Search results for: transmission power system

Authors: Xueming Xu, Jiahao Liu, Jichao Li, Kewei Yang, Minghao Li, Bingfeng Ge

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A combat system-of-systems (CSoS) comprises various types of functional combat entities that interact to meet corresponding task requirements in the present and future. Enhancing the resilience of CSoS holds significant military value in optimizing the operational planning process, improving military survivability, and ensuring the successful completion of operational tasks. Accordingly, this research proposes an integrated framework called CSoS resilience enhancement (CSoSRE) to enhance the resilience of CSoS from a recovery perspective. Specifically, this research presents a two-phase resilience optimization model to define a resilience optimization objective for CSoS. This model considers not only task baseline, recovery cost, and recovery time limit but also the characteristics of emergency recovery and comprehensive recovery. Moreover, the research extends it from the deterministic case to the stochastic case to describe the uncertainty in the recovery process. Based on this, a resilience-oriented recovery optimization method based on deep reinforcement learning (RRODRL) is proposed to determine a set of entities requiring restoration and their recovery sequence, thereby enhancing the resilience of CSoS. This method improves the deep Q-learning algorithm by designing a discount factor that adapts to changes in CSoS state at different phases, simultaneously considering the network’s structural and functional characteristics within CSoS. Finally, extensive experiments are conducted to test the feasibility, effectiveness and superiority of the proposed framework. The obtained results offer useful insights for guiding operational recovery activity and designing a more resilient CSoS.

Keywords: combat system-of-systems, resilience optimization model, recovery optimization method, deep reinforcement learning, certainty and uncertainty

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Authors: Zhaoyu Chen

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In this study, an attempt was made to find reasons why tourists go to particular attractions. Tourists may be either motivated by the attractions or simply make the choice to satisfy their needs and desires. Based on the attractions in Hong Kong, this research was conducted to explore the attraction-related concepts to discuss how the attraction system works. Due to the limited studies on exploring the attractiveness of attractions through tourist movement patterns, the study aims to evaluate such indicators to determine whether tourists are motivated by attractiveness or their own needs. The investigation is conducted through the comparison of different source markets - Mainland China, short haul markets (excluding Mainland China) and long haul markets. The latest finding of Departing Visitor Survey (DVS) implemented by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is employed for the analysis. Various tourist movement patterns are drawn from the practical data. The managerial implication to destination management organizations (DMOs) is suggested to better allocate attractions according to the needs of tourists.

Keywords: attractions, attraction system, Hong Kong, tourist movement patterns

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Authors: Lois Cheung

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This article examines the impact of League Tables on non-elite universities in the English higher education system. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of rankings in strategic planning by low-ranked universities in this highly competitive higher education market. A sample of non-elite universities was selected for a content analysis based on the measures used by The Guardian rankings. Interestingly, these universities care about their rankings within a single national system. The content analysis appears to be an effective approach to investigating the presence of such influences. It is particularly noteworthy that all sampled universities use these measure terminologies in their strategic plans, missions and news coverage on their institutional web-pages. This analysis may be an example of the key challenges that many low-ranking universities in England are probably facing in the highly competitive and diversified higher education market. These universities use rankings to communicate with their stakeholders, mainly students, in order to fill places to secure their major source of funding. The study concludes with comments on the likely effects of the rankings paradigm in undermining the contributions of non-elite universities.

Keywords: League tables, measures, post-1992 universities, ranking, strategy

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Authors: Maryam Ayad

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The Qur’ān, the main source of Muslims’ religious beliefs, shows a complex view mixed with mercy and violence towards Jews and Christians. The aim of this paper is to investigate the dominant cognitive infrastructure behind the Quranic discourses of violence and mercy towards Jews and Christians. The paper focuses on 54 verses with definite references to Jews and/or Christians in Surat al-Baqara. Adopting Teon Van Dijk’s method of critical discourse analysis (CDA), these verses are examined based on 13 linguistic microstructures. The preliminary results show that there are diverse discourses on Jews and Christians competing to gain the dominant power in the Surah. Furthermore, the violent discourse becomes more dominant and prominent as we move from the realm of explicit meanings of the text to that of figurative, implicit, and metaphorical meanings.

Keywords: The Qur’ān, Jews and Christians, CDA, the others, inter-religious relations, Al-Baqara

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Authors: Karolína Vozková, Matěj Kuc

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Net fee and commission income is one of the key elements of a bank’s core income. In the current low-interest rate environment, this type of income is gaining importance relative to net interest income. This paper analyses the effects of bank and country specific determinants of net fee and commission income on a set of cooperative banks from European countries in the 2007-2014 period. In order to do that, dynamic panel data methods (system Generalized Methods of Moments) were employed. Subsequently, alternative panel data methods were run as robustness checks of the analysis. Strong positive impact of bank concentration on the share of net fee and commission income was found, which proves that cooperative banks tend to display a higher share of fee income in less competitive markets. This is probably connected with the fact that they stick with their traditional deposit-taking and loan-providing model and fees on these services are driven down by the competitors. Moreover, compared to commercial banks, cooperatives do not expand heavily into non-traditional fee bearing services under competition and their overall fee income share is therefore decreasing with the increased competitiveness of the sector.

