Search results for: knowledge graph and recommender system

Authors: I. Brezeanu, J. Mackrill, A. Cajo, C. Mogollon

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Modern Slavery is a serious crime, where often the victims are unable to leave their situation of exploitation, being controlled by threats, punishment, violence, coercion, and deception. In the UK, this term encompasses both Slavery and Human Trafficking. The number of potential victims who were referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) increased exponentially in the past decade, passing from fewer than 700 potential victims referred in 2010 to more than 12.000 in 2021. Our study aims to explore how the concept of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) approach can be adopted by services working with survivors of Modern Slavery and Trafficking (MST). Notably, in this paper, we will elaborate on how the complex needs of survivors are related to their traumatic experiences and what are the necessary steps and resources for implementing a Modern Slavery Trauma-Informed model. While there are relatively few services in the UK that have a deep understanding of the survivors’ and practitioners’ views of how trauma impacts their daily life, there is a strong need for developing services that are organised and delivered in ways that prevent retraumatisation and enable trauma survivors to engage safely with the right professionals at the right time, promoting healing through positive relationships. Such models, known as Trauma-Informed Approaches (TIAs), are seen as crucial to the empowerment of survivors, yet they remain a marginal implementation model by governments, law enforcement, judiciary, or care providers, who are frequently survivors’ first point of contact in the recovery process. In order to understand better how to provide best practice and to adopt the concept, this study is based on a multi-disciplinary approach, encompassing both theoretical perspectives and co-production. By combining qualitative and quantitative research and comparing different analysis of applied examples of TIC in the US and the UK, we gained important insights about the prevention and impact of trauma on survivors’ life. The articulation between more general expertise on Trauma-Informed Care developed by other institutions operating in the field, and the SJOG delivery, based on the Salvation Army’s Modern Slavery Victim Care and Coordination Contract (MSVCC) and the Care Quality Commission regulations, allowed to identify on one side what are the complex needs of survivors derived from their traumatic experiences, and on the other side, how could MST services prevent retraumatisation. Additional, two in-depth interviews with survivors, who receive support from one of our services at Olallo House in London, and a survey shared among all colleagues working with MST services completed the findings of the research with their personal experience and knowledge. Ultimately, we developed an evidence-based Trauma-Informed Care Pathway that aims to improve the wellbeing of survivors and to support them to live a meaningful life. The establishedpathway delivers three main outcomes belonging to the social determinants of health criteria – health and wellbeing, purpose and relationship, and covers key themes of the context of trauma, needs of individuals, and service support.

Keywords: trauma-informed care, modern slavery, human trafficking, trauma, retraumatisation

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Authors: M. T. Tsepav, Y. Adamu, M. A. Umar

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A geoelectric survey was carried out in some parts of Angwan Gwari, an outskirt of Lapai Local Government Area on Niger State which belongs to the Nigerian Basement Complex, with the aim of evaluating the soil corrosivity, aquifer transmissivity and protective capacity of the area from which aquifer characterisation was made. The G41 Resistivity Meter was employed to obtain fifteen Schlumberger Vertical Electrical Sounding data along profiles in a square grid network. The data were processed using interpex 1-D sounding inversion software, which gives vertical electrical sounding curves with layered model comprising of the apparent resistivities, overburden thicknesses and depth. This information was used to evaluate longitudinal conductance and transmissivities of the layers. The results show generally low resistivities across the survey area and an average longitudinal conductance variation from 0.0237Siemens in VES 6 to 0.1261 Siemens in VES 15 with almost the entire area giving values less than 1.0 Siemens. The average transmissivity values range from 96.45 Ω.m2 in VES 4 to 299070 Ω.m2 in VES 1. All but VES 4 and VES14 had an average overburden greater than 400 Ω.m2, these results suggest that the aquifers are highly permeable to fluid movement within, leading to the possibility of enhanced migration and circulation of contaminants in the groundwater system and that the area is generally corrosive.

Keywords: geoelectric survey, corrosivity, protective capacity, transmissivity

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Authors: Seyed Abbas Tabatabaei, Saeid Amini, Hamid Reza Ghafouri

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One of the most important factors in flexible pavement failure is the lack of proper drainage along the roads. Water on the Paving Systems is one of the main parameters of pavement failure. Though, if water is discharged without delay and prior to discharge in order to prevent damaging the pavement the lifetime of the pavement will be considerably increased. In this study, duration of water stay and materials properties in pavement systems and the effects of aggregate gradation, and hydraulic conductivity of the drainage rate and Effects of subsurface drainage systems, drainage and reduction in the lifetime of the pavement have been studied. The study conducted in accordance with the terms offered can be concluded as under. The more hydraulic conductivity the less drainage time and the use of sub-surface drainage system causes two to three times of the pavement lifetime. In this research it has been tried by study and calculate the drained and undrained pavements lifetime by considering the effectiveness of water and drainage coefficient on flexible materials modulus and by using KENLAYER software to compare the present value cost of these pavements has been paid for a 20 year lifetime design. In this study, 14 pavement sections have been considered, of which 7 sections have been drained and 7 other not. Results show that drained pavements have more initial costs but the failure severity is so little in them and have longer lifetime for a 20 year lifetime design, the drained pavements seem so economic.

