCalc 9.0.1, Systat 12.0 and R environment ver.2.11.1 were used for the analysis of the data. 460 pregnant women were screened for thyroid dysfunction at booking of which 52% were hypothyroid. Majority of them (31.08%) were subclinically hypothyroid and the remaining were overt. 25% of the total no. of patients screened were TPO positive. The various pregnancy complications that were observed in the TPO positive women were gestational glucose intolerance [60%], threatened abortion [21%], midtrimester abortion [4.3%], premature rupture of membranes [4.3%], cervical funneling [4.3%] and fetal growth restriction [3.5%]. 95.6% of the patients who followed up till the end delivered beyond 30 weeks. 42.6% of these patients had previous history of recurrent abortions or adverse obstetric outcome and 21.7% of the delivered babies required NICU admission. Obstetric outcomes in our study in terms of midtrimester abortions, placental abruption, and preterm delivery improved for the better after close monitoring of the thyroid hormone [TSH and fT4] levels every 3 to 4 weeks with appropriate dose adjustment throughout pregnancy. Euthyroid women with TPO positive status enrolled in the study incidentally were those with recurrent abortions/infertility and required thyroxin supplements due to elevated Thyroid hormone (TSH, fT4) levels during the course of their pregnancy. Significant associations were found with age>30 years and Hyperhomocysteinemia [p=0.017], recurrent pregnancy loss or previous adverse obstetric outcomes [p=0.067] and APLA [p=0.029]. TPO antibody levels >600 I U/ml were significantly associated with development of gestational hypertension [p=0.041] and fetal growth restriction [p=0.082]. Euthyroid women with TPO positivity were also screened periodically to counter fluctuations of the thyroid hormone levels with appropriate thyroxin supplementation. Thus, early identification along with aggressive management of thyroid dysfunction and stratification of these patients based on their TPO status with appropriate thyroxin supplementation beginning in the first trimester will aid risk modulation and also help avert complications.
Abstract: Nitrogen fertility is an important component for optimum potato yield and quality. Best management practices are necessary in regards to N applications to achieve these goals without applying excess N with may contribute to ground water contamination. Eight potato fields in the Southern San Joaquin Valley were sampled for nitrogen inputs and uptake, tuber and vine dry matter and residual soil nitrate-N. The fields had substantial soil nitrate-N prior to the potato crop. Nitrogen fertilizer was applied prior to planting and in irrigation water as needed based on in-season petiole sampling in accordance with published recommendations. Average total nitrogen uptake was 237 kg ha-1 on 63.5 Mg ha-1 tuber yield and nitrogen use efficiency was very good at 81 percent. Sixty-nine percent of the plant nitrogen was removed in tubers. Soil nitrate-N increased 14 percent from pre-plant to post-harvest averaged across all fields and was generally situated in the upper soil profile. Irrigation timing and amount applied did not move water into the lower profile except for a single location where nitrate also moved into the lower soil profile. Pre-plant soil analysis is important information to be used. Rotation crops having deeper rooting growth would be able to utilize nitrogen that remained in the soil profile.
Abstract: The present study focuses on the environmental performance of the companies in the electricity-producing sector and its relationship with their financial performance. We will review the major studies that examined the relationship between the environmental and financial performance of firms in various industries. While the classical economic debates consider the environmental friendly activities costly and harmful to a firm’s profitability, it is claimed that firms will be rewarded with higher profitability in long run through the investments in environmental friendly activities. In this context, prior studies have examined the relationship between the environmental and financial performance of firms operating in different industry sectors. Our study will employ an environmental indicator to increase the accuracy of the results and be employed as an independent variable in our developed econometric model to evaluate the impact of the financial performance of the firms on their environmental friendly activities in the context of companies operating in the Australian electricity-producing sector. As a result, we expect our methodology to contribute to the literature and the findings of the study will help us to provide recommendations and policy implications to the electricity producers.
