Search results for: high and low prices

Authors: Mehdi Rezai, Asghar Zamani

Abstract:

Virtual teams are a reality in today’s fast-paced world. With the possibility of commonly using common resources, an increase of inter-organizational projects, cooperation, outsourcing, and the increase in the number of people who work remotely or flexitime, an extensive and active presence of high-performance teams is a must. Virtual teams are a challenge by themselves. Their members remove the barriers of cultures, time regions and organizations, and they often communicate through electronic devices over considerable distances. Firstly, we examine the management of virtual teams by considering different issues such as cultural and personal diversities, communications and arrangement issues. Then we will examine individuals, processes and the existing tools in a team. The main challenge is managing high-performance virtual teams. First of all, we must examine the concept of performance. Then, we must focus on teams and the best methods of managing them. Constant improvement of performance, together with precisely regulating every individual’s method of working, increases the levels of performance in the course of time. High-performance teams exploit every issue as an opportunity for achieving high performance. And we know that doing projects with high performance is among every organization or team’s objectives. Performance could be measured using many criteria, among which carrying out projects in time, the satisfaction of stakeholders, and not exceeding budgets could be named. Elements such as clear objectives, clearly-defined roles and responsibilities, effective communications, and commitment to collaboration are essential to a team’s effectiveness. Finally, we will examine roles, systems, processes and will carry out a cause-and-effect analysis of different criteria in improving a team’s performance.

Keywords: virtual teams, performance, management, process, improvement, effectiveness

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Jochen Edmund Kerschenbauer, Roman Salinger, Daniel Strametz

Abstract:

Insufficient informal communication systems can lead to the first crisis (‘Crisis of Leadership’) for start-ups. Management Control Systems (MCS) are one way for high-technology start-ups to successfully overcome these problems. So far the literature has investigated the incubation of a start-up, but focused less on the post-incubation stage. This paper focuses on the use of MCS in post-incubation and, if failed start-ups agree, on how MCS are used. We conducted 14 semi-structured interviews for this purpose, to obtain our results. The overall conclusion is that the majority of the companies were closed down due to a combination of strategic, operative and financial reasons.

Keywords: closed down, high-technology, incubation, levers of control, management control systems, post-incubation, start-ups

Procedia PDF Downloads 1079

Authors: Vered Holzmann, Ramzi Halabi

Abstract:

The current research investigates motivators and barriers to high-tech entrepreneurship in the Israeli-Arab Community. With the aim to exploit the capacity of Israel as a 'start-up nation', we identify the most important aspects to promote integration of Israeli-Arab entrepreneurs in high-tech startups and business companies, thus impact the socio-economic status of the Arab community in Israel. We reviewed the literature on the role of high-tech and entrepreneurship in the Israeli economy, the profile of the Israeli-Arab community with regard to education and employability, and the characteristics of minority entrepreneurship to understand entrepreneurs' intentions, their incentives to choose the entrepreneurial route on one hand and the obstacles that they face on the other hand. Based on the literature review, we conducted an integrated study that included a survey among 73 Israeli-Arabs involved in high-tech entrepreneurship and 16 semi-structured interviews with Israeli-Arab and Jewish entrepreneurs and leaders in the high-tech industry. We analyzed the data to explore personal and social motivating factors to entrepreneurship as well as educational and socio-economical barriers for entrepreneurship. Three major elements were found to be the most influential on Arab high-tech entrepreneurship in Israel: education, financial resources, and strategic-institutional support. The relationship between education and employability that is well-known with regard to general education, requires two additional aspects in the field of high-tech entrepreneurship: education of technology and engineering, and education of business and entrepreneurship. The study findings reveal that the main motivation factors for entrepreneurship are development of creative ideas and improvement of the socio-economic status, while financial-related factors and lack of institutional and governmental support are perceived as impediments to entrepreneurial activities. Financing difficulties are mainly derived from discriminating financial environment and lack of professional networking. The relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth seems to be clear and simple; thus it is a national interest to encourage entrepreneurship among the Arab community, and especially high-tech entrepreneurship which has a significant role in the economic growth of Israel.

Keywords: high-tech industry, innovation management, Israeli-Arab community, minority entrepreneurship, motivating factors and barriers

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Mehmet Eren Çelik

Abstract:

Values are notions that help people to decide what is good or not and to direct their attitude. Teaching values has always been very important throughout the history. Values should be thought in younger ages to get more efficiency. Therefore military schools are the last stop to learn values effectively. That’s why values education in military schools has vital importance. In this study the military side of values education is examined. The purpose of the study is to show how important values education is and why military students need values education. First of all what value is and what values education means is clearly explained and values education in schools and specifically in military schools is stated. Then values education in Işıklar Air Force High School exemplifies the given information.

