Search results for: fibre quality analysis

Authors: Gideon Ndubuisi

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It is widely acknowledged that the quality of a country’s export matters more decisively than the quantity it exports. Hence, understanding the drivers of exported goods’ quality is a relevant policy question. Among other things, product quality upgrading is a considerable cost uncertainty venture that can be undertaken by an entrepreneur. Once a product is successfully upgraded, however, others can imitate the product, and hence, the returns to the pioneer entrepreneur are socialized. Along with this line, a government policy such as intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection which lessens the non-appropriability problem and incentivizes cost discovery investments becomes both a panacea in addressing the market failure and a sine qua non for an entrepreneur to engage in product quality upgrading. In addendum, product quality upgrading involves complex tasks which often require a lot of knowledge and technology sharing beyond the bounds of the firm thereby creating rooms for knowledge spillovers and imitations. Without an institution that protects upstream suppliers of knowledge and technology, technology masking occurs which bids up marginal production cost and product quality fall. Despite these clear associations between IPRs and product quality upgrading, the surging literature on the drivers of the quality of exported goods has proceeded almost in isolation of IPRs protection as a determinant. Consequently, the current study uses a difference-in-difference method to evaluate the effects of IPRs reforms on the quality of exported goods in 16 developing countries over the sample periods of 1984-2000. The study finds weak evidence that IPRs reforms increase the quality of all exported goods. When the industries are sorted into high and low-patent sensitive industries, however, we find strong indicative evidence that IPRs reform increases the quality of exported goods in high-patent sensitive sectors both in absolute terms and relative to the low-patent sensitive sectors in the post-reform period. We also obtain strong indicative evidence that it brought the quality of exported goods in the high-patent sensitive sectors closer to the quality frontier. Accounting for time-duration effects, these observed effects grow over time. The results are also largely consistent when we consider the sophistication and complexity of exported goods rather than just quality upgrades.

Keywords: exports, export quality, export sophistication, intellectual property rights

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Authors: Aulia Fitri

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This aims to seek which part of the linguistics with the common mistakes occurred between Instagram translation and human translation. Instagram is a social media account that is widely used by people in the world. Everyone with the Instagram account can consume the captions and pictures that are shared by their friends, celebrity, and public figures across countries. Instagram provides the machine translation under its caption space that will assist users to understand the language of their non-native. The researcher takes samples from an Indonesian public figure whereas the account is followed by many followers. The public figure tries to help her followers from other countries understand her posts by putting up the English version after the Indonesian version. However, the research on Instagram account has not been done yet even though the account is widely used by the worldwide society. There are 20 samples that will be analysed on the perspective of translation quality and linguistics tools. As the MT, Instagram tends to give a literal translation without regarding the topic meant. On the other hand, the human translation tends to exaggerate the translation which leads a different meaning in English. This is an interesting study to discuss when the human nature and robotic-system influence the translation result.

Keywords: human translation, machine translation (MT), translation quality, linguistic tool

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Authors: Sajjad Farahani, Wilkistar Otieno, Xiaohang Yue

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This paper develops a model for the optimal disposition decision for product returns in a remanufacturing system with limited recoverable inventory capacity. In this model, a constant demand is satisfied by remanufacturing returned products which are up to the minimum required quality grade. The quality grade of returned products is uncertain and remanufacturing cost increases as the quality level decreases, and remanufacturer wishes to determine which returned product to accept to be remanufactured for reselling, and any unaccepted returns may be salvaged at a value that increases with their quality level. Accepted returns can be stocked for remanufacturing upon demand requests, but incur a holding cost. A Markov decision problem is formulated in order to evaluate various performance measures for this system and obtain the optimal remanufacturing policy. A detailed numerical study reveals that our approach to the disposition problem outperforms the current industrial practice ignoring quality grade of returned products. In addition, we identify conditions under which this improvement is the highest.

Keywords: green supply chain management, matrix geometric method, production recovery, reverse supply chains

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Authors: Radek Malinský, Ivan Jelínek

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The current web has become a modern encyclopedia, where people share their thoughts and ideas on various topics around them. Such kind of encyclopedia is very useful for other people who are looking for answers to their questions. However, with the growing popularity of social networking and blogging and ever expanding network services, there has also been a growing diversity of technologies along with different structure of individual websites. It is, therefore, difficult to directly find a relevant answer for a common Internet user. This paper presents a web application for the real-time end-to-end analysis of selected Internet trends; where the trend can be whatever the people post online. The application integrates fully configurable tools for data collection and analysis using selected webometric algorithms, and for its chronological visualization to user. It can be assumed that the application facilitates the users to evaluate the quality of various products that are mentioned online.

Keywords: Trend, visualizer, web analysis, web 2.0.

