Search results for: components of academic engagement

Authors: Diego Abbo

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On February 15, 2012 off the Indian coast of Kerala, in position 091702N-0760180E by the oil tanker Enrica Lexie, flying the Italian flag, bursts of 5.56 x45 caliber shots were fired from assault rifles AR/70 Italian-made Beretta towards the Indian fisher boat St. Anthony. The shots that hit the St. Anthony fishing boat were six, of which two killed the Indian fishermen Ajesh Pink and Valentine Jelestine. From the analysis concerning the kinematic engagement of the two ships and from the autopsy and ballistic results of the Indian judicial authorities it is possible to reconstruct the trajectories of the six aforementioned shots. This essay reconstructs the trajectories of the six shots that cannot be of direct shooting but have undergone a rebound on the water. The investigation carried out scientifically demonstrates the rebound of the blows on the water, the gyrostatic deviation due to the rebound and the tumbling effect always due to the rebound as regards intermediate ballistics. In consideration of the four shots that directly impacted the fishing vessel, the current examination proves, with scientific value, that the trajectories could not be downwards but upwards. Also, the trajectory of two shots that hit to death the two fishermen could not be downwards but only upwards. In fact, this paper demonstrates, with scientific value: The loss of speed of the projectiles due to the rebound on the water; The tumbling effect in the ballistic medium within the two victims; The permanent cavities subject to the injury ballistics and the related ballistic trauma that prevented homeostasis causing bleeding in one case; The thermo-hardening deformation of the bullet found in Valentine Jelestine's skull; The upward and non-downward trajectories. The paper constitutes a tool in forensic ballistics in that it manages to reconstruct, from the final spot of the projectiles fired, all phases of ballistics like the internal one of the weapons that fired, the intermediate one, the terminal one and the penetrative structural one. In general terms the ballistics reconstruction is based on measurable parameters whose entity is contained with certainty within a lower and upper limit. Therefore, quantities that refer to angles, speed, impact energy and firing position of the shooter can be identified within the aforementioned limits. Finally, the investigation into the internal bullet track, obtained from any autopsy examination, offers a significant “lesson learned” but overall a starting point to contain or mitigate bleeding as a rescue from future gunshot wounds.

Keywords: impact physics, intermediate ballistics, terminal ballistics, tumbling effect

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Authors: Ross Lee, Pritpal Singh, Andrew Jester

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As the world transitions to a more sustainable energy economy, the deployment of energy storage technologies is expected to increase to develop a more resilient grid system. However, current technologies are associated with various environmental and safety issues throughout their entire lifecycle; therefore, new battery technology is necessary for grid applications to curtail these risks. Biological cells, such as human neurons and electrolytes in the electric eel, can serve as a more sustainable design template for a new bio-inspired (i.e., biomimetic) battery. Within biological cells, an electrochemical gradient across the cell membrane forms the membrane potential, which serves as the driving force for ion transport into/out of the cell, akin to the charging/discharging of a battery cell. This work serves as the first step to developing such a biomimetic battery cell, starting with the fabrication and characterization of ion-selective membranes to facilitate ion transport through the cell. Performance characteristics (e.g., cell voltage, power density, specific energy, roundtrip efficiency) for the cell under investigation are compared to incumbent battery technologies and biological cells to assess the readiness level for this emerging technology. Using a Na⁺-Form Nafion-117 membrane, the cell in this work successfully demonstrated behavior similar to human neurons; these findings will inform how cell components can be re-engineered to enhance device performance.

Keywords: battery, biomimetic, electrolytes, human neurons, ion-selective membranes, membrane potential

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Authors: Jafar Ahmadi, Alireza Pour-Aboughadareh

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Wheat is the first and the most important grain of the world and its bakery property is due to glutenin and gliadin qualities. Wheat seed proteins were divided into four groups according to solubility. Two groups are albumin and globulin dissolving in water and salt solutions possessing metabolic activities. Two other groups are inactive and non-dissolvable and contain glutelins or glutenins and prolamins or gliadins. Gliadins are major components of the storage proteins in wheat endosperm. Gliadin proteins are separated into three groups based on electrophoretic mobility: α/β-gliadin, γ-gliadin, and ω-gliadin. It seems that little information is available about gliadin genes in Iranian wild relatives of wheat. Thus, the aim of this study was the evaluation of the wheat wild relatives collected from different origins of Zagros Mountains in Iran, involving coding gliadin genes using specific primers. For this, forty accessions of Triticum boeoticum and Triticum urartu were selected. For each accession, genomic DNA was extracted and PCRs were performed in total volumes of 15 μl. The amplification products were separated on 1.5% agarose gels. In results, for Gli-2A locus, three allelic variants were detected by Gli-2As primer pairs. The sizes of PCR products for these alleles were 210, 490 and 700 bp. Only five (13%) and two accessions (5%) produced 700 and 490 bp fragments when their DNA was amplified with the Gli.As.2 primer pairs. However, 37 of the 40 accessions (93%) carried 210 bp allele, and three accessions (8%) did not yield any product for this marker. Therefore, these germplasm could be used as rich gene pool to broaden the genetic base of bread wheat.

