Reliability assessment of water distribution systems with statistical entropy and other surrogate measures

There is ever increasing commercial and regulatory pressure to minimise the cost of water distribution networks even as the demand for them keeps on growing. But cost minimizing is only one of the demands placed on network design. Satisfactory networks are required to operate above a minimum level even if they experience failure of components. Reliable hydraulic performance can be achieved if sufficient redundancy is built in the network. This has given rise to various water distribution system optimization methods including genetic algorithms and other evolutionary computing methods. Evolutionary computing approaches frequently assess the suitability of enormous numbers of potential solutions for which the calculation of accurate reliability measures could be computationally prohibitive. Therefore, surrogate reliability measures are frequently used to ease the computational burden. The aim of this paper is to assess the correlation of surrogate reliability measures in relation to more accurate measures. The surrogate measures studied are statistical entropy, network resilience, resilience index and modified resilience index. The networks were simulated with the prototype software PRAAWDS that produces more realistic results for pressure-deficient water distribution systems. Statistical entropy outperformed resilience index in this study. The results also demonstrate there is a strong correlation between entropy and failure tolerance

Moderating effect of gender and age on the relationship between emotional intelligence with social and academic adjustment among first year university students

This study examined whether emotional intelligence is significantly correlated with social adjustment and academic adjustment. It also explored the moderating effects of gender and age factors and their linked between emotional intelligence and social adjustment as well as academic adjustment among first year university students. 289 first year university students (148 males and 141 females) at the Irbid Govern Orate, North of Jordan, participate in the study and were categorized based on two age groups, younger students between the age of 18 – 25 and older students between the range of 26 and above. Two valid and reliable instruments were used to assess student’s emotional intelligence, social adjustment and academic adjustment. Correlation and multi-group analysis using structural equation model were used to analyse these data. The result shows no significant relationship between emotional intelligence and of both social adjustment and academic adjustment. In addition, the moderating effect of gender was not found. However, the moderating effect of age on the relationship between emotional intelligence with social adjustment and academic adjustment were established

Acceleration and Particle Field Interactions of Cosmic Rays I: Formalism

The acceleration of ultra high energy cosmic rays is conjectured to occur through various interactions with the electromagnetic fields in different astrophysical objects, like magnetic matter clumps, besides the well-known shock and stochastic Fermi mechanisms. It is apparent that the latter are not depending on the particle's charge, quantitatively. Based on this model, a considerable portion of the dynamics, that derives a charged particle parallel to a magnetic field $\mathbf{B}$ and under the influence of a force $\mathbf{F}$, is assumed to be composed of an acceleration by a non-magnetic force $\mathbf{F}_{\parallel}$ and a gyromotion along $\mathbf{B}$ direction, plus drifts in the direction of $\mathbf{F}_{\perp}$. The model and its formalism are introduced. Various examples for drift motions and accelerating forces are suggested. The formalism is given in a non-relativistic version. Obviously, the translation into the relativistic version is standard. In a forthcoming work, a quantitative estimation of the energy gained by charged cosmic rays in various astrophysical objects will be evaluated.Comment: 9 pages, 2 EPS figure

Pentingnya Membaca dan Menggunakan Perpustakaan dalam Mengubah Kehdupan Manusia

Reading may lead people to be successful that is why reading habit should be promoted toeveryone. In fact, people who has an intensive reading habit may have high knowledge andintelligence. Through reading, people can learn things. Library is developed to facilitate communityto get information resources in order to educate them. The role of library is to promote readinghabit of the community by having a high reading motivation and reading habit, people is able toimprove his or her life better

ADHERENCE TO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AMONG INDIVIDUALS WITH OR WITHOUT CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major public health problem and a primary cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Regular physical activity is recommended for prevention and management of CVD. Despite the cardiovascular health benefits of physical activity most adults are physically inactive. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation was to examine the factors associated with adherence to physical activity among individuals with or without CVD. The first paper is a report of a study conducted to examine which baseline demographic (age, gender, marital status, socioeconomic status, and place of residency), psychosocial (social support, depression, anxiety, and fatalism), and clinical (past history of exercising, comorbidity, and health literacy) variables predicted successful adoption of the active lifestyle recommendation of increasing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity by an accumulated 15 minutes or more each day following a CVD risk reduction intervention and 2) to identify which of those same factors predicted dropout from the CVD risk reduction intervention among at-risk individuals in rural America. The study sample consisted of 399 rural Americans. The results revealed that a higher anxiety level was a predictor of active lifestyle modification following a CVD risk reduction intervention. In contrast, younger age and low health literacy were predictors of dropout from a CVD risk reduction intervention. The second paper is a literature review of studies investigating the factors that affected enrollment in cardiac rehabilitation in patients with heart failure (HF). The aims of this review were to: (a) describe enrollment rates of patients with HF in cardiac rehabilitation programs, (b) review the literature on factors affecting enrollment of patients with HF, and (c) identify areas for future research. It is difficult to draw conclusion about enrollment rates because the period of time after hospital discharge that enrollment was measured varied across studies. A wide array of demographic, psychosocial, and clinical variables have been identified as potential barriers of enrollment in cardiac rehabilitation programs. Additional research including patients with HF is needed. The third paper is a report of a cross-sectional study of 279 patients with HF. The aims were to determine 1) the amount of variance in the functional status predicted by depressive symptoms, perceived control, self-rated health, HF self-care maintenance behaviors, and serum N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide ( NT-pro-BNP) biomarker of cardiac dysfunction in patients with HF and 2) whether NT-pro-BNP mediated the relationship between self-care maintenance behaviors and functional status. Depressive symptoms, poor self-rated health, non-adherence to physical activity, and greater serum NT-pro-BNP levels were independently associated with worse perceptions of functional status. Serum NT-pro-BNP levels partially mediated the association between adherence to physical activity and perception of functional status. The findings from this dissertation provided further evidence of the importance of adherence to physical activity and identify key variables that promote participation in interventions to promote heart healthy lifestyles and adherence to physical activity

Konstruksi Pesan Penegakan Hukum Di Indonesia Dalam Film “Java Heat”

Melalui metode analisis narasi, penelitian ini bermaksud melihat konstruksi pesan penegakan hukum di Indonesia dalam film. Selain menarasikan penegakan hukum yang lemah di Indonesia, narator juga memunculkan atribusi-atribusi yang mengindikasikan adanya hegemoni media Hollywood. Penelitian ini menemukan perbedaan substansial antara Letnan Hashim dan Jake Travers sebagai aparat penegak hukum dari dua negara berbeda. Jake Travers digambarkan sebagai sosok Polisi Marinir AS yang heroik, sebaliknya Letnan Hashim digambarkan sebagai sosok Polisi Indonesia yang berlaku seperti pahlawan kesiangan. Narasi aparat penegak hukum dari dua negara berbeda tersebut menegaskan bahwa media Hollywood melakukan pengukuhan mitos heroisme dan penanaman ideologi bahwa aparat penegak hukum Amerika sangat hebat dan kuat