Search results for: mastery goal orientation

Authors: Nonso Ochinanwata, Patrick Oseloka Ezepue

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This paper explores the process of creating and capturing born-global firm opportunities. It reviews the key constructs that underpin the establishment of born-global firms in sub-Saharan Africa. These include entrepreneurial orientation, resources and capabilities, collaboration, and contextual influences. The paper discusses how individuals and entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa can establish home-based born-global firms that seek early international markets from inception. The paper suggests that sub-Saharan African governments should make a favourable microeconomics policy that will enable entrepreneurs and firms to acquire some certain minimal resources and capabilities, in order to develop global products and services.

Keywords: born global-firms, collaboration, internationalisation, dynamic capabilities, entrepreneurship, sub-Saharan Africa

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Authors: Hassan Gholibeigian, Kazem Gholibeigian

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In this paper, our goal is determination of loading versus time in crust. For this goal, we present a computational procedure to propose a cumulative strain energy time profile which can be used to predict the approximate location and time of the next major earthquake (M > 4.5) along a specific fault, which we believe, is more accurate than many of the methods presently in use. In the coming pages, after a short review of the research works presently going on in the area of earthquake analysis and prediction, earthquake mechanisms in both the jerk and sequence earthquake direction is discussed, then our computational procedure is presented using differential equations of equilibrium which govern the nonlinear dynamic response of a system of finite elements, modified with an extra term to account for the jerk produced during the quake. We then employ Von Mises developed model for the stress strain relationship in our calculations, modified with the addition of an extra term to account for thermal effects. For calculation of the strain energy the idea of Pulsating Mantle Hypothesis (PMH) is used. This hypothesis, in brief, states that the mantle is under diurnal cyclic pulsating loads due to unbalanced gravitational attraction of the sun and the moon. A brief discussion is done on the Denali fault as a case study. The cumulative strain energy is then graphically represented versus time. At the end, based on some hypothetic earthquake data, the final results are verified.

Keywords: pulsating mantle hypothesis, inner core’s dislocation, outer core’s bulge, constitutive model, transient hydro-magneto-thermo-mechanical load, diurnal stress, jerk, fault behaviour

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Authors: Á. L. Bendes

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By the end of the second decade of the 21st century, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an unavoidable part of everyday life and has necessarily aroused the interest of researchers in almost every field of science. This is no different in the case of jurisprudence, whose main task is not only to create its own theoretical paradigm related to AI. Perhaps the biggest impact on digital crime is artificial intelligence. In addition, the need to create legal frameworks suitable for the future application of the law has a similar importance. The prognosis according to which AI can reshape the practical application of law and, ultimately, the entire legal life is also of considerable importance. In the past, criminal law was basically created to sanction the criminal acts of a person, so the application of its concepts with original content to AI-related violations is not expected to be sufficient in the future. Taking this into account, it is necessary to rethink the basic elements of criminal law, such as the act and factuality, but also, in connection with criminality barriers and criminal sanctions, several new aspects have appeared that challenge both the criminal law researcher and the legislator. It is recommended to continuously monitor technological changes in the field of criminal law as well since it will be timely to re-create both the legal and scientific frameworks to correctly assess the events related to them, which may require a criminal law response. Artificial intelligence has completely reformed the world of digital crime. New crimes have appeared, which the legal systems of many countries do not or do not adequately regulate. It is considered important to investigate and sanction these digital crimes. The primary goal is prevention, for which we need a comprehensive picture of the intertwining of artificial intelligence and digital crimes. The goal is to explore these problems, present them, and create comprehensive proposals that support legal certainty.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, chat forums, defamation, international criminal cooperation, social networking, virtual sites

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Authors: Yusuf S. Dambatta, Ahmed A. D. Sarhan

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Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the most prominent rapid prototyping (RP) technologies which is being used to efficiently fabricate CAD 3D geometric models. However, the process is coupled with many drawbacks, of which the surface quality of the manufactured RP parts is among. Hence, studies relating to improving the surface roughness have been a key issue in the field of RP research. In this work, a technique of modelling the surface roughness in FDM is presented. Using experimentally measured surface roughness response of the FDM parts, an ANFIS prediction model was developed to obtain the surface roughness in the FDM parts using the main critical process parameters that affects the surface quality. The ANFIS model was validated and compared with experimental test results.

