Decision Support System For Energy Source Selection Based On Credibility Fuzzy Information.

This main objective of this work is to define some new operations of credibility fuzzy numbers using Hamacher t-norm and t-conorm. These operation are more generalized operation for credibility fuzzy numnbers, we apply these operations to aggregation operators for credibility fuzzy numbers. Furthermore, using the basic operational laws of Hamacher t-norm and t-conorm, we develop a series of credibility fuzzy Hamacher aggregation operators like credibility fuzzy Hamacher weighted averaging (CFHWA) and credibility fuzzy Hamacher geometric (CFHWG) aggregation operators. we also explained some of the proposed Hamacher aggregation operators properties like commutativity, idempotency and monotonicity. In order to validate the proposed Hamacher aggregation operators for credibility fuzzy numbers, we develop general algorithm for decision making technique under credibility fuzzy numbers and using these operators. The proposed algorithm is apply to electricity crises in Pakistan problems. Finally a comparison with other existing methods is done to check the accuracy and validation of the proposed methods. At rest the proposed method is verified by other well known methods.

Social capital or non-human sources? A cross-context study on information source selection of migrant farmer workers

Insufficient examination of social factors obscures the reason why non-human information sources are under-utilised by social groups with lower information literacy. This study explores the mechanism of information source selection (ISS) of Chinese migrant farmer workers (MFWs) in different industries by conducting a cross-context analysis. After iterative analyses of multiple cases, a theoretical model of information source selection within an individual’s information world is constructed. It explains why MFWs make more use of social capitals than non-human information sources in information seeking. Besides, the information needs are examined form both the needed information and the need itself. A classification of social capital as human information source is created and the roles that social capitals and non-human information sources play in ISS are identified. This study provides novel theoretical insights into the ‘old’ issue of ISS, and thus has practical implications for public information service providers and MFW-related policy makers.

It’s What’s on the Inside That Counts: Analyzing Student Use of Sources in Composition Research Papers

Objective – This study is designed to discover what kinds of sources are cited by composition students in the text of their papers and to determine what types of sources are used most frequently. It also examines the relationship of bibliographies to in-text citations to determine whether students “pad” their bibliographies with traditional academic sources not used in the text of their papers. Methods – The study employs a novel method grounded in multidisciplinary research, which the authors used to tally 1,652 in-text citations from a sample of 71 student papers gathered from English Composition II courses at three universities in the United States. These data were then compared against the papers’ bibliographic references, which had previously been categorized using the WHY Method. Results – The results indicate that students rely primarily on traditional academic and journalistic sources in their writing, but also incorporate a significant and diverse array of other kinds of source material. The findings identify a strong institutional effect on student source use, as well as the average number and type of in-text citations, which demographic characteristics do not explain. Additionally, the study demonstrates that student bibliographies are highly predictive of in-text source selection, and that students do not exhibit a pattern of “padding” bibliographies with academic sources. Conclusion – The data warrant the conclusions that an understanding of one’s own institution is vitally important for effective work with students regarding their source selection, and that close analysis of student bibliographies gives an unexpectedly reliable picture of the types and proportions of sources cited in student writing.

Design and assessment of water source alternatives for Mariout 2 water treatment plant extension

Factors such as population increase and industrialization, coupled with the establishment of touristic villages, have necessitated an upgradation of water treatment plants (WTPs) in Egypt. In this study, three different water source alternatives were designed and compared with a simple decision matrix to select the most appropriate one for upgrading and extending the Mariout 2 WTP. The first two alternatives are located on the k-40 Alex-Cairo desert road and k-77 EL Nasr canal, respectively, where the water source is obtained from the Nile River. The third alternative is located at the k-51 Alex-Matrouh coastal road and a non-conventional seawater source is used. The design results showed that the required energy power of the first, second, and third alternatives were 0.31, 0.066, and 0.72 kw/purified m3, respectively. The operational costs of the first, second, and third alternatives were 0.665, 0.426, and 6.621 EGP/m3, respectively. The cost of the intake pipes was found to be the lowest for the third alternative, whereas it was found to be the highest for the first one. Based on the results obtained from the decision matrix, the third alternative was found to be the most appropriate alternative followed by the second one. This study may assist in making decisions regarding the water source selection and treatment methods for the extension of the fourth stage of the Mariout 2 WTP.

The Dependence of the Fraction of Radio Luminous Quasars on Redshift and its Theoretical Implications

While radio emission in quasars can be contributed to by a variety of processes (involving star-forming regions, accretion disk coronas and winds, and jets), the powering of the radio loudest quasars must involve very strong jets, presumably launched by the Blandford–Znajek mechanism incorporating the magnetically arrested disk (MAD) scenario. We focus on the latter and investigate the dependence of their fraction on redshift. We also examine the dependence of the radio-loud fraction (RLF) on BH mass (M BH) and Eddington ratio (λ Edd), while excluding the redshift bias by narrowing its range. In both of these investigations, we remove the bias associated with: (1) the diversity of source selection by constructing two well-defined, homogeneous samples of quasars (first within 0.7 ≤ z ≤ 1.9, second within 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 0.7); and (2) a strong drop in the RLF of quasars at smaller BH masses by choosing those with BH masses larger than 108.5 M ⊙. We confirm some of the previous results showing the increase in the fraction of radio-loud quasars with cosmic time and that this trend can be even steeper if we account for the bias introduced by the dependence of the RLF on BH mass, whereas the bias introduced by the dependence of the RLF on Eddington ratio is shown to be negligible. Assuming that quasar activities are triggered by galaxy mergers, we argue that such an increase can result from the slower drop with cosmic time of mixed mergers than of wet mergers.