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Pierre Nicole Patriarca

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This study examined the attachment styles, parent-child relationship, and romantic relationship quality of five illegitimate emerging adults aged 18 to 23 years old. The researcher used self-report measures, inventory of parent and peer attachment, attachment style questionnaire, and network of relationship – relationship quality version in obtaining data. A semi-structured interview was also used to acquire qualitative data about the detailed perception and experiences on the attachment styles and parent-child relationship. Common themes of each variable were identified through thematic analysis. Results showed that four out of five participants depicted positive relationship to their fathers, while all of them reported to have positive relationship to their mothers. It was also found that four participants have preoccupied attachment style, while the other one has fearful attachment style. Common themes in describing their relationship with their mother include being close, influential to participants’ life, unbounded communication, favorable reason of trusting, and sometimes being inattentive. On the other hand, having distant relationship, limited communication about romantic relationship, uninfluential to participant’s life, and favorable reason of trusting were the common themes in describing relationship with father. Lastly, less trusting, being dependent, and emphasis on valuing intimacy were the common themes in describing their style of attachment.

Keywords: illegitimate, emerging adult, attachment, parent-child relationship, relationship quality

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Authors: Pedro B. Antunes, Paulo J. Ramísio

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Road runoff is a linear source of diffuse pollution that can cause significant environmental impacts. During rainfall events, pollutants from both stationary and mobile sources, which have accumulated on the road surface, are dragged through the superficial runoff. Road runoff in coastal zones may present high levels of salinity and chlorides due to the proximity of the sea and transported marine aerosols. Appearing to be correlated to this process, organic matter concentration may also be significant. This study assesses this phenomenon with the purpose of identifying the relationships between monitored water quality parameters and intrinsic site variables. To achieve this objective, an extensive monitoring program was conducted on a Portuguese coastal highway. The study included thirty rainfall events, in different weather, traffic and salt deposition conditions in a three years period. The evaluations of various water quality parameters were carried out in over 200 samples. In addition, the meteorological, hydrological and traffic parameters were continuously measured. The salt deposition rates (SDR) were determined by means of a wet candle device, which is an innovative feature of the monitoring program. The SDR, variable throughout the year, appears to show a high correlation with wind speed and direction, but mostly with wave propagation, so that it is lower in the summer, in spite of the favorable wind direction in the case study. The distance to the sea, topography, ground obstacles and the platform altitude seems to be also relevant. It was confirmed the high salinity in the runoff, increasing the concentration of the water quality parameters analyzed, with significant amounts of seawater features. In order to estimate the correlations and patterns of different water quality parameters and variables related to weather, road section and salt deposition, the study included exploratory data analysis using different techniques (e.g. Pearson correlation coefficients, Cluster Analysis and Principal Component Analysis), confirming some specific features of the investigated road runoff. Significant correlations among pollutants were observed. Organic matter was highlighted as very dependent of salinity. Indeed, data analysis showed that some important water quality parameters could be divided into two major clusters based on their correlations to salinity (including organic matter associated parameters) and total suspended solids (including some heavy metals). Furthermore, the concentrations of the most relevant pollutants seemed to be very dependent on some meteorological variables, particularly the duration of the antecedent dry period prior to each rainfall event and the average wind speed. Based on the results of a monitoring case study, in a coastal zone, it was proven that SDR, associated with the hydrological characteristics of road runoff, can contribute for a better knowledge of the runoff characteristics, and help to estimate the specific nature of the runoff and related water quality parameters.

Keywords: coastal zones, monitoring, road runoff pollution, salt deposition

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Authors: Ju-Young Choi, Ki-Il Song, Kyoung-Yul Kim

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During Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) tunnel excavation, backfill grout should be injected after the installation of segment lining to ensure the stability of the tunnel and to minimize ground deformation. If grouting is not sufficient to fill the gap between the segments and rock mass, hydraulic pressures occur in the void, which can negatively influence the stability of the tunnel. Recently the tendency to use TBM tunnelling method to replace the drill and blast(NATM) method is increasing. However, there are only a few studies of evaluation of backfill grout. This study evaluates the TBM tunnel backfill state using Impact-Echo(IE). 3-layers, segment-grout-rock mass, are simulated by FLAC 2D, FDM-based software. The signals obtained from numerical analysis and IE test are analyzed by Short-Time Fourier Transform(STFT) in time domain, frequency domain, and time-frequency domain. The result of this study can be used to evaluate the quality of backfill grouting in tail void.

Keywords: tunnel boring machine, backfill grout, impact-echo method, time-frequency domain analysis, finite difference method

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Authors: Omar Dib, Rita Yaacoub, Luc Eveleigh, Nathalie Locquet, Hussein Dib, Ali Bassal, Christophe B. Y. Cordella

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The potential of front-face fluorescence coupled with chemometric techniques, namely parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and multiple linear regression (MLR) as a rapid analysis tool to characterize Lebanese virgin olive oils was investigated. Fluorescence fingerprints were acquired directly on 102 Lebanese virgin olive oil samples in the range of 280-540 nm in excitation and 280-700 nm in emission. A PARAFAC model with seven components was considered optimal with a residual of 99.64% and core consistency value of 78.65. The model revealed seven main fluorescence profiles in olive oil and was mainly associated with tocopherols, polyphenols, chlorophyllic compounds and oxidation/hydrolysis products. 23 MLR regression models based on PARAFAC scores were generated, the majority of which showed a good correlation coefficient (R > 0.7 for 12 predicted variables), thus satisfactory prediction performances. Acid values, peroxide values, and Delta K had the models with the highest predictions, with R values of 0.89, 0.84 and 0.81 respectively. Among fatty acids, linoleic and oleic acids were also highly predicted with R values of 0.8 and 0.76, respectively. Factors contributing to the model's construction were related to common fluorophores found in olive oil, mainly chlorophyll, polyphenols, and oxidation products. This study demonstrates the interest of front-face fluorescence as a promising tool for quality control of Lebanese virgin olive oils.