Keywords: drainage, base and sub-base, elasticity modulus, aggregation

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Authors: Gulseren Mutlu, Gurupdesh Pandher

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This paper studies the strategic interplay between innovation, incentives, expropriation threat and disputes arising from expropriation from an intra-organization perspective. We present a simple principal-agent model with hidden actions and hidden information in which two employees can choose how much (innovative) effort to exert, whether to expropriate the innovation of the other employee and whether to dispute if innovation is expropriated. The organization maximizes its expected payoff by choosing the optimal reward scheme for both employees as well as whether to encourage or discourage disputes. We analyze two mechanisms under which innovative ideas are not expropriated. First, we show that under a non-contestable mechanism (in which the organization discourages disputes among employees), the organization has to offer a “rent” to the potential expropriator. However, under a contestable mechanism (in which the organization encourages disputes), there is no need for such rent. If the cost of resolving the dispute is negligible, the organization’s expected payoff is higher under a contestable mechanism. Second, we develop a comparable team mechanism in which innovation takes place as a result of the joint efforts of employees and innovation payments are made based on the team outcome. We show that if the innovation value is low and employees have similar productivity, then the organization is better off under a contestable mechanism. On the other hand, if the innovation value is high, the organization is better off under a team mechanism. Our results have important practical implications for the design of innovation reward system for employees, hiring policy and governance for different companies.

Keywords: innovation, incentives, expropriation threat, dispute resolution

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Authors: Elyas Akbari, Jafar Hasani, Newsha Dehestani, Mohammad Khaleghi, Alireza Moradi

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The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of emotional experience induction in the mirror neurons systems (MNS) activity with regard to the spectrum of depressive symptoms. For this purpose, at first stage, 449 students of Kharazmi University of Tehran were selected randomly and completed the second version of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Then, 36 students with standard Z-score equal or above +1.5 and equal or equal or below -1.5 were selected to construct two groups of high and low spectrum of depressive symptoms. In the next stage, the basic activity of MNS was recorded (mu wave) before presenting the positive and negative emotional video clips by Electroencephalography (EEG) technique. The findings related to emotion induction (neutral, negative and positive emotion) demonstrated that the activity of recorded mirror neuron areas had a significant difference between the depressive and non-depressive groups. These findings suggest that probably processing of negative emotions in depressive individuals is due to the idea that the mirror neurons in motor cortex matched up the activity of cognitive regions with the person’s schema. Considering the results of the present study, it could be said that the MNS provides a substrate where emotional disorders can be studied and evaluated.

Keywords: emotional experiences, mirror neurons, depressive symptoms, negative and positive emotion

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Authors: Amin Noor, Roslinda Nazar, Norihan Md. Arifin

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In this paper, a numerical and theoretical study has been performed for the stagnation-point boundary layer flow and heat transfer towards a shrinking sheet in a nanofluid. The mathematical nanofluid model in which the effect of the nanoparticle volume fraction is taken into account is considered. The governing nonlinear partial differential equations are transformed into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations using a similarity transformation which is then solved numerically using the function bvp4c from Matlab. Numerical results are obtained for the skin friction coefficient, the local Nusselt number as well as the velocity and temperature profiles for some values of the governing parameters, namely the nanoparticle volume fraction Φ, the shrinking parameter λ and the Prandtl number Pr. Three different types of nanoparticles are considered, namely Cu, Al2O3 and TiO2. It is found that solutions do not exist for larger shrinking rates and dual (upper and lower branch) solutions exist when λ < -1.0. A stability analysis has been performed to show which branch solutions are stable and physically realizable. It is also found that the upper branch solutions are stable while the lower branch solutions are unstable.

Keywords: heat transfer, nanofluid, shrinking sheet, stability analysis, stagnation-point flow

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Authors: Pranitha Janapatla, Venkata Suman Gontla

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The present paper investigates the effects of MHD, double dispersion and variable properties on mixed convection flow from a vertical surface in a power-law fluid saturated non-Darcy porous medium. The governing non-linear partial differential equations are reduced to a system of ordinary differential equations by using a special form of Lie group transformations viz. scaling group of transformations. These ordinary differential equations are solved numerically by using Shooting technique. The influence of relevant parameters on the non-dimensional velocity, temperature, concentration for pseudo-plastic fluid, Newtonian and dilatant fluid are discussed and displayed graphically. The behavior of heat and mass transfer coefficients are shown in tabular form. Comparisons with the published works are performed and are found to be in very good agreement. From this analysis, it is observed that an increase in variable viscosity causes to decrease in velocity profile and increase the temperature and concentration distributions. It is also concluded that increase in the solutal dispersion decreases the velocity and concentration but raises the temperature profile.

Keywords: power-law fluid, thermal conductivity, thermal dispersion, solutal dispersion, variable viscosity

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Authors: Nura Bello

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Sokoto caliphate is the product of a hectic revolutionary movement that took place in the first decade of the nineteenth century under the leadership of Seikh Usmanu Danfodio. The movement led to the overthrow of the Sarauta system in Hausa Land, leading to the emergence of the Sokoto caliphate and Sokoto city as its headquarters. This development led to the collapse of Alkalawa (headquarters of the Gobir Kingdom) in 1808. A year later, in 1809, Sokoto city emerged as the headquarter of the Sokoto Caliphate. Due to the open door policy adopted by the leaders, the city came to experience an influx of people especially craft manufacturers from all over Hausa Land and beyond, who occupied many areas of the city and engaged in different craft production. This paper aims to highlight the development of crafts manufacturing in the 19th century Sokoto city and its contribution to transforming the city into a major economic base of the caliphate. In dealing with the above issue, qualitative research methods that mainly involve the use of oral and archival data will be adopted. Finally, the paper identified that the expansion of craft manufacturing in the 19th century Sokoto city could have resulted from the role played by the leadership of the caliphate, which favoured such development. The paper argues that if those industries were revived in Nigeria today, they would ultimately create various jobs among the younger generations, which would result in economic prosperity.