Keywords: Işıklar Air Force High School, military school, values, values education

Procedia PDF Downloads 368

Authors: C. Jouhar, B. Rajesh Kamath, M. K. Veeraiah, M. Z. Kurian

Abstract:

Since long time ago, petroleum-based mineral oils have been used for liquid insulation in high voltage equipments. Mineral oils are widely used as insulation for transmission and distribution power transformers, capacitors and other high voltage equipment. Petroleum-based insulating oils have excellent dielectric properties such as high electric field strength, low dielectric losses and good long-term performance. Due to environmental consideration, an attempt to search the alternate liquid insulation is required. The influence of particles on the voltage breakdown in insulating oil and other liquids has been recognized for many years. Particles influence both AC and DC voltage breakdown in insulating oil. Experiments are conducted under AC voltage. The breakdown process starts with a microscopic bubble, an area of large distance where ions or electrons initiate avalanches. Insulating liquids drive their dielectric strength from the much higher density compare to gases. Experiments are carried out under High Voltage AC (HVAC) in different types of oils namely castor oil, vegetable oil and mineral oil. The Breakdown Voltage (BDV) with presence of moisture and particle contamination in different types of oils is studied. The BDV of vegetable oil is better when compared to other oils without contamination. The BDV of mineral oil is better when compared to other types of oils in presence of contamination.

Keywords: breakdown voltage, high voltage AC, insulating oil, oil breakdown

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Hee-Choul Kwon, Hyungjin Cho, Heeyong Kwon

Abstract:

Image rotation is one of main pre-processing step in image processing or image pattern recognition. It is implemented with rotation matrix multiplication. However it requires lots of floating point arithmetic operations and trigonometric function calculations, so it takes long execution time. We propose a new high speed image rotation algorithm without two major time-consuming operations. We compare the proposed algorithm with the conventional rotation one with various size images. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is superior to the conventional rotation ones.

Keywords: high speed rotation operation, image processing, image rotation, pattern recognition, transformation matrix

Procedia PDF Downloads 486

Authors: Jung-Ho Moon, Tae Kwon Ha

Abstract:

M2 steels, the typical Co-free high speed steel (HSS) possessing hardness level of 63~65 HRc, are most widely used for cutting tools. On the other hand, Co-containing HSS’s, such as M35 and M42, show a higher hardness level of 65~67 HRc and used for high quality cutting tools. In the fabrication of HSS’s, it is very important to control cleanliness and eutectic carbide structure of the ingot and it is required to increase productivity at the same time. Production of HSS ingots includes a variety of processes such as casting, electro-slag remelting (ESR), forging, blooming, and wire rod rolling processes. In the present study, electro-slag rapid remelting (ESRR) process, an advanced ESR process combined by continuous casting, was successfully employed to fabricate HSS billets of M2, M35, and M42 steels. Distribution and structure of eutectic carbides of the billets were analysed and cleanliness, hardness, and composition profile of the billets were also evaluated.

Keywords: high speed tool steel, eutectic carbide, microstructure, hardness, fracture toughness

Procedia PDF Downloads 431

Authors: Nisha Thapa, Ram Prasad Mainali, Prakriti Chand

Abstract:

Broadleaf mustard is a commercialized leafy vegetable of Nepal. However, its utilization is hindered in terms of production and productivity due to the high intensity of insects, pests, and diseases causing great loss. The plant protection part of the crop’s disease and damage intensity has not been studied much from research perspectives in Nepal. The research aimed to evaluate broadleaf mustard genotypes for resistance against different diseases. A total of 35 native genotypes of broadleaf mustard were screened at weekly intervals by scoring the plants for ten weeks. Five different diseases, such as Rhizoctonia root rot, Alternaria blight, black rot, turnip mosaic virus disease, and white rust, were reported from the broad leaf mustard genotypes. Out of 35 genotypes, 23 genotypes were found with very high Rhizoctonia Root Rot severity, whereas 8 genotypes showed very high Alternaria blight severity. Likewise, 3 genotypes were found with high Black rot severity, and 1 genotype was found with very high Turnip mosaic virus disease incidence. Similarly, 2 genotypes were found to have very high White rust severity. Among the disease of national importance, Rhizoctonia root rot was found to be the most severe disease with the greatest loss. Broadleaf mustard genotypes like Rato Rayo, CO 1002, and CO 11007 showed average to the high level of field resistance; therefore, these genotypes should be used, conserved, and stored in a mustard improvement program as the disease resistance quality or susceptibility of these genotypes can be helpful for seed producing farmers, companies and other stakeholders through varietal improvement and developmental works that further aids in sustainable disease management of the vegetable.

