A review of the literature on intellectual capital development was conducted using systemic criteria for the inclusion of relevant studies. The concepts behind the ideas explored in the present study were discussed in respect to the subject matter. Examining the past state of the art in the intellectual capital sector for achieving high levels of innovation performance provided a multidimensional picture of intellectual capital, innovation performance, and dynamic capabilities. The present review was designed to illustrate the correlation between intellectual capital and innovation performance, as well as the role of dynamic capabilities in moderating the relationship between these constructs. Accordingly, we presented an extensive discussion on the relevant fundamental theoretical perspectives of contingency and resource-based views to provide an in-depth understanding of the abovementioned correlation. Finally, the conceptual framework was illustrated.
This paper studies the behavior of axially loaded RC columns which are confined with carbon fiber reinforced polymers’ sheet (CFRP) and steel jackets (SJ). The study is based on twelve axially loaded RC columns tested up to failure. It is divided into three schemes based on its strengthening type; each scheme has four columns. The main parameters in this study were the compressive strength of the concrete and steel reinforcement ratio. Furthermore, the results of the experimental test showed a substantial enhancement in the column's load-carrying capacity. When compared to the original columns, the CFRP sheet had a significant effect on improving the ductility of the column by increasing the axial deformation by about 59.2 to 95.7
... Show MoreThe ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic caused by SARS‐CoV‐2 is associated with high morbidity and mortality. This zoonotic virus has emerged in Wuhan of China in December 2019 from bats and pangolins probably and continuing the human‐to‐human transmission globally since last two years. As there is no efficient approved treatment, a number of vaccines were developed at an unprecedented speed to counter the pandemic. Moreover, vaccine hesitancy is observed that may be another possible reason for this never ending pandemic. In the meantime, several variants and mutations were identified and causing multiple waves globally. Now the safety and efficacy of these vaccines are debatable and recommended to d
This work studied the electrical and thermal surface conductivity enhancement of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) clouded by double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNTs) by using pulsed Nd:YAG laser. Variable input factors are considered as the laser energy (or the relevant power), pulse duration and pulse repetition rate. Results indicated that the DWCNTs increased the PMMA’s surface electrical conductivity from 10-15 S/m to 0.813×103 S/m while the MWCNTs raised it to 0.14×103 S/m. Hence, the DWCNTs achieved an increase of almost 6 times than that for the MWCNTs. Moreover, the former increased the thermal conductivity of the surface by 8 times and the later by 5 times.
This paper discusses a comparative study to relate parametric and non-parametric mode decomposition algorithms for response-only data. Three popular mode decomposition algorithms are included in this study: the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm with the Natural Excitation Technique (NExT-ERA) for the parametric algorithm, as well as the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the Independent Component Analysis (ICA) for the non-parametric algorithms. A comprehensive parametric study is provided for (i) different response types, (ii) excitation types, (iii) system damping, and (iv) sensor spatial resolution to compare the mode shapes and modal coordinates of using a 10-DOF building model. The mode decomposition results are also compared using
... Show MoreClassical cryptography systems exhibit major vulnerabilities because of the rapid development of quan tum computing algorithms and devices. These vulnerabilities were mitigated utilizing quantum key distribution (QKD), which is based on a quantum no-cloning algorithm that assures the safe generation and transmission of the encryption keys. A quantum computing platform, named Qiskit, was utilized by many recent researchers to analyze the security of several QKD protocols, such as BB84 and B92. In this paper, we demonstrate the simulation and implementation of a modified multistage QKD protocol by Qiskit. The simulation and implementation studies were based on the “local_qasm” simulator and the “FakeVigo” backend, respectively. T
... Show MoreIn this work, the geomagnetic storms that occurred during solar cycles 23 and 24 were classified based on the value of the Disturbance Storm Time index (Dst), which was considered an indicator of the strength of geomagnetic conditions. The special criterion of Dst >-50 nT was adopted in the classification process of the geomagnetic storms based on the minimum daily value of the Dst-index. The number of geomagnetic storms that occurred during the study period was counted according to the adopted criteria, including moderate storms with (Dst >-50 nT), strong storms with (Dst >-100 nT), severe storms with (Dst >-200 nT), and great storms with (Dst >-350 nT). The statistica
Background and objective: Viral Hepatitis Type B&C is serious public health challenge throughout the world.Hepatitis B and C viruses still remain to be the major causes of chronic hepatitis.It is estimated that around 350-400 million people in the world are chronic carriers of HBV, which represents approximately 7% of the total populationwhereas infection with HCV is found in approximately 3% of the world population, which represents 160 million people. Hepatitis B infection has a wide range of seroprevalence in the Mediterranean countries ranging from intermediate (=>2% ) to high prevalence ( =>7%). World Health Organization estimated a prevalence rate for HCV infection of about 4.6% in Eastern Mediterranean in 1999. During the eightieths
... Show MoreWe present a case of congenital of flexor pollicis longus agenesis without thenar hypoplasia in a 12-year-old girl with no history of trauma. Two-staged corrective surgery was planned. In the first stage, the flexor pulley was reconstructed using silicone followed by the second stage 3 months later when flexor pollicis longus reconstruction was performed using tendon transfer of the flexor digitorum superficialis. The patient completed post-operative physiotherapy and the result of the surgical treatment in both functional and cosmetic aspects was, in the authors’ opinion, excellent.