Keywords: craft manufacturing, diversification, economy, migration

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Authors: Mohammad Jalali Varnamkhasti

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The genetic algorithms have been very successful in handling difficult optimization problems. The fundamental problem in genetic algorithms is premature convergence. This paper, present a new fuzzy genetic algorithm based on chaotic values instead of the random values in genetic algorithm processes. In this algorithm, for initial population is used chaotic sequences and then a new sexual selection proposed for selection mechanism. In this technique, the population is divided such that the male and female would be selected in an alternate way. The layout of the male and female chromosomes in each generation is different. A female chromosome is selected by tournament selection size from the female group. Then, the male chromosome is selected, in order of preference based on the maximum Hamming distance between the male chromosome and the female chromosome or The highest fitness value of male chromosome (if more than one male chromosome is having the maximum Hamming distance existed), or Random selection. The selections of crossover and mutation operators are achieved by running the fuzzy logic controllers, the crossover and mutation probabilities are varied on the basis of the phenotype and genotype characteristics of the chromosome population. Computational experiments are conducted on the proposed techniques and the results are compared with some other operators, heuristic and local search algorithms commonly used for solving p-median problems published in the literature.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, fuzzy system, chaos, sexual selection

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Authors: K. Zehouani, I. Oldal

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Purpose: In the human knee joint, degenerative joint disease may happen with time. The standard treatment of this disease is the total knee replacement through prosthesis implanting. The reason lies in the fact that this phenomenon causes different material abrasion as compare to pure sliding or rolling alone. This study focuses on developing a knee prosthesis geometry, which fulfills the mechanical and kinematical requirements. Method: The MSC ADAMS program is used to describe the rotation of the human knee joint as a function of flexion, and to investigate how the flexion and rotation movement changes between the condyles of a multi-body model of the knee prosthesis as a function of flexion angle (in the functional arc of the knee (20-120º)). Moreover, the multi-body model with identical boundary conditions is constituted, and the numerical simulations are carried out using the MSC ADAMS program system. Results: It is concluded that the use of the multi-body model reduces time and cost since it does not need to manufacture the tibia and the femur as it requires for the knee prosthesis of the test machine. Moreover, without measuring or by dispensing with a test machine for the knee prosthesis geometry, approximation of the results of our model to a human knee is carried out directly. Conclusion: The pattern obtained by the multi-body model provides an insight for future experimental tests related to the rotation and flexion of the knee joint concerning the actual average and friction load.

Keywords: biomechanics, knee joint, rotation, flexion, kinematics, MSC ADAMS

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Authors: Ming-Jong Tsai, T. M. Wu, R. C. Chu

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The purpose of this study is to develop an Advanced linear calibration Technique for air flow sensing by using CTA-based Hot wire Anemometry. It contains a host PC with Human Machine Interface, a wind tunnel, a wind speed controller, an automatic data acquisition module, and nonlinear calibration model. To improve the fitting error by using single fitting polynomial, this study proposes a Multiple three-order Polynomial Fitting Method (MPFM) for fitting the non-linear output of a CTA-based Hot wire Anemometry. The CTA-based anemometer with built-in fitting parameters is installed in the wind tunnel, and the wind speed is controlled by the PC-based controller. The Hot-Wire anemometer's thermistor resistance change is converted into a voltage signal or temperature differences, and then sent to the PC through a DAQ card. After completion measurements of original signal, the Multiple polynomial mathematical coefficients can be automatically calculated, and then sent into the micro-processor in the Hot-Wire anemometer. Finally, the corrected Hot-Wire anemometer is verified for the linearity, the repeatability, error percentage, and the system outputs quality control reports.

Keywords: flow rate sensing, hot wire, constant temperature anemometry (CTA), linear calibration, multiple three-order polynomial fitting method (MPFM), temperature compensation

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Authors: Aijuka Nicholas

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A research study was undertaken to characterize the aquifers and identify the potential groundwater recharge zones in the Kagandi district. Quantitative characterization of hydraulic conductivities of aquifers is of fundamental importance to the study of groundwater flow and contaminant transport in aquifers. A conditional approach is used to represent the spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity. Briefly, it involves using qualitative and quantitative geologic borehole-log data to generate a three-dimensional (3D) hydraulic conductivity distribution, which is then adjusted through calibration of a 3D groundwater flow model using pumping-test data and historic hydraulic data. The approach consists of several steps. The study area was divided into five sub-watersheds on the basis of artificial drainage divides. A digital terrain model (DTM) was developed using Arc GIS to determine the general drainage pattern of Kagandi watershed. Hydrologic characterization involved the determination of the various hydraulic properties of the aquifers. Potential groundwater recharge zones were identified by integrating various thematic maps pertaining to the digital elevation model, land use, and drainage pattern in Arc GIS and Sufer golden software. The study demonstrates the potential of GIS in delineating groundwater recharge zones and that the developed methodology will be applicable to other watersheds in Uganda.

