Showing papers by "National Defence University, Pakistan published in 2019"
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of corruption and natural resources on economic growth by incorporating the role of per capita income and information communication technologies (ICT) was analyzed for 43 countries of OIC.
89 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the mixed convection stagnation point flow of a nanofluid over a vertical stretching/shrinking sheet in the presence of suction, thermal radiation and a heat source/sink was numerically examined.
Abstract: In this study we numerically examine the mixed convection stagnation-point flow of a nanofluid over a vertical stretching/shrinking sheet in the presence of suction, thermal radiation and a heat source/sink. Three distinct types of nanoparticles, copper (Cu), alumina (Al2O3) and titania (TiO2), were investigated with water as the base fluid. The governing partial differential equations were converted into ordinary differential equations with the aid of similarity transformations and solved numerically by utilizing the bvp4c programme in MATLAB. Dual (upper and lower branch) solutions were determined within a particular range of the mixed convection parameters in both the opposing and assisting flow regions and a stability analysis was carried out to identify which solutions were stable. Accordingly, solutions were gained for the reduced skin friction coefficients, the reduced local Nusselt number, along with the velocity and temperature profiles for several values of the parameters, which consists of the mixed convection parameter, the solid volume fraction of nanoparticles, the thermal radiation parameter, the heat source/sink parameter, the suction parameter and the stretching/shrinking parameter. Furthermore, the solutions were presented in graphs and discussed in detail.
39 citations
TL;DR: The meta-analysis showed that CYFRA21-1 tests had a relatively high accuracy for squamous cell carcinoma detection and a lower accuracy for lung adenocarcinoma detection.
Abstract: Objective:The aim of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of soluble fragment of cytokeratin 19 (CYFRA21-1) tests in detecting non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including squamous cell ...
38 citations
01 Feb 2019
Abstract: In this chapter, we describe the principles of a person-oriented approach to studying individual differences (and similarities), and how it can be applied to the study of students’ achievement goal orientations. First, we briefly illustrate the approach, which provides a way of looking at the relative emphasis of different achievement goal orientations, thereby explicitly addressing the issue of multiple goals and their associations with important outcomes. Second, we give a comprehensive review of studies that have applied such an approach to investigating students’ achievement goals. The diversity in conceptualizations, methods, and study samples in the studies complicates the interpretation of the findings, but some generalizations can nevertheless be made. Based on the review, we conclude that students with qualitatively different achievement goal orientation profiles can clearly be identified, and that the extracted profiles are rather similar across studies. Further, it seems that such profiles are relatively stable over time and meaningfully associated with learning and various educational outcomes (e.g., academic achievement, self-perceptions, well-being, task-related motivation, and performance). The review also contributes to the debate concerning the advantages of endorsing different goals. Finally, we raise some methodological concerns, discuss implications for learning, and provide suggestions for future research. ACHIEVEMENT GOAL ORIENTATIONS 3 Achievement Goal Orientations: A Person-Oriented Approach In this chapter, we will explore a way of studying motivation that focuses on the profiles of students’ preferred goals and related outcomes in achievement contexts. We argue that taking into account the relative emphasis of different goals or goal orientations provides us with valuable information about individual differences in motivation and how those differences are associated with various academic and personal outcomes. This so-called person-oriented approach is well suited for the study of group and individual differences within and over time, as it is predicated on the assumption that the population is heterogeneous with respect to the patterns of variables. Variables are considered less as agents and outcomes and more as properties of individual and their environment (Laursen & Hoff, 2006). In the following, we will first briefly describe and illustrate the person-oriented approach, after which we will review a body of research that has applied such an approach to investigating students’ achievement goals and goal orientations. What Is a Person-Oriented Approach? Often when we refer to motivation in everyday discussions, we tend to describe individuals or groups of individuals: “he was not motivated to do the task”, “she has always displayed immense interest in mathematics”, “the team clearly lacked confidence”, and so on. Yet, in research, we are inclined to discuss about the constructs: interest seems to predict course choices, anxiety interferes with task performance, confidence contributes to achievement above and beyond intelligence. This is rather natural, since in research, we are mostly interested in the constructs that describe and refer to the psychological phenomena we believe to represent the various aspects of motivation. Most studies are designed correspondingly: we measure different types of variables and then link those variables to each other through correlations and regressions. Such an approach can be labelled as variableoriented. Within this approach, models and hypotheses are formulated in terms of variables ACHIEVEMENT GOAL ORIENTATIONS 4 and variable relations, use statistical methods that focus on variable relations, and treat variables as the main units of analysis (Bergman & Magnusson, 1997). For example, we could hypothesize that two independent facets of perfectionism (Stoeber & Otto, 2006), goal level and discrepancy (i.e., perceived