Search results for: financial performance

Authors: Natalia Lukasik, Ewa Wagner-Wysiecka

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Development of selective, fast-responsive, and economical sensors for diverse ions detection and determination is one of the most extensively studied areas due to its importance in the field of clinical, environmental and industrial analysis. Among chemical sensors, vast popularity has gained ionophore-based optical sensors, where the generated analytical signal is a consequence of the molecular recognition of ion by the ionophore. Change of color occurring during host-guest interactions allows for quantitative analysis and for 'naked-eye' detection without the need of using sophisticated equipment. An example of application of such sensors is colorimetric detection of iron(III) cations. Iron as one of the most significant trace elements plays roles in many biochemical processes. For these reasons, the development of reliable, fast, and selective methods of iron ions determination is highly demanded. Taking all mentioned above into account a chromogenic amide derivative of 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid was synthesized, and its ability to iron(III) recognition was tested. To the best of authors knowledge (according to chemical abstracts) the obtained ligand has not been described in the literature so far. The catechol moiety was introduced to the ligand structure in order to mimic the action of naturally occurring siderophores-iron(III)-selective receptors. The ligand–ion interactions were studied using spectroscopic methods: UV-Vis spectrophotometry and infrared spectroscopy. The spectrophotometric measurements revealed that the amide exhibits affinity to iron(III) in dimethyl sulfoxide and fully aqueous solution, what is manifested by the change of color from yellow to green. Incorporation of the tested amide into a polymeric matrix (cellulose triacetate) ensured effective recognition of iron(III) at pH 3 with the detection limit 1.58×10⁻⁵ M. For the obtained sensor material parameters like linear response range, response time, selectivity, and possibility of regeneration were determined. In order to evaluate the effect of the size of the sensing material on iron(III) detection nanospheres (in the form of nanoemulsion) containing the tested amide were also prepared. According to DLS (dynamic light scattering) measurements, the size of the nanospheres is 308.02 ± 0.67 nm. Work parameters of the nanospheres were determined and compared with cellulose triacetate-based material. Additionally, for fast, qualitative experiments the test strips were prepared by adsorption of the amide solution on a glass microfiber material. Visual limit of detection of iron(III) at pH 3 by the test strips was estimated at the level 10⁻⁴ M. In conclusion, reported here amide derived from 3,4- dihydroxybenzoic acid proved to be an effective candidate for optical sensing of iron(III) in fully aqueous solutions. N. L. kindly acknowledges financial support from National Science Centre Poland the grant no. 2017/01/X/ST4/01680. Authors thank for financial support from Gdansk University of Technology grant no. 032406.

Keywords: ion-selective optode, iron(III) recognition, nanospheres, optical sensor

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Iddy Iddy, Qin Jiang, Changkuan Zhang

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This paper addresses the hydraulic performance of curtain wall breakwaters as a coastal structure protection based on the particles method modelling. The hydraulic functions of curtain wall as wave barriers by reflecting large parts of incident waves through the vertical wall, a part transmitted and a particular part was dissipating the wave energies through the eddy flows formed beneath the lower end of the plate. As a Lagrangian particle, the Moving Particle Semi-implicit (MPS) method which has a robust capability for numerical representation has proven useful for design of structures application that concern free-surface hydrodynamic flow, such as wave breaking and overtopping. In this study, a vertical two-dimensional numerical model for the simulation of violent flow associated with the interaction between the curtain-wall breakwaters and progressive water waves is developed by MPS method in which a higher precision pressure gradient model and free surface particle recognition model were proposed. The wave transmission, reflection, and energy dissipation of the vertical wall were experimentally and theoretically examined. With the numerical wave flume by particle method, very detailed velocity and pressure fields around the curtain-walls under the action of waves can be computed in each calculation steps, and the effect of different wave and structural parameters on the hydrodynamic characteristics was investigated. Also, the simulated results of temporal profiles and distributions of velocity and pressure in the vicinity of curtain-wall breakwaters are compared with the experimental data. Herein, the numerical investigation of hydraulic performance of curtain wall breakwaters indicated that the incident wave is largely reflected from the structure, while the large eddies or turbulent flows occur beneath the curtain-wall resulting in big energy losses. The improved MPS method shows a good agreement between numerical results and analytical/experimental data which are compared to related researches. It is thus verified that the improved pressure gradient model and free surface particle recognition methods are useful for enhancement of stability and accuracy of MPS model for water waves and marine structures. Therefore, it is possible for particle method (MPS method) to achieve an appropriate level of correctness to be applied in engineering fields through further study.

