Search results for: building materials industry
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 14677

Search results for: building materials industry

6247 Bracing Applications for Improving the Earthquake Performance of Reinforced Concrete Structures

Authors: Diyar Yousif Ali

Abstract:

Braced frames, besides other structural systems, such as shear walls or moment resisting frames, have been a valuable and effective technique to increase structures against seismic loads. In wind or seismic excitations, diagonal members react as truss web elements which would afford tension or compression stresses. This study proposes to consider the effect of bracing diagonal configuration on values of base shear and displacement of building. Two models were created, and nonlinear pushover analysis was implemented. Results show that bracing members enhance the lateral load performance of the Concentric Braced Frame (CBF) considerably. The purpose of this article is to study the nonlinear response of reinforced concrete structures which contain hollow pipe steel braces as the major structural elements against earthquake loads. A five-storey reinforced concrete structure was selected in this study; two different reinforced concrete frames were considered. The first system was an un-braced frame, while the last one was a braced frame with diagonal bracing. Analytical modelings of the bare frame and braced frame were realized by means of SAP 2000. The performances of all structures were evaluated using nonlinear static analyses. From these analyses, the base shear and displacements were compared. Results are plotted in diagrams and discussed extensively, and the results of the analyses showed that the braced frame was seemed to capable of more lateral load carrying and had a high value for stiffness and lower roof displacement in comparison with the bare frame.

Keywords: reinforced concrete structures, pushover analysis, base shear, steel bracing

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6246 Promoting Local Products through One Village One Product and Customer Satisfaction

Authors: Wardoyo, Humairoh

Abstract:

In global competition nowadays, the world economy heavily depends upon high technology and capital intensive industries that are mainly owned by well-established economic and developed countries, such as United States of America, United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea. Indonesia as a developing country is building its economic activities towards industrial country as well, although a slightly different approach was implemented. For example, similar to the concept of one village one product (OVOP) implemented in Japan, Indonesia also adopted this concept by promoting local traditional products to improve incomes of village people and to enhance local economic activities. Analysis on how OVOP program increase local people’s income and influence customer satisfaction were the objective of this paper. Behavioral intention to purchase and re-purchase, customer satisfaction and promotion are key factors for local products to play significant roles in improving local income and economy of the region. The concepts of OVOP and key factors that influence economic activities of local people and the region will be described and explained in the paper. Results of research, in a case study based on 300 respondents, customers of a local restaurant at Tangerang City, Banten Province of Indonesia, indicated that local product, service quality and behavioral intention individually have significant influence to customer satisfaction; whereas simultaneous tests to the variables indicated positive and significant influence to the behavioral intention through customer satisfaction as the intervening variable.

Keywords: behavioral intention, customer satisfaction, local products, one village one product (OVOP)

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6245 Oman’s Position in U.S. Tourists’ Mind: The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis on Destination Attributes

Authors: Mohammed Gamil Montasser, Angelo Battaglia

Abstract:

Tourism is making its presence felt across the Sultanate of Oman. The story is one of the most recognized phenomena as a sustainable solid growth and is considered a remarkable outcome for any destination. The competitive situation and challenges within the tourism industry worldwide entail a better understanding of the destination position and its image to achieve Oman’s aspiration to retain its international reputation as one of the most desirable destinations in the Middle East. To access general perceptions of Oman’s attributes, their importance and their influences among U.S. tourists, an online survey was conducted with 522 American travelers who have traveled internationally, including non-visitors, virtual-visitors and visitors to Oman. This research involved a total of 36 attributes in the survey. Participants were asked to rate their agreement on how each attribute represented Oman and how important each attribute was for selecting destinations on 5- point Likert Scale. They also indicated if each attribute has a positive, neutral or negative influence on their destination selection. Descriptive statistics and importance performance analysis (IPA) were conducted. IPA illustrated U.S. tourists’ perceptions of Oman’s destination attributes and their importance in destination selection on a matrix with four quadrants, divided by actual mean value in each grid for importance (M=3.51) and performance (M=3.57). Oman tourism organizations and destination managers may use these research findings for future marketing and management efforts toward the U.S. travel market.

Keywords: analysis of importance, performance, destination attributes, Oman's position, U.S. tourists

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6244 Measuring Impacts of Agroforestry on Soil Erosion with Field Devices: Quantifying Potential for Water Infiltration, Soil Conservation, and Payments for Ecosystems Services Schemes

Authors: Arthur Rouanet, Marina Gavaldao

Abstract:

Throughout the second half of the 20th Century, estimates indicate that soil losses due to erosion have impacted one-third of worldwide arable lands. As such, these losses are amongst the largest threats to agriculture sustainability and production potential. Increasing tree cover is considered one of the most efficient methods to mitigate this phenomenon. The present study describes soil erosion measurements in different land cover situations in Alto Huayabamba, Peru, using the experimental plot methodology. Three parcels were studied during a one-year period (starting September 2015) with 3 different land cover scenarii evaluated: 10-year-old secondary tropical forest (P1), 3-year-old native species reforestation (P2) and bare soil (P3). Information was collected systematically after each rain to assess the average rainfall, water runoff and soil eroded. The results indicate that variance in land cover has a strong impact on the level of soil erosion. In our study, it was found that P1, P2 and P3 had erosion rates of 92 kg/ha/yr, 11 tons/ha/yr and 59,7 tons/ha/year respectively. Using a replacement cost method, the potential of limiting erosion by reforesting bare soil was estimated to be 561 $/ha/yr after three years and 687 $/ha/yr after ten years. Finally, the results of the study allow us to assess the potential soil services provided by vegetation, which could be an important building block for a payment for ecosystems services (PES) scheme. The latter has been increasingly spread all over the world through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).

