Search results for: unbounded operators

Authors: Ghazal Mortazavi, S. M. J. Mortazavi

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Electricians, power line engineers and power station workers, welders, aluminum reduction workers, MRI operators and railway workers are occupationally exposed to different levels of electromagnetic fields. Mercury is among the most toxic metals. Dental amalgam fillings cause significant exposure to elemental mercury vapour in the general population. Today, substantial evidence indicates that mercury even at low doses may lead to toxicity. Increased release of mercury from dental amalgam fillings after exposure to MRI or microwave radiation emitted by mobile phones has been previously shown by our team. Moreover, our recent studies on the effects of stronger magnetic fields entirely confirmed our previous findings. From the other point of view, we have also shown that papers which reported no increased release of mercury after MRI, may have some methodological flaws. Over the past several years, our lab has focused on the health effects of exposure of laboratory animals and humans to different sources of electromagnetic fields such as mobile phones and their base stations, mobile phone jammers, laptop computers, radars, dentistry cavitrons, and MRI. As a strong association between exposure to electromagnetic fields and mercury level has been found in our studies, our findings lead us to this conclusion that occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields in workers with dental amalgam fillings can lead to elevated levels of mercury. Studies which reported that exposure to mercury can be a risk factor of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) due to the accumulation of amyloid beta protein (Aβ) in the brain and those reported that long-term occupational exposure to high levels of electromagnetic fields can increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia in male workers support our concept and confirm the significant role of the occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields in increasing the mercury level in workers with amalgam fillings.

Keywords: occupational exposure, electromagnetic fields, workers, mercury release, dental amalgam, restorative dentistry

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Authors: A. Ramkumar, Anvesh Sagar, Preetham P. Karkera

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Globalization in the modern era is dependent on the International logistics, the economic and reliable means is provided by the ocean going merchant vessel. The propulsion system which drives this massive vessels has gone through leaps and bounds of evolution. Most reliable system of propulsion adopted by the majority of vessels is by marine diesel engine. Since the first oil crisis of 1973, there is demand in increment of efficiency of main engine. Due to increase in the oil prices ship-operators explores for reduction in the operational cost of ship. And newly adopted IMO’s EEDI & SEEMP rules calls for the effective measures taken in this regard. The main engine of a ship suffers a lot of thermal losses, they mainly occur due to exhaust gas waste heat, radiation and cooling. So to increase the overall efficiency of system, we have to look into the solution to harnessing this waste energy of main engine to increase the fuel economy. During the course of research, engine manufacturers have developed many waste heat recovery systems. In our paper we see about additional options to harness this waste heat. The exhaust gas of engine coming out from the turbocharger still holds enough heat to go to the exhaust gas economiser to produce steam. This heat of exhaust gas can be used to heat a liquid of less boiling point after coming out from the turbocharger. The vapour of this secondary liquid can be superheated by a bypass exhaust or exhaust of turbocharger. This vapour can be utilized to rotate the turbine which is coupled to a generator. And the electric power for ship service can be produced with proper configuration of system. This can be included in PMS of ship. In this paper we seek to concentrate on power generation with use of exhaust gas. Thereby taking out the load on the main generator and increasing the efficiency of the system. This will help us to comply with the new rules of IMO. Our method helps to develop clean energy.

Keywords: EEDI–energy efficiency design index, IMO–international maritime organization PMS-power management system, SEEMP–ship energy efficiency management plan

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Authors: Shan-Hong Ying, Ying-Fang Wang

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A surrogate approach was deployed for assessing exposures of multiple chemicals at the selected working area of coating processes and applied to assess the exposure concentration of similar exposed groups using the same chemicals but different formula ratios. For the selected area, 6 to 12 portable photoionization detector (PID) were placed uniformly in its workplace to measure its total VOCs concentrations (CT-VOCs) for 6 randomly selected workshifts. Simultaneously, one sampling strain was placed beside one of these portable PIDs, and the collected air sample was analyzed for individual concentration (CVOCi) of 5 VOCs (xylene, butanone, toluene, butyl acetate, and dimethylformamide). Predictive models were established by relating the CT-VOCs to CVOCi of each individual compound via simple regression analysis. The established predictive models were employed to predict each CVOCi based on the measured CT-VOC for each the similar working area using the same portable PID. Results show that predictive models obtained from simple linear regression analyses were found with an R2 = 0.83~0.99 indicating that CT-VOCs were adequate for predicting CVOCi. In order to verify the validity of the exposure prediction model, the sampling analysis of the above chemical substances was further carried out and the correlation between the measured value (Cm) and the predicted value (Cp) was analyzed. It was found that there is a good correction between the predicted value and measured value of each measured chemical substance (R2=0.83~0.98). Therefore, the surrogate approach could be assessed the exposure concentration of similar exposed groups using the same chemicals but different formula ratios. However, it is recommended to establish the prediction model between the chemical substances belonging to each coater and the direct-reading PID, which is more representative of reality exposure situation and more accurately to estimate the long-term exposure concentration of operators.

Keywords: exposure assessment, exposure prediction model, surrogate approach, TVOC

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Authors: Armando Cartenì, Ilaria Henke

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The perceived public transport quality is an important driver that influences both customer satisfaction and mobility choices. The competition among transport operators needs to improve the quality of the services and identify which attributes are perceived as relevant by passengers. Among the “traditional” public transport quality attributes there are, for example: travel and waiting time, regularity of the services, and ticket price. By contrast, there are some “non-conventional” attributes that could significantly influence customer satisfaction jointly with the “traditional” ones. Among these, the beauty/aesthetics of the transport terminals (e.g. rail station and bus terminal) is probably one of the most impacting on user perception. Starting from these considerations, the point stressed in this paper was if (and how munch) the travel experience of the overall travel (e.g. how long is the travel, how many transport modes must be used) influences the perception of the public transport quality. The aim of this paper was to investigate the weight of the terminal quality (e.g. aesthetic, comfort and service offered) within the overall travel experience. The case study was the extra-urban Italian bus network. The passengers of the major Italian terminal bus were interviewed and the analysis of the results shows that about the 75% of the travelers, are available to pay up to 30% more for the ticket price for having a high quality terminal. A travel experience effect was observed: the average perceived transport quality varies with the characteristic of the overall trip. The passengers that have a “long trip” (travel time greater than 2 hours) perceived as “low” the overall quality of the trip even if they pass through a high quality terminal. The opposite occurs for the “short trip” passengers. This means that if a traveler passes through a high quality station, the overall perception of that terminal could be significantly reduced if he is tired from a long trip. This result is important and if confirmed through other case studies, will allow to conclude that the “travel experience impact" must be considered as an explicit design variable for public transport services and planning.

