Search results for: innovative development

Authors: C. A. Barros, Ana P. Barroso

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Any industrial company needs to determine the amount of variation that exists within its measurement process and guarantee the reliability of their data, studying the performance of their measurement system, in terms of linearity, bias, repeatability and reproducibility and stability. This issue is critical for automotive industry suppliers, who are required to be certified by the 16949:2016 standard (replaces the ISO/TS 16949) of International Automotive Task Force, defining the requirements of a quality management system for companies in the automotive industry. Measurement System Analysis (MSA) is one of the mandatory tools. Frequently, the measurement system in companies is not connected to the equipment and do not incorporate the methods proposed by the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG). To address these constraints, an R&D project is in progress, whose objective is to develop a web and cloud-based MSA tool. This MSA tool incorporates Industry 4.0 concepts, such as, Internet of Things (IoT) protocols to assure the connection with the measuring equipment, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, statistical tools, and advanced mathematical algorithms. This paper presents the preliminary findings of the project. The web and cloud-based MSA tool is innovative because it implements all statistical tests proposed in the MSA-4 reference manual from AIAG as well as other emerging methods and techniques. As it is integrated with the measuring devices, it reduces the manual input of data and therefore the errors. The tool ensures traceability of all performed tests and can be used in quality laboratories and in the production lines. Besides, it monitors MSAs over time, allowing both the analysis of deviations from the variation of the measurements performed and the management of measurement equipment and calibrations. To develop the MSA tool a ten-step approach was implemented. Firstly, it was performed a benchmarking analysis of the current competitors and commercial solutions linked to MSA, concerning Industry 4.0 paradigm. Next, an analysis of the size of the target market for the MSA tool was done. Afterwards, data flow and traceability requirements were analysed in order to implement an IoT data network that interconnects with the equipment, preferably via wireless. The MSA web solution was designed under UI/UX principles and an API in python language was developed to perform the algorithms and the statistical analysis. Continuous validation of the tool by companies is being performed to assure real time management of the ‘big data’. The main results of this R&D project are: MSA Tool, web and cloud-based; Python API; New Algorithms to the market; and Style Guide of UI/UX of the tool. The MSA tool proposed adds value to the state of the art as it ensures an effective response to the new challenges of measurement systems, which are increasingly critical in production processes. Although the automotive industry has triggered the development of this innovative MSA tool, other industries would also benefit from it. Currently, companies from molds and plastics, chemical and food industry are already validating it.

Keywords: automotive Industry, industry 4.0, Internet of Things, IATF 16949:2016, measurement system analysis

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Authors: Bussabamintra Chalauisaeng

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The creative writing skill of Thai fourth year university learners majoring in English at Khon Kaen University, Thailand has been enhanced in an English creative writing course through the implementation of creative thinking process. The creative writing assignments cover writing a variety of short poems and a short story, bibliography and short play scripts. However, this study focuses mainly on writing short poems and short stories through the implementation of creative thinking process via action research design with on-going needs analysis and feedbacks to meet their learning needs for 45 hours. At the end of the course, forty two learners’ creative writing skill appeared to be significantly improved. Through the research instruments such as the tasks assigned both inside and outside the class as self –study including class observation, semi-conversational interviews and teacher feedback both in persons and on line including peer feedbacks. The research findings show that the target learners could produce better short poems and short story assessed by the set of criteria such as the creative and innovative short poems and short stories with complete and interesting elements of a short story like plot, theme, setting, symbolism and so on. This includes a higher level of the awareness of the pragmatic use of English writing in terms of word choices, grammar rules and writing styles. All of these outcomes reflect positive trends of success in terms of the learners’ improved creative writing skill as well as better attitudes to and motivation for learning to write English for pleasure. More interestingly, many learners claimed that this innovative teaching method through the implementation of creative thinking process integrated with creative writing help stretch their imaginations and inspire them to become a writer in the future.

Keywords: creative thinking process, creative writing skill, enhancing, implementing

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Authors: Maria Komal, Zaineb Khalil, Mehreen Sirshar

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Due to the recent technological advancements, Games have become one of the most demanding applications. Gaming industry is rapidly growing and the key to success in this industry is the development of good quality games, which is a highly competitive issue. The ultimate goal of game developers is to provide player’s satisfaction by developing high-quality games. This research is the comprehensive survey of techniques followed by game industries to ensure games quality. After analysis of various techniques, it has been found that quality simulation according to ISO standards and play test methods are used to ensure games quality. Because game development requires cross-disciplined team, an increasing trend towards distributed game development has been observed. This paper evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of current methodologies used in game industry and draws a conclusion. We have also proposed quality parameters which can be used as a heuristic framework to identify those attributes which have high testing priorities.

