Search results for: aid projects and South-South cooperation
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2912

Search results for: aid projects and South-South cooperation

1772 Robot Spatial Reasoning via 3D Models

Authors: John Allard, Alex Rich, Iris Aguilar, Zachary Dodds

Abstract:

With this paper we present several experiences deploying novel, low-cost resources for computing with 3D spatial models. Certainly, computing with 3D models undergirds some of our field’s most important contributions to the human experience. Most often, those are contrived artifacts. This work extends that tradition by focusing on novel resources that deliver uncontrived models of a system’s current surroundings. Atop this new capability, we present several projects investigating the student-accessibility of the computational tools for reasoning about the 3D space around us. We conclude that, with current scaffolding, real-world 3D models are now an accessible and viable foundation for creative computational work.

Keywords: 3D vision, matterport model, real-world 3D models, mathematical and computational methods

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1771 China's Aid to Latin America from the 1950s to 2020

Authors: Wanda Luen-Wun Siu, Xiaowen Zhang

Abstract:

This paper adopted a retrospective review of China’s assistance to Latin America from the1950s to 2020. Findings suggested that China’s assistance to Latin America can be roughly divided into five stages: The 1950s to 1960s was the initial stage of China’s assistance to Latin America, mainly focusing on the establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba and other Latin American countries. The strategy has a strong ideological basis. The 1980s was the stage of development of China's aid to Latin America, which was characterized by consolidating and expanding diplomatic space, emphasizing the spirit of cooperation of equality, mutual benefit, and common development. 90-20 marked the further development of diplomatic relations with Latin American countries, plus domestic market-oriented reforms, emphasizing the importance of economic considerations and less ideological orientation, and this period also witnessed more Chinese state-owned enterprises going out to invest in Latin America. 2010-2019 marked the further development of Latin American relations. This paper contributes to the literature of diplomacy and health assistance to Latin America and highlights the importance of foreign aid and health assistance in sealing bilateral diplomatic relations.

Keywords: aid, china, latin america, bilateral relations

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1770 Maintaining Organizational Harmony: The Way Forward in Ghanaian Basic Schools

Authors: Dominic Kwaku Danso Mensah

Abstract:

The study examined conflict management strategies among head teachers and teachers in selected basic schools in Okai-Koi sub metro in the greater region of Ghana. In all, 270 participants were engaged in the study, comprising 237 teachers, 32 head teachers, and one officer in charge of the Metropolis. The study employed descriptive survey while using purposive and simple random sampling techniques to sample participants. Interview guides and questionnaires were the main instruments used for gathering primary data. The study found that conflict is inevitable in the schools. Conflicts in schools are usually subtle and hardly noticed by outsiders even though they occur on daily basis. The causes of conflict include among other things, high expectation from head teachers, inability to attain goals set, communication from head teachers and power struggle. The study found out that, in managing and resolving conflicts, issues such as identifying and focusing on the problem, building of trust and cooperation, clarifying goals and objectives were seen to be effective means of managing conflict and recommended that management should design and develop conflict management strategies to quickly resolve conflict.

Keywords: basic education, conflict management, organizational harmony, power

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1769 A Review on Geomembrane Characteristics and Application in Geotechnical Engineering

Authors: Sandra Ghavam Shirazi, Komeil Valipourian, Mohammad Reza Golhashem

Abstract:

This paper represents the basic idea and mechanisms associated with the durability of geomembranes and discusses the factors influencing the service life and temperature of geomembrane liners. Geomembrane durability is stated as field performance and laboratory test outcomes under various conditions. Due to the high demand of geomembranes as landfill barriers and their crucial role in sensitive projects, sufficient service life of geomembranes is very important, therefore in this paper, the durability, the effect of temperature on geomembrane and the role of this type of reinforcement in different types of soil will be discussed. Also, the role of geomembrane in the earthquake will be considered in the last part of the paper.

Keywords: geomembrane, durability temperature soil mechanic, soil

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1768 The Success Rate of Anterior Crowding Orthodontic Treatment Using Removable Appliances

Authors: Belly Yordan

Abstract:

Orthodontic treatment can be done by using the fix and removable orthodontic appliance. The success of treatment depends on the patient’s age, the type of malocclusion, treatment of space discrepancy, patient’s oral hygiene, operator skills, and patient cooperation. This case report was aimed to show the success of orthodontic treatment in patients with skeletal class I relationship, class I angle dental malocclusion with anterior crowding and rotation by using a removable appliance with modification. The removable appliance used is standard with removable plate components such as passive clasp (Adam’s hook clasp) accompanied with some active clasps (labial bow, some springs, etc.). A button is used as an additional tool or combined with other tools to correct tooth in rotated position. The results obtained by the success of treatments which is shown in pre and post-treatment photos, the overjet was reduced, the arch form became normal, the tooth malposition became normal, and rotation was corrected. Facial profile appearance of the patient is getting better, and the dental coordination also became better. This case report is to prove that treatment with the removable appliance is quite successful with the robust wearing of appropriate retainers.

