Search results for: face quality assessment

Authors: Toshiki Ito, Takahiro Yamane, Yuki Adachi, Yoshiko Kato, Eiji Tsuda, Kousaku Nagasaka, Keigo Yoshida, Yoshiko Kawasaki, Naoki Aizawa, Kyouhei Nishi, Tetsuko Kato

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The epidemic of the coronavirus (COVID-19), first reported in Wuhan at the end of 2019, has drastically changed our daily lives. Under these circumstances, counseling, which provides psychological support to people, was also greatly affected. The structure of counseling, which had generally been implicitly common practice to be conducted in person, was greatly shaken. The author wondered how counseling can be conducted in situations where it is impossible to meet face-to-face. This is where telepsychological support (online counseling) came into use. The authors found that there were the following problems in telepsychological support: (1) anxiety about whether the communication is appropriate, (2) difficulty in understanding the client's situation and condition, (3) inability to perceive what was normally perceived in person, (4) difficulty in adjusting to severely ill clients, (5) difficulty in dealing with emergency situations, etc. In this study, we interviewed psychologists who had been accustomed to telepsychological support for more than two years after the Corona disaster began to clarify how they had or had not overcome the problems of telepsychological support identified in the above studies. We also aim to consider the unique possibilities of how telepsychological support, a new technique of psychological support, can be implemented to provide more effective and meaningful support in society after the end of the Corona disaster (post-Corona society). Thirteen psychologists who are currently providing telepsychological support in the Corona Disaster will be interviewed, and semi-structured interviews will be conducted for one hour per person. In order to empirically examine how the problems in telepsychological support had been overcome or not through the interview survey, the authors asked (1) how they overcame their anxiety about whether they were able to communicate appropriately, (2) how they devised ways to overcome it, (3) how they overcame the difficulty in adapting to heavy clients in terms of the level of the disease, (4) how they overcame the difficulty in dealing with emergency situations. The interviews were analyzed using Thematic Analysis, a qualitative analysis method commonly used in qualitative research overseas. The authors found that some devices and perspectives were newly discovered as a result of two years of practice of telepsychological support and that psychologists in this study considered face-to-face interviews and telepsychological support to be separate and were flexible enough to use them when available and to move to face-to-face interviews when not appropriate.

Keywords: telepsychology, COVID-19, Corona, psychologist

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Authors: Evagelos Korobilis-Magas, Adekunle Oke

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The constantly increasing tendency towards a global economy and the subsequent increase in exporting, as a result, has inevitably led to a growing interest in the topic of export success as well. Numerous studies, particularly in the past three decades, have examined a plethora of determinants to export performance. However, to the authors' best knowledge, no study up to date has ever considered decision quality as a potential antecedent to export success by attempting to test the relationship between decision quality and export performance. This is a surprising deficiency given that the export marketing literature has long ago suggested that quality decisions are regarded as the crucial intervening variable between sound decision–making and export performance. This study integrates the different definitions of decision quality proposed in the literature and the key themes incorporated therein and adapts it to an export context. Apart from laying the conceptual foundations for the delineation of this elusive but very important construct, this study is the first ever to test the relationship between decision quality and export performance. Based on survey data from a sample of 189 British export decision-makers and within a contingency theory framework, the results reveal that there is a direct, positive link between decision quality and export performance. This finding opens significant future research avenues and has very important implications for both theory and practice.

Keywords: export performance, decision quality, mixed methods, contingency theory

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Authors: Cai Qianyi

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In the midst of global digital revolution, the flow of data poses security threats that call China's existing legislative framework for protecting personal information into question. As a preliminary procedure for risk analysis and prevention, the risk assessment of personal data transmission lacks detailed guidelines for support. Existing provisions reveal unclear responsibilities for network operators and weakened rights for data subjects. Furthermore, the regulatory system's weak operability and a lack of industry self-regulation heighten data transmission hazards. This paper aims to compare the regulatory pathways for data information transmission risks between China and Europe from a legal framework and content perspective. It draws on the “Data Protection Impact Assessment Guidelines” to empower multiple stakeholders, including data processors, controllers, and subjects, while also defining obligations. In conclusion, this paper intends to solve China's digital security shortcomings by developing a more mature regulatory framework and industry self-regulation mechanisms, resulting in a win-win situation for personal data protection and the development of the digital economy.

