Search results for: construction businesses

Authors: Gayan Mapitiya

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Maintaining good occupational health and safety (OHS) performance is significant at the coalface, especially in industries such as mining, power, and construction. Coalface workers are vulnerable to high OHS risks such as working at heights, working with mobile plants and vehicles, working with underground and above ground services, chemical emissions, radiation hazards and explosions at everyday work. To improve OHS performance of workers, OHS key performance indicators (KPIs) (for example, lost time injuries (LTI), serious injury frequency rate (SIFR), total reportable injury frequency rate (TRIFR) and number of near misses) are widely used by managers in making OHS business decisions such as investing in safety equipment and training programs. However, in many organizations, workers at the coalface hardly see any relevance or value addition of OHS KPIs to their everyday work. Therefore, the aim of the study was to understand why coalface workers perceive that OHS KPIs are not practically relevant to their jobs. Accordingly, this study was conducted as a qualitative case study focusing on a large electricity and gas firm in Australia. Semi-structured face to face interviews were conducted with selected coalface workers to gather data on their attitude towards OHS KPIs. The findings of the study revealed that workers at the coalface generally have no understanding of the purpose of KPIs, the meaning of each KPI, origin of KPIs, and how KPIs are correlated to organizational performance. Indeed, KPIs are perceived as ‘meaningless obstacles’ imposed on workers by managers without a rationale. It is recommended to engage coalface workers (a fair number of representatives) in both KPIs setting and revising processes while maintaining a continuous dialogue between workers and managers in regards OHS KPIs.

Keywords: KPIs, coalface, OHS risks, case-study

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Authors: Karen de Andrade

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Literature is generally understood as an aesthetic creation, an artistic object that relates to the history and sociocultural paradigms of a given era. Moreover, through it, we can dwell on the deepest reflections on the human condition. It can also be used to propagate projects of domination, as Edward Said points out in his book Culture and Imperialism, connecting narrative, history and land conquest. Having said that, the aim of this paper is to analyse how Wole Soyinka elaborated his main theoretical work, Myth, Literature and African World, a collection of essays published in 1976, by comparing the philosophical, ideological and aesthetic practices of African, diasporic and European writers from the point of view of the Yoruba tradition, to which he belongs. Moreover, Soyinka believes that (literary) art has an important function in the formation of a people, in the construction of its political identity and in cultural regeneration, especially after the independence. The author's critical endeavour is that of attempting to construct a past. For him, the "African World" is not a mere allegory of the continent, and to understand it in this way would be to perpetuate a colonialist vision that would deny the subjectivities that cross black cultures, history and bodies. For him, comparative literature can be used not to "equate" local African texts with the European canon; but rather to recognise that they have aesthetic value and socio-cultural importance. Looking at the local, the particular and specific to each culture is, according to Soyinka, appropriate for dealing with African cultures, as opposed to abstractions of dialectical materialism or capitalist nationalism. In view of this, in his essays, the author creates a possibility for artistic and social reflection beyond the logic of Western politics.

Keywords: comparative literature, African Literature, Literary Theory, Yoruba Mythology, Wole Soyinka, Afrodiaspora

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Authors: Suraya Mohamad Nadzir, Badrol Ahmad, Norlia Berahim

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T91 steel has been used as construction material for superheater tubes in sub-critical and super critical boiler. This steel was developed with higher creep strength property as compared to conventional low alloy steel. However, this steel is also susceptible to materials degradation due to its sensitivity to heat treatment especially Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT) after weld repair process. Review of PWHT process shows that the holding temperature may different from one batch to other batch of samples depending on the material composition. This issue was reviewed by many researchers and one of the potential solutions is the development of weld repair process without PWHT. This process is possible with the use of temper bead welding technique. However, study has shown the hardness value across the weld joint with exception of PWHT is much higher compare to recommended hardness value. Based on the above findings, a study to evaluate the microstructure and hardness changes of T91 weld joint after heating at 560°C at varying duration was carried out. This study was carried out to evaluate the possibility of self-tempering process during in-service period. In this study, the T91 weld joint was heat-up in air furnace at 560°C for duration of 50 and 150 hours. The heating process was controlled with heating rate of 200°C/hours, and cooling rate about 100°C/hours. Following this process, samples were prepared for the microstructure examination and hardness evaluation. Results have shown full tempered martensite structure and acceptance hardness value was achieved after 50 hours heating. This result shows that the thin component such as T91 superheater tubes is able to self-tempering during service hour.

Keywords: T91, weld-joint, tempered martensite, self-tempering

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Authors: M. L. Mesquita, V. H. Ferreira, C. M. Cebola

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Mediation is an increasingly important mechanism, particularly in the European context, as demonstrated, for example, by the publication by the European Union of the Directive 2008/52/EC on certain aspects of mediation in civil and mercantile matters. Developments in international trade and globalization in this new century have led to an increase of the number of litigations, often cross-border, and the courts have failed to respond adequately. From the economic point of view, competitive negotiation can generate negative external effects in social terms. Not always the solution found in court is the most efficient solution taking into account all elements of society. On the other hand, the administration of justice adds in economic terms transaction costs that can be mitigated by the application of other forms of conflict resolution, such as mediation. In this paper, the economic benefits of mediation will be analysed in the light of various studies on the functioning of justice. Several theoretical arguments will be confronted with empirical studies to demonstrate that mediation has significant positive economic effects. In the Portuguese legal system, legislative frameworks for mediation display a state committed to creating a new architecture for the administration of justice, based on the construction of a multi-faceted legal system for dispute resolution mechanisms. Understanding the way in which the system of mediation in Portugal was introduced, allows us to point out that our internal ordering is creating the legal instruments which can assist citizens in the effective protection of their rights. However, data on the use of mediation in concrete proceedings and the consequent effectiveness of mediation in settling disputes, reveal a mechanism that is still far from the ideal results that were initially sought.

