Search results for: cloud service models

Authors: Manamba Epaphra

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This paper analyzes the causal effect between domestic private investment, public investment, foreign direct investment and economic growth in Tanzania during the 1970-2014 period. The modified neo-classical growth model that includes control variables such as trade liberalization, life expectancy and macroeconomic stability proxied by inflation is used to estimate the impact of investment on economic growth. Also, the economic growth models based on Phetsavong and Ichihashi (2012), and Le and Suruga (2005) are used to estimate the crowding out effect of public investment on private domestic investment on one hand and foreign direct investment on the other hand. A correlation test is applied to check the correlation among independent variables, and the results show that there is very low correlation suggesting that multicollinearity is not a serious problem. Moreover, the diagnostic tests including RESET regression errors specification test, Breusch-Godfrey serial correlation LM test, Jacque-Bera-normality test and white heteroskedasticity test reveal that the model has no signs of misspecification and that, the residuals are serially uncorrelated, normally distributed and homoskedastic. Generally, the empirical results show that the domestic private investment plays an important role in economic growth in Tanzania. FDI also tends to affect growth positively, while control variables such as high population growth and inflation appear to harm economic growth. Results also reveal that control variables such as trade openness and life expectancy improvement tend to increase real GDP growth. Moreover, a revealed negative, albeit weak, association between public and private investment suggests that the positive effect of domestic private investment on economic growth reduces when public investment-to-GDP ratio exceeds 8-10 percent. Thus, there is a great need for promoting domestic saving so as to encourage domestic investment for economic growth.

Keywords: FDI, public investment, domestic private investment, crowding out effect, economic growth

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Authors: Degineh Belachew Andarge, Tariku Lambiyo Anticho, Getamesay Mulatu Jara, Musa Mohammed Ali

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Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a communicable chronic disease causedby Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). About one-third of the world’s population is latently infected with MTB. TB is among the top 10 causes of mortality throughout the globe from a single pathogen. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of tuberculosis,rifampicin-resistant/multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and associated factors among presumptive tuberculosis cases attending the tuberculosis clinic of Adare General Hospital located in Hawassa city. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 321 tuberculosis suspected patients from April toJuly 2018. Socio-demographic, environmental, and behavioral data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Sputumspecimens were analyzed using GeneXpert. Data entry was made using Epi info version 7 and analyzed by SPSS version 20. Logistic regression models were used to determine the risk factors. A p-value less than 0.05 was taken as a cut point. Results: In this study, the prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was 98 (30.5%) with 95% confidence interval (25.5–35.8), and the prevalence of rifampicin-resistant/multidrug-resistantMycobacterium tuberculosis among the 98 Mycobacteriumtuberculosis confirmed cases was 4 (4.1%). The prevalence of rifampicin-resistant/multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosisamong the tuberculosis suspected patients was 1.24%. Participants who had a history of treatment with anti-tuberculosisdrugs were more likely to develop rifampicin-resistant/multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Conclusions: This study identified relatively high rifampicin-resistant/multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis amongtuberculosis suspected patients in the study area. Early detection of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis should be givenenough attention to strengthen the management of tuberculosis cases and improve direct observation therapy short-course and eventually minimize the spread of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis strain in the community.

Keywords: rifampicin resistance, mycobacterium tuberculosis, risk factors, prevalence of TB

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Authors: Kaznah Alshammari, Thomas Beach, Yacine Rezgui

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Technological advances in the construction sector are helping to make smart cities a reality by means of cyber-physical systems (CPS). CPS integrate information and the physical world through the use of information communication technologies (ICT). An increasingly common goal in the built environment is to integrate building information models (BIM) with the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensor technologies using CPS. Future advances could see the adoption of digital twins, creating new opportunities for CPS using monitoring, simulation, and optimisation technologies. However, researchers often fail to fully consider the security implications. To date, it is not widely possible to assimilate BIM data and cybersecurity concepts, and, therefore, security has thus far been overlooked. This paper reviews the empirical literature concerning IoT applications in the built environment and discusses real-world applications of the IoT intended to enhance construction practices, people’s lives and bolster cybersecurity. Specifically, this research addresses two research questions: (a) how suitable are the current IoT and CPS security stacks to address the cybersecurity threats facing digital twins in the context of smart buildings and districts? and (b) what are the current obstacles to tackling cybersecurity threats to the built environment CPS? To answer these questions, this paper reviews the current state-of-the-art research concerning digital twins in the built environment, the IoT, BIM, urban cities, and cybersecurity. The results of these findings of this study confirmed the importance of using digital twins in both IoT and BIM. Also, eight reference zones across Europe have gained special recognition for their contributions to the advancement of IoT science. Therefore, this paper evaluates the use of digital twins in CPS to arrive at recommendations for expanding BIM specifications to facilitate IoT compliance, bolster cybersecurity and integrate digital twin and city standards in the smart cities of the future.

Keywords: BIM, cybersecurity, digital twins, IoT, urban cities

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Yu Zhang, Mingxue Lang, Li Dong

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The hundreds of years of slow succession of living environment in rural area is a crucial carrier of China’s long history of culture and national wisdom. In recent years, the space evolution of traditional rural settlements has been promoted by the intervention of tourism development, among which the public architecture and outdoor activity areas together served as the major places for villagers, and tourists’ social activities are an important characterization for settlement spatial evolution. Traditional public space upgrade and layout study of new public space can effectively promote the tourism industry development of traditional rural settlements. This article takes Qi County, one China Traditional Culture Village as the exemplification and uses the technology of Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Space Syntax, studies the evolution features of public space of tourism-oriented traditional rural settlements in four steps. First, acquire the 2003 and 2016 image data of Qi County, using the remote sensing application EDRAS8.6. Second, vectorize the basic maps of Qi County including its land use map with the application of ArcGIS 9.3 meanwhile, associating with architectural and site information concluded from field research. Third, analyze the accessibility and connectivity of the inner space of settlements using space syntax; run cross-correlation with the public space data of 2003 and 2016. Finally, summarize the evolution law of the public space of settlements; study the upgrade pattern of traditional public space and location plan for new public space. Major findings of this paper including: first, location layout of traditional public space has a larger association with the calculation results of space syntax and further confirmed the objective value of space syntax in expressing the space and social relations. Second, the intervention of tourism development generates remarkable impact on public space location of tradition rural settlements. Third, traditional public space produces the symbols of both strengthening and decline and forms a diversified upgrade pattern for the purpose of meeting the different tourism functional needs. Finally, space syntax provides an objective basis for location plan of new public space that meets the needs of tourism service. Tourism development has a significant impact on the evolution of public space of traditional rural settlements. Two types of public space, architecture, and site are both with changes seen from the perspective of quantity, location, dimension and function after the intervention of tourism development. Function upgrade of traditional public space and scientific layout of new public space are two important ways in achieving the goal of sustainable development of tourism-oriented traditional rural settlements.