Keywords: personal information data transmission, risk assessment, DPIA, internet service provider, personal information data transimission, risk assessment

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Authors: Cristina Schreiner, Romeo Ciobanu, Marius Pislaru

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This paper aims to build a system based on fuzzy models that can be implemented in the assessment of ecological systems, to determine appropriate methods of action for reducing adverse effects on environmental and implicit the population. The model proposed provides new perspective for environmental assessment, and it can be used as a practical instrument for decision-making.

Keywords: ecosystem model, environmental security, fuzzy logic, sustainability of habitable regions

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Authors: K. Petcharaporn, N. Prathengjit

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The external characteristics of tomatoes, such as freshness, color and size are typically used in quality control processes for tomatoes sorting. However, the internal mold infection of intact tomato cannot be sorted based on a visible assessment and destructive method alone. In this study, a non-destructive technique was used to predict the internal mold infection of intact tomatoes by using transmittance visible and near infrared (VIS-NIR) spectroscopy. Spectra for 200 samples contained 100 samples for normal tomatoes and 100 samples for mold infected tomatoes were acquired in the wavelength range between 665-955 nm. This data was used in conjunction with partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) method to generate a classification model for tomato quality between groups of internal mold infection of intact tomato samples. For this task, the data was split into two groups, 140 samples were used for a training set and 60 samples were used for a test set. The spectra of both normal and internally mold infected tomatoes showed different features in the visible wavelength range. Combined spectral pretreatments of standard normal variate transformation (SNV) and smoothing (Savitzky-Golay) gave the optimal calibration model in training set, 85.0% (63 out of 71 for the normal samples and 56 out of 69 for the internal mold samples). The classification accuracy of the best model on the test set was 91.7% (29 out of 29 for the normal samples and 26 out of 31 for the internal mold tomato samples). The results from this experiment showed that transmittance VIS-NIR spectroscopy can be used as a non-destructive technique to predict the internal mold infection of intact tomatoes.

Keywords: tomato, mold, quality, prediction, transmittance

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Authors: Annisa Dewanti Putri, Wang Juan, Y. Qing Shan

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The structural assessment is one of a crucial part for ancient timber structure, in which this phase will be the reference for the maintenance and preservation phase. The mechanical properties of a structure are one of an important component of the structural assessment of building. Feiyun as one of the particular preserved building in China will become one of the Pioneer of Timber Structure Building Assessment. The 3-storey building which is located in Shanxi Province consists of complex ancient timber structure. Due to condition and preservation purpose, assessments (visual inspections, Non-Destructive Test and a Semi Non-Destructive test) were conducted. The stress wave measurement, moisture content analyzer, and the micro-drilling resistance meter data will overview the prediction of Mechanical Properties. As a result, the mechanical properties can be used for the next phase as reference for structural damage solutions.

Keywords: ancient structure, mechanical properties, non destructive test, stress wave, structural assessment, timber structure

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Authors: Maryam Azimi, Amin Banitalebi-Dehkordi, Yuanyuan Dong, Mahsa T. Pourazad, Panos Nasiopoulos

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While there exists a wide variety of Low Dynamic Range (LDR) quality metrics, only a limited number of metrics are designed specifically for the High Dynamic Range (HDR) content. With the introduction of HDR video compression standardization effort by international standardization bodies, the need for an efficient video quality metric for HDR applications has become more pronounced. The objective of this study is to compare the performance of the existing full-reference LDR and HDR video quality metrics on HDR content and identify the most effective one for HDR applications. To this end, a new HDR video data set is created, which consists of representative indoor and outdoor video sequences with different brightness, motion levels and different representing types of distortions. The quality of each distorted video in this data set is evaluated both subjectively and objectively. The correlation between the subjective and objective results confirm that VIF quality metric outperforms all to their tested metrics in the presence of the tested types of distortions.

Keywords: HDR, dynamic range, LDR, subjective evaluation, video compression, HEVC, video quality metrics

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Authors: Rafael Zhindon Almeida

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Surface water quality is an important concern for the evaluation and prediction of water quality conditions. The objective of this study is to develop a statistical model that can accurately predict the water quality of the El Macho estuary in the city of Machala, El Oro province. The methodology employed in this study is of a basic type that involves a thorough search for theoretical foundations to improve the understanding of statistical modeling for water quality analysis. The research design is correlational, using a multivariate statistical model involving multiple linear regression and principal component analysis. The results indicate that water quality parameters such as fecal coliforms, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, iron and dissolved oxygen exceed the allowable limits. The water of the El Macho estuary is determined to be below the required water quality criteria. The multiple linear regression model, based on chemical oxygen demand and total dissolved solids, explains 99.9% of the variance of the dependent variable. In addition, principal component analysis shows that the model has an explanatory power of 86.242%. The study successfully developed a statistical model to evaluate the water quality of the El Macho estuary. The estuary did not meet the water quality criteria, with several parameters exceeding the allowable limits. The multiple linear regression model and principal component analysis provide valuable information on the relationship between the various water quality parameters. The findings of the study emphasize the need for immediate action to improve the water quality of the El Macho estuary to ensure the preservation and protection of this valuable natural resource.

