Comparison Study Research Articles

The influence of business process outsourcing on the productivity of the mobile telecommunication companies

Economics of business and increased focus on operating efficiencies are leading mobile telecom service providers to outsource non-core business process elements, infrastructure systems, and customer service, although the trade-off on the influence of business process outsourcing (BPO) on the firm’s productivity is still inconclusive. Few empirical studies or research have been conducted to analyze the influence of BPO on the firm’s productivity levels in the mobile telecom operators of Southern African developing countries. This research tries to redress the existing knowledge gap and the limited body of literature by providing both descriptive and empirical evidence on the influence of BPO on the firm‘s productivity levels of mobile telecom operators. A structured closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect raw data from 210 employees. Descriptive and chi-square tests were conducted to establish the statistically significant relationship between business process outsourcing and the firm’s productivity levels. The results reflect a statistically significant relationship between the implementation of BPO and the firm’s productivity. The study has practical implications for service and industrial practitioners, managers, scholars, and government policymakers in that they can strategically plan their BPO practices and link those practices to the organizations' productivity performance. Further research can be conducted in other industries in order to do comparison studies confirming lessons gained across industries on the effect of BPO on a firm’s productivity levels.

Heave attenuation in offshore managed pressure drilling with an integral sliding mode controller

Managed pressure drilling (MPD) is a technique used to precisely control the pressure within the wellbore during the drilling process to overcome drilling challenges, such as heave disturbance caused by waves. The mismatched nature of the heave disturbance presents a control challenge, making it difficult to reduce the disturbance effectively. However, MPD utilizing an appropriate controller can provide a solution to this challenge. As a result, this paper proposes an integral sliding mode controller (Integral SMC) based on feedback linearization and a nonlinear disturbance observer to attenuate the heave disturbance effect and provide stability for MPD systems. A comparison study is conducted between the proposed controller and industrial controllers, such as Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) and manual controllers, using root mean square error (RMSE) as the evaluation metric. Additionally, the robustness of the proposed controller and the nonlinear disturbance observer in the presence of parameter uncertainty and measurement noise is investigated. The results demonstrate that the proposed controller is a viable solution to overcome the heave disturbance effect on offshore MPD systems.

Novel hydrodynamic schemes capturing shocks and contact discontinuities and comparison study with existing methods

We present a new hydrodynamic scheme named Godunov Density-Independent Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (GDISPH), that can accurately handle shock waves and contact discontinuities without any manually tuned parameters. This is in contrast to the standard formulation of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SSPH), which requires the parameters for an artificial viscosity term to handle the shocks and struggles to accurately handle the contact discontinuities due to unphysical repulsive forces, resulting in surface tension that disrupts pressure equilibrium and suppresses fluid instabilities. While Godunov SPH (GSPH) can handle the shocks without the parameters by using solutions from a Riemann solver, it still cannot fully handle the contact discontinuities. Density-Independent Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (DISPH), one of several schemes proposed to handle contact discontinuities more effectively than SSPH, demonstrates superior performance in our tests involving strong shocks and contact discontinuities. However, DISPH still requires the artificial viscosity term. We integrate the Riemann solver into DISPH in several ways, yielding some patterns of GDISPH. The results of standard tests such as the one-dimensional Riemann problem, pressure equilibrium, Sedov–Taylor, and Kelvin–Helmholtz tests are favourable to GDISPH Case 1 and GDISPH Case 2, as well as DISPH. We conclude that GDISPH Case 1 has an advantage over GDISPH Case 2effectively handling shocks and contact discontinuities without the need for specific parameters or introducing any additional numerical diffusion.

A comparison study: The use of digital and conventional impression techniques in dental hygiene education.

