Use Of Experimental Design Research Articles

The application of transfer machine learning to predict and impute missing sulphate levels in different Acid Mine Drainage treatment plants

An accurately pre-trained stacking ensemble machine learning regressor was used to predict sulphate levels in two other Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) treatment plants using Transfer Learning (TL). The model was trained on the large Central Rand (CR) water quality dataset and was used to predict and impute the sulphate levels in the scanty East Rand (ER) and West Rand (WR) datasets which would not have been sufficient to train ML models from scratch. TL was successfully used to overcome this barrier and rapidly predicted sulphate levels in the East Rand and West Rand plants using the pre-trained model and achieved a high level of accuracy (Mean Squared Error:0.00124, Mean Absolute Error:0.0290 and R2:0.963) for the East Rand plant when comparing the predicted and true sulphate values. No true sulphate values existed for the West Rand plant; however, TL was successful in imputing these missing values and rapidly completed the West Rand dataset by providing the historic sulphate levels. This was possible due to the high degree of similarity between all domains (treatment plants) since they had similar geographic locations, the same treatment process, possessed the same important features and had the same relationships between variables. TL was successful in providing three accurate datasets for AMD sulphate levels, an important accomplishment towards having reliable data for use in design of experiments aimed at recovering valuable resources such as elemental sulphur, gypsum and important metals from AMD.

Electric Vehicle Adoption: The Nexus of Knowledge, Perceived Usefulness, and Ease of Use

The current study explores the relationships between individuals’ level of knowledge about EVs, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and intention to buy EVs. The study utilized data collected from 277 participants selected using a purposive sampling technique. Results of the study show that knowledge about EVs positively impacts perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. This can positively affect people’s intention to adopt EVs as an eco-friendly means of transportation. The study also suggests the need to design awareness programs to improve the opinion and experience of users with EVs. The study suggests the use of experimental designs and longitudinal research to further explore the causality across different cultures using a more diverse data set. In this way, the study provides insights into the consumer’s decision-making process regarding EVs and thus helps contribute to the establishment of an eco-friendly transportation system.

Using quality improvement to pursue equity: lessons from healthcare

Against a backdrop of stalling life expectancy, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to tackle inequities in healthcare. Quality improvement has become an increasingly recognised way of tackling complex problems in healthcare. This article presents a step-by-step approach for the use of quality improvement to pursue equity at an NHS provider in England. The Model for Improvement was used to set an aim, develop a theory of change and measures, and test change ideas through plan-do-study-act cycles. A five-step sequence of improvement was used to provide a structured approach to identifying and tackling problems. Projects were designed to use a time series testing strategy in which baseline data were collected, a change was introduced and data continued to be collected over time to assess improvement. The results of three teams that have demonstrated sustained improvements were analysed using statistical process control charts. The teams' achievements included a 27% increase in access to early intervention mental health services for ethnic minority groups; a 92% reduction in racist incidents on inpatient wards; and a reduction in the gap between cervical screening rates for different age groups from 8% to 3%. Quality improvement offers those closest to the delivery of care a way of systematically making improvements in equity. Further opportunities for the field include the use of experimental designs to test combinations of interventions and potential scalability of quality improvement methods across systems with multiple partners.

Towards more robust evaluation of policies and programmes in education: identifying challenges in evaluating DEIS and Reading Recovery

ABSTRACT In recent years, countries including the UK and USA have seen advancements in the use of Randomised Controlled Trials in education, progress that has not been mirrored in Ireland. Ireland does not have a strong tradition of using experimental or quasi-experimental evaluation designs for monitoring and evaluation of education policy despite well-articulated commitments to the latter activities. An example is the evaluation of the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme where little is known about the causal impact of DEIS on student outcomes, despite considerable State investment over almost 20 years. There appears to have been comparatively little critical review of the literacy and numeracy programmes offered to DEIS schools, with those included at the outset largely still on offer. Here, we draw on the wider literature on the evaluation of complex interventions and consider what lessons may be learned for Ireland, illustrating challenges and opportunities by focusing on DEIS and Reading Recovery (a literacy support programme widely used in DEIS schools). We advocate for greater use of experimental designs where feasible and appropriate; further gathering of comparable measures of achievement at pupil level to facilitate monitoring; and detailed consideration of quasi-experimental methods that can support causal conclusions.

