Search results for: implementation orientation

Authors: Erika Tatiana Ruiz, Wilson Adarme Jaimes

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This abstract presents the methodology for improving the logistics processes of agricultural production units belonging to the coffee, cocoa, and fruit sectors, starting from the fundamental concepts and detailing each of the phases to carry out the diagnosis, which will be the basis for the formulation of its action plan and implementation of the maturity model. As a result of this work, the maturity model is formulated to improve logistics processes. This model seeks to: generate a progressive model that is useful for all productive units belonging to these sectors at the national level, regardless of their initial conditions, focus on the improvement of logistics processes as a strategy that contributes to improving the competitiveness of the agricultural sector in Colombia and spread the implementation of good logistics practices in postharvest in all departments of the country through autonomous tools. This model has been built through a series of steps that allow the evaluation and improvement of the logistics dimensions or indicators. The potential improvements for each dimension provide the foundation on which to advance to the next level. Within the maturity model, a methodology is indicated for the design and execution of strategies to improve its logistics processes, taking into account the current state of each production unit.

Keywords: agroindustrial, characterization, logistics, maturity model, processes

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Authors: Sujana T, Kurniasari MD, Ayakeding AM

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Background: Sexual violence is one of the violence with high incidence in Indonesia. Purpose: This research aims to describe the implementation of sexual violence victim assessment in Semarang Regency. Method: This research is a qualitative research with embeded single case study design. Data is analized with two units of analysis. The first unit of analysis is victim’s examiner with minimum one year of work experience. Semi-structured interview method is used to obtain the data. The second unit of analysis is document related. The data is taken by observing the pathway and description of every document and how it supported each implementation of assessment. Results: This study is resulted with three themes, which are: The first theme is assessments of sexual violence in Semarang regency has been standardized. The laws of the Republic of Indonesia have regulated the handling of victims of sexual violence in outline. Victims of sexual violence can be dealt with by the police, the Integrated Service Center for Women and Children Empowerment and the Regional General Hospital. Each examination site has different operational procedures standards for dealing with victims of sexual violence. Cooperation with family and witnesses is also required in the review process to obtain accurate results and evidence; The second idea that resulted from this study is there are inhibits factors in the assessments process. Victims sometimes feel embarrassed and reluctant to recount the chronological events during reporting. The examining officer should be able to approach and build a trust to convince the victim to be able to cooperate. The third theme is there are other things to consider in the process of assessing victims of sexual violence. Ensuring implementation in accordance with applicable operational procedures standards, providing exclusive examination rooms, counseling and safeguarding the privacy of victims are important to be considered in the assessment.

Keywords: assessment, case study, Semarang regency, sexual violence

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Authors: Saeid Bahiraei, Hassan Daneshmandi , Ali Asghar Norasteh

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The present study aims at the effects of 8 weeks of selected corrective exercise training in stable and unstable levels on the postural control people with ID. Problems and limitations of movement in individuals with intellectual disability (ID) are highly common, which particularly may cause the loss of basic performance and limitation of the person's independence in doing their daily activities. In the present study, thirty-four young adult intellectual disabilities were selected randomly and divided into three groups. In order to measure the balance variable indicators, BESTest was used. The intervention group did the selected performance exercise in 8 weeks (3 times of 45 to 50 minutes a week). Meanwhile, the control group did not experience any kind of exercise. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS on a significant level (p<0/05). The results showed the compromise between time and the group in all the BESTest tests is significant (P=0/001). The results of the research test compared to the studied groups with time measurements showed that there is a significant difference in the unstable group in Biomechanical constraints (P<0/05). And also, a significant difference exists in the stable and unstable level instability limits/Vertically, Postural responses, and Anticipatory postural adjustment variables (except for the follow-up and pre-test levels), Stability in Gait and Sensory Orientation in the pre-test, post-test, and follow up- pre-test stage of the test (P<0/05). In the comparison between the times of measurement with the groups under study, the results showed that Biomechanical Constraints, Anticipatory Postural adjustment and Postural responses at the pre-test-follow upstage, there was a significant difference between unstable-stable and unstable-control groups (P<0/05), it was also significant between all groups in Stability Limits/Vertically, Sensory Orientation, Stability in Gait and Overall stability index variables (P<0/05). The findings showed that the practice group at an unstable level has move improvement compared to the practice group at a stable level. In conclusion, this study presents evidence that shows selected performative practices can be recognized as a comprehensive and effective mediator in the betterment and improvement of the balance in intellectually disabled people and also affect the performative and moving activities.