Keywords: diploied wheat, gliadin, Triticum boeoticum, Triticum urartu

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Authors: Piotr-Robert Lazik, Lena Teichmann, Harald Garrecht

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Many concrete technologists are looking for a solution to replace fly ashes as a component that occurs as a major component of many types of concrete. The importance of such a component is clear -it saves cement and reduces the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere that occurs during cement production. For example, the amount of cement in ultrahigh strength concrete (UHPC) is approximately 700-800 kg/m³ in normal concrete up to 350 kg/m³. For this reason, it is easy to follow that the use of components like fly ashes or wood ashes protect the environment. The newest investigations carried out at the University of Stuttgart have clearly shown that the use of wood ashes with appropriate pre-treatment in concrete has a positive effect. German-wide, there are hundreds of tons of wood ashes, which can be used in a wide range of construction materials. The strengths of the concrete with different types of cement and with wood ashes have given the same or, in some cases, better results than those with the use of fly ashes. There are many areas in building construction, where the clays of wood ashes can be used as a by-product. This does not only require a strength test but also, for example, an examination of structural-physical parameters. Especially the heat and moisture characteristics have an important role in times of energy-efficient construction. These are therefore determined and then compared with the characteristics of the concretes with fly ashes. The University of Stuttgart has decided to investigate the buildings' physical properties of different types of concrete with wood ashes to find their application in construction. After the examination of the buildings' physical properties in combination with strength tests, it is possible to determine in which field of civil engineering, this type of concrete can be used.

Keywords: fly ashes, wood ashes, structural-physical parameters, UHPC

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Authors: Seoyoun Kim, Chunghee Park

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Microplastics have recently become an issue due to their potentially harmful effects on the marine environment and the human body. The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation of fiber emissions during the home laundering with the fabric parameters such as yarn density, warp/weft density, and weave structure. Also, the effect of finishing treatments such as reactive dyeing, water-repellent finish, peach skin finish on fiber emissions was evaluated. Furthermore, we studied the biodegradability of fibers in the marine environment compared to those in soil burial and the impact of finishing treatment on the biodegradability. Biodegradability was evaluated by measuring BOD values and tensile strength reduction. The results showed that more fibers were released in the thicker yarn, lower weave density. Also, a weave structure which has less compactness, released more fibers. Peach skin finish with microfibers exposed on the surface caused more fiber release, whereas water-repellent finish reduced the fiber emission. In addition, the biodegradability of the fabrics submerged in the marine environment were lower compared with those buried in the soil. Also, the water-repellent fabric was less biodegradable than the untreated one. Further research is suggested considering the fabrics with various chemical components or geometry and their fouling behavior in the marine environment.

Keywords: biodegradation, fibers, microplastic, pollution

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Authors: Rafał Kamiński, Joel Rech, Philippe Bertrand, Christophe Desrayaud

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Titanium alloys are among the most important material in the aircraft industry, due to its low density, high strength, and corrosion resistance. However, these alloys are considered as difficult to machine because they have poor thermal properties and high reactivity with cutting tools. The Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process becomes even more popular through industry since it enables the design of new complex components, that cannot be manufactured by standard processes. However, the high temperature reached during the melting phase as well as the several rapid heating and cooling phases, due to the movement of the laser, induce complex microstructures. These microstructures differ from conventional equiaxed ones obtained by casting+forging. Parts obtained by SLM have to be machined in order calibrate the dimensions and the surface roughness of functional surfaces. The ball milling technique is widely applied to finish complex shapes. However, the machinability of titanium is strongly influenced by the microstructure. So the objective of this work is to investigate the influence of the SLM process, i.e. microstructure, on the machinability of titanium, compared to conventional forming processes. The machinability is analyzed by measuring surface roughness, cutting forces, cutting tool wear for a range of cutting conditions (depth of cut ap, feed per tooth fz, spindle speed N) in accordance with industrial practices.

Keywords: ball milling, microstructure, surface roughness, titanium

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Authors: Macdonald Kanyangale, Sandram Naluso

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Globally, researchers have struggled over time to adequately define the notion of health system to inform research. This study is significant because it proposes an integrative framework for a robust definition of the health system. The objective of this article is to examine major pitfalls in definitions of health system used in prior literature and implications of these for research and management. The study used methodological steps of a scoping review proposed by Arksey and O'Malley to identify and examine 24 definitions of a health system in articles selected from six databases and web search engines. Thematic analysis was used to delineate and categorise definitional pitfalls into broader themes. There are a plethora of five major pitfalls in the extant definitions of a health system which may easily scupper any unsuspecting researcher if not avoided or addressed in research. These definitional pitfalls are reductionist assumptions which ignore dynamic and complex connections, overly wide boundary and lack of specification of levels in a health system, and limited focus on process in a health system. In addition, there is the tendency of treating different components of the health system as equal and simplifying of the ontological complexity of the health system. Future scholars are advised to avoid or address the identified five major pitfalls if they are to develop robust definitions of an HS. The use of an integrative framework for a robust definition of a health system is recommended, while implications of the pitfalls are discussed as a basis and catalyst for complexity-informed research and managing interactively.