Keywords: public space evolution, Qi county, space syntax, tourism oriented, traditional rural settlements

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Authors: Radek Richtr, Petr Pauš

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Social media nowadays connects people more tightly and intensively than ever, but simultaneously, some sort of social distance, incomprehension, lost of social integrity appears. People can be strongly connected to the person on the other side of the world but unaware of neighbours in the same district or street. The Stoa is a type of application from the ”serious games” genre- it is research augmented reality experiment masked as a gaming environment. In the Stoa environment, the player can plant and grow virtual (organic) structure, a Pillar, that represent the whole suburb. Everybody has their own idea of what is an acceptable, admirable or harmful visual intervention in the area they live in; the purpose of this research experiment is to find and/or define residents shared subconscious spirit, genius loci of the Pillars vicinity, where residents live in. The appearance and evolution of Stoa’s Pillars reflect the real world as perceived by not only the creator but also by other residents/players, who, with their actions, refine the environment. Squares, parks, patios and streets get their living avatar depictions; investors and urban planners obtain information on the occurrence and level of motivation for reshaping the public space. As the project is in product conceptual design phase, the function is one of its most important factors. Function-based modelling makes design problem modular and structured and thus decompose it into sub-functions or function-cells. Paper discuss the current conceptual model for Stoa project, the using of different organic structure textures and models, user interface design, UX study and project’s developing to the final state.

Keywords: augmented reality, urban computing, interaction design, mixed reality, social engineering

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Authors: Wajeeha Shahid

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The study was designed to assess the impact of transformational and transactional leadership styles on work motivation and organizational commitment among faculty members of universities of Punjab. 713 faculty members were selected as sample through convenient random sampling technique. Three self-constructed questionnaires namely Leadership Styles Questionnaire (LSQ), Work Motivation Questionnaire (WMQ) and Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCMQ) were used as research instruments. Major objectives of the study included assessing the effect and impact of transformational and transactional leadership styles on work motivation and organizational commitment. Theoretical frame work of the study included Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, Individualized Consideration, Contingent Rewards and Management by Exception as independent variables and Extrinsic motivation, Intrinsic motivation, Affective commitment, Continuance commitment and Normative commitment as dependent variables. SPSS Version 21 was used to analyze and tabulate data. Cronbach's Alpha reliability, Pearson Correlation and Multiple regression analysis were applied as statistical treatments for the analysis. Results revealed that Idealized Influence correlated significantly with intrinsic motivation and Affective commitment whereas Contingent rewards had a strong positive correlation with extrinsic motivation and affective commitment. Multiple regression models revealed a variance of 85% for transformational leadership style over work motivation and organizational commitment. Whereas transactional style as a predictor manifested a variance of 79% for work motivation and 76% for organizational commitment. It was suggested that changing organizational cultures are demanding more from their leadership. All organizations need to consider transformational leadership style as an important part of their equipment in leveraging both soft and hard organizational targets.

Keywords: leadership styles, work motivation, organizational commitment, faculty member

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Authors: Arshad Hussain

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Background: Sukh Initiative is a multi-donor funded, family planning and reproductive health project, primed by Aman Healthcare Services; implemented through a consortium of local and international organizations, in a selected one million underserved peri-urban population of Karachi, Sindh; which aims at increasing modern contraceptive prevalence rate by 15 percentage point. Objective: To empower women to access contraception by increasing knowledge, improving quality of services and expanding the basket of choices; contributing to the goals of FP2020. Methods: A five years project has a multi-pronged approach with door to door services by LHWs and CHWs in an LHWs covered population and provision of quality FP/RH services both at public and private health care facilities. The project engages youth (12-16 years) both with community and at secondary schools to mentor them for responsible adulthood with life skilled base initiative. A 24/7 availability of youth and FP helpline service provides counselling, referrals in addition with a follow-up mechanism. Results: 131,810 MWRAs were reached by 191 community health workers through 29,693 of community support group meetings and 166,775 house hold visits. These MWRAs were counselled on FP related myths and misconception and referred to 216 providers trained for quality family planning services and maintaining average 64% quality scores in 43 public health and 35 private facilities in the project area. Of those referred 26% MWRAs opted modern contraception with 17.56% in LARCs and 41% PPFP as compared to baseline. Aman TeleHealth is linked with 24/7 counselling, referrals and post services follow-ups to clients, showing 14% proportion of FP call volume. Sukh has a unique role in engaging all partners on youth SRHR issues through family life education sessions, 30 higher sec. schools in Sukh area have been provided LSBE to 16,000 students (aged 15-17), and in community approximately 10, 496 girls and boys have received SRHR information. Conclusion: Through individual counselling, access to quality family planning services and involvement of stakeholders, Suk created an enabling environment to rapid increase in family planning in the project intervention area.

Keywords: family planning and reproductive health, married women with reproductive age, urban squatter, Pakistan

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Authors: Silke Bustamante, Andrea Pelzeter, Andreas Deckmann, Rudi Ehlscheidt, Franziska Freudenberger

