Search results for: web-based collaborative framework

Authors: Yang Fu, Jaime Rodrigo Navarro, Jose F. Monserrat, Faiza Bouchmal, Oscar Carrasco Quilis

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Cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) is considered a promising solution for future autonomous driving. From Release 16 to Release 17, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has introduced the definitions and services for 5G New Radio (NR) V2X. Experience from previous generations has shown that establishing a simulator for C-V2X communications is an essential preliminary step to achieve reliable and stable communication links. This paper proposes a complete framework of a link-level simulator based on the 3GPP specifications for the Physical Sidelink Share Channel (PSSCH) of the 5G NR Physical Layer (PHY). In this framework, several algorithms in the receiver part, i.e., sliding window in channel estimation and Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE)-based equalization, are developed. Finally, the performance of the developed PSSCH receiver is validated through extensive simulations under different assumptions.

Keywords: C-V2X, channel estimation, link-level simulator, sidelink, 3GPP

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Authors: Maria Joseph Israel, Ahmed Amer

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Our work aims to broaden the application of provenance technology beyond its traditional domains of scientific workflow management and database systems by offering a general provenance framework to capture richer and extensible metadata in unstructured textual data sources such as literary texts, commentaries, translations, and digital humanities. Specifically, we demonstrate the feasibility of capturing and representing expressive provenance metadata, including more of the context for citing scholarly works (e.g., the authors’ explicit or inferred intentions at the time of developing his/her research content for publication), while also supporting subsequent augmentation with similar additional metadata (by third parties, be they human or automated). To better capture the nature and types of possible citations, in our proposed provenance scheme metaScribe, we extend standard provenance conceptual models to form our proposed provCite ontology. This provides a conceptual framework which can accurately capture and describe more of the functional and rhetorical properties of a citation than can be achieved with any current models.

Keywords: knowledge representation, provenance architecture, ontology, metadata, bibliographic citation, semantic web annotation

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Authors: Gyoomi Kim, Jiyoung Bae

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In the field of language education research, there are not many tries to empirically examine learners’ acceptance behavior and related factors of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL). This study is one of the few attempts to propose an integrated theoretical framework that explains MALL users’ acceptance behavior and potential factors. Constructs from technology acceptance model (TAM) and MALL research are tested in the integrated framework. Based on previous studies, a hypothetical model was developed. Four external variables related to the MALL user’s acceptance behavior were selected: subjective norm, content reliability, interactivity, self-regulation. The model was also composed of four other constructs: two latent variables, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, were considered as cognitive constructs; attitude toward MALL as an affective construct; behavioral intention to use MALL as a behavioral construct. The participants were 438 undergraduate students who enrolled in an intensive English program at one university in Korea. This particular program was held in January 2018 using the vacation period. The students were given eight hours of English classes each day from Monday to Friday for four weeks and asked to complete MALL courses for practice outside the classroom. Therefore, all participants experienced blended MALL environment. The instrument was a self-response questionnaire, and each construct was measured by five questions. Once the questionnaire was developed, it was distributed to the participants at the final ceremony of the intensive program in order to collect the data from a large number of the participants at a time. The data showed significant evidence to support the hypothetical model. The results confirmed through structural equation modeling analysis are as follows: First, four external variables such as subjective norm, content reliability, interactivity, and self-regulation significantly affected perceived ease of use. Second, subjective norm, content reliability, self-regulation, perceived ease of use significantly affected perceived usefulness. Third, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use significantly affected attitude toward MALL. Fourth, attitude toward MALL and perceived usefulness significantly affected behavioral intention to use MALL. These results implied that the integrated framework from TAM and MALL could be useful when adopting MALL environment to university students or adult English learners. Key constructs except interactivity showed significant relationships with one another and had direct and indirect impacts on MALL user’s acceptance behavior. Therefore, the constructs and validated metrics is valuable for language researchers and educators who are interested in MALL.

Keywords: blended MALL, learner factors/variables, mobile-assisted language learning, MALL, technology acceptance model, TAM, theoretical framework

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Authors: Ting (Grace) Lin, Jianhong (Cecilia) Xia, Todd Robinson

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Accessibility analysis, examining people’s ability to access facilities and destinations, is a fundamental assessment for transport planning, policy making, and social exclusion research. Dynamic accessibility which measures accessibility in real-time traffic environment has been an advanced accessibility indicator in transport research. It is also a useful indicator to help travelers to understand travel time daily variability, assists traffic engineers to monitor traffic congestions, and finally develop effective strategies in order to mitigate traffic congestions. This research involved real-time traffic information by collecting travel time data with 15-minute interval via the TomTom^® API. A framework for measuring dynamic accessibility was then developed based on the gravity theory and accessibility dichotomy theory through space and time interpolation. Finally, the dynamic accessibility can be derived at any given time and location under dynamic accessibility spatial analysis framework.

