Search results for: integrated audit quality model

Authors: Collen T. Masilo, Brane Semolic, Pieter Steyn

Abstract:

The Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and Hybrid Fibre-Coaxial (HFC) Broadband industrial sector landscape are rapidly changing and organisations within the industry need to stay competitive by exploring new business models so that they can be able to offer new services and products to customers. The business challenge in this industrial sector is meeting or exceeding high customer expectations across multiple content delivery modes. The increasing challenges in the IPTV and HFC broadband industrial sector encourage service providers to form strategic partnerships with key suppliers, marketing partners, advertisers, and technology partners. The need to form enterprise collaborative networks poses a challenge for any organisation in this sector, in selecting the right strategic partners who will ensure that the organisation’s services and products are marketed in new markets. Partners who will ensure that customers are efficiently supported by meeting and exceeding their expectations. Lastly, selecting cooperation partners who will represent the organisation in a positive manner, and contribute to improving the performance of the organisation. Companies in the IPTV and HFC broadband industrial sector tend to form informal partnerships with suppliers, vendors, system integrators and technology partners. Generally, partnerships are formed without thorough analysis of the real reason a company is forming collaborations, without proper evaluations of prospective partners using specific selection criteria, and with ineffective performance monitoring of partners to ensure that a firm gains real long term benefits from its partners and gains competitive advantage. Similar tendencies are illustrated in the research case study and are based on Skyline Communications, a global leader in end-to-end, multi-vendor network management and operational support systems (OSS) solutions. The organisation’s flagship product is the DataMiner network management platform used by many operators across multiple industries and can be referred to as a smart system that intelligently manages complex technology ecosystems for its customers in the IPTV and HFC broadband industry. The approach of the research is to develop the most efficient business model that can be deployed to improve a strategic partnership programme in order to significantly improve the performance and growth of organisations participating in a collaborative network in the IPTV and HFC broadband industrial sector. This involves proposing and implementing a new strategic partnership model and its main features within the industry which should bring about significant benefits for all involved companies to achieve value add and an optimal growth strategy. The proposed business model has been developed based on the research of existing relationships, value chains and business requirements in this industrial sector and validated in 'Skyline Communications'. The outputs of the business model have been demonstrated and evaluated in the research business case study the IPTV and HFC broadband service provider 'Skyline Communications'.

Keywords: growth, partnership, selection criteria, value chain

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Ana Maria Igual-Munoz, Juan Gilabert, Marta Garcia, Alfredo Quijano-Lopez

Abstract:

Nowadays, several lithium-ion battery technologies are being commercialized. These chemistries present different properties that make them more suitable for different purposes. However, comparative studies showing the advantages and disadvantages of different chemistries are incomplete or scarce. Different non-destructive techniques are currently being employed to detect how ageing affects the active materials of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). For instance, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is one of the most employed ones. This technique allows the user to identify the variations on the different resistances present in LIBs. On the other hand, differential voltage analysis (DVA) has shown to be a powerful technique to detect the processes affecting the different capacities present in LIBs. This technique shows variations in the state of health (SOH) and the capacities for one or both electrodes depending on their chemistry. Finally, incremental capacity analysis (ICA) is a widely known technique for being capable of detecting phase equilibria. It reminds of the commonly used cyclic voltamperometry, as it allows detecting some reactions taking place in the electrodes. In these studies, a set of ageing procedures have been applied to commercial batteries of different chemistries (NCA, NMC, and LFP). Afterwards, results of EIS, DVA, and ICA have been used to correlate them with the processes affecting each cell. Ciclability, overpotential, and temperature cycling studies envisage how the charge-discharge rates, cut-off voltage, and operation temperatures affect each chemistry. These studies will serve battery pack manufacturers, as for common battery users, as they will determine the different conditions affecting cells for each of the chemistry. Taking this into account, each cell could be adjusted to the final purpose of the battery application. Last but not least, all the degradation parameters observed are focused to be integrated into degradation models in the future. This fact will allow the implementation of the widely known digital twins to the degradation in LIBs.

Keywords: lithium ion batteries, non-destructive analysis, different chemistries, ante-mortem studies, ICA, DVA, EIS

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Beste Kaysı, Yasemin Topaloğlu

Abstract:

Usability is one of the most important quality attributes for web-based information systems. Specifically, for e-commerce applications, usability becomes more prominent. In this study, we aimed to explore the features that experienced users seek in e-commerce applications. We used eye tracking method in evaluations. Eye movement data are obtained from the eye-tracking method and analyzed based on task completion time, number of fixations, as well as heat map and gaze plot measures. The results of the analysis show that the eye movements of participants' are too static in certain areas and their areas of interest are scattered in many different places. It has been determined that this causes users to fail to complete their transactions. According to the findings, we outlined the issues to improve the usability of e-commerce websites. Then we propose solutions to identify the issues. In this way, it is expected that e-commerce sites will be developed which will make experienced users more satisfied.

Keywords: e-commerce websites, eye tracking method, usability, website evaluations

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Baratali Monfarediraz

Abstract:

Humans’ identity is not only under the influence of a certain society or social structure but also it is influenced by an international identity. This article is a research on role of education in the manifestation of universally accepted values such as, advancement of science, improvement in the quality of education, preservation of the natural environment, preservation, and spread of peace, exchange of knowledge and technology, equal educational opportunities, benefiting from a universal morality and etc. Therefore, the relation between universal beliefs and values and educational approaches and programs is the first thing to pay attention to. Studies indicate that the first step in achieving the above mentioned goals is offering learning strategies. Therefore the importance of educational approaches and programs as a tool for the transference of ideas, experiences and thoughts becomes quite clear. Proper education gives everyone the opportunity of acquiring knowledge while creating tendency toward social activities paves the way for achieving the universal values.

