Digital Commons Network^™

Upgrading Biomass To Bio-Oil: Catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation And Pyrolysis Of Vanillin And Anisole Biomass Model Compounds, Ahmad J. Yaghi

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

The purpose of this project is to investigate capacity of selected formulations of catalysts toward the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of biomass model compounds in the gas phase with the underlying aim to produce hydrocarbon cuts that can be directly used as transportation fuels. The first part of this project is to devoted to illustrate procedures for the synthesis of potent (HDO) catalysts. Synthesized catalysts encompass nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) and palladium (Pd) supported on zeolite, cerium oxide (CeO₂) or alumina (Al2O₃). Various characterization techniques such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Temperature Programmed Reduction (TPR) were deployed to comprehend …

E-Wild Life Alert: Tackling The Human-Wildlife Conflict Problem, Eliel Kundai Zhuwankinyu, Sibonile Moyo, Catherine Chivasa, Smart Ncube

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

Depletion of resources meant for both human and animal survival leads to competition for these. Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) occurs when these two parties compete for resources such as space, water, and food. If not properly managed, HWC can lead to loss of livelihoods and even loss of life. This paper discusses the design and development of an E-Wildlife Alert application that uses machine learning to detect dangerous animals. Using the Design Science Research method, a convolutional neural network is trained to build an artifact that detects five dangerous animals from an African context. The artifact is mounted on a robot …

When Social Media Fails: Exploring Alternative Technologies For Effective Communication In Disasters, Safianu Omar, Jean-Paul Van Belle

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

Effective communication plays a critical role in disaster management, encompassing both data gathering and information dissemination. This study examines the utilization of alternative technologies for communication during disasters, aiming to address the vulnerabilities of relying solely on social media platforms. To answer the research questions, a qualitative methodology employing an inductive approach was used to gather and analyze data from literature and officers working in disaster management organizations. The research findings reveal the efficacy of employing SMS, emails, phone calls, and other supporting technologies as viable alternatives for disaster communication. These approaches have demonstrated their reliability to overcome challenges posed …

Adoption Of Ict To Support Rural Small-Holder Farmers : A Systematic Review, Abdus Salaam Seat, Shaun Pather

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

Access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are slowly becoming more available to rural communities given a number of innovative approaches over recent years such as the implementation of Community Networks (CNs). Consequently, ICTs are able to become more meaningful in support of livelihoods of these communities, such as in agriculture production. Potential benefits to smallholder farmers include increase yields and reduced effort. However, there is very little evidence of smallholder farmers integrating ICTs into their livelihood activity. In this paper a Systematic Literature Review is used to explore the challenges faced in this sector. A total of 83 articles …

Factors Influencing The Establishment Of Technology Innovation Hubs - A Structured Literature Review, Oluwaseun Alexander Dada, Jean-Paul Van Belle

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

The research context focuses on the establishment of innovation hubs within specific geographical locations, aiming to drive innovation and economic development. The research scope encompassed a thorough examination of existing literature to uncover the diverse range of factors influencing AI hub creation and success. Our research was prompted by the need to address the lack of a comprehensive understanding of these factors. With the aim of examining, we adopted the Structured Literature Review (SLR) methodology. Through our comprehensive analysis, we identified a multitude of critical factors. Based on the number of sources in which they were reported, the factors are …

Information Technology Decision Makers’ Readiness For Artificial Intelligence Governance In Institutions Of Higher Education In South Africa, John Mangundu

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

Artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance the educational experience for academics and students. However, research has inadequately examined AI ethics and governance, particularly in the higher education sector of developing economies such as South Africa. AI governance ensures that envisioned AI benefits are realized while reducing AI risks. Against this backdrop of huge research deficit, the current study reports on a qualitative exploratory study that investigates the state of readiness for AI governance and AI governance maturity in South African higher education institutions. Informed by the combination of the TOE framework, the traditional IT governance model and the adapted IT governance …

A Customized Artificial Intelligence Based Career Choice Recommender System For A Rural University, Nosipho Carol Mavuso, Nobert Jere, Darelle Vangreunen

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

Rapid technological developments have enabled users to be supported and guided in decision-making. An example of this is the ability of tertiary students to use technology to explore different career options and make informed decisions about their future. Notwithstanding the increasing use of technology in general, the technology for career guidance and personalized career recommendations in South Africa is still limited. There are some limiting factors such as the ever-looming challenge of limited access to technology, language barriers and cultural differences that are prevalent in rural areas. With this premise, this study collected quantitative data from students at an Eastern …