Keywords: cooperative banking, dynamic panel data models, net fee and commission income, system GMM

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Authors: A. Nuchitprasittichai, N. Lerdritsirikoon, T. Khamsing

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Simulation modeling can be used to solve real world problems. It provides an understanding of a complex system. To develop a simplified model of process simulation, a suitable experimental design is required to be able to capture surface characteristics. This paper presents the experimental design and algorithm used to model the process simulation for optimization problem. The CO₂ liquefaction based on external refrigeration with two refrigeration circuits was used as a simulation case study. Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) was purposed to combine with existing Central Composite Design (CCD) samples to improve the performance of CCD in generating the second order model of the system. The second order model was then used as the objective function of the optimization problem. The results showed that adding LHS samples to CCD samples can help capture surface curvature characteristics. Suitable number of LHS sample points should be considered in order to get an accurate nonlinear model with minimum number of simulation experiments.

Keywords: central composite design, CO2 liquefaction, latin hypercube sampling, simulation-based optimization

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Authors: Aurelija Burinskienė, Dalė Dzemydienė, Arūnas Miliauskas

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This research aims at developing the approach for more effective freight delivery and transportation process management. The road congestions and the identification of causes are important, as well as the context information recognition and management. The measure of many parameters during the transportation period and proper control of driver work became the problem. The number of vehicles per time unit passing at a given time and point for drivers can be evaluated in some situations. The collection of data is mainly used to establish new trips. The flow of the data is more complex in urban areas. Herein, the movement of freight is reported in detail, including the information on street level. When traffic density is extremely high in congestion cases, and the traffic speed is incredibly low, data transmission reaches the peak. Different data sets are generated, which depend on the type of freight delivery network. There are three types of networks: long-distance delivery networks, last-mile delivery networks and mode-based delivery networks; the last one includes different modes, in particular, railways and other networks. When freight delivery is switched from one type of the above-stated network to another, more data could be included for reporting purposes and vice versa. In this case, a significant amount of these data is used for control operations, and the problem requires an integrated methodological approach. The paper presents an approach for providing e-services for drivers by including the assessment of the multi-component infrastructure needed for delivery of freights following the network type. The construction of such a methodology is required to evaluate data flow conditions and overloads, and to minimize the time gaps in data reporting. The results obtained show the possibilities of the proposing methodological approach to support the management and decision-making processes with functionality of incorporating networking specifics, by helping to minimize the overloads in data reporting.

Keywords: transportation networks, freight delivery, data flow, monitoring, e-services

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Authors: Sadia Imran, Zenab Naseem

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Dengue fever is one of the most alarming mosquito-borne viral diseases. Dengue virus has been distributed over the years exponentially throughout the world be it tropical or sub-tropical regions of the world, particularly in the last ten years. Changing topography, climate change in terms of erratic seasonal trends, rainfall, untimely monsoon early or late and longer or shorter incidences of either summer or winter. Globalization, frequent travel throughout the world and viral evolution has lead to more severe forms of Dengue. Global incidence of dengue infections per year have ranged between 50 million and 200 million; however, recent estimates using cartographic approaches suggest this number is closer to almost 400 million. In recent years, Pakistan experienced a deadly outbreak of the disease. The reason could be that they have the maximum exposure outdoors. Public organizations have observed that changing climate, especially lower average summer temperature, and increased vegetation have created tropical-like conditions in the city, which are suitable for Dengue virus growth. We will conduct a time-series analysis to study the interrelationship between dengue incidence and diurnal ranges of temperature and humidity in Pakistan, Lahore being the main focus of our study. We have used annual data from 2005 to 2015. We have investigated the relationship between climatic variables and dengue incidence. We used time series analysis to describe temporal trends. The result shows rising trends of Dengue over the past 10 years along with the rise in temperature & rainfall in Lahore. Hence this seconds the popular statement that the world is suffering due to Climate change and Global warming at different levels. Disease outbreak is one of the most alarming indications of mankind heading towards destruction and we need to think of mitigating measures to control epidemic from spreading and enveloping the cities, countries and regions.

Keywords: Dengue, epidemic, globalization, climate change

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Authors: Osholana Tobi Stephen, Rotimi Emmanuel Sadiku, Bilainu Oboirien.o

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Fluidized bed combustion (FBC) is a clean coal technology used in the combustion of low-grade coals for power generation. The production of large solid wastes such as bottom ashes from this process is a problem. The bottom ash contains some toxic elements which can leach out soils and contaminate surface and ground water; for this reason, they can neither be disposed in landfills nor lagoons anymore. The production of geopolymers from bottom ash for structural and concrete applications is an option for their disposal. In this study, the waste bottom ash obtained from the combustion of three low grade South African coals in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor was used to produce geopolymers. The geopolymers were cured in a household microwave. The results showed that the microwave curing enhanced the reactivity and strength of the geopolymers.

