Concept Blending and Dissimilarity: Factors for Creative Design Process: A Comparison between the Linguistic Interpretation Process and Design Process

This study investigated the design process in order to clarify the characteristics of the essence of the creative design process vis-à-vis the interpretation process, by carrying out design experiments. The authors analyzed the characteristics of the creative design process by comparing it with the linguistic interpretation process, from the viewpoints of thought types (analogy, blending, and thematic relation) and recognition types (commonalities and alignable and nonalignable differences). A new concept can be created by using the noun-noun phrase as the process of synthesizing two concepts—the simplest and most essential process in formulating a new concept from existing ones. Furthermore, the noun-noun phrase can be interpreted in a natural way. In our experiment, the subjects were required to interpret a novel noun-noun phrase, create a design concept from the same noun-noun phrase, and list the similarities and dissimilarities between the two nouns. The authors compare the results of the thought types and recognition types, focusing on the perspective of the manner in which things were viewed, i.e., in terms of similarities and dissimilarities. A comparison of the results reveals that blending and nonalignable differences characterize the creative design process. The findings of this research will contribute a framework of design practice, to enhance both students’ and designers’ creativity for concept formation in design, which relates to the development of innovative design. Keywords: Noun-Noun phrase; Design; Creativity; Blending; Nonalignable difference</p

Counteracting innovative constraints: insights from four case studies of African knowledge-intensive metalworking and automotive clusters – ‘the Akimacs’

We respond to repeated calls over the years to further develop cluster theory specifically in an African context. Our contribution is to construct a framework which integrates theories focusing on path dependency, transaction cost economics (efficiency and systemic interdependency models) and regional development (lock in models). Our focus is on the innovativeness of African clusters and constraints on such innovation. Thus, drawing on cluster literature on constraints to innovation coupled with insights from current empirical work within African automotive clusters, we examine the challenges of counteracting the multilevel constraints which hinder innovation in African clusters. We develop a model for counteracting cluster constraints focusing on the impact of variations in innovative frequency, diffusion of innovations, innovative speed and protection of innovation. The model emphasizes the opportunities that arise when new entrant and incumbent firms interact to neutralize constraints at transactional, social, ecological and knowledge levels

Coloring Outside The Lines: An Intersectionality Approach To Understanding The Homeschooling Experiences of Black Families

Current data suggest that homeschooling is a diverse and growing social movement. Unfortunately, the homeschooling narrative reflected in research is often skewed by the socioeconomic status, political power, and cultural interests of White, two-parent, middle-class, homeschooling households, marginalizing the experiences of a growing population of Black homeschoolers. Considering that the plausibility of homeschooling is dependent upon access to social, economic, and temporal resources, this study examines the resources that Black families identified as substantive to sustain their homeschooling efforts. Relying on 20 in-depth interviews, I utilized the theoretical frames of symbolic interactionism, cognitive sociology, and intersectionality and the coding procedures of grounded theory methods to analyze the narratives of Black homeschooling parents. Ultimately, I found the metaphor of coloring outside the lines to be a fitting representation for Black families resourcefulness in homeschooling. In addition, I introduce complicit privilege and rearticulated license—the mechanisms through which Black families navigated stratifications

Evaluation of Anthropometric Status of Hausas of Northern Nigeria

Anthropometry is a branch of anthropology that deals with the measurements of various parts of human body which are expected to grow predictably and proportionately. The aim of this work was to study some of the anthropometric parameters of the Hausa people residing in Kano, northwestern Nigeria. Anthropometric parameters measured and recorded in this study were height, weight, body mass index and blood pressure. The measurements were made according to the standard procedures. Sample size of 1113 subjects comprising of 599 (53.8%) males and 504 (46.2%) females were used for the study. The age range of the subjects was 18 to 60 years with mean age of 23.2 years. Instruments used included weighing machine, stadiometer, and blood pressure apparatus. The results showed that all values were higher in males than females except for body mass index which was higher in female subjects. Bivariate analysis showed a positive correlation between the parameters except for height and body mass index where a negative correlation was observed. The values of the anthropometric parameters in this study were similar to those of other Nigerian ethnic groups and tribes. The values also correlate with the findings from other countries. It is concluded from the findings of this study that the anthropometric parameters and blood pressure of the Hausas of northern Nigeria are within acceptable reference range.Keywords: Anthropometry, parameters, Hausas, Nigeri

