Search results for: Trust dynamics

Authors: Anvi Kumar

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This paper explores the attitudes and awareness of multiple generations ranging from Boomers I to GenZ (i.e. from 1954 to 2012) towards mental health issues. A convenient sample of 191 people was gathered in India aged 11-77. 20 people each were considered from 5 generational cohorts, namely- Boomers I, Boomers II, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. The study tool comprised a survey that included demographic questions and the Community Attitude towards Mental Illness (CAMI) scale by Taylor & Dear (1981). Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Bonferonni’s post-hoc analysis have been used to perform the analysis. The findings reveal that the level of kindness towards those who struggle with mental health varies through certain age groups. An overall sense of exclusion of those struggling with mental health is prevalent among all age groups. GenZ’s awareness of mental health issues is primarily via social media, as against the rest of the generations seeking it from close relatives and friends. The study’s findings suggest a need to investigate further the quality of mental health knowledge content and its consumption pattern. Understanding the dynamics of information sharing and the potential for biases requires further discovery.

Keywords: attitude, behaviour, mental illness, Gen Z, millennials, Gen Y, multi-generations, generational differences

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Authors: Deretha Bester

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This research employs a theoretical framework to investigate the interplay between factors that lead from predatory governance and predatory rule to military coups, utilizing the frustration-aggression theory as its guiding lens. It adopts a case-oriented approach and employs thematic analysis to examine the socio-economic, governance, and political environment that precipitated the August 2020 Malian military coup. Presenting seven key themes, it reveals how predatory rule and its manifestation in the Malian context was a critical factor in paving the way for the military coup. The study provides critical reflections into the historical, regional, and political dynamics reshaping Africa’s changing political landscape. It presents a conceptual model to comprehend how predatory governance fosters conditions favorable for military coups. Insights from the Malian case study offer valuable perspectives for analyzing events in comparable contexts. This understanding is crucial for grasping the precursors and impact of predatory rule and popular frustrations in contexts where military coups emerge.

Keywords: predatory rule, military coups, socio-political analysis, frustration-aggression theory, Mali

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Authors: Avijit Datta

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We have presented a phase control scheme in population transfer using chirped laser fields. A chirped pulse can do population transfer from one level to another level via adiabatic rapid passage accessible by one photon dipole transition. We propose to use a pair of phase-locked chirped pulses of the same frequency w(t) instead of a singly chirped-pulse frequency w(t). Simultaneous action of phase controlled interference in addition to rapid adiabatic passages due to chirped pulses lead to phase control over this population transfer dynamics. We have demonstrated the proposed phase control scheme over the population distribution from the initial level X(v=0,j=0) to C(v=2,j=1) level of hydrogen molecule using a pair of phase-locked and similarly chirped laser pulses. We have extended this two-level system to three-level 1+1 ladder system of hydrogen molecule from X level to final J(v=2,j=2) level via C intermediate level using two pairs of laser pulses having frequencies w(t) and w'(t) respectively and obtained laudable control over the population distribution among three levels. We also have presented some results of interference effects of w₁(t) and its third harmonics w₃(t).

Keywords: phase control, population transfer, chirped laser pulses, rapid adiabatic passage, laser-molecule interaction

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Authors: Noor Suhaida Kasri

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In the last three decades, Malaysia has developed fundamental legal and regulatory structures that aim to accommodate and facilitate the growth of Islamic banking and finance industry. Important building blocks have been put in place, to cite a few, the elevation of the position of the Malaysian Central Bank Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) as the apex advisory body and the empowerment of their Shariah resolutions through the Central Bank Act 1958; the promulgation of the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 that regulate and govern Islamic finance market with a robust statutory requirement of Shariah governance and Shariah compliance. Notwithstanding these achievements, enforceability of Shariah-compliant contract remains a contentious subject. The validity of Al Bai Bithaman Ajil concept that was commonly used by the Islamic financial institutions in their financing facilities structures and documentation has been unabatedly challenged by the customers in courts. The challenge was due to the manner in which the Al Bai Bithaman Ajil transactions were carried out. Due to this legal challenge, Al Bai Bithaman Ajil financing structure seems to no longer be the practitioners’ favourite in Malaysia, though its substitute tawarruq and commodity murabahah financing structure may potentially face similar legal challenges. This paper examines the legal challenges affecting the enforceability of these underlying Shariah contracts. The examination of these cases highlights the manner in which these contracts were being implemented and applied by the Malaysian Islamic financial institutions that triggered Shariah and legal concern. The analysis also highlights the approach adopted by the Malaysian courts in determining the Shariah issues as well as the SAC in ascertaining the rulings on the Shariah issues referred to it by the courts. The paper adopts a qualitative research methodology by using textual and documentary analysis approach. The outcome of this study underlines factors that require consideration by industry stakeholder in order to ameliorate the efficacy of the existing building blocks that would eventually strengthens the validity and enforceability of Shariah-compliant contracts. This, in the long run, will further reinforce financial stability and trust into the Islamic banking and finance industry in Malaysia.

