Towards A STEAM Underpinned Industrial Digitalisation Curriculum

This article reports on an innovative approach for designing a STEAM curriculum aimed at giving graduates the necessary skills to meet the challenges set out by onset of the Fourth Industrial revolution (ID 4.0: Industrial Digitalisation). This curriculum has been developed as part of a hefce (Higher Education Funding Council, UK) funded project at the University of Lincoln, UK

Crystal and Molecular Structure of Tris- acetylacetonate with Lanthanum (III) Metal Ion Complex

    الليكاند المستخدم  اسيتايل اسيتون  غالبا يعبر عنه ب (acac) , تم عزل المركب على شكل بلورات صفراء شاحبة من تفاعل  الملح الفلزي  La(NO3)3.6H2O مع (acac)  في درجة حرارة الغرفة . الصيغة  الجزيئية لمركب  [La(acac)3(H2O)2]  تم توضيحيها بواسطة تقنيات حيود الأشعة السينية و طيف الأشعة تحت الحمراء و طيف الأشعة فوق البنفسجية المرئية . يتناسق La(III) الأيون الفلزي مع ثماني ذرات أوكسجين مانحة من ثلاث جزيئات (acac) تتصرف كروابط ثنائية , وذرتان مانحتان للأوكسجين من جزيئات الماء تعمل كروابط أحادية . في بحثنا هذا لم يشارك (NO3-)  في التنسيق على الرغم من استخدام نترات اللانثانيوم كملح فلزي . بينما في ابحاث اخرى مماثلة أيون النترات مرتبطة بذرتين من الأكسجين مع الأيون الفلزي كليكاند ثنائي السن , ان العدد التناسقي لذرة La هي ثمانية  , الشكل الهندسى للمعقد المخلبي مكعب مشوه .The used ligand  Acetylacetone is often abbreviated (acac), complex was isolated as pale yellow crystals from the reaction of La(NO3)3.6H2O metal salt with  Acetylacetone at room temperature .The molecular formula of tris(acetylacetonatodiaqua)lanthanum(III) complex elucidated by the XRD, i.r  and  UV-Visible techniques .The La3+ is  linked  by eight  oxygen donor atoms of three  acetylacetone anions that behaves as bidentate ligands, and two oxygen donor atoms of water molecules acting as monodentate ligand. In  this research  (NO3- ) didn’t participate in coordination  despite the use of the  La3+nitrate  salt type of the metal  , while in other similar researches nitrate ion linked with two oxygen atoms acts as a bidentate ligand. The geometrical structure of the metal chelate was distorted cubic

INTELIGENTNA TECHNIKA WYBORU OPTYMALIZATORA: BADANIE PORÓWNAWCZE ZMODYFIKOWANEGO MODELU DENSENET201 Z INNYMI MODELAMI GŁĘBOKIEGO UCZENIA

The rapid growth and development of AI-based applications introduce a wide range of deep and transfer learning model architectures. Selecting an optimal optimizer is still challenging to improve any classification type's performance efficiency and accuracy. This paper proposes an intelligent optimizer selection technique using a new search algorithm to overcome this difficulty. A dataset used in this work was collected and customized for controlling and monitoring roads, especially when emergency vehicles are approaching. In this regard, several deep and transfer learning models have been compared for accurate detection and classification. Furthermore, DenseNet201 layers are frizzed to choose the perfect optimizer. The main goal is to improve the performance accuracy of emergency car classification by performing the test of various optimization methods, including (Adam, Adamax, Nadam, and RMSprob). The evaluation metrics utilized for the model’s comparison with other deep learning techniques are based on classification accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-Score. Test results show that the proposed selection-based optimizer increased classification accuracy and reached 98.84%.Szybki wzrost i rozwój aplikacji opartych na sztucznej inteligencji wprowadzają szeroki zakres architektur modeli głębokiego uczenia i uczenia transferowego. Wybór optymalnego optymalizatora wciąż stanowi wyzwanie w celu poprawy wydajności i dokładności każdego rodzaju klasyfikacji. W niniejszej pracy proponowana jest inteligentna technika wyboru optymalizatora, wykorzystująca nowy algorytm wyszukiwania, aby pokonać to wyzwanie. Zbiór danych użyty w tej pracy został zebrany i dostosowany do celów kontroli i monitorowania dróg, zwłaszcza w sytuacjach, gdy zbliżają się pojazdy ratunkowe. W tym kontekście porównano kilka modeli głębokiego uczenia i uczenia transferowego w celu dokładnej detekcji i klasyfikacji. Ponadto, warstwy DenseNet201 zostały zamrożone, aby wybrać optymalizatora idealnego. Głównym celem jest poprawa dokładności klasyfikacji samochodów ratunkowych poprzez przeprowadzenie testów różnych metod optymalizacji, w tym (Adam, Adamax, Nadam i RMSprob). Metryki oceny wykorzystane do porównania modelu z innymi technikami głębokiego uczenia opierają się na dokładności klasyfikacji, precyzji, czułości i miarze F1. Wyniki testów pokazują, że zaproponowany optymalizator oparty na wyborze zwiększył dokładność klasyfikacji i osiągnął wynik na poziomie 98,84%

