Search results for: alternative selection tool
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 10227

Search results for: alternative selection tool

10197 A Relational Case-Based Reasoning Framework for Project Delivery System Selection

Authors: Yang Cui, Yong Qiang Chen

Abstract:

An appropriate project delivery system (PDS) is crucial to the success of a construction project. Case-based reasoning (CBR) is a useful support for PDS selection. However, the traditional CBR approach represents cases as attribute-value vectors without taking relations among attributes into consideration, and could not calculate the similarity when the structures of cases are not strictly same. Therefore, this paper solves this problem by adopting the relational case-based reasoning (RCBR) approach for PDS selection, considering both the structural similarity and feature similarity. To develop the feature terms of the construction projects, the criteria and factors governing PDS selection process are first identified. Then, feature terms for the construction projects are developed. Finally, the mechanism of similarity calculation and a case study indicate how RCBR works for PDS selection. The adoption of RCBR in PDS selection expands the scope of application of traditional CBR method and improves the accuracy of the PDS selection system.

Keywords: relational cased-based reasoning, case-based reasoning, project delivery system, PDS selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 405
10196 Contractor Selection by Using Analytical Network Process

Authors: Badr A. Al-Jehani

Abstract:

Nowadays, contractor selection is a critical activity of the project owner. Selecting the right contractor is essential to the project manager for the success of the project, and this cab happens by using the proper selecting method. Traditionally, the contractor is being selected based on his offered bid price. This approach focuses only on the price factor and forgetting other essential factors for the success of the project. In this research paper, the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method is used as a decision tool model to select the most appropriate contractor. This decision-making method can help the clients who work in the construction industry to identify contractors who are capable of delivering satisfactory outcomes. Moreover, this research paper provides a case study of selecting the proper contractor among three contractors by using ANP method. The case study identifies and computes the relative weight of the eight criteria and eleven sub-criteria using a questionnaire.

Keywords: contractor selection, project management, decision-making, bidding

Procedia PDF Downloads 72
10195 Efficient Single Relay Selection Scheme for Cooperative Communication

Authors: Sung-Bok Choi, Hyun-Jun Shin, Hyoung-Kyu Song

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This paper proposes a single relay selection scheme in cooperative communication. Decode and forward scheme is considered when a source node wants to cooperate with a single relay for data transmission. To use the proposed single relay selection scheme, the source node make a little different pattern signal which is not complex pattern and broadcasts it. The proposed scheme does not require the channel state information between the source node and candidates of the relay during the relay selection. Therefore, it is able to be used in many fields.

Keywords: relay selection, cooperative communication, df, channel codes

Procedia PDF Downloads 644
10194 A Fuzzy Decision Making Approach for Supplier Selection in Healthcare Industry

Authors: Zeynep Sener, Mehtap Dursun

Abstract:

Supplier evaluation and selection is one of the most important components of an effective supply chain management system. Due to the expanding competition in healthcare, selecting the right medical device suppliers offers great potential for increasing quality while decreasing costs. This paper proposes a fuzzy decision making approach for medical supplier selection. A real-world medical device supplier selection problem is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed decision methodology.

Keywords: fuzzy decision making, fuzzy multiple objective programming, medical supply chain, supplier selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 420
10193 A Quantitative Evaluation of Text Feature Selection Methods

Authors: B. S. Harish, M. B. Revanasiddappa

Abstract:

Due to rapid growth of text documents in digital form, automated text classification has become an important research in the last two decades. The major challenge of text document representations are high dimension, sparsity, volume and semantics. Since the terms are only features that can be found in documents, selection of good terms (features) plays an very important role. In text classification, feature selection is a strategy that can be used to improve classification effectiveness, computational efficiency and accuracy. In this paper, we present a quantitative analysis of most widely used feature selection (FS) methods, viz. Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (tfidf ), Mutual Information (MI), Information Gain (IG), CHISquare (x2), Term Frequency-Relevance Frequency (tfrf ), Term Strength (TS), Ambiguity Measure (AM) and Symbolic Feature Selection (SFS) to classify text documents. We evaluated all the feature selection methods on standard datasets like 20 Newsgroups, 4 University dataset and Reuters-21578.