Keywords: curtain wall breakwaters, free surface flow, hydraulic performance, improved MPS method

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Mohammad Abu-Shaira, Weishi Shi

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Adaptive learning, a commonly employed solution to drift, involves updating predictive models online during their operation to react to concept drifts, thereby serving as a critical component and natural extension for online learning systems that learn incrementally from each example. This paper introduces LSTM-SCCM “Long Short-Term Memory Stream Cruise Control Method”, a drift adaptation-as-a-service framework for online learning. LSTM-SCCM automates drift adaptation through prompt detection, drift magnitude quantification, dynamic hyperparameter tuning, performing shortterm optimization and model recalibration for immediate adjustments, and, when necessary, conducting long-term model recalibration to ensure deeper enhancements in model performance. LSTM-SCCM is incorporated into a suite of cutting-edge online regression models, assessing their performance across various types of concept drift using diverse datasets with varying characteristics. The findings demonstrate that LSTM-SCCM represents a notable advancement in both model performance and efficacy in handling concept drift occurrences. LSTM-SCCM stands out as the sole framework adept at effectively tackling concept drifts within regression scenarios. Its proactive approach to drift adaptation distinguishes it from conventional reactive methods, which typically rely on retraining after significant degradation to model performance caused by drifts. Additionally, LSTM-SCCM employs an in-memory approach combined with the Self-Adjusting Memory (SAM) architecture to enhance real-time processing and adaptability. The framework incorporates variable thresholding techniques and does not assume any particular data distribution, making it an ideal choice for managing high-dimensional datasets and efficiently handling large-scale data. Our experiments, which include abrupt, incremental, and gradual drifts across both low- and high-dimensional datasets with varying noise levels, and applied to four state-of-the-art online regression models, demonstrate that LSTM-SCCM is versatile and effective, rendering it a valuable solution for online regression models to address concept drift.

Keywords: automated drift detection and adaptation, concept drift, hyperparameters optimization, online and adaptive learning, regression

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Authors: A. Nour Eddine, D. Chalet, L. Aixala, P. Chessé, X. Faure, N. Hatat

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Thermal power technology such as the TEG (Thermo-Electric Generator) arouses significant attention worldwide for waste heat recovery. Despite the potential benefits of marine application due to the permanent heat sink from sea water, no significant studies on this application were to be found. In this study, a test rig has been designed and built to test the performance of the TEG on engine operating points. The TEG device is built from commercially available materials for the sake of possible economical application. Two types of commercial TEM (thermo electric module) have been studied separately on the test rig. The engine data were extracted from a commercial Diesel engine since it shares the same principle in terms of engine efficiency and exhaust with the marine Diesel engine. An open circuit water cooling system is used to replicate the sea water cold source. The characterization tests showed that the silicium-germanium alloys TEM proved a remarkable reliability on all engine operating points, with no significant deterioration of performance even under sever variation in the hot source conditions. The performance of the bismuth-telluride alloys was 100% better than the first type of TEM but it showed a deterioration in power generation when the air temperature exceeds 300 °C. The temperature distribution on the heat exchange surfaces revealed no useful combination of these two types of TEM with this tube length, since the surface temperature difference between both ends is no more than 10 °C. This study exposed the perspective of use of TEG technology for marine engine exhaust heat recovery. Although the results suggested non-sufficient power generation from the low cost commercial TEM used, it provides valuable information about TEG device optimization, including the design of heat exchanger and the types of thermo-electric materials.

Keywords: internal combustion engine application, Seebeck, thermo-electricity, waste heat recovery

Procedia PDF Downloads 248

Authors: Khaja Moiduddin, Tamer Khalaf, Muthuramalingam Thangaraj

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Due to the variety of benefits over traditional cutting techniques, the usage of laser cutting technology has risen substantially in recent years. Hot wire machining can cut the leather in the required shape by controlling the wire by generating thermal energy. In the present study, an attempt has been made to investigate the effects of performance measures in the hot wire machining process on cutting leather specimens. Carbonization and material removal rates were considered as quality indicators. Burning leather during machining might cause carbon particles, reducing product quality. Minimizing the effect of carbon particles is crucial for assuring operator and environmental safety, health, and product quality. Hot wire machining can efficiently cut the specimens by controlling the current through it. Taguchi- DEAR-based optimization was also performed in the process, which resulted in a required Carbonization and material removal rate. Using the DEAR approach, the optimal parameters of the present study were found with 3.7% prediction error accuracy.

Keywords: cabronization, leather, MRR, current

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Authors: Haritha Saranga

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Service quality has become an important driver of competition in manufacturing industries of late, as many products are being sold in conjunction with service offerings. With increase in computational power and data capture capabilities, it has become possible to analyze and estimate various aspects of service quality at the granular level and determine their impact on business performance. In the current study context, dealer level, model-wise warranty data from one of the top two-wheeler manufacturers in India is used to estimate service quality of individual dealers and its impact on warranty related costs and sales performance. We collected primary data on warranty costs, number of complaints, monthly sales, type of quality upgrades, etc. from the two-wheeler automaker. In addition, we gathered secondary data on various regions in India, such as petrol and diesel prices, geographic and climatic conditions of various regions where the dealers are located, to control for customer usage patterns. We analyze this primary and secondary data with the help of a variety of analytics tools such as Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), Seasonal ARIMA and ARIMAX. Study results, after controlling for a variety of factors, such as size, age, region of the dealership, and customer usage pattern, show that service quality does influence sales of the products in a significant manner. A more nuanced analysis reveals the dynamics between product quality and service quality, and how their interaction affects sales performance in the Indian two-wheeler industry context. We also provide various managerial insights using descriptive analytics and build a model that can provide sales projections using a variety of forecasting techniques.