Keywords: agroforestry, erosion, ecosystem services, payment for ecosystem services (PES), water conservation, public private partnership (PPP)

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6243 Energy Consumption, Emission Absorption and Carbon Emission Reduction on Semarang State University Campus

Authors: Dewi Liesnoor Setyowati, Puji Hardati, Tri Marhaeni Puji Astuti, Muhammad Amin

Abstract:

Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES) is a university with a vision of conservation. The impact of the UNNES conservation is the existence of a positive response from the community for the effort of greening the campus and the planting of conservation value in the academic community. But in reality,  energy consumption in UNNES campus tends to increase. The objectives of the study were to analyze the energy consumption in the campus area, to analyze the absorption of emissions by trees and the awareness of UNNES citizens in reducing emissions. Research focuses on energy consumption, carbon emissions, and awareness of citizens in reducing emissions. Research subjects in this study are UNNES citizens (lecturers, students and employees). The research area covers 6 faculties and one administrative center building. Data collection is done by observation, interview and documentation. The research used a quantitative descriptive method to analyze the data. The number of trees in UNNES is 10,264. Total emission on campus UNNES is 7.862.281.56 kg/year, the tree absorption is 6,289,250.38 kg/year. In UNNES campus area there are still 1,575,031.18 kg/year of emissions, not yet absorbed by trees. There are only two areas of the faculty whose trees are capable of absorbing emissions. The awareness of UNNES citizens in reducing energy consumption is seen in change the habit of: using energy-saving equipment (65%); reduce energy consumption per unit (68%); do energy literacy for UNNES citizens (74%). UNNES leaders always provide motivation to the citizens of UNNES, to reduce and change patterns of energy consumption.

Keywords: energy consumption, carbon emission absorption, emission reduction, energy literation

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6242 Chaupadi Practice: A Cruel Discrimination against Women a Case Study of Achham District of Nepal

Authors: Santosh Thapa, Sankar Gurung

Abstract:

Chaupadi is a tradition widely practiced in the far and mid-western region of Nepal. It is a practice where girls and women are not allowed to inter the house and touch the food, water and milk during their menstruation period of 4-7 days. They have to spend all the nights during the period in a specific hut (Chhaupadi Goth) which is a bit far from their residence where they faces various kinds of risk and violence like bullying, snakes and insect bite, wild animal attack etc. Sometimes the girls even do not go to school during their menstruation periods. After childbirth, the woman must stay in a cow shed for 11 days in such Chhaupadi practiced areas. This study limits the Achham district of the far western region which is the most vulnerable Chhaupadi practicing district. Several governmental and non-governmental organizations have been involving and spending huge amount of money for capacity building and awareness raising campaign for last 2 decades but still 9 out of 75 Village Development Committees (VDCs) have been partially practicing Chaupadi in the district. This study shows that the school attendance rate of the girls during the period have visibly increased which helps to increase the number of the girl graduation as well. Similarly, the practice of Chhaupadi is one of the reasons for increasing the number of cases of uterus prolapsus and poor reproductive health of women and girls. Triggering tools are the one of the best ways to accelerate the awareness campaign in the VDCs. This study recommends that the local bodies should coordinate and lead the overall awareness campaign program to sustain the Chaupadi free VDCs.

Keywords: awareness campaign, chaupadi practice, gender discrimination, violence

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6241 Facilitating Familial Support of Saudi Arabians Living with HIV/AIDS

Authors: Noor Attar

Abstract:

This paper provides an overview of the current situation of HIV/AIDS patients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and a literature review of the concepts of stigma communication, communication of social support. These concepts provide the basis for the proposed methods, which will include conducting a textual analysis of materials that are currently distributed to family members of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHIV/A) in KSA and creating an educational brochure. The brochure will aim to help families of PLWHIV/A in KSA (1) understand how stigma shapes the experience of PLWHIV/A, (2) realize the role of positive communication as a helpful social support, and (3) develop the ability to provide positive social support for their loved ones.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Saudi Arabia, social support, stigma communication

Procedia PDF Downloads 289
6240 Improving Customer Service through Empathy

Authors: Abiola Olukemi Ogunyemi

Abstract:

