Abstract: The article includes the results and conclusions from
empirical researches that had been done. The research focuses on the
impact of investments made in small and medium-sized enterprises
financed from EU funds on the competitiveness of these companies.
The researches includes financial results in sales revenue and net
income, expenses, and many other new products/services on offer,
higher quality products and services, more modern methods of
production, innovation in management processes, increase in the
number of customers, increase in market share, increase in
profitability of production and provision of services. The main
conclusions are that, companies with direct investments under this
measure shall apply the modern methods of production. The
consequence of this is to increase the quality of our products and
services. Furthermore, both small and medium-sized enterprises have
introduced new products and services. Investments were carried out,
thus enabling better work organization in enterprises. Entrepreneurs
would guarantee higher quality of service, which would result in
better relationships with their customers, what is more, noting the rise
in number of clients. More than half of the companies indicated that
the investments contributed to the increase in market share. Same
thing as for market reach and brand recognition of particular
company. An interesting finding is that, investments in small
enterprises were more effective than medium-sized enterprises.
Abstract: Polymorphism is one of the main pillars of objectoriented
paradigm. It induces hidden forms of class dependencies
which may impact software quality, resulting in higher cost factor for
comprehending, debugging, testing, and maintaining the software. In
this paper, a new cognitive complexity metric called Cognitive
Weighted Polymorphism Factor (CWPF) is proposed. Apart from the
software structural complexity, it includes the cognitive complexity
on the basis of type. The cognitive weights are calibrated based on 27
empirical studies with 120 persons. A case study and experimentation
of the new software metric shows positive results. Further, a
comparative study is made and the correlation test has proved that
CWPF complexity metric is a better, more comprehensive, and more
realistic indicator of the software complexity than Abreu’s
Polymorphism Factor (PF) complexity metric.
Abstract: Economic development and growth are significantly
linked to the consistent and sustainable sector of small and medium
enterprises (SMEs). Banks are the frontrunners in financing and
advising SMEs. The main objective of the study is to assess the
tendency of SMEs to use the Islamic bank. Model was developed
using quantitative method with a hypothetical-deductive testing
approach. Model (N = 364) used primary data on the tendency of
SMEs to use Islamic banks gathered from questionnaire. It is found
by Mann-Whitney test that the tendency to use Islamic bank varies
between those firms which consider formal financing with the ones
relying on informal financing with the latter tends more to use
Islamic bank. This study can serve academic researchers, policy
makers, and developing countries as a model of SMEs’ desirability to
Islamic banking.
Abstract: The wider growing Finite Element Method (FEM)
application is caused by its benefits of cost saving and environment
friendly. Also, by using FEM a deep understanding of certain
phenomenon can be achieved. This paper observed the role of
material properties and volumetric change when Solid State Phase
Transformation (SSPT) takes place in residual stress formation due to
a welding process of ferritic steels through coupled Thermo-
Metallurgy-Mechanical (TMM) analysis. The correctness of FEM residual stress prediction was validated by
experiment. From parametric study of the FEM model, it can be
concluded that the material properties change tend to over-predicts
residual stress in the weld center whilst volumetric change tend to
underestimates it. The best final result is the compromise of both by
incorporates them in the model which has a better result compared to
a model without SSPT.
Abstract: The objective of the paper is a numerical study of heat
transfer between perforated metal plates and the surrounding air
flows. Different perforation structures can nowadays be found in
various industrial products. Besides improving the mechanical
properties, the perforations can intensify the heat transfer as well. The
heat transfer coefficient depends on a wide range of parameters such
as type of perforation, size, shape, flow properties of the surrounding
air etc. The paper was focused on three different perforation
structures which have been investigated from the point of the view of
the production in the previous studies. To determine the heat
coefficients and the Nusselt numbers, the numerical simulation
approach was adopted. The calculations were performed using the
OpenFOAM software. The three-dimensional, unstable, turbulent and
incompressible air flow around the perforated surface metal plate was
considered.
