Search results for: solid state electrolytes
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 9050

Search results for: solid state electrolytes

7310 Collapse Surface Definition of Clayey Sands

Authors: Omid Naeemifar, Ibrahim Naeimifar, Roza Rahbari

Abstract:

It has been shown that a certain collapse surface may be defined for loose sands in the three dimensional space in which the sample sand experiences collapse and instability leading to an unsteady and strain-softening behaviour. The unsteady state due to collapse surface may lead to such phenomena in the sand as liquefaction and flow behaviour during undrained loading. Investigating the existence of the collapse surface in Firoozkooh 161 sand and its different clay mixtures with various plasticities, the present study aims to carry out an in-depth investigation of the effects of clay percent and its plasticity on the clayey sand behaviours. The results obtained indicate that collapse surface characteristics largely depend on fine percent and its plasticity. Interesting findings are also reported in this paper on the effects of fine sand percent and its plasticity on the behavioural characteristics and liquefaction potential of clayey sands.

Keywords: critical state, collapse surface, liquefaction, clayey sand

Procedia PDF Downloads 287
7309 A Neuropsychological Investigation of the Relationship between Anxiety Levels and Loss of Inhibitory Cognitive Control in Ageing and Dementia

Authors: Nasreen Basoudan, Andrea Tales, Frederic Boy

Abstract:

Non-clinical anxiety may be comprised of state anxiety - temporarily experienced anxiety related to a specific situation, and trait anxiety - a longer lasting response or a general disposition to anxiety. While temporary and occasional anxiety whether as a mood state or personality dimension is normal, nonclinical anxiety may influence many more components of information processing than previously recognized. In ageing and dementia-related research, disease characterization now involves attempts to understand a much wider range of brain function such as loss of inhibitory control, as against the more common focus on memory and cognition. However, in many studies, the tendency has been to include individuals with clinical anxiety disorders while excluding persons with lower levels of state or trait anxiety. Loss of inhibitory cognitive control can lead to behaviors such as aggression, reduced sensitivity to others, sociopathic thoughts and actions. Anxiety has also been linked to inhibitory control, with research suggesting that people with anxiety are less capable of inhibiting their emotions than the average person. This study investigates the relationship between anxiety and loss of inhibitory control in younger and older adults, using a variety of questionnaires and computers-based tests. Based on the premise that irrespective of classification, anxiety is associated with a wide range of physical, affective, and cognitive responses, this study explores evidence indicative of the potential influence anxiety per se on loss of inhibitory control, in order to contribute to discussion and appropriate consideration of anxiety-related factors in methodological practice.

Keywords: anxiety, ageing, dementia, inhibitory control

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7308 Thermal Stability and Electrical Conductivity of Ca₅Mg₄₋ₓMₓ(VO₄)₆ (0 ≤ x ≤ 4) where M = Zn, Ni Measured by Impedance Spectroscopy

Authors: Anna S. Tolkacheva, Sergey N. Shkerin, Kirill G. Zemlyanoi, Olga G. Reznitskikh, Pavel D. Khavlyuk

Abstract:

Calcium oxovanadates with garnet related structure are multifunctional oxides in various fields like photoluminescence, microwave dielectrics, and magneto-dielectrics. For example, vanadate garnets are self-luminescent compounds. They attract attention as RE-free broadband excitation and emission phosphors and are candidate materials for UV-based white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). Ca₅M₄(VO₄)₆ (M = Mg, Zn, Co, Ni, Mn) compounds are also considered promising for application in microwave devices as substrate materials. However, the relation between their structure, composition and physical/chemical properties remains unclear. Given the above-listed observations, goals of this study are to synthesise Ca₅M₄(VO₄)₆ (M = Mg, Zn, Ni) and to study their thermal and electrical properties. Solid solutions Ca₅Mg₄₋ₓMₓ(VO₄)₆ (0 ≤ x ≤ 4) where M is Zn and Ni have been synthesized by sol-gel method. The single-phase character of the final products was checked by powder X-ray diffraction on a Rigaku D/MAX-2200 X-ray diffractometer using Cu Kα radiation in the 2θ range from 15° to 70°. The dependence of thermal properties on chemical composition of solid solutions was studied using simultaneous thermal analyses (DSC and TG). Thermal analyses were conducted in a Netzch simultaneous analyser STA 449C Jupiter, in Ar atmosphere, in temperature range from 25 to 1100°C heat rate was 10 K·min⁻¹. Coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) were obtained by dilatometry measurements in air up to 800°C using a Netzsch 402PC dilatometer; heat rate was 1 K·min⁻¹. Impedance spectra were obtained via the two-probe technique with an impedance meter Parstat 2273 in air up to 700°C with the variation of pH₂O from 0.04 to 3.35 kPa. Cation deficiency in Ca and Mg sublattice under the substitution of MgO with ZnO up to 1/6 was observed using Rietveld refinement of the crystal structure. Melting point was found to decrease with x changing from 0 to 4 in Ca₅Mg₄₋ₓMₓ(VO₄)₆ where M is Zn and Ni. It was observed that electrical conductivity does not depend on air humidity. The reported study was funded by the RFBR Grant No. 17–03–01280. Sample attestation was carried out in the Shared Access Centers at the IHTE UB RAS.