Many organizations would like to gain customer loyalty, and to achieve this they invest in customer management systems which help them to learn and anticipate the customers’ needs, get feedback from them and serve them. One of the most elementary ways to achieve customer loyalty is for employees to be able to empathize with their customers, and to be able to feel what they feel when the company betrays their trust, which usually otherwise shown in patronage and loyalty. Unfortunately, the staff and management of organizations do not always realize the negative impact of treating customers badly, because they do not stop to think how these customers feel. If they did, they would be more careful and more respectful of these people who are human beings just like they are. They would be wiser, since this would ultimately make them more profitable businesses. This paper looks at thirteen descriptions of situations in which customers felt treated badly by organizations they trusted, and focuses on the feelings of these customers. If the organization (made of people) could empathize with the customer, then customer service would be surely enhanced. It is expected that these stories, real experiences narrated by young professionals working in Nigeria, can awaken greater empathy for consumers within organizations. Thus, they may help the organization to learn empathy and to incorporate it into their foundational principles for ethical behavior. The paper’s contents contribute to a heightened appreciation of empathy as an organizing mechanism by showing how putting one in the consumer’s shoes can help managers to understand how he or she feels. This will lead organizations to be even more innovative in finding ways to meet their customers’ needs and to deserve and win their loyalty. It addresses an issue that cuts across cultures, and therefore can be quite thought-provoking for every business owner or for team leads within organizations. By trying to stimulate empathy across the seller-buyer divide, it necessarily contributes to a deeper understanding of empathy as a building block for a sustainable society.

Keywords: customer service, empathy, ethical behavior, respectfulness

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6239 D3Advert: Data-Driven Decision Making for Ad Personalization through Personality Analysis Using BiLSTM Network

Authors: Sandesh Achar

Abstract:

Personalized advertising holds greater potential for higher conversion rates compared to generic advertisements. However, its widespread application in the retail industry faces challenges due to complex implementation processes. These complexities impede the swift adoption of personalized advertisement on a large scale. Personalized advertisement, being a data-driven approach, necessitates consumer-related data, adding to its complexity. This paper introduces an innovative data-driven decision-making framework, D3Advert, which personalizes advertisements by analyzing personalities using a BiLSTM network. The framework utilizes the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) dataset for development. The employed BiLSTM network, specifically designed and optimized for D3Advert, classifies user personalities into one of the sixteen MBTI categories based on their social media posts. The classification accuracy is 86.42%, with precision, recall, and F1-Score values of 85.11%, 84.14%, and 83.89%, respectively. The D3Advert framework personalizes advertisements based on these personality classifications. Experimental implementation and performance analysis of D3Advert demonstrate a 40% improvement in impressions. D3Advert’s innovative and straightforward approach has the potential to transform personalized advertising and foster widespread personalized advertisement adoption in marketing.

Keywords: personalized advertisement, deep Learning, MBTI dataset, BiLSTM network, NLP.

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6238 Waste Management in a Hot Laboratory of Japan Atomic Energy Agency – 2: Condensation and Solidification Experiments on Liquid Waste

Authors: Sou Watanabe, Hiromichi Ogi, Atsuhiro Shibata, Kazunori Nomura

Abstract:

As a part of STRAD project conducted by JAEA, condensation of radioactive liquid waste containing various chemical compounds using reverse osmosis (RO) membrane filter was examined for efficient and safety treatment of the liquid wastes accumulated inside hot laboratories. NH4+ ion in the feed solution was successfully concentrated, and NH4+ ion involved in the effluents became lower than target value; 100 ppm. Solidification of simulated aqueous and organic liquid wastes was also tested. Those liquids were successfully solidified by adding cement or coagulants. Nevertheless, optimization in materials for confinement of chemicals is required for long time storage of the final solidified wastes.

Keywords: condensation, radioactive liquid waste, solidification, STRAD project

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6237 Experimental Study on Shaft Grouting Bearing Capacity of Small Diameter Bored Piles

Authors: Trung Le Thanh

Abstract:

Bored piles are always the optimal solution for high-rise building foundations. They have many advantages, such as large diameter, large pile length and construction in all different geological conditions. However, due to construction characteristics, the load-bearing capacity of bored piles is not optimal because wall friction is reduced due to poor contact between the pile and the surrounding soil. Therefore, grouting technology along the pile body helps improve the load-bearing capacity of bored piles significantly through increasing the skin resistance of the pile and surrounding soil. The improvement of pile skin resistance depends on the parameters of grouting technology, especially grouting volume, mortar viscosity, mortar strength,... and different geological conditions. Studies show that the technology of grouting piles on sandy soil is more effective than on clay. This article presents an experimental model to determine the load-bearing capacity of bored piles with a diameter of 400 mm and a length of 3 m on sand with different slurry volume in Tan Uyen city, Binh Duong province. On that basis, analyze the correlation between the increase in load-bearing capacity of bored piles without and with shaft grouting pile. Research results show that the wall resistance of shaft grouted piles increases 2-3 times compared to piles without grouting, and the pile's load-bearing capacity increases significantly. The article's research provides scientific value for consulting work on the design of bored piles when grouted along the pile body.