Keywords: transportation planning, sustainable mobility, decision support system, discrete choice model, design problem

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Authors: Abhilash Sahu, Amit Priyadarshi

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In this paper, we will discuss the existence of weak solutions of the Kirchhoff type boundary value problem on the Sierpinski gasket. Where S denotes the Sierpinski gasket in R² and S₀ is the intrinsic boundary of the Sierpinski gasket. M: R → R is a positive function and h: S × R → R is a suitable function which is a part of our main equation. ∆p denotes the p-Laplacian, where p > 1. First of all, we will define a weak solution for our problem and then we will show the existence of at least two solutions for the above problem under suitable conditions. There is no well-known concept of a generalized derivative of a function on a fractal domain. Recently, the notion of differential operators such as the Laplacian and the p-Laplacian on fractal domains has been defined. We recall the result first then we will address the above problem. In view of literature, Laplacian and p-Laplacian equations are studied extensively on regular domains (open connected domains) in contrast to fractal domains. In fractal domains, people have studied Laplacian equations more than p-Laplacian probably because in that case, the corresponding function space is reflexive and many minimax theorems which work for regular domains is applicable there which is not the case for the p-Laplacian. This motivates us to study equations involving p-Laplacian on the Sierpinski gasket. Problems on fractal domains lead to nonlinear models such as reaction-diffusion equations on fractals, problems on elastic fractal media and fluid flow through fractal regions etc. We have studied the above p-Laplacian equations on the Sierpinski gasket using fibering map technique on the Nehari manifold. Many authors have studied the Laplacian and p-Laplacian equations on regular domains using this Nehari manifold technique. In general Euler functional associated with such a problem is Frechet or Gateaux differentiable. So, a critical point becomes a solution to the problem. Also, the function space they consider is reflexive and hence we can extract a weakly convergent subsequence from a bounded sequence. But in our case neither the Euler functional is differentiable nor the function space is known to be reflexive. Overcoming these issues we are still able to prove the existence of at least two solutions of the given equation.

Keywords: Euler functional, p-Laplacian, p-energy, Sierpinski gasket, weak solution

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Authors: Komal Rathore, Aydin Sunol, Gita Iranipour, Luke Mulford

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Advanced wastewater treatment plants have complex biological kinetics, time variant influent flow rates and long processing times. Due to these factors, the modeling and operational control of advanced wastewater treatment plants become complicated. However, development of a robust model for advanced wastewater treatment plants has become necessary in order to increase the efficiency of the plants, reduce energy costs and meet the discharge limits set by the government. A dynamic model was designed using the Envirosim (Canada) platform software called BioWin for several wastewater treatment plants in Hillsborough County, Florida. Proper control strategies for various parameters such as mixed liquor suspended solids, recycle activated sludge and waste activated sludge were developed for models to match the plant performance. The models were tuned using both the influent and effluent data from the plant and their laboratories. The plant SCADA was used to predict the influent wastewater rates and concentration profiles as a function of time. The kinetic parameters were tuned based on sensitivity analysis and trial and error methods. The dynamic models were validated by using experimental data for influent and effluent parameters. The dissolved oxygen measurements were taken to validate the model by coupling them with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models. The Biowin models were able to exactly mimic the plant performance and predict effluent behavior for extended periods. The models are useful for plant engineers and operators as they can take decisions beforehand by predicting the plant performance with the use of BioWin models. One of the important findings from the model was the effects of recycle and wastage ratios on the mixed liquor suspended solids. The model was also useful in determining the significant kinetic parameters for biological wastewater treatment systems.

Keywords: BioWin, kinetic modeling, flowsheet simulation, dynamic modeling

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Authors: Lori W. Gordon, Karen A. Jones

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Today’s high-speed data connectivity depends on a vast global network of infrastructure across space, air, land, and sea, with undersea cable infrastructure (UCI) serving as the primary means for intercontinental and ‘long-haul’ communications. The UCI landscape is changing and includes an increasing variety of state actors, such as the growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Non-state commercial actors, such as hyper-scale content providers including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon, are also seeking to control their data and networks through significant investments in submarine cables. Active investments by both state and non-state actors will invariably influence the growth, geopolitics, and security of this sector. Beyond these hyper-scale content providers, there are new commercial satellite communication providers. These new players include traditional geosynchronous (GEO) satellites that offer broad coverage, high throughput GEO satellites offering high capacity with spot beam technology, low earth orbit (LEO) ‘mega constellations’ – global broadband services. And potential new entrants such as High Altitude Platforms (HAPS) offer low latency connectivity, LEO constellations offer high-speed optical mesh networks, i.e., ‘fiber in the sky.’ This paper focuses on understanding the role of submarine cables within the larger context of the global data commons, spanning space, terrestrial, air, and sea networks, including an analysis of national security policy and geopolitical implications. As network operators and commercial and government stakeholders plan for emerging technologies and architectures, hedging risks for future connectivity will ensure that our data backbone will be secure for years to come.

Keywords: communications, global, infrastructure, technology

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Authors: Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay, Subhashis Kundu, Mayank Tiwari, Sameeran Pani, Padmapal, Uttam Singh

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Blast Furnace is a counter current process where burden descends from top and hot gases ascend from bottom and chemically reduce iron oxides into liquid hot metal. One of the major problems of blast furnace operation is the erratic burden descent inside furnace. Sometimes this problem is so acute that burden descent stops resulting in Hanging and instability of the furnace. This problem is very frequent in blast furnaces worldwide and results in huge production losses. This situation becomes more adverse when blast furnaces are operated at low coke rate and high coal injection rate with adverse raw materials like high alumina ore and high coke ash. For last three years, H-Blast Furnace Tata Steel was able to reduce coke rate from 450 kg/thm to 350 kg/thm with an increase in coal injection to 200 kg/thm which are close to world benchmarks and expand profitability. To sustain this regime, elimination of irregularities of blast furnace like hanging, channeling, and scaffolding is very essential. In this paper, sustaining of zero hanging spell for consecutive three years with low coke rate operation by improvement in burden characteristics, burden distribution, changes in slag regime, casting practices and adequate automation of the furnace operation has been illustrated. Models have been created to comprehend and upgrade the blast furnace process understanding. A model has been developed to predict the process of maintaining slag viscosity in desired range to attain proper burden permeability. A channeling prediction model has also been developed to understand channeling symptoms so that early actions can be initiated. The models have helped to a great extent in standardizing the control decisions of operators at H-Blast Furnace of Tata Steel, Jamshedpur and thus achieving process stability for last three years.

