Search results for: linear eigenvalue analysis

Authors: Collen Kawiya

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In an effort of reducing post-harvest losses and improving the supply of quality fish products in Malawi, the fish solar tent dryers have been designed in the southern part of Lake Malawi for processing small fish species under the project of Cultivate Africa’s Future (CultiAF). This study was done to promote the adoption of the fish solar tent dryers by the many small scale fish processors in Malawi through the assessment of the economic viability of these dryers. With the use of the project’s baseline survey data, a business model for a constructed ‘ready for use’ solar tent dryer was developed where investment appraisal techniques were calculated in addition with the sensitivity analysis. The study also conducted a risk analysis through the use of the Monte Carlo simulation technique and a probabilistic net present value was found. The investment appraisal results showed that the net present value was US$8,756.85, the internal rate of return was 62% higher than the 16.32% cost of capital and the payback period was 1.64 years. The sensitivity analysis results showed that only two input variables influenced the fish solar dryer investment’s net present value. These are the dried fish selling prices that were correlating positively with the net present value and the fresh fish buying prices that were negatively correlating with the net present value. Risk analysis results showed that the chances that fish processors will make a loss from this type of investment are 17.56%. It was also observed that there exist only a 0.20 probability of experiencing a negative net present value from this type of investment. Lastly, the study found that the net present value of the fish solar tent dryer’s investment is still robust in spite of any changes in the levels of investors risk preferences. With these results, it is concluded that the fish solar tent dryers in Malawi are an economically viable investment because they are able to improve the returns in the fish processing activity. As such, fish processors need to adopt them by investing their money to construct and use them.

Keywords: investment appraisal, risk analysis, sensitivity analysis, solar tent drying

Procedia PDF Downloads 282

Authors: Rao Fu, Jie Chen, Shutian Zeng, Yiping Zhuang, Agus Sudjianto

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Generative Adversarial Net (GAN) has proved to be a powerful machine learning tool in image data analysis and generation. In this paper, we propose to use Conditional Generative Adversarial Net (CGAN) to learn and simulate time series data. The conditions include both categorical and continuous variables with different auxiliary information. Our simulation studies show that CGAN has the capability to learn different types of normal and heavy-tailed distributions, as well as dependent structures of different time series. It also has the capability to generate conditional predictive distributions consistent with training data distributions. We also provide an in-depth discussion on the rationale behind GAN and the neural networks as hierarchical splines to establish a clear connection with existing statistical methods of distribution generation. In practice, CGAN has a wide range of applications in market risk and counterparty risk analysis: it can be applied to learn historical data and generate scenarios for the calculation of Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall (ES), and it can also predict the movement of the market risk factors. We present a real data analysis including a backtesting to demonstrate that CGAN can outperform Historical Simulation (HS), a popular method in market risk analysis to calculate VaR. CGAN can also be applied in economic time series modeling and forecasting. In this regard, we have included an example of hypothetical shock analysis for economic models and the generation of potential CCAR scenarios by CGAN at the end of the paper.

Keywords: conditional generative adversarial net, market and credit risk management, neural network, time series

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Authors: Vaida Zemlickiene

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Scientists around the world and practitioners are working to identify the factors that influence the results of technology commercialization and to propose the ideal model for the technology commercialization process. In other words, all stakeholders of technology commercialization seek to find a formula or set of rules to succeed in commercializing technologies in order to avoid unproductive investments. In this article, the process of commercialization technology is understood as the process of transforming inventions into marketable products, services, and processes, or the path from the idea of using an invention to a product that incorporates process from 1 to 9 technology readiness level (TRL). There are many publications in the field of management literature, which are aimed at managing the commercialization process. However, there is an apparent lack of research for communication in decision-making in the process of technology commercialization. Works were done in the past, and the last decade's global research analysis led to the unambiguous conclusion that the methodological framework is not mature enough to be of practical use in business. The process of technology commercialization and the decisions made in the process should be explored in-depth. An archival analysis is performed to find insights into decision-making communication in the process of technologies commercialization, to find out the content of technology commercialization process: decision-making stages and participants, to analyze the internal factors of technology commercialization, to perform their critical analysis, to analyze the concept of successful/unsuccessful technology commercialization.

