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An intelligent fault monitoring system for Railway Neutral Sections
Get PDFAbstract. An investigation into the use of machine learning for fault detection and classification of Neutral Section faults on a railway system. Two methods are addressed, K-means for condition clustering and Support Vector Machines for condition classification. The fault monitoring system proposed uses data col-lection via wireless sensors as opposed to typical labor intensive approaches such as manual inspections and observation via camera-fitted trolleys which are proven to be inefficient, expensive and time consuming practices. This paper in-vestigates the feasibility of deployment of the smart fault detection system on the overhead wires. The system applies machine learning on the remotely collected data for categorization of events on the neutral section in order to determine anomalous behavior. The system comprises accelerometers and infrared-based temperature sensing to record vibration and temperature information relating to the interaction between the pantograph and contact wire. The system is intended to monitor and detect any events outside the normal limits thereby allowing for triggering of alarms in real-time. The measured data from onsite is conveyed to the ThingSpeak for cloud computation thereby providing notifications in real-time allowing the operator to visualize, analyze and act accordingly. In this paper, the built prototype is tested and preliminary analyses of the applied techniques on the collected data is carried out. Experimental results show that these methods are feasible on the railway and can be deployed to detect anomaly and classify events accordingly
“Settlers and comrades”. The Variety of capitalism in South Africa, 1910-2016.
Get PDFAbstract: Abstract The complexities of business in Africa is illustrated through the case study of economic and business development of the different countries. By the time decolonisation brushed across Africa from the late 1950s, South Africa enjoyed political independence under white rule, controlling a viable economy based on mineral and industrial capitalism. This paper shows the change in a powerful state-capitalist nexus from mining to the industry to ethnic or race-based ‘empowerment’. Contesting nationalisms between Afrikaners and loyal British imperial sympathisers, constituted the rationale for inward-looking economic policies for national economic development. The formation of unstable coalitions for market co-ordination managed market distortion to facilitate the development of the leading modern industrial economy in Africa, while the rest of independent Africa experimented with central planning, socialism and state-capitalism. This paper illustrates the peculiarity of capitalist development in Africa, specifically South Africa, considering the particular institutional contexts and broad business environment in which business acts strategically. South African business proactively engaged in a dynamic state/business relationship from national capitalism under minority rule, to an unstable balance of majority black capitalism, socialist worker welfare capitalism and tribal communalism. The manifestation of an unstable but unique state-business nexus involving market and non-market elements, adds innovation to the VoC framewor
The Social Life of the State: Relational Ethnography and Political Sociology
Get PDFAbstract : Political sociologists have typically studied the state as a self-enclosed institution hovering above civil society. In this formulation, the state is rendered as omniscient, gazing out over a passive civil society as if it were a naturalized landscape. But in this special issue, we think about how states “see” in relation to whom and what is seen, and how these subjects and collective actors become visible in the first place. We advocate a relational political ethnography that views the state and civil society as inextricably intertwined and mutually co-constitutive. People’s experiences with the state shape their visions of that state, which in turn inform their strategic decisions and everyday engagements. And these decisions and engagements affect how the state views them. To put it differently, in this special issue, we explore the dialectical relationship between how the state “sees” and how it is “seen.” They are inseparable processes. As we argue here, the very unity and coherence of the state apparatus turns not just upon its self-representation but equally upon how people make sense of these representations. How people understand this apparent state in the context of their everyday lives is a crucial source of its power and authority; it explains the reproduction of the state as a social institution. We conclude by introducing the seven empirical contributions to this issue, all of which practice relational political ethnography
The investigation of the link between human reliability and mine productivity
