Search results for: performance assessment

Authors: Lutfi Abosrra, Alseddeq Alabaoub, Nuri Elhaloudi

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Corrosion processes in the Oil & Gas industry can lead to failures that are usually costly to repair, costly in terms of loss of contaminated product, in terms of environmental damage and possibly costly in terms of human safety. This article describes the results of the corrosion review and criticality assessment done at Mellitah Gas (SRU unit) for pressure equipment and piping system. The information gathered through the review was intended for developing a qualitative RBI study. The corrosion criticality assessment has been carried out by applying company procedures and industrial recommended practices such as API 571, API 580/581, ASME PCC 3, which provides a guideline for establishing corrosion integrity assessment. The corrosion review is intimately related to the probability of failure (POF). During the corrosion study, the process units are reviewed by following the applicable process flow diagrams (PFDs) in the presence of Mellitah’s personnel from process engineering, inspection, and corrosion/materials and reliability engineers. The expected corrosion damage mechanism (internal and external) was identified, and the corrosion rate was estimated for every piece of equipment and corrosion loop in the process units. A combination of both Consequence and Likelihood of failure was used for determining the corrosion risk. A qualitative consequence of failure (COF) for each individual item was assigned based on the characteristics of the fluid as per its flammability, toxicity, and pollution into three levels (High, Medium, and Low). A qualitative probability of failure (POF)was applied to evaluate the internal and external degradation mechanism, a high-level point-based (0 to 10) for the purpose of risk prioritizing in the range of Low, Medium, and High.

Keywords: corrosion, criticality assessment, RBI, POF, COF

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Authors: Abduxukur Zayit, Guo Rui Chen

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Universities play important role for develop and distribute sustainable development ideas. This research based on the current situation of large and widely distributed university campuses in China. In view of the deterioration of campus performance, the aging of function and facilities, the large consumption of energy and resources, a logic of "problem-oriented-goal-oriented- At the level, taking the problem orientation as the focus,this paper analyzes the main influencing factors of the existing characteristics of the university campuses, establishes the digital assessment methods and clarifies the key points of the rennovation. Based on the goal orientation, this paper puts forward the existing university campus design principles, builds the green transformation-carding model and sets up the post-use evaluation model. In the end, with dual guidance as the constraint, we will formulate green design standards for campus greening, construct a greening enhancement measure for campus environment, and develop and promote a green campus after-use assessment platform. It provides useful research methods and research ideas for the reconstruction of the existing campus in China, especially the urban universities.

Keywords: design method, existing university campus, green renovation, sustainable development

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Authors: Snehal Mevada, Darshana Bhatt, Aryan Kalthiya, Neel Parmar, Vishal Baraiya, Dhruvit Bhanderi, Tisha Patel

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In multi-storeyed framed buildings, damage occurring from earthquake ground motion generally initiates at locations of structural weaknesses present in the lateral load-resisting frame. In some cases, these weaknesses may be created by discontinuities in stiffness, mass, plan, and torsion. Such discontinuity between storeys is often associated with sudden variations in the vertical geometric irregularities and plan irregularities. Vertical irregularities are structures with a soft storey that can further be broken down into the different types of irregularities as well as their severity for a more refined assessment tool pushover analysis which is one of the methods available for evaluating building against earthquake loads. So, it is very necessary to analyse and understand the seismic performance of the irregular structure in order to reduce the damage which occurs during an earthquake. In this project, a multi-storey (G+4) RCC building with four irregularities (stiffness, mass, plan, torsion) is studied for earthquake loads using the response spectrum method (dynamic analysis) and STADD PRO. All analyses have been done for seismic zone IV and for Medium Soil. In this study effects of different irregularities are analysed based on storey displacement, storey drift, and storey shear.