Keywords: access to justice, alternative dispute resolution, mediation, litigation

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Authors: Michael Anton Kraus, Miriam Schuster, Geralt Siebert, Jens Schneider

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Polymers increasingly gained interest in construction materials over the last years in civil engineering applications. As polymeric materials typically show time- and temperature dependent material behavior, which is accounted for in the context of the theory of linear viscoelasticity. Within the context of this paper, the authors show, that some polymeric interlayers for laminated glass can not be considered as thermorheologically simple as they do not follow a simple TTSP, thus a methodology of identifying the thermorheologically complex constitutive bahavioir is needed. ‘Dynamical-Mechanical-Thermal-Analysis’ (DMTA) in tensile and shear mode as well as ‘Differential Scanning Caliometry’ (DSC) tests are carried out on the interlayer material ‘Ethylene-vinyl acetate’ (EVA). A navoel Bayesian framework for the Master Curving Process as well as the detection and parameter identification of the TTSPs along with their associated Prony-series is derived and applied to the EVA material data. To our best knowledge, this is the first time, an uncertainty quantification of the Prony-series in a Bayesian context is shown. Within this paper, we could successfully apply the derived Bayesian methodology to the EVA material data to gather meaningful Master Curves and TTSPs. Uncertainties occurring in this process can be well quantified. We found, that EVA needs two TTSPs with two associated Generalized Maxwell Models. As the methodology is kept general, the derived framework could be also applied to other thermorheologically complex polymers for parameter identification purposes.

Keywords: bayesian parameter identification, generalized Maxwell model, linear viscoelasticity, thermorheological complex

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Authors: Khalid M. Albarkoly, Kenneth S. Park

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The substantial development of the construction industry has forced the cement industry, its major support, to focus on achieving maximum productivity to meet the growing demand for this material. Statistics indicate that the demand for cement rose from 1.6 billion metric tons (bmt) in 2000 to 4bmt in 2013. This means that the reliability of a production system needs to be at the highest level that can be achieved by good maintenance. This paper studies the extent to which the implementation of RCM is needed as a strategy for increasing the reliability of the production systems component can be increased, thus ensuring continuous productivity. In a case study of four Libyan cement factories, 80 employees were surveyed and 12 top and middle managers interviewed. It is evident that these factories usually breakdown more often than once per month which has led to a decline in productivity, they cannot produce more than 50% of their designed capacity. This has resulted from the poor reliability of their production systems as a result of poor or insufficient maintenance. It has been found that most of the factories’ employees misunderstand maintenance and its importance. The main cause of this problem is the lack of qualified and trained staff, but in addition, it has been found that most employees are not found to be motivated as a result of a lack of management support and interest. In response to these findings, it has been suggested that the RCM strategy should be implemented in the four factories. The paper shows the importance of considering the development of maintenance strategies through the implementation of RCM in these factories. The purpose of it would be to overcome the problems that could reduce the level of reliability of the production systems. This study could be a useful source of information for academic researchers and the industrial organisations which are still experiencing problems in maintenance practices.

Keywords: Libyan cement industry, reliability centred maintenance, maintenance, production, reliability

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Authors: Omar Alzeley, Sergey Utev

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Minimizing a constrained multivariate function is the fundamental of Machine learning, and these algorithms are at the core of data mining and data visualization techniques. The decision function that maps input points to output points is based on the result of optimization. This optimization is the central of learning theory. One approach to complex systems where the dynamics of the system is inferred by a statistical analysis of the fluctuations in time of some associated observable is time series analysis. The purpose of this paper is a mathematical transition from the autoregressive model of classical time series to the matrix formalization of quantum theory. Firstly, we have proposed a quantum time series model (QTS). Although Hamiltonian technique becomes an established tool to detect a deterministic chaos, other approaches emerge. The quantum probabilistic technique is used to motivate the construction of our QTS model. The QTS model resembles the quantum dynamic model which was applied to financial data. Secondly, various statistical methods, including machine learning algorithms such as the Kalman filter algorithm, are applied to estimate and analyses the unknown parameters of the model. Finally, simulation techniques such as Markov chain Monte Carlo have been used to support our investigations. The proposed model has been examined by using real and simulated data. We establish the relation between quantum statistical machine and quantum time series via random matrix theory. It is interesting to note that the primary focus of the application of QTS in the field of quantum chaos was to find a model that explain chaotic behaviour. Maybe this model will reveal another insight into quantum chaos.

Keywords: machine learning, simulation techniques, quantum probability, tensor product, time series

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Authors: Simon J. Wilde, David M. Herold, Michael J. Bryant

