Search results for: state space model

Authors: Miroslav Čulík, Petr Gurný

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This paper is aimed at the financial assessment of the hard coal mining in a given region by real option methodology application. Hard coal mining in this mine makes net loss for the owner during the last years due to the long-term unfavourable mining conditions and significant drop in the coal prices during the last years. Management is going to shut down the operation and abandon the project to reduce the loss of the company. The goal is to assess whether the shutting down the operation is the only and correct solution of the problem. Due to the uncertainty in the future hard coal price evolution, the production might be again restarted if the price raises enough to cover the cost of the production. For the assessment, real option methodology is applied, which captures two important aspect of the financial decision-making: risk and flexibility. The paper is structured as follows: first, current state is described and problem is analysed. Next, methodology of real options is described. At last, project is evaluated by applying real option methodology. The results are commented and recommendations are provided.

Keywords: real option, investment, option to abandon, option to shut down and restart, risk, flexibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 535

Authors: Surajo Isa

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In as much as mathematics is important to national development, it is regrettable to note that in Nigeria Students academic achievement especially in public examinations remains poor. Among the several factors responsible for such a poor performance is the lack of bringing cultural elements into the conventional school mathematics. The design for this study is triangulation in nature which is set to examined 800 students From 20 School (40 each from male and female schools). Ten (10) male and ten (10) female schools consisting of 400 male and 400 female students to formed the experiment and control groups with a further sub-groping of samples to represent urban and rural settings for both male and female groups. While the experimental groups were taught using ethnomathematics techniques, the control groups were taught using conventional techniques, the results of a t-test for independent samples at p =0.05 level of significance with tcritical = 1.968 showed that (a) boys performed significantly better than girls (b) there is no significantly difference in performance between urban and rural girls (c) significant difference in academic performance was obtained between urban and rural boys. Generally, it was observed that teaching mathematics with ethnomathematics technique would help in great achievement in mathematics.

Keywords: ethnomathematics, achievement, gender, settlement

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Authors: S. M. Al-Salem, G.A. Leeke, H. J. Karam, R. Al-Enzi, A. T. Al-Dhafeeri, J. Wang

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Thermogravimetry has been popularized as a thermal characterization technique since the 1950s. It aims at investigating the weight loss against both reaction time and temperature, whilst being able to characterize the evolved gases from the volatile components of the organic material being tested using an appropriate hyphenated analytical technique. In an effort to characterize and identify the reclaimed waste from an unsanitary landfill site, this approach was initiated. Solid waste (SW) reclaimed from an active landfill site in the State of Kuwait was collected and prepared for characterization in accordance with international protocols. The SW was segregated and its major components were identified after washing and air drying. Shredding and cryomilling was conducted on the plastic solid waste (PSW) component to yield a material that is representative for further testing and characterization. The material was subjected to five heating rates (b) with minimal repeatable weight for high accuracy thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) following the recommendation of the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC). The TGA yielded thermograms that showed an off-set from typical behavior of commercial grade resin which was attributed to contact of material with soil and thermal/photo-degradation.

Keywords: polymer, TGA, pollution, landfill, waste, plastic

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Carolina Payares-Asprino

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Dual-phase duplex stainless steel comprised of ferrite and austenite has shown high strength and corrosion resistance in many aggressive environments. Joining duplex alloys is challenging due to several embrittling precipitates and metallurgical changes during the welding process. The welding parameters strongly influence the quality of a weld joint. Therefore, it is necessary to quantify the weld bead’s integral properties as a function of welding parameters, especially when part of the weld bead is removed through a machining process due to aesthetic reasons or to couple the elements in the in-service structure. The present study uses the existing stress-strain model to predict the stress-strain curves for duplex stainless-steel welds under different welding conditions. Having mathematical expressions that predict the shape of the stress-strain curve is advantageous since it reduces the experimental work in obtaining the tensile test. In analysis and design, such stress-strain modeling simplifies the time of operations by being integrated into calculation tools, such as the finite element program codes. The elastic zone and the plastic zone of the curve can be defined by specific parameters, generating expressions that simulate the curve with great precision. There are empirical equations that describe the stress-strain curves. However, they only refer to the stress-strain curve for the stainless steel, but not when the material is under the welding process. It is a significant contribution to the applications of duplex stainless steel welds. For this study, a 3x3 matrix with a low, medium, and high level for each of the welding parameters were applied, giving a total of 27 weld bead plates. Two tensile specimens were manufactured from each welded plate, resulting in 54 tensile specimens for testing. When evaluating the four models used to predict the stress-strain curve in the welded specimens, only one model (Rasmussen) presented a good correlation in predicting the strain stress curve.

