Search results for: CNT paper

Authors: Nasser S. Shebka

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Fuzzy logic is used in complex adaptive systems where classical tools of representing knowledge are unproductive. Nevertheless, the incorporation of fuzzy logic, as it’s the case with all artificial intelligence tools, raised some inconsistencies and limitations in dealing with increased complexity systems and rules that apply to real-life situations and hinders the ability of the inference process of such systems, but it also faces some inconsistencies between inferences generated fuzzy rules of complex or imprecise knowledge-based systems. The use of fuzzy logic enhanced the capability of knowledge representation in such applications that requires fuzzy representation of truth values or similar multi-value constant parameters derived from multi-valued logic, which set the basis for the three t-norms and their based connectives which are actually continuous functions and any other continuous t-norm can be described as an ordinal sum of these three basic ones. However, some of the attempts to solve this dilemma were an alteration to fuzzy logic by means of non-monotonic logic, which is used to deal with the defeasible inference of expert systems reasoning, for example, to allow for inference retraction upon additional data. However, even the introduction of non-monotonic fuzzy reasoning faces a major issue of conflict resolution for which many principles were introduced, such as; the specificity principle and the weakest link principle. The aim of our work is to improve the logical representation and functional modelling of AI systems by presenting a method of resolving existing and potential rule conflicts by representing temporal modalities within defeasible inference rule-based systems. Our paper investigates the possibility of resolving fuzzy rules conflict in a non-monotonic fuzzy reasoning-based system by introducing temporal modalities and Kripke's general weak modal logic operators in order to expand its knowledge representation capabilities by means of flexibility in classifying newly generated rules, and hence, resolving potential conflicts between these fuzzy rules. We were able to address the aforementioned problem of our investigation by restructuring the inference process of the fuzzy rule-based system. This is achieved by using time-branching temporal logic in combination with restricted first-order logic quantifiers, as well as propositional logic to represent classical temporal modality operators. The resulting findings not only enhance the flexibility of complex rule-base systems inference process but contributes to the fundamental methods of building rule bases in such a manner that will allow for a wider range of applicable real-life situations derived from a quantitative and qualitative knowledge representational perspective.

Keywords: fuzzy rule-based systems, fuzzy tense inference, intelligent systems, temporal modalities

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Authors: Rui Huang, Thomas Richard, Masood Mostofi

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The lifetime of impregnated diamond bits and their drilling efficiency are in part governed by the bit wear conditions, not only the extent of the diamonds’ wear but also their exposure or protrusion out of the matrix bonding. As much as individual diamonds wear, the bonding matrix does also wear through two-body abrasion (direct matrix-rock contact) and three-body erosion (cuttings trapped in the space between rock and matrix). Although there is some work dedicated to the study of diamond bit wear, there is still a lack of understanding on how matrix erosion and diamond exposure relate to the bit drilling response and drilling efficiency, as well as no literature on the process that governs bit sharpening a procedure commonly implemented by drillers when the extent of diamond polishing yield extremely low rate of penetration. The aim of this research is (i) to derive a correlation between the wear state of the bit and the drilling performance but also (ii) to gain a better understanding of the process associated with tool sharpening. The research effort combines specific drilling experiments and precise mapping of the tool-cutting face (impregnated diamond bits and segments). Bit wear is produced by drilling through a rock sample at a fixed rate of penetration for a given period of time. Before and after each wear test, the bit drilling response and thus efficiency is mapped out using a tailored design experimental protocol. After each drilling test, the bit or segment cutting face is scanned with an optical microscope. The test results show that, under the fixed rate of penetration, diamond exposure increases with drilling distance but at a decreasing rate, up to a threshold exposure that corresponds to the optimum drilling condition for this feed rate. The data further shows that the threshold exposure scale with the rate of penetration up to a point where exposure reaches a maximum beyond which no more matrix can be eroded under normal drilling conditions. The second phase of this research focuses on the wear process referred as bit sharpening. Drillers rely on different approaches (increase feed rate or decrease flow rate) with the aim of tearing worn diamonds away from the bit matrix, wearing out some of the matrix, and thus exposing fresh sharp diamonds and recovering a higher rate of penetration. Although a common procedure, there is no rigorous methodology to sharpen the bit and avoid excessive wear or bit damage. This paper aims to gain some insight into the mechanisms that accompany bit sharpening by carefully tracking diamond fracturing, matrix wear, and erosion and how they relate to drilling parameters recorded while sharpening the tool. The results show that there exist optimal conditions (operating parameters and duration of the procedure) for sharpening that minimize overall bit wear and that the extent of bit sharpening can be monitored in real-time.

Keywords: bit sharpening, diamond exposure, drilling response, impregnated diamond bit, matrix erosion, wear rate

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Authors: Saska Alexandria Hayes

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Multiple Convention Refugees in New Zealand are stuck in a state of immigration limbo due to a lack of defined immigration policies. The Refugee Convention of 1951 does not give the right to be issued a permanent right to live and work in the country of asylum. A gap in New Zealand's immigration law and policy has left Convention Refugees without the right to obtain a resident or temporary entry visa. The significant lack of literature on this topic suggests that the lack of visa options for Convention Refugees in New Zealand is a widely unknown or unacknowledged issue. Refugees in New Zealand enjoy the right of non-refoulement contained in Article 33 of the Refugee Convention 1951, whether lawful or unlawful. However, a number of rights contained in the Refugee Convention 1951, such as the right to gainful employment and social security, are limited to refugees who maintain lawful immigration status. If a Convention Refugee is denied a resident visa, the only temporary entry visa a Convention Refugee can apply for in New Zealand is discretionary. The appeal cases heard at the Immigration Protection Tribunal establish that Immigration New Zealand has declined resident and discretionary temporary entry visa applications by Convention Refugees for failing to meet the health or character immigration instructions. The inability of a Convention Refugee to gain residency in New Zealand creates a dependence on the issue of discretionary temporary entry visas to maintain lawful status. The appeal cases record that this reliance has led to Convention Refugees' lawful immigration status being in question, temporarily depriving them of the rights contained in the Refugee Convention 1951 of lawful refugees. In one case, the process of applying for a discretionary temporary entry visa led to a lawful Convention Refugee being temporarily deprived of the right to social security, breaching Article 24 of the Refugee Convention 1951. The judiciary has stated a constant reliance on the issue of discretionary temporary entry visas for Convention Refugees can lead to a breach of New Zealand's international obligations under Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The appeal cases suggest that, despite successful judicial proceedings, at least three persons have been made to rely on the issue of discretionary temporary entry visas potentially indefinitely. The appeal cases establish that a Convention Refugee can be denied a discretionary temporary entry visa and become unlawful. Unlawful status could ultimately breach New Zealand's obligations under Article 33 of the Refugee Convention 1951 as it would procedurally deny Convention Refugees asylum. It would force them to choose between the right of non-refoulement or leaving New Zealand to seek the ability to access all the human rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights elsewhere. This paper discusses how the current system has given rise to these breaches and emphasizes a need to create a designated temporary entry visa category for Convention Refugees.

Keywords: domestic policy, immigration, migration, New Zealand

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Authors: Aleksandr I. Korobov, Natalia V. Shirgina, Aleksey I. Kokshaiskiy

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The transformation of two types of acoustic waves can occur on a flat interface between two solids at oblique incidence of longitudinal and shear bulk acoustic waves (BAW). This paper presents the results of experimental studies of the properties of reflection and propagation of longitudinal wave and generation of second and third longitudinal and shear harmonics of BAW at oblique incidence of longitudinal BAW on a flat rough boundary between two solids. The experimental sample was a rectangular isosceles pyramid made of D16 aluminum alloy with the plane parallel bases cylinder made of D16 aluminum alloy pressed to the base. The piezoelectric lithium niobate transducer with a resonance frequency of 5 MHz was secured to one face of the pyramid to generate a longitudinal wave. Longitudinal waves emitted by this transducer felt at an angle of 45° to the interface between two solids and reflected at the same angle. On the opposite face of the pyramid, and on the flat side of the cylinder was attached longitudinal transducer with resonance frequency of 10 MHz or the shear transducer with resonance frequency of 15 MHz. These transducers also effectively received signal at a frequency of 5 MHz. In the spectrum of the transmitted and reflected BAW was observed shear and longitudinal waves at a frequency of 5 MHz, as well as longitudinal harmonic at a frequency harmonic of 10 MHz and a shear harmonic at frequency of 15 MHz. The effect of reversing changing of external pressure applied to the rough interface between two solids on the value of the first and higher harmonics of the BAW at oblique incidence on the interface of the longitudinal BAW was experimentally investigated. In the spectrum of the reflected signal from the interface, there was a decrease of amplitudes of the first harmonics of the signal, and non-monotonic dependence of the second and third harmonics of shear wave with an increase of the static pressure applied to the interface. In the spectrum of the transmitted signal growth of the first longitudinal and shear harmonic amplitude and non-monotonic dependence - first increase and then decrease in the amplitude of the second and third longitudinal shear harmonic with increasing external static pressure was observed. These dependencies were hysteresis at reversing changing of external pressure. When pressure applied to the border increased, acoustic contact between the surfaces improves. This increases the energy of the transmitted elastic wave and decreases the energy of the reflected wave. The second longitudinal acoustic harmonics generation was associated with the Hertz nonlinearity on the interface of two pressed rough surfaces, the generation of the third harmonic was caused by shear hysteresis nonlinearity due to dry friction on a rough interface. This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project №14-22-00042).

