Vibration control of a two-story base-isolated building using a new tuned mass multi-sliding friction damper

This paper studies the use of a new Tuned Mass Multi-Sliding Friction Damper (TMMSFD) to increase the damping capacity of seismic isolators installed on a two-story base-isolated building to limit their lateral deformations. The proposed TMMSFD consists of a set of several masses that are laterally attached to the superstructure floor through linear springs. These masses are placed on top of each other one by one and are allowed to slide with respect to each other during the earthquake. The bottom mass that carries the weight of upper masses is in contact with the superstructure floor. The damping of system is supplied by the friction generated along the sliding friction surfaces. The TMMSFD has a low cost of installation, operation, and maintenance compared to common TMDs that use viscous fluid dampers for energy dissipation. The mechanical model of TMMSFD is installed on the numerical model of a two-story base-isolated building equipped with elastomeric rubber bearings in order to evaluate its performance in limiting the displacement of base floor. These models are created by the OpenSEESPy package which is a Python 3 interpreter of OpenSEES. A parametric study is performed to obtain the optimum design parameters of the TMMSFD including its total mass, frequency, and static friction coefficients of the siding surfaces for energy dissipation. The results of time-history analysis of numerical model show that the TMMSFD is capable of limiting the displacement of base floor with a little amount of friction implying its potential as a cost-effective tool for seismic protection

Prevalence of body-focused repetitive behaviors in three large medical colleges of Karachi: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) that include skin picking (dermatillomania), hair pulling (trichotillomania) and nail biting (onychophagia), lead to harmful physical and psychological sequelae. The objective was to determine the prevalence of BFRBs among students attending three large medical colleges of Karachi. It is imperative to come up with frequency to design strategies to decrease the burden and adverse effects associated with BFRBs among medical students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 210 students attending Aga Khan University, Dow Medical College and Sind Medical College, Karachi, in equal proportion. Data were collected using a pre tested tool, “Habit Questionnaire”. Diagnoses were made on the criteria that a student must be involved in an activity 5 times or more per day for 4 weeks or more. Convenience sampling was done to recruit the participants aged 18 years and above after getting written informed consent. Results: The overall prevalence of BFRBs was found to be 46 (22%). For those positive for BFRBs, gender distribution was as follows: females 29 (13.9%) and males 17 (8.1%). Among these students, 19 (9.0%) were engaged in dermatillomania, 28 (13.3%) in trichotillomania and 13 (6.2%) in onychophagia. Conclusions: High proportions of BFRBs are reported among medical students of Karachi. Key health messages and interventions to reduce stress and anxiety among students may help in curtailing the burden of this disease which has serious adverse consequences

An Analysis of the Relationships among Exports, Imports, Physical Capital and Economic Growth in Pakistan

This review emphasized the relationship among capital formation, economic growth, exports and imports in case of Pakistan scenario using time series data from 1976 to 2015. Augmented Dickey Fuller Test, Johansen Co-integration, Vector error correction model and Granger Causality techniques have been used to check the relationships among exports, imports and economic growth. The results from this study show that the exports, imports, real GDP and gross fixed capital formation have a long run relationship and are co-integrated. This study uses the data of Pakistan and concludes that GDP doesn’t granger cause with the export and import while export and imports do granger cause with the GDP in the long run. Finding of the study also displays that physical capital formation has no impression over GDP. Previous study shows the positive relation among exports, imports, capital formation and economic growth while this study shows that in the long run capital formation and economic growth has no effect. Government subsidizes the exports and also increases the duty bills on imports that help boost the domestic industries manufacture the goods and motivate to produce the best quality of goods. JEL codes: F2, O4

Study the Effect of Substitution Filler on performance of Asphalt Mixture

The major distresses in asphalt pavements are rutting, fatigue, and adhesion loss (moisture susceptibility). In this research study, two substitution fillers (Cement and Lime) were used with two different aggregate quarries (based on minerals composition) to evaluate the relatively most beneficial combination of both fillers as well as an aggregate quarry to enhance the performance life of asphalt pavements, especially in under-developed countries. Four basic tests, (Asphalt Pavement Analyzer, Four Points Bending Beam, Dynamic Modulus, and Rolling Bottle Test) that used for the most desired properties of any asphalt pavement, were utilized to access the performance properties of modified asphalt mixture. Based on all laboratory test results this research study concludes that replacement of aggregate filler with hydrated lime and cement has a beneficial effect on asphalt mix performance and to save investment by using raw material. Substitution filler improves the high-temperature rut performance and intermediate temperature fatigue performance of asphaltic concrete mixture up to 25% to that of the conventional mixture. At the same time, substitution filler has more beneficial to improve 70% adhesion properties to that of the conventional mixture

The Effect of Hospital Volume on Mortality in Patients Admitted with Severe Sepsis