Keywords: hanging, channelling, blast furnace, coke

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Authors: Wei-Ting Hung

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Inbound tourist expenditure might not only have influenced by individual tourist characteristics but may also be affected by nationality characteristics. The cross national distance effects on tourist consumption behavior should be incorporated in the analytical framework. Additionally, the often used factor analysis, cluster analysis and regression analysis overlook the hierarchical tourist consumption data structure and may lead to misleading results. The objectives of the present study were twofold. First, we propose a multilevel model that takes individual and cross-national differences into account under a hierarchical framework. Second, we further sought to determine the types of cross-national differences affecting tourist expenditure. Thus, this study incorporates the individual tourist effects and cross national distance effects simultaneously, uses the data of 2010 Annual Survey Report on Visitors’ Expenditure and Trends in Taiwan to investigate the determinants of inbound tourist expenditure. Multilevel analysis was used to investigate the influence of individual tourist effects and cross national distance effects on inbound tourist expenditure. The empirical results show that cross national distance plays a crucial role in tourist consumption behavior. Our findings also indicate age and income have positive influence on tourism expenditure., whereas education and gender do not have significant impact. Regarding macro-level factors, geographic and cultural differences exhibited significant positive relationships on tourism expenditure, while economic differences did not. Based on the above empirical results, it is suggested that tour operators should take tourists’ individual attributes, particularly their income and age, into consideration when arranging tours. In addition, nationality holds sway over tourists’ consumption behavior, of which geographic and cultural differences are the two major factors at play. The empirical results of this study serve as practical suggestions for tourism marketing strategies and policy implications for government policies.

Keywords: cross national distance, inbound tourist, multilevel analysis, tourist expenditure

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Authors: Murat Erkoc, Kadir Ertogral

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Maintenance, repair and overhauling (MRO) of high cost equipment used in many industries such as transportation, military and construction are typically subject to regulations set by local governments or international agencies. Aircrafts are prime examples for this kind of equipment. Such equipment must be overhauled at certain intervals for continuing permission of use. As such, the overhaul must be completed by strict deadlines, which often times cannot be exceeded. Due to the fact that the overhaul is typically a long process, MRO companies carry so called rotable inventory for exchange of expensive modules in the overhaul process of the equipment so that the equipment continue its services with minimal interruption. The extracted module is overhauled and returned back to the inventory for future exchange, hence the name rotable inventory. However, since the rotable inventory and overhaul capacity are limited, it may be necessary to carry out some of the exchanges earlier than their deadlines in order to produce a feasible overhaul schedule. An early exchange results with a decrease in the equipment’s cycle time in between overhauls and as such, is not desired by the equipment operators. This study introduces an integer programming model for the optimal overhaul and exchange scheduling. We assume that there is certain number of rotables at hand at the beginning of the planning horizon for a single type module and there are multiple demands with known deadlines for the exchange of the modules. We consider an MRO system with identical parallel processing lines. The model minimizes total earliness by generating optimal overhaul start times for rotables on parallel processing lines and exchange timetables for orders. We develop a fast exact solution algorithm for the model. The algorithm employs full-delay scheduling approach with backward allocation and can easily be used for overhaul scheduling problems in various MRO settings with modular rotable items. The proposed procedure is demonstrated by a case study from the aerospace industry.

Keywords: rotable inventory, full-delay scheduling, maintenance, overhaul, total earliness

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Authors: Gregor Kosec

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Simple and robust numerical approach for solving flow problems is presented, where involved physical fields are represented through the local approximation functions, i.e., the considered field is approximated over a local support domain. The approximation functions are then used to evaluate the partial differential operators. The type of approximation, the size of support domain, and the type and number of basis function can be general. The solution procedure is formulated completely through local computational operations. Besides local numerical method also the pressure velocity is performed locally with retaining the correct temporal transient. The complete locality of the introduced numerical scheme has several beneficial effects. One of the most attractive is the simplicity since it could be understood as a generalized Finite Differences Method, however, much more powerful. Presented methodology offers many possibilities for treating challenging cases, e.g. nodal adaptivity to address regions with sharp discontinuities or p-adaptivity to treat obscure anomalies in physical field. The stability versus computation complexity and accuracy can be regulated by changing number of support nodes, etc. All these features can be controlled on the fly during the simulation. The presented methodology is relatively simple to understand and implement, which makes it potentially powerful tool for engineering simulations. Besides simplicity and straightforward implementation, there are many opportunities to fully exploit modern computer architectures through different parallel computing strategies. The performance of the method is presented on the lid driven cavity problem, backward facing step problem, de Vahl Davis natural convection test, extended also to low Prandtl fluid and Darcy porous flow. Results are presented in terms of velocity profiles, convergence plots, and stability analyses. Results of all cases are also compared against published data.

Keywords: fluid flow, meshless, low Pr problem, natural convection

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Authors: Bouami Hind, Millot Patrick

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The implementation of automated devices in life-critical systems such as hospitals can bring a new set of challenges related to automation malfunctions. While automation has been identified as great leverage for the medication dispensing system’s security and efficiency, it also increases the complexity of the organization. In particular, the installation and operation stage of automated devices can be complex when malfunctions related to automated systems occur. This paper aims to document operators’ situation awareness about the malfunctions of automated drug delivery systems (ADCs) during their implementation through Saint Brieuc hospital’s feedback. Our evaluation approach has been deployed in Saint Brieuc hospital center’s pharmacy, which has been equipped with automated nominative drug dispensing systems since January of 2021. The analysis of Saint Brieuc hospital center pharmacy’s automation revealed numerous malfunctions related to the implementation of Automated Delivery Cabinets. It appears that the targeted performance is not reached in the first year of implementation in this case study. Also, errors have been collected in patients' automated treatments’ production such as lack of drugs in pill boxes or nominative carnets, excess of drugs, wrong location of the drug, drug blister damaged, non-compliant sachet, or ticket errors. Saint Brieuc hospital center’s pharmacy is doing a tremendous job of setting up and monitoring performance indicators from the beginning of automation and throughout ADC’s operation to control ADC’s malfunctions and meet the performance targeted by the hospital. Health professionals, including pharmacists, biomedical engineers and directors of work, technical services and safety, are heavily involved in an automation project. This study highlights the importance of the evaluation of ADCs’ performance throughout the implementation process and the hospital’s team involvement in automation supervision and management.