Keywords: the process of technology commercialization, communication in decision-making process, the content of technology commercialization process, successful/unsuccessful technology commercialization

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Med. A. Djeridane, M. Ferhat, H. A. Benhorma, O. Bouledroua

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This research is dedicated to exploring the failure of a turbine blade within a gas transportation plant, with a primary focus on conducting a comprehensive examination through advanced metallurgical and mechanical analyses of the identified failed blade. Crafted from the nickel superalloy Inconel IN738LC, the turbine engine had accumulated approximately 61,000 operational hours before the blades failed, causing severe damage to the transportation plant and necessitating a prolonged shutdown. The investigative procedure commenced with an in-depth visual inspection of the blade surfaces, succeeded by fractography analysis of the fracture surfaces, microstructural investigations, chemical analysis, and hardness measurements. The findings unveiled distinctive fatigue marks on the fracture surface. Critical microstructural changes were identified as a consequence of the blade's operation at high temperatures. The investigation determined that the crack initiation resulted from coating damage at the leading edge, subsequently propagating through fatigue. Ultimately, due to a reduction in cross-sectional area, the fracture was completed. This comprehensive analysis sheds light on the intricate factors contributing to turbine blade failure and offers valuable insights for enhancing operational reliability in similar environments.

Keywords: gas turbine, blade failure, TCP phases, fatigue, quantitative analysis

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Authors: P. Satish Kumar, K. Ramakrishna, Ch. Lokeshwar Reddy, G. Sridhar

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This paper presents two different sequential switching hybrid-modulation strategies and implemented for cascaded multilevel inverters. Hybrid modulation strategies represent the combinations of Fundamental-Frequency Pulse Width Modulation (FFPWM) and Multilevel Sinusoidal-Modulation (MSPWM) strategies, and are designed for performance of the well-known Alternative Phase Opposition Disposition (APOD), Phase Shifted Carrier (PSC). The main characteristics of these modulations are the reduction of switching losses with good harmonic performance, balanced power loss dissipation among the devices with in a cell, and among the series-connected cells. The feasibility of these modulations is verified through spectral analysis, power loss analysis and simulation.

Keywords: cascaded multilevel inverters, hybrid modulation, power loss analysis, pulse width modulation

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Authors: Binyam Teferi

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Numerical and theoretical analysis of mixed convection flow of magneto- hydrodynamics micropolar fluid with stretching capillary in the presence of thermal radiation, chemical reaction, viscous dissipation, and heat generation/ absorption have been studied. The non-linear partial differential equations of momentum, angular velocity, energy, and concentration are converted into ordinary differential equations using similarity transformations which can be solved numerically. The dimensionless governing equations are solved by using Runge Kutta fourth and fifth order along with the shooting method. The effect of physical parameters viz., micropolar parameter, unsteadiness parameter, thermal buoyancy parameter, concentration buoyancy parameter, Hartmann number, spin gradient viscosity parameter, microinertial density parameter, thermal radiation parameter, Prandtl number, Eckert number, heat generation or absorption parameter, Schmidt number and chemical reaction parameter on flow variables viz., the velocity of the micropolar fluid, microrotation, temperature, and concentration has been analyzed and discussed graphically. MATLAB code is used to analyze numerical and theoretical facts. From the simulation study, it can be concluded that an increment of micropolar parameter, Hartmann number, unsteadiness parameter, thermal and concentration buoyancy parameter results in decrement of velocity flow of micropolar fluid; microrotation of micropolar fluid decreases with an increment of micropolar parameter, unsteadiness parameter, microinertial density parameter, and spin gradient viscosity parameter; temperature profile of micropolar fluid decreases with an increment of thermal radiation parameter, Prandtl number, micropolar parameter, unsteadiness parameter, heat absorption, and viscous dissipation parameter; concentration of micropolar fluid decreases as unsteadiness parameter, Schmidt number and chemical reaction parameter increases. Furthermore, computational values of local skin friction coefficient, local wall coupled coefficient, local Nusselt number, and local Sherwood number for different values of parameters have been investigated. In this paper, the following important results are obtained; An increment of micropolar parameter and Hartmann number results in a decrement of velocity flow of micropolar fluid. Microrotation decreases with an increment of the microinertial density parameter. Temperature decreases with an increasing value of the thermal radiation parameter and viscous dissipation parameter. Concentration decreases as the values of Schmidt number and chemical reaction parameter increases. The coefficient of local skin friction is enhanced with an increase in values of both the unsteadiness parameter and micropolar parameter. Increasing values of unsteadiness parameter and micropolar parameter results in an increment of the local couple stress. An increment of values of unsteadiness parameter and thermal radiation parameter results in an increment of the rate of heat transfer. As the values of Schmidt number and unsteadiness parameter increases, Sherwood number decreases.