Keywords: comparison of regular and irregular structure, dynamic analysis, mass irregularity, plan irregularity, response spectrum method, stiffness irregularity, seismic performance, torsional irregularity, STAAD PRO

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Authors: J. K. Alhassan, C. S. Actsu

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This study is on the prediction of feature performance of undergraduate students with Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). With the growing decline in the quality academic performance of undergraduate students, it has become essential to predict the students’ feature academic performance early in their courses of first and second years and to take the necessary precautions using such prediction-based information. The feed forward multilayer neural network model was used to train and develop a network and the test carried out with some of the input variables. A result of 80% accuracy was obtained from the test which was carried out, with an average error of 0.009781.

Keywords: academic performance, artificial neural network, prediction, students

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Authors: Mathias Linden, André Schneider, Harald F. O. von Korflesch

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The risk of train accidents is an ongoing concern for railway organizations, governments, insurance companies and other depended sectors. Safety technologies are installed to reduce and to prevent potential damages of train accidents. Since the budgetary for the safety of railway organizations is limited, it is necessary not only to achieve a high availability and high safety standard but also to be cost effective. Therefore, an economic assessment of safety technologies is fundamental to create an accurate risk analysis. In order to conduct an economical assessment of a railway safety technology and a quantification of the costs of the accident causes, the Global Railway Accident Database & Evaluation (GRADE) has been developed. The aim of this paper is to describe the structure of this accident database and to show how it can be used for risk analyses. A number of risk analysis methods, such as the probabilistic safety assessment method (PSA), was used to demonstrate this accident database’s different possibilities of risk analysis. In conclusion, it can be noted that these analyses would not be as accurate without GRADE. The information gathered in the accident database was not available in this way before. Our findings are relevant for railway operators, safety technology suppliers, assurances, governments and other concerned railway organizations.

Keywords: accident causes, accident costs, accident database, global railway accident database & evaluation, GRADE, probabilistic safety assessment, PSA, railway accidents, risk analysis

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Authors: Maide Yesilyurt, Saide Faydalı

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Patients experience pain at different intensities in postoperative. The diagnosis of the pain, the assessment and the success of the treatment and care make the measurement of this finding compulsory. The aim of the study is to determine the evaluation differences numeric pain scales. The descriptive study was conducted with 360 patients with in postoperative. The data were obtained from questionnaires related to six numeric pain scales most preferred in clinical use, and a face-to-face interview technique was used by the researcher. Regarding to numeric pain scale, questions include forth positive and one negative statement. In evaluating the data; chi-square and Pearson correlation tests were used. For the study, the patients’ informed consents, the institution and the ethics committee received permission. In this study, patients' ages are between 18-80, 95.8% of the patients were not informed about pain assessment. Patients evaluated the 5-item numeric scale as the easy, can be answered quickly, accurate, and appropriate for clinical use and the 101 items numeric scale as complex than other scales. Regarding to numeric pain scales with positive statements between age, marital status, educational status, previous surgery, having chronic disease and getting information about pain assessment significant difference has been detected. All numeric pain scales are correlated to each other. As a result, it was determined that as the items in the numerical scales decreased, the patients were able to perceive the scales better, and the items in the scales increased, the patients were in trouble to understand.

Keywords: numeric pain scales, nurse, pain assessment, patient

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Authors: Austin Oduor Otieno

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There is an ingrained belief that the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes enable them to perform better. While this has been found to be truth, it also raises ethical and health issues. This paper analyzes the health hazards associated with performance enhancing drugs. It seeks to achieve this through the analysis of different academic journals as well as publications on the relationship between doping in sports and health. It concludes that there are inherent health hazards associated with the use of performance-enhancing drugs as they affect the physical and psychological health and wellbeing of a user (athlete).

Keywords: doping, health hazards, athletes, drugs

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Authors: Jiang Fan

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With growth of PV market in tropical region, it is necessary to investigate the performance of different types of PV technology under the tropical weather conditions. Singapore Polytechnic was funded by Economic Development Board (EDB) to set up a solar PV test-bed for the research on performance of different types of PV modules in the country. The PV test-bed installed the nine different types of PV systems that are integrated to power utility grid for monitoring and analyzing their operating performances. This paper presents the 12 months operational data of nine different PV systems and analyses on performances of installed PV systems using energy yield and performance ratio. The nine types of PV systems under test have shown their energy yields ranging from 2.67 to 3.36 kWh/kWp and their performance ratios (PRs) ranging from 70% to 88%.