The study aimed to assess the applicability of digital intraoral scanning in dental hygiene education and compare the quality, efficiency, and ease of use to conventional impression techniques. Twenty-eight first-year dental hygiene students (DH1) at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry (UTSD) participated in this 2022 study. Each student participated in two 4-h lab sessions. Students took traditional alginate impressions and digital intraoral scans using Planmeca Romexis on standardized teeth during the first and second sessions. Both techniques were assessed by faculty for quality and efficiency using a standardized rubric. Participants completed a post-survey providing insight into their perceptions of both techniques and ease of use. The study had 100% participation in the lab sessions and survey responses (N=28). The results showed digital scanning produced a statistically higher quality product than conventional alginate impressions (p=0.023). The study found no statistical difference in the efficiency between the two methods. The majority of students (82%) agreed that digital intraoral scanning was easy to use (p=0.001), and 89% agreed they would use digital intraoral scanning in clinical courses to help with patient care (p=0.03). In this study, dental hygiene students with limited clinical experience learned new technology and used it to produce quality impressions compared to the conventional technique, indicating the value of introducing digital dentistry early in dental hygiene education.

Evaluation of a plant salinity-stress B2-protein gene in wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) and cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Dehydration-inducing conditions are major factors affecting plants geographic distribution worldwide. Salinity is a major factor affecting crop productivity and survival. Advances in molecular studies enabled scientists to explore salinity and genetic factors that control and contribute to salinity tolerance in plants. We previously identified clones from barley substractive library “from plants growing under high salinity regime” that was similar to previously identified B2-protein gene. In the current study, the relative expression of the B2-protein gene is assessed in wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) and cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare L) varieties. Our results indicated that the relative expression of the B2 gene displayed 8.00, 10.34, 12.12 and 11.37 folds at 100 mM NaCl and 4.28, 3.62, 2.70 and 1.58 folds at 200 mM NaCl compared to the non-salt stressed control in wild barley, Giza 129, Giza 132 and Giza 123, respectively. The full-length sequence of the B2 gene (1449 bp) was successfully assembled “accession number MT249004” from wild barley. Comparison studies of the wild barley B2 sequence to its published homologue in cultivated barley indicated the presence of an extra 23 bp long sequence, but its deduced amino acids sequence is five a.a. residues shorter (354 vs. 359 a.a.) with 96.1 % identity. Computational analysis at the protein level indicated the presence of differences in the physicochemical properties between the two proteins. Also, the subcellular localization prediction of the protein revealed the detection of the former protein in the nucleus and the later in the chloroplast. However, the protein modelling and structure prediction do not reveal differences since around 60 % of the protein is disordered. On the other hand, B2-protein interaction predicted networks composed of proteins directly or indirectly associated with the stress responses. In conclusion, the B2- protein gene is a promising candidate for dehydration stress tolerance.

Linear mixed models and latent growth curve models for group comparison studies contaminated by outliers.

The linear mixed model (LMM) and latent growth model (LGM) are frequently applied to within-subject two-group comparison studies to investigate group differences in the time effect, supposedly due to differential group treatments. Yet, research about LMM and LGM in the presence of outliers (defined as observations with a very low probability of occurrence if assumed from a given distribution) is scarce. Moreover, when such research exists, it focuses on estimation properties (bias and efficiency), neglecting inferential characteristics (e.g., power and type-I error). We study power and type-I error rates of Wald-type and bootstrap confidence intervals (CIs), as well as coverage and length of CIs and mean absolute error (MAE) of estimates, associated with classical and robust estimations of LMM and LGM, applied to a within-subject two-group comparison design. We conduct a Monte Carlo simulation experiment to compare CIs and MAEs under different conditions: data (a) without contamination, (b) contaminated by within-subject outliers, (c) contaminated by between-subject outliers, and (d) both contaminated by within- and between-subject outliers. Results show that without contamination, methods perform similarly, except CIs based on S, a robust LMM estimator, which are slightly less close to nominal values in their coverage. However, in the presence of both within- and between-subject outliers, CIs based on robust estimators, especially S, performed better than those of classical methods. In particular, the percentile CI with the wild bootstrap applied to the robust LMM estimators outperformed all other methods, especially with between-subject outliers, when we found the classical Wald-type CI based on the t statistic with Satterthwaite approximation for LMM to be highly misleading. We provide R code to compute all methods presented here. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The UTAUT approach to Indonesia’s behavioral intention to use mobile health apps