Keywords: statistical modeling, water quality, multiple linear regression, principal components, statistical models

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Authors: Kh. Alaa, Sh. Sarah, J. Khowlah, S. Liyakathunsia

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Education has become very important nowadays and with the rapidly increasing number of student, taking the attendance manually is getting very difficult and time wasting. In order to solve this problem, an automated solution is required. An effective automated system can be implemented to manage student attendance in different ways. This research will discuss a unique class attendance system which integrates both Face Recognition and RFID technique. This system focuses on reducing the time spent on submitting of the lecture and the wastage of time on submitting and getting approval for the absence excuse and sick leaves. As a result, the suggested solution will enhance not only the time, also it will also be helpful in eliminating fake attendance.

Keywords: attendance system, face recognition, RFID, process model, cost, time

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Authors: Nipawan Tharasak, Sajeewan Darbavasu

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This research aims 1) to study the opinion, problems and obstacles to internal educational quality assurance system for individual and the university levels, 2) to propose an approach to the development of quality assurance system of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. A study of problems and obstacles to internal educational quality assurance system of the university conducted with sample group consisting of staff and quality assurance committee members of the year 2010. There were 152 respondents. 5 executives were interviewed. Tool used in the research was document analysis. The structure of the interview questions and questionnaires with 5-rate scale. Reliability was 0.981. Data analysis were percentage, mean and standard deviation with content analysis. Results can be divided into 3 main points: (1) The implementation of the internal quality assurance system of the university. It was found that in overall, input, process and output factors received high scores. Each item is considered, the preparation, planning, monitoring and evaluation. The results of evaluation to improve the reporting and improvement according to an evaluation received high scores. However, the process received an average score. (2) Problems and obstacles. It was found that the personnel responsible for the duty still lack understanding of indicators and criteria of the quality assurance. (3) Development approach: -Staff should be encouraged to develop a better understanding of the quality assurance system. -Database system for quality assurance should be developed. -The results and suggestions should be applied in the next year development planning.

Keywords: development system, internal quality assurance, education, educational quality assurance

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Authors: S. Cowley, M. Lawrance, D. Bick, R. McCord

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Technology that automates manual handling (musculoskeletal disorder or MSD) risk assessments is increasingly available to ergonomists, engineers, generalist health and safety practitioners alike. The risk assessment process is generally based on the use of wearable motion sensors that capture information about worker movements for real-time or for posthoc analysis. Traditionally, MSD risk assessment is undertaken with the assistance of a checklist such as that from the SafeWork Australia code of practice, the expert assessor observing the task and ideally engaging with the worker in a discussion about the detail. Automation enables the non-expert to complete assessments and does not always require the assessor to be there. This clearly has cost and time benefits for the practitioner but is it an improvement on the assessment by the human. Human risk assessments draw on the knowledge and expertise of the assessor but, like all risk assessments, are highly subjective. The complexity of the checklists and models used in the process can be off-putting and sometimes will lead to the assessment becoming the focus and the end rather than a means to an end; the focus on risk control is lost. Automated risk assessment handles the complexity of the assessment for the assessor and delivers a simple risk score that enables decision-making regarding risk control. Being machine-based, they are objective and will deliver the same each time they assess an identical task. However, the WHS professional needs to know that this emergent technology asks the right questions and delivers the right answers. Whether it improves the risk assessment process and results or simply distances the professional from the task and the worker. They need clarity as to whether automation of manual task risk analysis and reporting leads to risk control or to a focus on the worker. Critically, they need evidence as to whether automation in this area of hazard management leads to better risk control or just a bigger collection of assessments. Practitioner experienced determinants of this automated manual task risk analysis and reporting being a benefit or distraction will address an understanding of emergent risk assessment technology, its use and things to consider when making decisions about adopting and applying these technologies.

