Search results for: temporary competitive advantage

Authors: Silvia Lucciarini, Antonio Corasaniti

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The issue of democracy in capitalist countries has once again become the focus of debate in recent years. A number of socio-economic and political tensions have triggered discussion of this topic from various perspectives and disciplines. Political developments, the rise of both right-wing parties and populism and the constant growth of inequalities in a context of welfare downsizing, have led scholars to question if European capitalist countries are really capable of creating and redistributing resources and look for elements that might make democratic capital in European countries more dense. The aim of the work is to shed light on the trajectories, intensity and convergence or divergence between political and associative participation, on one hand, and organization, on the other, as these constitute two of the main points of connection between the norms, values and actions that bind citizens to the state. Using the European Social Survey database, some studies have sought to analyse degrees of unionization by investigating the relationship between systems of industrial relations and vulnerable groups (in terms of value-oriented practices or political participation). This paper instead aims to investigate the relationship between union participation and civil/political participation, comparing union members and non-members and then distinguishing between employees and self-employed professionals to better understand participatory behaviors among different workers. The first component of the research will employ a multilinear logistic model to examine a sample of 10 countries selected according to a grid that combines the industrial relations models identified by Visser (2006) and the Welfare State systems identified by Esping-Andersen (1990). On the basis of this sample, we propose to compare the choices made by workers and their propensity to join trade unions, together with their level of social and political participation, from 2002 to 2016. In the second component, we aim to verify whether workers within the same system of industrial relations and welfare show a similar propensity to engage in civil participation through political bodies and associations, or if instead these tendencies take on more specific and varied forms. The results will allow us to see: (1) if political participation is higher among unionized workers than it is among the non-unionized. (2) what are the differences in unionisation and civil/political participation between self-employed, temporary and full-time employees and (3) whether the trajectories within industrial relations and welfare models display greater inclusiveness and participation, thereby confirming or disproving the patterns that have been documented among the different European countries.

Keywords: union membership, participation, democracy, industrial relations, welfare systems

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Authors: S. Oladoyinbo, A. A. Tijani

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Multilevel inverters (MLI) are used at high power application based on their operation. There are 3 main types of multilevel inverters (MLI); diode clamped, flying capacitor and cascaded MLI. A cascaded MLI requires the least number of components to achieve same number of voltage levels when compared to other types of MLI while the flying capacitor has the minimum harmonic distortion. However, maximizing the advantage of cascaded H-bridge MLI and flying capacitor MLI, an improved MLI can be achieved with fewer components and better performance. In this paper an improved MLI is presented by asymmetrically integrating a flying capacitor to a cascaded H-bridge MLI also integrating an auxiliary transformer to the main transformer to decrease the total harmonics distortion (THD) with increased number of output voltage levels. Furthermore, the system is incorporated with a hybrid time and climate based solar panel cleaner and power selector which intelligently manage the input of the MLI and clean the solar panel weekly ensuring the environmental factor effect on the panel is reduced to minimum.

Keywords: multilevel inverter, total harmonics distortion, cascaded h-bridge inverter, flying capacitor

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Authors: Ekaterina M. Myasnikova, Andrey A. Makashov, Alexander V. Spirov

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First manifestation of a segmentation pattern in the early Drosophila development is the formation of expression domains (along with the main embryo axis) of genes belonging to the trunk gene class. Highly variable expression of genes from gap family in early Drosophila embryo is strongly reduced by the start of gastrulation due to the gene cross-regulation. The dynamics of gene expression is described by a gene circuit model for a system of four gap genes. It is shown that for the formation of a steep and stationary border by the model it is necessary that there existed a nucleus (modeling point) in which the gene expression level is constant in time and hence is described by a stationary equation. All the rest genes expressed in this nucleus are in a dynamic equilibrium. The mechanism of border formation associated with the existence of a stationary nucleus is also confirmed by the experiment. An important advantage of this approach is that properties of the system in a stationary nucleus are described by algebraic equations and can be easily handled analytically. Thus we explicitly characterize the cross-regulation properties necessary for the robustness and formulate the conditions providing this effect through the properties of the initial input data. It is shown that our formally derived conditions are satisfied for the previously published model solutions.

Keywords: drosophila, gap genes, reaction-diffusion model, robustness

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Authors: Guneet Inder Jit Kaur, Kuldeep Singh, Sunil G. Purohit

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Being a collective phrase for Martial arts that originated from China, Wushu is a form of self-defense and an international (Olympic) sport. Having emerged as a competitive sport, the competitions are generally in two disciplines in Wushu, namely ‘taolu,’ which refers to the forms, and ‘sanda’, which refers to the sparring. Indeed, the competition at the elite level is challenging more mentally than physically. Being masters of their games, excellence at that level is immensely defined by the mental strength characterized by perseverance and passion (grit) along with the psychological wellbeing. Thus, research attempting to understand this relationship is important. The present study was aimed to investigate the relationship between grit and psychological wellbeing among elite Wushu players. The sample of the present study comprised of 35 elite wushu players from India. Out of the 35 players, 16 were females (45.7%), and 19 were males (54.3%), and all had represented at the National and International level. 14 players were from the event of Taolu, and 21 players were from the event of Sanda. The questionnaires used were the short grit scale (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009) and the flourishing scale for psychological wellbeing (Diener et. al., 2009). The statistics included Descriptive (Mean, Standard deviation) and Inferential analysis (correlation). The results highlighted the relationship between the two variables. The insights gained from this study indeed seem immensely helpful in adding to the research of the psychological profile of Elite wushu players and has implications for psychological interventions and mental training for the players.