Keywords: front-face fluorescence, Lebanese virgin olive oils, multiple Linear regressions, PARAFAC analysis

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Authors: Guldana Zhigerbayeva, Ming Yang

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Transportation of hazardous materials (HAZMAT) is inevitable in the process industries. The statistics show a significant number of accidents has occurred during the transportation of HAZMAT. This makes risk management of HAZMAT transportation an important topic. The tree-based methods including fault-trees, event-trees and cause-consequence analysis, and Bayesian network, have been applied to risk management of HAZMAT transportation. However, there is limited work on the development of a systematic approach. The existing approaches fail to build up the linkages between the regulatory requirements and the safety measures development. The analysis of historical data from the past accidents’ report databases would limit our focus on the specific incidents and their specific causes. Thus, we may overlook some essential elements in risk management, including regulatory compliance, field expert opinions, and suggestions. A systematic approach is needed to translate the regulatory requirements of HAZMAT transportation into specified safety measures (both technical and administrative) to support the risk management process. This study aims to first adapt the House of Quality (HoQ) to House of Safety (HoS) and proposes a new approach- Safety Function Deployment (SFD). The results of SFD will be used in a multi-criteria decision-support system to develop find an optimal route for HazMats transportation. The proposed approach will be demonstrated through a hypothetical transportation case in Kazakhstan.

Keywords: hazardous materials, risk assessment, risk management, quality function deployment

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Authors: M. Kamal, Y. Wang, R. Kennon

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Quality Function Deployment is a useful tool in product development with the application of voice of customer. In this paper, it aims to be applied as a product development tool in redesigning fashion and textile product. The purpose of these studies is to apply the effective use of Voice of Customer in redesigning cultural fashion product. The data collection from Voice of Customer or consumers’ feedback might help the producer to improve the quality of merchandise ahead. Voice of Customer could give a specific detailing for quality which needs to be redesigned according to customers’ requirements. Meanwhile, the next objective is to differentiate design specifications and characteristics using House of Quality. In product designing phase, it is very important to distinguish each specification and characteristic which translated from Voice of Customer to House of Quality matrix. This matrix would help designers to development according to qualities that customer wants for the better and successful product in the market. It is hope this research would indicate the customers’ requirements and production team idea might be measured and translated to a systematic data. The specific technical data could be planned ahead with specific design details as well. This could be a sustainable approach for a traditional product which could control the material that they use and sustain the quality as the past production. As a conclusion, this study would benefit the Small Medium Enterprises design team or the designers to style an item from customers view with organised projection of the product. The finding also could assist designers or batik producers’ to recognise specific details Batik sarong from consumers as well as in in advertising and marketing strategy plan.

Keywords: house of quality, Malaysia batik sarong, quality function deployment, voice of customer

Procedia PDF Downloads 578

Authors: S. Assengone Otogo Be, A. Fahs, L. Belec, T. A. Nguyen Tien, G. Louarn, J-F. Chailan

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Glass fiber-reinforced composite materials have gradually developed in all sectors ranging from consumer products to aerospace applications. However, the weak point is most often the fiber/matrix interface, which can reduce the durability of the composite material. To solve this problem, it is essential to control the interphase and improve our understanding of the adhesion mechanism at the fibre/matrix interface. The interphase properties depend on the nature of the sizing applied on the surface of the glass fibers during their manufacture in order to protect them, facilitate their handling, and ensure fibre/matrix adhesion. The sizing composition, and in particular the nature of the coupling agent and the film-former affects the mechanical properties and the durability of composites. The aim of our study is, therefore, to develop and study composite materials with simplified sizing systems in order to understand how the main constituents modify the mechanical properties and the durability of composites from the nanometric to the macroscopic scale. Two model systems were elaborated: an epoxy matrix reinforced with simplified-sized glass fibres and an epoxy coating applied on glass substrates treated with the same sizings as fibres. For the sizing composition, two configurations were chosen. The first configuration possesses a chemical reactivity to link the glass and the matrix, and the second sizing contains non-reactive agents. The chemistry of the sized glass substrates and fibers was analyzed by FT-IR and XPS spectroscopies. The surface morphology was characterized by SEM and AFM microscopies. The observation of the surface samples reveals the presence of sizings which morphology depends on their chemistry. The evaluation of adhesion of coated substrates and composite materials show good interfacial properties for the reactive configuration. However, the non-reactive configuration exhibits an adhesive rupture at the interface of glass/epoxy for both systems. The interfaces and interphases between the matrix and the substrates are characterized at different scales. Correlations are made between the initial properties of the sizings and the mechanical performances of the model composites.