Keywords: life-critical systems, situation awareness, automated delivery cabinets, implementation, risks and malfunctions

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Authors: Adel A. Ghobbar

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The airline industry is continuously challenging how to safely increase the service life of the aircraft with limited maintenance budgets. Operators are looking for the most qualified maintenance providers of aircraft components, offering the finest customer service. Component owner and maintenance provider is offering an Abacus agreement (Aircraft Component Leasing) to increase the efficiency and productivity of the customer service. To increase the customer service, the current focus on No Fault Found (NFF) units must change into the focus on Early Failure (EF) units. Since the effect of EF units has a significant impact on customer satisfaction, this needs to increase the reliability of EF units at minimal cost, which leads to the goal of this paper. By identifying the reliability of early failure (EF) units with regards to No Fault Found (NFF) units, in particular, the root cause analysis with an integrated cost analysis of EF units with the use of a failure mode analysis tool and a cost model, there will be a set of EF maintenance improvements. The data used for the investigation of the EF units will be obtained from the Pentagon system, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system used by Fokker Services. The Pentagon system monitors components, which needs to be repaired from Fokker aircraft owners, Abacus exchange pool, and commercial customers. The data will be selected on several criteria’s: time span, failure rate, and cost driver. When the selected data has been acquired, the failure mode and root cause analysis of EF units are initiated. The failure analysis approach tool was implemented, resulting in the proposed failure solution of EF. This will lead to specific EF maintenance improvements, which can be set-up to decrease the EF units and, as a result of this, increasing the reliability. The investigated EFs, between the time period over ten years, showed to have a significant reliability impact of 32% on the total of 23339 unscheduled failures. Since the EFs encloses almost one-third of the entire population.

Keywords: supportability, no fault found, FMEA, early failure, availability, operational reliability, predictive model

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Authors: Basant Kumar Singh, S. Subhachandhar, Vineet Ranjan Tripathi, Amit Kumar Singh, Uttam Singh, Santosh Kumar Lal

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Productivity of Blast Furnace is largely impacted by fuel efficiency and controlling heat loss is one of the enabling parameters for achieving lower fuel rate. 'I' Blast Furnace is the latest and largest Blast Furnace of Tata Steel Jamshedpur with working volume of 3230 m³ and with rated capacity of 3.055 million tons per annum. Optimizing heat losses in Belly and Bosh zone remained major challenge for blast furnace operators after its commissioning. 'I' Blast has installed Cast Iron & Copper Staves cooling members where copper staves are installed in Belly, Bosh & Lower Stack whereas cast iron staves are installed in upper stack area. Stave cooled Blast Furnaces are prone to higher heat losses in Belly and Bosh region with an increase in coal injection rate as Bosh gas volume increases. Under these conditions, managing gas flow pattern through proper burden distribution, casting techniques & by maintaining desired raw material qualities are of utmost importance for sustaining high injection rates. This study details, the burden distribution control by Ore & Coke ratio adjustment at wall and center of Blast Furnace as the coal injection rates increased from 140 kg/thm to 210 kg/thm. Control of blowing parameters, casting philosophy, specification for raw materials & devising operational practice for controlling heat losses is also elaborated with the model that is used to visualize heat loss pattern in different zones of Blast Furnace.

Keywords: blast furnace, staves, gas flow pattern, belly/bosh heat losses, ore/coke ratio, blowing parameters, casting, operation practice

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Authors: Pankaj Pradhananga

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Inclusive Tourism is a relatively new topic in Nepal. Though the effort of creating accessible and inclusive tourism has already begun, it is still in its infancy. A major concern for Destination Nepal is the lack of awareness and absence of mandatory law in place to encourage Tourism operating sectors for coming up with accessible Tourism products. Given the number economic and social benefits to may be derived from inclusive tourism, it is a critical time for the tourism industry to understand and develop measures towards inclusivity in the gateway to Himalaya. Nepal was struck with a devastating earthquake on April 25th, 2015 which concurrently left more than 4,000 Nepalese with physical disabilities. Nepal has had to rebuild and is continuing to rebuild a lot of infrastructure and the process of rebuilding should be barrier free and use universal design measures. With universal design in place, this would allow access for minority groups such as people with disabilities and the elderly to the historic monuments in Kathmandu valley. Four Seasons Travel ( 4ST) has been a key player in not only creating accessible tourism experiences in Nepal, but also promoting accessible tourism to other tourism operators. Dr. Scott Rains had worked closely with 4ST on accessible tourism. Additionally, it organised an accessible trek which was field tested with a traveler with vision impairment in August 2015. Another accessible trekking experience, in partnership with Washington DC based International Development Institute, was coined as ‘Wounded Heroes Trek to Nepal’, where a group of Veterans that are amputees went trekking in the Annapurna Region. The event made it to the list of UNWTO World Tourism Day celebrations. Such initiatives led by private sector in partnership with various organizations have worked to create a ‘Destination Nepal for all’. However, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to make Nepal a truly inclusive destination. Partnerships between the private sector and DPOs ( Disabled People’s Organizations) as well as the government are also a sound opportunity for employment creation for people with disabilities. Further, partnerships between the state, tourism service providers and DPOs need to be fostered to create job opportunities for people with disabilities. This can be exemplified through the social Entrepreneurship model with the help of accessible Tourism.

