Search results for: resource dependency theory

Authors: Shantam Gupta

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The objective of this study is to address the critical need for automation in the domestic food processing sector and study its impact. Food is the one of the most basic physiological needs essential for the survival of a living being. Some of them have the capacity to prepare their own food (like most plants) and henceforth are designated as primary food producers; those who depend on these primary food producers for food form the primary consumers’ class (herbivores). Some of the organisms relying on the primary food are the secondary food consumers (carnivores). There is a third class of consumers called tertiary food consumers/apex food consumers that feed on both the primary and secondary food consumers. Humans form an essential part of the apex predators and are generally at the top of the food chain. But still further disintegration of the food habits of the modern human i.e. Homo sapiens, reveals that humans depend on other individuals for preparing their own food. The old notion of eating raw/brute food is long gone and food processing has become very trenchant in lives of modern human. This has led to an increase in dependence on other individuals for ‘processing’ the food before it can be actually consumed by the modern human. This has led to a further shift of humans in the classification of food chain of consumers. The effects of the shifts shall be systematically investigated in this paper. The processing of food has a direct impact on the economy of the individual (consumer). Also most individuals depend on other processing individuals for the preparation of food. This dependency leads to establishment of a vital link of dependency in the food web which when altered can adversely affect the food web and can have dire consequences on the health of the individual. This study investigates the challenges arising out due to this dependency and the impact of food processing on the economy of the individual. A comparison of Industrial food processing and processing at domestic platforms (households and restaurants) has been made to provide an idea about the present scenario of automation in the food processing sector. A lot of time and energy is also consumed while processing food at home for consumption. The high frequency of consumption of meals (greater than 2 times a day) makes it even more laborious. Through the medium of this study a pressing need for development of an automatic cooking machine is proposed with a mission to reduce the inter-dependency & human effort of individuals required for the preparation of food (by automation of the food preparation process) and make them more self-reliant The impact of development of this product has also further been profoundly discussed. Assumption used: The individuals those who process food also consume the food that they produce. (They are also termed as ‘independent’ or ‘self-reliant’ modern human beings.)

Keywords: automation, food processing, impact on economy, processing individual

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Authors: M. Münch, R. Brandt

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Martensitic steels with an ultimate tensile strength beyond 2000 MPa are applied in the powertrain of vehicles due to their excellent fatigue strength and high creep resistance. However, the creep controlling mechanism in martensitic steels at ambient temperatures up to 423 K is not evident. The purpose of this study is to review the low temperature creep (LTC) behavior of martensitic steels at temperatures from 363 K to 523 K. Thus, the validity of a logarithmic creep law is reviewed and the stress and temperature dependence of the creep parameters α and β are revealed. Furthermore, creep tests are carried out, which include stepped changes in temperature or stress, respectively. On one hand, the change of the creep rate due to a temperature step provides information on the magnitude of the activation energy of the LTC controlling mechanism and on the other hand, the stress step approach provides information on the magnitude of the activation volume. The magnitude, the temperature dependency, and the stress dependency of both material specific activation parameters may deliver a significant contribution to the disclosure of the nature of the LTC rate controlling mechanism.

Keywords: activation parameters, creep mechanisms, high strength steels, low temperature creep

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Authors: Leon C. Prieto, Simone T. A. Phipps

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There is a need to promote social entrepreneurship in order to solve some of the complex problems facing various countries in Africa (poverty, unemployment, crime, HIV, etc.). For example, one possible consequence of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Zimbabwe and elsewhere is a deterioration in the educational opportunities for orphans and other vulnerable children. Given that high returns are associated with education, the loss of education for a large segment of the population would likely worsen the already dire economic consequences of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Using a systems approach, this paper argues that social entrepreneurship can be used as a vehicle to promote national human resource development, which will assist in the alleviation of societal ills on the national level as well as throughout Africa.