Keywords: bottom ash, coal, fluidized bed combustion (FBC) geopolymer, compressive strength

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Authors: Ibrahim Umar, Ashiru Rajab, Sumayya Chindo, Emmanuel Olashore

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INTRODUCTION: Kano is the most populous state in Nigeria and one of the two states with the highest TB burden in the country. The state notifies an average of 8,000+ TB cases quarterly and has the highest yearly notification of all the states in Nigeria from 2020 to 2022. The contribution of the state TB program to the National TB notification varies from 9% to 10% quarterly between the first quarter of 2022 and second quarter of 2023. The Kano State TB Situation Room is an innovative platform for timely data collection, collation and analysis for informed decision in health system. During the 2023 second National TB Testing week (NTBTW) Kano TB program aimed at early TB detection, prevention and treatment. The state TB Situation room provided avenue to the state for coordination and surveillance through real time data reporting, review, analysis and use during the NTBTW. OBJECTIVES: To assess the role of innovative information and communication technology platform for real-time TB reporting during second National TB Testing week in Nigeria 2023. To showcase the NTBTW data cascade analysis using TSR as innovative ICT platform. METHODOLOGY: The State TB deployed a real-time virtual dashboard for NTBTW reporting, analysis and feedback. A data room team was set up who received realtime data using google link. Data received was analyzed using power BI analytic tool with statistical alpha level of significance of <0.05. RESULTS: At the end of the week-long activity and using the real-time dashboard with onsite mentorship of the field workers, the state TB program was able to screen a total of 52,054 people were screened for TB from 72,112 individuals eligible for screening (72% screening rate). A total of 9,910 presumptive TB clients were identified and evaluated for TB leading to diagnosis of 445 TB patients with TB (5% yield from presumptives) and placement of 435 TB patients on treatment (98% percentage enrolment). CONCLUSION: The TB Situation Room (TBSR) has been a great asset to Kano State TB Control Program in meeting up with the growing demand for timely data reporting in TB and other global health responses. The use of real time surveillance data during the 2023 NTBTW has in no small measure improved the TB response and feedback in Kano State. Scaling up this intervention to other disease areas, states and nations is a positive step in the right direction towards global TB eradication.

Keywords: tuberculosis (tb), national tb testing week (ntbtw), tb situation rom (tsr), information communication technology (ict)

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Authors: Xin Jiao, Xin Zhang, Jian Fan, Zhenwei Cai, Yiming Xu

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Tower cranes play a crucial role in the construction industry, facilitating the vertical and horizontal movement of materials and aiding in building construction, especially for high-rise structures. However, tower crane accidents can lead to severe consequences, highlighting the importance of effective safety management and inspection. This paper presents an innovative approach to tower crane inspection utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and an Intelligent Inspection APP System. The system leverages UAVs equipped with high-definition cameras to conduct efficient and comprehensive inspections, reducing manual labor, inspection time, and risk. By integrating advanced technologies such as Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) positioning and digital image processing, the system enables precise route planning and collection of safety hazards images. A case study conducted on a construction site demonstrates the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed method, showcasing its potential to enhance tower crane safety. On-site testing of UAV intelligent inspections reveals key findings: efficient tower crane hazard inspection within 30 minutes, with a full-identification capability coverage rates of 76.3%, 64.8%, and 76.2% for major, significant, and general hazards respectively and a preliminary-identification capability coverage rates of 18.5%, 27.2%, and 19%, respectively. Notably, UAVs effectively identify various tower crane hazards, except for those requiring auditory detection. The limitations of this study primarily involve two aspects: Firstly, during the initial inspection, manual drone piloting is required for marking tower crane points, followed by automated flight inspections and reuse based on the marked route. Secondly, images captured by the drone necessitate manual identification and review, which can be time-consuming for equipment management personnel, particularly when dealing with a large volume of images. Subsequent research efforts will focus on AI training and recognition of safety hazard images, as well as the automatic generation of inspection reports and corrective management based on recognition results. The ongoing development in this area is currently in progress, and outcomes will be released at an appropriate time.

Keywords: tower crane, inspection, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), intelligent inspection app system, safety management

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Authors: Yen-Ping Peng, Ku-Fan Chen, Ken-Lin Chang, Jian Sun

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In this study, palladium loaded titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (Pd/TNAs) was successfully synthesized by anodic oxidation etching method combined with microwave hydrothermal method, using tea or coffee as a green reductant. Pd/TNAs was employed as an electrode in a photoelectrochemcial (PEC) system to simultaneously remove azo-dye and to generate hydrogen in the anodic and cathodic chamber, respectively. The chemical and physical properties of as-synthesized Pd/TNAs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). SEM image indicates the diameter and the length of Pd/TNAs were approximately 300 nm and 2.5 μm, respectively. XPS analyses indicate that 1.13% (atomic %) of Pd was loaded onto the surface of TNAs. UV-vis results show that the band gap of TNAs was reduced from 3.2 eV to 2.37 eV after Pd loading. In addition, the electrochemical performances of Pd/TNAs were investigated by photocurrent density test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The photocurrent (4.0 mA/cm²) of Pd /TNAs was higher than that of the uncoated TNAs (1.4 mA/cm²) at a bias potential of 1 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), indicating that Pd/TNAs-C can effectively separate photogenerated electrons and holes. The mechanism of our PEC system was proposed and discussed in detail in this study.

