Search results for: peer influence

Authors: Marie Bountrogianni, Leonora Zefi, Krystle Phirangee, Naza Djafarova

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Faculty development is critical for any institution as it impacts students’ learning experiences and faculty performance with regards to course delivery. With that in mind, The Chang School at Ryerson University embarked on an initiative to develop a comprehensive, relevant faculty development program for online faculty and instructors. Teaching Adult Learners Online (TALO) is a professional development program designed to build capacity among online teaching faculty to enhance communication/facilitation skills for online instruction and establish a Community of Practice to allow for opportunities for online faculty to network and exchange ideas and experiences. TALO is comprised of four online modules and each module provides three hours of learning materials. The topics focus on online teaching and learning experience, principles and practices, opportunities and challenges in online assessments as well as course design and development. TALO offers a unique experience for online instructors who are placed in the role of a student and an instructor through interactivities involving discussions, hands-on assignments, peer mentoring while experimenting with technological tools available for their online teaching. Through exchanges and informal peer mentoring, a small interdisciplinary community of practice has started to take shape. Successful participants have to meet four requirements for completion: i) participate actively in online discussions and activities, ii) develop a communication plan for the course they are teaching, iii) design one learning activity/or media component, iv) design one online learning module. This study adopted a mixed methods exploratory sequential design. For the qualitative phase of this study, a thorough literature review was conducted on what constitutes effective faculty development programs. Based on that review, the design team identified desired competencies for online teaching/facilitation and course design. Once the competencies were identified, a focus group interview with The Chang School teaching community was conducted as a needs assessment and to validate the competencies. In the quantitative phase, questionnaires were distributed to instructors and faculty after the program was launched to continue ongoing evaluation and revisions, in hopes of further improving the program to meet the teaching community’s needs. Four faculty members participated in a one-hour focus group interview. Major findings from the focus group interview revealed that for the training program, faculty wanted i) to better engage students online, ii) to enhance their online teaching with specific strategies, iii) to explore different ways to assess students online. 91 faculty members completed the questionnaire in which findings indicated that: i) the majority of faculty stated that they gained the necessary skills to demonstrate instructor presence through communication and use of technological tools provided, ii) increased faculty confidence with course management strategies, iii) learning from peers is most effective – the Community of Practice is strengthened and valued even more as program alumni become facilitators. Although this professional development program is not mandatory for online instructors, since its launch in Fall 2014, over 152 online instructors have successfully completed the program. A Community of Practice emerged as a result of the program and participants continue to exchange thoughts and ideas about online teaching and learning.

Keywords: community of practice, customized, faculty development, inclusive design

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Authors: Hela Krir, Abdelhak Ayadi, Chedly Bradaii

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The influence of both intrinsic factors, elastic energy and memory effect, and radial flow on the appearance and the evolution of the extrudate swelling are investigated in the present work. The experiments have been performed with linear polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) via a capillary rheometer in which a convergent radial flow was created upstream the contraction. The correspondence between the effects of radial flow, entry elastic stored energy and memory effect is discussed. In particular, as the influence of the considered radial flow, extrudate photographs showed that when the gap ratio is reduced, the extrudate swell is lessened than what it is when radial flow geometry is not installed. Moreover, with a narrower gap, the polymer stores less energy during its passage through the die which implies a lower extrudate swelling at the outlet of the die. Results previously mentioned may be related both to shear and elongational components of radial flow.

Keywords: elastic energy, extrudate swell, memory effect, radial flow

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Authors: Sarah Abdourraziq

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Photovoltaic (PV) water pumping system is one of the most used and important applications in the field of solar energy. However, the cost and the efficiency are still a concern, especially with continued change of solar radiation and temperature. Then, the improvement of the efficiency of the system components is a good solution to reducing the cost. The use of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms to track the output maximum power point (MPP) of the PV panel is very important to improve the efficiency of the whole system. In this paper, we will present a definition of the functioning of MPPT technique, and a detailed model of each component of PV pumping system with Matlab-Simulink, the results shows the influence of the changing of solar radiation and temperature in the output characteristics of PV panel, which influence in the efficiency of the system. Our system consists of a PV generator, a boost converter, a motor-pump set, and storage tank.