Keywords: game development, computer games, video games, gaming industry, quality assurance, playability, user experience

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Authors: Min Wei

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The green hotel provides the products/services consistent with the full utilization of resources, protecting the ecological environment conducive to customers’ requirements and health. In order to better develop the green hospitality industry, this paper applies the game theory to analyze the intrinsic relationship and balanced interests among the stakeholders including government, hotels, and tourists during green hospitality development. Based on the hypothesis in game theory, this paper tries to construct a linkage mechanism in stakeholders, by which a theoretical basis for the interests’ balance can be realized. By using game theory and constructing a game model including tourists, hotels and government, this paper analyzes the relationship of the various stakeholders involved in the green hospitality development, and subsequently proposes the development model of green hospitality industry. On the one hand, this paper applies game theory to construct a green hotel development model and provides a theoretical basis for the interest balance of stakeholders based on theoretical perspective. On the other hand, the current development of green hospitality industry is still in initial phase, and the outcome of this research tries to guide tourists to form a green awareness and to establish the concept of green consumption for hotel development, so that green hotel products/services are provided. In addition, this paper provides a basis for decision making in the relevant government departments so that the interests of all stakeholders are promoted and cooperative game between stakeholders is established, for which the sustainable development of green hotels is achieved. The findings indicate that the process of achieving green hospitality industry development is to maximize the whole interests of stakeholders.

Keywords: green hospitality, game theory, stakeholders, development model

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Authors: Tomas Mitkus, Vaida Nedzinskaitė-Mitkė

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The objective of this study is to identify and explore how adequate is modern innovation support mechanism to developed creative industries. We argue that current development and support strategy for creative industries, although acknowledge high correlation between innovation and creativity, do not seek to improve conditions to promote systematic innovation development in the creative sector. Using the Lithuanian animation industry as a case study, this paper will examine innovation contribution to creativity and, for that matter, the competitiveness of animation enterprises. This paper proposes insights that contribute to theoretical and practical discussions on how creative profile companies build national and international competitiveness through innovations. The conclusions suggest that development of creative industries could greatly benefit if policymakers would implement tools that would encourage creative profile enterprises to invest in to development of innovation at a constant rate.

Keywords: creative industries, innovation policy, innovation, management

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Authors: Juha Kettunen

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This study presents a project that tests and adjusts active European learning and teaching methods in Indonesian universities to increase their external impact on enterprises and other organizations; it also assesses the implementation of the Erasmus+ projects funded by the European Union. The project is based on the approach of innovation pedagogy that responds to regional development needs and integrates applied research and development projects into education to create capabilities for students to participate in development work after graduation. The assessment of the Erasmus+ project resulted in many improvements that can be made to achieve higher quality and innovativeness. The results of this study are useful for those who want to improve the applied research and development projects of higher education institutions.

Keywords: higher education, innovations, social network, project management

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Authors: Agogo Agnes

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An attempt was made in the paper to x-ray the progressive and systematic development of the Nigerian child vis-a-vis the role of social studies as a discipline in the 21st century. An indepth explanation was equally made with regards to the commitment and role of teachers in both cognitive and social modification of the attitude of the Nigerian child.

Keywords: social studies, systematic development, social skills, vis-a-vis

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Authors: Zahra Tork

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Before the spread of the Internet and the use of mobile phones, women were generally far from society and many restrictions were applied to them, but after the spread of the Internet and the cultural and social changes brought about by it, women in society got a new one and many restrictions regarding them disappeared; As we can see today, many women, like men, have a high social base, they earn for themselves, they can travel alone, stay out late at night, take personal and family photos or videos on virtual pages. Publish themselves (while before this, showing or publishing photos of women was considered dishonorable or indecent). In this article, an attempt is made to examine the effect of the internet on mobile phones and virtual social networks in changing beliefs, norms and social values and their relationship with the social mobility of women and the effect of these factors on social and human development be paid. For this reason, social and human development is discussed first, and then the role of the media in development is explained, and finally, the social mobility of women is discussed. Since the purpose of this study is to better understand the social mobility of Iranian women through the development of the Internet in mobile phones, a qualitative study using focus groups has been adopted. The results of this research indicated that the Internet has caused changes in the value and cultural system of the Iranian people, and women have also redefined their roles and identity. In this new definition, many of the past restrictions have disappeared and women have gained the same freedoms as men. Finally, these factors (change in values and norms and redefinition of the role of women) joined hands and caused the social mobility of women in Iran.