Keywords: intellectual disability, BSETest, rehabilitation, postural control

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Authors: Jo Kuys, Kirsten Day

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Improving urban transportation systems requires an emphasis on users’ end-to-end journey experience, from the moment the user steps out of their home to when they arrive at their destination. In considering such end-to-end experiences, human centred design (HCD) must be integrated from the very beginning to generate viable outcomes for the public. An HCD approach will encourage innovative outcomes while acknowledging all factors that need to be understood along the journey. We provide evidence to show that when designing for public transportation, it is not just about the physical manifestation of a particular outcome; moreover, it’s about the context and human behaviours that need to be considered throughout the design process. Humans and their behavioural factors are vitally important to successful implementation of sustainable public transport systems. Through an in-depth literature review of HCD approaches for urban transportation systems, we provide a base to exploit the benefits and highlight the importance of including HCD in public transportation projects for greater patronage, resulting in more sustainable cities. An HCD approach is critical to all public transportation projects to understand different levels of transportation design, from the setting of transport policy to implementation to infrastructure, vehicle, and interface design.

Keywords: human centred design, public transportation, urban planning, user experience

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Authors: B. Gueridi, T. Chihi, M. Fatmi, A. Faci

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Some fundamental physical properties of BiGaO₃ were investigated under pressure and temperature effect using generalized gradient approximation and local density approximation approaches. The effect of orientation on Debye temperature and sound waves velocities were estimated from elastic constants. The value of the bulk modulus of BiGaO₃ is a sign of its high hardness because it is linked to an isotropic deformation. BiGaO₃ is a semiconductor and ductile material with covalent bonding (Ga–O), and the Bi-O bonding is ionic. The optical transitions were observed when electrons pass from the top of the valence band (O-2p) to the bottom of the conduction band (Ga-4p or Bi-6p). The thermodynamic parameters are determined in temperature and pressure ranging from 0 to 1800 K and 0 to 50 GPa.

Keywords: BiGaO₃ perovskite, optical absorption, first principle, band structure

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Authors: Abdul-Razak Saeed

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Addressing the climate change crisis that this generation faces has evolved to include the consideration of a policy mechanism referred to as reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation with plus components of conservation, sustainable forest management and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+). REDD+ emerged from the International level of UNFCCC but its implementation is by developing countries. It challenges the development paradigm of nations that depend on the unsustainable clearing of forests and land use change for economic development whilst posing as an opportunity or risk for forest community livelihoods, institutions and their interaction with the forest resources. As a novel policy mechanism, it is imperative to gain global insight into local contexts of its implementation and to understand local level mobilization of their agency for institutional sustainability as reconfigured by new carbon economy initiatives like REDD+. Using a systematic review process, as the initial stages of this study, secondary data of REDD+ projects across the globe were evaluated to pick up gaps in research and that of on ground REDD+ implementation. Primary data was gathered from 30 actors in the government, NGO, private sector and traditional authorities using face-to-face semi structured interviews in Ghana; participation in meetings and workshops and policy and strategy document reviews. Preliminary findings of the study include REDD+ knowledge being a key determinant of power distribution and affects who shapes the process; in Ghana, informal relationships are playing key roles in advancing REDD+ unlike in traditional forestry and a subjectivity shift of local communities from an 'emotive-link' of environmental care to one of 'economic self-seeking and enriching' domain of thought.

Keywords: climate change, communities, forests, REDD+

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Authors: S. Benzitouni, M. Zaabat, A. Mahdjoub, A. Benaboud, T.Saidani ‎

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To improve the physical properties of ZnO nanostructures textured (103) by sol-gel ‎dip coating method, Al and In are used as dopant with different weight ratios (5%, 10%). ‎The comparative study between Al doped ZnO thin films (AZO) and In doped ZnO (IZO) ‎are made by different analysis technic. XRD showed that the films are Pollycristallins with ‎hexagonal wûrtzite structure and preferred orientation (002) and (103). UV-Vis ‎spectroscopy showed that all films have a high transmission (> 85%); the interference ‎fringes are only observed for IZO. The optical gap is reduced due to the introduction of In ‎‎(minimum value is 3.12 eV), but increased in the presence of Al (maximum value is 3.34 ‎eV). The thickness of the layers was obtained by modeling (using Forouhi Bloomer ‎method). AFM used to observe the surface texture of the films and determined grain size ‎and surface roughness (RMS) which varies in a small range [3.14 to 1.25] nm‎.

