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Design and simulation of full state feedback controller for DC motor
No full textThis paper presents the design and simulation of a Full State Feedback (FSFB) controller which controls the angular position of Direct Current (DC) motor. The controller is used to reduce the rise time of the system when given a position set point. An integral controller is then added to reduce the steady state error of the output. Once the transfer function of the DC motor is found, the mathematical model is converted to state space. The process involves utilizing the Pole placement technique to identify the state feedback gain, which subsequently improves the system’s response time. The results, which are simulated in Simulink, show that the addition of FSFB control significantly reduces the rise time of the response from 4.013s to 0.966s. To overcome the steady-state error of 9.84, integral control is added which reduced the error to zero. A reduction in rise time and steady state-error proves that a FSFB controller with integral control performs better than the original closed loop system without a controller. The research contribution is based on the mathematical modeling of a DC motor and the development of a state feedback controller, aiming to simplify the modeling process with its associated controllers. The methods presented can be used on any DC motor with known parameters. Finally, the control system is tested using random set points to prove the resilience of the controller to input changes
Review of planning and optimization of the renewable-energy-based micro-grid for rural electrification
No full textThe research work provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities in the current energy landscape, particularly focusing on the role of microgrids in addressing the issues associated with the increasing energy demand, population growth, and technological advancements. The review addresses the rapid urbanization and population growth, coupled with technological advancements, have indeed led to an upsurge in energy demand globally. As suburban areas expand quickly, the demand for electricity in these regions rises, and traditional power grids may struggle to keep up with the increasing load. The mismatch between energy demand and generation poses a significant challenge. This can lead to power systems operating close to their limits, making them susceptible to disturbances and outages. The vulnerability of power system models to disturbances highlights the need for more resilient and adaptive energy solutions. Therefore optimal renewablebased microgrids are proposed as a promising alternative to reduce dependency on centralized power grids. Microgrids can enhance energy reliability, efficiency, and sustainability, particularly in areas where traditional grid infrastructure is lacking. Microgrids are identified as a solution for rural electrification, addressing both economic feasibility and long-term stability. The study aims to review the technoeconomic aspects of microgrids, including the sizing and integration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES). The review addresses research gaps and implies a need for further exploration and development in microgrid-based energy management systems. Identifying and addressing these gaps will contribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of rural electrification. In summary, the study aims to provide a review summary of insights into the challenges and solutions associated with rural electrification through microgrids, emphasizing the importance of renewable energy sources and efficient energy management techniques. This research is crucial for addressing the evolving energy landscape and promoting sustainable and accessible energy solutions for diverse communities
Understanding cyber threats in an era of digitally connected classrooms: Lessons for the Nigerian higher education system and society
No full textThis review explores the risks associated with digital instructional practices, mainly focusing on the implications of cyber threats in higher education digitally connected classrooms and society. Although advancements in technology have enabled the development and use of diverse and adaptable teaching methods and societal endeavours, their impact during and after COVID-19 has also introduced or escalated cyber threats in higher education digitally connected classrooms and society, necessitating a review of approaches to teaching, learning and social engagements in today’s digitally rich environment. This review aims to identify the cyber threats confronting digitally connected higher classrooms and society, revealing their various forms in higher education or social environments. The review underscores the importance of continuous engagement with educators and social awareness programs as part of addressing cyber threats in higher education and society. The author concludes by offering valuable insights to help shape resilient digitally connected higher instructional systems in Nigeria
Digital transformation framework for quick service restaurants: a Sub-Saharan Africa case study
No full textDoel: Sedert die eeuwending het meer as 50% van alle Fortune 500-organisasies bankrot gespeel, of is oorgeneem, of het ophou
bestaan. Die val van hierdie multinasionale reuse word grootliks toegeskryf aan die ontwrigting van tradisionele sakemodelle deur
digitale modelle. As gevolg van digitale ontwrigting deur maatskappye soos Uber (e-taxidienste), Grubhub en DoorDash (kos/
restaurant) en Airbnb (gasvryheid) het digitale transformasie ‘n strategiese prioriteit vir organisasies geword. Die koms van die
COVID-19-virus in 2020 het organisasies se planne vir digitale transformasie versnel. Die uitdaging wat organisasies in die gesig
staar, is dat die meerderheid in hul digitaletransformasiepogings misluk. Hierdie studie het gefokus op digitale transformasie in die
kitsdiensrestaurant-bedryf (KDR-bedryf).