Keywords: accessible tourism, disability, earthquake, inclusion

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Authors: Eimar Yadir Quintero Tapias

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Background: Science is not generally self-correcting; many clinical studies end with the same conclusion "more research is needed." This study hypothesizes that first, we need a better appraisal of the available (and unavailable) evidence instead of creating more of the same false inquiries. Methods: Systematic review of ClinicalTrials.gov study records using the following Boolean operators: (food OR nut OR milk OR egg OR shellfish OR wheat OR peanuts) AND (allergy OR allergies OR hypersensitivity OR hypersensitivities). Variables included the status of the study (e g., active and completed), availability of results, sponsor type, sample size, among others. To determine the rates of non-publication in journals indexed by PubMed, an advanced search query using the specific Number of Clinical Trials (e.g., NCT000001 OR NCT000002 OR...) was performed. As a prophylactic measure to prevent P-hacking, data analyses only included descriptive statistics and not inferential approaches. Results: A total of 2092 study records matched the search query described above (date: September 13, 2019). Most studies were interventional (n = 1770; 84.6%) and the remainder observational (n = 322; 15.4%). Universities, hospitals, and research centers sponsored over half of these investigations (n = 1208; 57.7%), 308 studies (14.7%) were industry-funded, and 147 received NIH grants; the remaining studies got mixed sponsorship. Regarding completed studies (n = 1156; 55.2%), 248 (21.5%) have results available at the registry site, and 417 (36.1%) matched NCT numbers of journal papers indexed by PubMed. Conclusions: The internal and external validity of human research is critical for the appraisal of medical evidence. It is imperative to analyze the entire dataset of clinical studies, preferably at a patient-level anonymized raw data, before rushing to conclusions with insufficient and inadequate information. Publication bias and non-registration of clinical trials limit the evaluation of the evidence concerning therapeutic interventions for food allergy, such as oral and sublingual immunotherapy, as well as any other medical condition. Over half of the food allergy human research remains unpublished.

Keywords: allergy, clinical trials, immunology, systematic reviews

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Authors: Javier Sandoval Bustamante, Pardis Sheikhzadeh, Vijayanarasimha Hindupur Pakka

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In the pursuit of achieving net-zero carbon emissions, the integration of low carbon technologies into electricity distribution networks is paramount. This paper delves into the critical assessment of how the integration of low carbon technologies, such as heat pumps, electric vehicle chargers, and photovoltaic systems, impacts the infrastructure and operation of electricity distribution networks. The study employs rigorous methodologies, including power flow analysis and headroom analysis, to evaluate the feasibility and implications of integrating these technologies into existing distribution systems. Furthermore, the research utilizes Local Area Energy Planning (LAEP) methodologies to guide local authorities and distribution network operators in formulating effective plans to meet regional and national decarbonization objectives. Geospatial analysis techniques, coupled with building physics and electric energy systems modeling, are employed to develop geographic datasets aimed at informing the deployment of low carbon technologies at the local level. Drawing upon insights from the Local Energy Net Zero Accelerator (LENZA) project, a comprehensive case study illustrates the practical application of these methodologies in assessing the rollout potential of LCTs. The findings not only shed light on the technical feasibility of integrating low carbon technologies but also provide valuable insights into the broader transition towards a sustainable and electrified energy future. This paper contributes to the advancement of knowledge in power electrical engineering by providing empirical evidence and methodologies to support the integration of low carbon technologies into electricity distribution networks. The insights gained are instrumental for policymakers, utility companies, and stakeholders involved in navigating the complex challenges of energy transition and achieving long-term sustainability goals.

Keywords: energy planning, energy systems, digital twins, power flow analysis, headroom analysis

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Authors: Hind Bouami, Patrick Millot

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Medication dispensing system is a life-critical system whose failure may result in preventable adverse events leading to longer patient stays in hospitals or patient death. Automation has led to great improvements in life-critical systems as it increased safety, efficiency, and comfort. However, critical risks related to medical organization complexity and automated solutions integration can threaten drug dispensing security and performance. Knowledge about the system’s complexity aspects and human machine parameters to control for automated equipment’s security and performance will help operators to secure their automation process and to optimize their system’s reliability. In this context, this study aims to document the operator’s situation awareness about automation risks and parameters involved in automation security and performance. Our risk management approach has been deployed in the North Luxembourg hospital center’s pharmacy, which is equipped with automated drug dispensing systems since 2009. With more than 4 million euros of gains generated, North Luxembourg hospital center’s success story was enabled by the management commitment, pharmacy’s involvement in the implementation and improvement of the automation project, and the close collaboration between the pharmacy and Sinteco’s firm to implement the necessary innovation and organizational actions for automated solutions integration security and performance. An analysis of the actions implemented by the hospital and the parameters involved in automated equipment’s integration security and performance has been made. The parameters to control for automated equipment’s integration security and performance are human aspects (6.25%), technical aspects (50%), and human-machine interaction (43.75%). The implementation of an anthropocentric analysis system before automation would have prevented and optimized the control of risks related to automation.

Keywords: Automated drug delivery systems, Hospitals, Human-centered automated system, Risk management

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Authors: Julius Y Asamoah

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Mobile money has seen faster adoption in the decade. Its emergence serves as an essential driver of financial inclusion and an innovative financial service delivery channel, especially to the unbanked population. The rising importance of mobile money services has caught policymakers and regulators' attention, seeking to understand the many issues emerging from this context. At the same time, it is unlocking the potential of knowledge of this new technology. Regulatory responses and support are essential, requiring significant changes to current regulatory practices in Ghana. The article aims to answer the following research questions: "What risk does an unregulated mobile money service pose to consumers and the financial system? "What factors stimulate and hinder the introduction of mobile payments in developing countries? The sample size used was 250 respondents selected from the study area. The study has adopted an analytical approach comprising a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. Actor-network theory (ANT) is used as an interpretive lens to analyse this process. ANT helps analyse how actors form alliances and enrol other actors, including non-human actors (i.e. technology), to secure their interests. The study revealed that government regulatory policies impact mobile money as critical to mobile money services in developing countries. Regulatory environment should balance the needs of advancing access to finance with the financial system's stability and draw extensively from Kenya's work as the best strategies for the system's players. Thus, regulators need to address issues related to the enhancement of supportive regulatory frameworks. It recommended that the government involve various stakeholders, such as mobile phone operators. Moreover, the national regulatory authority creates a regulatory environment that promotes fair practices and competition to raise revenues to support a business-enabling environment's key pillars as infrastructure.

Keywords: actor-network theory (ANT), cashless future, Developing countries, Ghana, Mobile Money

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Authors: Shahin A. Abdel-Naby, James P. Colgan, Michael S. Pindzola

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A time-dependent close-coupling method is developed to calculate a total, double and triple autoionization rates for hollow atomic ions of four-electron systems. This work was motivated by recent observations of the four-electron Auger process in near K-edge photoionization of C+ ions. The time-dependent close-coupled equations are solved using lattice techniques to obtain a discrete representation of radial wave functions and all operators on a four-dimensional grid with uniform spacing. Initial excited states are obtained by relaxation of the Schrodinger equation in imaginary time using a Schmidt orthogonalization method involving interior subshells. The radial wave function grids are partitioned over the cores on a massively parallel computer, which is essential due to the large memory requirements needed to store the coupled-wave functions and the long run times needed to reach the convergence of the ionization process. Total, double, and triple autoionization rates are obtained by the propagation of the time-dependent close-coupled equations in real-time using integration over bound and continuum single-particle states. These states are generated by matrix diagonalization of one-electron Hamiltonians. The total autoionization rates for each L excited state is found to be slightly above the single autoionization rate for the excited configuration using configuration-average distorted-wave theory. As expected, we find the double and triple autoionization rates to be much smaller than the total autoionization rates. Future work can be extended to study electron-impact triple ionization of atoms or ions. The work was supported in part by grants from the American University of Sharjah and the US Department of Energy. Computational work was carried out at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) in Berkeley, California, USA.