Transprofessional Competencies Of Information Managers And The Challenges Of The New Normal, Adeoye Augustine Bamgbose Mr, Hassan Mallam Ibrahim, Sa’Ad Madaki Adamu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Librarians and other information professionals are required to possess transprofessional competencies in the form of additional education or knowledge to increase the range of services that could be provided for improved efficiency of information service delivery in the new normal. This study investigates the transprofessional competencies of librarians and their perceptions of what barriers prevent librarians from developing transprofessional knowledge in this changing and knowledge-driven environment. The study is a qualitative research, and the phenomenography method was adopted for this study; The participants constitute librarians and information managers in four academic libraries in Lagos and Oyo states, Nigeria. A semi-structured …

Gains And Challenges Of The Barangay Health Worker (Bhw) Program During Covid-19 In Selected Cities In The Philippines, Mikhaela Ysabelle T. Baliolaa, Margaret R. Golpe, Leslie V. Advincula-Lopez

Journal of Health Research

Background: The Philippine Barangay Health Worker (BHW) program extends the accessibility of health care services at the community level. BHWs are trained volunteers who perform various health-promoting and health-educating tasks and provide primary health care (PHC) services within their communities. However, the weak implementation of policies meant to protect their welfare, like the BHW Benefits and Incentives Act (Republic Act No. 7883), translates to challenges that impact the sustainability of the BHW program. This qualitative study aimed to explore the BHWs' experiences with RA 7883 and how its implementation shaped their overall role as frontline health workers during the …

Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - September 14, 2023, Lindsey Lyle

Watercooler Newsletter

This is the September 14, 2023 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine's newsletter - Watercooler.

Contents Include:

• Register now: USA Health Game day set for Oct.17
• Whiddon college of medicine alumnus joins orthopedic surgery faculty
• Senior medical students named to Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
• Lunch & learn session to focus on promotion and tenure
• USA health names new chair of internal medicine

Trumpet Directivity From A Rotating Semicircular Array, Samuel D. Bellows, Joseph E. Avila, Timothy W. Leishman

Directivity

The directivity function of a played musical instrument describes the angular dependence of its acoustic radiation and diffraction about the instrument, musician, and musician’s chair. Directivity influences sound in rehearsal, performance, and recording environments and signals in audio systems. Because high-resolution, spherically comprehensive measurements of played musical instruments have been unavailable in the past, the authors have undertaken research to produce and share such data for studies of musical instruments, simulations of acoustical environments, optimizations of microphone placements, and other applications. The authors acquired the data from repeated chromatic scales produced by a trumpet played at mezzo-forte in an anechoic …

Spartan Daily, September 14, 2023, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2023

Volume 161, Issue 11

Secretary United States Department Of Labor V. Mosluoglu Inc

2023 Decisions

USDC for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Volume 1, Issue 3, Bryant University

Bryant Bulldog Bulletin (2023-2024)

No abstract provided.

Healthcare Needs And Factors Related To Non-Use/Underutilization Of Veterans Healthcare Administration (Vha) Health Services Entitlements By Post 9/11 Women Veterans, Teresa A. Parsons

Dissertations

Women are the fastest growing population in the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), but only in recent history. U.S. military shift to an All-Volunteer Force (AVF) in 1973 resulted in a dramatic spike in women serving in the military. During the transition from active military to Veteran status, Veterans are eligible to apply to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for benefits, including healthcare. In 2020, the VA estimated that over two million Women Veterans (WV) were living. The VA estimates the percentage of WV will rise to over 18% of all Veterans by 2046. In a report to Congress …

Towards Safe Automated Refactoring Of Imperative Deep Learning Programs To Graph Execution, Raffi Khatchadourian, Tatiana Castro Vélez, Mehdi Bagherzadeh, Nan Jia, Anita Raja

Publications and Research

Efficiency is essential to support responsiveness w.r.t. ever-growing datasets, especially for Deep Learning (DL) systems. DL frameworks have traditionally embraced deferred execution-style DL code—supporting symbolic, graph-based Deep Neural Network (DNN) computation. While scalable, such development is error-prone, non-intuitive, and difficult to debug. Consequently, more natural, imperative DL frameworks encouraging eager execution have emerged at the expense of run-time performance. Though hybrid approaches aim for the “best of both worlds,” using them effectively requires subtle considerations to make code amenable to safe, accurate, and efficient graph execution. We present our ongoing work on automated refactoring that assists developers in specifying whether …