dissatisfaction with goal attainment), differently predict task performance. Accordingly, we would conduct a study where we first measure participants along the two measures of perfectionism, have them then perform a task, and, finally, regress the performance scores on the measures of perfectionism. The obtained regression coefficients would thus inform us about the extent to which change in one facet independently predicts the change in task performance. Alternatively, we could also focus more on the individuals instead of variables, and hypothesize that there are groups of individuals that are similar to each other, but differ from the others in terms of the level of the facets of perfectionism. For example, some may set high goals and be satisfied with their attainments, some may set high goals and be unsatisfied with their attainment, and yet some may set low goals and still be satisfied with their attainments. These three different groups might then also differ in their task performance. Thus, instead of examining relations among variables within a sample, we would be more interested in examining the heterogeneity of the sample across variables. In practice, we would first group the participants according to their perfectionism profiles, and then examine group differences on task performance. Through this, we would gain information about how people with different perfectionism profiles succeeded in the task. This approach can be labelled as person-oriented. Within this approach, the focus is on score profiles across the variables instead of variables as such. Models and hypotheses are formulated in terms of individuals and variable configurations, and statistical methods that focus on individuals and groups of individuals are used. We can thus differently approach the same targets of interest with different ACHIEVEMENT GOAL ORIENTATIONS 5 implications for the potential outcomes. Although there is no clear consensus on the terms variable-oriented and person-oriented (Bergman & Trost, 2006), the difference between these approaches is not just the methods used. There are theoretical implications as well that are mostly shared by the different views. The person-oriented approach is often linked to the holistic-interactionistic paradigm introduced by Magnusson (1988) and further developed by Bergman and Magnusson (1997), which views the individual as an active agent in the personenvironment system. Its core tenets suggest that there is lawfulness and structure both in intra-individual constancy and change and in inter-individual differences in constancy and change, that this lawfulness and structure can be described as patterns of the involved factors, and that some patterns occur more frequently, some others less frequently than expected, based on theory (see von Eye & Bogat, 2006). Consider, for instance, our example of perfectionism above. Perfectionistic strivings refer to individual tendencies to set high standards and simultaneously to critically evaluate personal achievements in relation to those standards. This implies that a person with extreme levels in both facets – who strives for high goals, but is seldom satisfied with the outcomes – can be considered as a perfectionist. However, as those facets of perfectionism tend to be empirically uncorrelated, people are likely to display different combinations of the two: they may be high or low in both, neither or just one of them. Indeed, empirical studies demonstrates this to be the case (Rice & Slaney, 2002). In addition to describing similarities and differences across individuals and groups of individuals, person-oriented approach is also well suited for analyzing development and change over time. Here, the interest is more in the stability and change of the patterning of variables rather than in the stability of variables as such. For example, instead of examining stability coefficients and changes in mean levels of the facets of perfectionism, one would investigate whether the same number of groups were identified in different measurement ACHIEVEMENT GOAL ORIENTATIONS 6 points, whether the identified profiles were similar over time, and the extent to which members in each group remained in the same group. The patterning of the groupings and membership frequencies could then be analyzed using cross-tabulations or configural frequency analysis (CFA; von Eye, 1990). Stability is present if similar profiles and groups are identified at the different measurement points and if members are likely to stay in similar groups over time. In contrast, qualitative shifts (i.e., changes in individuals’ profiles) are present if people move from one group to another. To summarize, in some cases, score or variable profiles may be a theoretically more appropriate and empirically more accurate way of describing certain phenomena than simple scores or variables, and the examination of score configurations may be more informative than the analyses of variable relationships. A person-oriented approach may thus provide us with a view that goes beyond mere variable relationships, and inform us more thoroughly about the similarities and differences between and within individuals and groups of individuals. However, it is important that the given theoretical stance both justifies the approach and provides substantive grounds for interpreting the results. As it is always possible to identify profiles or form groups in the data, any solutions derived from such person-oriented analyses need to be meaningful in relation to the underlying theoretical framework. Naturally, variableand person-oriented approaches should not be taken as methodological rivals, but rather as complementary approaches with different foci (see Niemivirta, 2002a). In the remaining parts of the chapter, we will first describe how such a personoriented approach can be applied to the study of differences (and similarities) in how students’ orient themselves to learning and performance in achievement settings, and then review a set o
33 citations
25 Apr 2019
TL;DR: In the proposed system, an authorization system for IoT devices has been tried to be set up by using the distributed node structure of Blockchain system and blocks kept in these nodes, thus creating a secure environment.