Keywords: automated, manual-handling, risk-assessment, machine-based

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Authors: Keh-Wen Carin Chuang, Kuan-Chou Chen

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Our society is in a constant state of change. Technology advancements continue to affect our daily lives. How we work, communicate and entertain ourselves has changed dramatically in the past decades. As our society learns to accept and adapt to the many different technological advances that seem to inundate every part of our lives, the education institutions must migrate from traditional methods of instruction to online education in order to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by these technology advancements. There are many benefits that can be gained for university and society from offering online programs by utilizing advanced technologies. But the programs must not be implemented carelessly. The key to providing a quality online program is the issue of perceived quality, which takes into account the viewpoint of all stakeholders involved. To truly ensure the institutional quality, however, a systemic view of all factors contributing to the quality must be analyzed and linked to one another — allowing education administrators to understand how each factor contributes to the perceived quality of online education. The perceived quality of an online program will be positively reinforced only through an organizational-wide effort that focuses on managed administration, augmenting online program branding, skilled faculty, supportive alumni, student satisfaction, and effective delivery systems — each of which is vital to a quality online program. This study focuses on the concept of quality assurance in the start-up, implementation, and sustainability of online education. A case of online MBA program will be analyzed to explore the quality assurance. The difficulties in promoting online education quality is the fact that universities are complex networks of disciplinary, social, economic, and political fiefdoms, both internal and external factors to the institutions. As such, the system analysis, a systems-thinking approach, on the issue of perceived quality is ideal to investigate the factors and how each factor contributes to the perceived quality in the online education domain.

Keywords: systems thinking, quality assurance, online education, MBA program

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Authors: Rolland Epafras Fanggidae

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The impact of climate change such as natural disasters, crop failures, increasing crop pests, bad gisi on children and other impacts, will indirectly affect education, health, food safety, as well as the economy. The impact of climate change has put a man in a situation of vulnerability, which was powerless to meet the minimum requirements, it is in close contact with poverty. When talking about poverty, the most plausible is female. The role of women in Indonesia, particularly in East Nusa Tenggara in Domestic aktifity very central and dominant. This makes Indonesian woman can say "outstanding actor in the face of climate change mitigation and adaptation and applying local knowledge", but still ignored when women based on gender division of work entrusted role in domestic activities. Similarly, in public activity is an extension of the Domestic example, trading activity in the market lele / mama. Although men are also affected by climate change, but most feel is female. From the above problems, it can be said that Indonesia's commitment has not been followed by optimal empowerment of women's role in addressing climate change, it is necessary to learn to know how the role of women in the face of climate change impacts that hit on her role as a woman, a housewife or head of the family and will be input in order to determine how women find a solution to tackle the problem of climate change. This study focuses on the efforts made by women cope with the impacts of climate change, efforts by the government, empowerment model used in Playing the impact of climate change. The container with the formulation of the title "The Role of Women in Climate Change Impact in Kupang district". Where the assessment in use types Research mix Methods combination of quantitative research and qualitative research. While the location of the research conducted in Kupang regency, East Nusa Tenggara, namely: District of East Kupang is a district granary in Kupang district. Subdistrict West Kupang, especially Tablolong Village is the center of seaweed cultivation in Kupang district.

Keywords: climate change, women, women's roles, gender, family

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Authors: Aldona Kluczek

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In recent years, manufacturing processes have interacted with sustainability issues realized in the cost-effective ways that minimalize energy, decrease negative impacts on the environment and are safe for society. However, the attention has been on separate sustainability assessment methods considering energy and material flow, energy consumption, and emission release or process control. In this paper, the energy-led sustainability assessment approach combining the methods: energy Life Cycle Assessment to assess environmental impact, Life Cycle Cost to analyze costs, and Social Life Cycle Assessment through ‘energy LCA-based value stream map’, is used to assess the energy sustainability of the hardwood lumber manufacturing process in terms of technologies. The approach integrating environmental, economic and social issues can be visualized in the considered energy-efficient technologies on the map of an energy LCA-related (input and output) inventory data. It will enable the identification of efficient technology of a given process to be reached, through the effective analysis of energy flow. It is also indicated that interventions in the considered technology should focus on environmental, economic improvements to achieve energy sustainability. The results have indicated that the most intense energy losses are caused by a cogeneration technology. The environmental impact analysis shows that a substantial reduction by 34% can be achieved with the improvement of it. From the LCC point of view, the result seems to be cost-effective, when done at that plant where the improvement is used. By demonstrating the social dimension, every component of the energy of plant labor use in the life-cycle process of the lumber production has positive energy benefits. The energy required to install the energy-efficient technology amounts to 30.32 kJ compared to others components of the energy of plant labor and it has the highest value in terms of energy-related social indicators. The paper depicts an example of hardwood lumber production in order to prove the applicability of a sustainability assessment method.