Keywords: monocrystalline, multicrystalline, amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, thin film PV

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Authors: Derya Yilmaz, Ali Murat Tanyer, Irem Dikmen Toker

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There are many studies addressing the discrepancy between the planned and actual performance of buildings, which is defined as the energy performance gap. The difference between expected and actual project results usually depends on risky events and how these risks are managed throughout the project. This study presents a systematic review of the literature about the energy performance gap in buildings. First of all, a brief history and definitions of the energy performance gap are given. The initial search string is applied on Scopus and Web of Science databases. Research activities in years, main research interests, the co-occurrence of keywords based on average publication year are given. Scientometric analyses are conducted using Vosviewer. After the review, the papers are grouped to thematic relevance. This research will create a basis for analyzing the research focus, methods, limitations, and research gaps of key papers in the field.

Keywords: energy performance gap, discrepancy, energy efficient buildings, green buildings

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Authors: J. Tamosaitiene

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The article focuses on the identification and classification of key risk management criteria that represent the most important sustainability aspects of the construction industry. The construction sector is one of the most important sectors in Lithuania. Nowadays, the assessment of the risk level of a construction project is especially important for the quality of construction projects, the growth of enterprises and the sector. To establish the most important criteria for successful growth of the sector, a questionnaire for experts was developed. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the expert judgement method and other multicriteria decision making (MCDM) methods were used to develop the hybrid model. The results were used to develop an integrated knowledge system for the measurement of a risk level particular to construction projects. The article presents a practical case that details the developed system, sustainable aspects, and risk assessment.

Keywords: risk, system, model, construction

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Authors: Priti Saha, Biswajit Paul

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Rapid urbanization and industrialization have increased the demand of groundwater. However, the present era has evident an enormous level of groundwater pollution. Therefore, water quality assessment is paramount importance to evaluate its suitability for drinking, irrigation and industrial use. This study focus to evaluate the groundwater quality of an industrial city in eastern India through interdisciplinary techniques. The multi-purpose Water Quality Index (WQI) assess the suitability for drinking as well as irrigation of forty sampling locations, where 2.5% and 15% of sampling locations have excellent water quality (WQI:0-25) as well as 15% and 40% have good quality (WQI:25-50), which represents its suitability for drinking and irrigation respectively. However, the industrial water quality was assessed through Ryznar Stability Index (LSI), which affirmed that only 2.5% of sampling locations have neither corrosive nor scale forming properties (RSI: 6.2-6.8). These techniques with the integration of geographical information system (GIS) for spatial assessment indorsed its effectiveness to identify the regions where the water bodies are suitable to use for drinking, irrigation as well as industrial activities. Further, the sources of these contaminants were identified through factor analysis (FA), which revealed that both the geogenic as well as anthropogenic sources were responsible for groundwater pollution. This research demonstrates the effectiveness of statistical and GIS techniques for the analysis of environmental contaminants.

Keywords: groundwater, water quality analysis, water quality index, WQI, factor analysis, FA, spatial assessment

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Authors: Emin Gundogar, Aysegul Yilmaz

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Strategic performance scoring is a significant procedure in management. There are various methods to improve this procedure. This study introduces an information system that is developed to score performance for municipal management. The application of the system is clarified by exemplifying municipal processes.

Keywords: management information system, municipal management, performance scoring

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Authors: Abdool Qaiyum Mohabuth