Abstract: Recent investigations have demonstrated the global
sea level rise due to climate change impacts. In this study, climate
changes study the effects of increasing water level in the strait of
Hormuz. The probable changes of sea level rise should be
investigated to employ the adaption strategies. The climatic output
data of a GCM (General Circulation Model) named CGCM3 under
climate change scenario of A1b and A2 were used. Among different
variables simulated by this model, those of maximum correlation
with sea level changes in the study region and least redundancy
among themselves were selected for sea level rise prediction by using
stepwise regression. One of models (Discrete Wavelet artificial
Neural Network) was developed to explore the relationship between
climatic variables and sea level changes. In these models, wavelet
was used to disaggregate the time series of input and output data into
different components and then ANN was used to relate the
disaggregated components of predictors and input parameters to each
other. The results showed in the Shahid Rajae Station for scenario
A1B sea level rise is among 64 to 75 cm and for the A2 Scenario sea
level rise is among 90 t0 105 cm. Furthermore, the result showed a
significant increase of sea level at the study region under climate
change impacts, which should be incorporated in coastal areas
management.
Abstract: Kurtbogazi Dam has gained special meaning for Ankara, Turkey for the last decade due to the rapid depletion of nearby resources of drinking water. In this study, the results of the analyses of Kurtbogazi Dam outlet water and the rivers flowing into the Kurtbogazi Dam were discussed for the period of last five years between 2008 and 2012. Some physical and chemical properties (pH, temperature, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), nitrate, phosphate and chlorine) of these water resources were evaluated. They were classified according to the Council Directive (75/440/EEC). Moreover, the properties of these surface waters were assessed to determine the quality of water for drinking and irrigation purposes using Piper, US Salinity Laboratory and Wilcox diagrams. The results showed that all the water resources are acceptable level as surface water except for Pazar Stream in terms of ortho-phosphate and BOD5 concentration for 2008.
Abstract: In this study, we investigated numerically heat
transfer by mixed convection coupled to radiation in a square cavity;
the upper horizontal wall is movable. The purpose of this study is to
see the influence of the emissivity ε and the varying of the
Richardson number Ri on the variation of average Nusselt number
Nu. The vertical walls of the cavity are differentially heated, the left
wall is maintained at a uniform temperature higher than the right
wall, and the two horizontal walls are adiabatic. The finite volume
method is used for solving the dimensionless Governing Equations.
Emissivity values used in this study are ranged between 0 and 1, the
Richardson number in the range 0.1 to 10. The Rayleigh number is
fixed to Ra=104 and the Prandtl number is maintained constant
Pr=0.71. Streamlines, isothermal lines and the average Nusselt
number are presented according to the surface emissivity. The results
of this study show that the Richardson number Ri and emissivity ε
affect the average Nusselt number.
Abstract: In present study, a large deposit of oolitic iron ore of
Late Carboniferous-Permotriassic-Lower Jurassic age was discovered
in Wadi Halfa and Argein areas, North Sudan. It seems that the iron
ore mineralization exists in the west and east bank of the River Nile
of the study area that are found on the Egyptian-Sudanese border.
The Carboniferous-Lower Jurassic age strata were covered by 67
sections and each section has been examined and carefully described.
The iron-ore in Wadi Halfa occurs as oolitic ironstone and contained
two horizons: (A) horizon and (B) horizon. Only horizon (A) was
observed in southern Argein area. The texture of the ore is variable
depending on the volume of the component. In thin sections, the
average of the ooids was ranged between 90%-80%. The matrix
varies between 10%-20% by volume and detritus quartz in other
component my reach up to 30% by volume in sandy massive ore.
Ooids size ranges from 0.2mm-1.00 mm on average in very coarse
ooids may attend up to 1 mm in size. The matrix around the ooids is
dominated by iron hydroxide, carbonate, fine, and amorphous silica.
The probable ore reserve estimate of 1.234 billion at a head grade of
41.29% Fe for the Wadi Halfa Oolitic Ironstone Formation. The iron
ore shows higher content of phosphorus ranges from 6.15% to 0.16%,
with mean 1.45%. The new technology Hatch–Ironstone Chloride
Segregation (HICS) can be used to produce commercial-quality of
iron and reduce phosphorus and silica to acceptable levels for steel
industry. The presence of infrastructures in addition to the presence
of massive quantities of iron ore would make exploitation
economically.
