Search results for: namely for the selection of investment projects. The objective of the investment project selection problem is to choose the best project among the set of projects

Authors: Sapora Sipon, Mohd Fo’ad Sakdan, Che Su Mustaffa, Najib Ahmad Marzuki, Mohamad Sukeri Khalid, Mohd Taib Ariffin, Husni Mohd Radzi, Salhah Abdullah

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Flood disasters occur throughout the world including Malaysia. The major flood disaster that hit Malaysia in the 2014-2015 episodes proved the psychosocial and mental health consequences such as vivid images of destruction, upheaval, death and loss of lives. Flood, flood survivors reported that flood has changed one looks at their religious belief. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the changes in religious belief after the 2014-2015 Malaysia flood disaster. The total population of 1300 respondents who experienced the 2014-2015 Malaysia flood were surveyed a month after the disaster. The questionnaires were used to measure religiosity and stress. The results provide compelling evidence that religion played an important role in the lives of Malaysia flood disasters’ survivor where more than half of the respondents (>75%) experiencing the strengthening of their religious belief. It was also reported the victims’ strengthening of their religious belief proved to be a powerful factor in reducing stress in the aftermath of the flood.

Keywords: religious belief, flood disaster, humanity, society

Procedia PDF Downloads 403

Authors: Mohammad Saberian, Reza Porhoseini, Mohammad Ali Rahgozar

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Peat is a partially carbonized vegetable tissue which is formed in wet conditions by decomposition of various plants, mosses and animal remains. This restricted definition, including only materials which are entirely of vegetative origin, conflicts with several established soil classification systems. Peat soils are usually defined as soils having more than 75 percent organic matter. Due to this composition, the structure of peat soil is highly different from the mineral soils such as silt, clay and sand. Peat has high compressibility, high moisture content, low shear strength and low bearing capacity, so it is considered to be in the category of problematic. Since this kind of soil is generally found in many countries and various zones, except for desert and polar zones, recognizing this soil is inevitably significant. The objective of this paper is to review the classification of peats based on various properties of peat soils such as organic contents, water content, color, odor, and decomposition, scholars offer various classification systems which Von Post classification system is one of the most well-known and efficient system.

Keywords: peat soil, degree of decomposition, organic content, water content, Von Post classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 591

Authors: Abdulmalik Adamu

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This study is premised on the assumption that language, particularly, English plays a significant role in the acquisition of power in Nigeria. This is against the backdrop of the fact that for the first time in the political history of Nigeria, an opposition party succeeded in dethroning an incumbent President and ruling political party in an election. Therefore the main objective was to investigate the role of language, particularly English in the acquisition of political power in Nigeria. The corpus generated for this study consisted of excerpts from the media exchange between the spokespersons of the two dominant political parties at the time of the elections in 2015; Olisa Metuh of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Lai Mohammed of the All Progressive Party (APC). The excerpts were analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as a research tool. The findings revealed the acceptance of the first proposition that English facilitates the acquisition of political power in Nigeria and the rejection of the second proposition that English is an instrument for the exclusion of the populist from political events in Nigeria. The study, therefore, concluded that language, particularly English played a significant role in the acquisition of political power in Nigeria.

Keywords: language, power, politics, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)

Procedia PDF Downloads 391

Authors: Devendra Kr Tayal, Vrinda Gupta, Aastha Bansal, Khushi Singh, Sristi Sharma, Hunny Gaur

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In today's world, suicide is a serious problem. In order to save lives, early suicide attempt detection and prevention should be addressed. A good number of at-risk people utilize social media platforms to talk about their issues or find knowledge on related chores. Twitter and Reddit are two of the most common platforms that are used for expressing oneself. Extensive research has already been done in this field. Through supervised classification techniques like Nave Bayes, Bernoulli Nave Bayes, and Multiple Layer Perceptron on a Reddit dataset, we demonstrate the early recognition of suicidal ideation. We also performed comparative analysis on these approaches and used accuracy, recall score, F1 score, and precision score for analysis.