Optimization of the recovery yield of the enzymatic aqueous extraction of oil from wet açaí decocts using Design of Experiment

These last decades, açaí oil has been extensively studied for its biological properties and has gained interest from the health industry. It has thus become necessary to develop eco-friendly extraction techniques. The main objective of this study was the use of experimental designs for the maximization of the recovery yield of the enzymatic aqueous extraction process of açaí oil from wet decocts. A Simplex-Lattice Mixture Design was employed for the optimization of the proportion of three commercial enzymatic preparations. Subsequently, a Central Composite Design was used to identify the optimal values for total enzymatic concentration (0.5-4.5%) and extraction time (2-12h). The “Response Surface Methodology” (RSM) revealed that the maximum yield (60.55 ± 5.98%) was obtained using a 0.49:0.25:0.28 ternary mixture of Celluclast 1.5 L, Viscozyme L and Ultrazym AFP-L at a total enzymatic concentration of 2.85% for 10.9 hours. This study concluded that the enzymatic aqueous extraction of açaí oil is an efficient and sustainable process.

Increasing the use of experimental methods in nursing and midwifery education research

AimTo consider how more use could be made of experimental research in nursing and midwifery education. BackgroundMuch use has been made in nursing and midwifery educational research of pre- and post-, within-subjects research. While this has its place and has been a valuable design for testing educational interventions, there has been a distinct lack of more rigorous experimental designs. DesignDiscussion paper to consider the use of experimental designs in nursing and midwifery education research. MethodsA review of within-subjects designs, between-subjects designs and new approaches to experimental research such as pragmatic designs, non-inferiority designs and the framework offered by complex interventions. ResultsRecommendations for implementing experimental designs in nursing and midwifery education research have been drawn. ConclusionsWithin-subjects designs have dominated experimental research in nursing and midwifery education. While suitable for preliminary studies, they should be augmented by more rigorous designs based on between-subjects designs. These do not have to be strictly randomised controlled trials and there are many reasons why these are hard to implement in nursing and midwifery education research. However, a range of alternatives is available.

Using Experimental Designs to Study Entrepreneurship Education: A Historical Overview, Critical Evaluation of Current Practices in the Field, and Directions for Future Research

Over the last 20 years, there has been growing interest among scholars in conducting experiments in entrepreneurship education. In this paper, we first discuss how experiments as a research method have moved from the natural sciences into the social sciences and how the social sciences, including the educational sciences, have helped to address the challenges of using experiments in studying human behavior. Through the lens of the methodological advances made by the social sciences regarding conducting experiments, we systematically review the literature on entrepreneurship education research that has used experimental designs. By reviewing this literature, we provide an overview of what has and has not yet been studied using experimental designs and which type of experimental designs have been commonly used. Next, we critically evaluate current practices – both good and bad. Based on our critical assessment of the use of experimental designs in the field of entrepreneurship education research, we not only provide a future research agenda and call for experiments that (1) are more theory-driven; (2) answer more ambitious research questions, and (3) use more robust designs, but we also provide several paths forward for experimentalists with an interest in entrepreneurship education to do so.

Characterization of Flavonoids Profiles in Polar Extracts from Croton grewioides Baill. Using Ultra-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Research to identify plant bioactive compounds led to the evolution of extraction methods. This study optimized ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) to extract the flavonoids of Croton grewioides Baill. species contributing to characterize the polar extract profile and understand the antioxidant potential of these plant constituents. The use of experimental design and statistical treatments enabled the determination of the ideal conditions for each technique. The extracts of five accessions of C. grewioides were obtained under the optimized extraction conditions and were analyzed using ultra high-resolution mass spectrometry (FT-Orbitrap MS) operating at negative ionization mode for flavonoids detection. The accurate experimental mass obtained to the main compounds was used to attribute the molecular formula. Chemical structures of the main compounds detected were proposed using structure data bases. Chemometric analysis were performed with two FT-Orbitrap MS spectra samples using the identified metabolites and, the antioxidant activity data, showing that for this species the MAE was most effective in extracting the antioxidant compounds. It was possible to propose the structures for forty compounds in the C. grewioides extracts, demonstrating the excellent performance of the FT-Orbitrap MS in providing information on the chemical profile of polar compounds in plant extracts.