Keywords: enforceability of Shariah compliant contract, legal challenge, legal and regulatory framework, Shariah Advisory Council

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Authors: Alejandra Martin-Dominguez, Javier Canto-Rios, Velitchko Tzatchkov

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Electrocoagulation is a water treatment technology that consists of generating coagulant species in situ by electrolytic oxidation of sacrificial anode materials triggered by electric current. It removes suspended solids, heavy metals, emulsified oils, bacteria, colloidal solids and particles, soluble inorganic pollutants and other contaminants from water, offering an alternative to the use of metal salts or polymers and polyelectrolyte addition for breaking stable emulsions and suspensions. The method essentially consists of passing the water being treated through pairs of consumable conductive metal plates in parallel, which act as monopolar electrodes, commonly known as ‘sacrificial electrodes’. Physicochemical, electrochemical and hydraulic processes are involved in the efficiency of this type of treatment. While the physicochemical and electrochemical aspects of the technology have been extensively studied, little is known about the influence of the hydraulics. However, the hydraulic process is fundamental for the reactions that take place at the electrode boundary layers and for the coagulant mixing. Electrocoagulation reactors can be open (with free water surface) and closed (pressurized). Independently of the type of rector, hydraulic head loss is an important factor for its design. The present work focuses on the study of the total hydraulic head loss and flow velocity and pressure distribution in electrocoagulation reactors with single or multiple concentric annular cross sections. An analysis of the head loss produced by hydraulic wall shear friction and accessories (minor head losses) is presented, and compared to the head loss measured on a semi-pilot scale laboratory model for different flow rates through the reactor. The tests included laminar, transitional and turbulent flow. The observed head loss was compared also to the head loss predicted by several known conceptual theoretical and empirical equations, specific for flow in concentric annular pipes. Four single concentric annular cross section and one multiple concentric annular cross section reactor configuration were studied. The theoretical head loss resulted higher than the observed in the laboratory model in some of the tests, and lower in others of them, depending also on the assumed value for the wall roughness. Most of the theoretical models assume that the fluid elements in all annular sections have the same velocity, and that flow is steady, uniform and one-dimensional, with the same pressure and velocity profiles in all reactor sections. To check the validity of such assumptions, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the concentric annular pipe reactor was implemented using the ANSYS Fluent software, demonstrating that pressure and flow velocity distribution inside the reactor actually is not uniform. Based on the analysis, the equations that predict better the head loss in single and multiple annular sections were obtained. Other factors that may impact the head loss, such as the generation of coagulants and gases during the electrochemical reaction, the accumulation of hydroxides inside the reactor, and the change of the electrode material with time, are also discussed. The results can be used as tools for design and scale-up of electrocoagulation reactors, to be integrated into new or existing water treatment plants.

Keywords: electrocoagulation reactors, hydraulic head loss, concentric annular pipes, computational fluid dynamics model

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Authors: Abel L. Masotla, Phesheya E. Dlamini, Vusumuzi E. Mbanjwa

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Accurate quantification of the vertical distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) in relation to land cover transformations, associated with shrub encroachment is crucial because deeper lying horizons have been shown to have greater capacity to sequester SOC. Despite this, in-depth soil carbon dynamics remain poorly understood, especially in arid and semi-arid rangelands. The objective of this study was to quantify and compare the vertical distribution of soil organic carbon stocks (SOCs) in shrub-encroached and open grassland sites. To achieve this, soil samples were collected vertically at 10 cm depth intervals under both sites. The results showed that SOC was on average 19% and 13% greater in the topsoil and subsoil respectively, under shrub-encroached grassland compared to open grassland. In both topsoil and subsoil, lower SOCs were found under shrub-encroached (4.53 kg m⁻² and 3.90 kgm⁻²) relative to open grassland (4.39 kgm⁻² and 3.67 kgm⁻²). These results demonstrate that deeper soil horizon play a critical role in the storage of SOC in savanna grassland.

Keywords: savanna grasslands, shrub-encroachment, soil organic carbon, vertical distribution

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Authors: Nazlı Üstünes Demirhan

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International norms are subject to pressures of change through contestation during the course of their lifetimes. The nature of the contestation is one of the factors that are likely to have a determinative role in the direction of this change towards a stronger or weaker norm. This paper aims to understand the relation between the legality of contestation and the direction of change in norm strength. Based on a multidimensional norm strength conceptualization, it is hypothesized that use of legal logic and rhetoric of argumentation would have a positive influence for norm strength, whereas non-legal nature of contestation would lack this and weaken the norm. In order to show this, the evolution of the human protection norm between 1999 and 2018 will be examined with reference to two major contestation periods; Kosovo intervention of 1999, which led to the development of R2P doctrine, and Libya intervention of 2011, which is followed by the demise of the norm. The comparative analysis will be conducted through process tracing method with a document analysis on the Security Council meeting minutes, resolutions, and press releases. This study aims to contribute to the norm contestation literature with the introduction of legal process analysis. It also relates to further questions in IR/IL nexus, relating to the value added of norm legality as well as the politics of legalization.

