Search results for: weak polyelectrolytes
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 900

Search results for: weak polyelectrolytes

660 Numerical Simulation of Hydraulic Fracture Propagation in Marine-continental Transitional Tight Sandstone Reservoirs by Boundary Element Method: A Case Study of Shanxi Formation in China

Authors: Jiujie Cai, Fengxia LI, Haibo Wang

Abstract:

After years of research, offshore oil and gas development now are shifted to unconventional reservoirs, where multi-stage hydraulic fracturing technology has been widely used. However, the simulation of complex hydraulic fractures in tight reservoirs is faced with geological and engineering difficulties, such as large burial depths, sand-shale interbeds, and complex stress barriers. The objective of this work is to simulate the hydraulic fracture propagation in the tight sandstone matrix of the marine-continental transitional reservoirs, where the Shanxi Formation in Tianhuan syncline of the Dongsheng gas field was used as the research target. The characteristic parameters of the vertical rock samples with rich beddings were clarified through rock mechanics experiments. The influence of rock mechanical parameters, vertical stress difference of pay-zone and bedding layer, and fracturing parameters (such as injection rates, fracturing fluid viscosity, and number of perforation clusters within single stage) on fracture initiation and propagation were investigated. In this paper, a 3-D fracture propagation model was built to investigate the complex fracture propagation morphology by boundary element method, considering the strength of bonding surface between layers, vertical stress difference and fracturing parameters (such as injection rates, fluid volume and viscosity). The research results indicate that on the condition of vertical stress difference (3 MPa), the fracture height can break through and enter the upper interlayer when the thickness of the overlying bedding layer is 6-9 m, considering effect of the weak bonding surface between layers. The fracture propagates within the pay zone when overlying interlayer is greater than 13 m. Difference in fluid volume distribution between clusters could be more than 20% when the stress difference of each cluster in the segment exceeds 2MPa. Fracture cluster in high stress zones cannot initiate when the stress difference in the segment exceeds 5MPa. The simulation results of fracture height are much higher if the effect of weak bonding surface between layers is not involved. By increasing the injection rates, increasing fracturing fluid viscosity, and reducing the number of clusters within single stage can promote the fracture height propagation through layers. Optimizing the perforation position and reducing the number of perforations can promote the uniform expansion of fractures. Typical curves of fracture height estimation were established for the tight sandstone of the Lower Permian Shanxi Formation. The model results have good consistency with micro-seismic monitoring results of hydraulic fracturing in Well 1HF.

Keywords: fracture propagation, boundary element method, fracture height, offshore oil and gas, marine-continental transitional reservoirs, rock mechanics experiment

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659 Generation Transcritical Flow Influenced by Dissipation over a Hole

Authors: Mohammed Daher Albalwi

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The transcritical flow of a stratified fluid over an obstacle for negative forcing amplitude (hole) that generation upstream and downstream, connected by an unsteady solution, is examined. In the weakly nonlinear, weakly dispersive regime, the problem is formulated in the forced Korteweg-de Vries–Burgers framework. This is done by including the influence of the viscosity of the fluid beyond the Korteweg–de Vries approximation. The results show that the influence of viscosity is crucial in determining various wave properties, including the amplitudes of solitary waves in the upstream and downstream directions, as well as the widths of the bores. We focused here on weak damping, and the results are presented for transcritical, supercritical, and subcritical flows. In general, the outcomes are not qualitatively similar to those from the forced Korteweg-de–Vries equation when the value of the viscous is small, interesting differences emerge as the magnitude of the value of viscous increases.

Keywords: Korteweg–de Vries–Burgers equation, soliton, transcritical flow, viscous flow

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658 The Quantitative SWOT-Analysis of Service Blood Activity of Kazakhstan