Keywords: complexity management, health system, pitfalls, reductionism, research

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Authors: Yutong Xu, Wanting Zhang, Jia Wang, Zihan Guo, Weiguang Ma

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Background: The resilience education of intern nursing students has significant implications for the development and improvement of the nursing workforce. The clinical internship period is a critical time for enhancing resilience. Aims: To evaluate the resilience level of Chinese nursing interns and identify the factors affecting resilience early in their careers. Methods: The cross-sectional study design was adopted. From March 2022 to May 2023, 512 nursing interns in tertiary care hospitals were surveyed online with the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the Clinical Learning Environment scale for Nurse, and the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale. Structural equation modeling was used to clarify the relationships among these factors. Indirect effects were tested using bootstrapped Confidence Intervals. Results: The nursing interns showed a moderately high level of resilience[M(SD)=70.15(19.90)]. Gender, scholastic attainment, had a scholarship, career adaptability and clinical learning environment were influencing factors of nursing interns’ resilience. Career adaptability and clinical learning environment positively and directly affected their resilience level (β = 0.58, 0.12, respectively, p＜0.01). career adaptability also positively affected career adaptability (β = 0.26, p < 0.01), and played a fully mediating role in the relationship between clinical learning environment and resilience. Conclusion: Career adaptability can enhance the influence of clinical learning environment on resilience. The promotion of career adaptability and the clinical teaching environment should be the potential strategies for nursing interns to improve their resilience, especially for those female nursing interns with low academic performance. Implications for Nursing Educators Nursing educators should pay attention to the cultivation of nursing students' resilience; for example, by helping them integrate to the clinical learning environment and improving their career adaptability. Reporting Method: The STROBE criteria were used to report the results of the observations critically. Patient or Public Contribution No patient or public contribution.

Keywords: resilience, clinical learning environment, career adaptability, nursing interns

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Authors: Javad Rahimipour Anaraki, Saeed Samet, Mahdi Eftekhari, Chang Wook Ahn

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Feature selection and attribute reduction are crucial problems, and widely used techniques in the field of machine learning, data mining and pattern recognition to overcome the well-known phenomenon of the Curse of Dimensionality. This paper presents a feature selection method that efficiently carries out attribute reduction, thereby selecting the most informative features of a dataset. It consists of two components: 1) a measure for feature subset evaluation, and 2) a search strategy. For the evaluation measure, we have employed the fuzzy-rough dependency degree (FRFDD) of the lower approximation-based fuzzy-rough feature selection (L-FRFS) due to its effectiveness in feature selection. As for the search strategy, a modified version of a binary shuffled frog leaping algorithm is proposed (B-SFLA). The proposed feature selection method is obtained by hybridizing the B-SFLA with the FRDD. Nine classifiers have been employed to compare the proposed approach with several existing methods over twenty two datasets, including nine high dimensional and large ones, from the UCI repository. The experimental results demonstrate that the B-SFLA approach significantly outperforms other metaheuristic methods in terms of the number of selected features and the classification accuracy.

Keywords: binary shuffled frog leaping algorithm, feature selection, fuzzy-rough set, minimal reduct

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Authors: Andrea Tundis, Carlos García Cordero, Rolf Egert, Alfredo Garro, Max Mühlhäuser

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Resilience is an important system property that relies on the ability of a system to automatically recover from a degraded state so as to continue providing its services. Resilient systems have the means of detecting faults and failures with the added capability of automatically restoring their normal operations. Mastering resilience in the domain of Cyber-Physical Systems is challenging due to the interdependence of hybrid hardware and software components, along with physical limitations, laws, regulations and standards, among others. In order to overcome these challenges, this paper presents a modeling approach, based on the concept of Dynamic Cells, tailored to the management of Smart Grids. Additionally, a heuristic algorithm that works on top of the proposed modeling approach, to find resilient configurations, has been defined and implemented. More specifically, the model supports a flexible representation of Smart Grids and the algorithm is able to manage, at different abstraction levels, the resource consumption of individual grid elements on the presence of failures and faults. Finally, the proposal is evaluated in a test scenario where the effectiveness of such approach, when dealing with complex scenarios where adequate solutions are difficult to find, is shown.

Keywords: cyber-physical systems, energy management, optimization, smart grids, self-healing, resilience, security

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Authors: Kayliegh Richardson, Ana Speed

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The international campaign, '16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence', seeks to raise awareness and understanding of gender based violence in a variety of settings. The campaign requires its participants to join in for advancing the right to education and challenging violence, discrimination, and inequality and take into account intersections such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status and other social identifiers. The authors of this paper are both clinic supervisors at Northumbria University in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. As part of their research project, the authors are going to ask final year students on the MLaw degree at Northumbria University to become involved in the campaign by participating in a variety of awareness-raising activities during the course of the 16 days, which runs from 27 November 2017 until 10 December 2017. As part of the campaign, the authors will be running the following activities for students to participate in 1. Documentary showing of Banaz, a love story followed by discussion group. 2. 16 blogs for 16 days. Students will contribute to our family law blog over the 16 days, with articles about gender based violence. 3. Guest lecture on domestic violence (potentially run by a domestic violence organisation) 4. Workshop by Professor Ruth Lewis who will be presenting her innovative research in gender based violence and online abuse. 5. Poster competition - the students are asked to submit a poster about the different forms of gender based violence or proposals for ending violence against women and girls. The research aims are to identify whether participation in the project: 1. increases the students' engagement with issues of gender justice 2. is an effective educational tool for raising the students' awareness and understanding of gender based violence in its many forms. 3. increases the students' understanding of the domestic and international framework for protecting victims (in particular women and children) of gender based violence. After the activities, an impartial, experienced researcher will be holding a focus group with volunteering students to discuss their experiences of participating in the activities and whether they felt that participation in the project achieved the aims set out above. This paper will discuss the activities undertaken by the students and will address the data gathered during the focus group. Finally, the authors will discuss their thoughts on whether awareness of gender-based violence and other international family law issues can be appropriately raised in an educational setting.