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Transferrable skills are learnt abilities which are mainly acquired when experiencing work. University students have the opportunities to develop the knowledge and aptitude at work when they undertake WBL placement during their studies. There is a range of transferrable skills which students may acquire at their placement settings. Several studies have tried to identify a core set of transferrable skills which students can acquire at their placement settings. However, the different lists proposed have often been criticised for being exhaustive and duplicative. In addition, assessing the achievement of students on practice learning based on the transferrable skills is regarded as being complex and tedious due to the variability of placement settings. No attempt has been made in investigating whether these skills are assessable at practice settings. This study seeks to define a set of generic transferrable skills that can be assessed during WBL practice. Quantitative technique was used involving the design of two questionnaires. One was administered to University of Mauritius students who have undertaken WBL practice and the other was slightly modified, destined to mentors who have supervised and assessed students at placement settings. To obtain a good representation of the student’s population, the sample considered was stratified over four Faculties. As for the mentors, probability sampling was considered. Findings revealed that transferrable skills may be subject to formal assessment at practice settings. Hypothesis tested indicate that there was no significant difference between students and mentors as regards to the application of transferrable skills for formal assessment. A list of core transferrable skills that are assessable at any practice settings has been defined after taking into account their degree of being generic, extent of acquisition at work settings and their consideration for formal assessment. Both students and mentors assert that these transferrable skills are accessible at work settings and require commitment and energy to be acquired successfully.

Keywords: knowledge, skills, assessment, placement, mentors

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Authors: Mohamed Ali MiladKrem Salem, Sergio F.Breña, Sanjay R. Arwade, Simi T. Hoque

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The location of the main lateral‐load resisting system in high-rise buildings may have positive impacts on sustainability through a reduction in operational energy consumption, and this paper describes an assessment of the accompanying effects on structural performance. It is found that there is a strong influence of design for environmental performance on the structural performance the building, and that systems selected primarily with an eye towards energy use reduction may require substantial additional structural stiffening to meet safety and serviceability limits under lateral load cases. We present a framework for incorporating the environmental costs of meeting structural design requirements through the embodied energy of the core structural materials and also address the issue of economic cost brought on by incorporation of environmental concerns into the selection of the structural system. We address these issues through four case study high-rise buildings with differing structural morphologies (floor plan and core arrangement) and assess each of these building models for cost and embodied energy when the base structural system, which has been suggested by architect Kenneth Yeang based on environmental concerns, is augmented to meet lateral drift requirements under the wind loads prescribed by ASCE 7-10.

Keywords: sustainable, embodied, Outrigger, skyscraper, morphology, efficiency

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Authors: Rajlakshmi Banerjee, Sujoy Banerjee

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The prevalence of malnutrition, as the most common cause of morbidity and mortality increases with old age, especially in developing countries like India, because of many factors out of which dentate status is one. It affects diet, nutritional status and general health due to reduced chewing ability and poor food choices. Aim and Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of nutritional status, dietary intake on the Oral Health-related Quality of life (OHRQoL) of elderly edentulous complete denture wearing patients and to know whether they are at a higher risk of malnutrition. The objective was to assess the need to include dietary and nutritional counselling during Prosthodontic rehabilitation of elderly edentulous patients. Materials and method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 elderly denture wearing patients above 60 yrs of age from Nagpur, Maharashtra. The majority of study subjects (60%) were between the age group 60 and 75 years. Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) Questionnaire was used to assess nutritional status and General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) questionnaire was used to determine the Oral health related Quality of life of these patients.Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data using SPSS version 21. Results: Among the assessed subjects, nearly 80% of them had total scores of GOHAI between 12 and 57 which require ‘needed dental care.’ As per MNA, 10.5% had adequate nutrition, 70 % were at risk of malnutrition, and remaining 19.5 % of subjects were malnourished. There was a significant correlation between GOHAI and MNA scores. A strong association was found between mean GOHAI and MNA scores and thereby nutritional status and OHRQOL.Conclusion: The use of conventional dentures increases the risk of malnutrition in the elderly due to inability to eat and chew food properly and therefore severely affecting the quality of life. Dietary analysis and counselling should be strictly incorporated into geriatric treatment planning during Prosthetic rehabilitation.

Keywords: general oral health assessment index, General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI), nutritional assessment, mini-nutritional assessment, Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA), quality of life

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Authors: Emin Gundogar, Burak Erkayman, Nusret Sazak

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Providing effective management performance through the whole supply chain is critical issue and hard to applicate. The proper evaluation of integrated data may conclude with accurate information. Analysing the supply chain data through OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) technologies may provide multi-angle view of the work and consolidation. In this study, association rules and classification techniques are applied to measure the supply chain performance metrics of an automotive manufacturer in Turkey. Main criteria and important rules are determined. The comparison of the results of the algorithms is presented.