Keywords: aquifers, Arc GIS, groundwater recharge, recharge zones

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Authors: E. Feulefack Songong, A. Zingoni

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A vibration is a mechanical phenomenon whereby oscillations occur about an equilibrium point. Although vibrations can be linear or nonlinear depending on the basic components of the system, the interest is mostly pointed towards nonlinear vibrations. This is because most structures around us are to some extent nonlinear and also because we need more accurate values in an analysis. The goal of this research is the integration of nonlinearities in the development and validation of structural models and to ameliorate the resistance of structures when subjected to loads. Although there exist many types of nonlinearities, this thesis will mostly focus on the vibration of free and undamped systems incorporating nonlinearity due to stiffness. Nonlinear stiffness has been a concern to many engineers in general and Civil engineers in particular because it is an important factor that can bring a good modification and amelioration to the response of structures when subjected to loads. The analysis of systems will be done analytically and then numerically to validate the analytical results. We will first show the benefit and importance of stiffness nonlinearity when it is implemented in the structure. Secondly, We will show how its integration in the structure can improve not only the structure’s performance but also its response when subjected to loads. The results of this study will be valuable to practicing engineers as well as industry practitioners in developing better designs and tools for their structures and mechanical devices. They will also serve to engineers to design lighter and stronger structures and to give good predictions as for the behavior of structures when subjected to external loads.

Keywords: elastic foundation, nonlinear, plates, stiffness, structures, vibration

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Authors: Mu-Yen Chen, Min-Hsuan Fan, Chia-Chen Chen, Siang-Yu Jhong

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In recent years, real estate prediction or valuation has been a topic of discussion in many developed countries. Improper hype created by investors leads to fluctuating prices of real estate, affecting many consumers to purchase their own homes. Therefore, scholars from various countries have conducted research in real estate valuation and prediction. With the back-propagation neural network that has been popular in recent years and the orthogonal array in the Taguchi method, this study aimed to find the optimal parameter combination at different levels of orthogonal array after the system presented different parameter combinations, so that the artificial neural network obtained the most accurate results. The experimental results also demonstrated that the method presented in the study had a better result than traditional machine learning. Finally, it also showed that the model proposed in this study had the optimal predictive effect, and could significantly reduce the cost of time in simulation operation. The best predictive results could be found with a fewer number of experiments more efficiently. Thus users could predict a real estate transaction price that is not far from the current actual prices.

Keywords: artificial neural network, Taguchi method, real estate valuation model, investors

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Authors: A. Volperts, G. Dobele, A. Zhurinsh, I. Kruusenberg, A. Plavniece, J. Locs

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Nowadays energy consumption constantly increases and development of effective and cheap electrochemical sources of power, such as fuel cells and electrochemical capacitors, is topical. Due to their high specific power, charge and discharge rates, working lifetime supercapacitor based energy accumulation systems are more and more extensively being used in mobile and stationary devices. Lignocellulosic materials are widely used as precursors and account for around 45% of the total raw materials used for the manufacture of activated carbon which is the most suitable material for supercapacitors. First part of our research is devoted to study of influence of main stages of wood thermochemical activation parameters on activated carbons porous structure formation. It was found that the main factors governing the properties of carbon materials are specific surface area, volume and pore size distribution, particles dispersity, ash content and oxygen containing groups content. Influence of activated carbons attributes on capacitance and working properties of supercapacitor are demonstrated. The correlation between activated carbons porous structure indices and electrochemical specifications of supercapacitors with electrodes made from these materials has been determined. It is shown that if synthesized activated carbons are used in supercapacitors then high specific capacitances can be reached – more than 380 F/g in 4.9M sulfuric acid based electrolytes and more than 170 F/g in 1 M tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate in acetonitrile electrolyte. Power specifications and minimal price of H₂-O₂ fuel cells are limited by the expensive platinum-based catalysts. The main direction in development of non-platinum catalysts for the oxygen reduction is the study of cheap porous carbonaceous materials which can be obtained by the pyrolysis of polymers including renewable biomass. It is known that nitrogen atoms in carbon materials to a high degree determine properties of the doped activated carbons, such as high electrochemical stability, hardness, electric resistance, etc. The lack of sufficient knowledge on the doping of the carbon materials calls for the ongoing researches of properties and structure of modified carbon matrix. In the second part of this study, highly porous activated carbons were synthesized using alkali thermochemical activation from wood, cellulose and cellulose production residues – craft lignin and sewage sludge. Activated carbon samples were doped with dicyandiamide and melamine for the application as fuel cell cathodes. Conditions of nitrogen introduction (solvent, treatment temperature) and its content in the carbonaceous material, as well as porous structure characteristics, such as specific surface and pore size distribution, were studied. It was found that efficiency of doping reaction depends on the elemental oxygen content in the activated carbon. Relationships between nitrogen content, porous structure characteristics and electrodes electrochemical properties are demonstrated.

