Search results for: resource-based view

Authors: Adekunle K. O, Adeniyi A. E, Kolawole E

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One of the most dramatic trends in the communications market in recent years has been the growth of prepaid services. Today, prepaid no longer constitutes the low-revenue, basic-service segment. It is driven by a high margin, value-add service customers who view it as a convenient way of retaining control over their usage and communication spending while expecting high service levels. To service providers, prepaid services offer the advantage of reducing bad accounts while allowing them to predict usage and plan network resources. Yet, the real-time demands of prepaid services require a scalable, real-time platform to manage customers through their entire life cycle. It delivers integrated real-time rating, voucher management, recharge management, customer care and service provisioning for the generation of new prepaid services. It carries high scalability that can handle millions of prepaid customers in real-time through their entire life cycle.

Keywords: prepaid billing, voucher management, customers, automated, security

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Authors: Arnab Majumdar, Sanjoy Sadhukhan

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Although gun barrel steels are an important variety from defense view point, available literatures are very limited. In the present work, an IF grade Ni-Cr-Mo-V high strength low alloy steel is produced in Electric Earth Furnace-ESR Route. Ingot was hot forged to desired dimension with a reduction ratio of 70-75% followed by homogenization, hardening and tempering treatment. Sample chemistry, NMIR, macro and micro structural analyses were done. Mechanical properties which include tensile, impact, and fracture toughness were studied. Ultrasonic testing was done to identify internal flaws. The existing high strength low alloy Ni-Cr-Mo-V steel shows improved properties in modified processing route and heat treatment schedule in comparison to properties noted earlier for manufacturing of gun barrels. The improvement in properties seems to withstand higher explosive loads with the same amount of steel in gun barrel application.

Keywords: gun barrel steels, IF grade, chemistry, physical properties, thermal and mechanical processing, mechanical properties, ultrasonic testing

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Authors: Bartłomiej Przybyszewski, Rafał Kozera, Anna Boczkowska, Maciej Traczyk, Paulina Kozera, Malwina Liszewska, Daria Pakuła

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The goal of the work was to reduce or completely eliminate the accumulation of dirt, snow and ice build-up on transparent coatings by achieving self-cleaning and icephobic properties. The research involved the use of laser surface texturing technology for chemically modified coatings of the epoxy materials group and their hybrids used to protect glass surfaces. For this purpose, two methods of surface structuring and the preceding volumetric modification of the chemical composition with proprietary organosilicon compounds and/or mineral additives were used. An attractive approach to the topic was the development of efficient and, most importantly, durable coatings with self-cleaning and ice-phobic properties that reduced or avoided dirt build-up and adhesion of water, snow and ice. With a view to the future industrial application of the developed technologies, all methods meet the requirements in terms of their practical use on a large scale.

Keywords: icephobic coatings, hydrophobic coatings, transparent coatings, laser patterning

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Authors: Zhou BingHai, Fradet Victor

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Lean philosophy follows the simple principle of “creating more value with fewer resources”. In accordance with this policy, material handling can be managed by the mean of Kanban which by triggering every feeding tour only when needed regulates the flow of material in one of the most efficient way. This paper focuses on Kanban Supermarket’s parameters and their optimization on a purely cost-based point of view. Number and size of forklifts, as well as size of the containers they carry, will be variables of the cost function which includes handling costs, inventory costs but also shortage costs. With an innovative computational approach encoded into industrial engineering software Tecnomatix and reproducing real-life conditions, a fictive assembly line is established and produces a random list of orders. Multi-scenarios are then run to study the impact of each change of parameter and the variation of costs it implies. Lastly, best-case scenarios financially speaking are selected.

Keywords: Kanban, supermarket, parts-feeding policies, multi-scenario simulation, assembly line

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Authors: O.M. Agbogidi, I.M. Onochie

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An investigation was carried out on trace metal concentration of soils contaminated with carbide in Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria in 2014 with a view to providing baseline formation on their status relative to the control plants and to the tolerable limits recommended by World standard bodies including WHO and FAO. The metals were analyzed using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer which showed an elevated level when compared with the control plots. High level of metals including Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Ni, Cr and arsenic were recorded and these values were significantly different (P<0.05) from values obtained from the control plots. These results are indicative of the fact that carbide polluted soil had higher level of trace metals and because these metals are non-biodegradable elements in the ecosystem, a rise to their lethal levels in food chains is envisaged due to the interdependency of plants and animals stemming from soil-water organisms interrelationship.