Contraintes Thermophysiologiques Associées Aux Vêtements Individuels De Protection Des Pompiers : Impact Et Efficacité Des Membranes Barrières Et Des Designs Du Vêtement, Denis Marchand, Chantal Gauvin, Marie-Anne Landry-Duval

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Les vêtements individuels de protection (VIP) contribuent aux contraintes thermiques et physiologiques subies par les travailleurs. Or, ces contraintes constituent un problème préoccupant pour la santé et la sécurité, notamment pour les pompiers. D’ailleurs, les contraintes thermophysiologiques sont associées à un risque accru d’événements cardiovasculaires, qui représentent la cause la plus fréquente de décès chez les pompiers. L’objectif de cette étude était d’évaluer la réponse physiologique au port de VIP pour les pompiers, munis de deux membranes barrières humidifuges, dont l’une, ayant des propriétés de perméabilité à la vapeur d’eau et de transfert de chaleur améliorées. Un nouveau concept qui …

Mapping The Indigenous Postcolonial Possibilities Of Teacher Preparation, Anna Lees, Ann Marie Ryan, Marissa Muñoz, Charles Tocci

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this article, a team of teacher educators collectively think through the many possibilities of how concepts such as decolonization, abolition, and fugitivity intersect with and are taken up by teacher education programs. To do so, we undertook a critical interpretive synthesis of scholarly literature spanning 2000 to 2020 to locate, examine, and organize existing examples of teacher education programs that work to transgress hegemonic colonial models of education. We revisit de Oliveira Andreotti et al.’s social cartography as a framework for comparing the theoretical foundations and social implications of each teacher education program.

Vista: September 14, 2023, University Of San Diego

USD Vista (1965-)

No abstract provided.

Smart Growth Strategies: Mountain West Metros, Issac Hernandez-Alcaraz, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet examines data on smart growth strategies provided by the Brookings Institution’s Smart Growth Tool and includes data on the economic and industry overview of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in five Mountain West states (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah). The Smart Growth Tool identifies high-impact economic and workforce development strategies that may help states and MSAs achieve inclusive and sustainable growth.

Human Evaluation Of Robotic Grippers For Berry Picking, L Alvarez-Hidalgo, I Howard

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

We describe the construction and evaluation of two robotic grippers for berry picking. Using a pneumatic cylinder drive, one was constructed from hard materials and the other from soft materials. A novel evaluation paradigm using a handle mechanism was developed, so the grippers could be directly operated by human participants. An artificial bush was also constructed and used for evaluation purposes. Overall, both grippers performed worse than the human hand, indicating that further development is needed

Summarization Of Reliability Theory For Condition Assessment Of Brige Structurs, Peng Jianxin, Chai Ying, Zhang Jianren

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

This paper briefly reviewed the principles and development of structural design theories, and summarized the current research of structural reliability theories. Meanwhile, various applicable methods of reliability theories were finely described and analyzed, with the latest progress in structural reliability analysis and reliability-based design optimization outlined. Additionally, the uncertainty propagation methods and reliability assessment methods were analyzed, and the development trend of structural reliability was summarized, which can provide a summary and reference for future researchers to study structural reliability.

Study On Laws Of Surface Movement A Nd Deformation Of Goaf Under Subgrade In Sand-Loess Area, Lei Mingxuan, Liu Guotian, Su Weiwei, Zhang Liujun, Yin Lihua

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

A large number of goaf under sand-loess areas in China greatly restrict the highway construction development in sand-loess areas. Meanwhile, the goaf evaluation beneath under subgrade in sand-loess areas is especially important. According to the characteristics of goaf beneath the highway of sand-loess areas, based on FLAC3D software, this paper selected reasonable parameters to build the model of goaf under subgrade. Additionally, based on the mechanical property analysis of sand loess, the laws of surface movement and deformation parameters of the goaf under the subgrade were summarized, and the surface movement and deformation areas were identified, with the range of …

Exploring Long-Term Protective Effect Of High Vertical Sand Barrier On Top Of Complex Longitudinal Sand Ridge In Taklamakan Desert, Jin Changning

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

By taking the high vertical sand barriers deployed on the top of the complex longitudinal sand ridges in the hinterland of Taklamakan Desert as the object, this paper investigated the sand protection effect from the long-term perspective on the basis of several years’ comparative observation. The result analysis shows that in addition to the recognized sand blocking effect, high vertical sand barriers also have a more important role of sand fixation, which means that the barriers can change the original overall movement of sand dunes into only the falling sand slope forward, with the windward slopes basically fixed. Even if …