Keywords: classifiers, feature selection, text classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 429
10192 A System Dynamics Model for Assessment of Alternative Energy Policy Measures: A Case of Energy Management System as an Energy Efficiency Policy Tool

Authors: Andra Blumberga, Uldis Bariss, Anna Kubule, Dagnija Blumberga

Abstract:

European Union Energy Efficiency Directive provides a set of binding energy efficiency measures to reach. Each of the member states can use either energy efficiency obligation scheme or alternative policy measures or combination of both. Latvian government has decided to divide savings among obligation scheme (65%) and alternative measures (35%). This decision might lead to significant energy tariff increase hence impact on the national economy. To assess impact of alternative policy measures focusing on energy management scheme based on ISO 50001 and ability to decrease share of obligation scheme a System Dynamics modeling was used. Simulation results show that energy efficiency goal can be met with alternative policy measure to large energy consumers in industrial, tertiary and public sectors by applying the energy tax exemption for implementers of energy management system. A delay in applying alternative policy measures plays very important role in reaching the energy efficiency goal. One year delay in implementation of this policy measure reduces cumulative energy savings from 2016 to 2017 from 5200 GWh to 3000 GWh in 2020.

Keywords: system dynamics, energy efficiency, policy measure, energy management system, obligation scheme

Procedia PDF Downloads 254
10191 Binary Programming for Manufacturing Material and Manufacturing Process Selection Using Genetic Algorithms

Authors: Saleem Z. Ramadan

Abstract:

The material selection problem is concerned with the determination of the right material for a certain product to optimize certain performance indices in that product such as mass, energy density, and power-to-weight ratio. This paper is concerned about optimizing the selection of the manufacturing process along with the material used in the product under performance indices and availability constraints. In this paper, the material selection problem is formulated using binary programming and solved by genetic algorithm. The objective function of the model is to minimize the total manufacturing cost under performance indices and material and manufacturing process availability constraints.

Keywords: optimization, material selection, process selection, genetic algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 390
10190 Investigations in Machining of Hot Work Tool Steel with Mixed Ceramic Tool

Authors: B. Varaprasad, C. Srinivasa Rao

Abstract:

Hard turning has been explored as an alternative to the conventional one used for manufacture of Parts using tool steels. In the present study, the effects of cutting speed, feed rate and Depth of Cut (DOC) on cutting forces, specific cutting force, power and surface roughness in the hard turning are experimentally investigated. Experiments are carried out using mixed ceramic(Al2O3+TiC) cutting tool of corner radius 0.8mm, in turning operations on AISI H13 tool steel, heat treated to a hardness of 62 HRC. Based on Design of Experiments (DOE), a total of 20 tests are carried out. The range of each one of the three parameters is set at three different levels, viz, low, medium and high. The validity of the model is checked by Analysis of variance (ANOVA). Predicted models are derived from regression analysis. Comparison of experimental and predicted values of specific cutting force, power and surface roughness shows that good agreement has been achieved between them. Therefore, the developed model may be recommended to be used for predicting specific cutting force, power and surface roughness in hard turning of tool steel that is AISI H13 steel.

Keywords: hard turning, specific cutting force, power, surface roughness, AISI H13, mixed ceramic

Procedia PDF Downloads 681
10189 Selection of Relevant Servers in Distributed Information Retrieval System

Authors: Benhamouda Sara, Guezouli Larbi

Abstract:

Nowadays, the dissemination of information touches the distributed world, where selecting the relevant servers to a user request is an important problem in distributed information retrieval. During the last decade, several research studies on this issue have been launched to find optimal solutions and many approaches of collection selection have been proposed. In this paper, we propose a new collection selection approach that takes into consideration the number of documents in a collection that contains terms of the query and the weights of those terms in these documents. We tested our method and our studies show that this technique can compete with other state-of-the-art algorithms that we choose to test the performance of our approach.