Keywords: success rate, anterior crowding, orthodontic treatment, removable appliances

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1767 Selecting a Material for an Aircraft Diesel Engine Block

Authors: Ksenia Siadkowska, Tytus Tulwin, Rafał Sochaczewski

Abstract:

Selecting appropriate materials is presently a complex task as material databases cover tens of thousands of different types of materials. Product designing proceeds in numerous stages and in most of them there are open questions with not only one correct solution but better and worse ones. This paper overviews the Diesel engine body construction materials mentioned in the literature and discusses a certain practical method to select materials for a cylinder head and a Diesel engine block as a prototype. The engine body, depending on its purpose, is most frequently iron or aluminum. If it is important to optimize parts to achieve low weight, aluminum alloys are usually applied, especially in the automotive and aviation industries. In the latter case, weight is even more important so new types of magnesium alloys which are even lighter than aluminum ones are developed and used. However, magnesium alloys are, for example, more flammable and not enough strong so, for safety reasons, this type of material is not used solely in engine bodies. Acknowledgement: This work has been realized in the cooperation with The Construction Office of WSK "PZL-KALISZ" S.A." and is part of Grant Agreement No. POIR.01.02.00-00-0002/15 financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development.

Keywords: aluminum alloy, cylinder head, Diesel engine, materials selection

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1766 Developing a Framework for Assessing and Fostering the Sustainability of Manufacturing Companies

Authors: Ilaria Barletta, Mahesh Mani, Björn Johansson

Abstract:

The concept of sustainability encompasses economic, environmental, social and institutional considerations. Sustainable manufacturing (SM) is, therefore, a multi-faceted concept. It broadly implies the development and implementation of technologies, projects and initiatives that are concerned with the life cycle of products and services, and are able to bring positive impacts to the environment, company stakeholders and profitability. Because of this, achieving SM-related goals requires a holistic, life-cycle-thinking approach from manufacturing companies. Further, such an approach must rely on a logic of continuous improvement and ease of implementation in order to be effective. Currently, there exists in the academic literature no comprehensively structured frameworks that support manufacturing companies in the identification of the issues and the capabilities that can either hinder or foster sustainability. This scarcity of support extends to difficulties in obtaining quantifiable measurements in order to objectively evaluate solutions and programs and identify improvement areas within SM for standards conformance. To bridge this gap, this paper proposes the concept of a framework for assessing and continuously improving the sustainability of manufacturing companies. The framework addresses strategies and projects for SM and operates in three sequential phases: analysis of the issues, design of solutions and continuous improvement. A set of interviews, observations and questionnaires are the research methods to be used for the implementation of the framework. Different decision-support methods - either already-existing or novel ones - can be 'plugged into' each of the phases. These methods can assess anything from business capabilities to process maturity. In particular, the authors are working on the development of a sustainable manufacturing maturity model (SMMM) as decision support within the phase of 'continuous improvement'. The SMMM, inspired by previous maturity models, is made up of four maturity levels stemming from 'non-existing' to 'thriving'. Aggregate findings from the use of the framework should ultimately reveal to managers and CEOs the roadmap for achieving SM goals and identify the maturity of their companies’ processes and capabilities. Two cases from two manufacturing companies in Australia are currently being employed to develop and test the framework. The use of this framework will bring two main benefits: enable visual, intuitive internal sustainability benchmarking and raise awareness of improvement areas that lead companies towards an increasingly developed SM.

Keywords: life cycle management, continuous improvement, maturity model, sustainable manufacturing

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1765 Assessing the Feasibility of Italian Hydrogen Targets with the Open-Source Energy System Optimization Model TEMOA - Italy

Authors: Alessandro Balbo, Gianvito Colucci, Matteo Nicoli, Laura Savoldi

Abstract:

Hydrogen is expected to become a game changer in the energy transition, especially enabling sector coupling possibilities and the decarbonization of hard-to-abate end-uses. The Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan identifies hydrogen as one of the key elements of the ecologic transition to meet international decarbonization objectives, also including it in several pilot projects for the early development in Italy. This matches the European energy strategy, which aims to make hydrogen a leading energy carrier of the future, setting ambitious goals to be accomplished by 2030. The huge efforts needed to achieve the announced targets require to carefully investigate of their feasibility in terms of economic expenditures and technical aspects. In order to quantitatively assess the hydrogen potential within the Italian context and the feasibility of the planned investments and projects, this work uses the TEMOA-Italy energy system model to study pathways to meet the strict objectives above cited. The possible hydrogen development has been studied both in the supply-side and demand-side of the energy system, also including storage options and distribution chains. The assessment comprehends alternative hydrogen production technologies involved in a competition market, reflecting the several possible investments declined by the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan to boost the development and spread of this infrastructure, including the sector coupling potential with natural gas through the currently existing infrastructure and CO2 capture for the production of synfuels. On the other hand, the hydrogen end-uses phase covers a wide range of consumption alternatives, from fuel-cell vehicles, for which both road and non-road transport categories are considered, to steel, and chemical industries uses and cogeneration for residential and commercial buildings. The model includes both high and low TRL technologies in order to provide a consistent outcome for the future decades as it does for the present day, and since it is developed through the use of an open-source code instance and database, transparency and accessibility are fully granted.