Keywords: supply chain performance, performance measurement, data mining, automotive

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Authors: Phayong Thepaksorn

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The objective of this study was to assess whether living in proximity to a roofing fiber cement factory in southern Thailand was associated with physical, mental, social, and spiritual health domains measured in a self-reported health risk assessment (HRA) questionnaire. A cross-sectional study was conducted among community members divided into two groups: near population (living within 0-2 km of factory) and far population (living within 2-5 km of factory)(N=198). A greater proportion of those living far from the factory (65.34%) reported physical health problems than the near group (51.04 %)(p=0.032). This study has demonstrated that the near population group had higher proportion of participants with positive ratings on mental assessment (30.34%) and social health impacts (28.42%) than far population group (10.59% and 16.67 %, respectively) (p<0.001). The near population group (29.79%) had similar proportion of participants with positive ratings in spiritual health impacts compared with far population group (27.08%). Among females, but not males, this study demonstrated that a higher proportion of the near population had a positive summative score for the self-HRA, which included all four health domain, compared to the far population (p <0.001 for females; p=0.154 for males). In conclusion, this self-HRA of physical, mental, social, and spiritual health domains reflected the risk perceptions of populations living in the vicinity of the roofing fiber cement factory. This type of tool can bring attention to population concerns and complaints in the factory’s surrounding community. Our findings may contribute to future development of self-HRA for HIA development procedure in Thailand.

Keywords: cement dust, health impact assessment, risk assessment, walk-though survey

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Authors: Vera Karla S. Caingles, Glen A. Lorenzo

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Soil, as the main material of landslides, plays a vital role in landslide assessment. An efficient and accurate method of doing an assessment is significantly important to prevent damage of properties and loss of lives. The study has two phases: to establish an empirical correlation of the residual soil thickness with the slope angle and to investigate the geotechnical characteristics of residual soil. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to establish the slope map and to program sampling points for field investigation. Physical and index property tests were undertaken on the 20 soil samples obtained from the area with Pliocene-Pleistocene geology and different slope angle in Kibawe, Bukidnon. The regression analysis result shows that the best fitting model that can describe the soil thickness-slope angle relationship is an exponential function. The physical property results revealed that soils contain a high percentage of clay and silts ranges from 41% - 99.52%. Based on the index properties test results, the soil exhibits a high degree of plasticity and expansion but not collapsible. It is deemed that this compendium will serve as primary data for slope stability analysis and deterministic landslide assessment.

Keywords: collapsibility, correlation, expansiveness, landslide, plasticity

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Authors: Caglayan Hizal, Hasan Emre Demirci, Engin Aktas, Alper Sezer

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Offshore wind turbines consist of a long slender tower with a heavy fixed mass on the top of the tower (nacelle), together with a heavy rotating mass (blades and hub). They are always subjected to environmental loads including wind and wave loads in their service life. This study presents a three-stage methodology for reliability-based condition assessment of offshore wind-turbines against the seismic, wave and wind induced effects considering the soil-structure interaction. In this context, failure criterions are considered as serviceability limits of a monopile supporting an Offshore Wind Turbine: (a) allowable horizontal displacement at pile head should not exceed 0.2 m, (b) rotations at pile head should not exceed 0.5°. A Bayesian system identification framework is adapted to the classical reliability analysis procedure. Using this framework, a reliability assessment can be directly implemented to the updated finite element model without performing time-consuming methods. For numerical verification, simulation data of the finite model of a real offshore wind-turbine structure is investigated using the three-stage methodology.