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Social media networks have become the hotbed for advertising activities due mainly to their increasing consumer/user base and, secondly, owing to the ability of marketers to accurately measure ad exposure and consumer-based insights on such networks. More than half of the world’s population (4.8 billion) now uses social media (60%), with 150 million new users having come online within the last 12 months (to June 2022). As the use of social media networks by users grows, key business strategies used for interacting with these potential customers have matured, especially social media advertising. Unlike other traditional media outlets, social media advertising is highly interactive and digital channel specific. Social media advertisements are clearly targetable, providing marketers with an extremely powerful marketing tool. Yet despite the measurable benefits afforded to businesses engaged in social media advertising, recent controversies (such as the relationship between Facebook and Cambridge Analytica in 2018) have only heightened the role trust and privacy play within these social media networks. Using a web-based quantitative survey instrument, survey participants were recruited via a reputable online panel survey site. Respondents to the survey represented social media users from all states and territories within Australia. Completed responses were received from a total of 258 social media users. Survey respondents represented all core age demographic groupings, including Gen Z/Millennials (18-45 years = 60.5% of respondents) and Gen X/Boomers (46-66+ years = 39.5% of respondents). An adapted ADTRUST scale, using a 20 item 7-point Likert scale, measured trust in social media advertising. The ADTRUST scale has been shown to be a valid measure of trust in advertising within traditional media, such as broadcast media and print media, and, more recently, the Internet (as a broader platform). The adapted scale was validated through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), resulting in a three-factor solution. These three factors were named reliability, usefulness and affect, and the willingness to rely on. Factor scores (weighted measures) were then calculated for these factors. Factor scores are estimates of the scores survey participants would have received on each of the factors had they been measured directly, with the following results recorded (Reliability = 4.68/7; Usefulness and Affect = 4.53/7; and Willingness to Rely On = 3.94/7). Further statistical analysis (independent samples t-test) determined the difference in factor scores between the factors when age (Gen Z/Millennials vs. Gen X/Boomers) was utilized as the independent, categorical variable. The results showed the difference in mean scores across all three factors to be statistically significant (p<0.05) for these two core age groupings: (1) Gen Z/Millennials Reliability = 4.90/7 vs. Gen X/Boomers Reliability = 4.34/7; (2) Gen Z/Millennials Usefulness and Affect = 4.85/7 vs Gen X/Boomers Usefulness and Affect = 4.05/7; and (3) Gen Z/Millennials Willingness to Rely On = 4.53/7 vs Gen X/Boomers Willingness to Rely On = 3.03/7. The results clearly indicate that older social media users lack trust in the quality of information conveyed in social media ads when compared to younger, more social media-savvy consumers. This is especially evident with respect to Factor 3 (Willingness to Rely On), whose underlying variables reflect one’s behavioral intent to act based on the information conveyed in advertising. These findings can be useful to marketers, advertisers, and brand managers in that the results highlight a critical need to design ‘authentic’ advertisements on social media sites to better connect with these older users in an attempt to foster positive behavioral responses from within this large demographic group – whose engagement with social media sites continues to increase year on year.

Keywords: social media advertising, trust, older consumers, internet studies

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Authors: Muhammad Fanseem E. M., Rama Satya Satish Kumar, Indrajeet Bhausaheb Bhavar, Deepak M.

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Keeping the right balance of electricity between the supply and demand sides of the grid is one of the most important objectives of electrical grid operation. Power generation and demand forecasting are the core of power management and generation scheduling. Large, centralized producing units were used in the construction of conventional power systems in the past. A certain level of balance was possible since the generation kept up with the power demand. However, integrating renewable energy sources into power networks has proven to be a difficult challenge due to its intermittent nature. The power imbalance caused by rising demands and peak loads is negatively affecting power quality and dependability. Demand side management and demand response were one of the solutions, keeping generation the same but altering or rescheduling or shedding completely the load or demand. However, shedding the load or rescheduling is not an efficient way. There comes the significance of virtual power plants. The virtual power plant integrates distributed generation, dispatchable load, and distributed energy storage organically by using complementing control approaches and communication technologies. This would eventually increase the utilization rate and financial advantages of distributed energy resources. Most of the writing on virtual power plant models ignored technical limitations, and modeling was done in favor of a financial or commercial viewpoint. Therefore, this paper aims to address the modeling intricacies of VPPs and their technical limitations, shedding light on a holistic understanding of this innovative power management approach.

Keywords: cost optimization, distributed energy resources, dynamic modeling, model quality tests, power system modeling

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Authors: Mina Youssef Makram Ibrahim

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Engineering identity contributes to the professional and academic sustainability of female engineers. Recognizability is an important factor that shapes an engineer's identity. People who are deprived of real recognition often fail to create a positive identity. This study draws on Hornet’s recognition theory to identify factors that influence female civil engineers' sense of recognition. Over the past decade, a survey was created and distributed to 330 graduate students in the Department of Civil, Civil and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University. Survey items include demographics, perceptions of a civil engineer's identity, and factors that influence recognition of a civil engineer's identity, such as B. Opinions about society and family. Descriptive analysis of survey responses revealed that perceptions of civil engineering varied significantly. The definitions of civil engineering provided by participants included the terms structure, design and infrastructure. Almost half of the participants said the main reason for studying Civil Engineering was their interest in the subject, and the majority said they were proud to be a civil engineer. Many study participants reported that their parents viewed them as civil engineers. Institutional and operational treatment was also found to have a significant impact on the recognition of women civil engineers. Almost half of the participants reported feeling isolated or ignored at work because of their gender. This research highlights the importance of recognition in developing the identity of women engineers.

Keywords: civil service, hiring, merit, policing civil engineering, construction, surveying, mapping, pile civil service, Kazakhstan, modernization, a national model of civil service, civil service reforms, bureaucracy civil engineering, gender, identity, recognition

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Authors: Yessenia Parrado, Ana Barbosa, Daniela Mahe, Sebastian Toro, Jhon Garcia

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Public innovation has gained strength in recent years in response to the need to find new strategies or mechanisms to interact between government entities and citizens. In this way, the Colombian government has been promoting policies aimed at strengthening innovation as a fundamental aspect in the work of public entities. However, in order to potentiate the capacities of public servants and therefore of the institutions and organizations to which they belong, it is necessary to be able to understand the context under which they operate in their daily work. This article aims to compile the work developed by the laboratory of innovation, creativity, and new technologies LAB101 of the National University of Colombia for the National Department of Planning. A case study was developed in the central region of Colombia made up of five departments, through the construction of instruments based on quantitative techniques in response to the item combined with qualitative analysis through semi-structured interviews to understand the perception of possible barriers to innovation and the obstacles that have prevented the acceleration of transformation within public organizations. From the information collected, different analyzes are carried out that allows a more robust explanation to be given to the results obtained, and a set of categories are established to group different characteristics associated with possible difficulties that officials perceive to innovate and that are later conceived as barriers. Finally, a proposal for an indicator was built to measure the degree of innovation within public entities in order to be able to carry a metric in future opportunities. The main findings of this study show three key components to be strengthened in public entities and organizations: governance, knowledge management, and the promotion of collaborative workspaces.

