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Authors: Achilles Kameas, Eleni Georgakakou, Anna Lisa Amodeo, Aideen Quilty, Aisling Malone, Roberta Albertazzi, Moises Carmona, Concetta Esposito, Ruben David Fernandez Carrasco, Carmela Ferrara, Francesco Garzillo, Mojca Pusnik, Maria Cristina Scarano

Abstract:

While researchers, especially in academia, study and research the phenomena of inclusion of sexual minority and gender marginalized groups, seldom the European Higher Education Institutions (HEI) act on lowering the cultural and educational barriers to their proactive inclusion. The challenge in European HEIs is that gender, and sexual orientation discrimination remains an issue not adequately addressed. Following a mixed methods research design of quantitative and qualitative research techniques and tools, which is applied in five (5) European countries (Italy, Greece, Ireland, Slovenia, and Spain) and that combines desk research, evaluation, and weighting processes for a Matrix-based on Objective indicators and Survey for students and staff of the HEI to gauge the perception of inclusiveness in the HEI context, XENIA HEI Inclusiveness Index is an instrument that will allow universities to gauge and assess their inclusiveness in the domain of discrimination and exclusion based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The index will allow capturing the depth and reach of policies, programmes, and initiatives of HEIs in tackling the phenomena and dynamics of exclusion of LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and other marginalized groups on the basis of gender and sexual identity) and cisgender women exposed to the risk of discrimination.

Keywords: gender identity, higher education, LGBT+ rights, XENIA inclusiveness index

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Kulvinder Singh Mann

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The usability and simulation of information systems, known as Hospital Information System (HIS), Radiology Information System (RIS), and Picture Archiving, Communication System, for electronic medical records has shown a good impact for actors in the hospital. The objective is to help and make their work easier; such as for a nurse or administration staff to record the medical records of the patient, and for a patient to check their bill transparently. However, several limitations still exists on such area regarding the type of data being stored in the system, ability for data transfer, storage and protocols to support communication between medical devices and digital images. This paper reports the simulation result of integrating several systems to cope with those limitations by using the Modality Worklist and DICOM standard. It succeeds in documenting the reason of that failure so future research will gain better understanding and be able to integrate those systems.

Keywords: HIS, RIS, PACS, modality worklist, DICOM, digital images

Procedia PDF Downloads 298

Authors: Ramlan Jantan, Norfadilah Kamaruddin, Shahriman Zainal Abidin

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In this era of technology, the co-creation method has become a new development trend. In this light, most design businesses have currently transformed their development strategy from being goods-dominant into service-dominant where more attention is given to the end-users and their roles in the development process. As a result, the conventional development process has been replaced with a more cooperative one. Consequently, numerous studies have been conducted to explore the extension of co-creation method in the design development process and most studies have focused on issues found during the production process. In the meantime, this study aims to investigate potential values established during the pre-production process, which is also known as the ‘circumstances value creation’. User involvement is questioned and crucially debate at the entry level of pre-production process in value in-exchange jointly spheres; thus user experiences took place. Thus, this paper proposed a potential framework of the co-creation method for Malaysian interactive product development. The framework is formulated from both parties involved: the users and designers. The framework will clearly give an explanation of the value of the co-creation method, and it could assist relevant design industries/companies in developing a blueprint for the design process. This paper further contributes to the literature on the co-creation of value and digital ecosystems.

Keywords: co-creation method, co-creation framework, co-creation, co-production

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Asmaa Zaki M., Ahmed Abd El Aziz, Heba A. Fayed, Moustafa H. Aly

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ISLs are the most popular choice for deep space communications because these links are attractive alternatives to present day microwave links. This paper explored the allowable high data rate in this link over different orbits, which is affected by variation in modulation scheme and detector type. Moreover, the objective of this paper is to optimize and analyze the performance of ISL in terms of Q-factor and Minimum Bit Error Rate (Min-BER) based on different detectors comprising some parameters.

Keywords: free space optics (FSO), field of view (FOV), inter satellite link (ISL), optical wireless communication (OWC)

Procedia PDF Downloads 378

Authors: Sperisa Distantina, Rieke Ulfha Noviyanti, Sri Sutriyani, Fadilah Fadilah, Mujtahid Kaavessina

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In this research, carrageenan extracted from seaweed Eucheuma cottonii was mixed with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and then crosslinked using glutaraldehyde (GA). The obtained hydrogel films were applied to control the drug release rate of paracetamol. The aim of this research was to develop a mathematical model that can be used to describe the mass transfer rate of paracetamol from the hydrogel film into buffer solution. The effect of weight ratio carrageenan-PVA (5: 0, 1: 0.5, 1: 1, 1: 2, 0: 5) on the parameters of the mathematical model was investigated also. Based on the experimental data, the proposed mathematical model could describe the mass transfer rate of paracetamol. The weight ratio of carrageenan-PVA greatly affected the amount of paracetamol absorbed in the hydrogel film and the mass transfer rate of paracetamol.