Keywords: service quality, product quality, automobile industry, business analytics, auto-regressive integrated moving average

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Authors: Youji Miyake

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In aircraft assembly, a large number of preparatory holes are required for screw and rivet joints. Currently, many holes are drilled manually because it is difficult to machine the holes using conventional computerized numerical control(CNC) machines. The application of industrial robots to drill the hole has been considered as an alternative to the CNC machines. However, the rigidity of robot arms is so low that vibration is likely to occur during drilling. In this study, it is proposed constant-load feed machining as a method to perform high-precision drilling while minimizing the thrust force, which is considered to be the cause of vibration. In this method, the drill feed is realized by a constant load applied onto the tool so that the thrust force is theoretically kept below the applied load. The performance of the proposed method was experimentally examined through the deep hole drilling of plastic and simultaneous drilling of metal/plastic stack plates. It was confirmed that the deep hole drilling and simultaneous drilling could be performed without generating vibration by controlling the tool feed rate in the appropriate range.

Keywords: constant load feed machining, robotic drilling, deep hole, simultaneous drilling

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Authors: Yanhua Zhao, Yu Gou, Shu Feng, Dongdong Li, Chuanmin Tao

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The natural history of HBV infection could experience immune tolerant (IT), immune clearance (IC), HBeAg-negative inactive/quienscent carrier (ENQ), and HBeAg-negative hepatitis (ENH). As current biomarkers for discriminating these four phases have some weaknesses, additional serological indicators are needed. Hepatits B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) encoded with precore/core gene contains denatured HBeAg, HBV core antigen (HBcAg) and a 22KDa precore protein (p22cr), which was demonstrated to have a close association with natural history of hepatitis B infection, but no specific cutoff values and diagnostic parameters to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy. This study aimed to clarify the distribution of HBcrAg levels and evaluate its diagnostic performance during the natural history of infection from a Western Chinese perspective. 294 samples collected from treatment-naïve chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients in different phases (IT=64; IC=72; ENQ=100, and ENH=58). We detected the HBcrAg values and analyzed the relationship between HBcrAg and HBV DNA. HBsAg and other clinical parameters were quantitatively tested. HBcrAg levels of four phases were 9.30 log U/mL, 8.80 log U/mL, 3.00 log U/mL, and 5.10 logU/mL, respectively (p < 0.0001). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that the area under curves (AUCs) of HBcrAg and quantitative HBsAg at cutoff values of 9.25 log U/mL and 4.355 log IU/mL for distinguishing IT from IC phases were 0.704 and 0.694, with sensitivity 76.39% and 59.72%, specificity 53.13% and 79.69%, respectively. AUCs of HBcrAg and quantitative HBsAg at cutoff values of 4.15 log U/mlmL and 2.395 log IU/mlmL for discriminating between ENQ and ENH phases were 0.931 and 0.653, with sensitivity 87.93% and 84%, specificity 91.38% and 39%, respectively. Therefore, HBcrAg levels varied significantly among four natural phases of HBV infection. It had higher predictive performance than quantitative HBsAg for distinguishing between ENQ-patients and ENH-patients and similar performance with HBsAg for the discrimination between IT and IC phases, which indicated that HBcrAg could be a potential serological marker for CHB.

Keywords: chronic hepatitis B, hepatitis B core-related antigen, hepatitis B surface antigens, hepatitis B virus

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Authors: Maria Korman, Carmit Gal, Ella Gabitov, Avi Karni

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The main question addressed in this study was whether the time-of-day wherein training is afforded is a significant factor for motor skill ('how-to', procedural knowledge) acquisition and consolidation into long term memory in the healthy elderly population. Twenty-nine older adults (60-75 years) practiced an explicitly instructed 5-element key-press sequence by repeatedly generating the sequence ‘as fast and accurately as possible’. Contribution of three parameters to acquisition, 24h post-training consolidation, and 1-week retention gains in motor sequence speed was assessed: (a) time of training (morning vs. evening group) (b) sleep quality (actigraphy) and (c) chronotype. All study participants were moderately morning type, according to the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire score. All participants had sleep patterns typical of age, with average sleep efficiency of ~ 82%, and approximately 6 hours of sleep. Speed of motor sequence performance in both groups improved to a similar extent during training session. Nevertheless, evening group expressed small but significant overnight consolidation phase gains, while morning group showed only maintenance of performance level attained at the end of training. By 1-week retention test, both groups showed similar performance levels with no significant gains or losses with respect to 24h test. Changes in the tapping patterns at 24h and 1-week post-training were assessed based on normalized Pearson correlation coefficients using the Fisher’s z-transformation in reference to the tapping pattern attained at the end of the training. Significant differences between the groups were found: the evening group showed larger changes in tapping patterns across the consolidation and retention windows. Our results show that morning-oriented older adults effectively acquired, consolidated, and maintained a new sequence of finger movements, following both morning and evening practice sessions. However, time-of-training affected the time-course of skill evolution in terms of performance speed, as well as the re-organization of tapping patterns during the consolidation period. These results are in line with the notion that motor training preceding a sleep interval may be beneficial for the long-term memory in the elderly. Evening training should be considered an appropriate time window for motor skill learning in older adults, even in individuals with morning chronotype.