Keywords: generation of acoustic harmonics, hysteresis nonlinearity, Hertz nonlinearity, transformation of acoustic waves

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Authors: Mounir Baccar, Imen Jmal

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Because of the rise in energy costs, thermal storage systems designed for the heating and cooling of buildings are becoming increasingly important. Energy storage can not only reduce the time or rate mismatch between energy supply and demand but also plays an important role in energy conservation. One of the most preferable storage techniques is the Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) by Phase Change Materials (PCM) due to its important energy storage density and isothermal storage process. This paper presents a numerical study of the solidification of a PCM (paraffin RT27) in a rectangular thermal storage exchanger for air conditioning systems taking into account the presence of natural convection. Resolution of continuity, momentum and thermal energy equations are treated by the finite volume method. The main objective of this numerical approach is to study the effect of natural convection on the PCM solidification time and the impact of fins number on heat transfer enhancement. It also aims at investigating the temporal evolution of PCM solidification, as well as the longitudinal profiles of the HTF circling in the duct. The present research undertakes the study of two cases: the first one treats the solidification of PCM in a PCM-air heat exchanger without fins, while the second focuses on the solidification of PCM in a heat exchanger of the same type with the addition of fins (3 fins, 5 fins, and 9 fins). Without fins, the stratification of the PCM from colder to hotter during the heat transfer process has been noted. This behavior prevents the formation of thermo-convective cells in PCM area and then makes transferring almost conductive. In the presence of fins, energy extraction from PCM to airflow occurs at a faster rate, which contributes to the reduction of the discharging time and the increase of the outlet air temperature (HTF). However, for a great number of fins (9 fins), the enhancement of the solidification process is not significant because of the effect of confinement of PCM liquid spaces for the development of thermo-convective flow. Hence, it can be concluded that the effect of natural convection is not very significant for a high number of fins. In the optimum case, using 3 fins, the increasing temperature of the HTF exceeds approximately 10°C during the first 30 minutes. When solidification progresses from the surfaces of the PCM-container and propagates to the central liquid phase, an insulating layer will be created in the vicinity of the container surfaces and the fins, causing a low heat exchange rate between PCM and air. As the solid PCM layer gets thicker, a progressive regression of the field of movements is induced in the liquid phase, thus leading to the inhibition of heat extraction process. After about 2 hours, 68% of the PCM became solid, and heat transfer was almost dominated by conduction mechanism.

Keywords: heat transfer enhancement, front solidification, PCM, natural convection

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Authors: Saliha Ozcan

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Technology has become an integral part of our lives, aiding individuals in accessing higher order competencies, such as global awareness, creativity, collaborative problem solving, and self-directed learning. Students need to acquire these competencies, often referred to as 21st century skills, in order to adapt to a fast changing world. Today, an ever-increasing number of schools are exploring how engagement through telecollaboration can support language learning and promote 21st century skill development in classrooms. However, little is known regarding how telecollaboration may influence the way students acquire 21st century skills. In this paper, we aim to shed light to the potential implications of telecollaborative practices in acquisition of 21st century skills. In our context, telecollaboration, which might be carried out in a variety of settings both synchronously or asynchronously, is considered as the process of communicating and working together with other people or groups from different locations through online digital tools or offline activities to co-produce a desired work output. The study presented here will describe and analyse the implementation of a telecollaborative project between two high school classes, one in Spain and the other in Sweden. The students in these classes were asked to carry out some joint activities, including creating an online platform, aimed at raising awareness of the situation of the Syrian refugees. We conduct a qualitative study in order to explore how language, culture, communication, and technology merge into the co-construction of knowledge, as well as supporting the attainment of the 21st century skills needed for network-mediated communication. To this end, we collected a significant amount of audio-visual data, including video recordings of classroom interaction and external Skype meetings. By analysing this data, we verify whether the initial pedagogical design and intended objectives of the telecollaborative project coincide with what emerges from the actual implementation of the tasks. Our findings indicate that, as well as planned activities, unplanned classroom interactions may lead to acquisition of certain 21st century skills, such as collaborative problem solving and self-directed learning. This work is part of a wider project (KONECT, EDU2013-43932-P; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Finance), which aims to explore innovative, cross-competency based teaching that can address the current gaps between today’s educational practices and the needs of informed citizens in tomorrow’s interconnected, globalised world.

Keywords: 21st century skills, telecollaboration, language learning, network mediated communication

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Authors: Genute Gedviliene, Vidmantas Tutlys

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The aim of this paper is to reveal the deployment and development of the social competence in the higher education programmes of adult education and in the continuing training and competence development of the andragogues. There will be compared how the issues of cooperation and communication in the learning and teaching processes are treated in the study programmes and in the courses of continuing training of andragogues. Theoretical and empirical research methods were combined for research analysis. For the analysis the following methods were applied: 1) Literature and document analysis helped to highlight the communication and cooperation as fundamental phenomena of the social competence, it’s important for the adult education in the context of digitalization and globalization. There were also analyzed the research studies on the development of social competence in the field of andragogy, as well as on the place and weight of the social competence in the overall competence profile of the andragogue. 2) The empirical study is based on questionnaire survey method. The population of survey consists of 240 students of bachelor and master degree studies of andragogy in Lithuania and of 320 representatives of the different bodies and institutions involved in the continuing training and professional development of the adult educators in Lithuania. The themes of survey questionnaire were defined on the basis of findings of the literature review and included the following: 1) opinions of the respondents on the role and place of a social competence in the work of andragogue; 2) opinions of the respondents on the role and place of the development of social competence in the curricula of higher education studies and continuing training courses; 3) judgements on the implications of the higher education studies and courses of continuing training for the development of social competence and it’s deployment in the work of andragogue. Data analysis disclosed a wide range of ways and modalities of the deployment and development of social competence in the preparation and continuing training of the adult educators. Social competence is important for the students and adult education providers not only as the auxiliary capability for the communication and transfer of information, but also as the outcome of collective learning leading to the development of new capabilities applied by the learners in the learning process, their professional field of adult education and their social life. Equally so, social competence is necessary for the effective adult education activities not only as an auxiliary capacity applied in the teaching process, but also as a potential for improvement, development and sustainability of the didactic competence and know-how in this field. The students of the higher education programmes in the field of adult education treat social competence as important generic capacity important for the work of adult educator, whereas adult education providers discern the concrete issues of application of social competence in the different processes of adult education, starting from curriculum design and ending with assessment of learning outcomes.