Keywords: human resource development, pan-african, social entrepreneurship, social enterprise

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Authors: Oleksii Bychkov

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The fundamental difference between randomness and vagueness is that the former requires statistical research. These issues were studied by Zadeh L, Dubois D., Prad A. The theory of possibility works with expert assessments, hypotheses, etc. gives an idea of the characteristics of the problem situation, the nature of the goals and real limitations. Possibility theory examines experiments that are not repeated. The article discusses issues related to the formalization of a fuzzy, uncertain idea of reality. The author proposes to expand the classical model of the theory of possibilities by introducing a measure of necessity. The proposed model of the theory of possibilities allows us to extend the measures of possibility and necessity onto a Boolean while preserving the properties of the measure. Thus, upper and lower estimates are obtained to describe the fact that the event will occur. Knowledge of the patterns that govern mass random, uncertain, fuzzy events allows us to predict how these events will proceed. The article proposed for publication quite fully reveals the essence of the construction and use of the theory of probability and the theory of possibility.

Keywords: possibility, artificial, modeling, axiomatics, intellectual approach

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Authors: Leszek Chybowski, Artur Bejger, Katarzyna Gawdzińska

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Subversion analysis is a tool used in the TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) methodology. This article introduces the history and describes the process of subversion analysis, as well as function analysis and analysis of the resources, used at the design stage when generating possible undesirable situations. The article charts the course of subversion analysis when applied to a fuel injection nozzle of a marine engine. The work describes the fuel injector nozzle as a technological system and presents principles of analysis for the causes of a cracked tip of the nozzle body. The system is modelled with functional analysis. A search for potential causes of the damage is undertaken and a cause-and-effect analysis for various hypotheses concerning the damage is drawn up. The importance of particular hypotheses is evaluated and the most likely causes of damage identified.

Keywords: complex technical system, fuel injector, function analysis, importance analysis, resource analysis, sabotage analysis, subversion analysis, TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving)

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Authors: Rajkumar Ghosh

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Climate change has led to decreased water availability in the Gomti Nagar area of Uttar Pradesh, India. Climate change has reduced the amount of precipitation and increased the rate of evaporation. The region is heavily reliant on surface water sources (Gomti river, Sharda Canal) and groundwater. Efficient management of groundwater resources is crucial for addressing water shortages. These may include: Exploring alternative water sources, such as wastewater recycling and desalination, can help augment water supply and reduce dependency on rainfall-dependent sources. Promoting the use of water-efficient technologies in industries, agriculture, and water-efficient infrastructure in urban areas can contribute to reducing water demand and optimizing water use. Incorporating climate change considerations into urban planning and infrastructure development can help ensure water security in the face of future climate uncertainties. Addressing water scarcity in the Gomti Nagar area requires a multi-pronged approach that combines sustainable groundwater management practices, climate change adaptation strategies, and integrated water resource management. By implementing these measures, the region can work towards ensuring a more sustainable and reliable water supply in the context of climate change. Water is the most important natural resource for the existence of living beings in the Earth's ecosystem. On Earth, 1.2 percent of the water is drinkable, but only 0.3 percent is usable by people. Water scarcity is a growing concern in India due to the impact of climate change and over-exploitation of water resources. Excess groundwater withdrawal causes regular declines in groundwater level. Due to city boundary expansion and growing urbanization, the recharge point for groundwater tables is decreasing. Rainwater infiltration into the subsoil is also reduced by unplanned, uneven settlements in urban change.

Keywords: climate change, water scarcity, groundwater, rainfall, water supply

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Authors: S. Hamid Mirmohammadi, Shahrazad Tamjidzad

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This paper is concerned with the single-item continuous review inventory system in which demand is stochastic and discrete. The budget consumed for purchasing the ordered items is not restricted but it incurs extra cost when exceeding specific value. The unit purchasing price depends on the quantity ordered under the all-units discounts cost structure. In many actual systems, the budget as a resource which is occupied by the purchased items is limited and the system is able to confront the resource shortage by charging more costs. Thus, considering the resource shortage costs as a part of system costs, especially when the amount of resource occupied by the purchased item is influenced by quantity discounts, is well motivated by practical concerns. In this paper, an optimization problem is formulated for finding the optimal (R, Q) policy, when the system is influenced by the budget limitation and a discount pricing simultaneously. Properties of the cost function are investigated and then an algorithm based on a one-dimensional search procedure is proposed for finding an optimal (R, Q) policy which minimizes the expected system costs .