Purpose This study aims to analyze the effects of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions on the behavioral intention of using mobile health applications, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach A survey was developed using an online survey platform and distributed to Indonesian consumers for three weeks, and 149 usable responses were obtained. The principal component analysis, linear regression and analysis of variance tests were performed to test the validity and reliability of the measurement model and the hypothesized relationships among constructs. Findings Surprisingly, unlike previous studies on IT adoption, the findings show that social influence has no significant impact on behavioral intention. Facilitating conditions have a very weak to almost no significant impact on behavioral intention to use mobile health applications. Research limitations/implications This research is conducted during pandemic COVID-19 where using mobile health apps is a must. In the future this research can be expanded as comparison study after the pandemic COVID-19 stated. Practical implications The result implies that digital technologies adoption intention is strongly affected by performance expectancy and effort expectancy, with performance expectancy as the most significant predictor. Nonetheless, the interaction of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions influences behavioral intention significantly. Therefore, social influence and facilitating conditions are still important even with very insignificant effects. Originality/value To improve consumers’ behavioral intention to use mobile health applications, application providers should promote mobile health applications as useful telemedicine tools by primarily focusing on the application performance and usage experience.

GIS-AHP APPROACH FOR A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK TO DETERMINE THE SUITABLE REGIONS FOR GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS IN IZMIR, TÜRKİYE

Geothermal energy is gaining more reputation and importance around the world. Correspondingly, suitable location selection is a critical step and has become necessary for the successful installation and operation of geothermal power plants. This study investigated suitability of İzmir region, located in the Aegean part of Türkiye, in terms of geothermal power plants applications by using the combination of Geographical Information System and Analytic Hierarchy Process. Based on the request of power plants, thirteen important criteria were evaluated under three main categories named as physical (C1), environmental (C2) and technical (C3). Moreover, expert’s opinions were taken into consideration to calculate the importance of these criteria. Key results showed that İzmir was suitable for geothermal power plants. The final suitability map layer pointed out that %8.73 (1.037 km2) of total area were determined as highly suitable regions in terms of installation. In addition, the obtained suitability map layer was compared with actual geothermal power plants. Based on the comparison study, power plants in Seferihisar were moderately suitable for geothermal power plants while the location of Balçova power plant was highly suitable. Regarding the suitability assessment in the present study, the location of Dikili power plants had the least suitability score.

Supplemental Material for Linear Mixed Models and Latent Growth Curve Models for Group Comparison Studies Contaminated by Outliers

Supplemental Material for Linear Mixed Models and Latent Growth Curve Models for Group Comparison Studies Contaminated by Outliers

Phase Stability of Al-containing High-Entropy Alloys: A Comparison Study Using Computational Thermodynamics

Phase Stability of Al-containing High-Entropy Alloys: A Comparison Study Using Computational Thermodynamics

Flicker light stimulation enhances the emotional response to music: a comparison study to the effects of psychedelics.

Flicker light stimulation (FLS) is a non-pharmacological method of inducing altered states of consciousness (ASCs), producing hallucination-like phenomena as well as effects extending beyond the visual modality, including emotional effects. Research into the psychological and neural mechanisms of FLS is still in its infancy, but can be informed by research into other methods of inducing ASCs. For instance, research on classic psychedelics has reported enhancement of emotional responses to music. Here, we test to what degree FLS might also enhance the emotional response to music, using a study protocol designed to resemble a previous study on the effects of LSD as closely as possible, to allow for comparison of effect sizes across modalities and inform future research into FLS as an ASC-induction method. Twenty participants listened to emotionally evocative music in two conditions - with and without FLS - and reported on their emotional response to the music. FLS showed a significant enhancing effect on reported music-evoked emotion, especially emotions relating to "Joyful Activation"; additionally, we found that the experienced intensity of FLS correlated with reports of higher levels of emotional arousal. These findings motivate further research into FLS as a method for inducing ASCs and into the interactions between visual phenomena and music-evoked emotion.