Keywords: globalization, universal values, education, universal goal, values, society

Procedia PDF Downloads 375

Authors: Wei Deng

Abstract:

Based on sorting and analyzing related literature on CNKI for nearly three decades between 1987—2015, this paper, adopting the method of bibliometrics, summarized and reviewed the domestic research on sight translation from three aspects. The analysis concluded the following findings: 1) The majority research had focused on the noumenon of sight translation. The rest of the three main research perspectives are in descending order: sight translation teaching, sight translation skills and other associated skills, and cognitive research of sight translation. 2) The domestic research increased significantly in recent five years, but there is much room for the quality. 3) The non-empirical study has had higher proportion, while the empirical study is unitary with the lack of triangle validation. This paper suggested that sight translation being in sore need of unified definition, multilingual, even interdisciplinary cooperation.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis, perspectives, sight translation, tendency

Procedia PDF Downloads 332

Authors: Santimoy Khilari, Debabrata Pradhan

Abstract:

Ever−increasing energy demand and growing energy crisis along with environmental issues emphasize the research on sustainable energy conversion and storage systems. Recently, supercapacitors or electrochemical capacitors emerge as a promising energy storage technology for future generation. The activity of supercapacitors generally depends on the efficiency of its electrode materials. So, the development of cost−effective efficient electrode materials for supercapacitors is one of the challenges to the scientific community. Transition metal oxides with spinel crystal structure receive much attention for different electrochemical applications in energy storage/conversion devices because of their improved performance as compared to simple oxides. In the present study, we have synthesized polypyrrole (PPy) supported manganese cobaltite nanorods (MnCo2O4 NRs) hybrid electrode material for supercapacitor application. The MnCo2O4 NRs were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal and calcination approach. The MnCo2O4 NRs/PPy hybrid was prepared by in situ impregnation of MnCo2O4 NRs during polymerization of pyrrole. The surface morphology and microstructure of as−synthesized samples was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. The crystallographic phase of MnCo2O4 NRs, PPy and hybrid was determined by X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical charge storage activity of MnCo2O4 NRs, PPy and MnCo2O4 NRs/PPy hybrid was evaluated from cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Significant improvement of specific capacitance was achieved in MnCo2O4 NRs/PPy hybrid as compared to the individual components. Furthermore, the mechanically mixed MnCo2O4 NRs, and PPy shows lower specific capacitance as compared to MnCo2O4 NRs/PPy hybrid suggesting the importance of in situ hybrid preparation. The stability of as prepared electrode materials was tested by cyclic charge-discharge measurement for 1000 cycles. Maximum 94% capacitance was retained with MnCo2O4 NRs/PPy hybrid electrode. This study suggests that MnCo2O4 NRs/PPy hybrid can be used as a low cost electrode material for charge storage in supercapacitors.

Keywords: supercapacitors, nanorods, spinel, MnCo2O4, polypyrrole

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Ruvaitha Banu, Amaladhithyan Krishnamoorthy

Abstract:

IoT networks today solve various consumer problems, from home automation systems to aiding in driving autonomous vehicles with the exploration of multiple devices. For example, in an autonomous vehicle environment, multiple sensors are available on roads to monitor weather and road conditions and interact with each other to aid the vehicle in reaching its destination safely and timely. IoT systems are predominantly dependent on the cloud environment for data storage, and computing needs that result in latency problems. With the advent of Fog networks, some of this storage and computing is pushed to the edge/fog nodes, saving the network bandwidth and reducing the latency proportionally. Managing the data stored in these fog nodes becomes crucial as it might also store sensitive information required for a certain application. Data management in fog nodes is strenuous because Fog networks are dynamic in terms of their availability and hardware capability. It becomes more challenging when the nodes in the network also live a short span, detaching and joining frequently. When an end-user or Fog Node wants to access, read, or write data stored in another Fog Node, then a new protocol becomes necessary to access/manage the data stored in the fog devices as a conventional static way of managing the data doesn’t work in Fog Networks. The proposed solution discusses a protocol that acts by defining sensitivity levels for the data being written and read. Additionally, a distinct data distribution and replication model among the Fog nodes is established to decentralize the access mechanism. In this paper, the proposed model implements stewardship towards the data stored in the Fog node using the application of Reinforcement Learning so that access to the data is determined dynamically based on the requests.

