Search results for: digital learning resources

Authors: Abdullah Alhaqbani

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Purpose: Implementing continuous improvement is a challenge that public sector organisations face in becoming successful. Many obstacles hinder public organisations from successfully implementing continuous improvement. This paper aims to highlight the key core obstacles that face public organisations to implement continuous improvement programmes. Approach: Based on the literature, this paper reviews 66 papers that were published between 2000 and 2013 and that focused on the concept of continuous improvement and improvement methodologies in the context of public sector organisations. The methodologies for continuous improvement covered in these papers include Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, process re-engineering, lean thinking and Kaizen. Findings: Of the 24 obstacles found in the literature, 11 barriers were seen as core barriers that frequently occurred in public sector organisations. The findings indicate that lack of top management commitment; organisational culture and political issues and resistance to change are significant obstacles for improvement programmes. Moreover, this review found that improvement methodologies share some core barriers to successful implementation within public organisations. These barriers as well are common in the different geographic area. For instance lack of top management commitment and training that found in the education sector in Albanian are common barriers of improvement studies in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Spain, UK and US. Practical implications: Understanding these core issues and barriers will help managers of public organisations to improve their strategies with respect to continuous improvement. Thus, this review highlights the core issues that prevent a successful continuous improvement journey within the public sector. Value: Identifying and understanding the common obstacles to successfully implementing continuous improvement in the public sector will help public organisations to learn how to improve in launching and successfully sustaining such programmes. However, this is not the end; rather, it is just the beginning of a longer improvement journey. Thus, it is intended that this review will identify key learning opportunities for public sector organisations in developing nations which will then be tested via further research.

Keywords: continuous improvement, total quality management, obstacles, public sector

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Khatuna Buskivadze

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The aim of the present study is to investigate the sociolinguistic and classroom functions and frequency of Teacher’s Code Switching (CS) in the Content and Language Integrated (CLIL) Lesson. Nowadays, Georgian society struggles to become the part of the European world, the English language itself plays a role in forming new generations with European values. Based on our research conducted in 2019, out of all 114 private schools in Tbilisi, full- programs of CLIL are taught in 7 schools, while only some subjects using CLIL are conducted in 3 schools. The goal of the former research was to define the features of Content and Language Integrated learning (CLIL) methodology within the process of teaching English on the Example of Georgian private high schools. Taking the Georgian reality and cultural features into account, the modified version of the questionnaire, based on the classification of using CS in ESL Classroom proposed By Ferguson (2009) was used. The qualitative research revealed students’ and teacher’s attitudes towards teacher’s code-switching in CLIL lesson. Both qualitative and quantitative research were conducted: the observations of the teacher’s lessons (Recording of T’s online lessons), interview and the questionnaire among Math’s T’s 20 high school students. We came to the several conclusions, some of them are given here: Math’s teacher’s CS behavior mostly serves (1) the conversational function of interjection; (2) the classroom functions of introducing unfamiliar materials and topics, explaining difficult concepts, maintaining classroom discipline and the structure of the lesson; The teacher and 13 students have negative attitudes towards using only Georgian in teaching Math. The higher level of English is the more negative is attitude towards using Georgian in the classroom. Although all the students were Georgian, their competence in English is higher than in Georgian, therefore they consider English as an inseparable part of their identities. The overall results of the case study of teaching Math (Educational discourse) in one of the private schools in Tbilisi will be presented at the conference.

Keywords: attitudes, bilingualism, code-switching, CLIL, conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics.

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Minal Jain, Vinayak Malhotra

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Solid Propellant ignition consists of rapid and complex events comprising of heat generation and transfer of heat with spreading of flames over the entire burning surface area. Proper combustion and thus propulsion depends heavily on the modes of heat transfer characteristics and cavity volume. Fire safety is an integral component of a successful rocket flight failing to which may lead to overall failure of the rocket. This leads to enormous forfeiture in resources viz., money, time, and labor involved. When the propellant is ignited, thrust is generated and the casing gets heated up. This heat adds on to the propellant heat and the casing, if not at proper orientation starts burning as well, leading to the whole rocket being completely destroyed. This has necessitated active research efforts emphasizing a comprehensive study on the inter-energy relations involved for effective utilization of the solid rocket motors for better space missions. Present work is focused on one of the major influential aspects of this detrimental burning which is the presence of an external heat source, in addition to a potential heat source which is already ignited. The study is motivated by the need to ensure better combustion and fire safety presented experimentally as a simplified small-scale mode of a rocket carrying a solid propellant inside a cavity. The experimental setup comprises of a paraffin wax candle as the pilot fuel and incense stick as the external heat source. The candle is fixed and the incense stick position and location is varied to investigate the find the influence of the pilot heat source. Different configurations of the external heat source presence with separation distance are tested upon. Regression rates of the pilot thin solid fuel are noted to fundamentally understand the non-linear heat and mass transfer which is the governing phenomenon. An attempt is made to understand the phenomenon fundamentally and the mechanism governing it. Results till now indicate non-linear heat transfer assisted with the occurrence of flaming transition at selected critical distances. With an increase in separation distance, the effect is noted to drop in a non-monotonic trend. The parametric study results are likely to provide useful physical insight about the governing physics and utilization in proper testing, validation, material selection, and designing of solid rocket motors with enhanced safety.

Keywords: combustion, propellant, regression, safety

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Usman Asif, Klaus Schmidt

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In recent years, the development of alternate fuel vehicles has helped to reduce carbon emissions worldwide. As the number of vehicles will continue to increase in the future, the energy demand will also increase. Therefore, we must consider automotive technologies that are efficient and less harmful to the environment in the long run. Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) have gained popularity in recent years because of their lower maintenance, lower fuel costs, and lower carbon emissions. Nevertheless, BEVs show several disadvantages, such as slow charging times and lower range than traditional combustion-powered vehicles. These factors keep many people from switching to BEVs. The authors of this research believe that these limitations can be overcome by using fuel cell technology. Fuel cell technology converts chemical energy into electrical energy from hydrogen power and therefore serves as fuel to power the motor and thus replacing heavy lithium batteries that are expensive and hard to recycle. Also, in contrast to battery-powered electric vehicle technology, Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) offer higher ranges and lower fuel-up times and therefore are more competitive with electric vehicles. However, FCEVs have not gained the same popularity as electric vehicles due to stringent legal frameworks, underdeveloped infrastructure, high fuel transport, and storage costs plus the expense of fuel cell technology itself. This research will focus on the legal frameworks for hydrogen-powered vehicles, and how a change in these policies may affect and improve hydrogen fueling infrastructure and lower hydrogen transport and storage costs. These policies may also facilitate reductions in fuel cell technology costs. In order to attain a better framework, a number of countries have developed conceptual roadmaps. These roadmaps have set out a series of objectives to increase the access of FCEVs to their respective markets. This research will specifically focus on policies in Japan, Europe, and the USA in their attempt to shape the automotive industry of the future. The researchers also suggest additional policies that may help to accelerate the advancement of FCEVs to mass-markets. The approach was to provide a solid literature review using resources from around the globe. After a subsequent analysis and synthesis of this review, the authors concluded that in spite of existing legal challenges that have hindered the advancement of fuel-cell technology in the automobile industry in the past, new initiatives that enhance and advance the very same technology in the future are underway.