Novel use of contrast enhanced ultrasonography with urodynamics in children: A comparison study to fluoroscopy.

Video urodynamics (UDS) has classically been performed using fluoroscopy (fluoro). Contrast enhanced voiding ultrasonography (ceVUS) has rarely been reported for use with UDS. This is the first study to compare the imaging characteristics of ceVUS versus fluoro UDS. Children were enrolled for ceVUS UDS who previously underwent fluoro UDS. Demographics, imaging data for ceVUS and fluoro UDS, time between studies, and clinical data between studies were recorded. Changes in clinical status included implantation/cessation of catheterization or anticholinergic medications, leakage between, urinary tract infections, hydronephrosis and neurologic changes. Comparison testing was performed using McNemar's Chi-Squared and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test. Seventy-five children were recruited. Median time between studies was 1.3 years (IQR 0.9-2.9). There were no differences for bladder shape (p = 0.59), vesicoureteral reflux (p = 0.10), bladder neck (p = 0.59) or urethra (p = 1.0) between studies. In 5 cases, the bladder neck could not be visualized adequately due to layering of the microbubble contrast against urine. Benefits to ceVUS included ability to visualize the exact moment the bladder neck opened. Following exclusion of patients with clinical changes that might affect imaging findings, an analysis of 28 patients demonstrated no differences between the two studies. CeVUS can be used adequately in conjunction with UDS. Limitations to ceVUS include more granular imaging for bladder shape versus fluoro and inability to visualize bladder neck if residual urine is in the bladder, mitigated by bladder emptying. Benefits include ability to visualize the dynamic activity of the bladder neck due to constant imaging with ceVUS.

Improved photocatalytic performance of chitosan blended – Al2O3-TiO2 and garlic loaded – Al2O3-TiO2 hybrid nanocomposites

In this present study, biomaterials loaded/blended hybrid nanocomposites such as chitosan-blended Al2O3-TiO2 (CS-Al2O3-TiO2) and garlic-loaded Al2O3-TiO2 (G-Al2O3-TiO2) were synthesized by sol-gel method. They were characterized by various techniques such as XRD, UV-DRS, FTIR, FE-SEM, EDX and TG-DTA analysis. The photocatalytic activity of the CS-Al2O3-TiO2 and G-Al2O3-TiO2 was carried out using organic dyes such as Methylene blue (MB), Methyl orange (MO) and Rhodium B (Rh-B) under solar light. The antibacterial activity was done using the gram-negative bacteria Escherichia Coli (E. Coli). The comparison studies of photocatalytic and antibacterial activity between all the nanocomposites, such as TiO2, Al2O3-TiO2, CS-Al2O3-TiO2 and G-Al2O3-TiO2 were investigated. The order of photocatalytic and antibacterial activity was G-Al2O3-TiO2 > CS-Al2O3-TiO2 > Al2O3-TiO2> TiO2. The garlic loaded Al2O3-TiO2 nanocomposite shows a higher activity due to the presence of organic sulphur compounds. Followed by chitosan blended - Al2O3-TiO2 shows a remarkable activity due to the presence of an amine group present in chitosan composites.

The performance of the one-sided truncated exponentially weighted moving average X ¯ control chart in the presence of measurement errors

When the direction of a potential mean shift can be anticipated, the one-sided exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) X ¯ control chart using the truncation method (namely, the one-sided TEWMA X ¯ chart) is more efficient than those conventional one- and two-sided EWMA X ¯ schemes for process monitoring. Although attractive, there are no studies on designing the one-sided TEWMA X ¯ chart by taking measurement errors into account. In this context, we investigate the effect of measurement errors on the performance of the one-sided TEWMA X ¯ chart based on the linear covariate error model. Additionally, a Markov chain model is established to evaluate the run length properties of the scheme in the presence of measurement errors. Then, an optimal design procedure is developed for searching the optimal design parameters of the scheme. Based on these mentioned studies, several tables and figures are presented to evaluate the detecting performance of the scheme under different parameters of the linear covariate error model, and then a conventional one-sided EWMA X ¯ chart with reflecting boundary is introduced to further study the effect of the presence and absence of measurement errors on control chart comparison studies. Simulation results show that although the detecting performance of the proposed scheme is significantly affected by measurement errors, its performance is still superior to the classic competing chart under the same comparison conditions. Finally, an illustrative example is given to show the implementation of the recommended scheme.

