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Convergence and transition paths in transportation : fresh insights from a club clustering algorithm
Get PDFAbstract: This study examines the convergence in global transportation for 102 countries spanning 1990–2018. The econometric convergence method of Phillips and Sul was employed to test club convergence and the modelling of transition paths to convergence. I disaggregated the panel data into five regions, based on the United Nations classification of geographical regions. Transportation infrastructure was constructed by using a composite index of transportation via the principal component analysis/method. Our findings suggest the presence of panel convergence at the global and regional levels (except for Africa, Europe and Oceania, which exhibited divergence). However, I identified different numbers of clubs for the regions using an iterative testing procedure and found that the results could not be generalised across the regions as there were both convergent and divergent clubs. The policy measures on transport infrastructures for the regions are discussed in this study
Measuring Agile software project success beyond the triple constraint
Get PDFAbstract: Background: The triple constraint – cost, scope and time – has been previously used to measure the success of traditional developed software projects. However, these triple constraints are no longer effective to measure the success of Agile software projects. Research shows that there are many other metrics that are being used to measure Agile methods beyond the triple constraint. Organisations are adopting Agile methods for a number of reasons which in turn are benefiting the software developing organisation in various ways. However, these software developing organisations still face challenges when adopting Agile methods. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the different metrics to be considered when measuring Agile software project success beyond the triple constraints. Method: Data were collected through an online survey. The population of interest included Agile specialists who are working on Agile software projects. The collected data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 26. Results: Our results showed that software developing organisations implementing Agile software projects are using strategic metrics that bring value to software developing organisations when measuring their Agile software projects. One of the most cited metrics is customer satisfaction, which is believed to show more value because software projects cannot be accepted unless customers see the value in such projects. Conclusion: There is a pragmatic shift in software development method, adoption and implementation. Organisations that are eager to see success are now shifting from using traditional methods to Agile methods of software development, and by doing so, success is inevitable
Capacity building as a correlate of teachers’ competence to teach economics : a case study of Ilembedistrict, South Africa
Get PDFAbstract: Capacity building programmes play a vital role in teachers’ competence and development. While several studies have been conducted on the impact of capacity building of industrial workers on productivity, few research exists on the university capacity building programme for school teachers.Thus, this paper explores capacity building initiative of the University of Zululand in the teaching of Economics at Ilembe district in South African schools. In this regard, quantitative investigation methodology was followed. A case study approach was adopted to gather data from respondents. Questionnaires were administered to elicit information from respondents. Data gathered from questionnaires were triangulated with information provided by document analysis so that conclusions could be made. The findings of this investigation revealed that there should be ongoing capacity building workshop for teachers of Economics in Grades 10, 11 and 12. The investigation further revealed that teachers’ qualifications in the subject must be improved by the KZNDBE Ilembe District
Relationship between education and households’ electricity-saving behaviour in South Africa : a multilevel logistic analysis
Get PDFAbstract: This paper examines the relationship between the education level of household heads and households’ energy-saving practices at the micro-level in South Africa. It uses the community survey of 2016 as data source. Multilevel logistic models are estimated to account for similarities between households in same municipalities. The results point to a significant and positive relationship between the education level of household heads and households’ energy-saving practices. One can therefore infer that a household whose head is educated is more likely to have light bulbs, switch off lights in the house when not in use, and switch off appliances at the wall (not with remotes) when not in use than households whose heads have no education. Therefore, education offers a tool to incentivise households to save electricity, which will also contribute indirectly to the effort of addressing the challenges of climate change, amongst others
Microwave-assisted sol–gel synthesis of TiO2-mixed metal oxide nanocatalyst for degradation of organic pollutant
Get PDFAbstract: Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the most effective photocatalysts for low-cost degradation of organic pollutant; however, the wide band gap and the high recombination rate of the charge carriers are drawbacks that hinders it practical application. In this study, TiO2 and titanium mixed metal oxides ternary (V/Ag/TiO2) nanocatalyst was synthesized through a microwave-assisted sol–gel route using Ti (C4H9O)4, NH4VO3, and AgNO3 as precursors. The XRD analysis of the synthesized TiO2 and V/Ag/TiO2 depicts lattice fringes for rutile and anatase crystalline phases. Raman spectra indicate the formation of a mesoporous multiphase sample mixture of rutile and anatase phases. The spectrum shift to the visible light region was demonstrated by the UV-visible spectroscopy analysis. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) reveals a reduced band gap of 2.9 eV for TiO2 and 2.65 eV for V/Ag/TiO2. Brunauer– Emmett–Teller (BET) indicates a large surface area of 92.8 and 84.8m2 g−1 for TiO2 and V/Ag/TiO2, respectively..
Commercialisation of water supply in Zimbabwe and its effects on the poor : a working framework
Get PDFAbstract: Background: Neoliberalism favours the existence of free markets with limited government interference as the best way to conduct business. A feasibility study is necessary regarding the practicality of the application of neoliberalist policies in Zimbabwe’s water sector. This is important because there has been a lack of water in urban and rural areas of Zimbabwe even before the COVID-19 era. Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of the commercialisation of water in Zimbabwe. Setting: The formation of the state-owned Zimbabwe National Water Authority signified a move towards the solidification of the commercialisation of the water sector in Zimbabwe, based in part on neoliberal principles. Methods: This study is a conceptual study, involving the review of various sources of literature to identify trends in the commercialisation of Zimbabwe’s water sector. This study is descriptive in nature and involves the use of secondary data gathered from various publications. This study also makes use of a case study approach. Results: The findings of this study show that the commercialisation of the water sector in Zimbabwe is practical to a certain extent; however, it needs to be performed in a way that acknowledges existing strengths and weaknesses with continuous monitoring and evaluation taking place. Conclusion: While commercialisation is a necessary tool to incentivising economic water usage and generate revenue, there is a need to ensure that those who cannot afford to pay for water in Zimbabwe are safeguarded in order to guarantee their access to basic water, which is their human right
Intelligent machining of shape memory alloys
Get PDFAbstract: Shape memory alloys are important biomaterials but difficult-to-machine (DTM). Their machining needs to be done using intelligent techniques to obtain a better machinability. Hybrid optimization is one of such techniques which can perform modeling and optimization of machining parameters for the best values of machinability indicators. Wire electric discharge machining (WEDM) of shape memory alloy has been found as a prominent alternate to the conventional machining techniques; however it needs the assistance of intelligent techniques to machine such materials to obtain the optimum values of machinability indicators. In this paper, WEDM of shape memory alloy Ni55.8Ti was reported. WEDM was carried out by varying four process parameters i.e. servo voltage SV, pulse-on time Pon, pulse-off time Poff, and wire feed rate WF using Taguchi L16 robust design of experiment technique. A hybrid optimization technique TOPSIS-Fuzzy-PSO has been successfully used to optimize these parameters (SV-50V; Pon-1µs; Poff-17 µs; WF-4 m/min) for the best possible values of material removal rate (MRR) – 0.049 g/min, maximum roughness – 11.45 µm, and recast layer – 22.10 µm simultaneously
COVID-19 : considering impacts to employees and the workplace
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A search for the dimuon decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector
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Optimisation of large-radius jet reconstruction for the ATLAS detector in 13 TeV proton–proton collisions
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