Keywords: Pd/TNAs, photoelectrochemical, azo-dye degradation, hydrogen generation

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Authors: C. Busuioc, S. Jinga, E. Pavel

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Optical lithography is a key technique in the development of sub-5 nm patterns for the semiconductor industry. We have already reported that the best results obtained with respect to direct laser writing process on active media, such as glass-ceramics, are achieved only when the energy of the laser radiation is absorbed in discrete quantities. Further, we need to clarify the role of active centers concentration in silver nanocrystals natural generation, as well as in fluorescent rare-earth nanostructures formation. As a consequence, samples with different compositions were prepared. SEM, AFM, TEM and STEM investigations were employed in order to demonstrate that few nm width lines can be written on fluorescent photosensitive glass-ceramics, these being efficient absorbers. Moreover, we believe that the experimental data will lead to the best choice in terms of active centers amount, laser power and glass-ceramic matrix.

Keywords: glass-ceramics, 3D laser writing, optical disks, data storage

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Authors: Tammy Wee, Detlev Remy, Arif Perdana

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In the recent years, data analytics has become the buzzword in the hospitality industry. The hospitality industry is another example of a data-rich industry that has yet fully benefited from the insights of data analytics. Effective use of data analytics can change how hotels operate, market and position themselves competitively in the hospitality industry. However, at the moment, the data obtained by individual hotels remain under-utilized. This research is a preliminary research on data analytics in the hospitality industry, using an in-depth face-to-face interview on one hotel as a start to a multi-level research. The main case study of this research, hotel A, is a chain brand of international hotel that has been systematically gathering and collecting data on its own customer for the past five years. The data collection points begin from the moment a guest book a room until the guest leave the hotel premises, which includes room reservation, spa booking, and catering. Although hotel A has been gathering data intelligence on its customer for some time, they have yet utilized the data to its fullest potential, and they are aware of their limitation as well as the potential of data analytics. Currently, the utilization of data analytics in hotel A is limited in the area of customer service improvement, namely to enhance the personalization of service for each individual customer. Hotel A is able to utilize the data to improve and enhance their service which in turn, encourage repeated customers. According to hotel A, 50% of their guests returned to their hotel, and 70% extended nights because of the personalized service. Apart from using the data analytics for enhancing customer service, hotel A also uses the data in marketing. Hotel A uses the data analytics to predict or forecast the change in consumer behavior and demand, by tracking their guest’s booking preference, payment preference and demand shift between properties. However, hotel A admitted that the data they have been collecting was not fully utilized due to two challenges. The first challenge of using data analytics in hotel A is the data is not clean. At the moment, the data collection of one guest profile is meaningful only for one department in the hotel but meaningless for another department. Cleaning up the data and getting standards correctly for usage by different departments are some of the main concerns of hotel A. The second challenge of using data analytics in hotel A is the non-integral internal system. At the moment, the internal system used by hotel A do not integrate with each other well, limiting the ability to collect data systematically. Hotel A is considering another system to replace the current one for more comprehensive data collection. Hotel proprietors recognized the potential of data analytics as reported in this research, however, the current challenges of implementing a system to collect data come with a cost. This research has identified the current utilization of data analytics and the challenges faced when it comes to implementing data analytics.

Keywords: data analytics, hospitality industry, customer relationship management, hotel marketing

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Authors: Barham J. Nareeman, Ilham I. Mohammed

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Excavations in urban developed area are generally supported by deep excavation walls such as; diaphragm wall, bored piles, soldier piles and sheet piles. In some cases, these walls may be braced by internal braces or tie back anchors. Tie back anchors are by far the predominant method for wall support, the large working space inside the excavation provided by a tieback anchor system has a significant construction advantage. This paper aims to analyze a deep excavation bracing system of contiguous pile wall braced by pre-stressed tie back anchors, which is a part of a huge residential building project, located in Turkey/Gaziantep province. The contiguous pile wall will be constructed with a length of 270 m that consists of 285 piles, each having a diameter of 80 cm, and a center to center spacing of 95 cm. The deformation analysis was carried out by a finite element analysis tool using PLAXIS. In the analysis, beam element method together with an elastic perfect plastic soil model and Soil Hardening Model was used to design the contiguous pile wall, the tieback anchor system, and the soil. The two soil clusters which are limestone and a filled soil were modelled with both Hardening soil and Mohr Coulomb models. According to the basic design, both soil clusters are modelled as drained condition. The simulation results show that the maximum horizontal movement of the walls and the maximum settlement of the ground are convenient with 300 individual case histories which are ranging between 1.2mm and 2.3mm for walls, and 15mm and 6.5mm for the settlements. It was concluded that tied-back contiguous pile wall can be satisfactorily modelled using Hardening soil model.