Keywords: humanitarian intervention, legality, norm contestation, norm dynamics, norm strength, responsibility to protect

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Authors: Pooya Niksiar, Ali Ashrafizadeh, Mehrzad Shams, Amir Hossein Madani

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There are many computationally demanding applications in science and engineering which need efficient algorithms implemented on high performance computers. Recently, Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) have drawn much attention as compared to the traditional CPU-based hardware and have opened up new improvement venues in scientific computing. One particular application area is Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), in which mature CPU-based codes need to be converted to GPU-based algorithms to take advantage of this new technology. In this paper, numerical solutions of two classes of discrete fluid flow models via both CPU and GPU are discussed and compared. Test problems include an Eulerian model of a two-dimensional incompressible laminar flow case and a Lagrangian model of a two phase flow field. The CUDA programming standard is used to employ an NVIDIA GPU with 480 cores and a C++ serial code is run on a single core Intel quad-core CPU. Up to two orders of magnitude speed up is observed on GPU for a certain range of grid resolution or particle numbers. As expected, Lagrangian formulation is better suited for parallel computations on GPU although Eulerian formulation represents significant speed up too.

Keywords: CFD, Eulerian formulation, graphics processing units, Lagrangian formulation

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Authors: J. Skibinski, P. Caban, T. Wejrzanowski, K. J. Kurzydlowski

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In the present study numerical simulations of epitaxial growth of gallium nitride in Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy reactor AIX-200/4RF-S are addressed. The aim of this study was to design the optimal fluid flow and thermal conditions for obtaining the most homogeneous product. Since there are many agents influencing reactions on the crystal growth area such as temperature, pressure, gas flow or reactor geometry, it is difficult to design optimal process. Variations of process pressure and hydrogen mass flow rates have been considered. According to the fact that it’s impossible to determine experimentally the exact distribution of heat and mass transfer inside the reactor during crystal growth, detailed 3D modeling has been used to get an insight of the process conditions. Numerical simulations allow to understand the epitaxial process by calculation of heat and mass transfer distribution during growth of gallium nitride. Including chemical reactions in the numerical model allows to calculate the growth rate of the substrate. The present approach has been applied to enhance the performance of AIX-200/4RF-S reactor.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, finite volume method, epitaxial growth, gallium nitride

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Authors: N. Manoj

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The aeroelastic behavior of engine nacelle strake when subjected to unsteady aerodynamic flows is investigated in this paper. Geometric nonlinear characteristics and modal parameters of nacelle strake are studied when it is under dynamic loading condition. Here, an N-S based Finite Volume solver is coupled with Finite Element (FE) based nonlinear structural solver to investigate the nonlinear characteristics of nacelle strake over a range of dynamic pressures at various phases of flight like takeoff, climb, and cruise conditions. The combination of high fidelity models for both aerodynamics and structural dynamics is used to predict the nonlinearities of strake (chine). The methodology adopted for present aeroelastic analysis is partitioned-based time domain coupled CFD and CSD solvers and it is validated by the consideration of experimental and numerical comparison of aeroelastic data for a cropped delta wing model which has a proven record. The present strake geometry is derived from theoretical formulation. The amplitude and frequency obtained from the coupled solver at various dynamic pressures is discussed, which gives a better understanding of its impact on aerodynamic design-sizing of strake.

Keywords: aeroelasticity, finite volume, geometric nonlinearity, limit cycle oscillations, strake

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Authors: Junting Xiang, Jörg Uwe Schlüter, Fei Duan

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The miniaturization of gas turbines promises many advantages. Miniature gas turbines can be used for local power generation or the propulsion of small aircraft, such as UAV and MAV. However, experience shows that the miniaturization of conventional gas turbines, which are optimized at their current large size, leads to a substantial loss of efficiency and performance at smaller scales. This may be due to a number of factors, such as the Reynolds-number effect, the increased heat transfer, and manufacturing tolerances. In the present work, we focus on computational investigations of the Reynolds number effect and the wall heat transfer on the performance of axial compressor during its size change. The NASA stage 35 compressors are selected as the configuration in this study and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to carry out the miniaturization process and simulations. We perform parameter studies on the effect of Reynolds number and wall thermal conditions. Our results indicate a decrease of efficiency, if the compressor is miniaturized based on its original geometry due to the increase of viscous effects. The increased heat transfer through wall has only a small effect and will actually benefit compressor performance based on our study.

Keywords: axial compressor, CFD, heat transfer, miniature gas turbines, Reynolds number

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Authors: Seyedali Seyedkavoosi, Mohammad Obadat, Seantorrion Boyle

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The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a nontraditional experiential learning strategy in improving the success and interest of mechanical engineering students, using the Kinematics/Dynamics of Machine course as a case study. This upper-division technical course covers a wide range of topics, including mechanism and machine system analysis and synthesis, yet the complexities of ideas like acceleration, motion, and machine component relationships are hard to explain using standard teaching techniques. To solve this problem, a thorough design project was created that gave students hands-on experience developing, manufacturing, and testing their inventions. The main goals of the project were to improve students' grasp of machine design and kinematics, to develop problem-solving and presenting abilities, and to familiarize them with professional software. A questionnaire survey was done to evaluate the effect of this technique on students' performance and interest in mechanical engineering. The outcomes of the study shed light on the usefulness of nontraditional experiential learning approaches in engineering education.

