Search results for: improvement of organization business process

Authors: A. Lubis, L. Setiawati, A. R. Setyoningrum, A. Suryawan, Irwanto

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Asthma is a condition that causing chronic health problems in children. In addition to basic therapy against disease, we must try to reduce the impact of chronic health problems and also optimize their medical aspect of growth and development. A boy with mild asthma attack frequent episode did not showed any improvement with medical treatment and his asthma control test was 11. From radiologic examination he got hyperaerated lung and billateral sinusitis maxillaris; skin test results were house dust, food and pet allergy; an overweight body; bad school grades; psychological and environmental problem. We followed and evaluated this boy in 6 months, treated holistically. Even we could not do much on environmental but no more psychological and school problems, his on a good bodyweight and his asthma control test was 22. A case of a child with mild asthma attack frequent episode was reported. Asthma clinical course show no significant improvement when other predisposing factor is not well-controlled and a child’s growth and development may be affected. Improving condition of the patient can be created with the help of loving and caring way of nurturing from the parents and supportive peer group. Therefore, continuous and consistent monitoring is required because prognosis of asthma is generally good when regularly and properly controlled.

Keywords: asthma, chronic health problems, growth, development

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: P. Kamphikul, P. Krachodnok, R. Wongsan

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This paper presents the gain improvement of a sector antenna for mobile phone base station by using the new technique to enhance its gain for microstrip antenna (MSA) array without construction enlargement. The curved woodpile Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) has been utilized to improve the gain instead. The advantages of this proposed antenna are reducing the length of MSAs array but providing the higher gain and easy fabrication and installation. Moreover, it provides a fan-shaped radiation pattern, wide in the horizontal direction and relatively narrow in the vertical direction, which appropriate for mobile phone base station. The paper also presents the design procedures of a 1x8 MSAs array associated with U-shaped reflector for decreasing their back and side lobes. The fabricated curved woodpile EBG exhibits bandgap characteristics at 2.1 GHz and is utilized for realizing a resonant cavity of MSAs array. This idea has been verified by both the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software and experimental results. As the results, the fabricated proposed antenna achieves a high gain of 20.3 dB and the half-power beam widths in the E- and H-plane of 36.8 and 8.7 degrees, respectively. Good qualitative agreement between measured and simulated results of the proposed antenna was obtained.

Keywords: gain improvement, microstrip antenna array, electromagnetic band gap, base station

Procedia PDF Downloads 301

Authors: Ghazi Faisal Najmuldeen, Noridah Abdullah, Mimi Sakinah

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Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermentation, mostly from carbohydrates, Cellulosic biomass, derived from non-food sources, such as castor shell waste, is also being developed as a feedstock for ethanol production Cellulose extracted from biomass sources is considered the future feedstock for many products due to the availability and eco-friendly nature of cellulose. In this study, castor shell (CS) biowaste resulted from the extraction of Castor oil from castor seeds was evaluated as a potential source of cellulose. The cellulose was extracted after pretreatment process was done on the CS. The pretreatment process began with the removal of other extractives from CS, then an alkaline treatment, bleaching process with hydrogen peroxide, and followed by a mixture of acetic and nitric acids. CS cellulose was analysed by infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The result showed that the overall process was adequate to produce cellulose with high purity and crystallinity from CS waste. The cellulose was then hydrolyzed to produce glucose and then fermented to bioethanol.

Keywords: bioethanol, castor shell, cellulose, biowaste

Procedia PDF Downloads 214

Authors: Deepika Verma, Runa Sarkar

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One of the prominent debates in the social entrepreneurship literature has been to establish whether entrepreneurial work for social well-being by for-profit organizations can be classified as social entrepreneurship or not. Of late, the scholarship has reached a consensus. It concludes that there seems little sense in confining social entrepreneurship to just non-profit organizations. Boosted by this research, increasingly a lot of businesses engaged in filling the social infrastructure gaps in developing countries are calling themselves social enterprise. These organizations are diverse in their ownership, size, objectives, operations and business models. The lack of a comprehensive definition of social enterprise leads to three issues. Firstly, researchers may face difficulty in creating a database for social enterprises because the choice of an entity as a social enterprise becomes subjective or based on some pre-defined parameters by the researcher which is not replicable. Secondly, practitioners who use ‘social enterprise’ in their vision/mission statement(s) may find it difficult to adjust their business models accordingly especially during the times when they face the dilemma of choosing social well-being over business viability. Thirdly, social enterprise and social entrepreneurship attract a lot of donor funding and venture capital. In the paucity of a comprehensive definitional guide, the donors or investors may find assigning grants and investments difficult. It becomes necessary to develop an exhaustive and objective definition of social enterprise and examine whether the understanding of the academicians and practitioners about social enterprise match. This paper develops a dictionary of words often associated with social enterprise or (and) social entrepreneurship. It further compares two lexicographic definitions of social enterprise imputed from the abstracts of academic journal papers and trade publications extracted from the EBSCO database using the ‘tm’ package in R software.

