Search results for: circular economy

Authors: I. Martins, A. Martins

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The European Union supports social and civil competencies as being a core element to develop sustainability of organizations, people and regions. These competencies are fundamental for the well-being of the community because they include interpersonal, intrapersonal as well as their civil, active and democratic participation in organizations. The combination of these competencies reveals the organizational socio-emotional maturity and allows relevant levels of performance. It also allows the development of various capitals, namely, human, structural, relational and social, with direct influence on performance. But along this path, the emotional aspect has not been valued as a capital, given that contemporary society is based on knowledge capital and is flooded with information viewed as a capital. The present study, based on the importance of these socio-emotional capitals, aims to show that the competencies of cooperation, interpersonal understanding, empathy, kindness, ability to listen, and tolerance, to mention a few, are strategic in consolidating knowledge within organizations. This implies that the humanizing processes, both inside and outside the organizations, are revitalized. The question is how to go about doing this and its implementation; as well as, where to begin and which guidelines to take on. These are the foci that guide the present study, bearing in mind the directions of the knowledge economy.

Keywords: civil competencies, humanizing, performance, social competencies

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Authors: Santosh Kumar Sharma

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In view of management education with special reference to India, it has been noted that students have deviations between their career anchors and domain of specialization. As a consequence, they face problems in their summer internships and placements in the corporate sector. Eventually, they either change their career track or leave the management profession, which is a serious concern from the perspective of human capital. However, there is no substantial literature in the given context. Therefore, the present study contributes to the global discourse of management education and its spillover effect on human resource management. The objective of the present study is to analyze the deviation between career anchors and domain specialization with reference to management education in India. The present study is exploratory in nature, wherein data has been collected from a significant number of post-graduate students who are pursuing management education from a premium business school in India, followed by descriptive analysis. The present research contributes to the professional development of management students from the perspective of human capital, which is eventually related to various factors of the Indian economy.

Keywords: India, management education, domain specialization, placements

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Authors: Carla Silva

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Recent development of information and communication technology enables us to acquire, collect, analyse data in various fields of socioeconomic – technological systems. Along with the increase of economic globalization and the evolution of information technology, data mining has become an important approach for economic data analysis. As a result, there has been a critical need for automated approaches to effective and efficient usage of massive amount of educational data, in order to support institutions to a strategic planning and investment decision-making. In this article, we will address data from several different perspectives and define the applied data to sciences. Many believe that 'big data' will transform business, government, and other aspects of the economy. We discuss how new data may impact educational policy and educational research. Large scale administrative data sets and proprietary private sector data can greatly improve the way we measure, track, and describe educational activity and educational impact. We also consider whether the big data predictive modeling tools that have emerged in statistics and computer science may prove useful in educational and furthermore in economics. Finally, we highlight a number of challenges and opportunities for future research.

Keywords: data mining, research analysis, investment decision-making, educational research

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Authors: Maram Saleh

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Knowledge has become an essential resource in today’s economy and become the most important asset of maintaining competition advantage in organizations. The importance of knowledge has made organizations to manage their knowledge assets and resources through all multiple knowledge management stages such as: Knowledge Creation, knowledge storage, knowledge sharing and knowledge use. Researches on data mining are continues growing over recent years on both business and educational fields. Data mining is one of the most important steps of the knowledge discovery in databases process aiming to extract implicit, unknown but useful knowledge and it is considered as significant subfield in knowledge management. Data miming have the great potential to help organizations to focus on extracting the most important information on their data warehouses. Data mining tools and techniques can predict future trends and behaviors, allowing businesses to make proactive, knowledge-driven decisions. This review paper explores the applications of data mining techniques in supporting knowledge management process as an effective knowledge discovery technique. In this paper, we identify the relationship between data mining and knowledge management, and then focus on introducing some application of date mining techniques in knowledge management for some real life domains.

Keywords: Data Mining, Knowledge management, Knowledge discovery, Knowledge creation.