Keywords: garnet structure, electrical conductivity, thermal expansion, thermal properties

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7307 Research on the Protection and Development of Ancient Town Cultural Landscape Based on “Four State” Elements: Illustrated by the Example of Qikou

Authors: Bian ChengXiang, Wang Qian

Abstract:

With the deepening of the research on the connotation of cultural heritage and human geography, the cultural landscape takes landscape as a cultural product, integrates and blends cultural and natural heritage to explore the cultural value behind its material landscape. Qikou ancient town is a typical traditional settlement with a homomorphism of mountain and water veins. Its cultural accumulation and natural landscape play an important role in its development. Therefore, this paper will combine the material and cultural elements of Qikou ancient town to analyze the composition of the cultural landscape of the ancient town and explore the protection and utilization of the cultural landscape of Qikou ancient town from the four aspects of ecology, form, cultural form, and business form, so as to provide effective strategies for the development of the ancient town.

Keywords: four state, cultural landscape, ancient town, protection, development

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7306 Investigating Causes of Pavement Deterioration in Khartoum State, Sudan

Authors: Magdi Mohamed Eltayeb Zumrawi

Abstract:

It is quite essential to investigate the causes of pavement deterioration in order to select the proper maintenance technique. The objective of this study was to identify factors cause deterioration of recently constructed roads in Khartoum state. A comprehensive literature concerning the factors of road deterioration, common road defects and their causes were reviewed. Three major road projects with different deterioration reasons were selected for this study. The investigation involved field survey and laboratory testing on those projects to examine the existing pavement conditions. The results revealed that the roads investigated experienced severe failures in the forms of cracks, potholes and rutting in the wheel path. The causes of those failures were found mainly linked to poor drainage, traffic overloading, expansive subgrade soils and the use of low quality materials in construction. Based on the results, recommendations were provided to help highway engineers in selecting the most effective repair techniques for specific kinds of distresses.

Keywords: pavement, deterioration, causes, failures

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7305 Foreign Policy and National Security Dilemma: Examining Nigerian Experience

Authors: Shuaibu Umar Abdul

Abstract:

The essence of any state as well as government is to ensure and advance the security of lives and property of its citizens. As a result, providing security in all spheres ranging from safeguarding the territorial integrity, security of lives and property of the citizens as well as economic emancipation have constitute the core objectives cum national interest of virtually all country’s foreign policy in the world. In view of this imperative above, Nigeria has enshrined in the early part of her 1999 constitution as amended, as its duty and responsibility as a state, to ensure security of lives and property of its citizens. Yet, it does not make any significant shift as it relates to the country’s fundamental security needs as exemplified by the current enormous security challenges that reduced the country’s fortune to the background in all ramifications. The study chooses realist paradigm as theoretical underpinning which emphasizes that exigency of the moment should always take priority in the pursuit of foreign policy. The study is historical, descriptive and narrative in method and character. Data for the study was sourced from secondary sources and analysed via content analysis. The study found out that it is lack of political will on the side of the government to guarantee a just and egalitarian society that will be of benefit to all citizens. This could be more appreciated when looking at the gaps between the theory in Nigerian foreign policy and the practice as exemplified by the action or inaction of the government to ensure security in the state. On this account, the study recommends that until the leaderships in Nigerian foreign policy recognized the need for political will and respect for constitutionalism to ensure security of its citizens and territory, otherwise achieving great Nigeria will remain an illusion.

Keywords: foreign policy, nation, national security, Nigeria, security

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7304 Identifying Concerned Citizen Communication Style During the State Parliamentary Elections in Bavaria

Authors: Volker Mittendorf, Andre Schmale

Abstract:

In this case study, we want to explore the Twitter-use of candidates during the state parliamentary elections-year 2018 in Bavaria, Germany. This paper focusses on the seven parties that probably entered the parliament. Against this background, the paper classifies the use of language as populism which itself is considered as a political communication style. First, we determine the election campaigns which started in the years 2017 on Twitter, after that we categorize the posting times of the different direct candidates in order to derive ideal types from our empirical data. Second, we have done the exploration based on the dictionary of concerned citizens which contains German political language of the right and the far right. According to that, we are analyzing the corpus with methods of text mining and social network analysis, and afterwards we display the results in a network of words of concerned citizen communication style (CCCS).

Keywords: populism, communication style, election, text mining, social media

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7303 A Time since of Injection Model for Hepatitis C Amongst People Who Inject Drugs

Authors: Nader Al-Rashidi, David Greenhalgh

Abstract:

Mathematical modelling techniques are now being used by health organizations worldwide to help understand the likely impact that intervention strategies treatment options and combinations of these have on the prevalence and incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the people who inject drugs (PWID) population. In this poster, we develop a deterministic, compartmental mathematical model to approximate the spread of the HCV in a PWID population that has been divided into two groups by time since onset of injection. The model assumes that after injection needles adopt the most infectious state of their previous state or that of the PWID who last injected with them. Using analytical techniques, we find that the model behaviour is determined by the basic reproductive number R₀, where R₀ = 1 is a critical threshold separating two different outcomes. The disease-free equilibrium is globally stable if R₀ ≤ 1 and unstable if R₀ > 1. Additionally, we make some simulations where have confirmed that the model tends to this endemic equilibrium value with realistic parameter values giving an HCV prevalence.