Keywords: distributed information retrieval, relevance, server selection, collection selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 272
10188 K-Means Clustering-Based Infinite Feature Selection Method

Authors: Seyyedeh Faezeh Hassani Ziabari, Sadegh Eskandari, Maziar Salahi

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Infinite Feature Selection (IFS) algorithm is an efficient feature selection algorithm that selects a subset of features of all sizes (including infinity). In this paper, we present an improved version of it, called clustering IFS (CIFS), by clustering the dataset in advance. To do so, first, we apply the K-means algorithm to cluster the dataset, then we apply IFS. In the CIFS method, the spatial and temporal complexities are reduced compared to the IFS method. Experimental results on 6 datasets show the superiority of CIFS compared to IFS in terms of accuracy, running time, and memory consumption.

Keywords: feature selection, infinite feature selection, clustering, graph

Procedia PDF Downloads 98
10187 The Impact of Governance Criteria in the Supplier Selection Process of Large German Companies

Authors: Christoph Köster

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Supplier selection is one of the key challenges in supply chain management and can be considered a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. In the 1960s, it evolved from considering only economic criteria, such as price, quality, and performance, to including environmental and social criteria nowadays. Although receiving considerable attention from scholars and practitioners over the past decades, existing research has not considered governance criteria so far. This is, however, surprising, as ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria have gained considerable attention. In order to complement ESG criteria in the supplier selection process, this study investigates German DAX and MDAX companies and evaluates the impact of governance criteria along their supplier selection process. Moreover, it proposes a set of criteria for the respective process steps. Specifically, eleven criteria for the first process step and five criteria for the second process step are identified. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the supplier selection process by elucidating the relevance of governance criteria in the supplier selection process and providing a set of empirically developed governance criteria. These results can be applied by practitioners to complement the criteria set in the supplier selection process and thus balance economic, environmental, social, and governance targets.

Keywords: ESG, governance, sustainable supplier selection, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 96
10186 The Relevance of Environmental, Social, and Governance in Sustainable Supplier Selection

Authors: Christoph Koester

Abstract:

Supplier selection is one of the key issues in supply chain management with a growing emphasis on sustainability driven by increasing stakeholder expectations and proactivity. In addition, new regulations, such as the German Supply Chain Act, fostered the inclusion of sustainable incl. governance selection criteria in the selection process. In order to provide a systematic approach to select the most suitable sustainable suppliers, this study quantifies the importance and prioritizes the relevant selection criteria across 17 German industries using the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process. Results show that economic criteria are still the most important in the selection decision averaging a global weight of 51%. However, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are combined, on average, almost equally important, with global weights of 22%, 16%, and 11%, respectively. While the type of industry influences criteria weights, other factors, such as type of purchasing or demographic factors, appear to have little impact.

Keywords: ESG, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process, sustainable supplier selection, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 62
10185 Effect of Recruitment and Selection on Employee Performance in Hospitality Industries

Authors: Yusuf A. Bako, Olubunmi O. Kolawole

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This study sought to establish the effect of recruitment and selection on the employee performance in hospitality industries. The success of any organization in this modern business environment depends on the caliber of the manpower that steer the affairs of the organization. History has shown that recruitment and selection as a function of human resources management practices have a pivotal role in determining the level of employee performance in an organization. The hospitality industries have been faced with challenges of performance due to unconventional selection and placement practices in terms of poor policy in selecting candidate, inconsistency in selection process, sidetracking employment test and interview, godfatherism and regional selection process etc. The overall objective of the study was to determine how recruitment and selection affect employee performance in hospitality industry in Ogun State, Nigeria. This study adopts descriptive and inferential research design while population was drawn from leading hotels in Ogun State, Nigeria. The samples size was 100 employees and questionnaire was used to collect data while Cronbach alpha was used to test the instrument. The result of the study reveals that correlation between employee performance and recruitment and selection were highly significant.