Asymmetric transfer and development of temporal-aspectual sentence-final particles in English-Cantonese bilinguals’ L3 Mandarin grammars

Aiming to shed new light on the discussion on transfer at initial stages of third language (L3) acquisition and development at later stages, this article reports on an empirical study of L3 acquisition of Mandarin temporal-aspectual sentence-final particles (SFPs) le, ne and láizhe by English speaking and English-Cantonese bilingual learners, at both low and high proficiency levels. Cantonese is typologically and structurally closer to Mandarin than English is. Our findings show obvious facilitative effects on le by its Cantonese counterpart in English-Cantonese bilingual learners’ L3 Mandarin, which supports the L3 models that advocate the deterministic role of structural similarity in the transfer source selection. A transfer asymmetry is observed between the cases of le and láizhe. No transfer effects are found in the L3 Mandarin data of láizhe, even though it has an equivalent SFP in Cantonese. This discrepancy is argued to be attributable to input factors and misleading forms. Moreover, patterns observed over different proficiency levels indicate that the quality and quantity of input and the register property of a particular SFP can greatly affect initial transfer and later development of L3 acquisition.

Ammonium Fertilizer Reduces Nitrous Oxide Emission Compared to Nitrate Fertilizer While Yielding Equally in a Temperate Grassland

Emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, are a challenge associated with application of nitrogen (N) fertilizers to soil. However, N source selection can play a role in reducing these emissions. Nitrous oxide emissions were measured from ammonium (ammonium sulfate) and nitrate (calcium nitrate) fertilizers over one year in temperate grassland using the closed static chamber method. Nitrogen was applied at a system representative rate of 220 kg ha−1 y−1 in six split applications. Cumulative annual N2O-N emissions were 0.29 kg ha−1 for the control, 1.07 kg ha−1 for the ammonium fertilizer and significantly higher at 2.54 kg ha−1 for the nitrate fertilizer. The annual emission factor (EF) for the ammonium fertilizer was 0.35% vs 1.02% for the nitrate fertilizer, a 66% reduction in the EF for ammonium vs nitrate and a 2.9 times higher EF for nitrate compared with ammonium. No difference in grass yield or N uptake was detected between fertilizers. This study shows that an ammonium fertilizer produces the same yield and N efficiency as a nitrate fertilizer with lower N2O emissions. The results also demonstrate that the nitrate portion of fertilizers is a key factor in N2O emissions in temperate grassland. This work is the first of its kind detailing the annual EF of both a solely ammonium-N and a solely nitrate-N fertilizer we could find.

Location Optimization of Hydrogen Refueling Stations in Hydrogen Expressway Based on Hydrogen Supply Chain Cost

Hydrogen energy is regarded as an important way to achieve carbon emission reduction. This paper focuses on the combination of the design of the hydrogen supply chain network and the location of hydrogen refueling stations on the expressway. Based on the cost analysis of the hydrogen supply chain, a multi-objective model is developed to determine the optimal scale and location of hydrogen refueling stations on the hydrogen expressway. The proposed model considers the hydrogen demand forecast, hydrogen source selection, hydrogen production and storage and transportation, hydrogen station refueling mode, etc. Taking Dalian City, China as an example, with offshore wind power as a reliable green hydrogen supply to select the location and capacity of hydrogen refueling stations for the hydrogen energy demonstration section of a certain expressway under multiple scenarios. The results of the case show that 4 and 5 stations are optimized on the expressway section respectively, and the unit hydrogen cost is $14.3 /kg H2 and $11.8 /kg H2 respectively, which are equal to the average hydrogen price in the international range. The optimization results verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the model.

Analyzing procurement fraud in the US Navy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze an ongoing fraud case in the US Navy involving the procurement of ship-husbanding services. The fraud acts will be analyzed from three perspectives–contract life cycle, internal controls and fraud schemes. Design/methodology/approach A data search was conducted to collect publicly available documents issued by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). A content analysis was used to analyze the fraud acts by aligning them with the contracting phase, internal control component and fraud scheme category. Findings The majority of the fraud occurred in the contracting phases of contract administration, followed by procurement planning and then source selection. The majority of the fraud occurred because of internal control component weaknesses in the control environment followed by information and communications. The majority of the fraud was aligned with the fraud scheme of collusion, followed by billing, cost and pricing. Research limitations/implications Because this is an ongoing investigation, additional DOJ information will become available and provide additional insight on the contracting phase, internal control component and fraud scheme. Practical implications The analysis suggests that the Navy’s lack of trained personnel, capable processes and effective internal controls result in the increased vulnerability to procurement fraud in its husbanding support services program. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to analyze fraud through the lens of auditability theory, specifically by the contracting phase and internal control component. Public agencies can enhance fraud detection and deterrence efforts by understanding how weaknesses in contracting processes and internal controls may increase an organization’s vulnerabilities for fraudulent activities.