Keywords: dynamic accessibility, hot spot, transport research, TomTom® API

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Authors: Sally A. Brown

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Over the last 30 years, researchers have developed models or frameworks to provide a more structured understanding of the reading comprehension process. Cognitive information processing models and social cognitive theories both provide frameworks to inform reading comprehension instruction. The purpose of this paper is to (a) provide an overview of the historical development of reading comprehension theory, (b) review the literature framed by cognitive information processing, social cognitive, and integrated reading comprehension theories, and (c) demonstrate how these frameworks inform instruction. As integrated models of reading can guide the interpretation of various factors related to student learning, an integrated framework designed by the researcher will be presented. Results indicated that features of cognitive processing and social cognitivism theory—represented in the integrated framework—highlight the importance of the role of the teacher. This model can aid teachers in not only improving reading comprehension instruction but in identifying areas of challenge for students.

Keywords: explicit instruction, integrated models of reading comprehension, reading comprehension, teacher’s role

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Authors: Thomas Elliot, Javier Babi Almenar, Benedetto Rugani

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The integration of urban metabolism (UM) with spatially explicit ecosystem service (ES) stocks has the potential to advance sustainable urban development. It will correct the lack of spatially specificity of current urban metabolism models. Furthermore, it will include into UM not only the physical properties of material and energy stocks and flows, but also the implications to the natural capital that provides and maintains human well-being. This paper presents the first stages of a modelling framework by which urban planners can assess spatially the trade-offs of ES flows resulting from urban interventions of different character and scale. This framework allows for a multi-region assessment which takes into account sustainability burdens consequent to an urban planning event occurring elsewhere in the environment. The urban boundary is defined as the Functional Urban Audit (FUA) method to account for trans-administrative ES flows. ES are mapped using CORINE land use within the FUA. These stocks and flows are incorporated into a UM assessment method to demonstrate the transfer and flux of ES arising from different urban planning implementations.

Keywords: ecological economics, ecosystem services, spatial planning, urban metabolism

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Authors: Rodrigo Zepeda

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Transaction cost analysis (TCA) is a way of analyzing the relative performance of different intermediaries and different trading strategies for trades undertaken in financial instruments. It is a way for an investor to determine the overall quality of execution of a particular trade, and there are many different approaches to undertaking TCA. Under the updated Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (2014/65/EU) (MiFID II), investment firms are required when executing orders, to take all sufficient steps to obtain the best possible result for their clients. This requirement for 'Best Execution' must take into account price, costs, speed, likelihood of execution and settlement, size, nature or any other consideration relevant to the execution of the order. The new regulatory compliance framework under MiFID II will now also apply across a very broad range of financial instruments. This article will provide a comprehensive technical analysis of how TCA and Best Execution will significantly change under MiFID II. It will also explain why harmonization of post-trade reporting requirements under MiFID II could potentially support the development of peer group analysis, which in turn could provide a new and highly advanced framework for TCA that could more effectively support Best Execution requirements under MiFID II. The study is significant because there are no studies that have dealt with TCA and Best Execution under MiFID II in the literature.

Keywords: transaction cost analysis, execution quality, best execution, MiFID II, financial instruments

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Authors: Francesco Nespoli

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After having posed a theoretical framework combining framing theory and new rhetoric, the paper analyze the shift in communication both adopted by UAW and FCA during the negotiations in fall 2015. The paper argues that mistakes and adjustments played a determinant role respectively in the rejection of the first tentative agreement and in the ratification of the contract. The purpose of the paper is to set a new theoretical framework for the analysis of communication in industrial relations, by describing a narrative construction of reality from the perspective of the new rhetoric. The paper thus analyze all public text, speeches, tweets and Facebook posts by the union reading them as part of the narrative set by the organization condensed by the slogan 'it’s our time'. That narrative tried to gain consensus from the members matching the expectations due to the industry recovery after more than five years of workers' sacrifices. In doing so, the analysis points out a shift in the communication strategy of the union after the first rejection of a tentative agreement in 15 years. The findings suggest that, from the communication point of view, consultation in industrial relations can be conceived as a particular kind of political communication where identification with the audience through deliberate narrative may not be effective if it is not preceded by a listening campaign.