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Authors: Jawad Ul Haq, Evan Mazur, Ahmed Qureshi, Mohamed Al-Hussein

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The uses of wood in furniture, building, bridges and aluminum in transportation and construction, make aluminum and forest economy a prominent matter in North America. Machines available to date to cut the aforementioned materials are mostly industry oriented with complex structure and operations which require special training and skill. Furthermore, requirements such as pneumatics, 3-phase supply are associated with cost, maintenance, and safety hazards. Power saws are very useful tools used to cut and shape materials; however, they can cause serious hand injuries. Operator’s hands in table saw are vulnerable as they are used to guide pieces into the saw. Apart from hands, saw operator is also prone to material being kicked back out of the saw or sustain eye or respiratory injuries due to rapidly flying sawdust and other debris. In this paper, design of an automatic saw cutting machine has been proposed to ensure safety, portability, usage at domestic level and capability to cut both aluminum and wood. This paper demonstrates detailed Mechanical design in SOLIDWORKS and Control Systems using Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), based on the aforementioned design objectives.

Keywords: programmable logic controller, saw cutting, control, automation

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Authors: Olawale Johnson

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The cry and agitation for the creation of equal opportunities is one of the major reasons behind the social menace countries of the world experience. As the poor, continue to demand for the dividends of economic growth, countries of the world are in a state of dilemma because, despite impressive growth figures, the poor are still far below the empowerment line. However, evidence from the Asian Tigers has proven that with the adoption and efficient utilization of information technology, a growth miracle is not far-fetched. With the mind-boggling pace of technological innovation, the need to ensure that the innovative products are all connected has become vital. Technologies that did not exist a few years ago have become vital equipment used to underlie every aspect of our economy from medicine to banking to sports. The need to connect things sensors, actuators and smart systems with the aim of ensuring person-to-object, object-to-object communications has promoted the need of internet of things. As developing countries struggle with delivering inclusiveness, the Internet of Everything is perceived to be the miracle that will deliver this in no time. This paper examines how the Asian Tigers have been able to promote inclusive growth through the Internet of Everything.

Keywords: inclusive growth, internet of everything, innovation, embedded systems and smart technologies

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Authors: Omolade Adeleke, Jonathan Olusegun Famoroti

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This study empirically examined the monetary policy and economic growth in the classical cycles in 8 member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), using the Markov switching model for the Two-phase Regime, covering the period 1980Q1 to 2020Q4. Our estimates suggest that these countries demonstrate to have similar business cycles, and the economies stay more in an expansion regime than a recession regime. The result further shows that the union has an average duration period of 3.1 and 15.9 quarters for contraction and expansion periods, respectively. The business cycle duration, on average, suggests 19 quarters, varying from country to country. Therefore, the formulation of policies that can enhance aggregate demand by member countries in the union is an antidote for recession and is necessary to drive the economy into equilibrium. Also, a low-interest rate and reduced inflation rate would ginger long-run economic growth.

Keywords: monetary policy, business cycle, economic growth, Markov switching

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Authors: Edi Artono, Budi Tamtomo, Gema Wahyudi Purnama

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The world energy demand increasing extreamly high time by time, including domestic demand. That is impossible to avoid because energy a country demand proportional to surge in the number of residents, economic growth and addition of industrial sector. Domestic Oil and gas conventional reserves depleted naturally while production outcome from reservoir also depleted time to time. In the other hand, new reserve did not discover significantly to replace it all. Many people are investigating to looking for new alternative energy to answer the challenge. There are several option to solve energy fossil needed problem using Unconventional Hydrocarbon. There are four aspects to consider as a management reference in order that Unconventional Hydrocarbon business can work properly, divided to: 1. Legal aspect, 2. Environmental aspect, 3. Technical aspect and 4. Economy aspect. The economic aspect as the key to whether or not a project can be implemented or not in Oil and Gas business scheme, so do Unconventional Hydorcarbon business scheme. The support of regulation are needed to buttress Unconventional Hydorcarbon business grow up and make benefits contribute to Government.

Keywords: alternative energy, unconventional hydrocarbon, regulation support, management strategy

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Authors: David O. A. Ogunrinade

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The significance of education to the growth and development of man is imperative. The Nigerian education philosophy and national objectives are geared towards self-realization, social, cultural, and economic, just to mention a few. The acquisition of skills and abilities, both mental and physical, for individual to live and contribute to the development of society should be of major importance to a functional education curriculum. This study specifically set out to examine the momentous potentials of popular music as a veritable tool to be properly incorporated into the curriculum of music education in Nigeria. This will equip the learners to be self-reliant and contribute to the national economy. Interviews with exponents of Nigerian popular music and the stakeholders in the music industry, as well as audio-visual materials were employed to elicit information. Findings reveal that there are lots of potentials and dexterities in popular music that can enable Nigerian music graduates to contribute their own quota to the national development of the nation, as well as being useful to themselves. If the Nigerian society is not to be plagued by a breed of unemployable youths who could not raise the economic productivity of the country, it is deemed pertinent that the music curriculum as one of the vocational education needs to be reviewed to incorporate popular music, as well as to reflect more of the Nigerian cultural heritage.

