Study of the clay effect on crude oil combustion using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Kansas, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, 1982

Optimized production and inventory decisions for a mixed make-to-order/make-to-stock ready-made garment manufacturer

In this thesis, a production and inventory planning model for mixed make-to-order (MTO) make-to-stock (MTS) production system in garment industry. Where the dominant production is typically for the Make-to-order production and the make-to-stock production is penetrating the mainstream production (MTO) as a way of enhancing the revenues and maintaining a positive cash flow, that are often degraded due to either seasonality of demands or production planning challenges. The model considers capacity planning for the mixed environment when there are predictable fluctuating demands. Due to the nature of the clothing business, it is challenging for a garment manufacturer to cope with seasonal changes while having the best capacity utilization. The literature acknowledges production planning in the garment industry. While a little focus was for capacity planning for seasonal fluctuating demands. Mathematical programming for capacity planning in a mixed MTO and MTS garment-manufacturing environment is a viable approach that can provide effective management decisions that can help the garment industry to strive in today’s competitive pace. The proposed model considers distributing the available capacity between MTO and MTS production and the implications of the costs and revenues for different capacity distribution. Decisions made on the production amounts, inventory levels and generated revenues are attained. The model was verified and validated by applying it to a local ready- made garment factory. The results ensured the validity of the proposed model. When analysis was made to the parameters that influence the decisions, it was found that distributing the capacity between MTO and MTS with different percentages had significant impact on the revenues and costs. The model was very sensitive to the increases in the fabric price and subcontracting costs while the overall net profits were not significantly affected by the changes in the inventory holding cost. Last, this work is useful in helping garment manufacturers adapt rapidly to seasonal changes by deploying their capacity effectively in favor of their projected seasonal plans

Einstein Geometrization Philosophy and Differential Identities in PAP-Geometry

The importance of Einstein's geometrization philosophy, as an alternative to the least action principle, in constructing general relativity (GR), is illuminated. The role of differential identities in this philosophy is clarified. The use of Bianchi identity to write the field equations of GR is shown. Another similar identity in the absolute parallelism geometry is given. A more general differential identity in the parameterized absolute parallelism geometry is derived. Comparison and interrelationships between the above mentioned identities and their role in constructing field theories are discussed.Comment: LaTeX file, 17 pages, comments and criticism are welcom

Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Potential of Punica Granatum Leaves Hydro-methanolic Extract against Selected Pathogens

For a long time, extracts of Punica granatumhave been used in alternative and complementary medicine. The object of the present study was to evaluate the activity of Punica granatumleaves hydro-methanolic extract against some Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and Candida albicans using agar diffusion assay.The leaves yielded 34.7% of raw semisolid extract after maceration in hydro-methanol (50:50 v/v) andevaporation.After lyophilization, the dry powder was reconstituted in Muller-Hinton broth to get a concentration of 128 mg/mL; from which further 5lower concentrations have been prepared (64, 32, 16, 8, and 4 mg/mL in Muller-Hinton Broth).The extract exhibitedconcentration-dependent activity against some Gram-positive bacteria, namely,Listeria monocytogenes (20.67 ± 0.82), Clostridium perfringens (17.33 ± 0.52), Staphyllococcus aureus (10.5 ± 0.55), Bacillus cereus (8.83 ± 0.41), and Enterococcus fecalis (6.33 ± 0.52);and against three Gram-negative bacteria, namely, Shigellaflexneri (13.33 ± 0.8), Vibrio parahaemolyticus(12.17 ± 0.42) and Proteus vulgaris (8.5 ± 0.55);as well as against Candida albicans (15.8 ± 0.98); (the values are in mm after 128 mg/mL extract). However, the extract was without any visible activity againstEscherichia coli, Salmonella typhimuriumand Klebsiellaaerogenes.The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against susceptible organisms were1.06 mg/mL (Clostridium perfringens), 1.11 mg/mL (Vibrio parahaemolyticus), 2.08 mg/mL (Staphyllococcus aureus), 2.16 mg/mL (Bacillus cereus),2.76 mg/mL (Candida albicans), 3.07 mg/mL (Listeria monocytogenes), 3.80 (Shigella flexneri), 12.92 mg/mL (Proteus vulgaris) and 15.55 (Enterococcus faecalis).These data may indicate that Punica granatumleaves extract is active against some pathogenic bacterial strains and thus may be useful in treatment of disease conditionscaused by these bacteria at least as a complementary medicine

