1,720,964 research outputs found
Comparative analysis of the challenges of generic engineering logistics to humanitarian logistics in disaster response and relief support in South Africa
Get PDFM.Ing. (Engineering Management)Logistics management has been extensively researched and implemented in the private sector, but it is gradually gaining traction in the humanitarian sector. Most humanitarian organization operations involve a mix of many activities. Some of them are involved in disaster relief, as short-term operations carried out immediately after a disaster, while some are involved in continuous aid work aimed at restoring normalcy to the disaster ravaged society and such efforts are longer term. Humanitarian organizations, particularly Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are the primary vehicle through which donors channel their contributions, but it is unfortunate to note that many of these organizations face challenges with the logistics of effectively getting the relief aid to the intended users. The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding in humanitarian logistics (HL) and identify the key challenges affecting aid agencies during humanitarian action. The study adopts a quantitative approach; data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was used to identify the most outstanding subjects and areas of interest in line with humanitarian logistics challenges identified in the literature. The findings from the research survey shows that there is an awareness of the importance of humanitarian logistics in the sector, but the results also show that only half of the participants of the survey reported that they have a logistics professional employed in their organization. Furthermore, only 50% of the participants of the survey indicated that their organization has a preparedness plan in place in the event of an emergency. Other challenges identified are: lack of fund; difficulty to obtain real time information and poor knowledge management. The author identified unavailability and tagging of funds as the most critical challenge the humanitarian organizations face because it hinders capacity building and organizational development. The study also suggests that learning and forging closer ties with private organizations is an effective means of overcoming some of the identified challenges
Surface finish, microhardness and microstructure of laser metal deposited 17-4PH stainless steel
Get PDFLaser metal deposition is a metal-based additive manufacturing technology. It is a very sensitive and complex process because of the different process parameters involved and the interrelations between these parameters. A thorough understanding of the underlying physics of the process is essential in developing a comprehensive database of the properties of materials processed with this technology. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of laser power on a laser-deposited 17-4 precipitation hardenable stainless steel alloy. The as-built microstructure, phase composition, microhardness and surface finish were analysed. The results show that a defect-free sample with good metallurgical bonding and minimal dilution can be produced using high laser power in the range 1400–2600 W and a scanning speed of 0.6 m/s. The microstructure in the clad layer was dominated by martensite and an improvement in surface finish and maximum hardness was observed with increased laser power.
Significance:
To fully benefit from the additive manufacturing technology, a comprehensive database of the material properties of alloys produced with this technology is required. This study expands on the body of knowledge related to the additive manufacturing of a 17-4PH stainless steel alloy, particularly highlighting the possibility of producing fully dense parts using higher laser power and scanning speed. These two parameters could significantly reduce the build time
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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