Keywords: bio-concentration, carbide contaminated soils, heavy metals, trace metals

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Authors: Gopashis Biswas G. Son

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This paper will attempt to explore the notions that the two Caribbean poets- Derek Walcott and Edward Kamau Brathwaite endorse on Caribbean history in their poems. Though both of these poets hold almost the same notion regarding history but their approach is totally different from one another. Coming from a 'hybrid' race, Walcott is aware of the history and acknowledges it and writes in 'mulatto of style'; whereas Brathwaite is enraged by it and attempts to sublimate it to erect a history of the new world. It is Walcott’s view to rise above the delusion and hatred and engulf the world of literature with creativity. On the other hand, Brathwaite holds the grudge which helps him not to forget and forgive the past experience but to transform that very experience into something positive which may help the Caribbean to transform their frustration into something creative and to help the Caribbean to overcome the present struggle against the legacy of colonization. Following discourse analysis, this paper seeks to identify if it is possible to rewrite and re-‘right’ the Caribbean history which has been lost in the route and analyze Walcott and Brathwaite’s attitude towards that very history which has been implemented through their poetry.

Keywords: Caribbean history, colonialism, mulatto of style, Walcott vis-à-vis Brathwaite

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Authors: Mohsen Qasemi

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In the international economic order multilateral trading system which established by General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1947 (GATT) was dominant until about two decades ago. Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have changed this order and become an important phenomenon. One of the main objectives of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a central institution of multilateral trading system is raising standards of living. There are many scholars who suggest that WTO should take steps to protect human rights in its activities. Although it has always been opposing views who declare that since WTO has no explicit rule for human rights, it has no human rights related obligations. At the time that the WTO was established, member states began to join RTAs and since then, the escalating growth of these agreements and their effects on multilateral trading system has been controversial. There are some aspects of RTAs that have received too little attention from scholars. It is important to take a different view and evaluate the RTAs based on non-commercial aspects. The present paper seeks to answer this question: which system could be more useful in protecting human rights, RTAs or WTO?

Keywords: WTO, RTAs, human rights, multilateral trading system, non discrimination

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Authors: C. D. Papanikolaou, V. A. Giouvanis, E. A. Karatasiou, D. S. Dimakas, M. A. Sakellariou-Makrantonaki

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Irrigation is one of the most important cultivation practices for each crop, especially in areas where rainfall is enough to cover the crop water needs. In such areas, the farmers must irrigate in order to achieve high economical results. The precise irrigation scheduling contributes to irrigation water saving and thus a valuable natural resource is protected. Under this point of view, in the experimental field of the Laboratory of Agricultural Hydraulics of the University of Thessaly, a research was conducted during the growing season of 2012 in order to evaluate the growth, seed and oil production of sunflower as well as the water saving, by applying different methods of irrigation scheduling. Three treatments in four replications were organized. These were: a) surface drip irrigation where the irrigation scheduling based on the Penman-Monteith (PM) method (control); b) surface drip irrigation where the irrigation scheduling based on a soil moisture sensor (SMS); and c) surface drip irrigation, where the irrigation scheduling based on a soil potential sensor (WM).

Keywords: irrigation, energy production, soil moisture sensor, sunflower, water saving

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Authors: A. Melka, N. Slater, A. Mualem, Y. Louzoun

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Networks are often presented as containing a “core” and a “periphery.” The existence of a core suggests that some vertices are central and form the skeleton of the network, to which all other vertices are connected. An alternative view of graphs is through communities. Multiple measures have been proposed for dense communities in graphs, the most classical being k-cliques, k-cores, and k-plexes, all presenting groups of tightly connected vertices. We here show that the edge number thresholds for such communities to emerge and for their percolation into a single dense connectivity component are very close, in all networks studied. These percolating cliques produce a natural core and periphery structure. This result is generic and is tested in configuration models and in real-world networks. This is also true for k-cores and k-plexes. Thus, the emergence of this connectedness among communities leading to a core is not dependent on some specific mechanism but a direct result of the natural percolation of dense communities.