Keywords: EBSCO database, lexicographic definition, social enterprise, text mining

Procedia PDF Downloads 377

Authors: Meftah M. Elsaraiti, Samir Milad Elsariti

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Steel slag is a by-product of the steel production and utilizing it potentially as new or substitute materials in road construction is advantageous regarding cost reduction and flattening improvement or properties pavement. Ease of use, low cost, and resource availability are some of few advantages of reuse and recycling of steel slag. This study assesses the use of Steel Slag Aggregates (SSA) as an alternative to natural road building aggregates. This paper discusses the basic characteristics of steel slag based on extensive laboratory tests, and to determine the possibilities of using steel slag in road construction. Samples were taken from the furnaces directly at different times and dates. Moreover, random samples were also taken from the slag field from various areas at different far distances from each other. A necessary analysis was performed through the use of (XRF). Three different percentages of SSA (0, 50 and 100%) were added as an alternative to natural aggregate in hot mix asphalt (HMA) production. The proposed design of the mix was made according to the Marshall mix design. The results of the experiments revealed that the percentages of iron oxide ranged from (9 to 26%) and that the addition of SSA has a significant improvement on HMA properties. It was observed that the Marshall stability obtained in the mix of 100% slag ranged from 600 to 800 N as a minimum, and the flow of Marshall obtained from 2.4 to 3.23 mm and the specification requires from 2 to 4 mm. The results may be showed possibilities to use steel slag as new or substitute materials in road construction in Libya.

Keywords: by-product material, properties, road construction, steel slag

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Meriem Bahij, Ahmed Nafidi, Boujemâa Achchab, Sílvio M. A. Gama, José A. O. Matos

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Stochastic modeling concerns the use of probability to model real-world situations in which uncertainty is present. Therefore, the purpose of stochastic modeling is to estimate the probability of outcomes within a forecast, i.e. to be able to predict what conditions or decisions might happen under different situations. In the present study, we present a model of a stochastic diffusion process based on the bi-Weibull distribution function (its trend is proportional to the bi-Weibull probability density function). In general, the Weibull distribution has the ability to assume the characteristics of many different types of distributions. This has made it very popular among engineers and quality practitioners, who have considered it the most commonly used distribution for studying problems such as modeling reliability data, accelerated life testing, and maintainability modeling and analysis. In this work, we start by obtaining the probabilistic characteristics of this model, as the explicit expression of the process, its trends, and its distribution by transforming the diffusion process in a Wiener process as shown in the Ricciaardi theorem. Then, we develop the statistical inference of this model using the maximum likelihood methodology. Finally, we analyse with simulated data the computational problems associated with the parameters, an issue of great importance in its application to real data with the use of the convergence analysis methods. Overall, the use of a stochastic model reflects only a pragmatic decision on the part of the modeler. According to the data that is available and the universe of models known to the modeler, this model represents the best currently available description of the phenomenon under consideration.

Keywords: diffusion process, discrete sampling, likelihood estimation method, simulation, stochastic diffusion process, trends functions, bi-parameters weibull density function

Procedia PDF Downloads 295

Authors: Joshua Loiselle

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This paper discusses the challenges engineering teams face in conducting Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) studies. This paper focuses on the specific topic of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of FMEA studies. Modern economic needs and increased business competition require engineers to constantly develop newer and better solutions within shorter timeframes and tighter margins. In addition, documentation requirements for meeting standards/regulatory compliance and customer needs are becoming increasingly complex and verbose. Managing open actions and continuous improvement activities across all projects, product variations, and processes in addition to daily engineering tasks is cumbersome, time consuming, and is susceptible to errors, omissions, and non-conformances. FMEA studies are proven methods for improving products and processes while subsequently reducing engineering workload and improving machine and resource availability through a pre-emptive, systematic approach of identifying, analyzing, and improving high-risk components. If implemented correctly, FMEA studies significantly reduce costs and improve productivity. However, the value of an effective FMEA is often shrouded by a lack of clarity and structure, misconceptions, and previous experiences and, as such, FMEA studies are frequently grouped with the other required information and documented retrospectively in preparation of customer requirements or audits. Performing studies in this way only adds cost to a project and perpetuates the misnomer that FMEA studies are not value-added activities. This paper discusses the benefits of effective FMEA studies, the challenges related to conducting FMEA studies, best practices for efficiently overcoming challenges via structure and automation, and the benefits of implementing those practices.