Keywords: thermal radiation, chemical reaction, viscous dissipation, heat absorption/ generation, similarity transformation

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Authors: Nakul Agrawal, Y. M. Puri

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TPM methodology is a proven approach to increase Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) of machine. OEE is an established method to monitor and improve the effectiveness of manufacturing process. OEE is a product of equipment availability, performance efficiency and quality performance of manufacturing operations. The paper presents a project work for improving OEE of CNC-VMC in a manufacturing industry with the help of TPM tools Kaizen and Autonomous Maintenance. The aim of paper is to enhance OEE by minimizing the breakdown and re-work, increase availability, performance and quality. The calculated OEE of bottle necking machines for 4 months is lower of 53.3%. Root Cause Analysis RCA tools like fishbone diagram, Pareto chart are used for determining the reasons behind low OEE. While Tool like Why-Why analysis is use for determining the basis reasons for low OEE. Tools like Kaizen and Autonomous Maintenance are effectively implemented on CNC-VMC which eliminate the causes of breakdown and prevent from reoccurring. The result obtains from approach shows that OEE of CNC-VMC improved from 53.3% to 73.7% which saves an average sum of Rs.3, 19,000.

Keywords: OEE, TPM, Kaizen, CNC-VMC, why-why analysis, RCA

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Authors: Kruger Uys

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Poetry analysis plays a vital role in promoting critical thinking, literary appreciation, and language skills among learners. This paper proposes an innovative multimodal teaching approach that combines traditional textual analysis of poems with multimodal educational semiotic analysis of animated poetry films. The aim is to present a methodological framework through which poetry concepts and elements, along with the visual and auditory components in animated poetry films, can be comprehensively illuminated. Traditional textual analysis involves close reading, linguistic examination, and thematic exploration to identify, discuss, and apply poetry concepts. When combined with a multimodal edusemiotic analysis of the semiotic signs and codes present in animated poetry films, new perspectives emerge that enrich the interpretation of poetry. Furthermore, the proposed integrated approach, as prescribed by CAPS, enhances a holistic understanding of poetry terminology and elements, as well as complex linguistic and visual patterns that promote visual literacy, refined data interpretation skills, and learner engagement in the poetry classroom. To illustrate this phenomenon, the poem My mamma is bossies (My mom’s bonkers) by Jeanne Goosen (prescribed for Grade 10 Afrikaans Home Language learners in the CAPS curriculum) will be discussed. This study aims to contribute to the existing Afrikaans poetry curriculum but also equip all language educators to cultivate poetry appreciation, critical thinking, and creativity among learners in the ever-evolving landscape of education.

Keywords: edusemiotics, multimodality, poetry education, animated poetry films

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Authors: Renato Santos Paulinelli Raposo, Vinicius Resende Domingues, Manoel Porfirio Cordao Neto

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Rapid drawdown is one of the cases referred to ground stability study in dam projects. Due to the complexity generated by the combination of loads and the difficulty in determining the parameters, analyses of rapid drawdown are usually performed considering the immediate reduction of water level upstream. The proposal of a simulation, considering the gradual reduction in water level upstream, requires knowledge of parameters about consolidation and those related to unsaturated soil. In this context, the purpose of this study is to understand the methodology of collection and analysis of parameters to simulate a rapid drawdown in dams. Using a numerical tool, the study is complemented with a hypothetical case study that can assist the practical use of data compiled. The referenced dam presents homogeneous section composed of clay soil, a height of 70 meters, a width of 12 meters, and upstream slope with inclination 1V:3H.

Keywords: dam, GeoStudio, rapid drawdown, stability analysis

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Authors: A. J. Francisco, K. C. Gallosa, R. J. Gasacao, J. R. Ros, B. J. Viado

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The study focuses on the use of quality indicators (QI)s based on the standards made by the (IFCC), that could effectively identify and minimize errors occurring throughout the total testing process (TTP), in order to improve patient safety. The study was conducted through a survey questionnaire that was given to a random sample of 19 respondents (eight privately-owned and eleven government-owned hospitals), mainly CMTs, MTs, and Supervisors from UST-affiliated hospitals. The pre-analytical laboratory errors, which include misidentification errors, transcription errors, sample collection errors and sample handling and transportation errors, were considered as variables according to the IFCC WG-LEPS. Data gathered were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, Percentile, Linear Regression, Percentage, and Frequency. The laboratory performance of both hospitals is High level. There is no significant difference between the laboratory performance between the two stated variables. Moreover, among the four QIs, sample handling and transportation errors contributed most to the difference between the two variables. Outcomes indicate satisfactory performance between both variables. However, in order to ensure high-quality and efficient laboratory operation, constant vigilance and improvements in pre-analytical QI are still needed. Expanding the coverage of the study, the inclusion of other phases, utilization of parametric tests are recommended.