Abstract: The reduction of road congestion which is inherent to the use of vehicles is an obvious priority to public authority. Therefore, assessing the willingness to pay of an individual in order to save trip-time is akin to estimating the change in price which was the result of setting up a new transport policy to increase the networks fluidity and improving the level of social welfare. This study holds an innovative perspective. In fact, it initiates an economic calculation that has the objective of giving an estimation of the monetized time value during the trips made in Sfax. This research is founded on a double-objective approach. The aim of this study is to i) give an estimation of the monetized value of time; an hour dedicated to trips, ii) determine whether or not the consumer considers the environmental variables to be significant, iii) analyze the impact of applying a public management of the congestion via imposing taxation of city tolls on urban dwellers. This article is built upon a rich field survey led in the city of Sfax. With the use of the contingent valuation method, we analyze the “declared time preferences” of 450 drivers during rush hours. Based on the fond consideration of attributed bias of the applied method, we bring to light the delicacy of this approach with regards to the revelation mode and the interrogative techniques by following the NOAA panel recommendations bearing the exception of the valorization point and other similar studies about the estimation of transportation externality.
Abstract: This study examined the extent of statistical significant difference between the economic, environmental, governance and social aspects of sustainability reporting as a result of board committee on sustainability and time (year) of reporting for business organizations in the Nigerian banking sector. The years of reporting under consideration were 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Content analysis methodology was employed through a reporting index used to score the amount of economic, environmental, governance and social indicators of sustainability reporting. The results of this study indicated that business organizations with board committee on sustainability had more indicators of sustainability reporting than those without board committees on sustainability issues. Also, sustainability reporting in 2013 was higher than that of prior years (2012, 2011 and 2010) for the economic, environmental and social indicators. The governance indicators of 2012 was highest compared to the other years (2013, 2011 and 2010) under consideration in this study. The implication of this finding is that business organizations that have board committees on sustainability are monitored by such boards to report more to their stakeholders. On the other hand, business organizations are appreciating the need to engage in sustainability reporting with each passing year. This could be due to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sustainability Reporting framework that business organizations in the banking sector have to adhere to. When sustainability issues are monitored from the board of directors, business organizations are likely to increase and improve on their sustainability reporting.
Abstract: College students are expected to engage in an on-the-job training or internship for completion of a course requirement prior to graduation. In this scenario, they are exposed to the real world of work outside their training institution. To find out their readiness both emotionally and academically, this study has been conducted. A descriptive-correlational research design was employed and random sampling technique method was utilized among 265 randomly selected third year college students of PIT, SY 2014-15. A questionnaire on Emotional Intelligence (bearing the four components namely; emotional literacy, emotional quotient competence, values and beliefs and emotional quotient outcomes) was fielded to the respondents and GWA was extracted from the school automate. Data collected were statistically treated using percentage, weighted mean and Pearson-r for correlation.
Results revealed that respondents’ emotional intelligence level is moderately high while their academic performance is good. A high significant relationship was found between the EI component; Emotional Literacy and their academic performance while only significant relationship was found between Emotional Quotient Outcomes and their academic performance. Therefore, if EI influences academic performance significantly when correlated, a possibility that their OJT performance can also be affected either positively or negatively. Thus, EI can be considered predictor of their academic and academic-related performance. Based on the result, it is then recommended that the institution would try to look deeply into the consideration of embedding emotional intelligence as part of the (especially on Emotional Literacy and Emotional Quotient Outcomes of the students) college curriculum. It can be done if the school shall have an effective Emotional Intelligence framework or program manned by qualified and competent teachers, guidance counselors in different colleges in its implementation.