Keywords: development of communication in Iran, development of mobile phones, development of the Internet, women's social group, social mobility

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Authors: Nyamela M. ‘Masekhohola, Khanare P. Fumane

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The Lesotho downward trend in mathematics attainment at all levels is compounded by the absence of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in Early Childhood. However, studies have shown that play pedagogy can be used to mitigate the challenges of mathematics education. Despite the benefits of play pedagogy to rural learners, its full potential has not been realized in early childhood care and education classrooms to improve children’s performance in mathematics because the adoption of play pedagogy depends on a strength-based approach. The study explores the potential of play pedagogy to improve mathematics education in early childhood care and education in Lesotho. Strength-based approach is known for its advocacy of recognizing and utilizing children’s strengths, capacities and interests. However, this approach and its promisingattributes is not well-known in Lesotho. In particular, little is known about the attributes of play pedagogy that are essential to improve mathematic education in ECCE programs in Lesotho. To identify such attributes and strengthen mathematics education, this systematic review examines evidence published on the strengths of play pedagogy that supports the teaching and learning of mathematics education in ECCE. The purpose of this review is, therefore, to identify and define the strengths of play pedagogy that supports mathematics education. Moreover, the study intends to understand the rural teachers’ perceived intention of using play in ECCE math classrooms through a strength-based approach. Eight key strengths were found (cues for reflection, edutainment, mathematics language development, creativity and imagination, cognitive promotion, exploration, classification, and skills development). This study is the first to identify and define the strength-based attributes of play pedagogy to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics in ECCE centers in Lesotho. The findings reveal which opportunities teachers find important for improving the teaching of mathematics as early as in ECCE programs. We conclude by discussing the implications of the literature for stimulating dialogues towards formulating strength-based approaches to teaching mathematics, as well as reflecting on the broader contributions of play pedagogy as an asset to improve mathematics in Lesotho and beyond.

Keywords: early childhood education, mathematics education, lesotho, play pedagogy, strength-based approach.

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Authors: Ahmad Hashim, Masri Baharom

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The purpose of the study is to identify the age group of children 9 who have experienced delays in gross motor development. Instrument used in this study is Test Gross Motor Development / TGMD-2 (Ulrich, 2000) which was adopted at the international level. Gross motor development data were obtained by video recording (Sony (DRC-SR42 with a 40x optical zoom capability, and software Ultimate Studio 14) on locomotor and manipulative skills. A total n = 192 persons, children of 9 years (9.30 ± .431) at Sekolah Kebangsaan Mutiara Perdana, Bayan Lepas, Penang were involved as subjects. Children age 9 years experienced delays AELS (4.61 ± .69), AEMS (5:52 ± .62) and GMDQ (7.26 ± .2.14). The findings based on descriptive rating indicated that the performance of children age 9 years acquired low levels of AELS, MSS, AEMS and very low in LSS and GMDS.

Keywords: gross motor development score, locomotor standard score, age equivalent locomotor score, manipulative standard score, age equivalent manipulative score

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Authors: Padam Pandey, Madhu Sudan Dhakal

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As a consequence of being a patrimonial society, most of the Nepalese women work inside the house and take care their children. Men are always regarded to be responsible for managing fund to fulfill the family requirement. Outgoing men of 25-35 for employment in foreign country is a common practice. In the absence of man, women aged of 20-45 have to be active in society. The responsibility of women is not only looking after inside the house but also leading the society. This study analysis gender aspect of household work and involvement in the society. This study shows that women are leading 56% different organizations in the society where 51% women spend more than 54% time in community development work. The involvement of man in the house work has significantly increased. The women leadership has succeeded to show the transparency in all the community development activities. It shows a model of social harmony, solidarity, and unity in the Sarankot Village Development Committee. Social behavior change towards women is a milestone of sustainable community development. This study recommends that the equal participation is essential to sustain community development.