Keywords: pre-analytical phase, quality indicators, laboratory performance, pre-analytical error

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Authors: Kaushal Kishore

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Immense amount of imported fuels are used in Fiji for electricity generation, transportation and for carrying out miscellaneous household work. To alleviate its dependency on fossil fuel, paramount importance has been given to instigate the utilization of renewable energy sources for power generation and to reduce the environmental dilapidation. Amongst the many renewable energy sources, wind has been considered as one of the best identified renewable sources that are comprehensively available in Fiji. In this study the wind resource assessment for three locations in Rakiraki, Fiji has been carried out. The wind resource estimation at Rokavukavu, Navolau and at Tuvavatu has been analyzed. The average wind speed at 55 m above ground level (a.g.l) at Rokavukavu, Navolau, and Tuvavatu sites are 5.91 m/s, 8.94 m/s and 8.13 m/s with the turbulence intensity of 14.9%, 17.1%, and 11.7% respectively. The moment fitting method has been used to estimate the Weibull parameter and the power density at each sites. A high resolution wind resource map for the three locations has been developed by using Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program (WAsP). The results obtained from WAsP exhibited good wind potential at Navolau and Tuvavatu sites. A wind farm has been proposed at Navolau and Tuvavatu site that comprises six Vergnet 275 kW wind turbines at each site. The annual energy production (AEP) for each wind farm is estimated and an economic analysis is performed. The economic analysis for the proposed wind farms at Navolau and Tuvavatu sites showed a payback period of 5 and 6 years respectively.

Keywords: annual energy production, Rakiraki Fiji, turbulence intensity, Weibull parameter, wind speed, Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Nadeem A. Siddique, Mohd Mujeeb, Kahkashan

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Introduction: The objective of the projected work is to study the occurrence of the aflatoxins B1, B2, G1and G2 in remedial plants, exclusively in Delphinium denudatum. The aflatoxins were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization (HPLC–MS/MS) and immunoaffinity column chromatography were used for extraction and purification of aflatoxins. PDA media was selected for fungal count. Results: A good quality linear relationship was originated for AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 at 1–10 ppb (r > 0.9995). The analyte precision at three different spiking levels was 88.7–109.1 %, by means of low per cent relative standard deviations in each case. Within 5 to7 min aflatoxins can be separated using an Agilent XDB C18-column. We found that AFB1 and AFB2 were not found in D. denudatum. This was reliable through exceptionally low figures of fungal colonies observed after 6 hr of incubation. The developed analytical method is straightforward, be successfully used to determine the aflatoxins. Conclusion: The developed analytical method is straightforward, simple, accurate, economical and can be successfully used to find out the aflatoxins in remedial plants and consequently to have power over the quality of products. The presence of aflatoxin in the plant extracts was interrelated to the least fungal load in the remedial plants examined.

Keywords: aflatoxins, delphinium denudatum, liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry

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Authors: Mohammad Moeini, Mehrdad Ghyabi, Kiarash Mohtasham Dolatshahi

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This paper investigates seismic soil-pile interaction using the Beam on Nonlinear Winkler Foundation (BNWF) approach. Three soil types are considered to cover all the possible responses, as well as nonlinear site response analysis using finite element method in OpenSees platform. Excitations at each elevation that are output of the site response analysis are used as the input excitation to the soil pile system implementing multi-support excitation method. Spectral intensities of acceleration show that the extent of the response in sand is more severe than that of clay, in addition, increasing the PGA of ground strong motion will affect the sandy soil more, in comparison with clayey medium, which is an indicator of the sensitivity of soil-pile systems in sandy soil.

Keywords: BNWF method, multi-support excitation, nonlinear site response analysis, seismic soil-pile interaction

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Authors: Samir Falhi, Neji Gharsallah, Adel Kadri

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Ruta chalpensis L. is a medicinal plant in the family of Rutaceae, has been used as an important traditional in the Mediterranean basin in the treatment of many diseases. The current study was devoted to investigate and evaluate the chemical composition, total phenolic, flavonoid and tannin contents, and in vitro antioxidant activities of ethyl acetate, ethanol and hydroalcoholic extracts and essential oil from the aerial parts of Ruta chalpensis from Tunisian Sahara. Total phenolic, flavonoid and tannin contents of extracts ranged from 40.39 ± 1.87 to 75.13 ± 1.22 mg of GAE/g, from 22.62 ± 1.55 to 27.51 ± 1.04 mg of QE/g, and from 5.56 ± 1.32 to 10.89 ± 1.10 mg of CE/g respectively. Results showed that the highest antioxidant activities was determined for ethanol extract with IC50 value of 26.23 ± 0.91 µg/mL for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay, and for hydroalcoholic extract with EC50 value of 412.95±6.57 µg/mL and 105.52±2.45 mg of α-tocopherol/g for ferric reducing antioxidant power and total antioxidant capacity assays, respectively. Furthermore, Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of essential oil led to identification of 20 compounds representing 98.96 % of the total composition. The major components of essential oil were 2-undecanone (39.13%), 2-nonanone (25.04), 1-nonene (13.81), and α-limonene (7.72). Spectral data of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis (FT-IR) of extracts revealed the presence of functional groups such as C= O, C─O, ─OH, and C─H, which confirmed its richness on polyphenols and biological active functional groups. These results showed that Ruta chalpensis could be a potential natural source of antioxidants that can be used in food and nutraceutical applications.