Women are More Utilitarian for their Credit Card Usage

This paper aims to present the individual differences among credit card users with reference to their age and Sex. Data for the research were collected through a survey of customers of Credit Card users in Pakistan.  The results show that some age and Sex differences exist in the credit card usage. The research focuses on credit card services in Pakistan; further research from dispersed geographic areas may be necessary before generalization can be made on the entire service industry. Service providers can use this model for their market segmentation and targeting activities leading to better positioning their products/services in the competitive banking services. Although there are studies on individual differences of services; research on individual differences on credit cards is very limited; this research adds significant value on the subject area. Keywords: Age differences, Sex differences, Consumer Behaviour, Credit Card, Service

Spatial practices in digital work : calling for a spatial turn in information systems research

The growing use of digital media in the workplace is shifting work to digital platforms, this study explores the role of the physical office space in modern organisations where digital work is the norm. We capture the way in which digital media modulates the production of space by tracing the physical and digital interactions of a software development team in a global IT company. Taking a performative and ontogenetic view of space we conceptualise two types of spatial practices that form distinct modulations and assemblages of features of the physical and digital environment. The first spatial practice modulates space to support recurrent work activities, while the second spatial practice modulates space to support ephemeral and focused work activities. This study contributes to the IS literature with a conceptual basis to study the interconnected nature of physical space in digital work in modern workplace settings. It calls for greater attention to space as a performative and constitutive element of digital work in information systems research

Determinants of Tax Incentives and the Effect of Corporate Tax Rate on the Foreign Direct Investment

Corporate tax incentives are granted by governments to encourage foreign direct investment FDI. While the tax policy in Iraq varies for both domestic and foreign investments, the Iraqi government offers tax holidays between 3 to 10 years to attract foreign investors to do their desirable investments. The objective of this research is to analyze how Iraqi's corporate tax rate affects FDI, and study the comparison between Iraqi and KRG tax policies. The data are annual observations of the Iraqi tax rate which is the net percentage of profit, and FDI net percentage of GDP. The time-series data from 2005 to 2019 were employed. Three distinct sorts of tests are engaged in this research, the first stage unit root test is conducted to determine the stationary of the data, secondly, Johansen co-integration test was used to find co-integration between variables, and finally, the Granger Causation test is used to determine causality among variables over the period. The finding result shows that the tax rate and FDI are co-integrated and have a long-run relationship. Particularly, foreign direct investment is impacted by changes in the tax rate, while fluctuation in the number of FDI has not any influence on the tax rate

Spatial Practices in Digital Work: Calling for a Spatial Turn in Information Systems Research

The growing use of digital media in the workplace is shifting work to digital platforms, this study explores the role of the physical office space in modern organisations where digital work is the norm. We capture the way in which digital media modulates the production of space by tracing the physical and digital interactions of a software development team in a global IT company. Taking a performative and ontogenetic view of space we conceptualise two types of spatial practices that form distinct modulations and assemblages of features of the physical and digital environment. The first spatial practice modulates space to support recurrent work activities, while the second spatial practice modulates space to support ephemeral and focused work activities. This study contributes to the IS literature with a conceptual basis to study the interconnected nature of physical space in digital work in modern workplace settings. It calls for greater attention to space as a performative and constitutive element of digital work in information systems research