Keywords: popular music, music curriculum, music in schools, popular music prospect

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Authors: E. K. A. Ogunshile

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This paper is aimed at creating an Automatic Java X-Machine testing tool for software development. The nature of software development is changing; thus, the type of software testing tools required is also changing. Software is growing increasingly complex and, in part due to commercial impetus for faster software releases with new features and value, increasingly in danger of containing faults. These faults can incur huge cost for software development organisations and users; Cambridge Judge Business School’s research estimated the cost of software bugs to the global economy is $312 billion. Beyond the cost, faster software development methodologies and increasing expectations on developers to become testers is driving demand for faster, automated, and effective tools to prevent potential faults as early as possible in the software development lifecycle. Using X-Machine theory, this paper will explore a new tool to address software complexity, changing expectations on developers, faster development pressures and methodologies, with a view to reducing the huge cost of fixing software bugs.

Keywords: conformance testing, finite state machine, software testing, x-machine

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Authors: K. Lekshmi

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Land becomes a predominant constituent of transitional justice paradigm subsequent to the apartheid inspired land grabs and conflict induced forceful evictions in South Africa effecting land encroachment, expropriation, and alienation. In this pretext, post-Apartheid regime initiated land reconciliation measures which presume to overcome the politically appropriated historical injustices in conjunction with reconstructing transitional justice. As land grabs became one of the quintessential repercussions followed by ethnic cleansing in South Africa, it is prominent to study how land reconciliation becomes necessary in imparting transitional justice to the victims. The study also looks into the nature of developmental pattern after re- territorialization process in a post-conflict country like South Africa and, tries to look how re-territorialization process construed the functional distribution of income vis-a-vis income inequality in particular. Further the paper attempts to study how far land distribution and equal access as part of the land reconciliation process juxtaposed the principle of restitution. Research methodology applied is empirical followed by analytical research.

Keywords: development, land reconciliation, transitional justice, income inequality and displacement, re-territorialization

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Authors: Kanokwan Chancharoenchai

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Economic growth can be considered as an important element of countries’ development process. For developing countries, like Thailand, to ensure the continuous growth of the economy, the Thai government usually implements various policies to stimulate economic growth. They may take the form of fiscal, monetary, trade, and other policies. Because of these different aspects, understanding factors relating to economic growth could allow the government to introduce the proper plan for the future economic stimulating scheme. Consequently, this issue has caught interest of not only policymakers but also academics. This study, therefore, investigates explanatory variables for economic growth in Thailand from 2005 to 2017 with a total of 52 quarters. The findings would contribute to the field of economic growth and become helpful information to policymakers. The investigation is estimated throughout the production function with non-linear Cobb-Douglas equation. The rate of growth is indicated by the change of GDP in the natural logarithmic form. The relevant factors included in the estimation cover three traditional means of production and implicit effects, such as human capital, international activity and technological transfer from developed countries. Besides, this investigation takes the internal and external instabilities into account as proxied by the unobserved inflation estimation and the real effective exchange rate (REER) of the Thai baht, respectively. The unobserved inflation series are obtained from the AR(1)-ARCH(1) model, while the unobserved REER of Thai baht is gathered from naive OLS-GARCH(1,1) model. According to empirical results, the AR(|2|) equation which includes seven significant variables, namely capital stock, labor, the imports of capital goods, trade openness, the REER of Thai baht uncertainty, one previous GDP, and the world financial crisis in 2009 dummy, presents the most suitable model. The autoregressive model is assumed constant estimator that would somehow cause the unbias. However, this is not the case of the recursive coefficient model from the state space model that allows the transition of coefficients. With the powerful state space model, it provides the productivity or effect of each significant factor more in detail. The state coefficients are estimated based on the AR(|2|) with the exception of the one previous GDP and the 2009 world financial crisis dummy. The findings shed the light that those factors seem to be stable through time since the occurrence of the world financial crisis together with the political situation in Thailand. These two events could lower the confidence in the Thai economy. Moreover, state coefficients highlight the sluggish rate of machinery replacement and quite low technology of capital goods imported from abroad. The Thai government should apply proactive policies via taxation and specific credit policy to improve technological advancement, for instance. Another interesting evidence is the issue of trade openness which shows the negative transition effect along the sample period. This could be explained by the loss of price competitiveness to imported goods, especially under the widespread implementation of free trade agreement. The Thai government should carefully handle with regulations and the investment incentive policy by focusing on strengthening small and medium enterprises.