Keywords: hepatitis C, people who inject drugs, HCV, PWID

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7302 Ethno-Botanical Diversity and Conservation Status of Medicinal Flora at High Terrains of Garhwal (Uttarakhand) Himalaya, India: A Case Study in Context to Multifarious Tourism Growth and Peri-Urban Encroachments

Authors: Aravind Kumar

Abstract:

The high terrains of Garhwal (Uttarakhand) Himalaya are the niches of a number of rare and endemic plant species of great therapeutic importance. However, the wild flora of the area is still under a constant threat due to rapid upsurge in human interferences, especially through multifarious tourism growth and peri-urban encroachments. After getting the status of a ‘Special State’ of the country since its inception in the year 2000, this newly borne State led to very rapid infrastructural growth and development. Consequently, its townships started expanding in an unmanaged way grabbing nearby agricultural lands and forest areas into peri-urban landscapes. Simultaneously, a boom in tourism and pilgrimage in the state and the infrastructural facilities raised by the government for tourists/pilgrims are destroying its biodiversity. Field survey revealed 242 plant species of therapeutic significance naturally growing in the area and being utilized by local inhabitants as traditional medicines. On conservation scale, 6 species (2.2%) were identified as critically endangered, 19 species (7.1%) as the endangered ones, 8 species (3.0%) under rare category, 17 species (6.4%) as threatened and 14 species (5.2%) as vulnerable. The Government of India has brought mega-biodiversity hot spots of the state under Biosphere Reserve, National Parks, etc. restricting all kinds of human interferences; however, the two most sacred shrines of Hindus and Sikhs viz. Shri Badrinath and Shri Hemkunt Sahib, and two great touristic attractions viz. Valley of Flowers and Auli-Joshimath Skiing Track oblige the government to maintain equilibrium between entries of visitors vis-à-vis biodiversity conservation in high terrains of Uttarakhand Himalaya.

Keywords: biodiversity conservation, ethno-botany, Garhwal (Uttarakhand) Himalaya, peri-urban encroachment, pilgrimage and tourism

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7301 Comparison of Yb and Tm-Fiber Laser Cutting Processes of Fiber Reinforced Plastics

Authors: Oktay Celenk, Ugur Karanfil, Iskender Demir, Samir Lamrini, Jorg Neumann, Arif Demir

Abstract:

Due to its favourable material characteristics, fiber reinforced plastics are amongst the main topics of all actual lightweight construction megatrends. Especially in transportation trends ranging from aeronautics over the automotive industry to naval transportation (yachts, cruise liners) the expected economic and environmental impact is huge. In naval transportation components like yacht bodies, antenna masts, decorative structures like deck lamps, light houses and pool areas represent cheap and robust solutions. Commercially available laser tools like carbon dioxide gas lasers (CO₂), frequency tripled solid state UV lasers, and Neodymium-YAG (Nd:YAG) lasers can be used. These tools have emission wavelengths of 10 µm, 0.355 µm, and 1.064 µm, respectively. The scientific goal is first of all the generation of a parameter matrix for laser processing of each used material for a Tm-fiber laser system (wavelength 2 µm). These parameters are the heat affected zone, process gas pressure, work piece feed velocity, intensity, irradiation time etc. The results are compared with results obtained with well-known material processing lasers, such as a Yb-fiber lasers (wavelength 1 µm). Compared to the CO₂-laser, the Tm-laser offers essential advantages for future laser processes like cutting, welding, ablating for repair and drilling in composite part manufacturing (components of cruise liners, marine pipelines). Some of these are the possibility of beam delivery in a standard fused silica fiber which enables hand guided processing, eye safety which results from the wavelength, excellent beam quality and brilliance due to the fiber nature. There is one more feature that is economically absolutely important for boat, automotive and military projects manufacturing that the wavelength of 2 µm is highly absorbed by the plastic matrix and thus enables selective removal of it for repair procedures.

Keywords: Thulium (Tm) fiber laser, laser processing of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP), composite, heat affected zone

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7300 Women Entrepreneurship as an Inventive Approach to Ensure a Sustainable Development in Anambra State

Authors: S. Muogbo Uju, U. Akpunonu Evan

Abstract:

The prevailing harsh environment factors coupled with high poverty rate and unemployment propels a high rate of entrepreneurial activities in developing economies. Women entrepreneurs operate with gender bias among other constraints that can constitute a threats or create opportunity for women entrepreneurs. This empirical paper investigates and critically examines women entrepreneurship as an inventive approach to ensure a sustainable development in Anambra state. The study used descriptive statistics (frequencies, mean, and percentages) to answer the three research questions posed. Hypotheses testing were done with Pearson product moment correlation and multiple regression were employed in data analysis. Consequently, the finding of this study portrayed a significant impact between women entrepreneurship activity, job creation and wealth creation.

Keywords: women entrepreneurs, skill acquisition, sustainability, wealth creation, job creation, economic development

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7299 Pair Interaction in Transition-Metal Nanoparticles

Authors: Nikolay E. Dubinin

Abstract:

Pair-interaction approximations allow to consider a different states of condensed matter from a single position. At the same time, description of an effective pair interaction in transition metal is a hard task since the d-electron contribution to the potential energy in this case is non-pairwise in principle. There are a number of models for transition-metal effective pair potentials. Here we use the Wills-Harrison (WH) approach to calculate pair potentials for Fe, Co, and Ni in crystalline, liquid, and nano states. Last is especially interesting since nano particles of pure transition metals immobilized on the dielectric matrices are widely used in different fields of advanced technologies: as carriers and transmitters of information, as an effective catalytic materials, etc. It is found that the minimum of the pair potential is deeper and oscillations are stronger in nano crystalline state in comparison with the liquid and crystalline states for all metals under consideration.