Importance The association between hospital volume and inpatient mortality for severe sepsis is unclear. Objective: To assess the effect of severe sepsis case volume and inpatient mortality. Design Setting and Participants Retrospective cohort study from 646,988 patient discharges with severe sepsis from 3,487 hospitals in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2002 to 2011. Exposures The exposure of interest was the mean yearly sepsis case volume per hospital divided into tertiles. Main Outcomes and Measures Inpatient mortality. Results: Compared with the highest tertile of severe sepsis volume (>60 cases per year), the odds ratio for inpatient mortality among persons admitted to hospitals in the lowest tertile (≤10 severe sepsis cases per year) was 1.188 (95% CI: 1.074–1.315), while the odds ratio was 1.090 (95% CI: 1.031–1.152) for patients admitted to hospitals in the middle tertile. Similarly, improved survival was seen across the tertiles with an adjusted inpatient mortality incidence of 35.81 (95% CI: 33.64–38.03) for hospitals with the lowest volume of severe sepsis cases and a drop to 32.07 (95% CI: 31.51–32.64) for hospitals with the highest volume. Conclusions and Relevance We demonstrate an association between a higher severe sepsis case volume and decreased mortality. The need for a systems-based approach for improved outcomes may require a high volume of severely septic patients

Rearing the Cotton Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, on a Tapioca-Based Artificial Diet

The impact of a tapioca-based artificial diet on the developmental rate, life history parameters, and fertility was examined over five consecutive generations for the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera Hubner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), a highly polyphagous pest of many agricultural crops. The study showed that when fed the tapioca-based artificial diet during larval stage, larval and pupal developmental period, percent pupating, pupal weight, emergence rate of male and female, longevity, fecundity and hatching were non-significantly different than that of the control agar-based artificial diet. Moreover, the cost to rear on tapioca-based diet approached 2.13 times less than the cost of rearing on the agar-based artificial diet. These results demonstrate the effectiveness and potential cost savings of the tapioca-based artificial diet for rearing H. armigera

Integration of TTF, UTAUT, and ITM for mobile Banking Adoption

The introduction of mobile banking facility has enabled customers to carry out banking transactionswith the use of smartphones and other handheld devices from anywhere. It has become a luxurious and exclusive method of online payments. The recent growth of telecommunication sector and a tremendous increase in mobile USAge has opened new doors for sparking future of banking sector industry. The following research is aimed to find out the mobile banking adoption attitudes with the integration of TTF, UTAUT,and ITM models

Potential of Indigenous Plants for Skin Healing and Care

The outer protective layer of body is skin which not only guards it from external fluctuations and effects but also performs its thermoregulation. Its functioning may get affected due to several factors like dermal wounds, injuries, aging and many other disorders. These dermal ailments can be cured with the help of indigenous flora to get economical pharamcognosal benefits with no side effects which is a serious concern of synthetic drugs now days. Furthermore, research efforts are necessary for their proper dose optimization and administration to achieve low cost and side effects free pharamcognosal skin cure and care gains

The Role of HR Practices on Turnover Intentions Directly and Through Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the Banking Sector of Malaysia

In the recent years, the banking industry of Malaysia has grown rapidly and the roles of employees are undeniable. In todays, dynamic environment banking industry is striving hard to retain the employees in the organization. Employee provides the basis for organization to be successful. The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of HR practices on turnover intentions directly and indirectly through organizational citizenship behavior in banking sector of Malaysia. Data collected through 510 questionnaires from top five banks (by Capital) branches in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In order to investigate the hypotheses, this study applied Structural equation modelling (AMOS). Findings of this study portray that HR practices had negative effect on turnover intentions while the interesting finding is that indirect effect of HR practices through organizational citizenship were also significant. The results are beneficial for top management of banking sector of Malaysia in order to keep motivating employees and to retain them through proper implementation of OCB. To build and align the HR practices and OCB which results in reducing turnover intentions of employees. Keywords: HR Practices, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Turnover Intentions, SEM. JEL Classifications: H11; S12 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.1076

SPARCO: Stochastic Performance Analysis with Reliability and Cooperation for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

Reliability is a key factor for application-oriented Underwater Sensor Networks (UWSNs) which are utilized for gaining certain objectives and a demand always exists for efficient data routing mechanisms. Cooperative routing is a promising technique which utilizes the broadcast feature of wireless medium and forwards data with cooperation using sensor nodes as relays. Here, we present a cooperation-based routing protocol for underwater networks to enhance their performance called Stochastic Performance Analysis with Reliability and Cooperation (SPARCO). Cooperative communication is explored in order to design an energy-efficient routing scheme for UWSNs. Each node of the network is assumed to be consisting of a single omnidirectional antenna and multiple nodes cooperatively forward their transmissions taking advantage of spatial diversity to reduce energy consumption. Both multihop and single-hop schemes are exploited which contribute to lowering of path-losses present in the channels connecting nodes and forwarding of data. Simulations demonstrate that SPARCO protocol functions better regarding end-to-end delay, network lifetime, and energy consumption comparative to noncooperative routing protocol—improved Adaptive Mobility of Courier nodes in Threshold-optimized Depth-based routing (iAMCTD). The performance is also compared with three cooperation-based routing protocols for UWSN: Cognitive Cooperation (Cog-Coop), Cooperative Depth-Based Routing (CoDBR), and Cooperative Partner Node Selection Criteria for Cooperative Routing (Coop Re and dth)