Authors: Alua Massalimova

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Situation analysis of Blood Service revealed that the strengths dominated over the weak 1.4 times. The possibilities dominate over the threats by 1.1 times. It follows that by using timely the possibility the Service, it is possible to strengthen its strengths and avoid threats. Priority directions of the resulting analysis are the use of subjective factors, such as personal management capacity managers of the Blood Center in the field of possibilities of legal activity of administrative decisions and the mobilization of stable staff in general market conditions. We have studied for the period 2011-2015 retrospectively indicators of Blood Service of Kazakhstan. Strengths of Blood Service of RK(Ps4,5): 1) indicators of donations for 1000 people is higher than in some countries of the CIS (in Russia 14, Kazakhstan - 17); 2) the functioning science centre of transfusiology; 3) the legal possibility of additional financing blood centers in the form of paid services; 4) the absence of competitors; 5) training on specialty Transfusiology; 6) the stable management staff of blood centers, a high level of competence; 7) increase in the incidence requiring transfusion therapy (oncohematology); 8) equipment upgrades; 9) the opening of a reference laboratory; 10) growth of the proportion of issued high-quality blood components; 11) governmental organization 'Drop of Life'; 12) the functioning bone marrow register; 13) equipped with modern equipment HLA-laboratory; 14) High categorization of average medical workers; 15) availability of own specialized scientific journal; 16) vivarium. The weaknesses (Ps = 3.5): 1) the incomplete equipping of blood centers and blood transfusion cabinets according to standards; 2) low specific weight of paid services of the CC; 3) low categorization of doctors; 4) high staff turnover; 5) the low scientific potential of industrial and clinical of transfusiology; 6) the low wages paid; 7) slight growth of harvested donor blood; 8) the weak continuity with offices blood transfusion; 9) lack of agitation work; 10) the formally functioning of Transfusion Association; 11) the absence of scientific laboratories; 12) high standard deviation from the average for donations in the republic. The possibilities (Ps = 2,7): 1): international grants; 2) organization of international seminars on clinical of transfusiology; 3) cross-sectoral cooperation; 4) to increase scientific research in the field of clinical of transfusiology; 5) reduce the share of donation unsuitable for transfusion and processing; 6) strengthening marketing management in the development of fee-based services; 7) advertising paid services; 8) strengthening the publishing of teaching aids; 9) team-building staff. The threats (Ps = 2.1): 1) an increase of staff turnover; 2) the risk of litigation; 3) reduction gemoprodukts based on evidence-based medicine; 4) regression of scientific capacity; 5) organization of marketing; 6) transfusiologist marketing; 7) reduction in the quality of the evidence base transfusions.

Keywords: blood service, healthcare, Kazakhstan, quantative swot analysis

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657 The Design and Implementation of Interactive Storybook Reading to Develop the Reading Comprehension of ESL Learners

Authors: A. van Staden, A. A. van Rhyn

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The numerous challenges South African, ESL learners experience were highlighted by the results of several literacy surveys and tests, which demonstrated that our learners’ literacy abilities are far below standard and very weak compared to other international countries. This study developed and implemented an interactive storybook intervention program to support the reading development of ESL learners. The researchers utilized an experimental pre-test/post-test research design, whereby 80 ESL learners from five participating schools, were purposively sampled to take part in this study. This paper, inter alia, discusses the key features of this intervention program whilst also reporting the results of the experimental investigation. Results are promising and show a significant improvement in the mean scores of the learners in the experimental group. Moreover, the results show the value of interactive storybook reading in creating responsive literacy environments to develop the literacy skills of ESL learners.

Keywords: ESL learners, reading comprehension, Interactive story book reading, South Africa

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656 The Potential of Dinar (Gold) Currency as the Main Object Transaction in Indonesia

Authors: Muhammad Ilham Agus Salim, Mohammad Ali

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In this article, we have elaborated a study over the nature of Islamic financial transaction by comparing between Dinar and IDR currency in Indonesia. We have found the interesting issue among scholars and practitioners in which Dinar would be a single currency ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), then becoming motivation and added value research. The assessment among dinar volatility analysis for three years ago and IDR fluctuation as well as outlook qualitative test regarding dinar are components of analysis that weak Indonesian currency should be altered to be better coinage. The value of dinar more stable than IDR and also eligible as a currency e.g. limited quantities, easy to carry, durable, easy to saved, and has the same quality. On the other hand, the existing of IDR has defeated by inflation. The EViews program explained that Dinar at current level still fluctuate, but in the first different have fixed variant. The result of analysis describing that dinar has potential as the medium exchange, because the material of dinar is relevant and feasible since 14 century until present. Therefore, dinar should be considered to solve Indonesia crisis today.

Keywords: medium of exchange, dinar & IDR currency, volatility analysis, EViews program

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655 Assessment of Very Low Birth Weight Neonatal Tracking and a High-Risk Approach to Minimize Neonatal Mortality in Bihar, India

