Search results for: attention measurement

Authors: Stylianos Galoukas

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since the eve of human societies, the need for survival and covering even the most basic needs such as hunting for food, led to the realization of the need for regulation between the personal and common interest. This led to the establishment of initially unwritten and later on, written rules which then became the Law. Transparency as a word has been used for more than 2.500 years. Born in ancient Greece around the 5th BC century and although it was not originally correlated to political or public administration acts, its enclosed principles and rules, were given even then, great attention. In today’s times of fake news and meta-politics, transparency has greatly correlated with the fight against corruption especially in the financially related matters. It is believed however that transparency, being a much wider than corruption meaning, has an even greater role to play than the corruption counterpart. It can be further used to unveil or examine the genuineness of the will towards the public interest, behind every public policy or political act. Therefore, herein the timeless and fundamental principles of institutional and public administration transparency are made clear as well as their application rules that can and ought to be used as evaluation criteria.

Keywords: evaluation citeria, policies, politics, principles, rules, transparency

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: G. Meccariello, L. Della Ragione

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The exposure to outdoor air pollution causes lung cancer and increases the risk of bladder cancer. Because air pollution in urban areas is mainly caused by transportation, it is necessary to evaluate pollutant exhaust emissions from vehicles during their real-world use. Nevertheless their evaluation and reduction is a key problem, especially in the cities, that account for more than 50% of world population. A particular attention was given to the slope variability along the streets during each journey performed by the instrumented vehicle. In this paper we dealt with the problem of describing a quantitatively approach for the reconstruction of GPS coordinates and altitude, in the context of correlation study between driving cycles / emission / geographical location, during an experimental campaign realized with some instrumented cars. Finally the slope analysis can be correlated to the emission and consumption values in a specific road position, and it could be evaluated its influence on their behaviour.

Keywords: air pollution, driving cycles, GPS signal, slope, emission factor, fuel consumption

Procedia PDF Downloads 391

Authors: Kornkanok Noulta, Pornsri Pakeyangkoon, Stephen T. Dubas, Pomthong Malakul, Manit Nithithanakul

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In recent years, interest in the development of material for tissue engineering application has increased considerably. Poly(High Internal Phase Emulsion) (PolyHIPE) foam is a material that is good candidate for used in tissue engineering application due to its 3D structure and highly porous with interconnected pore. The PolyHIPE was prepared from poly (styrene/ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) through high internal phase emulsion polymerization technique and loaded with hydroxyapatite (HA) to improve biocompatibility. To further increase hydrophilicity of the obtained polyHIPE, layer-by-layer polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM) technique was used. A surface property of polyHIPE was characterized by contact angle measurement. Morphology and pore size was observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The cell viability was revealed by the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay technique.

Keywords: polyelectrolyte multilayer thin film, high internal phase emulsion, polyhipe foam, scaffold, tissue engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 351

Authors: Pornpimol Chaiwuttisak

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The study aims to compare the performance of the logistics for Thailand’s wholesale and retail trade industries (except motor vehicles, motorcycle, and stalls) by using data (data envelopment analysis). Thailand Standard Industrial Classification in 2009 (TSIC - 2009) categories that industries into sub-group no. 45: wholesale and retail trade (except for the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles), sub-group no. 46: wholesale trade (except motor vehicles and motorcycles), and sub-group no. 47: retail trade (except motor vehicles and motorcycles. Data used in the study is collected by the National Statistical Office, Thailand. The study consisted of four input factors include the number of companies, the number of personnel in logistics, the training cost in logistics, and outsourcing logistics management. Output factor includes the percentage of enterprises having inventory management. The results showed that the average relative efficiency of small-sized enterprises equals to 27.87 percent and 49.68 percent for the medium-sized enterprises.

Keywords: DEA, wholesales and retails, logistics, Thailand

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Authors: Oscar Bareiro, Johannes Sackmann, Thomas Gries