Keywords: communication, consultation, automotive, FCA

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Authors: Anne Theresa Eidhoff, Sarah E. Stief, Markus Voeth, Sarah Gundlach

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With digitalization increasingly changing the rules of competition, firms face the need to adapt and assimilate digital technologies in order to remain competitive. Firms can choose from various possibilities to integrate digital technologies including the option to embed digital technologies aiming to innovate products or to develop digital products. However, the question of which specific factors influence a firm’s decision to pursue digital product innovation remains unanswered in research. By adopting the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE)-framework we have designed a qualitative exploratory study including eleven German practitioners to investigate relevant contingency factors. Our results indicate that the most critical factors for a company’s decision to pursue digital product innovation can be found in the technological and environmental dimensions, namely customers, competitive pressure, technological change, as well as digitalization fit. 

Keywords: digital innovation, digitalization, product innovation, TOE-framework

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Authors: Paul Okonkwo, Howard Smith

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This paper describes a methodology to integrate the Athena Vortex Lattice Aerodynamic Software for automated operation in a multivariate optimisation of the Blended Wing Body Aircraft. The Athena Vortex Lattice code developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology allows for the aerodynamic analysis of aircraft using the vortex lattice method. Ordinarily, the Athena Vortex Lattice operation requires a text file containing the aircraft geometry to be loaded into the AVL solver in order to determine the aerodynamic forces and moments. However, automated operation will be required to enable integration into a multidisciplinary optimisation framework. Automated AVL operation within the JAVA design environment will nonetheless require a modification and recompilation of AVL source code into an executable file capable of running on windows and other platforms without the –X11 libraries. This paper describes the procedure for the integrating the FORTRAN written AVL software for automated operation within the multivariate design synthesis optimisation framework for the conceptual design of the BWB aircraft.

Keywords: aerodynamics, automation, optimisation, AVL, JNI

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Authors: Roni Susman, Thomas Weith

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This article explores how institutional setting, mainly from institutionalism, could clearly explain the understanding of land use conflict analysis in coastal areas and has been used in current practices. Institutional setting appears as a guideline that is committed by the stakeholders who are involved directly or indirectly in land management process. This paper is aimed to identify the setting of institutional and to measure how the conflicts occur, how the actors act and influence the process, how is the condition to apply the appropriate framework for adequate solution of land use conflict in coastal area in order to enhance better decisions. To reflect the current practice and use of theories a qualitative review of 150 scientific peer-reviewed papers regarding the issue of land use conflicts in coastal areas as well as institutional process is included. The selection of peer-reviewed papers is obtained through a structured literature survey of the recently published database in a way to investigate the variances of institutional between theory and practices specifically in the case of coastal land management.

Keywords: coastal areas, institutional settings, land use conflict, land governance, actors’ constellation, analytical framework

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Authors: Meghan Biallas, Amanda Hoffman, Tamara Miller, Kimmy Schnibben, Janaina Siegler

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This paper assesses Walmart’s supply chain resiliency amidst continuous supply chain disruptions. It aims to evaluate how Walmart can use supply chain resiliency theory to retain its status as a global supply chain leader. The Bloomberg terminal was used to organize Walmart’s 754 Tier-1 suppliers by the size of their relationship to Walmart. Additional data from IBISWorld and Statista was also used in the analysis. This research focused on the top ten Tier-1 suppliers, with the greatest percentage of their revenue attributed to Walmart. This paper also applied the firm’s information to the Supply Chain Resilience Assessment and Management (SCRAM) framework for supply chain resiliency to evaluate the firm’s capabilities, vulnerabilities, and gaps. A rubric was created to quantify Walmart’s risks using four pillars: flexibility, velocity, visibility, and collaboration. Information and examples were reported from Walmart’s 10k filing. For each example, a rating of 1 indicated “high” resiliency, 0 indicated “medium” resiliency, and -1 indicated “low” resiliency. Findings from this study include the following: (1) Walmart has maintained its leadership through its ability to remain resilient with regard to visibility, efficiency, capacity, and collaboration. (2) Walmart is experiencing increases in supply chain costs due to internal factors affecting the company and external factors affecting its suppliers. (3) There are a number of emerging supply chain risks with Walmart’s suppliers, which could cause issues for Walmart to remain a supply chain leader in the future. Using the SCRAM framework, this paper assesses how Walmart measures up to the Supply Chain Resiliency Theory, identifying areas of strength as well as areas where Walmart can improve in order to remain a global supply chain leader.