Abstract: Knowledge transfer between personnel could benefit an organization’s improved competitive advantage in the marketplace from a strategic approach to knowledge management. The lack of information sharing between personnel could create knowledge transfer gaps while restricting the decision-making processes. Knowledge transfer between personnel can potentially improve information sharing based on an implemented knowledge management strategy. An organization’s capacity to gain more knowledge is aligned with the organization’s prior or existing captured knowledge. This case study attempted to understand the overall influence of a KMS within the corporate environment and knowledge exchange between personnel. The significance of this study was to help understand how organizations can improve the Return on Investment (ROI) of a knowledge management strategy within a knowledge-centric organization. A qualitative descriptive case study was the research design selected for this study. The lack of information sharing between personnel may create knowledge transfer gaps while restricting the decision-making processes. Developing a knowledge management strategy acceptable at all levels of the organization requires cooperation in support of a common organizational goal. Working with management and executive members to develop a protocol where knowledge transfer becomes a standard practice in multiple tiers of the organization. The knowledge transfer process could be measurable when focusing on specific elements of the organizational process, including personnel transition to help reduce time required understanding the job. The organization studied in this research acknowledged the need for improved knowledge management activities within the organization to help organize, retain, and distribute information throughout the workforce. Data produced from the study indicate three main themes including information management, organizational culture, and knowledge sharing within the workforce by the participants. These themes indicate a possible connection between an organizations KMS, the organizations culture, knowledge sharing, and knowledge transfer.
Abstract: In military aviation, the use of flight simulators has proliferated recently in order to train fifth generation fighter pilots. With these simulators, pilots can carry out real-time flights resulting in seeing their faults and can perform emergency drills prior to real flights. Since we cannot risk losing the aircraft and the pilot himself/herself in the flight training process, flight simulators are of great importance to adapt the fighter pilots competently to real flights aboard the fifth generation aircraft. The real flights are impossible to simulate thoroughly on the ground. To some extent, the fixed-based simulators may assist the pilot to steer aircraft technically and visually but flight simulators can’t trick the pilot’s vestibular, sensory, and perceptual systems without motion platforms. This paper discusses the benefits of motion simulators for fifth generation fighter pilots’ training in preference to the fixed-based counterparts by analyzing their pros and cons.
Abstract: Comparing with prior studies mainly focused on the
effect of a certain event (it may be the initial announcement of bad
news or the repeated announcements of identical bad news) on stock
price, the aim of this study is to explore how investors react to
subsequent bad news with identical content. Empirical results show
that as a result of behavioral pitfalls, investors underreact to the initial
announcement of the bad news (i.e., unknown bad news) and overreact
to the repeated announcements of the identical bad news (i.e., known
bad news).
Abstract: Purpose: The key aim of the research was to identify
the secondary stressors experienced by businesses affected by single
or repeated flooding and to determine to what extent businesses were
affected by these stressors, along with any resulting impact on health.
Additionally the research aimed to establish the likelihood of
businesses being re-exposed to the secondary stressors through
assessing awareness of flood risk, implementation of property
protection measures and level of community resilience. Design/methodology/approach: The chosen research method
involved the distribution of a questionnaire survey to businesses
affected by either single or repeated flood events. The questionnaire
included the Impact of Event Scale (a 15-item self-report measure
which assesses subjective distress caused by traumatic events). Findings: 55 completed questionnaires were returned by flood
impacted businesses. 89% of the businesses had sustained internal
flooding, while 11% had experienced external flooding. The results
established that the key secondary stressors experienced by
businesses, in order of priority, were: flood damage, fear of
reoccurring flooding, prevention of access to the premise/closure,
loss of income, repair works, length of closure and insurance issues.
