The role of manufacturing and service sectors in economic growth : an empirical study of developing countries

Historically, manufacturing has played a key role in the economic development of developing countries. The experience of countries like India, which invested in services, and the failure of industrialization in Africa and Latin America have led to skepticism about the effectiveness of manufacturing to foster development. The paper examines the role of manufacturing and service sectors in economic development in the period (1950-2015). It presents raw data from 50 countries, 10 advanced economies and 40 developing countries. The results of the empirical analysis are in line with the manufacturing engine of growth hypothesis. The share of manufacturing of GDP is positively related to economic growth and this effect is more pronounced for the poorer countries, no such effects were found for services. The analysis of the role of manufacturing and service sectors in periods of growth acceleration show that the effects of manufacturing are particularly pronounced in periods of growth acceleration. The tentative conclusion is that manufacturing is especially important in periods of accelerated growth. Services also play a role in growth accelerations, but less important than manufacturing.peer-reviewe

Cutting load capacity of end mills with complex geometry

Cutting load capacity of cemented carbide end mills with high length-to-diameter ratios is determined from critical geometric and loading parameters, including a stress concentration factor (SCF) to account for serrated edges, which is determined by finite element analysis. Tensile strengths are characterised using a statistical Weibull analysis from 4-point bend tests of cemented carbide blanks of two different diameters. The approach is used to predict probability of survival for cutters under different loading conditions. Results are compared to measured failure cutting loads under service conditions as well as to those measured in static three point bend tests

Energy Efficient and Secure Wireless Sensor Networks Design

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are emerging technologies that have the ability to sense, process, communicate, and transmit information to a destination, and they are expected to have significant impact on the efficiency of many applications in various fields. The resource constraint such as limited battery power, is the greatest challenge in WSNs design as it affects the lifetime and performance of the network. An energy efficient, secure, and trustworthy system is vital when a WSN involves highly sensitive information. Thus, it is critical to design mechanisms that are energy efficient and secure while at the same time maintaining the desired level of quality of service. Inspired by these challenges, this dissertation is dedicated to exploiting optimization and game theoretic approaches/solutions to handle several important issues in WSN communication, including energy efficiency, latency, congestion, dynamic traffic load, and security. We present several novel mechanisms to improve the security and energy efficiency of WSNs. Two new schemes are proposed for the network layer stack to achieve the following: (a) to enhance energy efficiency through optimized sleep intervals, that also considers the underlying dynamic traffic load and (b) to develop the routing protocol in order to handle wasted energy, congestion, and clustering. We also propose efficient routing and energy-efficient clustering algorithms based on optimization and game theory. Furthermore, we propose a dynamic game theoretic framework (i.e., hyper defense) to analyze the interactions between attacker and defender as a non-cooperative security game that considers the resource limitation. All the proposed schemes are validated by extensive experimental analyses, obtained by running simulations depicting various situations in WSNs in order to represent real-world scenarios as realistically as possible. The results show that the proposed schemes achieve high performance in different terms, such as network lifetime, compared with the state-of-the-art schemes

Asessment of Vehicle Maintenance Culture and Its Cost Effectiveness: Case of University for Development Studies

The study assessed the maintenance culture of vehicles and the associated costs in the University for Development Studies at the Central Administration, Tamale Campus in order to provide solutions to maintenance problems facing the University with the associated high cost of maintenance. The study considered all 55 vehicles and drivers at the Central Administration used by various offices, directorates and general use (pool). However, data on 34 vehicles were available which is far more than the needed representation. Ten drivers were sampled to participate in the study using the simple random sampling approach. Face-to-face interviews with one-on-one respondents were conducted with the selected drivers. The researcher used open ended questions to gather relevant data from the respondents. The secondary data was obtained from mechanics and technicians who had presented their bills for payment at the Transport Office. Both the qualitative and quantitative methods were used in analyzing the data collected. The Grounded Theory and excel sheets were employed for the data analysis. The study revealed that that the poor maintenance culture is as a result of poor funding, delay in the release of funds for maintenance, inflation of the cost of spare parts, design errors, use of sub-standard materials, age of vehicles, insufficient knowledge and skills of mechanics and technicians were factors identified as those contributing to problems of effective maintenance culture. It is therefore recommended that a formalized maintenance department should be established with well qualified and experienced personnel with practical knowledge and skills in vehicle maintenance and with a well-equipped workshop with the necessary tools and spare parts.  This will allow fast and quick response to vehicle maintenance issues