Keywords: carrageenan-PVA, crosslinking, glutaraldehyde, hydrogel, paracetamol, mass transfer

Procedia PDF Downloads 274

Authors: Nasrin Bakhshizadeh, Ashkan Forootan

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A major problem that affects the quality control of polymer in the industrial polymerization is the lack of suitable on-line measurement tools to evaluate the properties of the polymer such as melt and density indices. Controlling the polymerization in ordinary method is performed manually by taking samples, measuring the quality of polymer in the lab and registry of results. This method is highly time consuming and leads to producing large number of incompatible products. An online application for estimating melt index and density proposed in this study is a neural network based on the input-output data of the polyethylene production plant. Temperature, the level of reactors' bed, the intensity of ethylene mass flow, hydrogen and butene-1, the molar concentration of ethylene, hydrogen and butene-1 are used for the process to establish the neural model. The neural network is taught based on the actual operational data and back-propagation and Levenberg-Marquart techniques. The simulated results indicate that the neural network process model established with three layers (one hidden layer) for forecasting the density and the four layers for the melt index is able to successfully predict those quality properties.

Keywords: polyethylene, polymerization, density, melt index, neural network

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Kevser Dincer, Basma Waisi, M. Ozan Ozdemir, Ugur Pasaogullari, Jeffrey McCutcheon

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Nanofibers are defined as fibers with diameters less than 100 nanometers. They can be produced by interfacial polymerization, electrospinning and electrostatic spinning. In this study, behaviours of activated carbon nano fiber (ACNF), carbon nano-fiber (CNF), Polyacrylonitrile/carbon nanotube (PAN/CNT), Polyvinyl alcohol/nano silver (PVA/Ag) in PEM fuel cells are investigated experimentally. This material was used as gas diffusion layer (GDL) in PEM fuel cells. When the performances of these cells are compared to each other at 5x5 cm2 cell, it is found that the PVA/Ag exhibits the best performance among all. In this work, nano fiber and nano fiber/nano particles electrical conductivities have been studied to understand their effects on PEM fuel cell performance. According to the experimental results, the maximum electrical conductivity performance of the fuel cell with nanofiber was found to be at PVA/Ag. The electrical conductivities of CNF, ACNF, PAN/CNT are lower for PEM. The resistance of cell with PVA/Ag is lower than the resistance of cell with PAN/CNT, ACNF, CNF.

Keywords: proton exchange membrane fuel cells, electrospinning, carbon nano fiber, activate carbon nano-fiber, PVA fiber, PAN fiber, carbon nanotube, nano particle nanocomposites

Procedia PDF Downloads 365

Authors: Fahad Al Beyahi, Justin Thomas, Md Mamunur Rashid

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Various definitions of digital well-being have emerged in recent years, most of which center on the impacts -beneficial and detrimental- of digital technology on health and well-being (psychological, social, and financial). Other definitions go further, emphasizing the attainment of balance, viewing digital well-being as wholly subjective, the individual’s perception of optimal balance between the benefits and ills associated with online connectivity. Based on this broad conceptualization of digital well-being, we undertook a global survey measuring various dimensions of this emerging construct. The survey was administered across 35 nations and 7 world regions, with 1000 participants within each territory (N= 35000). Along with attitudinal, behavioral, and sociodemographic variables, the survey included measures of depression, anxiety, problematic social media use, gaming disorder, and other relevant metrics. Coupled with nation-level policy audits, these data were used to create a multinational (global) digital well-being index. Nations are ranked based on various dimensions of digital well-being, and predictive models are used to identify resilience and risk factors for problem technology use. In this paper, we will discuss key findings from the survey and the index. This work can inform public policy and shape our responses to the emerging implications of lives increasingly lived online and interconnected with digital technology.

Keywords: technology, health, behavioral addiction, digital wellbeing

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Sony Baral, Harald Vacik

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This study analyzes the sustainability of community forest management in two community forests in Terai and Hills of Nepal, representing four forest types: 1) Shorearobusta, 2) Terai hardwood, 3) Schima-Castanopsis, and 4) other Hills. The sustainability goals for this region include maintaining and enhancing the forest stocks. Considering this, we analysed changes in species composition, stand density, growing stock volume, and growth-to-removal ratio at 3-5 year intervals from 2005-2016 within 109 permanent forest plots (57 in the Terai and 52 in the Hills). To complement inventory data, forest users, forest committee members, and forest officials were consulted. The results indicate that the relative representation of economically valuable tree species has increased. Based on trends in stand density, both forests are being sustainably managed. Pole-sized trees dominated the diameter distribution, however, with a limited number of mature trees and declined regeneration. The forests were over-harvested until 2013 but under-harvested in the recent period in the Hills. In contrast, both forest types were under-harvested throughout the inventory period in the Terai. We found that the ecological dimension of sustainable forest management is strongly achieved while the economic dimension is lacking behind the current potential. Thus, we conclude that maintaining a large number of trees in the forest does not necessarily ensure both ecological and economical sustainability. Instead, priority should be given on a rational estimation of the annual harvest rates to enhance forest resource conditions together with regular benefits to the local communities.