Abstract: Increasingly complex modern power systems require
stability, especially for transient and small disturbances. Transient
stability plays a major role in stability during fault and large
disturbance. This paper compares a power system stabilizer (PSS)
and static Var compensator (SVC) to improve damping oscillation
and enhance transient stability. The effectiveness of a PSS connected
to the exciter and/or governor in damping electromechanical
oscillations of isolated synchronous generator was tested. The SVC
device is a member of the shunt FACTS (flexible alternating current
transmission system) family, utilized in power transmission systems.
The designed model was tested with a multi-machine system
consisting of four machines six bus, using MATLAB/SIMULINK
software. The results obtained indicate that SVC solutions are better
than PSS.
Abstract: Introduction: The process to build a better safety
culture, methods of error analysis, and preventive measures, starts
with an understanding of the effects when human factors engineering
refer to remote microscopic diagnosis in surgery and specially in
organ transplantation for the remote evaluation of the grafts. It has
been estimated that even in well-organized transplant systems an
average of 8% to 14% of the grafts (G) that arrive at the recipient
hospitals may be considered as diseased, injured, damaged or
improper for transplantation. Digital microscopy adds information on
a microscopic level about the grafts in Organ Transplant (OT), and
may lead to a change in their management. Such a method will
reduce the possibility that a diseased G, will arrive at the recipient
hospital for implantation. Aim: Ergonomics of Digital Microscopy
(DM) based on virtual slides, on Telemedicine Systems (TS) for
Tele-Pathological (TPE) evaluation of the grafts (G) in organ
transplantation (OT). Material and Methods: By experimental
simulation, the ergonomics of DM for microscopic TPE of Renal
Graft (RG), Liver Graft (LG) and Pancreatic Graft (PG) tissues is
analyzed. In fact, this corresponded to the ergonomics of digital
microscopy for TPE in OT by applying Virtual Slide (VS) system for
graft tissue image capture, for remote diagnoses of possible
microscopic inflammatory and/or neoplastic lesions. Experimentation
included: a. Development of an OTE-TS similar Experimental
Telemedicine System (Exp.-TS), b. Simulation of the integration of
TS with the VS based microscopic TPE of RG, LG and PG applying
DM. Simulation of the DM based TPE was performed by 2
specialists on a total of 238 human Renal Graft (RG), 172 Liver Graft
(LG) and 108 Pancreatic Graft (PG) tissues digital microscopic
images for inflammatory and neoplastic lesions on four electronic
spaces of the four used TS. Results: Statistical analysis of specialist‘s
answers about the ability to diagnose accurately the diseased RG, LG
and PG tissues on the electronic space among four TS (A,B,C,D)
showed that DM on TS for TPE in OT is elaborated perfectly on the
ES of a Desktop, followed by the ES of the applied Exp.-TS. Tablet
and Mobile-Phone ES seem significantly risky for the application of
DM in OT (p
Abstract: Temperature regulating system by gaseous nitrogen is
of importance to the space environment simulator, which keeps the
shrouds in the temperature range from -150°C to +150°C. Liquid
nitrogen spray equipment is one of the most critical parts in the
temperature regulating system by gaseous nitrogen. Y type jet
atomizer and internal mixing atomizer of the liquid nitrogen spray
equipment are studied in this paper, 2D/3D atomizer model was
established and grid division was conducted respectively by the
software of Catia and ICEM. Based on the above preparation,
numerical simulation on the spraying process of the atomizer by
FLUENT is performed. Using air and water as the medium,
comparison between the tests and numerical simulation was conducted
and the results of two ways match well. Hence, it can be conclude that
this atomizer model can be applied in the numerical simulation of
liquid nitrogen spray equipment.
Abstract: Cancer is still one of the serious diseases threatening
the lives of human beings. How to have an early diagnosis and
effective treatment for tumors is a very important issue. The animal
carcinoma model can provide a simulation tool for the studies of
pathogenesis, biological characteristics, and therapeutic effects.
Recently, drug delivery systems have been rapidly developed to
effectively improve the therapeutic effects. Liposome plays an
increasingly important role in clinical diagnosis and therapy for
delivering a pharmaceutic or contrast agent to the targeted sites.