There was a lack of preparedness for potential future floods and
consequent vulnerability to the emergence of secondary stressors
among flood affected businesses, as flood resistance or flood
resilience measures had only been implemented by 11% and 13%
respectively. In relation to the psychological repercussions, the
Impact of Event scores suggested that potential prevalence of posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) was noted among 8 out of 55
respondents (l5%). Originality/value: The results improve understanding of the
enduring repercussions of flood events on businesses, indicating that
not only residents may be susceptible to the detrimental health
impacts of flood events and single flood events may be just as likely
as reoccurring flooding to contribute to ongoing stress. Lack of
financial resources is a possible explanation for the lack of
implementation of property protection measures among businesses,
despite 49% experiencing flooding on multiple occasions. Therefore
it is recommended that policymakers should consider potential
sources of financial support or grants towards flood defences for
flood impacted businesses. Any form of assistance should be made
available to businesses at the earliest opportunity as there was no
significant association between the time of the last flood event and
the likelihood of experiencing PTSD symptoms.
Abstract: This paper proposes an APPLE scheme that aims at providing absolute and proportional throughput guarantees, and maximizing system throughput simultaneously for wireless LANs with homogeneous and heterogenous traffic. We formulate our objectives as an optimization problem, present its exact and approximate solutions, and prove the existence and uniqueness of the approximate solution. Simulations validate that APPLE scheme is accurate, and the approximate solution can well achieve the desired objectives already.
Abstract: Objective: Safety and efficacy of Ahmed glaucoma
valve implantation for the management of uveitis induced glaucoma
evaluated on the five dogs with uncontrollable glaucoma. Materials
and Methods: Ahmed Glaucoma Valve (AGV®; New World
Medical, Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA) is a flow restrictive, nonobstructive
self-regulating valve system. Preoperative ocular
evaluation included direct ophthalmoscopy and measurement of the
intraocular pressure (IOP). The implant was examined and primed
prior to implantation. The selected site of the valve implantation was
the superior quadrant between the superior and lateral rectus muscles.
A fornix-based incision was made through the conjunectiva and
Tenon’s capsule. A pocket is formed by blunt dissection of Tenon’s
capsule from the episclera. The body of the implant was inserted into
the pocket with the leading edge of the device around 8-10 mm from
the limbus. Results: No post-operative complications were detected
in the operated eyes except a persistent corneal edema occupied the
upper half of the cornea in one case. Hyphaema was very mild and
seen only in two cases which resolved quickly two days after surgery.
Endoscopical evaluation for the operated eyes revealed a normal
ocular fundus with clearly visible optic papilla, tapetum and retinal
blood vessels. No evidence of hemorrhage, infection, adhesions or
retinal abnormalities was detected. Conclusion: Ahmed glaucoma
valve is safe and effective implant for treatment of uveitic glaucoma
in dogs.
Abstract: Test automation allows performing difficult and time
consuming manual software testing tasks efficiently, quickly and
repeatedly. However, development and maintenance of automated
tests is expensive, so it needs a proper prioritization what to automate
first. This paper describes a simple yet efficient approach for such
prioritization of test cases based on the effort needed for both manual
execution and software test automation. The suggested approach is
very flexible because it allows working with a variety of assessment
methods, and adding or removing new candidates at any time. The
theoretical ideas presented in this article have been successfully
applied in real world situations in several software companies by the
authors and their colleagues including testing of real estate websites,
cryptographic and authentication solutions, OSGi-based middleware
framework that has been applied in various systems for smart homes,
connected cars, production plants, sensors, home appliances, car head
units and engine control units (ECU), vending machines, medical
devices, industry equipment and other devices that either contain or
are connected to an embedded service gateway.
Abstract: Zinc borates are used as a multi-functional flame
retardant additive for its high dehydration temperature. In this study,
the method of ultrasonic mixing was used in the synthesis of zinc
borates. The reactants of zinc oxide (ZnO) and boric acid (H3BO3)
were used at the constant reaction parameters of 90°C reaction
temperature and 55 min of reaction time. Several molar ratios of
ZnO:H3BO3 (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4 and 1:5) were conducted for the
determination of the optimum reaction ratio. Prior to synthesis the
characterization of the synthesized zinc borates were made by X-Ray
Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy
(FT-IR). From the results Zinc Oxide Borate Hydrate
[Zn3B6O12.3.5H2O], were synthesized optimum at the molar ratio of
1:3, with a reaction efficiency of 95.2%.