Keywords: bored pile, shaft grouting, bearing capacity, pile shaft resistance

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6236 Thermochemical and Biological Pretreatment Study for Efficient Sugar Release from Lignocellulosic Biomass (Deodar and Sal Wood Residues)

Authors: Neelu Raina, Parvez Singh Slathia, Deepali Bhagat, Preeti Sharma

Abstract:

Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for generating suitable substrates (starch/ sugars) for conversion to bioethanol is the most crucial step. In present study waste from furniture industry i.e sawdust from softwood Cedrus deodara (deodar) and hardwood Shorea robusta (sal) was used as lignocellulosic biomass. Thermochemical pretreatment was given by autoclaving at 121°C temperature and 15 psi pressure. Acids (H2SO4,HCl,HNO3,H3PO4), alkali (NaOH,NH4OH,KOH,Ca(OH)2) and organic acids (C6H8O7,C2H2O4,C4H4O4) were used at 0.1%, 0.5% and 1% concentration without giving any residence time. 1% HCl gave maximum sugar yield of 3.6587g/L in deodar and 6.1539 g/L in sal. For biological pretreatment a fungi isolated from decaying wood was used , sawdust from deodar tree species was used as a lignocellulosic substrate and before thermochemical pretreatment sawdust was treated with fungal culture at 37°C under submerged conditions with a residence time of one week followed by a thermochemical pretreatment methodology. Higher sugar yields were obtained with sal tree species followed by deodar tree species, i.e., 6.0334g/L in deodar and 8.3605g/L in sal was obtained by a combined biological and thermochemical pretreatment. Use of acids along with biological pretreatment is a favourable factor for breaking the lignin seal and thus increasing the sugar yield. Sugar estimation was done using Dinitrosalicyclic assay method. Result validation is being done by statistical analysis.

Keywords: lignocellulosic biomass, bioethanol, pretreatment, sawdust

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6235 The Reduction of Post-Blast Fumes to Improve Productivity and Safety: A Review Paper

Authors: Nhleko Monique Chiloane

Abstract:

The gold mining industry has predominantly used ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO) explosives for decades, although these are known to be “gassier” and their detonation results in toxic fumes, for example, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ammonia. Re-entry into underground workings too soon after blasting can lead to fatal exposure to toxic fumes. It is, therefore, required that the polluted air be removed from the affected areas within a reasonable period before employees' re-entry into the working area. Post-blast re-entry times have therefore been described as a productivity bottleneck. The known causes of post-blast fumes are water ingress, incorrect fuel to oxygen ratio, confinement, explosive additives etc. To prevent or minimize post-blast fumes, some researchers have used neutralization, re-burning technique and non-explosive products or different oxidizing agents. The use of commercial explosives without nitrate oxidizing agents can also minimize the production of blasting fumes and thereby reduce the time needed for the clearance of these fumes to allow workers to re-enter the underground workings safely. The reduction in non-production time directly contributes to an increase in the available time per shift for productive work, thus leading to continuous mining. However, owing to its low cost and ease of use, ANFO is still widely used in South African underground blasting operations.

Keywords: post-blast fumes, continuous mining, ammonium nitrate explosive, non-explosive blasting, re-entry period

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6234 An Integrated Mixed-Integer Programming Model to Address Concurrent Project Scheduling and Material Ordering

Authors: Babak H. Tabrizi, Seyed Farid Ghaderi

Abstract:

Concurrent planning of project scheduling and material ordering can provide more flexibility to the project scheduling problem, as the project execution costs can be enhanced. Hence, the issue has been taken into account in this paper. To do so, a mixed-integer mathematical model is developed which considers the aforementioned flexibility, in addition to the materials quantity discount and space availability restrictions. Moreover, the activities duration has been treated as decision variables. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed model is tested by different instances. Additionally, the influence of the aforementioned parameters is investigated on the model performance.

Keywords: material ordering, project scheduling, quantity discount, space availability

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6233 Crop Classification using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Images

Authors: Iqra Yaseen

Abstract:

One of the well-known areas of computer science and engineering, image processing in the context of computer vision has been essential to automation. In remote sensing, medical science, and many other fields, it has made it easier to uncover previously undiscovered facts. Grading of diverse items is now possible because of neural network algorithms, categorization, and digital image processing. Its use in the classification of agricultural products, particularly in the grading of seeds or grains and their cultivars, is widely recognized. A grading and sorting system enables the preservation of time, consistency, and uniformity. Global population growth has led to an increase in demand for food staples, biofuel, and other agricultural products. To meet this demand, available resources must be used and managed more effectively. Image processing is rapidly growing in the field of agriculture. Many applications have been developed using this approach for crop identification and classification, land and disease detection and for measuring other parameters of crop. Vegetation localization is the base of performing these task. Vegetation helps to identify the area where the crop is present. The productivity of the agriculture industry can be increased via image processing that is based upon Unmanned Aerial Vehicle photography and satellite. In this paper we use the machine learning techniques like Convolutional Neural Network, deep learning, image processing, classification, You Only Live Once to UAV imaging dataset to divide the crop into distinct groups and choose the best way to use it.