Keywords: PV panel, boost converter, MPPT, MPP, PV pumping system

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Authors: A. Terfous, Y. Liu, A. Ghenaim, P. A. Garambois

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With increasing urbanization worldwide, it is crucial to sustainably manage sediment flows in urban networks and especially in stormwater detention basins. One key aspect is to propose optimized designs for detention tanks in order to best reduce flood peak flows and in the meantime settle particles. It is, therefore, necessary to understand complex flows patterns and sediment deposition conditions in stormwater detention basins. The aim of this paper is to study flow structure and particle deposition pattern for a given tank geometry in view to control and maximize sediment deposition. Both numerical simulation and experimental works were done to investigate the flow and sediment distribution in a storm tank with a cavity. As it can be indicated, the settle distribution of the particle in a rectangular tank is mainly determined by the flow patterns and the bed shear stress. The flow patterns in a rectangular tank differ with different geometry, entrance flow rate and the water depth. With the changing of flow patterns, the bed shear stress will change respectively, which also play an influence on the particle settling. The accumulation of the particle in the bed changes the conditions at the bottom, which is ignored in the investigations, however it worth much more attention, the influence of the accumulation of the particle on the sedimentation should be important. The approach presented here is based on the resolution of the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations to account for turbulent effects and also a passive particle transport model. An analysis of particle deposition conditions is presented in this paper in terms of flow velocities and turbulence patterns. Then sediment deposition zones are presented thanks to the modeling with particle tracking method. It is shown that two recirculation zones seem to significantly influence sediment deposition. Due to the possible overestimation of particle trap efficiency with standard wall functions and stick conditions, further investigations seem required for basal boundary conditions based on turbulent kinetic energy and shear stress. These observations are confirmed by experimental investigations processed in the laboratory.

Keywords: storm sewers, sediment deposition, numerical simulation, experimental investigation

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Authors: Rodrigo Zepeda

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Transaction cost analysis (TCA) is a way of analyzing the relative performance of different intermediaries and different trading strategies for trades undertaken in financial instruments. It is a way for an investor to determine the overall quality of execution of a particular trade, and there are many different approaches to undertaking TCA. Under the updated Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (2014/65/EU) (MiFID II), investment firms are required when executing orders, to take all sufficient steps to obtain the best possible result for their clients. This requirement for 'Best Execution' must take into account price, costs, speed, likelihood of execution and settlement, size, nature or any other consideration relevant to the execution of the order. The new regulatory compliance framework under MiFID II will now also apply across a very broad range of financial instruments. This article will provide a comprehensive technical analysis of how TCA and Best Execution will significantly change under MiFID II. It will also explain why harmonization of post-trade reporting requirements under MiFID II could potentially support the development of peer group analysis, which in turn could provide a new and highly advanced framework for TCA that could more effectively support Best Execution requirements under MiFID II. The study is significant because there are no studies that have dealt with TCA and Best Execution under MiFID II in the literature.

Keywords: transaction cost analysis, execution quality, best execution, MiFID II, financial instruments

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Authors: S. Djebali, S. Larbi, A. Bilek

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The present work aims at contributing to the study of the complex phenomenon of wear of pin on disc contact in dry sliding friction between two material couples (bronze/steel and unsaturated polyester virgin and charged with graphite powder/steel). The work consists of the determination of the coefficient of friction, the study of the influence of the tribological parameters on this coefficient and the determination of the mass loss and the wear rate of the pin. This study is also widened to the highlighting of the influence of the addition of graphite powder on the tribological properties of the polymer constituting the pin. The experiments are carried out on a pin-disc type tribometer that we have designed and manufactured. Tests are conducted according to the standards DIN 50321 and DIN EN 50324. The discs are made of annealed XC48 steel and quenched and tempered XC48 steel. The main results are described here after. The increase of the normal load and the sliding speed causes the increase of the friction coefficient, whereas the increase of the percentage of graphite and the hardness of the disc surface contributes to its reduction. The mass loss also increases with the normal load. The influence of the normal load on the friction coefficient is more significant than that of the sliding speed. The effect of the sliding speed decreases for large speed values. The increase of the amount of graphite powder leads to a decrease of the coefficient of friction, the mass loss and the wear rate. The addition of graphite to the UP resin is beneficial; it plays the role of solid lubricant.

Keywords: bronze, friction coefficient, graphite, mass loss, polyester, steel, wear rate

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Authors: Anne Sørebø

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The present study was designed to test how fulfilment of three basic psychological needs influence students development of perceived usefulness (PU) and ease of use (EOU) in connection with use of a spreadsheet. Both PU and EOU are assumed to be critical for development of students' willingness to utilize spreadsheet in future work within business administration. A questionnaire was completed by 196 business students in Norway. We found that satisfying the need for competence and autonomy is most critical for willingness to utilize the software package. The results also indicate that satisfying the need for relatedness, surprisingly, has no influence on students’ willingness to utilize the software package. A key implication of the present research is that teachers mainly should focus on fulfilling students need for competence and self-determination when the purpose is to motivate them to utilize new software. That students’ should develop their own competence when using a new technology is somewhat obvious, but that the feeling of being self-determined needs to be a complementary element in this connection is not necessary seen as obvious.