Keywords: cliques, core structure, percolation, phase transition

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Authors: Rideci Farias, Haroldo Paranhos, Joyce Silva, Elson Almeida, Hellen Silva, Lucas Silva

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The constant growth of the fleet of vehicles in the big cities, makes that the Engineering is dynamic, with respect to the new solutions for traffic flow in general. In the Federal District (DF), Brazil, it is no different. The city of Brasilia, Capital of Brazil, and Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, is projected to 500 thousand inhabitants, and today circulates more than 3 million people in the city, and with a fleet of more than one vehicle for every two inhabitants. The growth of the city to the North region, made that the urban planning presented solutions for the fleet in constant growth. In this context, a complex of viaducts, road accesses, creation of new rolling roads and duplication of the Bragueto bridge over Paranoa lake in the northern part of the city was designed, giving access to the BR-020 highway, denominated Clover of North Triage (TTN). In the geopedological context, the region is composed of hydromorphic soils, with the presence of the water level at some times of the year. From the geotechnical point of view, are soils with SPT < 4 and Resistance not drained, Su < 50 kPa. According to urban planning in Brasília, special art works can not rise in the urban landscape, contrasting with the urban characteristics of the architects Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. Architects hired to design the new Capital of Brazil. The urban criterion then created the technical impasse, resulting in the technical need to ‘bury’ the works of art and in turn the access greenhouses at different levels, in regions of low support soil and water level Outcrossing, generally inducing the need for this study and design. For the adoption of the appropriate solution, Standard Penetration Test (SPT), Vane Test, Diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL) and auger boring campaigns were carried out. With the comparison of the results of these tests, the profiles of resistance of the soils and water levels were created in the studied sections. Geometric factors such as existing sidewalks and lack of elevation for the discharge of deep drainage water have inhibited traditional techniques for total removal of soft soils, thus avoiding the use of temporary drawdown and shoring of excavations. Thus, a structural layer was designed to reinforce the subgrade by means of the ‘needling’ of the soft soil, without the need for longitudinal drains. In this context, the article presents the geological and geotechnical studies carried out, but also the dimensioning of the reinforcement layer on the soft soil with a view to the main objective of this solution that is to allow the execution of the civil works without the interference in the roads in use, Execution of services in rainy periods, presentation of solution compatible with drainage characteristics and soft soil reinforcement.

Keywords: layer, reinforcement, soft soil, clover of north triage

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Authors: Ghaleb Y. Abbasi, Satanay Alhiary

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This paper focused on software testing phase of activities, types, techniques, teams and methods under agile project management (APM) in the Jordanian software industry. The effect of using agile principles and practices on testing process in software development life cycle (SDLC) was analyzed in order to create full view of the agile testing aspects such as phases, levels, types, methods, team and customers. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were utilized to cover earlier literature and collect data via web survey and short interviews in Jordanian software companies. Results indicated that agile testing had positive influence on quality of product, team performance, and customer satisfaction with a rate above 80%. APM is a powerful practice of moving software project forward in current markets with a rate above 51% by early involvement of testing activities in development.

Keywords: agile project management, software development life cycle, agile methods, agile testing, software testing

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Authors: Todd R. Walton

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Social media would seem to be an ideal mechanism for crisis communication, yet it has been met with varied results. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, provide a slow moving view of how social media can be leveraged to guide stakeholders and the public through a crisis. Crisis communication managers have struggled to reach target audiences with credible messaging. This Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (QES) analyzed the findings of eight studies published in the last year to determine how organizations effectively utilize social media for crisis communication. Additionally, the evidence was analyzed to note strategies for establishing credibility in a medium fraught with misinformation. Studies indicated wide agreement on the use of multiple social media channels in addition to frequent accurate messaging in order to establish credibility. Studies indicated mixed agreement on the use of text based emergency notification systems. The findings in this QES will help crisis communication professionals plan for social media use for crisis communication.