Keywords: experiential learning, nontraditional teaching, hands-on design project, engineering education

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Authors: I. Behroyan, P. Ganesan, S. He, S. Sivasankaran

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This study compares the predictions of five types of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models, including two single-phase models (i.e. Newtonian and non-Newtonian) and three two-phase models (Eulerian-Eulerian, mixture and Eulerian-Lagrangian), to investigate turbulent forced convection of Cu-water nanofluid in a tube with a constant heat flux on the tube wall. The Reynolds (Re) number of the flow is between 10,000 and 25,000, while the volume fraction of Cu particles used is in the range of 0 to 2%. The commercial CFD package of ANSYS-Fluent is used. The results from the CFD models are compared with results from experimental investigations from literature. According to the results of this study, non-Newtonian single-phase model, in general, does not show a good agreement with Xuan and Li correlation in prediction of Nu number. Eulerian-Eulerian model gives inaccurate results expect for φ=0.5%. Mixture model gives a maximum error of 15%. Newtonian single-phase model and Eulerian-Lagrangian model, in overall, are the recommended models. This work can be used as a reference for selecting an appreciate model for future investigation. The study also gives a proper insight about the important factors such as Brownian motion, fluid behavior parameters and effective nanoparticle conductivity which should be considered or changed by the each model.

Keywords: heat transfer, nanofluid, single-phase models, two-phase models

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Authors: Malika Turganova, Aigul Abduldayeva

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Modern conditions require nursing innovations at the primary ambulatory stage in the health system of Kazakhstan. There is a growing need for nurses involved in before-doctor attendance for preventive interview with a female population about reproductive health. We conducted questionnaire survey of the population of Astana in 2015. Questionnaires were drawn up according to the criteria of sexual health of World Health Organization. 3593 respondents out of 8000 questionnaires agreed to answer the questions anonymously, mM=±2,1. The average age of women comprised 37,4±11,2, Ме=31,7 years of age. Analysis of awareness about marriage hygiene revealed that 72,7% of respondents did not receive information about marriage hygiene and 89,1% respondents consider it more advisable before marriage. 45,9% of respondents specified the internet as a source of information on marriage hygiene issues, 24,5% of respondents pointed out friends, and 21,5% specified doctor. Comparing female age groups under and after 40 years old we see that proportion of cases when parents provide information about marriage hygiene issues comprises 4.3% (χ2 =9.8, p<0.05). The most important factor of preservation of women reproductive health is handling a problem of unwanted pregnancy. The responsibility lies equally in men and women. Data analysis of contraceptive methods by ranking showed three most frequently used methods: contraception sheath – 29.3%, then coitus interruptus – 18.7% and hormonal preparations – 16.9%. The most important factor of women's reproductive health preservation is a solving of the problem of unwanted pregnancy, and in this respect, the responsibility lies equally in men and women. Analyzing obtained data on contraceptive methods by ranking three of the most frequently used methods are condoms – 29,3%, then coitus interruptus – 18,7% and hormonal preparations – 16,9%. Additional oral survey of the population showed a low level of informational support of female population by family physicians, health care professionals of educational organizations (schools, universities, and colleges) about hormonal contraceptive. Females of both age groups used to think that hormonal contraceptives cause collateral damage such as blastoma, cancer, increased body weight, varix dilatation of lower limbs. Satisfaction with the frequency of sexual relations of the respondents comprised 57,6%. At that, women under 40 years of age are the most satisfied women among age groups (χ2 =5,8, p<0,05).

Keywords: nurse, public health service of Kazakhstan, reproductive and sexual health, trust of population

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Authors: Xinyu Zhang, Olga Torres-Hostench

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This article presents a comparative study evaluating and comparing the quality of machine translation (MT) output of Chinese gastronomy nomenclature. Chinese gastronomic culture is experiencing an increased international acknowledgment nowadays. The nomenclature of Chinese gastronomy not only reflects a specific aspect of culture, but it is related to other areas of society such as philosophy, traditional medicine, etc. Chinese dish names are composed of several types of cultural references, such as ingredients, colors, flavors, culinary techniques, cooking utensils, toponyms, anthroponyms, metaphors, historical tales, among others. These cultural references act as one of the biggest difficulties in translation, in which the use of translation techniques is usually required. Regarding the lack of Chinese food-related translation studies, especially in Chinese-Spanish translation, and the current massive use of MT, the quality of the MT output of Chinese dish names is questioned. Fifty Chinese dish names with different types of cultural components were selected in order to complete this study. First, all of these dish names were translated by three different MT tools (Google Translate, Baidu Translate and Bing Translator). Second, a questionnaire was designed and completed by 12 Chinese online users (Chinese graduates of a Hispanic Philology major) in order to find out user preferences regarding the collected MT output. Finally, human translation techniques were observed and analyzed to identify what translation techniques would be observed more often in the preferred MT proposals. The result reveals that the MT output of the Chinese gastronomy nomenclature is not of high quality. It would be recommended not to trust the MT in occasions like restaurant menus, TV culinary shows, etc. However, the MT output could be used as an aid for tourists to have a general idea of a dish (the main ingredients, for example). Literal translation turned out to be the most observed technique, followed by borrowing, generalization and adaptation, while amplification, particularization and transposition were infrequently observed. Possibly because that the MT engines at present are limited to relate equivalent terms and offer literal translations without taking into account the whole context meaning of the dish name, which is essential to the application of those less observed techniques. This could give insight into the post-editing of the Chinese dish name translation. By observing and analyzing translation techniques in the proposals of the machine translators, the post-editors could better decide which techniques to apply in each case so as to correct mistakes and improve the quality of the translation.