Keywords: antioxidant, FT-IR analysis, GC-MS analysis, phytochemicals contents, Ruta chalpensis

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Authors: M. Bidi, H. Akhbari, S. Eslami, A. Bakhtiari

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Due to the high potential of solar energy utilization in Iran, development of related technologies is of great necessity. Linear parabolic collectors are among the most common and most efficient means to harness the solar energy. The main goal of this paper is design and construction of a parabolic trough collector to produce hot water and steam in Tehran. To provide precise and practical plans, 3D models of the collector under consideration were developed using Solidworks software. This collector was designed in a way that the tilt angle can be adjusted manually. To increase concentraion ratio, a small diameter absorber tube is selected and to enhance solar absorbtion, a shape of U-tube is used. One of the outstanding properties of this collector is its simple design and use of low cost metal and plastic materials in its manufacturing procedure. The collector under consideration was installed in Shahid Beheshti University of Tehran and the values of solar irradiation, ambient temperature, wind speed and collector steam production rate were measured in different days and hours of July. Results revealed that a 1×2 m parabolic trough collector located in Tehran is able to produce steam by the rate of 300ml/s under the condition of atmospheric pressure and without using a vacuum cover over the absorber tube.

Keywords: desalination, parabolic trough collector, direct steam production, solar water heater, design and construction

Procedia PDF Downloads 313

Authors: Guilhermina Torrao

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An extensive number of studies have been conducted to determine the factors which influence crash injury risk (CIR); however, uncertainties inherent to selected variables have been neglected. A review of existing literature is required to not only obtain an overview of the variables and measures but also ascertain the implications when comparing studies without a systematic view of variable taxonomy. Therefore, the aim of this literature review is to examine and report on peer-reviewed studies in the field of crash analysis and to understand the implications of broad variations in variable selection in CIR analysis. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the variance in variable selection and classification when modeling injury risk involving occupants of light vehicles by presenting an analytical review of the literature. Based on data collected from 64 journal publications reported over the past 21 years, the analytical review discusses the variables selected by each study across an organized list of predictors for CIR analysis and provides a better understanding of the contribution of accident and vehicle factors to injuries acquired by occupants of light vehicles. A cross-comparison analysis demonstrates that almost half the studies (48%) did not consider vehicle design specifications (e.g., vehicle weight), whereas, for those that did, the vehicle age/model year was the most selected explanatory variable used by 41% of the literature studies. For those studies that included speed risk factor in their analyses, the majority (64%) used the legal speed limit data as a ‘proxy’ of vehicle speed at the moment of a crash, imposing limitations for CIR analysis and modeling. Despite the proven efficiency of airbags in minimizing injury impact following a crash, only 22% of studies included airbag deployment data. A major contribution of this study is to highlight the uncertainty linked to explanatory variable selection and identify opportunities for improvements when performing future studies in the field of road injuries.

Keywords: crash, exploratory, injury, risk, variables, vehicle

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Authors: Salvador Gomez

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Climate change poses significant threats to urban communities, with marginalized populations often disproportionately affected by environmental hazards. While urban climate adaptation planning research and initiatives are increasing, these efforts often fail to adequately address vulnerable communities. This paper explores the intersection between climate adaptation planning, particularly in response to heat-related environmental hazards, and underrepresented urban communities. This project will adopt a exploratory sequential design methodology which will predicate on a content analysis of academic research, white papers, and other content related to climate adaptation. Additionally, a spatial analysis will be conducted for all case studies included in the literature review. Analysis of geographic metadata and qualitative coding will refine research questions’ scale and scope. This is especially true for literature that will be filtered to include heat-related environmental hazards. Ultimately, one can hypothesize that findings will further prove how current urban spatial politics create, perpetuate, or worsen uneven vulnerability to heat-related hazards. Lastly, the project aims to learn more about climate adaptation planning in order to implement more efficient and equitable sustainable transitions.

Keywords: urban & regional planning, environmental justice, climate adaptation, heat stress

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Authors: Taner Ersoz, Filiz Ersoz

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This study was designed enable application of multivariate technique in the interpretation of categorical data for measuring health care services satisfaction in Turkey. The data was collected from a total of 17726 respondents. The establishment of the sample group and collection of the data were carried out by a joint team from The Ministry of Health and Turkish Statistical Institute (Turk Stat) of Turkey. The multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was used on the data of 2882 respondents who answered the questionnaire in full. The multiple correspondence analysis indicated that, in the evaluation of health services females, public employees, younger and more highly educated individuals were more concerned and complainant than males, private sector employees, older and less educated individuals. Overall 53 % of the respondents were pleased with the improvements in health care services in the past three years. This study demonstrates the public consciousness in health services and health care satisfaction in Turkey. It was found that most the respondents were pleased with the improvements in health care services over the past three years. Awareness of health service quality increases with education levels. Older individuals and males would appear to have lower expectancies in health services.