Keywords: IoT, fog networks, data stewardship, dynamic access policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Dayron Camilo Bermudez Mendoza

Abstract:

Road transportation is a significant source of externalities, notably in terms of environmental degradation and the emission of pollutants. These emissions adversely affect public health, attributable to criteria pollutants like particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) and carbon monoxide (CO), and also contribute to climate change through the release of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2). It is, therefore, crucial to quantify the emissions from mobile sources and develop a methodological framework for their economic valuation, aiding in the assessment of associated costs and informing policy decisions. The forthcoming congress will shed light on the externalities of transportation in Bogotá, showcasing methodologies and findings from the construction of emission inventories and their spatial analysis within the city. This research focuses on the economic valuation of emissions from mobile sources in Bogotá, employing methods like hedonic pricing and contingent valuation. Conducted within the urban confines of Bogotá, the study leverages demographic, transportation, and emission data sourced from the Mobility Survey, official emission inventories, and tailored estimates and measurements. The use of hedonic pricing and contingent valuation methodologies facilitates the estimation of the influence of transportation emissions on real estate values and gauges the willingness of Bogotá's residents to invest in reducing these emissions. The findings are anticipated to be instrumental in the formulation and execution of public policies aimed at emission reduction and air quality enhancement. In compiling the emission inventory, innovative data sources were identified to determine activity factors, including information from automotive diagnostic centers and used vehicle sales websites. The COPERT model was utilized to ascertain emission factors, requiring diverse inputs such as data from the national transit registry (RUNT), OpenStreetMap road network details, climatological data from the IDEAM portal, and Google API for speed analysis. Spatial disaggregation employed GIS tools and publicly available official spatial data. The development of the valuation methodology involved an exhaustive systematic review, utilizing platforms like the EVRI (Environmental Valuation Reference Inventory) portal and other relevant sources. The contingent valuation method was implemented via surveys in various public settings across the city, using a referendum-style approach for a sample of 400 residents. For the hedonic price valuation, an extensive database was developed, integrating data from several official sources and basing analyses on the per-square meter property values in each city block. The upcoming conference anticipates the presentation and publication of these results, embodying a multidisciplinary knowledge integration and culminating in a master's thesis.

Keywords: economic valuation, transport economics, pollutant emissions, urban transportation, sustainable mobility

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Cheng-Jui Li, Chien-Chou Tseng

Abstract:

This study adopts Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique to build the multiphase flow numerical model where the interface between the flue gas and desulfurization liquid can be traced by Eulerian-Eulerian model. Inside the tower, the contact of the desulfurization liquid flow from the spray nozzles and flue gas flow can trigger chemical reactions to remove the sulfur dioxide from the exhaust gas. From experimental observations of the industrial scale plant, the desulfurization mechanism depends on the mixing level between the flue gas and the desulfurization liquid. In order to significantly improve the desulfurization efficiency, the mixing efficiency and the residence time can be increased by perforated sieve trays. Hence, the purpose of this research is to investigate the flow structure of sieve trays for the flue gas desulfurization by numerical simulation. In this study, there is an outlet at the top of FGD tower to discharge the clean gas and the FGD tower has a deep tank at the bottom, which is used to collect the slurry liquid. In the major desulfurization zone, the desulfurization liquid and flue gas have a complex mixing flow. Because there are four perforated plates in the major desulfurization zone, which spaced 0.4m from each other, and the spray array is placed above the top sieve tray, which includes 33 nozzles. Each nozzle injects desulfurization liquid that consists of the Mg(OH)2 solution. On each sieve tray, the outside diameter, the hole diameter, and the porosity are 0.6m, 20 mm and 34.3%. The flue gas flows into the FGD tower from the space between the major desulfurization zone and the deep tank can finally become clean. The desulfurization liquid and the liquid slurry goes to the bottom tank and is discharged as waste. When the desulfurization solution flow impacts the sieve tray, the downward momentum will be converted to the upper surface of the sieve tray. As a result, a thin liquid layer can be developed above the sieve tray, which is the so-called the slurry layer. And the volume fraction value within the slurry layer is around 0.3~0.7. Therefore, the liquid phase can't be considered as a discrete phase under the Eulerian-Lagrangian framework. Besides, there is a liquid column through the sieve trays. The downward liquid column becomes narrow as it interacts with the upward gas flow. After the flue gas flows into the major desulfurization zone, the flow direction of the flue gas is upward (+y) in the tube between the liquid column and the solid boundary of the FGD tower. As a result, the flue gas near the liquid column may be rolled down to slurry layer, which developed a vortex or a circulation zone between any two sieve trays. The vortex structure between two sieve trays results in a sufficient large two-phase contact area. It also increases the number of times that the flue gas interacts with the desulfurization liquid. On the other hand, the sieve trays improve the two-phase mixing, which may improve the SO2 removal efficiency.

Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Eulerian-Eulerian Model, Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD), perforated sieve tray

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Pavel A. Strizhak, Geniy V. Kuznetsov, Ivan S. Voytkov, Dmitri V. Antonov

Abstract:

This paper presents the results of experiments carried out at a specialized test site for establishing macroscopic patterns of heat and mass transfer processes at localizing model combustion sources of ground forest fires with the use of barrier lines in the form of a wetted lay of material in front of the zone of flame burning and thermal decomposition. The experiments were performed using needles, leaves, twigs, and mixtures thereof. The dimensions of the model combustion source and the ranges of heat release correspond well to the real conditions of ground forest fires. The main attention is paid to the complex analysis of the effect of dispersion of water aerosol (concentration and size of droplets) used to form the barrier line. It is shown that effective conditions for localization and subsequent suppression of flame combustion and thermal decomposition of forest fuel can be achieved by creating a group of barrier lines with different wetting width and depth of the material. Relative indicators of the effectiveness of one and combined barrier lines were established, taking into account all the main characteristics of the processes of suppressing burning and thermal decomposition of forest combustible materials. We performed the prediction of the necessary and sufficient parameters of barrier lines (water volume, width, and depth of the wetted lay of the material, specific irrigation density) for combustion sources with different dimensions, corresponding to the real fire extinguishing practice.