Keywords: spreadsheet, business students, technology acceptance, basic psychological needs

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Authors: Mariam Shah

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Stereotypes are not generally considered to be an acceptable influence upon any decision making process, particularly those involving judicial decision making outcomes. Yet, we are confronted with an uncomfortable truth that stereotypes may be operating to influence judicial outcomes. Variances in sentencing outcomes are not easily explained away by criminological, psychological, or sociological theorem, but may be answered via qualitative research produced within the field of phenomenology. This paper will examine the current literature pertaining to the effect of stereotypes on the criminal justice system within the UK, and will also discuss what the implications are for stereotypical influences upon decision making in the criminal justice system. This paper will give particular focus to shoplifting offences dealt with in UK criminal courts, but this research has long reaching implications for the criminal process more generally.

Keywords: decision making, judicial decision making, phenomenology, shoplifting, stereotypes

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Authors: Bundit Pungnirund

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The purposes of this research were to develop and to monitor the antecedent factors which directly affected the success rate of new product development. This was a case study of the leather industry in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 350 leather factories were used as a sample group. The findings revealed that the new product development model was harmonized with the empirical data at the acceptable level, the statistic values are: x^2=6.45, df= 7, p-value = .48856; RMSEA = .000; RMR = .0029; AGFI = .98; GFI = 1.00. The independent variable that directly influenced the dependent variable at the highest level was marketing outcome which had a influence coefficient at 0.32 and the independent variables that indirectly influenced the dependent variables at the highest level was a clear organization policy which had a influence coefficient at 0.17, whereas, all independent variables can predict the model at 48 percent.

Keywords: antecedent, new product development, leather industry, Thailand

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Authors: Yassir Mohammed

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The study examines the impact of skilled parental migration on left-behind children. It uses the SCOPUS database to evaluate the existing literature from 1972 to 2022 and synthesizes data using the PRISMA framework and bibliometric method of analysis. 49 articles out of 202 papers were involved in the synthesis. International migration, outcome migration, consequence, parental migration, high-skill and left-behind children, and left-behind preschool were all searched. The research found that mental health issues, self-isolation, and physical harm have negative impacts, while sending children to good schools, having good academic records, and better medical care have positive impacts. The study also found that gender gaps increase in some countries while decreasing in others. Further research is needed on child maltreatment, academic performance, subjective well-being, societal effects, behavioral difficulties, and quality of life. The study only included peer-reviewed English publications in the final analysis.

Keywords: parental migration, impact of migration, systematic review, left-behind children

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Authors: Mohammed Qutishat, Khaldoun Aldiabat, Khaled Bader, Mohammad Al Qadire

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Cyberchondria refers to the irrational increase of distress about the condition of one's health as a consequence of the World Wide Web quest for medical details. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and cyberchondria among Omani university students. A descriptive correlational design was used to collect data from eligible 370 participants using the Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, and the short-form version of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS-12) between January and May 2020 at XX University-Oman. The participants’ age ranged between 18 and 37 years (M = 20.28). The majority of the participants were female, 59.7% (n = 221), single 99.5% (368), in their second academic year, 29.2% (n =108). The mean score of cyberchondria experiences was 32.51, and the mean score of emotional intelligence was 34.91. Linear regression indicated a strong association between cyberchondria and emotional intelligence [F (34.639) = 5.885, P=.000], with a .086 R². In conclusion, the exchange of expertise and peer networking for health-related details utilizing the Internet can benefit students with and without having health problems. Further research and methods should be developed to help students track the online medical tools effectively for the right purposes.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, cyberchondria, smartphone addiction, social media

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Authors: Piyapat Chitpirom, Teerakiat Jareonsettasin, Chintida Vichitsophaphan

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The Foundation of Virtuous Youth was established and supported by the Crown Property Bureau, with the intention to instill goodness in Thai youth. The Centre for Educational Psychology is one of the three units under the foundation. We aim to develop programmes that can be used to improve the quality of education in schools. Translation of the King’s message in keeping with the modern research from various sources, our team create 6 programmes: (1) Teacher-Student Relationship (2) Growth Mindset (3) Socratic Teaching (4) Peer Tutoring (5) Parental Involvement (6) Inclusion. After nine months of implementing the programmes in the schools, we found that there were more cooperation between student-student, teacher-student, teacher-parent, and student-parent and the school regained trust from the community. Our ideas were accepted well by the government as our director was promoted to be the Vice Minister of Education in order to implement our programmes into national education system. We consider that the key of our success is that we do practical things. We are still continuing, improving, and learning from our work with hope that the quality of Thai education will improve in near future.