Keywords: hollow atoms, autoionization, auger rates, time-dependent close-coupling method

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Authors: Lukas Vierus, Thomas Schuster

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A general framework is examined for dynamic tensor field tomography within an inhomogeneous medium characterized by refraction and absorption, treated as an inverse source problem concerning the associated transport equation. Guided by Fermat’s principle, the Riemannian metric within the specified domain is determined by the medium's refractive index. While considerable literature exists on the inverse problem of reconstructing a tensor field from its longitudinal ray transform within a static Euclidean environment, limited inversion formulas and algorithms are available for general Riemannian metrics and time-varying tensor fields. It is established that tensor field tomography, akin to an inverse source problem for a transport equation, persists in dynamic scenarios. Framing dynamic tensor tomography as an inverse source problem embodies a comprehensive perspective within this domain. Ensuring well-defined forward mappings necessitates establishing existence and uniqueness for the underlying transport equations. However, the bilinear forms of the associated weak formulations fail to meet the coercivity condition. Consequently, recourse to viscosity solutions is taken, demonstrating their unique existence within suitable Sobolev spaces (in the static case) and Sobolev-Bochner spaces (in the dynamic case), under a specific assumption restricting variations in the refractive index. Notably, the adjoint problem can also be reformulated as a transport equation, with analogous results regarding uniqueness. Analytical solutions are expressed as integrals over geodesics, facilitating more efficient evaluation of forward and adjoint operators compared to solving partial differential equations. Certainly, here's the revised sentence in English: Numerical experiments are conducted using a Nesterov-accelerated Landweber method, encompassing various fields, absorption coefficients, and refractive indices, thereby illustrating the enhanced reconstruction achieved through this holistic modeling approach.

Keywords: attenuated refractive dynamic ray transform of tensor fields, geodesics, transport equation, viscosity solutions

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Authors: Hyeon-Kyo Lim, Tong-Il Jang, Yong-Hee Lee

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For an operator in a nuclear power plant, human error is one of the most dreaded factors that may result in unexpected accidents. The possibility of human errors may be low, but the risk of them would be unimaginably enormous. Thus, for accident prevention, it is quite indispensable to analyze the influence of any factors which may raise the possibility of human errors. During the past decades, not a few research results showed that performance of human operators may vary over time due to lots of factors. Among them, stress is known to be an indirect factor that may cause human errors and result in mental illness. Until now, not a few assessment tools have been developed to assess stress level of human workers. However, it still is questionable to utilize them for human performance anticipation which is related with human error possibility, because they were mainly developed from the viewpoint of mental health rather than industrial safety. Stress level of a person may go up or down with work time. In that sense, if they would be applicable in the safety aspect, they should be able to assess the variation resulted from work time at least. Therefore, this study aimed to compare their applicability for safety purpose. More than 10 kinds of work stress tools were analyzed with reference to assessment items, assessment and analysis methods, and follow-up measures which are known to close related factors with work stress. The results showed that most tools mainly focused their weights on some common organizational factors such as demands, supports, and relationships, in sequence. Their weights were broadly similar. However, they failed to recommend practical solutions. Instead, they merely advised to set up overall counterplans in PDCA cycle or risk management activities which would be far from practical human error prevention. Thus, it was concluded that application of stress assessment tools mainly developed for mental health seemed to be impractical for safety purpose with respect to human performance anticipation, and that development of a new assessment tools would be inevitable if anyone wants to assess stress level in the aspect of human performance variation and accident prevention. As a consequence, as practical counterplans, this study proposed a new scheme for assessment of work stress level of a human operator that may vary over work time which is closely related with the possibility of human errors.

Keywords: human error, human performance, work stress, assessment tool, time-variant, accident prevention

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Authors: Saif K. Al-Qaisi, Jad R. Mansour, Aseel W. Sakka, Yousef Al-Abdallat

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Handwheels are common to numerous industries, such as power generation plants, oil refineries, and chemical processing plants. The forces required to manually turn handwheels have been shown to exceed operators’ physical strengths, posing risks for injuries. Therefore, the objectives of this research were twofold: (1) to determine humans’ physical strengths on handwheels of different sizes and angles and (2) to subsequently propose recommended torque limits (RTLs) that accommodate the strengths of even the weaker segment of the population. Thirty male and thirty female participants were recruited from a university student population. Participants were asked to exert their maximum possible forces in a counter-clockwise direction on handwheels of different sizes (35 cm, 45 cm, 60 cm, and 70 cm) and angles (0°-horizontal, 45°-slanted, and 90°-vertical). The participant’s posture was controlled by adjusting the handwheel to be at the elbow level of each participant, requiring the participant to stand erect, and restricting the hand placements to be in the 10-11 o’clock position for the left hand and the 4-5 o’clock position for the right hand. A torque transducer (Futek TDF600) was used to measure the maximum torques generated by the human. Three repetitions were performed for each handwheel condition, and the average was computed. Results showed that, at all handwheel angles, as the handwheel diameter increased, the maximum torques generated also increased, while the underlying forces decreased. In controlling the handwheel diameter, the 0° handwheel was associated with the largest torques and forces, and the 45° handwheel was associated with the lowest torques and forces. Hence, a larger handwheel diameter –as large as 70 cm– in a 0° angle is favored for increasing the torque production capacities of users. Also, it was recognized that, regardless of the handwheel diameter size and angle, the torque demands in the field are much greater than humans’ torque production capabilities. As such, this research proposed RTLs for the different handwheel conditions by using the 25th percentile values of the females’ torque strengths. The proposed recommendations may serve future standard developers in defining torque limits that accommodate humans’ strengths.