Keywords: gender based violence, clinical legal education, international family law, domestic abuse

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Authors: Kanupriya Rawat, Aleksandra Błachnio, Paweł Izdebski

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Achievement motivation, which drives a person to strive for success, is an important construct in sports psychology. This systematic review aims to analyze the methods of measuring achievement motivation used in previous studies published over the past four decades and to find out which method of measuring achievement motivation is the most prevalent and the most effective by thoroughly examining measures of achievement motivation used in each study and by evaluating most highly cited achievement motivation measures in sport. In order to understand this latent construct, thorough measurement is necessary, hence a critical evaluation of measurement tools is required. The literature search was conducted in the following databases: EBSCO, MEDLINE, APA PsychARTICLES, Academic Search Ultimate, Open Dissertations, ERIC, Science direct, Web of Science, as well as Wiley Online Library. A total of 26 articles met the inclusion criteria and were selected. From this review, it was found that the Achievement Goal Questionnaire- Sport (AGQ-Sport) and the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) were used in most of the research, however, the average weighted impact factor of the Achievement Goal Questionnaire- Sport (AGQ-Sport) is the second highest and most relevant in terms of research articles related to the sport psychology discipline. Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) is highly popular in cross-cultural adaptation but has the second last average IF among other scales due to the less impact factor of most of the publishing journals. All measures of achievement motivation have Cronbach’s alpha value of more than .70, which is acceptable. The advantages and limitations of each measurement tool are discussed, and the distinction between using implicit and explicit measures of achievement motivation is explained. Overall, both implicit and explicit measures of achievement motivation have different conceptualizations of achievement motivation and are applicable at either the contextual or situational level. The conceptualization and degree of applicability are perhaps the most crucial factors for researchers choosing a questionnaire, even though they differ in their development, reliability, and use.

Keywords: achievement motivation, task and ego orientation, sports psychology, measures of achievement motivation

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Authors: Navid Nasrolah Mazandarani, Faezeh Mohammadi Tahrodi, Jr., Norshida Ujang, Richard Jan Pech

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Human evolution has designed us to be dependent on social and natural settings, but designed of our modern cities often ignore this fact. It is evident that high-rise buildings dominate most metropolitan city centers. As a result urban parks are very limited and in many cases are not socially responsive to our social needs in these urban ‘jungles’. This paper emphasizes the functions of urban morphology in supporting socialization in Lake Garden, one of the main urban parks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It discusses two relevant theories; first the concept of users’ experience coined by Kevin Lynch (1960) which states that way-finding is related to the process of forming mental maps of environmental surroundings. Second, the concept of social activity coined by Jan Gehl (1987) which holds that urban public spaces can be more attractive when they provide welcoming places in which people can walk around and spend time. Until recently, research on socio-spatial behavior mainly focused on social ties, place attachment and human well-being; with less focus on the spatial dimension of social behavior. This paper examines the socio-spatial behavior within the spatial structure of the urban park by exploring the relationship between way-finding and social activity. The urban structures defined by the paths and nodes were analyzed as the fundamental topological structure of space to understand their effects on the social engagement pattern. The study uses a photo questionnaire survey to inspect the spatial dimension in relation to the social activities within paths and nodes. To understand the legibility of the park, spatial cognition was evaluated using sketch maps produced by 30 participants who visited the park. The results of the sketch mapping indicated that a spatial image has a strong interrelation with socio-spatial behavior. Moreover, an integrated spatial structure of the park generated integrated use and social activity. It was found that people recognized and remembered the spaces where they engaged in social activities. They could experience the park more thoroughly, when they found their way continuously through an integrated park structure. Therefore, the benefits of both perceptual and social dimensions of planning and design happened simultaneously. The findings can assist urban planners and designers to redevelop urban parks by considering the social quality design that contributes to clear mental images of these places.

Keywords: spatial structure, social activities, sketch map, urban park, way-finding

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Authors: Mahdiye Khorasani, Arjun Vijay, Ali Mashayekh, Christian Trapp

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The performance of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is highly dependent on the pressure and mass flow of media (Hydrogen and air) throughout the cells and the stack. Higher pressure, on the one hand, results in higher output power of the stack but, on the other hand, increases the electrical power demand of the compressor. In this work, a simulation model of a PEMFC system for vehicle and airplane applications is developed. With this new model, the effect of different pressures and air mass flow rates are investigated to discover the optimum operating point in a PEMFC system, and innovative operation strategies are implemented to optimize reactants flow while minimizing electrical power demand of the compressor for optimum performance. Additionally, a fuel cell system test bench is set up, which contains not only all the auxiliary components for conditioning the gases, reactants, and flows but also a dynamic titling table for testing different orientations of the stack to simulate the flight conditions during take-off and landing and off-road-vehicle scenarios. The results of simulation will be tested and validated on the test bench for future works.