Keywords: community forests, diversity, growing stock, forest management, sustainability, nepal

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Mohamud Ali Ibrahim, Ali Bayat, Ali Bolat

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Defoliant spraying is an important link in the mechanized cotton harvest because adequate and uniform spraying can improve defoliation quality and reduce cotton trash content. In defoliant application, application volume and spraying technology are extremely important. In this study, the effectiveness of defoliant application to cotton plant that has come to harvest with two different application volumes and three different types of nozzles with a standard field crop sprayer was determined. Experiments were carried in two phases as field area trials and laboratory analysis. Application rates were 250 l/ha and 400 L/ha, and spraying nozzles were (1) Standard flat fan nozzle (TP8006), (2) Air induction nozzle (AI 11002-VS), and (3) Dual Pattern nozzle (AI307003VP). A tracer (BSF) and defoliant were applied to mature cotton with approximately 60% open bolls and samplings for BSF deposition and spray coverage on the cotton plant were done at two plant height (upper layer, lower layer) of plant. Before and after spraying, bolls open and leaves rate on cotton plants were calculated, and filter papers were used to detect BSF deposition, and water sensitive papers (WSP) were used to measure the coverage rate of spraying methods used. Spectrofluorophotometer was used to detect the amount of tracer deposition on targets, and an image process computer programme was used to measure coverage rate on WSP. In analysis, conclusions showed that air induction nozzle (AI 11002-VS) achieved better results than the dual pattern and standard flat fan nozzles in terms of higher depositions, coverages, and leaf defoliations, and boll opening rates. AI nozzles operating at 250 L/ha application rate provide the highest deposition and coverage rate on applications of the defoliant; in addition, BSF as an indicator of the defoliant used reached on leaf beneath in merely this spray nozzle. After defoliation boll opening rate was 85% on the 7th and 12th days after spraying and falling rate of leaves was 76% at application rate of 250 L/ha with air induction (AI1102) nozzle.

Keywords: cotton defoliant, air induction nozzle, dual pattern nozzle, standard flat fan nozzle, coverage rate, spray deposition, boll opening rate, leaves falling rate

Procedia PDF Downloads 166

Authors: Joo-Heon Lee, Seo-Yeon Park, Chanyang Sur, Ho-Won Jang

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Satellite-based remote sensing technique has been widely used in the area of drought and environmental monitoring to overcome the weakness of in-situ based monitoring. There are many advantages of remote sensing for drought watch in terms of data accessibility, monitoring resolution and types of available hydro-meteorological data including environmental areas. This study was focused on the applicability of drought monitoring based on satellite imageries by applying to the historical drought events, which had a huge impact on meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological drought. Satellite-based drought indices, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Mission (GPM); Vegetation Health Index (VHI) using MODIS based Land Surface Temperature (LST), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI); and Scaled Drought Condition Index (SDCI) were evaluated to assess its capability to analyze the complex topography of the Korean peninsula. While the VHI was accurate when capturing moderate drought conditions in agricultural drought-damaged areas, the SDCI was relatively well monitored in hydrological drought-damaged areas. In addition, this study found correlations among various drought indices and applicability using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) method, which will expand our understanding of the relationships between hydro-meteorological variables and drought events at global scale. The results of this research are expected to assist decision makers in taking timely and appropriate action in order to save millions of lives in drought-damaged areas.

Keywords: drought monitoring, moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), remote sensing, receiver operating characteristic (ROC)

Procedia PDF Downloads 312

Authors: Tukur Daiyabu Abdulkadir, Wan Ishak Wan Ismail, Muhammad Saufi Mohd Kassim

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Seed singulation and accuracy in seed spacing are the major challenges associated with the adoption of mechanical seeder for system of rice intensification. In this research the metering system of a pneumatic planter was modified and automated for increase precision to meet the demand of system of rice intensification SRI. The chain and sprocket mechanism of a conventional vacuum planter were now replaced with an electro mechanical system made up of a set of servo motors, limit switch, micro controller and a wheel divided into 10 equal angles. The circumference of the planter wheel was determined based on which seed spacing was computed and mapped to the angles of the metering wheel. A program was then written and uploaded to arduino micro controller and it automatically turns the seed plates for seeding upon covering the required distance. The servo motor was calibrated with the aid of labVIEW. The machine was then calibrated using a grease belt and varying the servo rpm through voltage variation between 37 rpm to 47 rpm until an optimum value of 40 rpm was obtained with a forward speed of 5 kilometers per hour. A pressure of 1.5 kpa was found to be optimum under which no skip or double was recorded. Precision in spacing (coefficient of variation), miss index, multiple index, doubles and skips were investigated. No skip or double was recorded both at laboratory and field levels. The operational parameters under consideration were both evaluated at laboratory and field. Even though there was little variation between the laboratory and field values of precision in spacing, multiple index and miss index, the different is not significant as both laboratory and field values fall within the acceptable range.