Keywords: activated carbons, low-temperature fuel cells, nitrogen doping, porous structure, supercapacitors

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Authors: Mehaiguene Madjid, Meddi Mohamed

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The results of applying the model WEAP 21 or 'Water Evaluation and Planning System' in Upper and Middle Cheliff are presented in cartographic and graphic forms by considering two scenarios: -Reference scenario 1961-1990, -Climate change scenarios (low and high) for 2020 and 2050. These scenarios are presented together in the results and compared them to know the impact on aquatic systems and water resources. For the low scenario for 2050, a decrease in the rate of runoff / infiltration will be 81.4 to 3.7 Hm3 between 2010 and 2050. While for the high scenario for 2050, the reduction will be 87.2 to 78.9 Hm3 between 2010 and 2050. Comparing the two scenarios, shows that the water supplied will increase by 216.7 Hm3 to 596 Hm3 up to 2050 if we do not take account of climate change. Whereas, if climate change will decrease step by step: from 2010 to 2026: for the climate change scenario (high scenario) by 2050, water supplied from 346 Hm3 to 361 Hm3. That of the reference scenario (1961-1990) will increase to 379.7 Hm3 in 2050. This is caused by the increased demand (increased population, irrigated area, etc ). The balance water management basin is positive for the different Horizons and different situations. If we do not take account of climate change will be the outflow of 5881.4 Hm3. This excess at the basin can be used as part of a transfer for example.

Keywords: balance water, management basin, climate change scenario, Upper and Middle Cheliff

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Authors: Maria Bercea, Bernhard A. Wolf

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The thermodynamic behavior for solutions of poly (methyl methacrylate-ran-t-butyl methacrylate) of variable composition as compared with the corresponding homopolymers was investigated by light scattering measurements carried out for dilute solutions and vapor pressure measurements of concentrated solutions. The complex dependencies of the Flory Huggins interaction parameter on concentration and copolymer composition in solvents of different polarity (toluene and chloroform) can be understood by taking into account the ability of the polymers to rearrange in a response to changes in their molecular surrounding. A recent unified thermodynamic approach was used for modeling the experimental data, being able to describe the behavior of the different solutions by means of two adjustable parameters, one representing the effective number of solvent segments and another one accounting for the interactions between the components. Thus, it was investigated how the solvent quality changes with the composition of the copolymers through the Gibbs energy of mixing as a function of polymer concentration. The largest reduction of the Gibbs energy at a given composition of the system was observed for the best solvent. The present investigation proves that the new unified thermodynamic approach is a general concept applicable to homo- and copolymers, independent of the chain conformation or shape, molecular and chemical architecture of the components and of other dissimilarities, such as electrical charges.

Keywords: random copolymers, Flory Huggins interaction parameter, Gibbs energy of mixing, chemical architecture

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Authors: Zohra Mhedhbi, Meheret Gaston, Sinda Haoues-Jouve, Julia Hidalgo, Pierre Mazzega

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In the current context of climate change, supporting national and local stakeholders to make climate-smart decisions is necessary but still underdeveloped in many countries. To overcome this problem, the Global Frameworks for Climate Services (GFCS), implemented under the aegis of the United Nations in 2012, has initiated many programs in different countries. The GFCS contributes to the development of Climate Services, an instrument based on the production and transfer of scientific climate knowledge for specific users such as citizens, urban planning actors, or agricultural professionals. As cities concentrate on economic, social and environmental issues that make them more vulnerable to climate change, the New Urban Agenda (NUA), adopted at Habitat III in October 2016, highlights the importance of paying particular attention to disaster risk management, climate and environmental sustainability and urban resilience. In order to support the implementation of the NUA, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has identified the urban dimension as one of its priorities and has proposed a new tool, the Integrated Urban Services (IUS), for more sustainable and resilient cities. In the southern countries, there’s a lack of development of climate services, which can be partially explained by problems related to their economic financing. In addition, it is often difficult to make climate change a priority in urban planning, given the more traditional urban challenges these countries face, such as massive poverty, high population growth, etc. Climate services and Integrated Urban Services, particularly in African cities, are expected to contribute to the sustainable development of cities. These tools will help promoting the acquisition of meteorological and socio-ecological data on their transformations, encouraging coordination between national or local institutions providing various sectoral urban services, and should contribute to the achievement of the objectives defined by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or the Paris Agreement, and the Sustainable Development Goals. To assess the state of the art on these various points, the Web of Science metadatabase is queried. With a query combining the keywords "climate*" and "urban*", more than 24,000 articles are identified, source of more than 40,000 distinct keywords (but including synonyms and acronyms) which finely mesh the conceptual field of research. The occurrence of one or more names of the 514 African cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants or countries, reduces this base to a smaller corpus of about 1410 articles (2990 keywords). 41 countries and 136 African cities are cited. The lexicometric analysis of the metadata of the articles and the analysis of the structural indicators (various centralities) of the networks induced by the co-occurrence of expressions related more specifically to climate services show the development potential of these services, identify the gaps which remain to be filled for their implementation and allow to compare the diversity of national and regional situations with regard to these services.

Keywords: African cities, climate change, climate services, integrated urban services, lexicometry, networks, urban planning, web of science

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Authors: Kimuli Ismail, Michael Lubwama, John Baptist Kirabira, Adam Sebbit

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This study develops 4 energy scenarios for Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA). GKMA is Uganda’s capital with a population of 4.1million and a GDP growth rate of 5.8 with a nonsustainable energy management system. The study uses TIMES-VEDA to examine the energy impacts of business as usual (BAU), Kabejja, Carbon-Tax, and Lutta scenarios in commercial, industrial, transportation, residential, agricultural, and electricity generation activities. BAU is the baseline scenario with limited CO2 emissions restrictions against which Kabejja with 20% CO2 emissions restriction, a carbon tax of $100/ton imposed in 2050 for Carbon-Tax scenario, and Lutta with 95% CO2 emissions restriction is made. The analysis suggests that if the current policy trends continue as BAU, consumption would increase from 139.6PJ to 497.42PJ and CO2 emissions will increase from 4.6mtns to 7mtns. However, consumption would decrease by 2.3% in Kabejja, 3.4% in Carbon-Tax, and 3.3 % in Lutta compared to BAU. The CO2 emissions would decrease by 8.57% in Kabejja, 55.14% in Carbon-Tax, and 60% in Lutta compared to BAU. Sustainability is achievable when low-carbon electricity is increased by 53.68% in the EMS, and setting up an electrified Kampala metro. The study recommends Lutta as the sustainable pathway to a lowcarbon 2050.