Keywords: (R, Q) policy, stochastic demand, backorders, limited resource, quantity discounts

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Authors: Ojin Kwon, Yong-Jin Yoon, Liu Xin, Zhang Hongbao

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Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is a short-range wireless communication around human body for various applications such as wearable devices, entertainment, military, and especially medical devices. WBAN attracts the attention of continuous health monitoring system including diagnostic procedure, early detection of abnormal conditions, and prevention of emergency situations. Compared to cellular network, WBAN system is more difficult to control inter- and inner-cell interference due to the limited power, limited calculation capability, mobility of patient, and non-cooperation among WBANs. In this paper, we compare the performance of resource allocation scheme based on several Pseudo Orthogonal Codewords (POCs) to mitigate inter-WBAN interference. Previously, the POCs are widely exploited for a protocol sequence and optical orthogonal code. Each POCs have different properties of auto- and cross-correlation and spectral efficiency according to its construction of POCs. To identify different WBANs, several different pseudo orthogonal patterns based on POCs exploits for resource allocation of WBANs. By simulating these pseudo orthogonal resource allocations of WBANs on MATLAB, we obtain the performance of WBANs according to different POCs and can analyze and evaluate the suitability of POCs for the resource allocation in the WBANs system.

Keywords: wireless body area network, body sensor network, resource allocation without feedback, interference mitigation, pseudo orthogonal pattern

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Authors: Ali Nouri

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Neuroeducation is one of the most exciting research fields which is continually evolving. However, there is a need to develop its theoretical bases in connection to practice. The present paper is a starting attempt in this regard to provide a space from which to think about neuroeducational theory and invoke more investigation in this area. Accordingly, a comprehensive theory of neuroeducation could be defined as grouping or clustering of concepts and propositions that describe and explain the nature of human learning to provide valid interpretations and implications useful for educational practice in relation to philosophical aspects or values. Whereas it should be originated from the philosophical foundations of the field and explain its normative significance, it needs to be testable in terms of rigorous evidence to fundamentally advance contemporary educational policy and practice. There is thus pragmatically a need to include a course on neuroeducational theory into the curriculum of the field. In addition, there is a need to articulate and disseminate considerable discussion over the subject within professional journals and academic societies.

Keywords: neuroeducation studies, neuroeducational theory, theory building, neuroeducation research

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Authors: Lars Laußat, Manfred Helmus, Kamil Szczesny, Markus König

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As one result of the project “Reactive Construction Project Scheduling using Real Time Construction Logistic Data and Simulation”, a procedure for using data about uncertain resource availability assumptions in reactive scheduling processes has been developed. Prediction data about resource availability is generated in a formalized way using real-time monitoring data e.g. from auto-ID systems on the construction site and in the supply chains. The paper focuses on the formalization of the procedure for monitoring construction logistic processes, for the detection of disturbance and for generating of new and uncertain scheduling assumptions for the reactive resource constrained simulation procedure that is and will be further described in other papers.

Keywords: auto-ID, construction logistic, fuzzy, monitoring, RFID, scheduling

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Authors: Li Guo, Jianhong Wang, Dian Huang, Shengzhong Feng

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Computing networks as a new network architecture has shown great promise in boosting the utilization of different resources, such as computing, caching, and communications. To maximise the efficiency of resource orchestration in computing network control systems (CNCSs), this work proposes a dynamic orchestration strategy of a different resource based on task requirements from computing power requestors (CPRs). Specifically, computing power providers (CPPs) in CNCSs could share information with each other through communication channels on the basis of blockchain technology, especially their current idle resources. This dynamic process is modeled as a cooperative game in which CPPs have the same target of maximising long-term rewards by improving the resource utilization ratio. Meanwhile, the task requirements from CPRs, including size, deadline, and calculation, are simultaneously considered in this paper. According to task requirements, the proposed orchestration strategy could schedule the best-fitting resource in CNCSs, achieving the maximum long-term rewards of CPPs and the best quality of experience (QoE) of CRRs at the same time. Based on the EdgeCloudSim simulation platform, the efficiency of the proposed strategy is achieved from both sides of CPRs and CPPs. Besides, experimental results show that the proposed strategy outperforms the other comparisons in all cases.