Keywords: Offshore wind turbines, SHM, reliability assessment, soil-structure interaction

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Authors: Inayat Ur Rehman, Georgia Sakellari

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Cloud computing has evolved into a vital technology for businesses, offering scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. However, maintaining high availability and optimal performance in the cloud is crucial for reliable services. This paper explores the significance of cloud monitoring and performance optimization in sustaining the high availability of cloud-based systems. It discusses diverse monitoring tools, techniques, and best practices for continually assessing the health and performance of cloud resources. The paper also delves into performance optimization strategies, including resource allocation, load balancing, and auto-scaling, to ensure efficient resource utilization and responsiveness. Addressing potential challenges in cloud monitoring and optimization, the paper offers insights into data security and privacy considerations. Through this thorough analysis, the paper aims to underscore the importance of cloud monitoring and performance optimization for ensuring a seamless and highly available cloud computing environment.

Keywords: cloud computing, cloud monitoring, performance optimization, high availability

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Authors: Ahmad Badawi Saluy, Novawiguna Kemalasari

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This study aims to examine and analyze the influence of organizational culture, organizational commitment, and transformational leadership style on employee performance. This study used descriptive survey method with quantitative approach, and questionnaires as a tool used for basic data collection. The sampling technique used is proportionate stratified random sampling technique; all respondents in this study were 70 respondents. The analytical method used in this research is multiple linear regressions. The result of determination coefficient of 52.3% indicates that organizational culture, organizational commitment, and transformational leadership style simultaneously have a significant influence on the performance of employees, while the remaining 47.7% is explained by other factors outside the research variables. Partially, organization culture has strong and positive influence on employee performance, organizational commitment has a moderate and positive effect on employee performance, while the transformational leadership style has a strong and positive influence on employee performance and this is also the variable that has the most impact on employee performance.

Keywords: organizational culture, organizational commitment, transformational leadership style, employee performance

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Authors: Sonda Jallouli, Sameh Ghroubi, Salma Sakka, Abdelmoneem Yahia, Mohamed Habib Elleuch, Imen Ben Dhia, Chokri Mhiri, Omar Hammouda

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The pathophysiology, prevalence, and progression of MS are gender dependent. Indeed, the inflammation is more pronounced in women, but the neurodegeneration is more important in men. In addition, women have more sleep disorders while men suffer more from cognitive decline. These non-physical disorders can negatively affect postural balance and fall risk. However, no study has examined the difference between men and women in those physical parameters in MS. Our objective was to determine the effect gender difference on postural balance and fall risk in MS persons. Methods: Eight men and twelve women with relapsing remitting-MS participated in this study. The assessment includes a posturographic examination to assess static (with eyes opened (EO) and eyes closed (EC)) and dynamic (with EO) postural balance. Unipedal balance and fall risk were assessed by a clinical unipedal balance test and the Four Square Step Test, respectively. Sleep quality was assessed using Spiegel's questionnaire, and cognitive assessment was performed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Simple Reaction Time Test. Results: Compared to men, women showed an increase in CdPVm in static bipedal condition with EC (p=0.037; d=0.71) and a decrease in MoCA scores (p=0.028; d=1.06). No gender differences were found in the other tests. Discussion: Static postural balance was more impaired in women compared to men. This result could be explained by the more pronounced cognitive decline observed in women compared to men. Indeed, cognitive disorders have been shown to be predictive factors of postural balance impairment. Conclusion: women were less stable than men in the static condition, possibly due to their lower cognitive performance. This gender difference could be taken into account by therapists in training programs.

Keywords: multiple sclerosis, bipedal postural balance, fall risk, sleep disturbance, cognitive deficiency

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Authors: Tami Peterson

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Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been hypothesized as an effective treatment for increasing verbal language skills in individuals on the autism spectrum. A child’s ability to effectively communicate with peers, parents, and caregivers impacts their level of independence and quality of personal relationships. This retrospective study will compare the speech development of participants aged 2-17 years that received 40 sessions of HBOT at 2.0 ATA to those who had not. Both groups will have a verbal assessment every six months. There were 31 subjects in the HBO group and 32 subjects in the non-HBO group. The statistical analysis will focus on whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy made a significant difference in Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP) or Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS) results. The evidence demonstrates a strong correlation between HBOT and an increased change from baseline verbal scores compared to the control group, even in difficult to grasp areas such as spontaneous vocalization. We suggest this is due to the anti-inflammatory effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Neuroinflammation causes hypoperfusion of critical central nervous system areas responsible for the symptoms described within the autism spectrum, such as problems with thought processing, memory, and speech. Decreasing the inflammation allows the brain to function properly, which results in improved verbal scores for the participants that underwent HBOT.