Authors: Aritra Das, Tanmay Mahapatra, Prabir Maharana, Sridhar Srikantiah

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In the absence of adequate well-equipped neonatal-care facilities serving rural Bihar, India, the practice of essential home-based newborn-care remains critically important for reduction of neonatal and infant mortality, especially among pre-term and small-for-gestational-age (Low-birth-weight) newborns. To improve the child health parameters in Bihar, ‘Very-Low-Birth-Weight (vLBW) Tracking’ intervention is being conducted by CARE India, since 2015, targeting public facility-delivered newborns weighing ≤2000g at birth, to improve their identification and provision of immediate post-natal care. To assess the effectiveness of the intervention, 200 public health facilities were randomly selected from all functional public-sector delivery points in Bihar and various outcomes were tracked among the neonates born there. Thus far, one pre-intervention (Feb-Apr’2015-born neonates) and three post-intervention (for Sep-Oct’2015, Sep-Oct’2016 and Sep-Oct’2017-born children) follow-up studies were conducted. In each round, interviews were conducted with the mothers/caregivers of successfully-tracked children to understand outcome, service-coverage and care-seeking during the neonatal period. Data from 171 matched facilities common across all rounds were analyzed using SAS-9.4. Identification of neonates with birth-weight ≤ 2000g improved from 2% at baseline to 3.3%-4% during post-intervention. All indicators pertaining to post-natal home-visits by frontline-workers (FLWs) improved. Significant improvements between baseline and post-intervention rounds were also noted regarding mothers being informed about ‘weak’ child – at the facility (R1 = 25 to R4 = 50%) and at home by FLW (R1 = 19%, to R4 = 30%). Practice of ‘Kangaroo-Mother-Care (KMC)’– an important component of essential newborn care – showed significant improvement in postintervention period compared to baseline in both facility (R1 = 15% to R4 = 31%) and home (R1 = 10% to R4=29%). Increasing trend was noted regarding detection and birth weight-recording of the extremely low-birth-weight newborns (< 1500 g) showed an increasing trend. Moreover, there was a downward trend in mortality across rounds, in each birth-weight strata (< 1500g, 1500-1799g and >= 1800g). After adjustment for the differential distribution of birth-weights, mortality was found to decline significantly from R1 (22.11%) to R4 (11.87%). Significantly declining trend was also observed for both early and late neonatal mortality and morbidities. Multiple regression analysis identified - birth during immediate post-intervention phase as well as that during the maintenance phase, birth weight > 1500g, children of low-parity mothers, receiving visit from FLW in the first week and/or receiving advice on extra care from FLW as predictors of survival during neonatal period among vLBW newborns. vLBW tracking was found to be a successful and sustainable intervention and has already been handed over to the Government.

Keywords: weak newborn tracking, very low birth weight babies, newborn care, community response

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654 Corporate Social Responsibility Practices and Financial Performance: The Case of French Unlisted SMEs

Authors: Zineb Abidi, Marc-Arthur Diaye

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There exists a large empirical literature concerning the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance. This literature, however, applies mainly to large corporations and/or listed firms. To the best of our knowledge, the question of whether meeting CSR requirements impacts the financial performance of small and medium-sized unlisted SMEs has not so far been analyzed. This paper aims to analyze, for the first time, the effect of CSR on the financial performance of SMEs. Using an original database including 5,257 French SMEs, we show that adopting CSR practices has a positive but weak effect on a firm’s financial performance. To develop this further, we analyzed CSR practices interactions assessing the best combination of CSR components that positively influence SME financial performance. Our results show that French SMEs benefit more from their pro-social behavior when they choose a combination of CSR components best adapted to their individual characteristics.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, financial performance, unlisted firms, SMEs

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653 The Relation Between Social Capital and Trust with Social Network Analysis (SNA)

Authors: Safak Baykal

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The purpose of this study is analyzing the relationship between self leadership and social capital of people with using Social Network Analysis. In this study, two aspects of social capital will be focused: bonding, homophilous social capital (BoSC) which implies better, strong, dense or closed network ties, and bridging, heterophilous social capital (BrSC) which implies weak ties, bridging the structural holes. The other concept of the study is Trust (Tr), namely interpersonal trust, willingness to ascribe good intentions to and have confidence in the words and actions of other people. In this study, the sample group, 61 people, was selected from a private firm from the defense industry. The relation between BoSC/BrSC and Tr is shown by using Social Network Analysis (SNA) and statistical analysis with Likert type-questionnaire. The results of the analysis show the Cronbach’s alpha value is 0.73 and social capital values (BoSC/BrSC) is highly correlated with Tr values of the people.