The effects of willow and willow control on wetland microfaunal assemblages in South Taupo Wetland

Few studies have examined microfaunal assemblages living among Salix cinerea infestations in freshwater wetlands, or their responses to willow control treatment. The aim of this research was to quantitatively examine microfaunal assemblage abundance, richness and community composition among S. cinerea stands within the South Taupo Wetland, and determine whether these microfaunal assemblages are affected by willow growth and willow control treatment. Long-term effects of microfaunal community composition between native vegetation versus live and dead S. cinerea were examined in two blocks of the Waiotaka Scenic Reserve. Microfauna and physicochemical sampling were performed on three occasions to assess any seasonal effects on community composition. Results indicated there were no significant differences of physicochemical variables amongst natives, live and dead S. cinerea, with the exception of dissolved oxygen in late summer and canopy density in all seasons. This could be due to the S. cinerea trees representing stand-alone individuals, with a continuous canopy not yet formed. Overall, apart from shading and dissolved oxygen levels, environmental conditions of S. cinerea stands in this study seemingly made no significant difference to environmental variables. The abundant taxa found in the study were copepods, cladocerans and ostracods along with diverse species of rotifers, including the first record for New Zealand of the rotifer species Tetrasiphon hydracora. ANOVA indicated that there were no significant differences in microfaunal species richness between native, live and dead S. cinerea in any season. However, MDS ordination and ANOSIM results of species composition indicated that microfaunal assemblages were clustered in groups either side of the sand bar, suggesting that Blocks 1 and 2 functioned independently. This may be influenced by hydrological differences between Block 1 and 2 of the wetland reserve, with differing responses to fluctuating lake levels and seasonal rainfall, suggesting that microfaunal communities are regulated by hydrology rather than by the presence of willows or willow control. Short-term effects of microfaunal community composition post willow control treatment were examined in Block 2 of the Waiotaka Scenice Reserve. Microfauna and physicochemical sampling were performed before and after treatment to assess effects on community composition post willow control treatment, using ground control method of drill and inject with a herbicide mix of metsulfuron. No significant differences in environmental variables were observed post treatment, with the exception of canopy density cover. Treated S. cinerea trees died and lost their leaves after ground application of metsulfuron. Microfaunal abundance and diversity were low before and treatment, suggesting that the application of metsulfuron made little difference to microfaunal assemblages. Overall, the findings of this study indicate that the presence of S. cinerea seemed to make no significant difference to microfaunal abundance and diversity, possibly due to stand alone individuals rather than the formation of a dense canopy. Furthermore, ground control treatment of S. cinerea using metsulfuron had no direct or indirect impacts to microfaunal abundance and diversity. However, had the study been undertaken under a dense canopy of S. cinerea it is likely that the results may potentially be different

Advocacy and Community Based Organizations: How to Achieve Policy Development

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)This study questions if the advocacy efforts of community based organizations, like community development corporations, voluntary member associations, and community action agencies, can achieve policy development. Policy development is defined as the proposal of a policy by a community based organization. That policy proposal receives the attention of local decision makers for consideration. This study uses the stages of the policy process to assess what coordinated activities are most effective to achieve policy development. It was concluded that community based organizations can achieve policy development, if they identify an issue or problem, conduct some level of strategic planning, create a policy agenda, and seek access to decision makers. In all three case analyses, the hybrid organization, community action agency, and the voluntary member association were able to achieve policy development. This research does not focus on policy impact or evaluation. The goal was to ascertain how effective an organization can be at proposing a solution and receiving the attention of local decision makers. This research explores how organizational development can become the foundation for advocating for issues and achieve policy development. Community based organizations are not only government funded service providers, but also community collaborators and educators who stimulate citizen participation and increase public awareness about social issues. Their role as autonomous service providers puts them in a conundrum because of their funding streams. Since the 1950s, researchers have explored the roles and responsibilities of government-funded service providers. This study provides an overview of the roles of community based organizations and activities that define their political participation. It explores how these organizations mitigate issues to ensure overall community success