Keywords: machine learning, suicide ideation detection, supervised classification, natural language processing

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Narumon Phaonakrop, Janthima Jaresitthikunchai, Sittiruk Roytrakul, Wasinee Pongprayoon

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Chitosan has been proposed as a natural polymer, and it is derived from chitin. The objective of this research was to determine the growth promoting responses induced by chitosan at the molecular physiology level in Khao Dawk Mali 105 (KDML 105) rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings under drought stress by adding of 2% polyethylene glycol 4000 (PEG4000) to the nutrient solution and after removal of the drought stress (re-water). Oligomeric chitosan at 40 ppm could enhance shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight during drought stress and re-water. After 7 days of drought stress and re-water, significant increases in chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b contents in KDML 105 cultivar were observed. The 749 phosphoproteins in rice leaf treated with chitosan could be resolved by phosphoprotein enrichment, tryptic digestion and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. They can be classified into 10 groups. Proteins involved in the metabolic process and biological regulation were upregulated in response to chitosan during drought stress. This work will help us to understand protein phosphorylation relating to chitosan response during drought stress in aromatic rice seedlings.

Keywords: Chitosan, drought, phosphoproteome, rice

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Mohamed Fredj, Abdallah Hafsaoui, Radouane Nakache

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The study of the stability of the mining works in rock masses fractured is the major concern of the operating engineer. For geotechnical works in mines and quarries, it there is not today's general methodology for analysis and the quantification of the risks relating to the dangers inherent in these concrete types (falling boulders, landslides, etc.). The reasons for this are uncertainty, which weighs on available data or lack of knowledge of the values of the parameters required for this analysis type. Stability calculations must be based on reliable knowledge of the distribution of discontinuities that dissect the Rocky massif and the resistance to shear of the intact rock and discontinuities. This study is aimed to study the stability of slope of mine (Kef Sennoun - Tebessa, Algeria). The problem is analyzed using a numerical model based on the finite elements (software Plaxis 3D).

Keywords: stability, discontinuities, finite elements, rock mass, open-pit mine

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Authors: Pardeep Bishnoi, Mayank Srivastava, Mrityunjay Kumar Sinha

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This article represents the numerical investigation of the pressure and velocity field variation of the dynamics of pendant drop formation through a capillary tube. Numerical simulations are executed using volume of fluid (VOF) method in the computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In this problem, Non Newtonian fluid is considered as dispersed fluid whereas air is considered as a continuous fluid. Pressure contours at various time steps expose that pressure varies nearly hydrostatically at each step of the dynamics of drop formation. A result also shows the pressure variation of the liquid droplet during free fall in the computational domain. The evacuation of the fluid from the necking region is also shown by the contour of the velocity field. The role of surface tension in the Pressure contour of the dynamics of drop formation is also studied.

Keywords: pressure contour, surface tension, volume of fluid, velocity field

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Authors: Llham Lhoume, Rachid Tadili, Nora Arbaoui

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One of the most crucial ways to combat food insecurity is to minimize crop losses, food drying is one of the most organic, effective, low-cost and energy-efficient food preservation methods. In this regard, we undertake in this study an experimental evaluation and analysis of the thermal performance of different natural convection drying systems: a solar greenhouse dryer, an indirect solar dryer with a single compartment and a solar dryer with two compartments. These systems have been implemented at the Solar Energy and Environment Laboratory of Mohammed V University (Morocco). The objective of this work is to study the feasibility of converting a solar greenhouse into a solar dryer for use during the summer. On the other hand, to study the thermal performances of this greenhouse dryer by comparing it with other solar dryers. The experimental study showed that the drying of verbena leaves took 6 hours in the indirect dryer 1, 3 hours in the indirect dryer, 2 and 4 hours in the greenhouse dryer, but the amortization period of the solar greenhouse dryer is lower than the other two solar dryers. The results of this study provide key information on the implementation and performance of these systems for drying a food of great global interest.