Keywords: adult education, andragogues, social competence, curriculum

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Authors: J. F. Pollo Gaspary, F. Peron Gaspary, E. M. Simão, R. Concatto Beltrame, G. Orengo de Oliveira, M. S. Ristow Ferreira, J.C. Mairesse Siluk, I. F. Minello, F. dos Santos de Oliveira

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Background: Although palliative care policies and services have been developed, research in this area continues to lag. An integrated model of palliative care is suggested, which includes complementary and alternative services aimed at improving the well-being of patients and their families. The palliative aquatics care multi-device (AuBento) uses several electromagnetic techniques to decrease pain and promote well-being through relaxation and interaction among patients, specialists, and family members. Aim: The scope of this paper is to present a preliminary design study of a device capable of exploring the various existing theories on the biomedical application of magnetic fields. This will be achieved by standardizing clinical data collection with sensory integration, and adding new therapeutic options to develop an advanced palliative aquatics care, innovating in symptom and pain management. Methods: The research methodology was based on the Work Package Methodology for the development of projects, separating the activities into seven different Work Packages. The theoretical basis was carried out through an integrative literature review according to the specific objectives of each Work Package and provided a broad analysis, which, together with the multiplicity of proposals and the interdisciplinarity of the research team involved, generated consistent and understandable complex concepts in the biomedical application of magnetic fields for palliative care. Results: Aubento ambience was idealized with restricted electromagnetic exposure (avoiding data collection bias) and sensory integration (allowing relaxation associated with hydrotherapy, music therapy, and chromotherapy or like floating tank). This device has a multipurpose configuration enabling classic or exploratory options on the use of the biomedical application of magnetic fields at the researcher's discretion. Conclusions: Several patients in diverse therapeutic contexts may benefit from the use of magnetic fields or fluids, thus validating the stimuli to clinical research in this area. A device in controlled and multipurpose environments may contribute to standardizing research and exploring new theories. Future research may demonstrate the possible benefits of the aquatics care multi-device AuBento to improve the well-being and symptom control in palliative care patients and their families.

Keywords: advanced palliative aquatics care, magnetic field therapy, medical device, research design

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Authors: Krzysztof Buczak, Sonia Lachowska, Pawel Kucharski, Agnieszka Antonczyk

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Tiletamine - zolazepam combination is increasingly used in veterinary anaesthesiology in wild animals, including snakes. The available literature shows a lack of information about anesthesia in this mixture in ovoviviparous snakes. The studies show the possibility of using the combination at a dose of 20 mg/kg or more for snake immobilization. This paper presents an anesthetic protocol with the use of a combination of tiletamine - zolazepam at the dose of 10 mg/kg intramuscularly and maintenance with inhalant anesthesia with isoflurane in pure oxygen. The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the anesthetic protocol to proceed with coeliotomy in Amazon Tree Boa. The patient was a five years old bicolor female Amazon Tree Boa (Corallus hortulanus) with dystocia. The clinical examination reveals significant emaciation (bodyweight 520g), high degree of dehydration, heart rate (HR = 60 / min), pale mucous membranes and poor reactivity. Meloxicam (1 mg/kg) and tramadol (10 mg/kg) were administered subcutaneously and the patient was placed in an incubator with access to fresh oxygen. Four hours later, the combination of tiletamine - zolazepam (10 mg/kg) was administered intramuscularly for induction of anesthesia. The snake was intubated and connected to inhalant anesthesia equipment. For maintenance, the anesthesia isoflurane in pure oxygen was used due to apnea, which occurs 30 minutes after the induction semi-closed system was attached and the ventilator was turned on (PCV system, four breaths per minute, 8 cm of H2O). Cardiopulmonary parameters (HR, RR, SPO2, ETCO2, ETISO) were assessed throughout the procedure. During the entire procedure, the operating room was heated to a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the hose was placed on a heating mat, which maintained a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. For 15 minutes after induction, the loss of muscle tone was observed from the head to the tail. Induction of general anesthesia was scored as good because of the possibility of intubation. During the whole procedure, the heart rate was at the rate of 58 beats per minute (bpm). Ventilation parameters were stable throughout the procedure. The recovery period lasts for about 4 hours after the end of general anesthesia. The muscle tension returned from tail to head. The snake started to breathe spontaneously within 1,5 hours after the end of general anesthesia. The protocol of general anesthesia with the combination of tiletamine- zolazepam with a dose of 10 mg/kg is useful for proceeding with the emergency coeliotomy in maintenance with isoflurane in oxygen. Further study about the impact of the combination of tiletamine- zolazepam for the recovery period is needed.

Keywords: anesthesia, corallus hortulanus, ovoviparous, snake, tiletamine, zolazepam

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Authors: Lorenzo Petrucci

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This paper is intended to give insight into the potential use of small-scale off-grid trigeneration systems powered by biogas generated in a dairy farm. The off-grid plant object of analysis comprises a dual-fuel Genset as well as electrical and thermal storage equipment and an adsorption machine. The loads are the different apparatus used in the dairy farm, a household where the workers live and a small electric vehicle whose batteries can also be used as a power source in case of emergency. The insertion in the plant of an adsorption machine is mainly justified by the abundance of thermal energy and the simultaneous high cooling demand associated with the milk-chilling process. In the evaluated operational scenario, our research highlights the importance of prioritizing specific small loads which cannot sustain an interrupted supply of power over time. As a consequence, a photovoltaic and thermal panel is included in the plant and is tasked with providing energy independently of potentially disruptive events such as engine malfunctioning or scarce and unstable supplies of fuels. To efficiently manage the plant an energy dispatch strategy is created in order to control the flow of energy between the power sources and the thermal and electric storages. In this article we elaborate on models of the equipment and from these models, we extract parameters useful to build load-dependent profiles of the prime movers and storage efficiencies. We show that under reasonable assumptions the analysis provides a sensible estimate of the generated energy. The simulations indicate that a Diesel Generator sized to a value 25% higher than the total electrical peak demand operates 65% of the time below the minimum acceptable load threshold. To circumvent such a critical operating mode, dump loads are added through the activation and deactivation of small resistors. In this way, the excess of electric energy generated can be transformed into useful heat. The combination of PVT and electrical storage to support the prioritized load in an emergency scenario is evaluated in two different days of the year having the lowest and highest irradiation values, respectively. The results show that the renewable energy component of the plant can successfully sustain the prioritized loads and only during a day with very low irradiation levels it also needs the support of the EVs’ battery. Finally, we show that the adsorption machine can reduce the ice builder and the air conditioning energy consumption by 40%.

Keywords: hybrid power plants, mathematical modeling, off-grid plants, renewable energy, trigeneration

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Authors: Martina Katalin Szabó, István Üveges

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In this paper, the usage of negative emotive words is examined on the basis of a large Hungarian twitter-database via NLP methods. The data is analysed from a gender point of view, as well as changes in language usage over time. The term negative emotive word refers to those words that, on their own, without context, have semantic content that can be associated with negative emotion, but in particular cases, they may function as intensifiers (e.g. rohadt jó ’damn good’) or a sentiment expression with positive polarity despite their negative prior polarity (e.g. brutális, ahogy ez a férfi rajzol ’it’s awesome (lit. brutal) how this guy draws’. Based on the findings of several authors, the same phenomenon can be found in other languages, so it is probably a language-independent feature. For the recent analysis, 67783 tweets were collected: 37818 tweets (19580 tweets written by females and 18238 tweets written by males) in 2016 and 48344 (18379 tweets written by females and 29965 tweets written by males) in 2021. The goal of the research was to make up two datasets comparable from the viewpoint of semantic changes, as well as from gender specificities. An exhaustive lexicon of Hungarian negative emotive intensifiers was also compiled (containing 214 words). After basic preprocessing steps, tweets were processed by ‘magyarlanc’, a toolkit is written in JAVA for the linguistic processing of Hungarian texts. Then, the frequency and collocation features of all these words in our corpus were automatically analyzed (via the analysis of parts-of-speech and sentiment values of the co-occurring words). Finally, the results of all four subcorpora were compared. Here some of the main outcomes of our analyses are provided: There are almost four times fewer cases in the male corpus compared to the female corpus when the negative emotive intensifier modified a negative polarity word in the tweet (e.g., damn bad). At the same time, male authors used these intensifiers more frequently, modifying a positive polarity or a neutral word (e.g., damn good and damn big). Results also pointed out that, in contrast to female authors, male authors used these words much more frequently as a positive polarity word as well (e.g., brutális, ahogy ez a férfi rajzol ’it’s awesome (lit. brutal) how this guy draws’). We also observed that male authors use significantly fewer types of emotive intensifiers than female authors, and the frequency proportion of the words is more balanced in the female corpus. As for changes in language usage over time, some notable differences in the frequency and collocation features of the words examined were identified: some of the words collocate with more positive words in the 2nd subcorpora than in the 1st, which points to the semantic change of these words over time.