Keywords: FMEA, quality, APQP, PPAP

Procedia PDF Downloads 291

Authors: Sabrina S. W. Chan, Emily Schwartzman, Nicholas O. Rule

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Past literature showed mixed findings on how smiling affects a person’s chance of getting hired. On one hand, smiling suggests enthusiasm, cooperativeness, and enthusiasm, which can elicit positive impressions. On the other hand, smiling can suggest weaker professionalism or a filler to hide nervousness, which can lower a candidate’s perceived competence. Emotion expressions can also be perceived differently depending on the person’s gender and can activate certain gender stereotypes. Women especially face a double bind with respect to hiring decisions and smiling. Because women are socially expected to smile more, those who do not smile will be considered stereotype incongruent. This becomes a noisy signal to employers and may lower their chance of being hired. However, women’s smiling as a formality may also be an obstacle. They are more likely to put on fake smiles; but if they do, they are also likely to be perceived as inauthentic and over-expressive. This paper sought to investigate how smiling affects hiring decisions, and whether this relationship is moderated by gender. In Study 1, participants were shown a series of smiling and emotionally neutral face images, incorporated into fabricated LinkedIn profiles. Participants were asked to rate how hireable they thought that candidate was. Results showed that participants rated smiling candidates as more hireable than nonsmiling candidates, and that there was no difference in gender. Moreover, individuals who did not study business were more biased in their perceptions than those who did. Since results showed a trending favoritism over female targets, in suspect of desirability bias, a second study was conducted to collect implicit measures behind the decision-making process. In Study 2, a mouse-tracking design was adopted to explore whether participants’ implicit attitudes were different from their explicit responses on hiring. Participants asked to respond whether they would offer an interview to a candidate. Findings from Study 1 was replicated in that smiling candidates received more offers than neutral-faced candidates. Results also showed that female candidates received significantly more offers than male candidates but was associated with higher attractiveness ratings. There were no significant findings in reaction time or change of decisions. However, stronger hesitation was detected for responses made towards neutral targets when participants perceived the given position as masculine, implying a conscious attempt of making situational judgments (e.g., considering candidate’s personality and job fit) to override automatic processing (evaluations based on attractiveness). Future studies would look at how these findings differ for positions which are stereotypically masculine (e.g., surgeons) and stereotypically feminine (e.g., kindergarten teachers). Current findings have strong implications for developing bias-free hiring policies in workplace, especially for organizations who maintain online/hybrid working arrangements in the post-pandemic era. This also bridges the literature gap between face perception and gender discrimination, highlighting how engendered facial cues can affect individual’s career development and organization’s success in diversity and inclusion.

Keywords: engendered facial cues, face perception, gender stereotypes, hiring decisions, smiling, workplace discrimination

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Authors: Mohsen Rezaei Aghdam

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Recombinant DNA technology has meaningfully augmented the conventional crop improvement and has a great possibility to contribution plant breeders to encounter the augmented food request foretold for the 21st century. Predictable changes in weather and its erraticism, chiefly extreme fevers and vicissitudes in rainfall are expected to brand crop upgrading even more vital for food manufacture. Tissue attitude has been downtrodden to create genetic erraticism from which harvest plants can be better, to improve the state of health of the recognized physical and to upsurge the number of wanted germplasms obtainable to the plant breeder. This appraisal delivers an impression of the chances obtainable by the integration of vegetable biotechnology into plant development efforts and increases some of the social subjects that need to be considered in their application. Public-private companies offer chances to catalyze new approaches and investment while accelerating integrated research and development and commercial supply chain-based solutions. Novel varieties derivative by encouraged mutatgenesis are used commonly: rice in Thailand. These paper combinations obtainable data about the influence of change breeding-derived crop changes around the world, traveler magnetism the possibility of mutation upbringing as a flexible and feasible approach appropriate to any crop if that suitable objectives and selection approaches are used.

Keywords: crop, improve, genetic, agricultural

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Sara Heidari, Jafar Mohammadzadeh Milani, Elmira Pouladi Borj

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In this research, stability of Ochratoxin A (OTA) during bread making process including fermentation with yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and Sourdough (Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus fermentum) and baking at 200°C were examined. Bread was prepared on a pilot-plant scale by using wheat flour spiked with standard solution of OTA. During this process, mycotoxin levels were determined after fermentation of the dough with sourdough and three types of yeast including active dry yeast, instant dry yeast and compressed yeast after further baking 200°C by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detector after extraction and clean-up on an immunoaffinity column. According to the results, the highest stability of was observed in the first fermentation (first proof), while the lowest stability was observed in the baking stage in comparison to contaminated flour. In addition, compressed yeast showed the maximum impact on stability of OTA during bread making process.

Keywords: Ochratoxin A, bread, dough, yeast, sourdough

Procedia PDF Downloads 563

Authors: Mária Hudáková, Vladimír Míka, Katarína Hollá

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Making decisions is the core of management and a result of conscious activities which is under way in a particular environment and concrete conditions. The managers decide about the goals, procedures and about the methods how to respond to the changes and to the problems which developed. Their decisions affect the effectiveness, quality, economy and the overall successfulness in every organisation. In spite of this fact, they do not pay sufficient attention to the individual steps of the decision-making process. They emphasise more how to cope with the individual methods and techniques of making decisions and forget about the way how to cope with analysing the problem or assessing the individual solution variants. In many cases, the underestimating of the analytical phase can lead to an incorrect assessment of the problem and this can then negatively influence its further solution. Based on our analysis of the theoretical solutions by individual authors who are dealing with this area and the realised research in Slovakia and also abroad we can recognise an insufficient interest of the managers to assess the risks in the decision-making process. The goal of this paper is to assess the risks in the managers´ decision-making process relating to the conditions of the environment, to the subject’s activity (the manager’s personality), to the insufficient assessment of individual variants for solving the problems but also to situations when the arisen problem is not solved. The benefit of this paper is the effort to increase the need of the managers to deal with the risks during the decision-making process. It is important for every manager to assess the risks in his/her decision-making process and to make efforts to take such decisions which reflect the basic conditions, states and development of the environment in the best way and especially for the managers´ decisions to contribute to achieving the determined goals of the organisation as effectively as possible.