Keywords: air mass flow effect, optimization of operation, pressure effect, PEMFC system, PEMFC system simulation

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Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou, Maria F. Sartzetaki

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Transport infrastructure assets are key components of the national asset portfolio. The decision to invest in a new infrastructure in transports could take from a few years to some decades. This is mainly because of the need to reserve and spent many capitals, the long payback period, the number of the stakeholders involved in decision process and –many times- the investment and business risks are high. Therefore, the decision assessment framework is an essential challenge linked with the key decision factors meet the stakeholder expectations highlighting project trade-offs, financial risks, business uncertainties and market limitations. This paper examines the decision process for new transport infrastructure projects in cross border regions, where a wide range of stakeholders with different expectation is involved. According to a consequences analysis systemic approach, the relationship of transport infrastructure development, economic system development and stakeholder expectation is analyzed. Adopting the on system of system methodological approach, the decision making framework, variables, inputs and outputs are defined, highlighting the key shareholder’s role and expectations. The application provides the methodology outputs presenting the proposed decision framework for a strategic railway project in north Greece deals with the upgrade of the existing railway corridor connecting Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria.

Keywords: decision making, system of system, cross-border, infrastructure project

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Authors: Muhammad Anwar, Ameen Ullah, Intakhab Alam Qadri

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This study presents a technique utilizing the Iterative Rational Krylov Algorithm (IRKA) to reduce the order of large-scale descriptor systems. Descriptor systems, which incorporate differential and algebraic components, pose unique challenges in Model Order Reduction (MOR). The proposed method partitions the descriptor system into polynomial and strictly proper parts to minimize approximation errors, applying IRKA exclusively to the strictly adequate component. This approach circumvents the unbounded errors that arise when IRKA is directly applied to the entire system. A comparative analysis demonstrates the high accuracy of the reduced model and a significant reduction in computational burden. The reduced model enables more efficient simulations and streamlined controller designs. The study highlights IRKA-based MOR’s effectiveness in optimizing complex systems’ performance across various engineering applications. The proposed methodology offers a promising solution for reducing the complexity of large-scale descriptor systems while maintaining their essential characteristics and facilitating their analysis, simulation, and control design.

Keywords: model order reduction, descriptor systems, iterative rational Krylov algorithm, interpolatory model reduction, computational efficiency, projection methods, H₂-optimal model reduction

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Authors: Sawale Pravin Digambar, G. R. Patil, Shaik Abdul Hussain

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Terminalia arjuna (TA), an important medicinal plant in Indian System of Medicine, is specifically recognized for its recuperative effect on heart ailments. Alcoholic extract of TA (both free and encapsulated) was incorporated into milk to obtain functional dairy beverages. The respective beverages were appropriately flavored and optimized using response surface methodology to improve the sensory appeal. The beverages were evaluated for their compositional, anti-oxidative and various other physico-chemical aspects. Addition of herb (0.3%) extract to flavoured dairy drink (Drink 1) resulted in significantly lowered (p>0.05) HMF content and increased antioxidant activity, total phenol content as compared with control (Control 1). Subsequently, a significant (p>0.05) increase in acidity and sedimentation was also observed. Encapsulated herb (1.8%) incorporated drink (Drink 2) had significantly (P>0.05) enhanced HMF value and decreased antioxidant activity, phenol content as compared to herb added vanilla chocolate dairy drink (Drink 1). It can be concluded that addition of encapsulated TA extract and non-encapsulated TA extract to chocolate dairy drink at 0.3% concentration altered the functional properties vanilla chocolate dairy drink which could be related to the interaction of herb components such as polyphenol with milk protein or maltodextrin/ gum Arabic matrix.

Keywords: Terminalia arjuna, encapsulate, antioxidant activity, physicochemical study

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Authors: Nikolai Brosch, Alwine Mohnen

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Academics and business leaders increasingly call for a (re)definition of a corporate purpose beyond profit-maximization to contribute to the welfare of society. This study investigates the effect of communicating such a pro-social corporate purpose on three employee-level outcomes that constitute major cost components for most organizations: workers reservation wage, work quality, and work misbehavior. To provide causal evidence, two natural field experiments were conducted with almost 2,000 workers recruited from different online labor marketplaces. Workers were randomly assigned to treatments manipulating whether or not they received information about the employer’s corporate purpose and subsequently performed a short, real-effort task for payment. The main findings in both experiments show that receiving information about an employer’s pro-social corporate purpose causes workers to accept lower wages (9% lower in the first experiment and 28% lower in the second experiment) for the same job. Workers that personally assess high importance to organizations having a pro-social purpose are most responsive. At the same time, sacrificing wage for a corporate purpose comes at no cost of quality and even decreases the likelihood of engaging in work misbehavior. In a broader context, the results provide some evidence that the (re)definition of corporate purpose in commercial organizations is not ultimately at odds with creating profits.