Keywords: adhesion, interface, interphase, materials composite, simplified sizing systems, surface properties

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Authors: Ferhat Kadioglu

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A clamped-free vibrating beam technique was used to evaluate dynamic properties of glass fiber reinforced polymer matrix composite. In the experiment, an electromagnetic shaker and a non-contact laser head were used to vibrate and to take the response of the specimens, respectively. Test results showed that damping and elastic modulus of the material, as dynamic properties, could be obtained successfully using this technique. It was found that the balanced and symmetric specimens with 45 degrees are the best for damping performance. It is believed that such results could be used for the modal design of aerospace structures.

Keywords: composite materials, damping values, dynamic properties, non-contact measurements

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Authors: Abeer Heider

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The article considers the definitions of teacher’s competences and professionalism from different perspectives of Arab and foreign scientists. A special attention is paid to the definition, classification of the stages and components of University Arabic /foreign language teacher’s professionalism. The results of the survey are offered and recommendations are given. In this paper, only some of the problems of defining professional competence and professionalism of the university Arabic/ foreign language teacher have been mentioned. It needs much more analysis and discussion, because the quality of training today’s competitive and mobile students with a good knowledge of foreign languages depends directly on the teachers’ professional level.

Keywords: teacher’s professional competences, Arabic/ foreign language teacher’s professionalism, teacher evaluation, teacher quality

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Authors: Patrick Velte

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Sustainability reporting has become a central element of modern corporate governance practice. This paper is the first to recognize supervisory board independence, sustainable expertise and gender diversity in two European two tier countries and their impact on sustainability reporting quality. For a sample of 188 German and Austrian companies which are listed at the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt and Vienna Stock Exchange for the business years 2012-2013, descriptive findings show that CSR reporting quality is still low in both countries. Furthermore, multiple regressions state that independent and female members in the supervisory board do have a positive impact on CSR reporting quality in Germany and Austria. However, the existence of sustainable experts in the supervisory board both in Germany and Austria shows a positive but insignificant impact. Our findings suggest that the current European corporate governance regulations can be a useful instrument to increase the quality of modern CSR reporting for the stakeholders.

Keywords: sustainability reporting, corporate governance, gender diversity, board independence

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Authors: Chetan Gupta, Ramesh Gupta

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Unmanned aerial vehicles, of all sizes, are prime targets of the wing morphing concept as their lightweight structures demand high aerodynamic stability while traversing unsteady atmospheric conditions. In this research study, a hybrid morphing technology is developed to aid the trailing edge of the aircraft wing to alter its camber as a monolithic element rather than functioning as conventional appendages like flaps. Kinematic tailoring, actuation techniques involving shape memory alloys (SMA), piezoelectrics – individually fall short of providing a simplistic solution to the conundrum of morphing aircraft wings. On the other hand, the feature of negligible hysteresis while actuating using compliant mechanisms has shown higher levels of applicability and deliverability in morphing wings of even large aircrafts. This research paper delves into designing a wing section model with a periodic, multi-stable compliant structure requiring lower orders of topological optimization. The design is sub-divided into three smaller domains with external hyperelastic connections to achieve deflections ranging from -15° to +15° at the trailing edge of the wing. To facilitate this functioning, a hybrid actuation system by combining the larger bandwidth feature of piezoelectric macro-fibre composites and relatively higher work densities of shape memory alloy wires are used. Finite element analysis is applied to optimize piezoelectric actuation of the internal compliant structure. A coupled fluid-surface interaction analysis is conducted on the wing section during morphing to study the development of the velocity boundary layer at low Reynold’s numbers of airflow.

Keywords: compliant mechanism, hybrid morphing, piezoelectrics, shape memory alloys

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Authors: Abdurraheem A. Yakub

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Housing is one of the needs of mankind and is one of the best indicators of a person’s standard of living. This research was set out to analyze the housing qualities and conditions in Kano. Primary data was collected through both Personal observations where the researcher carried out an inspection of the study area prior to interview/implementation of questionnaires and took into consideration the type of housing units, construction materials and services available as well as the environmental condition of the study area. This was followed by an interview which was done through personal contact with the various people related to the study. In the course of doing that, questions were asked orally and notes were taken to record the responses. Thereafter, the Questionnaire was implemented which was earlier designed to elicit information from households in the study area using well-structured questions related to the type of facilities provided in the housing unit, types of houses and response with regard to quality of their houses and neighborhoods, tenure of house. The research work looked at the prevailing housing qualities and conditions and the state of the existing facilities and amenities within the environment and offered recommendations on policies and measures that could help improve the situation.