Experimental Study On Dynamic Resilient Modulus Of Cement-Improved Fine-Grained Soils In Wet Subgrade, Huang Chongwei, Zhu Baobing, Zhang Yi, Sun Yu, Guo Dandan

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

To investigate the design and construction of wet subgrade in southern China, this paper selected three typical soil samples of the new highway subgrade of Ecological Avenue in Chongming District, Shanghai, and improved the samples by cement disposal technology. Meanwhile, the effects of the water content, degree of compaction, cement content, age of maintenance and stress state on the dynamic resilient modulus were analyzed by experimental methods. The results show that the effects of cement content, water content and age of maintenance on the dynamic resilient modulus of three kinds of cement-improved fine-grained soil in wet subgrade are larger, and …

Study On Stability Analysis And Treatment Of A Expressway Landslide, Huang Hongchao

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

In highway construction of mountainous areas, landslides are easily triggered due to the complex geological conditions, thereby causing serious economic loss and even casualties. Therefore, the study of landslide treatment schemes has caught increasingly more attention from scholars. By taking the giant landslide treatment on a highway of southeastern Yunnan as an example, this paper analyzed the process and cause of giant landslide formation, and then conducted inverse calculations to determine the stability analysis parameters of landslides via combining the topography and geology and slope state before and after slope excavation. Finally, according to the calculation results of the residual …

Discussion On Treatment Scheme Of Soft Foundation Based On Cooperative Deformation Of Roadbed And Frame Structure, Liu Jizhong, Chen Kai, Yang Fengyu

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

In view of insufficient consideration of cooperative roadbed and structure deformation, by taking the soft foundation with frame structures in the fill roadbed as the research object, this paper adopted Midas GTS NX finite element analysis software to simulate the pavement settlement and plastic zone distribution of the soft foundation treated by cast-in-place piles. Considering that the stiffness difference between the roadbed and the frame structure can easily result in pavement cracking, a variable stiffness composite foundation treatment optimization scheme was proposed. This scheme coordinated the cooperative settlement and deformation of the roadbed and frame structure, and prevented the development …

Study On Key Technology Of Landslide Investigation And Treatment Plan Of Coal Stratum In Section K 132 Of A Highway, Wei Dongxu, Wang Guanguo, Li Jian, Zheng Guosheng

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

Coal strata feature soft lithology, low strength and easy softening under contact with water. During the subgrade excavation, the slopes of the coal strata often form a potential slip surface, which can control the stability of the overall slope. By taking the K132 landslide of Longchuan-Huaiji Expressway as an example, this paper comprehensively determined the characteristics of the landslide in coal strata, especially the characteristics of slip surfaces, by adopting the high-density resistivity and deep-hole displacement monitoring methods and combining geological drilling. The stability analysis results show that the carry-over factor method and Geoslope analysis can calculate the residual sliding …

Feasibility Study Of Pavement Rutting Evaluation Method Based On Driving Vibration, Zhang Jinxi, Wang Peirong, Cao Dandan, Ceng Jingxiang

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

To explore the intelligent detection and monitoring methods of pavement performance, this paper utilized the self-developed driving data collection app to collect vibration acceleration and other data of the pavement during driving, and carried out the feasibility study of evaluating the pavement rutting by driving vibration. Firstly, the collected vibration acceleration data was processed for noise reduction, and the driving vibration characteristics in different working conditions were analyzed. Secondly, seven time domain indicators with high correlation between vibration acceleration and the rutting were extracted as the initial set of indicators, and the seven indicators were downscaled into two independent principal …

Study On Influence Factors Of Temperature Field Of Crc+Ac Composite Road Surface, Cheng Xiaoliang, Zhang Hao, Li Sheng

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

In view of the factors influencing the temperature field of CRC+AC composite road surfaces, this paper analyzed the temperature field distribution and influencing factors of CRC+AC composite road surface structures based on the meteorology and heat transfer theories, and conducted 3D solid modeling and numerical simulation by adopting Abaqus finite element software. The results show that in certain conditions, the deeper distance from the road surface leads to smaller temperature change of the road surface structure. When the depth exceeds 0.6 m, the temperature is almost unchanged and has little difference with the outside ambient temperature. By increasing the thermal …