Keywords: crisis communication, crisis management, emergency response, social media

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Authors: Geeta Negi, Pankaj, Anjana Srivastava, Anita Sharma

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In the present study, the presence of endosulfan, imidacloprid, carbendazim, in the soil /vegetables/cereals and water samples was observed in agriculture fields of Uttarakhand. In view of biodegradation of these pesticides, nine bacterial isolates were recovered from the soil samples of the fields which tolerated endosulfan, imidacloprid, carbendazim from 100 to 200 µg/ml. Three bacterial consortia used for in vitro bioremediation experiments were three bacterial isolates for carbendazim, imidacloprid and endosulfan, respectively. Maximum degradation (87 and 83%) of α and β endosulfan respectively was observed in soil slurry by consortium. Degradation of Imidacloprid and carbendazim under similar conditions was 88.4 and 77.5% respectively. FT-IR analysis of biodegraded samples of pesticides in liquid media showed stretching of various bonds. GC-MS of biodegraded endosulfan sample in soil slurry showed the presence of non-toxic intermediates. A pot trial with Bacterial treatments lowered down the uptake of pesticides in onion plants.

Keywords: biodegradation, carbendazim, consortium, endosulfan

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Authors: Fahad Suleiman

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The aim of this paper is to study students’ view on mathematics learning in Katsina State Senior Secondary Schools of Nigeria, such as their conceptions of mathematics, attitudes toward mathematics learning, etc. A questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 1,225 senior secondary two (SS II) students of Katsina State in Nigeria. The data collected showed a clear picture of the hurdles that affect the teaching and learning of mathematics in our schools. Problems such as logistics and operational which include shortage of mathematics teachers, non–availability of a mathematics laboratory, etc. were identified. It also depicted the substantial trends of changing views and attitudes toward mathematics across secondary schools. Students’ responses to the conception of mathematics were consistent and they demonstrated some specific characteristics of their views in learning mathematics. This survey has provided useful information regarding students’ needs and aspirations in mathematics learning for curriculum planners and frontline teachers for future curriculum reform and implementation.

Keywords: attitudes, mathematics, students, teacher

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Authors: Ting-Ting Wen, H. C. Lin

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This paper reports a study for the light outcoupling efficiency of the PLED device. In use of a designed substrate combined with nano-line patterns in PLED device, the light outcoupling efficiency can be significantly enhanced. The designed substrate was made by UV imprinting technology, such as triangular microlens arrays on the front and periodic corrugated patterns on the back surface. The nano-line patterns in PLED device was fabricated by advanced microstamping and ink-jet printing techniques. For high angles of observation with respect to the substrate surface normal, the light out intensity of the developed PLED device is increased from 0.05 (a.u.) up to 0.69 (a.u.) at the view angle 85 degree. The designed integration leads to 64% increase of the light out intensity compared with the conventional PLED device.

Keywords: triangular microlens, corrugation patterns, nano-line patterns, PLED device, UV imprinting technology, microstamping

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Authors: Terungwa Simon Yange, Agana Moses A.

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This paper studied steganography and designed a simplistic approach to a steganographic tool for hiding information in image files with the view of addressing the security challenges with data by hiding data from unauthorized users to improve its security. The Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM) was used in this work. The system was developed using Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.7.0_10 and MySQL Server as its backend. The system was tested with some hypothetical health records which proved the possibility of protecting data from unauthorized users by making it secret so that its existence cannot be easily recognized by fraudulent users. It further strengthens the confidentiality of patient records kept by medical practitioners in the health setting. In conclusion, this work was able to produce a user friendly steganography software that is very fast to install and easy to operate to ensure privacy and secrecy of sensitive data. It also produced an exact copy of the original image and the one carrying the secret message when compared with each.