Keywords: energy efficiency, energy life cycle assessment, life cycle cost, social life cycle analysis, manufacturing process, sustainability assessment

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Authors: Tara Gurung, Suprina Prajapati

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Health and well being of people is a crucial for accomplishing sustainable development goals of any country. The present study focuses on quality of life of patients undergoing hemodialysis. Hemodialysis is a life sustaining treatment for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). Hemodialysis can bring about significant impairment in health related quality of life (HRQOL). The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of life of hemodialysis patients undergoing hemodialysis. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was utilized in total 100 samples using random sampling technique. The findings revealed that the total quality of life of the patients was 30.41±3.99 out of 100. The total physical component score was statistically significant with education status of the patients where p value for t test was 0.03 (p=0.03) and occupation of the patients where p value for the ANOVA test was 0.007 (p=0.007). The study recommended that it would be better if awareness programs regarding chronic kidney disease and life style modification in hemodialysis patients is given to the patients so that it would help patients to maintain the HRQOL.

Keywords: health and well bing, hemodialysis, patients quality of life

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Authors: Ogunlana Olarewaju Fatai, Kelani Fatai Adeshina

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The interplay of corruption and institutional quality determines how effective and efficient an economy progresses. An efficient institutional quality is a key requirement for economic stability. Institutional quality in most cases has been used interchangeably with Governance and these have given room for proxies that legitimized Governance as measures for institutional quality. A poorly-tailored institutional quality has a penalizing effect on corruption and economic growth, while defective institutional quality breeds corruption. Corruption is a hydra-headed phenomenon as it manifests in different forms. The most celebrated definition of corruption is given as “the use or abuse of public office for private benefits or gains”. It also denotes an arrangement between two mutual parties in the determination and allocation of state resources for pecuniary benefits to circumvent state efficiency. This study employed Barro (1990) type augmented model to analyze the nexus among corruption, institutional quality and economic growth in Nigeria using annual time series data, which spanned the period 1996-2019. Within the analytical framework of Johansen Cointegration technique, Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) and Granger Causality tests, findings revealed a long-run relationship between economic growth, corruption and selected measures of institutional quality. The long run results suggested that all the measures of institutional quality except voice & accountability and regulatory quality are positively disposed to economic growth. Moreover, the short-run estimation indicated a reconciliation of the divergent views on corruption which pointed at “sand the wheel” and “grease the wheel” of growth. In addition, regulatory quality and the rule of law indicated a negative influence on economic growth in Nigeria. Government effectiveness and voice & accountability, however, indicated a positive influence on economic growth. The Granger causality test results suggested a one-way causality between GDP and Corruption and also between corruption and institutional quality. Policy implications from this study pointed at checking corruption and streamlining institutional quality framework for better and sustained economic development.

Keywords: institutional quality, corruption, economic growth, public policy

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Authors: V. Ayishwarya Bharathi, S. M. Hasker, J. Indhu, M. Mohamed Azarudeen, G. Gowthami, R. Vinoth Rajan, N. Vijayarangan

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Identification of water quality conditions in a river system based on limited observations is an essential task for meeting the goals of environmental management. The traditional method of water quality testing is to collect samples manually and then send to laboratory for analysis. However, it has been unable to meet the demands of water quality monitoring today. So a set of automatic measurement and reporting system of water quality has been developed. In this project specifies Water quality parameters collected by multi-parameter water quality probe are transmitted to data processing and monitoring center through GPRS wireless communication network of mobile. The multi parameter sensor is directly placed above the water level. The monitoring center consists of GPRS and micro-controller which monitor the data. The collected data can be monitor at any instant of time. In the pollution control board they will monitor the water quality sensor data in computer using Visual Basic Software. The system collects, transmits and processes water quality parameters automatically, so production efficiency and economy benefit are improved greatly. GPRS technology can achieve well within the complex environment of poor water quality non-monitored, and more specifically applicable to the collection point, data transmission automatically generate the field of water analysis equipment data transmission and monitoring.

Keywords: multiparameter sensor, GPRS, visual basic software, RS232

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Authors: Sadaf Sahar, Usman Qamar, Sadaf Ayaz

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In the software development lifecycle, the quality prediction techniques hold a prime importance in order to minimize future design errors and expensive maintenance. There are many techniques proposed by various researchers, but with the increasing complexity of the software lifecycle model, it is crucial to develop a flexible system which can cater for the factors which in result have an impact on the quality of the end product. These factors include properties of the software development process and the product along with its operation conditions. In this paper, a neural network (perceptron) based software quality prediction technique is proposed. Using this technique, the stakeholders can predict the quality of the resulting software during the early phases of the lifecycle saving time and resources on future elimination of design errors and costly maintenance. This technique can be brought into practical use using successful training.