Metodologie/benadering: Die studie het ten doel gehad om insigte by te dra in hoe KDR-organisasies digitale transformasie kan
betrek, moontlik maak en bestuur. Gevallestudienavorsing kan gebruik word om by te dra tot kennis van individuele, groeps- of
organisatoriese en verwante verskynsels en stel navorsers in staat om werklike gebeure soos organisatoriese en bestuursprosesse
en die volwassewording van bedrywe te verstaan. KDR-organisasies gee die toon aan in die restaurantsektor vir sover dit
digitale verbeterings, die versnelling van innovasie en digitale outomatisering in die toekoms betref. Daarom is ‘n longitudinale
gevallestudie met ‘n multinasionale KDR-organisasie onderneem, waarin kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetodologieë aangewend is, met
halfgestruktureerde diepteonderhoude, deelnemerwaarnemings en dokumentontleding.
Bevindinge en aanbevelings: Daar is bevind dat KDR-organisasies hul digitale transformasie moet begin deur ‘n globale strategie
te skep en dit by die plaaslike mark of die land se spesifieke nuanses aan te pas. Organisasies moet skaalbare platforms sentraal
ontwikkel, deur middel van sentrums van uitnemendheid, en digitale oplossings en vermoëns oor die verskillende markte
heen ontplooi. Organisasies moet genoeg tyd daaraan toewys om op die digitale argitektuurentegnologiestrategie te fokus, en
kern- digitale tegnologieë, soos wolk-, mobiele en groot data, vir hul digitaletransformasieprogram te benut. Organisasies wat
‘n digitaletransformasiestrategie uitvoer, moet van die begin af toepaslik vaardige personeelkomplemente in diens neem en
digitaletransformasiedoelwitte as deel van hul veranderingsbestuur in alle departementele en personeeldoelwitte integreer.
Soepel sagteware-afleweringsmetodes, datagedrewe besluitnemingsbeginsels en toetsenleerbenaderings is aanbevole praktyke
wat as deel van digitale transformasie geïmplementeer moet word.
Oorspronklikheid/waarde: Verskeie organisasies worstel met digitale transformasie. Hoewel daar literatuur beskikbaar is oor
die komponente wat nodig is vir digitale transformasie, ontbreek ‘n gedetailleerde raamwerk of gestruktureerde leiding oor hoe
organisasies suksesvolle digitale transformasie kan aanpak. Die studie demonstreer oorspronklikheid deur ‘n raamwerk vir digitale
transformasie vir die KDR-bedryf in Afrika te ontwikkel. Die ontwikkeling van die raamwerk vir digitale transformasie verskaf ‘n
bloudruk wat organisasies kan aanneem om digitale transformasie aan te pak. Die studie het beide teoretiese en praktiese
implikasies vir die bestuur van digitale transformasie. Die bevindinge en raamwerk vir digitale transformasie kan breër wêreldwye
toepaslikheid buite Afrika suid van die Sahara hê. ABSTRACT:
Purpose: Since the turn of the century, more than 50% of Fortune 500 organisations have gone bankrupt, been acquired, or ceased to exist. The falling of these multinational giants is largely attributed to disruption of traditional business models by digital models. Due to digital disruption by companies such as Uber (e-hailing), Grubhub and DoorDash (food/restaurant) and Airbnb (hospitality) digital transformation has become a strategic priority for organisations. The 2020 advent of the COVID-19 virus accelerated organisations’ plans for digital transformation. The challenge facing organisations is that the majority are failing in their digital transformation efforts. This study focused on digital transformation in the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry.
Methodology/approach: The study aimed to contribute insights into how QSR organisations can engage in, enable and manage digital transformation. Case study research can be used to contribute to knowledge of individual, group or organisational and related phenomena and allows researchers to understand real-life events such as organisational and managerial processes and the maturation of industries. QSR organisations are leading the restaurant sector when it comes to digital enhancements, accelerating innovation and digital automation of the future. Therefore, through a longitudinal case study was undertaken with a multinational QSR organisation, in which qualitative research methodologies were employed, with in-depth semi-structured interviews, participant observations and document analysis.
