Search results for: resource

Authors: Anne Kariuki, Kellen Kiambati

Abstract:

The broad objective of this study was to establish the mediating effect of media visibility on the relationship between corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the corporate performance of firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The review of the literature provided conceptual and empirical gaps that formed the basis of the conceptual hypotheses. A survey questionnaire was distributed to the 50 heads of human resource departments in the different firms. A survey was conducted on fifty (50) companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The study findings reported a significant relationship between CSR and non-financial performance and the mediating role of media visibility on the relationship between CSR and performance. The findings of the study support the signaling theory and stakeholder’s theory. Conclusively, CSR activities have an effect on media visibility, which in turn affects performance.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, media visibility, corporate performance, non-financial performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 38

Authors: Kuanrong Qiu, Sebnem Madrali, Evgueniy Entchev

Abstract:

To achieve the satisfactory objectives in deploying integrated renewable energy systems, it is crucial to consider all the related parameters affecting the design and decision-making. The multi-criteria evaluation method is a reliable and efficient tool for achieving the most appropriate solution. The approach considers the influential factors and their relative importance in prioritizing the alternatives. In this paper, a multi-criteria decision framework, based on the criteria including technical, economic, environmental and reliability, is developed to evaluate and prioritize renewable energy technologies and configurations of their integrated systems for community applications, identify their viability, and thus support the adoption of the clean energy technologies and the decision-making regarding energy transitions and transition patterns. Case studies for communities in Canada show that resource availability and the configurations of the integrated systems significantly impact the economic performance and environmental performance.

Keywords: multi-criteria, renewables, integrated energy systems, decision-making, model

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: Armineh Nourbakhsh, Sameena Shah, Carolyn Rose

Abstract:

Layout-aware language models have been used to create multimodal representations for documents that are in image form, achieving relatively high accuracy in document understanding tasks. However, the large number of parameters in the resulting models makes building and using them prohibitive without access to high-performing processing units with large memory capacity. We propose an alternative approach that can create efficient representations without the need for a neural visual backbone. This leads to an 80% reduction in the number of parameters compared to the smallest SOTA model, widely expanding applicability. In addition, our layout embeddings are pre-trained on spatial and visual cues alone and only fused with text embeddings in downstream tasks, which can facilitate applicability to low-resource of multi-lingual domains. Despite using 2.5% of training data, we show competitive performance on two form understanding tasks: semantic labeling and link prediction.

Keywords: layout understanding, form understanding, multimodal document understanding, bias-augmented attention

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Rajkumar Ghosh

Abstract:

Water scarcity is a significant challenge in urban areas, even in smart cities (Lucknow, Bangalore, Jaipur, etc.) where efficient resource management is prioritized. The depletion of groundwater resources in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India is particularly severe, posing a significant challenge for sustainable development in the region. This study focuses on addressing the water shortage by investigating the effectiveness of rooftop rainwater harvesting systems (RTRWHs) as a sustainable approach to bridge the gap between groundwater recharge and extraction. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of RTRWHs in reducing aquifer depletion and addressing the water scarcity issue in the Gomti Nagar region. The research methodology involves the utilization of RTRWHs as the primary method for collecting rainwater. RTRWHs will be implemented in residential and commercial buildings to maximize the collection of rainwater. Data for this study were collected through various sources such as government reports, surveys, and existing groundwater abstraction patterns. Statistical analysis and modelling techniques were employed to assess the current water situation, groundwater depletion rate, and the potential impact of implementing RTRWHs. The study reveals that the installation of RTRWHs in the Gomti Nagar region has a positive impact on addressing the water scarcity issue. Currently, RTRWHs cover only a small percentage of the total rainfall collected in the region. However, when RTRWHs are installed in all buildings, their influence on increasing water availability and reducing aquifer depletion will be significantly greater. The study also highlights the significant water imbalance in the region, emphasizing the urgent need for sustainable water management practices. This research contributes to the theoretical understanding of sustainable water management systems in smart cities. By highlighting the effectiveness of RTRWHs in reducing aquifer depletion, it emphasizes the importance of implementing such systems in urban areas. Data for this study were collected through various sources such as government reports, surveys, and existing groundwater abstraction patterns. The collected data were then analysed using statistical analysis and modelling techniques to assess the current water situation, groundwater depletion rate, and the potential impact of implementing RTRWHs. The findings of this study demonstrate that the implementation of RTRWHs can effectively mitigate the water scarcity crisis in Gomti Nagar. By reducing aquifer depletion and bridging the gap between groundwater recharge and extraction, RTRWHs offer a sustainable solution to the region's water scarcity challenges. Widespread adoption of RTRWHs in all buildings and integration into urban planning and development processes are crucial for efficient water management in smart cities like Gomti Nagar. These findings can serve as a basis for policymakers, urban planners, and developers to prioritize and incentivize the installation of RTRWHs as a potential solution to the water shortage crisis.