Keywords: ZnO, optical gap, roughness (RMS), nanostructures‎

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Authors: Pornpote Nusen, Manop Kaewmoracharoen

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In recent years, there was an observable shift in fully developed countries from constructing new buildings to modifying existing buildings. The issue was that although an effective instrument like BIM (Building Information Modeling) was well developed for constructing new buildings, it was not widely used to renovate old buildings. BIM was accepted as an effective means to overcome common managerial problems such as project delay, cost overrun, and poor quality of the project life cycle. It was recently introduced in Thailand and rarely used in a renovation project. Today, in Thailand, BIM is mostly used for creating aesthetic 3D models and quantity takeoff purposes, though it can be an effective tool to use as a project management tool in planning and scheduling. Now the governmental sector in Thailand begins to recognize the uses of using BIM to manage a construction project, but the knowledge about the BIM implementation to governmental construction projects is underdeveloped. Further studies need to be conducted to maximize its advantages for the governmental sector. An educational extra large governmental building of 17,000 square-meters was used in this research. It is currently under construction for a two-year renovation project. BIM models of the building for the exterior and interior areas were created for the whole five floors. Then 4D BIM with combination of 3D BIM plus time was created for planning and scheduling. Three focus groups had been done with executive committee, contractors, and officers of the building to discuss the possibility of usage and usefulness of BIM approach over the traditional process. Several aspects were discussed in the positive sides, especially several foreseen problems, such as the inadequate accessibility of ways, the altered ceiling levels, the impractical construction plan created through a traditional approach, and the lack of constructability information. However, for some parties, the cost of BIM implementation was a concern, though, this study believes, its uses outweigh the cost.

Keywords: building information modeling, extra large building, governmental building renovation, project management, renovation, 4D BIM

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Authors: Corey Clay

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A fraction of mechanical trainees (graduate students) from underrepresented groups (URM) has steadily increased through targeted recruitment and interventions to support their success during training. However, this trend has yet to translate to a connected increase in the number of faculty from these underrepresented groups. The purpose here is to look at proven strategies that departments and research institutions can develop to increase faculty hiring and promotion equity to address the lack of racial and gender diversity among their faculty. We will look at this process through an Adlerian lens, i.e., Adler theorized social interest as “a feeling of community, an orientation to living cooperatively with others, and a lifestyle that values the common good above one’s own interests and desires.” This abstract will look at implementing a cogent DEI strategy through an Adlerian perspective.

Keywords: diversity, equity, inclusion, adlerian

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Authors: Perminderjit Singh, Sukhvir Singh

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Total Quality Management (TQM) refers to management methods used to enhance quality and productivity in business organizations. Total Quality Management (TQM) has become a frequently used term in discussions concerning quality. Total Quality management has brought rise in demands on the organizations policy and the customers have gained more importance in the organizations focus. TQM is considered as an important management tool, which helps the organizations to satisfy their customers. In present research critical success factors includes management commitment, customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, work culture and environment, supplier quality management, training and development, employee satisfaction and product/process design are studied. A questionnaire is developed to implement these critical success factors in implementation of total quality management in Indian industry. Questionnaires filled by consulting different industrial organizations. Data collected from questionnaires is analyzed by descriptive and importance indexes.

Keywords: total quality management, critical success factor, employee satisfaction, supplier quality management, customer focus, quality information, quality measurement

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Authors: Sawyer Spurry

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Problem: Palliative care providers at an academic medical center in Maryland stated medical intensive care unit (MICU) patients are often referred late in their hospital stay. The MICU has performed well below the hospital quality performance metric of 80% of patients who expire with expected outcomes should have received a palliative care consult within 48 hours of admission. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project is to increase palliative care utilization in the MICU through the implementation of a Nurse-Driven PalliativeTriggerTool to prompt the need for specialty palliative care consult. Methods: MICU nursing staff and providers received education concerning the implications of underused palliative care services and the literature data supporting the use of nurse-driven palliative care tools as a means of increasing utilization of palliative care. A MICU population specific criteria of palliative triggers (Palliative Care Trigger Tool) was formulated by the QI implementation team, palliative care team, and patient care services department. Nursing staff were asked to assess patients daily for the presence of palliative triggers using the Palliative Care Trigger Tool and present findings during bedside rounds. MICU providers were asked to consult palliative medicinegiven the presence of palliative triggers; following interdisciplinary rounds. Rates of palliative consult, given the presence of triggers, were collected via electronic medical record e-data pull, de-identified, and recorded in the data collection tool. Preliminary Results: Over 140 MICU registered nurses were educated on the palliative trigger initiative along with 8 nurse practitioners, 4 intensivists, 2 pulmonary critical care fellows, and 2 palliative medicine physicians. Over 200 patients were admitted to the MICU and screened for palliative triggers during the 15-week implementation period. Primary outcomes showed an increase in palliative care consult rates to those patients presenting with triggers, a decreased mean time from admission to palliative consult, and increased recognition of unmet palliative care needs by MICU nurses and providers. Conclusions: Anticipatory findings of this QI project would suggest a positive correlation between utilizing palliative care trigger criteria and decreased time to palliative care consult. The direct outcomes of effective palliative care results in decreased length of stay, healthcare costs, and moral distress, as well as improved symptom management and quality of life (QOL).