Keywords: deep excavation, finite element, pre-stressed tie back anchors, contiguous pile wall, PLAXIS, horizontal deflection, ground settlement

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Authors: Opemiposi Adegbulu

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The research investigates the existence of a public interest consideration or rationale for the management of directors’ conflicts of interest within large public corporations. This is conducted through extensive literature review and theories on the definition of conflicts of interest, the firm and purposes of the fiduciary duty of loyalty under which the management of these conflicts of interest find their foundation. Conflicts of interest is an elusive, diverse and engaging subject, a cross-cutting problem of governance which involves all levels of governance, ranging from local to global, public to corporate or financial sectors. It is a common issue that affects corporate governance and corporate culture, having a negative impact on the reputation of corporations and their trustworthiness. It is clear that addressing this issue is imperative for good governance of corporations as they are increasingly becoming and are powerful global economies with significant power and influence in the society. Similarly, the bargaining power of these powerful corporations has been recognised by international organisations such as the UN and the OECD. This is made evident by the increasing calls and push for greater responsibility of these corporations for environmental and social disasters caused by their corporate activities and their impact in various parts of the world. Equally, in the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act like other legislation and regulatory efforts made to manage conflicts of interest linked to corporate governance, in many countries indicates that there is a (global) public interest in the maintenance of the orderly functioning of commerce. Consequently, the governance of these corporations is tremendously pivotal to the society as it touches upon a key aspect of the good functioning of society. This is because corporations, particularly large international corporations can be said to be the plumbing of the global economy. This study will employ theoretical, doctrinal and comparative methods. The research will make use largely of theory-guided methodology and theoretical framework – theories of the firm, public interest, regulation, conflicts of interest in general, directors’ conflicts of interest and corporate governance. Although, the research is intended to be narrowed down to the topic of conflicts of interest in corporate governance, the subject of company directors’ duty of loyalty and the management of conflicts of interest, an examination of the history, origin and typology of conflicts of interest in general will be carried out in order to identify some specific challenges to understanding and identifying these conflicts of interest; origin, diverging theories, psychological barrier to definition, similarities with public sector conflicts of interest due to the notions of corrosion of trust, the effect on decision-making and judgment, “being in a particular kind of situation”, etc. The result of this research will be useful and relevant in the identification of the rationale for the management of directors’ conflicts of interest, contributing to the understanding of conflicts of interest in the private sector and the significance of public interest in corporate governance of large corporations.

Keywords: conflicts of interest, corporate governance, corporate law, directors duty of loyalty, public interest

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Authors: Rio Hirakawa, Christian Gundlach, Sven Hartwig

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In recent years, the use of aluminium has further expanded and is expected to replace steel in the future as vehicles become lighter and more recyclable in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel economy. In line with this, structures and components are becoming increasingly multi-material, with different materials, including aluminium, being used in combination to improve mechanical utility and performance. A common method of assembling dissimilar materials is mechanical fastening, but it has several drawbacks, such as increased manufacturing processes and the influence of substrate-specific mechanical properties. Adhesive bonding and fusion bonding are methods that overcome the above disadvantages. In these two joining methods, surface pre-treatment of the substrate is always necessary to ensure the strength and durability of the joint. Previous studies have shown that laser surface treatment improves the strength and durability of the joint. Yan et al. showed that laser surface treatment of aluminium alloys changes α-Al2O3 in the oxide layer to γ-Al2O3. As γ-Al2O3 has a large specific surface area, is very porous and chemically active, laser-treated aluminium surfaces are expected to undergo physico-chemical changes over time and adsorb moisture and organic substances from the air or storage atmosphere. The impurities accumulated on the laser-treated surface may be released at the adhesive and bonding interface by the heat input to the bonding system during the joining phase, affecting the strength and durability of the joint. However, only a few studies have discussed the effect of such storage periods on laser-treated surfaces. This paper, therefore, investigates the ageing of laser-treated aluminium alloy surfaces through thermal analysis, electrochemical analysis and microstructural observations.AlMg3 of 0.5 mm and 1.5 mm thickness was cut using a water-jet cutting machine, cleaned and degreased with isopropanol and surface pre-treated with a pulsed fibre laser at 1060 nm wavelength, 70 W maximum power and 55 kHz repetition frequency. The aluminium surface was then analysed using SEM, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) after storage in air for various periods ranging from one day to several months TGA and FTIR analysed impurities adsorbed on the aluminium surface, while CV revealed changes in the true electrochemically active surface area. SEM also revealed visual changes on the treated surface. In summary, the changes in the laser-treated aluminium surface with storage time were investigated, and the final results were used to determine the appropriate storage period.

Keywords: laser surface treatment, pre-treatment, adhesion, bonding, corrosion, durability, dissimilar material interface, automotive, aluminium alloys

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Authors: Corinne Zurmuehle, Andreas Christoph Weber