Abstract: In smart city technologies we have witnessed advanced technological improvements in small computing devices, which can be connected to the Internet and named as Internet of Thing (IoT) devices, and cooperatively working complex systems. With this increased use of new technologies, the security problem is becoming more and more important because complex systems lead to unpredictable security vulnerabilities, which result in financial and private information losses. As a recently emerged technology, Blockchain was emerged as an alternative solution to security breaches of a different application environment. In contrast to the central structure used by most systems, it is preferred especially in the area of security by its distributed structure and the cryptographic hash algorithm it uses. Today, structures such as Smart Home, Smart City, Smart Environment and Smart Agriculture, which are created by using IoT are seen as active research areas with more security shortages. The reason for the security weakness in these areas arises from the hardware restriction on the IoT devices used. In the proposed system, an authorization system for IoT devices has been tried to be set up by using the distributed node structure of Blockchain system and blocks kept in these nodes. UDP (User Datagram Protocol), which uses a simple communication model without establishing a connection to the minimum protocol mechanism for communication of nodes in the system, was preferred. The communication between the nodes has been encrypted using encryption methods, thus creating a secure environment.
30 citations
01 Oct 2019
TL;DR: The proposed method allows it possible to calculate the parameters and to simulate a specific control system and give the possibility to construct a transitional process in a control system arising from parametric perturbations under initial conditions.
Abstract: In the article the author analyzed the known simple types of self-tuning automatic control systems, the order of choosing the parameters of the main control circuit for a given structure and parameters of the self-tuning circuit. In the article the theory of P.L. Chebyshev s approximations for the study of control systems with limit cycle was used. The mathematical formulas give the possibility to construct a transitional process in a control system arising from parametric perturbations under initial conditions. The proposed method allows it possible to calculate the parameters and to simulate a specific control system.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the industrial development relationship for a sample of South Asian Countries and found that the presence of operational, administrative, political and institutional uncertainties in the South Asian region makes it important to study the issue from a policy perspective.
Abstract: A well performing industrial sector plays an important role in poverty mitigation, unemployment reduction, trade promotion, exchange of goods and services, increased per capital income and GDP growth etc. Numerous studies have investigated the institutional financial performance and their outcomes for emerging states predominantly in perspective of South Asian and African economies. Nonetheless, after global financial crisis and fall of Bretton wood system a new debate was generated to re-examine the issue after implementation of financial liberalization policies in these economies. Numerous studies conducted in this context recommended further re-examination in order to develop a sound financial and Institutional framework which could prove to be productive for the financial development but very limited studies investigated the problem in the context of industrial development. Therefore, the central theme of the current study is to investigate the industrial development relationship for a sample of South Asian Countries. The occurrence of operational, administrative, political and institutional uncertainties in the South Asian region makes it important to study the issue from a policy perspective. With this background in mind the present study aims to ascertain numerous determinants of industrial development in terms of capital account openness, trade openness, equity openness, governance, domestic credit available to the private sector, inflation and foreign direct investment (FDI) for a sample of South Asian economies i.e. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka except Afghanistan (No data). To carry out empirical analysis, the study utilized Panel data set over the period 1996–2015 (Post liberalization period). For this purpose Industry Value Added has been used as a measure of Industrial Development; Chinn Ito Index (KAOPEN) as a measure of Capital Account Openness, ratio of the sum of imports and exports relative to GDP as measure of Trade Openness, Equity Openness has been measured by Market Capitalization to GDP Ratio, World Governance Indicator (WGI) has been used to measure Governance and Domestic Credit Available to Private Sector, FDI and Inflation have been measured in terms of percentage of GDP. The data has been majorly collected from international financial statistics, world development indicators, World Governance Indicator (WGI) and Journal of Development Economics. Furthermore, Granger’s Causality Test to identify the unidirectional and bidirectional relationship and Panel ARDL technique to determine significant predictors of industry development in SAARC economies has been applied. Findings reported Governance, Foreign direct Investment, Equity Openness and Inflation as significant contributing factor in industrial development of South Asian region economies. The study also discussed the models from policy perspective and provides recommendations for the policy makers to improve or redesign favorable policies based on findings.