Keywords: fuel cell electric vehicles, fuel cell technology, legal frameworks, policies and regulations

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Abdul Rahman Hamdan

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The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has brought unprecedented technological advancements that have disrupted many industries worldwide. In keeping up with the technological advances and rapid disruption by the introduction of many technological advancements brought forth by the 4IR, the use of technology road mapping has emerged as one of the critical tools for organizations to leverage. Technology road mapping can be used by many companies to guide them to become more adaptable and anticipate future transformation and innovation, and avoid being redundant or irrelevant due to the rapid changes in technological advancement. This research paper provides a comprehensive analysis of technology road mapping within the context of the 4IR. The objectives of the paper are to provide companies with practical insights and a strategic framework of technology road mapping for them to navigate the fast-changing nature of the 4IR. This study also contributes to the understanding and practice of technology road mapping in the 4IR and, at the same time, provides organizations with the necessary tools and critical insight to navigate the 4IR transformation by leveraging technology road mapping. Based on the literature review and case studies, the study analyses key principles, methodologies, and best practices in technology road mapping and integrates them with the unique characteristics and challenges of the 4IR. The research paper gives the background of the fourth industrial revolution. It explores the disruptive potential of technologies in the 4IR and the critical need for technology road mapping that consists of strategic planning and foresight to remain competitive and relevant in the 4IR era. It also highlights the importance of technology road mapping as an organisation’s proactive approach to align the organisation’s objectives and resources to their technology and product development in meeting the fast-evolving technological 4IR landscape. The paper also includes the theoretical foundations of technology road mapping and examines various methodological approaches, and identifies external stakeholders in the process, such as external experts, stakeholders, collaborative platforms, and cross-functional teams to ensure an integrated and robust technological roadmap for the organisation. Moreover, this study presents a comprehensive framework for technology road mapping in the 4IR by incorporating key elements and processes such as technology assessment, competitive intelligence, risk analysis, and resource allocation. It provides a framework for implementing technology road mapping from strategic planning, goal setting, and technology scanning to road mapping visualisation, implementation planning, monitoring, and evaluation. In addition, the study also addresses the challenges and limitations related to technology roadmapping in 4IR, including the gap analysis. In conclusion of the study, the study will propose a set of practical recommendations for organizations that intend to leverage technology road mapping as a strategic tool in the 4IR in driving innovation and becoming competitive in the current and future ecosystem.

Keywords: technology management, technology road mapping, technology transfer, technology planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Dilek Dede

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This study aims at scrutinized the dilemma between education place and working place with professional socialization dimension over the beginning teachers in Turkey is to be found the solution for the dilemma in Turkey. The research question is that how can be explained the gap between education place and working place for beginning teachers in Turkey. That expected to contribute to literature with the solutions for shorting the gap between working area and education area of the teaching profession in Turkey case. The study is constructed in two section. Firstly, socialization of the teaching profession and teaching modules have been discussed through the profession, education, working place indicators. In the second section, Secondly, two educational specialists from Turkey has been interviewed about their observation on trainee teachers compelling to participate the class for candidate teachers after university grade. Then, the dilemma between education area and working area of the teaching profession has been detected by of semi-structured and in-depth interviews, the literature on the relationality of institutions and regulation is discussed. The following outcomes have been accessed in accordance with the data set and literature linkage axis: Firstly, teachers coming from the distinctive programmes as an educational background. Hence, teachers who pertain to distinctive cultures work in the same environment. That cause cultural conflicts and complication of socialization of profession. Secondly, the insufficient partnership between schools and universities besides, the education classes lead to a struggle of culture among these two institutions. Thirdly, the education classes are designed as bureaucratic form instead of coalescence between head teachers and trainee teachers around a common culture. That become deep the dilemma. In conclusion, on condition that applied-oriented education that advocates in-service learning is promoted and this programme is supported with well-structured the in-service training through the partnership of universities and schools, the gap between the working-area and education-area might be shortened.

Keywords: beginning teachers, construction of a common, social mobilization in the teaching profession, teacher training institution, the relationality of the regulations and institutions

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

Authors: Suchhanda Ghosh, A. K. Paul

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Nickel, an industrially important metal is not mined in India, due to the lack of its primary mining resources. But, the chromite deposits occurring in the Sukinda and Baula-Nuasahi region of Odhisa, India, is reported to contain around 0.99% of nickel entrapped in the goethite matrix of the lateritic iron rich ore. Weathering of the dumped chromite mining overburden often leads to the contamination of the ground as well as the surface water with toxic nickel. Microbes inherent to this metal contaminated environment are reported to be capable of removal as well as detoxification of various metals including nickel. Nickel resistant fungal isolates obtained in pure form from the metal rich overburden were evaluated for their potential to biosorb nickel by using their dried biomass. Penicillium simplicissimum SAU203 was the best nickel biosorbant among the 20 fungi tested and was capable to sorbing 16.85 mg Ni/g biomass from a solution containing 50 mg/l of Ni. The identity of the isolate was confirmed using 18S rRNA gene analysis. The sorption capacity of the isolate was further standardized following Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models and the results reflected energy efficient sorption. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy studies of the nickel loaded and control biomass in a comparative basis revealed the involvement of hydroxyl, amine and carboxylic groups in Ni binding. The sorption process was also optimized for several standard parameters like initial metal ion concentration, initial sorbet concentration, incubation temperature and pH, presence of additional cations and pre-treatment of the biomass by different chemicals. Optimisation leads to significant improvements in the process of nickel biosorption on to the fungal biomass. P. simplicissimum SAU203 could sorb 54.73 mg Ni/g biomass with an initial Ni concentration of 200 mg/l in solution and 21.8 mg Ni/g biomass with an initial biomass concentration of 1g/l solution. Optimum temperature and pH for biosorption was recorded to be 30°C and pH 6.5 respectively. Presence of Zn and Fe ions improved the sorption of Ni(II), whereas, cobalt had a negative impact. Pre-treatment of biomass with various chemical and physical agents has affected the proficiency of Ni sorption by P. simplicissimum SAU203 biomass, autoclaving as well as treatment of biomass with 0.5 M sulfuric acid and acetic acid reduced the sorption as compared to the untreated biomass, whereas, NaOH and Na₂CO₃ and Twin 80 (0.5 M) treated biomass resulted in augmented metal sorption. Hence, on the basis of the present study, it can be concluded that P. simplicissimum SAU203 has the potential for the removal as well as detoxification of nickel from contaminated environments in general and particularly from the chromite mining areas of Odhisa, India.

Keywords: nickel, fungal biosorption, Penicillium simplicissimum SAU203, Indian chromite mines, mining overburden

Procedia PDF Downloads 185

Authors: Jose A. C. Venancio, Alexandrino J. M. Goncalves, Anabela Marto, Nuno C. S. Rodrigues, Rita M. T. Ascenso

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Nowadays, it is common to find people who are concerned about getting away from the everyday life routine, looking forward to outcome well-being and pleasant emotions. Trying to disconnect themselves from the usual places of work and residence, they pursue different places, such as tourist destinations, aiming to have unexpected experiences. In order to make this exploration process easier, cities and tourism agencies seek new opportunities and solutions, creating routes with diverse cultural landmarks, including natural landscapes and historic buildings. These offers frequently aspire to the preservation of the local patrimony. In nature and wildlife, birdwatching is an activity that has been increasing, both in cities and in the countryside. This activity seeks to find, observe and identify the diversity of birds that live permanently or temporarily in these places, and it is usually supported by birdwatching guides. Leiria (Portugal) is a well-known city, presenting several historical and natural landmarks, like the Lis river and the castle where King D. Dinis lived in the 13th century. Along the Lis River, a conservation process was carried out and a pedestrian route was created (Polis project). This is considered an excellent spot for birdwatching, especially for the gray heron (Ardea cinerea) and for the kingfisher (Alcedo atthis). There is also a route through the city, from the riverside to the castle, which encloses a characterized variety of species, such as the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica), known for passing through different seasons of the year. Birdwatching is sometimes a difficult task since it is not always possible to see all bird species that inhabit a given place. For this reason, a need to create a technological solution was found to ease this activity. This project aims to encourage people to learn about the various species of birds that live along the Lis River and to promote the preservation of nature in a conscious way. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Leiria Municipal Council and with the Environmental Interpretation Centre. It intends to show the majesty of the Lis River, a place visited daily by several people, such as children and families, who use it for didactic and recreational activities. We are developing a mobile multi-platform application (Guard@Lis) that allows bird species to be observed along a given route, using representative digital 3D models through the integration of augmented reality technologies. Guard@Lis displays a route with points of interest for birdwatching and a list of species for each point of interest, along with scientific information, images and sounds for every species. For some birds, to ensure their observation, the user can watch them in loco, in their real and natural environment, with their mobile device by means of augmented reality, giving the sensation of presence of these birds, even if they cannot be seen in that place at that moment. The augmented reality feature is being developed with Vuforia SDK, using a hybrid approach to recognition and tracking processes, combining marks and geolocation techniques. This application proposes routes and notifies users with alerts for the possibility of viewing models of augmented reality birds. The final Guard@Lis prototype will be tested by volunteers in-situ.