Keywords: education reform, educational psychology, effective teaching, teacher-student relationship

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Authors: Dorota Galeza

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This paper argues that networks, such as the ECN and the American network, are affected by certain small events which are inherent to path dependence and preclude the full evolution towards efficiency. It is advocated that the American network is superior to the ECN in many respects due to its greater flexibility and longer history. This stems in particular from the creation of the American network, which was based on a small number of cases. Such structure encourages further changes and modifications which are not necessarily radical. The ECN, by contrast, was established by legislative action, which explains its rigid structure and resistance to change. It might be the case that the ECN is subject not so much to path dependence but to past dependence. It might have to be replaced, as happened to its predecessor. This paper is an attempt to transpose the superiority of the American network on to the ECN. It looks at concepts such as judicial cooperation, harmonization of procedure, peer review and regulatory impact assessments (RIAs), and dispute resolution procedures. The aim is to adopt these concepts into the EU setting without recourse to legal transplantation. The major difficulty is that many of these concepts have been tested only in the US and it is difficult to tell whether they could be modified to meet EU standards. Concepts such as judicial cooperation might be difficult due to different language traditions in EU member states. It is hoped that greater flexibility, as in the American network, would boost legitimacy and transparency.

Keywords: ECN, networks, regulation, competition

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Authors: Subhash Chandra Sharma, Mohammad Soleimani

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Selection of the correct lubricant for the top of rail application is a complex process. In this paper, the selection of the proper lubricant for a Top-Of-Rail (TOR) lubrication system based on graph theory and matrix approach has been developed. Attributes influencing the selection process and their influence on each other has been represented through a digraph and an equivalent matrix. A matrix function which is called the Permanent Function is derived. By substituting the level of inherent contribution of the influencing parameters and their influence on each other qualitatively, a criterion called Suitability Index is derived. Based on these indices, lubricants can be ranked for their suitability. The proposed model can be useful for maintenance engineers in selecting the best lubricant for a TOR application. The proposed methodology is illustrated step–by-step through an example.

Keywords: lubricant selection, top of rail lubrication, graph-theory, Ranking of lubricants

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Authors: Beriache Abderazik

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It is clear that the psychological effects of noise and physiological eloquent on the workers, what will inevitably affect the performance of both productivity and efficiency in all its aspects, industrial noise became among the most prominent modern professional problems, That require study and analysis in order to arrive at solutions and ways that you can reduce the effects of industrial noise. These factors, in addition to other reasons, made us try in this research to know the real impact of industrial noise on the professional satisfaction of workers. In light of this title we have identified the following general problem: - Is the professional satisfaction factor varies depending on the noise level in the work environment? For the purpose of ascertaining the veracity of the assumptions, we have a comparative study between two samples of equal workers, the first sample is working under the influence of industrial noise severe about (100 Db), and the second sample is working under the influence of industrial noise is low (about 63 Db), and applied them test the professional satisfaction. The results support the hypotheses and confirm all sincerity.

Keywords: industrial noise, job satisfaction, the psychological effects of noise, work environment

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Authors: M. Petunia Tsweleng