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Carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRP) are used in a wide variety of applications due to its advantageous properties and design versatility. The braiding process enables the manufacture of components with good toughness and fatigue strength. However, failure mechanisms of CFRPs are complex and still present challenges associated with their maintenance and repair. Within the broad scope of structural health monitoring (SHM), strain monitoring can be applied to composite materials to improve reliability, reduce maintenance costs and safely exhaust service life. Traditional SHM systems employ e.g. fiber optics, piezoelectrics as sensors, which are often expensive, time consuming and complicated to implement. A cost-efficient alternative can be the exploitation of the conductive properties of fiber-based sensors such as carbon, copper, or constantan - a copper-nickel alloy – that can be utilized as sensors within composite structures to achieve strain monitoring. This allows the structure to provide feedback via electrical signals to a user which are essential for evaluating the structural condition of the structure. This work presents a strategy for the in-process integration of resistance-based sensors (Elektrisola Feindraht AG, CuNi23Mn, Ø = 0.05 mm) into textile preforms during its manufacture via the braiding process (Herzog RF-64/120) to achieve strain monitoring of braided composites. For this, flat samples of instrumented composite laminates of carbon fibers (Toho Tenax HTS40 F13 24K, 1600 tex) and epoxy resin (Epikote RIMR 426) were manufactured via vacuum-assisted resin infusion. These flat samples were later cut out into test specimens and the integrated sensors were wired to the measurement equipment (National Instruments, VB-8012) for data acquisition during the execution of mechanical tests. Quasi-static tests were performed (tensile, 3-point bending tests) following standard protocols (DIN EN ISO 527-1 & 4, DIN EN ISO 14132); additionally, dynamic tensile tests were executed. These tests were executed to assess the sensor response under different loading conditions and to evaluate the influence of the sensor presence on the mechanical properties of the material. Several orientations of the sensor with regards to the applied loading and sensor placements inside the laminate were tested. Strain measurements from the integrated sensors were made by programming a data acquisition code (LabView) written for the measurement equipment. Strain measurements from the integrated sensors were then correlated to the strain/stress state for the tested samples. From the assessment of the sensor integration approach it can be concluded that it allows for a seamless sensor integration into the textile preform. No damage to the sensor or negative effect on its electrical properties was detected during inspection after integration. From the assessment of the mechanical tests of instrumented samples it can be concluded that the presence of the sensors does not alter significantly the mechanical properties of the material. It was found that there is a good correlation between resistance measurements from the integrated sensors and the applied strain. It can be concluded that the correlation is of sufficient accuracy to determinate the strain state of a composite laminate based solely on the resistance measurements from the integrated sensors.

Keywords: braiding process, in-process sensor integration, instrumented composite material, resistance-based sensor, strain monitoring

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Authors: Jose Neri, Fabrice Canto, Alastair Magnaldo, Laurent Guillerme, Vincent Dugas

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A miniaturized and automated approach for the volumetric titration of free nitric acid in U(VI) solutions is presented. Free acidity measurement refers to the acidity quantification in solutions containing hydrolysable heavy metal ions such as U(VI), U(IV) or Pu(IV) without taking into account the acidity contribution from the hydrolysis of such metal ions. It is, in fact, an operation having an essential role for the control of the nuclear fuel recycling process. The main objective behind the technical optimization of the actual ‘beaker’ method was to reduce the amount of radioactive substance to be handled by the laboratory personnel, to ease the instrumentation adjustability within a glove-box environment and to allow a high-throughput analysis for conducting more cost-effective operations. The measurement technique is based on the concept of the Taylor-Aris dispersion in order to create inside of a 200 μm x 5cm circular cylindrical micro-channel a linear concentration gradient in less than a second. The proposed analytical methodology relies on the actinide complexation using pH 5.6 sodium oxalate solution and subsequent alkalimetric titration of nitric acid with sodium hydroxide. The titration process is followed with a CCD camera for fluorescence detection; the neutralization boundary can be visualized in a detection range of 500nm- 600nm thanks to the addition of a pH sensitive fluorophore. The operating principle of the developed device allows the active generation of linear concentration gradients using a single cylindrical micro channel. This feature simplifies the fabrication and ease of use of the micro device, as it does not need a complex micro channel network or passive mixers to generate the chemical gradient. Moreover, since the linear gradient is determined by the liquid reagents input pressure, its generation can be fully achieved in faster intervals than one second, being a more timely-efficient gradient generation process compared to other source-sink passive diffusion devices. The resulting linear gradient generator device was therefore adapted to perform for the first time, a volumetric titration on a chip where the amount of reagents used is fixed to the total volume of the micro channel, avoiding an important waste generation like in other flow-based titration techniques. The associated analytical method is automated and its linearity has been proven for the free acidity determination of U(VI) samples containing up to 0.5M of actinide ion and nitric acid in a concentration range of 0.5M to 3M. In addition to automation, the developed analytical methodology and technique greatly improves the standard off-line oxalate complexation and alkalimetric titration method by reducing a thousand fold the required sample volume, forty times the nuclear waste per analysis as well as the analysis time by eight-fold. The developed device represents, therefore, a great step towards an easy-to-handle nuclear-related application, which in the short term could be used to improve laboratory safety as much as to reduce the environmental impact of the radioanalytical chain.

Keywords: free acidity, lab-on-a-chip, linear concentration gradient, Taylor-Aris dispersion, volumetric titration

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Authors: S. Ansari Sadrabadi, G. H. Rahimi

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In this paper, thick walled Cylindrical tanks or tubes made of functionally graded material under internal pressure and temperature gradient are studied. Material parameters have been considered as power functions. They play important role in the elastoplastic behavior of these materials. To clarify their role, different materials with different parameters have been used under temperature gradient. Finally, their effect and loading effect have been determined in first yield point. Also, the important role of temperature gradient was also shown. At the end the study has been results obtained from changes in the elastic modulus and yield stress. Also special attention is also given to the effects of this internal pressure and temperature gradient in the creation of tensile and compressive stresses.