Keywords: effective pair potential, nanocrystalline state, transition metal, Wills-Harrison approach

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7298 Analysis of Friction Stir Welding Process for Joining Aluminum Alloy

Authors: A. M. Khourshid, I. Sabry

Abstract:

Friction Stir Welding (FSW), a solid state joining technique, is widely being used for joining Al alloys for aerospace, marine automotive and many other applications of commercial importance. FSW were carried out using a vertical milling machine on Al 5083 alloy pipe. These pipe sections are relatively small in diameter, 5mm, and relatively thin walled, 2 mm. In this study, 5083 aluminum alloy pipe were welded as similar alloy joints using (FSW) process in order to investigate mechanical and microstructural properties .rotation speed 1400 r.p.m and weld speed 10,40,70 mm/min. In order to investigate the effect of welding speeds on mechanical properties, metallographic and mechanical tests were carried out on the welded areas. Vickers hardness profile and tensile tests of the joints as a metallurgical feasibility of friction stir welding for joining Al 6061 aluminum alloy welding was performed on pipe with different thickness 2, 3 and 4 mm,five rotational speeds (485,710,910,1120 and 1400) rpm and a traverse speed (4, 8 and 10)mm/min was applied. This work focuses on two methods such as artificial neural networks using software (pythia) and response surface methodology (RSM) to predict the tensile strength, the percentage of elongation and hardness of friction stir welded 6061 aluminum alloy. An artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed for the analysis of the friction stir welding parameters of 6061 pipe. The tensile strength, the percentage of elongation and hardness of weld joints were predicted by taking the parameters Tool rotation speed, material thickness and travel speed as a function. A comparison was made between measured and predicted data. Response surface methodology (RSM) also developed and the values obtained for the response Tensile strengths, the percentage of elongation and hardness are compared with measured values. The effect of FSW process parameter on mechanical properties of 6061 aluminum alloy has been analyzed in detail.

Keywords: friction stir welding (FSW), al alloys, mechanical properties, microstructure

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7297 Dependence of the Photoelectric Exponent on the Source Spectrum of the CT

Authors: Rezvan Ravanfar Haghighi, V. C. Vani, Suresh Perumal, Sabyasachi Chatterjee, Pratik Kumar

Abstract:

X-ray attenuation coefficient [µ(E)] of any substance, for energy (E), is a sum of the contributions from the Compton scattering [ μCom(E)] and photoelectric effect [µPh(E)]. In terms of the, electron density (ρe) and the effective atomic number (Zeff) we have µCom(E) is proportional to [(ρe)fKN(E)] while µPh(E) is proportional to [(ρeZeffx)/Ey] with fKN(E) being the Klein-Nishina formula, with x and y being the exponents for photoelectric effect. By taking the sample's HU at two different excitation voltages (V=V1, V2) of the CT machine, we can solve for X=ρe, Y=ρeZeffx from these two independent equations, as is attempted in DECT inversion. Since µCom(E) and µPh(E) are both energy dependent, the coefficients of inversion are also dependent on (a) the source spectrum S(E,V) and (b) the detector efficiency D(E) of the CT machine. In the present paper we tabulate these coefficients of inversion for different practical manifestations of S(E,V) and D(E). The HU(V) values from the CT follow: <µ(V)>=<µw(V)>[1+HU(V)/1000] where the subscript 'w' refers to water and the averaging process <….> accounts for the source spectrum S(E,V) and the detector efficiency D(E). Linearity of μ(E) with respect to X and Y implies that (a) <µ(V)> is a linear combination of X and Y and (b) for inversion, X and Y can be written as linear combinations of two independent observations <µ(V1)>, <µ(V2)> with V1≠V2. These coefficients of inversion would naturally depend upon S(E, V) and D(E). We numerically investigate this dependence for some practical cases, by taking V = 100 , 140 kVp, as are used for cardiological investigations. The S(E,V) are generated by using the Boone-Seibert source spectrum, being superposed on aluminium filters of different thickness lAl with 7mm≤lAl≤12mm and the D(E) is considered to be that of a typical Si[Li] solid state and GdOS scintilator detector. In the values of X and Y, found by using the calculated inversion coefficients, errors are below 2% for data with solutions of glycerol, sucrose and glucose. For low Zeff materials like propionic acid, Zeffx is overestimated by 20% with X being within1%. For high Zeffx materials like KOH the value of Zeffx is underestimated by 22% while the error in X is + 15%. These imply that the source may have additional filtering than the aluminium filter specified by the manufacturer. Also it is found that the difference in the values of the inversion coefficients for the two types of detectors is negligible. The type of the detector does not affect on the DECT inversion algorithm to find the unknown chemical characteristic of the scanned materials. The effect of the source should be considered as an important factor to calculate the coefficients of inversion.

Keywords: attenuation coefficient, computed tomography, photoelectric effect, source spectrum

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7296 Structural Analysis of Username Segment in E-Mail Addresses of Engineering Institutes of Gujarat State of India

Authors: Jatinderkumar R. Saini

Abstract:

E-mail has become a key mechanism of electronic communication. This is truer for professional organizations that like to communicate with their subjects online and are slowly shifting to paper-less office. The current paper focuses specifically on academic institutions offering Engineering course in Gujarat state and attempts for textual analysis of the usernames of the institutional e-mail addresses. We found that the institutions tend to design the username segment of their e-mail addresses by choosing words or combination of words from specific categories. The paper also highlights the use of special characters, digits and random words in designing the usernames. On the sidelines, the paper lists the style of employing department names and designations for the design process. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first formal attempt to analyze the selection of words employed for designing username segment of e-mail addresses of Engineering institutions.

Keywords: e-mail address, institute, engineering, username

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7295 Body Weight Variation in Indian Heterogeneous Group-An Analytical Study

Authors: A. K. Srivastva

Abstract:

Body weight is considered as an important factor in health and fitness. It is an index of one's health. Considering significance of body weight and its wider application in various fields in general and sports in particular, it is made a point of enquiry in the present study. The purpose of the study to observe over all weight pattern of Indian youths in the age group of 15 through 20 years. Total 7500 samples pooled from ten Indian states ranging in their age 15 to 20 years were examined in six age categories. Conclusion: 1. The period between 15 to 20 year of age is a growing period and that body weight is gained during this period. 2. Statewise difference is observed in body-weight during the period, which is significant. 3. PRG indicated by higher rate of weight gain varies from state to state. 4. Sportsman possess comparatively higer level of body-weight than other student of same age group. 5. Tribal youths show comparatively better status in their weight gain than the untrained uraban dwellers.

