Search Results (11)

High-temperature structural materials face severe degradation challenges due to oxidation and corrosion, leading to reduced long-term stability and performance. This review comprehensively examines the interfacial migration mechanisms of reactive elements (REs) such as Ti, Al, and Cr in Ni/Fe-based alloys, emphasizing their role in forming and stabilizing protective oxide layers. We discuss how these oxide layers impede ion migration and mitigate environmental degradation. Key findings highlight the importance of selective oxidation, oxide layer healing, and the integration of novel alloying elements to enhance resistance under ultra-supercritical conditions. Advanced insights into grain boundary engineering, alloy design strategies, and quantum approaches to understanding charge transport at passive interfaces are also presented. These findings provide a foundation for developing next-generation high-temperature alloys with improved degradation resistance tailored to withstand extreme environmental conditions. Full article

In the past two decades, advancements in thermochemical technologies have improved biomass gasification for distributed power generation, enhancing efficiency, scalability, and emission control. This study aims to optimize syngas production from biomass gasification by comparing two computational models: a quasi-equilibrium thermodynamic model implemented in Aspen Plus and an artificial neural network (ANN) model. Operating at 850 °C with varying steam-to-biomass (S/B) ratios, both models were validated against experimental data. Results show that hydrogen concentration in syngas increased from 19.96% to 43.28% as the S/B ratio rose from 0.25 to 0.5, while carbon monoxide concentration decreased from 24.6% to 19.1%, consistent with the water–gas shift reaction. The ANN model provided rapid predictions, showing a mean absolute error of 3% for hydrogen and 2% for carbon monoxide compared to experimental data, though it lacks thermodynamic constraints. Conversely, the Aspen Plus model ensures mass and energy balance compliance, achieving a cold gas efficiency of 95% at an S/B ratio of 0.5. A Multivariate Statistical Analysis (MVA) further clarified correlations between input and output variables, validating model reliability. This combined modelling approach reduces experimental costs, enhances gasification process control and offers practical insights for improving syngas yield and composition. Full article

Health-promoting outdoor environments designed for people living with dementia (PLwD) has proved to be an effective non-pharmacological intervention for treatment of symptoms and improved well-being. However, for individuals with Young-Onset Dementia (YOD), who have particular symptoms and needs, the content and design of these environments are underexplored. This study aimed to explore the needs of individuals with YOD in a garden setting, to generate design-related knowledge for ‘dementia-friendly’ outdoor environments, while contributing to the field of Evidence-Based Design (EBD). An 8-week long nature-based program was carried out in Alnarp’s rehabilitation garden, a specifically developed garden based on research from e.g., landscape architecture, environmental psychology and medical science. The study used a triangulation of qualitative methods including six participants with YOD and a multidisciplinary team of five staff members. Content analysis was used for all gathered data, including 17 semi-structured interviews with participants with YOD and with staff. Data collection and analysis was performed based on the evidence-based Quality Evaluation Tool (QET). The study led to a target group adapted version of the QET for people with YOD containing 20 developed environmental qualities for designers to pursue in therapeutic gardens, including the additional quality of Calmness. A progression was noted, as a result of perceived positive effects during the intervention, indicating possible change and development of the group’s needs and preferences in the outdoors. Full article

This study investigated the effects of quiet eye training (QET) on the neuropsychological functioning and fine motor performance of children with attention deficits. The participant cohort consisted of 106 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between the ages of 8 and 12 years. The children were assigned to either the QET group (n = 54) or the control group (n = 52). The QET group went through a 5-week intervention in which the performance of blocks of targeting tasks was preceded by watching split-screen video footage featuring the gaze and body movements of a skilled model performing a throwing motion. Both groups underwent pre-test and post-test assessments, which included the reaction test of alertness, go/no-go inhibition test, and motor performance series test. The QET group demonstrated significant improvements in attentional engagement, inhibitory control, and fine motor skills, which require precise and fast visuomotor coordination. These results highlight the potential benefits of QET intervention in ameliorating attention deficits and enhancing fine aiming motor skills in children with ADHD. However, task specificity was evident, indicating that the intervention effects were most pronounced for the hand fine motor aiming tasks requiring both precision and speed. Full article

This research investigates employee empowerment’s role in the relationship between quality management practices (QMPs) and innovation performance at five-star hotels in Jordan. A total of 400 workers who work in five-star hotels in Jordan were given a questionnaire with 29 questions that measured QMPs, employee empowerment, and innovation performance. The obtained data were analyzed by PLS-SEM. The results show that quality policy (QP) has an insignificant influence on employee empowerment and innovation performance, while quality commitment (QC) and quality education and training (QET) have a positive and significant influence on employee empowerment and innovation performance. The results also reveal that employee empowerment has a positive influence on innovation performance. Finally, employee empowerment as a mediator variable was not working on the relationship between QP and innovation performance but showed a significant role as a partial mediator between QC and innovation performance as well as QET and innovation performance. Discussion, theoretical and managerial implications for future research, and limitations are presented. Full article

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relations of originality, efficiency, conformism, and entrepreneurial potential. The sample consisted of a student population from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina as EU candidate countries and from the EU member country, Belgium. Research results can help policy makers receive valuable information on how to improve student attitude towards entrepreneurship. Data was collected from a sample of 1008 university students from these three countries. The Kirton Adaptation Innovation Inventory (KAI), Questionnaire on Entrepreneurial Traits (QET), and The Scale of Entrepreneurial Potential (SEP) were applied in the research in order to obtain data. Canonical correlation analysis revealed a significantly strong relation between originality, efficiency, conformism, and dimensions of the Entrepreneurial Traits model, as well as significant relation to the entrepreneurial potential model. Findings from this study may provide data that could be used to develop and foster the entrepreneurship potential of students and help improve the economy in the region. Full article