Keywords: time-of-day, elderly, motor learning, memory consolidation, chronotype

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Authors: Sneha Thakur, Sanjeev Karmakar

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This paper proposed hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) – Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) model for groundwater level prediction. The evaluation of the performance is realized using the parameters: root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE). Ground water level forecasting will be very effective for planning water harvesting. Proper calculation of water level forecasting can overcome the problem of drought and flood to some extent. The objective of this work is to develop a ground water level forecasting model using deep learning technique integrated with optimization technique PSO by applying 29 years data of Chhattisgarh state, In-dia. It is important to find the precise forecasting in case of ground water level so that various water resource planning and water harvesting can be managed effectively.

Keywords: long short-term memory, particle swarm optimization, prediction, deep learning, groundwater level

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Authors: Eitidal Albassam

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Cooling towers (CTs) in arid zone countries, used for heat rejection in water-cooled (WC) systems, consume a large quantity of water. Universally, water conservation is an issue because of the scarcity of fresh water and natural resources. Therefore, many studies have aimed to conserve fresh water and limit the water wasted. Nonetheless, all these methods are not related to improving the weather conditions around the entering air to CT. In Kuwait and other arid-zone countries, the dry bulb temperature (DBT) during the summer season is significantly greater than the incoming hot water temperature, and the air undergoes sensible cooling. This high DBT leads to extra heat transfer from air to water, demanding high water vaporization to achieve the required cooling of water. Thus, any reduction in ambient air temperature around the CT will minimize water consumption. This paper aims to discuss theoretically the effect of reducing the DBT around the cooling tower when considering the sun-shading barrier. The theoretical simulation model results show that if the DBT reduces by 2.8 °C approximately, the percentage of water evaporation savings in gallon per minute (GPM) starts from 6.48% when DBT reaches 51.67 °C till 9.80% for 37.78 °C. Moreover, the performance of the cooling tower will be improved when considering the appropriate shading barriers, which will not affect the existing wet-bulb temperature.

Keywords: dry-bulb temperature, entering air, water consumption, water vaporization

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Authors: Alok Madan, Ashok Gupta, Arshad K. Hashmi

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Non-linear dynamic time history analysis is considered as the most advanced and comprehensive analytical method for evaluating the seismic response and performance of multi-degree-of-freedom building structures under the influence of earthquake ground motions. However, effective and accurate application of the method requires the implementation of advanced hysteretic constitutive models of the various structural components including masonry infill panels. Sophisticated computational research tools that incorporate realistic hysteresis models for non-linear dynamic time-history analysis are not popular among the professional engineers as they are not only difficult to access but also complex and time-consuming to use. And, commercial computer programs for structural analysis and design that are acceptable to practicing engineers do not generally integrate advanced hysteretic models which can accurately simulate the hysteresis behavior of structural elements with a realistic representation of strength degradation, stiffness deterioration, energy dissipation and ‘pinching’ under cyclic load reversals in the inelastic range of behavior. In this scenario, push-over or non-linear static analysis methods have gained significant popularity, as they can be employed to assess the seismic performance of building structures while avoiding the complexities and difficulties associated with non-linear dynamic time-history analysis. “Push-over” or non-linear static analysis offers a practical and efficient alternative to non-linear dynamic time-history analysis for rationally evaluating the seismic demands. The present paper is based on the analytical investigation of the effect of distribution of masonry infill panels over the elevation of planar masonry infilled reinforced concrete (R/C) frames on the seismic demands using the capacity spectrum procedures implementing nonlinear static analysis (pushover analysis) in conjunction with the response spectrum concept. An important objective of the present study is to numerically evaluate the adequacy of the capacity spectrum method using pushover analysis for performance based design of masonry infilled R/C frames for near-field earthquake ground motions.

Keywords: nonlinear analysis, capacity spectrum method, response spectrum, seismic demand, near-field earthquakes

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Authors: Gorkem Algan, Ilkay Ulusoy, Saban Gonul, Banu Turgut, Berker Bakbak

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Computer vision systems recently made a big leap thanks to deep neural networks. However, these systems require correctly labeled large datasets in order to be trained properly, which is very difficult to obtain for medical applications. Two main reasons for label noise in medical applications are the high complexity of the data and conflicting opinions of experts. Moreover, medical imaging datasets are commonly tiny, which makes each data very important in learning. As a result, if not handled properly, label noise significantly degrades the performance. Therefore, a label-noise-robust learning algorithm that makes use of the meta-learning paradigm is proposed in this article. The proposed solution is tested on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) dataset with a very high label noise of 68%. Results show that the proposed algorithm significantly improves the classification algorithm's performance in the presence of noisy labels.

