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Since the introduction of Apple's App store and Google's Android Market (now Google Play) around the middle of 2008, the applications (commonly called Apps) for the iPhone and Android-based phones have surpassed 500,000 for each of the platforms. There are Apps for just about anything one can imagine. In the very near future, the use of smartphones and tablet devices for gathering information from the Web and for learning is expected to exceed the PC's and laptops. Given this, the design, development, and deployment of mobile Apps that support learning would be highly beneficial to students and learners. Such Apps could act as very effective supplements to the exiting learning modalities, especially in the areas of Math, Science, and Engineering, where most students have to grapple with abstract and hard concepts. This paper presents the approaches and design elements of an App for presenting concepts in mathematics and engineering.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the structural and computational potentials of a powerful class of neural networks (NNs), called multiple-valued logic neural networks (MVLNN), for predicting the behavior of phenomenological systems with highly nonlinear dynamics. MVLNNs are constructed based on the integration of a number of neurons working based on the principle of multiple-valued logics. MVLNNs possess some particular features, namely complex-valued weights, input, and outputs coded by kth roots of unity, and a continuous activation as a mean for transferring numbers from complex spaces to trigonometric spaces, which distinguish them from most of the existing NNs.

The presented study can be categorized into three sections. At the first part, the authors attempt at providing the mathematical formulations required for the implementation of ARX-based MVLNN (AMVLNN). In this context, it is indicated that how the concept of ARX can be used to revise the structure of MVLNN for online applications. Besides, the stepwise formulation for the simulation of Chua’s oscillatory map and multiple-valued logic-based BP are given. Through an analysis, some interesting characteristics of the Chua’s map, including a number of possible attractors of the state and sequences generated as a function of time, are given.

Based on a throughout simulation as well as a comprehensive numerical comparative study, some important features of AMVLNN are demonstrated. The simulation results indicate that AMVLNN can be employed as a tool for the online identification of highly nonlinear dynamic systems. Furthermore, the results show the compatibility of the Chua’s oscillatory system with BP for an effective tuning of the synaptic weights. The results also unveil the potentials of AMVLNN as a fast, robust, and efficient control-oriented model at the heart of NMPC control schemes.

This study presents two innovative propositions. First, the structure of MVLNN is modified based on the concept of ARX system identification programming to suit the base structure for coping with chaotic and highly nonlinear systems. Second, the authors share the findings about the learning characteristics of MVLNNs. Through an exhaustive comparative study and considering different rival methodologies, a novel and efficient double-stage learning strategy is proposed which remarkably improves the performance of MVLNNs. Finally, the authors describe the outline of a novel formulation which prepares the proposed AMVLNN for applications in NMPC controllers for dynamic systems.

The expansion of lifestyle and luxury markets has necessitated new marketing techniques. Recently, brand addiction has been a new topic in luxury repurchasing. The information reported in the literature regarding the effectiveness of brand addiction is insufficient and controversial. This research aimed to assess the role of brand addiction in Islamic consumers who purchase luxury smartphone brands.

Survey responses were collected from an online sample of 384 luxury consumers in Iran. The methods were evaluated using software (smart PLS 3) to test the hypothesis.

According to the uniqueness theory, the authors completed that brand addiction and consumer relationships are different and relative in each luxury product. The results positively determine that brand addiction has a more significant impact than brand jealousy, brand love and brand experience in repurchasing luxury consumers.

This study helps expand the literature on luxury repurchases and contends that brand addiction creates a new perspective in understanding behavioral addiction.

This paper provides insights for current and future marketers and managers, especially in Iran.

This investigation is the first study on the impact of different dimensions of brand addiction on luxury smartphone repurchase intention. In this regard, the findings of the study are important in the luxury market and extend current knowledge on repurchasing luxury products such as in Iran.

One of the main advantages of the proposed model is that it is flexible to generate n-day pairings simultaneously. It means that, despite previous researches, one-day to n-day pairings can be generated in a single model. The flexibility in generating parings causes that the proposed model leads to better solutions compared to existing models. Another advantage of the model is minimizing the risk of COVID-19 by limitation of daily flights as well as elapsed time minimization. As airports are among high risk places in COVID-19 pandemic, minimization of infection risk is considered in this model for the first time. Genetic algorithm is used as the solution approach, and its efficiency is compared to GAMS in small and medium-size problems.

One of the most complex issues in airlines is crew scheduling problem which is divided into two subproblems: crew pairing problem (CPP) and crew rostering problem (CRP). Generating crew pairings is a tremendous and exhausting task as millions of pairings may be generated for an airline. Moreover, crew cost has the largest share in total cost of airlines after fuel cost. As a result, crew scheduling with the aim of cost minimization is one of the most important issues in airlines. In this paper, a new bi-objective mixed integer programming model is proposed to generate pairings in such a way that deadhead cost, crew cost and the risk of COVID-19 are minimized.

The proposed model is applied for domestic flights of Iran Air airline. The results of the study indicate that genetic algorithm solutions have only 0.414 and 0.380 gap on average to optimum values of the first and the second objective functions, respectively. Due to the flexibility of the proposed model, it improves solutions resulted from existing models with fixed-duty pairings. Crew cost is decreased by 12.82, 24.72, 4.05 and 14.86% compared to one-duty to four-duty models. In detail, crew salary is improved by 12.85, 24.64, 4.07 and 14.91% and deadhead cost is decreased by 11.87, 26.98, 3.27, and 13.35% compared to one-duty to four-duty models, respectively.

The authors confirm that it is an original paper, has not been published elsewhere and is not currently under consideration of any other journal.