Keywords: genotype, disease resistance, Rhizoctonia root rot severity, varietal improvement

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Zhaoyang Liu

Abstract:

It has been highly desired to develop a high-performance membrane for separating oil/water emulsions with the combined features of high water flux, high oil separation efficiency, and high mechanical stability. Here, we demonstrated a design for high-performance membranes constructed with ultra-long titanate nanofibers (over 30 µm in length)/cellulose microfibers. An integrated network membrane was achieved with these ultra-long nano/microfibers, contrast to the non-integrated membrane constructed with carbon nanotubes (5 µm in length)/cellulose microfibers. The morphological properties of the prepared membranes were characterized by A FEI Quanta 400 (Hillsboro, OR, United States) environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). The hydrophilicity, underwater oleophobicity and oil adhesion property of the membranes were examined using an advanced goniometer (Rame-hart model 500, Succasunna, NJ, USA). More specifically, the hydrophilicity of membranes was investigated by analyzing the spreading process of water into membranes. A filtration device (Nalgene 300-4050, Rochester, NY, USA) with an effective membrane area of 11.3 cm² was used for evaluating the separation properties of the fabricated membranes. The prepared oil-in-water emulsions were poured into the filtration device. The separation process was driven under vacuum with a constant pressure of 5 kPa. The filtrate was collected, and the oil content in water was detected by a Shimadzu total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer (Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan) to examine the separation efficiency. Water flux (J) of the membrane was calculated by measuring the time needed to collect some volume of permeate. This network membrane demonstrated good mechanical flexibility and robustness, which are critical for practical applications. This network membrane also showed high separation efficiency (99.9%) for oil/water emulsions with oil droplet size down to 3 µm, and meanwhile, has high water permeation flux (6.8 × 10³ L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹) at low operation pressure. The high water flux is attributed to the interconnected scaffold-like structure throughout the whole membrane, while the high oil separation efficiency is attributed to the nanofiber-made nanoporous selective layer. Moreover, the economic materials and low-cost fabrication process of this membrane indicate its great potential for large-scale industrial applications.

Keywords: membrane, inorganic nanofibers, oil/water separation, emulsions

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: T. Kuchukhidze, N. Jalagonia, T. Korkia, V. Gabunia, N. Jalabadze, R. Chedia

Abstract:

In this work, obtaining methods of ultrafine alumina powdery composites and high temperature pressing technology of matrix ceramic composites with different compositions have been discussed. Alumina was obtained by solution combustion synthesis and sol-gel methods. Metal carbides containing powdery composites were obtained by homogenization of finishing powders in nanomills, as well as by their single-step high temperature synthesis .Different types of matrix ceramics composites (α-Al2O3-ZrO2-Y2O3, α-Al2O3- Y2O3-MgO, α-Al2O3-SiC-Y2O3, α-Al2O3-WC-Co-Y2O3, α-Al2O3- B4C-Y2O3, α-Al2O3- B4C-TiB2 etc.) were obtained by using OXYGON furnace. Consolidation of powders were carried out at 1550- 1750°C (hold time - 1 h, pressure - 50 MPa). Corundum ceramics samples have been obtained and characterized by high hardness and fracture toughness, absence of open porosity, high corrosion resistance. Their density reaches 99.5-99.6% TD. During the work, the following devices have been used: High temperature vacuum furnace OXY-GON Industries Inc (USA), Electronic Scanning Microscopes Nikon Eclipse LV 150, Optical Microscope NMM- 800TRF, Planetary mill Pulverisette 7 premium line, Shimadzu Dynamic Ultra Micro Hardness Tester DUH-211S, Analysette 12 Dynasizer.

Keywords: α-alumina, consolidation, phase transformation, powdery composites

Procedia PDF Downloads 334

Authors: Abdullah M. Alzahrani

Abstract:

The karyotypes of Khalas (KH), Sukkary (SK), Sheeshi (SS), Shibeebi (SB) and Sillije (SJ) date palm cultivars were investigated. Data showed no variation in chromosome number, 2n = 36, 34 autosomes in addition to XX in females and XY in males. Mean autosomes length ranged from 3.85-9.93 μm and 3.71-2.73 μm for X and Y chromosomes, respectively. The formula of female date palm karyotype was 8m + 4sm +2st + 4t, and submedian Y chromosome. Relative chromosome length ranged from 3.3- 9.38 μm. SS cultivar showed high asymmetry levels by scoring low values of Syi (45.51), TF (42.8) and high values for A1 (0.53), A (0.41) and AI (0.29). Syi developed an inverse relation with A1 and A while A exhibited a direct correlation with A1. Cultivars SK, SB and SJ score medium values of Syi, A1, AI and A. KH cultivar exhibited high symmetry by scoring highest values of Syi (53.68), TF (51.81) and lowest values of A1 (0.44), A (0.34) and AI (0.18). Higher DI value was obtained in SB cultivar (1.34) followed by SJ (1.15) and low DI scores of 0.99, 0.86 and 0.71 were detected in KH, SS and SK, respectively. Stebbins classification assorted SS as 3B and the other cultivars as 2B, insuring the evolution and asymmetry of SS compared to the other karyotypes. Scatter diagram of Syi-A1 couple has the advantage of revealing high degree of sensitivity to present karyotype interrelationships, followed by AI-A and CVCL-CVCI couples.