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Many companies increasingly seek to enhance their attractiveness as an employer to bind their employees. At the same time, corporate responsibility for social and ecological issues seems to become a more important part of an attractive employer brand. It enables the company to match the values and expectations of its members, to signal fairness towards them and to increase its brand potential for positive psychological identification on the employees’ side. In the last decade, several empirical studies have focused this relationship, confirming a positive effect of employees’ CSR perception and their affective organizational commitment. The current paper aims to take a slightly different view by analyzing the impact of another factor on commitment: the weighted employee’s satisfaction with the employer CSR. For that purpose, it is assumed that commitment levels are rather a result of the fulfillment or disappointment of expectations. Hence, instead of merely asking how CSR perception affects commitment, a more complex independent variable is taken into account: a weighted satisfaction construct that summarizes two different factors. Therefore, the individual level of commitment contingent on CSR is conceptualized as a function of two psychological processes: (1) the individual significance that an employee ascribes to specific employer attributes and (2) the individual satisfaction based on the fulfillment of expectation that rely on preceding perceptions of employer attributes. The results presented are based on a quantitative survey that was undertaken among employees of the German service sector. Conceptually a five-dimensional CSR construct (ecology, employees, marketplace, society and corporate governance) and a two-dimensional non-CSR construct (company and workplace) were applied to differentiate employer characteristics. (1) Respondents were asked to indicate the importance of different facets of CSR-related and non-CSR-related employer attributes. By means of a conjoint analysis, the relative importance of each employer attribute was calculated from the data. (2) In addition to this, participants stated their level of satisfaction with specific employer attributes. Both indications were merged to individually weighted satisfaction indexes on the seven-dimensional levels of employer characteristics. The affective organizational commitment of employees (dependent variable) was gathered by applying the established 15-items Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ). The findings related to the relationship between satisfaction and commitment will be presented. Furthermore, the question will be addressed, how important satisfaction with CSR is in relation to the satisfaction with other attributes of the company in the creation of commitment. Practical as well as scientific implications will be discussed especially with reference to previous results that focused on CSR perception as a commitment driver.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, organizational commitment, employee attitudes/satisfaction, employee expectations, employer brand

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Authors: Eduardo Kanagushiku Pereira, Frank Gregory Cavalcante da Silva, Barbara Soares Gonçalves, Ana Lúcia Bergamasco Galastri, Ronei Luciano Mamoni

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The inflammatory response initiates after the recognition of pathogens by receptors expressed by innate immune cells. Among these receptors, the NLRP3 was associated with the recognition of pathogenic fungi in experimental models. NLRP3 operates forming a multiproteic complex called inflammasome, which actives caspase-1, responsible for the production of the inflammatory cytokines IL-1beta and IL-18. In this study, we aimed to investigate the involvement of NLRP3 in the inflammatory response elicited in macrophages against Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (Pb), the etiologic agent of PCM. Macrophages were differentiated from THP-1 cells by treatment with phorbol-myristate-acetate. Following differentiation, macrophages were stimulated by Pb yeast cells for 24 hours, after previous treatment with specific NLRP3 (3,4-methylenedioxy-beta-nitrostyrene) and/or caspase-1 (VX-765) inhibitors, or specific inhibitors of pathways involved in NLRP3 activation such as: Reactive Oxigen Species (ROS) production (N-Acetyl-L-cysteine), K+ efflux (Glibenclamide) or phagossome acidification (Bafilomycin). Quantification of IL-1beta and IL-18 in supernatants was performed by ELISA. Our results showed that the production of IL-1beta and IL-18 by THP-1-derived-macrophages stimulated with Pb yeast cells was dependent on NLRP3 and caspase-1 activation, once the presence of their specific inhibitors diminished the production of these cytokines. Furthermore, we found that the major pathways involved in NLRP3 activation, after Pb recognition, were dependent on ROS production and K+ efflux. In conclusion, our results showed that NLRP3 participates in the recognition of Pb yeast cells by macrophages, leading to the activation of the NLRP3-inflammasome and production of IL-1beta and IL-18. Together, these cytokines can induce an inflammatory response against P. brasiliensis, essential for the establishment of the initial inflammatory response and for the development of the subsequent acquired immune response.

Keywords: inflammation, IL-1beta, IL-18, NLRP3, Paracoccidioidomycosis

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Authors: Chen-Jung Chen, Yi-Chang Chen

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While traditional virtual reality and augmented reality only allow for small movement learning and cannot provide a truly immersive teaching experience to give it the illusion of movement, the new technology of both content creation and immersive interactive simulation of the metaverse can just reach infinite close to the natural teaching situation. However, the mixed reality virtual classroom of metaverse has not yet explored its theory, and it is rarely implemented in the situational simulation teaching of nursing education. Therefore, in the first year, the study will intend to use grounded theory and case study methods and in-depth interviews with nursing education and information experts. Analyze the interview data to investigate the uniqueness of metaverse development. The proposed analysis will lead to alternative theories and methods for the development of nursing education. In the second year, it will plan to integrate the metaverse virtual situation simulation technology into the alternate teaching strategy in the pediatric nursing technology course and explore the nursing students' use of this teaching method as the construction of personal technology and experience. By leveraging the unique features of distinct teaching platforms and developing processes to deliver alternative teaching strategies in a nursing technology teaching environment. The aim is to increase learning achievements without compromising teaching quality and teacher-student relationships in the post-pandemic era. A descriptive and convergent mixed methods design will be employed. Sixty third-grade nursing students will be recruited to participate in the research and complete the pre-test. The students in the experimental group (N=30) agreed to participate in 4 real-time mixed virtual situation simulation courses in self-practice after class and conducted qualitative interviews after each 2 virtual situation courses; the control group (N=30) adopted traditional practice methods of self-learning after class. Both groups of students took a post-test after the course. Data analysis will adopt descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, and qualitative content analysis. This study addresses key issues in the virtual reality environment for teaching and learning within the metaverse, providing valuable lessons and insights for enhancing the quality of education. The findings of this study are expected to contribute useful information for the future development of digital teaching and learning in nursing and other practice-based disciplines.

Keywords: metaverse, post-pandemic era, online virtual classroom, immersive teaching

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Authors: Atucungwiire Rwebiita

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Introduction: In Uganda, provision of adolescent sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services for key population is still hindered by negative attitudes, stigma and discrimination (S&D) at both the community and facility levels. To address this barrier, Integrated Community Based Initiatives (ICOBI) with support from SIDA is currently implementing a quality improvement (QI) innovative approach for strengthening the capacity of key population (KP) peer leaders and health workers to deliver friendly SRHR services without S&D. Methods: Our innovative approach involves continuous mentorship and coaching of 8 QI teams at 8 health facilities and their catchment areas. Each of the 8 teams (comprised of 5 health workers and 5 KP peer leaders) are facilitated twice a month by two QI Mentors in a 2-hour mentorship session over a period of 4 months. The QI mentors were provided a 2-weeks training on QI approaches for reducing S&D against young key populations in the delivery of SRHR Services. The mentorship sessions are guided by a manual where teams base to analyse root causes of S&D and develop key performance indicators (KPIs) in the 1st and 2nd second sessions respectively. The teams then develop action plans in the 3rd session and review implementation progress on KPIs at the end of subsequent sessions. The KPIs capture information on the attitude of health workers and peer leaders and the general service delivery setting as well as clients’ experience. A dashboard is developed to routinely track the KPIs for S&D across all the supported health facilities and catchment areas. After 4 months, QI teams share documented QI best practices and tested change packages on S&D in a learning and exchange session involving all the teams. Findings: The implementation of this approach is showing positive results. So far, QI teams have already identified the root causes of S&D against key populations including: poor information among health workers, fear of a perceived risk of infection, perceived links between HIV and disreputable behaviour. Others are perceptions that HIV & STIs are divine punishment, sex work and homosexuality are against religion and cultural values. They have also noted the perception that MSM are mentally sick and a danger to everyone. Eight QI teams have developed action plans to address the root causes of S&D. Conclusion: This approach is promising, offers a novel and scalable means to implement stigma-reduction interventions in facility and community settings.