Keywords: Sustainability, Scenario Plannnig, Times-Veda Modelling, Energy Policy Development

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Authors: M. Abdullah Al Faruque, Ram Balachandar

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An experimental study with four different types of bed conditions was carried out to understand the effect of roughness in open channel flow at two different Reynolds numbers. The bed conditions include a smooth surface and three different roughness conditions which were generated using sand grains with a median diameter of 2.46 mm. The three rough conditions include a surface with distributed roughness, a surface with continuously distributed roughness and a sand bed with a permeable interface. A commercial two-component fibre-optic LDA system was used to conduct the velocity measurements. The variables of interest include the mean velocity, turbulence intensity, the correlation between the streamwise and the wall normal turbulence, Reynolds shear stress and velocity triple products. Quadrant decomposition was used to extract the magnitude of the Reynolds shear stress of the turbulent bursting events. The effect of roughness was evident throughout the flow depth. The results show that distributed roughness has the greatest roughness effect followed by the sand bed and the continuous roughness. Compared to the smooth bed, the streamwise turbulence intensity reduces but the vertical turbulence intensity increases at a location very close to the bed due to the introduction of roughness. Although the same sand grain is used to create the three different rough bed conditions, the difference in the turbulence intensity is an indication that the specific geometry of the roughness has an influence on turbulence structure.

Keywords: open channel flow, smooth and rough bed, Reynolds number, turbulence

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Authors: Pedram Saadati, Zahra Nazari

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Anticipating and identifying future opportunities and challenges facing industry activists for the emergence and entry of new knowledge and technologies of personal financial planning, and providing practical solutions is one of the goals of this research. For this purpose, a future research tool based on receiving opinions from the main players of the insurance industry has been used. The research method in this study was in 4 stages; including 1- a survey of the specialist salesforce of life insurance in order to identify the variables 2- the ranking of the variables by experts selected by a researcher-made questionnaire 3- holding a panel of experts with the aim of understanding the mutual effects of the variables and 4- statistical analyzes of the mutual effects matrix in Mick Mac software is done. The integrated analysis of influencing variables in the future has been done with the method of Structural Analysis, which is one of the efficient and innovative methods of future research. A list of opportunities and challenges was identified through a survey of best-selling life insurance representatives who were selected by snowball sampling. In order to prioritize and identify the most important issues, all the issues raised were sent to selected experts who were selected theoretically through a researcher-made questionnaire. The respondents determined the importance of 36 variables through scoring, so that the prioritization of opportunity and challenge variables can be determined. 8 of the variables identified in the first stage were removed by selected experts, and finally, the number of variables that could be examined in the third stage became 28 variables, which, in order to facilitate the examination, were divided into 6 categories, respectively, 11 variables of organization and management. Marketing and sales 7 cases, social and cultural 6 cases, technological 2 cases, rebranding 1 case and insurance 1 case were divided. The reliability of the researcher-made questionnaire was confirmed with the Cronbach's alpha test value of 0.96. In the third stage, by forming a panel consisting of 5 insurance industry experts, the consensus of their opinions about the influence of factors on each other and the ranking of variables was entered into the matrix. The matrix included the interrelationships of 28 variables, which were investigated using the structural analysis method. By analyzing the data obtained from the matrix by Mic Mac software, the findings of the research indicate that the categories of "correct training in the use of the software, the weakness of the technology of insurance companies in personalizing products, using the approach of equipping the customer, and honesty in declaring no need Customer to Insurance", the most important challenges of the influencer and the categories of "salesforce equipping approach, product personalization based on customer needs assessment, customer's pleasant experience of being consulted with consulting robots, business improvement of the insurance company due to the use of these tools, increasing the efficiency of the issuance process and optimal customer purchase" were identified as the most important opportunities for influence.

Keywords: personal financial planning, wealth management, advisor robots, life insurance, digital transformation

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Authors: Nelson Andres, Meeko C. Masangcap, John Denver D. Catapang

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Balanga City as, the heart of Bataan, is a growing City and is now at its fast pace of development. The growth of commerce in the city results to an increase in commuters who travel back and forth through the city, leading to congestions. Consequently, queuing of vehicles along national roads and even in the highways of the city have become a regular occurrence. This common scenario of commuters flocking the city, private and public vehicles going bumper to bumper, especially during the rush hours, greatly affect the flow of traffic vehicles and is now a burden not only to the commuters but also to the government who is trying to address this dilemma. Seeing these terrible events, the implementation of an elevated Automated Guide-way transit is seen as a possible solution to help in the decongestion of the affected parts of Balanga City.In response to the problem, the researchers identify if it is feasible to have an elevated guide-way transit in the vicinity of Sapphire Street in Balanga City, Bataan. Specifically, the study aims to determine who will be the riders based on the demographic profile, where the trip can be generated and distributed, the time when volume of people usually peaks and the estimated volume of passengers. Statistical analysis is applied to the data gathered to find out if there is an important relationship between the demographic profile of the respondents and their preference of having an elevated railway transit in the City of Balanga.