Keywords: palliative care, nursing, quality improvement, trigger tool

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Authors: Mohammed Alquraish

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Saudi Arabia and other emerging nations have faced significant challenges in the sustainable construction industry. This paper presents a quantitative approach to assessing sustainability risk in the Saudi Arabian construction industry and offers insights into holistic sustainability design in industry operations. The implementation of sustainable construction industry practices in the manufacturing sector has been susceptible to several risk factors that need to be identified. In order to successfully execute sustainable building projects, decision makers in the fields of construction and industry can benefit greatly from the advice this study offers by promoting the elements that motivate sustainability implementation. Sustainability risk can be measured from combining failure probability with cumulative effects from sustainability factors: social, environmental, and economic; that affect the integrity of the construction industry. The cumulative effects of sustainability risk are measured by classifying the outcomes resulting from these consequences. Operators of industrial construction can strategically manage and minimize potential disruptions affecting long-term sustainability incentives by measuring sustainability risk. Thus, the suggested strategy greatly reinforces the crucial role of the construction industry.

Keywords: sustainability, risk, construction industry, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: B. Kędra, R. Małkowski

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This paper presents information on Power System Component Simulator – a device designed for LINTE^2 laboratory owned by Gdansk University of Technology in Poland. In this paper, we first provide an introductory information on the Power System Component Simulator and its capabilities. Then, the concept of the unit is presented. Requirements for the unit are described as well as proposed and introduced functions are listed. Implementation details are given. Hardware structure is presented and described. Information about used communication interface, data maintenance and storage solution, as well as used Simulink real-time features are presented. List and description of all measurements is provided. Potential of laboratory setup modifications is evaluated. Lastly, the results of experiments performed using Power System Component Simulator are presented. This includes simulation of under frequency load shedding, frequency and voltage dependent characteristics of groups of load units, time characteristics of group of different load units in a chosen area.

Keywords: power converter, Simulink Real-Time, Matlab, load, tap controller

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Authors: Sarah Kinyanjui, Mahnaaz Mohamed

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The child justice system in Kenya is organically departing from a managerial and retributive model to one that espouses restorative justice. Notably, the Children Act 2001, and the most recent, Children Act 2022, signalled an aspiration to facilitate meaningful interventions as opposed to ‘processing’ children through the justice system. In this vein, the Children Act 2022 formally recognises diversion and provides modalities for its implementation. This paper interrogates the diversion promise and reflects on the implementation of diversion as envisaged by the 2022 Act. Using restorative justice, labelling and differential association theories as well as the value of care lenses, the paper discusses diversion as a meaningful response to child offending. It further argues that while diversion presents a strong platform for the realisation of the restorative and rehabilitative ideals, in the absence of a well-planned, coordinated, and resourced framework, diversion may remain a mere alternative ‘conveyor belt’. Strategic multi-agency planning, capacity building and cooperation are highlighted as essential minimums for the realisation of the goals of diversion.

Keywords: diversion for child offenders, restorative justice, responsive criminal justice system, children act 2022 kenya

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Authors: Parag Nihawan, Ravinder Singh Bhatia, Dinesh Kumar Jain

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Industrial drives are source of serious power quality problems. In this, two typical industrial drives have been dealt with, namely, FOC induction motor drives and DTC induction motor drive. The Z-source inverter is an emerging topology of power electronic converters which is capable of buck boost characteristics. The performances of different control methods based Z-source inverters feeding these industrial drives have been investigated, in this work. The test systems have been modeled and simulated in MATLAB/SIMULINK. The results obtained after carrying out these simulations have been used to draw the conclusions.

Keywords: Z-source inverter, total harmonic distortion, direct torque control, field orientation control

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Authors: F. Sabri, J. Jamali

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In this article, the wrinkling failure of orthotropic composite membranes due to in-plane shear deformation is investigated using nonlinear finite element analyses. A nonlinear post-buckling analysis is performed to show the evolution of shear-induced wrinkles. The method of investigation is based on the post-buckling finite element analysis adopted from commercial FEM code; ANSYS. The resulting wrinkling patterns, their amplitude and their wavelengths under the prescribed loads and boundary conditions were confirmed by experimental results. Our study reveals that wrinkles develop when both the magnitudes and coverage of the minimum principal stresses in the laminated composite laminates are sufficiently large to trigger wrinkling.

Keywords: composite, FEM, membrane, wrinkling

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Authors: Natàlia Garcia Soler, Timothy Moss