Keywords: augmented reality, birdwatching route, mobile application, nature tourism, watch birds using augmented reality

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Altilio Rosa, Chirico Francesco, Foglia Goffredo

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In recent years, the number of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has significantly increased. The rapid development of commercial and recreational drones makes them an important part of our society. Despite the growing list of their applications, these vehicles pose a huge threat to civil and military installations: detection, classification and neutralization of such flying objects become an urgent need. Radar is an effective remote sensing tool for detecting and tracking flying objects, but scenarios characterized by the presence of a high number of tracks related to flying birds make especially challenging the drone detection task: operator PPI is cluttered with a huge number of potential threats and his reaction time can be severely affected. Flying birds compared to UAVs show similar velocity, RADAR cross-section and, in general, similar characteristics. Building from the absence of a single feature that is able to distinguish UAVs and birds, this paper uses a multiple features approach where an original feature selection technique is developed to feed binary classifiers trained to distinguish birds and UAVs. RADAR tracks acquired on the field and related to different UAVs and birds performing various trajectories were used to extract specifically designed target movement-related features based on velocity, trajectory and signal strength. An optimization strategy based on a genetic algorithm is also introduced to select the optimal subset of features and to estimate the performance of several classification algorithms (Neural network, SVM, Logistic regression…) both in terms of the number of selected features and misclassification error. Results show that the proposed methods are able to reduce the dimension of the data space and to remove almost all non-drone false targets with a suitable classification accuracy (higher than 95%).

Keywords: birds, classification, machine learning, UAVs

Procedia PDF Downloads 212

Authors: Zohar Manber, Ran Elkon

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Accumulation of somatic mutations (SMs) in the genome is a major driving force of cancer development. Most SMs in the tumor's genome are functionally neutral; however, some cause damage to critical processes and provide the tumor with a selective growth advantage (termed cancer driver mutations). Current research on functional significance of SMs is mainly focused on finding alterations in protein coding sequences. However, the exome comprises only 3% of the human genome, and thus, SMs in the noncoding genome significantly outnumber those that map to protein-coding regions. Although our understanding of noncoding driver SMs is very rudimentary, it is likely that disruption of regulatory elements in the genome is an important, yet largely underexplored mechanism by which somatic mutations contribute to cancer development. The expression of most human genes is controlled by multiple enhancers, and therefore, it is conceivable that regulatory SMs are distributed across different enhancers of the same target gene. Yet, to date, most statistical searches for regulatory SMs have considered each regulatory element individually, which may reduce statistical power. The first challenge in considering the cumulative activity of all the enhancers of a gene as a single unit is to map enhancers to their target promoters. Such mapping defines for each gene its set of regulating enhancers (termed "set of regulatory elements" (SRE)). Considering multiple enhancers of each gene as one unit holds great promise for enhancing the identification of driver regulatory SMs. However, the success of this approach is greatly dependent on the availability of comprehensive and accurate enhancer-promoter (E-P) maps. To date, the discovery of driver regulatory SMs has been hindered by insufficient sample sizes and statistical analyses that often considered each regulatory element separately. In this study, we analyzed more than 2,500 whole-genome sequence (WGS) samples provided by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and The International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) in order to identify such driver regulatory SMs. Our analyses took into account the combinatorial aspect of gene regulation by considering all the enhancers that control the same target gene as one unit, based on E-P maps from three genomics resources. The identification of candidate driver noncoding SMs is based on their recurrence. We searched for SREs of genes that are "hotspots" for SMs (that is, they accumulate SMs at a significantly elevated rate). To test the statistical significance of recurrence of SMs within a gene's SRE, we used both global and local background mutation rates. Using this approach, we detected - in seven different cancer types - numerous "hotspots" for SMs. To support the functional significance of these recurrent noncoding SMs, we further examined their association with the expression level of their target gene (using gene expression data provided by the ICGC and TCGA for samples that were also analyzed by WGS).

Keywords: cancer genomics, enhancers, noncoding genome, regulatory elements

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Zahra Mohagheghian, Fatema Agharebparast

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The comparative study of religions is one of the ways which provides peace and makes the believers of religions closer together. Finding the common notions could be a foundation for the dialog among the monotheistic religions and a background to eliminate the misunderstandings and to reach common point of views. The cornerstone of all the common efforts of the believers of the religions is to reach an understanding for building a better world where true peace is established. So, the article seeks to verify the notion of positive thinking in the religious resources of Islam and Christianity. In order to understand the foundations of the religious teachings and to provide a better understanding among the believers, then, the article tries to discover the common fundamentals and the opposing points about the positive thinking in these two religions. We first try to explain the notion of positive thinking in Islam and Christianity and then offer recommended ways in both religions to create and to strengthen this way of thinking. As the different parts of the New Testament is not theologically homogeneous, this collection has been verified and explained in four different parts: Three Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), John's thoughts, thoughts and ideas of Paul and finally the Christian sects . The findings of the survey show that the notion of positive thinking in the monotheistic religions of Islam and Christianity can be traced back by the keyword "hope". It is only the hope which could finally create the soul of positive attitude and thinking inside the humankind. This hope is accompanied by the prospect and causes the humankind to work hard to reach their goals. However, there are some opposing points in these two religions about the basic foundation of this true hope. From the Quran viewpoint, the main foundation of the hope is God and the human is obliged to follow his worldly goals in accordance with this foundation as well as faith to God and avoidance of committing sins. On the other hand, the basic foundation of hope in the Three Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and the teachings of Paul is the promise of a coming Kingdom. Although there are some opposing views about the meaning of this as well as the ways to attain this hope, this hope is generally related to the purpose of human life and afterlife. The Christ, in the John's thoughts, is the source of hope and everybody, believing in God, must also have hope for Jesus Christ. Effects and functions of such hope are strengthening the spirit of love and kindness to others. Hence, in Christianity, the hope and positive thinking about the future, along with good deeds, reflects different viewpoints. On the other hand, in Quran, this is faith to God and fulfilling the Sharia orders which ignite and strengthen this hope and way of thinking. This is the base that continues nowadays with Vilāya and the love for Ahlulbeit in the Shiite views.

Keywords: God, new testament, positive thinking, Quran

Procedia PDF Downloads 447

Authors: John Hardy

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A range of future-oriented intelligence techniques is commonly used by states to assess their national security and develop strategies to detect and manage threats, to develop and sustain capabilities, and to recover from attacks and disasters. Although homeland security organizations use future's intelligence tools to generate scenarios and simulations which inform their planning, there have been relatively few studies of the methods available or their applications for homeland security purposes. This study presents an assessment of one category of strategic intelligence techniques, termed Multi-Path Futures Analyses (MPFA), and how it can be applied to three distinct tasks for the purpose of analyzing homeland security issues. Within this study, MPFA are categorized as a suite of analytic techniques which can include effects-based operations principles, general morphological analysis, multi-path mapping, and multi-criteria decision analysis techniques. These techniques generate multiple pathways to potential futures and thereby generate insight into the relative influence of individual drivers of change, the desirability of particular combinations of pathways, and the kinds of capabilities which may be required to influence or mitigate certain outcomes. The study assessed eighteen uses of MPFA for homeland security purposes and found that there are five key applications of MPFA which add significant value to analysis. The first application is generating measures of success and associated progress indicators for strategic planning. The second application is identifying homeland security vulnerabilities and relationships between individual drivers of vulnerability which may amplify or dampen their effects. The third application is selecting appropriate resources and methods of action to influence individual drivers. The fourth application is prioritizing and optimizing path selection preferences and decisions. The fifth application is informing capability development and procurement decisions to build and sustain homeland security organizations. Each of these applications provides a unique perspective of a homeland security issue by comparing a range of potential future outcomes at a set number of intervals and by contrasting the relative resource requirements, opportunity costs, and effectiveness measures of alternative courses of action. These findings indicate that MPFA enhances analysts’ ability to generate tangible measures of success, identify vulnerabilities, select effective courses of action, prioritize future pathway preferences, and contribute to ongoing capability development in homeland security assessments.