Keywords: wushu, elite athletes, grit, psychological wellbeing, excellence

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Authors: D. Pazder

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The main assumption of the study is to examine the coherence between two aspects of spatial planning important in Poland. The first one is the need to realize a participatory planning paradigm, and the second is a global trend of the pro-ecological orientation of city development. The aim of the research is the verification of the possibility of finding the right balance between economic and socio-spatial dimensions of urban redefinition, especially within public green areas. The significance of the examination lies in the fact that there are a huge anthropopressure and overinvestment in downtown areas of big Polish cities. The methodology used in the research of a case study was the three-layered comparative analyses of spatial planning documents, participatory planning undertakings, soft and hard actions concerning a given area in the period of 2008-2020. The main findings are that there is a lack of satisfactory cooperation between the municipality and local communities, a connection between soft actions and investment in green public space, inhabitants are of high ecological consciousness but not so concerned about spatial planning legislation. The conclusion is that it is needed to provide real participation in spatial planning processes so as to take advantage of local communities’ activity and to combine more top-down and bottom-up actions so as to integrate people and educate them on how to act in favor of a common good in democratic citizenship.

Keywords: placemaking, participatory planning, anesthetization, public greenery

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Authors: Hsing-Hua Stella Chang, Mong-Ching Lin, Cher-Min Fong

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There has recently been a notable rise in the number of emerging-market industrial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have managed to upgrade their operations. Evolving from original equipment manufacturing (OEM) into value-added original or own brand manufacturing (OBM) in such firms represents a specific process of internationalization. The OEM-OBM upgrade requires development of a firm’s own brand. In this respect, the extant literature points out that emerging-market industrial marketers (latecomers) have developed some marketing capabilities, of which branding has been identified as one of the most important. In specific, an industrial non-brand marketer (OEM) marks the division of labor between manufacturing and branding (as part of marketing). In light of this discussion, this research argues that branding capability plays a critical role in supporting the evolution of manufacture upgrade. This is because a smooth transformation from OEM to OBM entails the establishment of strong brands through which branding capability is developed. Accordingly, branding capability can be exemplified as a series of processes and practices in relation to mobilizing branding resources and orchestrating branding activities, which will result in the establishment of business relationships, greater acceptance of business partners (channels, suppliers), and increased industrial brand equity in the firm as key resource advantages). For the study purpose, Taiwan was chosen as the research context, representing a typical case that exemplifies the industrial development path of more-established emerging markets, namely, transformation from OEM to OBM. This research adopted a two-phase research design comprising exploratory (a qualitative study) and confirmatory approaches (a survey study) The findings show that: Country-specific advantage is positively related to branding capability for internationalizing SMEs. Firm-specific advantage is positively related to branding capability for internationalizing SMEs. Hsing-Hua Stella Chang is Assistant Professor with National Taichung University of Education, International Master of Business Administration, (Yingcai Campus) No.227, Minsheng Rd., West Dist., Taichung City 40359, Taiwan, R.O.C. (phone: 886-22183612; e-mail: [email protected]). Mong-Ching Lin is PhD candidate with National Sun Yat-Sen University, Department of Business Management, 70 Lien-hai Rd., Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan, R.O.C. (e-mail: [email protected]). Cher-Min Fong is Full Professor with National Sun Yat-Sen University, Department of Business Management, 70 Lien-hai Rd., Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan, R.O.C. (e-mail: [email protected]). Branding capability is positively related to international performance for internationalizing SMEs. This study presents a pioneering effort to distinguish industrial brand marketers from non-brand marketers in exploring the role of branding capability in the internationalizing small and medium-sized industrial brand marketers from emerging markets. Specifically, when industrial non-brand marketers (OEMs) enter into a more advanced stage of internationalization (i.e., OBM), they must overcome disadvantages (liabilities of smallness, foreignness, outsidership) that do not apply in the case of incumbent developed-country MNEs with leading brands. Such critical differences mark the urgency and significance of distinguishing industrial brand marketers from non-brand marketers on issues relating to their value-adding branding and marketing practices in international markets. This research thus makes important contributions to the international marketing, industrial branding, and SME internationalization literature.

Keywords: brand marketers, branding capability, emerging markets, SME internationalization

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

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Cloud computing is the innovative and leading information technology model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort. In this paper, we aim at the development of workflow management system for cloud computing platforms based on our previous research on the dynamic allocation of the cloud computing resources and its workflow process. We took advantage of the HTML 5 technology and developed web-based workflow interface. In order to enable the combination of many tasks running on the cloud platform in sequence, we designed a mechanism and developed an execution engine for workflow management on clouds. We also established a prediction model which was integrated with job queuing system to estimate the waiting time and cost of the individual tasks on different computing nodes, therefore helping users achieve maximum performance at lowest payment. This proposed effort has the potential to positively provide an efficient, resilience and elastic environment for cloud computing platform. This development also helps boost user productivity by promoting a flexible workflow interface that lets users design and control their tasks' flow from anywhere.