Keywords: barriers, enablers, management, public innovation

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Authors: Julia Rey-Pérez, Julia Díaz Borrego

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The modernisation process of the city of Sevilla in Spain and the transformation of the city took place through national and local government initiatives from the 1960s onwards. Part of these actions was the execution of numerous residential neighbourhoodsthat prepared Sevilla for the change of era. This process was possible thanks to the implementation of public policies that showed the imminent need for new architectural programmes, as well as for high-rise architecture built in reinforced concrete. However, very little is known to this day about the modernisation process in Sevilla and the development of these neighbourhoods, which were designed to house a large number of people and are today a key reference point in the Historic Urban Landscape of the city of Seville. Therefore, the present research aims to learn and reflect upon the urban transformation of the city at this time andto deepen the heritage uniqueness of these neighbourhoods, as is the case of ElPlantinarneighbourhood.The methodology proposed for this research is structured in three phases, where in the first stage, a general study of the El Plantinarneighbourhood was carried out on three scales: urban, object-typological and perceptive. In the second stage, the cultural attributes and values of the urban complex in question were identified in order to determine whether the case study is truly representative of the beginnings of modernity in Spain and whether it needs a heritage approach. Finally, a third phase is proposed in which criteria will be defined on how to intervene in this neighbourhood to guarantee its presence in the urban landscape of the city of Seville. The expected results will help to understand the process of modernisation that the city has undergone, as well as the heritage value of this architecture in the construction of the collective memory.

Keywords: modern heritage, urban obsolescence, methodology, develop

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Authors: Tianyue Wan

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Building a child-friendly city (CFC) contributes to improving the quality of urbanization. It also forms a local system committed to fulfilling children's rights and development. Yet, the work related to CFC is still at the initial stage in China. Therefore, taking Wuhan, the most populous city in central China, as the pilot city would offer some reference for other cities. Based on the analysis of theories and practice examples, this study puts forward the challenges of building a child-friendly city under the particularity of China's national conditions. To handle these challenges, this study uses four methods to collect status data: literature research, site observation, research inquiry, and semantic differential (SD). And it adopts three data analysis methods: case analysis, geographic information system (GIS) analysis, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. Through data analysis, this study identifies the evaluation system and appraises the current situation of Wuhan. According to the status of Wuhan's child-friendly city, this study proposes three strategies: 1) construct the evaluation system; 2) establish a child-friendly space system integrating 'point-line-surface'; 3) build a digitalized service platform. At the same time, this study suggests building a long-term mechanism for children's participation and multi-subject supervision from laws, medical treatment, education, safety protection, social welfare, and other aspects. Finally, some conclusions of strategies about CFC are tried to be drawn to promote the highest quality of life for all citizens in Wuhan.

Keywords: action plan, child friendly city, construction strategy, urban space

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Authors: Nathalia Andrea Calderon Lesmes, Eduardo Barragan Parada, Diego Fernando Villegas Bermudez

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Spasticity in the plantiflexor muscles as a product of stroke (CVA-Cerebrovascular accident) restricts the mobility and independence of the affected people. Commonly, physiotherapists are in charge of manually performing the rehabilitation therapy known as Sustained Mechanical Stretching, rotating the affected foot of the patient in the sagittal plane. However, this causes a physical wear on the professional because it is a fatiguing movement. In this article, a mechanical device is developed to implement this rehabilitation therapy more efficiently. The device consists of a worm-crown mechanism that is driven by a crank to gradually rotate a platform in the sagittal plane of the affected foot, in order to achieve dorsiflexion. The device has a range of sagittal rotation up to 150° and has velcro located on the footplate that secures the foot. The design of this device was modeled by using CAD software and was checked structurally with a general purpose finite element software to be sure that the device is safe for human use. As a measurement system, a goniometer is used in the lateral part of the device and load cells are used to measure the force in order to determine the opposing torque exerted by the muscle. Load cells sensitivity is 1.8 ± 0.002 and has a repeatability of 0.03. Validation of the effectiveness of the device is measured by reducing the opposition torque and increasing mobility for a given patient. In this way, with a more efficient therapy, an improvement in the recovery of the patient's mobility and therefore in their quality of life can be achieved.

Keywords: biomechanics, mechanical device, plantiflexor muscles, rehabilitation, spastic hemiplegia, sustained mechanical stretching

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Authors: Pixiang Wang, Shaoyang Liu, Yucheng Peng

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Polypropylene (PP) is an essential material of numerous applications in different industrial sectors, including packaging, construction, and automotive. Because the application of homopolypropylene (HPP) is limited by its relatively low impact strength and high embrittlement temperature, various types of impact copolymer PP (ICPP) that incorporate elastomers/rubbers into HPP to increase impact strength have been successfully commercialized. Crystallization kinetics of an isotactic HPP, an ICPP, and their composites were studied in this work understand the composites’ behaviors better. The Avrami-Jeziorny model was used to describe the crystallization process. For most samples, the Avrami exponent, n, was greater than 3, indicating the crystal grew in three dimensions with spherical geometry. However, the n value could drop below 3 when the ICPP content was 80 wt.% or higher and the cooling rate was 7.5°C/min or lower, implying that the crystals could grow in two dimensions and some lamella structures could be formed under those conditions. The nucleation activity increased with the increase of the ICPP content, demonstrating that the rubber phase in the ICPP acted as a nucleation agent and facilitated the nucleation process. The decrease in crystallization rate after the ICPP content exceeded 60 wt.% might be caused by the excessive amount of crystal nuclei induced by the high ICPP content, which caused strong crystal-crystal interactions and limited the crystal growth space. The nucleation activity and the n value showed high correlations to the mechanical and thermal properties of the materials. The quantitative study of the kinetics of crystallization in this work could be a helpful reference for manufacturing ICPP and HPP/ICPP mixtures.