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Statement of the Problem: Research and aid organisations report that children and adolescents orphaned due to HIV and AIDS are particularly vulnerable as they are often exposed to negative effects of both HIV and AIDS and orphanhood. Without much-needed parental love, care, and support, these children and adolescents are at risk of poor developmental outcomes. A cursory look at the available literature on AIDS-orphaned adolescents, and the quality of caregiving relationships with caregivers, shows that this is a relatively under-researched terrain. This article is a review of the literature on caregiving relationships of adolescents orphaned due to AIDS and their current primary caregivers. It aims to inform community programmes and policymakers by providing insight into the qualities of these relationships. Methodology: A comprehensive search of both peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed literature was conducted through EBSCOhost, SpringLINK, PsycINFO, SAGE, PubMed, Elsevier ScienceDirect, JSTOR, Wiley Online Library databases, and Google Scholar. The combination of keywords used for the search were: (caregiving relationships); (orphans OR AIDS orphaned children OR AIDS orphaned adolescents); (primary caregivers); and (quality caregiving); (orphans); (HIV and AIDS). The search took place between 24 January and 28 February 2022. Both qualitative and quantitative research studies published between 2010 and 2020 were reviewed. However, only qualitative studies were selected in the end -as they presented more profound findings concerning orphan-caregiver relationships. The following three stages of meta-synthesis analysis were used to analyse data: refutational syntheses, reciprocal syntheses, and line of argument. Results: The search resulted in a total of 2090 titles, of which 750 were duplicates and therefore subtracted. The researcher reviewed all the titles and abstracts of the remaining 1340 articles. 329 articles were identified as relevant, and full texts were reviewed. Following the review of the full texts, 313 studies were excluded for relevance and 4 for methodology. Twelve articles representing 11 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were selected. These studies, representing different countries across the globe, reported similar forms of hardships experienced by caregivers economically, psychosocially, and healthwise. However, the studies also show that the majority of caregivers found contentment in caring for orphans, particularly grandmother carers, and were thus enabled to provide love, care, and support despite hardships. This resulted in positive caregiving relationships -as orphans fared well emotionally and psychosocially. Some relationships, however, were found negative due to unhealed emotional wounds suffered by both caregivers and orphans and others due to the caregiver’s lack of interest in providing care. These findings were based on self-report data from both orphans and caregivers. Conclusion: Findings suggest that intervention efforts need to be intensified to: alleviate poverty in households that are affected by HIV and AIDS pandemic, strengthen the community psychosocial support programmes for orphans and their caregivers; and integrate clinical services with community programmes for the healing of emotional and psychological wounds. Contributions: Findings inform community programmes and policymakers by providing insight into the qualities of the mentioned relationships as well as identifying factors commonly associated with high-quality caregiving and poor-quality caregiving.

Keywords: systematic review, caregiving relationships, orphans and primary caregivers, AIDS

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Authors: Saeed Mahjoub Moghadas, Farhad Asadi, Shahed Torkamandi, Hassan Moradi, Mahmood Purgamshidian

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In this paper, we present real-time obstacle avoidance approach for both autonomous and non-autonomous DS-based controllers and also based on dynamical systems (DS) method. In this approach, we can modulate the original dynamics of the controller and it allows us to determine safety margin and different types of DS to increase the robot’s reactiveness in the face of uncertainty in the localization of the obstacle and especially when robot moves very fast in changeable complex environments. The method is validated in simulation and influence of different autonomous and non-autonomous DS such as limit cycles, and unstable DS on this algorithm and also the position of different obstacles in complex environment is explained. Finally, we describe how the avoidance trajectories can be verified through different parameters such as safety factor.

Keywords: limit cycles, nonlinear dynamical system, real time obstacle avoidance, DS-based controllers

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Authors: Tarela J. Ike

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Over the years, the hemorrhagic acts of Boko Haram have led to the adoption of counter-terrorism measures which mostly takes the form of military repressive measures. These measures have wrought flagrant violation of human rights worthy of concern. Hence, the need to examine the efficacy of the counter-terrorism measures adopted by the Nigeria government in combatting terrorism. This article addresses this issue by relying on a systematic literature review which examines the impact of Nigeria counter-terrorism measures from 2009 to 2016 in combating terrorism. The review of literature includes 42 article. Of the 42 articles, 14 met the peer-reviewed requirement which finds that most of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism policies are geared toward the use of state repressive military approach which violates the human right. Thus, the study concludes that to effectively address the terrorist uprising; Nigeria should adopt a non-aggressive counter-terrorism approach which incorporates religious clerics, and community active engagement strategy in combatting terrorism as opposed to military retaliation which violates human right and so far proved ineffective.

Keywords: Boko Haram, counter-terrorism, human rights, military retaliation

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Authors: Raja Irfan Sabir, Nargis Dewan

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This study examines the role of SMS marketing on perception of young consumers and its impact on society by keeping in mind the culture, values and communication norms of Pakistan. The study focused on the consumer’s perception towards SMS Marketing of Entertainment, Informativeness, Credibility and Irritation factor which can have influence on the perception of young consumer positively or negatively. It’s also observed that some of the message contents do have good or bad impact on the society’s norm. The result derived from a sample of 200 consumers indicate that communication medium ‘SMS marketing’ positively influence the consumers perception but the messages that consumers receive from these companies are against the social norms and have bad impact. So Pakistani entrepreneurs of cellular industries should be more aware that there is need to somehow modify their message content strategies according to culture, norms and values of our society and environmental situation.