Keywords: decarbonization, energy system optimization models, hydrogen, open-source modeling, TEMOA

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1764 The Influence of Mineraliser Granulometry on Dense Silica Brick Microstructure

Authors: L. Nevrivova, K. Lang, M. Kotoucek, D. Vsiansky

Abstract:

This entry concerned with dense silica microstructure was produced as a part of a project within the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic which is being implemented in cooperation of the biggest producer of refractories the P-D Refractories CZ company with the research organisation Brno University of Technology. The paper is focused on the influence of mixture homogenisation and the influence of grain size of the mineraliser on the resulting utility properties of the material as well as its microstructure. It has a decisive influence on the durability of the material in a building structure. This paper is a continuation of a previously published study dealing with the suitability of various types of mineralising agents in terms of density, strength and mineral composition of silica. The entry describes the influence of the method of mixture homogenisation and the influence of granulometry of the applied Fe-mineralising agent on the resulting silica microstructure. Porosity, density, phase composition and microstructure of the experimentally prepared silica samples were examined and the results were discussed in context with the technology of homogenisation and firing temperature used. The properties of silica brick samples were compared to the sample without any Fe-mineraliser.

Keywords: silica bricks, Fe-mineraliser, mineralogical composition, new developed silica material

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1763 The Effect of the Internal Organization Communications' Effectiveness through Employee's Performance of Faculty of Management Science, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

Authors: Malaiphan Pansap, Surasit Vithayarat

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to study the relationship between internal organization communications’ effectiveness and employee’s performance of Faculty of Management Science, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. Study on solutions of communication were carried out within the organization. Questionnaire was used to collect information from 136 people of staff and instructor and data were analyzed by using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation and then data processing statistic programs. The result found that organization communication that affects their employee’s performance is sender which lack the skills for speaking and writing to convince audiences ready before taking message and the message which organizations are not always informed. The employees believe the behavior of good organization communication has a positive impact on the development of organization because the employees feel involved and be a part of the organization, by the cooperation in working to achieve the goal, the employees can work in the same direction and meet goal quickly.

Keywords: employee’s performance, faculty of management science, internal organization communications’ effectiveness, management accounting, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

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1762 An Exploratory Study on the Impact of Climate Change on Design Rainfalls in the State of Qatar

Authors: Abdullah Al Mamoon, Niels E. Joergensen, Ataur Rahman, Hassan Qasem

Abstract:

Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) in its fourth Assessment Report AR4 predicts a more extreme climate towards the end of the century, which is likely to impact the design of engineering infrastructure projects with a long design life. A recent study in 2013 developed new design rainfall for Qatar, which provides an improved design basis of drainage infrastructure for the State of Qatar under the current climate. The current design standards in Qatar do not consider increased rainfall intensity caused by climate change. The focus of this paper is to update recently developed design rainfalls in Qatar under the changing climatic conditions based on IPCC's AR4 allowing a later revision to the proposed design standards, relevant for projects with a longer design life. The future climate has been investigated based on the climate models released by IPCC’s AR4 and A2 story line of emission scenarios (SRES) using a stationary approach. Annual maximum series (AMS) of predicted 24 hours rainfall data for both wet (NCAR-CCSM) scenario and dry (CSIRO-MK3.5) scenario for the Qatari grid points in the climate models have been extracted for three periods, current climate 2010-2039, medium term climate (2040-2069) and end of century climate (2070-2099). A homogeneous region of the Qatari grid points has been formed and L-Moments based regional frequency approach is adopted to derive design rainfalls. The results indicate no significant changes in the design rainfall on the short term 2040-2069, but significant changes are expected towards the end of the century (2070-2099). New design rainfalls have been developed taking into account climate change for 2070-2099 scenario and by averaging results from the two scenarios. IPCC’s AR4 predicts that the rainfall intensity for a 5-year return period rain with duration of 1 to 2 hours will increase by 11% in 2070-2099 compared to current climate. Similarly, the rainfall intensity for more extreme rainfall, with a return period of 100 years and duration of 1 to 2 hours will increase by 71% in 2070-2099 compared to current climate. Infrastructure with a design life exceeding 60 years should add safety factors taking the predicted effects from climate change into due consideration.

Keywords: climate change, design rainfalls, IDF, Qatar

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1761 General Network with Four Nodes and Four Activities with Triangular Fuzzy Number as Activity Times

Authors: Rashmi Tamhankar, Madhav Bapat

Abstract:

In many projects, we have to use human judgment for determining the duration of the activities which may vary from person to person. Hence, there is vagueness about the time duration for activities in network planning. Fuzzy sets can handle such vague or imprecise concepts and has an application to such network. The vague activity times can be represented by triangular fuzzy numbers. In this paper, a general network with fuzzy activity times is considered and conditions for the critical path are obtained also we compute total float time of each activity. Several numerical examples are discussed.