Keywords: duplex stainless steels, modeling, stress-stress curve, tensile test, welding

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Authors: G. Judakova, M. Bause

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The ability to model and simulate numerically natural gas flow in pipelines has become of high importance for the design of pipeline systems. The understanding of the formation of hydrate particles and their dynamical behavior is of particular interest, since these processes govern the operation properties of the systems and are responsible for system failures by clogging of the pipelines under certain conditions. Mathematically, natural gas flow can be described by multiphase flow models. Using the two-fluid modeling approach, the gas phase is modeled by the compressible Euler equations and the particle phase is modeled by the pressureless Euler equations. The numerical simulation of compressible multiphase flows is an important research topic. It is well known that for nonlinear fluxes, even for smooth initial data, discontinuities in the solution are likely to occur in finite time. They are called shock waves or contact discontinuities. For hyperbolic and singularly perturbed parabolic equations the standard application of the Galerkin finite element method (FEM) leads to spurious oscillations (e.g. Gibb's phenomenon). In our approach, we use stabilized FEM, the streamline upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) method, where artificial diffusion acting only in the direction of the streamlines and using a special treatment of the boundary conditions in inviscid convective terms, is added. Numerical experiments show that the numerical solution obtained and stabilized by SUPG captures discontinuities or steep gradients of the exact solution in layers. However, within this layer the approximate solution may still exhibit overshoots or undershoots. To suitably reduce these artifacts we add a discontinuity capturing or shock capturing term. The performance properties of our numerical scheme are illustrated for two-phase flow problem.

Keywords: two-phase flow, gas-particle mixture, inviscid two-fluid model, euler equation, finite element method, streamline upwind petrov-galerkin, shock capturing

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Authors: Michal Stelmach

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The aim of this paper is a critical analysis of the security policy in the field of the fight against transnational criminal groups in Central America in XXI century. We are analyzing all taken issues from several perspectives: political, anthropological, sociological and legal which allows me to confront behavior and the attitudes of the political elites against official legislative changes and declared actions, strategies and policies against practice. In the first part of paper we would like to present the genesis and characteristic of transnational gangs, called maras and next we would like to present their activities and roles within chosen sectors of organized crimes. In the second part we will analyze the government’s policy towards transnational criminal groups. The analysis will be concentrated on public safety policy implemented in specific Central American countries as well as regional international cooperation. The main intention of the author is to present the state of the security in Central America in XXI century by emphasizing failures and successes in the fight against transnational criminal organizations. Additionally we want to present and define the challenges currently facing the region now and to show the prediction of the situation’s development within next future and to define the recommendations on the design of public security policies in Central American countries.

Keywords: maras, public security, human rights, Central America

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Authors: Riccardo Patriarca, Giulio Di Gravio, Francesco Costantino, Massimo Tronci

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An accurate inventory management policy acquires a crucial role in the several high-availability sectors. In these sectors, due to the high-cost of spares and backorders, an (S-1, S) replenishment policy is necessary for high-availability items. The policy enables the shipment of a substitute efficient item anytime the inventory size decreases by one. This policy can be modelled following the Multi-Echelon Technique for Recoverable Item Control (METRIC). The METRIC is a system-based technique that allows defining the optimum stock level in a multi-echelon network, adopting measures in line with the decision-maker’s perspective. The METRIC defines an availability-cost function with inventory costs and required service levels, using as inputs data about the demand trend, the supplying and maintenance characteristics of the network and the budget/availability constraints. The traditional METRIC relies on the hypothesis that a Poisson distribution well represents the demand distribution in case of items with a low failure rate. However, in this research, we will explore the effects of using a Poisson distribution to model the demand of low failure rate items characterized by an irregular demand trend. This characteristic of a demand is not included in the traditional METRIC formulation leading to the need of revising its traditional formulation. Using the CV (Coefficient of Variation) and ADI (Average inter-Demand Interval) classification, we will define the inherent flaws of Poisson-based METRIC for irregular demand items, defining an innovative ad hoc distribution which can better fit the irregular demands. This distribution will allow defining proper stock levels to reduce stocking and backorder costs due to the high irregularities in the demand trend. A case study in the aviation domain will clarify the benefits of this innovative METRIC approach.

Keywords: METRIC, inventory management, irregular demand, spare parts

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Authors: A. Hadjadj, S. Maamir

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Since the advent of the law 86/14 concerning the
exploitation of the national territory by foreign companies in
partnership with the Algerian oil and gas company, the problem of
hydrocarbons metering in the sharing production come out.
More generally, good management counting hydrocarbons can
provide data on the production wells, the field and the reservoir for
medium and long term planning, particularly in the context of the
management and field development.
In this work, we are interested in the transactional metering which
is a very delicate and crucial period in the current context of the new
hydrocarbon’s law characterized by assets system between the
various activities of Sonatrach and its foreign partners.
After a state of the art on hydrocarbons metering devices in
Algeria and elsewhere, we will decline the advantages and
disadvantages of each system, and then we describe the problem to
try to reach an optimal solution.

Keywords: transactional metering, flowmeter orifice, heat flow, Sonatrach

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Authors: Reza Behboodian

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Monitoring the structural health and diagnosing their damage in the early stages has always been one of the topics of concern. Nowadays, research on structural damage detection methods based on vibration analysis is very extensive. Moreover, these methods can be used as methods of permanent and timely inspection of structures and prevent further damage to structures. Non-destructive methods are the low-cost and economical methods for determining the damage of structures. In this research, a non-destructive method for detecting and identifying the failure location in structures based on dynamic responses resulting from time history analysis is proposed. When the structure is damaged due to the reduction of stiffness, and due to the applied loads, the displacements in different parts of the structure were increased. In the proposed method, the damage position is determined based on the calculation of the strain energy difference in each member of the damaged structure and the healthy structure at any time. Defective members of the structure are indicated by the amount of strain energy relative to the healthy state. The results indicated that the proper accuracy and performance of the proposed method for identifying failure in structures.