Low-frequency magnetoelectric capacitively-coupled receiving antenna with enhanced transmission stabilities under low input power density

Exploiting a more stabilized transmission strategy in magnetoelectric (ME) antennas for near-field communication under lower input power density is still challenging since the strain-mediated ME voltage is easily vulnerable to ambient interferences with significant anisotropy. In this work, a low-frequency (LF) receiving ME antenna system, consisting of transmitting coil and Ni0.8Zn0.2Sm0.02Fe1.98O4/PZT/Ni0.8Zn0.2Sm0.02Fe1.98O4 ME laminate, was proposed and established with the quasi-isotropic response, enhanced stabilities and limit of detection (LOD) of communication distance by capacitively-coupled mode. Experimental results showed that a more uniform receiving response in capacitance with 360° rotating of the ME antenna by a nearly circular response. Transmission stabilities were further evaluated by continuous collected data for 100 min, a near-flat capacitance response with standard Gaussian distribution (μ = 27.48nF and σ2 = 6.37 × 10−6nF) was obtained, and the estimated uncertainty shows one order of magnitude lower than that of voltage capturing mode. Under lower input power density of 15 μW/cm3, comparison studies of the LOD in transmission distance of the ME antennas were implemented, and the maximum effective communication distance of 100 cm for the ME antenna can be reached. The findings provide the possibility of using capacitively-coupled receiving mode of the ME antenna with enhanced stabilities under low input power density.

Actuators for Improving Robotic Arm Safety While Maintaining Performance: A Comparison Study

Since robotic arms operating close to people are becoming increasingly common, there is a need to better understand how they can be made safe when unintended contact occurs, while still providing the required performance. Several actuators and methods for improving robot safety are studied and compared in this paper. A robotic arm moving its end effector horizontally and colliding with a person’s head is simulated. The use of a conventional electric actuator (CEA), series elastic actuator (SEA), pneumatic actuator (PA) and hybrid pneumatic electric actuator (HPEA) with model-based controllers are studied. The addition of a compliant covering to the arm and the use of collision detection and reaction strategies are also studied. The simulations include sensor noise and modeling error to improve their realism. A systematic method for tuning the controllers fairly is proposed. The motion control performance and safety of the robot are quantified using root mean square error (RMSE) between the desired and actual joint angle trajectories and maximum impact force (MIF), respectively. The results show that the RMSE values are similar when the CEA, SEA, and HPEA drive the robot’s first joint. Regarding safety, using the PA or HPEA with a compliant covering can reduce the MIF below the safety limit established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). To satisfy this ISO safety limit with the CEA and SEA, a collision detection and reaction strategy must be used in addition to the compliant covering. The influences of the compliant covering’s stiffness and the detection delay are also studied.

Comparison study on mooring line models for hydrodynamic performances of floating offshore wind turbines

The mooring system plays a crucial role in the seakeeping ability of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) but complicates the overall dynamics of the system. Many quasi-static (QS) and dynamic models for mooring analysis exist but a comprehensive comparison among open-source or semi open-source codes in various scenarios is rare. In the present study, six mooring models including three dynamic and three QS ones are assessed. The three dynamic models are the local discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) finite element method (FEM), the lumped mass (LM) method and the finite different method (FDM), and the three QS models are the piecewise extrapolation method (PEM), the catenary and the QS of MAP. Three groups of tests involving catenary line under fairlead excitation, hanging line with axial excitation and FOWT in waves are conducted. The first two test groups focus on single line dynamics to assess among the three dynamic models while the third test group focuses on coupled hydro-mooring modeling with the FEM, PEM, catenary and QS coupled to OpenFOAM. The test results show that there are substantial differences among the models in various scenarios. And the LDG FEM and LM models are recommended to be applied in realistic FOWT hydrodynamics problems.