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Despite the multiple benefits of sustainable urban drainage, as demonstrated in numerous case studies across the world, urban rainwater harvesting techniques are generally restricted to isolated model projects. The leap from niche to mainstream has, in most cities, proved an elusive goal. Why policies promoting rainwater harvesting are limited in their widespread implementation has seldom been subjected to systematic analysis. Much of the literature on the policy, planning and institutional contexts of these techniques focus either on their potential benefits or on project design, but very rarely on a critical-constructive analysis of past experiences of implementation. Moreover, the vast majority of these contributions are restricted to single-case studies. There is a dearth of knowledge with respect to, firstly, policy implementation processes and, secondly, multi-case analysis. Insights from both, the authors argue, are essential to inform more effective rainwater harvesting in cities in the future. This paper presents preliminary findings from a research project on rainwater harvesting in cities from a social science perspective that is funded by the Swedish Research Foundation (Formas). This project – UrbanRain – is examining the challenges and opportunities of mainstreaming rainwater harvesting in three European cities. The paper addresses two research questions: firstly, what lessons can be learned on suitable policy incentives and planning instruments for rainwater harvesting from a meta-analysis of the relevant international literature and, secondly, how far these lessons are reflected in a study of past and ongoing rainwater harvesting projects in a European forerunner city. This two-tier approach frames the structure of the paper. We present, first, the results of the literature analysis on policy and planning issues of urban rainwater harvesting. Here, we analyze quantitatively and qualitatively the literature of the past 15 years on this topic in terms of thematic focus, issues addressed and key findings and draw conclusions on research gaps, highlighting the need for more studies on implementation factors, actor interests, institutional adaptation and multi-level governance. In a second step we focus in on the experiences of rainwater harvesting in Berlin and present the results of a mapping exercise on a wide variety of projects implemented there over the last 30 years. Here, we develop a typology to characterize the rainwater harvesting projects in terms of policy issues (what problems and goals are targeted), project design (which kind of solutions are envisaged), project implementation (how and when they were implemented), location (whether they are in new or existing urban developments) and actors (which stakeholders are involved and how), paying particular attention to the shifting institutional framework in Berlin. Mapping and categorizing these projects is based on a combination of document analysis and expert interviews. The paper concludes by synthesizing the findings, identifying how far the goals, governance structures and instruments applied in the Berlin projects studied reflect the findings emerging from the meta-analysis of the international literature on policy and planning issues of rainwater harvesting and what implications these findings have for mainstreaming such techniques in future practice.

Keywords: institutional framework, planning, policy, project implementation, urban rainwater management

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Authors: B. Gechbaia, K. Goletiani, G. Gabedava, N. Mikeltadze

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At this stage, Georgia is a country which is actively involved in the European integration process, for which the primary priority is effective integration in the European education system. The modern Georgian higher education system is the process of establishing a new sociocultural reality, whose main priorities are determined by the Quality System as a continuous cycle of planning, implementation, checking and acting. Obviously, in this situation, the issue of management of education institutions comes out in the foreground, since the proper planning and implementation of personnel management processes is one of the main determinants of the company's performance. At the same time, one of the most important factors is the psychological comfort of the personnel, ensuring their protection and efficiency of stress management policy. The purpose of this research is to determine how intensely the relationship is between the psychological comfort of the personnel and the efficiency of the quality system in the institution as the quality assurance mechanisms of educational institutions affect the stability of personnel, prevention and management of the stressful situation. The research was carried out within the framework of the Internal Grant Project «The Role of Organizational Culture in the Process of Settlement of Management of Stress and Conflict, Georgian Reality and European Experience » of the Batumi Navigation Teaching University, based on the analysis of the survey results of target groups. The small-scale research conducted by us has revealed that the introduction of quality assurance system and its active implementation increased the quality of management of Georgian educational institutions, increased the level of universal engagement in internal and external processes and as a result, it has improved the quality of education as well as social and psychological comfort indicators of the society.

Keywords: quality assurance, effective management, stability of personnel, psychological comfort, stress management

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Authors: Howard Chitimira

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The European Union (EU) was probably the first body to establish multinational anti-market abuse laws aimed at enhancing the detection and curbing of cross-border market abuse activities in its member states. Put differently, the EU Insider Dealing Directive was adopted in 1989 and was the first law that harmonised the insider trading ban among the EU member states. Thereafter, the European Union Directive on Insider Dealing and Market Manipulation (EU Market Abuse Directive) was adopted in a bid to improve and effectively discourage all the forms of market abuse in the EU’s securities and financial markets. However, the EU Market Abuse Directive had its own gaps and flaws. In light of this, the Market Abuse Regulation and the Criminal Sanctions for Market Abuse Directive were enacted to repeal and replace the EU Market Abuse Directive in 2016. The article examines the adequacy of the EU Market Abuse Directive and its implementation in the United Kingdom (UK) prior to the British exit (Brexit). This is done to investigate the possible implications of the Brexit referendum outcome of 23 June 2016 on the future regulation of market abuse in the UK.