Keywords: ridership, AGT, railway, elevated track

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Authors: N. Balamurugan, N. V. Mahalakshmi

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Compression ignition (CI) engines are known for their high thermal efficiency in comparison with spark-ignited (SI) engines. This makes CI engines a potential candidate for the future prime source of power for transportation sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to shrink carbon footprint. However, CI engines produce high levels of NOx and soot emissions. Conventional methods to reduce NOx and soot emissions often result in the infamous NOx-soot trade-off. The injection parameters are one of the most important factors in the working of CI engines. The engine performance, power output, economy etc., is greatly dependent on the effectiveness of the injection parameters. The injection parameter has their direct impact on combustion process and pollutant formation. The injection parameter’s values are required to be optimised according to the application of the engine. Control of fuel injection mode is one method for reduction of NOx and soot emissions that is achievable. This study aims to assess, compare and analyse the influence of the effect of injection characteristics that is SOI timing studied on combustion and emissions in in-cylinder combustion processes with that of conventional DI Diesel Engine system using the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) package STAR- CD ES-ICE.

Keywords: variation of injection timing, compression ignition engine, spark-ignited, Computational Fluid Dynamic

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Authors: Alena Zemanová, Jan Zeman, Michal Šejnoha

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The polymer foil used for manufacturing of laminated glass members behaves in a viscoelastic manner with temperature dependence. This contribution aims at incorporating the time/temperature-dependent behavior of interlayer to our earlier elastic finite element model for laminated glass beams. The model is based on a refined beam theory: each layer behaves according to the finite-strain shear deformable formulation by Reissner and the adjacent layers are connected via the Lagrange multipliers ensuring the inter-layer compatibility of a laminated unit. The time/temperature-dependent behavior of the interlayer is accounted for by the generalized Maxwell model and by the time-temperature superposition principle due to the Williams, Landel, and Ferry. The resulting system is solved by the Newton method with consistent linearization and the viscoelastic response is determined incrementally by the exponential algorithm. By comparing the model predictions against available experimental data, we demonstrate that the proposed formulation is reliable and accurately reproduces the behavior of the laminated glass units.

Keywords: finite element method, finite-strain Reissner model, Lagrange multipliers, generalized Maxwell model, laminated glass, Newton method, Williams-Landel-Ferry equation

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Authors: Ammar Manaa

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The late Pleistocene raised coral reef terraces, 1 to 5 m above present sea level, are distinguished in Rabigh area into two marine terraces at elevations 0.5 m and 3.20 m, in addition to back-reef facies. The lower and upper terraces consist mainly of corals that increased in abundance and distribution in the upper terrace, with a minor occurrence of detrital quartz and feldspar. The back-reef facies consist mainly of coralline algae with a minor occurrence of corals. The upper terrace was interpreted as a reef crest or algal ridge due to the dominance of bindstone facies. The lower terrace indicates an outer reef flat with the occurrence of grainstone and rudstone facies. The coral framework in the upper terrace indicates a low energy environment. Within the back-reef terrace, calcareous mud was dominant, which indicates low energy, lagoon environment. The XRD results for the studied terraces revealed a variable abundance of aragonite, high-Mg calcite, and low-Mg calcite, with a slight increase in calcite and high-Mg calcite in the upper terrace. The dominant diagenetic processes in the terraces are cementation by fibrous and blocky calcite and dissolution that varied slightly between the lower and upper terraces. This study provides a coral reef model relevant to a low energy system in a dry and hot environment.

Keywords: late Pleistocene, Rabigh, reef terraces, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors: Sarah Werner, Michael J. Pritchard

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From pilots to engineers, the skills development within the aerospace industry is exceptionally broad. Employers often struggle with finding the right mixture of qualified skills to fill their organizational demands. This effort to find qualified talent is further complicated by the industrial delineation between two key areas: aviation and aerospace. In a broad sense, the aerospace industry overlaps with the aviation industry. In turn, the aviation industry is a smaller sector segment within the context of the broader definition of the aerospace industry. Furthermore, it could be conceptually argued that -in practice- there is little distinction between these two sectors (i.e., aviation and aerospace). However, through our unstructured text analysis of over 6,000 job listings captured, our team found a clear delineation between aviation-related jobs and aerospace-related jobs. Using techniques in natural language processing, our research identifies an integrated workforce skill pattern that clearly breaks between these two sectors. While the aviation sector has largely maintained its need for pilots, mechanics, and associated support personnel, the staffing needs of the aerospace industry are being progressively driven by integrative engineering needs. Increasingly, this is leading many aerospace-based organizations towards the acquisition of 'system level' staffing requirements. This research helps to better align higher educational institutions with the current industrial staffing complexities within the broader aerospace sector.

Keywords: aerospace industry, job demand, text mining, workforce development

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Authors: Qiang Ren

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A growing number of states are improving domestic law to better protect and promote foreign investment by changing/upgrading the existing law. However, inconsistency occurs because the new law is different from the ‘old’ law. For example, China has issued an unprecedented Foreign Investment Law and several regulations allowing comprehensive market access for foreign investment in most energy sectors since 2020. However, some laws, rules, regulations, etc. enacted previously remain valid, and the provisions regulating foreign investment do not grant full market access to foreign investment as such. The inconsistency above makes it necessary to investigatehow the international investment treaty law and dispute settlement practice respond to the ‘inconsistency and conflict’ in municipal law andwhat remedy foreign investors can seek under international law if the investment is denied due to inconsistency. Ultimately, it aims to examine how international tribunals should balance the gradually developing legal system of host states and the protection of foreign investors and investments if the host states cannot provide consistency during such a transition period of law development. The research seeks to answer these questions by making a comparative analysis of domestic law on market access to foreign investment, international investment treaties, and dispute arbitral practice. The objective is to examine how international investment treaty law and international investment dispute settlement practice evaluate the conflicts in the municipal law of host states in the admission of foreign investment. It also explores the possibility of harmonisation among them.