Keywords: employee performance, human resources management, practices, recruitment, selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 344
10184 Effect of the Tooling Conditions on the Machining Stability of a Milling Machine

Authors: Jui-Pui Hung, Yong-Run Chen, Wei-Cheng Shih, Shen-He Tsui, Kung-Da Wu

Abstract:

This paper presents the effect on the tooling conditions on the machining stabilities of a milling machine tool. The machining stability was evaluated in different feeding direction in the X-Y plane, which was referred as the orientation-dependent machining stability. According to the machining mechanics, the machining stability was determined by the frequency response function of the cutter. Thus, we first conducted the vibration tests on the spindle tool of the milling machine to assess the tool tip frequency response functions along the principal direction of the machine tool. Then, basing on the orientation dependent stability analysis model proposed in this study, we evaluated the variation of the dynamic characteristics of the spindle tool and the corresponding machining stabilities at a specific feeding direction. Current results demonstrate that the stability boundaries and limited axial cutting depth of a specific cutter were affected to vary when it was fixed in the tool holder with different overhang length. The flute of the cutter also affects the stability boundary. When a two flute cutter was used, the critical cutting depth can be increased by 47 % as compared with the four flute cutter. The results presented in study provide valuable references for the selection of the tooling conditions for achieving high milling performance.

Keywords: tooling condition, machining stability, milling machine, chatter

Procedia PDF Downloads 406
10183 The Effect of Initial Sample Size and Increment in Simulation Samples on a Sequential Selection Approach

Authors: Mohammad H. Almomani

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In this paper, we argue the effect of the initial sample size, and the increment in simulation samples on the performance of a sequential approach that used in selecting the top m designs when the number of alternative designs is very large. The sequential approach consists of two stages. In the first stage the ordinal optimization is used to select a subset that overlaps with the set of actual best k% designs with high probability. Then in the second stage the optimal computing budget is used to select the top m designs from the selected subset. We apply the selection approach on a generic example under some parameter settings, with a different choice of initial sample size and the increment in simulation samples, to explore the impacts on the performance of this approach. The results show that the choice of initial sample size and the increment in simulation samples does affect the performance of a selection approach.

Keywords: Large Scale Problems, Optimal Computing Budget Allocation, ordinal optimization, simulation optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 327
10182 Forensic Imaging as an Effective Learning Tool for Teaching Forensic Pathology to Undergraduate Medical Students

Authors: Vasudeva Murthy Challakere Ramaswamy

Abstract:

Background: Conventionally forensic pathology is learnt through autopsy demonstrations which carry various limitations such as unavailability of cases in the mortuary, medico-legal implication and infection. Over the years forensic pathology and science has undergone significant evolution in this digital world. Forensic imaging is a technology which can be effectively utilized for overcoming the current limitations in the undergraduate learning of forensic curriculum. Materials and methods: demonstration of forensic imaging was done using a novel technology of autopsy which has been recently introduced across the globe. Three sessions were conducted in international medical university for a total of 196 medical students. The innovative educational tool was evacuated by using quantitative questionnaire with the scoring scales between 1 to 10. Results: The mean score for acceptance of new tool was 82% and about 74% of the students recommended incorporation of the forensic imaging in the regular curriculum. 82% of students were keen on collaborative research and taking further training courses in forensic imaging. Conclusion: forensic imaging can be an effective tool and also a suitable alternative for teaching undergraduate students. This feedback also supports the fact that students favour the use of contemporary technologies in learning medicine.

Keywords: forensic imaging, forensic pathology, medical students, learning tool

Procedia PDF Downloads 456
10181 Partner Selection for Horizontal Logistic Cooperation

Authors: Mario Winkelhaus, Franz Vallée

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Many companies see horizontal cooperation as a promising possibility to increase their efficiency in outbound logistics. The selection of suitable partners has particular importance in the formation of horizontal cooperation. Up until now, literature mainly focused on general applicable methods for the identification of cooperation partners without a closer examination of the specific area where the cooperation takes place. Thus, specific criteria as a basis for the partner selection in the field of logistics cooperation are missing. To close this scientific gap, an explorative research approach is used to answer the open question of the article. To collect the needed criteria, a qualitative experiment with 20 participants from 16 companies was done. Within this workshop, general criteria, as well as sector-specific requirements, have been identified which were integrated in a partner selection model.