Keywords: SMS marketing, messages content, consumers’ perception, cultural values and norms

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Authors: Majid Samiee Zenoozian

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This paper studies the susceptibility of local settlements in the gulf of Oman mangrove forest zone to flooding and progressesconsiderate of acuities and reactions to historical and present coastal flooding.it is indirect thaterosionsproduced in coastal zones by the change of mangrove undergrowthsubsequent from the enduring influence of persons since the late 19th century. Confronted with the increasing impact of climate change on climate ambitiousalarms such as flooding and biodiversity damage, handling the relationship between mangroves and their atmosphere has become authoritative for their defense. Coastal flood dangers are increasing quickly. We offer high resolution approximations of the financial value of mangroves forests for flood risk discount. We progress a probabilistic, process-based estimate of the properties of mangroves on avoidanceharms to people and property. More significantly, it also establishes how the incessantsqualor of this significant ecosystem has the potential to unfavorably influence the future cyclone persuadeddangers in the area.

Keywords: mangrove forest, coastal, flood, erosion

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Authors: Omar S. Qaftan, T. T. Sabbagh

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This paper studies the free-field response by adopting a flexible membrane container as soil boundary for experimental shaking table tests. The influence of the soil container boundary on the soil behaviour and the dynamic soil properties under seismic effect were examined. A flexible container with 1/50 scale factor was adopted in the experimental tests, including construction, instrumentation, and determination of the results of dynamic tests on a shaking table. Horizontal face displacements and accelerations were analysed to determine the influence of the container boundary on the performance of the soil. The outputs results show that the flexible boundary container allows more displacement and larger accelerations. The soil in a rigid wall container cannot deform as similar as the soil in the real field does. Therefore, the response of flexible container tested is believed to be more reliable for soil boundary than that in the rigid container.

Keywords: soil, seismic, earthquake, interaction

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Authors: Neha Kulshreshtha

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This paper examines the patterns of 'Mouthing', a non-manual marker, and its distribution in Indian Sign Language (ISL). Linguistic research in Indian Sign Language is an emerging field where much is needed to be done. The little research which has happened focuses on the structure of ISL in terms of physical or manual markers, therefore a study of mouthing patterns would give an insight into the distribution of this particular non-manual marker. Data has been collected with the help of native ISL users through various techniques in which natural signs can be captured, for example, storytelling, informal conversations etc. The aim of the study is to find out the various situations where mouthing is used. Sometimes, the mouthing is not actually the articulation of the word as spoken in the local languages. The paper aims to find out whether the mouthing patterns in ISL are influenced by any local language or they are independent of any influence from the local language or both. Mouthing patterns have been studied in many sign languages and an investigation into ISL will reveal whether it falls in pattern with the other sign languages.

Keywords: Indian sign language, mouthing, non-manual marker, spoken language influence

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Authors: William Burdick

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Manmade climate change is an existential threat that must be mitigated at the earliest opportunity. The role of government in climate change mitigation is enacting and enforcing law and policy to affect substantial reductions in greenhouse gasses, in the short and long term, without substantial increases in the cost of energy. To be optimally effective those laws and policies must be established and enforced based on peer reviewed evidence and scientific facts and result in substantial outcomes in years, not decades. Over the next fifty years, New York’s 2019 Climate Change and Community Protection Act and 2021 All Electric Building Act that mandate replacing natural gas heating systems with heat pumps will, immediately double annual heating costs and by 2075, yield less than 16.2% reduction in CO₂ emissions from heating systems in new housing units, less than a 13% reduction in total CO₂ emissions, and affect a $40B in cumulative additional heating cost, compared to natural gas fueled heating systems.

Keywords: climate change, mandate, heat pump, natural gas

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Authors: M. S. Ahmed, F. A. Mohammad

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This paper focuses on the dynamic behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) slabs. Therefore, the theoretical modal analysis was performed using two different types of boundary conditions. Modal analysis method is the most important dynamic analyses. The analysis would be modal case when there is no external force on the structure. By using this method in this paper, the effects of freely and simply supported boundary conditions on the frequencies and mode shapes of RC square slabs are studied. ANSYS software was employed to derive the finite element model to determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the slabs. Then, the obtained results through numerical analysis (finite element analysis) would be compared with an exact solution. The main goal of the research study is to predict how the boundary conditions change the behavior of the slab structures prior to performing experimental modal analysis. Based on the results, it is concluded that simply support boundary condition has obvious influence to increase the natural frequencies and change the shape of mode when it is compared with freely supported boundary condition of slabs. This means that such support conditions have direct influence on the dynamic behavior of the slabs. Thus, it is suggested to use free-free boundary condition in experimental modal analysis to precisely reflect the properties of the structure. By using free-free boundary conditions, the influence of poorly defined supports is interrupted.