19 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of a blast wave on the microstructure, intermetallic layers and hardness properties of Sn0.3Ag0.7Cu (SAC0307) lead-free solder was discussed.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effect of a blast wave on the microstructure, intermetallic layers and hardness properties of Sn0.3Ag0.7Cu (SAC0307) lead-free solder.,Soldered samples were exposed to the blast wave by using trinitrotoluene (TNT) explosive. Microstructure and intermetallic layer thickness were identified using Alicona ® Infinite Focus Measurement software. Hardness properties of investigated solders were determined using a nanoindentation approach.,Microstructure and intermetallic layers changed under blast wave condition. Hardness properties of exposed solders decreased with an increase in the TNT explosive weight.,Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of the exposed solder to the blast wave provide a fundamental understanding on how blast waves can affect the reliability of a solder joint, especially for military applications.
18 citations
TL;DR: Assessment of how sustainable food choices vary among Finnish citizens indicates that favoring plant-based diets was the highest among people under 30 and above 60 years old, and middle-aged men with high incomes was the most reluctant group to adopt sustainable diets.
Abstract: The world is facing the great challenge of how to feed the increasing and wealthier population sustainably in the future, with already limited natural resources. The existing literature reveals the negative impacts of animal-based diets, and thus global diet changes are required to ensure future food availability. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that food consumption is more than caloric intake—it is based on personal preferences. We assessed how sustainable food choices vary among Finnish citizens. The respondents (n = 2052) answered nine statements about their consumption behavior. We applied quantitative and qualitative methods, and our results indicate that favoring plant-based diets was the highest among people under 30 and above 60 years old. Middle-aged men with high incomes was the most reluctant group to adopt sustainable diets. Health-related issues and origin of food were the most preferred reasons for food choices, while environmental awareness was ranked lower. The key to mainstream sustainable diets lies in the co-benefits —transition towards more sustainable diets among Finns could be possible, if people felt that they can combine the selfish, hedonistic factors (e.g., health, weight loss) and altruistic factors (e.g., ecological benefits) in their everyday diets.
18 citations
11 Sep 2019
TL;DR: This article is a concentrated effort to analyse the cyber and electronic warfare strategy of North Korea and their possible use against United States Forces Korea and United States Indo-Pacific Command.
Abstract: Cyberspace is among the four global commons of the human race including, high seas, outer-space and Antarctica. The weaponization of the cyber domain is relatively a new phenomenon in war a...
13 citations
16 Apr 2019
TL;DR: In this study, the parameters of PV-cell are estimated using Whale Optimization Al algorithm and Sine-Cosine Algorithm and compared with the related literature.
Abstract: The share of photovoltaic energy systems in electricity production is increasing day by day. Photovoltaic systems are typically modeled as PV-cell circuit when using in power system analysis. The selection of the parameters used in the model is crucial because how close the model outputs are to reality depends on true estimation of these parameters. These parameters are also important for efficiency and maximum power tracking. Due to the increase in electricity generation with solar energy, the problem of estimation of these parameters has become a widely studied subject in recent years. In this study, the parameters of PV-cell are estimated using Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) and Sine-Cosine Algorithm (SCA) and compared with the related literature.
TL;DR: This study examines the implementation of EA by measuring the Malaysian public sector’s influence factors of EA and revealed that human characteristics such as knowledge and innovativeness to EA and technological characteristicssuch as relative advantage and complexity of EA influence its implementation by the Malaysianpublic sector.
Abstract: Enterprise architecture is very important to the public sector’s IT systems that are developed, organized, scaled up, maintained and strategized. Despite an extensive literature, the research of enterprise architecture is still at the early stage in public the sector and the reason to explain the acceptance, as well as the understanding of the implementation level of EA services still remains unclear. Therefore, this study examines the implementation of EA by measuring the Malaysian public sector’s influence factors of EA. Grounded by the Human-Organization-Technology (HOT-Fit) Model, this study proposes a conceptual framework by decomposing Human characteristics, Organizational characteristics and Technological characteristics as main categories in assessing the identified factors. A total of 92 respondents in the Malaysian public sector participated in this study. Structural Equation Modelling with Partial Least Square is the main statistical technique used in this study. The study has revealed that human characteristics such as knowledge and innovativeness to EA and technological characteristics such as relative advantage and complexity of EA influence its implementation by the Malaysian public sector. Based on the findings, the theoretical and practical implications of the study as well as limitations and future works are also discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors study thermodynamic contributions to the theory of gravity under the q-deformed boson and fermion gas models, and show that the law of gravity is not based on Verlinde's proposal.