Keywords: bonding social capital, bridging social capital, trust, social network analysis (SNA)

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652 Attitudes towards Recreation: An Empirical Study of Youth’s Recreation Development in Bida-Nigeria

Authors: Kingsley Ononogbo, Ashiru Bello

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The purpose of this study is to determine the factors responsible for the inclination of the youths of Bida to passive recreation, with a view to finding out whether their occupations influence their attitudes towards active recreation. Using the 5-point Likert scale, a total number of 267 participants were drawn from the two major wards in Bida town. They are Cheniyan and Nassarafu. Study evidence revealed that youths were constrained from participating in active recreation due to preoccupation with family responsibilities and lack of their choices of recreational facilities. The result of the Chi Square Test showed that the youths had positive attitudes towards physical exercises, while the Spearman’s Correlation (r=0.21) signifies a positive but weak correlation. The P- value, however, equals .7610 which is greater than 0.05 and, so significant. The study concluded by suggesting regular enlightenment programmes, focusing on the values of participating in active recreation, and building and maintenance of desired neighborhood recreation facilities for youths, as a measure to encourage them to take part in the active form of recreation.

Keywords: attitudes, Bida, recreation development, recreation of youth

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651 Localization of Near Field Radio Controlled Unintended Emitting Sources

Authors: Nurbanu Guzey, S. Jagannathan

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Locating radio controlled (RC) devices using their unintended emissions has a great interest considering security concerns. Weak nature of these emissions requires near field localization approach since it is hard to detect these signals in far field region of array. Instead of only angle estimation, near field localization also requires range estimation of the source which makes this method more complicated than far field models. Challenges of locating such devices in a near field region and real time environment are analyzed in this paper. An ESPRIT like near field localization scheme is utilized for both angle and range estimation. 1-D search with symmetric subarrays is provided. Two 7 element uniform linear antenna arrays (ULA) are employed for locating RC source. Experiment results of location estimation for one unintended emitting walkie-talkie for different positions are given.

Keywords: localization, angle of arrival (AoA), range estimation, array signal processing, ESPRIT, Uniform Linear Array (ULA)

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650 The Impact of a Weak Constitutional Review of Executive Actions in Implementing Women Rights in Saudi Arabia

Authors: Aysha Alshehri

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This paper provides a literature review of the sources of women’s rights under the Saudi legal framework, taking account of the constitutional primacy of Sharia under the Saudi legal system as well as the state’s obligations under international law. Building on one of the central aims of the paper, it conducts an exploration of how Saudi Arabia already has or might be further able to more clearly delineate its position and reservations in the adoptions of international human rights agreements while preserving its core religious beliefs and societal practices in regard to women’s rights at the domestic level. In this regard, the paper will consider the apparent tension between certain jurisprudential and customary aspects on gender equality and contemporary discourses of women’s rights from within and outside the Muslim world. Particular attention will be devoted to the question of the causes behind the lack of direct application of women’s rights mentioned by international reports and any challenges this may bring in the contexts of Saudi Arabia’s evolving gender equality policies.

Keywords: Islamic Constitution, executive actions, gender equality, judicial review

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649 A Geometrical Method for the Smoluchowski Equation on the Sphere

Authors: Adriano Valdes-Gomez, Francisco Javier Sevilla

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We devise a numerical algorithm to simulate the diffusion of a Brownian particle restricted to the surface of a three-dimensional sphere when the particle is under the effects of an external potential that is coupled linearly. It is obtained using elementary geometry, yet, it converges, in the weak sense, to the solutions to the Smoluchowski equation. Rotations on the sphere, which are the analogs of linear displacements in euclidean spaces, are calculated using algebraic operations and then by a proper scaling, which makes the algorithm efficient and quite simple, especially to what may be the short-time propagator approach. Our findings prove that the global effects of curvature are taken into account in both dynamic and stationary processes, and it is not restricted to work in configuration space, neither restricted to the overdamped limit. We have generalized it successfully to simulate the Kramers or the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, where it is necessary to work directly in phase space, and it may be adapted to other two dimensional surfaces with non-constant curvature.

Keywords: diffusion on the sphere, Fokker-Planck equation on the sphere, non equilibrium processes on the sphere, numerical methods for diffusion on the sphere

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648 Accelerated Expansion of a Matter-Antimatter Universe and Gravity as an Electromagnetic Force

Authors: Maarten J. Van der Burgt

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A universe containing matter and antimatter can only exist when matter and antimatter repel each other. Such a system, where like attracts like and like repels unlike, will always expand. Calculations made for such a symmetric universe demonstrate that the expansion is consistent with Hubble’s law, the observed increase in the expansion velocity with time, the initial high acceleration and the foam structure of the universe. Conversely, these observations can be considered as proof for a symmetrical universe and for antimatter possessing a negative gravitational mass. A second proof can be found by reinterpreting the behavior of relativistic moving charged particles. Attributing their behavior to a charge defect of √(1-v2/c2) instead of to a mass defect of 1/√(1-v2/c2) makes it plausible that gravitation is an electromagnetic force, as already suggested by Feynman. This would automatically imply that antimatter has a negative gravitational mass. These proofs underpin the untenability of the Weak Equivalence Principle which states that in a gravitational field all structure less point-like particles follow the same path.