Liposome can be absorbed and excreted by the human body, and is
well known that no harm to the human body. This study aimed to
compare the therapeutic effects between encapsulated (doxorubicin
liposomal, Lipodox) and un-encapsulated (doxorubicin, Dox)
anti-tumor drugs using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Twenty-four New Zealand rabbits implanted with VX2 carcinoma at
left thighs were classified into three groups: control group (untreated),
Dox-treated group, and LipoDox-treated group, 8 rabbits for each
group. MRI scans were performed three days after tumor implantation.
A 1.5T GE Signa HDxt whole body MRI scanner with a high
resolution knee coil was used in this study. After a 3-plane localizer
scan was performed, three-dimensional (3D) fast spin echo (FSE)
T2-weighted Images (T2WI) was used for tumor volumetric
quantification. Afterwards, two-dimensional (2D) spoiled gradient
recalled echo (SPGR) dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI was
used for tumor perfusion evaluation. DCE-MRI was designed to
acquire four baseline images, followed by contrast agent Gd-DOTA
injection through the ear vein of rabbit. A series of 32 images were
acquired to observe the signals change over time in the tumor and
muscle. The MRI scanning was scheduled on a weekly basis for a
period of four weeks to observe the tumor progression longitudinally.
The Dox and LipoDox treatments were prescribed 3 times in the first
week immediately after the first MRI scan; i.e. 3 days after VX2 tumor
implantation. ImageJ was used to quantitate tumor volume and time
course signal enhancement on DCE images. The changes of tumor size
showed that the growth of VX2 tumors was effectively inhibited for
both LipoDox-treated and Dox-treated groups. Furthermore, the tumor
volume of LipoDox-treated group was significantly lower than that of
Dox-treated group, which implies that LipoDox has better therapeutic effect than Dox. The signal intensity of LipoDox-treated group is
significantly lower than that of the other two groups, which implies
that targeted therapeutic drug remained in the tumor tissue. This study
provides a radiation-free and non-invasive MRI method for
therapeutic monitoring of targeted liposome on an animal tumor
model.
Abstract: Underwater acoustic networks have attracted great
attention in the last few years because of its numerous applications.
High data rate can be achieved by efficiently modeling the physical
layer in the network protocol stack. In Acoustic medium,
propagation speed of the acoustic waves is dependent on many
parameters such as temperature, salinity, density, and depth.
Acoustic propagation speed cannot be modeled using standard
empirical formulas such as Urick and Thorp descriptions. In this
paper, we have modeled the acoustic channel using real time data of
temperature, salinity, and speed of Bay of Bengal (Indian Coastal
Region). We have modeled the acoustic channel by using Mackenzie
speed equation and real time data obtained from National Institute of
Oceanography and Technology. It is found that acoustic propagation
speed varies between 1503 m/s to 1544 m/s as temperature and
depth differs. The simulation results show that temperature, salinity,
depth plays major role in acoustic propagation and data rate
increases with appropriate data sets substituted in the simulated
model.
Abstract: In this paper a very simple and effective user
administration view of computing clusters systems is implemented in
order of friendly provide the configuration and monitoring of
distributed application executions. The user view, the administrator
view, and an internal control module create an illusionary
management environment for better system usability. The
architecture, properties, performance, and the comparison with others
software for cluster management are briefly commented.
Abstract: South Africa is in its post-industrial era moving from
the primary and secondary sector to the tertiary sector. The study
investigated the impact of the disaggregated energy consumption
(coal, oil, and electricity) on the primary, secondary and tertiary
sectors of the economy between 1980 and 2012 in South Africa.
Using vector error correction model, it was established that South
Africa is an energy dependent economy, and that energy (especially
electricity and oil) is a limiting factor of growth. This implies that
implementation of energy conservation policies may hamper
economic growth. Output growth is significantly outpacing energy
supply, which has necessitated load shedding. To meet up the excess
energy demand, there is a need to increase the generating capacity
which will necessitate increased investment in the electricity sector as
well as strategic steps to increase oil production. There is also need to
explore more renewable energy sources, in order to meet the growing
energy demand without compromising growth and environmental
sustainability. Policy makers should also pursue energy efficiency
policies especially at sectoral level of the economy.
Abstract: Hypertension is a common condition causing cardio
and cerebrovascular complications. Portugal has one of the highest
mortality rates from stroke and a high prevalence of hypertension.
Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) is an important risk factor for
cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction and stroke) and
premature mortality, particularly in the elderly population. The
present study aims to estimate the prevalence of hypertension in a
Portuguese population living in a coastal city and to identify some of
its determinants (namely gender, age, the body mass index and
physical activity frequency). A total of 91 adults who attended three pharmacies of a coastal
city in the center of Portugal, between May and August of 2013 were
evaluated. Attendants who reported to have diabetes or taking
antihypertensive drugs in the 2 previous weeks were excluded from
the study. Sociodemographic factors, BMI, habits of exercise and BP
were assessed. Hypertension was defined as blood pressure ≥140/90
mmHg. The majority of the studied population was constituted by women
(75.8%), with a mean age of 54.2±1.6 years old, married or living in
civil union and that had completed secondary school or had higher
education (40%). They presented a mean BMI of 26.2±4.76 Kg/m2.,
and were sedentary. The mean BP was 127.0±17.77mmHg- 74.69 ±
9.53. In this population we found 4.3% of people with hypertension
and 16.1% with normal high blood pressure. Men exhibit a tendency to present higher systolic blood pressure
values than women. Of all the factors considered, SBP values also
tended to be higher with age and higher BMI values.
Despite the fact that the mean values of SBP did not present values
higher than 140 mmHg we must be concerned because the studied
population is undiagnosed for hypertension. Although this is a preliminary study, it might be a prelude to the
upcoming research about the underlying factors responsible for the
occurrence of SBP.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the
mediating impact of export performance (EP) between technological
advancement capabilities and business performance (BP) of
Malaysian manufacturing micro, small and medium sized enterprises
(MSME’s). Firm’s technological advancement resources are
hypothesized as a platform to enhance both exports and BP of
manufacturing MSMEs in Malaysia. This study is twofold, primary it
has investigated that technological advancement capabilities helps to
appreciates main performance measures noted in terms of EP and
Secondly, it investigates that how efficiently and effectively
technological advancement capabilities can contribute in overall
Malaysian MSME’s BP. Smart PLS-3 statistical software is used to
know the association between technological advancement
capabilities, MSME’s EP and BP. In this study, the data was
composed from Malaysian manufacturing MSME’s in east coast
industrial zones known as the manufacturing hub of MSMEs. Seven
hundred and fifty (750) questionnaires were distributed, but only 148
usable questionnaires are returned. The finding of this study indicated
that technological advancement capabilities helps to strengthen the
export in term of time and cost efficient and it plays a significant role
in appreciating their BP. This study is helpful for small and medium
enterprise owners who intend to expand their business overseas and
though smart technological advancement resources they can achieve
their business competitiveness and excellence both at local and
international markets.
Abstract: In this work, repaired crack in 6061- T6 aluminum
plate with composite patches presented, firstly we determine the
displacement, strain and stress, also the first six mode shape of the
plate, secondly we took the same model adding central crack
initiation, which is located in the center of the plate, its seize vary
from 20 mm to 60 mm and we compare the first results with second.
Thirdly we repair various cracks with composite patch (carbon/
epoxy) and for (2 layers, 4 layers). Finally the comparison of stress,
strain, displacement and six first natural frequencies between un-cracked
specimen, crack propagation and composite patch repair.
Abstract: Obturator Foramen is a specific structure in Pelvic
bone images and recognition of it is a new concept in medical image
processing. Moreover, segmentation of bone structures such as
Obturator Foramen plays an essential role for clinical research in
orthopedics. In this paper, we present a novel method to analyze the
similarity between the substructures of the imaged region and a hand
drawn template as a preprocessing step for computation of Pelvic
bone rotation on hip radiographs. This method consists of integrated
usage of Marker-controlled Watershed segmentation and Zernike
moment feature descriptor and it is used to detect Obturator Foramen
accurately. Marker-controlled Watershed segmentation is applied to
separate Obturator Foramen from the background effectively. Then,
Zernike moment feature descriptor is used to provide matching
between binary template image and the segmented binary image for
final extraction of Obturator Foramens. Finally, Pelvic bone rotation
rate calculation for each hip radiograph is performed automatically to
select and eliminate hip radiographs for further studies which depend
on Pelvic bone angle measurements. The proposed method is tested
on randomly selected 100 hip radiographs. The experimental results
demonstrated that the proposed method is able to segment Obturator
Foramen with 96% accuracy.