Abstract: In this paper, we study thermodynamical contributions to the theory of gravity under the q-deformed boson and fermion gas models. According to Verlinde’s proposal, the law of gravity is not based o...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors pointed out that the commencement of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has led to the appreciation of Pakistan's economic outlook from 5.4% to 5.8% by the World Bank.
Abstract: The commencement of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor has led to the appreciation of Pakistan’s economic outlook from 5.4% to 5.8% by the World Bank. The upgraded outlook is a welcome sign but it is...
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of lanthanum oxide additive on the microstructural, physical, mechanical, and in vitro bioactivity properties of hydroxyapatite (HA)-alpha alumina (α-Al2O3) composite was evaluated.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of lanthanum oxide (La2O3) additive on the microstructural, physical, mechanical, and in vitro bioactivity properties of hydroxyapatite (HA)-alpha alumina (α-Al2O3) composite. The monolithic HA as well as composites of HA-5 wt% α-Al2O3 and HA-5 wt% Al2O3-(0.5 wt%, 1.5 wt%, and 2.5 wt%) La2O3 were uniaxially pelleted at 350 MPa with a size of ∅11 and 11 mm2 and sintered at the temperatures ranging from 1100 to 1300 °C for 4 h. The highest mechanical strength values of 130.20 ± 6.22 MPa, 60.27 ± 9.93 MPa, and 0.96 ± 0.05 MPa m1/2 for compressive strength (σcompressive), three-point bending strength (σthree-point bending), and fracture toughness (Kic) were obtained for monolithic HA, respectively. While the decomposition (transformation of HA to secondary phases such as beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), alpha-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP), and calcium oxide (CaO)) ratio was about 5.7% for monolithic HA, it attained to 27.4% for HA-5wt% α-Al2O3 composite. However, addition of La2O3 to HA-5 wt% α-Al2O3 composite contributed to decreasing of decomposition from 27.4 to 22.0%. The mechanical strength values of σcompressive of 214 ± 32.50 MPa, σthree-point bending of 75.70 ± 2.40 MPa, and Kic of 1.95 ± 0.10 MPa m1/2 were obtained for HA-5wt% α-Al2O3 composite. SEM images exhibited that α-Al2O3 led to decreasing the in vitro bioactivity of HA. However, La2O3 additive contributed to improvement of the mechanical as well as bioactivity properties of HA-5 wt% α-Al2O3 composite. HA-5 wt% α-Al2O3-0.5 wt% La2O3 composite can be used as a bioceramic in human body, because it has enough mechanical properties as well as its desirable in vitro bioactivity.
TL;DR: A novel methodology for fault prognosis of hydraulic pump based on the bispectrum entropy and the deep belief network and the Quantum Particle Swarm Optimization is proposed to search for the optimal value of initial parameters of the network.
Abstract: Abstract Fault prognosis plays a key role in the framework of Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM). Limited by the inherent disadvantages, most traditional intelligent algorithms perform not very well in fault prognosis of hydraulic pumps. In order to improve the prediction accuracy, a novel methodology for fault prognosis of hydraulic pump based on the bispectrum entropy and the deep belief network is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the bispectrum features of vibration signals are analyzed, and a bispectrum entropy method based on energy distribution is proposed to extract the effective feature for prognostics. Then, the Deep Belief Network (DBN) model based on the Restrict Boltzmann Machine (RBM) is proposed as the prognostics model. For the purpose of accurately predicting the trends and the random fluctuations during the performance degradation of the hydraulic pump, the Quantum Particle Swarm Optimization (QPSO) is introduced to search for the optimal value of initial parameters of the network. Finally, analysis of the hydraulic pump degradation experiment demonstrates that the proposed algorithm has a satisfactory prognostics performance and is feasible to meet the requirements of CBM.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors calculated Finland's virtual water net export potential (four scenarios) by reallocating the present underutilized agricultural land and combining that with a domestic diet change (three scenarios) to maximize the exports of cattle products.