Keywords: software quality, fuzzy logic, perception, prediction

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Authors: Philemon Rakoto

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This paper tests the improvement of financial reporting quality when firms award stock options to their executives. The originality of this study is that we introduce the moderating effect of business ethics in the model. The sample is made up of 116 Canadian high-technology firms with available data for the fiscal year ending in 2012. We define the quality of financial reporting as the value relevance of accounting information as developed by Ohlson. Our results show that executive stock option award alone does not improve the quality of financial reporting. Rather, the quality improves when a firm awards stock options to its executives and investors perceive that the level of business ethics in that firm is high.

Keywords: business ethics, Canada, high-tech firms, stock options, value relevance

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Authors: Supannee Chaiumporn

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This article is to introduce the meaning and form of social quality moving process as indicated by members of two suburb communities with different social and cultural contexts. The form of social quality moving process is very significant for the community and social development, because it will make the people living together with sustainable happiness. This is a qualitative study involving 30 key-informants from two suburb communities. Data were collected though key-informant interviews, and analyzed using logical content description and descriptive statistics. This research found that on the social quality component, the people in both communities stressed the procedure for social quality-making. This includes the generousness, sharing and assisting among people in the communities. These practices helped making people to live together with sustainable happiness. Living as a family or appear to be a family is the major social characteristic of these two communities. This research also found that form of social quality’s moving process of both communities stress relation of human and nature; “nature overpower humans” paradigm and influence of religious doctrine that emphasizes relations among humans. Both criteria make the form of social’s moving process simple, adaptive to nature and caring for opinion sharing and understanding among each other before action. This form of social quality’s moving process is composed of 4 steps; (1) awareness building, (2) motivation to change, (3) participation from every party concerned (4) self-reliance.

Keywords: social quality, form of social quality moving process, happiness, different social and cultural context

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Authors: Malki Nadia Fatima Zahra, Kellal Cheimaa, Brahimi Houria

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Aim of the study is to show the role of total Quality Management on firm performance; the research relied on the views of sample managers working in the Marinel pharmaceutical company. The research aims to achieve many objectives, including increasing awareness of the concepts of Total Quality Management on Firm Performance, especially in the manufacturing firm, providing a future vision of the possibility of success, and the actual application of the Principles of Total Quality Management in the manufacturing company. The research adopted a default model was built after a review and analysis of the literature review in the context of one hypothesis main points at the origin of a group of sub-hypotheses. The research presented a set of conclusions, and the most important of these conclusions was there is a relationship between the Principles of TQM and Firm Performance.

Keywords: total quality management, TQM dimension, firm performance, strategies

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Authors: Jean-Paul Kapuya Bulaba Nyembwe, John Omomoluwa Ogundiran, Manuel Carlos Gameiro da Silva

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Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) remains a global concern because it impacts people's comfort, health, performance, and general well-being. People spend a significant amount of time in buildings or while commuting, hence ensuring the minimal risk in indoor spaces by ensuring suitable IEQ. IEQ studies are limited regarding developing sub-Saharan countries, whereas there is also a huge risk and concern for the current population and geometric growth as many cities in the region will become mega-cities by 2040 (World Bank report). The absence of suitable IEQ regulations and energy poverty are reasons to assess the IEQ gaps for increased awareness of sustainable interventions to minimize the associated risk. This study evaluates the gaps and potential hazards that exist in the IEQ of sub-Saharan countries using empirical studies of hospital occupants and BRT bus passengers and drivers. The Surveys were conducted in 3 cities of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Lagos metropolis of Nigeria. The results suggest that gaps exist in IEQ for these regions. The gaps indicate existential risk to people’s health, comfort, and well-being. The inferential conclusions are that there is a need for further scientific studies, improvement in IEQ conditions, and ensuring suitable regulations for developing sub-Saharan countries.

Keywords: health hazards, hospitals indoor environmental quality, indoor spaces, occupants, sub-Saharan countries, vehicles

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Authors: Christian Neunzig, Simon Fahle, Jürgen Schulz, Matthias Möller, Bernd Kuhlenkötter

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Due to increasing cost pressure in global markets, artificial intelligence is becoming a technology that is decisive for competition. Predictive quality enables machinery and plant manufacturers to ensure product quality by using data-driven forecasts via machine learning models as a decision-making basis for test results. The use of cross-process Bosch production data along the value chain of hydraulic valves is a promising approach to classifying the quality characteristics of workpieces.