Keywords: water scarcity, urban areas, smart cities, resource management, groundwater depletion, rooftop rainwater harvesting systems, sustainable development, sustainable water management, mitigating water scarcity

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Naser Ahmadi Sani, Karim Solaimani, Lida Razaghnia, Jalal Zandi

Abstract:

In recent decades, rapid and incorrect changes in land-use have been associated with consequences such as natural resources degradation and environmental pollution. Detecting changes in land-use is one of the tools for natural resource management and assessment of changes in ecosystems. The target of this research is studying the land-use changes in Haraz basin with an area of 677000 hectares in a 15 years period (1996 to 2011) using LANDSAT data. Therefore, the quality of the images was first evaluated. Various enhancement methods for creating synthetic bonds were used in the analysis. Separate training sites were selected for each image. Then the images of each period were classified in 9 classes using supervised classification method and the maximum likelihood algorithm. Finally, the changes were extracted in GIS environment. The results showed that these changes are an alarm for the HARAZ basin status in future. The reason is that 27% of the area has been changed, which is related to changing the range lands to bare land and dry farming and also changing the dense forest to sparse forest, horticulture, farming land and residential area.

Keywords: Haraz basin, change detection, land-use, satellite data

Procedia PDF Downloads 400

Authors: Khoi A. Nguyen, Rodney A. Stewart, Hong Zhang

Abstract:

Advanced metering technologies coupled with informatics creates an opportunity to form digital multi-utility service providers. These providers will be able to concurrently collect a customers’ medium-high resolution water, electricity and gas demand data and provide user-friendly platforms to feed this information back to customers and supply/distribution utility organisations. With the emergence of blockchain technology, a new research area has been explored which helps bring this multi-utility service provider concept to a much higher level. This study aims at introducing a breakthrough system architecture where smart metering technology in water, energy, and gas (WEG) are combined with blockchain technology to provide customer a novel real-time consumption report and decentralized resource trading platform. A pilot study on 4 properties in Australia has been undertaken to demonstrate this system, where benefits for customers and utilities are undeniable.

Keywords: blockchain, digital multi-utility, end use, demand forecasting

Procedia PDF Downloads 162

Authors: Helio Arthur Reis Irigaray, Fabricio Stocker

Abstract:

This study aims to discover the extent to which affinity groups effectively act to combat inequalities, promote diversity, and contribute to the inclusion of non-hegemonic groups in the work environment. To this end, we have built empirical research, in which we interviewed 36 leaders and members of the collectives of non-hegemonic groups, namely women, blacks, and LGBTQ. With the proper authorization of the participants, their interviews were transcribed and submitted for critical analysis of the discourse. The field revealed that collectives are the result of the articulation of non-hegemonic groups, which create and participate in legitimate and institutional spaces to promote diversity. We also identified that diversity actions have happened as a market trend and reproduced mimetically. As the largest companies implement these actions, they become benchmarking and thus create a flow that is reproduced by other companies. However, there is no effective change in the structures that could promote inclusion and belonging. We state that a diverse group of employees are not enough to claim that the organization is diverse and inclusive. There remains much more to discuss and delve into deeply, including gender, diversity, and intersectionality.

Keywords: diversity, inclusion, collectives, affinity groups, employee resource groups

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Romain Ben Taleb, Aurélie Montarnal, Matthieu Lauras, Mathieu Dahan, Romain Miclo

Abstract:

To be competitive and sustainable, any company has to maximize its value. However, unlike listed companies that can assess their values based on market shares, most Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which are non-listed cannot have direct and live access to this critical information. Traditional accounting reports only give limited insights to SME decision-makers about the real impact of their day-to-day decisions on the company’s performance and value. Most of the time, an SME’s financial valuation is made one time a year as the associated process is time and resource-consuming, requiring several months and external expertise to be completed. To solve this issue, we propose in this paper a value-oriented metamodel that enables real-time and dynamic assessment of the SME’s value based on the large definition of their assets. These assets cover a wider scope of resources of the company and better account for immaterial assets. The proposal, which is illustrated in a case study, discusses the benefits of incorporating assets in the SME valuation.