Abstract: Water scarcity is a severe global threat, and it will only become more critical with a growing and wealthier population. Annually, considerable volumes of water are transferred virtually through the global food system to secure nations’ food supply and to diversify diets. Our objective is to assess, whether specializing water-intensive production for exports in areas with an abundance of natural resources, would contribute to globally resource-efficient food production. We calculated Finland’s virtual water net export potential (four scenarios) by reallocating the present underutilized agricultural land and combining that with a domestic diet change (three scenarios) to maximize the exports of cattle products. Assessed scenarios indicate that the greatest potential to net export virtual water (3.7 billion m3 year−1, 25-time increase to current) was achieved when local production was maximized with domestic and exported feed, and bovine meat consumption in Finland was replaced with a vegetarian substitute. This corresponds to annual virtual water consumption for food of about 3.6 million global citizens (assuming 1032 m3 cap−1 year−1). Therefore our results suggest, that optimizing water-intensive production to water-rich areas, has a significant impact on global water savings. In addition, increasing exports from such areas by decreasing the domestic demand for water-intensive products to meet the nutrition recommendation levels, saves water resources.
01 Sep 2019
TL;DR: An axiomatic definition of strict intuitionistic fuzzy entropy (SIFE) and four constraint requirements are proposed in this paper and the experiment result shows that the proposed vulnerability evaluation method is a feasible multi-expert evaluation fusing model.
Abstract: By analyzing existing construction methods of intuitionistic fuzzy entropy (IFE), the entropies of intuitionistic fuzzy numbers cannot be distinguished when membership function equals non-membership function. The generalization performance of traditional IFE is insufficient. To overcome the limitation of IFE definition, referencing classical mathematic strict comparison operation, an axiomatic definition of strict intuitionistic fuzzy entropy (SIFE) and four constraint requirements are proposed in this paper. Firstly, two SIFE construction methods are proposed and their constraint requirements are certified. Secondly, a general formula is extracted from the novel construction methods. Thirdly, combining vulnerability evaluation model and SIFE theory, IFE is applied in the network information security field. The proposed evaluation model is deployed in the common vulnerability scoring system to evaluate Apache Web Server chunked encoding remote overflow vulnerability. The experiment result shows that the proposed vulnerability evaluation method is a feasible multi-expert evaluation fusing model.
TL;DR: It was observed that it is possible to find the tourists who will prefer Turkey by using the developed system, and revealed that the countries can reach the individual instead of masses in their promotional activities.
Abstract: Background and Objective: Tourism and travel sector continues to grow by gaining an important place in the world economy and many countries want to increase their share in this sector. At the same time, it is known that today's consumer tourism and travel purchase decisions are influenced by social media. By examining the data of consumers on social media, it is possible for businesses to reach the right person and get more efficiency from high-cost promotion activities. The study aims to analyze the historical data of users on TripAdvisor with artificial intelligence methods to reveal a profile of consumers who might prefer Turkey. Methods: In this context, TripAdvisor, which is one of the best-known websites in the tourism sector, is an important source of data for countries to increase their share in the tourism market. Inferences can be made by using artificial intelligence methods and the data in TripAdvisor together. In this study, as a case study, the potentials of Chinese tourists to prefer Turkey are dealt because Turkey has increased its tourism targets ten folds for China and the year 2018 was declared as “Turkey Tourism Year” in China. In this context, this study aims to determine the potentials of Chinese tourists to prefer Turkey, by processing travel data histories obtained from TripAdvisor with artificial intelligence methods. It is expected that the study will contribute to the tourism sector as well as the academic literature. The study used the travel data history of Chinese tourists taken from TripAdvisor. Significant travel histories were selected by the F-score method. Depending on the selected and all travel histories of users, their travel preferences (Turkey/France) were classified by artificial intelligence algorithms. The developed model was tested with performance criteria. Results: At the end of the study, it was ensured that the Chinese, who would prefer Turkey, were determined with an accuracy rate of 75.25% and sensitivity rate of 0.76. Conclusions: It was observed that it is possible to find the tourists who will prefer Turkey by using the developed system. In other words, the study revealed that the countries can reach the individual instead of masses in their promotional activities.
24 Apr 2019
TL;DR: In this article, a 60/70 penetration grade bitumen was modified with polyurethane (PU) added with a Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) additive, in the amount of 0.5 wt % with respect to bitumen.