Keywords: corporate purpose, natural field experiment, reservation wage, work misbehavior, work quality

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Authors: Mitsuyoshi Tomiya, Kentaro Kawamura, Shoichi Sakamoto

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In chaotic billiard systems, scar-like localization has been found on time-evolving wave packet. We may call it the “dynamical scar” to separate it to the original scar in stationary states. It also comes out along the vicinity of classical unstable periodic orbits, when the wave packets are launched along the orbits, against the hypothesis that the waves become homogenous all around the billiard. Then time-evolving wave packets are investigated numerically in phase space. The Wigner function is adopted to detect the wave packets in phase space. The 2-dimensional Poincaré sections of the 4-dimensional phase space are introduced to clarify the dynamical behavior of the wave packets. The Poincaré sections of the coordinate (x or y) and the momentum (Px or Py) can visualize the dynamical behavior of the wave packets, including the behavior in the momentum degree also. For example, in “dynamical scar” states, a bit larger momentum component comes first, and then the a bit smaller and smaller components follow next. The sections made in the momentum space (Px or Py) elucidates specific trajectories that have larger contribution to the “dynamical scar” states. It is the fixed point observation of the momentum degrees at a specific fixed point(x0, y0) in the phase space. The accumulation are also calculated to search the “dynamical scar” in the Poincare sections. It is found the scars as bright spots in momentum degrees of the phase space.

Keywords: chaotic billiard, Poincaré section, scar, wave packet

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Authors: Ricardo Daziano

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In the analysis and planning of the mobility ecosystem, preferences for ride-hailing over incumbent street-hailing services need better understanding. In this paper, a seminonparametric discrete choice model that allows for flexible preference heterogeneity is fitted with data from a discrete choice experiment among adult commuters in Montreal, Canada (N=760). Participants chose among Uber, Teo (a local electric ride-hailing service that was in operation when data was collected in 2018), and a standard taxi when presented with information about cost, time (on-trip, waiting, walking), powertrain of the car (gasoline/hybrid) for Uber and taxi, and whether the available electric Teo was a Tesla (which was one of the actual features of the Teo fleet). The fitted flexible model offers several behavioral insights. Waiting time for ride-hailing services is associated with a statistically significant but low marginal disutility. For other time components, including on-ride, and street-hailing waiting and walking the estimates of the value of time show an interesting pattern: whereas in a conditional logit on-ride time reductions are valued higher, in the flexible LML specification means of the value of time follow the expected pattern of waiting and walking creating a higher disutility. At the same time, the LML estimates show the presence of important, multimodal unobserved preference heterogeneity.

Keywords: discrete choice, electric taxis, ridehailing, semiparametrics

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Authors: Mizan Ahmed, Srikanth Venkatesan

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Geological and tectonic framework indicates that Bangladesh is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. The Bengal Basin is at the junction of three major interacting plates: the Indian, Eurasian, and Burma Plates. Besides there are many active faults within the region, e.g. the large Dauki fault in the north. The country has experienced a number of destructive earthquakes due to the movement of these active faults. Current seismic provisions of Bangladesh are mostly based on earthquake data prior to the 1990. Given the record of earthquakes post 1990, there is a need to revisit the design provisions of the code. This paper compares the base shear demand of three major cities in Bangladesh: Dhaka (the capital city), Sylhet, and Chittagong for earthquake scenarios of magnitudes 7.0MW, 7.5MW, 8.0MW and 8.5MW using a stochastic model. In particular, the stochastic model allows the flexibility to input region specific parameters such as shear wave velocity profile (that were developed from Global Crustal Model CRUST2.0) and include the effects of attenuation as individual components. Effects of soil amplification were analysed using the Extended Component Attenuation Model (ECAM). Results show that the estimated base shear demand is higher in comparison with code provisions leading to the suggestion of additional seismic design consideration in the study regions.

Keywords: attenuation, earthquake, ground motion, Stochastic, seismic hazard

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Authors: Lawrence Babatunde Ogunsanya

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The university has been in existence, in one form or another, for over a thousand years and has contributed in multiple ways to modern society. It is considered a center of culture, aesthetic direction, and moral forces shaping the civilized society. Universities also contribute in important ways to the economic health and physical landscape of neighborhoods and cities, serving as permanent fixtures of the urban economy and the built environment. Due to the size and location of university campuses, they put demands on the urban character, systems, and infrastructure of the neighboring communities. These demands or impacts have substantial implications for the built environment. It is important to understand the impacts university campuses have on their surrounding communities and urban environments because the destiny of the university is inextricably linked to the destiny of the adjacent neighborhoods. This paper identifies the diverse factors generated by universities in shaping the built environments of their local communities within different spatial contexts such as urban, rural, and township regions situated in South Africa.By applying a mixed methods approach in four university campuses within the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Several data collection instruments were used, such as in-depth interviews, a survey, remote sensing, and onsite observations. The thematic findings revealed numerous factors which influence the morphology of neighbourhood built environments and the myriad of relationships the university has with its local community. This paper also reveals that the university campus is more than a precinct which accommodates buildings and academic endeavours, the role of the university in this century has changed dramatically from its traditional roots of being an elite enclave of academics to a more inclusive and engaged entity that is concerned about providing relevant holistic solutions to society’s current challenges in the built environment.