Keywords: homeland security, intelligence, national security, operational design, strategic intelligence, strategic planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Turin Datta, Kisor K. Sahu

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Structural materials used in today’s oil and gas exploration and drilling of both onshore and offshore oil and gas wells must possess superior tensile properties, excellent resistance to corrosive degradation that includes general, localized (pitting and crevice) and environment assisted cracking such as stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen embrittlement. The High Pressure and High Temperature (HPHT) wells are typically operated at temperature and pressure that can exceed 300-3500F and 10,000psi (69MPa) respectively which necessitates the use of exotic materials in these exotic sources of natural resources. This research investigation is focussed on the evaluation of tensile properties and corrosion behavior of AISI 4140 High-Strength Low Alloy Steel (HSLA) possessing tempered martensitic microstructure and Duplex 2205 Stainless Steel (DSS) having austenitic and ferritic phase. The selection of this two alloys are primarily based on economic considerations as 4140 HSLA is cheaper when compared to DSS 2205. Due to the harsh aggressive chemical species encountered in deep oil and gas wells like chloride ions (Cl-), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulphide (H2S) along with other mineral organic acids, DSS 2205, having a dual-phase microstructure can mitigate the degradation resulting from the presence of both chloride ions (Cl-) and hydrogen simultaneously. Tensile properties evaluation indicates a ductile failure of DSS 2205 whereas 4140 HSLA exhibit quasi-cleavage fracture due to the phenomenon of ‘tempered martensitic embrittlement’. From the potentiodynamic polarization testing, it is observed that DSS 2205 has higher corrosion resistance than 4140 HSLA; the former exhibits passivity signifying resistance to localized corrosion while the latter exhibits active dissolution in all the environmental parameters space that was tested. From the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) evaluation, it is understood that stable pits appear in DSS 2205 only when the temperature exceeds the critical pitting temperature (CPT). SEM observation of the corroded 4140 HSLA specimen tested in aqueous 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution reveals intergranular cracking which appears due to the adsorption and diffusion of hydrogen during polarization, thus, causing hydrogen-induced cracking/hydrogen embrittlement. General corrosion testing of DSS 2205 in acidic brine (pH~3.0) solution at ambient temperature using coupons indicate no weight loss even after three months whereas the corrosion rate of AISI 4140 HSLA is significantly higher after one month of testing.

Keywords: DSS 2205, polarization, pitting, SEM

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Audia Syafa'atur Rahman, Rozali Haron

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The practices of Islamic banking are more attuned to the goals of profit maximization rather than obtaining ethical profit. Ethical profit is obtained from interest-free earnings and to give an impact which benefits to the growth of society and economy. Good corporate governance practices are needed to assure the sustainability of Islamic banks in order to achieve Maqasid Shariah with the main purpose of boosting the well-being of people. The Maqasid Shariah performance measurement is used to measure the duties and responsibilities expected to be performed by Islamic banks. It covers not only unification dimension like financial measurement, but also many dimensions covered to reflect the main purpose of Islamic banks. The implementation of good corporate governance is essential because it covers the interests of the stakeholders and facilitates effective monitoring to encourage Islamic banks to utilize resources more efficiently in order to achieve the Maqasid Shariah. This study aims to provide the empirical evidence on the Maqasid performance of Islamic banks in relation to the Maqasid performance evaluation model, to examine the influence of SSB characteristics and board structures to Islamic Banks performance as measured by Maqasid performance evaluation model. By employing the simple additive weighting method, Maqasid index for all the Islamic Banks in Indonesia within 2012 to 2016 ranged from above 11% to 28%. The Maqasid Syariah performance index where results reached above 20% are obtained by Islamic Banks such as Bank Muamalat Indonesia, Bank Panin Syariah, and Bank BRI Syariah. The consistent achievement above 23% is achieved by BMI. Other Islamic Banks such as Bank Victoria Syariah, Bank Jabar Banten Syariah, Bank BNI Syariah, Bank Mega Syariah, BCA Syariah, and Maybank Syariah Indonesia shows a fluctuating value of the Maqasid performance index every year. The impact of SSB characteristics and board structures are tested using random-effects generalized least square. The findings indicate that SSB characteristics (Shariah Supervisory Board size, Shariah Supervisory Board cross membership, Shariah Supervisory Board Education, and Shariah Supervisory Board reputation) and board structures (Board size and Board independence) have an essential role in improving the performance of Islamic Banks. The findings denote Shariah Supervisory Board with smaller size, higher portion of Shariah Supervisory Board cross membership; lesser Shariah Supervisory Board holds doctorate degree, lesser reputable scholar, more members on board of directors, and less independence non-executive directors will enhance the performance of Islamic Banks.

Keywords: Maqasid Shariah, corporate governance, Islamic banks, Shariah supervisory board

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Zahra Ebrahimi, Abbas Moradan

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This study investigated the effect of applying different layers of activity for different Iranian intermediate EFL learner’s oral proficiency and two of its components (fluency and accura-cy) for the beneficial use of films within speaking classes. For this purpose, thirty Iranian EFL intermediate learners were selected based on availability sampling, they were divided into one experimental group and one control group, each consisting of 15 participants, who were proved to be homogeneous based on the results obtained from IELTS oral proficien-cy test prior to the treatment. Experimental Group received the treatment which was apply-ing different layers of speaking tasks according to learners’ level of fluency and accuracy. Control group received ordinal treatment of speaking classrooms. The materials for this study consisted of 11 English movies for each session, voice-recorder device, and IELTS oral proficiency tests as well as two interviews based on Ur’s oral scale for measuring fluen-cy and accuracy. The treatment was run for 12 sessions in six weeks. At the end of the treatment, all the students both in experimental and control group were given a post-test interview based on Ur’s scale. To compare and contrast the amount of progress of the learners in different groups the results of the pre-test and post-test of speaking were analysed by using T-tests. Moreover, Multivariate analysis of variance was also used to check the hypotheses. Results showed that application of different layers of activity with regard to students’ level, led to a significantly superior performance in experimental group. Thus, this study verified the positive effect of implementation of different layers of activity and tasks to achieve progress in speaking skill. It can also help to create a less stressful at-mosphere of learning in which all the students will be given specific time to speak and lead them to be autonomous learners.