Keywords: Chinese dish names, cultural references, machine translation, translation techniques

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Authors: Malgorzata Wojcik

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Groups are a powerful and significant part of human development. They serve as major emergent microsocial structures in children’s and youth’s ecological system. During middle and secondary school, peer groups become a particularly salient influence. While they promote a range of prosocial and positive emotional and behavioral attributes, they can also elicit negative or antisocial attributes, effectively “bringing out the worst” in some individuals. The grounded theory approach was employed to guide data collection and analysis, as it allows for a deeper understanding of the group processes and students’ perspectives on complex intragroup relations. Students’ perspectives on bullying cases were investigated by observing daily interactions among those involved and interviewing 47 students. The results complement theories of labeling in bullying by showing that all students self-label themselves and find it difficult to break patterns of behaviors related to bullying, such as supporting the bully or not defending the victim. In terms of the practical implications, the findings indicate that it could be beneficial to use non-punitive, restorative anti-bullying interventions that implement peer influence to transform bullying relations by removing behavioral labels.

Keywords: bullying, peer group, victimization, class reputation

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Authors: Kyung Min Kang, Peng Mou, Dong Xiang, Yong Yang, Gang Shen

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In this paper, planet pin parallelism error, which is one of manufacturing error of planet carrier, is employed as a main variable to influence planet load sharing factor. This error is categorize two group: (i) pin parallelism error with rotation on the axis perpendicular to the tangent of base circle of gear(x axis rotation in this paper) (ii) pin parallelism error with rotation on the tangent axis of base circle of gear(y axis rotation in this paper). For this study, the planetary gear system in 1.5MW wind turbine is applied and pure torsional rigid body model of this planetary gear is built using Solidworks and MSC.ADAMS. Based on quantified parallelism error and simulation model, dynamics simulation of planetary gear is carried out to obtain dynamic mesh load results with each type of error and load sharing factor is calculated with mesh load results. Load sharing factor formula and the suggestion for planetary reliability design is proposed with the conclusion of this study.

Keywords: planetary gears, planet load sharing, MSC. ADAMS, parallelism error

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Authors: Thomas Yeboah

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In recent times, micro-finance programmes targeting women have become the central means of donor poverty alleviation strategies. In view of the renewed focus on post-Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) poverty reduction strategies, there is the likelihood that funding might increase in the next coming decades to support different initiatives by donor agencies. In this paper, we critically examine the role of microfinance in shaping gender relations and empowerment outcomes of women. It is widely argued that providing and reaching out to women with credit methodologies serves as a means of increasing women’s bargaining power and challenging existing gender subordination thereby releasing them from power structures which dominate their lives. This paper cautions this view and instead show that the mainstream argument surrounding microfinance and gender empowerment is much complex than what the popular rhetoric preaches. Drawing on empirical cases on microfinance literature, we argue that lack of systematic strategy to incorporate men and the wider socio-cultural dynamics within which women’s lives are embedded radically constraints the empowerment potential of microcredit programmes and in some context may lead to unintended consequences for women.

Keywords: microfinance, empowerment, women, men, gender relations

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Authors: Marta Moczulska

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One of the most important aspects of human management in an organization is the work engagement. In spite of the different perspectives of engagement, it is possible to see that it is expressed in the activity of the individual involved in the performance of tasks, the functioning of the organization. At the same time is considered not only in behavioural but also cognitive and emotional dimensions. Previous studies were related to sources, predictors of engagement and determinants, including organizational ones. Attention was paid to the importance of needs (including belonging, success, development, sense of work), values (such as trust, honesty, respect, justice) or interpersonal relationships, especially with the supervisor. Taking them into account and theories related to human acting, behaviour in the organization, interactions, it was recognized that engagement can be shaped through cooperation and competition. It was assumed that to shape the work engagement, it is necessary to simultaneously cooperate and compete in order to reduce the weaknesses of each of these activities and strengthen the strengths. Combining cooperation and competition is defined as 'coopetition'. However, research conducted in this field is primarily concerned with relations between companies. Intra-organizational coopetition is mainly considered as competing organizational branches or units (cross-functional coopetition). Less attention is paid to competing groups or individuals. It is worth noting the ambiguity of the concepts of cooperation and rivalry. Taking into account the terms used and their meaning, different levels of cooperation and forms of competition can be distinguished. Thus, several types of intra-organizational coopetition can be identified. The article aims at defining the potential for work engagement through intra-organizational coopetition. The aim of research was to know how levels of cooperation in competition conditions influence engagement. It is assumed that rivalry (positive competition) between teams (the highest level of cooperation) is a type of coopetition that contributes to working engagement. Qualitative research will be carried out among students of the University of Zielona Gora, realizing various types of projects. The first research groups will be students working in groups on one project for three months. The second research group will be composed of students working in groups on several projects in the same period (three months). Work engagement will be determined using the UWES questionnaire. Levels of cooperation will be determined using the author's research tool. Due to the fact that the research is ongoing, results will be presented in the final paper.