Keywords: autoregressive model, economic growth, state space model, Thailand

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Authors: Edward C. W. Chan, Benny C. F. Cheung

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In the knowledge economy, the financial indicator is not the unique instrument to gauge the performance of a company. The role of intellectual capital contributing to the company performance is increasing. To measure the company performance due to intellectual capital, the value-added intellectual capital (VAIC) model is adopted to measure the intellectual capital utilisation efficiency of the subject companies. The purpose of this study is to review the readiness of measuring intellectual capital for the Hong Kong listed companies in the property development and property investment industry by using VAIC model. This study covers the financial reports from the representative Hong Kong listed property development companies and property investment companies in the period 2014-2019. The findings from this study indicated the industry is ready for IC measurement employing VAIC framework but not yet ready for using the extended VAIC model.

Keywords: intellectual capital, intellectual capital measurement, property development, property investment, Skandia navigator, VAIC

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Authors: Peter Temitope Agboola

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Food insecurity continues to affect a large number of U.S households during this coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has threatened the livelihoods of people, making them vulnerable to severe hardship and has had an unanticipated impact on the U.S economy. This study attempts to identify the food insecurity status of households and the determinant factors driving household food insecurity. Additionally, it attempts to discover the mitigation measures adopted by households during the pandemic in the city of Huntsville, Texas. A structured online sample survey was used to collect data, with a household expenditures survey used in evaluating the food security status of the household. Most survey respondents disclosed that the COVID-19 pandemic had affected their life and source of income. Furthermore, the main analytical tool used for the study is descriptive statistics and logistic regression modeling. A logistic regression model was used to determine the factors responsible for food insecurity in the study area. The result revealed that most households in the study area are food secure, with the remainder being food insecure.

Keywords: food insecurity, household expenditure survey, COVID-19, coping strategies, food pantry

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Authors: Rahul Wagh, Sunil Shinde

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Electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as a transformative force in India's transportation sector, offering a sustainable solution to the country's growing energy and environmental challenges. Against the backdrop of rapid urbanization, rising pollution levels, and the need for energy security, EVs have gained traction as a viable alternative to traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the electric vehicle market in India, focusing particularly on the landscape of 2023. It emphasizes key aspects such as the 2023 scenario of EV adoption, the role of indigenous manufacturers, dominant players shaping the market, and the influence of government policies and initiatives, including the FAME I and II schemes. Furthermore, the paper delves into EV sales data for the fiscal year 2023, offering insights into market trends and consumer preferences. By elucidating the current state of EVs in India, this paper aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the country's transition towards sustainable mobility and its implications for energy, the environment, and the economy.

Keywords: EV adoption 2023, FAME schemes, consumer preferences, market trends

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Authors: Heba M. Mohamed

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Owing to scientific and public concern about health and environment and seeking for a better quality of life; “Green”, “Environmentally” and “Eco” friendly practices have been presented and implemented in different research areas. Subsequently, researchers’ attention is drawn in the direction of greening the analytical methodologies and taking the Green Analytical Chemistry principles (GAC) into consideration. It is of high importance to appraise the environmental impact of each of the implemented green approaches. Compared to the other traditional green metrics (E-factor, Atom economy and the process profile), the eco scale is the optimum choice to assess the environmental impact of the analytical procedures used for pharmaceuticals analysis. For analytical methodologies, Eco-Scale is calculated by allotting penalty points to any factor of the used analytical procedure which disagree and not match with the model green analysis, where the perfect green analysis has its Eco-Scale value of 100. In this work, calculation and comparison of the Eco-Scale for some of the reported green analytical methods was done, to accentuate their greening potentials. Where the different scores can reveal how green the method is, compared to the ideal value. The study emphasizes that greenness measurement is not only about the waste quantity determination but also dictates a holistic scheme, considering all factors.