Analysis of data from orthogonal minimally aliased response surface designs

Experimental data are often highly structured due to the use of experimental designs. This does not only simplify the analysis, but it allows for tailored methods of analysis that extract more information from the data than generic methods. One group of three-level experimental designs that are suitable for such tailored methods are orthogonal minimally aliased response surface (OMARS) designs (Núñez Ares and Goos 2020), where all main effects are orthogonal to each other and to all second-order effects. The design based analysis method of Jones and Nachtsheim (2017) has shown significant improvement over existing methods in terms of powers to detect active effects. However, the application of their method is limited to only a small subgroup of OMARS designs known as definitive screening designs (DSDs). In our work, we not only improve upon the Jones and Nachtsheim method for DSDs, but we also generalize their analysis framework to the entire family of OMARS designs. Using extensive simulations, we show that our customized method for analyzing data from OMARS designs is highly effective in identifying active effects when compared to other modern (non-design based) analysis methods, especially in cases where the true model is complex and involves many second-order effects.

Experimental Public Service Motivation Research: A Systematic Review and Future Directions

ABSTRACT This paper provides a systematic review of empirical experimental studies in PSM from 1992 to 2022. The paper adopted a systematic review methodology by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A comprehensive search was conducted in sixteen public administration journals, via a systematic search using major online databases. The findings show that there has been a growing interest in the use of experimental designs in PSM studies over the last five years even though the growth has not been consistent. The findings uncovered that most experimental PSM studies involved surveys, laboratory, and field experiments. The paper contributes to the burgeoning PSM literature by systematically analysing in-depth the characteristics of experiments, which were then used to make recommendations to advance the field of experimental PSM.

Response surface methodology as a tool to optimize the extraction of bioactive compounds from plant sources.

Response surface methodology (RSM) is a widely used mathematical and statistical technique for modeling and optimizing the process for the extraction of bioactive compounds. This review explains the optimization approach through the use of experimental design and empirical models for response prediction and the utilization of the desirability function for multiple response optimization. This paper also reviews recent studies on the application of RSM to optimize bioactive compound extraction processes such as conventional solvent extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, and ultrasound-assisted extraction. Finally, the challenges associated with the use of RSM and the efforts made to improve RSM in the extraction process are also highlighted. Overall, this review informs many aspects of RSM that are occasionally ignored or insufficiently discussed with regard to the optimization of bioactive compound extraction processes, and it summarizes significant applications where RSM proved suitable. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Technical Efficiency of Turmeric (Curcuma Longa L.) Production in Benue State, Nigeria

Purpose: The study analyzed the technical efficiency of turmeric production in Benue State, Nigeria. Taro Yamane’s formula was used to select 28 respondents.
 Methodology: The research made use of experimental design and a multistage, purposive and proportionate sampling was used for the study. Data for the study were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire from 28 turmeric farmers in Konshisha, Vandeikya, and Gwer-East Local Government Areas of Benue State. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier production function.
 Findings: Analysis of the result showed that majority (53.6%) of the turmeric farmers had technical efficiency level between 31% and 60%. Also, analysis of the stochastic frontier production function revealed that age, sex, farm experience, and household size of turmeric farmers in the state significantly influenced their technical efficiency.
 Recommendations: It was recommended that policies aimed at increasing the resource use efficiency of turmeric farmers in the State and hence their farm output can be increased by providing the turmeric farming communities with improved planting ,harvesting, peeling and drying machines for higher efficiency.