Keywords: deep learning, label noise, robust learning, meta-learning, retinopathy of prematurity

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Authors: B. G. Abiona, O. E. Fapojuwo, T. Akinlawon

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This study assessed the influence of human resource management practices on agricultural employees’ behavior. Data were collected from 75 randomly selected respondents using a well-structured questionnaire. The mean age of the employees’ was 43.2 years. Major human resource management practices that influence employees behaviors were: In-service training are given to employees on a regular basis (average value of x=3.44), management reward employees who are committed to their job (average value of x =3.41) and reward are designed to encourage wide participation and activity (average value of x=3.41). Also, major employees’ behavior include: Managers and employees’ wants to create better job performance (average value of x=3.13) and administrator provides praise and recognition for effective performance and show appreciation for special effort (average value of x=3.05). Major factors affecting employees’ behavior were: inadequate training (average value of x=2.93), inadequate local and international training (average value of x=2.87), inadequate grants for training programmes (average value of x= 2.81). A significant relationship was found between gender (χ2 = 37.204, P<0.05), educational qualification (χ2 = 59.093, P<0.05), income (r =0.122, P<0.05) and human resource management practices (r = 0.573, P< 0.05) of the respondents and employees’ behavior. Management should encourage employees who are committed to their job through awards and recognition.

Keywords: human resources management, agricultural employees, behaviour research institutes, Nigeria

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Authors: Elizabeth Stojanovski

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Associations between life events and various forms of cancers have been identified. The purpose of a recent random-effects meta-analysis was to identify studies that examined the association between adverse events associated with changes to financial status including decreased income and breast cancer risk. The same association was studied in four separate studies which displayed traits that were not consistent between studies such as the study design, location and time frame. It was of interest to pool information from various studies to help identify characteristics that differentiated study results. Two random-effects Bayesian meta-analysis models are proposed to combine the reported estimates of the described studies. The proposed models allow major sources of variation to be taken into account, including study level characteristics, between study variance, and within study variance and illustrate the ease with which uncertainty can be incorporated using a hierarchical Bayesian modelling approach.

Keywords: random-effects, meta-analysis, Bayesian, variation

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Authors: Miguel Arlenzo Duran Sarmiento, Luis Alfonso Del Portillo Valdés, Carlos Borras Pinilla

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Brake energy regeneration systems have the capacity to transform part of the vehicle's kinetic energy during deceleration into useful energy. These systems can be implemented in hybrid vehicles, which can be electric or hydraulic in type, and contribute to reducing the energy required to propel the vehicle thanks to the accumulation of energy. This paper presents the modeling and simulation of a braking energy regeneration system applied in hydraulic hybrid vehicles configured in parallel, the modeling and simulation were performed in Simulink of Matlab, where a performance comparison of the regenerated torque as a function of vehicle load, the displacement of the hydraulic regeneration device and the vehicle speed profile. The speed profiles used in the simulation are standard profiles such as the NEDC and WLTP profiles. The vehicle loads range from 1500 kg to 12000 kg. The results show the comparison of the torque required by the vehicle, the torque regenerated by the system subjected to the different speed and load conditions.

Keywords: braking energy, energy regeneration, hybrid vehicles, kinetic energy, torque

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Authors: K. Y. Chen, Y. N. Jia, H. Chua, C. W. Kan

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In United States (US), the environmental policy went through two stages that are government control period and market mechanism period. In the government control period in the 1970s, environmental problems in U.S. are treated by mandatory direct control method, including promulgation of laws, formulation of emission standards and mandatory installation of pollution treatment equipment. After the 1980s, the environmental policy in U.S. went into the second stage, in which the government strengthened the incentives and coordination effects of market. Since then, environmental governance had been partially replaced by means of economic regulation of the market. Green Tax Policy and Marketable Pollution Permits are good examples of government's economic interventions. U.S. Federal Government regards environmental industry as high-tech industry which is promoted in this period. Therefore, in the paper, we aim to analyse the effect of environmental investment on the sustainable development in the US. Acknowledgment: Authors would like to thank the financial support from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for this work.

Keywords: United States, public environmental investment, analysis, sustainable development

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Authors: Claudio Di Benedetto, Irene Bengo

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The objective of the paper is to study how large European companies develop social business (SB) at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP). BoP markets are defined as the four billions people living with an annual income below $3,260 in local purchasing power. Despite they are heterogeneous in terms of geographic range they present some common characteristics: the presence of significant unmet (social) needs, high level of informal economy and the so-called ‘poverty penalty’. As a result, most people living at BoP are excluded from the value created by the global market economy. But it is worth noting, that BoP population with an aggregate purchasing power of around $5 trillion a year, represent a huge opportunity for companies that want to enhance their long-term profitability perspective. We suggest that in this context, the development of SB is, for companies, an innovative and promising way to satisfy unmet social needs and to experience new forms of value creation. Indeed, SB can be considered a strategic model to develop CSR programs that fully integrate the social dimension into the business to create economic and social value simultaneously. Despite in literature many studies have been conducted on social business, only few have explicitly analyzed such phenomenon from a company perspective and their role in the development of such initiatives remains understudied with fragmented results. To fill this gap the paper analyzes the key characteristics of the social business initiatives developed by European companies at BoP. The study was performed analyzing 1475 European companies participating in the United Nation Global Compact, the world’s leading corporate social responsibility program. Through the analysis of the corporate websites the study identifies companies that actually do SB at BoP. For SB initiatives identified, information were collected according to a framework adapted from the SB model developed by preliminary results show that more than one hundred European companies have already implemented social businesses at BoP accounting for the 6,5% of the total. This percentage increases to 15% if the focus is on companies with more than 10.440 employees. In terms of geographic distribution 80% of companies doing SB at BoP are located in western and southern Europe. The companies more active in promoting SB belong to financial sector (20%), energy sector (17%) and food and beverage sector (12%). In terms of social needs addressed almost 30% of the companies develop SB to provide access to energy and WASH, 25% of companies develop SB to reduce local unemployment or to promote local entrepreneurship and 21% of companies develop SB to promote financial inclusion of poor. In developing SB companies implement different social business configurations ranging from forms of outsourcing to internal development models. The study identifies seven main configurations through which company develops social business and each configuration present distinguishing characteristics respect to the involvement of the company in the management, the resources provided and the benefits achieved. By performing different analysis on data collected the paper provides detailed insights on how European companies develop SB at BoP.