Keywords: multiple correspondence analysis, multivariate categorical data, health care services, health satisfaction survey

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Authors: Fuyuan Ma, Ying Wang, Xin Wang

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Social networks have become breeding grounds for the rapid spread of rumors and malicious information, posing threats to societal stability and causing significant public harm. Existing research focuses on simulating the spread of information and its impact on users through propagation dynamics and applies methods such as greedy approximation strategies to approximate the optimal control solution at the global scale. However, the greedy strategy at the global scale may fall into locally optimal solutions, and the approximate simulation of information spread may accumulate more errors. Therefore, we propose a multi-scale control model for network group behavior, introducing individual and group scales on top of the greedy strategy’s global scale. At the individual scale, we calculate the propagation influence of nodes based on their structural attributes to alleviate the issue of local optimality. At the group scale, we conduct precise propagation simulations to avoid introducing cumulative errors from approximate calculations without increasing computational costs. Experimental results on three real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed multi-scale model in controlling network group behavior.

Keywords: influence blocking maximization, competitive linear threshold model, social networks, network group behavior

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Authors: Kornelia Kordiak

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The research is based on a biographical approach and serves as a foundation for understanding individual human destinies through the analysis of the context of life experiences. It focuses on the significance of childhood in shaping family micro-worlds from the perspective of biographical learning. In this case, the family micro-world is interpreted as a complex of beliefs and judgments about elements of the ‘total universe’ based on the individual's experiences. The main aim of the research is to understand the importance of childhood in shaping family micro-worlds from the perspective of reflection on biographical learning. Additionally, it contributes to a deeper understanding of the familial experiences of the studied individuals who form these family micro-worlds and the course of the biographical learning process in the subjects. Biographical research aligns with an interpretative paradigm, where individuals are treated as active interpreters of the world, giving meaning to their experiences and actions based on their own values and beliefs. The research methods used in the project—narrative interview method and analysis of personal documents—enable obtaining a multidimensional perspective on the phenomenon under study. Narrative interviews serve as the main data collection method, allowing researchers to delve into various life contexts of individuals. Analysis of these narratives identifies key moments and life patterns, as well as discovers the significance of childhood in shaping family micro-worlds. Moreover, analysis of personal documents such as diaries or photographs enriches the understanding of the studied phenomena by providing additional contexts and perspectives. The research will be conducted in three phases: preparatory, main, and final. The anticipated schedule includes preparation of research tools, selection of research sample, conducting narrative interviews and analysis of personal documents, as well as analysis and interpretation of collected research material. The narrative interview method and document analysis will be utilized to capture various contexts and interpretations of childhood experiences and family relations. The research will contribute to a better understanding of family dynamics and individual developmental processes. It will allow for the identification and understanding of mechanisms of biographical learning and their significance in shaping identity and family relations. Analysis of adult narratives will enable the identification of factors determining patterns of behavior and attitudes in adult life, which may have significant implications for pedagogical practice.

Keywords: childhood, adulthood, biographical learning, narrative interview, analysis of personal documents, family micro-worlds

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Authors: Xiaoying Guo, Xiangyun Wang

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Access rates is a key indicator of reflecting the popularity of web pages. Having high access rates are very important for web pages, especially for news web pages, online shopping sites and searching engines. In this paper, we analyzed the influences of visual fluency and cognitive fluency on access rates of Chinese web pages. Firstly, we conducted an experiment of scoring the web pages. Twenty-five subjects were invited to view top 50 web pages of China, and they were asked to give a score in a 5-point Likert-scale from four aspects, including complexity, comfortability, familiarity and usability. Secondly, the obtained results was analyzed by correlation analysis and factor analysis in R. By factor analysis; we analyzed the contributions of visual fluency and cognitive fluency to the access rates. The results showed that both visual fluency and cognitive fluency affect the access rate of web pages. Compared to cognitive fluency, visual fluency play a more important role in user’s accessing of web pages.