Keywords: FGM, cylindrical pressure tubes, small deformation theory, yield onset, thermal loading

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Authors: Samir Hmaimou, Marouane Ait Lahcen, Mohamed Adardour, Mohamed Maatallah, Abdesselam Baouid

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The stereoisomers (E)-2,2-dimethyl-4-(4-subsitutedstyryl)-2,3-dihydro-1H-[1,5]-benzodiazepine 3(a-d) were synthesized via the condensation reaction of 2,2,3 4-trimethyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-1,5-benzodiazepine (BZD) 1 with the benzaldehyde derivatives 2(a-d) in polar protic solvent as ethanol. The chemical structure of the prepared products was confirmed by NMR (¹H and ¹³C), HRMS, and X-ray analysis of the crystal structure 3d. The condensation reaction was examined using DFT calculations at the theoretical level of B3LYP/6-311G(d,p). Frontier molecular orbital analysis shows that the most favorable interaction is between the HOMO of BZD 1 and the LUMO of 2(a-d). On the other hand, the calculation of the global reactivity indices (softness, hardness, and chemical potential) confirmed that benzodiazepine BDZ 1 act as a nucleophile, whereas the aldehyde derivatives 2(a-d) play the role of electrophile. Furthermore, we identified each reagent's reactive sites by the measurement of the reactivity indices to explain the experimentally observed regioselectivity, using Fukui local reactivity descriptors. A one-step mechanism reaction and order 2 water elimination were investigated. We also looked at how the electron-withdrawing groups (EWG) of various aldehydes affected the reaction's mechanism and the stability of products 3(a-d).

Keywords: benzodiazepine, DFT calculations, crystal structure, regioselective, condensation Reaction

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Authors: M. Y. Ismail, M. Inam

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This paper presents the design and analysis of Liquid Crystal (LC) based tunable reflect array antenna with different design configurations within X-band frequency range. The effect of LC volume used for unit cell element on frequency tunability and reflection loss performance has been investigated. Moreover different slot embedded patch element configurations have been proposed for LC based tunable reflect array antenna design with enhanced performance. The detailed fabrication and measurement procedure for different LC based unit cells has been presented. The waveguide scattering parameter measured results demonstrated that by using the circular slot embedded patch elements, the frequency tunability and dynamic phase range can be increased from 180 MHz to 200 MHz and 120° to 124° respectively. Furthermore the circular slot embedded patch element can be designed at 10 GHz resonant frequency with a patch volume of 2.71 mm3 as compared to 3.47 mm3 required for rectangular patch without slot.

Keywords: liquid crystal, tunable reflect array, frequency tunability, dynamic phase range

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Authors: M. Verde, G. Falzarano

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The paper examines the connection between corporate social responsibility (CSR), capability approach and poverty reduction; in particular, the local employment development (LED) by way of CSR initiatives. The joint action of LED/CSR results in a win-win situation, not only for the enterprises but also for all the stakeholders involved; in this regard, subsidiarity and coordination between national and regional/local authorities are central to a socially-oriented market economy. In the first section, the CSR is analysed on the basis of its social function in the fight against poverty, as a 'capabilities deprivation'. In the central part, the attention is focused on the relationship between CSR and LED; ergo, on the role of the enterprises in fostering capabilities development (the employment). Besides, all the potential solutions are presented, stressing the possible combinations, in the last part. The benchmark is the enterprise as an economic and a social institution: the business should not be combined with profit merely, paying more attention to its sustainable impact and social contribution. In which way could it be possible? The answer is the CSR. The impact of CSR on poverty reduction is still little explored. The companies help to reduce poverty through economic contribution, human rights and social inclusion; hence, the business becomes an 'agent of development' in order to fight against 'inequality'. The starting point is the pyramid of social responsibility, where ethic and philanthropic responsibilities involve programmes and actions aimed at personal development of the individuals, improving human standard of living in all forms, including poverty, when people do not have a choice between different 'life options', ranging from level of education to employment. At this point, CSR comes into play and works on two dimensions: poverty reduction and poverty prevention, by means of a series of initiatives: first of all, job creation and precarious work reduction. Empowerment of the local actors, financial support and combination of top down and bottom up initiatives are some of CSR areas of activity. Several positive effects occur on individual levels of educations, access to capital, individual health status, empowerment of youth and woman, access to social networks and it was observed that these effects depend on the type of CSR strategy. Indeed, CSR programmes should take into account fundamental criteria, such as the transparency, the information about benefits, a coordination unit among institutions and more clear guidelines. In this way, the advantages to the corporate reputation and to the community translate into a better job matching on the labour market, inter alia. It is important to underline that the success depends on the specific measures of the areas in question, by adapting them to the local needs, in light of general principles and index; therefore, the concrete commitment of the all stakeholders involved is decisive in order to achieve the goals. The enterprise would represent a concrete contribution for the pursuit of sustainable development and for the dissemination of a social and well being awareness.