Keywords: web-based, workflow, HTML5, Cloud Computing, Queuing System

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Authors: Kanika Taneja, V. K. Soni, S. D. Attri, Kafeel Ahmad, Shamshad Ahmad

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Aerosols represent an important component of earth-atmosphere system and have a profound impact on the global and regional climate. With the growing population and urbanization, the aerosol load in the atmosphere over the Indian region is found to be increasing. Several studies have reported that the aerosol optical depth over the northern part of India is higher as compared to the southern part. The northern India along the Indo-Gangetic plain is often influenced with dust transported from the Thar Desert in northwestern India and from Arabian Peninsula during the pre-monsoon season. Seasonal variations in aerosol optical and radiative properties were examined using data retrieved from ground based multi-wavelength Prede Sun/sky radiometer (POM-02) over Delhi, Rohtak, Jodhpur and Varanasi for the period April 2011-April 2013. These stations are part of the Skynet-India network of India Meteorological Department. The Sun/sky radiometer (POM-02) has advantage over other instruments that it can be calibrated on-site. These aerosol optical properties retrieved from skyradiometer observations are further used to analyze the Direct Aerosol Radiative Forcing (DARF) over the study locations.

Keywords: aerosol optical properties, indo- gangetic plain, radiative forcing, sky radiometer

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Authors: Amir Halabianfar, Jamshid Razmjoo

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In order to evaluate the competitive effects of Lambsqua on the germination and early growth of two wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties, an experiment was conducted in laboratory conditions in researches of agronomy, College of agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology in 2015. A laboratory experiment was conducted on a factorial arrangement in a randomized complete design with four replications. Testing factors include two wheat cultivars (Flat and Atila -4) and three level of Lambsqua (Chenopodium album) extract (30, 60 and 90 percent) plus control with no extract. Twenty-five seeds of each wheat varieties were placed in petri dish, then the root extract of lambsqua, which was prepared previously at three levels, was poured on the seeds in each petri dish. The result showed that allelopathic effect of Lambsquarter on germination, root, and shoot dry weight of two varieties was highly significant. Among varieties, the Atila–4 showed minimum germination at 60% while the Flat showed minimum germination at 90% concentration. In case of root dry weight, Atila–4 was more suppressed as compared to Flat at 60% concentration but at 90% concentration, the both wheat varieties were reduced non-significantly. Shoot dry weight of Flat were decreased non-significantly concentrations except Atila -4 that was more reduced at 60 % than 90% concentration.

Keywords: allelopathy, Chenopodium album, extract, germination, wheat, early growth

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Authors: Mennani Maha, Attak El Houssain

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Under the massive effect of the Covid-19 health crisis, marked by a loss of competitiveness, a slowdown in growth and an accumulation of the repercussions of socio-economic inequalities, a considerable effort must be combined, in Morocco, to put into perspective macro-political, macro-economic and social opportunities. The development of a new economic and social approach is essential in order to respond to the authenticity of the new development model that will be used by the country. The appropriation of strategies of solidarity and social cohesion constitutes a participatory, competitive and inclusive approach to support the functionalities of the economic, social and political system. Therefore, the search for alternative financial resources has become a necessity to achieve the objectives of sustainable socio-economic growth on the one hand; and to promote, on the other hands, the dynamics, of large scale, social investments. The zakat remains a site of the Islamic economy dedicated to stimulating the bases of a collective adhesion of the population on the economic, as well as on the social level, thanks to a fair and equitable distribution of the zakat funds. However, Morocco is one of the few Muslim countries that has not yet had an institution for collecting and distributing this Islamic duty, which makes it difficult to measure the socio-economic impact of zakat. This theoretical document essentially ensures the development of the crucial utility of institutionalizing zakat in order to reinforce the objectives of social solidarity in Morocco in line with the process of conceptualizing a new development model.

Keywords: zakat, socio-economic development, solidarity, social investment

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Authors: Mamidi Ramakrishna Rao, Jagdish Mamidi

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With advancing technology, the market environment for wind power generation systems has become highly competitive. The industry has been moving towards higher wind generator power ratings, in particular, off-shore generator ratings. Current off-shore wind turbine generators are in the power range of 10 to 12 MW. Unlike traditional induction motors, slow-speed permanent magnet surface mounted (PMSM) high-power generators are relatively challenging and designed differently. In this paper, PMSM generator design features have been discussed and analysed. The focus attention is on armature windings, harmonics, and permanent magnet. For the power ratings under consideration, the generator air-gap diameters are in the range of 8 to 10 meters, and active material weigh ~60 tons and above. Therefore, material weight becomes one of the critical parameters. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique is used for weight reduction and performance improvement. Four independent variables have been considered, which are air gap diameter, stack length, magnet thickness, and winding current density. To account for core and teeth saturation, preventing demagnetization effects due to short circuit armature currents, and maintaining minimum efficiency, suitable penalty functions have been applied. To check for performance satisfaction, a detailed analysis and 2D flux plotting are done for the optimized design.