In 2017, the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network (PPCN), an enhanced pharmacy services network, and STRAND Clinical Technologies partnered to launch a payor contract with a Pennsylvania Medicaid Managed Care Organization for the provision of comprehensive medication management (CMM) at PPCN pharmacies. PPCN and the Community Leadership and Innovation in Practice Center at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy partnered to create the Quality Engagement Team (QET), a group of student pharmacists formed with the intent to support the initial implementation of this contract. The QET supported the pharmacies through biweekly phone calls, which led to increased pharmacist engagement and produced impactful patient encounter stories that were then reported back to the payor. We utilized Active Implementation Frameworks and select implementation strategies from the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change project throughout the implementation period. The QET supported the successful implementation of this payor contract, which saw an increase in CMM encounters completed by the pharmacists during each month of the four-month contract period. Students, pharmacists and the payor each derived meaningful benefits from this initiative. Student pharmacists can be a powerful asset in the implementation of payor programs within an enhanced pharmacy services network, resulting in the mutually beneficial and sustainable support of the network. Full article

The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in family entrepreneurship background and personal attitudes of students regarding their future career preferences and its effects on the development of specific dimensions of entrepreneurship potential of a student population. The sample consisted of a student population from Serbia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina as EU candidate countries and Belgium as an EU member country. A sample of 1008 university students from these three countries participated in this research. Instruments used in this research were the Questionnaire of Entrepreneurial Traits (QET) and the Scale of Entrepreneurial Potential (SEP). Canonical discriminant analysis confirmed significant differences in scores on both QET and SEP scales of entrepreneurial potential between students that have family entrepreneurship background and those who do not. Differences were also shown among students who strive for self-employment, and consider establishing their own business, and students who would like to find employment in the state or private sector. Young people whose family members are engaged in entrepreneurship are influenced by their parents who started companies, parents’ personal characteristics, and parent’s model of behavior, which significantly shapes the behavior and characteristics of these young people, compared to those young people whose parents do not start companies. Young people who prefer to build a career within their own enterprise have basic characteristics that predispose them for engagement in entrepreneurship within their own company, whereby this provides them with the only way they can achieve the full capacity of their individual potential. Both these groups display a more developed initiative, independence in decision making, they are more open minded and prone to take on risks, have more developed organizational skills, and more positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship. Results of this study can help identify and foster factors that significantly develop specific characteristics of entrepreneurship potential of student populations, such as family entrepreneurship background and career preferences. Full article

We investigated the diurnal ozone variation on 6 September 2013 in a midsize urban environment using multiple in situ and remote-sensing measurements along with the Dutch atmospheric large-eddy simulation (DALES) model coupled with a chemical module and a dry deposition module that we added for this study. Our study area was Huntsville, Alabama, USA, a typical midsize city in the Southeastern United States. The ozone variation in the convective boundary layer (CBL) resulted mainly from local emissions and photochemical production stemming from weather conditions controlled by an anticyclonic system on that day. Local chemical production contributes approximately two thirds of the ozone enhancement in the CBL and, in this case, dynamical processes including ozone transport from the free troposphere (FT) to the CBL through the entrainment processes contributed the remainder. The numerical experiments performed by the large-eddy simulation (LES) model showed acceptable agreement with the TOLNet (The tropospheric ozone lidar network)/RO₃QET (Rocket-city ozone quality evaluation in the troposphere) ozone DIAL (differential absorption lidar) observations. This study indicated the need for fine-scale, three-dimensional ozone observations with high temporal and spatial resolution for air quality studies at the urban scale and smaller. Full article

The prediction of freshwater resources remains a challenging task in West Africa, where the decline of in situ measurements has a detrimental effect on the quality of estimates. In this study, we establish a series of modeling routines for the grid-based mesoscale Hydrologic Model (mHM) using Multiscale Parameter Regionalization (MPR). We provide a computationally efficient application of mHM-MPR across a diverse range of data-scarce basins using in situ observations, remote sensing, and reanalysis inputs. Model performance was first screened for four precipitation datasets and three evapotranspiration calculation methods. Subsequently, we developed a modeling framework in which the pre-screened model is first calibrated using discharge as the observed variable (mHM Q), and next calibrated using a combination of discharge and actual evapotranspiration data (mHM Q/ET). Both model setups were validated in a multi-variable evaluation framework using discharge, actual evapotranspiration, soil moisture and total water storage data. The model performed reasonably well, with mean discharge KGE values of 0.53 (mHM Q) and 0.49 (mHM Q/ET) for the calibration; and 0.23 (mHM Q) and 0.13 (mHM Q/ET) for the validation. Other tested variables were also within a good predictive range. This further confirmed the robustness and well-represented spatial distribution of the hydrologic predictions. Using MPR, the calibrated model can then be scaled to produce outputs at much smaller resolutions. Overall, our analysis highlights the worth of utilizing additional hydrologic variables (together with discharge) for the reliable application of a distributed hydrologic model in sparsely gauged West African river basins. Full article

The escalation of traffic congestion in urban cities has urged many countries to use intelligent transportation system (ITS) centers to collect historical traffic sensor data from multiple heterogeneous sources. By analyzing historical traffic data, we can obtain valuable insights into traffic behavior. Many existing applications have been proposed with limited analysis results because of the inability to cope with several types of analytical queries. In this paper, we propose the QET (querying and extracting timeline information) system—a novel analytical query processing method based on a timeline model for road traffic sensor data. To address query performance, we build a TQ-index (timeline query-index) that exploits spatio-temporal features of timeline modeling. We also propose an intuitive timeline visualization method to display congestion events obtained from specified query parameters. In addition, we demonstrate the benefit of our system through a performance evaluation using a Busan ITS dataset and a Seattle freeway dataset. Full article