Keywords: forest fire, barrier water lines, pyrolysis front, flame front

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Fahem Belkacemi, Lyes Ouali

Abstract:

Maintenance strategies and assessments continue to be a major concern for companies today. The socio-economic bets of their competitiveness are closely linked to the activities and quality of maintenance. This work deals with a study of a preventive maintenance plan to improve the availability of the production line within SAMSUNG HOME APPLIANCE “SAMHA”, Setif, Algeria. First, we applied the method of analysis of failure modes, their impact, and criticality to reduce downtime and identification of the most critical elements. Finally, to improve the availability of the production line, we carried out a study of the current preventive maintenance plan in the production line workshop at the company level and according to the history sheet of machine failures. We proposed a preventive maintenance plan to improve the availability of the production line.

Keywords: preventive maintenance, DRUM line, AMDEC, availability

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Debdatta Mukherjee, Abhiman Das, Amit Garg

Abstract:

In recent years, there is a growing interest about corporate social responsibility of firms in both academic literature and business world. Since business forms a part of society incorporating socio-environment concerns into its value chain, activities are vital for ensuring mutual sustainability and prosperity. But, until now most of the works have been either descriptive or normative rather than positivist in tone. Even the few ones with a positivist approach have mostly studied the link between corporate financial performance and corporate social performance. However, these studies have been severely criticized by many eminent authors on grounds that they lack a theoretical basis for their findings. They have also argued that apart from corporate financial performance, there must be certain other crucial influences that are likely to determine corporate social performance of firms. In fact, several studies have indicated that firms operating in distinct national institutions show significant variations in the corporate social responsibility practices that they undertake. This clearly suggests that the institutional context of a country in which the firms operate is a key determinant of corporate social performance of firms. Therefore, this paper uses an institutional framework to understand why corporate social performance of firms vary across countries. It examines the impact of country level institutions on corporate social performance using a sample of 3240 global publicly-held firms across 33 countries covering the period 2010-2015. The country level institutions include public institutions, private institutions, markets and capacity to innovate. Econometric Analysis has been mainly used to assess this impact. A three way panel data analysis using fixed effects has been used to test and validate appropriate hypotheses. Most of the empirical findings confirm our hypotheses and the economic significance indicates the specific impact of each variable and their importance relative to others. The results suggest that institutional determinants like ethical behavior of private institutions, goods market, labor market and innovation capacity of a country are significantly related to the corporate social performance of firms. Based on our findings, few implications for policy makers from across the world have also been suggested. The institutions in a country should promote competition. The government should use policy levers for upgrading home demands, like setting challenging yet flexible safety, quality and environment standards, and framing policies governing buyer information, providing innovative recourses to low quality goods and services and promoting early adoption of new and technologically advanced products. Moreover, the institution building in a country should be such that they facilitate and improve the capacity of firms to innovate. Therefore, the proposed study argues that country level institutions impact corporate social performance of firms, empirically validates the same, suggest policy implications and attempts to contribute to an extended understanding of corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance in a multinational context.

Keywords: corporate social performance, corporate social responsibility, institutions, markets

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Prosper Kudzanai Mushauri

Abstract:

Shock therapy has been used in persons living with depression and deeply depressed persons. It has been used in children also. Shock therapy has been also among its pros believed to improve the quality of life and an effective treatment of depression. The review of the literature on ECT papers have highlighted that benefits to users of ECT are elusive, and iatrogenic harm often occurs showing that the approach will always fall far in comporting to psychological ethics. On the contrary, ECT is known as shock therapy which is the administration of electric shock within the brain; it has been challenged on ethical grounds if it’s proper ethically. From this ethical aperture, it has emerged that relapse rates are approximately higher than 50%, it results in diencephalon disturbances and has also side effects related to cognitive function among other negative effects. It is from these reviewed studies that that ECT should not be viewed as an effective treatment of depression as it does not comport to the mores of psychological ethics.

Keywords: anterograde amnesia, depression, electroconvulsive therapy, ethics, retrograde amnesia

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Leticia Lengler, Vania Estivalete, Vivian Flores Costa, Tais De Andrade, Lisiane Fellini Faller

Abstract:

Social entrepreneurship has emerged and driven a new development perspective, and as the literature mentions, it is based on innovation, and mainly, on the creation of social value, rather than personal wealth and shareholders. In this field of study, one of the focuses of discussion refers to the distinct characteristics of the individuals responsible for socially directed initiatives, named as social entrepreneurs. To contribute to this perspective, the present study aims to identify the values related to work that guide the performance of social entrepreneurs, members of enterprises that have developed themselves within a social incubator at a federal institution of higher education in Brazil. Each person's value system is present in different facets of his life, manifesting himself in his choices and in the way he conducts the relationship with other people in society. Especially the values of work, the focus of this research, play a significant role in organizational studies, since they are considered one of the important guiding principles of the behavior of individuals in the work environment. Regarding the method of the study, a descriptive and qualitative research was carried out. In the data collection, 24 entrepreneurs, members of five different enterprises belonging to the social incubator, were interviewed. The research instrument consisted of three open questions, which could be answered with the support of a "disc of values", an artifact organized to clearly demonstrate the values of the work to the respondents. The analysis of the interviews took into account the categories defined a priori, based on the model proposed by previous authors who validated these constructs within their research contexts, contemplating the following dimensions: Self-determination and stimulation; Safety; Conformity; Universalism and benevolence; Achievement; and Power. It should be noted that, in order to provide a better understanding of the interviewees, in the "disc of values" used in the research, these dimensions were represented by the objectives that define them, being respectively: Challenge; Financial independence; Commitment; Welfare of others; Personal success; And Power. Some preliminary results show that, as guiding principles of the investigation, priority is given to work values related to Self-determination and stimulation, Conformity and Universalism and benevolence. Such findings point to the importance given by these individuals to independent thinking and acting, as well as to novelty and constant challenge. Still, they demonstrate the appreciation of commitment to their enterprise, the people who make it and the quality of their work. They also point to the relevance of the possibility of contributing to the greater social good, that is, of the search for the well-being of close people and of society, as it is implied in models of social entrepreneurship coming from literature. With a lower degree of priority, the values denominated Safety and Realization, as the financial question at work and the search for satisfaction and personal success, through the use of socially recognized skills were mentioned aspects with little emphasis by social entrepreneurs. The Power value was not considered as guiding principle of the work for the respondents.