Keywords: capability approach, local employment development, poverty, social inclusion

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Authors: Baratali Monfarediraz

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Humans’ identity is not only under the influence of a certain society or social structure but also it is influenced by an international identity. This article is a research on role of education in the manifestation of universally accepted values such as, advancement of science, improvement in the quality of education, preservation of the natural environment, preservation, and spread of peace, exchange of knowledge and technology, equal educational opportunities, benefiting from a universal morality and etc. Therefore, the relation between universal beliefs and values and educational approaches and programs is the first thing to pay attention to. Studies indicate that the first step in achieving the above mentioned goals is offering learning strategies. Therefore the importance of educational approaches and programs as a tool for the transference of ideas, experiences and thoughts becomes quite clear. Proper education gives everyone the opportunity of acquiring knowledge while creating tendency toward social activities paves the way for achieving the universal values.

Keywords: globalization, universal values, education, universal goal, values, society

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Authors: Ahmed Bolaji Alarape, Oluwatobi Damilola Aba

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The growth pattern of Oreochromis niloticus and Sarotherodon galilaeus in Epe Lagoon Lagos State was investigated. One hundred (100) samples of each species were collected from fishermen at the landing site. They were transported to the Fisheries Laboratory of National Institute of Oceanography for identification, sexing morphometric measurement. The results showed that 58.0% and 56.0 % of the O.niloticus and S.galilaeus were female respectively while 42.0% and 44.0% were male respectively. The length-weight relationship of O.niloticus showed a strong regression coefficient (r = 0.944) (p<0.05) for the combined sex, (r =0.901) (p<0.05) for female and (r=0.985) (p<.05) for male with b-value of 2.5, 3.1 and 2.8 respectively. The S.galilaeus also showed a regression coefficient of r=0.970; p<0.05 for the combined sex, r=0.953; p<0.05 for the female and r= 0.979; p<0.05 for the male with b-value of 3.4, 3.1 and 3.6 respectively. O.niloticus showed an isometric growth pattern both in male and female. The condition factor in O.niloticus are 1.93 and 1.95 for male and female respectively while that of S.galilaeus is 1.95 for both sexes. Positive allometric was observed in both species except the male O.niloticus that showed negative allometric growth pattern. From the results of this study, the growth pattern of the two species indicated a good healthy environment.

Keywords: Epe Lagoon, length-weight relationship, Oreochromis niloticus, Sarotherodon galilaeus

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Authors: Sun-Young Jang, Sung-Ah Kim, Dongyoun Shin

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Current real-estate value estimation, difficult for laymen, usually is performed by specialists. This paper presents an automated estimation process based on big data and machine-learning technology that calculates influences of building conditions on real-estate price measurement. The present study analyzed actual building sales sample data for Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea, measuring the major influencing factors among the various building conditions. Further to that analysis, a prediction model was established and applied using RapidMiner Studio, a graphical user interface (GUI)-based tool for derivation of machine-learning prototypes. The prediction model is formulated by reference to previous examples. When new examples are applied, it analyses and predicts accordingly. The analysis process discerns the crucial factors effecting price increases by calculation of weighted values. The model was verified, and its accuracy determined, by comparing its predicted values with actual price increases.

Keywords: apartment complex, big data, life-cycle building value analysis, machine learning

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Authors: Antoni Wibowo, Harry Pujianto, Dewi Retno Sari Saputro

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The stock market can provide huge profits in a relatively short time in financial sector; however, it also has a high risk for investors and traders if they are not careful to look the factors that affect the stock market. Therefore, they should give attention to the dynamic fluctuations and movements of the stock market to optimize profits from their investment. In this paper, we present a nonlinear autoregressive exogenous model (NARX) to predict the movements of stock market; especially, the movements of the closing price index. As case study, we consider to predict the movement of the closing price in Indonesia composite index (IHSG) and choose the best structures of NARX for IHSG’s prediction.