Keywords: supply chain resiliency, zone of balanced resilience, supply chain resilience assessment and management, supply chain theory.

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Authors: Aneek Kuila, Yaron Paz

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MIP 177 LT and HT are two-phase transformable metal organic frameworks consisting of a Ti12O15 oxocluster and a tetracarboxylate ligand that exhibits robust chemical stability and improved photoactivity. LT to HT only shows the changes in dimensionality from 0D to 1D without any change in the overall chemical structure. In terms of chemical and photoactivity MIP 177 LT is found to perform better than the MIP 177HT. Step-scan Fourier transform absorption difference time-resolved spectroscopy has been used to collect mid-IR time-resolved infrared spectra of the transient electronic excited states of a nano-porous metal–organic framework MIP 177-LT and HT with 2.5 ns time resolution. Analyzing the time-resolved vibrational data after 355nm LASER excitation reveals the presence of the temporal changes of ν (O-Ti-O) of Ti-O metal cluster and ν (-COO) of the ligand concluding the fact that these moieties are the ultimate acceptors of the excited charges which are localized over those regions on the nanosecond timescale. A direct negative correlation between the differential absorbance (Δ Absorbance) reveals the charge transfer relation among these two moieties. A longer-lived transient signal up to 180ns for MIP 177 LT compared to the 100 ns of MIP 177 HT shows the extended lifetime of the reactive charges over the surface that exerts in their effectivity. An ultrafast change of bidentate to monodentate bridging in the -COO-Ti-O ligand-metal coordination environment was observed after the photoexcitation of MIP 177 LT which remains and lives with for seconds after photoexcitation is halted. This phenomenon is very unique to MIP 177 LT but not observed with HT. This in-situ change in the coordination denticity during the photoexcitation was not observed previously which can rationalize the reason behind the ability of MIP 177 LT to accumulate electrons during continuous photoexcitation leading to a superior photocatalytic activity.

Keywords: time resolved FTIR, metal organic framework, denticity, photoacatalysis

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Authors: V. Makis, L. Jafari

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In this paper, we develop an optimal Bayesian chart to control the expected number of defects per inspection unit in production processes with long production runs. We formulate this control problem in the optimal stopping framework. The objective is to determine the optimal stopping rule minimizing the long-run expected average cost per unit time considering partial information obtained from the process sampling at regular epochs. We prove the optimality of the control limit policy, i.e., the process is stopped and the search for assignable causes is initiated when the posterior probability that the process is out of control exceeds a control limit. An algorithm in the semi-Markov decision process framework is developed to calculate the optimal control limit and the corresponding average cost. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the developed optimal control chart and to compare it with the traditional u-chart.

Keywords: Bayesian u-chart, economic design, optimal stopping, semi-Markov decision process, statistical process control

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Authors: Amna I. Shibeika, Batoul Y. Hittini, Tasneem B. Abd Bakri

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Regulation and integration of public policy, economy, insurance industry, education, and construction stakeholders are the main contributors to achieve sustainable development. Building environmental assessment methods were introduced in the field to address issues such as global warming and conservation of natural resources. In the UAE, Estidama framework with its associated Pearl Building Rating System (PBRS) has been introduced in 2010 to address and spread sustainability practices within the country’s fast-growing built environment. Based on literature review of relevant studies investigating different project characteristics that influence sustainability outcomes, this paper presents a conceptual framework for understanding the adoption of PBRS in UAE projects. The framework also draws on Diffusion of Innovations theory to address the questions of how the assessment method is chosen in the first place and what is the impact of PBRS on the multi-disciplinary design and construction processes. The study highlights the mandatory nature of the adoption of PBRS for government buildings as well as imbedding Estidama principles within Abu Dhabi building codes as key factors for raising awareness about sustainable practices. Moreover, several project-related elements are addressed to understand their relationship with the adoption process, including project team collaboration; communication and coordination; levels of commitment and engagement; and the involvement of key actors as sustainability champions. This conceptualization of the adoption of PBRS in UAE projects contributes to the growing literature on the adoption of energy assessment tools and addresses the UAE vision is to be at the forefront of innovative sustainable development by 2021.