Keywords: Karyotype, date palm, Khalas, Sukkary, Sheeshi

Procedia PDF Downloads 351

Authors: Talah Aissa

Abstract:

This paper reports an experimental study of the influence of marble powder used as a partial substitute for Portland cement (PC) on the mechanical properties and durability of high-performance concretes. The analysis of the experimental results on concrete at 15% content of marble powder with a fineness modulus of 11500 cm2/g, in a chloride environment, showed that it contributes positively to the perfection of its mechanical characteristics, its durability with respect to migration of chloride ions and oxygen permeability. On the basis of the experiments performed, it can be concluded that the marble powder is suitable for formulation of high performance concretes (HPC) and their properties are significantly better compared to the reference concrete (RC).

Keywords: marble powder, durability, concrete, cement

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Agata Twardoch

Abstract:

The processes of commodification of real estate and changes in housing markets have led to a situation where the prices of free market housing in European capitals are significantly higher than the purchasing value of average wages. This phenomenon has many negative social and spatial consequences. At the same time, the attractiveness of real estate as an asset makes these processes progress. Out of concern for sustainable social development, city authorities apply solutions to balance the burdensome effects of codification of housing. One of them is a social provision for housing investments. The article presents a comparative study of solutions applied in selected European capitals, on the example of Warsaw, Paris, London, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Vienna. The study was conducted along with works on expert report for the master plan for Warsaw. The forms of commissions applied in Local Planning Acts were compared, with particular reference to spatial solutions. The results of the analysis made it possible to determine common features of the solutions applied and to establish recommendations for further practice. Major findings of the study indicate that requirement of social provision is achievable in spatial planning documents. Study shows that application of social provision in private housing investments is a useful tool in housing policy against commodification.

Keywords: affordable housing, housing provision, spatial planning, sustainable social development

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Sang Hwan Bak, Min Jung Kim, Dong Bok Lee

Abstract:

Fe-2%Mn-0.5%Si-0.2C steel was welded and corroded at 600, 700 and 800oC for 20 h in 1 atm of N2/H2S/H2O-mixed gas in order to characterize the high-temperature corrosion behavior of the welded joint. Corrosion proceeded fast and almost linearly. It increased with an increase in the corrosion temperature. H2S formed FeS owing to sulfur released from H2S. The scales were fragile and nonadherent.

Keywords: Fe-Mn-Si steel, corrosion, welding, sulfidation, H2S gas

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Junaid N. Chauhdary, Bernard A. Engel, Allah Bakhsh

Abstract:

Solar powered tubewells can be a reliable and affordable source of supplying irrigation water compared with electric or diesel operated tubewells due to frequent load shedding and soaring energy prices. A study was conducted on a solar tubewell installed at the Water Management Research Center (WMRC), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad to investigate the viability of a solar powered tubewell in terms of discharge and benefit cost ratio. The tubewell discharge was 50 m3hr-1 with a total dynamic head of 30 m. The depth of bore was 31 m (14 m blind + 17 m screen) with a casing diameter of 15.2 cm (6 inches). A 3-stage submersible pump of 10.2 cm (4 inch) diameter was lowered in the casing to a depth of 22 m. The pump was powered from 21 solar panels of 200 W capacity each. The tubewell peak discharge was observed as 6 and 7 hr day-1 in winter and summer, respectively. The breakeven analysis of the solar tubewell showed that the payback period of the solar tubewell was 1.5 years of its 10 year usable life with an IRR (internal rate of return) of 69 %. The BCR (benefit cost ratio) of the solar tubewell at 2, 4, 6, and 8 percent discount rate were 3.75, 3.45, 3.19 and 2.96, respectively. The NPV (net present value) of the solar tubewell at 2, 4, 6, and 8 % discount rates were 1.89, 1.65, 1.45 and 1.27 million rupees, respectively. These results indicated that the solar powered tubewells are a viable option as well as environmentally friendly and can be adopted by the farmers due to their affordable payback period.