Keywords: failure, time history analysis, dynamic response, strain energy

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Authors: Ajay Kumar

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Using data from census of India, sample registration system and national family health survey (NFHS-3), this paper traces spatial pattern, trends and the factors which have played their role differently in fertility transition in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. For the purpose spatial variation analysis, trend line and binary logistic regression analysis has been carried out. There exist considerable regional disparities in terms of fertility decline in northern and southern states. The pace of fertility decline has been faster in southern and coastal regions, and at a slow pace in backward northern state. In Tamil Nadu fertility declined substantially among the women of lower and higher age groups in comparison to Uttar Pradesh characterized by low literacy, low female age at marriage, poor health infrastructure and low status of women. The Study shows that Fertility rates have been higher among the most vulnerable and deprived sections of the society like Illiterate women, women belong to scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and women residing in rural areas.

Keywords: age specific fertility rate, fertility transition, replacement level, total fertility rate

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Authors: Taha Anjamrooz, Sareh Rajabi, Ayman Alzaatreh

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Smart cities are playing important roles in real life. Integration and automation between different features of modern cities and information technologies improve smart city efficiency, energy management, human and equipment resource management, life quality and better utilization of resources for the customers. One of difficulties in this path, is use, interface and link between software, hardware, and other IT technologies to develop and optimize processes in various business fields such as construction, supply chain management and transportation in parallel to cost-effective and resource reduction impacts. Also, Smart cities are certainly intended to demonstrate a vital role in offering a sustainable and efficient model for smart houses while mitigating environmental and ecological matters. Energy management is one of the most important matters within smart houses in the smart cities and communities, because of the sensitivity of energy systems, reduction in energy wastage and maximization in utilizing the required energy. Specially, the consumption of energy in the smart houses is important and considerable in the economic balance and energy management in smart city as it causes significant increment in energy-saving and energy-wastage reduction. This research paper develops features and concept of smart city in term of overall efficiency through various effective variables. The selected variables and observations are analyzed through data analysis processes to demonstrate the efficiency of smart city and compare the effectiveness of each variable. There are ten chosen variables in this study to improve overall efficiency of smart city through increasing effectiveness of smart houses using an automated solar photovoltaic system, RFID System, smart meter and other major elements by interfacing between software and hardware devices as well as IT technologies. Secondly to enhance aspect of energy management by energy-saving within smart house through efficient variables. The main objective of smart city and smart houses is to reproduce energy and increase its efficiency through selected variables with a comfortable and harmless atmosphere for the customers within a smart city in combination of control over the energy consumption in smart house using developed IT technologies. Initially the comparison between traditional housing and smart city samples is conducted to indicate more efficient system. Moreover, the main variables involved in measuring overall efficiency of system are analyzed through various processes to identify and prioritize the variables in accordance to their influence over the model. The result analysis of this model can be used as comparison and benchmarking with traditional life style to demonstrate the privileges of smart cities. Furthermore, due to expensive and expected shortage of natural resources in near future, insufficient and developed research study in the region, and available potential due to climate and governmental vision, the result and analysis of this study can be used as key indicator to select most effective variables or devices during construction phase and design

Keywords: smart city, traditional housing, RFID, photovoltaic system, energy efficiency, energy saving

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Authors: Tecla Rita Karendi, Andy Cons Matata

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Although before and at the advent of colonial administration, several women such as Mekatilili wa Menza and Muthoni Nyanjiru took up leadership positions in resisting the colonial administration. Kenya is generally considered a patriarchal society. Many women who tried to take up positions of leadership in postcolonial Kenya, such as the Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, were branded as prostitutes or generally immoral women. However, the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, has since made a huge impact not only in the area of affirmative action but also in various aspects of the feminist legal theory such as the constitutional requirement that no more than two-thirds of the members of the elective or appointive bodies should be of the same gender. This favours women who are often sidelined in elective posts such as parliament or county assemblies and state-appointed posts in the parastatals and commissions. The constitution also recognizes the right to abortion, which was outrightly outlawed in the independence constitution. Certain practices adverse to women’s health, such as wife inheritance, female genital mutilation, and property rights, are either outlawed or framed to recognized women’s rights. The education of the girl-child is also now considered a priority, unlike in the past. Despite these developments, a lot remains to be done.

Keywords: feminist legal theory, constitution of Kenya, 2010, affirmative action, leadership

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Authors: Fikre Belay Tekulu

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This thesis presents the socio-economic and environmental impacts of urban sprawl in the case of Adigrat city, Tigray Region, Ethiopia. The main objective of this research is to assess major causes, trends and socio-economic and environmental impacts of the urban sprawl of Adigrat city. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods as questionnaires, interviews and observation used for data collection. Simple random sampling has been used to select the participants. The land use and land cover change for agricultural land and forest and grassland resource analysis is done with the aid of GIS. Urban sprawl is mainly caused by the rapid population growth, increase in the living and property cost in the core of the city, land demand and land speculation and the growth of transport and an increase in income of people and demand of more living space. The study indicates 15726.24 hectares (515.49 per cent) of new land added to the city jurisdiction from its adjacent Gantafeshum Wereda between 1986 and 2018. The population of Adigrat city increased by 9.045 per cent per year, while the city expanded 16.01 per cent per annum and the LCR was 0.0233 hectares per person between 1986 and 2018.Built-up area increased by 35.27 per cent per annum, while agricultural land, forests and grassland cover decreased by 1.68 per cent and 1.26 per cent per annum respectively in the last thirty three years. This rapid growth of urban sprawl brought social-economic and environmental change in the city that has been observed by the city residents. Therefore, the city administration should need strong, integrated, effective and efficient work, with its neighbor rural area and also done timely preparation, implementation, supervision, and evaluation of the structural plan of the city to bring out sustainable development of the city.