Keywords: celestial mechanics, cosmology, gravitation astrophysics, origin of structure, miscellaneous (matter and antimatter)

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647 An Accurate Computer-Aided Diagnosis: CAD System for Diagnosis of Aortic Enlargement by Using Convolutional Neural Networks

Authors: Mahdi Bazarganigilani

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Aortic enlargement, also known as an aortic aneurysm, can occur when the walls of the aorta become weak. This disease can become deadly if overlooked and undiagnosed. In this paper, a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system was introduced to accurately diagnose aortic enlargement from chest x-ray images. An enhanced convolutional neural network (CNN) was employed and then trained by transfer learning by using three different main areas from the original images. The areas included the left lung, heart, and right lung. The accuracy of the system was then evaluated on 1001 samples by using 4-fold cross-validation. A promising accuracy of 90% was achieved in terms of the F-measure indicator. The results showed using different areas from the original image in the training phase of CNN could increase the accuracy of predictions. This encouraged the author to evaluate this method on a larger dataset and even on different CAD systems for further enhancement of this methodology.

Keywords: computer-aided diagnosis systems, aortic enlargement, chest X-ray, image processing, convolutional neural networks

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646 Competition in Kenya: The Legal and Institutional Framework and an Appraisal of Key Market Players

Authors: Edwin Njoroge Kimani, Alan M. Munyao

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Despite Kenya’s status as a regional economic powerhouse, it struggles with economic shocks that expose the consumers. This, however, seems not to affect major cooperates such as those in the telecommunication and energy sectors. Through their operations, they have not only been able to fluctuate prices at will but also they have been accused of curtailing their rivals from penetrating the market. This study, through literature review of the legal and institutional framework, reports and publications interrogates the law and uncovers the following; i) failings of the legal framework to define market dominance and abuse of such positions, ii) the participation of the state, iii) the inertia of the government to prosecute corporations that abuse their market dominance, iv) the role of the state as a market player and as a regulator through the Competition Authority of Kenya. This study concludes that the market distortion is as a result of weak legal and institutional framework as well as conflict of interest by the government. Not much has been researched in the field of competition law the greater East Africa. This research is intended to form part of the growing research in the field and inform legal reform.

Keywords: competition law, economic power, dominance, Kenya

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645 Head-Mounted Displays for HCI Validations While Driving

Authors: D. Reich, R. Stark

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To provide reliable and valid findings when evaluating innovative in-car devices in the automotive context highly realistic driving environments are recommended. Nowadays, in-car devices are mostly evaluated due to driving simulator studies followed by real car driving experiments. Driving simulators are characterized by high internal validity, but weak regarding ecological validity. Real car driving experiments are ecologically valid, but difficult to standardize, more time-robbing and costly. One economizing suggestion is to implement more immersive driving environments when applying driving simulator studies. This paper presents research comparing non-immersive standard PC conditions with mobile and highly immersive Oculus Rift conditions while performing the Lane Change Task (LCT). Subjective data with twenty participants show advantages regarding presence and immersion experience when performing the LCT with the Oculus Rift, but affect adversely cognitive workload and simulator sickness, compared to non-immersive PC condition.

Keywords: immersion, oculus rift, presence, situation awareness

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644 Quantum Localization of Vibrational Mirror in Cavity Optomechanics

Authors: Madiha Tariq, Hena Rabbani

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Recently, cavity-optomechanics becomes an extensive research field that has manipulated the mechanical effects of light for coupling of the optical field with other physical objects specifically with regards to dynamical localization. We investigate the dynamical localization (both in momentum and position space) for a vibrational mirror in a Fabry-Pérot cavity driven by a single mode optical field and a transverse probe field. The weak probe field phenomenon results in classical chaos in phase space and spatio temporal dynamics in position |ψ(x)²| and momentum space |ψ(p)²| versus time show quantum localization in both momentum and position space. Also, we discuss the parametric dependencies of dynamical localization for a designated set of parameters to be experimentally feasible. Our work opens an avenue to manipulate the other optical phenomena and applicability of proposed work can be prolonged to turn-able laser sources in the future.