Keywords: housing provision, housing quality, housing standard, housing condition, housing affordability and housing facilities

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Authors: May Bazzi, Shafik Tokmaj, Younes Saberi, Mats Geijer, Tony Jurkiewicz, Patrik Sund, Anna Bjällmark

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Mobile radiography, employing portable X-ray equipment, has become a routine procedure within hospital settings, with chest X-rays in intensive care units standing out as the most prevalent mobile X-ray examinations. This approach is not limited to hospitals alone, as it extends its benefits to imaging patients in various settings, particularly those too frail to be transported, such as elderly care residents in nursing homes. Moreover, the utility of mobile X-ray isn't confined solely to traditional healthcare recipients; it has proven to be a valuable resource for vulnerable populations, including the homeless, drug users, asylum seekers, and patients with multiple co-morbidities. Mobile X-rays reduce patient stress, minimize costly hospitalizations, and offer cost-effective imaging. While studies confirm its reliability, further research is needed, especially regarding image quality. Recent advancements in lightweight equipment with enhanced battery and detector technology provide the potential for nearly handheld radiography. The main aim of this study was to evaluate a new lightweight mobile X-ray system with two different detectors and compare the image quality with a modern stationary system. Methods: A total of 74 images of the chest (chest anterior-posterior (AP) views and chest lateral views) and pelvic/hip region (AP pelvis views, hip AP views, and hip cross-table lateral views) were acquired on a whole-body phantom (Kyotokagaku, Japan), utilizing varying image parameters. These images were obtained using a stationary system - 18 images (Mediel, Sweden), a mobile X-ray system with a second-generation detector - 28 images (FDR D-EVO II; Fujifilm, Japan) and a mobile X-ray system with a third-generation detector - 28 images (FDR D-EVO III; Fujifilm, Japan). Image quality was assessed by visual grading analysis (VGA), which is a method to measure image quality by assessing the visibility and accurate reproduction of anatomical structures within the images. A total of 33 image criteria were used in the analysis. A panel of two experienced radiologists, two experienced radiographers, and two final-term radiographer students evaluated the image quality on a 5-grade ordinal scale using the software Viewdex 3.0 (Viewer for Digital Evaluation of X-ray images, Sweden). Data were analyzed using visual grading characteristics analysis. The dose was measured by the dose-area product (DAP) reported by the respective systems. Results: The mobile X-ray equipment (both detectors) showed significantly better image quality than the stationary equipment for the pelvis, hip AP and hip cross-table lateral images with AUCVGA-values ranging from 0.64-0.92, while chest images showed mixed results. The number of images rated as having sufficient quality for diagnostic use was significantly higher for mobile X-ray generation 2 and 3 compared with the stationary X-ray system. The DAP values were higher for the stationary compared to the mobile system. Conclusions: The new lightweight radiographic equipment had an image quality at least as good as a fixed system at a lower radiation dose. Future studies should focus on clinical images and consider radiographers' viewpoints for a comprehensive assessment.

Keywords: mobile x-ray, visual grading analysis, radiographer, radiation dose

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Authors: Nuo Xu, Kok Hun Goh, Jeyatharan Kumarasamy

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Pile load testing is significant during foundation construction due to its traditional role of design validation and routine quality control of the piling works. In order to verify whether piles can take loadings at specified settlements, piles will have to undergo working load test where the test load should normally up to 150% of the working load of a pile. Selection or sampling of piles for the working load test is done subject to the number specified in Singapore National Annex to Eurocode 7 SS EN 1997-1:2010. This paper presents an innovative way to rationalize the number of pile load test by adopting statistical analysis approach and looking at the coefficient of variance of pile elastic modulus using a case study at Singapore Tuas depot. Results are very promising and have shown that it is possible to reduce the number of working load test without influencing the reliability and confidence on the pile quality. Moving forward, it is suggested that more load test data from other geological formations to be examined to compare with the findings from this paper.

Keywords: elastic modulus of pile under soil interaction, jurong formation, kentledge test, pile load test

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Authors: Ali Ait Boughrous, Said Benyoussef, Hossain El Ouarghi, Moulay Abdelazize Aboulhassan, Samah Aitbnichou, Said Benguamra

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The Rhiss-Nekor aquifer represents a primary water source for the central Rif region. Many operating structures were built for irrigation and drinking water supply. Because of the vulnerability of this aquifer, a thorough knowledge of the environment is needed to evaluate and protect resources. This work aims at the quality assessment of the water table of the plain Ghiss-Nekor and determination of pollution sources in order to establish a map of the web. The plain-Rhiss Nekor, with an area of 100 km2, is located on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. It has a particular geological structure resulting from the opening of a graben at the end of the Tertiary, which is filled by the accumulation of hundreds of meters of sediment, generating considerable heterogeneity in deposits. This heterogeneity gives various hydrodynamic properties within the aquifer of the plain. The analysis of the water quality of twenty water points, well distributed over the plain, showed high natural salinity linked to the geological nature of the area. This salinity increases in the littoral area by the seawater intrusion phenomenon. This is accentuated by overexploitation of the ground water due to the growing demand. Some wells, located inland, are characterized by organic pollution caused by wastewater seepage from septic tanks and lost wells widespread in the region.