Keywords: cause, , trends, urban sprawl, land use land cover, GIS

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Authors: M. Cardenas-Garcia, P. P. Gonzalez-Perez

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Intercellular communication is a necessary condition for cellular functions and it allows a group of cells to survive as a population. Throughout this interaction, the cells work in a coordinated and collaborative way which facilitates their survival. In the case of cancerous cells, these take advantage of intercellular communication to preserve their malignancy, since through these physical unions they can send signs of malignancy. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays an important role in the formation of intercellular communications, being also involved in a large number of cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, cell survival, and cell death. The modeling and simulation of cellular signaling systems have found valuable support in a wide range of modeling approaches, which cover a wide spectrum ranging from mathematical models; e.g., ordinary differential equations, statistical methods, and numerical methods– to computational models; e.g., process algebra for modeling behavior and variation in molecular systems. Based on these models, different simulation tools have been developed from mathematical ones to computational ones. Regarding cellular and molecular processes in cancer, its study has also found a valuable support in different simulation tools that, covering a spectrum as mentioned above, have allowed the in silico experimentation of this phenomenon at the cellular and molecular level. In this work, we simulate and explore the complex interaction patterns of intercellular communication in cancer cells using the Cellulat bioinformatics tool, a computational simulation tool developed by us and motivated by two key elements: 1) a biochemically inspired model of self-organizing coordination in tuple spaces, and 2) the Gillespie’s algorithm, a stochastic simulation algorithm typically used to mimic systems of chemical/biochemical reactions in an efficient and accurate way. The main idea behind the Cellulat simulation tool is to provide an in silico experimentation environment that complements and guides in vitro experimentation in intra and intercellular signaling networks. Unlike most of the cell signaling simulation tools, such as E-Cell, BetaWB and Cell Illustrator which provides abstractions to model only intracellular behavior, Cellulat is appropriate for modeling both intracellular signaling and intercellular communication, providing the abstractions required to model –and as a result, simulate– the interaction mechanisms that involve two or more cells, that is essential in the scenario discussed in this work. During the development of this work we made evident the application of our computational simulation tool (Cellulat) for the modeling and simulation of intercellular communication between normal and cancerous cells, and in this way, propose key molecules that may prevent the arrival of malignant signals to the cells that surround the tumor cells. In this manner, we could identify the significant role that has the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in cellular communication, and therefore, in the dissemination of cancer cells. We verified, using in silico experiments, how the inhibition of this signaling pathway prevents that the cells that surround a cancerous cell are transformed.

Keywords: cancer cells, in silico approach, intercellular communication, key molecules, modeling and simulation

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Authors: Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay, Subhashis Kundu, Mayank Tiwari, Sameeran Pani, Padmapal, Uttam Singh

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Blast Furnace is a counter current process where burden descends from top and hot gases ascend from bottom and chemically reduce iron oxides into liquid hot metal. One of the major problems of blast furnace operation is the erratic burden descent inside furnace. Sometimes this problem is so acute that burden descent stops resulting in Hanging and instability of the furnace. This problem is very frequent in blast furnaces worldwide and results in huge production losses. This situation becomes more adverse when blast furnaces are operated at low coke rate and high coal injection rate with adverse raw materials like high alumina ore and high coke ash. For last three years, H-Blast Furnace Tata Steel was able to reduce coke rate from 450 kg/thm to 350 kg/thm with an increase in coal injection to 200 kg/thm which are close to world benchmarks and expand profitability. To sustain this regime, elimination of irregularities of blast furnace like hanging, channeling, and scaffolding is very essential. In this paper, sustaining of zero hanging spell for consecutive three years with low coke rate operation by improvement in burden characteristics, burden distribution, changes in slag regime, casting practices and adequate automation of the furnace operation has been illustrated. Models have been created to comprehend and upgrade the blast furnace process understanding. A model has been developed to predict the process of maintaining slag viscosity in desired range to attain proper burden permeability. A channeling prediction model has also been developed to understand channeling symptoms so that early actions can be initiated. The models have helped to a great extent in standardizing the control decisions of operators at H-Blast Furnace of Tata Steel, Jamshedpur and thus achieving process stability for last three years.

Keywords: hanging, channelling, blast furnace, coke

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Authors: Armijos-Orellana Ana, González-Calle María, Maldonado-Matute Juan, Guerrero-Maxi Pedro

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Nowadays, the digital economy represents a fundamental element to guarantee economic and social development, whose importance increased significantly with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite the benefits it offers, it can also be detrimental to those developing countries characterized by a wide digital divide. It is for this reason that the objective of this research was to identify and describe the main characteristics, benefits, and obstacles of the digital economy for Latin American countries. Through a bibliographic review, using the analytical-synthetic method in the period 1995-2021, it was determined that the digital economy could give way to structural changes, reduce inequality, and promote processes of social inclusion, as well as promote the construction and participatory development of organizational structures and institutional capacities in Latin American countries. However, the results showed that the digital economy is still incipient in the region and at least three factors are needed to establish it: joint work between academia, the business sector and the State, greater emphasis on learning and application of digital transformation and the creation of policies that encourage the creation of digital organizations.