Association analysis and functional annotation of imputed sequence data within genomic regions influencing resistance to gastro-intestinal parasites detected by an LDLA approach in a nucleus flock of Sarda dairy sheep

BackgroundGastroinestinal nematodes (GIN) are one of the major health problem in grazing sheep. Although genetic variability of the resistance to GIN has been documented, traditional selection is hampered by the difficulty of recording phenotypes, usually fecal egg count (FEC). To identify causative mutations or markers in linkage disequilibrium (LD) to be used for selection, the detection of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for FEC based on linkage disequilibrium-linkage analysis (LDLA) was performed on 4097 ewes (from 181 sires) all genotyped with the OvineSNP50 Beadchip. Identified QTL regions (QTLR) were imputed from whole-genome sequences of 56 target animals of the population. An association analysis and a functional annotation of imputed polymorphisms in the identified QTLR were performed to pinpoint functional variants with potential impact on candidate genes identified from ontological classification or differentially expressed in previous studies.ResultsAfter clustering close significant locations, ten QTLR were defined on nine Ovis aries chromosomes (OAR) by LDLA. The ratio between the ANOVA estimators of the QTL variance and the total phenotypic variance ranged from 0.0087 to 0.0176. QTL on OAR4, 12, 19, and 20 were the most significant. The combination of association analysis and functional annotation of sequence data did not highlight any putative causative mutations. None of the most significant SNPs showed a functional effect on genes’ transcript. However, in the most significant QTLR, we identified genes that contained polymorphisms with a high or moderate impact, were differentially expressed in previous studies, contributed to enrich the most represented GO process (regulation of immune system process, defense response). Among these, the most likely candidate genes were: TNFRSF1B and SELE on OAR12, IL5RA on OAR19, IL17A, IL17F, TRIM26, TRIM38, TNFRSF21, LOC101118999, VEGFA, and TNF on OAR20.ConclusionsThis study performed on a large experimental population provides a list of candidate genes and polymorphisms which could be used in further validation studies. The expected advancements in the quality of the annotation of the ovine genome and the use of experimental designs based on sequence data and phenotypes from multiple breeds that show different LD extents and gametic phases may help to identify causative mutations.

Use of experimental design to evaluate the adsorption of chromium (VI) by alginate/polyaniline beads

Low-cost decorated sodium alginate beads with polyaniline (Alg@PANI beads) were easily prepared using a cross-linking method, and employed for the adsorption of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions. The effect of several influencing parameters, including temperature, contact time, Cr(VI) concentration, and adsorbent dosage, was investigated and optimized using central composite design (CCD) under response surface methodology (RSM). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the quadratic model and the analyzed model revealed that the models were statistically significant, with a low P-value (<0.0001) and a high correlation coefficient value (R2 = 0.93). The optimum parameters for total adsorption were as follows: adsorbent dose 0.027 g, pH 2, contact time 45 min, temperature 38?C, and Cr(VI) concentration 29.24 ppm. The findings of this study indicate that the prepared Alg@PANI beads could be effectively used to remove Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solutions.

Improve dancing skills with motion capture systems: case study of a taiwanese high school dance class

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of capture systems in improving high school students’ dancing skills through the use of experimental design. The major findings were as follows: First, using a MoCap system and high-speed camera to document dancers’ movements can provide reference materials for students to improve their skills through self-practice. Second, using a MoCap system and high-speed camera as teaching aids at dance studio can enhance the effectiveness of dancing teaching. Third, incorporating MoCap and high-speed camera technologies into dance art is becoming necessary for achieving peak performance.

Experimental design in practice: The importance of blocking and treatment structures

SummaryExperimental design and analysis has evolved substantially over the last 100 years, driven to a large extent by the power and availability of the computer. To demonstrate this development and encourage the use of experimental design in practice, three experiments from different research areas are presented. In these examples multiple blocking factors have been employed and they show how extraneous variation can be accommodated and interpreted. The examples are used to discuss the importance of blocking and treatment structures in the conduct of designed experiments.