Keywords: natural frequencies, mode shapes, modal analysis, ANSYS software, RC slabs

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Authors: Ali Alzeyadi, Edward Loffill, Rafid Alkhaddar Ali Alattabi

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Phosphate, ammonium, and nitrates are forms of nutrients; they are released from different sources. High nutrient levels contribute to the eutrophication of water bodies by accelerating the extraordinary growth of algae. Recently, many filtration and treatment systems were developed and used for different removal processes. Due to enhanced operational aspects for the up-flow, continuous, granular Media filter researchers became more interested in further developing this technology and its performance for nutrient removal from wastewater. Environmental factors significantly affect the filtration process performance, and understanding their impact will help to maintain the nutrient removal process. Phosphate removal by phosphate sorption materials PSMs and nitrogen removal biologically are the methods of nutrient removal that have been discussed in this paper. Hence, the focus on the factors that influence these processes is the scope of this work. The finding showed the presence of factors affecting both removal processes; the size, shape, and roughness of the filter media particles play a crucial role in supporting biofilm formation. On the other hand, all of which are effected on the reactivity of surface between the media and phosphate. Many studies alluded to factors that have significant influence on the biological removal for nitrogen such as dissolved oxygen, temperature, and pH; this is due to the sensitivity of biological processes while the phosphate removal by PSMs showed less affected by these factors. This review work provides help to the researchers in create a comprehensive approach in regards study the nutrient removal in up flow filtration systems.

Keywords: nitrogen biological treatment, nutrients, psms, upflow filter, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Kgolagano Mpejane

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The study applies a New Institutional Economics (NIE) analytical framework to trade in developing economies by assessing the impacts of institutional quality and institutional quality distance on agricultural trade using a panel data of 15 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries from the years 1991-2010. The issue of institutions on agricultural trade has not been accorded the necessary attention in the literature, particularly in developing economies. Therefore, the paper empirically tests the gravity model of international trade by measuring the impact of political, economic and legal institutions on intra SADC agricultural trade. The gravity model is noted for its exploratory power and strong theoretical foundation. However, the model has statistical shortcomings in dealing with zero trade values and heteroscedasticity residuals leading to biased results. Therefore, this study employs a two stage Heckman selection model with a Probit equation to estimate the influence of institutions on agricultural trade. The selection stages include the inverse Mills ratio to account for the variable bias of the gravity model. The Heckman model accounts for zero trade values and is robust in the presence of heteroscedasticity. The empirical results of the study support the NIE theory premise that institutions matter in trade. The results demonstrate that institutions determine bilateral agricultural trade on different margins with political institutions having positive and significant influence on bilateral agricultural trade flows within the SADC region. Legal and economic institutions have significant and negative effects on SADC trade. Furthermore, the results of this study confirm that institutional quality distance influences agricultural trade. Legal and political institutional distance have a positive and significant influence on bilateral agricultural trade while the influence of economic, institutional quality is negative and insignificant. The results imply that nontrade barriers, in the form of institutional quality and institutional quality distance, are significant factors limiting intra SADC agricultural trade. Therefore, gains from intra SADC agricultural trade can be attained through the improvement of institutions within the region.

Keywords: agricultural trade, institutions, gravity model, SADC

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Authors: Elisa Menardo, Margherita Pasini, Margherita Brondino

Abstract:

A growing body of empirical research from different areas of inquiry suggests that brief contact with natural environment restore mental resources. The Attention Restoration Theory (ART) is the widespread used and empirical founded theory developed to explain why exposure to nature helps people to recovery cognitive resources. It assumes that contact with nature allows people to free (and then recovery) voluntary attention resources and thus allows them to recover from a cognitive fatigue situation. However, it was suggested that some people could have more cognitive benefit after exposure to urban environment. The objective of this study is to report the results of a meta-analysis on studies (peer-reviewed articles) comparing the restorativeness (the quality to be restorative) perceived in natural environments than those perceived in urban environments. This meta-analysis intended to estimate how much nature environments (forests, parks, boulevards) are perceived to be more restorativeness than urban ones (i.e., the magnitude of the perceived restorativeness’ difference). Moreover, given the methodological difference between study, it studied the potential role of moderator variables as participants (student or other), instrument used (Perceived Restorativeness Scale or other), and procedure (in laboratory or in situ). PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Scopus, SpringerLINK, Web of Science online database were used to identify all peer-review articles on restorativeness published to date (k = 167). Reference sections of obtained papers were examined for additional studies. Only 22 independent studies (with a total of 1371 participants) met inclusion criteria (direct exposure to environment, comparison between one outdoor environment with natural element and one without natural element, and restorativeness measured by self-report scale) and were included in meta-analysis. To estimate the average effect size, a random effect model (Restricted Maximum-likelihood estimator) was used because the studies included in the meta-analysis were conducted independently and using different methods in different populations, so no common effect-size was expected. The presence of publication bias was checked using trim and fill approach. Univariate moderator analysis (mixed effect model) were run to determine whether the variable coded moderated the perceived restorativeness difference. Results show that natural environments are perceived to be more restorativeness than urban environments, confirming from an empirical point of view what is now considered a knowledge gained in environmental psychology. The relevant information emerging from this study is the magnitude of the estimated average effect size, which is particularly high (d = 1.99) compared to those that are commonly observed in psychology. Significant heterogeneity between study was found (Q(19) = 503.16, p < 0.001;) and studies’ variability was very high (I2[C.I.] = 96.97% [94.61 - 98.62]). Subsequent univariate moderator analyses were not significant. Methodological difference (participants, instrument, and procedure) did not explain variability between study. Other methodological difference (e.g., research design, environment’s characteristics, light’s condition) could explain this variability between study. In the mine while, studies’ variability could be not due to methodological difference but to individual difference (age, gender, education level) and characteristics (connection to nature, environmental attitude). Furthers moderator analysis are working in progress.