Keywords: predictive quality, hydraulics, machine learning, classification, supervised learning

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Authors: Jingxian An, Wei Yu

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The commercial value (retail price) of wine is mostly determined by the wine quality, ageing potential, and oak influence. This paper reveals that wine quality, ageing potential, and oak influence are favourably correlated, hence positively influencing the commercial value of Pinot noir wines. Oak influence is the most influential of these three sensory attributes on the price set by wine traders and estimated by experienced customers. In the meanwhile, this study gives winemakers with chemical instructions for raising total phenolics, which can improve wine quality, ageing potential, and oak influence, all of which can increase a wine’s economic worth.

Keywords: retail price, ageing potential, wine quality, oak influence

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Authors: M. J. Gazapo Lapayese

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It is a well-established fact that terrorism is one of the foremost threats to present-day international security. The creation of tools or mechanisms for confronting it in an effective and efficient manner will only be possible by way of an objective assessment of the phenomenon. In order to achieve this, this paper has the following three main objectives: Firstly, setting out to find the reasons that have prevented the establishment of a universally accepted definition of terrorism, and consequently trying to outline the main features defining the face of the terrorist threat in order to discover the fundamental goals of what is now a serious blight on world society. Secondly, trying to explain the differences between a terrorist movement and a terrorist organisation, and the reasons for which a terrorist movement can be led to transform itself into an organisation. After analysing these motivations and the characteristics of a terrorist organisation, an example of the latter will be succinctly analysed to help the reader understand the ideas expressed. Lastly, discovering and exposing the factors that can lead to the appearance of terrorist tendencies, and discussing the most efficient and effective responses that can be given to this global security threat.

Keywords: responses, resilience, security, terrorism

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Authors: Marlene Kuhn, Franziska Schäfer, Heiner Otten

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Today´s production processes experience a constant increase in complexity paving new ways for progressive forms of leadership. In the customized production, individual customer requirements drive companies to adapt their manufacturing processes constantly while the pressure for smaller lot sizes, lower costs and faster lead times grows simultaneously. When production processes are becoming more dynamic and complex, the conventional quality management approaches show certain limitations. This paper gives an introduction to complexity science from a quality management perspective. By analyzing and evaluating different characteristics of complexity, the critical complexity parameters are identified and assessed. We found that the quality of leadership plays a crucial role when dealing with increasing complexity. Therefore, we developed a concept for qualitative leadership customized for the management within complex processes based on a maturity model. The maturity model was then applied in the industry to assess the leadership quality of several shop floor managers with a positive evaluation feedback. In result, the maturity model proved to be a sustainable approach to leverage the rising complexity in production processes more effectively.

Keywords: maturity model, process complexity, quality of leadership, quality management

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Authors: Chalermsri Sorasit, Siriporn Mongkhonthawornchai, Darawan Augsornwan, Sudthanom Kamollirt

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Background: Although knowledge of pain and pain management is improving, they are still inadequate to patients. The Nursing Division of Srinagarind Hospital is responsible for setting the pain management system, including work instruction development and pain management indicators. We have developed an information technology program for monitoring pain quality indicators, which was implemented to all nursing departments in April 2013. Objective: To study outcomes of acute pain management in process and outcome indicators. Method: This is a retrospective descriptive study. The sample population was patients who had acute pain 24-48 hours after receiving a procedure, while admitted to Srinagarind Hospital in 2014. Data were collected from the information technology program. 2709 patients with acute pain from 10 Nursing Departments were recruited in the study. The research tools in this study were 1) the demographic questionnaire 2) the pain management questionnaire for process indicators, and 3) the pain management questionnaire for outcome indicators. Data were analyzed and presented by percentages and means. Results: The process indicators show that nurses used pain assessment tool and recorded 99.19%. The pain reassessment after the intervention was 96.09%. The 80.15% of the patients received opioid for pain medication and the most frequency of non-pharmacological intervention used was positioning (76.72%). For the outcome indicators, nearly half of them (49.90%) had moderate–severe pain, mean scores of worst pain was 6.48 and overall pain was 4.08. Patient satisfaction level with pain management was good (49.17%) and very good (46.62%). Conclusion: Nurses used pain assessment tools and pain documents which met the goal of the pain management process. Patient satisfaction with pain management was at high level. However the patients had still moderate to severe pain. Nurses should adhere more strictly to the guidelines of pain management, by using acute pain guidelines especially when pain intensity is particularly moderate-high. Nurses should also develop and practice a non-pharmacological pain management program to continually improve the quality of pain management. The information technology program should have more details about non-pharmacological pain techniques.