Keywords: developing countries, digital divide, digital economy, digital literacy, digital transformation

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Authors: Ángel O. Aldape, José M. Bustos, José G. Guízar

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Building companies providing public housing in Mexico, such as INFONAVIT, Casas GEO, Casas ARA, among others, provide low-interest home loans for thousands of Mexican families and individuals to buy a home. However, once this goal is achieved, these companies are not responsible for the care and maintenance of green areas and waste collection services because, technically, it is the local municipalities’ responsibility to provide these services to the community. However, this does not always occur with local municipalities. To study this problem, the San Buenaventura public housing complex was selected. This housing complex is located in the municipality of Ixtapaluca, State of Mexico (Estado de Mexico), Mexico. To our best knowledge, there are currently no formal studies about San Buenaventura that can offer effective options and/or better ways of sorting and disposing households’ wastes, as well as improving local green areas (community gardens and parks). Only a few web-blogs and periodical reports have addressed these serious problems that directly affect the social and psychological well-being of residents. The main goal of this research project aims to improve our understanding towards the existing ontological elements that emerge from residents’ discourses (in the form of informal talks and gossip) and discover the socio-physical elements that they use to assign moral positions onto others or onto themselves. The theoretical framework used in this study is based on two constructionist theories: positioning theory and site ontology. The first theory offered the opportunity to explore the rights, duties, and obligations assigned to a social role (or moral position) of the participants. The second theory provided a constructionist philosophical base that includes various socio-physical elements that are considered to assign personal or community meanings to particular contexts. Both theories contributed to defining personal dispositions and/or attitudes to carry out concrete social action or practice. The theoretical framework was guided by a relativistic ontology that allowed the researcher to better interpret the reality of the participants of this study. A descriptive-interpretative methodology was used, and two qualitative methods were arranged based on the theoretical framework proposed as follows: a semi-structured focus group interview, and direct observations. The semi-structured focus group was carried out with four residents of San Buenaventura and covert observations of public spaces and houses were carried out. These were analysed and interpreted by the researcher and assisted by NVivo software. The results suggest that the participants assigned moral traits of responsibility to other residents regarding the problem of the neglect of the green areas and waste pollution. The results suggest that all participants agreed to assign moral traits to other residents making them liable for the environmental degradation and the decay of green areas. They neither assigned any moral duty nor responsible moral traits onto themselves towards environmental protection or destruction. Overall, the participants in this study pointed out that external ontological elements such as the local government, infrastructure or cleaning services were not main cause of these environmental problems but rather the general lack of moral duty and disposition of other residents.

Keywords: conversation, environment, housing, moral, ontology, position, public, site, talks

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Authors: Pepur Sandra, Bulog Ivana, Rimac Smiljanić Ana

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, stress and family financial fragility arose worldwide. Economic and health uncertainty created new pressure on the everyday life of families. The work from home, homeschooling, and care of other family members caused an increase in unpaid work and generated a new division of intrahousehold. As many times before, women have taken the higher burden. This paper analyzes family stress and finance during the COVID-19 pandemic. We propose that women's inclusion in paid and unpaid work and their financial literacy influence family finances. We build up our assumptions according to the two theories that explain intrahousehold family decision-making: traditional and barging models. The traditional model assumes that partners specialize in their roles in line with time availability. Consequently, partners less engaged in payable working activities will spend more time on domestic activities and vice versa. According to the bargaining model, each individual has their preferences, and the one with more household bargaining power, e.g., higher income, higher level of education, better employment, or higher financial knowledge, is likely to make family decisions and avoid unpaid work. Our results are based on an anonymous and voluntary survey of 869 valid responses from women older than 18 conducted in Croatia at the beginning of 2021. We found that families who experienced delays in settling current obligations before the pandemic were in a worse financial situation during the pandemic. However, all families reported problems settling current obligations during pandemic times regardless of their financial condition before the crisis. Women from families with financial issues reported higher levels of family and personal stress during the pandemic. Furthermore, we provide evidence that more women's unpaid work negatively affects the family's financial fragility during the pandemic. In addition, in families where women have better financial literacy and are more financially independent, families cope better with finance before and during pandemics.

Keywords: family financial fragility, stress, unpaid work, women's financial literacy

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Authors: April Hueimin Lu, Liangj-Ju Yao, Jun-Tin Lin, Susan Siru Liu

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This paper discusses the application of aerial survey technology and 3D laser scanning technology in the surveying and mapping work of the settlements and slate houses of the old Taiwanese aborigines. The relics of old Taiwanese aborigines with thousands of history are widely distributed in the deep mountains of Taiwan, with a vast area and inconvenient transportation. When constructing the basic data of cultural assets, it is necessary to apply new technology to carry out efficient and accurate settlement mapping work. In this paper, taking the old Paiwan as an example, the aerial survey of the settlement of about 5 hectares and the 3D laser scanning of a slate house were carried out. The obtained orthophoto image was used as an important basis for drawing the settlement map. This 3D landscape data of topography and buildings derived from the aerial survey is important for subsequent preservation planning as well as building 3D scan provides a more detailed record of architectural forms and materials. The 3D settlement data from the aerial survey can be further applied to the 3D virtual model and animation of the settlement for virtual presentation. The information from the 3D scanning of the slate house can also be used for further digital archives and data queries through network resources. The results of this study show that, in large-scale settlement surveys, aerial surveying technology is used to construct the topography of settlements with buildings and spatial information of landscape, as well as the application of 3D scanning for small-scale records of individual buildings. This application of 3D technology, greatly increasing the efficiency and accuracy of survey and mapping work of aboriginal settlements, is much helpful for further preservation planning and rejuvenation of aboriginal cultural heritage.