Keywords: image processing, UAV, YOLO, CNN, deep learning, classification

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6232 Uncertainties and Resilience: A Study of Pandemic Impact on the Pastoral-Nomadic Communities in India

Authors: Arati S. Kade, Iftikhar Hussain, Somnath Dadas

Abstract:

The paper studies resilience and uncertainties among nomadic-pastoral communities in India during large events such as pandemics and attempts to understand that with changing times and increased uncertainties, how nomadic communities historically showed their resilience. A review of the literature was performed concerning nomadism and development relations and conflicts by focusing on structural violence on nomadic communities from the caste class and patriarchy as a framework along with the role of the state. Philosophical views on the anti-nomad bias of political theories by Erik Ringmar, along with the decolonial approach by Linda Smith and debrahmanization by Braj Ranjan Mani were used to analyze criminalization of nomads. Data were collected using in-depth telephonic interviews and news reports published during the COVID-19 lockdown in India. Focusing on historical context of current crises, the paper leads to the discussion on how nomadic communities negotiate with the sedentary society during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings of the current paper approve the hypotheses that the COVID-19 pandemic followed by lockdown deeply impacted the pastoral production system, building on the continued cycle of marginalization by the state and caste society in India, while traditional knowledge stood the test of time. Be it developmental states or pandemics, the nomadic communities have shown their resilience in a number of ways, such as keeping distance from sedentary society, usage of traditional medicine, and relying on traditional leadership.

Keywords: COVID-19, criminalization, India, nomadism, pandemic, pastoralism, resilience, traditional knowledge

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6231 Possible Number of Dwelling Units Using Waste Plastic Bottle for Construction

Authors: Dibya Jivan Pati, Kazuhisa Iki, Riken Homma

Abstract:

Unlike other metro cities of India, Bhubaneswar–the capital city of Odisha, is expected to reach 1-million-mark population by now. The demands of dwelling unit requirement mostly among urban poor belonging to Economically Weaker section (EWS) and Low Income groups (LIG) is becoming a challenge due to high housing cost and rents. As a matter of fact, it’s also noted that, with increase in population, the solid waste generation also increases subsequently affecting the environment due to inefficiency in collection of waste by local government bodies. Methods of utilizing Solid Waste - especially in form of Plastic bottles, Glass bottles and Metal cans (PGM) are now widely used as an alternative material for construction of low-cost building by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in developing countries like India to help the urban poor afford a shelter. The application of disposed plastic bottle used in construction of single dwelling significantly reduces the overall cost of construction to as much as 14% compared to traditional construction material. Therefore, considering its cost-benefit result, it’s possible to provide housing to EWS and LIGs at an affordable price. In this paper, we estimated the quantity of plastic bottles generated in Bhubaneswar which further helped to estimate the possible number of single dwelling unit that can be constructed on yearly basis so as to refrain from further housing shortage. The estimation results will be practically used for planning and managing low-cost housing business by local government and NGOs.

Keywords: construction, dwelling unit, plastic bottle, solid waste generation, groups

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6230 Time Series Modelling for Forecasting Wheat Production and Consumption of South Africa in Time of War

Authors: Yiseyon Hosu, Joseph Akande

Abstract:

Wheat is one of the most important staple food grains of human for centuries and is largely consumed in South Africa. It has a special place in the South African economy because of its significance in food security, trade, and industry. This paper modelled and forecast the production and consumption of wheat in South Africa in the time covid-19 and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war by using annual time series data from 1940–2021 based on the ARIMA models. Both the averaging forecast and selected models forecast indicate that there is the possibility of an increase with respect to production. The minimum and maximum growth in production is projected to be between 3million and 10 million tons, respectively. However, the model also forecast a possibility of depression with respect to consumption in South Africa. Although Covid-19 and the war between Ukraine and Russia, two major producers and exporters of global wheat, are having an effect on the volatility of the prices currently, the wheat production in South African is expected to increase and meat the consumption demand and provided an opportunity for increase export with respect to domestic consumption. The forecasting of production and consumption behaviours of major crops play an important role towards food and nutrition security, these findings can assist policymakers and will provide them with insights into the production and pricing policy of wheat in South Africa.

Keywords: ARIMA, food security, price volatility, staple food, South Africa

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6229 African Culture and Youth Morality: A Critique of the On-Going Transitional Rites in Thulamela Municipality, South Africa

Authors: Bassey Rofem Inyang, Matshidze Pfarelo, Mabale Dolphin

Abstract:

Using a qualitative descriptive design, this study established the consequences of the on-going transitional rites on youth morality in the Thulamela Local Municipality, South Africa. The participants were sampled using a non-random sampling procedure, specifically, a purposive sampling technique and a snowball sampling technique. A semi-structured interview guide was recruited to collect data from the Indigenous Knowledge (IK) custodians, the parents of the youths and the youths until the point of saturation. The analysis was performed using a thematic content method. With the emergence of themes and sub-themes, broad categories were generated to differentiate and explain the thoughts expressed by the various respondents and the observations made in the field. The study findings suggest that the on-going transitional rites are depicted by weekend social activities with the practice of substance use and abuse among the youths at recreational spots. The transitional rites are structured under the guise of “freaks” as an evolving culture among the youths. The freaks culture is a counterculture of the usual initiation schools for transitional rites of passage which is believed to instill morality among youths. The findings comprehensively show that the on-going transitional rites influence inappropriate youth morality. This study concluded that the on-going transitional rites activities and practices evolved as a current socialization standard for quick maturity status; as a result, it will be challenging to provide a complete turnaround of this evolving culture. The study, however, recommends building on the exciting transitional rites of passage to moderate appropriate youths’ morality in Thulamela communities.