Keywords: surface roughness, fused deposition modelling (FDM), adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), orientation

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Authors: Khaled Elbehiery, Hussam Elbehiery

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The success of education is dependent on evolution and adaptation, while the traditional system has worked before, one type of education evolved with the digital age is virtual education that has influenced efficiency in today’s learning environments. Virtual learning has indeed proved its efficiency to overcome the drawbacks of the physical environment such as time, facilities, location, etc., but despite what it had accomplished, the educational system over all is not adequate for being a productive system yet. Earning a degree is not anymore enough to obtain a career job; it is simply missing the skills and creativity. There are always two sides of a coin; a college degree or a specialized certificate, each has its own merits, but having both can put you on a successful IT career path. For many of job-seeking individuals across world to have a clear meaningful goal for work and education and positively contribute the community, a productive correlation and cooperation among employers, universities alongside with the individual technical skills is a must for generations to come. Fortunately, the proposed research “Entrepreneur Universal Education System” is an evolution to meet the needs of both employers and students, in addition to gaining vital and real-world experience in the chosen fields is easier than ever. The new vision is to empower the education to improve organizations’ needs which means improving the world as its primary goal, adopting universal skills of effective thinking, effective action, effective relationships, preparing the students through real-world accomplishment and encouraging them to better serve their organization and their communities faster and more efficiently.

Keywords: virtual education, academic degree, certificates, internship, amazon web services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, hybrid models

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Authors: Juraj Beniak, Ľubomír Šooš, Peter Križan, Miloš Matúš

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Within Rapid Prototyping technologies are used many types of materials. Many of them are recyclable but there are still as plastic like, so practically they do not degrade in the landfill. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the special plastic materials which are biodegradable and also available for 3D printing within Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) technology. The question is, if the mechanical properties of produced models are comparable to similar technical plastic materials which are usual for prototype production. Presented paper shows the experiments results for tensile strength measurements for specimens prepared with different 3D printer settings and model orientation. Paper contains also the comparison of tensile strength values with values measured on specimens produced by conventional technologies as injection moulding.

Keywords: 3D printing, biodegradable plastic, fused deposition modeling, PLA plastic, rapid prototyping

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Authors: P. I. Yachevskaya, S. A. Terentiev, M. S. Kuznetsov

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Several synthetic HPHT diamonds with metal inclusions have been studied. To have possibility of investigate the movement and transformation of the inclusions in the volume of the diamond the samples parallele-piped like shape has been made out of diamond crystals. The calculated value of temperature gradient in the samples of diamond which was placed in high-pressure cell was about 5-10 grad/mm. Duration of the experiments was in range 2-16 hours. All samples were treated several times. It has been found that the volume (dimensions) of inclusions, temperature, temperature gradient and the crystallographic orientation of the samples in the temperature field affects the movement speed of inclusions. Maximum speed of inclusions’ movement reached a value 150 µm/h.

Keywords: diamond, inclusions, temperature gradient, HPHT

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Authors: Bo-Wei Song, Yun-Jung Lee

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This paper presents an intention interface and controller for a wire-driven heavy object lifting system that assists the operator with moving a heavy object. The handler is designed to allow a comfortable working posture for the operator. Plus, as a human assistive system, the operator is involved in the control loop, where a fuzzy control system is used to consider the human control characteristics. The effectiveness and performance of the proposed system are proved by experiments.

Keywords: fuzzy controller, handler design, heavy object lifting system, human-assistive device, human-in-the-loop system

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Authors: Branko Skoric, Aleksandar Miletic, Pal Terek, Lazar Kovacevic, Milan Kukuruzovic

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In this paper, we present the results of a study of TiN thin films which are deposited by a Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) and Ion Beam Assisted Deposition (IBAD). In the present investigation the subsequent ion implantation was provided with N⁵⁺ ions. The ion implantation was applied to enhance the mechanical properties of surface. The thin film deposition process exerts a number of effects such as crystallographic orientation, morphology, topography, densification of the films. A variety of analytic techniques were used for characterization, such as scratch test, calo test, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX).

Keywords: coating, super hard, ion implantation, nanohardness

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Authors: N. Kazantseva, P. Krakhmalev, I. Yadroitsev, A. Fefelov, N. Vinogradova, I. Ezhov, T. Kurennykh

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Martensitic texture-phase transition in Selective Laser Melting (SLM) Ti-6Al-4V (ELI) alloys was found. Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) analysis showed the initial cubic beta < 100 > (001) BCC texture. Such kind of texture is observed in BCC metals with flat rolling texture when axis is in the direction of rolling and the texture plane coincides with the plane of rolling. It was found that the texture of the parent BCC beta-phase determined the texture of low-temperature HCP alpha-phase limited the choice of its orientation variants. The {10-12} < -1011 > twinning system in titanium alloys after SLM was determined. Analysis of the oxygen contamination in SLM alloys was done. Comparison of the obtained results with the conventional titanium alloys is also provided.