Keywords: competition, cooperation, intra-organizational coopetition, work engagement

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Authors: Soheib Fergani

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This paper concerns with the formal asymptotic stability guarantees, analysis and evaluation of a nonlinear controlled unmanned aerial vehicles (uav) for trajectory tracking purpose. As the system has been recognised as an under-actuated non linear system, the control strategy has been oriented towards a hierarchical control. The dynamics of the system and the mission purpose make it mandatory to provide an absolute proof of the vehicle stability during the maneuvers. For this sake, this work establishes the complete theoretical proof for an implementable control oriented strategy that asymptotically stabilizes (GAS and LISS) the system and has never been provided in previous works. The considered model is reorganized into two partly decoupled sub-systems. The concidered control strategy is presented into two stages: the first sub-system is controlled by a nonlinear backstepping controller that generates the desired control inputs to stabilize the second sub-system. This methodology is then applied to a harware in the loop uav simulator (SiMoDrones) that reproduces the realistic behaviour of the uav in an indoor environment has been performed to show the efficiency of the proposed strategy.

Keywords: UAV application, trajectory tracking, backstepping, sliding mode control, input to state stability, stability evaluation

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Authors: Faizan Sultan

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Non-government organizations (NGOs) in Pakistan have the potential to deliver services such as health, education, and rural development through targeting the most vulnerable communities of society. Having this significant importance, NGOs are facing numerous challenges in service delivery. So, there is a need to identify the challenges NGOs face in community development, particularly post-conflict development. The current study has analyzed the social and political constraints in development projects in the post-conflict region of the Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The objectives of this study are “What are the social and political constraints faced by the nongovernmental organizations in the implementation of development aid Projects in post-conflict development of Swat and to examine the challenges in coordination mechanism between government departments, NGOs, and community in reconstruction activities”. This research is based upon both the quantitative and qualitative data that is being gathered from the NGO representatives, government officials, and community members who were involved in post-conflict development interventions in the Swat region. A purposive sampling technique was used to select respondents from the community members/activists (25 in number) and government and NGO officials (10 in number). Based on analysis against our objectives, NGOs have faced numerous constraints such as Insecurity, Negative Perceptions about NGOs, restrictions on women's mobility, government policies and regulations, lack of coordination and networking, trust deficit, and political interference while implementing their project interventions. These findings concluded that constraints have affected project implementation to a greater extent, including women's participation, involvement of marginalized populations, and equal distribution of resources. In the Swat region, NGOs cannot openly discuss sensitive projects such as human rights, gender-based projects, or women empowerment as these issues are very sensitive to the local community due to their cultural values. The community may not allow their females to go outside their homes as this region is a male-dominated society. Similarly, lack of communication and poor networking for the arrangements of the project meetings were also the major constraints.

Keywords: national disaster management authority, millennium development goals, provincial disaster management authority, provincial reconstruction, rehabilitation and settlement authority

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Authors: Laima Silina, Ilze Gramatina, Liga Skudra, Tatjana Rakcejeva

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The aim of the current research was to determine quality parameters changes of dried venison during storage. Protein, fat and moisture content dynamics as well microbiological quality was analyzed. For the experiments the meat (0.02×4.00×7.00 cm) pieces were marinated in “teriyaki sauce” marinade (composition: teriyaki sauce, sweet and sour sauce, taco sauce, soy sauce, American BBQ sauce hickory, sesame oil, garlic, garlic salt, tabasco red pepper sauce) at 4±2°C temperature for 48±1h. Sodium monophosphate (E339) was also added in part of marinade to improve the meat textural properties. After marinating, meat samples were dried in microwave-vacuum drier MUSSON–1, packaged in vacuum pouches made from polymer film (PA/PE) with barrier properties and storage for 4 months at 18±1°C temperature in dark place. Dried venison samples were analyzed after 0, 35, 91 and 112 days of storage. During the storage total plate counts of dried venison samples significantly (p<0.05) increased. No significant differences in the content of protein, fat and moisture were detected when analyzing dried meat samples during storage and comparing them with the chemical parameters of just dried meat.