Keywords: market abuse, insider trading, market manipulation, European Union, United Kingdom

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Authors: May A. Massoud, R. Harissi

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The fundamental principle and overall goal of an Environmental Management System is the concept of continual improvement. The implementation of such a system reveals a commitment to compliance and sustainable development. This research project aims at identifying and evaluating the prospects and challenges facing the adoption of ISO 14001 standard in the higher education system of Lebanon. It examines the corresponding barriers, drivers and incentives associated with the implementation of the standard. For this purpose, primary data were collected using quantitative method. The results revealed a significant lack of knowledge and sense of responsibility towards ISO 14001 standard and environmental accountability. Improving educational and social responsibility, improving environmental performance and enhancing institution image are the most noticeable drivers to adopt ISO 14001. The main perceived barriers for acquiring the standard are unclear benefits of ISO 14001, the lack of government support and the fact that the standard is not seen as a priority by top management. Lebanese Higher Education institutions are far likely to consider ISO 14001 before having proper accreditation programs or until ISO 14001 become widely-known in the Lebanese economic sectors.

Keywords: ISO 14001, higher education institution, environmental management, system

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Authors: A. G. Back

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In the context of global climate change, extreme weather events are increasingly intense and frequent, challenging the adaptability of urban space. In this sense, urban planning is a relevant instrument for addressing, in a systemic manner, various sectoral policies capable of linking the urban agenda to the reduction of social and environmental risks. The Master Plan of the Municipality of Sao Paulo, 2014, presents innovations capable of promoting the transition to sustainability in the urban space. Among such innovations, the following stand out: i) promotion of density in the axes of mass transport involving mixture of commercial, residential, services, and leisure uses (principles related to the compact city); ii) vulnerabilities reduction based on housing policies, including regular sources of funds for social housing and land reservation in urbanized areas; iii) reserve of green areas in the city to create parks and environmental regulations for new buildings focused on reducing the effects of heat island and improving urban drainage. However, long-term implementation involves distributive conflicts and may change in different political, economic, and social contexts over time. Thus, the central objective of this paper is to identify which factors limit or support the implementation of these policies. That is, to map the challenges and interests of converging and/or divergent urban actors in the sustainable urban development agenda and what resources they mobilize to support or limit these actions in the city of Sao Paulo. Recent proposals to amend the urban zoning law undermine the implementation of the Master Plan guidelines. In this context, three interest groups with different views of the city come into dispute: the real estate market, upper middle class neighborhood associations ('not in my backyard' movements), and social housing rights movements. This paper surveys the different interests and visions of these groups taking into account their convergences, or not, with the principles of sustainable urban development. This approach seeks to fill a gap in the international literature on the causes that underpin or hinder the continued implementation of policies aimed at the transition to urban sustainability in the medium and long term.

Keywords: adaptation, ecosystem-based adaptation, interest groups, urban planning, urban transition to sustainability

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Authors: Jarmon Sirigunna

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The objective of this study were to investigate the success of the implementation of problem-based learning in classroom and to evaluate the level of satisfaction of Suan Sunandra Rajabhat University’s students who participated in the study. This paper aimed to study and focus on a university students survey conducted in Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University during January to March of 2014. The quota sampling was utilized to obtain the sample which included 60 students, 50 percent male and 50 percent female students. The pretest and posttest method was utilized. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents had gained higher knowledge after the posttest significantly. The respondents’ knowledge increased about 40 percent after the experiment. Also, the findings revealed the top three highest level of satisfaction as follows: 1) the proper roles of teacher and students, 2) the knowledge gained from the method of the problem-based learning, 3) the activities of the problem-based learning, 4) the interaction of students from the problem-based learning, and 5) the problem-based learning model. Also, the mean score of all categories was 4.22 with a standard deviation of 0.7435 which indicated that the level of satisfaction was high.

Keywords: implement, problem-based learning, satisfaction, university students

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Authors: Kari Björn, Mikael Soini

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Higher Education system reforms, especially Finnish system of Universities of Applied Sciences in 2014 are discussed. The new steering model is based on major legislative changes, output-oriented funding and open information. The governmental steering reform, especially the financial model and the resulting institutional level responses, such as a curriculum reforms are discussed, focusing especially in engineering programs. The paper is motivated by management need to establish objective steering-related performance indicators and to apply them consistently across all educational programs. The close relationship to governmental steering and funding model imply that internally derived indicators can be directly applied. Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (MUAS) as a case institution is briefly introduced, focusing on engineering education in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and its related programs. The reform forced consolidation of previously separate smaller programs into fewer units of student application. New curriculum ICT students have a common first year before they apply for a Major. A framework of parallel and longitudinal comparisons is introduced and used across Majors in two campuses. The new externally introduced performance criteria are applied internally on ICT Majors using data ex-ante and ex-post of program merger.  A comparative performance of the Majors after completion of joint first year is established, focusing on previously omitted Majors for completeness of analysis. Some new research questions resulting from transfer of Majors between campuses and quota setting are discussed. Practical orientation identifies best practices to share or targets needing most attention for improvement. This level of analysis is directly applicable at student group and teaching team level, where corrective actions are possible, when identified. The analysis is quantitative and the nature of the corrective actions are not discussed. Causal relationships and factor analysis are omitted, because campuses, their staff and various pedagogical implementation details contain still too many undetermined factors for our limited data. Such qualitative analysis is left for further research. Further study must, however, be guided by the relevance of the observations.