Keywords: gender differences, negative emotive words, semantic changes over time, twitter

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Authors: Ryan Chalk, G. M. Shafiullah

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Climate change is a pertinent issue facing governments and societies around the world. The industrial revolution has resulted in a steady increase in the average global temperature. The mining and energy production industries have been significant contributors to this change prompting government to intervene by promoting low emission technology within these sectors. This paper initially reviews the energy problem in Australia and the mining sector with a focus on the energy requirements and production methods utilised in Western Australia (WA). Renewable energy in the form of utility-scale solar photovoltaics (PV) provides a solution to these problems by providing emission-free energy which can be used to supplement the existing natural gas turbines in operation at the proposed site. This research presents a custom renewable solution for the mining site considering the specific township network, local weather conditions, and seasonal load profiles. A summary of the required PV output is presented to supply slightly over 50% of the towns power requirements during the peak (summer) period, resulting in close to full coverage in the trench (winter) period. Dig Silent Power Factory Software has been used to simulate the characteristics of the existing infrastructure and produces results of integrating PV. Large scale PV penetration in the network introduce technical challenges, that includes; voltage deviation, increased harmonic distortion, increased available fault current and power factor. Results also show that cloud cover has a dramatic and unpredictable effect on the output of a PV system. The preliminary analyses conclude that mitigation strategies are needed to overcome voltage deviations, unacceptable levels of harmonics, excessive fault current and low power factor. Mitigation strategies are proposed to control these issues predominantly through the use of high quality, made for purpose inverters. Results show that use of inverters with harmonic filtering reduces the level of harmonic injections to an acceptable level according to Australian standards. Furthermore, the configuration of inverters to supply active and reactive power assist in mitigating low power factor problems. Use of FACTS devices; SVC and STATCOM also reduces the harmonics and improve the power factor of the network, and finally, energy storage helps to smooth the power supply.

Keywords: climate change, mitigation strategies, photovoltaic (PV), power quality

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Authors: Cherrie Lowe

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The TrendCare Patient Dependency System is currently utilized by a large number of Maternity Services across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. In 2012, 2013, and 2014 validation studies were initiated in all three countries to validate the acuity tools used for Women in Labour, and Postnatal Mothers and Babies. This paper will present the findings of the validation study. Aim: The aim of this study was to; Identify if the care hours provided by the TrendCare Acuity System was an accurate reflection of the care required by Women and Babies. Obtain evidence of changes required to acuity indicators and/or category timings to ensure the TrendCare acuity system remains reliable and valid across a range of Maternity care models in three countries. Method: A non-experimental action research methodology was used across four District Health Boards in New Zealand, two large public Australian Maternity services and a large tertiary Maternity service in Singapore. Standardized data collection forms and timing devices were used to collect Midwife contact times with Women and Babies included in the study. Rejection processes excluded samples where care was not completed/rationed. The variances between actual timed Midwife/Mother/Baby contact and actual Trend Care acuity times were identified and investigated. Results: 87.5% (18) of TrendCare acuity category timings matched the actual timings recorded for Midwifery care. 12.5% (3) of TrendCare night duty categories provided less minutes of care than the actual timings. 100% of Labour Ward TrendCare categories matched actual timings for Midwifery care. The actual times given for assistance to New Zealand independent Midwives in Labour Ward showed a significant deviation to previous studies demonstrating the need for additional time allocations in Trend Care. Conclusion: The results demonstrated the importance of regularly validating the Trend Care category timings with the care hours required, as variances to models of care and length of stay in Maternity units have increased Midwifery workloads on the night shift. The level of assistance provided by the core labour ward staff to the Independent Midwife has increased substantially. Outcomes: As a consequence of this study changes were made to the night duty TrendCare Maternity categories, additional acuity indicators developed and times for assisting independent Midwives increased. The updated TrendCare version was delivered to Maternity services in 2014.

Keywords: maternity, acuity, research, nursing workloads

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Authors: Merina Islam

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The feminists have identified the traditional western ethical theories as basically male centered. Feminists are committed to develop a critique showing how the traditional western ethics together with traditional philosophy, irrespective of the claim for gender neutrality, all throughout remained gender-biased. This exclusion of women’s experiences from the moral discourse is justified on the ground that women cannot be moral agents, since they are not rational. By way of entailment, we are thus led to the position that virtues of traditional ethics, so viewed, can nothing but rational and hence male. The ears of traditional Western ethicists have been attuned to male rather than female ethical voices. Right from the Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel and even philosophers like Freud, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and many others the dualism between reason-passion or mind and body started gaining prominence. These, according to them, have either intentionally excluded women or else have used certain male moral experience as the standard for all moral experiences, thereby resulting once again in exclusion of women’s experiences. Men are identified with rationality and hence contrasted with women whose sphere is believed to be that of emotion and feeling. This act of exclusion of women’s experience from moral discourse has given birth to a tradition that emphasizes reason over emotion, universal over the particular, and justice over caring. That patriarchy’s use of gender distinctions in the realm of Ethics has resulted in gender discriminations is an undeniable fact. Hence women’s moral agency is said to have often been denied, not simply by the act of exclusion of women from moral debate or sheer ignorance of their contributions, but through philosophical claims to the effect that women lack moral reason. Traditional or mainstream ethics cannot justify its claim for universality, objectivity and gender neutrality the standards from which were drawn the legitimacy of the various moral maxims or principles of it. Right from the Platonic and Aristotelian period the dualism between reason-passion or mind and body started gaining prominence. Men are identified with rationality and hence contrasted with women whose sphere is believed to be that of emotion and feeling. Through the Association of the masculine values with reason (the feminine with irrational), was created the standard prototype of moral virtues The feminists’ critique of the traditional mainstream Ethics is based on this charge that because of its inherent gender bias, in the name of gender distinctions, Ethics has so far been justifying discriminations. In this paper, attempt would make upon the gender biased-ness of traditional ethics. But Feminists are committed to develop a critique showing how the traditional ethics together with traditional philosophy, irrespective of the claim for gender neutrality, all throughout remained gender-biased. We would try to show to what extent traditional ethics is male centered and consequentially fails to justify its claims for universality and gender neutrality.

Keywords: ethics, gender, male-centered, traditional

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Authors: Anuruddha Jayasuriya, Thanakorn Pheeraphan

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In this paper, a review of different mathematical models which can be used as prediction tools to assess the time to crack reinforced concrete (RC) due to corrosion is investigated. This investigation leads to an experimental study to validate a selected prediction model. Most of these mathematical models depend upon the mechanical behaviors, chemical behaviors, electrochemical behaviors or geometric aspects of the RC members during a corrosion process. The experimental program is designed to verify the accuracy of a well-selected mathematical model from a rigorous literature study. Fundamentally, the experimental program exemplifies both one-dimensional chloride diffusion using RC squared slab elements of 500 mm by 500 mm and two-dimensional chloride diffusion using RC squared column elements of 225 mm by 225 mm by 500 mm. Each set consists of three water-to-cement ratios (w/c); 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 and two cover depths; 25 mm and 50 mm. 12 mm bars are used for column elements and 16 mm bars are used for slab elements. All the samples are subjected to accelerated chloride corrosion in a chloride bath of 5% (w/w) sodium chloride (NaCl) solution. Based on a pre-screening of different models, it is clear that the well-selected mathematical model had included mechanical properties, chemical and electrochemical properties, nature of corrosion whether it is accelerated or natural, and the amount of porous area that rust products can accommodate before exerting expansive pressure on the surrounding concrete. The experimental results have shown that the selected model for both one-dimensional and two-dimensional chloride diffusion had ±20% and ±10% respective accuracies compared to the experimental output. The half-cell potential readings are also used to see the corrosion probability, and experimental results have shown that the mass loss is proportional to the negative half-cell potential readings that are obtained. Additionally, a statistical analysis is carried out in order to determine the most influential factor that affects the time to corrode the reinforcement in the concrete due to chloride diffusion. The factors considered for this analysis are w/c, bar diameter, and cover depth. The analysis is accomplished by using Minitab statistical software, and it showed that cover depth is the significant effect on the time to crack the concrete from chloride induced corrosion than other factors considered. Thus, the time predictions can be illustrated through the selected mathematical model as it covers a wide range of factors affecting the corrosion process, and it can be used to predetermine the durability concern of RC structures that are vulnerable to chloride exposure. And eventually, it is further concluded that cover thickness plays a vital role in durability in terms of chloride diffusion.