Keywords: solar energy, drying, agriculture, biotechnologie

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Authors: Samiah Rehman, Kashmira J. Gohil

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Objective: Dracaena trifascaita extract (DTE) possesses strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that play a vital role in the treatment of mental disorders like depression. The present study was designed to evaluate the antidepressant effects of hydroalcoholic extracts of DT on behavioral models of depression. Methodology: Animals were randomly divided into 6 groups of 5 each: Group 1 and 2 received distilled water and standard drug, imipramine: 25mg/kg, respectively. Groups 4, 5 and 6 received DTE treatment orally at doses of 200 ,400 and 600mg/ kg, respectively, for 14 days. Time of immobility was noted by force swimming test (FST)and tail suspension test (TST) on the 1st,7th and 14th days. Results: The time of immobility was reduced in the treatment group as compared to the control and standard. DTE600 mg/kg showed the highest and most significant antidepressant effects as compared to the standard drug imipramine. (25mg/kg). Conclusion: DTE has good potential as an alternative therapy for depression.

Keywords: Dracaena trifasciata, antidepressants, force swimming test, tail suspension test, herbal drug of depression

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Davod Ahmadigheidari

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The main objective of this study was to explore prevalence of anthropometric indicators as well the factors associated with the anthropometric indications in Mali. Data on 2015, downloaded from the website of Unicef, were analyzed. A total of 16,467 women (ages 15-49 years) and 16,467 children (ages 0-59 months) were selected for the sample. Different statistical analyses, such as descriptive, crosstabs and binary logistic regression form the basis of this study. Child anthropometric indicators (i.e., wasting, stunting, underweight and BMI for age) were used as the dependent variables. SPSS Syntax from WHO was used to create anthropometric indicators. Different factors, such as child’s sex, child’s age groups, child’s diseases symptoms (i.e., diarrhea, cough and fever), maternal education, household wealth index and area of residence were used as independent variables. Results showed more than forty percent of Malian households were in nutritional crises (stunting (42%) and underweight (34%). Findings from logistic regression analyses indicated that low score of wealth index, low maternal education and experience of diarrhea in last two weeks increase the probability of child malnutrition.

Keywords: Mali, wasting, stunting, underweight, BMI for age and wealth index

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: O. E. Obayemi, M. A. Ayoade, O. O. Komolafe

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Fish survey was carried out for an annual cycle covering both rainy and dry seasons using cast nets, gill nets and traps at two different reservoirs. The objective was to examined the fish assemblages of the reservoirs and provide more additional information on the reservoir. The fish species in the reservoirs comprised of twelve species of six families. The results of the study also showed that five species of fish were caught in reservoir five while ten fish species were captured in reservoir six. Species such as Malapterurus electricus, Ctenopoma kingsleyae, Mormyrus rume, Parachanna obscura, Sarotherodon galilaeus, Tilapia mariae, C. guntheri, Clarias macromystax, Coptodon zilii and Clarias gariepinus were caught during the sampling period. There was a significant difference (p=0.014, t = 1.711) in the abundance of fish species in the two reservoirs. Seasonally, reservoirs five (p=0.221, t = 1.859) and six (p=0.453, t = 1.734) showed there was no significant difference in their fish populations. Also, despite being impacted with gold mining the diversity indices were high when compared to less disturbed waterbodies. The study concluded that the environments recorded low abundant fish species which suggests the influence of mining on the abundance and diversity of fish species.

Keywords: Igun, fish, Shannon-Wiener Index, Simpson index, Pielou index

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Authors: Harish Kumar Ponnappan, Joseph C. Chen

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The main objective of this research is to optimize the surface roughness of a milling operation on AISI 1018 steel using live tooling on a HAAS ST-20 lathe. In this study, Taguchi analysis is used to optimize the milling process by investigating the effect of different machining parameters on surface roughness. The L₉ orthogonal array is designed with four controllable factors with three different levels each and an uncontrollable factor, resulting in 18 experimental runs. The optimal parameters determined from Taguchi analysis were feed rate – 76.2 mm/min, spindle speed 1150 rpm, depth of cut – 0.762 mm and 2-flute TiN coated high-speed steel as tool material. The process capability Cp and process capability index Cpk values were improved from 0.62 and -0.44 to 1.39 and 1.24 respectively. The average surface roughness values from the confirmation runs were 1.30 µ, decreasing the defect rate from 87.72% to 0.01%. The purpose of this study is to efficiently utilize the Taguchi design to optimize the surface roughness in a milling operation using live tooling.