Keywords: SME, metamodel, decision support system, financial valuation, assets

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Aby Nesan Raj, Sumil K. Raj, Sumesh Jayan

Abstract:

The objective of the study is to formulate a self-regulation model that shall enhance the usage of Intelligent Transportation Systems by understanding the theory of self-efficacy. The core logic of the self-regulation model shall monitor driver's behavior based on the situations related to the various sources of Self Efficacy like enactive mastery, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion and physiological arousal in addition to the vehicle data. For this study, four different vehicle data, speed, drowsiness, diagnostic data and surround camera views are considered. This data shall be given to the self-regulation model for evaluation. The oddness, which is the output of self-regulation model, shall feed to Intelligent Transportation Systems where appropriate actions are being taken. These actions include warning to the user as well as the input to the related transportation systems. It is also observed that the usage of vehicle as a sensor reduces the wastage of resource utilization or duplication. Altogether, this approach enhances the intelligence of the transportation systems especially in safety, productivity and environmental performance.

Keywords: emergency management, intelligent transportation system, self-efficacy, traffic management

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: K. Fellah, H. Benmehdi, A. Amrouche, H. Malainine, F. Memmou, H. Dalile, W. Siata

Abstract:

This work aims to evaluate the antioxidant of flavonoids extracted from the leaves of Prunus persica L. A phytochemical screening allowed us to highlight the different phytochemicals present in the leaves of the studied plant. The selective extraction of flavonoids gave yields of 0.71, 1.5, and 4.8% for the fractions ethyl ether, ethyl acetate and n- butanol, respectively. The reading of the antioxidant activity of different extracts of flavonoids by HPLTC method revealed positive reaction (yellow spots) on the TLC plates sprayed with DPPH. Using the DPPH method, the fractions of flavonoids (bunanol, ethyl acetate and Diethyl ether) showed a potent scavenging activity with IC50 = 0.22; 0.27 and 0.76 mg / ml, respectively. Furthermore, our findings revealed the extracts under study exhibited higher reducing potential which depends upon extract concentration. These results obtained from this investigation confirm that the Prunus persica remains a major resource of bioactive molecules.

Keywords: Prunus persica L., phytochemical study, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, TLC bioautographic, FRAP, DPPH

Procedia PDF Downloads 466

Authors: Salman Iqbal

Abstract:

Knowledge management (KM) literature has mainly focused on the antecedents of KM. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of specific human resource management (HRM) practices on employee knowledge sharing and its outcome as individual knowledge capability. Based on previous literature, a model is proposed for the study and hypotheses are formulated. The cross-sectional dataset comes from a sample of 19 knowledge intensive firms (KIFs). This study has run an item parceling technique followed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on the latent constructs of the research model. Employees’ collaboration and their interpersonal trust can help to improve their knowledge sharing behaviour and knowledge capability within organisations. This study suggests that in future, by using a larger sample, better statistical insight is possible. The findings of this study are beneficial for scholars, policy makers and practitioners. The empirical results of this study are entirely based on employees’ perceptions and make a significant research contribution, given there is a dearth of empirical research focusing on the subcontinent.

Keywords: employees’ collaboration, individual knowledge capability, knowledge sharing, monetary rewards, structural equation modelling

Procedia PDF Downloads 257

Authors: Gumilar Hadiningrat, Stewart Barr, Jo Little

Abstract:

In Indonesia, the majority of those who manage food waste are women. It is Indonesian culture that women act as household managers. Therefore, women as household managers hold an important role in reducing food waste within households. Meanwhile, in the community, women’s organisations are some of the most active organisations dealing with food waste. Food waste has an increasing profile and is the subject of much global attention and have economic, social and environmental impacts. Reducing food waste will improve future food availability in the context of global population growth and increasing resource scarcity. The aim of this research is to investigate women’s experience and understanding of dealing with food waste in the household and in the community. The research will use an inductive approach using in-depth qualitative methods. In terms of data collection, two methods will be used - questionnaire and interviews. All in all, it could be claimed that women, both within the household and the community in Indonesia, hold an important role in dealing with food waste.