Keywords: morality, transitional rites, youths, behaviour

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6228 Children and Communities Benefit from Mother-Tongue Based Multi-Lingual Education

Authors: Binay Pattanayak

Abstract:

Multilingual state, Jharkhand is home to more than 19 tribal and regional languages. These are used by more than 33 communities in the state. The state has declared 12 of these languages as official languages of the state. However, schools in the state do not recognize any of these community languages even in early grades! Children, who speak in their mother tongues at home, local market and playground, find it very difficult to understand their teacher and textbooks in school. They fail to acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills in early grades. Out of frustration due to lack of comprehension, the majority of children leave school. Jharkhand sees the highest dropout in early grades in India. To address this, the state under the guidance of the author designed a mother tongue based pre-school education programme named Bhasha Puliya and bilingual picture dictionaries in 9 tribal and regional mother tongues of children. This contributed significantly to children’s school readiness in the school. Followed by this, the state designed a mother-tongue based multilingual education programme (MTB-MLE) for multilingual context. The author guided textbook development in 5 tribal (Santhali, Mundari, Ho, Kurukh and Kharia) and two regional (Odia and Bangla) languages. Teachers and community members were trained for MTB-MLE in around 1,000 schools of the concerned language pockets. Community resource groups were constituted along with their academic calendars in each school to promote story-telling, singing, painting, dancing, riddles, etc. with community support. This, on the one hand, created rich learning environments for children. On the other hand, the communities have discovered a great potential in the process of developing a wide variety of learning materials for children in own mother-tongue using their local stories, songs, riddles, paintings, idioms, skits, etc. as a process of their literary, cultural and technical enrichment. The majority of children are acquiring strong early grade reading skills (basic literacy and numeracy) in grades I-II thereby getting well prepared for higher studies. In a phased manner they are learning Hindi and English after 4-5 years of MTB-MLE using the foundational language learning skills. Community members have started designing new books, audio-visual learning materials in their mother-tongues seeing a great potential for their cultural and technological rejuvenation.

Keywords: community resource groups, MTB-MLE, multilingual, socio-linguistic survey, learning

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6227 Increasing Efficiency, Performance and Safety of Aircraft during Takeoff and Landing by Interpreting Electromagnetism

Authors: Sambit Supriya Dash

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Aerospace Industry has evolved over the last century and is growing by approaching towards, more fuel efficient, cheaper, simpler, convenient and safer ways of flight stages. In this paper, the accident records of aircrafts are studied and found about 71% of accidents caused on runways during Takeoff and Landing. By introducing the concept of interpreting electromagnetism, the cause of bounced touchdown and flare failure such as landing impact loads and instability could be eliminated. During Takeoff, the rate of fuel consumption is observed to be maximum. By applying concept of interpreting electromagnetism, a remarkable rate of fuel consumption is reduced, which can be used in case of emergency due to lack of fuel or in case of extended flight. A complete setup of the concept, its effects and characteristics are studied and provided with references of few popular aircrafts. By embedding series of strong and controlled electromagnets below the runway along and aside the centre line and fixed in the line of acting force through wing-fuselage aerodynamic centre. By the essence of its strength controllable nature, it can contribute to performance and fuel efficiency for aircraft. This ensures a perfect Takeoff with less fuel consumption followed by safe cruise stage, which in turn ensures a short and safe landing, eliminating the till known failures, due to bounced touchdowns and flare failure.

Keywords: efficiency, elctromagnetism, performance, reduced fuel consumption, safety

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6226 Prevalence of Knee Pain and Risk Factors and Its Impact on Functional Impairment among Saudi Adolescents

Authors: Ali H.Alyami, Hussam Darraj, Faisal Hakami, Mohammed Awaf, Sulaiman Hamdi, Nawaf Bakri, Abdulaziz Saber, Khalid Hakami, Almuhanad Alyami, Mohammed khashab

Abstract:

Introduction: Adolescents frequently self-report pain, according to epidemiological research. The knee is one of the sites where the pain is most common. One of the main factors contributing to the number of years people spend disabled and having substantial personal, societal, and economic burdens globally are musculoskeletal disorders. Adolescents may have knee pain due to an abrupt, traumatic injury or an insidious, slowly building onset that neither the adolescent nor the parent is aware of. Objectives: The present study’s authors aimed to estimate the prevalence of knee pain in Saudi adolescents. Methods: This cross-sectional survey, carried out from June to November 2022, included 676 adolescents ages 10 to 18. Data are presented as frequencies and percentages for categorical variables. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare means between groups, while the chi-square test was used for the comparison of categorical variables. Statistical significance was set at P< 0.05.Result: Adolescents were invited to take part in the study. 57.5% were girls, and 42.5% were males,68.8% were 676 aged between 15 and 18. The prevalence of knee pain was considerably high among females (26%), while it was 19.2% among males. Moreover, age was a significant predictor for knee pain; also BMI was significant for knee pain. Conclusion: Our study noted a high rate of knee pain among adolescents, so we need to raise awareness about risk factors. Adolescent knee pain can be prevented with conservative methods and some minor lifestyle/activity modifications.