Keywords: live tooling, surface roughness, taguchi analysis, CNC milling operation, CNC turning operation

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: David Bakker, Nikki Rickard

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Smartphone apps hold immense potential as mental health and wellbeing tools. Support can be made easily accessible and can be used in real-time while users are experiencing distress. Furthermore, data can be collected to enable machine learning and automated tailoring of support to users. While many apps have been developed for mental health purposes, few have adhered to evidence-based recommendations and even fewer have pursued experimental validation. This paper details the development and experimental evaluation of an app, MoodMission, that aims to provide support for low moods and anxiety, help prevent clinical depression and anxiety disorders, and serve as an adjunct to professional clinical supports. MoodMission was designed to deliver cognitive behavioural therapy for specifically reported problems in real-time, momentary interactions. Users report their low moods or anxious feelings to the app along with a subjective units of distress scale (SUDS) rating. MoodMission then provides a choice of 5-10 short, evidence-based mental health strategies called Missions. Users choose a Mission, complete it, and report their distress again. Automated tailoring, gamification, and in-built data collection for analysis of effectiveness was also included in the app’s design. The development process involved construction of an evidence-based behavioural plan, designing of the app, building and testing procedures, feedback-informed changes, and a public launch. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted comparing MoodMission to two other apps and a waitlist control condition. Participants completed measures of anxiety, depression, well-being, emotional self-awareness, coping self-efficacy and mental health literacy at the start of their app use and 30 days later. At the time of submission (November 2016) over 300 participants have participated in the RCT. Data analysis will begin in January 2017. At the time of this submission, MoodMission has over 4000 users. A repeated-measures ANOVA of 1390 completed Missions reveals that SUDS (0-10) ratings were significantly reduced between pre-Mission ratings (M=6.20, SD=2.39) and post-Mission ratings (M=4.93, SD=2.25), F(1,1389)=585.86, p < .001, np2=.30. This effect was consistent across both low moods and anxiety. Preliminary analyses of the data from the outcome measures surveys reveal improvements across mental health and wellbeing measures as a result of using the app over 30 days. This includes a significant increase in coping self-efficacy, F(1,22)=5.91, p=.024, np2=.21. Complete results from the RCT in which MoodMission was evaluated will be presented. Results will also be presented from the continuous outcome data being recorded by MoodMission. MoodMission was successfully developed and launched, and preliminary analysis suggest that it is an effective mental health and wellbeing tool. In addition to the clinical applications of MoodMission, the app holds promise as a research tool to conduct component analysis of psychological therapies and overcome restraints of laboratory based studies. The support provided by the app is discrete, tailored, evidence-based, and transcends barriers of stigma, geographic isolation, financial limitations, and low health literacy.

Keywords: anxiety, app, CBT, cognitive behavioural therapy, depression, eHealth, mission, mobile, mood, MoodMission

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Authors: Sachin Kamble, Shradha Gawankar

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This paper presents the findings of successful implementation of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) of cement dispatch activities in a cement manufacturing plant located in India. Simulation model was developed for the purpose of identifying and analyzing the areas for improvement. The company was facing a problem of low throughput rate and subsequent forced stoppages of the plant leading to a high production loss of 15000MT per month. It was found from the study that the present systems and procedures related to the in-plant logistics plant required significant changes. The major recommendations included process improvement at the entry gate, reducing the cycle time at the security gate and installation of an additional weigh bridge. This paper demonstrates how BPR can be implemented for improving the in-plant logistics process. Various recommendations helped the plant to increase its throughput by 14%.