Keywords: polypropylene, crystallization kinetics, Avrami-Jeziorny model, crystallization activation energy, Nucleation activity

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Authors: Kathleen Seers, Rachel Hogg

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Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in women is increasing, prompting research into the presentation of female ASD and exploring why females are failing to meet the diagnostic threshold. One explanation is the use of masking behaviors, where traits of ASD are suppressed and gender-appropriate behaviors are mimicked to reduce the visibility and victimization of ASD girls. Current research explores ASD presentation and the lived experiences of ASD girls and adolescents; however, there is a paucity of literature in relation to the intra- and inter- psychic experiences of ASD women. Through a social constructionist framework, this qualitative study sought to understand how the construction of gender and the medicalisation of ASD influences women’s experiences of ASD. This study also explored the use and consequence of masking strategies and the impact this has on well-being. Eight women were interviewed, and three major themes were identified. The themes outline the influence of gender expectations and social norms on the women’s experiences, the significance of diagnosis to their identity, and the influence of the medicalization of ASD. Participants shared experiences of feeling different and internalizing blame for this difference. The feeling of difference was a major contributor to the women’s positive or negative mental well-being. The process of diagnosis allowed participants to create and confirm their identity. Diagnosis also led to improvements in well-being, however, the findings also explore the complexity of labeling individuals with a disorder and the difficulties that arise from the construct of ‘functionality’ for those with Autism. The study also explores the temporal nature of ASD and the changing experiences of women as they mature. It is hoped this study promotes discussion and provides clinicians and those connected to ASD women with insights into the support ASD women require to live authentic lives.

Keywords: female autism, gender, masking, social constructionism

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Authors: Hwasuk Jung, Seoi Lee, Dongchoon Ryou, Pyungjong Yoo, Seokmo Lee

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The Nakdong River being used as drinking water sources for Pusan metropolitan city has the vulnerability of water management due to the fact that industrial areas are located in the upper Nakdong River. Most citizens of Busan think that the water quality of Nakdong River is not good, so they boil or use home filter to drink tap water, which causes unnecessary individual costs to Busan citizens. We need to diversify water intake to reduce the cost and to change the weak water source. Under this background, this study was carried out for the environmental accounting of Namgang dam water treatment system compared to Nakdong River water treatment system by using emergy analysis method to help making reasonable decision. Emergy analysis method evaluates quantitatively both natural environment and human economic activities as an equal unit of measure. The emergy transformity of Namgang dam’s water was 1.16 times larger than that of Nakdong River’s water. Namgang Dam’s water shows larger emergy transformity than that of Nakdong River’s water due to its good water quality. The emergy used in making 1 m3 tap water from Namgang dam water treatment system was 1.26 times larger than that of Nakdong River water treatment system. Namgang dam water treatment system shows larger emergy input than that of Nakdong river water treatment system due to its construction cost of new pipeline for intaking Namgang daw water. If the Won used in making 1 m3 tap water from Nakdong river water treatment system is 1, Namgang dam water treatment system used 1.66. If the Em-won used in making 1 m3 tap water from Nakdong river water treatment system is 1, Namgang dam water treatment system used 1.26. The cost-benefit ratio of Em-won was smaller than that of Won. When we use emergy analysis, which considers the benefit of a natural environment such as good water quality of Namgang dam, Namgang dam water treatment system could be a good alternative for diversifying intake source.

Keywords: emergy, emergy transformity, Em-won, water treatment system

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Authors: Haidy S. Ghali, Engy Serag, A. Samer Ezeldin

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Copper is an essential raw material used in the construction industry. During the year 2021 and the first half of 2022, the global market suffered from a significant fluctuation in copper raw material prices due to the aftermath of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, which exposed its consumers to an unexpected financial risk. Thereto, this paper aims to develop two ANN-LSTM price prediction models, using Python, that can forecast the average monthly copper prices traded in the London Metal Exchange; the first model is a multivariate model that forecasts the copper price of the next 1-month and the second is a univariate model that predicts the copper prices of the upcoming three months. Historical data of average monthly London Metal Exchange copper prices are collected from January 2009 till July 2022, and potential external factors are identified and employed in the multivariate model. These factors lie under three main categories: energy prices and economic indicators of the three major exporting countries of copper, depending on the data availability. Before developing the LSTM models, the collected external parameters are analyzed with respect to the copper prices using correlation and multicollinearity tests in R software; then, the parameters are further screened to select the parameters that influence the copper prices. Then, the two LSTM models are developed, and the dataset is divided into training, validation, and testing sets. The results show that the performance of the 3-Month prediction model is better than the 1-Month prediction model, but still, both models can act as predicting tools for diverse economic situations.

Keywords: copper prices, prediction model, neural network, time series forecasting

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Authors: Elnaz Abbasian, Mohsen Faizi

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In its thousand-year development, architecture has gained valuable patterns. Iran’s desert regions possess developed patterns of traditional architecture and outstanding skeletal features. Unfortunately increasing population and urbanization growth in the past decade as well as the lack of harmony with environment’s texture has destroyed such permanent concepts in the building’s skeleton, causing a lot of energy waste in the modern architecture. The important question is how cooling patterns of Iran’s traditional architecture can be used in a new way in the modern architecture of residential buildings? This research is library-based and documental that looks at sustainable development, analyzes the features of Iranian architecture in hot and dry climate in terms of sustainability as well as historical patterns, and makes a model for real environment. By methodological analysis of past, it intends to suggest a new pattern for residential buildings’ cooling in Iran’s hot and dry climate which is in full accordance to the ecology of the design and at the same time possesses the architectural indices of the past. In the process of cities’ physical development, ecological measures, in proportion to desert’s natural background and climate conditions, has kept the natural fences, preventing buildings from facing climate adversities. Designing and construction of buildings with this viewpoint can reduce the energy needed for maintaining and regulating environmental conditions and with the use of appropriate building technology help minimizing the consumption of fossil fuels while having permanent patterns of desert buildings’ architecture.