Keywords: community waste management, food waste, gender, household waste, waste management

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Mustafa Tevfik Hebebci, Sirin Kucuk, Ismail Celik, A. Oguz Akturk, Ismail Sahin, Fetah Eren

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an interactive online case-study library website developed in a national project. The design goal of the website is to provide interactive, enhanced, case-based and online educational resource for educators through the purpose and within the scope of a national project. The ADDIE instructional design model was used in the development of the website for interactive case-based library. This library is developed on a web-based platform, which is important in terms of manageability, accessibility, and updateability of data. Users are able to sort the displayed case-studies by their titles, dates, ratings, view counts, etc. The usability test is used and the expert opinion is taken for the evaluation of the website. This website is a tool to integrate technology into education. It is believed that this website will be beneficial for pre-service and in-service teachers in terms of their professional developments.

Keywords: ADDIE, case-based library, design, technology integration

Procedia PDF Downloads 429

Authors: Shraddha Mahore Manjrekar

Abstract:

Culture has been an integral part of the civilizations in the world. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements. Author has observed and thought about the relation of Indian traditional cultural beliefs and their relation to the sustainable environment. There are some unwritten norms regarding the use of resources and the environment in Indian continent, that have been commonly accepted by the people for building houses and settlements since the Vedic period . The research has been done on the chanting and prayers done in a number of houses and temples in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. After doing some research, it was also found that resource assessment had also been done for the entire country, and an idea of conservation of these resources was imbibed in the common people by means of some traditions, customs and beliefs. The sensitization and gratefulness about natural resources have been observed in the major beliefs and customs. This paper describes few of such beliefs and customs that are directly linked with the built environment and landscape.

Keywords: Indian culture, sacred groves, sustainability in built environment, sustainability practices

Procedia PDF Downloads 278

Authors: Susmita Sharma, Pankaj Pathak

Abstract:

Biosolids are by-products of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment process. The generation of the biosolids is increasing at an alarming rate due to the implementation of strict environmental legislation to improve the quality of discharges from wastewater treatment plant. As such, proper management and safe disposal of sewage sludge have become a worldwide topic of research. Biosolids, rich in organic matter and essential micro and macronutrients; can be used as a soil conditioner, to cut fertilizer costs and create favorable conditions for vegetation. However, it also contains pathogens and heavy metals which are undesirable as they are harmful to both humans and the environment. Therefore, for safe utilization of biosolids for land application purposes, categorization of the contaminant and pathogen is mandatory. In this context, biosolids collected from a wastewater treatment plant in Maharashtra are utilized to determine its physical, chemical and microbiological attributes. This study would ascertain, if the use of these materials from the specific site, are suitable for agriculture. Further, efforts have also been made to present the internationally acceptable legal standards and guidelines for biosolids management or application.

Keywords: biosolids, sewage, heavy metal, sustainable agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Samuel Omachi

Abstract:

Since the creation of man, conflicts have remained a part and parcel of the society in spite of all measures adopted to keep them away. Conflicts are globally recognized as impediments of sustainable development and therefore regarded as undesirable, yet they are inevitable. However, some political leaders are better managers of conflicts than others. Those that manage conflicts poorly are backward and far from achieving economic development while efficient managers excel. The states in Africa fall into the category of poor managers of conflicts. Consequently, African continent has gained the notoriety of being the most crisis-ridden and poverty-stricken continent in the world in spite of her enormous resource endowment status. This problematic provided the compelling need for the discourse in the present study. Using the documentary analytical method, the paper x-rays the sources of conflicts, their effects and resolutions through peace education to allow room for economic development. The study concluded that African leaders needed to imbibe the culture of good governance with a key plank of peace building as a sine-qua-non for breaking the jinx that has tied the continent down to enable her catch up with her contemporaries in other parts of the competitive world.

Keywords: conflicts, resolutions, peace-building, development

Procedia PDF Downloads 270

Authors: Gia Surguladze, Nino Topuria, Lily Petriashvili, Giorgi Surguladze

Abstract:

Modeling of building processes of a multimodal freight transportation support information system is discussed based on modern CASE technologies. Functional efficiencies of ports in the eastern part of the Black Sea are analyzed taking into account their ecological, seasonal, resource usage parameters. By resources, we mean capacities of berths, cranes, automotive transport, as well as work crews and neighbouring airports. For the purpose of designing database of computer support system for Managerial (Logistics) function, using Object-Role Modeling (ORM) tool (NORMA – Natural ORM Architecture) is proposed, after which Entity Relationship Model (ERM) is generated in automated process. The software is developed based on Process-Oriented and Service-Oriented architecture, in Visual Studio.NET environment.