Keywords: meta-analysis, natural environments, perceived restorativeness, urban environments

Procedia PDF Downloads 150

Authors: V. T. Ngo, D. M. Xie

Abstract:

Frequently, in the design of machines, some of parameters that directly affect the rotor dynamics of the machines are not accurately known. In particular, bearing stiffness support is one such parameter. One of the most basic principles to grasp in rotor dynamics is the influence of the bearing stiffness on the critical speeds and mode shapes associated with a rotor-bearing system. Taking a rig shafting as an example, this paper studies the lateral vibration of the rotor with multi-degree-of-freedom by using Finite Element Method (FEM). The FEM model is created and the eigenvalues and eigenvectors are calculated and analyzed to find natural frequencies, critical speeds, mode shapes. Then critical speeds and mode shapes are analyzed by set bearing stiffness changes. The model permitted to identify the critical speeds and bearings that have an important influence on the vibration behavior.

Keywords: lateral vibration, finite element method, rig shafting, critical speed

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: Lyton Chithambo

Abstract:

This paper reports the results of an investigation into the extent to which various stakeholder pressures influence voluntary disclosure of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in the United Kingdom (UK). The study, which is grounded on institutional theory, also borrows from the insights of upper echelons theory and examines whether specific managerial (chief executive officer) characteristics explain and moderates various stakeholder pressures in explaining GHG voluntary disclosure. Data were obtained from the 2011 annual and sustainability reports of a sample of 216 UK companies on the FTSE350 index listed on the London Stock Exchange. Generally the results suggest that there is no substantial shareholder and employee pressure on a firm to disclose GHG information but there is significant positive pressure from the market status of a firm with those firms with more market share disclosing more GHG information. Consistent with the predictions of institutional theory, we found evidence that coercive pressure i.e. regulatory pressure and mimetic pressures emanating in some industries notably industrials and consumer services have a significant positive influence on firms’ GHG disclosure decisions. Besides, creditor pressure also had a significant negative relationship with GHG disclosure. While CEO age had a direct negative effect on GHG voluntary disclosure, its moderation effect on stakeholder pressure influence on GHG disclosure was only significant on regulatory pressure. The results have important implications for both policy makers and company boards strategizing to reign in their GHG emissions.

Keywords: greenhouse gases, voluntary disclosure, upper echelons theory, institution theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 215

Authors: Mounir Gaci, Salim Meziani, Atmane Fouathia

Abstract:

The purpose of the present paper is to model the behavior of metal alloy, type TRIP steel (Transformation Induced Plasticity), during solid/solid phase transition. A two-dimensional micromechanical model is implemented in finite element software (ZEBULON) to simulate the martensitic transformation in Fe-Ni-C steel grain under mechanical tensile stress of 250 MPa. The effects of non-uniform grain boundary and the criterion of mechanical shear load on the transformation and on the TRIP value during martensitic transformation are studied. The suggested mechanical criterion is favourable to the influence of the shear phenomenon on the progression of the martensitic transformation (Magee’s mechanism). The obtained results are in satisfactory agreement with experimental ones and show the influence of the grain boundary shape and the chosen mechanical criterion (SMF) on the transformation parameters.

Keywords: martensitic transformation, non-uniform Grain Boundary, TRIP, shear Mechanical force (SMF)

Procedia PDF Downloads 239