Keywords: eco scale, green analysis, environmentally friendly, pharmaceuticals analysis

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Authors: Harold Jideofor

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The application of Project Management (PM) tools and techniques in the public sector is gradually becoming an important issue in developing economies, especially in a country like Nigeria where projects of different size and structures are undertaken. The paper examined the application of the project management practice in the public sector in Nigeria. The PM lifecycles, tools, and techniques were presented. The study was carried out in Lagos because of its metropolitan nature and rapidly growing economy. Twenty-three copies of questionnaire were administered to 23 public institutions in Lagos to generate primary data. The descriptive analysis techniques using percentages and table presentations coupled with the coefficient of correlation were used for data analysis. The study revealed that application of PM tools and techniques is an essential management approach that tends to achieve specified objectives within specific time and budget limits through the optimum use of resources. Furthermore, the study noted that there is a lack of in-depth knowledge of PM tools and techniques in public sector institutions sampled, also a high cost of the application was also observed by the respondents. The study recommended among others that PM tools and techniques should be applied gradually especially in old government institutions where resistance to change is perceived to be high.

Keywords: project management, public sector, practice, Nigeria

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Authors: A. Durgadevi, S. Pushpavanam

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For the past several decades, CO2 levels have been dramatically increasing in the atmosphere due to the man-made emissions such as fossil fuel-fired power plants. With the increase in CO2 emissions, CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has increased resulting in global warming. This shows the need to study different ways to capture the emitted CO2 directly from the exhausts of power plants or atmosphere. There are several ways to remove CO2, such as absorption into a liquid solvent, adsorption into a solid, cryogenic separation, permeation through membranes and photochemical conversion. In most industries, the absorption of CO2 in chemical solvents (in absorption towers) is used for CO2 capture. In these towers, the mass transfer along with chemical reactions take place between the gas and liquid phase. This helps in the separation of CO2 from other gases. It is important to understand these processes in detail. These flow patterns are difficult to maintain in large scale industrial absorbers. So to get accurate information controlled gas-liquid absorption experiments are carried out in milli-channels in this work under controlled atmosphere. The absorption experiments of CO2 in varying concentrations of sodium hydroxide solution are carried out in T-junction glass milli-channels with a circular cross section (inner diameter of 2mm). The gas and liquid flow rates are controlled by a mass flow controller (MFC) and a Harvard syringe pump respectively. The slug flow in the channel is recorded using a camera and the videos are analysed. The gas slug of pure CO2 is found to decrease in size along the length of the channel due to absorption of gas in the liquid. This is also captured with the model developed and the mass transfer characteristics are studied. The pressure drop across the channel is determined by sum of the pressure drops from the gas slugs and the liquid plugs. A dimensionless correlation for the mass transfer coefficient is developed in terms of Sherwood number and compared with the existing correlations in the literature. They are found to be in close agreement with each other. In this case, due to the presence of chemical reaction, the enhancement of mass transfer is obtained. This is quantified with the help of an enhancement factor.

Keywords: absorption, enhancement factor, mass transfer coefficient, Sherwood number

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Authors: Muhamad Sahir Bin Ahmad Shatiry, Wan Normeza Wan Zakaria, Mohamad Zaki Hassan

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The pandemic Covid19 has significantly impacted the world; the spreading of the Covid19 virus initially from China has dramatically impacted the world's economy. Therefore, the world reacts with establishing the new way or norm in daily life. The rapid rise of the latest technology has been seen by introducing many technologies to ease human life to have a minor contract between humans and avoid spreading the virus Covid19. Digital twin technologies are one of the technologies created before the pandemic Covid19 but slow adoption in the industry. Throughout the Covid19, most of the companies in the world started to explore to use it. The digital twin technology provides the virtual platform to replicate the existing condition or setup for anything such as office, manufacturing line, factories' machine, building, and many more. This study investigates the effect on the economic perspective after the companies use the Digital Twin technology in the industry. To minimize the contact between humans and to have the ability to operate the system digitally remotely. In this study, the explanation of the digital twin technology impacts the world's microeconomic and macroeconomic.