Keywords: PRG (period of rapid growth), HG (heterogeneous group), WP (weight pattern), MBW (mean body weight)

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7294 Evaluation of the Implementation of Public Examination Chief Examiners’ Reports in Mathematics Curriculum Contents in Ekiti State Secondary Schools, Nigeria

Authors: Oginni Omoniyi Israel

Abstract:

The study investigated the evaluation of the implementation of public examination chief examiners’ reports in Mathematics curriculum contents in Ekiti State Senior Secondary schools, Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive research of survey design. The population for the study comprised 694 Mathematics teachers in Senior Secondary schools and 26,292 Senior Secondary School III students spread across the three senatorial districts in Ekiti State. The sample consisted of 60 Mathematics teachers and 120 students using a multi-stage sampling procedure. The instruments used in the study were: ‘Questionnaire on Teachers Implementation of Chief Examiners’ Report and Mathematics Curriculum Contents (QTICERMCC) and Questionnaire on Students Knowledge of Chief Examiners’ Report and Mathematics Curriculum Contents Implementation (SIERMCC)’. The instruments were validated by using face and content validity. The reliability of the two instruments was tested using Cronbach’s Alpha test. The coefficient of reliability of the instruments was 0.85 and 0.87, respectively. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, means, percentages and standard deviation to answer the evaluation questions, while inferential statistics such as Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Analysis were used to test the hypotheses and were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that there was a significant relationship between awareness, availability, and accessibility of Chief Examiners’ Report in Mathematics. The findings also showed that there was a significant relationship between awareness, availability and accessibility of Mathematics curriculum. There was also a significant relationship between the implementation of the Chief Examiners’ Report in Mathematics between teachers and students. Also, the findings revealed there was no significant relationship between the teacher implementation contents of the mathematics curriculum and students' access to the Mathematics curriculum. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the examination bodies should organize an enlightenment programme annually to create awareness on the utilization of the Chief Examiners’ Report for teachers, school administrators, government and students; the Ministry of Education should ensure that school administrators use Chief Examiners’ Report as one of the classroom delivery notes to prepare their students for external examinations; State Ministry of Education should make available Mathematics curriculum contents to various schools in Ekiti State; government and school administrators should organize training and re-training for teachers on difficult contents in the Mathematics curriculum.

Keywords: evaluation, implementation, public examination, chief examiners’ reports, curriculum contents

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7293 Numerical Investigation of a New Two-Fluid Model for Semi-Dilute Polymer Solutions

Authors: Soroush Hooshyar, Mohamadali Masoudian, Natalie Germann

Abstract:

Many soft materials such as polymer solutions can develop localized bands with different shear rates, which are known as shear bands. Using the generalized bracket approach of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, we recently developed a new two-fluid model to study shear banding for semi-dilute polymer solutions. The two-fluid approach is an appropriate means for describing diffusion processes such as Fickian diffusion and stress-induced migration. In this approach, it is assumed that the local gradients in concentration and, if accounted for, also stress generate a nontrivial velocity difference between the components. Since the differential velocity is treated as a state variable in our model, the implementation of the boundary conditions arising from the derivative diffusive terms is straightforward. Our model is a good candidate for benchmark simulations because of its simplicity. We analyzed its behavior in cylindrical Couette flow, a rectilinear channel flow, and a 4:1 planar contraction flow. The latter problem was solved using the OpenFOAM finite volume package and the impact of shear banding on the lip and salient vortices was investigated. For the other smooth geometries, we employed a standard Chebyshev pseudospectral collocation method. The results showed that the steady-state solution is unique with respect to initial conditions, deformation history, and the value of the diffusivity constant. However, smaller the value of the diffusivity constant is, the more time it takes to reach the steady state.

Keywords: nonequilibrium thermodynamics, planar contraction, polymer solutions, shear banding, two-fluid approach

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7292 The Formulation of the Mecelle and Other Codified Laws in the Ottoman Empire: Transformation Overturning the Sharia Principles

Authors: Tianqi Yin

Abstract:

The sharia had been the legislative basis in the Ottoman Empire since its emergence. The authority of sharia was superlative in the Islamic society compared to the power of the sulta, the nominal ruler of the nation, regulating essentially every aspect of people’s lives according to an ethical code. In modernity, however, as European sovereignty employed forces to re-engineer the Islamic world to make it more like their own, a society ruled by a state, the Ottoman legislation system encountered a great challenge of adopting codified laws to replace sharia with the formulation of the Mecelle being a prominent case. Interpretations of this transformation have been contentious, with the key debate revolving around whether these codified laws are authentic representations of sharia or alien legal formulations authorized by the modern nation-state under heavy European colonial influence. Because of the difference in methodology of the diverse theories, challenges toward having a universal conclusion on this issue remain. This paper argues that the formulation of the Mecelle and other codified laws is a discontinuity of sharia due to European modernity’s influence and that the emphasis on elements of Islamic laws is a tactic employed to promote this process. These codified laws signals a complete social transformation from the Islamic society ruled by the sharia to a replication of the European society that is ruled by a comprehensive ruling system of the modern state. In addition to advancing the discussion on the characterization of the codification movement in the Ottoman Empire in modernity, the research also promotes the determination of the nature of the modern codification movement globally.