Keywords: NARX (Nonlinear Autoregressive Exogenous Model), prediction, stock market, time series

Procedia PDF Downloads 244

Authors: Tobias Huwer, Thomas Bobek, Gunter Spöcker

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Driving forces for enhancements in production are trends like digitalization and individualized production. Currently, such developments are restricted to assembly parts. Thus, complex freeform surfaces are not addressed in this context. The need for efficient use of resources and near-net-shape production will require individualized production of complex shaped workpieces. Due to variations between nominal model and actual geometry, this can lead to changes in operations in Computer-aided process planning (CAPP) to make CAPP manageable for an adaptive serial production. In this context, 3D CAD data can be a key to realizing that objective. Along with developments in the geometrical adaptation, a preceding inspection method based on CAD data is required to support the process planner by finding objective criteria to make decisions about the adaptive manufacturability of workpieces. Nowadays, this kind of decisions is depending on the experience-based knowledge of humans (e.g. process planners) and results in subjective decisions – leading to a variability of workpiece quality and potential failure in production. In this paper, we present an automatic part inspection method, based on design and measurement data, which evaluates actual geometries of single workpiece preforms. The aim is to automatically determine the suitability of the current shape for further machining, and to provide a basis for an objective decision about subsequent adaptive manufacturability. The proposed method is realized by a workflow-based approach, keeping in mind the requirements of industrial applications. Workflows are a well-known design method of standardized processes. Especially in applications like aerospace industry standardization and certification of processes are an important aspect. Function blocks, providing a standardized, event-driven abstraction to algorithms and data exchange, will be used for modeling and execution of inspection workflows. Each analysis step of the inspection, such as positioning of measurement data or checking of geometrical criteria, will be carried out by function blocks. One advantage of this approach is its flexibility to design workflows and to adapt algorithms specific to the application domain. In general, within the specified tolerance range it will be checked if a geometrical adaption is possible. The development of particular function blocks is predicated on workpiece specific information e.g. design data. Furthermore, for different product lifecycle phases, appropriate logics and decision criteria have to be considered. For example, tolerances for geometric deviations are different in type and size for new-part production compared to repair processes. In addition to function blocks, appropriate referencing systems are important. They need to support exact determination of position and orientation of the actual geometries to provide a basis for precise analysis. The presented approach provides an inspection methodology for adaptive and part-individual process chains. The analysis of each workpiece results in an inspection protocol and an objective decision about further manufacturability. A representative application domain is the product lifecycle of turbine blades containing a new-part production and a maintenance process. In both cases, a geometrical adaptation is required to calculate individual production data. In contrast to existing approaches, the proposed initial inspection method provides information to decide between different potential adaptive machining processes.

Keywords: adaptive, CAx, function blocks, turbomachinery

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Authors: M. R. Vaezi, R. Ghasemi, A. Akramizadeh

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Frequency stability of microgrids under islanded operation attracts particular attention recently. A new cooperative frequency control strategy based on centralized multi-agent system (CMAS) is proposed in this study. On this strategy, agents sent data and furthermore each component has its own to center operating decisions (MGCC). After deciding on the information, they are returned. Frequency control strategies include primary and secondary frequency control and disposal of multi-stage load in which this study will also provide a method and algorithm for load shedding. This could also be a big problem for the performance of micro-grid in times of disaster. The simulation results show the promising performance of the proposed structure of the controller based on multi agent systems.

Keywords: frequency control, islanded microgrid, multi-agent system, load shedding

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Authors: Sophio Kobauri, Vladimir P. Torchilin, David Tugushi, Ramaz Katsarava

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Nanotherapy is an actual newest mode of treatment numerous diseases using nanoparticles (NPs) loading with different pharmaceuticals. NPs of biodegradable polymeric micelles (PMs) are gaining increased attention for their numerous and attractive abilities to be used in a variety of applications in the various fields of medicine. The present paper deals with the synthesis of a class of biodegradable micelle-forming polymers, namely ABA triblock-copolymer in which A-blocks represent amino-poly(ethylene glycol) (H₂N-PEG) and B-block is biodegradable amino acid-based poly(ester amide) constituted of α-amino acid – L-phenylalanine. The obtained copolymer formed micelles of 70±4 nm size at 10 mg/mL concentration.

Keywords: amino acids, biodegradable poly (ester amide), amphiphilic triblock-copolymer, micelles

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Authors: Amit Bhattacharyya

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The economic scenario of any region does not show the real picture for the measurement of overall development. Therefore, economic development must be accompanied by social development to be able to make an assessment to measure the level of development. The spatial variation with respect to social development has been discussed taking into account the quality of functioning of a social system in a specific area. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the spatial distribution of social infrastructural facilities and analyze the magnitude of regional disparities at inter- block level in Barddhman district. It starts with the detailed account of the selection process of social infrastructure indicators and describes the methodology employed in the empirical analysis. Analyzing the block level data, this paper tries to identify the disparity among the blocks in the levels of social development. The results have been subsequently explained using both statistical analysis and geo spatial technique. The paper reveals that the social development is not going on at the same rate in every part of the district. Health facilities and educational facilities are concentrated at some selected point. So overall development activities come to be concentrated in a few centres and the disparity is seen over the blocks.