Keywords: differentiated instruction, learners’ style, multiple intelligence, speaking skill, task-based activities

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Dusanee Suwankhong, Pranee Liamputtong

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Mothers living with HIV tend to experience stigma and discrimination which has an impact on their psychological and social well-being and their human rights. This paper explores the lived experience of Thai mothers with HIV in their family. In-depth interviewing and drawing methods were employed to gain a deep understanding on the experience of 30 HIV-positive mothers in the southern community of Thailand. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis method. We found that the majority of HIV-positive mothers learned about their HIV status through blood test services during their antenatal care, but some decided to visit a doctor when their partner became chronically frail and showed some signs indicating HIV/AIDS. Learning about their HIV gave them a great shock, and they could not believe that they were infected with HIV/AIDS. They feared that their illness would be disclosed and hence attempted to keep their HIV secret. This was due to the fact that people in their community would blame and labeled them as a ‘disgusting person’. Besides, they would be separated from social contacts and networks, their individual rights would be disregarded, and their potential roles would be restricted. Although participants suggested that people had more positive view on HIV-infected person nowadays, all still wanted to keep it secret because of fear of stigma and discrimination. Thai health care has provided various kinds of support programs, but many mothers chose not to participate due to the fear of disclosure. However, the women attempted to seek some strategies to live a life which would be more acceptable by the community. We conclude that HIV is still seen as a stigmatised disease in rural community of southern Thailand. Local health care providers and relevant sectors in the locality should create suitable programs to enhance self-worth among those HIV-positive mothers because this could increase a quality of life of this vulnerable mothers. Providing sufficient and appropriate supports for better emotional wellbeing is an essential role of health professionals so that the feeling of isolation among these women could be eliminated and positive social justice can be achieved.

Keywords: HIV-positive mothers, lived experience, southern Thailand, stigma and discrimination

Procedia PDF Downloads 180

Authors: Sadeq Al Yaari, Muhammad Alkhunayn, Adham Al Yaari, Aayah Al Yaari, Montaha Al Yaari, Ayman Al Yaari, Sajedah Al Yaari, Fatehi Eissa

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The recent rise of smart educational aids and the move away from traditional listening aids are leading to a fundamental shift in the way in which individuals with attention and listening problems (ALP) manipulate listening inputs and/or act appropriately to the spoken information presented to them. A total sample of twenty-six ALP pupils (m=20 and f=6) between 7-12 years old was selected from different strata based on gender, region and school. In the sample size, thirteen (10 males and 3 females) received the treatment in terms of smart classes provided with smart educational aids in a listening course that lasted for four months, while others did not (they studied the same course by the same instructor but in ordinary class). A pretest was administered to assess participants’ levels, and a posttest was given to evaluate their attention and listening comprehension performance, namely in phonetic and phonological tests with sociolinguistic themes that have been designed for this purpose. Test results were analyzed both psychoneurolinguistically and statistically. Results reveal a remarkable change in pupils’ behavioral listening where scores witnessed a significant difference in the performance of the experimental ALP group in the pretest compared to the posttest (Pupils performed better at the pretest-posttest on phonetics than at the two tests on phonology). It is concluded that smart educational aids designed for listening skills help not only increase the listening command of pupils with ALP to understand what they listen to but also develop their interactive listening capability and, at the same rate, are responsible for increasing concentrated and in-depth listening capacity. Plus, ALP pupils become able to grasp the audio content of text recordings, including educational audio recordings, news, oral stories and tales, views, spiritual/religious text and general knowledge. However, the pupils have not experienced individual smart audio-visual aids that connect listening to other language receptive and productive skills, which could be the future area of research.

Keywords: smart aids, attention, listening, problems

Procedia PDF Downloads 38

Authors: Farahnaz Amini, Woo Yun Kin, Lazwani Kolandaiveloo

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Availability of different genetic tests after completion of Human Genome Project increases the physicians’ responsibility to keep themselves update on the potential implementation of these genetic tests in their daily practice. However, due to numbers of barriers, still many of physicians are not either aware of these tests or are not willing to offer or refer their patients for genetic tests. This study was conducted an anonymous, cross-sectional, mailed-based survey to develop a primary data of Malaysian physicians’ level of knowledge and perception of gene profiling. Questionnaire had 29 questions. Total scores on selected questions were used to assess the level of knowledge. The highest possible score was 11. Descriptive statistics, one way ANOVA and chi-squared test was used for statistical analysis. Sixty three completed questionnaires was returned by 27 general practitioners (GPs) and 36 medical specialists. Responders’ age range from 24 to 55 years old (mean 30.2 ± 6.4). About 40% of the participants rated themselves as having poor level of knowledge in genetics in general whilst 60% believed that they have fair level of knowledge. However, almost half (46%) of the respondents felt that they were not knowledgeable about available genetic tests. A majority (94%) of the responders were not aware of any lab or company which is offering gene profiling services in Malaysia. Only 4% of participants were aware of using gene profiling for detection of dosage of some drugs. Respondents perceived greater utility of gene profiling for breast cancer (38%) compared to the colorectal familial cancer (3%). The score of knowledge ranged from 2 to 8 (mean 4.38 ± 1.67). Non-significant differences between score of knowledge of GPs and specialists were observed, with score of 4.19 and 4.58 respectively. There was no significant association between any demographic factors and level of knowledge. However, those who graduated between years 2001 to 2005 had higher level of knowledge. Overall, 83% of participants showed relatively high level of perception on value of gene profiling to detect patient’s risk of disease. However, low perception was observed for both statements of using gene profiling for general population in order to alter their lifestyle (25%) as well as having the full sequence of a patient genome for the purpose of determining a patient’s best match for treatment (18%). The lack of clinical guidelines, limited provider knowledge and awareness, lack of time and resources to educate patients, lack of evidence-based clinical information and cost of tests were the most barriers of ordering gene profiling mentioned by physicians. In conclusion Malaysian physicians who participate in this study had mediocre level of knowledge and awareness in gene profiling. The low exposure to the genetic questions and problems might be a key predictor of lack of awareness and knowledge on available genetic tests. Educational and training workshop might be useful in helping Malaysian physicians incorporate genetic profiling into practice for eligible patients.

Keywords: gene profiling, knowledge, Malaysia, physician

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Chiao-Cheng Huang, Pei-Te Chiueh, Ya-Hsuan Liou

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Chromium-contaminated wastewater from electroplating industrial activity has been a long-standing environmental issue, as it can degrade surface water quality and is harmful to soil ecosystems. The traditional method of treating chromium-contaminated wastewater has been to use chemical coagulation processes. However, this method consumes large amounts of chemicals such as sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide, and sodium bicarbonate in order to remove chromium. However, a series of new methods for treating chromium-containing wastewater have been developed. This study aimed to compare the environmental impact of four different lab scale chromium removal processes: 1.) chemical coagulation process (the most common and traditional method), in which sodium metabisulfite was used as reductant, 2.) electrochemical process using two steel sheets as electrodes, 3.) reduction by iron-copper bimetallic powder, and 4.) photocatalysis process by TiO2. Each process was run in the lab, and was able to achieve 100% removal of chromium in solution. Then a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study was conducted based on the experimental data obtained from four different case studies to identify the environmentally preferable alternative to treat chromium wastewater. The model used for calculating the environmental impact was TRACi, and the system scope includes the production phase and use phase of chemicals and electricity consumed by the chromium removal processes, as well as the final disposal of chromium containing sludge. The functional unit chosen in this study was the removal of 1 mg of chromium. Solution volume of each case study was adjusted to 1 L in advance and the chemicals and energy consumed were proportionally adjusted. The emissions and resources consumed were identified and characterized into 15 categories of midpoint impacts. The impact assessment results show that the human ecotoxicity category accounts for 55 % of environmental impact in Case 1, which can be attributed to the sulfuric acid used for pH adjustment. In Case 2, production of steel sheet electrodes is an energy-intensive process, thus contributed to 20 % of environmental impact. In Case 3, sodium bicarbonate is used as an anti-corrosion additive, which results mainly in 1.02E-05 Comparative Toxicity Unit (CTU) in the human toxicity category and 0.54E-05 (CTU) in acidification of air. In Case 4, electricity consumption for power supply of UV lamp gives 5.25E-05 (CTU) in human toxicity category, 1.15E-05 (kg Neq) in eutrophication. In conclusion, Case 3 and Case 4 have higher environmental impacts than Case 1 and Case 2, which can be attributed mostly to higher energy and chemical consumption, leading to high impacts in the global warming and ecotoxicity categories.