Keywords: aerial survey, 3D scanning, aboriginal settlement, settlement architecture cluster, ecological landscape area, old Paiwan settlements, slat house, photogrammetry, SfM, MVS), Point cloud, SIFT, DSM, 3D model

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Authors: Joseph Bostick

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A method of decreasing the heating load of HVAC systems in a single-dwelling model of a multifamily building, by controlling movable insulation through the optimization of flux, time, surface incident solar radiation, and temperature thresholds. Simulations are completed using a co-simulation between EnergyPlus and MATLAB as an optimization tool to find optimal control thresholds. Optimization of the control thresholds leads to a significant decrease in total heating energy expenditure.

Keywords: energy plus, MATLAB, simulation, energy efficiency

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Authors: K. Sekulová, M. Šimon

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The article demonstrates on a case study how it is possible to identify MSD risk. It is based on a dissertation risk identification model of occupational diseases formation in relation to the work activity that determines what risk can endanger workers who are exposed to the specific risk factors. It is evaluated based on statistical calculations. These risk factors are main cause of upper-extremities musculoskeletal disorders.

Keywords: case study, upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders, ergonomics, risk identification

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Authors: Chong Hu, Tiantian Wang, Zhe Li, Ourui Huang, Yichen Pan

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When the train is running in a high geothermal tunnel, changes in the temperature field will cause disturbances in the propagation and superposition of pressure waves in the tunnel, which in turn have an effect on the aerodynamic resistance of the train. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of the changes in the lengths of the high-temperature zone of the tunnel on the aerodynamic resistance of the train, clarifying the evolution mechanism of aerodynamic resistance of trains in tunnels with high ground temperatures. Firstly, moving model tests of trains passing through wall-heated tunnels were conducted to verify the reliability of the numerical method in this paper. Subsequently, based on the three-dimensional unsteady compressible RANS method and the standard k-ε two-equation turbulence model, the change laws of the average aerodynamic resistance under different high-temperature zone lengths were analyzed, and the influence of frictional resistance and pressure difference resistance on total resistance at different times was discussed. The results show that as the length of the high-temperature zone LH increases, the average aerodynamic resistance of a train running in a tunnel gradually decreases; when LH = 330 m, the aerodynamic resistance can be reduced by 5.7%. At the moment of maximum resistance, the total resistance, differential pressure resistance, and friction resistance all decrease gradually with the increase of LH and then remain basically unchanged. At the moment of the minimum value of resistance, with the increase of LH, the total resistance first increases and then slowly decreases; the differential pressure resistance first increases and then remains unchanged, while the friction resistance first remains unchanged and then gradually decreases, and the ratio of the differential pressure resistance to the total resistance gradually increases with the increase of LH. The results of this paper can provide guidance for scholars who need to investigate the mechanism of aerodynamic resistance change of trains in high geothermal environments, as well as provide a new way of thinking for resistance reduction in non-high geothermal tunnels.

Keywords: high-speed trains, aerodynamic resistance, high-ground temperature, tunnel

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Authors: Nadine Maier, Martin Mensinger, Enea Tallushi

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In general, today, two types of launching bearings are used in the construction of large steel and steel concrete composite bridges. These are sliding rockers and systems with hydraulic bearings. The advantages and disadvantages of the respective systems are under discussion. During incremental launching, the center of the webs of the superstructure is not perfectly in line with the center of the launching bearings due to unavoidable tolerances, which may have an influence on the buckling behavior of the web plates. These imperfections are not considered in the current design against plate buckling, according to DIN EN 1993-1-5. It is therefore investigated whether the design rules have to take into account any eccentricities which occur during incremental launching and also if this depends on the respective launching bearing. Therefore, at the Technical University Munich, large-scale buckling tests were carried out on longitudinally stiffened plates under biaxial stresses with the two different types of launching bearings and eccentric load introduction. Based on the experimental results, a numerical model was validated. Currently, we are evaluating different parameters for both types of launching bearings, such as load introduction length, load eccentricity, the distance between longitudinal stiffeners, the position of the rotation point of the spherical bearing, which are used within the hydraulic bearings, web, and flange thickness and imperfections. The imperfection depends on the geometry of the buckling field and whether local or global buckling occurs. This and also the size of the meshing is taken into account in the numerical calculations of the parametric study. As a geometric imperfection, the scaled first buckling mode is applied. A bilinear material curve is used so that a GMNIA analysis is performed to determine the load capacity. Stresses and displacements are evaluated in different directions, and specific stress ratios are determined at the critical points of the plate at the time of the converging load step. To evaluate the load introduction of the transverse load, the transverse stress concentration is plotted on a defined longitudinal section on the web. In the same way, the rotation of the flange is evaluated in order to show the influence of the different degrees of freedom of the launching bearings under eccentric load introduction and to be able to make an assessment for the case, which is relevant in practice. The input and the output are automatized and depend on the given parameters. Thus we are able to adapt our model to different geometric dimensions and load conditions. The programming is done with the help of APDL and a Python code. This allows us to evaluate and compare more parameters faster. Input and output errors are also avoided. It is, therefore, possible to evaluate a large spectrum of parameters in a short time, which allows a practical evaluation of different parameters for buckling behavior. This paper presents the results of the tests as well as the validation and parameterization of the numerical model and shows the first influences on the buckling behavior under eccentric and multi-axial load introduction.