Keywords: automation, calibration, pneumatic seed planter, system of rice intensification

Procedia PDF Downloads 621

Authors: Auliya Adzilatin Uzhma, Ismu Rini Dwi, I. Nyoman Suluh Wijaya

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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme in Pantai Harapan Jaya village is cultivation of mangrove and fishery capital distribution, to achieve the goal the CSR programme needed participation from the society in it. Moeliono in Fahrudin (2011) mentioned that participation from society is based by intrinsic reason from inside people it self and extrinsic reason from the other who related to him. The fundamental connection who caused more boundaries from action which the organization can do called the social structure. The purpose of this research is to know the form of public participation and the social structure typology of the villager and people who is participated in CSR programme. The key actors of the society and key actors of the people who’s participated also can be known. This research use Social Network Analysis method by knew the Rate of Participation, Density and Centrality. The result of the research is people who is involved in the programme is lived in Dusun Pondok Dua and they work in fisheries field. The density value from the participant is 0.516 it’s mean that 51.6% of the people that participated is involved in the same step of CSR programme.

Keywords: social structure, social network analysis, corporate social responsibility, public participation

Procedia PDF Downloads 463

Authors: N. Bendimerad, M. Lemerini, A. Guen

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In this work, we propose to determine the density of neutral particles of an electric discharge peak - Plan types performed in air at atmospheric pressure by applying a technique based on laser interferometry. The experimental methods used so far as the shadowgraph or stereoscopy, give rather qualitative results with regard to the determination of the neutral density. The neutral rotational temperature has been subject of several studies but direct measurements of kinetic temperature are rare. The aim of our work is to determine quantitatively and experimentally depopulation with a Mach-Zehnder type interferometer. This purely optical appearance of the discharge is important when looking to know the refractive index of any gas for any physicochemical applications.

Keywords: laser source, Mach-Zehnder interferometer, refractive index, corona discharge

Procedia PDF Downloads 429

Authors: Abdel Moktader A. El Sayed, Nahla A. El Sayed

Abstract:

Fifty-one sandstone core samples were obtained from the wadi Saal area. They belong to the Pre-Cenomanian age. These samples were subjected to various laboratory measurements such as density, porosity, permeability, electrical resistivity, grain size analysis and ultrasonic wave velocity. The parameters describing reservoir properties are outlined. The packing index, reservoir quality index, flow zone indicator and pore throat radius (R35 and R36) were calculated. The obtained interrelationships among these parameters allow improving petrophysical knowledge about the Pre-Cenomanian reservoir information. The obtained rock physics models could be employed with some precautions to the subsurface existences of the Pre-Cenomanian sandstone reservoirs, especially in the surrounding areas.

Keywords: resevoir sandstone, Egypt, Sinai, permeability

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Liu Li, Kim Seng Lee, Li Lu

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The high-energy-density Li-rich layered materials are promising cathode materials for the next-generation high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The relatively low rate capability is one of the major problems that limit their practical application. In this work, Li-rich layered Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 cathode material synthesized by coprecipitation method is further modified by F doping or surface treatment to enhance its cycling stability as well as rate capability.

Keywords: Li-ion battery, Li-rich layered cathode material, phase transformation, cycling stability, rate capacility

Procedia PDF Downloads 340

Authors: Majid Saaly, Shahriar Tavousi Tafreshi, Mehdi Nazari Afshar

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Most reinforced concrete structures are designed only under heavy loads have large transverse reinforcement spacing values, and therefore suffer severe failure after intense ground movements. The main goal of this paper is to compare the shear- and axial failure of concrete bending frames available in Tehran using incremental dynamic analysis under near- and far-field records. For this purpose, IDA analyses of 5, 10, and 15-story concrete structures were done under seven far-fault records and five near-faults records. The results show that in two-dimensional models of short-rise, mid-rise and high-rise reinforced concrete frames located on Type-3 soil, increasing the distance of the transverse reinforcement can increase the maximum inter-story drift ratio values up to 37%. According to the existing results on 5, 10, and 15-story reinforced concrete models located on Type-3 soil, records with characteristics such as fling-step and directivity create maximum drift values between floors more than far-fault earthquakes. The results indicated that in the case of seismic excitation modes under earthquake encompassing directivity or fling-step, the probability values of failure and failure possibility increasing rate values are much smaller than the corresponding values of far-fault earthquakes. However, in near-fault frame records, the probability of exceedance occurs at lower seismic intensities compared to far-fault records.