Keywords: accelerated corrosion, chloride diffusion, corrosion cracks, passivation layer, reinforcement corrosion

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Authors: Gaëtan Calvar, Christophe Bouvier, Alexis Blasselle

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This paper presents the Sea Striker, a compact hydrofoil designed with the goal to address some of the issues raised by the recent evolutions of naval missions, threats and operation theatres in modern warfare. Able to perform a wide range of operations, the Sea Striker is a 40-meter stealth surface combatant equipped with a gas turbine and aft and forward foils to reach high speeds. The Sea Striker's stealthiness is enabled by the combination of composite structure, exterior design, and the advanced integration of sensors. The ship is fitted with a powerful and adaptable combat system, ensuring a versatile and efficient response to modern threats. Lightly Manned with a core crew of 10, this hydrofoil is highly automated and can be remoted pilote for special force operation or transit. Such a kind of ship is not new: it has been used in the past by different navies, for example, by the US Navy with the USS Pegasus. Nevertheless, the recent evolutions in science and technologies on the one hand, and the emergence of new missions, threats and operation theatres, on the other hand, put forward its concept as an answer to nowadays operational challenges. Indeed, even if multiples opinions and analyses can be given regarding the modern warfare and naval surface operations, general observations and tendencies can be drawn such as the major increase in the sensors and weapons types and ranges and, more generally, capacities; the emergence of new versatile and evolving threats and enemies, such as asymmetric groups, swarm drones or hypersonic missile; or the growing number of operation theatres located in more coastal and shallow waters. These researches were performed with a complete study of the ship after several operational performance computations in order to justify the relevance of using ships like the Sea Striker in naval surface operations. For the selected scenarios, the conception process enabled to measure the performance, namely a “Measure of Efficiency” in the NATO framework for 2 different kinds of models: A centralized, classic model, using large and powerful ships; and A distributed model relying on several Sea Strikers. After this stage, a was performed. Lethal, agile, stealth, compact and fitted with a complete set of sensors, the Sea Striker is a new major player in modern warfare and constitutes a very attractive response between the naval unit and the combat helicopter, enabling to reach high operational performances at a reduced cost.

Keywords: surface combatant, compact, hydrofoil, stealth, velocity, lethal

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Authors: Davendra S. Malik

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Bhimtal lake is located between 290 21’ N latitude and 790 24’ E longitude, at an elevation of 1332m above mean sea level in the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand of Indian subcontinent. The lake surface area is decreasing in water area, depth level in relation to ecological and biological characteristics due to climatic variations, invasive land use pattern, degraded forest zones and changed agriculture pattern in lake catchment basin. The present study is focused on long and short term effects of climate change on aquatic biodiversity and productivity of Bhimtal lake. The meteorological data of last fifteen years of Bhimtal lake catchment basin revealed that air temperature has been increased 1.5 to 2.1oC in summer, 0.2 to 0.8 C in winter, relative humidity increased 4 to 6% in summer and rainfall pattern changed erratically in rainy seasons. The surface water temperature of Bhimtal lake showed an increasing pattern as 0.8 to 2.6 C, pH value decreased 0.5 to 0.2 in winter and increased 0.4 to 0.6 in summer. Dissolved oxygen level in lake showed a decreasing trend as 0.7 to 0.4mg/l in winter months. The mesotrophic nature of Bhimtal lake is changing towards eutrophic conditions and contributed for decreasing biodiversity. The aquatic biodiversity of Bhimtal lake consisted mainly phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos and fish species. In the present study, a total of 5 groups of phytoplankton, 3 groups of zooplankton, 11 groups of benthos and 15 fish species were recorded from Bhimtal lake. The comparative data of biodiversity of Bhimtal lake since January, 2000 indicated the changing pattern of phytoplankton biomass were decreasing as 1.99 and 1.08% of Chlorophyceae and Bacilleriophyceae families respectively. The biomass of Cynophyceae was increasing as 0.45% and contributing the algal blooms during summer season in lake. The biomass of zooplankton and benthos were found decreasing in winter season and increasing during summer season. The endemic fish species (18 no.) were found in year 2000-05, as while the fish species (15 no.) were recorded in present study. The relative fecundity of major fish species were observed decreasing trends during their breeding periods in lake. The natural and anthropogenic factors were identified as ecological threats for existing aquatic biodiversity of Bhimtal lake. The present research paper emphasized on the effect of changing pattern of different climatic variables on species composition, biomass of phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos, and fishes in Bhimtal lake of Kumaun region. The present research data will be contributed significantly to assess the changing pattern of aquatic biodiversity and productivity of Bhimtal lake with different time scale.

Keywords: aquatic biodiversity, Bhimtal lake, climate change, lake ecology

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Authors: Bharatkumar Doshi

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Electro-Magnetic Pulse Welding (EMPW) is a solid state welding process carried out at almost room temperature, in which joining is enabled by high impact velocity deformation. In this process, high voltage capacitor’s stored energy is discharged in an EM coil resulting in a damped, sinusoidal current with an amplitude of several hundred kiloamperes. Due to these transient magnetic fields of few tens of Tesla near the coil is generated. As the conductive (tube) part is positioned in this area, an opposing eddy current is induced in this part. Consequently, high Lorentz forces act on the part, leading to acceleration away from the coil. In case of a tube, it gets compressed under forming velocities of more than 300 meters per second. After passing the joining gap it collides with the second metallic joining rod, leading to the formation of a jet under appropriate collision conditions. Due to the prevailing high pressure, metallurgical bonding takes place. A characteristic feature is the wavy interface resulting from the heavy plastic deformations. In the process, the formation of intermetallic compounds which might deteriorate the weld strength can be avoided, even for metals with dissimilar thermal properties. In order to optimize the process parameters like current, voltage, inductance, coil dimensions, workpiece dimensions, air gap, impact velocity, effective plastic strain, shear stress acting in the welding zone/impact zone etc. are very critical and important to establish. These process parameters could be determined by simulation using Finite Element Methods (FEM) in which electromagnetic –structural couple field analysis is performed. The feasibility of welding could thus be investigated by varying the parameters in the simulation using COMSOL. Simulation results shall be applied in performing the preliminary experiments of welding the different alloy steel tubes and/or alloy steel to other materials. The single turn coil (S.S.304) with field shaper (copper) has been designed and manufactured. The preliminary experiments are performed using existing EMPW facility available Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, India. The experiments are performed at 22kV charged into 64µF capacitor bank and the energy is discharged into single turn EM coil. Welding of axi-symetric components such as aluminum tube and rod has been proven experimentally using EMPW techniques. In this paper EM coil design, manufacturing, Electromagnetic-structural FEM simulation of Magnetic Pulse Welding and preliminary experiment results is reported.

Keywords: COMSOL, EMPW, FEM, Lorentz force

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Authors: Kevin Henry

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Introduction: This research identifies the main struggles of non-binary people in an organizational setting using the ZMET – method of in-depth interviews. The research was done in Iceland, a country that is repeatedly listed in the top countries for gender equality and found three main categories of non-binary struggles in organizations. These categories can be used to improve organizational non-binary inclusion. Aim: The main questions this paper will answer are: Which unique obstacles are non-binary people facing in their daily organizational life? Which organizational and individual measures help with more inclusion of non-binary people? How can organizational gender equality measures be made more inclusive of non-binary issues? Background: Even though gender equality is a much-researched topic, the struggles of non-binary people are often overlooked in gender equality research. Additionally, non-binary and transgender people are frequently researched together, even though their struggles can be very different. Research focused on non-binary people is, in many cases, done on a more structural or organizational level with quantitative data such as salary or position within an organization. This research focuses on the individual and their struggles with qualitative data to derive measures for non-binary inclusion and equality. Method: An adapted approach of the ZMET-Method (Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique) will be used, during which in-depth interviews are held with individuals, utilizing pictures as a metaphorical starting point to discuss their main thoughts and feelings on being non-binary in an organizational setting. Interviewees prepared five pictures, each representing one key thought or feeling about their organizational life. The interviewer then lets the interviewee describe each picture and asks probing questions to get a deeper understanding of each individual topic. This method helps with a mostly unbiased data collection process by only asking probing questions during the interview and not leading the interviewee in any certain direction. Results: This research has identified three main categories of struggles non-binary people are facing in an organizational setting: internal (personal) struggles, external struggles and structural struggles. Internal struggles refer to struggles that originate from the person themselves (e.g., struggles with their own identity). External struggles refer to struggles from the outside (e.g. harassment from coworkers, exclusion). Structural struggles refer to struggles that are built into the organizational policy or facilities (e.g. restrooms, gendered language). Conclusion: This study shows that there are many struggles for non-binary people in organizations and that even in countries that pride themselves on being progressive and having a high level of gender equality, there is still much to be done for non-binary inclusion. Implications for Organizations: Organizations that strive to improve the inclusion of all genders should pay attention to how their structures are built, how their training is conducted, and how their policies affect people of various genders. Simple changes like making restrooms gender-neutral and using neutral language in company communications are good examples of small structural steps for more inclusion.