Keywords: risk, decision-making, manager, process, analysis, source of risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 256

Authors: Klara Smith-Etxeberria

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main goal of this study was to analyze the predictive ability of some variables associated with the parental divorce process alongside attachment history with parents on both, mother-child and father-child relationship quality. Our sample consisted of 173 undergraduate and vocational school students from the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. All of them belonged to a divorced family. Results showed that adequate maternal strategies during the divorce process (e.g.: stable, continuous and positive role as a mother) was the variable with greater predictive ability on mother-child relationships quality. In addition, secure attachment history with mother also predicted positive mother-child relationships. On the other hand, father-child relationship quality was predicted by adequate paternal strategies during the divorce process, such as his stable, continuous and positive role as a father, along with not badmouthing the mother and promoting good mother-child relationships. Furthermore, paternal negative emotional state due to divorce was positively associated with father-child relationships quality, and both, history of attachment with mother and with father predicted father-child relationships quality. In conclusion, our data indicate that both, paternal and maternal strategies for children´s adequate adjustment during the divorce process influence on mother-child and father-child relationships quality. However, these results suggest that paternal strategies during the divorce process have a greater predictive ability on father-child relationships quality, whereas maternal positive strategies during divorce determine positive mother-child relationships among young adults.

Keywords: father-child relationships quality, mother-child relationships quality, parental divorce process, young adulthood

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Chanchai Wimon, Polin Muangngam, Thannapat Nimsumram, Chanin Prombutra, Prasert Aengchuan, Perawat Boonpuek

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Cleaning water containers is essential for drinking water production to prevent contamination and residual chemicals from washing liquid. Water distribution divisions in Thailand are facing a critical problem with residual contamination in 15-liter drinking water containers due to dust and residual chemicals (TDS value > 200) after normal washing. A thorough washing process is required before filling the purified water into each container. Unfortunately, the washing procedure and frequency do not align with the work instructions provided by the health department. The measured Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) value of the remaining water was found to range between 195–202, exceeding the standard TDS for excellent drinking water (50-190 ppm). This research uses the design of experiment technique in statistics to improve the washing process and reduce such contamination. Statistical data from our survey of the cleaning process is collected to identify affecting factors. Washing time and water volume are varied to test the efficiency of the washing process in reducing residual sediment in the water. The result indicates that cleaning the 15-liter container with 2 liters of tap water mixed with 15 milliliters of dishwashing liquid for 3.12 minutes per container is optimal, as the resulting TDS reduces to 189.75, falling within the standard value for good drinking water. This study result would benefit the drinking water industry in implementing a statistically evaluated cleaning procedure without conducting multiple trials, thus saving takt time and production costs.

Keywords: design of experiment, drinking water purification, quality management, production process reliability

Procedia PDF Downloads 39

Authors: Jawaher Bakheet Almudarra

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An Educational Supervisor assists teachers to develop their competence and skills in teaching, solving educational problems, and to improve the teaching methods to suit the educational process. They evaluate their teachers and write reports based on their assessments. In 1957, the Saudi Ministry of Education instituted Educational Supervision to facilitate effective management of schools, however, there have been concerns that the Educational Supervision has not been effective in executing its mandate. Studies depicted that Educational supervision has not been effective because it has been marred by poor and autocratic leadership practices such as stringent inspection, commanding and judging. Therefore, there is need to consider some of the ways in which school outcomes can be enhanced through the improvement of Educational supervision practices. Emotional intelligence is a relatively new concept that can be integrated into the Saudi education system that is yet to be examined in-depth and embraced particularly in the realm of educational leadership. Its recognition and adoption may improve leadership practices among Educational supervisors. This study employed a qualitative interpretive approach that will focus on decoding, describing and interpreting the connection between emotional intelligence and leadership. The study also took into account the social constructions that include consciousness, language and shared meanings. The data collection took place in the Office of Educational Supervisors in Riyadh and involved 4 Educational supervisors and 20 teachers from both genders- male and female. The data collection process encompasses three methods namely; qualitative emotional intelligence self-assessment questionnaires, reflective semi-structured interviews, and open workshops. The questionnaires would explore whether the Educational supervisors understand the meaning of emotional intelligence and its significance in enhancing the quality of education system in Saudi Arabia. Subsequently, reflective semi-structured interviews were carried out with the Educational supervisors to explore the connection between their leadership styles and the way they conceptualise their emotionality. The open workshops will include discussions on emotional aspects of Educational supervisors’ practices and how Educational supervisors make use of the emotional intelligence discourse in their leadership and supervisory relationships.

Keywords: directors of educational supervision, emotional intelligence, educational leadership, education management

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Authors: Sanjaykumar R. Patel, Parth R. Kayastha

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α-lactose monohydrate is widely used in the pharmaceutical industries as an inactive substance that acts as a vehicle or a medium for a drug or other active substance. It is a byproduct of dairy industries, and the recovery of lactose from whey not only boosts the improvement of the economics of whey utilization but also causes a reduction in pollution as lactose recovery can reduce the BOD of whey by more than 80%. In the present study, levels of process parameters were kept as initial lactose concentration (30-50% w/w), sonication amplitude (20-40%), sonication time (2-6 hours), and crystallization temperature (10-20 ^oC) for the recovery of lactose in ultrasound assisted cooling crystallization. In comparison with cooling crystallization, the use of ultrasound enhanced the lactose recovery by 39.17% (w/w). The parameters were optimized for the lactose recovery using Taguchi Method. The optimum conditions found were initial lactose concentration at level 3 (50% w/w), amplitude of sonication at level 2 (40%), the sonication time at level 3 (6 hours), and crystallization temperature at level 1 (10 °C). The maximum recovery was found to be 85.85% at the optimum conditions. Sonication time and the initial lactose concentration were found to be significant parameters for the lactose recovery.