Keywords: sustainability concepts, sustainable development, energy climate architecture, fossil fuel, hot and dry climate, patterns of traditional sustainability for residential buildings, modern pattern of cooling

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Authors: Yegetaneh T. Dejenu, Delesa Kejela, Abdulak Alemu

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From the earliest time of humankind, the trenches were used for water to flow along and for soldiers to hide in during enemy attacks. Now a day due to civilization, the needs of the human being become endless, and the living condition becomes sophisticated. The unbalance between the needs and resource obligates them to find the way to manage this condition. The attempt to use the scares resource in very efficient and effective way makes the trench an endeavor practice in the world in all countries. A trencher is a construction equipment used to dig trenches, especially for laying pipes or cables, installing drainage, irrigation, installing fencing, and in preparation for trench warfare. It is a machine used to make a ditch by cutting the soil ground and effectively used in agricultural irrigation. The most common types of trencher are wheel trencher, chain trencher, micro trencher, portable trencher. In Ethiopia people have been trenching the ditch for many purposes and the tools they are using are Pickaxe, Shovel and some are using Micro Excavators. The adverse effect of using traditional equipment is, time and energy consuming, less productive, difficult and more man power is required. Hence it is necessary to design and produce low price, and simple machine to narrow this gap. Our objective is to design and model a light duty trencher that is used for trenching the ground or soil for making ditch and used for agricultural, ground cabling, ground piping, and drainage system. The designed machine trenches, maximum of 1-meter depth, 30 cm width, and the required length. The working mechanism is fully hydraulic, and the engine with 12.7 hp will provide suitable power for the pump that delivers 23 l/min at 1500 rpm to drive hydraulic motors and actuators.

Keywords: hydraulics, modelling, trenching, ditch

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Authors: Dina Kuttah

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It is well known that recycling of by-product materials saves natural resources, reduces by-product volumes, and reduces the need for virgin materials. The steel industry produces a myriad of metal components for industrial chains, which in turn generates mineral discarded sand molds. Although these sands are clean before their use, after casting, they may contain contaminants. Therefore, huge quantities of excess by-product foundry sand (BFS) end up occupying large volumes in landfills. In Sweden, approximately 200000 tonnes of excess BFS end up in landfills. The transportation and construction industries have the greatest potential for reuse by-products because they use vast quantities of earthen materials annually. Accordingly, experimental work has been undertaken to evaluate the possible use of two chosen BFS from two Swedish foundries in a conventional Swedish asphalt mixture. The experimental procedure of this research has focused on the dosage, environmental and technical properties of the same mixture type ABT 11 and the same bitumen (160/220) but at different replacement proportions of the conventional fine sand with the two BFS. The environmental requirements, in addition to the technical requirements, namely, void ratio, static indirect tensile strength ratio, and resilient modulus before and after moisture-induced sensitivity tests of the asphalt mixtures, have been investigated in the current study. The test results demonstrated that the BFS from both foundries can be incorporated in the selected asphalt mixture at specified replacement proportions of the conventional fine sand fraction 0-2 mm, as discussed in the paper.

Keywords: asphalt mixtures, by-product foundry sand, indirect tensile strength, moisture induced sensitivity tests, resilient modulus

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Authors: Gu Pang, Bartosz Gebka

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We forecast the demand of total container throughput at the Indonesia’s largest seaport, Tanjung Priok Port. We propose four univariate forecasting models, including SARIMA, the additive Seasonal Holt-Winters, the multiplicative Seasonal Holt-Winters and the Vector Error Correction Model. Our aim is to provide insights into whether forecasting the total container throughput obtained by historical aggregated port throughput time series is superior to the forecasts of the total throughput obtained by summing up the best individual terminal forecasts. We test the monthly port/individual terminal container throughput time series between 2003 and 2013. The performance of forecasting models is evaluated based on Mean Absolute Error and Root Mean Squared Error. Our results show that the multiplicative Seasonal Holt-Winters model produces the most accurate forecasts of total container throughput, whereas SARIMA generates the worst in-sample model fit. The Vector Error Correction Model provides the best model fits and forecasts for individual terminals. Our results report that the total container throughput forecasts based on modelling the total throughput time series are consistently better than those obtained by combining those forecasts generated by terminal-specific models. The forecasts of total throughput until the end of 2018 provide an essential insight into the strategic decision-making on the expansion of port's capacity and construction of new container terminals at Tanjung Priok Port.

Keywords: SARIMA, Seasonal Holt-Winters, Vector Error Correction Model, container throughput

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Authors: Trina Isabel Santiago, Daniel Chua, Jumee Tayaban, Joseph Daniel Timbol, Joshua Yanes

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Numerous instances of human rights violations on healthcare workers have been reported during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. This brief aims to explore these civil and political rights violations and propose recommendations to address these. Our review shows that a wide range of civic and political human rights violations have been committed by individual citizens and government agencies on individual healthcare workers and health worker groups. These violations include discrimination, red-tagging, evictions, illegal arrests, and acts of violence ranging from chemical attacks to homicide. If left unchecked, these issues, compounded by the pandemic, may lead to the exacerbations of the pre-existing problems of the Philippine healthcare system. Despite all pre-existing reports by human rights groups and public media articles, there still seems to be a lack of government action to condemn and prevent these violations. The existence of government agencies which directly contribute to these violations with the lack of condemnation from other agencies further propagate the problem. Given these issues, this policy brief recommends the establishment of an interagency task force for the protection of human rights of healthcare workers as well as the expedited passing of current legislative bills towards the same goal. For more immediate action, we call for the establishment of a dedicated hotline for these incidents with adequate appointment and training of point persons, construction of clear guidelines, and closer collaboration between government agencies in being united against these issues.