Keywords: offshore wind generator, PMSM, PSO optimization, design optimization

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Authors: June Tay, Ivy Chia

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There are numerous changes, both mental and physical, taking place when people age. We need to understand the different aspects required for healthy living, including meeting nutritional needs, regular physical activities to keep agility, sufficient rest and sleep to have physical and mental well-being, social engagement to avoid the risk of social isolation and depression, and access to healthcare to detect and manage chronic conditions. Promoting physical activities for an ageing population is necessary as many may have enjoyed sedentary lifestyles for some time. In our study, we evaluate the considerations when designing a computer vision video game for the elderly. We need to design some low-impact activities, such as stretching and gentle movements, because some elderly individuals may have joint pains or mobility issues. The exercise game should consist of simple movements that are easy to follow and remember. It should be fun and enjoyable so that they can be motivated to do some exercise. Social engagement can keep the elderly motivated and competitive, and they are more willing to engage in game exercises. Elderly citizens can compare their game scores and try to improve them. We propose a computer vision-based video game for the elderly that will capture and track the movement of the elderly hand pushing a ball on the screen into a circle. It can be easily set up using a PC laptop with a webcam. Our video game adhered to the design framework we employed, and it encompassed ease of use, a simple graphical interface, easy-to-play game exercise, and fun gameplay.

Keywords: about computer vision, video games, gerontology technology, caregiving

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Authors: Temidayo. O. Osunsanmi, Clinton Aigbavboa, Ayodeji Oke

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The construction industry is a renowned latecomer to the efficiency offered by the adoption of information technology. Whereas, the banking, manufacturing, retailing industries have keyed into the future by using digitization and information technology as a new approach for ensuring competitive gain and efficiency. The construction industry has yet to fully realize similar benefits because the adoption of ICT is still at the infancy stage with a major concentration on the use of software. Thus, this study evaluates the awareness and readiness of construction professionals towards embracing a full digitalization of the construction industry using construction 4.0. The term ‘construction 4.0’ was coined from the industry 4.0 concept which is regarded as the fourth industrial revolution that originated from Germany. A questionnaire was utilized for sourcing data distributed to practicing construction professionals through a convenience sampling method. Using SPSS v24, the hypotheses posed were tested with the Mann Whitney test. The result revealed that there are no differences between the consulting and contracting organizations on the readiness for adopting construction 4.0 concepts in the construction industry. Using factor analysis, the study discovers that adopting construction 4.0 will improve the performance of the construction industry regarding cost and time savings and also create sustainable buildings. In conclusion, the study determined that construction professionals have a low awareness towards construction 4.0 concepts. The study recommends an increase in awareness of construction 4.0 concepts through seminars, workshops and training, while construction professionals should take hold of the benefits of adopting construction 4.0 concepts. The study contributes to the roadmap for the implementation of construction industry 4.0 concepts in the South African construction industry.

Keywords: building information technology, Construction 4.0, Industry 4.0, smart site

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Authors: Juan Eduardo Rolon Rios, Fredy Alejandro Orjuela, Alexander Garcia Mariaca

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For banana and potato wastes, their peels are processed in order to make animal food with the condition that those wastes must not have started the decomposition process. One alternative to taking advantage of those wastes is to obtain a bioplastic based on starch from banana and potato shells. These products are 100% biodegradables, and researchers have been studying them for different applications, helping in the reduction of organic wastes and ordinary plastic wastes. Without petroleum affecting the prices of bioplastics, bioplastics market has a growing tendency and it is seen that it can keep this tendency in the medium term up to 350%. In this work, it will be shown the results for elasticity module and percent elongation for bioplastics obtained from a mixture of starch of bananas and potatoes peels, with glycerol as plasticizer. The experimental variables were the plasticizer percentage and the mixture between banana starch and potato starch. The results show that the bioplastics obtained can be used in different applications such as plastic bags or sorbets, verifying their admissible degradation percentages for each one of these applications. The results also show that they agree with the data found in the literature due to the fact that mixtures with a major amount of potato starch had the best mechanical properties because of the potato starch characteristics.

Keywords: bioplastics, fruit waste, mechanical testing, mechanical properties

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Authors: Yadgar Tayfur, Antony Darby, Tim Ibell, Mark Evernden, John Orr

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Fabric form-work is a technique to cast concrete structures with a great advantage of saving concrete material of up to 40%. This technique is particularly associated with the optimized concrete structures that usually have smaller cross-section dimensions than equivalent prismatic members. However, this can make the structural system produced from these members prone to smaller serviceability safety margins. Therefore, it is very important to understand the serviceability issue of non-prismatic concrete structures. In this paper, an analytical computer-based model to optimize concrete beams and to predict load-deflection behaviour of both prismatic and non-prismatic concrete beams is presented. The model was developed based on the method of sectional analysis and integration of curvatures. Results from the analytical model were compared to load-deflection behaviour of a number of beams with different geometric and material properties from other researchers. The results of the comparison show that the analytical program can accurately predict the load-deflection response of concrete beams with medium reinforcement ratios. However, it over-estimates deflection values for lightly reinforced specimens. Finally, the analytical program acceptably predicted load-deflection behaviour of on-prismatic concrete beams.