Keywords: handwheel angle, handwheel diameter, humans’ torque production strengths, recommended torque limits

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Authors: G.–A. Constantin, G. Voicu, E.–M. Stefan, P. Tudor, G. Paraschiv, M.–G. Munteanu

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In the activity of handling and transport of food products, the products may be subjected to mechanical stresses that may lead to their deterioration by deformation, breaking, or crushing. This is the case for biscuits, regardless of their type (gluten-free or sugary), the addition of ingredients or flour from which they are made. However, gluten-free biscuits have a higher mechanical resistance to breakage or crushing compared to easily shattered sugar biscuits (especially those for children). The paper presents the results of the experimental evaluation of the texture for four varieties of commercial biscuits, using the penetrometer equipped with needle cone at five different additional weights on the cone-rod. The assortments of biscuits tested in the laboratory were Petit Beurre, Picnic, and Maia (all three manufactured by RoStar, Romania) and Sultani diet biscuits, manufactured by Eti Burcak Sultani (Turkey, in packs of 138 g). For the four varieties of biscuits and the five additional weights (50, 77, 100, 150 and 177 g), the experimental data obtained were subjected to regression analysis in the MS Office Excel program, using Velon's relationship (h = a∙ln(t) + b). The regression curves were analysed comparatively in order to identify possible differences and to highlight the variation of the penetration depth h, in relation to the time t. Based on the penetration depth between two-time intervals (every 5 seconds), the curves of variation of the penetration speed in relation to time were then drawn. It was found that Velon's law verifies the experimental data for all assortments of biscuits and for all five additional weights. The correlation coefficient R2 had in most of the analysed cases values over 0.850. The values recorded for the penetration depth were framed, in general, within 45-55 p.u. (penetrometric units) at an additional mass of 50 g, respectively between 155-168 p.u., at an additional mass of 177 g, at Petit Beurre biscuits. For Sultani diet biscuits, the values of the penetration depth were within the limits of 32-35 p.u., at an additional weight of 50 g and between 80-114 p.u., at an additional weight of 177g. The data presented in the paper can be used by both operators on the manufacturing technology flow, as well as by the traders of these food products, in order to establish the most efficient parametric of the working regimes (when packaging and handling).

Keywords: biscuits resistance/texture, penetration depth, penetration velocity, sharp pin penetrometer

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Authors: Ademola A. Ladele, Peace I. Aburime

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Fake and substandard agricultural inputs pose a serious stumbling block to farm productivity and subsequently improved livelihood. There is, therefore, a need to pave ways for sustainable agriculture and self-sufficiency in food production by proffering solutions to this challenge. Maize farmers' perception of sharp practices among agro-input dealers in Ibadan/Ibarapa agricultural zone in Oyo state was therefore investigated. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select registered maize farmers in the Ibadan/Ibarapa agricultural zone of the Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP). A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on the perception of sharp practices and the effects of sharp practices. A total of seventy-five maize farmers were interviewed. A focus group discussion was organized to identify ways of curbing sharp practices to complement the survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). Forms of sharp practices indicated were sales of expired fertilizers, expired pesticides, expired herbicides, underweight fertilizers, adulterated fertilizers, adulterated herbicides, packs containing broken seeds, infested seeds, lack of truth in labeling/wrong labels, manipulation of measuring scales, and false declaration of hecterages covered by tractor operators. The majority had unfavorable perception of agro-input dealers on sharp practices. A significant relationship was observed between respondents’ level of education and their perception of sharp practices. There were no significant relationships between respondents’ sex, marital status and religion, and their perception of sharp practices. A significant correlation exists between the forms of sharp practices and the perceived effect on agricultural production. It is concluded that the perceived effect of sharp practices was critical and the endemic culture of sharp practices prevailed in agro-input in Ibadan/Ibarapa agricultural zone. A standard regulatory system that will certify and monitor the quality of inputs should be put in place.

Keywords: agricultural productivity, agro-input dealers, maize farmers, sharp practices

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Authors: A. Aman, S. M. Tang, F. H. Alharrassy

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Omanisation was established to increase job opportunities for national employment in Sultanate of Oman. With half of the population below 25 years of age, the sultanate is striving to diversify the economy fast enough to meet the burgeoning number of jobseekers annually. On the other hand, training personnel to be competent oil and gas operators and technicians is a difficult task in a complex reservoir structures in Oman using highly advanced and sophisticated extracting processes. Coupled towards Omanisation which encourages nationals into the oil and gas sector so as to create sustainable employment for the local population, the challenge to churn out competent manpower became a daunting task. Immersive technologies provided the impetus to create a new digital media sector which provided job opportunities as well as the learning contents to enhance the competency-based training for the oil and gas sector in the Sultanate. This lead to a win-win-win collaboration amongst the government represented by the Information Technology Authority (ITA), private sector specialised company (represented by ASM Technologies), jobseekers and oil and gas organisations. This is also one of the first private-public partnership model in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Oman. A pilot phase was conducted for 8 months to develop four virtual applications for training in equipment and process engineering; oil rig familiarisation, Health Safety Environment (HSE) application, turbine application and the mechanical vapour compressor (MVC) water recycling plant in order to enhance the competency level of the trainees. The immersive applications were installed in operational settings which enabled new employees to practice and understand various processes and procedures regarding enhanced oil recovery. Existing employees used the application to review the working principles in order to carry out troubleshooting scenarios. Concurrently, these applications were also developed by local Omani resources within the country. This created job opportunities for job-seekers as well the establishment of a digital media sector. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how immersive technologies can enhance operational competencies, create job and establish a digital media sector in the Sultanate of Oman.

Keywords: immersive, virtual reality, operations training, Omanisation

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Authors: Larry O. Awo, George N. Duru