Keywords: assessment of basic language and learning skills, autism spectrum disorder, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, verbal behavior milestones assessment and placement program

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Authors: V. Naciti, L. Pulejo, F. Cesaroni

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This study empirically analyzes whether the composition of the board of directors (BoD) enhances sustainability performance, in order to understand how the BoD contribute to the integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their businesses. Hypotheses are developed based on the agency theory and stakeholder theory. Using a system generalized method of the moment (SGMM) two-step estimator, with data from Sustainalytics and Compustat databases for 362 firms in six regions, we find that firms with more diversity on the board and a separation of chair and CEO roles have higher sustainability performance. Moreover, our findings provide that a higher number of independent directors is negatively associated with sustainability performance. This study contributes to the literature on corporate governance and the firm’s performance by demonstrating that the composition of the board of directors contributes to a better sustainability performance: by the implementation of a particular corporate governance mechanism, it is possible to integrate SDGs in the corporate strategy.

Keywords: sustainable development goals, corporate governance, board of directors, sustainability performance

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Authors: Hossam Shalabi, George Hadjisophocleous

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The Canadian Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) use some portions of NUREG/CR-6850 in carrying out Fire Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA). An assessment for the applicability of NUREG/CR-6850 to CANDU reactors was performed and a CANDU Fire PRA was introduced. There are 19 operating CANDU reactors in Canada at five sites (Bruce A, Bruce B, Darlington, Pickering and Point Lepreau). A fire load density survey was done for all Fire Safe Shutdown Analysis (FSSA) fire zones in all CANDU sites in Canada. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 557 proposes that a fire load survey must be conducted by either the weighing method or the inventory method or a combination of both. The combination method results in the most accurate values for fire loads. An updated CANDU Fire PRA model is demonstrated in this paper that includes the fuel survey in all Canadian CANDU stations. A qualitative screening step for the CANDU fire PRA is illustrated in this paper to include any fire events that can damage any part of the emergency power supply in addition to FSSA cables.

Keywords: fire safety, CANDU, nuclear, fuel densities, FDS, qualitative analysis, fire probabilistic risk assessment

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Authors: Bahram Fathi, Mahdi Khodaparast Mashhadi, Masuod Homayounifar

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Global awareness on energy security and climate change has created much interest in assessing energy efficiency performance. A number of previous studies have contributed to evaluate energy efficiency performance using different analytical techniques among which data envelopment analysis (DEA) has recently received increasing attention. Most of DEA-related energy efficiency studies do not consider undesirable outputs such as CO2 emissions in their modeling framework, which may lead to biased energy efficiency values. Within a joint production frame work of desirable and undesirable outputs, in this paper we construct energy efficiency performance index for measuring energy efficiency performance by using environmental DEA model with CO2 emissions. We finally apply the index proposed to assess the energy efficiency performance in OPEC over time.

Keywords: energy efficiency, environmental, OPEC, data envelopment analysis

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Authors: Yingjie Zhang, Ming Li, Ying Zhang, Jing Zhang, Zuolei Hu

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In the actual start-up process of DC motors, the DC drive system often faces a conflict between energy consumption and acceleration performance. To resolve the conflict, this paper proposes a comprehensive performance index that energy consumption index is added on the basis of classical control performance index in the DC motor starting process. Taking the comprehensive performance index as the cost function, particle swarm optimization algorithm is designed to optimize the comprehensive performance. Then it conducts simulations on the optimization of the comprehensive performance of the DC motor on condition that the weight coefficient of the energy consumption index should be properly designed. The simulation results show that as the weight of energy consumption increased, the energy efficiency was significantly improved at the expense of a slight sacrifice of fastness indicators with the comprehensive performance index method. The energy efficiency was increased from 63.18% to 68.48% and the response time reduced from 0.2875s to 0.1736s simultaneously compared with traditional proportion integrals differential controller in energy saving.

