Bilingual Publishing Co. (BPC): E-Journals
Not a member yet
2424 research outputs found
Sort by
Seasonal Variability of Rainfall and Thunderstorm Patterns in Kenya
No full textThis paper presents an analysis of spatial and temporal variation of rainfall and thunderstorm occurrence over Kenya from January 1987 to December 2017. The meteorological data used were obtained from the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) for the same period. This included the monthly thunderstorm occurrences and rainfall amounts of 26 synoptic stations across the country. The characteristics of monthly, seasonal and annual frequency results were presented on spatial maps while Time series graphs were used to display the pattern for annual cycle, seasonal variations and the inter-annual variability of rainfall amounts and thunderstorm occurrences. A well-known non-parametric statistical method Mann Kendall (MK) trend test was used to determine and compare the statistical significance of the trends. Thunderstorm frequencies over the Eastern, Central and Coast regions of the country showed a bimodal pattern with high frequencies coinciding with March-April-May (MAM) and October-November-December (OND) rainy seasons. Very few thunderstorm days were detected over June-July-August (JJA) season. The areas to the western part of the country, near Lake Victoria, had the highest thunderstorm frequencies in the country over the three seasons: MAM, JJAS and OND. The annual frequency showed a quasi-unimodal pattern. These places near Lake Victoria showed significantly increasing thunderstorm trends during the MAM and OND seasons irrespective of the rainfall trends. This shows the effects of Lake Victoria over these areas, and it acts as a continuous source of moisture for thunderstorm formation. However, most stations across the country showed a reducing trend of thunderstorm frequency during MAM and JJA seasons. The importance of these findings is that they could support various policy makers, and users of climate information, especially in the agriculture and aviation industries
Multi-decadal Changes of the Impact of El Niño Events on Tibetan Plateau Summer Precipitation
No full textPrecipitation on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has an important effect on the water supply and demand of the downstream population. Involving recent climate change, the multi-decadal variations of the impact of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events on regional climate were observed. In this work, the authors investigated the changes in summer precipitation over TP during 1950–2019. At the multi-decadal scale, the authors found that the inhabiting impact of El Niño events on the TP summer precipitation has strengthened since the late 1970s. The main factor contributing to this phenomenon is the significant amplification in the decadal amplitude of El Niño during 1978–2019 accompanied by a discernible escalation in the frequency of El Niño events. This phenomenon induces anomalous perturbations in sea surface temperatures (SST) within the tropical Indo-Pacific region, consequently weakening the atmospheric vapor transport from the western Pacific to the TP. Additionally, conspicuous anomalies in subsidence motion are observed longitudinally and latitudinally across the TP which significantly contributes to a curtailed supply of atmospheric moisture. These results bear profound implications for the multi-decadal prediction of the TP climate
The Belt and Road Initiative's (BRI) Impact on International Trade of SAARC Countries
No full textThe impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on foreign commerce in the nations that make up the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is compared in this study. With data taken from the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) for two different time periods (2008–2012 and 2014–2018), the study assesses changes in imports, exports, trade balances, and foreign direct investment (FDI) in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Different patterns in trade dynamics are revealed by the findings. Bangladesh had notable improvements in trade over the 2014–2018 period, whereas Afghanistan’s development was less than anticipated. Bhutan’s trade development was encouraged and in line with the goals of the Belt and Road Initiative. India demonstrated trade endurance by continuing to develop steadily. Positive developments were demonstrated by the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, confirming the BRI’s contribution to the growth of commerce. There have been improvements in the trade balances of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Maldives. Following the BRI, the FDI landscape steadied, with increases in FDI observed in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Maldives. With an emphasis on the significance of taking into account the particular context of every nation and the dynamic nature of international commerce, this research offers a comprehensive assessment of the effects of the Belt and Road Initiative. The results provide insightful information to help stakeholders, scholars, and policymakers navigate the intricate web of international commerce in the SAARC area
Exploring Careers for a Clearer Future Work-Self: The Influence of Proactive Personality as a Moderator