Keywords: seaport resources, business-processes, multimodal transportation, CASE technology, object-role model, entity relationship model, SOA

Procedia PDF Downloads 412

Authors: Mayank Gupta, Siba Prasad Samal, Vasu Kakkirala

Abstract:

The internet world and its priorities have changed considerably in the last decade. Browsing on smart phones has increased manifold and is set to explode much more. Users spent considerable time browsing different websites, that gives a great deal of insight into user’s preferences. Instead of plain information classifying different aspects of browsing like Bookmarks, History, and Download Manager into useful categories would improve and enhance the user’s experience. Most of the classification solutions are server side that involves maintaining server and other heavy resources. It has security constraints and maybe misses on contextual data during classification. On device, classification solves many such problems, but the challenge is to achieve accuracy on classification with resource constraints. This on device classification can be much more useful in personalization, reducing dependency on cloud connectivity and better privacy/security. This approach provides more relevant results as compared to current standalone solutions because it uses content rendered by browser which is customized by the content provider based on user’s profile. This paper proposes a Naive Bayes based lightweight classification engine targeted for a resource constraint devices. Our solution integrates with Web Browser that in turn triggers classification algorithm. Whenever a user browses a webpage, this solution extracts DOM Tree data from the browser’s rendering engine. This DOM data is a dynamic, contextual and secure data that can’t be replicated. This proposal extracts different features of the webpage that runs on an algorithm to classify into multiple categories. Naive Bayes based engine is chosen in this solution for its inherent advantages in using limited resources compared to other classification algorithms like Support Vector Machine, Neural Networks, etc. Naive Bayes classification requires small memory footprint and less computation suitable for smartphone environment. This solution has a feature to partition the model into multiple chunks that in turn will facilitate less usage of memory instead of loading a complete model. Classification of the webpages done through integrated engine is faster, more relevant and energy efficient than other standalone on device solution. This classification engine has been tested on Samsung Z3 Tizen hardware. The Engine is integrated into Tizen Browser that uses Chromium Rendering Engine. For this solution, extensive dataset is sourced from dmoztools.net and cleaned. This cleaned dataset has 227.5K webpages which are divided into 8 generic categories ('education', 'games', 'health', 'entertainment', 'news', 'shopping', 'sports', 'travel'). Our browser integrated solution has resulted in 15% less memory usage (due to partition method) and 24% less power consumption in comparison with standalone solution. This solution considered 70% of the dataset for training the data model and the rest 30% dataset for testing. An average accuracy of ~96.3% is achieved across the above mentioned 8 categories. This engine can be further extended for suggesting Dynamic tags and using the classification for differential uses cases to enhance browsing experience.

Keywords: chromium, lightweight engine, mobile computing, Naive Bayes, Tizen, web browser, webpage classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Felix Gbenoba, Opeyemi Dahunsi

Abstract:

Customised, self-instructional materials are at the heart of instructional delivery in Open and Distance Learning (ODL). The success of any ODL institution depends on the availability of learning materials in quality and quantity. An ODL study material is expected to imitate what the teacher does in the face-to-face learning environment. This paper evaluates these expectation based on existing data and evidence. It concludes that the reality has not matched the expectation so far in terms of pedagogic aspect of instructional delivery especially in West Africa. This does not mean that instructional materials development has not produced any significant positive results in improving the overall learning (and teaching) experience in these institutions; it implies what will help further to identify the new challenges. Obstacles and problems of instructional materials development that could have affected the open educational resource initiatives are well established. The first section of this paper recalls some of the proposed values of instructional materials. The second section compares achievements so far and suggests that instructional materials development should be consider first at an early stage to realise the aspirations of instructional delivery. The third section highlights the challenges of instructional materials development in the future.

Keywords: face-to-face learning, instructional delivery, open and distance education, self-instructional materials

Procedia PDF Downloads 353

Authors: Eva Queheille, Franck Taillandier, Nadia Saiyouri

Abstract:

Waste management has become a major issue in demolition works, because of its environmental impact (energy consumption, resource consumption, pollution…). However, improving waste management requires to take also into account the overall demolition process and to consider demolition main objectives (e.g. cost, delay). Establishing a strategy with these conflicting objectives (economic and environment) remains complex. In order to provide a decision-support for demolition companies, a multi-objective optimization model was developed. In this model, a demolition strategy is computed from a set of 80 decision variables (worker team composition, machines, treatment for each type of waste, choice of treatment platform…), which impacts the demolition objectives. The model has experimented on a real-case study (demolition of several buildings in France). To process the optimization, different optimization algorithms (NSGA2, MOPSO, DBEA…) were tested. Results allow the engineer in charge of this case, to build a sustainable demolition strategy without affecting cost or delay.