Keywords: chromium, lab scale, life cycle assessment, wastewater

Procedia PDF Downloads 258

Authors: Jose A. Diaz-Olivares, Nafise Mahdavian, Farhad Abtahi, Kaj Lindecrantz, Abdelakram Hafid, Fernando Seoane

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Despite new recommendations and guidelines for the evaluation of occupational risk assessments and their prevention, work-related musculoskeletal disorders are still one of the biggest causes of work activity disruption, productivity loss, sick leave and chronic work disability. It affects millions of workers throughout Europe, with a large-scale economic and social burden. These specific efforts have failed to produce significant results yet, probably due to the limited availability and high costs of occupational risk assessment at work, especially when the methods are complex, consume excessive resources or depend on self-evaluations and observations of poor accuracy. To overcome these limitations, a pervasive system of risk assessment tools in real time has been developed, which has the characteristics of a systematic approach, with good precision, usability and resource efficiency, essential to facilitate the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders in the long term. The system allows the combination of different wearable sensors, placed on different limbs, to be used for data collection and evaluation by a software solution, according to the needs and requirements in each individual working environment. This is done in a non-disruptive manner for both the occupational health expert and the workers. The creation of this solution allows us to attend different research activities that require, as an essential starting point, the recording of data with ergonomic value of very diverse origin, especially in real work environments. The software platform is here presented with a complimentary smart clothing system for data acquisition, comprised of a T-shirt containing inertial measurement units (IMU), a vest sensorized with textile electronics, a wireless electrocardiogram (ECG) and thoracic electrical bio-impedance (TEB) recorder and a glove sensorized with variable resistors, dependent on the angular position of the wrist. The collected data is processed in real-time through a mobile application software solution, implemented in commercially available Android-based smartphones and tablet platforms. Based on the collection of this information and its analysis, real-time risk assessment and feedback about postural improvement is possible, adapted to different contexts. The result is a tool which provides added value to ergonomists and occupational health agents, as in situ analysis of postural behavior can assist in a quantitative manner in the evaluation of work techniques and the occupational environment.

Keywords: ergonomics, mobile technologies, risk assessment, smart textiles

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Shanhua Hu

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Social media as a critical propagandizing form of film, video games, and digital products has received substantial research attention, but there exists several critical barriers such as: (1) few studies exploring the internal and external connections of a product as part of the multimodal context that gives rise to readability and commercial return; (2) the lack of study of multimodal analysis in product’s official account of game publishers and its impact on users’ behaviors including purchase intention, social media engagement, and playing time; (3) no standardized ecologically-valid, game type-varying data can be used to study the complexity of official account’s postings within a time period. This proposed research helps to tackle these limitations in order to develop a model of readability study that is more ecologically valid, robust, and thorough. To accomplish this objective, this paper provides a more diverse dataset comprising different visual elements and messages collected from the official Twitter accounts of the Top 20 best-selling games of 2021. Video game companies target potential users through social media, a popular approach is to set up an official account to maintain exposure. Typically, major game publishers would create an official account on Twitter months before the game's release date to update on the game's development, announce collaborations, and reveal spoilers. Analyses of tweets from those official Twitter accounts would assist publishers and marketers in identifying how to efficiently and precisely deploy advertising to increase game sales. The purpose of this research is to determine how official game accounts use Twitter to attract new customers, specifically which types of messages are most effective at increasing sales. The dataset includes the number of days until the actual release date on Twitter posts, the readability of the post (Flesch Reading Ease Score, FRES), the number of emojis used, the number of hashtags, the number of followers of the mentioned users, the categorization of the posts (i.e., spoilers, collaborations, promotions), and the number of video views. The timeline of Twitter postings from official accounts will be compared to the history of pre-orders and sales figures to determine the potential impact of social media posts. This study aims to determine how the above-mentioned characteristics of official accounts' Twitter postings influence the sales of the game and to examine the possible causes of this influence. The outcome will provide researchers with a list of potential aspects that could influence people's judgments in limited-word posts. With the increased average online time, users would adapt more quickly than before in online information exchange and readings, such as the word to use sentence length, and the use of emojis or hashtags. The study on the promotion of official game accounts will not only enable publishers to create more effective promotion techniques in the future but also provide ideas for future research on the influence of social media posts with a limited number of words on consumers' purchasing decisions. Future research can focus on more specific linguistic aspects, such as precise word choice in advertising.

Keywords: engagement, official account, promotion, twitter, video game

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Anastasia Constantinou, Stephen Morris

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Background: The adoption of synchronous and asynchronous telemedicine modalities for primary care consultations has exponentially increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is limited understanding of how virtual consultations influence healthcare resource utilization and other quality measures including safety, timeliness, efficiency, patient and provider satisfaction, cost-effectiveness and environmental impact. Aim: Quantify the rate of follow-up visits, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, request for investigations and prescriptions and comment on the effect on different quality measures associated with different telemedicine modalities used for primary care services and primary care referrals to secondary care Design and setting: Systematic review in primary care Methods: A systematic search was carried out across three databases (Medline, PubMed and Scopus) between August and November 2023, using terms related to telemedicine, general practice, electronic referrals, follow-up, use and efficiency and supported by citation searching. This was followed by screening according to pre-defined criteria, data extraction and critical appraisal. Narrative synthesis and metanalysis of quantitative data was used to summarize findings. Results: The search identified 2230 studies; 50 studies are included in this review. There was a prevalence of asynchronous modalities in both primary care services (68%) and referrals from primary care to secondary care (83%), and most of the study participants were females (63.3%), with mean age of 48.2. The average follow-up for virtual consultations in primary care was 28.4% (eVisits: 36.8%, secure messages 18.7%, videoconference 23.5%) with no significant difference between them or F2F consultations. There was an average annual reduction of primary care visits by 0.09/patient, an increase in telephone visits by 0.20/patient, an increase in ED encounters by 0.011/patient, an increase in hospitalizations by 0.02/patient and an increase in out of hours visits by 0.019/patient. Laboratory testing was requested on average for 10.9% of telemedicine patients, imaging or procedures for 5.6% and prescriptions for 58.7% of patients. When looking at referrals to secondary care, on average 36.7% of virtual referrals required follow-up visit, with the average rate of follow-up for electronic referrals being higher than for videoconferencing (39.2% vs 23%, p=0.167). Technical failures were reported on average for 1.4% of virtual consultations to primary care. When using carbon footprint estimates, we calculate that the use of telemedicine in primary care services can potentially provide a net decrease in carbon footprint by 0.592kgCO2/patient/year. When follow-up rates are taken into account, we estimate that virtual consultations reduce carbon footprint for primary care services by 2.3 times, and for secondary care referrals by 2.2 times. No major concerns regarding quality of care, or patient satisfaction were identified. 5/7 studies that addressed cost-effectiveness, reported increased savings. Conclusions: Telemedicine provides quality, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable care for patients in primary care with inconclusive evidence regarding the rates of subsequent healthcare utilization. The evidence is limited by heterogeneous, small-scale studies and lack of prospective comparative studies. Further research to identify the most appropriate telemedicine modality for different patient populations, clinical presentations, service provision (e.g. used to follow-up patients instead of initial diagnosis) as well as further education for patients and providers alike on how to make best use of this service is expected to improve outcomes and influence practice.

