Case-based reasoning system for prediction of fuel consumption by haulage trucks in open-pit mines

The shovel-truck system is commonly used in open-pit mining operations. Truck haulage cost constitutes about 26% of open-pit mining costs as the trucks are mostly powered by diesel whose cost is escalating annually. Therefore, reducing fuel consumption could lead to a significant decrease in overall mining costs. Various methods have been proposed to improve fuel efficiency in open-pit mines. Case-based reasoning (CBR) can be used to estimate fuel consumption by haulage trucks. In this work, CBR methods namely case-based reasoning using forward sequential selection (CBR-FSS), traditional CBR, and Naïve techniques were used to predict fuel consumption by trucks operating at Orapa Mine. The results show that the CBR method can be used to predict fuel consumption by trucks in open-pit mines; the predicted values of fuel consumption using the CBR-FSS technique gave much lower absolute residual values, higher standardised accuracy values, and effect sizes than those of other prediction techniques on all the datasets used. The system will enable mine planners to know the fuel consumed per trip and allow them to take mitigation measures on trucks with high fuel consumption

EXAMINING INTERNET USAGE PATTERNS ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES: THE CASE OF COMMUNITY INFORMATION CENTRES IN GHANA

In this paper, we explore the socio-economic effects of internet use at the community information centres (CICs) on livelihoods in three regions of Ghana. Sustainable livelihood framework was used as a lens to understand the phenomena being studied. Primary and secondary data collection methods were used. Three CICs in three regions were purposively selected and qualitative research method was adopted for the study. The data were analysed using Nvivo. The findings showed that sending email information was largely the reason why people used the Internet. We found that through the Internet, people learn, develop new business ideas and expand the market for their businesses. Internet service users cut costs of operation as well as increasing returns on investment. The internet as a social technology has also made business promotion and product launch accessible and affordable. Several small businesses have found ways to use theInternet to increase their brand awareness and get more clients at a minimal cost, and improved social discovery. With social networks like Face book and Twitter, people have easily kept up with all old friends and also made new ones both far and near. Despite these benefits, the use of Internet services at the CICs was bedeviled with some challenges such aspoor internet connectivity, cost of internet services and lack of staff skills to leverage its potential and empower clients. The result of the study provides a deeper understanding of the subject area, based on empirical evidence from the three regions of Ghana. The study recommended that CIC staff should develop a mind-set that is much more customer-focused and should treat the most underprivileged members of the communitiesastheirmostvaluedcustomersaswellastryingtounderstandtheirneeds and CIC project initiators need to be aware of the barriers that hinder people in marginalized communities from using CIC services. Efforts should be made to expand the benefits of the technologies to the majority. Failure to do this would mean that very few people would benefit from the CICs and the digital divide between rural and urban areas would still widen

Dalit-futurist Feminism: New Alliances through Dalit Feminism and Indian Science Fiction

This article analyses the novel Generation 14 by Priya Sarukkai Chabria from a convergent perspective of Dalit Studies (which encapsulates Dalit literature and Dalit feminism) and science fiction. I suggest that Indian science fiction that discusses caste with reference to the emerging technoscientific culture can be termed Dalit-futurism. I define this concept by drawing on the tradition of Dalit literature and science fiction and suggest that the Dalit-futurist texts seek to mutate caste to foreground its arbitrary structure. This paper uses the vocabulary of science-fiction criticism to analyze the mutation of caste in the fictional world and draws parallels with our social reality. It suggests that the social divisions in the fictional world echo the Brahmanical patriarchy of the Indian subcontinent. I theorize that the convergence of Dalit-futurism with feminist theory results in a new and transformative feminist configuration termed ‘Dalit-futurist feminism’. I explicate Dalit-futurist feminism through the cyborg figure, which I suggest shares overlapping themes and concerns with the Dalit feminist standpoint theory, conceptualized by Sharmila Rege and Cyborg feminism conceptualized by Donna Haraway. I suggest that the main protagonists, Aa-Aa and Clone 14/54/G, embody the intersectional, revisionist, and inclusive feminism advocated by Rege and Haraway, arguing for an affiliation-based politics that rejects women’s unity based on essentialized identities like sex, class, race, and caste and uncover the constructive nature of social processes that maintain and reproduce hierarchies, inequalities, and oppression

Exploring the link between ICT intervention and human development through a social capital lens : The case study of a wireless project in the mountain region of Nepal

While it is generally accepted that information and communication technology (ICT) can lead to development, the process through which this may happen remains unclear. At the core of this debate is the very definition of the term ‘development’. In this thesis, I adopted Amartya Sen’s definition. According to Sen (1999), human development is built upon a particular capability approach. He inferred that human development is the enhancement of human capabilities (freedom of choice) in order that people can live a life which they value and have reasons to value. The capability approach has, however, been criticized for its individualistic stance. In responding to this criticism, this thesis integrated the societal level by adding collective capabilities to conceptualize development. Such capabilities, which are not simple aggregates of individual capabilities, are built on collective action that can be fostered through social capital. Social capital is characterized as shared norms or values that promote social cooperation within and between communities. It can be further categorized into three forms: bonding, bridging, and linking social capital. Bonding refers to networks between homogeneous groups of people, bridging refers to networks between socially heterogeneous groups, and linking refers to vertical ties between different hierarchies of power and social status