Keywords: horizontal cooperation, logistics cooperation partnering criteria, partner selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 401
10180 Artificial Intelligence Based Comparative Analysis for Supplier Selection in Multi-Echelon Automotive Supply Chains via GEP and ANN Models

Authors: Seyed Esmail Seyedi Bariran, Laysheng Ewe, Amy Ling

Abstract:

Since supplier selection appears as a vital decision, selecting supplier based on the best and most accurate ways has a lot of importance for enterprises. In this study, a new Artificial Intelligence approach is exerted to remove weaknesses of supplier selection. The paper has three parts. First part is choosing the appropriate criteria for assessing the suppliers’ performance. Next one is collecting the data set based on experts. Afterwards, the data set is divided into two parts, the training data set and the testing data set. By the training data set the best structure of GEP and ANN are selected and to evaluate the power of the mentioned methods the testing data set is used. The result obtained shows that the accuracy of GEP is more than ANN. Moreover, unlike ANN, a mathematical equation is presented by GEP for the supplier selection.

Keywords: supplier selection, automotive supply chains, ANN, GEP

Procedia PDF Downloads 601
10179 Material Selection for Footwear Insole Using Analytical Hierarchal Process

Authors: Mohammed A. Almomani, Dina W. Al-Qudah

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Product performance depends on the type and quality of its building material. Successful product must be made using high quality material, and using the right methods. Many foot problems took place as a result of using poor insole material. Therefore, selecting a proper insole material is crucial to eliminate these problems. In this study, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used to provide a systematic procedure for choosing the best material adequate for this application among three material alternatives (polyurethane, poron, and plastzote). Several comparison criteria are used to build the AHP model including: density, stiffness, durability, energy absorption, and ease of fabrication. Poron was selected as the best choice. Inconsistency testing indicates that the model is reasonable, and the materials alternative ranking is effective.

Keywords: AHP, footwear insole, insole material, materials selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 324
10178 A Research and Application of Feature Selection Based on IWO and Tabu Search

Authors: Laicheng Cao, Xiangqian Su, Youxiao Wu

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Feature selection is one of the important problems in network security, pattern recognition, data mining and other fields. In order to remove redundant features, effectively improve the detection speed of intrusion detection system, proposes a new feature selection method, which is based on the invasive weed optimization (IWO) algorithm and tabu search algorithm(TS). Use IWO as a global search, tabu search algorithm for local search, to improve the results of IWO algorithm. The experimental results show that the feature selection method can effectively remove the redundant features of network data information in feature selection, reduction time, and to guarantee accurate detection rate, effectively improve the speed of detection system.

Keywords: intrusion detection, feature selection, iwo, tabu search

Procedia PDF Downloads 503
10177 Automatic Threshold Search for Heat Map Based Feature Selection: A Cancer Dataset Analysis

Authors: Carlos Huertas, Reyes Juarez-Ramirez

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Public health is one of the most critical issues today; therefore, there is great interest to improve technologies in the area of diseases detection. With machine learning and feature selection, it has been possible to aid the diagnosis of several diseases such as cancer. In this work, we present an extension to the Heat Map Based Feature Selection algorithm, this modification allows automatic threshold parameter selection that helps to improve the generalization performance of high dimensional data such as mass spectrometry. We have performed a comparison analysis using multiple cancer datasets and compare against the well known Recursive Feature Elimination algorithm and our original proposal, the results show improved classification performance that is very competitive against current techniques.

Keywords: biomarker discovery, cancer, feature selection, mass spectrometry

Procedia PDF Downloads 304
10176 Executive Function Assessment with Aboriginal Australians