Keywords: telemedicine, healthcare utilisation, digital interventions, environmental impact, sustainable healthcare

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Salma Akter, Md. Kamal Uddin

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Quality of life is a vast and comprehensive concept refers overall well-being of society. Current research and efforts of policymakers and planners are concerned to increase the urban quality of life through the sustainable development of city and country. While such efforts effectively improve the quality of life of urban dwellers through improved social, economic and housing infrastructures, very little has been paid to improve low-income settlement users more specifically government provided shelter projects. The top-down shelter policies and its objective indicators (physical design elements and physical environmental elements) indicators on low-income groups merely can ensure grassroots needs, aspiration and well-being refer as subjective qualities obliged to compromise with the quality of life. This research, therefore, aims to measure the quality of life of such government-provided low-income settlements. To do so, a conceptual framework has been developed to measure quality of life with arguing that quality of life depends on both objective and subjective indicators and needs to measure across three scales of living environment refers to macro (community), meso (neighborhood or shelter/built environment), and micro (family). The top-down shelter project, Dakshin Chandani Mahal Ashrayan Prakalpa is a resettlement/housing project of Government of Bangladesh for providing shelters and human resources development activities like education, microcredit, and training programme to landless, homeless and rootless people has been taken as case study. The study area is located at Dighalia Upazila, Khulna Bangladesh. In terms of methodology, this research is primarily exploratory and adopts a case study method and deductive approach for evaluating the quality of life. Data have been obtained from relevant literature review, key informant interview, focus group discussion, necessary drawings, photographs and participant observation across dwelling, neighborhood, and community level. Findings have revealed that Shelter users mostly compromise the quality of life at community level due to insufficient physical design elements and facilities while neighborhood and dwelling level have been manifested similar result like former ones. Thus, the outcome of this study can be beneficial for a global-level understating of the compromising the ‘quality of life’ under top-down shelter policy. Locally, for instance, in the context of Bangladesh, it can help policymakers and concerned authorities to formulate the shelter policies and take initiatives to improve the well-being of marginalized.

Keywords: Ashrayan Prakalpa, compromise, displaced people, quality of life

Procedia PDF Downloads 212

Authors: Mingming Leng

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Wal-Mart has allocated considerable human resources for its quality assurance program, in which the largest retailer serves its supply chains as a quality gatekeeper. Asda Stores Ltd., the second largest supermarket chain in Britain, is now investing £27m in significantly increasing the frequency of quality control checks in its supply chains and thus enhancing quality across its fresh food business. Moreover, Tesco, the largest British supermarket chain, already constructed a quality assessment center to carry out its gatekeeping responsibility. Motivated by the above practices, we consider a supply chain in which a retailer plays the gatekeeping role in quality assurance by identifying defects among a manufacturer's products prior to selling them to consumers. The impact of a retailer's gatekeeping activity on pricing and quality assurance in a supply chain has not been investigated in the operations management area. We draw a number of managerial insights that are expected to help practitioners judiciously consider the quality gatekeeping effort at the retail level. As in practice, when the retailer identifies a defective product, she immediately returns it to the manufacturer, who then replaces the defect with a good quality product and pays a penalty to the retailer. If the retailer does not recognize a defect but sells it to a consumer, then the consumer will identify the defect and return it to the retailer, who then passes the returned 'unidentified' defect to the manufacturer. The manufacturer also incurs a penalty cost. Accordingly, we analyze a two-stage pricing and quality decision problem, in which the manufacturer and the retailer bargain over the manufacturer's average defective rate and wholesale price at the first stage, and the retailer decides on her optimal retail price and gatekeeping intensity at the second stage. We also compare the results when the retailer performs quality gatekeeping with those when the retailer does not. Our supply chain analysis exposes some important managerial insights. For example, the retailer's quality gatekeeping can effectively reduce the channel-wide defective rate, if her penalty charge for each identified de-fect is larger than or equal to the market penalty for each unidentified defect. When the retailer imple-ments quality gatekeeping, the change in the negotiated wholesale price only depends on the manufac-turer's 'individual' benefit, and the change in the retailer's optimal retail price is only related to the channel-wide benefit. The retailer is willing to take on the quality gatekeeping responsibility, when the impact of quality relative to retail price on demand is high and/or the retailer has a strong bargaining power. We conclude that the retailer's quality gatekeeping can help reduce the defective rate for consumers, which becomes more significant when the retailer's bargaining position in her supply chain is stronger. Retailers with stronger bargaining powers can benefit more from their quality gatekeeping in supply chains.

Keywords: bargaining, game theory, pricing, quality, supply chain

Procedia PDF Downloads 274

Authors: Chih-Wen Fan

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Backgrounds/ Research goals : School improvement requires change leadership, which often means discomfort. Principals are the key people that determine the effectiveness of schools. In an era of organization’s pursuit of speed and effectiveness, school administration has to be accountable and innovative. Effective principals work to improve achievement by focusing on the administrative and teaching quality of improvement. However, there is a lack of literature addressing the relevant case studies on school change leadership. This article explores how principals can use change leadership to drive school change. It analyze the driving factors of principal changes in the case school, the beliefs of change leadership, specific methods, and what impact they have. Methods: This study applies the case study research method to the selected primary school located in an urban area for case study, which has achieved excellent performance after reform and innovation. The researchers selected an older primary school located in an urban area that was transformed into a high-performance primary school after changes were enacted by the principal. The selected case was recommended by three supervisors of the Education Department. The case school underwent leadership change by the new principal during his term, and won an award from the Ministry of Education. Total of 8 teachers are interviewed. The data encoding includes interviews and documents. Expected results/ conclusions: The conclusions of the study are, as follows: (1) The influence for Principal Lin's change leadership is from internal and external environmental development and change pressures. (2) The principal's belief in change leadership is to recognize the sense of crisis, and to create a climate of change and demand for change. (3) The principal's specific actions are intended to identify key members, resolve resistance, use innovative thinking, and promote organizational learning. (4) Principal Lin's change leadership can enhance the professional functions of all employees through appropriate authorization. (5) The effectiveness of change leadership lies in teachers' participation in decision-making; the school's reputation has been enhanced through featured courses.

Keywords: change leadership, empowerment, crisis awareness, case study

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Johannes Van Der Sandt

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This quantitative study investigates different approaches of community singing, in building social capital in South Tyrol, Italy, and South Africa. The impact of the various approaches of community singing is examined by investigating the main components of social capital, namely, social norms and obligations, social networks and associations and trust, and how these components are manifested in two different societies. The research is based on the premise that community singing is an important agent for the development of social capital. It seeks to establish in what form community singing can best enhance the social capital of communities in South Tyrol that are undergoing significant changes in the ways in which social capital is generally being generated on account of demographic, economic, technological and cultural changes. South Tyrol and South Africa share some similarities in the management of their multi-cultural composition. By comparing the different approaches to community singing in two multi-cultural societies, it is hoped to gain insight, and an understanding of the connections between culture, social cohesion, identity and therefore to be able to add to the understanding of the building of social capital through community singing. Participation in music contributes to the growth of social capital in communities, this is amongst others the finding of an ever increasing amount of research. In sociological discourses on social capital generation, the dimension of community music making is recognized as an important factor. Trust and mutual cooperation are products when people listen to each other, when they work or play together, and when they care about each other. This is how social capital develops as an important shared resource. Scholars of Community Music still do not agree on a short and concise definition for Community Music. For the purpose of this research, the author concurs with the definition of Community Music of the Community Music Activity commission of the International Society of Music Education as having the following characteristics: decentralization, accessibility, equal opportunity, and active participation in music-making. These principles are social and political ones, and there can be no doubt that community music activity is more than a purely musical one. Trust, shared norms and values civic and community involvement, networks, knowledge resources, contact with families and friends, and fellowship are key components in fostering group cohesion and social capital development in a community. The research will show that there is no better place for these factors to flourish than in a community singing group. Through this comparative study, it is the aim to identify, analyze and explain similarities and differences in approaches to community across societies that find themselves in a rapid transition from traditional cultural to global cultural habits characterized by a plurality of orientation points, with the aim to gain a better understanding of the various directions South Tyrolean singing culture can take.