Keywords: dynamical localization, cavity optomechanics, Hamiltonian chaos, probe field

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643 Domestic and Foreign Terrorism: Evaluation of the Breeding Ground

Authors: T. K. Hung

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Terrorism acts have occurred across both developed and developing states, with well-identified motivation and causes. For many years, terrorism eradication has become a major topic yet only passive actions were taken in response to acts. The linkage between the location of terrorism occurrence and breeding ground is not well-documented, resulting in the passive approach used in counter-terrorism nowadays. The evaluation investigates all post-9/11 terrorism affairs considering their state capacity, safety, ease of border access control, religion diversity, and technology access, to measure the level of breeding ground of the states. Those "weak" states with poor border access control, resources capacity and domestic safety are the best breeding ground for terrorists. Although many attacks were caused by religious motivation, religion diversity does not predict the breeding ground. States with censored technology access, particular computer-mediated communication, predict on the terrorism breeding ground, moderated by the level of breeding ground of neighboring states.

Keywords: counter-terrorism, lethality, security, terrorism

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642 Analysis of the Impacts of Capital Goods' Import and Human Capital on the Economic Growth of the Sub Sahahra Africa: A Panel-ARDL Approach

Authors: Adeleke Omolade

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The study investigated the impacts of capital goods' import and human capital on the economic growth of the Sub Sahahra Africa (SSA). 30 countries were used in the Panel- ARDL analysis where economic growth is the dependent variables and capital goods' import, human capital, primary export, investment exchange rate, among others were used as the independent variables. The result from the panel analysis indicates that capital goods' import will significantly and positively influence economic growth but human capital fails to have significant positive impact on economic growth of the SSA. Earlier the trend analysis and the correlation results have shown that there is a weak association between capital goods' import and human capital in the SSA. The results offer an expository analysis that reveals that the quality of the human capital is very germane to the effective utilization of capital goods' import for the purpose of growth in a primary goods' export dominated region like the SSA.

Keywords: capital goods import, economic growth, human capital, Sub-Sahara Africa

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641 Seismic Retrofit of Existing Bridge Foundations with Micropiles: 3D Finite Element Analysis

Authors: Mohanad Talal Alfach

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This paper concerns the seismic behaviour of soil-piles-bridge reinforced by additional micropiles. The analysis carried out by three-dimensional finite element modelling using the FE software ABAQUS. The soil behaviour is assumed to be elastic with Rayleigh damping, while the micropiles are modeled as 3D elastic beam elements. The bridge deck slab was represented by a concentrated mass at the top of the pier column. The interaction between the added micropiles and the existing piles as well as the performance of the retrofitted soil-pile-superstructure system were investigated for different configurations of additional micropiles (number, position, inclination). Numerical simulation results show that additional micropiles constitute an efficient retrofitting solution. Analysis of results also shows that spacing between existing piles and retrofitting micropiles has little effect; while it is observed a substantial improvement (in case of weak piles/micropiles - soil interface) with reducing the inclination angle of retrofitting micropiles.

Keywords: retrofitting, seismic, finite element, micropiles, elastic

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640 External Strengthening of RC Continuous Beams Using FRP Plates: Finite Element Model

Authors: Mohammed A. Sakr, Tarek M. Khalifa, Walid N. Mansour

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Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) installation is a very effective way to repair and strengthen structures that have become structurally weak over their life span. This technique attracted the concerning of researchers during the last two decades. This paper presents a simple uniaxial nonlinear finite element model (UNFEM) able to accurately estimate the load-carrying capacity, different failure modes and the interfacial stresses of reinforced concrete (RC) continuous beams flexurally strengthened with externally bonded FRP plates on the upper and lower fibers. Results of the proposed finite element (FE) model are verified by comparing them with experimental measurements available in the literature. The agreement between numerical and experimental results is very good. Considering fracture energy of adhesive is necessary to get a realistic load carrying capacity of continuous RC beams strengthened with FRP. This simple UNFEM is able to help design engineers to model their strengthened structures and solve their problems.

Keywords: continuous beams, debonding, finite element, fibre reinforced polymer

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639 The Standard of Reasonableness in Fundamental Rights Adjudication under the Indian Constitution

Authors: Nandita Narayan

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In most constitutional democracies, courts have been the gatekeepers of fundamental rights. The task of determining whether a violation is in fact justified, therefore, is judicial. Any state action, legislative or administrative, has to be tested by the application of two standards – first, the action must be within the scope of the authority conferred by law and, second, it must be reasonable. If any action, within the scope of the authority conferred by law is found to be unreasonable, it will be struck down as unconstitutional or ultra vires. This paper seeks to analyse the varying standards of reasonableness adopted by the Supreme Court of India where there is a violation of fundamental rights by state action. This is sought to be done by scrutinising case laws and classifying the legality of the violation under one of three levels of judicial scrutiny—strict, intermediate, or weak. The paper concludes by proving that there is an irregularity in the standards adopted, thus resulting in undue discretionary power of the judiciary which strikes at the very concept of reasonableness and ultimately becomes arbitrary in nature. This conclusion is reached by the comparison of reasonableness review of fundamental rights in other jurisdictions such as the USA and Canada.