Keywords: benefit cost ratio, internal rate of return (IRR), net present value (NPV), solar tubewell

Procedia PDF Downloads 192

Authors: Farnaz Firuzian, Farhad Choobdar, Ali Mazouri

Abstract:

As Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) neonates cannot tolerate enteral feeding, parenteral nutrition (PN) must be administered shortly after birth. To find an optimal combination of nutrition, in this study, we compare administering high glucose versus high protein intake as a component of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) to test their effect on birth weight (BW) regain in VLBW. This study employs a multi-arm randomized trial: 145 newborns with BW < 1500 g were randomized to control (C) or experimental groups: high glucose (G) or high protein (P). All samples in each group received the same TPN regimens except glucose and protein intake: Glocuse was provided by dextrose water (DW) serum: 7-15 g/kg/d (10% DW) in groups C and P versus 8.75-18.75 g/kg/d (12.5% DW) in group G. Protein provided by amino acids 3 g/kg/d for groups C and G versus 4 g/kg/d for group P. Outcomes (weight, height, and head circumference) was monitored on a daily basis until the BW was regained. Data has been gathered recently and is being processed. We hypothesize that neonates with higher amino acid intake will result in sooner BW regain than other groups. The result will be presented at the conference. The findings of this study not only can help optimize nutrition, cost reduction, and shorter NICU admission of VLBW neonates at the hospital level but eventually contribute to reduced healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and an improved health economy.

Keywords: very low birth weight neonates, weight gain, parenteral nutrition, glucose, amino acids

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Ehab El-Dabaa, Omnia Ali, Mohamed Abd El-Hady, Ahmed Osman

Abstract:

Recombinant human interferon alpha 2 (rhIFN-α2) is FDA approved for treatment of some viral and malignant diseases. Approved pegylated rhIFN-α2 drugs have highly improved pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and therapeutic efficiency compared to native protein. In this work, we studied the pegylation of purified properly refolded rhIFN-α2b using linear 20kDa PEG-NHS (polyethylene glycol- N-hydroxysuccinimidyl ester) to prepare pegylated rhIFN-α2b with high stability and activity. The effect of different parameters like rhIFN-α2b final concentration, pH, rhIFN-α2b/PEG molar ratios and reaction time on the efficiency of pegylation (high percentage of monopegylated rhIFN-α2b) have been studied in small scale (100µl) pegylation reaction trials. Study of the percentages of different components of these reactions (mono, di, polypegylated rhIFN-α2b and unpegylated rhIFN-α2b) indicated that 2h is optimum time to complete the reaction. The pegylation efficiency increased at pH 8 (57.9%) by reducing the protein concentration to 1mg/ml and reducing the rhIFN-α2b/PEG ratio to 1:2. Using larger scale pegylation reaction (65% pegylation efficiency), ion exchange chromatography method has been optimized to prepare and purify the monopegylated rhIFN-α2b with high purity (96%). The prepared monopegylated rhIFN-α2b had apparent Mwt of approximately 65 kDa and high in vitro antiviral activity (2.1x10⁷ ± 0.8 x10⁷ IU/mg). Although it retained approximately 8.4 % of the antiviral activity of the unpegylated rhIFN-α2b, its activity is high compared to other pegylated rhIFN-α2 developed by using similar approach or higher molecular weight branched PEG.

Keywords: antiviral activity, rhIFN-α2b, pegylation, pegylation efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Huseyin Demir

Abstract:

This article is the results of a quantitative research about the effects of using interactive whiteboards in high school mathematics classroom. The aim of this article is to investigate the effects of using interactive whiteboards in high school mathematics classrooms. During the article the following questions are answered: 'What can we do with an interactive whiteboard?' and 'Do we really need those properties of the interactive whiteboard?' For the research part of the article, two groups of lessons are executed in Private Demirel College. In the first 6 weeks, the topics are taught on a normal blackboard. Starting from seventh week, we have used interactive whiteboard in the mathematics lessons. At the end of an eight week lectures with interactive whiteboards, a questionnaire is prepared and executed for the students. In the questionnaire 10 questions were asked about the benefits and differences of using the interactive whiteboards in mathematics lessons. By looking at the conclusion of the results of questionnaire and some discussions with the students we found some useful benefits of the usage of interactive whiteboards in mathematics lessons. This article will be helpful for the high school mathematics teachers.

Keywords: mathematics education, interactive whiteboard, blackboard, using interactive whiteboard in mathematics lessons

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: Rabah Younes

Abstract:

The reduction of available land resources and the increased cout associated with the use of high quality materials have led to the need for local soils to be used in geotechnical construction, however; poor engineering properties of these soils pose difficulties for constructions project and need to be stabilized to improve their properties in other works unsuitable soils with low bearing capacity , high plasticity coupled with high instability are frequently encountered hence, there is a need to improve the physical and mechanical characteristics of these soils to make theme more suitable for construction this can be done by using different mechanical and chemical methods clayey soil stabilization has been practiced for sometime but mixing additives, such us cement, lime and fly ash to the soil to increase its strength.

Keywords: clay, soil stabilization, naturaln pozzolana, atterberg limits, compaction, compressive strength shear strength, curing

Procedia PDF Downloads 290

Authors: Meral Yucel, Vildan Ok

Abstract:

This study indicates the wind effects of 49-storey height four towers on a high-density urban area-consisting of 10-12 storey height buildings called Goztepe in Istanbul, Turkey. For this purpose, four towers and close environments are modeled in 1/500 scale for wind tunnel test. Three neighboring buildings are chosen to find out the pressure coefficient changes on the surfaces of the buildings according to the construction order of these four towers and wind directions. Results were compared with the 'TS 498 Wind Standard of Tall Buildings in Istanbul' which is prepared by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in 2009.