Abstract: In this study, a 60/70 penetration grade bitumen was modified with polyurethane (PU) added with a Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) additive, i.e. Cecabase, in the amount of 0.5 wt % with respect to bitumen. The thermal characterization was done using the Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) while the chemical analysis was done using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). Raman Spectroscopy was used to characterize the asphaltic materials in the bitumen, namely the D (Defect) and G (Graphite) bands. Test results showed that adding PU and Cecabase to the bitumen slightly shifted the Tg and Tm peaks of the thermal behaviour. The result of FTIR showed that there was no shift in the carbonyl and sulfoxide peaks, which indicate that no chemical interaction occurred in the unmodified and modified bitumen. Furthermore, the Raman Spectroscopy investigation revealed that PU and Cecabase reduced the wax content and decreased the bee-structure of the bitumen samples. However, the order structures of unmodified and modified bitumen were still within the boundary limit of the D and G bands of the Raman spectra. In conclusion, the use of PU and Cecabase as bitumen modifier are promising for alternative source for bitumen.
TL;DR: In this article, two observations stand out from the Russian strategic outlook: 1) it corresponds with the real politik vision of world politics where the states engage in (zero-sum) competition for power and r...
Abstract: Two observations stand out from the Russian strategic outlook. First, it corresponds with the real politik vision of world politics where the states engage in (zero-sum) competition for power and r...
TL;DR: In this paper, the analysis of scientific approaches to understanding of organizational development in the field of educational institutions management as a complex of successive educational changes is presented, and scientific researches on the change of education managers' behavior in the course of changes are presented.
Abstract: The article contains the analysis of scientific approaches to understanding of organizational development in the field of educational institutions management as a complex of successive educational changes. Scientific researches on the change of education managers’ behavior in the course of changes are presented.Types of education managers attitude to changes and their quantitative expression were determined and revealed based on the data of an empirical research. Almost half of the surveyed education managers are represented by such types as “traditionalist” and “realist”, which indicates the insufficient orientation of education managers in introducing innovative changes in educational institutions. This indicates a low level of education managers’ readiness to provide the organizational development of educational institutions. The results obtained can be used by the government in developing and implementing the programs for the professional development of education managers. The authors offer the most practical tools for implementing the concept of organizational development. It is proposed to distinguish between special requirements for both professional and personal qualities of education managers.
31 Dec 2019
TL;DR: In this article, the authors deconstruct the Africanization of migration destined for Europe, to disprove several cognitive scripts on migration from Africa, most frequently quoted in the conservative media discourse.
Abstract: The aim of the article is to deconstruct the Africanization of migration destined for Europe, to disprove several cognitive scripts on migration from Africa, most frequently quoted in the conservative media discourse. In the introduction, the migration of Africans destined for Europe in relations to the migration of Asians via Africa destined for Europe were characterized inter alia on the basis of the official documents, UNHCR and FRONTEX reports. Then, the dynamics of transcontinental and intra-Africa migrations – in synchronous and diachronic approach, with the reference to the research results of scholars specialized in the demography, social policy, history of migration – were discussed. Finally, the cultural meanings of migration among Africans is presented.
01 Dec 2019
TL;DR: This work is devoted to choosing a DBMS in modern information systems.
Abstract: this work is devoted to choosing a DBMS in modern information systems. DBMS (Database Management System) is a software package designed to define, manipulate, retrieve and manage data in a database; OLTP (Online Transactional Processing) is a category of data processing that is focused on transaction-oriented tasks and typically involves inserting, updating, and/or deleting small amounts of data in a database; OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) is a computing method that enables users to easily and selectively extract and query data in order to analyze it from different points of view; ACID (an acronym for Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) is a concept that Database professionals generally use when evaluating databases and application architectures; SQL (Structured Query Language) is a standardized programming language that's used to manage relational databases and perform various operations on the data in them.
TL;DR: The 2018 presidential and parliamentary election in Zimbabwe was unique in that it was the first post-Mugabe election and the government had pledged to deliver a credible election free from the pre...
Abstract: The 2018 presidential and parliamentary election in Zimbabwe was unique in that it was the first post-Mugabe election and the government had pledged to deliver a credible election free from the pre...
01 Nov 2019
TL;DR: In this paper, an overview of categorization of space power with a focus towards nascent space powers is presented, and the economic and technological constraints have been explained that need to be catered in policy of any nascent space power.