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There is growing public and mental health concerns over the availability of gambling platforms and shops in Nigeria and the high level of youth involvement in gambling. Early theorizing maintained that gambling involvement driven by the quest for resource gains. However, evidences show that the economic model of gambling tend to explain the involvement of the gambling business owners (sport lottery operators: SLOs) as most gamblers lose more than they win. This loss, according to the law of effect, ought to discourage decisions to gamble. However, the quest to recover loses has often initiated and prolonged gambling sessions. Therefore, the need to investigate mental contemplations (such as counterfactual reasoning (upward versus downward) of what “would, should, or could” have been, and feeling of the illusion of control; IOC) over gambling outcome as risk or protective factors in gambling decisions became pertinent. The present study sought to understand the differential contributions and conditional effects of upward versus downward counterfactual reasoning as pathways through which the association between IOC and gambling decision of Nigerian youths (N = 120, mean age = 18.05, SD = 3.81) could be explained. The study adopted a randomized group design, and data were obtained by means of stimulus material (the Gambling Episode; GE) and self-report measures of IOC and Gambling Decision. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) result showed that participants in the upward counterfactual reasoning group (M = 22.08) differed from their colleagues in the downward counterfactual reasoning group (M = 17.33) on the decision to gamble, and this difference was significant [F(1,112) = 23, P < .01]. HAYES PROCESS macro moderation analysis results showed that 1) IOC and upward counterfactual reasoning were positively associated with the decision to gamble (B = 14.21, t = 6.10, p < .01 and B = 7.22, t = 2.07, p < .01), 3) upward counterfactual reasoning did not moderate the association between IOC and gambling decision (p > .05), and 4) downward counterfactual reasoning negatively moderated the association between IOC and gambling decision (B = 07, t = 2.18, p < .05) such that the association was strong at a low level of downward counterfactual, but wane at high levels of downward counterfactual reasoning. The implication of these findings are that IOC and upward counterfactual reasoning were risk factors and promote gambling behavior, while downward counterfactual reasoning protects individuals from gambling activities. Thus, it is concluded that downward counterfactual reasoning strategies should be included in gambling therapy and treatment packages as it could diminish feelings of both IOC and negative feelings of missed positive outcomes and the urge to gamble.

Keywords: counterfactual reasoning, gambling cognition, gambling decision, nigeria, youths

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Authors: Chow Jeng Hei, Pavel Tkalich, Low Kai Sheng Bryan

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Due to the growing demand for sustainability in the maritime industry, there has been a significant increase in focus on alternative fuels such as biofuels, liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, methanol and ammonia to reduce the carbon footprint of vessels. Alternative fuels offer efficient transportability and significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions, a critical factor in combating global warming. In an era where the world is determined to tackle climate change, the utilization of methanol is projected to witness a consistent rise in demand, even during downturns in the oil and gas industry. Since 2022, there has been an increase in methanol loading and discharging operations for industrial use in Singapore. These operations were conducted across various storage tank terminals at Jurong Island of varying capacities, which are also used to store alternative fuels for bunkering requirements. The key objective of this research is to support the green shipping industries in the transformation to new fuels such as methanol and ammonia, especially in evolving the capability to inform risk assessment and management of spills. In the unlikely event of accidental spills, a highly reliable forecasting system must be in place to provide mitigation measures and ahead planning. The outcomes of this research would lead to an enhanced metocean prediction capability and, together with advanced sensing, will continuously build up a robust digital twin of the bunkering operating environment. Outputs from the developments will contribute to management strategies for alternative marine fuel spills, including best practices, safety challenges and crisis management. The outputs can also benefit key port operators and the various bunkering, petrochemicals, shipping, protection and indemnity, and emergency response sectors. The forecasted datasets provide a forecast of the expected atmosphere and hydrodynamic conditions prior to bunkering exercises, enabling a better understanding of the metocean conditions ahead and allowing for more refined spill incident management planning

Keywords: clean fuels, hydrodynamics, coastal engineering, impact assessments

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Authors: Zhizhong Yuan, Lili Wang, Chenya Zheng, Wuqi Yang

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How to encourage and support peer-to-peer (P2P) network lending, and effectively monitor the risk of P2P network lending, has become the focus of the Chinese government departments, industrialists, experts and scholars in recent years. The reason is that this convenient online micro-credit service brings a series of credit risks and other issues. Avoiding the risks brought by the P2P network lending model, it can better play a benign role and help China's small and medium-sized private enterprises with vigorous development to solve the capital needs; otherwise, it will bring confusion to the normal financial order. As a form of financial services, P2P network lending has injected new blood into China's non-government finance in the past ten years, and has found a way out for idle funds and made up for the shortage of traditional financial services in China. However, it lacks feasible measures in credit evaluation and government supervision. This paper collects a large amount of data about P2P network lending of China. The data collection comes from the official media of the Chinese government, the public achievements of existing researchers and the analysis and collation of correlation data by the authors. The research content of this paper includes literature review; the current situation of China's P2P network lending development; the risk analysis of P2P network lending in China; the risk prevention strategy of P2P network lending in China. The focus of this paper is to try to find a specific program to strengthen supervision and avoid risks from the perspective of government regulators, operators of P2P network lending platform, investors and users of funds. These main measures include: China needs to develop self-discipline organization of P2P network lending industry and formulate self-discipline norms as soon as possible; establish a regular information disclosure system of P2P network lending platform; establish censorship of credit rating of borrowers; rectify the P2P network lending platform in compliance through the implementation of bank deposition. The results and solutions will benefit all the P2P network lending platforms, creditors, debtors, bankers, independent auditors and government agencies of China and other countries.

Keywords: peer-to-peer(P2P), regulation, risk prevention, supervision

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Mohd Nizam Osman

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This study explores issues and challenges of information and communication technology (ICT) adoption and application for business-related performance of Agro-based small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Globally, SMEs have championed the socio-economic development of nations across the globe, including Malaysia. Thus, the objectives of this study explore issues and challenges of agro-based SMEs' adoption and usage of ICT, the business-related performance of SMEs via the adoption of ICT, and the impact of incentives on SMEs' adoption and use of ICT. The study was conducted in Selangor, Malaysia. A qualitative research approach was deployed for the study. Data for the study emanated from semi-structured interviews and field note observation of 14 informants who are registered as small-scale business owners and operators. Based on thematic analysis, data were triangulated to ensure consistency and validation of findings for the study. Findings revealed that SMEs are faced with a lack of funding, low expertise, and lack of storage, leading to an unsustainable supply of goods and services. Although effective communication, ease of business activities/transactions, and information search by way of research were among the business performance experienced by SMEs' adoption of ICT. Further findings showed that loan conditions and personal and business interests hindered SMEs' reception and access to programs, schemes, and incentives geared at aiding the continuous growth and development of agro-based SMEs. The study suggests the need for policy change in terms of diversification of channels of funding and access to funds to enable credit guarantee schemes and peer or community-based financing. Consequently, the study recommends the engagement of SMEs in policy decision-making to ascertain the type of incentives relevant to their business operations. Likewise, from a technological standpoint, the study suggests the expansion of the framework of technology acceptance with focuses on affordability, type of users, and level of usage.

Keywords: ICT adoption, business related performance, agro-based SMEs, ICT application for SMEs

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