Keywords: additive technology, texture, twins, Ti-6Al-4V, oxygen content

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Authors: Saori Iwatsuka

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In The Member of the Wedding, Carson McCullers starts with the words, “It happened,” without telling the reader what happens to a twelve-year-old protagonist, Frankie Adams. The reader feels confused and incomprehensible. However, he or she later realizes that the confusing phrase is connected to the scene where Frankie feels “the thing happened” after listening to the melodic lines of jazz and blues. Yet, the reader cannot really comprehend what happens to Frankie and feels puzzled till the end. And the story ends with Frankie’s words, “I am simply mad about . . .” Implying her queer desire for her new friend Mary Littlejohn, McCullers never tells the reader whom Frankie is mad about. Despite McCullers’s ambiguous way of depicting Frankie’s sexuality, recent critics and reviewers have come to discuss her sexuality as anti-heterosexual because Frankie expresses her hatred for Barney, whom she has had some type of sexual encounter, and feels wrong with her brother Jarvis’s wedding. After giving up her sexual desire for Jarvis’s bride, Janice, Frankie changes her name to Frances, becomes engrossed with Michelangelo, and enjoys reading Tennyson’s poetry with Mary. Michelangelo and Tennyson are well-known homosexual artists, which suggests that Frankie has an anti-heterosexual orientation. As McCullers does not precisely describe Frankie’s sexuality, the reader can only assume it by connecting fragmentary descriptions. However, this discussion is more clarified to show Frankie’s sexuality because analyzing the musical references of jazz and blues and interpreting them from a musicological viewpoint will illuminate it. In her works, McCullers frequently uses musical references and descriptions, which have a significant and psychological impact on the protagonists and portrays their bodily reactions to the impact to reveal what the reader cannot see on the surface. Thus, in this story, too, Frankie’s bodily reaction to music is portrayed to cue her feelings. After seeing the chimney swifts, known as monogamous birds, Frankie feels “a jazz sadness,” quivers her nerves and stiffens her heart. After listening to Berenice’s “dark jazz voice,” Frankie feels dizzy and throws a knife because Berenice’s voice jazzes (excites) her heart that beats in her head. Calming herself, she fantasizes that Jarvis, Jarvis’s bride, Janice, and herself are members of “the we of me.” Then in the evening, listening to the blues and jazz being played by a black horn player somewhere in her neighborhood, Frankie realizes “the thing happened” and discovers “a new feeling.” Following the musical references “jazz” and “blues” and examining them from the viewpoint of musicology and terminology leads the reader to explore what “it” is in “it happened” and what her “new feeling” is when “the thing happened” with the blues tune breaking off. Those discussions will illuminate Frankie’s sexuality. As McCullers does not clearly name her sexuality, this paper uses the word queer to express Frankie’s anti-sexual orientation.

Keywords: jazz and blues, musical references, queer sexuality, “we of me”

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Authors: Cristina Fernandez, Felix Amparano, John Tumberger, Stephani Stancil, Sarah Hampl, Brooke Sweeney, Amy R. Beck, Helena H Laroche, Jared Tucker, Eileen Chaves, Sara Gould, Matthew Lindquist, Lora Edwards, Renee Arensberg, Meredith Dreyer, Jazmine Cedeno, Alleen Cummins, Jennifer Lisondra, Katie Cox, Kelsey Dean, Rachel Perera, Nicholas A. Clark

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Background: Adolescents with obesity are at higher risk of disordered eating than the general population. Detection of eating disorders (ED) is difficult. Screening questionnaires may aid in early detection of ED. Our team’s prior efforts focused on increasing ED screening rates to ≥90% using a validated 10-question adolescent binge eating disorder screening questionnaire (ADO-BED). This aim was achieved. We then aimed to improve treatment plan initiation of patients ≥12 years of age who screen positive for BED within our WMC from 33% to 70% within 12 months. Methods: Our WMC is within a tertiary-care, free-standing children’s hospital. A3, an improvement framework, was used. A multidisciplinary team (physicians, nurses, registered dietitians, psychologists, and exercise physiologists) was created. The outcome measure was documentation of treatment plan initiation of those who screen positive (goal 70%). The process measure was ADO-BED screening rate of WMC patients (goal ≥90%). Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle 1 included provider education on current literature and treatment plan initiation based upon ADO-BED responses. PDSA 2 involved increasing documentation of treatment plan and retrain process to providers. Pre-defined treatment plans were: 1) repeat screen in 3-6 months, 2) resources provided only, or 3) comprehensive multidisciplinary weight management team evaluation. Run charts monitored impact over time. Results: Within 9 months, 166 patients were seen in WMC. Process measure showed sustained performance above goal (mean 98%). Outcome measure showed special cause improvement from mean of 33% to 100% (n=31). Of treatment plans provided, 45% received Plan 1, 4% Plan 2, and 46% Plan 3. Conclusion: Through a multidisciplinary improvement team approach, we maintained sustained ADO-BED screening performance, and, prior to our 12-month timeline, achieved our project aim. Our efforts may serve as a model for other multidisciplinary WMCs. Next steps may include expanding project scope to other WM programs.