Keywords: adoption, building assessment, design management, innovation, sustainability

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Authors: Spencer Rutherford, Shadi Saleh

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War and conflict negatively impact all facets of a health system; services cease to function, resources become depleted, and any semblance of governance is lost. Following cessation of conflict, the rebuilding process includes a wide array of international and local actors. During this period, stakeholders must contend with various trade-offs, including balancing sustainable outcomes with immediate health needs, introducing health reform measures while also increasing local capacity, and reconciling external assistance with local legitimacy. Compounding these factors are additional challenges, including coordination amongst stakeholders, the re-occurrence of conflict, and ulterior motives from donors and governments, to name a few. Therefore, the present paper evaluated health system development in three post-conflict countries over a 12-year timeline. Specifically, health policies, health inputs (such infrastructure and human resources), and measures of governance, from the post-conflict periods of Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Mozambique, were assessed against health outputs and other measures. All post-conflict countries experienced similar challenges when rebuilding the health sector, including; division and competition between donors, NGOs, and local institutions; urban and rural health inequalities; and the re-occurrence of conflict. However, countries also employed unique and effective mechanisms for reconstructing their health systems, including; government engagement of the NGO and private sector; integration of competing factions into the same workforce; and collaborative planning for health policy. Based on these findings, best-practice development strategies were determined and compiled into a 12-year framework. Briefly, during the initial stage of the post-conflict period, primary stakeholders should work quickly to draft a national health strategy in collaboration with the government, and focus on managing and coordinating NGOs through performance-based partnership agreements. With this scaffolding in place, the development community can then prioritize the reconstruction of primary health care centers, increasing and retaining health workers, and horizontal integration of immunization services. The final stages should then concentrate on transferring ownership of the health system national institutions, implementing sustainable financing mechanisms, and phasing-out NGO services. Overall, these findings contribute post-conflict health system development by evaluating the process holistically and along a timeline and can be of further use by healthcare managers, policy-makers, and other health professionals.

Keywords: Afghanistan, Cambodia, health system development, health system reconstruction, Mozambique, post-conflict, state-building

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Authors: Shuen-Tai Wang, Yu-Ching Lin, Hsi-Ya Chang

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Cloud computing and virtualization technology have brought an innovative way for people to develop and use software nowadays. However, conventional virtualization comes at the expense of performance loss for applications. Container-based virtualization could be an option as it potentially reduces overhead and minimizes performance decline of the service platform. In this paper, we introduce a system framework and present an implementation of resource broker for dynamic cloud service deployment on the container-based platform to facilitate the efficient execution and improve the utilization. We target the load-aware service deployment approach for task ranking scenario. This proposed effort can collaborate with resource management system to adaptively deploy services according to the different requests. In particular, our approach relies on composing service immediately onto appropriate container according to user’s requirement in order to conserve the waiting time. Our evaluation shows how efficient of the service deployment is and how to expand its applicability to support the variety of cloud service.

Keywords: cloud computing, container-based virtualization, resource broker, service deployment

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Authors: Mark Omu

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Education has remained the greatest fulcrum on which the developmental aspirations of societies and the world over is Anchored. This has been the case from the antiquity. As a result of recognition of this fact, education occupies a crucial and centripetal position at different epochs of societal formation and transformation. This paper recognized the all-embracing role of education to society and it utilized the literary research and review of literature to espouse on the role of alternative sources of financing education. This position was borne out of the dwindling resources available to education. Especially to finance teaching, learning, research and retraining of staffers. This paper found among other things that alternative funding of education is possible and it can be achieved through selling of its research products like entrepreneurial skills, collaborative ventures in public private partnership, philanthropic of endowments, etc. These are capable of bridging the financial gap currently bedevilling the educational sectors.

Keywords: alternative sources, funding, tertiary, education, society, partnership, Nigeria

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Authors: Anthony Vandarakis

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Today’s International Service Learning practices require an update: modern technologies, fresh educational frameworks, and a new operating system to accountably prosper. This paper describes a model of International Service Learning (ISL), which combines current technological hardware, electronic platforms, and asynchronous communications that are grounded in inclusive pedagogy. This model builds on the work around collaborative field trip learning, extending the reach to international partnerships across continents. Mobile technology, 21^st century skills and summit-basecamp modeling intersect to support novel forms of learning that tread lightly on fragile natural ecosystems, affirm local reciprocal partnership in projects, and protect traveling participants from common yet avoidable cultural pitfalls.