Keywords: qualitative study, social entrepreneur, social incubator, values of work

Procedia PDF Downloads 256

Authors: P. Hajek, J. Stejskal

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to analyze the ability to identify and acquire knowledge from external sources at the regional level in the Czech Republic. The results show that the most important sources of knowledge for innovative activities are sources within the businesses themselves, followed by customers and suppliers. Furthermore, the analysis of relationships between the objective of the innovative activity and the ability to identify and acquire knowledge implies that knowledge obtained from a) customers aims at replacing outdated products and increasing product quality; b) suppliers aims at increasing capacity and flexibility of production; and c) competing businesses aims at growing market share and increasing the flexibility of production and services. Regions should therefore direct their support especially into development and strengthening of networks within the value chain.

Keywords: knowledge, acquisition, innovative business, Czech republic, region

Procedia PDF Downloads 365

Authors: Maryam Amiri, Leyli Mohammad-Khanli

Abstract:

Cloud computing is becoming increasingly popular and more business applications are moving to cloud. In this regard, services that provide similar functional properties are increasing. So, the ability to select a service with the best non-functional properties, corresponding to the user preference, is necessary for the user. This paper presents an Evaluation Framework of Service Trustworthiness (EFST) that evaluates the trustworthiness of equivalent services without need to additional invocations of them. EFST extracts user preference automatically. Then, it assesses trustworthiness of services in two dimensions of qualitative and quantitative metrics based on the experiences of past usage of services. Finally, EFST determines the overall trustworthiness of services using Fuzzy Inference System (FIS). The results of experiments and simulations show that EFST is able to predict the missing values of Quality of Service (QoS) better than other competing approaches. Also, it propels users to select the most appropriate services.

Keywords: user preference, cloud service, trustworthiness, QoS metrics, prediction

Procedia PDF Downloads 284

Authors: Laura Angulo, Petra Salamon, Martin Banse, Frederic Storkamp

Abstract:

Fisheries subsidies are focus on reduce management costs or deliver income benefits to fishers. In 2015, total fishery budgetary transfers in 31 OECD countries represented 35% of their total landing value. However, subsidies to fishing have adverse effects on trade and it has been claimed that they may contribute directly to overfishing. Therefore, this paper analyses to what extend fisheries subsidies may 1) influence capture production facing quotas and 2) affect price dynamics. The study uses the fish module in AGMEMOD (Agriculture Member States Modelling, details see Chantreuil et al. (2012)) which covers eight fish categories (cephalopods; crustaceans; demersal marine fish; pelagic marine fish; molluscs excl. cephalopods; other marine finfish species; freshwater and diadromous fish) for EU member states and other selected countries developed under the SUCCESS project. This model incorporates transfer payments directly linked to fisheries operational costs. As aquaculture and wild fishery are not included within the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, data on fisheries subsidies is obtained from the OECD Fisheries Support Estimates (FSE) database, which provides statistics on budgetary transfers to the fisheries sector. Since support has been moving from budgetary transfers to General Service Support Estimate the last years, subsidies in capture production may not present substantial effects. Nevertheless, they would still show the impact across countries and fish categories within the European Union.

Keywords: AGMEMOD, budgetary transfers, EU Member States, fish model, fisheries support estimate

Procedia PDF Downloads 242

Authors: Malee Santikunaporn, Neera Wongtyanuwat, Channarong Asavatesanupap

Abstract:

Pyrolysis of waste oil is an effective process to produce high quality liquid fuels. In this work, pyrolysis experiments of waste oil over Y zeolite were carried out in a semi-batch reactor under a flow of nitrogen at atmospheric pressure and at different reaction temperatures (350-450 ^oC). The products were gas, liquid fuel, and residue. Only liquid fuel was further characterized for its composition and properties by using gas chromatography, thermogravimetric analyzer, and bomb calorimeter. Experimental results indicated that the pyrolysis reaction temperature significantly affected both yield and composition distribution of pyrolysis oil. An increase in reaction temperature resulted in increased fuel yield, especially gasoline fraction. To obtain high amount of fuel, the optimal reaction temperature should be higher than 350 ^oC. A presence of Y zeolite in the system enhanced the cracking activity. In addition, the pyrolysis oil yield is proportional to the catalyst quantity.