Keywords: buckling behavior, eccentric load introduction, incremental launching, large scale buckling tests, multi axial stress states, parametric numerical modelling

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Authors: Firmanda Taufiq

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Turkey as a country with great political power and political dynamics that occurred in Turkey shows symptoms that make this country interesting enough to be studied. In addition, there is also Post-Islamism phenomenon that causes fluctuations and changes in Turkish politics. In this regard, Turkey carved out history by holding a referendum that changed the state system from a parliamentary system with a presidential system. This change has major implications in the life of Turkish society and politics. The condition is not only influenced by the government of Recep Tayyib Erdogan alone, but actually there is also anxiety middle class Turkish (Middle Class Anatolia). So there was a Turkish referendum held on 16 April 2017. This research using descriptive-analysis method to analyzing problems of research, that's how the post-Islamism situation in Turkey and Anatolian Middle Class impact to Turkish referendum. Actually, the political process that took place in Turkey is inseparable from Post-Islamism which became an important part in the change and transition of government system. The AKP Party as the basis of the Erdogan government movement became an important actor in the political and policy dynamics produced by the Erdogan government. It is then why the Turkish referendum took place.

Keywords: post-Islamism, Turkish politic, AKP, middle class Anatolia

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Authors: Juan C. Pérez-Mesa, Emilio Galdeano-Gómez, Jerónimo De Burgos-Jiménez, José F. Bienvenido-Bárcena, José F. Jiménez-Guerrero

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Environmental cost and transport congestion on roads resulting from product distribution in Europe have to lead to the creation of various programs and studies seeking to reduce these negative impacts. In this regard, apart from other institutions, the European Commission (EC) has designed plans in recent years promoting a more sustainable transportation model in an attempt to ultimately shift traffic from the road to the sea by using intermodality to achieve a model rebalancing. This issue proves especially relevant in supply chains from peripheral areas of the continent, where the supply of certain agrifood products is high. In such cases, the most difficult challenge is managing perishable goods. This study focuses on new approaches that strengthen the modal shift, as well as the reduction of externalities. This problem is analyzed by attempting to promote intermodal system (truck and short sea shipping) for transport, taking as point of reference highly perishable products (vegetables) exported from southeast Spain, which is the leading supplier to Europe. Methodologically, this paper seeks to contribute to the literature by proposing a different and complementary approach to establish a comparison between intermodal and the “only road” alternative. For this purpose, the multicriteria decision is utilized in a p-median model (P-M) adapted to the transport of perishables and to a means of shipping selection problem, which must consider different variables: transit cost, including externalities, time, and frequency (including agile response time). This scheme avoids bias in decision-making processes. By observing the results, it can be seen that the influence of the externalities as drivers of the modal shift is reduced when transit time is introduced as a decision variable. These findings confirm that the general strategies, those of the EC, based on environmental benefits lose their capacity for implementation when they are applied to complex circumstances. In general, the different estimations reveal that, in the case of perishables, intermodality would be a secondary and viable option only for very specific destinations (for example, Hamburg and nearby locations, the area of influence of London, Paris, and the Netherlands). Based on this framework, the general outlook on this subject should be modified. Perhaps the government should promote specific business strategies based on new trends in the supply chain, not only on the reduction of externalities, and find new approaches that strengthen the modal shift. A possible option is to redefine ports, conceptualizing them as digitalized redistribution and coordination centers and not only as areas of cargo exchange.

Keywords: environmental externalities, intermodal transport, perishable food, transit time

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Authors: Wium de Villiers

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Section 106(1)(h) of the South African Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 provides that an accused may enter a special plea that the prosecutor does not have title to prosecute. In a seminal matter (S v Mousa 2021 2 SACR 378 (GJ)) regarding section 106(1)(h), certain interesting legal aspects emerged. The first aspect concerned the meaning of the term “prosecutor”. More specifically, the question arose whether the term included a prosecutor who was previously involved with the matter, as well as the relevant Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DDPP) who instituted the prosecution and oversaw the prosecution on behalf of the state. The meaning of the term “title”, and with regard to the conduct of the “prosecutor”, the term “abuse of process,” were also raised and decided. In the paper, the facts, and the arguments in, and the decisions of the court, are discussed critically. The author argue that the intended objection in section 106(1)(h) is not to cure the abuse inflicted by a previous prosecutor or by the DDPP. I point out that the term “title” includes a lack of authority, non-compliance with jurisdictional requirements or absence of locus standi. I also point out that an abuse of process takes place if the process is used for an improper, ulterior or collateral purpose. I also argue that the accused should, instead of relying on section 106(1)(h), have relied on the prior agreement and applied for a permanent stay of prosecution.

