The dynamic behavior of the cylindrical shell can be predicted by more simplified beam models for a wide range of applications. The present paper deals with finding design conditions in which the cylindrical shell performs like a beam. Employing the Hamilton’s principle, the governing equations are obtained using both Donnell-Mushtari and Flugge shell theories and the analytical solution is obtained for long cylinders with simply-supported boundary conditions at both ends. Then, by equalizing the shell and beam vibration frequencies, the shell-to-beam transition conditions are obtained for both theories. To account for the effects of shear distortion and rotatory inertia of the shell, the finite element method is applied to find the best transition conditions with less approximating assumptions. Finally, the effects of boundary conditions on the transition parameters as well as the frequency response are studied. The obtained conditions simply define that if the shell can be assumed as a beam in any specific geometrical and material conditions.

This study was conducted to consider the relationship between the transportation export value (TR) and energy consumption of Thailand (EN) in the long run by a comparative analysis that relied on testing by the ARDL and NARDL models. The Granger causality of each item was also tested by quarterly time series data from Quarter 1 of 2011-Quarter 4 of 2021. The results revealed a long relationship from the EN to TR. However, only the reduction of the TR affected the EN. According to the results, the energy agencies of Thailand should maintain the balance of EN and sufficient energy imports to drive the TR for its stability.

In a bid to discovering novel antibiotics to combat growing trend of multi-drug resistance strains of Salmonella typhi, 48 new pyridine derivatives with significant inhibitory activities against the aforementioned bacterium were subjected to molecular docking against DNA gyrase protease of the bacterium, drug likeness evaluation and pharmacokinetics profiling. All the 48 leads displayed better binding affinity values when compared with Amoxicillin, Ciprofloxacin, Ceftriaxone, Ampicillin, and chloramphenicol, the standard antibiotics used herein for quality assurance. Furthermore, the majority of the compounds were, however, screened out due to their poor pharmacokinetics profiles and drug-likeness. Only five compounds emerged as the most promising leads and they include C4 with binding affinity of -8.0 kcal/mol, C8 (-8.6 kcal/mol), C9 (-8.1 kcal/mol), C26 (-8.3 kcal/mol), and C27 (-8.0 kcal/mol). These compounds not only displayed better binding affinity when compared with the reference antibiotics but also exhibit different modes of interactions with the target protease of the bacterium making them more potent and drug like. Toxicity evaluation of the leads also revealed that the compounds are neither tumorigenic nor mutagenic. In view of the excellent binding affinity, high pharmacokinetics profile and positive drug-likeness of the novel ligands, we recommend these promising compounds for in vitro and in vivo studies in order to discover novel antibiotics that could curb the dangerous trend of multiple drug resistance by Salmonella typhi.

There are many leadership styles, which have different impacts on employees' performance. In higher education, faculty performance depends on many factors including Leadership style & Organizational culture. This study aims to examine the effect of leadership styles on faculty performance (FP) and more specifically to examine the moderating effect of Organizational Culture in the association between leadership styles and faculty performance in higher education institutions (MUET, Jamshoro). This study used quantitative methodology to identify the leadership styles which exist in MUET, Jamshoro, and their impact on faculty performance with organizational culture as moderator. It used both the sampling techniques probability and non-probability, and the sample size was 384 and the data was analyzed in SmartPLS 3. For leadership style, Full Range Leadership Model was adopted and for organizational culture, Competing Value Framework (CVF) was used. This study found that Transformational (TF) leadership has a positive significant relation with faculty performance at MUET, Jamshoro. And Organizational Culture (OC) as moderator negatively moderates the relation between Laissez-faire (LF) leadership and faculty performance (FP). According to faculty, transformational leadership is best suited to promote their performance on account of giving them challenging work, autonomy, mutual trust, through supporting subordinates' creativity, improving their confidence, and maintaining collaborations. Laissez-faire leadership also exists in an academic institution and has a positive impact on faculty performance. However, Transactional leadership has a negative impact on faculty performance. The future study could be conducted in other universities, or a comparison of leadership styles can be made between public and private universities with different models of leadership style and with different organizational culture models.

In this paper, a new period-based approach is proposed for modeling a capacitated inventory system, operating under an (S,T) policy with backlog. The system experiences stochastic discrete demand and lead time. By using the proposed method, a mathematical model is developed. The model can accurately estimate the inventory system measures of performance: the expected inventory on-hands and over-storage amount. Through a simulation experiment, the new model is compared with two other models, which are developed by using a widely used mean-based approach. The comparison is conducted based on a case study data set. The results demonstrate that the period-based model is superior to the mean-based models with respect to capturing the behaviors of the inventory system. Therefore, better inventory policy parameters can be obtained by employing the new model.