Keywords: gasoline, diesel, pyrolysis, waste oil, Y zeolite

Procedia PDF Downloads 192

Authors: A. Boumedine, K. Benfriha, S. Lecheb

Abstract:

Manufacturing methods for products and structures made of composite materials reduce the number of parts and integrate technical functions, this advantage of composite materials leads to a lot of innovation but also to a reduction of costs and a gain in quality. A material has attributes: its density, it’s resistance, it’s cost, it’s resistance to corrosion. For the design of a product, a certain profile of these attributes is required: low density, resistance removed, low cost. The problem is then to identify this attribute profile and to compare it with those of the materials, in order to find the one that comes closest. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility of characterizing a mini turbine made of 3D printed fiber-filled composite material by the process of additive manufacturing, then compare the performance of the alloy turbine with the composite turbine according to the results of the simulation by Abaqus software.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, composite materials, design, 3D printer, turbine

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Alipanah Masoud, Sheihkei Iman

Abstract:

One day old chicken quality has great deal of contributions in increasing daily weight gain as well as economical productivity of broilers production. On the other hand, eggs are kept in different times in layer hens flocks and subsequently are transported to incubation units. In order to evaluate effects of two factors layer hen age and storage period of eggs on one day old broilers weight gain during feeding, eggs for layer hen gathered on 32 weeks old (young hen) and 74 weeks old (older ones) were used. Storage period for samples was set as 1 and 9 days. Data were analysed in completely randomized design in four replicates by software SAS. Results indicated that one day old broiler chickens from young had less weight gain, although they exhibited higher weight gain during next weeks. At the same time, there was no difference between chickens from eggs stored for nine days and those from stored for one day.

Keywords: egg, chicken, hatchability, layer

Procedia PDF Downloads 415

Authors: Chante J. De Klerk

Abstract:

The potential of music to facilitate superior performance during high to elite level gymnastics conditioning instigated this research. A team of seven gymnasts completed a fixed conditioning programme eight times, alternating the two variable conditions. Four sessions of each condition were conducted: without music (session 1), with music (session 2), without music (3), with music (4), without music (5), and so forth. Quantitative data were collected in both conditions through physiological monitoring of the gymnasts, and administration of the Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS). Statistical analysis of the physiological data made it possible to quantify the presence as well as the magnitude of the musical intervention’s impact on various aspects of the gymnasts' physiological functioning during conditioning. The SIMS questionnaire results were used to evaluate if their motivation towards conditioning was altered by the intervention. Thematic analysis of qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews revealed themes reflecting the gymnasts’ sentiments towards the data collection process. Gymnast-specific descriptions and experiences of the team as a whole were integrated with the quantitative data to facilitate greater dimension in establishing the impact of the intervention. The results showed positive physiological, motivational, and emotional effects. In the presence of music, superior sympathetic nervous activation, and energy efficiency, with more economic breathing, dominated the physiological data. Fatigue and arousal levels (emotional and physiological) were also conducive to improved conditioning outcomes compared to conventional conditioning (without music). Greater levels of positive affect and motivation emerged in analysis of both the SIMS and interview data sets. Overall, the intervention was found to promote psychophysiological coherence during the physical activity. In conclusion, a strategically constructed musical intervention, designed to accompany a gymnastics conditioning session for high to elite level gymnasts, has ergogenic potential.

Keywords: arousal, fatigue, gymnastics conditioning, motivation, musical intervention, psychophysiological coherence

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Amenawo I. Offiong, Hodo B. Riman

Abstract:

Public debt profile of Nigeria has continuously been on the increase over the years. The drop in international crude oil prices has further worsened revenue position of the country, thus, necessitating further acquisition of public debt to bridge the gap in revenue deficit. Yet, when we look back at the increasing public sector spending, there are concerns that the government spending do not amount to increase in public goods provided for the country. Using data from 1980 to 2014 the study therefore seeks to investigate the factors responsible for the poor provision of public goods in the face of increasing public debt profile. Using the unrestricted VAR model Governance and Tax revenue were introduced into the model as structural variables. The result suggested that governance and tax revenue were structural determinants of the effectiveness of public goods provisioning in Nigeria. The study therefore identified weak governance as the major reason for the non-provision of public goods in Nigeria. While tax revenue exerted positive influence on the provisions of public goods, weak/poor governance was observed to crowd the benefits from increase tax revenue. The study therefore recommends reappraisal of the governance system in Nigeria. Elected officers in governance should be more transparent and accountable to the electorates they represent. Furthermore, the study advocates for an annual auditing of all government MDAs accounts by external auditors to ensure (a) accountability of public debts utilization, (b) transparent in implementation of program support funds, (c) integrity of agencies responsible for program management, and (d) measuring program effectiveness with amount of funds expended.

Keywords: impulse response function, public debt shocks, governance, public goods, tax revenue, vector auto-regression

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: Edafe Lucky Okotie, Emmanuel Osawaru Omosigho

Abstract:

This paper examines the impacts of the introduction of distributed energy generation (DEG) technology into the Nigerian power system as an alternative means of energy generation at distribution ends using Otovwodo 15 MVA, 33/11kV injection substation as a case study. The overall idea is to increase the generated energy in the system, improve the voltage profile and reduce system losses. A photovoltaic-based distributed energy generator (PV-DEG) was considered and was optimally placed in the network using Genetic Algorithm (GA) in Mat. Lab/Simulink environment. The results of simulation obtained shows that the dynamic performance of the network was optimized with DEG-grid integration.