Keywords: International Service Learning, ISL, field experiences, mobile technology, out there in here, summit basecamp pedagogy

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Authors: Sajid Abas, Jon Pyo Hong, Jung-Ryun Le, Seungryong Cho

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Computed tomography and laminography are heavily investigated in a compressive sensing based image reconstruction framework to reduce the dose to the patients as well as to the radiosensitive devices such as multilayer microelectronic circuit boards. Nowadays researchers are actively working on optimizing the compressive sensing based iterative image reconstruction algorithm to obtain better quality images. However, the effects of the sampled data’s properties on reconstructed the image’s quality, particularly in an insufficient sampled data conditions have not been explored in computed laminography. In this paper, we investigated the effects of two data properties i.e. sampling density and data incoherence on the reconstructed image obtained by conventional computed laminography and a recently proposed method called spherical sinusoidal scanning scheme. We have found that in a compressive sensing based image reconstruction framework, the image quality mainly depends upon the data incoherence when the data is uniformly sampled.

Keywords: computed tomography, computed laminography, compressive sending, low-dose

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Authors: Hina Iqbal, Mustansar Ali Ghazanfar, Sandor Szedmak

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Recommender systems uses artificial intelligence practices for filtering obscure information and can predict if a user likes a specified item. Kernel mapping Recommender systems have been proposed which are accurate and state-of-the-art algorithms and resolve recommender system’s design objectives such as; long tail, cold-start, and sparsity. The aim of research is to propose hybrid framework that can efficiently integrate different versions— namely item-based and user-based KMR— of KMR algorithm. We have proposed various heuristic algorithms that integrate different versions of KMR (into a unified framework) resulting in improved accuracy and elimination of problems associated with conventional recommender system. We have tested our system on publically available movies dataset and benchmark with KMR. The results (in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, F1 measure and ROC metrics) reveal that the proposed algorithm is quite accurate especially under cold-start and sparse scenarios.

Keywords: Kernel Mapping Recommender Systems, hybrid recommender systems, cold start, sparsity, long tail

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Authors: Thapanee Seechaliao

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This research paper presents guiding on how to design social media into higher education courses. The research methodology used a survey approach. The research instrument was a questionnaire about guiding on how to design social media into higher education courses. Thirty-one lecturers completed the questionnaire. The data were scored by frequency and percentage. The research results were the lecturers’ opinions concerning the designing social media into higher education courses as follows: 1) Lecturers deem that the most suitable learning theory is Collaborative Learning. 2) Lecturers consider that the most important learning and innovation Skill in the 21st century is communication and collaboration skills. 3) Lecturers think that the most suitable evaluation technique is authentic assessment. 4) Lecturers consider that the most appropriate portion used as blended learning should be 70% in the classroom setting and 30% online.

Keywords: instructional design, social media, courses, higher education

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Authors: Rupali Satsangi

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14 years ago, leaders from every country agreed on a vision for the future – a world with less poverty, hunger and disease, greater survival prospects for mothers and their infants, better educated children, equal opportunities for women, and a healthier environment; a world in which developed and developing countries work in partnership for the betterment of all. This vision took the shape of eight Millennium Development Goals, which provide countries around the world a framework for development and time-bound targets by which progress can be measured. However, India has found 35 of the indicators as relevant to India. India’s MDG-framework has been contextualized through a concordance with the existing official indicators of corresponding dimensions in the national statistical system. The present study based on secondary data analyzed the status of India towards achieving the MDGs after reviewing the data study find out that India can miss the MDGs Bus in women health, sanitation and global partnership. These goals were less addressed by India in his policies and takeoffs.

Keywords: millennium development goals, national statistical system, global partnership, healthier environment

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Authors: Saniye Çeşmecioğlu

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The importance of project sustainability and success has become increasingly significant due to the proliferation of external environmental factors that have decreased project resistance in contemporary times. The primary approach to forestall the failure of projects is to ensure their long-term viability through the strategic selection of projects as creating judicious project selection framework within the organization. Decision-makers require precise decision contexts (models) that conform to the company's business objectives and sustainability expectations during the project selection process. The establishment of a rational model for project selection enables organizations to create a distinctive and objective framework for the selection process. Additionally, for the optimal implementation of this decision-making model, it is crucial to establish a Project Management Office (PMO) team and Project Steering Committee within the organizational structure to oversee the framework. These teams enable updating project selection criteria and weights in response to changing conditions, ensuring alignment with the company's business goals, and facilitating the selection of potentially viable projects. This paper presents a multi-criteria decision model for selecting project sustainability and project success criteria that ensures timely project completion and retention. The model was developed using MACBETH (Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique) and was based on broadcaster companies’ expectations. The ultimate results of this study provide a model that endorses the process of selecting the appropriate project objectively by utilizing project selection and sustainability criteria along with their respective weights for organizations. Additionally, the study offers suggestions that may ascertain helpful in future endeavors.