Keywords: gender, women leadership, social harmony, unity sustainable development

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Authors: Hanan Anwar

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All systems recycle. The construction industry has not only become a major consumer of natural materials along with a source of pollution. Environmental integrated production, reusing and recycling is of great importance in Egypt nowadays. Governments should ensure that the technical, environmental and economic feasibility of alternative systems is considered and is taken into account before construction starts. Hereby this paper focuses on the recycle of building materials as a way for environment protection and sustainable development. Environmental management integrates the requirements of sustainable development. There are many methods used to reduce waste and increase profits through salvage, reuse, and the recycling of construction waste. Sustainable development as a tool to continual improvement cycle processes innovations to save money.

Keywords: environment, management, reuse, recycling, sustainable development

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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: Shengping Zhong, Qimin Shi, Yaling Deng, Shoufeng Yang

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Additive manufacturing has exerted a tremendous fascination on the development of the manufacturing and materials industry in the past three decades. Zirconia-based advanced ceramic has been poured substantial attention in the interest of structural and functional ceramics. As a novel material jetting process for selectively depositing nanoparticles, NanoParticle Jetting™ is capable of fabricating dense zirconia components with a high-detail surface, precisely controllable shrinkage, and remarkable mechanical properties. The presence of NPJ™ gave rise to a higher elevation regarding the printing process and printing accuracy. Emphasis is placed on the performance evaluation of NPJ™ printed ceramic components by which the physical, chemical, and mechanical properties are evaluated. The experimental results suggest the Y₂O₃-stabilized ZrO₂ boxes exhibit a high relative density of 99.5%, glossy surface of minimum 0.33 µm, general linear shrinkage factor of 17.47%, outstanding hardness and fracture toughness of 12.43±0.09 GPa and 7.52±0.34 MPa·m¹/², comparable flexural strength of 699±104 MPa, and dense and homogeneous grain distribution of microstructure. This innovative NanoParticle Jetting system manifests an overwhelming potential in dental, medical, and electronic applications.

Keywords: nanoparticle jetting, ZrO₂ ceramic, materials jetting, performance evaluation

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Authors: Christos Chaschatzis, Chrysoula Karaiskou, Pantelis Angelidis, Sotirios K. Goudos, Igor Kotsiuba, Panagiotis Sarigiannidis

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Over the past few decades, the rapid growth of the global population has led to the need to increase agricultural production and improve the quality of agricultural goods. There is a growing focus on environmentally eco-friendly solutions, sustainable production, and biologically minimally fertilized products in contemporary society. Precision agriculture has the potential to incorporate a wide range of innovative solutions with the development of machine learning algorithms. YOLOv5 and YOLOv8 are two of the most advanced object detection algorithms capable of accurately recognizing objects in real time. Detecting tree diseases is crucial for improving the food production rate and ensuring sustainability. This research aims to evaluate the efficacy of YOLOv5 and YOLOv8 in detecting the symptoms of Armillaria spp. in sweet cherry trees and determining their health status, with the goal of enhancing the robustness of precision agriculture. Additionally, this study will explore Computer Vision (CV) techniques with machine learning algorithms to improve the detection process’s efficiency.

Keywords: Armillaria spp., machine learning, precision agriculture, smart farming, sweet cherries trees, YOLOv5, YOLOv8

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Authors: Hamdi Beji, Toufik Kanit, Tanguy Messager

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This study aims to construct a predictive model proficient in foreseeing the linear elastic and thermal characteristics of composite materials, drawing on a multitude of influencing parameters. These parameters encompass the shape of inclusions (circular, elliptical, square, triangle), their spatial coordinates within the matrix, orientation, volume fraction (ranging from 0.05 to 0.4), and variations in contrast (spanning from 10 to 200). A variety of machine learning techniques are deployed, including decision trees, random forests, support vector machines, k-nearest neighbors, and an artificial neural network (ANN), to facilitate this predictive model. Moreover, this research goes beyond the predictive aspect by delving into an inverse analysis using genetic algorithms. The intent is to unveil the intrinsic characteristics of composite materials by evaluating their thermomechanical responses. The foundation of this research lies in the establishment of a comprehensive database that accounts for the array of input parameters mentioned earlier. This database, enriched with this diversity of input variables, serves as a bedrock for the creation of machine learning and genetic algorithm-based models. These models are meticulously trained to not only predict but also elucidate the mechanical and thermal conduct of composite materials. Remarkably, the coupling of machine learning and genetic algorithms has proven highly effective, yielding predictions with remarkable accuracy, boasting scores ranging between 0.97 and 0.99. This achievement marks a significant breakthrough, demonstrating the potential of this innovative approach in the field of materials engineering.