Keywords: productivity, artificially intelligence, IoT, digital twin

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Authors: Irena Maus, Katharina Gabriella Cibis, Andreas Bremges, Yvonne Stolze, Geizecler Tomazetto, Daniel Wibberg, Helmut König, Alfred Pühler, Andreas Schlüter

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Within the agricultural sector, the production of biogas from organic substrates represents an economically attractive technology to generate bioenergy. Complex consortia of microorganisms are responsible for biomass decomposition and biogas production. Recently, species belonging to the phylum Thermotogae were detected in thermophilic biogas-production plants utilizing renewable primary products for biomethanation. To analyze adaptive genome features of representative Thermotogae strains, Defluviitoga tunisiensis L3 was isolated from a rural thermophilic biogas plant (54°C) and completely sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq system. Sequencing and assembly of the D. tunisiensis L3 genome yielded a circular chromosome with a size of 2,053,097 bp and a mean GC content of 31.38%. Functional annotation of the complete genome sequence revealed that the thermophilic strain L3 encodes several genes predicted to facilitate growth of this microorganism on arabinose, galactose, maltose, mannose, fructose, raffinose, ribose, cellobiose, lactose, xylose, xylan, lactate and mannitol. Acetate, hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are supposed to be end products of the fermentation process. The latter gene products are metabolites for methanogenic archaea, the key players in the final step of the anaerobic digestion process. To determine the degree of relatedness of dominant biogas community members within selected digester systems to D. tunisiensis L3, metagenome sequences from corresponding communities were mapped on the L3 genome. These fragment recruitments revealed that metagenome reads originating from a thermophilic biogas plant covered 95% of D. tunisiensis L3 genome sequence. In conclusion, availability of the D. tunisiensis L3 genome sequence and insights into its metabolic capabilities provide the basis for biotechnological exploitation of genome features involved in thermophilic fermentation processes utilizing renewable primary products.

Keywords: genome sequence, thermophilic biogas plant, Thermotogae, Defluviitoga tunisiensis

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Authors: Mohammad Mahdi Paydar, Armin Cheraghalipour, Mostafa Hajiaghaei-Keshteli

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Nowadays, in advanced countries, agriculture as one of the most significant sectors of the economy, plays an important role in its political and economic independence. Due to farmers' lack of information about products' demand and lack of proper planning for harvest time, annually the considerable amount of products is corrupted. Besides, in this paper, we attempt to improve these unfavorable conditions via designing an effective supply chain network that tries to minimize total costs of agricultural products along with minimizing shortage in demand points. To validate the proposed model, a stochastic optimization approach by using a branch and bound solver of the LINGO software is utilized. Furthermore, to accumulate the data of parameters, a case study in Mazandaran province placed in the north of Iran has been applied. Finally, using ɛ-constraint approach, a Pareto front is obtained and one of its Pareto solutions as best solution is selected. Then, related results of this solution are explained. Finally, conclusions and suggestions for the future research are presented.

Keywords: perishable products, stochastic optimization, agricultural supply chain, ɛ-constraint

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Authors: Shabnam Dadparvar, Laijin Shen

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This paper focuses on China’s policy in the Middle East and the rivalry with the U.S. The question is that what are the main factors on China’s Middle East policy and its competition with the U.S? The hypothesis regards to three effective factors: 'China’s energy dependency' on the Middle East, 'economy' and support for 'stability' in the Middle East. What is important in China’s competition with the U.S regarding to its Middle East policy is the substantial difference in ways of treating the countries of the region; China is committed to Westphalia model based on non-interference in internal affairs of the countries and respect the sovereignty of the governments. However, after 9/11, the U.S is seeking a balance between stability and change through intervention in the international affairs and in some cases is looking for a regime change. From the other hand, China, due to its dependency on the region’s energy welcomes America’s military presence in the region for providing stability. The authors by using a descriptive analytical method try to explain the situation of rivalry between China and the United States in Middle East. China is an 'emerging power' with high economic growth and in demand of more energy supply. The problem is that a rising power in the region is often a source of concern for hegemony.