Findings and recommendations: It was found that QSR organisations should begin their digital transformation by creating a global strategy and tailoring this to the local market or in-country nuances. Organisations should develop scalable platforms centrally, through centres of excellence, and deploy digital solutions and capabilities across the different markets. Organisations should allocate sufficient time to focus on the digital architecture and technology strategy, and leverage core digital technologies, such as cloud, mobile and big data for their digital transformation programme. Organisations executing a digital transformation strategy should employ appropriately skilled staff complements from the onset and integrate digital transformation goals into all departmental and staff objectives as part of their change management. Agile software delivery methods, data-driven decisioning principles and test and learn approaches are recommended practices to be implemented as part of digital transformation.
Originality/value: Several organisations are struggling with digital transformation. While there is literature available on the components needed for digital transformation, a detailed framework or structured guidance is missing on how organisations can embark on successful digital transformation. The study demonstrates originality by developing a framework for digital transformation for the QSR industry in Africa. The development of the framework for digital transformation provides a blueprint that organisations can adopt to engage digital transformation. The study has both theoretical and practical implications for the management of digital transformation. The findings and digital transformation framework may have broader global applicability beyond Sub-Saharan Africa
Disaster management training for environmental health: a narrative literature review
No full textThe growing frequency and severity of disasters worldwide have highlighted the need for environmental health practitioners to be equipped with specialised training to respond effectively to evolving public health contexts. Disasters can have long-lasting impacts on the environment and environmental health services, necessitating prompt and effective responses. However, the current environmental health workforce faces challenges in acquiring the necessary competencies to address environmental health threats during disasters. This narrative review synthesises existing literature on disaster management education for environmental health professionals, exploring current training, advancements and emerging trends. The review follows Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines and includes a total of 45 records that met inclusion criteria (compromising 15 peer-reviewed articles and 30 training records) published between 2002 and 2023. Findings highlight the expansion of environmental health degree programmes to include disaster management, better preparing newly qualified practitioners. However, a knowledge gap remains for previously qualified practitioners. High-income countries prioritising capacity building for environmental health practitioners in disaster management are better equipped to respond to and mitigate disasters.
Contribution: The review suggests that with proper basic training for disaster responders, more lives can be saved during and after disasters. It highlights the insufficiency of current training programmes and emphasises the need for advanced role-specific training for environmental health practitioners. The review emphasises the need for advanced role-specific training, community assessment skills and focused disaster response strategies to enhance environmental health practitioners’ ability to respond to disasters and improve public health resilience. Enhanced training, capacity building and collaboration are necessary to improve the competencies, skills and knowledge of environmental health practitioners in disaster risk management and public health emergencies
Breaking the glass ceiling: mentoring as support for African women’s academic career trajectories
No full textWomen in academia face many challenges. Although there have been possibilities for the advancement of women in higher education, gender discrepancies in leadership continue, with women facing structural challenges such as bias, and unequal possibilities for promotion. Balancing a career as a female academic, including parenting and family obligations adds another layer of complication, often resulting in breakdown. Women contribute distinct strengths to academia, expanding intellectual conversation and establishing varied learning environments. Mentorship, sponsorship, and inclusive policies assist in reducing barriers and encourage women to thrive as leaders, resulting in positive change in the academic setting. The article outlines the nuances of women in academia and the challenges and opportunities they face when pursuing leadership positions. It further explores the experiences and views of women in the faculty of Business at a University of Technology (UOT). A mixed methods approach was adopted to enable the researcher to give a female perspective to the academic position, experiences, and challenges within academia. The researcher used her judgment to select the sample based on the purpose of the research and a convenience sample to select best-case scenarios. Finally, the article suggests a participative model of collaboration, nurturance, compassion, and self-care to equip women with the tools they need to create career advancement opportunities and increase personal and professional change
Migratory movement of photo-identified humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae along the southeastern coast of Africa