Keywords: steganography, cryptography, encryption, decryption, secrecy

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Authors: Indu Saini, Ashu Khanna, S. K. Peddoju

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Cloud computing is the new buzz word today attracting high interest among various domains like business enterprises, Particularly in Small and Medium Enterprises. As it is a pay-per-use model, SMEs have high expectations that adapting this model will not only make them flexible, hassle-free but also economic. In view of such expectations, this paper analyses the possibility of adapting cloud computing technologies in SMEs in light of economic concerns. In this paper, two hypotheses are developed to compare the average annual per-user costs of using Enterprise Resource Planning systems in two ways, The traditional approach and the cloud approach. A web based survey is conducted apart from the Interviews with the peers to collect the data across the selected SMEs and t-test is performed to compare both the technologies on the proposed hypothesis. Results achieved are produced and discussed.

Keywords: cloud computing, small and medium enterprises, enterprise resource solutions, interviews

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Authors: Fatima Naz, Ayesha Tariq

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In view of growing of the internet users for e-commerce and taking into account, the emergent impact of word of mouth phenomenon this research has different aims. The aims of this study were built following dissimilar discussion with teachers and colleagues enlightening that word of mouth information for online purchasing do not have the same effect for everybody. Then they were born following dissimilar researchers together with what was already done in previous researches and what was completed. As a result different aims were drawn; the initial aim of this research is to study the attention of the customers in the word of mouth to power their online purchasing activities. The next aim is to analyze the people influenced by the interest of word of mouth. The following aim is to examine the marketing behavior bearing in mind the internet progress and word of mouth, their consideration for word of mouth marketing. In the form of research questions the aims of the study are: 1) How community utilizes and multiplies word of mouth information about online purchasing experience? 2) How communities perceive the word of mouth marketing? 3) How marketers take the word of mouth phenomenon and how they handle it?

Keywords: belief, power, inspiration, self-expression, positive attitude to online marketing, forwarding of contents, purchasing decision, standard marketing

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Authors: Marwan Jarrah, Nadia Nugrush, Sukainah Ali, Areej Allawzi

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This research article investigates how illnesses (different types and severity) are expressed in Arabic discourse with a particular focus on input coming from Colloquial Jordanian Arabic (CJA). Drawing on a corpus of naturally occurring conversations, this article offers evidence that illnesses are predominantly expressed through two different sets of expressive strategies, namely direct expressive strategies (DES) and indirect expressive strategies (IES). The latter are exclusively used when cancer and mental health disorders are targeted. IES include the substitution of the name of the illness with some religious expressions (e.g., ʔallah ʔijdʒi:rna ‘May Allah keeps us safe’) or certain terms especially when cancer is meant (e.g., haðˤa:k ʔil-maraðˤ ‘that disease’). On the other hand, DES are used in conjunction with other illnesses (e.g., heart, kidneys, diabetes, etc.), regardless of their severity. DES include specific formulas that remarkably mention the name of the inflicted organ (e.g., [with-SOMEONE the ORGAN] as in ʕinduh ʔil-qalb ‘lit. with-him the heart’ meaning ‘He has a heart disease). We discuss the effects of religious beliefs and local norms and values in determining the use of these strategies.

Keywords: Illnesses, pragmatics, expressive strategies, religion

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Authors: Nilgun Becenen

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In this study, the structural properties of composite materials with the plastic matrix, which are used in body parts of urban furniture were investigated. Surfaces of the specimens were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM: JSM-5200, JEOL) and Climatic environmental test analyses in laboratory conditions were used to analyze the performance of the composite samples. Climate conditions were determined as follow; 3 hour working under the conditions of -10 ºC heat and 20 % moisture, Heating until 45 ºC for 4 hours, 3 hour work at 45 ºC, 3 hour work under the conditions of 45 ºC heat and 80 % moisture, Cooling at -10 ºC for 4 hours. In this cycle, the atmospheric conditions that urban furniture would be exposed to in the open air were taken into consideration. Particularly, sudden heat changes and humidity effect were investigated. The climate conditions show that performance in Low Temperatures: The endurance isn’t affected, hardness does not change, tensile, bending and impact resistance does not change, the view isn’t affected. It has a high environmental performance.