Keywords: key populations, sexual reproductive health and rights, stigma and discrimination , quality improvement approach

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Authors: Ainouna Bouziane

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The ability of Electron Tomography to recover the 3D structure of catalysts, with spatial resolution in the subnanometer scale, has been widely explored and reviewed in the last decades. A variety of experimental techniques, based either on Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) or Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) have been used to reveal different features of nanostructured catalysts in 3D, but High Angle Annular Dark Field imaging in STEM mode (HAADF-STEM) stands out as the most frequently used, given its chemical sensitivity and avoidance of imaging artifacts related to diffraction phenomena when dealing with crystalline materials. In this regard, our group has developed a methodology that combines image denoising by undecimated wavelet transforms (UWT) with automated, advanced segmentation procedures and parameter selection methods using CS-TVM (Compressed Sensing-total variation minimization) algorithms to reveal more reliable quantitative information out of the 3D characterization studies. However, evaluating the accuracy of the magnitudes estimated from the segmented volumes is also an important issue that has not been properly addressed yet, because a perfectly known reference is needed. The problem particularly complicates in the case of multicomponent material systems. To tackle this key question, we have developed a methodology that incorporates volume reconstruction/segmentation methods. In particular, we have established an approach to evaluate, in quantitative terms, the accuracy of TVM reconstructions, which considers the influence of relevant experimental parameters like the range of tilt angles, image noise level or object orientation. The approach is based on the analysis of material-realistic, 3D phantoms, which include the most relevant features of the system under analysis.

Keywords: electron tomography, supported catalysts, nanometrology, error assessment

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Authors: Min Wang, Sergey Utev

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The lessons from the 2007-09 global financial crisis have driven scientific research, which considers the design of new methodologies and financial models in the global market. The quantum mechanics approach was introduced in the unpredictable stock market modeling. One famous quantum tool is Feynman path integral method, which was used to model insurance risk by Tamturk and Utev and adapted to formalize the path-dependent option pricing by Hao and Utev. The research is based on the path-dependent calculation method, which is motivated by the Feynman path integral method. The path calculation can be studied in two ways, one way is to label, and the other is computational. Labeling is a part of the representation of objects, and generating functions can provide many different ways of representing share price paths. In this paper, the recent works on graphical theoretical construction of individual share price path via matroid is presented. Firstly, a study is done on the knowledge of matroid, relationship between lattice path matroid and Tutte polynomials and ways to connect points in the lattice path matroid and Tutte polynomials is suggested. Secondly, It is found that a general binary tree can be validly constructed from a connected lattice path matroid rather than general lattice path matroid. Lastly, it is suggested that there is a way to represent share price paths via a general binary tree, and an algorithm is developed to construct share price paths from general binary trees. A relationship is also provided between lattice integer points and Tutte polynomials of a transversal matroid. Use this way of connection together with the algorithm, a share price path can be constructed from a given connected lattice path matroid.

Keywords: combinatorial construction, graphical representation, matroid, path calculation, share price, Tutte polynomial

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Authors: Frederic Schenker, Jonathan J. Hendriks, Gianluca Nicchiotti

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In a product industrialization perspective, the end-product shall always be at the peak of technological advancement and developed in the shortest time possible. Thus, the constant growth of complexity and a shorter time-to-market calls for important changes on both the technical and business level. Undeniably, the common understanding of the system is beclouded by its complexity which leads to the communication gap between the engineers and the sale department. This communication link is therefore important to maintain and increase the information exchange between departments to ensure a punctual and flawless delivery to the end customer. This evolution brings engineers to reason with more hindsight and plan ahead. In this sense, they use new viewpoints to represent the data and to express the model deliverables in an understandable way that the different stakeholder may identify their needs and ideas. This article focuses on the usage of Model-Based System Engineering (MBSE) in a perspective of system industrialization and reconnect the engineering with the sales team. The modeling method used and presented in this paper concentrates on displaying as closely as possible the needs of the customer. Firstly, by providing a technical solution to the sales team to help them elaborate commercial offers without omitting technicalities. Secondly, the model simulates between a vast number of possibilities across a wide range of components. It becomes a dynamic tool for powerful analysis and optimizations. Thus, the model is no longer a technical tool for the engineers, but a way to maintain and solidify the communication between departments using different views of the model. The MBSE contribution to cost optimization during New Product Introduction (NPI) activities is made explicit through the illustration of a case study describing the support provided by system models to architectural choices during the industrialization of a novel optical sensor.

Keywords: analytical model, architecture comparison, MBSE, product industrialization, SysML, system thinking

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Authors: Dangut Maren David, Skaf Zakwan

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Adequate monitoring of vehicle component in other to obtain high uptime is the goal of predictive maintenance, the major challenge faced by businesses in industries is the significant cost associated with a delay in service delivery due to system downtime. Most of those businesses are interested in predicting those problems and proactively prevent them in advance before it occurs, which is the core advantage of Prognostic Health Management (PHM) application. The recent emergence of industry 4.0 or industrial internet of things (IIoT) has led to the need for monitoring systems activities and enhancing system-to-system or component-to- component interactions, this has resulted to a large generation of data known as big data. Analysis of big data represents an increasingly important, however, due to complexity inherently in the dataset such as imbalance classification problems, it becomes extremely difficult to build a model with accurate high precision. Data-driven predictive modeling for condition-based maintenance (CBM) has recently drowned research interest with growing attention to both academics and industries. The large data generated from industrial process inherently comes with a different degree of complexity which posed a challenge for analytics. Thus, imbalance classification problem exists perversely in industrial datasets which can affect the performance of learning algorithms yielding to poor classifier accuracy in model development. Misclassification of faults can result in unplanned breakdown leading economic loss. In this paper, an advanced approach for handling imbalance classification problem is proposed and then a prognostic model for predicting aircraft component replacement is developed to predict component replacement in advanced by exploring aircraft historical data, the approached is based on hybrid ensemble-based method which improves the prediction of the minority class during learning, we also investigate the impact of our approach on multiclass imbalance problem. We validate the feasibility and effectiveness in terms of the performance of our approach using real-world aircraft operation and maintenance datasets, which spans over 7 years. Our approach shows better performance compared to other similar approaches. We also validate our approach strength for handling multiclass imbalanced dataset, our results also show good performance compared to other based classifiers.