Keywords: codification, mecelle, modernity, sharia, ottoman empire

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7291 Application of Lean Six Sigma Tools to Minimize Time and Cost in Furniture Packaging

Authors: Suleiman Obeidat, Nabeel Mandahawi

Abstract:

In this work, the packaging process for a move is improved. The customers of this move need their household stuff to be moved from their current house to the new one with minimum damage, in an organized manner, on time and with the minimum cost. Our goal was to improve the process between 10% and 20% time efficiency, 90% reduction in damaged parts and an acceptable improvement in the cost of the total move process. The expected ROI was 833%. Many improvement techniques have been used in terms of the way the boxes are prepared, their preparation cost, packing the goods, labeling them and moving them to a place for moving out. DMAIC technique is used in this work: SIPOC diagram, value stream map of “As Is” process, Root Cause Analysis, Maps of “Future State” and “Ideal State” and an Improvement Plan. A value of ROI=624% is obtained which is lower than the expected value of 833%. The work explains the techniques of improvement and the deficiencies in the old process.

Keywords: packaging, lean tools, six sigma, DMAIC methodology, SIPOC

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7290 Multimodal Characterization of Emotion within Multimedia Space

Authors: Dayo Samuel Banjo, Connice Trimmingham, Niloofar Yousefi, Nitin Agarwal

Abstract:

Technological advancement and its omnipresent connection have pushed humans past the boundaries and limitations of a computer screen, physical state, or geographical location. It has provided a depth of avenues that facilitate human-computer interaction that was once inconceivable such as audio and body language detection. Given the complex modularities of emotions, it becomes vital to study human-computer interaction, as it is the commencement of a thorough understanding of the emotional state of users and, in the context of social networks, the producers of multimodal information. This study first acknowledges the accuracy of classification found within multimodal emotion detection systems compared to unimodal solutions. Second, it explores the characterization of multimedia content produced based on their emotions and the coherence of emotion in different modalities by utilizing deep learning models to classify emotion across different modalities.

Keywords: affective computing, deep learning, emotion recognition, multimodal

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7289 3D Interpenetrated Network Based on 1,3-Benzenedicarboxylate and 1,2-Bis(4-Pyridyl) Ethane

Authors: Laura Bravo-García, Gotzone Barandika, Begoña Bazán, M. Karmele Urtiaga, Luis M. Lezama, María I. Arriortua

Abstract:

Solid coordination networks (SCNs) are materials consisting of metal ions or clusters that are linked by polyfunctional organic ligands and can be designed to form tridimensional frameworks. Their structural features, as for example high surface areas, thermal stability, and in other cases large cavities, have opened a wide range of applications in fields like drug delivery, host-guest chemistry, biomedical imaging, chemical sensing, heterogeneous catalysis and others referred to greenhouse gases storage or even separation. In this sense, the use of polycarboxylate anions and dipyridyl ligands is an effective strategy to produce extended structures with the needed characteristics for these applications. In this context, a novel compound, [Cu4(m-BDC)4(bpa)2DMF]•DMF has been obtained by microwave synthesis, where m-BDC is 1,3-benzenedicarboxylate and bpa 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane. The crystal structure can be described as a three dimensional framework formed by two equal, interpenetrated networks. Each network consists of two different CuII dimers. Dimer 1 have two coppers with a square pyramidal coordination, and dimer 2 have one with a square pyramidal coordination and other with octahedral one, the last dimer is unique in literature. Therefore, the combination of both type of dimers is unprecedented. Thus, benzenedicarboxylate ligands form sinusoidal chains between the same type of dimers, and also connect both chains forming these layers in the (100) plane. These layers are connected along the [100] direction through the bpa ligand, giving rise to a 3D network with 10 Å2 voids in average. However, the fact that there are two interpenetrated networks results in a significant reduction of the available volume. Structural analysis was carried out by means of single crystal X-ray diffraction and IR spectroscopy. Thermal and magnetic properties have been measured by means of thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray thermodiffractometry (TDX), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Additionally, CO2 and CH4 high pressure adsorption measurements have been carried out for this compound.

Keywords: gas adsorption, interpenetrated networks, magnetic measurements, solid coordination network (SCN), thermal stability

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7288 Single Mothers by Choice at Corona Time - The Perception of Social Support, Happiness and Work-Family Conflict and their Effect on State Anxiety

Authors: Orit Shamir Balderman, Shamir Michal

Abstract:

Israel often deals with crisis situations, but most have been characterized as security crises (e.g., war). This is the first time that the Israel has dealt with a health and social emergency as part of a global crisis. The crisis began in January 2020 with the emergence of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), which was defined as a pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020) and arrived in Israel in early March 2020. This study examined how single mothers by choice (SMBC) experience state anxiety (SA), social support, work–family conflict (WFC), and happiness. This group has not been studied in the context of crises in general or a global crisis. Using a snowball sample, 386 SMBCanswered an online questionnaire. The findings show a negative relationship between income and level of state anxiety. State anxiety was also negatively associated with social support, level of happiness, and WFC. Finally, a stepwise regression analysis indicated that happiness explained 34% of the variance in SA. We also found that most of the women did not turn to formal support agencies such as social workers, other Government Ministries, or municipal welfare. A positive and strong correlations was also found between SA and WFC. The findings of the study reinforce the understanding that although these women made a conscious and informed decision regarding the choice of their family cell, their situation is more complex in the absence of a spouse support. Therefore, this study, as other future studies in the field of SMBC, may contribute to the improvement of their social status and the understanding that they are a unique group. Although SMBC are a growing sector of society in the past few years, there are still special needs and special attention that is needed from the formal and informal supports systems. A comparative study of these two groups and in different countries would shed light on SA among mothers in general, regardless of their relationship status and location.Researchers should expand this study by comparing mothers in relationships and exploring how SMBC coped in other countries. In summary, the findings of the study contribute knowledge on three levels: (a) knowledge about SMBC in general and during crisis situations; (b) examination of social support using tools assessing receipt of assistance and support, some of which were developed for the present study; and (c) insights regarding counseling, accompaniment, and guidance of welfare mechanisms.