Keywords: PERT, CPM, triangular fuzzy numbers, fuzzy activity times

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1760 Exploring Dynamics of Regional Creative Economy

Authors: Ari Lindeman, Melina Maunula, Jani Kiviranta, Ronja Pölkki

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to build a vision of the utilization of creative industry competences in industrial and services firms connected to Kymenlaakso region, Finland, smart specialization focus areas. Research indicates that creativity and the use of creative industry’s inputs can enhance innovation and competitiveness. Currently creative methods and services are underutilized in regional businesses and the added value they provide is not well grasped. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative exploratory approach. Data is collected in multiple ways including a survey, focus groups, and interviews. Theoretically, the paper contributes to the discussion about the use creative industry competences in regional development, and argues for building regional creative economy ecosystems in close co-operation with regional strategies and traditional industries rather than as treating regional creative industry ecosystem initiatives separate from them. The practical contribution of the paper is the creative vision for the use of regional authorities in updating smart specialization strategy as well as boosting industrial and creative & cultural sectors’ competitiveness. The paper also illustrates a research-based model of vision building.

Keywords: business, cooperation, creative economy, regional development, vision

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1759 Model Development of Health Tourism at Ban Nam Chieo Community, Laem Ngop, Trat Province

Authors: Pradapet Krutchangthong, Jirawat Sudsawart

Abstract:

This research aims to study the health tourism administration and factors related to health tourism promotion at Ban Nam Chieo Community, Laem Ngop, Trat Province. The sample in this research is 361 tourists who use the service and Ban Nam Chieo Community residents who provide the service. Sampling was done from a population size of 3,780 using Taro Yamane’s formula. The tools used in the study were questionnaires and interviews. The statistics used in this research are percentage, mean and standard deviation. The result of Model Development of Health Tourism at Ban Nam Chieo Community, Laem Ngop , Trat Province shows that most of them are female with bachelor degree. They are government officers with an average income between 16,001-20,000 Baht. Suggested health system activities for health tourism development are: 1) health massage, 2) herbal compress, 3) exercise in the water by walking on shell. Meanwhile, factors related to health tourism promotion at Ban Nam Chieo Community, Laem Ngop, Trat Province are: 1) understanding the context of the community and service providers, 2) cooperation from related government and private sectors.

Keywords: health tourism, health system activities, promotion, administration

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1758 Research on Territorial Ecological Restoration in Mianzhu City, Sichuan, under the Dual Evaluation Framework

Authors: Wenqian Bai

Abstract:

Background: In response to the post-pandemic directives of Xi Jinping concerning the new era of ecological civilization, China has embarked on ecological restoration projects across its territorial spaces. This initiative faces challenges such as complex evaluation metrics and subpar informatization standards. Methodology: This research focuses on Mianzhu City, Sichuan Province, to assess its resource and environmental carrying capacities and the appropriateness of land use for development from ecological, agricultural, and urban perspectives. The study incorporates a range of spatial data to evaluate factors like ecosystem services (including water conservation, soil retention, and biodiversity), ecological vulnerability (addressing issues like soil erosion and desertification), and resilience. Utilizing the Minimum Cumulative Resistance model along with the ‘Three Zones and Three Lines’ strategy, the research maps out ecological corridors and significant ecological networks. These frameworks support the ecological restoration and environmental enhancement of the area. Results: The study identifies critical ecological zones in Mianzhu City's northwestern region, highlighting areas essential for protection and particularly crucial for water conservation. The southeastern region is categorized as a generally protected ecological zone with respective ratings for water conservation functionality and ecosystem resilience. The research also explores the spatial challenges of three ecological functions and underscores the substantial impact of human activities, such as mining and agricultural expansion, on the ecological baseline. The proposed spatial arrangement for ecological restoration, termed ‘One Mountain, One Belt, Four Rivers, Five Zones, and Multiple Corridors’, strategically divides the city into eight major restoration zones, each with specific tasks and projects. Conclusion: With its significant ‘mountain-plain’ geography, Mianzhu City acts as a crucial ecological buffer for the Yangtze River's upper reaches. Future development should focus on enhancing ecological corridors in agriculture and urban areas, controlling soil erosion, and converting farmlands back to forests and grasslands to foster ecosystem rehabilitation.