Keywords: human rights violations, healthcare workers, COVID-19 pandemic, Philippines

Procedia PDF Downloads 597

Authors: Bhavna Rajagopal, Mrinmoyi Kulkarni

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Today women experience more menstrual cycles than their ancestors did a hundred years ago, owing to early puberty, fewer pregnancies and dietary changes. Much of the research in menstruation is located in the medical domain with a focus on physical symptoms. The research in psychology is largely concerned with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), whereas the focus in sociology is on social and cultural practices relating to menstruation. Research that simultaneously studies the physical, psychological, social and cultural aspects is lacking. Therefore, in this study, an attempt has been made to identify socio-cultural, psychological and physical factors that interact to influence a woman’s experience of menstruation in the urban setting. The study included seven unmarried women in the age group of 24-30 and data was obtained through a focus group discussion. The transcript of the focus group discussion was thematically analysed. Two major themes relating to the self and social experience of menstruation emerged. Themes relating to the self included menarcheal experiences, self-perception, mood and management of menstrual hygiene and symptoms while themes relating to social experience included the construction of menstruation by family and peers, and cultural factors. Attitudes towards the menstrual cycle appeared to be primarily influenced by severity of symptoms and the resulting disruption to daily life. Outcomes of this study have indicated that future research needs to study menstruation and its impact on women’s wellbeing by adopting a socio-ecological approach and by collecting data using the whole cycle approach across a woman’s reproductive years.

Keywords: India, menstrual cycle, psychosocial approach, wellbeing

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Authors: Beng Zhen Yeow

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In most work that involves children, the voice of the children is often not heard. This is ironic since a lot of discussions might involve their welfare and safety. It might seem natural that the professionals should hear from them about what they wish for instead of deciding what is best for them. However, this, unfortunately, might be more the exception than the norm in most case and hence in many instances, children are merely 'subjects' in conversations about safety instead of active participants in the construction or creation of safety in the family. There might be many reasons why it does not happen in our work. Firstly, professionals have learnt how to 'socialise' into their professional roles and hence in the process become 'un-childlike'. Secondly, there is also a lack of professional training with regards to how to talk with children. Finally, there might be also a lack of concrete tools and techniques that are developed to facilitate the process. In this paper, the case study method is used to show how the idea of safety could be concretised and discussed with children and their family members, and hence making them active participants and co-creators of their own safety. Specific skills and techniques are highlighted through the case study. In this case, there was improvement in outcomes like no repeated offence or abuse. In addition, children were also able to advocate for their own safety after six months of intervention and how the family members were able to explicitly say what they can do to improve safety. The professionals in the safety network reported significant improvements. On top of that, the abused child who was removed due to child protection concerns, had verbalized observations of change in mother’s parenting abilities, and has requested for home leave to begin due to ownership of safety planning and having confidence to co-create safety for her siblings and herself together with the professionals in the safety network. Children becoming active participants in the co-creation of safety not only serve the purpose in allowing them to own a 'voice' but at the same time, give them greater confidence to protect themselves at home and in other contexts outside of home.

Keywords: partnering for safety, collaborative social work, family and systemic psychotherapy, child protection

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Authors: Seyyed Abbas Mojtabavi, Mojtaba Fatzaneh Moghadam, Masoud Mahdavi

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Steel Metal Shear Wall is one of the most common and widely used energy dissipation systems in structures, which is used today as a damping system due to the increase in the construction of metal structures. In the present study, the shear wall of the steel plate with dimensions of 5×3 m and thickness of 0.024 m was modeled with 2 floors of total height from the base level with finite element method in Abaqus software. The loading is done as a concentrated load at the upper point of the shear wall on the second floor based on step type buckle. The mesh in the model is applied in two directions of length and width of the shear wall, equal to 0.02 and 0.033, respectively, and the mesh in the models is of sweep type. Finally, it was found that the steel plate shear wall with cavity (CSPSW) compared to the SPSW model, S (Mises), Smax (In-Plane Principal), Smax (In-Plane Principal-ABS), Smax (Min Principal) increased by 53%, 70%, 68% and 43%, respectively. The presence of cavities has led to an increase in the estimated stresses, but their presence has caused critical stresses and critical deformations created to be removed from the inner surface of the shear wall and transferred to the desired sections (regular cavities) which can be suggested as a solution in seismic design and improvement of the structure to transfer possible damage during the earthquake and storm to the desired and pre-designed location in the structure.