Keywords: high rise buildings, pressure coefficients, wind tunnel experiments, wind standard of tall buildings

Procedia PDF Downloads 258

Authors: Ebru Acuner, Gulgun Kayakutlu, M. Ozgur Kayalica, Sermin Onaygil

Abstract:

In Turkey, emigration, especially from Syria, has been continuously increasing together with rapid urbanization. In parallel to this, total energy consumption has been growing, rapidly. Unfortunately, domestic energy sources could not meet this energy demand. Hence, there is a need for reliable predictions. For this reason, before making a survey study for the migrated people, an informative questionnaire was prepared to take the opinions of the experts on the main drivers that shape the energy consumption behavior of the migrated people. Totally, 17 experts were answered, and they were analyzed by means of Netica program considering Bayesian belief analysis method. In the analysis, factors affecting energy consumption behaviors as well as strategies, institutions, tools and financing methods to change these behaviors towards efficient consumption were investigated. On the basis of the results, it can be concluded that changing the energy consumption behavior of the migrated people is crucial. In order to be successful, electricity and natural gas prices and tariffs in the market should be arranged considering energy efficiency. In addition, support mechanisms by not only the government but also municipalities should be taken into account while preparing related policies. Also, electric appliance producers should develop and implement strategies and action in favor of the usage of more efficient appliances. Last but not least, non-governmental organizations should support the migrated people to improve their awareness on the efficient consumption for the sustainable future.

Keywords: Bayesian belief, behavior, energy consumption, energy efficiency, migrated people

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: S. MacDonald, A. Manuel, R. Law, N. Bandruak, A. Dubrowski, V. Curran, J. Smith-Young, K. Simmons, A. Warren

Abstract:

High fidelity human patient simulation has been used for many years by health sciences education programs to foster critical thinking, engage learners, improve confidence, improve communication, and enhance psychomotor skills. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research on the use of high fidelity human patient simulation to foster teamwork among nursing, medicine and pharmacy undergraduate students. This study compared the impact of high fidelity and low fidelity simulation education on teamwork among nursing, medicine and pharmacy students. For the purpose of this study, two innovative teaching scenarios were developed based on the care of an adult patient experiencing acute anaphylaxis: one high fidelity using a human patient simulator and one low fidelity using case based discussions. A within subjects, pretest-posttest, repeated measures design was used with two-treatment levels and random assignment of individual subjects to teams of two or more professions. A convenience sample of twenty-four (n=24) undergraduate students participated, including: nursing (n=11), medicine (n=9), and pharmacy (n=4). The Interprofessional Teamwork Questionnaire was used to assess for changes in students’ perception of their functionality within the team, importance of interprofessional collaboration, comprehension of roles, and confidence in communication and collaboration. Student satisfaction was also assessed. Students reported significant improvements in their understanding of the importance of interprofessional teamwork and of the roles of nursing and medicine on the team after participation in both the high fidelity and the low fidelity simulation. However, only participants in the high fidelity simulation reported a significant improvement in their ability to function effectively as a member of the team. All students reported that both simulations were a meaningful learning experience and all students would recommend both experiences to other students. These findings suggest there is merit in both high fidelity and low fidelity simulation as a teaching and learning approach to foster teamwork among undergraduate nursing, medicine and pharmacy students. However, participation in high fidelity simulation may provide a more realistic opportunity to practice and function as an effective member of the interprofessional health care team.

Keywords: acute anaphylaxis, high fidelity human patient simulation, low fidelity simulation, interprofessional education

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Jiajia Yao, GuanLin Wu, Fang liu, JunShuai Xue, JinCheng Zhang, Yue Hao

Abstract:

Due to its outstanding material properties like high thermal conductivity and ultra-wide bandgap, Aluminum nitride (AlN) has the promising potential to provide high breakdown voltage and high output power among III-nitrides for various applications in electronics and optoelectronics. This work presents material growth and characterization of strained channel Aluminum nitride/Gallium nitride (AlN/GaN) heterostructures grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE) on AlN-on-sapphire templates. To improve the crystal quality and manifest the ability of the PA-MBE approach, a thick AlN buffer with a thickness of 180 nm is first grown on AlN template, which acts as a back-barrier to enhance the breakdown characteristic and isolates the leakage path existing in the interface between AlN epilayer and AlN template, as well as improve the heat dissipation. The grown AlN buffer features a root-mean-square roughness of 0.2 nm over a scanned area of 2×2 µm2 measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and exhibits full-width at half-maximum of 95 and 407 arcsec for the (002) and (102) plane the X-ray rocking curve, respectively, tested by high resolution x-ray diffraction (HR-XRD). With a thin and strained GaN channel, the electron mobility of 294 cm2 /Vs. with a carrier concentration of 2.82×1013 cm-2 at room temperature is achieved in AlN/GaN double-channel heterostructures, and the depletion capacitance is as low as 14 pF resolved by the capacitance-voltage, which indicates the promising opportunities for future applications in next-generation high temperature, high-frequency and high-power electronics with a further increased electron mobility by optimization of heterointerface quality.