Keywords: ecological restoration, resource and environmental carrying capacity, land development suitability, ecosystem services, ecological vulnerability, ecological networks

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1757 An Analysis of Employee Attitudes to Organisational Change Management Practices When Adopting New Technologies Within the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction Industry: A Case Study

Authors: Hannah O'Sullivan, Esther Quinn

Abstract:

Purpose: The Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry has historically struggled to adapt to change. Although the ability to innovate and successfully implement organizational change has been demonstrated to be critical in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage in the industry, many AEC organizations continue to struggle when affecting organizational change. One prominent area of organizational change that presents many challenges in the industry is the adoption of new forms of technology, for example, Building Information Modelling (BIM). Certain Organisational Change Management (OCM) practices have been proven to be effective in supporting organizations to adopt change, but little research has been carried out on diverging employee attitudes to change relative to their roles within the organization. The purpose of this research study is to examine how OCM practices influence employee attitudes to change when adopting new forms of technology and to analyze the diverging employee perspectives within an organization on the importance of different OCM strategies. Methodology: Adopting an interview-based approach, a case study was carried out on a large-sized, prominent Irish construction organization who are currently adopting a new technology platform for its projects. Qualitative methods were used to gain insight into differing perspectives on the utilization of various OCM practices and their efficacy when adopting a new form of technology on projects. Change agents implementing the organizational change gave insight into their intentions with the technology rollout strategy, while other employees were interviewed to understand how this rollout strategy was received and the challenges that were encountered. Findings: The results of this research study are currently being finalized. However, it is expected that employees in different roles will value different OCM practices above others. Findings and conclusions will be determined within the coming weeks. Value: This study will contribute to the body of knowledge relating to the introduction of new technologies, including BIM, to AEC organizations. It will also contribute to the field of organizational change management, providing insight into methods of introducing change that will be most effective for different employees based on their roles and levels of experience within the industry. The focus of this study steers away from traditional studies of the barriers to adopting BIM in its first instance at an organizational level and centers on the direct effect on employees when a company changes the technology platform being used.

Keywords: architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, Building Information Modelling, case study, challenges, employee perspectives, organisational change management.

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1756 Participatory Planning of the III Young Sea Meeting: An Experience of the Young Albatroz Collective

Authors: Victor V. Ribeiro, Thais C. Lopes, Rafael A. A. Monteiro

Abstract:

The Albatroz, Baleia Jubarte, Coral Vivo, Golfinho Rotador and Tamar projects make up the Young Sea Network (YSN), part of the BIOMAR Network, which aims to integrate the environmental youths of the Brazilian coast. For this, three editions of the Young Sea Meeting (YSM) were performed. Seeking to stimulate belonging, self-knowledge, participation, autonomy and youth protagonism, the Albatroz Project hosted the III YSM, in Bertioga (SP), in April 2019 and aimed to collectively plan the meeting. Five pillars of Environmental Education were used: identity, community, dialogue, power to act and happiness, the OCA Method and the Young Educates Young; Young Chooses Young; and One Generation Learns from the Other principals. In December 2018, still in the II YSM, the participatory planning of the III YSM began. Two "representatives" of each group were voluntarily elected to facilitate joint decisions, propose, receive and communicate demands from their groups and coordinators. The Young Albatroz Collective (YAC) facilitated the organization process as a whole. The purpose of the meeting was collectively constructed, answering the following question: "What is the YSM for?". Only two of the five pairs of representatives responded. There was difficulty gathering the young people in each group, because it was the end of the year, with people traveling. Thus, due to the short planning time, the YAC built a pre-programming to be validated by the other groups, defining as the objective of the meeting the strengthening of youth protagonism within the YSN. In the planning process, the YAC held 20 meetings, with 60 hours of face-to-face work, in three months, and two technical visits to the headquarters of the III YSM. The participatory dynamics of consultation, when it occurred, required up to two weeks, evidencing the limits of participation. The project coordinations stated that they were not being included in the process by their young people. There is a need to work more to be able to aloud the participation, developing skills and understanding about its principles. This training must take place in an articulated way between the network, implying the important role of the five projects in jointly developing and implementing educator processes with this objective in a national dimension, but without forgetting the specificities of each young group. Finally, it is worth highlighting the great potential of the III YSM by stimulating the exercise of leading environmental youth in more than 50 young people from Brazilian coast, linked to the YSN, stimulating the learning and mobilization of young people in favor of coastal and marine conservation.

Keywords: Marine Conservation, Environmental Education, Youth, Participation, Planning

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1755 A New Method to Winner Determination for Economic Resource Allocation in Cloud Computing Systems

Authors: Ebrahim Behrouzian Nejad, Rezvan Alipoor Sabzevari

Abstract:

Cloud computing systems are large-scale distributed systems, so that they focus more on large scale resource sharing, cooperation of several organizations and their use in new applications. One of the main challenges in this realm is resource allocation. There are many different ways to resource allocation in cloud computing. One of the common methods to resource allocation are economic methods. Among these methods, the auction-based method has greater prominence compared with Fixed-Price method. The double combinatorial auction is one of the proper ways of resource allocation in cloud computing. This method includes two phases: winner determination and resource allocation. In this paper a new method has been presented to determine winner in double combinatorial auction-based resource allocation using Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA). The experimental results show that in our new proposed the number of winner users is higher than genetic algorithm. On other hand, in proposed algorithm, the number of winner providers is higher in genetic algorithm.