Keywords: drying, microwave-vacuum drier, quality, venison

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Authors: Martin Kleynhans, Margot Soler, Gavin Quibell

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Malawi is one of the world’s poorest nations and consequently, the design of flood risk management infrastructure comes with a different set of challenges. There is a lack of good quality hydromet data, both in spatial terms and in the quality thereof and the challenge in the design of flood risk management infrastructure is compounded by the fact that maintenance is almost completely non-existent and that solutions have to be simple to be effective. Solutions should not require any further resources to remain functional after completion, and they should be resilient. They also have to be cost effective. The Lower Shire Valley of Malawi suffers from frequent flood events. Various flood risk management interventions have been designed across the valley during the course of the Shire River Basin Management Project – Phase I, and due to the data poor environment, indigenous knowledge was relied upon to a great extent for hydrological and hydraulic model calibration and verification. However, indigenous knowledge comes with the caveat that it is ‘fuzzy’ and that it can be manipulated for political reasons. The experience in the Lower Shire valley suggests that indigenous knowledge is unlikely to invent a problem where none exists, but that flood depths and extents may be exaggerated to secure prioritization of the intervention. Indigenous knowledge relies on the memory of a community and cannot foresee events that exceed past experience, that could occur differently to those that have occurred in the past, or where flood management interventions change the flow regime. This complicates communication of planned interventions to local inhabitants. Indigenous knowledge is, for the most part, intuitive, but flooding can sometimes be counter intuitive, and the rural poor may have a lower trust of technology. Due to a near complete lack of maintenance of infrastructure, infrastructure has to be designed with no moving parts and no requirement for energy inputs. This precludes pumps, valves, flap gates and sophisticated warning systems. Designs of dykes during this project included ‘flood warning spillways’, that double up as pedestrian and animal crossing points, which provide warning of impending dangerous water levels behind dykes to residents before water levels that could cause a possible dyke failure are reached. Locally available materials and erosion protection using vegetation were used wherever possible to keep costs down.

Keywords: design of dykes in low-income countries, flood warning spillways, indigenous knowledge, Malawi

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Authors: M. Khairudin

Abstract:

This paper investigates the system identification and design quantitative feedback theory (QFT) for the robust control of a lathe spindle. The dynamic of the lathe spindle is uncertain and time variation due to the deepness variation on cutting process. System identification was used to obtain the dynamics model of the lathe spindle. In this work, real time system identification is used to construct a linear model of the system from the nonlinear system. These linear models and its uncertainty bound can then be used for controller synthesis. The real time nonlinear system identification process to obtain a set of linear models of the lathe spindle that represents the operating ranges of the dynamic system. With a selected input signal, the data of output and response is acquired and nonlinear system identification is performed using Matlab to obtain a linear model of the system. Practical design steps are presented in which the QFT-based conditions are formulated to obtain a compensator and pre-filter to control the lathe spindle. The performances of the proposed controller are evaluated in terms of velocity responses of the the lathe machine spindle in corporating deepness on cutting process.

Keywords: lathe spindle, QFT, robust control, system identification

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Authors: Mohamed Aljarallah, Mohamed Nurullah, George Saridakis

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This paper aims and objectives are to investigate how the structural change of the financial regulatory bodies affect the financial supervision and how the regulators can design such a structure with taking into account; the Central Bank, the conduct of business and the prudential regulators, it will also consider looking at the structure of the international regulatory bodies and what barriers are found. There will be five questions to be answered; should conduct of business and prudential regulation be separated? Should the financial supervision and financial stability be separated? Should the financial supervision be under the Central Bank? To what extent the politician should intervene in changing the regulatory and supervisory structure? What should be the regulatory and supervisory structure when there is financial conglomerate? Semi structure interview design will be applied. This research sample selection contains a collective of financial regulators and supervisors from the emerged and emerging countries. Moreover, financial regulators and supervisors must be at a senior level at their organisations. Additionally, senior financial regulators and supervisors would come from different authorities and from around the world. For instance, one of the participants comes from the International Bank Settlements, others come from European Central Bank, and an additional one will come from Hong Kong Monetary Authority and others. Such a variety aims to fulfil the aims and objectives of the research and cover the research questions. The analysis process starts with transcription of the interview, using Nvivo software for coding, applying thematic interview to generate the main themes. The major findings of the study are as follow. First, organisational structure changes quite frequently if the mandates are not clear. Second, measuring structural change is difficult, which makes the whole process unclear. Third, effective coordination and communication are what regulators looking for when they change the structure and that requires; openness, trust, and incentive. In addition to that, issues appear during the event of crisis tend to be the reason why the structure change. Also, the development of the market sometime causes a change in the regulatory structure. And, some structural change occurs simply because of the international trend, fashion, or other countries' experiences. Furthermore, when the top management change the structure tends to change. Moreover, the structure change due to the political change, or politicians try to show they are doing something. Finally, fear of being blamed can be a driver of structural change. In conclusion, this research aims to provide an insight from the senior regulators and supervisors from fifty different countries to have a clear understanding of why the regulatory structure keeps changing from time to time through a qualitative approach, namely, semi-structure interview.

Keywords: financial regulation bodies, financial regulatory structure, global financial regulation, financial crisis

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Authors: Vigen Arakelian

Abstract:

The balancing of mechanisms is a well-known problem in the field of mechanical engineering because the variable dynamic loads cause vibrations, as well as noise, wear and fatigue of the machines. A mechanical system with unbalance shaking force and shaking moment transmits substantial vibration to the frame. Therefore, the objective of the balancing is to cancel or reduce the variable dynamic reactions transmitted to the frame. The resolution of this problem consists in the balancing of the shaking force and shaking moment. It can be fully or partially, by internal mass redistribution via adding counterweights or by modification of the mechanism's architecture via adding auxiliary structures. The balancing problems are of continue interest to researchers. Several laboratories around the world are very active in this area and new results are published regularly. However, despite its ancient history, mechanism balancing theory continues to be developed and new approaches and solutions are constantly being reported. Various surveys have been published that disclose particularities of balancing methods. The author believes that this is an appropriate moment to present a state of the art of the shaking force balancing studies completed by new research results. This paper presents an overview of methods devoted to the shaking force balancing of mechanisms, as well as the historical aspects of the origins and the evolution of the balancing theory of mechanisms.