Keywords: IDA, failure curve, directivity, maximum floor drift, fling step, evaluating probable bending of frames, near-field and far-field earthquake records

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Srinivasapriyan Vijayan

Abstract:

Phenol is one of the most vital chemical in industry. Nowadays, phenol production is based upon the three-step cumene process, which involves a hazardous cumene hydroperoxide intermediate and produces nearly equimolar amounts of acetone as a coproduct. An attractive route in phenol production is the direct one-step selective hydroxylation of benzene using eco-friendly oxidants such as O2, N2O, and H2O2. In particular, the direct hydroxylation of benzene to form phenol with O2 has recently attracted extensive research attention because this process is green clean and eco-friendly. However, most of the catalytic systems involving O2 have a low rate of hydroxylation because the direct introduction of hydroxyl functionality into benzene is challenging. Almost all the developed catalytic systems require an elevated temperature and suffer from low conversion because of the notoriously low reactivity of aromatic C–H bonds. Moreover, increased reactivity of phenol relative to benzene makes the selective oxidation of benzene to phenol very difficult, especially under heating conditions. Hollow spheres, a very fascinating class of materials with good permeation and low density, highly monodisperse MOF hollow sandwich spheres have been rationally synthesized using monodisperse polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles as templates through a versatile step-by-step self-assembly strategy. So, our findings could pave the way toward highly efficient nonprecious catalysts for low-temperature oxidation reactions in heterogeneous catalysis. Because it is easy post-reaction separation, its cheap, green and recyclable.

Keywords: benzene hydroxylation, Fe-based metal organic frameworks, molecular oxygen, phenol

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Priti Saha, Biswajit Paul

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Rapid urbanization and industrialization have increased the demand of groundwater. However, the present era has evident an enormous level of groundwater pollution. Therefore, water quality assessment is paramount importance to evaluate its suitability for drinking, irrigation and industrial use. This study focus to evaluate the groundwater quality of an industrial city in eastern India through interdisciplinary techniques. The multi-purpose Water Quality Index (WQI) assess the suitability for drinking as well as irrigation of forty sampling locations, where 2.5% and 15% of sampling locations have excellent water quality (WQI:0-25) as well as 15% and 40% have good quality (WQI:25-50), which represents its suitability for drinking and irrigation respectively. However, the industrial water quality was assessed through Ryznar Stability Index (LSI), which affirmed that only 2.5% of sampling locations have neither corrosive nor scale forming properties (RSI: 6.2-6.8). These techniques with the integration of geographical information system (GIS) for spatial assessment indorsed its effectiveness to identify the regions where the water bodies are suitable to use for drinking, irrigation as well as industrial activities. Further, the sources of these contaminants were identified through factor analysis (FA), which revealed that both the geogenic as well as anthropogenic sources were responsible for groundwater pollution. This research demonstrates the effectiveness of statistical and GIS techniques for the analysis of environmental contaminants.

Keywords: groundwater, water quality analysis, water quality index, WQI, factor analysis, FA, spatial assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Qin Xvelian

Abstract:

organic renewal" based on the development of existing resources in high-density urban areas has become the mainstream of urban development in the new era. As an important stock resource of public space in high-density urban areas, promoting its value remodeling is an effective way to alleviate the shortage of public space resources. However, due to the lack of evaluation links in the process of underpass space renewal, a large number of underpass space resources have been left idle, facing the problems of low space conversion efficiency, lack of accuracy in development decision-making, and low adaptability of functional positioning to citizens' needs. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to construct the evaluation system of under-bridge space renewal potential and explore the renewal mode. In this paper, some of the under-bridge spaces in the main urban area of Chongqing are selected as the research object. Through the questionnaire interviews with the users of the built excellent space under the bridge, three types of six levels and twenty-two potential evaluation indexes of "objective demand factor, construction feasibility factor and construction suitability factor" are selected, including six levels of land resources, infrastructure, accessibility, safety, space quality and ecological environment. The analytical hierarchy process and expert scoring method are used to determine the index weight, construct the potential evaluation system of the space under the bridge in high-density urban areas of Chongqing, and explore the direction of renewal and utilization of its suitability. To provide feasible theoretical basis and scientific decision support for the use of under bridge space in the future.

Keywords: high density urban area, potential evaluation, space under bridge, updated using

Procedia PDF Downloads 43

Authors: Abdul-Nasser El-Kassar, Walid Elgammal, Hisham Jawhar

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This paper studies the determinants of the dividends payout ratio. The factors affecting the dividends payout ratio are to be identified. The study focuses only on the cement and construction industry within the MENA region in an attempt to isolate any incoherent behavior. The factors under consideration are: sales growth, ROE, ROA, ROS, debt to equity ratio, firm size, and free cash flow. Data were collected from official stock exchange markets in addition to annual reports. The study considered all firms that paid dividend in each of the three consecutive years starting from 2010 till 2012. Out of the 123 listed firms that work in cement and construction industry in MENA region, only 19 paid dividends in the three consecutive years 2010-12. Our sample consists of the 19 firms (57 observations) which are selected according to purposive sampling. Moreover, the study uses the homogeneous subcategory within the purposive sampling since only similar firms in the construction industry had been examined. The outcome of the study provides a vital insight into the determinants of dividends payout ratio of companies in MENA region. The results showed that the dividend payout ratio has a strong and positive relationship with return on assets and strong but negative relationship with return on equity. On the other hand, the results detected weak relationships between dividend payout ratio and sale growth, debt to equity ratio, firm size, and free cash flow. The study suggests that board of directors tend to compensate shareholders and minimize the agency cost by distributing a high portion of profits in form of dividends whenever return on equity decreases. Also, when the performance of the firm improves, and hence return on assets increases, boards of directors are more generous in distributing profits.