Keywords: fabric-formed concrete, continuous beams, optimisation, serviceability

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Authors: Guozhen Li, Philip Hall, Nick Miles, Tao Wu

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This paper presents a numerical investigation of two horizontally mounted four-lobed swirl pipes in terms of swirl induction effectiveness into flows passing through them. The swirl flows induced by the two swirl pipes have the potential to improve the efficiency of Clean-In-Place procedures in a closed processing system by local intensification of hydrodynamic impact on the internal pipe surface. Pressure losses, swirl development within the two swirl pipe, swirl induction effectiveness, swirl decay and wall shear stress variation downstream of two swirl pipes are analyzed and compared. It was found that a shorter length of swirl inducing pipe used in joint with transition pipes is more effective in swirl induction than when a longer one is used, in that it has a less constraint to the induced swirl and results in slightly higher swirl intensity just downstream of it with the expense of a smaller pressure loss. The wall shear stress downstream of the shorter swirl pipe is also slightly larger than that downstream of the longer swirl pipe due to the slightly higher swirl intensity induced by the shorter swirl pipe. The advantage of the shorter swirl pipe in terms of swirl induction is more significant in flows with a larger Reynolds Number.

Keywords: swirl pipe, swirl effectiveness, CFD, wall shear stress, swirl intensity

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Authors: Md Serajul Islam

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High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy is used for cancer patients. In our country’s prospect, we are using only cervices and breast cancer treatment by using HDR. The air kerma rate in air at a reference distance of less than a meter from the source is the recommended quantity for the specification of gamma ray source Ir-192 in brachytherapy. The absorbed dose for the patients is directly proportional to the air kerma rate. Therefore the air kerma rate should be determined before the first use of the source on patients by qualified medical physicist who is independent from the source manufacturer. The air kerma rate will then be applied in the calculation of the dose delivered to patients in their planning systems. In practice, high dose rate (HDR) Ir-192 afterloader machines are mostly used in brachytherapy treatment. Currently, HDR-Co-60 increasingly comes into operation too. The essential advantage of the use of Co-60 sources is its longer half-life compared to Ir-192. The use of HDRCo-60 afterloading machines is also quite interesting for developing countries. This work describes the dosimetry at HDR afterloading machines according to the protocols IAEA-TECDOC-1274 (2002) with the nuclides Ir-192 and Co-60. We have used 3 different measurement methods (with a ring chamber, with a solid phantom and in free air and with a well chamber) in dependence of each of the protocols. We have shown that the standard deviations of the measured air kerma rate for the Co-60 source are generally larger than those of the Ir-192 source. The measurements with the well chamber had the lowest deviation from the certificate value. In all protocols and methods, the deviations stood for both nuclides by a maximum of about 1% for Ir-192 and 2.5% for Co-60-Sources respectively.

Keywords: Ir-192 source, cancer, patients, cheap treatment cost

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Authors: Karel Šebesta, Jiří Žáček, Matuš Salva, Mohammad Housam

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Drivers of agricultural vehicles are exposed to continuous vibration caused by driving over rough terrain. The long-term effects of these vibrations could start with a decreased level of vigilance at work and could reach the level of several health problems. Therefore, eliminating the vibration to maximize the comfort of the driver is essential for better/longer performance. One of the modern damping systems, which can deal with this problem is the Semi-active (S/A) suspension system featuring a Magnetorheological (MR) damper. With this damper, the damping level can be adjusted using varying currents through the coil. Adjustments of the damping force can be carried out continuously based on the evaluated data (position and acceleration of seat) by the control algorithm. The advantage of this system is the wide dynamic range and the high speed of force response time. Compared to other S/A or active systems, the MR damper does not need as much electrical power, and the system is much simpler. This paper aims to prove the effectiveness of this damping system used in the tractor seat. The vibration testing stand was designed and manufactured specifically for this type of research, which is used to simulate vibrations with constant amplitude at variable frequency.

Keywords: magnetorheological damper, semi-active suspension, seat scissor mechanism, sky-hook

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Authors: Min Pan, An-Hsu Chen

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Burnout has been proved to be one of the factors that hinder the development and sport performances of athletes while moral disengagement is the psychological mechanism used by athletes to elevate the guilt caused by conducting the anti-social behaviors to gain competitive advantages and in sports which have both been discussed extensively. The sports devaluation in burnout may undermine the sportsmanship of athletes therefore may serve as one of factors of moral disengagement in sports. Nonetheless, the connection between athlete burnout and moral disengagement in sports is yet established. Hence, the study aims to investigate whether there is the correlation between athlete burnout and moral disengagement in sports. Participants of this study are 120 collegiate athletes who specialize in seven different sports (e.g., fence, boxing, taekwondo, and etc.) with average training hours of 3.7 per day and 4.5 days per week. Athlete Burnout Questionnaire and Moral Disengagement in Sports – Short were administrated as the research instruments. Data collected were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and step-wise regression. The results show, participants demonstrate mild to moderate burnout and moral disengagement in their perspective sports disciplines. Moreover, athletes specialize in different sports experience distinct burnout situations while there is no significant variation of moral disengagement in different sports. It is also found, moral disengagement in sports has significant and positive correlations with emotional and physical exhaustion as well as sports devaluation in athlete burnout. Furthermore, athlete burnout can positively predict moral disengagement in sports while sports devaluation plays an important role within. It can be concluded that, athlete burnout may contribute to their tendency of moral disengagement in sport. By relieving the burnout level may help improve their moral disengagement inclination in sports. The finding may contribute to the current literature regarding athlete burnout and moral disengagement in sports.