Keywords: computing network control systems, resource orchestration, dynamic scheduling, blockchain, cooperative game

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Authors: Cheikh Bamba Dione, Alla Lo, Elhadji Mamadou Nguer, Siley O. Ba

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In this paper, we propose two neural machine translation (NMT) systems (French-to-Wolof and Wolof-to-French) based on sequence-to-sequence with attention and transformer architectures. We trained our models on a parallel French-Wolof corpus of about 83k sentence pairs. Because of the low-resource setting, we experimented with advanced methods for handling data sparsity, including subword segmentation, back translation, and the copied corpus method. We evaluate the models using the BLEU score and find that transformer outperforms the classic seq2seq model in all settings, in addition to being less sensitive to noise. In general, the best scores are achieved when training the models on word-level-based units. For subword-level models, using back translation proves to be slightly beneficial in low-resource (WO) to high-resource (FR) language translation for the transformer (but not for the seq2seq) models. A slight improvement can also be observed when injecting copied monolingual text in the target language. Moreover, combining the copied method data with back translation leads to a substantial improvement of the translation quality.

Keywords: backtranslation, low-resource language, neural machine translation, sequence-to-sequence, transformer, Wolof

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Authors: Divine Kwaku Ahadzie

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Project management (PM) as a concept has evolved from the early 20th Century into a recognized academic and professional discipline, and indications are that it has come to stay in the 21st Century as a world-wide paradigm shift for managing successful construction projects. However, notwithstanding the strong inroads that PM has made in legitimizing its academic and professional status in construction management practice, the underlining philosophies are still based on cases and conventional practices. An important theoretical issue yet to be addressed is the lack of a universal theory that offers philosophical legitimacy for the PM concept as a uniquely specialized management concept. Here, it is hypothesized that the law of entropy, the theory of uncertainties and the theory of risk management offer plausible explanations for addressing the lacuna of what constitute PM theory. The theoretical bases of these plausible underlying theories are argued and attempts made to establish the functional relationships that exist between these theories and the PM concept. The paper then draws on data related to the success and/or failure of a number of construction projects to validate the theory.

Keywords: concepts, construction, project management, universal theory

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Authors: Sarma Binti Aralas

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The relationship between property rights and trade specialization is examined for developing and developed countries using panel data analysis. Property rights is measured using the international property rights index while trade specialization is measured using the comparative advantage index. Cross country differences in property rights are hypothesized to lead to differences in trade specialization. Based on the argument that a weak protection of natural resources implies greater trade in resource-intensive goods, developing countries with less defined property rights are hypothesized to have a comparative advantage in resource-based exports while countries with more defined property rights will not have an advantage in resource-intensive goods. Evidence suggests that developing countries with weaker environmental protection index but are rich in natural resources do specialize in the trade of resource-intensive goods. The finding suggests that institutional frameworks to increase the stringency of environmental protection of resources may be needed to diversify exports away from the trade of resource-intensive goods.

Keywords: environmental protection, panel data, renewable resources, trade specialization

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Authors: Mahinaz Saad

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Little empirical data exists regarding smartphone usage for news consumption in the UAE, and no previous research explored undergraduate female university students’ usage of smartphones. This represents a gap in the professional literature and makes it an important area to examine. Uses and Gratifications theory is used to study the motivations of consumers for adopting a particular type of communication tool. This theory is an audience-centred approach to understanding mass communication that assumes audiences are active consumers of media and explains why and how people seek out specific media to satisfy needs. This theory is particularly relevant given the rapid development of new communication technologies. Situated within this theoretical framework, this study utilised a quantitative research design to explore respondents’ (N=488) how and why respondents use their smartphones. Further, this study explored the relationship between mobile news use and the use of other mediums for news access and how different gratifications predict mobile hard news use and mobile soft news use. Results revealed that smartphones often replace traditional media as a news source and have become students’ primary source of news. Results also revealed that different gratifications can be used as a predictor of mobile hard news and soft news and that most students use their smartphones to access soft news. These results are fundamental in allowing us to predict possible future trends relating to news consumption in the UAE and the myriad ways in which the media landscape is changing.