Keywords: obesity, pediatrics, clinic, eating disorder

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Authors: Roman Graf, Sergiu Gordea, Heather M. Ryan

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This paper presents an approach for the easy creation of an institutional risk profile for endangerment analysis of file formats. The main contribution of this work is the employment of data mining techniques to support risk factors set up with just the most important values that are important for a particular organisation. Subsequently, the risk profile employs fuzzy models and associated configurations for the file format metadata aggregator to support digital preservation experts with a semi-automatic estimation of endangerment level for file formats. Our goal is to make use of a domain expert knowledge base aggregated from a digital preservation survey in order to detect preservation risks for a particular institution. Another contribution is support for visualisation and analysis of risk factors for a requried dimension. The proposed methods improve the visibility of risk factor information and the quality of a digital preservation process. The presented approach is meant to facilitate decision making for the preservation of digital content in libraries and archives using domain expert knowledge and automatically aggregated file format metadata from linked open data sources. To facilitate decision-making, the aggregated information about the risk factors is presented as a multidimensional vector. The goal is to visualise particular dimensions of this vector for analysis by an expert. The sample risk profile calculation and the visualisation of some risk factor dimensions is presented in the evaluation section.

Keywords: digital information management, file format, endangerment analysis, fuzzy models

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Authors: Raeed Alanazi

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Introduction: Nursing students have a crucial role to play in the inhibition of infectious diseases and, therefore, must be trained in infection control and prevention modules prior to entering clinical settings. Simulations have been found to have a positive impact on infection control skills and the use of standard precautions. Aim: The purpose of this study was to use the four sources of self-efficacy in explaining the level of clinical self-efficacy and adherence to infection control practices in Saudi nursing students during simulation practice. Method: A cross-sectional design with convenience sampling was used. This study was conducted in all Saudi nursing schools, with a total number of 197 students participated in this study. Three scales were used simulation self- efficacy Scale (SSES), the four sources of self-efficacy scale (SSES), and Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS). Multiple linear regression was used to test the use of the four sources of self-efficacy (SSES) in explaining level of clinical self-efficacy and adherence to infection control in nursing students. Results: The vicarious experience subscale (p =.044) was statistically significant. The regression model indicated that for every one unit increase in vicarious experience (observation and reflection in simulation), the participants’ adherence to infection control increased by .13 units (β =.22, t = 2.03, p =.044). In addition, the regression model indicated that for every one unit increase in education level, the participants’ adherence to infection control increased by 1.82 units (beta=.34= 3.64, p <.001). Also, the mastery experience subscale (p <.001) and vicarious experience subscale (p = .020) were shared significant associations with clinical self-efficacy. Conclusion: The findings of this research support the idea that simulation-based learning can be a valuable teaching-learning method to help nursing students develop clinical competence, which is essential in providing quality and safe nursing care.

Keywords: simulation-based learning, clinical self-efficacy, infection control, nursing students