Keywords: anthropogenic factors, groundwater quality, marine intrusion, Rhiss-Nekor aquifer

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Authors: Fayza M. Obied-Allah

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Customer’ needs, quality, and value creation while reducing costs through supply chain management provides challenges and opportunities for companies and researchers. In the light of these challenges, modern ideas must contribute to counter these challenges and exploit opportunities. Perhaps this paper will be one of these contributions. This paper discusses the impact of the quality cost on revenue sharing as a most important incentive to configure business networks. No doubt that the costs directly affect the size of income generated by a business network, so this paper investigates the impact of quality costs on business networks revenue, and their impact on the decision to participate the revenue among the companies in the supply chain. This paper develops the quality cost approach to align with the modern era, the developed model includes five categories besides the well-known four categories (namely prevention costs, appraisal costs, internal failure costs, and external failure costs), a new category has been developed in this research as a new vision of the relationship between quality costs and innovations of industry. This new category is Recycle Cost. This paper is organized into six sections, Section I shows quality costs overview in the supply chain. Section II discusses revenue sharing between the parties in supply chain. Section III investigates the impact of quality costs in revenue sharing decision between partners in supply chain. The fourth section includes survey study and presents statistical results. Section V discusses the results and shows future opportunities for research. Finally, Section VI summarizes the theoretical and practical results of this paper.

Keywords: quality cost, recycle cost, revenue sharing, supply chain management

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Authors: Jing Ma, Xindong An

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Green infrastructure, the most important aspect of improving the quality of life, has been a crucial element of the liveability measurement. With demanding of more liveable urban environment from increasing population in city area, access to green infrastructure in walking distance should be taken into consideration. This article exemplifies the study on accessibility measurement of green infrastructure in central Auckland (New Zealand), using network analysis tool on the basis of GIS, to verify the accessibility levels of green infrastructure. It analyses the overall situation of green infrastructure and draws some conclusions on the city’s different levels of accessibility according to the categories and facilities distribution, which provides valuable references and guidance for the future facility improvement in planning strategies.

Keywords: quality of life, green infrastructure, GIS, accessibility

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Authors: Kamyar Kabirifar, Majid Azarniush, Behbood Maashkar

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A proper house is a suitable residential area which provides comfort, proper accessibility, security, stability and permanence of structure, enough lighting, Proper initial infrastructures and ventilation for its inhabitants and the most important of all, it should be proportional to the family’s financial power. Saving energy and making optimal usage of it and also taking advantage of stable energies are the bases of green buildings. Making green building will help the health of a person living in it and in its surrounding. It will support the people and provoke their satisfaction. Not only it will bring about the raise of level of the quality of life for building inhabitants, but also it will cause the promotion of quality level of life of the people living in the surrounding area and the society.

Keywords: quality of life, green building, environment pollution, sick building

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Authors: Ahmad Masduki Bin Selamat, Kang Chia Yang

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The International Standard Organization (ISO) is an international consensus on good management practice. It is derived from the Greek word “isos” meaning equal. ISO is aimed to give organization guidelines on what bring quality management system that leads to continuous improvement. The need of quality product is essential these days, especially in the manufacturing and service sectors. The requirement to produce good product is demanded, hence the certification of ISO enables the company to gain the trust from the public. Due to this, organizations whether government or private sectors in Malaysia are going for the ISO certification. However recently there has been an introduction of Islamic standard known as Islamic Standard Institute 2020 (ISI 2020). The ISI standards emphasize more on values that should be in the employees’ mind. By possessing good values, employees will work only for the betterment of the company. Currently only the feelings of being paid for the job exist in the employees’ mind. The non-Malays like Chinese and others, which comprise 40% of the sample size, are not aware about the existence of any Islamic quality system. As for the Malay managers, they support the Islamic quality systems. For them such values are encouraged by religion. By imitating religion, Allah promises a better life in this world and hereafter. Even though ISI 2020 is still new but the majority of Malays would support the need of Islamic quality system. Our findings suggest that integration of these two-quality systems running parallel would bring a better result.

Keywords: International Standard Organization (ISO), Islamic standard, quality, ISI 2020

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Authors: Napasri Suwanajote

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The purposes of this research were to analyse and evaluate successful factors in OTOP production process for the developing of learning centre on OTOP production process based on Sufficiency Economic Philosophy for sustainable life quality. The research has been designed as a qualitative study to gather information from 30 OTOP producers in Bangkontee District, Samudsongkram Province. They were all interviewed on 3 main parts. Part 1 was about the production process including 1) production 2) product development 3) the community strength 4) marketing possibility and 5) product quality. Part 2 evaluated appropriate successful factors including 1) the analysis of the successful factors 2) evaluate the strategy based on Sufficiency Economic Philosophy and 3) the model of learning centre on OTOP production process based on Sufficiency Economic Philosophy for sustainable life quality. The results showed that the production did not affect the environment with potential in continuing standard quality production. They used the raw materials in the country. On the aspect of product and community strength in the past 1 year, it was found that there was no appropriate packaging showing product identity according to global market standard. They needed the training on packaging especially for food and drink products. On the aspect of product quality and product specification, it was found that the products were certified by the local OTOP standard. There should be a responsible organization to help the uncertified producers pass the standard. However, there was a problem on food contamination which was hazardous to the consumers. The producers should cooperate with the government sector or educational institutes involving with food processing to reach FDA standard. The results from small group discussion showed that the community expected high education and better standard living. Some problems reported by the community included informal debt and drugs in the community. There were 8 steps in developing the model of learning centre on OTOP production process based on Sufficiency Economic Philosophy for sustainable life quality.