Keywords: distributed energy generation (DEG), genetic algorithm (GA), power quality, total load demand, voltage profile

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Tessa Berg, Emma Guion Akdag

Abstract:

Summative feedback forms are used in academia for gathering data on course quality and student understanding. Students answer a series of questions based on the course they are soon to finish in these forms. Feedback forms are notorious for being homogenised and limiting and thus the data captured is often neutral and lacking in tacit emotional responses. This paper contrasts student feedback forms with collaborative drawing. We analyse 19 pictures drawn by international students on a pre-sessional course. Through visuals we present an approach to enable a holistic level of student understanding. Visuals communicate irrespective of possible language, cultural and educational barriers. This paper sought to discover if the pictures mirrored the feedback given on a typical feedback form. Findings indicate a considerable difference in the two approaches and thus we highlight the value of collaborative drawing as a complimentary resource to aid the understanding of student experience.

Keywords: feedback forms, visualisation, student experience, collaborative drawing

Procedia PDF Downloads 341

Authors: Xuan Dinh Vu, Elmar Csaplovics

Abstract:

There has been an increasing need for methods to define priority areas for biodiversity conservation since the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation in protected areas largely depends on the availability of material resources. The identification of priority areas requires the integration of biodiversity data together with social data on human pressures and responses. However, the deficit of comprehensive data and reliable methods becomes a key challenge in zoning where the demand for conservation is most urgent and where the outcomes of conservation strategies can be maximized. In order to fill this gap, the study applied an environmental model Condition–Pressure–Response to suggest a set of criteria to identify priority areas for biodiversity conservation. Our empirical data has been compiled from 185 respondents, categorizing into three main groups: governmental administration, research institutions, and protected areas in Vietnam by using a well - designed questionnaire. Then, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) theory was used to identify the weight of all criteria. Our results have shown that priority level for biodiversity conservation could be identified by three main indicators: condition, pressure, and response with the value of the weight of 26%, 41%, and 33%, respectively. Based on the three indicators, 7 criteria and 15 sub-criteria were developed to support for defining priority areas for biodiversity conservation and zoning protected areas. In addition, our study also revealed that the groups of governmental administration and protected areas put a focus on the 'Pressure' indicator while the group of Research Institutions emphasized the importance of 'Response' indicator in the evaluation process. Our results provided recommendations to apply the developed criteria for identifying priority areas for biodiversity conservation in Vietnam.

Keywords: biodiversity conservation, condition–pressure–response model, criteria, priority areas, protected areas

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Frank Kuebler, Rolf Steinhilper

Abstract:

Artificial neural networks (ANN) as well as Design of Experiments (DOE) based regression analysis (RA) are mainly used for modeling of complex systems. Both methodologies are commonly applied in process and quality control of manufacturing processes. Due to the fact that resource efficiency has become a critical concern for manufacturing companies, these models needs to be extended to predict resource-consumption of manufacturing processes. This paper describes an approach to use neural networks as well as DOE based regression analysis for predicting resource consumption of manufacturing processes and gives a comparison of the achievable results based on an industrial case study of a turning process.

Keywords: artificial neural network, design of experiments, regression analysis, resource efficiency, manufacturing process

Procedia PDF Downloads 520

Authors: S. Kealy, J. Louys, S. O’Connor

Abstract:

The island archipelago that stretches between the continents of Sunda (Southeast Asia) and Sahul (Australia - New Guinea) and comprising much of modern-day Indonesia as well as Timor-Leste, represents the biogeographic region of Wallacea. The islands of Wallaea are significant archaeologically as they have never been connected to the mainlands of either Sunda or Sahul, and thus the colonization by early modern humans of these islands and subsequently Australia and New Guinea, would have necessitated some form of water crossings. Accurate palaeogeographic reconstructions of the Wallacean Archipelago for this time are important not only for modeling likely routes of colonization but also for reconstructing likely landscapes and hence resources available to the first colonists. Here we present five digital reconstructions of coastal outlines of Wallacea and Sahul (Australia and New Guinea) for the periods 65, 60, 55, 50, and 45,000 years ago using the latest bathometric chart and a sea-level model that is adjusted to account for the average uplift rate known from Wallacea. This data was also used to reconstructed island areal extent as well as topography for each time period. These reconstructions allowed us to determine the distance from the coast and relative elevation of the earliest archaeological sites for each island where such records exist. This enabled us to approximate how much effort exploitation of coastal resources would have taken for early colonists, and how important such resources were. These reconstructions also allowed us to estimate visibility for each island in the archipelago, and to model how intervisible each island was during the period of likely human colonisation. We demonstrate how these models provide archaeologists with an important basis for visualising this ancient landscape and interpreting how it was originally viewed, traversed and exploited by its earliest modern human inhabitants.