Keywords: uses and gratifications, smartphones, university students, news consumption

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Authors: Choi Sang Long

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It is vital for Human Resource (HR) managers to address and overcome employees’ turnover intention in their organization. Ability to keep good employees is critical for ensuring success of the organization in future. People are seeking many ways of live that is meaningful and less complicated and this new lifestyle actually has an impact on how an employee must be motivated and managed. Therefore, this paper discusses extensively on the impact of human resource practices that can alter the negative effect on the organization due to high employees’ turnover. These critical practices are employees’ career development, performance management, training and a fair compensation scheme.

Keywords: turnover intention, career development, performance management, compensation, human resource management, organization

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Authors: Chin-Shan Lu, Yi-Pei Liu

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This study examines the factors influencing the adoption of MASS in Taiwan's shipping industry. Digital technology and unmanned vehicle advancements have enhanced efficiency and reduced environmental impact in the shipping industry. The IMO has set regulations to promote low-carbon emissions and autonomous ship technology. Using the TOE framework and DOI theory, a research model was constructed, and data from 132 Taiwanese shipping companies were collected via a questionnaire survey. A structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to examine the relationships between variables. Results show that technological and environmental factors significantly influence operators' attitudes toward MASS, while organizational factors impact their willingness to adopt. Enhancing technological support, internal resource allocation, top management support, and cost management are crucial for promoting adoption. This study identifies key factors and provides recommendations for adopting autonomous ships in Taiwan's shipping industry.

Keywords: MASS, technology-organization-environment, diffusion of innovations theory, shipping industry

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Authors: Festus M. Epetimehin

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Resources are essential materials required for production of goods and services. Effective allocation of these resources can engender the success of current business activities and its sustainability for future generation. The study examined effect of resource allocation of small agribusinesses on entrepreneurship development in Southwest Nigeria. Sample size of 385 was determined using Cochran’s formula. 350 valid copies of questionnaire were used in the analysis. In order to achieve the objective, research design (descriptive and cross sectional designs) was used to gather data for the study through the administration of questionnaire to respondents. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to investigate the objective of the study. The result obtained indicated that resource allocation by small agribusinesses had a substantial positive effect on entrepreneurship development with the p-value of (0.0000) which was less than the 5.0% critical value with a positive regression coefficient of 0.53. The implication of this is that the ability of the entrepreneurs to deploy their resources efficiently through adequate realization of better gross margin could enhance business activities and development. The study recommends that business owners still need some level of serious training and exposure on how to manage modern small agribusiness resources to enhance business performance. The intervention of Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) and other Agricultural institutions are needed in this regard.

Keywords: resource, resource allocation, small businesses, agriculture, entrepreneurship development

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Authors: Mehmet Izzettin Yilmazer, Emin Cadirli

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Zn-7wt.%Al-2.96wt.%Cu eutectic alloy was directionally solidified upwards with different temperature gradients (from 6.70 K/mm to 10.67 K/mm) at a constant growth rate (16.4 Km/s) and also different growth rate (from 8.3 micron/s to 166 micron/s) at a constant temperature gradient (10.67 K/mm) using a Bridgman–type growth apparatus.The values of eutectic spacing were measured from longitudinal and transverse sections of the samples. The dependency of microstructures on the G and V were determined with linear regression analysis and experimental equations were found as λl=8.953xVexp-0.49, λt=5.942xVexp-0.42 and λl=0.008xGexp-1.23, λt=0.024xGexp-0.93. The measurements of microhardness of directionally solidified samples were obtained by using a microhardness test device. The dependence of microhardness HV on temperature gradient and growth rate were analyzed. The dependency of microhardness on the G and V were also determined with linear regression analysis as HVl=110.66xVexp0.02, HVt=111.94xVexp0.02 and HVl=69.66xGexp0.17, HVt=68.86xGexp0.18. The experimental results show that the microhardness of the directionally solidified Zn-Al-Cu alloy increases with increasing the growth rate. The results obtained in this work were compared with the previous similar experimental results.

Keywords: directional solidification, eutectic alloys, microstructure, microhardness

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Authors: R. Manjula, Kaustav Bagchi, Sushant Ramesh, Anush Baskaran

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In the past century, the emergence of information technology has had a significant positive impact on human life. While companies tend to be more involved in the completion of projects, the turn of the century has seen importance being given to investment in information security policies. These policies are essential to protect important data from adversaries, and thus following these policies has become one of the most important attributes revolving around information security models. In this research, we have focussed on the factors affecting information security policy compliance in two models : The theory of planned behaviour and the integration of the social bond theory and the involvement theory into a single model. Finally, we have given a proposal of where these theories would be successful.