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Authors: Joyce Joas Kahembe

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The implementation of education assessment reforms in developing countries has been claimed to be problematic and difficult. The socio-economic teaching and learning environment has pointed to constraints in the education reform process. Nevertheless, there are existing assessment practices that if enhanced, can have potential to foster formative assessment practices in those contexts. The present study used the sociocultural perspective to explore teachers’ assessment practices and factors influencing them in Tanzania. Specifically, the sociocultural perspective helped to trace social, economic and political histories imparted to teachers’ assessment practices. The ethnographic oriented methods like interviews, observations and document reviews was used in this exploration. Teachers used assessment practices, such as questioning and answering, tests, assignments and examinations, for evaluating, monitoring and diagnosing students’ understanding, achievement and performance and standards and quality of instruction practices. The obtained assessment information functioned as feedback for improving students’ understanding, performance, and the standard and quality of teaching instruction and materials. For example, teachers acknowledged, praised, approved, disapproved, denied, graded, or marked students’ responses to give students feedback and aid learning. Moreover, teachers clarified and corrected or repeated students’ responses with worded/added words to improve students’ mastery of the subject content. Teachers’ assessment practices were influenced by the high demands of passing marks in the high stakes examinations and the contexts of the social economic teaching environment. There is a need to ally education assessment reforms with existing socio-economic teaching environments and society and institutional demands of assessment to make assessment reforms meaningful and sustainable. This presentation ought to contribute on ongoing strategies for contextualizing assessment practices for formative uses.

Keywords: assessment, feedback, practices, formative assessment

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Authors: Huiling Feng, Xiaoshuang Jia, Jihong Liang, Li Niu

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Beijing, formerly romanized as Peking, is the capital of the People's Republic of China and the world's second most populous city proper and most populous capital city. Beijing is a noted historical and cultural whose city history dates back three millennia which is extremely rich in terms of cultural heritage. In 2012, a digital memory project led by Humanistic Beijing Studies Center in Renmin University of China started with the goal to build a total digital collection of knowledge assets about Beijing and represent Beijing memories in new fresh ways. The title of the entire project is ‘Peking Memory Project(PMP)’. The main goal is for safeguarding the documentary heritage and intellectual memory of Beijing, more specifically speaking, from the perspective of historical humanities and public participation, PMP will comprehensively applied digital technologies like digital capture, digital storage, digital process, digital presentation and digital communication to transform different kinds of cultural heritage of Beijing into digital formats that can be stored, re-organized and shared. These digital memories can be interpreted with a new perspective, be organized with a new theme, be presented in a new way and be utilized with a new need. Taking social memory as theoretical basis and digital technologies as tools, PMP is framed with ‘Two Sites and A Repository’. Two sites mean the special website(s) characterized by ‘professional’ and an interactive website characterized by ‘crowdsourcing’. A Repository means the storage pool used for safety long-time preservation of the digital memories. The work of PMP has ultimately helped to highlight the important role in safeguarding the documentary heritage and intellectual memory of Beijing.

Keywords: digital memory, cultural heritage, digital technologies, peking memory project

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Authors: Thorben Kuprat, Julian Becker, Jonas Mayer, Peter Nyhuis

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For years now, it has been recognized that logistic performance capability contributes enormously to a production enterprise’s competitiveness and as such is a critical control lever. In doing so, the orientation on customer wishes (e.g. delivery dates) represents a key parameter not only in the value-adding production but also in product regeneration. Since production and regeneration processes have different characteristics, production planning and control measures cannot be directly transferred to regeneration processes. As part of a special research project, the Institute of Production Systems and Logistics Hannover is focused on increasing the logistic performance capability of regeneration processes for complex capital goods. The aim is to ensure logistic targets are met by implementing a model specifically designed to align the capacities and load in regeneration processes.

Keywords: capacity planning, complex capital goods, logistic performance, regeneration process

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Authors: K. Aravinth, C. T. Vignesh

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The usage of pulse tube cryocoolers is significantly increased mainly due to the advantage of the absence of moving parts. The underlying idea of this project is to optimize the design of pulse tube, regenerator, a resonator in cryocooler and analyzing the thermo-acoustic oscillations with respect to the design parameters. Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model with time-dependent validation is done to predict its performance. The continuity, momentum, and energy equations are solved for various porous media regions. The effect of changing the geometries and orientation will be validated and investigated in performance. The pressure, temperature and velocity fields in the regenerator and pulse tube are evaluated. This optimized design performance results will be compared with the existing pulse tube cryocooler design. The sinusoidal behavior of cryocooler in acoustic streaming patterns in pulse tube cryocooler will also be evaluated.

Keywords: acoustics, cryogenics, design, optimization

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Authors: Hassina Gheribi, Salim Boukebbab

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The measurement of the parts manufactured on CMM (coordinate measuring machine) is based on the association of a surface of perfect geometry to the group of dots palpated via a mathematical calculation of the distances between the palpated points and itself surfaces. Surfaces not being never perfect, they are measured by a number of points higher than the minimal number necessary to define them mathematically. However, the central problems of three-dimensional metrology are the estimate of, the orientation parameters, location and intrinsic of this surface. Including the numerical uncertainties attached to these parameters help the metrologist to make decisions to be able to declare the conformity of the part to specifications fixed on the design drawing. During this paper, we will present a data-processing model in Visual Basic-6 which makes it possible automatically to determine the whole of these parameters, and their uncertainties.