Keywords: dividends payout ratio, profitability firm size, free cashflow, debt to equity ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 341

Authors: Anees Tahir

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Margin financing plays a significant role in Pakistan's stock market (PSX), offering investors the opportunity to maximize profits by borrowing funds from financiers to purchase marginable stocks. However, this financial practice raises several Shariah-related concerns. The study follows legal doctrinal research methodology. It explains and analyzes the law of margin financing prevailing in PSX and compares it with the principles of Shariah. It also examines and investigates the practices of margin financing from the perspective of Shariah. As part of the study, the researcher has conducted structured interviews with the Shariah advisors of the finance industry, academicians, market practitioners, and regulators. Thus, the study analyzes the findings of interviews. This article explores the legal framework and practice of margin financing in Pakistan from a Shariah perspective. The article investigates various issues relating to margin financing, including the fundamental concern of interest-based lending, which contravenes Islamic principles. It also highlights the problematic subject matter of margin financing, often involving non-Shariah compliant securities. Additionally, the article addresses the restriction on proprietary rights and the problematic element of speculation associated with margin financing. To provide a Shariah-compliant alternative, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) introduced Murabahah Shares Financing (MSF) in 2019. However, the focus of the market is still on conventional margin financing. In the opinion of the researcher, the effective implementation of MSF is imperative because in the absence of such an alternative, the faith sensitive investor will remain deprived of a level playing field, and he is unable to get required financing opportunities through a halal and Shariah-compliant manner. This article argues that margin financing in its current form is incompatible with Shariah principles and should be discontinued. It is recommended that the SECP should gradually phase out the use of margin financing and increase reliance on MSF to provide faith-sensitive and committed investors with Shariah-compliant financing options.

Keywords: margin financing, marginable stocks, faith sensitive investor, Murabahah shares financing

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Oluwagbemiga Paul Agboola, Cornelius Olatunji Omojola, Dayo Martins Oyeshomo

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The role of a recreational park in human and environmental development has attracted much interest in the recent time. Recreation parks' development could act as an effective planning strategy to enhance environmental sustainability, social cohesiveness, and users' quality of life. Similarly, parks enhance neighbourhood's aesthetics, refresh the air and enhance humans' contact with nature. In this connection, recreation parks create natural surroundings of rural areas for leisure, relaxation, recreation, psychological and physical comfort of the people. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of the two recreational parks' development as a strategy for neighbourhood's environmental improvement, sustainability and the recreationists' cohesiveness. A total number of 158 survey questionnaires were distributed to the tourists at Ikogosi cold and warm spring in Ekiti state as well as Olumirin waterfalls, Erin-Ijesa, Osun State, in South-West, Nigeria. The quantitative results of the analyzed data with Relative Importance Index (RII) revealed that recreation parks provide optimum opportunities for users' social cohesiveness and well-being while parks' sustainable environment could be enhanced base on the provision of essential facilities, services, and future developmental plans. It is recommended that for recreation parks to realize their full potential in environmental sustainability, adequate maintenance and provision of essential facilities becomes imperative.

Keywords: environmental sustainability, neighbourhood development, recreational park, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 209

Authors: Yi-Jiun Chou, Ying-Hsuan Li, Yi-Jung Liu, Hsin-Yu Chiang, Hsuan-Ching Wang

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Background: Patients received therapeutic hypothermia (TH) after resuscitation from cardiac arrest are more dependent on continue and intensive nursing care. It involves many difficult steps, especially achieving target body temperature. To our best knowledge, there is no consensus or recommended standards on nursing practice of TH. Aim: The aim of this study is to increase the completion rate of nursing care at therapeutic hypothermia. Methods: We took five measures: (1) Amendment of nursing standards of therapeutic hypothermia; (2) Amendment of TH checklist items to nursing records; (3) Establishment of monitor procedure; (4) Design each period of TH care reminder cards; (5) Providing in-service training sections of TH for ICU nursing staff. Outcomes: The completion rate of nursing care at therapeutic hypothermia increased from 78.1% to 89.3%. Conclusion: The project team not only increased the completion rate but also improved patient safety and quality of care.