Keywords: disparity, inter-block, social development, spatial variation

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Authors: Ahmed M. Ashteyat

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Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models have been widely used in material modeling, inter-correlations, as well as behavior and trend predictions when the nonlinear relationship between system parameters cannot be quantified explicitly and mathematically. In this paper, ANN was used to predict the residual modulus of elasticity (RME) of self compacted concrete (SCC) damaged by heat. The ANN model was built, trained, tested and validated using a total of 112 experimental data sets, gathered from available literature. The data used in model development included temperature, relative humidity conditions, mix proportions, filler types, and fiber type. The result of ANN training, testing, and validation indicated that the RME of SCC, exposed to different temperature and relative humidity levels, could be predicted accurately with ANN techniques. The reliability between the predicated outputs and the actual experimental data was 99%. This show that ANN has strong potential as a feasible tool for predicting residual elastic modulus of SCC damaged by heat within the range of input parameter. The ANN model could be used to estimate the RME of SCC, as a rapid inexpensive substitute for the much more complicated and time consuming direct measurement of the RME of SCC.

Keywords: residual modulus of elasticity, artificial neural networks, self compacted-concrete, material modeling

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Authors: Chih-Chia Lin, Ching-Ying Huang, Cheng-Hong Liu, Wen-Lin Wang

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A complete fuel cell stack comprises several single cells with end plates, bipolar plates, gaskets and membrane electrode assembly (MEA) components. Electrons generated from cells are conducted through bipolar plates. The amount of cells' components increases as the stack voltage increases, complicating the fuel cell assembly process and mass production. Stack assembly error influence cell performance. PEM fuel cell stack importing laser welding technique could eliminate transverse deformation between bipolar plates to promote stress uniformity of cell components as bipolar plates and MEA. Simultaneously, bipolar plates were melted together using laser welding to decrease interface resistance. A series of experiments as through-plan and in-plan resistance measurement test was conducted to observe the laser welding effect. The result showed that the through-plane resistance with laser welding was a drop of 97.5-97.6% when the contact pressure was about 1MPa to 3 MPa, and the in-plane resistance was not significantly different for laser welding.

Keywords: PEM fuel cell, laser welding, through-plan, in-plan, resistance

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Authors: Yamina Zouambia, Khadidja Youcef Ettoumi, Mohamed Krea, Nadji Moulai Mostefa

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Environment pollution through various wastes (particularly by heavy metals) is a major environmental problem due to industrialization and the development of various human activities. Considerable attention has been focused, in recent years, upon the field of biosorption which represents a biotechnological innovation as well as an excellent tool for removal of metal ions from aqueous effluents. So the purpose of this study is to valorize by-product which are orange peels and an extract of these peels (pectin; a heteropolysaccharide) in treatment of water containing heavy metals. All biosorption experiments were carried out at room temperature, an indicated pH, a precise amount of biosorbent and under continuous stirring. Biosorption kinetic was determined by evaluating the residual concentration of the metal ion at different time intervals using UV spectroscopy. The results obtained show that the orange peels and pectin are interesting biosorbents with maximum biosorption capacity of up to 140 mg/g.

Keywords: orange peels, pectin, heavy metals, biosorption

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Authors: Hisham Mughrabi

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Osteoporosis is one of the most common diseases in the world and, its seriousness lies in the lack of clear symptoms. The researcher aims to identify the impact of sports activities on osteoporosis and the body component of those with mild intellectual disabilities of students in the schools in Saudi Arabia -Medina. The research sample was selected in an intentional manner and consisted of 45 students and they were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of 23 individuals participate in sports and the second group consisted of 22 individuals does not participate in sports. The researcher used the descriptive method and collected the data by measuring osteoporosis using and ultrasound osteoporosis screening device (OSTEO PRO B.M. Tech) and measured the body composition by using a Tanita devise (Body Composition Analyzer TBF- 300 Tanita). The results indicated that there was a statistical significant difference between the two comparing groups in osteoporosis measurement and body composition for the benefit of the group of sport participants. The researcher recommended the need to involve individuals with mild intellectual disabilities in physical activities to improve their rate of osteoporosis and body composition as well as to develop sports programs for individuals with mild intellectual disabilities.

Keywords: body composition, mild intellectual disabilities, osteoporosis, physical activities

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Authors: Sara Soltanpour, Adolfo Foriero

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Frost heave is arguably the most problematic adverse phenomenon in cold region areas. Frost heave is a complex process that depends on heat and water transfer. These coupled physical fields generate considerable heave stresses as well as deformations. In the present study, a coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) model using COMSOL Multiphysics in frozen unsaturated soils, such as fine sand, is investigated. Particular attention to the frost heave and temperature distribution, as well as the water migrating during soil freezing, is assessed. The results obtained from the numerical simulations are consistent with the results measured in the full-scale tests conducted by Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL).