Keywords: coordinate measuring machines (CMM), associated surface, uncertainties of measurement, acquisition and modeling

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Authors: Adekeye Joshua Temitope

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“Transgender” presents a complexion of ambiguity in the African context and it remains a contested topography in the discourse of sexual identity. The casts and stigmatisations towards transgender unveils vital facts and intricacies often ignored in the academic communities; the problems and oppressions of given sex/gender system, the constrain of monogamy and ignorance of fluidity of human sexuality thereby generating dual discords of “enforced heterosexual” and “unavoidable homosexual.” The African culture voids transgender movements and perceive same-sex sexual behavior as “taboo or bad habits” and this provide reasonable explanations for the failure of asserting for the sexual rights in GLBT movement in most discourse on sexuality in the African context. However, we could not deny the real existence of active flowing and fluidity of human sexuality even though its variants could be latent. The incessant consciousness of the existence of transgender practices in Africa either in form of bisexual desire or bisexual behavior with or without sexual identity, including people who identify themselves as bisexual opens up the vision for us to reconsider and reexamine what constitutes such ambiguity and controversy of transgender identity at present time. The notion of identity politics in gay, lesbian, and transgender community has its complexity and debates in its historical development. This paper analyses the representation of the historical trajectory of transgender practices by presenting the dynamic transition of how people cognize transgender practices under different historical conditions since the understanding of historical transition of bisexual practices would be very crucial and meaningful for gender/sexuality liberation movement at present time and in the future. The paper did a juxtaposition of the trajectories of bisexual practices between Anglo-American world and Africa, as it has certain similarities and differences within diverse historical complexities. The similar condition is the emergence of gay identity under the influence of capitalism but within different cultural context. Therefore, the political economy of each cultural context plays very important role in understanding the formation of sexual identities historically and its development and influence for the GLBT movement afterwards and in the future. By reexamining Kinsey’s categorization and applying Klein’s argument on individual’s sexual orientation this paper is poised to break the given and fixed connection among sexual behavior/sexual orientation/sexual identity, on the other hand to present the potential fluidity of human sexuality by reconsidering and reexamining the present given sex/gender system in our world. The paper concludes that it is obligatory for the essentialist and exclusionary trend at this historical moment since gay and lesbian communities in Africa need to clearly demonstrate and voice for themselves under the nuances of gender/sexuality liberation.

Keywords: heterosexual, homosexual, identity politics, queer politics, transgender

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Authors: Lena Murawski

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Currently, researchers and experts from the business world recognize entrepreneurial behaviors as a decisive factor for economic success, allowing firms to adapt to changing internal and external needs. The purpose of this study is to explore how gamification can enhance entrepreneurial behaviors, reporting on a gamification project in a new venture operating in the IT sector in Germany. This article is based on data gathered from observations of pre‐ and post‐implementation in the case company. Results have indicated that the use of gamification encourages entrepreneurial behaviors, especially relating to seeking ways on how to integrate new employees, improve teamwork and communication, and to adapt existing processes to increase productivity. The interdisciplinary dialogue furthers our understanding of factors that foster entrepreneurial behaviors. The matter is of practical relevance, guiding practitioners on how to exploit the potentials of gamification to exhibit an entrepreneurial orientation in organizations.

Keywords: case study, entrepreneurial behaviors, gamification, new venture

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Authors: Mustafa Jahanara

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The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationships between hope, optimism and mental health (psychological well-being and psychological distress) among students. A total of 222 students (132 males and 90 females) at the University of Pune from India completed inventories Revision of the Life Orientation Test (LOT-R), the Trait Hope Scale (THS) and the Mental Health Inventory (MHI) that assessed their optimism, hope and psychological well-being and psychological distress. The results of the study showed that optimism and hope were significantly correlated with each other. Optimism is positively related to psychological well-being and optimism is negatively related to psychological distress. Also, hope was positively related to psychological well-being. However, the findings suggest that optimism and hope could influence on mental health.