Keywords: Wallacea, palaeogeographic reconstructions, islands, intervisibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Moquan Gong

Abstract:

In recent years, with the rapid development of deep learning, pre-training technology for natural language processing has made great progress. The early field of natural language processing has long used word vector methods such as Word2Vec to encode text. These word vector methods can also be regarded as static pre-training techniques. However, this context-free text representation brings very limited improvement to subsequent natural language processing tasks and cannot solve the problem of word polysemy. ELMo proposes a context-sensitive text representation method that can effectively handle polysemy problems. Since then, pre-training language models such as GPT and BERT have been proposed one after another. Among them, the BERT model has significantly improved its performance on many typical downstream tasks, greatly promoting the technological development in the field of natural language processing, and has since entered the field of natural language processing. The era of dynamic pre-training technology. Since then, a large number of pre-trained language models based on BERT and XLNet have continued to emerge, and pre-training technology has become an indispensable mainstream technology in the field of natural language processing. This article first gives an overview of pre-training technology and its development history, and introduces in detail the classic pre-training technology in the field of natural language processing, including early static pre-training technology and classic dynamic pre-training technology; and then briefly sorts out a series of enlightening technologies. Pre-training technology, including improved models based on BERT and XLNet; on this basis, analyze the problems faced by current pre-training technology research; finally, look forward to the future development trend of pre-training technology.

Keywords: natural language processing, pre-training, language model, word vectors

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Amani Tahat, Serdal Kirmizialtin

Abstract:

Trajectory fragment methods such as Markov State Models (MSM), Milestoning (MS) and Transition Path sampling are the prime choice of extending the timescale of all atom Molecular Dynamics simulations. In these approaches, a set of structures that covers the accessible phase space has to be chosen a priori using cluster analysis. Structural clustering serves to partition the conformational state into natural subgroups based on their similarity, an essential statistical methodology that is used for analyzing numerous sets of empirical data produced by Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. Local transition kernel among these clusters later used to connect the metastable states using a Markovian kinetic model in MSM and a non-Markovian model in MS. The choice of clustering approach in constructing such kernel is crucial since the high dimensionality of the biomolecular structures might easily confuse the identification of clusters when using the traditional hierarchical clustering methodology. Of particular interest, in the case of MS where the milestones are very close to each other, accurate determination of the milestone identity of the trajectory becomes a challenging issue. Throughout this work we present two cluster analysis methods applied to the cis–trans isomerism of dinucleotide AA. The choice of nucleic acids to commonly used proteins to study the cluster analysis is two fold: i) the energy landscape is rugged; hence transitions are more complex, enabling a more realistic model to study conformational transitions, ii) Nucleic acids conformational space is high dimensional. A diverse set of internal coordinates is necessary to describe the metastable states in nucleic acids, posing a challenge in studying the conformational transitions. Herein, we need improved clustering methods that accurately identify the AA structure in its metastable states in a robust way for a wide range of confused data conditions. The single linkage approach of the hierarchical clustering available in GROMACS MD-package is the first clustering methodology applied to our data. Self Organizing Map (SOM) neural network, that also known as a Kohonen network, is the second data clustering methodology. The performance comparison of the neural network as well as hierarchical clustering method is studied by means of computing the mean first passage times for the cis-trans conformational rates. Our hope is that this study provides insight into the complexities and need in determining the appropriate clustering algorithm for kinetic analysis. Our results can improve the effectiveness of decisions based on clustering confused empirical data in studying conformational transitions in biomolecules.

Keywords: milestoning, self organizing map, single linkage, structure clustering

Procedia PDF Downloads 221

Authors: Mihaly Homostrei, Tamas Simon, Dorottya Schnider

Abstract:

The topic of oscillation in physics is one of the key ideas which is usually taught based on the concept of harmonic oscillation. It can be an interesting activity to deal with a frictional oscillator in advanced high school classes or in university courses. Its mechanics are investigated in this research, which shows that the motion of the frictional oscillator is more complicated than a simple harmonic oscillator. The physics of the applied model in this study seems to be interesting and useful for undergraduate students. The study presents a well-known physical system, which is mostly discussed theoretically in high school and at the university. The ideal frictional oscillator is normally used as an example of harmonic oscillatory motion, as its theory relies on the constant coefficient of sliding friction. The structure of the system is simple: a rod with a homogeneous mass distribution is placed on two rotating identical cylinders placed at the same height so that they are horizontally aligned, and they rotate at the same angular velocity, however in opposite directions. Based on this setup, one could easily show that the equation of motion describes a harmonic oscillation considering the magnitudes of the normal forces in the system as the function of the position and the frictional forces with a constant coefficient of frictions are related to them. Therefore, the whole description of the model relies on simple Newtonian mechanics, which is available for students even in high school. On the other hand, the phenomenon of the described frictional oscillator does not seem to be so straightforward after all; experiments show that the simple harmonic oscillation cannot be observed in all cases, and the system performs a much more complex movement, whereby the rod adjusts itself to a non-harmonic oscillation with a nonzero stable amplitude after an unconventional damping effect. The stable amplitude, in this case, means that the position function of the rod converges to a harmonic oscillation with a constant amplitude. This leads to the idea of a more complex model which can describe the motion of the rod in a more accurate way. The main difference to the original equation of motion is the concept that the frictional coefficient varies with the relative velocity. This dependence on the velocity was investigated in many different research articles as well; however, this specific problem could demonstrate the key concept of the varying friction coefficient and its importance in an interesting and demonstrative way. The position function of the rod is described by a more complicated and non-trivial, yet more precise equation than the usual harmonic oscillation description of the movement. The study discusses the structure of the measurements related to the frictional oscillator, the qualitative and quantitative derivation of the theory, and the comparison of the final theoretical function as well as the measured position-function in time. The project provides useful materials and knowledge for undergraduate students and a new perspective in university physics education.

Keywords: friction, frictional coefficient, non-harmonic oscillator, physics education

Procedia PDF Downloads 190