Asessment of Vehicle Maintenance Culture and Its Cost Effectiveness: Case of University for Development Studies

The study assessed the maintenance culture of vehicles and the associated costs in the University for Development Studies at the Central Administration, Tamale Campus in order to provide solutions to maintenance problems facing the University with the associated high cost of maintenance. The study considered all 55 vehicles and drivers at the Central Administration used by various offices, directorates and general use (pool). However, data on 34 vehicles were available which is far more than the needed representation. Ten drivers were sampled to participate in the study using the simple random sampling approach. Face-to-face interviews with one-on-one respondents were conducted with the selected drivers. The researcher used open ended questions to gather relevant data from the respondents. The secondary data was obtained from mechanics and technicians who had presented their bills for payment at the Transport Office. Both the qualitative and quantitative methods were used in analyzing the data collected. The Grounded Theory and excel sheets were employed for the data analysis. The study revealed that that the poor maintenance culture is as a result of poor funding, delay in the release of funds for maintenance, inflation of the cost of spare parts, design errors, use of sub-standard materials, age of vehicles, insufficient knowledge and skills of mechanics and technicians were factors identified as those contributing to problems of effective maintenance culture. It is therefore recommended that a formalized maintenance department should be established with well qualified and experienced personnel with practical knowledge and skills in vehicle maintenance and with a well-equipped workshop with the necessary tools and spare parts.  This will allow fast and quick response to vehicle maintenance issues

Bourg-de-Péage – Requalification du centre-ville

Le diagnostic, réalisé dans le cadre de la requalification du centre-ville de Bourg-de-Péage, a porté sur quatre zones, réparties dans différentes parties de la ville. La zone 1, dans la grande rue Jean-Jaurès, « Renouveau », la zone 2, place de Delay-d’Agier, la zone 3, grande rue Jean-Jaurès, « Renaissance », et, la zone 4, place Jean-Monin, devant la mairie. Il a conduit à mettre au jour des vestiges appartenant à des époques récentes, du xviiie s. jusqu’au xxe s.Sur le plan stratigraph..

Donzère – Chemin des Opilias (lot 1)

À la différence de la partie est de la parcelle A 302p, occupée par un site antique (Attiah 2021), le diagnostic archéologique engagé au lieu-dit chemin des Opilias lot no 1 à Donzère (Drôme) n’a pas mis en évidence de vestiges d’occupations anciennes

Donzère – Chemin des Opilias

L’opération de diagnostic archéologique réalisée au chemin des Opilias sur la parcelle A 302p (moitié est) s’est révélée positive. Sur cette parcelle de 1 040 m2, quatre sondages ont été ouverts dans lesquels ont été mis au jour différents vestiges antiques. Cette occupation est caractérisée par la présence d’un mur, de huit fosses, d’un four à chaux, de deux structures linéaires indéterminées, d’une structure fossoyée et d’un reste de sole. Les datations proposées couvrent la période du Ha..

Bourg-lès-Valence – RN 7 PR 41, lieu-dit les Jonquettes

Le diagnostic archéologique s’inscrit en amont du projet de déviation de l’autoroute A7 qui va permettre de réaliser la réfection d’un pont passant sur la RN 7 au lieu-dit Les Jonquettes, dans la commune de Bourg-lès-Valence. Les parcelles (AD 27p, AD 28, AD 29, AD 30, D 1596p, D 1242) concernées par le projet se situent de part et d’autre de la RN 7. Le diagnostic archéologique n’a pas mis en évidence de vestiges d’occupations anciennes, excepté deux fosses empierrées contemporaines, locali..

Minds, Motherboards, and Money: Futurism and Realism in the Neuroethics of BCI Technologies

From the Introduction: Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) are systems that enable the brain to send and receive information to and from a computer, bypassing the body\u27s own efferent and afferent pathways. BCIs have been used in experimental animal models to augment perception, motor control and even memory (Velliste et al., 2008; Berger et al., 2011; Torab et al., 2011). Human BCIs include cochlear implants and a host of experimental devices including retinal implants (Niparko et al., 2010; Klauke et al., 2011). BCI technology holds the potential to benefit humanity greatly, but also the potential to do harm, and its ethical implications have therefore been addressed by a number of commentators