Keywords: prognostics, data-driven, imbalance classification, deep learning

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Authors: Shyaka Eugene

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The efficient and safe demolition of structures is a critical challenge in civil engineering and construction. This study focuses on the development of optimal demolition strategies by investigating the crack propagation behavior in beams induced by soundless cracking agents. It is commonly used in controlled demolition and has gained prominence due to its non-explosive and environmentally friendly nature. This research employs a comprehensive experimental and computational approach to analyze the crack initiation, propagation, and eventual failure in beams subjected to soundless cracking agents. Experimental testing involves the application of various cracking agents under controlled conditions to understand their effects on the structural integrity of beams. High-resolution imaging and strain measurements are used to capture the crack propagation process. In parallel, numerical simulations are conducted using advanced finite element analysis (FEA) techniques to model crack propagation in beams, considering various parameters such as cracking agent composition, loading conditions, and beam properties. The FEA models are validated against experimental results, ensuring their accuracy in predicting crack propagation patterns. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into optimizing demolition strategies, allowing engineers and demolition experts to make informed decisions regarding the selection of cracking agents, their application techniques, and structural reinforcement methods. Ultimately, this research contributes to enhancing the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of demolition practices in the construction industry, reducing environmental impact and ensuring the protection of adjacent structures and the surrounding environment.

Keywords: expansion pressure, energy release rate, soundless chemical demolition agent, crack propagation

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Authors: Saâd Oukkass, Abderrahim Bouftou, Rachid Ouchn, L. Lebrun, Miloudi Hlaibi

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We invariably exist in a world steeped in colors, whether in our clothing, food, cosmetics, or even medications. However, most of the dyes we use pose significant problems, being both harmful to the environment and resistant to degradation. Among these dyes, methylene blue and acid yellow 61 stand out, commonly used to dye various materials such as cotton, wood, and silk. Fortunately, various methods have been developed to treat and remove these polluting dyes, among which membrane processes play a prominent role. These methods are praised for their low energy consumption, ease of operation, and their ability to achieve effective separation of components. Adsorption on activated carbon is also a widely employed technique, complementing the basic processes. It proves particularly effective in capturing and removing organic compounds from water due to its substantial specific surface area while retaining its properties unchanged. In the context of our study, we examined two crucial aspects. Firstly, we explored the possibility of selectively extracting methylene blue from a mixture containing another dye, acid yellow 61, using a polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) made of PVA. After characterizing the morphology and porosity of the membrane, we applied kinetic and thermodynamic models to determine the values of permeability (P), initial flux (J0), association constant (Kass), and apparent diffusion coefficient (D*). Subsequently, we measured activation parameters (activation energy (Ea), enthalpy (ΔH#ass), entropy (ΔS#)). Finally, we studied the effect of activated carbon on the processes carried out through the membrane, demonstrating a clear improvement. These results make the membrane developed in this study a potentially pivotal player in the field of membrane separation.

Keywords: dyes, methylene blue, membrane, activated carbon

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Authors: S. Cheng, C. Catallo

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Introduction: Canada's healthcare and social services systems are failing high risk, vulnerable older adults. Care for vulnerable older Canadians (65 and older) is not optimal in Canada. It does not address the care needs of vulnerable, high risk adults using a holistic approach. Given the growing aging population, and the care needs for seniors with complex conditions is one of the highest in Canada's health care system, there is a sense of urgency to optimize care. Integration of health and social services is an emerging trend in Canada when compared to European countries. There is no common and universal understanding of healthcare and social services integration within the country. Consequently, a clear understanding and definition of integrated health and social services are absent in Canada. Objectives: A study was undertaken to develop a case definition for integrated health and social care initiatives that serve older adults, which was then tested against three Canadian integrated initiatives. Methodology: A limited literature review was undertaken to identify common characteristics of integrated health and social care initiatives that serve older adults, and comprised both scientific and grey literature, in order to develop a case definition. Three Canadian integrated initiatives that are located in the province of Ontario, were identified using an online search and a screening process. They were surveyed to determine if the literature-based integration definition applied to them. Results: The literature showed that there were 24 common healthcare and social services integration characteristics that could be categorized into ten themes: 1) patient-care approach; 2) program goals; 3) measurement; 4) service and care quality; 5) accountability and responsibility; 6) information sharing; 7) Decision-making and problem-solving; 8) culture; 9) leadership; and 10) staff and professional interaction. The three initiatives showed agreement on all the integration characteristics except for those characteristics associated with healthcare and social care professional interaction, collaborative leadership and shared culture. This disagreement may be due to several reasons, including the existing governance divide between the healthcare and social services sectors within the province of Ontario that has created a ripple effect in how professions in the two different sectors interact. In addition, the three initiatives may be at maturing levels of integration, which may explain disagreement on the characteristics associated with leadership and culture. Conclusions: The development of a case definition for healthcare and social services integration that incorporates common integration characteristics can act as a useful instrument in identifying integrated healthcare and social services, particularly given the emerging and evolutionary state of this phenomenon within Canada.

Keywords: Canada, case definition, healthcare and social services integration, integration, seniors health, services delivery

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Authors: J. O. Idoko, C. N. Michael, T. O. Fasuan

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This study investigated the effects of cooking time, seed-to-water ratio and soaking time on proximate and functional properties of African walnut seed using Box-Behnken design and Response Surface Methodology (BBD-RSM) with a view to increase its utilization in the food industry. African walnut seeds were sorted washed, soaked, cooked, dehulled, sliced, dried and milled. Proximate analysis and functional properties of the samples were evaluated using standard procedures. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Quadratic models were obtained to predict the proximate and functional qualities as a function of cooking time, seed-to-water ratio and soaking time. The results showed that the crude protein ranged between 11.80% and 23.50%, moisture content ranged between 1.00% and 4.66%, ash content ranged between 3.35% and 5.25%, crude fibre ranged from 0.10% to 7.25% and carbohydrate ranged from 1.22% to 29.35%. The functional properties showed that soluble protein ranged from 16.26% to 42.96%, viscosity ranged from 23.43 mPas to 57 mPas, emulsifying capacity ranged from 17.14% to 39.43% and water absorption capacity ranged from 232% to 297%. An increase in the volume of water used during cooking resulted in loss of water soluble protein through leaching, the length of soaking time and the moisture content of the dried product are inversely related, ash content is inversely related to the cooking time and amount of water used, extraction of fat is enhanced by increase in soaking time while increase in cooking and soaking times result into decrease in fibre content. The results obtained indicated that African walnut could be used in several food formulations as protein supplement and binder.