Keywords: fibre-reinforced material, glass fiber, textile science, polymer composites

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Authors: Charles Amoatey

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The issue of risk in the mining industry is a global phenomenon and the Ghanaian mining industry is not exempted. The main purpose of this study is to identify the critical risk factors affecting the mining industry. The study takes an integrated view of the mining industry by examining the contribution of various risk factors to mining project failure in Ghana. A questionnaire survey was conducted to solicit the critical risk factors from key mining practitioners. About 80 respondents from 11 mining firms participated in the survey. The study identified 22 risk factors contributing to mining project failure in Ghana. The five most critical risk factors based on both probability of occurrence and impact were: (1) unstable commodity prices, (2) inflation/exchange rate, (3) land degradation, (4) high cost of living and (5) government bureaucracy for obtaining licenses. Furthermore, the study found that risk assessment in the mining sector has a direct link with mining project sustainability. Mitigation measures for addressing the identified risk factors were discussed. The key findings emphasize the need for a comprehensive risk management culture in the entire mining industry.

Keywords: risk, assessment, mining, Ghana

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Authors: Ratun Rahman, Rafid Islam, Akin Ahmed, Kamrul Hasan, Hasan Mahmud

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Malware is becoming more prevalent, and several threat categories have risen dramatically in recent years. This paper provides a bird's-eye view of the world of malware analysis. The efficiency of five different machine learning methods (Naive Bayes, K-Nearest Neighbor, Decision Tree, Random Forest, and TensorFlow Decision Forest) combined with features picked from the retrieval of Android permissions to categorize applications as harmful or benign is investigated in this study. The test set consists of 1,168 samples (among these android applications, 602 are malware and 566 are benign applications), each consisting of 948 features (permissions). Using the permission-based dataset, the machine learning algorithms then produce accuracy rates above 80%, except the Naive Bayes Algorithm with 65% accuracy. Of the considered algorithms TensorFlow Decision Forest performed the best with an accuracy of 90%.

Keywords: android malware detection, machine learning, malware, malware analysis

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Authors: Bushra Mussawar, Saleha Younus

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Students often view their academic life demanding and stressful. However, apart from academics, stress springs from various other sources namely, finance, family, health, friends etc. The present study aims to assess the level of perceived stress in medical and fine arts students, and to determine the coping strategies used by the students to mitigate stress. The sample of the study consisted of 178 medical and fine arts students. The sample was selected through purposive sampling. Pearson correlation coefficient and T-test were used to analyze data. Results of the study revealed that there exists a positive relationship between perceived stress and coping strategies. Additionally, the two groups showed marked differences in terms of stress perception and coping styles. The level of perceived stress was found to be high in medical students nonetheless, they employed more positive coping strategies than fine arts students who scored high on negative coping strategies which are deleterious to the overall wellbeing.

Keywords: perceived stress, coping strategies, medical, fine arts students

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Authors: Paul Anyaogu, E. U. M. Igbo

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This study examines the public view on child street hawking in Aba Urban, Abia State, Nigeria, its causes and effect on the child participant and society at large. The study tends to investigate the influence of socioeconomic status on child street hawking. The current situation reflects a chronic urban poverty, which disposed of parents/guardians to send their children and wards of school age to income yielding activities. A social survey research design was employed to select the respondents. A total of 1,108 questionnaires were administered to the respondents of 18 years and above and 1,038 were retrieved. Also, 24 in-depth interviews were conducted in the study area. The findings revealed that child street hawking is on the increase and a serious threat to social cohesion and national security. The study also revealed that poverty is a major cause of child street hawking. The study recommends that government should create job opportunities for urban dwellers, as well as provide social amenities and also put up poverty alleviation/eradication programmes for the people.