Authors: T. Keiller, E. Hindman, P. Hassmen, K. Radford, L. Lavrencic

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Background: Psychosocial disadvantage is associated with impaired cognitive abilities, with executive functioning (EF) abilities particularly vulnerable. EF abilities strongly predict general daily functioning, educational and career prospects, and health choices. A reliable and valid assessment of EF is important to support appropriate care and intervention strategies. However, evidence-based EF assessment tools for use with Aboriginal Australians are limited. Aim and Method: This research aims to develop and validate a culturally appropriate EF tool for use with indigenous Australians. To this end, Study One aims to review current literature examining the benefits and disadvantages of current EF assessment tools for use with Indigenous Australians. Study Two aims to collate expert opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of various current EF assessment tools for use with Indigenous Australians using Delphi methodology with experienced psychologists (n = 10). The initial two studies will inform the development of a culturally appropriate assessment tool. Study Three aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the tool with an Indigenous sample living in the New South Wales Mid-North Coast. The study aims to quantify the predictive validity of this tool via comparison to functionality predictors and neuropsychological assessment scores. Study Four aims to collect qualitative data surrounding the feasibility and acceptability of the tool among indigenous Australians and health professionals. Expected Results: Findings from this research are likely to inform cognitive assessment practices and tool selection for health professionals conducting cognitive assessments with Indigenous Australians. Improved assessment of EF will inform appropriate care and intervention strategies for individuals with EF deficits.

Keywords: aboriginal Australians, assessment tool, cognition, executive functioning

Procedia PDF Downloads 245
10175 Corpus-Based Model of Key Concepts Selection for the Master English Language Course "Government Relations"

Authors: Elena Pozdnyakova

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“Government Relations” is a field of knowledge presently taught at the majority of universities around the globe. English as the default language can become the language of teaching since the issues discussed are both global and national in character. However for this field of knowledge key concepts and their word representations in English don’t often coincide with those in other languages. International master’s degree students abroad as well as students, taught the course in English at their national universities, are exposed to difficulties, connected with correct conceptualizing of terminology of GR in British and American academic traditions. The study was carried out during the GR English language course elaboration (pilot research: 2013 -2015) at Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations (University), Russian Federation. Within this period, English language instructors designed and elaborated the three-semester course of GR. Methodologically the course design was based on elaboration model with the special focus on conceptual elaboration sequence and theoretical elaboration sequence. The course designers faced difficulties in concept selection and theoretical elaboration sequence. To improve the results and eliminate the problems with concept selection, a new, corpus-based approach was worked out. The computer-based tool WordSmith 6.0 was used with the aim to build a model of key concept selection. The corpus of GR English texts consisted of 1 million words (the study corpus). The approach was based on measuring effect size, i.e. the percent difference of the frequency of a word in the study corpus when compared to that in the reference corpus. The results obtained proved significant improvement in the process of concept selection. The corpus-based model also facilitated theoretical elaboration of teaching materials.

Keywords: corpus-based study, English as the default language, key concepts, measuring effect size, model of key concept selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 279
10174 A Study on Selection Issues of an Integrated Service Provider Using Analytical Hierarchy Process

Authors: M. Pramila Devi, J. Praveena

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In today’s industrial scenario, the expectations and demand of customers are reaching great heights. In order to satisfy the customer requirements the users are increasingly turning towards fourth party logistics (4PL) service providers to manage their total supply chain operations. In this present research, initially, the criteria for the selection of integrated service providers have been identified and an integrated modal based on their inter-relationship has been developed with help of shippers, with this idea of what factors to be considered and their inter-relationships while selecting integrated service provider. Later, various methods deriving the priority weights viz. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) have been employed for 4PL service provider selection. The derived priorities of 4PL alternatives using methods have been critically analyzed and compared for effective selection. The use of the modal indicates that the computed quantitative evaluation can be applied to improve the precision of the selection.

Keywords: analytical hierarchy process, fourth party logistics, priority weight, criteria selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 396
10173 Applicant Perceptions in Admission Process to Higher Education: The Influence of Social Anxiety