This research investigated how digital transformation affects the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and organizational performance among private banks in Baghdad, Iraq. The study population consisted of 5,000 individuals holding various positions, including general manager, deputy general manager, department head, section head, and employee. To obtain a representative sample, the researchers employed the stratified equal random sampling method and randomly selected participants. As a result, a total of 406 questionnaires were distributed. However, only 197 questionnaires were valid and suitable for analysis, representing a percentage of 49% of the distributed questionnaires. The primary means of gathering information was through a questionnaire, and the data obtained were analyzed using inferential statistical techniques. The research findings indicated that the different aspects of entrepreneurial orientation, such as being proactive, taking risks, and flexibility, had a significant and beneficial influence on the organization's overall performance and its ability to operate effectively and engage socially. Nonetheless, the innovation aspect did not have a notable impact on the performance of the organization and its related dimensions. In addition, the research indicated that digitalization has a beneficial impact on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and the performance of an organization, making it more powerful. The research suggested that private banks operating in Baghdad province ought to promote innovation, foster productive social interactions, enhance their operational efficiency, facilitate digital transformation, and leverage their moderating influence to improve the performance of the organization by boosting entrepreneurial orientation.

This paper investigates the shear strength and failure modes of steel-concrete-steel (SCS) sandwich composite member with Engineered Cementitious Concrete (ECC) and explores the influences of various shear connectors such as headed stud and bolt on shear behavior of SCS sandwich composite member by carrying out push-out testing program. Based on the test results in this study, the failure modes and the load-slip behavior of the specimens are investigated. In addition, the experimental results on the shear resistance of the headed stud connector with various connector spacing and numbers of connector is compared and explored.

With Newsvendor Problem (NvP) we refer to a specific class of inventory management problems, valid for a single item with stochastic demand over a single period. In the standard version, the newsvendor is allowed to issue a single order, before he or she can observe the actual demand. Since the newsvendor can face both overage and underage costs, due to lost sales or residual stock, the objective is to define the optimal order size that maximizes the expected profit. In this paper, we consider a specific version of the NvP, in which the buyer has the opportunity to make a last and single order for opportunistic reasons. Specifically, we consider discontinued, collectible items, for which demand will not vanish and whose value might appreciate. Hence, the objective is to define the optimal quantity that should be purchased, just before the item is retired from the market or sold-out, and that should be sold as soon as the price rises over a predefined target level. An optimal solution, maximizing the expected profit, is obtained both in case of negligible and non-negligible stockholding costs. In the latter case, to obtain the optimal solution in implicit form, some simplifying assumptions are needed. Hence, a thorough numerical analysis is finally performed, as a way to empirically demonstrate both the robustness and the accuracy of the model, in several scenarios differentiated in terms of costs and customers’ demand.

This paper presents a mathematical model for a single depot, time-dependent vehicle routing problem with backhaul considering the first in first out (FIFO) assumption. As the nature of the problem is NP-hard, variable neighborhood search (VNS) meta-heuristic and mat-heuristic algorithms have been designed. For test problems with large scales, obtained results highlight the superior performance of the mat-heuristic algorithm compared with that of the other algorithm. Finally a case study at the post office of Khomeini-Shahr town, Iran, was considered. Study results show a reduction of roughly 19% (almost 45 min) in the travel time of the vehicle.

In reality, concrete structures are normally under various loadings, and results of different studies have shown that cracks in these structures and their materials, due to their nature as well as the loading type, do not develop along the crack plane (pure mode I); rather, they expand under mixed modes, making the crack growth studies under these modes a very important issue. In the crack growth phenomenon, the fracture toughness is a very effective parameter usually calculated by ENDB samples because they are easy to handle. In this study, several samples were made by changing the maximum aggregates size (dmax = 9.5, 12.5 & 19 mm) and the amount of hooked-end steel fibers (SF = 0.1, 0.3 & 0.5%), and tested under different loading modes (pure/mixed modes I and III) using the strain control jack device. According to the results, the lowest fracture toughness belonged to pure mode III, aggregates with dmax = 12.5 mm performed better in the self-compacting concrete reinforced with steel fiber, Also, the results show that the increasing trend of steel fibers does not have a positive effect on the fracture toughness performance.