Keywords: machine learning, composite materials, genetic algorithms, mechanical and thermal proprieties

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Authors: Emanuele Bonamente, Andrea Aquino

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This study presents an innovative design for geothermal heat pumps with the goal of maximizing the system efficiency (COP - Coefficient of Performance), reducing the soil use (e.g. length/depth of geothermal boreholes) and initial investment costs. Based on experimental data obtained from a two-year monitoring of a working prototype implemented for a commercial building in the city of Perugia, Italy, an upgrade of the system is proposed and the performance is evaluated via CFD simulations. The prototype was designed to include a thermal heat storage (i.e. water), positioned between the boreholes and the heat pump, acting as a flywheel. Results from the monitoring campaign show that the system is still capable of providing the required heating and cooling energy with a reduced geothermal installation (approx. 30% of the standard length). In this paper, an optimization of the system is proposed, re-designing the heat storage to include phase change materials (PCMs). Two stacks of PCMs, characterized by melting temperatures equal to those needed to maximize the system COP for heating and cooling, are disposed within the storage. During the working cycle, the latent heat of the PCMs is used to heat (cool) the water used by the heat pump while the boreholes independently cool (heat) the storage. The new storage is approximately 10 times smaller and can be easily placed close to the heat pump in the technical room. First, a validation of the CFD simulation of the storage is performed against experimental data. The simulation is then used to test possible alternatives of the original design and it is finally exploited to evaluate the PCM-storage performance for two different configurations (i.e. single- and double-loop systems).

Keywords: geothermal heat pump, phase change materials (PCM), energy storage, renewable energies

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Authors: Dinh Ngoc Bich Khuyen, Chang Zhu

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Due to the radical changes and complexities within academic institutions, leadership development addressed to academic leaders in the digital age has become more important. Unfortunately, studies on outcome assessment of leadership development and its related factors have not been evaluated rigorously. The current study investigated the contribution of peer interaction and two subscales of motivation to the effectiveness of the leadership development programs perceived by learners in a diverse context. Of 73 participants, the majority of workshop attendees were junior and middle-level leaders from both European universities and Chinese universities who participated in the leadership development programs organized under an EU project. PLS-SEM was employed to validate the instrument and answer the research questions, respectively. The finding reveals that self-growth and peer interaction significantly contribute to perceived effectiveness, whereas networking motivator shows non-significant impact. Besides, the new contribution of these findings is to show that peer interaction fully mediates the relationship between self-growth and perceived effectiveness. To this end, the findings highlight the importance of dispositional factors regarding the quality of the leadership development program in HE contexts and the potential of such program to enhance the knowledge and capacities of academic leaders regarding university governance and leadership.

Keywords: higher education, leadership development, effectiveness, middle-level leaders, junior-level leaders

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Authors: Glory Okereke

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Several research on the value of aid funding and delivery have emphasized the importance of partnership and accountability in implementing development projects between INGOs and NGOs. Despite challenges in accessing detailed information on their impact due to the extension of information they are willing to provide, this pathway has been seen as an alternative approach and more beneficial than aid funding and delivery through the state. This paper tends to analyze this relationship using liberal and international relations theories to understand the positive and negative aspects of INGO to NGO pathway as a better alternative to economic development. Looking through a broad spectrum of economic development, the paper focuses on Nigeria and analyzes existing empirical literature of INGOs with local NGOs with a comparative analysis of bilateral aid relations with the Nigerian government.