Keywords: Aba Urban, child street hawking, dangers, disposition, poverty

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Authors: Lucie Novakova, Petr Homola, Vaclav Kafka

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Asymmetric incremental sheet forming (AISF) could significantly reduce costs incurred by the fabrication of complex industrial components with a minimal environmental impact. The AISF experiments were carried out on commercially pure titanium (Ti-Gr2), Timetal (15-3-3-3) alloy, and Ti-6Al-4V (Ti-Gr5) alloy. A special testing geometry was used to characterize the titanium alloys properties from the point of view of the forming zone and titanium structure effect. The structure and properties of the materials were assessed by means of metallographic analyses and microhardness measurements.The highest differences in the parameters assessed as a function of the sampling zone were observed in the case of alpha-phase Ti-Gr2at the expense of the most substantial sheet thinning occurrence. A springback causes a smaller stored deformation in Timetal (β alloy) resulting in less pronounced microstructure refinement and microhardness increase. Ti-6Al-4V alloy exhibited early failure due to its poor formability at ambient temperature.

Keywords: incremental forming, metallography, hardness, titanium alloys

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Authors: Uyi Kizito Ehigiamusoe

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The paper examines the impact of money market on economic growth in Nigeria using data for the period 1980-2012. Econometrics techniques such as Ordinary Least Squares Method, Johanson’s Co-integration Test and Vector Error Correction Model were used to examine both the long-run and short-run relationship. Evidence from the study suggest that though a long-run relationship exists between money market and economic growth, but the present state of the Nigerian money market is significantly and negatively related to economic growth. The link between the money market and the real sector of the economy remains very weak. This implies that the market is not yet developed enough to produce the needed growth that will propel the Nigerian economy because of several challenges. It was therefore recommended that government should create the appropriate macroeconomic policies, legal framework and sustain the present reforms with a view to developing the market so as to promote productive activities, investments, and ultimately economic growth.

Keywords: economic growth, investments, money market, money market challenges, money market instruments

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Authors: Phalaunnaphat Siriwongs

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The classroom of the 21st century is an ever-changing forum for new and innovative thoughts and ideas. With increasing technology and opportunity, students have rapid access to information that only decades ago would have taken weeks to obtain. Unfortunately, new techniques and technology are not a cure for the fundamental problems that have plagued the classroom ever since education was established. Class size has been an issue long debated in academia. While it is difficult to pinpoint an exact number, it is clear that in this case, more does not mean better. By looking into the success and pitfalls of classroom size, the true advantages of smaller classes becomes clear. Previously, one class was comprised of 50 students. Since they were seventeen- and eighteen-year-old students, it was sometimes quite difficult for them to stay focused. To help students understand and gain much knowledge, a researcher introduced “The Theory of Multiple Intelligence” and this, in fact, enabled students to learn according to their own learning preferences no matter how they were being taught. In this lesson, the researcher designed a cycle of learning activities involving all intelligences so that everyone had equal opportunities to learn.

Keywords: multiple intelligences, role play, performance assessment, formative assessment

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Authors: Irene Kalemaki, Ioanna Garefi

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Social Innovation Education (SIE) is a new educational approach that aims to empower students to take action for a more democratic and sustainable society. Conceptually and pedagogically wise, it is situated at the intersection of Enterprise Education and Citizenship Education as it aspires to i) combine action with activism, ii) personal development with collective efficacy, iii) entrepreneurial mindsets with democratic values and iv) individual competences with collective competences. This paper abstract presents the work of the NEMESIS project, funded by H2020, that aims to design, test and validate the first consolidated approach for embedding Social Innovation Education in schools of primary and secondary education. During the academic year 2018-2019, eight schools from five European countries experimented with different approaches and methodologies to incorporate SIE in their settings. This paper reports briefly on these attempts and discusses the wider educational philosophy underlying these interventions with a particular focus on analyzing the learning outcomes and impact on students. That said, this paper doesn’t only report on the theoretical and practical underpinnings of SIE, but most importantly, it provides evidence on the impact of SIE on students. In terms of methodology, the study took place from September 2018 to July 2019 in eight schools from Greece, Spain, Portugal, France, and the UK involving directly 56 teachers, 1030 students and 69 community stakeholders. Focus groups, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations as well as students' written narratives were used to extract data on the impact of SIE on students. The overall design of the evaluation activities was informed by a realist approach, which enabled us to go beyond “what happened” and towards understanding “why it happened”. Research findings suggested that SIE can benefit students in terms of their emotional, cognitive, behavioral and agentic engagement. Specifically, the emotional engagement of students was increased because through SIE interventions; students voice was heard, valued, and acted upon. This made students feel important to their school, increasing their sense of belonging, confidence and level of autonomy. As regards cognitive engagement, both students and teachers reported positive outcomes as SIE enabled students to take ownership of their ideas to drive their projects forward and thus felt more motivated to perform in class because it felt personal, important and relevant to them. In terms of behavioral engagement, the inclusive environment and the collective relationships that were reinforced through the SIE interventions had a direct positive impact on behaviors among peers. Finally, with regard to agentic engagement, it has been observed that students became very proactive which was connected to the strong sense of ownership and enthusiasm developed during collective efforts to deliver real-life social innovations. Concluding, from a practical and policy point of view these research findings could encourage the inclusion of SIE in schools, while from a research point of view, they could contribute to the scientific discourse providing evidence and clarity on the emergent field of SIE.