No full textMiddle school serves as a pivotal juncture in career development, where adolescents grapple with adaptability challenges during transitional phases such as entrance exams and the selection of elective majors. Simultaneously, they embark on integrating their ongoing learning tasks with their ideal aspirations to lay the groundwork for future career development. Against this backdrop, the significance of career exploration and understanding future developmental directions becomes particularly pronounced. To investigate the intricate relationship between career exploration and the clarity of one’s future work-self, along with the moderating role of proactive personality, this study employed the career exploration scale, proactive personality scale, and clarity of future work-self scale. Data from 457 high school students were collected, revealing a substantial positive correlation between career exploration and both future work self-clarity and proactive personality. Adjusting for gender and age highlighted proactive personality as a regulatory factor influencing the relationship between career exploration and future work self-clarity. Furthermore, the results underscored the crucial moderating role of proactive personality in shaping the connection between career exploration and the clarity of future work-self. In-depth analysis revealed noteworthy interactions, particularly with the environmental exploration dimension (standard coefficient of 0.849, p < 0.001). Similarly, interactions with self-exploration, goal-system exploration, and information quantity dimensions were also significant, featuring standard coefficients of 0.905 (p = 0.002), 0.935 (p < 0.001), and 0.854 (p < 0.001), respectively. In essence, these findings illuminate the nuanced dynamics at play, emphasizing the amplified connection between career exploration and the clarity of future work-self in the presence of higher proactive personality levels. This insight holds implications for educators, counselors, and researchers invested in fostering comprehensive career development strategies for adolescents
Control of the Dust Vertical Distribution over Western Africa by Convection and Scavenging
No full textSaharan dust represents more than 50% of the total desert dust emitted around the globe and its radiative effect significantly affects the atmospheric circulation at a continental scale. Previous studies on dust vertical distribution and the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) showed some shortcomings that could be attributed to imperfect representation of the effects of deep convection and scavenging. The authors investigate here the role of deep convective transport and scavenging on the vertical distribution of mineral dust over Western Africa. Using multi-year (2006–2010) simulations performed with the variable-resolution (zoomed) version of the LMDZ climate model. Simulations are compared with aerosol amounts recorded by the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) and with vertical profiles of the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) measurements. LMDZ allows a thorough examination of the respective roles of deep convective transport, convective and stratiform scavenging, boundary layer transport, and advection processes on the vertical mineral dust distribution over Western Africa. The comparison of simulated dust Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and distribution with measurements suggest that scavenging in deep convection and subsequent re-evaporation of dusty rainfall in the lower troposphere are critical processes for explaining the vertical distribution of desert dust. These processes play a key role in maintaining a well-defined dust layer with a sharp transition at the top of the SAL and in establishing the seasonal cycle of dust distribution. This vertical distribution is further reshaped offshore in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) over the Atlantic Ocean by marine boundary layer turbulent and convective transport and wet deposition at the surface
Big Data 4.0: The Era of Big Intelligence
No full textBig data has had significant impacts on our lives, economies, academia and industries over the past decade. The current questions are: What is the future of big data? What era do we live in? This article addresses these questions by looking at meta as an operation and argues that we are living in the era of big intelligence through analyzing from meta (big data) to big intelligence. More specifically, this article will analyze big data from an evolutionary perspective. The article overviews data, information, knowledge, and intelligence (DIKI) and reveals their relationships. After analyzing meta as an operation, this article explores Meta (DIKE) and its relationship. It reveals 5 Bigs consisting of big data, big information, big knowledge, big intelligence and big analytics. Applying meta on 5 Bigs, this article infers that Big Data 4.0 = meta4 (big data) = big intelligence. This article analyzes how intelligent big analytics support big intelligence. The proposed approach in this research might facilitate the research and development of big data, big data analytics, business intelligence, artificial intelligence, and data science
Analysis of Extreme Temperature Variability in Rwanda: Climate variability, Air temperature, Solar Radiation, Meteorological station
No full textThe temperature is one of the most important factors in weather and climate forecasting. Studying its behaviour is crucial to understanding climate variability, which could vary spatially and temporally at local, regional, and global scales. Several recent studies on air temperature findings show that the Earth' s near surface air temperature increased between 0.6 °C and 0.8 °C throughout the twentieth century. Using temperature records from ten meteorological stations, this study examined climate variability in Rwanda from the 1930s to 2014. The air temperature data were collected from Meteo Rwanda. Before making the analysis, the authors used software, such as Excel 2007 and INSTAT to control the quality of the raw data. The analysis of maxima and minima indicated that the trends of maximum air temperature were positive and significant at height meteorological stations, whereas the trends for minimum air temperature were found to be at 10 meteorological stations. For all parameters analysed, Kigali Airport meteorological station indicated the higher significance of the trends. The majority of meteorological stations showed an increase in both hot days and nights, confirming Rwanda' s warming over time. The analysis of average seasonal air temperature showed almost similar trends even though not all were significant. This similarity in trends could be attributed to the fact that Rwanda' s short and long dry seasons coincide with rainy seasons