No full textThe global conservation of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae relies on continuous assessments of the populations’ post-whaling status, which in turn require information on population mixing and movements. One of the seven breeding stocks in the Southern Hemisphere, breeding stock C and its associated four substocks (C1–C4), utilises the western Indian Ocean in several discrete breeding grounds. However, information on the mixing of stocks across breeding grounds is limited. This study utilises photo-identification methods applied to the first multi-regional catalogue of fluke images available for substock C1S (the southern component of substock C1) which uses the southern portion of the breeding ground, developed as part of this study, to investigate the whales’ movements along the southeastern coast of southern Africa. The identification of 1 746 unique individuals, including 11 withinyear matches and 48 between-year matches of 45 individuals, provides new insight into the intra-regional migration patterns, fidelity and structure of substock C1S. The within-year match results confirmed that individual humpback whales are broadly seasonally present for extended periods and visit multiple subregions along this coast, while the between-year matches revealed long-term fidelity to this coastline. Moreover, five of the between-year matches between subregions in South Africa and Mozambique linked the South African migration corridor to the breeding ground in southern and central Mozambique. These findings provide valuable insights into the movement patterns of substock C1S and significantly address the challenges of effective population management, which includes difficulties associated with the whale-watching industry on the east coast of South Africa
Sample-based estimates of elephants in Kruger National Park, South Africa
No full textIncreasing trends in elephant population numbers in South Africa contrast those in most other range states. Most of South Africa's elephants occur in Kruger National Park (Kruger). Elephant population estimates and trends in these are key aspects of evaluating their conservation status. Authorities in Kruger traditionally made use of elephants observed during total aerial surveys. This approach, however, has no measures of precision of the population estimates. Total aerial surveys also assume that sample errors and various biases have negligible impact on population estimates. We aimed to demonstrate and explore a sample-based methodology to obtain the most reliable population estimates and trends. Total and sample aerial surveys of elephants were simultaneously used to develop sample-based estimates with confidence intervals for the Kruger elephant time series. During 2020, sample errors resulted in an approximately 15% underestimate of the number of elephants in Kruger. The aerial survey that accounted for sample errors estimated 31 324 elephants (95% CI: 28 457–34 191) present in Kruger. Comparison with the 2013 sample-based estimate predicts annual exponential growth of 5.3% (95% CI: 3.7–7.0%). Correct estimates with precision are important to inform assessments of the conservation status of elephants and how this may change
Comparative analysis of machine learning algorithms to improve the diagnosis of African swine fever
No full textThis study focused on improving the diagnosis of African swine fever (ASF) by improving accuracy, reliability and precision using various machine learning algorithms. Data from the European Union Reference Laboratory for ASF and the EU Animal Disease Information System (ADIS) containing clinical information on wild and domestic pigs were processed and converted into numerical and categorical formats for analysis. Various machine learning models were tested as part of the study, including linear regression, Bayesian regression, support vector machines (SVM), decision trees, random forest classifiers, artificial neural networks (ANNs) and logistic regression. The models were evaluated using metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score and root mean square error (RMSE). The results showed that the SVM achieved the lowest performance with 44.4% accuracy, followed by the logistic regression model with 61.5%. The neural network model achieved 69% accuracy, closely followed by the decision tree model with 70%. The linear regression model performed slightly better with 74% accuracy. Bayesian regression achieved a higher accuracy of 80%, while the Random Forest model outperformed all others, achieving the highest accuracy of 88.9%. These results make an important contribution to economic efficiency and innovative applications in veterinary medicine and improve disease management through advanced machine learning techniques
Antidiabetic, anti‑inflammatory, antioxidant, and cytotoxicity potentials of green‑synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles using the aqueous extract of Helichrysum cymosum
No full textThe current research involved the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) using an aqueous extract of Helichrysum cymosum shoots, and subsequent characterization via different analytical methods, such as UV–Vis spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), and zeta potential. The biological effects of the ZnO-NPs were then tested against C3A hepatocyte cells and L6 myocyte cell lines via series of analysis, including cytotoxicity, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antidiabetic effect via enzymatic inhibition. The UV–Vis analysis showed a maximum absorption spectrum at 360, and the TEM analysis reveals a spherical and hexagonal structures, with an average dimension of 28.05–58.3 nm, and the XRD reveals a crystalline hexagonal structure. The zeta potential evaluation indicated that the ZnO-NPs are relatively stable at − 20 mV, and the FTIR analysis identified some important functional group associated with phenolics, carboxylic acid, and amides that are responsible for reducing and stabilizing the ZnO-NPs. The synthesized ZnO-NPs demonstrated cytotoxic effects on the cell lines at higher concentrations (125 µg/mL and 250 µg/mL), complicating the interpretation of the results of the inflammatory and antioxidant assays. However, there was a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the inhibitions of pancreatic lipase, alpha-glucosidase, and alpha-amylase, indicating beneficial antidiabetic effects