A comprehensive quality control and cost comparison study of branded and generic angiotensin receptor blockers

This study was designed to assess both the quality and cost aspects of various branded and generic formulations of angiotensin receptor blockers, specifically Irbesartan, Losartan Potassium, Olmesartan Medoxomil, Telmisartan, and Valsartan. The collected samples underwent distinct quality evaluations using the methods outlined in different global Pharmacopoeias (British Pharmacopoeia/European Pharmacopoeia, Indian Pharmacopoeia and United States Pharmacopoeia). These drugs were characterized using Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance techniques, while their quality and concentration were analysed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The release profile of the drugs was examined through dissolution testing. Additionally, a cost comparison analysis was carried out by determining the prevailing market prices of the drugs. The evaluated branded and generic angiotensin receptor blockers were found to meet the established standards for impurities, active drug content, and dissolution as set by these Pharmacopoeias, indicating their optimal quality. Notably, the generic drugs exhibited significantly lower costs compared to their branded counterparts. This study confirms that the quality of generic angiotensin receptor blockers is equivalent to that of their branded counterparts. Consequently, these findings support the practicality of utilizing generic drugs as a more economically sustainable and cost-effective approach to managing diseases, especially those of chronic nature.

A comparative study of efficacy and safety in stage I hypertensive patients visiting the cardiac OPD at a tertiary care hospital

To investigate the efficacy and safety of Azilsartan 40 mg and Olmesartan 40 mg in patients with stage I systemic hypertension undergoing cardiac OPD at a tertiary care facility. A 6-month open-label comparison study was undertaken in the Department of Cardiology at Acsr Government Medical College and Hospital. All patients visiting the cardiac outpatient clinic at Acsr Government Medical College who have stage I systemic hypertension of any sex, aged 20-65, with blood pressures >140/90 mmHg, or glucose intolerance. Diagnoses for essential hypertension were made, and patients were randomised to receive either group 1 (40 mg of Azilsartan) or group 2 (40 mg of Olmesartan) after the initial screening. The individuals receiving care were instructed to come back for a fourth, eighth, twelveth, as well as twenty-fourth weeks. Both groups showed a statistically significant drop in systolic blood pressure (P value < 0.0000001). Both medicines regulated blood pressure in similar ways. However, the Azilsartan group had a lower mean SBP and DBP than the Olmesartan group. Both medicines were well tolerated, and no severe side effects were observed throughout the research.

Comparison of Adulthood Criteria Endorsed by Emerging Adults and Their Parents in Greece: A Mixed-Method Study

Although there is extensive research on the adulthood criteria endorsed by emerging adults, there is very limited evidence on the comparison between emerging adults and their parents regarding this issue. Moreover, in these comparison studies, only quantitative methodology was used. Therefore, the present study uses a mixed-method design to investigate similarities and differences in the prevalence of the endorsed adulthood criteria between emerging adults and their parents, between male and female emerging adults, and between fathers and mothers. Participants were 251 emerging adult students, aged 18.0 to 25.9 (M = 19.9; 50.2% females), and 341 parents of these emerging adults, aged 33.6 to 61.9 (M = 50.4; 58.4% mothers). They completed the Markers of Adulthood Scale and named the three criteria that they considered most important for a person to be considered an adult. An inductive-deductive coding scheme was used. The analyses exhibited a high consensus between emerging adults and their parents in the endorsement of adulthood criteria. Only criteria related to Independence and to the Self were reported more frequently by emerging adults than their parents. A strong agreement between genders in both age groups was also found. The contribution of this study is twofold. First, it supports the idea that in Greece adulthood is a construct that is largely shared by emerging adults and their parents. Second, it illustrates how a mixed-method design can complement quantitative studies and extend their findings.