Keywords: NGOS, development, Nigeria, liberal theories, aid

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Authors: Umedov Mekhroz, Griaznova Svetlana

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The quality of life and well-being of patients, staff and visitors are central to the delivery of health care. Architecture and design are becoming an integral part of the healing and recovery approach. The most significant point that can be implemented in hospital buildings is the therapeutic value of the artificial environment, the design and integration of plants to bring the natural world into the healthcare environment. The hospital environment should feel like home comfort. The techniques that therapeutic architecture uses are very cheap, but provide real benefit to patients, staff and visitors, demonstrating that the difference is not in cost but in design quality. The best environment is not necessarily more expensive - it is about special use of light and color, rational use of materials and flexibility of premises. All this forms innovative concepts in modern hospital architecture, in new construction, renovation or expansion projects. The aim of the study is to identify the methods and principles of therapeutic architecture. The research methodology consists in studying and summarizing international experience in scientific research, literature, standards, methodological manuals and project materials on the research topic. The result of the research is the development of graphic-analytical tables based on the system analysis of the processed information; 3d visualization of hospital interiors based on processed information.

Keywords: therapeutic architecture, healthcare interiors, sustainable design, materials, color scheme, lighting, environment.

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Authors: Hoong C. Chin, Soon H. Chew, Zhaoxia Wang

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Work on sustainable developments and the call for action in education for sustainable development have been ongoing for a number of years. Training engineering students with the relevant competencies, particularly in sustainable development literacy, has been identified as an urgent task in universities. This requires not only a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to education but also a suitable training environment to develop the needed skills and to inculcate the appropriate attitudes in students towards sustainable development. To demonstrate how this can be done, a module involving an overseas field trip was introduced in 2013 at the National University of Singapore. This paper provides details of the module and describes its training philosophy and methods. Measured against the student learning outcomes, stipulated by the Engineering Accreditation Board, the module scored well on all of them, particularly those related to complex problem solving, environmental and sustainability awareness, multi-disciplinary team work and varied-level communications.

Keywords: civil engineering education, socio-economically sustainable infrastructure, student learning outcome, sustainable development

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Authors: Zhen Shu

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The historical and cultural heritage demonstrates the wisdom of the entire nation and it has left its own traces in the process of urban construction. It has very important instructional significance for the construction of modern cities and the development of cultural aspects of modern people. The Protection of historical and cultural heritage has become an inevitable choice for the development of modern civilization. This paper discusses the relationship between urban development and historic preservation. And it emphasizes the important value of strengthening the protection of historical and cultural heritage in urban construction, introduces the value of cultural heritage, the process of historic preservation and its problems in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province. In conclusion, we puts forward some Suggestions for strengthening the protection of historical heritage in the process of urban construction.

Keywords: cultural heritage, historic preservation, Quzhou ancient city, urban development

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Authors: Natalia Moreira, Trevor Wood-Harper

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The acceptance of sustainable products by the final consumer is still one of the challenges of the industry, which constantly seeks alternative approaches to successfully be accepted in the global market. A large set of methods and approaches have been discussed and analysed throughout the literature. Considering the current need for sustainable development and the current pace of consumption, the need for a combined solution towards the development of new products became clear, forcing researchers in product development to propose alternatives to the previous standard product development models. This paper presents, through a systemic analysis of the literature on product development, eco-design and consumer involvement, a set of alternatives regarding consumer involvement towards the development of sustainable products and how these approaches could help improve the sustainable industry’s establishment in the general market. The initial findings of the research show that the understanding of the benefits of sustainable behaviour lead to a more conscious acquisition and eventually to the implementation of sustainable change in the consumer. Thus this paper is the initial approach towards the development of new sustainable products using the fashion industry as an example of practical implementation and acceptance by the consumers. By comparing the existing literature and critically analysing it this paper concluded that the consumer involvement is strategic to improve the general understanding of sustainability and its features. The use of consumers and communities has been studied since the early 90s in order to exemplify uses and to guarantee a fast comprehension. The analysis done also includes the importance of this approach for the increase of innovation and ground breaking developments, thus requiring further research and practical implementation in order to better understand the implications and limitations of this methodology.

Keywords: consumer involvement, products development, sustainability, eco-design

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Authors: M. Chobotová, Ž. Rylková

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Time full of changes which is associated with globalization, tougher competition, changes in the structures of markets and economic downturn, that all force companies to think about their competitive advantages. These changes can bring the company a competitive advantage and that can help improve competitive position in the market. Policy of the European Union is focused on the fast growing innovative companies which quickly respond to market demands and consequently increase its competitiveness. To meet those objectives companies need the right conditions and support of their state.