Keywords: therapeutic hypothermia, nursing, critical care, quality of care

Procedia PDF Downloads 401

Authors: Catherine Alex Agbor

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The modern Nigerian society is dynamic, divided in zones based on economic, political and educational resources often shared across the zones. The Six Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria is a major division in modern Nigeria, created during the regime of president Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. They are North Central, North East, North West, South East, South South and South West. However, the zone used in this study is known as former South-Eastern State of Akwa-Ibom State and Cross-River State; former Rivers State of Bayelsa State and Rivers State; and former Mid-Western Region, Nigeria of Delta State and Edo State. Many reforms have taken place overtime, particularly in the education sector. Education is constantly presenting new ideas and innovative approaches which act to facilitate the rapid exchange of knowledge and provide quality basic education for learners. The Federal Government of Nigeria in accordance with its National Council on Education directed the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council to restructure its basic education curriculum with the hope to enable the nation meet national and global developmental goals. One of the goals of the 9-year Basic Education Programme is developing in the entire citizenry a strong consciousness for education and a strong commitment to its vigorous promotion. Another is ensuring the acquisition of appropriate levels of literacy, numeracy, manipulative, communicative and life-skills as well as the ethical, moral and civic values for laying a solid foundation for lifelong learning. Therefore, this article at the introductory stage is aimed to describe some key issues in Nigeria’s experience in the basic education curriculum. In this study, particular attention is paid to this very recent educational policy of the Nigerian government known as Universal Basic Education, its challenges and what can be done to make the policy achieve its desired objectives. It progresses to analyze modern requirements for second language teaching; and presents the challenges of second language teaching in Nigeria. Finally, it reports a study which investigated special efforts for appropriate achievement of quality education in language classroom in the south-south zone of Nigeria. One fundamental research question was posed on what educational practices can contribute to current understanding of the structure of language curriculum. More explicitly, the study was designed to analyze the extent to which quality content contributes to current understanding of the structure of school curriculum in the zone. Otherwise stated, it investigated how student-centred educational practices impact on their learning of French language. One hundred and eighty (180) participants (teachers) were purposefully sampled for the study. Qualitative technique was used to elicit information from participants. The qualitative method used was Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Participants were divided into six groups comprising of 30 teachers from each zone. Group discussions were based mainly on curriculum contents and practices. Information from participants revealed that the curriculum content, among others is inadequate and should be re-examined. Recommendations were proffered as a panacea to concrete implementation of the basic education in Nigeria.

Keywords: basic education, quality contents, second language, south-south states

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Authors: Chin-Chia Jane

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In a transportation network, travel time refers to the transmission time from source node to destination node, whereas reliability refers to the probability of a successful connection from source node to destination node. With an increasing emphasis on quality of service (QoS), both performance indexes are significant in the design and analysis of transportation systems. In this work, we extend the well-known flow network model for transportation networks so that travel time and reliability are integrated into the QoS measurement simultaneously. In the extended model, in addition to the general arc capacities, each intermediate node has a time weight which is the travel time for per unit of commodity going through the node. Meanwhile, arcs and nodes are treated as binary random variables that switch between operation and failure with associated probabilities. For pre-specified travel time limitation and demand requirement, the QoS of a transportation network is the probability that source can successfully transport the demand requirement to destination while the total transmission time is under the travel time limitation. This work is pioneering, since existing literatures that evaluate travel time reliability via a single optimization path, the proposed QoS focuses the performance of the whole network system. To compute the QoS of transportation networks, we first transfer the extended network model into an equivalent min-cost max-flow network model. In the transferred network, each arc has a new travel time weight which takes value 0. Each intermediate node is replaced by two nodes u and v, and an arc directed from u to v. The newly generated nodes u and v are perfect nodes. The new direct arc has three weights: travel time, capacity, and operation probability. Then the universal set of state vectors is recursively decomposed into disjoint subsets of reliable, unreliable, and stochastic vectors until no stochastic vector is left. The decomposition is made possible by applying existing efficient min-cost max-flow algorithm. Because the reliable subsets are disjoint, QoS can be obtained directly by summing the probabilities of these reliable subsets. Computational experiments are conducted on a benchmark network which has 11 nodes and 21 arcs. Five travel time limitations and five demand requirements are set to compute the QoS value. To make a comparison, we test the exhaustive complete enumeration method. Computational results reveal the proposed algorithm is much more efficient than the complete enumeration method. In this work, a transportation network is analyzed by an extended flow network model where each arc has a fixed capacity, each intermediate node has a time weight, and both arcs and nodes are independent binary random variables. The quality of service of the transportation network is an integration of customer demands, travel time, and the probability of connection. We present a decomposition algorithm to compute the QoS efficiently. Computational experiments conducted on a prototype network show that the proposed algorithm is superior to existing complete enumeration methods.

Keywords: quality of service, reliability, transportation network, travel time

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Authors: Arsalan Ghaderi

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Introduction: Inactivity is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. According to the study prevalence of inactivity in Iran, about 67.5% and in the staff, and especially nurses, are similar. The inflammatory index (HS-CRP) is highly predictive of the progression of these diseases. Physical activity education is very important in preventing these diseases. One of the modern educational methods is web-based theory-based education. Methods: This is a semi-experimental interventional study which was conducted in Isfahan and Kurdistan universities of medical sciences in two stages. A cross-sectional study was done to determine the status of physical activity and its predictive factors. Then, intervention was performed, and six months later the data were retrieved. The data was collected using a demographic questionnaire, an integrative model of behavior prediction constructs, a standard physical activity questionnaire and (HS-CRP) test. Data were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: Physical activity was low in 66.6% of nurses, 25.4% were moderate and 8% severe. According to Pearson correlation matrix, the highest correlation was found between behavioral intention and skill structures (0.553**), subjective norms (0.222**) and self-efficacy (0.198**). The relationship between age and physical activity in the first study was reverse and significant. After intervention, there was a significant change in attitudes, self-efficacy, skill and behavioral intention in the intervention group. This change was significant in attitudes, self-efficacy and environmental conditions of the control group. HS-CRP index decreased significantly after intervention in both groups, but there was not a significant relationship between inflammatory index and physical activity score. The change in physical activity level was significant only in the control group. Conclusion: Despite the effect of educational intervention on attitude, self-efficacy, skill, and behavioral intention, the results showed that if factors such as environmental factors are not corrected, training and changing structures cannot lead to physical activity behavior. On the other hand, no correlation between physical activity and HS-CRP showed that this index can be influenced by other factors, and this should be considered in any intervention to reduce the HS-CRP index.