Keywords: municipal law, protect and promote foreign investment, international law, host states

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Authors: Manjunatha Bangeppagari, Lee Sang Joon

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Recently, graphene-related nanomaterials are receiving fast-increasing attention with augmented applications in various fields. Especially, graphene-related materials have been widely applied to the biomedical field in the past years. In the present study, we evaluated the adverse effects of pristine graphene (pG) in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos in various aspects, such as mortality rate, heart rate, hatching rate, cardiotoxicity, cardiovascular defect, cardiac looping, apoptosis, and globin expression. For various trace concentrations of pG (1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 μg/L), early life-stage parameters were observed at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hpf. As a result, pG induces significant developmental defects including yolk sac edema, pericardial edema, embryonic mortality, delayed hatching, heartbeat, several morphological defects, pericardial toxicity, and bradycardia. Moreover, the exposure to pG was found to be a potential risk factor to the cardiovascular system of zebrafish embryos. However, further study on their properties which vary according to production methods and surface functionalization is essentially required. In addition, the possible risks of pG flakes to aquatic animals, and public health should be evaluated before releasing them to the surrounding environment.

Keywords: apoptosis, cardiovascular toxicity, globin expression, pristine graphene, zebrafish embryos

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Authors: Issam Aouari, Abdelmalek Abdelhamid

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For seismologists, the characterization of seismic demand should include the amplitude and duration of strong shaking in the system. The duration of ground shaking is one of the key parameters in earthquake resistant design of structures. This paper proposes a nonlinear statistical model to estimate earthquake ground motion duration in soft soils using multiple seismicity indicators. Three definitions of ground motion duration proposed by literature have been applied. With a comparative study, we select the most significant definition to use for predict the duration. A stochastic model is presented for the McCann and Shah Method using nonlinear regression analysis based on a data set for moment magnitude, source to site distance and site conditions. The data set applied is taken from PEER strong motion databank and contains shallow earthquakes from different regions in the world; America, Turkey, London, China, Italy, Chili, Mexico...etc. Main emphasis is placed on soft site condition. The predictive relationship has been developed based on 600 records and three input indicators. Results have been compared with others published models. It has been found that the proposed model can predict earthquake ground motion duration in soft soils for different regions and sites conditions.

Keywords: duration, earthquake, prediction, regression, soft soil

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Authors: Tesfaldet Mekonnen Estifanos, Chen Hui, Afewerki Weldezgi

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Background: Intimate partner violence (hereafter IPV) is a major global public health challenge that tortures and disables women in the place where they are ought to be most secure within their own families. The fact that the family unit is commonly viewed as a private circle, violent acts towards women remains undermined. There are limited research and knowledge about the influencing factors linked to IPV in Sierra Leone. This study, therefore, estimates the prevalence rate and the predicting factors associated with IPV. Methods: Data were taken from Sierra-Leone Demographic and Health Survey (SDHS, 2013): the first in its form to incorporate information on domestic violence. Multistage cluster sampling research design was used, and information was gathered by a standard questionnaire. A total of 5185 respondents selected were interviewed, out of whom 870 were never been in union, thus excluded. To analyze the two dependent variables: experience of IPV, ‘ever’ and 'last 12 months prior to the survey', a total of 4315 (currently or formerly married) and 4029 women (currently in union) were included respectively. These dependent variables were constructed from the three forms of violence namely physical, emotional and sexual. Data analysis was applied using SPSS version 23, comprising three-step process. First, descriptive statistics were used to show the frequency distribution of both the outcome and explanatory variables. Second, bivariate analysis adopting chi-square test was applied to assess the individual relationship between the outcome and explanatory variables. Third, multivariate logistic regression analysis was undertaken using hierarchical modeling strategy to identify the influence of the explanatory variables on the outcome variables. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were utilized to examine the association of the variables considering p-values less than 0.05 statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of lifetime IPV among ever married women was 48.4%, while 39.8% of those currently married experienced IPV in the previous year preceding the survey. Women having 1 to 4 and more than 5 number of ever born babies were almost certain to encounter lifetime IPV. However, women who own a property, and those who referenced 3-5 reasons for which wife-beating is acceptable were less probably to experience lifetime IPV. Attesting parental violence, partner’s dominant marital behavior, and women afraid of their partner were the variables related to both experience of IPV ‘ever’ and ‘the previous year prior to the survey’. Respondents who concur that wife-beating is sensible in certain situations and occupations under the professional category had diminished chances of revealing IPV in the year prior to the data collection. Conclusion: This study indicated that factors significantly correlated with IPV in Sierra-Leone are mostly linked with husband related factors specifically, marital controlling behaviors. Addressing IPV in Sierra-Leone requires joint efforts that target men raise awareness to address controlling behavior and empower security in affiliations.

Keywords: husband behavior, married women, partner violence, Sierra Leone

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