Keywords: in-plant logistics, cement logistics, simulation modelling, business process re-engineering, supply chain management

Procedia PDF Downloads 294

Authors: Nicola Harrison

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Familial childhood sexual abuse (FCSA) prevalence rates in Aotearoa, New Zealand, are amongst the highest globally, particularly in indigenous communities. However, such statistics seem incongruent with indigenous paradigms of unity, care, and connection. The inability of policymakers and mainstream service providers to acknowledge the direct links between the social contexts created by colonisation for indigenous families in Aotearoa and intergenerational FCSA has meant there has been little meaningful success in combatting this significant social problem. This research traces the conditions of intergenerational FCSA to the systemic inequalities created by colonization. Kaupapa Māori methodologies were applied to this qualitative piece of empirical research wherein 17 indigenous contributors shared their stories of FCSA. From these stories and existing literature, we can identify how the machinations of colonisation are mirrored by techniques used to perpetrate abuse. Once identified, we are then able to recommend actions for halting FCSA for future generations.

Keywords: indigenity, family violence, childhood sexual abuse, colonization

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Shaival Dalal, Nilesh Shah, Dinshaw Pardiwala, David Rajan, Satyen Sanghavi, Charul Bhanji

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Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI) is used worldwide since 1998 to treat cartilage defect. GEL based ACI is a new tissue-engineering technique to treat full thickness cartilage defect with fibrin and thrombin as scaffold for chondrocytes. Purpose of this study is to see safety and efficacy of gel based ACI for knee cartilage defect in multiple centres with different surgeons. Gel-based Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (GACI) has shown effectiveness in treating isolated cartilage defect of knee joint. Long term results are still needed to be studied. This study was followed-up up to two years and showed benefit to patients. All enrolled patients with a mean age of 28.5 years had an average defect size of3 square centimeters, and were grade IV as per ICRS grading. All patients were followed up several times and at several intervals at 6th week, 8th week, 11th week, 17th week, 29th week, 57th week after surgery. The outcomes were measured based on the IKDC (subjective and objective) and MOCART scores.

Keywords: knee, chondrocyte, autologous chondrocyte implantation, fibrin gel based

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Authors: Liu Yi, Bao Liyong

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Aiming at the problem of low efficiency of pipelined scheduling in periodic query-qualified service, this paper proposes a system service resource scheduling strategy with parallel optimized qualified service polling control. The paper constructs the polling queuing system and its mathematical model; firstly, the first-order and second-order characteristic parameter equations are obtained by partial derivation of the probability mother function of the system state variables, and the complete mathematical, analytical expressions of each system parameter are deduced after the joint solution. The simulation experimental results are consistent with the theoretical calculated values. The system performance analysis shows that the average captain and average period of the system have been greatly improved, which can better adapt to the service demand of delay-sensitive data in the dense data environment.

Keywords: polling, parallel scheduling, mean queue length, average cycle time

Procedia PDF Downloads 33

Authors: Manjiri A. More, Manisha M. Bhosale

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Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy and India is one of the world’s largest producers of Rice. Today, paddy crop is facing a severe problem of insect pests and is attacked by more than 100 species of insects, among those 20 species cause economic damage. Rice is the staple food of people of panhala tehasil, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India. During June 2017 to September 2017 efforts were made to study the diversity of insect pests associated with the paddy crop in the study region. The collection and preservation of the specimens were done by following standard procedure and the identification was done with the help standard literature, taxonomic keys, and webography. In all, 6 species were recorded as pests of paddy in which order Lepidoptera was dominant with 2 species, while orders Diptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, and Coleoptera were represented by 1 species each respectively. The results of the present investigation will be helpful for formulating control strategies against these paddy pests.

Keywords: diversity, insect pests, Panhala, staple

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Farideh Gheitasi, Zahra Mirzaei Pour

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Considering mutual interactions of industry and residence in an environmental point of view is essential in effective urban management and all the policies must be made based on the results of these interactions. So, District No 21 of Tehran Municipality (Iran) which is almost industrial combined with some residential area was selected to study the consequences of industrial and residential area neighborhood. In this paper the results of two observations conducted in two timescales in 2010 and 2015, according to completed questionnaires by residents of an industrial region in the study area, were analyzed. The questionnaires contain 19 different environmental parameters considering positive and negative effects of industry on human life. The results of this study show that 96% of the target group in 2010 believed if the companies regard the law, mutual coexistence of industry and residency is possible. While this number decreased to 21% in 2015, which indicates that the problem got worse and people became more unsatisfied with the situation.