Keywords: cloud computing, resource allocation, double auction, winner determination

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1754 An Emphasis on Creativity-Speak Words Increases Crowdfunding Success

Authors: Trayan Kushev, E. Shaunn Mattingly, Andrew S. Manikas

Abstract:

This study utilizes computer-aided text analysis (CATA) on the descriptions of 248,614 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns to reveal that backers are more likely to provide funding to projects that contain a higher percentage of creativity-speak words. Further, this relationship is observed to be stronger for product-based campaigns (e.g., games, technology, design) and weaker for content-based campaigns (e.g., film, music, publishing). In addition, both positive linguistic tone and the use of words expressing gratitude in the text of the campaign strengthen the positive effect of creativity-speak on campaign success.

Keywords: creativity-speak, crowdfunding, entrepreneurship, gratitude, tone

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1753 Co-Authorship Networks of Scientific Collaboration

Authors: Juha Kettunen

Abstract:

This study analyzes collaborative and networked academic authorship in higher education. The literature review shows evidence that single authorship has made a gradual paradigm shift to joint authorship. The empirical evidence from the Turku University of Applied Sciences indicates that collaborative authorship has notably increased in the last few years. Co-authorship has extended outside the institution to other domestic and international academic organizations. Co-authorship not only increase the merits of academic scholars but builds and maintains networks of research and development. The results of this study help the authors, editors and partners of research and development projects to have a more concrete understanding of how co-authorship has developed and spread beyond higher education institutions.

Keywords: co-authorship, social networking, higher education, research and development

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1752 The Implementation of the European Landscape Convention in Turkey: Opportunities and Constraints

Authors: Tutku Ak, Abdullah Kelkit, Cihad Öztürk

Abstract:

An increase has been witnessed with the number of multinational environmental agreements in the past decade, particularly in Europe. Success with implementation, however, shows variation. While many countries are willing to join these agreements, they do not always fully honor their obligations to put their commitments into practice. One reason for this is that countries have different legal and administrative systems. One example of an international multilateral environmental agreement is the European Landscape Convention (ELC). ELC expresses a concern to achieve sustainable development based on a balanced and harmonious relationship between social needs, economic activity, and the environment. Member states are required to implement the convention in accordance with their own administrative structure, respecting subsidiarity. In particular, the importance of cooperation in the protection, management, and planning of the resources is expressed through the convention. In this paper, it is intended to give a broad view of ELC’s implementation process in Turkey and what factors have influenced by the process. Under this context, the paper will focus on the objectives of the convention for addressing the issue of the loss of European landscapes, and the justification and tools used to accomplish these objectives. The degree to which these objectives have been implemented in Turkey and the opportunities and constraints that have been faced during this process have been discussed.

Keywords: European landscape convention, implementation, multinational environmental agreements, policy tools

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1751 From Research to Practice: Upcycling Cinema Icons

Authors: Mercedes Rodriguez Sanchez, Laura Luceño Casals

Abstract:

With the rise of social media, creative people and brands everywhere are constantly generating content. The students with Bachelor's Degrees in Fashion Design use platforms such as Instagram or TikTok to look for inspiration and entertainment, as well as a way to develop their own ideas and share them with a wide audience. Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) have become a central aspect of higher education, virtually affecting every aspect of the student experience. Following the current trend, during the first semester of the second year, a collaborative project across two subjects –Design Management and History of Fashion Design– was implemented. After an introductory class focused on the relationship between fashion and cinema, as well as a brief history of 20th-century fashion, the students freely chose a work team and an iconic look from a movie costume. They researched the selected movie and its sociocultural context, analyzed the costume and the work of the designer, and studied the style, fashion magazines and most popular films of the time. Students then redesigned and recreated the costume, for which they were compelled to recycle the materials they had available at home as an unavoidable requirement of the activity. Once completed the garment, students delivered in-class, team-based presentations supported by the final design, a project summary poster and a making-of video, which served as a documentation tool of the costume design process. The methodologies used include Challenge-Based Learning (CBL), debates, Internet research, application of Information and Communications Technologies, and viewing clips of classic films, among others. After finishing the projects, students were asked to complete two electronic surveys to measure the acquisition of transversal and specific competencies of each subject. Results reveal that this activity helped the students' knowledge acquisition, a deeper understanding of both subjects and their skills development. The classroom dynamic changed. The multidisciplinary approach encouraged students to collaborate with their peers, while educators were better able to keep students' interest and promote an engaging learning process. As a result, the activity discussed in this paper confirmed the research hypothesis: it is positive to propose innovative teaching projects that combine academic research with playful learning environments.

Keywords: cinema, cooperative learning, fashion design, higher education, upcycling

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1750 Collaboration and Automatic Tutoring as a Learning Strategy: A Case Study in Programming Courses

Authors: Luis H. Gonzalez-Guerra, Armandina J. Leal-Flores

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Students attending classrooms nowadays are habituated to use digital devices all the time and for multiple things. They have been familiar with digital technology throughout their lives so they have developed skills that should be naturally adopted as part of their study strategies. New learning styles require taking in consideration the use of models that support and promote student motivation for learning and development of their creative thinking skills. To achieve student learning in programming courses, different strategies are used. One of them is a collaboration between students, which is a tool which faculty can take advantage of when teaching these kinds of courses. Moreover, cooperation is an essential skill that society should reinforce in order to promote a healthy social environment and cohabitation. Nevertheless, students will still require support and advice to get a complete and correct programming solution to successfully address and solve the problems given throughout the course. This paper present a model where collaboration between students is associated with an automatic tutoring platform providing an excellent approach for the individual learning in collaborative activities in programming courses, and also motivates students to increase their knowledge regarding the topics covered in the classroom.