Get PDFAbstract: South Africa’s mining industry (SAMI) has transitioned from simply conventional to becoming a very complex, mechanized and diverse industry. This has led to several, newly found challenges. One of the most significant among these is human reliability. It is without a doubt one of the most evident challenges at South African mines today. In Ronald W. McLeod’s (2015) words “Reliable human performance means the standards of behavior and performance of the people responsible for designing, planning and organizing operations expected when they made decisions about the role of people in assuring the safety and reliability of their operations”. A loss of human reliability therefore refers to a situation where employee management behavior was not consistent with work procedures and the organizations expectations. A clear understanding of the psychology of human performance and ergonomics can be used not only to improve environmental control, safety and health but also to scale up the returns on capital intensive assets
Influence of entrepreneurship learning modes on entrepreneurial intentions of science based students
Get PDFAbstract: While entrepreneurship education has been extensively discussed in related academic literature, scholarly works on the modes through which entrepreneurship education is learnt seems to be missing in literature. The present paper thus explores the three modes of learning (formal, non-formal and informal) with the understanding that the three modes are all viable sources of acquiring entrepreneurship education. The study draws insight from established theories in literature such as the theory of planned behaviour, theory of reasoned action, theories of motivation. The study relied upon the design and administration of a questionnaire that was developed from relevant literature and theories. The data obtained from a total of 150 accurately completed questionnaires was used in the analysis. The study thus puts forward that non-formal entrepreneurship education, which sits somewhere in-between the two extremes (formal and informal learning), was the best approach for building an interest in entrepreneurship amongst STEM students who are naturally deprived of this mode of education. The study endorses the uniqueness of non-formal education because of its adaptability to each student’s stage of development or learning. Non-formal entrepreneurship education was found to be versatile, participative and inclusive, based upon the needs of the students
ICT usage to improve efficiency in the City of Johannesburg public transportation system
Get PDFAbstract: Information communication simplifies the way of living as everyone is updated with everything happening around them. With technology, information distribution becomes more efficient and convenient, and everyone could have access to the same information which on most occasions is accurate. Globally, developed countries have implemented different techniques in information dissemination for public transport through technology which today these technologies are adopted in public transport everywhere in the world including developing countries. South Africa is a developing country that has numureous public transportation systems for commuting and with the City of Johannesburg (COJ) having all forms of public transportation available in the country. Currently, the city has various forms of public transport including both formal and informal public transportation such as ride-share services (uber and taxify), Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) known as Rea Vaya, High-Speed Trains (HST) known as Gautrain system and traditional public transport systems (mini-bus taxis, Putco Bus, metro rail). This paper seeks to identify whether the high usage of ICT could assist to integrate both formal and informal public transport systems through different dynamics to deliver sustainable and convinience public transportation systems. The study adopted a case study research design and a mixed method approach that facilitated the gathering and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data from the public transport officials and commuters. Statistical, content and document analysis were used to glean more information. Preliminary results indicated that Innovative formal public transportation such as Gautrain system, Rea Vaya bus, uber and taxify deployed the usage of ICT which makes commuters to be informed with the whereabouts of the innovative public transportation, however, commuters still struggle with convinient movement in and around the city due to numerous factors. Consequently, informal public transport such as mini-buses (taxis) which transport 60% of commuters daily in and around the city does not have the usage of ICT in any form but can be efficient at certain times and can also be frastruating at some times as there is no form of communication. The implications of the study indicate that the city has the high availability of public transportation which is disjoint from each other affecting reliabilty and efficiency for commuting as there is lack of formal information communication within these different public transportation systems as all of them are interested in benefiting individually. The study recommends a development of an integrated online application which will provide information on both formal and informal public transpotation plartforms in the City of Johannesburg for commuters to be able to be informed of the availability of public transport in the City for Johannesburg 24hours for conviniency. Further, this app could assist commuters to identify the movement of the innovative formal public transport in-real time to create seamless travelling if necessary, for commuters. With efficient and integrated public transport system in the city will result in more usage of public transportation