Keywords: gender equality, non-binary, organizations, ZMET

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Authors: Mridula Devi

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Trafficking of women is a slur on human dignity and a shameful act to human civilization and development. Trafficking of women is one of worst brazen abuses which violate the women’s human rights. In India, more particularly in Assam, human trafficking and infringement of human rights of individual includes mainly the women and girl child of the State. Trafficking in North East region of India, more particularly in Assam occurs in two different ways – one is the internal trafficking of women and girl child from conflict affected rural areas of Assam for domestic work and prostitution. Secondly, there is trafficking of women to other south-East Asiatic countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bangkok, Myanmar (Burma) for various purposes such as drug trafficking, labor, bar girl and prostitution.Historically, trafficking in human beings is associated with slavery and bonded or forced labor. Since the period of Roman Civilization, there was the practice of traffic in persons in the form of slave trade among the nations. With the rise of new imperialism, slavery had become an integral part of the colonial system of European Countries. With time, it almost became synonymous with prostitution or commercial sexual exploitation. Finally, the United Nation adopted the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Prostitution of others, 1949 by the G.A.Res.No.-317(iv). The Convention totally denounces the traffic in persons for the purpose of prostitution. However, it is important to note that, now a days trafficking is not confined to commercial sexual exploitation of women and children alone. It has myriad forms and the number of victims has been steadily on the rise over the past few decades. In Assam, it takes place through and for marriage, sexual exploitation, begging, organ trading, militancy conflicts, drug padding and smuggling, labour, adoption, entertainment, and sports. In this paper, empirical methodology has been used. The study is based on primary and secondary sources. Data’s are collected from different books, publications, newspaper, journals etc. For empirical analysis, some random samples are collected and systematized for better result. India suffers from the ignominy of being one of the biggest hubs of women trafficking in the world. Over the years, Assam: the north east part of India has been bearing the brunt of the rapidly rising evil of trafficking of women which threaten the life, dignity and human rights of women. Though different laws are adopted at international and national level to restore trafficking, still the menace of trafficking of women in Assam is not decreased, rather it increased. This causes a serious violation of women’s human right in Assam. Human trafficking or women’s trafficking is a serious crime against society. To curb this in Assam it is required to take some effective and dedicated measure at state level as well as national and international level.

Keywords: Assam, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, India

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Authors: Suzanne Strauss, Leandi Steenkamp

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The Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish is the brainchild of songwriter and lyricist TuomasHolopainen and the band recorded their first demonstration recording in 1996. The band has since produced nine full-length studio albums, the most recent being the 2020 album Human. :||: Nature., and has reached massive international success. The band is well known for songs about fantasy and escapism and employs many sonic, visual and branding tools and techniques to communicate these constructs to the audience. Among these, is the band’s creation of the so-called “Nightwish world and mythology” with a set of recurring characters and narratives which, in turn, creates a psychological anchor and safe space for Nightwish fans around the globe. Nature and the reverence of nature are central themes in Nightwish’s self-created mythology.Swiss psychologist Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious identified a mysterious reservoir of psychological constructs common to all people, being derived from ancestral memory and experience, common to all humankind, and distinct from the individual’s personal unconscious. Furthermore, he defined archetypes as timeless collective patterns and images that springs forth from the collective unconscious. Archetypes can be actualized when they enter consciousness as images in interaction with the outside world. Archetypal patterns or images can manifest in different ways across world cultures, but follow common patterns, also known as archetypal themes and symbols. The Jungian approach to the psyche places great emphasis on nature, positing a direct link betweenthe concept of wholeness and responsible care for nature and the environment.In our proposed paper, we examine, by means of thematic content analysis, how Nightwish makes use of archetypal themes and symbols referring to nature and the environment in selected songs from their ninth full-length album Human. II Nature. Furthermore, we argue that the longing for and reverence of nature in selected Nightwish songs may serve as a type of “social intervention” and social critique on modern capitalist society. The type of social critique that the band offers is generally connoted intertextually and is not equally explicit in their songs. The band uses a unique combination of escapism, fantasy, and nature narratives to inspire a sense of wonder, enchantment, and magic in the listener. In this way, escapism, fantasy, and nature serve as postmodern frames of reference that aim to “re-enchant” the disenchanted and de-spiritualized. In this way, re-enchantment could also refer to spiritual and/or psychological healing and rebirth.

Keywords: archetypes, metal music, nature, Nightwish, social interventions

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Authors: Suruchi Saini, Hitender Kumar Tyagi

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With the rapid progress of the nanotechnology industry, it is becoming increasingly important to have compact semiconductor devices to function and offer the best results at various technology nodes. While performing the scaling of the device, several short-channel effects occur. To minimize these scaling limitations, some device architectures have been developed in the semiconductor industry. FinFET is one of the most promising structures. Also, the double-gate 2D Fin field effect transistor has the benefit of suppressing short channel effects (SCE) and functioning well for less than 14 nm technology nodes. In the present research, the MuGFET simulation tool is used to analyze and explain the electrical behaviour of a double-gate 2D Fin field effect transistor. The drift-diffusion and Poisson equations are solved self-consistently. Various models, such as Fermi-Dirac distribution, bandgap narrowing, carrier scattering, and concentration-dependent mobility models, are used for device simulation. The transfer and output characteristics of the double-gate 2D Fin field effect transistor are determined at 10 nm technology node. The performance parameters are extracted in terms of threshold voltage, trans-conductance, leakage current and current on-off ratio. In this paper, the device performance is analyzed at different structure parameters. The utilization of the Id-Vg curve is a robust technique that holds significant importance in the modeling of transistors, circuit design, optimization of performance, and quality control in electronic devices and integrated circuits for comprehending field-effect transistors. The FinFET structure is optimized to increase the current on-off ratio and transconductance. Through this analysis, the impact of different channel widths, source and drain lengths on the Id-Vg and transconductance is examined. Device performance was affected by the difficulty of maintaining effective gate control over the channel at decreasing feature sizes. For every set of simulations, the device's features are simulated at two different drain voltages, 50 mV and 0.7 V. In low-power and precision applications, the off-state current is a significant factor to consider. Therefore, it is crucial to minimize the off-state current to maximize circuit performance and efficiency. The findings demonstrate that the performance of the current on-off ratio is maximum with the channel width of 3 nm for a gate length of 10 nm, but there is no significant effect of source and drain length on the current on-off ratio. The transconductance value plays a pivotal role in various electronic applications and should be considered carefully. In this research, it is also concluded that the transconductance value of 340 S/m is achieved with the fin width of 3 nm at a gate length of 10 nm and 2380 S/m for the source and drain extension length of 5 nm, respectively.

Keywords: current on-off ratio, FinFET, short-channel effects, transconductance

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Authors: Amrita Sen

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In the face of a growing insurgent movement and the perceived failure of the state and the market towards sustainable resource management, a range of decentralized forest management policies was formulated in the last two decades, which recognized the need for community representations within the statutory methods of forest management. The recognition conceded on the virtues of ecological sustainability and traditional environmental knowledge, which were considered to be the principal repositories of the forest dependent communities. The present study, in the light of empirical insights, reflects on the contemporary disjunctions between the preconceived communitarian ethic in environmentalism and the lived reality of forest based life-worlds. Many of the popular as well as dominant ideologies, which have historically shaped the conceptual and theoretical understanding of sociology, needs further perusal in the context of the emerging contours of empirical knowledge, which lends opportunities for substantive reworking and analysis. The image of the community appears to be one of those concepts, an identity which has for long defined perspectives and processes associated with people living together harmoniously in small physical spaces. Through an ethnographic account of the implementation of Joint Forest Management (JFM) in a forest fringe village in Sundarban, the study explores the ways in which the idea of ‘community’ gets transformed through the process of state-making, rendering the necessity of its departure from the standard, conventional definition of homogeneity and internal equity. The study necessitates an attention towards the anthropology of micro-politics, disaggregating an essentially constructivist anthropology of ‘collective identities’, which can render the visibility of political mobilizations plausible within the seemingly culturalist production of communities. The two critical questions that the paper seeks to ask in this context are: how the ‘local’ is constituted within community based conservation practices? Within the efforts of collaborative forest management, how accurately does the depiction of ‘indigenous environmental knowledge’, subscribe to its role of sustainable conservation practices? Reflecting on the execution of JFM in Sundarban, the study critically explores the ways in which the state ceases to be ‘trans-national’ and interacts with the rural life-worlds through its local factions. Simultaneously, the study attempts to articulate the scope of constructing a competing representation of community, shaped by increasing political negotiations and bureaucratic alignments which strains against the usual preoccupations with tradition primordiality and non material culture as well as the amorous construction of indigeneity.