Keywords: base of the economic pyramid, corporate social responsibility, social business, social enterprise

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Authors: M. Abdul Jalil

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Parents caring for a child with a profound disability encounter different experiences compared to the parents caring for a child without a disability. The aim of this paper is to develop a greater understanding of parenting of a child with profound disabilities in the context of developing countries with reference to Bangladesh. The paper reveals that parents caring for a child with a profound disability are experiencing increased financial burden, affiliate and courtesy stigma and negative impact on mothers in terms of additional caregiving role, instability of conjugal relations, giving up of involvement in economic activities, and shrinking kinship and social relationships. In addition, government and non-government services for children with disabilities are very limited. Moreover, the information about the services is also not available to the parents. Therefore, parents find it difficult to cope with the challenges that lead to the alienation of the parents. The paper recommended the strategies to address the issues in the context of Bangladesh, which in turn might be applicable to the developing countries as well.

Keywords: caregiving, coping, parenting, profound disability

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Authors: Ismail Bin Mohd Saaid, Abubakar Abubakar Umar

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Despite the successes recorded by Alkaline/Surfactant/Polymer (ASP) flooding as an effective chemical EOR technique, the combination CEOR is not unassociated with stern glitches, one of which is the scaling of downhole equipment. One of the major issues inside the oil industry is how to control scale formation, regardless of whether it is in the wellhead equipment, down-hole pipelines or even the actual field formation. The best approach to handle the challenge associated with oilfield scale formation is the application of scale inhibitors to avert the scale formation. Chemical inhibitors have been employed in doing such. But due to environmental regulations, the industry have focused on using green scale inhibitors to mitigate the formation of scales. This paper compares the scale inhibition performance of Polyaspartic acid and sodium polyacrylic acid, both commercial green scale inhibitors, in mitigating silicate scales formed during Alkaline/Surfactant/polymer flooding under static conditions. Both PASP and TH5000 are non-threshold inhibitors, therefore their efficiency was only seeing in delaying the deposition of the silicate scales.

Keywords: alkaline/surfactant/polymer flooding (ASP), polyaspartic acid (PASP), sodium polyacrylate (SPA)

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Authors: Ugbor Raphael Oluchukwu

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Focusing on liquidity comes more naturally to a Chief Executive Officer than an Accountant who is trained to practice accrual accounting. When business is just commencing, it is essentially run on a cheque book (cash accounting) and for as long as there is cash in the accounts, the business is solvent. When complexity sets in and the business adopts financial accounting, the effect of liquidity and cash management becomes more pronounced. The management of cash no doubts impacts positively on the survival and growth of firms. What is in doubt is the amount of cash to be held by a firm as enough cash to enable the firm stay “afloat”. The focus of this paper is to determine liquidity and cash management in business, the Nigerian case. The specific objectives of the study are to do a theoretical review of the amount of cash to be held by a firm as enough cash to enable it stay afloat and to do a theoretical analysis to show the effect of cash flow on the survival and growth of firms in Nigeria.

Keywords: cash, firm survival, growth, liquidity management

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Authors: V. Benidze

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After the Rose Revolution of 2003, Georgia has achieved an unparalleled socioeconomic success. However, economic growth since 2012 has been sluggish and certainly not enough to rapidly improve the county’s standard of living that still remains substantially low compared to that in developed nations. Recent poor economic performance has shown that some key challenges need to be addressed if Georgia is to achieve high future economic growth that will decrease the poverty rate and create a middle class in the country. This paper offers in detail analysis of the economic performance of Georgia since 2012 and identifies key challenges facing the country’s economy. The main challenge going forward will be transforming Georgia from a consumption-driven to a production-oriented economy. It is identified that mobilizing domestic investment through savings, attracting foreign investment in tradable sectors and expanding the country’s export base will be crucial in the facilitation of the above-mentioned structural transformation. As the outcome of the research, the paper suggests a strategy for accelerating Georgia’ future economic growth and offers recommendations based on the relevant conclusions.