Keywords: Hope, optimism, psychological distress, psychological well-being

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Authors: A. Al Hajeri, M. E. Minton, B. Haskins, F. H. Cummins

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The pre-hospital endotracheal intubation is fraught with difficulties; one solution offered has been video laryngoscopy (VL) which permits better visualization of the glottis than the standard method of direct laryngoscopy (DL). This method has resulted in a higher first attempt success rate and fewer failed intubations. However, VL has mainly been evaluated by experienced providers (experienced anesthetists), and as such the utility of this device for those whom infrequently intubate has not been thoroughly assessed. We sought to evaluate this equipment to determine whether in the hands of novice providers this equipment could prove an effective airway management adjunct. DL and two VL methods (C-Mac with distal screen/C-Mac with attached screen) were evaluated by simulating practice on a Laerdal airway management trainer manikin. Twenty Emergency Medical Technicians (basics) were recruited as novice practitioners. This group was used to eliminate bias, as these clinicians had no pre-hospital experience of intubation (although they did have basic airway skills). The following areas were assessed: Time taken to intubate, number of attempts required to successfully intubate, ease of use of equipment VL (attached screen) took on average longer for novice clinicians to successfully intubate and had a lower success rate and reported higher rating of difficulty compared to DL. However, VL (with distal screen) and DL were comparable on intubation times, success rate, gastric inflation rate and rating of difficulty by the user. This study highlights the routine use of VL by inexperienced clinicians would be of no added benefit over DL. Further studies are required to determine whether Emergency Medical Technicians (Paramedics) would benefit from this airway adjunct, and ascertain whether after initial mastery of VL (with a distal screen), lower intubation times and difficulty rating may be achievable.

Keywords: direct laryngoscopy, endotracheal intubation, pre-hospital, video laryngoscopy

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Authors: Karim Akkouche

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Many methods have been developed for characterizing the behavior of bolted joints. However, in the presence of a certain model of stiffeners, no orientation was given in relation to their modeling. To this end, multitude of coarse errors can arise in the reproduction of the propagation of efforts and in representation of the modes of deformations. Considering these particularities, a numerical investigation was carried out in our laboratory. In this paper we will present a comparative study between three types of assemblies. A non-linear 3D modeling was chosen, given that it takes into consideration geometric and material non-linearity, using the Finite Element calculation code ABAQUS. Initially, we evaluated the influence of the presence of each stiffener on the "global" behavior of the assemblies, this by analyzing their Moment-Rotation curves, also by referring to the classification system proposed by NF EN 1993- 1.8 which is based on the resisting moment Mj-Rd and the initial stiffness Sj.int. In a second step, we evaluated the "local" behavior of their components by referring to the stress-strain curves.

Keywords: assembly, post-beam, end plate, nonlinearity

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Authors: Madhura Bandyopadhyay

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Teaching writing within multicultural and multiethnic communities poses many unique challenges not the least of which is that of intercultural communication. When the writing is in English, pedagogical imperatives often encounter the universalizing tendencies of standardization of both language use and structural parameters which are often at odds with maintaining local practices which preserve cultural pluralism. English often becomes the contact zone within which individual identities of students play out against the standardization imperatives of the larger world. Writing classes can serve as places which become instruments of assimilation of ethnic minorities to a larger globalizing or nationalistic agenda. Hence, for those outside of the standard practices of writing English, adaptability towards a mastery of those practices valued as standard become the focus of teaching taking away from diversity of local English use and other modes of critical thinking. In a very multicultural and multiethnic context such as the US or Singapore, these dynamics become very important. This paper will argue that multiethnic writing classrooms can greatly benefit from taking up a cultural studies approach whereby the students’ lived environments and experiences are analyzed as cultural texts to produce writing. Such an approach eliminates limitations of using both literary texts as foci of discussion as in traditional approaches to teaching writing and the current trend in teaching composition without using texts at all. By bringing in students’ lived experiences into the classroom and analyzing them as cultural compositions stressing the ability to communicate across cultures, cultural competency is valued rather than adaptability while privileging pluralistic experiences as valuable even as universal shared experience are found. Specifically, while teaching writing in English in a multicultural classroom, a cultural studies approach makes both teacher and student aware of the diversity of the English language as it exists in our global context in the students’ experience while making space for diversity in critical thinking, structure and organization of writing effective in an intercultural context.

Keywords: English, multicultural, teaching, writing

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Authors: Fereshteh Akbari, Farrokh Jalali Mosalam, Ali Hedayatifar, Amirreza Aminjavaheri

Abstract:

The soil nailing is an effective method to stabilize slopes and retaining structures. Consequently, the lateral and vertical displacement of retaining walls are important criteria to evaluate the safety risks of adjacent structures. This paper is devoted to the optimization problems of retaining walls based on ABAQOUS Software. The various parameters such as nail length, orientation, arrangement, horizontal spacing, and bond skin friction, on lateral and vertical displacement of retaining walls are investigated. In order to ensure accuracy, the mobilized shear stress acting around the perimeter of the nail-soil interface is also modeled in ABAQOUS software. The observed trend of results is compared to the previous researches.