Keywords: information technology, information security, involvement theory, policies, social bond theory

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Authors: Zohreh Moghaddas, Morteza Yazdani, Farhad Hosseinzadeh

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Nowadays, data envelopment analysis (DEA) models featuring network structures have gained widespread usage for evaluating the performance of production systems and activities (Decision-Making Units (DMUs)) across diverse fields. By examining the relationships between the internal stages of the network, these models offer valuable insights to managers and decision-makers regarding the performance of each stage and its impact on the overall network. To further empower system decision-makers, the inverse data envelopment analysis (IDEA) model has been introduced. This model allows the estimation of crucial information for estimating parameters while keeping the efficiency score unchanged or improved, enabling analysis of the sensitivity of system inputs or outputs according to managers' preferences. This empowers managers to apply their preferences and policies on resources, such as inputs and outputs, and analyze various aspects like production, resource allocation processes, and resource efficiency enhancement within the system. The results obtained can be instrumental in making informed decisions in the future. The top result of this study is an analysis of infeasibility and incorrect estimation that may arise in the theory and application of the inverse model of data envelopment analysis with network structures. By addressing these pitfalls, novel protocols are proposed to circumvent these shortcomings effectively. Subsequently, several theoretical and applied problems are examined and resolved through insightful case studies.

Keywords: inverse models of data envelopment analysis, series network, estimation of inputs and outputs, efficiency, resource allocation, sensitivity analysis, infeasibility

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Authors: Ahlem Dhahri, Audrey Becuwe

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This study examines the adoption of sustainable purchasing practices among Tunisian SMEs, with a focus on assessing how environmental and social sustainability maturity affects the implementation of sustainable supplier selection (SSS) criteria. Using institutional theory to classify coercive, normative, and mimetic pressures, as well as emerging drivers and barriers, this study explores the institutional factors influencing sustainable purchasing practices and the specific barriers faced by Tunisian SMEs in this area. An exploratory, abductive qualitative research design was adopted for this multiple case study, which involved 19 semi-structured interviews with owners and managers of 17 Tunisian manufacturing SMEs. The Gioia method was used to analyze the data, thus enabling the identification of key themes and relationships directly from the raw data. This approach facilitated a structured interpretation of the institutional factors influencing sustainable purchasing practices, with insights drawn from the participants' perspectives. The study reveals that Tunisian SMEs are at different levels of sustainability maturity, with a significant impact on their procurement practices. SMEs with advanced sustainability maturity integrate both environmental and social criteria into their supplier selection processes, while those with lower maturity levels rely on mostly traditional criteria such as cost, quality, and delivery. Key institutional drivers identified include regulatory pressure, market expectations, and stakeholder influence. Additional emerging drivers—such as certifications and standards, economic incentives, environmental commitment as a core value, and group-wide strategic alignment—also play a critical role in driving sustainable procurement. Conversely, the study reveals significant barriers, including economic constraints, limited awareness, and resource limitations. It also identifies three main categories of emerging barriers: (1) logistical and supply chain constraints, including retailer/intermediary dependency, tariff regulations, and a perceived lack of direct responsibility in B2B supply chains; (2) economic and financial constraints; and (3) operational barriers, such as unilateral environmental responsibility, a product-centric focus and the influence of personal relationships. Providing valuable insights into the role of sustainability maturity in supplier selection, this study is the first to explore sustainable procurement practices in the Tunisian SME context. Integrating an analysis of institutional drivers, including emerging incentives and barriers, provides practical implications for SMEs seeking to improve sustainability in procurement. The results highlight the need for stronger regulatory frameworks and support mechanisms to facilitate the adoption of sustainable practices among SMEs in Tunisia.