Keywords: outcome, pain management, acute pain, Srinagarind Hospital

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Authors: Samaneh Yavari, Christiane Pferrer, Elisabeth Engelke, Alexander Starke, Juergen Rehage

Abstract:

Background: Three nociceptive thresholds of thermal, electrical, and mechanical thresholds commonly use to evaluate the local anesthesia in many species, for instance, cow, horse, cat, dog, rabbit, and so on. Due to the lack of investigations to evaluate and/or validate such those nociceptive thresholds, our plan was the comparison of two-foot local anesthesia methods of Intravenous Regional Anesthesia (IVRA) and our modified four-point Nerve Block Anesthesia (NBA). Materials and Methods: Eight healthy nonpregnant nondairy Holstein Frisian cows in a cross-over study design were selected for this study. All cows divided into two different groups to receive two local anesthesia techniques of IVRA and our modified four-point NBA. Three thermal, electrical, and mechanical force and pinpricks were applied to evaluate the quality of local anesthesia methods before and after local anesthesia application. Results: The statistical evaluation demonstrated that our four-point NBA has a qualification to select as a standard foot local anesthesia. However, the recorded results of our study revealed no significant difference between two groups of local anesthesia techniques of IVRA and modified four-point NBA related to quality and duration of anesthesia stimulated by electrical, mechanical and thermal nociceptive stimuli. Conclusion and discussion: All three nociceptive threshold stimuli of electrical, mechanical and heat nociceptive thresholds can be applied to measure and evaluate the efficacy of foot local anesthesia of dairy cows. However, our study revealed no superiority of those three nociceptive methods to evaluate the duration and quality of bovine foot local anesthesia methods. Veterinarians to investigate the duration and quality of their selected anesthesia method can use any of those heat, mechanical, and electrical methods.

Keywords: mechanical, thermal, electrical threshold, IVRA, NBA, hind limb, dairy cow

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Amal Mohammed Alqahatni

Abstract:

This paper is a non-empirical analysis of existing literature on digital leadership competency, data-driven organizations, and dealing with AI technology (big data). This paper will provide insights into the importance of developing the leader’s analytical skills and style to be more effective for high-quality decision-making in a data-driven organization and achieve creativity during the organization's transformation to be digitalized. Despite the enormous potential that big data has, there are not enough experts in the field. Many organizations faced an issue with leadership style, which was considered an obstacle to organizational improvement. It investigates the obstacles to leadership style in this context and the challenges leaders face in coaching and development. The leader's lack of analytical skill with AI technology, such as big data tools, was noticed, as was the lack of understanding of the value of that data, resulting in poor communication with others, especially in meetings when the decision should be made. By acknowledging the different dynamics of work competency and organizational structure and culture, organizations can make the necessary adjustments to best support their leaders. This paper reviews prior research studies and applies what is known to assist with current obstacles. This paper addresses how analytical leadership will assist in overcoming challenges in a data-driven organization's work environment.

Keywords: digital leadership, big data, leadership style, digital leadership challenge

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Niyom Suwandej

Abstract:

This research paper investigated the opinions of small and micro community enterprises from Jom Pluak Subdistrict, Bangkhontee District, Samut Songkram Province towards product quality control, and the findings are aimed to disseminate knowledge on quality control for upgrading product standards for small and micro community enterprises. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods, in which there were 23 samples in the study. The study was divided into 2 steps which were (1) studying the opinions of the respondents towards the community’s product quality control and upgrading product standards; (2) creating development guidance for product quality control and upgrading product standards for small and micro community enterprise. The demographic findings revealed female respondents as the majority, with most above 50 years of age and married. Most had more than 15 years of working experience. The education level reported by most respondents was primary school or lower followed by secondary school or lower with most respondents was vocational certificate level. Most respondents had the highest level of satisfaction with the existing condition of product quality control knowledge management. Pertaining to opinions on the guidance of knowledge creation for product quality control for small and micro community enterprise, the respondents were willing to apply the knowledge in upgrading their product standards. For the opinions of knowledge creation for product quality control and product standards, the respondents had the highest level of satisfaction. Guidance of knowledge creation for product quality control and product standards for small and micro community enterprises received the highest level of satisfaction from the respondents. Furthermore they had knowledge and comprehension in product quality control and product standards and could apply the knowledge in improving the quality of their production and product standards for small and micro community enterprises.

Keywords: product quality control, product standards, community enterprise, marketing management

Procedia PDF Downloads 469