Bayesian inference with optimal maps

We present a new approach to Bayesian inference that entirely avoids Markov chain simulation, by constructing a map that pushes forward the prior measure to the posterior measure. Existence and uniqueness of a suitable measure-preserving map is established by formulating the problem in the context of optimal transport theory. We discuss various means of explicitly parameterizing the map and computing it efficiently through solution of an optimization problem, exploiting gradient information from the forward model when possible. The resulting algorithm overcomes many of the computational bottlenecks associated with Markov chain Monte Carlo. Advantages of a map-based representation of the posterior include analytical expressions for posterior moments and the ability to generate arbitrary numbers of independent posterior samples without additional likelihood evaluations or forward solves. The optimization approach also provides clear convergence criteria for posterior approximation and facilitates model selection through automatic evaluation of the marginal likelihood. We demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the approach on nonlinear inverse problems of varying dimension, involving the inference of parameters appearing in ordinary and partial differential equations.United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (Grant DE-SC0002517)United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (Grant DE-SC0003908

The Application of the Principles of the Creative Environment in the Technical Colleges in Palestine

The study aimed to identify the creative environment of the technical colleges operating in Gaza Strip. The analytical descriptive method was used through a questionnaire which was randomly distributed to 289 employees of the technical colleges in Gaza Strip with a total number of (1168) employees and a response rate equal to (79.2%) of the sample study. The results confirmed the existence of a high degree of approval for the dimensions of the creative environment with a relative weight of (75.19%) according to the perspective of the employees of the technical colleges in Gaza Strip. The results of the study showed a high level of creative environment (fluency, flexibility, originality, sensitivity to problems) in the technical colleges in Gaza Strip, where the field (fluency) ranked first and relative weight (76.86%), in the second place came the area (sense of problems) and relative weight (74.89%). The field of elasticity came in third place with a relative weight of (74.59%). Finally, the field of originality came in fourth and final rank with a relative weight of (74.41%). The results showed that there are differences between the technical colleges in the principles of the creative environment in all fields and the overall degree except for the field of flexibility. The most available colleges in these principles were the university college of applied sciences, and that was the least of the Faculty of Al-Aqsa Society. The results showed that there were differences according to the age variable in the areas of creative environment only in the sense of problems for age groups (less than 30 years) and (from 40 to 50 years). The researchers suggested a number of recommendations, the need to enhance the dimensions of the creative environment in technical colleges by working to improve the faculties of fluency, flexibility, originality and sensitivity to problems. The need to work on continuity and improve aspects of the creative environment of the colleges and the creation of new and innovative ways to support and develop and support these aspects combined. Necessity of technical colleges to continue to develop the creative environment (fluency, flexibility, originality, sensitivity to problems) for employees by engaging them in specialized training courses for creative thinking and problem solving. Developing work procedures with new innovative methods that will accomplish the various tasks quickly and accurately, and provide the effort, time and costs. The researchers urged more future studies that address the same variables of the current study in the field of creative environment and applied to other sectors

The effectiveness of a training program in increasing crowd funding awareness

The current study tries to verify the effectiveness of a training program in increasing Crowdfunding awareness. The sample was (50) students in CIS, who were purposively selected and distributed equally into a treatment and control group. The researchers designed the study tools (a training program to increase Crowdfunding awareness). The study findings revealed the existence of statistically significant differences between the treatment and control groups in favor of the former. Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences between the pre and the post measures of the treatment group in favor of the post measures. Furthermore the current study is unique by the virtue of its nature, scope and way of implied investigation, as it is the first study for Crowdfunding training program in Arabic world

The Reality of Using Social Networks in Technical Colleges in Palestine

The study aimed to identify the reality of the use of social networks in the technical colleges in Palestine, where the variables of social networks were included. The analytical descriptive method was used in the study. A questionnaire consisting of (12) items was randomly distributed to college workers Technology in the Gaza Strip. The sample of the study consisted of (205) employees of these colleges. The response rate was 74.5%. The results showed a high degree of approval for the dimensions of the social networks and a relative weight (74.15%) according to the perspective of the employees of the technical colleges in the Gaza Strip. The results of the study showed that there is a high level of social networking areas (site management and Website Content) in the technical colleges in the Gaza Strip. The field of site management ranked first with a relative weight of 74.91%, and second and last (Content Site) with a relative weight (73.38%). The results showed that there were differences between colleges in the use of social networks where the results showed that the most common colleges used these networks (UCAS) and the least used is (GTC). The results showed no differences between male and female employees in the use of social networks in technical colleges. The researchers suggest a number of recommendations, including: the need to raise awareness of the importance of Facebook and other social networking sites, through the holding of courses for employees in technical colleges, and to identify the ways to optimize the use of such sites, and the benefits of this use, and reflected positively on technical colleges. And the adoption of dealing with the various social networking sites as a reality, and the Palestinian and Arab technical colleges, use them in accordance with the objectives of technical colleges. Advise the Department of Technical Colleges to devote time to their presence on social networks to follow the public and respond to their queries. There is a need for the attention of decision-makers in technical colleges in social sites, because they are considered an important and effective means of communication, and the link between beneficiaries and decision-makers. There is a need to promote the use of modern electronic means of work and the need to increase the link of customers to the college through electronic services