Keywords: engineering education, integrated curriculum, learning outcomes, performance measurement

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Authors: E. A. Tkachenko, E. M. Rogova, V. V. Klimov

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One of the basic issues of development management is connected with performance measurement as a prerequisite for identifying the achievement of development objectives. The aim of our research is to develop an improved model of assessing a company’s development results. The model should take into account the cyclical nature of development and the high degree of uncertainty in dealing with numerous management tasks. Our hypotheses may be formulated as follows: Hypothesis 1. The cycle of a company’s development may be studied from the standpoint of a project cycle. To do that, methods and tools of project analysis are to be used. Hypothesis 2. The problem of the uncertainty when justifying managerial decisions within the framework of a company’s development cycle can be solved through the use of the mathematical apparatus of fuzzy logic. The reasoned justification of the validity of the hypotheses made is given in the suggested article. The fuzzy logic toolkit applies to the case of technology shift within an enterprise. It is proven that some restrictions in performance measurement that are incurred to conventional methods could be eliminated by implementation of the fuzzy logic apparatus in performance measurement models.

Keywords: logic, fuzzy sets, performance measurement, project analysis

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Authors: Jo Rhodes, Peter Lok, Zahra Sadeghinejad

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The aim of this study is to determine the impact of metacognition on top management team members and firm performance based on full team integration. A survey of 1500 small to medium enterprises (SMEs) was initiated and 140 firms were obtained in this study (with response rate of 9%). The result showed that different metacognitive abilities of managers [knowledge and experience] could enhance team decision-making and problem solving, resulting in greater firm performance. This is a significant finding for SMEs because these organisations have small teams with owner leadership and entrepreneurial orientation.

Keywords: metacognition, behavioural integration, top management team (TMT), performance

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Authors: Luke Power, Paul O'Leary

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Research has long described the enhancement of student engagement as a fundamental aim of delivering a consistent, lifelong benefit to student success across the multitude of dimensions a quality HE (higher education) experience offers. Engagement may take many forms, with Universities and Institutes across the world attempting to define the parameters which constitutes a successful student engagement framework and implementation strategy. These efforts broadly include empowering students, encouraging involvement, and the transfer of decision-making power through a variety of methods with the goal of obtaining a meaningful partnership between students and staff. As the Republic of Ireland continues to observe an increasing population transferring directly from secondary education to HE institutions, it falls on these institutions to research and develop effective strategies which insures the growing student population have every opportunity to engage with their education, research community, and staff. This research systematically reviews SPAs (student partnership agreements) which are currently in the process of being defined, and/or have been adopted at HE institutions, worldwide. Despite the demonstrated importance of a student-staff partnership to the overall student engagement experience, there is no obvious framework or model by which to begin this process. This work will therefore provide a novel analysis of student-staff agreements which will focus on examining the factors of success common to each and builds towards a workable and applicable framework using critical review, analysis of the key words, phraseology, student involvement, and the broadly applicable HE traits and values. Following the analysis, this work proposes SPA ‘toolkit’ with input from key stakeholders such as students, staff, faculty, and alumni. The resulting implications for future research and the lessons learned from the development and implementation of the SPA will aid the systematic implementation of student-staff agreements in Ireland and beyond.

Keywords: student engagement, student partnership agreements, student-staff partnerships, higher education, systematic review, democratising students, empowering students, student unions

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Authors: Beata Ślusarczyk, Sebastian Kot

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In subjective terms, Polish SME sector occupies a prominent position in the national economic development, in which planning of the management strategies should be primarily based on identifying and meeting the innovation needs. As a research sample, there is chosen a printing sector of industry. SMEs share in printing sector in Poland is estimated at the level of 81% of all enterprises. In recent years, the printing industry achieved one of the highest levels of EU support in Poland. There is a relatively high increase in the development of technological innovations in equipment and the associated significant increase in production capacity. It can be also noticed that on average, every third enterprise belonging to the printing industry has implemented innovations, but not all of them effected in better economic results. Therefore, the aim of this article is to evaluate the impact of the implementation of innovation projects financed from the EU funds for performance of SMEs in the printing industry. As the results of research of EU funds co-financing effects on the development of innovation in the printing industry, it was specified that examined SMEs prefer to implement product innovation to receive a grant to the project at a level between 40% to 60%, the remaining part of the investment is usually covered with equity. The most common type of innovation had indicated a single implementation, related only to the change in process, technology, or organization. The relationship between variables of the EU funds and management of innovative activities was verified. It has been observed that the identified variables arising from the support in a form of the EU funds had a positive effect on the level of earned revenue, the increase in margin and in increase in employment as well. It was confirmed that the implemented innovations supported by the European funds have a positive impact on the performance of the printing companies. Although there is a risk that due to the decreasing demand for printing services such a high level of funding the companies in this sector will significantly increase competition in the long term, that may also contribute to the economic problems of the enterprises belonging to the analyzed branch.