Keywords: HS-CRP, integrative model of behavior prediction, physical activity, nurses, web-based education

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Authors: Muhammad Suradi, Sugiarto, Abdullah Latip

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Many roadside slope failures occur during the rainy season, particularly in the period of extreme rainfall along Connecting National Road of Salubatu-Mambi, West Sulawesi, Indonesia. These occurrences cause traffic obstacles and endanger people along and around the road. Research collaboration between P2JN (National Road Construction Board) West Sulawesi Province, who authorize to supervise the road condition, and Ujung Pandang State Polytechnic (Applied University) was established to cope with the landslide problem. This research aims to determine factors triggering roadside slope failures and their optimum stabilizing solution. To achieve this objective, site observation and soil investigation were carried out to obtain parameters for analyses of rainfall-induced slope instability and reinforcement design using the SV Flux and SV Slope software. The result of this analysis will be taken into account for the next analysis to get an optimum design of the slope reinforcement. The result indicates some factors such as steep slopes, sandy soils, and unvegetated slope surface mainly contribute to the slope failures during intense rainfall. With respect to the contributing factors as well as construction material and technology, cantilever/butressing retaining wall becomes the optimum solution for the roadside slope reinforcement.

Keywords: roadside slope, failure, rainfall, slope reinforcement, optimum solution

Procedia PDF Downloads 83

Authors: Paolo Magnata

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The energy market in the Philippines remains to have one of the highest electricity rates in the region averaging at US$0.16/kWh (PHP6.89/kWh), excluding VAT, as opposed to the overall energy market average of US$0.13/kWh. The movement towards renewable energy, specifically solar energy, will pose as an expensive one with the country’s energy sector providing Feed-in-Tariff rates as high as US$0.17/kWh (PHP8.69/kWh) for solar energy power plants. Increasing the share of renewables at the current state of the energy regulatory background would yield a three-fold increase in residential electricity bills. The issue lies in the uniform charge that consumers bear regardless of where the electricity is sourced resulting in rates that only consider costs and not the consumers. But if they are given the option to choose where their electricity comes from, a number of consumers may potentially choose economically costlier sources of electricity due to higher levels of utility coupled with the willingness to pay of consuming environmentally-friendly sourced electricity. A contingent valuation survey was conducted to determine their willingness-to-pay for solar energy on a sample that was representative of Metro Manila to elicit their willingness-to-pay and a Single Bounded Dichotomous Choice and Double Bounded Dichotomous Choice analysis was used to estimate the amount they were willing to pay. The results showed that Metro Manila residents are willing to pay a premium on top of their current electricity bill amounting to US$5.71 (PHP268.42) – US$9.26 (PHP435.37) per month which is approximately 0.97% - 1.29% of their monthly household income. It was also discovered that besides higher income of households, a higher level of self-perceived knowledge on environmental awareness significantly affected the likelihood of a consumer to pay the premium. Shifting towards renewable energy is an expensive move not only for the government because of high capital investment but also to consumers; however, the Green Energy Option (a policy mechanism which gives consumers the option to decide where their electricity comes from) can potentially balance the shift of the economic burden by transitioning from a uniformly charged electricity rate to equitably charging consumers based on their willingness to pay for renewably sourced energy.

Keywords: contingent valuation, dichotomous choice, Philippines, solar energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Shane David van Zyl, A. J. Burger

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The global green energy shift has placed significant value on the production of green hydrogen and its derivatives. The study examines the impact on capital expenditure (CAPEX), operational expenditure (OPEX), levelized cost, and environmental impact, depending on the relationship between various production capacities of potable water, green hydrogen, and green ammonia. A model-based sensitivity analysis approach was used to determine the relevance of various process parameters in the production of potable water combined with green hydrogen or green ammonia production. The effects of changes on CAPEX, OPEX and levelized costs of the products were determined. Furthermore, a qualitative environmental impact analysis was done to determine the effect on the environment. The findings indicated the individual process unit contribution to the overall CAPEX and OPEX while also determining the major contributors to changes in the levelized costs of products. The results emphasize the difference in costs associated with potable water, green hydrogen, and green ammonia production, indicating the extent to which potable water production costs become insignificant in the complete process, which, therefore, can have a large social benefit through increased potable water production resulting in decreased water scarcity in the south-west African region.

Keywords: CAPEX and OPEX, desalination, green hydrogen and green ammonia, sensitivity analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 12