Keywords: China's foreign policy, energy, hegemony, the Middle East

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Authors: Jonghyuk Yoon, Jongil Yoon, Seong-Gyo Chung

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In many kinds of industries which usually need a large amount of power, an axial piston pump has been widely used as a main power source of a hydraulic system. The axial piston pump is a type of positive displacement pump that has several pistons in a circular array within a cylinder block. As the cylinder block and pistons start to rotate, since the exposed ends of the pistons are constrained to follow the surface of the swashed plate, the pistons are driven to reciprocate axially and then a hydraulic power is produced. In the present study, a numerical simulation which has three dimensional full model of the axial piston pump was carried out using a commercial CFD code (Ansys CFX 14.5). In order to take into consideration motion of compression and extension by the reciprocating pistons, the moving boundary conditions were applied as a function of the rotation angle to that region. In addition, this pump using hydraulic oil as working fluid is intentionally designed as a small amount of oil leaks out in order to lubricate moving parts. Since leakage could directly affect the pump efficiency, evaluation of effect of oil-leakage is very important. In order to predict the effect of the oil leakage on the pump efficiency, we considered the leakage between piston-shoe and swash-plate by modeling cylindrical shaped-feature at the end of the cylinder. In order to validate the numerical method used in this study, the numerical results of the flow rate at the discharge port are compared with the experimental data, and good agreement between them was shown. Using the validated numerical method, the effect of the discharge pressure was also investigated. The result of the present study can be useful information of small axial piston pump used in many different manufacturing industries. Acknowledgement: This research was financially supported by the “Next-generation construction machinery component specialization complex development program” through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT).

Keywords: axial piston pump, CFD, discharge pressure, hydraulic system, moving boundary condition, oil leaks

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Authors: Ndivhudzannyi Rembuluwani, Francis Dacosta, Emmanuel Mhlongo

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The small-scale rock aggregate sector of the mining industry is a major source of employment for a significant number of people, particularly in remote rural areas, where alternative livelihoods are rare. It contributes to local economy by generating income and producing major and essential materials for the building, construction, and other industries. However, the sector is confronted with many challenges that hamper productivity and growth. The problems that confront this sector includes: health and safety, environmental impacts, low production and low adherence to mining legislations. This study investigated the challenges confronting selected small-scale rock aggregate mines in the Vhembe District of Limpopo province of South Africa, assesses the health, safety, low production and environmental impacts associated with aggregate production and to develop an integrated approach of addressing the multi-faceted challenges.

Keywords: health and safety, legislative framework, productivity, rock aggregate, small-scale mining

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Authors: Benjamin Anabaraonye, Okafor Joachim Chukwuma, Olamire James

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The impacts of climate change are greatly felt on Nigeria’s agricultural sector which in turn affects the economy of the nation. There is an urgent need to educate farmers and fishermen in rural areas in Nigeria on climate change adaptation and mitigation for sustainable development. Through our literature and participant observation, it has been discovered that many farmers and fishermen in rural areas in Nigeria have little or no knowledge about climate change adaptation and mitigation. This paper seeks to draw the attention of policy makers in government, private sectors, non-governmental organizations and interested individuals to the need to seek for innovative ways of educating farmers and fishermen in rural areas about climate change adaptation and mitigation for global sustainability. This study also explores the effective methods of bridging the communication gaps through efficient information dissemination, intensive awareness outreach, use of climate change poems and blogs, innovative loan scheme to farmers and fishermen, etc. to help ensure that farmers and fishermen in rural areas in Nigeria are adequately educated about climate change adaptation and mitigation for global sustainability.

Keywords: agriculture, climate change, farmers, fishermen

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Authors: Shilpi Tripathi

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India has adopted the policy of economic reforms (Globalization, Liberalization, and Privatization) in 1991 which has reduced the trade barriers and investment restrictions and further increased the economy’s international trade, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. The paper empirically studies the relationship between India’s international trades, GDP, FDI and environment during 1978-2012. The first part of the paper focuses on the background and trends of FDI, GDP, trade, and environment (CO2). The second part focuses on the literature regarding the relationship among all the variables. The last part of paper, we examine the results of empirical analysis like co integration and Granger causality between foreign trade, FDI inflows, GDP and CO2 since 1978. The findings of the paper revealed that there is only one uni- directional causality exists between GDP and trade. The direction of causality reveals that international trade is one of the major contributors to the economic growth (GDP). While, there is no causality found between GDP and FDI, FDI, and CO2 and International trade and CO2. The paper concludes with the policy recommendations that will ensure environmental friendly trade, investment and growth in India for future.