Keywords: environment, industry, residence, pollution

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Authors: Mohammad Hemmati, Mohammad Taban, Ali Yasini

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One of the factors that can play an important role in increasing productivity is the optimal use of information technology, which in this area today has a significant role to play in computer systems of office automation in organizations and companies. Therefore, this research has been conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of the relationship between computerized systems of office automation and the productivity of employees in the municipality of Ilam city. The statistical population of this study was 110 people. Using Cochran formula, the minimum sample size is 78 people. The present research is a descriptive-looking research in terms of the type of objective view. A questionnaire was used to collect data. To assess the reliability of variables, Cornbrash’s alpha coefficient was used, which was equal to 0.85; SPSS19 and Pearson test were used to analyze the data and test the hypothesis of the research. In this research, three hypotheses of the relationship between office automation with efficiency, performance, and effectiveness were investigated. The results showed a direct and positive relationship between the office automation system and the increase in the efficiency, effectiveness, and efficiency of employees, and there was no reason to reject these hypotheses.

Keywords: efficiency, performance, effectiveness, automation

Procedia PDF Downloads 209

Authors: Jason T. Hilton

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The ‘post-truth era’ is marked by a shift toward a period in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. Applying narrative analysis techniques to current public discourses in education that run counter to scientific findings, it becomes possible to identify weakness in modern pedagogy and suggest ways to counter false narratives in the classroom. Results of this study indicate that a failure to engage with popular narratives lessens teachers’ ability to be convincing in the classroom, even when presenting information supported by scientific evidence. This study seeks to empower teachers by illustrating the influence of story within the post-truth era and the ways in which narrative and rhetorical elements take hold in social media contexts. Equipped with this knowledge, teachers can create a shift in pedagogy, away from transmission of knowledge toward the crafting of powerful narratives, built upon evidence, and connected to the lives of modern learners.

Keywords: 21st century learner, critical pedagogy, culture, narrative, post-truth era, social media

Procedia PDF Downloads 261

Authors: Aliyu Aminu Baba

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Ethnic entrepreneurship is defined as a set of connections and regular patterns of interaction among people sharing common national background or migration experience. The disadvantage faced by ethnic minority on paid labour induced them to become self-employed. Also, enclaves motivates trading, creativity, innovation are all to provide specific service or products to certain people. These ethnic minorities are African –Caribbean, Indians, Pakistanis, Banghaladashi and Chinese. For policy development ethnic diversity was among the problem of developing policy in United Kingdom. The study finds that there is a danger in treating all ethnic minority businesses as homogeneous rather than heterogeneous. The diversity is due to religious beliefs, culture and race. This indicates that there is a wide range have shortfall in addressing the peculiarities of ethnic minority businesses in policy formulation. Also, there are differences between ethnic minorities in accessing finance. It is recommended that diversity and peculiarities between ethnic minorities should be considered in policy formulation.

Keywords: ethnic entrepreneurship, finance, policy implication, diversity

Procedia PDF Downloads 363

Authors: Blessing Mavhuru, Nthaduleni Nethengwe, Hector Chikoore, Onyango Beneah Daniel Odhiambo

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The main objective of this study was to classify land use/cover and how it has changed in Nzhelele Valley Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study aimed to identify and analyse the types of land use/cover in the years 2005, 2010, and 2015 with a view to assess the impact on soil erosion over time. Using GIS, the changes within land use/cover were assessed through the classification of satellite images. The study area was classified into four major land cover/use classes, which are vegetation, gravel road, built up land and agricultural fields. Over the period 2005-2015 the resultant land use/cover demonstrated (i) a significant increase (12%) for vegetation cover, (ii) a significant decrease in agriculture (16%) land use/cover, (iii) increase in built-up land (1%), as well as (iv) an increase in gravel roads (3%). This study envisages assisting policy makers in decision making on land use management for Nzhelele Valley.