Keywords: African walnut, functional properties, proximate analysis, response surface methodology

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Authors: Smart E. Amanfo

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Although the exact functional relationship between energy consumption and economic growth and development remains a complex social science, there is a sustained growing of agreement among energy economists and the likes on direct or indirect role of energy use in the development process, and as sustenance for many of societal achieved socio-economic and environmental developments in any economy. According to OECD, the world economy will double by 2050 in which the two members of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries: China and India lead. There is a global apprehension that if countries constituting the epicenter of the present and future economic growth follow the same trajectory as during and after Industrial Revolution, involving higher energy throughputs, especially fossil fuels, the already known and models predicted threats of climate change and global warming could be exacerbated, especially in the developing economies. The international community’s challenge is how to address the trilemma of economic growth, social development, poverty eradication and stability of the ecological systems. This paper aims at providing the estimates of economic growth, energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions using BRICS members’ panel data from 1980 to 2017. The preliminary results based on fixed effect econometric model show positive significant relationship between energy consumption and economic growth. The paper further identified a strong relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions which suggests that the global agenda of low-carbon-led growth and development is not a straight forward achievable The study therefore highlights the need for BRICS member states to intensify low-emissions-based production and consumption policies, increase renewables in order to avoid further deterioration of climate change impacts.

Keywords: BRICS, sustainability, sustainable development, energy consumption, economic growth

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Authors: Jaiden Xuan Schraut, Leon Liu, Yiqiao Yin

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Computer vision in medical diagnosis has achieved a high level of success in diagnosing diseases with high accuracy. However, conventional classifiers that produce an image to-label result provides insufficient information for medical professionals to judge and raise concerns over the trust and reliability of a model with results that cannot be explained. In order to gain local insight into cancerous regions, separate tasks such as imaging segmentation need to be implemented to aid the doctors in treating patients, which doubles the training time and costs which renders the diagnosis system inefficient and difficult to be accepted by the public. To tackle this issue and drive AI-first medical solutions further, this paper proposes a multi-output network that follows a U-Net architecture for image segmentation output and features an additional convolutional neural networks (CNN) module for auxiliary classification output. Class activation maps are a method of providing insight into a convolutional neural network’s feature maps that leads to its classification but in the case of lung diseases, the region of interest is enhanced by U-net-assisted Class Activation Map (CAM) visualization. Therefore, our proposed model combines image segmentation models and classifiers to crop out only the lung region of a chest X-ray’s class activation map to provide a visualization that improves the explainability and is able to generate classification results simultaneously which builds trust for AI-led diagnosis systems. The proposed U-Net model achieves 97.61% accuracy and a dice coefficient of 0.97 on testing data from the COVID-QU-Ex Dataset which includes both diseased and healthy lungs.

Keywords: multi-output network model, U-net, class activation map, image classification, medical imaging analysis

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Authors: Michele Catalano, Jacopo Di Domenico, Luca Riccetti, Andrea Teglio

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We develop a data-driven agent based model (ABM) for the Italian economy. We calibrate the model for the initial condition and parameters. As a preliminary step, we replicate the Monte-Carlo simulation for the Austrian economy. Then, we evaluate the dynamic properties of the model: the long-run equilibrium and the allocative efficiency in terms of disequilibrium patterns arising in the search and matching process for final goods, capital, intermediate goods, and credit markets. In this perspective, we use a randomized initial condition approach. We perform a robustness analysis perturbing the system for different parameter setups. We explore the empirical properties of the model using a rolling window forecast exercise from 2010 to 2022 to observe the model’s forecasting ability in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We perform an analysis of the properties of the model with a different number of agents, that is, with different scales of the model compared to the real economy. The model generally displays transient dynamics that properly fit macroeconomic data regarding forecasting ability. We stress the model with a large set of shocks, namely interest policy, fiscal policy, and exogenous factors, such as external foreign demand for export. In this way, we can explore the most exposed sectors of the economy. Finally, we modify the technology mix of the various sectors and, consequently, the underlying input-output sectoral interdependence to stress the economy and observe the long-run projections. In this way, we can include in the model the generation of endogenous crisis due to the implied structural change, technological unemployment, and potential lack of aggregate demand creating the condition for cyclical endogenous crises reproduced in this artificial economy.

Keywords: agent-based models, behavioral macro, macroeconomic forecasting, micro data

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Authors: Kazuki Kamada, Haruka Yamashita

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In Japan, taxi is one of the popular transportations and taxi industry is one of the big businesses. However, in recent years, there has been a difficult problem of reducing the number of taxi drivers. In the taxi business, mainly three passenger catching methods are applied. One style is "cruising" that drivers catches passengers while driving on a road. Second is "waiting" that waits passengers near by the places with many requirements for taxies such as entrances of hospitals, train stations. The third one is "dispatching" that is allocated based on the contact from the taxi company. Above all, the cruising taxi drivers need the experience and intuition for finding passengers, and it is difficult to decide "the destination for cruising". The strong recommendation system for the cruising taxies supports the new drivers to find passengers, and it can be the solution for the decreasing the number of drivers in the taxi industry. In this research, we propose a method of recommending a destination for cruising taxi drivers. On the other hand, as a machine learning technique, the embedding models that embed the high dimensional data to a low dimensional space is widely used for the data analysis, in order to represent the relationship of the meaning between the data clearly. Taxi drivers have their favorite courses based on their experiences, and the courses are different for each driver. We assume that the course of cruising taxies has meaning such as the course for finding business man passengers (go around the business area of the city of go to main stations) and course for finding traveler passengers (go around the sightseeing places or big hotels), and extract the meaning of their destinations. We analyze the cruising history data of taxis based on the embedding model and propose the recommendation system for passengers. Finally, we demonstrate the recommendation of destinations for cruising taxi drivers based on the real-world data analysis using proposing method.