Keywords: AlN/GaN, HEMT, MBE, homoepitaxy

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: M. Graus, K. Westhoff, X. Xu

Abstract:

The climate change causes a change in all aspects of society. While the expansion of renewable energies proceeds, industry could not be convinced based on general studies about the potential of demand side management to reinforce smart grid considerations in their operational business. In this article, a procedure model for a case-specific data-driven decision support for industrial energy management based on a holistic data analytics approach is presented. The model is executed on the example of the strategic decision problem, to integrate the aspect of renewable energies into industrial energy management. This question is induced due to considerations of changing the electricity contract model from a standard rate to volatile energy prices corresponding to the energy spot market which is increasingly more affected by renewable energies. The procedure model corresponds to a data analytics process consisting on a data model, analysis, simulation and optimization step. This procedure will help to quantify the potentials of sustainable production concepts based on the data from a factory. The model is validated with data from a printer in analogy to a simple production machine. The overall goal is to establish smart grid principles for industry via the transformation from knowledge-driven to data-driven decisions within manufacturing companies.

Keywords: data analytics, green production, industrial energy management, optimization, renewable energies, simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 420

Authors: Eric Beyegue, Boris Azantza, Judith Laure Ngondi, Julius E. Oben

Abstract:

Background: Insulin resistance (IR) and oxidative stress are associated with obesity, diabetes mellitus, and other cardio metabolic disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Coula edulis extracts (CEE) on insulin resistance and oxidative stress markers in high-fat/high sucrose diet-induced insulin resistance in rats. Materials and Methods: Thirty male rats were divided into 6 groups of 5 rats each fed, received daily oral administration of CE extracts for 8 weeks as follows: Group 1 or negative control group, fed with standard diet (SD); Group 2 fed with high-fat/high sucrose diet (HFHS) only; Group3 fed with HFHS + CEAq 200; Group 4 fed with HFHS + CEAq 400; Group 5 fed with HFHS + CEEt 200; Group 6 fed with HFHS + CEEt 400. At the end of the experiment (8 weeks), animals were sacrificed plasma lipid profile, glucose, insulin, oxidative marker and digestive enzyme activities were measured. The homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was determined. Results: Feedings with HFHS significantly (p < 0.01) induced plasma hyperglycaemia, hyperinsulinaemia, increased triglyceride, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein levels, decreased high-density lipoprotein levels, alterations of α amylase, and glucose-6-phosphatase activities, and oxidative stress. Daily oral administration with CEE for eight weeks after insulin resistance induction had a hypolipidaemic action, antioxidative activities and modulated metabolic markers. Ethanolic extract at the higher dose had the best effect on body weight gain and insulin resistance, whereas aqueous extract showed the better activity on hyperlipidemia. Conclusion: These results suggest that CEAq and CEEt at 400mg/kg are promising complementary supplements that can be used to protect better from metabolic disorders associated with HFHS.

Keywords: Coula edulis Baill, high-fat / high sucrose diet, insulin resistance, oxidative stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Hossein Kheirollahi, Yunhua Luo

Abstract:

Studying stress and strain trends in the femur and recognizing femur failure mechanism is very important for preventing hip fracture in the elderly. The aim of this study was to identify high stress and strain regions in the femur during normal walking and falling to find the mechanical behavior and failure mechanism of the femur. We developed a finite element model of the femur from the subject’s quantitative computed tomography (QCT) image and used it to identify potentially high stress and strain regions during the single-leg stance and the sideways fall. It was found that fracture may initiate from the superior region of femoral neck and propagate to the inferior region during a high impact force such as sideways fall. The results of this study showed that the femur bone is more sensitive to strain than stress which indicates the effect of strain, in addition to effect of stress, should be considered for failure analysis.