Keywords: single mothers by choice, state anxiety, social support, happiness, work–family conflict

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7287 Measuring Resource Recovery and Environmental Benefits of Global Waste Management System Using the Zero Waste Index

Authors: Atiq Uz Zaman

Abstract:

Sustainable waste management is one of the major global challenges that we face today. A poor waste management system not only symbolises the inefficiency of our society but also depletes valuable resources and emits pollutions to the environment. Presently, we extract more natural resources than ever before in order to meet the demand for constantly growing resource consumption. It is estimated that around 71 tonnes of ‘upstream’ materials are used for every tonne of MSW. Therefore, resource recovery from waste potentially offsets a significant amount of upstream resource being depleted. This study tries to measure the environmental benefits of global waste management systems by applying a tool called the Zero Waste Index (ZWI). The ZWI measures the waste management performance by accounting for the potential amount of virgin material that can be offset by recovering resources from waste. In addition, the ZWI tool also considers the energy, GHG and water savings by offsetting virgin materials and recovering energy from waste. This study analyses the municipal solid waste management system of 172 countries from all over the globe and the population covers in the study is 3.37 billion. This study indicates that we generated around 1.47 billion tonnes (436kg/cap/year) of municipal solid waste each year and the waste generation is increasing over time. This study also finds a strong and positive correlation (R2=0.29, p = < .001) between income (GDP/capita/year) and amount of waste generated (kg/capita/year). About 84% of the waste is collected globally and only 15% of the collected waste is recycled. The ZWI of the world is measured in this study of 0.12, which means that the current waste management system potentially offsets only 12% of the total virgin material substitution potential from waste. Annually, an average person saved around 219kWh of energy, emitted around 48kg of GHG and saved around 38l of water. Findings of this study are very important to measure the current waste management performance in a global context. In addition, the study also analysed countries waste management performance based on their income level.

Keywords: global performance, material substitution; municipal waste, resource recovery, waste management, zero waste index

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7286 Non-Governmental Organisations and Human Development in Bauchi State, Nigeria

Authors: Sadeeq Launi

Abstract:

NGOs, the world over, have been recognized as part of the institutions that complement government activities in providing services to the people, particularly in respect of human development. This study examined the role played by the NGOs in human development in Bauchi State, Nigeria, between 2004 and 2013. The emphasis was on reproductive health and access to education role of the selected NGOs. All the research questions, objectives and hypotheses were stated in line with these variables. The theoretical framework that guided the study was the participatory development approach. Being a survey research, data were generated from both primary and secondary sources with questionnaires and interviews as the instruments for generating the primary data. The population of the study was made up of the staff of the selected NGOs, beneficiaries, health staff and school teachers in Bauchi State. The sample drawn from these categories were 90, 107 and 148 units respectively. Stratified random and simple random sampling techniques were adopted for NGOs staff, and Health staff and school teachers data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively and hypotheses were tested using Pearson Chi-square test through SPSS computer statistical package. The study revealed that despite the challenges facing NGOs operations in the study area, NGOs rendered services in the areas of health and education This research recommends among others that, both government and people should be more cooperative to NGOs to enable them provide more efficient and effective services. Governments at all levels should be more dedicated to increasing accessibility and affordability of basic education and reproductive health care facilities and services in Bauchi state through committing more resources to the Health and Education sectors, this would support and facilitate the complementary role of NGOs in providing teaching facilities, drugs, and other reproductive health services in the States. More enlightenment campaigns should be carried out by governments to sensitize the public, particularly women on the need to embrace immunization programmes for their children and antenatal care services being provided by both the government and NGOs.

Keywords: access to education, human development, NGOs, reproductive health

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7285 The Decision to Remit is a Matter of Interpersonal Trust

Authors: Kamal Kasmaoui, Farid Makhlouf

Abstract:

This article seeks to assess the role of the level of interpersonal trust in a country in the remittance landscape. Using historical data from the 2010-2014 wave of the World Value Survey (WVS) for interpersonal trust, our findings underline the substitution role played by the interpersonal trust with remittances. More accurately, remittances tend to drop when the rate of interpersonal trust in the country of origin is high. Overall, a rise in trust is likely to underpin social cohesion, limiting, therefore, the need for remittances. These results are still fairly solid and unambiguous after controlling for confounding factors and possible reverse causality.

Keywords: interpersonal trust, social capital, remittances, 2SLS

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7284 Modeling and Statistical Analysis of a Soap Production Mix in Bejoy Manufacturing Industry, Anambra State, Nigeria

Authors: Okolie Chukwulozie Paul, Iwenofu Chinwe Onyedika, Sinebe Jude Ebieladoh, M. C. Nwosu

Abstract:

The research work is based on the statistical analysis of the processing data. The essence is to analyze the data statistically and to generate a design model for the production mix of soap manufacturing products in Bejoy manufacturing company Nkpologwu, Aguata Local Government Area, Anambra state, Nigeria. The statistical analysis shows the statistical analysis and the correlation of the data. T test, Partial correlation and bi-variate correlation were used to understand what the data portrays. The design model developed was used to model the data production yield and the correlation of the variables show that the R2 is 98.7%. However, the results confirm that the data is fit for further analysis and modeling. This was proved by the correlation and the R-squared.