Keywords: special plea, prosecutor, title, abuse of process

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Authors: Ambra Giovannelli, Erika Maria Archilei

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The amount of the electrical power required by refrigeration systems is relevant worldwide. It is evaluated in the order of 15% of the total electricity production taking refrigeration and air-conditioning into consideration. For this reason, in the last years several energy saving techniques have been proposed to reduce the power demand of such plants. The paper deals with the development of an innovative internal recovery system for cryogenic cooling plants. Such a system consists in a Compressor-Expander Group (CEG) designed on the basis of the automotive turbocharging technology. In particular, the paper is focused on the design of the expander, the critical component of the CEG system. Due to the low volumetric flow entering the expander and the high expansion ratio, a commercial turbocharger expander wheel was strongly modified. It was equipped with a transonic nozzle, designed to have a radially inflow full admission. To verify the performance of such a machine and suggest improvements, two different set of nozzles have been designed and modelled by means of the commercial Ansys-CFX software. steady-state 3D CFD simulations of the second-generation prototype are presented and compared with the initial ones.

Keywords: vapour cCompression systems, energy saving, refrigeration plant, organic fluids, radial turbine

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Authors: Haymanot Gebre-Amlak, Selamawit Gebre-Amlak

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Since its original declaration in the 18th century, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's Communist Manifesto has become one of the most influential political tracts. Socialism is a political path that leads towards communism by fostering a cooperative economy through the creation of cooperative enterprises, common ownership, state ownership, or shared equity. The ultimate objective of communism is to bring everyone working toward the same collective goal of a healthy, happy, and free society. The European establishment of 19-century colonial rule over the continent of Africa reinforced inflows of European investment and forced a profound change in the operation of labor and land markets. The colonial era and forced labor schemes in Africa lasted for several decades. When exiting from colonialism, these African countries were attracted to socialism’s ideology to bridge the social gap and freedom to their society. In this paper, we compare a pre and post socialist ideology and the impact in various African countries. We analyse the different aspects, which led to inconsistent outcomes. Our finding indicates that while they have some facets in common, each African country had a unique interpretation and influence from the socialist ideology.

Keywords: African politics, socialism in Africa, African history, Africa

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Authors: Afshin Shahbazi, Hadi Shadi Naghadeh, Ahmad Khodadadi Darban

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In the Magnetically Assisted Chemical Separation (MACS) process, tiny ferromagnetic particles coated with solvent extractant are used to selectively separate radionuclides and hazardous metals from aqueous waste streams. The contaminant-loaded particles are then recovered from the waste solutions using a magnetic field. In the present study, Cyanex272 or C272 (bis (2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinic acid) coated magnetic particles are being evaluated for the possible application in the extraction of Thorium (IV) from nuclear waste streams. The uptake behaviour of Th(IV) from nitric acid solutions was investigated by batch studies. Adsorption of Thorium (IV) from aqueous solution onto adsorbent was investigated in a batch system. Adsorption isotherm and adsorption kinetic studies of Thorium (IV) onto nanoparticles coated Cyanex272 were carried out in a batch system. The factors influencing Thorium (IV) adsorption were investigated and described in detail, as a function of the parameters such as initial pH value, contact time, adsorbent mass, and initial Thorium (IV) concentration. Magnetically Assisted Chemical Separation (MACS) process adsorbent showed best results for the fast adsorption of Th (IV) from aqueous solution at aqueous phase acidity value of 0.5 molar. In addition, more than 80% of Th (IV) was removed within the first 2 hours, and the time required to achieve the adsorption equilibrium was only 140 minutes. Langmuir and Frendlich adsorption models were used for the mathematical description of the adsorption equilibrium. Equilibrium data agreed very well with the Langmuir model, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 48 mg.g-1. Adsorption kinetics data were tested using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intra-particle diffusion models. Kinetic studies showed that the adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating that the chemical adsorption was the rate-limiting step.

Keywords: Thorium (IV) adsorption, MACS process, magnetic nanoparticles, Cyanex272

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Authors: Akanksha Lohmore, Devanshu Arya, Preeti Kapur

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Rarely does the human mind look at the positive fallout of highly negative events. Positive psychology attempts to emphasize on the strengths and positives for human well-being. The present study examines the underpinning socio-cognitive factors of the protest movements regarding the gang rape case of December 16th, 2012 through the lens of positive psychology. A gamut of negative emotions came to the forum globally: of anger, shame, hatred, violence, death penalty for the perpetrators, amongst other equally strong. In relation to this incident, a number of questions can be raised. Can such a heinous crime have some positive inputs for contemporary society? What is it that has held people to protests for long even when they see faded lines of success in view? This paper explains the constant feeding of protests and continuation of movements by the robust model of Collective Hope by Snyder, a phenomenon unexplored by social psychologists. In this paper, mixed method approach was undertaken. Results confirmed the interaction of various socio-psychological factors that imitated the Snyders model of collective hope. Emergence of major themes was: Sense of Agency, Sense of Worthiness, Social Sharing and Common Grievances and Hope of Collective Efficacy. Statistical analysis (correlation and regression) showed significant relationship between media usage and occurrence of these themes among participants. Media-communication processes and educational theories for development of citizenship behavior can find implications from these results. Theory development as indicated by theorists working in the area of Social Psychology of Protests can be furthered by the direction of research.

Keywords: agency, collective, hope, positive psychology, protest, social media

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