Keywords: crystallization, lactose, Taguchi method, ultrasound

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Vincent Andrew Cappellano

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In the early phases of critical infrastructure system design, translating distributed computing requirements to an architecture has risk given the multitude of approaches (e.g., cloud, edge, fog). In many systems, a single requirement for system uptime / availability is used to encompass the system’s intended operations. However, when architected systems may perform to those availability requirements only during normal operations and not during component failure, or during outages caused by adversary attacks on critical infrastructure (e.g., physical, cyber). System designers lack a structured method to evaluate availability requirements against candidate system architectures through deep degradation scenarios (i.e., normal ops all the way down to significant damage of communications or physical nodes). This increases risk of poor selection of a candidate architecture due to the absence of insight into true performance for systems that must operate as a piece of critical infrastructure. This research effort proposes a process to analyze critical infrastructure system availability requirements and a candidate set of systems architectures, producing a metric assessing these architectures over a spectrum of degradations to aid in selecting appropriate resilient architectures. To accomplish this effort, a set of simulation and evaluation efforts are undertaken that will process, in an automated way, a set of sample requirements into a set of potential architectures where system functions and capabilities are distributed across nodes. Nodes and links will have specific characteristics and based on sampled requirements, contribute to the overall system functionality, such that as they are impacted/degraded, the impacted functional availability of a system can be determined. A machine learning reinforcement-based agent will structurally impact the nodes, links, and characteristics (e.g., bandwidth, latency) of a given architecture to provide an assessment of system functional uptime/availability under these scenarios. By varying the intensity of the attack and related aspects, we can create a structured method of evaluating the performance of candidate architectures against each other to create a metric rating its resilience to these attack types/strategies. Through multiple simulation iterations, sufficient data will exist to compare this availability metric, and an architectural recommendation against the baseline requirements, in comparison to existing multi-factor computing architectural selection processes. It is intended that this additional data will create an improvement in the matching of resilient critical infrastructure system requirements to the correct architectures and implementations that will support improved operation during times of system degradation due to failures and infrastructure attacks.

Keywords: architecture, resiliency, availability, cyber-attack

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Liou Shyhnan, Chia Han Yang

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The study aims to investigate the promotion of innovation in the development of cultural and creative industries (CCI) and apply research on culture and creativity to this promotion. Using the research perspectives of culture and creativity as the starting points, this study has examined the challenges, trends, and opportunities that have emerged from the development of the CCI until the present. It is found that a definite context of cause and effect exist between them, and that a homologous theoretical basis can be used to understand and interpret them. Based on the characteristics of the aforementioned challenges and trends, this study has compiled two main theoretical systems for conducting research on culture and creativity: (i) reciprocal process between creativity and culture, and (ii) a mechanism for innovation involving multicultural convergence. Both theoretical systems were then used as the foundation to arrive at possible research propositions relating to the two developmental systems. This was respectively done through identification of the theoretical context through a literature review, and interviews and observations of actual case studies within Taiwan’s CCI. In so doing, the critical factors that can address the aforementioned challenges and trends were discovered. Our results indicated that, for reciprocal process between creativity and culture, we recognize that culture serves as creative resources in cultural and creative industries. According to shared consensus, culture provides symbolic meanings and emotional attachment for products and experiences offered by CCI. Besides, different cultures vary in their effects on creativity processes and standards, thus engendering distinctive preferences for and evaluations of the creative expressions and experiences of CCIs. In addition, we identify that creativity serves as the engine for driving the continuation and rebirth of cultures. Accounting for the core of culture, the employment of technology, design, and business facilitates the transformation and innovation mechanism for promoting culture continuity. In addition, with cultural centered, the digital technology, design thinking, and business model are critical constitutes of the innovation mechanism to promote the cultural continuity. Regarding cultural preservation and regeneration of local spaces and folk customs, we argue that the preservation and regeneration of local spaces and cultural cultures must embody the interactive experiences of present-day life. And cultural space and folk custom would regenerate with interact and experience in modern life. Regarding innovation mechanism for multicultural convergence, we propose that innovative stakeholders from different disciplines (e.g., creators, designers, engineers, and marketers) in CCIs rely on the establishment of a cocreation mechanism to promote interdisciplinary interaction. Furthermore, CCI development needs to develop a cocreation mechanism for enhancing the interdisciplinary collaboration among CCI innovation stakeholders. We further argue multicultural mixing would enhance innovation in developing CCI, and assuming an open and mutually enlightening attitude to enrich one another’s cultures in the multicultural exchanges under globalization will create diversity in homogenous CCIs. Finally, for promoting innovation in developing cultural and creative industries, we further propose a model for joint knowledge creation that can be established for enhancing the mutual reinforcement of theoretical and practical research on culture and creativity.