Keywords: deconstruction, life cycle assessment, multi-objective optimization, waste management

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: B. P. G. Figueira, I. C. Pinto, D. Ferro, F. C. M. Zacharias

Abstract:

The absenteeism at work constitutes in a temporary absence of labor functions resulting from various reasons, bringing damage to production, increasing costs of care and overburdening other workers, has its principal cause due to illness, often due exposure to several risks in the workplace. This study aims to know, identify and analyze the types and causes of absenteeism, such as the frequency at which it occurs by professional category, for employment contract and days not worked in Emergency Care Public in a city in the interior of São Paulo. We conducted exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative approach, with nursing professionals, after selection of inclusion criteria was reached a universe of 208 subjects, the data collected are for the years from 2010-2013. Research has shown that the professional category of nursing assistant had 88,11% of total absenteeism, absenteeism lasting 1 day was the with the highest frequency, the women were responsible for 74,80% of absenteeism disease. It was concluded that absenteeism shall be monitored to plan control actions, establishing better political for the management of human resources, because it can be an aggravating factor in the quality of care.

Keywords: absenteeism; nursing; emergency medical services, human resource

Procedia PDF Downloads 309

Authors: Ting Shen

Abstract:

Whether resource matters to school has been a topic of intense debate since 1960s. Educational researchers and policy makers have been particularly interested in knowing the return or payoff of Per-Pupil Expenditure (PPE) on improving students’ achievement. However, the evidence on the effect of PPE has been mixed and the size of the effect is also unknown. With regard to the methods, it is well-known that meta-analysis study is superior to individual study and it is also preferred to vote counting method in terms of scientifically weighting the evidence by the sample size. This meta-analysis study aims to provide a synthesized evidence on the correlation between PPE and student academic achievement using recent study data from 1990s to 2010s. Meta-analytical approach of fixed- and random-effects models will be utilized in addition to a meta regression with predictors of year, location, region and school type. A preliminary result indicates that by and large there is no statistically significant relationship between per pupil expenditure and student achievement, but location seems to have a mediating effect.

Keywords: per pupil expenditure, student academic achievement, multilevel model, meta-analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Jara Kaye S. Villanueva, M. Rosario Concepcion O. Ang

Abstract:

For the past few years, Philippines has depended most of its energy source on oil, coal, and fossil fuel. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), the dominance of coal in the energy mix will continue until the year 2020. The expanding energy needs in the country have led to increasing efforts to promote and develop renewable energy. This research is a part of the government initiative in preparation for renewable energy development and expansion in the country. The Philippine Renewable Energy Resource Mapping from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) Surveys is a three-year government project which aims to assess and quantify the renewable energy potential of the country and to put them into usable maps. This study focuses on the site suitability analysis of the four renewable energy sources – biomass (coconut, corn, rice, and sugarcane), hydro, solar, and wind energy. The site assessment is a key component in determining and assessing the most suitable locations for the construction of renewable energy power plants. This method maximizes the use of both the technical methods in resource assessment, as well as taking into account the environmental, social, and accessibility aspect in identifying potential sites by utilizing and integrating two different methods: the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. For the MCDA, Analytical Hierarchy Processing (AHP) is employed to determine the parameters needed for the suitability analysis. To structure these site suitability parameters, various experts from different fields were consulted – scientists, policy makers, environmentalists, and industrialists. The need to have a well-represented group of people to consult with is relevant to avoid bias in the output parameter of hierarchy levels and weight matrices. AHP pairwise matrix computation is utilized to derive weights per level out of the expert’s gathered feedback. Whereas from the threshold values derived from related literature, international studies, and government laws, the output values were then consulted with energy specialists from the DOE. Geospatial analysis using GIS tools translate this decision support outputs into visual maps. Particularly, this study uses Euclidean distance to compute for the distance values of each parameter, Fuzzy Membership algorithm which normalizes the output from the Euclidean Distance, and the Weighted Overlay tool for the aggregation of the layers. Using the Natural Breaks algorithm, the suitability ratings of each of the map are classified into 5 discrete categories of suitability index: (1) not suitable (2) least suitable, (3) suitable, (4) moderately suitable, and (5) highly suitable. In this method, the classes are grouped based on the best groups similar values wherein each subdivision are set from the rest based on the big difference in boundary values. Results show that in the entire Philippine area of responsibility, biomass has the highest suitability rating with rice as the most suitable at 75.76% suitability percentage, whereas wind has the least suitability percentage with score 10.28%. Solar and Hydro fall in the middle of the two, with suitability values 28.77% and 21.27%.