Keywords: community, environmentalism, JFM, state-making, identities, indigenous

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Authors: Nicola G. G. Cecca

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In Italian IPSSEOAs, high schools that give a vocational education to students that will work in the field of Enogastronomy and Hotel Management, the course of Food Science allows the students to start and see food as a mixture of substances that they will transform during their profession. These substances are characterized not only by a chemical composition but also by a molecular structure that makes them nutritionally active. But the increasing number of new products proposed by Food Industry, the modern techniques of production and transformation, the innovative preparations required by customers have made many information reported in the most wide spread Food Science textbooks not up-to-date or too poor for the people who will work in catering sector. Often Authors offer information aged to Bohr’s Atomic Model and to the ‘Octet Rule’ proposed by G.N. Lewis to describe the Chemical Bond, without giving any reference to new as Orbital Atomic Model and Molecular Orbital Theory that, in the meantime, start to be old themselves. Furthermore, this antiquated information precludes an easy understanding of a wide range of properties of nutritive substances and many reactions in which the food constituents are involved. In this paper, our attention is pointed out to use GEOMAG™ to represent the dynamics with which the chemical bond is formed during the synthesis of the molecules. GEOMAG™ is a toy, produced by the Swiss Company Geomagword S.A., pointed to stimulate in children, aged between 6-10 years, their fantasy and their handling ability and constituted by metallic spheres and metallic magnetic bars coated by coloured plastic materials. The simulation carried out with GEOMAG™ is based on the similitude existing between the Coulomb’s force and the magnetic attraction’s force and in particular between the formulae with which they are calculated. The electrostatic force (F in Newton) that allows the formation of the chemical bond can be calculated by mean Fc = kc q1 q2/d2 where: q1 e q2 are the charge of particles [in Coulomb], d is the distance between the particles [in meters] and kc is the Coulomb’s constant. It is surprising to observe that the attraction’s force (Fm) acting between the magnetic extremities of GEOMAG™ used to simulate the chemical bond can be calculated in the same way by using the formula Fm = km m1 m2/d2 where: m1 e m2 represent the strength of the poles [A•m], d is the distance between the particles [m], km = μ/4π in which μ is the magnetic permeability of medium [N•A-2]. The magnetic attraction can be tested by students by trying to keep the magnetic elements of GEOMAG™ separate by hands or trying to measure by mean an appropriate dynamometric system. Furthermore, by using a dynamometric system to measure the magnetic attraction between the GEOMAG™ elements is possible draw a graphic F=f(d) to verify that the curve obtained during the simulation is very similar to that one hypnotized, around the 1920’s by Linus Pauling to describe the formation of H2+ in according with Molecular Orbital Theory.

Keywords: chemical bond, molecular orbital theory, magnetic attraction force, GEOMAG™

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Authors: Aisha Siddiqa

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The knowledge of pragmatic practices in a particular language is considered key to effective communication. Unlike one’s native language where this knowledge is acquired spontaneously, more conscious attention is required to learn second language pragmatics. Traditional foreign language (FL) classrooms generally focus on the acquisition of vocabulary and lexico-grammatical structures, neglecting pragmatic functions that are essential for effective communication in the multilingual networks of the modern world. In terms of effective communication, of particular importance is knowledge of what is perceived as polite or impolite in a certain language, an aspect of pragmatics which is not perceived as obligatory but is nonetheless indispensable for successful intercultural communication and integration. While learning a second language, the acquisition of politeness assumes more prominence as the politeness norms and practices vary according to language and culture. Therefore, along with focusing on the ‘use’ of politeness strategies, it is crucial to examine the ‘acquisition’ and the ‘acquisitional development’ of politeness strategies by second language learners, particularly, by lower proficiency leaners as the norms of politeness are usually focused in lower levels. Hence, there is an obvious need for a study that not only investigates the acquisition of pragmatics by young FL learners using innovative multiple methods; but also identifies the potential causes of the gaps in their development. The present research employs a cross sectional design to explore the acquisition of politeness by young English as a foreign language learners (EFL) in France; at three levels of secondary school learning. The methodology involves two phases. In the first phase a cartoon oral production task (COPT) is used to elicit samples of requests from young EFL learners in French schools. These data are then supplemented by a) role plays, b) an analysis of textbooks, and c) video recordings of classroom activities. This mixed method approach allows us to explore the repertoire of politeness strategies the learners possess and delve deeper into the opportunities available to learners in classrooms to learn politeness strategies in requests. The paper will provide the results of the analysis of COPT data for 250 learners at three different stages of English as foreign language development. Data analysis is based on categorization of requests developed in CCSARP project. The preliminary analysis of the COPT data shows that there is substantial evidence of pragmalinguistic development across all levels but the developmental process seems to gain momentum in the second half of the secondary school period as compared to the early period at school. However, there is very little evidence of sociopragmatic development. The study aims to document the current classroom practices in France by looking at the development of young EFL learner’s politeness strategies across three levels of secondary schools.

Keywords: acquisition, English, France, interlanguage pragmatics, politeness

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Authors: Hasan Alrashid

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The 2005 Hague Convention seeks to ensure legal certainty and predictability between parties in international business transactions. It harmonies exclusive choice of court agreements at the international level between parties to commercial transactions and to govern the recognition and enforcement of judgments resulting from proceedings based on such agreements to promote international trade and investment. Although the choice of court agreements is significant in international business transactions, the United Arab Emirates refuse to recognise it by Article 24 of the Federal Law No. 11 of 1992 of the Civil Procedure Code. A review of judicial judgments in United Arab Emirates up to the present day has revealed that several cases appeared before the Court in different states of United Arab Emirates regarding the recognition of exclusive choice of court agreements. In all the cases, the courts regarded the exclusive choice of court agreements as a direct assault on state authority and sovereignty and refused categorically to recognize choice of court agreements by refusing to stay proceedings in favor of the foreign chosen court. This has created uncertainty and unpredictability in international business transaction in the United Arab Emirates. In June 2011, the first Gulf Judicial Seminar on Cross-Frontier Legal Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Matters was held in Doha, Qatar. The Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference attended the conference and invited the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) namely, The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait to adopt some of the Hague Conventions, one of which was the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. One of the recommendations of the conference was that the GCC states should research ‘the benefits of predictability and legal certainty provided by the 2005 Convention on Choice of Court Agreements and its resulting advantages for cross-border trade and investment’ for possible adoption of the Hague Convention. Up to today, no further step has been taken by the any of the GCC states to adapt the Hague Convention nor did they conduct research on the benefits of predictability and legal certainty in international business transactions. This paper will argue that the approach regarding the recognition of choice of court agreements in United Arab Emirates states can be improved in order to help the parties in international business transactions avoid parallel litigation and ensure legal certainty and predictability. The focus will be the uncertainty and gaps regarding the choice of court agreements in the United Arab Emirates states. The Hague Convention on choice of court agreements and the importance of harmonisation of the rules of choice of court agreements at international level will also be discussed. Finally, The feasibility and desirability of recognizing choice of court agreements in United Arab Emirates legal system by becoming a party to the Hague Convention will be evaluated.