Keywords: innovation, performance, measurements metrics, indices

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Authors: Chinedu Ifedi Okeke

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The behavioural orientations of fathers, which resonate in the way they relate to members of their families and other community members, appear to have a variety of implications for the early development of children. In this paper, a conceptual map of fathers’ lifestyles is adopted to provide an interconnected network of father lifestyles. Empirical evidence from a qualitative case study of 25 Black fathers, who had been purposively selected from a suburb in one rural Eastern Cape municipality in South Africa, is reported in this paper. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to obtain data, which was analysed thematically. Findings identify and provide evidence of father lifestyles that are incongruent with the kind of parental behaviour needed to support the healthy early development of children. Findings suggest that these negative lifestyles appear to incapacitate fathers who fail to make a positive contribution to their children’s early development. To ensure that fathers make the expected contributions to their children’s early development, policies aimed at rehabilitating fathers who are involved in the negative lifestyles reported in this paper should be put in place.

Keywords: childhood development, fathering, fathers, intervention strategies, lifestyles, South Africa

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Authors: Jing Ren, Kun Wu

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Over the last decade or so, China's urbanization has shown a rapid development trend. At the same time, it has also had a great negative impact on the habitat quality. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the impact of land use change on the level of habitat quality in mountain cities for sustainable urban development. This paper analyzed the spatial and temporal land use changes in Chongqing from 2010 to 2020 using ArcGIS 10.6, as well as the evolutionary trend of habitat quality during this period based on the InVEST 3.13.0, to obtain the impact of land use changes on habitat quality. The results showed that the habitat quality in the western part of Chongqing decreased significantly between 2010 and 2020, while the northeastern and southeastern parts remained stable. The main reason for this is the continuous expansion of urban construction land in the western area, which leads to serious habitat fragmentation and the continuous decline of habitat quality. while, in the northeast and southeast areas, due to the greater emphasis on ecological priority and urban-rural coordination in the development process, land use change is characterized by a benign transfer, which maintains the urbanization process while maintaining the coordinated development of habitat quality. This study can provide theoretical support for the sustainable development of mountain cities.

Keywords: mountain cities, ecological environment, habitat quality, sustainable development

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Authors: Guenther Schuh, Michael Riesener, Frederic Diels

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Nowadays, manufacturing companies are faced with the challenge of meeting heterogeneous customer requirements in short product life cycles with a variety of product functions. So far, some of the functional requirements remain unknown until late stages of the product development. A way to handle these uncertainties is the highly iterative product development (HIP) approach. By structuring the development project as a highly iterative process, this method provides customer oriented and marketable products. There are first approaches for combined, hybrid models comprising deterministic-normative methods like the Stage-Gate process and empirical-adaptive development methods like SCRUM on a project management level. However, almost unconsidered is the question, which development scopes can preferably be realized with either empirical-adaptive or deterministic-normative approaches. In this context, a development scope constitutes a self-contained section of the overall development objective. Therefore, this paper focuses on a methodology that deals with the uncertainty of requirements within the early development stages and the corresponding selection of the most appropriate development approach. For this purpose, internal influencing factors like a company’s technology ability, the prototype manufacturability and the potential solution space as well as external factors like the market accuracy, relevance and volatility will be analyzed and combined into an Agile-Indicator. The Agile-Indicator is derived in three steps. First of all, it is necessary to rate each internal and external factor in terms of the importance for the overall development task. Secondly, each requirement has to be evaluated for every single internal and external factor appropriate to their suitability for empirical-adaptive development. Finally, the total sums of internal and external side are composed in the Agile-Indicator. Thus, the Agile-Indicator constitutes a company-specific and application-related criterion, on which the allocation of empirical-adaptive and deterministic-normative development scopes can be made. In a last step, this indicator will be used for a specific clustering of development scopes by application of the fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithm. The FCM-method determines sub-clusters within functional clusters based on the empirical-adaptive environmental impact of the Agile-Indicator. By means of the methodology presented in this paper, it is possible to classify requirements, which are uncertainly carried out by the market, into empirical-adaptive or deterministic-normative development scopes.