Keywords: site suitability, biomass energy, hydro energy, solar energy, wind energy, GIS

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Emily J. Morey, Kevin Galvin, Thomas Riley, R. Eddie Wilson

Abstract:

The key challenges faced by integrating autonomous rail operations into the existing mainline railway environment have been identified through the understanding and framing of the problem space and stakeholder analysis. This was achieved through the completion of the first four steps of Soft Systems Methodology, where the problem space has been expressed via conceptual models. Having identified these challenges, we investigated one of them, namely capacity, via the use of models and simulation. This paper examines the approach used to move from the conceptual models to a simulation which can determine whether the integration of autonomous trains can plausibly increase capacity. Within this approach, we developed an architecture and converted logical models into physical resource models and associated design features which were used to build a simulator. From this simulator, we are able to analyse mixtures of legacy-autonomous operations and produce fundamental diagrams and trajectory plots to describe the dynamic behaviour of mixed mainline railway operations.

Keywords: autonomy, executable architecture, modelling and simulation, railway capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Dongfang Qiu, Yilin Lu

Abstract:

The measurement of enterprise-university-research cooperative efficiency has important meanings in improving the cooperative efficiency, strengthening the effective integration of regional resource, enhancing the ability of regional innovation and promoting the development of regional economy. The paper constructs the DEA method and DEA-Malmquist productivity index method to research the cooperation efficiency of Hubei by making comparisons with other provinces in China. The study found out the index of technology efficiency is 0.52 and the enterprise-university- research cooperative efficiency is Non-DEA efficient. To realize the DEA efficiency of Hubei province, the amount of 1652.596 R&D employees and 638.368 R&D employees’ full time equivalence should be reduced or 137.89 billion yuan of new products’ sales income be increased. Finally, it puts forward policy recommendations on existing problems to strengthen the standings of the cooperation, realize the effective application of the research results, and improve the level of management of enterprise-university-research cooperation efficiency.

Keywords: cooperation ability, DEA method, enterprise-university-research cooperation, Malmquist efficiency index

Procedia PDF Downloads 375

Authors: A. Lambert-Mogiliansky

Abstract:

In this paper, we investigate the properties of simple rules for reappointment aimed at holding a public official accountable and monitor his activity. The public official allocates budget resources to various activities which results in the delivery of public services to citizens. He has discretion over the use of resource so he can divert some of them for private ends. Because of a liability constraint, zero diversion can never be secured in all states. The optimal reappointment mechanism under complete information is shown to exhibit some leniency thus departing from the zero tolerance principle. Under asymmetric information (about the state), a rule with random verification in a pre-announced subset is shown to be optimal in a class of common rules. Surprisingly, those common rules make little use of hard information about service delivery when available. Similarly, PO's claim about his record is of no value to improve the performance of the examined rules. In contrast requesting that the PO defends his records publicly can be very useful if the service users are given the chance to refute false claims with cheap talk complaints: the first best complete information outcome can be approached in the absence of any observation by the manager of the accountability mechanism.

Keywords: accountability, corruption, persuasion, debate

Procedia PDF Downloads 365

Authors: Aiswarea Mathew, Smita Mohanty, Jr., S. K. Nayak

Abstract:

Polyurethane networks based on castor oil (CO) as a renewable resource polyol were synthesized. Polyurethane/epoxy resin interpenetrating network nanocomposites containing modified montmorillonite organoclay (C30B-PU/EP nanocomposites) were prepared by an in situ intercalation method. The conventional spectroscopic characterization of the synthesized samples using FT-IR confirms the existence of the proposed castor oil based PU structure and also showed that strong interactions existed between C30B and EP/PU matrix. The dispersion degree of C30B in EP/PU matrix was characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) method. Scanning electronic microscopy analysis showed that the interpenetrating process of PU and EP increases the exfoliation degree of C30B, and it improves the compatibility and the phase structure of polyurethane/epoxy resin interpenetrating polymer networks (PU/EP IPNs). The thermal stability improves compared to the polyurethane when the PU/EP IPN is formed. Mechanical properties including the Young’s modulus and tensile strength reflected marked improvement with addition of C30B.