Keywords: taxi industry, decision making, recommendation system, embedding model

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Authors: Felix Eyben, Simon Schaffrath, Markus Feldmann

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A building should maximize the potential for use through its design. Therefore, flexible use is always important when designing a steel structure. To create flexibility, steel beams with web openings are increasingly used, because these offer the advantage that cables, pipes and other technical equipment can easily be routed through without detours, allowing for more space-saving and aesthetically pleasing construction. This can also significantly reduce the height of ceiling systems. Until now, beams with web openings were not explicitly considered in the European standard. However, this is to be done with the new EN 1993-1-13, in which design rules for different opening forms are defined. In order to further develop the design concepts, beams with web openings under bending are therefore to be investigated in terms of damage mechanics as part of a German national research project aiming to optimize the verifications for steel structures based on a wider database and a validated damage prediction. For this purpose, first, fundamental factors influencing the load-bearing behavior of girders with web openings under bending load were investigated numerically without taking material damage into account. Various parameter studies were carried out for this purpose. For example, the factors under study were the opening shape, size and position as well as structural aspects as the span length, arrangement of stiffeners and loading situation. The load-bearing behavior is evaluated using resulting load-deformation curves. These results are compared with the design rules and critically analyzed. Experimental tests are also planned based on these results. Moreover, the implementation of damage mechanics in the form of the modified Bai-Wierzbicki model was examined. After the experimental tests will have been carried out, the numerical models are validated and further influencing factors will be investigated on the basis of parametric studies.

Keywords: damage mechanics, finite element, steel structures, web openings

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Authors: Noor Hasmini Abd Ghani

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Brand resonance is among of new focused strategy that getting more attention in nowadays by larger companies for their long-term market survival. The brand resonance emphasizing of two main characteristics that are intensity and activity able to generate psychology bond and enduring relationship between a brand and consumer. This strong attachment relationship has represented brand resonance with the concept of consumer brand relationship (CBR) that exhibit competitive advantage for long-term market survival. The main consideration toward this brand resonance approach is not only in the context of larger companies but also can be adapted in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as well. The SMEs have been recognized as vital pillar to the world economy in both developed and emergence countries are undeniable due to their economic growth contributions, such as opportunity for employment, wealth creation, and poverty reduction. In particular, the facts that SMEs in Malaysia are pivotal to the well-being of the Malaysian economy and society are clearly justified, where the SMEs competent in provided jobs to 66% of the workforce and contributed 40% to the GDP. As regards to it several sectors, the SMEs service category that covers the Food & Beverage (F&B) sector is one of the high-potential industries in Malaysia. For that reasons, SMEs strong brand or brand equity is vital to be developed for their long-term market survival. However, there’s still less appropriate strategies in develop their brand equity. The difficulties have never been so evident until Covid-19 swept across the globe from 2020. Since the pandemic began, more than 150,000 SMEs in Malaysia have shut down, leaving more than 1.2 million people jobless. Otherwise, as the SMEs are the pillar of any economy for the countries in the world, and with negative effect of COVID-19 toward their economic growth, thus, their protection has become important more than ever. Therefore, focusing on strategy that able to develop SMEs strong brand is compulsory. Hence, this is where the strategy of brand resonance is introduced in this study. Mainly, this study aims to investigate the impact of CBR as a predictor and mediator in the context of social media marketing (SMM) activities toward SMEs e-brand equity (or strong brand) building. The study employed the quantitative research design concerning on electronic survey method with the valid response rate of 300 respondents. Interestingly, the result revealed the importance role of CBR either as predictor or mediator in the context of SMEs SMM as well as brand equity development. Further, the study provided several theoretical and practical implications that can benefit the SMEs in enhancing their strategic marketing decision.

Keywords: SME brand equity, SME social media marketing, SME consumer brand relationship, SME brand resonance

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Authors: Apostolos Kalatzis, Ashish Teotia, Vishnunarayan Girishan Prabhu, Laura Stanley

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Emotions are functional behaviors influenced by thoughts, stimuli, and other factors that induce neurophysiological changes in the human body. Understanding and classifying emotions are challenging as individuals have varying perceptions of their environments. Therefore, it is crucial that there are publicly available databases and virtual reality (VR) based environments that have been scientifically validated for assessing emotional classification. This study utilized two commercially available VR applications (Guided Meditation VR™ and Richie’s Plank Experience™) to induce acute stress and calm state among participants. Subjective and objective measures were collected to create a validated multimodal dataset and classification scheme for affective state classification. Participants’ subjective measures included the use of the Self-Assessment Manikin, emotional cards and 9 point Visual Analogue Scale for perceived stress, collected using a Virtual Reality Assessment Tool developed by our team. Participants’ objective measures included Electrocardiogram and Respiration data that were collected from 25 participants (15 M, 10 F, Mean = 22.28  4.92). The features extracted from these data included heart rate variability components and respiration rate, both of which were used to train two machine learning models. Subjective responses validated the efficacy of the VR applications in eliciting the two desired affective states; for classifying the affective states, a logistic regression (LR) and a support vector machine (SVM) with a linear kernel algorithm were developed. The LR outperformed the SVM and achieved 93.8%, 96.2%, 93.8% leave one subject out cross-validation accuracy, precision and recall, respectively. The VR assessment tool and data collected in this study are publicly available for other researchers.

Keywords: affective computing, biosignals, machine learning, stress database

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Authors: J. H. Park, R. H. Hwang, K. B. Yi

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Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is one of the important technology to reduce the CO₂ emission from large stationary sources such as a power plant. Among the carbon technologies for power plants, chemical looping combustion (CLC) has attracted much attention due to a higher thermal efficiency and a lower cost of electricity. A CLC process is consists of a fuel reactor and an air reactor which are interconnected fluidized bed reactor. In the fuel reactor, an oxygen carrier (OC) is reduced by fuel gas such as CH₄, H₂, CO. And the OC is send to air reactor and oxidized by air or O₂ gas. The oxidation and reduction reaction of OC occurs between the two reactors repeatedly. In the CLC system, high concentration of CO₂ can be easily obtained by steam condensation only from the fuel reactor. It is very important to understand the oxidation and reduction characteristics of oxygen carrier in the CLC system to determine the solids circulation rate between the air and fuel reactors, and the amount of solid bed materials. In this study, we have conducted the experiment and interpreted oxidation and reduction reaction characteristics via observing weight change of Ni-based oxygen carrier using the TGA with varying as concentration and temperature. Characterizations of the oxygen carrier were carried out with BET, SEM. The reaction rate increased with increasing the temperature and increasing the inlet gas concentration. We also compared experimental results and adapted basic reaction kinetic model (JMA model). JAM model is one of the nucleation and nuclei growth models, and this model can explain the delay time at the early part of reaction. As a result, the model data and experimental data agree over the arranged conversion and time with overall variance (R²) greater than 98%. Also, we calculated activation energy, pre-exponential factor, and reaction order through the Arrhenius plot and compared with previous Ni-based oxygen carriers.