Keywords: General Linear Model, correlation, variables, pearson, significance, T-test, soap, production mix and statistic

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7283 Investigation of Nucleation and Thermal Conductivity of Waxy Crude Oil on Pipe Wall via Particle Dynamics

Authors: Jinchen Cao, Tiantian Du

Abstract:

As waxy crude oil is easy to crystallization and deposition in the pipeline wall, it causes pipeline clogging and leads to the reduction of oil and gas gathering and transmission efficiency. In this paper, a mesoscopic scale dissipative particle dynamics method is employed, and constructed four pipe wall models, including smooth wall (SW), hydroxylated wall (HW), rough wall (RW), and single-layer graphene wall (GW). Snapshots of the simulation output trajectories show that paraffin molecules interact with each other to form a network structure that constrains water molecules as their nucleation sites. Meanwhile, it is observed that the paraffin molecules on the near-wall side are adsorbed horizontally between inter-lattice gaps of the solid wall. In the pressure range of 0 - 50 MPa, the pressure change has less effect on the affinity properties of SS, HS, and GS walls, but for RS walls, the contact angle between paraffin wax and water molecules was found to decrease with the increase in pressure, while the water molecules showed the opposite trend, the phenomenon is due to the change in pressure, leading to the transition of paraffin wax molecules from amorphous to crystalline state. Meanwhile, the minimum crystalline phase pressure (MCPP) was proposed to describe the lowest pressure at which crystallization of paraffin molecules occurs. The maximum number of crystalline clusters formed by paraffin molecules at MCPP in the system showed NSS (0.52 MPa) > NHS (0.55 MPa) > NRS (0.62 MPa) > NGS (0.75 MPa). The MCPP on the graphene surface, with the least number of clusters formed, indicates that the addition of graphene inhibited the crystallization process of paraffin deposition on the wall surface. Finally, the thermal conductivity was calculated, and the results show that on the near-wall side, the thermal conductivity changes drastically due to the occurrence of adsorption crystallization of paraffin waxes; on the fluid side the thermal conductivity gradually tends to stabilize, and the average thermal conductivity shows: ĸRS(0.254W/(m·K)) > ĸRS(0.249W/(m·K)) > ĸRS(0.218W/(m·K)) > ĸRS(0.188W/(m·K)).This study provides a theoretical basis for improving the transport efficiency and heat transfer characteristics of waxy crude oil in terms of wall type, wall roughness, and MCPP.

Keywords: waxy crude oil, thermal conductivity, crystallization, dissipative particle dynamics, MCPP

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7282 Modeling Approach to Better Control Fouling in a Submerged Membrane Bioreactor for Wastewater Treatment: Development of Analytical Expressions in Steady-State Using ASM1

Authors: Benaliouche Hana, Abdessemed Djamal, Meniai Abdessalem, Lesage Geoffroy, Heran Marc

Abstract:

This paper presents a dynamic mathematical model of activated sludge which is able to predict the formation and degradation kinetics of SMP (Soluble microbial products) in membrane bioreactor systems. The model is based on a calibrated version of ASM1 with the theory of production and degradation of SMP. The model was calibrated on the experimental data from MBR (Mathematical modeling Membrane bioreactor) pilot plant. Analytical expressions have been developed, describing the concentrations of the main state variables present in the sludge matrix, with the inclusion of only six additional linear differential equations. The objective is to present a new dynamic mathematical model of activated sludge capable of predicting the formation and degradation kinetics of SMP (UAP and BAP) from the submerged membrane bioreactor (BRMI), operating at low organic load (C / N = 3.5), for two sludge retention times (SRT) fixed at 40 days and 60 days, to study their impact on membrane fouling, The modeling study was carried out under the steady-state condition. Analytical expressions were then validated by comparing their results with those obtained by simulations using GPS-X-Hydromantis software. These equations made it possible, by means of modeling approaches (ASM1), to identify the operating and kinetic parameters and help to predict membrane fouling.

Keywords: Activated Sludge Model No. 1 (ASM1), mathematical modeling membrane bioreactor, soluble microbial products, UAP, BAP, Modeling SMP, MBR, heterotrophic biomass

Procedia PDF Downloads 282
7281 Mapping the Sonic Spectrum of Traditional Music and Instruments Used in Malaysian Kavadi Rituals

Authors: Ainolnaim Azizol, Valerie Ross

Abstract:

Music is as old as mankind and rituals using music such as Kavadi have been associated with social, cultural, and spiritual practices in many traditional and modern societies. Recent literature has provided scientific evidence that music affects psychological and physical changes through stimulation of brainwave. Despite such advances, the scientific study of the sonic qualities peculiar to traditional instruments and how it impacts on ritualistic activities is still lacking. This study addresses one such phenomenon. Devotees in Kavadi rituals are known to be in a state of trance state and do not experience pain nor suffer injury despite the hundreds of needles pierced through their skins. Although scientists have sought to understand how this is possible, lesser is known about the music that is used to prepare devotees to enter into the trance state. This study fills this gap of knowledge by providing scientific evidence through the identification and mapping of the sonic spectrum or sound fingerprint of the instruments and the repertoire used in these ritualistic forms in their ethnographic environment and in audio-controlled situations. The objectives are to identify and categorize the different types of traditional music used in Kavadi rituals; to record, transcribe and digitally score the musical repertoire used in the oral tradition of Kavadi rituals; to map the sonic spectrum of ritual music using spectromography and advanced music analytical software a mixed methodology will be used. This comprises ethnographic field studies using interviews, participant observation, audio-video recordings and audio-methodology using spectromography and advanced audio-technology for sonic mapping and the transcription of audio recordings into digital scores.

Keywords: sonic, traditional, ritual, Kavadi, music

Procedia PDF Downloads 238