Keywords: comprehensive performance index, energy consumption, acceleration performance, particle swarm optimal control

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Authors: Rossukhon Makaramani, Supanan Sittilerd, Wipada Prasarnsaph

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The study aimed to 1) examine management status of a Program in Education at the Faculty of Education, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (SSRU); 2) determine main components, indicators and criteria for constructing quality assessment framework; 3) assess quality of a SSRU Program in Education; and 4) provide recommendations to promote academic excellence. The program to be assessed was Bachelor of Education Program in Education (5 years), Revised Version 2009. Population and samples were stakeholders involving implementation of this program during an academic year 2012. Results were: 1) Management status of the Program in Education showed that the Faculty of Education depicted good level (4.20) in the third cycle of external quality assessment by the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA). There were 1,192 students enrolling in the program, divided into 5 major fields of study. There were 50 faculty members, 37 holding master’s degrees and 13 holding doctorate degrees. Their academic position consisted of 35 lecturers, 10 assistant professors, and 5 associate professors. For program management, there was a committee of 5 members for the program and also a committee of 4 or 5 members for each major field of study. Among the faculty members, 41 persons taught in this program. The ratio between faculty and student was 1:26. The result of 2013 internal quality assessment indicated that system and mechanism of the program development and management was at fair level. However, the overall result yielded good level either by criteria of the Office of Higher Education Commission (4.29) or the NESQA (4.37); 2) Framework for assessing the quality of the program consisted of 4 dimensions and 15 indicators; 3) Assessment of the program yielded Good level of quality (4.04); 4) Recommendations to promote academic excellence included management and development of the program focusing on teacher reform toward highly recognized profession; cultivation of values, moral, ethics, and spirits of being a teacher; construction of specialized programs; development of faculty potentials; enhancement of the demonstration school’s readiness level; and provision of dormitories for learning.

Keywords: quality assessment, education program, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, academic excellence

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Authors: P. F. Wong, H. Salleh, F. A. Rahim

Abstract:

The adoption of building information modeling (BIM) is increasing in the construction industry. However, quantity surveyors are slow in adoption compared to other professions due to lack of awareness of the BIM’s potential in their profession. It is still unclear on how BIM application can enhance quantity surveyors’ work performance and project performance. The aim of this research is to identify the capabilities of BIM in quantity surveying practices and examine the relationship between BIM capabilities and project performance. Questionnaire survey and interviews were adopted for data collection. Literature reviews identified there are eleven BIM capabilities in quantity surveying practice. Questionnaire results showed that there are several BIM capabilities significantly correlated with project performance in time, cost and quality aspects and the results were validated through interviews. These findings show that BIM has the capabilities to enhance quantity surveyors’ performances and subsequently improved project performance.

Keywords: Building Information Modeling (BIM), quantity surveyors, capability, project performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Van Diem Thi, Mourad Khelifa, Mohammed El Ganaoui, Yann Rogaume

Abstract:

An efficient numerical method has been developed to incorporate the effects of heat transfer in timber panels on partition walls exposed to real building fires. The procedure has been added to the software package Abaqus/Standard as a user-defined subroutine (UMATHT) and has been verified using both time-and spatially dependent heat fluxes in two- and three-dimensional problems. The aim is to contribute to the development of simulation tools needed to assist structural engineers and fire testing laboratories in technical assessment exercises. The presented method can also be used under the developmental stages of building components to optimize performance in real fire conditions. The accuracy of the used thermal properties and the finite element models was validated by comparing the predicted results with three different available fire tests in literature. It was found that the model calibrated to results from standard fire conditions provided reasonable predictions of temperatures within assemblies exposed to real building fire.

Keywords: Timber panels, heat transfer, thermal properties, standard fire tests

Procedia PDF Downloads 342