Keywords: production process, OTOP, sufficiency economic philosophy, marketing management

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Authors: Chandra Shekhar Verma, Umesh Chandra Mishra

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Blast Furnace performance mainly depends on the quality of sinter as a major portion of iron-bearing material occupies by it hence its quality w.r.t. Tumbler Index (TI), Reducibility Index (RI) and Reduction Degradation Index (RDI) are the key performance indicators of sinter plant. Now it became very tough to maintain the desired quality with the increasing alumina (Al₂O₃) content in iron fines and study is focused on it. Alumina is a refractory material and required more heat input to fuse thereby affecting the desired sintering temperature, i.e. 1300°C. It goes in between the grain boundaries of the bond and makes it weaker. Sinter strength decreases with increasing alumina content, and weak sinter generates more fines thereby reduces the net sinter production as well as plant productivity. Presence of impurities beyond the acceptable norm: such as LOI, Al₂O₃, MnO, TiO₂, K₂O, Na₂O, Hydrates (Goethite & Limonite), SiO₂, phosphorous and zinc, has led to greater challenges in the thrust areas such as productivity, quality and cost. The ultimate aim of this study is maintaining the sinter strength even with high Al₂O without hampering the plant productivity. This study includes mineralogy test of iron fines to find out the fraction of different phases present in the ore and phase analysis of product sinter to know the distribution of different phases. Corrections were done focusing majorly on varying Al₂O₃/SiO₂ ratio, basicity: B2 (CaO/SiO₂), B3 (CaO+MgO/SiO₂) and B4 (CaO+MgO/SiO₂+Al₂O₃). The concept of Alumina / Silica ratio, B3 & B4 found to be useful. We used to vary MgO, Al₂O₃/SiO₂, B2, B3 and B4 to get the desired sinter strength even at high alumina (4.2 - 4.5%) in sinter. The study concludes with the establishment of B4, and Al₂O₃/SiO₂ ratio in between 1.53-1.60 and 0.63- 0.70 respectively and have achieved tumbler index (Drum Index) 76 plus with the plant productivity of 1.58-1.6 t/m2/hr. at JSPL, Raigarh. Study shows that despite of high alumina in sinter, its physical quality can be controlled by maintaining the above-mentioned parameters.

Keywords: Basicity-2, Basicity-3, Basicity-4, Sinter

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Chiedza Lebogang Gutu, Nester Rufaro Manuwa, Jean-Marie Mbuya

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In Johannesburg, Metropolitan customer expectations in the hospitality industry have rapidly been increasing which has lead to the need of improving service quality to help satisfy customer expectations. Businesses need to make sure that customer expectations are met, or find ways to control customer expectations. Therefore the purpose of the study is to investigate how customer expectations of services in bed and breakfast establishments affect the perceived quality of service. A quantitative approach was used through random sampling to collect descriptive and correlation study between customer expectations and perceived quality. Findings of the study indicated that customers at bed and breakfast generally expect a clean, friendly and safe environment that has a homely feel, while they are away from home. In addition, findings of the study also emphasised that the age-groups between 20 and 35 are more likely to travel, for business and vacation purposes, staying for more or less 3, have high expectations towards modern facilities and extras in the room such as coffee machines, and are more concerned about the service being provided quickly and right, and taking extra care to deal with problems promptly.

Keywords: Customer satisfaction, Service quality, Bed and breakfast, Customer retention

Procedia PDF Downloads 364

Authors: M. V. Shivaani, P. K. Jain, Surendra S. Yadav

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Worldwide regulators, practitioners and researchers view risk-disclosure as one of the most important steps that will promote corporate accountability and transparency. Recognizing this growing significance of risk disclosures, the paper first develops a risk disclosure index. Covering 69 risk items/themes, this index is developed by employing thematic content analysis and encompasses three attributes of disclosure: namely, nature (qualitative or quantitative), time horizon (backward-looking or forward-looking) and tone (no impact, positive impact or negative impact). As the focus of study is on substantive rather than symbolic disclosure, content analysis has been carried out manually. The study is based on non-financial companies of Nifty500 index and covers a ten year period from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2015, thus yielding 3,872 annual reports for analysis. The analysis reveals that (on an average) only about 14% of risk items (i.e. about 10 out 69 risk items studied) are being disclosed by Indian companies. Risk items that are frequently disclosed are mostly macroeconomic in nature and their disclosures tend to be qualitative, forward-looking and conveying both positive and negative aspects of the concerned risk. The second objective of the paper is to gauge the factors that affect the level of disclosures in annual reports. Given the panel nature of data, and possible endogeneity amongst variables, Diff-GMM regression has been applied. The results indicate that age and size of firms have a significant positive impact on disclosure quality, whereas growth rate does not have a significant impact. Further, post-recession period (2009-2015) has witnessed significant improvement in quality of disclosures. In terms of corporate governance variables, board size, board independence, CEO duality, presence of CRO and constitution of risk management committee appear to be significant factors in determining the quality of risk disclosures. It is noteworthy that the study contributes to literature by putting forth a variant to existing disclosure indices that not only captures the quantity but also the quality of disclosures (in terms of semantic attributes). Also, the study is a first of its kind attempt in a prominent emerging market i.e. India. Therefore, this study is expected to facilitate regulators in mandating and regulating risk disclosures and companies in their endeavor to reduce information asymmetry.