Improved numerical simulation of non-thermal enhanced heavy oil recovery

The dependence on unconventional resources such as heavy oil is on the rise due to geometric increase in demand for energy and the decline of production from mature conventional oil reservoirs. Heavy oil reservoirs contain oil that has some limited mobility under reservoir conditions and only a small fraction of the oil-in-place can be recovered by primary technique which involve harnessing the internal reservoir energy. The remaining oil after the primary depletion is still mostly continuous and present a valuable target for enhanced recovery. However, most of these reservoirs are relatively thin, making them poor candidates for thermal methods, in addition to associated high energy requirement and adverse environmental effects of the heating process. Therefore, any incremental oil recovery must be through non-thermal methods, such as waterflooding, chemical and gas injection. These methods however suffer from adverse mobility ratio which significantly affect the efficiency of the displacement process. The simulation of these processes for the purpose of reservoir prediction and performance is a herculean task due to the complex physics of instability and compositional effect taking place that is not fully understood. In this thesis, the results of improved numerical simulation techniques of non-thermal heavy oil recovery were presented, demonstrating the viability of the techniques as simulation methods heavy oil non-thermal enhanced heavy oil recovery (EHOR). Several displacement mechanisms were identified through the simulation of the secondary and tertiary processes that contributed to significant incremental heavy oil recovery. A systematic lumping scheme of the heavy oil components into pseudo-components based on the behaviour of the produced oil was proposed. A new methodology for the estimation of relative permeability from displacement with instability and compositional effect using a two-dimensional (2D), high-resolution model to effectively capture the finger, and a versatile, three-parameter function (L.E.T correlation) was demonstrated. A semianalytical approach through a combination of theoretical and an empirical prediction method based on the famous works of Koval, and Todd and Longstaff on viscous fingering was employed for the verification of the estimated relative permeability. Lastly, a multiscale approach to history matching, for the estimation of unstable relative permeability that is computationally more efficient, was proposed. It involves the history matching of a set of coarse grid models to predict the fine-scale relative permeability. In this approach, fine-scale information was resolved without direct solution of the global fine-scale problem. The results showed that the time required to estimate relative permeability using the multiscale approach was only about 35% required to estimate the same relative permeability using a single high-resolution model. The memory requirement for the approach was also about 50% required for simulation of the single high-resolution model. Therefore, the lower memory size and computations required in the multiscale approach mean that a less powerful computer can be used to estimate the relative permeability curves for unstable displacements with accuracy similar to that obtained using a high-resolution model approach

Prevalence of malarial parasites in pregnant women attending Sir Muhammad Sunusi Specialist Hospital, Kano, Nigeria

A total of 300 blood samples of pregnant women were tested to determine the prevalence of malarial parasite using Leishman’s stain method. Out of which, 155 (51.7%) were found to be M.P positive, while 145 (48.3%) were M.P negative. 85 (54.8%) of M.P positive had the highest percentage as the primigravidae followed by 70 (45.16%) as multigravidae. Observation have shown that there was a high prevalence of 76 (49.03%) positive patients in the month of August followed by September with 44 (34.19%) as well as 26(16.77%) in July respectively. This was attributed as a result of heavy rainfall experience between Julys to September. It was also seen that patients from Sauna quarters has a highest number of prevalence of 36 (24.5%). this attributed to the fact that they have a close proximity with the hospital and has a highest number of patients that attended the antenatal clinic during the period. Keyword: Prevalence, Malarial Parasite, Pregnant Women, Kano

Regression Equations for Birth Weight Estimation using Anthropometric Measurements of Hand and Foot of Hausa new Born Babies in Kano-Nigeria

It has long been established that birth weight is a major determinant of infant morbidity and mortality in the first year of life. This is because it is an important predictor and an indicator of newborn morbidity and mortality, and has been accepted as the most reliable index of health status of the community. In this study, Birth Weight has been estimated from anthropometric measurements of hand and foot. Linear regression equations were formed from each of the measured variables. These simple equations can be used to estimate Birth Weight of new born babies, in order to identify those with low birth weight and referred to the appropriate health centre. A sample of 551 neonates (295 males and 256 females) were randomly selected and measured for each of the parameter (hand length, hand breadth, foot length and foot breadth). It was shown that the four measured parameters correlate with Birth Weight at different degrees (Pearson’s correlation analysis was used in calculating the level of significance), and the p - value was significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed). Among the measured variables, foot length had the highest correlation value of 0.657, followed by hand breadth with correlation value of 0.601.Hand length had correlation value of 0.513 and then foot breadth was having the least correlation value of 0.507. This study highlighted a strong correlation between birth weight and the measured variables, and multiple regression equations were formed for each of the measured variables which can be used to estimate birth weight.Keywords: Hausa, Birth Weight, Hand Length, Hand Breadth, Foot Length, Foot Breadth