Keywords: land use, land cover, change, soil erosion

Procedia PDF Downloads 248

Authors: N. Philipova

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The influence of the geometric parameters of trapezoidal labyrinth channel on the emitter discharge is investigated in this work. The impact of the dentate angle, the dentate spacing, and the dentate height are studied among the geometric parameters of the labyrinth channel. Numerical simulations of the water flow movement are performed according to central cubic composite design using Commercial codes GAMBIT and FLUENT. Inlet pressure of the dripper is set up to be 1 bar. The objective of this paper is to derive a mathematical model of the emitter discharge depending on the dentate angle, the dentate spacing, the dentate height of the labyrinth channel. As a result, the obtained mathematical model is a second-order polynomial reporting 2-way interactions among the geometric parameters. The dentate spacing has the most important and positive influence on the emitter discharge, followed by the simultaneous impact of the dentate spacing and the dentate height. The dentate angle in the observed interval has no significant effect on the emitter discharge. The obtained model can be used as a basis for a future emitter design.

Keywords: drip irrigation, labyrinth channel hydrodynamics, numerical simulations, Reynolds stress model.

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Slim Chokri

Abstract:

Load forecasting is one of the central functions in power systems operations. Electricity cannot be stored, which means that for electric utility, the estimate of the future demand is necessary in managing the production and purchasing in an economically reasonable way. A majority of the recently reported approaches are based on neural network. The attraction of the methods lies in the assumption that neural networks are able to learn properties of the load. However, the development of the methods is not finished, and the lack of comparative results on different model variations is a problem. This paper presents a new approach in order to predict the Tunisia daily peak load. The proposed method employs a computational intelligence scheme based on the Fuzzy neural network (FNN) and support vector regression (SVR). Experimental results obtained indicate that our proposed FNN-SVR technique gives significantly good prediction accuracy compared to some classical techniques.

Keywords: neural network, load forecasting, fuzzy inference, machine learning, fuzzy modeling and rule extraction, support vector regression

Procedia PDF Downloads 430

Authors: K. Yahia, A. Titaouine, A. Ghoggal, S. E. Zouzou, F. Benchabane

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This paper deals with the problem of stator faults diagnosis in induction motors. Using the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) for the current Park’s vector modulus (CPVM) analysis, the inter-turn short-circuit faults diagnosis can be achieved. This method is based on the decomposition of the CPVM signal, where wavelet approximation and detail coefficients of this signal have been extracted. The energy evaluation of a known bandwidth detail permits to define a fault severity factor (FSF). This method has been tested through the simulation of an induction motor using a mathematical model based on the winding-function approach. Simulation, as well as experimental, results show the effectiveness of the used method.

Keywords: Induction Motors (IMs), inter-turn short-circuits diagnosis, Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Current Park’s Vector Modulus (CPVM)

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Authors: Mohammed Daher Albalwi

Abstract:

The transcritical flow of a stratified fluid over an obstacle for negative forcing amplitude (hole) that generation upstream and downstream, connected by an unsteady solution, is examined. In the weakly nonlinear, weakly dispersive regime, the problem is formulated in the forced Korteweg-de Vries–Burgers framework. This is done by including the influence of the viscosity of the fluid beyond the Korteweg–de Vries approximation. The results show that the influence of viscosity is crucial in determining various wave properties, including the amplitudes of solitary waves in the upstream and downstream directions, as well as the widths of the bores. We focused here on weak damping, and the results are presented for transcritical, supercritical, and subcritical flows. In general, the outcomes are not qualitatively similar to those from the forced Korteweg-de–Vries equation when the value of the viscous is small, interesting differences emerge as the magnitude of the value of viscous increases.