Keywords: constitutional law, judicial review, fundamental rights, reasonableness, India

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638 An Investigation into Kenyan Teachers’ Views of Children’s Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

Authors: Fred Mageto

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A great number of children in mainstream schools across Kenya are currently living with emotional, behavioural difficulties. This study aims to explore teachers’ perceptions of children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) and their attributions of the causes of EBD. The relevance of this area of study to current educational practice is illustrated in the fact that primary school teachers in Kenya find classroom behaviour problems one of the major difficulties they face. The information presented in this study was gathered from 182 teachers that responded back to the survey, of whom 27 teachers were later interviewed. In general, teachers’ perceptions of EBD reflect personal experience, training, and attitudes. Teachers appear from this study to use words such as indifferent, frightened, withdrawn, aggressive, disobedient, hyperactive, less ambitious, lacking concentration, and academically weak to describe pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). The implications of this study are envisaged as being extremely important to support teachers addressing children’s EBD and shed light on the contributing factors to EBD for a successful teaching-learning process in Libyan primary schools.

Keywords: teachers, children, learning, emotional and behaviour difficulties

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637 The Impact of HRM Practices and Brand Performance on Financial Institution Performance: An Empirical Study

Authors: M. Khasro Miah, Chowdhury Hossan Golam, Muhammed Siddique Hossain

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Recently, financial institution brand image is turning out to be pretty weak due to the presence of strong local competitors and this in term is affecting their firm performance also. In this study, four major HR practices, namely employee commitment, empowerment, loyalty, and engagement are considered in order to measure its effects on the brand and financial performance of banking organization. This study finds that the banking institutions of Bangladesh are more customer oriented rather than internal employee oriented, which makes it quite obvious that the internal HR practices will have little or no effect on the banks brand performance. Employee Commitment has emerged out to be the most important predictor, followed by employee loyalty and empowerment. The employees are well-empowered, engaged, and shows loyalty towards the organization, but their activities are not well linked with the brand. Firms should concentrate to create a congenial working atmosphere and employees should feel like a part of the organization.

Keywords: HR in bank, employee commitment, empowerment, finance, employee commitment, loyalty and engagement

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636 The Link between Money Market and Economic Growth in Nigeria: Vector Error Correction Model Approach

Authors: Uyi Kizito Ehigiamusoe

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The paper examines the impact of money market on economic growth in Nigeria using data for the period 1980-2012. Econometrics techniques such as Ordinary Least Squares Method, Johanson’s Co-integration Test and Vector Error Correction Model were used to examine both the long-run and short-run relationship. Evidence from the study suggest that though a long-run relationship exists between money market and economic growth, but the present state of the Nigerian money market is significantly and negatively related to economic growth. The link between the money market and the real sector of the economy remains very weak. This implies that the market is not yet developed enough to produce the needed growth that will propel the Nigerian economy because of several challenges. It was therefore recommended that government should create the appropriate macroeconomic policies, legal framework and sustain the present reforms with a view to developing the market so as to promote productive activities, investments, and ultimately economic growth.

Keywords: economic growth, investments, money market, money market challenges, money market instruments

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635 Structural Magnetic Properties of Multiferroic (BiFeO3)1−x(PbTiO3)x Ceramics

Authors: Mohammad Shariq, Davinder Kaur

Abstract:

A series of multiferroic (BiFeO3)1−x(PbTiO3)x [x= 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5] solid solution ceramics were synthesised by conventional solid-state reaction method. Well crystalline phase has been optimized at sintering temperature of 950°C for 2 hours. X rays diffraction studies of these ceramics revealed the existence of a morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) region in this system, which exhibits co-existence of rhombohedral and tetragonal phase with a large tetragonality (c/a ratio) in the tetragonal phase region. The average grain size of samples was found to be between 1-1.5 µm. The M-H curve revealed the BiFeO3 (BFO) as antiferromanetic material whereas, induced weak ferromagnetism was observed for (BiFeO3)1−x(PbTiO3)x composites with x=0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 at temperature of 5 K. The results evidenced the destruction of a space-modulated spin structure in bulk materials, via substituent effects, releasing a latent magnetization locked within the cycloid. Relative to unmodified BiFeO3, modified BiFeO3-PbTiO3 -based ceramics revealed enhancement in the electric-field-induced polarization.