Keywords: inertial forces, shaking forces, balancing, dynamics, mechanism design

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Authors: Aidan J. Bowes, Reaz Hasan

Abstract:

The automotive industry is continually aiming to develop the aerodynamics of car body design. This may be for a variety of beneficial reasons such as to increase speed or fuel efficiency by reducing drag. However recently there has been a greater amount of focus on wind noise produced while driving. Designers in this industry seek a combination of both simplicity of approach and overall effectiveness. This combined with the growing availability of commercial CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) packages is likely to lead to an increase in the use of RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) based CFD methods. This is due to these methods often being simpler than other CFD methods, having a lower demand on time and computing power. In this investigation the effectiveness of turbulent flow and acoustic noise prediction using RANS based methods has been assessed for different wing mirror geometries. Three different RANS based models were used, standard k-ε, realizable k-ε and k-ω SST. The merits and limitations of these methods are then discussed, by comparing with both experimental and numerical results found in literature. In general, flow prediction is fairly comparable to more complex LES (Large Eddy Simulation) based methods; in particular for the k-ω SST model. However acoustic noise prediction still leaves opportunities for more improvement using RANS based methods.

Keywords: acoustics, aerodynamics, RANS models, turbulent flow

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Authors: Young Kwon Yang, In Sung Kang, Jung Ha Hwang, Jin Chul Park

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The present study is a foundational study for performance improvements on isolation wards to prevent proliferation of secondary infection of infectious diseases such as SARS, H1N1, and MERS inside hospitals. Accordingly, the present study conducted an analysis of the effect of sealing mechanisms and filling of openings on ensuring air tightness performance in isolation wards as well as simulation on air currents in improved isolation wards. The study method is as follows. First, previous studies on aerial infection type and mechanism were reviewed, and the review results were utilized as basic data of analysis on simulation of air current. Second, national and international legislations and regulations in relation to isolation wards as well as case studies on developed nations were investigated in order to identify the problems in isolation wards in Korea and improvement plans. Third, construction and facility plans were compared and analyzed between general and isolation wards focusing on large general hospitals in Korea, thereby conducting comparison and analysis on the performance and effects of air-tightness of general and isolation wards through CFD simulations. The study results showed that isolation wards had better air-tightness performance than that of general wards.

Keywords: AII Room, air-borne infection, CFD, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Ragini Verma, J. Ponmozhi

Abstract:

The oral cavity is home to a wide variety of microorganisms that lead to various diseases and even oral cancer. Despite advancements in the diagnosis and detection at the initial phase, the situation hasn’t improved much. Saliva-on-a-chip is an innovative point-of-care platform for early diagnosis of oral cancer and other oral diseases in live and dead cells using a microfluidic device with a current perspective. Some of the major challenges, like real-time imaging of the oral cancer microbes, high throughput values, obtaining a high spatiotemporal resolution, etc. were faced by the scientific community. Integrated microfluidics and microscopy provide powerful approaches to studying the dynamics of oral pathology, microbe interaction, and the oral microenvironment. Here we have developed a saliva-on-chip (salivary microbes) device to monitor the effect on oral cancer. Adhesion of cancer-causing F. nucleatum; subsp. Nucleatum and Prevotella intermedia in the device was observed. We also observed a significant reduction in the oral cancer growth rate when mortality and morbidity were induced. These results show that this approach has the potential to transform the oral cancer and early diagnosis study.

Keywords: microfluidic device, oral cancer microbes, early diagnosis, saliva-on-chip

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Authors: Afaque Manzoor Soomro, Faheem Ahmed, Fida Hussain Memon, Kyung Hyun Choi

Abstract:

This paper proposes the bioinspired soft frog robot. All printing technology was used for the fabrication of the robot. Polyjet printing was used to print the front and back limbs, while ultrathin filament was used to print the body of the robot, which makes it a complete soft swimming robot. The dual thrust generation approach has been proposed by embedding the main muscle and antagonistic muscle in all the limbs, which enables it to attain high speed (18 mm/s), and significant control of swimming in dual modes (synchronous and asynchronous modes). To achieve the swimming motion of the frog, the design, motivated by the rigorous modelling and real frog dynamics analysis, enabled the as-developed frog robot (FROBOT) to swim at a significant level of consistency with the real frog. The FROBOT (weighing 65 g) can swim at different controllable frequencies (0.5–2Hz) and can turn in any direction by following custom-made LabVIEW software’s commands which enables it to swim at speed up to 18 mm/s on the surface of deep water (100 cm) with excellent weight balance.

Keywords: soft robotics, soft actuator, frog robot, 3D printing

Procedia PDF Downloads 90