Keywords: frost heave, numerical simulations, COMSOL software, unsaturated freezing soil

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Authors: Alexander Marx

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Measuring and mitigating market risk is essential for the stability of enterprises, especially for major banking corporations and investment bank firms. To employ these risk measurement and mitigation processes, the Value at Risk (VaR) is the most commonly used risk metric by practitioners. In the past years, we have seen significant weaknesses in the predictive performance of the VaR in times of financial market crisis. To address this issue, the purpose of this study is to investigate the value-at-risk (VaR) estimation models and their predictive performance by applying a series of backtesting methods on the stock market indices of the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, US, Europe). The study employs parametric, non-parametric, and semi-parametric VaR estimation models and is conducted during three different periods which cover the most recent financial market crisis: the overall period (2006–2022), the global financial crisis period (2008–2009), and COVID-19 period (2020–2022). Since the regulatory authorities have introduced and mandated the Conditional Value at Risk (Expected Shortfall) as an additional regulatory risk management metric, the study will analyze and compare both risk metrics on their predictive performance.

Keywords: value at risk, financial market risk, banking, quantitative risk management

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Authors: Olokode Enitan Aishat

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People can perform to the best of their abilities and produce the highest-quality work most effectively and efficiently with the aid of performance management tools. The performance, goal-setting, activation, monitoring, measurement, and evaluation aspects of hospitality operations are key. The hospitality industry, the investors, and management would become irrelevant without performance since the industry would no longer be viable. The goal of this study is to elucidate the quandary for both management and investor, which derives from an intrinsic perspective in which both parties seek to reach and exceed goals while maximizing returns on investment. The desire for achievement and a return on investment is a major conundrum for all parties concerned. It is envisaged that there would be returns on the investments and expenses made in maintaining hospitality facilities with human resources. Secondary research was used to develop the theoretical framework. A random sample of respondents from hotels employee and investors within the city of Abuja was used to collect data, which was then analyzed using SPSS. This study confirms the validity of simple and straightforward common misunderstandings and provides tried and tested strategies for understanding and working together as a team among managers and owners in a business, as this would guarantee a return for business owners and management.

Keywords: performance management, hospitality industry, conflict, alignment of key performance indicator

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Authors: Tiffany Hollis

Abstract:

Childhood trauma is well documented in mental health research, yet has received little attention in urban schools. Child trauma affects brain development and impacts cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning. When educators understand that some of the behaviors that appear to be aggressive in nature might be the result of a hidden diagnosis of trauma, learning can take place, and the child can thrive in the classroom setting. Traumatized children, however, do not fit neatly into any single ‘box.’ Although many children enter school each day carrying with them the experience of exposure to violence in the home, the symptoms of their trauma can be multifaceted and complex, requiring individualized therapeutic attention. The purpose of this study was to examine how prepared educators are to address the unique challenges facing children who experience trauma. Given the vast number of traumatized children in our society, it is evident that our education system must investigate ways to create an optimal learning environment that accounts for trauma, addresses its impact on cognitive and behavioral development, and facilitates mental and emotional health and well-being. The researcher describes the knowledge, attitudes, dispositions, and skills relating to trauma-informed knowledge of induction level teachers in a diverse middle school. The data for this study were collected through interviews with teachers, who are in the induction phase (the first three years of their teaching career). The study findings paint a clear picture of how ill-prepared educators are to address the needs of students who have experienced trauma and the implications for the development of a professional development workshop or series of workshops that train teachers how to recognize and address and respond to the needs of students. The study shows how teachers often lack skills to meet the needs of students who have experienced trauma. Traumatized children regularly carry a heavy weight on their shoulders. Children who have experienced trauma may feel that the world is filled with unresponsive, threatening adults, and peers. Despite this, supportive interventions can provide traumatized children with places to go that are safe, stimulating, and even fun. Schools offer an environment that potentially meets these requirements by creating safe spaces where students can feel at ease and have fun while also learning via stimulating educational activities. This study highlights the lack of preparedness of educators to address the academic, behavioral, and cognitive needs of students who have experienced trauma. These findings provide implications for the creation of a professional development workshop that addresses how to recognize and address the needs of students who have experienced some type of trauma. They also provide implications for future research with a focus on specific interventions that enable the creation of optimal learning environments where students who have experienced trauma and all students can succeed, regardless of their life experiences.