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In 2019, the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen (SFISM) conducted a mixed-methods study on the Swiss elite sports system, which yielded a large quantity of research data. In a quantitative online survey, 1151 elite sports athletes, 542 coaches, and 102 Performance Directors of national sports federations (NF) have submitted their perceptions of the national support measures of the Swiss elite sports system. These data provide an essential database for the further development of the Swiss elite sports system. The results were published in a report presenting the results divided into 40 Olympic summer and 14 winter sports (Olympic classification). The authors of this paper assume that, in practice, this division is too unspecific to assess where further measures would be needed. The aim of this paper is to find appropriate parameters for data visualization in order to identify disparities in sports promotion that allow an assessment of where further interventions by Swiss Olympic (NF umbrella organization) are required. Method: First, the variable 'salary earned from sport' was defined as a variable to measure the impact of elite sports promotion. This variable was chosen as a measure as it represents an important indicator for the professionalization of elite athletes and therefore reflects national level sports promotion measures applied by Swiss Olympic. Afterwards, the variable salary was tested with regard to the correlation between Olympic classification [a], calculating the Eta coefficient. To estimate the appropriate parameters for data visualization, the correlation between salary and four further parameters was analyzed by calculating the Eta coefficient: [a] sport; [b] prioritization (from 1 to 5) of the sports by Swiss Olympic; [c] gender; [d] employment level in sports. Results & Discussion: The analyses reveal a very small correlation between salary and Olympic classification (ɳ² = .011, p = .005). Gender demonstrates an even small correlation (ɳ² = .006, p = .014). The parameter prioritization was correlating with small effect (ɳ² = .017, p = .001) as did employment level (ɳ² = .028, p < .001). The highest correlation was identified by the parameter sport with a moderate effect (ɳ² = .075, p = .047). The analyses show that the disparities in sports promotion cannot be determined by a particular parameter but presumably explained by a combination of several parameters. We argue that the possibility of combining parameters for data visualization should be enabled when the analysis is provided to Swiss Olympic for further strategic decision-making. However, the inclusion of multiple parameters massively multiplies the number of graphs and is therefore not suitable for practical use. Therefore, we suggest to apply interactive dashboards for data visualization using Business Intelligence Software. Practical & Theoretical Contribution: This contribution provides the first attempt to use Business Intelligence Software for strategic decision-making in national level sports regarding the prioritization of national resources for sports and athletes. This allows to set specific parameters with a significant effect as filters. By using filters, parameters can be combined and compared against each other and set individually for each strategic decision.

Keywords: data visualization, business intelligence, Swiss elite sports system, strategic decision-making

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Authors: Redouane Tlemsani, Abdelkader Benyettou

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Work is in on line Arabic character recognition and the principal motivation is to study the Arab manuscript with on line technology. This system is a Markovian system, which one can see as like a Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN). One of the major interests of these systems resides in the complete models training (topology and parameters) starting from training data. Our approach is based on the dynamic Bayesian Networks formalism. The DBNs theory is a Bayesians networks generalization to the dynamic processes. Among our objective, amounts finding better parameters, which represent the links (dependences) between dynamic network variables. In applications in pattern recognition, one will carry out the fixing of the structure, which obliges us to admit some strong assumptions (for example independence between some variables). Our application will relate to the Arabic isolated characters on line recognition using our laboratory database: NOUN. A neural tester proposed for DBN external optimization. The DBN scores and DBN mixed are respectively 70.24% and 62.50%, which lets predict their further development; other approaches taking account time were considered and implemented until obtaining a significant recognition rate 94.79%.

Keywords: Arabic on line character recognition, dynamic Bayesian network, pattern recognition, computer vision

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Authors: Atanu K Samanta, Asim Ali Khan

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Due to the acquisition of huge amounts of brain tumor magnetic resonance images (MRI) in clinics, it is very difficult for radiologists to manually interpret and segment these images within a reasonable span of time. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems can enhance the diagnostic capabilities of radiologists and reduce the time required for accurate diagnosis. An intelligent computer-aided technique for automatic detection of a brain tumor through MRI is presented in this paper. The technique uses the following computational methods; the Level Set for segmentation of a brain tumor from other brain parts, extraction of features from this segmented tumor portion using gray level co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM), and the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to classify brain tumor images according to their respective types. The entire work is carried out on 50 images having five types of brain tumor. The overall classification accuracy using this method is found to be 98% which is significantly good.

Keywords: brain tumor, computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) system, gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), tumor segmentation, level set method

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Authors: Linda Saili, Amel Hanini, Chiraz Smirani, Iness Azzouz, Amina Azzouz, Hafedh Abdemelek, Zihad Bouslama

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Electrocardiogram and arterial pressure measurements were studied under acute exposures to WIFI (2.45 GHz) during one hour in adult male rabbits. Antennas of WIFI were placed at 25 cm at the right side near the heart. Acute exposure of rabbits to WIFI increased heart frequency (+ 22%) and arterial blood pressure (+14%). Moreover, analysis of ECG revealed that WIFI induced a combined increase of PR and QT intervals. By contrast, the same exposure failed to alter the maximum amplitude and P waves. After intravenously injection of dopamine (0.50 ml/kg) and epinephrine (0.50ml/kg) under acute exposure to RF we found that WIFI alter catecholamines(dopamine, epinephrine) action on heart variability and blood pressure compared to control. These results suggest for the first time, as far as we know, that exposure to WIFI affect heart rhythm, blood pressure, and catecholamines efficacy on cardiovascular system; indicating that radio frequency can act directly and/or indirectly on the cardiovascular system.