Keywords: chemical looping combustion, kinetic, nickel-based, oxygen carrier, spray drying method

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Authors: Zülfiye Bıkmaz, Aytolan Yıldırım

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This study was planned as a descriptive regressive study in order to determine the relationship between the competency levels of working nurses, the levels of competency expected by nursing students, the critical thinking disposition of nurses, their perceived autonomy levels, and certain socio demographic characteristics. It is also a methodological study with regard to the intercultural adaptation of the Nursing Competence Scale (NCS) in both working and student samples. The sample of the study group of nurses at a university hospital for at least 6 months working properly and consists of 443 people filled out questionnaires. The student group, consisting of 543 individuals from the 4 public university nursing 3rd and 4th grade students. Data collection tools consisted of a questionnaire prepared in order to define the socio demographic, economic, and personal characteristics of the participants, the ‘Nursing Competency Scale’, the ‘Autonomy Subscale of the Sociotropy – Autonomy Scale’, and the ‘California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory’. In data evaluation, descriptive statistics, nonparametric tests, Rasch analysis and correlation and regression tests were used. The language validity of the ‘NCS’ was performed by translation and back translation, and the context validity of the scale was performed with expert views. The scale, which was formed into its final structure, was applied in a pilot application from a group consisting of graduate and student nurses. The time constancy of the test was obtained by analysis testing retesting method. In order to reduce the time problems with the two half reliability method was used. The Cronbach Alfa coefficient of the scale was found to be 0.980 for the nurse group and 0.986 for the student group. Statistically meaningful relationships between competence and critical thinking and variables such as age, gender, marital status, family structure, having had critical thinking training, education level, class of the students, service worked in, employment style and position, and employment duration were found. Statistically meaningful relationships between autonomy and certain variables of the student group such as year, employment status, decision making style regarding self, total duration of employment, employment style, and education status were found. As a result, it was determined that the NCS which was adapted interculturally was a valid and reliable measurement tool and was found to be associated with autonomy and critical thinking.

Keywords: nurse, nursing student, competence, autonomy, critical thinking, Rasch analysis

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Authors: Michael N. O'Sullivan, Con Sheahan

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Researchers have spent decades developing tools and techniques to aid teams in the new product development (NPD) process. Despite this, it is evident that there is a huge gap between their academic prevalence and their industry adoption. For the fuzzy front-end, in particular, there is a wide range of tools to choose from, including the Kano Model, the House of Quality, and many others. In fact, there are so many tools that it can often be difficult for teams to know which ones to use and how they interact with one another. Moreover, while the benefits of using these tools are obvious to industrialists, they are rarely used as they carry a learning curve that is too steep and they become too complex to manage over time. In essence, it is commonly believed that they are simply not worth the effort required to learn and use them. This research explores a streamlined process for the fuzzy front-end, assembling the most effective tools and making them accessible to everyone. The process was developed iteratively over the course of 3 years, following over 80 final year NPD teams from engineering, design, technology, and construction as they carried a product from concept through to production specification. Questionnaires, focus groups, and observations were used to understand the usability issues with the tools involved, and a human-centred design approach was adopted to produce a solution to these issues. The solution takes the form of physical toolkit, similar to a board game, which allows the team to play through an example of a new product development in order to understand the process and the tools, before using it for their own product development efforts. A complimentary website is used to enhance the physical toolkit, and it provides more examples of the tools being used, as well as deeper discussions on each of the topics, allowing teams to adapt the process to their skills, preferences and product type. Teams found the solution very useful and intuitive and experienced significantly less confusion and mistakes with the process than teams who did not use it. Those with a design background found it especially useful for the engineering principles like Quality Function Deployment, while those with an engineering or technology background found it especially useful for design and customer requirements acquisition principles, like Voice of the Customer. Products developed using the toolkit are added to the website as more examples of how it can be used, creating a loop which helps future teams understand how the toolkit can be adapted to their project, whether it be a small consumer product or a large B2B service. The toolkit unlocks the potential of these beneficial tools to those in industry, both for large, experienced teams and for inexperienced start-ups. It allows users to assess the market potential of their product concept faster and more effectively, arriving at the product design stage with technical requirements prioritized according to their customers’ needs and wants.

Keywords: new product development, fuzzy front-end, usability, Kano model, quality function deployment, voice of customer

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Authors: Fatmah Almathkour

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Managing and controlling the construction supply chain (CSC) are very important components of effective construction project execution. The goals of managing the CSC are to reduce uncertainty and optimize the performance of a construction project by improving efficiency and reducing project costs. The heart of much SC activity is addressing risk, and the CSC is no different. The delivery and consumption of construction materials is highly variable due to the complexity of construction operations, rapidly changing demand for certain components, lead time variability from suppliers, transportation time variability, and disruptions at the job site. Current notions of managing and controlling CSC, involve focusing on one project at a time with a push-based material ordering system based on the initial construction schedule and, then, holding a tremendous amount of inventory. A two-stage methodology was proposed to coordinate the feed-forward control of advanced order placement with a supplier to a feedback local control in the form of adding the ability to transship materials between projects to improve efficiency and reduce costs. It focused on the single supplier integrated production and transshipment problem with multiple products. The methodology is used as a design tool for the CSC because it includes an external storage site not associated with one of the projects. The idea is to add this feature to a highly constrained environment to explore its effectiveness in buffering the impact of variability and maintaining project schedule at low cost. The methodology uses deterministic optimization models with objectives that minimizing the total cost of the CSC. To illustrate how this methodology can be used in practice and the types of information that can be gleaned, it is tested on a number of cases based on the real example of multiple construction projects in Kuwait.

Keywords: construction supply chain, inventory control supply chain, transshipment

Procedia PDF Downloads 112