Keywords: visual fluency, cognitive fluency, visual complexity, usability

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Authors: Ibinabo I. Ilaboya, Eustace A. Iyayi

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Phosphorus (P) is an indispensable mineral in broiler diets. Rice husk contains phytate-P and other nutrients like protein, carbohydrates, which are poorly digested in broiler chickens. Broiler chickens (BC) lacks sufficient phytase to help hydrolyse phytate-bound P. Hence excess of P is excreted by these chickens into the environment causing environmental pollution. Supplementation of such diets with microbial phytase helps to improve the digestibility of these nutrients. The study was conducted to determine the effect of phytase supplementation on the digestibility of crude protein (CP) and P of rice husk in BC. Six semi-purified diets of three levels of total P (3.46, 4.91 and 6.37g/kg) without and with 1,000 units of phytase per kg were formulated. Titanium dioxide was added to the diets at the rate of 5g/kg as an indigestible marker. At 20dposthatch, 288 broilers (Abor Acre) were weighed and allotted to the diets with 6 replicates of 8 birds each in a randomized complete block design. The birds had free access to the experimental diets until day 26 post-hatch. Phytase supplementation increased (p < 0.05) digestibility of P from 75-93%. Rice husk and its interaction with phytase had no significant (p > 0.05) effect on P digestibility, whereas there was significant (p < 0.01) effect on the interaction of rice husk with phytase on CP digestibility. There were linear increases (p < 0.01) in digested P and CP with phytase supplementation. The P and CP losses from the BC was reduced with the addition of phytase. Results suggest that supplementation of rice husk-based diets with microbial phytase improved pre-caecal digestibility of P and CP in broilers.

Keywords: crude protein, phosphorus, phytase, rice husk

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Authors: Reza Aghayan

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This paper illustrates that numerically invariant joint signatures suffer biases in the resulting signatures. Next, we classify the arising biases as Bias Type 1 and Bias Type 2 and show how they can be removed.

Keywords: Euclidean and affine geometries, differential invariant signature curves, numerically invariant joint signatures, numerical analysis, numerical bias, curve analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 600

Authors: B. Pavan Kumar Reddy, P. Michael Preetam Raj, Souri Banerjee, Souvik Kundu

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In this work, the fabrication and characterization of copper-doped zinc oxide (Cu:ZnO) based memristor devices with aluminum (Al) and indium tin oxide (ITO) metal electrodes are reported. The thin films of Cu:ZnO was synthesized using low-cost and low-temperature chemical process. The Cu:ZnO was then deposited onto ITO bottom electrodes using spin-coater technique, whereas the top electrode Al was deposited utilizing physical vapor evaporation technique. Ellipsometer was employed in order to measure the Cu:ZnO thickness and it was found to be 50 nm. Several surface and materials characterization techniques were used to study the thin-film properties of Cu:ZnO. To ascertain the efficacy of Cu:ZnO for memristor applications, electrical characterizations such as current-voltage (I-V), data retention and endurance were obtained, all being the critical parameters for next-generation memory. The I-V characteristic exhibits switching behavior with asymmetrical hysteresis loops. This work imputes the resistance switching to the positional drift of oxygen vacancies associated with respect to the Al/Cu:ZnO junction. Further, a non-linear curve fitting regression techniques were utilized to determine the equivalent circuit for the fabricated Cu:ZnO memristors. Efforts were also devoted in order to establish its potentiality for different electronic applications.

Keywords: copper doped, metal-oxides, oxygen vacancies, resistive switching

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Authors: Priti Saha, Biswajit Paul

Abstract:

Rapid urbanization and industrialization have increased the demand of groundwater. However, the present era has evident an enormous level of groundwater pollution. Therefore, water quality assessment is paramount importance to evaluate its suitability for drinking, irrigation and industrial use. This study focus to evaluate the groundwater quality of an industrial city in eastern India through interdisciplinary techniques. The multi-purpose Water Quality Index (WQI) assess the suitability for drinking as well as irrigation of forty sampling locations, where 2.5% and 15% of sampling locations have excellent water quality (WQI:0-25) as well as 15% and 40% have good quality (WQI:25-50), which represents its suitability for drinking and irrigation respectively. However, the industrial water quality was assessed through Ryznar Stability Index (LSI), which affirmed that only 2.5% of sampling locations have neither corrosive nor scale forming properties (RSI: 6.2-6.8). These techniques with the integration of geographical information system (GIS) for spatial assessment indorsed its effectiveness to identify the regions where the water bodies are suitable to use for drinking, irrigation as well as industrial activities. Further, the sources of these contaminants were identified through factor analysis (FA), which revealed that both the geogenic as well as anthropogenic sources were responsible for groundwater pollution. This research demonstrates the effectiveness of statistical and GIS techniques for the analysis of environmental contaminants.

Keywords: groundwater, water quality analysis, water quality index, WQI, factor analysis, FA, spatial assessment

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Authors: Oluwagbenga O. Isaac Orimoogunje, Omolola Helen Oshosanya

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The study examined land management in a typical watershed in southwestern Nigeria with a view to ascertaining its impact on land suitability analysis for rice cultivation and production. The study applied the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), weighted overlay analysis (WOA), multi-criteria decision-making techniques, and suitability map calculations within a Geographic Information System environment. Five main criteria were used, and these include climate, topography, soil fertility, macronutrients, and micronutrients. A consistency ratio (CR) of 0.067 was obtained for rice cultivation. The results showed that 95% of the land area is suitable for rice cultivation, with pH units ranging between 4.6 and 6.0, organic matter of 1.4–2.5 g kg-1 and base saturation of more than 80%. The study concluded that the Ofiki watershed is a potential site for large-scale rice cultivation in a sustainable capacity.