Keywords: heart rate (HR), arterial pressure (PA), electrocardiogram (ECG), the efficacy of catecholamines, dopamine, epinephrine

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Authors: Giulia Sarego, Lorenzo Olivieri, Andrea Valmorbida, Carlo Bettanini, Giacomo Colombatti, Marco Pertile, Enrico C. Lorenzini

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International guidelines recommend removing any artificial body in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) within 25 years from mission completion. Among disposal strategies, electrodynamic tethers appear to be a promising option for LEO, thanks to the limited storage mass and the minimum interface requirements to the host spacecraft. In particular, recent technological advances make it feasible to deorbit large objects with tether lengths of a few kilometers or less. To further investigate such an innovative passive system, the European Union is currently funding the project E.T.PACK – Electrodynamic Tether Technology for Passive Consumable-less Deorbit Kit in the framework of the H2020 Future Emerging Technologies (FET) Open program. The project focuses on the design of an end of life disposal kit for LEO satellites. This kit aims to deploy a taped tether that can be activated at the spacecraft end of life to perform autonomous deorbit within the international guidelines. In this paper, the orbital performance of the E.T.PACK deorbiting kit is compared to other disposal methods. Besides, the orbital decay prediction is parametrized as a function of spacecraft mass and tether system performance. Different values of length, width, and thickness of the tether will be evaluated for various scenarios (i.e., different initial orbital parameters). The results will be compared to other end-of-life disposal methods with similar allocated resources. The analysis of the more innovative system’s performance with the tape coated with a thermionic material, which has a low work-function (LWT), for which no active component for the cathode is required, will also be briefly discussed. The results show that the electrodynamic tether option can be a competitive and performant solution for satellite disposal compared to other deorbit technologies.

Keywords: deorbiting performance, H2020, spacecraft disposal, space electrodynamic tethers

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Authors: Ndiaye Mouhamadou, Seck Abdoulaye, Ndiaye Babacar, Diallo Thierno Abdoulaye, Diop Abdou, Seck Mame Cheikh, Diongue Khadim, Badiane Aida Sadikh, Diallo Mamadou Alpha, Kouedvidjin Ekoué, Ndiaye Daouda

Abstract:

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a parasite disease that presents high rates of gestational and congenital infection worldwide and is therefore considered a public health problem and a neglected disease. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women referred to the medical biology laboratory of the Pasteur Institute of Dakar (Senegal) between January 2014 and December 2019. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive, retrospective study of 10892 blood samples from pregnant women aged 16 to 46 years. The Architect toxo IgG/IgM from Abbot Laboratories, which is a chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA), was used for the quantitative determination of antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in human serum. Results: In total, over a period from January 2014 to December 2019, 10892 requests for toxoplasmosis serology in pregnant women were included. The age of the patients included in our series ranged from 16 to 46 years. The mean age was 31.2 ± 5.72 years. The overall seroprevalence of T. gondii in pregnant women was estimated to be 28.9% [28.0-29.7]. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, after adjustment for a covariate such as a study period, pregnant women aged 36-46 years were more likely to carry IgG antibodies to T. gondii than pregnant women younger than 36 years. Conclusion: T. gondii seroprevalence was significantly higher in pregnant women older than 36 years, leaving younger women more susceptible to primary T. gondii infection and their babies to congenital toxoplasmosis. There will be a need to increase awareness of the risk factors for toxoplasmosis and its different modes of transmission in these high-risk groups, but this should be supported by epidemiologic studies of the distribution of risk factors for toxoplasmosis in pregnant women and women of childbearing age.

Keywords: toxoplasmosis, pregnancy, seroprevalence, Senegal

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Authors: Vinod Kumar Jatav, Dr. Vrijendra Singh

Abstract:

WiMAX is an emerging wireless technology designed by WiMAX forum. WiMAX technology delivers broadband internet access with QoS, mobility and robust security. WiMAX is among the prominent mobile broadband wireless technology which laid the foundation for the next generation networks (NGN). The next-generation communication system for railway should facilitate high level network availability, fast mobility for high speed trains with reliability, high handover rate, the firmness of train operations, and high QoS. The system should also be capable to provide various railway services by transmitting big data efficiently. One of the most promising technologies for the next generation railway wireless communication is Mobile WiMAX. This paper analyses some of the network architectures for railway wireless communication and considers the elementary concepts to facilitate the users with broadband internet access on trains. The paper aims to recognize the suitability of Mobile WiMAX technology for the special requirements of broadband internet facilities and wireless telecommunication services of Railways.

Keywords: Broadband internet, IEEE 802.16e, mobile WiMAX, Railway wireless communication

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Authors: Jae-Soo Do, Kyoung-Seok Kim

Abstract:

The crisis theory of Samsung Electronics is becoming a hot topic today. Due to its performance deterioration, the share of Samsung Electronics lost its driving power. Considering the public opinion about the bad rumors circulating within the company, it is quite probable that the company is currently facing crisis. Then, what company has challenged the stronghold of Samsung Electronics? At the core of the crisis is 'Xiaomi' who snatched the first place of the market share, pushing Samsung Electronics aside in the Chinese market. In June 2010, Xiaomi, established by eight co-founders, has been showing a miraculous growth as the smart device manufacturer, taking the first place in the Chinese market and coming in fifth worldwide in just four years after its establishment. How did Xiaomi instantaneously achieve enough growth to overtake Samsung? Thus, we have conducted a comparative analysis on the competitive strategies of Samsung and Xiaomi.