Keywords: agile, highly iterative development, agile-indicator, product development

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Authors: André Rafael Ferreira, Laurentina Vareiro, Raquel Mendes

Abstract:

This study’s main objective is to explore residents’ perceptions of film-induced tourism and the impacts of filmmaking on the development of a destination. Specifically, the research examines resident´s perceptions of the social, economic, and environmental impacts on a Portuguese municipality (Arcos de Valdevez) given its feature in a popular Portuguese television series. Data is collected by means of an Internet survey, in which resident´s perceptions of the impacts of filmmaking are solicited. Residents generally agree that the recording and exhibition of the television series is important to the municipality, and contributes to the increased number of tourists. Given that residents consider that the positive impacts are more significant than the negative impacts, they supported the recording of another television series in the same municipality. Considering that destination managers and tourism development authorities aim to plan for optimal tourism development, and at the same time wish to minimize the negative impacts of this development on the local communities, monitoring residents’ opinions of perceived impacts is a good way of incorporating their reaction into tourism planning and development. The results of this research may provide useful information in this sense.

Keywords: film-induced tourism, residents’ perceptions, tourism development, tourism impacts

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Authors: Nirmani Wijenayake, Louise Lutze-Mann, Lucy Jo, John Wilson, Vivian Yeung, Dean Lovett, Kim Snepvangers

Abstract:

Sessional academic staff at universities have the most influence and impact on student learning, engagement, and experience as they have the most direct contact with undergraduate students. A blended technology-enhanced program was created for the development and support of sessional staff to ensure adequate training is provided to deliver quality educational outcomes for the students. This program combines innovative mixed media educational modules, a peer-driven support forum, and face-to-face workshops to provide a comprehensive training and support package for staff. Additionally, the program encourages the development of learning communities and peer mentoring among the sessional staff to enhance their support system. In 2018, the program was piloted on 100 sessional staff in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences to evaluate the effectiveness of this model. As part of the program, rotoscope animations were developed to showcase ‘typical’ interactions between staff and students. These were designed around communication, confidence building, consistency in grading, feedback, diversity awareness, and mental health and wellbeing. When surveyed, 86% of sessional staff found these animations to be helpful in their teaching. An online platform (Moodle) was set up to disseminate educational resources and teaching tips, to host a discussion forum for peer-to-peer communication and to increase critical thinking and problem-solving skills through scenario-based lessons. The learning analytics from these lessons were essential in identifying difficulties faced by sessional staff to further develop supporting workshops to improve outcomes related to teaching. The face-to-face professional development workshops were run by expert guest speakers on topics such as cultural diversity, stress and anxiety, LGBTIQ and student engagement. All the attendees of the workshops found them to be useful and 88% said they felt these workshops increase interaction with their peers and built a sense of community. The final component of the program was to use an adaptive e-learning platform to gather feedback from the students on sessional staff teaching twice during the semester. The initial feedback provides sessional staff with enough time to reflect on their teaching and adjust their performance if necessary, to improve the student experience. The feedback from students and the sessional staff on this model has been extremely positive. The training equips the sessional staff with knowledge and insights which can provide students with an exceptional learning environment. This program is designed in a flexible and scalable manner so that other faculties or institutions could adapt components for their own training. It is anticipated that the training and support would help to build the next generation of educators who will directly impact the educational experience of students.

Keywords: designing effective instruction, enhancing student learning, implementing effective strategies, professional development

Procedia PDF Downloads 104

Authors: Kamil Dydek, Szymon Demski, Kamil Majchrowicz, Paulina Kozera, Bogna Sztorch, Dariusz Brząkalski, Zuzanna Krawczyk, Robert Przekop, Anna Boczkowska

Abstract:

Carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRPs) are characterized by very high strength and stiffness in relation to their weight. In addition, properties such as corrosion resistance and low thermal expansion allow them to replace traditional materials, i.e., wood or metals, in many industries such as aerospace, automotive, marine, and sports goods. However, CFRPs, have some disadvantages -they have relatively low electrical conductivity and break brittle, which significantly limits their application possibilities. Moreover, conventional CFRPs are usually manufactured based on thermosets, which makes them difficult to recycle. The solution to these drawbacks is the use of the innovative thermoplastic resin (ELIUM from ARKEMA) as a matrix of composites and the modification by introducing into their structure thermoplastic nonwovens based on PET-G with the addition of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The acrylic-carbon composites, which were produced by the infusion technique, were tested for mechanical, thermo-mechanical, and electrical properties, and the effect of modifications on their microstructure was studied. Acknowledgment: This study was carried out with funding from grant no. LIDER/46/0185/L-11/19/NCBR/2020, financed by The National Centre for Research and Development.

Keywords: CFRP, MWCNT, ELIUM, electrical properties, infusion

Procedia PDF Downloads 117