Keywords: culture and creativity, innovation, cultural and creative industries, cultural mixing

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Authors: Peng Hao Wang, Ronald Sterkenburg, Garam Kim, Yuwei He

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As composite materials continue to gain popularity in the aerospace industry; large airframe sections made out of composite materials are becoming the standard for aerospace manufacturers. However, the heavy utilization of these composite materials also increases the importance of the recycling of these composite materials. A team of Purdue University School of Aviation and Transportation Technology (SATT) faculty and students have partnered to investigate the characteristics of 3D printed recycled carbon fiber. A prototype of a 3D printed recycled carbon fiber part was provided by an industry partner and different sections of the prototype were used to create specimens. A furnace was utilized in order to remove the polymer from the specimens and the specimen’s fiber content and fiber length was calculated from the remaining fibers. A differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) test was also conducted on the 3D printed recycled carbon fiber prototype in order to determine the prototype’s degree of cure at different locations. The data collected from this study provided valuable information in the process improvement and understanding of 3D printed recycled carbon fiber.

Keywords: 3D printed, carbon fiber, fiber content, recycling

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Authors: Jacob Wood, David Wilson, Stephen Hughes

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The Ausmelt Top Submerged Lance (TSL) Process has been widely applied for the processing of both primary and secondary copper, nickel, lead, tin, and zinc-bearing feed materials. Continual development and evolution of the technology over more than 30 years has resulted in a more intense smelting process with higher energy efficiency, improved metal recoveries, lower operating costs, and reduced fossil fuel consumption. This paper covers a number of recent advances to the technology, highlighting their positive impacts on smelter operating costs, environmental performance, and contribution towards increased circularity in metals production.

Keywords: ausmelt TSL, smelting, circular economy, energy efficiency

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Authors: Mary L. G. S. Senna, Afonso R. Aquino, Veruska C. Dutra, Carlos H. C. Tolentino

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The quality of life index, despite elucidating many discussions, the conceptual subjectivity of the term does not show precision, and consequently, many researchers seek to develop methods aiming to measure this concept, bringing it to a more concrete approach. In this study, the quality of life index method was used to analyze the population of Mateiros, Tocantins, Brazil for quality of life. After data collection, it was compared the quality of life index between the population and the group of beneficiaries of the Brazilian government assistance program Bolsa Família (Family Allowance). Some of the people interviewed receive financial aid from the federal government program Bolsa Família (22%). Comparisons were made among the final score of the quality of life index of the Mateiros population and the following factors: Gender, age, education, those working or not with tourism and those who receive or do not receive the Bolsa Família. It was observed that only the factor, Bolsa Família (p-score 0.0138), shows an association with quality of life improvement, noticing that those who have financial aid had a higher quality of life improvement than the rest of the population. It was concluded that, government assistance has shown a decisive element on the enhancement of Mateiros population quality of life, indicating that similar actions should be maintained.

Keywords: quality of life index, government aid to families, sustainable tourism, Bolsa Familia

Procedia PDF Downloads 291

Authors: Carol S. Binnekade, Deon Scott, Christina C. Shuttleworth, Annelien A. Van Rooyen

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Higher education institutions are constantly challenged to deliver skilled graduates into the workplace. Employers expect graduates to have the required technical knowledge as well as various pervasive skills. This also applies to accountants who need to know the technical requirements of financial reporting and be able to communicate with individuals, teams and clients at a high level. Accountants need to develop effective business conversational skills and use these skills to communicate up, down and across organizations, taking into consideration cultural and gender diversity. In addition, they need to master business writing and presentation skills. However, providing students with these skills in a distance-learning environment where interaction between students and instructors is limited, is a challenge for academics. The study on which this paper reports, forms part of a larger body of research, which explored the perceptions of accounting practitioners of the communication skills (or lack thereof) of recently qualified accounting students. Feedback (qualitative and quantitative) was obtained from various accounting practitioners in South Africa. Taking into consideration that distance learners communicate mainly with their instructors via email communication and their assignments are submitted using various word processor software, the researchers were of the opinion that the accounting graduates would be capable of communicating effectively once they entered the workplace. However, the research findings, inter alia, suggested that the accounting graduates lacked communication skills and that training was needed to differentiate between business and social communication once they entered the workplace. Recommendations on how these communication challenges may be addressed by higher education institutions are provided.

Keywords: accounting practitioners, communication skills, distance education, pervasive skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Nicolas Koslover, Tamara Levene

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Aims: Tonsilitis is one of the most common presentations to the A+E department. We aimed to assess whether patients presenting with tonsilitis are being managed in-line with current guidance. We then set out to educate A+E staff about tonsilitis management and then assessed for improvement in management. Methods: All patients presenting to A+E in one fortnight with a documented diagnosis of tonsilitis were included. We reviewed the notes to assess the choice of treatment in each case and whether a clinical score (CENTOR or FEVERPain score) was used to guide choice of treatment (in accordance with NICE guideline [NG84]). We designed and delivered an educational intervention for A+E staff covering tonsilitis guidelines. The audit was repeated two weeks later. Results: Over the study period, 49 patients were included; only 35% (n=17) had either a clinical score documented or had all components of a score recorded. In total, 39% (n=19) were treated with antibiotics. Of these, 63% (n=12) should not have been prescribed an antibiotic and 37% (n=7) were prescribed an inappropriate antibiotic. At re-audit, (n=50 cases), 58% (n=29) had a clinical score documented and 28% (n=14) were treated with antibiotics. Of these, 29% (n=4) should not have been prescribed antibiotics and 21% (n=3) were prescribed an inappropriate antibiotic. Thus, after this teaching session, there was a significant improvement in antibiotic prescribing practices (63% vs. 29%, p=0.026). Conclusions: A+E assessment and management of tonsilitis frequently deviated from guidelines, but a single teaching session vastly improved clinical scoring and antibiotic prescribing practices.