Keywords: land management, land characteristics, land suitability, rice production, watershed

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Qazi Mahdia Ghyas

Abstract:

Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) has implemented in Bangladesh to ensure the good Governance. e-GP has transformed Bangladesh's procurement process electronically. But, to our best knowledge, there is no study to understand the key features of e-GP in Bangladesh. So, this study tries to identify the features of performance improvement after implementing an e-GP system that will help for further improvements. Data was collected from the PROMIS Overall Report (Central Procurement Technical Unit website) for the financial year from Q1 _July- Sep 2015-16 to Q4 _Apr- Jun 2021-22. This study did component factor analysis on KPIs and found nineteen KPIs that are statistically significant and represent time savings, efficiency, accountability, anti-corruption and compliance key features in procurement activities of e-GP. Based on the analysis, some practical measures have been recommended for better improvement of e-GP. This study has some limitations. Because of having multicollinearity issues, all the 42 KPIs (except 19) did not show a good fit for component factor analysis.

Keywords: public procurement, electronic government procurement, KPI, performance evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Peter Akayuure, Michael Johnson Nabie

Abstract:

Similar to many colonized nations in the world, one indelible mark left by colonial masters after Ghana’s independence in 1957 has been the fact that many contexts used to teach statistics and probability concepts are often alien and do not resonate with the social domain of our indigenous Ghanaian child. This has seriously limited the understanding, discoveries, and applications of mathematics for national developments. With the recent curriculum demands of making the Ghanaian child mathematically literate, this qualitative study involved video recordings and mathematical analysis of play sessions of an indigenous girl game called Ampe with the aim to demystify the concepts in probability theorem, which is applied in mathematics related fields of study. The mathematical analysis shows that the game of Ampe, which is widely played by school girls in Ghana, is suitable for learning concepts of the probability theorems. It was also revealed that as a girl game, the use of Ampe provides good lessons to educators, textbook writers, and teachers to rethink about the selection of mathematics tasks and learning contexts that are sensitive to gender. As we undertake to transform teacher education and student learning, the use of indigenous games should be critically revisited.

Keywords: Ampe, mathematical analysis, probability theorem, Ghanaian girl game

Procedia PDF Downloads 374

Authors: M. Linek, P. Nita

Abstract:

In the previous airfield construction industry, pavements made of reinforced concrete have been used very rarely; however, the necessity to use this type of pavements in an emergency situations justifies the need reference to this issue. The paper concerns the problem of airfield pavement dimensioning made of reinforced concrete and the evaluation of selected dimensioning methods of reinforced concrete slabs intended for airfield pavements. Analysis of slabs dimensioning, according to classical method of limit states has been performed and it has been compared to results obtained in case of methods complying with Eurocode 2 guidelines. Basis of an analysis was a concrete slab of class C35/45 with reinforcement, located in tension zone. Steel bars of 16.0 mm have been used as slab reinforcement. According to comparative analysis of obtained results, conclusions were reached regarding application legitimacy of the discussed methods and their design advantages.

Keywords: rainforced concrete, cement concrete, airport pavements, dimensioning

Procedia PDF Downloads 258

Authors: Muhammad Yaqub Olatunde

Abstract:

Arabic linguistic science is redirecting its focus towards the analysis and description of social, regional, and temporal varieties of social, regional, and temporal varieties in order to show how they vary in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. This is not to say that the traditional Arabic linguists did not mention scores of dialectical variations but such works focused on the geographical boundaries of the Arabic speaking countries. There is need for a comprehensive survey of various Arabic dialects within the boundary of Arabic speaking countries and outside showing both the similarities and differences of linguistic and extra linguistic elements. This study therefore examines the syllable structure and process in noun and verb in the shuwa Arabic dialect speaking in North East Nigeria [mainly in Borno state]. The work seeks to establish the facts about this phenomenon, using auto- segmental analysis. These facts are compared, where necessary; using possible alternative analysis, with what operate in other related dialects within and outside Arabic speaking countries. The interaction between epenthesis and germination in the language also generate an interesting issue. The paper then conclude that syllable structure and process in the language need to recognize the existence of complex onset and a complex rhyme producing a consonant cluster in the former and a closed syllable in the letter. This emerges as result of resyllabification, which is motivated by these processes.

Keywords: Arabic, dialect, linguistics, processes, resyllabification

Procedia PDF Downloads 426