Keywords: athlete burnout, dehumanization, moral disengagement, reduced sense of accomplishment

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Authors: Atcharawan Phenwansuk

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The product design is important to the development of SME towards the global, because it made to the quality product to react the needs of consumers and could reduces cost in the production, making it more profitable. As a results, the business are competition advantage for more marketing. It also enhance image of product and firms to build its own brand products to be acceptable. The product was designed should be shape, size, colorful, and direct of target consumers. This is method to add value products to get popular and effective, because the beauty is first satisfaction which come from main shape and color of the design product, but the product was designed need to hold data and law combination of shape and color between artistic theory and satisfaction of consumers together. The design must consider the safety of life and asset of consumers the most important. From to use of designed products should be to consider the cost savings, convenient distance, transportation, routes (land, water or air) of living space on transport (capacity, volume, width, length of the car, truck and container, etc). The packaging must be can to prevent not damage of the products. If products is more large , maybe to design new packaging, which can easily disassembled for make smaller package such as designing the assembly. Products must be packed in the container for size standard for save costs, as well as the buyer can make transport and assembly of products to fit easily on your own.

Keywords: logistics process , pineapple’s leaves product, product design, satisfaction of consumers

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Authors: Saksham

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Concrete's versatility and affordability make it a highly competitive building material capable of meeting diverse requirements. However, the increasing demands placed on structures and the need for enhanced durability and performance have driven the development of distinct cementitious materials and concrete composites. One significant aspect of this advancement is the utilization of waste materials from industries, such as fly ash, to improve concrete's properties. Fly ash, a byproduct of coal combustion can enhance concrete's strength and durability while reducing environmental impact. Additionally, steel fibers can enhance concrete's toughness and crack resistance, contributing to improved structural performance. The experimental study aims to optimize the proportion of ingredients in M30-grade concrete, incorporating fly ash and steel fibers. By varying fly ash content (10% to 30%) and steel fiber dosage (0% to 1.5%), the research seeks to determine the optimal combination for achieving the desired compressive strength. Two sets of experiments are conducted: one focusing on varying fly ash content while keeping steel fiber dosage constant, and the other focusing on varying steel fiber dosage while keeping other parameters fixed. Through systematic testing, molding, curing, and evaluation according to specified standards, the research aims to analyze the impact of fly ash and steel fibers on concrete's compressive strength. The findings have the potential to inform engineers about optimized concrete mix designs that balance performance, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability, advancing toward more resilient and environmentally friendly building practices.

Keywords: concrete, sustainability, durability, compressive strength

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Authors: Salamah Ansari

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In absence of a comprehensive international legal regime for sovereign debt restructuring, majority of the complications arising from sovereign debt restructuring are frequently left to the uncertain market forces. The resort to market forces for sovereign debt restructuring has led to a phenomenal increase in litigations targeting assets of defaulting sovereign nations, internationally across jurisdictions with the first major wave of lawsuits against sovereigns in the 1980s with the Latin American crisis. Recent experiences substantiate that majority of obstacles faced during sovereign debt restructuring process are caused by inefficient creditor coordination and collective action problems. Collective action problems manifest as grab race, rush to exits, holdouts, the free rider problem and the rush to the courthouse. On defaulting, for a nation to successfully restructure its debt, all the creditors involved must accept some reduction in the value of their claims. As a single holdout creditor has the potential to undermine the restructuring process, hold-out creditors are snowballing with the increasing probability of earning high returns through litigations. This necessitates a mechanism to avoid holdout litigations and reinforce collective action on the part of the creditor. This can be done either through a statutory reform or through market-based contractual approach. In absence of an international sovereign bankruptcy regime, the impetus is mostly on inclusion of collective action clauses in debt contracts. The preference to contractual mechanisms vis- a vis a statutory approach can be explained with numerous reasons, but that's only part of the puzzle in trying to understand the economics of the underlying system. The contractual approach proposals advocate the inclusion of certain clauses in the debt contract for an orderly debt restructuring. These include clauses such as majority voting clauses, sharing clauses, non- acceleration clauses, initiation clauses, aggregation clauses, temporary stay on litigation clauses, priority financing clauses, and complete revelation of relevant information. However, voluntary market based contractual approach to debt workouts has its own complexities. It is a herculean task to enshrine clauses in debt contracts that are detailed enough to create an orderly debt restructuring mechanism while remaining attractive enough for creditors. Introduction of collective action clauses into debt contracts can reduce the barriers in efficient debt restructuring and also have the potential to improve the terms on which sovereigns are able to borrow. However, it should be borne in mind that such clauses are not a panacea to the huge institutional inadequacy that persists and may lead to worse restructuring outcomes.

Keywords: sovereign debt restructuring, collective action clauses, hold out creditors, litigations

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Authors: Jie Huo, Jonathan Wu

Abstract:

Segmentation of anatomical structures in medical images is essential for scientific inquiry into the complex relationships between biological structure and clinical diagnosis, treatment and assessment. As a method of incorporating the prior knowledge and the anatomical structure similarity between a target image and atlases, multi-atlas segmentation has been successfully applied in segmenting a variety of medical images, including the brain, cardiac, and abdominal images. The basic idea of multi-atlas segmentation is to transfer the labels in atlases to the coordinate of the target image by matching the target patch to the atlas patch in the neighborhood. However, this technique is limited by the pairwise registration between target image and atlases. In this paper, a novel multi-atlas segmentation approach is proposed by introducing a dynamic energy model. First, the target is mapped to each atlas image by minimizing the dynamic energy function, then the segmentation of target image is generated by weighted fusion based on the energy. The method is tested on MICCAI 2012 Multi-Atlas Labeling Challenge dataset which includes 20 target images and 15 atlases images. The paper also analyzes the influence of different parameters of the dynamic energy model on the segmentation accuracy and measures the dice coefficient by using different feature terms with the energy model. The highest mean dice coefficient obtained with the proposed method is 0.861, which is competitive compared with the recently published method.