Keywords: tonsilitis, education, emergency medicine, ENT

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Authors: Camilo Souza, Lidia Melo, Fernanda Terra, Francisco Caio, Marcelo Reis

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SIDIA is a research and development (R&D) institute that belongs to Samsung’s global software development process. The SIDIA’s Model Team (MT) is a part of Samsung’s Mobile Division Area, which is responsible for the development of Android releases embedded in Samsung mobile devices. Basically, in this software development process, the kickoff occurs in some strategic countries (e.g., South Korea) where some software requirements are applied and the initial software tests are performed. When the software achieves a more mature level, a new branch is derived, and the development continues in subsidiaries from other strategic countries (e.g., SIDIA-Brazil). However, even in the newly created branches, there are several interactions between developers from different nationalities in order to fix bugs reported during test activities, apply some specific requirements from partners and develop new features as well. Despite the GSD strategy contributes to improving software development, some challenges are also introduced as well. In this paper, we share the initial results about the application of the failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA) concept in the software development process followed by the SIDIA’s model team. The main goal was to identify and mitigate the process potential failures through the application of recommended actions. The initial results show that the application of the FMEA concept allows us to identify the potential failures in our GSD process as well as to propose corrective actions to mitigate them. Finally, FMEA encouraged members of different teams to take actions that contribute to improving our GSD process.

Keywords: global software development, potential failures, FMEA, recommended actions

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Authors: Jemal Ebrahim Dessie, Lukács Zsolt

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High-strength aluminum alloys have drawn a lot of attention because of the expanding demand for lightweight vehicle design in the automotive sector. Due to poor formability at room temperature, warm and hot forming have been advised. However, warm and hot forming methods need more steps in the production process and an advanced tooling system. In contrast, since ordinary tools can be used, forming sheets at room temperature in the W temper condition is advantageous. However, springback of supersaturated sheets and their thinning are critical challenges and must be resolved during the use of this technique. In this study, AA6082-T6 aluminum alloy was solution heat treated at different oven temperatures and times using a specially designed and developed furnace in order to optimize the W-temper heat treatment temperature. A U-shaped bending test was carried out at different time periods between W-temper heat treatment and forming operation. Finite element analysis (FEA) of U-bending was conducted using AutoForm aiming to validate the experimental result. The uniaxial tensile and unload test was performed in order to determine the kinematic hardening behavior of the material and has been optimized in the Finite element code using systematic process improvement (SPI). In the simulation, the effect of friction coefficient & blank holder force was considered. Springback parameters were evaluated by the geometry adopted from the NUMISHEET ’93 benchmark problem. It is noted that the change of shape was higher at the more extended time periods between W-temper heat treatment and forming operation. Die radius was the most influential parameter at the flange springback. However, the change of shape shows an overall increasing tendency on the sidewall as the increase of radius of the punch than the radius of the die. The springback angles on the flange and sidewall seem to be highly influenced by the coefficient of friction than blank holding force, and the effect becomes increases as increasing the blank holding force.

Keywords: aluminum alloy, FEA, springback, SPI, U-bending, W-temper

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Authors: Stevens Phaphadi Mamorobela

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The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of social media in SMEs to stay abreast with information about the latest news and developments and to predict the future world of business. The national shutdown regulations for curbing the spread of the Covid-19 virus resulted in SMEs having to distribute large volumes of information through social media platforms to collaborate and conduct business remotely. How much of the information shared on social media is used by SMEs as significant knowledge for economic rent is yet to be known. This study aims to investigate the facilitating conditions that enable SMEs’ intention to use social media as a knowledge-sharing platform to create economic rent and to cope with the Covid-19 challenges. A qualitative research approach was applied where semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 SME owners located in the Gauteng province in South Africa to identify and explain the facilitating conditions of SMEs towards their intention to use social media as a knowledge-sharing tool in the Covid-19 era. The study discovered that the national lockdown regulations towards curbing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic had compelled SMEs to adopt digital technologies that enabled them to quickly transform their business processes to cope with the challenges of the pandemic. The facilitating conditions, like access to high bandwidth internet coverage in the Gauteng region, enable SMEs to have strong intentions to use social media to distribute content and to reach out to their target market. However, the content is shared informally using diverse social media platforms without any guidelines for transforming content into rent-yielding knowledge.

Keywords: facilitating conditions, knowledge sharing, social media, intention to use, SME

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Authors: A. S. Salimzhanova, J. C. Sardinas, O. A. Yanovskaya

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The objective of this research work is to discuss the concept of green growth in the Republic of Kazakhstan introduced by its government in the National Sustainable Development Strategy with the objective of transition to a resource-efficient, green economy. We believe that emerging economies like Kazakhstan can pursue a cleaner and more efficient development path by introducing an environmental tax system based on resource consumption rather than only income and labor. The key issues discussed in this article are the eco-efficiency, which refers to closing the gap between economic and ecological efficiencies, and the structural change of the economy toward green growth. We also strongly believe that studying the experience of East Asian countries on green reform including eco-innovation and green solutions in business is essential to the case of Kazakhstan. All of these will raise the status of Kazakhstan to the level of one of the thirty developed countries over the next decades.