Thetha Nami : participatory development of a peer-navigator intervention to deliver biosocial HIV prevention for adolescents and youth in rural South Africa
Get PDFAbstract : Background: Despite effective biomedical tools, HIV remains the largest cause of morbidity/mortality in South Africa – especially among adolescents and young people. We used community-based participatory research (CBPR), informed by principles of social justice, to develop a peer-led biosocial intervention for HIV prevention in KwaZulu- Natal (KZN). Methods: Between March 2018 and September 2019 we used CBPR to iteratively co-create and contextually adapt a biosocial peer-led intervention to support HIV prevention. Men and women aged 18–30 years were selected by community leaders of 21 intervention implementation areas (izigodi) and underwent 20 weeks of training as peernavigators. We synthesised quantitative and qualitative data collected during a 2016–2018 study into 17 vignettes illustrating the local drivers of HIV. During three participatory intervention development workshops and community mapping sessions, the peer-navigators critically engaged with vignettes, brainstormed solutions and mapped the components to their own izigodi. The intervention components were plotted to a Theory of Change which, following a six-month pilot and process evaluation, the peer-navigators refined. The intervention will be evaluated in a randomised controlled trial (NCT04532307). © The Author(s). 2021 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. * Correspondence
Simulation studies on the co-production of syngas and activated carbon from waste tyre gasification using different reactor configurations
Get PDFAbstract: Gasification is one of the most efficient thermo-chemical conversion processes for transforming waste tyres into syngas and high-valued solid carbon products such as activated carbon (AC). This study evaluated the coproduction of syngas and AC in three reactor configurations: fluidized bed, fixed bed, and rotary kiln at the systems level. A single-stage steam gasification and char activation process was simulated using Aspen Plus V10 software. The effects of gasification parameters such as equivalence ratio (ER) and steam-to-fuel ratio (SFR) were investigated and compared. The best conditions for the co-production of syngas and AC in the reactors were evaluated and compared. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) computational analysis was used to predict the surface area of the AC. The fluidized bed gasifier has the potential to produce syngas with a low heating value (LHV) of 6.67 MJ/Nm3, cold gas efficiency (CGE) of 82.4%LHV, AC with BET surface area of 698.63 m2/g and a carbon conversion ratio (CCR) of 92.5%, the fixed bed gasifier has a syngas LHV of 6.25 MJ/Nm3, CGE of 85.9%LHV, AC with BET surface area of 432.51 m2/g and CCR of 97.3% and the rotary kiln gasifier has a syngas LHV of 5.96 MJ/Nm3, CGE of 74%LHV, AC with BET surface area of 661.73 m2/g and CCR of 93%
Uptake and mutual recognition of MOOCS in South Africa
Get PDFAbstract: The findings revealed the great extent to which multifaceted change and flexibility is needed at institutional and individual levels if MOOCs are to be adopted successfully and cross-accredited across higher education institutions (HEIs). In as much as MOOCs are easily accessible, there remain challenges in individual access in rural and township areas, individual perceptions, and management resistance to adopt new ways of accessing and offering online content. Among many interventions are awareness of the available MOOCs and how accredited MOOCs can be designed with skills pathways into jobs – that is the critical issue. NEMISA is working with the outcomes of the findings to improve its 4IR course offerings along with a number of stakeholders in industry, academia and international agencies
Business challenges of arts and crafts street vendors at key tourist attractions in Soweto, South Africa
Get PDFAbstract: Soweto is South Africa’s most iconic tourist destination, providing local street vendors with an opportunity to sell arts and crafts. This paper presents a detailed overview of business challenges faced by a population of 60 arts and crafts street vendors operating at two main tourist attractions in Soweto, the Mandela House/Museum and the Hector Pieterson Memorial. The study employs a mixed methodology based on a four-stage exploratory sequential research design. The profile characteristics of arts and craft street vendors lead to some interesting conclusions whereby the triangulation of qualitative and quantitative results reveals the main challenges in operating their businesses. They are grouped as: a) inadequate infrastructure, especially a lack of dedicated trading space and storage facilities; b) lack of safety due to high levels of congestion and crime affecting daily trade; and c) non-compliance with legislation, lack of government funding and reliance on the cash economy. The study presents a contribution to tourism literature on the little-known challenges of informal businesses trading as arts and crafts street vendors at main tourist attractions in Soweto
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