Keywords: international trade, foreign direct investment, GDP, CO2, co-integration, granger causality test

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Authors: Hwayeon Song

Abstract:

The long-term purpose of research and development (R&D) programs is to strengthen national competitiveness by developing new knowledge and technologies. Thus, it is important to determine a proper budget for government programs to maintain the vigor of R&D when the total funding is tight due to the national deficit. In this regard, a ripple effect analysis for the budgetary changes in R&D programs is necessary as well as an investigation of the current status. This study proposes a new approach using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for both tasks. It particularly focuses on R&D programs related to Construction and Transportation (C&T) technology in Korea. First, key factors in C&T technology are explored to draw impact indicators in three areas: economy, society, and science and technology (S&T). Simultaneously, ANN is employed to evaluate the relationship between data variables. From this process, four major components in R&D including research personnel, expenses, management, and equipment are assessed. Then the ripple effect analysis is performed to see the changes in the hypothetical future by modifying current data. Any research findings can offer an alternative strategy about R&D programs as well as a new analysis tool.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Networks, construction and transportation technology, Government Research and Development, Ripple Effect

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Authors: Hafiz Usama Imad, Muhammad Akram Akhund, Tauha Hussain Ali, Ali Raza Khoso, Fida Hussain Siddiqui

Abstract:

Construction industry plays a significant role in fulfilling the major requirements of the human being. It is one of the major constituents of every developed country. Although the construction industry of both the developing and developed countries encompasses a major part of the economy, and millions of rupees are utilized every year on various kinds of construction projects. But, this industry is facing numerous hurdles in terms of its budget and timely completion. Construction projects generally consist of several phases like planning, designing, execution, and finishing. This research study aims to determine the significant factors of time overrun in pre-construction planning (PCP) phase of construction projects in Pakistan. Questionnaires were distributed by various means and responses of respondents were compiled and collected data were then analyzed through a statistical technique using SPSS version 24. Major causes of time overrun in pre-construction planning phase; which is an extremely important phase of construction projects, were revealed. The research conclusion will provide a pathway for stakeholders to pay attention to the mentioned causes to overcome the major issue of time overrun.

Keywords: construction industry, Pakistan, pre-construction planning phase, time overrun

Procedia PDF Downloads 255

Authors: Geoffrey J. Blanford, Christoph Weissbart

Abstract:

The prospects for the European power sector indicate that it has to almost fully decarbonize in order to reach the economy-wide target of CO₂-emission reduction. We apply the EU-REGEN model to explain the penetration of RES from an economic perspective, their spatial distribution, and the complementary role of conventional generation technologies. Furthermore, we identify economic consequences of national energy and climate targets. Our study shows that onshore wind power will be the most crucial generation technology for the future European power sector. Its geographic distribution is driven by resource quality. Gas power will be the major conventional generation technology for backing-up wind power. Moreover, a complete phase out of coal power proves to be not economically optimal. The paper demonstrates that existing national targets have a negative impact, especially on the German region with higher prices and lower revenues. The remaining regions profit are hardly affected. We encourage an EU-wide coordination on the expansion of wind power with harmonized policies. Yet, this requires profitable market structures for both, RES and conventional generation technologies.

Keywords: European, policy evaluation, power sector investment, technology choices

Procedia PDF Downloads 284

Authors: Zhang Bian, Zhao Jijun

Abstract:

The urban layout of Xi’an city (the capital Chang’an in the Tang dynasty) was shaped by feudal etiquette, but this dominant factor was replaced by modern city planning during the period of the Republic of China. This makes Xi’an a representative case to explore the transformation process of Chinese cities in the early 20^th century. By analyzing the contrast and connection between the historical texts of city planning and the realistic construction activities recorded by the maps and images, this paper reviews the transformation process of the urban space of Xi’an in the early 20^th century and divides it into four phases according to important events that significantly impacted planning and construction activities. Based on this, the entire transformation of Xi’an’s city planning and practices can be characterized by three aspects: 1) the dominant force of the city plan and construction changed with the establishment of modern city administrations; 2) the layout of the city was continuously broadened to meet the demand of modern economy and city life; and, 3) the ritual space was transformed into practical space for commercial and recreational activities.

Keywords: city space, the early 20th century, transformation, Xi’an city

Procedia PDF Downloads 164