Keywords: university campus, built environment, architecture, neighborhood planning

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Authors: Ankur Dixit, Hiroaki Wagatsuma

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The crack detection on a concrete bridge is an important and constant task in civil engineering. Chronically, humans are checking the bridge for inspection of cracks to maintain the quality and reliability of bridge. But this process is very long and costly. To overcome such limitations, we have used a drone with a digital camera, which took some images of bridge deck and these images are processed by morphological component analysis (MCA). MCA technique is a very strong application of sparse coding and it explores the possibility of separation of images. In this paper, MCA has been used to decompose the image into coarse and fine components with the effectiveness of two dictionaries namely anisotropic diffusion and wavelet transform. An anisotropic diffusion is an adaptive smoothing process used to adjust diffusion coefficient by finding gray level and gradient as features. These cracks in image are enhanced by subtracting the diffused coarse image into the original image and the results are treated by Sobel edge detector and binary filtering to exhibit the cracks in a fine way. Our results demonstrated that proposed MCA framework using anisotropic diffusion followed by Sobel operator and binary filtering may contribute to an automation of crack detection even in open field sever conditions such as bridge decks.

Keywords: anisotropic diffusion, coarse component, fine component, MCA, Sobel edge detector and wavelet transform

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: M. Vieira, V. Infante, P. Serrão, A. Ribeiro

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The Portuguese guitar is a pear-shaped plucked chordophone particularly known for its role in Fado, the most distinctive traditional Portuguese musical style. The acknowledgment of the dynamic behavior of the Portuguese guitar, specifically of its modal and mode shape response, has been the focus of different authors. In this research, the experimental results of the dynamic behavior of the guitar, which were previously obtained, are correlated with a vibro-acoustic finite element model of the guitar. The modelling of the guitar offered several challenges which are presented in this work. The results of the correlation between experimental and numerical data are presented and indicate good correspondence for the studied mode shapes. The influence of the air inside the chamber, for the finite element analysis, is shown to be crucial to understand the low-frequency modes of the Portuguese guitar, while, for higher frequency modes, the geometry of the guitar assumes greater relevance. Comparison is made with the classical guitar, providing relevant information about the intrinsic differences between the two, such as between its tones and other acoustical properties. These results represent a sustained base for future work, which will allow the study of the influence of different location and geometry of diverse components of the Portuguese guitar, being as well an asset to the comprehension of its musical properties and qualities and may, furthermore, represent an advantage for its players and luthiers.

Keywords: dynamic behavior of guitars, instrument acoustics, modal analysis, Portuguese guitar

Procedia PDF Downloads 399

Authors: Isabel Moscol, Carlos J. Díaz, Ciro Rodríguez

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Hip replacement becomes necessary when a person suffers severe pain or considerable functional limitations and the best option to enhance their quality of life is through the replacement of the damaged joint. One of the main components in femoral prostheses is the stem which distributes the loads from the joint to the proximal femur. To preserve more bone stock and avoid weakening of the diaphysis, a short starting stem was selected, generated from the intramedullary morphology of the patient's femur. It ensures the implantability of the design and leads to geometric delimitation for personalized optimization with machine learning (ML) and metaheuristic algorithms. The present study attempts to design a cementless short stem to make the strain deviation before and after implantation close to zero, promoting its fixation and durability. Regression models developed to estimate the percentage change of maximum principal stresses were used as objective optimization functions by the metaheuristic algorithm. The latter evaluated different geometries of the short stem with the modification of certain parameters in oblique sections from the osteotomy plane. The optimized geometry reached a global stress shielding (SS) of 18.37% with a determination factor (R²) of 0.667. The predicted results favour implantability integration in the short stem optimization to effectively reduce SS in the proximal femur.

Keywords: machine learning techniques, metaheuristic algorithms, short-stem design, stress shielding, hip replacement

Procedia PDF Downloads 196

Authors: Pradeep Kulshrestha, Maulana Ayoub Ali

Abstract:

The level of penetration of Islamic banking products and services has recorded a reasonable growth at an exponential rate in many parts of the world. There are many factors which have contributed to this growth including, but not limited to the rapid growth of number of Muslims who are uncomfortable with the conventional ways of banking, interest and higher interest rates scheduled by conventional banks and financial institutions as well as the financial inclusion campaign conducted in many countries. The system is facing legal challenges which open the research fdoor for practitioners and academicians for the sake of finding out solutions to those challenges. This paper tries to investigate the development of the Islamic banking system in the United Kingdom (UK), Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda in order to understand the modalities which have been employed to run an Islamic banking system in the aforementioned countries. The methodology which has been employed in doing this research paper is Doctrinal, of which legislations, policies and other legal tools have been carefully studied and analysed. Again, papers from academic journals, books and financial reports have been deeply analysed for the purpose of enriching the paper and come up with a tangible results. The paper found that in Asia, Malaysia has created the smoothest legal platform for Islamic banking system to work properly in the country. The United Kingdom has tried harder to smooth the banking system without affecting the conventional banking methods and without favouring the operations of Islamic banks. It also tries harder to make UK as an Islamic banking and finance hub in Europe. The entire banking system in Iran is Islamic, while Nigeria has undergone several legal reforms to suit Islamic banking system in the country. Kenya and Uganda are at a different pace in making Islamic Banking system work alongside the conventional banking system.  