Keywords: Tunisian SME, sustainable supplier selection, institutional theory, determinant, qualitative study

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Authors: Natasha Hazarika, Xiaoling Zhang

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Eco- innovations, unlike regular innovations, are not self-enforcing and are associated with the double externality problem. Therefore, it is emphasized that eco-innovations need government. intervention in the form of supportive policies on priority. Off late, factors like consumer demand, technological advancement as well as the competitiveness of the firms have been considered as equally important. However, the interaction among these driving forces has not been fully traced out. Also, the theory on eco-innovation is found to be at a nascent stage which does not resonate with its dynamics as it is traditionally studied under the neo- classical economics theory. Therefore, to begin with, insights for this research have been derived from the merits of ‘neo- classical economics’, ‘evolutionary approach’, and the ‘resource based view’ which revealed the issues pertaining to technological system lock- ins and firm- based capacities which usually remained undefined by the neo classical approach; it would be followed by determining how the policies (in the national level) and their instruments are designed in order to motivate firms to eco-innovate, by analyzing the innovation ‘friendliness’ of the policy style and the policy instruments as per the indicators provided in innovation literature by means of document review (content analysis) of the relevant policies introduced by the Chinese government. The significance of theoretical analysis lies in its ability to show why certain practices become dominant irrespective of gains or losses, and that of the policy analysis lies in its ability to demonstrate the credibility of govt.’s sticks, carrots and sermons for eco-innovation.

Keywords: firm competency, eco-innovation, policy, theory

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Authors: Shabnam

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The purpose of this study was to see importance of successful intelligence in education which can enhance achievement. There are a number of researches which have tried to apply psychological theories of education and many researches emphasized the role of thinking and intelligence. While going through the various researches, it was found that many students could learn more effectively than they do, if they were taught in a way that better matched their patterns of abilities. Attempts to apply psychological theories to education can falter on the translation of the theory into educational practice. Often, this translation is not clear. Therefore, when a program does not succeed, it is not clear whether the lack of success was due to the inadequacy of the theory or the inadequacy of the implementation of the theory. A set of basic principles for translating a theory into practice can help clarify just what an educational implementation should (and should not) look like. Sternberg’s theory of successful intelligence; analytical, creative and practical intelligence provides a way to create such a match. The results suggest that theory of successful intelligence provides successful interventions in classrooms and provides a proven model for gifted education. This article presents principles for translating a triarchic theory of successful intelligence into educational practice.

Keywords: successful intelligence, analytical, creative and practical intelligence, achievement, success, resilience

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Authors: Nelson F. F. Ebecken, Gilberto C. Pereira, Lucio P. de Andrade

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Bays, estuaries and coastal ecosystems are some of the most used and threatened natural systems globally. Its deterioration is due to intense and increasing human activities. This paper aims to monitor the socio-ecological in Brazil, model and simulate it through a multilayer network representing a DPSIR structure (Drivers, Pressures, States-Impacts-Responses) considering the concept of Management based on Ecosystems to support decision-making under the National/State/Municipal Coastal Management policy. This approach considers several interferences and can represent a significant advance in several scientific aspects. The main objective of this paper is the coupling of three different types of complex networks, the first being an ecological network, the second a social network, and the third a network of economic activities, in order to model the marine ecosystem. Multilayer networks comprise two or more "layers", which may represent different types of interactions, different communities, different points in time, and so on. The dependency between layers results from processes that affect the various layers. For example, the dispersion of individuals between two patches affects the network structure of both samples. A multilayer network consists of (i) a set of physical nodes representing entities (e.g., species, people, companies); (ii) a set of layers, which may include multiple layering aspects (e.g., time dependency and multiple types of relationships); (iii) a set of state nodes, each of which corresponds to the manifestation of a given physical node in a layer-specific; and (iv) a set of edges (weighted or not) to connect the state nodes among themselves. The edge set includes the intralayer edges familiar and interlayer ones, which connect state nodes between layers. The applied methodology in an existent case uses the Flow cytometry process and the modeling of ecological relationships (trophic and non-trophic) following fuzzy theory concepts and graph visualization. The identification of subnetworks in the fuzzy graphs is carried out using a specific computational method. This methodology allows considering the influence of different factors and helps their contributions to the decision-making process.

Keywords: marine ecosystems, complex systems, multilayer network, ecosystems management

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Authors: Yuhan Liu, Zhongde Wang

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This paper mainly analyzes the research and application of narrative theory in the field of urban space. This study used the PRISMA systematic review method, systematically studied 3098 Chinese literature through the search and screening of relevant domestic key literature databases, and reviewed the research status of narrative theory in urban space from three aspects: "theoretical perspective", "research object" and "research application". Finally, this paper points out the future development direction of narrative theory research based on the shortcomings of existing research in order to provide new ideas for future research.