Keywords: Samsung, Xiaomi, industrial attractiveness, VIRO

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Authors: Mr. P. Suryaprasad, R. Lalitha

Abstract:

This paper presents an efficient area and delay architectures for the implementation of one dimensional and two dimensional discrete cosine transform (DCT). These are supported to different lengths (4, 8, 16, and 32). DCT blocks are used in the different video coding standards for the image compression. The 2D- DCT calculation is made using the 2D-DCT separability property, such that the whole architecture is divided into two 1D-DCT calculations by using a transpose buffer. Based on the existing 1D-DCT architecture two different types of 2D-DCT architectures, folded and parallel types are implemented. Both of these two structures use the same transpose buffer. Proposed transpose buffer occupies less area and high speed than existing transpose buffer. Hence the area, low power and delay of both the 2D-DCT architectures are reduced.

Keywords: transposition buffer, video compression, discrete cosine transform, high efficiency video coding, two dimensional picture

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Authors: Peris Wanjiku

Abstract:

The objective of this paper is to describe the development and implications of a national nursing workforce analytical system in Kenya. Findings: Creating a national electronic nursing workforce analytical system provides more reliable information on nurses ‘national demographics, migration patterns, and workforce capacity and efficiency. Data analysis is most useful for human resources for health (HRH) planning when workforce capacity data can be linked to worksite staffing requirements. As a result of establishing this database, the Kenya Ministry of Health has improved its capability to assess its nursing workforce and document important workforce trends, such as out-migration. Current data identify the United States as the leading recipient country of Kenyan nurses. The overwhelming majority of Kenyan nurses who decide to out-migrate are amongst Kenya’s most qualified. Conclusions: The Kenya nursing database is a first step toward facilitating evidence-based decision-making in HRH. This database is unique to developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Establishing an electronic workforce database requires long-term investment and sustained support by national and global stakeholders.

Keywords: analytical, information, health, migration

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Authors: Parisa Toloue Hayat Azar

Abstract:

Businesses have been playing an important role in the economic growth and social welfare of cities; however, they generally have negative reputations regarding their impact on environmental issues regarding sustainability. However, some believe that by incorporating strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, businesses will be able to solve problems in society, including environmental ones. Besides economic, social and environmental aspects, governance is another essential pillar for creating sustainable communities and cities. Governance plays a key role in the success of sustainable projects or creating long lasting legacies; an example of this can be creating circular supply chain with collaboration between different businesses, which in the end results in positive economic, social and environmental outcomes for everyone. Governance is a very important parameter in creating the legacy of low carbon and environmentally friendly city due to the fact that, besides building energy efficient buildings and infrastructure, citizens who are also part of the success of this system should know about how to behave and collaborate with others to make the system work. By deploying the philosophy of cultural historical activity theory, this paper explains how influential businesses have been and can be still used as a mediating tool for governance purposes, and succeed in creating shared value and lasting legacy within society.

Keywords: business, governance, CSR, sustainability

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Authors: Mehar Pruthi, Manjula V.

Abstract:

For the longest time, Indian households have been hosts to a variety of domestic evils such as intimate partner violence, physical abuse, sexual assaults, and more commonly gender-based violence. The prevalence of such heinous acts against women is often swept under the carpet of patriarchy and leaves women scarred. Many times, these wounds are caused by more insidious and subtle acts of violence. For this study, the choice of term for these acts is Emotional Abuse. The ill effects of emotional abuse on the victim’s sense of self and psychological health have been widely established. The current study takes a qualitative approach to explore women’s experiences at the brunt of emotional abuse. To this end, six participants (N=6) were identified using purposive and snowball sampling which was followed by a pre-screening form to assess for the presence of emotional abuse. A semi-structured interview guide was employed to investigate the victim’s perception of emotional abuse, the manifestation of emotional abuse in a patriarchal society, and the reasons women remain in abusive relationships. Each interview lasted about 50-60 mins and was accompanied by extensive note-making. A preliminary analysis of the interviews was done using the Interpretative Phenomenological Approach. Initial findings reveal the emergence of themes such as feelings of loneliness, intergenerational transmission of violence, denial, justifying the partner’s behavior, staying because of children, hoping things would change, and faith in God. The study is instrumental in conceptualizing the patterns of emotional abuse keeping in mind the patriarchal context of the Indian society. It has implications for professionals in the mental health field who work with this population so they can better understand their plight. Future research could focus on rebuilding relationships for those partners who decide to sustain such relationships and focus on various coping mechanisms with special emphasis on religious beliefs.

Keywords: emotional abuse, gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, marriage, patriarchy

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Authors: Bo Liu, Liangtian Gao, Idrees Qasim

Abstract:

The impact of the storm leads to accidents even in the case of vessels that meet the computed safety criteria for stability. That is why, in order to clarify the causes of the accident and shipwreck, it is necessary to study the dynamics of the ship under the complex sudden impact of external forces. The task is to determine the movement and landing of the ship in the complex and sudden impact of external forces, i.e. when the ship's load changes over a relatively short period of time. For the solution, a technique was used to study the ship's dynamics, which is based on the compilation of a system of differential equations of motion. A coordinate system was adopted for the equation of motion of the hull and the determination of external forces. As a numerical method of integration, the 4^th order Runge-Kutta method was chosen. The results of the calculation show that dynamic deviations were lower for high-altitude vessels. The study of the movement of the hull under a difficult situation is performed: receiving of cargo, impact of a flurry of wind and subsequent displacement of the cargo. The risk of overturning and flooding was assessed.

Keywords: dynamics, statics, roll, trim, vertical displacement, dynamic load, tilt

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