Keywords: steel plate shear wall, abacus software, finite element method, , boundary element, seismic structural improvement, von misses stress

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Authors: Àidan Higgins

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Higher education will be crucial in the coming decades in helping to make Ireland a nation is known for innovation, competitive enterprise, and ongoing academic success, as well as a desirable location to live and work with a high quality of life, vibrant culture, and inclusive social structures. Higher education institutions will actively connect with each student community, society, and business; they will help students develop a sense of place and identity in Ireland and provide the tools they need to contribute significantly to the global community. It will also serve as a catalyst for novel ideas through research, many of which will become the foundation for long-lasting inventive businesses in the future as part of the 2030 National Strategy on Education focuses on change and developing our education system with a focus on how we carry out Research. The emphasis is central to knowledge transfer and a consistent research framework with exploiting opportunities and having the necessary expertise. The newly formed Technological Universities (TU) in Ireland are based on a government initiative to create a new type of higher education institution that focuses on applied and industry-focused research and education. The basis of the TU is to bring together two or more existing institutes of technology to create a larger and more comprehensive institution that offers a wider range of programs and services to students and industry partners. The TU model aims to promote collaboration between academia, industry, and community organizations to foster innovation, research, and economic development. The TU model also aims to enhance the student experience by providing a more seamless pathway from undergraduate to postgraduate studies, as well as greater opportunities for work placements and engagement with industry partners. Additionally, the TUs are designed to provide a greater emphasis on applied research, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship, with the goal of fostering innovation and contributing to economic growth. A project is a collection of organised tasks carried out precisely to produce a singular output (product or service) within a given time frame. Project management is a set of activities that facilitates the successful implementation of a project. The significant differences between research and development projects are the (lack of) precise requirements and (the inability to) plan an outcome from the beginning of the project. The evaluation criteria for a research project must consider these and other "particularities" in works; for instance, proving something cannot be done may be a successful outcome. This study intends to explore how a newly established multi-campus technological university manages research projects effectively. The study will identify the potential and difficulties of managing research projects, the tools, resources and processes available in a multi-campus Technological University context and the methods and approaches employed to deal with these difficulties. Key stakeholders like project managers, academics, and administrators will be surveyed as part of the study, which will also involve an explorative investigation of current literature and data. The findings of this study will contribute significantly to creating best practices for project management in this setting and offer insightful information about the efficient management of research projects within a multi-campus technological university.

Keywords: project management, research and research-related projects, multi-campus technology university, processes

Procedia PDF Downloads 44

Authors: S. Ziaran, M. Musil, M. Cekan, O. Chlebo

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The paper analyzes the response of buildings and industrially structures on seismic waves (low frequency mechanical vibration) generated by blasting operations. The principles of seismic analysis can be applied for different kinds of excitation such as: earthquakes, wind, explosions, random excitation from local transportation, periodic excitation from large rotating and/or machines with reciprocating motion, metal forming processes such as forging, shearing and stamping, chemical reactions, construction and earth moving work, and other strong deterministic and random energy sources caused by human activities. The article deals with the response of seismic, low frequency, mechanical vibrations generated by nearby blasting operations on a residential home. The goal was to determine the fundamental natural frequencies of the measured structure; therefore it is important to determine the resonant frequencies to design a suitable modal damping. The article also analyzes the package of seismic waves generated by blasting (Primary waves – P-waves and Secondary waves S-waves) and investigated the transfer regions. For the detection of seismic waves resulting from an explosion, the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and modal analysis, in the frequency domain, is used and the signal was acquired and analyzed also in the time domain. In the conclusions the measured results of seismic waves caused by blasting in a nearby quarry and its effect on a nearby structure (house) is analyzed. The response on the house, including the fundamental natural frequency and possible fatigue damage is also assessed.

Keywords: building structure, seismic waves, spectral analysis, structural response

Procedia PDF Downloads 385

Authors: K. H. Oyuntungalag, Scott Kenner, O. Erdenetuya

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The life cycle phases of mining projects are described in this guidance document, and includes initial phases (exploration, feasibility and planning), mine development (construction and operations), closure and reclamation. Initial phases relate to field programs and desktop studies intended to build the data and knowledge base, including the design of water management infrastructure and development during these initial phases. Such a model is essential to demonstrate that the water management plan (WMP) will provide adequate water for the mine operations and sufficient capacity for anticipated flows and volumes, and minimize environmental impacts on the receiving environment. The water and mass balance model must cover the whole mine life cycle, from the start of mine development to a date sufficiently far in the future where the reclaimed landscape is considered self- sustaining following complete closure of the mine (i.e., post- closure). The model simulates the movement of water within the components of the water management infrastructure and project operating areas, and calculates chemical loadings to each mine component. At Erdenet Mining company an initial water balance model reflecting the tailings dam, groundwater seepage and mine process water was developed in collaboration with Dr. Scott Kenner (visiting Fulbright scholar). From this preliminary study the following recommendations were made: 1. Develop a detailed groundwater model to simulate seepage from the tailings dam, 2. Establish an evaporation pan for improving evapotranspiration estimates, and 3. Measure changes in storage of water within the tailings dam and other water storage components within the mine processing.

Keywords: evapotranspiration , monitoring program, Erdenet mining, tailings dam

Procedia PDF Downloads 459

Authors: Kishor K. Podh

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Agriculture in India treated as the backbone of its economy. It has been accommodated to more than 60 percent of its population as their economic base, directly or indirectly for their livelihood. Besides its significant role, the sharp declines in public investment and development in agriculture have witnessed. After independence Hirakud Command Area (HCA) popularly known as the Rice Bowl of State, due to its fabulous production and provides food to a larger part of the state. After the great green revolution and then liberalization agrarian families become overburden with the loan. They started working as wage laborer in other’s field and non-farm sectors to overcome from the uninvited indebtedness. Although production increases at present, still the youths of this area migrating outsides for job Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, etc. Because agriculture no longer remains a profitable occupation; increasing input costs, the uncertainty of crops, improper pricing, poor marketing, etc. compels the youths to choose the alternative occupations. They work in industries (under contractors), construction workers and other menial jobs due to lack of skills and degrees. Kharmunda a village within HCA selected as per the convenience and 100 youth migrants were interviewed purposively selected who were present during data collection. The study analyses the types of migration; its similarity/differentiations, its determining factors, in tow geographical areas of Western Odisha, i.e., single crop and double crops in relation to agricultural situations.

Keywords: agrarian distress, double crops, Hirakud Command Area, indebtedness, out migration, Western Odisha

Procedia PDF Downloads 316