Keywords: project portfolio management, project selection, multi-criteria decision making, project sustainability and success criteria, MACBETH

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Authors: Bulelani Ngamntwini, Liezel Cilliers

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South Africa has one of the highest prevalence of obese people on the African continent. Forty-six percent of the adults in South Africa are physically inactive. Fitness applications can be used to increase physical inactivity. However, the uptake of mobile fitness applications in South Africa has been found to be poor due to usability challenges with the technology. The study developed a usability framework to influence the intention to use mobile fitness applications in South Africa. The study made use of a positivistic approach to collect data. A questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 377 respondents that have used mobile fitness applications in the past. A response rate of 80.90% was recorded. To analyse the data, the Pearson correlation was used to determine the relationships between the various hypotheses. There are four usability factors, efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction, and learnability, which contribute to the intention of users to make use of mobile fitness applications. The study, therefore, recommends that for a mobile fitness application to be successful, these four factors must be considered and incorporated by developers when designing the applications.

Keywords: obese, overweight, physical inactivity, mobile fitness application, usability factors

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Authors: Tory Erickson

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The "Bidirectional Spacetime with Spatial Covariance and Wave-Particle Duality in Spacetime Flow" (BST-SCWPDF) Model introduces a framework aimed at unifying general relativity (GR) and quantum mechanics (QM). By proposing a concept of bidirectional spacetime, this model suggests that time can flow in more than one direction, thus offering a perspective on temporal dynamics. Integrated with spatial covariance and wave-particle duality in spacetime flow, the BST-SCWPDF Model resolves long-standing discrepancies between GR and QM. This unified theory has profound implications for quantum gravity, potentially offering insights into quantum entanglement, the collapse of the wave function, and the fabric of spacetime itself. The Bidirectional Spacetime with Spatial Covariance and Wave-Particle Duality in Spacetime Flow" (BST-SCWPDF) Model offers researchers a framework for a better understanding of theoretical physics.

Keywords: astrophysics, quantum mechanics, general relativity, unification theory, theoretical physics

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Authors: Mohamed Khallaf, Hossein M Rizeei

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Simulating wind pattern behavior over proposed urban features is critical in the early stage of the conceptual design of both architectural and urban disciplines. However, it is typically not possible for designers to explore the impact of wind flow profiles across new urban developments due to a lack of real data and inaccurate estimation of building parameters. Modeling the details of existing and proposed urban features and testing them against wind flows is the missing part of the conceptual design puzzle where architectural and urban discipline can focus. This research aims to develop a spatial decision-support design method utilizing LiDAR, GIS, and performance-based wind simulation technology to mitigate wind-related hazards on a design by simulating alternative design scenarios at the pedestrian level prior to its implementation in Sydney, Australia. The result of the experiment demonstrates the capability of the proposed framework to improve pedestrian comfort in relation to wind profile.

Keywords: spatial decision-support design, performance-based wind simulation, LiDAR, GIS

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Authors: Stephanie Gracelyn Rahaman, Chew Yin Teng, Manjit Singh Sandhu

Abstract:

Corporate scandals have made stakeholders apprehensive of large companies and expect greater transparency in CSR matters. However, companies find it challenging to strategically communicate CSR to intended stakeholders and in the process may fall short on maximizing on CSR efforts. Given that stakeholders have the ability to either reward good companies or take legal action or boycott against corporate brands who do not act socially responsible, companies must create shared understanding of their CSR activities. As a result, communication has become a strategy for many companies to demonstrate CSR engagement and to minimize stakeholder skepticism. The main objective of this research is to examine the types of CSR communication strategies and predictors that guide CSR communication strategies. Employing Morsing & Schultz’s guide on CSR communication strategies, the study integrates stakeholder and institutional theory to develop a conceptual framework. The conceptual framework hypothesized that stakeholder (instrumental and normative) and institutional (regulatory environment, nature of business, mimetic intention, CSR focus and corporate objectives) dimensions would drive CSR communication strategies. Preliminary findings from semi-structured interviews in Malaysia are consistent with the conceptual model in that stakeholder and institutional expectations guide CSR communication strategies. Findings show that most companies use two-way communication strategies. Companies that identified employees, the public or customers as key stakeholders have started to embrace social media to be in-sync with new trends of communication. This is especially with the Gen Y which is their priority. Some companies creatively use multiple communication channels because they recognize different stakeholders favor different communication channels. Therefore, it appears that companies use two-way communication strategies to complement the perceived limitation of one-way communication strategies as some companies prefer a more interactive platform to strategically engage stakeholders in CSR communication. In addition to stakeholders, institutional expectations also play a vital role in influencing CSR communication. Due to industry peer pressures, corporate objectives (attract international investors and customers), companies may be more driven to excel in social performance. For these reasons companies tend to go beyond the basic mandatory requirement, excel in CSR activities and be known as companies that champion CSR. In conclusion, companies use more two-way than one-way communication and companies use a combination of one and two-way communication to target different stakeholders resulting from stakeholder and institutional dimensions. Finally, in order to find out if the conceptual framework actually fits the Malaysian context, companies’ responses for expected organizational outcomes from communicating CSR were gathered from the interview transcripts. Thereafter, findings are presented to show some of the key organizational outcomes (visibility and brand recognition, portray responsible image, attract prospective employees, positive word-of-mouth, etc.) that companies in Malaysia expect from CSR communication. Based on these findings the conceptual framework has been refined to show the new identified organizational outcomes.