Keywords: innovations, SMEs, performance, results

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Authors: Adil Loya, Ali Haider, Arslan A. Ghaffor, Abubaker Siddique

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Simulation and modelling of Unmanned Aero Vehicle (UAV) has gained wide popularity in front of aerospace community. The demand of designing and modelling optimized control system for UAV has increased ten folds since last decade. The reason is next generation warfare is dependent on unmanned technologies. Therefore, this research focuses on the simulation of nonlinear UAV dynamics on Simulink and its integration with Flightgear. There has been lots of research on implementation of optimizing control using Simulink, however, there are fewer known techniques to simulate these dynamics over Flightgear and a tedious technique of acquiring data has been tackled in this research horizon. Sending data to Flightgear is easy but receiving it from Simulink is not that straight forward, i.e. we can only receive control data on the output. However, in this research we have managed to get the data out from the Flightgear by implementation of level 2 s-function block within Simulink. Moreover, the results captured from Flightgear over a Universal Datagram Protocol (UDP) communication are then compared with the attitude signal that were sent previously. This provide useful information regarding the difference in outputs attained from Simulink to Flightgear. It was found that values received on Simulink were in high agreement with that of the Flightgear output. And complete study has been conducted in a discrete way.

Keywords: aerospace, flight control, flightgear, communication, Simulink

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Authors: Anne Klimesch, Alejandra Martinez, Martin HäRter, Isabelle Scholl, Paulina Bravo

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Patient-centered care (PCC) is a key principle of high-quality healthcare. In Latin America, research on and promotion of PCC have taken place in the past. However, thorough implementation of PCC in practice is still missing. In Germany, an integrative model of patient-centeredness has been developed by synthesis of diverse concepts of PCC. The model could serve as a point of reference for further research on the implementation of PCC. However, it is predominantly based on research from Europe and North America. This scoping review, therefore, aims to accumulate research on PCC in Latin America in the past 15 years and analyse how PCC has been conceptualized. The resulting overview of PCC in Latin America will be a foundation for a subsequent study aiming at the adaptation of the integrative model of patient-centeredness to the Latin American health care context. Scientific databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, SCIELO, Redalyc.) will be searched, and reference and citation tracking will be performed. Studies will be included if they were carried out in Latin America, investigated PCC in any clinical and community setting (public and private), and were published in English, Spanish, French, or Portuguese since 2006. Furthermore, any theoretical framework or conceptual model to guide how PCC is conceptualized in Latin America will be included. Two reviewers will be responsible for the identification of articles, screening of records, and full-text assessment. The results of the scoping review will be used in the development of a mixed-methods study with the aim to understand the needs for PCC, as well as barriers and facilitators in Latin America. Based on the outcomes, the integrative model of PCC will be translated to Spanish and adapted to the Latin American context. The integrative model will enable the dissemination of the concept of PCC in Latin America and will provide a common ground for further research on the topic. The project will thereby make an important contribution to an evidence-based implementation of PCC in Latin America.

Keywords: conceptual framework, integrative model of PCC, Latin America, patient-centered care

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Authors: Kumudini Achchi

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India, being known for its rich cultural values has given a special place to women who are also been victims of humiliation, torture, and exploitation. The major share of Human Trafficking goes to sex trafficking which is recognised as world’s second most huge social evil. The original form of sex trafficking in India is prostitution with and without religious sanction. Today the situation of such women reached as an issue of human rights where they rights are denied severely. This situation demanded intervention to protect them from the exploitative situation. NGO are the proactive initiatives which offer support to the exploited women in sex trade. To understand the intervention programs of NGOs in South India, a study was conducted covering four states and a union territory considering 32 NGOs based on their preparedness to participate in the research study. Descriptive and diagnostic research design was adopted along with interview schedule as a tool for collecting data. The study reveals that these NGOs believes in the possibility of mainstreaming commercially sexually exploited women and found adopted seven different programs in the process such as rescue, rehabilitation, reintegration, prevention, developmental, advocacy and research. Each area involves different programs to reach and prepare the exploited women towards mainstreamed society which has been discussed in the paper. Implementation of these programs is not an easy task for the organizations rather they are facing hardships in the areas such as social, legal, financial, political which are hindering the successful operations. Rescue, advocacy, and research are the least adopted areas by the NGOs because of lack of support as well as knowledge in the area. Rehabilitation stands as the most adopted area in implementation. The paper further deals with the challenges in the implementation of the programs as well as the remedial measures in social work point of view having Indian cultural background.

Keywords: NGOs, commercially sexually exploited women, programmes, South India

Procedia PDF Downloads 246