Keywords: narrative theory, urban space, PRISMA, systematic review

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Authors: Morteza Rahiminejad

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There are over 1200 cities and municipalities all around Iran, including 30 mega cities, which municipal organizations, Interior ministries, and city councils supervise. Even so, there has been neither any research about the process of success nor performance assessment in municipalities. In this research an attempt is made to build a comprehensive theory (or model) to show the reasons or success process among the local governments. The present research is based on the contingency approach in which the relevant circumstances are important, and both environment and situations call for their own management methods. The methodology of research is grounded theory, which uses Atlas.ti software as a tool.

Keywords: success, municipality, Iran, theory building

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Authors: Volkan Uygun, H. Birkan Yilmaz, Tuna Tugcu

Abstract:

This study focuses on the development and use of algorithms that address the issue of resource management in response to emergency and disaster situations. The presented system, named Disaster Management Platform (DMP), takes the data from the data sources of service providers and distributes the incoming requests accordingly both to manage load balancing and minimize service time, which results in improved user satisfaction. Three different resource management algorithms, which give different levels of importance to load balancing and service time, are proposed for the study. The first one is the Minimum Distance algorithm, which assigns the request to the closest resource. The second one is the Minimum Load algorithm, which assigns the request to the resource with the minimum load. Finally, the last one is the Hybrid algorithm, which combines the previous two approaches. The performance of the proposed algorithms is evaluated with respect to waiting time, success ratio, and maximum load ratio. The metrics are monitored from simulations, to find the optimal scheme for different loads. Two different simulations are performed in the study, one is time-based and the other is lambda-based. The results indicate that, the Minimum Load algorithm is generally the best in all metrics whereas the Minimum Distance algorithm is the worst in all cases and in all metrics. The leading position in performance is switched between the Minimum Distance and the Hybrid algorithms, as lambda values change.

Keywords: emergency and disaster response, resource management algorithm, disaster situations, disaster management platform

Procedia PDF Downloads 338

Authors: Shabnam Dadparvar, Laijin Shen

Abstract:

This paper focuses on China’s policy in the Middle East and the rivalry with the U.S. The question is that what are the main factors on China’s Middle East policy and its competition with the U.S? The hypothesis regards to three effective factors: 'China’s energy dependency' on the Middle East, 'economy' and support for 'stability' in the Middle East. What is important in China’s competition with the U.S regarding to its Middle East policy is the substantial difference in ways of treating the countries of the region; China is committed to Westphalia model based on non-interference in internal affairs of the countries and respect the sovereignty of the governments. However, after 9/11, the U.S is seeking a balance between stability and change through intervention in the international affairs and in some cases is looking for a regime change. From the other hand, China, due to its dependency on the region’s energy welcomes America’s military presence in the region for providing stability. The authors by using a descriptive analytical method try to explain the situation of rivalry between China and the United States in Middle East. China is an 'emerging power' with high economic growth and in demand of more energy supply. The problem is that a rising power in the region is often a source of concern for hegemony.

Keywords: China's foreign policy, energy, hegemony, the Middle East

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: Sarika Bahadure

Abstract:

Sustainability starts with conserving resources for future generations. Since human’s existence on this earth, he has been consuming natural resources. The resource consumption pace in the past was very slow, but industrialization in 18^th century brought a change in the human lifestyle. New inventions and discoveries upgraded the human workforce to machines. The mass manufacture of goods provided easy access to products. In the last few decades, the globalization and change in technologies brought consumer oriented market. The consumption of resources has increased at a very high scale. This overconsumption pattern brought economic boom and provided multiple opportunities, but it also put stress on the natural resources. This paper tries to put forth the facts and figures of the population growth and consumption of resources with examples. This is explained with the help of the mathematical expression of doubling known as exponential growth. It compares the carrying capacity of the earth and resource consumption of humans’ i.e. ecological footprint and bio-capacity. Further, it presents the need to conserve natural resources and re-examine sustainable resource use approach for sustainability.

Keywords: consumption, exponential growth, population, resources, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 229