Keywords: challenges, development, economic growth, economic policy, Georgia

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Authors: Hossein Alimohammadi, Kristina Vassiljeva, Hassan HosseinNia, Eduard Petlenkov

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This research article discusses the mechanisms for bandgap tuning of beam-type resonators to achieve ‎broadband vibration suppression through adjustable stiffness. The method involves changing the center of ‎mass of the cantilever-type resonator to achieve piezo-free tuning of stiffness. The study investigates the ‎effect of the center of masses variation (δ) of attached masses on the bandgap and vibration suppression ‎performance of a non-uniform beam-type resonator within a phononic structure. The results suggest that the ‎cantilever-type resonator beam can be used to achieve tunability and real-time control and indicate that ‎varying δ significantly impacts the bandgap and transmittance response. Additionally, the research explores ‎the use of the first and second modes of resonators for tunability and real-time control. These findings examine ‎the feasibility of this approach, demonstrate the potential for improving resonator performance, and provide ‎insights into the design and optimization of metamaterial beams for vibration suppression applications.

Keywords: bandgap, adjustable stiffness, spatial variation, tunability

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Authors: Viridiana Edith Ardura Perea, José Luis Bermúdez Alcocer

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The purpose of this paper is to establish the influence of shading on a Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system´s performance in an urban context. The PV systems of the Science Center of Complexity (Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad) Building based in the Main Campus of the National and Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City was taken as case study.  The PV systems are placed on the rooftop and on the south façade of the building.  The south-façade PV system, operating as sunshades, consists of two strings:  one at the ground floor and the other one at the first floor.  According to the building’s facility manager, the south-façade PV system generates 42% less electricity per kilowatt peak (kWp) installed than the one on the roof.  The methods applied in this study were Solar Radiation Analysis (SRA) simulations performed with the Insight 360 Plug-in from Revit 2018^® and an on-site measurement using specialized tools.  The results of the SRA simulations showed that the shading casted by the PV system placed on the first floor on top of the PV system of the ground floor decreases its solar incident radiation over 50%.  The simulation outcome was compared and validated to the measured data obtained from the on-site measurement.  In conclusion, the loss factor achieved from the shading of the PVs is due to the surroundings and the PV system´s own design.  The south-façade BIPV system’s deficient design generates critical losses on its performance and decreases its profitability.

Keywords: building integrated photovoltaics design, energy analysis software, shading losses, solar radiation analysis

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Authors: Lukman Oyelami

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Studies have identified trade as a veritable tool for inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction in developing countries. However, contrary to the overwhelming pieces of evidence of the Asian tiger as a success story of beneficial trade, many African countries still experience poverty unabatedly despite active engagement in trade. Consequently, this study seeks to investigate the contributory effect of technological innovation on total export performance and specifically manufacturing exports of African countries. This is with a view to exploring manufacturing exports as a viable option for diversification. To achieve the empirical investigation this study, require Systems Generalized Method of Moments (sys-GMM) estimation technique was adopted based on the econometric realities inherent in the data utilized. However, the static technique of panel estimation of the Fixed Effects (FE) model was utilized for baseline analysis and robustness check. The conclusion from this study is that innovation generally impacts export performance of African countries positively, however, manufacturing export shows more sensitivity to innovation than total export. And, this provides a clear pathway for export diversification for many African countries that run a resource-based economy.

Keywords: innovation, export, GMM, Africa

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Authors: Michael Lekan-Kehinde, Abimbola Asojo, Bonnie Sanborn

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Good acoustic performance has been identified as one of the critical Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) factors for student learning and development by the National Research Council. Childhood presents the opportunity for children to develop lifelong skills that will support them throughout their adult lives. Acoustic performance of a space has been identified as a factor that can impact language acquisition, concentration, information retention, and general comfort within the environment. Increasingly, students learn by communication between both teachers and fellow students, making speaking and listening crucial. Neurodiversity - while initially coined to describe individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) - widely describes anyone with a different brain process. As the understanding from cognitive and neurosciences increases, the number of people identified as neurodiversity is nearly 30% of the population. This research looks at guidelines and standard for spaces with good acoustical quality and relates it with the experiences of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), their parents, teachers, and educators through a mixed methods approach, including selected case studies interviews, and mixed surveys. The information obtained from these sources is used to determine if selected materials, especially properties relating to sound absorption and reverberation reduction, are equally useful in small, medium sized, and large learning spaces and methodologically approaching. The results describe the potential impact of acoustics on Neurodiverse students, considering factors that determine the complexity of sound in relation to the auditory processing capabilities of ASD students. In conclusion, this research extends the knowledge of how materials selection influences the better development of acoustical environments for autism students.

Keywords: acoustics, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), children, education, learning, learning spaces, materials, neurodiversity, sound

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Authors: Gifty Kumadey, Albert Tchey Agbenyegah