Experimental Design: Approaches and Applications in Development of Pharmaceutical Drug Delivery System

Conventionally, all the delivery systems have been prepared by methodology of trial and error concept by manipulating one variable at a Time, but attainment of optimal formulation is not achievable. The systematic approach Design of Experiments (DoE) enables researchers to provide appropriate outline to develop a best optimized delivery system. Optimization techniques using DoE helps to provide effective and economical analytical tools to find the perfect solution for a particular problem. In screening designs, there is large number of screening factors in minimum number of experiments and beneficial to minimize the variables in a desired size therefore further experimentation may be performed easily by using these variables. Experimental designs and optimization techniques are the tools which are systematically used to categorize various types of problems that may influence development of pharmaceutical delivery system. Use of experimental design is the best approach to the screening and optimization of experimental factors. In the present review article we have focused on application of practically applicable experimental designs and optimization techniques for the development of quality and efficacious of pharmaceutical formulations such as, nanoparticles, Phytosomes, microspheres, liposomes, micells, films, nanostructured lipid carriers and tablets and which type of factors to be considered while optimization are also discussed.
 Keywords: Experimental design, Optimization, Applications, Drug delivery, Phytosomes, Nano delivery System.

Preliminary Evidence on the Impact of Hearing Aid Use on Falls Risk in Individuals With Self-Reported Hearing Loss.

Purpose Falls are considered a significant public health issue, and hearing loss has been shown to be an independent risk factor for falls. The primary objective of this study was to determine if hearing aid use modified (reduced) the association. We hypothesized that routine hearing aid use would reduce the impact of hearing loss on the odds of falling. If hearing aid users have reduced odds of falling, then that would have an important impact on falls prevention health care. Method Data from 8,091 individuals 40 years of age and older who completed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles 1999-2004 were used. NHANES comprises a series of cross-sectional studies, each of which is representative of the total civilian noninstitutionalized population of children and adults in the United States, enabling unbiased national estimates of health that can be independently reproduced. Self-reported hearing, hearing aid status, falls history, and comorbidities were extracted and analyzed using regression modeling. Results The 8,091 individuals were grouped based on a self-reported history of falls in the last year. Self-reported hearing loss was significantly associated with odds of falling. Categorizing individuals based on routine hearing aid use was included as an interaction term in the fully adjusted models and was not significant, suggesting no difference in falls based on hearing aid status. Conclusions The unique results of the current study show that when examining self-reported hearing in a nationally representative sample, hearing aid use does not appear to mitigate or modify the association between self-reported hearing and falls. Future research designs are highlighted to address limitations identified using NHANES data for this research and focus on the use of experimental designs to further understand the association between hearing loss and falls, including whether hearing loss may be a modifiable risk factor for falls. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14642784.

Effect of injection parameters on the thermal, mechanical and thermomechanical properties of polycaprolactone (PCL)

In this work, an experimental design was applied in the injection molding process of polycaprolactone (PCL), aiming to evaluate the mechanical properties (impact strength, tensile strength and Shore D Hardness), thermal (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)) and thermomechanical (heat deflection temperature (HDT)), in PCL injected specimens. A type 2n planning was applied, with n = 3 and central point, having the input factors: processing temperature profile, mold temperature and injection flow. The results showed that the DSC curves presented a complex mechanism during crystallization, suggesting that depending on the processing conditions a high degree of crystallinity can be obtained. When using a higher processing temperature and a higher injection flow, there is an increase in the mass of the PCL parts. The impact strength is more expressive when a higher injection flow and a lower processing temperature are applied, reaching values around 260 J/m. The mold temperature impairs the elongation at the break of the PCL, while the elastic modulus was governed by the degree of crystallinity. A deleterious effect on HDT was observed with increased injection flow, suggesting that this parameter negatively affects thermomechanical resistance. The use of experimental design in the processing of PCL is important, since it is possible to optimize properties with the ideal conditions of injection molding.

Use of Experimental Designs to Evaluate the Influence of Methyl Green Dye as a Corrosion Inhibitor for Carbon Steel in Perchloric Acid

The aim of this research study was to apply experimental design in the optimization of influencing parameters on the corrosion inhibition efficiency of Methyl Green (MG) dye using the weight loss (WL) technique. Corrosion inhibition of carbon steel (CS) in the presence of different concentrations of MG dye in 1 M HClO4 solution has been studied. Results showed that inhibition efficiency (IE) increased with increasing concentration of MG dye up to 1.0 × 10−3 mol/L, and decreased with raising temperature. The free energy values calculated from the Langmuir adsorption isotherm for MG dye (-36.24 to -38.04 kJ/mol) suggested that MG dye molecules adsorbed onto CS surface via a physicochemical mechanism.