Keywords: shariah, Islamic banking, law, alternative banking

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Mohd Kamil Vakil

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Air Pollution is caused by the introduction of chemicals in the biosphere. Primary pollutants on reaction with the components of the earth produce Secondary Pollutants like Smog. Ozone is the main ingredient of Smog. The ground level ozone is created by the chemical reactions between Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the presence of Sunlight. This ozone can enter inside and call as indoor ozone. The automobile emissions in both moving and idling conditions contribute to the indoor ozone formation. During engine ignition and shutdown, motor vehicles emit the ozone forming pollutants like NOx and VOCs, and the phenomena are called Cold Start and Hot-Soak respectively. Subjects like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma associated with chronic respiratory diseases are susceptible to the harmful effects of Indoor Ozone. The most common cause of COPD other than smoking is the long-term contract with harmful pollutants like ground-level ozone. It is estimated by WHO that COPD will become the third leading cause of all deaths worldwide by 2030. In this paper, the cold-start and hot-soak vehicle emissions are studied in the context of accumulation of oxides of nitrogen at the outer walls of the building which may cause COPD. The titanium oxide coated building material is further discussed as an absorber of NOx when applied to the walls and roof.

Keywords: indoor air quality, cold start emission, hot-soak, ozone

Procedia PDF Downloads 204

Authors: Omneya Messallam

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Technology has been developed dramatically in most of the educational disciplines. For instance, digital rendering subject, which is being taught in both Interior and Architecture fields, is witnessing almost annually updated software versions. A lot of students and educators argued that there will be no need for manual rendering techniques to be learned. Therefore, the Interior Design Visual Presentation 1 course (ID133) has been chosen from the first level of the Interior Design (ID) undergraduate program, as it has been taught for six years continually. This time frame will facilitate sound observation and critical analysis of the use of appropriate teaching methodologies. Furthermore, the researcher believes in the high value of the manual rendering techniques. The course objectives are: to define the basic visual rendering principles, to recall theories and uses of various types of colours and hatches, to raise the learners’ awareness of the value of studying manual render techniques, and to prepare them to present their work professionally. The students are female Arab learners aged between 17 and 20. At the outset of the course, the majority of them demonstrated negative attitude, lacking both motivation and confidence in manual rendering skills. This paper is a reflective appraisal of deploying two student-centred teaching pedagogies which are: Project-based learning (PBL) and Outcome-based education (OBE) on ID133 students. This research aims of developing some teaching strategies to enhance the quality of teaching in this given course over an academic semester. The outcome of this research emphasized the positive influence of applying such educational methods on improving the quality of students’ manual rendering skills in terms of: materials, textiles, textures, lighting, and shade and shadow. Furthermore, it greatly motivated the students and raised the awareness of the importance of learning the manual rendering techniques.

Keywords: project-based learning, outcome-based education, visual presentation, manual render, personal competences

Procedia PDF Downloads 161

Authors: Payal T. Patel, Ramakant Panchal, Ketankumar G. Patel

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Gear in stirred vessel is one of the most critical components in machinery which has power transmission system and it is rotating machinery cost and redesign being the major constraints, there is always a great scope for a mechanical engineer to apply skills to improve the design. Gear will be most effective means of transmitting power in future machinery due to their high degree of compactness. The Galliard moved in the industry from heavy industries such as textile machinery and shipbuilding to industries such as automobile manufacture tools will necessitate the affable application of gear technology. The two-stage planetary reduction gear unit is designed to meet the output specifications. In industries, where the bevel gears are used in turret vessel to transmit the power, that unit is replaced by this planetary gearbox. Use of this type of gearbox is to get better efficiency and also the manufacturing of the bevel gear is more complex than the spur gears. Design a gearbox with the epicyclic gear train. In industries, the power transmission from gearbox to vessel is done through the bevel gears, which transmit the power at a right angle. In this work, the power is to be transmitted vertically from gearbox to vessel, which will increase the efficiency and life of gears. The arrangement of the gears is quite difficult as well as it needs high manufacturing cost and maintenance cost. The design is replaced by the planetary gearbox to reduce the difficulties, and same output is achieved but with a different arrangement of the planetary gearbox.

Keywords: planetary gearbox, epicyclic gear, optimization, dynamic balancing

Procedia PDF Downloads 359

Authors: Roya Pournaghi

Abstract:

Measuring the extent of daily use of the libraries study space is of utmost significance in order to develop, re-organize and maintain the efficiency of the study space. The current study aimed to employ GIS in analyzing the study halls space of the document center and central library of Tehran University and determine the extent of use of the study chairs and desks by the students-intended users. This combination of survey methods - descriptive design system. In order to collect the required data and a description of the method, To implement and entering data into ArcGIS software. It also analyzes the data and displays the results on the library floor map design method were used. And spatial database design and plan has been done at the Central Library of Tehran University through the amount of space used by members of the Library and Information halls plans. Results showed that Biruni's hall is allocated the highest occupancy rate to tables and chairs compared to other halls. In the Hall of Science and Technology, with an average occupancy rate of 0.39 in the tables represents the lowest users and Rashid al-Dins hall, and Science and Technology’s hall with an average occupancy rate (0.40) represents the lowest users of seats. In this study, the comparison of the space is occupied at different period as a study’s hall in the morning, evenings, afternoons, and several months was performed through GIS. This system analyzed the space relationship effectively and efficiently. The output of this study can be used by administrators and librarians to determine the exact amount of using the Equipment of study halls and librarians can use the output map to design more efficient space at the library.

Keywords: geospatial information system, spatial analysis, reading room, academic libraries, library’s user, central library of Tehran university

Procedia PDF Downloads 235