Assessment of the Intertropical Convergence Zone over the Atlantic Ocean through an Algorithm Based on Precipitation
No full textThe Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is a key atmospheric system on a global scale, primarily driven by trade wind convergence near the equator. The ITCZ plays a crucial role in modulating the climate of the borders of tropical continental areas. For instance, Northeastern Brazil experiences a climate influenced by the ITCZ over the Atlantic Ocean. In some periods, the ITCZ exhibits double bands, known as the double ITCZ. While the features of the ITCZ have been described using various approaches and atmospheric variables, there is still a lack of regional studies focusing on the ITCZ and double ITCZ in the Atlantic Ocean. In this context, the main goals of this study are (1) to describe a simple algorithm based on precipitation to identify the ITCZ and double ITCZ, (2) to present a climatology (1997–2022) of the position, width, and intensity of these two convective bands, and (3) to investigate variabilities in the ITCZ characteristics associated with anomalies of sea surface temperature (SST) in the tropical Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The double ITCZ typically occurs southward of the main cloud band, and between February and April, both bands are more distant (~4.5°). In the western sector of the Atlantic Ocean, the ITCZ and its double band extend to more southerly latitudes in austral autumn. Considering the entire Atlantic basin, the annual mean of the latitudinal position, width, and intensity of the ITCZ is 4.9°N, 4.2°, and 11 mm/day, respectively, while for the double ITCZ, it is 0.4°N, 2.6°, 10.3 mm/day, respectively. While the SST anomalies in the Pacific Ocean (El Niño and La Niña episodes) affect more the ITCZ width, the SST anomalies in the Tropical South Atlantic affect both its position and width
Performance Evaluation of Junctionless Cylindrical Gate-All-Around FET for Low Power Applications
No full textThe advent of device miniaturization techniques and the evolution of very deep submicron technology have led to the increased prominence of short channel effects (SCEs) in conventional transistors (CTs). Now, in the era of nanoengineering and nano-wires, current research is centered around a novel device known as the Junctionless Field Effect Transistor (JLFET), which incorporates gate-all-around engineering applications. Given the challenges associated with scaling transistor sizes, such as creating high-quality junctions and changing doping concentrations (~1019 cm–3) over a 10 nm distance, JLFET emerges as a promising alternative to CTs. Notably, JLFET lacks junctions and doping concentration gradients. In this study, the authors have conducted a comprehensive analysis and performance evaluation of JLFET and CTs, specifically in the context of low-power applications. Various performance parameters of JLFET, including SS, DIBL, transconductance, output conductance, and Ion/Ioff, have been assessed. The findings indicate that JLFET exhibits reduced susceptibility to SCEs compared to CTs and demonstrates exceptional current driving capability
Cyclopentadithiophene-based Conjugated Polymers for Organic Thermoelectric Devices and Other Applications
No full textThe 4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b’]dithiophene (CPDT)-based conjugated polymers (CPs) have garnered significant attention in various fields of organic electronics due to their strong electron-donating properties, extended π-plane, and rigid, planar chemical structure. These unique features enable CPDT-based CPs to be highly advantageous for use in a range of organic semiconductor devices. While CPDT-based CPs have been extensively investigated and utilized as electron donors in various organic semiconductor devices, there is limited literature discussing the electrochemical properties of CPDT building blocks and the representative examples of CPDT-based CPs. In this mini-review, the authors outline the electrochemical properties of the CPDT building block, which stem from its rigid and planar chemical structure, facilitating the use of CPDT derivative materials in the field of organic semiconductors, such as organic photovoltaics (OPVs), organic thin film transistors (OTFTs), and organic photodetectors (OPDs). Furthermore, the authors highlight the advantages of CPDT-based CPs, particularly, for organic thermoelectric applications (OTEs) such as strong electron-donating properties and extended π-conjugation, which lead to facile p-type doping characteristics in CPDT-based CPs. The authors discuss the basic working principles of OTEs, including several key parameters of OTE devices such as the Seebeck coefficient (S) and power factor (PF). Additionally, the authors address the main challenge in OTEs: the trade-off relationship between electrical conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient. The review presents several strategies to overcome these trade-off limitations, focusing on CPDT and other CPs for OTE applications