Keywords: choice of court agreements, party autonomy, public authority, sovereignty

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Authors: Xavier Louis, Madhava Soma Sundaram

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The Palk Bay, a narrow strip of water, separates the state of Tamil Nadu in India from north Sri Lanka. The bay, which is 137 km in length and varies from 64 to 137 kilometers in width and is home to more than 580 fish species and chunks of shrimp’s resources, is divided by the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). The bay, bordering it are five Tamil Nadu districts of India and three Sri Lankan districts and assumes importance as it is one of the areas presenting permanent and serious challenges to both India and Sri Lanka with respect to the fishing rights in the Bay. Fishermen from both sides were enjoying fishing with hormones for centuries. Katchchadeevu is a tiny Island located in the Bay, which was a part of India. After the Katchchadeevu agreement 1974 it became a part of Sri Lanka and a fishing conflict arose between the two countries' fishermen. Fuelling the dispute over Katchatheevu is the overfishing of Indian mechanized trawlers in Palk Bay and the damaging environmental and economic effects of trawling. Since 2008, more than 300 Indian fishermen have been killed by firing by Sri Lankan Navy, nearly 100 fishermen have gone missing and more than 3000 fishermen were arrested and later released after the trials for trespassing into Sri Lankan waters. Currently, more than 120 fishing boats and 29 fishermen are in Sri Lankan custody. This paper attempts to find out the causes of fishing conflict and who has the fishing rights in the mentioned waters, how the international treaties are complied with at the time of arrest and trials, how the arrested fishermen are treated by them and how they suffer from fishermen families without a breadwinner. A Semi-structured interview schedule tool was prepared by the researcher, which is suitable for measuring quantitative and qualitative aspects of the above-mentioned theme. One hundred arrested fishermen were interviewed and recorded their prison experiences in Sri Lanka. The research found that the majority of the fishermen believe that they have the right to fish in the historical water and that the Sri Lankan Naval personnel have brutally attacked the Indian fishermen at the time of the arrest. The majority of the fishermen accepted that they had limited fishing grounds. As a result, they entered Sri Lankan waters for their livelihood. The majority of the fishermen expected that they would also get their belongings back at the time of release, primarily the boats. Most of the arrested fishermen's families face financial crises in the absence of their breadwinners and this situation has created conditions for child labor among the affected families and some fishers migrate to different places for different occupations. The majority of the fishers have trauma about their victimization and face uncertainty in the future of their occupation. We can discuss more the causes and nature of the fishing conflict and the financial and psychological victimization of Indian fishermen in relation to the conflict.

Keywords: palk bay, historical water, fishing conflict, arrested fishermen, victimization

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Authors: Elia Favarelli, Enrico Testi, Andrea Giorgetti

Abstract:

Autonomous structural health monitoring (SHM) of many structures and bridges became a topic of paramount importance for maintenance purposes and safety reasons. This paper proposes a set of machine learning (ML) tools to perform automatic feature selection and detection of anomalies in a bridge from vibrational data and compare different feature extraction schemes to increase the accuracy and reduce the amount of data collected. As a case study, the Z-24 bridge is considered because of the extensive database of accelerometric data in both standard and damaged conditions. The proposed framework starts from the first four fundamental frequencies extracted through operational modal analysis (OMA) and clustering, followed by density-based time-domain filtering (tracking). The fundamental frequencies extracted are then fed to a dimensionality reduction block implemented through two different approaches: feature selection (intelligent multiplexer) that tries to estimate the most reliable frequencies based on the evaluation of some statistical features (i.e., mean value, variance, kurtosis), and feature extraction (auto-associative neural network (ANN)) that combine the fundamental frequencies to extract new damage sensitive features in a low dimensional feature space. Finally, one class classifier (OCC) algorithms perform anomaly detection, trained with standard condition points, and tested with normal and anomaly ones. In particular, a new anomaly detector strategy is proposed, namely one class classifier neural network two (OCCNN2), which exploit the classification capability of standard classifiers in an anomaly detection problem, finding the standard class (the boundary of the features space in normal operating conditions) through a two-step approach: coarse and fine boundary estimation. The coarse estimation uses classics OCC techniques, while the fine estimation is performed through a feedforward neural network (NN) trained that exploits the boundaries estimated in the coarse step. The detection algorithms vare then compared with known methods based on principal component analysis (PCA), kernel principal component analysis (KPCA), and auto-associative neural network (ANN). In many cases, the proposed solution increases the performance with respect to the standard OCC algorithms in terms of F1 score and accuracy. In particular, by evaluating the correct features, the anomaly can be detected with accuracy and an F1 score greater than 96% with the proposed method.

Keywords: anomaly detection, frequencies selection, modal analysis, neural network, sensor network, structural health monitoring, vibration measurement

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Authors: H. Hruschka

Abstract:

This paper presents the first comparison of the performance of the restricted Boltzmann machine and the deep belief net on binary market basket data relative to binary factor analysis and the two best-known topic models, namely Dirichlet allocation and the correlated topic model. This comparison shows that the restricted Boltzmann machine and the deep belief net are superior to both binary factor analysis and topic models. Managerial implications that differ between the investigated models are treated as well. The restricted Boltzmann machine is defined as joint Boltzmann distribution of hidden variables and observed variables (purchases). It comprises one layer of observed variables and one layer of hidden variables. Note that variables of the same layer are not connected. The comparison also includes deep belief nets with three layers. The first layer is a restricted Boltzmann machine based on category purchases. Hidden variables of the first layer are used as input variables by the second-layer restricted Boltzmann machine which then generates second-layer hidden variables. Finally, in the third layer hidden variables are related to purchases. A public data set is analyzed which contains one month of real-world point-of-sale transactions in a typical local grocery outlet. It consists of 9,835 market baskets referring to 169 product categories. This data set is randomly split into two halves. One half is used for estimation, the other serves as holdout data. Each model is evaluated by the log likelihood for the holdout data. Performance of the topic models is disappointing as the holdout log likelihood of the correlated topic model – which is better than Dirichlet allocation - is lower by more than 25,000 compared to the best binary factor analysis model. On the other hand, binary factor analysis on its own is clearly surpassed by both the restricted Boltzmann machine and the deep belief net whose holdout log likelihoods are higher by more than 23,000. Overall, the deep belief net performs best. We also interpret hidden variables discovered by binary factor analysis, the restricted Boltzmann machine and the deep belief net. Hidden variables characterized by the product categories to which they are related differ strongly between these three models. To derive managerial implications we assess the effect of promoting each category on total basket size, i.e., the number of purchased product categories, due to each category's interdependence with all the other categories. The investigated models lead to very different implications as they disagree about which categories are associated with higher basket size increases due to a promotion. Of course, recommendations based on better performing models should be preferred. The impressive performance advantages of the restricted Boltzmann machine and the deep belief net suggest continuing research by appropriate extensions. To include predictors, especially marketing variables such as price, seems to be an obvious next step. It might also be feasible to take a more detailed perspective by considering purchases of brands instead of purchases of product categories.

Keywords: binary factor analysis, deep belief net, market basket analysis, restricted Boltzmann machine, topic models

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Authors: Domenico Panno, Antonino D’amico, Hamed Jafargholi

Abstract:

This paper presents an experimental analysis of the performance of a system for freezing fish products equipped with a modulating vapour injection scroll compressor operating with R448A refrigerant. Freezing is a critical process for the preservation of seafood products, as it influences quality, food safety, and environmental sustainability. The use of a modulating scroll compressor with vapour injection, associated with the R448A refrigerant, is proposed as a solution to optimize the performance of the system, reducing energy consumption and mitigating the environmental impact. The stream injection modulating scroll compressor represents an advanced technology that allows you to adjust the compressor capacity based on the actual cooling needs of the system. Vapour injection allows the optimization of the refrigeration cycle, reducing the evaporation temperature and improving the overall efficiency of the system. The use of R448A refrigerant, with a low Global Warming Potential (GWP), is part of an environmental sustainability perspective, helping to reduce the climate impact of the system. The aim of this research was to evaluate the performance of the system through a series of experiments conducted on a pilot plant for the freezing of fish products. Several operational variables were monitored and recorded, including evaporation temperature, condensation temperature, energy consumption, and freezing time of seafood products. The results of the experimental analysis highlighted the benefits deriving from the use of the modulating vapour injection scroll compressor with the R448A refrigerant. In particular, a significant reduction in energy consumption was recorded compared to conventional systems. The modulating capacity of the compressor made it possible to adapt the cold production to variations in the thermal load, ensuring optimal operation of the system and reducing energy waste. Furthermore, the use of an electronic expansion valve highlighted greater precision in the control of the evaporation temperature, with minimal deviation from the desired set point. This helped ensure better quality of the final product, reducing the risk of damage due to temperature changes and ensuring uniform freezing of the fish products. The freezing time of seafood has been significantly reduced thanks to the configuration of the entire system, allowing for faster production and greater production capacity of the plant. In conclusion, the use of a modulating vapour injection scroll compressor operating with R448A has proven effective in improving the performance of a system for freezing fish products. This technology offers an optimal balance between energy efficiency, temperature control, and environmental sustainability, making it an advantageous choice for food industries.

Keywords: scroll compressor, vapor injection, refrigeration system, EER

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