Keywords: education, engagement, social innovation, students

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Authors: Shirin Ghasemi

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The structure of Asadi’s poem in Garshasb-Nameh coordinates with the structure of human psyche based on Jung’s perspective. The poetic stories of Asadi in Garshasb-Nameh is contrasted to human psyche according to Jung’s view in psychology which indicated the similarity of poetic structure of stories of Garshasb-Nameh to analytical psychology of Jung. In fact, by studying the stories of this collection the reader travels with him and finds it consistent with the human psyche. To demonstrate this, the story of Jamshid marriage with Kuhrang’s daughter and the story of Garshasb marriage with King’s daughter are selected. These two stories illustrate the poetic structure and the human psyche based on Jung’s analytical psychology perspective.

Keywords: Asadi Tusi, Garshasb-Nameh, Jung, analytical psychology

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Authors: Geraldine Molina, Malou Allagnat

Abstract:

Entry through meteorological and climatic phenomena, technical knowledge and engineering sciences has long been favored by the research and local public action to analyze the urban climate, develop strategies to reduce its changes and adapt their spaces. However, in their daily practices and sensitive experiences, city dwellers are confronted with the climate and constantly deal with its fluctuations. In this way, these actors develop knowledge, skills and tactics to regulate their comfort and adapt to climatic variations. Therefore, the empirical observation and analysis of these living experiences represent major scientific and social challenges. This contribution proposes to question these relationships of the inhabitants to urban climate. It tackles the construction of inhabitants’ climatic experiences to answer a central question: how do city dwellers’ deal with the urban climate and adapt to its different variations? Indeed, the city raises the question of how populations adapt to different spatial and temporal climatic variations. Local impacts of global climate change are combined with the urban heat island phenomenon and other microclimatic effects, as well as seasonal, daytime and night-time fluctuations. To provide answers, the presentation will be focused on the results of a CNRS research project (Géraldine Molina), part of which is linked to the European project Nature For Cities (H2020, Marjorie Musy, Scientific Director). From a theoretical point of view, the contribution is based on a renewed definition of adaptation centered on the capacity of individuals and social groups, a recently opened entry from a theoretical point of view by social scientists. The research adopts a "radical interdisciplinary" approach to shed light on the links between social dynamics of climate (inhabitants’ perceptions, representations and practices) and physical processes that characterize urban climate. To do so, it relied on a methodological combination of different survey techniques borrowed from the social sciences (geography, anthropology, sociology) and linked to the work, methodologies and results of the engineering sciences. From 2016 to 2019, a survey was carried out in two districts of Lyon whose morphological, micro-climatic and social characteristics differ greatly, namely the 6th arrondissement and the Guillotière district. To explore the construction of climate experiences over the long term by putting it into perspective with the life trajectories of individuals, 70 semi-directive interviews were conducted with inhabitants. In order to also punctually survey the climate experiments as they unfold in a given time and moment, observation and measurement campaigns of physical phenomena and questionnaires have been conducted in public spaces by an interdisciplinary research team1. The contribution at the ICUC 2020 will mainly focus on the presentation of the presentation of the qualitative survey conducted thanks to the inhabitants’ interviews.

Keywords: sensitive experiences, ways of life, thermal comfort, radical interdisciplinarity

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