Keywords: knee pain, prevalence of knee pain, exercise training, physical activity

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6225 Environmental Impact Assessment of Conventional Tyre Manufacturing Process

Authors: G. S. Dangayach, Gaurav Gaurav, Alok Bihari Singh

Abstract:

The popularity of vehicles in both industrialized and developing economies led to a rise in the production of tyres. People have become increasingly concerned about the tyre industry's possible environmental impact in the last two decades. The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was used to assess the environmental impacts of industrial tyres throughout their life cycle, which included four stages: manufacture, transportation, consumption, and end-of-life. The majority of prior studies focused on tyre recycling and disposal. Only a few studies have been conducted on the environmental impact of tyre production process. LCA methodology was employed to determine the environmental impact of tyre manufacture process (gate to gate) at an Indian firm. Comparative analysis was also conducted to identify the environmental hotspots in various stages of tire manufacturing. This study is limited to gate-to-gate analysis of manufacturing processes with the functional unit of a single tyre weighing 50 kg. GaBi software was used to do both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Different environmental impact indicators are measured in terms of CO2, SO2, NOx, GWP (global warming potential), AP (acidification potential), EP (eutrophication potential), POCP (photochemical oxidant formation potential), and HTP (toxic human potential). The results demonstrate that the major contributor to environmental pollution is electricity. The Banbury process has a very high negative environmental impact, which causes respiratory problems to workers and operators.

Keywords: life cycle assessment (LCA), environmental impact indicators, tyre manufacturing process, environmental impact assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 157
6224 Study on Surface Morphology and Reflectance of Solar Cells Applied in Pyramid Structures

Authors: Zong-Sheng Chen

Abstract:

With the advancement of technology, human activities have increased greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel energy production, leading to increasingly severe global warming. To mitigate global warming, energy conservation and carbon reduction have become global goals. Solar energy, a renewable energy source, not only helps achieve energy conservation and carbon reduction but also serves as an efficient energy generation method. Solar energy, derived from sunlight, is an endless and promising energy source capable of meeting high energy demands sustainably. In recent years, many countries around the world have been developing the solar energy industry, and Taiwan is no exception. Positioned in the subtropical region, Taiwan possesses geographical advantages conducive to solar energy utilization. Furthermore, Taiwan's well-developed semiconductor technology and sophisticated equipment make it highly suitable for the development of high-efficiency solar cells. This study focuses on investigating the anti-reflection properties of solar cells. Through metal-assisted chemical etching, pyramid structures are etched to allow sunlight to pass through, achieving secondary or higher-order reflections on the surface of these structures. This trapping of light within the substrate reduces reflection rates and increases conversion efficiency.

Keywords: solar cell, reflectance, pyramidal structure, potassium hydroxide

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6223 An Examination of the Relationship between Organizational Justice and Trust in the Supervisor: The Mediating Role of Perceived Supervisor Support

Authors: Michel Zaitouni, Mohamed Nassar

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is first, to explore the effect of employees’ perception of justice on trust in the supervisor in the context of performance appraisal; Second, to assess the role of perceived supervisor support as a mediator between organizational justice and trust in the supervisor in a non-western society such as Kuwait.The survey data consisted of 415 employees working at different hierarchical levels in three major banks in Kuwait. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the research hypotheses. Results supported hypothesized relationships between distributive, informational and interpersonal justice and trust in the supervisor but failed to support that procedural justice positively and significantly relate to trust in the supervisor. Moreover, results found that this relationship is partially mediated by perceived supervisor support. A potential limitation of this study is that data were obtained from the same industry which limits the generalizability of this study to other industries. Moreover, a longitudinal research will be helpful to strengthen the mediating relationship. The findings provide valuable information for the development of common perspectives regarding the perception of justice in the context of performance appraisal between the western and non-western societies. The paper has the privilege to explore additional relationships related to justice perceptions in the Kuwaiti banking sector, whereas previous research focused mainly on procedural and distributive justice as predictors of trust in the supervisor.

Keywords: Kuwait, organizational justice, perceived supervisor support, trust in the supervisor

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6222 Monstrous Beauty: Disability and Illness in Contemporary Pop Culture

Authors: Grzegorz Kubinski

Abstract:

In the proposed paper, we would like to present the phenomenon of disease and disability as an element of discourse redefining the contemporary canons of beauty and the category of normativity. In widely understood media, and above all in social media and fashion industry, the use of the disease as an aesthetic category has long been observed. There is an interesting case of promoting and maintaining a certain, ideal pattern of physical beauty, while at the same time very clear exploitation of various types of illnesses. The categories of disease and disabled body are shown as an element of the expression of the individuality and originality of one's own identity, while at the same time the disabled person is still experiencing social exclusion. Illness or body abnormality as an aesthetic category also functions as an ethical-political category. The analysis of the interrelations of these discourses will be presented on the example of selected projects present in social media, like Instagram or Facebook. We would like to present how old forms of 'curiosities' or 'abnormalities' turned into mainstream forms of a new aesthetic. For marginalized disabled people, there is a new form of expression and built their identity. But, there is an interesting point: are this contemporary forms of using disability and illness really new? Or maybe this is just another form of Wunderkammer or even cabinets of curiosities? We propose to analyze contemporary cultural and social context in order to clarify this issue. On the other hand, we would like to present some examples from personal interviews with disabled internet influencers and statements disabled persons concerning the role of the different body in society (e.g. #bodypositive, #perfeclyflawed).