Authors: I. Diamant, R. Srouji

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Applicant perceptions are attitudes, feelings, and cognitions which individuals have about selection procedures and have been mostly studied in the context of personnel selection. The main aim of the present study is to expand the understanding of applicant perceptions, using the framework of Organizational Justice Theory, in the domain of selection for higher education. The secondary aim is to explore the relationships between individual differences in social anxiety and applicants’ perceptions. The selection process is an accept/reject situation; it was hypothesized that applicants with higher social anxiety would experience negative perceptions and a lower success estimation, especially when subjected to social interaction elements in the process (interview and group simulation). Also, the effects of prior preparation and post-process explanations offered at the end of the selection process were explored. One hundred sixty psychology M.A. program applicants participated in this research, and following the selection process completed questionnaires measuring social anxiety, social exclusion, ratings on several justice dimensions for each of the methods in the selection process, feelings of success, and self-estimation of compatibility. About half of the applicants also received explanations regarding the significance and the aims of the selection process. Results provided support for most of our hypotheses: applicants with higher social anxiety experienced an increased level of social exclusion in the selection process, perceived the selection as less fair and ended with a lower feeling of success relative to those applicants without social anxiety. These relationships were especially salient in the selection procedures which included social interaction. Additionally, preparation for the selection process was positively related to the favorable perception of fairness in the selection process. Finally, contrary to our hypothesis, it was found that explanations did not affect the applicant’s perceptions. The results enhance our understanding of which factors affect applicant perceptions in applicants to higher education studies and contribute uniquely to the understanding of the effect of social anxiety on different aspects of selection experienced by applicants. The findings clearly show that some individuals may be predisposed to react unfavorably to certain selection situations. In an age of increasing awareness towards fairness in evaluation and selection and hiring procedures, these findings may be of relevance and may contribute to the design of future personnel selection methods in general and of higher education selection in particular.

Keywords: applicant perceptions, selection and assessment, organizational justice theory, social anxiety

Procedia PDF Downloads 127
10172 Technical, Environmental and Financial Assessment for Optimal Sizing of Run-of-River Small Hydropower Project: Case Study in Colombia

Authors: David Calderon Villegas, Thomas Kaltizky

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Run-of-river (RoR) hydropower projects represent a viable, clean, and cost-effective alternative to dam-based plants and provide decentralized power production. However, RoR schemes cost-effectiveness depends on the proper selection of site and design flow, which is a challenging task because it requires multivariate analysis. In this respect, this study presents the development of an investment decision support tool for assessing the optimal size of an RoR scheme considering the technical, environmental, and cost constraints. The net present value (NPV) from a project perspective is used as an objective function for supporting the investment decision. The tool has been tested by applying it to an actual RoR project recently proposed in Colombia. The obtained results show that the optimum point in financial terms does not match the flow that maximizes energy generation from exploiting the river's available flow. For the case study, the flow that maximizes energy corresponds to a value of 5.1 m3/s. In comparison, an amount of 2.1 m3/s maximizes the investors NPV. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the NPV as a function of the debt rate changes and the electricity prices and the CapEx. Even for the worst-case scenario, the optimal size represents a positive business case with an NPV of 2.2 USD million and an IRR 1.5 times higher than the discount rate.

Keywords: small hydropower, renewable energy, RoR schemes, optimal sizing, objective function

Procedia PDF Downloads 109
10171 Effects of Machining Parameters on the Surface Roughness and Vibration of the Milling Tool

Authors: Yung C. Lin, Kung D. Wu, Wei C. Shih, Jui P. Hung

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High speed and high precision machining have become the most important technology in manufacturing industry. The surface roughness of high precision components is regarded as the important characteristics of the product quality. However, machining chatter could damage the machined surface and restricts the process efficiency. Therefore, selection of the appropriate cutting conditions is of importance to prevent the occurrence of chatter. In addition, vibration of the spindle tool also affects the surface quality, which implies the surface precision can be controlled by monitoring the vibration of the spindle tool. Based on this concept, this study was aimed to investigate the influence of the machining conditions on the surface roughness and the vibration of the spindle tool. To this end, a series of machining tests were conducted on aluminum alloy. In tests, the vibration of the spindle tool was measured by using the acceleration sensors. The surface roughness of the machined parts was examined using white light interferometer. The response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to establish the mathematical models for predicting surface finish and tool vibration, respectively. The correlation between the surface roughness and spindle tool vibration was also analyzed by ANOVA analysis. According to the machining tests, machined surface with or without chattering was marked on the lobes diagram as the verification of the machining conditions. Using multivariable regression analysis, the mathematical models for predicting the surface roughness and tool vibrations were developed based on the machining parameters, cutting depth (a), feed rate (f) and spindle speed (s). The predicted roughness is shown to agree well with the measured roughness, an average percentage of errors of 10%. The average percentage of errors of the tool vibrations between the measurements and the predictions of mathematical model is about 7.39%. In addition, the tool vibration under various machining conditions has been found to have a positive influence on the surface roughness (r=0.78). As a conclusion from current results, the mathematical models were successfully developed for the predictions of the surface roughness and vibration level of the spindle tool under different cutting condition, which can help to select appropriate cutting parameters and to monitor the machining conditions to achieve high surface quality in milling operation.