Keywords: automatic tutoring, collaboration learning, creative thinking, motivation

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1749 Expanding Chance of Palm Oil Market into ASEAN Community: Case Study of Choomporn Palm Oil Cooperative

Authors: Pichamon Chansuchai

Abstract:

This paper studied the expanding market opportunity palm oil ASEAN community: case study of Choomporn Palm Oil Cooperative as qualitative research. The purpose is to study and analyze expanding and linking the liberalization of trade in palm oil products under the terms of cooperation and ASEAN countries. Collection data were collected using participatory observation, in-depth interviews, focus groups, government officials, palm oil cooperative, entrepreneurs and farmers to exchange opinions. The study found that of major competitors is Indonesia and Malaysia which as ASEAM members countries has the potential to produce over Thailand. Thailand government must have a policy to increase the competitiveness of the palm oil Thailand. Using grants from the Free Trade Area fund should add value to agricultural products, palm oil and the development of standard products to meet the needs of the member countries. And creating a learning center of the palm oil sector can transfer knowledge, development of palm species, solution process from planting to harvest care privatization process. And the development of palm oil in order to expand market opportunities for Thailand's palm oil has the potential to be competitive in the neighboring countries and the region.

Keywords: palm oil, market, cooperative, ASEAN

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1748 From Shop-Floor to Classroom and from Classroom to Shop-Floor: A Way to Bridge Gap between Industry and Academy

Authors: Muhammad Haris Aziz, Shoaib Sarfraz, Chanchal Saha

Abstract:

The basic functions of a university are research and education. Research develops theories and education provides the link between the theory and the practical. Being an applied science, the link between theory and practice needs to be strong in engineering disciplines. But there remains a gap between industry and academy due lack of understanding and awareness from both sides. This gap is been shorten with an industrial engineering graduate class composed of a mix of students from industrial background and from theoretical background. Results are four industrial case studies which are the outcome of group projects in a course on operations research.

Keywords: industrial-academia linkage, operations research, industrial engineering, engineering education.

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1747 Sub-Optimum Safety Performance of a Construction Project: A Multilevel Exploration

Authors: Tas Yong Koh, Steve Rowlinson, Yuzhong Shen

Abstract:

In construction safety management, safety climate has long been linked to workers' safety behaviors and performance. For this reason, safety climate concept and tools have been used as heuristics to diagnose a range of safety-related issues by some progressive contractors in Hong Kong and elsewhere. However, as a diagnostic tool, safety climate tends to treat the different components of the climate construct in a linear fashion. Safety management in construction projects, in reality, is a multi-faceted and multilevel phenomenon that resembles a complex system. Hence, understanding safety management in construction projects requires not only the understanding of safety climate but also the organizational-systemic nature of the phenomenon. Our involvement, diagnoses, and interpretations of a range of safety climate-related issues which culminated in the project’s sub-optimum safety performance in an infrastructure construction project have brought about such revelation. In this study, a range of data types had been collected from various hierarchies of the project site organization. These include the frontline workers and supervisors from the main and sub-contractors, and the client supervisory personnel. Data collection was performed through the administration of safety climate questionnaire, interviews, observation, and document study. The findings collectively indicate that what had emerged in parallel of the seemingly linear climate-based exploration is the exposition of the organization-systemic nature of the phenomenon. The results indicate the negative impacts of climate perceptions mismatch, insufficient work planning, and risk management, mixed safety leadership, workforce negative attributes, lapsed safety enforcement and resources shortages collectively give rise to the project sub-optimum safety performance. From the dynamic causation and multilevel perspective, the analyses show that the individual, group, and organizational levels issues are interrelated and these interrelationships are linked to negative safety climate. Hence the adoption of both perspectives has enabled a fuller understanding of the phenomenon of safety management that point to the need for an organizational-systemic intervention strategy. The core message points to the fact that intervention at an individual level will only meet with limited success if the risks embedded in the higher levels in group and project organization are not addressed. The findings can be used to guide the effective development of safety infrastructure by linking different levels of systems in a construction project organization.