Keywords: finite element analysis, hip fracture, strain, stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 490

Authors: Rezala Houria, Valverde Jose Luis, Romero Amaya, Molinari Alessandra, Maldotti Andrea

Abstract:

The escalation of oil prices in 1973 confronted the oil industry with the problem of how to maximize the processing of crude oil, especially the heavy fractions, to give gasoline components. Strong impetus was thus given to the development of catalysts with relatively large pore sizes, which were able to deal with larger molecules than the existing molecular sieves, and with good thermal and hydrothermal stability. The oil embargo in 1973 therefore acted as a stimulus for the investigation and development of pillared clays. Iron doped titania-pillared montmorillonite clays was prepared using bentonite from deposits of Maghnia in western-Algeria. The preparation method consists of differents steps (purification of the raw bentonite, preparation of a pillaring agent solution and exchange of the cations located between the clay layers with the previously formed iron/titanium solution). The characterization of this material was carried out by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, textural measures by BET method, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance UV visible spectroscopy, temperature- programmed desorption of ammonia and atomic absorption.This new material was investigated as photocatalyst for selective oxygenation of the liquid alkylaromatics such as: toluene, paraxylene and orthoxylene and the photocatalytic properties of it were compared with those of the titanium-pillared clays.

Keywords: iron doping, montmorillonite clays, pillared clays, oil industry

Procedia PDF Downloads 292

Authors: Gaurav Kumar Sinha

Abstract:

The volatility of the oil market, influenced by geopolitical, economic, and environmental factors, presents significant challenges for stakeholders in predicting trends and demand. This article explores the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in developing robust forecasting models to anticipate changes in the oil market more accurately. We delve into various AI techniques, including machine learning, deep learning, and time series analysis, that have been adapted to analyze historical data and current market conditions to forecast future trends. The study evaluates the effectiveness of these models in capturing complex patterns and dependencies in market data, which traditional forecasting methods often miss. Additionally, the paper discusses the integration of external variables such as political events, economic policies, and technological advancements that influence oil prices and demand. By leveraging AI, stakeholders can achieve a more nuanced understanding of market dynamics, enabling better strategic planning and risk management. The article concludes with a discussion on the potential of AI-driven models in enhancing the predictive accuracy of oil market forecasts and their implications for global economic planning and strategic resource allocation.

Keywords: AI forecasting, oil market trends, machine learning, deep learning, time series analysis, predictive analytics, economic factors, geopolitical influence, technological advancements, strategic planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 19

Authors: Abeer Al Kalbani

Abstract:

Oman is a sub-tropical country with limited water resources, harsh weather and limited soil fertility, constraining food production. Therefore, it largely depends on international markets to assure supply of food. In the light of these circumstances, food security in Oman is defined as the ability of the country to grant the staple food needs of people (e.g. rice, wheat, lentil, sugar, dates, dairy products, fish and plant or vegetable oils). It also involves exporting local goods with high production rates to exchange them with required food products. This concept of food security includes the availability of food through production and/or importing, stability of the market prices during all circumstances, and the ability of people to meet their needs within their income capabilities. As a result, most of the food security work is focused on availability and access dimensions of the issue. Not much research is focused on the utilization aspect of food security in Oman. Although women play a vital role in food security, there is limited research on women’s role in food security neither in Oman nor in neighboring Gulf countries. Women play an important role not only by carrying the responsibility of feeding their families but also by setting the consumption model for the household. Therefore, the research aims to contribute to the work done on food security in Oman and similar regions of the world by studying the role women play at the utilization level. Methods used in this research include Qualitative unstructured interviews, focus groups, survey questionnaire and an experimental study. Based on the FAO definition of food security, it consists of availability, access, utilization and sustainability. Results from a pilot study conducted for this research on two groups of women in Oman; urban and rural women, showed that women in Oman are responsible for achieving these four pillars at the household level. Moreover, awareness of women increased as their educational level increased. Urban women showed more awareness and openness to adopt healthier and proper food related choices than rural women. Urban women seem also more open than rural women to new ideas and concepts and ways to healthier food. However, both urban and rural women claim that no training and educational programs are available for them and awareness of food security in general remains relatively low in both groups. In the light of these findings, this research attempts to further investigate the social beliefs, practices and attitudes women adopt in relation to food purchase, storage, preparation and consumption as considered as important parts of the food system. It also seeks to examine the effect of educational training programs and media on the level of women awareness on the issue.

Keywords: food security, household food security, utilization, role of women

Procedia PDF Downloads 391

Authors: Chih-Hsiang Chang, Fang-Jyun Su

Abstract:

This paper explores whether stock characteristics influence the herding formation among investors in the US equity market. To extend the research scope of the existing literature, this paper further examines the role that stock risk characteristics play in the US equity market, and the way they influence investors’ decision-making. First, empirical results show that whether general stocks or high-risk stocks, there are no herding behaviors among the investors in the US equity market during the whole research period or during four great events. Moreover, stock characteristics have great influence on investors’ trading decisions. Finally, there is a bidirectional lead-lag relationship of the herding formation between high-risk stocks and low-risk stocks, but the influence of high-risk stocks on the low-risk stocks is stronger than that of low-risk stocks on the high-risk stocks.

Keywords: stock characteristics, herding formation, investment decision, US equity market, lead-lag relationship

Procedia PDF Downloads 258