Keywords: community music, multicultural, singing, social capital

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Rudainah Alkhazam, Özlem Yaşar Uğurlu

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Immigrant entrepreneurship arises from the start of entrepreneurial activity by immigrants in the country they relocate to. The future prosperity and stability of the refugee-hosting countries depends on the mutual social and economic benefits between the residents and the refugees. Syrian refugees and workers in host countries necessitate efforts to assist their residents and refugees in meeting their daily needs, contributing lawfully to local and possibly regional economies through trade, and instilling hope in their future. This study investigates the effects of Syrian refugee entrepreneurs on host communities' business sectors, focusing on Turkey. Specifically, we examine entrepreneurship in general and its role in the country's economy. Because Turkey is the most popular resettlement destination for Syrian refugees, this study will shed light on the challenges of successful migrant entrepreneurship in Turkey and their role in the business sector. The research relies on a mixed-method approach which helps identify recurring themes, favorable results, and conflicting results across methods, allowing us to draw accurate conclusions. The study will adopt a quantitative method in collecting numerical data from Syrian refugees in Turkey. The self-administered survey would be translated into Arabic to ensure that the respondents understood the questions and possible replies. The research will use survey questionnaires to gather the majority of the data. These surveys would have closed-ended questions with nominal ratio and Likert scales. The data will be analyzed using linear regression and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to ascertain the role of Syrian entrepreneurs in the business sectors of Turkey. The research will use the findings to make future recommendations. Syrian entrepreneurs, among the migrant entrepreneurs, contribute to the labor market, the majority of whom are young people. This research noted the significant participation of Syrian immigrant women in the entrepreneurship sector. The previous experience of Syrians in the field of trade and running their own business plays a vital role in the success of their business in the host countries. The study shows that Syrian entrepreneurs could integrate effectively into the various Turkish business sectors and could rely on themselves, open and manage their projects, and market them in the Turkish market. Syrian entrepreneurs consider that the investment and labor laws, commercial arrangements, and facilities for obtaining financial resources in Turkey need to be more flexible and available to immigrant entrepreneurs.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, immigration, Syrian, Turkey, refugees, investors, socio-economic benefits, unemployment

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Aylin W Sahin, Alice Jaeger, Laura Nyhan, Gregory Belt, Steffen Münch, Elke K. Arendt

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Our current food systems cause an increase in malnutrition resulting in more people being overweight or obese in the Western World. Additionally, our natural resources are under enormous pressure and the greenhouse gas emission increases yearly with a significant contribution to climate change. Hence, transforming our food systems is of highest priority. Plant-based food products have a lower environmental impact compared to their animal-based counterpart, representing a more sustainable protein source. However, most plant-based protein ingredients, such as soy and pea, are lacking indispensable amino acids and extremely limited in their functionality and, thus, in their food application potential. They are known to have a low solubility in water and change their properties during processing. The low solubility displays the biggest challenge in the development of milk alternatives leading to inferior protein content and protein quality in dairy alternatives on the market. Moreover, plant-based protein ingredients often possess an off-flavour, which makes them less attractive to consumers. EverPro, a plant-protein isolate originated from Brewer’s Spent Grain, the most abundant by-product in the brewing industry, represents the missing piece in the plant protein portfolio. With a protein content of >85%, it is of high nutritional value, including all indispensable amino acids which allows closing the protein quality gap of plant proteins. Moreover, it possesses high techno-functional properties. It is fully soluble in water (101.7 ± 2.9%), has a high fat absorption capacity (182.4 ± 1.9%), and a foaming capacity which is superior to soy protein or pea protein. This makes EverPro suitable for a vast range of food applications. Furthermore, it does not cause changes in viscosity during heating and cooling of dispersions, such as beverages. Besides its outstanding nutritional and functional characteristics, the production of EverPro has a much lower environmental impact compared to dairy or other plant protein ingredients. Life cycle assessment analysis showed that EverPro has the lowest impact on global warming compared to soy protein isolate, pea protein isolate, whey protein isolate, and egg white powder. It also contributes significantly less to freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication and land use compared the protein sources mentioned above. EverPro is the prime example of sustainable ingredients, and the type of plant protein the food industry was waiting for: nutritious, multi-functional, and environmentally friendly.

Keywords: plant-based protein, upcycled, brewers' spent grain, low environmental impact, highly functional ingredient

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Hassan Nour, Nouh Mounadi, Oussama Abchir, Belaidi Salah, Samir Chtita

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Cholinesterase enzymes are biological catalysts essential for the transformation of acetylcholine, which is a neurotransmitter implicated in memory and learning, into acetic acid and choline, altering the neurotransmission process in Alzheimer’s disease patients. Therefore, inhibition of cholinesterase enzymes is a relevant strategy for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The current investigation aims to explore potential Cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitors through a comprehensive computational approach. Forty-nine phytoconstituents extracted from Cannabis sativa L were in-silico screened using molecular docking, pharmacokinetic and toxicological analysis to evaluate their possible inhibitory effect towards the cholinesterase enzymes. Two phytoconstituents belonging to cannabinoid derivatives were revealed to be promising candidates for Alzheimer therapy by acting as cholinesterase inhibitors. They have exhibited high binding affinities towards the cholinesterase enzymes and showed their ability to interact with key residues involved in cholinesterase enzymatic activity. In addition, they presented good ADMET profiles allowing them to be promising oral drug candidates. Furthermore, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were executed to explore their interactions stability under mimetic biological conditions and thus support our findings. To corroborate the docking results, the binding free energy corresponding to the more stable ligand-ChE complexes was re-estimated by applying the MM-PBSA method. MD and MM-PBSA studies affirmed that the ligand-ChE recognition is spontaneous reaction leading to stable complexes. The conducted investigations have led to great findings that would strongly guide the pharmaceutical industries towards the rational development of potent anti-Alzheimer agents.

Keywords: alzheimer’s disease, molecular docking, cannabis sativa l, cholinesterase inhibitors

Procedia PDF Downloads 59

Authors: Chiyoung Kim, Jaegeol Yim

Abstract:

Bus service is often either main or the only public transportation available in cities. In metropolitan areas, both subways and buses are available whereas in the medium sized cities buses are usually the only type of public transportation available. Bus Information Systems (BIS) provide current locations of running buses, efficient routes to travel from one place to another, points of interests around a given bus stop, a series of bus stops consisting of a given bus route, and so on to users. Thanks to BIS, people do not have to waste time at a bus stop waiting for a bus because BIS provides exact information on bus arrival times at a given bus stop. Therefore, BIS does a lot to promote the use of buses contributing to pollution reduction and saving natural resources. BIS implementation costs a huge amount of budget as it requires a lot of special equipment such as road side equipment, automatic vehicle identification and location systems, trunked radio systems, and so on. Consequently, medium and small sized cities with a low budget cannot afford to install BIS even though people in these cities need BIS service more desperately than people in metropolitan areas. It is possible to provide BIS service at virtually no cost under the assumption that everybody carries a smartphone and there is at least one person with a smartphone in a running bus who is willing to reveal his/her location details while he/she is sitting in a bus. This assumption is usually true in the real world. The smartphone penetration rate is greater than 100% in the developed countries and there is no reason for a bus driver to refuse to reveal his/her location details while driving. We have developed a mobile app that periodically reads values of sensors including GPS and sends GPS data to the server when the bus stops or when the elapsed time from the last send attempt is greater than a threshold. This app detects the bus stop state by investigating the sensor values. The server that receives GPS data from this app has also been developed. Under the assumption that the current locations of all running buses collected by the mobile app are recorded in a database, we have also developed a web site that provides all kinds of information that most BISs provide to users through the Internet. The development environment is: OS: Windows 7 64bit, IDE: Eclipse Luna 4.4.1, Spring IDE 3.7.0, Database: MySQL 5.1.7, Web Server: Apache Tomcat 7.0, Programming Language: Java 1.7.0_79. Given a start and a destination bus stop, it finds a shortest path from the start to the destination using the Dijkstra algorithm. Then, it finds a convenient route considering number of transits. For the user interface, we use the Google map. Template classes that are used by the Controller, DAO, Service and Utils classes include BUS, BusStop, BusListInfo, BusStopOrder, RouteResult, WalkingDist, Location, and so on. We are now integrating the mobile app system and the web app system.

Keywords: bus information system, GPS, mobile app, web site

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