Keywords: Korteweg–de Vries–Burgers equation, soliton, transcritical flow, viscous flow

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Authors: Abdelmaguid Ramzy, Mohamed Bahaa

Abstract:

Introduction: The effects of ovarian endometrioma on fertility outcomes with IVF have been always related to poor outcomes. Objective: To evaluate the effect of unilateral unoperated ovarian endometrioma < 2cm on the number of developing follicles and compare them with the contralateral ovary as a control. Design: Retrospective case control study. Setting: KasrEl-Aini IVF center. Patient(s): We studied 32 women with unilateral endometrioma who underwent their first IVF cycle. Methods: 32 Patients aged between 20-35 years selected for IVF who were diagnosed with one unilateral endometrioma (diameter <2 cm) and who did not undergo previous ovarian surgery were retrospectively identified. The number of follicles > 17 mm during folliculometry on the day of HCG trigger in the ovary that contained endometrioma were compared with those from the contralateral ovary. They were all hyperstimulated using long protocol with (225-300 IU) gonadotrophins. Primary outcome: The number of follicles > 17 mm during folliculometry on the day of HCG trigger. Result(s): The mean ± SD age, Day 3 serum FSH and LH were 27± 3.7 years, 5.8 ± 1.6 IU/ml and 4.5 ± 1.7 IU/ml respectively. There was no significant difference in the number of follicles > 17 mm on the day of HCG trigger in the ovary that contained endometrioma (4.4 ±2.5) and in the opposite ovary (4.5 ± 2.8) (P= 0.48). Conclusion: The presence of ovarian endometrioma in a controlled ovarian hyperstimulation cycle for IVF treatment is not associated with a reduced number of follicles > 17 mm during folliculometry on the day of HCG trigger.

Keywords: endometrioma, folliculometry, hyperstimulation, fertility

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Authors: Meline Mesropyan

Abstract:

At the beginning of the 20th century, Japan served as a transit point for Armenian refugees fleeing the 1915 Genocide. However, research on Armenian refugees in Japan is sparse, and the Armenian Diaspora has never taken root in Japan. Consequently, Japan has not been considered a relevant research site for studying Armenian refugees. The primary objective of this study is to shed light on the number of Armenian refugees who passed through Japan between 1915 and 1930. Quantitative analyses will be conducted based on newly uncovered Japanese archival documents. Subsequently, the Japanese data will be compared to American immigration data to estimate the potential number of refugees in Japan during that period. This under-researched area is relevant to both the Armenian Diaspora and refugee studies in Japan. By clarifying the number of refugees, this study aims to enhance understanding of Japan's treatment of refugees and the extent of humanitarian efforts conducted by organizations and individuals in Japan, contributing to the broader field of historical refugee studies.

Keywords: Armenian genocide, Armenian refugees, Japanese statistics, number of refugees

Procedia PDF Downloads 49

Authors: R. A. Eman Elsheikh, Bart Schultz, Abraham Mehari Haile, Hussein S. Adam

Abstract:

A field experiment was conducted at Gezira research station farm during the winter season in the third week of November 2012, in WadMedani, Sudan (Lat 14.23 W, Long 33.39 E and altitude 405 m above sea level, in deep cracking alkaline heavy clay Vertisols). The objective of this study was to determine the effect of three different irrigation for 10 days (W1), 15 days (W2) and 20 days (W3) and for two rows of 30 cm (S1) and 40 cm (S2), respectively. The experimental design was split plot with three replicates. The sunflower test variety was Hysun 33 cultivar. The seasonal water applied during the study was 6898, 6647, 5256, 5435, 5214, 5416 m3/ha for W1S1, W1S2, W2S1, W2S2, W3S1 and W3S2 respectively. The seed yield obtained for the above treatment in that sequence was 4208, 5542, 5167, 4579, 2931, 2936 kg/ha. The corresponding computed water productivity was 0.61, 0.82, 0.87, 0.95, 0.54, 0.56 kg/m3. The study clearly indicated that the highest seed yield was obtained when the crop was sown at 40 cm row spacing and was irrigated every 10 days (W1S2), followed by W2S1.

Keywords: water productivity, water deficit, sunflower, plant spacing

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