Keywords: construction safety management, dynamic causation, multilevel analysis, safety climate

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1746 Energy Usage in Isolated Areas of Honduras

Authors: Bryan Jefry Sabillon, Arlex Molina Cedillo

Abstract:

Currently, the raise in the demand of electrical energy as a consequence of the development of technology and population growth, as well as some projections made by ‘La Agencia Internacional de la Energía’ (AIE) and research institutes, reveal alarming data about the expected raise of it in the next few decades. Because of this, something should be made to raise the awareness of the rational and efficient usage of this resource. Because of the global concern of providing electrical energy to isolated areas, projects consisting of energy generation using renewable resources are commonly carried out. On a socioeconomically and cultural point of view, it can be foreseen a positive impact that would result for the society to have this resource. This article is focused on the great potential that Honduras shows, as a country that is looking forward to produce renewable energy due to the crisis that it’s living nowadays. Because of this, we present a detailed research that exhibits the main necessities that the rural communities are facing today, to allay the negative aspects due to the scarcity of electrical energy. We also discuss which should be the type of electrical generation method to be used, according to the disposition, geography, climate, and of course the accessibility of each area. Honduras is actually in the process of developing new methods for the generation of energy; therefore, it is of our concern to talk about renewable energy, the exploitation of which is a global trend. Right now the countries’ main energetic generation methods are: hydrological, thermic, wind, biomass and photovoltaic (this is one of the main sources of clean electrical generation). The use of these resources was possible partially due to the studies made by the organizations that focus on electrical energy and its demand, such as ‘La Cooperación Alemana’ (GIZ), ‘La Secretaria de Energía y Recursos Naturales’ (SERNA), and ‘El Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica’ (BCIE), which eased the complete guide that is to be used in the protocol to be followed to carry out the three stages of this type of projects: 1) Licences and Permitions, 2) Fincancial Aspects and 3) The inscription for the Protocol in Kyoto. This article pretends to take the reader through the necessary information (according to the difficult accessibility that each zone might present), about the best option of electrical generation in zones that are totally isolated from the net, pretending to use renewable resources to generate electrical energy. We finally conclude that the usage of hybrid systems of generation of energy for small remote communities brings about a positive impact, not only because of the fact of providing electrical energy but also because of the improvements in education, health, sustainable agriculture and livestock, and of course the advances in the generation of energy which is the main concern of this whole article.

Keywords: energy, isolated, renewable, accessibility

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1745 Circular Economy: An Overview of Principles, Strategies, and Case Studies

Authors: Dina Mohamed Ahmed Mahmoud Bakr

Abstract:

The concept of a circular economy is gaining increasing attention as a way to promote sustainable economic growth and reduce the environmental impact of human activities. The circular economy is a systemic approach that aims to keep materials and resources in use for as long as possible, minimize waste and pollution, and regenerate natural systems. The purpose of this article is to present a summary of the principles and tactics employed in the circular economy, along with examples of prosperous circular economy projects implemented in different sectors across Japan, Austria, the Netherlands, South Africa, Germany, and the United States. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities associated with the transition to a circular economy and the policy interventions that can support this transition.

Keywords: circular economy, waste reduction, sustainable development, recycling

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1744 Community Based Local Economic Development Strategy Using Strategic Asumption Surfacing and Testing and Expoential Rank Method

Authors: Kholil Kholil, Soecahyadi Soecahyadi

Abstract:

Geographically, Padang Panjang Regency which located in the heart of Western Sumatra has great potentials for the tourism industry. However, these potentials have not been strategically developed for increasing local economic development and people's welfare. The purpose of this research is to design the strategy of sustainable tourism area development using Strategic Assumption Surfacing and Testing (SAST) and Exponential Rank Method (ERM). Result study showed, there are four aspects which importance and certainly for developing tourism area destination in Padang Panjang Regency; (1) tourist information center and promotion, (2) regional cooperation development; (3) minangese center as a center of excellence; and (4) building the center of the public market. To build an attractive tourist area required action plan includes the construction of an information center, center of excellence of minangese, and tourist infrastructure; and public participation is a key success factor for ensuring sustainability of tourism development in Padang Panjang Regency.

Keywords: local economic development, tourism attraction, SAST, ERM

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1743 Biological Expressions of Hamilton’s Rule in Human Populations: The Deep Psychological Influence of Defensive and Offensive Motivations Found in Human Conflicts and Sporting Events

Authors: Monty Vacura

Abstract:

Hamilton’s Rule is a universal law of biology expressed in protists, plants and animals. When applied to human populations, this model explains: 1) Origin of religion in society as a biopsychological need naturally selected to increase population size; 2) Instincts of racism expressed through intergroup competition; 3) Simultaneous selection for human cooperation and conflict, love and hate; 4) Places Dawkins’s selfish gene as the r, relationship variable; 5) Flipping the equation variable themes (close relationship to distant relationship, and benefit to threat) the new equation can now be used to identify the offensive and defensive sides of conflict; 6) Connection between sporting events and instinctive social messaging for stimulating offensive and defensive responses; 6) Pathway to reduce human sacrifice through manipulation of variables. This paper discusses the deep psychological influences of Hamilton’s Rule. Suggestions are provided to reduce human deaths via our instinctive sacrificial behavior, by consciously monitoring Hamilton’s Rule variables highlighted throughout our media outlets.

Keywords: psychology, Hamilton’s rule, evolution, human instincts

Procedia PDF Downloads 50