Keywords: castor oil, epoxy, montmorillonite, polyurethane

Procedia PDF Downloads 384

Authors: Afolabi K. Esther, Kuye Tolulope, Babafemi, L. Olayemi, Omikunle Yemisi

Abstract:

Background: Cervical cancer is a potentially preventable disease of public significance. All sexually active women are at risk of cervical cancer; however, the uptake and coverage are low in low-middle resource countries. Hence, the programme explored the feasibility of demonstrating an innovative and low-cost system approach to cervical cancer screening service delivery among reproductive-aged women in low–resource settings in Southwestern Nigeria. This was to promote the uptake and quality improvement of cervical cancer screening services. Methods: This study was an intervention project in three senatorial districts in Osun State that have primary, secondary and tertiary health facilities. The project was in three phases; Pre-intervention, Intervention, and Post-intervention. The study utilised the existing infrastructure, facilities and staff in project settings. The study population was nurse-midwives, community health workers and reproductive-aged women (30-49 years). The intervention phase entailed using innovative, culturally appropriate strategies to create awareness of cervical cancer and preventive health-seeking behaviour among women in the reproductive-aged group (30-49) years. Also, the service providers (community health workers, Nurses, and Midwives) were trained on screening methods and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions, and there was the provision of essential equipment and supplies for cervical cancer screening services at health facilities. Besides, advocacy and engagement were made with relevant stakeholders to integrate the cervical cancer screening services into related reproductive health services and greater allocation of resources. The expected results compared the pre and post-intervention using the baseline and process indicators and the effect of the intervention phase on screening coverage using a plausibility assessment design. The project lasted 12 months; visual Inspection with Acetic acid (VIA) screening for the women for six months and follow-up in 6 months for women receiving treatment. Results: The pre-intervention phase assessed baseline service delivery statistics in the previous 12 months drawn from the retrospective data collected as part of the routine monitoring and reporting systems. The uptake of cervical cancer screening services was low as the number of women screened in the previous 12 months was 156. Service personnel's competency level was fair (54%), and limited availability of essential equipment and supplies for cervical cancer screening services. At the post-intervention phase, the level of uptake had increased as the number of women screened was 1586 within six months in the study settings. This showed about a 100-%increase in the uptake of cervical cancer screening services compared with the baseline assessment. Also, the post-intervention level of competency of service delivery personnel had increased to 86.3%, which indicates quality improvement of the cervical cancer screening service delivery. Conclusion: the findings from the study have shown an effective approach to strengthening and improving cervical cancer screening service delivery in Southwestern Nigeria. Hence, the intervention promoted a positive attitude and health-seeking behaviour among the target population, significantly influencing the uptake of cervical cancer screening services.

Keywords: cervical cancer, screening, nigeria, health system strengthening

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Piedad Garrido, Fernando Repulles, Andy Bloor, Julio A. Sanguesa, Jesus Gallardo, Vicente Torres, Jesus Tramullas

Abstract:

With the emergence and development of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), Higher Education is experiencing rapid changes, not only in its teaching strategies but also in student’s learning skills. However, we have noticed that students often have difficulty when seeking innovative, useful, and interesting learning resources for their work. This is due to the lack of supervision in the selection of good query tools. This paper presents AINA, an Information Retrieval (IR) computer system aimed at providing motivating and stimulating content to both students and teachers working on different areas and at different educational levels. In particular, our proposal consists of an open virtual resource environment oriented to the vast universe of Disney comics and cartoons. Our test suite includes Disney’s long and shorts films, and we have performed some activities based on the Just In Time Teaching (JiTT) methodology. More specifically, it has been tested by groups of university and secondary school students.

Keywords: information retrieval, animation, educational resources, JiTT

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: Anna Guitart Atienza, Ana Fernández del Río, Madhav Nekkar, Jelena Ljubicic, África Periáñez, Eura Shin, Lauren Bellhouse

Abstract:

The use of digital devices in healthcare or mobile health (mHealth) has increased in recent years due to the advances in digital technology, making it possible to nudge healthy behaviors through individual interventions. In addition, mHealth is becoming essential in poor-resource settings due to the widespread use of smartphones in areas where access to professional healthcare is limited. In this work, we evaluate mHealth interventions in low-income countries with a focus on causal inference. Counterfactuals estimation and other causal computations are key to determining intervention success and assisting in empirical decision-making. Our main purpose is to personalize treatment recommendations and triage patients at the individual level in order to maximize the entire intervention's impact on the desired outcome. For this study, collected data includes mHealth individual logs from front-line healthcare workers, electronic health records (EHR), and external variables data such as environmental, demographic, and geolocation information.

Keywords: causal inference, mHealth, intervention, personalization

Procedia PDF Downloads 114