Abstract: Sewage sludge is a biomass resource that can create a
solid fuel and electricity. Utilizing sewage sludge as a renewable
energy can contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases. In Japan,
the "National Plan for the Promotion of Biomass Utilization" and the
“Priority Plan for Social Infrastructure Development" were approved
at cabinet meetings in December 2010 and August 2012, respectively,
to promote the energy utilization of sewage sludge. This study
investigated costs and greenhouse gas emission in different sewage
sludge treatments with technologies for energy from sewage sludge.
Expenses were estimated based on capital costs and O&M costs
including energy consumption of solid fuel plants and biogas power
generation plants for sewage sludge. Results showed that the cost of
sludge digestion treatment with solid fuel technologies was 8% lower
than landfill disposal. The greenhouse gas emission of sludge
digestion treatment with solid fuel technologies was also 6,390t as
CO2 smaller than landfill disposal. Biogas power generation reduced
the electricity of a wastewater treatment plant by 30% and the cost by
5%.
Abstract: Prior literature in the field of adaptive and
personalized learning sequence in e-learning have proposed and
implemented various mechanisms to improve the learning process
such as individualization and personalization, but complex to
implement due to expensive algorithmic programming and need of
extensive and prior data. The main objective of personalizing
learning sequence is to maximize learning by dynamically selecting
the closest teaching operation in order to achieve the learning
competency of learner. In this paper, a revolutionary technique has
been proposed and tested to perform individualization and
personalization using modified reversed roulette wheel selection
algorithm that runs at O(n). The technique is simpler to implement
and is algorithmically less expensive compared to other revolutionary
algorithms since it collects the dynamic real time performance matrix
such as examinations, reviews, and study to form the RWSA single
numerical fitness value. Results show that the implemented system is
capable of recommending new learning sequences that lessens time
of study based on student's prior knowledge and real performance
matrix.
Abstract: We present probabilistic multinomial Dirichlet
classification model for multidimensional data and Gaussian process
priors. Here, we have considered efficient computational method that
can be used to obtain the approximate posteriors for latent variables
and parameters needed to define the multiclass Gaussian process
classification model. We first investigated the process of inducing a
posterior distribution for various parameters and latent function by
using the variational Bayesian approximations and important sampling
method, and next we derived a predictive distribution of latent
function needed to classify new samples. The proposed model is
applied to classify the synthetic multivariate dataset in order to verify
the performance of our model. Experiment result shows that our model
is more accurate than the other approximation methods.
Abstract: This study aims to examine the sensory quality of
meatballs made from Balinese beef and buffalo meat after the
addition of smoke powder prior to storage at the temperatures of 2-
5°C for 7 days. This study used meat from Longissimus dorsi muscle
of male Balinese cattle aged 3 years and of male buffalo aged 5 years
as the main raw materials, and smoke powder as a binder and
preservative in making meatballs. The study was based on completely
randomized design (CRD) of factorial pattern of 2 x 3 x 2 where
factors 1, 2 and 3 included the types of meat (cattle and buffalo),
types of smoke powder (oven dried, freeze dried and spray dried)
with a level of 2% of the weight of the meat (w/w), and storage
duration (0 and 7 days) with three replications, respectively. The
parameters measured were the meatball sensory quality (scores of
tenderness, firmness, chewing residue, and intensity of flavor). The
results of this study show that each type of meat has produced
different sensory characteristics. The meatballs made from buffalo
meat have higher tenderness and elasticity scores than the Balinese
beef. Meanwhile, the buffalo meatballs have a lower residue
mastication score than the Balinese beef. Each type of smoke
powders has produced a relatively similar sensory quality of
meatballs. It can be concluded that the smoke powder of 2% of the
weight of the meat (w/w) could maintain the sensory quality of the
meatballs for 7 days of storage.