Keywords: brain MRI segmentation, dynamic energy model, multi-atlas segmentation, energy minimization

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Authors: Byeongju Choi, Sanggil Lee, Kyung-Eun Lee

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Introduction: In the republic of Korea, the number of workers in the beauty industry has been increasing. Because the prevalence of hepatitis B carriers in Korea is higher than in other countries, the risk of blood-borne infection including viral hepatitis B and C, among the workers by using the sharp and contaminated instruments during procedure can be expected among beauty salon workers. However, the health care policies for the workers to prevent the blood-borne infection are not established due to the lack of evidences. Moreover, the workers in hair and nail salon were mostly employed at small businesses, where national mandatory systems or policies for workers’ health management are not applied. In this study, the risk of the viral hepatitis B and C from the job experiencing the hair and nail procedures in the mortality was assessed. Method: We conducted a retrospective review of the job histories and causes of death in the female deaths from 2006-2016. 132,744 of female deaths who had one more job experiences during their lifetime were included in this study. Job histories were assessed using the employment insurance database in Korea Employment Information Service (KEIS) and the causes of death were in death statistics produced by Statistics Korea. Case group (n= 666) who died from viral hepatitis was classified the death having record involved in ‘B15-B19’ as a cause of deaths based on Korean Standard Classification of Diseases(KCD) with the deaths from other causes, control group (n=132,078). The group of the workers in the beauty service industry were defined as the employees who had ever worked in the industry coded as ‘9611’ based on Korea Standard Industry Classification (KSIC) and others were others. Other than job histories, birth year, marital status, education level were investigated from the death statistics. Multiple logistic regression analysis were used to assess the risk of deaths from viral hepatitis in the case and control group. Result: The number of the deaths having ever job experiences at the hair and nail salon was 255. After adjusting confounders of age, marital status and education, the odds ratio(OR) for deaths from viral hepatitis was quite high in the group having experiences with working in the beauty service industry with 3.14(95% confidence interval(CI) 1.00-9.87). Other associated factors with increasing the risk of deaths from viral hepatitis were low education level(OR=1.34, 95% CI 1.04-1.73), married women (OR=1.42, 95% CI 1.02-1.97). Conclusion: The risk of deaths from viral hepatitis were high in the workers in the beauty service industry but not statistically significant, which might attributed from the small number of workers in beauty service industry. It was likely that the number of workers in beauty service industry could be underestimated due to their temporary job position. Further studies evaluating the status and the incidence of viral infection among the workers with consideration of the vertical transmission would be required.

Keywords: beauty service, viral hepatitis, blood-borne infection, viral infection

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Authors: Terri Cole, Fay Sweeting

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Abuse of position for sexual gain by police is defined as behavior involving individuals taking advantage of their role to pursue a sexual or improper relationship. Previous research has considered whether it involves ‘bad apples’ - individuals with poor moral ethos or ‘bad barrels’ – broader organizational flaws which may unconsciously allow, minimize, or do not effectively deal with such behavior. Low level sexual misconduct (e.g., consensual sex on duty) is more common than more serious offences (e.g., rape), yet the impact of such behavior can have severe implications not only for those involved but can also negatively undermine public confidence in the police. This ongoing, collaborative research project has identified variables from 514 historic case files from 35 UK police forces in order to identify potential risk indicators which may lead to such behavior. Quantitative analysis using logistic regression and the Cox proportion hazard model has resulted in the identification of specific risk factors of significance in prediction. Factors relating to both perpetrator background such as a history of intimate partner violence, debt, and substance misuse coupled with in work behavior such as misusing police systems increase the risk. Findings are able to provide pragmatic recommendations for those tasked with identifying potential or investigating suspected perpetrators of misconduct.

Keywords: abuse of position, forensic psychology, misconduct, sexual abuse

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Authors: Mogale Sabone, Thabiso Ntlole

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The pressure from globalization has made manufacturing organizations to move towards three major competitive arenas: quality, cost, and responsiveness. Quality is a universal value and has become a global issue. In order to survive and be able to provide customers with good products, manufacturing organizations’ supporting systems, tools, and structures it uses must grow or evolve. The majority of quality management concepts and strategies that are practiced recently are aimed at detecting and correcting problems which already exist and serve to limit losses. In agile manufacturing environment there is no room for defect and error so it needs a quality management which is proactively directed at problem prevention. This proactive quality management avoids losses by focusing on failure prevention, virtual elimination of the possibility of premature failure, mistake-proofing, and assuring consistently high quality in the definition and design of creation processes. To achieve this, a decision support tool for quality control and management is suggested. Current decision support tools/methods used by most manufacturing companies in Botswana for quality management and control are not integrated, for example they are not consistent since some tests results data is recorded manually only whilst others are recorded electronically. It is only a set of procedures not a tool. These procedures cannot offer interactive decision support. This point brings to light the aim of this research which is to develop a framework which will help manufacturing companies in Botswana build a decision support tool for quality control and management.