Keywords: risk disclosure, voluntary disclosures, corporate governance, Diff-GMM

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Mohammad Mushir Khan, C. Satyanarayana

Abstract:

Education is considered as one of the prime bottlenecks in the economic growth of India. The Ministry of Human Resource & Development, Government of India has, therefore, given special attention to this issue and the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education has increased marginally during last five years, with the efforts and various policy decisions like Right to Education (RTE) and other fee reimbursement schemes, initiated by the State Governments. But still this is one of the lowest, if assessed at the global level. It is true that the GER has improved but the survey reveals that the quality has been badly affected. This paper tries to assess the impact of lack of quality education in various sectors that affects Indian Economy and thereby signifies the need of immediate policy decision at the government level. It is to be noted that in higher education, science, management, engineering and technology plays vital role as far as shaping country’s economy is concerned and as such the quality needs to be addressed, particularly, in these streams. The paper, after carefully studying lots of survey reports and other government/ non-government documents recommends measures to be initiated by the Central Government, on priority, for improving quality of education. The quality up-gradation in higher education single handedly provides real fuel to the India’s growth Engine, as it has potential to touch each and every sector that strengthens country’s economy.

Keywords: higher education, economy, accreditation, industry, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 406

Authors: Hilal Al Shamsi, Abdullah Almutairi

Abstract:

Introduction: As primary healthcare centres play an important role in implementing Saudi Arabia’s health strategy, this paper offers a review of publications on the quality of the country’s primary health care. With the aim of deciding on solutions for improvement, it provides an overview of healthcare quality in this context and indicates barriers to quality. Method: Using two databases, ProQuest and Scopus, data extracted from published articles were systematically analysed for determining the care quality in Saudi primary health centres and obstacles to achieving higher quality. Results: Twenty-six articles met the criteria for inclusion in this review. The components of healthcare quality were examined in terms of the access to and effectiveness of interpersonal and clinical care. Good access and effective care were identified in such areas as maternal health care and the control of epidemic diseases, whereas poor access and effectiveness of care were shown for chronic disease management programmes, referral patterns (in terms of referral letters and feedback reports), health education and interpersonal care (in terms of language barriers). Several factors were identified as barriers to high-quality care. These included problems with evidence-based practice implementation, professional development, the use of referrals to secondary care and organisational culture. Successful improvements have been implemented by other systems, such as mobile medical units, electronic referrals, online translation tools and mobile devices and their applications; these can be implemented in Saudi Arabia for improving the quality of the primary healthcare system in this country. Conclusion: The quality of primary health care in Saudi Arabia varies among the different services. To improve quality, management programmes and organisational culture must be promoted in primary health care. Professional development strategies are also needed for improving the skills and knowledge of healthcare professionals. Potential improvements can be implemented to improve the quality of the primary health system.

Keywords: quality, primary health care, Saudi Arabia, health centres, general medical

Procedia PDF Downloads 176

Authors: M. I. Aida Isma, Azni Idris, Rozita Omar, A. R. Putri Razreena

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40L of hollow fiber membrane bioreactor with solids retention times (SRT) of 30, 15 and 4 days were setup for treating synthetic wastewater at hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 12, 8 and 4 hours. The objectives of the study were to investigate the effects of SRT and HRT on membrane fouling. A comparative analysis was carried out for physiochemical quality parameters (turbidity, suspended solids, COD, NH3-N and PO43-). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy diffusive X-ray (EDX) analyzer and particle size distribution (PSD) were used to characterize the membrane fouling properties. The influence of SRT on the quality of effluent, activated sludge quality, and membrane fouling were also correlated. Lower membrane fouling and slower rise in trans-membrane pressure (TMP) were noticed at the longest SRT and HRT of 30d and 12h, respectively. Increasing SRT results in noticeable reduction of dissolved organic matters. The best removal efficiencies of COD, TSS, NH3-N and PO43- were 93%, 98%, 80% and 30% respectively. The high HRT with shorter SRT induced faster fouling rate. The main fouling resistance was cake layer. The most severe membrane fouling was observed at SRT and HRT of 4 and 12, respectively with thickness cake layer of 17 μm as reflected by higher TMP, lower effluent removal and thick sludge cake layer.

Keywords: membrane bioreactor, SRT, HRT, fouling

Procedia PDF Downloads 503