Keywords: CSR communication, CSR communication strategies, stakeholder theory, institutional theory, conceptual framework, Malaysia

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Authors: Vilma Zydziunaite, Monika Kelpsiene

Abstract:

In early childhood and preschool education, play has an important role in learning and cognitive processes. In the context of a changing world, personal autonomy and the use of technology are becoming increasingly important for the development of a wide range of learner competencies. By integrating technology into learning environments, the educational reality is changed, promoting unusual learning experiences for children through play-based activities. Alongside this, teachers are challenged to develop encouragement and motivation strategies that empower children to act independently. The aim of the study was to reveal the changes in the roles and experiences of teachers in the application of AR technology for the enrichment of the learning process. A quantitative research approach was used to conduct the study. The data was collected through an electronic questionnaire. Participants: 319 teachers of 5-6-year-old children using AR technology tools in their educational process. Methods of data analysis: Cronbach alpha, descriptive statistical analysis, normal distribution analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis (SPSS software). Results. The results of the study show a significant relationship between children's learning and the educational process modeled by the teacher. The strongest predictor of child learning was found to be related to the role of the educator. Other predictors, such as pedagogical strategies, the concept of AR technology, and areas of children's education, have no significant relationship with child learning. The role of the educator was found to be a strong determinant of the child's learning process. Conclusions. The greatest potential for integrating AR technology into the teaching-learning process is revealed in collaborative learning. Teachers identified that when integrating AR technology into the educational process, they encourage children to learn from each other, develop problem-solving skills, and create inclusive learning contexts. A significant relationship has emerged - how the changing role of the teacher relates to the child's learning style and the aspiration for personal leadership and responsibility for their learning. Teachers identified the following key roles: observer of the learning process, proactive moderator, and creator of the educational context. All these roles enable the learner to become an autonomous and active participant in the learning process. This provides a better understanding and explanation of why it becomes crucial to empower the learner to experiment, explore, discover, actively create, and foster collaborative learning in the design and implementation of the educational content, also for teachers to integrate AR technologies and the application of the principles of shared leadership. No statistically significant relationship was found between the understanding of the definition of AR technology and the teacher’s choice of role in the learning process. However, teachers reported that their understanding of the definition of AR technology influences their choice of role, which has an impact on children's learning.

Keywords: teacher, learner, augmented reality, collaboration, shared leadership, preschool education

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Authors: K. M. G. T. R. Waidyarathna, S. M. Vidanagamachchi

Abstract:

Public Health System exists in Sri Lanka has a satisfactory complete information flow when compared to other systems in developing countries. The availability of a good health information system contributed immensely to achieve health indices that are in line with the developed countries like US and UK. The health information flow at the moment is completely paper based. In Sri Lanka, the fields like banking, accounting and engineering have incorporated information and communication technology to the same extent that can be observed in any other country. The field of medicine has behind those fields throughout the world mainly due to its complexity, issues like privacy, confidentially and lack of people with knowledge in both fields of Information Technology (IT) and Medicine. Sri Lanka’s situation is much worse and the gap is rapidly increasing with huge IT initiatives by private-public partnerships in all other countries. The major goal of the framework is to support minimizing the spreading diseases. To achieve that a web based framework should be implemented for this application domain with web mapping. The aim of this GIS based public health system is a secure, flexible, easy to maintain environment for creating and maintaining public health records and easy to interact with relevant parties.

Keywords: DHIS2, GIS, public health, Sri Lanka

Procedia PDF Downloads 565