Keywords: disability, new media, defect, fashion

Procedia PDF Downloads 195
6221 Production of Amorphous Boron Powder via Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)

Authors: Meltem Bolluk, Ismail Duman

Abstract:

Boron exhibits the properties of high melting temperature (2273K to 2573 K), high hardness (Mohs: 9,5), low density (2,340 g/cm3), high chemical resistance, high strength, and semiconductivity (band gap:1,6-2,1 eV). These superior properties enable to use it in several high-tech areas from electronics to nuclear industry and especially in high temperature metallurgy. Amorphous boron and crystalline boron have different application areas. Amorphous boron powder (directly amorphous and/or α-rhombohedral) is preferred in rocket firing, airbag inflating and in fabrication of superconducting MgB2 wires. The conventional ways to produce elemental boron with a purity of 85 pct to 95 prc are metallothermic reduction, fused salt electrolysis and mechanochemical synthesis; but the only way to produce high-purity boron powders is Chemical Vapour Deposition (Hot Surface CVD). In this study; amorphous boron powders with a minimum purity of 99,9 prc were synthesized in quartz tubes using BCl3-H2 gas mixture by CVD. Process conditions based on temperature and gas flow rate were determined. Thermodynamical interpretation of BCl3-H2 system for different temperatures and molar rates were performed using Fact Sage software. The characterization of powders was examined by using Xray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Stereo Microscope (SM), Helium gas pycnometer analysis. The purities of final products were determined by titration after lime fusion.

Keywords: amorphous boron, CVD, powder production, powder characterization

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6220 Air Quality Forecast Based on Principal Component Analysis-Genetic Algorithm and Back Propagation Model

Authors: Bin Mu, Site Li, Shijin Yuan

Abstract:

Under the circumstance of environment deterioration, people are increasingly concerned about the quality of the environment, especially air quality. As a result, it is of great value to give accurate and timely forecast of AQI (air quality index). In order to simplify influencing factors of air quality in a city, and forecast the city’s AQI tomorrow, this study used MATLAB software and adopted the method of constructing a mathematic model of PCA-GABP to provide a solution. To be specific, this study firstly made principal component analysis (PCA) of influencing factors of AQI tomorrow including aspects of weather, industry waste gas and IAQI data today. Then, we used the back propagation neural network model (BP), which is optimized by genetic algorithm (GA), to give forecast of AQI tomorrow. In order to verify validity and accuracy of PCA-GABP model’s forecast capability. The study uses two statistical indices to evaluate AQI forecast results (normalized mean square error and fractional bias). Eventually, this study reduces mean square error by optimizing individual gene structure in genetic algorithm and adjusting the parameters of back propagation model. To conclude, the performance of the model to forecast AQI is comparatively convincing and the model is expected to take positive effect in AQI forecast in the future.

Keywords: AQI forecast, principal component analysis, genetic algorithm, back propagation neural network model

Procedia PDF Downloads 236
6219 Investigation on Choosing the Suitable Geometry of the Solar Air Heater to Certain Conditions

Authors: Abdulrahman M. Homadi

Abstract:

This study focuses on how to control the outlet temperature of a solar air heater in a way simpler than the existing methods. In this work, five cases have been studied by using ANSYS Fluent based on a CFD numerical method. All the cases have been simulated by utilizing the same criteria and conditions like the temperature, materials, areas except the geometry. The case studies are conducted in Little Rock (LR), AR, USA during the winter time supposedly on 15th of December. A fresh air that is flowing with a velocity of 0.5 m/s and a flow rate of 0.009 m3/s. The results prove the possibility of achieving a controlled temperature just by changing the geometric shape of the heater. This geometry guarantees that the absorber plate always has a normal component of the solar radiation at any time during the day. The heater has a sectarian shape with a radius of 150 mm where the outlet temperature remains almost constant for six hours.

Keywords: solar energy, air heater, control of temperature, CFD

Procedia PDF Downloads 339
6218 Study of the Benefit Analysis Using Vertical Farming Method in Urban Renewal within the Older City of Taichung

Authors: Hsu Kuo-Wei, Tan Roon Fang, Chao Jen-chih

Abstract:

Cities face environmental challenges, including over-urbanization issues, air and water quality issues, lack of green space, excess heat capture, polluted storm water runoff and lack of ecological biodiversity. The vertical farming holds the condition of technology addressing these issues by enabling more food to be produced with finite less resources use and space. Most of the existing research regarding to technology Industry of agriculture between plant factory and vertical greening, which with high costs and high-technology. Relative research developed a sustainable model for construction and operation of the vertical farm in urban housing which aims to revolutionize our daily life of food production and urban development. However, those researches focused on quantitative analysis. This study utilized relative research for key variables of benefits of vertical farming. In the second stage, utilizes Fuzzy Delphi Method to obtain the critical factors of benefits of vertical farming using in Urban Renewal by interviewing the foregoing experts. Then, Analytic Hierarchy Process is applied to find the importance degree of each criterion as the measurable indices of the vertical farming method in urban renewal within the older city of Taichung.

Keywords: urban renewal, vertical farming, urban agriculture, benefit analysis, the older city of Taichung

Procedia PDF Downloads 472