Keywords: economic strategy, green growth, green solutions, natural resource management, environmental tax system

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Authors: Matthias Steffan, Franz Haas

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The production process grinding is one of the latest steps in a value-added manufacturing chain. Within this step, workpiece geometry and surface roughness are determined. Up to this process stage, considerable costs and energy have already been spent on components. According to the current state of the art, therefore, large safety reserves are calculated in order to guarantee a process capability. Especially for non-circular grinding, this fact leads to considerable losses of process efficiency. With present technology, various non-circular geometries on a workpiece must be grinded subsequently in an oscillating process where X- and Q-axis of the machine are coupled. With the approach of RPM-Synchronous Noncircular Grinding, such workpieces can be machined in an ordinary plung grinding process. Therefore, the workpieces and the grinding wheels revolutionary rate are in a fixed ratio. A non-circular grinding wheel is used to transfer its geometry onto the workpiece. The authors use a worldwide unique machine tool that was especially designed for this technology. Highest revolution rates on the workpiece spindle (up to 4500 rpm) are mandatory for the success of this grinding process. This grinding approach is performed in a two-step process. For roughing, a highly porous vitrified bonded grinding wheel with medium grain size is used. It ensures high specific material removal rates for efficiently producing the non-circular geometry on the workpiece. This process step is adapted by a force control algorithm, which uses acquired data from a three-component force sensor located in the dead centre of the tailstock. For finishing, a grinding wheel with a fine grain size is used. Roughing and finishing are performed consecutively among the same clamping of the workpiece with two locally separated grinding spindles. The approach of RPM-Synchronous Noncircular Grinding shows great efficiency enhancement in non-circular grinding. For the first time, three-dimensional non-circular shapes can be grinded that opens up various fields of application. Especially automotive industries show big interest in the emerging trend in finishing machining.

Keywords: efficiency enhancement, finishing machining, non-circular grinding, rpm-synchronous grinding

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Authors: Uttam Neupane, Narendra Budha, Subash Kumar Bhattarai

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Material management is an essential part in construction project management. There are a number of material management problems in the Nepalese construction industry, which contribute to an inefficient material management system. Ineffective material management can cause waste of time and money thus increasing the problem of time and cost overrun. An assessment of material management system with gap and solution was carried out on 20 construction projects implemented by the Federal Level Project Implementation Unit (FPIU); Kaski district of Nepal. To improve the material management process, the respondents have provided possible solutions to overcome the gaps seen in the current material management process. The possible solutions are preparation of material schedule in line with the construction schedule for material requirement planning, verifications of material and locating of source, purchasing of the required material in advance before commencement of work, classifying the materials, and managing the inventory based on their usage value and eliminating and reduction in wastages during the overall material management process.

Keywords: material management, construction site, inventory, construction project

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Authors: Shahnaz Safitri, Rose Mini Agoes Salim, Pratiwi Widyasari

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Intellectual disability is characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior that appears before the age of 18 years old. The prominent impacts of intellectual disability in adolescents are failure to establish interpersonal relationships as socially expected and lower academic achievement. Meanwhile, it is known that emotion regulation skills have a role in supporting the functioning of individual, either by nourishing the development of social skills as well as by facilitating the process of learning and adaptation in school. This study aims to look for the effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in developing emotion regulation skills for adolescents with intellectual disability. DBT's special consideration toward clients’ social environment and their biological condition is foreseen to be the key for developing emotion regulation capacity for subjects with intellectual disability. Through observations on client's behavior, conducted before and after the completion of DBT intervention program, it was found that there is an improvement in client's knowledge and attitudes related to the mastery of emotion regulation skills. In addition, client's consistency to actually practice emotion regulation techniques over time is largely influenced by the support received from the client's social circles.

Keywords: adolescent, dialectical behavior therapy, emotion regulation, intellectual disability

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Authors: Savaş Karpuz, Sami Küçükşen

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The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of neurological rehabilitation in patients with traumatic brain injury. Participants were 45 consecutive adults with traumatic brain injury who were received the neurologic rehabilitation. Sociodemographic characteristics of the patients, the cause of the injury, the duration of the coma and posttraumatic amnesia, the length of stay in the other inpatient clinics before rehabilitation, the time between injury and admission to the rehabilitation clinic, and the length of stay in the rehabilitation clinic were recorded. The differences in functional status between admission and discharge were determined with Disability Rating Scale (DRS), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and Functional Ambulation Scale (FAS) and levels of cognitive functioning determined with Ranchos Los Amigos Scale (RLAS). According to admission time, there was a significant improvement identified in functional status of patients who had been given the intensive in-hospital cognitive rehabilitation program. At discharge time, the statistically significant differences were obtained in DRS, FIM, FAS and RLAS scores according to admission time. Better improvement in functional status was detected in patients with lower scores in DRS, and higher scores FIM and RLAS scores at the entry time. The neurologic rehabilitation significantly affects the recovery of functional status after traumatic brain injury.

Keywords: traumatic brain injury, rehabilitation, functional status, neurological

Procedia PDF Downloads 220