Keywords: educator preparation, induction educators, professional development, trauma-informed

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Authors: N. Bolong, J. Makinda, I. Saad

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Laboratory activities have produced benefits in student learning. With current drives of new technology resources and evolving era of education methods, renewal status of learning and teaching in laboratory methods are in progress, for both learners and the educators. To enhance learning outcomes in laboratory works particularly in engineering practices and testing, learning via hands-on by instruction may not sufficient. This paper describes and compares techniques and implementation of traditional (expository) with open-ended laboratory (problem-based) for two consecutive cohorts studying environmental laboratory course in civil engineering program. The transition of traditional to problem-based findings and effect were investigated in terms of course assessment student feedback survey, course outcome learning measurement and student performance grades. It was proved that students have demonstrated better performance in their grades and 12% increase in the course outcome (CO) in problem-based open-ended laboratory style than traditional method; although in perception, students has responded less favorable in their feedback.

Keywords: engineering education, open-ended laboratory, environmental engineering lab

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Authors: Jude Opara, Esemokumo Perewarebo Akpos

Abstract:

This paper is on non-parametric linear regression over its parametric counterparts with large sample size. Data set on anthropometric measurement of primary school pupils was taken for the analysis. The study used 50 randomly selected pupils for the study. The set of data was subjected to normality test, and it was discovered that the residuals are not normally distributed (i.e. they do not follow a Gaussian distribution) for the commonly used least squares regression method for fitting an equation into a set of (x,y)-data points using the Anderson-Darling technique. The algorithms for the nonparametric Theil’s regression are stated in this paper as well as its parametric OLS counterpart. The use of a programming language software known as “R Development” was used in this paper. From the analysis, the result showed that there exists a significant relationship between the response and the explanatory variable for both the parametric and non-parametric regression. To know the efficiency of one method over the other, the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) are used, and it is discovered that the nonparametric regression performs better than its parametric regression counterparts due to their lower values in both the AIC and BIC. The study however recommends that future researchers should study a similar work by examining the presence of outliers in the data set, and probably expunge it if detected and re-analyze to compare results.

Keywords: Theil’s regression, Bayesian information criterion, Akaike information criterion, OLS

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Authors: Kibret Berhanu Getinet

Abstract:

Off-farm income diversification by farm rural households has gained the attention of researchers and policymakers due to the fact that agriculture failed to meet the needs of people in developing countries like Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to investigate income diversification strategies into off-farm activities among rural households in Hawassa Zuria Woreda, Sidama National Regional State, Ethiopia. The study used primary and secondary data sources for the primary data collection questionnaire employed as a data collection instrument. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect data from a total of 197 sample households from four kebeles of the study area. Descriptive statistics, as well as econometrics methods of data analysis, were employed. The descriptive statistics result indicates that the majority of sample rural households (68.53 %) have engaged in off-farm income diversification activities while the remaining 31.47% of households did not participate in the diversification in the study area. The choice of participants among the strategies indicates that 6.60% of respondents participated in off-farm wage employment, 30.46% participated in off-farm self-employment, and about 31.47% of them participated in both off-farm wage employment. The study revealed that the share of off-farm income in total annual earnings of households was about 48.457%, and thus, the off-farm diversification significantly contributes to the rural household income. Moreover, binary and multinomial logistic regression models were employed to identify factors that affect the participation and the choices of the off-farm income diversification strategies, respectively. The binary logit model result indicated that agro-ecological zone, education status of the households, available technical skills of the household, household saving, total livestock owned by the households, access to electricity, road access and being married of household head were significant and positively affected the chance of diversification in off-farm activities while the on-farm income of households is negatively affected the chance of diversification. Similarly, the multinomial logistic regression model estimate revealed that agroecological zone, on-farm income, available technical skills, household savings, and access to electricity are positively related and significantly influenced the household’s choice of employment into off-farm wage employment. The off-farm self-employment diversification choice is significantly influenced by on-farm income, available technical skills, household savings, total livestock owned, and access to electricity. Moreover, the result showed that the factors that affect the choice of farm households to engage in both off-farm wage and self-employment are ecological zone, education status, on-farm income, available technical skills, household own saving, market access, total livestock owned, access to electricity and road access. Thus, due attention should be given to addressing the demographic, socio-economic, and institutional constraints to strengthen off-farm income diversification strategies to improve the income of rural households.

Keywords: off-farm, incoem, diversification, logit model

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Authors: Jason Sah

Abstract:

Music ensemble class is a non-traditional classroom in the sense that it is always a group effort during rehearsal. When measuring student performance ability in class, it is imperative that the grading rubric includes a collaborative skill component. Assessments that stop short of testing students' ability to make music with others undermine the group mentality by elevating individual prowess. Applying empirical and evidence-based methodology, this research develops a grading rubric that defines the criteria for assessing collaborative skill, and then explores different strategies for implementing this rubric in a timely and effective manner. Findings show that when collaborative skill is regularly tested, students gradually shift their attention from playing their own part well to sharing their part with others.

Keywords: assessment, ensemble class, grading rubric, student collaboration

Procedia PDF Downloads 135