This paper presents a novel composite material produced by a natural reinforcement subjected to tensile test. The used reinforcement is made of Diss fibers. The Diss (Ampelodesma mauritanica) is a Mediterranean wild plant. This fiber is characterized in tensile according to ASTM standard. The results obtained show that the fiber Young’s modulus and the stress at break were very interesting and were similar to those obtained for some natural fibers such as sisal fiber. The composite was developed to study by three differing volume fractions of 20%, 30 % and 40 %.

Planning is one of the most important components of gas industry production. Most big gas companies usually look for effective planning approaches to accomplish the organizational objectives including cost and time reduction as well as enhancing quality and efficiency. For planning gas refinery production, important parameters including production time, production volume, production cost and storage need to be considered. Planning different units ought to be integrated and coordinated with other departments. This article presents an intensive arithmetic model to determine the production of gas derivatives. The proposed model of this paper is formulated as a mixed integer programming and the resulted problem is solved using NSGA-II algorithm and a hybrid method called BBO/NSGA-II. The problem is also applied for a real-world case study and the results are discussed.

Measuring actual project progress and comparing it with the planned time schedule is essential in controlling of a project. The outcome of the latter follows the s-curve diagram, which compares actual progress with the planned amount and finally analyzing any gap between them to draw directions for project scheduling. However, final duration of the project cannot be either estimated or predicted through conventional methods. The new method, using Rules of kinematics, can calculate the final duration of the project. This novel approach is successfully implemented on a construction project. The first objective in new method is forecasting final duration of the project, finding equation path and draw a new s-curve diagram for actual status during the execution process. The second objective is to evaluate schedule performance of the project and report the status of the project at each period which is a useful tool for managers.

In this paper, an analytical solution for whirling analysis of axial-loaded Timoshenko rotor is presented and corresponding basic functions are derived. The set of governing equations for whirling analysis of the rotor consists of four coupled partial differential equations; using complex displacements, these equations can be reduced to two coupled partial differential equations. The versatility of the proposed solution is confirmed using published results and the effect of angular velocity of spin, axial load, slenderness and Poisson & apos; s ratio on the natural frequencies of the rotor are investigated.

In disease mapping, it is preferable to estimate the risk rather than the significance in general, but the variation in estimation precision across the geographical map of the study region must also be taken into consideration. In such a situation the conventional methods would not yield the best estimates. Heterogeneity is an important aspect to be considered as significant in Disease Mapping and relative risk estimation. The simple regression models often do not capture the extent of the variation exhibited in the spatial count data. This is the case when the spatial data is over-dispersed or there is spatial correlation due to unobserved confounders. In such situations, it is appropriate to include some additional terms, which may be in the form of the prior distribution. In this paper, a Poisson model with Gamma prior is used to model and map the dengue incidences in Tamil Nadu to explain the patterns of variations.

Even though nowadays the concept of entrepreneurship has become popular in Vietnam, there are a few researches on starting up a business and the factors effect on the desirability of becoming an entrepreneur. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of entre-preneurial aptitudes, the need of getting higher income and lifestyle on the desirability of starting a business. In the theory and hypothesis section, the principal factors associated with the entrepreneurial desirability are indicated. After that, the overview of entrepreneurship in Vietnam is presented. In addition, by collecting data from 289 students in Vietnam, authors used quantitative analyses by some tools such as such as descriptive statistics, factor analysis, ANOVA test and linear regressions to test the hypothesis of the relationship between entrepreneurial aptitudes, the need of getting higher income and lifestyle with entre-preneurial desirability. As a result, all three independent variables positively affect the Vietnamese students’ desirability of starting a business. Specially, the need of increasing income is seen as the most influential factor on entrepreneurial desirability, followed by lifestyle en-trepreneurial aptitudes.

The global value chain (GVC) recognizes post production processes that involve socio economic engagements of stakeholders with electrical and electronic equipment (EEE or e-products) at their near or end of life. This paper attempts to measure some of the key social, economic, environmental, and sustainability indicators in line with GVC for lithium-ion batteries from e-products at their near or end of life. The assessment was based on the socioeconomic impacts on the battery sector for managing spent lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries in Southeastern Nigeria. The study methodology highlighted strategic features in line with socioeconomic assessment by deploying questionnaire administration. Ten (10) local government areas (LGAs) were purposely selected from five mutually exclusive States, with 100 stakeholders investigated. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data for innovation potentials for the battery recycling/refurbishing sector, and discussed accordingly under sustainability, social, economic and environmental impacts. The socioeconomic drivers (or outcomes) for the recycling and refurbishing of lithium ion batteries touched on self-sustainability, institutionalization, service demand, service utilization and prevalence.

This paper presents a unified multi items general inventory model for integrated production of new items and remanufacturing of returned and defected items for a finite planning horizon. In this paper, a production model that takes into account learning, instantaneous deterioration rate and inflation is proposed. In addition, we also consider that the holding cost is a non-negative, non-decreasing and continuous function of time. In this model, the preservation technology is used to reduce the rate of product deterioration. A theory is developed to find the optimal solution of the proposed model; it is then exemplified with the help of several numerical examples. An efficient solution procedure is also provided to find the optimal strategy. Finally, sensitivity of the optimal solution to changes in the values of different parameters of the system and the convexities of the cost functions are also studied and represented through the graphs.

The electricity generation policy is a strategic policy that drives development in a community. Energy policies are often analyzed with the aim of generating a reliable and affordable electricity for a community. There is a high probability of achieving this aim when energy policy is combined with a community social, technical, economic and environmental needs. This paper determines a hybrid renewable energy source (HRESs) for a rural community using technical, economic, and techno-economic criteria. The selection process combines Criteria Importance Through Inter-criteria Correlation (CRITIC) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) as a solution method. This approach applicability was tested using six HRESs under economic and technical criteria. Ten technical and nine economic criteria were simulated for the HRESs using HOMER. The results from the HOMER software show that A5(PV/wind/battery) and A6 (PV/battery) had a renewable fraction of 1. The results obtained from the CRITIC method showed that the most important technical and economic criteria were diesel generator and total fuel cost, respectively. From an economic perspective, the best HRES for the case study was A4 (diesel/batteries), while A3 (wind/diesel generator/batteries) was the best HRES from a technical and techno-economic perspectives.

The purpose of this study was to test the determinants affecting the credibility of online reviews. In this model, the relationships between argument quality and peripheral cue and credibility of online reviews were evaluated. The measurement model and the conceptual model depicting hypothesized relationships were evaluated based on responses from 460 customers using multiple linear regression analysis, accordingly. After the data collection process was completed, all data were put into SPSS 20. The process of checking and analyzing the data sequentially follows: reliability test, EFA factor analysis, Correlation analysis and Multiple linear regression analysis. Initially, the scale was assessed by Cronbach's Alpha and EFA. Then, the correlation coefficient test was used to check the linear relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The results from the study indicated the accuracy, completeness, review quantity, review consistency, product/ service rating, and website reputation were accepted and all of them had positive effects on review credibility. This shows, shoppers are very interested in completeness, the full information as well as necessary evidence to help shoppers assess the truthfulness and accuracy of the information more easily. At the same time, the website reputation also helps increase the credibility of the reviews and buyers tend to believe in online reviews if the website has a good reputation. Basically, the research completed its original purpose of identifying factors that affect the credibility of online reviews.