Keywords: decision support tool, manufacturing, quality control, quality management

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Authors: Vikram Chowdhary, Marek Vins

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The profitability of the pharmaceutical drug business has attracted considerable interest, but it also faces significant challenges. Counterfeiters take advantage of the industry's vulnerabilities, which are further exacerbated by the globalization of the market, online trading, and complex supply chains. Governments and organizations worldwide are dedicated to creating a secure environment that ensures a consistent and genuine supply of pharmaceutical products. In 2019, the European authorities implemented regulation EU 2016/161 to strengthen traceability and transparency throughout the entire drug supply chain. This regulation requires the addition of enhanced security features, such as serializing items to the saleable unit level or individual packs. Despite these efforts, the incidents of pharmaceutical counterfeiting continue to rise globally, with regulated territories being particularly affected. This paper examines the effectiveness of the drug serialization system implemented by European authorities. By conducting a systematic literature review, we assess the implementation of drug serialization and explore the potential benefits of integrating emerging digital technologies, such as RFID and Blockchain, to improve traceability and management. The objective is to fortify pharmaceutical supply chains against counterfeiters and manipulators and ensure their security.

Keywords: blockchain, counterfeit drugs, EU drug serialization, pharmaceutical industry, RFID

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Authors: Antonios Panagopoulos, Stamoulis Georgios

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Dyslexia's diagnosis is made taking into account reading and writing skills and is carried out by qualified scientific staff. In addition, there are screening tests that are designed to give an indication of possible dyslexic difficulties. Their main advantage is that they create a pleasant environment for the user and reduce the stress that can lead to false results. An online application was created for the first time, as far as authors' knowledge, for screening Dyslexia in Greek high school students named «DyScreTe». Thus, a sample of 240 students between 16 and 18 years old in Greece was taken, of which 120 were diagnosed with dyslexia by an official authority in Greece, and 120 were typically developed. The main hypothesis that was examined is that students who were diagnosed with dyslexia by official authorities in Greece had significantly lower performance in the respective software tests. The results verified the hypothesis we made those children with dyslexia in each test had a lower performance com-pared to the type developed in successful responses, except for the intelligence test. After random sampling, it was shown that the new online application was a useful tool for screening dyslexia. However, computer evaluation cannot replace the diagnosis by a professional expert, but with the results of this application, the interdisciplinary team that deals with the differential diagnosis will create and evaluate, at a later time, the appropriate intervention program.

Keywords: dyslexia, screening tests, deficits, application

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Authors: Shazia Shinwari

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In the 21st century, South Asia is becoming one of the rising sub-regions of the world. In the whole of Asia, South Asia is going to be the center part of opportunities, development, and challenges. The increasing economy and its geopolitical importance are changing the landscape of South Asia. Despite intensifying the opportunities and development, the region is also facing the challenges of security, poverty, and conflicts. It is one of the most populated sub-regions and has many internal conflicts because of which the region remains for a long time a least developed region in the world. But now South Asia is transforming into the developing process and trying to utilize its potentials and to remove the hurdles in the way of development. South Asia is one of the distinctive regions of the world and could play an important role at the global level if the potentials of the region are properly utilized. South Asia is one of the most important regions of the world and assumed more importance after the British withdrawal from the region. Now South Asia is playing an important role in world politics due to its strategic and geographical location. That is why the importance of this region in the international political systems cannot be ignored. Day by day, changes have been taking place in the structure of the global economy, and South Asia could take advantage of these changes to advance as an economic region. For this, South Asia will need to look at its history, and that changes, particularly in the India and Pakistan relations, are necessary for the development of the South Asian region. Despite having challenges in the region, South Asia is also rising as the land of opportunities and development if the potentials of the region are properly utilized and smoothen the way for regional integration.

Keywords: challenges, development, opportunities, South Asia

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Authors: Jonathan J. Foo, Keng Hao Chew

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Interest in virtual reality (VR) technologies as virtual learning environments have been on the rise in recent years. With thanks to the aggressively competitive consumer electronics environment, VR technology has been made affordable and accessible to the average person with developments like Google Cardboard and Oculus Go. While the promise of virtual access to unique virtual learning environments with the benefits of experiential learning sounds extremely attractive, there are still concerns over user comfort in the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains. Reports of motion sickness and short durations create doubt and have stunted its growth. In this paper, a multidimensional framework is proposed for the evaluation of VR learning environments within the three dimensions: tactual quality, didactic quality, and autodidactic quality. This paper further proposes a mixed-methods experimental research plan that sets out to evaluate a virtual reality training simulator in the context of amateur sports fencing. The study will investigate if an immersive VR learning environment can effectively simulate an authentic learning environment suitable for instruction, practice, and assessment while providing the user comfort in the tactual, didactic, and autodidactic dimensions. The models and recommendations developed for this study are designed in the context of fencing, but the potential impact is a guide for the future design and evaluation of all VR developments across sports and technical classroom education.

Keywords: autodidactic quality, didactic quality, tactual quality, virtual reality

Procedia PDF Downloads 119