Keywords: retaining walls, soil nailing, ABAQOUS software, lateral displacement, vertical displacement

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Dalila Lino

Abstract:

The power of play for learning and development in early childhood education is beyond question. The main goal of this study is to analyse how three contemporary early childhood pedagogical approaches, the High Scope, the Modern School Movement (MEM) and the Pedagogy of Participation integrate play in their curriculum development. From this main goal the following objectives emerged: (i) to characterize how play is integrated in the daily routine of the pedagogical approaches under study; (ii) to analyse the teachers’ role during children’s playing situations; (iii) to identify the types of play that children are more often involved. The methodology used is the qualitative approach and is situated under the interpretative paradigm. Data is collected through semi-structured interviews to 30 preschool teachers and through observations of typical daily routines. The participants are 30 Portuguese preschool classrooms attending children from 3 to 6 years and working with the High Scope curriculum (10 classrooms), the MEM (10 classrooms) and the Pedagogy of Participation (10 classrooms). The qualitative method of content analysis was used to analyse the data. To ensure confidentiality, no information is disclosed without participants' consent, and the interviews were transcribed and sent to the participants for a final revision. The results show that there are differences how play is integrated and promoted in the three pedagogical approaches. The teachers’ role when children are at play varies according the pedagogical approach adopted, and also according to the teachers’ understanding about the meaning of play. The study highlights the key role that early childhood curriculum models have to promote opportunities for children to play, and therefore to be involved in meaningful learning.

Keywords: curriculum models, early childhood education, pedagogy, play

Procedia PDF Downloads 207

Authors: I. Nižetić Kosović, T. Jagušt

Abstract:

Lately, with the increasing number of location-based applications, demand for highly accurate and reliable indoor localization became urgent. This is a challenging problem, due to the measurement variance which is the consequence of various factors like obstacles, equipment properties and environmental changes in complex nature of indoor environments. In this paper we propose low-cost custom-setup infrastructure solution and localization algorithm based on the Weighted Centroid Localization (WCL) method. Localization accuracy is increased by several enhancements: calibration of RSSI values gained from wireless nodes, repetitive measurements of RSSI to exclude deviating values from the position estimation, and by considering orientation of the device according to the wireless nodes. We conducted several experiments to evaluate the proposed algorithm. High accuracy of ~1m was achieved.

Keywords: indoor environment, received signal strength indicator, weighted centroid localization, wireless localization

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Dimitar N. Karastoianov, Stanislav D. Gyoshev, Todor N. Penchev

Abstract:

Preparation of briquettes of metal chips with good density and quality is of great importance for the efficiency of this process. In this paper are presented the results of impact briquetting of grey cast iron chips with rectangular shape and dimensions 15x25x1 mm. Density and quality of briquettes of these chips are compared with those obtained in another work of the authors using cast iron chips with smaller sizes. It has been found that by using a rectangular chips with a large size are produced briquettes with a very low density and poor quality. From the photographs taken by X-ray tomography, it is clear that the reason for this is the orientation of the chip in the peripheral wall of the briquettes, which does not allow of the air to escape from it. It was concluded that in order to obtain briquettes of cast iron chips with a large size, these chips must first be ground, for example in a small ball mill.

Keywords: briquetting, chips, impact, rocket engine

Procedia PDF Downloads 525

Authors: Khaoula Hidouri, Ali Benhmidene, Bechir Chouachi

Abstract:

The purification of brackish seawater becomes a necessity and not a choice against demographic and industrial growth especially in third world countries. Two models can be used in this work: simple solar still and simple solar still coupled with a heat pump. In this research, the productivity of water by Simple Solar Distiller (SSD) and Simple Solar Distiller Hybrid Heat Pump (SSDHP) was determined by the orientation, the use of heat pump, the simple or double glass cover. The productivity can exceed 1.2 L/m²h for the SSDHP and 0.5 L/m²h for SSD model. The result of the global efficiency is determined for two models SSD and SSDHP give respectively 30%, 50%. The internal efficiency attained 35% for SSD and 60% of the SSDHP models. Convective heat coefficient can be determined by attained 2.5 W/m²°C and 0.5 W/m²°C respectively for SSDHP and SSD models.

Keywords: productivity, efficiency, convective heat coefficient, SSD model, SSDHPmodel

Procedia PDF Downloads 213