Keywords: BiFeO3)1−x(PbTiO3)x ceramic, multiferroic, SQUID, magnetic properties

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634 An Investigation into Libyan Teachers’ Views of Children’s Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties

Authors: Abdelbasit Gadour

Abstract:

A great number of children in mainstream schools across Libya are currently living with emotional, behavioral difficulties. This study aims to explore teachers’ perceptions of children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties (EBD) and their attributions of the causes of EBD. The relevance of this area of study to current educational practice is illustrated in the fact that primary school teachers in Libya find classroom behavior problems one of the major difficulties they face. The information presented in this study was gathered from 182 teachers that responded back to the survey, of whom 27 teachers were later interviewed. In general, teachers’ perceptions of EBD reflect personal experience, training, and attitudes. Teachers appear from this study to use words such as indifferent, frightened, withdrawn, aggressive, disobedient, hyperactive, less ambitious, lacking concentration, and academically weak to describe pupils with emotional and behavioral difficulties (EBD). The implications of this study are envisaged as being extremely important to support teachers addressing children’s EBD and shed light on the contributing factors to EBD for a successful teaching-learning process in Libyan primary schools.

Keywords: children, emotional and behavior difficulties, learning, teachers'

Procedia PDF Downloads 117
633 Investigation of Biogas from Slaughterhouse and Dairy Farm Waste

Authors: Saadelnour Abdueljabbar Adam

Abstract:

Wastes from slaughterhouses in most towns in Sudan are often poorly managed and sometimes discharged into adjoining streams due to poor implementation of standards, thus causing environmental and public health hazards and also there is a large amount of manure from dairy farms. This paper presents a solution of organic waste from cow dairy farms and slaughterhouse. We present the findings of experimental investigation of biogas production using cow manure, blood and rumen content were mixed at three proportions :72.3%, 61%, 39% manure, 6%, 8.5%, 22% blood; and 21.7%, 30.5%, 39% rumen content in volume for bio-digester 1,2,3 respectively. This paper analyses the quantitative and qualitative composition of biogas: gas content, and the concentration of methane. The highest biogas output 0.116L/g dry matter from bio-digester1 together with a high-quality biogas of 85% methane Was from the mixture of cow manure with blood and rumen content were mixed at 72.3%manure, 6%blood and 21.7%rumen content which is useful for combustion and energy production. While bio-digester 2 and 3 gave 0.012L/g dry matter and 0.013L/g dry matter respectively with the weak concentration of methane (50%).

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, bio-digester, blood, cow manure, rumen content

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632 Analysis of Microstructure around Opak River Pleret Area, Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia, as a Result of Opak Fault Reactivation, Using Stereographic Method

Authors: Gayus Pratama Polunggu, Pamela Felita Adibrata, Hafidh Fathur Riza

Abstract:

Opak Fault is a large fault that extends from the northeast to the southwest of Yogyakarta Special Region. Opak Fault allegedly re-active after the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake, about eleven years ago. Opak Fault is a big fault, therefore the activation will bring up the microstructure around the Opak River. This microstructure will reveal a different direction of force from the Opak Fault because the trigger for the emergence of the microstructure is the reactivation of the Opak Fault. In other words, this microstructure is a potentially severe weak area during a tectonic disaster. This research was conducted to find out the impact from the reactivation of Opak Fault that triggered the emergence of microstructure around Opak River which is very useful for disaster mitigation information around research area. This research used the approach from literature study in the form of the journal of structural geology and field study. The method used is a laboratory analysis in the form of stereographic analysis.

Keywords: Opak fault, reactivation, microstructure, stereographic

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631 Effects of Li2O Doping on Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Bovine Hydroxyapatite Composites (BHA)

Authors: Sibel Daglilar, Isil Kerti, Murat Karagoz, Fatih Dumludag, Oguzhan Gunduz, Faik Nuzhet Oktar

Abstract:

Hydroxyapatite (HA) materials have common use in bone repairing due to its ability to accelerate the bone growth around the implant. In spite of being a biocompatible and bioactive material, HA has a limited usage as an implant material because of its weak mechanical properties. HA based composites are required to improve the strength and toughness properties of the implant materials without compromising of biocompatibility. The excellent mechanical properties and higher biocompatibilities are expected from each of biomedical composites. In this study, HA composites were synthesized by using bovine bone reinforced doped with different amount of (wt.%) Li2O. The pressed pellets were sintered at various sintering temperatures between 1000ºC and 1300°C, and mechanical, electrical properties of the obtained products were characterized. In addition to that, in vitro stimulated body fluid (SBF) tests for these samples were conducted. The most suitable composite composition for biomedical applications was discussed among the composites studied.

Keywords: biocomposites, sintering temperature, biocompatibility, electrical property, conductivity, mechanical property

Procedia PDF Downloads 374