Impact of oil revenue volatility on the real exchange rate and the structure of economy: Empirical evidence of “Dutch disease” in Iraq

This thesis analyses the extent to which a boom in a particular export commodity sector (i.e., oil) affects relative price of non-tradable goods against tradable goods, the real exchange rate and competitiveness in the rest of the economy: This problem has been analysed in the early stage by (Corden and Neary 1982) with the so-called ‘Dutch-disease’. As a result, booming sector (oil Sector) the country’s currency appreciates, thereby reducing the competitiveness of the country’s traditional export sector in international market. This thesis examines whether Dutch Disease is present in Iraq in the light of having not study about Dutch Disease phenomena. It evaluates the impact of growing oil revenues on non-oil sectors of the Iraqi economy. It produces some empirical evidence for the explanation non-tradable goods and contraction of tradable goods sector due to booming oil sector and appreciation real exchange rate and made tradable goods sector become uncompetitive for export. The main findings form this thesis that the Iraqi economy was subject to have the Dutch disease phenomena during the boom. Some of the indications of the disease, remarkably the increase of relative prices, the real exchange rate appreciation, contraction tradable goods sector and expansion of nontraded goods output were applicable. The study uses annual time series data sourced from home and international agencies from 1970 to 2013. Due to problem with endogeneity, the data are analysed through the use of two stages least square. Finally, the thesis discusses briefly some policy measures that will help avoid the issue of appreciation real exchange rate and changing the structure of economy out of tradable goods to non-tradable goods sector

Factors Affecting Work-Life Balance In Private Sector

This study aims to examine the factors affecting work-life balance in private sector. This research was conducted at the Conquest Electronics Sdn. Bhd, Kedah. The findings of this study examine on factors affecting work-life balance among employees in private sector, Conquest Electronics Sdn. Bhd, Kedah. A quantitative cross sectional survey research was conducted to collect in depth and numerical data on factors affecting work-life balance. The instrument used in this stage was closed ended questionnaire with five Likert scale. One hundred and thirty respondents have participated in this study which is, one hundred are assigned for the actual study. The employees that participated were from different department that has been working in the organization for a long period of time. The analysis techniques used in quantitative method were Pearson Correlation. Pearson Correlation was used to test the relationship between independent variables which is emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence, technology advancement, organizational support and dependent variable (work-life balance). The findings of this research bring several implications. Recommendation are also given to organization, HR practitioner and future research to improve their employee work-life balance in order to maintain a healthy work life balance between work and personal lives

The role of Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase in the regulation of innate recognition of immunological receptors expressed on human macrophages.

In order to combat harmful pathogens the innate recognition part of the immune system uses a variety of receptors including CD14, TLR4, TLR2 and SR (MARCO). These receptors are expressed on most human monocytes and macrophages. CD14 recognizes and bind lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the main causative agents of sepsis and endotoxic shock. Signaling from CD14-LPS and TLR4/MD-2 complex activate the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) family of transcription factors and JNK, a member of MAP kinase (MAPK) family. This signaling results in the production of the proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-1β among others. In addition, LPS also activates the DNA-repair and protein modifying enzyme poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1). Consequently, the effect of PJ-34, a potent inhibitor of PARP on PARP-1 activation induced by LPS was studied on THP-1 cells. In response to LPS, PJ-34 reduced the PAR formation and down regulates the expression of CD14, TLR2 and TLR4. However, MARCO expression was up regulated. It was also observed that PJ-34 reduced the production of TNF-α, IL-1β and No in response to LPS. PJ-34 was also involved in a reduction of the activation of NF-κB in response to LPS but, did not have an effect in JNK activation. The physical association of CD14 and MARCO receptors was examined in response to LPS. It was found that PJ-34 reduced the colocalisation of these pair of receptors and regulates their expression at gene level. Furthermore, PJ-34 regulates expression of a number of proteins on the THP-1 cells in response to LPS