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(i) Overview and research goal(s): This study aims to address research gaps in the Ghanaian pharmaceutical industry by examining the impact of environmental supply chain management (ESCM) practices on environmental and operational performance. Previous studies have provided inconclusive evidence on the relationship between ESCM practices and environmental and operational performance. The research aims to provide a clearer understanding of the impact of ESCM practices on environmental and operational performance in the context of the Ghanaian pharmaceutical industry. Limited research has been conducted on ESCM practices in developing countries, particularly in Africa. The study aims to bridge this gap by examining the drivers and barriers specific to the pharmaceutical industry in Ghana. The research aims to analyze the impact of ESCM practices on the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Ghanaian pharmaceutical industry, focusing on SDGs 3, 12, 13, and 17. It also explores the potential for partnerships and collaborations to advance ESCM practices in the pharmaceutical industry. The research hypotheses suggest that pressure from stakeholder positively influences the adoption of ESCM practices in the Ghanaian pharmaceutical industry. By addressing these goals, the study aims to contribute to sustainable development initiatives and offer practical recommendations to enhance ESCM A practices in the industry. (ii) Research methods and data: This study uses a quantitative research design to examine the drivers and barriers to environmental supply chain management in the pharmaceutical industry in Accra.The sample size is approximately 150 employees, with senior and middle-level managers from pharmaceutical industry of Ghana. A purposive sampling technique is used to select participants with relevant knowledge and experience in environmental supply chain management. Data will be collected using a structured questionnaire using Likert scale responses. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze the data and provide insights into current practices and their impact on environmental and operational performance. (iii) Preliminary results and conclusions: Main contributions: Identifying drivers/barriers to ESCM in Ghana's pharmaceutical industry, evaluating current ESCM practices, examining impact on performance, providing practical insights, contributing to knowledge on ESCM in Ghanaian context. The research contributes to SDGs 3, 9, and 12 by promoting sustainable practices and responsible consumption in the industry. The study found that government rules and regulations are the most critical drivers for ESCM adoption, with senior managers playing a significant role. However, employee and competitor pressures have a lesser impact. The industry has made progress in implementing certain ESCM practices, but there is room for improvement in areas like green distribution and reverse logistics. The study emphasizes the importance of government support, management engagement, and comprehensive implementation of ESCM practices in the industry. Future research should focus on overcoming barriers and challenges to effective ESCM implementation.

Keywords: environmental supply chain, sustainable development goal, ghana pharmaceutical industry, government regulations

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Authors: Azin Shakibabarough, Mojtaba Valinejadshoubi, Ashutosh Bagchi

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Structural vibration means repetitive motion that causes fatigue and reduction of the performance of a structure. An earthquake may release high amount of energy that can have adverse effect on all components of a structure. Therefore, decreasing of vibration or maintaining performance of structures such as bridges, dams, roads and buildings is important for life safety and reducing economic loss. When earthquake or any vibration happens, investigation on parts of a structure which sustain the seismic loads is mandatory to provide a safe condition for the occupants. One of the solutions for reducing the earthquake vibration in a structure is using of vibration control devices such as dampers and base isolators. The objective of this study is to investigate the optimal positions of friction dampers and base isolators for better seismic response of 2D frame. For this purpose, a two bay and six story frame with different distribution formats was modeled and some of their responses to earthquake such as inter-story drift, max joint displacement, max axial force and max bending moment were determined and compared using non-linear dynamic analysis.

Keywords: fast nonlinear analysis, friction damper, base isolator, seismic vibration control, seismic response

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Authors: Violina Angelova, Huu Q. Lee

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A field study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides L.) for phytoremediation of contaminated soils. The experiment was performed on agricultural fields contaminated by the Non-Ferrous-Metal Works near Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The experimental plots were situated at different distances (0.5, 3.5, and 15 km) from the source of pollution. The concentrations of Pb, Zn, and Cd in vetiver (roots and leaves) were determined. Correlations between the content of the heavy metal mobile forms extracted with DTPA and their content in the roots and leaves of the Vetiver have been established. The Vetiver is tolerant to heavy metals and can be grown on soils contaminated with heavy metals. Plants are characterized by low ability to absorb and accumulate Pb, Cd, and Zn and have no signs of toxicity (chlorosis and necrosis) at 36.8 mg/kg Cd, 1158.8 mg/kg Pb and 1526.2 mg/kg Zn in the soil. Vetiver plants can be classified as Pb, Cd and Zn excluder, therefore, this plant has the suitable potential for the phytostabilization of heavy metal contaminated soils. Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the Bulgarian National Science Fund (Project DFNI 04/9).

Keywords: contaminated soils, heavy metals, phytoremediation, vetiver

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Authors: W. S. Lawal, T. Akande

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Abstract— Four (4) difference methods were employed to detoxify Jatropha carcas, they were physical method (it include soaking and sun drying) Chemical (the use of methylated sprit, hexane and methane). Biological (the use of Aspergillus niger and then sundry for 7days and then Bacillus lichiformis) and Combined method (the combination of chemical and biological methods). Phobol esther analysis was carried out after the detoxification methods and it was found that the combined method is better off (P<0.05). Detoxified Jatropha from each of this methods was sundry and grinded for easy inclusion into poultry feed, detoxified jatropha was included at 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5% but the combined method was increased up to 7% because the birds were able to tolerate it, the 0% was the control experiment. 405 day old broiler chicks was used to test the effect of detoxified Jatropha carcas on their performance, there are 5birds per treatment and there are 3 replicates, the experiment lasted for 8weeks,highest number of mortality was obtained in physical method, birds in chemical method tolerated up to 3% Jatropha carcas, biological method is better, as birds there were comfortable at 5% but the best of them is combined method the birds did very well at 7% as there were less mortality and highest weight gain was achieved here (P<0.05) and it was recommended.

Keywords: phobol esther, inclusion level, tolerance level, Jatropha carcas

Procedia PDF Downloads 406