A Prediction Model of Future Electricity Pricing in Namibia

2013 ◽  
Vol 824 ◽  
pp. 93-99
Author(s):  
Godwin Norense Osarumwense Asemota

The shortage of local electricity generation capacity coupled with increasing reliance on South Africa, from which it imports about forty-eight (48%) percent of its electricity, and another five (5%) percent from Zambia, Zimbabwe and other short term energy markets constitute the major shortcomings of electricity industry in Namibia.Therefore, price stability and volatility indices of electricity can directly impact on the developmental imperatives of any nation. This is so because the quality, quantity and pricing of electricity available to the citizenry have become the common denominators for measuring the standards of living of any commune, like Namibia. Extensive literature searchand review, and about 127 yielded questionnaires out of the 300 administered questionnaires; were used to gather data for the study. The yielded survey data were subsequently subjected to statistical analyses using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 11.5) to develop a sigmoid plot for predicting the future electricity pricing model for Namibia employing first order differential equations. The results show that the generalisedlogistic equation model for the future pricing of electricity consumed in Namibia, increased by about 13.52% per year. Upon substituting the available 1995 electricity pricing data into the logistic equation model, it was possible to predict the future electricity price for 2010, with about 1.8% error. It can be seen that the developed logistic model fit is only viable for about fifteen (15) years. It is suggested that, better estimates can be obtained if the median electricity price for either 2002 or 2003 is used as the initial electricity price, to obtain more credible electricity prices with longertime ranges, for Namibia.

Methodology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 138-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsien-Yuan Hsu ◽  
Susan Troncoso Skidmore ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Bruce Thompson

The purpose of the present paper was to evaluate the effect of constraining near-zero parameter cross-loadings to zero in the measurement component of a structural equation model. A Monte Carlo 3 × 5 × 2 simulation design was conducted (i.e., sample sizes of 200, 600, and 1,000; parameter cross-loadings of 0.07, 0.10, 0.13, 0.16, and 0.19 misspecified to be zero; and parameter path coefficients in the structural model of either 0.50 or 0.70). Results indicated that factor pattern coefficients and factor covariances were overestimated in measurement models when near-zero parameter cross-loadings constrained to zero were higher than 0.13 in the population. Moreover, the path coefficients between factors were misestimated when the near-zero parameter cross-loadings constrained to zero were noteworthy. Our results add to the literature detailing the importance of testing individual model specification decisions, and not simply evaluating omnibus model fit statistics.


Author(s):  
Mary L. Hirschfeld

There are two ways to answer the question, What can Catholic social thought learn from the social sciences about the common good? A more modern form of Catholic social thought, which primarily thinks of the common good in terms of the equitable distribution of goods like health, education, and opportunity, could benefit from the extensive literature in public policy, economics, and political science, which study the role of institutions and policies in generating desirable social outcomes. A second approach, rooted in pre-Machiavellian Catholic thought, would expand on this modern notion to include concerns about the way the culture shapes our understanding of what genuine human flourishing entails. On that account, the social sciences offer a valuable description of human life; but because they underestimate how human behavior is shaped by institutions, policies, and the discourse of social science itself, their insights need to be treated with caution.


Author(s):  
Etienne Balibar

Many on the Left have looked upon “universal” as a dirty word, one that signals liberalism's failure to recognize the masculinist and Eurocentric assumptions from which it proceeds. In rejecting universalism, we have learned to reorient politics around particulars, positionalities, identities, immanence, and multiple modernities. This book builds on these critiques of the tacit exclusions of Enlightenment thought, while at the same time working to rescue and reinvent what universal claims can offer for a revolutionary politics answerable to the common. In the contemporary quarrel of universals, the book shows, the stakes are no less than the future of our democracies. The book investigates the paradoxical processes by which the universal is constructed and deconstructed, instituted and challenged, in modern society. It shows that every statement and institution of the universal—such as declarations of human rights—carry an exclusionary, particularizing principle within themselves and that every universalism immediately falls prey to countervailing universalisms. Always equivocal and plural, the universal is thus a persistent site of conflict within societies and within subjects themselves. And yet, the book suggests, the very conflict of the universal—constituted as an ever-unfolding performative contradiction—also provides the emancipatory force needed to reinvigorate and reimagine contemporary politics and philosophy. In conversation with a range of thinkers from Marx, Freud, and Benjamin through Foucault, Derrida, and Scott, the book shows the power that resides not in the adoption of a single universalism but in harnessing the energies made available by claims to universality in order to establish a common answerable to difference.


1913 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 595
Author(s):  
Robert Ludlow Fowler
Keyword(s):  

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 357-368
Author(s):  
Hanna Zalewska-Jura

This article discusses the relatively unknown poetry of Bessarion, the future Cardinal. The author argues with a negative opinion of F. M. Pontani concerning the three epicedia on the death of Theodora Comnena. The author analyses the composition, artistic means of expression and intertextual links in order to revise the common opinion in the subject and to prove the presence of literary values in the mentioned poems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Rani Erum

Anti-Muslim emotions are not new for the world. It was present since the rise of Islam. West was furious after facing Muslims in battle ground and constantly defeated by those who were less equipped but obtained high morals. Initially they were frightened due to the novelty and unique approach of faith and its execution, therefore, they try to fabricate the original manuscripts, making false stories and molesting the last prophet’s life history. Islamophobia transformed after 9/11 and become more intensified and dangerous. It effected the common men worldwide without any boundaries. The respective research is based on the fact that hatred is the negative notion whether it related with nobility or wicked perception. It creates harmful effects on human psychology which subsequently created abusive mindset and actions. When any form of ideology identified as phobia means uncontrolled envy combine with the concept and turn it into a form of frenzied connotation. The fight between East and West was ancient which now convert among religions particularly Islam and others. The research is intend to provide the journey of anti-Islamism from past to present as well its significant elements and its present state. It also discusses the future prospects of clash of religions.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Capainolo ◽  
Utku Perktaş ◽  
Mark D. E. Fellowes

Abstract Background Climate change due to anthropogenic global warming is the most important factor that will affect future range distribution of species and will shape future biogeographic patterns. While much effort has been expended in understanding how climate change will affect rare and declining species we have less of an understanding of the likely consequences for some abundant species. The Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula; Linnaeus 1758), though declining in portions of its range, is a widespread blackbird (Icteridae) species in North America east of the Rocky Mountains. This study examined how climate change might affect the future range distribution of Common Grackles. Methods We used the R package Wallace and six general climate models (ACCESS1-0, BCC-CSM1-1, CESM1-CAM5-1-FV2, CNRM-CM5, MIROC-ESM, and MPI-ESM-LR) available for the future (2070) to identify climatically suitable areas, with an ecological niche modelling approach that includes the use of environmental conditions. Results Future projections suggested a significant expansion from the current range into northern parts of North America and Alaska, even under more optimistic climate change scenarios. Additionally, there is evidence of possible future colonization of islands in the Caribbean as well as coastal regions in eastern Central America. The most important bioclimatic variables for model predictions were Annual Mean Temperature, Temperature Seasonality, Mean Temperature of Wettest Quarter and Annual Precipitation. Conclusions The results suggest that the Common Grackle could continue to expand its range in North America over the next 50 years. This research is important in helping us understand how climate change will affect future range patterns of widespread, common bird species.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document