Abstract: The luxuries of the modern day living owe a lot to the services provided from outer space or passing through space. More and more nations continue to garner the benefits of space technology by initiating, strengthening, and growing their space programs; many of these new comers are from developing regions of world. Having a space program offers plenty of opportunities; however, these require high initial costs with most of gains garnered in long-term. While the nascent space powers should ideally aim for continual growth and long-term sustenance of their space program; the financial and technological constraints form major caveat, which, if not taken care of, may stagnate the growth or even endanger the long-term sustenance of space program itself. Hence, right from beginning, nascent space powers need to define a well deliberated national space policy to maintain a correct direction for times to come. This paper points towards the same need: it presents an overview of categorization of space power with a focus towards nascent space powers. Then, the economic and technological constraints have been explained that need to be catered in policy of any nascent space power. Finally, this paper deliberates several of the macro level challenges, aspects, and objectives that need focused attention from policy making institutions as well as space program managers to ensure long term sustenance of its space program.
TL;DR: In this paper, a survey of the defense-growth nexus by incorporating openness to trade, external debt, gross capital formation and labor force in production function is presented, which indicates that economic growth is positively affected by spending on defense sector, capital investments, labor force, and openness-to-trade in long run while external debt has a negative effect on economic growth.
Abstract: Since the last quarter of 20th century the macroeconomic impact of defense spending on the economic growth have attracted the attention of many researchers, academician and policy makers. During the cold war the US defense strategy against the Soviet Union was the first time when it was derived. After the cold war a reduction in defense spending was observed which was named as “Peace Dividend”. Most of the developing and developed countries try to make peace and promote it but still it is seen that large portion of the overall global GDP is spent on the defense sector. This study surveys defense-growth nexus by incorporating openness to trade, external debt, gross capital formation and labor force in production function. The study uses annual time series data over the period 1972-2016. For estimation purposes, the study employed ADF unit root test and P-P unit root test for testing stationarity properties, ARDL Bound test to cointegration used for testing long run relationship. The empirical evidence of the study reveals that Economic growth is positively affected by spending on defense sector, capital investments, labor force, and openness to trade in long run while external debt has a negative effect on economic growth. Apart from this, empirical evidence also suggests that in short run; there is positive imperative role of capital investment, defense spending, and openness to trade in growth process, while external debt retards the pace of economic growth. Results of the study indicates that defense spending could be used as a fiscal tool for achieving sustainable growth, government should invest high R&D in defense sector in order to produce modernize defense products which would reduce high importation cost of expensive defense products, and through selling these defense products, not only the defense sector would be self-sufficient but would also contribute to growth process by exporting the defense products.
TL;DR: Investigation of the impact of employee engagement on job insecurity and moderating role of psychological empowerment of employees in oil and gas sector revealed that employee engagement is significant for reducing feelings of insecurity in a job, meanwhile if they are empowered psychologically, their commitment and loyalty is increased many times.
Abstract: Human resources have had a strategic role in both sustainable and competitive business since it is inimitable element of business. The purpose of this research is to investigation the impact of emp...
TL;DR: The article consists of expert interviews, conscripts feedback surveys, marine cadets feedback surveys and observations of actual training during simulator training on the simulator’s usage in maritime education.
20 May 2019
TL;DR: In this paper, a research framework that examines the relationship of employee core self evaluations with employee engagement accompanied by organizational culture as a moderator was proposed, which indicated that employees core self evaluation traits significantly interacts with their perception about the organizational culture and produce valuable work outcome like employee engagement.
Abstract: Core self-evaluations have predictive value for crucial work outcomes. However, less attention is given to examine the relationship between employee core self evaluations and employee engagement. Based on trait activation theory present study propose a research framework that examines the relationship of employee core self evaluations with employee engagement accompanied by organizational culture as a moderator. It was assumed that employees core self evaluation traits significantly interacts with their perception about the organizational culture and produce valuable work outcome like employee engagement. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to demonstrate validity and reliability of proposed model and structural equation modeling was used to examine hypothesized model. The proposed model was supported empirically by data collected from 537 employees working in different branches of Pakistan Telecommunication Company limited (PTCL). The result indicated core self evaluations of employees as predictor of their engagement levels, also innovative and supportive organizational culture were found to have positive moderating effect on the relationship of employee core self evaluations with employee engagement.