Keywords: machining parameters, machining stability, regression analysis, surface roughness

Procedia PDF Downloads 207
10170 Checklist for Autism Spectrum Disorder as an In-Class Observation Tool for Teachers

Authors: Werona Król-Gierat

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The majority of Special Educational Needs checklists are intended for preliminary screening in the special education disability process. The aim of the present paper is to present their potential usefulness as in-class observation tools for teachers working with students who have already been diagnosed with a disorder. A checklist may complement and organize information about a given child, which is indispensable to improve his or her condition. The case of a Polish boy with autism will serve as an example. Last but not the least, alternative uses of checklists are suggested in the article.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders, case study, checklist, observation tool

Procedia PDF Downloads 337
10169 Weighted Rank Regression with Adaptive Penalty Function

Authors: Kang-Mo Jung

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The use of regularization for statistical methods has become popular. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) framework has become the standard tool for sparse regression. However, it is well known that the LASSO is sensitive to outliers or leverage points. We consider a new robust estimation which is composed of the weighted loss function of the pairwise difference of residuals and the adaptive penalty function regulating the tuning parameter for each variable. Rank regression is resistant to regression outliers, but not to leverage points. By adopting a weighted loss function, the proposed method is robust to leverage points of the predictor variable. Furthermore, the adaptive penalty function gives us good statistical properties in variable selection such as oracle property and consistency. We develop an efficient algorithm to compute the proposed estimator using basic functions in program R. We used an optimal tuning parameter based on the Bayesian information criterion (BIC). Numerical simulation shows that the proposed estimator is effective for analyzing real data set and contaminated data.

Keywords: adaptive penalty function, robust penalized regression, variable selection, weighted rank regression

Procedia PDF Downloads 436
10168 Eco-Design of Construction Industrial Park in China with Selection of Candidate Tenants

Authors: Yang Zhou, Kaijian Li, Guiwen Liu

Abstract:

Offsite construction is an innovative alternative to conventional site-based construction, with wide-ranging benefits. It requires building components, elements or modules were prefabricated and pre-assembly before installed into their final locations. To improve efficiency and achieve synergies, in recent years, construction companies were clustered into construction industrial parks (CIPs) in China. A CIP is a community of construction manufacturing and service businesses located together on a common property. Companies involved in industrial clusters can obtain environment and economic benefits by sharing resources and information in a given region. Therefore, the concept of industrial symbiosis (IS) can be applied to the traditional CIP to achieve sustainable industrial development or redevelopment through the implementation of eco-industrial parks (EIP). However, before designing a symbiosis network between companies in a CIP, candidate support tenants need to be selected to complement the existing construction companies. In this study, an access indicator system and a linear programming model are established to select candidate tenants in a CIP while satisfying the degree of connectivity among the enterprises in the CIP, minimizing the environmental impact, and maximizing the annualized profit of the CIP. The access indicator system comprises three primary indicators and fifteen secondary indicators, is proposed from the perspective of park-based level. The fifteen indicators are classified as three primary indicators including industrial symbiosis, environment performance and economic benefit, according to the three dimensions of sustainability (environment, economic and social dimensions) and the three R's of the environment (reduce, reuse and recycle). The linear programming model is a method to assess the satisfactoriness of all the indicators and to make an optimal multi-objective selection among candidate tenants. This method provides a practical tool for planners of a CIP in evaluating which among the candidate tenants would best complement existing anchor construction tenants. The reasonability and validity of the indicator system and the method is worth further study in the future.

Keywords: construction industrial park, China, industrial symbiosis, offsite construction, selection of support tenants

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